Chapter 11

 

“The reason why I called you here is that, Sonkyu and Taemin are coming to the States to visit me. And the thing is that…err…I uhm-kind of didn’t tell them about us.”

 

‘Us? I like that word...would there ever be an ‘us’ Taeyeon-ah.’

 

Tiffany nodded still not registering where this conversation is going.

 

Taeyeon sighed and her shoulders drooped, Taeyeon was clearly very tired and stressed. Tiffany wished she could just reach upto Taeyeon and give her a massage.

 

But with their current situation, that was not Tiffany’s place.

 

It was 9:30 pm and customers were sparse, they were pretty much the only ones in the café, apart from the one barista who was just sitting on his stool playing something on his phone.

 

“I just couldn’t. Taemin was so excited about it…and so was Sonkyu. I am sorry. I didn’t want to disappoint them.”

Taeyeon said in a small voice. Tiffany looked at Taeyeon’s sad eyes and it saddened her. 

 

At that moment, Tiffany did her best to fight the burning urge to just lock Taeyeon in her embrace and tell her again and again, that it wasn’t the latter’s fault.

 

She put her hand over Taeyeon’s and the top of her hand with her thumb in a calming motion.

 

Tiffany didn’t know what to say, so she kept mum, and waited for Taeyeon to calm down and continue.

 

She couldn’t help but feel disappointed when Taeyeon pulled away her hand.

 

“Whatever! The thing is that, now we have to pretend to be married for around 2 months, ‘cause that’s how long Sonkyu and Taemin are going to be here. I am sorry to drag you into all of this. I know this is the not a desirable situation for you, I understand that. I will pay for Sonkyu and Taemin’s stay at your house and also for my stay. We wouldn’t bother you much, the only time that you would have to interact with them and pretend to be my wife is during the evening, when you come back from work.”

 

It took Tiffany a while to register what was happening. She was ecstatic to know that she would get to live with Taeyeon for 2 months.

 

 

She didn’t like the indifference in Taeyeon’s voice, and the matching cold look in her eyes but right now Tiffany was happy to just know that she would have a chance to be around Taeyeon, this would give her the opportunity to win Taeyeon back.

 

“You don’t have to pay for their stay or your stay for that matter.”

 

She saw Taeyeon open to argue.

 

“They are like our family friends coming to visit us. I won’t take any money whatsoever and that’s it.”

 

Taeyeon nodded.

 

“Okay then. Is it okay if I come by this Saturday and put some of the clothes and stuff there, so it looks like I live there. Sonkyu is very observant, we need to be careful.”

 

“Yes I am free on Saturday. I will be home all day, come by anytime.”

 

Tiffany just hoped that she didn’t sound too desperate. To be honest at this point she didn’t even care anymore.

 

“Thank you Tiffany-sshi for the favor. I will take my leave.”

 

“Let me give you a ride.” Tiffany offered.

 

“Actually I am just going to stay here till close, and help Auntie with wrapping things up and the inventory and go home with her.”

 

“Oh okay. Then, bye.”

 

“Yes, bye.”

 

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“Jessie, should I wear this top or that one?”

 

“So the fashionista Tiffany is now asking for my fashion advice only to look good in front of Taeyeon?” Jessica friend who was rummaging through the closet, as Jessica was flipping through some magazine.

 

“Come Jessie now is not a time to tease me, she will be here in half an hour.”

 

“Okay just wear the one on your let hand.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Anytime.”

 

 

 

 

~Ding Dong~

 

“Oh my gosh! She is here. Jessie get off the bed. Okay the food is on the table. Alright I will go get the door.”

 

“Wow! This is the first time I am seeing you like this.”

 

“What do you mean ‘like this’?”

 

“Like all flustered and nervous to impress someone.”

 

“Of course I am nervous. I think she is still mad at me. Plus this is my one chance to show her that I love her. I don’t want to mess it up.”

 

Between the time that Tiffany was speaking, Jessica sort zoned out, but still managed to catch on the key phrase of the sentence.

 

She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

 

“So you finally admit that you love her? When did that happen?”

 

“At the party.”

 

Jessica only nodded and followed her best friend, Tiffany fixed her top one last time before opening the door.

 

“Hi Tiffany-sshi.” Taeyeon said with a small smile, disappointing Tiffany a bit. She expected a bit more than that.

 

“Hello Taeyeon-ah. How have you been?”

 

“Good.”

 

‘You are not even going to ask me how I am doing?’

 

“Hi Taeyeon!” Jessica greeted from the dining area.

 

 

“Ah! Jessica! I didn’t see you there! How have you been?”

 

Tiffany didn’t like how Taeyeon smiled big at Jessica; her blood boiled when she saw Taeyeon giving Jessica a hug.

 

‘What the heck Jessie? The stupid shorty didn’t care how I am doing, but had to ask Jessica how she’s been. She just saw her 5 days ago.’

 

Jessica felt Tiffany’s glare and let go of the hug.

 

“I haven’t been doing much, just work and spending time with Yuri at home. But Yuri went to some hiking activity today with some of her friends, so I thought I would come over and bother Tiffany.”

