So I was hearing correctly the day of my departure. Still … what was Jessica doing here? Not that I was disappointed or anything; far from it, I was ecstatic. “Fany, do you mind if I go over there to greet a friend from college? You should come too, I’m sure you two will like each other,” I said excitedly.

              However, when I turned around to look at Tiffany, she appeared … apprehensive? Seeing this go-getter, energetic, happy-go-lucky person as she was stopped me in my tracks.

              “Fany? What’s wrong?” I asked, leaning to my side, tilting my head to peer at her face.

              She blinked once, a smile immediately replacing whatever expression her face had just taken. “Oh, sorry … I just thought—” she paused for the briefest of seconds, “I just thought she looked like someone.”

              I looked back at Jessica, who still hadn’t noticed me yet. I always thought that Jessica had a pretty unique aesthetic; maybe I was mistaken?

              “Anyway, I’m not too keen on meeting the woman who’s stealing my TaeTae,” she claimed, crossing her arms defiantly.

              I frowned, grabbing her wrists. “Fany~” I whined, shaking her arm, “Come oon,” I started pulling on her arm whilst she stood there, a smile plastered on her face for some mysterious reason, “I’m sure you two will like each other!”

              “I don’t know, I don’t like her already for stealing your attention away from me,” she said, smiling regardless. As I opened my mouth to refute her, Tiffany continued, “If you show me some aegyo, then I’ll be willing to join you.”

              I didn’t even hesitate. “Bbuing bbuing~” I said in the cutest voice I could muster, rubbing both of my clenched fists against my cheeks.

              “You’re just the cutest!” Tiffany squealed, immediately embracing me in a hug. I was trying my best not to mind her ample bust pressing against my face. “How can I say no to that?”

              I broke out into a smile, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards Jessica, making sure to grab our towel first. “Jessica!” I shouted as we approached her. As our gazes met, her eyes went wide in shock— opened but nothing escaped her lips. That was strange; if she knew she was going to Korea and even told me about it, then why would she be surprised to see me?

              “Taengoo! Hi! Didn’t expect to see you here!” she replied, turning around to face us. She was wearing a simple dark red bikini with the bra straps leaving her shoulders exposed. “Is she a friend from high school?” she inquired, nodding at the woman next to me.

              I glanced over to Tiffany, half expecting her to answer as she always does and ready to shoot down her ‘yeah, I’m her girlfriend!’ response, but it never came. Instead, she was fidgeting with her fingers, eyes darting between her hands and myself.

              “No, she was a friend I met last week,” I answered. It was strange; I felt like I was answering in her stead, which is nonsensical considering the question was directed towards me.

              Just looking at the facial expression forming on Jessica’s face, I could tell that telling the truth was perhaps a suboptimal decision. “Whaat? And it took me two months to become your friend!” she whined, stomping the sand in an imitation of a child’s tantrum.

              “Ah,” I again readied myself for Tiffany’s interjection, but it never came. I found myself pausing, wondering if there was something wrong with Tiffany—not to say I wasn’t relieved that she wasn’t causing more misunderstandings, “Well, she’s a bartender and I just … um, I went to the bar she was working at and yeah,” I finished rather inconclusively. I had no doubt in my mind that if I told her what transpired in the past week, Jessica would never let me hear the end of it.

              “Ah, ok,” she said, diverting her attention to Tiffany. However, something strange happened: Tiffany seemed at unease from this.

              A flood of thoughts crashed into my mind all at once: how Tiffany acts as her post as a bartender, Sooyoung’s words about Tiffany having trouble making friends, Tiffany’s usual energetic behavior, the fact that she befriended me—me—so easily and quickly … why? But how…? Jessica was undoubtedly presenting herself friendlier than I did … why was this happening?

              “So you’re Taeyeon’s friend from college?” Tiffany inquired, smiling in a manner I could only describe as cautiously.

              “Yeah! My name is Jessica Jung, it’s nice to meet you,” she said, bowing politely.

              Whatever was happening with Tiffany ceased at that simple introduction. “Nice to meet you, I’m Tiffany Hwang,” she greeted in kind.

              It was only a brief second, but even I could feel it: a kind of awkward feeling that transcended simply ‘being strangers’.

              “Wow, you’re so pretty—Taeyeon, did you come to Korea just to cheat on me?”

              Jessica responding as she normally did put me at ease. Maybe I was just imaging things after all. “I can’t cheat on someone I’m not in a relationship with,” I told Jessica, “Besides, Fany and I aren’t d—” I felt my mouth freeze as the word came to my mouth; I reset, forcing myself to continue, “—dating or anything.” Stop thinking about that, Taeyeon. And stop blushing.

              “Then why is it that you’re wearing a swim suit?” she asked, leaning forward to a point that her face was uncomfortably close to mine, “Especially after all the times you turned me down?”

