It's been a few days since Tiffany locked herself in her room in the dorm, wrapped in the sheets crying her heart out while holding the locket Tae got for her birthday tightly in her hand, serving a purpose equivalent to Tae's presence. All she wanted to do was document her photos and snaps with the locations to help her remember all the times she spent with her members and with her lover Tae, so that when she looks back in the future, she can reminisce the times better. She has been doing that since she started her SNS accounts but somehow this time the backlash from netizens escalated and has just been blown out of proportion. With her whirlwind of schedules lately, she didn't realize it was Korea's Independence Day and she just picked the available geotag on snapchat since she was in Tokyo then. When SONEs comments (that were sort of gentle reminders) came in after posting the photos, she immediately realized her mistake and removed the inappropriate emojis and photos but the malicious comments started flooding in non-stop.

What started out as a fun night out with her SMTOWN label mates, ended up with her apologizing on her Instagram with a self-written note, that she thought would show her sincerity the most. She spent the 2 hours stuck at the airport writing the letter and getting her members to vet through it, making sure there were no mistakes as well. The more she thought about the situation, the more she reproached herself, "Why didn't I think further? Why wasn't I more sensitive?" Each time she browsed through her SNS, the more hurt she felt by the Korean netizens and their poison like comments. "Why are they being so mean? What else do they want from me? Isn't my apology enough?" These thoughts kept going through her head and they just kept spiraling her down the abyss in her mind. 

Outside in the hall, a group meeting was held with Taeyeon sitting in the living room with the rest of the members, trying to come up with a solution to get Tiffany back to the way she was again. She wouldn't eat or drink, saying that the bad publicity that GG was having right now was all her fault. Her body was getting weaker by the day and so was her mentality. The blonde lover couldn't stand seeing the love of her life carry on like that anymore and decided to ask the members for help. They each took turns to try to talk to her but to no avail. She kept responding the same way she did when she bade them farewell after coming back from Tokyo; lifeless answers with expressionless looks. 

"Let's all stay here for the time being like the old days, shall we?" Suggested Sooyoung. She was also worried for her pink loving bubbly friend. In fact, all of them were. "We need to get our brighter than gems Fany back again so I agree! I can't stand seeing Fany unnie like that.” Yoona stated.

“Why don’t we take turns to stay over instead? I don’t think Fany unnie would appreciate the ruckus that comes whenever the 8 of us gathers, especially now when she probably needs more time to herself.” the maknae reasoned.

“I agree, we’ll just take turns, since Hyo and the rest have schedules coming up. Let’s stick to this plan for now and see how it goes. I’ll go check on her now and y’all let me know who’s staying later?” said Taeyeon.

“Sure Unnie!” the rest said in unison.

“Fany-ah, you can’t keep holing yourself up in the room like this. Let’s bake some cupcakes, or do our nails together with the girls. Come on Mi, Anything! Please, I’m really worried about you, baby.” Tae pulled on her arm in an attempt to get her lover up, only to get her arm swung roughly aside. 

“I said leave me alone, didn’t I! Get out Tae!” after shouting that out, she fell back to the her once bright baby pink sheets that currently just looked crumpled and dull, starting to cry again.

“I’m not going to do that and you know it! From the moment we got together I already told you we would get through everything as a couple, a team. The girls outside now feel the same way too! They would never let you sink lower. We’ve spent the last decade together as a well-oiled machine, going through thick and thin together, we’re not going to abandon you now and not ever! To top it all off, I AM YOUR LOVER, NOT YOUR ENEMY. I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE, you got that?” Tae had enough of Tiffany pushing her and everyone else away. All the emotions she kept balled up inside just exploded out cause she couldn’t stand seeing her lover behaving like it’s the end of the world.

A hysterical crying Tiffany continued shouting at her. "You don't understand Tae! I'm trouble, you need to stay away from me or else they'll drag you into this mess too! Get away from me!" The initial shouting started to wane off into mumbles as she got tired and her voice hoarser with each word spoken due to the many days of crying. Once the physical fatigue kicked in, the words that left her lovable, kissable lips shot daggers through Tae's heart, "I know I've promised you an eternity together but you have got to let me go..."

After overcoming her initial shock, Tae grabbed her lover's brunette head to her chest and just hugged her till her shuddering self slowly calmed down and the muttering quietened. Not knowing if it's her unique vanilla scent or just her presence, but whenever in her embrace, Tiffany always manages to be able to calm down rather quickly. Her tear-streaked cheeks and swollen, reddened eyes were then brought to Tae's line of sight when the blonde's smooth hands then cupped her cheeks to lift her head up. Still sniffling away, Tiffany looked like the most vulnerable child and Tae couldn't help but to leave gentle kisses along each and every part of her face, to remind Tiffany that no matter what happens, she'll always be there and she'll always love her. In her arms, she'll always be safe and she'll always be loved.

