In the next few days, Jessica continued to reject Yuri. She was determined about taking the bus even though it meant that she had to get up earlier than usual. Her inherent stubbornness provided enough will power to help her survive the lack of sleep.

The bus ride could have been a perfect chance to nap if the vehicles were not so packed with people every day. Jessica was lucky to get a seat once but all the other times, she had to cling to a pole or was pushed and pressed against a window.

Today, luck was on Jessica's side once again as she found an empty seat at the end of the bus. She settled down and took out her phone, dialing Sooyoung's number. The other girl picked up after the fifth ring.

"Hey." Sooyoung's voice was thick with sleep.

"Good morning," Jessica greeted. "Are you still in bed?"

"Nah. I'm taking my shift at the reception. Didn't know I fell asleep. Thanks for waking me up."

"You seem to be tired, Soo. Don't overwork yourself."

"Don't worry, it's not that bad. Shinyoung is a really great help, you know. You can totally tell that she has experience with hotel work before. She handles everything perfectly."

"That's good to hear. I'm less worried."

"What about you? How are things going over there?"

"Yesterday, I had a meet-up with Ms Han, my dad's former secretary. I went to meet her after work. She told me a few things about the day my dad disappeared but it wasn't really helpful."

"Does Yuri know you met Ms Han?"

"No. I went secretly. She did ask me where I went after work but I refused to tell her. She gave up eventually."

"At least she isn't spying on you. Did you find out anything in the Kwon Enterprise?"

"Not really. You know what's weird? I've never seen Old Kwon since the day I work there, not even once. It almost feels like he is avoiding me."

"Really? Do you think he's afraid you'll find out something?"

"I don't think that makes sense. It's his territory. Why should he be scared of me?"

Sooyoung thought about it for a moment. "That's a good point."

"I haven't had the chance to do anything, mainly because Yuri is watching me almost 24/7. I don't think she's suspicious of anything, more like she can't bear to leave me alone for too long."

Jessica heard Sooyoung sigh on the other end of the line.

"Don't worry," the blonde quickly added. "Now that I take the bus like this, I do have more freedom. Otherwise I couldn't have met Ms Han yesterday, right? My chance in the Kwon Enterprise will come soon, Soo. Yuri tries to help me, too—she showed me all documents and papers she's got. They delivered quite a few insider-knowledge about their business."

"Like what?"

"Well… nothing illegal. Apart from giving me awareness of Old Kwon's power and influence, it hasn't been helpful so far. Who knows if we can use that information in the future, though. The only thing Yuri hasn't shown me is her PC. I didn't have the chance to access it yet. She prints everything out."

"You have to hack her computer, then."

"I…"

Sooyoung sighed again. "Okay. I know it's easier said than done."

"I know you're worried about time pressure… There are only three weeks left before the court moves on with the trial."

"Exactly. That's why you have to hurry up with your investigation in the Kwon Enterprise." A hesitating pause entered before Sooyoung continued "I have considered returning to the city to give you a hand. What do you think?"

"Don't," Jessica replied at once. "You can't leave Taeng and Fany to handle the hotel business alone. It'd be too much for them. I can deal with my own issues, Soo."

Another sigh could be heard coming from Sooyoung. "I knew you're going to say that."

"I mean it."

"Alright. I have guests now. Let's discuss this later."

Jessica quickly bid goodbye before Sooyoung hung up. She stuffed her phone into her bag and looked out the window, pensive. Sooyoung was right. She needed to hurry up. They were playing against time, and if they didn't change tactics fast, their chance to win was close to zero.

---------

The chance Jessica was looking for unexpectedly came a few hours after her phone call with Sooyoung. Yuri had forgotten about an important meeting until someone knocked on the door, apparently personally sent in by Old Kwon, asking why she wasn't coming. Yuri had gasped and jumped off her seat, rushing out to follow the messenger immediately.

"I'll be back in two hours or so," the tanned girl had managed to say to Jessica before disappearing.

