*Jessica POV*

The stay at my uncle's place was long. It was nearing the end of the week, which was about the time I was to return home, but it felt like forever. All the crazy uncle wanted to talk about was that new business he was opening in Korea, and my aunt and Jiyeon were pestering me about never coming to visit them. To be honest, I went back to Korea purposefully to avoid them. And it seemed like Uncle was actually expecting to come back after finishing my studies in Korea. 

Unfortunately for them, that wasn't part of my plan. It never was. And now that I had Soojung with me, things were definitely going to be different--in a good way, though. I just hoped she wouldn't not want to stay with me, especially after lying to her about that letter. I mean, I didn't think it was such a big deal at the moment I burned it, but I guess it was for her since she still had respect for father. But now that I think about it, the letter had been addressed for her and I went and destroyed something that was rightfully hers. I was in the wrong again...

I was sitting at the table with my uncle and his business partner who was helping him open up the new branch in Korea. He was a CEO from some other successful company situated in Korea and that was how Uncle was able to start opening the branch. 

They were all dressed very nicely in black tuxes.

Oh, and the CEO's son was here too, but he didn't seem all that happy to be here. He didn't look like a person who would be in the business industry though. His hair was bleached blonde, and he was really slender, almost feminine-like. 

"Jess, this is my good friend and business partner, CEO Kibum Kim Sr., and this is his handsome son, Kibum," Uncle introduced us as we sat down at the table. He had definitely emphasized the 'handsome' as if it would grab my attention, which it didn't. "And this is my wonderful neice, Jessica."

"Just call me Key," the CEO's son said nonchalantly.

"You weren't lying when you said your neice was very attractive," the CEO said. "She's beautiful. Definitely a work of art."

I felt really embarassed and uncomfortable to be talked about in this way. I just nodded my thanks, and my Uncle beamed. "Yes, well, that's what happens when a successful businessman raises his children well."

The CEO nodded and eyed me as if I were his prey. "Ah, yes. You told me about that poor bastard and his daughter." He shook his head and sighed. "Good Lord only knows what could have become of that poor girl." He looked at me with pity. "I'm sorry about how your family had to turn out. At least you didn't end up like your sister. Who knows what's become of that lost soul?"

I didn't answer. There was no need. They didn't need to know about my sister and I intended to keep it that way, and not just because my father told me so. 

"Hey, I thought this was business, not some old woman's gossip about a girl," Key cut in rudely. 

"Kibum!" the CEO cried in a warning tone. "Have some dignity here!"

Uncle smiled. "No no! He's absolutely right. Let us get down to business. Jess, why don't you and Key get to know each other. Get lost in that garden maze."

Key scoffed. "Me and that plastic barbie doll? Hell no!"

I had to keep my mouth from dropping open in shock and anger. Rude! I couldn't believe the boy could say something like that in front of his father's business partner, but I had to give him credit for having the guts to do that. I tried to keep my calm. 

I remembered my sister always managing to keep calm, even when I blew my top off at her. How was she able to do that?

Key stood up and slammed the chair in loudly. "Come on. We may as well waste our time doing something else, Jessica."

"Kim Kibum! You will behave!" the CEO snapped, earning him a rebellious glare from Key.

"Whatever, dad," Key said shortly and stalked off.

"Go on, Jess. Don't keep him waiting," Uncle urged me.

I had to keep from groaning. I didn't want to talk with the boy either. He was so rude! But I suppose any excuse away from this business crap was as good as any. It felt as if they were treating us like children. This was supposed to be business! Not a play date between 22-year-olds!

Surprisingly, Key was waiting up for me outside the door. "Took you long enough," he sneered.

I was taken aback by his hostility. We barely knew each other and he was treating me as if I'd done him wrong. "No one did anything to you," I retorted.

"Hah!" he scoffed. "Who do you think you are?"

I curled my lip at him. "What's your problem?" I demanded. His insolence was making me dislike him.

He laughed. "My problem? If anyone's got a problem, it's you."

