“Taeyeon.” She heard the sound of a stern voice. She looked up to see her girlfriend’s father by the door. She quickly stood up and bowed.

“Good morning, Mr. Hwang. How may I help you?” She asked politely.

He walked in and went in front of her table, “I’m here to talk about my daughter.”

She froze.

“I want to know why she hasn’t been herself lately. I don’t want to blame you, but the fact that the two of you haven’t met for a week now tells me that you have something to do with this. So spill.”

She gulped. She didn’t know if Tiffany’s dad was going to kill her or not with the tone of his voice. She didn’t know if she wants to talk about it with him especially since his daughter rejected her proposal. “Uh...”

“I know it’s something between the two of you, so tell me what happened.”

Taeyeon closed her eyes for a a few seconds, trying to calm herself down. When she opened her eyes, she looked straight into the father’s eyes and said, “Tiffany doesn’t want to get married... to me.”

Mr. Hwang cocked an eyebrow, “Did she say that?”

“Well, no. Not exactly, but... well... I’ve asked her many times already and... her answer’s always ‘not now’. I love her, really, but I don’t think she ever wants to get married to me.”

“What’s wrong with waiting, Taeyeon?”

“Nothing, sir. It’s just... it feels like I’m waiting for nothing.”

“What did my daughter say exactly?”

“That she doesn’t think we’re ready.”

“I don’t like intruding with my daughter’s personal life, especially her love life, but I think she’s right with this one. You’re both still too young, Taeyeon. Don’t you want to do things first before you settle down? This is a big step.”

“The only thing I want to do now is to marry her. I thought we wanted the same thing, but I guess not,” she stated rather stubbornly but the man didn’t mind it.

“She also wants the same thing, Taeyeon, trust me. She told me about how she dreamt about her dream wedding. Your dream wedding. She’s only waiting for the right time. As I’ve said, you’re both still too young. You were just named CEO of your father’s company, and she just got a promotion. There’s still a long way to go, Taeyeon. Don’t pressure yourselves too much, okay? There’s still a lot of time and I’m hoping that you aren’t going anywhere because I know Miyoung isn’t.”

Taeyeon only nodded.

“I like you for her and I trust that you’ll make the right decision.” With that, he left her office.

*****

“Hey dad.” She greeted the man standing by her door.

“Hi. What are you doing?”

“Just going through some old stuff.”

“No work today?”

She shook her head.

“No date with Taeyeon?”

She gulped then shook her head.

He sighed, “Have you tried calling her?”

She nodded, “Yes, but she’s always busy.” She stared at the wall ahead of her. “Dad, you think I made the right decision by not accepting her proposal? What if she leaves me?” She turned to look at her father with teary eyes.

He walks over to her and hugs her tightly, “It’s a good thing I have friends who have daughters then.” She softly pushes her dad away and glares at him. He laughs at her and hugs her again, “I was just joking. Come on. I know you love her.” She nodded against his chest. “And I know she loves you too, so I’m sure she’s not going to leave you.”

He heard her sigh. He pats her back, “Everything will be alright Miyoung. Just hold on, okay? It’s not going to be hard for long.”

*****

She stirs as she heard the sound of the doorbell. She sits up and looks at her clock. It was too early in the morning for anyone to visit, but not too early for her father and sister to get the door instead of her. She lied back down and went back to sleep.

Minutes after, she heard her bedroom door open. She opened her eyes and turned. She saw Taeyeon by the door, talking to her sister. She quickly sat up and stared at them wide-eyed. Because of her movement, her bed squeaked, which caused the two older girls to look at her.

“See! You woke her up!” Taeyeon told her sister.

“I didn’t. You opened the door, so you woke her up. Don’t go blaming this all on me,” her sister retaliated.

“Fine.” Taeyeon walked in the room, letting Tiffany’s sister close the door. All this time, Tiffany was just following her lover’s movements. She can’t deny that she’s happy to see Taeyeon after a week, but she was also afraid that Taeyeon came to her house to break up with her. She was not ready for that.

“Tae...” she spoke softly, tears were starting to well up in her eyes.

“Hi,” Taeyeon replied just as softly.

Their first attempt of having a conversation stopped at that. They stayed silent for a few more minutes before Taeyeon heard someone sobbing. She looked at Tiffany who was still sitting on the bed and she could see how her girlfriend’s body was shaking. 

She moved to the bed, sat in front of the girl and engulfed the crying girl in a hug. Tiffany hugged her back tightly.

“Why are you crying?” Taeyeon asked as she moved her hand up and down the girl’s back.

“I’m s-s-sorry.” Tiffany tried her best not to stutter, but failed. “P-please don’t l-l-leave me.” She hugged Taeyeon tighter, causing the older girl to have trouble breathing properly, but didn’t say anything. 

“I won’t leave you, okay?” She felt Tiffany nodding against her shoulder. 

A few minutes passed and she pulled away from the hug. She looked at Tiffany and wiped the tears from her face. She smiled before saying, “I’m sorry.”

Tiffany looked at her.

She continued, “I’m sorry if I ever forced you to marry me. Sorry for not realizing that we’re both not ready for marriage. I’m sorry if I ever doubted your love for me. I’m sorry if I haven’t been around these past few days. I’m sor-”

“It’s okay,” Tiffany smiled at her.

“I’m sorry, Tiffany.” She kissed the younger girl on the lips. “I’m really really sorry.” She kissed Tiffany a couple more times before pulling away and putting her hand inside her pocket, looking for something. 

Tiffany waited patiently for her to finish what she’s doing without taking her eyes off the older girl’s face.

When Taeyeon pulled out something from her pocket, Tiffany followed her hand’s movements. She gasped when she saw a familiar small box. She looked up to meet Taeyeon’s gaze.

“Tae...”

Taeyeon smiled and opened the box, revealing two rings. Tiffany gulped. She thought everything was fine. How will she be able to reject Taeyeon again? She panicked.

Taeyeon laughed at Tiffany’s expression. “Relax. I’m not going to ask you to marry me. Well, I will... eventually, but you get the point.” She laughed again when she saw Tiffany relax a bit. “These are only promise rings. You think I’d give you an engagement ring without diamonds?” She grinned then took out one of the rings then slid it on Tiffany’s finger. “Promise me that you will always love me? No matter how stubborn and immature I may become?” 

Tiffany laughed, “I’m already doing that. But... I promise.”

Taeyeon smiled at her before giving Tiffany the other ring. Tiffany understood what Taeyeon wanted and slid the ring on Taeyeon’s finger. She looked at Taeyeon’s eyes. “It won’t take long but... promise me you’ll wait ‘til I’m ready?”

Taeyeon grinned then leaned forward to kiss Tiffany. 

“Promise.”