It has been a week since she told Yoona she was pregnant and she had to admit that it was probably something she should have done sooner. It was great to talk to her and little by little she felt less scared about telling her dad the reason why was she so distant.

She buttoned up her blouse and looked at herself in the mirror, she looked pretty. She was going to meet her younger friend for breakfast; Tiffany wanted help from Yoona to call her dad. She wasn’t going to tell him about the baby over the phone but she really wanted to talk to him, she missed him a lot. Maybe it would be easier with someone beside her.

She looked at her reflection and her eyes dropped to her tummy. It was her usual routine; to see how much bigger it has grown. Her state was more noticeable now, she turned a little to see the profile of it. It was surprising how much it has grown and that brought a smile to her face. She was a little nervous that everyone could notice she was pregnant but for some reason she didn’t care as much. She touched her tummy with a grin when she realized that soon she will need new clothes.

She left her room and saw Taeyeon in the kitchen having breakfast alone, she knew they wouldn’t spend breakfast together. Tiffany thought she looked really cute eating and she fought the urge to run and hug her because that would be crazy.

“Good morning” Tiffany smiled, getting close to the older girl.

“Oh, good morning. Didn’t see you” Taeyeon said after some seconds of swallowing her food. She returned a smile to Tiffany.

“It’s fine. I’m coming back for lunch… you will be here, right?” Tiffany asked expectantly, she hoped that since it was Saturday Taeyeon could stay at home and they could have lunch together.

“Yeah, I’ll cook. What do you want to eat today?” Taeyeon asked with a smile. She was sweet.

“I think… spaghetti? Yeah, spaghetti” Tiffany could feel her stomach growling at the thought of eating, or maybe it was the baby doing it.

“But you are the best at spaghetti! Not fair, Ms Hwang” Taeyeon joked, getting laughs from Tiffany.

Tiffany was thinking of a reply when she got a great idea.

“Let’s cook it together! I’ll come early anyway and it could be fun” Tiffany grinned excitedly and Taeyeon was the one to laugh now.

“Ok, let’s do it. This way I can steal your secret formula too” Taeyeon made a funny face earning another laugh from Tiffany.

“Never!” The younger girl said, loving the little game they were playing. She could almost feel it was flirting.

After some seconds her eyes paused on the clock on the microwave and noticed it was time to go. It was a bit disappointing that it was time to finish this cute conversation, but she had to, so she said goodbye, words that made Taeyeon stand up to walk her to the door. Tiffany was more than fine with it, it felt like it was just prolonging their goodbye and that could mean the older girl was disappointed of seeing her go. They opened the door but stood there for a while.

“See you later then, have fun with Yoona” Taeyeon said with a smile.

Tiffany smiled.

“Thanks, I’ll go now then” she said but didn’t move and Taeyeon just nodded.

They stood for some seconds until Tiffany touched Taeyeon’s hand and said bye again, this time she turned around ready to go. Taeyeon said bye too, closing the door and when she did Tiffany released a sigh. Her insides got fuzzy again. She remembered that they are different since the day they took care of Min. Not different but not the same anymore. At least to Tiffany it felt like they both knew something was going on but neither of them would dare to cross any line.

Tiffany had to agree it was better this way. She thought it will just go away, ‘ignore it’ she said to herself. But with each day that passes, the task felt less and less easy.

 

 

 

***

 

“Sorry for taking so long, dad” Tiffany said over the phone, in front of her was Yoona trying to not pay attention.

“Don’t worry, darling. I understand why you wanted to be alone. You are like your mother”

Tiffany smiled at those words, her dad always sees things about her mother in her.

“I missed you a lot, dad” She said genuinely.

“I know, me too. What are you planning to do for your birthday?” Her dad asked with enthusiasm, lighting the mood.

“Jessi is planning a small gathering with our close friends, at the bar I suppose… but if you want I can-”

Tiffany was interrupted by her dad’s words “No, honey. Have fun with your friends! You can visit me another day”

 Tiffany smiled before remembering that she will need to tell him the day she visits him. She turned a little serious.

“When can you come?” Her dad asked expectantly and Tiffany released the breath she was holding in.

“My birthday is on Friday. I can go on Saturday or Sunday, whatever you prefer” Tiffany said and Yoona looked at her, she nodded showing her support. Tiffany smiled in gratitude.

