“Tiffany, when you said you wanted to bake cupcakes, by any chance, did you mean to make weapons of mass destruction instead?” Soo young asked as she took a bite out of the mini cupcakes.

It was stone hard.

The kind that you could quite possibly kill people with if you hit them on the head. She tried hitting the wall with one of them. Not a pretty sight.

In all honesty, Tiffany was superbly good at having unrealistically big ambitions…

Like say now for example. She had aspired to bake properly.

Sooyoung had to hand it to this girl. Her stomach was usually made of steel, but it protested at the thought of having another one of Tiffany’s cupcakes…

“I’m giving up…my stomach hurts….” Soo young grabbed her stomach. There really was a mild throbbing pain that she was not familiar with. She had to hand it to Tiffany’s ‘killer cupcakes’.

“Are you kidding me?” Tiffany asked, wiping away flour from her face, “You’re leaving the mission, abandoning your team mate? Aren’t you staying to see the final results?”

“Your loyal and brave team mate has stayed on long enough. I’m pretty sure I’ll die if I try another one of your cupcakes.”

“But they’re not that……” Tiffany wanted to say ‘not that bad’, but she took a bite of her cupcake and spat it out, “My god, It’s…..”

“Pretty bad?” Soo young offered.

Tiffany nodded meekly (a rare sight).

“Do you want to buy something for her instead?”

The thing about Taeyeon’s favourite choice of dessert was…. she liked it mismatched. She hated to see one big chocolate cake. Either the cake had to have 2 different flavours (i.e coffee with mango. Weird.) or she wouldn’t eat it…

And it so happened that the only store that sold them was the store that also charged $99.95 for their cakes.

Tiffany wanted to cry at the thought of that, but she decided that it was worth it!

“Wait here, I’ll grab them. We’ll have to rush though, it’s going to be midnight soon and I want to be the first to greet her! She’s pretty popular with the girls and guy workers over at that lounge…. And I hate to know that they were the ones who greeted her first and not me.” Tiffany said and ran into the shop.

Soo young waited outside, watching as the minutes trickled by.

She was highly alarmed when she heard a slap and the next thing she knew, Tiffany was shoved onto the floor by a girl who was standing beside a guy, yet instead of protecting herself, she had to protect the cake.

What just happened again?

---

Sooyoung wanted to strangle the girl, must she be that calculative that she had to protect the cake and not herself?

But then again, wait a minute…. what’s going on?

“Remember what I said….Tiffy, about the ‘offer’….”

A good looking young man in an expensive suit said emphatically before walking away with his pretty girlfriend who was in skin tight wear. Sooyoung watched dumbfounded as they hopped into his sports car and drove away…

She couldn’t help but find that guy vaguely familiar…. But now wasn’t the time to identify who he was, she had to help Tiffany up.

But Tiffany was already up, and instead of looking sad or horrified, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath to compose herself, and then, her face and expression was back to usual Tiffany mode.

“We’re going to be late, damn it. Let’s go! I want to be the first to wish Taeyeon happy birthday….!”

But what about the guy and the girl….? Soo young wanted to ask but since Tiffany was quite adamant on not mentioning about them, Soo young quickly followed her to the lounge where a party was already set in place for Taeyeon’s 20^th birthday… and she soon forgot about them altogether….


---

And,

3….

2…..

1…..

“Happy Birthday….” Tiffany whispered softly into Taeyeon’s ears from Taeyeon’s back just as the clock struck midnight.

Taeyeon turned around in surprise just as the red and white balloons that had been prepared for her party fell all around her and she chuckled, “Isn’t this a little too overboard?”

She gestured to the balloons and confetti.

“Don’t say that, you’re spoiling the mood!” Tiffany scolded and Taeyeon smiled in amusement,

“It doesn’t matter where I am, so long as my beloved T is with me!” Taeyeon said glibly.

“And could you get any cheesier,” Tiffany wondered loudly in amusement as she plucked away the confetti from Taeyeon’s hair, “Next thing I know, you’ll be saying that you’ve only made one simple wish this year and that is you wish to keep me with you forever, or that you’re so, so happy…etc, etc, etc because I’m the biggest gift that has ever happened to you…..”

Taeyeon looked in awe at her girlfriend, “Interesting, how did you know that….”

Tiffany’s eyes widened, “For real?”

“Plus, oh I wished for my girlfriend to show up looking as hot as Angelina Jolie,” Taeyeon looked to her left then right and sighed in exaggerated disappointment, “But nope, nah, so such luck.”

Tiffany nodded her head and played along too, “I know, I’ve been wishing that my girlfriend looked as hot as Angelina Jolie too….,” Tiffany sighed loudly and sadly.

This time, it was Taeyeon’s turn to gape, “Really?”

“No, of course not.” Tiffany laughed and shook her head, “Taeyeon, are you that gullible?”

“You think?” Taeyeon smiled good-naturedly and carried the cake box that Tiffany had been holding all this while. She took it like it was second nature to carry things for Tiffany.