I shook my head. "Oh my god..." I groaned. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

He started to stalk off again. He could have been a cat. A really spoiled Saimese cat. "Well, word gets around," he said loftily.

I ran after him, anger boiling deep within. "Yah! What the hell are you talking about?" Was this guy trying to aggravate me on purpose?

He me, eyes sparkling as the light from the sun hit his eyes. "My father is a crafty businessman, much like your uncle here. But that doens't make me the same way. I hate this crap! And I especially hate hearing about your stupid dysfunctional family!" 

"It's not your business," I tried to say calmly. Things had definitely heated up. "And what do you know about all this?"

He crossed his arms over his chest, and glared down at me. "Oh, I've heard lots. Your uncle loves gossiping about your father and your sister. I don't need anyone to tell me that you don't care about them."

"Why do you care?" I snarled. "You're not my family! And whatever happens between me and my sister is my business only!"

He gave me a puzzled look. "You and your sister? What about your father?"

Oops. Honestly, I didn't know how I made that mistake either, but I glared at him coldly. "Stay out of it." I started to head through the courtyard to the garden maze. "I never asked for it."

"Wow, rude much?" he called and I heard him follow after me. "It's bad manners to leave a guest hanging!"

I stopped and my breath caught in my throat when he said that. I had said the exact same thing to my sister not so long ago. It was the day I had seen her apartment for the first time, and the first time I'd seen her since I moved back to Korea.

"Hey!" he said. "Why'd you--"

This time I rounded on him with anger. "Well, it's bad manners for you to talk as if you know so much about my family and assume I'm a snob!" My heart rate had probably gone off the charts as my blood boiled with anger at this dumb boy and at myself. "I don't want to be here either, so it up and deal with it!"

He gaped at me with shock and raised his hands up defensively. "Ok! Don't bite!" he cried anxiously. "Look, I'm sorry I was so rude! And you're right. I don't want to be here. My father forced me to come meet you because they plan on getting us ing married!"

That broke me out of my angered daze. "M-married?" I echoed. They never told me that!

He bit his lip nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Pretty much. They've just come up with the idea so that we can combine our stocks and whatever, and they think they'll get filthy rich afterwards. And...and--well, my father is kinda uptight with me at the moment. He's trying to convince himself that I'm not gay, and he thinks that forcing me to marry a girl will do that." 

"Yeah, well, just because you have a problem doesn't mean you can throw it out on others!" I snapped. 

But then, I suddenly realized...that was exactly what I'd done to my sister.

Because I was mad at father and afraid to get hurt again, I took out my anger on Krystal.

"Y-yeah...good point. So...We're cool, right?" he sounded nervous.

I just nodded blankly. "F-fine."

"Ok, great! We kinda got off on the wrong foot..." He started blabbing as if nothing had happened earlier.

Oh, Soojung...My heart began to beat quicker just at the thought of her name. I wanted to see her so badly. I wanted her in my arms...to feel her skin against my lips--but I can't feel that way about her! We're sisters!

For the last days, everything was reminding me of her. Everything I said, or something I heard, or even seeing the world 'crystal'--it was driving me insane! 

I can't love her like this. It's wrong on so many levels! And if she ever found out, she would be sure to steer clear of me.

"Hey! You ok?" Key broke me from my daze. 

I nodded blankly at him again. 

"Oh. Ok. I think we should head back, you know, to break the news to them."

That sounded like a great idea.

-----------------

*Krystal POV*

Taeyeon-unnie was taking me somewhere. I don't know where it was we were going, or what could be so important that we had to have a "private" talk. It was late afternoon, probably close enough to evening time because the air felt much cooler, usually signifying the day's end--well, not all the time.

"Sorry for bringing you all the way out here," Taeyeon said. "I just wanted to talk with you without any distractions."

"I'm not easily distracted!" I reassured her.

"I know, but I don't want other people around." She put her hand on my shoulder and led me to a place so we could sit.

"Well...where are we?" I asked her curiously.

