“Maybe some other time…” Tiffany let out a sad, little smile. She wanted to tell Taeyeon, she really did. But something held her back.

            “Here are your mushrooms, miss.” She savored the sweet smell of the freshly cooked mushrooms and dug in. She looked up to see Taeyeon giggling at her. She then realized that her hands and face were covered in the sauce.

            “Here, let me.” Taeyeon moved around the table and wiped the other girl’s face and hands. She saw Tiffany’s face turn bright red at the interaction. She felt the other girl softly resist at first, but stop after a while.

            As Tiffany stared into Taeyeon’s eyes, she saw something in them that she hadn’t seen in a while. She saw…

            “There you go. You’re all clean again! And you look so pretty!” Taeyeon clapped her hands.

            Tiffany blushed. She wasn’t used to being called “pretty,” or “beautiful.” But Taeyeon made her feel this way.

            Once she finished her meal, Taeyeon paid for the check. “Where do you stay, Tippani? I’ll take you home.” Tiffany stopped in her tracks and started shaking her head. “What does that mean, Tippani? Do you not have a place to stay?”

            Tiffany slowly nodded. “That’s ok! You can stay with me!” Tiffany had not expected these words to come out of the other girl’s mouth. Her immediate reaction was to push the shorter girl away. “Hey! What was that fo-“

            Tiffany ran away, her bare feet hitting the icy pavement with hard thuds. She ran and ran and ran until she couldn’t run anymore. What was she running from? Perhaps she was running away from the fact that she felt an attachment to Taeyeon. She stopped on an isolated bridge, her only source of light being the moon.

            “What….the……………” She heard heavy panting behind her and saw the short girl bent over, clutching at her chest. Tiffany immediately felt a pang of regret and remorse as she saw the girl in pain. She walked over to the bent over girl. “Are you ok?” Her voice was void of any emotion. She couldn’t even pity the girl as she thought of the other girl’s actions as only pity for her ugliness.

            “Can’t…….breathe…………” Taeyeon was down on the icy ground now, her face contorted in pain. Tiffany realized that the girl was really in pain and knelt down next to her, careful not to touch her. “Why’d you run after me?”

            “…..Because……I……want…….you……….” Taeyeon was half-conscious. She only said half of what she really felt. Tiffany looked into the other girl’s eyes and saw nothing but pure kindness in them. “Don’t…..go…..Tip…pani……” Her eyelids fluttered and grabbed the other girl’s hand. “Don’t…..go….”

            “Taeyeon? Taeyeon? TAEYEON!!!!!” Tiffany felt a rush of emotions as she held the limp body of the shorter girl in her arms. She searched Taeyeon’s clothes for a wallet, an ID card, anything. She finally found her phone. With her frostbitten hands, she numbly unlocked the phone and searched the contacts for the person she had been looking for.

            “Im Yoong.” Tiffany read out the name. “Yoona?” She shrugged and called anyways.

            “Yoboseyo? Taeng?”

            “Er..this is Taeyeon’s…um…friend. We’re on Dongnam bridge, and Taeyeon’s passed out. Cold.”

            “SH*T! What? She’s passed out? H-H-Hang on, we’ll be right there. Stay there, whoever you are, stay there with her! Make sure she stays warm!” She heard some rustling in the background and the line went dead. Tiffany shivered as she unwrapped her blanket from around her body and wrapped it around Taeyeon’s. She took this time to take a good look at Taeyeon. The more she looked, the more she felt the urge to….

            Kiss her.

            Hold her.

            Love her.

            Tiffany shook such thoughts away. She promised herself that she would never let anyone squeeze into her heart that easily ever again. But Taeyeon…Taeyeon was somehow different….

            “TAENG!!!!!” She turned around to see a tall, black haired girl frantically running over. The girl slid onto her knees and immediately took Taeyeon’s pulse. “Thank God…her breathing is still stable. What did she do to make her pass out?”

            Tiffany felt guilty. “She…she was running after me…”

            “And you are…?”

            “Nobody.”

            “Ok, nobody, nice to meet you! I’m Im Yoona!” The girl’s twinkled with playfulness as she stuck out her hand. Tiffany shook it, giggling at the girl’s teasing personality. “Look, whoever you are, you must be pretty darn important to Taeyeon. She doesn’t just run after anyone, you know.”

            She doesn’t just run after anyone, you know. Yoona’s words echoed in Tiffany’s head, making her even more guilty. “Sorry about…Taeyeon.”

            “Don’t be. One night’s good sleep will do her just fine. Where are you staying, by the way?”

            Tiffany stayed silent. “Ah, gotcha. Here. Come stay with us. My friend Seohyun is also staying over. We’ll make it like a sleepover!”

            Tiffany was touched by Yoona and Taeyeon’s kind actions. No one, no one has been this kind to her before. She followed behind Yoona and the girl called Seohyun as they made their way back to Taeyeon and Yoona’s apartment.

            “We’re here! Home sweet home! Both of you, make yourselves at home.”

            Tiffany stared, wide-eyed at the space before her. This was an apartment? It was more like a mansion! There were winding staircases that led up to the second and third floors, and tinted glass windows expanded around the spacious living room. Tiffany was shocked.

            “Uh, Tiffany? You wanna shower? You can borrow Taeng’s clothes. I’m sure she won’t mind. You can also sleep in her room.”

            Tiffany was still processing the fact that she was going to get a chance to take a shower. An actual shower with actual hot water! Not a “shower” that comprised of a wooden bucket filled with ice-cold water. When she took her shower, she felt the dirt and memories from her past wash away. She stepped out of the shower and gazed at herself in the mirror.

Today was the start of a new Tiffany.

            The new Tiffany looked so clean, so….

            Human.

            Taeyeon’s PJs were a little short for her, but they smelled like the other girl and she melted at the thought that these clothes once touched Taeyeon’s petite body.

            She tiptoed into Taeyeon’s room and saw the other girl curled up into a ball on one side of the bed. What was she to do now? Sleep on the floor? “You can sleep next to her on the bed. But I’m warning you, Taeyeon’s a natural byuntae.” Yoona whispered to Tiffany, as if reading the older girl’s thoughts. “Good night, Tiffany.”

            “Good night, Yoona.” Tiffany crawled under the covers and stared at Taeyeon’s peaceful, sleeping face. She took this opportunity to softly the latter’s face. “Pabo. Why’d you run after me? Why’d you cause yourself so much pain for someone you don’t know?” She was answered with Taeyeon’s arms as they wrapped around her waist tightly. Taeyeon’s head rested on top of Tiffany’s. Tiffany felt her body, her face, her everything heat up. She had no idea what to do. She sighed and finally put her arms around Taeyeon’s neck. She felt so warm, so….

            Loving.

            That’s when Tiffany realized that she had fallen.