"You know it yourself that I couldn't have gone through the times in my life when I got the malicious comments to if it weren't for you by my side, encouraging me and distracting me. So why won't you let me do the same for you? You've been my happy virus and my energizer since I've met you and I'll never regret the decision I made to stay in the dorm. Because that's the only way I would have been able to meet you and be close to you. Throughout all this chaos, let me be the calm in the storm that I know I can be. Please don't push me away? Baby please let me in. I won't speak if you don't want me to, just please get up and eat something. I need you to resume your usual life of at the very least eating and drinking. And just let me be with you, whatever it may be, holding your hand or hugging you to sleep."

Tiffany then reluctantly followed the petite blonde out to the kitchen, where the other members were anxiously waiting, especially after hearing the loud exchange between the 2 lovers. She looked up at their worried faces with forced smiles and knew she couldn’t keep up this act. She agreed to pull herself together and let them help her get through it as they had a long awaited dinner together. Despite not having appetite to eat, she forced herself to at least have some soup to appease her concerned members. That night, she had a slightly more peaceful sleep with Taeyeon holding her while whispering sweet nothings in her ear, reminding her that she was loved, instead of nightmares of mean K-netizens and their needle-like comments haunting her in her dreams.

However, as the days went on, more bad news unravelled, starting with IPKN ending her endorsement contract, KBS dropping her from her reality show Unnies Slam Dunk and SM deciding to not let her take part in the 20th anniversary Hawaii trip with all the staff and artistes. She promised Tae that she wouldn’t read the comments but she wanted to at least know the progression of the issue so made a compromise to allow Tiff to read the articles only when she was around and to read it together.

With Tae there to console her, she felt better but she was unable to control her tears, especially when she found out about the trip from their managers and the articles that came from the announcement. Leaving her beloved Unnies was already hard enough for her, they became her second family, working towards realising their dreams together. But because she loved them so, she had to protect them from the haters as well. She spent so long talking to them to explain her decision to leave and they all cried together, knowing it was the best solution at that time, despite being the hardest choice. With the additional news that she was not being allowed to join in for the trip, she was devastated. She had been looking forward to that trip since even before her debut as a solo singer. She worked her off, thinking that after all the schedules were over, she would be able to spend quality time with the rest of SMTOWN, her girls and of course her lover.

“Shall I just not go and stay here with you? I meant it when I said that life without you would mean nothing and would be void of happiness. I wouldn’t enjoy myself if you weren’t there with me anyway. I’ll stay, it’s decided. I’ll let manager oppa know tomorrow first thing in the morning.”

“You can’t do that Tae, not when it’s such a huge issue already. The management won’t allow it. Just go and enjoy on my behalf?” Tiffany said with a small forced smile.

“But Mi- “

“No buts boo. You deserved this holiday with the rest, and besides you need to be there for the workshop too. Come on Taetae, at least be there for the rest of the members? I’ll be fine here with Prince and Princess. I'll also keep texting you so you better not ignore my texts besides when you're on the flights and during the workshop when it's your turn to be involved. I also have the locket that you gave to me so I'll be fine.Now stop whining and help me look through this.”

Taeyeon grudgingly released her left hand from her hold on Fany’s waist and took over the long apology letter written by Tiffany again and carefully read through it. She ensured that there were no mistakes and handed it back to Tiff, “Firstly, I would never ignore your texts and secondly, I still think this second letter is redundant. You already apologised once, I don’t think this is necessary. You know our SONEs would have forgiven you already and that’s what’s important right? As long as the people who love you know you didn’t do it intentionally, they would be able to forgive you and continue to love you, just like me.” She continued her back hug and leaning her chin on Tiffany’s shoulder, a position that they frequently assumed whenever they were together, just to show that they literally had each other’s backs.

“This is why I thank God for you every single night when I pray. Because you love me unconditionally all the time, when I’m swollen from a full meal the night before, ugly from crying my eyes out over the past few days or ravishingly breathtaking on our performance stages. You love me because I’m me, and I’m forever thankful for that. I need to apologise again because I don't think the first one was enough but thank you babe, and I love you too…” Tears brimmed in Tiffany’s eyes, as she thought back over the past week. She felt more guilt towards Taeyeon since she hadn’t been the nicest person to be with since the start of the controversy issue but Tae had been patient and understanding with her throughout, showering her with more love and care.

“What can I do, I’m head over heels smitten with you and I’m whipped. I’ve been lovestrucked and there’s nothing I can do about it.” A goofy grin surfaced before she guffawed due to the extreme cheesiness. “I meant everything I said but gosh that was cheesy.”

Tiffany let out a small giggle and showed Tae the eyesmile that she adored while she thought to herself, What did I do to ever deserve you? I hope we’ll be like that even 50 years from now…