A/N: Whoo! Updating finally. I'm going to try to put up a new story sometime soon, but I have here a new Taeny story. About a month and a half ago was the celebration for the Taeny pairing page on SSF. I plucked up my courage to submit a story for it, and the only comment I remember is the one that really hurt me. I haven't even looked for any other comments there because I'm afraid they'll all be as harsh as that one seemed to me.The comment was that it seemed like I missed some words, but that wasn't the part that hurt. It was the "I hope you proofread in the future." I did proofread it. Granted, I submitted it like a day before it started, but still, I read it over. I couldn't find any issues and the person organizing the event edited it for me a bit. I think she would have found missing words. It was just the comment was just all about my lack of editing. Nothing about plot or characters. Just that they thought I was missing words and it disappointed them. If you see the missing words, please let me know. I don't mind criticism, but unless everything about the story , it's nice to soften the blow by pointing out something you like as a reader, you know? Anyway, I'm thinking of a Soosun one, since my only other "Soosun" story kinda focuses on the other couples just as much, lol.

A Way With Words

Taeyeon never thought she’d be following someone. She also never thought she would be hiding behind a plant in the process. But sometimes envy does curious things to a person. Well, that’s what Taeyeon had decided to label this feeling settling in her chest, envy. She thought back to the first time she saw Tiffany Hwang.

~~~~~~~~

Of course, Taeyeon hadn’t known her name that first time. She was standing in line at the post office for 15 minutes that day, a so-called perk to her job description. Every day at two o’clock, Taeyeon took the mail to be sent out from her office to the post office. Normally, her wait was only a fraction of the time, made more pleasant by her friendly chat with the teller. This Tuesday, however, happened to be the day the 86 year-old grandmother from down the street decided to argue with the teller about stamp prices, a conversation that severely held up the line at the small branch. And so, Taeyeon was forced to wait out the tirade along with all the other patrons.

‘Seriously, not that I mind being out of the office for a bit longer, but this is getting quite ridiculous,’ Taeyeon thought to herself. She pulled out her phone for the tenth time in the short span of time, trying to check the time yet another again before remembering why her phone was stowed in her purse in the first place.

‘Stupid phone. Of all the days for my battery to die, it just had to be today.’ She sighed and placed her phone back in her bag. There was no use for it to be out if it couldn’t entertain her.

A flash of pink caught her attention as the girl in front of her shifted the items she was attempting to hold, swinging her purse wildly in the process.

‘Ugh, a pink bag? Really? I mean, I like pink as much as the next person, but I’ll stick with a solid black bag any day.’ She continued watching as the swung back and forth, almost hitting her a few times. Taeyeon tried not to focus on the pink bag anymore, but even after she had managed to make it to the teller and back to her cubicle, the pink purse was stuck in her mind for the remainder of the day.

~~~~~~~~

It wasn’t until the following Tuesday at the post office that Taeyeon was able to catch a glimpse of the stranger with the pink purse again. Although Taeyeon had focused on the bag of the woman that had been in front of her, she realized that she hadn’t actually looked up to see what the woman had looked like, and this fact bothered her. She wanted to know what kind of a person carried around such a flashy item so shamelessly. This time she was determined to see what the woman’s face looked like, but her social skills were a little lacking. She was unsure of how to proceed striking up a conversation with the woman and began considering how to go about it, when fate seemed to step in for her.

The woman was once again attempting to juggle many large items in her arms. A stack of letters that had been sitting on top of the stack of boxes slid off and landed on the ground in front of Taeyeon.

“Ah, shoot,” The woman turned around at the sound, but Taeyeon was already bending over to pick up the letters. “Oh, that’s very kind of you. I wasn’t sure how I was going to pick those up while carrying all these boxes.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Taeyeon finished straightening the stack of letters and stood up, raising her eyes from the letters in her hand to look up at the stranger. “I just thought I’d…” Her voice caught in at the smile the woman was giving her. ‘Oh my god, that smile is the brightest I’ve ever seen.’ She blinked blankly. The smile seemed to her in.

