*Narrator POV*

Krystal had been sitting at the table quietly while listening to the dull noise of people talking, and the sounds of the coffee making machinery working away. She tapped her fingers on the table, feeling bored and wondering if she probably should have stayed home. She had agreed to come with her sister today because she didn't want to stay alone though. She was still a bit shaken up by the day before. Even though Tiffany didn't have a chance to further her advances, Krystal was sure Tiffany would have, and that's what scared her besides the fact that Tiffany was really forcing herself onto her.

She knew Jessica was worried. Jessica sounded worried, and Krystal didn't even have to see her expression to know that. But Krystal still felt doubtful about it. When she first came here, her sister was cold and indifferent to her. Now, it felt like Jessica was starting to warm up to her...or at least trying. Krystal honestly didn't know what to think, though. Maybe her sister was trying now, but would she tire of it later?

Krystal remembered the awful dream before waking up to her sister's touch. Jessica's angry expression and furious voice echoed in her mind. Stay away! It made her want to cry. But the feeling of Jessica's hand rubbing her arm this morning helped to calm her down...except that it had also startled her. All Krystal could think about was what if Jessica ever found out what Tiffany had done to her? What would Jessica think? Would she find fault in Krystal?

But yesterday, Jessica had kept asking her what happened while she was away. In fact, she had begged her.

Krystal wished she could tell Jessica...yet she just couldn't.

And moreover, Krystal didn't want to remember it. She didn't want to remember the invasive touch, and Tiffany's lips and tongue forcing her to accept. She didn't want to remember how Tiffany's hand was slowly inching up towards her s, and she didn't want to think about what could have happened if Jessica hadn't come back home.

She leaned her arms on the table and sighed. If only...if only she had her eyes...If only father came back...

If only she hadn't been sick in the first place...she wouldn't have to be in this big mess.

Krystal didn't know how much time had passed, but she heard the chair across from her scrape against the floor.

"Hey, Krystal," Tiffany said.

"Hi," Krystal mumbled. She felt uncomfortable after yesterday. What did she want now? To tell her not to tell Jessica again? Or to apologize?

"How are you?" she sounded a bit nervous while trying to sound nonchalant at the same time.

The younger girl shrugged, and faced away from her. She  wished she would just leave right now. She didn't want to talk with her much after yesterday. Krystal had trusted her as another older sister, but it was only to her advantage to do what she did to Krystal yesterday.

"Krystal...about yesterday," Tiffany started. "I...I don't know what came over me. I just...it just happened and I couldn't help myself..." She paused as if waiting for Krystal to say something. "Krystal, you're really--I mean, you're so good to your sister even after what she did, and I find that admirable."

What?! Krystal thought with disbelief. Why was Fany changing the subject?! Krystal couldn't say anything because she was too shocked and simply had no input for Tiffany. This was going way off topic.

"Krystal, I find you really attractive," Tiffany said.

Krystal's face heated up and her heart started to speed up. "Huh?" She sat back into her chair, leaning her hands on the seat of the chair tensely.

Tiffany laughed. "I guess it's new." She sighed. "Krystal, I'm really sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have done that. We can just forget about it can we?"

 I wish, Krystal thought. It wouldn't be easy at all, especially since Krystal had been pretty badly affected by Tiffany's advances.

"Um..." Krystal started nervously. She fidgeted with her fingers on the seat of the chair. She suddenly felt really uncomfortable as if someone were keeping a close eagle-eyed watch on her.

"Krystal, I'm telling you the truth. I think you're a fantastic person." Tiffany suddenly sounded shy, and she cleared . "I think you could make people fall for you especially at what a golden heart you have." Tiffany looked down at her hands. "Honestly, I don't regret kissing you," she said under her breath so no one could hear.

Krystal was at a loss, and she didn't know what to do. Was Tiffany confessing to her right now? Krystal's brain was on high power as she was processing all this information and tying it into yesterday's scene. But...but unnie, she thought, thinking about the one night her sister came back home drunk. Krystal then remembered seeing her sister at the front door of her home for the first time since she came back from California. She's really pretty, she recalled thinking when she saw her again.

