“Don’t you have anything else better to do?” sighed Yuri, eying the brunette lounging lazily on the couch— her couch— with a cushion tucked snugly beneath her arms as she fiddled around with her trademark iPhone, looking far too comfortable in her apartment.

 

She was mostly here on their rare off-days— or anytime she was free, really— lazing and loitering about on couches, flipping through the channels on the television or alternatively, playing around with her phone and sometimes even teasing Hani with a treat or two.

 

Honestly, Yuri was starting to forget if this was supposed to be her own single luxurious apartment or simply an extension of Jessica’s place.

 

Living in that spacious apartment alone, she could see why Jessica frequented her place whenever she was around. She was the kind that got lonely easily after all.

 

It wasn’t like Yuri minded it or anything, though admittedly, she was quite mindful of her presence— wounds from their breakup still fresh and all— during the first couple of months when she first moved in, but it was something she had gotten used to over the past year and a half.

 

“Nope, why? Are you chasing me out?” Jessica asked, briefly flickering a glance up from her phone at Yuri, grinning impishly.

 

“I guess you could put it that way. That yes,” Yuri dropped herself onto the far end of the couch, no thanks to Jessica’s ‘long’ legs. “I am chasing you out.” She smirked, leaning forth to prod her in her knee.

 

The Ice Princess gave a pout and playful kicked at the Black Pearl.

 

“Meanie!” she said, calling after the tanned brunette whom skillfully managed to escape from the evil clutches of the Ice Princess’ cold feet.

 

Yuri laughed, snorting. “Aww, I’m sorry, Sooyeon-ah, but you just have to come back tomorrow.”

 

Jessica huffed and puffed her cheeks out petulantly. “But why?” She whined.

 

“I’m going out.” Yuri answered, chuckling, and began digging around the corners of the couch. “Hey, have you seen my cardigan? I was sure I left it lying around somewhere.”

 

Sighing, the Ice Princess sat herself up from her lounging position, idly running her fingers through her tousled hair.

 

“It’s somewhere in the kitchen, I saw it when I went to get myself a glass of water a little while ago.” She yawned, stretching her arms out in a way that was extreme feline-like.

 

It nearly made Yuri want to reach forth and scratch her behind the ears.

 

Cute.

 

And… she wasn’t going to think any further than that.

 

“So you’re going out. Where?” Jessica asked, ever so casually.

 

“That nearby café around our area? I’m meeting a couple of my friends there,” replied Yuri from the kitchen. “Ah, I found it! Thanks a bunch, Sica-yah.” She flashed a triumphant grin upon emerging from the kitchen with her cardigan in her hand.

 

“You’re welcome,” the brunette fanned her off airily. “Friends. College friends or idol friends?”

 

“Um, idol friends.”

 

“Hanging out with Amber again?” Jessica asked, with a tiny quirk of a brow and a playful twinkle in the eye, lips curling into a small teasing smile. However as soon as she caught sight of the pair of dark-rimmed glasses in Yuri’s grasp, her entire visage turned cold.

 

“I’m, uh, hanging out with Hayoung and Eunji actually.” Yuri said, tentatively, not missing the way Jessica’s eyes had narrowed subtly at the former’s name. She swallowed, the edges of Hayoung’s glasses nervously.

 

A short beat of silence.

 

“I’m going with you.” Jessica declared with an air of finality, rising from the couch and whisking her way into one of Yuri’s guest room as the Black Pearl helplessly trailed after her.

 

Once in the room, she had immediately flung the doors of the closet open and began flipping through a few outfits she had left during her occasional stay at Yuri’s place.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yup. I know Eunji, we worked together for the Legally Blonde musical. It’ll be nice to see her again.”

 

Picking out an outfit— a simple white button-down shirt and jeans—, she carelessly tossed it out onto the bed.

 

“Especially since I didn’t really get to talk her much when her group came by during the Dream Concert.” Jessica muttered lowly under her breath as she slammed the closet doors shut a little too forcefully, causing Yuri to flinch slightly.

 

She whirled back at the Black Pearl with an unnatural sunny smile and ushered her towards the door. “Give me a minute to change up and I’ll be out before you know it.”

 

And before Yuri could even come up with a response of any sort, she was met with the door in her face.

 

Pursing her lips, she let loose a soft defeated sigh.

