The hem of her pajamas scuffs lightly against the rich, oak floor as she absently shuffles out of their room. Her hand reaches out tiredly, rubbing away the vestiges of sleep from the corner of her eyes. A quick glance on the mantle clock tells her the time – a little over one o’clock in the morning – and she briefly wonders in amazement how she even managed to drag herself out of bed in the first place.

She trudges along the darkened corridors, intent on making her trip to the kitchen as quick as possible. A muffled gasp escapes her lips when she notices the small figure sitting quietly in the middle of the dim living room. She blinks a couple of times, as if making sure that her eyes aren’t playing tricks on her.

As if sensing her presence, the figure finally looks over her shoulder. A look of surprise registers on the girl’s face, but still she manages to offer her a small smile.

“Eating marshmallows in the middle of the night?” The glass of water she had initially set out to get becomes all but forgotten as Jessica lumbers over and plops down lazily on the seat next to the girl. She tucks her legs beneath her and eyes their baby-faced leader critically.   

Taeyeon only bobs her head in reply. “Want some?” 

“We’re in the midst of promotions and you’re asking me to eat marshmallows? Do you know how fattening those are?” She retracts a little, her nose crinkling in mild disgust at the bag of multicolored marshmallows Taeyeon is waving in her face. It takes Jessica a bit of self-control not to swat her hand away. “It accumulates in your body, clogs up your arteries and before you know it, you die.”

“You’ve been hanging out with the maknae too much.” The girl dryly remarks and rolls her eyes. “Just… here.”

Jessica’s eyes widen and she opens to protest, but Taeyeon quickly shuts her up by shoving a fluffy, pink marshmallow inside.

“Tastes good, right?” the leader enthusiastically asks, head deliberately moving up and down, and Jessica finds herself nodding absently with the older girl.

She tentatively chews on the candied delight, but the tastes leaves before she even knows it. The blonde’s gaze shortly falls on the pink bag on Taeyeon’s hand, her tongue unconsciously darting out to her lips.

“Want some more?”  

Jessica nixes the idea with a small shake of her head, resisting the urge to take up the girl’s offer despite herself.

Taeyeon tilts her head slightly, as if in question, before she shrugs at her answer and dunks one hand inside the bag. It emerges not a second later, this time with a yellow marshmallow caught in between those dainty fingers. The short girl smiles in glee and starts to nibble on the treat, ripping out small chunks here and there before she finally pops the remaining piece in.

“Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?” Jessica a curious eyebrow. Taeyeon ignores her query and instead reaches inside the bag to repeat her previous actions. The two of them sit in silence as the older girl repeats it a couple of more times. A minute later and Jessica decides to fire another question. “What’s with the sudden obsession with marshmallows?”

Her question is met with silence, and Jessica considers just leaving their leader alone. She figured she could use the opportunity to talk to the girl she barely spends time with nowadays, but she can’t exactly do anything when Taeyeon is being her guarded self. Jessica sighs and unfurls one leg, ready to return to bed, when the soft sound of their leader’s voice stops her short.  

“Because…”

“Because what?” She falls back down the couch.

Taeyeon bites her lips and takes a moment to respond. Jessica peers curiously when the older girl just smiles and instead dips a hand inside the plastic bag she had been holding.

“It’s something I recently discovered.” The short-haired girl plucks out another piece of the sugar-coated treat and holds it out for Jessica to see. “Did you know? You’re just like a marshmallow, Sica-yah.”

She squeezes the spongy object a couple of times while nodding appreciatively, and whether it was because of the food or because of her, the blonde isn’t entirely sure. Taeyeon goes on to explain, “Immaculately white, enticingly soft and fluffy, a little plain-looking, maybe – “

“You dare call me ‘plain’?!” Jessica interrupts, but the older girl holds one finger up to silence her.

“ – but the smell is incredibly nice.” She brings it near her nose, breathing in its sweet scent. Taeyeon nips the edge slightly with her lips and playfully grins at her. “The taste is even better.”

“So I eat it, bit by bit, in hopes that I could savor its saccharine flavor as long as I possibly could. I always try my best to hold on, but being the marshmallow that it is, it just dissolves away too quickly. No matter what I do.”

Jessica watches quietly as the short girl goes through the same motions she had been doing earlier.  

“In just a moment’s notice, everything is gone.” Taeyeon places the small, remaining piece inside . Slowly, she waves around her now empty hand. “And all that I am left with are my sticky fingers to remember it by.”

Thick silence settles over the darkened room. The blonde attempts to dispel the heavy air and teasingly murmurs, “Please tell me there isn’t an inappropriate joke in there somewhere.”

“You should stop watching those kinds of movies with Sooyoung,” Taeyeon deadpans with a roll of her eyes, and once again Jessica is stiffly reminded how she hasn’t been spending quality time with the baby-faced girl as of late.

Her smile dims a little.

“I guess I should just be happy that I can off the last bits of its sugary goodness before saying goodbye...” The older girl continues, and one by one, she traces her pink tongue against the pads of her fingers. The corner of her eyes gleams wistful, and not even the smile tugging her lips could hide that little fact. “But I couldn’t, because every time that I do so, it only leaves me wanting more.”

For a moment Jessica forgets to breathe as Taeyeon grabs the pink bag once again, but instead of taking out another piece like she had anticipated, Taeyeon folds it edges and tucks the whole thing away. She deflates slightly at the sight. “Why did you stop?”

“Like you said, it’s bad for me.” Taeyeon faintly grins. She plants both hands on the cushion and readies to launch herself off the couch, but Jessica latches firmly on her arm and stops her.

“That doesn’t stop you from picking it up and eating it later, does it?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Taeyeon resignedly agrees, and she plops back down on her seat. “Because even though I know it’s bad for me, and sooner or later I am going to regret this, there’s really nothing I could do. That’s how an addiction works, right?”

Jessica mutedly agrees.

“I was reluctant to eat it at first, but once I took that first bite, I knew I was forever hooked.” The girl could only shrug in quiet acceptance. “What else could I do?”

A wide smile slowly breaks out on her face as Taeyeon’s words completely sink in. She opens to say what’s on her mind, but her eyes fall on the small, white smudge on the older girl’s face. Jessica’s smile turns into a smirk. Without warning, she leans forward, immediately freezing Taeyeon on the spot. Taeyeon’s eyes visibly widens as Jessica proceeds to gently the traces of sugar which seems to have melted itself in between their warm lips.

The blonde momentarily pulls back just a bit, her face inches away from the dazed-looking girl. 

“I think I see your point.”

Jessica inhales the sweet, alluring scent of marshmallows on Taeyeon’s breath and finds herself being drawn in once more.

She lets out a low chuckle.

“I wouldn’t mind getting addicted to this, though.”

**Taengsic circa 2010/11