Word count: 6,924

 

THIS IS A LONG UPDATE! DOUBLED THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER! Lol. I better not see any of you complain about the length! LOL. <3

 

Anyway, here you go (pardon my errors)....

 

 

Chapter Seventeen

 

 

 

The week had gone by quickly for Jessica as it was already Sunday. She couldn’t believe that her week just flew by like that, and she honestly begged whoever listened to her to give her her time back. But even if she cried, whined, begged, or even do a ritual dance, she wouldn’t be able to get anything back, especially her used time. She was stuck at her condominium, where the renovations already started, so it was really uncomfortable to be home. But whatever. She expected her summer to be boring and tiring anyway. It had always been like that, and so there was no point hoping to change it now. For more than a decade, she would always be working at her father’s company every summer break, so why complain now? It was just a pointless thing to do.

 

Jessica grunted as she rolled out of bed - sluggishly at that. What was the point of complaining? It was to help her keep her sanity. Whenever she vented – mostly to herself, it made her feel a little better.

 

She ought to get ready since Taeyeon was coming over to watch a movie with her – they settled to watch a movie at four in the afternoon. It was weird, actually, since being with her best friend now seemed to be bearable compared to before. She always remembered to keep her distance – just until she was completely over her. So just a little more push and she would finally get to where she wanted. She thought of Taeyeon less and less, close to never actually so she knew she was almost there.

 

Noticing the time, she knew Taeyeon would be there in less than thirty minutes so she had very little time to get ready; she hurried for the bathroom to freshen up before the her friend got there since she slept in for too long.

 

After showering, the blonde checked her phone to see if Taeyeon called her if she was already at the lobby; however, it wasn’t her best friend who called her – it was her cousin. So while getting ready, she put her Bluetooth on and then said, “Call Hyomin.”

 

After a couple of rings, her cousin finally picked up. “Hello?”

 

“You called?” Jessica said as she started to put facial cream on her face, starting her daily treatment. Perfect skin needed to be maintained after all, even for someone like Jessica. “What’s up?”

 

“Nothing really. I was just wondering if you want to hang out since my parents are finally off my nuts,” Hyomin sighed. “You know they’ve been taking me to different houses with them the whole week?”

 

Jessica imagined both their situations, and she couldn’t help but feel blessed since she was at least being treated better by her family compared to her cousin. The blonde always had a hot meal for lunch and was brought dessert at exactly three in the afternoon, while her cousin was being taught the ways of being a house broker and a real estate agent. Not being able to keep it in, the blonde giggled. “That really .”

 

“Tell me about it! How’s your dad treating you anyway? I’m sure you probably have gourmet meals every day and you just have to wave your hand and your work’s probably done right away by some peasant you keep in your closet,” Hyomin said.

 

Laughing, the blonde then said, “Shut up. I actually do some work there.” She knew her cousin really thought she didn’t do anything at the company since her family owned it. Little did Hyomin know, Jessica was in charge of looking at delinquent files – those people who were late on payments or if there was something wrong with any of their filing, making them delinquent. She actually caught a few who never made a payment in their life, not credible enough to be lending out the money they took, but was all approved by the manager – all of them. Since she caught this, her father asked one of his trusted employees to look into it since it might really turn into embezzlement.

 

“Sure you do.”

 

“You a$s! I really do,” Jessica said as she dabbed her face with Kleenex.

 

“Anyway, what are you up to today? Let’s go out or something! I’m bored and everybody’s out of town,” Hyomin whined. The blonde knew how her cousin hated not being able to do anything especially on her free days. “Sunny, Yuri, and Heechul went back to visit their families while Taeyang’s being gay.”

 

Jessica snorted a laugh at the statement about Taeyang. “When was he never gay?” She then continued and said, “You can come over if you want. Taeyeon will be here in a bit actually. I’d prefer it if you’ll be here… you know?” The blonde bit her lip. It wasn’t like she was uncomfortable being alone with Taeyeon since they had been going out a lot since Monday. However, since she already took a different route from her past love, she didn’t want to be running back, helplessly loving somebody who clearly loved someone else. There was a huge part of her that was over her, but there was this small part that needed to be terminated, burnt, thrown, whatever it was that would help her completely get over the girl, she would do.

