Jessica would’ve started choking on the piece of kalbi in but she expected that question from Taeyeon. Her eyes met Taeyeon’s and she started to chew slower and more thoroughly as she kept her gaze.

 

 

 

“I never stopped having feelings for you,” Jessica replied frankly before taking another piece of meat and kimchi and stuffing them into . “I thought you knew me well enough to not have to ask, Taengoo.”

 

 

 

Taeyeon carefully watched Jessica’s expression as she broke their gaze to tend to her food. It was an expected answer in some aspects but Taeyeon was surprised nonetheless. She thought that maybe Jessica would want her to fish out the answers more, she thought that Jessica would make her work for an answer.

 

 

 

“Did you forget how to talk, Taeng?” Jessica teased with a small smile.

 

 

 

“It’s not that,” Taeyeon spoke up finally before taking a sip of her tea. The warmth of the liquid was comforting and she needed that the most at the moment. “I guess I was right in assuming that we never really got over each other?”

 

 

 

“What are you talking about? You clearly got over me,” Jessica retorted a little bitterly, pouting at the thought of the blonde stranger that came into their life almost a month ago. “You guys didn’t even last that long. Why would you start a relationship with someone else when you still had feelings for me?”

 

 

 

“Do you remember our number one rule?”

 

 

 

The two were getting more heated in their conversation as the meat on their grill started to burn a little. Both of their expressions were a little guarded despite how comfortable they usually were with each other. The topic was sensitive after all and while they knew what each other would probably say, they were still scared to continue the conversation.

 

 

 

Jessica just nodded and urged Taeyeon to continue.

 

 

 

And she wanted to and she prepared herself for this very moment. With a deep breath, she leaned forward and gave a weak smile.

 

 

 

“The reason I really wanted us to break up, even though I didn’t really want to break up, aside from the actual reason we broke up,” Taeyeon’s hands were flying like crazy through the air as she tried to straighten the thoughts she so carefully wrote out and practiced the night before, “Was that I started liking someone else.”

 

 

 

Jessica remained silent, her expression firm and unchanging.

 

 

 

“I never told you even though we promised to be honest with each other,” Taeyeon managed to keep her ideas focused, “I never told you because I didn’t want to follow the rule anymore. I thought to myself, just because I have these random feelings for someone else doesn’t mean I loved you any less.” She sighed as Jessica still didn’t seem to budge. “But because I was hiding it and because I thought you’d get suspicious, our communication started to falter and we started to argue more and…well, history is history.”

 

 

 

Instead of responding, Jessica flipped some of the meat on the grill and took out some of the pieces that were already cooked. With a sigh she ate a few pieces and Taeyeon sighed. It was a sigh of relief however, for if Jessica didn’t take it well, she would have left the table.

 

 

 

“You should have just told me,” Jessica finally responded with a disappointed tone. “We could have worked it out, maybe?” The maybe was directed at herself and she raised her hand to Taeyeon to alert her that she wasn’t finished. “We had a long talk before deciding on that rule and I’m sure you remember it. We decided, together, that if we were to start having feelings for someone else then that means our love wasn’t enough which meant that we needed to break up before anything worse developed and we lost our friendship.”

 

 

 

“But Sica, is it not possible to like more than one person at once?” Taeyeon defended, “After all, I still have my feelings for you here in this ridiculously confused heart of mine.”

 

 

 

“You seemed extremely comfortable with Sungmin,” Jessica pointed out with a shrug. Her eyes were watering a little but she fought it back, “That really hurt you know, despite having been apart for a year.”

 

 

 

“Did you seriously never have feelings for anyone else?” Taeyeon asked, now poking at her remaining rice. Her shift changed constantly between the white substance and Jessica’s constantly moving eyes.

 

 

 

“For the past year, you were always on my mind Taeyeon,” Jessica answered honestly, giving Taeyeon a sweet smile, “But after you got together with Sungmin and it really seemed like we weren’t getting back together, I let my heart wander.”

 

 

 

Taeyeon nodded. They were apart for such a long time though, it was a wonder that no other person managed to sweep Jessica off her feet. She was beautiful, talented, smart and fierce. She knew others wanted her, but her heart always belonged to Taeyeon.

 

 

 

“Actually, if I was honest to myself, I did start developing feelings for someone else. But I never really thought about them until recently,” Jessica them mumbled to herself. It was loud enough for Taeyeon to hear though and she laughed.

