Snowmelt
Snowmelt
Krystal (f(x))-centric; Sooyoung (SNSD) x Jessica (SNSD)
PG-13; 3689w
Prompt: Yokai
Krystal follows Sooyoung to Japan to find her sister
A/N: for unniedearest Halloween Trope Challenge 2013
On the day her sister disappears, Krystal doesn’t realize something is strange until halfway through breakfast. Looking up from her bowl of soggy cornflakes, she watches Sooyoung munch on a piece of buttered toast.
“Unnie, aren’t you going to wake my sister for breakfast?”
Jessica is always the last one to wake up in their makeshift family of three, often walking into the kitchen all groggy and irate when everyone has already started eating. But on days where she never stirs, Sooyoung would leave during breakfast to wake her.
Shoving the remainder of the toast into her mouth Sooyoung washes it down with a near empty glass of milk. Setting the knife down on a small plate she takes everything to the sink.
“Sica isn’t here.” It’s said offhandedly, almost about as important as inquiries regarding the weather are.
Krystal blinks and her face scrunches slightly in her confusion.
“Unnie isn’t here? Did she go somewhere?”
Sooyoung nods as she starts clearing the table, placing the jelly preserves and butter in the refrigerator. “Yep. She left in the middle of the night.”
Krystal almost scoffs at how unnatural it all sounds, like a mean prank, but the lack of humor in Sooyoung’s words only unnerves her. “Are you serious?”
“Yep.”
Krystal immediately leaves the table and rushes into the room Jessica shares with Sooyoung.
Her things are still there, the various knickknacks the couple had gathered during their three year stay at the apartment. Her sister’s favorite cosmetics still litter the little vanity in the corner and upon opening the closest, Krystal notices that all of her sister’s clothes are still hung up as well. Everything is as it should be.
But her sister is not there.
The bed is not made and the lack of a certain sleeping girl is glaringly obvious. Krystal debates checking under the bed or maybe out the window because this still seems too strange to be real and maybe she’s still dreaming?
Maybe it really is one of Sooyoung’s pranks.
“See, what’d I tell you, she’s gone.” Sooyoung is suddenly behind her and Krystal turns, her thoughts a jumble of questions building and building, impatient to come out.
“Why are you so calm? Unnie is missing.” Krsytal doesn’t want to panic, she wants to understand. Why is her sister suddenly gone? Did something happen between the two? Did Sooyoung drive her sister away?
Sooyoung grins however. “If your sister thinks she can run away from me that easily, then she obviously doesn’t know me that well.”
She reveals two plane tickets from her back pocket, slightly crumpled. Krystal can still make out the name “Sapporo” and realizes that her sister isn’t even in the same country as her anymore.
But why Japan?
“Why are there two tickets?”
Sooyoung takes one of the tickets and holds it in front of Krystal, the flimsy material slightly swaying.
“You coming?”
---
Spending time alone with Sooyoung is a rather rare event but it isn’t uncomfortable. It’s not as if Krystal dislikes the other girl, but she’s long gotten used to her sister’s presence always being nearby, snapping, prodding and joking along with Sooyoung’s funny remarks.
Sooyoung offers her the window seat when they finally board the plane.
Krystal envies her sister’s ease in Sooyoung’s presence. Though Sooyoung is always the more talkative of the two, the couple always had a comfortable presence around themselves, and could sometimes go hours without a single word between the two of them, needing only small touches and glances to get their point across.
For Krystal, the silence is annoying and itches her tongue.
“So why Japan?”
“Ah, we never told you, did we? I met your sister there.”
“In Japan?” Krystal still struggles to accept the fact that there is much her sister has never told her. Krystal has never considered them to be distant, but this realization tells her differently. It’s a small painful sting but Krystal brushes away the ache. “Why was Unnie in Japan?”
Sooyoung hums in thought. “Most of the important people in my life are from there you know.”
“Really? Like who?”
“Hyoyeon.”
“You met Hyoyeon unnie in Japan?”
“Didn’t I tell you that story?”
Krystal shakes her head.
Sooyoung leans into her seat, her fingers idly playing with Krystal’s hand. “We met at my sister’s wedding. I think it was halfway during the exchanging of vows that it started raining for no reason. The wedding was canceled and I met her outside standing in the rain unabashedly, a wicked grin on her face.”
Krystal leans against Sooyoung’s arm, curiosity easily sparked. “What was she doing there?”
“Just passing by is what she told me. I didn’t care either way. I was just happy for the rain. The man my sister wanted to marry was a jerk anyways. He raised such a fuss over the ruined event that my sister dumped him in the end. Seems he said some pretty unforgiveable stuff.”
