I squinted my eyes when the brightness of the sun shone on to my face. As I turned sideways to avoid it, I came face to face with a sleeping beauty. My initial plan to continue sleeping changed as I spent the next one hour staring at Jessica.

As she yawned and stretched her arms, I felt her stirring in her sleep. I quickly closed my eyes and pretended to sleep. I could feel Jessica's breath near my neck as she wrapped her arms around my waist and snuggled her head to my chest.

"Mianhae, Jaegi. I'm sorry for my outburst last night. Do you know how much I miss you though?"

Even though Jessica was half-whispering when she mumbled those words but due to the close proximity of our bodies, I was able to hear every single word that she said. Smiling to myself, I answered her.

"I miss you too, Sicababy. And good morning, my sleeping beauty."

Jessica's shocked reaction in the early morning was the cutest thing to see as she sat up straight, shrieking with her famous dolphin scream and eyes wide open as if they're going to pop out. I grinned at her as she pouted and pinched my stomach.

"Yah!!  Since when were you awake?" She asked as I rubbed the place where she had pinched me before pulling her down to lie beside me.

"Since an hour ago. Anyway, that hurts." I pouted as Jessica said that I deserved it for scaring her so early in the morning. "By the way, how did you manage to guess that I was here last night?" I asked. Even though I've already heard about it from Taeyeon, I still wanted to hear Jessica's side of the story.

(Flashback at the sports hall last night.)

"Does anyone have any idea to where Jae might be right now? Because in her condition at the moment, I don't think it's a good idea to drive at all." Hyoyeon asked as everyone looked at each other. "We can't just stay here. It's been almost 30mins since Jae left. We need to go out and looked for her. Driving in that state is dangerous especially in a very fast sports car. What if she hhmmmphhh.."

Hyoyeon couldn't end her sentence when Sooyoung quickly covered . "Don't spout nonsense. Let's think of places that she might like to go. It's only 10.15pm and it's a friday night. There's a lot of places that she can be hanging out right now."

"Taeng, can you help me to check with your parents if Jae is at your house?" Jessica asked Taeyeon who folded her arms. "Please. I've got a feeling that she might be there."

After Tiffany managed to pacify Taeyeon, she finally dialed up her dad.

"Appa, sorry to disturb you so late at night. Can you help me to check if Jae's at home? You can just go to the frontyard and check if her car is there since she would be driving... Okay, I'll wait." Taeyeon paused as everyone waited in anticipation. "She's not there? You didn't see any car in front? Okay. Thanks, Appa... Anni, anni.. Nothing's wrong. But just in case if Jae actually comes back, can you give me a call? Thanks, Appa. Good night then."

Once Taeyeon hanged up her phone, she turned to look at Jessica and glared at her. "She's not there. Happy now? So much for your feelings." Taeyeon said sarcastically as Tiffany nudged her elbow.

"Mianhae. For troubling you and your parents. You guys should go back to the dorms and rest. I'll go and look for Jae myself since it's my fault anyway." Jessica turned her body around and was about to walk away when Taeyeon grabbed her hands.

"Aishhh.. I might be angry at you right now but you're Jae's girlfriend and that means that your safety is under our care. We'll go and look for Jae together. We're not just her friends. We're family and family will always look out for each other." Taeyeon said as the rest of the girls agreed, causing Jessica to start sobbing again.

"Don't cry anymore, Jessi. We should come out with a plan first. Maybe we could separate into groups and start our search soon." Tiffany said as they discussed quickly about their plan.

Just like what they had planned, SooSun and YoonYul were in Sooyoung's car as they took the right turn after exiting the school gate while TaeNy and Jessica were in Hyoyeon's car as they took the left turn. Hyoyeon and Seohyun were asked to go back to their dorms just in case Jae came back while the rest were out looking for her. The girls kept calling each other to keep themselves updated about any findings as they drove down the road, looking out for Jae's car. After about an hour of driving around, Taeyeon stopped the car by the roadside.

"So what's the plan now? We've already driven down both sides of the road and it's already 11.15pm." Sooyoung's voice was heard through Jessica's phone since it was on speaker mode as she covered to prevent herself from yawning. 

Jessica heard it and she realised that almost everyone was already tired by then. "I think that everyone is already tired. Mianhae. You should all go back and rest. Taeng, you can just dropped me here and I'll just take a cab."

"Where are you planning to go?" Yuri's voice came on next as Jessica replied that she wanted to go to Taeyeon's house. "But I thought that Uncle Kim already said that Jae is not there and so far, there's no call from him to inform us about any new updates."

