A/N: A shot to celebrate this thread hitting 250 subscribers ^^ Thank you all for your support and I hope you enjoy this one. Do leave me your thoughts and inputs because the comments section is way too quiet haha the next shot will be posted when this thread either hits 300 subscriptions, 20 comments or 20 upvotes. See you then and have a great day ahead!

♪ Song of the chapter: Onew & Jessica - One Year Later ♪

***

“Ppany-ah, come here!”

She looked as the girl ran towards her.

“What is it?”

“Look at this.” She held up a branch in front of her the girl named Tiffany.

“It’s just a branch.”

“No, look.” She pointed at the end of the branch.

“I don’t see anyth- Ah!” Tiffany screamed, hitting her friend. “Go away!”

“It’s just a worm, you don’t have to be afraid.” Her friend tried moving closer to her again. “Isn’t it cute?”

“Go away, Taetae!” Tiffany ran away from her friend.

“Why…” Taeyeon mumbled to herself while looking at the escaping Tiffany. “I’m sorry buddy but I need to go,” She said to her newly-found brown friend and placed the stick back on the ground.

Taeyeon went into the place they called home and walked around.

“Ppany?” She called out. “Ppany-ah, where are you?”

“I’m not coming out if you have that branch with you still!”

Taeyeon heard the voice coming from the corner of the playroom, behind the huge shelves. She went towards it.

“I left it outside.” Taeyeon showed both her hands. “See?”

Tiffany peeked through her fingers that were covering her face. She stood up only after confirming that Taeyeon no longer had the branch with her.

“Sorry, Ppany-ah. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay, I forgive you.”

“Wanna go ride the see-saw?”

Tiffany’s face brightened up immediately upon hearing that and nodded eagerly. She held Taeyeon’s hand that the latter held out and they back outside.

===

Since young, Taeyeon was Tiffany’s only friend in the orphanage. They were many other kids, but not many of them liked Tiffany because of her heritage and how loud she was. They would accent, they would call her names, they would bully her but Taeyeon always came to her rescue. Taeyeon would always stand up for her.

The first time Taeyeon met Tiffany was when she was four. She was a shy and quiet girl who did not interact with the other kids much, and then came Tiffany. At first, she was annoyed at how Tiffany kept bugging her with questions but she came to really like the girl in the end. Although their personalities were vastly different, they clicked, for some reason, and they were inseparable since then.

They were ten when Tiffany got to know that a couple wanted to adopt her. She begged their ‘mother’ – the woman who had been taking care of them at the orphanage they called home – to not let her go with them, or to convince the couple to take Taeyeon together with them, but the couple only wanted one child and considering how they were Korean-Americans as well, they thought Tiffany would be able to grow up well in their family, back where she was born.

It was the night before Tiffany’s departure. The two kids were sitting on the swing, hands tightly holding onto each other.

“Are you done packing?”

“Yeah,” Tiffany muttered.

“It’s tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to go, Taetae…”

“Why?”

“Because you’re not going to be with me.” Tears started forming in Tiffany’s eyes. “I don’t want to leave here, I don’t want to leave Mother, I don’t want to leave you.”

“But it’s a happy thing, Ppany-ah. At least you have Appa and Umma now.”

“I don’t need them, I only need you, Taetae.”

“You’ll need them, Ppany-ah. You’ll have a home, they will let you go to school, they will give you nice clothes.” Taeyeon turned to Tiffany. “You’ll not be alone anymore.”

Tiffany’s grip unconsciously tightened when she saw Taeyeon’s glistening eyes.

“Be happy, Ppany-ah.” Taeyeon smiled. “Promise me.”

“Will you be happy if I’m happy?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then,” Tiffany forced a smile. “I’ll be happy so you promise me that you’ll be happy too.”

“I promise,” Taeyeon said as she hooked their pinkies.

Tiffany let go of Taeyeon’s hand and went behind her neck. She unclasped the necklace that was sitting on her neck.

“Keep this.” Tiffany gave it to Taeyeon. “I hope you’ll never forget me.”

“I wouldn’t forget you so take it back, Ppany-ah. It’s important. It’s the only thing your real parents left you.”

Tiffany shook her head. “I don’t know who they are and you’re more important to me than they are. I want you to have it. Always remember me, okay?”

Taeyeon sighed. “Okay. I’ll take good care of it. It’s late, let’s go back in. You need to sleep to prepare for tomorrow.”

“Can you sleep with me for the last time?”

“Of course.” Taeyeon got down from the swing and stretched out her hand. “Let’s go.”

The next day, Taeyeon smiled the entire time she was with Tiffany, but the moment the latter left on the car that was going further and further away from her, her tears fell and she cried the hardest she had ever cried in her life.

===

Years had passed since Taeyeon last saw Tiffany. She was eighteen when one day, a man, or who she would call her benefactor, who had been volunteering at the orphanage told her that he would pay for all her university fees so that she could continue studying. She did not believe him at first because she thought it was too good to be true, but after talking to her Mother, she was convinced and decided to accept his help, because as much as she would like to deny it, she needed it. She promised him that she would study hard and repay him when she can.

As promised, she took up a business course and studied really hard, even earning a scholarship at some point of time during her time in university. The place she interned at wanted to hire her full-time, which she gladly took it up. Everything worked out well and she eventually made it.

