Yuri POV

It's early afternoon of 4th of August, 2016. Taeyeon has informed me of him finally acquiring Jessica's contact information and that he's about to see her. They agreed to meet up at a mall, probably three blocks away from our workplace. I told him I'll catch up later. But, actually, that wasn't my plan at all. I feel like commencing a spy scheme. And, yeah, I am also bored doing office work today.

Immediately as Taeyeon got off my office and headed for the elevator, I quickly followed and rode the next available lift. As I arrived at the basement parking, I saw him conversing over the phone as he headed for his car. Probably, it's Jessica, judging from the blush on his face.

Nonetheless, I have no plans on snooping on him. Jessica's actually my target. I rode the car that Taeyeon's not aware I own. Well, err, yeah. I have around six. Three are parked here and another three are at my place. You know... they're for my 'playbook' purposes.

After few minutes of driving, I arrived at their meeting place. It seems Taeyeon's not here yet. Lucky me, I guess.

I walked around and finally saw Jessica Jung standing in front of the mall's outdoor fountain. She's heavily focused on her phone, swiping her fingers over it, and she even wore a confused look on her face. Cute.

She started to walk, still occupied on her phone. That was my cue then. I wore my large sunglasses and walked towards her direction. While still not looking straight at her, I bumped on her arm lightly. I successfully caught her attention. She looked shocked as she finally gets a look at my face. fell open and her eyes widened. And because she was startled, I was able to sneak up a voice transmitter at the back of her shirt. Yes, I am really this determined on this spying scheme.

Good thing, after I passed by her, a small crowd walked against my direction, thus hindering her to follow me. Hence, I've hidden pretty well inside a store. I plugged the complementary audio receiver on my ear and turned it on.

"Wh-what the heck…?" she mumbled as I heard from the ear plug. "Where is he…? Was that---?"

I looked outside and it turned out, she's searching for me. A few moments later, Taeyeon has arrived. "Jessica?" he called behind her. He also has something he's hiding on his back. Probably, it's a gift for her.

She was startled at his calling. She turned around and greeted. "Oh, Taeyeon. Hi." She then chuckled. She looked back again and wandered her eyes around. It seems she's still searching for me.

"Err-- are you looking for someone or something or…?"

She quickly faced him. "Oh. No. No. It's just that… I thought I saw someone I knew." She faked a chuckle. "Anyway, it's been a while." She hugged him. "I missed you, Taengoo."

Taeyeon blushed and grinned awkwardly. "I m-miss y-you too, Sica." She broke away. He then asked her, "Say, why don't we head for the restaurant?"

"Sure. Sure. I'm kinda starving now AND we totally have a lot to catch up."

He chuckled, "Right."

Yet, before they started to walk, Jessica gazed behind again, still looking for me. Taeyeon looked at her in wonder. "Err- Jessica?" he called again.

She chuckled as he faced him again. "Oops. Sorry."

He smiled, "Anyway, I got something for you. Here." he handed her the bouquet of red roses he was hiding earlier. He looked away and scratched the back of his head.

"Oh..." Jessica accepted his gift. She returned a somewhat awkward grin. "Th-thanks."

He quickly snapped defensively, "That doesn't mean anything, though. I mean... I just wanna give you a gift."

She giggled, "Alright. I understand. But, you know, you don't have to explain to me, actually."

"Well, uhhmmm... I'm just clearing my point. You might think I'm still trying to hit on you until now. Haha--" He continued to fake a laugh.

She giggled again then asked, "So, err, let's go?"

---

The both of them headed at a popular pizza place. They situated themselves at the farthest table of the restaurant. I occupied the seat five tables away from theirs.

After they ordered food, Jessica snapped a question, "So, uhh... did you happen to come here with someone?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Taeyeon asked back.

"I mean, uhhmm..." I think she was lost for words. Then, she reiterated, "Are you staying here in U.S. or you're just here for vacation or something?"

"I work here, actually."

"Oh, I see... So, uhhmm, does anyone of our friends accompanied you here too?"

"Err."

"So...?"

"Who are you thinking of exactly?"

"Well, uhmmm, Sooyoung or... uhhmmm, Yoong???"

