Her fingers strummed the last note on the guitar, her eyes slowly opened and she took in the place she was in. Her heart started beating faster when she saw the few people that were watching her from their tables, their eating utensils were by the side of their plates as their hands were too busy giving her a small applaud.

 

"Thank you." Taeyeon said and bowed her head before she jumped down from the stool she had been sitting on while she had performed.

 

She went to the side of the small scene. Minwoo was standing at the side of it, clapping his hands while a pleased smile was on his lips.

 

She nodded towards him. Trying to focus on breathing and getting her heartbeat to calm down, and not fall as she walked down from the scene.

 

"Good job!" Minwoo said and patted her back once she was off the stage.

 

She stumbled a bit from the force of the pat. Her legs felt weak from the nervousness she had felt before she got on the stage. She let out a breath of relief as she didn't fall over, and she looked at the man by her side.

 

"How are you feeling?" He asked and eyed her face.

 

Taeyeon looked away from his face. She took a long breath and slowly released it. How was she feeling, really? She scanned the dining area where people now had gone back to eating. She remembered how nervous she had been before she had stepped on the stage, and how she had felt like she wanted to back out of this.

 

But she hadn’t. She had stepped on to the stage. Awkwardly and shyly greeted the people who were there, before she had started to play a slow tune she had started singing to, and once she had started playing, the people watching her hadn’t bothered her until she had stopped playing.

 

She turned back to the man who was still waiting for the answer. She shrugged her shoulders, tightening the grip on the guitar and let her eyes fall down to her shoes.

 

“I’m feeling alright.” She said.

 

When she looked up at Minwoo again he had a smile on his face. He nodded his head, placed a gently hand at her back, and nodded towards the bar disc.

 

“I think you know the girl by the bar.” He said.

 

Taeyeon’s eyes widened in surprise when she heard someone that knows her was here. She turned towards the bar, her heart beating faster in anticipating of seeing who it was. A small part of her heart hoped to see someone she had begun to long to see, but all hopes were crushed when she saw someone else sitting by the bar.

 

Her heart was disappointed. But she wasn’t completely disappointed to see the girl who seemed to have watched her perform.

 

“Sunny.” Taeyeon said and nodded towards the short haired blonde who was sipping on a coke.

 

“Good job.” Sunny showed both thumbs up when Taeyeon had taken a seat beside her.

 

“Thanks.” Taeyeon mumbled and turned towards the bartender. The guy who she remembered as Junjin was busy pouring up red wine in two glasses he placed on a tray that a waiter picked up.

 

“Hey, Junjin-oppa!” Taeyeon called the man. He turned around, a wide smile appeared on his face when his eyes landed on her.

 

“Well, well, if it isn’t our little artist. So, what do you want? A coke? A drink? A glass of wine?” He asked as he walked up to where she was sitting.

 

“I was thinking of a bottle of water…” Taeyeon said. A disappointed expression appeared on Junjin’s face, and he let out a sigh and went over to the small refrigerator at the back.

 

“You’re so boring. I thought I’d be able to show off my mixing skills.” He said and placed the bottle together with a glass filled with ice cubes in front of her.

 

“Maybe next time.” She said and opened the bottle and poured the clear liquid in the glass. She lifted the glass with the cool water and took a few gulps from it before she placed it back down and turned back to Sunny.

 

“So, how do you feel after your first performance?” Sunny asked.

 

Taeyeon knew the question would come, and she averted her gaze back to the glass between her hands, gently brushing her thumb against it while she tried figuring out how to answer the question.

 

“I feel okay, I guess.” Taeyeon said and looked back at the older girl. Sunny nodded her head understanding and took a sip of her coke before she looked back at Taeyeon.

 

“Are you at least satisfied with it?” Sunny asked.

 

Taeyeon felt her shoulders slump upon the question. She once again turned towards the glass, her jaws tightened and before she loosened them to let out a sigh.

 

“I can still improve…It’s far from good.” Taeyeon said.

 

“I don’t think it’s far from good. The quality is good, you just gotta put more emotions into the music. You should play the feelings of your heart. I think that’s the only improvement you should focus on.” Sunny said.

 

Taeyeon looked back at the girl after the feedback she got. She nodded her head, she got what Sunny meant, and she had to admit Sunny had a point.

 

“I’ll do my best.” Taeyeon said.

 

She saw a smile appear on Sunny’s lips. The short haired blonde gave her back a pat, and the two friends shared a smile between them before they went back to drink from their respective beverage in silence.

