(Taeyeon’s POV)

I was a little envious of the Jung sisters… or should I say Sica and Krystal. They were both brave enough to fight for their love, something which I never did.

I found it hilarious when Sica was jealous, that’s why I kept egging her on on purpose. Besides, I thought it was good for them to get it out of their system while they were still in their “honeymoon” phase. Is it weird to be jealous of Krystal because she had Sica always being jealous over her? I wanted that too…

The last time I had a conversation with those two, it didn’t end on the greatest note but it sure was a fun conversation. Sica was just too easy… but I’m sure it wasn’t anything Krystal couldn’t handle. I was very happy for them. Although… it will be interesting to see who will “wear the pants” in that relationship. My money was on Krystal. Even though Sica had the stronger personality, against Krystal, she was no match. She was totally putty in the little one’s hands. But then again, Krystal was more easily swayed and she was actually more naive than she looked. It was probably partly why Sica was so protective over her.

She called me later that night to apologize for Sica, but I told her it wasn’t necessary. She then asked to meet up for a chat later in the week which I agreed to. I guess I was the only one to know about their relationship at this point. Not even Fany knew about it…

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(Tiffany’s POV)

It’s been a very, very strange weekend. This whole situation with Taeyeon and Krystal, and Jessica was giving me a headache. What on earth is going on between Taeyeon and Krystal? Are they really dating? If they are, why hasn’t Taeyeon mentioned anything about it? But if they weren’t, why were they so chummy? There were so many questions running through my head but the biggest one was… Why does it bother me so much if Taeyeon was really seeing Krystal? I’ve never been bothered by the thought of her dating anyone but then again, I’ve never really seen her with anyone before… so I guess the thought never really crossed my mind. Come to think of it, she’s never even mentioned anything about anyone that she liked. I couldn’t believe that I’ve never noticed it before…

It was unfortunate that my date with Jess was ruined because my mind was so distracted. I was going to call her but after she stormed off with Krystal, I figured I should leave it alone until Monday when I saw her at work. Surprisingly, I felt a little relieved when Jess took Krystal with her. I know it makes me sound like a terrible person but for now, I just wasn’t too fond of the idea of those two together. The idea was just too foreign to me.

Why are you so concerned, Tiffany? You don’t even know if they are dating for sure…

I should just ask Taeyeon straight out… She won’t lie to me… Why would she? There was no reason to…

I walked towards her room, preparing myself for the news either way.

I knocked on her door.

“Come in!” she called out.

When I opened the door she was hysterically laughing to herself.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing… I was just on the phone with Krystal… and Sica,” she answered.

“What were you talking about?”

“Nothing much… Krystal called to tell me something… unimportant…”

“Right… Uhm… So how’s work going…?”

I couldn’t bring myself to ask her outright so I decided to try and lead into the topic.

“Uhm… good… hasn’t changed much since I announced the good news earlier this week.” She gave me a look as if I were crazy.

“Yes! Of course… That’s awesome!” I rambled, trying to recover from my stupid question.

“Yeah, seriously I feel so lucky. It turns out I’m actually really enjoying my work and thanks to Krystal, I get to head up this really important project so soon,” she agreed excitedly.

“So, you and Krystal seem really close these days… That’s nice… I mean, you guys bonded really quickly, huh?”

She giggled. “Yeah, I really like that little one. She’s incredibly bright and I like talking to her… She’s cute isn’t she?”

I felt my chest tighten a little. “So you’re really fond of her, huh?”

“What’s not to like? You better watch out… she might be my new best friend,” she laughed.

She was just joking but I didn’t really find it funny. In fact, it actually hurt a little.

“I see…” It was all I could muster up.

“F-Fany… wae geurae? I was just kidding…!”

“Yeah, I know…”

“So, what’s wrong? You’re being totally weird.”

I don’t know what’s wrong with myself either… I should really be happy for her…

“Sorry, your date got ruined…” I told her.

“It’s not a big deal… It’s not like we won’t get to do it again… In fact, I’m meeting up with her sometime this week…”

I really didn’t want to know that…

“Oh, I see…”

“So… was there a reason why you came to find me?” she asked.

I had completely lost my train of thought but I had pretty much heard all I needed to hear.

“No… I just felt like a little chat… I’ll leave you to whatever you were doing…” I told her.

“Oh… okay… good night…”

“Nite!”

I shut the door behind me as I exited her room.

I didn’t understand it… Why was my heart aching?!

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(Taeyeon’s POV)

What the heck was that about?!

Fany had been acting strange since the last time we had dinner at the Jungs.

Does she know about Sica and Krystal too…?

No. If she knew, she would have said something. It was definitely something else.

