Jessica was only 200 meters inside the forest when all the sudden, a thunder-like sound boomed across the sky above her. Her body gave a start and she looked up immediately, searching for a reason. Gray clouds were expected, but all she saw beyond the crowns of the tall trees was blue, clear sky.

She shrugged it off and continued pedaling into the forest. The English man and his family were expecting her in about fifteen minutes. They had called in earlier, asking why they couldn't use the mini sauna system in their house. There was an introduction of how to turn on the oven, but it was in Korean and obviously unintelligible for the foreigners. Jessica would drop by and explain it to them first, then cycle to House 030 to fix the electricity for Sooyoung afterwards.

Arriving at a crossroad that looked like a Y, she took a left turn to the north-west and dodged a branch that almost slapped her in the face just in time. Exhaling in relief, she reminded herself to watch out for it later. She would have to come back here and take the other road to get to House 030.

Jessica kept cycling and cycling, oblivious to the thunderclouds a few kilometers away that were approaching her from the east. What she did not see either was a car passing by the Y, taking the right turn to head towards House 030 in high speed. Because the moment the car appeared, the trees had already devoured her figure behind their shadows, and neither she nor the driver had a chance to see the other.

----------

Yuri shifted her eyes from left to right, then from right to left, then looked into the rearview mirror before staring at the empty road in front again. Jessica only had a lead of ten minutes, and she hadn't been driving slowly, so why was she still not able to see the blonde on the bike? Yuri tried to remember if Jessica had said anything about where she was going, but the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced the girl mentioned and pointed at House 030 on the map earlier. She was sure her memory didn't fail her.

The uneasy feeling inside her grew with time as there was still no sight of Jessica.

Yuri looked up to the sky. It was still blue. Jessica most certainly still had no idea that a thunderstorm was coming and was cycling deeper into the forest. But thunderclouds moved way faster than people think they could. The deeper Jessica was inside the forest, the less would she be aware of the gray lumps in the sky. But the rain would still drip on her as wet as if she was outside.

Besides that, Yuri was even more concerned by the fact that Jessica had astraphobia. Thunder sounds combined with lighting and fierce rain was equivalent to an army of living cucumbers.

"Come on…" she took a right turn, knowing that House 030 was only another five minutes away. "Where are you?"

----------

Jessica exited the house and climbed on her bike. She waved to the kids standing by the window before cycling off. The smile remained on her lips as she thought about the happy family with the generous couple and their cute kids. Apparently, she was only doing badly with babies. Children who were a little older seemed to see a lovely unnie in her.

She listened to the funny jingling sound of the tip in her pocket as her bike hopped on the bumpy wooded trail. She remembered how Yuri was extremely good with both babies and little children. While Jessica kept distance and was awkward around a kid who didn't like her, Yuri would disregard the child's poor judgment and approach it with even more laughter, hugs, kisses, silly faces—until eventually, the kid fell in love with her.

Sometimes, Jessica couldn't help but to feel jealous. Not of Yuri's ability to win a kid's heart, but of the kid who received so much love. She knew full well that this act she couldn't control was a pretty childish one. And she would have felt bad if she actually had done something mean out of jealousy. But she never did. So, she felt it was okay to be jealous.

The main reason she used to justify it, however, was that Yuri loved her mild jealousy.

"Funny how a kid can spice things up so well," Yuri would giggle into her ear, sending shivers down her spine with her hot breaths.

Jessica's body suddenly shuddered, as if she'd just heard Yuri's husky whisper in her ear. She rubbed her arm, feeling the goosebumps. But when she dodged the branch at the Y and took the road on the left, she realized it wasn't the imagination of Yuri's husky voice that made her shiver. It was the air. The temperature seemed to have dropped a few degrees.

Her eyebrows knitted. A chilly breeze brushed her bare skin, causing the hair on her neck to stand up. She began to feel colder. It was as if she had a foreboding of something bad to be happening soon.

"Oh no…"

The sun disappeared within seconds, and Jessica knew immediately what the bad foreboding was about. She tilted her head to look up at the sky, already knowing what to expect. Gray clouds had taken over, since when she didn't know. A huge drop of water landed on the tip of her nose, causing her eyes to squint and her neck to stiffen by instinct. She shook her head and wiped her nose dry with her sleeve. But soon she realized it wouldn't help much as more and more raindrops started to hit her, the soil and the trees around.

