Tiffany isn’t sure why she somehow accepted Taeyeon’s confession. It’s not that she didn’t like the woman but she isn’t exactly sure if she liked women or men or both. All she knows is she feels something for Taeyeon, more like love than just like but not sure what kind of love is it. It was hard to tell at this point even if she likes every single piece of the lawyer.

                One thing is for sure though; she’s happy to be close to Taeyeon.

                She is woken up from her trance when the elevator dings signaling that she’s reached the usual floor she’s going to whenever she rides the lift. Her gaze immediately lands on the round table in front of that senior partner office where she sees Taeyeon studying and reading files. She smiles, she smiles at the very sight of Taeyeon and that just proves how happy the girl makes her feel.

                She’s just not sure if it’s the happiness she wants. She’s afraid that she has pushed Taeyeon to believe in love or the thought of her loving her back. She’s open but she’s not quite sure about it.

                “Sunny-ah, here are the files that Taeyeon needs.”

                Sunny looks up to her and gives her a look. They didn’t argue again, right? She drops her pen and stares at Tiffany who looked dazed while putting folders on the table.

                “Okay, what is now, Tiffany?”

                “H-huh?” Tiffany opens and stares back at Sunny, “What is what?”

                The secretary raises an eyebrow, “Did Taeyeon do something again?” she asks and she’s sure that she’s now making mental notes to lecture Taeyeon later again.

                “N-no. Taeyeon has been very good, in fact.” Tiffany trails off, “My mind is just occupied, I guess? I’m not sure.”

                “You’re not sure?”

                Tiffany can’t help but stare at Taeyeon inside her office, she looked different, happy in fact, happier than how she’s always been. She ignores Sunny’s question and opens a folder to check if she got it right and obviously, it makes Sunny feel very uncomfortable.

                “Tiffany I believe I just asked you a question.” Sunny deadpans. As dead as the shorter girl looks, as alive her thoughts are, “Well?”

                “Just… second thought?” Tiffany sighs.

                “What do you mean second thoughts?”

                “I-I don’t know. It’s very hard to explain. I like to be near her but I’m not sure if I really want to be near her. I love her presence but I’m not sure if I really want her at all.”

                Sunny stares at her, not believing what Tiffany is saying. “I really like when you’re near Taeyeon too but I don’t think I’ll like you when you break that woman’s heart again.”

                “Again?”

                “Be professional, Tiffany. Get back to your work.” Sunny gives her a final look at grabs the folders the paralegal has put down on her table.

                Tiffany is rendered speechless at how Sunny just acted in front of her. She was just saying what’s bugging her but the secretary seems to not be so open about it. She decides to go back to her office when she realizes that Sunny isn’t going to talk to her anymore, at least she hopes for the day she won’t.

                Sunny couldn’t believe what she just heard from Tiffany. She knows that the paralegal entered the lift already but she isn’t going to look up to check it. She continues to write on the paper although she knows she probably is just writing random not-related-to-work stuffs. Thoughts have entered her mind; she’s paranoid, yes but only when it comes to Taeyeon.

                “Hey Sunny.”

                The secretary gasps in shock as puts her hand on an area in her chest, she is startled by Sooyoung who is looking at her weirdly now,

                “Oh hey Soo, what’s up?”

                Sooyoung shrugs and grins at Sunny, “I got good news!” she excitedly says. Sunny is in her own world, seemingly not aware of what Sooyoung is trying to tell her, “I am now a Senior Partner, Bunny. The same level as your boss!”

                “You’re what?!” Sunny almost shouts. It’s not impossible for Sooyoung to be promoted because she’s very hardworking and very deserving. What alarms Sunny is the person who promoted the lawyer. Everything about Yunho is just bad news, “He promoted you?” she whispers.

                Sooyoung again, nods with a grin.

                “Well that’s good news then! Congratulations, Soo!” Sunny fakes a smile but convincing enough for Sooyoung to smile back. The secretary goes round her table and pulls the tall woman into a hug.

