“Wanna accompany me?” Taeyeon blushed at her own offer. She wasn’t sure how Tiffany would react on her offer.

“Where?”

“Movie.”

Tiffany could not react right away upon Taeyeon’s invitation. Again, she did not see this coming. She only expected to have a nice chat with Taeyeon, testing the water about how they feel about each other; to know whether they can get back together, or they need to end everything at all. But here she was, getting an invitation to the movie. She took a bit longer than she should have been to answer Taeyeon’s invitation.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to accompany me.” Taeyeon knew it was so random, she did not understand it herself, it was out of reflex, offering Tiffany to go to movie with her. If they were still dating or still together, it might not be awkward or weird for them, but upon their status right now, it must’ve been a wrong move. 

“I just,…” Taeyeon tried hard to justify her own invitation, “Since you don’t want to eat, so, why don’t we just watch a movie, but no, it’s not me asking you to a date or something.” This time she mentally face-palmed herself for blurting out like that. Maybe Tiffany wasn’t aware or even had no idea that the movie invitation sounded like dating invitation, but after she blurted it out, Tiffany might have the thought. She sighed softly and looked down to her empty cup of coffee, noticing how stupid she just sounded.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind,” Tiffany finally answered.

Taeyeon immediately looked up and unknowingly gave a surprised expression from what she just heard. “Really?”

It was Tiffany’s turn to be flustered upon her own answer. “I mean, I don’t mind to watch the movie. Not I don’t mind you’re asking for a date.” She paused, and was aware of how vague the thing she just said. Taeyeon might only give the expression since her ex did not expect her to accept movie invitation. “I mean, it’s not like you’re asking for a date anyway…” She knew she made it worse. She took another pause and cleared . “The point is, let’s watch the movie. It’s been a while since I go to the movie anyway.” She smiled awkwardly, hoping that none of her words hurt Taeyeon or making things awkward.

Taeyeon smiled a little as she watched how Tiffany repeatedly try to correct her own words, silently she felt relieved at the response she got. At least, she knew that she and Tiffany were on the same page. They both did not want them to be awkward anymore. The more they tried to fix whatever they said, in Taeyeon’s eyes right now, it was just an attempt from both of them to make sure that they still care about each other’s feelings.

“Why are you watching me like that?” Tiffany blushed when she became aware that Taeyeon was watching her with a little smile on her face.

“Nothing.” Taeyeon smiled wider, and waved her hand to the waiter, signing for a bill. “I will pay, okay? I don’t bring my car, so I might need to join your car. If you don’t mind, of course.”

“You don’t bring your car?”

“Nope, with the traffic around this area, I do not want to drive. I took taxi.”

The waiter came and handed Taeyeon the bill, she paid and the waiter went back to the cashier to settle the payment.

“You don’t mind, right?” Taeyeon asked as she put her wallet in her bag.

“Actually, I don’t bring my car as well.” Tiffany smiled sheepishly. “I looked at google maps before I left house, and the maps showed such traffic. So, I decided to take taxi too.”

Taeyeon gave a silent oh before took her phone off the table. “So, I guess we need to take taxi now? Let’s order.”

Tiffany took her phone as well, planning on ordering the taxi via apps.

“Where should we go? The closest we can go is either to Pejaten or Pondok Indah.” Taeyeon showed her phone to Tiffany, showing the options of movies closest to them.

“I don’t feel like going to Pondok Indah. The traffic must be awful at these hour, especially since it’s Saturday night.”

“So, Pejaten it is.” Taeyeon tapped her phone and a dinged was heard afterward. “Our taxi is five minutes away.” She showed her phone to Tiffany again which showing their taxi order and the method of payment.

“Why are you the one who order the taxi? And why do you choose credit card as method of payment? Why are you the one who pay?” Tiffany protested as soon as she realized that Taeyeon ordered a taxi for them.

“Why can’t I order and pay for the taxi?”

“Because you’ve paid the meal, so I am supposedly the one who order and pay for the taxi.” Tiffany continued with a frown.

“There is no rule for that.” Taeyeon replied.

Both of them fell silent, feeling like a deja vu at the scene that is happening at the moment. The argument was so familiar with the one they had on their date in Dufan months ago. It took another second for them in silence until Taeyeon bursted out a laugh.

