“Are you out of your mind?!” screamed Taeyeon’s mother, annoyed at her.

“Mom, you know Jiwoong would have wanted-!”

“No. No and no, no, no”

 

Taeyeon sat on the old red armchair of her dad that was in front of the TV. One of those old cartoon shows that she used to watch with her brother was on and Taeyeon just couldn’t help but feel how life seems to be such a son of a sometimes.

As she turned the TV off she said to her mother, “I’ll ask Tiffany to live with me, period”.

Her mother stared at her skeptically.  She already told Taeyeon that Tiffany could be lying, is she really pregnant?
And if she is, is Jiwoong the real father? Taeyeon informed her that there are several ways to prove that, such as analyisis of Jiwoong’s toothbrush or even analysis of themselves, Jiwoong’s family.  Her mother got angrier by the minute; asking Tiffany to live with her is really stupid, she said. ‘She is a stranger! Are you crazy’, is one of the things Taeyeon’s mother kept saying.

And Taeyeon knew her mother was right, she was right in everything but Taeyeon wanted to take charge of this, she wanted to help Tiffany because-

“I want to think Jiwoong left us something with his departure… I’m sorry mom, but this time I won’t change my mind”

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

Taeyeon turned off her cellphone.

Her father was calling her nonstop and she didn’t want to deal with more scolding. She felt bad though, she understood her parents reasons but they were kind of indifferent to Tiffany’s issue and that annoyed her.

Now, she was in front of the building where Tiffany lived. It’s been a week and three days since the funeral and Taeyeon kept in touch with her. They agreed to meet but they couldn’t find the right time as both were busy with their jobs.

 

But it was finally the right time.

 

She ran her hand on her brownish hair and then rang the bell of apartment 401.

 

 

“Yes?”  Tiffany’s voice was heard from the intercom.

“Oh- Hi! It’s me, Taeyeon, I…”

“Oh yes, hi! I’m coming, wait a minute!”

“Ok, don’t worry”

Taeyeon felt nervous.  She felt really nervous. She remembered her mother’s words from this morning. Was this really the right thing to do? What if Tiffany doesn’t accept? And if she accepts… how can this change her way of living?

Her head was a mess right now and she felt really immature to be thinking all that at this moment.

 

The door opened and out of it came a shy Tiffany, “Sorry for taking so long, I didn’t want you to see my mess. I’ve been busy and I uh-“, she said.

“It’s fine. That happens to me too, sometimes I’m too tired to tidy up, haha”, Taeyeon smiled. She wanted Tiffany to feel comfortable with her.

Tiffany showed her a sweet and sincere smile and something stirred inside of Taeyeon.

 She still has her doubts but right now, doing this felt right.

Tiffany lived far away from Taeyeon, in a zone for people with limited economic resources. At night it was a dangerous vicinity.  This worries her and it is the main reason why she wanted to ask Tiffany to live with her. It’s not like she has a lot of money. She isn't close to being rich at all, but work paid off and she got the chance of buying her own apartment, close to her job in a nice neighborhood.

“I’m sorry that you had to come here, my job has kept me really busy and I didn’t have time to get close to your place”, Tiffany mentioned while the both of them were going upstairs to the 4^th floor.

 “Oh, it’s fine. I couldn’t tell you this on the phone, it had to be on person”, Taeyeon spoke panting a little while leaning on the wall beside Tiffany’s door. They finally reached the 4^th floor. Damn, girl, you need to exercise, Taeyeon said to herself.

Tiffany opened the door and in front of them was a small and humble apartment. Taeyeon thought of Jiwoong and she didn’t want to believe this could be the reason why her brother never mentioned anything about Tiffany, his girlfriend, to her or her family.

“I’m sorry”

Taeyeon turned her head to Tiffany, slightly surprised by the words from the girl with dark hair.

“Why are you apologizing?”

Tiffany’s eyes looked around and Taeyeon’s followed her stare.

“This place isn’t the best one”, Tiffany said while laughing weakly.

Taeyeon stared at Tiffany for a few seconds, lowered her gaze and chuckled a little but not because of what Tiffany just said.

She noticed something about the other girl in the room.

“You apologize too much”, Taeyeon said after sighing jokingly. She turned to Tiffany and showed her a grin.

Tiffany seemed to be surprised and a little embarrassed and Taeyeon found it cute.

