Two weeks had gone by since the school started. Everyone was busy with their own schedules, re-adjusting back to school life after the long break. I had went to the orphanage last week and spent half of my day there. I informed Uncle Kwon that I can only come down on Saturdays once every 2 weeks since I'll be busy with school and he said that he'll be able to manage it by himself. I told him to contact me if there's any problem and keep me updated about the renovation.

I took out my phone as I sat up on my bed and leaned against the wall.

To Jessica:

Good morning, my Angel. Are you already awake?

As I waited for Jessica's reply, I stretched myself and went to sit in front of my computer. I was reading through some emails from Appa when my phone beeped.

To Hyun Jae:

Morning, Oppa. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ I'm already awake. What're you doing right now?

To Jessica:

Oppa? Don't call me that. It doesn't sound special. :( Anyway, I'm already in front of my computer. Need to do some work.

To Hyun Jae:

I'll stop calling you Oppa if you stop calling me Angel. It sounds too good for me anyway. Have you eaten your breakfast?

To Jessica:

Okay I won't call you that. I've not eaten since I messaged you the moment I opened my eyes. By the way, can I call you Sicababy instead? Pppwwweeeassseeee... :P 

To Hyun Jae:

Fine. At least that's not as bad as angel. Don't skip breakfast, Jae. Eat first then continue your work. Arasseo?

To Sicababy:

Ne.. By the way, are you going to call me Jae like the rest too? :(

To Hyun Jae:

I'll think of a nickname for you soon. Anyway, thank you. For being understanding and patient about the whole situation. I know we are taking it slow at the moment and I really appreciate it. But are you really okay with all this?

To Sicababy:

I've already given my heart to you Sica. And I don't care what you're going to do with it. As long as I can see your smile everyday, that's enough for me. I just want you to be happy.

To Hyun Jae:

Thank you, Jae. You're really a great person.

We continued messaging each other, talking about school work, the upcoming projects and also the movie that we went to watch with the girls yesterday. We've been messaging each other more frequently than before after the confessions and sometimes, we would also talk on the phone with each other. We ended our conversation when I heard Taeyeon calling out my name to have breakfast.

********************************

Jessica's POV:

I was at the library with Jae, Tiff and Taeng. Soo had went off to meet Sunny at the cafetaria. The 4 of us were doing our school work together. I was seated beside Tiff with Jae seating opposite me. I kept stealing glances at Jae as I admired her serious look. She looked really cute when she kept frowning and erasing her drawings. At times, she will put her chin on her left palm with her elbow rested on the table while she twirl the pencil in her right hand as she stares at her designs. I saw her picking up her phone and typring into it. 5 seconds later, my phone beeped. "Stop stealing glances at me. I can't concentrate if you keep admiring me. :P" I rolled my eyes while I read the message from Jae but I ended up smiling at it too. I send her a reply and put my phone on the table. Just when I was about to continue on my drawings, I felt my phone vibrated. Dongahe's name was flashing across the screeen to signal an incoming call. In a split second, I looked up to Jae and saw her frowning. I quickly grabbed the phone and excused myself to answer the call.

Jae's POV:

I was feeling a bit tired today. It's only the 3rd week of September but I felt like I'm already in need of a rest. Last Saturday, I didn't visit the orphanage since I had done so the previous week. The girls had decided to hang out together at the mall and also watched a movie. During the movie, I had received a message from Uncle Kwon and he informed me that the caretakers at the orphanage had requested to him if it was possible to include a music room for the children. I replied to him that I would try my best to come out with a solution. I spend whatever free time I had the past few days to come up with a design but I'll need to visit the orphanage tomorrow to see if it's feasible to include it in the floorplan. I was trying my best to concentrate on my drawing for my school work when I noticed Sica stealing glances at me. I decided to by sending her a message. I saw her rolling her eyes after reading it but then she smiled before typing a reply. I loked at my phone when it beeped. "Well, too bad. Who ask you to be so cute when you're seating opposite me." I was about to type a reply when I saw her phone vibrated and Donghae's name appeared on the screen. I frowned as I stared at the phone. Sica grabbed it soon and excused herself. I was still wondering about that guy when Sica came back to the table 5mins later and said that she had to go off first. She said that she would meet us later at the school's gym for our futsal and cheerleading practice. I sighed as I just watched her walked out from the library.

