Jessica’s POV

It had been about a week since the Taecyeon incident. I’ve been going to school again and it was a nice distraction from certain things. Taeyeon has been chaperoning Krystal to school while Sooyoung is taking me. I think she’s avoiding me as much as possible without being obvious. At home she’s down in the basement doing who knows what until she has to cook. I don’t know if it’s just me overthinking it or not, but it just seems like she is.

It was early in the morning I was lying in bed refusing to get up and get ready for school. Krystal was already up and in the shower.

I should probably get up now… Eh..

Krystal got out of the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel and already dressed.

“You’re still in bed?”

“Yep.”

“Get your up and get ready.” She said.

I gave her a look. “Learn your manners, Soojung.”

“Sorry, Unnie. But get up, already! Unnie is going to be late if she doesn’t get ready now.” She started using aegyo.

“Yah! Don’t do that, I’m getting up already. Sheesh..” I said, getting up and heading to the bathroom to shower.

After getting ready, I went downstairs. Taeyeon was in the dining room eating an apple. I looked around for Krystal, but didn’t see her anywhere.

“Where’s Krystal?” I asked.

Taeyeon looked up and smiled. “Good morning to you too.” She said.

I blushed at her smile. “Sorry,” I said. “Good morning.” I grabbed an apple from the fridge and plopped down across the table from Taeyeon. “So where’s Krys?”

“She went to school already, duh.”

“Oh, really? I lost track of time, I guess.”

“Yeah. She said she wanted Sooyoung to take her today. So looks like you’re stuck with me.” She said, as she typed on her laptop.

“That’s fine.” I said, my mood lightening. “I don’t mind.” A hint of a smile was on Taeyeon’s face.

“Whenever you’re ready, we’ll go.” She said to me.

“We can go now if you want.”

“Okay, hold on. Let me finish this up.”

“What is it?” I asked, curiously trying to look at the screen.

“Just checking up with the chief in my department. I have to do this every week.”

“About us?”

“Yep.” Is all she said.

I sat there waiting for her to finish. When she was done she closed the laptop and looked at me, her eyebrows furrowed as though she had something on her mind.

“What?” I asked.

“Is it weird to you that nothing’s been happening?” She asked. “It’s been two weeks since the last encounter with one of those guys. Don’t you think they would have done something again?”

I thought for a second. “Maybe they gave up?”

“No, that’s not it. I think they’re planning something.. I don’t know what, but it just doesn’t make sense for them to wait this long unless they’re planning something.”

I stared at her for a while as she stared at me with that same furrowed look. “Well, I have you to protect me. I don’t have anything to worry about.” I said, smiling. Her look relaxes and she smiles back.

“Ready?” She asked.

