Thank you to my newest subscribers: Chanta5238844, CullenCrest1000, iaznmuffini, rada_rada, pchan4156, Fany96, smoothyhwang88, taegsic, Taenylocksmithlover, & 2097sone! I was going to wait to update, but it's Taeyeon's birthday (at least in Korea)! \o/ I hope she spends it well and that many more birthdays as SNSD's dorky leader come by!

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{2}

Home isn’t very functional at Tiffany’s place. She doesn’t like it when we have to go over there but my parents don’t trust me alone at my house. Since Mrs. Hwang is a stay-at-home mom she’s always there so we end up in that direction. We sat by the bus stop and waited a little bit for the vehicle. Today wasn’t as nice as yesterday. The clouds were gray and when I breathed a white cloud escaped my mouth. I kind of liked it this way. No matter how much I enjoyed the sun on my skin, Tiffany hated the cold and depended on me for body heat. I jumped up when the bus arrived and allowed my best friend to walk on first. “Sorry we have to go on the bus Tae,” she apologized timidly and I smiled.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind,” I said and tapped my bus card against the meter before we sat down on the bench. “It’s only for ten minutes anyway.”

“Well yeah, but there can be weird people on the bus,” she added softly as we both swept our eyes over the bus’s occupants. The elderly reading newspapers, neighborhood college students, mothers with small children, and other high school teens. I didn’t want to think of them as weird though.

“Let’s not judge a book by its cover, Fany-ah,” I told her. Soon the bus was filled, only two stops after ours. As an older man dared to sit and grin at Tiffany I grabbed her arm without a thought. “Switch seats with me,” I muttered and we swapped immediately. The man looked away while under my gaze.

“I thought you said not to judge a book by its cover,” she smirked against my ear.

“Well this book has a creepy grin and wandering eyes,” I hissed and she laughed into my neck.

“You’re so protective, Tae. I like it.”

Once we had exited the bus at the townhouse, Tiffany led me up to her floor and I helped her with the keys. The minute we walked in my ears were welcomed with silence. That was what I liked about Tiffany’s place: it was always quiet. In my home where there are parents, grandparents, siblings, an aunt, an uncle, with a near coming cousin, noise was something we were never short of. I was a bit surprised to not see Mrs. Hwang in the kitchen but I simply made myself comfortable on their suede couch. “Tiffany! Is that you?!” her older sister shouted and I smiled. I met Michelle plenty of times but I still found their relationship interesting, considering  there were only two of them with clear titles of eldest and youngest. I was a middle child with a bullying younger sister so I never got how Tiffany could talk back.

“No! It’s a robber! I’m here to steal your money!” Tiff shouted back and dropped her backpack on the couch.

“I thought you didn’t like sarcasm,” I said.

“I don’t like it when other people are sarcastic,” she corrected and I rolled my eyes. At that point, Michelle spun out into the hallway on a black office chair wearing a tank top and shorts. My vision was suddenly hindered by Tiffany’s hand. “Michelle! Put on clothes, Taeyeon is here!”

“Dad’s also coming home today, did you forget about that?” the elder sister mentioned without a care to the previous reason and Tiffany’s arm tensed. Their father was never really around and whenever he was I heard that arguments began between their parents.

“, I did!” she hissed and dropped her hand. Michelle now wore an appropriately oversized gray sweatshirt.

“Why else would I come home from college?” If you met Michelle and then you met Tiffany you wouldn’t believe they were sisters. Yes, they looked similar, but there were extreme differences between them. For one, Michelle cared about her grades and attended university voluntarily.

“Ugh, come on TaeTae. Let’s go to my room,” Tiffany tugged on my hand and I followed while bowing slightly to greet Michelle.

“Nice seeing you Taeyeon, staying for dinner?” Michelle wondered.

“Yeah, everyone’s out working or with friends somewhere else,” I said while turning my head in order to face her while Tiff kept dragging me down the hall. It was quite easy as well considering their floors were wooden.

“Good, Dad shouldn’t be that upset then,” she sighed but I was already in Tiff’s bedroom before I could respond.

Because of her father’s “surprise” appearance Tiffany and I worked diligently on our homework. I disliked homework, it caused me to get frustrated if I didn’t know what to do and my time was eaten away. Helping out with essays and chemistry notes was grueling but we managed to get through it once Tiffany’s mother suddenly opened the door. It freaked me out a bit, but that’s happened before. She was a bit of a nosy mother. “Ah Taeyeon it’s good to see you,” she smiled welcomingly and I smiled back respectively.

“Hello Mrs. Hwang.” I never enjoyed calling an adult by their first name, it was just plain uncomfortable. “I hope you don’t mind, I’m staying for dinner.”

“Not at all, it’s nice to have you around,” she smiled once more which reminded me where Tiffany got her eye smiles. “Tiffany actually gets some work done when you’re here.”

“Psh, I do work,” Fany retorted and I smirked.

“Gossiping with your friends on your phone doesn’t count as work,” her mother said and I chuckled at Tiffany’s slight blush. “Dinner will be ready in a few minutes you two.”

“We’ll be there, thank you,” I bowed my head and she closed the door gently.

“I don’t get how you’re so respectful. My mom already adores you,” Tiffany scoffed and I smiled at her.

“That’s how my mom raised me, it’s a habit now,” I shrugged.