 

“Oh, I talked to Miyoung…” Sunny suddenly said after the short moment of silence between them. Taeyeon’s left eyebrow rose, but she didn’t turn towards the girl beside her as she probably could figure out where this conversation would be about.

 

“Miyoung said…that you’re only hanging out with your girlfriend and that you’re keeping secrets from her. And if she asks something you snap at her.” Sunny said.

 

Taeyeon let out a sigh and brought her left hand up to her head to rub her temple.

 

“I’m only telling you what Miyoung told me.” Sunny added.

 

“I know…” Taeyeon said and closed her eyes. “But she got her facts wrong.” Taeyeon said.

 

“What facts?”

 

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” Taeyeon said. She felt the disappointment in her heart build up when the words left her lips. She furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what the feeling meant. Her mind kept making pictures of a sleeping blonde appear in her head, and she felt how she longed to be close to that girl.

 

“Well, maybe not your current girlfriend, but your soon-to-be girlfriend.” Sunny said.

 

Taeyeon snapped out of her thoughts about Jessica and turned back to the girl beside her. Sunny had a smile on her lips, her right eyebrow was raised, and the expecting expression on her face made Taeyeon’s cheeks heat up.

 

“Who said she’s gonna become my girlfriend?” Taeyeon asked and turned back to the water in front of her. She lifted on the glass, took two big gulps from it and placed it back to the bar counter and started refilling it with the remaining water in the bottle.

 

“I’m not a dating expert, but from what I know is that if two people share feelings for each other they usually end up together.” Sunny said.

 

Taeyeon stopped in her action of playing with the empty water bottle. She stared straight in front of her, thinking about Sunny’s words, and trying to make sense to what her heart was feeling and what her mind wanted.

 

Her eyebrow furrowed, and she didn’t stop thinking about it until she felt Sunny pat her back once again. She turned towards the older girl who smiled understanding at her.

 

“You think too much about it. Sometimes it’s better to just act on your feelings.” Sunny said.

 

Taeyeon blinked at the words. Sunny continued to smile at her for a while, before her smile turned mischievous and her hand was reached towards Taeyeon’s right cheek that soon was captured between Sunny’s thumb and index finger in a pinch.

 

“You’re so cute when you think.” Sunny said with a faked high pitched voice.

 

“Hey.” Taeyeon swatted the hand away from her cheek and leaned away from the girl who was now giggling.

 

“Shouldn’t you get ready for your next performance?” Sunny asked and nodded towards the guitar that was leaning against the bar next to Taeyeon’s left leg.

 

Completely forgetting about their previous conversation Taeyeon frantically looked for the time to see if it was time for her to get up on stage. Seeing it almost was time for her to go back to the stage she turned back to the short haired blonde who smiled at her.

 

“Go get ready. I’ll be right here supporting you.” Sunny said.

 

Taeyeon smiled thankfully at the girl. She finished her water before she went back to the small scene in the restaurant. She stepped up on it, her heart started to beat faster, she nodded towards some people that looked at her, before she let her eyes go down to the instrument in her hands. She inhaled, held her breath for a few seconds, before she slowly exhaled, and looked up at the small audience she had. A smile formed on her lips, and her fast beating her was forgotten the moment her thumbs touched the strings to the guitar.

 

 

---

 

 

Her hand stopped and she let her gaze go up to the girl sitting opposite her. The girl looked pleased with her work, but Taeyeon felt it could be more done. But what she thought wasn’t important, the opinion of the man sitting in the corner the room had to the judgment.

 

She met the gaze of her music teacher. He looked at her for a few seconds, before he cleared his throat, shifted in his position and turned towards Narsha.

 

“It sounds good.” He told the girl who smiled satisfied. The man turned towards Taeyeon, the girl prepared herself for the harsh critic that would probably come out of the man’s mouth. The teacher didn’t say anything, only lowering his eyes to her hand that was resting over the strings of the guitar.

 

“You both sound good.” He said and stood up from his seat.

 

“Really? Does that mean we can perform next week?” Narsha asked the man before he had been able to leave the room.

 

He stopped in his tracks. Taeyeon prepared for the rejection she already expected to get. The music teacher’s gaze went from the girl sitting closest to him, before he turned to Taeyeon. Their gazes met, Taeyeon didn’t turn away even though she felt she wanted to.

 

“Yes, if you both show up, you can perform.” The teacher said and finally left the room.

 

Taeyeon sat surprised in her seat, almost gaping in surprise. She turned towards the girl sitting opposite her. Narsha smiled brightly at her, the girl moved closer to her, grabbing the her left hand that wasn’t holding any of the guitar’s parts.