Tiffany smiled, she was so happy being with Taeyeon now… if only it could last forever.

“Taeyeon?”

“Yes?”

Taeyeon paused as she examined Tiffany in the dim light. She looked really pretty against the light, there was almost a halo glow to her.

Tiffany sighed before finally opening to say, “Will you promise me that no matter what…..you’ll trust me and my best intentions?”

Taeyeon gave a sigh of relief, for a moment she thought what could bother Tiffany so bad that she would have this expression.

If it was a ‘simple’ trust issue, then of course, she trusted Tiffany.

No matter what.

Cross her heart, and hope to die.

---

Perhaps, if she had known what would be coming next, she wouldn’t have agreed so soon, Tiffany thought to herself just as she saw Sooyoung stepping out of the lounge. Tiffany smiled when she saw Sooyyoung, she liked her. She was like a little sister to her…

It’s a pity that they wouldn’t be able to know each other more.

Such a pity…

It was in that moment, that she had decided to take up His ‘offer’. She had to do it.

‘Kill herself’, that is.


---

Tiffany wrote finished the letter and she placed it in her pocket. She knew how the plan was going to be like, and she was positively sure that Taeyeon would accept it – why not?

It was simple. She would pretend to break up with Taeyeon so ‘they’ couldn’t find any fault with Taeyeon, and therefore would leave her alone.

She would execute her ‘death’….go off to US, and wait for Taeyeon to join her. She had given the exact address of her god-Aunt’s place.

All Taeyeon needed to do was take the plane, head to US, meet her. And tada- happy!

There was no way it could go wrong – except perhaps, the break up part. She was quite sure she wouldn’t be able to play along if Taeyeon so much as cried.

But she had to, she had to do it, so that those ‘spies’ could see that and leave Taeyeon alone….

---

‘His offer’ aside………

This was a few nights before their one-year anniversary. Tiffany was about to fall asleep when Taeyeon rushed into the room like a happy kid. She looked at Tiffany happily.

Tiffany smiled in amusement at Taeyeon’s apparent excitement, “Alright, what is it?”

“Nothing.”

Tiffany glanced sideward at Taeyeon, “Really?”

Taeyeon nodded her head, “Yep.” She was such a feeble liar, but Tiffany let it slide since Taeyeon was pretty adamant about her ‘secret’. She would find it out soon enough…

Besides, it was their one year anniversary coming soon. She guessed that Taeyeon’s ‘secret’ had something to do with that…

---

True enough, her ‘secret’ did indeed have something to do with their one-year anniversary…

It just went beyond what she had expected.

“I cannot believe it…..” Taeyeon’s colleagues looked at each other, “It’s impossible….”

How could it be?

Taeyeon’s singing!

She hated to sing in public! She dreaded it even. Yet, here she was, singing for Tiffany who was gaping in shock at her girlfriend. Taeyeon had changed a rap song into a slow ballad…. Incredible, Tiffany thought. She’s a genius!

If she could capture this forever, she would. Tiffany thought as she sat in the front table with Sooyoung who was mesmerised by the song and Taeyeon’s voice.

“Stacks on deck, Patrón on ice
And we can pop bottles all night
Baby, you could have whatever you like
I said, you could have whatever you like
……

Baby, you could go where ever you like
I said you could go where ever you like, yeah

Anytime you want to pick up the telephone
You know it ain't nothin' to drop a couple stacks on you
Wanted you could get it my dear
Five million dollar home, drop Bentley's, I swear
……

Long as you got me you won't need nobody
You want it I got it, go, get it, I buy it
Tell 'em other broke …. be quiet

Stacks on deck, Patrón on ice
And we can pop bottles all night
Baby, you could have whatever you like
I said, you could have whatever you like…..”

Taeyeon finished the song “Whatever you like” with a light shy smile as she looked at Tiffany, and then she got off the stage quickly and handed Tiffany a small cardboard card that she had made, “This is for you.”

Tiffany looked at the small card in amusement, “A fake credit card?”

Taeyeon nodded firmly, “I’m dead poor now, and all I can give you is this fake card, but one day, when I’ve made it...I’ll swap this fake card for a real one and you’ll be the sole owner to this…which means what I’ll own will be yours. And yep, yours only, Tiffany.”

“…Wow. Just, wow.” Tiffany gaped. She remained silent for a long while before shaking her head, “Wait, aren’t you very afraid of the stage?”

“Yes, I was trying hard not to hyperventilate, I think this will be the last time I’ll ever stand on the stage.” Taeyeon said, patting her chest. Her face ghostly pale.

The stage was like a horrible fear to her – she had a bad past with stages seeing as how Taeyeon’s mom had pushed Taeyeon off the stage in a mad attempt to kill her –

So, for her to step on stage again, was a very, very big thing to her.

Tiffany smiled lightly as she patted Taeyeon’s shoulder, “You’re all pale already, come on, let’s go home! I’ll make really nice soup for you!”