Chap 17

Yuri's POV

Without waiting for anybody's approval, I swing the door open and see Tiffany resting her hand on Jessica's shoulder. It wasn't until after I opened the door that I realized I haven't really thought this through. I stood there staring at them staring back at me before finally saying, "Fany, you should go take your shower before it gets too late."

"Thanks for reminding me, Yul." Phew. Had she said anything else, I woudn't have been able to answer.

"Ummm... Jessica? Do you mind helping me with my English?" I stammered remembering Yoona's suggested idea earlier. I held up the English book that I bought at Prologue and randomly inserted my finger in between some pages.

"Sure. Come sit." She pats the empty space on the bed that was just momentarily occupied by the gleeful Tiffany.

As the two of us cross paths, Tiffany inconspicuously whispers to me, "You didn't tell me that they hugged and that Kevin held her by the waist." She brushes her hand across my small waist before leaving the room snickering.

"I forgot," I whispered out the door.

As I'm closing the door, I see Sooyoung and Yoona in the corner giggling and that's when I realized that I fell right into their trap. They were convincing me to separate Tiffany from Jessica so that it would minimize Tiffany's chances of winning the competition. Those two should be nominated for Korea's new best actresses.

When I turned to face Jessica again, she was still lying on her side with her legs crossed and head propped up with one arm. Even in this resting position, her perfect S-line is still visible.

"Umm...how about we study at the table?" I suggested instead because studying on Tiffany's bed seemed too intimate.

"Ugh... I can't move. I ate too much tonight, Yul. Look at my stomach!"

Moving closer to the bed, I looked down at her flat stomach expecting to see some sort of a hill as she made it out to be. "Sica, there's nothing! I swear, I think you're delusional half the time."

She rubs her stomach area and continues to complain solemnly. "I'm serious Yuri. Did you see how much chicken I ate tonight? It was all your fault..."

This princess never fails to humour me. "Hahaha! How was it my fault? You're the one that fought with the Shiksins over food." I hop onto the bed to sit beside her and rest my free hand on her belly. "Oh my god, Sica! Your stomach is as flat as my book here," I reinforced.

"C'mon, are you going to help me with my English or am I going to have to spend the whole night complimenting you on your toned stomach?" As I finished my sentence, I pat her tummy lightly before she grabbed onto my hand.

"Ahhhhh, Yuuuuuul,"she shrieks in her high pitched voice. "I'm going to pop if you hit me again."

I was about to tease her again but she read my mind before I was able to make my move. Flipping onto her stomach, she held onto my hand that was still resting on her with a firm grip and pulled me down. "Nooooo, Yuuul!"

I'm laughing at her silliness as I'm lying there beside her. Looking over at her, she's already released my hand and moved a lot closer to my face. Her pearl white smile disappears and is replaced with a frown. She's not about to kiss me again, is she?

"What happened to your head?" Jessica asked as she's inspecting the bump on my head.

I bring my fingers up to where she's softly running her finger. "Oh, it's nothing. I just hit my head while opening the door last night." As I recall the events of that night, my face heats up.

"Hmmm...what happened that night anyway?"

"You don't remember?" I study her facial expressions to see if she's acting.

"Not really. To tell you the truth, I thought you got shot," she said in her shy and quiet voice.

"Bwhahaaa!" I crack up laughing. In between my laughs, I managed to ask her, "What made you think that?"

"Yah, Yuri! Stop laughing at me!" She pokes me on my bruised forehead. "I thought I heard a gunshot..."

"Owie... Sica, my head!" Despite the pain that she just inflicted, I couldn't help but smile at her theory. "It was probably the sound of the book hitting the floor when I dropped it," I explained.

"Oh...so nothing else happened?"

I tried to read her expression one last time, but what it revealed was that she did not remember kissing me or anything else that happened after. "No. You just fell asleep and Fany and Taeng helped me carry you back to my bed."

With her next question, she sounded even more disappointed. "So then who changed me?" she asked while looking at me right in the eyes searching for a satisfying answer.

For some unknown reason, I felt sour at the thought of Tiffany undressing Jessica. "Don't worry, I didn't see anything. It was Tiffany that changed you." I looked past her as I said this.

"Oh..." She touched my head again. "Sorry for hitting you. Does it hurt?"

Even though it didn't really hurt, I wanted to make her feel guilty as a joke, so I winced at her touch. "Yeah..." I told her.

I immediately felt bad for trying to fool her after I saw her start to pout and worry. Her brows are furrowed as if she's thinking about something.

"I know what will make you feel better." Before I'm able to ask her what, she unexpectedly kisses me on my forehead. Was this her way of indirectly telling me that she knows I kissed her on the forehead too that night?

"Sica, do you..."

"Wait here. I'll be right back." She cuts me off as I'm about to question her about her memory.

I watch her back disappear out the door, but as instructed, I wait for her to come back.

Yuri's POV

I just created my own movie theatre in the small space of Tiffany's bedroom. The scene of Jessica kissing me just now is replaying over and over in my head with the sound of my fast heartbeats as background music. Even with my eyes shut, I could still see her eyes fluttering closed, lips puckered, and her saying 'Muuaah'.

