The blanket-wrapped girl was politely asked to sit on the couch as Taeyeon made some drinks for both of them. Her swollen eyes slowly circled around the new surroundings, taking in every detail she can. From the yellow walls to the book on the coffee table in front of her, she stared at everything long and hard since she didn’t have anything better to do.

But her analysis was cut due to the shorter girl’s return with two mugs in her hand, that were both filled with a hot beverage. Taeyeon simply placed them both on the table, and sat down on the couch with a good distance from the stranger.

It was suddenly awkward and silent.

Taeyeon had no idea how to break the ice with someone that looked like she had a horrible night.

She just kept pushing herself with the thought, “You’ve made it this far, don’t stop now.”

And so, she turned to the silent girl beside her and said, “T-That’s your drink by the way.” She mumbled as she pointed to the mug on the left.

Taeyeon cursed herself for saying something that was clearly obvious.

A simple nod was given to her as a reply, yet she didn’t reach out for the mug and stayed still.

“…so what brings you in front of my doorstep?” Taeyeon tried to strike up a conversation once more.

The girl just turned to her with the same red eyes she saw earlier, accompanied with silence and the feeling of being uncomfortable with the question.

When Taeyeon realized she wasn’t going to answer, she sighed silently, trying to think of another thing to say. “Uh…do you want something to eat?”

A slight shake of the head was returned.

“D-Do you have a name?”

The air was silent for a moment, making another long pause in their conversation. When Taeyeon was about to ask another question, the soaked person beside her reached out into the coffee table and grabbed the book. She pointed to the first name of the author, that said, “Tiffany.”

“Oh…so you’re Tiffany?”

The newly acquainted girl nodded her head with a very small smile before putting the book down to where it was.

Just then, Taeyeon had an idea to why Tiffany was so silent. “Can you say something?” She mumbled, looking at her determinedly.

She shook her head.

And right then, she knew exactly what was going on. “You can’t speak?” Tiffany nodded. “You’re mute?” She nodded again.

Finally, an explanation that cleared Taeyeon’s heart and mind from all the awkward silence she’s been getting. She was afraid that she’s completely lost her socializing skills to the point that she couldn’t even make people reply.

“Hm…how can I talk to you…” Taeyeon mumbled to herself, looking around her room. “Can you do sign language?” She asked her new acquaintance.

Tiffany shook her head.

“Err…Can…” The shorter girl’s eyes quickly glanced the room before her gaze landed on a piece of paper. “Oh!” She shot up from the couch, running to the paper and finding a pen as fast she could.

This made Tiffany smile a little—they were getting comfortable with each quickly so suddenly. It was the fact that Taeyeon could act like this, running around the room to find something with a paranoid face, would give her the vibe that she’s not a bad person at all.

When Taeyeon found the pen, she hurried back to Tiffany, showing the materials to her. “Can you write? So we can talk.” She urged.

But her reply was an apologetic smile, along with another shake of her head. “Why not?”

After she unwrapped the cloth around her, Tiffany grabbed the paper and pen, writing a random sentence and returned it to her hands. Taeyeon looked at the paper, trying to read the sentence. But even if she was to squint her eyes or stick her face on the paper, the handwriting was barely comprehendible to anyone’s eyes. “What?” She asked, sounding so confused and baffled at the Hangul.

A laugh—no matter how low in volume it is—was uttered by the person sitting in front of Taeyeon.

The sound made her look up from the paper, and her heart stopped for a second, witnessing a breathtaking eye-smile.

It made her smile as well. She made someone like her laugh without even trying. Or maybe she was just that silly.

“Alright…so we can’t communicate properly.” She scratched her head after placing the things in her hand down. Taeyeon looked at Tiffany, not knowing what to do now. But this is definitely a start: “Hi Tiffany, I’m Taeyeon.” She smiled, emitting a warm aura around the shorter person.

Tiffany smiled back, bowing in respect.

With all the awkward moments behind them, Taeyeon casually sat beside her new friend, facing her with a friendly face. “Since you can’t answer me without the question being a yes or no type, bear with me, okay?” Tiffany nodded. “Hm…have you been staying outside of my apartment for long?”

Shake.

“Would you say that when I arrived, you were only there for less than half an hour?”

Nod.

“Ah. Why were you out there? Did you have a fight with your boyfriend?” Tiffany laughed before giving her response.

Shake.

“But did you have a fight with someone?” The person beside her suddenly showed a sad smile as she nodded. “With who? Your friend?” She shook her head. “Your family?”

No response was given to her anymore.

It was a clear-cut sign.

