A/N: It's here, you guys! And it's long. And hopefully that will make up for the delayed update. I won't be updating for another month (life has been getting busy), but I promise the first update of 2018 will be good, if not great, so please anticipate it. One more thing: the pre-party events, which are described in this chapter, turned out to be longer and much more detailed than I originally intended them to be, and so I couldn't write Seohyun's birthday party yet. I'm sure you'll understand why when you see just how long this chapter has gotten. But the party is happening next chapter and if I were you I would be looking forward to it, because it's going to be eventful. Happy reading~!  Please don't forget to leave your feedback. 

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Tiffany sighed as she closed the door behind her back. “Seohyun, you’re making a big deal out of nothing. What am I supposed to explain, anyway?”

“Perhaps moment a few hours ago, when Uncle Tony said he would come with us and you and Taeyeon looked absolutely horrified at the thought?” responded Seohyun. “Or the fact that he didn’t know his wife’s whereabouts while you were hiding her in your bedroom.”

“I wasn’t hiding her, for Christ’s sake. I told you she wasn’t feeling well.”

“And why didn’t you tell him?”

“He didn’t ask.”  

“Well, he asked me.”

Tiffany froze. “What?”

A small, wry twitch could be seen on Seohyun’s lips, and then there came a faint cocky nod of her head. “Yes. He asked me about her, and I had to  to him because something told me that if I were to tell him the truth, you would be in big trouble. And so would she. Now, why is that, cousin?” she inquired further as she got up and took slow steps towards Tiffany.

She stresses the word ‘lie’ as though she had never lied in her life, thought Tiffany.

Tiffany shook her head. “You tell me. You could have told him,” she lied herself, trying to sound convincing. “You must be imagining things, Seohyun.”

“Oh, no, Tiff, I am not,” the taller girl responded calmly. “There’s been a lot of strange things happening in this house. I’ve been noticing them ever since I arrived. And it all seems to amount to Taeyeon.”

Tiffany didn’t know what to respond. She clicked her tongue, feigning indignation, and looked away.

Seohyun took a step closer. “Tiffany, who is this woman, and how did she get here?” she mumbled impatiently, looking straight into Tiffany’s eyes. “I don’t like being made a fool of, cousin. I just want the truth.”

Tiffany bit on her lower lip, turning her gaze to her cousin once again. There was a mixture of anger, impatience, and hurt on Seohyun’s face. How could her cousin have put the pieces together so fast, Tiffany wondered? And what would she do now that Seohyun was holding her back against the wall? Certainly she couldn’t tell Seohyun the entire truth, but then again she couldn’t keep lying to her, either. Not anymore. So after the quickest and most pressure-driven pondering of her life, Tiffany decided that the best thing to do would be to try to convince Seohyun of a half-truth.

“If I tell you, will you promise not to tell anyone?”

Seohyun raised her eyebrows. So there was something to hide. “I promise.”

Tiffany’s eyes flickered over Seohyun’s face until she, with a defeated sigh, moved toward her bed, sat down, and finally began to speak: “Their marriage is… It’s some sort of sham. For business purposes.”

“Business purposes?”

“Yes. I don’t know. Taeyeon doesn’t talk much about it. But this is all she’s told me.”

“Taeyeon told you?”

Tiffany just nodded quietly.

Seohyun bobbed her head ironically. “My. She seems to trust you quite a lot, doesn’t she?” she remarked, side-eyeing Tiffany as she ambled through the room. “I mean, if their marriage is really of such deceptive nature, naturally nobody else should know about the truth but her and your father. Yet she confided it in you.”

“Only because in the beginning I decided to meddle just as much as you are right now!” Tiffany fired. “I wouldn’t leave her alone until I got the answers I wanted. Which I didn’t, but I can live with that, I think. Anyway. Her words were always elusive. That was the most I managed to squeeze out of her, and only after much trying. There was clearly something she didn’t want me to know, so I just gave up.”

It is quite obvious there’s something she doesn’t want anybody to know, cousin dearest, Seohyun thought.

The younger girl hummed. “Does Uncle know you know?”

Tiffany shook her head.

“So she wasn’t supposed to tell you,” Seohyun mumbled, seemingly deep in thought.

“No. I mean, yes. That is--” Tiffany sighed. “Believe me, Seohyun, I don’t know. She probably wasn’t, but--”

“No, she definitely wasn’t supposed to tell you,” Seohyun interrupted, mumbling the words out once again. “It wouldn't make sense. Uncle would never allow you or anybody else to know about this. Tiff, do you follow me?” she added, now in a clear tone, as she sat down by Tiffany’s side. “Can you see where I’m trying to get?”

Tiffany furrowed her eyebrows. “Not really.”

Seohyun pointed to the distance, gesturing as though she were pointing to Taeyeon, supposedly in the room across the hallway. “She confided in you a secret that was supposed to be kept between herself and your father. But why? There is no chance in hell Uncle would like you, or anybody else for that matter, to know about whatever’s behind this laughable stunt they call a marriage. A failed marriage, or a marriage in which the wife is not entirely devoted to her husband, is a shameful thing among men. It hurts their pride, Tiffany. Uncle Tony would be furious to know that anyone, even his own daughter, is aware that this is his case.”

“I told you why! I goaded her on! I’m beginning to think you’re the one who’s not following me,” she mumbled.

Seohyun smirked, then wagged her finger in front of Tiffany’s face. “No. She wanted you to know.”

“What?” Tiffany interjected. “That doesn’t make any sense. Of course she didn’t. If she did, she would’ve told me the truth, the entire truth, the first time I asked. Oh, what are you, anyway? Some sort of psychiatrist?”

Seohyun ignored the disguised insult. “How come it isn’t perfectly obvious to you? It makes all the sense in the world. She wouldn’t take the risk of exposing this marriage if she didn’t want you to know. Or at least if she didn’t think you deserved to know, for some reason. Certainly not if you simply tried to convince her that you deserved an answer for being Uncle Tony’s daughter,” Seohyun remarked, as though she had read Tiffany’s mind when the girl recalled using that argument against Taeyeon. “No, her deeming fair to fill you in must have had a particular and personal reason of her own.”

Tiffany fell silent for a while, and then she groaned. “She’d been here just for a month or two when she told me. We barely talked back then. Why would she want me to know?”

Seohyun’s eyes were glued to Tiffany’s face for a few seconds, and the older girl didn’t know for sure whether her cousin was silently reprimanding her or just lost in her thoughts. Tiffany’s throat went dry when Seohyun shot up one of her sharp eyebrows and, with a sardonic smirk, snickered faintly. “Do you know what was the first thing I thought when I saw Taeyeon for the first time, Tiff?” the blonde girl said as she got up.

“What?”

Seohyun ambled through the room, eyeing it and every single object around herself with a vigilant gaze. “I thought she looked emotionless,” she said nonchalantly. “And never had I seen a more forced smile than the one she offered me when we met. She looked awkward, robotic. And so I thought, there must be something incredibly wrong with this woman. But then, Tiff… then it all changed,” she said, turning to her cousin.

Tiffany raised her eyebrows, displaying her curiosity and attention, waiting for Seohyun to go on. What could she say, after all? Seohyun was reading her and the entire situation as easily as though she were reading a book she already knew by heart, peeling every detail out, probing the facts with so clever an easiness that it nearly reminded Tiffany of Sherlock Holmes and the books she used to read of his adventures when she was younger. The more she tried to argue and debunk Seohyun’s assumptions, the more arguments Seohyun had to fire back, it seemed, so Tiffany decided to cut down the number of words that came out of , lest any would make it even easier for Seohyun to corner her.

“My belief that Taeyeon was some sort of unfeeling alien female creature was discredited when I noticed how her eyes go soft when she looks at you,” Seohyun blurted, glancing at Tiffany.

The older girl remained quiet, slightly agape displaying her surprise at the sudden remark.

Seohyun continued to speak calmly, “The way her voice goes soft when she talks to you,” she added, gesturing as though something was coming out of . She took a few slow steps toward Tiffany. “And it’s only with you, cous’. Mrs. Winters told me she managed to earn your affection after a while, but it looks like you have also managed to earn hers, no?”

Tiffany’s mind went blank for a few seconds. She should be wary of her every word… but the words seemed to escape her altogether. It was awfully hard to find anything that would easily come out of .

Still, she couldn’t let Seohyun see her hesitate nor falter. That would arise even more suspicion. “Why, fortunately. For months she was the only person I had to talk to, and I was the only person she had to talk to. We kept each other company. How wouldn’t we, living under the same roof? Father has been busier than ever this year, I have barely seen him. After Taeyeon arrived, after a couple of months or so, we simply… bonded,” Tiffany elaborated, shrugging. “Don’t you think it was only natural that we would grow fond of or attached to each other somehow?”

Seohyun crossed her arms. There was truth and sense in what Tiffany said, she mused. She tried to put herself on Tiffany’s place: were she Tiffany, wouldn’t she also eventually become close with Taeyeon? She probably would. Yes, it would be just natural. But would she become as fond of the woman as Tiffany seemed to be?

The younger girl sighed, and despite her remaining doubts, she eased. “I suppose,” she muttered, sitting down by Tiffany’s side once again.

Tiffany wanted to let out a relieved sigh, but she held it back. “See? You are overreacting. I know the situation is strange and that it requires getting adapted to it, but there’s no covert conspiracy behind it.”

Could she truly be overreacting? Seohyun, once with a set idea or notion in her mind, was generally not easily convinced otherwise, but with Tiffany things tended to be different. Even though she would not say it out loud, Seohyun often looked up to Tiffany, and every word the girl said to her bore great relevance. And taking that in consideration in addition to Tiffany’s argument, which did make sense, Tiffany’s reasoning seemed plausible and eloquent enough for Seohyun’s critical and rational mind. So perhaps she had, after all, imagined that Taeyeon and Tiffany were closer than they were supposed to be. Perhaps she had worried in vain.

But even though she tried to seriously consider that possibility, the girl could not shake off the feeling that something felt off, and that there was something unusual going on.

Seohyun pursed her lips together and furrowed her eyebrows as though in deep thought, and then shook her head. “I don’t know, Tiff,” she mumbled.

“Don’t you believe me? What is there to be suspicious of, Seohyun?” 

“I do. It’s just--there are things I still fail to understand,” Seohyun responded, and looked into the distance as she propped her chin on her tightly closed fist.  “I understand that Taeyeon and your father wish to pose as a happily married and ordinary couple, but frankly, I have no idea who they wish to convince of that with the kind of demeanor they have around each other. You can clearly see they are not romantically involved at all. But why? Just as natural as your becoming close with Taeyeon under certain circumstances, should be her eventually growing to like your father and also the other way around, shouldn’t it? Many marriages work like that. Two people who initially feel nothing for each other, but end up developing feelings, even if not passionate ones…” she trailed of, speaking as though she thought out loud to herself. She continued, “It perplexes me that Uncle Tony doesn’t seem to feel a thing for her. She’s beautiful and, well, he is a man… Men like beautiful women. And he has provided her with a perfectly comfortable life, surely has given her one expensive present or two, taken her out at some point. She, too, should like him at least a bit. Yet not a single sign of affection!” She frowned.

“Maybe they’re just not meant to be,” Tiffany tried to contend.

“And then there’s you,” Seohyun added, ignoring her cousin's words and turning to Tiffany. “You and Taeyeon’s scandalously obvious bias for you. You and Taeyeon and the fact that you two seem nervous all the time, as though you were keeping a nasty secret. Hiding something.”

Tiffany clicked her tongue. “Nonsense,” she mumbled simply, looking away. She wouldn’t have the heart to lie while looking into her cousin’s eyes.

Seohyun observed Tiffany for a while, and then her expression turned into a mixture of strictness and a moment of epiphany. Tiffany’s demeanor gave her away, Seohyun knew. “You are hiding something from me, aren’t you?”

“What? Of course not. There is nothing to hide.”

“Why do I feel, then, that you know more about this woman than you’ve been telling me?”