"By the way, you have a really mean bite," she added.

"Sorry," Krystal said softly.

Tiffany felt guilty, knowing that it was her own fault anyway. She patted Krystal's cheek. It was so soft.

"Your sister still doesn't know does she?" Tiffany asked. "Look, just forget it happened, and-"

"And what?" Jessica's voice suddenly penetrated the thick tension.

Krystal jumped and felt goosebumps pop up from her skin. Jessica was here? Did she hear everything?

Tiffany was scared too. She didn't notice Jessica in the heat of the moment. "Jess, what are you doing here?" she demanded aggressively.

"What is there that I don't know?" Jessicas countered back.

"It's none of your business, Jess," Tiffany said impatiently. "I'm just talking with your sister." Tiffany hoped Jessica hadn't heard any of it. Although Jessica and Krystal were still going through the developing stage of familial reconciliation, she knew that Jessica would be pretty pissed if she ever found out about the kiss. She wasn't sure who was to blame, but somebody was going to get killed in the process.

Krystal sat there silently fighting off the cold feeling settling in her chest. What if she heard? What do I do? she thought to herself nervously.

"Well, I think it is if it involves my sister," Jessica retorted. "But you also mentioned me earlier, and I want to know what it is that's supposed to be a secret between the two of you." Jessica fixed Tiffany with her cold gaze. 

"Jess, look, I'll explain later," Tiffany said. "Right now isn't a good time." And indeed it wasn't. Jessica was already a little angry that there was a secret between them, and that could turn into an atomic bomb.

"Is it about yesterday?" Jessica questioned. She had a gut feeling that the secret was definitely about their behavior. Why had Tiffany mentioned about Jessica not knowing what happened between her and Krystal?

"Well, yeah, but-" Tiffany started to say.

Krystal decided to put an end to this game of cat and mouse. She didn't want Jessica and Tiffany to have a fight over some stupid secret (which was really important to not let Jessica know about). "I hit Tiffany-unnie," Krystal suddenly said. "That's why was all broken."

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*Krystal POV*

This morning was a blur. All I remembered was Jessica trying to get me to eat something because I wasn't really hungry. After having that dream, I didn't really want to do anything with my sister. I couldn't forget the way the Tiffany in my dream was trying to devour my body with her bloody mouth, and then my furious sister. Jessica was really mad, and I felt really empty when I remembered her back turning on me. But the one thing that really scared me was why I couldn't see her face when I dreamed her holding me in her arms. All I really saw of Jessica was her angry face.

When we got to the coffee shop, Jessica sat me down at one of the tables. "Do you want anything?" she had asked.

I didn't really want anything. I was feeling kind of sick to the stomach anyway, so I declined her offer. She squeezed my shoulder and ruffled my hair before she went to work.

I was just trying to enjoy the peace of the aromatic coffee shop, but then Tiffany-unnie had to come and talk to me about the other day. I honestly didn't want to remember it. I didn't want to remember that awful dream either.

But I was really shocked and confused when Tiffany told me about what she thought about me. I don't know if that was supposed to be a confession or not, but what else could it be? So is that why she kissed me? Because she likes me?

Now Jessica suddenly popped up out of nowhere, and was about to start a fight with Tiffany-unnie! I didn't want them to make a big deal out of it, mostly because I didn't want Jessica to know something really had gone on the other day. And well, Tiffany-unnie obviously blew it herself.

But I couldn't let my sister know what happened. I just couldn't let her find out...for now.

So I made up another lie, hoping it would sound credible enough. As soon as I opened my mouth, the air was silent save for the sounds of the coffee shop and people.

"Uh, yeah!" Tiffany suddenly exclaimed. "That's right!" She tried to laugh to make it look as natural as possible, but I saw through it of course. I hoped my sister would be fooled though.

"We were playfighting," I continued. "And I hit her in the mouth by accident." I was praying that Tiffany wouldn't ruin the fake story by using one of her silly ideas.

"I thought you said you bit yourself," Jessica said with suspicion evident in her tone.

