- Story view -

"Jessi..."

"Don't call me that... Krys don't call me that! It's scaring me... It's scaring me Krys!"

"This... I should have returned it to you two years ago. I should never have listened to mom. I should never have let you and Taeyeon unnie down like this. I was a coward. I should have protected the two of you. I'm late, but I'm going to protect you from now onwards. I'm going to protect Taeyeon unnie who has always been loving me. I no longer understand Taeyeon unnie's decision, and I don't want to. You two belong together. I won't let anyone come between you two. Not even mom. I...I'll do anything to make it up t-"

"Krys... Stop... My head hurts... My head hurts a lot... Please stop..."

"Two years... She thought you were gone, Jessi!"

"ing stop! I told you to ing stop Krystal Janson!"

"Krystal Jung, Jessi. Janson is ing bull. So is Claire."

"GET THE OUT OF HERE! GO!!!" 

When Jessica started yelling at the top of her voice, Krystal knew that it was the furthest she could push her elder sister. It was time to let her be, for a while. Jessica collapsed onto her bed and stayed there motionlessly for an hour. She felt that her world had just collapsed, entirely.

The girl she had loved with all her heart made her break up with her two weeks ago. She had been living in hell for two weeks, wondering where did she do wrong, wondering what was so great about Jessica that could make Taeyeon fall so deeply in love with her. And now that two weeks had passed, her younger sister was now telling her that she was Jessica Jung herself. What. The. ?

She held her head as it throbbed painfully. She couldn't remember a single thing about Jessica and Taeyeon. Instead, what came to her mind was the first time they met each other again.

"Hello?"

-

"Yes I know. I'm leaving right now."

-

"You gotta give me some time right?!"

-

"Yes I'm on my way. See you."

Jessica rolled her eyes as she kept her phone and took quick steps to the door. She was about to step out when someone rushed in and bumped hard into her. Jessica frowned as her hair got all messed up from the impact.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" Hearing the gentleness in the voice, Jessica's annoyance somehow subsided.

"Don't worry it's alright. No problem!" She replied before quickly tidying herself before she turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Jessica turned back to look at the person she had just bumped into, but that person just stared blankly at her after she called out to her. "Hey. You okay?" The Korean American asked.

"Je-Jess..." Jessica raised her eyebrow, as the girl in front of her muttered a name, but it wasn't hers.

"Hey erm... I think you've got the wrong person. I'm Claire. Anyway I hope you're fine! I really have got to go. Bye!" She replied as she turned to leave. I'm gonna be so late, she thought.

"No wait! Wait up!" Taeyeon called out to her once again.

"Yeah?"

"Erm...can we...how do I get to meet you again?" Jessica chuckled when she heard what the girl said.

"Well, we'll meet if we meet. Maybe we'll meet at some event again? Haha don't go bumping into everyone sweety. Bye!"

I'm ing going crazy. Jessica thought to herself as she pulled at her hair, unable to make herself remember anything from before the accident.

***

Jessica let out a breath and she stepped out of her car. She wanted to piece the broken puzzle back by herself. She had warned Krystal not to tell anyone else that she had told her the truth. A familiar icy aura had came back to Jessica Jung, but she wasn't aware of it, at all. Clad in her white blouse tucked into her blue jeans at the front, together with her white Chanel flap bag and her Prada sunglasses, she walked into a not-so-familiar building which should have been familiar to her, because it was a place she used to frequent when she was still the old Jessica.

"Hi, excuse me. I'm here to look for Tiffany."

"Hi miss! Did you..." The receptionist's words trailed off as her brain registered Jessica's face. "M-Miss Je-"

"Janson. Claire Janson. I don't have an appointment with her. But could you let her know that I'm here?"

"O-oh... Okay sure. Please give me a moment, Miss Janson,"

Tiffany frowned at the documents in front of her. Wasn't it all in the agreement? Why did they go back on their words? There wasn't much time left to complete the project and this had to happen. "Argh!" Tiffany let out a frustrated sound as she held her head.

It didn't help when the phone on her desk suddenly rang. She clicked on the button and the receptionist voice sounded through the phone's speakers.

"Miss Hwang."

"Yes. What's the matter?"

"You have a visitor."

