*Narrator POV*

"Father!?" Jessica cried with shock and surprise. "What are you doing here?!"

Mr. Jung (Father) stood at the doorway and glanced at Uncle. Honestly, he didn't know why he was letting Uncle push him around like this, but Mr. Jung hadn't seen his eldest daughter for so long.

"Well, I'll just let the two of you have a heart to heart!" Uncle said silkily. "I'll be in the library!" Unknown to Jessica, Uncle smirked at Mr. Jung. "Come see me when you're finished." Uncle purposefully bumped his shoulder harshly against Mr. Jung's as he left the room. Once the uncle shut the door closed, he sniggered. "Maybe I'll find something useful to use against him." He sneered. "I can destroy him!"

Silence commenced between Jessica and her father. Jessica couldn't believe he was standing here in front of her, and Mr. Jung felt his hands start to sweat. He knew that Jessica purely abhorred his whole being, and she was probably upset that he had just given Krystal to her while he ran off. 

He quickly glanced at Jessica before looking down at the ground and wiping his hands on his pants. He cleared his throat. "Sooyeon..."

Jessica stood up quickly. "You didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Is this where you ran off to?"

Her father in a breath, but he didn't know what to say. His plan was to find a job because he had some connections here that could offer him a goodpaying job. Then, once he came up with enough money, he would send it back to Korea and help to fund Krystal's education and expenses. After just leaving her the way he did, he wasn't even sure if he was ready to face her.

"I didn't run off. Sooyeon, listen--" Mr. Jung started.

"No, you listen," Jessica snarled. "How could you do that to Soojung?"

"Jess, it was only temporary!" her father protested. "I was only going to--"

"That's not the point!" Jessica snapped. "What you did to me is the same thing you're doing to her right now!" She glared at him with cold dark eyes. "You told us you'd be back in a couple weeks. You never came back." She narrowed her eyes at him. "But it looks like you escaped here. I can't help but think you were running away from every single problem you've been  faced with...like how Soojung was sick."

"Sooyeon, give me a chance to speak!" Mr. Jung cried. "Ok! I admit! What I did was wrong! It was wrong for the right reasons!" His heart beat wildly as he confessed to his own daughter. "And I would have taken her to the doctor if I could but I didn't have the money!" He couldn't believe he was feeling like a five-year-old being reprimanded by his own daughter. He felt guilty and unsure what to expect from this angry Jessica. Even he knew that her outbursts could be like the atomic bomb if she were provoked too much.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be the father you could have had," Mr. Jung began to apologize.  "When your mother left, I was torn. I wasn't able to protect her...or stop her from running away. And then, when the police came back to tell me she had jumped off the highway....I just couldn't function anymore. I felt like my whole world had been stripped away. I loved her so much..."

Jessica felt her heart twinge with pain when his voice started to falter with tears, but she suddenly thought of Krystal and her stomach started to do multiple flips. 

"That still doesn't justify what you did," Jessica crossed her arms over her chest. "And it's not just me you should be sorry to. You've forgotten Soojung."

Mr. Jung sighed. "How's she doing?"

"Who?" Jessica narrowed her eyes at him.

"Sooyeon, please stop being difficult." He hesitated. "How is Soojung?"

Jessica looked at him with pure hatred. "She's fine as far as you're concerned." She's not. She's blind, Jessica thought angrily.

"Did she get the letter?" He hoped Krystal might be able to understand through his letter. He hadn't had time to explain what he was planning to do, and it was easier to express things in writing than speaking.

Jessica leaned on the chair. "Why would it have mattered? I can just tell her everything you wrote in that letter."

"You read it?!" he cried in disbelief. "She let you read it?"

"The truth was going to have to come out anyway," Jessica said exasperatedly. "And no. Since we should be honest to each other, I'll have you know she hasn't read it yet."

Her father looked at her uncertainly. "Then why haven't you read it to her?"

"I burned it."

Mr. Jung gaped at her with shock and feeling a mix of anger at what she did. "You're just as bad as your uncle! Why would you do that?"

"Why did you leave?" she challenged, offended that he had compared her to her uncle.

"Wait...how did you get your hands on it if she..." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Did you steal it from her?"

Jessica glared at him. "I didn't steal it from her. I found it when she..." She faltered. "She can't read it," Jessica said instead.

Her father seemed to sense there was something wrong. "D-did something happen?"

Jessica looked away. "She's fine. Everything's fine."

"Look, Sooyeon, I promise that as soon as I'm financially stable, I'll take her back," Mr. Jung said, thinking that she was really bothered by Krystal's presence. He was recalling how much she despised the both of them in the past. "You're sure nothing has happened to her...right?"

