I smiled at the sweet-looking air-stewardess who had served me throughout the 2hrs flight, all thanks to Boa who bought a first class ticket for me. 'She must be very greatful for my help.' I thought to myself as I walked out from the plane.

(Flashback yesterday)

Boa had sent me to her office early in the morning to introduce me to her secretary who would be assisting me throughout the day.

"Most of the time, I just have to sign some documents and read through proposals sent by organizers that wish to use our hotel facilities. Besides that, you'll have to read through the emails sent by your Appa and our board of directors. I've already rescheduled all my meetings for today so you don't have to move around too much and just stay in the office. If there's anything that you're not sure of, just give me a call." Boa explained everything in detail while pointing out the things that I've to do.

I noticed that she seemed hesitant to leave the office and I had to practically push her out. "Go and enjoy yourselves. Don't have to worry about work. I'm here, right?"

"I don't really trust you." Boa said teasingly as I just meronged at her. "Remember, if you're not sure about anything..."

"I'll give you a call." I completed her sentence as I grinned dorkily at her. "Palli, your Prince Charming will be arriving soon at the airport."

After a few shoving, she finally left the room.

(Present)

I smiled at the memory of me teasing Boa when she came back after that meet-up. The glow in her face was so obvious that I knew things went well for both of them. She didn't want to tell much except that the guy was still single. Since I needed to catch an early flight the next day, I didn't pursue much in my questioning and went off to sleep early.

Pushing my trolley of luggages out from the arrival hall, I scanned the area for someone familiar. I pouted and continued walking when I couldn't find anyone. 'Did they forget that I'm coming back today?'

Suddenly, I felt someone hugging me from the back and from the familiar scent emitting from the person behind, I started to grin like an idiot. "Sicababy?"

I felt her nodding her head but just when I wanted to turn around, she tightened her hug making it impossible for me to do so. Then I heard light sniffing and I knew she was crying. "Sicababy, gwenchana? Why are you crying?"

"I miss you so much, Jaegi. And from what Sunny told me, you've suffered a lot when you were in Japan." Jessica replied with a cracked voice as I felt her arms around my waist loosened so I quickly turned around to face her.

"Don't cry. I'm fine, Sicababy. And I miss you too." I gave her a tight hug as she nuzzled her head on my chest. "Aren't you going to let me see the beautiful face that I've missed so much?"

Jessica looked up slowly as I smiled at her. Wiping away the remains of her tears on her cheeks with my thumbs, I kissed her forehead. Even with her puffy eyes and a red nose, she was still beautiful to me.

"Aigoo, this two. I feel like I'm watching a melodrama right now." I heard Sooyoung's voice from behind as I turned around while wrapping my hands on Jessica's shoulders. "Yah, Sica. What happen to your face? It's so red."

"Aish, it's so obvious she cried, you pabo." Sunny slapped Sooyoung's arms and smiled at us. "Welcome home, Jae. You thought no one came to fetch you, right? I saw you pouting earlier."

"That's right. Did you guys hide somewhere when I was walking out from the arrival hall?" I pointed at SooSun who nodded their heads.

"Actually it was Sica's idea to surprise you but I think she missed you so much that she broke down after hugging you." Sunny explained, causing Jessica to blush. "Do you know how much she complained to me for the past 2 days, just because you didn't come back earlier?"

"Yah, Lee Soonkyu. Shut up." Jessica glared at Sunny who just meronged at her.

"Okay, girls. Let's make a move first. The rest of the girls are waiting for us back at the dorm and they've prepared a feast for everyone. We shouldn't let them wait too long." Sooyoung said as she quickly took over the handle of my trolley and walked away.

"You just can't wait for the feast, Soo." I teased Sooyoung who just showed a thumbs up, with her back facing me.

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

"She was like, where's Jae? Why didn't she fly back with you? Is she angry with me until she didn't want to come back? What do you mean you were not aware that she extended her stay? Then she started crying." Sunny was reenacting the scene where she arrived back to Seoul and was imitating Jessica's actions.

"Actually all of us were shocked when we saw only Sunny walking out from the arrival hall. Taetae even commented that Jae is not coming back because she was heartbroken with what Jessica did to her." Tiffany said as I had a confused look. As far as I know, only Sunny knew about the fact that me and Jessica were not contacting each other.

"How did..." I was about to ask when Sooyoung intercepted me.

"I told them. I found out during one of the calls to Sunny that both of you had made a pact to not contact each other at all for the 3 months. Taeng and Yul almost burst out in anger." Sooyoung pointed to the two girls.

