"Taengoo?"

Taeyeon immediately withdraw her lips from Tiffany's lips and hurriedly stood out from the bed before Jessica entered the room. She was strung out and tense and her heart beats wildly like a jungle drum. 

"C-c-ome in", Taeyeon stuttered.

Jessica entered the room, her face was dismayed when she saw Taeyeon and Tiffany in the room. Jessica keenly studied Taeyeon and Tiffany's face and eyed them with suspicion. She's baffled by Taeyeon's flustered look and how Tiffany looked in between indifference and annoyed with Jessica's presence.

"Am I interrupting something ?", Jessica asked a question to both Taeyeon and Tiffany. She tried to restrain irritation on her tones but she couldn't help it. Her question appeared interrogating and she can't hide the acute feeling of animosity to found Taeyeon and Tiffany in the room with Taeyeon looking flustered like she's been caught in an act and Tiffany looking all haughty towards her like she's trying to mark her territory over Taeyeon.

"A-a-aniyo Sica, I was just.., I was just talking with Pany," Taeyeon answered Jessica's question, her voice visible with nervousness. 

Jessica didn't want to stay there any longer, she rolled her eyes and wear an inhospitable look before saying to Taeyeon,"I'll just talk to you later. Finish whatever business you have."

"J-j-jessica," Taeyeon tenuously called out for Jessica but Jessica already slammed the door in front of her.

Taeyeon let out a deep sigh when Jessica slammed the door in front of her. She massaged her temple, her head was pounding in an acute turbulent. She felt nauseous and weak in the knees. 

"You're not serious about her, aren't you?", Tiffany's husky voice cut in.

Taeyeon turned her body towards Tiffany and shook her head in incredulity.

"What the hell are you thinking Hwang Miyoung?", Taeyeon's voice transformed deeper and darker. Although Taeyeon didn't yell to Tiffany, she sounded angry and it startled Tiffany. Taeyeon has always been very untroubled and calm but she could feel that a storm was about to come her way. At the fleeting moment, she realized that she has waken up a sleeping dragon and the dragon was beyond furious.

Although startled, Tiffany was not the type to be intimidated by confrontation. She stood up from her bed and positioned herself right in front of Taeyeon, she stared at Taeyeon with a load of intensity.

"You tell me, what the hell are you thinking?", Tiffany's voice sound even huskier. She tried to supressed her irritation.

"Look," Taeyeon's voice was now softer but still more stern than her usual tone, she put both her hands in Tiffany's shoulder, staring directly at Tiffany's eyes,"I like Jessica, Pany. I like her and I want you to understand that I'm darned serious about her. This is not some high-school crush or mere curiousity. I've always like her. Now which part of it that you didn't understand?"

Tiffany's mouth gaped open and her eyes widen, she could not believe what she just heard.

"B-b-ut, I thought.....," Tiffany talked to Taeyeon but then she didn't continue her statement. She only continue to stared at Taeyeon, waiting for Taeyeon to complete her unfinished statement.

Taeyeon's eyes softened at Tiffany and so did her voice. She brushed Tiffany's shoulders up and down,"Tiffany, I did like you. In fact I used to like you a lot and I love you. I love you so much that you are the first person that come in mind when I feel troubled. But that days Tiffany?", Taeyeon paused and she gazed at Tiffany's eyes,"that days has long over." 

Tiffany's body jerked, her breath labored and sounded heavy, swiftly she put both her hands and covered her eyes and a clear display of tears were visible rolling down from both corner of her eyes. The liquid sadness flowed down her soft cheeks, leaving a wet trail. Her body kept shaking and convulsing. She struggled to breathe with each desperate gasp of air she took.

Taeyeon could feel a heavy weight in her stomach when she saw Tiffany's crying in front of her. She felt a sharp pains and she moved closer to Tiffany and pulled her into a comfortable hug. Tiffany hugged Taeyeon back, intensely, Taeyeon felt like Tiffany was about to crush her and she was even more wrapped in an acute sense of pain. Taeyeon thought to herself, here's the previous love of her life who has turned into her best friend, her person, sobbing uncontrollably. Taeyeon thought how could I ever hurt her? But she didn’t understand then that she could hurt somebody so badly. She never thought that Tiffany would love her back in a romantic context. And then a rush of thoughts flowed through Taeyeon's head, she realized that the possesive Tiffany must've mistaken her possesiveness for something more. She must've mistaken her fondness for Taeyeon with love. Moreover she has to compete with her best friend slash rival, Jessica. 