“It sounds so familiar.”

Tiffany laughed along with Taeyeon. “Very much familiar. You and your there-is-no-rule-for-that statement is your ultimate argument, I guess.”

Taeyeon shrugged coolly. “It never fails me so far.” She ended it with a grin but soon interrupted by a phone call from her iPhone. She picked up the phone and took her bag while giving a sign to Tiffany to stood up as well. “Ok, we’re going out now. Could you wait for a while?” She waited a bit more before hanging up the phone. 

“The driver is at the front. Let’s go?” She almost reached out for TIffany’s hand to hold but she stopped it right away and immediately walked towards the exit door, followed by Tiffany. The meeting was too comfortable for Taeyeon, for a brief moment she forgot that they were no longer an item. A soft sighed escaped from her lips right before she entered the cab.

Control yourself, Taeyeon. This is not a date.

oOo

Taeyeon had her eyes glued to the huge screen in front of her while her hands made a visit on Tiffany’s lap to take some bites of pop corn to feed herself. She was very much immersed into the movie she watched. Tiffany kept stealing glances to the woman next to her, who did not seem to aware that there were times when they both took the popcorn at the same time and their hands brushed with each others’. She averted her eyes back to the screen, trying to digest the supposedly a very light animation movie about a world populated by anthropomorphic mammals. She had predicted this before that Taeyeon would choose this movie over any other movies showed in the theatre, knowing how her boss was crazy over Disney.

A loud laugh suddenly heard from next to her and she could not help but to steal another glance at Taeyeon who just laughed at one of the scene of the movie where the sloth character tried to work as fast as he could. She smiled a bit at the sight which reminded her of sleepover in the past, when she could not concentrate at the movie she watched with Taeyeon because her mind was full of any probability that she had fallen to her female boss.

A brush at her hand made her switch her attention to the popcorn bowl on her lap, where Taeyeon’s hand just landed inside and took another popcorn from the bowl. Her lips formed another smile and she had a thought of letting her hand dipped in the popcorn so their hands could brush at all time. She knew how pathetic it was for having such thought. But she could not deny it that she was that desperate for Taeyeon.

“Fany?” She could hear Taeyeon’s voice whispered in her ear. She immediately looked at the voice’s owner.

“Why are you looking at the popcorn like that? Stop thinking about the diet and let’s watch the movie. It’s so funny.”

Then Taeyeon put her attention back to the big screen. Tiffany could only smile a bit and decided to give another attempt on focusing on the movie.

oOo

Tiffany could not stop her laugh, and even needed to cover with both of her hands for the umpteenth time after she and Taeyeon came out of the theatre. 

“What?? But that’s true! That’s exactly the expression of the sloth!” Taeyeon exclaimed and put on a weird face in the slowest motion possible, resulting in a very weird slow motion facial expression Tiffany ever saw, and the latter laughed again at the sight in front of her.

“Stop it Taetae!!!” She hit Taeyeon’s shoulder, to stop her boss making such a face. They were in mall lobby already and people had started to look at them while trying to hold their laugh because of Taeyeon’s expression. But Taeyeon did not seem to care and the only thing she did was to turn her head at Tiffany slowly, still with the face she claimed as the sloth’s face.

“Whaaa-aayy shoouu-uld I stoo-oop?” Taeyeon continued her act.

Tiffany tried to hold her laugh this time and covered Taeyeon’s face with her hands. “Oh my Gosh, I can’t believe that I have such a boss like this!”

Taeyeon slowly shifted to the side, “Whaa-aat doo-oo yoo-uu meaa-an?” She still continued mimicking the sloth.

“Taetae!!!”

At last, Taeyeon laughed and grabbed Tiffany’s hands which used to cover her face and pulled it down. “Okay, okay I will stop.”

“You’re crazy!!” Tiffany chuckled and squished Taeyeon’s cheeks in reflect. But soon retracted her hands when she was aware of what she did.

“But I made you laugh!” Taeyeon grinned before averted her eyes to the taxi queue. She could not deny that there was a guilt feeling inside when she uttered her sentence. There was a voice in her head telling her that she was supposed to make Tiffany laugh, not cry. And that reminded her of the day when they broke up. So, she changed the topic right away.