 

She didn’t know why, but she had a bad feeling about this.

 

--

 

“Hello,” greeted the two girls meekly with a deep bow, the instant Yuri and Jessica had made their presence known amongst them.

 

“Sorry we’re late, did we keep you waiting long?” Yuri flashed an apologetic smile as they wheedled their way into the booth and made themselves comfortable.

 

Because apparently when Jessica said that she needed a minute to change, she also failed to mention that she had to touch up on her make up as well.

 

As soon as they were all set and comfy, a waitress had immediately come by with two glasses of water (and a jittery smile) before quickly vacating their private little area.

 

“No, not at all. We just arrived not too long ago,” assured the older girl between the two— Eunji— with a smile.

 

“I’m glad… And I hope you guys won’t mind Jessica joining us today,” Yuri said sheepishly, looking to the brunette sitting beside her nervously.

 

“We’re fine with that too,” chirped Eunji. Turning to Jessica, she gave a broad grin. “Unnie, it’s been a while!”

 

“It definitely has been,” laughed Jessica. “Have you been doing well?”

 

“Yes!”

 

And glancing over to Hayoung, she nodded, smiling, albeit more subdued than before with Eunji. “Hello,” However, there was just something about her smile that made her seem all the more… distant.

 

Almost as if it didn’t reach her eyes. 

 

“Hello,” Hayoung nodded back, returning her smile rather hesitantly. As hard as the younger girl was trying her very best to conceal it, it was obvious that she was intimidated by the Ice Princess.

 

“I’ve heard quite a bit about you from Yuri,” remarked Jessica mildly after taking a casual sip of water and Yuri couldn’t help but fidget nervously in her seat.

 

The last couple of times she brought up the topic of Hayoung to Jessica, she had received nothing but unfavorable reactions from the Ice Princess.

 

It was worrying to say the least.

 

Especially since said-topic was currently sitting directly in front of her.

 

“You’re APink’s maknae, right?”

 

“Um, yes.”

 

“Hmm, I’m really curious… But how old are you?”

 

“Eighteen,”

 

Jessica blinked, eyes widening slightly.

 

An incredulous pause.

 

“Seriously?” she asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

 

Yuri watched as her eyes began to rove up and down the younger girl, studying her with a newfound intensity that was— thankfully— more curious than hostile.

 

Hayoung rubbed at the side of her arm, lowered her gaze and sheepishly nodded with a smile, “Yes,”

 

Jessica made a contemplative hum, gazing at Hayoung in absolute wonder.

 

“Eunji-yah, how old did you say you were again?”

 

“Twenty-one…”

 

She looked between Eunji and Hayoung a couple more times.

 

“Wow.”

 

Yuri snorted loudly, sniggering. “ ‘Wow’ indeed,”

 

Jessica briefly shot her a withering look and jabbed her hard in the ribs with her elbow, earning herself a startled cry. Turning her attention back onto the younger girl, she smiled.

 

“I mean it in a completely good way, but you look really mature for your age.”

 

Hayoung chuckled dryly, shrugging.

 

“I actually paid for the bus fare of an University student’s once, back when I was in Elementary school.”

 

“No way,” Jessica gasped, while Yuri bit down on a laugh.

 

“Well, I’m not surprised.” The Black Pearl said, eyes glinting with tease at the younger girl, smiling. “But really. What’s it with all the maknaes looking and behaving so much more mature than their Unnies these days?”

 

Hayoung made a face at her.

 

“Now that you mention it, our Juhyunnie…” Jessica trailed off, eyes meeting the brunette beside her as they both shared a knowing look.

 

Letting loose a giggle, the Ice Princess clapped hard against the Black Pearl’s— who was trying her best to keep a straight face— shoulder in amusement.

 

“Aish, that kid’s too sensible for her own good. Seriously. She takes care of our health, our diet…”

 

“Strictly no fast food!” supplied Jessica with a laugh, grinning and nudging the tanned brunette beside her.

 

“Reminds us of our schedules and nags at us for not cleaning up after meals… I really just want to coddle her sometimes, but she’s growing up too fast.” Yuri gave an exaggerated sighed, crossing her arms huffily.

 

Eunji let out a hearty laugh.

 

“Well, our maknae might look mature and all…” She paused, reaching forward to pet Hayoung affectionately on the head while the younger pouted adorably at the deed. “But at least she still behaves very much like one.”

