It was strange to arrive somewhere and feel proud for not seeing the person I was to meet there, but that was the case: it was the first time I ever arrived at our designated location before Tiffany, after all. I stopped by a bench outside the ticket booth and checked my phone, verifying that I had no texts from her recently. However, when I looked up, a familiar figure entered my view.

              “Sica!” Jessica turned around, donning a shocked expression. “Sica, it is you! What are you doing here?”

              “What are you doing here?” she replied as we approached each other.

              “Fany asked me to come here; this is perfect, we can enjoy the zoo together!”

              A knowing expression washed over her face, something by which I was completely oblivious of. “Ah, so Tiffany—yeah, I’m also here because of her.”

              “Oh, she invited you too? Hm, why didn’t she tell me?”

              “Yeah, she didn’t tell me either. Shall we wait for her?”

              I agreed, and when the clock hit 10:00, instead of Tiffany arriving in person, both our phones rang at the same time. I glanced over at Jessica, noticing that her phone had also received a text from Tiffany. “Oh, that’s interesting,” I noted, pulling up the text that appeared on my phone. However, instead of gaining a better understanding of the situation, Tiffany’s cryptic text only made me more confused.

              ‘For the next few hours, don’t worry about me, ok? Have fun with Jessica!’

              I read the text a few times over, not really understanding what she meant. What was obvious to me was that she wasn’t coming and that she intended Jessica and I to meet here and hang out at the zoo, but why didn’t she tell either of us? What did she mean by ‘not worrying about her’?

              I looked over at Jessica, hoping to gauge an answer as to what was going on, but she was just nodding in an understanding manner, as if this was exactly what she was expecting.

              “Sica~” I whined, grabbing her arm, desperate at this point, “What’s happening? What did Tiffany text you?”

              “I’m not telling you,” she retorted in a teasing tone, “Let’s go.”

              I reluctantly nodded, linking arms with her and walking towards the ticket booth. After entering the gates of the place, when we rejoined our arms, Jessica glanced at my bare shoulder and noticed something. “Oh, I never noticed this until; when did you get this tattoo?”

              She was pointing to the puzzle piece tattoo I had gotten earlier with Tiffany that was on my shoulder. I was reluctant to reveal much information about it because I feared Jessica would tease me to no end about it, but now that I was caught red-handed, I felt I had no choice. The best I could do was answer vaguely, but Jessica could probably just figure out by herself eventually. “Ah, it was a few weeks ago, but honestly, it’s sorta hard to spot because it’s usually covered.”

              “Ah, so were you wearing this cute thin-strapped top because you wanted to look good in front of your girlfriend? Or maybe you wanted to flaunt your matching tattoos?”

              I pulled my arm away from her and hit her on the shoulder, eliciting a chuckle from her. I didn’t really have a reason to hit her, it was just an automatic reaction to her teasing that I had accumulated over the years to her teasing.

              “Ah Taengoo, you’re so cute,” she laughed, patting my head.

              “Yah, how many times do I have to tell you to not do that! I’m older than you!”

              “Uh huh, sorry unnie,” she replied with a smirk on her face. “Oh! Look over there, we have to get one of those first!”

              She was pointing at was a stall that sold animal ear headbands. It was always something I wanted to wear with a significant other and was something I was looking forward to doing with Tiffany, namely because Tiffany would look absolutely adorable with cat ears attached to her head, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t willing to wear them with Jessica. In fact, Jessica would also undoubtedly look cute in cat ears as well.

              After picking out our headbands: a pair of fluffy, pointed, white cat ears for Jessica and a similar pair of grey dog ears for me, we took a picture together and headed off.

              “By the way, how did it go two days ago?”

              From the way she sounded when asking the question—the slight unevenness in her voice near the end of the inquiry—I could tell that she was burning to ask the question for some time already. Given that she was the one who acted as the broker in establishing the meeting but not actually taking part in it, I could tell why she was curious; however, I noted to myself that I should be careful in the details I revealed.

              “Um, well it started off pretty well but then my—something happened, and after Tiffany’s dad told a story about his past, Tiffany went back to disliking her father, although I think it’s more because of what he did, regarding the story he told, rather than him as a father. It felt a little bad to see them start to make progress only for it to end that way, but it’s progress at least, so I’m happy with that.”

              “Ah, ok,” Jessica replied, “Did the story come with an NDA?”

              I shook my head. “My—” I stopped myself just as I was about to tell Jessica that my parents instructed me to not tell anyone, which seemed a bit surprising to me since they still criticized Tiffany’s dad for his actions, primarily citing the fact that the inherent bias in his narrative only construed the events in a way that threw suspicion onto the criminal organization when, in fact, considering the information given, the accident seemed like just that: an accident. “Sort of,” I answered vaguely once again.