 

“I see. Hiking sounds so much fun. I have never gone to a hiking trip.”

 

“It’s just running up and down the mountains. I don’t understand why Yuri finds it so fascinating.  Why couldn’t she just go to the gym, where they have cell phone access and everything?” Jessica pouted.

 

Taeyeon smiled understandingly. She sort of grasped what kind of person Jessica is in the small time that they have known each other.

 

And it was clear that Jessica was missing Yuri.

 

“Don’t worry Jessica! Your Yuri will be back in no time.”

 

Jessica blushed hearing Taeyeon’s words of comfort.

 

She slapped Taeyeon’s arm lightly.

 

“I am so not missing that kkab.”

 

“Who said anything about missing Yuri?” Taeyeon teased.

 

“Aish! Go do your work!” Jessica playfully pushed Taeyeon who was having too much fun watching the usually reserved blonde girl blush.

 

‘Since when did Jessica and Taeyeon become friends…I am going to kill Jessie for this. This is supposed to be a “Tiffany winning Taeyeon’s heart” time not “Taeyeon teasing and Jessica blushing” time. And since when did Jessie start blushing so much? This is annoying.”

 

Tiffany realized that she was zoning out, so she quickly shook her head to regain composure.

 

She smiled at the small figure who was carrying quite a large bag down the driveway.

 

Tiffany went out to help Taeyeon with the bag.

 

“No, it’s okay I got it.”

 

Taeyeon said, like always. She even carried the bag upstairs to Tiffany’s bedroom.

 

Tiffany followed her carrying the remaining two small bags.

 

Taeyeon was a bit surprised that Tiffany even cleared up half of her closet, to put Taeyeon’s clothes on them.

 

She looked at Tiffany with questioning eyes.

“You know, couples always share a closet, it would be weird if all my clothes where hanging and yours were on the ground.” Tiffany tried to explain.

 

They set everything down inside Tiffany’s closet.

“I bet you are hungry after this. Do you want to eat something?”

 

Taeyeon was contemplating whether she wanted to do that. She came with the idea that she would just drop off the bag and leave.

 

She didn’t really want to spend much time with Tiffany, since that would just remind her of her recent heart-break and humiliation.

 

‘I was so stupid…to think that she actually liked me! Ah! I don’t want to think about it.’

 

 

“No Tiffany-sshi. It’s okay, I have to go back to work in an hour. The bus stops at the nearby bus stand in 15 minutes. If I still want to catch that bus, I have to get started now. Thank you again for helping me.”

 

 

Before Tiffany could say anything, Taeyeon almost rushed out of the door, saying a quick bye to Jessica.

 

This is not what Tiffany had in mind. She thought she could at least make Taeyeon stay a couple hours, have lunch with her and then drop her off, so that way she would know where Taeyeon was living.

 

She looked at the food dejectedly. At first she wanted to prepare the Korean pancakes by herself, but later decided that it would be better if she ordered. Given her cooking skills, it’s best to not feed Taeyeon her home-made food, and kill the girl.

 

“Hey, don’t be upset. She probably didn’t want to make it awkward by staying. Give her some time.”  Jessica said comforting her friend. It was quite weird for Jessica to see her best friend like this.

 

Tiffany is usually a cheerful girl, going after what she wants and getting it most of the times without any efforts whatsoever. This is the first time that she is making real efforts and unluckily her efforts were being rejected so far.

 

‘I can’t blame anyone. It’s all my fault isn’t it? I broke her heart. But I don’t want to give up Taeyeon-ah! I am in love with you.’

 

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After passing the Hwang’s main gate, Taeyeon took off running. She ran and ran until she couldn’t run anymore. She saw a running trail and ran off till the trail ended near a lake. It was a rather secluded area.

 

It reminded Taeyeon of the lake back at her hometown. It brought back a lot of memories, and Taeyeon couldn’t stop her tears from bursting out.

 

She hugged her knees and sobbed until she didn’t have any more tears left.

 

Flashback-

 

“Taeyeon-ah, everything is going to be fine. I know this is a new school and everything. But you are a big girl. You can adjust right?”

 

Taeyeon looked at the kind eyes of the tall man, who brought her to this cozy looking small town.

He was kind enough to even offer her to stay back at her home in Seoul. But she couldn’t do it. Living in that house all by herself, where she used to live with her mom, dad and sister…it was just emotionally overwhelming.

 

Without her family’s presence, that house wasn’t ‘home’ anymore, so she agreed immediately when their family friend Mr. Hwang offered her to move to this small town, where her parents apparently grew up.

 

It has been a rough week for Taeyeon and she was still recovering from shock, at times she would just think to herself that maybe this is all a bad dream and that soon she is going to be awakened by her sisters whining and the smell of her mother’s cooking.

That she would just walk in the living room and find her dad engaged in a tickling fight with her sister.

But that wasn’t the case, it wasn’t a bad dream, it was just the sad reality.

 

“Yes. Mr. Hwang I think I can do this. Th-Thank you for everything.” Taeyeon tried to smile at the gentleman, but failed terribly, her lips started quivering as she tried hard to suppress her tears.