“Are you going home now?” She shifted her attention back to Tiffany.

Tiffany shrugged before checked the time on her wrist. “It’s only eleven. It’s kinda early for Saturday night. Are you going home?”

Taeyeon pouted as she thought whether she wanted to go home or not — she was pretending to think to be exact because she knew that she still wanted to spend time together with Tiffany. It was not everyday they could have such a time like this, especially after their break up. “I don’t feel like going home just yet…” she pouted again as she tapped her chin. “But I don’t know where I should go. I might look for a coffee shop to get another cup of coff-“

“Are you really drinking coffee at this hour?” Tiffany cut Taeyeon’s sentence.

“But that’s the only thing I can think of right now, if you’re asking me. What about you? Are you going somewhere?”

Tiffany looked at the taxi queue for a while before answering Taeyeon. “Do you drink?”

“Eh?”

Tiffany turned her head back to Taeyeon. “Do you drink?”

“You mean alcohol?”

Tiffany could not help but laughed at the innocent question. “Do you really need me to say it specifically?”

Taeyeon grinned sheepishly, knowing how silly she was heard. “I am just making sure.”

“So?”

“Just a heads up, though. I am an alcohol trash. Give me two glasses, and I will be out.”

Tiffany laughed again at what she heard. Ever since they knew each other even when they were dating, they never went to any bar or club, or even having any alcohol-based drink, that was why she never really knew whether Taeyeon drank or not.

“It’s okay, if you don’t want to, Taetae.” She smiled at the shorter woman. “I was just giving options.”

“I didn’t say I don’t want to, Fany.” Taeyeon immediately answered. “I was just giving you heads up. Just in case you started to see me doing something weird or stupid after the second glass, you know it is alcohol, it is not Kim Taeyeon.”

Another laugh escaped Tiffany’s lips. “OK, OK, well-noted, Miss Taeyeon.” She then took her phone, sending a message to someone before turned her head towards the Taxi queue, noticing it was their turn now, and the taxi was coming their way. “Do you have any choices? Any favorite place?”

Taeyeon shook her head. “Up to you. Never really drink ever since I graduated university.”

“Okay then, let’s go to my favorite place. It’s not too far away from here. And it’s still in South Jakarta, so near enough for both of us.”

The taxi stopped in front of them and both women got into the taxi. Tiffany mentioned the place to the taxi driver, and let the driver drove them to the place.

“Do you go there often?” Asked Taeyeon while looking at Tiffany.

Tiffany hummed at the question, without sparing a glance at Taeyeon. “Honestly, pretty much often, when I was still in the previous company.”

“Oh... Did you drink hard?”

Tiffany finally turned her head to Taeyeon. “Are you interrogating me?”

Taeyeon gasped. “No! It’s just... I never knew you drink, that’s why I am asking.”

Tiffany chuckled at the response. “You will find out anyway...”

“Oh, okay.” 

“What about you, Taetae?” It was TIffany’s turn to ask. “How often you drank when you were still young?”

“What are you saying? I am still young!” Taeyeon snorted, making both girls laugh. “When I was in university... I drank... Honestly, at least once a week.”

“Whoa, never knew this side of you!”

“I also smoked.”

Tiffany turned silent right away, remembering one time she caught Taeyeon smoking when they were fighting. “Ah, that’s why that time when I caught you...”

“Yes, I said I quit, right? But sometimes, the temptation is still there.”

Tiffany nodded without saying a single word. Deep down she wanted to know more about Taeyeon’s past. Even though they dated for six months, Taeyeon never really mentioned about her past. Tiffany thought she knew Taeyeon well enough but apparently, there were still a lot for her to understand about her ex which also her boss.

“We never really talked about our past, didn’t we?” Taeyeon said as if reading Tiffany’s mind.

Tiffany smiled bitterly and nodded once more. “I guess so.” She turned her head, staring at the busy road of Jakarta before continuing her sentence. “There’s a lot we need to know about each other.” She stopped her sentence there. Maybe she shouldn’t talk too much about this right now, especially when they already broke up.

“Do you want to know me better?”

The question piqued Tiffany. “Only if you don’t mind.”

“I want to know you better...” Taeyeon sounded reluctant.