              “Now I’m curious,” she pondered as we started approaching the first few animals, “What about you? What do you think of it?”

              I pursed my lips, tapping into my memory. “It shocked me. I didn’t … I didn’t really know what to think of it, and although I sort of knew a bit about what the story was about already, the degree at which it happened made me realize that reality is scary, sometimes.”

              She nodded. “I’m getting a clearer picture of what happened, but I still feel like I could be completely wrong…”

              I smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, but it’s hard for me to say how much I can say, so I’m just being careful.”

              She chuckled and patted my head. “I understand.”

              I swiped at her hand, but she retreated before I could hit her. “Yah, I said not long ago to not do that!”

              “It’s so hard to resist, can you blame me?”

              “Yes, I can!”

              “Hm, well if you were in my shoes, you’d understand.”

              “I don’t want to understand!”

              “Oh, look over there! We should go there!”

              “Yah Sica, stop distracting me again—” I was cut off as she pulled me along, my eyes inadvertently following her finger to the petting zoo she was pointing at. I sighed, wondering why I let her get away with always doing such things, but as I started observing her more, I started to realize just how well those cat ears suited my best friend. “Wait, Sica, stop for a second.”

              “Hm?” she said, turning around as I took out my phone.

              “I have to take a picture.”

              “Wha—What? Why?” she stammered, taking a baby step back.

              “Those cat ears just suit you so well, I thought you might want it for your social media or something,” I told her, opening up the camera on my phone. When she didn’t respond, I lowered my phone and looked over at her. “What’s wrong?”

              She shook her head. “What do you mean?” she replied, somehow sounding not exactly sad but disappointed or let down. “Ok, I’m ready!” It might’ve just been my imagination though, because she then proceeded to pose cheerfully, tilting her head slightly and smiling brightly, both hands at the sides of her face curled in the form of paws.

              After taking the picture, I admired it for a second before lowering my phone. “Oh yeah, you really look cute in this picture. I’ll send it over to you right now,” I told her, constructing the text and attaching the picture.

              “You shouldn’t say that to another girl when you already have a girlfriend.”

              “Ah, really? She texted me earlier today to not worry about her though?”

              Jessica looked at me strangely. “What?”

              I pulled up the text and showed it to her. “See, that’s what she said. I didn’t really understand what it meant, though.” However, from the look on Jessica’s face, it clearly appeared as if she clearly knew what Tiffany meant. “Wait, what is it? Are you leaving me out of something again?”

              Jessica laughed and went to pat my head, but this time was blocked by my hand. “Maybe you can convince me if you do some aegyo for me.”

              “You know what, we should really get to that petting zoo,” I told her, pulling along the chuckling brunette. “Why do you like my aegyo anyway?” I mumbled to myself, apparently loud enough for her to hear.

              “Well, who doesn’t?”

              “Me!”

              “That’s really too bad, because all of society would’ve benefitted if you did as well.”

              “…Wait, what?”

              “Oh, here we are.”

              I looked at Jessica with contempt as she approached the person in front of the gate of the enclosed area, her back turned towards me. The way Jessica teased me was noticeably different than Tiffany, but I could definitely see similarities between them; did Jessica base her behavior off Tiffany, or maybe vise versa? Whatever the case was, I appreciated both of them for doing it, although I would never admit it to them; it made me feel wanted, cared for—loved, even.

              Before entering the goat pen, we were both given a bag of food as well as an outfit to wear that consisted of a jacket and boots.

              “Don’t get knocked over, human paper doll!” Jessica said as she entered the pen. All semblance of the disappointment I sensed earlier had completely vanished, furthering the theory that I had just imagined things. Some good that minor in psychology was doing me.

              “What? Why?”

              “These goats can be pretty strong, it looks like,” she commented

              “You aren’t much heavier than I am,” I protested.

              “Yeah, but still—” As soon as she started speaking, a goat approached her, or namely the piece of food that was on the palm of her outstretched hand. Startled by the goat suddenly her hand, she let out a yelp and jumped back, causing the goat to let out a surprised noise and jump back as well.

              “Sica, maybe you should worry more about yourself than me,” I suggested, laughing at the interaction.

              “Just get in here already,” she insisted, grabbing my arm and pulling me in, causing me to stumble slightly into the goat pen. She laughed and turned around, lowering the hand that contained the half-eaten piece of food and slowly approaching the goat. “Come here, I’m not scary~”

              The goat wasn’t convinced as it kept on backing up, eventually breaking into a run, making a break for it to the other side. I laughed and placed my own piece of food on my hand, approaching a different goat.