********************************

"Where is Sica going anyway?" Taeyeon asked.

"I'm not sure, Taetae. But I think it's got something to do with the call that she received earlier."

"It was Donghae." I answered as both of them looked at me. "Donghae was the one who called her earlier. I saw his name on her phone screen."

"Donghae? Why would he want to meet her anyway?" Taeyeon frowned.

"Do you both find that guy suspicious? Sunny and I had talked about him before and both of us agreed that there's something fishy about him. I mean why did he suddenly appear in Jessi's life, showing such a great interest in Jessi when everyone still thinks that Jessi is Taec's girlfriend? Sunny said that he has been messaging Jessi and asking her out."

"And if he's Sica's high school friend, won't that mean that he's also Taecyeon's friend? So why would he do all this?" Taeyeon said.

I stayed silent and just listened to whatever the couple were discussing. It's not that I don't care about the whole situation but I had faith in Jessica since she had already admitted to liking me. We stayed at the library for another 30mins before we decided to leave for the practice.

Meanwhile at the school's main gate

"What do you mean you knew who was the person who cleared the debts for me?'

"Jessica, before I tell..."

"Yah!!!! Lee Donghae!! Until when you do you plan to run away from us?"

Jessica turned around to see 3 guys wearing all black, walking towards her and Donghae. Suddenly, one of them grabbed Donghae from the back, locking his arms while another guy punched him in the stomach causing him to kneel down. The remaining guy walked up to Jessica.

"You must be Jessica. Tell him to not to skip his loan installment payment. If he has the guts to come to us to borrow money to save the girl he like from an arranged marriage, he should have the guts to find us to pay his loan."

The 3 guys left soon while Jessica quickly helped Donghae up. He was groaning in pain as he had his hands over his stomach.

"What just happened, Donghae? What's with all the loan and arranged marriage stuff?" Jessica was totally confused at the moment.

"I.. I borrowed money from the loanshark to clear the debts for you. Ever since I heard it from Taecyeon when he was drunk that night, I really wanted to help you. I've always like you since high school, Jessica. I'm sorry. You were not suppose to witness all that." Donghae looked as if he was in great pain.

"You... You were the one who gave us the money? I... I... I don't know what to say." Jessica was now shocked at what she had heard.

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything. Just forget about it okay. You should go for your cheerleading practice. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Jessica watched as Donghae walked away leaving her all alone at the gate, feeling more confused than before.

At the school gym

I saw Jessica joining the rest of the cheerleaders after apologising to the coach for being 5mins late. I noticed that her expression was a bit down as she seem lost in her own thoughts. I continued on my practices while keeping an eye on her from a distance. Half-way through the practice, I noticed Jessica leaving the gym alone.

"Jae!! Watch out!!"

I turned around just in time for a ball to smack me right in my face. I heard Ms Lee's whistle and hurried footsteps coming my direction as I squatted down to counter the dizziness that I was having. Everyone crowded around me, asking if I was okay. I nodded my head as Ms Lee instructed us to take a 5mins break. All of us walked to the bench to grab our bottled water.

"Jae, what happened? You lost your focus earlier." Taeyeon asked with a worried tone.

"Mianhae. It's just that I saw Jessica leaving the gym earlier with her bag. I was just worried about her."

"Sica left? Is she feeling unwell? Usually if you're not well, the coach will excuse you to get some rest." Sunny said as I shrugged my shoulders, showing her that I'm not sure myself.

After the practice ended, I messaged Jessica to ask if she was okay while all of us waited for Tiffany and Seohyun to finish their cheerleading practice. I didn't receive any reply even after the 2 girls joined us.

"Fany-ah, is Sica okay? Why did she leave early?" I quickly asked Tiffany.

"She told us that she was not feeling well and requested to be exempted from the practice. I just received a message from her saying that she's going off to sleep and told me not to worry." Tiffany showed me Jessica's message.

