"Hey Richie, have you submitted the analysis to Jason yet?" Terry, my ever-whining teammate seated across me, asked.

"Yeah," I replied, still looking at my computer screen, "I just emailed him the results. But he won't see it until tonight since he's still stuck in that budget meeting with Mike and Gary." I blinked for a few times, deciding to get up, "I'm gonna take a quick coffee break."

I didn't even wait for Terry to reply, standing up and walking to the pantry. Good thing there was still some fresh coffee in the pot.

As I poured myself a cup, fumbling about with the cream and sugar, my phone suddenly blared from my pocket, to the tune of Girls' Generation's latest song, "PARTY".

"Hmm... no name?" I mused, "Must be another inquiry," and then accepted the call, "Hello?"

The other line was clearly open, but I wasn't getting any response, except for what I thought was a faint crying. Definitely female.

"Hello?" I politely repeated, "Hello? To whom am I talking to?"

Still, nothing. Except for that crying. My heart sank at the realization that whoever this was, she was in some kind of bad situation or something. My mind raced, trying to figure out who it was.

"Hello?" I repeated a second time, trying to keep a nice and calm voice, "Hello?"

"I-I-Is... t-t-t-this... R-R-Richie...?" a scared female voice echoed through my speaker, sniffling in between her whimpering.

"Yes, this is Richie," I replied, "Who is this?"

And just like that, the line went dead. Startled, I just stood there like an idiot for a few seconds before I gathered myself up. I tried calling back a couple of times, but whoever it was, she wasn't picking up. Growing frustrated, I decided to dismiss it, resuming my coffee break.

As I walked back to my work desk soon afterwards, my phone rang again. This time, it was my drinking buddy. Must be about Friday night since it was gonna be pay day.

"Hey Dave, wassup?" I cheerfully greeted.

"Richie!" he sounded really concerned, prompting me to go serious, "Richie, you gotta tell me something."

"What's the matter?" I asked, "Something wrong?"

"Did someone call you just now?" he sounded really serious, "Like a girl? Did a girl just call you now?"

"Whoa... Dave, slow down," I replied, "Yes, someone did call me a couple of minutes ago. I didn't know who it was since only the number showed up. She didn't even tell me who she was when I asked."

"Was she in some sort of danger or something?" Dave pressed on, sounding a little bit relieved but still super worried.

"Not that I notice," I frowned, "She was crying though. When I asked who she was, the line went dead. I tried calling back but she wouldn't pick up."

"," he feelingly swore, "Richie, you gotta help me find her. Like right now, buddy. If you need to leave early then do it. I really need your help finding her."

The next thing I knew, I was grabbing my backpack and shutting down my computer. I didn't even reply to Terry when he asked where I was going. Dave and I go way back that we were practically like brothers. If something was up, then something was definitely up. He wouldn't go bullting on something as serious as what he implied just now.

Ten minutes later, I pulled up at the parking lot of his office building. He was already standing at the entrance so I waved him to get in.

"Now who the hell is this girl and is she in some sort of trouble?" I asked as he buckled up on the front passenger side, "And why the hell does she know my mobile number?"

"Just drive, Richie," Dave was looking really worried and exasperated, "I'll explain later when we find her."

"Where to?" I asked, and then gave him a second look. He was panicking. Damn, whoever this girl was, seems like she's really important to him. Funny. Dave doesn't even have someone in his sights right now.

That made him stop. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, realizing that he wasn't thinking straight. After several seconds of silence, he looked straight at me, "Let's try the Makati CBD (Commercial and Business District). We were supposed to meet at a restaurant there."

I looked at my watch. Jesus Christ, that district's traffic was terrible at this hour. Sighing, I reconsidered, "Alright, let's go."

"I'm really sorry, man," Dave apologized, "But this is really important. It's really important that we find her."

We practically spent the rest of the day trying to find this mystery girl. I was chasing after Dave as he went from shopping mall to shopping mall in the Makati CBD area (and there are a lot of them interlocking with one another), going through every restaurant and cafe there. Once we scoured the area and failing, we went drove to the SM Mall of Asia, and even bigger shopping mall, going through the hassles of traffic jams and scouring the entire mall area for her.

Still nothing.

", , !" Dave was obviously at this point super frustrated, "Why the hell is she not answering her phone?"

"Maybe it would help if you tell me who she is, Dave," I was also getting exasperated, "At least then we'll have four sets of eyes rather than two looking for her."

Dave stopped in his tracks, "There's one more place we haven't looked."

Fifteen minutes later, we were at the Sofitel Hotel, not far from the Mall of Asia. It was already past 6:30PM.

