Author's POV

 

"Are we there yet?" Taeyeon asked, getting more impatient every minute.

 

"Yah! Kim Taeyeon! Would you quit whining?! I told you the journey was going to be long!" Tiffany barked.

 

"I didn't know it would be this long.... aish... I'm so bored..." Taeyeon complained as she let out a sigh.

 

"Well....at least I have my girlfriend beside me, I shouldn't be complaining. Mianhae, Fany~" Taeyeon said as she held Tiffany's hand as Tiffany blushed a little.

 

"Just hang on for a few more hours, Taetae. We're almost there," Tiffany said as she yawned.

 

"Yes, ma'am! Look at you, you must be tired from waking up so early in the morning. You should rest, I'll wake you up when we reach," Taeyeon said as she gently pushed Tiffany's head towards her shoulder and gently rested her head on it. 

 

"Thanks, Taetae... You're the best..." Tiffany whispered before closing her eyes and going into deep sleep on Taeyeon's comfortable and soft shoulder.

 

It had been three weeks since they became a couple, all of their friends accepted them and were happy for them. However, Tiffany really wanted Michelle to know that she is dating Taeyeon now as she thought she deserved to know the truth. She didn't want to hide it from her beloved sister any longer, and neither did Taeyeon. Also, it had been forever since the last time Tiffany or Taeyeon saw Michelle, both of them missed her so much. Therefore, Taeyeon and Tiffany wanted to take this opportunity of a public holiday to go back home, spend time with Michelle and tell her the news.

 

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"We're here, wake up, Fany," Taeyeon whispered as she gently shook her girlfriend.

 

Tiffany slowly opened her eyes and rubbed them with the back of her hand. As soon as she opened the car door, her eyes started to tear up, it had been months since she has last laid eyes on the building in front of her, she missed this place too much. Without hesitation, she sprinted to the door and knocked onto it vigorously, leaving Taeyeon behind to pay the driver the money. It felt great to be back.

 

"Yah! Hwang Mi Young! Wait for me, will ya?" Taeyeon asked as she closed the car door and the car drove off.

 

Taeyeon crossed her arms and pouted like a kid as Tiffany turned around, only sticking her tongue out at the girl before she replied, "You can only blame yourself for having short legs and being slower than others!" 

 

"Yah! You're so dead, Hwang Mi Young!" Taeyeon shouted as she ran towards the door at full speed.

 

Just then, the door opened, revealing a familiar girl wearing a white top and dark blue jeans. Her eyes opened wide, she couldn't believe her eyes. Seeing those dorks chasing and teasing each other around like little kids, it didn't take long for a smile to form on her beautiful face. Similarly to Tiffany, her eyes instantly turned into rainbows as she smiled.

 

"Unnie~~~ Help me!! Taetae is trying to kill me!" Tiffany pleaded for help while running away from the older girl.

 

"Yah! You were asking for it, Hwang Mi Young! You know I hate it when people tease me about my height!" Taeyeon argued back as Michelle couldn't help but giggle at the sight of them acting so childishly.

 

"Okay, that's enough! Cut it out! It's so hot out here. Why don't both of you come in first?" Michelle said as both of them stopped and nodded their heads in agreement.

 

As soon as Taeyeon stepped into Tiffany's house, she could barely close , too amazed by the sight. The house was larger than she thought, it was two storeys high like her own house but was far better. Back at her place, the colours were more dull, having a cozy and warm feeling, but Tiffany's house was filled with bright colours, mainly white, making it look very neat and modern.

 

"Wow....." Those were the only words Taeyeon managed to utter.

 

Tiffany giggled at Taeyeon's reaction and pushed her jaw up for her before saying, "You aren't planning to leave it hanging there forever, are you?" 

 

"This...place is so... beautiful..." Taeyeon said as she was still looking around the living room, amazed by the amazing designs on the walls.

 

"It's beautiful, isn't it? Our Appa spent lots of money on the house, and it was all worth it," Michelle said as she locked the door.

 

"So.... What brings both of you all the way here?" Michelled asked.

 

"Well... since it's been so long since we've met, and it's been months since I've come back home, we wanted to make use of this public holiday to come back and have some bonding time with you, unnie~" Tiffany said as Michelle flashed her an eye smile.

 

"Aw~ You guys are the best!" She said as she pulled both of them closer and gave them a quick squeeze.

 

"Also.... we wanna tell you some news..." Taeyeon said.

 

"What news?" Michelle asked, feeling curious.

 

"We'll tell you later..." Taeyeon said as Michelle smirked.

 

"It better be a good one.... keeping Michelle Hwang in suspense isn't a very good thing to do," Michelle joked.