              “You only asked me to go swimsuit shopping once,” I reminded her, carefully increasing the distance between our faces.

              Jessica huffed in protest. “Don’t pretend that you didn’t notice all the other times I hinted at it,” she said, eyeing me accusingly.

              I put my best I-don’t-know-what-you’re-talking-about face on. “What? You did?”

              Jessica whined in response, to which Tiffany laughed.

              The sudden sound startled me; despite still holding her hand, I had just about forgotten that Tiffany was standing next to me. Frustrated, I scolded myself; how can you be this stupid, Taeyeon? This is why you have no friends, idiot. “I know what you mean; I had to drag Taeyeon out of her house,” she said. Ok Taeyeon, just don’t do that again. Why were social situations so hard?

              “Yeah, she’s a real house-fairy, this one,” Jessica said, patting my head, “You made a good choice with this swimsuit though, it looks amazing on her,” she noted, directing the congratulatory words at Tiffany.

              “Thanks! Your—your swimsuit looks pretty nice, too,” Tiffany commented. That caught my attention; up until just now, I couldn’t recall a single time Tiffany stuttered or otherwise was unconfident in her words. Except for that time with her friends, but I think that can be considered an exception.

              “Oh, I don’t think I’ve seen that before; it really suits you well!” I told her.

              She nodded, turning to face the ocean. “It’s a really nice day to be at the beach, isn’t it?” she said, sitting down on her towel. We joined her, setting down our towel next to hers.

              “When did you get to Korea anyway? Do you have somewhere to stay?”

              Jessica laughed, patting the back of my hand. “You worry too much, Taengoo-yah. I’m here for an internship and was provided housing not too far from this beach,” she responded.

              “Oh, cool! Which company?” I inquired. Jessica shifted, turning to head to meet my gaze. Knowing Jessica, I wondered why she didn’t simply remain laying down—was she trying to address Tiffany as well?

              “I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you that; they told me that the nature of what I’m doing, even as an intern, is really sensitive,” she admitted, smiling apologetically.

              “Ah, ok. It’s not a problem Sica, don’t worry about it,” I dismissively told her, “But how is it? Do you like it?”

              “Hm,” Jessica replied, taking a few seconds to think before answering, “The opportunity they’re giving me is really invaluable to me, but the work itself is sorta … you know?” Jessica shifted once again on the towel she was sitting on, sitting straight up with her legs crossed, staring out into the ocean.

              “Why? Are you doing something you feel like you shouldn’t? I’ll help you!” I replied eagerly.

              By the time Jessica’s startled expression brought me back to my senses, I found myself on her towel, leaning towards her.

              Jessica broke out into a fit of giggles. “You’re too kind Taengoo,” she said, patting my head. “It’s nothing like that; I meant it more like … sometimes, I can’t really understand the purpose of what I’m doing, but that’s only expected when you’re working for such a company,” she said, once again throwing me an apologetic smile.

              As I retreated back onto my own towel, bumping into Tiffany’s hand suddenly reminded me of her presence.

              I the back of my teeth, carefully sitting back down and trying to hide the immense embarrassment that was flooding my system like a warm torrent of water. Didn’t I resolve to be her good friend? Why was I just actively conversing in a way that excluded her? I was too ashamed of myself to bring myself to look at her. Even though she displayed such eagerness and kindness to me, the moment I had a reason to ignore her, I did. What kind of friend did that? If I resolved myself to be better than—

              “Taeyeon, you’re beating yourself up too much.”

              Tiffany’s arms s around my bare waist, her sing-song voice drifting into my ear, her breath brushing past the sensitive cartilage. A cold chill shot down my spine; I felt my ears burn up as she pressed her—herself against my back.

              “Wha—what?”

              It felt like that was the only thing I was capable of saying at the moment. Suddenly remembering that night from last week didn’t help my increasingly reddening face. In the back of my mind, however, I could hear the nagging voice repeating itself over and over: you don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve this.

              “You looked really sad,” she explained, placing her head on my shoulder. I could feel her gaze locked onto me, the periodic puff of her breathing tickling my cheek.

              “I wasn’t—” who was I kidding? “—well, I was just—” saying that certainly wouldn’t help the situation, “—um, sorry,” I concluded, stuttering the whole way.

              “Don’t apologize to me, apologize to yourself.”

              Her husky voice was drifting into my ear and I seriously couldn’t stop the tingling feeling that was invading my body. “Wh-What?”

              “Go on,” she urged. I stared intensely at the towel we were currently sitting on, nervously gulping.

              “O-Ok,” I answered dumbly, taking a few deep breaths. I knew these thoughts were unhealthy, but weren’t they true? I guess just beating myself up for it wasn’t going to help me learn.