"I know he already said that but I've just got a strong feeling that she's there." Jessica replied as she turned to Taeyeon. "Taeng, there's a park near to your house right? Can it be that Jae parked her car there and walked to the house instead? She might not want to inform your parents since she didn't want them to worry and also not to disturb them so late at night."

"Well, if you say it that way, there's a possibility of that." Taeyeon said as she scratched the back of her head. "From the park, Jae can actually walked to the side gate of the house where the pool is."

"The pool!!!" Jessica suddenly shouted and started to clap her hands as if she just remembered something. "She's there. She's going to be there. You guys go back first and rest. I'm going off to Taeng's house." Jessica was about to exit from the car when Taeyeon grabbed her hands again.

"Yah!! How many times do I have to remind you that your safety is under my care? Aishhh.. This girl. How can I just leave you here when it's already so late and there's no one around?" Taeyeon nagged at Jessica.

Tiffany then grabbed Jessica's phone and talked through it. "Soo, can you drive back to the dorm first with the rest of the girls? Get some rest. Taetae, me and Jessi will head over to Taetae's house to check if Jae's there. We will update you once we've reached the house. Drive safe, okay."

After Tiffany hanged up the phone, she handed the phone back to Jessica and Taeyeon started the engine to drive off. While they were passing the park that Jessica had mentioned, Taeyeon purposely slowed down the car.

"I think Jessi's right." Tiffany said as she pointed to something through the front view of the car.

As Taeyeon and Jessica squinted their eyes to look at the direction that Tiffany was pointing, Jessica had a wide smile on her face while Taeyeon just shook her head. Right under one of the lamp post in the park, was Jae's white Ferrari.

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

"What made you so confident that I'll be here?" I asked as both of us turned our bodies to face each other.

"Initially, it was just a strong hunch on my part. But when Taeng mentioned about the pool, I was certain that you were here. Because I remembered what you told me before. You said that you used to go to the poolside to chill at night when you can't sleep or when there's something troubling your mind. The sound of the water from the pool, the silence of the night and the beautiful display of stars in the sky calms you down a lot. You also said that Omma used to accompany you during those times while you tell her about your troubles." Jessica replied as I smiled with pride since she remembered everything that I had told her before.

"Do you know how happy I am, listening to everything that you had said? The fact that you actually remembered the exact words, make me feel touched." I said as I smiled sincerely.

"Of course, I remembered. Anyway, did you dream of Omma last night? You got me worried when we saw you crying while lying on the reclining chair the moment we arrived by the poolside. We tried to wake you up but you didn't opened your eyes and continued crying. So Taeng decided to fetch a pail of water. Initially, she wanted to sprinkle some water on to your face but then you suddenly screamed out the word 'Omma', shocking all of us and causing her to splash you with the water." Jessica explained.

"Aish, that midget." I said as both of us ended up giggling until we heard knocks on the door.

Poking their heads between the opening, Tiffany and Taeyeon smiled at us.

"Hey, Jae. I just want to inform you that my mum had prepared breakfast for us. Fany and I already had ours. We are going back to the dorm right now to return Hyo's car. Go down and eat breakfast before settling both your issues, okay. " Taeyeon said as both her and Tiffany waved goodbye to us.

The moment the door was closed, both me and Jessica looked at each other with a guilty expression but before Jessica could say anything, I put a finger to her on .

"Let's freshen up first and have our breakfast. Then we'll go out somewhere to talk." Jessica stared at me for a few seconds before nodding her head. "You use my bathroom while I'll bathe in Appa's room so that we can save time."

One hour later, I was in my walk-in closet when I heard the bathroom door opened. Turning around, I had to swallow hard my saliva as Jessica walked out with just the towel wrapped around her body.

The towel wasn't doing that well in covering much of her body as I stared at her milky white thighs. The end of the towel barely covered half of her thighs as I slowly looked up to see a smirking Jessica.

"Like what you see, Jaegi?" She said in a low y voice.

I must have looked like an idiot to her as I nodded and then shook my head, repeating the two actions a few times. She giggled and walked seductively to me, swaying her hips. Standing very close and pressing her body to me, I could feel as if my heart would burst in anxiety. I was just wearing my last night t-shirt with my towel covering the bottom half of my body.

"Have you heard about make-up before?" Jessica whispered to my ears as I felt her hands on the folded part of my towel. Pulling that away, would have caused my towel to drop.

"Mmm.. ma.. make-up... sss ?" I stammered as I blinked a few times at Jessica who continued to smirk at me. It took me a while to register what Jessica had just said. "??!!!"

I quickly grabbed hold of my towel tightly with my left hand while my right hand grabbed the bunch of clothes that I had luckily finished choosing, before running out from the walk-in closet.