“I’ve told you all I know!” Tiffany lied again, glancing quickly at Seohyun.

“No, cousin, there’s more! I know there’s more. There’s something strange about that woman and about the way you two behave around each other. I cannot forget how desolate you two looked like when Uncle Tony tried to go shopping with us. Taeyeon panicked, Tiff. I saw it.”

Tiffany began to grow significantly anxious, swallowing on a dry throat. “There’s nothing more. I’ve told you what she’s told me, and that was all,” Tiffany retorted simply, ignoring Seohyun’s mention about the occurrence that afternoon, then got up and began walking around the room with nervous steps. “Things are just the way you see it: Taeyeon married father, God knows why, they just don’t seem to get along very well, and she’s just as elusive as my answers are and she’s my friend and why can’t you just be satisfied with that?” she questioned, slightly raising her trembling voice.

“Because I want to understand what is going on! Because I’m also a part of this family, and I’m your only cousin! Why can’t you trust me?”

“I trust you, I do! I just--” Tiffany trailed off as she turned to Seohyun, her eyes warming with tears. “I can’t give her away,” she said weakly, gesturing helplessness with her hands, softening her voice as her tears began to spill.

Seohyun knit her eyebrows together, and upon seeing Tiffany’s tears, rushed toward the girl and readily pulled her into a tight embrace. Seohyun was definitely not an overall very empathetic person, but she absolutely hated to see her cousin cry.

“If I were sure no harm would come to her, I would tell you, Seo,” Tiffany said against Seohyun’s shoulder. “But I’m not,” she said, shaking her head. “And I can’t let anyone hurt her again.”

To Tiffany, it wasn’t about protecting and disguising her blossoming relationship with Taeyeon anymore. It was about shielding Taeyeon from anything potentially harmful to her in any way. Should Seohyun know of Taeyeon’s preferences, which, Tiffany at this point believed, had something to do with her marrying Anthony, the risks Taeyeon had of getting caught would grow considerably. And surely, if anyone found out about her and Tiffany, she would be the one to take all the blame… and Tiffany was just beginning to understand just how ugly and difficult things could get, should that happen. And although she knew Seohyun was of a good nature, Tiffany didn’t know how the girl could react to the information.

Seohyun landed one soothing hand on Tiffany’s head. “Has she done anything bad?” she asked softly, tightening her grip around her sobbing cousin. “Something to you?”

“No, no,” Tiffany readily responded, lifting her head as she shook it. “No, she’s the sweetest creature, she would never, ever hurt me, or anyone else for that matter. She’s the kindest, nicest, most darling woman you could ever meet.”

“Then?” Seohyun asked, not as eagerly as she had been asking things before, for the tears on Tiffany’s reddened eyes and cheeks pained her deeply, even more since she knew the older girl would not be in that situation weren’t for the interrogation she had put her through. “What must you protect her from?”

Tiffany puckered her lips. More tears fell. “Father,” she breathed out. “Father, Nana, everyone.”

It’s not like Seohyun did not have her assumptions already, but she needed confirmation, and she needed it desperately. Not because she wanted to harm Taeyeon, not because she had to quench her curiosity, but because the topic was clearly upsetting to Tiffany, and Seohyun cared too much about her cousin not to be concerned. She wanted to help, but she needed to know the whole story first. “Why? What has she done?”

“Please, stop asking,” Tiffany said, untangling herself from Seohyun’s hug.

“Cous’, please, I just--”

“Please, stop,” Tiffany repeated, then started for the door. “If she deems it appropriate, she will tell you herself.” She left the room and rushed downstairs, directing herself to the library. Once inside, she locked the door, and curled up on the couch as more tears spilled from her eyes.

Still dazed by how fast Tiffany had left her sight, and gravely preoccupied about her cousin’s state as she did so, Seohyun looked lost and desperate as she left the room to chase behind her Tiffany.

Was Tiffany mad at her? she wondered as she rapidly descended the staircase. Please, she couldn’t be. Everyone got mad at her so easily: her mother, her father, even Mrs. Winters, sometimes. Seohyun could not afford to have her only cousin and only true friend upset with her. Had she hurt Tiffany? Hurting Tiffany would be much worse. But then, again, when didn’t she hurt people around her?

When she reached the end of the staircase, her eyes blurry with the tears she was fighting, she ran into a figure a tad taller than herself, and was startled when she heard the sound of china shattering against the floor. She yelped, taking a step behind.

“Seohyun! What’s wrong?” the figure called.

Seohyun eyed the broken cup on the floor and the tea spilled around it, then lifted her eyes to meet the owner of the melodic voice. Taeyeon.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed out, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I--I’ll clean it up, but--I have to go now, I’m sorry,” she gibbered nervously, looking about her surroundings trying to find Tiffany.

“No, hey.” Taeyeon shyly put her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You seem nervous. What happened?”

Nervous? Seohyun was desperate. Death sounded better than having known she had upset the only person that had always had a pair of widely spread arms to welcome and support her, no matter what. When she met with Taeyeon’s concerned and empathetic eyes, she hugged her arms and shrunk, succumbing to her anxiousness as she held back her tears.

“Tiffany and I discussed,” she said in a small voice. “I’ve gone too far and now she’s upset and won’t talk to me.”

Taeyeon felt a small, nearly imperceptible smile creeping upon her lips, finding it rather sweet and surprising to see Seohyun, previously always so well poised and confident, looking like a lost and guilty child now. Both Seohyun and Tiffany bore such strong, feminine auras, and both were so lady-like in appearance that Taeyeon often forgot they were just teenagers, and were bound to act as suchㅡthat included the sudden outbursts of anger and strong emotions in general. Seohyun, especially. “The youngest Hwang,” she recalled Tiffany describing her.

“I’m sure she isn’t as upset as you think,” Taeyeon tried to comfort her. “What was the discussion about?”

Suddenly that cold and distant image Seohyun had of Taeyeon was gone, and she saw in the woman’s face someone who was sincerely concerned about the situation, as well as about Seohyun’s feelings, which was absurdly rare. And Taeyeon was. As much as Seohyun made her anxious, for she knew the girl was up to something, Taeyeon wouldn’t like to see her sad or troubled, especially not knowing how important she was to Tiffany. And Tiffany had taught Taeyeon that, when one sees someone feeling down, one should make all the efforts to cheer them up and let them know that they’re not alone.

Seohyun looked up at Taeyeon again, and retreated even more. “You,” she finally responded, rather shamefully.

Taeyeon was stunned for a moment. Her face grew pale and dry. Her lips parted to speak, but no words came out. When she came back to her senses, she sighed, and pulling every effort she had the strength for within herself, put on the calmest and most composed semblance. “Alright,” she muttered, placing her hand on Seohyun’s back and gently pushing the girl forward.

Seohyun followed,  puzzled. “Where are we going?”

Taeyeon looked around, and realizing Tiffany had apparently vanished into thin air, she concluded the girl could only be at her favorite spot of the house. “To talk to Tiffany and solve this out.”

Seohyun didn’t know what to say, so she just turned quiet.

Taeyeon walked calmly toward the library while Seohyun tagged along. When they reached the closed doors of the room, Taeyeon let go of Seohyun, and then knocked gently.

“Go away, Seo!” came the shaken voice from inside the library. “I don’t want to see you right now.”

Taeyeon glanced at Seohyun, who looked at the woman as though she were quietly entreating her to solve the issue soon. “It’s not Seohyun, Tiffany,” Taeyeon crooned in response.

There was silence for a few seconds.

“Come on, Tiff, open the door, please. Let’s talk,” Taeyeon asked again.

This time, after a few more seconds of hesitation, Taeyeon and Seohyun heard faint footsteps against the floor, followed by the click of the doors being unlocked and the vague creek of  them opening.

Seohyun and Taeyeon entered, and Taeyeon closed the doors. Tiffany was shocked to see the duo side by side.

“Why did you go looking for her?” Tiffany mumbled, looking at Seohyun. “Wasn’t terrorizing me enough?! Why did you have to go to her?” she added, beginning to raise her voice.

It broke Taeyeon’s heart to see just how nervous Tiffany was, particularly when she took notice of the girl’s reddish, swollen eyes.

“No, cous’, I didn’t. Listen to me, please. I--”

“No! I told you, I don’t want to talk anymore! Why are you doing this?”

“Tiffany, I came across her by accident! I was looking for you! Let me speak!” Seohyun raised her voice, too.

“Quiet! Both of you!” Taeyeon demanded, her voice coming out louder than the two girls’ together, as she crossed her arms. She hated having to nearly yell at Tiffany, but she couldn’t have two girls actually yelling at each other at that hour. Someone could hear. Someone could wake up. Anthony could wake up.

Tiffany and Seohyun stopped and looked apprehensively at Taeyeon. Tiffany frowned, unfamiliar to Taeyeon’s behavior, previously so calm and sweet toward her. They waited for the woman to continue:—

“To the couch,” the blonde added, suggesting they sit down. “And stop yapping at each other, for heaven’s sake.”

Tiffany and Seohyun followed, and soon the two were obediently sat on the couch, side by side. Taeyeon had to contain a smile as she watched the scene, the two girls looking like knowingly culpable puppies, looking at her with unnecessarily fearful big eyes. Even Tiffany looked at her worriedly. Tiffany! As if she didn’t know Taeyeon was incapable of hurting even a fly. As if Tiffany didn’t know that all the tenderness Taeyeon had in herself was all for her, and that she would be unable to ever treat her with anything but that.

“What happened?” Taeyeon asked calmly, standing in front of them.

Seohyun and Tiffany glanced at each other. Tiffany looked angry. Seohyun looked apologetic.

“The full story,” Taeyeon added, making a 'come here' gesture with her hand before she crossed her arms again. “I know my name is in it. Out with it so that we can solve this out.”

“Seohyun is a meddling brat, that's what happened,” Tiffany hissed.

“I was not meddling! I was just asking you a few questions!” Seohyun chimed in, defending herself.

“Well, you ask too much!” 

“No, Tiffany, I ask sensibly. That’s different. And I only asked what I asked because I worry about you!”

Tiffany chuckled sarcastically. “Worry about me?”

“Yes, believe it or not. And very much so. And honestly, cous’, I’m even more worried now than I originally was.”

Tiffany looked at Seohyun with a quizzical expression.

“Honestly, Tiffany, in the beginning, I don’t think I was taking this seriously. I mean, I was, but I was just going to tease you and warn you about it, that’s all. I won’t lie, I was trying to elicit a response from you as I questioned you earlier, but you were so stubborn! You just wouldn’t talk. And I wanted you to tell me, I really did, because I knew, from the very moment I stepped into this house, that you were hiding something from me, and I didn’t like it one bit.”

“I’m not hiding anything from you!”

“...But now I see that it goes deeper than I initially thought. Which is why I’m worried.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tiffany mumbled, looking away.

Seohyun frowned, beginning to grow impatient and rather annnoyed. How couldn’t Tiffany understand that she only meant to help? “Oh, no?” the blonde girl said, crossing her arms. “Should I ask the reason behind our argument, then?” She turned to Taeyeon. “Taeyeon, why is it that every time I mention your name around Tiffany, she seems to go weak at the knees?”

Trying to hide her shock from both the bluntness and the nature of Seohyun’s question consumed all of her strength, but Taeyeon managed to look perfectly calm as she flickered her eyes from one girl to the other. “I don’t know,” she responded simply. She finally settled her eyes on Seohyun only. “Is that the only thing you’re so curious about?”

Seohyun hesitated for a moment. “Are you willing to respond?”

Taeyeon nodded slowly.

“Fine. Then no, it isn’t the only thing I’m curious about. I’m also curious whether Tiffany is supposed to be as close with you and as fond of you as she seems to be.”

Taeyeon glanced at Tiffany, then shook her head. “No, she’s not.”

“And yet, she is.”

Taeyeon looked at Seohyun again without saying a word. Seohyun considered the woman had conceded through her silence.