"We're at a park," she replied. "It's pretty nice here. It's close to one of the ranches."

A light breeze brushed against us, and I could smell the sweet air of Hongcheon in the evening. It smelled of trees, flowers, and absolute serenity. I wished my sister were here.

To my surprise she didn't even bother to tell me about the place like usually did whenever she brought me somplace new. She just cut straight to the chase. "I wanted to ask about your friend."

"Amber?" That was my only friend that we both knew.

"No...I mean the one that we met the first day," she explained. "You know, your sister's friend. The one with the eye smiles."

Initially, I thought she'd taken me out to talk something serious...like really serious. I thought she was going to tell me something about my sister because she'd made it sound like a big deal. Oh well...at least it wasn't anything bad.

"Yeah. Well...I just wanted to see what you thought," she started nervously.

"What I think?" I echoed, and then I grinned. I guess she really did have a crush on Tiffany-unnie. "I think you should go for it."

She gasped and spluttered as she searched for words to cover up her shock. "Yah! What makes you think I was going to ask that?"

I pursed my lips thoughtfully. Good question. "I dunno...it's not too hard to tell even if I'm blind. Why else would you ask me about her? Unless you were just trying to make conversation, which really isn't a problem for us." We were actually getting along pretty well. It wasn't too hard to talk with Taeyeon-unnie--not like my sister and me. I guess circumstances change everything.

"Caught me in the act again, Krystal," Taeyeon said. "I just wanted to be sure about what you said the first time we met. Were you joking or were you serious?"

"Both." I shrugged. "She won't bite, and she's really nice. I'm sure she'd be interested."

"Wait...so a dinner?" she inquired.

"But it has to be good food," I told her. "Last time Tiffany-unnie took us out, it was really good stuff...so don't take her out to some fast food restaurant."

"She likes spaghetti." Well that was what I seemed to pick up from the last times I ate with Tiffany-unnie. It was usually pasta.

"Oh, so American food."

I nodded.

"Alright, thanks, Krystal," Taeyeon pat my head. She sighed in content. "This is nice isn't it? Away from the confinement of that school."

That was true. I was starting to get tired of these crazy blind people. They had more energy than I did when I was up and running freely. Gosh...blindness really does take away partial dimension of life. Oh well...

"So how do you like Sulli?" Taeyeon asked.

"She's ok," I replied. "She just talks a lot."

"Everyone gets excited with newcomers...especially if they share a friend in common, and one who's been talking about you lots." Taeyeon pat my shoulder. "It'll blow over. Amber was really happy that you're her friend. Like I said, not many people are comfortable around her."

I breathed in the fresh air. Thoughts of my sister and her whereabouts entered my mind as well as the my contemplations from a few days ago. Lately, I'd been having  dreams--and not just any kind of dreams. They were wierd, disturbing even, but it felt so...so natural.

Would it be exaggerating when I say my sister walks in my dreams?

Sometimes they were scary, like when she hit me, or when she got mad at me and left me behind, but those always ended with my sister holding me in her arms and kissing me. A real kiss...like the ones in the dramas. The weird thing was that I only saw her face when she was mad. Other than that, it was blank, and believe me, that just added another level of scary.Other dreams were not as vivid, but they were strange. 

Usually, when I dream, I can see again. I can clearly remember the colors and objects, and my sister's furious expression.

But last night, I was blind at the begining of my dream. The really scary thing was that one part was a memory from the past, and I somehow managed to make up the rest...and it all felt like it actuallly happened, although it definitely could not have in real life.

--(Dream Flashback)--

I was laying in the bed with my sister. Her arms were wrapped securely around me.

I couldn't see anything, but I was getting the feeling that we were both in bed. I felt the covers and the sheets against my bare skin as well as Jessica's flesh against mine.

I sat up immediately, breaking out of her grasp. "Unnie!" I cried. "What are we doing?" I covered my bare chest with my arms and started moving away from her.

But then, she grabbed me in her embrace, immobilizing me and ultimately pulling me back down on top of her.

