Chapter 26

Yuri's POV

I must be the greatest pretender. Hanging around Yoona has its advantages since she's taught me some acting tricks such as how to control your emotions and to show only those that you want others to see. But why do I have to pretend that I'm not hurt by hearing Sica call another person's name other than mine? Why do I have to pretend that I never heard her love confession in Jeju, that Jessica's soft lips on mine just now has no effect? I'm in the bathroom by myself so why am I still pretending?

I turn on the shower to create some noise so that it can cover up my sobbing. Sitting back down on the toilet seat, I open another roll of bathroom paper to soak up my tears. The last time I cried this hard was when the girls threw me a surprise birthday party.

I don't understand what happened between last night in Jeju to now. I just kissed her in bed but she was dreaming about Kevin. She told me that our special moment together never happened, that she doesn't remember. But even when she denied it, her overexplanations and lack of shyness when admitting to liking Kevin was rather suspicious. Why didn't she try to hide her crush on Kevin. Instead, she seemed a bit too eager to tell me that she likes him.

I don't know how long I hid in the bathroom crying, but the mirror had started to fog and I had already gone through a third roll of toilet paper. By the time I pulled myself together, the water had already turned cold.

Very well. If it's Kevin that she wants all along and me to always be the backup, I'll spare her. I, too, will forget about what happened, because she's chosen Kevin before. And when they went on their first date, I did say that I'll always support her decisions and to love her always.

---

But saying is much harder than doing. She's been a total tease these days which really makes me wonder what it is that she wants and if she really did forget about that night.

I did my best to ignore her, always making excuses that Yoona needs my help. It worked well until we watched the horror movie and she made me stay with her. After that, she just couldn't keep her hands off me.

She would always be fixing my clothes, touching me, making me touch her... Yuri, my wrist hurts again, can you give me a massage. Yuri, massge my ankle for me. Yuri this and Yuri that.

This time, it was, "Yuri, you forgot to tuck in your shirt."

"Huh?" I look down and my shirt was indeed untucked. How does she manage to always catch me like this? I'm just asking to get tortured.

Jessica's already moving her hands down the front of my pants. This is just too hot for me to handle right now. "It's ok, I could do it."

I try to push her hands away but she was too fast. I ended up sliding my hands to her wrist and up her forearms as she reached around to the back.

Breathe, Yuri. In. Out. In. Ou-- oh god! Her small fingers were grazing against my bare skin.

"There! All done!"

I stammer my thanks and run off to the mirror. Seeing my own reflection in the mirror reminded me of a wet tomato. My face was flushed and beads of sweat were forming on my forehead. Thoughts of Jessica in that hotel room kept coming to my mind.

"Yul, you ok? You seem a bit red. Not a fever I hope," Sooyoung says to me as she reaches out to feel my forehead.

I slap her hand away. The only fever that I have is the Sica fever. I need to get out of here before I do something unthinkable. "I'm fine let's go."

As I'm slipping on my shoes, I hear Jessica tell Taeyeon that she lost her bracelet and the leader grants her one minute to find it.

"I'll help her!" I hear myself volunteer. Consciously, I know I should stay away from her. But my heart and body needs to be near her so badly right now.

"Yuri, I found it! Let's--"

I spin her around to face me, surprising her and she drops the bracelet on the ground. At this moment, nothing else mattered to me other than feeling her lips on mine. In three simple words, I tell her exactly what I want before we kiss. Her.

I push the collar of her shirt slowly to the side and kiss her on the collarbone. This time, I hear her moan my name and it was then, I just knew that, like me, she never forgot that night in Jeju.

"Yuri, one minute is up." She pushes me off her and runs out the door.

Damn Taeyeon! One minute was not enough. I pick up the bracelet that Jessica dropped earlier and chased after her.

-----

After we attended all our scheduled events, I rush over to Prologue. I must clear everything up tonight. It's already really late and I might have just missed Kevin.

At the speed that I'm running, I might have even broken the world's fastest man's record. Good, the lights are still on meaning he hasn't left yet.

I throw open the doors with such force that they almost hit me as they swing back in place.

"Kevin," I huffed.

"Yuri! What a surprise! How have you been? Where's Jessica?"

I didn't want to waste time with small talk. So I ask him as directly as I could, "Kevin, are you gay?"