“Sunday. I think you work on Saturday and I don’t want to tire you out. Is it ok for you?” Her dad said and Tiffany could feel his happy smile just by the tone he used.

“Sunday is it then, dad. I’ll be there early. I hope you are awake” Tiffany joked, her dad loved to sleep until late on the weekends. Well, who doesn’t?

Mr. Hwang laughed, “Don’t worry, honey. I’ll be ready. Well, I won’t take more of your time. Yoona is still there”

“Ok dad. I love you” She said happily, she was really content with this talk.

“I love you too honey and I will always be there for you” Tiffany almost tear up at his words, “Say goodbye to Yoona for me. Bye honey!”

“Bye dad!” Tiffany smiled before hanging up. A smile still plastered on her face.

She was still afraid and she still has many doubts, but pushing her dad away just because of the fear of disappointing him wasn’t something her heart wanted. And it would be unfair to him, someone who loved her more than anyone in this world.

“That wasn’t so bad, right?” He is probably really happy now” Yoona suddenly said, looking glad as well.

Tiffany nodded. “I think this is exactly what I need. I feel better. Anxious because in just a week I will need to tell him about the baby. But happy nonetheless” She smiled at Yoona.

“Thanks Yoong, you were great help. Love you” Tiffany touched Yoona’s hand and nodded with a smile.

The tall girl shook her head, “You have helped me many times too. That’s what friends are for” she grinned, “I love you too, unnie…. Oh! I just thought that Jessica unnie would get jealous if she happened to hear us right now” Yoona laughed and Tiffany had to laugh at that too.

“Jessi is indeed a jealous person” She grinned at the memories of jealous Sica.

“She is!” Yoona laughed for a while before saying “Anyway, you know I’m always here to help”

When Tiffany heard that something came to her mind. Taeyeon…

Could she tell Yoona about her rising feelings for the older girl? Could she be able to actually express to someone the fact that she’s probably having feelings for the sister of the father of her baby?

“Yoong…”

Would Yoona judge her for it? Ask if she was crazy? Or maybe she would say it didn’t mean anything. She couldn’t tell Jessica because her blonde friend was already suspecting her attraction for Taeyeon even if she didn’t say much and she didn’t want to confirm it.

“Yes?”

Tiffany saw Yoona’s eyes, waiting for her to speak.

Maybe it would be better if she just hides it. What would she gain by telling this to someone? Problems, that’s the answer and she didn’t want to deal with problems involving feelings. She needs to think like an adult and not like a teenager.

“I just remembered that I have to leave because I promised Taeyeon we will cook together today” Tiffany decided to say, it was the truth anyway.

“Oh yeah, you told me. Let’s talk later, unnie” Yoona said calmly, unaware of Tiffany’s messed thoughts.

Tiffany nodded and they said their goodbyes.

After 10 minutes, she walked alone towards the bus station with her mind still in thoughts about Taeyeon, part of her usual routine these past days.

She couldn’t believe she was about to tell Yoona about it, or that she thought of doing it. This was meant to be kept as a secret; it couldn’t be more than that. It will just fade away with time so she won’t give much thought to it. Taeyeon most likely didn’t feel the same anyway. Tiffany nodded to herself.

 

 

 

***

 

Taeyeon took a shower after watching the news as she waited for Tiffany to come back. She let the hot water roll on her face and body, relaxing her making her have the perfect moment to think calmly.  She closed her eyes and recalled the moments she’s been having with the younger girl living with her. After the small intimate moment they had a week back Taeyeon was even more confused. What to do? What to think? What to feel? She washed herself with her mind still having many thoughts.

She sighed, her heart felt heavy when she was alone thinking this much, her heart felt heavy thinking how much her heart warmed while being around the younger girl and her head hurt when she realized how much she wanted to feel like this sometimes. She was ashamed of herself, for feeling like this and for thinking that maybe Tiffany could feel the same and maybe-

She shook her head, her brows furrowed when she thought of her dear brother, something that happened a lot and always stop her mind from going further. Yes, there was something and that something was accepted as a small crush. She couldn’t deny Tiffany was a beautiful girl, with a beautiful soul and a strong will. She admired her and she loved the fact that they got close. She likes the friendship they have and that’s why she planned to bury down anything that could mess with that and stain the moments when she thought of Jiwoong and the baby.