"Jesus Christ, there you are!" Dave exclaimed out loud, maybe a little bit too loud since a few people at the hotel lobby turned their heads towards him. But he totally ignored the onlookers, and ran straight ahead.

I was totally exhausted at that point, and chose just to walk on. But I was relieved that our wild goose chase finally bore fruit. Whoever this person was, she needed some explaining to do. My legs were weary from all the walking and running and my back was aching from all the driving.

I walked until I got to the hotel's lounge area. Dave was already sitting there at the far corner, talking to a what looks like a young woman with long black hair whose back was facing me. I couldn't tell who she was, but judging by the look at Dave's face, she must be someone really important to him. But as to how I fit into this equation I haven't a clue.

"Is he here as well?" I overheard her ask.

"Yes, yes, he's here," Dave replied, "He helped me look for you," and then looked at me, "Richie, she's the one who called you earlier today..." and then looked at the her, "Stephanie, meet my buddy, Richie."

What transpired for the next few seconds completely froze my world to a stand still. She got up and faced me. My heart stopped in my chest, making it hard for me to breath, as I found myself standing just a few feet away from, who I know for sure the instant I saw her face, Stephanie Hwang.

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Anotherwise known as So Nyeo Si Dae's Tiffany.

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I couldn't believe my eyes. I was totally rooted on the spot, feeling my hands and legs trembling and my eyes tearing up. It was her.

It was really her.

Girls' Generation's Brighter than Gems Fany Fany Tiffany.

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Hwang Miyoung.

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Stephanie Hwang.

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Right there.

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Standing in front of me.

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God she was so beautiful.

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"Richie...?"

The sound of her sweet voice snapped me back to reality. I visibly gathered myself up, struggling to respond, "Y-Y-Yeah... I'm Richie..."

She gave me a sad smile, "Stephanie..." and then offered her hand to me, "It's good to finally meet you."

I swallowed hard, "Likewise," and then courteously took her hand, giving her a quick handshake that I hoped to God seemed friendly enough. The question was, what the heck was she doing here? And how did she get my number? Why was she here? Why did she seek me out?

Her smile got a little bit brighter, "Dave here told me so much about you," and then offered me a seat, "Please, I'm sure you have a lot of questions in your mind right now."

I forced myself to take a deep breath to calm my nerves, still feeling my head spin from all the questions I wanted to ask her. But looking at her expression, and recalling what happened earlier when she tried to call me, gave me pause. She looked so sad and troubled at the same time. And for a moment there, it broke my heart, seeing her like that. I wonder what was up that needed my attention.

"I'll leave you two alone," Dave suddenly said, "I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about and will need the privacy."

"Thank you, Dave," Tiffany nodded.

"Wait, what... Dave?" I automatically said, but then stopped myself when I noticed Tiffany giving me a reassuring look. As much as I want to admit that being alone with Tiffany was going to blow me away, I was actually very scared of it as well.

We waited for several awkward seconds for Dave to completely leave us alone. And then, Tiffany was the first one who spoke, "I know a lot about you, Richie. Both from what I asked from Dave and from my own, well, research." I couldn't help but notice a hint of sadness in her voice.

"What did you find out about me then?" I asked, feeling my heart ache seeing her so distressed.

She looked directly at me, "Short version, I know that you're in love with me."

I looked down to my feet, letting out a long sigh, "So I guess you found my Instagram account then...?"

"Well, you did make it public," she replied, "But let me continue..." she then reached out and held my hand, making me gasp involuntarily once again, "I first noticed you sometime after the news of my relationship with..." she paused for a bit, sounding really hesistant, "...him... broke out. That Instagram post you made when I was Sunny's guest on FM Date... that caught my attention..."

"When I said that I still love you even if you inadvertedly and unknowingly broke my heart..." I recalled, staring at her hand holding mine.

"Yes... that one," she said, "And then I saw all the other posts that followed, pertaining to you trying your best to move forward... but there was one post that actually stood out for me," she then made me look at her, "The one that you said that you didn't know what was worse: being hurt over something that you thought you can never have, or seeing a lot of people wishing for me and him to break up..."

"...And that even though it hurts me a lot, I for one don't want a breakup..." I said, feeling my eyes well up.

"...Because it will make me sad..." she finished the content of that Instagram post, "Yes, that one..."

I fought hard not to cry in front of her, knowing that she did break up with Nichkhun a few weeks ago, and that knowledge was actually tearing me up inside. As much as I loved Tiffany, I really felt sad for her, because she just lost a source of her own personal happiness.

"And yet, here you are, still proclaiming that you love me, even with your broken heart," she sadly smiled at me, holding my hand just a little bit tighter.

"Is that why you're here...?" I ventured a guess, still not looking directly at her, feeling my chest tighten because of the emotional pain I was experiencing. It was such a sharp pang right through the chest, but the pain was multipled a hundredfold this time around.