"What? At this time?" Tiffany held up her arm as she looked at the time on her watch. "Can't do. I've an important meeting in ten minutes. Tell him or her to make an appointment in the future. Do apologise on my behalf."

"Ah but Miss Hwang..."

"What now?" The Korean American was getting annoyed.

"She said she is Claire."

"I don't care who she is. If she wants to meet me she has to... Wait, who? Did you just say Claire?"

"Yes Miss Hwang. Claire Janson."

Tiffany raised her eyebrow. Jessica? What was she doing here? The girl frowned again as she thought of how untimely it was. The meeting she had to go in ten minutes was a really important one. Yet, her Jessica was as important, or perhaps even more important. Plus, something must have been up since the girl had never set foot in her office ever since the accident.

"Bring her up."

"Yes, Miss Hwang." The receptionist hung up and smiled to Jessica. "Miss Janson, let me bring you up."

"That's nice of you, thank you. This place looks complex."

"Yes. Yes it is. You really look like another friend of Miss Hwang, by the way."

"Ah... I do, don't I?" Jessica managed to smile a little.

When knocks could be heard on Tiffany's door, she stood up, slightly flustered. She didn't know why she was being like this, though. Something just told her that something must be up. "Come in."

"Hey Tiff." Jessica smiled as she walked in, leaving the receptionist.

"Why, hello you." Tiffany smiled in return as she gave her a quick hug. "How did you know where to find me?"

"Google knows our Miss Tiffany's place way too well."

"Ah haha... Right... So, what brings you here? Did something happen?"

"You know what happened... Don't you...?"

"H-huh...?" Tiffany swallowed her saliva as she wondered which one of the things she was hiding from her was she talking about.

"We...broke up."

"A-ah..." Tiffany internally heaved a sigh of relief. "Yeah I...sorta heard about it... Is everything okay...? I didn't dare to contact you for fear of making it worse for you..."

"Well...it was the worst two weeks I ever had in my entire life. She... Do you know what she told me?"

"N-no..."

"She said she couldn't get over Jessica. Tiff. It's all about Jessica, again. Can you believe it?"

"Well... She...really loved Jessica..."

"Tiffany."

"Y-yeah?"

"Tell me about Jessica."

"W-what...?"

"I wanna...know more about her. I wanna know why I lost Taeyeon to her."

"Babe..." Jessica finally understood why it had felt so long since the people closest to her last called her by 'Claire'. They didn't want to, because she was not Claire. She was Jessica. Krystal had told her that Tiffany knew the truth too, and it hurt her even more, knowing that not a single soul was on her side. She was supposedly Taeyeon's beloved Jessica, but Taeyeon seemingly decided to leave her, because she wanted to protect her, as Krystal said. She was supposedly Mrs Jung's beloved daughter, but Mrs Jung seemingly decided to heartlessly break the two of them up, letting Taeyeon believe that Jessica was dead, and not telling Jessica that there was a Taeyeon who loved her with all her heart. She was supposedly Krystal's beloved elder sister, but Krystal seemingly decided to listen to her mother and joined them to hide it from her for two years, although she finally told her the truth herself. She was supposedly one of Tiffany's best friends, but Tiffany seemingly decided to not tell her anything too. She finally understood why Tiffany had been acting strange ever since that night, all the exchanges of 'I miss you's.

"Tell me, won't you?"

"I... Okay... But I kinda have something to settle now. You're more important, though. So I'll just go settle it quickly and come back, alright? Perhaps about twenty minutes or so. You can just wait here for me. Use the computer like you used to. I don't mind." Tiffany's eyes widened a little when she realised that she had let her words slipped. "Uh... Like I believe...how you...use uh...Taeyeon's computer in her office, yeah?" She tried to smile, and Jessica returned the smile. Jessica knew very well though, that she probably had done that in the past, before the accident. But she wasn't intending to let anyone know that she had already knew the truth, just yet.

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead. I'll be here waiting."

"I'll be quick. If you need a drink or anything just ask anyone outside. Tell them you're my friend."

"Don't worry about me. Go."

Tiffany eye-smiled before she grabbed a file and rushed out.

