CHAPTER 36

“Excuse me?”

       Tiffany asked confusingly. It wasn’t that she didn’t hear what her brother said, but it rather to she wasn’t sure about what he was either trying or going to say. In Sung stepped forward with his gaze fixing into her sister as if he hope her sister would be able to read his mind so he didn’t need to tell it by his own mouth.

       “I won’t blame you if you hate me after this. Or even more, I would be just fine if you slap me or spit onto my fac...”

       “Oppa,” Tiffany cut off. She knew whatever his brother gonna talk, it surely would never be any kind of good news she would like to hear. But in the other side, the man standing in front of her now, is the only brother, the only sibling she own in this world. Despite of how terrible her brother did, she just couldn’t imagine she would hate him or doing things like her brother thought.

       “Just spill it out. I would be okay.”

       “You won’t, Tiffany,” he shook his head sadly.

       “Just... tell me.”

       “I trapped Taeyeon,” finally he told the point. And as he predicted, it didn’t take much time to change her sister expression. But whatever, he had to continue and finish what he already started. “I need you to listen and to be tough, for her,” he quickly added. “She came to me and it just suddenly happened. At first I only wanted to know how serious she was with yo...”

       “Oppa!!! Do you know what you’re saying?” Tiffany cut off with high pitch. Her eyes now were starting to be redden and puffy.

       “You tested her just to satisfy your unreasonable curiousity???”

       “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I didn’t test her like you might think, but...”

       “It’s even none of your business, Oppa. How could you done this to me? To her? To us?”

       She started to cry, uncontrollably. When In Sung was about to hug her, she just abruptly stepped backward and yanked his hands.

       “Don’t,” she barked. “What have you done to her?”

       “I dared her to give her ity to me in order to make me consider to help y...”

       SNAP!

       Tiffany couldn’t hold it anymore. All the things she knew at the next second was her palm already landed onto In Sung’s redden cheek. In Sung felt burnt and pain but he didn’t say anything. He deserved to receive that, and even more.

       “How could you...”

       “Don’t missunderstand me,” he vaguely said. “I intended to help you even if she didn’t do that. I just... want to play along with her... a bit... Just to test her... And had no intention to her as well... I...”

       Tiffany held her hands up, giving a cue that she didn’t want to hear any crap anymore.

       “Whatever you’re going to say, I would never forgive you for this. But I have one last question. You can choose help or not to help me. But after all, I don’t want to see your face again.”

       “I understand that... What’s your question?”

       “How to find her now?”

       TAEYEON woke up in the middle of night without any particular cause. She quickly sat up and before her brain could procees it, her eyes already look at the full moon oustide, through the window. It was an ordinary night. Silent and cold. There’s nothing special there and there’s always something she would never fix. A big hole inside her heart. She thought it would remain forever there, no matter how many years had been passed, how many season had been cycled, and how much tears she had wasted.

       After being overwhelmed by the situation for a while, she turned her gaze to the vacant space on her bed. She smiled bitterly, imagining there’s someone sleeping there. Someone she would never forget. Someone she knew she would always love forever. She took a deep breath, once again smiling for her fool reverie. She would never come back again. She had to cope with that. It’s been too long for her to not moving on. And she couldn’t continue life this way.

       Having no idea what to do since she suddenly wasn’t sleepy, she started to play with her mobile phone. She randomly opened up the previous message, either from Amber or Luna. She unconsciously smiled when she discovered one of the happiness text from one of them. Yes, they already been a couple, finally. They just left the site this morning, for holiday, might be for few days. And actually, they asked Taeyeon for joining them too. But of course she refused. She knew they needed some privacy and moreover, she didn’t want their scene reminded her again about Tiffany. About the time when they were together. She chose to stay and help local.

       Finally she just felt asleep and the morning rain sounds woke her up at the next day.

       Wrong. After carefully listening, she realized it wasn’t morning rain sound that made her awake. She sharpened her ears for some moment and after all she was sure it was kind of knocking on the door sound, in between the raindrops.

       Yawning and frowning, she shrugged her shoulders, had no idea who was outside. Most probably it was the new couple. Maybe they worried too much to leave her alone there and decide to back home as soon as possible. She smiled and shook her head. What a friend, she chuckled.

       “They must’ve knocked at the door to surprise me,” she mumbled and walked toward the door.

       There’s another knock.

       “A sec,” she shouted out loud over the raindrops sound. “You two really have no idea how to do ‘honeymoon’ properly, huh?” she joked and unlocked the door.

       “Okay, Luna, Amber, now tell me...,” she smiled and opened the door.

       And stopped there.

