The PD called for a 10 minute break, so that 2PM could prepare for the couple selection portion of the show. The true MC, Boom, had arrived and would be leading the selection to help it progress smoothly. The script writers focused on writing guide MC cards to help Boom keep the show on track.

Jessica watched Wooyoung move to the left corner of the stage and practice some dance moves while looking at the ground. But every so often he would look up and gaze at Tiffany. No one would think anything of it, or know that he was looking at Tiffany unless they were staring at him the entire time as Jessica was.

She wanted to confirm her suspicions and had no one to turn to but Taecyeon. She looked around for him and saw Taecyeon begin to walk away from a brief rendezvous with the scriptwriters and boldly approached him.

“Hey there,” said Jessica as casually as possible with a smile. Taecyeon was taken aback as he did not notice her next to him at first. She was after all much shorter than him and he hadn’t heard her walk up.

“Uh… Hi,” he said apprehensively, not sure what to make of her forwardness. He then chuckled mentally, realizing she was making an effort. One of Jessica’s eyebrows rose up in wonder at Taecyeon’s amused expression. “What’s up?” he asked as they kept walking back towards the right side of the stage.

“Well, I was just wondering… Does Wooyoung like Tiffany, by any chance?” she asked offhandedly. She didn’t even look at him when she asked. Taecyeon looked down at her, stunned. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly.

“How did you know?” he asked in surprise. Jessica grinned. Her eyes closed as her head lowered, causing her chin to press into her neck. Taecyeon felt the hairs stand on the back of his neck and goose bumps form on his arms. He pulled his coat tighter around him. He looked around at the air vents high above him. Was there a draft?

“At first I guessed from your expressions, but then I confirmed it after watching Wooyoung,” said Jessica. She sat down on the stairs leading up to stage. Taecyeon sat down next to her with his jokester smile plastered on his face.

“So, in other words you’re saying that you were watching me, huh?” he said teasingly. Jessica blushed and looked down at her lap. He hand rubbed that back of her neck as she averted her eyes. Had he gone too far? He forgot how reserved she was because he already felt so comfortable with her. He lowered his head so that she could see his face and wiggled his eyebrows which made her laugh and nullified the awkwardness.

“Anneyo,” she laughed. “I just noticed that you went from loud participant to quiet observer when Wooyoung and Tiffany interacted is all.” Her eyes brightened. “Who wouldn’t notice when the noisiest person’s voice suddenly disappears?” She bit the side of her lip, silently pleased with herself.

“Bwoh!” responded Taecyeon with raised eyebrows. He couldn’t believe Jessica just . “You’re talking about me?” He pretended to be offended in such a silly way that he kept Jessica laughing.

After joking around a bit more, Jessica asked, “So who are you picking for the couple selection?” She took a deep breath to calm herself after laughing so long. Taecyeon grinned.

“Why? Are you hoping I’ll pick you?” he asked. He nudged her playfully with his shoulder. This time Jessica didn’t blush, apparently used to his teasing and learned not to make anything of it.

“I’ll admit a little. I just haven’t really gotten to know anyone else so far,” she said without a second thought.

“Ah well, you’re already claimed by someone who would really like to get to know you better,” he said with a wink.

“Jinjja?!” said Jessica with a worried expression. Taecyeon smiled at her cute expression. She was like a cute dongsaeng he wished he had. He always wanted a little sister that he could protect. His older sister could take care of herself and took care of him as well. He wanted to do that for someone too.

“Yeah, so I’m picking Sunny,” he said.

“Who’s picking me?” she asked as if it was an urgent matter. He made the motion of zipping his lips shut to which Jessica pouted. “Well then why did you decide to pick Sunny? Are you interested in her?”

“She’s cute, but not particularly,” said Taecyeon. “The other members have members they like more than Sunny, while I’m indifferent.” Jessica looked a bit upset at his statement.

Taecyeon raised his hands defensively. “I don’t mean they dislike Sunny. They all think she’s really nice and cute too,” he insisted. “Actually, since I don’t particularly want to be paired with one over the other, I thought it would be better to pick Sunny so that she doesn’t misunderstand and think she is disliked.” Jessica placed her elbow on her knee and rested her head in her hand. She looked up at into Taecyeon’s eyes.

“That’s really nice of you,” she said sincerely. She smiled a closed-lip smile. He felt the warmth in her words and looked back into her eyes as he smiled back.

-------------------------------------------------------

Filming recommenced with both groups lined up facing each other and Boom standing in the middle. Sunny did a cute opening for the scene and stutter stepped back to her position to a round of applause and cheers from 2PM.

“Here, I’ll take it for you,” said Taecyeon as he approached Sunny with an open hand to take the sound sync slate.

“Ah, he’s a gentleman,” commented Boom. That make Taecyeon smile proudly. All the girls smiled at him as he walked by. They were impressed with his good manners.

“Keep going that way and leave,” said Junho as Taecyeon passed Hyoyeon who was standing next to Sunny. Taecyeon handed the slate to one of the production crew and headed back towards s.

“Hurry and stand here,” said Wooyoung who was more jumpy than usual.

“He always does that when the camera is rolling,” whined Junsu.

Taecyeon stood back in line and saw Jessica who smiled at him appreciatively. His gaze fell on Yoona who was standing to Jessica’s left. Taecyeon notes that she was much taller than Jessica. Yoona noticed he was looking at her. She smiled at him and winked. He accepted it with a grin and a head’s up.

Yoona tapped Jessica’s shoulder and whispered something to her while looking at Taecyeon. He was acutely aware of her attention towards him, especially after Tiffany said Yoona thought he was cute. Taecyeon actually had a desire to show his aegyo, but was always pressured by his image to show a strong persona. He had noticed Yoona a while back while he was a trainee and even before SNSD debuted. Tiffany had pointed her out in a commercial and said that she was one of the girl’s she was training with to debut. Not only that, but Yoona had taken up acting recently. Taecyeon also hoped to get the opportunity to act one day.

Taecyeon had tuned out everyone as he got lost in his thoughts. He was filming a show. It was time to participate and not be distracted with random thoughts.

“…may reflect the member’s true feelings…” said Boom. He was interrupted by hand signals and whispering from the PD. Boom was confused for a moment, and then understood the PD’s signals.

“Honestly, there is someone special here today,” announced Boom.

“It’s SNSD,” replied Chansung. Boom tapped Chansung on the head for disrupting him.

“But today, you were mad at this person and such,” continued Boom. Junsu grinned at the ground and shuffled his feet upon hearing Boom’s words.

“Today is… the day the Taecyeon came back to Korea.” 2PM overreacted to Boom’s obvious teasing of Junsu. Taecyeon walked around with a big smile, enjoying the fake limelight.

Junho pretended to really appreciate Taecyeon being back and gave him a shoulder massage. “The day he comes back, he has to record a show. Everyone should congratulate him on his safe return.”

Junsu looked a little upset at all the teasing. They decided they had played around enough and genuinely wished him a happy birthday. Junsu danced around in celebration as SNSD sang him a birthday song. Chansung disappeared and returned with a cake.  

Yoona leaned on Jessica’s shoulder and whispered something inaudible. Jessica grinned. Taecyeon heard her call Yoona a little shikshin. Just as Junsu blew out the