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Tiffany stared into space while she sat on the couch, a cup of coffee in her hand. When Sunny’s voice suddenly sounded behind her, she almost spilled the cup’s content if not for Sunny’s Trail that held her wrist in time.

“What’s on your mind?” Sunny sat down beside Tiffany with a look of concern. “You haven’t been looking quite well since earlier on.”

Putting down the cup on the coffee table in front of her, Tiffany looked straight into Sunny’s eyes before she said, “I think we have a problem.”

Sunny furrowed her eyebrows. “A problem? What problem?”

“Taeyeon she…” Tiffany hesitated for a moment. “She likes Jessica.”

Sunny’s eyes widened immediately upon hearing those words. “What?! How did you—”

“Before we officially met Jessica, Taeyeon once told me about her and I could sense that she felt something for that girl. It was all written in her eyes.” Tiffany ran her fingers through her hair. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“I actually don’t think we can stop them, Fany ah.” Sunny slightly shook her head.

“I don’t want to stop them. If anything makes Taeyeon happy, it makes me happy too. But this… How do we let them be if we already know what’s in for them at the end?”

“Then, how do we not let them be?” Sunny replied with a question, and it rendered Tiffany speechless. “Now that they’re even Soul Twins, what’s left for us to do? Is there anything that we can even do? Lee Chaerin is going to go after Taeyeon. How do you break them apart if we need Jessica too?”

Tiffany let out a sigh of desperation. “Is there really nothing that we can do for Taeyeon…?”

Sunny thought about it for a moment. “Let them be. Just let them be, Fany ah.”

***

Taeyeon could feel it. The surge of energy from her body to her finger tips as she gathered her Trail. Her eyes narrowed at the target, she struck. The target fell onto the floor with a loud thud, smoke emerging from the impact.

“Bravo.” Yuri’s voice, together with slow claps, reached Taeyeon’s ears. She turned back, and was welcomed with a bright smile from Yuri. “I expected nothing less from you, Miss.”

Taeyeon almost cringed at hearing the word ‘Miss’ yet again. “If you aren’t gonna stop calling me ‘Miss’, then I’m gonna forcefully make you stop by the order of the current ruler. You’d better stop, Kwon Yuri.”

 “Okay, okay. I surrender, Taeyeon ah.” Yuri laughed, knowing that she had successfully annoyed her friend. “So, how’s it going? Are you getting used to it?”

“Honestly? No.” Taeyeon shook her head. “How do you get used to having all these…weird things.”

Yuri only raised her eyebrow. “Weird things? I actually find it really cool. Come on Taeyeon, people would give everything up to have powers like ours.” With that said, Yuri’s eyes flashed silver as she conjured her Trail in her palm.

Taeyeon stared at Yuri’s Trail for a moment, and all of a sudden, she asked, “Can we fight?”

To Taeyeon’s amusement, Yuri looked back at her in shock while her Trail disappeared almost immediately. “Uh, no thanks. I’d like to live a longer life, if that’s okay with you.”

Taeyeon chuckled at Yuri’s reaction. “Am I that scary?”

“If you’d lived long enough as a Guardian, you would know how scary the royal family is. Fighting with the royal family is just…no.” Yuri faked a shudder.

“You’re just being exaggerating.” Taeyeon waved it off before she took a few steps and sat herself down on the floor, leaning against the wall.

“I swear I’m not,” Yuri argued as she sat down beside Taeyeon.

Taeyeon only closed her eyes, and the two girls stayed silent for a while. Then, Yuri suddenly spoke up.

“Is there something going on between the two of you?”

Taeyeon opened her eyes in surprise as she looked back at Yuri. “Two of us? Who?”

“Jessica.” Yuri didn’t hesitate.

“Oh.” That was all Taeyeon could say before silence followed. She looked away, trying to think of an answer, but nothing came to mind. “Just…” She ended up saying.

“What ‘just’?” Yuri pressed.