"Technically, it's not that we both made a pact. Sica made the request and I sort of agreed to it." I said as I saw Jessica pouting and looking down.

"She didn't want to tell us the reason for her doing so and Taeng was so angry with her that she didn't talk to Sica for almost 2 weeks. Taeng totally ignored Sica." Yuri explained as I stared at Taeyeon.

"Yah, Kim Taeyeon!! What did I ask you to do before I left for Japan?" I asked as I folded my arms.

"To look after Sica and make sure she's eating and resting well." Taeyeon mumbled out the reply. "But that was before I found out about her ridiculous request to you. No contacts for 3 months. That sounds like a break-up to me."

"Anniya!!"

Jessica suddenly shouted, causing us to look at her. Realising that she had accidentally shouted, Jessica blushed and covered her face with the cushion right after she said that it was not a break-up.

"We know it's not a break-up, Sica. Don't worry." Yoona smiled as I nodded my head.

"We all saw how miserable Sica was when you were not around but she was doing her best to cope without you." Yuri said. "That was why after the first 2 weeks, we decided that we need to help her out to overcome any hardships. Even Taeng was helping her too. We would bring her out for dinner and shopping."

I smiled and thanked them for their help as we heard the doorbell. Yoona, Hyoyeon and Seohyun had left to buy food for everyone about 20mins after SooSun and Jessica left to fetch me but they were caught up in a jam, causing them to be late.

"Food is here." Sooyoung said loudly as she walked in with 2 plastic bags after running to open the door.

Me, Yuri and Taeyeon helped to clear the area and spread the mat since we've decided to eat on the floor as our girlfriends helped to set up the food. After saying our thanks for the food, we were about to start eating when Jessica said that she'll explain to everyone about what actually happened during the meet-up with Uee a few months back.

(Flashback)

Jessica's POV

"But I don't feel the same way." I heard Jae answered suddenly, causing me and Uee to look at her. I also noticed that Uee had a sad expression while she bite her lips.

"Jaegi, will it be okay if you leave me and Uee alone for a while?" I asked and saw that Jae had a confused expression on her. Seeing that she was about to say something, I intercepted her. "Please."

I saw Jae staring straight into my eyes before agreeing. She stood up and grabbed her phone as I just observed from the side. Her next action caught me offguard as Jae kissed the top of my head.

"I love you." Was what I heard from Jae as I just nodded my head before watching her walked away.

"Why did you ask Jae to leave?" Uee asked with a confused expression.

"I didn't want her to make you feel awkward or upset when you're telling your stories." I answered as Uee smiled a little.

"She's great, right? Looking at how loving she is towards you, I feel jealous. Honestly, that's what I felt." Uee said as she took a sip of her drink.

I didn't know what to say so I just nodded my head and also took a sip from my drink.

"Do you by any chance know who Park Hyun Jae really is?" I wasn't sure what she was asking for so I had a frown on my face. "As in do you know Jae's background, her family and how rich she actually is?"

I finally understood what she meant. "Yes, I know. My Appa and Appa Park knew each other, as in they are friends. I've actually met Jae when we were younger but we didn't recognize each other until recently. I also knew about her family background and her financial status."

"Appa Park? You sounded as if you're really close to her dad. Are you close to her mum too?" Uee's question made me frown again.

"Jae's Omma is no longer around." I replied as I noticed Uee's shocked expression. "I guess you were not aware about it?"

"I... I... I didn't know about it." Uee answered as she looked down for a second before looking up again. "How do you expect me to know when she doesn't even return my messages? I don't even know that she wasn't in Seoul for a period of time."

I was about to say something when Uee continued talking without looking at me.

"Do you know how lucky you are to be able to have Jae's love and her heart? That brief time that I had with her was the best time of my life. She was really a great person. Fun to be with, always humble and easy-going. She's also caring, understanding and always making sure that you're doing fine." Uee said.

"I know that." I replied briefly but I was shocked when Uee stared at me.

"You know that? Are you sure you really know all that? I only started to appreciate her after I lost her. And it was just friendship between us. When I had her beside me, it never came across my mind that I'm going to lose her one day. I took her presence for granted. I thought that she would always be there for me. But after she rejected my confession, I became lost. I started to crave for her attention. That guy, who asked me to be his girlfriend, reminded me so much of Jae. He was nice to me, always showing concern and was fun to hang out with. But the only thing on my mind at that time was to make Jae feel jealous, hoping that she will see how much she needed me. But I guess I overestimated myself. The plan didn't work out the way I wanted it to be. Instead it went from bad to worse. The incident with Jae's Omma made me realised that this is just so wrong. I broke up with the guy immediately but by then, it was too late. Jae had already hated me and just for that sole reason, I decided to stay away from her. I thought once I've transferred out, I'll be able to get over her but I couldn't." Uee took a deep breathe after her long explanation.