Jessica let herself settle in the couch as she scanned Tiffany's office. There was a light shade of pink, and it was no surprise because of how much its owner loved the colour. At the top left hand part of the cabinet, there were rows and rows of novels. A fan of reading herself, Jessica stood up and walked nearer towards the cabinet. She smiled as she read the titles. Did they agree on reading the same books together in the past? Because Jessica had almost the exact same books that she had.

***

"Miss Hwang, I think that it would be difficult to continue the project if we're still going to collaborate with them. I feel like they're out here to sabotage us. We should give up on the collaboration and find another partner so that we can finish this project on time."

"Bastards..." Tiffany rolled her eyes. "Someone ought to collect pictures of all their management staff and then frame it up. Oh, and label it as 'bastards'."

Frame it up. Frame it up... Frame... . Tiffany suddenly got reminded of the photo frame on her table. The photo which was taken during her 26th birthday where she was in the middle and Taeyeon and Jessica were kissing her on each side of her cheeks, while Sunny was making a funny face as she leaned backwards on Tiffany. I really need to get back there as soon as possible. Jessica had better not see it... She thought to herself as she frowned.

***

- Jessica's POV -

This must be a place I used to frequent. I can't remember a single thing, yet it feels so strangely familiar.

"Those damned bastards. As if my day wasn't bad enough. Argh!"

"Calm down you pink monster. Let's go grab some strawberry ice cream. My treat!"

My eyes widened in shock at the sudden image in my mind and I quickly sat down on the chair as I tried to calm myself down. I didn't manage to calm down, because one of the photo frames on the table caught my eyes as I stared intensely at it. It was me, Taeyeon, Tiffany and...another girl. Subconsciously, my hand reached out to take it as I studied the picture. I couldn't understand why my heart seemed to hurt when I looked at the picture.

My eyes darted to the door when it suddenly clicked open and in came Tiffany. "Hey sorry I took a little long and uh... Oh." Her gaze dropped onto the frame I was holding, and then back to me. "You wanna...take a seat here with me?" She asked, as she walked to the couch.

"Ah yes. Sure." I put the photo frame down before I stood up from the chair and made my way to where Tiffany was.

"So... You didn't get anything to drink did you? Do you want anything?"

"You have whiskey, don't you?"

"Yuppppp I do. I'll go get it." Tiffany stood up to prepare the drinks and returned shortly, handing me a glass of whiskey.

"Thanks."

"Welcome." She smiled a little as she sat down. "So...what do you want to know?"

"About Jessica."

"Well, what about Jessica?"

"Everything?"

"Woah. That's gonna take me a year to tell you."

"Alright. How about we'll start with that picture? The one with the four girls."

"Okay... Obviously there were me and Taeyeon. And...Jessica and Sunny. It was taken on my birthday."

"Who's Sunny?" Shucks. I shouldn't have asked that question. Why would Claire want to know who Sunny is?

"Sorry? Sunny? She's uh...one of our friends. We were all pretty close." Luckily she didn't suspect a thing.

"I wanna know...what kinda person Jessica was." I swear I saw Tiffany's eyes flickered.

"She...was someone who got misunderstood a lot." It pained me when I saw Tiffany's sad smile. "She looked really cold. On the outside, that is. And she looked hell arrogant. She never smile to anyone she didn't know, and she was in a daze most of the time when she was bored. People in our college secretly called her the 'ice princess'. But it became something we loved teasing her with." I could see it in her eyes, the love of a true friend. "She... You know what? I disliked her." Tiffany let out a laugh after she said that, and it caught me off guard.

"What? You did? Why?"

"I told you. She looked hell arrogant. If not for Taeyeon, I swear I'd never say a single word to her. But you know what?"

"What?"

"She became someone I really loved and cherished. Her arrogance or whatever it was, was a big misconception. She was never arrogant. In fact, she was so so humble. Taeyeon is rich. Jessica too. Well, actually, the whole bunch of us are. But we were never arrogant, not even anywhere near. Once she warmed up to me, she became one of the loveliest people I knew. Oh, and she loves touching people. Once you become someone she's close with, she touches you all over. But when she touches you all over..." Tiffany let out another smile, this time, it was full of reminiscence. "You know you're important to her. And you won't mind it a single bit. Because you know that the Jessica Jung loves you."

