Tiffany was resting in her room with a piece of card in her hand. She was lying down on the bed while kept staring at the card which was given by Hyunjoong before.

“143… 143… 143…” She kept repeating while staring at that number of the card. “Ah! What is this?!” She suddenly burst into anger as she got no idea what those numbers were about.

She calmed down herself as she knew there was no use to be angry over something trivial like that and even she got angry, the question in her minds still remained unanswered.

Instead of staring only at the number, she looked at the other part of the card in case he gave her any clue that led to those numbers’ secret. “Aish, seriously… is he giving me a quiz or just trying to fool me?” She talked to herself. “Don’t tell me… is he laughing at his home right now, thinking I’m so fool to try solving this?” She thought the possibility he might be fooling her. “No, no, it’s impossible…”

She went back to her sense. She tried to think any connection about numbers. “If we talk about numbers… should I add all of these three numbers? 1+4+3… 8… 8?” She tried to get an idea what the things have connection to 8. “August? My birthday?!”

She tried to read aloud his P.S on the card to find out whether it was suitable. “I hope you will always remember this… 143(8)… my birthday? Remember my birthday?” She suddenly let out a fake loud laugh. Everyone would think she had gone mad. Then, she just changed her expression directly to the frustrated expression. “That doesn’t make any sense! Why would he hope I remember my own birthday? Who would ever forget one’s own birthday?!”

She kept rolling over on her bed in frustration. “What is this actually?!!!”

--------------

It was already night and the preparation for Tiffany’s small birthday party seemed to be finished anytime soon. The area in the house especially in the living room and dining space were decorated with ribbon and balloon. A beautiful banner has been hung on the wall. On the table, it had been filled with many types of food and the most important, at the centre of the table, a beautiful delicious cake.

Now, the preparation had been done, everyone got into their own room to change for suitable beautiful garment. After Taeyeon, Yuri, Jessica, Yoona and Sunny finished dressing, they went into Tiffany’s room to make up the main princess on this day.

“Fany-ah, we have got a new pretty dress for you! This is our present.” Yuri showed Tiffany the dress that the girls have brought specially for her present. “How is it? Do you like it?”

Tiffany observed the white simple dress yet contained the beauty in its simplicity. “Wow, it’s really pretty!”

“Now, you change into this dress and we will be responsible to make you a princess!” Taeyeon added.

“That’s right. We’ll turn you pretty. I’m sure Hyunjoong will like it!” Sunny talked in excitement. The girls got silent after hearing Sunny’s word and they stared at her in confusion but they seemed happy too as they also agreed with Sunny’s word except Tiffany of course who looked at Sunny with serious face. “Why? Did I say something wrong?”

Tiffany didn’t reply anything and she just sighed. “You mean Mike, right?” Yoona said while elbowing Sunny. “Not Hyunjoong?”

“Ah~” Sunny said while covering in embarrassment. “It’s really hard not to make mistake since the person you like and the person who is your boyfriend is different.” She muttered to Tiffany.

“What did you say?!” Tiffany asked in disbelief while widening her eyes. She looked quite mad as she didn’t want to admit it even it was the truth.

“Why?” Sunny asked innocently. “It’s the truth, isn’t it? You like Hyunjoong!” She added boldly.

“Yah! Lee Sunkyu!”

“Fany-ah, we all know the truth!” Jessica added later, being on Sunny’s side.

“Ah, I’m really going crazy!” Tiffany stomped her legs while holding onto her head which had caused her hair to be quite messy. “Hold on.” She suddenly said and not being mad anymore after she got reminded of something. The girls paid attention to her. “Talking about Mike… I forget to ask him to come tonight!”

“What? You didn’t say anything to him?” Taeyeon asked in shock. Tiffany just shook her head as she herself was shocked of how she could forget it. “Then, doesn’t he wish you a happy birthday? It’s really not making any sense for you to forget if he wished you already.”

“No, he didn’t.”

“Are you talking the truth?! Then, does that mean he even forget your birthday?” Yuri asked.

“Honestly, I don’t think he knows when my birthday is.” Tiffany said honestly. The girls seemed too shocked about that fact. Tiffany added later, “We just know a few months, so…”

“Fany-ah, you don’t have to cover it up. It’s so obvious that you aren’t that close to Mike.” Sunny said bluntly. “You start knowing Hyunjoong after you come to Korea and of course obviously, the time you knowing Hyunjoong is shorter than Mike’s yet he knows about your birthday and he is just a friend to you.”

“I really wonder how you can become closer to your boy friend instead of your boyfriend.”

“You guys really talk nonsense thing!” Tiffany added angrily as she became more anxious every time the girls pointed out every evidence that her heart indeed was owned by Hyunjoong. “I’ll call Mike.” She took her cell phone.

However, Yuri stopped Tiffany from calling Mike. “I don’t think this is the right choice.”

“Why?”