As I keep thinking about it, my face is turning more and more red and I'm feeling the need to turn down the heater or at least open the window to let the winter breeze cool my body down.

Jessica returned to the room with her hands behind her back. She slowly creeps up beside me. "Close your eyes, Yuri."

Trying to see what she has hidden behind her back, I peer around her body but she shifted over to the side.

"What are you hiding there?" I asked.

"Just close your eyes."

I'm a bit hesitant to do so just in case she surprises me again with another kiss. Her last one definitely made me feel all better, but I'm not too sure if my heart could handle another one. It's already beating as fast as possible in its current confused state.

"Yuri, hurry up and close your eyes," the princess in front of me demanded again.

I close my eyes but open one slightly almost instantly to see what she's up to.

"Yah! Kwon Yuri, no peeking!"

"Hehe, okay."

As I lay there with my eyes closed waiting for something happen, I smell something familiar but couldn't quite identify it. Then I feel this cooling liquid on my head and my eyes shoot open once I realized what it was.

"Sica!" I grab her hands to stop her from applying the liquid on my forehead. "That medication is for your hand not for my bruise!"

She gives me a confused look. "But isn't it suitable for all injuries?"

Despite her good intention, I'm laughing at her na?vet?. "Sica, baby... this isn't a magical ointment. I don't think you should apply it to the head." I place the jar on the table.

"Oh..." Her face flushes a bit.

"You already made it feel much better earlier," I consoled in reference to her kissing medicine. "Anyway, let's start the English lessons, shall we?" I suggested to make her forget about her embarrassing moment.

Opening the book to where I inserted my finger, I show her the pages before quickly scanning them myself.

"Hmmm... I see. How to pronounce 's'. So what is it that you don't understand?" she asked me with regained confidence.

"Ummm... I don't really know how to pronounce it I guess." Now it's my turn to feel embarrassed.

"No problem." I watch her speed read the page and before I know it, she's already done.

Turning back to me, she starts to explain. "Okay, basically, the problem with this letter is that many people pronounce it as 'sh' when it's supposed to sound like 'ssss'. For example, say this word." She reaches over to the table and grabs a piece of paper and a pen.

On the bed, she quickly scribbles a word in her fluid handwriting. S-E-X-Y. I'm probably making a fool out of myself, but I pronounce the word as I usually do. "Shaek shi?"

"Ahhhahaha! That's Engrish, Yul," she squeals. "Okay, instead of making the 'sh' sound, try it with 'sss' for both the 's' and the 'x'. Like when you say 'Sica'. There's no 'h' sound. So it's just sexy."

Oh god! How did I choose this page? All that I could think of right now is 'sexy Sica'. I blow out some air through my mouth as I'm exhaling from nervousness. I try saying the word again, but this time with a bit more caution. "Sssex-ssee."

"Yup, that's it. Easy eh? Now just remember this the next time you see 's' words."

Choosing to study this alphabet was a very wrong decision. Now all I can think about is Sica's sexy s-line. So as a way to end this uncomfortable lesson, I close the book.

"Thanks, Jessica. I think I understand now." I start to get up from the bed but her question stops me from standing up to leave the room for air.

"Yul, why don't you ever call me Sica like the others do?"

Laughing nervously, I say to her in my sitting position, "Hehehe, what are you talking about? I call you Sica..."

"But not that often and definitely not as often as you calling Yoona, 'Yoong'..."

I want to make another excuse, but the truth is, I don't feel like as if I'm close enough to Jessica to call her by her nickname and so I say her full name as a means of formality. Unsure of whether to tell her this or not, I just look at her and shrug my shoulders.

"Well, just call me by whatever you feel more comfortable with." She swiftly gets off the bed. "But I like it most when you say 'Sica baby'." She gives me a shy but sly smile.

However, the only reaction that I could give to that was to plainly say, "Okay."

"You two, me and maknae here want to sleep. Everybody else already went to bed," Tiffany barged into the room with Seohyun by her side. "I found Seohyun sleeping outside because she was too scared to interrupt. So get out NOW. By the way, Sica, you're the last one left to shower so make sure you turn off all the lights before sleeping,"

Jessica slid her hand down my arm to hold onto my hand. Pulling me up, she led me out the door while saying to Tiffany, "That's fine. We were just leaving anyway. Sorry about the takeover, Seohyun!"

Once outside in the empty living room, Jessica stopped walking towards my room to ask me if I could wait for her here while she showers.

"Why? I could just wait for you in the bedroom."

Jessica swings my hand and shyly tells me that she's afraid of the dark. "Could you please wait here for me and then help me turn off the lights?"

Yuri's POV

I'm lying on the couch lazily flipping channels while waiting for Jessica to finish her shower. Other than music videos, nothing else was capturing my interest at 1am. Namolla Family's 'Love Is Easy' MV just finished airing and an orange juice commercial comes on making me suddenly very thirsty.

