Taeyeon’s POV

“Where did you go?” Tiffany hissed as I step into the house. “Why did you come back home so late?”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re a sad excuse of a girlfriend, Tae. Really? You just ran away?” I merely looked down at my feet, somewhat feeling like I was getting scolded by my mother. “You’re unbelievable. And I thought you were better than that.”

I collapsed into the couch, draping one arm over my eyes.

“Where is Jessica?”

“In the guest room...sleeping. She was tired from the travelling.” Tiffany did not sound as angry as before, but for good measure, she added, “and from crying…because of an idiot whom I call my friend.” I flinched a little at her words because it stung. “Where did you go?”

“Beach.” I replied, still not attempting to move from my position.

“Aren’t you going to check on your girlfriend?” I nodded my head in response, hearing some shuffling noises beside me. A hand was placed on my shoulder, kneading it while another rested on my knee. “She misses you, you know? Just like how you’ve missed her.”

“She didn’t call me…” I whispered, not intending for anyone to hear.

“She called me twice, recently… and I’m pretty sure you’ve realized it by now that I was on the phone with her yesterday…right before she got on the plane.” Seeing that I was not going to give any response, she continued. “Her visit was planned, even before whatever that happened with Abby…I am sorry I kept something like this away from you but it was meant to be a surprise and I won’t go into details…it’s for her to tell. That, and why she haven’t called…but she asked about you the two times we were on the phone…she was worried about you, Tae.”

I did remember Jessica mentioned something about cancelling her plane ticket, but had brushed away the thought of her already booking one.

“Go rest, it’s late” Tiffany stood up from the marble floor, pausing to pat my head. “But before you do, go check on your princess.”

I removed my arm from my eyes and when I opened them, Tiffany was gone.

Sigh. Pushing myself up from the couch, I went back to my room to wash up and change into more comfortable clothes, noticing the backpack that I had abandoned prior to running out was already placed under my desk.

The lights in my room were switched off and I slowly trudged down the hallway. I hesitated outside the guest room, one hand hover above the door knob, not knowing if I should grab it or not.

‘Come on Taeng, stop being so cowardly.’ I took a deep breath and hardened my resolve.

Gingerly, I twisted the knob, careful not to make any noise and slightly pushed the door open. Peeking in, I noticed the lights were all switched on but what caught my attention most was the curled up lump in the middle of the bed.

Sighing once again, I turned and went back to my room, returning seconds later after grabbing the blanket off my bed. Jessica had laid in bed with the covers under her and I did not want to wake her up by shifting her position. Tucking her in, I gently swipe away loose strands of hair covering her face.

Her tears had dried up, leaving traces behind. Tiffany was right, my Princess had cried herself to sleep. My heart clenched at the sight of her still sniffling even in her sleep. It made me hate myself more than I thought I could. Why was it that I could I not do a single thing right? Why was it that she was suffering because of my stupidity?

Even though I had waited day after day for her call, unexpectedly, I felt myself getting angry at Jessica when she had suddenly appeared; I became agitated at the sight of her. All I could think of was the fact that she had managed to travel all the way from half way across the globe, but had not bothered to press a few buttons on her phone.

My mind shut down then, whatever happened in between was hazy but I vaguely remembered running out of the house. And when my mind restarted, I found myself wandering along the shoreline, among tourists. I had honestly not know why I fled and was tempted to run back home but was much too embarrassed to do so. As a result, I walked around aimlessly till the sun had set and the beach was almost emptied of any being.

Leaving only the night light on, I stealthily crept under the covers, lying very still on my back beside my girlfriend. I stared hard at the back of Jessica’s form, not knowing what to do with myself. Did I even have the right to be here?

It was the first time I felt so awkward sharing the bed with her. I did not know if she would want to find me next to her if she wakes up in the middle of the night, especially not after what I had done a few hours ago. I was still embarrassed of myself. Maybe I should go back to my room.