Seohyun sighed. “And please, please help me understand what this marriage of yours with Uncle Tony is about. I don’t mean to say you shouldn’t be here, I just… this is so odd. I walk into this house one day and suddenly Uncle has a new wife. A wedding which not even my father, his brother, heard about! Uncle Tony shares everything with my father!” She paused for a moment. “And Tiffany seems to be taking the entire situation too well. Tiffany, who used to have nightmares about her father remarrying and allowing another woman to take Aunt Elea--”

There came a heavy knock on the door, which cut Seohyun off and grasped the trio’s attention. “Taeyeon, are you in there?” a masculine voice was heard.

The blonde clenched her jaw.

With an annoyed sigh, she turned around and walked toward the doors. When she opened them, Anthony barged into the library uninvited, and looking rather infuriated.

She sneered. “What is it, dearest?”

“What the hell are you doing here that you aren’t in bed yet?” he demanded, failing to notice Taeyeon had company.

“The girls were fighting,” she gestured toward Tiffany and Seohyun, sitting on the couch, watching the whole scene attentively.

Anthony glanced quickly at Seohyun and Tiffany, and then back at Taeyeon. “Well, that’s none of your business, is it? Let them work it out by themselves,” he said, taking Taeyeon by the wrist. The one wrist he had previously left bruises on. The man did not know his own strength, so when his fingers suddenly grabbed Taeyeon’s delicate skin, the blonde could not hold back a moan of pain, principally because the wrist still hurt a bit.

When Anthony heard Taeyeon and then glanced at Seohyun and Tiffany, looking scandalized and absolutely enraged, respectively, he immediately let go of Taeyeon. The blonde promptly took a couple of steps back and held her wrist to her chest, exhaling heavily through both her nose and mouth and piercing Anthony with a death gaze that seemed to fire a hundred bullets at him, and slowly slowly began recomposing herself.

“Well, just for your information, a couple of minutes ago, I had two crying and yelling teenagers in this library. They’ve just begun calming themselves down and talking things through, all because I intervened. Should I continue to help them out, or would you rather they start fighting again and soon start hurling things at each other, also?” she snarled.

The man’s eyes flickered from the two girls to Taeyeon and vice-versa a couple of times. “Fine.” He frowned. “But be quick. I’ll be waiting for you.”

Taeyeon tried a wry smile as Anthony left the library, but her lips refused to twitch upward.

She sighed when the door was finally closed again, and Anthony gone. She massaged her forehead for a couple of seconds and then turned around to look at Seohyun and Tiffany again. She chuckled dryly.

“I guess there’s no still trying to convince you we’re in a perfectly normal, loving marriage, right, Seohyun?”

Seohyun had her brows knit together and an expression of both horror and disgust all over her young, soft features. “I can’t believe that was Uncle Tony,” she mumbled.

“The brute!” Tiffany fired, and swatted the couch with force as she got up. “Who does he think he is?!”

Seohyun got up herself. “Are you okay?” she addressed Taeyeon shyly.

Taeyeon sighed again, and offered Seohyun a faint smile. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

The three women stood still and silent for a few seconds, until Seohyun took a few steps forward toward Taeyeon and reached her hand out. Tiffany followed, mimicking the gesture. Each of Taeyeon’s hands were taken by one of the girls, and they led her toward the couch with them. Seohyun took the hand of the bruised wrist and inspected it quietly. Taeyeon’s other hand squeezed Tiffany’s upon feeling the girl’s touch.

The three sat back down on the couch, with Taeyeon in the middle.

“He did this?” Seohyun asked, inspecting the dark spots on Taeyeon’s wrists.

Taeyeon didn’t respond verbally, but Seohyun understood what her eyes, with their sad gleam, meant as the blonde looked at her.

Taeyeon took a deep breath as she stared into the distance. “Anthony and I met at the office,” she said pausedly. “I was a columnist at the journal at the time. I did something… foolish. I was reckless and a blunder threw me into a very, very difficult and menacing situation. Tiffany’s father offered me a deal to get me out of that situation safely and easily. One we could both benefit from.” she said, turning to Seohyun.

“Marrying him?”

Taeyeon nodded. “I needed… protection, so to speak. Marrying Anthony would provide me with such protection. In return, I would have to act as his wife whenever his acquaintances were around. At parties, meetings, anything. He said it would do his image good, and that it could even help him with his business partnerships, but that’s another story. That was the deal, essentially. I was desperate, so I took it…” she trailed off, looking down. “But soon things started turning out… not the way he promised. Not the way I expected.” She gave Tiffany’s hand another light squeeze, then let it go. “Turns out who I thought to be a polite, decent, and arguably understanding man was not exactly like that. Nor was he a man of his word.”

“I suppose that’s just how deceitful appearances and assumptions can be, no?” Tiffany chimed in, seizing Taeyeon’s attention. “You and I both thought he was good and kind, and I thought you were here to ruin my life. It all turned out to be the exact opposite.”

Taeyeon’s lips curved into a small smile.

“What did he promise you?” Seohyun inquired further.

“Well, to begin with, that I would still have my job even after marrying,” the woman answered, looking at Seohyun again. “He promised me I could still write for the paper. A month into married life I was still writing and trying to send my texts in when I found out he had hired another columnist to replace me, without even saying a word to me. Among other things I don’t think are appropriate to discuss,” Taeyeon added, gesturing vaguely as she shook her head and looked away.

The three fell silent for a moment or two.

“Well, is that enough information for you, Seohyun?” Taeyeon asked, forcing a small, polite smile.

Seohyun looked apologetically at the woman. She remained doubtful about her relationship with Tiffany, but she dared not inquire any further. Not when Taeyeon was clearly upset. Not when she knew all that has happening because of her childish and petty curiosity.

The blonde girl nodded. “I’m sorry, Taeyeon.”

Taeyeon got up. “It’s fine.”

“No, I really am,” Seohyun insisted, rising from her seat, too. “I didn’t mean to make you feel uneasy. I truly am sorry.”

“Don’t apologize for being smart,” Taeyeon responded, walking away. “But do try working on your tact.”

There was a small sad tilt of Tiffany’s head as the girl watched Taeyeon walk away. “Don’t go,” she muttered once she saw the woman reach the door. “Please, don’t go. Please. Stay here with us,” she entreated faintly.

Taeyeon directed a sad smile at Tiffany, which she tried her best to make look comforting. “Good night, Tiff,” she crooned, winking lightly. She then looked at the younger girl. “Good night, Seohyun.”

Tiffany reclined on the couch and sighed heavily as she watched Taeyeon close the door behind her back. Her body felt numb. The only thing she felt was a single tear rolling down her cheek, which she quickly wiped away.

There was a minute or two of silence between the two girls, sitting motionless inside the room. Tiffany was holding back her tears as she thought about Taeyeon, walking into her father’s room, where he would be waiting for her God knows how.

“Why would he hurt her like that?” Seohyun mused quietly. She turned to Tiffany, “Why would he hurt anyone at all?”

Tiffany just shrugged.

“Cous’, I had no idea…”

“Seohyun, what is it really that you wish to know so badly?” Tiffany asked. Her voice sounded tired. “What is it that intrigues you so greatly that you went as far as causing all this to obtain an answer?”

“...Tiff, just how fond are you of her?”

Tiffany hesitated for a moment. “Very fond,” she responded vaguely.

“And what would ‘very fond’ mean, exactly?”

Love, Tiffany thought, but she didn’t say it. But she knew it was love. What else could it be?

She looked up at Seohyun. “She’s become my best friend. Above all, my best friend. She’s the one to whom I show my drawings, the only one who pays attention to them. She’s the one who sits down by my side to read with me and doesn’t find it boring, and actually engages in discussions about books with me. When there was a storm and I was irrationally and pathetically scared of it, she was there to hold me and tell me there was no danger. She didn’t make fun of me, she protected me. She’s the one who takes me out for ice cream and with whom I just sit there and talk, because she listens to me. Sometimes she tells me no and I don’t obey her, but instead of getting mad at me for my disobedience, she tries to reason with me and make me understand why I should do as she says. She’s the one who’s constantly worrying about me and about my well being, and whenever I turn around, there she is behind me, quietly taking care of me. And she always puts me first.” She paused for a few seconds, then shrugged. “I just cherish her, Seohyun. For everything she is, for everything she does—for me and also just in general. I didn’t grow attached to her simply because I had no option but to eventually start interacting with her. I grew attached to her because she’s wonderful. Give her a chance and you will see.”

Seohyun couldn’t say she wasn’t taken aback by Tiffany’s answer. Never had she heard such sweet, tender words spoken by someone about another person. Tiffany’s words were heavy with affection, so much that Seohyun could imagine honey dripping from them. Her cousin’s eyes were moony as she spoke. It was clear that Tiffany not only felt a deep affection for the woman, but also regarded her as something extremely special.

Seohyun smiled a bit as she sat down by Tiffany’s side. “But… it’s still only a friendly attachment, isn’t it?”

Tiffany stared at Seohyun for a few seconds, then averted her gaze. “Yes, of course,” she murmured, unconvincingly to Seohyun’s ears. “What else would it be?”

Tiffany had to be careful about her mannerisms, Seohyun thought. Her avoiding a person’s eyes as she lied was too obvious.

“Oh, Tiff…” Seohyun mumbled, after being quiet for a while, shaking her head as she finally, albeit indirectly, obtained the confirmation she had been seeking. “It is not, is it?”

“It’s not like that, I--”

“It’s fine.”

“...What?”

“Well, not fine, exactly, but…” Seohyun sighed. “What can I do about it? I just… I don’t want you to get hurt. And I think I understand.”

Tiffany was stunned. Should she try to deny Seohyun’s assumptions about her feelings? Well, she should, but it would be pointless to, at this stage. It’s fine—she kept repeating Seohyun’s voice in her head. She almost smiled a bit. “A-aren’t you shocked? Horrified?”

Seohyun chuckled. “Tiffany, please. I live in Hollywood. Everyone sleeps with everyone. I’ve heard all sorts of wild things. About the ladies, especially.” When Tiffany was quiet, she continued. “But there’s a reason why their affairs don’t go public, and why so many of them have marriages like Uncle and Taeyeon’s. I don’t think it’s bad that you like her that way, just…”

“What?”

“Have you ever…?”

Tiffany raised her eyebrows.

“Have you ever… done anything with her?”

Tiffany’s face grew warm. “Seohyun!”

“Don’t you dare to avoid this question!”

Tiffany’s expression was shocked for a moment, but softened soon. She looked away, embarrassed. “I’ve kissed her,” she mumbled.

“Once? And that was all?”

Tiffany glanced at Seohyun for a second, but rapidly veered her gaze again. “A few times.”

Seohyun’s jaw fell.

The older girl finally managed to fix her eyes on Seohyun. “Oh, please. You’ve done worse in many occasions.”

“I honestly don’t know whether I should say you’re absolutely out of your tree or congratulate you, cous’,” Seohyun mumbled.

“Congratulate me?”

“You’ve outdone me in sneakiness,” Seohyun remarked playfully.

Tiffany chuckled. “I suppose.”

Seohyun grew serious again. “But still, Tiff… This is dangerous. I know I do all sorts of arguably idiotic things, but I’ve never done anything that could put me in grave trouble. This can get you locked up in a mental institution, did you know that? Uncle Tony could disown you if he knew. So much could happen. Awful things.”

“I don’t care whatever he does to me. All that matters is that Taeyeon is safe, always.”

“The same could happen to her. Perhaps even worse.”

“I know, she’s told me so. She’s tried to push me away multiple times.”

Seohyun frowned. “She has? Why?”

“Because she says it will do me no good to like her this much, and that that’s not the life she wants for me. She’s said it’s dangerous and that she doesn’t want me to suffer.”

“And yet you insist on this?”

“I won’t let anything happen to her. She’s safe with me, nothing is going to harm her while I’m around. And don’t worry, I’m sure Father wouldn’t do anything to me.”

Seohyun sighed. Both she and Tiffany fell silent.

