Author's POV

“Hey, is there something wrong?” asked Tiffany as she noticed the silence between the two.

“Oh. uhm.. s-she’s your b-best friend?” Taeyeon stammered. She looked like she doesn’t know what to do. Like waiting for someone to rescue her from trouble.

“Yeah? What’s wrong Taeyeon-ah?" Tiffany asked and threw her curious eyes on the latter.

“N-nothing. Ha-Ha! So.. uhm.. I-I am Taeyeon, by the way.” she chuckled fakely while she held out her hand to Jessica for a hand shake. Please, be nice this time. pleaded Taeyeon in her head.

But Jessica's anger grew for the latter. She glanced over the latter’s hand which was hanging in the air waiting for her to receive it. But she's the ice princess and you know how stubborn she is.

“I’m Jessica.” She said nonchalantly and threw her an uninterested look. “Excuse me. I have a call.” She took out her phone, pretended that someone was calling her and excused herself just to escape from the hand shake. She just thought that it'll be a forever burden to her if ever she made a skin contact with the latter.

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Taeyeon’s POV

Pretending that someone’s calling just to escape from my hand shake, huh? Her phone didn’t even ring for christ’s sake! This girl is really something.

I sat on the sofa near the main door, trying to peek the girl outside. Would it kill her if she shakes my hand? Tss.

I wanted to eat the ddokbukki already but Tiffany said that we should wait for Jessica first. I gulped down my juice and stuffed a slice of bread in my mouth instead. Then after a few minutes, Jessica went back in. How was the fake call, huh? I said in my head. 

“Thank god!” I whispered silently.

“What was the call all about? Got any problem?” asked Tiffany.

“Oh. Uhm.. nothing. Mom just checked if I was...doing fine..” Jessica said, averting her gaze from me. She sat down on the sofa across mine. I observed her surreptitiously every time she looks away. Tiffany handed her a plate of ddukbokki, which I proudly made, and smiled.

“Thanks!”

She started to eat. I saw the delight in her face after she stuffed some in . Then I smiled and looked down to hide my overwhelmed emotion. Ddukbokki is my specialty.. and the only dish I can make, actually. Atleast I know one. Grin.

“How was it?” asked Tiffany expectantly.

“It tastes great!” said Jessica delightfully. “You made this?” she asked while stuffing another spoon of ddukbokki in . I wonder how she would react if she knew I made it.

“Nah. Taeyeon made them.”

The smile she plastered on her face vanished as soon as she heard Tiffany's reply. I saw how her face straightened and again, it made my heart jumped in joy. I can even tell what her mind says right now, actually; ‘She made this? This awesome food I’m eating right now’s made by her? That’s impossible! I wanna puke!’

I tried to hold back my laughter but as soon as I thought of that words above, I burst out laughing. Of course, I received questioning stares after that. Surely, everyone got surprised. “Yah Taeyeon-ah, why are you laughing?” Sunny asked in horror.

I recomposed myself. “N-Nothing.. It’s just that I remembered something funny..” I explained and took a quick glance over Jessica, which had her head lowered down. 

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Time went by fastly. It’s already 6pm. But the gang still has no plans in going home yet. So we stayed for a while and talked about things. Jessica doesn’t feel like she’s enjoying, I can sense it. Is it because I’m here? She’s upset because I’m her best friend’s friend too, isn’t she? Or have I made her real mad? I'm so childish. I should've been more nice. She's Tiffany's best friend after all.

“Jessica, can you tell us more about yourself?” asked Sooyoung and continued, “..aside from the fact that you’re Pany’s best friend.” The gang laughed and so did I.

Jessica sat up straight and smiled before she answered. I never knew that she was born and raised in California too just like Pany-ah. She said she has a sister and Krystal’s the name. She even told us about the reason why she left California, how their parents were over-controlling and such. I didn’t know that she was this.. talkative. I mean, I knew it by intuition but never expected it to be real. But it’s cute. W-what? Did I just say.. cute?

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Jessica’s POV

They’ve asked me to tell something more about myself and so I told them.. everything. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. I just told them some like I was born and raised in California and I have a sister named Krystal and my parents are over-controlling. That’s it.

I saw how Taeyeon paid attention to it well. I kind of wondered if she's planning to do something bad again. I don’t understand why she acts that way towards me. I mean, the sneezing part on the bus which I laughed at wasn’t intentionally done. I didn’t laugh on purpose. It was spontaneous. It was a sudden change of emotion. Okay? I said sorry after all.

But what did she do after? She bumped me, and that was for sure on purpose. Then just this morning, while I was walking towards the laundry house, did she do that on purpose too? I was hurt, and she showed like she doesn’t even give a damn care. She even told me that it was my fault. Ugh! And while I was eating the ddukbokki she made, she laughed. Was that on purpose too? Was is it all for revenge? That’s so silly! And VERY childish to do.

But the food was nice. I mean, it was delicious. I’d like to commend her for that.

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