“Yep!” I said, getting up from my seat.

~~~~~

Throughout the day, Taeyeon followed me to every class. I felt like I was back in high school and she was walking me to my classes like a boyfriend would do. The thought gave me butterflies. But in reality, she was just following me around like a body guard.

“Aren't you going to hold my hand?” I teased as she walked me to my last class; Musical Theatre. This is my favorite class obviously, seeing that that’s what I’m majoring in. It’s a place where I can let loose and do what I love; sing. I was nervous today though. Taeyeon was here instead of Sooyoung. I know I’m really good at singing. I’m actually one of the best in the class. But I was nervous of what Taeyeon would think of my singing.

I’m ridiculous.

“What?” she asked, confused.

I giggled. “Well, you’ve been walking me to all of my classed like a gentleman. But you haven’t asked to carry my things for me.” I said with exaggerated acting. “I should at least get a kiss goodbye!”

She caught on to my joke and chuckled. “Ah, I see. I wasn’t gentleman enough for you?”

“Not quite.” I said. “But you can make up for it.” I turned my head away and pointed at my cheek.

I felt Taeyeon press her lips against my cheek and my eyes widened. I didn’t think she would actually do it! Vanilla and cream body wash engulfed my senses. I turned back to her to see a crooked smile as she leaned against the wall. “Will that get me in your pants?” She lifted an eyebrow ily.

She had obviously joined me in the acting, but her voice and her expression had me heating up like a furnace and I could feel the blush in my cheeks forming.

I played it off with a playful smack on her shoulder. “Yah! You need to do more than just that crap to get in my pants! I’m not that easy!”

“Damn.. Is it worth it?” She uttered to herself, earning another smack on her shoulder.

“Yes, Kim Taeyeon. I am worth it, thank you very much. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go inside. You stay out here, player.” I went inside, grateful that she was staying outside instead of watching me.

Taeyeon’s POV

Waiting outside in the hall all day is sooooo boring. For the past week of going out and following Krystal to her classes only to stand out in the hallway and daydream was tiring. I was almost excited to come to the university with Jessica, though I had been kind of avoiding her. I wanted to stay away for a while and clear my thoughts, but they’re still as byuntae as ever. That peck on the cheek made it worse. But anyway, my excitement was short lived, as I was stuck out in the halls again.

All I could do was talk to Hyoyeon and Sooyoung through the earpiece. When people walked by, they would give me weird looks for talking to myself.

“Who would you rather have with,” Hyoyeon asked. “Kang Gary, or Haha?”

“I think Kang Gary would be good in bed.” Sooyoung said.

“Song Jihyo.” I said.

"She wasn't an option, Taeng." Hyoyeon stated.

We had been doing this for a while now. First we were playing Twenty Questions.

“Would you rather have with Brad Pitt, or Will Smith?” Sooyoung asked next.

“Oh come on. Why do I have to play this with two straight girls!?” I cried out.

“ it up and answer the question!” Sooyoung said.

“Fine! Brad Pitt!” I said.

“Yah! He’s mine, Kim Taeyeon! Get your filthy lesbo mind off of him!”

“Soo, that doesn’t make any sense!” I laughed.

“Will Smith!” Hyoyeon said.

“Hyoyeon likes herself some chocolate!”

“Well, you know what they say about black guys..” she hinted.

“Yah! Hyogre!”

“What! I don’t actually know!”

I gave my ahjumma laugh and the girls joined in.

On the other side of the door, into the Musical Theatre room, someone’s voice trailed out. “Okay, so up next is Tiffany Hwang and Jessica Jung.”

My ears perked up at the sound of her name. Curiosity engulfed me and I snuck through the door into the class room. It was a big auditorium with a large stage all the way to the right and seats running down to the back of the room. Everyone was in the front near the stage. I sneakily made my way to the last row of seats and sat down.

“I expect you two practiced enough for this? The week you missed isn’t an excuse, Miss Jung.”

“Yes ma’am.” Jessica said, bowing. She was standing on the stage with Tiffany, one of her friends that I’ve seen many times already. “We have prepared well.”

“And what about your props? How is all of that going?” The teacher asked.

“We’re almost done with them, ma’am.” Tiffany said. “They’ll be ready in time for the performance, I guarantee you.”

“Perfect! I trust you two. You’re the two I expect the most from in this performance, so don’t fail me.”

They bowed and the lights dimmed. “I’m Tiffany Hwang and this is Jessica Jung, and we are going to perform a song we made called Talk To Me.”

With that said, the lights dimmed completely out for a minute or so. Jazz type music started playing and a spotlight shined onto Tiffany, who was sitting in a seat on one side of the stage as she started singing.

"How would you like a cup of coffee
What would you like to say
That sunset that is resting in his eyes
It’s making me nervous"

She has a beautiful, soothing voice that made me smile. She stopped singing and another spotlight came on, illuminating Jessica, who was sitting in a chair on the other side of the stage. She began to sing and my stomach started doing flips.

