One night, Jessica and her mother were talking about random things. About love, life, and the future.
"I heard you told your father you didn't want to go to America anymore, is that true?"
"Yes." Jessica noticed the cold and angry expression on her mother's face. She smelled trouble.
"Why did you say that?"
"Because I have friends here and I don't want to leave them. I'm gonna miss them." Jessica lied. She had other reasons why she didn't want to leave.
"You're bluffing, Jessica Jung." her mother said. "I know you have some other reason. Tell me the truth."
"That is the truth. I don't want to leave my friends."
"Are you and Jonghyun together?" That's when Jessica fell silent. She just stopped talking and stared at the walls.
"Yes." she finally came up with her answer. Jessica's mother looked at her sternly and was just about ready to get angry but when Jessica began to tear up at her own mistakes, Jessica's mother opted not to scream at her.
"Didn't I tell you not to say yes to him."
"Yes, you told me."
"Why did you?"
"Because I really like him, mom. I really love Jonghyun and I know that he feels the same way too."
"So this is why you don't want to leave for America? You're willing to swap your father's hard work for that guy? You're willing to give up on your college dreams and writing ambitions for that guy? Jessica Jung Soo Yeon you must be out of your mind! That guy cannot provide you with anything! He cannot promise you anything! All he wants from you is to have sex with you and once you're pregnant, what does he do? He leaves you hanging with a huge bump in your stomach and with all your dreams crushed!"
"That's not true!" Jessica defended, yelling and crying at the same time. "That's not freaking true! Jonghyun is not like that!"
"Jonghyun is controlling your life, don't you see? He's stopping you from going to America and doing what you want to do!"
"He's not stopping me. He never stopped me from doing what I want to do! Jonghyun frequently encourages me. It's just me who doesn't want to leave him."
"Break up with him." her mother sternly ordered. "I'm not preventing you from seeing him or hanging out with him or being friends with him. He can still be your prom date but no commitments."
"That's hard to do!" Jessica said.
"What's hard to do?"
"Breaking up!"
"No it's not. All you have to do is say it nicely and it'll all fall into place!"
"Easy for you to say! Your heart is made of iron and steel! You don't have any feelings! You don't know what it feels like to be loved for the first time. Of all the guys in school, how many are as nice to me as Jonghyun? Tell me how many!"
"Stop overreacting, Jessica! This is your first time-"
"It's my first time and I want to make it worthwhile."
"But it's not the right time. Give it up. You'll find much better guys out there."
"I don't care about the other 'better' guys out there!" Jessica answered while weeping. "Because Jonghyun's the best guy that has ever come into my life."
"How many guys have come into your life and you said that?"
Jessica fell silent once more. Their argument was heating up and Jessica was getting weaker and weaker physically. She was very sleepy and her eyes were all cried out.
"Well if you think Jonghyun is the one for you then get out of this house now!" Jessica's mom angrily pointed at the door. "Get out of here now and live with him! Let's see if your life won't crumble down!" Jessica left the dining room and went up to her room, locked herself in and hugged the teddy bear that Jonghyun gave her. She badly needed his protection right now. She cried herself to sleep as she thought of all the words her mother had said. This made Jessica hate her mother even more. What did she want to do? Jessica at the moment wanted to go out of their house and go to Yuri's house. Jessica was tired that night and all the crying wore her heart out. Because of that, she fell asleep as soon as she laid down.
The following day, Jessica woke up with swollen eyes. She refused to talk to her mother about anything so she hurriedly went through all her usual morning tasks before leaving for school. Once she got to school, the first thing she did was drop her things on her chair and talk to Yoona and Seohyun.
"Yoona, my mom and I fought last night." Jessica angrily told Yoona.
"About what?"
"My mom found out about me and Jonghyun." Jessica said.
"Oh my gosh! What did she say?"
"She said I should break up with him. But then I told her I didn't want to and she said that it's my call and if something bad happens, she won't be responsible for it."
"She's right." Yoona said with a straight face. "But as always, it's your life and it's your call and whatever decision you make, I'll support you."
"Thanks. You're the best." Yoona and Jessica hug. Seohyun just woke up and asked them what they were talking about. Jessica related her fight to Seohyun.
"Ah. That's usually the case when it's your first boyfriend. But if you really love him, then I think you should continue your relationship. You deserve to be happy." Seohyun said.
"Thanks. I love the two of you so much!" Jessica said. "But I don't know if it's a good thing or not because my mom was like, allowing me or letting me be but at the same time, it's like she doesn't care. So I don't know whether it's good or bad."
"Just be careful." Yoona warned. "You're still young and just because your mom said that she doesn't care doesn't mean you can go around doing what you want to do. Be careful. You don't want to ruin your life right now."
"Of course I will! Yoona! What kind of girl do you think I am?" Jessica joked.