Jessica sighed. Something told her the rain was going to last very long tonight.

----------

Yuri closed the door to House 030 and remained standing on the stairs in front of the entrance as she looked around, scratching her head. Jessica was nowhere to be found. It was weird, because when Yuri arrived, House 030 was still locked and untouched. Jessica never was there. Even when Yuri had finished fixing the electricity and changing the light bulb in the kitchen, Jessica didn't show up.

Yuri furrowed her eyebrows. She fixed her gaze on a tree far away as her brain tried to find a logic explanation. She supposed that Jessica had paid a visit at the foreign man's vacation house. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember Jessica saying where it was.

It began to rain when Yuri decided to not wait anymore. She wasn't even sure if Jessica would cycle to House 030 or not. If she would, Yuri could meet her on the road. If not, Jessica should be on her way back to the hotel and Yuri could meet her on the road too, providing that their timing was good enough.

Yuri clapped her hands together as she made up her mind and got into her car.

By the time she drove out from the yard, the rain was already so heavy that she had to set her windscreen wipers on constant wipe mode. The blurry windscreen didn't allow her to drive fast, even though the road was straight. Yuri reached for her phone and dialed the hotel's number.

"North Forest Hotel. May I help you?"

"Oh hey… Hyoyeon?"

"Yul? Yeah it's me. Where are you?"

"I'm on the road. I was just at House 030 looking for Sica, but she isn't there. Did she call or anything? I can't reach her."

"Nope. I didn't see or hear from her. But the rain's getting heavy, you should come back soon. Don't stay in the forest in this weather, Yuri. A few guests who originally wanted to move into vacation houses have to stay at the hotel for the night. It's dangerous to be in the forest, even with a car. You need to get back as soon as possible."

"Geez, who are you telling this," Yuri said, her voice filled with worry as a loud clap of thunder growled above her head. "Remember? Jessica is on a bike!"

There was a short moment of pause at the other end.

"Yuri…" Hyoyeon finally said, sighing. "Don't be silly. You can't go search for her if you don't know where she is. What if she's staying in one of the vacation houses? Bring yourself to safety first. You hear me?"

"Look, I'm fine," Yuri said quickly. "A 'what if' is not good enough, Hyo. I need to know she's really safe. Please call me immediately when she's back, okay?"

"Yuri, listen—akgalkns… kkk… zzz…"

"Hello? Hyo?"

Yuri put the phone away from her ear and stared at it disbelievingly. The connection died. She quickly dialed Jessica's number, in hope that her phone wasn't completely dead yet. But it was in vain. Her phone didn't receive, nor was it able to send a single signal. Mobile phoning was disabled due to the storm.

Yuri tossed the useless phone on the passenger seat. She hit the steering wheel angrily, knowing that she had no other choice. Hyoyeon was right. She had to drive back to the hotel. She couldn't look for Jessica when she had absolutely no clue where the girl could have gone to.

But then, it happened.

One tire of her car rolled into a pothole. The hole was unfortunately just the right size for the tire, and definitely deep enough that no matter how hard she was pushing against the gas pedal, she couldn't move forward an inch.

The drenched soil didn't help either. Her car was stuck.

----------

Jessica shivered from head to toe. Not only was she cold, but she was also shivering from fear. Hiding underneath a huge tree was shielding her from the rain, but didn't secure her from the lightning. Every rolling thunder scared the heck out of her, causing her body to jolt and stiffen and start every way she didn't want to.

The gray clouds had dominated the sky and created a dark coat around the tall trees. Jessica clenched her teeth and hugged herself tightly. She was starting to hear eerie sounds behind the spooky woods again, but quickly shook her head and pinched herself in the arm. Wincing a little, she pressed her back against the tree behind.

