(Taeyeon’s POV)

I ended up at a hotel close by to work, but it was a little further from Fany’s than I liked. I figured that I would be spending the night there so I might as well pick somewhere close to work. Unlike Fany and Sica, I was a struggling “artist” and I had to commute to work, unfortunately.

Not long after I checked into my room did I receive a call from Krystal. It would have been too eager if I picked up the first time she called, so I just let my phone ring.

She was persistent though. She just kept calling. So the fifth time my phone started to ring, I finally decided to pick up.

The little one sounded so concerned I didn’t have the heart to let her think that she had ruined our lives. That was too cruel.

I was actually really curious about what they had to say. It was so sweet that they were so invested in Fany’s and my happiness. I guess they must be really happy that they want everyone else to be happy too.

Silly Jungs! My little cunning cupids… I’ll have to remember to thank them at the end of this thing.

Actually this was a good thing. It meant I could reveal the whole prank by tonight and then everything will be back to normal… or whatever the new normal will be.

There were still a few hours to kill before it was time to meet up with the Jungs so I set about getting my work done. I was determined to finish everything I needed to get done before meeting with the Jungs because I was really hoping to spend some time with Fany after. I hadn’t expected all this to go down this weekend when I agreed to take on extra work for the project when my boss asked for volunteers.

Just my luck that my life decided to get good and interesting the weekend I was swamped with work…

Why doesn’t life ever work around your schedule? Maybe I should have thought about all this when I decided to mess with the Jungs.

At 4, I texted Krystal to meet me at a café near the hotel. If we met at 5, I could tell Fany to come meet me at 5.30. By then they should have made their case and I could reveal my prank. Then Fany and I can stay for dinner while the Jungs went about doing whatever they wanted to do. Maybe if we finished dinner early enough, I could convince Fany to stay and have some fun before she needed to head home. It was a win-win situation.

Stop thinking about all this nonsense, Kim Taeyeon! First get your work done, then sort out this situation, THEN you can think about fun…!

I completed my work in just the nick of time but even then I decided to be fashionably late to keep up with the pretense.

When I got to the restaurant, the Jungs were already there. Sica had her arm swung around Krystal’s shoulder and they looked so happy and contented. I couldn’t believe that I had fallen for their lies, even for a second. I was usually so good with that kind of thing.

I walked over to them, looking as displeased as I could.

“Well, you two lovebirds sure do look happy. And to think I was so concerned that you two were really going through a really terrible time…” I said as I sat down.

Sica pulled her arm away immediately and they both sat up straight. I almost chuckled to myself but I managed to hold it in.

“Unni, I’m really, really sorry that I lied and deceived you…” Krystal said.

“Didn’t I tell you that it was all in the past and that I had made my peace with it?” I responded.

“Yes but you also said you were sure Tiffany unni doesn’t feel the same way. I only meddled because I found out that Tiffany unni does in fact feel the same way about you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have.”

“It’s true Taeyeon-shi. I wouldn’t have let her otherwise. I saw how tormented Tiff was, being all confused about what your relationship status was with Kryssie. I recognized that her feelings towards you were definitely more than platonic because it was exactly like how I was when I saw you and Kryssie together. You have to admit, you two have a weird thing going on…” Sica added.

Krystal gave Sica a punch on the arm and a look that said “jugeullae?”

“The point is, you sounded so sad when you talked about Tiffany unni that when I found out that you both actually felt the same way for each other, I just had to get you two to admit your true feelings,” Krystal concluded.

“Why couldn’t you have just told me instead of coming up with the hairball scheme?” I asked.

“Would you have believed me let alone listened to what I had to say?” Krystal asked back.

I guess she had a point. I did tell her that I didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“But you told Fany about how I felt… I told you that in confidence, Krystal!”

“I admit, I couldn’t hide it from Jessie… Partly because, well… I wanted Jessie to stop being jealous every time I met up with you…” she said, turning to look at Sica.

“And actually, it was my bad… It was me who spilled the beans to Tiff. She was feeling a little unsure about what her real feelings were for you, so I urged her to find out. I’m not exactly sure what happened that night but the next day she just freaked and told me she was giving up because apparently you were giving her all the wrong signs… and somehow I accidentally told her that she shouldn’t give up because I knew for a fact that you had feelings for her. I couldn’t tell her that Kryssie was the one who told me so I told her that you told me instead… and then things got complicated from there…” Sica confessed.