"What kind of coffee do you like?
I want to know you better
That person in my heart is like sweet caramel"

My goodness, her voice was truly melting me into this chair. How can someone be that beautiful and have the voice of an angel? I didn’t know it was possible to be more attracted to her until now.

Jessica and Tiffany took turns singing their parts as the song went on. Their voices flowed smoothly along with the calming music that reminded me of a café.

When the song ended, I got up and clapped with the students and professor.

“Excellent!” The professor said. “This is why you two are my favorite. Jessica was gone for a week and comes back with a smash!”

The class ended and most people left, though a few went to the back stage to change out of theatre wardrobe. Jessica was still on stage, so I walked over to her.

“That was amazing.” I said. She turned to face me, shocked.

“What are you doing in here? I thought you were outside!”

“I was, but then I heard you were about to sing so I came in to watch. It was great, Jess.”

She smiled shyly. “You mean that?”

“Of course! Your voice is amazing. I loved it.”

“Jess, you coming?” Tiffany popped up from behind the curtain. She saw me standing there and smiled. “Oh hey, Taeyeon! Did you watch us perform?”

“I did. You two did great. I loved the song too. Good job.”

She gave her best eye smile before looking back at Jessica. “Are you coming back here to change or what?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” Jessica said and turned back to me. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

I was left alone in the auditorium with nothing to do. I sat down on the stage for a little bit, staring off at the seats meant for an audience.

“I can’t imagine performing in front of so many people.” I said to myself.

“It gets easier.” Hyoyeon said. She would know, since she’s also a dancer. I’ve been to all of her performances and she always looks so comfortable on the stage. I admit, I can sing pretty well, but I could never go up on stage in front of hundreds of people and sing. My dad used to tell me I could be a professional singer if I wanted to be, but I couldn’t do it. I have too much stage fright.

I got up and walked around the stage. Before, there were stage props and chairs on the stage, but now the only thing left up here besides me was a piano. I tried avoiding it, but I couldn’t help but take glances at it. After a long struggle of pretending it wasn't there, I found myself in front of it. I ran my fingers across the mahogany body frame and my chest curled.

I stood in front of the grand piano now, my fingers floating an inch above the keys. I let my right hand fall lightly on the keys and pushed them in one at a time, listening to the all too familiar sounds. I sat on the piano bench and rested my left hand on the keys as well. I tested out all of the keys, before I started playing. I wasn't really playing an actual song; I was just messing with the keys, letting my fingers warm up to the instrument I haven’t touched in years. I don’t know why I was drawn to this piano, I see one every day in the basement of my house. I don’t dare to touch it, though. A tear falls down my cheek as I continued to the keys.

“I didn’t know you played the piano.” A voice came from behind me. I abruptly stopped playing and wiped the tear from my face.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” I said without looking back. Jessica sat beside me on the bench as I made room for her.

“I see that.” She said. “I would like to, though.”

“Like to what?” I asked.

“Know more about you.” She said. “Like this.” She gestured to the piano. “Will you play it for me?”

I hesitated. “I don’t know..”

“Why not?” She asked.

“This is the first time I’ve even touched a piano in eight years..”

“Why?”

I hesitated again before taking a deep breath. “My dad was the one who taught me to play. He taught me everything I know and it was our thing. We bonded with our love for the piano, along with other things, but this was one of the main things. When he died, I couldn’t find it in me to play again. I put our piano away and refused to play ever since…” A lump formed in my throat, stopping me from continuing. "I was daddy’s little girl. He loved me no matter what, and supported me through and through. No matter what it was. But if it was something stupid, he would tell me,” I laughed at the memories. “But he would still support me.”

We sat quietly for a bit.

“I’ve never talked about him to anyone before. And no one really knows about the piano thing. Well, except for Hyoyeon and Sooyoung. And my brother and sister, of course.” Silence again.

“So eight years?” she said. “That’s a long time. You don’t think you remember how to play?”

“Oh, I’m sure it’ll just come right back once I start. I just…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to play it, Taeyeon. It’s understandable.” She put a hand on my shoulder, reassuring me.

I sat there, blankly staring at the black and white bars in front of me. What felt like a millennium later, I found my hands once again on the keys. I took another breath before I began to play the one song that came to mind. My father’s favorite song. He had me play it just about every day when he came home from work so he could relax: River Flows In You.

