It's been awhile :) 

Hello new readers! 

Hope you've all had a lovely Christmas! 

It's short, but I hope you like it! :)

(I feel like I've not been writing in forever!  Sorry if I seem rusty.) 

Chapter 23

Tiffany nicks the wooden leg of the coffee table with her nail – scratching off the layer of pearl white paint - then trails her fingers along the grooves, pleased with the carvings. There were a total of 19 notches - one representing each day they have been together. 

“You know you can easily count the days using a calendar, right? The table is innocent.” Taeyeon had protested when Tiffany added the first six notches.

“I’m counting up the days.” Tiffany had beamed, delighted by the ingenuity of her idea. “I spend too much time counting down to things – the next deadline, the next rehearsal where we’re all together, the next time I see you… It’s nice counting up for a change.”

The days between countdowns always seemed to blur and blend into a numbing state of limbo, but counting up – that made the days… count.

Taeyeon made the days matter. She made Tiffany accumulate the days like a sacred collection – and each day brought a new addition.  

The door unlocks and Tiffany immediately leaps to her feet, her movements as light as her thoughts.

Taeyeon greets her with a kiss like a sigh. 

“Oh no.” Tiffany utters tensely, after inhaling a breath of distress. She links both their hands and leads Taeyeon to the middle of the living room, fortifying her mind with each step, preparing herself for what’s to come.

They have been spending time at Taeyeon’s old apartment because the dorm had become too crowded, yet one person away for them to break the news - Hyoyeon was still being stubborn. “I live 10 minutes away. That’s not far enough from all of you. People keep showing up uninvited.”  she replied, after almost a dozen pleading messages from Tiffany.

Not that it mattered now – they would all be present at Sunny’s radio show tomorrow. It was her 500^th segment and the members had decided to surprise her with their presence.

“How did it go?” Tiffany asks and clenches her teeth, fearing the worst. Tiffany is sitting on the sofa while Taeyeon is seated cross-legged on the floor with her head resting on Tiffany’s knees.

“Do you really want to know?” Taeyeon burrows her face into Tiffany’s thighs, hugging her knees as if to prevent her from running away. 

Tiffany didn’t, but she felt that Taeyeon needed to tell her. 

“Tell me.”

Taeyeon turns her head to one side and embraces Tiffany’s knees tighter. She takes a few laboured breaths. “They stared at me for about a minute and then pretended I hadn’t said anything for the rest of the meal – casually making small talk - asking about my day and Girls’ Generation. I think they were in shock.”

“I don’t blame them.” Tiffany admits as she Taeyeon’s hair, feeling dampness seeping through her pants. Taeyeon’s parents had welcomed Tiffany with open arms, reconciled their traditional values with Tiffany’s Western ones, treated Tiffany like a daughter, and Tiffany had decided to challenge their love by loving their daughter. It probably felt like an absolute betrayal.

Tiffany held back tears of her own – they would have to wait.

“Don’t worry. They love me more than their values.” Taeyeon says with a shaky voice, as though her optimism scared her. “I know they do.” She tries to convince herself. “I really hope they do.” She settles on hoping.

Tiffany bends forward till they are both cheek-to-cheek – the tilt causing a stray tear to escape and mix with Taeyeon’s. “Even if our love doesn’t conquer all in the end, I will still think that it was more than enough.” If it came down to it - even if Taeyeon chooses her parents in the end, Tiffany wouldn’t think less of what they had.

Have, she reminded herself.

“It is.” Taeyeon asserts, without a hint of hesitation. “Our love isn’t what’s put to the test – it’s theirs.”

Tiffany feels her heart steer away from the abyss, floating once more towards Taeyeon.

“I really love you.” She states simply, not knowing any other words.

“And it really is the best thing.” Taeyeon whispers.

Tiffany felt Taeyeon smile – their cheeks brought even closer together – and the world revolved a bit slower as her heart throbbed a bit louder. 

“How did your dad take it?” Taeyeon elevates her head suddenly, remembering that they had agreed to tell their parents on the same day. Tiffany shakes her head lightly while recovering her smile – Taeyeon really needed to learn to ease out of moments instead of jumping out of them.

