A few months have passed and Taeyeon has been coping with school well. Although it has been a few years since she last attended school, she is determined to make the best out of it, for it is not only for her future but also to not disappoint the people around her. Fortunately, she thinks she has picked the right course for herself, as not only is she not falling asleep in classes for once, she is actually interested and doing pretty well for her grades.

She has also stopped feeling urges to steal now that she is engrossed in something else, and she no longer draws on walls as she has to draw for school. Picking up fights is something she doesn’t want to do too, because she would rather stay safe and sound for the people who care about her back at home. I can’t fight in English anyway.

Tiffany, on the other hand, is finally in her last semester before she officially graduates from her course. She is still a part-time social worker at the association, but now that she is almost graduating, she has also been actively looking for jobs relating to her course or in the fashion industry.

Aside from their personal lives, Tiffany has begun to shed the cold front she has been putting on in front of Taeyeon, as she finds it harder to keep up as time goes by. Every time Taeyeon says something sweet, she finds herself fighting the urge to say something back, to say something that will express how much she is missing the girl that’s miles away from her. Taeyeon is relieved to see the change in tone when she speaks or texts Tiffany and is glad that they’re starting to go back to what they were like before slowly.

Taeyeon checks the time on her phone and does some mental calculation to figure out the time for Tiffany. After making sure that it is a safe time to talk, she texts the girl.

“Hello. I hope you’re not at work now or else I’d be really worried.”

“Good morning, Taeyeon. Well, technically not but I just reached home.”

“Finished up the case you briefly mentioned to me last week?”

“Yes, finally. We closed the case today. Happy ending.”

“That’s great. You’ve done well, Miyoung.”

“Yah.”

“Miyoung is a cute name.”

“Call me that once more and I will stop this conversation right now.”

“Okay, okay. So scary.”

“So now you find me scary? I’ll stop scaring you then. Bye.”

“Hey, I thought you were over the cold demeanor!”

“I’m not.”

“Sorry, Fany. I won’t tease you anymore. Just don’t ignore me.”

“Now you know how I felt.”

“Ouch, but okay, I deserve that.”

“You sure do.”

“I’m sorry. Not tired after a long day?”

“I am.”

“Do you have school tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Morning class, ugh.”

“I’ll talk to you some other day then. Go shower and sleep.”

“I’m too lazy to even shower. I think I can fall asleep right now…”

“Shower, you dirty kid.”

“Fine, fine… Stop nagging, ahjumma.”

“That’s better.”

“Have fun in school.”

“I’ll try. Goodnight, Fany. Sleep well later.”

“Goodnight.”

“I miss you.”

Taeyeon puts her phone aside right after she sends the last text. Unlike her, although Tiffany has been replying her in a warmer tone now, the latter still hasn’t say anything that goes beyond friendship to her. She doesn’t mind or blame Tiffany since she knows she is the one that has caused this drift between them. She is good with just Tiffany knowing how she really feels, she thinks.

Taeyeon is about to leave her room to have breakfast before school when she hears her phone alerting her a new message. She turns back and goes to her phone, picking up the device from her bed.

“I miss you too.”

Taeyeon stares at her screen in disbelief. ‘I miss you too.’ She rereads the message from Tiffany over and over again in her mind. She pinches her arm, making sure she’s not dreaming. When she feels the pain, she looks at her screen again. She finally lets out a grin when she realizes that the message is real.

Today is going to be a damn good day.

===

A good few months have gone by again and Taeyeon has finally cleared all her exams and assignments for her first year. She sinks into her bed the moment she reaches home, sighing in relief. I missed you, my bed. She takes out her phone from her pocket and sends a text to Tiffany. She gives it a few minutes of wait but the message is still unread and thus, she decides to give her best friend an overdue call while waiting.

“Hi Soonkyu.”

“Taeng! Finally done with your first year?”

“Yes, finally. How are you?”

“The usual, but I found a full-time job.”

“Really? Congratulations!”

“Thank you. Sooyoung has also found a job in a restaurant as a sous chef.”

“As expected of the bottomless pit. Even her job has something to do with food.”

“Yeah,” Soonkyu laughs. “But you can’t deny that she has talent for cooking.”

“True. What about Yuri?”

“She finally got the choreographer job at the entertainment agency she was talking about.”

“Now that’s just awesome. I’m glad everything is working out great for you guys.”

“I’m happy for you too, Taeng. You sound happy.”

“I think I’m happy too, strangely. Never thought I’d be happy to go back to school.”

“I never expected that too. I’m so glad we made the right move to approach a social worker for help or else Fany would’ve never appeared and this change wouldn’t have happened. Love really does wonder.”

“Speaking of Fany, how is she recently?”

“Haven’t you been talking to her?”

“Not for her past few weeks. I was busy studying and she seemed pretty busy herself too. Her replies were not frequent.”

“Well, she passed the Elle interview recently and is currently working as an assistant editor. Small role but great start nonetheless.”

“Wow. She made it.”

“That she did. And um…”

“Is something the matter?”

“Nah, she’s fine.”

She catches the short pause from Soonkyu before she said her reply.

“You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

Soonkyu remains silent.

“Tell me, Soonkyu.”

“Well, it’s probably nothing much but she may be getting a little close with one of the girls from her new workplace,” Soonkyu whispers the last part of the sentence.

“…”

“You can get close as friends. It’s probably nothing.”

Taeyeon exhales. “It’s fine. I did tell her to date if she finds someone.”

“You don’t sound fine.”

“I have to be fine even if I’m not.”

“Just tell her you’re not fine with it and take her back, Taeng.”

“With what? Bleak future aside, I am miles away from her.”

“Your future is not bleak and you know that. You’re working on it, aren’t you?”

“And if it doesn’t work out?”

“It will work out.”

“Fine, but I am still across the globe.”

“You’ll never know if you don’t try.”

“I have two more years, Soonkyu. I can’t be that selfish to make her wait for me for such a long time.”

“What if she wants to wait?”

“…”

“Talk to her. You don’t know what’s on her mind so at least let her know your stand. Maybe you guys can work something out for all you know,” Soonkyu sighs. “Just talk it out, okay? It’s actually kinda hard seeing you two having an ambiguous relationship like this.”

“I’ll find a time to. Thanks for telling me, Soonkyu.”

“No problem. Go rest and recharge. You’re probably running low on battery after a few weeks of exams and assignments.”

“I am straight out flat right now.” Taeyeon chuckles. “I’ll do that. Catch up again some time later?”

“Definitely. Let’s have a group call or something with the rest of them.”

“Sure. Have a great night.”

“And goodnight to you. Rest well.”

===

Taeyeon grunts and turns to the ringing device, muffling a curse. Totally forgot to switch the daily alarm off before I knocked out, ugh. So much for wanting to sleep in. She checks her phone and sees a reply from Tiffany from more than six hours ago.

“Hey, sorry for the late reply. Congratulations on finishing your first year, Tae! Now just two more to go.”

“Sorry, completely knocked out last night. Thank you, Fany. How did your day go?”

“It was okay, nothing much. Had a good sleep?”

“No. I forgot to switch the alarm off before I went to bed last n