*Author's note: Listen to the song for the full effect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsTjI75uEUQ*

The moment my fingers hit the keys, I felt lighter, as though gravity had given up and all the pressure pulling me down had vanished. I watched as my fingers roamed around the piano, pressing away at the white and the black. I closed my eyes and shut away all of the thoughts in my mind, my hands hitting the right notes with a mind of their own. They know this song all too well to depend on my eyes.

I was back in my house. My dad was lying on the couch, his head back and his eyes closed as he listened to me play his favorite song. The song is so soothing; he sometimes dozed off as I played. At this time, I have gotten bored of playing the same song over and over again every day. There are so many other songs I know how to play, but he prefers this one.

At the time, I had no clue what significance the song had to my father. I had no idea that that song was the song that played at his and my mother’s wedding. It was the song that played as she walked down the aisle to him, looking as beautiful as ever.

The smile on his face when I played this song for him is one of the best memories I have of him.

The song comes to an end and I open my eyes, coming back to reality. I looked up to find myself in the auditorium of SM University again, with the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met staring straight at me. There were no words shared between us as we stared at one another. The look in her eyes was gentle and sincere. There was something else in those brown orbs of hers that I couldn’t explain, but I didn’t try to understand it as I began leaning closer to her. She glanced down at my lips for half a second before looking back into my eyes. She didn’t move in as I was, but she wasn't backing away either, so I took it as a sign to continue my slow progression toward her and her lips.

Her eyes fluttered as her breath caught, waiting for the impact. I felt her breath against my face and it sent chills and warmth down my body. Her lips parted ever so slightly. I took in a breath before I closed the gap between us—

“Jessie, don’t forget that we have to finish our props for our performance.” Tiffany’s voice cut everything off. I jet back into a straight position and looked straight down at the piano, my face burning up. I shut my eyes tight, swearing to myself.

, Kim Taeyeon. What are you thinking???

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll stay longer. You’re staying too right?” Jessica said, getting up from the bench.

“Yeah. We can probably get it all done today and we won’t have to worry about it anymore.” Tiffany said.

“That sounds like a plan, then.” Jessica said.

“Are you coming with us, Taeyeon?” Tiffany asked me.

I got up from the bench and turned to her, sighing. “Don’t have a choice. Gotta make sure Jessica’s safe and sound anywhere she goes.” I said.

“Great!” Tiffany said. “Let’s go!”

This is my favorite chapter by far right now. Taeyeon got to see Jessica's talent and Jessica learned that Taeyeon herself had talent. Not only that, but I believe this the first time Taeyeon has mentioned anything about her father? I love the way Taeyeon is opening up more to Jessica. Her gaurd has dropped significantly for the Ice Princess <3

My favorite piano song is River Flows In You. It's soothing, soft, and gave me the inspiration for this chapter in the first place.

So much for 2500 words being my goal for each chapter. They're usually at around 3000+. Oh well I guess. You all like longer chapters anyway!

A lot of you were afraid that I was going to stop writing my story after this really bad news. I most definitely won't do that. I don't give up on what I start, so you can count on my story to continue. But I will admit, I didn't think I was going to get this chapter done on time. I was planning on taking a week break or something because of what happened with Girls' Generation and Jessica. I couldn't think about Taengsic after it. I was discouraged and disheartened. But I didn't want to disappoint, so I read a few Taengsic one shots and such for the last two days and it helped to bring my Taengsic spirit back up. A comment from rhanzz really reminded me what writing this story is about. "This is our taengsic world. Fanfics are our escape from reality." We're not writing about reality. We're writing against reality. We write and you read to be free from the drama of what's really going on. And other reasons, of course. You can't let the outside world affect this world we're creating. So if you're writing a Taengsic story and you're reading this right now. Don't give up your stories because of what's going on. Continue the story because of what's going on. <3

This is my favorite chapter by far right now. Taeyeon got to see Jessica's talent and Jessica learned that Taeyeon herself had a talent that didn't include violence. Not only that, but I belive this is the first time Taeyeon has mentioned anything about her father? I love the way Taeyeon is opening up more to Jessica. Her gaurd has dropped significantly for the Ice Princess <3

Tell me what you think about this chapter!!!

Love you guys <3

Stay strong in all of this. It will be okay sooner or later