“Happy fifth anniversary, Love.” Taeyeon kissed Tiffany’s nape as they cuddled in their bed.

Tiffany chuckled and leaned her body backward, pressing their bare bodies together. She pulled Taeyeon’s arm which circled around her waist to hug her tighter.

“Happy fifth anniversary, Taetae,” She turned her head to give a quick peck to her girlfriend’s lips. Making the latter smiled at the simple gesture. They had been living together for a year now. The arrangement of them living together helped them to stay close despite the fact that they no longer worked together in one company. They missed their chance to go to office together in one car or having their breakfast routine in Chris’ but it paid off with more time spent at night after office and in the morning when both women now took some more time in the morning to have breakfast in Taeyeon’s apartment — which Taeyeon insisted to be called their apartment instead of her own apartment.

Taeyeon’s phone suddenly rang and Taeyeon hesitantly took her arms off of Tiffany to reach the phone on the bed side table. She grunted as she reached her phone making Tiffany chuckled at the behavior.

“Yes?” Taeyeon lazily answered the phone.

“Why are you so cranky? I thought today’s your anniversary.” Her brother’s teasing voice was heard across the line.

“Exactly, it’s my anniversary. I am supposed to have quality time with my girlfriend but you call me early in the morning. Isn’t it clear enough why I am cranky?” Taeyeon replied but a smile drawn on her face this time. Ever since she got back with Tiffany again, she decided to introduce Tiffany to her brother since her brother already knew that she was in a relationship with Tiffany previously. Jiwoong was very supportive, even he invited Tiffany to his engagement and wedding with Naomi.

“I don’t care if you’re cranky because I got a big news!” Jiwoong sounded so excited.

“What is it?” Taeyeon turned her head to Tiffany when she felt the other woman shifted from her position and put her head on Taeyeon’s chest, while the hand draped around Taeyeon’s stomach. Taeyeon smiled at the simple gesture, and ran her fingers in Tiffany’s hair.

“Can we switch to video call? This news is very exciting!” Jiwoong requested.

“No!” Taeyeon gasped at the request. There was no way she would accept the video call when both her and Tiffany was in the bed.

“Why?”

“Just because.” Taeyeon mumbled, couldn’t find any excuse.

“Ah, I understand. It’s your anniversary. You and Fany must be now, isn’t it?”

Taeyeon blushed hard at her brother wild guess.

“What are you talking about?” She still mumbled.

“Ah, so I am right!” Jiwoong laughed hard.

“Shut up, Oppa!” Taeyeon pouted at the tease. “Just tell me what’s the big news.”

“Ah right! This one is very big!”

“What is it?”

“Naomi is pregnant! I am gonna be a dad!” Jiwoong half screamed, showing how excited he was to share the news to Taeyeon.

“Whoa! Congratulations, Oppa!” Taeyeon was as excited. She had witnessed how hard his brother fought for his relationship with Naomi. He finally convinced their mother and father to get the blessing and they got married last year. And the news of Naomi pregnancy was another big step in his brother’s life. Taeyeon was so proud and happy for her brother.

“You and Fany are going to be aunties!” He exclaimed again.

Taeyeon smiled wide at the way Jiwoong always included Tiffany as if Tiffany was already part of the family. Something Taeyeon felt grateful for. She turned her head to Tiffany again to see her girlfriend was looking up to her and mouth “what is it?”

“Jiwoong Oppa is going to be a dad, and we’re going to be aunties.” Taeyeon softly replied Tiffany’s question.

“Congratulations, brother-in-law!” Tiffany spoke loudly, ensuring Jiwoong could hear her voice from across the line.

Jiwoong laughed hard when he heard Tiffany’s voice. He really liked Tiffany’s personality which really helped them to be close since the beginning. “Put me in speaker. I want to talk to my sister-in-law.”

Taeyeon groaned at the request but she was happy inside. She always loved to see when Jiwoong and Tiffany interacted with each other like this. She tapped the button to switch to speaker phone.

“Brother-in-law!” Tiffany greeted Jiwoong as soon as Taeyeon put the speaker on.

“Sister-in-law! Are you ready to be an aunt?” Jiwoong laughed at his own question.

“I am so ready!” Tiffany laughed along with Jiwoong. “Is my sister-in-law with you right now?”

“Yes, wait. Let me switch to speaker phone.” There was some murmur heard before Naomi voice was heard.

“Hi sister-in-law!”

