"HEY FANY!" They screamed in unison as the video call got through.

"Hey guys." Tiffany gave a small wave as she flashed her signature eyesmile.

"Why did you fly back to LA without telling us?" Yoona pouted.

The others nodded, accompanied by loads of whining and groaning.

"You should've told us. Taeng was so devastated." Sunny frowned.

"Sorry I shouldn't have left like that," Tiffany paused, "where's Taeyeon?"

She had been searching for the blonde the moment the call went through but couldn't find her.

"She has some work to do." Yuri answered with a straight face.

"Oh."

She was a little disappointed, to be honest. Taeyeon didn't mention anything to her. She thought she could talk to her today since she had been busy with some photoshoots for the past few days.

"You're gonna hang up on us now that she's not here?" Sooyoung joked.

"What? No! Of course not!" Tiffany replied.

They all laughed at the flustered Tiffany and made fun of her whenever they could. That's for not letting them know of her whereabouts, not contacting them at all. Even after Taeyeon found her, she didn't take the initiative to speak to them until they arranged this call. It's payback time.

---

Mr Hwang sat on the couch watching a football match when the doorbell rang. He reluctantly left his comfortable seat to open the door, mentally cursing whoever behind that door for disrupting his game.

He swung the door open and was about to chase the person off if he or she was a door-to-door sales person, but he saw this petite Asian girl instead. Her eyes were round in shock, as if not expecting him to be the one opening the door. Perhaps she got the wrong house? He heard the loud cheers coming from the TV and inwardly groaned. He just missed a goal by the team he supports.

"Yes?" He grunted, impatiently tapping his foot as his hand held onto the door handle, ready to slam the door the moment he gets the chance to say 'wrong house'.

"Um... hi? I-I'm looking for Tiffany," Taeyeon spoke with her heavily accented English and gulped, "Tiffany Hwang."

This man infront of her was so intimidating that she felt like apologizing for imposing and run off. But her feet were stuck to the floor, unwilling to move- too afraid to move. Was this Tiffany's father? What if he didn't have a good impression of her? What if he's against them just because she ruined his game?

Mr Hwang stared at the fidgeting girl for a moment, assessing if she was telling the truth. Tiffany did mention a Korean friend a few days ago. He opened the door wider, inviting her in. Not like a petite lady like her could do anything to his daughter when he's around. The way she nervously fidgeted was the reason why he's so confident. Bet she would pee her pants if I were to raise my voice.

 "Come on in."

Taeyeon let out a relieved sigh as she bowed and introduced herself before she stepped in. "Thank you, Sir. My name is Taeyeon, Kim Taeyeon. I'm a friend of Tiffany’s."

"Korean?" Mr Hwang switched to Korean, sensing the difficulty in speaking English for her.

"Yes, Sir." Taeyeon replied, relieved that she could go back to using her mother tongue. God knows how long she had been practicing her English prior to this trip- or as she called it, Operation Tiffany. She's here to win her girl and bring her back to where she belonged, in Korea with her.

"Wait here, I'll go get her."

"Thank you."

Taeyeon stood in the middle of the living room as she dare not move, and watched Mr Hwang go up the steps to where the bedrooms were. First impression mattered a lot and she wasn't sure if Mr Hwang was happy with her showing up out of nowhere, disrupting his lazy Sunday afternoon.

She started doubting herself. Was this really a good plan? Tiffany mentioned she needed more time but Taeyeon wanted her back. She missed her so much. She wanted to woo her officially but this distance between them made things difficult.

Flying here was the first step. Somehow she had this inkling that Tiffany would be so touched to see her here, to see her effort, that she'd be willing to cut short her stay in LA. Keeping her fingers crossed, she wished for the best as she stood nervously in this foreign place.

---

Tiffany was laughing at Sooyoung's strange encounter with this old man in the grocery store when there was a knock on her door. She turned to the door and saw her dad's head popping in from outside.

"There's someone here looking for you."

Tiffany raised a brow as she wasn't expecting any guest. None of her friends mention they wanted to visit her today.

"Okay, give me a sec, I'll be down."

Mr Hwang closed the door as she turned back to her laptop.

"Hey guys, I gotta go. Someone's here."

"Oh? Sure!" Joonhyuk squeaked, earning a glare from Sunny and an elbow to his ribs by Sooyoung.

Tiffany's eyes reduced to slits as she eyed her friends. They all looked fidgety and nervous, she realized, but decided to drop it since she couldn't let her guest -whoever that was- wait for too long.

"Talk to you guys again soon."

"Take care, Fany unnie!" Juhyun waved and ended the call.

Her friends were behaving weirdly but she couldn't care less. She stood up and walked to the wardrobe to change into a more presentable outfit. She can't possibly greet her guest in PJs, although she would do that if it's her good friends visiting. She still had an image to protect.

---

"What the hell was that?!" Sunny bellowed.

"You almost ruined it!" Sooyoung joined.

"Keyword is almost. Almost. She didn't even realize anything!"

"Sorry buddy, I'm with them on this. You could've made her suspect something and blow the whole surprise." Yuri patted his shoulder as she stood up.

"Well then, since our job here is done, I'll go to my date now."

"Unnie you're still dating that same person?"

There was a silly grin as she thought of her girlfriend. "Yes, I am. Well, see you." She whistled as she went out of the apartment.

"She sure is happy." Juhyun muttered.

“You can be, too.” Yoona whispered.

The actress turned to the model and saw her eyes twinkling. She gulped unknowingly and felt her cheeks heating up.

"Yah. Love birds, cut it out!" Sooyoung's voice suddenly boomed, startling the two of them.

"What?"

"Unnie, we're not..."

