Tiffany’s upset. Taeyeon and Jessica are keeping something from her. She never thought she’d ever see the day when those two would have a mutual agreement over something. It bothers her. Taeyeon won’t talk about what had her so upset, and Jessica seems to know something and won’t say a thing about it. It just annoys her that Jessica knows and she doesn’t. She’s Taeyeon’s friend, not Jessica! Those two don’t even like each other!

A small cloud forms as she exhales while getting out of her car. Tiffany’s just gotten back from Jessica’s house. Her steps echo as she pulls her bag closer to her. It’s cold. According to her phone, it’s supposed to rain any second now, and she doesn’t doubt it. Large gray clouds cover the sky, hiding the moon she’s grown so fond of. The wind picks up its speed, and Tiffany hugs herself as she stops in front of the front door. She quickly fishes out her keys and opens the door, only to stop once she feels the warmth of her house hit her.

‘Why is it warm?’

Tiffany stands still by the open door as her eyes travel to the only light source in her house. Someone’s cooking in her kitchen. Her initial thoughts are to close the door once more and head straight to her car and then dial 911, but those thoughts immediately leave her mind as she reasons to herself that no one in their criminal minds would break into her house to make a meal, leaving only one person.

“Dad?” Tiffany doesn’t know what to think.

The faucet that was once running stops. Tiffany hears heavy footsteps make their way to her as she stays there standing like a deer when it sees the headlights. Mr. Hwang steps into Tiffany’s view and then all of her senses come back to her. The door slams shut behind her, making the awed girl jump at the sound, her attention locked on the door.

“Are you hungry? I made your favorite.” Mr. Hwang says as he stands at the end of the hallway with a damp cloth in his hand. His voice brings Tiffany’s attention back to him.

GRWWLGRLGRL

Tiffany blushes, and Mr. Hwang can’t help but laugh at his daughter. It was so like her. “I’ll take that as a yes.” 

The embarrassed girl watches as her dad disappears back into the kitchen. She can’t help but walk after him. Mr. Hwang walks to a cabinet and pulls out a plate. His eyes catch his daughter standing in the hallway with her bag still strapped to her, looking a little lost. “How about you put your stuff in your room while I serve you?” Tiffany blinks a couple of times before she does as she’s told.

The bag lands on her bedroom floor with a soft thud. Thunder roars outside her window and she sees the flash of lightning pierce through the clouds. Rain then starts to pour on her rooftop and she can’t help but shudder, letting the goosebumps crawl on her skin. She looks at the mirror to her right and can’t help but let her emotions whirl like the storm outside. There are too many emotions trying to burst out at once that she doesn’t know how to feel. She doesn’t know if she should be angry, hurt, upset, disappointed, happy, or relieved. The scraping of a chair against the kitchen floor snaps her back into existence. Tiffany decides that she’ll deal with her emotions later, for now, she’s grateful that her dad finally showed up.

Mr. Hwang is on his phone as Tiffany walks down the stairs. Tiffany notices the way her dad’s eyes look tired, wrinkles defining the edges of his eyes, gray hairs that are now starting to show at the beginning of their roots, and his eyes are now squinting at the screen before him. Tiffany can’t help but realize that her dad is getting old.

She missed him.

Mr. Hwang’s tired eyes meet Tiffany’s and he smiles, making Tiffany smile. She truly missed him. Tiffany sits down next her dad, and they begin to eat. She realizes that the food is a bit bland but doesn’t voice it. They eat for a while before her eyes land on the seat before her and a frown forms. Mr. Hwang looks up from his plate the moment Tiffany stops making noise. He sees the frown on his daughter’s lips before he turns to the source.

They’re quiet for a moment too long. Mr. Hwang doesn’t know what to say, his heart still aches. Tiffany just realizes that it’s her first family meal without her mother and she feels the tears burn her eyelids as she struggles to not let them fall. The grip she has on her fork tightens as she tries so hard not to make a sound as the first tear slips. She immediately wipes it away before she ignores the way her heart is stuck in as she continues to eat. 

In her mind, she curses the drunk man that’s behind bars.

A warm hand envelopes her left hand that’s lying idly on the table. Her gaze meets her dad’s teary eyed ones as he tries his best to smile, to warm and reassure Tiffany’s heart. Tiffany’s touched by her dad’s gesture. Her dad was never a man of many words. 

A comforting smile forms as Tiffany takes her dad’s hand in her own and gives it a small squeeze. 

––––

Ok, this scene was hard. I wrote and rewrote it because I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted Tiffany to react to her dad coming back. I had to remind myself that Tiffany's character is a bubbly girl who can't stay mad for long. I mean, she was the one to apologized to Taeyeon first right? (Correct me if I'm wrong.) I know I'm a horrible author for not knowing what it was I initially wrote.  Anyhow, does Tiffany's dad remind you of someone else in her life? Kudos to you if you get it. 

As for the sequel, I'll talk about it more as I wrap together the story. Like I said, I may or may not come out with it depending on my schedule. We'll see when the time comes. I'm not revealing further details about it.

Other than that, I think I've touched up on what I wanted to say.

Things to look out for in the future chapters:

– Tiffany confessing to her dad that she's bi.

– Some more character development with Tiffany and Taeyeon.

– And some things that Taeyeon does that will go on the sequel if it happens.

– Oh, and Taeny will happen, we'll just have to wait and see how it does happen. I haven't made up my mind yet.

Ok, now I'm done. See ya in the next chapter!