Taeyeon and Tiffany laughed when they heard Naomi referred Tiffany as sister-in-law. Usually Naomi will only refer Taeyeon as the sister-in-law, and she called Tiffany with her name. So it was new to hear Naomi suddenly called Tiffany as sister-in-law.

“Who are you calling? Is it me or Fany?” Taeyeon still laughed.

Naomi also laughed before replied. “Let me start over. Hi sisters-in-law!” She emphasized at the sisters part. Making everyone laughed again.

“How are you feeling, sis?” Tiffany asked the question to Naomi.

“Amazing. Really amazing.” Naomi answered gleefully. “Please wish me a good health during my pregnancy.”

“Of course! Have you checked the baby’s ?” Tiffany asked still in excitement.

Naomi chuckled in response. “No, darling. I know it would sound really old-fashioned, but me and Jiwoong preferred to be surprised later on the delivery date.”

“I see. Wish you’re always healthy, sis.”

“Thanks, Tiffany.”

“We will visit you next week if you don’t mind.” Taeyeon joined in the conversation.

“Of course we don’t mind, Taeyeon. It’s been quite a while since we catch up. Anyway, Me and Jiwoong gotta go now. See you girls next week?”

“See you, sis!” Tiffany still excitedly replied while Taeyeon also bid a see you soon to her sister-in-law before ending the call.

“Whoah, my brother grows up so fast.” Taeyeon let out a whisper and Tiffany could hear that.

“You sounded like a very old grandma, don’t you know?”

Taeyeon laughed at the remarks and ran her fingers on Tiffany’s shoulder. “Don’t you think time flies so fast, Fany? Oppa is about to be a dad. And we’ve been together for five years already.”

Tiffany hummed before looking up and landed a peck on Taeyeon’s jawline. “Time flies fast, indeed. I was 26 when we met. Now, we’re already 31. My girlfriend is really old now.” She chuckled while ending her sentence.

“Hey! You’re only one year younger than me!” Taeyeon protested as she pulled Tiffany into her embrace and  tickled the bare waist, earning a loud laugh from the latter.

“Okay, okay. Stop it, Taetae.” Tiffany tried her best to speak in between her own laugh.

Taeyeon stopped the tickle but her hand stayed on the waist, the smooth skins before pulling her hand to cup Tiffany’s face, caressing the cheek. Her gaze fell on Tiffany’s eyes and they brought back all the memories she had had together with her girlfriend. Their first encounter, their first date, their first kiss, the day Tiffany asked her to be her girlfriend, their break up, the day they reunited, the first day Tiffany moved in with her. Five years was not a short moment but it’s not enough for her. Five years was too short, compared to forever. And forever was what Taeyeon wanted to be with Tiffany.

Tiffany noticed the soft gaze, letting herself swayed in the depth of Taeyeon’s eyes. The same eyes that had been looking at her these past five years. The same eyes she would like to see every single day of her life. The pair of eyes that had been her source of strength every time she needed to face the question on when will she settle and get married. She smiled at the last thought, remembering the last time they discussed about their family. Taeyeon told her that her parents might already give up on the idea of marriage for Taeyeon. They thought Taeyeon loved works more than she loved human. But things were different for Tiffany’s dad. Her dad still questioned her on marriage but Tiffany always told him that there was no man she interested in. That was a fact, these five years, never once she took any interest in any guy. Only Taeyeon occupied her eyes, her mind, and her heart.

“Hey… I have something to tell you,” Taeyeon spoke softly but soon retracted her hands from Tiffany, pulling away from her girlfriend and scooted over to the bedpost, seemingly taking something from inside the drawer before laying on her right, one hand slipped under the pillow, facing Tiffany who was wondering what was with the sudden change of mood. Tiffany was about to ask what happened but before she asked, Taeyeon started to talk again.

“I know today is our anniversary but I think I need to tell you this as soon as possible.” Taeyeon smiled, nervousness was written all over her face.

Tiffany didn’t like it. She sensed something big might’ve happened. 

“No, I don’t want to hear it.” She frowned. She didn’t know what Taeyeon was about to say. But whatever it was, she might not be ready to hear it from Taeyeon. Her last thought on marriage somehow made her insecure. Jiwoong had gotten married and now Naomi was pregnant. Both her and Taeyeon were now on their thirties. Maybe Taeyeon also wanted the same thing as her brother.

“But, Fany…”

“No.”

Taeyeon looked at TIffany’s eyes, noticing a glimpse of insecurity so she scooted closer and pulled the latter by the waist. She didn’t know what Tiffany thought about. Why the insecurity was there in her eyes. Five years were a long time but she was not a mind reader, there were times when she couldn’t read whatever it was at the back of Tiffany’s mind.

