Chapter 10: The Hands Are Turning

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

47 minutes. That's how long Yoona has been sitting on her bed, staring blankly at the clock on her nightstand. All the girls had left for their schedules, except for one.

"Unnie?" Seohyun's soft voice echoed from the other side of her bedroom door. "Are you alright? You've been in there for almost an hour. Do you not feel well? I can make you something light to eat. Would you like some soup? If you're not hungry, I can make you some tea. It may help you rest."

Yoona closed her eyes and smiled to herself. Could the younger girl be any more perfect? It was simply impossible to not fall in love with her and she was basically acting like her wife already. The troubled girl fell back onto the bed and rested an arm over her eyes. 'I could be happy like this, right? What if I say something and ruin our relationship forever?'

"Unnie?" Yoona uncovered her eyes and glanced down to see Seohyun place a tray on the nightstand. "You didn't answer, so I just made you soup and tea." Yoona shifted slightly as Seohyun took a seat next to her on the bed. "Are you unwell?" Seohyun leaned down and placed a hand on Yoona's forehead. The latter's face heated up immediately at the contact. "You don't seem to have a fever, but you do seem a little flushed. Have you been over worked, Unnie? We have a full day of schedules tomorrow. Should I call Manager Oppa?"

"Ah..." Was she holding her breath? It seemed so difficult to get air in her lungs. The maknae had been getting closer and more touchy lately. It was almost as if she was purposely trying to tempt her. That would be ridiculous. Right? She’s the maknae. She’s like the epitome of innocent.

“Unnie, are you listening to me?”

Their faces were too close. How had she been able to control herself for so long. Maknae is so obviously not a child anymore. "Seohyun..." Yoona started to sit up, resting on her elbows. She felt as though there were a magnetic pull bringing them closer together. Two years has been an extremely long time to hold in these feelings. Maybe it’s time to finally decide what path to take. She could see Seohyun's eyes widen as they came but a breath apart.

*Buzzz Buzzz*

Yoona jolted up, shoving Seohyun to the side of the bed, and reached for the phone vibrating in her pocket.Glaring at the name on the screen, she answered with a sigh as she crossed her other arm across her chest. "Nae?"

"Well, don't sound so happy to hear from me." Yoona could hear the smirk in Yuri's voice. "I assume things are going well?"Yoona felt couldn't help but glare at the baseboard infront of her.

"What do you want, Yuri?"

"What? I can't just call to tell you I love you?" Yoona could hear snickering in the background.

"No, you can't. Now to what do I owe this...pleasure...?"

"Are you with our Seobaby?" Yoona rolled her eyes.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I am. We don't have any schedules today, remember?" Yoona turned slightly to look at the bed, where the maknae was now sitting with a somewhat flustered expression plastered on her face. Their gazes met and suddenly Yoona found the ceiling very interesting.

"Well, Tiffany here was telling me something very interesting today. About how a certain maknae made it known to her that a certain deer needed to, and I quote, 'make a move already'."

Yoona's eyes widened as stole another glance at Seohyun, who was now fidgeting on the bed. Why was she still sitting there? Normally after an incident, like what had just occured, the other person would leave while they had the chance. That is, unless she was looking for a confrontation of some sort. Was she gonna ask her what happened? "What do you mean?" Her voice noticeably lower than before.

"I mean she knows. Obviously she's not as oblivious as you may think she is. Well, not just you, but that's not the point." Yoona started pacing back and forth, her gaze darting back and forth between the floor and the girl on her bed. "Tiffany was telling me that while they were out the other day, Seohyun was asking her and Taeyeon about how to get someone to confess. At first they thought someone had taken something of her's or did something wrong, but then she said that she thought someone had a crush on her." Yoona let out a sigh.

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Um...Unnie, I think your soup is getting cold. I'll heat it up for you so that its ready when you're done with your call." Yoona stopped pacing and turned to Seohyun, who was now standing and retrieving the tray she had brought in.

"Sorry, I don't mean to be rude." Yoona moved the phone away from her ear slightly and gave Seohyun an apologetic smile. "This really shouldn't take long. Yuri's just telling me about the CF shoot she's doing with Siwon today.I'll come have some soup when she's done talking my ear off." Seohyun giggled slightly which brought a huge smile to Yoona's face.