 

“Ah, how nice…” crooned Jessica, resting the side of her cheek against her palm. She watched on in slight envy as Eunji playfully ruffled up Hayoung’s hair and pinched at her cheeks. “Why don’t you join us and be our maknae?” She jested, smiling coyly at the younger girl.

 

“No, Hayoungie is APink’s!” Came Eunji’s immediate protest, flinging her arms around Hayoung protectively. Said-girl in question could only chuckle nervously, doing her best to wiggle out of the older girl’s grasp, but her efforts were mostly in vain.

 

Meeting the Black Pearl’s gaze, she shot her a pleading look, but only got a light-hearted chuckle back in response.

 

“I don’t think Juhyun would appreciate being replaced as the maknae, Sica-yah.”

 

“Even so, I’m sure you would like it very much if Hayoung were to join us,”

 

Jessica flickered a glance over to Yuri, with what seemed very much like a bittersweet smile hanging off the edges of her lips and an unreadable look painting her features.

 

“Right?”

 

Yuri merely pursed her lips and shrugged, sipping at her glass of iced wordlessly.

 

Through countless of experience, she had learnt that silence was usually the safest bet at times like this. The more words there were, the more room for error. Especially knowing how volatile Jessica’s emotions was, it was easy to offend her without being even aware of it.

 

It was almost imperceptible, and it nearly went away unnoticed, but she caught a soft defeated sigh from the Ice Princess.

 

Before the mood of their casual lunch hangout could drop any further, Jessica had cut through the budding tension with a winning grin, holding up the menu in her hands.

 

“Shall we order?”

 

“Yes!” chimed both Hayoung and Eunji, eyes lighting up at the mention of food.

 

 

--

 

 

Lunch had gone off without a hitch.

 

Which was fairly surprising to say.

 

But what was even more surprising; was Jessica getting along just fine with Hayoung and had, at some point, even warmed up to her.

 

It was something Yuri did not expect to see, considering the way Jessica had reacted to anything related to Hayoung for the first couple of times.

 

What she did half-expect to happen, was for lunch to be a complete disaster; ending with Jessica walking out on them in the midst and for her to apologize in her wake before leaving to catch up with her.

 

But thankfully, all that did not happen and they actually managed to make it through to dessert without so much of the mood running cold halfway.

 

Even so, Jessica, for the most part, was still a ticking time bomb.

 

Then again, when was she never?

 

“Ah, Yuri-unnie, I nearly forgot!” exclaimed Hayoung, the second they were done devouring down their dessert.

 

All eyes immediately turned to the youngest at the table who was currently busy rifling through her satchel bag.

 

“Here,” She said, fishing out an all too familiar baby-blue jacket.

 

“Ah!” Yuri reached for her purse. “There you go.”

 

Likewise, she handed Hayoung her pair of dark rimmed glasses, which she had took the liberty of keeping it safe in a case, and returned her grin with a winning smile.  

 

“It’s finally good to have this back at last.” Yuri hugged at her jacket, taking a short whiff of it, beaming up at the younger girl. “Thanks for safekeeping it for me.”

 

Hayoung glowed positively at that, grinning from ear to ear. “You’re welcome. And thanks for holding onto my glasses for me, Unnie!”

 

“You should have seen how much she had cherished your jacket, Yuri-unnie,” laughed Eunji, eyes twinkling with much mischief, an impish smile curling at her lips.

 

At once, Hayoung’s eyes widened in alarm as she shot Eunji a silencing look, which ended up seeming more desperate than anything. And when that didn’t work, she had launched herself fully onto her member, struggling to clamp a hand firmly over the older girl’s mouth, but her efforts were in vain, for Eunji was stronger and much quicker.

 

“Hanging it up in her room and treating it as if it was some kind of treasure, she wouldn’t even allow any of the members to touch it.” Eunji let slip, speaking as quickly as she could in between breaths, trying to keep Hayoung at bay.

 

“Unnie!—”

 

“I’m telling you, she’s seriously Yuri-unnie’s number one fan!”

 

She managed to squeeze one in again with a laugh, much to the mortification of Hayoung who was burning a bright crimson red at the moment, pupils darting about in her socket and falling onto anything and everything but Yuri.