"Partly," she nodded, "I want to be honest with you, Richie," the way she said my name was so indescribable, "I admit, I am hurting over the fact that Nichkhun and I broke up... but it's not just that. I'm also hurting because of all the speculations and all of the pressures around me ever since we broke up," her voice suddenly started breaking, prompting me to look up straight towards her, "I-I-I w-w-wanted to get away f-from it all, even for just a little while..." and then she squeezed my hand, "And then I remembered you... I remembered how you stood out from all the other fans... And how much you care about me..."

I was speechless. I couldn't believe what she just said. She wanted to find me? Why? What did I say that stood out so much? I'm sure I wasn't the only one who said something like that, so why me?

I wanted to ask why they broke up, but I couldn't. I wouldn't dare. I had no right to ask.

"Richie..." she continued, "I wish I had met you sooner... I wish I met you and became friends with you a whole lot sooner... I think I saw you a couple of times during our concerts... And now I regret not knowing you back then..."

Wait, what was she saying? As much as she was saying what I've dreamed of my entire SONE life, I wasn't sure right now how to react to that, now that she actually said it.

"I-I've always wanted to be there for you, Stephanie..." I choked, "I've always wanted a chance to shield you from all the hurt... To physically say to you that I'm here and everything's gonna be alright..."

Her smile got brighter once more, "You just did... And I'm glad that you did..."

She scooted towards me, not letting go of my hand. I felt my heart hammer in my chest as her face was now just mere inches away from mine. I looked into those beautiful eyes of hers for a few seconds, noticing that the rest of my world stopped moving one again, before she moved her head towards me, leaning onto my left shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Richie..." she whispered, "I'm so sorry that I hurt you... I'm so sorry that I broke your heart."

"It's not your fault," I whispered back, feeling my hands tremble, "You didn't know... How could you have known?" Yeah, how could she have known. She didn't even know I existed... until today... I couldn't blame her for something that she was totally oblivious to now, right?

"I actually blame myself for feeling this way," I continued, "I mean, if I truly love you, then I should have been happy for you when you found your own love and happiness, right?" and then took a deep breath, "I can't be selfish... It's wrong to be selfish..."

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"You're not selfish," I heard her softly say, "You fell in love with me, it's as simple as that. You can't control something like that."

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I closed my eyes, "Thank you for understanding..."

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"Hold me..." she whimpered, "Please..."

I nodded, and then wrapped my left arm around her back, letting go of her right hand. Mustering up all the courage I could ever gather, I intertwined the fingers of my right hand onto her left hand, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

And then, she started crying.

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I closed my eyes and focused on the sound of her crying, feeling my shoulder grow wet with her tears. I let go of her hand and quickly fished my handkerchief from my right pocket, offering it to her.

"There, there..." I whispered as she took my handkerchief. I was at a loss of whether to tell her to stop crying or just let it all out. Instead, I just hugged her all the more, covering her with both of my arms.

As I was comforting her, I saw Dave walking a little bit hurriedly towards me. He stopped as I met his bewildered look, and then glanced at the opposite side of the lobby. I followed the direction of his line of vision. What I saw made my heart sink.

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It was Nichkhun, looking left and right, walking and stopping at random paces.

It was unmistakable that my heart pounded so hard I thought it was going to burst out. I felt myself going into a cold sweat all of a sudden, but I used every bit of willpower that I had to stay calm. The sudden change in emotions almost overwhelmed me that I didn't know what to do for a few seconds.

...

I turned my face away, but kept him in my sight from out of the corner of my eye. It didn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together.

He knows that she's here. He's looking for her and he knows that she's somewhere around here.

So was that what was going on? Was she hiding from him?

I stayed put, still holding poor Tiffany in my arms, hoping and praying that Nichkhun would eventually leave. I wasn't going to risk it, due to the off chance that if she knows me now, then he might know about me as well.

"He's there, isn''t he?" I heard her whisper through her tears.

"Yes..." I almost choked. It was just breaking my heart so much to see her cry like this.

After several more seconds, I spied Nichkhun leaving, going out the front doors of the hotel and getting into a waiting car. I gave a deep exhale, "He's gone. He just left."

Tiffany hugged me tighter, "Thank you..."

"Have you eaten yet?" I softly asked, noticing the time. It was almost 7:00PM.

"I haven't..." she replied, still leaning onto me, holding my handkerchief against her eyes.

"I don't suppose you want to get something to eat then...?" I pressed on, "I don't want you to go hungry or something... maybe even just a sandwich would do?" Maybe a Subway sub or something like that.

"Alright..." she nodded, her head gently rubbing against my shoulder.

