Two girls waited at a nearby café. One was very excited due to the reason they are at the very place while the other had her mind on a certain person. The excited one noticed this, and fighting back a sad, understanding look, she nudged at the other, making the girl look at her.

“Come on, Jessica. We are outside, enjoying this beautiful day. Stop increasing the worry lines on your forehead. The fans will catch it.” Sunny said jokingly.

“Worry lines are not contagious.” Jessica replied flatly. She sighed. “Sunny, I’m not sure about this. Can’t we just go home?”

“The point of coming out today is enjoying a day when we have no schedule and to get your mind off of your worries. If I let you go home, you’ll think about it so much that even the house will reflect your problems.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Jessica, don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. It was very obvious this morning. Unless you want to talk about what really happened between you and-”

“Fine.”

“Good. I suggest you just forget about it today. Just for today, okay?” With that, Jessica nodded, giving Sunny a small smile.

“But you can always talk to the other members. If you don’t tell us, then how can we help?”

“It’s hard to talk about Sunny. And talking about it won’t change it.”

“You mean you’d rather not solve it right now, right?” Sunny asked with a worried look on her face. Seeing that it was a really complicated issue, she didn’t try to make Jessica open up to her. After all, sooner or later whatever it was, it would be revealed. She turned her gaze to the café’s entrance door. “Oh, they’re here.”

“Sorry for the wait. We just came from the airport.” Yuri said, walking closer to them with a tall, young man. He was wearing a black shirt with black pants and boots. If he had been wearing a blazer and a tie, he would have been formally dressed. His brownish black hair was combed down and was cleanly cut. On his arm was his dark blue coat and on the other was a backpack. He stood straight behind Yuri, smiling sheepishly at Sunny and Jessica.

“He’s cute isn’t he?” Sunny secretly whispered to Jessica, who only smiled as she would smile to anyone.

“Jessica, Sunny. I would like to introduce to you Geum Ri – ssi.”

“Annyeonghaseyo.” The man greeted, his eyes were of average size and were bright. It curved into crescents as he smiled.

“Hi, I’m Lee Sunny.” Sunny introduced herself, shaking Geum Ri’s hand. He gave her a kind smile and turned towards Jessica.

“I’m Jessica. Jung Jessica.” She simply said, not sure if she should offer her hand so she simply nodded at him, a gesture he returned.

“Okay, now that we all know each other’s names, let’s sit down and get acquainted with each other.” Geum Ri was next to Yuri while Yuri was next to Jessica and Sunny at the round table.

“Geum Ri – ssi, how old are you?”

“I was born in 1985.”

“Ah, you’re four years older than us. Then, you’re an “Oppa” right?” Yuri said, almost cutely but not purposely.

“Yul, we just met. I don’t think that’s okay.” Jessica said, holding onto Yuri’s sleeve. Geum Ri shook his head and smiled once more.

“No, it’s alright. I don’t mind.” He said with that bright and kind smile of his. Jessica couldn’t help but notice that his smile was… simple yet it made her feel better seeing it. There was almost a familiarity with that smile and how his eyes curved into crescents.

“You have a really cute eye smile, Geum Ri oppa.” Sunny pointed out. Jessica realized that it was his eye smile that was very, for lack of better word, peace-giving almost. Geum Ri smiled as if embarrassed to be praised because of his eye smile.

“May I ask what you do for a living?” Yuri asked curiously.

“Oh, my brother and I run a restaurant in Hong Kong. Years before, we helped at our parent’s restaurant in Beijing. My brother travels to there once in a while to help. I stay in Hong Kong most of the time.”

“Oh, you can cook then?” Yuri said, her eyes twinkling at the mention of cooking.

“I’m not good as my brother but yes, I can cook a bit. I do the cleaning and I also take the customers’ orders.” Yuri was about to ask more when she remembered the reason why she invited Geum Ri back to Korea.

“Jessica, don’t you have something to say?” Yuri asked, purposely making Geum Ri shift his attention solely to Jessica.

“What? Oh! Um, I would like to thank you, Geum Ri – ssi, for helping me at the airport a few days ago.” Jessica said, giving him an apologetic look instead of a thankful one. While Yuri was occupied looking at Jessica for not saying oppa instead of ssi, Geum Ri’s smile slightly dropped from his face when he saw the look Jessica flashed at him. Instead of inquiring about it, he smiled at her once more, as if hoping that his smile would bring a smile to hers as well.