She stopped the water, dried herself and changed quickly.  When she was about to leave her room she heard the door and she unconsciously smiled with happiness. She walked towards Tiffany and gave her a smile. Tiffany put her purse on the couch before asking,
 “Ready?”

Taeyeon smiled, forgetting all her worries for a while.

 

 

 

***

 

 

Taeyeon rested her back on the kitchen furniture as she watched with curiosity Tiffany doing her thing, thinking how cute she looked concentrated. Tiffany took the ingredients and put it besides Taeyeon and smiled at her.

“This is all we need” Tiffany said.

Taeyeon looked at the ingredients, “Spaghetti doesn’t need much, right?”

 Tiffany nodded, “Yes, it’s actually really easy. Let me teach you so you can do it for me another day” she grinned.

Taeyeon laughed, “So this is what its all about, huh? I thought you just wanted to have fun with me but you had a hidden agenda” she faked a disappointed expression earning a little slap on her arm from Tiffany.

“God, you´re such a drama queen! I think you are the one who is pregnant” Tiffany joked making Taeyeon grin.

Tiffany grabbed the box of noodles, she was still smiling so Taeyeon continued talking.

“Maybe I should just go to sleep and leave you to cook it”

“Wow, you want to abuse a pregnant lady” Tiffany shook her head and Taeyeon burst laughing while Tiffany tried to maintain her seriousness.

“And who is the drama queen now” Taeyeon grinned before asking, “So what do you want me to do?”

Tiffany grabbed her arm towards the stove, “Just boil water, we add the noodles and then we wait, you know this part” she said.

Taeyeon nodded, put water to boil and they waited for a while. She grabbed the box of spaghetti noodles and opened it, “how much?” she asked to Tiffany.

“Umm… the whole box can make spaghetti for 4 or even 5 people, I think we should just use half of it” Tiffany answered with a hand on her chin.

“Let’s do half and little more, just in case you get hungry again when you come from work or something”

Tiffany chuckled, “well yeah, let’s play safe”

 Taeyeon broke the noodles and added them carefully into the water. Tiffany said this will need around 9 minutes to cook perfectly, that’s how long she took the first time she cooked it in Taeyeon’s kitchen. While they were waiting, the oldest decided to ask about her morning with Yoona.

Taeyeon saw how Tiffany smiled at the question and realized something happened for her to be like this.

“It went good, I actually… I actually called my dad today” Tiffany stared at her and Taeyeon could see how happy she was about that fact.

“You look happy” she pointed out with a smile.

Tiffany nodded while staring at the noddles getting cooked, “Yes, I feel bad for taking so long doing it” she furrowed her brows and Taeyeon grabbed her arm gently.

“Don’t think about that anymore, what’s important is that you’ve finally talked with him” She smiled at her.

Tiffany nodded, “Yes, I know”

Taeyeon kind of knew the answer to her question but she had to ask anyway.

“But you didn’t tell him or..?” Taeyeon asked carefully.

Tiffany shook her head, “No, that has to be in person. I will go to see him on Sunday, next Sunday. I get anxious when I think about it” Tiffany sighed.

Taeyeon nodded before saying: “Don’t think too much. Thinking heavy stuff too much is not good. I’ll take you there and be with you, your dad will probably want to talk to me too” she said.

Tiffany stared at her before looking at the stove, “You’re right. I’ll try and thank you my dad definitely would like to meet you” she smiled and stared at the stove realizing they have to continue cooking now” Look, its almost ready”

“What to do now, chef Hwang” Taeyeon was lost, she realized that she would have needed google to cook it if Tiffany didn’t suggest to cook their meal together.

Tiffany stared at the clock “6 minutes for the noodles to be ready. Let’s start doing the sauce in the meantime”

Tiffany took the ingredients and Taeyeon just stood besides her watching her. Taeyeon felt somewhat mesmerized by looking at Tiffany, admired her eyes, her profile, the hands working. She was so pretty.

Tiffany took out a sauce bottle from the fridge, and poured some of it on the pan. Taeyeon watched it before feeling that Tiffany put something on her face. She stared at her and Tiffany giggled and then grinned showing her eyesmile.

“Hey you kid, you put sauce on my face” Taeyeon said smiling surprised at the playful action from Tiffany. She felt like getting playful too.

She grabbed some sauce with her index finger and quickly put it on Tiffany’s tummy while grinning like a mischievous child. 