'She messaged Tiffany but she's not replying my message. Did something happened when she went off to meet Donghae?' I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice we've reached the dorm. I had just blindly followed the girls while my mind was busy thinking about the whole situation. I really wanted to follow Sunny and Tiffany back to their dorm to check on Jessica myself but I decided not to. I was afraid that I might disturb Jessica's sleep so I just asked a favour from Sunny to keep me updated about her condition.

********************************

I didn't sleep well last night, thinking about Jessica but I had to wake up early since Uncle Kwon will be coming over to fetch me to the orphanage. After getting myself ready, I grabbed my drafts for the music room before leaving the dorm. I didn't realise I had fallen asleep in the car throughout the journey from the dorm to the orphanage until Uncle Kwon woke me up .

"Jae, are you okay? You look exhausted." Uncle Kwon asked as we walked towards the orphanage after parking the car.

I assured him that I was fine as we were greeted by the caretakers there. Uncle Kwon brought me around to see the progress of the renovation as both of us discussed about any adjustments or improvements that were needed for the orphanage. After an hour, we arrived back at the main building as we sat down at the couch along with the caretaker. I then took out the interior design for the music room and showed them.

"Basically, what I had in mind is to build an extension room behind the main building. The room will be soundproof and easily access from both the boy's side and the girl's side." I explained my drafts as I showed the designs. "The music room will be equipped with the basic musical instruments such as guitars, a drum set and a keyboard. I've already contacted my dad about the cost involved and he had given me the green light to go ahead with the plan. Uncle Kwon, I will forward you his emails later on. I'll be in-charge of getting the instruments and fixing it up once the room is ready."

The discussion took about an hour as I noticed that it was already 11am. I checked my message and was disappointed to find that there is still no answer from Jessica. Is she still sleeping? I decided to leave Sunny a message instead since I knew that Sunny will be awake by then.

To Sunny:

Hi Sunny. Sorry to disturb you. But how's Jessica? Is she awake yet?

I kept my phone away when the caretaker brought some kimbap for me and Uncle Kwon to eat for breakfast. I thanked the lady  but I didn't have the appetite to eat. I told Uncle Kwon that I was not hungry and he could have my share. I then went around the orphanage to help out the workers in whatever way possible.

To Hyun Jae:

Hey, Jae. Soo told me that you're at the orphanage now. Sica's still sleeping but I did wake her up for a while to ask if she was okay. She only replied that she's having a headache before she continued sleeping. She seem to have a slight fever though. By the way, sorry for the late reply. I had just finished showering.

I read Sunny's reply which I received at around 11.30am.

To Sunny:

Thanks for the info, Sunny. Please keep me updated okay and please ask Sica to eat when she's awake.

We left the dorm and I asked Uncle Kwon to drop me at my house instead. It was already 2.30pm when I reached as I thanked Uncle Kwon. I had already informed Uncle Kim about me coming as the gate was already opened when I arrived. I had received a message from Sunny at around 1pm, informing me that Jessica was already awake but she didn't want to eat since she was not hungry. I went home to ask Aunt Kim to teach me how to cook porridge so that I can bring it over for Jessica.

I arrived back at the dorm around 4pm after Uncle Kim dropped me 2 streets away from the university gates. I went straight up to Jessica's dorm and pressed the doorbell. No one answered the door. Sunny did informed me that she and Tiffany wouldn't be around since both of them are going out for a date with Sooyoung and Taeyeon but Jessica should be at home. I decided to call Jessica.

Jae: Hey, Sicaba..

???: I'm sorry but Jessica when to the Ladies. Would you like to call back in 5mins time?

Jae: I'm sorry but may I know who is this and why is Jessica's phone with you?

???: I'm Donghae. Jessica left her phone on the table. You're Hyun Jae right?  

Jae: How did you know who I was? And where are you guys at?

Donghae: Your name appeared on her phone screen. We are eating at the school cafetaria at the moment. Would you like to join us? Or do you want to leave any messages for Jessica?

Jae: It's okay. I'll call her back later. Thanks anyway.

