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

“Uhhh…” Taeyeon's mind drew a blank as she felt barraged by the expectant looks on her friends’ faces. They could be quite intimidating when they wanted to be.
 

Thankfully, Tiffany saved her from her distress by answering for the both of them. “Well… We were actually supposed to tell you after dinner…but…I guess…now?”
 

The seven women finally took their gazes off the frozen couple and whispered amongst themselves.
 

“Wait…” Tiffany interrupted them, a little confused. “How did you guys even find out?”
 

“Show her, Hyo,” Sunny prompted.
 

Hyoyeon stood up with her cellphone in hand and made her way over to them. She unlocked her phone and showed them a picture. It was kind of blurry, as if the person who took it was trying to do it quickly, but there was no mistaking that it was Taeyeon and Tiffany in the image, and that was definitely Tiffany's hand that Taeyeon was kissing.
 

The two knew immediately when that photo was taken: last week, at the restaurant, when Taeyeon had asked Tiffany to be her girlfriend.
 

Taeyeon gulped, wary. “Th-that’s it?”
 

“Oh. If you’re talking about me seeing you two making out…” Hyoyeon said offhandedly. “I didn’t get to take a picture of that. I was too busy turning my head away, puking.”
 

“Ah…” Tiffany said awkwardly as Taeyeon mumbled “We weren’t making out…” at the same time.
 

“Sorry for not telling you guys right away,” Tiffany apologized to the rest of the room. “We didn’t want to announce it until we were official.”
 

“Official?” Yoona echoed.
 

“Yeah,” Taeyeon replied. “I asked Fany to be my girlfriend last week. That day, actually, when Hyoyeon took the picture.”
 

The collective ‘aww’ heard throughout the room instantly lightened the heavy load on Taeyeon and Tiffany's shoulders.
 

“How did she do it?”
 

“You popped the question before our lunch?! Taeyeon, do you even know what ‘romance' is?”
 

“Argh, I’m so jealous!”
 

The questions and remarks made the two women’s heads spin, although they tried their best to answer them all (as well as defend herself, in Taeyeon's case).
 

Apparently, Hyoyeon had showed the picture to the rest of the girls in a group chat that didn’t include Taeyeon and Tiffany (the nerve!), and they all agreed to hold an intervention tonight. The girls weren’t against the two of them dating, but they did have some apprehensions and fears in case they broke up.
 

Taeyeon and Tiffany assured the rest that they were trying to take things slow (when they said this, Hyoyeon turned to Sooyoung and said “As if seven years wasn’t already slow enough.”). They’d already talked to each other about the highly-unlikely-but-still-not-impossible possibility of a break-up happening, and they had vowed to try their best to not let it affect their relationships with the girls. If it were any reassurance, Taeyeon jokingly said that if they did break up, it would probably just be like how they were a few months ago: barely talking to each other, exchanging passive-aggressive glances, and the like.
 

They moved their conversation to the dining room when Sooyoung interrupted the questions to exclaim that the food would turn cold if they didn’t eat soon.
 

“So, you guys really didn't suspect anything?” Taeyeon asked them as she helped herself to some pasta.
 

“Well,” Sunny began. “There were a lot of hints, but we all know how clingy Tiffany gets with her friends, so we let it slide.”
 

“But it started to come to light when Taeyeon became the clingier one,” Yuri said.
 

“No, unnie,” Seohyun protested. “Taeyeon-unnie loves to cuddle too, so that’s why I still didn’t suspect it much either.”
 

“Yeah, but we would’ve been blind not to notice how much happier you two were. Especially when you were next to each other,” Jessica added.
 

Taeyeon and Tiffany exchanged shy smiles as they listened to their friends’ comments.
 

“But don’t you guys argue with each other?” Sunny asked them. “I mean you already did it as friends.”
 

Tiffany nodded quickly. “Oh, believe me, we do, but—“
 

“But the makeup is worth it,” Taeyeon interrupted with a smirk.
 

Pained glances, groaning, silverware clattering, and some disgusted screeching echoed throughout the dining room.

***

After dessert (and after a flurry of other cute and sometimes hilarious questions were thrown at the two), Taeyeon and Tiffany bid their goodbyes, since the latter had an early meeting the next day and Taeyeon was her ride home.
 

They both exhaled loudly once they were inside Taeyeon's car.
 

“Wow.”
 

“Wow.”
 

They turned to glance at each other, laughing at the expressions on their faces.
 

“Well… I’m happy they took it lightly,” Taeyeon said as she buckled up and the radio.
 

