Chapter Twenty-Three

~~~

"Can I go with you?" Tiffany asked as Taeyeon got up, putting on her jacket. Taeyeon looked at her with wide eyes, "No, no, I can't let you do that,"

"Why not?" the brunette asked, watching Ginger run past her along with Taecyeon. "I've already told you about Taecyeon, I'm not supposed to. I can't let you get involved," Taeyeon shook her head, "Especially if it involves the possiblity of you getting hurt, I won't allow it," she added softly. Tiffany's eyebrows connected in a touched expression, "Taeyeon,"

"Well, I'll be going then," Taeyeon coughed a bit, zipping up the jacket she had on, "I'll be back in a few," Tiffany walked Taeyeon to the door and watched as the girl put on her shoes. Opening the door, Taeyeon looked back and gave a soft smile and a slight nod of the head to Tiffany, who responded with a smile.

"Be careful, Taeyeon," Tiffany warned lightly. Taeyeon nodded, looking at Taecyeon who was watching her from the couch, "I will,"

~~~

"Your job is to make him better, not to meddle in his parent's business!" the man with an unshaved beard roared at the smaller girl. Taeyeon did not flinch, she had gotten good at control her emotions over the past year, no matter how scared she was, "His parents are the reason of his 'depression', Mr. Ok," she stated.

Mr. Ok stormed out the house but not before pushing Taeyeon roughly out of the way. Taeyeon's eyes looked towards the skinny, fragile woman hiding behind the corner of the wall while Nana hugged her. "Mrs. Ok," Taeyeon called out, "Can we talk?"

~~~

Everything somehow amused Taeyeon. It went from Taeyeon being lonely and depressed to Tiffany taking her in, caring for her, and ultimately– loving her. Now it's Taeyeon's turn to take someone in, to care for them, to love them, and that person was Taecyeon. 

Every other child Taeyeon had dealt with had problems such as not getting things he/she wanted, having a pet die, or even just moving to a new school and being overwhelmed but Taecyeon's case was so unique, it intriqued Taeyeon.

~~~

"Hi Jessi– Oh, hi, Taeyeon," Tiffany opened the door, expecting it to be Jessica but was surprised when it was Taeyeon. The black haired girl gave a small smile, "Is Jessica not home?" Tiffany opened the door a little wider, allowing Taeyeon to enter, "Nope, not yet, she went to take a make up test she missed when she was absent,"

Entering the apartment, Taeyeon looked around, "Oh," she replied before starting up conversation as Tiffany closed the door, "You still live here with Yul and Sica?" Tiffany let out an embarassed smile, "Yeah, my father still doesn't know that Siwon and I have broken up, he thinks I still live with him," she stated, walking towards the couch and Taeyeon followed.

"Why don't you tell him?" the other girl asked as they sat on the couch together and Ginger immediately jumped onto Taeyeon's lap. Tiffany sighed a bit, "He'll freak out," Taeyeon shook his head, "I don't think he would," she disagreed, "Just tell him that Siwon had tried to hurt you before, your dad is caring, he'll understand," Taeyeon rubbed Ginger's ear, "He loves you so it won't matter whether you're with Siwon or not, in the end, you'll still be his daughter,"

Tiffany widened her eyes at the girl in front of her. What had happened to the quiet, nonspeaking girl she had known before? Now, Taeyeon had a way with words and wasn't afraid to speak up and start conversation, "Who are you and what did you do to Kim Taeyeon?" Tiffany joked, a smile creeping up onto her lips.

Shy, Taeyeon lowered her head and let out a small chuckle, looking up, "I guess becoming a therapist changed me," she responded, looking into Tiffany's eyes. Tiffany hummed turning her eyes to the TV, "Living here with YulSic isn't exactly 'fun',"

How she could act so nonchalant and relaxed around Tiffany, Taeyeon did not know, but she liked it.

"YulSic?" Taeyeon questioned, quirking an eyebrow as she lifted up Ginger, placing him onto her legs and rubbing his belly. "Yuri and Jessica equals YulSic," Tiffany laughed, "It's a joke Jessie and I started," Taeyeon nodded, "It sounds cute," she smiled, "So what's wrong with living here?"

Tiffany began her ranting session, "They're like bunnies!" Taeyeon immediately laughed, understanding what Tiffany was saying. The brunette felt glad she could get Taeyeon to laugh, "I swear, I can't go to bed without hearing 'Stop, Yuri, that tickles!'" Tiffany mocked Jessica's voice in falsetto, "Or 'Come on, babe,'" she mimicked Yuri's voice in a deep tone. Tiffany chuckled a bit at her own imitations and Taeyeon's eyebrows were up in amusement as she was still laughing.

"Are they that bad?" Taeyeon asked, shoulders still shaking with silent laughs as she covered with her hand, hiding her teeth that were shown completely due to her laughing. Tiffany nodded and mentally counted to three in her head before hearing Taeyeon's wail of her 'Ahjumma laugh,'. It made Tiffany burst out laughing yet again. Some things never change.

