“Someone else, huh? Makes me really curious as to who they introduced her to. Seriously, I’m so gonna grill Hyo and Soo when I – “

“Does she cry often?” Stephanie paused, seemingly trying to process what her best friend just asked her.

“…What?” Taeyeon continued to gaze at her members from behind the pillar they were hiding in, Jessica and Juhyun giggling as they tried to clean each other’s faces after their little crying fest.

“Sooyeon. Does she cry often? Because of me?”

“……” Taeyeon turned to look at Stephanie pleadingly, like she was about to shed tears, too, when she was met with silence from the other woman.

“Answer me, Fany-ah.” Stephanie looked at Taeyeon with something akin to pity as the older girl reached out and gripped her left arm firmly. Fany sighed.

“She’s getting better at keeping it in with each passing day. But yes, Tae, she does. Still do.” Taeyeon nodded and let go of Fany’s arm, returning her gaze back to Jessica who was now resting her head on Maknae’s shoulder. They stood there for a few minutes before they heard Juhyun ask Jessica to accompany her to the lavatory to freshen up before their next schedule started.

Taeyeon watched them leave before pressing her back fully on the pillar, eyes closed. She felt Stephanie adjust herself beside her, and Taeyeon couldn’t help but chuckle humorlessly as she tried to figure out where to go from there (or how to, since she knew there’s nowhere else she’d rather be).

“Do you think it’s selfish of me to also want to get back together with her? I mean, do you think it will be fair for the both of us to?” Stephanie really didn’t know how to respond to that, considering the couple’s history, so she just stated the most obvious solution for her.

“I just want the two of you to be happy, Taetae.” Taeyeon sighed and nodded in understanding, knowing that only she, herself, could answer that.

“I still love her,” Taeyeon blatantly stated out of the blue, and felt a small sense of relief for finally saying it out loud after keeping it in for so long. Stephanie just smirked.

“We know, Tae.” Taeyeon nodded again. Her members were always perceptive in their own ways, sometimes annoyingly so.

“Then, do you think I can trust her again?” Fany shrugged but answered as honestly as she could.

“I believe you can, Taeyeon-ah. After that day, she put all her spare time and energy just to make it up to you. That stupid girl has a one-tracked mind where you’re concerned and, truthfully? You disregarded anything else because her sudden interest in another person bothered you to the point that you felt threatened. Am I right?” Taeyeon snorted, a pretty blush adorning her face.

“Do I even have the right to deny that now?” Stephanie chuckled.

“You can openly admit it now since you’re being so talkative and all,” Fany said, teasingly. The older girl pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled loudly. She loved Jessica, always had, but she knew that it would take more than selfish admittance on her part for them to start over. But wasn’t that what Sooyeon wanted in the first place? For Taeyeon to proudly claim and reciprocate her affections?

“I don’t want her to give it to someone else, Fany-ah. I won’t allow it.” Stephanie raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms as she stared incredulously at her friend. She knew that Taeyeon wasn’t one to back down when she was set on doing something. Her personality was complex like that. Kudos to Jessica for having attempted to unravel even a fraction of the mystery that was their kid leader.

“You do know that it’s not as simple as that anymore, right? She’s not a yo-yo, Kim Taeyeon. You may have finally admitted it, but even I don’t think it’s a good idea to get her back just because you’re not her priority anymore.” Taeyeon shrugged, seemingly unfazed. Stephanie wasn’t sure if she should be amused or irritated at her friend’s sudden change in attitude.

Taeyeon had always been shy and apprehensive inside and outside her career, including the people she associates herself with. But if there’s one thing she felt confident in, it was knowing that she’s the sole recipient of one Ice Princess’ love. And despite the girl’s reserved nature, she didn’t want that love to be diverted to another because Taeyeon still truly, selfishly believed it was meant only for her.

Jessica made her feel secured and significant before and after the incident, even with Taeyeon’s continued indifference, and she knew that she took all her efforts for granted. The leader decided that it was high time to return the favor, in more ways than one.

There were two things Taeyeon absolutely disliked about her fellow danshin that she wasn’t afraid to voice out.

One was Sunny’s ridiculous aegyo (for obvious reasons).

The other, her laugh. That one specific laugh that could make anyone feel ridiculed and inferior at the same time. It really wasn’t a pleasant experience to hear, especially for Taeyeon who had been subjected to it for the past hour.

“Are you done yet?” Taeyeon asked, trying really hard not to hit Sunny with her burrito, just because she’s the one to have to clean it up after.