“The only reason, cousin, I won’t strongly advise you against this and tell Taeyeon to back the hell off in the unkindest way possible, is because I do trust you’re in good hands,” Seohyun stared at Tiffany. “Otherwise, I would do anything to break you two apart, for the sake of your security, both emotional and physical. In the situation you’re in, the drawbacks outnumber the possible good outcomes.”

“Losing Taeyeon would be worse than anything.”

Seohyun smiled a bit, and then looked away.

Tiffany had always been the one and the only one to be able to soften Seohyun. There was nobody in the world Seohyun trusted and cared about more than her cousin, the girl who grew up with her, the person with whom she shared her best memories. She had always looked up to Tiffany: both because she was the older one and because, albeit Seohyun loved to about her “square” personality, she had always thought Tiffany was brilliant. But she also had always thought Tiffany was fragile, and so, in most occasions, even though she was younger, Seohyun played the role of the bigger, protective cousin. When they were children and Seohyun was sleeping over at the mansion and Tiffany would cry at night because she didn’t have a mother to tuck her in or read her a bedtime story or because she had a nightmare, Seohyun would always try to cheer Tiffany up. Little Seohyun would make funny faces, dance ridiculously, and even pretend to be Tiffany’s mother, just so that her cousin would smile. And she did all that because she loved Tiffany, and because Tiffany would always stand by her, like when her parents would ground her for doing something bad and Tiffany would ask Anthony or Nana to ground her too just so that she and Seohyun could stay together. That was just how close the two cousins had always been. Because they absolutely adored each other, and because they had no one else. 

But now Tiffany had Taeyeon, and the woman had clearly occupied a significant part of Tiffany’s life and heart. The companionship Tiffany and Seohyun shared had dwindled as they grew into their teenage years and developed different tastes and habits, even though they would always get along perfectly well every time Seohyun visited each year, and that had left a small void in both girls where their utter and unchanging companionship had once been. Taeyeon seemed to have filled that void for Tiffany, provided her with someone who would listen to her and keep her company the way Seohyun used to do when they were younger, but who was there to fill in the void in Seohyun’s heart?

Seohyun could not deny to herself that she felt a bit jealous. “Now that you have Taeyeon, will you even still want me to visit every summer?” she blurted.

Tiffany knit her eyebrows together and drew herself closer to Seohyun. “Of course I will, Seo. Why wouldn’t I?”

Seohyun shrugged. “From what you’ve told me and from what I’ve seen, you two seem to get along so well. Wouldn’t I be the third wheel?”

“The third wheel?!” Tiffany waited. “Are you jealous, Seo?”

“No,” Seohyun readily lied, unwilling to admit the truth, for it would hurt her pride. “Just afraid of losing your company,” she confessed. “You’re the only one I know I can always count on. And, well, you are quite the square one, but we do have fun together, don’t we?”

Tiffany smiled, never taking her eyes off of Seohyun. “Yes, we do.”

Seohyun smiled a little, too, but didn’t respond. Tiffany slid closer to her on the couch and wrapped her arms around the younger girl, pulling her into a warm embrace. Seohyun leaned her head on Tiffany’s shoulder, enjoying her cousin’s display of affection. It was rare for the both of them to share such moments, even though their love for each other was always there, and that’s exactly what made those moments so special.

Tiffany chuckled faintly. “You know, I wish everyone knew you the way I do. I wish everyone could see you in moments such as this and understand you aren’t really the rascal people seem to believe you to be.

“Nobody else is understanding enough to know me the way you do, cous’.”

“Well, then it’s their loss.”

The two girls fell silent. Tiffany still had her arms wrapped around Seohyun; one of her hands caressed the girl’s hair gently.

“If I ever do something stupid enough to get me kicked out of the house or disowned, will you shelter me? Each day I feel like that’s closer and closer to happening. My parents absolutely hate me.”

Tiffany smiled. “Of course.” She held Seohyun tighter. “I will always be there for you, Seo.”

Seohyun looked up at Tiffany.

“And you’ll never be replaced,” Tiffany assured.

 

Upstairs, Taeyeon entered Anthony’s bedroom nervously. Certainly the man would ask about the ridiculous argument. What should she tell her? A million possibilities passed through her mind as she, still avoiding eye contact with him, closed the bedroom’s door. As she finally turned around she found Anthony’s eyes on her, inquiring quietly, albeit sternly. The man had a book in hands, and he looked surprisingly similar to Tiffany, if the girl were a man in his early forties with sunken, coarse, but handsome cheeks.

“Well?”

Taeyeon’s eyes flickered nervously around the room before they settled on Anthony for good. “What?”

“What was that mess all about, and how did you get involved in it?”

Taeyeon shook her head vaguely, denouncing no thought or emotion. “I was downstairs making myself a cup of tea when Seohyun ran into me. She looked rather disturbed and I was worried. She told me she and Tiffany had fought. I only wanted to help.”

“What did they fight over?”

Taeyeon took a second longer than the normal to respond,  rapidly analyzing all the false reasons her mind had come up with, until she settled for one. “Seohyun read an old diary of Tiffany’s and found out Tiffany liked the same boy she did when they were younger. Isn’t it ridiculous?” she articulated, trying an amused smile at the end.

Anthony cocked an eyebrow. “You’re joking.”

I’m lying, actually, Taeyeon thought contemptuously. “No, it’s true. You know how silly teenage girls can get. Seohyun was very upset that Tiffany liked him and didn’t tell her a thing. But everything is just fine now. They’ve made up.”

“Those kids,” he muttered, cliking his tongue as he looked away. “Tiffany was never, ever a trouble child; she has never given me a headache, but when Seohyun arrives she somehow always manages to turn my daughter into some sort of wild animal.”

Taeyeon chuckled inwardly, thinking of Seohyun. “I think you’re too hard on Seohyun. I like her. I think she’s funny. A bit intimidating, but funny still,” she mused quietly, as though she were talking to herself instead Anthony.

“Oh, I like her too. She is my niece, after all. But some of the things she says and does are just savage. And she drags Tiffany into her savagery! Have they told you about the one day I left the house for two darned hours and they turned it into the Old West? When I came back, Mrs. Winters was tied up to a chair. The furniture had been turned upside down. Seohyun was dressed in my clothes pretending to be a cowboy, and Tiffany was her horse. They were 8 and 10, respectively. How they managed to do that, I’ll never know.”

Taeyeon laughed as she imagined the scene—and she laughed genuinely, positively amused by the story. The Hwang girls truly never failed to impress her.

“I don’t think it’s funny. Would you encourage that sort of thing?”

“By all means, no,” Taeyeon responded, still chuckling a bit, and for a moment forgetting to whom she was speaking, and what the man represented. “But they were young and they wanted to have fun. They still are and they still do.  What’s the problem with that?”

Anthony looked away, shaking his head. “The problem is that their idea of fun, or at least Seohyun’s, is tantamount to terrorism,” he mumbled, looking at his book again.

They fell silent, and suddenly Taeyeon remembered who, exactly, was the man she had been chatting so naturally with. She remembered he represented fear, and imprisonment, and a life she didn’t want, and the biggest obstacle separating her from the life she actually wanted. She remembered the brutal things he had done and said to her in the last few days as well, and she became angry. Angry, terribly angry, but also preoccupied. How dangerous was Anthony Hwang? He could be a total ogre in one moment, a spiteful, swaggering man, and a normal, deceptively pleasant and polite one in the next. Was he conscious he could do that, she wondered? Or was his personality completely unbalanced and his mind unstable? Had he any problems with his temper? He probably did. He always sounded bitter. But then again, that wouldn’t perfectly explain his apparent mood swings and sudden changes of behavior. A personality disorder, perhaps? Taeyeon had read something about that in a book once.

“Are you going to stand there?” his voice rang , jolting Taeyeon out of her thoughts, and it was only then that the woman realized she was still standing by the door.

She glanced at the bed, at the floor, and then at Anthony. “Where am I to sleep?”

“Here?” he said simply, looking at the empty side of the bed.

“In bed with you?” She scoffed. “Not a chance in hell.”

“Oh, please. I won’t do anything to you.”

“How can I trust that after the way you grabbed my already injured wrist downstairs?”

Anthony took a moment to respond, “Yes, about that. I’m sorry.”

“You are sorry,” she repeated quietly. “Will you just keep trying to hurt me or actually hurting me and then apologizing?”

“Look, Miss, I didn’t mean to do that. I was nervous, that’s all. I had been in bed for an hour and you were nowhere to be seen. When a husband goes up to his room, his wife follows. And you were with the children! I wanted you to be here with me. We must maintain the looks, you know that. I don’t want either of them to be suspicious of anything.  Well, as least not more suspicious than they already are or must be. I know Tiffany is.”

Ah, yes. That. Seohyun must know it by now, no? Taeyeon felt her heart race at the thought, but she decided to try to shake it off. She heard Tiffany’s name, and then her ears and brain were suddenly alert again. “Is she?” she asked nonchalantly, as though she had no idea.

Anthony raised his eyebrows. “I think so, yes,” he mumbled. “Has she ever asked you anything?”

“No. And if she ever does I shall say nothing potentially suspicious.”

“Good. I don’t want to have to explain the reason behind this marriage to her. I don’t want her to know about your… past.”

Oh, Jesus, Taeyeon thought.

“Now stop this ridiculous act and lie down and go to sleep.”

“I won’t sleep with you.”

“By God, woman. I told you I am not going to do anything with you.”

“You make me uncomfortable. I can’t trust you."

“I swear on my late wife’s grave!” he exclaimed, clearly disturbed as the words came out of his mouth. “You’re not a real wife, so I can say that. I swear on her grave I won’t lay a darned finger on you. For any purpose.”

Taeyeon was shocked and still extremely guarded, but the angry hurt in Anthony’s voice somehow convinced her. Slowly, she walked toward the bed and crept on it, lying down stiffly as she covered her body. The two stayed in bed immobile, without uttering a word. All Taeyeon could hear was the sound of their breaths. Anthony’s sounded faintly nervous.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered. “About your wife.”

“I do not wish to talk about that,” he replied curtly.

“I’m just giving you my condolences.”

“I don’t need them. I pity myself every single day of my life for not having her with me. I don’t need you to do that.”

“Why did you marry me, anyway?” Taeyeon inquired after a short moment of silence. “You told me a marriage would be convenient for you and that it could even help you in your business, but so far I haven’t met a single partner of yours. And we barely even talk.”

“Well, would you like to file for divorce, then? Don’t you think being a divorced woman would difficult your life significantly?” he argued bitterly.

Taeyeon sighed. It would. It would complicate things terribly. Anthony was absolutely right.

“This marriage is going to be convenient for me. You’ll see it at Seohyun’s birthday party next weekend. But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. And the reason why I married you was because I had that in mind and also because, despite your detestable lifestyle, you were always a great columnist at the paper, and I didn’t want to just fire you then.”

Taeyeon didn’t respond, and she was mute for the rest of the night. She managed to position herself more comfortably in bed and then lost herself in thoughts, while Anthony read a few more pages of his book, which Taeyeon didn’t care to know any information of, and then put it away, half-heartedly wished the blonde a good night, then his side and fell asleep.

Taeyeon managed, under the circumstances, to get a surprisingly decent amount and quality of sleep, although she did wake up several times during the night and every time she did, she was startled to see the manly, big figure lying by her side, apparently in deep slumber. And every time her eyes began to close again as she fell asleep once more, she wished she were in Tiffany’s soft, perfumed bed again.

 

Tiffany woke up early the next morning, earlier than usual, which could perfectly be explained by her restlessness throughout the night. She and Seohyun did make up, and by the time they decided to go to bed everything was back to normal. They no longer talked about the matter, Seohyun didn’t mention Taeyeon at all, and it was as if nothing had happened. But once Tiffany lay her head on the pillow, thoughts began to rush violent through her mind, making it impossible for her to rest. She was taken by distress and doubt as she mused whether she had done a bad or good thing by telling Seohyun the truth, and by fear as she thought of Taeyeon in the same room as her father after the scene she witnessed at the library.

