Taeyeon heard her phone's alarm go off. She immediately rolled away from the blonde girl who was just recovering from her ual high, and scrambled to take a look at her window.

"What the hell, Taeyeon?"

"We're done. You can leave." she dismissively said then grabbed a hoodie and sweatpants.

"What do you mean we're done? I haven't even returned the favor."

Taeyeon fumbled to put on her clothes then threw the other girl's clothes on her bed.

"There's always a next time, Nana. Now get."

"You're throwing me out? It's ing past midnight!"

"You have a car and you live five minutes away from me. I don't feel like waking up next to you."

"Fine. Whatever. I really don't get you. You should have yourself checked or something."

Zipping up her top, she stared blankly at the other girl grumbling while putting on her own clothes.

"What?" Nana huffed.

"Do I look like I am remotely interested in hearing your opinion?"

" you."

"I told you, that's for another time. See you in school on Monday."

Jessica drove in just in time to witness the almost comical moment when Taeyeon was literally dragging then pushed the girl inside her car. It was like clockwork. It wasn't hard for the young artist to figure out Jessica's schedule because it was so predictable.

The brunette leaves at six in the evening and comes home at one a.m. Despite the late nights, Jessica picks up her newspaper at exactly 6:30 in the morning. Taeyeon took a sharp intake of breath upon seeing the older woman step out of the car wearing a sleek black dress that matched her dark smooth hair. Everything about Jessica looked lustrous as far as Taeyeon could decipher.

"Everything okay?" Jessica asked with a smile.

"Yeah", Taeyeon nodded then scratched the back of her head as she took a step closer. "She was, uhm, she forgot that she had somewhere else to go."

"That's…not Yuri, right?"

Taeyeon smiled a bit. "You remember her?"

The brunette tilted her head. "You introduced her to me. How could I not?"

"Well, my parents still refer to her as that "Latina friend" I have", the artist drawled out while air quoting. "Luckier sometimes when they become more specific, like Puerto Rican. But that's not even accurate because she’s Korean. Like us...”, Taeyeon rambled on then paused, feeling embarrassed at the fact that Jessica wore a slightly amused expression.

She took a deep breath, "But yeah, she went back to their house. Says her mom needs her or something.” Taeyeon shrugged.

Jessica furrowed her brows a bit. If there's one person who can detect physical abuse miles away, that's her. When they had a brief encounter this morning, it wasn't difficult to notice Yuri's thick concealer and huge glasses.

"Here", Taeyeon cleared . "Just wanted to give this back to you." She took out Jessica's cigarette case and handed it to the woman.

"You waited for me? You could've done this in the morning, you know. But thank you", Jessica smiled.

Taeyeon looked up and smiled back. "You're welcome."

The brunette chuckled after opening the case. "Empty"

"I was after the contents, not the case."

"Obviously"

"It's too…glittery."

"It's very special to me." Jessica defended.

"Why?"

"It was my late mother's"

Jessica saw a flash of guilt in Taeyeon's face. "Why did you let me take it?"

"I didn't. You ran out", the brunette chuckled. "It's fine. I could have gotten it from you this morning. I kind of knew you'd return it out of goodwill"

"What if I had thrown it away?"

"But you didn't. So everything's good.” Jessica nodded.

"But what if I did?” the young girl insisted.

"Ah, well", Jessica pursed her lips and sighed. "Had you thrown it, there's nothing else I could've done except buy a new one."

"You wouldn't get mad at me?"

"I'd probably be really pissed. Then I'd get a new one."

Taeyeon kicked an imaginary stone and smiled. "Good thing I didn't"

"Besides sniffing people, is it a habit of yours to stay up late at night just to give back something you borrowed?"

"It's Friday night. Well, it's Saturday already. I don't need to wake up early", the teenager replied in a slightly off tangent way and completely ignoring the brunette's statement.

"Still. It's almost…” she glanced at her watch, "one thirty."

"I'm not yet sleepy."

She got the hint. She just chose to ignore it.

"Do your parents know you're out here?" Jessica asked while glancing at Taeyeon's apartment and figuring out which of the windows on the second floor were of the young girl's bedroom and that of her parents'.

"They're on a cruise."Taeyeon lied. Well, not really. She thinks they're on a cruise. She's pretty sure her mom left a note about their whereabouts.