---
Sooyoung was born and raised in Korea and yet somehow she had managed to make Japan her own. The air she breathes and the solid ground beneath her feet seem to connect with her, as if roots had burrowed up into her shoes, piercing the flesh of her soles.
It’s not the same for Krystal who can’t shed the uneasy feeling of not belonging. From the moment she leaves the airport and gets into the taxi she feels the label of “tourist” burning against her back. Words that seem to be nothing more than cute squiggles hide their meaning from her eyes and she can only guess what the more intricate characters mean. The conversations of the people around her flow like a river and she struggles to see what passes by.
---
The hotel they check into is modest, but still generates enough of a sense of luxury that wards off paranoia and would be muggers.
Sooyoung takes out her wallet, fishing for a credit card. “You don’t mind sharing a bed, do you?”
“No.” Krystal replies, because it’s all that she can say. Anything else would be foolish misassumptions and discourtesy.
There is a perfect moment for innuendoes here, and Krystal briefly wonders if Sooyoung avoids them because they’re not here on a vacation. Or because she’s the sister of her girlfriend. But the afternoon passes away into the evening much like a vacation trip would. They check into the room and decide on a place for dinner, lounging the time away before they leave. Sooyoung takes her to a local ramen joint. Krystal is aware that this isn’t her trip and her role is nothing more than a tag along, but making small talk with Sooyoung while eating dinner only makes her wonder what the plan is, if there even is one. If her sister had been here she would have scolded Sooyoung for her lack of manners and fought back whenever her food would be stolen. Sooyoung in turn would boast about her knowledge of all things Japanese and waste no time in teasing her sister.
But her sister isn’t here and the fact never leaves despite the distracting bliss of traveling.
It’s not as if Krystal expected Sooyoung to find her sister immediately the moment they set foot in Japan, right?
The night finds the two curled up against each other on the single bed, with Sooyoung telling stories to lull the two to sleep. Sooyoung entertains better than counting sheep, and Krystal finds the questions building inside of her harder and harder to ignore. It becomes a matter of choosing.
“Was unnie your first?”
Sooyoung stops in the middle of talking about another one of her friends, a rigid and overly mature dongsaeng of hers that has a strange penchant for hiding behind doors and shadows.
“First serious relationship? Or the first person I had sex with?”
Krystal can picture the predatory grin on Sooyoung’s face already. She had set herself up for this far too easily.
Krystal laughs. “You know what I mean.”
“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me the name of yours.”
Krystal groans. “Unnie, you know I don’t have any stories like that to tell.”
“That’s a lie if I’ve ever heard one. Come on, I won’t tell your sister.” Sooyoung’s elbow nudges her briefly.
Krystal loves it when Sooyoung tells stories. It’s not the way the older girl phrases her words, but the life she breathes into them. These stories are full of wit and humor and it unravels messily, going off on tangents and occasional rants before coming back to a conclusion.
“Jessica was my first serious relationship. But not the first person I had sex with. That was with Yoona. Though it was kind of a one night stand.”
Krystal wasn’t surprised. To believe either her sister or Sooyoung had gone that long without someone in their lives before seemed like wishful thinking.
“What was she like?”
“As a person, beautiful. The kind of beauty that makes you turn your head on a lonely evening. The kind of beauty that seems innocent and pure with bright laughter and coy flirtations. In bed, hard to say. It’s like hallway through when the light shifts slightly and you come out of your daze to realize just how tiring she is. Not to mention she was really skinny, bony even.” Sooyoung turns to stare at Krystal’s face. She pokes her in the forehead.
“She kind of looked like you.”
“Unnie, you do realize just how many things can be wrong with that statement, right?”
“What’s the matter? Scared to share a bed with me now?”
“Quit teasing. Was she more beautiful than unnie?”
“”You make it sound like I’m only with your sister because I find her attractive.”
Krystals snuggles in closer to Sooyoung, enjoying the warmth of the other girl, the feeling of a thin arm around her waist and the sweet voice rumbling against her ears. The voice goes on to talk about love, love for her sister who should be in this bed instead of Krystal.
It’s warm and safe here, in Sooyoung’s arms.
Krystal wonders why her sister would ever want to leave it.
---
It’s in the morning that Krystal finally asks the question that’s been bugging her.
“So what’s the plan?”
Sooyoung pauses in the middle of slipping on her coat. “Do I need one?”
Krystal raises an eyebrow slowly. “You came here without a plan?”
“Well, it’s more like I have a plan, I just don’t want to talk about it because you won’t really be okay with it?” There’s an apologetic grin on Sooyoung’s face as she turns to remove her cell phone that's charging in the wall outlet.