"What do you mean?" she asked playfully. "What's wrong?" She brushed the messy hair from my and tucked it behind my ear.

"Yah!" I howled. "How did this even happen?" I began to struggle out of her arms, but whatever I did, I couldn't escape.

My blood ran cold as soon as I heard her speak again. "You let Fany do this to you. Why can't I?" she demanded.

"Huh? That was different!" I protested. "I didn't let her! She just forced herself on me, and I couldn't do anything!"

"Why didn't you tell me the truth?" she growled. "Why can't you just trust me?"

"Unnie! I trust you! I love you!" I cried desperately. "You can't blame me for being hesitant! What else am I supposed to think?"

She suddenly pinned me down beneath her, and I could feel her cold breath against my lips as she leaned down towards me. "You're stubborn."

I began to struggle against, and I tried to squirm from under here, but there was no way out. I was trapped between the mattress and my sister, who was slowly leaning in.

She was going to kiss me. I was already anticipating it, but I never felt her lips against mine. Instead, I was back in my old home. I was watching my dad from my room a safe distance as he hauled his drunk self into the chair in the living room. I could see again.

it was a memory from when I was younger.

" it..." he huffed. "Honey...how can you do this to me? We're breaking apart. I can't keep this family together anymore..." His drunken glazed eyes scanned the room and they locked onto mine. They lit up with rage and he jumped over the back fo the chair towards me. "YOU!"

I immediately slammed the door of my bedroom and turned the lock. I jammed the knob with the back of the chair and I hid in the closet hugging my puppy plush animal.

"OPEN UP YOU !" he screamed. "COME OUT AND LISTEN! HOW DARE YOU ABANDON US LIKE THAT!" 

I prayed the door wouldn't give way. He was jiggling the knob like crazy and hitting the door as if it were a punchbag. I thought he was going to break it.

"COWARD!" he shrieked. "I'm gonna get you! IF YOU DON'T ING COME OUT THIS INSTANT, I WILL BREAK DOWN THIS ING DOOR AND GET YOU!" He punched the door again.

I was shaking and my heart was racing. I tried to calm down my breathing so he wouldn't be able to hear me hyperventilating.

I was stuck in my closet for another couple hours while he banged away relentlessly at the door.

I hugged my puppy plush closer to me and buried my face in the soft material. The door splintered as he broke in and the closet door swung open. I looked up in fear, anticipating the worst, but instead of father...it was my sister's silhouette. The bright light was hurting my eyes and I could only squint.

She kneeled down beside me and gathered me in her arms. We were in a foggy white area.

"What are you doing in there?" she asked gently.

"I...I-I...he was drunk and..." I spluttered in confusion. What the heck was going on? Where was dad?

"He's gone," she said as if she could read my mind. "You're safe here, Soojung."

"S-safe?" I echoed.

"You won't be hurt again." She kissed my forehead and caressed my cheek with a hand. "Stay with me here, Soojung. I will take care of you."

I swallowed, trying to pull down the knot that was starting to form in my throat. "U-Unnie..." I started weakly.

I gave myself an internal pep talk. Don't cry, you can't cry. You never cry, I kept telling myself.

"Shhhh, it's ok," she reassured me gently. "I'm here. Unnie is here for you." She gently wiped the falling tears from my face. "There is no need to be afraid. You can be free, Soojung, but you have to let go of everything."

I swallowed again and looked into her dark brown eyes. I could see her this time.

She smiled at me reassuringly. "I can show you."

I nodded. Jessica's face drew closer to mine and she gently my cheek with her thumb. "Promise me...you'll trust me." She kissed my other cheek. "Don't hide from me. Don't be afraid anymore."

"I-I promise," I stammered.

"I love you," she murmured above my lips as she slowly gently pressed her lips against mine.

And with that, I suddenly felt my heart lighten up. All the anxiety and stress were washed away as she kissed me.

--(Flashback end)--

--------------------------------

*Narrator POV*

"Amber!" Tiffany cried when the girl appeared outside her door. "You're not here to bother me are you?"

