Taeyeon’s POV

Dating was one thing but living together was another. Though we get to see each other every day, it was hard to adjust to each other’s lifestyle at first. I had stayed over at Jessica’s on multiple occasions, but it was not the same as staying under the same roof 24/7. Disagreements were bound to happen due to differences in lifestyles. As endearing as some habits were, it sometimes put our patience to test.

 

Being the OCD person that I was, there was one thing I really could not stand above all the many things that got on my nerves- and that was being messy. Things always have to be clean and tidy but looking at the state of the room, it was nowhere near to being organized with all the clothes scattered everywhere. Jessica’s room was always neat every time I was at her house and I never knew that she had such a sloppy side to her. It did not quite suit her image as well for she was always prim and proper.

 

“Wah!” I skidded across the floor, falling onto my ultimately after failing to find my balance.

Realizing the cause of my fall, I cursed under my breath. With my thumb and forefinger, I pinched the fabric of a particular laced trying to untangle it from my foot, nose cringing in disgust. “Is this washed or not?” I wondered out loud as I inspected it under the light with half a mind to take a whiff of it but then decided against it, knowing that it would only make me look like a psycho.

“Baby? What are you doing on the floor?” Jessica walked into the room, eyeing the that I was holding.

‘Speaking of the devil…’

“Oh!” Flustered, she took the offending piece of undergarment from me, hiding it behind her back.

Grunting, I rolled my eyes. “Darling, that’s like the 3^rd time today my foot got caught in some random article of clothes lying all over the place.” I smiled, trying to keep my tone pleasant. “And I have no idea if they are fresh out of the laundry…or on their way… to the laundry.” I continued, albeit being a little sarcastic.

Jessica had opened up more to me, becoming bolder after I had sneaked into the bathtub with her once. She was no longer conscious of baring her body in front of me and because of it, she was always stark before stepping into the bathroom for a shower, leaving a trail of shorts, shirts and undergarments in her wake. A part of me was glad that Jessica was comfortable enough around me to do as she pleased but as time went by, seeing clothes lying everywhere was an eyesore due to my OCD nature.

How difficult was it to dump them into the hamper after coming out from the bathroom? To make matter worse, Jessica liked experimenting with her wardrobe and would try clothes on in various combinations, leaving them lying around afterwards, making it hard to differentiate the clean ones from the used ones. And every now and then, I would accidentally step on some of her ‘grenades’, especially when I was not paying attention to where I was going.

“I’m sorry baby.” She helped me up, giving my buttocks a few pats. “I promise I’ll take all the dirty clothes out the next time. Don’t be mad at me okay?”

Puppy eyes stared at me as I tried to divert my gaze on anything in the room except her. Those pleading brown orbs made it hard for me to stand my ground and she almost had me for a moment.

“You said that yesterday, and the day before…and the day before the day before. Look at the mess…” I said, and to prove my point, I jerked my chin towards a baby pink bra lying not far away.

Hearing that she zoomed around the room, quickly picking up the worn clothes and threw them into the laundry basket before sweeping the clean ones into her arms.

“There. I’ve tidied them up so please forgive me?” Oh, someone need to seriously block those puppy eyes staring back at me before I go crazy. “I’ll work harder on this, I swear.”

“You clean up fast though…if only you would put in the effort-”

“Please? I'm so used to having the housekeeper tidy up my room and it takes time to get use to this. Go easy on me?”

Argh! Fine.

As expected, nothing changed since then and I was still cleaning up after her, sometimes even going to the extent of sniffing out the worn clothing.

‘Why the hell am I doing this?’ I thought to myself, examining the lingerie I had just picked up. ‘Just how many does she have to wear in a day?’ If Yuri ever got to know about this, I would surely be made a laughing stock among my friends.

“Hmm, she definitely wore this before.” I concluded.

 

As much as I hated mess, Jessica had this obsession over how furniture should be used- like how study tables are meant for studying and coffee tables/dining tables are meant for eating etc. However, Sica would especially go crazy whenever I treated the couch as a bed.

 

“Taengoo! How many times had I told you to not fall asleep on the couch?”

I woke up to Jessica smacking my rear. Disorientated, I flipped over to lie on my back, wiping the drool off the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand.

“H~uh?” My voice cracked, eyes still refused to open themselves.

My mushy brain was still processing the fact that I was not sleeping on the bed.

Oh yea, I fell asleep while watching television the night before.