Tiffany shifted her gaze from the road to Taeyeon who was staring at the window next to her. “I guess it is a good choice for us to drink tonight. People said, a drunk mind speaks a sober heart..” She chuckled. “Maybe that would be easier for us.”

She could see Taeyeon stole a glance at her and smiled faintly. “Do we really need to drunk only to be honest to each other?”

Tiffany chuckled bitterly. “In our terms right now? What do you think?”

Taeyeon turned her body to face Tiffany, looking at her ex with an unreadable expression. “You have no idea...”

“About what?”

“About things that I might say or do when I drunk.”

“So do you, Taetae...”

Both chuckled at their vague conversation and shrugged the topic off.

“Anyway, what’s your favorite drink?” Tiffany changed the topic.

Taeyeon thought for a while before grinning awkwardly. “Don’t judge me, okay?”

Tiffany nodded in curiosity.

“Old fashioned.”

The taller girl raised her eyebrows in deep interest. “Team whiskey?”

Taeyeon chuckled and nodded.

“What about you? What’s your fave?”

Tiffany smiled mysteriously. “Guess.”

“Hmmm... martini or margarita?”

A gasp.

“Almost there! One of those you mentioned is my favorite!”

Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows, tapping her chin as she thought. “Margarita?”

“Yes! True! How could you know?”

Taeyeon smirked teasingly. “Haven’t you found out my ability to analyze yet? There is a reason why I can be the youngest senior manager in GG corporation.” She wiggled her eye brows playfully, earning a soft laugh from Tiffany.

“Ah, could you stop at the next building, sir?” Tiffany suddenly asked the taxi driver, noticing that they are already at the place she chose. The taxi driver stopped in front of the building and Taeyeon was about to pay for the taxi when Tiffany stopped her.

“You paid the taxi earlier. Now it’s my turn. And do not argue me with your ‘there-is-no-such-a-rule-like-that statement.”

Taeyeon could only laugh and nodded in agreement. Once Tiffany settle the fare, both girl made their way to the entrance. Once they stepped their feet in the venue, a receptionist greeted Tiffany with a smile.

“Hi Miss Tiffany! It’s been a while. Usual spot?”

Tiffany turned to Taeyeon and asked, “Smoking area is fine, right?”

“Uh?” Taeyeon was surprised by the question.

“I mean, the second floor is a smoking area. But, they have live music up there. The ambience is also much better than the first floor. I am just making sure that you’re fine with smoking area.”

“Ah… I see… I am fine.”

The receptionist then lead the way to the second floor, and seated them at a comfy couch right in front of the stage for live music. Taeyeon looked around, noticing that the place was packed with people, mostly their age she assumed. There was no empty table, even the bar table was full.

“Did you reserve this place? It’s so full, how do you manage to get us a table?”

Tiffany smiled secretively. “I have my way, obviously.”

“Are you a regular here?”

Tiffany shrugged. “Nope. But I know the owner. So I only need to text him, telling him that I am coming. He’s the one who prepared this table for us.”

“Hi Tiff!” 

A man’s voice was heard along with a masculine figure who walked towards their table. Taeyeon observed the man, noticing that he probably about 180-ish cm height, a bit muscular but not too much. He was clad in a slim-fit black shirt and jeans. And his face shone with confidence with a wide smile showcasing his perfect teeth. Taeyeon couldn’t help but to wonder who the man was.

“Arya! How’re you?!” Tiffany jumped off her seat and hugged the man right away, which happily returned by the latter.

“I am good. Always good. How are you? When was the last time you came here? Last year?”

Tiffany broke the hug, having a wide smile on her face. “Why are you bombarding me with questions?”

The man named Arya laughed and patted Tiffany’s head. “Because you’ve been away for too long.”

Tiffany only shrugged playfully and shifted her attention to Taeyeon who had been quiet since Arya came. “Arya, this is Taeyeon, my boss. And Taeyeon, this is Arya, the owner of this place.” She introduced Taeyeon to Arya.

“Hi, Taeyeon! Nice meeting you.” Arya smiled warmly at Taeyeon.

“Hi Arya, nice meeting you too.” A professional smile plastered on Taeyeon face automatically. 

“Anything you want to order?” Arya shifted her focus back to Tiffany.

