Tiffany couldn’t stop smiling.

Well, she was metaphorically on cloud nine so it was understandable. She reminded herself of how being happy felt like. It was good. It was refreshing. Tiffany didn’t mind the strange stares people aimed at her as she got back to her apartment building. When those people gave her almost the same smiles, Tiffany smiled even wider.

Finally, when she reached her room, she pushed the door open with a happy hum.

“Fany, where have you… been…”

Sunny, who had been waiting for her, froze completely seeing Tiffany. She expected the singer to be gloomy like she was the night before. Today was definitely not Tiffany’s best day. This morning, the whole Korea, even probably overseas, knew that she was dating. But Tiffany looked like the total opposite. She was… high. She even swung her handbag back and forward when she walked.

“Oh, hi, Kyu!” She greeted her manager cheerfully, soon throwing herself to hug the shorter woman, “Good morning!”

“Uh, okay.” Sunny was confused even more, “You… umm… are you okay?”

“Well, yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”

Before Sunny could ask more, Tiffany already threw herself onto her bed with a content sigh. She extended her arms and legs with a wide grin. Sunny frowned deeply. Was Tiffany really in a good mood this morning? When she had absolutely showed her displeasure toward her fake dating scandal the night before?

“Fany, you’re not drunk, are you?”

“No!” Tiffany shook her head with a giggle.

“Then, how… why… you’re finally happy that you’re dating Nichkhun now?”

Tiffany then frowned, but still in a playful way, “No, not that!”

“So what?”

She then sat up, stared at the couch that was placed ahead of the bed, in front of the TV. It reminded her of the night before, of a couch in front of a huge window, of Jessica. She then giggled again at herself.

“Seriously, Fany--”

“Kyu!” Tiffany quickly grasped Sunny’s arm and yanked her closer, “Do you remember what you once said to me?”

“I’ve said a lot of things to you, be more specific.”

“That you want me to go after the mighty older Jung.”

“Oh, yeah that one I said-- wait. What did you just say?”

Tiffany smugly grinned, her eyebrows going up and down, “Uh, huh. That’s it.”

It took Sunny a few seconds before she gasped with both eyes widened.

“Y-you and… Jessica Jung?! Wha-- are you serious?!”

“Yes! Yes!” Tiffany shrieked as she let go of Sunny’s arm and lied back down again, “If this was a dream, please don’t wake me up…”

So she spent the rest of the morning passionately talking about Jessica with Sunny until the very, very detail.

-

With an annoyed scoff, Tiffany flipped the page of the magazine in a hurry.

Days passed, almost a week passed, but she and Nichkhun were still the hottest news, apparently. She could find it everywhere. Portal sites, newspapers, magazines, even TV shows and radios. She knew it would be a quite big thing but she didn’t expect it to last this long. She wished for it to die down soon.

You’re too popular, people around her said. For her, she only lost a very few immature fans and nothing less. She was still doing fine. Also her endorsements were still going. Actually things were much better for Nichkhun. He got that popularity way above the way it was back then. Even Tiffany might need to worry if one day Nichkhun would surpass her.

She shrugged. At least it brought some benefits for both of them.

“Hi, Noona!”

There was a voice from behind her, and it was Mino.

“Oh, hey!” Tiffany smiled and ruffled his styled hair, “Long time no see. Are you and the others doing well?”

“Yes, thankfully. How about you? I’m happy about the news, Noona.” He grinned.

“Ah…” Tiffany nodded.

Rookies like Mino still wouldn’t able to distinguish between real and fake. Tiffany knew that he knew about her past relationship with Lim Yoona, but he was probably too naïve to believe that, and he preferred to believe that Tiffany was really dating Nichkhun.

“Thanks. I hope you’ll find your significant other soon.”

He chuckled, “I’m still new, Noona. It’s still far away.”

They talked a bit more. Tiffany learned that Mino and his group were busy preparing their next album. Their first one did pretty well, so the company kind of liked them and gave them another chance to be bigger. That was a good news, since Tiffany really liked Mino, and the young guy himself already got some individual recognition.

“Alright. Do well, you and your team. I’ll buy your next album. I promise.”

“Really, Noona? I’ll keep your promise!”

“Sure, you can keep my words.” She patted his shoulder, “Now, off you go. Practice hard!”

