A/N: Sorry for the late update. I have reasons though. 1) I have been down with the flu since God-knows-when, 2) My eyes are making it hard for me to stare at the computer screen for more than an hour, and 3) It’s too hard to take a break from IGAB’s awesomeness.

Anyway, this is a short chapter because... it just is. I will probably edit but not now. My head’s pounding, my eyes are watery and I have a fever. The only thing keeping me sane right now is Taeyeon’s “아 내 왕자님”

Please excuse the lameness of this update. Thanks.

She stepped out of her room and went to the kitchen to find Taeyeon in front of the stove, quietly cooking breakfast.

She smiled to herself and wanted nothing but run to hug the girl but managed to stop herself. She clenched her fists.

Sensing another presence inside the room, Taeyeon turned around and smiled at Tiffany. “Hey, good morning.”

Tiffany returned the greeting, albeit weakly. “Morning.”

Taeyeon frowned. “Are you okay?”

Tiffany stared at her for a few seconds before nodding.

“Why are you so quiet then?”

She ignored the question as she left the kitchen to get her phone from her room. She dialed a number and waited for the other line to answer.

“Juhyun, I might be coming late for work today. Please inform the others.”

She waited for the younger girl to respond before thanking the girl and ending the call. She sighed and put down her phone. She went to the kitchen again and saw Taeyeon sitting on one of the dining chairs, waiting for her.

Taeyeon looked up when she heard footsteps. “Are you really okay?” She stood up and walked closer to her girlfriend. She had an idea of what was bothering the girl but wanted to hear it from her. 

“Taeyeon, do you mind coming with me somewhere today?”

“Huh? Of course I don’t mind. Where do you need to go?”

Tiffany looked down. “S-somewhere.”

Taeyeon was curious. “O-okay. What time do we leave?”

“After breakfast.”

“Okay then.”

Tiffany nodded as she sat down and started eating quietly.

---

The car ride was silent. Nothing but the soft humming of the engine could be heard. A few minutes into it and Taeyeon became fidgety as she couldn’t contain the deafening silence. She looked out the window and noticed the familiar rode they were taking.

She glanced at Tiffany and saw the girl concentrating on the road.

Minutes later, Tiffany stopped the car in front of a flower shop.

“Stay here.”

She obediently did what the girl said and watched Tiffany step off the car and into the shop. Tiffany came back a while after with flowers in hand.

Tiffany put the flowers in the backseat and continued to drive.

Huh? Why here again? The car entered the cemetery gates. Tiffany parked the car soon after and both of them stepped out of the car. 

Taeyeon helped Tiffany get the flowers from the backseat and silently followed her to her aunt’s grave. She handed her the flowers and looked on as Tiffany placed them neatly against the gravestone.

Tiffany stood beside her and both of the quietly stared at the grave.

“Do you want to know how she died?” Tiffany asked after a brief silence, still staring at the grave.

“H-how?” Taeyeon’s voice was meek. She had always wanted to know, truthfully, because it seemed to bother both Tiffany and Mr. Hwang a lot.

There was a brief silence before Tiffany spoke. “I killed her.”

Taeyeon’s breath hitched as she turned her head to look at Tiffany’s profile. “W-what?”

Tiffany closed her eyes. “I killed her, Taeyeon. I-I killed my aunt.” Tears spilled through her closed eyelids as she tried to hold back a sob.

Taeyeon forced her stiff body to move towards Tiffany and hug her. She rubbed her back and let the girl’s tears soak her shirt. 

Tiffany finally let out a sob. “I killed her.” Tiffany gripped the back of Taeyeon’s shirt tightly.

The older girl was still shocked at the confession but urged herself to stay calm and collected for the younger one’s sake. “Tell me what happened.”

They spent the next few minutes with Tiffany telling Taeyeon what happened in the past and the older girl calmly listening while holding onto her hand.

When Tiffany was done, Taeyeon let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and pulled her in a tight embrace. “Shh. It wasn’t your fault, Tiffany. You didn’t kill her.”

