Taeyeon’s fingers tremble as she dials the numbers in her phone, his heart beating faster than the usual pace. She almost smiles when she hears a begrudged sounding woman from the other line but she knows that no matter what voice Tiffany uses on her, it’ll always have the same effect on her. She hated how much she loved the other woman.

            “What?” the woman from the other line bursts and Taeyeon bites her lip to suppress herself from laughing. She thinks she’s not normal because an angry ex-wife is always scary but somehow, she loves it when Tiffany is angry at her.

            The elder glances at her wristwatch and she smiles, “Nothing. Just making sure that you’re still alive.”

            Silence ensues from the other line and Taeyeon raises an eyebrow as she glances at her phone. The call way still on-going and she’s sure that she has the perfect reception. A few minutes later she hears Tiffany groan loudly,

            Ah, she must’ve put the phone down so she can stand up and stretch

            “I’m still alive, you happy now?”

            Taeyeon shrugs then swivels her chair around, a habit she’s grown into whenever she’s enjoying something. She enjoys annoying Tiffany alright. She teasingly makes a ‘naah’ sound just to tease the woman in the other line.

            “The you doing Taeyeon it’s too early for this! Don’t you have work to do?!”

            “You’re right it’s too early. Guess I’ll have to call again later! Bye Fany!” She presses the end call button but not before hearing the other woman groan in annoyance from the other line. She notices Sooyoung enter her office with two mugs of coffee in her hand. The taller puts one cup of coffee on the table and she makes herself comfortable on the couch across Taeyeon.

            “Okay I still don’t agree with this thing but I see you’re happier these days.” She teases, though she’s rolling her eyes at the thought that the reason for her friend’s happiness is the same girl who hurts her. Nevertheless, she trusts Taeyeon.

           Taeyeon hums in satisfaction as she sips on her coffee and she sits comfortably on her chair. She leans forward, lacing her fingers together, curious why her friend thinks she’s happier nowadays,

            “Hm, what made you think that I’m happier, Soo?”

            The taller shrugs and she furrows her eyebrow, “I don’t know. I could feel it. Like, a few days ago I could see dark clouds all over this office and now all I see is sunshine.”

            “Ah, I’m not sure what I am feeling. I’m just enjoying whatever is left and I’m trying to save whatever is there to be saved.”

            Sooyoung stands up with her mug in hand and she accepts Taeyeon’s answer, “okay but first of all, save yourself first.” She reminds her friend.

            “I will.” Taeyeon reassures her. She watches as Sooyoung walks out of the office and she smiles at the thought of Tiffany probably dying of hunger in her apartment.

            Tiffany slips on a pair of expensive sunglasses and she checks herself out in the mirror for the last time before she knocks on the car’s door to alert the driver that she’s about to go out. The driver bows his head as Tiffany steps out of the car; she gives him a small smile to acknowledge his politeness. She enters the restaurant where she’d meet her father and she smiles when she sees the familiar man waiving at her from one of the tables,

            She gives her father a peck on the cheeks and Mr. Hwang hugs her daughter. He missed her so much. It’s been a while since they last saw each other, they’ve both been just busy with work and this is exactly what they need; a father-daughter bonding.

            “It’s so nice to see you, Miyoung.” He gently pats Tiffany in the shoulder but his smile fades as soon as he sees how much weight his beloved daughter is losing, “I see you lost some weight?” he voices out and Tiffany rolls her eyes.

            “Taeyeon says the same.” She answers back, annoyed. She just wanted to impress her boyfriend, why can’t people understand that?

            Mr. Hwang’s face lights up when he hears Taeyeon’s name. It makes him happy to know that at least they’re still in touch and that she still cares for Taeyeon’s opinion.

            “You’re not as happy, I guess?” he shrugs, throwing shade at the boyfriend and silently hoping that Tiffany doesn’t catch up.

            Tiffany gives her father a look and Mr. Hwang raises both his hands in surrender,

            “Dad I know you’re on Taeyeon’s side, okay? Why can’t you give Siwon a chance?”

            “I don’t know. I haven’t met him. And besides, I can’t love someone who doesn’t love the fatter version of you.”

            Tiffany stares at the man in disbelief, “okay seriously what is up with you and Taeyeon loving that version of me?”