Taeyeon slowly opened , breaking Tiffany's sob,"Trust me, you are not in love with me, Tiffany."

Tiffany didn't answer and Taeyeon continued,"You are not in love with me. You're just..... I don't know... afraid of having to share me with someone else ? But you are my best friend right ? You are my person, you must, out of all the others, you must  understand that I want her, I want Jessica and I..I-I- love her."

Tiffany has slowly stopped to sob uncontrolably, but she still hugged Taeyeon tightly and finally she let Taeyeon go and let out a sound, her voice was muffled,"You sure you love her?"

Taeyeon smiled at Tiffany, Tiffany's eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were all puffy.

"I feel comfortable with you, you know ? I feel comfortable with you and Sunny but her? I realized it's love because whenever she's near, or not even near, whenever she's on my sight, I feel like my heart is about to burst," Taeyeon paused for a while and look at Tiffany, making sure Tiffany was listening and Tiffany nodded her head weakly, signaling that she's listening.

Taeyeon smiled again, and then chuckled lightly. She could feel her stomach knotted just thinking about Jessica.

"There’s something different about her, and I don’t have to think hard to see it although it take me sometimes to realize my real feeling. Something about the way she  looks at me, like she has already identified and can disarm every one of my defense mechanisms with no effort, like she sees through them to the disaster lying beneath. And she still wants it.”

Tiffany's eyes slowly turned into crescent-moon shaped, she smiled and her eyes looked even smaller after she cried. Taeyeon felt a wash of relief when she saw Tiffany finally smiling again, she smiled back at her best friend and caressed her soft brown hair.

"I was being silly, was I?", Tiffany asked Taeyeon.

"Sometimes you're too dramatic. Why did you kiss me anyway?", Taeyeon finally eased up.

Tiffany let out her husky laugh and hugged Taeyeon's arm, putting her head in her best friend's shoulder,"I don't want to lose your affections and attentions. I'm just being....selfish."

Taeyeon hissed at Tiffany's statement,"You are unbelieveable. I thought you already understand about my feeling to Jessica after we went out that day?"

"I did. But I just couldn't believe it, it's all so sudden and I'm not ready to lose you yet."

"Well, are you ready now? Because sooner or later, I've make up my mind to devote myself to her. And you have to compromise. Not compromise, I mean, you have to understand that she's on different level with you and the others. She has one reserved place in my heart and....that reserved place is..well it's only for her," Taeyeon looked at Tiffany, careful at selecting her words as to not hurt Tiffany further.

"I was always jealous of her maybe that's why it's so hard to believe that I've to lose to her again, moreover I'm losing on the only winning chance I have against her."

Taeyeon laughed at Tiffany, she shook her head in disbelief,"Why are you talking about me as if I'm a game or a prize? I'm a person for God's sake, small, but still a person."

Tiffany laughed along with Taeyeon, she realized her crazy competitivenes may sounds insane to others.

"You both are beautiful person, with your own goods and bads. It's obviously silly to compete about me because you are both in a different game. You are a kind, caring, and beautiful soul Tiffany. You're always cheerful and ready to help others, you are passionate and hard-worker and with all the goodness in you, I'm sure you will find someone worth of your values, and that person? That person is not me."

Tiffany smiled at Taeyeon, a heartwarming smile that soothes both of them. Taeyeon was very happy that she finally able to confide about her thoughts and feelings to Tiffany and Tiffany was also relieved by the realization that maybe, just maybe, she was having a false alarm about her feelings to Taeyeon. 

"I hope you are right Tae-Tae. You see, this is what I like about you, you're always so gentle and sometimes you are really good with words."

"I hope I have my words to explain to Jessica about this," Taeyeon wore down a worried look and was welcomed by Tiffany's apologetic look. Taeyeon remembered that Jessica must've been pissed off after their encounter previously. 

"I'm very sorry to cause a trouble for both of you, let me talk to her."

Taeyeon twiddled her fingers, she was actually relieved that Tiffany wanted to talk to Jessica but she thought that she better explain it to Jessica herself. 

"Hm.. Let me talk to her, Pany. I'll call for you if I need help, wish me luck."

Taeyeon then made her way to the door and got out of Tiffany's room, making her way to Jessica, leaving Tiffany on a contemplative thought.