Chapter 23

“Okay. Here it goes. You can do it!”

Taeyeon took a lungful of air before she closed her eyes. With shaky hands cupping the younger girl’s face, she slowly closed the gap between their faces. Soon, her lips met their destination,

 or so she thought.

“Taetae, that’s my nose.”

“Oh…” Taeyeon pulled away and lowered her head in embarrassment as red began to cover her face and ears. Tiffany couldn’t help but laugh at her sheepish behavior in return. “It’s okay, Taetae. There’s still next time.”

No, she wanted to have another try now, not next time. And so, she pulled Tiffany closer to her by the shoulders and made sure that she was going to hit the right target this time.

“Taeyeon!”

“Yah Kim Taeyeon! Where are you?!”

As if on reflex, Tiffany immediately pulled away from the shorter girl’s grasp and distanced herself away. Taeyeon understood the reason behind her action but she’d never get immune to the pain it always caused. Seeing the flash of sorrow in her lover’s eyes, Tiffany mumbled an apology and Taeyeon just accepted it with an understanding smile.

“Taeyeon! Taeyeon!” The familiar voice echoed again.

“I’ll go check it.”

“What are you doing here? Something happened to Barbie! Hurry!” Taecyeon shouted as soon as he saw Taeyeon pop out from one of the deserted classrooms.

“Barbie?” Tiffany appeared behind Taeyeon, who lowered her head before answering, “Jessica.”

Taeyeon was so worried about her friend, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave Tiffany for her. They just made up and got back together and she didn’t want to mess up things between them again. “Go.” Tiffany tapped Taeyeon’s back forward and motioned her to leave.

“Are you sure?” Taeyeon asked.

“Yes.” Tiffany nodded half-heartedly. She didn’t want Taeyeon to go but she didn’t want Taecyeon and Kangin to suspect about them either.

“I’ll be back soon.”

When the trio had left the scene, Tiffany dropped on her knees as she put a hand over her left chest. She almost had a heart attack at the thought of being caught red-handed doing intimate things with Taeyeon.

“Where is she?” Taeyeon asked as she caught her breath, sweating profusely from running.

“Someone took her to the school infirmary.” Sunny replied before shooting her friend a deadly glare. “And where have you been? I’ve been waiting here for more than an hour. You weren’t replying to my texts either!”

“Sorry Sunny. I’ll explain later.”

“Jessica!” Taeyeon rushed to her when she recognized the figure lying on one of the infirmary’s beds. Panic began to consume her when the girl didn’t respond when she called her name again.

“Don’t worry, she’s just resting.” 

“Dr. Kang, what happened to her?” The short blonde asked between pants.

“Syncope. She passed out due to overfatigue. Just let her rest for a while and she’ll be fine when she wakes up.” The man in his forties clad in a white lab gown informed her.

Taeyeon felt relief wash over her after hearing the professional’s reassurance. “Okay. Thanks Doctor.” She grabbed a stool nearby and watched Jessica as she lay on bed. “You workaholic babo.”

Half an hour had passed and Jessica finally roused from slumber. “Where am I?” Lazy eyes scanned the room. Pure white ceilings and walls greeted her sight, completely opposing the black she’d seen before she lost consciousness.

She was about to check the time on her watch but she something prevented her from doing so. It was Taeyeon’s hands and the girl seemed to have fallen asleep.

“What is this idiot doing here?” Jessica thought as a small smile crept into her lips before she slipped her hand away underneath Taeyeon’s.

“Jessica?” Taeyeon stirred and she rubbed her eyes.

“Why are you here?” Jessica demanded an answer.

“You fainted. Are you feeling okay now?”

“Yeah.”

“I was worried. I thought something serious happened to you.” Taeyeon said. Jessica wanted to retort with a sarcastic remark, like telling Taeyeon that she sounded like a mother worrying about her child but her words died when she saw Taeyeon’s onyx orbs gleaming with tenderness.

“You’re letting my words get into your head.” Jessica chuckled as she remembered what she told the older girl. You’re nice, thoughtful, caring…

“Huh?”

“Nothing. I should probably be going now.” Jessica said and attempted to get on her feet.

Taeyeon softly pushed her back onto the bed. “No. You need to rest. Dr. Kang said you were overfatigued so you fainted.”

“I’m really fine now. Let me go back to work before I lose my job.” Jessica insisted as she tried to roll off the bed but Taeyeon’s hands remained on her shoulders.

“You always think about work. Your body needs rest too.”

“I told you, I need money to live.”

"What's the use of money if you're getting sick? You're barely having enough sleep."

“Psh. What do you know about it?” Jessica scoffed.

Noticing that Jessica stopped resisting, she removed her hands from the maid’s shoulders and placed them on her lap. "You work too much. It isn't hard to figure out." Taeyeon stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Normally, Jessica hated it when people get too nosy. But she decided she’d let it slip away this time.

"By the way, I got the highest score in the remedial exams. I forgot to tell you."

"Really? Good for you." Jessica replied in monotone.

"How about your last two tutees? Did they get the highest score too?" Taeyeon bragged with a confident grin plastered on her face.

Jessica rolled her eyes. She only cared about the money her clients pay for her tutorial services. The results didn’t matter. "I don't really care, Taeyeon."

"Heh. I doubt! They never mentioned it on your profile. My feedback is still the best!"

"You sound like a child." An annoying sigh escaped Jessica’s lips.

Taeyeon ignored the comment and kept on throwing insignificant (to Jessica) questions. "How many sessions did you have? I'm sure they had more than mine."

"We never had more than one. They have brains like sponge."

Taeyeon flinched at the indirect insult. Jessica didn’t have to go below the belt. "Did you stay overnight too?"

"One time."

"WHAT?!"

"What the hell?!  I even spent three nights in your house. You're that slow." Jessica spat out.<