 

Just then, a sound of unlocking door surprised all of the girls, as all of them turned their attention to the room at the second storey of the house, the door opening, revealing a boy in his early twenties, wearing a simple t-shirt and black shorts walking out of the room with sleep disheveled hair, yawning and scratching his neck. Suddenly, he shot open his eyes, surprised to find his sister he hasn't seen for months, in the living room with his older sister and a rather cute and short girl that he has never seen before. Slowly making his way to the first storey to join the girls, his expression never changed, stayed as moody and sad as ever.

 

"You're back, Mi Young... I missed you.." He said in a low and sad tone as he tried to force a smile on his face.

 

Without hesitation, Tiffany pulled him closer and hugged him while she said, "Yeah... I missed you too, Leo."

 

As he pulled away, he realized he still didn't know the name of the cute girl. 

 

"And... you are?" He asked.

 

"Taeyeon, I'm Tiffany's.............room mate and best friend..." Taeyeon stuttered, she wasn't prepared to tell him about their relationship yet.

 

"I see... I'm Leo, Tiffany's brother," He replied in a tone as cold as ever.

 

"I know, Tiffany talks about you sometimes, not as much as Michelle though," Taeyeon said, but Leo's cold tone and expression bugged her.

 

"Why is he so.... cold? Shouldn't he be happy? I mean.... his beloved sister whom he hasn't seen for such a long time finally came back to see him but... he is... just... so cold and sad.... I wonder why..." Taeyeon thought as Michelle snapped her out of her thoughts as she yelled, " I know! Let's have a barbeque! I'll invite my boyfriend along too~" 

 

"That sounds great! It's been forever since we've last had a barbeque as a family together!" Tiffany exclaimed in excitement.

 

"What are we waiting for? Let's head to the market now!" Taeyeon said as all of them nodded in unison and all of them made their way to Michelle's car.

 

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As usual, Tiffany was fast asleep on Taeyeon's shoulders as Taeyeon stayed awake throughout the whole journey. Taeyeon was almost going to fall asleep but she forced open her eyes and tried to keep herself awake. She couldn't sleep, she must keep awake so Tiffany could have a steady shoulder to lean on and have a nice short nap. She didn't mind sacrificing her own nap time for her angel, she knew she needed it more than her, knowing that Tiffany stayed up later then her to watch her drama.

 

"Don't you wanna get some rest, Taeyeon? It's gonna take some time to reach the market," Michelle said while driving.

 

"I'm fine, really. Don't worry about me," Taeyeon said as she tried her best to open her eyes.

 

Little did she know that someone in the front passenger seat was watching her every move.

 

"Liar..." Leo whispered to nobody in particular but himself as he looked at Taeyeon from the rear mirror.

 

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"Hm.... there's so many things we need to buy... let's split up! Michelle will be in charge of vegetables, Leo,Taeyeon and I will be in charged of meat and seafood," Tiffany said as all of them agreed and headed to their assigned destinations.

 

"Hm..... Oh, that one looks nice," Tiffany said as Taeyeon shook her head in disagreement.

 

"Nope, too expensive," Taeyeon said as Tiffany frowned.

 

"How about this?" Tiffany picked up a packet of beef slices.

 

"Nope.. it's beef, I know you don't like beef," Taeyeon replied as Tiffany smiled upon hearing the statement.

 

"Aw~ You're so sweet, Taetae~" Tiffany said as Taeyeon blushed a little, she had an urge to kiss Taeyeon for being so sweet but she suddenly remembered that Leo was there so she stopped herself.

 

"What do you think we should get, Leo?" Tiffany asked him as he shrugged.

 

"Anything would do for me, I'm not picky. It's up to the both of you," Leo replied, still with that cold tone of his.

 

"Oh! How about that one! I used to love it when I was young!" Tiffany said as she rushed over.

 

However, she was too focused to even notice a plastic bag lying on the floor, stepped on it and lost balance. Fortunately, Taeyeon reacted fast enough, sprinted forward, reached out her arms and caught the girl before both of them landed on the ground with a loud thud, with Taeyeon hugging Tiffany on top of her, making herself to hit the ground and acting as a cushion for her girlfriend to land on. 

 

"Ah!" Taeyeon winced in pain as she hit the ground.

 

"Oh my god! Taetae! Are you okay?!" Tiffany asked as Taeyeon faked a smile and managed to get up on her own despite the pain.

 

"Ofcourse! How about you?" Taeyeon asked as Tiffany shook her head.

 

"You pabo! You didn't have to be a human cushion! You could have just caught me and pulled me up or something... Look at you, you're hurt because of me," Tiffany said as she pouted.

 

"I'm fine, really. Let's just continue shopping for groceries, okay?" Taeyeon asked, trying to change the subject.

 

Tiffany and Taeyeon began walking ahead while not realizing that Leo hasn't moved an inch from his original position. He was observing Taeyeon's every move and expression. 

 

"Liar...." He whispered, once again, to himself before he frowned and started walking, slowly catching up with the the love birds in front.

 

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"Ah~ I'm so full.... I can't eat anymore!" Tiffany said as she lied down on the chair and rested while Taeyeon and Jay were still busy barbequing the meat.

 

"What? But we have only started half an hour ago," Michelle complained.

 

"Some girls' stomach just don't have the capacity of yours, baby. You have to understand that," Jay said as Michelle glared at him.

 

"Yah! Are you trying to say you have a fat girlfriend?!" Michelle shouted as Jay took a step back.

 

"Oh so you have finally admitted you are fat, Mich?" Jay teased as Michelle smirked.

 

"Yah! I'm so gonna kill you, Jay!" Michelle threatened as she ran after her boyfriend and he quickly ran away from her.

 

All of them giggled, all except Leo, who was quietly sitting at the side, eating in silence and not caring about everything that was going on around him.

 

"Hey, I'm gonna take a break, okay?" Taeyeon asked Jay, panting and gasping for air like mad.

 

"Yeah..*gasp* Sure..*gasp* just don't take too long," He said while gasping for air.

 

Taeyeon walked over to her girlfriend as she put her arm around her.

 

"You okay, my love?" Taeyeon asked as Tiffany opened her eyes.

 

"So...full..." Tiffany said as it made Taeyeon giggle.

 

"Wow... really? That's fast..." Taeyeon said as she joined Tiffany, sitting on the seat beside hers.

 

"Taetae look!" Taeyeon lifted her head, only to be greeted with a sky filled with stars.

 

"Wow...so...beautiful.." Taeyeon said as her eyes were fixed on the sky.

 

They sat there in silence for a while before Taeyeon broke it.

 

"Fany.... Is Leo okay? He seems awfully... sad and cold.." Taeyeon asked, this has been bugging her the entire day.

 

"Well... ever since Omma left... he just changed from being bubbly and cheerful to.... cold and sad... nobody could change him back... ever since then.. he never once smiled," Tiffany said with sadness in her tone.

 

"I'm sorry, Fany..." Taeyeon apologized as Tiffany shook her head.

 

"Stop apologizing every time I talk about my Omma... it's not your fault, and I love you... I wanna let you know everything about me, I don't wanna hide anything from you," Tiffany said as Taeyeon smiled.

 

"Thanks, Fany..." Taeyeon said as she let out a sigh.

 

"What's wrong?" Tiffany asked, feeling worried.

 

"It's just that.... I don't think your brother likes me... or will accept us... He is cold but, he looks at me in a really wierd way every time," Taeyeon said with sadness in her eyes.

 

"Well... but I don't want to push this any longer. I want to tell them today... I can't keep hiding it from them... especially Michelle... they deserve to know... and it's been three weeks already. I want to tell them today, whether they accept us or not.

 

Taeyeon smiled and said," Okay, let's tell them now."

 

They stood up and held hands before Taeyeon said, "May I have all of your attention for a while please."

 

Silence filled the air as all of them turned their attentions to them, waiting for Taeyeon to continue.

 

"Today, we came here not just because we wanted to bond with you guys, we also want to tell all of you some news," Taeyeon said as she gulped.

 

"Tiffany and I are............." Taeyeon paused as suspense filled the air.

 

Taeyeon took a deep breath in before exhaling it and continuing, "......dating."

 

Both of them shut their eyes and faced down, too afraid to see their shocked faces.

 

"Ah!!!!" Michelle's scream made both of them open their eyes as Michelle came over and squeezed onto them tightly.

 

"I knew you would ditch that jerk and be together with someone you deserve to be with! I just knew it from the start! I'm sooo happy for the both of you!" Michelle exclaimed as she pulled away from them, only to find a shocked face and a happy face.

 

"Really?!" Tiffany asked, feeling shocked.

 

"Really! You just didn't know cos you were too in love with Siwon at that time. I knew, I just knew that my baby sister will find someone she deserves to be with!" Michelle exclaimed as Tiffany hugged her, she couldn't believe how supportive she was to their relationship.

 

Suddenly, Leo stood up and quietly walked into the house, leaving the four others outside, happily hugging together. Taeyeon realized his sudden disappearance and went into the house to look for him. She went up to his room but it was empty. 

 

"If he isn't in his room, where can he be?" She thought as she walked back down.

 

Along the way, a room ahead of her, the door was left half closed and there light was left on.

 

"He must be inside...." Taeyeon walked over and slowly opened the door.

 

As soon as she opened the door, her eyes were greeted with rainbow colours on the walls, with countless toys all over the floor and the boxes on the floor. There was a small slide at the end of the room. Her eyes opened wide as she saw the painting on the wall, a simple painting of two parents, one on each end, with three children in between them, two girls and a boy. Her eyes shifted and finally laid on the person she was finding for, Leo. 

 

He was in front of the painting, the painting of the mother in the family, his face as was sad but at the same time, happy.

 

"Leo...." Taeyeon called as he turned around slowly.

 

"Taeyeon..." Leo called, realizing she has come in without him knowing.

 

Taeyeon continued to look around the room, finding photographs being glued onto the back of the door, with 'Hwang family's photo collage!' on the top of the door. There were numerous photos of Tiffany, Michelle, Leo and two adults, who Taeyeon interpretted was their parents.

 

"Ah...... makes me nostalgic whenever I come in here. Brings back so many memories," Leo said as there was a hint of sadness in his voice.

 

"She told you about her death right?" Leo asked as Taeyeon just nodded.

 

"We made this room, together, as a family. We made it the 'Hwang room', where we put everything we did together here, we would take pictures wherever we went, and paste it onto the door. When we were young, we used to play games in here, together. All of our toys, are all here. Those were good, good times," Leo said as he walked closer to Taeyeon.

 

"We weren't like this before the death. Everyone was happy, we were a whole. But when she died.. our happiness left together with her when she left this world... we could never be as happy as we were back then even if we've tried. We all felt a part of our hearts were suddenly empty. To fill up that part, each of us did different things. Appa chose to use work to divert his attention away, the more he worked, the lesser he could think of Omma. Michelle chose to study, and then work to help Appa earn money for us. I tried to go out with my friends as frequently as possible, to get my mind off of her. Well, Mi Young... She tried to study too but.... none of us could actually stop thinking about her, we were just denying the fact," Leo said as he took a step closer to Taeyeon.

 

"It must have been so hard, to lose someone so dear to you," Taeyeon said softly, too sad to even speak louder.

 

"Yes, it was hard. Since then, none of us were actually happy. All of them tried to, but I just gave up. I thought nothing in this world would make me happy agian," Leo said as a tear escaped his eye.

 

Taeyeon's eyes were filled with tears, she felt so bad for them, to go through so much sadness, to lose someone so dear to them. She could never imagine that pain, to lose someone you love and you can't do anything to prevent it from happening. Taeyeon faced down, too sad to lift her head.

 

"But....." Leo said.

 

Suddenly, Taeyeon shot her head back up as she felt two arms around her tiny body. Taeyeon was so shocked, she was at a loss of words. She opened but nothing could come out. Her entire body froze, she was so confused and shocked at the moment.

 

"Thank you," Leo simply said, but it was the first time Taeyeon has heard him say something in such a gently and kind tone.

 

Taeyeon stayed silent, she didn't know how to reply him.

 

"All these years, I've never seen my sisters, both of them, smile that wide after the death. I thought I would never see those beautiful eye smiles again. I have been observing you for the whole of today, you really care a lot for Mi Young. You would give up your nap time for her, even protecting her and in the end getting yourself injured. I always thought I wouldn't be happy anymore, I was wrong. Just by seeing and knowing that both of my sisters are finally happy, smiling with their eyes, the only way they could do that was if they are actually happy, and it's not something they just want to pretend to fool themselves with, I am also happy. Thank you, for making us happy again!" Leo said, as he squeezed onto the petite girl even tighter as more tears fell without warning.

 

Taeyeon finally loosened up and hugged him back. 

 

"You're welcome, Oppa!" Taeyeon said as Leo pulled away and flashed her an eye smile.

 

Taeyeon frozed. He finally smiled.

 

"I don't have to worry about Mi Young anymore, I know you would take good care of her," Leo said as Taeyeon smiled.

 

"Ofcourse! I promise!" Taeyeon said as Leo smiled even wider.

 

"We better get back, they must be worried about us," Leo said as Taeyeon nodded.

 

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Both of them sat there in silence, just enjoying the beauty of the night. There was no wind, not too cold, but it wasn't too hot either, the weather was just right. Suddenly, Taeyeon felt a weight on her shoulder, she smirked without even turning to look as she knew what it was. She put her arm around her angel as she leaned in closer to her.

 

"Thank you, Taetae...." Tiffany said.

 

"What for?" Taeyeon asked.

 

"You made Leo smile.... I missed that smile. Actually, you made all of us smile, you dork!" Tiffany teased as Taeyeon smiled.

 

"You're welcome~" Taeyeon said as she planted a kiss on her forhead.

 

"I love you, baby~" Tiffany said as Taeyeon slightly blushed.

 

"I love you too, angel~" Taeyeon replied as she earned an eye smile from her girlfriend.

 

"Thank you...... for making us... a whole again... we are finally happy now..." Tiffany thought as she smiled.

 

 

To be continued....

 

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Yay~~~ Update time~ I will try to update soon.... hope you have enjoyed reading' this chap.~ PLS comment, subscribe and upvote~~ Keke~ GG World Tour in SG in 2 days' time~~~ can't wait~~ - TaeNy127