              I eventually calmed my breathing down but found Tiffany still attached to my back. “Ok, I’m d-done,” I told her. I mentally punched myself. What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I speak properly?

              As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I knew the answer. Especially since Tiffany was wearing minimal clothing, I could feel all of her on my . The fact that her warm, soft hands were gently laying on my stomach, her fingers gently tracing my lower chest, didn’t help either. Any straight woman would react as I did. Right?

              “Ah, you’re so cute Taengoo! Oh my gosh, didn’t you say you were straight?” Jessica squealed, voice laced with excitement and energy, “You’re—oh, should I leave? Was I interrupting a date? I’m sorry, I’ll—”

              I was staring directly at the blanket, speechless. It was Tiffany who interrupted her, reaching past me to grab her. “No it’s not like that, I just like teasing Taeyeon,” she clarified.

              I was relieved, that was for certain—but I couldn’t help but think that another strange thing happened. Wouldn’t Tiffany normally just play along with this until I clarified everything? Then again, I should know better by now than to try to predict Tiffany.

              Jessica, who was in the motion of standing up, paused. “Oh! I’m jealous…” Jessica said, sitting back down on her towel, “Taeyeon never reacted like that to me. So it wasn’t that Taeyeon was immune to it, it’s because of you?”

              Tiffany let out a soft puff of air—something between a chuckle and a sigh. “Sorry,” followed by a chuckle was Tiffany’s only response.

              Jessica’s eyes stayed on the woman in the white bikini, as if she was trying to read her mind. Tiffany didn’t yield, leaning back on her elbows.

              “I—”

              “So it is you!”

              Another guy’s voice came from behind us. I scowled and turned around, seeing a slightly-above-average-looking guy standing a short distance away from us. Tiffany, startled, stood up and turned around. I joined her, gripping her arm protectively, although her face took upon a strange expression: it was like she recognized something and was terrified of it.

              “I think you have the wrong—”

              “Did you quit? It’s such a shame—” he interrupted Tiffany, who proceeded to shift uncomfortably in the sand, “—because you were my favorite—”

              “I’m sorry, I really think you have the wrong person.”

              This time, she sounded even more frantic—panicked, even.

              “No no, I remember you very well,” he insisted. I clenched my hands into tight fists. Why was he also like this? If I could tell that Tiffany was uncomfortable, surely, they could as well.

              “I’m sorry but you’re making my friend uncomfortable,” I said, pushing Tiffany behind me.

              He eyed me curiously. “Are you her friend?”

              “I just said that, didn’t I?”

              I coldly met his gaze. “So you did,” he admitted, unphased, “You’re not too bad yourself. Were you planning on joining—”

              “Please stop.”

              It was Tiffany’s turn this time to interrupt him. “Don’t drag my friend into whatever you’re trying to do. I don’t know how you think you know me, but you’re making both of us very uncomfortable,” Tiffany firmly stated.

              He pursed his lips. “Ok, so let me get this straight,” he said, holding up a hand to stop me as I started to interrupt him. I didn’t know why I obeyed him, but some part of me was curious about what he was about to say, “You quit your job and you’re ashamed of it, so you’re trying to hide it?”

              “I—I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tiffany repeated, pulling my arm, “Let’s leave, Taeyeon.”

              I nodded, grabbing the towel and motioning for Jessica, who was also standing and looking at us with an empathetic, yet curious expression, to follow.

              “Hey, I’m sorry, ok?” he said as we walked past him, “I’m even willing to overlook that you both interrupted me so many times.”

              I pulled Tiffany to a stop; she tried to resist by pulling me along, but I insisted, turning around to face him. “You’re really something, aren’t you? Do you enjoy harassing women on the beach like this? Can’t you tell my friend is uncomfortable? People like you are really the worst; it’s like you just don’t care about what others think at all. If I see you following us, I will call the police on you.”

              I turned back around, allowing Tiffany to pull me away from the beach. Luckily, the man didn’t seem to follow us.

              “Wow, you’re so cool Taeyeon,” Jessica said in marvel as we approached the locker room.

              I shook my head. “This also happened earlier,” I said, grabbing Tiffany’s hand, “I’m so sorry that you had to experience that again.”

              Tiffany patted the back of my hand. “It’s ok Taeyeon, it’s not your fault or anything. Don’t beat yourself up for it,” she said calmly. Wow, what kind of mental fortitude does Tiffany have to be this calm after something like that? I wasn’t the one being harassed and even I still felt the lingering aftereffects of the interaction.

              “Why would he even say something like that? I haven’t ever met anyone who’s looked similar to you,” Jessica noted, looking at Tiffany.

              She shook her head. “I recognize most of my regulars for my bartending job, but I can’t say I remember him. Otherwise, I can’t say for sure why a random man would just come up to me and claim to know me somehow.”

