A/N: I blame deelinquent for the whole thing because of her tweet. This was chaotically written in a variety of settings, from the bus stop to the library to my class to my room.

“Kim…Taeyeon?” Jessica reads, squinting at the script because Krystal had spilled coffee over it. One of these days she’s going to forbid Krystal from reading her scripts.

“You don’t know her?” Minyoung sounds surprised. “She’s like, the most famous singer in the country.”

“Is she?” Jessica asks idly, scanning over the details: music video, ballad…

“I swear, for someone in the entertainment industry it’s like you live under a rock.”

“I hope they have Internet under my rock.” …love interest. Hmm. “What does she look like? Kim Taeyeon, I mean.”

“She’s not hard on the eyes, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Jessica searches “Kim Taeyeon” up. Not hard at all, indeed.

Kim Taeyeon is even easier on the eyes in person. She’s very easy on the ears too. Jessica expects her to be good given Minyoung’s “most famous singer in the country” comment, but then again, fame and talent don’t always go hand in hand.

What she’s not so easy on is Jessica’s patience. Taeyeon is obviously uncomfortable with having a female love interest, or maybe just Jessica playing said female love interest. It’s not like they kiss or make out or anything – Korea is far too conservative for that – but even a slide of fingers down her arm or a whisper against her ear makes her startle, if not downright flinch.

It gets to the point where Jessica wants to ask if they can hire someone else, just as much for Taeyeon’s sake as it is for her own. (Okay, maybe not just as much but at least somewhat.) If she’s so famous surely they have a lot of options.

She knows better than to ask her manager to get out of it, though. Sunkyu had seemed very excited when telling her about the role, even though it’s just a music video, a far cry from a movie or drama, and she supposes it’s thanks to Taeyeon’s fame.

Anyway, she had committed to this project and she does want to do a good job at it…which would be easier if Taeyeon didn’t act like she has the plague.

“So how’s working with the nation’s number one female idol?” Krystal asks, stretching out her legs over Jessica’s.

“Is she really?”

“Uh, yeah.” Krystal gives her a look. “Everyone and their mom is a fan of hers.”

“Is our mom a fan of hers?”

Krystal laughs. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her?”

“Are you a fan of hers?”

“She’s okay.” Krystal shrugs. “I like another artist from her company better. She does have a great voice though, nobody can deny that.”

Taeyeon does have a great voice, although Jessica only hears her using it to sing, not to speak because Taeyeon seems to avoid talking to her as much as she can. If they didn’t have to film scenes together, Jessica would probably almost never see Taeyeon even though it’s far from a huge set.

“What, you don’t like her?” Krystal asks, apparently picking up on Jessica’s mood. “Is she actually an ?”

“No, she’s not. She’s just…awkward.”

“That’s not surprising,” Krystal says. “A lot of celebrities are awkward. Like you.”

“Hey,” Jessica says, even though she can’t deny it.

“Anyway, you should make friends with her and introduce me to Amber.”

Jessica rolls her eyes. “Sometimes I feel like you encouraged me to pursue acting just because you want to meet celebrities through me.”

“That’s exactly why I did it,” Krystal says, unabashed.

“I feel so loved.”

“Good.” Krystal pats her hand. “I’m always here to make you feel appreciated.”

Jessica is definitely going to stop letting Krystal read her scripts.

There’s a scene where Jessica is supposed to hold Taeyeon’s hand, drop it and walk away, while Taeyeon stares after her with a look of – this is what the script says – “absolute longing.” They’ve already done this scene four times and the director still isn’t happy (and neither is Taeyeon) because she can’t get the expression right.

Each time, and increasingly the next, Jessica has to fight the urge to turn and look back at her, because it would ruin the scene. She’s curious about what Taeyeon’s expression is like. Longing is an expression that’s very difficult to capture; Jessica doesn’t know how many hours she’s spent practicing that particular one.

“Let’s practice,” Jessica finally proposes.

Taeyeon stares at her like a deer caught in headlights. “What?”

“The scene where I walk away and you look after me – let’s practice it.”

“I thought we were practicing it.”