"I'LL WAIT FOR YOU DOWNSTAIRS!" I shouted as I heard Jessica's laughter while I headed to Appa's room to change.

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

We were walking towards the park, holding hands to get to my car. Breakfast was superb especially since it was prepared by Aunt Kim. She kept asking how come me, Jessica and TaeNy ended up staying the night as I just said that we went out last night and were too lazy to go back to the dorm.

Even though I was nagged by Aunt Kim for not informing her of our arrival since last night, she still waved us goodbye cheerfully when we left the house.

It was already noon when I started off my car's engine and drove off. Both of us were quiet as we enjoyed the silence and calm atmosphere in the car. I noticed that Jessica was lost in her own thoughts as I pulled up into a parking lot.

"We're here." I said as I removed Jessica's seatbelt.

"Banpo beach?" Jessica had straightened herself up after the seatbelt had been released. "It's a nice weather today. But it's kind of hot so can we just stay in the car?" Jessica asked as she pouted, causing me to giggle.

"Arraseo. We'll just stay in the car." Jessica clapped her hands and leaned in to me.

"Jaegi, mianhae. For my harsh words. Jinjja mianhae. I know that this is not the first time I've reacted like this but please believe me when I say that it was not deliberate." Jessica sighed as I wrapped my arms around her waist. "I knew my words were really harsh that night and not knowing what you had went through the whole day, I added on to your heartache with my words."

"Gwenchana. Like you said, you didn't know what I had went through. I'm sorry for keeping it from you. When you saw the photo of Sunny hugging me, I should have straight away told you what happened. I kept thinking that whatever that I do was the best for us without realising that sometimes, I should hear your opinion too. Mianhae." I said as put my chin on Jessica's left shoulder.

"I regretted my actions of overreacting to that photo. I should have been more like Soo. She's so relax and calm about the matter and even made fun of it." Jessica said.

"I guess that's because Soo trusted Sunny." I felt Jessica's body stiffening as I rubbed the sides of her arms. "Can I ask you something? What were your first thoughts when you saw that photo or whenever you see me close to another girl?"

"Jealous." Jessica answered quickly.

"I know you're jealous but there must be something that would trigger it. Try to think deeper. Because you don't act this way when I'm close to Taeng, Yul, Hyo and Soo. Initially, I thought you won't react if I'm close to their girlfriends too but last night proved otherwise." I urged Jessica.

"The truth is, when I saw Sunny hugging you, I had a feeling that something was not right. Especially the fact that it was in the Ladies. Did you cry in the Ladies?" Jessica's question shocked me as my expression showed my answer. "Seeing your face, I knew you did. Which is why I got a bit upset. How come Sunny was there for you instead of me? The fact that both of you didn't tell me the truth when I asked what happened, made me more frustrated."

Hearing Jessica explaining her true feelings made me realised that she actually understood me better than I expected. Her acts of anger was not purely based on jealousy but there's a deeper reason to it. The fact that she can guessed where I was last night and even guessed that I was crying in the Ladies, really amazed me. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect that.."

"That I would guess it right, about you crying  and hiding something from me?" Jessica completed my sentence. "I know that most of the time, I have a blank face on me but I do notice and realise certain things about you. You usually cry in the Ladies because you don't want others to see the weak side of you. You don't want to tell me about your problems because you don't want me to worry."

I had my jaws literally dropped when I heard everything that Jessica had said. I sat there quietly, still stunned to see this side of Jessica that I've never seen before. 

"Now that I think about it, I realise that I became jealous because I'm afraid of losing you and that I'm not part of your life. I felt that other people knew about you more than me. You've been spending more time with Sunny because of your studies so you're bound to feel closer to her. Which was why I ended up saying those words. But I didn't mean to say it in that manner. Even I was shocked of my choice of words." Jessica sighed.

"Gwenchana. I knew you were already angry by then. Hearing you saying all these, it made me realise that both of us had not been really honest to one another. We have to stop hiding our true feelings from each other. I've said this before and I'll said it again. I don't mind if you'll get jealous everytime because I'll just continue to prove my love for you. But this time round, I'll start to show you how much I need you in my life too so that you'll never feel that you're not part of it." Jessica sat up straight as both of us face each other. "To start things off, let me be frank with you. The reason as to why I didn't want you to follow me to the library for my revision was because the two times that you accompanied me, you ended up sleeping. I didn't want to see you sleeping awkwardly there."

"Mianhae, Jaegi. I was getting bored with the drawings of my assignments and also the rest of you were to engross in your studies that it made me feel sleepy. I actually knew you had carried me back to my dorms on both occasions which is why I told myself to stop sleeping in the library but after that, you didn't want me there anymore." Jessica pouted as she felt guilty.