Jessica fixed him with a cold look. "You can find that out yourself," she said. "When you decide to be a real father."

She stared him down with her cold gaze. "But you seriously screwed up, father. If you think you can com come slinking back for Soojung, then you're wrong."

Mr. Jung gasped. "What?!" he spluttered. "Sooyeon, I thought you hated her..." He was absolutely confused. She hadn't actually said anything about wanting to keep Krystal with her, but it really sounded like that was what she was implying.

Jessica marched right up to him. Her father flinched as her eyes became chips of ice. She sneered at him with anger. "She's blind, father."

Mr. Jung stared at her incredulously.

"Apparently, she had a tumor in her brain for who knows how long, and one of her eyes was already having problems!" Jessica continued. Her tone was soft but cold. "And now she's blind because no one cared." She squinted her eyes at him with icy eyes. "Did you know that? Huh? Did you?!" she demanded. "I bet you didn't! You were too cuaght up with yourself to even care about her!"

Mr. Jung was at a loss for words. "W-what...? She can't be..." He shook his head and wiped his face with a hand. "Sooyeon, I have to see her."

"You can't." She looked at her nails and tried to act calm and collected. "You've proven that you don't want anything to do with us anymore."

Mr. Jung felt desperate. He was losing all he had lived for since his wife died. "Please Sooyeon, give me a chance to redeem myself." He looked worried. "You can't get mixed up with your uncle. He's always got something up his sleeve. Just keep Soojung--"

Jessica sniffed. "Out of it?" she finished. "It would be my pleasure."

"I'm serious, Sooyeon!" Mr. Jung said persistently.

Jessica's eyes hardened. "And so am I! Just stay out of our lives! Soojung doesn't need you to take care of her! She never has."

Mr. Jung's patience was running thin. "And she doesn't need you either! You were always biting at her for no reason! What makes you think she'd want to stay with you, huh? She's stronger than the both of us. Hell, she could outlive the both of us if she wanted to. She's got that stubborn courageous streak in her blood." He laughed bitterly this time. "Sooyeon, we are the same." He walked up to one of the bookshelves in the room. "We are cowards."

Jessica bared her teeth at him threateningly. "We are NOT the same!" she snapped. "For one, at least I took care of her while you ran away to do whatever crappy business you had in mind! AND when she was sick, you didn't even do anything about it! Plus you lied to the both of us!"

Her father sighed heavily. "Look, I don't want to argue anymore." He pulled out an index card with his number on it. "This is the last you'll be seeing of me, Sooyeon. I hope you're happy." He handed her the piece of paper. "Just tell Soojung that I haven't forgotten about her."

Jessica looked at him with disgust and snatched the card. She tore it right in front of him. "This is stupid." She threw the shredded pieces on the floor. "How can you be so afraid to see her, yet have the guts to tell her to call you?" she demanded.

"She can't see anyway."

Jessica felt really stung by that comment. "Oh sure. Just cuz she's blind it's ok to do that. That's awfully nice of you." She started to step back as if the conversation were closed. "I don't know how she still thinks of you as our father," she said scathingly.

Her father pulled out a piece of paper from his wallet and scribbled his number again. "Look just take it."

She reluctantly took it and stuffed it in her pocket. "Will that be all?" she said courteously in a sarcastic manner.

He gave her a level look. "I'm sorry, Sooyeon. If I could turn back time I would. I had no intention of hurting Krystal by leaving her with you. And I didn't mean to hurt you by lying about mother." He faltered. "You were only six then. How could I tell you your mother jumped the highway?"

Jessica didn't answer. Of course, Dad was trying to protect her because she was so small. How could he tell her that mother committed suicide? But how could he be so weak? How could he easily give them up like this? "Just leave."

"Wait--" he started, but Jessica silenced him with a warning glare. Mr. Jung looked at her sadly. "Goodbye, Sooyeon."

Jessica turned away from him. She was really mad. Her father had the audacity to leave Krystal with her, pop up out of nowhere, give her his number, and then disappear once again. How dare he?

Jessica sat down at the chair again and slammed her fist against the desk. She immediately regretted doing so because her hand hurt badly. However, the impact caused he pens holder to fall down, spilling its contents including the audio recorder. Jessica was too destracted with her argument with her father to notice that the audio device had fallen on the floor beside her foot.

"Sooyeon, we are the same," his voice replayed in her mind. "We are cowards."

Scenes from past talks with Krystal replayed in her mind. She remembered trying to explain herself to her younger sister, struggling to admit that she had been afraid of getting hurt, and losing people she loved the most. "Look Soojung," she remembered saying to Krystal the night she went to visit her. "I was a coward...I was afraid, Soojung. I didn't want to get close to you because I was afraid that I could lose you. I didn't want to be hurt again..."