“No, we’re trying to film it. I mean, let’s practice it. Just the two of us.”

If Taeyeon’s eyes were any wider, they look like they would pop out of her head.

“I can give you some advice,” Jessica tries, “since I have some experience with acting and all.”

Great, she sounds like she filmed a fried chicken commercial five years ago or something. (She did, but that’s not the point.)

“Or not,” Jessica says slowly. “I mean, you don’t have to.”

“No, it’s okay,” Taeyeon says quickly. “I mean, not no as in no, no as in yes.”

Jessica starts to smile. It seems that Taeyeon can be pretty cute. “No as in yes?” she teases. “Is it opposite day or something?”

“Um, no as in I don’t not want to.”

“So you do want to?” Jessica bats her lashes playfully. “Practice with me?”

Taeyeon looks like she’s starting to turn red. “Yes,” she practically squeaks. Definitely cute.

Jessica smiles. “Okay.”

Taeyeon can’t do the scene with Jessica looking at her. She stutters, drops her eyes, looks like she wants to flee. Jessica is really feeling wanted.

“Just pretend I’m not here,” Jessica says, trying to sound patient.

“I can’t with you staring at me.”

“You’re my lover, you’re supposed to want me to look at you.”

Taeyeon flushes almost to the tips of her ears. Okaaaaaay.

“Is it the lesbian thing?” Jessica asks, and Taeyeon stares at her like she just grew another head. Okay, maybe she shouldn’t have been so blunt, but she’s never been a fan of beating around the bush.

“W-what?”

“Did you want them to hire a male actor instead?”

“No,” Taeyeon says, sounding honest. “I’m just… This is hard to me.”

Well yeah, she’s an idol, not an actress. She’s never even been in a drama before, although she must not lack offers given her popularity.

“It’s supposed to be hard,” Jessica says. “Acting isn’t easy.”

Taeyeon nods, fiddling with her sleeve.

“Besides, you’re already so good at singing. You can’t be a great actress right off the bat too, that just wouldn’t be fair.”

“You’re a good singer,” Taeyeon points out.

“Thanks, I—what? You’ve heard me sing?”

Taeyeon looks away again. “You’ve sang for your dramas before. I’ve heard some of your OSTs.”

“That means a lot coming from you, OST Queen,” Jessica says, because she has two modes: unamused and playful, and she’s definitely in the second one now.

“I’m not—”

“It’s a compliment,” Jessica tells her. “Accept it.”

“Okay,” Taeyeon says, although she still looks—pleased and uncomfortable at the same time. Jessica wonders how she can still be so unused to praise when she must get showered in it all the time. It’s endearing.

“Let’s try something different,” Jessica says. “We’ll switch roles. You abandon me and I’ll stare after you.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Make sure you look at me,” Jessica says, so Taeyeon can take notes on her expression.

“How could I look away?” Taeyeon murmurs, and a frisson of something shivers over Jessica’s spine.

She clears . “Okay,” she says. “Um, take five.”

Taeyeon smiles, a dimple popping out near her chin, and—okay they need to do this scene right now. She reaches for Jessica’s hand, her touch more confident than any she had given before, and then lets go of it. Taeyeon walks away, and Jessica reminds herself absolute longing, crawling into the skin of this girl whose lover just left her, who can do nothing except stare after her.

She barely registers Taeyeon turning around and looking at her, so engrossed is she in settling into the mind of this desolate girl, or perhaps settling into the heart of her, the bruised, battling organ that is constantly put through more than it can handle.

“I like your extra touch,” Taeyeon says, breaking Jessica out of her role.

“What?”

“How you keep holding out your hand like you’re waiting for her to come back and take it.”

Oh. Jessica hadn’t even realized she was doing that. She lets it drop, only feeling the strain in her arm now.

“You’re good,” Taeyeon says sincerely.

“Thanks,” Jessica says, the one shy from praise now.

“I don’t think I can look like that,” Taeyeon says, chewing her bottom lip.

“You just need to practice,” Jessica says. “Acting is like playing an instrument or a sport – you can only improve with practice.”