 

Looking at the kind eyes of the gentleman reminded her of her father.

She just turned out and went through the doors of her new high school.

 

Mr. Hwang sighed and prayed to god that the kids would treat her well. High school is never an easy place, kids can be mercilessly mean.

 

It was hard for him to see such a young girl go through this all by herself.

 

He thought he had seen enough tragedy when his wife passed away last year. It was painful to see his daughter lifelessly moping around the house.

 

He tried to do everything that he could think of, to comfort his young daughter. But it’s hard to read a teenager’s mind.

He was just glad that Stephanie seemed to be moving on, she has been smiling a lot too, the other day he got her a dress that she wanted and his breath got caught in his throat when his daughter gave him an eye smile. The mixture of emotions just flooded all over him.

 

The eye-smile reminded him so much of his late wife, it made him sad, but then again he was happy that his only child was smiling again.

Since the day that his wife passed away, Mr. Hwang never once shed a single tear, however, on that day, he just pulled his daughter into his embrace and cried like a baby.

 

Seeing this little 15 year old suffer through the loss of her family broke Mr. Hwang’s heart all over again. He also lost his childhood best friend.

 

Mr. Hwang immediately rushed to Seoul when his daughter let him know that some ‘Taeyeon’ left a voicemail.

 

It was the shaky, meek voice of Kim Taeyeon. The voice still rings in his ears:

 

‘Hello Mr. Hwang. Th-this is Taeyeon. Appa told me to call you first. They are not waking up. *beep*’

 

It was winter break for Stephanie so he brought her along as well.

 

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Taeyeon ignore the whispers around her as she entered her first class. She tried her best to keep her composure and get through this class.

 

At lunch, Taeyeon was about to sit at an empty table, but was stopped by two tall boys.

 

“Yah! How dare you take our table? City people don’t have any manners!”

 

Taeyeon nodded and made her way toward the other tables.

 

“You think you are all that better just because you are from the city. Didn’t even say sorry.Tsk.”

 

If it was some other time, Taeyeon would’ve talked back to them, but right now, she just wanted to sit quietly and have her lunch.

 

Looking around she realized that these two were probably the popular bullies, since no one dared to say anything against them.

 

“Mianhe.”

 

“That’s it huh?” The shorter of the two boys pushed her by the shoulder. “We heard that you survived a car accident. Too bad you couldn’t save your family-”

 

That was it for Taeyeon, right when she was about to punch that guy on the face, someone called their names from the back.

 

“Suggyu, Woohyun! You two get detention for skipping class and what is this! Are you guys bullying the new student? Mr. Lee is looking for you two in Room 203.”

 

Taeyeon retreated her fist and looked up at the tall boy who just intervened the bullies.

 

“I am Shim Changmin, school prefect. You must be the new student Kim Taeyeon?”

 

“Yes.” Taeyeon smiled at the prefect he seemed nice.

 

“I am sorry about those two trouble maker, please don’t take their words to your heart. I will be going now; I have a class in 5 minutes. It was nice meeting you.”

 

“Nice meeting you too.”

 

After Changmin left, Taeyeon didn’t feel like going back to class.

 

She just ran and ran until she couldn’t run anymore. She stopped when she found herself in front of a lake.

 

It was freezing cold. The lake water turned into ice.

She remembered how her sister would get excited everytime it snowed. Hayeon would pray that it would snow so much that her unnie’s school will be cancelled so they can both make snow angels on the backyard.

 

Taeyeon couldn’t comprehend that she would never see her sister again. It made her cry, until her body was devoid of tears.

 

Taeyeon didn’t even realize that she probably fell asleep in a sitting position, while hugging her knees.

She was startled when she heard a shrill giggling voice.

 

“Soo! Stop! I can’t walk on the slippery ice! I already fell 3 times.”

 

Taeyeon looked up and saw, a tall lanky girl and a shorter black haired girl were holding hands and trying to walk on the ice.

 

They were not very far from Taeyeon, so she could see their faces clearly.

 

She unconsciously smiled at the loud black haired girl who seemed to be shouting in an accented Korean, which made Taeyeon think that maybe she wasn’t from here.

 

What caught Taeyeon off-guard was when she saw the girl smile; it wasn’t a regular person’s smile, her eyes turned into beautiful crescent shapes as she flashed her brace-adorned smile.

 

Taeyeon has never seen something so beautiful, it made her smile.

 

That was the first time she saw Tiffany.

 

~End Flashback~

 

 

 

Author's Note: 

 

sorry everybody for the grammatical errors. Please feel free to point it out, so I can go back and fix it. Thank you everyone who commented, it really helped me so plot the story and inspired me to write. it is always inspiring to write more when you know that there are people who want to read what you write, and they are enjoying it. 

I am currently working on the next chapter, hopefully I will update that by tomorrow! Please do comment and look forward to my next update! 

I hope everyone who went to the concert in Philipines thoroughtly enjoyed it! Man taeyeon in that red Girls' Generation boxer...I want that so bad!