"We'll always be here for you, Jessica." Seohyun said. Their teacher came in and Jessica went back to her seat. Classes were about to start.
For the first four periods, Jessica thought about nothing but what her mother told her. Minho, Yuri's boyfriend who was her classmate, noticed her mildly swollen eyes.
"You've been crying, haven't you?" asked Minho.
"Yeah. I cried a lot last night."
"Why?"
"My mom found out about me and Jonghyun."
"Damn! What did she say?"
"She said it was up to me but if something bad happens, she won't be responsible for us." Jessica said.
"Then good! Means your mom's cool with your relationship."
"I wouldn't say."
"Why?"
"Because it's like my mother doesn't care about me. Like it's no big deal if something happens and I don't want that. Of course, I still want my mom to look after me but…you know."
"I get what you mean. It's like, it's okay but it's not."
"Exactly. I'm telling Jonghyun later."
Physics class, the class before recess, wore on and after 40 excruciatingly boring minutes of note-copying and calculating, recess came. Minho and Jessica got up and walked to the other section's classroom. Jessica grabbed her Tupperware with her lunch to give to Yuri. Feeling more fearless now than before, she went inside the room and looked for Yuri.
"Hey! You're here with my lunch!" said Yuri happily.
"Yes I am."
"Would you like me to call Jonghyun for you?"
"Sure. I have something to tell him."
"Hold on." Yuri went inside their classroom and called Jonghyun. Jonghyun came out for Jessica and tapped her head.
"Hello Jessica." Jonghyun said.
"Jonghyun! I have some good-bad news." Jessica said excitedly. She took Jonghyun's hand and led him to the bench outside their classroom.
"What's your news?"
"My mom talked to me last night about you. She said she didn't care about our relationship so as long as we are careful…"
"Of course we'll be careful!" Jonghyun chuckled. Jessica smiled but had mixed emotions inside. She felt a bit offended because she thought Jonghyun treated it like a joke but then Jessica tried to look on the bright side and smiled. She was happy that Jonghyun was happy. "Say you want to go around for a walk?" Jonghyun asked. Jessica nodded. The two walked around the campus for the remaining 18 minutes of their recess.
"I'm so happy to have you in my life." Jessica told Jonghyun out of the blue. Jonghyun smiled and took her hand in his, kissed it and held it for a while.
"Me too." The bell rang and Jonghyun brought Jessica to their classroom but before he could leave her, he kissed her forehead. Some of Jessica's classmates saw this and teased her about it. She playfully, giggly ran into their classroom, beating the crap out of them with her hands. Their really jiggy teacher Sir Jack, their computer teacher entered the room and began to tease Jessica, making her turn all red.
"Ms. Jung, what were you doing with Mr. Kim?" Sir Jack had a funny way of addressing his students. He addressed them with a Ms. Or Mr.
"Nothing. We weren't doing anything. You didn't see anything…"Jessica explained while trying to hide her blushing. Her classmates continued to tease her.
"PDA is not allowed!" Mr. Jack playfully said. "Nah, it's okay! I won't tell anyone." Mr. Jack extended his pinky , locked it in with Jessica's for a pinky swear.
"Haha. But I swear, you didn't see anything!" Jessica insisted. Mr. Jack playfully covered his mouth and giggled to himself. The lesson in Computer then formally began.
Later that dismissal time, Jonghyun walked Jessica all the way to the front gate and waited for her mother with her.
"Are you sure your mother's coming?" asked Jonghyun when he noticed that Jessica's mother was taking longer than usual.
"Yeah." Jessica stretched her neck to see if her mother was coming. The red cars that passed by weren't that of her mother's.
"Cause if she's not then let's just walk home." Jonghyun sweetly offered.
"Aww…" Jessica gushed. "It's okay. I'll just walk home."
"No. I want you to get home safely. I'll walk with you." Suddenly, the red car comes and Jessica hurriedly bade Jonghyun goodbye. She grabbed her things and ran to the car. Jonghyun watched as she entered the car and even waited for it to pass by before going back.
In the car, Jessica and her mother had no communication. Her mother asked about school but Jessica's mind was preoccupied with Jonghyun and their 'future' together so she refused to answer, instead, answering with a nod.
"Yeah school was fine. Just the same." was her usual answer. Jessica's mother noticed her daughter's gradually changing personality and knew that something was wrong. She suspected that her daughter was still seeing Jonghyun. And she was right. Mrs. Jung knew it all along. It's just that, she didn't want to mention it to Jessica. She'd rather have her daughter learn it the hard way.
As soon as they got home, their phone rang. It was a Wednesday so it was her dad's day of calling them. Jessica's mom picked the phone up and talked to her husband who was in America. They talked and talked until he asked for his daughter to converse with him.