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Things went a little fast forward from that point on. All I remember after getting ourselves each a Subway six-inch sub, I dropped Dave off at his condominium back in Makati. Tiffany and I were now alone in my car as we drove back to the main road.

"So... where are you staying?" I asked as we stopped at a red light. Traffic was terrible that night.

"At my brother's house..." she said, still looking really bummed out, "I'm sorry I'm causing you so much trouble, Richie."

"Don't worry about it," I replied, "I wouldn't had let you go home on your own anyways. Just give me the directions and I'll take you home."

Traffic was really terrible that we ran out of things to talk about, but at least along the way, the mood got lighter. But after a while, Tiffany grew so exhausted that she promptly fell asleep on the passenger's seat. Good thing that she told me where her brother lived.

As I was waiting for the traffic to move, I looked at her, looking so beautiful, peacefully sleeping. And as much as I wanted to caress her face and her hair, I was equally afraid that I might wake her up. Poor girl must have been so stressed out today.

I still couldn't believe it. So Nyeo Si Dae's Tiffany was here, right beside me, sleeping at the passenger's seat of my car. Stephanie Hwang, the woman who I unknowingly fell in love with along the way of me being a SONE, the woman who unknowingly broke my heart last year, and now, the woman who knows that I'm in love with her and then cried in my arms just hours ago. I promptly recalled the song "Passenger Seat", describing exactly what was going on right now. I got all that I need, right here in the passenger seat. And I can't keep my eyes on the road, knowing that she's inches from me.

As an afterthought, I grabbed my jacket from the backseat, and carefully draped it over her chest, carefully tucking it under her chin and on her shoulders. I then adjusted the airconditioning, so it wouldn't be too cold for her.

And then, there it was again. My heartache. My thoughts went back to that moment back in the hotel when I was holding her tight, enveloping her and covering her in my arms, gently encouraging her that everything was going to be fine. And it made my heart ache so much, seeing her sad like that.

I fought back my tears, swallowing hard as the traffic finally began to lighten up, making me move forward a little more faster.

"I love you, Stephanie Hwang..." I whispered through my watery eyes.

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After God knows how long, we finally made it to her brother's home. My back was aching and my legs felt stiff from all the driving. After parking the car right in front of the gate, I gently squeezed her left hand and softly whispered to her, "Stephanie..." my heart skipped a beat at my mentioning her name, "You're home."

After a couple more times of gentle coaxing, she finally opened her eyes slowly. It took a little time to get herself reoriented with her surroundings. God she was so beautiful.

I shut off the engine, got out of the car, and ran to her side, opening the passenger side door, "Careful," I said as she got out, "Watch your head," and used my right hand to protect her from bumping against the frame. I then draped my jacket over her shoulders as I closed and locked the car.

"This is the right place... right?" I felt like an idiot, but I had to ask.

She smiled at me, "Yes, yes it is. Thank you for bringing me home, Richie."

I was about to ring the doorbell when Tiffany suddenly stopped me, grabbing my hand and gently pulling it away towards her.

"Richie... I..." she stammered, and then took a deep breath, "Would you like to come inside for a bit?"

"Are you sure it's okay?" I asked, "I don't want to intrude or anything..."

Everything went fastforward again, changing the scene to the guest room where she was staying. She was already sound asleep, while I was seated on a chair right next to her bed, as she begged me to stay for the night.

And at that point, I really couldn't hold it in anymore.

I started crying, but tried my best to keep it silent lest I wake her up. It hurt me so much seeing her like this, so different from her usual happy and joyous and bubbly self on stage and on screen. I couldn't prod her on as to why she wanted me to stay, and why she sought me out in the first place. I just did stay. I just did appear as she asked.

And at the same time, I felt conflicted. She was here right now. And this could be my only chance. I wanted so much to ask her to be mine, and to let me be hers. I wanted to promise her that I would make pain go away, that I would see to it that she'll be happy again. I wanted to hold her and hug her and squeeze her. I wanted her to know that I can be her happily ever after.

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But at that point, I knew that this was all a dream. That later on, I would just wake up and find myself alone in my apartment once more, with my pillow wet with my tears, crying her name.

"I love you, Stephanie Hwang..." I whispered, leaning down and kissing her head, catching a whiff of her hair that all felt so real.

It was the last thing I remembered before everything gradually became blurry.

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Author's Note: This has got to be the most difficult one for me to write, simply because of how much my heart ached for real while trying to write down everything I've remembered after waking up. I really feel for Tiffany, and I just hope that no matter what, there will come a time wherein I could just walk up to her and tell her how much I love her, with enough strength within me to not ask for anything back, or to not hope that she will love me in return the way I want her to. Just a chance to say to her face in person that I love her, and then that's that.