a/n: It's been too long, I know. Sorry. :<

VI.

The pink measuring tape fluttered, sailing down through the still air before ending on the floor on a spiral heap. Tiffany felt her body shuddering under Taeyeon’s intense gaze, face inches away as their laughter ceased before turning completely silent. Her heart was raging inside her chest, begging to be let out.

Taeyeon’s breath against her lips was warm and cold at the same time, making the small hairs at the back of her neck stand on end. Goose pimples sprung all around her arms where the other girl’s grip was tight and lingering.

Instantly, Tiffany had forgotten about the special spot on Taeyeon’s waist that she kept on playfully prodding before she was ceased into this state, immobile under a pair of hands and a pair of dark eyes.

“So how long have you been doing this?”

“What, taking advantage of people’s bodies?”

Tiffany looked up at Taeyeon briefly and chuckled when she saw the girl rolling her eyes playfully. She adjusted the loop around Taeyeon’s chest before jotting down the numbers.

“If you’re talking about the business, then around three to four years. But I’ve been designing way before that. Right after I graduated from design school.” Tiffany said as she slid the small notepad on the back pocket of her shorts, tucking her pen behind her right ear as she looped the measuring tape in between her fingers. She looked at Taeyeon and smiled at the way she was standing like a well behaved child on the small circular platform she set out for her.

Dressed in a loose plaid shirt and ripped jeans, Tiffany actually felt a little envious at how she made the simple ensemble look incredibly appealing. She had to remind herself several times that she was actually working every time she catches herself staring longer than what’s considered as acceptable.

Taeyeon looked down at her from where she was standing on, making her crooked smile look even better when her chin dimple appeared.

“Tell me more,” she urged, making Tiffany’s head tilt to the side by reflex.

“What do you want to know?” She asked back.

Taeyeon shrugged. “I want to know where you grew up, how many siblings you have, your favorite book, your favorite breakfast cereal—just… Everything, you know?”

“Everything?”

Taeyeon nodded, and there was something about the way she looked at that moment that made Tiffany’s heart beat a little faster.

“I want to know everything about you,” the girl continued, and if Tiffany wasn’t flustered before, then she was now. Taeyeon’s eyes were boring into hers and it left a buzzing feeling in her chest, a persistent hum in her head. She masked the tremble she felt in her body with a shaky laugh, walking abruptly towards Taeyeon’s back so the other girl won’t see her face.

She held the measuring tape and looped it around Taeyeon’s waist, careful not to let their skin touch.

“I don’t know where to start—”

A sudden giggle cut her off and Tiffany frowned.

“Are you okay?” She asked, adjusting the tape unconsciously until the girl in front of her squirmed and giggled.

“Taeyeon?”

“I-I’m sorry, I’m—Can you stop m-moving, please?”

Taeyeon continued to squirm, especially when she accidentally lifted the tape higher, brushing against the girl’s ribs. Tiffany finally realized then what was happening.

“Taeyeon, are you ticklish?”

“No! I—” Tiffany poked her side and the girl let out a squeal. “Y-Yes, I am! Oh my God, please stop!”

“Why should I?”

Tiffany’s voice was full of mirth as she relentlessly prodded the spot Taeyeon was uselessly trying to cover with her hand, almost toppling the girl off the platform.

At some point, Tiffany realized that she had totally underestimated the petite girl’s strength, finding her hands and wrists unable to move from the strong grip.
 

The pull was too strong to ignore, and the next thing Tiffany knew, her lips were already parted, anticipating. She breathed out, shakily, leaning in so their lips could—

“Hey Tiffany, you forgot to—Oh my! I’m so sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry!”

It was almost too funny how her assistant had managed to find the perfect time to appear, and how fast it was for her to throw herself out of the room and down the stairs the moment she realized the position her boss and her client were in. The spell was broken as soon as they heard the last thud on the stairs, and Tiffany had to chuckle at the absurdity of it all, resting her forehead softly against Taeyeon’s shoulder as the girl laughed with her. The almost first kiss was a bit tragic, but it would be a crime not to find some sort of hilarity from the incident.

With her wrists free from Taeyeon’s grip, Tiffany finally let her hands snake around the slim waist, drawing their bodies closer in a hug. The sudden stiffness she felt in Taeyeon’s body disappeared the moment their bodies touched.

She sighed when Taeyeon nuzzled her temple, hummed when she felt her plant a soft peck on the swell of her cheek.

“This is probably the right time to ask you out on a proper date,” the girl had whispered against her skin, pulling back with a shy grin. She kept the distance between them small, just enough for her to still feel the warmth seeping out of the girl’s skin. “You know, before I go around kissing you on the lips,” she continued with an embarrassed chuckle.

Tiffany laughed then, nodding as her eyes disappeared in a smile and her cheeks colored in a pink hue.
 

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How Taeyeon got a date after that disastrous almost-kiss, she didn’t really know. It was even more mind boggling when it didn’t feel awkward at all. Being in each other’s arms after practically knowing each other in just a few days time felt unusually comfortable—too comfortable, even—but it wasn’t, even in the slightest, malicious. Taeyeon was one of those people who flinched in the midst of human contact that wasn’t from her family or her closest friends, and though she felt her skin prickle as soon as Tiffany’s fingertips pressed on her skin, it felt rather nice—warm, almost familiar. She figured it was why she felt a little empty the moment they parted.

It took a lot out of Taeyeon not to turn the car and go back, especially now that she could see Hyoyeon waving wildly at her from the warehouse parking lot.
 

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“Soooooooo…”

It’s whenever Hyoyeon drawled out her vowels that Taeyeon knew she wasn’t coming out of whatever situation she was in easily. Her friend was usually a fast talker and she never slowed down for anything. Except, maybe, in moments like this.

“Hooooow’s the visiiiiit?”

Taeyeon wanted to roll her eyes but she was sitting directly in front of the woman, who was browsing through a very thick wedding magazine on her office couch. She knew Hyoyeon well enough, and she was sure that her head won’t be able to survive a hit from an inch thick reading material.

“It’s none of your business,” she finally answered, her voice sounding as emotionless as she could make it. She took a pile of papers and tax receipts and laid them out in front of her on her desk, wanting to look busy.

“Oh but Taeng,” the other blonde girl exclaimed, “It is my business. You’re the maid of honor in my wedding. I have to make sure that your dress is perfect. Less than mine, of course, but you get my drift.”

Taeyeon finally rolled her eyes at the risk of a getting a bump from a thick magazine and threw an annoyed glance at her best friend. “There’s nothing to tell, Hyo,” she said, exasperated, “I got my measurements taken. That’s it.”

She got a date too, but she would never tell her that.

They were stuck in a staring competition for a while before Hyoyeon shrugged in defeat.

Taeyeon had almost managed to let out a sigh of relief when something huge flew out of the corner of her eye and hit her on the head with a painful ‘thwack’.

She was already in a headlock before she could even register the pain.

“You liar!” Hyoyeon screamed in her ears. “I stopped by the shop to see if you actually went for your appointment and the assistant told me she saw you and Tiffany making out in her studio!”

“W-Wha—No!”

“Yes!”

They struggled against each other for a bit before Taeyeon had managed to swipe the magazine that lay haphazardly on top of her documents after being hurled, rolling it into a heavy weapon before reaching behind her to hit Hyoyeon on the head multiple times until the girl let go of her neck.

The girl squealed and ran out the door when she menacingly stood up from her chair.

“You’re dead, Kim!” Taeyeon yelled after her, bolting out of her office with the rolled up magazine in tow.
 

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