"Alright, Unnie. I'll go heat this up now."

It took a minute or two after Seohyun was gone for Yoona to remember the phone in her hand, it now being the only thing depriving her of the young girl's delicate voice and heart warming smiles. She brought the small device back to her ear. "Can we try to make this quick please?" Her voice not hiding her agitation as she sat down on her bed.

"Whoa, touchy touchy. As much as I love 'talking your ear off', I have things to do, too, you know. And as much as you want to believe 'it doesn't mean anything', she straight out told them it was you."
"Straight out...told them."

"Yea, apparently she's known for a while, Yoong."

"What did they say?"

"Well, they acted surprised, of course. Do you really want her to find out from a third party? Anyway, I really have to go. I got this long break because Siwon apparently ate something bad and has been in the bathroom on and off for an hour."

"Wow, that...is something I could've lived without knowing. I guess we'll talk later then."

"Oh, you can count on that. Have fun with confessing!"

"Hey, I didn't say I wa-" Yoona fell back on the bed and looked at her phone. "Well, bye to you, too."

2 years. Apparently, there was really no choice but to make a decision. Forcing herself up, Yoona went to the kitchen to find the younger girl. Upon entering the kitchen, and seeing Seohyun in an apron slowly stirring the soup she had oh so lovingly prepared, Yoona became speechless. I mean, what was she supposed to do? Walk into the kitchen and be like, 'So, I hear you want me to confess love to you. Welp, here you go!'. Who does that?!

"Oh, Unnie! You're done with your call? The soup is ready. Go ahead and have a seat. I already set out the utensils." Yoona simply followed instruction as Seohyun brought over two bowls of soup. There was simply no way she could confess right now. How lame would that be? Seohyun does so much, but the appreciation she gets is a 'by the way I've loved you for two years'? No, it needed to be special. "Unnie, if you keep staring at me like that your soup is just gonna get cold again."

Brought back to reality, Yoona gave a sheepish smile and blew on her soup before swallowing a spoonful, and smiling at the girl in front of her. "Thanks, Hyunnie. It's really good. I feel better already."

"I'm glad." Seohyun smiled and began eating her own soup. The confession would have to wait for now. It had been put of for 2 years already, what would another few days hurt?

~*~

"Ugh!" Jessica huffed as she tossed and turned in her bed. It seemed impossible to get into a comfortable position for some reason. Most likely due to her restless mind. Taeyeon had kissed her. She had kissed Taeyeon. They had kissed. This was a terrible situation. Sure, she wanted it, but, she knew there were boundaries. She didn't think it would actually happen. Taeyeon pushed her away. Not the other way around. Well, not that she wasn't partly to blame. She had let it happen. "God! What is wrong with me?"

Flinging off her covers, the frustrated girl got up and stared at herself in the full body mirror located in the corner furthest from her door. She looked terrible. Make-up probably wouldn't even hide the dark circles under her eyes. The 'incident' was over 3 weeks ago, yet here she was, still stuck on it like it happened 5 minutes ago. She was always reading into things a little too much. Sure, she wanted to believe that it wasn't just her thinking like this, but Taeyeon was probably feeling just as terrible right now. After the fact, Taeyeon had simply led her back out of the alley and told her she should go home and rest.

Oh yea, Kim Taeyeon, that was gonna happen. Jessica rolled her eyes at the memory. She really hadn't expected things to progress as quickly as they did. It was most likely due to the fact they never spend time together alone. But that was because they weren't allowed to spend time alone together. The manager purposefully arranged their schedules that way. If she didn't have a schedule for the day, she was supposed to stay home. Her mother's orders. And her mother had to physically see whoever she was going out with if she wanted to go shopping, or have lunch somewhere. Whenever they left the country, she had to phone home at every new destination. 'Hey, mommy. We just landed'; 'Mommy, we just got to the hotel and I'll be rooming with Yoona.' You'd think that would be enough, but the woman even requested copies of all the paperwork showing their schedules for each day and who each member would be with. They weren't children. It was a little more than ridiculous, but Jessica was sure it was done merely for love and protection.