“I don’t know.” Taeyeon shrugged. “I wish I knew.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know if there’s anything going between us. Maybe you should ask her instead.”

“In other words, you actually like her, don’t you?”

This time, Taeyeon let out a laugh as her eyes met Yuri’s. “Would you believe me even if I said I don’t?” When Yuri shook her head, Taeyeon smiled. “Yeah, I like her.”

“Finally, our Taeyeon’s in love,” Yuri teased with a grin on her face.

“Well…not really. It’s just me. Maybe I’m nothing more than a friend to her.” A hint of sadness lingered in Taeyeon’s voice.

“Then be brave and tell her how you feel! Who knows, she might actually like you too.”

“Babe, don’t make it sound like it’s a typical boy-girl crush issue. I don’t even know if she swings this way.”

“That’s exactly my point. If you don’t know, ask. Or, I can do that for you.”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I probably need to get all these Guardian Rebel stuffs in my head before I’m gonna think about that.”

“Yeah, it’s up to you, ultimately.” Yuri shrugged. “Just don’t take too long before Tiffany starts flirting with her.”

“I should be worried about you flirting with her before Tiffany, honestly.” Taeyeon rolled her eyes, earning a cheeky laugh from Yuri.

***

The secret headquarters beneath Taeyeon’s old residence was getting filled up as each day passed. First it was Tiffany and Sunny who brought an unconscious Taeyeon and Jessica with the help of Yuri on the day Taeyeon was awakened as a Silver Rebel, and then Yuri brought Sooyoung, and then Jessica brought Hyoyeon and Yoona. The second wave included Nichkhun and Taecyeon, both Silver Rebels, who were Tiffany and Sunny’s boyfriends, and then there was Seunggi, who was Yoona’s boyfriend.

Guardian or not, they had one point in common — they were all on Taeyeon’s side, the Royal Army.

Lee Chaerin had not made any moves, and this was exactly what was worrying Tiffany and Sunny. Nonetheless, they wouldn’t let themselves sit by and do nothing. They had begun preparations as well, and this was just one of the nights when all of the Guardians and Rebels in the Royal Army were worn out from the non-stop trainings. The most exhausted one of them all was actually Taeyeon, who had no prior skills in using her powers, let alone fighting. She had the most bruises and injuries, and it pained Tiffany and Sunny to see the girl suffering, the same girl whom they had been trying to protect right from the very start.

It was two in the morning, all of them were sound asleep, when Jessica’s ears picked up a sound — someone was at the door above the headquarters. She sat up in shock as she notified the rest. It didn’t take long before the whole of the Royal Army was ready, standing by in the house above the headquarters. Sunny took the lead, her hand near the sensor. The Guardians and Rebels readied themselves at the unknown guest as Sunny waved her hand across the sensor.

The door opened and it confused all of them when a girl stood outside. They stared in silence, until Tiffany muttered, “Juhyun ah…”

Seo Juhyun, the last member of the Royal Army.

***

Jessica tossed and turned even after the rest of the army had gone back to sleep. She just couldn’t fall asleep. She quietly sat up for the second time that night after Juhyun’s sudden appearance. Letting out a breath, she decided that staying in the headquarters that night was too suffocating for her, and she climbed out of bed as she slowly made her way to the lift to head up to the house again.

Upon reaching the house, she directly headed for the medium-sized swimming pool within the house. The fact that the house was unbelievably huge, not mentioning the headquarters hidden beneath, was no longer surprising to Jessica.

Jessica took a seat at one of the edges, feeling the coldness from the water beneath her feet. She sighed, even though she didn’t know why. She couldn’t help but to replay the scenes from that day where everything came to light. Taeyeon was a Silver Rebel, Jessica herself had a Soul Twin, Taeyeon was actually Jessica’s Soul Twin, Tiffany and Sunny were Guardians-turned-Rebels, Chaerin… Jessica closed her eyes as she attempted to shake off those thoughts.

