“Okay,” Tiffany finally said after sipping the drink Taeyeon bought for her. “Why do you keep staring at me?”
 

Blinking innocently, Taeyeon suppressed a smile. “Nothing.”
 

“…Right.”
 

“Do you really want to know?”
 

Tiffany sighed in fake exasperation. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t, Taeyeon-ah.”
 

“It’s because you’re so pretty.”
 

“…Okay, I regret asking.” Tiffany flexed her fingers repeatedly as she scrunched up her nose. “You’re so cheesy.”
 

 “You know you like it,” Taeyeon said, suavely raising her eyebrows up and down in a way that Tiffany couldn’t help but find cute and hilarious.
 

The brunette shook her head. “Well, it’s better than you glaring at me across the table.”
 

“I didn’t glare! I was…people-watching so I didn’t have to look at you.”
 

“And why was that?”
 

“Because…because…I don’t know.” Taeyeon raised her hands in surrender. “Maybe I…”
 

“Huh?”
 

“I was shy.”
 

Tiffany leaned in closer. “…Shy?”
 

“Yeah! Exactly that!” Taeyeon pointed at Tiffany's face accusingly. “You looking at me like that messes me up. Your gaze is so penetrating sometimes, and it was always so unreadable when you directed it at me.”
 

Tiffany opened to make a retort, but Taeyeon beat her to it. “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
 

“Taeyeon…” Tiffany took the other girl’s hands and willed her to look at her again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t…I didn’t know I was so…off-putting. I swear I wasn’t perpetually annoyed with you or something. I guess when I don’t put a smile on my face, I may seem quite intimidating, but I didn’t mean for it to stop you from making conversation.”
 

Taeyeon nodded slowly, understanding where Tiffany was coming from. “Yeah…I’m sorry too. I’m also to blame since I kind of ignored you a lot and just made mean side comments here and there. But…you know that teasing-your-crush-because-you-like-her kind of thing?”
 

Tiffany wrinkled her forehead in confusion, and then it dawned on her. “Wh- Are you saying you were being mean because you liked me?”
 

“Heh… Maybe.” Tiffany forcibly yanked back at her hands, but Taeyeon wouldn’t let go. “Wait! I mean! That’s the only logically illogical explanation I can give for being so shy and awkwardly crude around you. You know I’m not usually like that, and only recently did I realize how frequent my thoughts about you being so smart and beautiful and kind were. It wasn’t there enough to develop into a full-blown realization that I've been crushing on you for the past few years, but they were there. So…yeah. It made me wonder whether I actually kind of liked you already before…this.”
 

Tiffany had grown quiet the entire time, and she didn’t fight against Taeyeon's hold anymore. “…Oh.”
 

“Oh?”
 

“Umm. Yeah…I didn’t really…think about everything in that way. But now that you’ve mentioned it, I did…I mean…sometimes I thought of you like that too.”
 

“…Like what?”
 

“The…the smart and beautiful and kind part…” Tiffany responded quietly.
 

Taeyeon's smile grew into a full-blown grin. “Yeah?”
 

Tiffany nodded. “Hmm…do you think we were dodging each other all this time because we knew that if we crashed into each other, there’d be sparks?”
 

Taeyeon tilted her head, finding Tiffany even more endearing than before. “Gosh, that’s so romantic.”
 

Tiffany laughed and bit her lip, blushing furiously. “Shut up.”
 

“Well…thank you for bumping into me, then,” Taeyeon said softly, rubbing Tiffany's fingers with the pads of her thumbs. In her completely unbiased opinion, their hands fit perfectly against each other.
 

She couldn’t help herself, and she lifted up one of her hands so that she could brush a lingering kiss on each of Tiffany's knuckles. As she did it, Tiffany looked at her with a smile that lit up her entire world.
 

 “And now that we’re on the gross subject of romance and cheesiness, you should turn your drink around, Fany-ah.”
 

“Hmm?” Taeyeon let go of Tiffany's hands so that she could do as instructed. The brunette rotated the cup clockwise, and she leaned in for a closer look when she noticed an inscription on it written in hot pink marker.
 

It said ‘Will you be my girlfriend, Tiffany? <3’
 

Once Tiffany read it, she gasped in shock and happiness.
 

“Whew!” Taeyeon exclaimed in relief, wiping invisible sweat off her forehead. “I swear I was low-key panicking the entire time, hoping you wouldn’t turn your drink around.”
 

Tiffany simply looked at her, and then she was out of the booth in seconds, scooting onto the seat adjacent to Taeyeon's.
 

And then she was grabbing Taeyeon's face and kissing her senseless.
 

It only lasted for a few seconds, but Taeyeon could barely recall who she was afterwards.
 

“Yes.”
 

“Huh?”
 

“I’d love to be your girlfriend, Taeyeon-ah.”
 

Taeyeon blinked a few times, finally shaking off her sudden bout of kissing amnesia. “…Yeah? Really?”
 

“Of course!” Tiffany smiled, her eyes disappearing into crescents that Taeyeon couldn’t help but reach out and trace in awe.
 

“My God, can you even see when you smile like that?”
 

“Wha—“ A crushing, heartwarming hug cut Tiffany off.
 

“Thank you for saying yes,” Taeyeon whispered against her ear as she beamed in absolute bliss. It was kind of inevitable that this was where their relationship was heading, but it still floored Taeyeon that Tiffany would say yes to her without any hesitation.
 

