Taeyeon started, “It is a long story but the whole story isn’t important. It was what happened my senior year of college when everything we built fell apart…but I will start off when we first met.”

~10 Years Ago~

Taeyeon was in the middle of your junior year of high school and life was progressing smoothly. She was always the top of her class and she had several good friends. Of course people would sometimes call her a nerd or something of the sort because she was smart and maybe not the prettiest in the school but it never bothered her. She liked who she was and how her life was headed.

“Hey Tae!”

“Soo! Don’t you have another class to be in? Why are you in mine?”

Sooyoung gave Taeyeon a huge smile, “I have a certain pair of ticket that are calling for you.”

Taeyeon jumped up, “No way?! Did you seriously get tickets for the concert?”

Sooyoung flashed a pair of tickets in Taeyeon’s face, “You may shower your best friend with love now.”

Taeyeon tackled her friend into a bear hug, “You are the best! So we are really going this weekend?”

“No I was planning on going with my other best friend,” Sooyoung said sarcastically in which Taeyeon returned an evil glare, “Oh don’t look so mad. I am taking you of course silly.”

Taeyeon smiled, “This weekend is going to be amazing!”

Right then the bell rang and Sooyoung ran out of class.

A few days later Taeyeon was waiting for Sooyoung outside her gate. After waiting a few minutes, Sooyoung came running out, “Did you wait long?”

“Not really but why are we taking my car? Your parents are loaded. I mean you must have a better one than me.”

“Humm but I am sure my car will get stolen if we go into the city. Yours blends in the best.”

“Are you calling my car trashy?”

“Just compared to mine,” Sooyoung said while she stuck out her tongue mocking her friend.

The two started driving to the concert venue, “So why didn’t Sunny come? She likes this band too.”

“But she always steals my best friend away,” Sooyoung said while Taeyeon was focused on driving, “She clings you so much these days. I wanted to just go with you this time. We can tell her later that I was only able to get two tickets even though I could have gotten more.”

“Oh you are so evil.”

“I might be a little possessive of you.”

Taeyeon left out a hardy laugh, “We have known each other since we were young. You just let me meet her a year ago. Maybe she finds me charming…”

“Humm whatever. Just don’t go breaking any girl’s hearts.”

“Haha I won’t turn my charm on too much then.”

The girls joked around in the car some more until they finally found a place to park in a neighborhood behind the concert venue. Because it was one of the hottest indie bands, almost the whole venue was close to being packed at this point. It took a while for the girls to make their way close to the front but with both being skinny, they slipped through and found a good spot. After an hour, the first band came out. It was pretty good but because they were a no-name band, the crowd wasn’t too hyped up about them. The second band was somewhat popular but the crowd seemed like they were here only for the main act.

By this time, Sooyoung’s small bladder caught up with her, “Tae I can’t hold it. Can we head to the bathroom?”
“Really? Right before our band comes out? It will be hard to get back in the crowd!”

“I can’t hold it at all...umm you can stay here if you want and if I can’t come back, I will meet you at the front?”

“You are on your own. I am not budging.”

“Gosh Tae you are so stubborn sometimes but I will forgive you cause I know you are obsessed with them.”

“Just try and make it back. I still want to see it with you.”
“I will do my best!”

Taeyeon got lost in the music once her band came out that she didn’t even notice that Sooyoung hadn’t returned. By the time the encore came, Taeyeon was getting a bit worried that her friend had not come back the whole time the band played. After jumping and yelling along with the band, Taeyeon was tired. She shuffled her way to the outside of the venue and found Sooyoung talking to another girl.

“Tae here!” Taeyeon made her way to her friend, “I was out going to the bathroom and I met her. Her name is Tiffany. She is from America! How cool is that!”

“Umm neat?”

“Get this, she is coming to our school!”

“Oh? Welcome then. Sooyoung and I are your first friends if you want that?”

The girl gave a huge smile, “Of course! Sooyoung was so much fun to talk to! I am glad we had a chance to meet in the bathroom.”

“Yea it is a small world.”

Tiffany took out a tissue from her packet and walked over to Taeyeon, “you look a bit sweaty.” She handed Taeyeon the tissue, “You can use this to wipe the sweat off.”