              Tiffany sounded very firm with her words, much more so than a few moments ago when he approached us. Experiencing Tiffany in such a vulnerable state was something I wasn’t going to just allow happen again. What kind of person was he to just walk up to someone and harass her? Tiffany’s attractiveness and her y bikini wasn’t an excuse to just start hitting on a woman, see her become uncomfortable, and press on regardless.

              “Yeah, that’s so weird … that was pretty much the first time I’ve seen that happen to that extent,” Jessica admitted as we entered the locker room. “Oh,” Jessica said right as we were about to part ways, “Actually, I forgot I have some work to do soon. Taeyeon, are you using the phone you always use in Korea?” I nodded in response. “Ok, well I’ll text you tomorrow or something! Tiffany, it was nice meeting you!”

              Tiffany gave Jessica a curt nod before she disappeared into the building. I watched Tiffany as she eyed the door, clearly deep in thought. Now that I thought about it, Tiffany was rarely seen without a smile when I was around her—today, of course, being the standout exception.

              I bit my lip. This was my fault, wasn’t it? I got distracted with Jessica suddenly appearing … maybe if I was better, I could have seen that man approaching us and drove him away before Tiffany had to go through that unpleasant experience again. Was I just a failure of a friend?

              “Taeyeon, I need to tell you something.” Tiffany’s voice once again interrupted my thought process. I turned to look at her, informing her of my attention. “You noticed how I reacted to Jessica, right?”

              I was in a bind. On one hand, I wanted to give Tiffany the benefit of the doubt; but on the other hand, I was curious. “Um … well, you seemed friendly and everything. Was I missing something?”

              I ultimately decided to lie, something Tiffany seemed rather displeased about. “You know Taeyeon, lying about this kind of stuff is bad.”

              I cast my gaze down. Tiffany said it so gently and warmly, yet it stung. It felt like I was a puppy and Tiffany was my owner, scolding me for knocking over a lamp; my heart was clenched, twisting about my chest with guilt. “I’m sorry.”

              “Oh no, I didn’t mean to make you sad,” Tiffany said, capturing my lowered head in an embrace, “I just wanted to be frank with you.”

              She released me shortly after, and I lifted my head to meet her gaze. Tiffany sighed and bit her lip with uncertainty; I nodded encouragingly, smiling at her. This seemed to give her relief and the courage to continue.

              “There’s something between Jessica and me. Yes, I did know her in the past, but that was before I moved to Korea. I’m almost 100 percent sure that Jessica recognizes me too and just decided not to say anything, and honestly, I can’t really blame her. What happened isn’t fair to her, and if I hadn’t pushed her—” I placed my hand gingerly on her arm. I could see Tiffany’s pained expression; if there was anything I learned from all those psychology classes, it was the ability to detect pain on a face. Tiffany, noticing my action, let out another sigh, stopping momentarily to catch her breath before continuing, “My point is, I don’t think I’m ready to tell you what it is yet … I feel guilty for not telling you, but it’s something that … it …”

              I reached for her hand, squeezing it. “Don’t rush,” I told her, “If you don’t feel like telling me, I understand. Thank you for telling me this much already, it must have been hard on you.”

              Tiffany smiled again with a face full of relief. “I’m sorry, I’ll be ready soon,” she said, hugging me once again, “You’re the best, Taeyeon. Did you know that?”

              I didn’t respond, simply returning the hug. I felt bad for judging Tiffany so easily, like a fresh, numbing sting to my chest. Of course she would have emotional baggage, just like any other human, and a side to her that isn’t always energetic and excitable. How could I have fallen to this level? Wasn’t this the type of thing that I despised?

              “You’re beating yourself up again,” Tiffany noted. I turned to look at her—or tried to, but found it impossible. “I don’t even have to look at you to know that. Taeyeon, you really are too kind.”

              I shook my head. “It’s the least I could do for ignoring you—”

              I stopped as Tiffany placed a finger over my lips. “I won’t let you say it,” she said, smiling warmly, “Don’t do that, ok? It really hurts me when you’re beating yourself up like that.”

              I could feel the b feeling of tears, pain welling up behind my eyes. What did I do to deserve someone like her?

              I nodded, smiling back, feeling like the luckiest person in the world to have Tiffany as my friend.

So the first version of this story had like tears in every chapter after like chapter 13. I wanted to change that and make it mostly upbeat and happy … of course, there will have to be exceptions because of the way I drafted the story’s plot but … I sorta feel bad …? I mean, Taeyeon and Tiffany’s relationship is still so young…

Speaking of them, most of you are probably able to guess what kind of problem Taeyeon has. There IS a reason for it though, which was hinted at and will be revealed in future chapters.

However, what about Tiffany? What kind of problem(s) do you think Tiffany has?

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed! :D