"You look... different," Yuri commented as they sat around the table for their usual breakfast.

Taeyeon could only meet them for breakfast when Tiffany was not around. She wasn't sure if the brunette had forgiven her so it was better to avoid her for the time being, although it had been slightly more than a month since that unfortunate day.

"Hm? What?" Taeyeon looked down at her hands and up her arms, to scanning her own outfit. She frowned when she found nothing out of the norm. "I didn't get a haircut. I'm still wearing the usual stuff. What's different?"

"Yeah, now that you mentioned, something seems different... what is it..." Sooyoung tapped her chin with her index finger and eyed Taeyeon from head to toe. She, too, found something different and it was unexplainable. It was just... different.

"Yah, don't do that!" The way they looked at her was as if she were an exhibition or a dish they could devour and it made her uncomfortable.

"I KNOW!" Yuri suddenly shouted, making her friends jolt in surprise.

"Aish, lower yo-"

"You are dating aren't you? Huh? You are, right?!" Her friend sat up straight and clapped her hands excitedly.

She couldn't exactly pinpoint the difference but she knew Taeyeon was different somehow. She no longer looked like she had lost her precious possession in the world, but had this... this different aura around her. And it was like she's glowing.

It suddenly dawned on her that the one reason why someone was glowing was because she got laid, or that she's currently seeing someone. To which she thought Taeyeon might fall into the second category since her friend was not someone who would sleep with just anyone. She's not that kind of girl.

"Wha-"

"OH MY GOD TAENG! Who?! WHO IS THAT PERSON?!" Sooyoung joined in and looked at Taeyeon with twinkling eyes. After one month of constant mourning, she was finally free and happy and that's all that mattered.

"Yah, you guys sto-"

"Stop cutting her off and let her finish!" Sunny flared up. It was irritating of them to cut off what Taeyeon wanted to say. She was beyond curious since her friend did not update them about this, and her two friends couldn’t stop bombarding her with questions.

Taeyeon inhaled heavily and sighed dejectedly. She didn't want to tell her friends yet since it was still kind of unstable and new. She wanted it to become something she could be sure of before informing them, but it seemed like today's the day no matter what.

"I uh- I'm kind of seeing this colleague of mine," Taeyeon cleared and started slowly, eyeing her friends to gauge their reaction. She saw how some of their expressions softened and the rest of them were curious. "It's still at the initial stage of getting to know each other better but she's- I don't know. It feels good to be with her."

Taeyeon unknowingly smiled as she thought of the shy Suzy when she first held her hand. They were out for dinner again and took a walk in a park after. Taeyeon felt Suzy's fingers brushed across hers and she dared herself to hold her hand. She succeeded and Suzy blushed. Even if the park wasn't brightly lit, she could still see that slight tinge of pink on her cheeks.

She inwardly sighed in relief as Suzy's hand wrapped around hers in a light grip. At least she could confirm that she swung her way and was somehow interested in her. She wasn't sure how deep the attraction was. But she was glad that somehow, Suzy could reciprocate her feelings and it felt good. At least she didn't need to worry about unrequited love.

"And she's cute."

"Aww, look at that smile on her face. I'm happy for you Tae!" Sooyoung cooed as she reached over to ruffle Taeyeon’s hair.

"We all are," Yuri smiled, "you finally chose to be yourself huh?"

They all knew of Taeyeon's girl crushes back in high school and college, but their friend was afraid of how people would look at her if she were to date girls. It was still frowned upon in their country although it's gaining awareness around the world. Taeyeon was one who cared a lot about how people looked at her. She wouldn't be able to take the stress or discrimination.

They were all glad Taeyeon finally looked past it and started being herself. Hopefully whoever this colleague was, she could bring her the long overdue happiness. After all, Taeyeon deserved that much.

---

It was the weekend and the young couple left house earlier to fetch Siwon's parents to the steakhouse Taeyeon had brought her previously. She didn’t have the chance to bring Siwon there yet so she thought they could all go together. The steak was to die for.

"Tiffany, dear, it's so nice to see you again! How've you been? You look like you slimmed down. Siwon-ah, didn't you take care of our Miyoung? Look at her, she's just skin and bones!" Siwon's mother exclaimed as she hugged the model and then turned Tiffany around by the shoulders to take a better look.

Tiffany only smiled as she learned it the hard way not to refute Mrs. Choi's words. She wasn't exactly the slimmest amongst her co-workers and she had been eating well. It's been two weeks since she last saw me, she reminded herself in her head. Two weeks was enough for someone to change appearance drastically, probably.

"Mom, you're making Tiff uncomfortable. Stop spinning her around," Siwon stepped up to free Tiffany from his mother's clutches. "It's good to see you too," he added sarcastically. Why wasn't he the first person she looked for the moment she had arrived? Wasn't he her son?

"You're too old to be sulking, my son," Mr. Choi appeared behind his wife and hugged Siwon. He then turned to Tiffany to give her a hug. "I've missed you. You look good on those covers, by the way."

"Great to see you too, Uncle." Tiffany grinned and hugged the man back. She was glad to see them both again. The last time she saw them was when they came back from Europe three weeks ago. They had been traveling around the world for the past year and recently came back from Bali. The life of a retired couple. Tiffany wished she could travel the world too. It would be such a great experience. But with Siwon's work and her current schedule, it would be quite a challenge to plan for a getaway.

"Let's go, shall we? Don’t want to be late for our reservation."