The books that were in his hands drop to the ground. He's clearly shocked at my question."Woah! What?"

Okay, I might have been too direct. Let's try this again. "I've been good. Jessica's at home. So do you like girls or boys?"

"I... I... Yuri, is everything okay?" He looks at me with concern.

"No, I'm not okay. I like Jessica. A lot. And she confessed to me a couple of nights ago but now she's acting weird, saying that she likes you. So I need to know, do you or do you not have a boyfriend in the States?" I manage to say all in one breath.

He looks at me as if he's trying to understand the point of my question. I know I'm sounding a little crazy and rude, but his answer means everything to me.

I see him sigh as he takes a step closer to me. "I'm guessing Jessica told you right? Yes, I do have a boyfriend in the States and what Jessica told you about liking me is not true."

"It's not? She's not in love with you?"

He shakes his head. "Nope. Not one bit."

"If you're already involved with someone, then why do you keep calling her and why did you ask her out on a date?" Don't tell me he likes both genders.

"I called because I thought there were some really great books that she should read. And that so called date, well, it was so she could meet my boyfriend before he went back to San Francisco. So the two of us took her out to celebrate her birthday early." He takes both my hands in his. "Listen, Yuri. Jessica and I are just good friends. She calls me to talk about you."

"She does?"

"Yes, she does. And, girl, after hearing all about the way you treat her and the things that you do, I don't understand why she likes you or where she even gets the patience to put up with you!" He let's go of my hands and gently pushes me from behind towards the door.

There's still some things that I'm not understanding. I've never been in love before so I'm not exactly a genius when it comes to figuring out Jessica's reactions.

"If she likes me, then why is she pretending as if the confession never happened?" I ask him like as if he naturally knows the answer. Well, he should, being Jessica's confidant and all.

He pushes me out the door. "Go ask her yourself. I'll be waiting for your good news."

I should've done this a long time ago, asking Kevin if he likes Jessica or not. It would've saved me so much time and we wouldn't be like this right now, wanting each other but not doing anything about it.

I return to the dorm, happy that the feelings are reciprocal. In an extra cheery voice, I greet everyone. "Hey guys, I'm back."

Jessica comes out of her room with only a towel wrapped around her. "Oh Yuri, you're back."

I'm expecting her to say more, but she just turns to Tiffany and Taeyeon who's resting on the couch.

"Tiff, could you help me put some lotion on my back? I can't reach. And Taengoo, could you put some on my legs? My nails aren't dry yet." She sits down on the couch with one leg slightly raised for Taeyeon.

As I'm watching the short couple smooth kiwi scented lotion on her back and legs, a sudden rage explodes in me. I quickly march over to where they are and basically yank Jessica off the couch by her hand, dragging her behind me to my room.

"Yuri, what are you doing? Where are you taking me?"

Once inside, I reach behind Jessica and lock the door. I press my body against hers, trapping her between me and the door. I lean in until I could feel her heavy breathing on my face and narrow my eyes to look at hers. I could tell that she's slightly scared by my violent actions.

"Jessica, you're mine," I state before forcing my lips onto hers.

Jessica's POV

I managed to get a look at her menacing glare right before she plunged her tongue into my mouth. I had waited for quite some time after my shower for her to return to the dorm. When she finally did, I moved onto my plan, purposely letting her see Tiffany and Taeyeon touch me in hopes of triggering some jealousy from her. I just didn't expect this kind of a reaction.

***My hand was splayed across her shoulder, pushing her to stop as my other hand entangled itself in her jet black hair, pulling her closer for a deeper kiss. I was torn between wanting her and preventing anymore pain from happening.

"Mmmm... stop," I muttered unconvincingly into Yuri's mouth as I tried to escape being trapped against the door.

Lifting myself off the door only brought me closer to Yuri's body so I spun around to slide away, but the grip that she had on me was too strong.

"I'm not letting you get away this time." She grinned. "You remember, don't you?" Yuri asked me before claiming my lips again, never allowing me the chance to answer.

As I forced every bone in my body to pull away (if I knew what was good for me, for us), I stumbled back onto bed, dragging her down with me.

"No. I don't remember. I don't know what you're talking about," I managed to squeeze out instead of moaning in pleasure as she cupped my head, massaging the back of my neck.

