Chapter 5

Yuri's POV

When I woke up this morning and found Jessica lying in my arms, I was extremely surprised. At first, I thought I was dreaming so I closed my eyes again. I waited for her breath against my skin to disappear... But the feel of her warmth and the weight of her body seemed so real. I opened my eyes again and there she was -- still in my arms sleeping. At the moment, my mind was absolutely blank as I couldn't recall a thing that happened after going to bed last night. I wondered if Yoona had anything to do with it.

At the thought of Yoona, I remembered the cake that I promised her the other night. And if she had anything to do with Jessica being in my bed right now, then she deserved it even more. It was 6:33 am and as much as I wanted to relish this moment with the Sleeping Beauty, I did not want to break my promise to Yoona.

After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I went into the kitchen to prepare the ingredients for the strawberry chocolate cake I was about to bake. As I pulled out each ingredient, I made a mental note to make other breakfast goodies. Eggs and pancakes for Sooyoung, fruit salad for Seohyun and Hyoyeon, strawberry-chocolate milkshakes for everybody, American style crepes that I just learned to make for Tiffany and Taeyeon, and an omelette for Sica.

After placing the cake in the oven, I moved on to preparing the fruit salad since the strawberries were already out. Every now and then, I would place a strawberry in my mouth to satiate my hunger.

Next, I moved onto frying the eggs, pancakes, and crepes. The aroma of my sweet breakfast must have woken the girls up as most of them began to emerge from their rooms.

"Unnie, everything smells so good. Do you need help?"

"Oh, Seohyun! It's ok. Go brush your teeth and then eat the salad that I made for you and Hyo. It's in the fridge."

Seohyun disappeared into the bathroom as Taeyeon came into the kitchen inspecting all the dishes -- and the mess.

"Why are we having cake for breakfast? Is it somebody's bday?" Taeyeon asked me while peering into the oven.

"Oh, the cake is for Yoona. She was craving it all week long and I promised her one since she's been such a great help."

I checked the timer and the cake should be about ready by now. "Tae, can you see if the cake is ready?"

She pulled out the chocolate cake that she was drooling over and placed it on the counter. "It's ready! Let me taste test it for you."

As she was about to cut herself a slice, I lightly slapped her eager hands away.

"It's not ready yet. And until Yoong eats the first piece, nobody is getting any." Her eyes were fixed on the chocolate mass in front of her as I scolded her.

"I better finish decorating the cake before you eat it all up with your eyes. Here, you can finish making the eggs. That, you could have."

Taeyeon gave me a little pout before walking over to the stove. I quietly laughed at our kid leader's mindlessness of her strong and controlling image that she's supposed to show as I began to coat the cake in chocolate icing.

By the time I finished adding the strawberries on top, almost all the members were awake and started munching on the rare American-style breakfast.

As I was putting the now finished cake into the fridge, I noticed the door to my room opening and saw a pair of bunny slippers. When I looked up, Sunny came out of our room as expected. But what surprised me was the sleepy Hyoyeon behind her.

"Hyo! How come you were in my room? When did you go in..."

"My heater broke so Sica and I slept with you guys. Remember?"

I watched her walk into the bathroom as I vaguely remembered hearing this last Night.

Before further analyzing last night's details, Sooyoung's voice interrupted my thoughts. "The pancakes are so good, Yuri! Hey Fany, pass me some more syrup. While you're at it, pass me another bite of your ku-rae-pu... I didn't really taste the flavors the first time," Sooyoung said as she reached for more eggs from her plate.

"Yah! It's called a craype. Crepe. What's Taengoo supposed to eat if you're having so many bites?" Tiffany said while trying to protect the crepes from the vulture-like Sooyoung who is now hovering above the food.

As the two playfully bickered, Taeyeon turned to me and said with a sudden glow in her eyes, "Hey, why don't you go wake up Sica and I'll go wake up Yoong."

"Ok, but can you help me finish making this omelette before going?" I asked her as I went into the medicine cabinet to pull out the ointment for Sica's hand.

"Sure! By the time you're done waking Sica up, I'll have finished making her breakfast and Yoong will be up. What's a better way to celebrate than with cake!"

She looked into the frying pan before screaming across the living room, "Yul! What am I making again?"

"An omelette! Just pour all the ingredients from that bowl in."

I opened the door to my room to see Jessica still sleeping, with her back facing me. Afraid that the girls would wake her up and put her in a bad mood, I closed the door quietly behind me. I moved onto the other side of the bed and found her hugging onto one of my Mickey Mouse dolls.

This sight of her made her look like a serene and angelic little girl. I studied her a bit longer before sitting on the bed to wash her injured hand and reapply the medication. As I took her hand to unwrap the bandage, I noticed that she was holding onto something. I chuckled to myself when I saw what was in her hands. I gently removed the Minnie doll from her hands and placed it on her pillow. I wondered how she even found it in the first place since it's usually placed under my pillow or in some inconspicuous spot around it.