The other 3 in the room laughed at both of their flustered look and the blush creeping up their cheeks.

"You might as well be." Sunny joined in and laughed.

"We can help with Operation YoonHyun, if you want. We're quite good at this. Exhibit A," said Joonhyuk as he pointed to the laptop on the coffee table. "Kim Taeyeon asking us for a favour to make sure Tiffany's home and distracted as she shows up at her doorstep."

"But what we didn't think of was that her father could be home and would be the one opening the door." Yoona quickly added.

They laughed, trying to imagine how nervous and afraid Taeyeon was, facing the man who held all the rights to approve or disapprove her wooing his daughter.

Juhyun and Yoona sighed in relief as the topic steered away from them. Their eyes met briefly and both of them looked away shyly.

---

The living room was quiet save for the sound coming from the TV. This made Tiffany scratch her head in confusion. It meant the visitor was not someone her dad knows. Usually her friends would chat with him as they waited for her, or he would tell them some stories of his.

Her breath caught in as she saw the person standing in her living room, near the main door. The person she had been missing, the person she was thinking of almost every day was now here, in LA, her home, her living room.

Taeyeon looked up from her hands when she heard movements- someone was coming down from the stairs. She broke into a wide grin as she saw Tiffany, with shock evident on her face. It was the right decision to get her friends to video call Tiffany to make sure she's home so she could pop by.

Taeyeon had asked Tiffany for her address a few days after they started talking again, claiming that if she wanted to she could send some letters or gifts over. Of course Tiffany obliged, who was to say no to letters or gifts?

Tiffany bit her lip as she slowly walked towards Taeyeon. She, too, had difficulty holding in her smile.

"Hey," greeted Taeyeon softly as Tiffany stopped infront of her.

"Hey you." Tiffany tried to keep her volume low as she knew her dad could be eavesdropping.

They stood there for a minute, taking in each other's features, physique, and every single change they could spot.

Taeyeon took in the long, dark hair of Tiffany's. It was different seeing it through a screen than seeing it in real life. She fought the urge the tuck a loose strand of hair behind Tiffany's ears. Although her dad was back facing them, she saw how the TV was reflective when she explored the house with her eyes.

Tiffany noticed how Taeyeon's jawline became more distinct, how long her hair had grown, how bright her eyes were sparkling. She got hooked into the dark orbs as they both looked into each other's eyes. There were longing, passion, happiness and unspoken love.

It was definitely there. They were lost in their own world, ignoring their surroundings. Tiffany couldn't hide her smile any longer as she broke into the widest grin ever, her eyes reducing to slits.

"Ahem."

The deep, masculine sound made by Tiffany's father broke their gaze as Taeyeon took a step backwards out of reflex. They both blushed as Mr Hwang eyed them both.

"Dad, this is Kim Taeyeon, my friend from Korea."

She should have introduced Taeyeon the moment she got down from her room, but she was too engrossed with the blonde that she forgot about it.

"I know, she introduced herself earlier."

Taeyeon bowed 90 degrees as Mr Hwang approached her. She still felt intimidated. She never had a father-like figure in her life before. And Mr Hwang gave her a vibe that if she wanted to date his daughter, she'd have to go through hell first. That piercing glare was like he's trying to burn a hole into her.

"Nice to meet you, Taeyeon." Mr Hwang held out his hand for a handshake.

"N-nice to meet you too, Sir." Taeyeon took his hand and held it for a firm handshake. She was taught that a firm handshake was really important, and would impress a potential customer- although she's not talking about business here.

"I'm heading out for a drink with my pals. I won't be home for dinner." He turned to Tiffany and told her.

Tiffany nodded her head and kept shut. She knew that was her dad's way of displaying his unhappiness. First of all, his alcohol tolerance level was as low as Taeyeon's. Second, he disliked eating out so if he could he would always cook a meal himself. Anyway, she was glad that he didn't portray his unhappiness straightforwardly to them.

"Have fun, Sir." Taeyeon squeaked as she bowed. She was really nervous and didn't know how to react. So all she could do was to treat him like how she would treat the elders back in the orphanage; with courtesy and respect.

Tiffany almost burst out laughing at the cute action by Taeyeon, whereas Mr Hwang's lips twitched in amusement. He hummed and went out of the house to his car.

"Have fun, Sir." Tiffany made sure her dad had driven out before she mimicked Taeyeon, which earned a glare from the latter.

"Shut it. I was nervous, okay? Your dad looked like he could murder me anytime he wanted to."

"Aww," Tiffany cooed as she pinched Taeyeon's cheeks. “Why are you here, by the way?"

"Can't I be here?"

"Well, you can... but there's definitely a reason why you're standing here, in my living room, in LA no less."

"Because I missed you." Taeyeon took a step forward and held Tiffany's hand in hers. "I'm here to convince you that I'm serious, and I want to bring you back."

Tiffany's heart swelled with love. She was really touched by Taeyeon's words and the sincerity in her eyes.

"Tae-"

"I'll prove it to you. One week. Give me one week to convince you."

Tiffany pulled Taeyeon into her embrace and hugged her tight, with tears filling her eyes. Honestly speaking, she was sold the moment she saw Taeyeon standing there like a helpless kid. She was willing to fly all the way here for her, and that spoke volume. She was prepared to say yes if Taeyeon had asked her to go back with her.

But since she didn't bring it up, it doesn't hurt to see what this Taeyeon was up to, right?

---

Because it's 27th, and it's TaeNy day today. Happy TaeNy Day, Locksmiths! 

And I think... there should be a few more chapters (I can't confirm how many) left, and that's it for this story.

Thanks for the subs and comments! You guys have been so encouraging. ^^

-E