September 29th 2015

Jessica looked up from her plate, and her eyes met with her mother's.

"Mom..." She said.

"What?... This is far too awkward for me not to say something. And why isn't any of you answering my question?" Mrs. Jung asked.

"Yeobo..." Mr. Jung said, trying to interfere.

Taecyeon was intensely staring down at his plate, without saying anything. Jessica was trying hard to come up with an excuse as to why things were this awkward, but for some reason nothing was coming.

"I didn't think it would be such a difficult question to answer. Jessica?" Mrs. Jung repeated.

"We-" Jessica started saying.

"We just had an argument a little before she left, and we haven't resolved it yet. That's why we didn't come together, and why things are so awkward right now. I apologize for causing such discomfort for all of you... Maybe, I should not have come." Taecyeon said.

Everyone stopped eating, and there was a long, uncomfortable and awkward silence, until Mr. Jung spoke up.

"Things like that happen between couples. It's nothing to apologize about, and Taecyeon you'll always be welcomed here. Now, let's move on and have a nice family dinner, shall we?"

Mrs. Jung was still stunned by what Taecyeon had just said, and for some reason she could not believe that this was the only reason why the couple was acting so weird.

"Yeobo, eat or your food is going to get cold." Mr. Jung said, taking her out of her reverie.

"Mm..." She replied, absentmindedly.

"How is training going?" Leo asked Jaehyun.

"Good. They told us a little more about the project they want to do. It's called Neo Culture Technology." Jaehyun replied.

"What is this again?" Krystal asked.

"It's like a multiple units project. A few of us will debut early 2016, then another bunch will debut in the middle of the year, and so on."

"How does that even work?" Jessica asked.

"We will all have the same group name, but debut as units."

"This sounds complicated." Mrs. Jung said.

"It is. I don't know if I really understand it yet." Jaehyun admitted.

"Will they be giving you stage names?" Leo asked.

Jaehyun stopped for a second and thought about it.

"They did talk about giving some of us stage names, but they still have not come up with good ones."

"I don't think they're going to give you stage names. I mean when you think about it, all of these boys already have names that are idols' names material." Krystal said.

"True. All of them somehow have special names. How would you feel if they decided to call you by your Christian name, like the three of us?" Jessica asked Jaehyun.

"Jaehyun has a Christian name too?" Taecyeon asked.

"Mm. James!" Jessica replied.

"Oh? That's a nice name. Why don't you guys ever use it at home?" Taecyeon asked again.

"We've always called our boys by their Korean names, for some reason. But Taekwoon ended up using his English one for work." Mr. Jung replied.

"Aah. I never knew." Taecyeon responded.

He was genuinely interested in the subject, which made Jessica smile a bit.

Mrs. Jung smiled to herself too, seeing how things were already very much more comfortable between her daughter and Taecyeon.

The rest of the dinner was rather nice, considering its rocky start.

After everyone was done with their food, they all gathered in the living room to play some card games. The atmosphere was a lot more welcoming than at dinner, and everyone seemed to be enjoying the overall night.

Around 11pm, Minhyuk came over. He got there just in time before Mrs. Jung went to bed. She greeted him and talked for a few minutes, before her husband and her turned in.

"Come on, Oppa, I'm going to give you some food." Krystal told Minhyuk.

She stood up and pulled Minhyuk with her to the kitchen. Leo and Jaehyun were absorbed into their video game and did not even realize that they were left with Jessica and Taecyeon.

Those two, on the other hand, were perfectly aware of the situation. Both of them were trying to look composed, but truthfully, they felt uncomfortable.

"Would you... like to talk?" Taecyeon asked suddenly.

Jessica looked at him, surprised to hear him speak first. She slowly nodded her head and followed him when he stood up from the couch.

"Take a jacket with you." He said.

Jessica quickly went to her room and grabbed a jacket. She came back and opened the kitchen door.

"I'll be back in a little while." She told her sister.

"Oh. Okay." Krystal replied.

She came back to the hallway.

"Let's go." She told Taecyeon.

They both walked out of the apartment together. They walked in silence to the lift, then to the parking lot, after taking it.

"My car or yours?" Taecyeon asked her.

"I didn't take my keys with me." Jessica replied.

He just nodded his head before motioning for her to follow him to his. They quickly got in the car, in case someone would see them.

"Where to?" Taecyeon asked.

"I'd rather we stay here, if you don't mind."

"Alright."

Another silence filled the car, leaving their slow breathing only, to be heard.

"How have you been?"

The two of them asked at the same time.

"You go first." Taecyeon said.

"I've been good. Traveling here and there is always something fun to do."

"I guess... I've been busy too, recording for our album, and auditioning for dramas." He replied.

"That's nice." She simply replied.

And silence again.

"Did you tell anyone about us?" Jessica asked him.

"What about? The baby or... the breakup?" Taecyeon asked.

Yes. The two of them had decided to put a halt to their relationship after all the drama that had happened between them. They both needed the space and the time to be able to live their lives as individuals again.

She did not tell her sister, because things would have been far worse that way. She knew how protective her family could get, and she did not want Taecyeon to suffer from that.

Mrs. Jung had perfectly pinpointed the truth earlier, that's why Taecyeon and her were so flustered back there.

Taecyeon assumed that she did not tell her family about it as soon as she texted him about the dinner, a few days ago.

"I didn't tell anyone. Anything." He answered.

"Me neither."

"I figured." He joked.

Jessica smiled, before shaking her head.

"I'm sorry about that. You really didn't have to come, you know. I was expecting you to bail on me." She said.

"Yes, but I wanted to come." He said, truthfully.

Taecyeon had also pondered about it, and wondered if it was a good idea for him to come over, when the two of them were no longer together. But as he gave it some thought, he realized that he actually wanted to come.

He wanted to see her. He wanted to talk to her.

"Things ended up pretty badly..." He started.

"Mm, I wouldn't say badly... awkwardly, I guess." She continued.

He turned to look at her, but she was too self conscious to turn around and face him. She kept looking down at her hands.

"Sica... we didn't really talk about it."

She did not reply.

"Jessica... look at me... please."

She shook her head no. She was not ready for this conversation, and frankly, she did not think she would ever be.

"Please... I'm begging you." He insisted.

When he said that, her heart skipped a beat. She slowly looked up from her hands and turned her face around. She already had tears in her eyes, just thinking of all the things that happened.

"I know that it's going to take time for us to rebuild our relationship as a couple