“What! Did you just mess one of my favorite shirts?” It could sound as annoyed sentence but Tiffany had a playful surprised expression.

“I wanted to play with the baby” Taeyeon shrugged innocently.

Tiffany glared at her and Taeyeon smirked.

“You’re gonna regret this Kim Taeyeon…” Tiffany’s hand moved slowly to the pan with the sauce and Taeyeon stared at her then and her hand and knew what was coming. She grinned and tried to take the pan from Tiffany’s hands but Tiffany turned around, put the pan in front of her and quickly tried to grab some of the red liquid with her hands.

“Yah!” Taeyeon said behind Tiffany sliding her hands and trying to stop the younger girl’s moves. She failed and Tiffany touched her face with her fingers filled with sauce, but Taeyeon took the opportunity to reach for the sauce bottle, and put her fingers inside of it.

Tiffany walked backwards with a scared and funny expression, “Don’t even dare, Taeyeon. I’m pregnant” Tiffany said and the shorter girl had to laugh out loud at that.

“That won’t save you” Taeyeon assured before rapidly aiming for Tiffany’s face, the other girl screamed and Taeyeon chuckled even more. She grabbed her arms roughly but at the same time with carefulness, not trying to hurt her at all. Tiffany turned around again; Taeyeon took this chance to put her arms around her like giving her a back hug and touched her face everywhere because she couldn’t see her. Her fingers touched Tiffany’s lips at some point and it made her feel strange.

They calmed themselves and stayed at that position, she had her arms around Tiffany from behind and Taeyeon didn’t know if they moved closer but she felt they were closer now than some seconds ago. Her expression turned serious and she wanted to let go but at the same time she really liked to be like this, feeling the growing butterflies inside of her, wondering if because of the closeness, Tiffany could feel her heart beating fast.

Tiffany moved her hands and touched Taeyeon’s and for a second Taeyeon got scared that Tiffany would try to take her arms off her in protest but it was the opposite. She grabbed her fingers and the action made Taeyeon get all fuzzy. She closed her eyes, touched Tiffany’s head and hair with her nose, inhaled and then sighed. It was time to let go, not only because the noodles were probably ready but also because this was more intimate than how it should be and she couldn’t deal with something like that.

Taeyeon dropped her arms and turned around walking to the stove, “I think the noodles are ready, let’s continue cooking, but let’s clean ourselves first” she couldn’t face Tiffany, she needed a few seconds before acting again like her heart didn’t beat with happiness. She finally turned towards the younger girl and gave her a smile, aiming to ease the tension from what happened and was glad when Tiffany returned it.

The awkward atmosphere died down and they both continued cooking, Taeyeon took out the plates and she served the food. They sat and talked about stuff on tv or about their friends like they usually do. She was indeed happy that her- or maybe their little slip didn’t ruin this day.

 

 

“Ah! I’m full god, this was good” Taeyeon said while lazily resting her back on the chair of the dinning room.

Tiffany chuckled while putting her fork on the plate since she finished too, “You ate quite a lot. Now you can cook it whenever you want”

“I’ll surpass you” Taeyeon said with closed eyes, she was sleepy.

“Let’s see. Hey are you sleepy?” Taeyeon heard Tiffany say, she couldn’t see her face but she imagined her expression.

“I think I’ll take a nap” Taeyeon mentioned.

“Don’t. You will get nightmares if you sleep with a full stomach, let’s watch tv or something”

Taeyeon opened her eyes when she heard nightmares. She noticed she doesn’t have nightmares anymore and she really appreciated that, her brain wasn’t torturing her with that nowadays and she definitely didn’t want for it to happen. She sighed.

“You’re right, I’ll wash my face…” she didn’t finish her sentence when she got an idea, “hey Fany… do you want to take a walk around the Han River? It’s been a while since I’ve been there” she asked unsurely.

Tiffany looked at her in surprise before nodding with a smile, “I would actually like that. What if we rest for a while watching tv and then we go? And I think we need to change our shirts first”

Taeyeon laughed and nodded.

 

 

***

 

 

The summer night wasn’t really cold and Taeyeon and Tiffany enjoyed walking beside each other in comfortable silence. Taeyeon looked around, admiring the lights from the city around the Han river. She really liked this place, there were always people around, laughing and talking but you still could feel like nothing could bother you here, especially at night.