Looking at her peaceful face once more helped settle my initial debate whether to wake her up first or apply the ointment first. At least this way, with her still sleeping, I wouldn't risk upsetting her and I could act naturally.

I wiped the damp warm cloth against her hand, making sure to not wake her up. After drying it, I started to apply medication on the now less swollen area. Her soft hand made me think about what happened last night once more and how she ended up in my bed.

"Mmm... Good morning, Yuri."

I looked over to where the soft angelic voice was coming from.

"Good morning, Sica. Am I hurting you? It seems I'm never gentle in the morning eh," I joked as I remembered what she said to me the last time I woke her up.

Jessica smiled and shook her head from side to side before saying, "No. What it seems like is every morning you're always holding onto my hands somehow."

Stunned by her response, I quickly wrapped the bandage around her hand. I was also thinking if she meant 'no', I'm not gentle or 'no', I am.

When I released her injured hand, she raised it and placed her fingers gently on my face before sitting up to cup the other side of my cheek with her left hand.

"Aigoo, are you blushing? You feel pretty hot too."

"Uhhh... It's just... Umm.. The heat from all the cooking. You better come out and eat."

I got up from the bed and hurried out the room.

"Good, you're finally out. You can finish this omelette while I go wake up Yoong," Taeyeon said to me as she shoved the spatula back into my hands.

I was constantly flipping the mess in the pan as I tried to calm my nerves down. I guess I just wasn't used to Jessica's jokes and her being warm. At least, I think she was joking with me just now about me not being gentle. Or was she not joking and was actually disagreeing with me. But she said it with a smile... aish, how she makes me lose all sensibility. Regardless, she wasn't being icy and I liked this warm side to her.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt a pair of hands wrap around my waist.

"Unnie! I heard you woke up extra early to bake me my cake!" an overly excited Yoona said as she hugged me from behind.

I turned my head around to look at her wide smile. I couldn't help but smile back before responding, "I promised, remember?"

She hugged me tighter and kissed me on the cheek. "Unnie! You're the best!"

Suddenly, I felt another pair of hands around me and found Sooyoung on my other side.

"Yul! You really are the best! The best cook made us the best breakfast!" Sooyoung exclaimed loudly before giving me a big kiss on the other side of my cheek.

I laughed at their goofiness until I heard a cold voice from behind us say, "Is this what's for breakfast? Do you expect me to get full by watching you guys for breakfast?"

All three of us turned around to see a pouting yet angry looking Ice Princess.

"Haha! No... Yuri made you an uhm-mo-lit-ah for breakfast." Sooyoung told her.

Remembering the omelette, I looked back into the pan only to find that Taeyeon's mess had turned into a disaster.

"Well, where is it?"

I turned to face Jessica with the burnt omelette in my hands. I looked into the pan before looking up again with a worried look. "I think I burned it."

Yoona and Sooyoung both peered into the pan with shocked expressions. But the only expression that got my attention was Jessica's. Her icy glare burned my eyes while her mad pout made my heart ache.

Yoona grabbed the pan that I was holding out of my hands and placed it back onto the stove.

"It's ok Sica unnie, we still have the cake that Yuri baked for me."

I was still frozen in my spot staring at Jessica when Yoona stepped in between the two of us and placed the cake in front of Jessica. After that, Yoona came back to my side and held onto my hand. Sooyoung also rested her hand on my arm. I don't know why but it felt like as if the three of us were standing in front of a judge, waiting for a verdict.

Jessica took one long look at the cake before making eye contact with only me.

"Chocolate and strawberries?"

"I... We had strawberries.. So I--"

"Unnie promised me a cake. And she knows that I like chocolate so it's a chocolate cake with strawberries on top," Yoona tried to help me out.

But I think she might have done more harm than help me because I saw Jessica narrowing her eyes at me.

"Unnie, do you want some of our fruit salad? It has strawberries, cantaloupe, honey melon, grapes, and oranges," Seohyun offered after seeing Jessica push the plate of dark dessert away.

"I don't feel like having cake or fruits for breakfast. My hand hurts, I'm going to go see a doctor now."

With that, Jessica got up from the table and was already at the dorm's door before I was able to say, "Wait! I'll come with you!"

I removed the apron that I was wearing and ran into my room to grab my leather jacket. Taking my keys and wallet from the dressing table, I took one quick look in the mirror to make sure I looked presentable. No flour or chocolate on my face. Good. Let's go Yuri!

As I was about to rush out the door to chase after Jessica, I yelled out to all the girls huddled around the cake who were taking one bite after another. "Yah! You shiksins! Save me and Sica a slice!" I yelled at them before rushing to chase after Jessica.