“Any free-flow promotion or buy one get one promotion?”

Arya laughed hard at the question. “Is that your favorite question? You always ask that every time you come here.”

“Hey! Your place is my favorite because you always have promotion every day! So, what’s today’s promo?”

“Free flow for tequila and whiskey based beverages. Only for 250 thousand rupiah! But! Don’t forget it on-…”

“Only applies for two hours. Understood!”

Both of them laughing at the interaction. “I guess I am having lychee margarita and old fashioned.”

“Old fashioned? You never order that before.”

“That’s my boss’ favorite.” Tiffany tilted her head to Taeyeon’s direction.

“Okay then! Will get back to you soon!”

Arya then left the two girls, making his way to the bartender.

“You guys seem so close to each other.” Taeyeon commented as soon as Tiffany took her seat next to her.

“Me and Arya?”

“Yes.” Taeyeon tried to act nonchalant but she couldn’t help but to feel a bit jealous. Even though she knew that she didn’t have any right to be jealous with whoever close to Tiffany, but she couldn’t help it. “Is he your ex?”

“What?” Tiffany laughed at the question. “He’s a friend from university. I got a crush on him, I mean, who doesn’t? He has perfect smile, perfect manner, and his family is ridiculously rich! But we never get to be together.”

Taeyeon raised her brows in question. “Why so?”

“He’s not into girls.” Tiffany shrugged.

Taeyeon nodded understandingly. “Is he open about it?”

“Not really. Well, all of his friends know about this. But not his family. Why?”

“Nothing.” Taeyeon brushed the topic off when a waiter put a glass of old fashioned and lychee margarita on their table.

Tiffany took her margarita and raised her glass at Taeyeon. “For East Indonesia Development Program.”

Taeyeon raised her glass as well, and made a toast with Tiffany before taking a gulp of her drink. “Wow! This tastes really good!”

“I know, right? And cheap! 250 thousand rupiah for two hours free flow!”

Taeyeon laughed at the remarks. “I think this can be my favorite place.” She took another gulp and smiled at the taste. “Do they sell cigarettes here?”

Tiffany stopped sipping her margarita and looked at Taeyeon in confusion. “Are you saying you’re gonna buy cigarettes?”

“Can I?”

Tiffany took a pause and shrugged. Deep inside she didn’t like the idea of Taeyeon smoking. She could stand to stay in a room full of smoke but she couldn’t stand kissing a person who smoke. She bit her lips at the realization that they wouldn’t kiss anyway. “It’s up to you. They sell some brands. You might need to ask what brand they sell.”

Taeyeon noticed the hesitancy and shrugged along. “Never mind. I think it’d be better if I don’t smoke. It was hard to stop back then. Better not to start again.”

Tiffany smiled at the remarks and raised her glass once more. “For a non smoker Taetae!”

Taeyeon laughed and mirrored the gesture. “For a non smoker me.”

Taeyeon finished her glass in a gulp and asked the waiter to refill the glass.

“Seems like you’re enjoying your drink.”

Taeyeon grinned like a kid and rested her back at the couch. “I like the taste. But, like I said before, I am an alcohol trash. Please bear with me after the second glass.”

“What made you drink? I mean, back then in your university days, you said you drank often, at least once a week. Why so?”

The waiter put the second glass of old fashioned on the table and Taeyeon took it right away. She played swirled the glass as she took a deep breath. “Honestly? Because of my uality.” She turned her head at Tiffany. “I don’t want to brag, but I would say I was almost perfect. People say I am pretty or cute, I am also nice, and it’s not a secret that I am smart. It was normal for me to meet people’s expectation or even exceeding their expectation. But one day, I met this girl, she was a junior. I didn’t know why I was so attracted to her and really wanted to befriend with her. But it didn’t end there. When my friends talked about their crush, I could only think about that girl. And I started to question my uality. The more I think of it, the more I am afraid and since I didn’t know to whom should I talk, I turned to bottles and stick. You know, alcohol and cigarettes.” Taeyeon smiled bitterly and took another gulp of her drinks.

Tiffany finished her drinks and asked for the second round as she scooted closer to Taeyeon, wrapping one arm around Taeyeon’s shoulder. 