“I don’t mean to be a bad friend or it isn’t because I hate Mike and support Hyunjoong, I just don’t want it to be like last time when you have a hard time with Hyunjoong. Do you remember when you asked Hyunjoong out but instead, you took Mike at the airport? It would be very hard for Hyunjoong to stay here, in our party if he saw Mike too. You shouldn’t have invite him over in the first place if you thought to invite Mike over.”

“What are you talking about? Hyunjoong doesn’t have any feelings for me.” Tiffany really didn’t understand what Yuri was trying to say to her.

“Yuri is right.” Yoona added to support Yuri.

“Honestly, I also think that Hyunjoong likes you.” Taeyeon said. Tiffany was about to protest but Taeyeon immediately continued, “Whether he likes you or not, we aren’t sure but he clearly doesn’t like to see you with Mike.”

“So, it’s better not to invite Mike over. You can just ask Mike out tomorrow with both of you only. Do you understand?”

Tiffany finally just decided to follow the girls’ opinion.

---------

Tiffany and the girls went out from her room after finishing dressing. The boys had also gathered at the living room, waiting for the main character of the event.

“She has come!” Wooyoung said after seeing the girls with Tiffany.

“Wow, so pretty!” Donghae gave a compliment to Tiffany which she replied with her eye-smile. However, she immediately looked around, looking for someone that she had been waiting for.

Finally, she spotted Hyunjoong who looked very smart with his tuxedo. She stared at him while smiling widely. She approached him. He looked at her in amazement as how beautiful she was even with a simple white dress.

“She looks very pretty, isn’t it?” Sunny asked Hyunjoong boldly. Tiffany looked quite shocked with Sunny’s bold question that caused her to give a stern stare at Sunny.

“Ah, yes…” Hyunjoong said while smiling. “She looked indeed beautiful.” Tiffany smiled shyly after hearing his compliment.

“Fany-ah, hurry up! Cut this cake, I’m starving already.” Sungmin said while holding onto his stomach.

“Aigoo, you’re really…!” Sunny patted Sungmin’s arm.

“What?! What did I do?!” Sungmin asked angrily.

“Ok, I’ll do it.” Tiffany replied while chuckling. Everyone sang the Happy Birthday song while clapping their hands. “… Happy Birthday to you~”

“Fany-ah, make a wish!” Onew added while giving her a knife to cut the cake.

Tiffany made a wish while closing her eyes before blowing out the candles. “Yeah!!!” She cut the cake and gave the first piece of cake to Hyunjoong to take first bite of the cake.

“Me?” Hyunjoong asked in shock as he didn’t expect it. “Why? There are many…”

“Ah~” Tiffany didn’t hear his excuse or reason, she still insisted wanting Hyunjoong to take the first bite. Finally, he didn’t have other choice, take the first bite of the cake that she feed him.

“Wow, I’m so jealous~ Hyunjoong is more precious than us.” Jessica purposely said just to tease Tiffany and Hyunjoong.

“No, no! That doesn’t mean of this!” Tiffany denied strongly.

“Yes, yes. We get it.” Taeyeon added while elbowing Tiffany playfully.

“Aish, you guys are really… seriously…” Tiffany said in frustration while Hyunjoong just smiled bashfully.

As they were chatting happily while having their meal, Yuri just realized that Minho was not there. She did invite him but she wondered why he didn’t come when he said he would. She was sure he would inform or something if he couldn’t make it.

“Guys, do you see Minho? Doesn’t he come?” Yuri asked.

“We don’t see him at all.” Donghae answered. “Why? Did he say he would come?”

“Yes…” Yuri said with concerned face. “He didn’t inform anything to me…” She added while taking a look on her cell phone in case there was missed call or message.

Sunny saw Sungmin was eating hungrily like he had not been eating for a few days. “Yah~ what’s wrong with you? Are you that busy that you are this hungry?” She asked before drinking the water.

“Of course I’m so busy, not only with our schedule, I also spent time to finish your song.”

Sunny almost spilled the water that she was drinking when Sungmin openly said that he was trying to finish the song that he composed for her. She continuously coughed as she patted her own chest. She still felt embarrassed and awkward every time people know that they acted sweet to each other like a normal couple which was different from before which they always had different opinion and argued a lot. Everyone seemed very shocked to hear the words from Sungmin.

“You compose a song for Sunny? Really?” Yoona asked in disbelief. Sungmin nodded hesitantly as he did feel quite embarrassed like Sunny and his face has turned quite red. “Sunny-ah, he is so sweet to you, I’m really envious!” Both of Sunny and Sungmin especially looked very embarrassed.

Donghae looked quite shocked when Yoona was envious of them. “Yah, Im Yoona! What are you envious at them? You got a perfect boy like me!”

“What perfect boy? Hmph!!” Yoona purposely making an angry expression to Donghae. Donghae got speechless before he let out a chuckle.

Wooyoung added to tease Sungmin, “I thought you can’t compose a song to us. So, it turned out that you JUST don’t want to compose a song for our group but you still compose a song for her. Wow, now I can see how you love Sunny very much.”

“Aish, just shut up!” Sungmin replied angrily.

“I never saw you being so red like that!” Tiffany added referring how Sungmin looked so shy and embarrassed.