She trailed kisses down along my jaw to the base of my neck, pausing every now and then to nibble before reaching my weak spot at the collar. As she slides down my body, I feel the towel around me loosen.

"What about now?" she asked prior to kissing my collarbone.

My hand shot straight to her head, holding her against me as she bit down on my skin and then soothed it by tracing the mark with her tongue. The way she teased me with her mouth sent electrifying pulses down my body right down to the flutters that I was feeling in my stomach.

"Remember now? That night in Jeju?" she asked again.

Remember? I've only dreamt about it every night as well as what she's doing to me right this moment. Instead of admitting defeat, I utter a word quite opposite to what we both want to hear. "No..."

As she continued to move down, I felt the towel slide down to my waist, exposing me to the cool air for a brief moment before Yuri covered me with her hot kisses, moving around expertly like as if she already knew all the secret places that drive me wild.

"Still don't remember?"

I fought the urge to scream out in pleasure as I squirmed beneath her. With one hand still on her head and the other gripping onto the bedsheets tightly, I protested. "N..no! Now stop!"

This only made the determined girl to move lower still and the towel moved down with her until it was no longer covering me. With just one touch, whatever resistance I had left in me a minute ago just disappeared.

"Now?"

I couldn't stop myself from moaning. "Yes! Yes, Yuri!" Even after giving in, she didn't stop pleasing me. "Wait... s...stop! The girls... outside. They'll hear us," I managed to say through my heavy breathing.

Instead of stopping, Yuri just threw one of her pillows at me, hitting me on the head. "I've been waiting too long for this."

I had no choice but to muffle my cries of pleasure with the pillow. I held it tightly to my face, making breathing even more difficult.***

Yuri's POV

Positive that she was satisfied, I crawl up to speak to her, switching on the lamp by the table. "Jessica..." I try to pull the pillow away.

"Go away," I heard her muffle underneath.

"Baby..." I attempt to remove the pillow once more from her deadlock grip before she suffocates herself.

Without any success, I try to pry her hands off but that was also a fail. Grabbing the towel that fell to the side, I wrap Jessica up, hiding her beautiful tempting body.

"Jessica, we need to talk."

"I don't want to."

Sigh, this girl... this girl that I love so much. I kiss her on the collar and the moment I feel her succumbing to the pleasure, I pull the pillow away.

"Yah!" Jessica shrieked in surprise.

"Now I could hear you!" I look at the angry Jessica who's lying on my bed and I fight every urge to taste her again. "Sica baby, we need to talk."

Yanking the pillow out of my hands, she starts to hit me with it. "Ouch! Jessica!"

"Talk about what?" She hits me once more on my head.

"Ouch! Stop!"

Although I could tell that she's exhausted, she continues to whip the pillow at me, weakening with each hit.

"About the way you left me in Jeju by myself? Twice? Without explaining why you ran off?"

"What are you-- ouch! Stop hitting me!" As I blocked my head, she hit me in my stomach.

"Or did you want to talk about you being a jerk to me? Saying all those mean things to me? Twice!" She hits me again. In the face.

I deserved that one. I pursed my lips together to refrain from screaming out in pain. It might be a soft pillow, but when it's being whipped at you like as if a fastball is being thrown, it hurts. Probably not as much as the time I told her off at the restaurant and then saying how she's a cold person that I can't tolerate.

"Sica!"

"Or how about we talk about you pushing me away and right into Kevin's arms? Also twice! Or do you want to talk about all those other times where you made me cry?"

"Jessica!" I snapped before snatching the pillow out of her hands. "Geez! How many more times are you going to hit your Kwon Seobang like that?" I wipe a tear that's rolling down her cheek.

"You're not..." the out-of-breath short girl says to me, causing my heart to wrench in pain.

I pull her in for a hug. "I am," I say assertively.

Without the energy to pull away, Jessica says against my shoulder, "No. You're not. You're Yoona's Kwon Seobang. I read the text message while you were in the shower, right before you left to go help her with you-know-what."

She read my text message? Not that I cared, but was this what it was all about? Her claiming to like another man (who happens to like another man) because of Yoona's message to me.