 

“That’s great! Let’s practice more until the performance.” Narsha said.

 

“Y-yeah.” Taeyeon said and awkwardly released her hand from Narsha’s hold. If the girl had minded her removing her hand, she didn’t show it. She put her hand on the other side of the guitar, making the guitar a wall between her and Narsha.

 

“We should make some time after school to practice. Do you have any activates after school?”

 

“No…only on Fridays.” Taeyeon answered the question.

 

Narsha’s smile widened, and she leaned closer to Taeyeon, but Taeyeon tried to not show that she minded it, and tried to not think about how she had seen the girl reach out towards her hands that were on the other side of the guitar. She moved awkwardly away from the girl and averted her gaze to her music sheets.

 

“I have to go to my next class.” Taeyeon said and started gathering her music papers.

 

“Oh, right. I should get going too.” Narsha said and began gathering her things as well.

 

Taeyeon didn’t wait for the girl, and took her things and left the room before Narsha could go after her. To her relief, Narsha would have her class at the other end of the school.

 

But Narsha having her class at the other end of the school also meant that Jessica would have her class at the other end of the school.

 

Taeyeon bit her lower lip at the thought of the blonde girl. Was Jessica in school? Was she on her way to school? What was the girl doing?

 

She took out her phone from her jeans pocket and quickly typed a text message to Jessica. Asking what the girl was up to. Her eyes were glued to the screen of the phone while she continued to walk towards her classroom, anxiously waiting for Jessica’s reply.

 

 

‘What’s up?’

 

‘Not the thing that should be up.’

 

 

Taeyeon stared at the reply she had received. Her eyebrows furrowed and she typed a quick message back to the blonde.

 

 

‘What should be up?’

 

‘Your eyes. Keep your eyes up, Kim Taeyeon.’

 

 

Taeyeon quickly looked up from her phone, a smile started to form on her lips when she saw the blonde girl who was leaning against her locker further down the hallway. She pocketed her phone when she saw the blonde girl looking at her.

 

“Hey.” Jessica said when Taeyeon finally had reached the girl. The girl was smiling, and Taeyeon couldn’t keep the smile from forming on her lips as well.

 

“Hi.” Taeyeon replied.

 

“How was music class?” Jessica asked and tilted her head to the side. Taeyeon noticed the girl’s eyes went from hers down to the guitar case she was carrying. Taeyeon followed Jessica’s gaze down to the instrument, before she looked up at the girl again.

 

“It was okay.” Taeyeon said and shrugged her shoulders. Jessica looked back up at her, one eyebrow rose, and she nodded her head.

 

“Will you perform?”

 

A small smile appeared on Taeyeon’s lips. Jessica noticed it and started smiling as well. And Taeyeon knew the girl knew her answer before she even had said it.

 

“Yeah, I’ll perform.” Taeyeon said.

 

“That’s great!” Jessica said excitedly. Before she knew it, Jessica had engulfed Taeyeon’s body in a tight hug.

 

Not quite used to the physical affection, Taeyeon stayed paralyzed in Jessica’s embrace, her eyes wide as sauce plates. Her heart beat faster and she felt it got harder to breath.

 

Jessica slowly released her from the unexpected hug. And once she Jessica’s arms were no longer around her body she averted her gaze elsewhere but where the blonde girl was, she felt her cheeks were flushed, and she didn’t need Jessica to see it.

 

“But that means that you have to practice a lot then.” Jessica said.

 

Hearing that the subject was still about her performing, Taeyeon tried to focus on that instead, anything to calm down from the physical contact that had set her blood pressure high. She scratched the back of her neck, inhaled, and slowly exhaled before she looked up at Jessica again.

 

“Yeah, Narsha wants to practice after school.” Taeyeon said.

 

Jessica’s eyebrow rose at the statement. Her head tilted to the side, and she looked at Taeyeon like she waited for her to say something else. Taeyeon blinked confused at the blonde girl, she looked down at the guitar case in her hand before she looked up at Jessica again.

 

“We’re going to practice after school today.” She added.

 

Jessica scoffed and shook her head. Taeyeon continued to look confused at the girl who was still shaking her head like she couldn’t believe what she had said.

 

“You know that Narsha won’t only practice, right?” Jessica said.

 

Remembering how Narsha had held her hand, and continued to try having some kind of physical contact with her during the music class before, Taeyeon slump her shoulders. But she didn’t tell Jessica that it had happened, instead she shrugged her shoulders, and averted her gaze to the floor.