“What are you talking about?”
“Okay. This is what I planned. You go enjoy the sights. I go fetch Sica. Nice and simple. And don’t worry about getting lost and all that, I contacted a friend of mine to accompany you. Don’t worry, she won’t bore you.”
Krystal almost bristles at that but manages to keep her words neutral. “I don’t need a babysitter. And why can’t I go with you?”
Sooyoung sits on the bed next to Krystal and wraps her arm around her shoulder.
“Because your sister would hate me if I took you to where I was going. If anything she’d probably kill me. And we really don’t want that kind of emotion to add to her list, do we?”
Krystal leans into Sooyoung’s neck and sighs, the fight leaking out of her like air. “What are you going to do?”
“I’ll tell you when I get back with her.”
“Why all the secrecy?” Why is there so much she doesn’t know?
“Because Sica is difficult like that. And I would love to do away with it but until I get her back and we come to an understanding, I don’t want to push her away even more.”
It hurts, like it did before. Like it did all those other times. Siblings don’t have to be close and siblings don’t have to love each other but Krystal would have liked to believe they were different.
“Fine. But at least tell me the story of when you two first met. Don’t think I don’t know you were avoiding the question last night.”
Sooyoung had told her many stories last night, and answered many questions but none of those stories held anything significant about her sister. Krystal still doesn’t understand the connection Japan has to them and though Krystal had never thought it necessary to bug the couple about such details, she’s tired of being lost in this swirl of confusion.
“It’s a story that I can only tell you with Sica. We were going to tell you before she left actually.”
“Is that why she left? Because she didn’t want to tell me her secrets?”
Krystal sags deeper against Sooyoung, suddenly incredibly weary. It’d be easier to just not care.
Sooyoung flicks her forehead and Krystal hisses as the short burst of pain. “Why would you think that? Sica left because she had some issues. She loves you, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Her hands rub the affected spot on her forehead.
“Alright. How about I start the story, and she’ll finish it when we find her?”
Krystal hums in agreement,
“Once upon a time, an incredibly gorgeous woman with killer legs went into the snowy mountains of Hokkaido during a snowstorm. Yes, she was stupid like that. And it was there that she met the love of her life…”
---
It’s completely stupid to wander off on her own into a foreign city with tongue and ears that don’t work there but Krystal leaves the room in a huff anyways. Begrudgingly she’ll admit it’s childish and immature to ignore what is asked of her even when it makes perfect sense but Krystal doesn’t like the idea of having to be entrusted to a stranger.
She doesn’t want to admit that there are some things she can’t handle on her own because it only reminds her of all of the untold secrets and her missing sister who may not be who she thought she was.
---
Krystal ends up wandering away from the more busier parts of the city to stroll down far more secluded streets and neighborhoods. No one talks to her and for once Krystal almost feels like she belongs here. Not a tourist but just another face to be lost in the crowd.
It’s in front of a small candy store that the silence breaks. The store is small and dimly lit and the young woman standing at the entrance with a broom seems to smile wide enough as if to counter it.
“Hello,” she greets, “I’m Victoria.” And Krystal is surprised to hear it’s spoken in Korean, and furthermore, that the name is in English. Her attention is taken away just like that and rests in the palms of this mysterious woman.
“I’m Krystal,” she greets back, “how did you know I was Korean?”
If anything, her smiles grows even wider. “A guess. Or maybe I just have a sense for these things. Would you like to come into my shop for a little bit? It’s been a while since I’ve talked to anyone in Korean.”
Victoria doesn’t wait for an affirmation as she enters the store, and Krystal finds herself walking in after her, drawn to the woman who brings with her familiarity and comfort.
Victoria walks into the back of the store, separated off by some hanging blue curtains, but her voice carries easily though the thin wooden walls.
“Would you like some tea?”
“I’m fine.” Krystal looks at all of the plastic containers of candies, easily skipping by the ones with words that make no sense to her. It’s not just Japanese on these bags and containers and she can makes guesses based off cartoon pictures as she hunts for Hangul and English.
“Would you like to take some with you?” Victoria reappears from behind the curtains.
“Oh no, I couldn’t.” Sooyoung had given her some money but Krystal had enough sense to realize that if she did end up lost, it’d be best to hold on to it.
“Don’t worry about it. Business isn’t booming, but I won’t mind parting with a few.”
Krystal looks around the store, the emptiness and the lack of noise seem a bit lonely to her.
“Are you the only one here?”
“Yep, I’m the owner.”
“Doesn’t that get lonely? Working here all by yourself?”