“You two are insane, you know that?!” I exclaimed.

It was even crazier after hearing the truth of what happened from them. I was still not entirely sure how we ended up at this point. And what did she mean by me giving Fany all the wrong signs?

“Wait, when was this that you said that you found out she had feelings for me?” I asked.

“That day when you and Kryssie met up…” Sica answered.

I wrecked my brain to remember what happened that night…

---

(Flashback…)

“Taeyeonie, I want to ask you something and I want your honest opinion…” Fany asked, out of the blue.

“Of course…!”

“Do you think that two people who have been friends for a long time to get together?”

“What do you mean…?”

“Do you think that two people could get out of the friend zone?”

“I honestly don’t know… Maybe if both felt the same…”

“So you think it’s possible?!”

“Yes but if they felt the same then they would have gotten together before, no?”

“What if they were just unaware or things were different or they were scared…? If it was you would you tell someone you liked them even though you’ve been friends for years?”

“I-I’m sorry Fany, I can’t give you an answer on that…”

“Why…?”

“I want to say yes when in fact my real answer would be no…”

“So you think it’s better to just leave it be?”

“Like I said… if it was meant to be it would have happened before… If years had already passed, it obviously means that there’s no hope…”

(End of flashback…)

---

Oh so that’s what that was all about… I guess what I said to Fany would have definitely disheartened her…

I had thought that that conversation was about Sica or maybe even Krystal. It never even crossed my mind that she could have been talking about me. I did say there was no hope, but only because I was feeling really disheartened myself, and I wanted to protect her since I thought she was talking about one of the Jungs. Now it all made sense.

Fany, you idiot! You should have just told me the truth then…

“So the only reason why she finally came clean is only because she was sure that I still had feelings for her?!” I surmised.

“No, unni! That’s not the case at all!” Krystal came to Fany’s defense.

She was probably about to say something more but Sica put her hand on Krystal’s shoulder, signaling for Krystal to let her speak instead.

“Listen, Taeyeon. You and I both know that sometimes, love turns people into cowards. Just like I was hesitant about how I felt about Kryssie, for whatever reason, you two were also afraid to admit your feelings for each other. And sometimes, we just need someone else to give us a nudge or even a push, or just an ounce of courage to take the leap. You did that for me Taeyeon, don’t you remember? Our method might have been a little sordid but our intentions were not. You might not believe this but our conversation that night… it made me realize that I couldn’t just be sisters with Kryssie for the rest of my life. Your words gave me the courage to admit the truth.”

She took hold of Krystal’s hand and intertwined their fingers.

“And sometimes, the most wonderful thing can result from it…” she finished.

I was touched. I hadn’t realized that our simple conversation had such an impact on her. Her words were just too heartwarming; I couldn’t keep the prank up.

I took out my phone and texted Fany to come to the restaurant immediately. I had told her wait in my hotel room until I gave her the signal to come down and meet us. It was about time… The prank wasn’t really as fun as I thought it would be, mostly because everyone was being so sincere about their feelings, it only made me feel like such a jerk for doing this.

“I understand your intentions, but why did you have to use such an elaborate ruse? Every one of you knew at least some form of the truth and were in on the scheme, except for me. Why?” I asked.

“You were the harder one to break, unni. You kept pretending it was all behind you…” Krystal explained.

“Well, it to be the pawn. It’s like everyone is hiding a secret from me…”

“Taeyeon… we trusted you with our biggest secret… so why would we hide anything else from you…?” Sica stated.

Now I really felt bad. I never even thought about the fact that I was the Jungs’ most important secret keeper. Thinking about it now, I was actually quite surprised at the interesting relationship I had with the Jungs. Between the four of us, I was definitely the outsider. Sure I was Fany’s best friend since we were in middle school but I had only just met the Jungs. Yet I had become very close to Krystal and despite Sica’s somewhat cold attitude towards me, she had just revealed that she had a warm affection towards me too.

And not a moment too soon, I saw Fany walking towards me from the corner of my eye.

“You have a good point, Sica,” I told her.

The moment Fany reached out table, she leaned over to me and gave me a kiss.