Despite having woken up early, however, Tiffany somehow managed to miss breakfast time. It was nearly 9 when she descended the stairs and headed to the dining room, her stomach complaining loudly about its hunger. Much to her surprise, she found both Taeyeon and Anthony sitting by the dining table: Anthony ate a toast with jam distractedly; Taeyeon was just about to place her lips on the cup of coffee she was graciously holding when her eyes were attracted like magnets toward the girl standing at the threshold.

“Good morning,” Tiffany mumbled as she walked into the room, not very enthusiastic about seeing her father and even less enthusiastic about not being able to greet Taeyeon the way she wanted, which was something along the lines of throwing her arms around the blonde’s neck and kissing her senseless for as long as she could.

“Oh, hello there, sweetie,” Anthony called. “Did you sleep well?”

“Marvelously,” Tiffany responded as she settled on a chair. Anthony didn’t notice her sarcastic tone.

“And where’s your cousin?”

“Sleeping. Where else?”

Anthony hummed, then proceeded to eating his toast, this time with his newspaper on his other hand.

Tiffany turned to Taeyeon. “You didn’t respond.”

Taeyeon playfully cocked one of her eyebrows as she glanced at Tiffany and gulped down a delicate sip of her coffee. “Respond what?”

“My good morning,” Tiffany argued. “That’s impolite.”

“Calling other people ‘impolite’ is impolite, child,” Mrs. Winters chimed, quickly coming into the room with a refilled jar of orange juice to set on the table. She left as rapidly as she came in, but not without shooting a glare at Tiffany which demanded good behavior.

Tiffany rolled her eyes childishly, and then, with a groan and like a heavy sack of sand, bent her torso forward and dropped her forehead on the table.

The girl was undeniably stressed. The fact that that was the second night in a row during which she failed to get a decent amount of sleep was beginning to take its toll on her condition. All she wanted was to sleep for hours, but even when her thoughts were peaceful, the moment she placed her head on the pillow, she would remember Taeyeon, having to sleep in Anthony’s room. And then she remembered what Anthony did to Taeyeon’s wrist when nobody was seeing. And the discomfort Taeyeon must feel whenever she’s close to the man. She would remember that there was a possibility her father would like to touch Taeyeon the way a husband is supposed to touch a wife—the way she knew she could touch Taeyeon, and remembering that reminded her that she’d rather die than have the man close to Taeyeon in any way. Her thoughts were nothing but a poisonous chain reaction that would unsettle her enough to rob her sleep.

“Aren’t you going to eat, sweetie?” Anthony called.

“I’m not hungry,” Tiffany grunted.

The man looked up. “Just a bit, Tiffany. Breakfast is important.”

“No,” the girl insisted.

She was hungry. She just didn’t feel like eating anything. To Tiffany, food was something pleasant, and eating was something one should do happily. She wasn’t happy.

Anthony sighed.

Taeyeon observed the girl apologetically for a while, knowing Tiffany was exhausted and knowing it was her fault. She dabbed the napkin around the corners of and got up, then picked up a plate and on it she put a portion of scrambled eggs and a toast.

“I do agree with your father,” Taeyeon said as she placed the plate beside Tiffany’s head on the table, holding back a diverted smile. “Breakfast is important.”

Tiffany raised her head and glanced at the plate of food, then lifted her gaze to look at Taeyeon. She didn’t say anything, but her face contorted into a lazy and unwilling expression.

“Don’t look at me like that. Eat. I don’t want you fainting around the house,” Taeyeon responded, forcing herself to sound colder than the usual. “Of course, if you don’t want to, I can always call Mrs. Winters. I’m sure she would--”

“Nag me until I finished the whole plate. God, no,” Tiffany said, taking a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

Taeyeon chuckled and walked away, returning to her seat. She had yet to finish her cup of coffee. Besides, now that Tiffany was there, she didn’t quite want to leave the room.

Anthony observed the scene quietly. His prejudice against Taeyeon was stronger than ever every time he saw the woman getting any close to Tiffany, and so, at witnessing the scene, something inside of him sounded loudly like an alarm of danger fueled by anger and fear. At the same time, however, he couldn’t really see anything potentially menacing between the two women. He saw no sentimental smile, neither from Tiffany nor Taeyeon. No sign of extreme closeness. Taeyeon didn’t lay a finger on the girl. Tiffany didn’t linger her gaze on the blonde. Taeyeon’s voice was as polite as the usual—he had to admit, in matters of etiquette, Taeyeon was a true lady. Nothing to blame on Taeyeon. Nothing for him to fear. Still, his feelings regarding whatever kind of relation Taeyeon and Tiffany had unsettled him, but it also shocked itself against his reasons in such a form the man didn’t quite know what to think or feel, and so he just stayed there, immobile, watching everything quietly. His eyes finally traveled elsewhere when Taeyeon sat down once again.

“Hello, Ladies!” a high-pitched and excited young voice called from the threshold of the dining room, earning the attention of the other Hwangs and turning two curious heads. The owner of the voice lowered her cherry-red-framed sunglasses when she noticed the male presence in the room. “And Uncle,” she added.

Tiffany frowned. “What are you doing in that outfit, Seo?” she inquired, noticing the younger girl’s pink-and-white-polka-dotted swimsuit, which was poorly covered with a sheer white swim cover-up.

“Oh, I’m glad you asked!” Seohyun chirped, readjusting her sunglasses on her face. “Well, it is awfully hot outside and I just seem to have woken up in the mood for some good ol’ socializing with fine people by the pool. So grab that ravishing one-piece red swimsuit I got you for your birthday last year, call for Charles, and get ready because we are going to the club, cous’!” she announced, gesturing excitedly as she spoke.

Tiffany’s face lit up. “Yes!” she agreed, readily rising from her seat.

“Absolutely not!”

Both Tiffany’s and Seohyun’s heads turned sharply to Anthony.

“It baffles me that you thought it would be okay to make this decision without consulting me first, Seohyun! No, it baffles me to think you thought I would ever allow it! Need I remind you what happened the last time you two visited the club?”

Seohyun crossed her arms and tilted her face in an angle that was just right to give her the certain amount of apparent confidence and superiority she needed at the time. “Well, yes, that was mistake and I might have made a fool of myself, but--”

“A fool?! You made a spectacle of yourself!”

“But it won’t happen again!” the girl argued. “Frankly, Uncle, how positively uncourteous of you to interrupt a lady.”

“No, no, and no! You are not going anywhere alone, and that’s final.”

“She wouldn’t be going alone!” Tiffany butted in. “I would be with her.”

“You were with her last year, and look what happened, Tiff.”

“But… but that was only because I wasn’t paying attention! Trust me, father. Let us go. Please. We can’t stay inside the whole summer,” she tried to reason.

“Listen, sweetie, I would gladly take you and your delinquent cousin to the club today if I could, but I happen to have an appointment I cannot postpone. And, again, I won’t let Seohyun out unsupervised by a responsible adult, not only because I don’t want to take the risk of having to deal with another scandal, but also because those were specific instructions given by your uncle Bob.” The man wiped his mouth with the napkin and got on his feet. “I don’t want to hear another word about this from either of you,” he commanded, glaring at Seohyun and Tiffany each at a time. “Do you understand?”

Both girls sighed, and the man understood it as a consent. He bobbed his head contently and then left the room, leaving behind to brooding teenagers and one attentive and quiet blonde woman behind.

Tiffany let out an exasperate growl and sat back down on her chair. Seohyun stomped toward her cousin and sat down right by her side, crossing her arms petulantly.

Taeyeon observed the two in expectation. Of course, both were reacting impressively childishly, but she couldn’t help finding it amusing how Tiffany and Seohyun, always so lady-like and both with such womanly appearances, managed to be so silly at times.

“He wants to ruin my life,” Tiffany muttered, breaking the silence.

“Welcome to my world,” Seohyun replied unamusedly. “My parents are constantly trying to ruin mine, too.”

Both were quiet and still for a few seconds.

“We should just take the savings from out allowances and run away,” Tiffany suggested, not bothering to look at Seohyun, who was also angrily immobile.

“Move to Paris,” Seohyun mumbled, nodding absently.

“Or London.”

“Or perhaps fake our own deaths like goddamn Romeo and Juliet to see if the three tyrants get sensibilized and start to value us and caring for our joys for a change.”

The two sighed—a long, dramatic, heartfelt sigh.

“Oh, please,” Taeyeon joined, seizing the girls’ attention. “You cannot be serious.”

“But we are,” Seohyun replied.

“He just told you ‘No.’”

“He always does that,” Tiffany interjected. “We just want to have fun together. How can we do that being stuck in this house?”

Tiffany did have a point, Taeyeon mused. She couldn’t blame them for wanting to do something other than staring at the walls of a fancily-decorated box of boredom.

She looked thoughtfully at Tiffany, then at Seohyun, and after a short while she simply nodded her head and got up. “Stay here,” she told the girls, then dashed out of the room.

Taeyeon had to do little walking until she found the master of the house, halfway up the staircase.

“Anthony,” she called.

He stopped, turning curiously to her, finding it odd to see the woman approaching him. “Yes?”

Taeyeon sighed. “Let them go. They’re truly morose. It’s summer, they’re young, and they want to have fun. Let them, please.”

“Fun?!” he repeated, descending a few steps of the staircase to talk more closely with Taeyeon. “Has either of them told you what happened in that club last summer?”

Taeyeon shook her head.

“Well, allow me the honor to, then,” he said sarcastically. “To sum it up, Tiffany got distracted and the next thing she knew Seohyun was completely wasted, chatting embarrassingly loudly with a bunch of guys who were surrounding her. Surrounding her! She, in the middle of a bunch of young men! That was July. Seohyun had just turned sixteen. I can only assume the boys were over 21 and got her the alcohol.” The man sighed, massaging his forehead. “It was a complete scandal. Luckily I managed to go out of my way to make sure the story wouldn’t spread outside the club. Our family is known, Taeyeon. Seohyun is the only daughter of one of the current best photographers in California, who happens to be my brother. People took pictures of her in that condition. Have you any idea how many other papers and tabloids and gossip magazines I had to pay for them not to place the pictures on the very first page?”

Taeyeon didn’t know what to answer. She just felt her eyes enlarging more and more as the man spoke. She still thought Anthony should give Tiffany and Seohyun a second chance and let them have fun together, but now she couldn’t help but understand his hesitation to.

“Yes, I know,” he said as he noticed Taeyeon’s quietness, seemingly understanding her surprise. “It’s hard to believe that delicate face of Seohyun’s hides a juvenile delinquent ready to wreak havoc at any given chance. Well, anyway. I’ve told them so, and you’ve heard it, but I’ll repeat it anyway: they won’t go anywhere unsupervised,” he finished, then turned away to climb the staircase again.

“I’ll take them,” Taeyeon blurted, seizing his attention again.

Anthony looked at her again, this time rather questioningly.

Now what can I say to effectively persuade him without making it look like I’m willing to spend time with the girls? she wondered. Finally, she decided: “Frankly, Anthony, I do not want to have to deal with two moping and bitter teenagers, who would most certainly readily take their anger out on me, the entire day. I’d rather take them to the club myself. Tiffany gets insufferable when she’s moody, did you know that?” she lied, crossing her arms.

Anthony thought for a while, but eventually agreed. “Christ, fine, fine. Take them,” he said, waving his hand. “But don’t ever lose sight of them. And don’t believe anything they tell you. Do not let them part ways with you and be home early.”

Taeyeon almost smiled. “Thank you. They’ll be glad. So will I.”

“Yes, yes,” he agreed faintly. “I’ll go upstairs and get dressed. I have an important meeting in half an hour. Wait for me before leaving, will you? I want to talk to Tiffany and the Devil before I go.”

Taeyeon assented, and as the man started upstairs again, Taeyeon made her way back into the dining room.

