Taeyeon hums as she pours orange juice to the two cups in front of her.

Jessica has accepted the fact that seeing herself dying on a gurney while Taeyeon bawls her eyes out was just a twisted nightmare that her mind has created, and her life here with the blonde girl is a reality that she still needs time to accept.

Not to mention, this reality apparently takes place thirty years in the future. It’s too serious and too detailed to be just some prank.

How she got here—that, she still doesn’t have an answer to.

So, she’s slowly eating pancakes that Taeyeon has prepared for them both.

“No appetite?” Taeyeon sets down the cups beside their plates. She takes a seat next to her girlfriend.

“Sorry,” muttered Jessica with a mouthful of blueberry pancake. Taeyeon laughed in endearment, handing the brunette her orange juice.

“It’s okay. But try to eat a bit more,” She sips on her cup. “You offered to help me at the hospital, remember?”

“At Hongik?” Jessica finally talks, breaking the solemn silence in her side of the table.

“Yep!” chirps her partner as she chews on her pancake. Jessica could only laugh at how silly she looks.

She smiles and thinks to herself that maybe her new life is not half bad.

_______

“1, 2, 3!” The two women heave the box of used children’s books to the ground.

Taeyeon catches her breath. “That’s the last of ‘em,” Jessica hands her a cold bottle of water. “Thanks, babe,”

“You’re welcome,” They both take a swig from their bottles and sigh.
Four hours later, their activity was done. Jessica has never been happier and content than she was while volunteering in the pediatric ward. While they were in the middle of cleaning up the toys, Taeyeon suddenly asked if they could adopt a child, catching her by surprise. The other volunteers laugh as Jessica’s face reddens. She doesn’t answer because she’s actually considering it but doesn’t want her girlfriend to know.

Taeyeon has offered to be the one driving this time as her partner keeps yawning on their way to the parking area. “Sica, can you please get my bag for me?”

“Sure,” Jessica closes her phone and reaches to the backseat to get Taeyeon’s tote bag. She hears a faint rattling sound.

“There’s spearmint gums inside,”

“Okay.” She s the bag and looks for a green pack of gums. A white lid caught her eye, it was peeking out from the inner pocket. She examines the pill bottle.

Venlafaxine. It’s an antidepressant.

The car halts at a red light. Taeyeon snatches the medication from Jessica’s hand. She briskly puts it back into the pocket and takes out the pack of gums. She offers a strip to Jessica who only shakes her head. They go home in silence.
_______
Jessica had finished taking a bath and is now watching on Netflix, waiting for her partner downstairs.

Taeyeon enters the bedroom in her bathrobe, a pair of eyes unknowingly stares at her neck.

“Jessica…” She elongates the last vowel, already used to the stares that she gets from her girlfriend. She does it too, so she has no right to complain.

“Sorry!” Jessica looks away immediately and tries to focus on the show she’s watching.

The blonde finished up clothing herself in her favorite set of pajamas. She lays down next to her partner. Taeyeon now stares at Jessica’s face. She admires the fairness of her skin, her soft eyes fixated on the TV and the plumpness of her pink lips. Admiration is an understatement. She wants to spend her entire life with Jessica only. She has completely fallen for her.

“Taeyeon-ah, you’re making me uncomfortable,” says Jessica, her eyes not leaving the TV.

Taeyeon apologizes under her breath and cuddles the brunette. She peppers her with kisses and her girlfriend loved every moment of it. Jessica finally turns her body to the side, facing Taeyeon who had a smirk on her face in victory.

On the other hand, Jessica has her eyes filled with melancholy. Taeyeon’s smile fades.

“You can’t avoid the topic forever, Taengoo,”

Jessica remembers the polaroid picture of them from her wallet with the words “Sica x Taengoo” written on the bottom of the film. Calling Taeyeon by her pet name would probably help make their talk less serious. Probably.

“I know,” Taeyeon sighs. “And I’m sorry. I knew you would find out eventually.”

The taller woman brings her hand to cup Taeyeon’s cheek. They both smile as they make eye contact, silently understanding each other’s emotions. Taeyeon holds the soft hand that rests on her cheek.

“Then why would you keep it from me, if I was meant to find out, to begin with?” She wondered.

“You already complain so much about your job. It wouldn’t be right for me to give you more burden,”

Jessica didn’t respond, she only searches her lover’s eyes. She sees through the brown orbs like a window—it was filled with generosity, empathy, guilt, and sadness. Emotions that she kept within herself showed through the gaze in her eyes. It was painful. Jessica wishes she had the ability to read minds rather than to time travel.

Unlike Taeyeon, Jessica is known as an openly expressive person.

As much as she tried to keep it in, tears dripped down Jessica’s hazel eyes like a dam bursting. She had never met someone so kind and selfless. Her partner was too good for her, for the world, even!

Taeyeon had never seen her girlfriend cry like this—like she was drained of all hope. Taeyeon blames herself for being too careless, stupid, and selfish. Her heart drops at the sobbing. She brings Jessica closer to her, she lets her tears soak through the cotton of her shirt, rubbing her back and whispering apologies and promises.

Although it wasn’t their best pillow talk, Taeyeon was relieved that she had nothing to hide anymore.

Through Jessica’s heartbreaking wails, she begins to understand why she’s brought to this timeline. She wasn’t randomly picked to travel forward in time, she’s here to save Taeyeon, who was quietly in despair with no one to hear her.