Taeyeon’s heart started beating rapidly. The girl’s kindness made her heart skip a beat, “Thanks.”

As the years passed, Tiffany found herself constantly around Taeyeon and her friends. They would study together mostly but like any normal friendship, they would also go out sometimes. Yet it was nearing the end of the school year and college entrance exams were the top priority of these students so studying was what they did most of the time.

Of course, Taeyeon had no problem getting into the school of her choice. She was always the top of her class so this was no problem for her. Tiffany struggled a bit, but managed to get into a university very close to Taeyeon’s. Sooyoung was also well educated due to her parent’s wealth so she attended the same university as Taeyeon.

Tiffany and Taeyeon saw each other occasionally but going to different schools caused them to see one another less often. Taeyeon always took the initiative to try and get to meet with the girl but Tiffany was either with her boyfriend or said she had to study. It was finally their final year in undergraduate and Taeyeon decided to confront Tiffany. She had it with Tiffany’s hot and cold attitude towards her over the years. In high school they seemed inseparable but when college hit, Tiffany shrugged off most contact. The past two years were the hardest for Taeyeon because Tiffany almost refused all contact saying she was busy with her boyfriend most times.

After a few attempts, Taeyeon finally got Tiffany to meet her at a café so they could talk. Taeyeon planned on going to graduate school and she wanted to make amends with Tiffany before her life got more hectic. It had been thirty minutes already and Taeyeon was still waiting on the other girl. She was about to pull out her hair in frustration but the girl finally waltzed into the building. Taeyeon smiled at the girl and motioned her to sit with her, but Tiffany kept a cold stare.

“You said we needed to talk?”

“Do we really need a reason to talk? I mean we are friends right? Why can’t we just hang out like we used to?”

Tiffany sighed, “Taeyeon...I don’t think we should be friends anymore.”

Taeyeon’s heart dropped, “...what do you mean?”

“Our lives are going separate ways. I think you should go yours and I go mine.”

Taeyeon shook her head in confusion, “wait this doesn’t make any sense...what did I do wrong. I mean we were good and all. How could you forget all the happy memories we had?”

“You don’t think I was friends with you because I actually liked you? You were smart and that was all you were good for. I just used you to get better grades in school. Who could like someone that is always messy and needs to be taken care of constantly?” Taeyeon remained seated while tears trickled down her face.  Tiffany sighed when she saw the tears on Taeyeon’s face, “Taeyeon we can’t work because you will never be perfect for me as a friend. I mean look at you now. Messily crying in a public place. So disgusting. Anyway, just stay out of my life.” With those last words, Tiffany got up and left the café.

Taeyeon sat in her seat sobbing quietly into her hands. It was then that she was broken with little hope of being repaired. It was then that Taeyeon’s resolve changed into something that was an obsession. It was then that a new Taeyeon was born.

~Present~

“.”

Taeyeon smiled a bit at that comment, “I guess so...”

“How could you let someone like that affect you so much? I mean she clearly isn’t a good person. I mean I am ready to go out there and give her a piece of my mind. What gives her the right to do that to someone?” Jessica was getting heated over her anger towards Tiffany.

Taeyeon saw Jessica’s hostel personality coming out so she quickly put her hand on Jessica’s shoulder as if that was going to prevent her from jumping up and bursting out that door in an attempt to attack Tiffany, “It is okay. That was the past.”

“What do you mean that was the past? Were you not just throwing a tantrum today?”

Taeyeon remained silent. She had no rebuttal. Jessica was right. If everything was in the past, why did she act like that earlier? It isn’t possible that she might still have feelings for her? No that can’t be it....so why does Tiffany still affect her so much? “I don’t know...”

Jessica sighed and watched the older girl who looked defeated, “How about we ditch this party?”

Taeyeon’s eyes shot up, “Huh?”

Jessica gave her a cheeky grin and grabbed her hand, “Come on. If we stay longer, I might punch that a-hole girl that you called a friend.”

Taeyeon usually didn’t like swearing but hearing it come out of Jessica’s mouth was amusing. Like it was expected but unexpected at the same time. Also because Tiffany probably deserved to be called those words.