“Yeah.” Tiffany nodded in agreement before stifling a yawn. “Wow, that dinner exhausted me. It felt like a police interrogation, but with more teasing.”
 

“True.” Taeyeon shook her head fondly, quite happy that their friends approved of them being together. She turned to the brunette and noticed that Tiffany's eyes were fluttering drowsily. “You can take a nap if you want,” Taeyeon suggested as she put the car in reverse.
 

“Thank you,” Tiffany said, giving her a soft smile before drifting off to the sound of the engine and the soft tunes on the radio.

***

“Fany…” Taeyeon murmured softly, trying to wake the brunette up once she had parked outside Tiffany's building. She lightly shook her awake, and although Tiffany was a bit groggy, she righted herself and slowly got out of Taeyeon's car.
 

Even though Tiffany had insisted otherwise, Taeyeon still brought her up to her condo. Tiffany actually wanted to ask Taeyeon to stay the night, but she knew that if Taeyeon stayed, well… Tiffany would be very sleepy for her early morning meeting.
 

They were crossing the hallway with their fingers intertwined when Taeyeon broke the comfortable silence with a query. “What would you have done if they had disapproved of us?”
 

Tiffany turned her head to look at the shorter woman briefly. “You mean if they didn’t like the idea of us dating?”
 

“Yeah.”
 

Tiffany remained silent until they reached her door, mulling over her words. “Well… I would’ve tried my best to prove to them that we’re good together. And I wouldn’t give up until they finally agreed and gave their blessing. If I had to make a PowerPoint for us, I would’ve.”
 

Taeyeon laughed lightly, touched by Tiffany's honest and very determined answer. closed up and she swallowed thickly, her heart suddenly filled with unfathomable emotions as she stared up at the woman who’d come to mean so much to her these past few months.
 

“Are you crying?” Tiffany leaned in closer, her sharp gaze penetrating through Taeyeon's soul.
 

“No…”
 

“Aww…” Tiffany cooed, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. “I love you, Taeyeon-ah.”
 

Taeyeon sniffled, fighting back tears. “You’re making it worse!” She whined, earning herself a laugh from the brunette. As well as another kiss, which she returned passionately, wrapping her arms around Tiffany's neck.
 

“I…I should get going,” Taeyeon said in-between kisses, although she made no move to get out of Tiffany's hold on her against the door.
 

“…Yeah…” Tiffany agreed as she ran her tongue down the other woman’s neck, making Taeyeon moan softly and arch her back in order to grant Tiffany more access.
 

“Y-Your meeting…”
 

With that reminder, Tiffany groaned in defeat and slumped against Taeyeon with a sigh. “Fine.”
 

“…Fine?”
 

Tiffany chuckled as she pulled back to look at Taeyeon's stunned expression. “What, did you want me to say ‘screw the meeting’ or something?”
 

“Uhh…”
 

“You’re such a bad influence, Taeyeon-ah.” Tiffany laughed softly as she brushed her lips against the blonde’s sharp jawline.
 

“Mm…”
 

“Should I screw the meeting?” Tiffany asked, her mouth hot against Taeyeon's ear.
 

“Fany…”
 

“Or should I screw you?” Tiffany pulled back and watched as Taeyeon's glassy gaze turned molten, the blonde’s breath hitching at her words.
 

“Keys. Now.”

***

Meanwhile, back in Sooyoung’s place the moment the two had left…
 

“Pay up, es!!!” Sooyoung cackled gleefully as Seohyun, Yoona, and Sunny begrudgingly handed over to her a generous amount of money. Yuri, Jessica, and Hyoyeon were also at the receiving end of a hefty sum that could’ve bought Taeyeon more than twenty packs of her favorite jelly candy.
 

“I can’t believe we lost!”
 

“I sided with Seohyun because I thought she would win!”
 

“How could you guys not see that they were head-over-heels for each other?”
 

“Yeah! Taeyeon hangs on to Tiff’s every word like a puppy.”
 

“I knew it the moment Taeyeon kept texting me about how Tiffany was doing when she had gotten sick.”
 

“I’m totally calling it that they liked each other ever since college, but were too dumb to admit it, even to themselves.”
 

“…Wanna bet on that?”
 

“You’re on!”

A/N:

Aaaaaaand that's it! Yay! I successfuly finished a multi-chap omg a heartfelt shout-out to coffee, sleep deprivation, and the schoolwork that made me procrastinate and release my stress through writing.

Ah, but it isn't truly over yet. Look forward to the little epilogue that will just help pile up the cheese levels of this story further. :D