There wasn’t any day that she did not think about her best friend, the best friend who left her thirteen years ago. She may be busy with school and life, but she had never forgotten her. She wore the necklace Tiffany gave her without ever taking it off. Some of her friends even thought it was a gift from her non-existent boyfriend despite her explanation, and she would just laugh it off after giving up explaining.

She was walking her dog in the park when the leash came off all of a sudden. The canine bolted off immediately.

“Ginger-ya!”

Taeyeon shouted as she chased after the black toy poodle. She cursed under her breath when she realized she lost sight of him.

“Ginger-ya, where did you go?” Taeyeon called as she walked around the park. She was getting more worried as time went by.

“Ginger-ya!” She shouted with all her might. Her face lit up when she heard the familiar bark. She looked towards the direction where the bark came from and found him near a girl who seemed to be patting him.

“Yah, why did you run off like this!” Taeyeon reprimanded as she hit the dog lightly on his head. “Naughty Ginger.”

The canine looked at Taeyeon with his puppy eyes, seeking forgiveness from his owner.

“Oh, you and your puppy eyes.” Taeyeon picked him up, now facing the stranger who was with Ginger. “Sorry for the trouble.”

“No problem. His name is Ginger?”

“Yes. Say hi, Ginger.” Taeyeon held up Ginger’s paw and waved.

“Hi Ginger.” The girl rubbed Ginger’s head softly. “He’s really cute.”

“Yeah. I mean, just look at his puppy eyes. I couldn’t not forgive him for running away like this.”

The girl chuckled. “What happened?”

“The clip on the leash came off.” Taeyeon held it up. “Should’ve gotten a new one when I went to the pet store the other day.”

The girl opened her bag to retrieve something.

“Here, take this.”

“Why would you have a leash in your bag?”

“I’m a pet groomer and I go on house visits so I bring it with me, just in case. You can have it.”

“I can’t do that. Let me pay for it.”

“It’s okay. Take it as a gift for Ginger.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Taeyeon froze when she saw the girl’s smile. You’re beautiful but what is this familiarity?

“Hey?” The stranger waved in front of Taeyeon’s face.

“Y-yeah?”

“Here.” The girl held out the leash.

“Thank you.” Taeyeon took it. “Say thank you, Ginger.”

“You’re welcome.” The stranger caressed Ginger. “I better get going then.”

“Okay. Thanks again for the leash.”

“You’re welcome. Bye.”

“Bye…” Taeyeon muttered while looking at the stranger who was getting further.

Have I seen her before? Why does she feel so familiar?

===

Tiffany stretched after bringing the freshly-groomed dog to her owner.

“Who’s next?”

“This toy poodle.” Her assistant came to her and placed the puppy on the table.

“Hi cutie.” Tiffany caressed the toy poodle’s head affectionately. “What’s your name?”

“His name is Ginger and he needs a trim and nail cut.”

“Ginger?” Tiffany looked up in surprise.

“Yeah, why?”

“I think I know him. Hi Ginger, we meet again.”

“How?”

“Well, it sort of happened. Now shoo Yoona, I need to work.”

Tiffany began by washing Ginger. She was surprised at how mild-natured he was and everything went on smoothly without any hiccup.

“You’re such a good boy, Ginger.” Tiffany held out a snack in front of him, which the canine gladly it off at one go. “Let’s bring you back to your owner now, shall we?”

Tiffany carried the puppy carefully and went out. She saw his owner sitting at the couch provided.

“Hey.”

Taeyeon looked up in surprise. “Oh hey! You’re the groomer here?”

“Yup. Here you go, Ginger.” Tiffany passed Ginger to Taeyeon.

“Did he give you any trouble?”

Tiffany shook her head. “Not at all. He’s such a calm dog. I didn’t even have to stop and everything went so smoothly. I like you, Ginger.”

“I think that means Ginger likes you too. That’s strange because he’s usually cautious around strangers.”

“Maybe because he knows I have snacks in my pocket.” Tiffany gave Ginger another piece of the snack from earlier.

“Delicious, Ginger?”

Ginger started wagging his tail, amusing the two girls.

“Well then, I’ll not be in your way any longer since you seem to have more dogs waiting to be groomed. Thank you for making Ginger look so clean. I think I’ll be coming back here often.”

“Thank you in advance for that then,” Tiffany laughed. “See you again, uh…”

“Taeyeon.”

“Taeyeon?!” Tiffany exclaimed a bit too loudly. Your name is… Taeyeon?

“Yeah…? Is there something wrong?”

“N-nothing.” Tiffany quickly cleared in embarrassment. “See you again, Taeyeon.” She turned and entered the grooming area immediately, not wanting Taeyeon to see her now-red face.

Taeyeon found the girl’s behavior strangely cute. She paid at the counter and said goodbye before leaving the shop, oblivious to Tiffany’s gaze from inside.

===

Taeyeon went back to the pet shop again two weeks later.

“Hi. Does Ginger need a groom again?”

“No, I’m just here to pick up some dog food and maybe get him some new toys,” Taeyeon replied the boy at the counter.

Truth is, she wanted to see the groomer again. The more she thought about her, the more she found her familiar, but she couldn’t figure out why no matter how hard she tried. And also because I might be very much attracted to you.

She took her time to browse around the shop, hoping the groomer would come out of the door.

Minutes la