No one in the Jung residence (well, except the maids) are early birds, and that includes Soojung.

If there’s one thing Soojung dislikes more than wasting money and relationship, it’ll be waking up early, be it someone waking her up or she wakes up herself. Amber always says that Soojung’s morning temper is legendary scary and dangerous, so dangerous whoever dares to ignite it is definitely asking for a death wish.

But Soojung still has mercy for certain people, like Mr. and Mrs. Jung, her sister Jessica, and one more person…

*bzzt bzzt*

Soojung always puts her phone in silent mode whenever she’s asleep, but even the vibration is still strong and loud enough to wake her up from her beauty sleep. She groggily searches for her phone under her blanket without bothering to open her eyes. No matter what, every milliseconds of sleep is important for her.

*bzzt bzzt*

“Argh!” the brunette groans in an unladylike manner and throws her blanket away, fully awake now. She feels just how heavy her eyelids are, but still tries to make some efforts into opening them up for the sake of the damn phone. When she finally succeeded after five minutes, the phone has vibrated at least six more times and it still hasn’t been found.

“Where the is that stupid phone!?” she growls under her breath, grabbing her pillow and throws it away, but still no sign of the phone. On the ninth buzz, she finally realizes that her phone is placed securely on top of her nightstand.

“What the …” she face-palms, “I’ve been throwing a tantrum for nothing…”

*bzzt bzzt*

“Geez, that’s the tenth buzz already,” she murmurs grumpily, “that can’t be Amber, though…”

The youngest Jung finally picks up her phone and, when she looks at the name on her screen, she smiles.

It’s the only person outside her family that can wake her up in the morning without having to face HellKrys.

Victoria.

Victoria Song Qian is the second person Soojung had ever befriended.

It all started with Amber, being the friendly llama person that she was, coming to her usual hangout place with Soojung at SM Academy’s rooftop with someone the brunette had never met or seen before walking beside her. Being the shy person that she was, Soojung put on her cold poker face by instinct, but was shocked when Victoria greeted her cheerfully with a very broken but cutely innocent Korean, as if the shorter girl didn’t look scary cold at all.

Victoria is different. She is mature for her age, way more mature than everyone Soojung has ever met in her life, including Jessica. Victoria is motherly and down to Earth. She speaks politely but not too traditionally or formally polite. She has all the qualities of a good leader, hence why she was appointed as the student council president despite being a transfer student from China. Victoria is also an excellent cook, preparing the group’s lunchboxes every day without fail (except on holidays). She is a good listener, a walking diary who listens, records, and gives advices to anyone who confides to her. Because of all this, Victoria is always nicknamed ‘the perfect wife material’, which is accurate according to Soojung.

Soojung and Victoria share a special bond. To Soojung, Victoria is not a friend. The Chinese girl is like a second mother to her, someone she loves dearly above anyone else, well aside of her real family that is. Soojung being the sentimental person that she is often felt sad seeing Victoria dozing off during their lunch time because she stayed late the night before sorting paper works and proposals to give to the principal for the student council’s events or projects. She secretly cried when the oldest cried because she felt pressurized with her job and she always let the black-haired girl put her head on her lap because she felt so tired and sore due to the stress.

To Victoria, Soojung is also not a friend. Soojung is someone akin to her own sister that she never has, if not her own daughter. Being a good listener often means that she can’t confide to anyone, but Victoria finds comfort in telling all her problems to the Korean-American. Victoria likes the feeling of Soojung’s long, dark brown hair gently her tired facial features whenever she leans on the latter’s shoulder after a very tiring meeting. Victoria likes to know that sometimes Soojung cries not because of the death of the lead protagonist in her favorite K-Drama, but because she feels for her. For that, no one, not even Soojung, knows that sometimes, Victoria cooks extra portion for the brunette’s lunch (besides, Soojung is a heavy eater).

That’s why it pained Soojung when Victoria, with a ridiculously big grin plastered all over her goddess-like face, announced to the group that she’s dating an apparently handsome guy from the nearby university named Zhoumi. It pained Soojung because Zhoumi’s appearance means she won’t be the sole confidant of Victoria’s problem, that he will be a new source of Victoria’s precious laughs, and that he will own Victoria’s heart, body, and soul.