‘I’m leaving on the count of 5.’ I told myself, clenching my fists tightly. ‘1, 2, 3, 4…5……’

The attempt was futile, for Jessica was a magnet and I was just a random piece of metal scrap that was trapped in its magnetic field. I was drawn to her and could not find the courage to eradicate myself from the bed.

‘On the count of 10 then…5 was too short.’ Squeezing my eyes shut, I started counting. This time, I was determined to leave. ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5…6…7, 8, 9…10…11…’ and I was still not moving.

Sigh.

Shifting some, I found myself inching closer to the sleeping body, one arm hovering above her waist, debating with myself if I should just wrap it around her.

Sigh.

I lost count of how many times I had done it in just a day and was beginning to feel like I was slowly transforming into a dragon, save for the smoke and fire.

Inhale. Exhale. Ah, whatever.

Before I could change my mind, I s my arm around her, scooting even closer till I felt her back pressed up against me. She stirred a little and I stilled, not daring to breathe.

‘Is she awake?’

There was no other movements from her and I slowly let out the breath that I held in. Just as I was about to relax, Jessica turned. Fingers griping tightly onto the fabric of my cotton shirt, she wiggled closer against me, legs tangling into mine.

“Taengoo…” Came a muffled whimper.

The sniffling continued and she mumbled incoherent words every now and then. A wet patch slowly formed on my chest and when I managed to take a glance at her face, I realized that she was crying in her sleep. It clawed my heart to see her like that. Overwhelmed by a surge of emotion, I almost burst out crying like a 3 year old would, very much tempted to pry her away from me so that I could leave for somewhere private and brawl my eyes out.

‘You don’t have the right to do so.’ I reprimanded myself.

Instead I punished myself by banging the top of my head against the wooden headboard. 

Satisfied with the pain that I had inflicted upon myself, I tightened my hold on her, rubbing her back up and down like how she used to get me to sleep when I had trouble doing so. Soon enough Jessica stop trembling in my arms and calmed down, but the frown remained etched on her forehead. I was concentrating on her so much so that I did not realized that I had the exact same frown mirrored on my face the entire time.

Lifting a finger, I lightly wiped the tears away.

‘How many times did I make you cry already? Will you be better off without me?’

My brain started showing me flashbacks of the past and I watched them like a movie, image after image, clips after clips. With every second that passed, my confidence etched away. I was doubting myself as a human, doubting myself as her partner. If I could not even take care of myself, how was I going to take care of her?

I saw myself confessing to her by the river…The timing was off, I should not have done it in the spur of the moment.

‘You were not ready. Look at yourself now, look at her…look at the both of you.’

But there was nothing I could do to change the past, what was done, was done.

The image of the shy and quiet Jessica eating by herself in the canteen during our orientation appeared and I could not help but mentally compared the Jessica of 2 years ago to the Jessica that was lying beside me. She was nothing like how she looked back then. I made her turn into this broken being in front of me…all my fault. If only I had done a better job at being her girlfriend.

Jessica had always been her parents’ pride and joy. She was well-mannered and to top it off, she managed to excel in her studies and had a promising future ahead. Her life was almost perfect, save for that little imperfection that was me.

“You know, it pains me to do this, but I want you to stop seeing my daughter for the time being. The both of you needed to wake up and see the bigger picture. This is wrong, you can’t be together. My daughter deserves better.”

Even if her father had since accepted us being together over the year, occasionally and especially at times like this, I was reminded of her father’s disappointed face when he first saw us kissing at his doorstep.

I made her life difficult, I brought nothing but pain to her. I was the only imperfection.

‘You shouldn’t have fallen for me, you should have pushed me away from you. Maybe then, you would be living a normal life and people would not look at you weirdly for having a girlfriend instead of a boyfriend.’

I tried so much to fall asleep but each time I closed my eyes, I was confronted with other images of us. Memories of a happier Jessica on our study dates from before we got together to memories of me hurting her and avoiding her when I felt like I could not face her. It hurts to think of them, be it good ones or bad ones and I eventually gave up on trying to sleep.

