The girl jolted up from the bed when she felt the device next to her head start vibrating and making sounds. Seeing it was just her phone she let out a sigh of relief and picked it up and pressed the answer button before pressing it against her ear.

“Hello.” She answered tiredly.

“Hi.” Her eyes snapped open and she felt herself being completely awake by the voice on the other line. She blinked a few times and removed the phone from her ear to check on the number. It was a number she hadn’t added to her contacts, the new found fact made her release a sigh and she placed the device against her ear again.

“Were you asleep?” Taeyeon heard the female on the other line ask.

“No, I was testing how it would be like to be dead.” She said sarcastically. She heard a chuckle on the other line. And she found herself smiling along to the sound.

“Sorry to interrupt you in that.” The girl apologized.

“It’s okay. Why did you call? How did you even get my number?” Taeyeon asked and rolled onto her back.

“I wanted to hang out with you and Tiffany, but Tiffany said something about you being mad at her so she told me to call you myself, and so she gave me your number.” The girl explained.

A long sigh escaped her lips and she rubbed her tired eyes.

“Tell Tiffany I’m not mad at her.” Taeyeon mumbled.

“Tell her yourself. I’m not your messenger. Here, she’s right here.”

She heard mumbles on the other line and soon the phone seemed to have been given to someone else. She continued to listen, hearing Tiffany’s voice saying ‘but she’s mad’, but even so getting urged to talk to her.

“Taeyeon?” Taeyeon finally heard Tiffany say.

“Yes, hello.” Taeyeon answered.

“Were you asleep?”

“No, I was just testing how it would be like to be dead.”

“Not funny.”

“Sorry.” Taeyeon apologized and bit her lower lip. The two girls fell silent, Taeyeon stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom and hoped Tiffany would say something, but the girl didn’t.

“Fany, I’m not mad at you.” She finally said. “Sorry about yesterday, I was just tired.” Taeyeon explained.

“It’s okay.” Tiffany said. Taeyeon felt she relaxed by the words and a small smile appeared on her lips.

Silence filled between the two friends again, and Taeyeon wondered if Tiffany’s company wouldn’t start to wonder what they were talking about.

“Taeyeon,” Tiffany suddenly said and broke Taeyeon’s thought about the girl’s company.

“Hmm?” Taeyeon said. She could hear a bit of hesitance in Tiffany’s voice and she waited a few seconds before Tiffany continued.

“You won’t leave again, right?” Tiffany said.

Taeyeon felt herself being unable to answer. She gulped and bit her lower lip as she tried to figure out a good answer for the girl. But she also knew that Tiffany was an impatient soul, and the girl usually had her own conclusion about what people’s silence meant.

“Taeyeon.” She could almost hear the pleading in Tiffany’s tone when she said her name again. It made Taeyeon sigh and she closed her eyes.

“I can’t say I’ll never leave, but I can say I won’t leave soon.”  Taeyeon finally said.

“Will you at least tell me beforehand if you leave? And perhaps even where you’re going?” Tiffany asked.

“I suppose I can…”

“Good.”

“Yeah…”

The girl on the other line fell silent again. Taeyeon let out a sigh and closed her eyes, feeling she could use some more sleep another sigh escaped her lips and she opened her eyes again.

“Fany, I’d like to sleep some more.” Taeyeon said.

“Can’t you meet up with me and Jessica?”

A sigh left her lips and she felt her bed was probably the only place she wanted to be in at this moment. She rolled onto her side and kept the phone to her ear.

“But I wanna sleep.”

“But I wanna hang out with you. It was such a long time ago. I’ve only seen you in school since you came back.”

It’s because you’ve been hanging out with Jessica all the time. Taeyeon wanted to say but kept the words in her head instead.

“Please Taeyeon, I won’t keep you for long. If you fall asleep I’ll let you go home.”

It made a chuckle escape Taeyeon’s lips. She shook her head at Tiffany’s words and found herself smiling a bit.

“If I fall asleep you and Jessica have to carry me home.”