---

"So I was 'introduced' to your group of friends?" Suzy asked, amused.

They were on their way to a movie and Taeyeon filled her in with what happened at breakfast this morning. She knew who Taeyeon's close friends were as she would bring up her friends every now and then into the conversation.

"Yeah. Sorry, they- I have no idea how they found out though. Yuri was the first. Probably her gaydar doing its work," Taeyeon joked.

"Should I- should I meet them?" Suzy uncertainly asked.

Both Taeyeon and Suzy had been hanging out more often for the past month, and they were in this sort of dubious relationship. They had yet to confirm their status, but they obviously felt something for one another and neither wanted to take the first step to make it official.

They held hands when they went out, they hugged, they called each other almost every night even after parting ways from work. Inseparable, that's what their colleagues called them. They were made fun of frequently these days since they've been seeing each other a lot.

"Do you want to? We could wait a while longer. For now they're kind of satisfied to know that you exist."

Although she was dying to meet Taeyeon's friends, it might be better to wait until they were officially a couple lest things turn out awkward for any of them. Till now, they had been progressing quickly but it was still not the time to confirm their relationship. They had a mutual agreement to not see anyone for the time being though, and for them it was good enough.

"Don't feel pressurized. It's not compulsory to meet them... yet." Taeyeon winked as she stepped on the accelerator after the light turned green.

Suzy blushed when Taeyeon shot her a greasy wink, on top of what she had said. Was she trying to imply something she thought she was? Did Taeyeon decide to speed things up? It might not be a bad idea... Taeyeon was really a fun person to be with. And honestly, she felt protected and cared for; something every single female on the planet craved for.

---

The four of them settled down and ordered their meal while chatting and Siwon's parents started filling them in with the highlights of their trip.

"It was so beautiful! We had our own villa with private pool that overlooked the horizon."

"Yes, and there were a lot of couples there for a holiday. We've met a few Koreans too. It's a beautiful place. The both of you should head over there some day," Mr. Choi suggested after he took a sip of the red wine.

"You heard that, Siwon? Bring Tiffany out for a vacation! And maybe make some babies while you're at it. It's about time isn't it? We're not that conservative. You could get pregnant before having a wedding."

"Auntie, I don't-"

"Yeah, um, about that..." Siwon interjected and looked at Tiffany then his parents.

His girlfriend looked at him, confused. What was he trying to do? He held her hand that was on the table and gave it a light squeeze. She started to get anxious and hoped that Siwon wouldn't notice her hand that had started to sweat. Somehow, she didn't like where this was heading.

All eyes were on him to finish his sentence and suddenly Siwon thought it might not be a good idea. Nevertheless, he cleared his throat and inhaled deeply. "Mom, dad, since you are here, I'd like to do something."

His parents' eyes sparkled as they heard what their son had said. They knew where this was heading and honestly, they thought it's about time.

He glanced at Tiffany then back to looking at his parents. "I'd like to ask Tiffany to marry me. We've been together for long and I want you to witness my promise to her. And at the same time, get your approval for this marriage."

He then turned to Tiffany and looked into her pair of mesmerizing eyes. "Tiff, we've been together for 6 years now. I've wanted to do this on our anniversary but thought it might be better to do it infront of my parents."

Tiffany looked at him, shocked. He took out a velvet ring box from his pocket, opened it and held it infront of her. She did not expect him to propose infront of his parents. She thought they both agreed it wasn't time yet. What made him change his mind?

Siwon mistook Tiffany's silence as a sign to go on, and so he did. "Tiff, make an honest man out of me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to have gorgeous babies with you, I want to grow old with you. I want to laugh, cry and frown at every single thing we'll be going through in future. You made me a better person and I love you. I want to make you mine, officially. Would you marry me?"

She felt two pairs of eyes looking at her expectantly as she looked at her boyfriend. Was this really what she wanted? It had been her dream to marry Siwon, so why was she not saying yes immediately? In the past she would've said yes in a heartbeat. There were no flowers, no going down on one knee, no romantic dinner and no games, but sincerity and pure adoration. He really wanted her to be Mrs. Choi but she wasn't sure. She knew that once she agreed to be Mrs. Choi there was no turning back.

But why was she hesitating? There was no way she could be together with Taeyeon, and there was no way she would break up with Siwon. She felt self-conscious as all three of them looked at her and anticipated her answer. She realized she couldn't get out of this. Somehow she felt cornered. In their eyes they were the perfect couple and were meant for each other.

She couldn't say no or 'let me think about it' since she would need to come up with a legit reason. And what could she say? That she needed to think this through? That she felt something for another woman? Or that she wasn't sure if Siwon was the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with? Either way, there would be a lot of explanation to do or risks involved. Tiffany was one to take risks. But not this time round.

She hoped she wouldn't regret this decision. If she fell in love with Siwon previously and managed to stay that way, she could rekindle that feeling she had when she was with him. She just needed time to forget Taeyeon's warmth, to stop comparing the both of them and to continue life as it was befoe she met the blonde. She was confident she could do it.

"Yes."

---

She. said. yes.

I hope you understand where Tiffany's coming from. She still felt that she loved Siwon more than anything and it could all come back once she 'got over' Taeyeon. Does it make sense? It hope it does. All in all, she doesn't see a future with Taeyeon even though they have feelings for each other.

The next few chapters would be like roller coaster ride. Different emotions, different issues faced, and new revelations. You have been warned. XD

-E