The clock was ticking monotonously. Yuri's eyes followed the second-hand of the clock in concentration. Her hands were folded on the metal desk, ready to grab the phone that was just a few inches away any moment. She sat there, motionless and tensed, until the three hands of the clock finally formed a straight line, connecting XII and VI. Yuri's hands shot to the phone automatically. A number was dialed in a brief span and after the usual second ring, a familiar voice was greeting her on the other end of the line. Yuri took a breath before talking.

"Hello Ms Han, here's Yuri. Could you please tell the president that I'm not able to come to the meeting tonight? No, no, he will understand. Thank you, Ms Han. Yes, thank you, have a nice evening, too. Goodbye."

Yuri put the speaker down before leaning back into her chair. She sighed, partly in relief. At least, there's one thing she had finally settled now. Yuri took out her cell phone, checking for missed calls and new messages. As she saw nothing, another sigh escaped her lips, but this time it was a disappointed, worried sigh.

After sending Jessica to sleep yesterday, Yuri didn't get to talk to the girl again. In the morning, when Jessica didn't pick up her wake up call, Yuri had thought the girl was too tired and just wanted to sleep. But she had been trying to call Jessica all day long, and the girl never picked up again, nor did she call Yuri back once.

Yuri punched a different number in her phone. She put the cell to her ear while her other hand was on the desk, the fingers tapping impatiently on the surface.

"Krystal?" The finger tapping stopped as the other end picked up.

"Yuri unnie?"

"Yes, it's me. Krystal, I've been trying to call your sister since morning but she didn't pick up. Do you know where she is?"

"I--I don't."

Yuri paused briefly. There was something weird in the girl's voice.

"Really?" She asked, careful to not sound offensive or doubting. "I... I need to see her. She can't just disappear like that. I mean, I was still putting her to bed yesterday. I--"

"Unnie..." Krystal cut her off. "I understand. I'll tell you immediately if I know where she is, okay? So you can come at once, because I know she needs you too."

"What? Why do you sound so--"

"Oh gosh I need to save my life now! Bye unnie!"

"What? Krystal? Wait, Krystal!"

But the line was already dead. Yuri couldn't help but to worry. The young girl sure sounded like she had something to hide. And the fact that Jessica didn't pick up her calls couldn't mean anything good, either.

"Taeyeon?" Yuri dialed another number, her last hope. "It's me Yuri. Do you and Tiffany know where Jessica is?"

"Isn't she home the whole day? I thought her dad didn't let her go out. Fany was talking to her like two hours ago."

"What? But I tried calling her the entire day, she never picked up." Yuri nervously loosened her collar.

"Really?" Taeyeon's voice sounded clueless. "Let me ask Fany. Hang on."

Yuri heard Taeyeon's voice calling Tiffany 'my sweety little pupsie mushroom' on the other end faintly. She missed Jessica even more, having to witness her two friends being all sweet to each other. While waiting for Taeyeon and Tiffany's conversation, she clicked on her desktop and it showed the wallpaper picture of Jessica and her, slurping on two ends of a noodle. Yuri's lips formed a small smile - something that happened everytime she saw Jessica's squinted eyes and the girl's cute blushing face on the picture. A small chuckle escaped her lips as she spotted Taeyeon in the corner, staring unobtrusively at her behind. She wondered if Tiffany had picked up on that when she sent her the picture. A feeling of bliss slowly floated her heart as she remembered all the good times they had together, amongst other things that little party Sooyoung, Sunny, Jessica and she had at Taeyeon and Tiffany's apartment. However, this only increased the wistfulness and regret and fear inside of her. She wasn't sure if she could handle living without what she was appreciating the most right now - those friends, and most importantly, Jessica.

"Yuri? You still there?" Taeyeon's voice snapped her out of her reverie.

"Yes, I'm here."

"Well, I've asked Fany and she said two hours ago, Sica was still at home." Taeyeon paused a moment to think. "Maybe she's avoiding you."

"What? WHY?" Yuri yelled into the phone. But she quickly gathered herself and lowered her voice to the normal volume. "I mean, why would she do that?"

"I don't know," Yuri could imagine Taeyeon shrugging. "She's being the stubborn princess again, I guess."