And when Jessica walked into the apartment, she was surprised to see the two laughing together loudly. She cleared , "Hey, Taeyeon," she greeted. Taeyeon looked over and smiled, as if everything was perfectly normal. Jessica raised an eyebrow, "Having fun?"

"You and Yuri are real hor—" Taeyeon started before Tiffany placed her hand over the girl's lips. Almost immediately, Taeyeon's nostrils filled with the scent of strawberry, the scent of Tiffany. Tiffany smiled nervously at her best friend, "She's talking about you two being real.. real..." she stuttered, trying to figure out what to say as Jessica's eyebrow quirked at an even higher level, "That we are?" she asked. Taeyeon gently grabbed Tiffany's wrist, pulling it away from , ","

Taeyeon grinned as Jessica glared at Tiffany. Though the two had known Jessica for a long time, the glare never ceased to send chills down their spines, "It's true though!" Tiffany exclaimed, pointing to Jessica, "You and I both know very well that you and Yuri go at it every–"

Jessica interuppted with a loud, "Yah!" Then, a smirk appeared on her face, "That's very true, and you, Tiffany Hwang," she started out, "Need to find your own 'bunny mate'," she winked, purposely flickering her eyes towards Taeyeon, making both girls blush furiously.

~~~

"What the heck, Jessica! You're supposed to be against me being with Tiffany and you said that?!" Taeyeon proclaimed as they sat in the cafe together. Jessica sighed, "You want me to be against you and Tiffany?" Taeyeon immediately shook her head, "I didn't say that," she denied. Jessica let out a smile before her face turned serious again, "Maybe you two could work it out, right? Maybe things will work out better?"

"So... You're fine if I date Tiffany?" The older girl asked slowly. Jessica shrugged, "Like you said, you're a grown woman. But, if I were you, I wouldn't take her back so easily," 

"What do you mean?" Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows, briefly saying thank you to the waiter that had handed them their drinks before she took a drink out of her pure black coffee, face contorting at the bitter taste. Jessica scrunched her eyebrows at the dark drink before sipping her ice coffee, "What I mean is," she paused, taking another sip, "is to get her to chase after you a bit,"

"Chase after?" A third voice entered the conversation. Taeyeon widened her eyes. The black coffee didn't seem that bad now, she began to chug it down. Jessica let out a laugh at Taeyeon's behaviour before turning to Tiffany, who took a seat next to her, "We're talking about Taeyeon chasing after a girl she used to go to school with, right?" Jessica raised her eyebrow.

Taeyeon widened her eyes and nearly choked but she set the cup down, her tongue slightly burnt at the hot coffee, "J-Jessica," she stuttered, staring at Jessica, warning her not to go farther. Taeyeon didn't want to hurt Tiffany at all, Taeyeon didn't want to play with Tiffany's feelings. If Tiffany liked her back, then why not just immediately go out with her? Why the wait?

"O-Oh? You... like someone?" Tiffany asked, face obviously disappointed before she realized she was being a bit obvious and she immediately masked her sadness with a forced smile, "That's good," Taeyeon, who had become an expert at reading emotions, narrowed her eyes a bit at Tiffany before looking at Jessica, who was smiling deviously, "Taeyeon-ah, why don't you call her?"

"Yeah, call her," Tiffany mumbled, eyes staring into Taeyeon's soul. Taeyeon gave Jessica the 'I'll kill you later' look before speaking shakily, "She's probably at work right now, heh heh, I'll call her later," she said through her teeth, glaring at Jessica who was now laughing silently at the side.

~~~

"Do I know her?" Tiffany asked as she patted Ginger, not looking at Taeyeon though speaking to her. Taeyeon looked up at her paperwork in surprise, "Pardon?" Tiffany seemed flustered, "Do.. I know the girl you like?" The older girl opened to speak but did not let out any words.

To toy with Tiffany or to not? To be evil or to not? To not.

"Jessica.. was joking about that," Taeyeon said honestly, hoping that Jessica wouldn't overhear them from the bathroom where she was taking a shower. Tiffany's head snapped up immediately, "What?" she asked. Taeyeon winced at the look Tiffany gave her, "She wanted to see if you would react," Tiffany's cheeks painted themselves pink as her face warmed up and her eyes never met Taeyeon's, "O-Oh," she replied, embarassed.

Taeyeon let out a small chuckle, "It.. it worked, didn't it?" Slowly, Tiffany's eyes met Taeyeon's and the smile forming on Taeyeon's face grew instantly with the contact of their eyes. Tiffany, though still blushing, began to smile as well, her eyes forming their familiar cresents, "That was evil," she commented.

And at that moment, a spark and crackle of hope lit up a fire of ambition in Taeyeon's heart for she knew that this was going to work out.

OTL I hope this was good enough. Seriously I don't know why I added so much fluff when this stories supposed to be angsty HAHA.

there goes the angst /tosses it out the window/

I hope you enjoy~ Please comment and upvote if you havent ^^