‘Crap, I’m in deep .’ I played dead, afraid of seeing a hellsica if I opened my eyes.

Two mornings ago when Jessica found me sprawled out on the couch, she had merely let me go after telling me to not do it again. But that same night, I had unknowingly dozed off on the couch yet again while watching a late night documentary. I woke up at about 4 yesterday morning with Jessica pulling my ear, bringing me back to bed with her. Apparently she had gotten thirsty half way through the night and was on her way to the kitchen for a cup of water when she saw me. Realizing that I had done what she hated most for 3 nights in a row, I could only smile at her sheepishly, looking at her through on eye, hoping that she would let me off the hook one more time. Luck was not on my side though.

“How stubborn can you get? The weather’s getting cooler nowadays. You’re going to catch a cold lying here the entire night and it’s not comfortable at all.” She pulled me off the couch, pushing me towards the bedroom. “What’s the use of buying a bed if you’re not going to sleep on it? ...Besides you kept the T.V running throughout the night. Don’t even watch it if you’re just going to fall asleep, it’s such a waste of electricity…” She continued ranting on and on while I washed up in the bathroom, stopping only when I closed the door on her to change. But as soon as I got out, she started again, even while we were having breakfast.

“A bed is a bed and a couch is a couch.” She had said. “Give your bed some respect won’t you? Get your definitions right and use it like how it should be used.”

Knowing that her nagging will only get worse if I were to say something, all I could do was listen quietly as I shove the rest of the toast into my mouth. Honestly, I never did get her logic at all.

“And I haven’t say anything about you sleeping late since we’re technically still on a vacation but-”

“Achoo!” I sneezed, bread crumbs flying all over the table.

“Look at you, Taeng.” She shook her head, wiping my mouth. “Serve you right for not listening to me. Didn’t I tell you that it’s cold out in the living room? You brought this upon yourself and I’m not going to take care of you if you get sick.” But despite her words, she was already at my side, fussing over me and feeling my temperature. “If you’re going to spend one more night on the couch, I swear I’m going to …….”

‘This can’t do, I’ll have to stop her nagging somehow.’ I thought to myself while she ranted on. My eyes sparkled, having thought of a perfect solution. “Darling, let’s go get dressed.”

“Don’t you even try to change the subject, Taeng.”

“Well, I’m planning on taking you out for shopping and sightseeing. Unless you’d much rather stay home…”

Her eyes lit up at the mention of her favorite past time, totally forgetting what she was saying seconds before.

“Give me 5 minutes.” And she disappeared into our room.

Taking her out for shopping as a form of bribery always work, even if it was just window shopping. She got to do what she like and as a bonus, she did not have to worry about me camping on the couch that night for I went to bed straight, worn out from our outing. It was like killing 2 birds with one stone for her and it made me wonder if this was some kind of evil scheme she had planned out to have me totally under her control.

 

Either way, by the time school started, we managed to adjust ourselves around each other, though in the process, I was reduced to being her personal slave, running around and picking up after her…Or maybe I pampered her way too much for her own good. But I was not going to complain, not when she was giving me free shows, exclusively for Taengoo at night. Oh, the way she would shake her rear at me teasingly on her way into the bathroom while I watched from the bed. I continued to stare long after the door was closed behind her, the video playing on my laptop long forgotten.

‘Hell yes! Baby, I’m watching you.’ *smirk* 

 

--

 

“What time do you need me to pick you up?”

“I-I erm...well, baby, you see, they are thinking of- of going out for dinner after we’re done and Taecyeon offered to give me a ride home…so…” She trailed off, peeking up from under her eyelashes to check on my reaction.

‘Heh…it’s that Taecyeon guy again.’ I thought to myself.

It would be a lie if I said I was not bothered by that lanky boy who seemed to be around Jessica 80% of the time while we were in school. It was barely a few months into the start of college life when photos of them together were captured and circulated around the Law faculty, up to the point where there were even speculations of them being a couple. I was pretty tempted to tell the whole world that Taecyeon was not her stupid boyfriend to put a stop to the rumors but I figured that she probably would not appreciated that for she preferred to keep that particular piece of information among close friends.

“Ah…so I’m having dinner alone again…I see…” Flashing her a big goofy smile, I continued. “It’s okay. We’ve got the weekends anyway. At least I’ll get to have you all to myself for the next 2 days.”

Though she was most probably going to be out again tomorrow afternoon for her case study project, I could not help but hope that she would not have to.