"You're not a kid anymore…" she mumbled to herself, rubbing her arms. "But I'm so cold…"

The thunder boomed into her ears, sounding like it was tearing the sky apart. Jessica winced again, shutting her eyes tightly as she cupped her ears in fear. She hated how the tree couldn't shield her completely. A strong wind came whipping by from the side, and her top was already drenched with the cold rain. She was suddenly reminded of the last time she stood in a forest during a storm like this, hoping for a certain someone to come and shelter her. It was a sunny memory despite the nasty weather that day, because Jessica clearly remembered how relieved and blissful she felt when she saw the concern in Yuri's eyes, when she let Yuri hug her tight, when they shared their first passionate kiss under the rain.

She had felt just as lost and scared as she was feeling right now, not just of the thunder and the lightning but even more of Yuri and their relationship. She had given it a try, and they had worked it out; or so she thought. She had put her faith in Yuri.

But just to have Yuri betray her. Just to be hurt one more time, just to stand alone under the rain once again. Just to let her tears flow as her heart ached, and no one knew.

Could history repeat itself today? Would Yuri just appear out of nowhere, hugging and kissing her under the rain? Would Yuri wipe her tears and beg her not to cry, saying she's terribly sorry about everything that happened, and that she really, truly loved her?

Jessica reckoned it was too good to be true. She reckoned it could never happen that way. It hurts to know her wishful thinking would forever be only a wish. If only they had been able to shut the world out… if only they had never left the forest and that little house where they had met each other… if only Yuri wasn't Kwon Yuri, and Jessica wasn't Jung Jessica…

"Jessica!"

Jessica slowly opened her eyes, causing the tears to bust and stream down her cheeks. She looked around through her tear-curtain hopefully, but didn't see anything except for the falling rain. She perked her ears, waiting for that voice to call her name again. Nothing happened.

Jessica began to sob silently. She had never felt lonelier than this.

----------

"YURI AND JESSICA ARE STILL OUT THERE?"

"Shh, don't yell," Tiffany patted Sooyoung's head and gently pushed the girl down onto the bed. "Hyo said that Yuri had followed Sica right away, so don't worry too much."

"That is exactly why I worry," Sooyoung countered. "Why couldn't anyone else go, but it had to be Yuri?"

"Don't ask me, I wasn't there."

"We have to check up on Jessica! Someone has to drive into the forest and look if she's okay! Yuri is no guarantee!"

"I know you don't trust Yuri, but there's no reason for her to physically harm Jessica or anything. They will be fine."

"How can you be so sure? I mean, I more or less know Yuri! She's a hidden perv—"

Sooyoung shut up as Tiffany stuck a small, long object into her mouth. Her eyes went down, only to see the end of a thermometer. She resignedly leaned back and watched as Tiffany put a wet cloth on her forehead.

"Good girl," Tiffany said with a warm smile. "Now stop thinking so much and get some sleep, okay?

Sooyoung unwillingly nodded. She was still hot, her head still felt heavy. She sighed inwardly, knowing that she couldn't do anything as of the moment. She had to trust Yuri.

----------

"Achoo!"

Jessica held her nose with one hand as she sneezed for the umpteenth time. By now, her top was already drenched, half her pants soaked. Wet strands of hair were sticking in her face, but she couldn't care less as she was too busy rubbing her arms, trying to get rid of the goosebumps. The storm didn't seem to be over any time soon. She knew she would have to spend the night standing under this tree if the rain wasn't going to stop.

"Achoo!" Jessica sneezed again.

She sighed, looking at the bike next to her. Maybe she should try cycling back to the hotel. She would definitely catch a terrible cold afterwards, but at least she would still be alive tomorrow. Then again, House 030 was closer to where she was standing. Jessica estimated the distance at one kilometer, which made it a five-minute ride on her bike. But the thunderstorm was of course dangerous, and Jessica wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to risk getting struck by lightning.

She was still absorbed in calculating all the options in her head when suddenly, the rain was magically shielded away and she felt much warmer within seconds. She looked up and saw an umbrella above her head.

"Ahh!" Jessica shrieked as she realized something was standing close next to her. She was about to hit on the dark figure and then run for her life when a vivid flash of lightning brightened the surroundings for a split second, making her recognize the familiar face at once. "Yuri?!"

"No, your Robin Hood," Yuri grinned cheekily.

"What—" Jessica stuttered in surprise. "What are you doing here!"