“I hope it’s not contagious, then”, Tiffany said back with a friendly smile.

Taeyeon felt glad. She didn’t want Tiffany to feel embarrassed or be distant with her. They are family now, right? And they should try to trust each other. Thinking about this, Taeyeon recalled the real motive of her visit.

“Tiffany, I need to ask you something important. Can we sit?”

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

Taeyeon was spinning the empty glass in her hands. She drank the whole orange juice that Tiffany gave her but still felt dry.

A few minutes ago, Taeyeon told Tiffany she was going to help her with her pregnancy and that she wasn’t going to lie, her parents didn’t really trust her words but she did and she wanted her to know that. Tiffany didn’t say much, she just nodded quietly.

Now they were silent. And it was awkward.

Taeyeon was organizing her ideas and Tiffany seemed to be waiting for her to speak.

 

Ok, let’s go.

“But… I need one thing”, Taeyeon said as she left the empty glass on the table in front of them just to grab it again. She needed to keep her hands busy.

Taeyeon wasn’t even sure if she has always been this nervous.

“Tell me…?”  Tiffany said and Taeyeon could feel the nervousness in her too.

Taeyeon stopped spinning the empty glass but she kept it in her hands. She took a deep breath and stared at Tiffany right into her eyes.

“You have to live with me while you are pregnant. This is for the best and I won’t take ‘No’ for an answer”

 

 

“No”

Taeyeon sighed.

“Look, Tiffan-“

“No way! I don’t want you to think-!” An agitated Tiffany stood up abruptly from her seat. Taeyeon left the empty glass on the table and stood up too. Tiffany was surely angry.

“I don’t want you to think this is an opportunity for me to take advantage of you-!”

“Tiffany, that’s not-”

“I have a job. I have my own apartment. I don’t need your pity while your parents think I’m some type of an opportunist!”

Taeyeon grabbed Tiffany’s arm but the girl with darker hair freed herself fast. It was easy to see she has a strong character.

“Listen to me, I’m happy that you want to help me with this but this is not really the reason why I told you I’m pregnant.  You needed to know that Jiwoong was going to have a child-!”

“I know. Tiffany. I know!”

Taeyeon also raised her voice. Her headache was coming back. Everyday has been awful and she just wanted to make things better.

They stared at each other without saying a word. Taeyeon opened but nothing came through it.

Tiffany finally said, “But I’m not going to accept and that’s definite”

Taeyeon didn’t say anything and just kept her eyes locked on Tiffany’s. She thought she could get burned by Tiffany’s gaze. Her eyes showed hurt. She felt that maybe she hurt her pride… her dignity. Maybe both. She wanted to say something, anything, she wanted to insist, she wanted to apologize-

“I’m sorry”

Tiffany whispered those words and Taeyeon’s mind could only think of one thing. She lowered her head as if accepting defeat and let out the one thing in her head.

 

“You really apologize too much”

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

“I even said I wouldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer but she didn’t care at all…”

Taeyeon pouted for a moment and then grabbed her fourth glass of beer, that one beer she didn’t like much but it was cheap and she didn’t bring enough money to get drunk with the one she likes the most. She was talking with the bartender, Sunny -someone she considered a great friend- about the incident an hour ago. Though, she felt like she already said this…

“Yeah, I know, Taeyeon, I think you have said the same thing three times”, Sunny said smiling while she cleaned up the glasses to serve more drinks.

Oh.

“I might be drunk then”, Taeyeon said after drinking the last sip of her beer. She showed it to Sunny as if she was asking for more.

“I think you are a bit tipsy so I won’t give you more”, Sunny looked annoyed and since Taeyeon was still somewhat sober, she understood her reasons.

“Jiwoong didn’t come here because he knew you would not serve him anything, ha” Taeyeon said smiling sadly, everyone knew his alcoholism problems.

Sunny took the empy glass to the other dirty ones in the corner without saying anything. Taeyeon watched her and recalled how Sunny didn’t go to the funeral since she was out of the country, but when she found out about the accident she called Taeyeon. They didn’t talk much, she gave her condolences and then listened to her cries for one hour.

 

“What if I die in the same way, right?” Taeyeon laughed ironically, trying hard to not cry.

“Shut up!” Sunny said with an angry expression but a few seconds later her face changed. Now what Taeyeon saw in her was pity.