Victoria shakes her head. “Not at all. I have a lot of friends here. See?” Victoria points her finger up to the ceiling.
Krystal looks up and immediately flinches.
There are spiders all over the ceiling, crawling out of the holes in the corners and suddenly down the walls. She doesn’t scream and watches with eyes wide at all of the tiny black bodies and their rapid moving legs. She wants to run out of the store but suddenly it’s as if she can’t move and when did Victoria get behind her? The older woman leans into her, long slender fingers sliding down her bare arm.
Krystal struggles to speak but Victoria makes comforting shushing sounds as if to placate her. Her smile is still motherly and graceful and her eyes seem to glow with a calming light but all Krystal can think about are the fingers that dance up her arm and around her collar bone, stopping only to play with the fabric of her t-shirt, stretching the collar.
And then she’s free.
A cold hand grabs her arm and yanks her forcefully away and the spell is broken. Just like that she’s running running running and her fingers are laced with this new stranger’s. She looks up and sees someone in a baggy hoodie and jeans with a cap on their head facing backwards, easily covering up the person’s short hair.
They run until they can’t anymore and they stop on the sidewalk, their breaths hot and rugged, sweat sticking to their clothes.
Krystal looks at this stranger yet again, this young man who meets her gaze with a bright smile and somehow Krystal can’t help but feel annoyed to see it.
But she also realizes the need to show gratitude.
She straightens herself and takes a deep breath to steady her words. “Uh, thank you for saving me back there.”
He waves off the apology. “It’s no big deal. Sooyoung unnie would’ve cut me to pieces with scissors if I had let anything happen when I’m supposed to be watching you.”
Krystal blinks, momentarily dumbfounded. “You’re a girl?”
She laughs. “Yep. Don’t blame you for thinking otherwise. It’s not the first time. I’m Amber by the way.” She sticks out her hand for a handshake and Krystal accepts it, the palm still sweaty and warm.
That seems to be all it takes for Amber to consider them friends as she walks in closer, expression casual and lax. Krystal scowls slightly at the unspoken assumption.
“So what do you want to do until Sooyoung unnie gets back?”
“And when will she be back?”
Amber shrugs and Krystal feels irritated, lips curving down slightly. “Probably soon. Sooyoung unnie has a way of persuading your sister.”
Krystal’s eyes narrow. “And just how do you know my sister and Sooyoung unnie?” Is it jealousy that’s bubbling in her voice? Or can she simply attribute it to her irritation? Krystal has never been all that fond of befriending strangers immediately following introductions and the fact that Jessica had known all of these people that she had never met before still bothers her.
Amber scratches the back of her neck sheepishly, as she thinks of the best way to word her reply. “We’re a connected community. Most of the foreigners who lived here know each other or at least have heard of each other.” She pauses as thinking of the proper conclusion and then she chuckles. “And I pretty much know everybody.”
---
They end up passing the time at a small tea shop near the hotel, grabbing a seat at an outside table. It’s not hard conversing with Amber, the other girl does indeed have a knack for making friends, not that Krystal will ever admit it. There are further introductions, talks about hobbies and the standard time fillers, but Krystal ignores all of that to focus on more information about her sister and Sooyoung. The anecdotes are small and essentially worthless, but Krystal tries to suck out what she can from them. Amber shares Sooyoung’s ease of conversation and apparently her habit of avoidance as well.
“Do you know the story of how my sister met Sooyoung unnie?”
Amber hesitates slightly, but it’s immediately covered up by a slow nod. “Like I said, we all know each other. So the closer friends know about that story.”
Krystal leans in, expectant. “Will you tell it to me?”
Amber frowns and shakes her head. “Sorry. That’s something for them to tell you.”
Krystal lets out a rather unflattering growl, before leaning back into her chair. “Why is it so important? Can’t you just say it? Who knows when Sooyoung unnie will get back. Who knows if unnie is coming back.” Krystal eyes the white plastic surface of the table because as annoying as overly friendly strangers are, pity is something she won’t put up with.
“They’ll be back.” Amber’s voice is low and soothing, offering a promise that seems almost believable.
“And how do you know that?”
“Because they’re back already.”
“Don’t joke.”Krystal looks up to deliver a glare, but Amber isn’t deterred in the slightest. Instead she’s watching something over Krystal’s shoulder with interest.
Krystal turns.
“Look.” Amber points down the street
Krystal squints and can make out the shape of two people walking down the street in their direction. As they get closer it becomes apparent that it’s actually one person walking while dragging the other along in a tight headlock. The person being dragged tries to struggle only to give up and resort to muttering.
Krystal smiles as Sooyoung drags her grumbling sister towards them.