I ended up staring at her, gazing at every details on her face. Scrutinizing her this close when she slept was a first and it was different. Every little action that she made subconsciously was not something that I would usually see when she was in full control of her facial muscles and the amount of innocence that she excluded was fascinating to watch in the dimed lighting.

‘Why do you look so different from 2 weeks ago?’

The dark circles that under those eyes that tainted the otherwise flawless face was a dead giveaway to the number of restless nights she must had had. Other than the few tuition sessions that she had in a week, she was supposed to be having her much deserve post ‘A’ levels fun; there was no more school, no more exams.

‘It’s because of me, all because of me.’

Sighing for the n^th time that night, I started running my finger through her hair mindlessly.

‘What am I going to do with you? Whenever it comes to you, I seem to be doing everything wrong.’ Leaning down, I pressed my lips on the crown of her head, closing my eyes tightly, eye brows scrunching up. After what seemed like minutes, I pulled away slightly, only to bury my nose in her tresses. ‘I really want to do better…Tell me what to do Princess…tell me what to do so you don’t have to shed anymore tears because of me…I’m not worth any drop of it.’

 

--

 

Morning came too quickly for my liking. I had drifted in and out of sleep, never quite awake nor asleep. It felt like only a minute had passed since I last closed my eyes when the alarm on my phone went off. Afraid that it was going to wake Jessica up, I switched it off immediately before it could ring for another second. My muscles had never felt so heavy when I untangled myself from the still slumbering figure beside me and forced myself out of bed. I was rather tempted to ditch school all together to stay home, something that I had not felt for a very long time. Being unstable on my feet, I almost crashed into Tiffany as I stumbled out. I saw her quirked an eyebrow, looking at the door that I had come out from and then back at me. Giving her a dismissive wave of my hand, I shuffled my way into my room to get ready for another day in school.

 

“Tae, hurry up.” Fany called for me in the hallway. I grabbed the post it from my desk, picked up a random pen and started scribbling on it. I hesitated to write down the last line and was about to finish it off when I decided against writing it at the last moment, cancelling the half written line at the bottom. “If you’re not coming out in one minute, I’m driving off without you. I’m not going to be late for lecture because of you.”

“Coming…gimme 30 seconds.” I hurried towards the guest room and stuck the note on the door so there was no chance of her missing it when she woke up later. Pulling the covers over her a little higher, I made sure she was warmly tucked in before rushing out, closing the door behind. “Okay, let’s go.”

I was reluctant to leave Jessica behind, I really was. We were going to leave things hanging for another few hours and I was sure as hell that it was going to be awkward when I finally have to face her when I get back later.

 

“Why do you look so shag today? What did the both of you do…last night, in the room?” Turning my head, I opened an eye blearily to look at Tiffany who was taking glances at me as she turned into the entrance of my school.

“We slept together…wahh..Hey!”

The tires screeched as she slammed down hard on the break. The force of it flung my body forward and I almost hit my head on the dashboard. It did not help that I was already feeling lightheaded and the impact started to make me see stars. I was ready to pass out any time soon when Tiffany’s high pitched voice pierced through my ear drums, adding on to the ringing in my head.

“You slept together?! As in like hot make up se-ex...?”

I rolled my eyes irritably. When it comes to being a byuntae, Tiffany was just as bad as Yuri.

Unbuckling my seat belt, I opened the door and with 1 foot out of the car, I turned back to look at her, smirking the best I could. “I barely had any sleep last night, what else do you think we did?”

If I was going to be feeling miserable, groggy and sick the entire day, might as well drag someone else down with me. Besides, even if Jessica did not want to talk to me, Tiffinany could have at least told me she called and provided me with some updates.

“But…but I was just next door. I would have heard.” She frowned, scratching her head.

“Maybe we were a little too quiet.” Bending down to look at her through the open car door, “You better run along, Fany. Or you’re going to be late.” Without giving her the chance to ask any more questions, I slammed the door shut and trudged off for my first class, knowing that she would more than likely be thinking about it all day and would not be able to concentrate in class.