                “Thanks Bunny. I got to go get some coffee now.”

                She watches as Sooyoung walks away from her and she can’t help but frown. This is big news for Jessica and Taeyeon and luckily, she sees Jessica coincidentally exiting the lift as Sooyoung enters it. Jessica and her exchange looks and that is enough to get Jessica’s attention.

                “What?” she immediately asks.

                “Yunho promoted Sooyoung as Senior Partner.”

                Jessica gapes in disbelief, “Son of a . How did you know?”

                “Sooyoung stopped by to tell me the news. She looks very excited and very competitive too.”

                “Have you told Taeyeon?”

                Sunny nods and looks at Jessica with wide-eyes, as if telling her that she isn’t in the right position to do so.

                “Yes, mom. It’s still a high position… no, I am not the boss, I have my own boss. But still, it’s a very high position mom…”

                “Sooyoung.”

                “I-I got to go now, mom. I’ll call you again later.”

                Sooyoung pushes aside the phone and the earphones she had on until Jessica came in barging into her office. The woman didn’t look so amused or happy to be inside. She follows Jessica’s every moves and she raises an eyebrow. What could possible bring her here? If there is anything, the boss should be in Taeyeon’s office.

                “Uhm… Can I help you with something, Jessica?” Sooyoung asks although she regrets it. Jessica never needed anything from her and she never will because she has the great Kim Taeyeon.

                “No Sooyoung but I believe you have something for me?”

                “I-I don’t?”

                Jessica sighs and somehow it causes Sooyoung to be uneasy. She watches as Jessica runs her finger in all of Sooyoung’s awards that were displayed inside her office, she gulps, feeling more and more uncomfortable at what Jessica is doing. The older woman suddenly turns around and faces Sooyoung, her eyes the most serious they’ve been in since Yunho left the firm.

                “Do you have something for me?” Jessica asks again, her heels clicking at every step she takes.

                Sooyoung can’t help but lean on her chair because Jessica was coming close to her and she looks pissed. No one wants to deal with an angry Jessica.

                “I-I-I’m senior partner now?” Sooyoung finally although timidly answers back.

                “Who promoted you?”

                “Y-Yunho.”

                Jessica bites the inside of her cheeks because she thinks it’s not fair to vent on Sooyoung. The younger girl is going to be a victim herself. She clicks her tongue and sighs as she stares at Sooyoung again,

“You shouldn’t trust him, Soo. He just wants something from you.”

                Sooyoung grips on her chair tight as Jessica speaks. The guy is obviously correcting the mistakes in the firm and he’s acting like he being enlightened already but why does Jessica keep on dragging him down? Yunho is changing and that’s what Sooyoung thinks. The younger girl believes that this is just one of Jessica’s tactics to bring her down of the position. She’s always favoured Taeyeon so why wouldn’t she favour the woman now? Jessica can’t let another person be on the same level as Taeyeon, or so Sooyoung thinks.

                “Yeah? Well at least he gives me something in return if he really does need something from me, unlike you, Taeyeon or Sunny. You all need something from me and I help you and make sure that you succeed but what do I get, Jessica? Nothing. Meanwhile, Taeyeon who just sits there in her office banging anyone gets everything. The position, the money and you! She’s got all of you wrapped around her fingers!”

                Sooyoung has never thought that she’d be able to say all of this to Jessica, she doesn’t believe she can say it to Sunny either. It’s just everything that she’s been keeping and everything that everyone’s been missing, now, all of it, being slapped in the face of the woman who started it all; of the woman who always favoured someone else; of the woman who’s always missed her.

                “Listen, Jessica, stop please. Don’t try to bring me down again. Don’t try to bring someone who sees my worth down again. I deserve this, you know I do and finally, someone has given it to me.” She exhales and turns her chair around as she closes her eyes, “Don’t stop me and don’t rob me of what I deserve.”

                Great. Now He’s got you wrapped around his fingers.