"I was looking for you, of course." Yuri held Jessica's bare arm, making the goosebumps go away quickly. "You must be cold. Let's get back into my car."

Jessica was speechless as Yuri hugged her from the side, leading her out onto the road. The rain was too heavy for Jessica to figure out where they were going. Everything outside a radius of just a few steps was blurred. It wasn't until they stood directly in front of the car that Jessica heaved a relieved sigh, assured that she would be saved.

Yuri opened the door to the backseats and Jessica climbed in. She moved to the other side as Yuri followed suit. Jessica raised an eyebrow, wondering why Yuri wasn't sitting in the driver's seat.

"Achoo!"

Yuri looked at her worriedly before leaning forward to get a tissue.

"Here," she gave it to Jessica. "Are you already sick?"

Jessica blew her nose before answering. "I don't know, I just feel cold. We need to get back soon."

"Yeah, I know."

There was a long pause. Yuri looked out into the rain silently and Jessica stared at her in confusion.

"Well? Don't you want to bring me home?"

"I—" Yuri scratched her head, avoiding Jessica's eyes. "I would, if I could."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"We're stuck. My car is stuck."

Yuri briefed Jessica on what had happened. The blonde dropped her tissue at the end of the story. She looked out of the window, feeling pissed. Not exactly at Yuri, but at the whole situation. There she was, waiting the entire time for someone to come; and when finally someone arrived, it was this douche-bag of a car that went into a pothole and was just as stuck as her.

"I'm sorry," Yuri said and she inched closer. She put a hand on Jessica's arm, waiting to be slapped away. But Jessica didn't move. Yuri eyed the blonde's drenched clothes, just when Jessica got a sneeze attack and spread bacteria everywhere with huge ACHOOs several times in a row.

Jessica sighed tiredly, leaning back into the seat.

Yuri took out her thin jacket and put it around Jessica. "Seriously, you should stop dressing yourself like this. Autumn means rain and wind, Sica."

Jessica didn't even bother to act like she didn't need help this time. She clutched Yuri's jacket, still too disappointed to say anything. When she thought Yuri was about to hug her warm, the tanned girl moved away.

"Let's go," Yuri said.

"Go where?"

"Let's walk to House 030."

"Are you crazy?"

"No. The car isn't much warmer than outside, Sica. You need a place with a decent heater. Besides, we've got to find you dry clothes. You'll get a fever in no time if you keep sticking in these wet clothes."

"Look at the storm out there," Jessica weakly protested.

"We have an umbrella, we will be safe."

"You're kidding me." Jessica raised an eyebrow at Yuri.

"It's made of synthetic material," Yuri grinned. "Electrically non-conducting. It will protect us from lightning."

Jessica stared at Yuri as if she was waiting for the tanned girl to laugh out loud and say she was just kidding. But Yuri's face stayed serious, even with the warm smile, waiting for Jessica to say yes.

"I must be crazy for listening to you," Jessica gave in at last.

Yuri opened the car door and climbed out, opening the umbrella. She stretched her arm, holding out a hand for Jessica. The blonde, however, slit along the backseat and ignored Yuri's hand. She climbed out into the gusty storm, shivering from the blustering wind immediately.

"Let's go!" Yuri yelled to drown out the rain.

They shut the car door and started making their way towards House 030. Jessica felt the rain whipping around her feet, drenching even more her already soaked shoes. Her right shoulder felt like it was dipped into ice water as the umbrella failed to shelter her there from the cold rain. She unknowingly pressed herself against Yuri's arm that was holding the umbrella, moving away from the rain. The next thing she knew, Yuri had already put that arm around her shoulder, making sure she was completely shielded. Jessica felt an odd, tingling sensation in her stomach as she realized the tanned girl's shoulder was now completely unprotected. Yuri was going to be just as soaked as her once they arrive at the vacation house.

She pondered whether or not she should hug Yuri from the side too, so that the umbrella could shelter them both. But she slipped on the drenched soil instead, yelping as she lost her balance. Luckily, Yuri immediately reacted and caught her fast, helping her to stand up straight again. Without waiting for permission, the taller girl pulled Jessica closer by the waist and held onto her hand tightly. They continued walking in silence, watching every of each other's steps as they tried to create a rhythm, minimizing the possibility of either getting wet.

