“Let me see, let me see, let me see!” The girl continued to jump around her friend that was hiding the sheet of paper from her. The girl holding the paper only shook her head, hugging the paper even tighter.

“No…I haven’t even looked at it myself…” She mumbled.

The girl jumping around stopped in her action and looked at the girl. She blinked her eyes like she couldn’t understand what she had said, her head titled to the side, and she looked  at the other girl confused.

“Why not?” She asked.

The girl holding the paper looked away from her. Her lips had formed a line, her hands felt sweaty, and she shifted her feet in her stance.

“Because I’m nervous what it will say…” She mumbled almost inaudible.

The other girl had heard her. But she remained quiet as she continued to look at her friend. Her eyes looked at the paper the girl was holding, before she looked back at the girl’s head. She smiled and walked closer to her, putting an arm around the girl’s shoulders.

“You have to look at it eventually. It’s information you need to know on that paper.” She said and pointed at the piece of paper. “And who cares what it says? We won’t ever stop being friends. So just look at it!” She encouraged her friend.

The other girl let out a small sigh. She nodded her head understanding and put a distance between her and her friend. She took a deep breath and looked down on the paper in her hands. With a trembling hand she unfolded the paper that was folded in half.

Her friend waited for her to say what it said on the paper, with no sound from the other girl she started getting worried.

“What does it say?” She asked and slowly started approaching the other girl.

“Taeyeon?” She stopped behind the other girl. Her eyes shifted from the other girl to the paper in her hands. She took one last step closer to be able to see what it said.

“I got in…” Taeyeon mumbled. “I got in the same school…and I’m in the same class as you…” Taeyeon said and turned towards the other girl.

The girl smiled widely and engulfed Taeyeon in a tight hug. “See! We are destined to be together! You’re stuck with me forever!” The girl exclaimed happily and began spinning them around.

Taeyeon smiled too, and she hugged the girl as they continued to spin around till they both lost balance and fell to the ground, still with smiles on their faces, too delighted over the news to care about the bruises they would get from their fall.

---

A sigh left the young woman’s lips as she stared at the laptop in front of her. On the screen was her email inbox, which currently had zero new messages. And that was what bothered her, and it was also what made her sigh every other minute. She had sent all emails she needed for job application, now she just needed to wait for some kind of answer. Waiting hadn’t been a problem in the past, but today, when she had to do most of the waiting alone, it was a big bother.

She sighed and let her eyes go to the right corner of the screen.  It had only gone twenty minutes since she had sent her last email, and it would still be another four hours till the person who could bother her and make time past way faster would get home.

Another sigh escaped Taeyeon’s lips and she pushed the laptop away from her. She gave it one last glance, before she decided to leave it. Try to find something else to do while she waited.

She left the laptop by the desk in her and Jessica’s bedroom and made her way downstairs. She wasn’t alone in the house, she knew, her mother was in the kitchen, cooking or baking, she didn’t know what but she went there to see what the older woman was up to.

When she entered the kitchen she realized her mother was baking. The woman was by the kitchen counter, flour, egg, sugar and cocoa powder was lined up beside where the woman was standing.  Taeyeon made her way up to her mother, looking at all the ingredients the woman had prepared before she turned to her.

“Mom, I’m bored.” Taeyeon said.

Her mother turned to her. The woman blinked a few times, looked around the kitchen, before she turned to Taeyeon again. She checked Taeyeon’s body up and down, making the daughter take a step back from her mother.

“I had to check if you still were twenty five, because right now you just sounded like you were five.” Her mother pointed out before she turned back to the recipe book in front of her.

Taeyeon frowned. She crossed her arms and tapped her left foot irritated.

“Mom, I’m serious.” She said.

“Yeah, I was also serious.” The older woman said.

“I’ve applied for all jobs I can. I have nothing else to do. And Jessica won’t be home until another four hours.” She said, her shoulders slump at the realization that she might be wandering around the house for that long till the other woman got home.

“Sweety.” Her mother turned towards her. “There’s a lot to do.” The woman added.

“Like what?”

Taeyeon’s mother smiled. She turned back to the recipe book, the smile still on her lips.

