jsyk i imagined jessica like this, with black hair. in case u didnt know its actually very uncommon for people in korea to dye their hair (idols excluded).

     also so u dont get confused krystal for the most part outwardly refers to jessica as 'sooyeon' but in her head calls her by her english name, and vice versa.

     oh and one more thing. im not british. the reason im saying "fourth year" is because thats what they say in korean (i think). they dont have words like freshman, sophomore, etc.

     The summer held subtle hints that change was on the way, but I didn't catch most of them. Everything seemed normal, amd much too soon, it was time for school to start back.

     Usually in the first few weeks back at school, my mother would have to threaten, cajole, beg, bribe, blackmail me out of bed. (She had new tactics every year). I'd be so tired from staying up late that at first it was a great feat for my poor mother to get me into my clothes, give me breakfast, and drag my unwilling body into the car to drive me to school. Afterwards, I'd start to settle into a pattern, and I could do it myself by about September, but the first day of school and the four following weeks were always tough on both of us.

     I expected to woken up this year in a new way by my mother- if she had completely lost her patience with me this year, she might have beat me out of bed. I expected my new uniform to be handed to a sleepy me to put on, some breakfast shoved into my hands, and after I was dressed, led outside to the car. What I didn't expect was something else entirely.

     My eyes slowly fluttered open on the morning of August first. A white, delicate hand my face softly. A face, though blurry at first, slowly became sharper and came into view. A voice sang "아빠곰은 뚱뚱해, 엄마곰은 날씬해, 애기곰은 너무귀여워." I woke up as the most beautiful girl in the world serenaded me with a cute children's song.

     Jess was home.

     I sleepily stirred and twisted to face my sister. "Sooyeon 언니. When did you get here?" Seeing my sister was always a treat for me. When she'd left for college, I'd declared that I was glad to see her go. She was always so bossy towards me. But not two weeks passed when I moaned to my parents that I missed Jess. I had never taken her for granted since. After college, she bonded with a couple of girls, one whose name was Miyoung, and moved to Itaewon, so now she lived even farther away. Jess was very musical and a brilliant vocalist (as was I- or at least I liked to think I was) and she quickly became famous as a singer, dancer, and actress in musicals. She was very well known and successful. She was often busy. I treasured her visits more than some women valued their pearls.

     "I got here last night," Jess said. She smiled down on me, and at that moment, a particular beam of sunlight shone through the window and illuminated my older sister. It looked like an angel was watching over me.

     "But don't you have practice, and fansigns, and interviews?"

     "I took a day off. You think I'm going to miss my baby sister's first day of her last year?" Jess teased as I sat up and hugged her sleepily. Even if she was off work, she looked like she would be performing, with her hair set perfectly, and not thick stage makeup, but still a lot of makeup on her face. That quickly changed when I fell back down on the bed, unwilling to get up just yet. My arms were still around her, and she tumbled down with me with a squeal of protest. She squirmed, but I knew she didn't really mind by the way she settled down after a second.

     "Soojung, you're going to be late," Jess whispered to me as I pulled the blanket over our heads like how I did when we were young girls and shared a bed.

     "I won't," I said, scrunching my nose at her and burying my head into my pillow like I was 5 again.

     "You will," Jess warned. "Remember, I used to live here, too. This used to be my room." That's right- when Jess moved out, my mom turned my bedroom into her current office, and I got Jess's old room, effectively making me miss her more. "If you aren't up by 7:20 at the latest, you'll definitely be late," Jess continued, and pointed with a slender white finger across te room to my alarm clock that read in flashing green numbers, 7:23.

     I grumbled and simply inhaled the scent of her perfume and shampoo. I had my sister back for a day and I wasn't letting her go any time soon.

     After another few seconds of cuddling and whispering to each other under the covers, Jess said, "Come on, get up-"

     "Alright, alright," I reassured her, but made no move to sit up. Jess struggled free from my embrace, and instead of bugging me and yelling at me to get up impatiently, like my mother probably would do, she got up and started moving about the room. I didn't pay much attention at first to all the bustling and slight noise, but eventually I peeked out from my covers.

     Jess had gathered up my new uniform, hanging on my door, and my shoes to go along with it, in my closet. There was also a headband next to them that matched the one in her hair, except her's was pink, and the other one was periwinkle. It was really pretty. 

     "You didn't have to do that," I said, feeling a little guilty. I swung my kegs out of bed and stretched (Jess giggled and poked my belly).

     "It's okay. Hopefully you won't be too late," Jess said as she helped me shrug on my uniform.

     "Who cares?" I mumbled, but Jess scolded me, "You can't go and get senioritis now. You have to study hard, okay?"

     I didn't respond, but Jess put her hands on my shoulders and gently spun me around. "I mean it. I got senioritis in fourth year as well, and I regreted it okay?" She brushed back a lock of my hair and straightened my collar. "Work hard. For me." She readjusted my headband, her eyes looking particularly shiny.

     "Oh 언니- don't tell me you're getting emotional now-"

     "Who's getting emotional?" Jess sounded cross, but truth be told, my throat felt tight as well. Betraying myself, I swallowed hard and hugged my sister. She smelled of clean laundry and flowers, as always.

     "I love you," I whispered in her ear. Jess pulled away from me. "I love you too," she said, looking sad. "Now come on, I made you breakfast."

     Predictably, when my mother met us downstairs she was teary-eyed because Jessica was home and because I was in my uniform. I ate, we snapped pictures- my favorite was one where Jess and I were standing side by side and the height difference was clear. I couldn't help but giggle. Jess threatened to kill me with no real rancor in her voice.

     "Do you need me to drive you to school?" My mom asked.

     "No, it's okay, I'll walk with Jinri," I replied, and kissed her and Jess goodbye. "Love you guys!"

     And as I left, I had no idea what lay in store for me.