“Is this even legal?” Jessica asked incredulously as she peeked over Jiyong’s shoulder at the growing crowd of people in front of Jiyong’s front gates. 

“No.  Technically, 99% of what the paparazzi does isn’t legal,” Jiyong muttered while glaring out the window. 

Jessica gradually turned away from the window and looked at Jiyong with concern.  He used to get angry quite often, especially when he was experiencing the start of his youthful, young adult years. It was in those rough times that they had both repeatedly hurt each other and made the mistakes that tore them apart for a painfully long time.  Now that they’d both grown up and matured their relationship was as strong as ever, but Jessica could still see some fragments of anger and pain lingering in him.  She understood those feelings because she also bore her own pain from those tough experiences.  Although their scars were gradually healing as a result of the time they’d spent together and the new memories they’d created, their relationship was still a work in progress.  What hurt her the most, though, was the fact that she was partly responsible for the pain he’d been through and the anger that resulted from it.  Thus, every time she sensed his negative side come out, she tried her best to alleviate it any way she could. 

He was still scowling at the reporters, his eyebrows knitting together and his eyes shooting daggers.  She could practically see the gears spinning in his head as he tried to plan an escape route.  Jessica smiled warmly as she looped her arms around Jiyong’s smooth neck.  With a sigh Jiyong finally shifted his focus from the paparazzi to Jessica.  Upon seeing her heart-warming smile, his expression softened.  He used one hand to her cheek and the other to wrap protectively around her waist. 

“I suppose we should’ve seen this coming,”Jiyong said with another sigh, “I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon.” 

“Come on, you’re thee GD.  Of course news like this would cause an immediate uproar.”

Jiyong smiled sadly and pulled Jessica into a warm hug.

“I’m sorry Sooyeonie, for the storm that’s coming,” He muttered while burying his face in her floral scented hair.”

“Technically, the storm’s already here, Ji,” Jessica joked, referring to the ‘storm’ of people outside the front gates. 

Jiyong rolled his eyes at her smartassness, but smiled at the fact that only she could instantly boost his mood.  Jessica pulled away from his embrace to look him in the eyes.

“Plus, if you’re going to apologize for anything you should be apologizing for that kiss scene in your sober music video,” Jessica teased while narrowing her eyes at him.

Jiyong smiled sheepishly and looked heavenward.

“Sicaaaa, we’ve been through this already. We didn’t actually kiss and even if we did, I don’t make the decisions regarding music video material.”

“Oh okay Mr. ‘For our next comeback, I want to be kissing someone during the entire video’. Don’t think I didn’t see that interview, Ji.  I know everything,” She said with an evil grin.

Jiyong’s eyes widened and he backed away in mock terror.

“Oh lord, you’re a saesang fan.”

Jessica laughed lightly and punched his arm, causing Jiyong to flash his perfect teeth in a wide grin. 

“But in all seriousness, Ji, how the hell are we going to get out of here?”

“Well… how I see it, we have two options.  Plan A:  just straight up go out there together and pretend the reporters don’t exist, or plan B:  since the reporters aren’t expecting you to be with me, I can leave first and you can get a friend or krystal to drop you off after the crowd leaves.  Both plans have their pros and cons,” Jiyong began to explain as he laced his hand with hers and played with her fingers. 

Jessica nodded in understanding, “With option A, the reporters will know that I spent the night over and that’ll only further escalate the response from your fans and media outlets.  But, with option B, even if we dodge these reporters, there will also be a crowd in front of my house and I’ll be swarmed with questions on my way inside.  They’ll especially question where I’ve been the entire night...”

 Jiyong nodded slowly and kept his eyes focused on their still-interlaced hands, “But the thing I like about the first plan is that we’ll be facing the problem together, and isn’t that why we decided to make this thing public in the first place?”

“That’s true.  I’m willing to do it if you’re willing to lose a couple fans,” Jessica said after resting her forehead on his chest.

“All I want, Jessi, is to go outside with you by my side as we joke and laugh until we can’t breathe, and then kiss you until we can’t breathe, all while feeling the sun’s heat on our backs and the cool wind run through our hair.  And I don’t care who sees it,” Jiyong confessed as he rested his chin on her head. 

“Then I think it’s settled,” Jessica replied softly, “let’s go with plan A.”

With that, Jiyong dashed upstairs to get ready, leaving a tired Jessica to wait on his couch.  She looked through her phone and her eyes stopped at a message she’d been avoiding opening for a while.  With a heavy sigh, she finally opened the message that read:

Unnie, I hope you are doing well.  I heard about the relationship news and wanted to sincerely congratulate you.  I knew you two would work things out eventually and still remember the hard journey you went through to get here.  I’m lucky that I got to be with you and support you in those hard times and wish that I could do the same right now.  You should know that despite everything that’s happened, I’ll always be your number one supporter and you will always remain my most beloved Unnie.  Please call me when you have the chance.  I love you, Sica-ah. <3