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Taeyeon reluctantly forced her eyes open that morning, and the familiar warmth that was missing yet again disappointed her a little. Groggily, she scratched the back of her head as she pushed herself to sit up, messing up her already messy hair. Her heartbeat quickening for a mere second or two, she picked up her phone which was within reach, hoping to see a message from that one person. Taeyeon's face fell when there was absolutely nothing. No calls, no messages, no nothing. Have I been expecting too much? Taeyeon wondered.

The girl let out a sigh, before she climbed out of bed, wanting to take a quick shower. However, the first thing that caught her attention was the half mask on the table. Her eyes lit up as she took quick steps towards the table. She couldn't hold back a smile when she saw the note that accompanied the half mask.

"Big girls don't cry. Good luck on your job. :)"

Taeyeon grinned from ear to ear, shaking her head at how ridiculously unpredictable, and cute, Jessica could be. She folded the note and kept it inside her pocket, heaving a sigh of relief that she didn't know she was holding in.

***

Taeyeon sat on her couch nervously while she randomly switched channels. She wasn't quite paying attention to what was on the TV, since the interview she had gone to three hours ago was all that was on her mind. Did I do well? Did I say anything wrongly? Do I even stand a chance at all? Questions kept popping up in her head, and she couldn't focus on anything else. It startled her when her phone suddenly rang. Recognising the number from Blanc Group, she held up her phone with much uncertainty.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Miss Kim Taeyeon?"

"Yes, this is Taeyeon."

"I'm calling from Blanc Group to inform you that we have decided to hire you. Will you be able to make a trip down to our office tomorrow at noon so that we can fill you in with the details and then have you sign the contract?"

Gosh, yes. Yes! Taeyeon was barely able to hide the excitement in her tone but she still did. "Yes, sure. Thank you so much. I'll be there tomorrow."

When the call had finally ended, Taeyeon pumped her fist in the air, her heart still beating wildly at the news. She gave herself a moment to let her heart settle down, before she held up her phone yet again to make a call. It didn't take long for the call to get connected.

"Yes, Taeyeon?" Came the familiar voice.

"Kitten! Oh my gosh! I'm so happy right now! You know what? I got hired!"

"What? Really?!" Jessica's tone was as excited as the girl, but the truth was, she was grinning while she stood beside her secretary, the same person who had just called Taeyeon not too long ago.

"Yes! I... I don't know how to describe this feeling! I can't even believe it!"

"I'm so so happy for you Taeyeon!" Jessica smiled at her secretary who was giving her a warm smile back in return.

"It's Blanc Group! I'm actually working for Blanc Group! How awesome is that!"

"Really, really awesome!" Maybe just a little less awesome than being its boss. Just maybe. Jessica bit back a laugh, as she completed the rest of her sentence in her head.

"How I wish I can give you a warm fuzzy hug right now! It's all thanks to your genie shot!" Taeyeon was smiling when she said that, and Jessica swore she could hear that smile through the phone.

"Give it to me next time then." Jessica was hoping that the girl would be able to hear her smile as well.

"Okay! When do I get to meet you again?"

"Hmm..." Jessica was genuinely thinking of a day, when it struck her that something was wrong. When did the two of them progress to such a point that she would readily agree to meet her again and again, what's worse, as Kitty? After much hesitation, she only replied, "We'll see how things go. I got to go now anyway. Congrats again on getting the job. You don't have a reason to cry now so I hope you won't cry any more."

"I know. Big girls don't cry, right? Thanks kitten! I still hope I get to see you soon."

"We'll see. Bye Taeyeon."

"Bye!"

***

Jessica wasn't at the bar that night. There was no reason behind it. She just didn't feel like being there.

She sent a message to Yoona, before she mindlessly landed her phone on her bedside table.

A knock on her door got her turning to look towards the door, before she lazily shouted, "Yes, come in!" The door cracked open and Krystal's head popped out from the gap. "Sup with you. Come on in," Jessica invited as she sat up, patting the space beside her on the bed. The younger girl smiled slightly before she closed the door behind her and made her way to her sister's bed.

"Why is Jessi Jung at home at this time?"

Jessica only gave her an absurd look before she collapsed on her bed once again. "Why can't I be at home at this time?"

"No idea. You're rarely home." Krystal shrugged. "Anyway, heard you got yourself a new friend."

Jessica raised her eyebrow as she looked at Krystal. "And who told you that?"

"Secretary Han."

"I didn't know that she was so gossipy."

"Don't say that about her. I was at the office just now when I saw your friend and I was the one who asked Secretary Han about it."

"When were you at the office? I was there too."

"I only dropped by for a moment in the evening. Anyway, that's off point. Who's that girl?"

"A new friend, like you said?"

"I know, duh. As in, who?"

"What who? You girls need to stop freaking out every time I make a new friend."

"Just for the record, the only friend you have is Yoona."