 

“Why are you hanging out with her again?” Hyomin said in a disappointed tone, and the blonde didn’t blame her since she was there for her when the blonde was at her lowest. She figured she would be upset, too, had Sunny done the same thing to her cousin. The thing was, they were both the only child of their respective family and they treated each other like siblings. “I mean, really, Jessica? Do you like getting pulled back in by her?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I love the girl and all since she’s my friend, but you’re my cousin so I hate that she tries to play innocent when you obviously loved her.”

 

What her cousin said was the truth, actually. Even Jessica couldn’t fathom how Taeyeon couldn’t tell that she was in love with the girl, but it may also be because she was just good at hiding. “Maybe she’s really just dense,” she answered, trying to convince herself in the process.

 

“You can’t give me that, Jessica.” The blonde was about to say something, but was cut off when her cousin continued, “Why the hell is she trying to in now that you have Tiffany? She should just stick to Yuri.”

 

“But---“

 

“No buts, Jessica. Stop entertaining her. I love the fact that Tiffany is there for you, but the moment she leaves, you come back crawling to the person who treated you like sh!t? Really? You don’t ever learn, do you?”

 

The blonde couldn’t say anything now since even though she and Tiffany weren’t together, it seemed true. At least for the eyes of those who were on the sidelines, they would think that every time she couldn’t be entertained or be occupied, she came back crawling to Taeyeon. “It isn’t like that, Hyomin,” was the only thing she could say.

 

“Oh? Do tell me what you’re doing then. I mean, Taeyeon’s a sweet girl and all but she shouldn’t be playing the dense card. So stop. Just… stop. Maybe you should really entertain the idea of dating Tiffany.”

 

“Don’t joke around about Tiffany; we’re not like that. And don’t worry. I’m getting over her,” Jessica said.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yes, I’m sure. I can hang out with her as long as I keep my distance,” the blonde explained.

 

“How the hell does that work anyway? You hang out but distant?”

 

“I just don’t let her be clingy to me. You know, like when Tiffany wraps her arms around mine, I’m okay with it? With Taeyeon, I usually walk away or find a reason to get away, you know what I’m saying?”

 

“Good. And stay like that. You’re Yuri’s friend so don’t be that person.” Hyomin said, and the blonde heard her doorbell ring.

 

“I know. Don’t worry. By the way, I got to go. Taeyeon’s here,” she said as she started to walk to her door. “You sure you don’t wanna come over?”

 

“Nah, I don’t wanna see Taeyeon right now since I might end up telling her what I really think of her. I might blow off and make her cry.”

 

“And they call me the b!tch, huh?” The blonde giggled. “Yeah, we don’t want you starting something.”

 

“Bye, love you, cous.”

 

Her cousin only said she loved the blonde whenever she knew the blonde was doing something stupid. To Hyomin, even though Jessica was about to make a poor choice, she would still accept the blonde. It was sometimes a really good warning. “Love you too.” There was a soft smile on her face before she hung up.

 

Upon opening the door, she was greeted by Taeyeon, carrying two pints of ice cream, two sodas, and a bag of chips. “Ready?” She smiled at the blonde, showing her perfect set of teeth. The way her best friend smiled at her just told Jessica that there was no well in hell that Taeyeon was simply faking her denseness. There was just no way in hell that this girl in front of her, as innocent looking as her, could be so horrible.

 

Yes. She couldn’t possibly know about her feelings. There really was just no way in hell that someone like Taeyeon could be so cruel to her own best friend.

 

Smiling softly at her friend, she then invited her in. Since Taeyeon had been here numerous times, she felt at home so she just went ahead and put the ice cream in the freezer. “I got strawberry and vanilla,” she said as she walked over to where the blonde was – she was turning on her television, scanning movies on Netflix.

 

“My favorite!”

 

“Duh! Do you think I’d get something that you wouldn’t like?”

 

The blonde simply shrugged and was still skimming through the selections.

 

“No renovations today?” Taeyeon asked as she sat beside her best friend, waiting for an answer as she looked at the door where Tiffany would occupy.

 

The blonde shook her head. “I wanna enjoy my weekend so I told them they can do all the shopping today, but leave today to me.”