                Jessica couldn’t find the right words to explain it to the girl but maybe, just maybe, it is half her fault too. She saw it but she saw Taeyeon more. She turns on her heel and is about to leave the office but she figures she should try and leave something for Sooyoung, first.

                “I’m not asking for you to trust in me again, Soo but I’m asking you to not trust Yunho. I am not the enemy here, not Taeyeon or not anyone else, it’s Yunho so please, please think of this.”

                She shakes her head and walks out of the office.

                “Fany~”

                Tiffany immediately looks up at the sound of the voice. She grew to love hearing it; soothing, calm and very… affectionate? At least to her it sounds that way. She smiles when she sees Taeyeon sit down in front of her, tired, very tired. This is one of those days where she wants to give something to Taeyeon but she doesn’t know what the woman wants, aside from her, of course.

                She’s still very confused though. It’s like something is playing with her feeling and in results to her pushing and pulling Taeyeon and that’s the last thing she wants now. She doesn’t want to hurt Taeyeon again.

                “What’s wrong?” she pokes the older girl who now has her face buried to her palms.

                “I’m tired and very hungry.”

                “You haven’t eaten lunch?”

                Tiffany almost gapes when Taeyeon shakes her head. It’s already very late for lunchtime but still very early for dinner. The lawyer did look very pale, in fact. She immediately stands up and fishes in her bag for some biscuits. Seohyun always puts food in her bag to make sure that she doesn’t get hungry.

                “Fany-ah.” Taeyeon calls out in a very weak whine.

                How can Sunny miss this out? The secretary is always aware of what Taeyeon is going to do or where she’s going so Tiffany is more than sure that Sunny could never miss this. She tears the biscuit wrapper up and puts it in front of Taeyeon’s mouth. The lawyer should at least be able to eat something, right?

                “Tae, eat this.” She orders as she puts her hand on Taeyeon’s back. The lawyer slowly opens and chews on the biscuit, “Water, you need water. Wait here.”

                The paralegal tries hard to walk faster, even run, but her heels was stopping her from doing so. She grabs her bottle in the table fills it up. Taeyeon looked like she’s going to be sick for a few days. It’s like someone has dropped a ton of works in her table and she had to finish it within the day.

                “What happened? I mean, why did you not eat?” Tiffany asks as she watches Taeyeon chug down the water.

                “I’m not sure but Yunho told me to do this and that and go here and there to close a deal. He’s got me to do a lot of work and I just finished half of it.”

                “Where’s Sunny?”

                “Yunho told her to research in the library. She’s been there for hours.”

                Now Tiffany gets it; why Sunny wasn’t aware that Taeyeon has starved. She thinks Yunho intentionally made Sunny do some errands so she can’t monitor Taeyeon but what baffles her the most is why Taeyeon followed his orders. No one bosses Taeyeon around. She gets the water bottle and fills it up again,

                “Why did you follow his orders, Tae? It’s so not you.” She says as she glances at the pale woman. She looked like a vegetable.

                “Hm, I think it’s about time that I mature.” Taeyeon nonchalantly answers back, “I mean, I’m pretty sure you won’t say “I love you” to a person who doesn’t even follow orders and just thinks that she’s always right, right?” she adds, a hint of red decorating her cheeks.

                Tiffany should be taken aback by Taeyeon’s words but she’s not. Impressive. That’s what she thinks of Taeyeon’s reason. No one’s ever been this… dedicated to her not even Seohyun’s father, she was that easy. She suppresses a smile and feeds Taeyeon with a biscuit again.

                “I’m not a parrot Fany.”

                “Such a bad parrot.” Tiffany teases. She gets up and dials into the phone what Taeyeon thinks is a delivery hotline, “I’m ordering food.”

                Taeyeon weakly shakes her head and slowly stands up to stop Tiffany, “It’s sad when you have no one to eat with.”

                And that made Tiffany stop. She isn’t sure if Taeyeon’s playing the “cute card” against her or is she being a natural at the moment. She puffs her cheeks and thinks, she can afford to eat more food right? Since she herself is now hungry too even with the huge bowl of food she ate at lunch. She frowns, a person like her who ate a complete set of meal for lunch is already hungry so what more Taeyeon who has not eaten yet.