Krystal (f(x))-centric; Sooyoung (SNSD) x Jessica (SNSD)
PG-13; 3689w
Prompt: Yokai
Krystal follows Sooyoung to Japan to find her sister
A/N: for unniedearest Halloween Trope Challenge 2013
On the day her sister disappears, Krystal doesn’t realize something is strange until halfway through breakfast. Looking up from her bowl of soggy cornflakes, she watches Sooyoung munch on a piece of buttered toast.
“Unnie, aren’t you going to wake my sister for breakfast?”
Jessica is always the last one to wake up in their makeshift family of three, often walking into the kitchen all groggy and irate when everyone has already started eating. But on days where she never stirs, Sooyoung would leave during breakfast to wake her.
Shoving the remainder of the toast into her mouth Sooyoung washes it down with a near empty glass of milk. Setting the knife down on a small plate she takes everything to the sink.
“Sica isn’t here.” It’s said offhandedly, almost about as important as inquiries regarding the weather are.
Krystal blinks and her face scrunches slightly in her confusion.
“Unnie isn’t here? Did she go somewhere?”
Sooyoung nods as she starts clearing the table, placing the jelly preserves and butter in the refrigerator. “Yep. She left in the middle of the night.”
Krystal almost scoffs at how unnatural it all sounds, like a mean prank, but the lack of humor in Sooyoung’s words only unnerves her. “Are you serious?”
“Yep.”
Krystal immediately leaves the table and rushes into the room Jessica shares with Sooyoung.
Her things are still there, the various knickknacks the couple had gathered during their three year stay at the apartment. Her sister’s favorite cosmetics still litter the little vanity in the corner and upon opening the closest, Krystal notices that all of her sister’s clothes are still hung up as well. Everything is as it should be.
But her sister is not there.
The bed is not made and the lack of a certain sleeping girl is glaringly obvious. Krystal debates checking under the bed or maybe out the window because this still seems too strange to be real and maybe she’s still dreaming?
Maybe it really is one of Sooyoung’s pranks.
“See, what’d I tell you, she’s gone.” Sooyoung is suddenly behind her and Krystal turns, her thoughts a jumble of questions building and building, impatient to come out.
“Why are you so calm? Unnie is missing.” Krsytal doesn’t want to panic, she wants to understand. Why is her sister suddenly gone? Did something happen between the two? Did Sooyoung drive her sister away?
Sooyoung grins however. “If your sister thinks she can run away from me that easily, then she obviously doesn’t know me that well.”
She reveals two plane tickets from her back pocket, slightly crumpled. Krystal can still make out the name “Sapporo” and realizes that her sister isn’t even in the same country as her anymore.
But why Japan?
“Why are there two tickets?”
Sooyoung takes one of the tickets and holds it in front of Krystal, the flimsy material slightly swaying.
“You coming?”
---
Spending time alone with Sooyoung is a rather rare event but it isn’t uncomfortable. It’s not as if Krystal dislikes the other girl, but she’s long gotten used to her sister’s presence always being nearby, snapping, prodding and joking along with Sooyoung’s funny remarks.
Sooyoung offers her the window seat when they finally board the plane.
Krystal envies her sister’s ease in Sooyoung’s presence. Though Sooyoung is always the more talkative of the two, the couple always had a comfortable presence around themselves, and could sometimes go hours without a single word between the two of them, needing only small touches and glances to get their point across.
For Krystal, the silence is annoying and itches her tongue.
“So why Japan?”
“Ah, we never told you, did we? I met your sister there.”
“In Japan?” Krystal still struggles to accept the fact that there is much her sister has never told her. Krystal has never considered them to be distant, but this realization tells her differently. It’s a small painful sting but Krystal brushes away the ache. “Why was Unnie in Japan?”
Sooyoung hums in thought. “Most of the important people in my life are from there you know.”
“Really? Like who?”
“Hyoyeon.”
“You met Hyoyeon unnie in Japan?”
“Didn’t I tell you that story?”
Krystal shakes her head.
Sooyoung leans into her seat, her fingers idly playing with Krystal’s hand. “We met at my sister’s wedding. I think it was halfway during the exchanging of vows that it started raining for no reason. The wedding was canceled and I met her outside standing in the rain unabashedly, a wicked grin on her face.”
Krystal leans against Sooyoung’s arm, curiosity easily sparked. “What was she doing there?”
“Just passing by is what she told me. I didn’t care either way. I was just happy for the rain. The man my sister wanted to marry was a jerk anyways. He raised such a fuss over the ruined event that my sister dumped him in the end. Seems he said some pretty unforgiveable stuff.”
