"Excuse me," Yuri politely asked the group of girls standing in front of the elevator. "Could you please be so nice and move over there? It's for your own safety. Other hotel guests might come out of the elevator any moment and crash into you girls."

"Oh, we're sorry!" the blonde among the girls exclaimed and gestured the others to follow her, moving far away from the elevator. As they arrived at the other end of the room, Yuri laughed.

"Now, it's not like a monster would come out either," she said, shaking her head in amusement. One of the girls pouted at her, and she couldn't help but to grin back. Yuri decided to pick up a conversation while Tiffany was busy with their teacher at the reception desk. She walked towards the girls, putting on a friendly and welcoming smile. "So, you guys are here for a class trip, right?"

"Not really," the blonde replied, and Yuri realized this girl's voice was pretty husky when she wasn't screaming sorry. "We're here for something like a biology excursion. Our topic is Examining the Biotope Forest."

Yuri oohed with round eyes, faking interest. "Biology was one of my best subjects back in high school."

"Really?" the blonde excitedly asked. "Can you help us then? Please?" She lowered her voice, and Yuri had to lean forward to hear her. "Because we're going to make teams of five and to tell the truth, my girls and I totally suck at this subject."

Yuri laughed. "Well then, why don't you girls split and find yourself someone who's good at it?"

"We can't split!" the girl with the short hair exclaimed. "We're inseparable! We even have a group name for ourselves. 4minute. You see, once you have a group name, you can't break apart."

The girl looked so serious about it, Yuri didn't dare to laugh.

"Yes," the blonde nodded. "Plus, we are asking for help from someone who's supposedly good at it."

The girl winked at Yuri, and Yuri thought… Wow. She can't possibly say no to that. Yuri began to sense the interest these young girls seemed to have in her as they carried the conversation from asking what her job in the hotel was to whether or not she was single. Yuri smiled sheepishly at the question.

"I don't know…" she leaned her shoulder against the wall behind her. "We never really broke up."

"Well, do you still see her regularly?" one of the girls asked.

"Yes. She doesn't have a choice."

"So, you want to see her, but she doesn't?" the blonde, whose name was Hyuna, asked.

"It's kinda like that. I believe she wants to see me, she just doesn't want to admit it."

"That means you want to get back together with her?"

Maybe Yuri was just imagining it, but to her, the girls looked disappointed.

"It's not easy," she replied with a chuckle. "Let's stop talking about her. Tell me about what you girls have to do. I'll see what I can do to help."

The girls began to babble away about their tasks for the two days. Only Hyuna kept silent as she was frowning at something behind Yuri.

"What's wrong?" Yuri asked Hyuna, cutting the other girls off.

Hyuna didn't answer. She just kept her frown and tilted her chin forwards once. Yuri turned around to see what it was and caught sight of an embarrassed Jessica jolting up from behind the huge plant pot.

"She was eavesdropping on our conversation!" Hyuna said, pointing an angry finger at the other blonde.

"I was not!" Jessica held up the water glass in her hand, as though that was the explanation for everything.

"What are you doing there then, Sica?" Yuri asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know her?" Hyuna asked.

"Yes, she's a member of the staff."

"You bet I am!" Jessica said, scowling at Hyuna. She didn't like how the other blonde was looking at her as if she was a criminal. Then again, that might not be the only reason why Jessica didn't like Hyuna very much.

"That still doesn't give you the right to eavesdrop on other people's conversation, though!"

"I wasn't eavesdropping! I was watering the plants, geez," Jessica put the full glass to her lips and gulped a huge amount of water down. She froze with in shock, realizing she had demonstrated it wrongly. The young girls were staring at her with dark faces, whereas Yuri looked completely baffled.

"Yes, I was… watering!" Jessica repeated with a flushed face and poured the half empty glass into the pot. "Bye!" she yelled louder than intended and caught the attention of a few other guests standing around.

