“The world is a cruel place.”
“Is it?” Tiffany responded quite fast.
“I don’t know. It’s not something you can really explain. But..this place kind of makes it a little better.”
“We’ll just have to do something about that then, right?” Tiffany said, as a way of encouragement. “Yeah.." she nodded, swallowing the rest of her what was left in while reaching for her soda, which Taeyeon handed to her. “The world can be a bit mean, sometimes.. But you just have to smile a bit. It definitely works.” Tiffany smiled and winked to Taeyeon.

‘Yeah, I shouldn’t have ever said anything’ Taeyeon thought to herself. “You’re weird” She shook her head.

“So what, you’re not going to smile? Ever?”
“It doesn’t work. But I do smile.” Taeyeon protested.
“Really?” Tiffany cocked her head questioning. “When was the last time you smiled?”
“When was the last time YOU smiled?” Taeyeon barked. Tiffany smiled, relaxing herself a bit.
“Just now,” She smiled once again, and blinked rather slowly as if she was processing it as a memory.

Taeyeon closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. She moved her neck from side to side with annoyance. She realized Tiffany had actually been smiling the whole time. ‘How can a person be so happy and come to a secluded place like this?’ Tiffany observed her. She had actually smiled at the fact that Taeyeon answered a question with a question once again.

“You know..You are quite interesting, Kim Taeyeon.”
“Do you usually talk this much?” She took out her sketchbook in attempt to draw something. She had nothing in mind, but it was the time of the day when a little inspiration would cross.
“I do.” Tiffany seemed quite proud of it.
“How old are you anyway?”
“Sixteen! You?” she replied.
“Are you kidding me?” Taeyeon said under her breath. “Same,” she answered, completely engaged with her sketchbook and only giving glimpses once every while.
“That’s great! … so.. I hope we’ll become close?”
“....” Taeyeon stayed silent, and her pencil stopped moving. ‘Summer is ending soon and since school will be starting soon, we probably won’t run into each other often.’ “Why not?”

-----

15 months later (December)

“Tell me! Come one! What’s his name?!” she had a good hold of Taeyeon’s arm.
“Tiffany, give it up! You’ll never find out!” Taeyeon laughed. “Just drink the latte I got you. It’s getting cold.”

Tiffany never thought Taeyeon would had open herself up to Tiffany. It was amazing how much she learned about the world Taeyeon was living in. It was the complete opposite, a bit melancholy, but Taeyeon seemed to be fine. She enjoyed the presence of Taeyeon. Something about Taeyeon added balance to her already happy life.

“Come on! I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”
“Tiffany Hwang has a significant other?!” Taeyeon shrieked!
“I do!” Tiffany shouted, laughing. “But that person doesn’t know.”
“Tsk, Tiffany. That doesn’t count. He has to know for it to count.”
“If you put it in that way, then fine - I don’t. But telllll me, Tae!”
“Ugh, fine. Just .. can you let go of me now?” Tiffany noticed how their hands were interlaced, but that she was the one squeezing.
“It’s cold though” She moved her body closer, but she sensed it was probably annoying so she released. “Okay..”
“No it’s fine, I just wanted to take out my sketchbook. I want to draw some of the trees over there.” Taeyeon smiled.
“o-oh.. okay.”
“Are you leaving soon?” She grabbed Tiffany’s hand and walked toward the trees.
“Hey! Don’t change the subject. Tell me!” Tiffany stopped following Taeyeon.
“His name is Wooyoung, okay?”
“Wooyoung~” She ran to Taeyeon’s side. Taeyeon closed her sketchbook and looked at Tiffany. “His name sounds so adorable!!”
“Yeah, but you should see his body. I love swim meets.” She closed her eyes and smiled to herself.
“When do i get to meet him?”
“You don’t.”

----

3 months after (March)

Taeyeon and Tiffany laid on the grass. Spring was in the air, but luckily it’s been low on rain. They laid at each other’s heads, their hair entangled with each other’s as they ate whatever Tiffany packed for them. The birds were tweeting and the ducks on the lake were quacking but they could hear each other’s breaths. Taeyeon turned herself over, sketching in her book and admiring the swans not more than 50 feet away.