It hurt to know why Sunny is pitying her.

“Don’t look at me like that”, Taeyeon murmured.

Taeyeon lowered her head and stared at her hands. She hasn’t done her nails since two or more weeks ago and they already looked weird. Taeyeon frowned. She should try to work on her nails, maybe that way she could relax even for a while.

Sunny touched her shoulder and she lifted her head to look at her. Sunny showed her a glass of… soda?

“Why don’t we get drunk with coca cola?” It’s better and just like beer, we’ll burp”, Sunny said with a smile and Taeyeon laughed that weird way everyone found funny.

 

“Coca coca will do”

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

It was raining hard but Taeyeon didn’t feel like listening to a sad song, like she usually does. She turned the radio on and changed the station to one of those popular ones with pop music.

“Tell me your wish”, she sang the famous line from the popular song coming from her car speakers.

Taeyeon wasn’t sure if it was her conversation with Sunny, the drinks or the coca cola from hours ago but Taeyeon didn’t feel as gloomy as she was the past days.

But she was a little discouraged.

It was around 3AM and the streets were almost empty and she drove calmly with nowhere in mind. Her thoughts were filled with one thing.

Or rather a person.

 

Tiffany.

Argh, Tiffany.

Taeyeon wasn’t angry with her, she understood her reasons but…

 Why didn’t the girl try to understand hers? Why didn’t she let Taeyeon explain things further? Damn, her pride. Taeyeon didn’t want to insult her, but Tiffany didn’t wait for her clear up the misunderstanding between them. And she even apologized! She made Taeyeon feel like she was the one wrong and then she apologizes and Taeyeon feels worse. Oh God.

Ok, maybe she was a little angry, but more than anger, she felt discouragement.

 

Taeyeon turned left and parked her car in front of a building. The song was about to end as she realized where she was.

 

In front of Tiffany’s building.

 

“Tiffany… tell me your wish…” Taeyeon muttered. “Do you also feel like the baby inside of you is like a ray of hope for our broken souls?... Is your wish similar to mine? To see this miracle grow beautifully because it is the only thing that feels right?”

Taeyeon breathed deeply and looked out of the window.

 

“Jiwoong, don’t you feel the same?”

 

“Let me go!”

A loud scream cut Taeyeon’s thoughts and she wondered where it came from.

“Help!”

What?

Taeyeon’s eyes roamed the place covered by the dark night, looking for the source of the scream. The voice sounded familiar. From outside the window she saw a girl running to the building in front of her. That girl… Oh god that girl!

That girl is Tiffany!

She opened the door and rushed to Tiffany without thinking twice, she saw a man around his forties holding Tiffany’s arm and the only thing Taeyeon could do was to push him and hold Tiffany’s hand.

“What the do you think you’re doing?!”, the angry man said.

Taeyeon turned to Tiffany and saw the girl looking at her with wide eyes. She turned to the angry man and tried to think of something but she was scared, really scared. She tightened her grip and stood beside Tiffany.

 

No matter what, she wasn’t going to leave her.

 

“Oh well, a works, ladies”

“ you”, Tiffany said.

Taeyeon widened her eyes and felt Tiffany’s fingers intertwining with hers. Tiffany couldn’t help but say that and Taeyeon couldn’t blame her. They could only stare at the man as they prayed for help.

“Hey don’t move! I said, don’t move!”

Behind the old man were two officers. They grabbed the man and handcuffed him. The man kept moving but after a few moments he gave up. One of the officers dragged him to their car.

Both Taeyeon and Tiffany released the breath they were unconsciously holding.

“Everything is ok now, ladies” the officer that stayed with them said, “However, we need details of what happened to prevent this from happening again. Can I ask you a few questions?”

Taeyeon stared at Tiffany and the latter blinked out of shock and started speaking.

“He is a regular of the bar I work at… He kept bothering me there but I never thought he would go this far”

“Do you happen to work at Red Lips bar?”

“Ye-yes”

A bar…

“Are you a waitress, miss?”

Tiffany lowered her head and nodded. Taeyeon stared at her and wanted to say ‘That’s nothing to be embarrassed about’, but the girl wouldn’t appreciate those words at this moment.

“Ok then, what about you?” the officer stared at Taeyeon.