Mino bowed a few times before he walked away to the practice room. Tiffany was about to read the magazine again before her phone suddenly buzzed. Tiffany couldn’t help her smile reading a short message from Jessica.

Hi, Stephanie. How’s the day off?

They couldn’t meet often. Tiffany was busy, and so was Jessica. But it was okay. Tiffany felt comfortable. She knew Jessica paid attention to her, because she always texted her in a perfect time. Like asking how was the crowd after Tiffany performed in a joint concert, or saying how cute Tiffany looked after the singer appeared in a morning interview. How could Jessica know about her activities, Tiffany didn’t know.

And now Jessica knew Tiffany was having a day off without any schedules.

Fine. I’m at the company’s building now. And you? When’s your day off?

Soon she found herself sitting down still holding her phone, texting with Jessica. Tiffany couldn’t remember when the last time she had this normal and proper relationship with someone else. But all she knew that, it felt great and human.

-

“Can’t they just find other questions.”

It started to annoy Tiffany because nope, the hype of her dating news didn’t die down even when there was already other pretty big news after. Nichkhun had complained to her too, saying he had run out of idea to tell lies. It wasn’t any different for Tiffany. She too, started getting confused in answering the questions about Nichkhun.

They basically had no love stories so they had to meet up and discuss about it, or just being grumpy together. It was funny, in a weird way.

And currently, Tiffany had just finished an interview and as expected, they asked her about Nichkhun. They even teased her and Tiffany was afraid if she couldn’t react well.

Jihoon and Sunny chuckled from the front seats seeing how Tiffany’s eyebrows knitted together. She definitely needed to get used to it now.

“But it went well, though. The interview, I mean.” Sunny said.

“Yeah, but still…” Tiffany pouted.

She then took her phone from her handbag, and had to sigh because Jessica hadn’t texted her back. Tiffany didn’t know who was busier, Jessica or her, because the latter sometimes would take hours just to text her back. And Jessica also wasn’t the type to use emoticons. In fact she never used such things. It was awkward for Tiffany at first, but now she was starting to get used to it.

They hadn’t met since that one night. They only texted each other almost every day. There was also one time when Tiffany couldn’t sleep at all, like at all, so she tossed back and forth on her bed before she decided to text Jessica. Minutes later Jessica called her, voice low of sleepiness, but she stayed there, talked to Tiffany until the latter dozed off first and found her phone ran out of battery the next morning.

Tiffany smiled remembering that.

“Since you’re going to be free for the rest of the day,” Jihoon said as he made a left turn, “where do you want to go now?”

Right, where should she go? Her mind instantly went to LC Tower, but no. Jessica was busy working. She couldn’t just go there and jump onto her casually. No, Tiffany Hwang was dating Nichkhun, not Jessica Jung.

“The mall.” She then answered.

“Oh, not the tower?” Sunny teased.

Tiffany shyly giggled, “Yeah, you read my mind.”

-

As usual, Tiffany didn’t tell Krystal that she’d come. She didn’t know, and didn’t care if the blonde was busy. They also hadn’t met for quite long. It made her feel a little bit guilty because Krystal was probably still clueless about her and Jessica. Out of so many people, Krystal should be included in the first ones to know.

So if there was a chance, Tiffany had promised herself she would talk to the blonde.

Tiffany politely bowed to the employees after she got to the sixth floor. Krystal’s secretary even congratulated her, and Tiffany awkwardly thanked her, even though deep down she was hell of tired of that.

Soon she reached Krystal’s room, knocked twice, and pushed the door open with a smile.

But it soon faded.

Krystal was sitting slightly on her working desk, arms crossed. She didn’t smile seeing Tiffany. Her stare was sharp, unfriendly, and Tiffany couldn’t help but be reminded of Jessica. And worse than that, Krystal wasn’t alone. The singer could already feel her heart thumping as she landed her eyes on the other person.

She was sitting on the couch. She was Lim Yoona.

Their eyes met. Tiffany gripped the doorknob tight until her knuckles turned pale white. The actress was there. She was there with Krystal, before Tiffany barged in. She didn’t know how to feel facing Lim Yoona again. What was she feeling? Hurt, anger, guilt, sadness? She didn’t know. All she wanted was to run away from there as fast as she could.

“I’m sorry.” She quickly said, “I didn’t know--”

“No, it’s okay.” Unexpectedly, Lim Yoona stood up and grasped her handbag, “I’m already finished here, right, Krystal?”