Deeply embarrassed, Jessica kept her head low and dashed into the hallway, passing a worried-looking Tiffany, storming right into her room and locking herself up. She needed a deep, deep hole to hide, forever, if possible.

It was impossible, so she curled up in bed with the blanket thrown over her head instead.

"I hate you, Kwon Yuri," she sniffled.

----------

After a lot of persuasion from Tiffany, Jessica had reluctantly left her bed to take her shift at the reception. The good news was that the annoying girls, as well as the rest of their class, had left (otherwise Jessica wouldn't have come out anyway). The bad news was that Yuri had volunteered to drive Hyuna's group to their assigned house. Sooyoung and Taeyeon each had one group, while the teacher and the bus driver drove another two groups to their vacation houses. Jessica knew Yuri had to help, because there was no one else who could do that with this short list of staff members, but it didn't make her happy to hear from Tiffany that Yuri had volunteered to drive Hyuna's girls.

Jessica had to suppress her uncomfortableness, because she didn't want Tiffany to get suspicious. So there she stood that afternoon, sulking to herself at the reception counter. She shouldn't have been sulking, however, because it was her luck Tiffany empathized with her fail and went upstairs to clean rooms instead of her for once.

"Here, for you."

Jessica flinched back as she was startled by the sudden appearance of a cup with milky green liquid in front of her. Turning her head around, she saw Hyoyeon grinning at her encouragingly.

"You look so down since this morning, I thought I should make you some energy drink."

Jessica held her nose in disgust.

"Eww, what's that?"

"Eww?" Hyoyeon's eyes went wide. "You call a product of mine eww?!" She placed the glass onto the table, acting as if she was deeply insulted.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like that," Jessica giggled, knowing the overdramatic Hyoyeon. "It's just… I think I smelled cucumber in this thingy."

"Why yes, this you call thingy is actually called the Hyonistic MultiCulti drink, and cucumber is one of the ingredients."

"Yah!" Jessica held her nose shut even more tightly, pushing the glass at the confused Hyoyeon. "Hyo, I can't stand cucumber!"

"What do you mean you can't stand them?" Hyoyeon asked, frowning. "They're one of the healthiest veggies!"

"I can't stand their smell," Jessica said, waving her hand to make the smell fade. "I didn't choose to be like this, believe me."

Hyoyeon threw Jessica a look before pushing the glass farther away.

"Alright. So, what has been bothering you, my dear favorite boss?" Hyoyeon turned at Jessica with a smile, elbow resting on the reception counter.

"You cheese ball," Jessica chuckled. She thought about what to say, but ended up not answering. Her gaze was fixed on something far away instead, and she drifted into her own world, appearing to be lost in thoughts.

"Is it about Yuri?"

Hyoyeon's question snapped Jessica back to reality. She stared at Hyoyeon, wondering how on earth the girl knew.

"Don't look at me like that," Hyoyeon smiled. "I'm apparently the only one who doesn't know what's going on. Everyone, except for me, is acting very strange around boss Kwon."

"It's something that happened not long ago. Something we don't really want to talk about…"

"Oh… okay," Hyoyeon said, nodding to show she understood. Silence crept in between the two girls for a while before Hyoyeon couldn't take it anymore. "You two were in love, weren't you?" she blurted out.

Jessica closed her eyes as she clenched her teeth. So much for understanding, she thought. But she wasn't actually mad or annoyed. Hyoyeon just cared; the cucumber drink said it all.

"What makes you think so?"

"I don't know… there's something invisible between you two, something I can't really point out. But I can tell it's there. Just between Yuri and you, no one else."

Jessica sighed. "Well… Yes. No. Y—I mean," Jessica took a deep breath. "I don't know."

Hyoyeon raised an eyebrow, waiting for Jessica to continue.

"I don't know her, Hyo." Jessica looked away. "I thought I knew her, I thought she loved me, but it turned out I didn't know anything. She made me fall in love with her, so deeply that I can't find a way out anymore. Then she broke my heart and did terrible things, and told me it was all lies and she never loved me. Now she's here and acts all caring and… and sometimes even inappropriately. But I don't know what she really feels, Hyo. I don't know what she wants from me. I don't know whether or not she really loves me."