 

“Is it really that inconvenient?”

 

Was it inconvenient? It was bearable since it was for Tiffany; with the thought of Tiffany enjoying this surprise, the blonde was convinced that a little noise and crowd were just fine. “Not really,” she answered nonchalantly. “You should pick a movie,” she said as she gave up on the selection. She wasn’t really up for a movie anyway, but since Taeyeon insisted on spending time together, she catered to the idea. Jessica then grabbed the bag of chips that Taeyeon placed on the coffee table early and opened it. “Want?” she offered as she watched Taeyeon pick a movie.

 

The two of them were just seated there, watching the movie without saying a word, which was weird since Taeyeon was the type of person to always make a comment whenever they watched; sometimes, the rest of the group would be annoyed since Taeyeon would be talking, while the movie would be on. Realizing the indifference in her attitude, the blonde looked at Taeyeon, who was seated beside her with her back straight; sure, she was staring at the television, but it seemed like she was blankly looking with her eyes occasionally landing on the guest room door. The blonde knew Taeyeon since they used to live together so this was really odd and uncomfortable to watch. Should she ask if she and Yuri fought? Should she prey? There was a part of her that wanted to ask, but there was this bigger part of her that really didn’t want to associate herself with her best friend’s current romantic relationship. It might just hurt her; she was fine with it; however, she didn’t want to risk what she worked so hard for.

 

Taeyeon looked away from the television, and stared the blonde in the eyes. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

Should she say she was worried about the girl? “Nothing,” she decided to say. But she was still best friends with Taeyeon, and as that, shouldn’t she be concerned? Even if she didn’t’ want to meddle, she was still supposed to be there to listen – as a best friend. “Well,” the blonde started with a sigh, “You just seem off.”

 

With a soft smile on her face, Taeyeon said, “I’m fine,” which made Jessica even more concerned. There was something in that fake smile that told her there was something wrong; should she press on the issue further?

 

“You can tell me anything, you know?” She didn’t like seeing her friend in such a state. Actually, she didn’t like seeing anybody in a vulnerable state. She recalled how she approached Tiffany before despite being unfriendly with each other.

 

With that same fake smile, Taeyeon nodded. “I know. You always have.” She then got closer to Jessica, resting her head on the blonde’s shoulder, and they both simply continued to watch.

 

It was nice that Jessica could finally be around her best friend and take back what they used to have, minus the romance; the thing was, somehow, Jessica wasn’t even sad anymore since she was able to take some steps to moving on. Now, she was simply concerned with her best friend’s well-being, and whatever feelings she had left, she set aside. “You can really tell me what’s bothering you,” the blonde said as she looked at her best friend. “You’re really not acting like yourself, now that I mentioned it, you haven’t been like yourself the last couple of days. You used to be annoying, talking non-stop, and now you’re sitting so properly and not even watching the movie. You love movies.” The blonde sat up with her back straight, looking at her best friend. “Did you fight with Yuri?” Taeyeon frowned, which made Jessica worry. Finally, it hit her so she ended up pulling her best friend in for a hug. “I don’t like it when you’re sad so try talking to Yuri.” It was weird that she really meant what she said even if it meant clarity about her best friend’s romantic relationship.

 

Taeyeon wrapped her arms around the girl, but was still silent. She simply sat there, so the blonde really worried. Was it the reason Taeyeon had time to hang out with her for the past week? She somewhat felt bad that she had been distant when her best friend needed her. “It’s okay, Taeyeon. I’m here.”

 

“Sica-ah,” Taeyeon started as she hugged Jessica tighter.

 

“Yes?”

 

“I love you.” Did Jessica just heard it right? Taeyeon said she loved her? Did she mean it as a friend or something more? It wasn’t just a hallucination, right? She was really in the blonde’s embrace as she said she loved the girl? But the trembling body in her embrace told her this was reality, but her mind couldn’t register that it was. It felt surreal. It was just too impossible. “Ever since we were roommates, I’ve been in love with you.” So she really meant what she felt for the blonde was special, and she wasn’t crazy to be hallucinating. But why now? There were countless of times they could’ve been together: before Yuri was in the picture, before she let go of her feelings. So why now when it was clearly too late? She suffered to get over her, and now this? Why? The blonde just couldn’t clearly comprehend what was happening, and she wanted to settle things and make things clearer. “Say something…” Taeyeon said, cutting the blonde’s thoughts.