“You’re cute, Taetae. And stupid. And delusional. Did I mention stupid?” Taeyeon scowled and decided to just throw the plastic salsa lid instead which, unsurprisingly, missed its intended target.

Whereas Stephanie was the type of friend who was diplomatic when talking about problems, Sunny was the type who, as long as her argument made sense, didn’t care what came out of as long as she could get her point across.

“You’re really not helping.” Sunny laughed again, and Taeyeon swore that sound would haunt her for days.

It took another minute or two before Sunny finally settled down, her face then morphing into something more serious that Taeyeon inaudibly gulped.

“Okay then, let’s talk.” The younger girl clasped her hands together and placed them in front of her which reminded Taeyeon of a CEO closing a business deal, and unconsciously braced herself as Sunny stared her down.

“One point six years, Kim Taeyeon. It took Jessica that long to snap out of her foolish little bubble. One month. That’s how long it took for you to finally get your head straight, and that’s just because our dear princess decided a month ago that she’d had enough and started to look for another…”

“Not by choice,” Taeyeon mumbled defiantly, which earned her a glare from her friend, effectively shutting her up.

“…that all of a sudden you’re now adamant on getting her back,” Sunny finished, gritting her teeth. Taeyeon looked down.

“I just want to talk to her first, Sunny,” the older girl said despondently.

“You chickened out when you were supposed to confront her the day you stormed into the company like a maniac two weeks ago,” Sunny reminded her, eyebrow raised. Taeyeon shrugged.

“I guess I wasn’t ready to face her that time.” Sunny seriously wanted to throw something.

“One point six years, Tae. What part of “let her go” do you not understand?” Sunny asked, exasperated.

“You know as well as I do that I can’t do that, Sunkyu. I won’t. You said it yourself, my head’s finally in the right place,” Taeyeon answered with conviction.

“This is not just about you, Taeyeon! Doesn’t she deserve to move on from you, too? We don’t want to see her keep hurting herself anymore!” Taeyeon finally snapped and stood from her seat, glowering at Sunny.

“I got hurt, too, Lee Sunkyu! I’m not the only one who’s at fault here. She was the one who cheated! She was the one who broke my trust! Or have you simply forgotten that since, as you so like to remind me, it’s been one point six years already?!”

Sunny was shocked at her friend’s sudden outburst but quickly composed herself. She was actually glad that Taeyeon’s finally voicing out her thoughts.

“I love her, Sunkyu! You have no ing idea how painful it was to see someone else touch her! Yes, she was drunk, but that didn’t make it hurt any less! But you know what hurts the most? Knowing that I was the one who put her there in the first place!” Sunny’s eyes softened at that. Taeyeon took a deep breath to calm herself then sat back down, rubbing her eyes to prevent the tears from falling.

“Back then, her constant need for attention really bothered me. But she was still so attentive even after the incident that I got too complacent, especially since she didn’t expect anything in return. And then she just - stopped. I got so used to her being there that when she started to withdraw from me, I felt so discombobulated. Then when I found out that the girls have been setting her up with someone, I panicked!” Taeyeon reached for Sunny’s hands and clutched on tightly, eyes begging, but with a hint of steel in them.

“I didn’t mean to ignore her this long, Sunny-ah. I know there are several of you who’re against this, but I can’t lose her. She still loves me. And whatever you girls say or do, it won’t change that fact. She will return to me, I’ll make sure of it.”

“Hmm. Why does it feel like something’s about to happen?” Hyoyeon wasn’t really paying attention to her fellow member and continued browsing her phone.

“What do you mean?” Sooyoung stared at the ceiling of the practice room, contemplating on something she wasn’t exactly certain what about.

“I’m not really sure, myself. It just feels like something’s changed or whatever. Makes me feel uneasy.” Hyo snorted.

“Maybe you’re just hungry. It has been an hour since you last ate.” Soo sat up and turned to her friend, thinking.

“Yah… You have a point. Pass me that bag, please.” The older girl just chuckled and did as she was told.

“Whatever it is, maybe you’re just overthinking it.” Sooyoung paused for a few seconds before continuing to dip the spoon into her fruit cup.

“I hope so.” Suddenly, all thoughts vanished as the two heard loud banter coming from the entrance of the room.

“We’re back! Look, look, Yuri-unnie and I brought sustenance!” Yoona hurriedly went towards the corner where her unnies were sitting.

“Where’s Sunny and Sica?” Yuri asked as she placed the beverages inside their cooler for later.