Jessica sat there, petrified for a moment. But then her head snapped to the direction of Yuri's desk, where the girl's computer was still on. Being in such a hurry, Yuri hadn't turned off her desktop.

Jessica turned her gaze to the door, hoping that no one was going to come in anytime soon. She stood up and walked towards it, pressing an ear against the wood. The other side was absolutely quiet. Jessica didn't remember seeing anyone walking into Yuri's office on normal days anyway. There rarely was even anyone knocking on the door. This was her chance.

She hurried behind Yuri's desk, sitting down on Yuri's leather chair. Her right hand touched the mouse and in the blink of an eye, the screensaver disappeared. She half-expected to see a picture of the two of them in the background but was disappointed as it turned out to be one of the default wallpapers.

"You boring person," she mumbled as she began to click through Yuri's folders.

Everything was so organized that Jessica only needed a few minutes to go through all the data. She opened a couple of files in the beginning but soon gave up as she realized all the statistics and documents had similar content and did not give any information about her dad's whereabouts at all. She closed the folders and looked for Yuri's mailbox instead.

No trouble occurred when Jessica tried to access the program because Yuri had saved the password. The tanned girl probably didn't think that anyone besides her would ever get into her computer. But Yuri's email inbox didn't deliver anything useful, either. Jessica found a folder labeled as "Grandpa", but all the emails in there were only business-related.

The blonde was about to close the window when suddenly, her eyes met again with the very first email in Yuri's main inbox. It was the most recent email, sent from a certain Seo Juhyun. Instinct told Jessica that this had something to do with the girl she met the other day. Yuri's fiancée. The cursor immediately went on the subject – RE: I missed you! – and Jessica opened the email with a simple click.

Dear Yuri unnie,

The engagement caught me off-guard, too. I'm not sure what I should think about this but because my parents owe your family and it was grandfather Kwon who suggested this engagement, I am not supposed to decline.

I have always seen you as my close sister, unnie. I feel awkward about this, too. But I have no idea what we can do as of this moment. It seems to me that for now, we just have to do what the elders say first.

I really wish we could have more time talking and catching up, without having to worry about engagement stuff. Ever since you left your family, I really was afraid that I had lost you. I was so relieved when Jiyong oppa told me that you had come back the other day. You should visit me sometime, so that we can watch Keroro and make ma-juice together like how we used to when we were kids. I missed you too, unnie!

Love,

Your little sister

Jessica finished the email and blinked a few times as she tried to put all the pieces of information together. So Seo Juhyun was Yuri's childhood friend, and the girl's parents had known the Kwons for a long time. They were in Old Kwon's debt and were now trying to pay it back by giving him their daughter. Jessica clenched her teeth. It was clear that Old Kwon arranged this engagement to get her out of Yuri's life. And she hated how no one dared to object or do anything about it. Was the old man really God?

Pushing the frustration aside, Jessica searched for Yuri's sent emails. She spotted the two most recent ones, which were both sent to Seohyun's address. Her heart beat fast as she quickly clicked on the first email.

Hey Hyunnie!

I can't seem to reach you on your phone, that's why I'm writing you this. I'll just get straight to the point, I guess.

You know, I was imagining our reunion to be different. But I'm still glad to see you again. I feel the need to talk to you about the engagement since we didn't really have the chance to have a private conversation ever since the news was announced.

You are my little sister, Hyunnie. You have always been. I just want you to know that.

-Yuri unnie

The last sentence caused Jessica to heave a sigh of relief. She shouldn't have doubted Yuri's feelings for her. Technically, she didn't. She was just jealous because Yuri was so affectionate towards Seohyun. It should be something only reserved for her, or so she felt. But after reading Yuri's email to Seohyun, the jealousy inside her faded away. She clicked on the latest email with a much less heavy heart.

Hyun,

There's something I think I should tell you right now before you misunderstand anything. My grandfather's set up this engagement for some deeper reasons than just "strengthening the bond" between our families.