“Sure. Just come. Please.”

Taeyeon let out another sigh and she slowly sat up in bed. “Fine, I’ll come. Just let me get dressed and I’ll be there.”  

“Okay, see you at the usual place.” Tiffany said.

“Sure. See you later.” Taeyeon said and hung up. She left the phone in bed as she went up, looking around her room for a pair of jeans and other clothes she could wear. Finding something decent she began stripping out of the clothes she had slept in, only stopping in her actions when her eyes landed on her forearms.

A raspy breath escaped her lips. She lowered her arms to her sides, picking up the t-shirt she was going to wear and found a hoodie to put over. Her arms were covered, and she hoped they would be kept that way until the marks had disappeared.


---


She met up with Tiffany and Jessica near the park in the town. The two girls were seated on a bench when she approached them. The first one to notice her was Jessica, the blonde girl smiled at her when she stopped in front of them.

“Good morning.” Jessica said with a grin.

“Hi.” Taeyeon greeted them tiredly.

“You look tired.” Tiffany pointed out.

“I was at Sunny’s place last night. I didn’t go home until like three in the morning.” Taeyeon said and stifled a yawn that was on its way out of .

“You shouldn’t be out at that time. Why didn’t you sleep at Sunny’s place instead?” Tiffany scolded with frown on her lips.

“I didn’t want to be a bother.” Taeyeon said but got jabbed her in the ribs by the brunette. She sent a confused glance the girl’s way but just got a glare in return.

“I’m sure Sunny wouldn’t feel like you’re a bother for staying over.” Tiffany pointed out. Taeyeon frowned and rubbed her sore ribs.

“But I felt I was a bother.”

“But you aren’t.”

“I can’t change what I feel Tiffany.”

“Not if you’re stubborn.”

Taeyeon frowned and turned to Jessica who had been observing them. She met Jessica’s gaze and the blonde smiled at her. Her frown disappeared and she turned back to Tiffany again.

“So what are we going to do?” Taeyeon asked.

“Get you something to eat. Because I assume that you haven’t eaten breakfast.” Tiffany said and looked at Taeyeon with a raised eyebrow. Taeyeon frowned again and let out a sigh.

“I’m not hungry.”

“You have to eat.”

“I can’t force myself to eat.”

“Why not just getting a coffee then? You look like you need it.” Taeyeon turned to the blonde who suddenly had spoken up. Feeling like Jessica’s suggestion wasn’t that bad Taeyeon turned to Tiffany, who still didn’t look that pleased.

“I could use some coffee.” Taeyeon said.

Tiffany rolled her eyes. Taeyeon ignored the girl and turned to Jessica instead. She nodded towards the blonde, a smile appeared on Jessica’s lips and she began walking, taking the lead as she led them to some coffee shop they could get a coffee.


---


A small sigh escaped the girl’s lips. She lifted the coffee cup up towards her lips, tilting it enough for the hot liquid to fill before she lowered it again. Her eyes continued to observe the two girls that went around in the clothe store, one looking at jeans and the other looking at cardigans.

She just stood by the side, feeling bored out of her mind, and she wondered if it really had been worth giving up sleep for this.

Another sigh escaped Taeyeon’s lips, she took another sip of her coffee and shifted some in her stance as she continued to watch Tiffany and Jessica that continued to look at clothes.

She felt her phone vibrate, indicating she had gotten a text message. She picked it up and noticed she had gotten a text message from the number she had just recently added to her contacts. Her eyebrow raised and she looked up from her phone at the blonde girl who was by the jeans in the store.

She noticed Jessica had her phone in hand as she looked at a pair of jeans. Taeyeon let her eyes go back to her phone, opening the text message to see what Jessica had written.

‘Did the coffee taste good? :)’

She continued to stare at the rather random text message. Her eyes left the phone to look at the cup in her other hand. A small chuckle escaped her lips and she typed a reply to the girl.

It didn’t take long until Jessica had sent another text message to her. She looked down on her phone to see what the girl had written.

