(Taeyeon’s POV)

“Hi I’m Taeyeon.” I introduced myself while extending my hand to her.  Anyone who happens to see her right now might say that she’s a wreck but cute nonetheless.  The syrup is all over her white singlet and tight shorts but she still looks mighty fine to me.

She has this long jet black hair, pale white skin and perhaps the same height as me.  But what attracted me the most to her is her adorable eyesmile.  Although it’s the same as someone I sincerely know, it certainly gives off a different feeling than her.

 I’ve been holding out my hand to her for a quite a long time now and my arms are already sore, so I just retreated back my hands. When I looked at her again, confusion is written all over her face.

Did Sica not tell her about me coming here?

“I’m sorry but I’m expecting a Taengoo and not a Taeyeon. And I think that he’s a man and not some kid.”  I burst into laughter and her face scrunched up at my sudden actions.

Was that a compliment of me? I take it she doesn’t know about me.

“Taengoo is a nickname Sica gave me a long time ago. And she gave me the keys when we met at Paris.” I rose up my hand that was holding the keys and twirled it around to show her that I was telling the truth.

“Oh.” Was all she replied and she just stood there looking embarrassed.

“You seriously need to shower. Your hair will get stickier if you don’t. I’ll just clean up this mess.” I offered and started to grab the mop.

“I apologize for what happened. I’ll just make a quick shower and help you afterwards.”  I smiled as a response and she grabbed both dogs upstairs with her since all of them had syrup all over their bodies.

---

I wiped off the sweats trickling down my face after thirty minutes of thorough cleanup of the floor. This task is seriously no joke. It drained all of my energy.

Seeing that the girl won’t be coming back for a while, I took the liberty of washing the plates scattered in the sink since I still had nothing to do. A couple of minutes later, I heard the shuffling of feet behind me and assumed that it was the girl.

“Oh no no no, let me do that. You’ve done more than enough for today.”  She said as she snatched the plate I was holding and shoved me away from the sink.

---

Taeyeon and Janhae decided to go to the supermarket to shop for their groceries and so after they cleaned the entire kitchen, they both went to their own rooms to change. They were now on the living room with the dogs.

Taeyeon sat on the couch and when she did she felt something beneath her so she stood up and saw that there was a green looking pillow on it.

“What’s this?” She held up the pillow for Janhae to see.

“Oh that? Those are peas in a pod. Try and open it. Jessi-unnie told me that you needed comfort and so I decided to give you one of my things for you know… comfort.”

Taeyeon felt grateful by what Janhae said. It was so thoughtful of her. She opened up the pillow and realized that they were actually peas in a pod. She was literally jumping in joy of what she just received.

“They’re so cute! I totally love it!”

Janhae laughed at the sight of her. Taeyeon being a dork made her heart swell. She never felt this happy in a very long time now. Since she was almost always alone, she had to deal things all by herself.

“You can have it. Geez. You’re such a kid.”

“Hey! Watch what you’re saying. I’m already 28.”

“You’re 28?! You don’t look like it.”

Janhae wasn’t prepared to hear this kind of information from Taeyeon. She had always assumed that they were of the same age so she acted like a friend to her.

“Yeah, I know. Everyone tells me that. How old are you anyways?”

“I’m still 22. Oh my god, you’re an unnie.”

“You can call me Taeyeon, actually. I’m fine by it.”

“But—”

“Oh look at the time. Let’s go!” Taeyeon grabbed the younger girl by the wrist and dragged her outside the door but she was stopped. When she looked back, Janhae was eyeing her weirdly.

“I know that we’re going but why do you look like a thief?” Janhae asked pointing at her clothes.

“Oh this? It’s just a disguise so people won’t recognize me. Hopefully.”

“Why will people recognize you?”

“Uhm because I’m a singer and I’m quite popular?”

“You are?!” the younger girl asked bemused of what she knew.

In just a span of one hour, Janhae has already learned more about Taeyeon and all of them totally surprised her. She seriously needs to learn more about the outside world and not just paint all the time. Taeyeon might think that she doesn’t have a social life.  Allthough she doesn’t really have one but she still doesn’t want to dwell on the questions Taeyeon might ask her.

“Seriously, where are you from? Never mind. Let’s go.”

--

Somewhere in the supermarket

Both girls were roaming the aisles trying to look for things that they would need at home and also for their dinner. They were just ignoring the suspicious looks that they gave to Taeyeon. Afterall, she was wearing an oversized hoodie and sunglasses inside the market. But they don’t look like they’re suspecting her as a criminal but they think that they’re starting to recognize Taeyeon just by her physique.

Janhae felt scared because of the gazes of the people, so she moved closer to the older girl.  Taeyeon, sensing the fear from Janhae, intertwined both their hands and squeezed it trying to tell the younger girl that it’s all gonna be alright.

“So what made you decide to take a vacation? Celebrity life stressing you out?” Janhae asked and Taeyeon just chuckled.

“Well, that and I’m running away from my girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend I mean.”

“Huh? Why?”

Janhae thought she knew the basics of Taeyeon but she was wrong. She realized that she still hasn’t asked her why she chose to go to their house. She is a singer and rich, so why not go to other hotels or country instead?

“If you really want to know badly, I broke up with her because she just wasn’t the girl for me.  But she didn’t take it seriously and just laughed it off.  I told her that I was being serious and she just shouted at me. She was like ‘ANDWAE!’. Haha. So now I’m running away from her because she told me that she would win me back and I don’t want that to happen. We both know for a fact that we don’t feel that much love for each other. Of course I love her but just as a friend.” Taeyeon explained.