Tiffany slightly flinched seeing how Lim Yoona and Krystal exchanged stares.

Soon Lim Yoona walked away, and Krystal didn’t even say a word. The actress stopped for a moment in front of Tiffany, her stare was direct but Tiffany still had the courage to stare back. She didn’t realize how she held her breath before Lim Yoona finally rushed away from her, and she sighed in relieve.

She could see Lim Yoona’s back, hurriedly leaving the place. The employees looked awed seeing her. When she disappeared behind the walls, Tiffany exhaled a heavy breath.

Still recovering from the shock, she brought herself back inside and closed the door slowly. She then saw Krystal was still in the same position, unmoving, looking down on her feet.

Tiffany wondered what had just happened.

“Hey,” She walked to the blonde, hesitated a bit, “are you okay?”

Krystal sighed deeply, eyes still looking down, “Yeah.”

It was the first time Tiffany encountered an upset Krystal. She didn’t know what to do. Usually Krystal would bring her mood up, but Tiffany realized someone couldn’t be happy forever.

“I’m really sorry.” She said again, her hands on Krystal’s shoulder, massaging it slightly, “I disturbed you, didn’t I?”

“That’s fine.” Krystal finally brought her head up and smiled, even though she still looked annoyed, “I wanted to kick that away too actually.”

Tiffany almost cringed, “Oh, wow. What happened?”

The blonde kept silent as she walked to the window, and stood facing it. Again, it reminded her of Jessica. The sight of them standing by the window, their back facing her, it was almost the same.

“I just hate her.” She then heard Krystal mumbled, “Like, really hate her.”

“Uh… but you indeed never liked her, though?”

Krystal hesitated again.

Tiffany was damn curious. If only she could just say that she knew who Lim Yoona was, what kind of person she was, she would spill. It surprised her, in a most unpleasant way possible, that Krystal had somehow, she didn’t know, encountered Lim Yoona. Tiffany didn’t want that. Lim Yoona was her past and probably they would never reconcile, even as friends.

And now Lim Yoona and Krystal knew each other. It wasn’t impossible for the actress to also reach Jessica, and things would get way, way messier than the way it already was. Great, Tiffany was paranoid.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Krystal said again, still sounded insecure, “But she… she makes it even worse every time, I don’t understand.”

It made Tiffany frown. Wait, what did Krystal mean?

What kind of relationship did they have?

“You know,” When Krystal turned around, Tiffany quickly erased the frown, “I always feel bad whenever I dislike someone I don’t know, like public figures. Because I don’t know them enough to judge them. But…  but that whiny had to come to me and say, ‘no it’s okay, they’re indeed bad, hate them all you want’, right to my face. Well, metaphorically.”

“Oh…” Tiffany pretended she understood, but she really didn’t, “that sounds… bad.”

“Indeed.”

With that Krystal walked back to her working desk and put both palms there, sighing. Tiffany bit her lip. Her curiosity was boiling. Something was happening between Krystal and Lim Yoona, whatever it was. None of her business, but it irritated her at how small the world was around her.

“Nah, let’s just forget her.” Krystal quickly dismissed the topic even before Tiffany brought it up again, “What brought you here, gorgeous?”

Then there she was, flirty Krystal suddenly returned.

Tiffany smiled, “Nothing. It’s just… it’s been a while, right?”

“Right.” Her smile appeared, “And oh, I haven’t congratulated you!”

“Oh, about that--”

“Or, should I not?”

Tiffany frowned.

“You know, that one time when I was about to text you, to congratulate you… my sister told me not to.”

It surprised Tiffany, “Oh, she did?”

“Yeah. She said uh… actually you and that dude aren’t together. I don’t know, how could she think like that?”

Tiffany wanted to grin, but she held it as best as she could, so there was an awkward smile plastered on her face.

“Wait,” Krystal noticed the smile, “you-- don’t say you two had something happening behind my back.”

It led a chuckle from the singer. So apparently Krystal was really clueless.

“When the time comes, she’ll tell you.” Tiffany scooted closer and threw her arms on the blonde’s shoulders, “Or, we’ll tell you.”

“What--”

“Now, now, I know you’re not in the mood, so how about we have a little fun? Do you know any good movies playing in the theaters now?”