As I hung up the phone, I had to lean back to the wall to support myself. I felt my knees weakened and my heart hurts a lot as if it was being stabbed. What the hell is going on? I looked at the packet of porridge that I had cooked earlier at home and sighed. Should I throw it away?

********************************

Jessica's POV:

I'm currently inside one of the cubicle in the Ladies at the school's cafetaria. I had a bad headache since yesterday after what happened. I even asked the coach to excuse me from the practice. I saw Jae's message in the morning but I didn't reply because of my splitting headache. Sunny came in to check on me and even ask me to eat after I woke up but I said I was not hungry. She informed me that she's going on a double date with Tiff and their respective girlfriends later. I was just lazing around, reading the magazines when Taeng and Soo came down to fetch their girlfriends. I thought of going up to look for Jae so asked them if Jae was upstairs but they said that she was not in. After they left, I just stared at the ceiling. Where did Jae go again? I then realised that Donghas has not message me the whole day. Usually he would have message me in the morning once and sometimes during afternoon too. I decided to message him to check on him since he was punched yesterday so that's why I'm now here at the cafetaria. Donghae said that he was feeling better but he was wondering if I could accompany him to have lunch for a short while. I didn't have the heart to turn him down, considering that he was not that well and after finding out what he had did to help me out of the arranged marriage. Frankly speaking, I'm not even sure if I'm happy knowing that he was the one who had helped me. I'm thankful though. But knowing that he did it because he liked me, all I can think of now is Jae.

Donghae's POV:

Is there anything going on between this Hyun Jae and Jessica? I saw there was a heart shape at the end of Hyun Jae's name when it appeared on Jessica's phone screen. Seeing how most of her friends are being coupled with girls, there's a possibility there's something going on. I need to be careful of this Jae, She might ruin my plan if I'm not careful.

********************************

"Hey, Jae. How come you're sleeping here?

I opened my eyes slowly and saw Taeyeon standing in front of me. I didn't realised that I had fallen asleep on the couch at the living room after laying down earlier. I looked at the wall clock and realised that it was already 8pm. I yawned and sat up straight to face Taeyeon.

"Wow, you look so lethargic, Jae." Sooyoung said as she came out from the kitchen. "Have you eaten?"

I absentmindedly nodded my head lightly but then my stomach growled. I turned to look at Taeyeon who had folded her arms. "Mianhae. I wasn't hungry earlier and I'm too tired to eat right now."

"But your stomach is already growling. You didn't eat anything for the whole day, right?" Taeyeon stared at me as I looked down. "Jae, I understand that you're busy right now but you should not skip meals. Go and wash up. I'll cook something for you."

I nodded my head and was about to walk to the bathroom when my phone beeped. I grabbed it and realised that I had 6 messages and 3 missed calls from Jessica.

 4.15pm - Jae, Donghae told me that you called. Call me back?

4.30pm - Did you fell asleep? Or do you want me to call you back?

4.50pm - I think you're asleep since you didn't answer my call. I saw the porridge hanging by our dorm's door. Did you came here earlier, that's why you called me? I'll keep it for dinner later since I've just eaten.

 5.30pm - Jae... are you angry at me? Please don't misunderstand. There's nothing between me and Donghae. Please answer my call or at least give me a call once you're awake.

7pm - I'm sorry, Jae... :(

8.15pm - Please forgive me and don't forget to eat.

I checked the timing of the missed calls which was at 4.45pm, 5.25pm and the last one was 6.55pm. I sighed as I continued staring at my phone.

"Jae, your food is ready. Eat it while it's hot." I heard Taeyeon shouted.

"Ne.. I'll be out in a minute." I washed my face and freshened up before I exited the bathroom. While walking to the table, I typed a reply to Jessica.

To Sicababy:

Sorry for not answering your calls and replying to your messages. I had just woken up. By the way, if the porridge is not nice, I apologised. Don't have to force yourself to finish it. Sunny told me that you weren't feeling that well this morning, that's why I brought porridge for you.

I was eating the fried rice that Taeyeon had prepared for me when I received a reply from Jessica.

To Hyun Jae:

Actually, the porridge is quite delicious. I'm eating it right now. Where did you buy it from and what are you doing right now?

