It had been one month since Tiffany last did it, the teasing.
 

Sure, the two of them still hung out together. Although there was a barely palpable tension that hung in the air when they did so. It was so subtle that it need not be discussed between them, but it was there nonetheless, and they both could feel it.
 

Taeyeon noticed how Tiffany hardly touched her anymore, although the latter still stayed in close proximity, just like how they usually were. Tiffany didn’t even lean her head on her shoulder during their movie marathons together anymore. Taeyeon dismissed it at first, but doubts started to pierce through her mind come the second month.
 

Taeyeon started to wonder if Tiffany knew about her new and more profound feelings towards her best friend. Although Taeyeon’s earlier frustrations with the brunette’s teasing had kept her hot and bothered at night, it was no match for the ice-cold fear that had gripped her once she realized that she could lose her best friend if her assumptions were true. This fear wrapped around her tight and did not let go. She was dying to know if she was right, but she didn’t want to risk asking in case she was wrong. She knew that Tiffany had been stressed with work for the past few months, so Taeyeon tried to reassure herself that maybe the brunette was just too tired to . But if Tiffany still shied away from her after everything…God, she didn’t want to think about it until then. Taeyeon tried to push the doubts and fears away as best as she could, for now.

--

It’s now been three months since it stopped, the teasing.
 

The big project Tiffany was working on had culminated two weeks ago.
 

Taeyeon was going stir-crazy. Tiffany had still been keeping minimum physical contact between them, and now the reason couldn’t be because the brunette was too tired to initiate it.
 

They were now doing their usual Friday night hangout; thankfully Tiffany still committed to spending time with Taeyeon. Tiffany had greeted Taeyeon with her usual eye-smile, although Taeyeon noticed that there was something lurking within the brunette’s gaze. Or maybe she was just down-right paranoid at this point; she wasn’t sure. Tiffany’s friendship mattered very much to her, and she didn’t want it to be thrown away just because of the complicated feelings she was having right now.
 

Taeyeon was planning to confront Tiffany tonight, after the movie, and she planned to deny, deny, deny. She wanted them to go back to the way things were, when Tiffany wasn’t afraid to be clingy and touchy with her. She wouldn’t even mind the teasing anymore, although she would have to learn how to control her reactions better.
 

They were already halfway through the movie, and Taeyeon barely knew anything about the plot. She was too nervous about what would be transpiring after.
 

Taeyeon was distractedly reaching for the bowl of popcorn between them on the couch when Tiffany also did the same, resulting in the accidental brushing of their hands against each other. Taeyeon immediately tensed at the contact, realizing that she hadn’t touched Tiffany in weeks, if the electricity that jolted through her from that mere graze was any indication. But nothing could compare to Tiffany’s reaction.
 

Tiffany jerked so sharply that the popcorn bowl flipped over, scattering kernels on them and around them. It would’ve been comical, if it wasn’t so awkward.
 

They both froze for God-knows-how-long, before Taeyeon broke the silence with a sigh. “Okay. We need to talk.”
 

Tiffany avoided Taeyeon’s eyes, choosing to begin cleaning up the popcorn littering the couch and the floor. “About what?” She asked nonchalantly.
 

Taeyeon would have laughed, if the cold dread settling over the pit of her stomach hadn’t driven away any sort of humor she would have found in the situation. Tiffany’s reaction to the physical contact erased all doubts in Taeyeon’s mind about Tiffany not knowing about her feelings.
 

Although Taeyeon hated herself for complicating things between them, she couldn’t stop feeling hurt about how much Tiffany didn’t want to touch her, like she had the plague or something. She didn’t think twice before bitterly saying “Are my feelings really that horrifying to you?”
 

Taeyeon’s words caused Tiffany to jerk her head up so hard that Taeyeon was surprised that the brunette didn’t develop whiplash. “Wh-what?” Tiffany finally turned to look at the blonde.
 

Taeyeon bit her lip once she realized what she had said. What happened to deny, deny, deny? She closed her eyes and just decided to be brutally honest with her best friend. She realized that she could better salvage their relationship if they would just be upfront with everything now, rather than tiptoeing around each other till they would be forced to confront the truth someday.
 

“I know you know, Fany-ah.”
 

“Kn-know what?”
 

Sigh. You’re really going to have me spell it out? “About my feelings for you.”
 