"Were you...one of them...? The people she loved?"

"Well..." She closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again. "Yes. Yes I was. And she was one of the people I loved, a lot. But her temper... Haha... She was one direct person. She would openly express her thoughts without processing her words. Just like me, actually. That's why Taeyeon always had a hard time trying to stop us from saying the wrong things. But she was someone who couldn't be angry for long. She could scold you like she hated you for half a lifetime, and in the next moment, she would be bawling her eyes out because she wanted you back as her friend. She was...so silly like that." Tiffany was laughing, but the sadness in her eyes was still obvious, and it saddened me. "She was really cute. The hurt would be shown all over her face, and she would still be denying. But once Taeyeon asks her the three words, she cries immediately."

"The...three words?"

"Haha yeah... 'Are you okay?'. If Jessica hears her asking her 'are you okay?', she cries immediately. Really, instantly. And the three words won't work on her unless it's said by Taeyeon. She's so cute like that, isn't she?" The smile didn't leave Tiffany's face. But when she noticed my dark expression, her smile faded. "Hey sorry... I was carried away... I said more than I should, didn't I? I'm sorry..."

"It's okay. I was the one who asked. Is there more? I'd like to know."

"You know what, I think this is enough to describe her. You can't understand how a person is like just by listening to descriptions. You have to know her yourself to understand. It's my turn to ask a question. Are you okay?"

"You probably won't believe me if I said yes, right? So, no, I'm not okay. I'm barely surviving."

"I...can see that. You've lost a lot of weight, Je..." I could see her swallowing her saliva. These people really couldn't keep secrets. Krystal actually did a really good job hiding it from me.

"You're gonna call me Jessica again, isn't it?" I decided to help her get out of it, to convince her that I still had no idea about whatever was going on. "Was that why Taeyeon wanted to break up with me? Because I was being Jessica's shadow?"

"Babe..." She just refused to call me by 'Claire' any more. Silly Tiffany... "Don't think so badly of her... She...probably was trying to protect you." Protect. Was that what they think protecting someone was? Leaving that person?

"Trying to protect me? How? By leaving me in a lurch? What about us? What about love?"

"It won't be good in the long run if she...treats you as Jessica... She probably knows that she can never get over Jessi and...you know...what's the point..."

"And you? Are you doing that to me too? Treating me as Jessica...?"

"I... Please don't be like this... C-Claire..."

"Did you take it badly? When Jessica left?"

"I felt like a part of me died together with her... So babe please... You're someone important to me right now, and I don't want to have to lose you too. You're my dear friend no matter what happens between you and her. You won't leave me, right...?"

"Don't be silly Tiff... I love you." I said as I pulled her into my arms.

***

- Story view -

It was 2am in the morning, and Taeyeon was still in her office. It really looked like she was trying to attempt suicide by overworking herself. She let out a yawn and stretched herself before cracking her neck. "Never ending work..." She mumbled to herself. The tired Taeyeon jumped when her ringtone sounded. She squinted when she saw the caller alert showing 'My Love ♥'. Hesitating for a moment, she finally decided to pick it up.

"H-hello...?"

"Taengoo?" Something sounded wrong with the girl.

"Uh... Yeah..."

"Taengoo."

"Yes. I'm Taeyeon. What's the matter? It's 2 in the morn-"

"I ing miss you." Taeyeon swallowed her saliva when she heard Jessica's words through the receiver.

"What are you doing now? Are you drinking?"

"Why? Do you wanna *hic* drink with me?"

"Are you alone? Where the hell are you now?"Taeyeon automatically got worried as she pressed the phone nearer to her ears.

"And whyyyyy do you care? Hehehehe... *hic*"

"Tell me where you are now."

"Tell me why do you care."

"I want to drink with you."

"Oh you do? Okayyyyyy! I'm at the bar near your studio... The one we always walk past... Hehehe. I'll *hic* wait for you Taengooooooo."

"You stay right there. Don't even move from where you are." Taeyeon hung up and quickly grabbed her coat before rushing out.

When she reached the bar, she pushed her way through the crowd, trying to spot the girl she loved. When she finally spot her, she was about to move towards her when someone grabbed her arm.