“Hey, babe! I came the moment I saw your text,” she said as she took the seat beside me.

Nice entrance, Fany…

I looked over at Sica and Krystal to check for their reaction. To my surprise, they were both just smiling back at me, although Sica had let go of Krystal’s hand.

Why aren’t they surprised?!

“You two knew… didn’t you?” I asked.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, unni…” Krystal answered.

“Knew what?” Fany asked.

“They knew it was all an act…” I told Fany.

“What?! How did you guys know?” It was so adorable how clueless she could be sometimes.

“You both are terrible actors…” Sica responded as-a-matter-of-factly.

“Really? I thought Taeyeonie was quite convincing…” Fany said.

“Tch! Of course… You’re totally gaga over her… She could do no wrong…” Sica commented.

“I went a little overboard, didn’t I?” I said.

“A little? Try a lot…!” Krystal chimed in.

“And I can always tell when Tiff is lying… You start getting all loud and high pitched…” Sica said to Fany.

We all had a good laugh about it.

“So unni, you’re not mad?” Krystal asked.

“No… I’m not mad, little one. I’m thankful… I’m glad you did what you did,” I thanked them.

“I feel the same. Honestly, I was so happy I didn’t care that you two totally played us…” Fany said as she grabbed hold of my arm and rested her head on my shoulder.

“It’s true. She didn’t want to play along but I made her…” I told them. I did promise Fany that I would clear her name of any wrong-doing.

“Aigoo… Look at you two, already lovey dovey after only one night. Geez, I can’t even imagine what you two are going to be like once you’re settled into your relationship,” Sica commented.

“I really haven’t seen you this happy, unni…” Krystal added.

“Eiii… you just don’t know what Fany is like at home… She’s like this randomly…” I revealed.

“Yah! Then how would you prefer me to be?” Fany asked, pinching my arm.

“Did I say I didn’t like it?”  I stuck my tongue out at her.

She replied with a quick peck on my lips.

“Yah! Not in front of the kids!” I scolded her.

“Wae? There’s nothing to hide… We’re all adults here…” Fany whined.

“Yeah, unni… I’m not a kid you know…” Krystal said with a grin.

“Ahem,” Sica pretended to clear . “Now that all the fun and games are over, we’ll leave you two to it…”

“You don’t have to leave just yet… You two want to join us for dinner?” I asked.

“And intrude on your date? I don’t think so. We’ll meet up some other time to chat, unni,” Krystal rejected the idea.

“Yeah. Enjoy your first official date… “ Sica bid us as she got up from her seat.

“Hey…” I called out to them as they started to leave. “Thanks for everything…”

“Don’t sweat it… I owed you…” Sica replied with a sheepish grin.

In a second, the Jungs were gone, and it was just Fany and I left.

“What did she owe you for?” Fany asked.

“It’s nothing.” She still didn’t know about Sica and Krystal’s relationship. “Are you hungry? Should we have a quick bite?”

“Why a quick bite? It’s our first official date…” Fany pouted.

“Well… we can have a nice long meal… or… we can have a quick bite and then head back to my room…” I answered cheekily.

She pinched my arm again.

“Owww!”

“Aish! Are you always thinking about that?!”

“Not always… So…?”

She gave me a disapproving look but then she answered, “Quick bite…”

---

(Tiffany’s POV)

It was a good thing we had something to eat beforehand because Taeyeonie had drained almost all my energy, yet again.

Seriously… She’s like the energizer bunny… she just keeps going… Maybe my stamina is just really terrible…

We both laid in bed, me completely exhausted, but she seemed to be just fine.

“Are you staying the night?” she tried convincing me for the fifth time.

“I already told you… I can’t…” I replied apologetically for the fifth time.

“You !”

“Why don’t you come home?”

“I would… but I already paid for the room and it’s so close to work…”

“Well, even if I wanted to stay, I didn’t bring any of my stuff with me…” I told her.

“Fine…! I’ll let you go if you can escape me…” she said confidently as she trailed kisses from my neck down to my body.

“Argh! That’s not fair… It’s ual blackmail!” I huffed.

I was already so tired and now she was making it impossible for me to leave.

Dammit, Kim Taeyeon! You know I’m powerless against you…

I had no choice… I had to surrender…