Part 7- '...It is not yet the end'
The Bus Stop
She pushed the door open and walked to the corner of the room to drop her bag, not looking up once.
‘Hello to you too, Emotaeng’ Jessica said.
Taeyeon grunted in response.
‘And say hi to normal Taeyeon for me too. I haven’t seen her in a couple of days and I’m wondering if you ate her or something. It’d explain the extra volume on your ’
‘Hey, my ’s okay!’ Taeyeon retorted as she glanced at her, visibly annoyed.
‘Your eyebrows aren’t though’ the other girl casually remarked. ‘Seriously Taeng, draw them in.’
‘Whatever. Where are the others?’
‘Not coming’
‘Not coming? It’s called rehearsal for a reason and the room is like 10,000 won for half an hour!’
‘Taeyeon?’
‘What?’
‘Bring the umbrella. You’re spitting on me’
When she heard the word ‘umbrella’, Taeyeon dropped to the floor. She still hadn’t told anyone about the ruined music sheet.
‘Jessica, I’
‘…love you?’
‘No, I…’
‘…think you’re hot?’
‘No, stop it, I’
‘…want to have hot shower with you? No thanks, Tae, you’re no-‘
‘JESSICA STOP IT!’ she cried.
She felt a reassuring grip on her shoulder and Jessica’s voice near her ear.
‘What’s bothering you, little Tae? It’s so obvious tha-‘
‘The music sheet got wet’
Jessica stopped talking. Taeyeon would swear for years later that she also stopped breathing.
There was a long silence.
‘What do you mean wet?’ Jessica’s calm voice was nearly an octave deeper ‘Taeyeon, what do you-‘
‘…ruined’ she whispered ‘it’s ruined, Jessica’
Jessica drew a long breath. Her right hand ran through her silky brown hair. She looked up, as if seeking a solution on the white-painted ceiling.
‘Ruined, huh’ she whispered ‘ruined, huh’
And she repeated those two words for what, to Taeyeon, seemed like an eternity. She was cross-legged on the floor and barely a foot away, Jessica stood crouching, repeating those two words like a mantra, eyes glued on the ceiling, right hand running mindlessly through her hair.
‘Ruined huh’ Jessica had said for the twentieth time and finally, Taeyeon mustered the courage to answer her.
‘Yes, Jessica, yes’
***
They leaned against the mirrors on the wall, the cool surfaces tickling their napes. Jessica had demanded to see the sheet and Taeyeon had quickly complied, not sure how to approach Jessica in such a state of mind. Jessica had held the sheets for five minutes straight, staring at the same spot, the large ink blotch that covered the melody, the melody that could catapult them to fame, the melody that had the potential to be so catchy that Yuri had joked the WHO would end up prohibiting it. They had even begun brainstorming for a lyrical hook, much to Taeyeon's annoyance. She was still convinced the melody could be better.
‘The others don’t know’ Taeyeon whispered. She didn’t dare speak any louder.
‘Hmm’ was all that Jessica had said.
‘I should tell them’
‘Hmm’
‘I’ll call them’
‘Hmm’
‘Jessica’
‘..hm?’
At least her tone was different. Taeyeon could be sure she’d been listening.
‘I’m really sorry. I missed the last bus and I got wet’
The other girl sighed in response.
‘Well, Taeng, nothing we can about that now’ she paused ‘so…so let’s just change topic alright? How did you get home then?’
‘In a police car’ Taeyeon mumbled.
‘Huh?’
‘A po-li-ce car’
‘Your bro gave you a ride?’ Jessica said the word bro in English. She found it funny how her friend’s older brother was one of the quickly rising officers of the city’s police force. She thought calling such person bro was even funnier.
‘Yeah, my bro’ she stumbled as she imitated Jessica’s way of speech, ‘acting as a police man’
‘Huh? Wha-‘ the realization dawned on her ‘oh my god Taeyeon, you got ARRESTED???’
‘Nah, just taken for a drug and alcohol test’
‘Do I want to know why?’ her friend asked tentatively.
‘Just this. Tiffany is a ’
‘erm, what?’
‘The cashier girl, Tiffany, is a ’
‘Okay, Taeng, I’ll keep in that in mind’
Jessica smiled and ruffled her hair.
‘And cheer up. It’ll be okay, I’m sure’
‘That’s easy for you to say, Jessica, you don't-‘
Jessica cut her off.
‘Kim Taeyeon I have two sayings in life. The first one is ‘never run, no matter how late you are’. After all, what difference is a few minutes going to make.’
‘And the second one?’ Taeyeon asked wearily.
‘The second one, well, it’s from a movie’
‘Eugh, what-‘
Jessica cut her off again.
‘It doesn’t mean it isn’t good though. It goes like this…’ Jessica reached out and arranged Taeyeon’s fringe, the one that she messed up just moments ago.
‘Everything will be alright in the end…’
‘…if it is not alright…’
Jessica stared into Taeyeon’s eyes .
‘…it is not yet the end’
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