Jessica didn't want to admit it, but… it had been a long time since she last felt this warm during a cold storm.

----------

Half an hour later, Jessica was sitting on the couch, a blanket wrapped around her body. Her wet clothes were now covering the broken heater, and she was dressed only in a thin top and luckily long sport pants. That was all they could find in the dressers. Apparently, the supposed guests of House 030 didn't have friends who prepared couple clothes for them like Sooyoung did for Yuri and Jessica.

Jessica's teeth chattered as she cursed the heater silently. Out of every freaking day, it had to break today. The heater was all she was looking forward to when they were struggling through the rain. It was like a hit in the face when she later pressed her body against the metal, waiting for it to heat up but to no avail, only to eventually have to come to the conclusion that it could only reach the maximal temperature of half the normal body temperature. Now instead of hugging the heater, Jessica sat on the couch with chattering teeth while her wet clothes were covering the weak source of warmth.

Actually, she could talk about luck that the actual guests of House 030 didn't arrive today. How discontent would they have been if they had arrived at a vacation house during a storm and found out the heater had broken. Jessica made a mental note to herself to remember discussing a change of electronic equipment in several vacation houses with Sooyoung. House 030 surely belonged to one of the oldest items of the Noh-chain.

"I couldn't find tea," Yuri approached Jessica from the kitchen with a bottle in her hands. "I found this instead."

Jessica looked up from the couch. Yuri still wore her black, short-sleeved shirt, which was wet and… see-through.

Jessica gulped.

Why did she pick a white bra this morning?

She couldn't help but to feel irritated. Her ears involuntarily went red as she wondered if Yuri was trying to seduce her. Be it the case or not, she could not let it happen. Her eyes quickly moved down, away from the unhealthy sight. And she was content with what she saw. Yuri had changed into ridiculous pink pajama pants and was walking around in red, fuzzy indoor slippers she had found somewhere in the house. Jessica couldn't ask for a better turn-off.

"What is that?"

"A bottle of Chinese medicinal liquor," Yuri held up the bottle.

"No, I mean, what is that?" Jessica indicated the red slippers.

"Oh, this?" Yuri lifted one foot to get a better view of the slipper and giggled. "I suppose it's a cat. Cute, isn't it?"

"That so doesn't suit you."

"Well, I found a pair of monkey slippers in the foyer, too. I can give you the cat slippers if you want."

Yuri didn't even wait for a reply but just put the bottle onto the table and made her way to the foyer to get the monkey slippers. Jessica narrowed her eyes, trying to decipher the Chinese symbols on the etiquette. She gave up as Yuri came in again, this time in just as fuzzy slippers, except that they were brown and had monkey heads on top. The tanned girl placed the red cat slippers in front of the couch where Jessica was curling up in the blanket and sat down onto the other end.

"Let's have a drink," she suggested and reached for the bottle.

"I still have no idea what that is," Jessica complained.

"Me neither. I only know that it is Chinese medicinal liquor." Yuri paused, eyes lying on the etiquette. "It's supposed to be able to heat us up real soon," she commented, pausing again as if to read the symbols. "It says something about the content… Rep—reptil—no, I don't think you want to know."

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows. "You can read Chinese?"

"A little," Yuri grinned.

"Oh, I see. So you were in the USA for a year but can't speak English, but you can read Chinese perfectly even though you have never been to China?"

"You have never been to America either, have you? Yet your English is super good."

Jessica still frowned at Yuri. Something was off about this, she could feel it in her bones. But the tanned girl waved it off as she opened the bottle.

"Who cares," Yuri said and poured the liquor into two glasses. "This is the only way we can feel warm right now. One for me, one for you."

Jessica stared at the glass Yuri was holding out to her, but refused to let go of her blanket cocoon to grab it. Yuri waited patiently, but Jessica was stubborn.

"What, you don't want it?"

"I don't want to drink something I don't know what it is."

"I told you it is Chinese medicinal liquor," Yuri smiled. "I have never drank something like this either. It's not gonna kill us, I promise. The expiration date is sometime… at the end of time. There's nothing to be afraid of, unless your body can't cope with alcohol."