 

 

 

“See, I told you it was possible to like two people at once,” her laugh was a little nervous and a little empty. Her eyes glimmered with a calm that went well with her name, “So it doesn’t really mean that people should break up.”

 

 

 

Jessica frowned, “But wouldn’t you be jealous? You know how jealous I’d be if you started liking someone else. And how would you decide who to pick?”

 

 

 

“I’d choose you,” Taeyeon responded simply with a smile, “It was always you and maybe if we talked about it back then we wouldn’t have had to break up.”

 

 

 

Jessica blushed and was a little taken back by Taeyeon’s response. She felt her heart speed up again and she could almost hear it pounding against her ears. The smile on her face at the moment was wider than anything she had produced in the past couple of months. But as her heart realized that things weren’t really the same anymore, her smile slowly shrank.

 

 

 

“You know I loved you, Sica,” Taeyeon started, her hand reaching for Jessica’s over the table. “And maybe if we communicated better when I had my doubts and concerns, we could have still been together today.”

 

 

 

“But the truth is that it’s too late?” Jessica finished Taeyeon’s thought softly, “It’s not the same anymore, is it?” Her fingers tightened around Taeyeon’s as she squeezed the soft skin.

 

 

 

“I’m sorry, but while I know that I still like you to some degree, especially deep inside my heart, my feelings right now are not even close to being organized. I honestly,” she took a deep breath, “I honestly wanted to ask you if you wanted to start again.”

 

 

 

Jessica’s eyes widened and hung open a little. She closed it shortly after an furrowed her eye brows in thought.

 

 

 

But before she could reply, Taeyeon continued to speak.

 

 

 

“But we’ve both strayed from each other, haven’t we? Despite missing how we used to be, we’re just not the same.”

 

 

 

Jessica couldn’t help but agree. While she wanted to think that if she just got together with Taeyeon again, things would be perfect like how they used to. But that just wasn’t the case. They’ve been away from each other and now their hearts are starting to find their places elsewhere. It would be a rocky comeback.

 

 

 

“Wouldn’t it still be worth trying?” Jessica then mentioned, shrugging a little as she drank some more of her tea. “Or is it really too late?”

 

 

 

“I wouldn’t say it’s too late, Sica,” Taeyeon answered slowly, carefully thinking over her words. “I just think that maybe it’s time for us to move on from each other?”

 

 

 

Jessica took her time answering. Taeyeon wasn’t disturbed by her lack of a response and the two continued to eat some more in silence. She was going to reply when she was ready.

 

 

 

“We’ll still be friends though, right?”

 

 

 

Taeyeon let out a chuckle, glad that she swallowed some food before it came out or else she would have been choking. She knew Jessica was joking, but her tone was far too serious.

 

 

 

“The best of friends.”

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

“I will never not be surprised by the amount you eat, Sooyoung,” Sunny stated with a hearty laugh. She had lost count of the amount of servings Sooyoung ordered at this point in the lunch. Sunny knew how much the girl ate, everyone who knew Sooyoung knew that much. But she always felt the need to comment on the girl’s stomach.

 

 

 

Sooyoung blushed as she finished eating the salmon pizza that had only arrived a few minutes before. “This wouldn’t be so embarrassing if you only ate more, oppa.”

 

 

 

It was true, Sunny hadn’t ordered nearly as much as she wanted to.

 

 

 

“This oppa was too busy watching you eat,” Sunny said casually with a light laugh, “But I’ll try to eat more if it makes you feel better.” She picked up the menu and waved down their waiter to order some more rounds of noodles for herself.

 

 

 

Sooyoung nearly spat out the tea she was drinking at Sungmin’s words. Her blush only got redder.

 

 

 

“Creep,” she muttered after finding the composure to speak. She had to level the ground and tried her best to hide away the part of herself that wanted to scream at the top of her lungs.

 

 

 

“Yah!” Sunny almost yelled, “You should be lucky that I’ve been staring at you this whole time.” She gave a toothy grin and couldn’t hide her own small blush at her words.

 

 

 

“You should be lucky you have this face to stare at,” Sooyoung retorted confidently, though her tone contradicted the bashfulness clear on her face.

 

 

 

“It’s such a burden sometimes, my neck is starting to hurt,” Sunny teased back, her grin developing into a smile. “Guys don’t like girls who are too tall.”

 

 

 

“I’m average height, oppa,” the girl said as she stuck her tongue out, “You’re the one who is too short.”