Once there, she met with two quiet, but expectant girls and two pairs of very intrigued eyes. She walked calmly toward the table and then set both her hands on it, choosing her words carefully before announcing, “Perhaps you don’t deserve what I’ve just done, because both of you seem to still have a lot to mature,” she said, looking back and forth from Seohyun to Tiffany. “But I have talked to Anthony and it seems I’ve convinced him of letting you go to the club.”

Two gasps followed her voice.

“You have?” Seohyun asked, incredulous. "Why?"

Taeyeon nodded, offering Seohyun a small, kind smile. “I think he’s being too hard on you.” She paused. “Well, anyway. You may go, but under one condition. I must accompany you. Anthony doesn’t want either of you wandering about alone.”

“You’re coming with us?” Tiffany chimed.

Taeyeon glanced at her, showing a glimpse of a playful smirk. “Much to your disappointment, yes, I am. Or else you won’t be able to go.”

“Disappointment? That’s wonderful news!” Tiffany cheered, and promptly jumped from her seat and rushed towards Taeyeon. “Oh, you’re going to love the club! As Seohyun and I have always gone there every summer, we have our own group of extremely friendly and fun people—some of them daughters and sons of some of my father’s colleagues. We meet there every summer—Seohyun and I like to call them our summer friends, since we don’t see each other any other time of the year. I’ll be more than pleased to introduce you to them—I’m sure they’ll be delighted to have you hang out with us,” the girl chattered happily, touching and holding one of Taeyeon’s forearms.

Seohyun observed the scene quietly.

Taeyeon’s eyes searched for Seohyun for a second, afraid of the girl’s judgment, then quickly found Tiffany’s. The blonde smiled half shyly, half sadly. “I’m glad, Darling, but I’m not sure. I don’t think they would be as enthusiastic about having me join the group. They might prefer hanging out with people their own age, don’t you think?”

Tiffany waved her hand. “Nonsense. I’ve told you, they’re extremely friendly. They’re--” she suddenly interrupted herself, finally realizing what Taeyeon meant, for as she began to respond, she wasn’t quite aware of what the woman’s words carried: the stone-cold, heartbreaking truth about her reality being far too different than Taeyeon’s. “Oh,” she muttered, lowering her gaze as she deflated. Her hand slid down until it was no longer in touch with the woman’s skin, and then she lifted her gaze once more to glance at the blonde. “Sometimes I forget.”

Taeyeon bore deeply into Tiffany’s eyes and her lips curved into a weak smile. She then nodded faintly, taking a deep breath. “Your father has an appointment and will be leaving soon. We’ll wait for him, and then we can go. His request,” she said, walking away from Tiffany. “You might want to start getting ready, girls,” she added, glancing at the two young Hwangs. “Shouldn’t we get there early? It’s a warm sunny day, indeed, Seohyun. Let’s enjoy the Sun. Put on some fresh clothes and pack your things neatly and we shall be there in no time at all,” she finished, graciously excusing herself from the room and disappearing into the distance.

“Why would she do such a thing?” Seohyun mumbled, breaking the almost minute-long silence.

“What?”

“Convince Uncle of letting us go.”

“You heard her. She thought he was being too hard on you,” Tiffany replied absently.

“She barely knows me.”

“She’s a good person.”

Silence. Tiffany and Seohyun stared at each other for a while, and then Tiffany broke the contact with a weak smile and a turn of her body, ready to leave the room.

Seohyun quickened her pace and reached Tiffany just as the latter was passing by the threshold of the living room. The taller girl laced her arm with her cousin’s and leaned into her, following her calmly upstairs.

“Cous’, what is it that you sometimes forget?”

“What?”

“As you were talking to Taeyeon, you said you often forget something.”

“Oh.”

Seohyun waited. She and Tiffany made their way inside Tiffany’s room.

“I forget that she’s older than me,” Tiffany finally responded.

Seohyun’s eyes grew slightly wide. “Gosh, you’re right. I hadn’t thought about that last night. How much older?”

Tiffany groaned as she let her body fall on her bed. “Enough to make things even more complicated.”

“Come on, Cous’. I want numbers.”

“I have always been bat at Math.”

“Tiffany!” Seohyun exclaimed, stomping her feet on the floor.

“Seventeen years,” Tiffany fired, shooting an angry gaze at Seohyun.

The blonde girl’s mouth went agape, and for the first time in her life, Seohyun felt absolutely speechless.

“Don’t look at me that way. It’s not that bad. It doesn’t feel like it.” Tiffany sighed. “That’s why I said that. I forgot. I didn’t realize our pals perhaps wouldn’t like her company because she isn’t our age. And I forgot that because when I’m with her, there are no obstacles like that. Not age, nor our personal differences, nor anything. Well, except for her.”

“Her?”

“The amount of boundaries Taeyeon sets between herself and I would astonish you.”

Seohyun frowned. “This whole situation makes me so confused,” she mumbled, sitting down with her arms and legs crossed by Tiffany’s side.

There came three knocks on the door.

“Come in,” Tiffany announced unenthusiastically.

The door opened. “Are you two ready to go?” Mr. Hwang asked, fixing his tie as he popped his head and torso into the room. “Well, it doesn’t matter,” he said as the girls shook their heads. “I’m leaving now and I want you both downstairs for me to give you final instructions.” He pulled the door close, but didn’t close it completely; instead, he abruptly opened it again and looked at Seohyun and Tiffany once more. “And find Taeyeon and bring her along. She’s vanished again, Devil knows where to, and I--”

“Vanished? For heaven’s sake,” there came the sultry womanly voice Tiffany was so fond of hearing. “I was at the library picking a book as I waited for you to get ready,” Taeyeon remarked, stopping by Anthony’s side, looking most displeased.

Anthony blinked. “Well, be noisier! You are too quiet, I can never know your whereabouts. Which is pathetic considering we live under the same roof.”

“Oh, fine. Whatever. What do you want?”

He placed his hand on Taeyeon’s back and drove her forward and into Tiffany’s room, guiding her steps until she sat on the edge of Tiffany’s bed by Seohyun’s side, and then retreated a few steps back to look gravely at the three women sitting in front of him.

“Alright. Now, here are some orders for the three of you, so listen carefully. Seohyun,” he called, with a rather threatening tone, pointing his finger at her, “you are not to do anything stupid or potentially harmful to the reputation of this family, do you understand?”

“I am not going to do anything!” Seohyun argued, annoyed. “For Pete’s sake, I just want to have fun.”

“Yes, last year all you wanted was to have fun, too, I’m sure. Be warned, Seohyun. This is your last chance. Tiffany,” he looked at his daughter, and wagged his finger faintly before he put it down. “Save from the times you have covered up for your cousin’s wrongdoings and partaken in them, you have never given me a headache. Don’t do it this time. If you see her doing something wrong, stop her, Tiff.”

Tiffany frowned. “Don’t you trust me, father?”

“I do. Normally. Not as much when you are in Seohyun’s company. Although I do believe your upbringing has been good enough for you not to ever do something like what she did last year, with or without her.” He took a deep breath. “Taeyeon,” he called, earning the woman’s attention as well as her gaze, which was discreetly fixed on Tiffany. “Keep both eyes on them. Don’t let them out of your sight, follow them everywhere, and at the slightest sight of disorder, call the office at once.”

Taeyeon assented. “I will. Don’t worry, Anthony. You’re leaving me in charge of two young women, not to toddlers.”

“Yes,” he muttered. “Well, I’m not quite sure which would be worse.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “Damn it. I’m late already. Is it all understood?”

“Yes!” Seohyun, Tiffany, and Taeyeon answered in choir, growing impatient.

“Good. Don’t be home late. Goodbye,” he finally finished, and dashed away from the room and downstairs.

The three Hwang ladies sat quietly in bed, listening to Anthony’s footsteps running down the stairs, then clicking loudly against the floor as he made his way to the front door, until they could no longer hear them, which meant the man was out of the house. The two sighed in relief when the car engine started and Charles took off, taking Anthony with him.

“Freedom, at last!” Seohyun exclaimed happily as she got on her feet.

“Tell me about it. I thought he was going to put us on leashes!” Tiffany said, crossing her arms angrily. “What does he think we are, savages?”

“Bah!” Seohyun shrugged. “Who cares? He’s out and he will be out for a while. Now let me change into a dress and pack a few things and  we shall go!” She rushed out of the room, excitedly humming a random song, and disappeared into the guest room—Taeyeon’s former room.

Tiffany and Taeyeon quietly observed Seohyun cross the hallway, and followed her with their eyes until she was out of sight.

Taeyeon tapped gently on Tiffany’s thigh. “We should do the same,” she said simply as she got up. “Wouldn’t want to waste time, would we?”

Tiffany touched Taeyeon’s wirst, stopping the woman from walking away. The two lingered their eyes on each other for a while, and then, with a deep breath, Tiffany paced toward the door and closed it.

“What’s wrong?”

Tiffany turned around. She walked calmly toward Taeyeon, but her fidgeting fingers gave her anxiety away. “I need to tell you something,” she said, stopping only a step away from Taeyeon.

The blonde raised her eyebrows. “Something serious?” she asked, pulling Tiffany closer with one of her arms, perfectly aware of the girl’s uneasiness.

Tiffany frowned, glancing away. “I suppose.”

Taeyeon fully embraced Tiffany, watching the girl with sheer adoration in her eyes. “I’m all ears,” she crooned.

Tiffany’s head turned slowly, and her eyes found Taeyeon’s face. She knew she should maintain her focus and tell Taeyeon what she needed to, which was her telling Seohyun the night before about the truth behind their relationship… but having the blonde so close, with her warm touch and sweet perfume, whispering so tenderly right next to her cheek seemed to have an entrancing effect on her, and all Tiffany could think of as she aligned her face with Taeyeon’s was how pathetically in love she was with the woman and how desperate her lips were to perch on Taeyeon’s.

And so she did it—she took Taeyeon’s face in her hand and kissed her, forgetting about the possibility of Seohyun walking into the room and witnessing the scene. And albeit Taeyeon’s body went blissfully numb at the touch of Tiffany’s lips against her own, she tried to pull away, and when she did Tiffany kissed her again, and again, and again until the two of them were breathless and needed to hold themselves and their racing hearts back.

“Tiffany, I thought we had agreed--”

“I told Seohyun,” Tiffany blurted out, interrupting Taeyeon, breathing the words against the woman’s mouth.

Taeyeon’s eyes popped open in shock, and she took a step back, although her hands never left Tiffany’s body. “What?”

Tiffany looked at her. “She pressed me on. I had to. But don’t worry, she… she’s fine with it.”

“She’s fine with it?” Taeyeon repeated. In her voice there was a mixture of preoccupation, confusion, and fear, and her face was contorted into an alarmed expression.

“She is. She just…” Tiffany sighed. “She just gave me that same old ‘Tiffany, this is dangerous’ lecture as you always do.”

Taeyeon closed her eyes and shook her head, finally releasing Tiffany from her touch. “I’m sorry, Tiffany. Let me see if I’ve followed you correctly: you’ve told Seohyun about us, and she doesn’t care?”

“She does care! Only… only not in a bad way,” she tried to explain, glancing shyly at Taeyeon. “Not the way your parents did.”

Taeyeon sighed, sitting back down on Tiffany’s bed. The woman was silent for a whole minute, throughout which Tiffany dared not say a word.

“Is that your way of releasing bad news, Tiffany?” Taeyeon asked, not looking at the girl.

“What?”

“You kiss someone enough to make them dizzy and then you say something that could potentially give them a heart attack?”

Tiffany sighed in relief. She knew Taeyeon was shocked, as well as worried, but the blonde’s rather playful tone surceased her nerves. “I’m sorry,” she crooned, drawing closer to Taeyeon. “I was going to just simply say it.”

Taeyeon glanced curiously at her.

Tiffany crouched down in front of Taeyeon and crossed her arms over the woman’s thighs. “But you were so close to me, I couldn’t think straight.”

One of Taeyeon’s eyebrows shot up. “Your impulsiveness is to blame on me, now?”

Tiffany grinned and nodded. “Oh, yes. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Taeyeon chuckled faintly. “Alright. Get up,” she commanded, gently taking Tiffany’s arms in her hands to help the girl up.