"And you're alone?"

"Yeah."

 Jessica studied the young girl's face and found no trace of anxiety or fear over the fact that she was left on her own.

Just stating facts.

"I should go though. I'm sure you're tired." Taeyeon mumbled with—if Jessica's not being delusional—a tinge of sadness.

The brunette smile and nodded slightly. "A bit, yes. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

It was meant to be a courteous reply, but Jessica underestimated Taeyeon.

The young girl was standing in front of her own apartment early morning and waited for Jessica to pick up the paper. "Taeyeon? Please tell me you actually slept."

The brunette was getting a bit anxious about the younger girl's unusual behavior. But there was still that nagging feeling that told her to not run the opposite direction. It's a bizarre sensation because normally, her instincts will tell her who she shouldn't trust. But then again, there's Taecyeon. This could just be a similar circumstance, except, he was straightforward about his intentions.

Jessica had yet to decipher why Taeyeon had taken extraordinary attention to her. She reassessed her own behavior but nothing stood out as far as she was concerned. She was just another single woman working the nightshift at some twenty four-hour business operation in Vegas. Dime a dozen.

"I did." Taeyeon grinned.

For about an hour.

One can't simply sleep while attempting to express through painting Jessica's beauty. A few canvasses ruined later, the girl settled for one of her exhibit paintings that she refused to sell. She had plenty of time to work on her masterpiece since her muse would not be leaving anytime soon.

"But I wanted to give this to you."

"This?"

"This." The teenager picked up a huge frame leaning against the door and walked towards Jessica's direction. "This is for you", she said in an almost shy whisper.

Jessica's eyes widened when her attention was immediately drawn to the lower right hand corner of the painting and saw a "T.K." signature. "You…did this?", she asked in awe.

"I paint…sometimes." Taeyeon twisted her lips and fidgeted on the spot before adding, "Watercolor. I like watercolor."

"It's beautiful." the brunette gushed as she stared at the different splashes that reminded her of the colors of the universe. You know, the ones depicted in science books about the Big Bang and what not. "I love it."

"Yeah?", Taeyeon whispered. "Why?"

"I don't know why." Jessica smiled bashfully, suddenly feeling insecure about her knowledge of the arts. It's one thing to talk about it with businessmen who pretend to like and understand it. It's another thing to be speaking directly to the maker. "I mean...I've read things about abstract painting, but I'm not well-versed in expressing opinion about it. I just love the colors. It, uhm, it reminds me of my high school days."

The young artist smiled widely. "That's the only reason that matters to me."

Jessica looked up. "What reason?"

"That it spoke to you. I would have taken it back had you started talking about techniques and color mixing."

This made the brunette laugh. "Well, don't worry about that. I wouldn't know anything about…mixing colors and .", she gestured vaguely then smiled dreamily at the painting. " Taeyeon…Thank you, really. This is…"

"It would be a nice thing to put on your wall."

The brunette pursed her lips and nodded slowly, realizing the apparent intent of the gesture. "You're really that concerned about my wall, huh?"

"Yeah…kind of. It hurts to see plain white. I mean, it's not even beige or cream. Just plain…boring…white."

"Well…you're going to see it again, because I'm about to have breakfast and I'm inviting you in.", she smiled then motioned Taeyeon inside. "Your reward."

An artist.

Now, that somehow made sense.

Jessica was of course dependent on pigeonholes. She's used to the different species of corporate animals, but not of the opposite side of the spectrum. For the brunette, therefore, Taeyeon's semi-erratic behavior, the focus on details, and her physical appearance all tied up neatly into the artiste package she's barely familiar with.

She sighed in relief. Now she sort of understood. What still didn't make sense is Taeyeon's interest in her. Maybe her charitable acts spoke to the younger girl, as Taeyeon keenly pointed out before. She followed Taeyeon's movements as the young girl carried a toolbox she borrowed from the maintenance and went ahead at hooking the painting on her wall without as much as asking permission.

"It doesn't hurt anymore?"

"Not anymore", Taeyeon said with a grin before taking a huge chunk off her croissant.

Jessica slowly raised her eyebrows subconsciously while observing the girl's appetite. She wasn't emaciated, but she certainly could put on a few more pounds. There were dark circles around it, but more importantly, there was a certain kind of weariness found in those beautiful hazel eyes.

For someone so young and