I am already in love, Hyun. The girl you met last time in my office, her name is Jessica. There are complicated reasons why my grandfather doesn't like her, but she is the one my heart belongs to. I don't want you to be pulled into this because I care about you… as my little sister. I don't want you to be hurt.

We have to find a way get around the engagement. I already have a plan. All you need to do is help me postponing the engagement date for as long as possible. Let's meet up soon and I'll tell you the details while we make ma-juice together (;

-Yuri unnie

Jessica smiled. She went over the email several times, rereading the middle paragraph.

When she thought nothing could bring a more blissful smile on her lips, she accidentally opened a hidden sidebar as the cursor moved to the right border of the screen. A photo slide show popped up, showing thumbnails of pictures of Yuri and her—the ones she had hoped to see earlier. Her finger on the mouse trembled as she clicked through the photos, an influx of memories making its way into her heart. With every sweet moment of their past that those pictures captured, she was reminded all over again why she was so in love with Yuri. By the time she reached the last picture, she just wanted to see Yuri and hug the tanned girl tight, kissing her passionately and hearing her say how much she loved her.

But her senses called her back to reality in time. She looked at the clock and pushed her overwhelming feelings for Yuri aside. She suddenly had a flash of genius. A very daring and risky flash, that was.

The meeting was still going on. She still had time. And Jiyong's office was now empty.

----------

Yuri made her way back to her office, sighing audibly. Jiyong had followed her out after the meeting ended, confronting her about the issue with Jessica again. He was not pleased with their grandfather's decision to allow Jessica to stay. Yuri knew that in fact he was not pleased with the privileges she received in general.

But Jiyong had no idea that those 'privileges' were Old Kwon's punishments for Yuri in the severest form. The engagement affected Yuri more than any other punishment would, and the old man knew that only this way would he be able to solve the Jung problem once and for all. Yuri was aware that this time, her grandfather had his reasons for accepting Jessica, too.

Yuri had thought long about what to say to her grandfather before she made the proposal to Jessica. She knew it was no use to deny her feelings for this particular Jung in front of Old Kwon anymore. Seeing that she was already in the role, Yuri thought she might as well take use of this crazily-in-love look. Rebelling against the engagement was not the way to go, but getting to a compromise was a lot less impossible.

"I want to complete a promise I've made," she had told her grandfather. "After that, I'll never see her again and I'll marry Seohyun as you wish. I just need another three weeks with Jessica, grandfather. I promise, no one will know about the thing between us."

Old Kwon was quiet for a long while, and Yuri even started to worry that he had seen the connection between her requested three weeks and the three weeks until Mr Jung's sentence would fall. But eventually, the old man nodded his head, and she inaudibly sighed in relief.

"You have to be the perfect fiancée," Old Kwon had ordered her. "If Mr. and Mrs. Seo get upset over anything you do wrong to their daughter, Jessica Jung's life will be personally destroyed by me. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes, grandfather."

Yuri still felt chills running down her spine everytime that moment was played in her mind. She had a notion that her grandfather agreed to this just to prevent her from doing anything stupid that could ruin their family's reputation. But this was also the limit as to how far he would go. Had Yuri pushed it more and made bolder requests, he would definitely reject it all and took more radical measures to force her to bend to his will.

Jiyong, of course, understood none of that. For now, he was not a threat to Yuri because Old Kwon had got her back, but she knew her cousin was keeping a close eye on her. She needed to be careful with every move she made, and it's surely getting tiring.  

Yuri finally reached her office and opened the door. The thought of being with Jessica alone cheered her up a little, even though the blonde was still giving her the cold shoulder.

"I'm back," Yuri said into the quiet room as she closed the door.

Turning her head to look at Jessica's desk, an amused smile crept on her face as she spotted the blonde's head lying on the table. She went over to check and, as expected, found Jessica sleeping soundly with her cheek pressed against the flat table.