It was insane to believe that seven years of stupid dodging and verbal sparring led to this moment, right here, with them finally being together. Officially.
 

After they pulled away from each other, they each grew conscious of how they might’ve seemed to the public, being all touchy and PDA-ing while they were in a brightly lit restaurant. Tiffany quickly went back to her original seat as Taeyeon subtly looked around, trying to check if anyone was judging them.
 

Relieved that no one seemed to be looking their way, Taeyeon turned back to Tiffany. “I’m sorry if that wasn’t as romantic as I could’ve made it out to be…”
 

“Don’t be! I like it simple,” Tiffany said with a smile. “It’s always the thought that counts.”
 

“I’ll take note of that for our 100^th day. Just a simple movie date with microwaved popcorn?” Taeyeon teased.
 

“Yah!”
 

Taeyeon laughed heartily. “Just kidding. By the way…since we’re…official now, should we finally tell the others about us?”
 

“Oh…right. Well, they’re going to be here any minute now, so do we tell them today?”
 

“Hmm. But not everyone will be arriving for lunch. Only Hyo, Sunny, and Yoona are coming. Shouldn’t we announce it when everybody’s present?”
 

Tiffany nodded in agreement. “You’re right. But I wonder when that’ll be?”
 

“Should we invite them over or something? We can cook—“ Taeyeon stopped and thought about it. “—well, I can cook—“ That earned her a slap on the shoulder, which she took in stride (and a little mirth). “—and we can tell them then.”
 

“Hmm. Alright. When should we do it?”
 

“Oh, God.” Taeyeon lightly face-palmed herself. “I almost forgot to tell you. I have a photoshoot in Hong Kong this week.”
 

“What?” Tiffany looked at her in surprise.
 

“Yeah, sorry. They only told me this morning. It’ll only take three days, Fany-ah.”
 

“Yeah, of course. Good luck! And if these are female models you’re photographing, well, please remember you have a girlfriend waiting for you here.”
 

“Wha- You’re the one helping that y fashion brand scout for new male and female models the entire week! Please remember that you have a tiny—but huggable—girlfriend now.”
 

Tiffany was supposed to laugh it off and assure Taeyeon of her professionalism, but she narrowed her eyes in suspicion when Taeyeon's statement clued her in on something. “Wait… Did you…did you ask me to be your girlfriend just now so you could…” She didn’t even have to finish her sentence when a look of guilt flashed across Taeyeon's face. Tiffany gaped at her, aghast. “You—“
 

“I’m sorry!” Taeyeon whined, much to Tiffany's amusement. “I didn’t want you to end up looking at someone else while I’m away, okay? You might think that we’re not yet serious, so—“
 

“Taeyeon. How could you think that way? And why the hell would I be looking at anyone else?? Why would I even try? Did you think we were just fooling around? I mean…yeah, we were…kind of…” Tiffany blushed as her mind travelled to indecent places. “But I’m serious about you. About us. So, don’t worry, okay?”
 

Taeyeon tried not to smile so much at Tiffany's reassurance, but she couldn’t help it. She wished the other girl was still sitting next to her so she could give her a kiss of her own. “Okay,” she responded softly. “I’m yours too, you know? So, don’t worry about me too. Plus, no one can compare to Tiffany-y--Hwang.”
 

“Yah! Gosh, my girlfriend is such a byun.”

***

Apparently, Taeyeon and Tiffany didn’t have to invite the girls over to their place, as all of them were invited to Sooyoung’s place for dinner the following week, since the host had just arrived from a business trip to London and said that she had bought everyone presents.
 

Taeyeon and Tiffany had decided beforehand that they would tell everyone about them after dinner, and they fervently hoped that their friends would be happy for them.
 

“Should we have made sure to arrive at different times?” Taeyeon said, suddenly realizing that they were about to ring the doorbell to Sooyoung’s house hand-in-hand.
 

“Oh.” Tiffany reluctantly let go of Taeyeon’s hand as they paused before the door. “Well…it’s too late now. And they’ll find out later anyway,” she responded with a shrug.
 

“Yeah, that’s true.” And with that, Taeyeon reached up to ring the doorbell.
 

Sooyoung opened the door and welcomed them inside, taking the wine that they got for her with a grateful smile (Tiffany flinched when she realized that they gave her a gift from the both of them). “Everyone’s already inside,” she informed them.
 

The two women both looked at her in surprise.
 

“Really?? Well, that’s a first,” Taeyeon said in awe.
 

The three of them walked across the foyer and turned towards the living room, where they were greeted by six pairs of amused eyes that made Taeyeon and Tiffany halt their movements with the sheer magnitude of the looks they were receiving. As well as the sheer silence that came over the room once the three had come into view. The girls were never this quiet. Never.
 

“Guys, they even gave me a couple gift,” Sooyoung told everyone with a short laugh before she sat beside Yoona on the sofa.
 

Now, all the seven girls were comfortably sitting together in the lavish room, eyes trained on the two of them.
 

Taeyeon and Tiffany felt like they were standing in front of a death squad. A very pretty death squad.
 

It was Sunny who broke the excruciating silence.
 

“So… When were you guys going to tell us that you two were dating?”

A/N:

Ooooooh dramaaaaa. Not. LOL.

One last chapter to go!!! It's actually written already, but it needs further editing. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I have. ^^ 

Oh, and I was wondering if you guys want a PDF/EPUB copy of this? One reader brought it up, and idk, is this story even worth that? Lol. But I wouldn't mind figuring out how to format those kinds of things. xD