Chapter 11

"Let's break up."

Taeyeon felt a squeeze to her insides when she heard those three words. She then remembered something.

Come on, learn to take a joke.

She then broke into a wide grin. "You think I'm going to fall for it again? I know your ways. I ain't falling for it again."

Tiffany took a deep breath. "No." The word came out short and sharp and strongly. "This isn't a joke, Taeyeon."

"Aish. You and your acting chops. Are you going to become an actress or what?" She wiped her slightly teary eyes and reached out to hold Tiffany's hand. "Come on, let's go get some ice cream."

That was when she decided that she had to pull the trigger. Hard.

She pried her hand away from Taeyeon's warm grip.

"Don't touch me. We are over now. I'm sick of you..." She paused, presumably for dramatic effect but really, it was to swallow the lump in . "You're just...a nerd. You weren’t even good enough for me from the very beginning."

Tiffany watched as Taeyeon's usual bright, round eyes dimmed and got all teary.

Taeyeon, on the other hand, was at a loss for words. She was confused to say the least. Wasn't everything going fine? What's happening? The silence was almost suffocating.

"We are over, so don't come looking for me anymore."

She quickly turned her back and walked away just before the urge to hug the teary girl became unbearable.

Taeyeon stood there for a really long time, watching Tiffany's back disappear and then watching the empty spot that Tiffany had left behind.

==

She sat in front of the TV with a spoon in hand and a tub on lap. She shoved the strawberry flavoured ice-cream into , spoon after spoon. This had hurt more than she expected it to be. Oh well, she would get over it. She always does.

"Hey sis, are you alright?"

"..." More shoving of ice cream into .

"Yah. You will get a brain freeze if you keep this up. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Just leave me alone--" Tiffany eyed her ringing phone and frowned. It was from Sunny.

She's gonna scream at me, that's for sure. I deserve it anyway.

Plucking up of her courage (not that she has much left anyway), Tiffany picked up the phone. "Yeah?"

"Where's Taeyeon? Are you two still out?"

"She isn't back at the dorm yet?"

"Aren’t you supposed to be out with her? It is nearly 12 am. She isn’t even answering her phone.”  

"…”

“Tiffany Hwang. Did something happen?”

Tiffany mentally braced herself for the incoming rage. “I…I…broke up with her earlier.”

“WHAT? ARE YOU FOR REAL?” Sunny screamed from the other side of the line.

“I am sorry…”

“Sigh. I should have saw it coming. A leopard never changes its spots. I can’t talk to you anymore, I need to find Taeng. She isn’t picking up my calls.” The line was cut abruptly.

Tiffany shoved the phone into her pocket, threw her jacket on and left the house just as abruptly.

==

Tiffany’s words were like painful stabs into her heart.  She was sure that they were doing good together. She had tried to change herself to better match up to Tiffany. But it seemed like it still wasn’t enough at the end of the day.

Taeyeon may be slightly naïve, she is not oblivious to things around her. Of course she had heard stories about Tiffany. Some good, mostly bad. But strangely, despite all that she still thinks of Tiffany as the most perfect girl for her. People will call her stupid, dumb or naïve but she doesn’t care.

She had never fell in love with anyone before Tiffany. It was odd how her heart fluttered, tripped, pounded, and skipped when she first saw Tiffany and her bright smile. Tiffany’s smile had that soothing, healing effect on her.

Her heart hurt as she recalled how dark Tiffany’s eyes were when she uttered those sharp words. Was she wrong about Tiffany? She leaned back against the rock solid bench as she stared into the dark sky.

On the other end of the city, Tiffany kicked the nearest lamp post in frustration. Where the is Taeyeon?

She had sent tons of unread messages to Taeyeon. She had gone back to the restaurant, the park, the dorm to check. There was no Taeyeon but there were shadows of Taeyeon everywhere. She remembered the first time she kissed Taeyeon at the park after the movie. Tiffany smiled to herself as she recalled how the poor girl did not even realize that it was a kiss. She remembered how Taeyeon had waited the whole morning for her after that fateful night when she betrayed Taeyeon’s trust and they went for chicken soup at the restaurant. She remembered what a clumsy kisser Taeyeon was back at the dorm before Sunny came along and ruined everything. Most importantly, her hand trembled as she recalled how soft and comforting Taeyeon’s grip was.

That was when Tiffany realized she was more into Taeyeon than she thought.

Her phone rang again, breaking her chain of thoughts. She scrambled for the phone, thinking it might be from Taeyeon. Her heart sank a little when she realized it was just the scary Sunny who probably called to scream at her.

“You can go home now. Don’t bother finding Taeng anymore.”

“Why?”

“None of your business—OW” Tiffany swore she heard a muffled groan from the other end of the line. “I mean, I know where Taeyeon is, I will go get her. You go home and rest.”

“Where is she then?”

“I don’t think you have any rights to know. Didn’t you just broke up—YAH” The line was cut off abruptly.

On the other side of the line, the two best friends were busy fighting.

“YAH. Kim Taeyeon. Why did you hit me and why did you snatch the phone away? I was not yet done with scolding her.”

“Don’t talk to Tiffany like that.”

“Have you gone crazy?” Sunny stood up angrily. “She dumped YOU.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I am kinda tired, Soonkyu I want to rest.” Taeyeon replied weakly as she settled onto her bed, draping an arm over her eyes. “It’s really late now, you should just stay over tonight. Get Ahjumma to prep the guest room for you.”

Sunny softened her stance when she saw how drained Taeyeon was. “Sure. I will be right next door. Let me know if you need me.”

She closed the door behind her, hoping her best friend will get better the next morning. She was so relieved when she got a call from Taeyeon. Taeyeon did not run away. It turns out that Taeyeon had gone back home instead. She quickly took a cab there, thinking her best friend needed her. However once she was there, instead of a teary Taeyeon, she was met with a calm and quiet Taeyeon who simply told her to give a call to Tiffany.

“Call Tiffany and get her to go home. It’s late.” That was the first thing Taeyeon said to her.

It was strange to her that Taeyeon was so calm after her first heartbreak. She had expected a teary, emotional Taeyeon. The same Taeyeon who had cried on her shoulder after getting bullied in high school was now the same Taeyeon who calmly told her to call her ex-girlfriend to go home.

Sunny doesn’t know if Taeyeon was really okay or was it just the calm before the storm. She sure hoped it was not the latter.