Everything was bothering her so much, that she didn’t notice the newcomer who joined her at the pool.

“What are you doing here alone at 4am?” Jessica almost jumped at the voice, and then she turned. It was Taeyeon. Taeyeon didn’t wait to be invited as she took a seat beside Jessica.

“I can’t sleep…” Jessica replied, a sense of weariness present in her voice, ironically. “You?” She threw the question back at Taeyeon.

“Me? Hmm… Maybe I just didn’t want you to be here alone.” Taeyeon shrugged, and Jessica found herself unable to take her eyes off the girl.

“But…are you okay?” Jessica followed up with another question.

Taeyeon didn’t need Jessica to explain to get what she meant. “I guess I am. There’s no running away isn’t it? Rebel, Guardian, whatever…”

“Sorry,” Jessica suddenly said.

“Huh?”

“Sorry for suddenly disappearing.”

“Oh, that.” Taeyeon nodded slightly. “It’s okay. I’m just glad that you’re here right now.”

“I missed you.” Jessica’s sudden confession got Taeyeon’s complete attention almost immediately.

“I…” Taeyeon couldn’t quite piece her sentence together. “I…”

Jessica only laughed. “You don’t have to say it back. You don’t have to say anything. I’m just…telling you what I should have told you back then.”

“But I missed you too.” Taeyeon’s words surprised Jessica and their eyes met for a brief second, before Taeyeon turned away with an embarrassed smile.

Jessica stared at Taeyeon’s side view for a moment longer, and then randomly, she said, “If we ever get a chance, we should visit the fair again.”

Taeyeon stole a peek at the girl from the corner of her eyes, before a smile crept up on her face. Nodding slightly, she replied, “We should. Of course we should.”

“Can I…” Jessica’s words trailed off and Taeyeon found herself turning to look at the girl. “Um… Can I hug you?”

Taeyeon didn’t reply. Instead, she laughed as she threw her arms around Jessica, pulling the girl into a tight embrace. “Seriously, do you even have to ask for permission to hug someone?”

The corners of Jessica’s lips tugged upwards while her arms wrapped themselves around Taeyeon’s petite waist. “I guess I—”

“Oops. Am I disturbing?” Jessica’s words were suddenly interrupted by a third person.

Instinctively, both girls let go immediately as they turned to look at the source of the voice. Kwon Yuri. Taeyeon shook her head, chuckling while Jessica looked away, slightly embarrassed.

“So… If you’re disturbing, would you mind leaving us then?” Taeyeon asked with a huge grin plastered on her face.

Yuri’s hand flew to her chest as she gasped, faking a hurtful expression. “If you insist… Miss…” Dramatically, she turned to leave.

“Stop being retarded Kwon Yuri. Come back here.” Yuri smiled upon Taeyeon’s words, immediately turning back and making her way towards Taeyeon.

“Aigoo, our Taeyeon,” Yuri’s words came out as a sigh while she wrapped her arms around Taeyeon’s neck. Taeyeon, on the other hand, gently held onto those arms. She was always glad that she had Yuri, even though she never really did expressed it to the girl.

“Were you two originally this close?” Jessica’s voice interrupted them, causing the two of them to look at her immediately.

A cheeky smile appeared on Yuri’s face before she dropped Taeyeon a knowing look. “Well, I’m closer to her than you are.” Yuri shrugged.

Quit teasing. Taeyeon only glared at Yuri and the girl got the message. “We’re all close friends.” This time, Taeyeon answered Jessica.

“Yeah. Close friends.” Yuri wiggled her eyebrows while she mimicked Taeyeon.. “Just close friends.”

Jessica raised an eyebrow as Taeyeon threatened to throw a punch at Yuri.

[A/N] 11/11/2014

First of all, happy Pepero day! :) I just thought that it wouldn't hurt writing a fluffy chapter so... I hope you liked this. Write me something? :) Is there something that I haven't been addressing and you really would wanna know?

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