Tiffany let out a dreamy sigh as she stared at the calendar on her desk. She already marked a date in the next two months, on 27th, which was going to be her fourth anniversary with Taeyeon. Time flied so fast without her knowing. The rekindled relationship she had with Taeyeon had been progressed much better than their first attempt. Even though two years ago Taeyeon was promoted to replace Mr. David and became the youngest BOD member in the company, Taeyeon never failed to show that she prioritized Tiffany over most of her demanding job. And Tiffany was now in Jessica’s position as a Senior Marketing Manager while Jessica was also promoted to replace Taeyeon as Country Marketing Manager. Yuri was transferred to sales team but she also got promoted as National Sales Manager. Life had been different for everyone, they had matured and already stepped in their thirties.

People had started to ask the four of them why wouldn’t they already settle down with their partner but they would just brush it off. And for Tiffany, being in a relationship with Taeyeon felt somehow natural. Sometimes she forgot that two women in a relationship was not something that perceived normal in the society. The feelings she had to Taeyeon had grown from admiration to love. She lost count already how many times she said she loved Taeyeon. But the word love alone was not enough to describe the feeling she had in her heart. People said love was deeper than ocean and higher than the sky. Every time Tiffany was with Taeyeon, she swayed in the depth of Taeyeon’s eyes. Every simple thing Taeyeon did was able to lift her up to the highest sky. Taeyeon’s touch, Taeyeon’s kiss, Taeyeon’s smile, every thing about Taeyeon brought her to an unknown space that she couldn’t comprehend. Be it on earth, in the ocean, or up in the sky, she just needed Taeyeon as much as she needed oxygen to breathe.

She lost count how many times already she had sleep over in Taeyeon’s place or the other way around. But every single time they need to part, even though they would see each other the next day, she felt the longing in every step she took away from Taeyeon. But in the next two months, things would be different. She had discussed with Taeyeon and decided to move in with Taeyeon. She couldn’t wait for that to happen. This was not something common in Indonesia to have unmarried couple to live together. But they practically lived together since they would have sleep over almost every day.

“Why are you smiling to yourself like that?” Jessica just got into her office, startling Tiffany who still had a huge smile on her face.

“Nothing,” She replied still with a smile on her face.

“If there’s nothing, then you should work, Tiff.” Jessica stole a glance at the clock on the wall. “We have meeting in ten minutes.”

Tiffany only chuckled while listening to Jessica. “You started to sound like Taeyeon. Don’t worry, I’ve had all presentation ready. One of the BODs already checked the presentation and she was satisfied.”

Jessica laughed at the response she heard. “Nice shortcut you have there, Tiff.”

“You kind of have similar shortcut when it comes to deal with sales team, Jess.” Tiffany snickered playfully, referring to Yuri who was the National Sales Manager. “It’s kinda cute though having the sales leader and marketing leader are dating. It’s like the marriage of two dynasties.”

Jessica rolled her eyes at the comment but a chuckle escaped her lips. “Taeyeon already set a very good foundation to be honest, the tension between sales and marketing was not as challenging as it used to be.” She sighed and frowned a bit after saying that. “I can’t imagine what will happen after Taeyeon leave the company.”

Tiffany furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean what will happen after Taeyeon leave the company?”

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows as well. “Don’t tell me you don’t know?”

“What?” Tiffany’s tone started to get higher than her speaking tone.

Jessica sighed and leaned on Tiffany’s desk. “Look, I really didn’t know that you don’t know. I believe Taeyeon has her reason not to tell you just yet.”

“Can you go straight to the point, Jess?”

“She submitted her resignation this morning, with one month notice.” Jessica spilled it carefully, unsure of how Tiffany would react.

“What?” Tiffany hissed. “She… what??”

Jessica stood up and put her hands on Tiffany’s shoulders. Guilt was all over her face. “Listen, I know you shouldn’t find this out this way. I am sorry for being the one who broke the news. I…”

“It’s okay, Jess.” Tiffany pressed her lips into thin line. She was disappointed that this huge decision had never been discussed before. It didn’t matter how she found this one out, what bugged her was the fact that Taeyeon never told her about this plan. She took a deep breath and try to compose herself. She would have a meeting in couple of minutes and she didn’t want the news disrupt her presentation later. She looked at the clock and took another deep breath.

“Let’s move to meeting room, shall we?”