 

 

Jessica’s POV

*Yawn*

“Mhmmm~” Rolling over to one side, I stretched, before rolling to the other side and doing the same thing again. Arms landed on the soft material of the blanket and I could not help but pull them up higher, scrunching up a fistful of it and burying my face into it.

‘I was supposed to wait up for Taengoo though.’

My eyelids felt heavy, a little swollen from the crying yesterday. I did not want to open them and kept them close, rolling about in bed, trying to get my muscles warmed up from hibernation. For some reasons, the quilt smelled familiar but it took quite some time for my fatigued being to match the scent to its owner.

“Taeng?” I felt around, hoping to find her, but the space beside me was cold and empty. “Aw… who am I kidding?”

Why would Taeng even want to share the same bed when she ran from me? Was she hurt or was she mad?

Or was it simply because she did not want to see me?

Even so, I was still hoping that she would be the first thing that I would see when I gathered enough courage to slowly pry my eyes open, only to be disappointed. Grunting, I felt around the sheets for my phone to check the time.

‘10pm? Why is it still so bright outside?’

Puzzled, I forced myself out of bed, dragging my body to the window to pull up the blinds.

‘It’s still so sunny…why-’ I smacked my head as a sudden thought came into my mind. ‘Oh yea, it’s only 2 in the afternoon and Taeng’s in school.’

With nothing left to do, I went back into bed and wrapped myself tightly in the Taengoo scented blanket, imagining that I was resting snugly in her arms. She must had come in last night seeing that her blanket was with me…and probably spent the night too. Just the thought of it made me giddy with happiness. At least she still cared for me. Now that I think about it, I did feel someone’s arms around me half way through the night… or was my mind playing tricks on me?

It was only when my stomach started growling did I drag my jet-lagging- self up to look for food and found that Taeyeon had left me a post- it note. I had stepped on it accidentally on the way out of the room, with it sticking to my toes.

 

Princess,

Help yourself to anything in the house.

Call if you need anything

Code number: 2306

Sorry for making you cry, I’ll be back b4 5.

I lov   I miss you and I’m really, really sorry.

Even if you hate me,

Taengoo

 

I smiled, noticing that she must have written it in a hurry judging by how sloppy the penmanship was. I also did not miss the fact that she was about to write ‘I love you’ but ended up cancelling it instead. I did not know if it was because she was pissed at me for ignoring her, but she had called me ‘Princess’. That must have meant something.

“I love you too, idiot.” I said to an empty house, feeling a little sad at the way she had signed off. Did she really think that I would hate her? “When are you going to get that into that thick skull of yours?”

The refrigerator in their apartment was well stocked up and I found everything needed to put together some sandwiches. As I sat at the kitchen counter munching on my super late brunch, I reread Taeng’s note over and over again, grinning to myself, knowing that she would be back in a little more than an hour. But she did say before 5. So it meant that I might actually get to see her earlier. 

I idled around but with nothing to keep me entertained, my mind wandered off to Taengoo and to the memory of her asking me not to come closer to her. I was not going to judge, she must have her own reasons. I was not going to make the same mistake twice; jumping into conclusion. I would let her tell me in her own time.

Because it hurts to think about it and because I wanted to stop thinking about it, I decided to explore the house to keep myself occupied. Stepping into her room, I saw the familiar bed where she had laid on so many times when we were on Skype. Books were everywhere, strewn across her desk, all over her floor. Even her bed was invaded by books, revision papers and what not, I wondered how she managed to find enough space on it to sleep. Finally succeeding in maneuvering my way through all the things she had piled up on the floor, I stepped into the bathroom. With the way Taeyeon had been bragging about it, I somewhat had a high expectation of it.

“Ayy…”

It was just a bathroom, come on. Maybe two and a half times bigger than the bathroom she was used to at home with the addition of a bathtub; and it wasn’t like as if she’d never seen one; her parents had one in the master bedroom’s toilet. But considering that the dork had weird taste for weird things like this, it probably was a big deal for her.

Oh well, since she really liked her bathroom, there had to be something special about it. Retreating back to the guest room, I took my shower stuff and made my way back to Taeng’s ensuit toilet. Maybe my thoughts about it would change after coming out from a shower.

