For the past week, both Tiffany and Siwon pretended nothing happened that night. They figured that it was better to leave some things as it was, and to avoid the marriage topic for now.

Tiffany knew Siwon was stressed out due to the new project he had to handle, and the possibility of him being promoted. It was a hush-hush issue in the office, but word got out that the Director was leaving and this period of time was crucial for potential candidates.

"You're home early today." Tiffany came out of the kitchen with a spatula in hand.

Siwon just took his shoes off and was now loosening his tie. He went over to her and kissed her cheek.

"Yeah, boss gave me a few hours off to prepare for tomorrow's flight."

Tiffany frowned as Siwon went to get a change of clothes. Flight? Tomorrow? To where?

She went back to the kitchen to finish the risotto she was preparing for dinner. She had no schedule today so she went to the grocer earlier in the day. She thought it might be good for Siwon to come back to home cooked food.

"What are you cooking?" Siwon appeared behind her and peered over her shoulder. "Yum! Risotto!"

"Yes. I figured we should eat home cooked food every once in a while." She shut off the electric stove and plated their food while Siwon set up the table.

Once they settled down, Siwon started eating and let out a soft moan to express how good the food was. Tiffany poked around her food, still preoccupied with the news Siwon broke to her the moment he came back.

"Is it a business trip?" Tiffany could not hold it in any longer.

Siwon chewed and swallowed his food before replying, "Yeah. I'll be flying over to New York to attend a business meeting and D&D with the CEO and some others."

She placed her spoon down on the table and weaved her fingers together. "How long will you be gone?" It sounded like it would take at least a week for him to be back.

"Tentatively 2 weeks? Other than those events planned I think boss is interested to view some new sites for U.S. office."

"And you're only telling me this now? You'll be gone for 2 weeks!"

"Babe, don't be upset. It's a last minute thing. I wasn't supposed to go. One of the guys fell ill and boss told me to replace him. Sorry I couldn't get to tell you sooner. I was just as shocked." He reached out to cover her hands with his. "2 weeks will pass by very quickly. Before you know it I'll be back."

Tiffany heaved a sigh and placed a hand over her boyfriend's. Since he had no reason to not go, and she knew this would definitely help him with the promotion plans, what else could she do but to accept it?

They resumed eating and made the atmosphere a little lighter by having small talks now and then. She told him how she planned to make friends with his pal Sihoon's girlfriend and her group of friends. He was all in for it and encouraged her to go for it. He knew how difficult it might be to be without her group of friends in LA. They could only converse through apps or video call one another when possible.

Tiffany was like a social butterfly, she liked being around people. She liked talking to people to know how they're doing. She liked to be the vitamin for her friends, to perk them up whenever needed, and to pull them out of their depressed state.

Once they were done with dinner, both cleared the table and washed the dishes together.

"Help me pack my luggage?" Siwon nudged her using his elbow as he wiped the washed plates dry.

"Fat hope." She splashed some water on his face and turned off the faucet.

"Oh come on. Pretty please?"

"Nope."

---

"Here you go." Sunny placed a plate infront of Sooyoung and sat down beside her.

"Thanks Sunny." The latter said and dug in.

"Taeyeon-ah, you're done already?" Sunny looked across and saw her friend pushing the plate away. The food was only half touched. It was hardly like Taeyeon to leave her food untouched.

"Hm. Not very hungry tonight." Taeyeon shrugged and leaned back on her seat.

Sunny looked at her friend knowingly and patted her hand that was on the table. It must have been hard on her.

A figure sat down across Sooyoung and the latter gave a small wave of her hand since was full. "Hey Sooyoung, you're here." The figure looked at the almost-untouched plate then turned towards Taeyeon, "You're done already?"

Taeyeon let out a small smile and before she could reply, Sooyoung cut her off. "She's not hungry, Tiffany. Tae, can I have that then? Since you can't finish."

Sooyoung reached out for the plate of spaghetti and replaced her empty plate with it. Taeyeon chuckled and shook her head. Once a glutton forever a glutton.

"Yah Choi Sooyoung! Slow down!" Sunny reminded her friend when she saw her stuffing the spaghetti down .

Sihoon had gotten Sooyoung to take Tiffany out for dinner tonight once he knew of her plan to dine with Sunny and Taeyeon. He told her that Siwon had made a call to him earlier that week and asked if he could get Sooyoung to help take Tiffany out since the latter had no friends here. Siwon also explained that he was going to be in New York for two weeks, so he was kind of worried for his girlfriend's wellbeing.

Sooyoung immediately agreed since she had taken a liking to Tiffany when she came over to Sihoon's birthday party. She did tell her friends beforehand that Tiffany would be there with them. Sooyoung had some last minute errands to run thus she was late for dinner. She only came when Tiffany excused herself to go to the restroom.

---

Taeyeon was a little reluctant come for tonight's dinner, but she could not come up with a valid reason to suddenly cancel. Sooyoung might think that she was not comfortable to be around Tiffany, or she was upset that a person she didn't really know well was joining them- which none of it were true.

