Chapter 2 (Updated as of February 05, 2022)

A feeling of numbness on her left arm woke Taeyeon from her deep slumber. Her hands were cold as feelings of ants crawling in the entirety of her arm dominated her senses. Still with her eyes closed, she tried to break her arm free from the unknown cause of weight that's pinning her arm down to the bed. She tried to wiggle her arm out but the restraint was just to heavy for her to be able to even move a little. 

Sighing, she tried to open her eyes, squinting from the ray of light splling through her room's window. She let a minute pass by staring at the window's curtains, letting consciousness get a hold of her. 

A sniffing followed by shuffling of the sheets and movements at her side caused her to come out of her reverie. She turned her head to her left side and saw her best friend. Half of the girl's face was covered by her hair, her nose red, her eyes swollen, her breaths shallow, and sleeping so comfortably on Taeyeons left arm. Seeing how peaceful the girl was succumbing to slumber, the feelings of numbness in her arm disappeared, forgotten. 

Taeyeon then remembered what had happened the night before that had caused her best friend to be in this state. Coming home from singing club practice, she found her best friend sprawled all over her bedroom floor, bawling her eyes out. She silently craddled her in her arms, letting the girl cry it all out. For what seemed like forever, they just sat there on the cold floor, sharing the comfortable silence, holding each other tight. 

When the girl was able to calm down from her sobbing, Taeyeon asked her what had happened. She just chuckled the moment she heard her reason: "I couldn't spend the Christmas with you because dad decided to spend it in L.A. How could they do that Taeyeon~ah? I don't wanna go!" and she continued to whine amidst the tears spilling through her eyes.

Staring at her best friend's face, she smiled, admiring the existence of the loudest creature she had ever known. She traced the contours of the face sleeping next to her. From her eyes, to her nose, to those two chubby cheeks, and then to her lips. Though she will never vocally admit, her best friend is indeed pretty. No, scratch that, her best friend is beautiful. Beyond beautiful, if that's even possible. 

That was the first time that she was able to be in that close proximity with the girl, being in each other's personal space. Heck, she could even count the girl's eyelashes. Her heart suddenly started to skip a beat and she too, just like her best friend, started to breathe shallow, as if breathing normally would wake the peacuful girl.

Sparks started to flow from her arms down to her fingertips, every inch of her skin itching to touch the beautiful face right in front her, and it was as if the girl's face was enticing to be touched as well. 

The failure of engaging every ounce of self-control she had in her caused her to move her right hand, albeit shakily. She slowly and gently tucked her best friend's fringe that was covering half of her face behind the girl's ear. 

The girl slurred and she retracted her hand. But she didn't wake up, thankfully.

She moved her hand again, this time, feeling the softness of the girl's cheek. She gently caressed the skin with the back of her fingers, the hair in her spine standing with every touch. She wiped the non-existent tears on the girls cheek and wished that she could just kiss the tears away the next time she cries.

Her line of sight fell onto the girl's plump lips. She gulped. Her heart frantically beating out of her chest. She caught her breath as she thought of an inexplicable move. 

Taeyeon threw caution into the wind, shut her eyes and closed the gap between the both of them. Her lips petting lightly with the other girl's soft lips. And the time seemed to have stopped, just like her breathing. Her stomach churn and she felt like being electrocuted. 

She withdrew her head back carefully as not to wake the girl, and cursed inwardly for such stupid act she had just executed. She face-palmed and felt how warm her cheeks were, guessing that it couldn't be redder than blood. 

Shaking her head, she gripped her chest, hoping that it could stop her heart from beating berserkly as it was pumping so loud that she can literally hear it on her ears. She started to whack her chest with her hand in hopes that it would stop, afraid that the girl she just kissed might hear it and wake up. 

The girl on her arms then stirred, and Taeyeon's eyes widened and she froze. 

"Stop moving so much, TaeTae. You're disturbing my sleep."

She called all the saints and wished that they would just get her right then and there.

Is she really awake? she thought. Does she know that I just kissed her? 

Fear then clouded her system, weakening every joint in her body with the thought that her supposed harmless but reckless act could cost her her best friend.

She shut her eyes tight, preparing herself for a slap.

Instead, she felt a hand clutching her shirt and the girl next to her moving, closing the very little gap that was left between them. The girl nozzled her face against Taeyeon's chest and tucked her head under older girl's chin.

"TaeTae, I'm cold. Hug me."

She couldn't believe her ears. The words just kept