“You must be getting tired of this,” Taeyeon says, looking down again. She really doesn’t seem to like eye contact. “Of having to go through this so many times because I can’t get it right.”

“I’m not,” Jessica says, and she’s not even lying the way she would have been half an hour ago. “If we’re going to do it, we should do it right.”

She can see red creep along Taeyeon’s ears again. Taeyeon blushes so easily.

“Come on,” Jessica says. “Let’s try again. If you succeed, I’ll give you a reward.” She still has some of those gummies that Krystal’s friend had gotten from Germany; she was going to eat them herself but Taeyeon looks like she could use a pick-me-up.

The red in Taeyeon’s face darkens. Maybe she has some kind of skin condition. Jessica thinks about telling her to get it checked out; blushing so often doesn’t seem pleasant.

“Taeyeon?”

“Yeah.” Taeyeon clears . “Take…whatever number we’re on now.”

“Action,” Jessica says, miming clicking a clapperboard.

Taeyeon grins, dimple leaping out again, and Jessica is the one to look away this time.

Things change after that. Taeyeon still sometimes gets weird, blushing randomly and avoiding eye contact, but she does it less and less. And she actually talks to Jessica now. She’s really quite funny and Jessica enjoys their banter, enjoys teasing Taeyeon and how Taeyeon is comfortable enough to back.

“—Jessica?”

“What?” she asks, snapping out of it.

“Do you want one?” Taeyeon asks, holding out one of the plastic cups of water in her hand.

“Sure, thanks.” Jessica takes it, noticing a leaf. “Is this infused water?”

“Yeah, it has lemon and basil and cucumbers, I think.”

Jessica almost drops the cup and manages to somehow catch it at the last moment, but not without sloshing water all over Taeyeon. “Oh my God,” she gasps, hands fluttering uselessly. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Taeyeon says, pinching her drenched shirt and holding it away from her. “It’s just water anyway.” Her eyebrows draw together. “I shouldn’t have given it to you – I forgot it had cucumbers in it.”

“How can you forget that? Cucumbers are awful.”

Taeyeon laughs. “Next time I won’t tell you when the water has cucumbers,” she says, ignoring the face Jessica makes. “Okay, I’m going to go change.”

It only occurs to Jessica after Taeyeon has left:

How does she know that I hate cucumbers?

The director approves of the next take of the “absolute longing” scene, and Jessica holds out her hand for a high-five. Taeyeon goes to meet her but mostly misses and then just ends up holding her hand. Jessica doesn’t break her grip; she’s tired of dropping Taeyeon’s hand when she would rather hold onto it.

Jessica smiles. “I told you that you could do it.”

Taeyeon returns the smile. “Thanks to your help.”

“You’re welcome,” Jessica says breezily. “You might have a future in acting yet.”

Taeyeon makes a face. “No thanks. I’ll stick to singing.”

“Well, I sure hope you don’t give up on that. Your millions of fans would be left heartbroken.”

“I’m sure they’ll find some other idol to move onto.” It’s a throwaway comment, but it sounds serious. Taeyeon sounds serious.

“You give yourself too little credit,” Jessica says. She’s not even a fan of Taeyeon – she didn’t even know Taeyeon existed until this project – but one listen to If or Can You Hear Me can tell her that Taeyeon is far from ordinary or replaceable.

“The industry is like a production line,” Taeyeon says with a shrug. “I’m just one of the products. They’ll come out with a newer model and then I’ll be outdated.”

Jessica frowns. “You really think that?”

“I mean I don’t think it’s going to happen tomorrow or anything,” Taeyeon says, “but nothing lasts forever. Especially not fame.”

Jessica doesn’t know what to say to this. Taeyeon has never shown this side of herself; she’s always been this dork who makes lame puns and gets excited at shiny props. Jessica wonders if she was keeping her true self hidden all this time; if so, she’s a much better actress than Jessica gave her credit for.

“Fame is a fleeting thing,” Jessica agrees, “but I think because of that, it teaches us to appreciate the other things in life more.”