I pat her head. "Silly, I'm yours. I belong to you only. Yoona is just my favorite dongseng just like how Seohyun is your favorite. You don't see me being jealous everytime you run to comfort her."

"What could Yoona have possibly needed help with then, in the middle of the night. What was so urgent that you had to leave late at night without telling me?"

"I didn't want to tell you why then... But I did leave you a note! Two actually. One on the microwave and another in your bag." Now that I think about it, the door and bedside table probably would've been better.

"Why would I check the microwave for a note?" Jessica asked, clearly bewildered by my choice.

What I'm about to say next probably sounds dumb, but it made perfect sense in my head at the time. Very softly, I tell her, "...because you can't cook?"

She glares at me and I quickly change the topic before she kills me. I let go of her and start to walk towards the closet. "Anyways, I guess I mght as well tell you now." I reach into the closet pulling a wrapped box out. "Before going to Jeju, I asked Yoona to help me make this. Me and the girls wanted to give this to you at your surprise birthday party but I wasn't able to finish it on time. That's why I came home so late." I hand her the box.

"That's why you weren't there for my birthday." She stated with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"And... That's also why I had to leave Jeju because Yoona was having some trouble with it and I had to rush back to make sure she didn't screw up the present. Plus there were some additions that I wanted to include."

"Well, why are you only giving it to me now? You could've given it to me that same night when you came into my room."

I stared at her in disbelief. Is she for real? "Jessica, you were moaning another man's name!" I yelled at her. "Calm down, Yuri. She didn't know he's gay. She loves you and will only scream your name in the future," I say to myself aloud.

"Yah! Yuri!" Jessica playfully shoves me, chuckling at me talking about her to myself. "I knew that he's gay! I just didn't want to be hurt anymore."

I hold her by the waist. "I'm sorry. I promise I won't hurt you anymore."

She raises her finger up to me. "Pinky swear?"

"Pinky swear." I let go of her slender finger. "Hurry up and open your present. I hope you'll like it," I urged.

I watch her rip apart the paper that's hiding the gift. She opens the box to reveal a photo album. Inside are all the pictures that Yoona and I developed of Jessica with the girls.

"I figured since you already have a portfolio of just your self-photos, how about having an album with us. Do you like it?"

"Aww... I love it Yuri!"

I'm grinning widely as I peer over her shoulders to see. "Oh, those are the photos that Yoona screwed up and had to call for help. The ones on the right are the proper ones."

She laughs while pointing to a picture on the left. "Haha! Taeyeon looks like a short red goblin!"

She continues to flip through the album as I rest my head on her shoulder, arms embracing her around the waist. We're both looking at the photos together, reminiscing about when the picture was taken.

She's nearing the end and because I was the one that put the album together, I knew exactly what was coming up. My face reddens to a crimson color.

"Oh! Are these the additions? These were when we were in Jeju. Yuri ah, when did you take these pictures?" She turns her head back to look up at me.

"When you weren't looking," I shyly answer.

I turned my head away to look at anything but the pictures. I was embarrassed at all the shots I snuck. My eyes focused on the scoreboard and in the dim lamp light something amusing caught my eye.

Letting go of her, I walk to a whiteboard. Along with Sooyoung, Yoona, and Tiffany's initials is a J and right below it are a bunch of vertical lines. There must be at least 30.

Turning to Jessica, I ask her with a smile, "Sica, did you do this?"

"No..." she denies but from the way she was blushing and biting onto her bottom lip, I knew it was her that added the J.

"Haha! You did this!" I teased. "Why did you add your name here? Do you even know what it's for?"

She's holding the album against her chest, gripping its edges. "I dunno, the number of times you melted their hearts?"

Judging from the amount of lines that are under Jessica's name, she just confessed to me that she's fallen for my ways more than once. I felt happy at the thought of this, at how this cold Ice Princess has fallen completely head over heels for me, how I've melted away the ice more than once. Yet, I couldn't control myself from laughing at her jealous behavior.

"Yah! Stop laughing at me!"

"Sorry, it's just... Bwahahaha! It's sweet that you thought that, but it's not what you think it is." Weak with laughter, I sit down on the bed.

"Then what is it?" she demanded.

"It's..."

If I tell her the truth, she might get mad at me. Really mad. I could always lie and say it's the number of times I've practiced those chapters in my English book. But I don't like lying to her. I've actually never lied to Jessica.