Ever since then, Soojung dislikes relationship to her very core…

Or maybe way before then, but that’s another story for another time.

*beep beep*

The blinking light of Soojung’s phone’s screen breaks her out of her stupor. She sighs as the last part isn’t exactly what she wants to remember about her ‘Vic-umma’ early in the morning, but who’s there to blame? Well, no one.

Using all her morning strength, which is very little to begin with, she slides her finger across the screen and reads the message, a huge smile soon plastered her entire face.

From: Vic-umma~♥

Krystal~ Are you busy today? I was just wondering if you’d like to hang out with me today~ It’s fine if you don’t want to, but if you do, meet me at that newly opened restaurant near Han River~ don’t worry, it’s my treat ^^ I tried calling you but you wouldn’t answer :’( oh well, text me! ♥

The Jung can’t help but laugh at the cute message. She quickly sends her reply before she scurries to the bathroom, taking a quick shower.

To: Vic-umma~♥

Of course, umma~ I’ll be there at 10. Oh, and this’d better be our date! No Zhoumi involved!

Meanwhile, somewhere else in Seoul…

Suzy and Jiyoung are staring at the same person who had just come from the door. That person, who’s apparently a girl they both know and love like a sister, is smiling a bit wider than usual today as she fills in her attendance card and puts it into the attendance box. Right before the girl opens her locker, Suzy speaks, “did something happen, Jinri-ya?”

Jinri turns her head to meet her two friends’ questioning stares and giggles, “what makes you think so?”

“Well,” it’s Jiyoung’s turn to speak, “you look… brighter today… like, more energized?”

It’s true. Jinri somehow looks happier and brighter than she usually does, like somehow she had eaten more than ever today or as if she had finally received her salary, though only the former is true.

The tall girl chuckles, “Let’s just say that…” she pauses dramatically, chuckling more when she sees her two friends giving her the most interested looks ever, “I met an angel yesterday who helped me out of my misery.”

[FLASHBACK, YESTERDAY EVENING (06.30 P.M.)]

“So…” Jinri stopped walking and looked at Soojung, “what do you usually eat at home, Ssul?” the brunette asked, curiosity latching her every word. The taller girl furrowed her eyebrows, wondering if she should tell the slightly younger girl the truth or not, but actually, lying was never an option for her.

“A slice of toast bread…” the jet black-haired girl paused, “…for breakfast.”

Soojung thought that Jinri would continue, but to her surprise, she didn’t. So she asked again, “and then? What about lunch? Dinner?”

She saw the hesitation in the taller girl’s eyes and the way she shuffled her feet discreetly gave away that she was hiding something, “well?”

“Uh…” the Busan girl breathed out, “No… only that…”

“For the entire day!?”

“Y-Yeah…”

“Ssul, are you crazy!?” Soojung knew she was making a commotion but honestly she didn’t care at all, “you’re going to get sick!”

“B-But!” Jinri tried to reason, “I don’t have money!”

“Then what are we doing here!?”

“T-To…” the tall barista was at a loss of words. She had never once thought that her ‘pretend-girlfriend’ would worry so much over her, she thought she was not exactly worthy of those worries, “b-buy a loaf of bread…”

Soojung glared her icy glare at the poor girl, “and that’s all?”

“Look, I said I-”

“Well, go grab a basket,” the Jung dismissed. Jinri shot her a bewildered look, “h-huh?”

“I said, go grab a basket,” Soojung sighed, “I’m going to pick healthy foods for you, and I assure you, there’s going to be a lot of them, so go and grab a basket.”

“Jungie, I don’t-”

“Have any money? Doesn’t matter, I’m paying,” the shorter girl smirked, “and you’re not allowed to stop me.”

“Helped you out of your misery?” Suzy’s voice breaks her out of her reminiscence, “wow, Jinri-ya. If I hadn’t known better, I’d say you’re a damsel in distress and whoever this angel of yours is, he or she is your knight in shining armor.”

“So romantic!” Jiyoung adds with a dreamy look, “oh, you’re so lucky, Jinnie. I wish I have someone like that, too!”