“But I only have one year, Fany…” She spoke carefully.

She could see Tiffany held breath as she mentioned that. She bit her lips noticing that Tiffany might not take what she was about to say easily.

“What one year?” Tiffany whispered, her eyes shifted from Taeyeon’s eyes to Taeyeon’s hand which was on her waist. “What do you mean with we only have one year?” She could hear her own voice trembled. 

Taeyeon frowned at the sight. She moved her hand which was on Tiffany’s waist to cup the latter’s face. “Listen to me, please?”

“No.” Tiffany replied in a sten tone.

“Love, please?”

“No. I don’t want to hear you ending us.” Tiffany hid her face in the pillow, not wanting to let Taeyeon see the tears had escaped from the corner of her eyes.

“Hey, what are you talking about?” Taeyeon immediately hugged her girlfriend. “I am not ending us. I never plan to end our relationship.” She kissed the top of Tiffany’s head while the latter still hid her face in the pillow.

Tiffany didn’t seem to raise her face from the pillow at all, she kept hiding her face. “You can tell me whatever it.” She mumbled against the pillow.

Taeyeon sighed while kept hugging her girlfriend. “It’s about my job.” She pulled the blanket to cover both their bodies before hugging Tiffany again. “I need to move to San Fransisco.” She whispered in uncertainty. She didn’t know how would Tiffany react to the news she just broke. But Tiffany didn’t give any response.

“I… if…” Taeyeon felt unsure what she should say since Tiffany didn’t respond at all. “If I need to go there, would you be okay?”

Tiffany finally lift her face from the pillow, there were some traces of tears wetting her face. She stared at Taeeyon, eyes pierced the petite director. “No. I won’t be okay.” Tiffany swallow a lump in , trying not to sound weak. “I don’t want to live without you.”

Taeyeon frowned at the reply. She also didn’t want to live apart from Tiffany. It was never her intention. But her career needed her to move from Indonesia. The company only gave her one year to prepare and think of the offer that was why she wanted to tell Tiffany as soon as possible. “If you disagree, it’s fine. I can quit my job and look for other opportunity here.”

“That’s not what I want as well.” Tiffany mumbled. She took Taeyeon’s hand and played with the fingers. “I…” She sighed and put Taeyeon’s hand on her cheek as she closed her eyes, trying not to let the tears escaped again. “You’ve sacrificed enough for us. You left you previous job for us. I don’t want you to put further risk in your career because of me.” She opened her eyes and smiled weakly. “But… I also don’t want us to have long distance relationship. With the distance and the time zone difference, how can we maintain our relationship? What if we grow apart? What if we get used to live without each other in our life? What if…” She bit her lips, trying not to cry. “What if we would end?”

“I don’t want that, Fany…” Taeyeon leaned forward planting the kiss on Tiffany’s forehead. “I never planned to go there alone. I wanted to ask you to go there with me.” She pulled away, staring at Tiffany’s eyes. “I meant to ask you to move to San Fransisco with me.”

Tiffany sighed and shook her head. “You know it’s not easy… What are we, Taetae? Would it be weird if I move there with you? I am not your spouse. What about the administration? You’ll get working visa, what about me? What about the living cost?” She heaved a breath. “It’s not that easy.”

“Fany, we still have one year to figure everything out.” Taeyeon cupped Tiffany’s face. “That’s why I tell you right now so we can have longer time to think about the arrangement.”

“There’s also another thing bugging my mind, Tae…” Tiffany looked down, avoiding Taeyeon’s eyes. “We’re in our thirties already…” She took a pause, thinking carefully on what she was about to say. “Jiwoong Oppa got married and Naomi is now pregnant…” She finally looked up to see her lover’s eyes. “What if you want the same thing? I don’t know, maybe in a year you will think about getting married, having family of your own, raising kids…”

“I do want the same thing.” Taeyeon answered without a doubt.

Tiffany felt a jab in her heart. If Taeyeon wanted what Jiwoong had, then that meant Tiffany was not in Taeyeon’s future. If Taeyeon wanted the same as Jiwoong, that meant it was only a matter of time until they ended. She could feel heat in her eyes a trickle of tears was at the verge of rolling down on her cheek.

“Don’t you want the same thing, Fany?”