But as much as I would like for her to not hang around Taecyeon so much, it was not like I could ask him to go away and choose some other groups to work with. Besides, I was not going to make myself seem like a possessive person who would not even let my girlfriend do her school work in peace. ‘I’m too cool for that’ I told myself. Jessica hated it. I was being all paranoid while she was around Donghae before, so I figured it was the same with Taecyeon. But I was not that particularly worried about Taecyeon sending her home. I swear I was not going to keep tabs on her this time and just let her be. She can be friends with whoever she liked. Even if Donghae was to appear right now, I had the confidence to let Jessica hang around him and know that at the end of the day, she still belongs to me.

“Baby, I can call you after we’re done for today and you can pick me up for dinner instead.” She suggested.

“Nah. You should hang out more with your group mates and have fun. Make more friends of your own, darling.” I laughed as she gave me a pout. “You’ve been hanging around me and the gang so much that the only friend you had in JC besides them was Clarice.” I pointed out.

“Okay.” She replied halfheartedly. “See you at home.”

For some reason, her mood changed, leaving me baffled as she left me in the middle of the hallway.

“Did I say something wrong?” I wondered out loud, cocking my head to the side. The image of a dejected looking Jessica was still stuck in my head as I walked in the opposite direction to my class. “Or should I pick her up instead?”

“Pick who up?” A voice came from behind me and an arm hung loosely around my shoulders.

I tilted my head and saw Emily smiling goofily at me.

“Oh, hi Em.”

“Why are you mumbling to yourself? Girlfriend problem again?” She was chocking me a little as she drag me up the stairs.

“No, we’re fine.”

We were more than fine in fact, just that Sica had seemed a little out of it a few minutes ago and I had absolutely no idea why.

“Alright, if you say so...can’t you walk a little faster? We're going to be late at this rate.” Without giving me time to respond, she had had me in a headlock as I struggled to keep up with her.

We managed to make it into lecture 1 minute before it started. Emily was still giggling in her seat beside me when the lecturer walked in. I glared at her while I massaged my sore neck, trying to catch my breath.

“What? I would like to see you running to your gf to complain about me.” She sniggered.

“Shut up, class is starting soon” Hearing that, she sniggered even more. “And I’m not gonna complain, so quit sniggering.”

 

I was surprised when I bumped into Emily on the first day of school and even more so when I found out that she was in a few of my classes. It was awkward to be around her at first partly since we rarely met up the last 2 months before the examinations, for obvious reasons, which Emily still did not know of. Mostly, it was because I was subconsciously affected by Abby’s words the last time and whenever I see Emily, I would scrutinize every single one of her actions and wonder if they meant anything more than a friendly gesture. It got so tiring after a while and I decided that I was not going to care about it anymore. For all I know, Abby could have been bullting with me since I now know what kind of a person she really is.

Class after class ended for the day without any messages from Jessica which was weird, considering that by this time usually, I would have received 2 of them, asking if I had eaten or reminding me not to fall asleep in class. I had decided to find a random corner in school to do my revision after class, somewhere out in the open despite it being January and it was freezing cold outside. As the sun began to set, the temperature dropped even more and the wind was starting to pick up. My thoughts shifted to Jessica who was working on her project with her group mates, wondering if she had put on enough layers of clothing. Even though they were at the library now, they would be heading out afterwards and I hate to have her walk out into the harsh winter night without being properly wrapped up. Stuffing the physiology book into my backpack, I hurried to the student car park for my car and drove towards the library which was on the other side on campus.

 

To Princess<3

Baby, I’m at the library’s entrance. Could you please come out for a moment? It won’t take long, I promise.

From Taengoo

 

To Taengoo

Why are you here? 0.o Okay, gimme a minute.

From Princess<3

 

“Taengoo! What are you doing here? Aren’t you going home yet?”

With one hand, I pulled her in by her waist to plant a chaste kiss on her lips, noticing how warm her lips were against my frozen ones during the brief contact. My free hand was busy undoing my coat as I pulled away.

“Because I miss you, baby.” Having wriggled out from the first layer of clothes, I handled it over to her. “Here, hold on to this for a while.”

“What are you doing? It’s cold out here.” She chided, smacking my arm as I proceeded to my jacket.

Taking it off me, I pressed it into her arms before taking back my coat, hurriedly putting it back on and pulling the hood over my head as the cold was starting to get to me.