              “Why is it running away?” Jessica whined, pouting and cutely stomping the ground with her feet.

              “That one holds grudges,” the zookeeper said, chuckling as well.

              “Ah, really?” she said sadly, wearing a forlorn expression while looking at the goat situated in the corner of the enclosed space.

              “She’ll get over it, just give her time,” he suggested. Jessica nodded sadly as I slowly approached another goat.

              “Oh, that one’s a bit shy,” the zookeeper said, but as soon as he said that, the goat stretched its neck over to my hand and stuck its tongue out. I slowly brought my hand closer to its mouth, allowing it to eat from my hand. “Oh, wow,” he commented as I proceeded to pet the goat that was happily feeding off my hand.

              “Ah, this feels weird,” I noted, giggling at the strange sensation, the goat’s leathery tongue making contact with my palm. I cautiously brought my other hand up and started it as it ate.

              “That’s pretty amazing, I don’t see that one in particular approach people that easily,” the zookeeper said in awe.

              “I guess shy people attract each other,” Jessica said, finding another goat to feed. The first goat eventually got over its supposed grudge and approached Jessica, much to her delight, but at that point we were just about done with our time there.

              Our next destination was a mini-photoshoot with a pair of playful monkeys who greeted us with a bow and a handshake but then proceeded to steal various items while we were posing for our photos. After that was over, we immediately ran into another pair of staff members wielding cameras, but this time with a snake that was probably at least four meters long. Jessica was vehemently opposed to it, and honestly I was pretty scared of it too, but seeing Jessica’s terrified reaction made me realize that this was my chance to finally get back at her. I, along with the two staff members, pressured Jessica into eventually agreeing to take the picture with me. I swallowed my own fear, smiling as naturally as I could with the surprisingly heavy, leathery skin wrapped around my back and across my arms. Initially, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but after seeing the picture, I was glad I did it.

              “Oh my god Sica, you look so scared!”

              “Well it was scary!”

              I laughed and bowed to the staff members in thanks, them bowing back with smiles on their faces. “I’ll make sure to treasure this picture forever,” I told her, pocketing the picture into my purse.

              “You know what—whatever, let’s go eat, I’m hungry.”

              “What, did the snake make you hungry? Did thinking that you would end up as its food make you realize that you needed some?”

              “What are you even talking about?”

              I laughed nonetheless, following her to the food court. We ended up not settling at one restaurant, buying a few hotdogs, two Icees, and fries, settling on a bench to eat our lunch.

              “So how have your past few days been?”

              Jessica, who had fallen into complete silence after sitting down, nearly jumped, turning to me with an initially surprised look on her face. “Hm? Oh, it’s been ok—I mean, I didn’t really do much, so…”

              “Is something wrong?”

              I placed my hotdog on the bench and peered over at her face; there seemed to be something off in her face, but I could detect no such thing in her voice.

              “What do you mean?”

              I pursed my lips, replying, “I don’t really know … it just felt like something seemed wrong. Do you still feel guilt about…?” I trailed off, realizing that I probably shouldn’t finish that sentence.

              She shook her head. “No, it’s not that.”

              “So you do have something troubling you?” She froze, her face saying that she just said something she shouldn’t have. That instantly caught my interest, my brain immediately linking this to the secret Tiffany has kept me perpetually in the dark, telling me that it wasn’t her secret to tell. “What is it?”

              “No, it’s—”

              “Sicaa~”

              I could see her resolve crumble a bit when I said that. “At least wait until after we’re done with lunch, ok?” I nodded eagerly, scarfing down the hotdog, causing her to burst into laughter. “Yah, that doesn’t mean you have to eat that quickly; you’ll have to wait until I finish, too.”

              When the realization dawned on me, I grabbed her hotdog and brought it to , swallowing my own food first. “Aah,” I coaxed her, throwing her into another fit of laughter.

              “What’s the rush?”

              I shrugged innocently. “What’s wrong with feeding my best friend?”

              “Well, if Tiffany was here, then she’d probably get jealous.”

              “Hm? Why bring up Fany?”

              Jessica looked at me strangely. “Well, she’s your girlfriend.” I nodded slowly, unsure of what she was getting at.  “I mean, don’t you care if she gets jealous?”

              “Well, she wouldn’t get jealous of that; plus, she already told me to not worry about her.”

              “What if she’s testing you?”

              I half-chuckled, half-scoffed. “What, do you think she’s nearby stalking us when she set this up herself? No, she wouldn’t lie to me like that.”