 

Jessica thought of the most logical thing to say and came up with, “You… you have Yuri,” the blonde said, still frozen in Taeyeon’s embrace. When she mentioned Yuri’s name, she realized that Taeyeon’s in love with her despite being in a relationship with somebody else. Had she really loved her, they would’ve been together before. Had Yuri been out of the equation, it was unquestionable; however, Yuri was in the picture. If Taeyeon was really in love with the blonde, why did she start a relationship with someone - someone in their group of friends, showing her how happy they were to be in a relationship? “I---“

 

“But don’t you love me too?” Taeyeon asked as she held Jessica tighter.

 

She did. She loved her to a point of pretending to be happy for Taeyeon when she said she was with Yuri; she plastered a smile on her face, but when she got home, she cried as she tried to deal with her broken heart. But now, the girl whom she desired confessed to her. She didn’t know what to do since she didn’t feel right even with the fact that Taeyeon loved her. She felt dirty since the girl was still attached, and she couldn’t change that. Her best friend was with her good friend for crying out loud. “I---I don’t know---“ she started as she pulled away from Taeyeon’s embrace. “What are you saying? You have Yuri.”

 

“But---“

 

“No,” Jessica said as she shook her head. “This isn’t right.”

 

“Listen to me, Jessica,” Taeyeon looked at her, tears building in her eyes.

 

The blonde shook her head. “I can’t. I’m sorry, I can’t.” This was the moment the blonde was waiting for, but it wasn’t right. There was Yuri, and she wouldn’t be the one to be the third party or be the cause of their break up.

 

“Jes---“

 

“Don’t, Taeyeon. You’re just confused.”

 

“No! Don’t give me this. Please listen to me,” Taeyeon grabbed Jessica’s arm. “I really loved you ever since. Please believe me!”

 

Jessica shook her head, not wanting to hear Taeyeon’s words. “You have Yuri!” she said a little louder than intended. “Taeyeon, you picked Yuri so don’t cheat on her.”

 

“She knows I love you,” Taeyeon said as she looked Jessica in the eyes. The blonde didn’t like the fact that the girl was crying; however, she wouldn’t be the one trying to encourage this behavior. However people see it, to Jessica, this was an act of cheating, and as her best friend and someone who cared for the girl, she wanted the girl to just stop. Stop herself from behaving like this. “I was scared to confess to you before; I was scared to lose you that’s why I didn’t tell you I love you.”

 

But that didn’t change the fact that she had Yuri now, and that was what mattered. There was no room for her love for Jessica. “You can’t do th---“

 

“I accepted Yuri’s confession because she said I might end up forgetting you if I do,” Taeyeon continued, not letting the blonde finish her sentence. “But I couldn’t forget you when you’re just there in front of me. It upsets me that you can be happy without me. I hate seeing that someone else can bring you happiness, so I’m telling you now that I really love you more than anything… so please… I don’t want to lose you.”

 

The blonde couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She didn’t know if she should feel happy or disappointed with the fact that Taeyeon loved her to this extent. But at the same time, she was confessing because she was jealous that Tiffany was there for her? Tiffany was there for her because they both didn’t have anybody to be there for them without hurting anybody. Taeyeon didn’t have any right to be jealous since she was with Yuri! Had she placed herself in Jessica’s shoes before, she wouldn’t just feel jealousy.  The blonde suffered so much more because of her best friend’s relationship, and now Taeyeon selfishly said she wasn’t happy with the fact that Tiffany made the blonde happy? Unbelievable. Had this been the person she really fell in love with? This Taeyeon in front of her seemed so little compared to one she fell in love with. “Taeyeon, were you ever aware that I was in love with you?”

 

“I--- I…. I was with Yuri when I noticed…”

 

“I---“

 

“Please, believe me! If I knew before that, I would’ve had the guts to tell you I love you.”