I suck in a breath of air and prepare myself for the worst. "It's a scoreboard for Sooyoung, Yoona, and Tiffany. See I wanted to get closer to you and needed their help. In return, I would have to give the pink Minnie doll to Tiffany, or cook for Sooyoung for a month, or bake Yoong a cake when one of them reaches five points first."

As expected, Jessica got mad and threw the album at me. I caught it with my hands and place it on the table before holding her by the arm to stop her from leaving.

"Sica, wait!"

She spins around to face me. "So everything that you've done were just directions from people? The apology, the activities in Jeju, you sleeping with me... was I actually being romanced by somebody else all this time? Should I be in bed with them right now, thanking them?" she spits out in her cold and angered tone.

"No, no! I'm sorry!" I begged. "I wanted to sleep with you-- I meant, the radio apology, Jeju, everything was real. It was all me!" I cried out desperately. "They just gave me stupid ideas but even if they hadn't said anything, I would've done it anyway. I guess I was just going to them for courage."

I go to the drawer and pull out the book that fueled this competition. Jessica's eyes widen at the sight of the book. "See! Their ideas were stupid. They wanted me to hold onto this book so that you would keep going back to Kevin. They wanted me to set you guys up! Stupid!"

She takes the book out of my hands and stares at the cover. Looking back at me, she throws the book back. "No. You're the one that's stupid."

I sit back down on the bed as I watch her storm out of the room, not knowing how to respond.

She slams the door behind her. I'm still frozen on the bed, flabbergasted at the outcome of being honest with her. If I had learned anything, it's to not listen to what your parents and teachers taught you while you were growing up and just lie.

Surprisingly, Jessica returned to the room without saying anything to me. She goes around me to the bed and I thought she was going to sit down. Before I could turn around to face her to talk to her, she leaves the room again, quietly closing the door behind her.

I slumped my shoulders, depressed once more. I'm staring down at the floor, wondering what I could do to salvage this relationship. I can't exactly go to the trio for help either otherwise Sica would never forgive me.

My head shoots upright as I hear the doorknob turn. Jessica coyly walks into the room again, locking the door behind her. She comes over and takes my hand in hers, causing me to get up.

"I just gave your little Minnie doll to Tiffany so you're going to have to buy me another one. A bigger one."

I nod my head up and down, happily agreeing to her demand.

"And you're going to cook for Sooyoung." She gives me a peck on my lips.

"Mmmmhmm..." I agree happily to her terms.

"And you're going to bake Yoong her cake." She kisses me lightly again.

"Anything you say." I smile back at the one who has captured my heart and is able to manipulate it with just a slight gesture.

"Yuri ah..."

"Hmmm?" I ask with our foreheads pressed together.

"What is it that you like about me? I can't cook, I throw tantrums, and I'm cold."

"Well..." I intertwine both our hands together. "I like the way your hands fit mine."

I release one of her hands to pull her by the waist, pressing our bodies together.

"I like the feel of your body against mine."

I brush a strand of hair to the side, away from her face when she looked down shyly.

"I like the way you smile..." I give her a small kiss. "...after everytime I kiss you." Her smile turns into a bigger one and she flashes me her pearly whites just before she looks down again and I think to myself how anybody could resist that smile. Why doesn't she have lines of people seducing her already.

I kiss her again, this time with a bit more passion. "Mmm... Yuri..." she responds.

"I like the sound of your angelic voice and I like the way you moan my name when I kiss you. I also like that thing that you do with your tongue."

With a smile on her face, she looks up at me, head slightly bowed. "Oh... Like this?" She twirls her tongue around in my mouth, moving it along with mine. "Like that?" she asks as she breaks the kiss.

I pretend to think about it for a bit and Jessica's hopeful eyes are searching mine for an answer. "Yeah, that too."

"Yah!" she slaps me on my shoulder while I laugh.

I pull her head and place it on my shoulder. "I like the way you rest your head here. Even though you like to bite down on my neck sometimes like a madwoman."

I was just asking for it. Jessica lightly bit my neck. "And then the way you lick the pain away?" She does exactly that, sending tremors down my body.