TIFFANY

       She doesn’t change. This is the person I terribly in love with. Now, standing in front of me. And my chest felt like almost explode, like the first time I was falling in love with her... But the most important question now is... Is her feeling still remain the same? Frankly, to find the answer, I was freak out. What if... if.... she had no longer feeling toward me? What if she had moved on... and what if...

       “Tiffany,” the soft voice I’ve been missing for called out my name. “Is this you?” she asked very carefully.

       Strangely, I even didn’t have any power to answer her. I was “busy” staring at her as if her face was the most beautiful image in this world. And for me, it was true. So all the things I could only do was nodding my head and bit my bottom lips. I knew, my tears almost pour again. But what makes different was, this time I cried because I was terribly happy... because I finally could see her again, my love.

       “Am I dreaming?” she whispered again. “Because I’ve enough of this dream,” she continued sadly. Her tone seemed like frustating one. And it hurt me already, to know how hurt she was.

       “I keep dreaming about you, like this. At once I was happy... because to see you again, even if it’s only at a dream, is enough for me. But lately I felt so sick. I felt like trapped into world of imagination. It would never be real for me...,” she murmured. “And lately I realized, it hurt me a lot... to see you in a dream, but I would never have any chance to make it into reality... So please, enough, Baby...”

       “Please wake me up, and please...”

       I didn’t give her any chance to finish her misery words. I couldn’t help but interrupting her remarks by attaching my lips.

       I softly captured her cheeks with my hands. We closed our eyes.

       This wasn’t our first kiss, indeed, but somehow it felt like something now, something passionate, something I would like to cherish forever.

       “Tell me, was in your dream, I kiss you like this?” I whispered.

       “No. You come and always leave me, even if before I had any chance to touch you. If this is a dream, it would be the best version of my dream then,” she answered. And discovering her last sentences, I hold my giggled. She’s still my dork. The best dork, ever.

       “Kiss me,” I demanded.

       Without any hesitation, she kissed me back. Her hands wrapped around my waist. We kissed each other for some moment like we’re the only two last persons remained alive in this universe. Briefly, we didn’t care about anything anymore but us.

       After all we’re staring each other.

       “Taetae... I miss you so much.”

       “Me too,” she answered. “More than you might think.”

       “Let me explain...”

       “Are you afraid of getting cold?” she interrupted. I frowned but shaking my head.

       “Good then,” she smiled. “Would you like to dance with me under the rain?”

       Without any doubt, I smiled and took her hand. She acted like a gentleman and guided me to dance under the rain. We laughed, we walked, we kissed, we danced, we did anything crazy like no one business. We were attached and we would never be separated again.

       “I love you,” she said.

       “I love you too,” I replied.

       “I’m sorry... I don’t mean to leave... I just...”

       I kissed her again to shut . I thought, in the future, it would be my habit – to stop her stupid remarks with a kiss. Not bad, huh?

       “Why you’re so stupid?” I asked her.

       “Don’t you understand that I can’t live without you? You’re my everything, Tae.”

       She couldn’t answer. “And to make it clear, my brother didn’t do anything to you. He poured you with water to wake you up but it didn’t work. That’s why you found yourself into another clothes, and it wasn’t my brother who changed it. Does it make you feel better?” I asked and crossed my arms.

       She smiled dorkily. “Much better...”

       “And are you dare to leave me again, regardless the circumstance?”

       “As I said, I don’t mean to leave... I...”

       “The fact is you LEAVE, Tae!” Don’t know why I started to slightly yell to her.

       “I’m sorry,” she gently said and hugged me. She caressed my back and whispered near my ears. “I promise, that would be my last stupid action. I promise I would always love you and never leave you again, no matter what.”

        Those remarks successfully soothed me. I closed my eyes for a moment.

        “I love you. I really love you, Tae.”

        She smiled and softly kissed my forehead. After all she silently took my hand and guided me to enter the house, then following her to the bedroom.

       “Wait here for a moment,” she asked and disappeared for a sec. She was back with a big towel and started to rub me.

       I abruptly sneeze and she looked at me in worry. The look... The same look that never changed. “How could you’re that easy getting cold?” she pretended to scold. “How sensitive you are.”

       “It’s okay as along as I have you, Tae,” I smiled. “All the things I need is someone who I can always rely on until the end of time.”

       She smiled hearing my remarks.

       “I never thought that today would be exist. Thanks God... You bring her back to me,” she whispered.

       “Maybe the sky was enough of testing us,” I said. “We’re meant to be, Baby.”

       She couldn’t agree more. With one last kiss before we enjoyed the night, she kissed me again. “Yes we’re meant to be. I promise you, I would never let you spend any single tears with sadness. Your happiness would by my priority from now. And my heart belongs to you, forever.”

       “I love you, Hwang.”