 

 

 

“I thought you told Yoona that you found that cute,” Sunny replied while crossing her arms, “Well if you want me to grow taller, I still have time for a growth spurt.” Her noodles arrived quickly after and she dug into the food to make Sooyoung feel better about the amount she was eating.

 

 

 

Everyone outside of the couple watched on curiously as the two fairly thin ladies ate enough meals to feed a household of 9.

 

 

 

“Ah!” Sooyoung almost screamed in horror, “You heard that?” She brought her hands up to cover her face in shame.

 

 

 

Sunny just laughed, “You two are loud sometimes, you know? I just heard her making fun of my height and I was going to say something but you defended my honour instead.” She paused and felt her heart skip a beat as she hesitated to make her next move.

 

 

 

Leaning forward, Sunny pulled Sooyoung’s hands away from her face and placed her own hand on top of hers.

 

 

 

“So are you going to take it back or?” Sunny asked confidently, trying to hide the explosion in her chest.

 

 

 

Sooyoung stared at their hands touching and almost felt herself start to sweat. She suddenly started feeling more full and though she was sitting, she swore that her knees felt a little weak.

 

 

 

“Nope,” she finally said with a small grin, “Grow taller, oppa.”

 

 

 

Sunny sighed, but she didn’t quite feel defeated. Sooyoung found some confidence and intertwined her fingers with Sunny’s. She smiled at her sweetly and Sunny almost swore that Sooyoung’s eyes sparkled a little before she brought her attention back to her food.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

Showers were always best in the middle of the day.

 

 

 

Yoona had just returned from practicing with Yuri and Hyoyeon and felt it appropriate to wash up. Sooyoung had texted her earlier to tell her she was going to raid her fridge after her date with Sungming. It puzzled her considering that she remembered Sunny saying in a text that they were going to a Japanese buffet.

 

 

 

She requested many snacks from her mother anyway, considering her own personal hunger. Yoona hoped that Sooyoung’s buffet was enough to leave most of the snacks to herself.

 

 

 

As she began to settle on the couch she received a text from Yuri and Hyoyeon about them coming to her house to watch a movie and practice some more since Sooyoung was coming over. Yoona knew that the two were insane, but she couldn’t bring herself to say no. She was tired and wanted to relax but practice was important. If she wanted to be a good captain for the next year she had to bring up her stamina too.

 

 

 

She was thankful that they didn’t force this many practices on the rest of the crew or else they would have all quit by now.

 

 

 

Should I text Sungmin oppa too?

 

 

 

Yoona almost said Sunny but managed to stop herself. It’s been a while since any incidents happened and Yoona was a little disappointed by it. She wanted to tease Sunny some more for being so careless about her disguise. In the past couple of group practices the girl almost forgot her binder in the change room to be seen by all. Luckily enough if she didn’t remember to pick it up herself, Yoona was kind enough to take it for her.

 

 

 

Oh what would Sunny do without her? It was a little upsetting how busy Sunny had become though. She was finally back and they didn’t get to hang out as much as Yoona wanted. Surely dance practice was often and they had lunch together often but they barely hung out with just the two of them. She wondered if she should change that.

 

 

 

There was a lot she wanted to talk to Sunny about. She wanted to ask about her and Sooyoung more. She wanted to ask if she was enjoying being Sungmin or if she missed being Sunny. She wanted to ask if she missed being together with Taeyeon. But most of all she wanted to tell Sunny about Seohyun and maybe get some advice.

 

 

 

Naw, it’s okay. We already did and he said he had plans.

 

 

 

Yoona nodded at her cell phone and made a note to text Sunny about plans tomorrow since she always seemed to have things to do. She had to steal the girl away for a while.

 

 

 

And then there was a knock on the door. It was almost 3PM and the snacks her mother was preparing was starting to form a smell. Yoona skipped happily to the door to meet her fellow long friend.

 

 

 

“Sooyoung unnie!” Yoona greeted as she tackled the only three month older girl.

 

 

 

“Hey you rascal,” Sooyoung replied affectionately as she rubbed the other girl’s back.

 

 

 

“Come in, mum is just preparing snacks! But most importantly,” her grin stretched from ear to ear and Sooyoung just rolled her eyes, “How did your date go?!”

 

 

 

Yoona pulled Sooyoung all the way to the living room and practically threw her onto the couch before tossing herself. She never liked it when Sooyoung gushed over guys, but this was a different case. Sooyoung and Sunny was one of her favourite topics since Sunny made a reappearance in her life and if she was honest, she was a little glad that she and Taeyeon broke up.