            “It just proves that we love you no matter what. And besides, you’re adorable and I’m sure Taeyeon still thinks you’re the most beautiful woman on the planet, isn’t that enough?”

            “Dad!” Tiffany exclaims, tired of all the Taeyeon talk. She’s happy that her dad finally liked someone in her life but what irks her the most is the fact that Mr. Hwang keeps on pushing them together even when he knows that it’s not going to work,

            “We’re not meant to be, okay?”

            Mr. Hwang scoffs, then chuckles, then shrugs, “yeah, okay.” He answers sarcastically as he laces his fingers, “by the way, since when did you hire a driver?” he asks as his gaze  lands on the man waiting for Tiffany outside.

            Tiffany forks one of the food on the table and she sighs, “Taeyeon hired him.” She uninterestedly answers.

            “Taeyeon?”

            She almost chokes when she remembers that she still hasn’t mentioned about their new arrangement to her dad. She grabs a napkin and wipes before she starts delving some information,

            “I am currently living in Taeyeon’s apartment.” She starts and she frowns when she sees Mr. Hwang’s face light up in excitement, “no we’re not back together. Let’s just say that we’re planning to announce our divorce in a way that it doesn’t damage both our reputation.”

            Still though, Mr. Hwang’s face still had the same look of excitement.

            Mr. Hwang smirks internally at the information. Now his job and goal becomes easier. He knows that Tiffany has not done anything to please Taeyeon and he has inferred that maybe his daughter wasn’t ready when she got married which is why she acted that way, so he’s doing the best he can to make Tiffany realize all her mistakes and that marriage life will be much easier with Taeyeon than with anyone else.

            “Okay but what if you don’t get divorced?” he grins

            “Dad you’re so childish.”

            “What?” he chuckles and shakes his head, “so anyway, kidding aside, your sister will be coming to Korea next week because she got relocated.”

            Tiffany’s eyes glimmer in excitement. Finally some good news happened!

            “Oh my gosh I can’t wait to go on dates with her! I missed her and of course, her very cute baby I can’t wait to spend time with them! When are they arriving?”

            “Unfortunately, she’ll be working in Busan for 2 months and her husband won’t be able to travel here for a few months because of work so, she asked me if I could take care of her baby until her husband arrives because she can’t bring the baby to work. And you know that I have work too. So…” Mr. Hwang trails off. His heart beats erratically when he sees Tiffany’s face fall,

            “So, could you take care of the baby for a while? I mean, it won’t be hard! Taeyeon is right there with you and I’m sure she’s going to help you with the baby chores.”

            Tiffany, dumbfounded, grabs a glass of water to drink. She’s going to take care of a baby, possibly with Taeyeon, what’s better news than taking care of a baby with the person she dreamed of having a baby with?

            “So, what do you think, Miyoungie? Is it okay with you?” Mr. Hwang asks tentatively when she Tiffany became unresponsive.

            “Give me a few days to talk about it, dad.”

            Taeyeon automatically smiles when she sees Tiffany setting up the table inside the apartment. It’s been so long since she last did it and the elder can help but reminisce at the god ol’ moments they’ve had in the past years. She grips on the diamond ring inside her pocket when she sees Tiffany smile at her, for the first time since she started living there again.

            Tiffany on the other hand wasn’t sure why she decided to set up the tables. It’s just been so long since she last set up a table for dinner and she wanted to feel how it’s like to do so, again. She almost forgot that she despised Taeyeon so much when the woman smiled at her when she entered the apartment. She looks away, feeling shy, all of a sudden.

            “U-uhm…”

            “You better have a good enough reason about why you set up the table.” Taeyeon tries to intimidate her with a stern tone but deep inside, she wanted to laugh and just pinch Tiffany because she’s acting so cute.

            “I-I don’t know why I did. I’m so sorry.” Tiffany apologizes when she came to her senses. She bows at Taeyeon and she punches herself internally at the realization.

            Taeyeon chuckles then proceeds to look at the refrigerator, “Let’s see, we have pork, some green peas and some more ingredients...” she smiles when she sees that she has enough ingredients to make a nice dinner for the both of them.

            “What are you going to cook?” Tiffany asks. She raises an eyebrow when she sees Taeyeon pulling out vegetables and meat from the fridge. The elder then open some of the cabinets and her eyes glimmer at the sight of pasta ingredients.