"So does this mean you still have feelings for her? Which is why you're still messaging her for the past few years, even though she had never replied back to you. Not even once." I took the courage to ask the question even though I was afraid to hear the answer coming from Uee's mouth.

"Have you ever been apart from Jae before, Sica?" I was about to nod my head, thinking back about the times when I had travelled with my parents without her when Uee continued her question. "Without any contact. Totally no news from her. No phonecalls, no messages, no emails, nothing."

I slowly shook my head as Uee gave me a small smirk.

"I've been through it all. Falling for someone like Jae and losing her was an eye-opener for me. Initially, it was hard for me to get over her. Then I realised why I couldn't do so. I was clinging on to the memories of her for too long that I forgot how to function as an individual. I forgot that I have a life of my own. When I saw Jae at the Futsal tournament for the first time after so long, I thought I had a chance with her again. Then I saw her with you and I saw things that I've never seen before. Her smile was different. Her laughter was different. The way she teased and mingled around with you and other girls were different. I realised that the Park Hyun Jae that I knew was no longer the same. The change was not a bad thing. It was a good thing. I've never seen her so happy before. The feeling that I got when I observed her from far was like as if her life was complete. And that was when I realised that I could be happy too if I had moved on with my life." Uee smiled at me.

"Her life was complete?" I repeated her words as Uee nodded her head.

"You're the reason she felt that way. I'm not going to ruin her happiness, Sica. She deserve to be happy. All I wanted from her is just her forgiveness." Uee said as she smiled again but when she noticed that I wasn't giving her any reactions, she frowned. "What's wrong, Sica?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about what you said earlier. About being apart, appreciating each other and functioning as an individual." I replied as I looked out through the window. "My Appa said before that we're too clingy to each other and that it was not really a good thing. Do you think so?"

Uee paused as she rested her chin on her palm. "Maybe your dad is thinking about the future. I mean if you guys are teenagers, I guess it's okay to be clingy but as you grow older, you tend to have more responsibilities especially with the working world. There could be instances where Jae would be too busy to even talk to you or stress out with her workload, that she might need to have some time alone. Will you be able to handle being alone for that period or will you crave for her attention?"

Uee's question had caused me to be taken aback. I remembered the times where I'll get agitated when Jae didn't message or call me for a whole day even though I knew she was busy with her studies. Jae would knew that I was unhappy and she would try her best to pacify me for the next few days.

"I didn't realise I was actually being clingy to her until I thought back about it." I honestly admitted to Uee.

"Maybe because it became a habit to have her around you. Maybe you should once in a while try to be apart from her. Then I guess you will learn to appreciate each other better. At the same time, you can spend more time for yourself. Maybe do things that you've long forgotten about or go out with your close friends." Uee suggested as I just nodded my head. "By the way, it's been nice talking to you, Sica. I need to leave soon as my friend will be waiting for me to drive back to Busan. I'm glad that Jae is in good hands because you're really a great person. Even though I won't know when she'll forgive me, I hope you don't mind if I leave her messages like I use to."

"I've got no problem with that, Uee. Anyway, just for your info, she doesn't hate you. Maybe she needs some more time." I said to which Uee suddenly stood up and walked to my side. She gave me a hug and patted my back.

After watching Uee walked away, I looked out the window and reminisced the times that I had spent with Jae. I was reminded of the talk that I had with Omma and Appa, a few months back.

'You need to learn to be independent, Sooyeon.' That was what Appa had said to me.

'Love is about being strong as an individual but stronger as a couple. So if individually you're not strong, how do you expect to be stronger in your relationship?' Omma's words came to my mind.

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

"So why did you cry after the talk with Uee? When you gave me a call and I saw you leaning against the pillar, I thought something bad had happened between you and her." I said after Jessica ended her story.

"Actually, I didn't even realised that I had cried. Maybe I was too overwhelmed with emotions. The thoughts that had came to mind made me feel as if I hadn't been a good girlfriend to you." Jessica explained as I gave her a hug from the side and patted her head. "Don't think that bad about Uee, Jaegi. I think she really regretted what happened in the past and trying to make amends for her mistakes."