 

 

 

“Give me the details!” Yoona continued to bark, yanking on Sooyoung’s arm enthusiastically.

 

 

 

“Aish, calm down would you? You’re starting to act like Fany when she sees something pink,” Sooyoung commented while shaking her head, “But as for your question…”

 

 

 

Sooyoung closed her eyes and Yoona watched and waited for what expression the other girl was going to make first.

 

 

 

“It was perfect!” Sooyoung gushed, folding her hands together and nearly melting into the couch, “I still don’t understand it, but Sungmin oppa is just…wow. I usually like guys with broad backs and especially those who are taller than me but there’s just something really special about Sungmin, you know?”

 

 

 

Yoona knew too well.

 

 

 

“He is really cool,” she answered, trying to hold in her laughter, “He gets along with all of us and it’s hard to believe we just met a couple of weeks ago.”

 

 

 

“Right?” Sooyoung replied, not aware of what Yoona really knew about the whole situation. “We match so well, Yoong. I’m always so nervous around him at first, but minutes later we’re teasing each other or talking so easily about whatever and…”

 

 

 

“Are you in loooove~?” Yoona asked with an even wider grin than earlier. She could almost feel her face twitch but she didn’t care.

 

 

 

“Oh no, I’m not even close to that, I think. Love is for you and Seohyun,” Sooyoung said with a nod, a smirk forming at the instant rosy colour Yoona turned at the mention of Seohyun.

 

 

 

“Hey, we’re talking about you and oppa now!” she retorted as she fanned herself, “Don’t turn this around now.”

 

 

 

Sooyoung just laughed as she pulled Yoona in for a hug, “You’re too cute, you know? So when are you going to make a move anyway? I think Christmas would be a good idea.”

 

 

 

At first Yoona used to struggle against Sooyoung’s constant need to hug her, but she was used to it by now and even felt comforted by it.

 

 

 

“I don’t know, unnie,” Yoona began as Sooyoung began to rock her back and forth, “Wouldn’t my feelings just be distracting to Seohyun?”

 

 

 

“I don’t think so,” Sooyoung answered right away, “I think it would be very nice actually. She’s an artist right? If you confessed your feelings, maybe you can become a new muse for her.” Sooyoung squeezed Yoona and smiled at the idea, “And you never know, you could already be her muse.”

 

 

 

Yoona pinched the other girl’s hand, “Don’t say that!” she yelled, her face a little pink, “Don’t put those thoughts in my head.”

 

 

 

“You never know, Yoong. Maybe she even writes songs about you,” Sooyoung mumbled quietly. “I think she loves you a lot.”

 

 

 

“She loves all of us a lot,” Yoona responded with a shrug, “She has a lot of love in her in general.”

 

 

 

“But we all know she loves you the most,” Sooyoung replied as she rested her head on Yoona’s shoulder, “Don’t even try to deny it.”

 

 

 

And Yoona didn’t.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

Taeyeon ran into the shopping mall and twisted and turned her neck to look for a familiar smiling face. She was panting, having ran there across the parking lot from a bus stop. She promised Tiffany she’d be there as soon as possible.

 

 

 

She was satisfied with how the lunch went and she sincerely felt that she and Jessica gained some sort of closure. After they decided to still be the best of friends they ate comfortably and Taeyeon even felt a trace of how they used to be when they were together.

 

 

 

If she was honest, she wanted to ask Jessica about her feelings for another person and she knew that Jessica was aching to ask about her own feelings. She was surprised she didn’t ask her right at the lunch. Perhaps it slipped her mind?

 

 

 

Hey Taengoo, I can’t believe I forgot to ask but. Who else had your heart besides me back then?

 

 

 

Yeah, it slipped her mind. Taeyeon stared at the text and wondered if it was appropriate to answer the question through text. She read it again and again and figured, she meant back when they were together and she guessed that Jessica was assuming those feelings were gone now. After all, she didn’t pursue anyone after their break up.

 

 

 

Do you really want to know?

 

 

 

Taeyeon wondered if she should joke about this and she wondered if she should have lied. She continued looking around for Tiffany before she felt arms wrap around her waist.

 

 

 

Yes! Just spill it.

 

 

 

Taeyeon smelled the familiar perfume and almost fell over at the sensation.

 

 

 

Miyoung.

 

 

 

Her answer was simple and she wondered if maybe she should have left an expression or a laugh to make the answer seem less important. But it was too late to worry about that as she put her phone away and turned around to meet Tiffany’s shining eye smile.

 

 

 

“Hey TaeTae!”