“There’s laundry to be washed. You can change the bed sheets in your bed. Your bedroom definitively needs some cleaning to be done. You can help me with washing the dishes when I’m done baking. If you go over to Jessica’s house, I’m sure Jessica’s mother also needs help with some cleaning.” Mrs. Kim began listing all the things that needed to be done.

The excitement of finally getting something to do disappeared when she heard all the suggestions her mother had. Taeyeon’s shoulders slump, and she frowned.

“But all those things are boring to do.” Taeyeon whined.

Her mother spun around and faced her. With one hand on her hip, she stared at her daughter that was still frowning.

“Welcome to the adult world, young lady. Here there are things that need to be done, and then there are other things that you can do that are more fun, but can’t be done before the things that need to be done are finished. And, for you information, as long as you live under this roof, you are going to help out with all the boring things when you have time over. Understand?” Mrs. Kim said.

Taeyeon said nothing, and continued to frown disapprovingly. Her mother didn’t say anything else and turned back to her recipe book.

“When you’re done I’ll give you the list of the fun things you can do.” Mrs. Kim said.

“Mom, you’re treating me like a kid!” Taeyeon complained.

“I figured it is better to treat you like how you are acting.” The woman replied.

Figuring there was no point in arguing with her mother Taeyeon stomped out of the kitchen and made her way into the laundry room. It was better to get the laundry done. And all the other things. The faster she got it done, the faster she could find something more fun to do.

She huff an annoyed sigh and grabbed the laundry basket with her and Jessica’s used clothes. She placed the basket beside the washing machine and began sorting them after color. The faster she got it done, the faster she can do something else, she reminded herself.

A sigh left her lips. She knew that doing things like this would be more fun if Jessica was there, but the girl wasn’t. And Taeyeon missed her, a lot.

---

The young woman quickly skipped up the stairs to the second floor of the house. A wide smile was on her lips as she reached the bedroom that was located further down the hall, she didn’t knock on it, she quietly opened it and peered inside the room.

She found another woman seated by the desk in the room, back facing her. Her smile widened when her eyes landed on the other woman who seemed to not have noticed her presence. She held back a happy laugh, and she entered the room, closing the door behind her, before she made her way over to the woman by the desk.

She noticed the woman was reading an email. She leaned a little bit closer to see what she was reading, her eyes widened as she continued to read, and when she no longer could hold in her feelings, she hugged the woman who tensed in her unexpected embrace.

“You’re going to an interview!” Jessica announced happily.

Taeyeon who hadn’t noticed Jessica had gotten home, just let herself be hugged by the woman. She was way too shocked at this point to comprehend anything that was going on around her. She was shocked that she got called in for an interview for one of the jobs she applied for, and she was shocked from the surprise hug Jessica gave her.

“Y-yeah…” She managed to stutter out.

“That’s great! That’s amazing! You’re going to do so well!” Jessica said excited. She spun the chair around, grabbed Taeyeon’s hands, and made the woman get up from her seat to spin her around the room.

“You’ll finally get a job!” Jessica said and hugged the woman again.

Taeyeon relaxed in Jessica’s embrace. A smile graced her lips now, and she hugged the other woman back. Jessica’s words gave her courage, and being hugged like this made her able to absorb the situation better. She was going to an interview. Finally.

“You’ll do so well. I support you completely!” Jessica said and broke the hug, but let her hands rest on Taeyeon’s waist. “I’ve got your back! I’ll pick you up if you fall.” She said and smiled widely.

Taeyeon could only smile back. She knew. She knew it well. Jessica would be there no matter what. Even if she was standing at the edge of a cliff to fall down, Jessica would be there to stand with her. The girl would always be there no matter what.

“I know.” Taeyeon said.

Jessica smile widened. “You’ll do great. Just be yourself.” She said.

Taeyeon nodded. “I’ll try.”

Her words seemed to satisfy Jessica. The woman circled her arms around Taeyeon’s waist and hugged her tighter. “I believe in you.” Jessica whispered in Taeyeon’s ear.

And Taeyeon believed in Jessica’s words.