Taeyeon was surprised at the gesture but she didn’t mind it.

“Don’t you have any best friend?”

A shrug as an answer. “Not really. Maybe I had. But I pulled myself away from others along my confusion. So, maybe not.”

Tiffany’s margarita was put on the table. And Tiffany retracted her arms off Taeyeon to gram her drink, it made Taeyeon felt a bit disappointed but she didn’t say a thing. She gulp her drink to masked the disappointment.

“if I do something silly, please understand, it’s alcohol effect, okay?” Taeyeon told Tiffany before finishing her second glass.

Tiffany could only chuckle as she also sipping her drink. “I think I’m gonna be a sober duty.”

“Well, we both don’t need to drive. No need to be sober.” Taeyeon grinned sheepishly. Alcohol had started its impact to her.

Tiffany laughed at the sight and rest her back on the couch just like what Taeyeon did. “Why are you so cute even when you’re tipsy?”

Taeyeon turned her head at Tiffany and smiled. “I don’t know. I am naturally cute.” She then raised the glass to the waiter to ask for the third round.

Tiffany also finished her second glass and asked for the refill as well. “Hey, I have a question.” She straightened her seat and looked at Taeyeon, ignoring a waiter that came, giving their third round.

“What is it?”

“Have you ever had any crush on guys?”

Taeyeon pouted her lips and furrowed her brows, as if thinking very hard. “I don’t think so. But, I think I had a crush on Kotaro Minami.”

“Who is Kotaro Minami?”

“Kamen Rider Black RX.”

Tiffany laughed hard at the answer. “That Japanese superhero TV series?”

“Yes! Yes!” Taeyeon answered excitedly.

Tiffany couldn’t stop laughing as she took both her glass and Taeyeon’s. Giving Taeyeon her old fashioned and sipping her own margarita.

“Are you drunk already?”

Taeyeon took a big gulp of her drink and grinned dorkily. “I don’t know. Maybe. Try give me some test.”

“What is the capital city of SriLanka?”

“Colombo!”

“Wait, that one is too easy. What’s the biggest city in South Africa?”

“Johannesburg?”

“You got it right again, OMG! Okay, now let’s get to a harder question. Who’s the 9th president of United States of America?”

Taeyeon finished her drink in one gulp and put her glass on the table before counting something with her fingers. “Harrison? William Henry Harrison?”

Tiffany was surprised with the answer, she didn’t expect Taeyeon would mention any name. She herself didn’t know the answer so she took her phone and googled her own question only to find Taeyeon’s answer was right.

“WOW!!! I don’t know whether my questions are too easy or you’re too smart!”

Taeyeon raised both of her hands up happily, like a kid. “Now since I get to answer the questions right, where is my prize?”

Tiffany shook her head in amusement and gave Taeyeon her glass of margarita. “Here, you can have my drink for the prize.”

Taeyeon took it and sipped it gracefully. “Too sweet…” She gave the glass back to Tiffany and asked the waiter to refill her glass.

Tiffany took Taeyeon’s glass and signed the waiter to stop serving Taeyeon. “I think you’ve had enough drinking.”

Taeyeon said nothing but pouting. “Why?”

“Because you’re drunk.”

“I am not that drunk. Test me!”

Tiffany sighed but threw the question anyway. “How many states are there in the United States of America?”

“Fifty! That’s too easy, Fany. Harder ones, please.”

She chuckled and googled some trivia quiz.

“What’s the only US state whose name ends with three consecutive vowels?”

Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows, a sign that she thought hard, but then smiled. “Hawaii!”

“Argh, you’re too smart for this!”

“One more question!”

“Okay, okay.” Tiffany locked her phone and fixed her gaze to Taeyeon. A drunk mind speaks a sober heart “Ready?”

Taeyeon nodded in excitement.

Tiffany took a deep breath before spilling the question:

“Do you still love me?”

oOo

Hi there! How are you? Are you still there and wondering whether I will continue the story or no? Now, you know the answer! I am sorry for lacking off and not updating my stories regularly like how I used to. Work has been so tough and I barely have time for myself. I am sorry for that! But here I am updating you with one more chapter for Catch Me When I Fall! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Love you guys! Thanks for staying around!

Love,

Kim Sara