 

“And that ‘High Cut’ issue which Yuri-unnie and Yoona-unnie were in… She actually got it the first day it came out. How dedicated is that? Oh, and that one time when Yuri-unnie hugged her, she just wouldn’t stop smiling even when we got back to our waiting room, sheesh.”

 

“Eunji-unnie…” Hayoung whined, clutching onto the arm of the older girl beside her, sounding very much like she was on the verge of tears.

 

Other the other hand, Yuri couldn’t help but look on at the scene playing out before her in amusement, finding an extremely shy and embarrassed Hayoung to be entirely adorable. She felt a pleasant warmth tingle down her spine when she caught Hayoung’s sheepish gaze for a fleeting second.

 

She smiled and before she could even stop herself, she had mouthed the word ‘cute’ at her.

 

And Hayoung instantly dropped her eyes, flushing a deeper shade of red that Yuri hadn’t known was humanely possible.

 

“Have I given you my autograph before, Hayoung-ah?”

 

“… No,” mumbled Hayoung with her face buried deep in her hands.

 

Yuri chuckled; resisting the urge to reach over the table to maybe catch her in a spine-crushing hug, because the way she was behaving right now was beyond adorable.

 

“Bring me your copy of that ‘High Cut’ magazine the next time we meet, I’ll sign it for you.”

 

Hayoung immediately brightened, eyes perking up slightly at the promise behind Yuri’s words, the deep flush on her cheeks long forgotten.

 

“Okay!”

 

Yuri grinned, eyes crinkling softly at the younger girl.

 

Gosh, she really was adorable.

 

However, all smiles and laughter ceased when Jessica had shot up in her seat ever so abruptly.

 

As Yuri glanced up, perturbed, at Jessica, she felt a wave of unease come washing over her like a tide.

 

Jaw locked, lips fixed into a stiff smile and that imperceptible crease in her brows…

 

Yuri felt her stomach clench upon detecting those ever so telling signs of a displeased Jessica.

 

But what was in fact the most alarming, were those tightly clenched first planted firmly onto the tabletop.

 

“Excuse me for a moment, I kind of need to use to washroom.” Jessica gave a seemingly sheepish smile. Which Yuri knew was only used to disguise the tempest that was brewing within her.

 

Her eyes made a quick sweep across everyone at the table, however they seemed to land on Yuri for half a second longer.

 

But half a second was really all that was required for Yuri to catch that glint of… something… flashing past those dark enigmatic eyes of the Ice Princess.

 

And before she knew it, Jessica was out of their booth without a word, heels clicking after her as she made her way down the aisle to the washroom.

 

Silence fell between the remaining three occupants at the table as everyone attempted to drink away the growing tension that was starting to cloud the air.

 

It was beginning to get a little awkward, granted. But Yuri liked to think that this wasn’t exactly that bad.

 

At least when compared to what happened before in their waiting room.

 

Jessica had always the knack of destroying the mood of a place or a gathering.

 

But that’s that.

 

After all, it was what made Jessica… Jessica.

 

Sighing, Yuri rose from her seat, flashing an apologetic smile.

 

“I should go check up on her. Jessica… She really doesn’t deal well with indigestion.” Yuri chuckled, smiling good-naturedly at both Hayoung and Eunji. It was a lie she was so used to giving, that she didn’t even blink twice upon delivering it. She slid out of their booth.  “I’ll be back in a sec’.”

 

And off she went.

 

--

 

She waited patiently for her by the sinks in the washroom.

 

Because going up to pound away at that single occupied cubicle wouldn’t honestly do Yuri any good.

 

Jessica had her pride. And as carefree and laidback she was at times, she could be pretty stubborn if she wanted to. She should know.

 

So Yuri waited patiently for her to emerge on her own accord.

 

She had been in there for quite some time now— a good eight minutes or so— and it was awfully silent, which was... rather unsettling.

 

Jessica was known to burst out into tears whenever she was frustrated or miffed since the beginning of time. And to be greeted by nothing but silence— not even a sniff or any form of movement against the bathroom tiles— it was a little worrying.

 

It was then that Yuri had decided to finally put her unease to rest and gathered her legs to make that short journey across the washroom to the only occupied cubicle in the room. Raising her knuckles, she hesitated for a second, then moved in to rasp against the door.

 

But instead, she was surprised to find her fist following through, just as the door to the cubicle swung open.