Yuri sighed. She thanked Taeyeon and hung up before the small girl with the loud voice could attack her with questions about the enterprise. Yuri knew Taeyeon and Tiffany were worried and probably couldn't get any decent information from Jessica, but right now, she couldn't think of work anymore. The only thing that occupied her mind was the question why Jessica didn't want to talk her. She couldn't imagine Jessica avoiding her just because the girl felt like it, with no particular reason. Jessica could be childish at times, but she wasn't that childish. Not to mention the current situation they're in was anything but appropriate for pranks and jokes. Yuri was sure there was more behind it. Much more. It scared her again, and she could only laugh at how ironic it was with her fears - ever since the Jung's downfall had become certain to everyone who didn't believe in miracles, including her, she hadn't once felt depressed from the loss of her own company. The entire headache was caused only by the fear of losing the relationships she didn't want to lose.

But then again, Yuri knew best, there are things that were inevitable. What was meant to happen... would definitely happen.

----------

Jessica paced back and forth in the living room. She was confused, irritated, conflicted inside. Her father was preparing to give up and surrender to fate, while her mother was still struggling, trying to save the business by visiting close friends and far relatives, begging for financial help. Jessica wasn't sure who to side with - her father or her mother - giving up and being realistic or keep trying but having false hopes. The confusion was agonizing, and she absolutely didn't know what to do.

Tiffany and Taeyeon had insisted to come and give her mental support, but Jessica had rejected it. She told her best friends to stay home without giving the reason. She hid it from them. It was simply because their presence would make it impossible for Jessica to not run to Yuri. And ever since she knew about her father's plan of the separation, a strong voice inside of her continuously forbad her to get in touch with the girl she actually needed the most right now. Krystal had worriedly asked her what was wrong, but Jessica couldn't come up with the courage to say out loud the real fear that caused her to act like that. The fear of getting hurt too much to not completely break down.

"I want to be alone. That's all." She had said. Obviously, her sister wasn't convinced by her answer. An hour ago, Krystal received a call from Yuri. If Jessica wasn't there and hadn't shot her sister glares non-stop, the young girl would have called Yuri over already. The only reason why Jessica didn't force Krystal to hang up or didn't run away to hide was that there was still a part inside of her that was crying, longing for and yearning to see Yuri.

Jessica hated it when she's conflicted inside. She hated how complicated her nature was, hated how complex her feelings could get. Everytime her heart was torn, she would lose her way and end up making mistakes after mistakes. She still had to learn how to make decisions and stick with them until the end. But right now, she couldn't decide. If she let Yuri go, her heart would die slowly for sure. She was scared Yuri would leave her, scared she wouldn't be able to stand 'Let's break up' coming from Yuri. If she didn't let Yuri go, however, her heart wouldn't give her one peaceful second, either. Because Jessica knew she couldn't be anything but a big, big burden to Yuri. She knew that with her family's ruin, Yuri would lose everything. She would be forcing Yuri to start with empty hands again. She would never stop being the one that kept Yuri away from success, preventing the girl from pursuing her dreams. As much as she hated the feeling, Jessica couldn't deny she felt like an impediment that would always balk Yuri's plans, holding Yuri back from reaching her goals.

Letting Yuri go would hurt... But not letting go just didn't seem right. She was caught in her own moral constraint. Jessica was feeling hopeless.

"Yuri!" Ms Ahn's surprised voice from outside startled Jessica.

She ran to the door and wrenched it open. In the foyer, Krystal was just falling into the embrace of the familiar dark figure with that constantly existing warm glow. It was really odd, but true. Wherever Yuri was, Jessica felt the air temperature rising to a comfortable level. Next to Yuri, it was never too cold during winter days, never too hot during summer days. Next to Yuri, Jessica felt warm, felt safe, felt so in love.

"Why are you always so warm?" She had once asked the tanned girl as they were lying on the couch together. Yuri had kissed her nose and pinched her cheeks.

"Because strawberries like warm and nice weather. Right?" The girl had grinned idiotically cute, causing Jessica to giggle. "You're my beautiful, precious, wonderfully fragrant strawberry giant-fruit." Yuri had said and leaned in, taking a bite of her very own strawberry, leaving a mark that didn't want to vanish for almost a week.

But right now, things weren't the blissful days they once shared anymore.

"Sica..." Yuri released Krystal from the hug as she spotted Jessica in the doorway of the living room.

The blonde girl couldn't move a muscle. She gulped down the lump in her throat as Yuri approached her. Time for decision. Now or never.