 

“Well, I’m going to practice, and if she doesn’t want to practice, then that’s up to her. She will be the one wasting time in school if she doesn’t practice.” Taeyeon said. 

 

A smile formed on Jessica’s lips and she nodded her head. Taeyeon raised an eyebrow at the blonde’s amused expression, but she didn’t question her about it. Instead she watched as Jessica’s smile faded, and she looked up towards the other end of the hallway, before she quickly turned back to Taeyeon, smile back on her lips.

 

“Okay then.” Jessica said. “But I’ll have to go to my class now. See you at lunch.” Jessica said.

 

Taeyeon felt like asking Jessica to stay, but she didn’t do it, she knew Jessica had to go, and what point was it to ask the girl to stay? She had to go to her class as well, and she knew Jessica couldn’t come with her.

 

She let the question linger on her tongue as she watched Jessica walk past her. The blonde momentarily stopped in her tracks and turned towards her. She looked questioning at her, wondering why Jessica would stay.

 

Jessica didn’t say anything, instead she smiled at her, reached her hand out towards Taeyeon’s free one, and lightly let the tip of her fingers brush against the back of Taeyeon’s hand before she started walking away.

 

Taeyeon remained still in her position. Her eyes watched as Jessica walked further and further away from her. The lingering feeling of Jessica’s fingers on her hand was still there. The question she never asked was still on her tongue. And her heart was regretting she never asked it.

 

A sigh left her lips and she turned to walk towards her class. The sight of her classmates made her want to turn around and go with Jessica instead. And when she entered the classroom and saw that the seat beside her was occupied by the person who usually occupies it, she wished she had asked Jessica if the girl wanted to skip school all together with her.

 

With her shoulders sagged she went to her seat. She noticed Tiffany looked at her, but she ignored the girl and silently took her seat without even looking at the girl. She could feel Tiffany looked away, and as Tiffany looked away, she could feel the wall between them starting to get bigger. 

 

She let out a sigh, and to her surprise she heard the girl beside her sigh too. She felt Tiffany’s eyes on her form again, and she refrained from looking at Tiffany as well. In her peripheral vision she saw Tiffany turned away from her again, and once the girl’s eyes were focused on something else, Taeyeon sighed again and turned her head elsewhere.

 

She could feel how long and boring her classes would be. And she really looked forward to get out of the suffocating classroom. Preferably to a place where she could be with a person that manages to take her breath away in other ways.

 

 

---

 

 

The sound of chairs scraping against the floor in the classroom was heard when the teacher dismissed the class. The students started gathering their things before they started forming their respective groups and went out to go eat lunch.

 

Taeyeon remained in her seat, not wanting to rush out with the other students. She watched as the classroom got emptier and emptier of students until only two girls were left. A sigh left her lips and she turned towards the now empty seat beside her.

 

Tiffany had been one of the first students to leave the classroom. Unusual as the girl usually stayed back to wait with her, but Taeyeon knew the girl had no reason to wait for her, and it was partly her fault for ignoring her.

 

A frown formed on her lips and she shook her head to get rid of the thoughts about Tiffany. She stood up from her seat and went out of the classroom, only stopping in surprise when someone was about to enter it at the same time.

 

“There you are!” Jessica who had been about to enter the classroom said. Taeyeon blinked surprised upon seeing the girl there.

 

“I was gonna check if you were going to eat with me or if you were gonna practice during lunch.” Jessica said.

 

Taeyeon took notice of the use of ‘me’ instead of ‘us’, which made her look around for Jessica’s blonde companion the girl usually hung out with. She saw no sign of Hyoyeon and it made Taeyeon turn back to the blonde in front of her.

 

“Where’s Hyoyeon?” Taeyeon asked.

 

“Oh, she’s sick. Or something. I don’t know. She’s not in school.” Jessica said and shrugged her shoulders.

 

“Oh…” Taeyeon wasn’t sure if she was happy or not about Hyoyeon’s absence. It gave her a chance to spend time with Jessica alone. But then she was in school, and a lot of people were around, so they weren’t really alone.

 

“So…are you going to practice?” Jessica asked as they were walking through hallway towards the exit of the school building.

 

“No.” Taeyeon said and shook her head.

 

“Great!” Jessica stopped in her tracks, she grabbed one of Taeyeon’s hands and turned to face the girl. The action shocked the brunette, and she stared wide eyed at Jessica who looked into her eyes.

 

“How about we go to my place for lunch? I can make us something.” Jessica offered.