“He sent me a list of songs he wanted you to sing the next time you visit.”

“That’s it?” Taeyeon narrows her eyes but her lips twitches, cautiously hopeful.

“He also said that you were out of my league, but I really don’t want to get into that.” Tiffany chuckles, her annoyance being swiftly removed by a flood of gratitude as she watches Taeyeon’s smile grow. “We can share my dad, like how I shared your mom, until your parents come around.”

“We can share everything.” Tiffany promises. 

******

“Good evening, everyone. I’m Kim Taeyeon and I’ll be taking over as your DJ until Sunny stops crying. Welcome to the 500^th segment of Sunny FM Date. Other guests joining us today are Im Yoona, Kim Hyoyeon, Kwon Yuri, Seo Juhyun, Choi Sooyoung, Jessica Jung and Tiffany Hwang. Right now…”

It’s Girls Generation, Tiffany thinks prematurely.

“…while we wait for Sunny to be professional, let’s listen to the song you listeners been requesting all afternoon…”

Tiffany watches proudly as Taeyeon slips effortlessly into her temporary role. Sunny is seated between them, sobbing on her shoulder while Sooyoung is on Tiffany’s right, still laughing at Sunny’s reaction and patting her gently on the head. Across from Tiffany, Jessica is enveloped by both Yuri and Yoona and tries half-heartedly to break away while they cling onto her snugly. At the end of the table, Seohyun and Hyoyeon are engaged in some kind of stare down – both trying to supress their smiles.

The screen before her rapidly fills with messages from fans: Is Girls Generation back? // We’ve been waiting for you. // Did Taeyeon actually say Jessica Jung? // Always here. // What does this mean? // We are always one. 

Tiffany could feel the love radiate through the screen - the warmth illuminating the expressions of the people in the room. 

Sunny takes over after 2 songs after changing seats with Taeyeon, expressing her gratitude towards the members and fans. “Today is perfect. I can’t possibly ask for more.” The members exchange glances, knowing that the feeling was mutual. They struggle to link hands around the table, failing humorously as microphones and bottled waters were knocked out of place.

“Behave.” Taeyeon whispers as loudly as she can, then succumbs to laughter herself. 

In the radio booth, they spend the next hour constantly forgetting about the outside world. The stuffed animal they had bought for Sunny was dangerously tossed around the room (till it was confiscated by the staff), helium balloons were treated as volleyballs (till they were confiscated too - by Taeyeon this time), some comical singing occurred when Sunny played “Gee” (later they realised that their mics were not muted), and questions directed towards the members resulted in endless banter (“I hope that somehow answered your question because I have honestly forgotten what it was”).

They avoided all questions about Girls’ Generation because it would be a violation of their contract, insisting that they were there not as members of Girls’ Generation, but as best friends.

“Now for the last question for the day – this is a good one – why is Tiffany finally back in Korea after two years?” Sunny directs the question towards a distracted Tiffany, who had been too busy trying to read Yoona’s lips from across the table.

“We’re working on something together.” Jessica cover for her, as always. 

“All of us are, actually.” Yuri adds immediately, winking at Tiffany.

Tiffany glances towards Taeyeon, alarmed. Taeyeon has her eyes fastened on Yuri, frowning deeply, while the other girl shows no sign of remorse.

“Wait for us, SONEs.” Sooyoung chimes and Taeyeon’s posture stiffens. She looks to Tiffany, panic clouding her eyes as the realisation hits them both. 

“We missed you.”

Yoona.

“We need you on our side.”

Hyoyeon.

“We love you, SONEs!”

Seohyun.

The words pour out of each of the members, confirming their collusion.

“We’re back!” Sunny confirms enthusiastically, finally jumping on the bandwagon.

Taeyeon watched the scene unfold with a blank expression, paired with shifting eyes and pursed lips. Her hand find Tiffany’s under the table and she holds onto it shakily – the only indication of how afraid she feels hidden from the public eye.  

 “Right now…” Jessica starts.

“It’s Girls’ Generation.”

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