A/N: Hi readers! Thank you for your comments and votes on the previous chapter, and for being patient!

And thank you for reading this, see you later! :)

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After classes were done for the day, Taeyeon puts her notebook and writing materials into her backpack. As she follows her classmates out of the lecture hall, she decides to take a walk along the campus, so that she could have a little time to herself before meeting with her friends later on in the afternoon. She figured having some time in solitude would help clear her mind; as much as she loved her friends, she preferred to be on her own when she had some deep thinking to do.

It was a mildly chilly and cloudy day as Taeyeon steps out of the building. She readjusts her backpack strap on her shoulder as she starts walking on a brick path, towards nowhere in particular.

I’m very happy for Tiff. I really am. She deserves having such a wonderful relationship with someone that she has strong feelings for.

But why did it have to be Jess, of all people?

I was devastated when I found out that she was already taken, so I ran away, hoping to never see her again. Getting rejected by your crush is painful enough, but when your crush is already with someone, it’s even worse.

“Taeyeon?”

Taeyeon snaps out of her thoughts and sees Irene standing in the path in front of her. “Oh, hi Irene! I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

Irene smiles wryly. “It’s a good thing you heard me, because otherwise you would’ve walked right into me.”

Taeyeon grins sheepishly. “That wouldn’t have been good.”

Irene tucks some of her hair behind her ear as she looks at Taeyeon curiously. “You seemed to be really deep in thought. Is something on your mind?”

The older girl sighs. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Want to talk about it?” Irene asks tentatively.

Taeyeon lowers her gaze. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to discuss this with anyone yet, because it was painful to talk about, and felt embarrassed about the whole situation. I developed a crush on someone I hardly knew, and then I even kissed her! And now, she’s dating my best friend.

Irene senses that it was something difficult for Taeyeon to talk about, so she backs off. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be intrusive.”

Taeyeon looks back up at her and gives her a crooked smile. “No, it’s ok. You’re fine. It’s just a little hard for me to open up about… something,” she tries to explain, purposefully keeping it vague.

Irene simply nods in response.

There was an awkward silence afterwards, as neither girl knew what to say next.

“Um, I could meet you later if you still want to have that talk,” Irene offers uncertainly. “But I understand if you want to postpone it for another day.”

Taeyeon seems to be considering what Irene said. “Would you like to take a walk with me?” she asks, readjusting her backpack strap.

Irene smiles as she tucks her hair behind her ear again. “Sure.”

Taeyeon grins. “Great!”

The two girls started walking side by side.

“I hope you don’t get offended by this, but the first time I saw you, I thought you were the maknae of the group,” Irene says tentatively to her companion.

Taeyeon starts laughing. “I’m not offended at all. I’ve heard that many times throughout my life; so often that my friends call me their Kid Leader.”

It was Irene’s turn to laugh, relieved that the older girl wasn’t insulted by her observation. “Oh, really? That’s hilarious!”

“And it doesn’t help that I’m also one of the shortest members in my group of friends. All throughout middle and high school, strangers thought that I was one of my friends’ little sister, tagging along with them.”

“Oh no, that’s terrible! I’m sure that felt pretty insulting at times.”

“It was really annoying at first, but I started getting used to it. Sort of,” replies Taeyeon, with a wry smile. She could still remember some students, and even teachers, saying things like, ‘why are you here with your sister? Isn’t your elementary school open today?’

And then Yuri or Sooyoung would say something along the lines of ‘I brought her with me because our parents weren’t able to take her to daycare’.

Tiffany, however, would get upset and tell them that Taeyeon was the oldest among their group.

Taeyeon smiles a little bit when she remembers how her outspoken best friend has always stood up for her.

Irene frowns slightly. “I’m sorry to hear that. Some people can be so rude or judgmental about others’ outer appearances.”

Taeyeon nods in agreement. “Especially during the school years.”

“If it helps you feel any better, people usually think that either Yeri or I am the youngest in my group of friends.”

“You do look younger than your age. I could easily mistake you for a high school student.”