              For some reason, me saying that seemed to grant her some relief. “Let me finish eating first,” she offered. “By myself,” she added as I reached for her fries. I frowned but pulled my hand back. She laughed, asking, “Why are you so curious?”

              “Well there’s this secret that Tiffany’s been keeping from me regarding you, but whenever I ask her, she always tells me it’s not her secret to tell. I was just thinking that if these two things are the same thing, I would finally get to be in on the secret.”

              Jessica nodded in understanding. “Hm, it probably is,” she admitted.

              I bit my lip, having already finished my meal, sipping the Icee in anticipation. Usually, Jessica was a pretty slow eater, but this time it felt especially slow: I wasn’t sure whether it was my excitement that was slowing down my perception of time or that she was actually eating more slowly. She would occasionally look over at me and just giggle a bit after catching me eagerly looking at her, but that didn’t stop me from doing so. I don’t know exactly what about it excited me so much honestly—since when did I become so obsessed with secrets? Maybe it was the anticipation that had been building since the first time we met Jessica in Korea, essentially—on the beach that one day.

              After a few minutes, when Jessica cautiously finished her last fry, I immediately jumped on her. “So?”

              Jessica laughed at my eagerness. “Let me breathe first,” she said, gently putting down the tray the fries were contained in. However, as the seconds ticked by, it was clear that she was just stalling: she was looking down at her lap and avidly avoiding my gaze, her breathing was slowly growing deeper, her fingers growing more fidgety.

              “Sica, what’s wrong?”

              She shook her head. “I-I’m—sorry, it’s just—Taeyeon, I—” she stopped for the umpteenth time, looking around nervously. I joined her, confused at what she was looking for. “No, Taeyeon, sorry, I’m just—I’m not looking for anyone in particular,” she said, chuckling, albeit still with an edge of nervousness to her voice. She took a few more breaths, continuing, “Taeyeon, I—actually, do you know why Tiffany invited you here?”

              I shook my head. “Do you?”

              She nodded in response. “About a week and a half ago, Tiffany and I met and she hinted at doing something like this for me; I was sorta surprised when I heard her say it, but it was too good of an offer to me to pass up. The truth is,” she said, leaning sideways and pulling out her phone, “this whole thing,” she continued, her finger dancing about the screen, “was to give me some closure.”

              She lifted the phone up to eye level, showing to me a text from Tiffany: ‘Today’s your day. It’s all up to you now! Good luck! ^_^’

              After reading it, I looked back at Jessica. Closure? Today was her day? I still wasn’t piecing it together.

              Jessica, noticing this, breathed one last deep sigh and gave a melancholy smile. “I’m in love with you, Taeyeon. Today was my day to get some closure on that feeling, because I don’t want to get in the way of your relationship.” I couldn’t believe my ears. I just … I just couldn’t. Jessica, my best friend? She was in love with me? How? Was this real? But just one look at Jessica’s face and I could tell that she was sincere.

              Guilt came crashing down on my consciousness, the pit of my stomach sinking to the bottom of my chest. For how long have I let this go unnoticed? Did my actions, like when I offered to feed her earlier or when I offered to take her picture earlier, do more harm than good? “That’s why I was so scared to hang out with you all this time, despite being so close to you: I ran away from my feelings, valuing your happiness more than my own, fearing that I would do something reckless that would cause you to lose your happiness. I’ve seen how you are with Tiffany, and it warms my heart as much as it hurts it to see you so relaxed, so happy, so comfortable when in her presence.”

              I looked away, consumed with the guilt of having betrayed my best friend. “Taeyeon, don’t beat yourself up,” Jessica said, patting my head and chuckling, “Thanks to today, I finally was able to get some peace; can we still be friends?”

              I nodded, tears just about welling up in my eyes. Damn it Taeyeon, this is not the time to cry. “Of course we can,” I said, smothering her in an embrace.

              Jessica returned the hug and let out an audible sigh, mumbling a simple, “Thank you.”

So … last weekend, I went to go visit my sister (who’s in med school atm) and promptly got sick immediately after. I only fully recovered today (the day that this chapter is posted), which is why it’s so late. Sorry :C

We’re just about nearing the end of the story; what did you think about it? Did you anticipate this to be the case with Jessica? In my other story (The Garden of Hesperides), I did a similar thing so now I sorta feel bad that this is becoming like a recurring trend in my stories, where one person is heartbrokenly supporting her friend’s relationship xD

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed!

P.S. check out my facebook page at https://fb.me/affkesujo :D I have a fun fact (two, actually, this time) posted along with the chapter