Jessica let her head drop onto the desk with a loud bang. "I'm so stupid. I'm so stupid," she muttered to herself between gritted teeth. "I'm just like him."

While she and her father had been trying to appease their pains, they never once thought of Krystal.

She heard the door open. "Jess?" It was her Uncle. "How was it? I hope you liked the surprise."

Jessica rounded on him, knocking down the chair as she stood up. "Thanks! Thanks a lot," she growled and fixed him with angry cold eyes. "I don't want any more of your surprises!" She ran out of the room.

"Wait, Jess! There's business to discuss!" Uncle called after her. After a couple seconds, he smirked. "Oh well. to be you, Jessica Jung." He put the chair back into its original position and found the audio device on the floor. "What's it doing here?" He stood up and saw that his pens had been spilled all over the desk. 

Uncle sat down in his chair and lifted the device in the air. He sighed contentedly. "Now I can have a good listen on their little reunion." He pressed the play button while smiling maniacally. But then, he realized...

"! IT'S OUT OF BATTERY!" he howled and threw it to the ground with anger. He jumped all over it. "IDIOT! IDIOT! IDIOT!" he cursed himself.

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Jessica locked herself in the room. She didn't want to see anybody, especially not her aunt or Jiyeon, or that dumb old chauffeur.

Jessica was even more upset at herself after the talk with her father. She hadn't known that Father could be so weak. She had always thought of him as a strong pillar, but now, she had seen it for herself. He was like a paper castle--easy to knock down.

She threw herself on the bed and cried into the pillows. Soojung, I'm sorry...she thought. Because of us, you're like this! You don't trust anyone...not even your own family...and now you're blind because you were sick...because no one cared. 

She suddenly remembered snuggling with Krystal in the hospital bed the night she went to see her. Soojung, I just want you...

This was a huge mistake, she thought. I should never have even considered coming here.

I just want to go back home.

Jessica decided to end this 'vacation' early. Whatever other business her uncle wanted besides talking about that Seoul branch could wait. And she wasn't even interested anyway.

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*Krystal POV*

I had just finished my shower after some uncertainty in the tub. I guess I'd gotten used to having my sister be around (although most of those times I was uncomfortable with Jessica seeing my body...). I was glad Taeyeon had reminded me about where everything was before I was left to my own devices. Everything was always in its own spot so that we could remember where everything was. That helped a lot. They really were teaching us to be independent.

Plus I didn't want to have to ask for Sulli's help. Yeah, she was blind, but I really wanted to figure it out on my own, and it wasn't so bad anyway.

But while I was showering, I couldn't help but remember when my sister would help me get the spots on my back I couldn't reach, and her gentle touch...it was hard to believe that she was doing that for me...

So did that mean Jessica had changed?

Unfortunately, I was having trouble believing that the Jessica now would stay forever. What if it changed in the end? and then we'd be back at square one when she didn't like me...But she told you already! I argued with myself, She did it because she was afraid! She wants you to live with her. She said so herself at the hospital.

I sat down on my bed after putting my clothes in the designated spot Taeyeon had told me about. My mind was still arguing against me, and running with thoughts about my sister.

"So I heard a bit about your sister," Sulli piped up after I'd gotten settled in.

"Oh yeah?" I said inquisitively.

"Yup. Amber says she's real pretty," Sulli replied. "And besides, Amber only mixes with pretty girls so you must be pretty too."

I wasn't sure if that was flattery, but I felt a bit uncomfortable at that remark. "Well, actually, she knew my friend first, and then me. We go to the same school."

"So your sister...you live with her? Where's your parents?" Sulli asked.

"Uh...business call," I said uncertainly. What kinds of questions were these?

"Oh, I see," she said. "Know when they'll be back?"

"....not really."

Sulli sighed. "Don't worry. My parents put me up for adoption when I was really small. I never knew them."

I didn't know what to say. First questions, and now a life story? "I'm sorry," I said.

"Oh, don't be," she laughed. "It's fine, honestly. Victoria-unnie---I mean, Victoria, the lady who was talking this morning, she actually picked me up. You see, I was born without vision. After hearing my story from the staff at that orphanage place, she made it her goal to created an institution like this."

"That's nice," I said. 

"It's more than nice!" she exclaimed. "She built this so that those in need would have the hospitality and care they couldn't have from their parents." She paused. "Awfully nice of your sister to watch over you for them. You're only staying for the two week?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Um...are you enrolled here, then?"

"Of course!" Sulli cried. "I mean, well, this is a school from intermediate school to high school! I've been here all my life since Victoria is like my mom--well, she's more like my sister actually. She's not as old as we think she is."