"I-I want to break up." Jessica blurted out, and Yuri got stuck dead in her tracks, her eyes widened.

"Wha--"

"Go away Yuri!" Jessica immediately turned around as tears threatened to pour. She ran to the opposite direction to the stairs, wanting to get into her room and hide.

"Wait--Sica!"

Yuri, although shocked, chased after the girl immediately. Her brain blocked out everything irrelevant, from Krystal's quick footsteps behind her to Ms Ahn's loud exclamation, only focusing on the blonde girl in front of her. There was still a gap between them when they ran up the stairs, but with her longer legs, Yuri caught up with Jessica at the end of the floor, right before the girl could get into her room.

"No!" Jessica shrieked as she slid through the gap, banging the door shut forcefully. But Yuri had already pressed her body against the piece of wood, not paying attention to the pain that felt like a broken bone on her right shoulder, where her body had hit the door.

"What are you doing, Sica?!" Yuri yelled, trying to push herself into the room. She didn't see Jessica, but could clearly feel how panicked the other girl was - there was no other explanation to the sudden strength that came from Jessica's side of the door.

"Why don't you want to see me?!" Yuri yelled again, her voice became hoarse already. "What's wrong Sica?!"

"GO AWAY YURI!" The high-pitched voice came from the other side, sounding strained and frantic. The door kept being pushed forward and backward with pressure being applied on both sides, neither one wanted to give in or up.

"NO!" Yuri groaned and hit harder against the door. "NOT BEFORE YOU TELL ME WHY!!!"

And with a push where she gathered all her strength together, Yuri finally won the battle. The door was pushed open so hard that it bounced back from the wall, hitting the frame just right after Yuri sneaked herself in.

"Jessica!" Yuri called and quickly grabbed Jessica's wrist as the latter attempted to run pass her to get out. "What the hell are you doing?!" Yuri shoved Jessica against the wall, holding her close. "I don't understand... I don't understand!"

"Let go of me, Yuri!" Hot tears flew down Jessica's cheeks as she shook her head, her eyes avoiding Yuri's. "Let me go!"

"Why? Why why why why why?" Yuri released Jessica's arms and cupped her face instead, bringing it up to look her into the eyes. "Tell me Sica, tell me! Why don't you want me to be there for you?"

"We're--" Jessica's voice cracked as she tried to shove Yuri away in vain. "--over!"

"WHY?!" Yuri's grip got tighter as her heart was shaking inside, she didn't even realize she might be hurting Jessica. "Wh-what did I do wrong?"

But Jessica didn't answer. She just kept shoving Yuri away to no avail, tears streaming down her face stronger and stronger each second.

"Jessica! What did I do wrong?!"

"You did nothing wrong!" Jessica cried as she turned her head, burying her face into one of Yuri's hands instead.

"Then why are you doing this to me?!" Yuri desperately pleaded for an answer. "Do you not love me anymore? Have you stopped loving me?!"

But Jessica just kept crying, not giving an answer.

"TELL ME!" Yuri yelled into the girl's face. "ANSWER ME!"

Jessica sobbed loudly, it was almost impossible to tell whether she was crying or screaming or both. Yuri's heart was stabbed by every sob of the blonde girl, she had to grip Jessica's shoulders to support her own weight, the eyes telling nothing but hurt and fear of losing the person she loved.

"Jessica..." Yuri weakly uttered, almost inaudible due to Jessica's loud sobs. "Jessica..."

"I'M SCARED, OKAY?" Jessica finally yelled back and kept trying to shove Yuri away. Tears had blurred her sight to the extent that she could only see the outline of Yuri's face.

"I--want to--let you go--" she croaked out, unable to control it any longer. "But I--just--can't--" Loud sobs took over Jessica's voice again, and she couldn't help but to cry harder.

"Then don't let me go!" Yuri helplessly said out loud, her hand's gripping Jessica's shoulder tightly. "Don't let me go, you fool!"

"No, I have to do it!" Jessica was still sobbing loudly. "I'm just a burden to you Yuri! I'm just bringing bad luck! If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have merged companies with my dad, your efforts of almost four years knowing-nothing-but-work wasn't going to be ruined! You have a dream, you have a goal, I know that, but still, I just keep getting in the way!"

"IT'S NOT TRUE!"

"YES IT IS! YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING YOU WORK FOR IF YOU STAY WITH ME! TELL ME HOW CAN I LET THAT HAPPEN?! YOU WILL HAVE TO LEAVE ME SOONER OR LATER, YURI, THAT'S TRUE!"