Jessica sighed before turning to Hyoyeon again.

"It's like everyday you wake up and your lover pampers you with kisses and hugs, but suddenly one day you wake up, they beat you up, slit your heart with a knife, and leave you bleeding all alone. The next day they come back and act sweet again, but you are forever scarred and afraid that they might return to being the monster."

Jessica shook her head, a tired smile on her lips.

"Everyday, you wake up with that unsure feeling. You miss the pampering kisses, but you refuse to let go of the blanket you're hiding under, simply because the scars still hurt. It's too much of a price, too much of a risk, the kisses aren't even worth it anymore. And it's bad because they don't talk to you, you know? They don't explain why they were the monster that one day, so you're never sure if that's their hidden real self or not. You can't read their thoughts, you don't know when they are lying. Inside, you are constantly tortured as a half of you says 'forgive her', while the other half screams 'run away as far as you can.'"

Jessica sighed, indicating that she would need a longer pause, and silence entered again. Hyoyeon gently placed her hand on Jessica's, her eyes finding the blonde's.

"I don't know what she wants, Hyo… After all she did, they can't trust her anymore. I don't know if I can trust her anymore."

"Well," Hyoyeon slowly began. "I don't know what she did, but if you want to talk about it…"

Jessica shook her head. "I don't want to mention it again. It's why I have to be here, leaving my mom and sister back."

"Okay," Hyoyeon nodded. She didn't ask about it again this time. "It's unforgivable?"

"Pretty much, yes."

Hyoyeon let go of Jessica's hand, and they both turned their gazes to the double glass doors – the main entrance of the hotel – and stared out into the open.

"Do you want to hear my advice, Sica?"

Jessica turned around to look at Hyoyeon. The cook just kept her gaze straightforward.

"Yes," Jessica said. It wasn't until then that Hyoyeon turned around and smiled at Jessica.

"Do not be too clinical by only listening to your conscience. Because it would only remind you of all the pain you've suffered and tell you 'the monster' can never be tamed. That might not be true. If you don't give her a chance, it may be the worst thing you can ever do. Instead, just follow your heart, Sica," Hyoyeon said sincerely.

"I don't know what my heart wants," Jessica sighed. "I… love her, but I love my family, too. And I love my friends... It's not like she is the only thing I need and want in this world. If I give her a chance, I'll be risking it for all my other beloved ones."

"That's exactly why you don't choose yet," Hyoyeon continued. "Give your heart time to decide. Give it time to be really sure. Give Yuri time to prove who she really is. Once you're convinced in your heart, whatever happens, you will not regret. I promise."

Jessica looked at Hyoyeon's serious face and couldn't help a big smile. "How do you keep that promise?" she teased.

Hyoyeon rolled her eyes. "I'm the Love Doc, Miss. An as awesome person as I doesn't give wrong advice. Haven't you heard of Kim Hyoyeon, the famous professional Cook and unprofessional Comedian/Dancer/Love Doc/Rock Star?"

"No, I haven't," Jessica joked, and smiled as Hyoyeon shook her head in discontentment.

"Wait, rock star?" Jessica stopped. "Rock Star! GAHAHAHA—" Jessica's hand went to her mouth, but she couldn't suppress her enormous laughter. Hyoyeon acted as if she was offended for a moment, but soon joined to laugh at her own joke.

"Rock Star!" Hyoyeon yelled, and Jessica exploded with laughter again. Hyoyeon laughed out loud with her friend, enduring the hits Jessica was continuously slapping on her shoulder.

It was only the rings of the phone that interrupted the girls' laughter and finally gave them time to wipe their eyes.

"From room 403," Jessica said between her remaining giggles, drying her watery eyes. "Oh Hyo, you're so funny…"

"Give me," Hyoyeon said, chuckling. "You cannot pick up phones in this state."