"Hello y. Asians are so hot." Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows as the alcohol smell from the unknown guy's mouth reached her nose. She tried to yank her arm free but to no avail. Worried about Jessica, she turned to look at where she found the girl and was shocked when the girl was no longer at the same place.

". Let go! I don't have time for this!" Taeyeon yelled at the guy while frantically trying to locate Jessica among the crowd. She was about to yell even louder, because the guy just wouldn't let go, when she felt someone separating her from the hand which was initially grabbing her. Turning to look, she was surprised when she saw Jessica.

"You don't ing touch my girl, dickhead." Taeyeon's eyes widened when she heard what Jessica said.

"Why you little..." The man was about to slap Jessica when Taeyeon, who somehow found an unknown strength, held his arm tightly before yanking it off.

"Don't lay your filthy hand on what's mine. off." She then pushed the drunk man away with her shoulder, before locking her fingers with Jessica's and pulling her out of the bar.

Taeyeon dragged the girl to her car as she forcefully pushed her in, and then closed the door shut. When she herself finally got in from the other side, she turned to look at the wasted Jessica.

"What do you think you're doing..." She muttered, gently sweeping Jessica's fringe to the side and then tucking her hair behind her ear. "You never liked getting drunk, you silly girl."

"Tae...yeon..." Was she by any chance sober? Taeyeon backed off when she heard the girl call her name.

"C-Claire...?" The older girl called out, carefully.

"Haha... Oh yes... I'm Claire... I forgot that I wasn't Jessica..." Taeyeon bit on her lower lip, trying to hold back her tears as she heard what Jessica said. You are Jessica... Baby you are Jessica. You're my Jessica... Taeyeon looked at the drunk girl as her heart ached. Letting out a breath, she regulated her breathing before she reached across Jessica for the seatbelt. Without warning, Jessica suddenly grabbed Taeyeon's collar and pulled her close, their lips crashing. "Mmm!" Taeyeon wanted to pull away, or her brain wanted her to pull away, but her body was acting on its own. Before long, her hands were grabbing Jessica's hair and neck as she responded to the kiss fiercely. However, when Taeyeon felt Jessica's hand attempting to go beneath her shirt, she stopped her and pulled away from the kiss. This wasn't what she was supposed to be doing. She wasn't supposed to be even seeing Jessica right at this moment. She took a deep breath before she quickly grabbed the seatbelt and secured Jessica.

"We... Let's get you out of here." Taeyeon said as she got back to her seat and buckled herself up. The girl was already about to fall asleep, in just that few seconds. She didn't drive to Jessica's house, neither did she drive to her own home. She ended up outside Tiffany's house, and she called her best friend, feeling really bad to trouble her but she had nowhere else to go. She was glad when Tiffany picked up the phone.

"Y-yes..."

"Tiff...?"

"Tae are you crazy or something... What time is it now..."

"Tiff I'm really sorry to disturb you at such a time but Jess is wasted and I don't know where else to bring her... Can you... I'm sorry..."

"What...? Okay... I'll be down in a sec..."

Tiffany didn't take long before she came out of the house in her pajamas, her eyes about to close any moment. "Let me help..." She extended her arm and helped Taeyeon bring Jessica into the house. They managed to settle Jessica down on the guest bed, and by that time, Tiffany was already awake. The two of them then took a seat at the couch in the living room downstairs.

"That girl." Tiffany began. "She came to look for me this afternoon."

"What? She did? Whatever for?"

"It scared me out of my wits. I thought she remembered everything or something. Turns out she just wanted to know why 'Jessica' was so good that you had to leave her because you couldn't get over her."

"Ah..."

"I haven't gotten a chance to tell you and then this happens. What exactly happened?"

"I was working and sh-"

"Working? Looking at the time now I suppose this happened past midnight? And...you were working?"

"Yes. I was working, but that's not the point. She suddenly called me at 2 and she sounded strange and all. Turns out she was drunk so I rushed down to get her."

"Thank God she has you."

"I don't know what bad luck she has to have me, Tiff."

"What nonsense is this you're saying again Tae..."

"You know what. I've decided to fly somewhere for some time."

"W-what? Where?"

"I've no idea. Anywhere. I can't just be away from her. I need to be far away from her. We're never gonna close this if she comes calling me whenever she gets drunk. She'll never get over me. And I...I will never be able to let her go."