Tiffany’s sobs grew louder. “I shouldn’t have let my uncle go with me that day, Taeyeon-ah. If he had stayed with her then she would’ve been alive ‘til now.”

Taeyeon said nothing as she held onto her tighter.

“Tae, I can’t let that happen again.”

She held her breath, knowing where the conversation was going, but silently hoping she was wrong. She kept quiet and closed her eyes.

“I can’t, Tae, I can’t. It will break me if something like that happens again.”

Taeyeon let out a shaky breath and opened her eyes. “M-maybe we can work something out.” Honestly, she didn’t want to choose one over the other either. As selfish as it may sound, she wanted both Tiffany and her family. 

If only that were possible. 

Tiffany pulled away. “What? What can we do, Taeyeon? Your contract ends next week and as much as I want you to stay here with me, your family’s waiting for you in Jeonju. I can’t let you stay here and leave your family back at home!”

And there it was. The topic they’ve both been avoiding for weeks has been finally verbalized. It was finally out there. There was no escape now. Time was running out and they had to talk about it.

“I-I love you.” Taeyeon didn’t know what else to say. Tiffany was right. She couldn’t possibly leave her family in Jeonju. That would be wrong.

Tiffany smiled sadly. “I know and I love you too but...” she sighed, “let’s break up.” She struggled to say those words. “Don’t you think it’ll be easier to let go if we’re not together?” It hurt her to say it but she knew she had to. If it would make things easier for them, then she had to swallow the hurt.

Honestly? I don’t think so. It’ll be hard to leave you either way. But if it’ll make things easier for you then... Taeyeon didn’t voice out her thoughts but she was looking at Tiffany with sad eyes as her tears finally streamed down her porcelain cheeks. 

---

She got off the elevator and was immediately greeted by the bubbly Juhyun. “Good afternoon, Ms. Hwang.”

She tried to return the smile offered by the younger girl but it came out a bit weird. She walked silently to her office with Juhyun following closely behind. She entered the room and heard the door close seconds later. 

“Is everything okay, Unnie?”

She looked up and saw Juhyun looking at her worriedly. She nodded and managed a small smile to assure the girl that she was fine. “I’m okay, Juhyun. Just a little bit tired, I guess.”

Juhyun nodded but was still looked worried. “You can go home if you’re really tired, Unnie. There’s not much for you to do today anyway and we can handle the office for the rest of the working hours.”

She was trying to hold back her tears. Truthfully, Tiffany just wanted to go home and curl herself on the bed but at the same time, she didn’t want to face Taeyeon after breaking up with her. It hurt her to see Taeyeon so hurt. Those eyes that used to twinkle so brightly lost their shine and it was her fault. 

She waved off the concern. “It’s okay, Juhyun-ah. I’ll be fine.”

Juhyun didn’t believe her one bit. 

Tiffany sighed. “Tell you what, once I feel like I couldn’t take it anymore, I’ll go home.”

Finally, Juhyun smiled. “Okay then.”

She watched the girl head for the door before stopping as she pulled the door open. “By the way, where’s Taeyeon unnie?”

That broke all her defenses.

---

“Taeyeon.”

No answer.

“Taeng.”

Still no answer.

“Taeyeon-ah!”

Her head jerked up when she heard her friend call her name. “H-huh? What?”

Sunny looked worried. “Are you okay? What happened? I’ve never seen you this quiet before.”

Taeyeon sighed. “We’ve talked about it,” she muttered.

“Huh? We who? Talked about what?”

“Me and Tiffany. About the contract.” Her heart clenched at the reminder of the breakup.

“Oh...” Sunny immediately understood. She stood up from her chair and sat beside Taeyeon. She put an arm around her best friend’s shoulder, trying to comfort her. “What did she say?”

“W-we broke up.”

“Wha–” Sunny was shocked. She definitely wasn’t expecting that– okay, maybe she was, but still, she thought the lovebirds could prove her wrong. “And you just let it happen?”

“What was I supposed to say, Sunny-ah? It’s my family!”

“I...” Sunny didn’t know.

Without warning, Taeyeon broke down in her best friend’s arms.