To Sicababy:

If I said I cooked it for you, would you believe me? I'm currently eating also. Fried rice cooked by Taeyeon.

To Hyun Jae:

You cooked it? Jinjja? Daebak... Thank you, Jae. By the way, are you angry at me for earlier? About me meeting Donghae without telling you.

I paused for a while after reading Jessica's last message. Should I be angry at her? In the first place, I wasn't angry. I was feeling hurt. Even though both of us had confessed to each other, we did promised to take things slow which means that we were still in the friends zone. Furthermore, Donghae is her friend and she was just having lunch with him. That's all. Shouldn't I have more trust in her? The thing is, I do trust her. It's just Donghae that I don't trust.

To Sicababy:

Anni... Why should I be angry? You're just meeting a friend for lunch right? Don't think too much okay. I apologised for making you worried.

To Hyun Jae:

Jae, you do believe me when I say that I like you right? I just want you to know that no matter what, it'll always be you in my heart.

To Sicababy:

Of course I believe you. What's with the sudden seriousness in your message? Is everything okay?

Suddenly, I don't feel good at all. My mind was spinning with a lot of thoughts from the sudden remark by Jessica. I felt like Jessica was hiding something from me.

To Hyun Jae:

It's nothing. I just felt like being chessy tonight. Anyway, quickly eat your food and get some rest okay. I've finished the porridge and need to discuss about my project with Tiff right now. Take care okay. 

To Sicababy:

You take care too, my Sicababy. Don't sleep too late and don't forget to dream of me tonight. :P

Even though I felt better after messaging with Jessica, it didn't stop the tingling feeling inside me that something is not right with Jessica. I quickly finished up the food and went to Taeyeon's room to find her and Sooyoung who were busy discussing about their radio show.

"Hey guys. How's the new interactive feature in your radio show? Is it fun?"

"Well, both of us were a bit lost on the first day that we used it. Soo was so excited about it that she kept staring at the computer to read through the incoming messages shown on screen."

"Taeng suggested to cut down on the confessions that we received through emails. Instead we should ask the students to interact with us through the online messaging. So that we don't have to print out the confessions from the emails beforehand to get them ready for the show. What do you think, Jae?"

"Actually that's a good idea. Instead of spending time a few days before your show preparing the confessions, you could spend more time on your assignments and also on your scripts. By the way, where's Yuri?"

"She went out for a date with Yoona and HyoHyun. She left an hour earlier than us. Maybe they went to catch a movie." Taeyeon replied.

"Soo, Taeng. I need some help from both of you." Both of them turned to face me and gave their full attention. "I need you to help me find out more about Donghae. He's your classmate right?'

"Donghae? Wae?" Sooyoung asked, looking curiously at me..

I explained to them about what I observed with regards to yesterday and also about what happened today. Their expression changes from trying to recall about what  happened yesterday to frowning and lastly to an upset look, especially Taeyeon.

"Yah, Park Hyun Jae!! Don't tell me you lost your appetite because you were worried about Sica. I can't believe you took the effort to learn how to cook porridge from my Omma just so that you can cook for Sica when you yourself had not eaten the whole day. Pabo-yah!!" Taeyeon knocked me on my head with her knuckles.

"Jae, you need to confess your feelings to Sica quickly. Before Donghae overtakes you." Sooyoung said.

"Actually, I've..."

"Hi everyone, how come you all are gathered here? Are you all gossipping without me? Count me in, count me in." Yuri appeared in front of Taeyeon's room and dis some weird dance as she sat down to join us on the floor. "So what did I miss?"

I repeated the whole story again for Yuri.

"Jinjja?!!" All 3 of us looked at her and was about to nod our heads when she continued. "Jae really cooked porridge for Sica? Daebak." Yuri started to clap her hands when Sooyoung suddenly gave her a headlock.

"Yah, KkabYul!! That's not the important part of the story."

 "Arasseo, arasseo.. I was just kidding. I can't breathe." Yuri continued tapping Sooyoung on her forearm until Sooyoung let her go.

The 4 of us then discuss on how to gather information about Donghae and at the same time we also chatted about other things such as the orphanage.