She was asking all those questions about Krystal…

OHMIGOD! Does she like Krystal? That would explain why she kept asking about Krystal or why she’s been so weird recently or why she was so awkward when she saw us at the restaurant last night… HOLY CRAP! I can’t believe it…

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(Tiffany’s POV)

The next morning at the office, Jess was all smiles and in a completely good mood.

I couldn’t remember the last time I was her grinning from ear to ear like she was now.

“Someone’s in a good mood…” I said to her.

“What…? Who?” she replied seemingly having woken up from her day dream.

“I’m talking about you! You’re grinning like a fool… What’s the happy occasion?” I asked.

“Oh… uhm… there’s no occasion… I just have nothing to complain about…”

“Lucky you…” I sighed.

It’s not that I had anything to complain about but those unexplainable feelings I’ve had about the whole Taeyeon-Krystal situation has been plaguing me. But on the other hand, I had decided to come right out and ask Jess if she would consider dating me for real. There were just too much insanity over the past week or so that I felt it was stupid to keep playing this game… I just needed the right moment.

“What’s wrong, Tiff? You seem a little down…” she asked.

“It’s nothing… Just had a lot on my mind… Hasn’t been the best of weeks,” I answered.

“Oh, right… I’m sorry about what happened on Saturday… It’s definitely been a crazy week.”

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure what kind of mood you’d be in today considering how Saturday ended. I’d half expected you and Krystal to have gotten into a fight by the way you dragged her out of the restaurant.”

“Uhm… we kind of did get into a fight… but we sorted that out,” she said with a grin.

“Good for you… You guys always manage to get over your fights so easily…”

“It’s because we just can’t be mad at each other for too long.”

“Hey, Jess… I wanted to ask you something… This is not a joke, so I want you to give me an honest answer. You don’t have to be awkward about it nor try and spare my feelings… okay?” I braced myself for what I was about to tell her.

“Uhm… you’re freaking me out right now… What is it?”

“Jess… you and I have known each other for quite a while now, right?”

“Yes…”

“I don’t know if you’ve realized but… I’ve kind of had a crush on you since we’ve met…”

“Uhm… Tiff… I…”

“No, wait… just… just let me finish…”

She nodded.

“I know that it’s a little late considering we’re pretty much in the friend zone now but I just wanted to check, just in case there’s a chance, if you would consider dating me?” I finished.

She kept silent.

“Uhm… that was my question…” I made sure she knew I was done asking.

“Y-You l-like me?” she asked.

I nodded.

“T-This is n-not a joke?” she checked.

I shook my head.

She looked utterly confused and conflicted.

She kept trying to give me and answer but no words would come out.

I think I already know her answer…

“You don’t feel the same way do you?” I answered for her.

She shook her head slightly.

“So… I guess the answer is no…” I said softly, mostly to myself.

“I’m sorry, Tiff… I don’t even know where to start… I can’t believe I’ve never realized your feelings before. I’m sorry I’ve been so inconsiderate. But… I’m afraid I can’t accept your feelings…” she responded honestly which I actually really appreciated.

I took a deep breath and evaluated my own feelings to her reply. I had expected to be heartbroken. I had expected to be devastated. I even thought I would be crying hysterically.

But I wasn’t.

I wasn’t heartbroken. I wasn’t devastated. And I wasn’t crying hysterically.

I’m not going to lie, it’s not like it didn’t hurt. My heart still stung and I was still extremely saddened by her rejection but it wasn’t the end of the world like I thought it would have been.

“Tiff… a-are you okay?” she asked when I didn’t give any reaction.

I took a moment to gather my thoughts and feelings.

“I… actually think I am…” I told her even though I was still confused about my own unexpected feelings. “I don’t want you to misunderstand but I… I thought I would be devastated… but I’m not… I think I’m okay…”

“Boy, you really know how to make a girl feel good about herself…”

I actually laughed.

“So… are we going to be alright?” she asked in concern. “We’re not going to be awkward around each other are we?”

“I won’t, if you won’t…”

The fact that we could already joke about it, I knew everything was going to be alright…

“Definitely.” She gave me a hug to prove she was going to keep her end of the bargain. “Even if I don’t feel that way about you, you’re still really precious to me.”

“You know, I’m glad I got this out. I was afraid of what might happen but keeping things hidden is really corrosive,” I told her.

“True… It’s definitely better than to keep wondering “what if”,” she agreed.

“Hey, so… do you want to redo that dinner that was so unfortunately interrupted?” I asked her. “Just as friends of course… No strings attached.”

“Sure. I felt really bad about that too… The food was actually excellent.”

“I figured since Taeyeon and Krystal are going on another dinner date, we should too…”

“Oh… Are they…?!” Her expression suddenly darkened.

“Oh crap… did I just reveal something I shouldn’t have?” Her change in expression was starting to scare me.

“No, no… don’t worry about it… I’ll deal with it when I get home…” she replied as she narrowed her eyes and sneered.

I definitely should have kept my big fat mouth shut that time…