“Hello? You thought you’d…? Are you okay?” The voice from the stranger shocked her back to reality.

“Ah, yes, of course. Sorry. I was just…um…sorry, uh, here.” She extended the letters out for the woman to take and heard a chuckle.

“Would you mind putting those on top of the boxes? Don’t really have any free hands at the moment.”

“Oh, of course.” Taeyeon placed the letters of top of the box and dropped her hand limply back to her side.

“Thanks,” the woman turned back around, leaving Taeyeon fidgeting. The silence continued for a few seconds as Taeyeon looked at the ground and tried to convince herself to pluck up the courage to talk again. She had just about convinced herself that the woman would never willingly talk to her when the woman abruptly turned back around.

“I’m Tiffany by the way. Tiffany Hwang.” The voice caused Taeyeon’s head to snap back up. There was a small, unsure smile on the Tiffany’s face, but it didn’t seem any less glowing than the earlier smile. “I sort of noticed you last week. Honestly, I was afraid I’d clipped you with my purse, but you seemed, um, preoccupied, so I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Oh, uh, you didn’t. Hit me, I mean. I was just…looking down.”

Again, the chuckle rattled her senses. “Good. So, your name is…?”

Taeyeon blushed. “Oh, T-taeyeon. My name’s Kim Taeyeon,” she blushed slightly. ‘Good job Taeyeon. Not only did you forget to tell her your name, you also stuttered as you were saying it. Awesome impression.’

“Taeyeon. That’s cute. It means calm, right? It suits you.”

“Yeah, it…”

“Miss, how can I help you?” the teller cut in.

“Oh, shoot. I guess I’ll talk to you later, Taeyeon. Bye.”

Every Tuesday, Taeyeon would end up seeing Tiffany at the post office, and each week, the two were able to learn more about each other, until eventually the two had decided to meet for coffee the following day.

~~~~~~~~

Tiffany breathed in the fresh air and exhaled while stretching her arms. Taeyeon just sat across from her and watched.

“I’m really glad you were free today, Taeyeon. Our talks at the post office just aren’t long enough now that we know each other better. Don’t you agree?”

“Yeah, we have gotten to know each other a lot better, haven’t we? So, you were going to tell me about your new project for work yeste…”

“Hello, ladies. Are you all set to order?” Taeyeon just stared at the waiter who had cut her off.

“Yes, we’ll have two espresso frappés, one caramel, one dark chocolate. Um, and two chocolate chip muffins.” Tiffany scanned the small menu.

“Okay, is that all?”

“I think so, unless you want something different, Taeyeon?” Tiffany turned her gaze on Taeyeon as she asked. Taeyeon slightly shook her head and watched as Tiffany focused her attention on the man waiting patiently next to their table. “That’s all. Thank you,” Tiffany smiled.

Taeyeon started to feel something bubbling in her chest at the sight of Tiffany smiling. She’d noticed this feeling multiple times when she was with Tiffany. She’d come to conclude that she was envious of Tiffany. More specifically, she was envious of Tiffany’s smile. She’d often wondered what it’d be like to have a smile that could charm almost anyone it was flashed at. And how did she keep her teeth so white?

~~~~~~~~

“You know, Taeyeon, I don’t think that it’s envy you feel.” This had come from Sooyoung during one of their weekly nights out with friends.

“What do you mean?”

“It sounds like you like Tiffany. Like like like Tiffany.”

“Nah, that’s just weird. I don’t like Tiffany like that. I just…I just like her smile.”

“Don’t lie, Taeyeon. You said you feel weird when she smiles, right?”

“Yeah. So?”

“Do you ever feel it when she smiles at you?”

“Well, no.”

“I rest my case.”

“What case, Sooyoung? I don’t get it.”