“What happened? Did they hurt you—say something? Did they abuse you?” Tiffany just looked at her with sad eyes, giving Taeyeon the signal that she just figured everything out. “…oh gawd…”

Taeyeon has always felt strongly about abusive people. She’s hated cases like that ever since she learned about them. So when she heard that a mute is being abused by her own family, her first instinct was to call the police. “We need to get some people to help you. They’ll definitely—“

She hurried to the phone, but when she just stood up, warm arms embraced her tightly from behind. She was frozen with the person behind her. Fresh tears escaped from Tiffany’s eyes and landed on Taeyeon’s back, small sobs and whimpers were being muttered…she clearly didn’t want Taeyeon to do anything about her situation.

The older girl slowly turned, finding the vulnerable girl still crying. When they met eyes, it was definite that she was pleading Taeyeon to not tell about her situation.

Tiffany kept shaking her hand as she mouthed the word: “No.”  

Despite being confused of her reaction to help, she slowly led both of them back to the couch and kept a hand on Tiffany’s back as a form of comfort. “Alright, alright, I won’t…please don’t cry anymore.”

But her tears and sobs still kept flowing.

The atmosphere became tense once more. Taeyeon didn’t know the person so she didn’t know how to cheer her up or at least do something. Right now, the only thing she can do is stay beside the weeping person’s side.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think you were sensitive around that. I-I won’t do it again, so please, don’t cry anymore.” Taeyeon mumbled before reaching out for a tissue that was on the small table near them.

Tiffany lifted her face, seeing the tissue and Taeyeon’s apologetic smile. She slowly took it and wiped her tears away, trying to control her feelings until she finally stopped crying.

“That’s better.” Taeyeon smiled widely and hoped it would rub off her. But judging from the puffy eyes Tiffany possessed, it wasn’t going to happen any time soon. “…hm…” She hummed, staring at her for a few seconds. “What am I gonna do with you…” She mumbled. “Do you have any plans?”

Tiffany just lied back on the couch, playing with the tissue in her hands while avoiding Taeyeon’s gaze. She actually didn’t know what to do as of this moment. She was just running away from home an hour ago or so, and now, she’s suddenly in a newly acquainted person’s apartment.

All she wanted was to get out of her household and that’s it. She never thought of what happens next. Much less about if she ended up in a place like this.

Taeyeon sighed, lying back at the couch as well.

“Well…” The shorter girl started. “You can stay here for the night or something…I can’t send you out there without anywhere to go.”

Tiffany snapped her head to Taeyeon, making Taeyeon sit up straight from the sudden movement. She was shocked at the random act of kindness. Her eyes couldn’t believe the person before her. “Do people like this really exist?” She thought to herself. She’s only heard of people like her in the bed time stories her mom used to tell her.

“W-What?” Taeyeon just blinked at her. “Did I say something?”

The silent person shook her head lightly but was still in denial of the offer given to her.

But her shock was broken by a couple of sneezes.

Taeyeon giggled at the cute sound she produced and stood up. “C’mon, I’ll lead you to the bathroom before you’ll catch a fever.” She helped Tiffany out of the couch and walked to the bathroom with her. “I’ll let you borrow some of my clothes, just hop in the shower.” She insisted and gently pushed Tiffany inside.

Tiffany looked around with nervous eyes. She wasn’t entirely sure with this idea. She’s never taken a bath in another person’s bathroom before. With hesitation, she turned back to the open doorway where Taeyeon was just about to turn away.

“What now?” Tiffany just kept looking at her nervously. Taeyeon laughed. “I won’t look, I swear.” She gave an assuring smile before closing the door and walking to her bedroom to get the clothes.

While Taeyeon was digging through her closet, a great number of thoughts kept running through her mind about the decision she’s going to make—or the decision she already made.

She’s let a stranger inside her house and even offered to let her stay. Without checking her background or thought of all the dangerous things that could lead up to this, Taeyeon has allowed somebody to enter her life. She hasn’t thought about…if this is a trap and when she leaves Tiffany alone while she goes to work, she’ll call her ‘friends’ over and steal everything. Or if she’s a fugitive.

Everything possibly negative came in her mind but someone entered her room, breaking her thoughts as she turned to Tiffany. “What’s wrong?”

She was blushing and pointed outside, particularly the bathroom.

Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows at the red-faced girl and walked to the bathroom. She exploded into embarrassment as she saw that her underwear was left in the shower. She’s forgotten to put them aside when she came home since she just left them there from being late this morning.

“Omaigawd, I’m so sorry!” Taeyeon shouted, finding her face to be red as well while picking up her underwear and throwing it in the hamper.

She rushed out of the area, running back to her room as a retreat, but not before saying to Tiffany, “A-All clear.” The shorter girl mumbled, not even daring to meet her eyes.

“And that would be the signal from God, telling me that I’m stupid for thinking a girl like her, would actually steal from me.” She muttered to herself as she buried her face in her hands, still red as a cherry.

---

*holds up a peace sign* Mianhae, cliffhanger. 

There's just a lot that's been happening and is happening as I've said when I cam back. I'm sorry~