 

Drying my hair with the towel, I collided into Tiffany in the hallway, scaring the life out of the both of us. It must have been a funny sight to watch, with me letting out a dolphin scream and Tiffany landing on her buttocks having stumbled backwards.

“Are you okay?” I asked, pulling her back onto her feet after I had calmed down

“Yea.” Eyeing me from head to toe, her gaze shifted from me to Taeng’s room and then back on me. “What were you doing in Tae Tae’s room?”

“Err…showering?” With the towel in hand, I thought it was obvious to anyone, why ask?

“Oh…” For some reasons she seemed flustered. “About last night…Did the both of you like…”

“Like?” I prompted, seeing that she was hesitant to continue.

“Erm…never mind, I’m going for a shower.” She tilted her head to the side, turning her back on me, muttering about Taetae sleeping in the guest room and something along the lines of rabbits under her breath.

My heart soared at the knowledge that my Taengoo had indeed stayed with me, though I did not understand the part about rabbits. For whatever reasons to why she ran last evening, she still came back to me, like always. At least I knew that she was not mad at me anymore, if she ever was.

*Beep Beep*

Head snapped towards the direction of the front door in the midst of my self- celebration. I watched as the door slowly open, revealing a haggard looking Taeyeon, my baby. Like yesterday, she froze upon seeing me. It made me panicked for a moment, afraid that she was going to pull the same stunt yet again.

“Taeng, I…” I took one small, cautious step towards her, who was still showing no signs of moving at all. “Taengoo.”

Taeyeon took a step back, dropping her backpack carefully by the shoe rack.

‘Not again, please.’ I thought to myself. With both eyes fixed on her, I tensed my muscles, readying myself to run after her if there was a need to. I was not stupid enough to let her slip away from me again.

“Jessica…” My eyes widen as I watched her dropped to her knees, shoulders slumping with her head bowed down. “Darling.”

“What are you doing? Don’t do this, please.” I hurried forward, kneeling in front of her, one hand extended out to cup her face. I felt her clenched her jaw tight as I tried to get her to look at me. Being the stubborn person that she always was, she refused do so, fixing her gaze on the ground obstinately. “Taengoo-ah.”

“I-I’m sorry, Sica-ah.” A lone tear rolled down her cheek, her whole body trembling from the effort to hold the rest back. “I’m so sorry…for everything.”

“Get up, you stupid idiot.” Grabbing her arms, I attempted to hoist her onto her feet, only to fail miserably. “I said get up, you’re making me feel bad.”

Why was she begging on her knees? The proud Taeyeon that I knew would definitely not do that, not in a million years. She rarely cried in front of me as well. Looking at the shuddering mess in front of me, tears started welling in my eyes as well.

Taeyeon was scaring me a lot and I did not know what to do with her.

“Please, baby…please.” Hands sliding down her arms, I tugged the hem of her shirt weakly. “Get up.”

“I’m sorry…”

Aish, whatever.

Flinging myself onto her, I wrapped my arms around her waist tightly, face buried in her shirt. “What’s your problem, idiot? Why are you doing this? Get up will you?” Taeyeon shook her head, frustrating me. “Okay, I forgive you, so please get up.” I pleaded, thinking of ways to get the obstinate mutt to move. “Please, Tiffany’s in her room and she’s coming out any second. You don’t want her to walk out to this do you?”

It seemed to do the trick though. Detaching myself from her, I managed to get her up onto her feet and into the living area.

“What was that for?” I asked slapping her arm lightly.

“I’m sorry.”

“What did I say about saying ‘I’m sorry’?”

“I…I…” But before she could continue any further, we were interrupted by Tiffany emerging from her bedroom.

“Oh, you’re back.” Tiffany was seemingly oblivious to whatever that had happened seconds earlier in the hallway. “Let’s go for dinner together after I’m done showering.”

I fixed my eyes on Tiffany as she walked into the common toilet, dropping it onto my lap after she closed the door behind her.