"Jessica! Your dad wants to talk to you!" Jessica came running down from her room and picked the phone up to talk to her dad.
"Hey dad." she said.
"Hi Jessica! How are you?"
"Oh I'm fine. Just fine. Bout you?"
"Just the same. So how's school?"
"School's okay. Just the same. Say dad, I got a few questions about college." Jessica said.
"What are those?"
"When exactly are we leaving for America? Are we gonna leave as soon as I graduate?"
"No." Jessica nearly jumped out of her seat in excitement.
"We're not?"
"We're not yet going to leave as soon as you graduate. You see we still have some papers to fix."
"Okay~" Jessica couldn't wipe the smile and excitement off her face. She was happy that she was going to spend another year with Jonghyun.
"So most likely you and your mom will be coming here in the summer of next year." This excited Jessica even more. More and more time with Jonghyun meant happiness for her.
"Oh. Okay that's good." Jessica tried hard not to show any signs of excitement which could offend her dad. "Would you like to talk to mom about this matter?"
"Yes. Take care, Sica. I love you."
"Take care too, dad. I love you. God bless." Jessica walked over to her mother's room and handed the phone to her. Her father told her mom about the news he had. That they were gonna leave for the US in the summer of next year. Jessica's mother was infuriated. Because that meant she had to enroll her daughter at the local college-the same college that Jonghyun would be studying at. That also meant additional expenditures. Jessica's mom could only groan. She could hear her father and mother arguing about her college but she didn't care. Jessica only felt bliss because she and Jonghyun would still be seeing each other next year. Graduation wouldn't be so bad after all.
That's what Jessica thought. Yes, graduation wouldn't be so bad if you weren't a temperamental nutcase like Jessica Jung.
The following day, Jessica rushed to Jonghyun's classroom and knocked on their door to tell him the good news. His classmates saw her and called Jonghyun. Jonghyun stepped out and placed a hand on Jessica's head.
"Jonghyun! We're not leaving for America this year!" Jonghyun grinned but Jessica was extremely happy. Overjoyed, even.
"Really? That's cool!"
"Exactly!" Jessica was a bit down because Jonghyun didn't show the enthusiasm she thought and expected him to show. Jonghyun took his notebook out and showed her their assignment. Jessica gave him a puzzled look.
"Say do you have answers for the assignment?" asked Jonghyun. "Cause I can't seem to figure this out."
"No." Jessica said with a semi-disappointed face.
"Aww. Anyways. I'll see you later." Jonghyun said. "Bye."
"See you later. Bye!" Jessica said shyly, happily, and cutely. As Jonghyun closed the door, Jessica walked back to their classroom shyly.
Later that break time, she headed to the same classroom with hopes of talking about the staying thing with Jonghyun. She knocked on the door shyly and once it was opened for her, she slowly entered the classroom. Jonghyun saw her and took her hand, led her to his place.
"You're still so shy?" he asked sweetly. Jessica smiled at him and held his hand. Jonghyun held her hand in return.
"So I'm not going to the US anymore." Jessica said with a very soft voice. "We're leaving next year."
"Next year? Why? The end of the world?" Jonghyun playfully said.
"It's not the end of the world next year." Jessica rolled her eyes at Jonghyun's immaturity. "Only God knows when the world will end."
"It will. It will…" Jonghyun repeated with a childish grin on his face.
"So anyways, I'm staying here for another year so that means our relationship can continue. Aren't you happy?" she asked noticing the lack of enthusiasm in Jonghyun.
"Yes I am."
"Where are you studying?" she asked.
"I'm not sure…"
"But you said…"
"I'm not sure…" he turned to his best friend Key. "Where am I studying again?" And the two started joking around. Jessica was very hot headed and this pissed her off. The bell rang and she stood up frustrated and walked out of their classroom without saying goodbye to Jonghyun. She entered their own classroom with an angry expression on her face. Seohyun and Yoona saw this.
"I hate stupid boys!" she told them. Yoona and Seohyun were surprised because never had they seen Jessica this angry before. Because of Jonghyun.
"What happened?" asked Yoona and Seohyun.
"I think he's not serious about me." Jessica cried. "I asked him very decent questions and he answered back with a joke. And when I told him that I'm not leaving for America, he didn't even react. As if it was no big deal for him."
"Why is he being like that to you?" Yoona asked. "He should be serious if he wants your relationship to work."
"It's okay. Just talk to him later." Seohyun said.
"It's very annoying because he's always like that. He's not serious and he has no initiative." Jessica went back to her seat and took a nap. Her seatmate just looked at her and ignored her, opting to sleep too.
Later that lunch time, the bell rang. Jessica groggily got up and waited for Minho to finish copying and completing his notes.
