Chapter Ninety-One
 
This was probably the best ride Taeyeon ever had, falling asleep right after the engine started with Tiffany her hair and rubbing her ear. Taeyeon wouldn’t even mind if their journey goes on for another day, but sadly, it ended near noon because they finally arrived at Tiffany’s destination after the latter’s constant acceleration throughout the whole morning.
 
“Taetae, wake up.”
 
Taeyeon refused to budge. Tiffany’s thighs were so much comfy than all the beds she ever lied on. She wanted to rest her head on her thighs forever––
 
“YAH!! STOP! STOP!!”
 
The little sorceress was finally up from her lover’s lap. But her expression was filled with grievance as she stared at Tiffany with pouted lips while rubbing her reddened ear.
 
She had never expected Tiffany to twist her ear like that.
 
“Are you awake now?” Clearly, the eye-smile on her face implied how immune she was towards Taeyeon’s… puppy expression. It was cute no doubt and Tiffany had the urge to pinch and pull those puffy cheeks, but she was conscious enough to hold herself back and pretend that she was not affected by it.
 
Well, she could always do that when they are in bed––Cough! She meant home!
 
“Get out of the car, Taeyeon. We have to finish this before the sun set.” Realizing that she was getting aroused by her own erted thought, Tiffany quickly hopped out of the car before Taeyeon had the chance to notice her unusualness.
 
It must be the long separation which made her like this. She must have missed Taeyeon too much that it seemed that she could never get enough of her.
 
“Where are we?” Taeyeon only realized now that they were in the wilds, and not the town where Tiffany told her initially.
 
Tiffany flashed Taeyeon a mysterious smile and extended an arm towards her, “Come with me.”
 
Taeyeon gladly accepted Tiffany’s hand and allowed her to lead the way.
 
It appeared that they were on the back of some hill or whatever, and Tiffany’s destination was on the top of it. There was no path for vehicles which could take them to the top, so they had to alight from the car and walk on their own.
 
Fortunately, maybe not for Tiffany but Taeyeon, there were man-made steps which lessened the burden forming on their legs. It definitely saved Taeyeon a lot of strength and energy… plus breath too! She was never a physical person.
 
“Wait a minute…”
 
Taeyeon stopped walking suddenly. When Tiffany turned back to look at her, she found Taeyeon staring at her own feet. She couldn’t see her face because her hair was covering it.
 
“Tae?” Tiffany hopped down the steps hastily and went back to her lover worriedly. She thought she was getting unwell from these climbing. “Taeyeon, are you okay? Do you want to take a rest?” It was strange though, Taeyeon shouldn’t be getting exhausted from this even if… she hadn’t walked this path for many years.
 
This path which was created with her own hands.
 
“Where are you taking me to?”
 
The indifference in Taeyeon’s voice had told Tiffany the answer. She should have known it wasn’t the exhaustion which had her energy away, but their past, the horrible nightmare which none of them wanted to experience again.
 
“I’m taking us back to our home.” Tiffany wasn’t going to lie to Taeyeon. Taeyeon had to know the truth sooner or later anyway.
 
“Home?” She let out a quiet mocking laughter and it freaked Tiffany out.
 
Taeyeon was, obviously, not acting like herself.
 
“Our home is already destroyed because of you!” Words were forced through gritted teeth and then Tiffany saw, when Taeyeon lifted up her head to glare at her, her eyes were glowing in red.
 
The curse.
 
“No… way……” Tiffany was stoned, literally stoned to the ground. It was only two days ago since they got together and yet, her greatest fear had already appeared.
 
It shouldn’t be like that. She remembered the curse only took effect years after she married Wooyoung. And her parents too, it appeared at the time where she was old enough to even prepare meals for herself. But why! Why did it have to be triggered within such a short period of time when it was her and Taeyeon!
 
She… hadn’t even enjoyed enough those lovely moment with Taeyeon yet.
 
Her vision was blurring. Tears had gathered around the rim of her eyes before she could even comprehend it. Gradually, her eyelids couldn’t bear the weights of the tears anymore. They broke through the thin support and rolled down her cheeks, creating an obvious wet path down to her chin, slowly accumulating before dripping right to the soil below.
 
One could never understand the heaviness of that tear which had disappeared into the soil. It wasn’t just a simple drop of liquid that was filled with water. It contained the grievance, disappointment, desperation and most importantly, the unwillingness of its owner in accepting this unfortunate fate of hers.
 
She can’t tell how much she hates herself right now. She doesn’t want their love to end as soon as it starts!
 
“Fany…”
 
The familiar warmth touched her face and took the weight away from her face. Tiffany’s tears stopped immediately upon the touch and she looked up in surprise to find the glow in Taeyeon’s eyes missing.
 
“I’m sorry, Fany! I… I don’t know what got into me and I just…” Taeyeon was obviously upset by her own action. She had promised that she would abandon everything in their past and start anew with Tiffany, but… it was only less than three days and she was acting like a maniac already.
 