“Are you the oldest in your group?” Irene brushes some hair strands away from her face with her hand.

“Yes, and yet you thought I was the maknae,” Taeyeon answers, smirking. I have to admit, Irene is hot! Tiff sure knew how to pick the right girls on that site.

“I’m sorry!” Irene giggles. “But I guess we have that in common. We’re both the oldest members of our groups, but still look like the youngest.”

“That can be both a good and bad thing.”

“Yeah, and I’ve just learned to get used to it.”

Irene steals a glance at Taeyeon as the two girls walked in silence for awhile, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

“What’s it like being the leader in your group?” Irene asks curiously.

The question immediately brings an amused smile to Taeyeon’s lips. “I’m usually the one organizing get-togethers, and trying to be the most responsible member of the group. And as you’ve seen during some of our meetings, my friends can get a little out of line at times.”

“Yes, they can, but there’s one in particular that I’m still trying to wrap my mind around.”

Taeyeon knew exactly who Irene was talking about. “You’re obviously referring to Yul.”

“Right. Can you tell me a little bit about her?” asks Irene.

“Yul has been a great friend to me for many years, since middle school. She’s easy to talk to, because she’s easygoing, funny, and caring. But her taste in women and views on are questionable, and we have very different opinions on those,” explains Taeyeon.

“So she really believes that it’s ok to have flings with strangers? She wasn’t kidding?” asks Irene in disbelief. She had been dismayed by what Yuri said during lunch, and was hoping that Yuri was exaggerating.

“Unfortunately, she was completely serious. She feels that it’s much better to have one-night stands than an actual relationship, which I absolutely disagree with.”

Irene was shocked. “How can someone truly believe that? That’s just so… chaotic, and embarrassing, and nasty!”

Taeyeon laughs. “That’s a good description of how I feel about that!”

The two girls arrived at the University District.

Taeyeon looks around at the restaurants along the street. “I’m getting a little hungry. Want to get something to eat?”

Irene also looks around at the different restaurants that were available. “I’m a little hungry too. Where do you want to go?”

Taeyeon sees a ramen restaurant nearby. That sounds pretty good. “How about some ramen?”

“Sure.”

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As the two girls walk into the ramen restaurant, they were greeted by a middle-aged man.

“Welcome, pretty girls! Is it just the two of you?” asks the man, who was the owner of the restaurant.

“Yes,” answers Taeyeon. She feels Irene bump into her from behind.

“Sorry, I was reading a poster and didn’t see where I was going,” explains Irene, with an embarrassed smile.

“Are you sure you were staring at the poster?” teases Taeyeon.

Irene blushes from the implication, and then smacks Taeyeon’s shoulder. “How dare you!”

Taeyeon laughs so hard at Irene’s reaction that she doesn’t see a small toy car on the ground. When she steps on it, she slips and falls down on her .

Irene gasps. “Are you alright?” Though she was concerned, she was also trying not to laugh.

“Oww, my hurts,” complains Taeyeon, wincing a little bit as she gets back up and rubs her .

Irene couldn’t hold back anymore and starts laughing, covering . She felt a little bad for laughing at Taeyeon, but at the same time, she found it hilarious to see the mature, responsible leader fall on her like that.

“Mommy! That mean girl kicked my car!” shrieks a little boy, running over to where the toy car went.

A woman in her late twenties frowns at the boy. “What did I tell you about leaving your toys on the ground?” she scolds.

“Are you ok?” the owner of the restaurant asks worriedly.

“Yes, it was only a very minor injury. I’ve already recovered from it,” assures Taeyeon as she and Irene follow him to a table. Irene was still laughing.

“I’m sorry about my son’s carelessness,” apologizes the woman, as the little boy runs and hides behind the woman with his toy.

“It’s alright, it was partially my fault for not watching where I was walking,” responds Taeyeon.

“He’s such a cute little boy,” Irene says, smiling.

“I like you better than your mean friend!” says the little boy, still hiding. “You meanie kicker!”

“I didn’t do that on purpose!” responds Taeyeon.

“I’ll be back to take your orders in a few m