‘That’s good. :) You look rather bored there in your corner, why don’t you look at some clothes?’

Taeyeon’s eyebrow raised and she shifted the phone some in her hand before she typed a reply.

‘I only look at clothes if I need to buy something. Are you keeping your eyes on me?’

She looked up from her phone to see how Jessica reacted. She found herself unable to see Jessica’s expression as the girl had her back turned towards her, but she saw the girl look down on her phone.

A second after Jessica had lowered her phone Taeyeon felt the phone in her vibrate and she looked down on it to see what Jessica had replied.

‘So you’re not the shopping type then? Haha, yes, I have to make sure you don’t fall asleep. ;)’

Taeyeon lightly shook her head at the text message.

‘I’m not. I find shopping very boring. Should I feel uneasy with your eyes on me?’

‘I’ll try to remember to never take you with me when I’m shopping then! Haha, nah, no need to feel uneasy. Feel good! Isn’t it nice knowing someone wants to keep their eyes on you? ;)’

Taeyeon felt unable to reply to it. She let her thumb hover above the letters as she tried to come up with a good reply. She felt someone approaching her and it made her look up from her phone and put it in her pocket.

“You okay?” Tiffany asked as she stopped beside her. Taeyeon nodded her head and raised the cup up towards her lips and took a sip of the coffee.

“Jessi is just paying for a pair of jeans. Then we’re out of here.” Tiffany said. Taeyeon nodded her head and glanced at the girl in the corner of her eyes. She saw a small smile on the other brunette’s lips and she let her eyes go forward again.

“We’re planning to go to a shoe store after this though…” Tiffany revealed. Taeyeon didn’t even try to hide the frown that appeared on her lips. She heard Tiffany giggle beside her, but she continued to keep her eyes forward.

“I knew you wouldn’t like it. But we can go somewhere you want to go after that.” Tiffany suggested and turned towards Taeyeon.

“It’s fine. I want to go to sleep, and I know the three of us can’t fit in my bed so it isn’t possible.” Taeyeon said. Her statement made Tiffany laugh and it made a small smile appear on her lips, she glanced at Tiffany before she turned forward again, just in time of seeing Jessica walking towards them.

“What’s funny?” Jessica asked with a smile and looked at Tiffany that just had calmed down from her laughing fit. The blonde turned back to Taeyeon that felt a bit awkward to meet her gaze now.

“Tiffany said we could go to a place I wanted to go, but the problem is that the three of us won’t fit on my bed.” Taeyeon said. A small chuckle escaped Jessica’s lips and she glanced at Tiffany before she looked back at Taeyeon again.

“If two of us lie on top of each other then maybe we would fit.” Jessica said and tilted her head to the side. Taeyeon felt her eyebrow raise upon Jessica’s statement. She glanced at Tiffany before she looked back at Jessica.

“Then you two have to lie on top of each other. I don’t want to be suffocated by someone’s weight.” Taeyeon said. She spun around and headed towards the exit of the store.

When she reached the outside she spun around towards the two other girls. She noticed Tiffany had taken interest in what Jessica had bought, and Taeyeon let the two girls be as they discussed Jessica’s purchase on the way to the shoe store.

She walked behind them, focusing on her coffee as her eyes were trained on the girls’ shoes in front of her. She felt someone suddenly bump into her shoulder, making a painful hiss escape her lips and she turned towards the guy who also had spun around towards her.

“Sorr–“

She heard the guy’s apology die on his lips and it made Taeyeon look up at him, only to find herself stare at a very familiar face. She noticed Tiffany and Jessica also had stopped in their tracks, but Taeyeon didn’t mind them as she stared at the guy who stared back at her with wide eyes.

“Taeyeon-ah.” Her name left the guy’s lips. She felt her jaw tensed, the grip around the cup tightened as well, and she held back the urge to throw the coffee at the guy’s face.

“Oppa…” She breathed out, and she noticed the guy took a step back from her. The urge to throw the coffee at him only raised, but she kept the cup in her hold as her gaze continued to be locked with the guy’s.