 

Jessica froze, catching Yuri’s gaze. A look of surprise briefly fleeted past her features as she stood, stunned for a moment. In the mean time, Yuri made use of the short pause to scour for any clues that might suggest that she had been crying in the cubicle.

 

But ultimately, she had come up with nothing.

 

For the most part, Jessica seemed fine, with not a single trace of tears in sight.

 

Eyes narrowing slightly and snapping out of whatever stupor she was in, Jessica shouldered past Yuri coldly and headed straight for the sinks.

 

“You okay?” Yuri asked, trailing after her, more worried than intimidated by the frigidness she was currently exuding.

 

“Of course, I am.” Jessica scoffed and rolled her eyes, meeting her stare steadily through the reflection of the mirror.

 

Liar.

 

Yuri knew her far too long to not catch that tiny warble in her voice.

 

Or the slight twitch of her lips from keeping it from falling into a frown.

 

Or the wistful look in her eyes that had been making its appearance a tad too frequent to Yuri’s liking.

 

She felt her heart give a painful squeeze.

 

“That’s good,” Yuri said, forcing on a smile despite the growing heaviness in her chest.

 

And it honestly took everything in her to not reach out, pull her in and hold her tight in her arms for just a tiny bit.

 

Because, an angry, pissed-off Jessica, that she could handle.

 

What she couldn’t…

 

Was an upset Jessica.

 

Yuri had no idea how was she supposed to go about comforting her.

 

Not when she’s trying so hard to keep her feelings for her at bay.

 

Not when she’s so close to finally moving on at last.

 

Because being so close to her could very possibly influence her to act on those treacherous feelings of hers and ruin everything.

 

As much as she wanted to make that small distance between them and just give in, she couldn’t.

 

She had to be strong and look forward ahead.

 

“I’ll wait for you outside then, take your time.” Yuri passed her a quick smile before turning to leave.

 

However, she was halted in place when cold fingers reached to grasp at her sharply.

 

Slowly, she turned to look over her shoulder at Jessica curiously but was met with a similar surprised expression from before, as if she hadn’t expected herself to reach out for her at all.

 

“Jessica…?”

 

The brunette blinked.

 

Her eyes turned downcast, soft with an emotion that Yuri couldn’t pinpoint, and she pursed her lips— that were quivering just a tiny bit— into a watery smile that made Yuri’s heart throb and stomach sink.

 

Shaking her head, the grip on Yuri’s fingers grew slack.

 

“It’s nothing…” She murmured softly. “Just… go on without me, I’ll be fine.” She smiled, albeit half-heartedly, and reverted her attention back to her reflection in the mirror, turning away from Yuri.

 

Yuri frowned, hesitating, watching her as she fixed her hair and make up.

 

Her fingers were still tingling from her touch.

 

The cold of her fingertips, it burned into her. And she held on to the feel— the memory— of her icy touch for as long as she could.

 

Jessica always had cold hands.

 

 And feet.

 

It was one of the many things she had loved about her.

 

Even till date.

 

“What did I say? Go on without me.” Jessica said, eyes flickering to her through the reflection.

 

Yuri lingered on for a while more, wavering between leaving and staying. She frowned, not entirely sure about leaving Jessica alone.

 

“Yuri, Just go. I’ll be out soon, I swear.” The Ice Princess urged, sighing. “Don’t keep Eunji and Hayoung waiting any longer, they must be wondering what’s taking us so long. So, go.”

 

Chewing at her bottom lip, Yuri was right about to protest but at the firm look she got from Jessica, she released a defeated sigh.

 

“Alright, be out soon.”

 

With one final glance behind her shoulder, she left.

 

Albeit, missing the deep frown that immediately crossed Jessica lips and the longing look that followed after her as she watched her leave.

 

 

--

A/N: Whoo, I'm sorry for the lateness of this chapter. As much as I would love to update this story a little quicker, I'm apparently running on a rather tight schedule from school, and I'm actually expected to be a lot more busier this month. So... Updates will be much slower— much slower—, but I'll do my best to get the chapters out as fast as I can. And yeah. Hope you enjoyed another juicy Hayoung/Yuri/Jessica sandwich in this chappie. :P Thank you all so much for the upvotes/subs/comments and also, another big thank you for reading this too. I hope this long-ish chapter would make up for the lack of updates from me. So yeah. I'll see you guys soon in a while. :)