The Shopping Trip

“Yeobosiyo?” Yoona’s chirpy voice asked on the other line.

“…Yoongie,” Jessica said as her eyes began to tear up.

“…Unnie?  Is this really you?” Yoona asked, her voice cracking like it usually did when she was on the verge of tears.

“It’s me,” Jessica said quietly and squeezed Jiyong’s hand for support.

“Unnie!” Yoona exclaimed and started to sob, causing Jessica’s tears to spill out as well.

“Have you been well?” Jessica asked through her tears, causing Yoona to cry even harder.

“Are you eating well these days?  Are you making sure to get enough sleep?” Jessica continued to ask through sniffles.

“Unnie, I miss you so much!” Yoona cried, “I’m so sorry for everything, unnie.  These past couple of years have been dreadful without you.  I cried every single night for months and then I thought about how you must’ve felt and it just… I felt like I didn’t even deserve to cry.  This industry, the fame, the money, everything just meant nothing to me anymore.  Yuri and I would spend many nights talking about how we felt like ghosts and how we regret everything that happened.  We were sick and tired of being so fake all the time.  It wasn’t worth it.  Money can’t buy the friendship that we had and I’m so so so sorry, unnie.”

Jessica breathed a heavy sigh as the painful memories and the happy ones before that all came rushing back.

“It’s okay, Yoona-ah.  The past is the past and I’m in a happier place now.  Even though what hurt the most was separating from you guys, in the end I think it would be childish of me to hold grudges.  Especially with you, Yoongie.  Our friendship always has and always will mean a lot to me and I’m going to fight to maintain it,” Jessica said as she wiped her tears, already feeling better for getting everything off her chest.

“You always had a heart of gold, Sica.  Thank you.  I never imagined that I’d hear from you again, let alone get a call from you.  It really means a lot to me.”

“Phew, okay, so no more crying, arraso?  Let bygones be bygones,” Jessica said with a genuine smile.

“Arraso, unnie.  This time I’ll also fight for our friendship,” Yoona said with a final sniffle.

“You better!” Jessica joked, making Yoona laugh on the other line and it felt just like the old times, “Oh, and we’re having a camping trip next week so clear your schedule because you’re coming!”

“Oooh that sounds fun!  I’ll definitely drop everything and come.  Text me the details?” Yoona beamed.

“Sounds good!  See you then, Yoona-ah.”

“Saranghae, unnie!  Have a good night,”

“Love you too, my cute little dongsaeng.  Sweet dreams,” Jessica laughed and finally ended the call.

She turned to Jiyong with a massive smile on her face, causing him to chuckle. 

“That felt really good!” she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him in an excited hug.

Jiyong smiled and ruffled her hair, “I’m proud of you, Jess.”

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 “Sica, are you sure you can eat all that?” Jiyong asked as he eyed Jessica’s overflowing plate.

“Yah, never tell a girl what she can and can’t eat,” Jessica warned while narrowing her almond-shaped eyes.  After the refreshing phone call with Yoona, the two had spent a couple more hours in the YG building doing random things; such as, running into and meeting numerous YG employees, playing pranks on Seungri, and even having a talk with Yang Hyunsuk.  But, what truly took up most of their night was the hours they’d spent in the recording studio.  At first, they were just fooling around, Jiyong forcing Jessica to sing, Jessica making Jiyong join her, and playing around with the instrumentals.  However, knowing Jiyong, it was only a matter of time before a wave of sudden inspiration hit him, causing him to grow serious and actually begin working on a new song.  Jessica was sure he had multiple personality disorder after seeing him in the studio. 

After Jessica was finally able to pull him away from his workaholic ways, it was already 11:30 pm.  And since they hadn’t had a single bite to eat since lunch, Jiyong and Jessica were naturally hungry.  In fact, it was kind of unbelievable that they spent such a long time without food.  So, they decided to use one of the YG cars to drive to a buffet-style restaurant. 

“I’m just trying to look out for your well-being,” Jiyong said with a laugh, “eat whatever you want.”

“Oppa,” Jessica began as she started to cut her steak, “would you still like me if I was fat?”

“Of course.  Slightly less, but still…” Jiyong joked, causing Jessica to kick him under the table.

“It’s okay.  I’m sure I can find some guys who won’t mind a couple more digits added to my weight,” Jessica teased playfully, “hmmm, who should I contact?  Jonghyun? Or maybe Taecyeon?”

Jiyong scoffed and clenched his jaw. She could practically see the dagger’s his eyes were shooting at her, but that only urged her to continue.

“Oh!  I know!  I’ll call Jay,” Jessica said as she leaned forward and stared into Jiyong’s eyes playfully, monitoring his reaction.

Jiyong gaped at her incredulously before tilting his head up and staring heavenward, “Oh lord have mercy for I may commit a murder tonight.”

“This is too easy!” Jessica said with a laugh, “you get jealous so easily.”

“Only because it’s you!” Jiyong exclaimed, at a loss, and looked at her warily.

“Arraso,” she said quietly and stuck out a lettuce wrap to feed him, immediately pacifying his frustration.

After dinner, they decided to go for another walk by the river to enjoy the night scenery.  They were walking hand in hand and enjoying the brisk evening weather when Jiyong’s phone began to ring.

“Yeobosiya?” He asked as they continued to stroll down a lit-up pathway by the bridge. 

“Just a sec, omma, I’m gonna put you on speaker,” Jiyong said to his mom as he pressed the speaker button on his iPhone.

“Jiyong-ah!  Where’s Sooyeonie?” Jiyong’s mom asked loudly on the other line, causing both Jiyong and Jessica to chuckle.

“Annyeonghasiyo Ommoni, this is Sooyeonie,” Jessica said and looked up at Jiyong with a happy grin.

“Omma!  I haven’t seen you in two weeks and the first thing you say is ‘where’s Sooyeonie’?” Jiyong asked incredulously, making Jessica laugh and pat his arm.

“Oh don’t be so sensitive Jiyong, I call you every day, but it’s not often that I get to hear Sooyeon’s beautiful voice,” Jiyong’s mom replied, causing Jessica to laugh even more and Jiyong to smile down at her amusedly. 

“Thank you, ommoni, I missed hearing your lovely voic