“It’s getting colder, thought you might need it.” I smiled. “That’s all. You can go back to your project now.”

“Don’t you need this too?”

“Nope, since I’m heading home now.” I caressed her cheek, feeling her lean into my gloved palm. “Look, I drove here, I’m going to be fine.” She nodded. “Come home safely alright? I’ll be waiting for you…erm, so…I’ll get going now. Don’t let your friends wait too long.”

I was halfway down the flight of stairs in front of the library when I heard her called out for me.

“Taengoo!”

I stopped, turning back to see what she wanted.

“Yea?”

She hesitated for a few moments, fidgeting on her feet. “Nothing, you should get going before it gets any colder.” And there was that sad smile again.

“O-okay…I love you.” I waved to her as she disappeared back into the building. “Hmm…What’s up with you?” I muttered under my breath as I jogged back to my car.

My phone vibrated as soon as I closed the car door behind and I pulled it out from my jeans pocket. It was a message from my princess. I was grinning foolishly as I stared at the screen, rereading the text.

 

To Taengoo

Thank you for the jacket. >.< I love you too. Drive safely, it’s still slippery from the snow. And I’m sorry I’m so busy lately.

From Princess<3

 

To Princess<3

You’re welcome. It’s just school work. Besides, I’ve got stuff of my own to do. It’s okay. (:

From Taengoo

 

I had instant noodles again when I got home and I made sure to erase all evidence of it. Any remains of it was thrown down the rubbish chute since I knew I was surely going to get an earful from Jessica if she found out about it. She would rather have me buy take out from the café nearby than having such ‘unhealthy’ dinner. Even though I was missing her, I was sort of glad that I sometimes had this ‘free time’ where I could do things that she usually forbid me to. I was like the rat coming out to play when the cat was out.

I could also do my work anywhere in the house without getting nagged at for not using the study table. Since doing work at the study table gets boring after some time, I took my stuff and made myself comfortable on the couch. It was not a usual scene in the house, but I was lying on my tummy, laptop in front, with my book beside me. After giving my body a little stretch, I returned to typing away on my laptop, hoping that I could finish drafting my report by tonight.

I was so absorbed in my work that I lost track of time and almost failed to hear the sound of footsteps approaching from the corridor outside. My ears perked up then, listening as the shuffling footsteps stopped outside our unit. Acting on instinct, I bolted up from my position moving like lightning as I scrambled off the couch balancing my laptop and book in my arms. I made it to my side of the study table just in time when the security passcode was locked in and the front door clicked open. Plopping down in my swivel chair, I tried to calm my beating heart as I pretended to read through my draft, all the while listening to Jessica entering the house and taking her shoes off in the hallway.

“Oh, you’re still awake?” I heard her say from behind me.

Taking a deep breath, I leaned back into my chair and pushed it back, spinning it around to face her.

“You’re back!” I grinned, pointing to the laptop. “I’m still working on a report, darling.”

“Why do you look so guilty then?”

“I don’t.”

She merely nodded her head and drag herself into the bedroom. I returned to my report but there was this nagging feeling at the back of my head that told me something was very wrong with her; she had not been her usual self since this morning. I caught a glimpse of the time from the bottom right hand corner of the laptop screen and it showed that it was slightly past midnight.

‘Are you that tired?’ I wondered.

I ended up deciding to go check on her, lest she was falling sick.

“Baby? You went back to the library after dinner didn’t you?” I peered around the door and found her peeling off the many layers of clothes she had on, her sleepwear laid out on the bed.

“Yea…we’re trying to finish as much as we can so that we don’t have to meet up over the weekends.” She replied monotonously.

I bit down on my lip to prevent a grin from breaking out, knowing that I would get to spend some time with her over the next 2 days.

“Are you sick?” I asked, bending down to pick up the coat that she had discarded on the ground, hanging it behind the door. “You don’t look well today.” Jessica stared into space blankly before her gaze met mine and then shifted downwards. She shook her head slightly, pulling her pajamas top over her head.

“Or is something bothering you? The professor gave you a hard time?” I pressed.

“No, I’m just tired.” Wrapping her arms around my waist, she leaned her head against my chest. I ran my fingers through her hair, it and we stayed that way for some time before she buried her face into my neck, pressing her lips on the exposed skin. “I’m going to wash up and then hit the sack. Go finish whatever you have to do and come in, okay?”