Tiffany had been woken up from a long needed nap. Her work this summer was really asking a lot out of her. She was having a nice dream about floating on a fluffy sheep cloud that was prancing in the blue sky until the doorbell rudely woke her up.

"Of course I am! That's what friends are for!" Amber exclaimed and pushed her way in. Then she burst in tears. "OH GOD! I'm gonna die!" She threw herself at Tiffany, who was surprised at the turn of events.

"Jess is gonna kill me!" Amber wailed.

"Wait! What?" Tiffany had no idea what she was talking about.

Amber wiped her tears away. "I was so caught up in the moment that Krystal was going to that school my friend is at, but I forgot to tell Jess something really important!" she explained.

"And what's that?"

"Promise me you won't tell her yet!" Amber begged. 

"Well..."

"I'm not telling you if you don't promise. Actually, you're probably going to break the promise anyway. Forget it." Amber started to head to the door, but Tiffany blocked the way.

"Tell me!" Tiffany demanded.

"Hell no! You're gonna go back on your word and blab!" Amber said. "Now I gotta go! I have a shift to get to at work!"

"What?! You come in here and cry, and you don't even tell me what's the problem?" Tiffany looked at her suspiciously. "Is it Krystal?"

"Yes and no," Amber replied. She sighed. "Ok, fine. The thing about that school is they may not let Krystal go so easily."

Tiffany gaped at her. "What kind of school is that?"

Amber shrugged. "Beats me. I have yet to find out. Typically, the students there stay there. I mean, Krystal isn't the first person to leave after the program, but most students enroll in the actual school."

"So?" Tiffany gave her a weird look. "What's the problem?"

Amber groaned. "The problem is that they probably will give Jess a hard time about letting Krystal go! You see, they're a small school, and they like more students! They feel that by letting you into their program, you ought to give back and stay for real school, become one of them and--Dammit! I should have thought about it more!" She hit her head against the wall.

Tiffany pulled her away from the wall and shook her. "Ok, well calm down. Jess isn't here yet so just keep it cool and tell her after she gets back. But what did you mean 'become one of them'?"

"Um...it's like...like a cult," Amber said slowly. "For blind people..."

"WHAT?!" Tiffany shrieked. "THAT MAKES NO SENSE!"

"of course not!" Amber said quickly. "Anyway, that's what I forgot to tell Jess, and I don't think she'll be too happy to hear about that--unless she doesn't believe me. But then she'll have a bit of a rude awakening once she gets on Victoria's bad side."

Tiffany blinked. "Well, Jess will definitely be having a good time next week."

Amber snorted. "Yeah, just--just have my back will you?"

"I can't promise!"  Tiffany grinned. She opened the door. "Get out of here, you freak! Don't worry about it!"  She hit Amber's back hard as she exited the place.

"Thanks, Fany!" Amber called over her shoulder. "Next time you come to eat, it's on me!"

---------------------

hi! How are you?

It's been really hot lately, and it's almost the end of summer for me.... :( Only a month left. Which also means only a month left of fast updates.

Anyway, I hope you liked this update. (I think I say the same thing every time...) I don't know if Key will be around in future chapters. He's kind a short-featured character at the moment. He's not that important to the story actually.

But I'm not going to give away too much. It's best to keep you readers waiting forever! And speaking of which, sorry my other fics are taking so long. I've started writing out the new chapters but I'm kind of lost on that right now. (mainly Desolation and On the Wings of Freedom--people have been asking me to update those two). It's just really difficult to figure out what should come next right now. I don't want to rush things...but until then, I will keep updating this story. I haven't forgotten about them!! 

 What's the weather like where you are? The weather has been changing constantly. First it was cold, then hot, then cold, then hot, then raining, raining and hot, and now just really hot...it never ends.

Take care!! <3 Thanks for your support and reading the story! And thanks for your comments!

See you soon!

(I'll be rechecking the chapter for errors.)