Leaning closer to the mirror, Jessica let out a sigh as she pinched her cheeks, trying to bring color to them. She actually did have a schedule today. An interview of some sort, where she was sure the make-up artists would question her sleeping habits. She really loved the crews that did her hair and make-up. They seemed to genuinely care about her well-being. They were always giving her advice on how to help sleep better, and tips on hiding her tiredness when they weren't there to cover it for her. In all honesty, she tries to stay home every day she can. It was just harder sleeping when she knew Taeyeon was so close. Not that it really mattered. Manager-oppa always locked her door when it was time for her to sleep. When he first found out about their relationship, he didn't seem all that affected by it. However, something changed and he started shifting their schedules. It was slow at first so she barely noticed, but at the same time she was a bit distracted. Taeyeon had started becoming distant.

Jessica gave herself a merong and then made her way downstairs to the kitchen. She got some bread and put a couple slices in the toaster. Her parents entered just as she was setting the strawberry jam on the counter. "Morning, mommy. Morning, daddy. Sleep well?" She leaned over the island and kissed her father on the cheek as he took a seat and opened up the morning paper. Her mother headed straight for the fresh pot of coffee that had just finished brewing.

"I slept quite well, thank you. I'm not so sure about your mother. She was basically on the phone all night trying to figure out your entire schedule for the month, or so it seemed."

Jessica gave her father an apologetic smile. He just chuckled and started reading, taking a sip of the fresh brew his wife had just brought him.

"Oh, don't exaggerate. I was on the phone for no more than thirty minutes. Our Sooyeon is a busy girl next week, as is Soojung." She took a sip of her coffee and sat down next to her husband. Jessica just nibbled on her toast as while her mother went through the plan for today. "Your manager should be here in a few minutes, Sooyeon. Is that all you're eating? You look tired. Did you not sleep? You're not getting ill, are you? We don't want another fainting spell."

The door buzzed and Jessica smiled sweetly at her mother as she set the remaining slice of toast down. "I'm fine, mother." She grabbed her purse and headed for the door. "I'll call you when I get there, alright?" And with that she was out the door. Her manager was standing outside the car and smiled as he opened the back door for her. Jessica simply smiled back and got in the car.

"So, you're my personal today?" She spoke somewhat absent-mindedly as he got in and buckled his seatbelt. He ignored the question, but it was somewhat rhetorical. "What's everyone else doing today?"

"Sometimes I wonder if you even look at your schedule, Sica." He gave her a look through the side mirror.

"Why should I when you and everyone in my family go over it in detail every 30 minutes?" She scoffed. He ignored that as well.

"We're on our way to the LOOK Concert. You're actually really late. All the other girls are already there. I actually had to leave from there to come and get you. Your mother told me last night that you haven't been sleeping well. I suppose I should've doubled checked to make sure you knew the time of your schedule. To be honest, I was so busy I didn't even notice you weren't there until Tiffany mentioned it to me. Then on the way over here we had some car trouble."

"Tiffany." Jessica simply nodded as she continued staring the window. "So, this is all of us, right?"

Her manager gave her another look through the side mirror. "Yes. Taeyeon will be there, and no, I doubt you will be sitting by her."

Jessica's face flushed as her gaze met her manager's. "I wasn't..."

"Sure you weren't." He smirked and went back to reading whatever papers he was holding.

Jessica stared at him for a moment before switching her gaze back out the window. He was so confusing. He locks her in her room at the dorm when Yuri isn't there, so that she won't be alone with Taeyeon. Yet, he openly tells her how the older girl is doing. Without even asking, he'll normally tell her what schedules she has and who she's with. Sometimes he'd even tell her where she was going for lunch and who with. It was almost like he was her private investigator. But on another note, he would be sure to make it impossible for them to see each other. If she asked about her, he would say something about how she and Tiffany had plans, or were at a schedule together. He basically rubbed it in her face that she had been replaced by the other American girl.

She sighed to herself as they pulled into the parking area. She shouldn't be thinking about this right now. Nothing seems to make sense anymore. Stepping out of the car, Jessica quickly made her way to hair and make-up. She'll be with Taeyeon today. They hadn't seen each other for more than a couple minutes since the incident, let alone speak to each other. Happiness flooded her senses just thinking about the kid leader's face. She couldn't hide the smile as she was sent off to wardrobe. Things were complicated, but that’s not what was important right now. Finishing up, she headed to the side of the stage. What was important right now was how the heck was she supposed to get on stage unnoticed?