"Correction. The only one I can consider a friend."

"And yet daddy and mommy know nothing about her. Oh the irony."

"I'm gonna lose my one and only Yoona if they know about it. Bartending and ."

"Not really. You have that Taeyeon girl now, isn't it?"

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows. "That Taeyeon girl huh? You even asked for her name?"

"I was just asking. But Jessi... Is there...anything going on between you and her?"

The older sister let out a sigh. "Are you gonna act like mom?"

"No. Gosh. I'm not. I'm really just concerned as your sister. Hell, I didn't even agree to what mom did to Yur- Uh, never mind." A look of sadness flashed across Jessica's face, and Krystal wanted to slap herself internally for being so careless with that name once again. "Hey I'm sorry... It just kinda slip-"

"It's okay... She called, you know."

"She as in... She?"

"Yeah, she called."

"What did she say?"

"Asked me how I was doing and such. I didn't talk for long, though. Felt like my heart was getting ripped to pieces just hearing her voice."

"Does it...still hurt? Are you like, still in love with her?"

Jessica almost lost count of the number of times she sighed that day. "I don't know if I'm still in love with her. But it hurts, alright. It hurts a lot."

Krystal didn't need more prompting, as she climbed under the covers with her sister and hugged her tightly, while Jessica showed her appreciation by squeezing the arm which was her only comfort, and actually, her best comfort.

***

It was fifteen minutes past midnight, and Jessica was still immersed in her thoughts. Only this time, she was alone and Krystal wasn't beside her. She heard her phone vibrate and she reached out for it mindlessly before she held it above her face to read the message.

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows at how straightforward Taeyeon was, but without her even knowing it, her thumb had already automatically dialed Taeyeon as she brought the phone to her ears. The call got connected almost immediately.

"Hey kitten!"

"Hey Taeyeon."

"I wasn't expecting you to call!" Taeyeon didn't bother to hide the happiness in her voice. She wasn't afraid to show it, anyway.

"Are you still high about the job?" Jessica teased.

"I've been high the whole day. Actually, I almost dropped by the bar, but I was scared that you would push me like you did the other day so I didn't," Taeyeon replied as she let out a hearty laugh.

Jessica joined in the laughter, before her laughter faded while she took on a more serious tone. "I'm not there. I'm home."

Taeyeon's side was silent for a while, and Jessica reckoned that the girl was surprised. She wasn't wrong, though, because Taeyeon's question came up after a few seconds. "Why...aren't you there?"

"I don't know. I just didn't feel like being there."

"Actually... Can I...ask why y-"

"No, don't ask."

"Oh okay..."

The two girls stayed silent for a while, but it surprised both of them when that silence wasn't awkward. It was probably a full minute or so, when Jessica spoke up.

"Taeyeon."

"Hmm?"

"I'm tired. I want to sleep."

"Oh okay..." This time, Taeyeon couldn't hide her disappointment in her voice, and Jessica found it really adorable. "Then sleep w-"

"Can you sing me a song?" Jessica cut Taeyeon's words short.

"W-what?" Taeyeon wasn't quite sure if she had heard it wrongly. "You're asking me to sing you a song?"

"Yeah. Can you sing me to sleep?"

"S-sure! I just...wasn't expecting that. Okay, what should I sing. Alright, I know. I'll sing T-"

"Sing 'Be Alright'."

"Oh... Sure. Close your eyes now kitten! Here goes."

Jessica closed her eyes as Taeyeon started singing. Across the ocean, across the sea. Starting to forget the way you look at me now. Jessica didn't know why but her nose felt sour. Over the mountains, across the sky. Need to see your face and need to look in your eyes. The first stream of tears flowed down Jessica's face silently. Slowly, the crying stopped with the melody that Taeyeon was singing.

"Thank you for being you, kitten." Jessica thought she heard Taeyeon saying that, but she wasn't sure if she was dreaming. Either way, she wasn't sure when was it that she finally drifted off to sleep. Thank you, Taeyeon. Jessica at least remembered herself smiling.

[A/N] 29/8/2014

Once again, thank you to the really sweet iasb123 for surprising me with some posters, like I said in the 6th chapter of The Silver Guardian. Here's the one for this story. :)

It's official. Taeyeon is now working for Blanc Group with boss Jung. ;) Personally, I like how Taeyeon prefers to call Jessica by "kitten" instead of "Kitty". It feels like she's really cherishing her. What do you think? Write me something, as usual. :) Oh and, do notice the little details here and there, especially the start of the change in Jessica. She opted to stay home because she "just didn't feel like being there". I'm liking this change in her (duh, I'm the one who wrote it), how about you? :)

To those of you who missed the happy TaengSic one-shot (titled Guessss Who) in my Fly, Karma Butterfly collection. Go and read it now before you blame me for always writing sad stories. I kid. I'll be back soon. :)

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