How could she break her promise!
 
“Fany?” Taeyeon panicked when she received nothing but only stare from her lover. “Fany, I’m sorry. I really am! I didn’t mean to say that to you! I… I… I––” She was cut off when Tiffany threw her arms around her suddenly and sobbed on her shoulder. “Fa–Fany? I’m sorry, really sorry! I don’t mean to say those things to you! I’m really sorry. Please don’t cry!” Taeyeon didn’t know what to do other than apologizing to her. She didn’t even have the courage to lay her hands on Tiffany because she was too guilty in hurting Tiffany. How she wished there was a skill that could rewind time, so she could take back all her words and rephrase her sentence in a more polite way.
 
But that wasn’t the reason which caused Tiffany to cry again. It was the mixture of joyous and fear that created those droplets in her eyes. Tiffany was, no doubt, happy to find Taeyeon regaining her true self after the curse affected her, but she knew this wasn’t the end of it.
 
It might not have killed either of them now, but what about their future? Who could ensure that the curse would not be triggered again?
 
Tiffany didn’t talk for the next one hour, even after they reached their destination, never did she once open . The ex-hunter was obviously down. She didn’t even try to put on a fake smile to lessen Taeyeon’s worries (and guiltiness), which eventually, Taeyeon stopped her attempt in comforting Tiffany and became moody by herself.
 
“We have to move all the furniture out.” An extremely hoarsely and choky voice finally broke the silence between them.
 
Taeyeon almost thought she saw hope shining before her again, but it turned out to be false alarm as Tiffany threw her back at her and walked into the abandoned house.
 
She didn’t even have the chance to catch a glimpse of her face.
 
The regretful sorceress followed her lover into the house. The interior looked exactly the same as when she left about a hundred years ago, except that it was covered with a layer of dust and there were spider webs at all corners of the room.
 
“Clear the bedroom first.” The same voice instructed her and it finally brought attention to Taeyeon that something was wrong with Tiffany.
 
It would be normal for her voice to be this choky if it was still an hour ago. Tiffany should have recovered from her––Realization struck upon Taeyeon suddenly. Tiffany hadn’t stopped crying since the beginning which explained her choky voice!
 
“Fany!”
 
Taeyeon grabbed onto Tiffany’s arm, trying to turn her around to face her, but it seemed that Tiffany already knew Taeyeon’s intention. She hung her head low hastily and turned to the opposite direction. Taeyeon couldn’t win her at all because Tiffany was physically stronger as compared to her.
 
“Freeze!”
 
Having no other choice, Taeyeon casted a spell on Tiffany which froze all of her actions.
 
“Fany-ah…” Taeyeon finally had the full view of Tiffany’s face. It was completely wet with tears. Her eyes were red and swollen, her nose as well… they were indicating to her that Tiffany had been crying all these while.
 
“Why…” There was a stinging pain in Taeyeon’s eyes when she witnessed the scene in front of her. “Why are you so silly?” Her vision became blurry. She didn’t dare to blink her eyes as she was afraid that her tears would fall like Tiffany’s tears.
 
She should not reveal her weaker side when her lover obviously needed someone to rely on.
 
“Dispel.”
 
A flick from her fingers released Tiffany from the invisible locks, causing her to stumble forward due to Taeyeon’s sudden decision.
 
But Taeyeon was already there for her. As soon as she released Tiffany, she spread out her arms and allowed Tiffany to fall into her embrace.
 
Tiffany didn’t struggled this time round. She threw her arms across Taeyeon’s shoulders and wrapped around her neck tightly. “Taeyeon!” Her cry was filled with misery. It hurt Taeyeon so much that she could literally feel a pain in her chest, as if something was clutching her beating muscle in its hand. “I want us to last! I don’t want to be separated away from you!” She didn’t want that curse to ruin their love. She wanted to believe that their love was able to defeat the curse.
 
“I’m sorry, Tiffany… I know I must have scared you back then when I flared my anger at you. I’m really sorry and I didn’t mean it. I promise I will control myself and won’t let it happen again. Please believe me.” Till now, Taeyeon had no idea it was the curse which caused her to be like this.
 
Tiffany could only sobbed harder and hugged Taeyeon even tighter. She couldn’t tell Taeyeon the truth at all. She didn’t dare to. She feared that the curse would be triggered again if she mentioned anything related to their past. She wanted them to last! She didn’t want the curse to ruin their love when they hadn’t even enjoyed it enough yet!
 
“Taeyeon…” Tiffany breathed out her lover’s name softly. She was trying to calm herself down by inhaling deep breath. “Make a deal with me.”
 
“What is it?” Taeyeon asked without a second thought. “I’ll do anything you ask me to.” She was more than relieved to know that Tiffany was acting like herself again.
 
“I want you to share your thoughts with me whenever you’re in doubt and never…” She won’t let the curse win them. “… Argue or quarrel with me. I hate it when we quarreled. I don’t want things to turn out bad when I’m with you.”
 
She will defeat the curse in her own way.