Jessica handed Hyoyeon the phone, shaking her head as she still couldn't stop giggling.

"I wonder who it is," she said, almost breathless. "There shouldn't be anyone in that room since the key card is here."

"Hello?" Hyoyeon picked up. There was only one way to find out.

"JESSICA!" Tiffany's frantic voice boomed through the speaker. "Wait, is that Hyo's voice?" There was a short pause. "Anyway! Someone has to come up here and help me, NOW! You hear me? N.O.W. right now!"

"Hey, that's my line!" Jessica interrupted from the side.

"Keep calm, Fany, keep calm," Hyoyeon yelled back. "What's wrong up there?"

"I'm stuck in the room," Tiffany whined.

"Why? Did you lose your key?"

"No. But there are these two freaking huge AHHHHH BULEBULEBULEBULE—"

Hyoyeon pushed the speaker far away from her ear and frowned at Jessica.

"Apparently, flying bugs are preventing Tiffany from exiting the room," she informed the other girl.

"Yes, I heard," Jessica replied drily.

"HYO HELP!" Tiffany's voice still boomed from the speaker. "THEY ARE HUGE AND ONE OF THEM IS ALWAYS GUARDING THE DOOR AND THERE'S EVEN A SPIDER ON THE FLOOR THERE'S NO WAY I CAN GET OUT AND I'M DYING HERE BECAUSE I CAN'T—"

Hyoyeon pressed the end-call button.

"Just added another semi-profession on the list," she told Jessica. "Bug killer, that is."

She then headed towards the hallway, only to be called back by Jessica.

"Where are you going? The elevator's over there!"

"Exactly why I'm not going over there," Hyoyeon laughed. "The stairs would take a little longer, wouldn't they?"

The last thing Jessica saw before Hyoyeon disappeared behind the wall was a huge grin.

"So evil," she grinned, too.

----------

Jessica looked at the clock on the reception table. She read 11:30 PM and couldn't help but letting out a sigh.

"You sure you want to do this?" Taeyeon approached her, yawning.

"Yes, I do," she told her friend. "Now go to bed, you've been out the whole day."

"Thanks," Taeyeon wrapped her arms around Jessica shortly. "Tomorrow I'll finish the night shift for you."

"Okay, deal," Jessica smiled. She watched Taeyeon walking away before bestowing her attention back to the front entrance again. There was something Jessica didn't mention when she offered the shortie her help. She didn't tell Taeyeon she wanted to finish the night shift because… of a certain someone; a someone Taeyeon obviously couldn't stand and thus would never allow Jessica to wait up for.

"Jessi," this time it was Tiffany who came from the hallway. "Taetae said you want to finish her shift, so I came to see if you're alright."

"I'm fine," Jessica smiled at her friend. "You should sleep early, too."

"I will," Tiffany smiled back. She then grabbed the key card and walked towards the glass door. "I'm just gonna help you lock all the doors so that when the shift is over, you can—"

"No!" Jessica yelled. Her cheeks went red as she realized she had raised her voice, and she stammered "I mean—it's okay, Fany. Don't worry, I can do that later, I…"

"I knew it."

Jessica gulped and looked down as Tiffany came back to the counter, standing on the other side facing her. She felt like a kid who was caught doing naughty things.

"Jessi, she won't come back tonight anymore," Tiffany said seriously.

Jessica reluctantly looked at her friend. "I don't know what you're talking about," she attempted to deny it, but the look in Tiffany's eyes already told her it was luckless.

"Oh come on," Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Taetae might not see it, but it's pretty obvious to me."

Jessica just shook her head, too stubborn to admit. Tiffany sighed. She grabbed her friend's hand from the other side of the counter.

"I'm not here to stop you," she softly said, and Jessica looked visibly relieved. The blonde didn't avoid her eyes anymore. "But," Tiffany's voice turned stern. "Make sure you get enough sleep. Our guests don't want to see a zombie at the reception tomorrow."