Jessica wiped her tears away with her sleeves, her eyes were burning. She then continued to hit Yuri's shoulder with her fists to shove the girl away while screaming her heart out.

"I KNOW ABOUT THE SEPARATION PLAN! I KNOW YOU WON'T ACCEPT IT IF YOU'RE STILL WITH ME! THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION THAN BREAKING UP! ACCEPT IT YURI! BECAUSE I ALREADY DID! I AM SCARED, I AM SELFISH! I'D RATHER SHOVE YOU AWAY THAN BE THE VULNERABLE ONE THAT GETS SHOVEN AWAY AND HEARTBROKEN... I DON'T WANT TO BE HURT! I DON'T WANT TO BE THE ONE THAT GETS DUMPED! I DON'T WANT TO BE THE ONE THAT GETS SHOVEN AWAY! DON'T YOU UNDERST--"

"BUT I'D NEVER WANT TO SHOVE YOU AWAY SICA!"

Yuri screamed back in despair, pushing the girl against the wall again to stop the struggle. Jessica exploded into tears and sobs again instead. She cried so hard, she had to bury her face into her pale hands. She bit her lips, trying to hold back, but the sobs were unstoppable.

"You deserve so much better," Jessica cried, the floor floating in tears already. "I'm not worth of you sacrificing something you've put so much effort in. I'm worth nothing you give me, Yuri! Nothing--"

Her voice cracked as she the sobs increased again, and she began to slightly panic when Yuri's hands slid off her shoulders. It wasn't until then that Jessica opened her eyes, trying to see clearly with fear completely taking over her - the fear of Yuri really letting her go.

But instead, she saw Yuri's face close to hers. The girl was not yelling, not fuming, not looking at Jessica with those bewildered eyes anymore. Yuri was bracing herself against the wall, her breaths short, her eyes closed. And she was crying. She was crying silent tears which were terribly heart-wrenching, awfully grievous to Jessica.

"Oh come on... that movie wasn't that touching, was it?"

"You just have no idea."

"Arghhh! I hate this Daniel Henney. Why does he have to make you cry?!"

"Yah, don't blame it on Daniel oppa. You've made me cry several times, too."

"But--but that's different!"

"No it's not. If he's a jerk, you're just a bigger jerk."

"Hey, don't be so mean... What if from now on, I let you punish me whenever I make you cry? That's fair, isn't it?"

"You'll have to be punished really hard, then."

"But--aish, okay... So what do you want the punishment to be?"

"It's simple... You will have to kiss all my tears away!"

"..."

"What?"

"Deal!!!"

"It's not a deal! It's supposed to be a promise you moron!"

"Ow! Okay okay, a promise. I love you, violent princess."

"I love you too, silly seobang."

Jessica stared at the crying Yuri. The tears rolling down Yuri's cheeks were the reason that made Jessica stop sobbing. Jessica tried to reach out for the girl's face, but her heart was breaking into pieces. It was the first time she saw Yuri shedding tears. She never knew it would feel this painful to see the person you love cry, especially when you're the reason of those unwanted tears.

Jessica began to tremble, her breaths shortened. She wanted to tell Yuri to stop crying, she wanted to reach out and wipe those tears away so much, but all she could do was to tremble helplessly. Her heart became so weak at the heartrending sight, it felt like she was about to collapse to the ground any second. But she finally realized how stupid her thoughts were. She could never prevent herself from hurting if she saw Yuri hurt. Her heart would never be able to handle losing Yuri, because, why didn't she realize this sooner, she was already loving Yuri too much to let her go. And on top of that, how could she let go and kill Yuri's heart at the same time?

Yuri, as she was trembling too, reached for Jessica's hands and took them into hers. She led one hand to Jessica's chest, placing the girl's palm against the silver necklace. Jessica's other hand was placed against her own chest, right where her heart was hidden and kept safe.

"Can you feel my heart?" The taller girl whispered, her voice shaking. She leaned in closer to Jessica until their foreheads met. "Listen to it, Sica... It's calling for you." She gently pressed Jessica's hand against the necklace. "It's beating for you, like always. Did you forget?"

The smaller girl shook her head, her forehead rubbing against Yuri's. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, the dilemma inside of her had long turned into complete guilt. She had been hurting Yuri unnecessarily.