“You’re not mad?”

Taeyeon sighed. “No,  just… trying to collect my thoughts,” she justified absently.

“She won’t broach the subject, I’m sure she won’t.”

Taeyeon just nodded. Her hands slowly slid off of Tiffany’s arms, and her eyes wandered about discreetly for a while before they stopped on the girl once more.

Tiffany’s eyes had never left Taeyeon, and when they met with the blonde’s a smile crept on Tiffany’s lips.

Taeyeon knit her eyebrows together for a second as she stared lovingly at Tiffany, and then she chuckled. Cradling Tiffany’s cheek in her hand, she pressed her lips to Tiffany’s temple in a warm, lingering kiss. “You silly, rash, unheeding girl,” she whispered against Tiffany’s skin as her eyes closed, and took the girl in her arms in the softest embrace. “Sometimes I feel like I should cage you like a little bird. A little bird that is so eager to fly but that just isn’t quite capable of it yet. I should cage you like that so you won’t go around risking yourself.”

“I’ve always thought caged birds were the saddest thing to see,” Tiffany whispered as she buried her face on Taeyeon’s neck. “I’d hate to be in a cage. Would you really do that to me?”

Taeyeon’s face turned, and the blonde waited for Tiffany to look at her as well. And when the girl did, Taeyeon sighed, tightening her arms around her torso. “I tried. But I couldn’t keep the cage locked.”

Tiffany smiled, and her lips instinctively drew closer to Taeyeon’s, but the blonde was quicker and stepped away before she could be kissed. Playfully, and in a way that it seemed more like a loving caress, she hit Tiffany’s waist, maneuvering her face away from Tiffany’s lips and making the younger giggle.

“Enough,” she said, holding back an amused smile.

Tiffany clicked her tongue. “Well, you were never fun anyway,” she teased, and then turned around and walked toward her wardrobe, intending to choose an outfit for the day.

Taeyeon smiled, and there she stood for a few seconds, staring at Tiffany as though the girl was the most sacred and beautiful thing her eyes had ever seen. Until her expression turned into shock. “Tiff!” she exclaimed, quickly covering with her hand. “I’ve just realized. I don’t have a membership. How am I going to get into the club without it?”

Tiffany glanced at Taeyeon, raising her eyebrows. “You don’t need it.”

“Of course I do.”

Tiffany shook her head, returning her attention to her dresses, primly arranged in the closet. “Not when you’re a Hwang. Seohyun and I are well known there—they’ll let you come with us. And if they don’t, we’ll call Father. I’m sure that won’t be necessary, though. You see, the Lions Club has advertised on Father’s newspaper for years now. Every single employee there has the utmost respect for him.” She giggled. “And they’re quite scared of him as well. What do you think about this one?” she asked, turning around as she held a blue gingham dress in front of her body—the same dress she had seen her wear a few months ago, when Irene came visit for the first time, and found so beautiful on Tiffany.

The blonde grinned shyly. “Lovely.” She started for the door, but kept her eyes on Tiffany. “I’ll leave for you to get dressed. I should get ready myself.”

Just when she was about to reach the doorknob, Tiffany’s door burst open, making Taeyeon jump backward in shock and welcoming in a loudly-groaning, half-dressed Seohyun.

“Tiff! This is the ultimate tragedy!”

Tiffany’s eyes grew wide for a moment. “Great heavens, Seohyun! What’s the fuss about?”

Taeyeon was still trying to recover from the fright—her hand over her chest, intending to calm her racing heart. It’s just a teenager, she thought to herself. Though it looks more like a tornado.

“Either this dress has shrunk or I’ve put on weight! And I’d much rather the first option, because at least then I have someone else to blame!” she said, aggressively taking off the upper part of the ped dress, unbothered to only be in her bra in front of the other two women. “It won’t zip!”

“Well, it won’t do anything at all if you rip it!” Tiffany scolded her, absolutely unbothered by the fact that her cousin was practically half- in the room. They had grown up together, after all. Changing in front of one another was perfectly normal to them. “Turn around and let me try to zip it.”

With a huff, Seohyun did as commanded, slipping into the bodice of the dress again and turning her back to tiffany—and when she did, her eyes met with Taeyeon. “Oh, hello Taeyeon,” Seohyun smiled at the blonde. “I didn’t see you there.”

“Of course you didn’t. You stormed in like a raging wildfire. Scared her to death,” Tiffany muttered.

Seohyun grinned sheepishly. “Sorry about that,” she said, eyeing the woman. “But Tiffany is usually the only person to ever listen to my complaints, so when something frustrates me, I just have to run to her.”

Taeyeon nodded nervously. “It’s fine.”

The sound of the zipper being effortlessly pulled up seized the attention of the three women in the room.

“You did it!” Seohyun chirped happily.

“The zipper was just stuck.”

Seohyun tilted her head. “Which means?”

Tiffany chuckled. “It means you’re dumb, and that you overreacted as the usual.”

Seohyun frowned, crossing her arms. “I am not dumb. And you’re annoying.”

Taeyeon smiled privately at the scene, and quietly excused herself from the room. The girls only noticed she was gone when they heard the door being carefully shut. They glanced at it, but said nothing. Seohyun was going to say something, but decided against it. She was still getting used to the idea of Taeyeon and Tiffany, and she preferred not to discuss the subject until she made up her mind about it.

“Come on,” Tiffany said, and Seohyun looked at her. “Help me get dressed, too.”

 

Taeyeon was the first to finish dressing up, and in less than 15 minutes she was downstairs in navy blue, flower-stamped summer dress, a pair of lace gloves, and espadrilles, waiting calmly by the front door. With her she carried a bag in which she had put a neatly folded dress, should she need a different outfit, the lipstick she was wearing, a pair of sunglasses, and a black swimsuit Irene had given her the year before on her birthday, which came with a white, and rather sheer, cover-up, and which she had never worn before. She trusted either Tiffany or Seohyun to have sunscreen.

The girls made her wait about ten minutes before they appeared before her, both lovely clad—Tiffany in that darling blue dress, and Seohyun in a top-and-shorts set, of which the bottom piece was baby pink and the bottom one was white, and which shamelessly exposed her midriff. Seohyun’s hair was tied in a ponytail and adorned with a pink ribbon; Tiffany’s was prettily held back by a headband.

Taeyeon opened the front door herself, as Mrs. Winters, who was usually the one to do that, was nowhere to be found. Seohyun was the first one to step toward it.

“Freedom!” she said as she stepped out of the house. “At last!”

Tiffany giggled, watching Seohyun rush toward the car, parked right in front of the porch. She stepped outside herself, followed by Taeyeon.

“Thank you,” she cooed, looking at the blonde. “Without you we would be stuck in there and would just have an awful day.”

Taeyeon smiled a little and winked secretively at Tiffany. “Come,” she said, placing one of her hands on Tiffany’s back and putting on her sunglasses with the other. “I, too, am eager to leave this house for a while.”

 

As predicted by Tiffany, they had no difficulties getting Taeyeon into the club, even without a membership. At the first mention of the Hwang name associated with Taeyeon, all the people working at the club with whom the three Hwangs met as they walked into it were ready to provide the blonde with the best treatment they could offer. Soon the three were comfortably settling on the lounge chairs by the pool, already changed into their bathing suits—a fact which Taeyeon tried to ignore, for Tiffany in that red and white-polka-dotted swimsuit of hers felt much too distracting to her. Taeyeon was in the middle, with Tiffany on her right side and Seohyun on her left, strategically placed so that she could keep track of both girls.

The trio was just finishing getting sunscreen on (Tiffany had brought it) when they heard a high-pitched, excited voice calling from amidst the crowd. They looked in its direction, lowering their sunglasses, and sighted a girl waving happily at them, shouting Seohyun’s and Tiffany’s name. The girl then came forth, followed by two others who seemed equally excited to have seen the Hwangs, making her way toward Tiffany, Seohyun, and Taeyeon.

“Seohyun! Tiffany!” chirped the girl.

“How nice to see you both here!” followed one of the others.

Lastly, the third girl giggled. “We thought we wouldn’t see you around after last year.”

Seohyun rolled her eyes. “Must we talk about the past?” she groaned, reclining on the fancy lounge beach chair.

“You are absolutely right! Let’s talk about the present and future! Look! Look!” the taller girl smiled, reaching out her hand to showcase the diamond ring on her finger.

Tiffany jumped from her seat and pulled her glasses up to her head, then took the girl’s hand in hers. “Oh, gosh, Sooyoung, is that--”

“Yes! I’m getting married to George!” Sooyoung turned around, looking for her fiancé. She saw him not very far, laughing and chatting with a small group of young men. “George? George, darling, come see the girls!” she called.

“Married?!” Seohyun exclaimed, sitting up. “What on god’s green earth! Sooyoung, you’re just my age.”

Sooyoung smiled, hypnotized by the ring on her finger as it gleamed under the sun. “Yes,” she responded absently, without glancing at Seohyun. “So? We’re in love. Who cares if we’re young.”

Seohyun lowered her sunglasses and glanced at Tiffany. The older girl shook her head discreetly.

“But, say, Tiffany,” called the shorter girl as she took a sip of the milkshake she had in one of her hands. “Who’s your friend?”

Tiffany and Seohyun followed the two pair of eyes until their own met with Taeyeon, relaxedly and nonchalantly reclined on the chair. Upon noticing the attention had veered to herself, the blonde elegantly took off her sunglasses and examined the two curious faces that so shamelessly stared at her.

She smiled as if she weren’t nervous at all to meet Tiffany’s and Seohyun’s friends, and waited for Tiffany to introduce her.

“Oh. Yoona, Sooyoung, this is Taeyeon,” she said, gesturing politely toward the woman. “Taeyeon, these are our friends. The ones I told you about. We meet here every summer.”

“Taeyeon Hwang,” the blonde announced, reaching her arm out and gently shaking hands with the two strangers.

“A Hwang too?” the girl named Yoona said, smiling. “Why, isn’t that nice. We do like the Hwangs very much. A cousin of yours, too?” she asked, glancing at Tiffany and Seohyun.

Tiffany’s air seemed to be caught in her lungs, her words seemed to choke , and she couldn’t bring herself to respond verbally. And so, she just shook her head.

It was Seohyun who, upon noticing confusion on her friends’ faces and realizing Tiffany was not going to talk, decided to explain. She lowered her sunglasses one more and looked carefully at each of the girls’ faces. “Mrs. Hwang,” she said, with a slightly mocking grin on her lips, and proceeded to take her sunglasses off.

Two loud gasps, followed by the sound of glass shattering on the floor, were heard, and silence followed—a shocked silence, one to which four eyes staring in disbelief at Taeyeon were added.

“As in… your mother?” Sooyoung asked, looking at Tiffany. “Can’t be,” she answered her own question, shaking her head as she looked at Taeyeon again.

“Father got married again,” Tiffany responded. “What’s so shocking about that?”

“What’s so shocking?! What’s shocking that we haven’t heard anything about it!” Yoona chimed. “Shouldn’t this marriage have been announced on the papers? Your father is an important man, Tiffany. The entire high class society of New York is well acquainted with him—my own parents included. Everyone should have known about this.”

“There wasn’t a ceremony.”

“What?!” Sooyoung exclaimed. “Tiffany, are you putting us on? Yoona is right, the Hwang family is an important one. A new member is welcomed and nobody hears anything of her? How is that even normal?”

“I’m afraid I am the one to blame for that,” Taeyeon interposed, earning Sooyoung’s and Yoona’s attention. “I asked Mr. Hwang not to go public with our marriage. You see, I’m not used to this lifestyle. I preferred to keep things quiet and private, and I was lucky to have my husband agree on that.” She was lying shamelessly, but in the sweetest, most polite tone she could possibly utter.

