“Are you two still quarrelling?” Tiffany sat down beside Jessica on the sofa. There was no one at the dorm except for the two of them, whom had been told to not leave the dorm for the time being.

“Who?” Jessica asked, but of course she knew who Tiffany was talking about.

“I think you know who I am referring to,” Tiffany smiled. “Hey, you can’t act in front of me, I have been your good friend for so many years already!”

Jessica smiled. “You’re right.”

“So? How’s it going?”

“Taeyeon’s still not talking to me.” Jessica smiled sadly.”We have a duet recording later, and honestly, I’m a little worried that she’ll cancel it.”

“That won’t happen.” Tiffany said reassuringly.

“It will.” Jessica sighed. “Remember when you had a huge fight with Taeyeon and she wanted to cancel the duet performance for our world tour?”

Tiffany nodded, remembering how chaotic it had been back then. It got so bad that even 5 minutes before the performance, Taeyeon was still doubtful about the performance and suggested singing a ballad instead.

“But we still went up on stage,” Tiffany smiled. “So don’t lose hope in Tae. She may be spiteful and unforgiving at times but deep in her heart, she still cares for you, Sica.”

“Thanks, Fany-ah.” Jessica reached over and gave her a hug. “I’m so sorry….”

“About what?” Tiffany ruffled Jessica’s hair.

“I…I feel like I’ve stolen Taeyeon away from you.” Jessica choked. There. She finally said it. The words that she had always hidden away in her heart, afraid to tell Tiffany.

“No you didn’t.”

“Yes…don’t you hate me for it?” Jessica started sobbing. “I’ve felt so sorry towards you, Fany-ah….. I wish I could have enough courage to apologize to you earlier and I’m sorry that I’m only doing it now.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry about.” Tiffany’s voice wavered. “Taeyeon belonged to you all along. She had loved you right from the start to the end. You two deserve to be together….”

Jessica clutched Tiffany’s clothes, and cried even harder. “I’m really…really glad to have a friend…like you.”

“Me, too.” Tiffany smiled, and she felt like a huge stone had been lifted off her chest. She finally felt free.

*

Taeyeon stood at the door of the studio, her heart racing. Should she go in or not?

She still hadn’t completely forgiven Jessica and didn’t want to, but a part of her wanted to see Jessica. She missed her and wanted to be with her. It had been 2 days since they had talked to each other ever since that mini argument in the kitchen, and Taeyeon really missed her.

That girl is going to be the death of me, Taeyeon thought. Aish, whatever.

She took a deep breath and opened the door, and found herself staring into an empty studio.

Jessica wasn’t here yet.

It took her a minute to register that fact into her head and she took a look at her watch to confirm the time. It was 12:30pm and their official recording started at 1pm.

It was half an hour early but artists recording together usually arrive between half an hour to an hour earlier to practice their harmonizing and pitch together. Taeyeon was sure that she saw Jessica walking into the bathroom earlier that morning, so Jessica wouldn’t have overslept.

If Jessica wasn’t here, it simply meant that she didn’t want to do the duet recording today. She’s still angry, Taeyeon thought.

“Why should I be here if Jessica doesn’t want to be here?” Taeyeon huffed angrily and walked away.

Jessica rushed down the corridor to the recording studio and panted heavily. She took out her phone to make sure that she wasn’t late.

It was 12:32pm. Thank God, Jessica smiled. She was so caught up in her conversation with Tiffany that she had forgotten to take note of the time. Jessica had originally planned to arrive at 12pm but well, 12:32pm would do too. The recording wouldn’t start until 1pm.

She hoped that Taeyeon would be there as she opened the door.

Jessica sighed in disappointment at the empty studio. Of course Taeyeon wouldn’t be here. She’s still angry with me, Jessica thought.

“Wow! You’re here!”

Jessica looked up and smiled at the songwriter. “Yea, I thought I would go over the lyrics again.”

“Where’s Taeyeon? It’s almost time.” The songwriter looked at the clock. “It’s a minute to 1pm.”

Jessica shrugged, but a part of her feared that Taeyeon wasn’t going to come like she had predicted. She silently prayed that Taeyeon would appear.

It was 2pm. Kim Taeyeon still hadn’t appeared.

“Taeyeon’s very late.” The songwriter commented as she adjusted the volume of the instrumental music. “Jessica, why don’t you record your part first? I have another recording at 3pm in Gangnam. Let’s just record your part first and we can record the chorus together when Taeyeon comes. That is, if she ever appears.”

Jessica looked down disappointedly. Maybe she had expected too much from Taeyeon.

“Sure.” She smiled, and put on the headphones, drowning her feelings into the lyrics.

Tiffany looked up and the sound of the dorm door unlocking. Someone was back! She was glad, because she was starting to get a little bored.

dropped open as Taeyeon walked in. “Yah! What are you doing here?”

“Where’s Jessica?” Taeyeon asked grimly.

“Don’t you have a recording with her?”

“She’s not there.”

Tiffany was shocked. “What do you mean that she’s not there! She left for the recording at 12:15pm. She even took a taxi, and I sent her off.”

Taeyeon stood there. “What do you mean? I went to the studio at 12:30pm and she wasn’t there.”

“You could’ve waited for her!” Tiffany said. “She was rushing off, and was so worried that she would keep you waiting. She thought that you were already there. She must have arrived a couple of minutes after 12:30pm.”

Taeyeon clutched her bag. Argh, pabo! She silently scolded herself.

“She must have been very disappointed that you didn’t show up.” Tiffany said quietly.

Taeyeon grabbed her shoes, put them back on, and rushed out of the door.