 

But no matter what, it wasn’t the case. Yuri was in the picture, and Jessica already started to move on. She really couldn’t be the cause of Yuri’s pain since she didn’t want her friend to feel what she went through before. “That’s no longer a possibility, Taeyeon.” These what-ifs Taeyeons spoke of, none of them mattered now since they would never happen. “You still knew I loved you, and---“

 

“Don’t hate me,” Taeyeon said, shaking her head as her tears fell down her cheeks. “Please don’t hate me.”

 

The blonde still didn’t like the fact that Taeyeon was crying because of her, but what could she do? “You can’t do this, Taeyeon. We can’t happen anymore.”

 

“Bu---“

 

The blonde shook her head. “No, don’t. No buts.” She then stood up, trying her best to distance herself from Taeyeon. “Maybe we should stop hanging out for a while.”

 

“Jessica, I really, really love y---“

 

Loved? Taeyeon really liked pulling that card on the girl, but did she really understand? If it was Jessica, she wouldn’t be calloused enough to date in their circle, showing Taeyeon how happy she was. She wasn’t that cruel. “You knew I loved you, right? Since the very beginning, you knew I had feelings for you. You knew every time you were with Yuri, it hurt me, right?” Jessica recalled those times they went out, Yuri and Taeyeon were holding hands or kissing each other, acting happy around her. Taeyeon knew of the blonde’s feelings, yet she still had the audacity to show how happy she was with somebody else. Wasn’t that cruel? The blonde didn’t understand where Taeyeon was coming from since she could’ve dated outside their circle if Taeyeon was just trying to forget. There was no need for her to flaunt the relationship, right? Now, Jessica’s confusion was leading to anger. Had she really been in Taeyeon’s shoes, she wouldn’t try to hurt her. Not at all. If she was simply scared, she would’ve dealt with it differently. She really couldn’t believe this at all. To think, she had her friends set her up on dates in thoughts of getting over somebody who didn’t lve her. It turned out, the girl did love her; she just wasn’t brave enough to confess; however, the blonde couldn’t say anything about bravery since she, too, was hindered by cowardice. Just when she was gathering courage, Yuri confessed and got the girl. But that was beside the point. The point was Taeyeon was aware of her feelings, and she still did those things to the blonde. Now, the blonde simply wanted to pick up those pieces of her heart that Taeyeon broke, and throw it at her. “You knew I loved you. You knew! Then why the did you date someone who’s my friend? If you loved me, why did you hurt me? You just watched me suffer, and you didn’t even do anything, knowing that you’re the one who caused my pain. So I don’t really know if this is love you feel for me.”

 

“I’m sorry. I know I’m selfish for telling you this now. I know that, but if you love me, you’ll be selfish with me,” Taeyeon said as she grabbed tighter onto Jessica’s wrist, tears falling from her eyes. “Be with me. I’ll leave Yuri, I promise.”

 

“Do you hear yourself, Taeyeon?” The blonde looked at the girl in the eyes. “Because of you, I owed myself a little bit self-respect, you know? I can’t let go of myself again.” The blonde looked at the door. “You should leave.”

 

“Jess---“

 

“You picked Yuri over me; that’s your choice so you should stick with it.” The blonde looked at her. “We should move on from our past love, okay?”

 

“N---“

 

“You should go home, Taeyeon.”

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

The fact that Taeyeon just confessed to Jessica at her condominium made her want to clear her head elsewhere. So she decided to stay with her father since he was insisting for her to return to their main home ever since summer vacation started anyway. Plus, it would be nice to have a shorter drive to work, and also to get away from the renovation noises and dirt. So it was perfect. Shorter drive. Clean and noise-free house. Away from Taeyeon.

 

The girl wouldn’t be able to find her since they needed time apart; she wasn’t just up for another talk about Taeyeon’s feelings since resentment was building in her heart.  She just couldn’t understand how things came to be. How in the hell was Taeyeon in love with her all these times? It just wasn’t fathomable since to Jessica the girl couldn’t be so cruel; the girl watched her suffer for a year, and now that she was able to be truly happy, she wanted to ruin that?