Tiffany shook her head weakly. She didn’t know what she wanted anymore. All these years, she only wanted one thing which was to be with Taeyeon, it didn’t matter to her whether they would be able to get married or not, it didn’t matter to her if they could only be girlfriends forever. She just wanted to grow old with Taeyeon. But, Taeyeon wanted different thing. Thing she couldn’t give.

Taeyeon frowned when Tiffany shook her head. She gulped, trying to hold her tears. “You don’t want the same thing?” Her question came out as whispers. “I thought, we share a same dream.”

Tiffany took a deep breath. “I won’t stop you, though…” A bitter smile was drawn on her face. “I won’t stop you if you want to find a man and get married with him.” 

Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “I am confused now. Who said I want to marry a man?”

Tiffany mirrored Taeyeon’s expression, confusion was visible on her face. “But you said you want to have the same thing as Jiwoong Oppa.”

It took a while for Taeyeon to finally smiled and shook her head. “I think you misunderstood.” She chuckled and slipped her hand under the pillow again. When she pulled her hand from under the pillow, her hand held a red velvety box. A wide smile was drawn on her face. “I do want the same thing as oppa.” She opened the box in front of Tiffany who could not say anything at all, mouth slightly agape in surprise.

“I haven’t figured out yet how we will get married.” Taeyeon said as she opened the box which showed a simple white gold ring inside. “We can get married in San Fransisco if we go there.” She pause to see how Tiffany would react.

“Taetae…” She held her breath, trying to digest what happened in front of her. She never expected this. Of course she wanted to stay with Taeyeon for a long time, but she never imagined that this day would come.

“This is not an engagement ring, yet.” Taeyeon now grinned nervously. “This is a promise ring. I got my name engraved on the inside. So basically it works like an engagement ring or wedding ring.”

Tiffany chuckled at the remarks. Of course she knew that this was not the engagement ring. There was no way for them to get engaged as long as they live in this country. Same- marriage was not legalized, hence she only expected to live together with Taeyeon without getting married. But this cute act from Taeyeon got her heart melted. Even though she didn’t know yet where the future would bring them to, the promise ring was enough for her to tie their relationship to the next level.

Taeyeon scooted closer, leaving on an inch between her face and Tiffany’s. “Tiffany Hwang, you’ve made me see the world I’ve never seen before. You’ve made me a better version of myself. You’ve shown me love I can’t portray with words.”

She smiled sincerely at Tiffany, and took a deep breath. “Will you promise to spend the rest of our life together?”

Tiffany could not hold her tears as she nodded. “Yes, Taetae.”

Taeyeon grinned wide and took the ring from the box before taking Tiffany’s hand and slid the ring to the ring finger. “I love you, Fany.”

“I love you too Taetae.” Tiffany leaned forward and kiss Taeyeon’s lips softly.

“Now you’re tied to me forever, ha! You promised already!” Taeyeon chuckled as she pull Tiffany to her embrace. “Never leave me, Fany.” She kissed the top of Tiffany’s head.

“You silly, I can’t leave anymore. I already promised.” Tiffany chuckled along but then pulled away. “Wait. That’s not fair.” She pouted at Taeyeon who now looked confused.

“Why am I the only one who wear the promise ring? You won’t promise me anything?”

Taeyeon laughed but soon took another box from under the pillow. “Tadaaa!”

Tiffany couldn’t help but laugh at that. “What are you a magician?”

“I’ve ran out of my magic power to make you mine, though.” Taeyeon chuckled as she handed over the box to Tiffany. “I got your name engraved on the inside as well.” She smiled proudly, like a kid who showed a good marks to the parents, Tiffany could only laugh at the cuteness in front of her.

Tiffany took the box and opened it while her eyes looked into the depth of Taeyeon’s eyes. “Taetae, my Taetae.”

“No, no, use my full name.” Taeyeon pouted, disagree on using the nickname, making Tiffany laughed again.

Tiffany soon cleared , and smiled at her lover. “Kim Taeyeon, will you promise to stay with me forever?”

“Yes, Fany!” Taeyeon answered with a big smile as she let Tiffany pulled her hands and slid the ring to her finger. 

“Congratulations! You can’t run away from me! Even if I am going to San Fransisco, you won’t be able to stop me.”

“No, no, we’ve not landed on that decision yet!”

Taeyeon laughed and pulled Tiffany into a hug. “I don’t care where we are as long as you keep the promise, Fany.”

That made Tiffany smiled wide. She returned the hug and buried her face in Taeyeon’s chest. “I love you, so much.”

“You know I love you too, as much.”

----

The End - maybe.