The conference resumed for the second half of the afternoon. Taeyeon was already back on their table yet, Jessica was not. She started to get worried, thus, sent Jessica a message asking her whereabout. Minutes passed, she still didn't get a reply. She then decided to head to the restroom to look for her. Yet, no sign.

She went out of the conference hall. She headed to the bar first. Still, no sign. She went to the lobby. No sign. Lastly, she headed to the restaurant. She sent out a sigh of relief. Jessica was there eating like a hungry cute wolf with a bunch of food she ordered. Taeyeon chuckled at the sight of Jessica's mouth wholly stuffed up with food. 'Such a cutie,' she thought. Yes, here she is falling for Jessica, head over heels again.

"Would you like to have a table, ma'am?" A waiter asked her.

"No, it's okay. I am with her," Taeyeon answered while pointing at Jessica. The waiter then bowed at her and excused himself. She headed towards Jessica. The latter seemed to have not noticed her presence yet.

"Excuse me, Miss Beautiful. Can I share a table with you?" she asked.

Jessica was about to shake her head to decline until her eyes travelled towards the one asking her. Her cat eyes widened in shock, which Taeyeon found to be so cute. Taeyeon couldn't help but giggle from the sight. She didn't wait for an answer and occupied the seat opposite Jessica's. She uttered, "Didn't I tell you we should have gone down for a decent meal earlier? Now, look who's hungry?"

Jessica cleared first then took a drink before she answered, "I got hungry from the topics."

"Understandable. We only had cup noodles, then afterward, you even made me happy so, I bet you were really drained up for the day."

The thought of their intimate moment during lunch break made Jessica blushed profoundly. She decided to redirect the topic, "Please help yourself. I think I ordered a lot."

"Thank you," Taeyeon proceeded to eat the pasta dish. "Though I must tell you. I have boundless energy. Even if you just give me cup noodles, I can still make you happy for the rest of the night." It was a successful attempt to make Jessica get flushed again and shied away. Taeyeon found her so fascinating to stare at.

Jessica was giving in to Taeyeon's charm again. Yet, this reminded her of the nasty conversation she heard earlier. Thus, she restrained herself from surrendering to the latter.

"Do you plan on skipping the remainder of the conference?" Taeyeon asked.

"No, just the informational video presentation. The committee had already released that to the public a few weeks ago, anyway. There's still time to get back for the Q&A."

"Smart," Taeyeon responded then grinned.

"Why are you here, anyway?" Jessica asked. Though, it sounded a bit snobbish.

"Didn't you get my message? I was looking for you."

"It's not like we need to know where each other are all the time. I told you we should stay low."

'Grumpy. Snobbish. Yet, still so cute,' Taeyeon thought, then chuckled. "Yeah, I know. But that doesn't mean you should completely ignore me like this. It's not like the media can directly look at our phones and see we are texting each other." Jessica avoided her gaze and pouted. She did not know what to respond to Taeyeon. Taeyeon then sighed and asked, "Tell me, did I do something wrong?"

Jessica's eyebrows furrowed, "What do you mean?"

"Why are you acting like this?"

"Didn't I tell you---"

"I don't think this is just about keeping it low," Taeyeon said, immediately cutting her out. "If it's only staying low profile, you should have just shooed me away now."

Jessica only responded a silence. She focused on playing with her food. Thoughts began to consume her head again with all the things she heard from her father, her best friend, and even those strangers gossiping about them. Not to mention that woman earlier. That woman Taeyeon was flirting with. Due to the rumor she heard, the jealousy was then replaced with doubt on Taeyeon.

'Could she be just fishing for women to trick around here?' she asked herself as she stared at Taeyeon. 'How could this cute little baby be such a real trickster?' She groaned lightly. 'Do you really think you could fool me with those attractive eyes and smirk? With that angelic looking face of yours?' She felt her face warmed up. Even with the uncertainty, she still felt like a fangirl going crazy over her idol.

"Hey. I am not a psychic, okay," Taeyeon said. "Did I do something wrong to make you act like this on me?"

"Nothing," Jessica quickly said, still avoided Taeyeon's gaze.

With Jessica's reaction, Taeyeon felt the nervousness again. Her doubt earlier had just been answered. 'Definitely, she's no longer interested in me,' she said to herself. She continued to eat her food as the sadness began to consume her. They only shared silence as they ate.

The thought had been killing her. She never wanted to feel ghosted or anything. Thus, she asked Jessica abruptly, "Tell me if you want to stop."

Jessica's eyebrows wrinkled out of confusion as she looked at Taeyeon, "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Let's just get straight to the point, Jessica. If this only just a fling to you, a one night stand, just tell me."

"Wait, what?" She reacted, this time, more confused.

"This. Us."

"Where are you getting that?"

"From how you are reacting now. Tell me if you want me to go away and pretend nothing happened between us. Just tell me straight, please."

"This is not about you, okay."

"Then, what? What your father told about me? I am pretty sure he did tell stuff about me."

"No."

"Is this about the photos taken by the press? I don't see any harm in those."

"No. This isn't about anything, okay. Stop acting childish."

"Now, I am the one acting childish?"

"Are you not? I just wanted to eat here peacefully, and here you are starting a fight with no apparent reason."

"Alright. I get it," Taeyeon said and raised her hands up. "Thank you for the meal, and thank you for the time you spared for me. I will no longer bother you. Let's just forget about everything that happened between us." Taeyeon stood up. "I'll tell the restaurant to charge the bill on me." Then, she walked away, even without waiting for Jessica's response.

Taeyeon couldn't stand being in such a situation. If Jessica would no longer want to continue their relationship anymore, there's no more need to pretend everything is okay and just put a halt on it right away.

She didn't bother to come back to the conference and went head straight to her hotel suite. Still, the thought of Jessica clouded her. 'That easy, huh? Just because of her father? Just because of the media? Is she ashamed of me? Is she embarrassed about us? Is that why?' She continued to ask herself as she lay on her bed, buried her face on her pillow. 'Am I just overreacting, though?' She thought. 'Did I