12:32p.m.

Taeyeon stirred in bed when she felt her stomach give a loud low growl. Frowning that the disturbance, she flipped onto her stomach to mute the sound and try to get a bit more sleep in. 

12:34p.m

Taeyeon's stomach sang proudly the song of its people, causing the owner to sigh into the pillows. Banging her head a few times into the pillow out of frustration, she finally say up and officially ended her sleep. Jessica had felt the disturbance beside her and sneaked one eye open to look at the frowning and girl who was now very much aware of how hungry she was. She stifled a giggle when she saw Taeyeon cursing her stomach quietly before quickly closing her eyes when the hungry girl looked up. 

"Now I have to wake up this beast," Taeyeon sighed. Jessica tried her best to keep still and pretend that she was asleep. "Oi! I know you're awake. You're closing your eyes too tightly."

Jessica laughed and opened both her eyes. She never could pretend to be asleep since she never really needed to pretend. When she needed to avoid something and use sleep as an excuse, she would actually be asleep. But she didn't want to fall back to sleep because the frowning mess sitting next to her would not allow it. 

"It didn't take much effort waking me up that time," Jessica grinned as she sat up. Taeyeon stretched out her body and nodded lazily. "I thought there was an earthquake or something. Turns out it was just your stomach." 

"Since when did earthquakes wake you up? The apocalypse could come and if you really tried you could have been announced as part of the dead," Taeyeon countered. Jessica shrugged her shoulders and threw her legs off the bed to head to the bathroom. 

"I guess your stomach is on another scale," she mocked. Taeyeon quickly grabbed one of the pillows and threw it at her, completely falling short. Jessica stuck her tongue out with amusement and continued to get cleaned up. She paused at the bathroom door and turned back to the bedroom where Taeyeon was holding her stomach. 

"Care to join me? We'll go out for lunch today since I don't feel like making food today," Jessica offered. 

"I could make some food if you really wanted," Taeyeon said slowly, a little confused. Jessica rarely cooked and if she did she would always give a day’s notice. 

Jessica rolled her eyes and took a side step from the door frame. "I mean hurry up and join me in the bathroom so we can go out to eat. It's on me today," she clarified. Taeyeon slowly slid off the bed and made her way to the bathroom. Just before she stepped in she paused. 

"Wait what does going out to eat have anything to do with going to the bathroom with you?"

"Oh my bazookas," Jessica exclaimed at Taeyeon's dense state. 

"You have bazookas?" Taeyeon asked, sincerely interested. Jessica held onto Taeyeon's wrist and pulled her through. 

"Yes and if you don't join me now I'll use it to shoot you. What do you think me, you, and a bathroom would equal to?" The impatient girl scolded. 

"..." Taeyeon was still not quite following. "So you do have bazookas?" 

Jessica face palmed herself hard. Perhaps Taeyeon's stomach had somehow started digested her brain cells in a desperate attempt to survive. Even though it was impossible it was the only explanation she could come up with at the moment. 

"Oh!" Taeyeon suddenly yelled. Jessica raised her brow at Taeyeon who was having a light bulb moment. "You wanted to do tha-"

"Shhhh! Don't say it out loud. The neighbours could hear," Jessica quickly hushed, putting her hand firmly over Taeyeon's mouth. Taeyeon looked up at her innocently and gave a nod. She felt somewhat embarrassed that it took her so long to realise but with the way Jessica's expression was changing from annoyed to smouldering, she didn't think the younger minded. 

"Now stay quiet, okay?" Jessica whispered, guiding her further into the bathroom. Taeyeon nodded obediently with Jessica's hand still over . 

"Good girl."

"I still can't believe you did that," Taeyeon sighed. Both she and Jessica were now walking on the streets after eating at a nearby restaurant. Jessica was skipping happily whilst Taeyeon had her shoulders slumped and head bowed down. 

"But that waiter was all up in your personal space. What I did was for your own good. He backed off right after, didn't he?" Jessica defended with a beaming smile. Taeyeon gave another tired sigh and rubbed the base of her neck where Jessica's newest mark was hidden beneath the collar. 