She tried her best to not look at the brunette, and talked only when needed. She tried to sound enthusiastic, or at least look interested in the conversation between her friends. It took great determination to not look at the source of the husky voice, to not picture the pair of smiling eyes when she heard Tiffany laughing.

Unfortunately for her, it was difficult to ignore the loud volume of Tiffany's and she found herself smiling at the excited model talking about her previous funny encounter while at a photoshoot. She was flailing her hands around when she got to the exciting part and her words came out like a bullet train.

Taeyeon was amused and intrigued by the different sides of Tiffany she had seen so far. The charming and sophisicated woman she saw on the day they first met, the bubbly side of her when she talked about things that interests her, the child-like expression when she saw anything cute - especially in pink, and the way she cared for every individual wholeheartedly.

She ended up breaking any determination she had. She caught a whiff of the model's scent when the latter leaned on her while laughing, and it was sufficient to make her brain go into overdrive. It felt like she was intoxicated.

---

Taeyeon finally opened up and talked more than she ever did to Tiffany towards the end of dinner. Everyone at the table got comfortable with each other and they planned to invite Tiffany to their usual breakfast date at Sunny's. Although Taeyeon didn't talk much, she showed her concern through actions and that warmed Tiffany’s heart.

Whenever she needed a refill, Taeyeon beat her to it and got the waiter to refill her cup of cold water. It felt like Taeyeon paid attention to her needs and took care of them all. She even cut the steak Tiffany ordered when the latter went out of the restaurant to take a call. The only other person who did that for Tiffany was her dad when she was young. Thus she was pleasantly surprised to see the state of her steak when she came back.

"Tae, can you send me back? Oppa's car broke down yesterday." Sooyoung asked as they stood outside Sunny's restaurant after the dinner.

"Sure," she replied and turned to face Tiffany, looking at the brunette straight in the eyes. "Tiffany, I'll send you home too."

"It's okay. I'll just grab a cab." Tiffany smiled at the sweet gesture. Taeyeon was always so thoughtful and caring. Which got her thinking… was Taeyeon always this attentive to everyone? If she were a guy, girls would definitely date her and that includes Tiffany herself.

"Just let her send you back, Tiffany. If anything happens to you I don't know how I should answer to your boyfriend." Sooyoung chimed, hooking her arm around Tiffany's and held her close so the model stood beside her. "I'm supposed to take care of you for the next two weeks! You'll see a lot of us anyway, so just get comfortable and let Taeyeon drive you around."

"Right... Let's go then, this way." Taeyeon pointed to the left and started walking ahead to lead the way.

Thankfully Sooyoung lived closer to her so she could drop off Tiffany first. But when she looked up to the rearview mirror out of habit and met Tiffany's gaze, she felt that pull again. That strong gaze of the brunette made her look away in reflex. It was too easy to lose herself in that pair of eyes and she was not going to fall for it tonight. Not when she was making some progress- to only see Tiffany in a platonic way.

Tiffany, on the other hand, was looking at Taeyeon through the rearview mirror throughout the ride. Or rather, she was looking at Taeyeon since dinner. Something felt off, like the blond was trying to put some distance between them. She wasn't sure what made Taeyeon change her mind towards the end of dinner but she was glad. She got to know them in a more personal manner; their likes, dislikes, hobbies and such. It was a nice bonding session.

"Tiffany, do you have a car?" Sooyoung turned from her seat to look at Tiffany who was seated at the back. "How are you going to Sunny's for breakfast?"

She laughed at Sooyoung's eyes that sparkled at the mention of anything related to food. "There’s Siwon’s car. But I've yet to convert my U.S. license. So I'll probably just get a cab or take the public transport."

"I could come get you," Taeyeon suggested. The public transport in the morning was always crowded and she frowned at the thought of Tiffany being squashed or d. Or what could happen to her if she were to take a cab. She shuddered at the thought. "It's on the way anyway."

Sooyoung nodded enthusiastically beside her. "Great! That settles it then! Taeyeon will make sure you turn up in one piece and Sunny will make sure you get a good food to kick start your day. And I," Sooyoung paused and stuck out her chest, "will make sure you make new friends. Starting from our little Taeng here." She lifted a finger to point to her left with a wink. "She's the hardest to crack. She's a little shy and all but deep down she's really-"

"Sooyoung." Taeyeon cut her off. This big mouth here was not helping her to deal with her attraction. Or was she?

Tiffany laughed and sat forward a little. "I know how Taeyeon is. And honestly? I quite like her as a friend. She's cute."

Taeyeon blushed at the comment and continued driving without sparing a glance at either of them. She thinks I'm cute, Taeyeon thought to herself. She could feel the end of her lips tugging up as she fought hard to let them stay in line. Was it bad to want to do a celebratory dance?

---

I know, I know, it's still a little bit (or very) draggy. Like, "GET TOGETHER ALREADY", "PLEASE JUST SKIP TO TAENY". Yeah, I get it. Soon, okay? Probably the next 2 or 3 chapters. Thank you for being patient, and thank you for giving this story a chance.

I'm about to fall asleep on my laptop so I'll keep it short. Sorry if I made some mistakes here.

Good night to you, my readers, if your timezone is similar to mine. If not, wherever you are, have a good day! (:

-E