Taeyeon stares at her for a long moment, like she’s trying to read her like a script, and Jessica maintains eye contact even as the intensity of Taeyeon’s gaze makes her want to look away.

“That line sounds like it could be from a movie,” Taeyeon finally says, with a grin. Jessica sees that Dork Taeyeon is back.

“Yeah, it’s from The Life of Jessica.”

“Sounds like a great work.”

“You can play a part in it if you want.”

“I do,” Taeyeon says, holding Jessica’s eyes, and Jessica’s heart skips a beat.

Sunkyu comes to see Jessica on set, accompanied by a woman with a megawatt smile.

“TaeTae,” she says brightly to Taeyeon, swooping in to hug her.

“This is Tiffany,” Taeyeon says in answer to Jessica’s questioning eyes. “My manager.”

“And best friend,” Tiffany adds.

“And that,” Taeyeon says.

Jessica waves a hand lazily toward Sunkyu. “This is Sunkyu”—she ignores Sunkyu’s correction of “Sunny!”—“my manager and biggest pain in the .”

“I love you too,” Sunkyu says dryly. “I’m sure you two can already imagine the joy of working with this one.”

Taeyeon laughs. “I can attest to that.”

“Hey,” Jessica whines. “I am a joy to work with.”

“That’s what I said,” Taeyeon says innocently.

“It’s good to see that you two are getting along,” Tiffany says. “Taeyeon was so looking forward to—mmphhhh.” She’s forced into breaking off when Taeyeon slaps a hand over .

“Ow!” Taeyeon draws away with a hiss. “Did you just bite me?”

“You asked for it,” Tiffany says. Jessica’s had complaints about Sunkyu, but at least she’s never bitten Jessica. “Anyway, Taeyeon can be hard to work with so try not to mind her.”

“Thanks for the glowing recommendation,” Taeyeon mutters with a surly look.

“She’s actually a nice person,” Tiffany says. “She’s just awkward.”

“Don’t worry,” Sunkyu says. “Jessica is the master of awkward.”

“No wonder we get along so well,” Jessica says, bumping Taeyeon in the shoulder.

Taeyeon nudges back, conspiratorial, and they share a smile.

“So,” Sunkyu says. “You seem like you’re having a good time with Taeyeon.”

“She’s…interesting,” Jessica says with a shrug.

“Yeah, she sounds like it from the stories that Tiffany has told me.”

“Are you and Tiffany friends?” They did seem pretty familiar with each other. Not nearly as familiar as Tiffany with Taeyeon, but still.

“Yeah, we met through some mutuals a while back. She’s cool.”

“Do you know if…” Jessica hesitates, remembering the easy, familiar way Tiffany had hugged Taeyeon, the way Taeyeon had seemed equally embarrassed by and fond of her.

“They’re just friends, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Sunkyu says, amused.

“I’m not worried!” Jessica clears . “Why would I be worried?”

“You know, for such an in-demand actress, you’re terrible at acting when it comes to your own life.”

“You’re my manager, you’re supposed to support me, not tell me I’m a terrible actress,” Jessica gripes, but she knows it’s the truth. She’s never been good at acting once the cameras are turned off. She just hopes Taeyeon won’t see through her.

Before she knows it, they’re doing the final couple of takes. This time, Taeyeon does everything right, from her tense body language to her expression of absolute longing. It’s Jessica who messes up, uncharacteristically, Jessica who freezes at the simple touch of Taeyeon’s hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay,” the director says when she apologizes. “Just take a couple of minutes, okay? We’re almost done here.”

“You okay?” Taeyeon asks, joining Jessica in the alcove to which she’s retreated.

“Yeah,” Jessica mutters, frustrated with herself.

“Hey come on, I’ve messed up like, a hundred times by now. You’re allowed to mess up once or twice.”

“You haven’t messed up a hundred times,” Jessica says. “Maybe ninety-nine.”

“Wow thanks, I feel a lot better about myself now.”

“You know I’m always here to boost your confidence, Taeng,” Jessica says sweetly. She freezes after she says the nickname, having no idea why she said it, but Taeyeon doesn’t look like she minds.