 

The blonde shook her head as she laid in bed. She didn’t want to think about it now. She should relax and try to get things off her head. Back at her old home, her old room, the blonde couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable now that she looked around, remembering the last time she was there. Sure, it was the place that she grew up in, but at the same time she couldn’t help but recall those days she locked herself in here, thinking of the possibilities and the what-ifs; this very room served as her cocoon when she needed to protect herself from Taeyeon and Yuri. Why did it seem like even her own room and her own condominium were filled with memories of Taeyeon? This just wasn’t right. These places were supposed to be the place she was most comfortable in.

 

Now that she thought about it, why did she bother coming back to the place where also reminded her of the girl? She should just use a guest room, but her father might think something was wrong and would blow things out of proportions by immediately renovating her room – he had always been the dotting type. Maybe she should just check in a hotel? That seemed to be a good idea. But her father would also think it was odd if she didn’t have a better excuse to not stay in their house, which was closer to work. He even said their driver would drop Jessica off to work every day.

 

And then she thought of a great scapegoat. Her cousin. That b!tch is bored, she thought. So Jessica stood up from her bed and walked towards to her desk, where she sat her phone. She then dialed Hyomin’s number. “Hello,” Hyomin greeted after a few rings.

 

“Hey, dude, can I sleepover?”

 

“Huh? Why?”

 

“I’ll talk to you about it when I get there. So, can I?”

 

“Sure. I’ll just tell my mom you’re crashing here.”

 

“Tell her you invited me! So if she talks to my dad, he won’t know I’m lying,” Jessica explained since she would be telling her father that her cousin begged her.

 

“Ugh, sure. Your reason for this better be legit. My folks will end up comparing me to you again. That will be annoying,” Hyomin said. “You know how much they love you, the perfect kid.

 

The blonde knew how Hyomin’s parents got whenever the blonde was around. They tend to ask her about her achievements, basically comparing the two. They always tell Hyomin that Jessica was a good daughter for always trying to learn the business. Jessica actually didn’t need that right now, and so did her cousin. “Actually, I can just rent a hotel room and if my dad asks you, just tell him I’m there, okay?”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“Just because,” Jessica said.

 

“Nah, just stay over. How about if your dad ends up asking my folks? Just come over now so we can go to a bar or something.”

 

“Okay, thanks!” The call ended and so she went outside her room to see if someone was there to carry her things to her car. When she saw a maid passing by, she gave them instructions to have her car ready with her things loaded in the trunk. And then she was off to lie to her father.

 

 

 

***

 

Being allowed to spend some time with Hyomin, the blonde couldn’t help but comply to her father’s condition of having a driver at all times; her father had always been against for his daughter to be driving since he had an accident before, causing him to require somebody else to drive for him. He was the type to be pushy so the blonde didn’t want to argue since he might had changed his mind.

 

Since the two had a driver and the duo didn’t want to be around Hyomin’s parents, they were at the bar while a driver waited for them outside. The blonde was able to update Hyomin on what happened at home, causing her to leave temporarily.

 

“I still can’t believe it,” Hyomin said as she sipped on her margarita. “I mean, I kinda knew she liked you, but then she went out with Yuri so I got confused and thought, maybe she was just really friendly with you,” she continued as she looked at her cousin in the eyes. “I didn’t think she was just with Yuri to forget about you. Now that’s really something.”

 

The blonde sighed, not knowing what to say. Really though, what was there for her to say? She was at the losing end no matter how they tried to make this as painless as possible, the blonde was still hurt somehow.

 

“It’s okay, cous. You did the right thing,” Hyomin patted Jessica’s back as she ordered AMF for her cousin. “You deserve to be happy, so you really have to move on from this ed up love.”

 

The blonde gave a soft smile as she took a shot of vodka that they had the bartender line up for her. “I’m trying. And to be honest, I’m actually better now. At least, I know I wasn’t loved enough.” Because what she said was the truth. Taeyeon watched her suffer; the latter knew of the blonde’s feelings and still showed off her relationship and how happy she was despite, apparently so, loving the blonde. Why couldn’t Jessica love in a more conventional manner? She had her friends set her up on dates to get over the girl; she went through it just so she could search whatever there was in life that could make her happier, and yet she found the most devastating thing there was.

 

“You were a coward, too,” Hyomin softly smiled at Jessica, reminding the blonde that she never told Taeyeon her feelings before.