Within that time frame, Taeyeon had somehow regained her composure for when I next looked at her, there was no sign of any tears. Heck, if it was not for those slightly reddened eyes, no one would have thought that she had just cried. Bipolar much.

“Want to ditch Tiffany?” She asked softly, still not meeting my gaze.

“Huh?”

“Let’s not eat with her.” She stood up, extending out her hand to me. “And I haven’t forgive myself even if you had forgiven me.”

“But…”

Taeyeon sighed, bending down a little so that she could take my hand into hers. I did not know if the time apart had make me forgot how it felt like to be held by her, but it was somehow different from how I remembered it to be. It was like she was handling glass, afraid that I would break if she was to hold just a little tighter.

“Come on, let’s go now or she’s coming out.”

I bit my lips, looking at Taeng and then at the washroom that Tiffany was in. Was it really alright to leave without her? Taeng gave my hand a little tug, urging me wordlessly to follow her. Hesitantly, I complied and let her took the lead.

We ended up at a cozy café not far from the apartment and found a booth at a quiet corner that would give us our privacy. Taeyeon was about to slide into the seat opposite when I stopped her.

“Sit next to me?” I asked, tugging on her hand. “Please?”

Like an obedient puppy, she submitted to my request and I moved in to make space for her. Taeyeon placed the order for the both of us. It seemed like she frequent the place a lot for she knew exactly what she wanted.

While waiting for our food to arrive, I noticed that she had left a few inches of space between us and I moved to close it. Seemingly startled by my action, I felt her stiffen as I made to grab hold of her hand.

“Taeyeon- ah, why aren’t you talking?”

“You hate it whenever I say ‘I’m sorry’, but right now, other than those words I’ve got nothing else to offer.”

“No questions for me?”

She shook her head slowly.

Maybe the time apart had put some distance between us, no matter how subtle it was. Silences like this used to be comforting but right now it was killing me. How I wished we could wrap up everything that had happen in the past 2 weeks and forget about it with hugs and kisses but Taeyeon became as still as a log with just so much as a touch.

“I was at fault too, Taeng. Stop beating yourself over it...I’m sorry for treating you like crap, for not calling back, and I’m not going to give any excuses. And I can understand if you’re mad at me for that.” I spoke up first, giving her hand a light squeeze. “I did it to get back at you cause I was still pissed, initially. It was childish, I know, I realized after a while…which was why I couldn’t gather the courage to pick up your calls and face you…I didn’t know what to say to you.”

Taeng shook her head again and I sighed.

“Okay, you know what? Let’s not talk about depressing things today.” With my free hand, I tilted her chin up, willing her to look back at me. “We’re going to be fine, right?”

The corner of her lips twitched a little before she managed to put a small smile on her face. “Yea.” She replied, giving me a slight nod of her head. “But I’m still mad at myself for putting you through this .”

In response, I gave her a chaste kiss on her cheek, to which she gave me another small smile in return before lowering her head down again.

“Taeng, I’ve got an interview tomorrow for the college I was talking about, the one that you’ve been aiming to get into…It’s a 2 hours’ drive from here and Fany’s driving me there.”

Taeyeon lifted her head in surprise. “Serious?” I nodded and she frowned. “You’re not doing this for me are you? Moving half way across the globe?”

I chuckled at her response, remembering the promise that I made to her a few months back.

“Partly.”

“You don’t have to do this for me you know…”

“The law course over there is said to be the best in the world and mummy’s not going to pass up on the opportunity when it’s practically served up to my nose on a silver platter, especially not when I've managed to get a scholarship.” Wanting to lift the heavy atmosphere, I added, “Hey, I’m an honor roll student just like you, smarty pants. Are you trying to say that you never thought I would be able to make it?”

“Is that why you’re here? For the interviews and tests?” I nodded as she took in the information. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Taeyeon’s expression was unreadable and I was afraid for a second that she offended at having to learn the news late.

“It was meant to be a surprise, and your belated birthday present…you realized we’ve never spent your birthdays together ever since we got together?”

For the first time since I had gotten here, Taeyeon broke into a huge grin, the kind of smile that reaches her eyes, the kind that I loved so much.