Jessica nodded with a pout. Content, Tiffany gave Jessica's hand a last short squeeze before heading back to her Taetae's arms. Jessica felt a pang of jealousy in her heart when she recognized the familiar look of happiness on Tiffany's face before the girl disappeared in the hallway. She used to be like that every day, too. Looking forward to the warm embrace of a lover at the end of the day, without having to worry about anything else. Now she's here with an anxious heart instead, waiting for someone she most likely wouldn't even talk to, not to mention hug, when they came back. And the worst thing was, Jessica didn't even know if this someone would come back; if this someone was worth waiting for at all.

Yuri had driven Hyuna's group to their vacation house and didn't show up since. Sooyoung and Taeyeon were already back around noon, as well as the bus driver, who was staying at the hotel. Apparently, Yuri had to stay back with those girls to help them; with what exactly, Jessica didn't know. Even until dinner time, there was no sight of Yuri. No one really cared (Sooyoung and Taeyeon were even in a much better mood), and Jessica almost forgot about Yuri for a while, too. But now it's late, and she just didn't want to believe that Yuri had stayed over at Hyuna's place.

"It makes no sense," Jessica told herself. "She says she's here for me. She wouldn't do that."

She then came up with all kinds of excuses for Yuri, starting with Yuri forgetting the time; Yuri getting lost in the forest; Yuri falling sick out of the blue, so bad that she was bed-ridden on the spot; until she reached the point of Hyuna turning out to be a witch and having given Yuri a love drink to make her stay with her forever.

Lost in her thoughts, Jessica was startled when the clock beeped at midnight. She stared at the small object on the reception desk, thinking what she should do now. Her shift was officially over. Her bed was waiting. But Yuri…

Jessica decided to wait.

"I'm just too nice," she mumbled. There was no other reason why she would wait for Yuri like this. As nice as she was, she would have waited for anyone else, too. It had nothing to do with Yuri being the one she—well… with Yuri being Yuri.

Jessica glanced at the clock again. 12:12 AM.

She pulled the stool nearby to her place and climbed on it, still watching the night out there. The lamps had lightened up the place enough for Jessica to be able to look past the parking lot. But there was absolutely no sight of the smallest living object approaching the hotel, let alone the huge car Yuri was driving.

Jessica glanced at the clock again and read 12:20 AM. She was getting drowsy. Resting her head on the reception table, she began to doubt Yuri's sincerity as the possibility that the girl had stayed with Hyuna became more and more likely. She started counting the seconds until the digital clock changed its minute counter.

…25, 26, 27…57, 58, 59… 12:22 AM.

…57, 58, 59… 12:23 AM.

…57…58…59…

…50…51…

…

Jessica forced her eyes open as her neck started to hurt like hell. She sat up straight, so fast that her head felt dizzy for a moment. She rubbed her temples tiredly, her sleepy eyes searched for the clock again.

12:45 AM.

She had fallen asleep for almost half an hour. It was about one in the morning and still, Yuri was nowhere to be seen. Jessica knew she wasn't able to take it any longer. So she grabbed her key card and sleepily walked to the glass doors. She gave up. She couldn't care less.

"It's your own fault," she scolded the invisible Yuri as she locked the door.

With still half open eyes, Jessica dragged herself back to the reception desk and put the keys into a drawer. She patted her way back to her room, fighting the urge to just sleep against the wall. But somehow, Jessica still managed to open the door to her room and plopped her whole body down the bed. Out of habit, her hands blindly reached for the sleep mask on the night table. She put it on and curled up in her bed, dead tired. Within seconds, Jessica was already drowned in her deepest sleep.

Little did she know, her night wasn't going to end just like that.

Sometime later, she woke up due to a weird pressure (that felt very good) on her lips. She then realized she was being kissed and instinctively swung her hand, hitting whoever it was on the cheek. A painful "Ow!" came as a response before Jessica kicked the person off the bed. She angrily threw the blindfold away, only to realize she wasn't wearing it anymore, and in the surprisingly brighter than expected light, she saw curling on the floor was…