"Oh. No. They stayed in Korea."

"Ah, I see..."

"Why do you ask?"

"Well..."

"..."

She sighed, "I just thought I saw Yoong earlier."

"Really? He's here too?"

"I don't know. I might just have been mistaken. I actually bumped into him and I definitely got a closer look at his face. He really looks like Yoong, though..."

Aissh-- Yoong? Really, Jessica? Really?

Taeyeon suddenly chuckled, "Now, I know what this is. You might just be thinking of him too much, that, illusions are starting to come out alive from your mind."

"Yah. I do not, okay! It's just that... that guy really just looked like Yoong." She rested her back at the backrest of the chair. "Ouchie." she suddenly mumbled. The signal of the audio transmitter suddenly got distorted. Crap. She found the bug I planted on her shirt.

"What the hell is this?" she asked as she stared at the transmitter.

Taeyeon took a closer look at it. "I think that's an audio transmitter? I've seen something like that at Yoong's place before. He was into spy stuff that much."

She looked at him in horror. "That guy... We bumped into each other. He might have planted this on me earlier."

"Oh... So, it could really be Yoong."

"Why would he do this then?"

"Well... I don't know..." Then, he started to , "Maybe, he's still rooting for you."

"No, I don't think so." she quickly stated. "I totally doubt that. As in, that will NEVER EVER happen." She suddenly redirected, "Anyway, do you know how to turn this off?"

"Err, you can just destroy it."

No, Taeyeon!

He grabbed the transmitter and positioned it on the table. He then used the wooden table napkin holder and smashed the transmitter with it. Darn it. I could no longer hear their conversation AND I just lost money. Seriously, I'm gonna make him pay for that. Aiisshhh---

*Sigh*. Never mind. I'll just let them have their own private talk.

For the first few minutes, Jessica's the one speaking. They seemed to be serious at first then from time to time, they share chuckles. Afterwards, it was Taeyeon's turn to share and they did nothing but laugh from that time and onwards. Then, after almost half on hour passed, their conversation started to get serious. And suddenly... suddenly, tears have fallen from her eyes.

She looked shocked at what Taeyeon just said to her. She covered with both of her hands and continuously shook her head throughout the whole time he was sharing some sort of information on her. When he stopped, he just looked down sadly. She buried her face on her palms and started to sob hard. He looked guilty when he gazed at her. Maybe, he sort of thought he shouldn't have told her about it. Hmmm. I wonder what it is...

He stood up and went to Jessica's side. He sat on the chair next to hers and rubbed her back. He pulled her into him. She buried her face on his chest and continued to cry. He hugged her as he caressed her hair. Now, he looks like he's about to cry. The moment lasted for minutes.

Jessica then broke away and pulled out her phone. It seems she was about to call someone when Taeyeon halted her. He shook his head then, sort of explained something to her. Afterwards, she sighed in defeat. She lost into her thoughts again and just stared over nothingness. Still, tears continued to fall from her eyes.

Taeyeon returned to his seat. Then, they continued on eating the food they have ordered silently. I think they've spent another thirty minutes in total silence, though.

Hmm... I wonder what he just said to her. Could it be related to me? But... if he blabbed about me still being alive, she should have shown a positive response. But... the way she reacted earlier was the same as when she gotten snapped out from her mild amnesia back then like she lost her whole World in just a snap.

Few more minutes, Jessica finally calmed down. Taeyeon seemed to ask her something and she nodded. Afterwards, he breathed deeply first. He paused and stared at her. Then, he told her something again. Jessica's eyes widened and totally fell open. She rashly stood up and banged her hands on the table. "WHAT?!" she shouted loudly. She somewhat disturbed the whole restaurant with her voice.

He started to get weary as he looked around. Then, he stood up to and tried to calm her down. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S ALIVE?!" she shouted again in fury. He tried to explain again.  Okay, it's confirmed then. The sad topic they had earlier was not about me after all.

Afterwards, she had fallen back into her seat. He also followed then snapped something again. And with that, Jessica suddenly broke into tears again. She buried her face again on her palms and rested her head on the table. It was another silence for them. After she dried her tears, she looked back to him and they engaged in another conversation.

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