Jinri laughs, “well, I’m sure you will,” she looks at her wristwatch and gasps, “oh , I’m late for my part-time job!”

“Which job is it again?” Suzy jokes, knowing perfectly well what a workaholic her best friend is. The Choi laughs again, “the Han River one, you know… that new seafood restaurant, I’m a waitress there.”

“Well, shoo then!” Jiyoung waves her hand at her friend, “you better bring us foods when you come again!”

“No promise!” Jinri answers back curtly before leaving the agency. The two girls exchange looks before they stand up and open the attendance box, taking Jinri’s attendance card out and open it. Surprises are written all over their face when they read the content,

Name: Sulli Choi Jinri

Status: Taken (Summer Lover: Krystal Jung Soojung)

Duration: 30 Days (Currently on 2nd day)

Soojung cares for her appearance as much as she cares for her family and friends.

The moment she steps out of her car, she’s greeted with numerous stares and murmurs as she walks gracefully into the restaurant, pleased with the fact that she has mesmerized people once again. Soojung is not an attention seeker, far from it. Like we all know, Soojung is a shy girl. But still her status as a celebrity’s sister means that she has to keep up with her image and people’s expectations.

This time, she’s sure she has done a very good job at it.

“Krystal~” a cute voice with broken Korean echoes from her left and she smiles. She recognizes this voice anywhere, “Vic-umma!” she looks at the beautiful Chinese woman and calls back teasingly, receiving a not-so-scary glare from the older girl. Soojung immediately receives a playful slap on her arm when she arrives at the table. “Yah! What ‘umma’!? You make me sound so old!” the other girl whines cutely.

“But you’re old!” the brunette retorts and laughs when she sees Victoria’s pouting lips, “don’t pout, unnie. It doesn’t suit you!”

“Hmph!” the goddess-like girl pouts even more and looks away. Soojung laughs yet again at the hilarious scene, “unnie~” she calls using her aegyo, “please don’t get mad~”

Victoria widens her eyes at the younger girl’s act, which in turn gets her a confused stare form the Jung, “what? What’s wrong, Vic-unnie? You suddenly-”

“Did you just,” the Chinese girl starts, “use your aegyo-”

Soojung interrupts, “Uh, I do that to you all the time-” but she gets cut by the taller girl,

“-in public?”

The brunette freezes. Did I really just do that? In ing public!?

“I, uh…” even Soojung’s genius brain fails to find a reasonable answer, which causes Victoria to laugh openly, “what’s wrong, Krystal? You look flustered!”

“I… I…” honestly, Soojung doesn’t know why herself. Perhaps because she’s happy?

“Miss Choi, you’re late!” an authoritative-looking man in his fifties scolds the just-arrived tall girl while pointing his sweaty index finger at the girl’s flustered face, “you have five minutes to change into your uniform and starts working before I cut your salary or worse, kick you out of business!”

“I-I’m sorry!” she bows politely and quickly before she quickly runs to the staff’s bathroom, changing her clothes in a hurry. In those five minutes span between her and her fate, Jinri constantly slurs some strings of profanities under her breath, barely changing them into hopes and prayers that God has enough mercy to change her supervisor’s meaty mind, because every single one of her part-time jobs are important to her and getting fired for the stupidest of reason is definitely not allowed to happen. As soon as the last fabric of her work uniform consisting of short sky blue dress that showcases her long, slender, milky white legs and black apron wraps her body, Jinri storms out and grabs a pad and a ballpoint, eyeing the main area as her eyes goes into hawk-eye mode, not missing a single movement of the customers. She briskly looks at the wall clock. One more minute, she thought, either someone raise their hand or I’m out of here.

Then, as if on cue, a customer raises her right hand towards Jinri and waves it almost gleefully, and of course the tall waitress’s heart is also in glee at that moment. She’s saved by a hair’s thread.

Grabbing two menus lists, she calmly but confidently walks towards the customer, a girl who looks young and beautiful and somehow foreign, and another girl in front her, her back facing Jinri, with brown hair and slender pair of porcelain-like white arms crossed in front of her chest. That figure looks somewhat familiar to Jinri, but it’s not until she arrives at the said table that she realizes who it is.