"Tae are you even sure about this...?"

"I'm not gonna be away for long Fany ya. Just...for the time being. We just need to be away from each other long enough..."

"Tae..."

"Mm-hmm...?"

"You saw how much weight she has lost..."

"Yeah... I know..."

"I...I don't know but I just think that perhaps it's not a good idea for you to just push her away like this...? I mean...what has she done wrong to deserve this...? I know you're doing this to protect her. But she's not going to take it this way. She's probably just gonna keep wondering what did she do wrong, when you and I know so well that she has done nothing wrong, and in fact, she has done too well to be your girlfriend, Taeyeon ah..."

"I know. I know and understand everything you're saying, Tiff... Do you think that I don't...? Maybe I'm just being a coward. I just...don't have the courage to take the risk. I can't forgive myself if I ever let her get hurt because of me again."

"I know you're scared. But some risks are worth taking... If I never talked to her because of the bad impression I had of her, then I would never have known how much of a sweetheart she was, isn't it?"

"It's different. It's life and death we're talking about now, Tiff. I can risk anything. Anything, but her life. Tiff... Just...stop trying to convince me. I thought long and hard enough about this. I'll probably be taking a night flight tomorrow and that's it. I'll be back when I'm done dealing with my emotions. I hope I won't take too long. But I need you to help me take care of her... Until she gets back up on her feet, that is... I know you'll do that for her even without me saying, right? So just...yeah..."

"I can never change your mind once you have decided on something, isn't it? I'll take care of her. Don't worry."

"Thanks Tiff. I don't know what would I do without you. Thanks for accepting Jess, thanks for loving her."

Tiffany let out a sigh as she looked at Taeyeon. "Go check on her. We ought to sleep."

Before Tiffany stepped into her room, she suddenly called her best friend's name, and Taeyeon turned to look at her, only to be hugged tightly. "T-Tiff..."

"I know that no one understands the pain you're feeling now. I don't, too. But I know you must be hurting, and I know that I can never understand it unless I'm you. I just hope you'll be strong, Tae... I'll always be here for you..."

"Yeah... I know. Thanks. I'll always be here for you too. Now, go and grab some proper sleep. I've troubled you enough." Taeyeon pulled away from the hug and shushed Tiffany back to her room. When she was back in the guest room, she gently climbed into the bed as she lay down beside Jessica, wrapping her arm around the girl whose back was facing her. Very gently, she began singing.

"And I'm so sorry for
Making you love me and saying goodbye
For being the one that taught you how to cry
It was love, love, love and it passed us by

For giving you everything that you dreamed
For taking it back when I fled the scene
Sorry love, for wasting your time...

And I'm so sorry that I hurt you
Sorry that I fell through
Sorry I was falling in love with you
I'm sorry that it came true but sorry doesn't turn back time
For all that I have done to you
I wish that I could make it right
So sorry that I loved you
Sorry that I needed you
Sorry that I held you tight"

- Taeyeon's POV -

Jess... For all that I have done to you, I wish that I could make it right...

Warning: I'm too tired to check for mistakes now so I'm sorry in advance for silly writing mistakes.

[A/N] So it turned out that I wasn't so busy today and...I almost wrote a 5000-word chapter? I'm glad that many of you felt Krystal's emotions. I'm so contented :) :) :) For now, I'm dead tired, and I've got to wake up in a couple of hours. I'm totally depending on seeing your comments for an energy booster in the morning so... :)

I was watching a movie and I had an inspiration for a one-shot, and if you liked 'The Broken Puzzle', I'm safely assuming that you will like 'Unfortunately, I Need You' too. My idea is (somewhat) ready, I just haven't put the idea into words. And, 'Letters: Dear Jessica' readers, if you haven't already subscribe to 'Letters: Dear Taeyeon', you can do it now ^^ Both are TaengSic one-shots, and only the description page is ready as of now, but I don't want you to miss out when I'm done writing, because...unfortunately, I need you ;) (I'm making a reference to my one-shot, it's definitely not unfortunate that I need you!)

SBT (Sky Blue Tales) shoutout to TheEnigma for finally updating and completing 'Time Machine' (TaeNy)!

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