---
Sooyoung was born and raised in Korea and yet somehow she had managed to make Japan her own. The air she breathes and the solid ground beneath her feet seem to connect with her, as if roots had burrowed up into her shoes, piercing the flesh of her soles.
It’s not the same for Krystal who can’t shed the uneasy feeling of not belonging. From the moment she leaves the airport and gets into the taxi she feels the label of “tourist” burning against her back. Words that seem to be nothing more than cute squiggles hide their meaning from her eyes and she can only guess what the more intricate characters mean. The conversations of the people around her flow like a river and she struggles to see what passes by.
---
The hotel they check into is modest, but still generates enough of a sense of luxury that wards off paranoia and would be muggers.
Sooyoung takes out her wallet, fishing for a credit card. “You don’t mind sharing a bed, do you?”
“No.” Krystal replies, because it’s all that she can say. Anything else would be foolish misassumptions and discourtesy.
There is a perfect moment for innuendoes here, and Krystal briefly wonders if Sooyoung avoids them because they’re not here on a vacation. Or because she’s the sister of her girlfriend. But the afternoon passes away into the evening much like a vacation trip would. They check into the room and decide on a place for dinner, lounging the time away before they leave. Sooyoung takes her to a local ramen joint. Krystal is aware that this isn’t her trip and her role is nothing more than a tag along, but making small talk with Sooyoung while eating dinner only makes her wonder what the plan is, if there even is one. If her sister had been here she would have scolded Sooyoung for her lack of manners and fought back whenever her food would be stolen. Sooyoung in turn would boast about her knowledge of all things Japanese and waste no time in teasing her sister.
But her sister isn’t here and the fact never leaves despite the distracting bliss of traveling.
It’s not as if Krystal expected Sooyoung to find her sister immediately the moment they set foot in Japan, right?
The night finds the two curled up against each other on the single bed, with Sooyoung telling stories to lull the two to sleep. Sooyoung entertains better than counting sheep, and Krystal finds the questions building inside of her harder and harder to ignore. It becomes a matter of choosing.
“Was unnie your first?”
Sooyoung stops in the middle of talking about another one of her friends, a rigid and overly mature dongsaeng of hers that has a strange penchant for hiding behind doors and shadows.
“First serious relationship? Or the first person I had sex with?”
Krystal can picture the predatory grin on Sooyoung’s face already. She had set herself up for this far too easily.
Krystal laughs. “You know what I mean.”
“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me the name of yours.”
Krystal groans. “Unnie, you know I don’t have any stories like that to tell.”
“That’s a lie if I’ve ever heard one. Come on, I won’t tell your sister.” Sooyoung’s elbow nudges her briefly.
Krystal loves it when Sooyoung tells stories. It’s not the way the older girl phrases her words, but the life she breathes into them. These stories are full of wit and humor and it unravels messily, going off on tangents and occasional rants before coming back to a conclusion.
“Jessica was my first serious relationship. But not the first person I had sex with. That was with Yoona. Though it was kind of a one night stand.”
Krystal wasn’t surprised. To believe either her sister or Sooyoung had gone that long without someone in their lives before seemed like wishful thinking.
“What was she like?”
“As a person, beautiful. The kind of beauty that makes you turn your head on a lonely evening. The kind of beauty that seems innocent and pure with bright laughter and coy flirtations. In bed, hard to say. It’s like hallway through when the light shifts slightly and you come out of your daze to realize just how tiring she is. Not to mention she was really skinny, bony even.” Sooyoung turns to stare at Krystal’s face. She pokes her in the forehead.
“She kind of looked like you.”
“Unnie, you do realize just how many things can be wrong with that statement, right?”
“What’s the matter? Scared to share a bed with me now?”
“Quit teasing. Was she more beautiful than unnie?”
“”You make it sound like I’m only with your sister because I find her attractive.”
Krystals snuggles in closer to Sooyoung, enjoying the warmth of the other girl, the feeling of a thin arm around her waist and the sweet voice rumbling against her ears. The voice goes on to talk about love, love for her sister who should be in this bed instead of Krystal.
It’s warm and safe here, in Sooyoung’s arms.
Krystal wonders why her sister would ever want to leave it.
---
It’s in the morning that Krystal finally asks the question that’s been bugging her.
“So what’s the plan?”
Sooyoung pauses in the middle of slipping on her coat. “Do I need one?”
Krystal raises an eyebrow slowly. “You came here without a plan?”
“Well, it’s more like I have a plan, I just don’t want to talk about it because you won’t really be okay with it?” There’s an apologetic grin on Sooyoung’s face as she turns to remove her cell phone that's charging in the wall outlet.