"Well, yeah! But she hit me and it hurt really bad. She's really strong." Tiffany countered hoping her argument would stop the volcano from exploding.

"Why were you even doing that?" Jessica demanded. "Playfighting?"

"We made a bet," Tiffany said nonchalantly. "About whether you were a or not."

I mentally face palmed. Way to go.

I heard my sister gasp--not sassily--but in shock and annoyance. I knew for sure that Tiffany had pressed one of her buttons."Fany..." My sister growled warningly.

Tiffany laughed nervously. "Just kidding! It was about--"

"It was about Amber," I cut in, feeling really bad for lying again. But I was also really annoyed at how badly Tiffany-unnie can lie. "Tiffany thinks Amber isn't qualified to be a human, but I thought Amber was ok."

TIffany immediately agreed. "Obviously she won."

I tried not to let the guild of lying weigh me down, but I couldn't let Jessica know the truth. I didn't want to tear apart her friendship with Tiffany just over a stupid kiss.

But it wasn't just a kiss...Tiffany had touched me...almost molested me....

I tried to block out the memory. I coudln't let it show or else my expression could give away the fictional situation I'd created.

"Well, then don't start stuff, Fany," Jessica said to close the topic. "And be more careful, Soojung."

I hoped that the lie worked today. And I hoped Jessica wouldn't ask me about yesterday again either. It was already worse enough that I'd been told not to tell her, AND my sister really wanted to know what was going on.

"I'll never do it again! Scout's honor!" Tiffany declared.

"You're not even a scout, Fany," Jessica said with disapproval.

I heard her pull the chair next to me, and sit down. I almost jumped when she cupped my cheek to turn my face in her direction. I don't know what she was doing, but I felt her eyes grazing over my face as if she were checking for anything. She my cheek gently just like she had been doing for a while now. I shivered involuntarily, and realized how stiff my muscles suddenly felt. I guess I must have been gripping the seat of the chair really tightly. I was nervous now. Could my unnie tell that I had come up with a lie?

"Uh...I think I'm gonna go now," Tiffany said a bit nervously. 

Oh snap! As soon as my sister touched my cheek, I had forgotten about Tiffany-unnie.

"I have a few words to say to you, Fany!" Jessica said abruptly.

"Sorry, Jess," Tiffany said. "I gotta go!" She pushed her chair in.

"I'm off my shift," Jessica said. She started to get up. "So--"

I didn't want my sister to chew off Tiffany's head so I grabbed her in my arms tightly, preventing her from leaving. Something about this felt familiar yet foreign at the same time. She tried to push me off, but I buried my face in her shoulder.

How embarassing...in the middle of a coffee shop, but I really wasn't thinking. It was a spur of the moment thing, and I think Tiffany should appreciate what I did to let her get out of here. I couldn't believe myself. I was helping Tiffany, the "culprit", get away from what she'd done to me. Was that a bad thing? I just didn't want to cause trouble for anybody anymore, especially my sister.

I bet my sister was going to ask why I suddenly did this. If she asked about me holding her hand that one time, then she was sure to wonder why I hugged her like this in public.

"Jess, just take care of her for now. I'll talk to you later," Tiffany left immediately.

I heard my sister mutter things under her breath, but she never left. She wrapped an arm around my waist.

"Let's go home, Soojung."

I began to anticipate many questions from my sister and I started planning how I could dodge them all...without creating more lies to dive into.

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*Jessica POV*

No words were exchanged between us except silence on the drive home. Sometimes I'd glance at her during red lights just to check if she was ok. She'd been acting strangely all day. First, this morning, she was acting like she had done something wrong. Or maybe it was because she was startled by how close we were? No way. We'd slept in the hospital bed together. Then, she wouldn't eat all day except this morning. All she had accepted to eat was plain bread, and some energizing tea I made her drink because it wasn't enough. And then she thought I was going to be mad at her for some reason. That really caught me by surprise. Well, I guess I could have been mad at her for hitting me, but she didn't recognize me when that happened so I couldn't. 