“Hey, doll. What’s wrong?” called a male voice behind Sooyoung. It was George, her fiancé—the son of one of New York’s wealthiest entrepreneurs, Wallace Lee. He and Sooyoung had met just like the other boys and girls in Tiffany and Seohyun’s summer group of friends—at the club, a few years before. Sooyoung had long set her eyes on George, and this summer, after having had a fling with her the summer before and having been dating her ever since, after Sooyoung turned 18, 21-year-old George finally proposed. And, of course, Sooyoung readily said yes.

Seohyun, albeit shocked by the news, couldn’t really blame Sooyoung. In fact, she had to admit to herself to being a little jealous, even. Yes, Sooyoung was young, and marriage at 18 didn’t sound all that fun to Seohyun, but when a girl has one of the most handsome young men, who also happens to be rich, at her feet, how can she possibly say no to him?

“Erm, George, honey,” Sooyoung chirped, reluctantly diverting her eyes from Taeyeon and turning to her soon-to-be husband. “Had you met Mrs. Hwang before?”

“Mrs. Hwang? Oh, honey, how silly,” he laughed. “There is no Mrs. Hwang.”

Tiffany rolled her eyes. She hated the fact that her Taeyeon was in the center of attention, although she couldn’t blame her friends for being so fascinated and, above all, surprised. Still, the fact that Taeyeon had to play the role of her father’s wife bothered her to the marrow.

She walked over to Taeyeon’s lounge chair and sat by the woman’s side, then threw George an unamused look. “Well, there is now,” she said, earning the young man’s attention. “George, this is Taeyeon, Mrs. Hwang. Taeyeon, this is George. He hangs out with us here.”

Taeyeon struggled to avert her eyes from Tiffany and then glanced at George, forcing a smile. “How do you do?”

When George finally looked at the blonde, his body and face when rigid—not from shock, not from horror, but from enticement. The man appeared hypnotized by the flowy, long blonde locks over Taeyeon’s shoulder, and her cherry red lips contrasting with her pale skin, clad in a tight black swimsuit. Daringly he began to lower her gaze down her body, and upon noticing it, Taeyeon recoiled discreetly in discomfort, albeit she couldn’t deny she did think rather amusing to have such a young man look at her like that.

Men. So silly, no matter their age…

“Why, George!” exclaimed an infuriated Sooyoung upon realizing just where her fiancé’s eyes were. She smacked his arm and then pushed him aside. “You absolute animal! You stop doing that right now! Move! Move!” she demanded, still pushing him as he pointlessly tried to justify and explain herself, and then quickly excused herself from the group as she dragged him away.

Tiffany grinned satisfactorily. Seohyun was unbothered.

“Oh,” Yoona lamented as she looked down to the smashed glass of milkshake on the floor. “My milkshake.” She sighed.

Seohyun was about to suggest she go get another and bring one for her as well when three other boys approached the four women.

“Hey, girls, what’s buzzin’ there?” said the one in the middle—Lucas, the bulkiest of them, and also the handsomest. Also the one Yoona had a crush on. “We just saw George get dragged by the ear. And what’s up with everybody gathering around y’all?”

“Hiya there, Seohyun!” said the boy on the left, smiling. “Nice to see you here.”

“Rony!” Seohyun exclaimed happily, and ran to him to give the boy a tight hug. They had been friends since they met, still as pre-teens. Everyone thought a romance was going to come out of the close and loving friendship they had developed, sooner or later, but it turned out that neither Ronald nor Seohyun had ever developed romantic feelings for each other, and they were quite glad about it—both thought that a romance would absolutely ruin the wonderful, fun time they had together every summer.

“Hey, Tiffany,” called the last boy of the trio. “Who’s your friend?” he asked, looking at Taeyeon.

Tiffany groaned audibly.

Taeyeon glanced quickly at Tiffany, feeling sorry as she knew the girl felt most uncomfortable in the situation. I don’t like it either, love, but what can we do? Just play along for a little longer, she thought as she placed her palm on Tiffany’s shoulder before she got up and walked shyly toward the three boys.

“I’m Mrs. Hwang, but please call me Taeyeon,” she said charmingly, reaching her hand out.

The boys shook Taeyeon’s hand each at a time, and Rony and Lucas looked confusedly at each other. The third boy adjusted his glasses as he kept staring at the blonde in front of him.

“Gee, ma’am, you are gorgeous,” he remarked shamelessly, staring directly at her face.

Lucas smacked the back of his head. “Get over yourself, Mike! She’s married!”

Mike was the one the boys and the girls tended to pick on the most often. He was just as handsome and just as wealthy as the rest of them, with his dark hair, tanned skin and hazel eyes, but Michael was quite awkward in terms of social interactions, and so he would often embarrass himself in front of the other people… and the rest of the kids felt like by embarrassing himself publicly, he was also embarrassing them. Why, naturally! People of their status shouldn’t behave like that, nor should even hang out with people who did. But in spite of that, all of them liked Mike a lot.

Except Seohyun. She despised him. She thought he was a walking humiliation.

“Ouch! Don’t do that!” Mike complained, massaging the back of his head.

Lucas laughed. “Come on, you nerd,” he said. “Let’s take a dive.”  He then picked up his friend bridal-style, making the four women and Rony laugh as they witnessed the scene, and jumped right into the pool with him.

“I guess I should go in too!” Yoona confided to Seohyun, giggling. The latter understood that Yoona’s intention was to be as close to Lucas as possible.

“Us, too!” said Ronald. “Come on, Seo.”

“Oh, no, Rony. My hair!” she said, fixing what she thought to be awry strands of hair. “I didn’t bring a cap.”

“Oh, come on! Let’s join them. Celebrate that you’re here this summer again! I really thought you wouldn’t be able to come anymore.”

Seohyun sighed. “Ron, have you any idea of how long it takes to get these perfect curls done?”

“No.”

She raised one of her eyebrows.

“And I don’t care!” he exclaimed with a playful smile, and mimicking Lucas, picked her up, ran toward the pool, and dived into the water with Seohyun in his arms, ignoring her squeals.

So much for her perfect arranged hair. But when they emerged from the water, Seohyun wasn’t angry—she was laughing with Rony, splashing water at him as she swam away and he chased her.

Taeyeon smiled at the scene. She couldn’t say she was glad to be there, especially after having drawn so much attention to herself, but seeing Seohyun so happy made her think convincing Anthony of letting the girls come to the club had been worth it. From what she had heard, Seohyun could be quite the problem child at times, but something inside Taeyeon couldn’t help liking the girl, and thinking most complaints the family had about her were founded in misconceptions and misunderstandings of her strong personality. She was free, as free as Taeyeon wished she could be at her age, only Seohyun had the courage to do as she pleased, anytime. Taeyeon had never had that, and she knew she would never have it. And for that she admired Seohyun.

She turned around and walked back to her chair, sighing as she sighted Tiffany sitting on it, looking rather gloomy.

“Why don’t you go join them?” the blonde asked, settling by Tiffany’s side.

Tiffany just shrugged. “Perhaps I should stay here to make sure nobody else deliberately leers at you.”

Taeyeon chuckled. “No, darling, go have fun with them. I’ll be perfectly alright.”

She looked at Taeyeon, doubtful.

“I mean it. Please go.”

“Hey, cous’!” Seohyun called from the pool. “Join us! We’re going to play volleyball. It’ll be us and Yoona against the boys! Let’s finish them!” she said, laughing.

She looked at Taeyeon once more, and the woman nodded her head encouragingly. Tiffany smiled a little and then got up, resisting the urge to place a kiss on the blonde’s cheek before she left. So Tiffany got into the pool, joined Seohyun and their friends, and it didn’t take long until Taeyeon could spot the girl laughing, cheering, swimming, and smiling.

She leaned back on the chair and put her sunglasses on—that way she could observe Tiffany and keep an eye on Seohyun without anybody noticing so. And she thought seeing Tiffany so gleefully interacting with her friends would put her on a good mood, for there was nothing she liked seeing more than Tiffany’s smile, but instead it made her sad. And guilty. And it put her in such apologetic shame she had to hold her tears back as she watched Tiffany laugh around with Seohyun, Yoona, and the young men.

Tiffany was where she belonged: having fun at a fancy place, with people her age, sans a care in the world, and full of opportunities—be it thanks to the people she could meet there or to the young, wealthy men that surrounded her. She was acting the way a 18-year-old girl was supposed to act. She was living the happy, amusing life she was supposed to live. And to think Tiffany was willing to miss out on that just to be with Taeyeon. How could the blonde possibly forgive herself for letting it get to that point?

Discreetly she covered with her fingers, disguising her quivering lips. A lonely tear dropped from her eye and was quickly wiped away by the back of her hand.

I can’t take that away from you, Tiffany. Your youth and your merrient and I don’t belong to the same reality. Having me in your life would ruin it all. All the troubles I would bring to you… all the things I would deprive you of. I can’t ruin your life, darling. I love you too much for that.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Her eyes finally managed to veer their attention from Tiffany to anything else that could possibly be distracting… which Taeyeon decided it was the book Tiffany had sneaked into her bag, and which Taeyeon could see popping out of it. She grabbed it, opened it, and immersed herself in it, still alert of the sounds and the moves in the pool, but just enough to make sure Seohyun and Tiffany would stay out of trouble.

And surprisingly, they did stay out of trouble. Seohyun seemed perfectly contented with whatever she was doing at all times, and Tiffany, well, if Seohyun wasn’t causing chaos somewhere, surely Tiffany would be just as calm and collected as her usual self. They joined Taeyeon again for lunch—they had club sandwiches—and then resumed their activities and chattering with their friends. Taeyeon kept her distance. By the end of the afternoon they decided to return home—it was Seohyun’s decision, under the argument that it was no fun to be there when most of their friends had already gone home and when people were starting to leave as well. Tiffany thought the opposite, feeling it was rather nice to not have to share the place with so many loud people, but Seohyun had always been extremely persuasive, and so they went home. They took a quick shower at the club, changed back into their outfits, and by 5 p.m. they were back at the mansion—Seohyun and Tiffany with slightly messy hair, no longer curled but still flawlessly arranged, and rosy, sun-kissed cheeks, and Taeyeon with pain in her back from lying for so long on that chair, but glad she could provide a good time for the Hwang girls.

Once they were home, the girls rushed to take a bath, each at a time, and after that, they resumed to chatting and hanging out together around the house. Of course, Taeyeon had to admit to herself she missed Tiffany’s attention on her, but at the same time she was glad the latter was being able to distract herself with someone else. At some point Seohyun did invite Taeyeon to play cards with them, but the woman politely refused, and excused herself to ascend the stairs to take a bath herself.

Dinner was quiet that night, and Anthony was surprised to see Taeyeon was the first one to get into the bedroom after it. He heard no complaints from the woman—in fact, she was strangely quiet, he noticed, but he didn’t bother to ask the reason behind Taeyeon’s apparent gloominess. She settled in bed with a book in hands and pretended to be reading, when in fact her mind was far away: it was on Tiffany, and how beautifully and gleefully young she looked at the club that afternoon, and how Taeyeon had a hundred ways of ruining that even if she tried her best not to, and how she dreaded the idea of ever hurting Tiffany in any way, of ever disposing Tiffany of the joys of a bright and carefree youth. Her mind was on the anguish of her heart for wanting the girl so badly, loving her so dearly, yet knowing she would be poison to Tiffany’s life.

She sighed. Perhaps she should take Seohyun’s presence and her power to entertain Tiffany as a chance to drift away from the girl, even if just a bit. Naturally, even if Seohyun knew about them, with Anthony around, they wouldn’t be able to be as affectionate as they usually were, anyway. Why shouldn’t she grasp the opportunity and promote a quiet and rather inconspicuous drift between them? Perhaps, if Tiffany gradually grew accostumed to that, by the end of the week, the month, by the time Seohyun was gone, she wouldn’t even notice it. Perhaps her infatuation would lessen. Perhaps it would make things easier.

The blonde looked over to the man, now sound asleep by her side. She leaned her head back, resting it on the pillow, allowing a couple of tears to roll down her cheeks as she pressed her lips together.

Why did something as beautiful as what she shared with Tiffany had to make her so miserable?