The Boy and The Man

 
Tiffany was staring at herself in the full length mirror inside Taeyeon's spacious walk in closet. She sighed heavily. Jiyong managed to choose a flattering gown for her. She was wearing a navy blue empress cut gown embellished with Swarovski crystals. She chose to keep her make-up simple. She eyed herself nervously.
 
 

Tiffany has never been the type to be self aware of her looks. The praises she got for being pretty has always been regarded as polite compliments and nothing more. She took a couple of deep breaths and hoped in all of hopes that somehow all the praises had been true or at least, Seung Hyun will look at her in a different light later tonight.
 
 

"Stop feeling so nervous. I'm sure your Seung Hyun will be forgetting his name the moment he sees you tonight." Taeyeon stood beside her. She was donning a devil red strapless form fitting gown, leaning over a little to re-apply her equally devil red lipstick while giving her best friend a playful wink, trying to ease off Tiffany's obvious anxiousness.
 
 

"Knock it off Taeyeon. You're just making me more nervous." Tiffany rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue as if trying to let out some of her nervousness. Taeyeon looked at her through the mirror and studied her expression. She closed her lipstick and dropped it in her little clutch bag and then faced Tiffany.
 
 

"I think you should tell him." Taeyeon said seriously.
 
 

"What?" Tiffany asked dumbly, not liking the serious tone on her best friend's voice.
 
 

"Tell him how you feel. You refuse to ask what his plans are after high school and you're too afraid to ask where he's going and when he's coming back if ever he's coming back. So tell him." Taeyeon telling her blunt deduction of the whole situation.
 
 

"But---"
 
 

"What have you got to lose Tiff?" Taeyeon smiled at her as she fixed Tiffany's made up hair.
 
 

"We'll only be high school students for one more night. Just tell him for the heck of it." And they heard a knock on the Taeyeon's room. The head mistress of the mansion appeared and told them that Seung Hyun's just arrived.
 
 

"Now I won't keep you from your Seung Hyun. Go on ahead. I still have to pick up the girls. You know how I like to be fashionably late." Taeyeon held on to Tiffany's shoulders and made her turn for the door.

*****
 

 
 
Seung Hyun sat in the middle of the couch in Taeyeon's receiving area. He blew a whistle as his eyes wandered inside the mansion. He looked at his reflection across the fancy mirror on the wall.
 
 

He nervously adjusted the bow tie and the lapels of his suit. It was a good thing that one of the suits in the studio fitted him perfectly. He stretched his neck and fixed the bow tie once again but he froze in his spot as soon as his eyes were pulled towards the far left corner of the mansion.
 

 
And he never thought that all those silly romantic clichés would be true but as the cliché goes, everything else seemed to have blurred out and his full attention was captured by Tiffany walking towards him as if she was walking in slow motion. His mouth fell open to speak but his throat felt like a handful of cotton was struck inside him.
 
 

And just when he thought Tiffany couldn't be any prettier, he thought wrong because when she smiled, her eyes twinkled and Seung Hyun was left nothing but awestruck and he was reduced to incoherent thoughts.
 
 

"Wow." He felt so dumb but at that moment, that was all he could manage to say.
 
 

"Hi." Tiffany unconsciously touched her hair and looked at him.
 
 

"You look amazing." Seung Hyun was finally able to formulate a decent sentence.
 
 

"Thank you. You look amazing too." Tiffany felt her cheeks hot from blushing.
 
 

"Shall we go?" Seung Hyun asked after seconds of staring at Tiffany. She nodded in agreement. He offered his arm and Tiffany reluctantly clutched on to him.
 
 

"Wait!!!" Taeyeon rushed to them, almost out of breath and she was carrying her phone.
 
 

"I'm sorry I just can't let this moment pass up because you two will probably forego the photo booth later unless I drag you both there. So come on now, pose for me." Taeyeon ordered them to look at her but they were both dumbfounded by her sudden appearance.
 
 

"I feel like a parent sending her baby to prom. Now how about smiling for me?" Taeyeon rapped out and kept on clicking her phone. She inwardly squealed as she captured Tiffany and Seung Hyun looking at each other.
 
 

"I am now a satisfied best friend. Now off you go. My limousine will be here in a minute." Taeyeon showed them to the door.
 
 

"Sorry about that. She's just like that." Tiffany apologized as Seung Hyun opened the door of his car for her.
 
 

"It's okay. I understand." Seung Hyun smiled.
 
 
 

*****
 
 

They arrived at the hotel about half an hour later and they could see some of their batch-mates arriving at the same time. After giving the car key to the valet, Seung Hyun took a deep breath and faced Tiffany. He offered his arm to her once again so they could go inside.
 
 

"I'm sorry as I've never attended parties like this, you may have to give me a 101 lesson from time to time so I won't screw up." Seung Hyun leaned over to whisper unto Tiffany. She looked up at him and laughed softly.
 
 

"You're doing great. Don't worry too much." She assured him, tapping his arm.
 
 

Tonight, Tiffany vowed that she will enjoy and savor every moment with him...for this will be her one and only chance. And tonight will mark the completion of her high school.
 
 

And she has already made up her mind that before the night ends, she will confess to Seung Hyun. She just has to figure out how.
 
 

She had nothing to lose.
 

 
*****
 
 

"Our batch-mates have always thought that you and Jiyong felt like you guys were too cool for high school so you don't attend school events." Tiffany shared as they sat on their assigned table. Seung Hyun pulled a chair for her and he chuckled upon hearing her. And her heart did a somersault upon receiving a shy smile from him.
 
 

"I did several odd jobs all throughout high school. I was always late in class because I deliver newspapers in that fancy subdivision where Taeyeon lives." Seung Hyun looked around the function hall and landed his eyes on Tiffany again.
 
 

"I actually got the chills before buzzing in because I'd never thought I'd actually be able to get inside one of the mansions I deliver newspaper to."
 
 

"Believe me, you're not the only one. When she brought me to her house for the first time, I couldn't speak for about five minutes. And she was acting like it's no big deal. For someone so well off like Taeyeon, she's so grounded. When I brought her to meet my parents, she was very respectful and when I brought her to my room which is much smaller than her walk in closet, she genuinely gushed at how cozy and pink my room is. She may be bratty and headstrong but she never bragged her status between our friendship. So I'm lucky to have someone like her."
 
 

"She's also lucky to have you." She smiled at him as they locked eyes with each other. And somehow, they both completely forgot that they were actually in their school's graduation ball until they were interrupted by one of their classmates Leeteuk.
 
 

"If I may just interrupt the cozy chat, can I ask both of you to stand up? We just need to take some photos for the yearbook." The two reluctantly stood up.
 
 

Tiffany noticed Seung Hyun's bow tie slightly tilted.
 
 

"Oh, here let me fix your tie." She reached for his bow tie, her eyes focused on making the tie look impeccable, oblivious to Seung Hyun's eyes completely taken by her face as if studying every little detail. It was right that moment that the camera flashed, taking both of them by surprise.
 
 

"Thank you guys!" Leeteuk dashed off like a lightning.
 
 

"What just happened?" Tiffany asked and looked at him laughing at how they were completely taken by surprise.
 
 

"Oh good! You guys are settled in our table." Taeyeon arrived.
 
 

"Where's Yoona, Sooyoung and Hyoyeon?" Tiffany as