“It was the right thing to do. You don’t need to thank me for it.” With that, the conversations went on and on, laughs and smiles clouding the tears and frowns.

“Okay, that’s a wrap. You girls can go home. Thank you for your hard work. I look forward to your performance in SMTown Week.” One of the recording staffs said. Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun smiled at him and bowed.

“Ne. Thank you for your hard work as well.” With that, the three went to the changing rooms, getting ready to get home. Taeyeon was the first to get ready and so she exited the room, leaving Tiffany and Seohyun.

“Unnie… what do we do?” Seohyun asks Tiffany worriedly.

“I don’t know. It upsets me as much as it does you, Seo.”

“This has been going on for a while that even the fans know it. I hope it doesn’t get worse.” Seohyun stated. Tiffany patted Seohyun’s shoulders before the two of them exited the room. They saw Taeyeon checking her phone. Manager Oppa was standing right next to her.

“Okay, let’s go. I’ll take you guys home. I have to pick Yoona and Sooyoung today from their photo shoot as well Hyoyeon. Once you get back to the dorm, see if Sunny, Yuri and Jessica are home- I mean, back yet. If they aren’t, call me.” Manager Oppa said as he drove the car to the dorm.

Seohyun sat next to Tiffany and then, Taeyeon.

‘We are all slowly drifting apart… let there be a miracle…’ Tiffany thought to herself, wishing silently.

That night, Sunny and Yuri came home and delivered the news that Jessica was not moving back to the dorm for a while. Though this was not a shock at all, the news did sadden the other members.

“But she seemed to be having fun today when we went to a café.” Yuri volunteered the subject.

“Why? Did you guys do anything special?” Tiffany asked curiously.

“We met with a guy.” Sunny said, smiling brightly and excited.

“Namja? You guys didn’t get bombarded by fans at all?” Sooyoung asked.

“No. The place wasn’t very well known and we were wearing our disguises.”

“Don’t tell me you wore those Scream masks again?”

“That was a one-time thing! Anyway, you know that guy who helped Jessica at the airport?” Yuri asked to which Yoona and Sunny nodded while Sooyoung, Hyoyeon, Seohyun, and Tiffany shook their heads.

“Well, there was this really kind guy who was on his way out the airport when Jessica got into that accident. He was the one who helped her to Manager Oppa.”

“Oh, that was really nice of him. He wasn’t a sasaeng fan?” Yuri shook her head.

“I asked Manager Oppa to get his number for me and I called him before our flight. I thanked him and gave him my number.”

“Not that I won’t thank him if I had the opportunity but it was kind of careless to give him your number, Yuri-unnie.” Yoona mentioned.

“Don’t worry. Before I called him this morning, I never got any weird messages, any messages in general. And I met him and I can tell that he is really kind. He is very responsible.”

“Okay, so what happened?” Hyoyeon asked this time.

“We spent the day talking and getting to know each other. Jessica smiled a lot as he told stories about his childhood. He would play hide-and-seek with his brother and he would hide inside his closet. He was small and he fit inside the compartment well. His brother never found him until he came out for snacks.” Yuri told as she smiled. This brought a smile to the other members.

“Sooyoung, what’s our schedule tomorrow?”

“Well, I have to go to Isabel Marant and H&M Event. Sunny is going on her recording for Rio 2. Tiffany, Taeyeon and Seohyun, you guys have to go for this photo shoot for the Letters of Angels. Taeyeon has an extra one with Nature Republic. In a few days, she also has to practice the duet with Kim Bum Soo. Our very own Yoona will go to LTE-A Launching Even and then, after a week, start the filming for Prime Minister and I, and-”

“Okay, stop~ Just hearing about our schedule already makes me tired. It’s like I’m already doing it.” Yuri said, wanting to preserve the fun day. Sunny nodded, agreeing. Just then, Taeyeon walked out from her room, waking up from a nap.

“Oh, you guys are here. When did you get home?” Taeyeon asked, her question directed to Sunny and Yuri.

“Just a few hours earlier. We had to make sure Jessica got home safely with Geum Ri Oppa.” Yuri casually said. Yoona and Sunny, realizing what she just said, covered by instinct.

“Geum Ri Oppa? Who’s that?”  Taeyeon asked, still not looking at them as she got some water from the fridge. She poured it on a glass.

“Let go. It’s this guy that I met at the airport the day Jessica got into that accident.” Yuri said as soon as she got Sunny and Yoona’s hands off of .

“Oh.” The members froze at the difference in tone. They saw Taeyeon hold the glass of water mid-way before proceeding to drink. She gently placed it down the sink. The members watched cautiously as she didn’t speak but went straight back to her room.

‘Taeyeon…’ Sunny thought sadly. She stood up and slowly made her way to their shared room.

“Sunny.” She turned back to the other members who all had apologetic expression.

“Do you want us to come in with you?” Tiffany asked, really concerned. Sunny smiled at her before shaking her head. As she entered the room, the members all sported a troubled look.

“It seems that I caused another problem.” Yuri whispered to herself.

“This is bad. They just had an argument this morning. I don’t want to see another tomorrow.” Tiffany said, her eyes closed as she held her forehead as if it ached. Yuri stood up from their seats and went to her room.

“Unnie…” Yoona was about to say something but as if reading her mind, Sooyoung spoke out.

“I think Yuri did the right thing in this situation.” Sooyoung said.

“What do you mean, Unnie?” Yoona asked.

“Right now, I think Taeyeon has to think of a new way to approach this. She is so far from Jessica right now. She needs to wake up and see Jessica again. Jessica has been trying hard to reconcile with Taeyeon. Very soon enough, she’ll get tired. She’ll stop trying. She’ll need someone to fix it. It cannot be us. It has to be someone else.” Sooyoung said. Hyoyeon nodded.

“This morning, their interaction was bad. Jessica’s words about Taeyeon’s reaction to her accident were bad too. But in this case, those words are like she’s throwing in everything. One more incident like that will make her give up for good.” Hyoyeon added.

“Then are you suggesting that we just let Jessica Unnie spend time with Geum Ri Oppa then?” Yoona asked, clearly concerned.

“It’s up to Jessica what Geum Ri will be to her. I’m sure she will tell us if she plans on something.”

“Taeyeon…” Sunny called out in the dark room.

“… what?” Taeyeon’s voice seemed normal, but living with someone for over six years told Sunny that she had just been upset. In fact, knowing Taeyeon, she was really upset.

“Will you tell me why you’re upset?” Sunny asked, taking a seat next to Taeyeon. Taeyeon didn’t face her but knew that the girl appreciated her presence.

“I don’t know anymore, Sunny… I don’t know whose fault it is anymore. When I think about it, I feel so confused.”

“If you think about it over and over, you’re going to get a headache. Would it hurt you to cry in front of us?” Sunny said, almost pleadingly in Taeyeon’s ears. She reluctantly faced Sunny. The girl smiled at her kindly and took her in a warm and comforting embrace. Tears suddenly fell.

“Shh…It’s okay. Cry all you want.” There was something in Sunny’s voice that compelled Taeyeon to sob heavily.

“Je…” Taeyeon caught herself and stopped trying to speak. She continued to shed her tears.

“Call me by her name then.” Sunny said as she still had Taeyeon in an embrace. When Taeyeon tried to look up at her, she held her tightly.

“Taeyeon…” Sunny tried to call in the same tone Jessica had used this morning. Though her chest tightened painfully, she let her tears cover it temporarily as Taeyeon cried, this time, her name.

“Jessica… I’m so sorry…”

A/N: Hey guys! Merry Christmas. I know I haven’t update for over a month and I apologize. I have a reasonable explanation for that.

I had taken an entrance exam to this university. It was a one-time opportunity. And if you are concerned, I’m happy to tell you that I passed. But I can’t attend it yet until they complete my application in February.

I would like to thank you for staying with this story for the time that I was gone.

And anyone who is a SONE should already have heard about the Marchen Fantasy performance our girls have presented in SMTown Week. Wish I was there but my heart burst into happiness even more because of an actual TaengSic moment.

You know, it’s crazy since I was meaning to set this story into that timeline where at their performance in SMTown Week, they will be together. Seeing as it just did happen, it’s such a Christmas miracle to me right now as a TaengSic shipper.

I apologize once more for not updating but I am in my Christmas break now so I can update faster. See you soon. ^-^v