“You’re ever so kind.” Taeyeon squeezes her knee, and when she pulls away, Jessica has to fight not to put her hand over Taeyeon’s.

“I’m the best co-star you could hope for, aren’t I?”

“Is that what we are – co-stars?”

“What do you think we are?” It’s supposed to be light, playful, a continuation of their banter, but somehow the question weighs down the air between them.

“I think…” Taeyeon starts slowly.

“Taeyeon ssi! Jessica ssi!”

They spring apart like they were caught in a compromising position, even though they’re just sitting and talking to each other.

“Come on, let’s finish filming,” Taeyeon says without looking at Jessica, turning away to go back to the set.

Jessica follows her, with the feeling that something else is about to end.

“And…that’s a wrap!” the director announces. “Great job, everyone.”

Taeyeon is the one to hold out her hand for a high-five this time, or more accurately a high-ten as she has both hands in the air. Jessica takes her hands and, without thinking about it, pulls her into a hug. Taeyeon tenses up for a second, but then goes soft and pliant, her arms coming around Jessica.

“We did it,” Jessica whispers against her hair, feeling ridiculous even as she says it. All they did was film a music video together; it’s not like they won a war or something.

“We did,” Taeyeon agrees.

Jessica releases her reluctantly. “It was…a pleasure working with you.”

It’s a phrase she’s become used to dispensing, but it’s not just a pleasantry this time. She means it. She’s enjoyed working with Taeyeon, filming with Taeyeon, being with Taeyeon.

“Likewise,” Taeyeon says. “I hope we’ll get to work on another project together someday.”

They both sound like the polite, trained celebrities they are, and somehow it hurts a little. Jessica wants to say something else, something more, but she’s never been good at expressing her feelings, only her characters’. She’s never known what to say when there isn’t a script in her hands.

Taeyeon clears . “I need to talk about something with the director.”

“Okay,” Jessica says mechanically. Is this how they’re going to say goodbye?

“Wait for me?” Taeyeon asks, with one of her hopeful head tilts.

“Okay,” Jessica says, feeling returning to her voice. “I’ll be here.”

Taeyeon touches her arm lightly, fleetingly, and then she’s walking away. Jessica tries not to stare after her with absolute longing. She probably fails.

Jessica doesn’t stand there and wait for Taeyeon to come back. She’s way above that. Instead, she goes around and thanks the crew, everyone from the camera operators to the makeup artists to the stylists. There are so many people behind a work who the audience doesn’t see, and Jessica wants to make sure that they’re seen and appreciated.

Now that filming is over, she checks her phone and discovers a text from Krystal.

I just read Taeyeon’s new interview and you’ll never believe what I found out.

“Hey, I found you.”

Jessica looks up to find Taeyeon looking at her with a small smile.

“You did. Here I am.” She surreptitiously locks her phone and returns it to her bag.

“I was wondering.” Taeyeon scratches the back of her head. God, she’s so cute. Jessica is so done for. “Do you want to have dinner tonight?”

“Okay,” Jessica agrees entirely too quickly, but the dimpled smile Taeyeon gives her makes her incapable of regretting it.

They’re settled in the back of a restaurant, surrounded by the mouthwatering aroma and sizzling sounds of grilling meat. Taeyeon’s cheeks are flushed, probably from the soju, and her eyes look especially dark in the rather dim lighting.

“The truth is…” Taeyeon hiccups. “I’m a fan of yours.”

Jessica blinks. “Huh?”

“I’m a fan of yours,” Taeyeon repeats, blush darkening. “Always have been, since your first drama.”

Jessica can only think to say, “I was horrible in that.”

“You were pretty.” Taeyeon looks mortified. “Not that you aren’t pretty now,” she adds hastily. “Or that I was only looking at your face.”

“You wouldn’t be the only one,” Jessica says wryly.

Taeyeon’s gaze sobers. “If only fans looked at talent more, huh?”

“Well, if they did that then I think I wouldn’t have many fans,” Jessica laughs.

Taeyeon frowns. “You’re a great actress.”