                “I’m going to eat with you.” She answers back with a smile.

                Taeyeon just stares at her, no emotion, no anything. The lawyer is curious if Tiffany isn’t as conscious as other girls when it comes to eating, “Are you not afraid that you’ll get fat? I mean, some girls are like that, right?”

                “Are you saying I’m fat, Taeyeon?” Tiffany shots back. Putting the phone down and facing Taeyeon with an unamused face. She isn’t fat, she’s just cute.

                Taeyeon gulps, the last time Tiffany called her by her real first name, the paralegal was mad so definitely, being called “Taeyeon” is not good.

                “N-No. I mean, I just thought you’d be conscious because other---“

                “Oh, so I should be conscious of my weight?”

                Oh my gosh.- Taeyeon

                “No! I’m just saying that you… I mean, you might get fat… I---“

                “Is there a problem if I get fat, Kim Taeyeon?”

                Taeyeon shuts to avoid more stupid words from coming out. She looks down, thinking of the right words to say because obviously, she doesn’t want to oil to the fire. She doesn’t think Tiffany is fat, in fact she thinks the paralegal is very y.

                “No, there is no problem.”

                Tiffany exhales and Taeyeon can see that she’s offended. She didn’t mean to! Tiffany wasn’t even giving her a chance to explain! She decides to just let it go because she didn’t want the girl to be mad at her even more.

                “You aren’t fat. I think you’re very y.”

                And Tiffany thinks that’s the most adorable thing Taeyeon has ever told her. She’s been called a lot of names by the lawyer but she certainly was never called y or is never told that she’s very y. It’s a huge boost in self confidence. She lives for people like Taeyeon, the ones who give her compliments, yes, that.

                How worse of a person is she? Taeyeon’s already there, making her feel things she’s never felt before; Taeyeon is there and she’s equivalent to a thousand other people who would make her day better; Taeyeon is already there, enough to make her smile at the very sight of her and yet she’s here, still thinking if she’d made the right decision.

                “I think this fried rice is amazing~” Taeyeon shoves more food into because she’s too hungry to even care about looking cute in front of Tiffany.

                Tiffany laughs and shows those beautiful eye curves she gets when she smiles too much or laughs. It’s one of Taeyeon’s most favorite things and she’s very happy that she caused this one. She smiles at the sight in front of her an continues to shove food in , Tiffany doesn’t even seem to mind.

                “It is, Tae.”

                “But I think my fried rice is still better.” Taeyeon winks at her which causes her to blush.

                This is what confuses her. Her body seems to react like that of a teenager falling in love for the first time but somehow, she isn’t sure where, her heart or her mind is stopping her from freely falling for the person. She doesn’t understand why but she hopes that feeling goes away because she want to fall for someone, now.

                “Tae, where are your parents?” The paralegal suddenly asks catching Taeyeon off-guard.

                “Hm, they’re… gone. I guess?”

                Tiffany swears she regrets asking that question to Taeyeon. The lawyer who was very energetic and excited with the food a while ago has now slowed down and stopped eating. She punches herself mentally and frowns. Unconsciously, she reaches for Taeyeon’s hand and squeezes it.

                “I just wanted to know. I didn’t know it’s a sensitive topic. I’m sorry.”

                Taeyeon smiles a little and looks down on her food. Maybe the first step of letting people in is to be open to them, basically. Letting them know basic things about you no matter how sensitive it is. She’s got to trust and she’s got to care.

                “It’s fine. I think you should know, too.” Taeyeon squeezes Tiffany’s hands back and smiles, as if assuring the girl that it’s really fine, “I don’t know them. I grew up with my grandparents so I don’t have anything for you when it comes to the parents’ section.”

                Tiffany is sure that she admires Taeyeon.