Jessica opened her mouth to say something, but Yuri shushed her as she wagged a finger.

"And don't even dare tell me that you can't drink. I know your alcohol capacity too well."

Jessica closed her mouth, pouting a little. It was true. She couldn't lie because Yuri knew. Yuri was always the one who got drunk first whenever they went out to pubs, clubs or parties in the past. Jessica still remembered how she used to be so pissed when they got home, because Yuri always fell asleep right away, while she was just a little tipsy, still energized and wanted to do things other than sleeping so badly. It usually ended up with her waking Yuri the next morning, giving the girl a piece of her mind in form of kisses and more.

Jessica automatically blushed at the memories. This was absolutely not the right time to think of stuff like that. She blamed it all on the damn see-through shirt Yuri was wearing.

"Look at your cheeks," Yuri said concernedly. "It's so cold that they're red! Come on, drink this… Please. For me, at least?" The tanned girl suddenly paused as if she just remembered something. "I mean, of course not for me. It's for your own good," Yuri scratched her head, afraid that Jessica would now want to drink the liquor even less.

"No."

Yuri sighed, putting Jessica's glass on the table. She leaned back and looked into Jessica's eyes that were still watching her. Jessica had this challenging look on her face, as if she dared Yuri to drink the medicinal liquor first. Yuri received the unspoken signal and raised an eyebrow. She shifted her gaze on the glass before looking at Jessica. Do it, the blonde's eyes still said.

Yuri shrugged and brought the glass to her lips. Jessica watched intently as the liquor slowly flowed pass Yuri's lips into her mouth. Yuri squinted her eyes hard as she gulped.

"Gaaaaaaah…" a shiver went through the tanned girl's body. "Oh… wow."

"What?" Jessica sat up straight. "How does it taste?"

"Not bad," Yuri nonchalantly replied and took another gulp. This time, she drank it easily as if the liquor was nothing more than water.

Jessica's eyes narrowed in suspicion. She couldn't trust this. It was one of Yuri's traits to be able to drink strong liquids easily. Yuri never had a problem with black coffee, or vodka, or any kind of bitter medicament. Yet, regardless of how well she could take them, Yuri always got drunk extremely easily.

"Look!" Yuri exclaimed, showing Jessica her bare arm. "All my goosebumps are gone!" She emptied the glass in front of Jessica's skeptical eyes and wiped her mouth. "This Chinese liquor is jjang. I'm starting to feel like I'm on fire."

Yuri opened the bottle and poured herself another glass. Jessica kept eyeing Yuri as the girl continued sipping on the liquor as if it was tea. The blonde clutched the blanket more tightly, beginning to feel jealous of how Yuri appeared to be not cold at all.

"You know…" Yuri giggled after taking a huge gulp. "You look like a super adorable cat."

Jessica frowned. "And you look like a stupid drunken monkey."

Yuri laughed out loud. Jessica was wondering what was so funny about monkey when Yuri pointed at her feet. Her toes were sticking out from the blanket, stiffen and curled up from the cold.

"You are so cute I want to kiss you," Yuri huskily whispered as she leaned over to Jessica's side of the couch.

"Yah!" Jessica backed away, holding up a foot. "Don't come here!"

"I'm just kidding," Yuri laughed, patting down Jessica's threatening foot. "Stop being so stubborn, though. You clearly are very cold. Just drink this," she pointed at Jessica's glass on the table. "It helps, really!"

Jessica sighed inwardly, slowly feeling like giving in. Yuri did seem to have warmed up after just a few gulps of the drink. She could give it a try, too. The cold was starting to be unbearable.

"If you don't want to drink this, there's only one way left to feel warmer."

Jessica looked at Yuri questioningly.

"Do you know how the Eskimos keep warm if they accidentally burn their thick coats?" the tanned girl paused for effect. A smug smile appeared on her face before she continued. "They strip off everything else and entangle themselves with their just-as-stripped partner. Sharing body heat, so to say. Very effective."

Jessica narrowed her eyes before giving the laughing Yuri a kick.

She doubted Eskimos really did what Yuri said. She didn't believe the Inuit would ever burn their coats in the first place, not even accidentally. But it didn't matter anymore.

Jessica reached out for the liquor and poured it down her throat.