“I’m okay.” Jessica isn’t being modest, just honest. “I’m not terrible, but I don’t win awards because I’m good.”

“I would vote for you because of your skills.”

“Which set of skills?” Jessica teases, and Taeyeon flushes. Maybe her constant blushing around Jessica isn’t because of a skin condition after all. “So…is this why you were so awkward around me at first?”

“Yeah,” Taeyeon says, eyes downcast.

“I thought it was because you didn’t like me,” Jessica admits, quiet.

Taeyeon’s eyes shoot up to meet hers. “I do like you!”

“I like you too.” Jessica is the one to drop her gaze this time.

“I mean…” Taeyeon clears . “I like you as a person, not just an actress.”

Okay…?

“I mean.” Taeyeon almost sounds like her old self, the one who would constantly stammer around Jessica. “I like you.”

Jessica probably looks stupid with the way falls open. “You do?”

“Yeah. I do. Not because of who you play, but because of who you are.” Taeyeon gives a self-conscious laugh. “I sound so lame right now. You don’t know how many times I practiced this.”

“Did you stick to your script?” Jessica can only think to ask.

“I’m not very good at that,” Taeyeon says, tracing her finger along the rim of her soju bottle. “I always end up saying ad-libs.”

“I like your ad-libs,” Jessica says, and then, “I like you too.”

Taeyeon’s eyes widen. “You do?”

“Why do you think I kept messing up on those last takes?”

“Oh.” Taeyeon blinks several times, pupils looking rather dilated. Jessica surreptitiously takes the soju bottle away from her. “Do you know why I could do the staring after you scene so well later on?”

“Because of my awesome teaching skills?”

“Because I wasn’t acting.”

“You mean your absolute longing was genuine?” Jessica teases, even as her cheeks warm.

“Absolutely,” Taeyeon says solemnly, taking Jessica’s hand across the table. Neither of them lets go this time.

It’s a good thing that they don’t have filming the next day, because Jessica really wouldn’t be able to get out of bed. It’s already a struggle for her normally, but this isn’t a normal morning because she wakes up with an armful of Taeyeon.

With mussed bedhead and pillow creases on her cheek, Taeyeon looks like a child, but then her lashes flutter open and she looks at Jessica with a gaze that makes her swallow.

“Morning,” Jessica says.

Taeyeon yawns, rubbing her eyes and—yep Kid Taeyeon is back. “Is it still the morning?”

“It’s morning to me until it’s noon.”

“I’m amazed you made it on time to filming every day then.”

“How could I be late when I had you to look forward to?” Jessica asks sweetly.

“I should come visit you at your next project then,” Taeyeon says, which makes Jessica start to smile. “I’ll bring cucumber-infused water.” Never mind.

“I’ll get you banned from the set. I’ll tell them you’re a crazy fan who is not to be let anywhere near me.”

“Well, the crazy fan part is true,” Taeyeon says with a shrug.

“Since you’re my crazy fan, are you going to have me in any more of your music videos?”

“I’d like to have you,” Taeyeon says, “in all my music videos.”

Well, Jessica wouldn’t mind but. “I don’t think your company would approve of that.”

“You should sing a duet with me next time,” Taeyeon says. “My fans were saying that would be great. They even made mash-ups of some of our OSTs.”

“A duet,” Jessica repeats, liking the idea rather too much.

“If you want to,” Taeyeon says quickly.

Jessica holds her gaze, not letting her look away. “I do.”

She checks the time when they finally extricate themselves from bed, quite a while later. It’s 11:11.

3 unread texts from Krystal:

She said she’s a huge Golden Star and she was totally starstruck to find out she was working with you. Pun possibly intended.

Isn’t that cute, unnie? She’s a fan of yours!

Now you can definitely get her to introduce me to Amber.

A/N: Someone should write the sequel where Krystal finally meets her favourite idol, Amber, and then Jessica goes all BAMF unnie. coughdeeit'syourturncough.

I originally wanted to write TaengSic being hostile to/not liking each other at the beginning and then slow burn but my mind - or was it my heart - refused to write TaengSic with animosity. The world needs more TaengSic fluff.