“Jungie?”

Soojung looks up and gasps as her cat-like pair of eyes meet Jinri’s mellow ones.

“Ssul? What are you doing here!?” she asks, clearly surprised by the taller’s random appearance. Her orbs accidentally scan Jinri from head to toe, blushing at the sight of her mock lover wearing such a y-looking outfit. She doesn’t know whether she should be angry at the restaurant owner for making Jinri wear such a thing or be happy because let’s just face it, Jinri’s legs are the iest thing in the planet.

Oh God, since when did I become such a ert? Wait a second… why am I thinking erted thoughts about Sulli!?

Meanwhile, Victoria who’s completely clueless gives the two girls a very confused stare, “Krystal, who’s she?”

Soojung snaps out of her reverie and becomes flustered, not knowing what to say. What? You can’t expect her to nonchalantly says “oh, her? She’s my summer lover”, right?

Victoria laughs, “you’re so blunt, Krystal!” she manages to say in between her hard laughter. Soojung shoots her a weird look but when she looks at Jinri’s suddenly flushed face, she can’t help but ask, “What’s with her?”

The tall waitress chuckles, “apparently you said ‘oh, her? She’s my summer lover’ out loud.”

Oh, !

“I-I did?” Soojung’s face turns crimson red, completely embarrassed. Meanwhile, it takes the Chinese girl all her strength to stop laughing and when she finally does, she clears while stifling the remnants of her laughter, “s-so… hehe… the almighty Krystal Jung… hehe… is in a… hehe… relationship?”

“Y-Yah, unnie~!” the youngest whines, face flushed and eyes filled with nervousness and embarrassment. Victoria can’t hold it anymore and laughs again, “oh my God, Krystal!” she says, her voice hitched, “what is wrong with you?”

Soojung looks away in pure embarrassment and only gets more embarrassed when she locks eyes with Jinri who looks like she’s stifling her laugh, “y-yah, don’t laugh!”

“N-No, I-I’m not… hehe… laughing…” the waitress struggles to speak as the urge to laugh becomes stronger, “s-so… hehe… what would you two… hehe… like to order?”

“I hate you, Ssul,” Soojung huffs in annoyance and covers her face with the menus book.

“So…” Victoria starts when Jinri leaves to pass the order to the kitchen, “since when do you do relationship? I thought you hate it to death?”

“‘Dislike’ please, not ‘hate’…” Soojung clicks her tongue, “this is not out of my own will. A certain idiot llama hooked me up with her.”

“Oh,” the Chinese girl’s mouth forms an ‘o’ shape, “well, good for you! Amber has a good taste!”

The brunette makes a face, “nah, I don’t think so. Not after Henry Lau happened.”

“Hahaha!” Victoria laughs, “but that waitress is a good catch, I must say. And this says a lot considering I have a boyfriend!”

“Umma!” Soojung’s eyes widen, but the older girl pretends to hear nothing, “and I think your and Amber’s tastes are similar.”

“NO!” the brunette shakes her head frantically, “please elaborate as to why my taste and that llama’s taste are similar again!”

“Well, I can tell from the first glance that you’re attracted to that waitress,” Victoria smirks, “you won’t even bother with her if you’re not. And Amber chose her for you, right?”

The younger girl bites her lower lips and looks away, all the way to her mock-girlfriend who’s busy writing other customer’s order, “Do you think I’m attracted to her, Vic-umma?”

“No,” Soojung looks back at the Chinese girl who looks serious now, “I know you’re attracted to her.”

“But, I don’t know…” the brunette sighs, “this is so weird to me. The feeling, this feeling, it feels so foreign.”

“Krystal,” the jet black-haired girl says, “I think it’s normal for you to feel like that. This is the first time for you, right? Just…” she pauses, “try to embrace it, whatever you’re feeling right now. And when you know what it is… Either you let it go, or you keep it with you.”

Soojung looks at the working girl and smiles. “I think,” She whispers, “I can try that…”

“That’s nice to know,” Victoria smiles gently, “Sulli’s a good girl, I’m sure of it. If Amber trusts her, then I do too.”

“Hold on,” the shorter girl shoots the other a confused look, “how do you know her name? I didn’t introduce her nor did she introduce herself?”

The Chinese girl’s eyes widen, “uh…” she grins awkwardly, “well, Amber told me…”

“She did!?”

“Eii, calm down!” she waves her hands frantically, “this is my first time meeting her, I swear! She doesn’t even know me!”

“Still!” Soojung puffs her cheeks, “don’t tell me Luna knows about this too!”

Victoria smiles nervously and that doesn’t go unnoticed by the younger girl, “she does!?”

“But like me, Luna doesn’t know how Sulli looks like!”

“Unnie, you know how Luna is!” Soojung whines, “She’s going to tease me until the world ends!”

“Excuse me, your foods are here!” A voice suddenly exclaims from beside them. The brunette casts Jinri a glance and blush, as the waitress is wearing her thousands watt smile.

“Thank you, Krystal’s girlfriend~” Victoria jokes teasingly, which earns her a glare form Soojung and a shocked look from Jinri, “ah, wait, I didn’t get your name. I’m Victoria! What’s your name?”

This unnie! Soojung fumes inwardly. The tall waitress giggles, “I’m Sulli! Nice to meet you, Victoria-ssi! Now,” she pauses, putting the plates on top of the table, “enjoy your food! If you need anything, you know what to do,” Jinri smiles and leaves the table.

“Unnie! What was that for!?” the brunette complains while Victoria laughs, “Oh please, it’s called manners! Besides,” she smirks teasingly, “I think she’s also attracted to you.”

Soojung stiffens. Really!?

Victoria have already left two hours ago, but Soojung is still there, standing beside her ridiculously luxurious-looking car outside the restaurant, waiting for a certain someone to finish her job and go home. Her tired face brightens when her eyes catch a sight of a tall girl bowing thankfully to her supervisor and co-workers before making her way to the parking lot, where Soojung is waiting. Jinri gasps, “Jungie, what are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you?”

“What? It’s already dark out here,” Jinri stares at the shorter girl in disbelief, “why did you wait for me?”

“Because,” Soojung sighs, “my gut feeling told me you’re going to go home alone and like you said, it’s already dark. Your neighborhood isn’t exactly what I’d call friendly.”

“But…” the taller girl pouts, “I don’t want to burden you, Jungie.”

“Why would you burden me?” the Jung laughs, “come on, let me drive you home.”

Jinri stares at her summer lover for a while before diverting her gaze to the girl’s car, “your car looks fancy.”

The brunette gives Jinri a weird look, “that’s so random, but why, thank you. What’s with the sudden compliment, though?”

“Sometimes,” the Choi smiles, “I wish I have enough money to buy this type of things.”

“Is that why you’re working so hard?” Soojung asks.

“No, but my sister…” the taller girl smiles, “she once said that she’ll buy a sports car one day and drives it around Seoul with me sitting on the passenger’s seat. Since then, whenever I see one, I instantly remember her.”

“And?”

“And I wish,” Jinri stares at the calm river in front of her, giving off a serene vibe that mesmerizes Soojung somehow, “I wish I have enough money so that when I meet her, I can get her to drive me around Seoul, just like what she promised me.”

“I hope…” Soojung pauses, she doesn’t know why but she suddenly feels a sense of pity towards the other girl, “I hope you find her soon, Ssul.”

“Thank you, Jungie,” Jinri beams the Jung her angelic eyesmile, “by the way, that girl who was with you this afternoon… Victoria-ssi, wasn’t it? Who was she?”

“Just a friend, why?”

“She’s so pretty,” Jinri laughs, “like a goddess.”

“Well, her nickname is ‘the Chinese Goddess’,” Soojung laughs, “but you know, Ssul, I think you’re prettier than her. Just my opinion, though…”

“Really?” Jinri’s face reddens, “but, what’s prettier than a goddess anyway?”

“Hmm…” the brunette thinks for a while before her lips curls upward into a huge smile, “an angel.”

“An angel?”

“Yeah,” Soojung grins, “she might be a goddess, but to me, you’re an angel.”