I continue to list all the things I like about her as she hides in my shoulder. "I like the way your ears turn red so fast." I cup her red hot ears. "And the way you take care of others. That's why maknae always runs to you first."

My mind moves away from her physical responses to her inner soul. "I like the way you are so determined and hard-working, your passion for singing. I like the way you attempt to help out with your lack of cooking and cleaning skills."

"Stop making fun of my cooking!"

"Haha! Okay, okay. So I like your cooking and your tantrums. And Jessica, you are anything but cold. You are hot. Oh so hot. Now what is it that you like about me?"

She raises her head off of me to look into my eyes before simply replying with a smile, "Everything." With that she kissed me and we found ourselves making our way to the bed again.

--------

"So did you? Twice?" I ask Jessica.

"Just now?"

"Yeah..."

She shakes her head and my eyes fly wide open. Was I that much of a disappointment? "Three times." She buries her head against the nook of my neck in embarrassment and we stay like that for a bit.

"Yuri, you've been eating too much ice cream." Jessica slides her hand across my bare stomach, breaking the silence. "It seems that you've gained a bit here since Jeju."

I glare at the princess in my arms with a my lips pressed together and turned upward. "Jessica, I'm not fat."

"I'm not saying you are... Just slightly plump here." She pats me on my stomach. "Cut back on the ice cream, 'kay?"

I take her hand, moving it away from my 'slightly plump' area. "Well, if you hadn't tortured me and made me all depressed since Jeju then I wouldn't have eaten all that ice cream!"

"Ok, fine. Next time you have ice cream, you have to share it with me."

"Fine. And the next time you need help with applying cream, ask me." I don't think I could handle another person touching my Jessica Jung.

"Okay, don't --"

"As a matter of fact, if you need help with anything, come to me first. Especially if it requires physical contact." I cut her off.

"Okay, I will. Don't ever run off without a word, leaving me in bed my myself."

"Never. As long as you don't call out some other person's name."

She slaps me on my stomach. "You're never going to let that go, are you?"

I entwine our fingers together. "Seriously Sica, next time, don't just start assuming things. Talk to me first."

There's silence and I accept it as her way of saying yes.

"Hey! Let's hook Yoona and Seohyun together. I could tell that your Yoona likes my Seohyun," Jessica suggests.

"What? What makes you say that?"

"I could just feel it...."

"Haha! Oh god! Sica baby, look at us. Look at how long it took for us to be here, to be together just because you felt that I liked Yoona." Jessica pouts at me and so I couldn't help spilling some information that Yoona entrusted me with. "But somebody did tell me that our little Yoong does like Seohyun."

"Oh, I see." Jessica nods her head in acknowledgement. "Well, somebody also told me that Seohyun likes Yoona." She winks at me which triggers my senses to go haywire and my heart to palpitate wildly. I give her a quick peck on the forehead.

"Before we hook anybody up, how are we going to tell the girls out there that we finally hooked up? How do we tell them that we're official?" I asked.

"I know. Get dressed." She throws my shirt at me as she wraps herself in her towel again.

"Sica, do you want to borrow some of my clothes?"

"Mmm... Okay."

After getting dressed, Jessica leads me outside of my room while holding hands.

"Everybody!" She gathers everybody's attention as she skillfully does. "We have an announcement to make."

"Jess, save it. We know." A particular mushroom says as she stops playing with the Minnie on Taeyeon's lap.

"Know what, Tiff?" Jessica challenges.

"We know that you two are an item now."

"You!" Jessica screams in English. She releases my hand and lunges forward for Tiffany's throat, but I hold her back and Taeyeon jumps in front of Tiffany to protect her. "You've been reading my diary again!"

"No I haven't!" Tiffany yells back in the foreign language from behind the short kid. "Look at your neck! And you weren't exactly screaming for help in the room..."

Although we weren't too sure of what they were saying in their fast English dialogue, we kinda guessed it when Jessica's hand started to rub at the base of her neck.

We both begin to blush. I take this opportunity to let all 7 girls know just how obsessed I am with this girl.

"Jessica?"

"Yeah?"

"I want everybody to know..." I take a deep breath for courage before continuing. "...that I love you and only you. You're the only one I want to hold. That is a promise." As some of the girls gasp in surprise or cheer us on, I pull Jessica in for an intimate kiss, sealing my promise.

THE END