“What are you talking about?”
“Okay. This is what I planned. You go enjoy the sights. I go fetch Sica. Nice and simple. And don’t worry about getting lost and all that, I contacted a friend of mine to accompany you. Don’t worry, she won’t bore you.”
Krystal almost bristles at that but manages to keep her words neutral. “I don’t need a babysitter. And why can’t I go with you?”
Sooyoung sits on the bed next to Krystal and wraps her arm around her shoulder.
“Because your sister would hate me if I took you to where I was going. If anything she’d probably kill me. And we really don’t want that kind of emotion to add to her list, do we?”
Krystal leans into Sooyoung’s neck and sighs, the fight leaking out of her like air. “What are you going to do?”
“I’ll tell you when I get back with her.”
“Why all the secrecy?” Why is there so much she doesn’t know?
“Because Sica is difficult like that. And I would love to do away with it but until I get her back and we come to an understanding, I don’t want to push her away even more.”
It hurts, like it did before. Like it did all those other times. Siblings don’t have to be close and siblings don’t have to love each other but Krystal would have liked to believe they were different.
“Fine. But at least tell me the story of when you two first met. Don’t think I don’t know you were avoiding the question last night.”
Sooyoung had told her many stories last night, and answered many questions but none of those stories held anything significant about her sister. Krystal still doesn’t understand the connection Japan has to them and though Krystal had never thought it necessary to bug the couple about such details, she’s tired of being lost in this swirl of confusion.
“It’s a story that I can only tell you with Sica. We were going to tell you before she left actually.”
“Is that why she left? Because she didn’t want to tell me her secrets?”
Krystal sags deeper against Sooyoung, suddenly incredibly weary. It’d be easier to just not care.
Sooyoung flicks her forehead and Krystal hisses as the short burst of pain. “Why would you think that? Sica left because she had some issues. She loves you, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Her hands rub the affected spot on her forehead.
“Alright. How about I start the story, and she’ll finish it when we find her?”
Krystal hums in agreement,
“Once upon a time, an incredibly gorgeous woman with killer legs went into the snowy mountains of Hokkaido during a snowstorm. Yes, she was stupid like that. And it was there that she met the love of her life…”
---
It’s completely stupid to wander off on her own into a foreign city with tongue and ears that don’t work there but Krystal leaves the room in a huff anyways. Begrudgingly she’ll admit it’s childish and immature to ignore what is asked of her even when it makes perfect sense but Krystal doesn’t like the idea of having to be entrusted to a stranger.
She doesn’t want to admit that there are some things she can’t handle on her own because it only reminds her of all of the untold secrets and her missing sister who may not be who she thought she was.
---
Krystal ends up wandering away from the more busier parts of the city to stroll down far more secluded streets and neighborhoods. No one talks to her and for once Krystal almost feels like she belongs here. Not a tourist but just another face to be lost in the crowd.
It’s in front of a small candy store that the silence breaks. The store is small and dimly lit and the young woman standing at the entrance with a broom seems to smile wide enough as if to counter it.
“Hello,” she greets, “I’m Victoria.” And Krystal is surprised to hear it’s spoken in Korean, and furthermore, that the name is in English. Her attention is taken away just like that and rests in the palms of this mysterious woman.
“I’m Krystal,” she greets back, “how did you know I was Korean?”
If anything, her smiles grows even wider. “A guess. Or maybe I just have a sense for these things. Would you like to come into my shop for a little bit? It’s been a while since I’ve talked to anyone in Korean.”
Victoria doesn’t wait for an affirmation as she enters the store, and Krystal finds herself walking in after her, drawn to the woman who brings with her familiarity and comfort.
Victoria walks into the back of the store, separated off by some hanging blue curtains, but her voice carries easily though the thin wooden walls.
“Would you like some tea?”
“I’m fine.” Krystal looks at all of the plastic containers of candies, easily skipping by the ones with words that make no sense to her. It’s not just Japanese on these bags and containers and she can makes guesses based off cartoon pictures as she hunts for Hangul and English.
“Would you like to take some with you?” Victoria reappears from behind the curtains.
“Oh no, I couldn’t.” Sooyoung had given her some money but Krystal had enough sense to realize that if she did end up lost, it’d be best to hold on to it.
“Don’t worry about it. Business isn’t booming, but I won’t mind parting with a few.”
Krystal looks around the store, the emptiness and the lack of noise seem a bit lonely to her.
“Are you the only one here?”
“Yep, I’m the owner.”
“Doesn’t that get lonely? Working here all by yourself?”