Jessica frowned and nodded. Silently wishing that Tiffany wouldn’t be affected by the news she just unintentionally broke.

oOo

It was lunch time, but instead of having her lunch, Tiffany stood in front of a door with a “Marketing Director: Taeyeon Kim” sign pasted on it. She closed her eyes while letting out a sigh before knocking on the door.

“Come in”

Muffled voice could be heard from inside and Tiffany pushed the door opened to get in. Once she stepped in, she could see Taeyeon was still in front of her laptop, with her eyebrows furrowed, signaling that she put much focus in whatever she worked on at the moment.

“It’s lunch time, Tae.” Tiffany exhaled.

Taeyeon finally stopped her work and turned her head to Tiffany. “Want to grab lunch together?” She offered with a smile on her face as if there was nothing she hid.

Tiffany shook her head weakly. “No, we need to talk.”

Taeyeon noticed the tone and the gesture Tiffany gave and immediately walked towards her girlfriend. She took Tiffany’s hand and led their way to sit at the couch inside her room. She tugged Tiffany’s hand, gesturing her to sit next to her.

“What is it?”

Tiffany looked straight into Taeyeon’s eyes, trying to find any sign if her girlfriend tried to hide anything. But the only thing she could see is that Taeyeon seemed to be concerned about Tiffany.

“I heard you submit your resignation.” Tiffany said.

Taeyeon nodded as her thumb grazed Tiffany’s hand. “Yes. That’s true.” There was no hint of surprise or panic after Tiffany mentioned that as if Taeyeon never planned to keep it a secret at all.

“Why?” Tiffany asked solemnly.

“Because we plan to live together.” She now took both Tiffany’s hands in hers, eyes locking at her girlfriend. “Listen, I know these past four years we tried our best not to let our relationship affect our professional works. I know we’re both professionals, Fany.” She took a pause, letting Tiffany absorb her words before she continued. “But, people’s perception is not something we can control.”

“But, we’re doing just fine.” Tiffany interjected.

Taeyeon shook her head. “Can you imagine if people find out that we’re in a relationship and we live together? I would be fine because I am a BOD, Fany. But you, and your career might be at stake. I won’t let that happen to you.”

Tiffany tried to digest everything Taeyeon just told her. She wanted to retort and say that Taeyeon did not need to resign. She was sure she could take care of herself but the soft tone from Taeyeon somehow eased her a bit. She wasn’t fully convinced that this was the best thing for both of them. She heaved a sigh and looked at their holding hands. She knew these past four years Taeyeon had changed a lot. She started to have a better balance between personal and professional life, She was able to share her burden to Tiffany, she tend to discuss with Tiffany when she was not sure about the decisions she needed to take. The last thought brought Tiffany’s mind back to what she wanted to understand about this resignation matter.

“But why didn’t you discuss first with me?”

Taeyeon bit her lips, trying to find a better words to explain to Tiffany. “I don’t want you to stop me.”

“You don’t want me to stop you?” Tiffany snapped at Taeyeon’s reply. “Am I a stopper to you?” She yanked their hand and pulled her hands off Taeyeon’s. Hurt was visible in her eyes. She believed Taeyeon would have a very good reason why the latter wouldn’t discuss about this decision but herself being a stopper was not in the list of any probability she had calculated before.

“No, no, that’s not what I mean.” Taeyeon immediately took Tiffany’s hands back in hers. “No, Fany. You’re not a stopper. I was saying, this is my own decision. I will take any consequences that might arise from this, that’s why I didn’t tell you because you might not agree with this decision.”

Taeyeon’s further explanation sounded even worse to Tiffany. “Are you saying that since you know I would disagree, you better not discussing this with me?” She retorted as she clenched her jaw and pulled her hands off Taeyeon’s once again. “You do understand that this is not a small stuff, right? It’s not like we’re choosing what to eat for dinner. It’s something that could impact your future, our future. And you decided not to discuss this important matter with me?”

“Fany, listen to me, please?” Taeyeon pleaded as she was now aware that Tiffany didn’t quite understand what she was saying.