“What are you thinking about, Taeng?” Tiffany asked, popping grapes in .
“Nothing..I’m so tired. The ambulance popped up again this morning. 3:20AM. I wonder what’s wrong with the house across.”
“Do you know who lives there? Might be someone who goes to your school?”
“I have no clue, but i hope whoever is sick gets better. It’s been more than a year since the first time i saw them.”
“Let’s keep our fingers crossed for him.. or her. Whoever it is.”
“It’s just.. Sometimes I wonder how much pain that person might be in. It makes me sad thinking about it. Some people are more fortunate than others.” She set aside her sketchbook and laid next to Tiffany.
“I like to think i’m not the only one who lives the way I do. I’m sure whoever it is, is trying to live life to the fullest. Maybe there’s 70 more years, maybe 7 months, or 7 days left.. maybe 7 seconds? Where am i going with this? I think what i’m trying to say is, even though he/she might be suffering, I think when it comes to the last moment, the only things that really matter are the memories you’ve made and the things, places or people you value the most. Everything else becomes irrelevant.I don’t know.. that’s just what i think.” Tiffany felt Taeyeon grab her hand.
“It’s just scary…” Taeyeon whispered.

“Here, try some of this.” Tiffany fed Taeyeon to lighten the mood. It was definitely too sunny to be having dark moments. “Ahhhhh~ isn’t it good?!”
“Strawberry slices with nutella in the middle?”
“Yes. I like to call them.. Strawberry Nutella Sandwiches” she said waving her hand in front of their faces.
“Obviously.” Taeyeon said, causing both of them to laugh. “Tell me, what is he like?” Taeyeon asked.
“Considerate. Mysterious. Confusing. .. Gorgeous. Ni-”
“Gorgeous?! HAHA!”
“What! Prettier than me..”
“Ah, you like the pretty ones. Not the manly muscular ones.”
“Sorry, not like Wooyoung.” Tiffany stuck out her tongue and sighed. “As I was saying.. Nice. Thoughtful. Nice smile, laugh. I don’t know.. Perfect?” She smiled just thinking about it.
“Wait. Is this the same person you tried to lie to me about when I told you about Wooyoung?”
“Haha, yeah.” Tiffany giggled.

Taeyeon was glad that Tiffany had someone besides her, but because Tiffany was her only friend, she couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. Unlike herself, Tiffany had a life. She noticed how their meetups have decreased as time passed. This was one reason she didn’t like to get close to anyone.

“Where did you guys meet? School?”
“One Summer afternoon.” Tiffany had this smirk on her face that Taeyeon couldn’t understand.
“One Summer afternoon? But we met in the Summer.”
“I know that. I met a lot of people over the Summer haha. You think the only thing i ever did was come here?”
“N-no.. It’s not that. It’s just.. you never told me. That’s all.”
“When am I going to meet Wooyoung?”
“You’re not.” Taeyeon cleared . She handed Tiffany a pink lollipop.
“Why not?” She took off the wrapper and ate it.
“Why are you so interested?”
“Can you stop answering questions with questions?”
“You won’t see him.”
“Come on! From what you’ve told me about him, he seems like a great person!”
“Yeah and the only thing you know about him is his name and that he swims.”
“Because that’s all you told me about him!” Taeyeon laughed.
“Fine, i’ll tell you. He’s … sweet, lively, he has like this raspy low voice when he sings - so attractive, athletic..” Taeyeon tried to think some more. “good dancer,” she laughed. “What else?” She said out loud. “Always make me food. Delicious. Good cook,” Taeyeon laughed and smiled at Tiffany.
“Wow.. I must meet him. Maybe we can have a double date or something. See who has the better partner” Tiffany joked with a wink.
“I’ll think about it.” Taeyeon teased.

'If only you knew he didn't exist.'

The day was short and the time flew by without her knowing. She took a second and stared at the person she’d been around - her savior. Taeyeon loved that they did everything together, one after the other, just how Tiffany liked it. She didn't need Tiffany's words to remind her about collected memories. She sure had hundreds of them already - all not in her journal. The world instantly slowed, almost coming to a complete stop. This was how the life of Tiffany and the life of Taeyeon reconciled; one who wanted to live quickly and one who wanted to savour each moment. She let out a deep breath, one that seemed as if she had been living underwater her whole life, gasping for air. She was able to breathe - breathe the air that she needed to be happy.

-----

Author's Note:
Hoping it becomes a three-shot story~
Not sure if i like this chapter as much as my first one.
But it's going somewhere.