“Remember what I told you about my mother being very strict and hard on me back then?”

Tiffany nodded calmly; her facial expression didn’t show much but her hands were trembling madly. She didn’t want it to be a sob story, because she’d most likely break down before the end of it all. She had been through enough and now she was sitting down with Taeyeon; the truth was still more important than what happened between them. If anything, Taeyeon's actions were most likely influenced by the circumstances.

Taeyeon bit her lower lip to hold back her tears; it was still a nightmare no matter how much time had passed.

Flashback.

“Taeyeon.”

“Yes, Umma?”

Being head over heels for Tiffany, Taeyeon couldn’t bring herself to look up at her mother and away from her phone where her girlfriend’s face was. Taeyeon knew it hadn’t been long since their first anniversary together but she was already so sure that she wanted to marry the woman. She might be getting ahead of herself just a little but could she help it? She was dating Tiffany Hwang.

Mrs Kim gritted her teeth as she walked towards her daughter’s bed, grabbing the phone out of Taeyeon’s hand swiftly; she had given in too many times to her daughter. Taeyeon had played enough and she had more than enough freedom – it was time for her to start getting serious about her future. Mrs Kim needed to let Taeyeon know the importance of her place in their family.

“I think you’ve had enough fun now.”

“Fun?” Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, “I haven’t been playing around.”

“I mean with Tiffany and all.” Mrs Kim sat down beside Taeyeon and stared into her daughter’s eyes deeply; she had to set things straight once and for all. “I think I’ve given you more than enough leeway to play around with your uality and relationships; I need you to start knowing your place.”

Taeyeon sat up from her comfortable position and stared at her mother in disbelief; how could her mother think she was merely playing around? All this time, she had been serious and true to her feelings for Tiffany; they had their future planned out and even made a bucket list for each other. If anything, playing around was out of the question at this point in time. 

“Umma, I’m not playing around. I want to marry Tiffany; I might be young but I’m sure of what I want.”

“I’m sorry, but you’ve already been promised to someone.”

Taeyeon could tell from her mother’s expression that she wasn’t in the least bit sorry and it was starting to piss her off bad. She knew herself well, and she knew Tiffany was definitely not a gold digger when it came to family backgrounds and such. Tiffany had proven herself when she denied Taeyeon’s help to earn more money to pay for her own school fees.

Promised to someone?

Looking up at her mother with a fierce gaze, Taeyeon couldn’t hide her displeasure. “Who the heck can I even be promised to? I don’t see anyone as a potential partner.” Taeyeon would only get married over her dead body; and the only person she wanted to marry was Tiffany Hwang – most importantly, she wanted to marry out of love and not for the benefit of the family business.

“You will meet him in due time.”

That being said, Mrs Kim stood up and headed for the door; her daughter was most likely going to need time to digest this news. She had one hand on the door knob when she heard Taeyeon mumble, “I will never forgive you for this.” Mrs Kim felt her heart sting a little but she shook her head; it was all for Taeyeon’s own good.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Flashback end.

Tiffany found it a little difficult to believe, considering that Mrs Kim never showed any displeasure or hatred towards her when they met in the past. She didn't like the fact that the older woman resorted to such underhanded means to make Taeyeon break up with her. Taeyeon was breaking down in front of her because of it - it was so unfair to the poor woman she called her ex-girlfriend.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Taeyeon sniffled in the midst of all her words, “how could I? I… I needed to protect you as much as possible. How could I tell you that my mother looked down on you because you were not so well off back then?” Taeyeon paused for a while afterward, chuckling at her own plight. “Not as if that’s the main reason why I got married anyway,” Taeyeon scoffed.

If that wasn't the main reason, then what was? 

Whatever it could be, Tiffany prayed that it wasn't out of love; Taeyeon couldn't have fallen in love with someone else so quickly. Even if it was, Tiffany didn't want to hear it now - she wasn't ready to find out if her girlfriend had fallen out of love eventually. 

Flashback.

A year into the marriage, Taeyeon had learned many things about her husband. Other than being a giant kid and being younger than her by three years, Baekhyun was also a very dependent person – Taeyeon often wondered what would happen to their house if she wasn’t around to tidy up often. He couldn’t clean up after himself, neither could he cook for himself. It was sad, really; Taeyeon looked more of a sister to him.

“How’s the marriage going?”

Taeyeon couldn’t be bothered to respond; if it wasn’t for her parents, she wouldn’t be in such a plight anyway. She would still be dating Tiffany and they would be planning to have kids by now; she would finally pursue her job was an interior designer and Tiffany would be working alongside her as the property agent. All those dreams were destroyed once Mrs Kim started to interfere in her love-life.

After all, Baekhyun had done his part to be more of a burden than anything else as well - friendship was garnered but it was a little forced from her perspective.

“Taeyeon, I’m talking to you.”

“I’m not obliged to respond.”

Mrs Kim shook her head in disbelief; Taeyeon was still holding this grudge after so long. She heard from her husband that this marriage was not supposed to happen; it was only pushed forward because he lost a high share of stakes and he needed the debt to be paid off. It just so happened that Baekhyun was the heir to the business he owed money to – hence the marriage.

How was she going to explain to her daughter?

“There is something I have to tell you, Taeyeon. I know you’re angry and you resent me for this marriage but I have to let you know the truth. Even I was fooled…” Mrs Kim scoffed shamefully, “my own husband fooled me into making my daughter marry someone; I thought it was for the business but it wasn’t.”

Taeyeon froze in her position at her mother’s words; what did she mean by