“Restroom. They’ll be back soon.” Not even ten minutes later, Jessica and Sunny walked inside the room, swinging their clasped hands together.

“Hey, you’re back! You guys got everything?” Jessica asked as she let go of Sunny and went to raid the goods the others bought.

“They’re all here, Unnie!” Yoona proudly said, handing her different bags full of assorted snacks.

“Did Fany say what time they‘ll get here?” Sunny asked as Yuri handed her a smoothie that she asked her to buy. Hyo checked her phone for any recent messages from their fellow members.

“Oh, she did. They got stuck in traffic, so around thirty minutes or so. Not too long.” Sunny nodded as she reached for some food.

“Good. We ran into our dance instructor outside. He just needs to leave real quick then head back here.” The rest weren’t really paying attention because they were all preoccupied with eating and Sunny just sweatdropped. “Better eat up quickly then.”

After about forty minutes later, the door once again opened to reveal three barely-conscious members, hair disheveled, with Taeyeon shamelessly yawning as they dumped their things in nearby chairs and went straight for the snacks.   

“Hey, guys! Saved some for us?” Stephanie asked as she and Juhyun rummaged through what’s left of the bags.

“We bought lots, Unnie. Help yourselves. And we got you your smoothie, Tae-unnie. It’s inside the cooler.” Taeyeon nodded and went to get it. Hopefully it might help to wake her up before practice started.

“Where’s Oppa?” Juhyun asked, looking around for their instructor.

“Went out, but he said he’ll be back soon. Good thing you made it here before him,” Sunny said as she, Jessica, and Hyo did some stretching away from the others. Taeyeon couldn’t help but stare at Jessica who was directly across from her as she mindlessly sipped at her smoothie, unintentionally catching the attention of some of the members nearby.

“Taetae, why aren’t you eating anything?” Stephanie asked in her usual loud voice and sat down beside the older girl. This now caught the attention of everybody in the room. The leader just closed her eyes and sighed. So much for trying to be discreet. Sooyoung also went over to her and smirked.

“Waiting for someone to feed you, Tae?” That statement obviously started a chain reaction.

“Sorry, Taeyeon-ah. Sica’s not available ‘cause she’s busy feeding someone else now,” Hyo yelled from across the room, which earned her wide eyes and open mouths from almost everybody present.

“Yah!!!” Jessica screamed and moved to strangle her supposed best friend, who just laughed out loud and dodged her.

“Huh?”

“What the hell?!”

“Wait, is this a joke?”

“You’re really seeing someone?”

“Why wasn’t I informed?!”

Jessica stopped chasing Hyoyeon as the other members circled around her throwing questions one after the other. She raised her hands in defense, trying to salvage the situation.

“I’m not! OMG, I swear! Yah, Kim Hyoyeon! Stop spouting lies, Pabo!” She gave Hyo and Soo the stink eye, the duo just watching things unfold from their safe little corner away from the Ice Princess.

“Why are you so defensive, Sica? You literally saw each other this morning.” Jessica’s eyes pleaded for her friends to shut the up but they paid her no mind as the others continued to interrogate her.

“OMG, Jessi! Don’t tell me you’re starting to get serious with him! We don’t even know his name!” Jessica massaged her temples and tried to reign in her irritation at the whole situation.

“I’m not! We just bumped into each other and he invited me to have breakfast with him.” The girls heard Hyo scoff.

“He was obviously waiting for you, Sica-ya.” Hyoyeon seriously had a death wish.

“Well, regardless. I didn’t go with him because I was already late for a schedule,” Jessica explained.

“He did ask for a 'next time,' though,” Sooyoung quipped. Jessica wondered why her friends were so against her that day.

“Did you agree?” Sunny asked. If anyone noticed how serious she asked that, no one commented on it. Sica turned towards her so fast her neck clicked.

“What? No!” She then looked down, embarrassed. “Well, not yet, anyway,” Jessica mumbled, cheeks red.

“Kyaaa, Sica-unnie’s so cute!” Yoona gushed as she hugged her unnie tightly as the older girl blushed hard.

Before anybody else could say anything more, their instructor barged inside the room, clapping his hands to get their attention.

“Okay, girls! Stop talking and let’s go!”

As the girls scrambled to find their places on the floor, Sunny and Stephanie quickly walked over to Taeyeon who stayed silent the whole time during the commotion. They expected her to be very upset, but was surprised, and slightly worried, when she looked up at them and just smirked deviously. The two then realized that Taeyeon was finally playing for keeps.