And that really made me curious. Who was the person that she thought I was? Was it Tiffany? That was the only other person around her unless someone else had dropped by.

To be honest, I was more worried than mad. But I don't know if Krystal knew that. She was definitely a hard one to break. Sometimes, I felt like we were getting along, and other times it seemed like she was miles away from me.

How could I get her back? How could I stop her from running away from me like this?

Why can't she trust me?

When I thought back to that tiny argument with Tiffany, I couldn't help but wonder that maybe Krystal was trying to cover up something that I should know. Their debate over Amber's humanity seemed likely since Tiffany could come up with stupid things like that, and Krystal would definitely stand up for a friend--even for Amber. But something just didn't seem right. 

Krystal hit Tiffany? Why would she do that over Amber? Perhaps there was more to the story than they'd told me. In anyway, I had already decided to ask Krystal a little more about what exactly had gone on. It wasn't good for Krystal to lock up her feelings like that. She was scared...but what scared her that day?

And now she was so far away, and so jumpy around me again. Either that or she was unresponsive, or just simply refusing to answer me.

I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel as I turned at the light.

I let the warm water run down my body as I stood in the steamy shower. I lathered my bare body with the lavender scented soap. I sighed recalling my intrusion on Tiffany's conversation with my sister. I knew it was something they were hiding from me, and it was obvious if Tiffany was asking if I "still didn't know"--whatever that was.

I was even more puzzled now. How could playfighting over a silly argument cause Krystal to act in such a frightened state yesterday? Something had to have traumatized her yesterday for her to be like that. Playfighting doesn't do that. 

What Krystal told me just had to be a lie. It just had to.

I watched the soapy water, suds and all, as it whirlpooled down the drain. 

How I wished my problems could just disappear like that--mine and Krystal's. And I also wished that Krystal would just tell me what happened. I could see it in her expression. Something was wrong, and I didn't know anything about it.

As I washed my hair, I started thinking about how I would discuss this with Krystal. I didn't want to tyranize her or chase her away even more because of bringing up this topic. The couple times I'd brought it up in the 24 hours, she had been either ignoring or avoiding the question, and telling me about her roughhouse with Tiffany.

Honestly, all I wanted was for her to tell me. Maybe I could help her... but I knew it wasn't just that she didn't want to tell me. She didn't trust me. Not one bit.

I let the water rinse off the soap and shampoo before turning it off. I wrapped my body in a dry towel and stepped out. I sat down on the edge of the bathtub, feeling refreshed yet still stressed over Krystal's condition. I remembered Sunny telling me to just let Krystal know that I cared about her. But I began to doubt if that would even help me at all. If she already didn't trust me, how was she going to believe that I love her too?

I closed my eyes, remembering the first time I saw her in her apartment. She was still slightly shorter than me, but she'd grown up. She was tiny, yet appeared strong in stature. She looked like dad. But what I remembered the most was her eyes. Although she was younger, she looked as if she had seen more than I had...experienced more than I had. She wasn't the little girl I knew so long ago--the girl that cried when I was mean to her, the girl that tried so hard to get my attention and approval, the girl that never stopped trying to show me that she still thought about me...the girl I had hurt and lost because I was selfish. Her eyes were still bright, but they had lost the kind of happiness that used to be there. I guess as time went on, she began to see more of the world she was living, and that changed everything. She wasn't the pure, innocent girl anymore. She was on her own--independent and strong--abandoned by the only family she had.

But...if I'd stayed, would it have made a difference? 

When I finished washing up, I joined my sister in the bed. She was still awake and staring at nothing. I watched her while my heart gained a million tons of guilt and sadness. I love you, I heard the phrase echo in my mind. I caressed her head before leaning in to press multiple kisses to her cheek; but Krystal moved her hand up to gently push my kisses away from her. 

My heart felt heavy again with sadness. What was going on with her?

"Soojung," I started. "I--"

"Unnie, what would you do if you saw your girlfriend kissing your best friend?" Krystal interrupted.

"Huh?!" I gaped at her in shock. "Soojung, what are you talking about?"

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