“Whatever, Tae. I am heading for lunch now.” Tiffany stood up from the couch and stormed out of Taeyeon’s office with her hands clenched into fist and teary eyes. She couldn’t believe her girlfriend would do this to her. If Taeyeon could take this huge decision without discussion or at least telling her, then she did not know what else Taeyeon could decide at her own. She bit her lips in anger. Why Taeyeon? Am I that insignificant to you?

oOo

Tiffany walked towards her car and fished the key car out of her bag. This time she didn’t even check whether Taeyeon was still working or not, she did not want to see her girlfriend. After she stormed out of Taeyeon’s office this afternoon, she focused on her works, trying not to spare her mind to think about Taeyeon and their conversation earlier. Once time showed 5 pm, she immediately closed her laptop and left the office building. She pressed the lock button of her car key and heard beeping sound from her car and realized that Taeyeon was standing next to her car.

“What are you doing there?” She snapped at the figure as she opened the car door and seated herself in driver’s seat.

Taeyeon opened the passenger door and closed it calmly before turning her body to face Tiffany. “Are you still mad at me?”

“What do you expect?” Tiffany replied curtly as she turned her key, letting the engine to warm up. She the air conditioning and took her phone out of her bag, intentionally ignoring the person next to her.

“Love, listen to me, please?” Taeyeon’s voice was calm. Her hand reached out to Tiffany’s arm and caress it gently. “I know you’re still angry, I won’t expect you to understand my decision right here, right now. But, listen to me, please?”

That successfully took Tiffany’s attention as the dark haired finally put her phone back into her bag and looked at Taeyeon’s eyes.

Taeyeon smiled when she finally got the attention. She held Tiffany’s hand carefully, unsure on how would her girlfriend would react to it. “I am sorry for taking the decision on my own. I really am sorry for not involving you into this decision.”

Tiffany stayed quiet, eyes still locking Taeyeon’s.

“I never meant to not taking your opinion into consideration. The reason I decided this on my own was because I did not want to disrupt your career.”

Tiffany furrowed her eyebrows, did not quite understand what her girlfriend was talking about.

“Like what I told you earlier this afternoon, I resigned because I wanted to minimize the risk that could impact your career if our relationship - and later on the fact that we live together would ever discovered. But the reason why I didn’t tell you was because I don’t want you to be the one who resign from this company. I know this company is your dream company. I don’t want you to leave the company. So, I decided that I need to be the one who leave.”

“You don’t have to, you know?” Tiffany replied, her eyes were teary. “You should’ve discussed with me first. I am okay leaving the company if that is something that is needed for our relationship. It doesn’t need to be you who sacrifice your career.”

“But this is your dream company, Fany.”

“But you have a very good career here, Tae. You don’t need to let it go for my sake.” Tiffany hardly held her tears, now that she understood why Taeyeon took such decision.

Taeyeon noticed the teary eye and pulled Tiffany to her embrace, soothing the back of her girlfriend. “I am sorry for not discussing this before.”

“I don’t want to be a burden to you.” Tiffany mumbled as she buried her face in the crook of Taeyeon’s neck. “I don’t want to be the one who restrain your career. I should be the one who leave the company.”

“No, Fany.” Taeyeon kissed the top of Tiffany’s head. “You’re not restraining my career. In fact, you’re the reason I want to get out of my comfort zone. I’ve been in this company for so long.”

“But, still…”

“And for your information, I’ve already got a new job.”

Tiffany pulled away from the hug and looked at Taeyeon in disbelief. 

“Better position and better salary as well.” She grinned wide.

“Nice, you can really put all your money in the bathtub and swim inside it.” Tiffany scoffed sarcastically.

“Aw, my baby is still angry.” Taeyeon pulled Tiffany into her hug again. “This new company have approached me for quite sometimes. So when they approached me again, I thought, this might be the right time to move. You can stay in the company, and I also get to take up a new challenge.”

“I still am not convinced. How good their offer is? You’re a director already here.” Tiffany mumbled.

“I will be a director as well there.”

“See, that’s not a promotion.”

“For Asia Pacific.”

Tiffany pushed Taeyeon away. Both and eyes wide opened upon hearing what Taeyeon just said. Taeyeon chuckled at the sight and leaned forward to peck Tiffany’s lips. “I told you, you’re not restraining my career. I am taking up a new challenge in a new company. You don’t need to worry.”

“What’s the company?”

“Tamtam.”

Tiffany looked at Taeyeon in disbelief. Her jaw hang opened. Tamtam was a big multination company based in San Fransisco, US. She had heard about Tamtam a lot, and one of the most well-known rumor about Tamtam was it only hired the best.