"Anyway!" Sulli continued. "What's your story?"

"Me?" I said. "I don't have one."

"Sure you do!"

"Uh...I'm pretty sure it's not that interesting."

"Come on! I told you mine, tell me yours!" Sulli persisted.

So this was an exchange? "Well, I wasn't born blind," I offered weakly. "It just happened one day." I decided against telling her the actual story. I felt a bit uncomfortable with all those questions earlier.

"Well, you'll get used to it," Sulli said reassuringly. "Amber's told me lots about you. I'm so happy I finally get to talk with you! You sound really accomplished."

I made a face. "Uh...not really..."

"Oh sure! You were a star track member, smart kid taking all the hard classes, helping friends--I call that accomplished!"

Gee...did Amber really overexaggerated everything? I wasn't even a star track eventer! I didn't even know what I was doing. That's why I beat everyone in the sprint races. "Well...I'm not that good at track. And they aren't difficult classes. And I only offered to help my friend for her final project," I objected.

"But still!" it sounded like she was gushing. "All that time you put into your school must've come up to something!"

Yeah, this, I thought grumpily. I my side in the bed. "It was fun while it lasted," I said simply.

Sulli seemed to sense my discomfort about the subject, and it felt like she was trying to pretend it was nothing. "So, anyway, Amber said your sister's really y," she suddenly said.

I froze. "y?"

"Yeah! You know! The curves, the sensual--"

I shut my ears from all that crap. Honestly, I was done with all these overtalkative, over-extroverted creeps. They could literally talk you to death.

"She must have lots of boys after her," Sulli concluded. "She must like the attention. Think she's had ?"

I immediately shot up. I was so glad no one could see me right now. I was probably bright red, and my heart was beating with shock at what she just said. "Of course not!" I snapped. "What? Just cuz she's pretty makes her a e?"

Sulli laughed. "Alright, alright. Calm down, Krystal. It was just a joke. But honestly, most y women like having attention from those toms."

I facepalmed. "Well, she's not into that stuff. And she's not into guys," I accidentally blurted out the last part due to my annoyance. 

"Ah, so she's gay!" Sulli cried. 

"Look, I didn't--"

"It's ok, you homophobe. I'm gay too," she announced. "There's a saying. Like sister like sister. So you're gay?"

I was pretty sure it was 'like mother, like daughter' or the other variations or something! Sulli was nice, but was she seriously trying to annoy me right now? I've literally only known her for less than 72 hours. "No. I'm not," I said. "I don't like anybody."

"You're aual!" Sulli reconcluded.

"No. I'm just not interested at the moment." I really wasn't interested in a relationship. I didn't really pay attention to anyone...except that I remembered how pretty my sister was! She was like...like there were no flaws in her genetics whatsoever. I could feel her perfectness when I traced my fingers over her face. 

"You young people!" Sulli said. "Haven't you heard? 'Seize the day'! 'Carpe diem'! Go out and live!" She giggled. "Seems you're a bit uptight about your sister."

I sighed. This was never going to end. "I'm kinda tired," I said.

That seemed to make Sulli calm down and be a bit more sensible. "Oh...right. Sorry. I know how it is for you new people. See ya in the morning! And sorry for talking your ear off!"

I grunted in response, and tried to get to sleep.

This was the only the second night, but I was still having trouble sleeping here. The first night, I barely got any sleep. The place was too unfamiliar, and I missed sleeping beside my sister. Honestly, I liked when Jessica would hold me in her arms and kiss me before sleeping. It was comforting to wake up snuggled up against her...

Sometimes, she was so close, and I felt this urge...like I wanted to do something more with her. It wasn't the ual fantasy kind of thing, but more like--like romantic feelings? I remembered how pretty she was through the peekhole in the door of my old apartment home. And the night she slept in the hospital with me, and when she helped to feed me that awful soup, and that tickle battle when I tried using that piano trick on her, and then Tiffany kissing me, Jessica trying to get me to open up to her because she was worried about me, Jessica comforting me, the dream when she left me on the cold hard ground....

There were too many instances to count!

Or should I call them memories?

My sister had been--literally--showering me with affection regardless of anything including my uneasiness towards her. She'd kissed me in front of Tiffany-unnie before I left...and I kissed her too after feeling her face in my fingers. I don't know why I did it, but I just wanted to do something! At least to show I wasn't completely ignorant of her affections...sort of.

But everytime she did those things to me, it would make my heart beat with fear, nervousness, but also a hint of excitement--the good kind.

I pushed it all out of my mind. I can't think about my sister like that!

Maybe there is nothing to be afraid of with my sister.

I wondered what she was doing now, 15 hours away from here.

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