"It's not that I don't want you. I'm sorry I didn't give you more chances. We'll try to study together again, okay." I said as Jessica nodded her head slightly. "About what happened that lead to the hug between me and Sunny..." I retold everything to Jessica from the part where Mr Han told me to go to his office until the part where both of us walked out from the Ladies.

"Aigoo, my poor baby must have been very upset after that." Jessica said as she hugged me suddenly, causing me to giggle. "Wae?"

"You sounded just like Omma." I said as Jessica slapped me lightly on my arms. "Was the hug supposed to replace the one that Sunny gave me?" I asked as Jessica pouted and nodded her head.

"Anyway, what are your plans with regards to your studies, Jaegi? You do know that you need to ask for help right?" Jessica asked as I nodded my head. "Do you plan to inform Appa about it? Since he used to be one of the top students, maybe he can give you some tips." 

"Do you think I should tell him?" I asked as Jessica nodded her head vigorously. "Well, maybe I should." I chuckled at myself.

"All these stress from studies is not good for your body and mind. That's why your futsal performance is affected. I can't help you with your studies but I'll make sure you're eating well. I'll prepare food for you."

"You're cooking for me?" I asked with my eyes wide opened.

"Wae? Shiro? Or you're afraid of my cooking?" Jessica asked with a sad expression.

"Anni, anni... I just don't want to trouble you." I said as I scratched the back of my head.

"I'm your girlfriend, Jaegi. All these small things are never a trouble to me. Do you think I would volunteer to do so if it's a trouble for me? Knowing my character." Jessica asked as she squinted her eyes at me after I laughed out loud at the truth of her words.

"Arraseo, arraseo. I'll let you cook for me but only if you're not busy with your assignments, okay." Jessica nodded her head again. "Talking about your assignment, I was upset when you didn't inform me about you becoming the model for it and also will be modelling with another guy for a couple clothing line." It was my turn to pout as Jessica giggled a bit before turning serious.

"Mianhae. I really forgot to inform you. I knew a simple message would have settled it but I wanted to tell you in person but I guess it slipped my mind. I'm really sorry for making you upset." Jessica said as she hugged me again.

"Is today a hugging day for us?" I chuckled as Jessica meronged at me. "I guess I shouldn't have think too much about it. I could have just ask you about the matter instead of holding it inside me. Aissshhh.... Both of us really need to polish on our communication skills towards each other. Omma was right. We need to always be honest with our partners even if we end up arguing with one another. At least we'll know how to accept each other's flaws."

"Omma said that? When? Was it during your dream?" I nodded my head as I saw Jessica's eyes brightened. "What else did Omma tell you?"

"Secret." I said as I chuckled when I saw Jessica pouting. "I was reprimanded by Omma for not being honest with you."

"Jinjja? Omma really did that? Haishhh... I wished I could have met your Omma." Jessica said as she looked down.

Jessica's words strike a chord in my heart as I suddenly felt my eyes became watery. Covering my mouth instantly, I looked away and bite my lips as I felt the tears started to flow down like a burst pipe.

"Jaegi?" A pair of hands grabbed my shoulders and tried to make me turn around. "Jaegi, look at me. Don't hide your tears from me."

Right at that instant, I remembered Omma's words.

'I'm proud that you've always been there for Sooyeon but I also want her to be there for you, provided you allow her to do so. She has to know that you need her in your life. She has to see and accept the weaknesses in you. That is what love is. Give her the chance to be part of your hardship, Jae.'

I turned around and let Jessica see me crying. She removed my hands that was covering my mouth as I stifled my sobs.

"I'm sorry. You must have missed her a lot." Jessica used her thumbs to wipe away my tears and leaned in to kiss both my eyes.

Her actions automatically stopped my crying as I just stared at her, smiling sweetly at me with a pair of caring eyes. "Gomawo. I've always thought that I should never let you see my tears. I've always thought that I need to be strong in front of you."

"It takes a lot of courage to actually show others the weak side of yourself. You've always been strong for me but starting from now, I want us to be strong for each other. Don't hide your sadness, your pain or your struggle from me. Let me be a part of all that." Jessica said as she hugged me again.

Silence filled the atmosphere in the car again as both of us were lost in our own thoughts and in each other's embrace.

"Jaegi, remember when you ask me before about the matter that was bothering me?" I nodded my head to her. "It's about Uee."

"Uee?" I frowned at the mention of that person's name as I waited for Jessica to continue her words.

"I want you to meet up with her and clear all the misunderstandings between the two of you." Jessica said softly as she looked at me nervously.

"MWO?!!!"