            “I’m cooking dinner. You can watch if you like.” She says as she faces Tiffany. She stops arranging the ingredients and she turns to the younger again, with a smile, she says “or you can help me cook.” She suggests.

            Tiffany, who was about to take a seat and watch Taeyeon do all the work is caught off-guard by the sudden suggestion. She’s never really helped the older in the kitchen. It was always her working and Tiffany would usually be in the living room reading fashion magazines or watching some shows on the television. She’d just wait until Taeyeon is done with all the work.

            Taeyeon on the other hand wasn’t very keen on letting Tiffany do the housework because she believed that her wife was a queen and she deserved the best. Her belief might have also been driven by Taeyeon’s insecurity that Tiffany was going to leave her if she didn’t serve her right.

            “Here.” Taeyeon puts a few strips of bacon on the chopping board and she smiles at Tiffany again. She’s willing to teach her the basics of cooking if only the girl had the initiative to learn, “cut it into tiny bits then we’ll fry it afterwards, okay?” she instructs, but Tiffany just stares at her, “do you even know how to properly use a knife or you’re just used to making porridge for the sick?”

            “I-I’m scared of knives.” Tiffany mutters and she looks down on her feet again.

            Taeyeon’s mouth forms an ‘O’; that was brand new information. She purses her lips as she thinks of what she’ll do and shortly, her face brightens up, “okay. I’ll cut it then you cook the bacon.” She pats Tiffany’s head and she pulls a knife from one of the drawers,

            Tiffany watches her do the thing with the knives. She watches Taeyeon’s forehead crease from cutting the bacon into tiny bits. She unconsciously smiles at how passionate Taeyeon looks while doing the task at hand. Her gaze runs through Taeyeon’s side profile and she realizes that she’s never really done this before. It was always Taeyeon boring holes on her face and it was never her looking at the older with such admiration.

            “Do you want to try?” Taeyeon offers, she stops cutting the bacon and she raises an eyebrow at Tiffany who looked like something was making her busier, “are you okay?” the older asks, just to make sure.

            The younger clears and avoids Taeyeon’s worried eyes; embarrassed that she basically just checked the latter out and it wasn’t even discrete. She feels Taeyeon gently hold her hand and she skips a beat. She gulps when she feels Taeyeon’s breath on her nape and she almost flinches when she feels Taeyeon’s hand on hers,

            “Do it like this.” Taeyeon almost whispers. Tiffany had to bite her lip to avoid any sounds from coming out of . Taeyeon was y even with very little effort and she has no idea. She lets Taeyeon guide her in cutting the bacon but Tiffany couldn’t get her attention away from the fact that Taeyeon was hugging her from behind.

            Something she has never done before. It’s always Tiffany hugging her and being affectionate and the younger craved for more from her.

            Tiffany turns around when she feels Taeyeon go back to seasoning the chicken and she blushes, when the older glances at her too. She puts the tiny bits of bacon into the pan and she struggles to find where the oil is. Of course, she wasn’t much of the kitchen person, so she didn’t really know where the cooking things were,

            “Oil is over there.” Taeyeon points to the bottles beside the knives.

            “Tha-thank you.”

            “Sure.” The older glances at Tiffany one more time and a small smile forms on her face.

            They spent the next half an hour working in the kitchen until Taeyeon told Tiffany to go and take a seat. The latter declined was stubborn enough to convince Taeyeon that she wants to watch her cook and she wants to take notes so the older lets her.

            The elder couldn’t help but steal glances at Tiffany who looked cute with her lips pursed as she took down notes on how to cook the dish. She smiles a little but her smile disappears soon when she realizes that Tiffany wasn’t taking notes for her; she was probably taking notes for Siwon, that good for nothing tall model who stole Tiffany from her.

            “Did you always like to cook?”

            Tiffany’s sudden questions snaps her back to reality and she turns to glance at the younger,

            “I don’t know. I cook when I want to.” She simply answers. She puts the cooked noodles on two plates and she pulls a teaspoon and dips it into the sauce to taste it. She hums as she takes in the creamy taste of the sauce and she smiles in satisfaction,

            “You always cooked when I was here though.”

            Taeyeon shrugs, “I didn’t want you to starve since you didn’t know how to cook.”

            “Stupid.” Tiffany mumbles when she hears Taeyeon’s quiet giggles, “I could have learned, you know.”