                “Okay, to be fair, I’ll tell you about mine.” The younger girl lets go of Taeyeon’s hand and pulls a sheet of paper from her pile, “I’ll give you this paper and you have to fill it with questions that you want to ask me. I’ll do the same, of course.” She points to two big, empty jars displayed in her things too, “Tomorrow, I’ll put all my questions to one jar and you have to put it into you office.”

                “Uhuh and what about my questions?”

                “You put it in my jar and leave it here in my office. I’ll draw one and I’ll give you the answer through anything.”

                “Anything?”

                “Yes, anything. Text messages, e-mails, folders or even a note. Sometimes maybe I’ll put a strip of paper on your desk to challenge you.” The paralegal wiggles her eyebrows and it confuses Taeyeon more, “You’ll understand better tomorrow.”

                “Okay then. Let the questions begin!”

                Tiffany chuckles at the excited person and shrugs, “So I’m currently living with my dad. My mom passed away when I was little.”

                “Do you have siblings?” Taeyeon asks but only gets a shake of a head from Tiffany.

                “One question a day, Tae.”

                Taeyeon scoffs and playfully drops her chopsticks in her rice, “No fair.”

                “It is fair, Tae.” Tiffany ruffles the lawyer’s short blonde hair and laughs, “Such a baby.”

                “It would be better if I’m your baby, though.” Taeyeon states as a matter of factly.

                “We’ll see.”

                “Excuse me, I’m so sorry for bothering but do you have food? I’m very hungry.”

                The two women look at the door and sees Sunny. Not one of the two displayed surprise though, they kind of expected it when Sunny sent Taeyeon a message asking is she’s eaten. The secretary looks just as tired as Taeyeon when the lawyer went there.

                “Of course, Bunny. Come in, we ordered food for you too.” Taeyeon stands up and helps the short girl inside the office. She pulls a chair and tell Sunny to sit down as she gets the bowl they’ve ordered for the woman.

                Tiffany is also very sure that Taeyeon is in fact very gentle, contrary to how Taeyeon says; that she does not care.

                “I swear Yunho is a curse.” Sunny complains as she starts to dig in.

                Taeyeon and Tiffany just watch as the secretary shoves food into , just like Taeyeon a while ago. The paralegal thinks that maybe, just maybe, Yunho is starting to play with Jessica’s allies, starting with the very well-known ones.

                “I’m pretty sure he intentionally assigned different tasks to both of us so we can’t monitor each other. He just enters and exits my office and every time he enters he has a pile of folders in hand.”

                “Don’t you think he’s already starting with the two of you?” Tiffany intervenes.

                “But why like this? It’s so childish, starving both of us so we can’t function well.” Sunny rolls her eyes and opens for food again. She still has not forgotten what Tiffany’s said this morning though so she wonders why the girl is acting like this to Taeyeon now. Tiffany just quickly glances at her and avoids eye contact.

                Taeyeon shrugs at Sunny’s question totally unaware of the tension, “He’s very smart and I agree with Tiffany.”she agrees not because it’s just Tiffany but because the girl has a point, “I mean… we could miss something with all the work he’s given us and when all else fails he’ll blame it on us.”

                “Geez, did you know that he promoted Sooyoung?”

                “What?!” Taeyeon almost choked at the information. She sees Sunny immediately cover because of the slip, “Bunny…”

                “You didn’t know if Jessica asks.”

                “Why is it a big deal? Sooyoung seems to deserve the promotion too, don’t you think?” Tiffany asks. She doesn’t get why Taeyeon is always pissed when it comes to Sooyoung.

                “She is. But obviously, Yunho doesn’t think so. That man always thinks of how to be a step ahead of everyone even if it means foul, he’ll do it.” Sunny answers almost sounding like she’s educating the paralegal. She didn’t want to sound obvious to Taeyeon and rude to Tiffany.

                “Sunny’s right but we can’t tell. Not yet at least. The only think we can do is to..”

                “Wait.” Sunny and Tiffany says in unison.

 

~~~~~

A/N: I have had a very tough weekend because school's basically beating the out of me. I am sorry for the lack of updates :(