"There is no such thing like deserving or not, as long as I love you..." Yuri continued whispering, and Jessica stopped even her smallest sniffs to hear it clearly. "And as long as... you love me too..." Yuri's voice was uncertain as she said that. Jessica immediately tightened the grip of their hands and nodded, assuring the girl that statement was more than true.

"You never know what could happen tomorrow, Sica. You never know how much time we actually have left. That's why I can't be apart from you even a single second. I treasure every moment I share with you. I can't let us waste our time, not when it could slip away any moment."

And when Yuri paused to breathe in, Jessica tilted her head and kissed Yuri's tears softly.

"Please don't shove me away..." Yuri kept whispering, ignoring the drops that kept rolling down her cheeks in silence. "I want to hold you as long as I'm still able to... I need you, Sica. I love you more than anything in this world. Don't let me go.... Please... don't do that to me..."

"I--won't..." Jessica shook her heard, her voice was a tremulous whisper. "I--I'm so sorry..."

Her words were hardly audible, but Yuri could hear them all. Jessica, too, couldn't stop her tears from silently streaming down her face. They had let out the emotions inside, and those tears were the only thing that was left. Jessica slid her hands out of Yuri's hold and brought them behind the girl's neck, pressing her forehead closer to Yuri's.

"I'm sorry," Jessica whispered against Yuri's lips. "I'm so sorry, Yuri..."

The taller girl encircled her waist with one arm, the other hand moved to the back of her head. Yuri tilted her head lightly and kissed Jessica without another word. Jessica kissed Yuri back, just as passionate as the taller girl, sending all her unspoken feelings to Yuri through it.

Tears stopped flooding the eyes of both girls as they kept pressing their bodies against each other, their lips never parted. They brought passion to a whole new level, showing each other how serious they were with their words, how much they truly needed each other. It was an intense kiss - a kiss they never shared before, a kiss that felt wonderful but scary at the same time. It felt like it was their first real kiss, but it felt like as if it was their last kiss at the same time. Jessica whished it to never end, and she pulled Yuri deeper in, feeling absolutely no space between their bodies anymore. Yuri's mouth covered her own, the girl's tongue was feeling her deep inside, bringing her down from the rollercoaster of emotion.

She felt the tanned girl's hand on her waist moving to the front of her pants and wanted to say 'The door, Yuri, the door!', but the kiss was so intense and overwhelming that it was impossible to break. Jessica found herself not stopping Yuri, but prolonging the kiss and romancing instead, slowly giving in to the desire and need to melt into each other that was taking over both of them.

Jessica's pants were dropped and Yuri's jacked already lay on the floor by the time they reached the end of Jessica's bed. They both fell down onto the soft bed, Yuri on top of Jessica, their bodies never parted. Neither of them cared about anything but the one that was lip-locking with her right now. There was no letting go anymore - at least not tonight.

----------

Krystal paced back and forth, a worried look on her face. She stopped in her tracks, staring at the door. After a moment of hesitation, she stepped nearer and pressed her ear against the wood gently. The door wasn't completely closed - just a little too much pressure and her cover would be blown. However, Krystal had to realize leaning on the door didn't help, either. She couldn't hear anything except for some faint little sounds which she couldn't really perceive.

"Krystal, what are you doing?"

Krystal turned around and saw her mother approaching her with quick footsteps.

"Mom!" Krystal bounced back from the door.

"Ms Ahn called me. She was like terrified," Mrs Jung shook her head. "I had to rush home at once. How are they?" The older women pointed at the door, indicating her daughter and Yuri inside.

"I don't know," Krystal shrugged. "Unnie just ran away when she saw Yuri unnie. I followed them up the stairs but by the time I caught up the door was just banged shut."

Mrs Jung raised an eyebrow at the small door crack and Krystal swiftly held her hands in front of her chest in defense.

"That wasn't me. They just banged it too hard." She then turned worried again. "Sica unnie shrieked and screamed a lot. Then suddenly it went dead silent, I don't know what happened."

Mrs Jung narrowed her eyes at the door in suspicion.

"Step aside," she told her daughter and pressed her ear against the wood. The woman then pushed the door open gently, making the gap just a bit bigger. But before Krystal could sneak a peek, she quickly closed it again with a small click.

"Let's go," she said reassuringly to the young, innocent girl. "There's no need to worry about these two anymore."