“I came… to visit my friend and I saw what was already happening” Taeyeon nervously said. She wondered if Tiffany was thinking why she was here.

“I see. Well, don’t worry, the man won’t get close to the bar, I can assure you that. But please, you, the one who works there, don’t walk alone at these hours. This place is dangerous. We’ll leave you now. Take care”

The officers left with the man inside their car. Taeyeon and Tiffany stared at the car until it faded away in the distance.

Taeyeon spoke first.

“You heard the officer, please take care… I’m going now”, she said without looking at Tiffany.

“What? It’s so late for you to be driving. Stay at my place. That’s the very least I can do”, Tiffany said while she stared at her.

Taeyeon turned to Tiffany, “I really don’t want to be a bother”.

“You aren’t, you aren’t”, Tiffany moved her arm and Taeyeon felt some type of pressure. It seemed like Tiffany wanted to pat her arm but they realized they still were holding hands. Both of them stared at their hands and lifted their heads to meet each other’s eyes. After that they let go.

Taeyeon blushed a little and she thought she saw Tiffany blushing too, but maybe it was only her imagination.

“So… stay”, Tiffany said after a while of awkward silence. Taeyeon could only agree.

“Ok”

 

 

 

They reached Tiffany’s apartment, she opened and they went inside. Taeyeon was really sleepy and wondered if Tiffany would get mad if she just crashed on her couch without saying anything more.

“You are my guest so you can have the bed”, Tiffany said as she took her coat off.

“No way, I’ll sleep on the couch”, Taeyeon shook her head.

“Taeyeon…”

But Taeyeon didn’t listen and went straight to the couch and laid on it.

“I’m already on the couch, I’m not gonna move”, Taeyeon said playfully to stop Tiffany asking her to sleep on the bed.

Tiffany stared at her and sighed.

“It’ll hurt your back”

“It can also hurt yours and you’re the pregnant one here, you have to sleep well”, Taeyeon said with a smile.

Tiffany sighed again and went to her room for a while. After some minutes she came out with clean sheets and some clothes.

Taeyeon was about to fall asleep when she felt someone touching her.

“Hey, change your clothes. And here are some clean sheets; you’ll get a cold if you sleep without them”

“Thank you, I need the sheets but I’m ok with my own clothes, I’m so tired to change to be honest” Taeyeon said suppressing a yawn.

Tiffany smiled at her and said ok. She was about to leave but Taeyeon stopped her.

“Hey, wait”

Tiffany turned to her from the corridor.

“Yes?”

 

“Please, move in with me”

Tiffany was about to say something but Taeyeon spoke first, “Wait! Let me- let me talk”.

A resigned Tiffany closed her eyes as she leaned on the wall beside her. She opened them and stared at Taeyeon, waiting for her to talk.

Taeyeon sat straight.

It was her chance to convince her.

“I know why you don’t want to and I totally understand but please, understand me too. I only want the best for you”, Taeyeon took a deep breath and continued, “Tiffany… this place is not the best place to raise a child, nor is it the best place for you to take care of your pregnancy.” Tiffany’s gaze dropped, Taeyeon thought she might be thinking of what happened with the man in the streets. “Look, I’m not asking you to drop your job. If you move in with me you can save money for something better”

Tiffany lowered her head, it seemed like she was staring at the floor but she was probably thinking, analyzing Taeyeon’s words.

“I will be always there to help you, like it or not but for now, I only ask you one thing … 9 months, just 9 months”

Taeyeon is also a proud person. She doesn’t like it when people make her feel like she needed help to make things work. Sometimes it even feels like you are useless and it’s a horrible feeling. Hence, she understands Tiffany’s reluctance to accept her help. But sometimes, one needs to realize that help is needed. Especially if others are involved.

Tiffany lifted her head and stared at Taeyeon. They stared at each other in silence. Taeyeon watched as Tiffany moved her right hand and touched her own belly. Taeyeon was moved by the sight. She wanted to put her hand on Tiffany’s but she didn’t.  She just watched them.

 

“I’ll… I’ll think about it”

 

The next morning, Taeyeon woke up and saw Tiffany in the kitchen, they locked eyes and the first thing Tiffany said to her was

 

“After breakfast…

Can you help me pack?”

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


A/N: I hope you liked this chapter :D I just wanted to let you know that I'll update weekly