"Jessica, let's go to the other section's classroom." Minho said. Jessica nodded and took her Tupperware with her. She was gonna give it to Yuri and Minho. When Jessica entered the room, she had her head held high and her pride worn proudly. She scanned the room for Jonghyun and was disappointed when she couldn't find him. Instead, she sat with Hyomin, Eunjung, and Ga Yoon who were eating quietly.
"Hi. Can I sit with you three?" asked Jessica. Ga Yoon said yes.
"So how are you and Jonghyun?"
"I'm not talking to him." Jessica coldly said. "He's not gonna be serious about anything then fine! I'm not talking to him." Minutes later, Jonghyun entered the classroom and saw Jessica sitting with Ga Yoon. He recognized her jacket from a distance and placed his hand on her head. Jessica responded coldly by not reacting to his touch. Jonghyun wondered why Jessica was like this so he sat down beside her and talked to her.
"Jessica why have you been acting so coldly?" Jonghyun asked while opening his Tupperware.
"Because you're not serious." Jessica grunted.
"What do you mean I'm not serious?" Jonghyun said. Jessica gave him a cold look and stood from where she was seated and sat in a chair from across the room. Jonghyun followed her and sat next to her.
"Jessica, are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Jessica replied in a cold manner.
"I can't eat if you're gonna be like that. Let's fix this thing first, Jessica." Jonghyun asked disappointedly.
"I think you're not serious in this relationship. I mean, I asked you a very decent question and you answer me with a joke! If I can't trust you with little things, what more with big things? What so in the future when I ask you if we still have any money left in the bank you answer me with a joke? That's what I'm most frustrated about!"
"Why do you feel that way?" Jonghyun asked. "Don't you trust me?"
"I can't trust you if you're gonna be like that."
"All I want is for you to be happy. I don't want you to get bored with me that's why I crack jokes so you'll be happy and smile all the time because nothing makes me happier than seeing you smile." Jonghyun explained. Jessica nodded. Silence enveloped them for a couple of minutes.
"Unless you want a boyfriend that's super serious." Jonghyun said.
"No. No that's not what I want. I just want you to know your place. You should know when you're supposed to joke and when you're supposed to be serious." Jessica said. "Because of that, it's got me thinking that you're not serious about me and you're just using me." Jessica stood up and sat with Yuri, leaving Jonghyun sitting by himself. Yuri and Doojoon overheard their conversation and tried to rescue the new couple's relationship.
"Jessica don't pressure him too much." Yuri said.
"Yeah. Don't you know that he loves you so much?" asked Doojoon
"He doesn't show it. He's too…"
"That's his nature. He really likes cracking jokes."
"Well they're not funny!" Jessica stated firmly.
"But if you were only here during class hours, he'd tell us all about you. He never gets tired of talking about you and he's really proud to have you as his girlfriend. So never doubt him, okay."
"And if he didn't love you, would he buy you the teddy bear that he gave you last Christmas?" asked Yuri.
"Exactly. So remove all negative feelings about him and make up. You guys deserve to be happy. And don't rush things in. Your relationship is still fresh and new." Doojoon said. Jessica smiled, convinced, and walked up to Jonghyun. She tapped him on the shoulder and embraced him. She felt him embrace her back. The two embraced tightly like it was their last embrace. Jonghyun stroked Jessica's hair and buried his head into her neck.
"Sorry for being so mean to you." Jessica whispered while stroking his hair.
"It's okay. I understand."
"I hope this'll be our first and last argument." Jessica continued.
"Yes. I hope so, too." The next few minutes were silent but filled with love. The two never let go of each other and just continued to embrace, stroking each other's backs. Jonghyun pulled Jessica closer and kissed her cheek. He slowly moved down to her neck, kissing it continuously which made Jessica softly squeal.
"Are you kissing me?" she whispered. She didn't get an answer from Jonghyun verbally but the movement of his head on her neck suggested a yes.
"No. I'm not." Jonghyun playfully denied. Jessica kissed the back of his shoulder and allowed him to enclose her in his arms. Jessica stopped moving but breathed heavily, trying to make Jonghyun feel her breathing. Jonghyun felt this and it made him hug her even tighter. The bell suddenly rang and the two had to break apart.
"Shit. It's time. I don't want to go yet." Jessica pouted. Jonghyun found this cute and pinched her cheeks.
"I don't want you to go either but I don't want you to get into trouble. Go now baby!" Jonghyun said. Jessica pouted once more and kissed him before getting up to leave for their classroom with Minho.
"Had fun there?" asked Minho jokingly.
"Yeah." Jessica and Minho entered the classroom together without the teacher noticing. They sat in their respective seats and acted like nothing happened. Minho was a bit disappointed because things between him and Yuri weren't going great. Jessica, on the other hand, was just so happy because she and Jonghyun were able to sort their problem out.