After they had ordered their food, Taeyeon was bothered with a keen waiter who asked her all different types of questions. He asked her if she was comfortable, recommended the best meals, offered to pour her drink for her and even gave her advice on some nice food in other restaurants. Jessica was tempted to kick the man out the door but controlled herself enough not to put a finger on him. Instead, she faked a gasp and said, "Oh my god, Taeyeon. Your boyfriend gave you another hickey?" And pulled her collar aside to show the fresh mark that she herself had given earlier in the bathroom. 

Taeyeon burned with embarrassment but played along as best as she could, replying with "Ah... Yeah. He gave it to me this morning." Jessica had found much amusement from the waiter as he looked totally guttered and allowed another waiter to serve their table whilst Taeyeon just wished she could bury a hole and die to save her the embarrassment. She had wanted to cover that mark up earlier but Jessica rushed her and prevented her from doing so. 

"I didn't want to be turned off my food with that fly buzzing around you all the time. I wish I could've just kicked him but that would have made it too obvious," Jessica continued. Taeyeon shook her head dejectedly. She couldn't change the past so she might as well get over it. She just hoped the people around their table didn't try to embed her appearance i to their memory just in case they bumped into her later on in the future and just recognise her as 'the girl who got the hickey'. 

"I was going to say I was taken. You didn't have to show everyone your bite mark," Taeyeon whined. Jessica shrugged her shoulders. She wished she could have claimed the mark as hers to everyone but just having others see Taeyeon marked was enough. 

"Art is meant to be presented and its message is to be interpreted by its viewers. I think the message was successfully conveyed today," she beamed. Taeyeon continued to sulk behind Jessica, keeping her hand covering the mark in case anyone else was to see it. Jessica rolled her eyes at the girl and rustled her hair playfully. 

"Tell you what. Let's go to the bakery that we missed out on on New Year's and get some cupcakes. Take it as a way of me making it up to you for embarrassing you," she offered sincerely with the secret intention of getting cupcakes for herself. Taeyeon continued to run the mark, hoping that it would miraculously disappear but finally gave up when she saw Jessica still smiling proudly beside her. 

"Fine, but I get to pick," she huffed. 

"But of course," Jessica beamed.  "Whatever her highness wishes shall be granted."

"I wish you weren't such a brat."

"I'm afraid the impossible cannot be granted."

Taeyeon gave a long tired sigh. Jessica was much too proud with her action back in the restaurant and it was filling her head up to the brim. Deciding to not aggravate it any more than she already has, she let herself be dragged by Jessica to the bakery. At least the cupcakes can't go wrong. 

Taeyeon walked out of the bakery with a beaming smile and a box filled with sweets all ready to eat. Jessica laughed at Taeyeon's eagerness and quickly guided her further down the street to avoid the oncoming traffic of people wanting to get their goods. As they were making their way back to their apartment Taeyeon was humming a jolly old tune with the added skip to her step. Jessica did her best not to laugh since she had just got off Taeyeon's bad list with the cupcakes and didn't want to get back on the list for the rest of the day. 

As they were approaching some traffic lights, Jessica offered to hold the cakes for a while to give Taeyeon's arms a rest. 

"Hmm. It's fine. I'll pass them over when I get tired," Taeyeon reassured just as the lights turned green. The older girl quickly walked ahead before the lights changed again. Jessica lagged behind slightly as she watched Taeyeon continuously walk ahead, not caring for the mark being visible for everyone to see. 

As the creator of that mark, she was proud at her creation and even prouder to see a few people catch a glimpse of it. 

"That girl with the cupcakes is mine. M.I.N.E. Mine!" Jessica thought to herself with a grin spreading on her lips. Before she lost sight of her girl, she quickly jogged to catch up to the humming girl who had no idea she was momentarily left alone. Jessica presumed that perhaps the cupcakes worked too well. 

"Oh, my cousin is expecting to have her kid sometime next week or the week after. She told me to be prepared for the hundredth day party," Taeyeon suddenly said. 

"Oh? Does she know if it's a girl or boy yet?" Jessica hummed back, genuinely curious. 

"She said it's a girl but her husband is in denial. He said something about loving his son no matter how small," Taeyeon laughed. Jessica chuckled along at the soon-to-be father's ambitions for a son, though he could possibly be right. 

"I'm guessing she told you to prepare now so that you can get her something really good huh?" Jessica mused. She had met Taeyeon's cousin once and she had to admit that she was an interesting character. She thoroughly enjoyed meeting her and watching her bully Taeyeon endlessly. Taeyeon's whole family overall just bullies her because she was the easiest to make fun of. 