“Kay…”

Letting me go, she kicked the worn clothes into a corner where the laundry basket was and picked up the jackets throwing them over the clothes rack before disappearing into the bathroom. Not long after, I heard the tap water running and the sound of water slapping across her face as she washed up.

I sighed. All those times that I refused to open up to her, had she felt this frustrated too? I think I kind of know how she felt; the helplessness when I did not know what I could do to help make her feel better. It was amazing how she could put up with me for this long.

With a sigh, I left the room to save my document and after making sure that the door was locked and the lights outside were all switched off, I made my way back in. Pulling the quilt off the bed, I rolled around trying to warm the sheets up for the princess. She did not exactly asked for me to do that but seeing that she was not in her best of mood, it was the least I could do to make myself useful.

“More pampering from me to you tonight, baby.” Pulling the quilt back up, I settled down into bed, waiting for her to come out.

Seeing me on the bed as she walked out, she quirked an eyebrow at me.

“Don’t you have to finish your report?”

“I can do that tomorrow instead.”

“You sure?” she asked, lying down on her side of her bed, pulling the quilt all the way up under her chin.

She had her back facing me and I scooted nearer, spooning her.

“Yup. Don’t I get my goodnight kiss today?”

She held my hand tight and brought it up, pressing her lips down on it. After which, she intertwined our fingers tugging it under her chin, close to her chest.

“Oh, I’m sure you can do so much better than this, baby…I know I can.” I tackled her, flipping her onto her back as she squealed. After making sure that she would not be crushed under my weight, I started peppering kisses all over her face, anywhere but her lips.

Jessica squirmed under me, eyes shut tightly, shaking her head from left to right trying to dodge away from my kisses. The sound of her laughter echoed through the quiet house and they were like melody to my ears.

Mission accomplished; the princess laughed.

“Stop trying so hard, darling…”I mumbled against her skin, trailing up her nose bridge. “You know you like it.” A playful growl escaped from my throat as Jessica tilted her head, fingers gripping onto my shirt. Missing my intended target, my lips landed on her eye lids instead. They fluttered open, eyelashes tickling me as I pulled back.

“It tickles.” She responded with a smile, pinching my nose.

I let out a series of soft giggles, lightly resting my forehead against her. “The last Taengoo bullet is ready to be fired.” I told her. “And the target is my favorite landmark on Jung Jessica’s face.” Closing the small distance between us, I pressed my lips against hers. “Scored.” I whispered, feeling her smile. “Territory claimed.”

“You’re so lame.” She told me, lacing her fingers together around my neck.

“The last time I checked, I was walking perfectly fine.”

Before I could come up with more nonsensical responses, she pulled me down towards her, tilting her head up as our lips made contact again.

“Mhm. I can never get tired of this.” I mumbled, moving my lips against her.

“Shut up and kiss me, dork.”

“As you wish.”

I collapsed onto my side, beside her, having lost the strength to support my own weight after a while. latched tightly onto mine, and nibbling, pressing herself closer to me as her tongue battled its way pass my parted lips. There was little resistance as I let her wet muscle explore every inch of my mouth hesitantly. I gave her fleshy an encouraging squeeze to reassure her that she was doing fine in taking the lead and she became bolder in her movements. After a while, she withdrew her tongue and returned to nibbling on my upper and lower lips alternately.

1 peck…2 peck and then her lips left mine.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Mmhm.” She answered, flipping over with her back facing me again. Reaching behind for my arm, she draped it over her stomach and I took the liberty to let my hand crawl under her shirt, letting it rest on bare skin.

Jessica lifted her head to allow my other arm under her neck, clinging onto it as it dangled over her pillow.

“You know I love you right?”

“I know.” I said into her shoulder. “Why would I not know when you had proven it to me over and over again?”

“Mhmm.” She hummed.

“And whatever it is that’s bothering you…forget about it. You don’t have to tell me now if you don’t want to.” I replied, remembering the many times she had said the same thing to me, figuring that it was what she would most probably want to hear from me as well. “But I’m here, I’ve got you…just know that I love it when you smile, it brighten up my day.”

“Night, Taengoo.”

“Night night.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One chapter done, but it felt like I’d rushed through it. I haven’t had the time to proofread it so pardon me for all the errors. Heh…The next update won’t be up so soon, I’m going to be busy for the next couple of weeks and then I’ll be off to Bangkok (again) on the 22^nd of Dec for a family vacation…so maybe after Christmas? I’ll see if I can squeeze in one chapter before I fly though. Haha…Till the next time then.(: