Jessica awoke with a lighter feeling than she had for a long while. Had it been caused by a dreamless night, or a delightful dream is unknown. She immediately hopped gleefully to her bathroom to get ready for the day.

When she got out, she saw her sister looking around the house frantically.

“Soojung, what are you doing?” She asked suddenly, startling the younger Jung.

“Omo! Now there are two things odd in the house.” Krystal said emphasizing on the words ‘two’ and ‘odd’ as she ran towards her sister with a scrutinizing expression.

“What are-” Jessica didn’t finish when Krystal touched her forehead.

“Hm… you don’t have a fever. And I already checked that there was no cucumber in your room.” At the mention of a cucumber, Jessica frowned and took her sister’s hand off her forehead.

“What are you going on about?”

“There was a guy here last night, weren’t there?” Krystal asked with a straight face. Jessica frowned once more before shaking her head.

“No. There wasn’t. And what’s this mention about a cucumber in my room. You know I’m allergic. And two odd things? What are you talking about?”

“First of all, you’re up early, which is not normal at all. And second of all, this house…” Krystal made sniffing sounds. “… I can smell a guy.”

“Okay, my turn. There are two things odd about you. First of all, I can wake up early every day, I just love sleeping. Second of all, no one entered the house but me. Geum Ri – ssi just escorted me back home yesterday but he didn’t enter.” Jessica said.

“Geum Ri? Who’s that?” Krystal asked.

“His name is Lee Geum Ri. I met him personally yesterday. You heard about that incident at the airport right? It said that Manager Oppa helped me. He did but Geum Ri – ssi helped me up first.” Jessica explained as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. ‘Funny… I feel like this line has been said before. Oh well…’ she thought to herself.

“Didn’t anyone see you? If you went out together, this should be all over the news.”

“Okay, we didn’t go out together. Yuri and Sunny were with me.” Jessica said, placing the glass in the sink.

“Did he Yuri unnie and Sunny unnie?” Jessica shook her head at Krystal’s question.

“No. He offered but Yuri said that since I was going home alone, he should go with me.” Jessica said casually as if it was normal.

“Then isn’t that considered a date? And another thing. Not that I don’t think he’s a gentleman but are you sure he’s okay? What if he’s a sasaeng fan? He’s going to be crazy dating an idol like you!” Krystal started panicking again.

“Soojung, for the last time, we are not dating. And he didn’t seem like a sasaeng fan, or even a fan for that matter. I think I am probably just dreaming but when I saw him, either he is a really good acting fan or he is just a nice guy.”

“That came out of a story book?” Krystal added.

“Ya!” Jessica said, hitting Krystal on the arm lightly, causing laughter to be shared between them. Jessica saw the time.

“Oh! I have to go. I have a SOUP photo shoot today and an interview comes after that. I’ll see you when I get home.” Jessica said as she picked up her bag filled with her wallet, keys, and her phone.

“See you later, Unnie! But if you do date him, let me know first and let me meet him before you say yes!” Krystal said as Jessica left the apartment. She could hear her sister practically sighing on the other side of the door. When she could no longer hear Jessica, she sat on the couch. She sighed.

“At least, maybe this Lee Geum Ri will help her forget about her.” Even though left unmentioned, who her was had been a given.

Taeyeon woke up with a heavy feeling though not heavy as much as last night. She was alone in her room. She sat up and noticed the time, her eyes widening. She immediately jumped up from her bed to the shower. After washing up, she got dressed and walked out of her room.

“Guys, why didn’t you wake me up?” Taeyeon said to the members in the couch. Seohyun and Tiffany looked back at her.

“Are you okay, Unnie? Why are you in such a hurry?” Seohyun asked.

“Don’t we have a photo shoot today?” She asked, confirming.

“Yes, we do. But that’s at 10. It’s not even 8.” Tiffany said, pointing out the clock in the wall. It was just a quarter passed seven and Taeyeon didn’t notice that Seohyun and Tiffany were just watching the news. She walked back to her room. That was when she noticed that her clock wasn’t moving. There were two batteries next to the clock and a note. It was from Sunny.

            Good morning, Tae. I’m sorry if you panicked this morning. I had to go early for my recording. I didn’t want you to wake up early because you spent the night crying. I told Tiffany and Seohyun to wake you up at 9 if you aren’t up then. See you later~            -Sunny

Taeyeon smiled apologetically. She took her phone from her pocket. There were no text messages or calls. She frowned.

“What’s with the frown?” Taeyeon turned to Tiffany at the door.

“Hm? Oh, it’s just… Sunny. She hasn’t sent any messages. Shouldn’t she be done with her recording by now?”

“She’s probably just finishing up. She’ll give you a call later. Anyway, we’re all meeting up after our schedules today. Since Jessica will take the longest with her photo shoot and interview, we’ll fetch her so we can all have dinner together.” Tiffany said, her hands clasped in excitement. Taeyeon narrowed her eyes.

“… where?”

“Here! Where else?” Tiffany motioned inside the room. Taeyeon looked at her weirdly.

“I’m guessing I’m going to be a chef today too right?” Tiffany looked at her sheepishly.

“Well, our photo shoot won’t take long at all. Today, we’re just learning about the concept and since I asked, Manager Oppa cleared the schedule for the rest of the afternoon.” She said happily, her eye smile beaming with victory.

“Okay. I’m taking a bath.”

“Don’t take too long. We don’t want to be late.”

“I don’t take long. Seohyun takes longer than any of us.”

“Unnie!” Seohyun said, inciting a laugh from the two members.

Four hours later…

“Girls! Calm down. Ah… Taeyeon-ah, control them will you?” Manager Oppa nudged at her slightly as he was  the one driving and the girls were playing with each other.

“Guys, come on. I know you’re excited to have a family dinner and all but let’s try to contain ourselves. Then tonight, we can talk all we want.”

“Ne!” She received an affirmative ‘yes’ from each of the other members while the others gave a more stifled one due to laughter. One girl, Tiffany, was sleeping but seemed to enjoy the newly found silence.

The car came to a halt before a stoplight and Taeyeon saw a café.

“Oh, Manager Oppa, can you drop me off over there?” Taeyeon asked, pointing to the place.

“Where?”

“Over there. I’m just going to get some coffee.”

“There’s coffee over at the site, Taeyeon-ah.” He said, not really liking the idea of stopping for coffee.

“The coffee is better there.” Taeyeon said in a matter-of-fact manner. She looked at him expectantly before the light turned green.

“All right. What time is it?”

“It’s 2:46.”

“But we’re already late, Taeyeon-ah.”

“Then, just drop me off. I’ll meet you guys there. I’ll only be coming a few minutes after you guys.”

“Taeyeon-ah, I’m not sure about this. What if you get in trouble with some fans?” Manager Oppa said in a concerned tone. Nevertheless, he still stopped to the side of the road in front of the café.

“Don’t worry. I’ve done this a lot of times already. See you later.” Taeyeon got out of the van. She quickly secured her scarf around her and sunglasses. She stepped in the café and looked at the menu.

“There it is.” She said to herself while covering before approaching the counter.

“Annyeonghaseyo, Jessica!” The members shouted at their beloved cool and icy member once the photographer asked for a break.

“Oh! What are you guys doing here?” She said, rushing over to meet them.

“Did you forget to check your phone, Jessi?” Tiffany asked to which Jessica shook her head.

“We’re having a family dinner tonight. It’s been a while since we all ate together so we’re doing it tonight since we’re all going to be busy in the next few days. We will be all over the place.” Yoona said, holding onto Jessica’s right arm. Yuri latched on to Jessica’s left arm to mirror Yoona’s movement.

“We should have a talk too.” Yuri whispered subtly that no one seemed to notice it. Jessica smiled at everyone in gratitude and to not raise any suspicion of a talk she herself is not aware to have started with Yuri.

“Jessica-ssi! There’s someone here looking for you.” Jessica turned to see a familiar guy beside the staff. It was Geum Ri.

“Geum Ri-ssi, what are you doing here?” He gave her the same happy smile he always seems to sport. At the name, the other members looked in curiosity.

“Guess who downloaded the So Nyuh Shi Dae fan app and learned about the schedules?” He said, showing a familiar pink theme on his phone.

“I knew he was a sasaeng fan! Unnie! Unnie! Don’t go with him!” Yoona whined while clinging at Jessica. The other members as well as Jessica were shocked at Yoona’s display.

“Yoona?” Jessica called out softly, not understanding the strange attitude Yoona is sporting right now. Yoona stopped whining but didn’t look up at the others. Yuri frowned a little before she held the young choding’s shoulders.

“Yoona, let’s go over there.” Yuri whispered softly that only Yoona and Jessica were able to hear. Yoona shook her head. She stared back at Yuri before at Jessica.

“Yoona, let’s go.” Yoona slowly let go of Jessica’s arm and Yuri helped her to the side. To say that Jessica was worried about the second maknae was an understatement.

“Did I say something wrong?” Geum Ri’s worried voice brought Jessica back. She looked at him.

“I’m sorry. I-” Geum Ri shook his head.

“It’s okay, Jessica-ssi. I might have scared her… I should apologize for that.” While the others were just as well confused as the other members, Sunny and Tiffany watched him and thought about why Yoona was acting in such a way.

“She wasn’t like this before. Does she know him?” Tiffany asked.

“I don’t know. This is very odd for Yoona. She’s usually very nice to other people. She didn’t react this way when I told you guys yesterday…” Sunny whispered to Tiffany. They watched as the other members bombarded him with all kinds of questions after a seemingly peaceful introduction.

“Where are you from?” Sooyoung

“Were you involved with the mafia?” Hyoyeon asked another.

“Can you afford to date Jessica unnie?” Even Seohyun joined in.

“Are you going to end up hurting her? Then suffer from the wrath of-”

“Guys! Come on. He’s just a friend. Don’t be like that to him.” Jessica said, holding the three members by their shoulders. She looked at Geum Ri apologetically.

“You’re all must be really close.” He said happily. “Oh! That’s right. Here you go.” He said, handing over a package.

“What is it?” Tiffany chimed in.

“It’s coffee. Caramel coffee.”

“Ah, thank you.” She accepted it with a smile. “So you’re a fan now- Tiff?” Jessica called when Tiffany wrapped her arms over her shoulder, looking at the coffee.

“… Jessi~ Can I have a sip?” She said sweetly. Unsure but unsuspecting, Jessica nodded and Tiffany took the coffee. She walked away with it as she drank some of it, but Jessica seemed to not mind it at all, seeing as she was talking with Geum Ri.

‘Hmp… He’s not bad. I know it. But I’m getting jealous of him.’ She thought to herself as she sipped coffee. ‘Hm… This coffee… it tastes just like the one Jessi and I used to go to… Wait. Where’s Taeyeon?’

“Manager Oppa, where’s Taeyeon?” She asked as he finished his conversation with the photographer.

“Oh, she stopped by this café earlier to get some coffee. Why?”

‘I hope she won’t get mad at me for being late. Wait! What are you thinking, Kim Taeyeon? Why do you think she’ll be mad at you? She doesn’t even have the right to be mad? Wait… that’s not nice to think either. Oh, eottokhae…’

Ring! Ring!

“Yeoboseyo?”

“Tae, where are you at?”

“I’m on my way up to the set. Why?”

“Did you buy coffee for Jessica?”

“Huh? How did you-”

“I didn’t. But you better hurry up. I want to go home to the dorm now.”

“What’s wrong?”

“That guy, Lee Geum Ri is here.”

A/N: Hey, Taengsic subs! Did you miss me? That’s right. Still alive! I know I’m sorry I haven’t been updating in a while. I’ve been kind of busy. With school plus I’m trying to write a novel, I haven’t had the time for my AFF stories at all. I was going to update DoRS, the other story I’m writing, but I’ll just alternate updates. DoRS will be finished soon though so look forward to more updates for this one within a month.

I want to thank everyone who didn’t leave. I know it’s been a while since I updated this chapter but I am going to update every other week since next week is DoRS chapter 18. I am still very thankful though for you all. ^^

Oh, did you wish Taeyeon unnie a happy birthday earlier? I saw the Instagram group photo she uploaded and I was squealing this morning when I saw TaengSic standing beside each other. I did a blog post on it so if you hadn’t seen it, it’s in my blogs. Well, see you again. ^-^v