 Tiffany stopped for a second and faced the river that was still far away from them but could be seen in perfect way. Taeyeon stood beside her.

“This is so pretty” Tiffany mentioned.

Taeyeon looked at her for a second before staring the river again, “I know”

“This is what I liked the most when I came to Korea. I felt lonely and scared for being in a place I didn’t know at all, even though I had my dad and Jessica. So, when my dad took me here I forgot all of that for a while” Tiffany smiled in content while looking at scenery around them.

Taeyeon smiled, “I usually come here alone. I sit on the stairs there” she pointed at the stairs that were a little far from them before looking back at the river, “and spend time forgetting about problems. It’s relaxing”

“Did you ever… come with someone, like in a date? I’ve heard couples love to walk around here” Tiffany mentioned while looking at Taeyeon.

Taeyeon dropped her eyes thinking if she had and realized she didn’t. She had come with friends, such as Seohyun but never with someone she has dated. Well, she didn’t date much after all.

She shook her head and chuckled, “I haven’t actually” she stared at Tiffany sideways with curiosity “What about you?” she asked.  Taeyeon imagined that Jiwoong could have taken Tiffany here, they dated for a while.

Tiffany furrowed her eyebrows before answering, “Apart from my dad, I only came with Jessi and I don’t think Jessica counts as dating” she chuckled at her own joke but Taeyeon didn’t laugh when Tiffany looked at her with an expression she couldn’t read.

Tiffany continued with her eyes facing the front again, “I went to a bar close to this place with Jiwoong, he told me we will go to see the river later but…” Tiffany smiled sadly and Taeyeon assumed her brother got drunk that day and in some way ruined their date. It kind of angered her.

It seemed like Tiffany noticed her expression and quickly said, “But to be honest, I’ve never been that interested in coming here with someone I’ve dated. I’ve dated other people and I didn’t come with them either even though I think this is beautiful” she extended her arms.

Taeyeon thought for a minute before staring at Tiffany, “Maybe because you never had the chance to come here with someone you liked that way. Someone you cared that way… someone that would show you this can be a magical place to spend time with your significant other”

Tiffany stared at her, “Did someone show you this, Tae?” she asked in a low voice.

Taeyeon shook her head, “That’s why I prefer to come alone but I think… I think that if you come and sit to see the river at night with someone you like a lot. With someone you love, it can be magical”

Taeyeon noticed how her voice got gentler and how her eyes couldn’t stop staring right into Tiffany’s eyes. She could feel something growing inside of her and how her lips wanted to let it out and at the same time her mind tried to not let her feelings be seen. Tiffany stared at her in a way that made Taeyeon think she was as magical as the place at night, and her brother missed the chance of seeing Tiffany’s content smile looking at the river. Taeyeon couldn’t help but wonder how Tiffany’s smile would be with the person she is in love with. But just thinking about that made Taeyeon drop her gaze. She sat and stared again at the front, Tiffany followed along and sat beside her, their shoulders almost touching.

There was silence for a while until Tiffany sudden words caught Taeyeon’s attention.

“I like this”

Taeyeon watched her.

Tiffany nodded like confirming her words while touching her tummy.

“Yes, I really like this” she smiled at Taeyeon before turning her head again and calmly said, “The view… this”

Taeyeon stopped staring at Tiffany.

“Me too”

 

Being alone at the Han River moved to 2^nd place in Taeyeon’s heart.

 

 

***

 

 

 Taeyeon drove in silence towards Red Lips because Tiffany fell asleep, she usually listened to the radio but she didn’t want to wake up the dark haired girl, so she decided to drive like that. From time to time, Taeyeon looked at the sleeping girl and felt like a creep for finding her cute in that innocent state. Seeing Tiffany sleep with both hands on her stomach was something that brought a smile to her face.

She heard her phone ringing and being scared of waking Tiffany up she parked the car in front of a convenience store. She reached for it and saw the caller id.

“Dad” she said in a low voice.

She answered it, “Dad?”

There were some seconds of just breathing at the other side of the call until she finally heard a voice.

 

“No… it’s your mother, Taeyeon”

 

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A/N: Late merry christmas and happy new year to each one of you! Did you have a good time these past few days? I hope you did. I wish you guys the best for this 2015, let's be happier 

And as always, comments are really appreciated. I didn't have the time to answer to past comments, but I read them, I love reading what kind of opinion someone has about the story and characters.