Victoria shakes her head. “Not at all. I have a lot of friends here. See?” Victoria points her finger up to the ceiling.
Krystal looks up and immediately flinches.
There are spiders all over the ceiling, crawling out of the holes in the corners and suddenly down the walls. She doesn’t scream and watches with eyes wide at all of the tiny black bodies and their rapid moving legs. She wants to run out of the store but suddenly it’s as if she can’t move and when did Victoria get behind her? The older woman leans into her, long slender fingers sliding down her bare arm.
Krystal struggles to speak but Victoria makes comforting shushing sounds as if to placate her. Her smile is still motherly and graceful and her eyes seem to glow with a calming light but all Krystal can think about are the fingers that dance up her arm and around her collar bone, stopping only to play with the fabric of her t-shirt, stretching the collar.
And then she’s free.
A cold hand grabs her arm and yanks her forcefully away and the spell is broken. Just like that she’s running running running and her fingers are laced with this new stranger’s. She looks up and sees someone in a baggy hoodie and jeans with a cap on their head facing backwards, easily covering up the person’s short hair.
They run until they can’t anymore and they stop on the sidewalk, their breaths hot and rugged, sweat sticking to their clothes.
Krystal looks at this stranger yet again, this young man who meets her gaze with a bright smile and somehow Krystal can’t help but feel annoyed to see it.
But she also realizes the need to show gratitude.
She straightens herself and takes a deep breath to steady her words. “Uh, thank you for saving me back there.”
He waves off the apology. “It’s no big deal. Sooyoung unnie would’ve cut me to pieces with scissors if I had let anything happen when I’m supposed to be watching you.”
Krystal blinks, momentarily dumbfounded. “You’re a girl?”
She laughs. “Yep. Don’t blame you for thinking otherwise. It’s not the first time. I’m Amber by the way.” She sticks out her hand for a handshake and Krystal accepts it, the palm still sweaty and warm.
That seems to be all it takes for Amber to consider them friends as she walks in closer, expression casual and lax. Krystal scowls slightly at the unspoken assumption.
“So what do you want to do until Sooyoung unnie gets back?”
“And when will she be back?”
Amber shrugs and Krystal feels irritated, lips curving down slightly. “Probably soon. Sooyoung unnie has a way of persuading your sister.”
Krystal’s eyes narrow. “And just how do you know my sister and Sooyoung unnie?” Is it jealousy that’s bubbling in her voice? Or can she simply attribute it to her irritation? Krystal has never been all that fond of befriending strangers immediately following introductions and the fact that Jessica had known all of these people that she had never met before still bothers her.
Amber scratches the back of her neck sheepishly, as she thinks of the best way to word her reply. “We’re a connected community. Most of the foreigners who lived here know each other or at least have heard of each other.” She pauses as thinking of the proper conclusion and then she chuckles. “And I pretty much know everybody.”
---
They end up passing the time at a small tea shop near the hotel, grabbing a seat at an outside table. It’s not hard conversing with Amber, the other girl does indeed have a knack for making friends, not that Krystal will ever admit it. There are further introductions, talks about hobbies and the standard time fillers, but Krystal ignores all of that to focus on more information about her sister and Sooyoung. The anecdotes are small and essentially worthless, but Krystal tries to suck out what she can from them. Amber shares Sooyoung’s ease of conversation and apparently her habit of avoidance as well.
“Do you know the story of how my sister met Sooyoung unnie?”
Amber hesitates slightly, but it’s immediately covered up by a slow nod. “Like I said, we all know each other. So the closer friends know about that story.”
Krystal leans in, expectant. “Will you tell it to me?”
Amber frowns and shakes her head. “Sorry. That’s something for them to tell you.”
Krystal lets out a rather unflattering growl, before leaning back into her chair. “Why is it so important? Can’t you just say it? Who knows when Sooyoung unnie will get back. Who knows if unnie is coming back.” Krystal eyes the white plastic surface of the table because as annoying as overly friendly strangers are, pity is something she won’t put up with.
“They’ll be back.” Amber’s voice is low and soothing, offering a promise that seems almost believable.
“And how do you know that?”
“Because they’re back already.”
“Don’t joke.”Krystal looks up to deliver a glare, but Amber isn’t deterred in the slightest. Instead she’s watching something over Krystal’s shoulder with interest.
Krystal turns.
“Look.” Amber points down the street
Krystal squints and can make out the shape of two people walking down the street in their direction. As they get closer it becomes apparent that it’s actually one person walking while dragging the other along in a tight headlock. The person being dragged tries to struggle only to give up and resort to muttering.
Krystal smiles as Sooyoung drags her grumbling sister towards them.