“What am I going to do with you, Taeyeon?” Sooyoung sighed at Taeyeon’s confused expression. “You’re not jealous of Tiffany’s smile, rather who’s on the receiving end of her smile.”

~~~~~~~~

And that was how Taeyeon ended up hiding behind this potted plant, stalking Tiffany. She’d spent two sleepless nights considering what Sooyoung had told her. The thought of liking Tiffany like that was foreign to her. She’d never liked girls before, right? She was starting to have her doubts. So, Taeyeon had decided to follow Tiffany to see if she could get a better understanding of her emotions.

At the time, it had seemed like a great idea to crouch behind the potted plant while watching Tiffany and the other girl she was with. But her legs were now starting to cramp, and all the food being walked past her was making her stomach growl.

‘Might as well get some food while I’m watching Tiffany.’

Taeyeon sat down at an empty table near her and peeked over her menu at her target. She had just begun to dig into the salad she had ordered, when Tiffany loud voice called out to her.

“Taeyeon? Oh good, Taeyeon, I want you to meet someone.”

‘Smiling at unknown girl? The gross feeling is definitely there.’

“Oh, so you’re the Taeyeon my baby cake has been telling me about. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Ah, nice to meet you too.” ‘But Tiffany smiling at me? No gross feeling. Sooyoung was right.’ Taeyeon mentally sighed, but kept her smile in place.

“Yeah, this is my older sister, Michelle. She’s visiting from New York for the week.”

“Oh. That’s great, Tiffany!” Taeyeon managed. ‘That’s right, Taeyeon. Sound cheerful.’

“Yeah, Michelle promised to take me shopping, so we need to head out to catch the good sales. We’re still on for dinner tomorrow though, right?”

“Of course, but what about you, Michelle?”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, Taeyeon. I have some other friends I promised I’d visit. I wouldn’t dare interrupt your dinner night with my baby sister.”

“Michelle! I’ll see you tomorrow, Taeyeon, okay?”

“Alright, bye Tiffany. Again, it was nice to meet you, Michelle.”

“Goodbye, Taeyeon. I’m sure I’ll see you around.” Michelle’s last statement caused a flush to appear on Tiffany’s cheeks, and she began pushing her sister to the door. Taeyeon could see Tiffany whispering fiercely at Michelle. Michelle merely laughed it off and hugged Tiffany close as they walked out of the café.

Taeyeon dropped her head on her crossed arms and began banging her head lightly against them. ‘I’m screwed. How do I tell Tiffany how I feel?’

~~~~~~~~

Taeyeon and Tiffany had just finished their dinner and were waiting for dessert when Taeyeon decided to bring up the issue she’d been dealing with for the past two weeks. She was through with keeping silent. She just hoped she’d have the courage to actually say what she’d planned out. “I’m glad Michelle was able to come see you, Tiffany. You were talking about how you hadn’t seen her in a long time, right?”

“Yeah, it had been, what, two years since I’d last seen her,” Tiffany’s face took on a contemplative look. “Of course, we talk on the phone all the time, but it’s different from seeing each other face to face, you know?”

“Mmm, definitely. Um, speaking of that, there’s something I need to say. I’ve finally figured this out,” Taeyeon held out her hand to stop Tiffany’s question. “No, let me finish, or else I won’t be able to get it all out. I get this weird feeling when you smile. And I thought I was envious of your smile. But I’m pretty sure that it’s not your smile that I’m envious of. It’s when you show it to other people. Don’t. Don’t show it to anyone else anymore. Not that smile. You know, that one you give me? Only show it to me. I mean, I even got jealous when you smiled at Michelle. And she’s your sister.

‘Wait, this isn’t coming out right,’ Taeyeon groaned out of frustration and covered her face with her hands. ‘No, Taeyeon. Be brave.’ She took a breath to calm herself and looked back up at Tiffany. The other woman looked both slightly amused and slightly concerned at Taeyeon’s actions.  

“What I meant to say was will you go out with me, like on a date…with me? Not as friends, but as two people mutually attracted to each other? I…” Taeyeon would have continued rambling, almost to the point of hyperventilating, had Tiffany not cut her off.

“Taeyeon, I’ve been waiting for you to ask me out on a date since the first time we met for coffee. Of course, I will.” And her words were accompanied by a tender, sincere smile Taeyeon had never seen before, and it was quickly becoming her favorite.

End