A/N: There are like three instances of swearing here. Ok fine, four. Just a warning.

Tiffany had no idea where the hell she would even begin to look for Jessica. She had no idea if the girl had family here, no idea about her usual hangouts, no idea about her friends outside of SM…she knew nothing. For once in her life, Tiffany wished she was less ‘Tiffany-like’. Less emotionally stunted, less bitingly sarcastic, more social, more sensitive, and more ‘normal’. Maybe then she would have done a better job of getting to know Jessica and she wouldn’t be in this fix.

Taeyeon and the other girls had no idea where the ice princess had gone either, and the darn girl had left her phone in her hurry to get out. Either that or she really didn’t want to be found. Tiffany decided to go and check SM first, perhaps Jessica was like her and liked to work out frustrations through physical exercise?

Are you for real? The girl loves sleep probably as much as she loves her own mother! Yah really think she’ll be there?

Shut up Tiffany! It’s not like I have any other options! So unless you have a better solution, stop backseat-driving and just leave me the hell alone!

Fine by me sister…just don’t come crawling back to me when she’s not there.

I can’t come crawling back to you. I AM YOU! And I told you to shut up!

Zipping it.

Tiffany briefly contemplated the possibility that she was going nuts. It’s just plain weird to have a full out conversation with yourself like that, isn’t it? However all other self-reflective thoughts were pushed out the window as she arrived at SM. In her hurry, Tiffany almost lost control of her bike and slammed into a wall. After all she had been through, that would not be the way to go. Cursing under her breath and locking up her bike, Tiffany sprinted into the building.

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Jessica wasn’t here. Tiffany had even checked the bathrooms and the shower room. Though she was praying really hard she wouldn’t find the ice princess in the latter. The shower scene from Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale flashed through her mind as she ran through the showers. Tiffany didn’t know how she would respond to finding the ice princess fully clothed and soaking wet. The image did something to Tiffany and she felt that familiar spread of warmth somewhere in between her legs again.

Yo sister! How erted are you? The girl’s gone missing and all you can think about are your wet dreams? You’re worse than a pubescent teenage boy!

It’s not a wet dream! I’m a girl for goodness sake! The shower room jogged my memory!

You think girls don’t have wet dreams? You got wet didn’t you? Trust me sister, you have wet dreams. I’ve seen them. You’re erted to say the least…and quite creative and imaginative too…I must say…

I thought I told you TO SHUT UP!!!!

Without even stopping for a breather, Tiffany ran like the Dickens back out of SM. She had no other place she could check out. Tiffany decided to call Yuri. And it turned out that Jessica did have family here, and they lived in Seoul too. But Yuri had already called their family home under the pretense that she misheard Jessica was going home for the weekend and was looking for her. But Jessica’s mother had said her eldest hadn’t been home in two weeks. Regardless, Tiffany got the address off of Yuri and decided to check out areas close by anyways.

Tiffany biked around Jessica’s neighborhood for a good two hours. Checking parks, nearby school grounds, coffee shops, and even sketchy alleyways. But nothing. Tiffany stopped. Her head hurt. She had been having a full out argument with herself the entire time she was cruising around. She decided one thing: Tiffany could be a real big pain in the sometimes. No scratch that…all the time.

She contemplated calling the cops. Had it been 24 hours yet? No, not quite. Tiffany sat on a park bench, rubbing her throbbing temples, trying hard to tell herself to shut the hell up. She needed coffee. Walking to a nearby café, she bought a simple black coffee. As she sipped, she scanned the rest of her surroundings. Ice cream store, clothing store, bookstore, car mechanic shop, toy store…aha! …Boxing gym. Perfect, she needed to clear her mind, even if it was just for a few minutes.

Folding up her bike, and finishing up the rest of her coffee, Tiffany entered the gym. The place was small. It only had two rings and some old and rather outdated gym equipment. Not even going to the change rooms, Tiffany removed her sweater, shirt and sweatpants, leaving her in a black sports bra and black spandex shorts.

She looked around to see both rings were occupied, there were two men sparring on the left and…

What in the world…

There she was. Jessica Jung Sooyeon. Smashing the hell out of some poor guy. The much taller boy was backed into the turnbuckle and Jessica was raining down a furious barrage of punches all over the guy’s torso and…pretty much everywhere else. It was pitiful. Almost painful to watch.

Tiffany looked up into Jessica’s face and expected to see fury corrupting those beautiful almond eyes. But she saw the unmistakable glimmer of tears instead.

Tiffany had felt inexplicably torn up when she had seen the quickly retreating backside of Jessica earlier that morning. She had already guessed the older girl had run off in tears and that knowledge was upsetting as it was. But now as she stood there, finally witnessing what she had only imagined, Tiffany felt rotten. Like her innards were putrefied, decomposing from the inside out. She felt disgusting and dirty. Because somewhere…deep, deep down…Tiffany knew Jessica was crying because of her.

And that scared Tiffany.

Scared her senseless.

Tiffany couldn’t watch anymore. For the sake of the boy, for the sake of Jessica, or even for herself, she had to stop the rampage. She needed to talk to Jessica, even though the very thought of it terrified her. Tiffany stepped through the ropes and entered the ring. Just as Jessica raised her hands to land another torrent of strikes, Tiffany moved behind her and grabbed Jessica’s arms firmly within her grasp. The older girl’s wrists seemed so thin and delicate in the palms of the younger, and Tiffany feared they might snap off if she was too rough with Jessica.

The older girl had struggled and thrashed around a little out of instinct, but Tiffany had kept a firm yet gentle grip on Jessica’s wrists, bring them close to Jessica’s body to reduce the amount of flailing and the possibility of injury. They ended up in something like a back-hug, with Tiffany and Jessica’s arms brought close to the latter’s body and resting on her heaving chest. The younger could feel their arms rising and falling rapidly with each breath the older girl took.

It was exhilarating.

Tiffany’s body was singing. She literally felt her body reverberating in ever widening circles, like the tiny intricate ripples after a pebble is dropped into a tranquil lake. Tiffany almost became unhinged. The smooth milky skin of Jessica’s neck was right below Tiffany’s lips, and the younger wanted so much to kiss it, it, on it. She felt Jessica squirm a little, rubbing against Tiffany’s s and abs, and the younger almost lost all sense of rationality. But that would be wrong. She would be taking advantage of Jessica’s vulnerability.

Tiffany almost groaned out loud in yearning as she forced her own body away a little, just enough so that her front was no longer pressed tightly to Jessica’s sw