 

“You’re right.” That was true. The blonde was a coward and she couldn’t change that since it was already in the past. She took a while to confess. She snoozed, and she lost.

 

“Tiffany’s there for you anyway,” Hyomin said.

 

The blonde raised her brow at her cousin. “Why do you always bring Tiffany up?”

 

“Why shouldn’t I? The girl is nice, smart, and really beautiful.” Hyomin counted with her fingers, showing Jessica Tiffany’s great qualities.

 

Again, this was a fact. The blonde wouldn’t even try to deny those redeeming qualities her friend had. But Tiffany? She was just never an option to Jessica since they were both there for each other to be a great friend. And that was that. Tiffany was heartbroken months ago by that d0uchebag she dated, who cheated on her, while Jessica was trying to move on from her best friend, who was actually in love with her all along. It was weird since she and Taeyeon were great friends before this, and now, she didn’t even want to see the girl. With what happened with her and the blonde, the latter was afraid that even considering Tiffany would be bad for their friendship. “I just don’t think we should try to up our friendship by liking each other.”

 

“What makes you think you’ll up?”

 

The blonde raised her brow, but was blankly stared at by her cousin, so she scoffed a laugh and then said, “Have you met me?” She then pointed at herself, “Me. It’s hard to deal with me. I know I’ll screw up somehow.”

 

Rolling her eyes, Hyomin then said, “Honey, I’ve known you since I can remember… I know you’ll be fine. You should give it a try.”

 

Tiffany? And she would up big time and lose the girl? She was one of the things that made Jessica feel human, so why should she try to hurt the few people who didn’t judge her and just accepted her, regardless of how hard it was to deal with her. “Maybe not with Tiffany,” the blonde said as she took a sip of the AMF her cousin ordered for her. “I like her too much to try to repeat what I just did with Taeyeon.”

 

Hyomin shrugged. “Just try it. Or maybe you can date someone else. Who knows?”

 

“What the hell? I’m not ready for this. I want to have time for myself after wasting it on Taeyeon,” Jessica said as she stood from the stool.

 

“I didn’t say try it now. Move on, and when you’re ready, someone out there will appreciate you and see how nice you are,” Hyomin patted her back ones again and then pulling her closer by the neck. “Even though you’re pretty b!tchy, someone will see past that and see how nice you really are. Kinda…” she added as she laughed.

 

“ off,” the blonde said as she hit Hyomin’s arm off of her. “I work tomorrow. Let’s go home.”

 

****

 

It was a bad idea to drink a lot the night before since Jessica woke up with a headache this morning; however, that didn’t excuse her from needing to show up at work, so now she was stuck in her cubicle, looking at the delinquent files that never made any payments on. She was checking their identifications and backgrounds but couldn’t even find these people at all. They really were just dummy accounts She called the numbers that were provided as primary contact information, but they were all not in service. This was really a huge anomaly since it was a branch manager that approved all the loans, and they were more than three million dollars in total of delinquencies – this usually happened in finance businesses when managers try to overwrite the system, approving loans manually and they end up withdrawing the money themselves.

 

The blonde remembered last time this happened was about five years ago, and it became a huge issue since the former employee threatened their whole family. This actually escalated to the guy intentionally hitting the car her father was driving when Jessica was in the passenger seat, causing him to simply hire professional drivers for the family. If this case really turned out to embezzlement, the blonde simply hoped that her father wouldn’t try to panic or the guy wouldn’t try to do anything that would harm them. She didn’t need anymore stress in her life than what she was going through now.

 

Her headache was worsening so she grabbed the bridge of her nose, hoping that this would do the trick. Regularly, this was really too much for someone who was still in college. The stress and the thought of someone stealing from her family was just too much, but at the same time, she was raised to think that there were those people who were going to take advantage of anything as long as there was money involved. A lot of money involved.

 

“Miss Jung,” someone called, bursting her inner bubble, and so the blonde looked back, seeing her father’s secretary – this old lady had been with them for more than twenty years; she remembered her with black hair before, now it was a combination and white and grey - as she carried a container of food. “Your lunch?”