Krystal grinned at Tiffany’s indirect offer and soon Tiffany found herself watching a movie in the mall’s theater, emptied, only for the two of them.

-

Tiffany took another spoonful of ice cream as her eyes fixed on the screen. A drama she was watching was quite intriguing. The sight of the heavy rain pouring outside could be seen quite clear through the windows without curtains. The singer hugged herself on the couch with a quite thick blanket around her. It was cold but she still enjoyed eating ice cream.

Being jobless was fun but also boring. Tiffany was glad her dating news didn’t come out at the same time as her comeback period so she could avoid unnecessary interviews. Nichkhun was busier than her in terms of domestic schedules so, good luck for him. Tiffany depended on him. She monitored his interviews and made sure to answer the same questions exactly the same as him.

Faking a relationship wasn’t that easy, Tiffany realized.

Thinking about relationship of course reminded her of Jessica, at how they couldn’t meet at all after that night, and at how Jessica hadn’t replied her text she sent a day before.

Tiffany sighed as she put the remote down and replaced it with her phone. There was still no reply. Was Jessica that busy? Tiffany thought that a singer was the busiest job in the world. Apparently, she was wrong.

The thoughts of Krystal and Lim Yoona were also bugging her. She wasn’t sure if Jessica knew or not, but she would like to talk to her about it. Not because of anything, just purely curiosity. Because it was funny knowing how uninterested Krystal was with Lim Yoona but suddenly they were together in her office.

Did they have an unpleasant meeting, just like what happened to Tiffany and Jessica? Tiffany pursed her lips. It could be true.

She sighed again. She really needed to talk to Jessica about this. But her text from the day before hadn’t even been replied.

Feeling annoyed, Tiffany threw her phone aside onto the couch and focused back to the drama. She hugged herself tighter as she kept eating the ice cream. She had been following this series for quite long because it accompanied her during her free times.

Minutes passed, and suddenly something was buzzing around her. Eyes still on the TV screen, Tiffany grasped her phone from her side and ignored it for a moment before the drama was cut off by the commercial break.

When she checked what it was, she literally gasped.

Open the door, please?

In a speed of light she jumped from the couch, almost tripped thanks to the blanket, but quickly tossed it away and ran a little to the door. Without hesitation, she opened the door.

And there Jessica was.

They smiled at each other before Tiffany hurriedly pulled Jessica in and closed the door. Jessica had just gone back from her office, and her blazer was soaked a bit. She must’ve run through the rain.

And it felt like they hadn’t met for a really, really long time.

“Uh… hi?” Jessica started, awkwardly.

Another awkward greeting, “Yeah… hi?”

“Umm… since I’m already here… am I forgiven for ignoring your text?” Jessica asked.

Tiffany kept silent before she lightly chuckled. So Jessica actually realized.

“Well… yeah, pretty much.”

Jessica nodded and then Tiffany noticed the former was hiding something behind her back. She raised her eyebrows at that.

“Ah, this?” She showed it to Tiffany and it was a bucket of flower, “Happy birthday, Stephanie.”

Tiffany had her lips parted as Jessica handed her the flowers. Did she just say happy birthday? But it wasn’t her birthday, though?

“But my birthday is in--”

“August first, I know. It has passed but better late than never, yeah?”

When Tiffany took longer to react, Jessica brought her hand to the back of her neck and mumbled,

“I could only think of flowers but I promise I’ll give you some more presents well, probably later because I’m still busy and all also because it’s--”

The singer quickly surged forward, pressed her lips to Jessica’s. She could feel Jessica smiled into the kiss and she did the same. Jessica just said happy birthday to her, and gave her flowers. It made Tiffany happy. Jessica made her happy.

She didn’t remember when the last time someone she considered special actually gave her flowers. And now she realized how heartwarming it felt.

“Thank you,” Tiffany whispered to Jessica’s lips, “thank you.”

Jessica pulled back and smiled, one hand brushed Tiffany’s hair and tucked it behind her ear. That moment Tiffany realized how much she actually missed being with Jessica, missed those eyes, missed those smiles, missed those gestures, missed her.

So she hugged Jessica tight and sighed in content because again, finally, she could remind herself of one thing she hadn’t got for quite long.

That it felt good to be happy.

****

I'm still serious about YoonKrys/YoonStal. Should I make it clearer for their story or...? I still find the pairing interesting...

And I hope you all wont mind JeTi taking baby steps :)