 

Taeyeon continued to stare shocked at the girl. If they went to Jessica’s place they’d be completely alone, unless the girl’s family was there. But she also had a feeling Jessica wouldn’t suggest it if her family was at home.

 

Taeyeon tilted her head to the left. She noticed Jessica was still waiting for her answer, and she couldn’t help but start smiling a little when she heard herself ask the girl:

 

“Will it be a date?”

 

She noticed an amused smile appeared on Jessica’s lips. The blonde tilted her head to the side as well, her brown orbs stared into Taeyeon’s, her smile widening into a toothy grin.

 

“Do you want it to be a date?” Jessica asked back.

 

Taeyeon felt her cheeks heat up at the question. She looked away from Jessica’s eyes, feeling too embarrassed and shy to meet the girl’s gaze now. The blonde could probably see the answer through her eyes, or just read it on her face.

 

“A date it is then.” Jessica said after a few seconds of silence. Taeyeon snapped her head towards the blonde who began to walk ahead of her. Not wanting to be left behind Taeyeon hurried to walk up to Jessica’s side, and began to walk alongside the blonde.

 

The brunette glanced at the other girl, noticing a satisfied grin on Jessica’s lips. She felt herself blush and she averted her gaze to the ground, feeling too shy to look at Jessica now. Her heart was beating fast in anticipation and excitement, and it made her feel giddy inside to know that she would be alone with Jessica during the lunch.

 

 

---

 

 

 

The sound of boiling water filled the silence between the two girls in the kitchen. One was seated on one of the stools by the kitchen counter, while the other one was by the stove, stirring the noodles that were being boiled in the pot on the stove.

 

Taeyeon looked around the kitchen as she waited for Jessica to finish making the lunch. She had asked if she could help out, but Jessica had insisted that she was fine on her own, and Taeyeon felt too awkward to move at this point and felt that sitting on the stool in silence was a better option than walking around.

 

She stopped looking around the kitchen as her eyes landed on Jessica’s back for the tenth time since she had taken a seat. Feeling the urge to walk up to the blonde she awkwardly moved in her seat and shifted her gaze elsewhere instead. She watched as Jessica continued to stir the noodles, not looking away from them, not saying a word. Jessica’s silence made Taeyeon wonder if coming here had been a mistake.

 

“All done!” Jessica’s voice made Taeyeon turn back to the blonde. A bowl was placed on the counter in front of her, making her eyes avert to that instead.

 

“Chopsticks or a fork?” Jessica asked and made Taeyeon look up from the bowl again.

 

“Chopsticks.” Taeyeon answered.

 

She watched as the blonde went over to one of the drawers beside the stove. The girl took out one fork and placed it in the bowl she was holding in her hand, before she took out a pair of chopsticks and went over to the counter where Taeyeon was seated.

 

“Here you go.” Jessica said with a smile and held out the eating utensils.

 

“Thanks.” Taeyeon said almost inaudible. She grabbed the chopsticks and lowered them to her bowl of noodles and held them right above her food. Her eyes left the bowl and was averted to the girl in front of her.

 

Jessica had already begun eating. She was spinning the fork around in her noodles, and ate them like spaghetti. The blonde had a pleased smile on her face as she chewed the food, and watching her Taeyeon found herself smiling

 

“Not gonna eat?” Jessica asked.

 

Taeyeon blinked surprised when she realized Jessica had caught her staring. She embarrassed began to eat her noodles, not wanting to look up at Jessica again as she was afraid the blonde girl would see her blushing cheeks.

 

“Taeyeon.” Taeyeon momentarily stopped eating when she heard how softly Jessica said her name. She slowly looked up, meeting the blonde’s brown eyes, and continued to hold the girl’s gaze as she waited for her to say something.

 

“Will you really practice after school with Narsha?” Jessica asked.

 

Taeyeon furred her eyebrows. She continued to hold Jessica’s gaze for a bit more. A small sigh left her lips and she looked down at her bowl of food.

 

“I kinda need to. We need to practice for the performance.” Taeyeon said while she played with the noodles. She looked up at Jessica and noticed the blonde wasn’t looking at her anymore.

 

“Okay,” Jessica said, her eyes focused on the noodles in her own bowl. “Just be careful.” Jessica added and looked up at Taeyeon again.

 

“I don’t want to lose you to her.” 

 

Taeyeon felt her heart flutter at the words. She continued to stare at the blonde, wondering if she had heard right or not. But she was afraid to ask Jessica to repeat it, or ask what she meant by it. And Jessica didn’t seem like she would bring it up again, as the blonde had gone back to eating her lunch.