 

Not noticing the time, the blonde then asked, “Is it really that time already?” She then looked at the pile of files she had on her desk, and on the desk beside hers, which was unoccupied and she used as hers as well. She then looked at the secretary and said, “Thanks, you can leave it there.”

 

“You should eat properly,” the old lady said as she sat the food on the desk. “Your father’s worrying since he already talked to his lawyers about the case.” So the case was really pushing through against this manager. They did have a lot of evidence against him so the blonde wasn’t worried at all.

 

The blonde frowned, not wanting her father to stress too much. He wasn’t even paranoid at the fact that people stole from the company, it was more like he was afraid what they could do especially there was history of someone trying to rid of them, causing him to never drive again. That accident really caused her family a lot of tension since that triggered her parents’ separation.

 

“He’ll be fine,” the old lady said as she placed her hand on Jessica’s shoulder. “And he was boasting about you to the directors, saying you really did a good job with this. If it wasn’t for you, he might have gotten more, he said.”

 

The blonde smiled; her father was always like that, always trying to say good things about her. She knew she was lucky because even though her parents weren’t there, they still really did what they could. Their little ways to show their love, the blonde appreciated. “He’s so embarrassing,” she said, trying to hide what she truly felt. The old lady simply smiled and excused herself, needing to go back to work.

 

The blonde then her personal laptop since she was on break anyway. She figured Tiffany was already on, waiting for her. Just when she barely turned it on, she received messages from last night from Tiffany.

 

Where are you?

 

Busy?

 

You promised!

 

I guess you’re busy.

 

You better make it up to me tomorrow!

 

The blonde then remembered that she needed to be online yesterday, and she completely forgot about it. She didn’t mean to forget, but there were too many things going on last night that it slipped her mind. Just before she could type her reply, the call button appeared; her friend was calling her and so she picked up.

 

“I was waiting for two hours!” Tiffany said, not waiting for the video to even start.

 

When the blonde was able to settle everything, the program running fully, she then said, “I’m sorry.”

 

“You better have a great explanation to why you ditched me,” Tiffany narrowed her eyes playfully.

 

Should she bring up Taeyeon again? She didn’t want to retell the story over again since she was trying her best to not remember or think about it. “I’m sorry. It just slipped my mind.”

 

“It slipped your mind?” Tiffany frowned. “You didn’t even miss me? You can just forget your promise with me so easily?”

 

“You’re stupid. I was busy,” Jessica said like she always did, avoiding the subject.

 

“But me, I missed you a lot. And then you just tell me you’re busy? If I can guess right, Taeyeon was probably over that’s why you forgot about me.”

 

There was no point denying it since she figured one way or another, her friend would find out eventually. “She was over, yes.” But the blonde kept it to just that. She didn’t want to elaborate more since she really didn’t want to think of the girl, who hurt her deeply. “How are you anyway? How was your trip?”

 

Tiffany then smiled and said, “It was fun, actually.”

 

“You finally were able to stargaze, huh?” The blonde flashed a smile at her friend, happy that the latter was able to do what she really liked, and at the same time she was excited to see Tiffany’s reaction when she would see her room. “I’m a bit jealous you get to spend time having fun.”

 

“It’s not like you weren’t having fun anyway.”

 

The blonde shook her head. “Fun? Not at all. I’ve been busy with work.”

 

“Sure. You ditched me yesterday to have fun, that’s not work at all.” Tiffany giggled lightly. The blonde simply rolled her eyes and started eating. “I’m actually going to sleep now.”

 

“Tired?” The blonde always worried whenever Tiffany stayed up late just to talk to her over lunch. Sure, she appreciated and liked talking to the girl, but at the same time, she didn’t like being the cause of inconvenience.

 

“Yeah, I haven’t had enough sleep last night.”

 

“You really should take care of yourself,” the blonde said as she frowned. “Good night, Fany-ah. I’ll miss you.” The blonde then winked playfully.

 

Tiffany then smiled softly. “You’re just saying that because you ditched me.”

 

Jessica laughed. “You caught me. Anyway, you should really sleep.”

 

“I will. Bye,” Tiffany said before hanging up.

 

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What do you guys think? :D

 

I enjoyed writing this a lot to a point of posting it just when I finished! :D