Sunny cleaned . “Can we continue our meal?” She really hope they could get out from that topic as soon as possible.

“Why? Are you that embarrassed?” Taeyeon asked jokingly.

“Aish!” Sunny took bread in front of her and stuffed it into Taeyeon’s mouth who sat beside her to keep silent. Everyone just laughed seeing these two’s actions.

However, Yuri seemed quite quiet compared to others as she was still worried there might be something happened to Minho. He wouldn’t done that without informing to her anything.

Then, suddenly, they heard someone opening the door which caused everyone to pay attention to it. Minho appeared behind the door which relieved Yuri. He ran towards them in rush. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Did I come late?” He kept apologizing.

“YAH! CHOI MINHO!!!” Yuri suddenly shouted that not only Minho shocked but everyone else too. Minho looked at Yuri while blinking his eyes faster as he looked quite scared whenever Yuri lost her temper. “Didn’t I say that don’t run? Your legs are still…”

“Ah, Yuri-yah, I thought something bad happened.” Taeyeon said while chuckling. “You really scared us with your anger.”

“I have reminded him many times to be careful but he still… why won’t I be angry? He kept making me uneasy.”

“Yuri-yah, I’m sorry~” Minho said cutely while approaching her to cool down her anger. “I was late. That’s why…”

“That’s the excuse for you can run? Why don’t you stop worrying me?!”

“Alright, alright! I will remember it next time.” He patted her shoulders. “Ok? Be happy since we are at Tiffany’s birthday party?”

“That’s right, Yuri-yah, just forgive him.” Tiffany lent her hand to Minho.

“Alright~” Yuri replied lazily. “You’re dead if you do that again!” She gave a stern warning.

“Ok, ok. Thanks!” He beamed at her while pitching her cheeks gently which caused Yuri to change her angry expression to a smile on her face.

“Thank you.” Minho also thanked Tiffany for helping him. “Then, was I too late for your birthday?”

“It’s okay. We just started anyways.” Tiffany smiled to him.

-----------

The boys were chatting happily in the living room while the girls started cleaning the table after they all finished eating.

Yoona was washing the dish at the sink while Donghae left the boy group and entered the kitchen which Yoona was at. He cleaned his throat as he stood beside her to let her know about his presence.

“Oh?” She looked at him and smiled. Then, she continued washing the dish. “What are you doing here?” However, he didn’t reply anything to her and just be silent. She found it was quite weird. “Huh?” She looked at him again. His expression didn’t seem too good and it seemed there was something bothering her minds. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“I’m curious about something.” He started his first words with sad tone.

“Well, what is it?”

“Am I really imperfect for you?” He seemed so serious and she was sure he didn’t joke around like he was usually doing with her.

She decided to talk seriously and turned off the pipe. “Huh? What are you talking about?” She paid her attention fully on him.

“When you said that you are so envious of Sunny, are you really sad with me?”

Yoona’s mouth slightly opened as she was very shocked and speechless that he took it seriously what she said. She really didn’t believe that someone who really like joking around was taking her joke seriously. Then, she laughed as she found how funny it was.

Donghae looked dumbfounded with Yoona’s laugh. “Yah, why did you laugh? I’m serious! Are you finding this is funny?”

“Yes, it’s really funny!” She emphasized while smiling widely just to more.

“What the…!” He asked in disbelief.

“Aigoo!” She cupped his face while shaking it gently. “I really wonder how can you, a person who likes to joke around, can take my joke seriously.”

“What?” He frowned.

“I just joke around! Of course I am envious at Sunny but it’s just like a girl who envious at other girls. That’s all, it’s just common thing. Why? Do you think I want to find other guy?” She laughed again.

“It’s really the truth? You don’t be upset with me?”

“Yes, Lee Donghae-sshi! Ok, smile now, won’t you?” Finally, he smiled like a little kid whose wish just was fulfilled. She giggled later seeing his cute face.

Taeyeon finished cleaning the table and she joined the boys who were chatting at the living room. She was looking for Wooyoung but he wasn’t there. “Where is Wooyoung?”

Sungmin answered, “I think he went out. Try looking for him outside.”

“Ok, thanks.” Taeyeon walked to the door and walked out from the villa. She looked around the compound. A few seconds later, she spotted Wooyoung who was having his back on her. She was just about to call him happily but stopped with her smile disappeared from her face. She stared at silently from behind. She didn’t know why but she could feel the sadness and sorrow just by staring his back. She really wondered how she could get these feelings from someone who was always being cheerful all this time. Was it because she didn’t know him well yet?

She finally decided to come closer. “Wooyoung-ah…” She called gently.

“OH!!! You startled me!” He looked so shocked of her sudden appearance from his back. “Ah, what is this? You really shocked me!” He hove a relieved sigh while tapping his chest.

She smiled when seeing his shocked reaction and she stood beside him. “What happened? What were you thinking that you are shocked like that?”

“Oh? N… nothing.”

She turned her head towards him and looked at him seriously. “Do you have problem bothering you?”

“N… nope!” He looked so anxious and nervous every time she asked about his problem.

“Really? Then, why did you look so worried about something? And, you always tried to be alone. Like right now…”

“Aigoo, Taengoo-yah…” He wrapped his arms around her from behind, giving a back-hug. “…you always think negatively, don’t you?”

“Not… I’m just worried about you.” She placed her hand on his hand while leaning against him comfortably.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” However, his expression was totally different from his word and Taeyeon couldn’t see that.

------

After finishing the cleaning in the kitchen, the girls joined the boys in the living room. Yuri took a seat beside Minho. He smiled to her as he interlocked his hands around hers. She smiled widely later.

Jessica spotted the couple ring on Minho’s and Yuri’s hand and she talked about it. “Oh, you two even have couple rings now.”

“Oh, yes.” Minho smiled widely to Jessica and Yuri smiled happily.

“Wow, it’s really pretty!” Yoona praised.

“Jessica, I heard from Yuri that you’re almost leaving.” Minho said.

“Ah, yes… because of a silly guy, I almost leave.” Jessica replied.

“What?!” Onew asked in shock which Jessica just replied with a chuckle. Then, he added which everyone laughed for, “But, I acknowledged her words.”

Meanwhile, at the outside, Hyunjoong was talking alone with Tiffany or precisely, Tiffany wanted to talk to him about something. “You want to talk to me about something?” She nodded. “Before that, do you like your present?”

“Yes, I’m really~ like it especially it is pink in colour.” Tiffany said happily. Hyunjoong chuckled at her mention of her favourite colour. “But… why did you give me scarf? It is summer right now, isn’t it? So, you won’t be able to see me wear it yet.”

“It’s okay. I purposely give you that.”

“Why?” She asked curiously.

“Just because… we don’t know what will happen future… so, I just hope that I’ll able to see you in this winter. Or at the very least, I hope you remember me when you wear it.”

Tiffany looked at him while smiling, “Why did you talk like one of us will be leaving?”

“No, that doesn’t what I mean. We never know about future, aren’t we? But, you must promise me to wear it during winter.” Tiffany nodded for a few times. “But, what do you want to ask me?”

“Hm… about the card, the card you gave me. I don’t understand about the last part? What does it mean? 143?”

Hyunjoong chuckled before answering. “Why? Are you so curious about that?”

“Of course! Do you know how hurt my head is to think about the meaning of that?!” Tiffany said angrily.

“Do you really don’t know or do you pretend only?” Hyunjoong looked suspicious of her.

“I really don’t know!” She emphasized. He just smiled widely instead of telling her the answer. “So, aren’t you going to tell me?”

“It’s your responsibility to find it out.”

“What?!” She asked in disbelief.

“It’s not necessary to find out the meaning. In fact, I don’t think you should know it.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s up to your choice.”

“Yah, Kim Hyunjoong!” She suddenly raised her voice as she lost her temper. “Are you going to joke around like this?” He just laughed hearing her poured out her frustration. “Or are you just trying to fool me?”

“Of course not. What do I gain by fooling you?” He shrugged.

“Who knows, maybe you were dying of laughter at home thinking how silly I am to be curious over it.”

“Aigoo, your imagination is just… too great!” He patted her head like a little kid.

“Fany-ah, Fany-ah!” They heard someone calling for her that they turned around. It was Yuri and Yoona who were looking for Tiffany.

“Oh, Yuri-yah, Yoona-yah, why?” Tiffany asked as they called her.

“You’re with Hyunjoong.” Yuri replied while smiling widely.

“Then, we are not going to disturb you guys. We are leaving.” Yoona said while laughing as well as Yuri.

“Yah, you guys are just going to go like that?” Tiffany asked but Yuri and Yoona just walked away while giggling looking at Tiffany being alone with Hyunjoong. “Ah, seriously… what’s wrong with them?”

Hyunjoong just laughed and Tiffany laughed along later.

-----------

The party had ended and everyone had gone home. Tiffany went into her room earlier than others but they found it was quite strange that Tiffany’s room was still bright despite she went into her room earliest.

“Why is she not sleeping yet?” Taeyeon was the first to realize.

“Oh, that’s right.” Jessica agreed. “I thought she was tired that she really wanted to go bed early than usual.”

“Maybe there is something bothering her?” Yuri asked, suggesting to go into Tiffany’s room to check it.

Sunny knocked the door of Tiffany. “Fany-ah, aren’t you sleeping yet? Can we enter?”

“Yes, come in.” A bright yet tired voice replied from inside. The girls came into her room.

As expected, Tiffany was still busy on doing something that the girls were wondering about. “What are you doing?” Yoona asked while sitting on the side of the bed.

“Thinking how to solve this code.” Tiffany who was holding the card given by Hyunjoong, replied.

“Code? What kind of code?” Jessica asked in curiosity.

“Well, I don’t know… that’s why I’m thinking on how to solve it.” Tiffany gave Jessica the card. “Take a look.”

“Where is the code?” Jessica asked in confusion after reading the card that Hyunjoong gave. “It’s just a normal card.” The girls surrounded around Jessica to read it but they gave the same reaction like Jessica.

Tiffany explained, “At the below part of the card, see it. There is something he wrote.”

Jessica took a look like Tiffany asked her. However, the reaction Jessica gave wasn’t expected by Tiffany. Jessica laughed before saying, “Fany-ah, do you really don’t know?”

“Why did you laugh?” Tiffany found it was quite annoying when she tried hard to find it out. Then, she realized there might be other reason behind her laugh. “Why? Do you what it means?” She asked eagerly.

“Do you really don’t know? Or are you just pretending?” Taeyeon asked.

“I’m reeeaallly don’t know!” Tiffany emphasized. “Why? All of you know what it means? Am I the only one?” The girls nodded.

“Fany-ah, you are serious, right? Aren’t you joking around?” Yuri seemed still suspicious that Tiffany didn’t know anything about it.

“What?! Why should I joke around?! I’m serious! Hyunjoong even insisted not to tell me even how much I asked him. Why are you guys doubting me so much?” Tiffany talked in frustration.

Yoona replied while chuckling, seeing Tiffany’s reaction. “Just because… it just doesn’t making any sense that you don’t know about this.”

“Why? Am I that silly?” Tiffany pouted her lips. “Everyone else in the world know about this except me?”

“That doesn’t what I mean.” Yoona said. “This code is very popular, you know.”

“Then, what does it mean?”

“I love you.” Sunny gave the answer of the code that Tiffany was so curious about.

“What?!” Tiffany looked at Sunny in astonishment. “What’s wrong with you? Are you confessing your feelings to me, Sunny-ah?” She laughed.

“That’s the meaning.” Sunny explained. Tiffany still looked confused. “The code, 143. Its meaning is ‘I love you’.”

“Wh… wh… What?!” Tiffany asked in disbelief and she stood up abruptly as she was too shocked.

The girls just smiled widely to her as they were happy that their guess all this time was indeed the truth. They could feel and see that Hyunjoong really liked Tiffany, the same goes to Tiffany but she was too stubborn to admit it.

“How can that be? How can 143 be that meaning?” Tiffany still couldn’t accept it.

Yuri explained, “1… I… one letter, 4… L… O… V… E… four letter and 3… Y…O… U!” She finished by pointing towards Tiffany.

Tiffany just got speechless after hearing Yuri’s explanation and she just couldn’t find any words to say. She really couldn’t believe that Hyunjoong just confessed his feelings towards her.

“Then, what are you going to do?” Yoona asked Tiffany.

“What do you mean by what I’m going to do?”

“He already confesses his feelings and now it’s time for you to admit your feelings too, Fany-ah.”

“What are you talking about? I… I’m not going to do anything.” Tiffany looked really confused and scared.

“Fany-ah, do you remember when you advise me before I got together with Onew?” Jessica asked. “Now, we are in the same situation, you know how I feel, right? And, I hope you also follow what you had advised me.”

“We… we aren’t in the same situation… you’re different… you like Onew and I… I…” Tiffany kept stuttering.’’

“Why? Don’t you like Hyunjoong too?” Taeyeon asked. “Until when you want to keep lying to us and to yourself too?”

“Wh… why… are you guys doing this to me? I’m not going to do anything about it!” Tiffany stomped her legs in frustration. “It’s really late now, we should sleep already.” She lied down on her bed. “Please turn off the light before you guys go.”

“Ok, Fany, we will give time to think about this.” The girls decided to let her to think carefully about that thing. She must have been too shocked by Hyunjoong’s confession though she did sense it.

-------

The ringing of the cell phone occupied the silent atmosphere in the living room. The girls realized that it was Tiffany’s cell phone.

“Tiffany, your cell phone is ringing!” Taeyeon informed from the kitchen, thinking that Tiffany might be in her room. However, there was no reply from Tiffany. Taeyeon got out from the kitchen and headed to the living room. “Fany-ah, your phone…” She stopped as she saw Tiffany also in living room, sitting on the sofa with her cell phone a metre away from her, on the table.

Taeyeon found it was very strange Tiffany didn’t bother to pick up that call. She sat beside Tiffany. “Why aren’t you taking that call?” Instead of answering her question, Tiffany just stared at her with heavy heart. Taeyeon took a look at the caller’s name. “Then, now did you decide to avoid Hyunjoong?”

“Actually, I don’t want to avoid him but… I don’t want to give him hope.”

“Ignoring him like this won’t solve the problem, you know? It just makes it worse.”

“I know, I know. But, I really don’t know what to do.”

“Seeing you being like this now, I’m sure you have chosen not to follow your heart, you have chosen to stay with Mike, aren’t you? If you really decided that, then, you must keep your relationship with Hyunjoong like before and not to keep your distance away from him, ok? Aren’t you still friend with him? He must be very worried if you didn’t answer his call.”

“Yes, I understand but… my heart… it hurts…”

“Hurt? Why?”

Tiffany didn’t answer Taeyeon’s question and just stared at her with sad face. She avoided him not like she hated him, it’s not because she felt uncomfortable with him but she was afraid that after she knew his real feelings, the more she heard his voice, the more she felt too weak to keep her current decision and the more she met him, the more she fell in love with him.

---------

Tiffany come out from her room after changing her cloth. She went into the living room with her hand bag hanging on her shoulder. “I’ll come back.”

“Oh? Where are you going?” Sunny asked.

“The restaurant which is nearest to my apartment, to meet Mike.”

“Why?” The girls asked in delight, thinking that Tiffany was going to solve her problems concerning Hyunjoong.

“Well, he just want to see me since my birthday yesterday as he feels sorry.” The girls looked obviously disappointed. “Why?”

“Oh, nothing. Then, come back soon. Bye!”

-----------

“Here!” Mike waved his hand happily when seeing Tiffany entering the restaurant.

Tiffany spotted him at the table, 4 tables apart from her. She smiled seeing his usual excited face whenever he saw her that made her felt her decision was the right thing to do. She approached him and took the seat in front of him. “Did you wait long?”

“Not, I just have been here a moment ago.” After seeing Tiffany placed her hands on the table, he held her hands. Tiffany looked at him with questioned face. “We never hold hands like this, didn’t we?” She just forced a smile. “Then, can I kiss you now?”

“What?!” She asked in disbelief and anger.

“Alright, alright.” He tried to cool down her anger. “Then, do you want to drink?” He poured a drink for her.

“I don’t feel like drinking.”

“Why? I want to celebrate your birthday, that’s why I want us to meet today.”

“It’s okay. You can just drink. I really don’t feel like drinking.”

“Oh, come on! It won’t be good if I’m the one who drink.”

Tiffany kept refusing. “No, I’m quite tired today. Please…”

Mike finally accepted it though he felt very disappointed. He just drank by himself while Tiffany just zoned out, she didn’t look happy at all. She just thought what she should do to solve her problems with Hyunjoong.

Mike was aware of Tiffany’s condition. “Why? What’s wrong? Do you have problems?”

“Oh… nothing.”

“Then, aren’t you going to eat too?” He realized that she didn’t touch her food at all.

“Ok, I’ll eat.” Only then, she took the spoon and took a bite though it was still not much.

“Why? Do you dislike that much to be with me right now?”

“No, no, of course not. I just feel quite tired today, that’s all.” She looked at Mike in guilt. She really didn’t want him feel bad but she indeed felt tired from thinking how to solve the problems. “Mike…” She said apologetically. “That really doesn’t what I mean. I’m happy to be with you.”

“Alright, I get it.” He forced a smile to show that he was fine. He ordered more drinks.

Tiffany realized that he had felt very bad. “Why did you order more?” She asked hesitantly, “Are you mad at me?”

“No, no. I just feel like drinking more. Don’t worry, I won’t force you to drink.” He replied coldly.

“Mike…” Tiffany looked at him with sad and guilty face.

Mike drank a glass after a glass. He seemed really angry at Tiffany.

Tiffany took the bottle from his hand when he was about to pour it on the glass. “Slowly.”

Mike just ignored her and took the bottle back from her hand without any words. He continued to drink. She couldn’t do anything and just looked at him in worry.

“Now, stop drinking!” Tiffany got a hold on the bottle after seeing he had finished three bottles. He tried to take back but he didn’t have any strength against Tiffany, showing he was already drunk. “Wait here, don’t go anywhere!” She said firmly as she walked away to pay for the meal.

A few minutes later, she came back. She approached him and took his arm, putting it on her shoulder. She dragged him out from the restaurant.

“Aigoo…” She kept sighing as he was too heavy for her especially when he was drunk. “Can’t you stand still?!” She scolded him as she tried to make him kept standing. Suddenly, he looked directly into her eyes. “W… why?” She asked anxiously.

She didn’t feel good with his somewhat scary stare. All of a sudden, he placed his lips on hers and gave her a forceful kiss. She had to struggle before she could push him away.

“What the heck did you just do?!” She shouted at him angrily.

“What’s wrong with that? We are lovers, aren’t we?”

“Can’t you wait until I feel comfortable?!”

“What do you mean by comfortable? We become lovers because of love, is there anything to be comfortable with? It’s just a kiss, what’s really wrong with that? Why can’t I kiss my own girlfriend?” Mike took closer steps towards Tiffany and his stare really showed that he could do anything to Tiffany on that time.

“Don’t come closer to me!” Tiffany gave a stern warning to him but he ignored it that caused Tiffany have to take steps backwards to avoid him. “Mike, don’t come here! I gave a warning to you!” She said sternly but Mike didn’t listen to her at all.

He pushed Tiffany to the wall by holding onto both of her shoulders. “What are you doing?! Let me go!”

He held her chin to keep her stay still. “Do you know how frustrated I am?”

“Hey, let me go!”

As Tiffany kept insisting, he kissed her on the lips forcefully.

Tiffany struggled to fight him back but he was too strong opponent for her. “Mike, please don’t do this! Please!” She pleaded until her tears fell to her cheeks. He didn’t care at all what Tiffany said.

“HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Suddenly, out of nowhere, a guy appeared.

Finally, Mike stopped and he took a look at that guy. Tiffany saw Hyunjoong with her teary eyes as she breathed heavily. She didn’t know his appearance was the truth or not but she just felt thankful to see him in front of her right now.

Hyunjoong looked in disbelief of what he just saw. He grasped his fist and walked in rush towards Mike. “Let her go!” He said as he threw a strong punch towards Mike’s face until he fell down on the ground.

Before Mike could stand by himself, Hyunjoong forced him to stand up by grabbing onto his collar. “How dare you do this to her when she put faith in you?!” He threw a strong punch once again on Mike’s face. He kept throwing the punch on Mike non-stop and Mike didn’t even have chance to defend himself not to mention to punch him back.

Tiffany realized that Hyunjoong had punched Mike too much that Mike looked like he didn’t even have energy left. She tried to stop Hyunjoong, “Hyunjoong, please stop, he has injured badly.” Hyunjoong didn’t listen to her as he felt too angry at Mike for treating Tiffany like that. “Hyunjoong, please!” She held his arm to stop him.

“Have you forgotten what he did to you?!” Hyunjoong said angrily at Tiffany. He was quite angry at Tiffany because she still had sympathy and concern for Mike.

“Of course, I didn’t forget but he was already injured badly. He was drunk, I’m sure he didn’t have intention to do this.”

“Are you still taking side on him?!”

“No, of course not! I just tell the truth, he’s really drunk. You will kill him if you persist like this!”

“Do you think I’ll be okay after what he did to you?! I didn’t mind to be a murderer!” He said seriously showing how strong his love for Tiffany.

“Hyunjoong, what are you talking about?!” Tiffany seemed very shocked after hearing his words. “Please… I’m fine, I’m really fine.” She calmed him down. She cupped his face and looked directly into his eyes. “I’m really fine. Don’t say like that again.”

He finally nodded as she managed to calm him down. “Let’s go!” He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from there, staying there just made him felt so angry. She just followed him obediently.

She just stared at him silently as he pulled her along. She didn’t know how to tell him how much she was thankful for his appearance to save her. She could just say a simple thank, “Thank you so much. I didn’t know what I should do if you didn’t come.” She could see his expression slightly changed hearing her thank but he still didn’t say anything. “But, how did you know I was here?”

He suddenly stopped walking when Tiffany asked that question. She stared at him silently.

[Flashback]

“Oh, Hyunjoong! You come here.” Taeyeon looked quite shocked with Hyunjoong’s appearance as she didn’t expect it. “Come in.”

Hyunjoong followed Taeyeon entering Soshi Girls’ villa. The girls saw Hyunjoong and they greeted him.

Hyunjoong took a seat on the sofa facing the girls. He could see everyone except Tiffany. “Is Tiffany here? I called her many times but she didn’t pick up. I’m so worried that I come here.”

“Well, she…” Yuri didn’t know how to say.

“Is she here? Can I see her?”

The girls looked hesitant to tell what actually happened as Tiffany also asked them to keep it as a secret. However, they also didn’t know what kind of lie they should tell especially when Tiffany went out seeing Mike.

Hyunjoong was aware of the girls’ expressions. He could sense something that the girls tried to hide. “Please tell me the truth.” The girls still looked hesitant as they were worried that Tiffany might be more uneasy. “Please… please tell me. So, that I will able to help to solve the problems.”

Yoona spoke up. “Hyunjoong, it isn’t like we didn’t want to tell you but Tiffany…”

Hyunjoong cut her off. “Did Tiffany purposely avoid my calls?” The girls looked shocked that he could guess it which gave Hyunjoong directly the answer for his question. “It’s like what I thought. Then, why did she avoid it? Don’t tell me… it’s because of my confession? She have found out the meaning of 143?”

“Yes, we tell her the meaning.” Sunny replied.

“But… but, but I don’t understand. Why did she want to avoid me? Does she feel uncomfortable with me? I didn’t ask her to reply my love. Does she hate me that much?!” Hyunjoong looked very disappointed and sad.

“Hyunjoong, what are you talking about? She didn’t hate you!” Jessica emphasized. She felt very sad too for Hyunjoong. “How can she hate you when she likes you too?” She didn’t know how those words come out from but it just did.

“Sica!” The girls looked very shocked when Jessica just told the whole truth. Hyunjoong looked at Jessica in disbelief while widening his eyes.

“Opps!” Jessica covered while her hand as she shocked herself for telling the truth bluntly. Hyunjoong suddenly got up and approached Jessica before kneeling in front of her. The girls looked really shocked of Hyunjoong’s unexpected action. “Hy… Hyunjoong, what are you doing?” Jessica asked anxiously.

“Are you telling the truth?” Hyunjoong looked at Jessica with a spark in his eyes. The girls could see how desperate he was to know Tiffany’s real feelings.

“But, please get up first, you are making me feel awkward.” Jessica tried to make him get up while letting out a chuckle.

Hyunjoong listened to her and sat back. “Then, please tell me the truth.”

“Well, truthfully… she didn’t admit that she likes you.” Taeyeon started speaking. “But!” She emphasized. “We are her friends, we know how she feels. Whenever we ask her about whether she likes you or not, she suddenly burst into anger, if she doesn’t like you, why she would get mad? She even wanted to change the topic as soon as possible whenever we brought it out.”

Yoona added, “Besides, I can see that she looks very happy when she talked about you and not to mention, how she treasured your present and trying hard to solve the code.”

Yuri concluded, “So, in the conclusion, we are 100% sure that you are the guy that she really likes.”

Sunny added the detail of the proof of Tiffany liked Hyunjoong, “If she doesn’t like you, she can act naturally around you even after knowing your feelings towards her, she just could pretend that she couldn’t solve the code since you aren’t confessing to her directly, but she chose to avoid your calls because she was afraid that her determination to stay at her decision was too weak. You know, how much hard for her when she already has Mike.”

Jessica agreed, “Sunny is right.Tiffany is afraid that after knowing you feel like exactly she feels, she might change her decision.”

“Decision?” Hyunjoong didn’t get it.

“Yes. She didn’t know what she should do after finding out your feelings. She doesn’t want to hurt both of you and Mike. So, I think, in her perspective, staying with Mike is the best choice to be less hurt for Mike and even you.”

“Then, how about me? Won’t I be hurt by her decision?” Hyunjoong asked while frowning.

Taeyeon replied, trying to explain nicely to him. “That’s why, from the start, Tiffany wants to conceal her feeling for you. If you don’t know her feelings, I think you won’t even think that she had made that decision, isn’t it? In the first place, she is Mike’s girlfriend… I think she doesn’t have the courage to hurt Mike.”

“Doesn’t she think about her own feelings?” Hyunjoong still didn’t get how Tiffany didn’t want to follow her heart.

“Alright, talking about that!” Jessica suddenly got enthusiastic while clapping her hand once. The girls looked quite shocked with Jessica’s sudden high energy but later, they laughed and Hyunjoong looked dumbfounded. “You know what, I have experienced the same situation like her before I got together with Onew.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yup! And, the surprising thing is she is the one trying very hard to help me and Onew getting together. She is the one that came from US, just to help me and Onew. Do you how surprising it is?”Hyunjoong got speechless after hearing that from Jessica. “But, you can’t blame her though because I also didn’t blame her.”

“Yes, Jessica is right.” Taeyeon added. “You know, being in that situation much harder than seeing from the side.”

“You must understand her feelings, ok? She must feel very uneasy, thinking about this matter.” Yuri tapped Hyunjoong’s arm. “But, honestly, we really wish you won’t give up on her yet.”

“Huh?” Hyunjoong looked dumbfounded.

“We don’t mean that you should force her and declare your feelings openly, we just want you to always stay by her side and treat her well. Who knows? After some times, she might change her mind.”

“Honestly, we’re not rooting for you neither Mike. We just want Tiffany be happy, I mean the real happiness.” Yoona explained nicely. They were fine with Tiffany wanted to stay with Mike but since they could see clearly how Tiffany felt, they wanted her to find her real happiness. The situation that Onew and Jessica had been through, had shown to them, how important for someone to be with the loved one.

“Ok, I get it.” Hyunjoong gave small smile to the girls, thanking them for telling him the truth, how Tiffany felt and the situation she was in and how to deal with it. “Then, can I know where she is?”

“Well…” the girls looked hesitant to tell the location where Tiffany was since she was with Mike. They were worried that Hyunjoong might look for her there.

“Why?”

“She… she is at the restaurant, near her apartment.” As they didn’t want to lie, they just told him. Besides, they had explained to him nicely how to deal with the situation of him, Tiffany and Mike, they were sure he won’t do something stupid.

[End of flashback]

Tiffany still waiting for Hyunjoong’s answer as he was just silent. Then, he finally voiced, “Is that important right now?” He still looked very mad. “Aish!!!” He kicked the air. “I’m really…” He wandered around angrily.

“Hyunjoong…” Tiffany looked quite shocked as she didn’t expect that he still very mad.

“Why didn’t you listen to me?! I have said to you before that he is not nice guy! I told you that you have to be careful! Instead, you replied to me that you know him very well and all my assumptions are wrong! You even got mad at me!!! What are you going to do if I wasn’t there?!”

Tiffany didn’t reply anything and she just bowed her head silently. Hyunjoong looked at her while breathing heavily. He really got mad at her because she chose to trust Mike though he already advised her to be careful.

“Then, what do you want me to do?!” She finally replied with y voice, showing that she already burst into tears. “Do you think I like this?! Do you think I want this to happen?!”

Hyunjoong’s anger finally was gone when he saw her crying. He did feel guilty for making her crying. He took a few steps towards her and pulled her into his embrace. “I’m sorry. I’m just too angry thinking what he just did to you, I’m sorry.” He her hair to comfort her. She wrapped her arms around his waist tighter as she kept sobbing.