“They expected me to work from headquarter but I negotiated to work remotely from Jakarta and they approved. So, why don’t I take the opportunity.” Taeyeon continued.

Tiffany still hadn’t say any word in response. This information was a lot to take.

“At first, I planned to keep it a secret to surprise you because I believe this should be a good news. But, since you found out early that I submitted my resignation, I think I need to share this information to you now.”

Taeyeon frowned when Tiffany still not giving her any response. “Are you still angry? I am sorry Fany…”

Tiffany finally exhaled. “You know what? I think you should put the information the other way around. You can start from the fact that you got offer from Tamtam, and you decided to resign because you see there is a risk to our career if our relationship is discovered.” Tiffany finally smiled, she felt a bit at ease knowing that Taeyeon was not discarding her career carelessly. Tiffany noticed how hard Taeyeon had worked, how she loved doing her job, and she didn’t want to be the one who take that away from Taeyeon.

Taeyeon smiled along once she saw Tiffany was smiling. “So, you’re not angry anymore?”

“I was afraid, Taetae.” Tiffany sighed. “I was thinking, if you can take such a huge decision by yourself - in this case resigning, then will there be any huge decision in relation to our relationship that you would take one-sidedly. I don’t want that to happen.”

“I am sorry if I make you feel like that. It’s never been my intent.” Taeyeon frowned as she used one hand to cup Tiffany’s cheek. “Another consideration I had when I accepted the offer from Tamtam is because their headquarter is in US. I have this wishful thinking that someday we will move there so we can be ourselves, being open with our relationship. No more playing hide and seek with society. And maybe if the fate allows, we might be able to get married there too. I want to marry you, Fany.” She smiled sincerely at Tiffany.

Tiffany was taken aback with Taeyeon’s explanation. They never talked about marriage during these past four years. So, to listen Taeyeon mentioned about marriage, she didn’t know how to react. She did not see this coming. Even, she was almost given up the idea of marriage because her and Taeyeon might not able to get married, especially here in Indonesia. She couldn’t put into words her feelings right now. Surprised, happy, overwhelmed, all the feelings mixed inside her heart. But a smile soon drawn on her face.

“Tae…” She finally called out to her girlfriend. “Please don’t tell me you’re proposing to me right now.”

Taeyeon chuckled and shook her head. “No, I am not proposing.” But then she gasped, covering with both hands. “Wait, do you expect me to propose right now?”

Tiffany laughed at how Taeyeon responded. “No, I don’t expect you to propose to me right now.” She took Taeyeon’s hand and pulled them from covering Taeyeon’s mouth. “But, I will expect you to propose to me with proper ring and proper speech.” She leaned forward and kiss Taeyeon gently. Her hand grabbed the back of Taeyeon’s hand and she deepened the kiss.

Taeyeon returned the kiss as gently, giving Tiffany a feeling of assurance that Taeyeon meant what she said. That the latter was more than ready to sail this ship to a further destination.

“So, you’re no longer angry at me?” Taeyeon whispered in between the kisses. 

“How can I be angry when I know my girlfriend is practically hinting me to take our relationship further?” Tiffany landed a soft peck and pulled away with a soft smile on her face.

Taeyeon chuckled and leaned forward once again, not wanting to end the kiss just yet. Her hands wrapped loosely around Tiffany’s neck. She tilted her head and nibbled Tiffany’s lower lips passionately. Her hands moved downward and now resting at Tiffany’s back, caressing the back and moved further to the waist, giving it a light squeeze.

Tiffany noticed the changes on the intensity and hesitantly pulled away, looking at Taeyeon who seemingly losing her breath. She didn’t want to end the kiss just yet, but they were in office parking, she did not want to take the risk of getting caught or leading any suspicions of their relationship. She bit her lips, she looked at Taeyeon, whispering huskily. “So, are you sleeping over at my place? Or I am sleeping over at your place?”

Getting the cue, Taeyeon grinned wide and smiled. “My place, please. I don’t want your housemate listen to whatever activity that we’re going to do inside the bedroom.”

I am back! I am still here~ I know I update slow, I knowwww. But here I am with another update <3 Miss you guys already! Anyway, I made a discord server for us to talk and chat! Will be happy if we can see each other on discord!

KIMKIMSARA DISCORD

XOXO,
kimkimsara