"Spot on! And it's also because she wants me check with my boss of I could have a day free."

"I'm sure your boss will let you take a day off. She's been pretty lenient with you," Jessica hummed. Taeyeon never really had problems with taking days off for important events before which was lucky considering her profession. 

"It's because I keep brushing her off with the excuse that my boss won't let me take a day off to go to her parties. I didn't know pregnant ladies could still party so hard," the older girl sighed. Jessica just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She was honestly not surprised. She was sure nothing could stop Taeyeon's cousin from having fun, not even pregnancy. 

"Well I'll help you pick out a present for the kid in a few weeks then. I know a few places that have some really cute gifts," Jessica suggested. Taeyeon gave a grateful smile and nudged her arm as a sign of thanks. 

"It won't be my gift alone though. She told me to invite you along. She said you were more fun to be around than me." They stopped at another traffic light. They were almost halfway to their apartment now which made Taeyeon somewhat relieved. 

Seeing how Taeyeon was starting to struggle with the box, Jessica swiftly took it from her arms and took over the duty of being the cupcake protector. 

"Well then I should be honoured to be considered more fun than you," Jessica beamed, continuing their conversation. Taeyeon shrugged her shoulders to rid of the stiffness and sighed at the feeling. Jessica was almost certain that Taeyeon had forgotten about mark on her neck and decided against reminding her. Seeing it truly made her believe that it was a piece of art. 

"I'm sure she just wants more presents. She even suggested inviting my boss."

"That would be interesting."

"Hmm. I'm sure my boss is smart enough to just give a small gift of that we're the case. How awkward is it to have a stranger buy a big expensive present for you?"

"Well she is loaded."

"It doesn't matter."

Jessica laughed quietly. Taeyeon was scratching the side of her neck, close to the mark and was still not bothering to cover it up. Taeyeon raised her brow when she caught Jessica staring at her but Jessica merely looked away innocently. 

"I have to ask her tomorrow just in case there's something important coming u-"

Taeyeon stopped walking and stood still in the middle of the pathway. Jessica curiously looked back at her, waiting for her to continue but was confused when she saw Taeyeon frozen stiff. 

Jessica was about to enquire about her sudden pause when...

"JESSICA!!! I HAVE WORK TOMORROW!" Taeyeon yelled at the top of her lungs. Jessica caught a few people staring at Taeyeon weirdly and was just as confused as they were. 

"I know. You were saying that you were going to ask her tomorrow about anything important coming u-"

"HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO ROCK UP WITH THIS?!" Taeyeon continued boisterously as she pulled the collar of her short further down and pointed at the obvious love bite. Jessica gave an awkward smile and feigned innocence. She didn't like the attention they were attracting and Taeyeon wasn't exactly paying attention to the company they had. 

"Your boyfriend sure took a bite didn't he?" Jessica laughed nervously, putting an emphasis on the noun. Taeyeon finally pulled her gaze away from Jessica for a moment and noticed all the attention focused towards her. Slowly, the realisation that she had just openly showed them her love bite sunk into her head. Jessica shifted her gaze awkwardly aside and not her lower lip. Even she was feeling embarrassed for Taeyeon's sake. 

Feeling bad for the girl, Jessica decided to throw her arm around Taeyeon's shoulder with her free arm and gave off a half genuine laugh. 

"I'm sure he would love to hear about this. You can chew him out right now. Let's go find him," Jessica laughed, quickly guiding Taeyeon to hurry along. "Pun intended," she added in a whisper to help ease up the stunned statue in her arm. 

Taeyeon, who still can't believe she did that, mindlessly followed along Jessica's pull. Jessica weaved between people and objects on the street with Taeyeon in one arm and the box of cupcakes barely hanging onto the ribbon that held it in her free arm. Taeyeon was going to break down and it would be a lot less troubling if it was in their apartment where no one else could see. 

"Keep it together girl!" Jessica gritted between her teeth. 

That night Jessica found herself sleeping on the couch with a bruised arm and a box of spoiled cupcakes to finish off. She made a mental note to never show people her pieces of art ever again. Especially if the canvas can punch back. 

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I wrote this on my phone btw so excuse the grammar and spelling errors. I hate typing things on my laptop now so yeaaaah. Sorry ><