I must have bored her, Yuri thought and stroked Jessica's hair lightly. Being in such a rush earlier, she didn't have time to give Jessica anything to do.

Yuri didn't hesitate as she pulled one of Jessica's arms around her neck and picked the girl up from the chair. Jessica, being the sleeping princess that she was, needed far more disturbing things than that to wake her up. Yuri laid the girl down onto the soft couch, carefully putting her arms and legs in a position that would not cause her to fall off. She then knelt down next to the blonde, staring at the sleeping girl's face in silence, mesmerized. Her right hand gently stroked the girl's cheek as she sensed the urge to kiss Jessica. But Yuri shook that thought out of her head. A kiss was one of the things that would wake Jessica up. She had enough experience with it. And making Jessica mad was something she was trying hard to avoid these days.

Yuri sighed and stood up, returning to her desk. A load of work was still waiting for her.

She started working with the intention to finish as fast as possible but realized that her eyes constantly drift away from the documents and landed on Jessica's peaceful sleeping face instead. When the girl slept was the only time Yuri could stare for as long as she wants, as hard as she wants, whisper things like "I love you" and not getting pushed away.  

"Just hold on a little longer," Yuri mumbled softly. "I know you miss me, too."

----------

The next morning, Jessica was on her way to the bus as usual and had Sooyoung on her phone.

"Yesterday was crazy," she spoke and shook her head. "After checking Yuri's computer, I went to the cleaning department and stole a uniform. Jiyong's assistant didn't even look at my face when I went to his office pretending to be a cleaner. She just nodded and gestured me to go in."

"Gosh, Sica," Sooyoung's voice sounded disapproving. "That was such a dangerous thing to do. If you got caught… I don't want to imagine what would happen."

"Well, I didn't," Jessica replied with a chuckle. "I was very careful. And thanks to that, now we know Jiyong doesn't know anything about my dad's whereabouts, either. All the articles he collects about my dad's disappearance and the emails to his minions—everything proves that he's just trying as hard as I am to find my dad."

"There's still Old Kwon," Sooyoung reminded Jessica. "He's the head of them. He could have kidnapped appa Jung or something, without telling his grandchildren about it."

"I don't know if he did," Jessica concluded. "But Yuri is innocent. Maybe I should ask her what she knows about it."

There was silence on the other end of the line. Then came an uncomfortable grumble, and Sooyoung sighed into the phone.

"No comment."

Jessica chuckled. "I'm getting on the bus now. Let's talk again later."

"Okay. Take care."

"Bye."

Jessica quickly stuffed her phone into her handbag and squeezed her way into the huge van. The bus was extra full today. Knowing that she didn't have a chance for a seat, Jessica reached for the strap above her head. But people were shoving and pushing so much that the strap slipped away from Jessica's fingers, causing her to fall right into the arms of another tall person in front of her.

"Oh God, I'm sorry I—"

She recognized the smell of the perfume immediately.

"Yuri?" She looked up and saw Yuri grinning at her. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

The tanned girl grabbed the overhead strap easily and put her free hand on Jessica's waist. Oddly enough, all the pushing didn't seem to affect Yuri at all.

"What are you doing?" Jessica repeated, this time referring to the hand around her waist.

"Accompanying my girlfriend to work, of course."

"I'm not your—"

"Shh shh shh." Yuri pulled Jessica close to her with a jolt. Their bodies were pressed together, their faces only centimeters apart. "No one's going to touch you."

Jessica didn't feel the need to back away, and even if she wanted to, it was impossible. People had already occupied the little space her body abandoned when Yuri hugged her.

"Don't you have to pick up Seohyun?" Jessica asked, relaxing in Yuri's arms as the taller girl shielded her from the crush of people.

"I chose my girlfriend over my dongsaeng." Yuri grinned cheekily at her. "Are you happy?"

Jessica rolled her eyes.

Yes, she was.