“As expected from you, Princess. Told you that you’re smart enough.”

Just then our order arrived and we stopped talking for a moment till the waitress went away.

“But I still have to pass those interviews first.” I reminded her.

“I know you can make it for sure.”

“Is that all?”

Taeng looked at me, puzzled.

“Congratulations?” She offered.

“You’re not going to reward me for a job well done?”

“But I don’t have a gift...” She thought for a moment before adding, “Dinner’s on me?”

“You’re going to pay for dinner anyway, so no, something else.” I pressed.

“Like?”

I tilted my face towards her a little, tapping my lips. She got my hint but then she faltered.

“Taengoo-ah, I know you feel bad for hurting me, but I’ve hurt you as well. So let’s call it even and start anew, okay?” She fidgeted, looking lost. “Please?”

Without saying anything, she pulled me in, planting a kiss on my forehead. “This is for being smart.” Moving down, she planted another one on my nose bridge. “This is for your interview tomorrow.” Another one on the tip of my nose, making my heart skip a beat, anticipating her next move. “For forgiving an idiot who hurt you.” Finally, she captured my lips, giving me a short but sweet kiss, leaving me yearning for more. “And this is because I miss you so very much.” She leaned back into the seat, blushing after giving me another kiss to the lips. “And I’m really sorry. I’ll try to be a better girlfriend to you.”

“You just have to stay this way.” I pretended to think for a while. “Maybe work on your temper a little, but other than that, you’re good enough. And I’m not just saying this to make you feel better.” If there was one thing Taeyeon did not know, it would be that no matter how angry or upset I was with her, like her, I would never be able to stay that way for long, even if my actions showed otherwise. “One more thing. Whatever happens, promise me you’ll never, ever, get on your knees again, you understand me?”

She nodded meekly.

“If you’re wondering why I ran yesterday, you don’t have to. It didn’t have anything to do with you. I swear was going to run back but I was too embarrassed. Frankly, I didn’t even know why I did that.” She confessed.

“It’s in the past. Food’s getting cold, let’s dig in.” I said, patting her back.

We barely started taking in our first bite when a shadow loomed over us.

“Hey! How could the both of you do this to me?” I looked up just in time to see Tiffany sliding into the seat opposite us, hair still slightly wet.

“You found us anyways.” Taeyeon replied, not looking up from her dinner.

Not hearing the response she wanted, Tiffany turned to look at me. Giving her an apologetic smile, I shrugged. Well, it was not my idea to ditch her in the first place.

Reaching over the table, she gave Taengoo a hard smack on her back. “Must be your stupid idea, you little rabbit.”

Taeyeon spluttered, coughing up a storm. I handed her a glass of water, rubbing her back, waiting for her to calm down while Tiffany placed her order with the waitress.

“Are you okay?” I asked when she had calmed down some.

She nodded her head, giving one last cough to clear her airway. Seeing that Tiffany was busy with her phone, I leaned closer to Taeng so that I could whisper into her ear.

“Taeng, what’s with Fany and rabbits?” my eyes darted over to see if Tiffany had overheard us. “I don’t get it, she has been saying weird stuff since she came back.”

The corner of her lips lifted up a bit to form a smirk. “She’s deluded, let her be.”

With that comment, I knew that Taeng was going to be okay, that we were going to be alright. Even if she was still being a little reserved, it was a start.

“Who’s deluded?” Tiffany asked innocently, looking up from her phone.

“Nothing.” The both of us answered at the same time, digging into our plates once again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An extra long chapter as an apology for taking too long to update. (: Though I probably didn’t do a good job on it...felt like it was missing something no matter how many times I read it. Oh, and I haven't check for mistakes yet.

I know I said that I was going to end it, (because my life was boring like that and I thought I would end your agony of having to read it; and I only started writing this cos I thought it would be fun to start writing other stuffs for a change other than thesis and reports) but I was toying with the idea of extending it, like bringing it away from the original plot or something. Idk…I’ll let you all decide.

Till then~ (: