Part 17- You tell me

The Bus Stop

 

 

As Taeyeon dumped the pasta into the metal colander, the doorbell rang. She peeked outside the kitchen door, still holding firmly the saucepan and called out to the hallway.

“Oppa!!!”

She heard the distinctive noise of water falling on the shower plate. The digital display on her wristwatch marked 7:20. The doorbell rang again.

“Coming!” she yelled, to no-one in particular, setting the colander outside and wiping her wet hands on the back of her jeans. She redid her ponytail, ending it in a messy bun and jogged towards the entrance. Before grabbing the door handle, she exhaled. She opened the door.

Tiffany stared back at her, surprised at the brusque movement. Her right hand lingered on the doorbell, and Taeyeon guessed that she was about to ring again.

She leaned against the door-frame, in an attempt to intimidate her.

“Hey Tiffany” she mustered, as nonchalantly as possible.

Tiffany stared back at her, agape. She subtly moved her head to the left, trying to peek inside the apartment, trying to see Jiwoong.

“Yeah, he’s here” Taeyeon smirked “he’s just showering at the moment”

They both stood in silence. Tiffany shifted around awkwardly and Taeyeon revelled in her new found power. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t intervene, that she wouldn’t get in the way of her brother’s dream. But there was nothing wrong with enjoying a petty revenge for that time at the convenience store.

“Can I come in?”

“I don’t know. Can you?”

She saw Tiffany’s eyes scrunch up in confusion. Noticed how her hands were now playing with the hems of her low-crop top. She could even swear she saw a bead of perspiration drop from her hairline as the other girl’s cheeks flushed faintly. She was secretly enjoying it. She shifted her position into one that was slightly more comfortable and crossed her right leg in front of the other. She flicked her loose hair strands back and smiled more widely. She looked up at Tiffany. And then her smile dropped.

 Tiffany’s lips were curled up in a taunting grin.

“You tell me”

“I…”

She felt Tiffany’s touch on her shoulder as the later pushed her gently to the side. She only registered the physical contact- once her back hit the door frame. Lifeless, she leaned against the door frame, staring at the red-headed girl in front of her. Seconds later, she miraculously snapped back to reality.

“Hey, what the hell is your problem? Don’t you know that’s inappropriate here in Korea?” Taeyeon shook her head, emphatically, in disapproval “Americans”

“What is?” Tiffany was smiling innocently. Taeyeon felt her anger boil.

“That. That which you just did. Don’t do that. Don’t look at me like that ever again”

Tiffany seemed amused by her reaction. Her eyes were set on Taeyeon’s face, as if they were taking in as much as possible, analysing every reaction, every flinch, every muscle movement.

She shrugged her shoulders.

“Sorry. It was a joke” she stopped in her tracks “I never told you I was American”

“Your name. It’s English”

“There are other countries that speak English you know. Like England”

“Yeah, but, you’re probably American anyways be-“

“So you just assumed because of my name. That’s not very politically correct”

“My friend guessed. She saw you at the club. Said your dancing looked American”

“That’s not very politically correct either”

Taeyeon was becoming exasperated. She knew Jiwoong would come out any minute and she didn’t want him to see her having a heated conversation with the girl. She’d promised him, herself, that she would accept it, no matter what. Her stupid joke was spiralling out of control.

“Look, Jessica is Korean-American too so she would know”

“Who?” Tiffany questioned briskly.

“Jessica. My friend. The one that said you danced like an American”

Tiffany snorted.

“Did she anything else about me with her magnificent analysing x-ray powers?”

“No. To be fair she didn’t even see your face”

Tiffany appeared to relax her posture. The aggressiveness in the air diminished and Tiffany held her hand out to her, amicably.

“Look, Taeyeon, I’d like us to get along. So, I’ll forget whatever happened last week and I hope that you’ll be able to do the same. For Jiwoong’s sake”

Taeyeon did not even have time to nod before Jiwoong burst out of his bedroom.

“Hey Tiffany!”

He hurriedly tuck his shirt in and tried to walk as quickly as possible, and in the most dignified manner, to where the two women  were. He looked quizzically at her sister.

“Erm, why isn’t Tiffany inside?”

Taeyeon was lost for words, but once again, her pseudo-archenemy set out to save her.

“We were just having a chat”

“That’s…” he glanced at Taeyeon for a reaction “great”.

Taeyeon closed the door in response. So this was the game, huh. The name of the game was to get Jiwoong.

***

They shuffled towards the living room, standing awkwardly until Jiwoong suggested that they sit on the old leather sofa. Taeyeon let her body fall with a thud in one of the chairs, eager to get away from the sickening couple. The two others took the couch.

“So…” her brother started.

He cleared his throat.

“So I guess you two know each other quite well now”

He laughed nervously.

Taeyeon rolled her eyes in response.

But Tiffany wasn’t having any of it.

“Let’s start again” she declared.

“Huh?” replied Jiwoong.

“Let’s just start again, all over. From the beginning. Scrap everything”

“Okay?” said her brother tentatively “Erm, I’ll start…”

“No” Tiffany cut him off. She looked at Taeyeon “I’ll start. I’m Tiffany, I’m Korean-American. I study medicine at Yonsei, but I’m not that great at it anyways. I work part time in a convenience store to pay for the fees. I hope we can get along”

She gave Taeyeon a look as if to say ‘your turn’.

Taeyeon rubbed her neck.

“I’m Taeyeon, I’m oppa’s younger sister by about a year. I’m Korean and that’s it. I never got into college. I work at a café to pay for just living…but oppa helps me out a lot”

Jiwoong’s suppressed smile did not go unnoticed.

“and I’m a part time musician so as to become a full-time one. That’s it”

“I’m Jiwoong and-“

“You’re a musician?” Tiffany asked.

“Yeah. Well, I try to”

“Did you write that song then? All on your own? The one you left behind”

Taeyeon was taken back by Tiffany’s eagerness and attention.

“I…kinda of”

“Kinda of?”

“Well, I don’t believe that one can write music on their own. Completely. It’s a collective effort from many things because” she struggled to find the right words. The other girl waited expectantly. “Because, because of inspiration. You can’t write if you don’t have inspiration and you draw inspiration from elsewhere, from other things. Things around you- weather, friends, experiences involving other people… So technically, I never write the songs on my own. They sort of come to me”

“Like that famous composer who waved a song away while driving. Like that?”

Taeyeon was speechless. She gulped

“Yeah. Exactly like that”

“I see” mused Tiffany “I see...”

This time it was Taeyeon who was waiting expectantly,

“So, where did you draw the inspiration from that song?” the red-haired girl continued. It seemed like she was carefully choosing her words.

Taeyeon looked up and stared right at her.

“You tell me”

Tiffany was visibly taken back by her answer.

“H-how would I know?” she stuttered.

“Jiwoong told you about me being upset at not finding the song, right?”

Jiwoong interrupted.

“No, I only said you were upset because the song had been ruined.and you really needed it” He paused “I don’t think I ever told her you wrote it yourself. Did I?”

Tiffany shook her head. She was still shaken.

Taeyeon frowned.  Why such a big reaction, she wondered.

“The song- I tried writing it many times. I tried finding it again and I only managed to find it, partially some time ago. It wasn’t the right song, it was similar. It was” she shook her head. She wasn’t making any sense.

“You found a song and waved it away and then you tried to remember it but couldn’t do it fully?”

Taeyeon felt her eyes opened wide, as if they were being yanked apart by a pair of pliers. Her stomach dropped. Her heartbeat quickened.

Sensing the tense atmosphere, Jiwoong stood up suddenly.

“Erm, I’m going to go and get the food now”

He bolted out of the living room.

“I’ll leave you guys to sort this out on your own” he added before disappearing.

“How…how do you understand?”

“Understand what?”

“The song”

“I-”

“What do you want, Tiffany? Why are you here?”

“I don’t understand what you mean”

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

“I don’t know how or why you somehow know these things- understand these things…”

Understand me, she thought.

“and I don’t know how you managed to find the song again. The real song. The one I had waved away.”

“The real song?”

“The one I wrote, was the ‘similar’ one, the bad copy, the recalled one. The one you wrote was- was the one I heard in my head. How?”

“Luck?”

“Luck?”

“Yeah”

“Maybe” Taeyeon was unconvinced.

She looked at Tiffany again.

“What do you want Tiffany?”

“The same as everybody else”

“And what’s that?”

Tiffany scoffed.

“You don’t know?”

“Should I know?”

And for a second, Tiffany’s expression softened. Her eyes melted, acquiring a dreamy quality, reminiscing of other times.

“To be happy” Tiffany finally replied. “I just want to be happy”

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Comments

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Yuu21kyu #1
Chapter 18: arghh.. agaiin

nice story..but uncomplete..
loveaddict
#2
Chapter 18: caught up! i wonder if this story is still .. running?
SooNaTaeNy #3
Chapter 18: I really enjoyed reading this!!!. I just hope you didn't abandon the story, author-nim. Fighting!
Nayeon-ah #4
Really good fic but I still have no clue if Tiffany likes Taeyeon I can't stand seeing her with her brother >< please author update I need to know what happens next :)
kotenshi #5
Nice story... but it keeps bugging me that this is more like an OT9 fic (?)
I kinda identify with many of the characters experinces :') and it's so well written >.<
Nintaengoo
#6
Chapter 18: hi new reader here :D

I've finished reading the 18 chapters, it's getting interesting and i want to read more of it! it's been a while since i read a decent taeny fanfic here in AFF so please try to update this as possible as you can.

and thumbs up for this well written fic :D
kimcoti #7
Chapter 18: at last you update!!! :) but it's ok please try to not take too long!!!
sumaco #8
Chapter 17: I Really like your story so far. It went in a totally different direction than I had initially expected, but it's still a really interesting plot! It seems Tiffany is more interested in Taeyeon than Jiwoong haha. I'm really curious at how they will progress from here on. Keep up the good work!
Irboxy
#9
Chapter 17: This story is so sweet and just beautiful man. Im sure a lot of readers can relate the way you wrote jessica's story and the was everyone wants to be happy even if everything's crumbling under their feet. Really touching and realistic, I love the way you write the characters out so beautifully. Good luck in continuing the story! :D
kimcoti #10
Chapter 17: ahhhhhh this is getting better please update soon!!! i really can't wait update please!!!