Chapter 1 (Updated as of Februay 04, 2022)

The hotel restaurant was surprisingly crowded on a Tuesday evening even when spring break was still two weeks away. Most seats were taken by tourists, both local and foreign. Taeyeon couldn't even remember since when did this place became such a hot spot for a vacation. Did she really take too long to return for her not to notice the drastic changes of the place she grew up? 

Seven years was indeed too long. Long enough for many things to happen. Long enough for changes to take place. Long enough for someone to miss these changes. 

They found a seat on the back right corner of the restaurant after a few minutes of scanning the place. The younger girl whose long gold locks where tied into a bun led the way to the four-seater vacant table with Taeyeon in tow. They took the seats across each other before carefully putting their cameras away in the seats next to them. 

"Good evening." said the young man who appeared on the table's corner out of nowhere.

Like synchronized robotic twins, they raised their heads and looked at the smiling man, both returning the smile with the same intensity.

He handed them the menu and both girls skimmed through the long list of the restaurant's cuisine.

"I'll just have the roasted chicken and bow tie pasta salad" Seulgi said after leafing through the pages.

"How about you, miss?" the waiter faced the other woman, whose brows are cutely drawn together, on the other side of the table.

"I'll just have what she's having."

"And two sparkling lemon, please" added Seulgi.

"Would you want a dessert to go with your pasta?" he asked to no one in particular.

Seulgi's eyes glimmer upon hearing the word dessert and quickly opened the last page of the menu. The older girl across just shook her head and smiled upon seeing her sister's fast reaction. She turned to face the patiently waiting man and said "We'll just have the strawberry and vanilla ice cream cake." 

"Assa!"

Taeyeon chuckled.

The waiter repeated their orders and asked if there's anything else they would like to add. Both girls shook their heads and smiled and the waiter took his leave after gently getting the menus on the table. 

Taeyeon crossed her arms on the table as she roamed her eyes around the well-lit interior of the restaurant. She scanned each corner of the room, admiring the modern yet cozy ambiance. Upon looking around, she noticed that most of the patrons are couples of varying ages. One, in particular, caught her eyes. Not because of the fact that the pair are both girls, but because her mind wandered to someone. Someone she thought she could've been with just the like the pair she was staring. 

We could've been like that if you didn't leave.

She smiled. A sad one.

"Unnie?" Seulgi called, following her sister's line of sight.

For how long are you gonna keep doing this, unnie? How long are you gonna imprison yourself from the past? Maybe forcing you to go on this trip was a bad idea afterall.

She shook her head regretfully. She sighed.

"Unnie!" she called again, louder this time.

The older girl quickly diverted her gaze to her sister. "You were saying?" she asked with an apologetic look.

"Nothing, I was just calling you. You dazed out all of a sudden, staring at them" she pointed the pair with her lips.

Taeyeon avoided her gaze and looked down.

She sighed again, for the millionth time already, almost everytime she caught her sister suddenly spacing out. 

In the five years that she had known and lived with Taeyeon, not once did she saw pure happiness on her eyes. Surely, Taeyeon has her dork days coupled with her ahjumma laugh which Seulgi loves so much but she never saw a smile that reaches those deep brown orbs like those she once saw in old photo albums caged in a box beneath her sister's bed. Not when she chewed her favorites jellies which Seulgi came to know over the years, not when their father cracked a joke over the lamest things, not when they went on trips like this, not when she was one with the sea and even not when she's able to capture the perfect moments behind those lenses.

All she knew was that someone wiped that smile off seven years ago. Someone with Taeyeon in all those old photos. Someone named Tiffany.

Her thoughts were cut short when she noticed sudden movements across the table. Taeyeon was reaching for her camera. She then smiled expectantly when Taeyeon turned the camera on, all her rueful thoughts earlier vanished. 

A smug look was plastered on her face as her sister continued to scan every photo she had taken the entire day, examining each image deliberately. Taeyeon never failed to baffle her sister everytime she went all serious like that when it comes to photography, even when she was frowning like a cute wet little puppy on a rainy day. 

"Not bad." Taeyeon commented, smirking, after several minutes of scrutinizing each of Seulgi's shots.

"Not bad?! That's just it? I spent the entire day thinking of ways to improve my skills, getting good shots, finding a perfect muse, and yet all I get is just a plain 'not bad'?!" Seulgi protested, frustrated.  

Taeyeon chuckled. "What do you want me to say then?"

"Ugh, you're hopeless, unnie." she slumped back on her chair.

She smiled. "It takes time, you know, to capture the perfect moments. Not just merely taking random shots of people, sceneries or what nots. It takes time to perfect a piece of art. It takes time to find the perfect muse."

Seulgi was certain that Taeyeon, who was once the country's renowned photography prodigy, has indeed found her muse. But she just had to ask, "Have you found your muse then, unnie?"

A sad smile was plastered on Taeyeon's face. "I have, as a matter of fact." Or maybe, I did.

Their conversation was cut short as the waiter from earlier arrived with their food on the tray well-balanced on his hand. They thanked the waiter and both started to dig in with their food as their stomachs started to protest from hunger.

Dinner was unusually quiet between the both of them save from the utensils clanking with the plates and the soft chatters from the nearby tables.

Halfway through the meal, Taeyeon thought of something that she n