Tiffany’s eyes went round as saucers. “Wh-what feelings?” Her voice became a tinge desperate, almost disbelieving.
 

Taeyeon’s eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. Is she playing me…or does she really not know…?
 

Taeyeon’s thoughts completely blanked out as Tiffany reached out to hold one of her hands. This time, neither of them jerked at the contact, although the touch definitely brought tingles to the both of them.
 

“What feelings, Taeyeon-ah?” Tiffany asked her softly, and this time the desperation in her voice was clearly evident. Taeyeon had never seen this look in Tiffany’s eyes before. It was so warm and soft…and hopeful, and she got lost in them.
 

Taeyeon would have stared at Tiffany forever if the latter hadn’t held her hand a little tighter, encouraging her to answer the question. Even though Taeyeon was still unsure and incredibly frightened, the warmth in her best friend’s eyes gave her the courage to continue. The look in her eyes made Taeyeon believe that they could get through this, because they were Tiffany and Taeyeon, Taeyeon and Tiffany: decade-long best friends and soulmates. Although Taeyeon considered Tiffany to not merely be her platonic soulmate anymore.
 

“I…It was your fault, you know. Because of the teasing. You made me see you in a different light, Fany-ah. It’s like you took the friendship light away and shined the blinding love light on my face instead. So…you know…you can’t really blame me for seeing you in that way…”
 

As Taeyeon rambled on, she failed to notice how Tiffany’s eyes lost their desperation, how they were now filled with so much hope and relief. She failed to see how the hand Tiffany wasn’t using to hold hers was closed in a fist, because Tiffany was trying so hard not to cut her best friend off with a kiss.
 

Once Taeyeon finally finished her speech, she couldn’t meet Tiffany’s eyes. She stared down at their joined hands instead, accepting whatever verbal or physical lashing her best friend was going to give her. She didn’t expect Tiffany to gently grasp her chin with her unoccupied hand, forcing Taeyeon to look up. “Look at me, Taeyeon-ah,” Tiffany said softly.
 

Although this response wasn’t what Taeyeon had pictured, she was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. She knew Tiffany could still lash out; loud anger wasn’t all Tiffany was capable of. But once she finally met the brunette’s eyes, which were looking at her with anything but anger, she slowly began to hope. That hope bloomed when the hand holding her chin moved to her cheek, caressing it lightly. Taeyeon momentarily closed her eyes at the sensation of Tiffany’s fingers, and when she opened them, her breath hitched as she saw how Tiffany had moved closer, her face now only a few inches away from Taeyeon’s.
 

It was so silent in the apartment, because the two of them couldn’t stop staring at each other. Both of them were tracing, memorizing, feeling. They’ve seen each other practically every day for the last ten years, and yet it’s as if only now were they seeing each other for the first time. Really seeing each other.
 

Taeyeon was the one who broke the silence. “F-Fany-ah…what…” She wanted to ask, to confirm, but she didn’t know how to voice it out properly. But she didn’t have to. Tiffany knew her, understood her, almost impossibly so.
 

Tiffany slowly smiled at her, her warm eyes slowly disappearing. Taeyeon thought of how beautiful all of Tiffany’s eye-smiles were, but this one, this one right now, took the cake. Took the whole bakery, really.
 

Tiffany didn’t know how to properly respond to Taeyeon. She had a sundry of feelings right now, and she wanted to verbalize them all, but she didn’t want to ramble on and lose the essence of what she wanted to tell Taeyeon, so Tiffany chose to do away with words. She knew she had all the time in the world to tell her how she felt, anyway.
 

The hand brushing against Taeyeon’s cheek now cupped it, and Tiffany leaned in to finally brush her lips against her soulmate's, in every sense of the word.
 

No matter how fervently each one had dreamt about the feeling of the other’s lips, nothing could have prepared them for the real thing. Because the real thing held the embodiment of love.

FIN.

A/N:

what the heck was that last thing omg so cheesy forgive me *cringes for dayz*

You guys have to know that I wrote almost 50% of this thing during my Marine Sciences class LOL. My friend came up to me after and told me how impressed she was about my note-writing ability during the lecture, and I had to break it to her that most of my thoughts and notes consisted of “how the heck do I describe the beauty of Taeyeon and Tiffany’s lips?”

Anyway…I hope you enjoyed! :)