It wasn’t long before Jessica dragged Taeyeon completely out of the building and they were on a bus to who knows where. Taeyeon looked down and saw her hand still in Jessica’s. Why was it there? Touching....she was touching...they were touching...geeeerrrrms! Taeyeon quickly removed her hand from Jessica’s and took out her hand sanitizer. It was then that Taeyeon started to panic because she was sitting on a dirty bus seat. Jessica watching in amusement how the older girl freaked out about their hands and then stood up from her seat in complete horror. Never has Jessica met someone that could make her laugh so hard.

“Why are you laughing? I need off now!”

“I can’t help it. You should see yourself!”

The bus finally stopped and Taeyeon got the chance to get out of the wretched place. The two girls looked around and saw they were near the river, “Do you want to take a walk?”

Taeyeon thought and saw no harm in that as long as Jessica didn’t take her hand again. After agreeing the girls walked along the river but both girls were getting tired quickly because of the heals they wore tonight. “Can we sit for a bit?” Taeyeon looked around and thought it wasn’t clean to sit anywhere so she stood while Jessica plopped down on a bench, “Aren’t you going to sit too?”

“Ah no I am fine.”

Jessica examined the situation closely and remembered what happened on the bus. “I got it!” Taeyeon watched as the girl disappeared. After a while, Jessica finally returned with napkins and carefully laid them on the bench, “you can sit down now I think.”

Taeyeon smiled and took a seat relieving her aching feet, “Thanks.”

Minutes passed as the two enjoyed the silence of the night, “So I told you my story. Are you really going to tell me about Hara?”

Jessica’s calm night was broken with the mention of that name. It always made her blood boil when she heard that name. She had complete and utter hatred for the girl. “We were friends.”

“I kind of knew that already. What happened?”

“My story isn’t as long as yours. I knew Hara in high school. We both had aims to get into the top university and became friends that way even joining the same clubs. I mean I never would have expected...never expected that out of her.”

Taeyeon looked at Jessica with concerned eyes as the other girl was breaking down slowly, “It is okay. Take your time.” Taeyeon held up her hand as if to touch her but immediately put it back down when Jessica started talking again.

“It is okay. The wound is still fresh for me. I didn’t expect her to cheat.”

“Cheat?”

“Yea...”

“Care to tell me more about it? Why did this make you angry?”

“Hara and I studied together a lot. We had a term paper for a class due. It was one that would decide our grades so we had a lot of pressure to do well on this. One bad paper would put a red mark on our perfect transcript. I understood the pressure we had and that is why I spent a month writing and perfecting my paper. The next day we turned our papers in, I got called to the teacher’s office with Hara. He said one of us cheated. Our papers were the same. I was in shock because she stole my paper and claimed it as hers.”

“Did she get punished for stealing your paper?”

“No...I got a zero in the class and had to repeat the class causing me not to graduate that year.”

“What?! Is the teacher on crack?”

“Humph not really. Hara’s mom makes regular donations to the school and is head of the PTA for our school. She had everyone on her side. I couldn’t do anything.” Taeyeon thought the girl would burst out in tears but the girl just clutched her fist tightly, “How can life be so unfair?”

It was a question Taeyeon contemplated time and time again. Why do people have to suffer? “I don’t know if anyone has a good answer for that but if life was a smooth and straight path, don’t you think you would get bored?”

Jessica scoffed, “I think Hara and Tiffany would be good friends.”

Taeyeon laughed as the serious of the conversation was lifted with such a simple comment, “Maybe...”

Jessica looked up at Taeyeon, “You think we could be friends? I mean we are both broken....maybe we should face this together.”

Taeyeon gave her a gentle and genuine smile, “you don’t need a reason to be friends. It just happens.”

“And so it happens?”

“And so it happens...” Taeyeon repeated as she finally put her hand on Jessica’s back.

Author's Note

Was that what you readers were expecting? Had other theories to why both of them were that way?? I am curious to know so comment!

Thanks for the upvotes! New subscribers! I love my readers!

On a personal note: I am going on vacation for 2 weeks starting August 3. Don't expect updates from me (from any of my fics) during that time because I really want to relax and just enjoy my time. However, I might cave in and write during a 30 hour train ride we have. Sorry to break this news to you but I need a vacation! But I will still be lurking around AFF and answering comments. Just no updates :/

Hope this longer update makes up for not updating for a while ^^