"So you decided to follow Uee's advise and stayed away from Jae?" Sooyoung asked as Jessica shook her head.

"It was actually my idea." Sunny answered, causing the rest of us to be shocked. "She came back to the dorm with puffy eyes. I had to force it out from her before she finally told me about the talk she had with Uee. She asked me for my opinion so I told her not to contact Jae throughout our stay in Japan and we'll see how things will be after that."

(Flashback during the talk between Jessica and Sunny)

"Yah, Sica. What's with your puffy eyes? Did Jae bully you or something?" Sunny asked the moment Jessica walked in after closing the main door behind her.

"Anni. She didn't do anything wrong. I... I.. Something got into my eyes." Jessica avoided eye contact with Sunny as she stried to walk away.

"Do you think I'm stupid? Unless you think that as a friend, I'm not good enough to help you, you can continue walking to your room." Sunny said as she folded her arms and glared at Jessica.

Jessica sighed and took a seat beside Sunny on the couch. "Where's the rest of the girls?"

"Fany is still at Taeng's place. Yoona went out for a jog with Yuri and Seohyun followed Hyo to her dance school." Sunny answered in details as she turned her body to look at Jessica. "So, care to explain to me what happened?"

Jessica took a deep breathe before she told Sunny everything that happened at the meet-up with Uee. Sunny listened intently without any questions until Jessica ended her story.

"So you cried because you were overwhelmed with emotions?" Sunny asked as Jessica nodded her head. "Let me say something about this. From my point of view, I agree that you and Jae are too clingy to one another. You don't even want to go out with us if Jae is not around. Jae is also the same. Soo always complain that even when she hangs out with them, she'll always be busy on the phone, texting you and couldn't focus much on their conversation. Even in her studies, Jae is already losing her focus since she had to spent time to be with you even when she has a lot of assignments on hold. She knew you'll get angry with her if she doesn't have time for you."

"I did thought back about everything that you've said earlier and I realised that in the long run, it's going to affect our relationship since we rely too much on each other. Is there any way we can do something about this?" Jessica asked as Sunny frowned and pouted as she tried to think.

"Why don't the both of you try not to contact each other when Jae is in Japan? For 3 months, no calls and no messages. Totally no contact at all. It's going to be a test for both of you to be independent from each other and learn to appreciate other people around you at the same time. Let Jae learn to concentrate on her studies and learn to appreciate your presence when you're not around her with no ability to communicate. Jae also needs to learn that there are other people around her that need her attention too."

"Won't that be too hard for her? I'm scared if she's going to be badly affected by all these." Jessica had a worried expression on her.

"It'll be hard on you too. But both of you need to do this. Both of you need to learn to appreciate the time you have when you're apart from each other. Soon you'll be entering the working world. You can't be there 24/7 for each other, right?" Sunny said as Jessica nodded her head in agreement.

"In that case, if I lose control of myself and start to ask you questions about Jae while you both are there, promise me that you won't give me an answer." Jessica said as Sunny nodded her head.

(Back again to present time)

Everyone was lost for words with the new revelation as they looked at each other until I started chuckling.

"Gomawo, Sunny. Because of your idea, I suffered a lot." I said with a serious face before breaking into a grin. "But it also made me appreciate what I have right now. The people around me, my responsibilities and also how much I needed Sica in my life. I have to admit, it was tough at first. All I could think about was how unfair it was to me, not being able to contact her but you knocked some sense into me. What I felt and was going through, was also what Sica's going through. When Boa was afraid to ask a favour from me to stay behind and cited that I would rather return to Seoul since I've missed Sica a lot, it made me ponder. Do people around me thinks that I can't do things or help them out if Sica is not around me?"

"What did Boa-unnie said?" Sica asked as I showed her our conversation through the phone messages. "Ooouuhhh..."

"Jae was struggling for almost a month until we quarreled. She even used vulgarities in her anger." I grinned apologetically to Sunny. "She lost a lot of weight in just 1 month and kept falling sick until she had to skip classes."

I saw Jessica looking at me with a guilty expression so I leaned forward to peck her on her lips. "It was just the first month. I was much better after that. Don't have to feel bad about everything."

"That's true. She was much, much better after that. She started to concentrate better in school. When Uncle Park came to visit us, she even joined him to attend meetings. I was glad that she had straightened things out by herself. She even scored better than me for the test held during the enrichment programme." Sunny said.

The rest of the girls were shocked again but they cheered and congratulated me for it. We continued chatting with each other before turning in to get some rest.