I walk over to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water. Just around the corner, I hear Jessica brushing her teeth and I remember her sweet small lips again. I take one big gulp of water. Clattering can be heard as she puts away her toothbrush and glass cup. Next, although faint, I hear her clothes dropping onto the bathroom's ceramic floor and the sound of the shower curtains being pulled back. I gulp down the rest of the water.

Hurrying back to the couch, I sit down and turn up the volume to drown out as much of the showering noise as possible. Apart from the noise coming out of the flat screen tv, only the sound of running water can be heard. I'm sitting there trying to concentrate on the MV that's on when suddenly, I hear Jessica's dolphin like scream.

I run over to the bathroom and was about to bang on the door only to be intercepted by Jessica with only a towel wrapped around her. She's still screaming and so I cover her mouth with one hand and hold her arm with the other to push her back into the bathroom.

"Shhhh! You'll wake everyone up!" I whisper frantically. "What is it? What's wrong?" I look her up and down to make sure she isn't hurt anywhere. Then I scan the humid bathroom to see if anything is out of the ordinary.

Leaning against the sink, Jessica pries my hand away from her mouth. "Look!" She shoves two three-quarter empty bottles in my face. "Somebody used all my shower gel and shampoo!"

I relax my body and slide my hand off her arm relieved that she isn't harmed in any way. I close the bathroom door to minimize our volume so the other members don't wake up.

"Sica, is that all that you're screaming about? There's no boogeyman lurking around anywhere?" I tease her.

"Yul, I'm serious. This is a big deal. I bought these when I was in LA and you could only buy them in the States."

"Ummm... Sica," I start to explain. "I'm sorry. I used it by accident."

There's silence as I continue to stare at the floor in guilt and embarrassment.

"You used it all by yourself? The whole bottle?" Jessica asked breaking through the quiet mood.

I nod my head. "I thought the shampoo was the shower gel and vice versa... guess my English is really bad." I clap my hands together as a sign to ask her for forgiveness. "I'll make it up to you."

Jessica crosses her arms and legs while still leaning against the sink. "How?" she asks me in an amused tone.

"I'll..." I try to think of something she would like. She likes to sleep. Maybe she would like to sleep with more space while her heater is still broken. "I'll let you sleep on my bed while I sleep on the couch?"

"No." She bluntly declines without any hesitation.

"I'll..." Since Jessica injured her hand, she's been enjoying the hand massages that I've been giving her. "I'll give you massages for a whole week."

This proposal seems to appeal to her. She's looking at me, thinking in silence. But rejects it just as direct as the first one. "No. Nice try, Yul, but you already owe me massages for until my hand gets better. You're also supposed to be my right hand, remember?"

Damn it! I completely forgot about the promise that I made at the doctor's office to take care of her and to be her right hand until she recovers.

"I'll do your laundry."

"Hmmm... I don't think my right hand is strong enough to carry the laundry basket. Guess it's already part of your responsibility," Jessica answers back wittily.

"I'll cook for you."

"Weak right hand can't cook."

"I'll read to you."

"My books are in English."

"I'll be your personal alarm clock."

"You already are." She smiles at me.

Jessica is enjoying this way too much. I've already ran out of ideas and at this point, even suggesting that I be her personal slave wouldn't satisfy her. That's because I said I would take care of her until she gets better. And everything seems to fall into the 'taking care'category.

Instead of standing here and having a half-naked Jessica reject all my suggestions, I ask her, "What would you like me to do?"

She thinks about it for awhile. Getting up off the sink, she comes closer to me and leans in. "I want you to... take me to the amusement park."

The amusement park? I put my hand against her forehead to check her temperature. "Do you have a fever? It's Winter! How am I supposed to take you to the amusement park?"

"Next month. It'll be spring then."

Sigh, you just can't win with the princess. "Fine. Next month we'll go to the amusement park, okay?" I say with a smile. I go to the counter and grab two bottles. "Here, you can use my shampoo and shower gel for now." I hand over my strawberry scented products to a beaming Jessica.

Turning around to face the door, I'm about to leave Jessica to her shower when she pulls on my hand to stop me from opening the door.

"But tomorrow, I want to go to our restaurant."

"Our restaurant?" I ask curiously.

"I want to go to Yol Saek tomorrow since we can't go to the amusement park for another month."

"Oh..." I guess I should do something else for her in the meantime. "Okay, we'll go tomorrow. I'll cook for you again." Judging from her smile, I believe she has completely forgiven me --given that I bring her to these two places.

As I leave, I close the door quietly behind me and resume flipping channels in the living room. After five MVs, two news updates, and an infomercial about diet pills, Jessica comes out of the bathroom.

"I'm done, Yul."

I turn off the TV and walk towards the light switch with Jessica following behind me. She reaches forward to hold onto my hand right before I'm about to switch off the lights. In the darkness, I'm afraid that she might bump into something and injure herself again. So I hold onto her waist to direct her into my room and onto the bed. Goodnight, Ice Princess, Sica.. Goodnight, Sica baby...