            “Yeah but you were too busy reading fashion magazines and shopping online to actually watch me cook.” The older regrets saying her thoughts loudly when she sees Tiffany looking down with a pout, “but I loved cooking for you so I didn’t mind.”

            “I loved your food too.” Tiffany whispers to herself but Taeyeon’s sense of hearing was good so she smiles when she hears it.

           Taeyeon puts the finishing touches on the plate then turns around and puts it on the table that Tiffany has set up. She pulls a matchbox from her apron’s pocket and she lights up the candle in the middle. She wasn’t sure why Tiffany put it there but it’s going to be such a waste if she doesn’t use it.

            “Dinner is served.”

“Okay but do you remember that one time when one of your friends tried to spoke in Korean but he ended up saying ‘I have diarrhea’ and the vendor was like ‘the are you saying, son?’.”

Tiffany happily nods her head as she remembers the incident when she and Taeyeon toured her friends and it became the funniest day of their lives because of how much they struggled in trying to speak Korean. Taeyeon just laughs her heart out, though she wasn’t sure which was funnier, Tiffany’s face or the story itself. The incident was funny for her since it was the first time that she heard Americans try to speak in broken Korean.

“Don’t flatter yourself Taeyeon, you had a thick Korean accent the first time we met and it was funny too.” Tiffany teases and she gives the older a smirk. She remembers the time she arrived in Korea and Taeyeon was like one of those businessmen daughters and she’d act like a spoiled little brat,

Only Taeyeon didn’t act like a brat. She was very kind and she tried to help Tiffany so bad that day.

“Yeah but you can’t erase the fact that you fell in love with me that time.” Taeyeon perfectly retorts, catching Tiffany off-guard.

“Again, don’t flatter yourself.” She rolls her eyes as she gathers both of their plates. She’s happy that she’s able to talk to Taeyeon again, normally, without starting any arguments and she’s happy that she is able to laugh with her again. It’s been very long since they last had a good laugh together that didn’t involve anything about being sued or something.

“I’ll wash the dish—“ Taeyeon is interrupted when Tiffany puts a finger on her lips. She stares at Tiffany straight in the eye, with shock in her eyes and she raises an eyebrow.

“I’m washing the dishes.” Tiffany seems to answer her unspoken question and she smiles when Taeyeon nods her head.

“O-okay.”

“I’m not going to learn if you don’t let me experience these things, you know.”

Taeyeon hums as she watches Tiffany walk to the kitchen with the plates in her hand. She follows the woman and assists her with whatever she needs. She watches as Tiffany puts on the gloves and she chuckles, “Nice gloves you got there, Hwang. What brand?”

Tiffany rolls her eyes then turns to Taeyeon, “shut up, man”

“Shut up, man~” Taeyeon imitates using her Korean accent and it makes Tiffany laugh

“Damn it, Tae!”

They spent the next few minutes washing whatever it is in the sink and laughing hard about the funny memories they spent together. Tiffany was just happy that she’s still comfortable with Taeyeon despite the situation they are in and Taeyeon, on the other hand, was just happy to have Tiffany laughing and staying in the same roof as her. However, despite being happy, the older wishes that she learns to move on sooner because the only thing that she’s doing right now is fall deeper for the other girl.

“So, I guess this is good night?” Tiffany gives Taeyeon a small smile and the latter returns it with a gentle smile too,

“Good night, Fany.”

“Are you sure you’re okay sleeping on the couch?”

Taeyeon scoffs, then chuckles,

“Well, yeah, unless you want to share a bed with me, then sure?”

Tiffany rolls her eyes at the joke again, “Damn it. Go away!” she jokingly shouts as she pushes Taeyeon away.

“Kidding, Hwang. Anyway, have a good night sleep.” She smiles again then unconsciously moves closer to the other woman. Tiffany freezes and she closes her eyes, as if waiting for something to happen.

Taeyeon cups Tiffany’s face and inches closer but she realizes that maybe what she’s doing is wrong because in reality, the younger woman hated her and she’s just there to clean her image and so that she would sign the divorce papers. In the end her lips lands on Tiffany’s cheek, and she smiles sadly.

“Good night.”

Tiffany opens her eyes then gulps. She can’t believe she just closed her eyes and expected a kiss on the lips! She clears and moves away from Taeyeon when she finally gains her composure,

“G-goodnight.”