“Mine doesn’t care but she always loves it when you’re around, I think she wishes for you to be her daughter besides me,” she smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Your mom loves you, I’m just a mold parents want to shape their kids into,” I insisted and we sat down on her bed.

“You’re more than just good grades and manners though, you’re more than a mold,” she told me and I smiled. “You’re cute,” she teased and I rolled my eyes.

“I get it, I’m cute—.”

“Where have you been?!”

“Why do you need to know, woman?!” I widened my eyes at the sudden jumble of loud syllables and Tiffany sighed while squeezing my hand.

“Daddy’s home…”

 I’ve met Mr. Hwang a few times before; Tiffany said that he had a good impression of me which made me less anxious. I thought that because he seemed easily irritable and hard to please I wouldn’t stand a chance but he seemed different from what I’ve heard to what I’ve seen. I never actually heard one of the arguments between Mr. and Mrs. Hwang but Tiffany easily ignored their shouting. She was actually on her phone. “It doesn’t bother you anymore, does it?” I didn’t expect for her to actually not care.

“No, they’ve been going at it since I was 8. They might as well be divorced by now,” she joked light heartedly. My parents had a happy marriage, they laughed, they joked and they loved each other obviously.

“Then why are they still married?” I wondered. I may not have seen a dysfunctional marriage, but I know one when I’ve heard about it so many times.

“I think it’s because of me, I’m still in high school and they don’t really want me to deal with a divorce,” she sighed and I nodded to myself, not quite sure how to think about it. “But it’s okay, once I graduate high school my mom agreed that I could go to L.A,” she smiled dreamily. I never really had that smile whenever I talked about my future. Probably because it wasn’t really my future, more like my parents’ plans for me. “If you really want to go to a university you should go somewhere in California, then we’ll be closer,” she suggested and I shrugged. A warm feeling spread throughout my chest.

“I’ll think about it, Hun,” I decided and she grinned. “Come on, I think it’s time for dinner.”

“Ugh, it’s gonna be so tense!” Tiffany whined as I pulled her by the hand and forced her to walk with me.

“It’ll be fine, I’ll handle it,” I whispered and walked over to Mrs. Hwang in order to help set the table. As I passed out bowls, a pair of feminine arms wrapped around my waist and her head settled on my shoulder. It felt nice.

“Sit by me?” she mumbled and I glanced back to find Mr. Hwang sitting stiffly on the couch. He didn’t seem to care I was in their home, which somehow worried me.

“Sure thing,” I said quietly and in no time we all sat around the glass table. Tiffany and I were on one side, Mrs. Hwang and Michelle were parallel to us and Mr. Hwang sat at the top.

“Oh, Taeyeon, Tiffany hasn’t scared you off yet?” Mr. Hwang asked and I smiled. I wasn’t quite sure if he was joking or not but I chose the benefit of the doubt.

“No, Sir, but it’s only been a couple years so we’ll see,” I said and Tiffany slapped my arm.

“Whatever, you love me,” she scoffed and I smiled more.

“I thought that maybe you’d have left by now and looked for a better friend.” I felt Tiffany gently slip her hand into mine and I gave her an encouraging squeeze. His words made me a little nervous but I kept calm for Tiffany.

“Well it’s hard to go out and find something better than perfect, Sir,” I responded and he chuckled.

“It’s nice to see how the two of you continue to stay together, Tiff could use better influences,” Michelle smirked.

“Why are you insulting our daughter while her guest is here?”

“I’m not insulting her, it’s the truth.”

“Even if I wanted to get rid of her I can’t, she’s so clingy!”

“Yah! Who’re you calling ‘clingy’?!” and so dinner resumed with two separate conversations. For the most part everything was fine to talk in two different conversations, until Michelle unknowingly involved everyone.

“I wish Tiffany could just date you and get everything over with.” I blinked at Michelle’s words. I could hear a pin drop in the apartment.

“Excuse me?” both parents said simultaneously but there was still no response from anyone. I flexed my hand anxiously and noticed Tiffany had broken our link. I felt like I shouldn’t have been there.

“You know, because you guys are so close, you’re comfortable with skin ship, you guys love each other—.”

“But, um, not in that way…” Tiffany shifted uncomfortably and suddenly there was a wedge between us.

“They’re both girls, what are you talking about Michelle?” Mr. Hwang frowned and I bit my lip.

“Well your youngest in a nice homoual relationship is better than her in an unrewarding heteroual one,” Michelle insisted but now I wasn’t really listening. I felt weird. Mindlessly, I stood up and took my bowl.

“It’s getting late…someone should be home by now,” I muttered and Tiffany also grabbed her own bowl.

“I’ll show you out,” she mumbled and we both placed our dishes in the sink. The two of us quickly shuffled into her room and I collapsed onto her bed, face first. What just happened? “What just happened?”

“I don’t know,” I confessed and sat up. Even in her room, on her bed, I still felt this weird fumbling sensation. “That was awkward…”

“Yeah…” she nervously bit her thumb and I grabbed my backpack. “Y-you’re going home?”

“Mm, Mom should be home, if not my grandparents. They’ll freak out if I’m not there soon,” I grunted as I slung on my backpack and she nodded.

“Alright, I’ll text you later then. Love you…?” she said unsurely and I smiled a bit at her cautious state.

“I love you too, Fany,” I chuckled. We hugged briefly and I left the apartment as fast as I could. I couldn’t take that atmosphere.