“Wow, that’s some problem you have there.”

“I know right? Come on, let’s hurry up. I think people are recognizing me now and I don’t like it one bit.”

They paid for their groceries and went out immediately. Now that Janhae knew about Taeyeon’s ex, she’s afraid that someone might recognize her and tell Taeyeon’s whereabouts.

--

When they got back, Taeyeon decided that she would take a nap since hasn’t took one since she arrived.

Janhae proceeded to the kitchen to prepare their dinner since it was already 4:30 and the food may take a while to cook.

Since it has been a while since she last cooked, Janhae might have overdone things. She cooked food worth for five people and now she’s having problems how to eat all of these.

Taeyeon woke up at around 6:30 in the evening and she was currently helping her in preparing the food.

“Wow, we made too much food.” Taeyeon said.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that it’s been a while since I last cooked. We could just put the leftovers in the fridge.”

They started eating but there was silence all over and Taeyeon didn’t like it one bit although Janhae didn’t mind.

“So, you got yourself a boyfriend?” Taeyeon suddenly asked in the middle of dinner breaking the silence between them.

Janhae stopped eating and looked up to the older girl.

“No.” Janhae answered shortly and Taeyeon sensed that the younger girl doesn’t like to talk about these types of things but she continued anyways.

“Why so?” the older girl asked while she ate the piece of meat from her plate.

“Why do you care?” Janhae answered in a very cold voice almost shouting which shocked Taeyeon. She never expected that Janhae would snap at her. She must have really crossed the line for her to say those things. They were having a good time just this afternoon but right now sure didn’t feel all that good. Janhae’s expression looked blank as of the moment and it scared Taeyeon. Making the girl angry is the last thing she wanted right now.

“I don’t know. I’m just trying to have a good conversation.” She dropped her head and continued eating without looking in Janhae’s eyes. She regretted what she just did.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to sound harsh.” Janhae apologized. Taeyeon looked up and saw the sincerity in the girl’s eyes.

She shook her head. “No that’s fine. I don’t want to force you to tell me something that you’re uncomfortable talking about.”

“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable it’s just that I don’t know how to tell a person about this.  I’ve been keeping this for a long time now and it’s about time I told another person about it.”  Janhae reasoned out. She breathed in and out for a while. After a minute, she finally spoke up.

Sigh “I’m gay okay? Only Jessi-unnie knows about it. I only had one girlfriend but she… but she” Janhae was trying so hard to keep her tears at bay. She doesn’t want to appear weak not when Taeyeon’s in front of her. Taeyeon rose up from her chair and approached Janhae when she noticed that the younger girl’s voice was shaking. She enveloped her in a hug straight away and ran her hands up and down on Janhae’s back in the hopes of calming her.

“Ssshh. What happened to her?” Taeyeon asked.

“Miles… died. She was crossing the road but an over speeding car hit her and she was instantly declared dead on the spot.”

The confession made Taeyeon feel sad and pity for the girl. She is such a strong girl. She can’t even imagine how she tried to hide her problems behind those alluring eyesmiles. If she were to be put in the same situation as Janhae then she would be devastated. She would probably be a drunkard. But Janhae chose to move on and continued living life. She envied her. Taeyeon is a coward. Instead of facing her problems she chose to run away from it.

Janhae returned the hug and hugged Taeyeon tightly.

“It was our anniversary when she died. I was supposed to bring her to this fancy restaurant as a surprise but as you may know, we didn’t.” The younger girl continued and Taeyeon was just listening intently. Words are not what Janhae needed right now but a person that can provide her comfort.

"I was miserable. I was sad. I was angry. But most of all, I miss her. It's crazy how a presence of a single presence could affect your life that much. It's like I don't have a purpose to live anymore. But sooner I realized that she wouldn't be happy if I were to just continue being miserable so I continued to live my life."  Janhae chuckled and continued to cry for another five minutes.

Janhae released herself from the hug and wiped out her tears. She already cried enough for today and she didn’t want to ruin the mood further.

“Thank you Taeyeon for listening to me. It’s just that this is the first time I told someone about what I felt when that happened. Jessi-unnie is almost out of the country most of the time so I didn’t want to bother her about my problems. I don’t want to be a burden to anyone anymore.”

Taeyeon frowned upon knowing that Janhae faced all those problems alone. She wished that she was there when she experienced those things.

Janhae is really one brave woman and somehow it made Taeyeon proud. She felt like she needed to protect this girl from everything that might harm her.

She cupped both of Janhae’s cheeks and kissed her in the forehead.

“I’ll always be here for you. Remember that.” Taeyeon said and flashed the younger girl a smile.

Janhae smiled back and nodded.

They were both gazing at each other until Taeyeon realized something.

“Wait, what’s your relationship with Sica?”

Janhae’s eyebrows rose up at the question.

“I thought I told you that we’re sisters?”

“Really? But you don’t look alike.” Taeyeon commented.

Janhae laughed. A genuine one. “I know. I’m prettier than her, right?”

They both laughed at the joke. Taeyeon was glad that Janhae is opening up and laughing with her.  She was waiting for her to open up when she told the younger girl parts of her life.

I promise I’ll protect you.

Author's Note:

Is this chapter enough?

No words can explain how much I love you guys.

Thank you for supporting this story.

Please do check my other story Goodbye Hello. If one of you is interested to be a co-author of that story then please do tell me. I need help! Haha

And I noticed that there are a lot of Filipino readers out there. Guys, annyeong! Mahal ko kayo! 

You seriously ship JanTae, huh?