Car doors closed, engine switched on, and music from the radio played.

to me

to me

to me

Get jazzy on me

Taeyeon and Tiffany took one look at each other and a moment of awkward silence later, burst out laughing. Leaning on Tiffany, Taeyeon laughed till tears brimmed in her eyes. And Tiffany leaned back, shaking with laughter as well.

“Oh my God. Dafuq was that timing.”

Taeyeon smiled. “Should that be our song from now on?”

Tiffany turned to Taeyeon, grinning like she knew something was up. “Is that what you like?”

“The album.”

“I don’t get it.”

“The album is called Tattoos.”

“Oh.” Tiffany blinked several times. “Oh . . .” Then she grinned. “You’re such a romantic.”

Taeyeon snorted. “Trust me. I’m not.”

“Deny it all you want. But I know the truth.”

“We didn’t come in here for this. Com’ere.”

Tiffany leaned over the emergency brake and grinned into the impending kiss. Taeyeon was unapologetic as she claimed her newly crowned girlfriend’s lips and took charge of things. Hands cupping Tiffany’s cheeks, she held her girlfriend’s face and took everything she wanted.

On the other hand, Tiffany was more than willing to give. She allowed Taeyeon to take and take but at a certain point, she began to take as well. Into the kiss she sank, going deeper and deeper and—BEEEEEEEEP!

Both women were shocked out of their kiss-induced bubbles and Tiffany jerked away from the car horn.

“Sorry.”

“I’m sorry too. Your lunch time is over.”

Tiffany looked at the time flashing on the dashboard and grimaced. “You’re right. I have to return to the office.”

“And I have to get back to my shop.”

Tiffany sighed. “I’ll drop you off at the subway.”

“Thanks.”

T

With her usual cup of coffee in one hand and phone in the other, Taeyeon sat at her little dining table and stared into space until her phone sang again.

Which car r u looking at?

SamsungQM3

Not bad

Fuel efficiency is good

It has a nice

/rolleyes/ i knew it old habits die hard

But u agree it’s good

Yeah

So u’ll help me with the loan?

Of course

Thanks oppa love u

Love u too ddaeddae

Taeyeon smiled. Her brother was her favourite person in the world. A couple years older than her, they had grown up together and she could always count on her brother for help. She just wished she could help him a little more too.

With the car cashing in at 22.4 million won, she was going to have to fork out 5.4 million won after borrowing 17 million won from her brother. Thanks to the increase in customers in the past six months, she managed to save up about 8.5 million won so that would leave her with just enough to pay for her supplies and other necessities as she went along.

Deciding that it could be managed, she made a call and got in touch with an agent. It was time to get a car again.

T

“Something happened?”

Taeyeon recorded her voice message and sent it over. Then, she turned back to her tattoo design book and continued working. Engrossed in the design, she only checked her phone again after the design was done—an hour later.

“Overheard journalists saying I’m not good enough to be an editor.”

“They’re probably jealous and talking.”

“They’re guys, Tae. Pig-heads.”

“What. Their over-sized egos won’t allow them to listen to you?”

A deep sigh came through. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s me.”

“No, it’s not. Don’t be an idiot.”

“Tae . . . I feel like crying.”

“Com’ere.”

“I can’t.”

“Screw them. Com’ere. I’m offering you an exclusive chance to visit my shop.”

“Tae, you’re making me feel worse. Now I wanna go to your shop but I can’t leave without finish this.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Okay, I’ll get these done and go over.”

“I’ll be here.” Taeyeon blew a kiss into her phone and sang softly, “Don’t you worry, ‘cos everything’s gonna be alright.”

T

It was close to ten at night when Tiffany finally arrived. Pretty good timing for Taeyeon since her last customer was done half an hour ago and she had just cleaned things up.

“Hey babe.”

“Tae . . .”

Taeyeon opened her arms for her girlfriend who stepped right into her embrace and hugged her like a bolster. She patted Tiffany’s back and they stayed that way until Tiffany pulled back just enough to look at each other.

“I needed that so much.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

“You’re the best, Tae.”

Taeyeon flashed a crooked grin and kissed her. She found it addictive. Kissing Tiffany. She liked the feeling of those soft lips roving over hers. She liked the way Tiffany’s breath hitched whenever she got cheeky with her tongue. The little bites, little plays, little flicks . . .

“Tae,” Tiffany breathed, breathless from their deep kisses.

“Yeah?”

“I’m hungry.”

Taeyeon laughed. “For more?” That got her a slap on the arm from Tiffany but she merely grinned. “What do you wanna eat?”

Tiffany hugged Taeyeon’s arm and put on a charming smile. “Cook for me?”

“What?”

“Please . . .”

“Okay, okay. But I’m only good at cooking one thing so you don’t get to ask for anything. Just eat what I put on the table. Got it?”

Tiffany nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Your place or mine?”

“Yours.”

T

A fast but safe drive later, Taeyeon and Tiffany got to Taeyeon’s apartment. Once inside, they got started on the cooking. Taeyeon was busy with the boiling water and ramyun while Tiffany helped to cut the vegetables and fish cakes and popped them in. When it was ready, Taeyeon cut up some cheese and laid them over the two bowls of ramyun for a finishing touch.

“T and T,” she said.

Tiffany giggled. “T loves T.”

“Which T are you talking about.”

“Taeyeon loves Tiffany.”

Taeyeon didn’t respond to the statement. Instead, she handed one bowl of ramyun to Tiffany and headed for the little dining table beside the mini kitchen.

Tiffany pouted as she followed. “Don’t you?”

“Babe, you’re moving too fast for me.”

“Am I?”

“Yeah. Slow things down a little. Chill a bit.”

“Okay.”

“Do you go this fast for everything?”

“Life is short.”

“You’re asking me the question but do you love me?”

Tiffany looked down at her bowl of ramyun. “A little.”

“Not a lot, huh?”

Tiffany looked as Taeyeon brought the ramyun to her lips with chopsticks and them in. Then she replied, “A little more than a little.”

Meeting Tiffany’s steady gaze, Taeyeon swallowed the ramyun and smiled. “I’ll admit I like you a lot. A little more than a lot.”

Tiffany smiled in return. “I’ll make you love me soon.”

Taeyeon grinned. “Sure. Make me love you.”      

“Challenge accepted.”

With a chuckle, Taeyeon resumed eating her ramyun. Tiffany emptied her bowl first and perched her chin on upturned palms to watch Taeyeon.

“What are you looking at?” Taeyeon teased.

“My very cool girlfriend.”

“Oh, I see. Why is your girlfriend cool?”

“Cos she’s always calm. And very chill. Just what I need to slow me down a little.”

Taeyeon smiled as she swallowed another mouthful of ramyun. “By the way, I should probably tell you about the decision I made a couple days ago.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve decided to buy a car.”

“Oh my God. That’s great! When are you buying it? Which car are you buying? What colour are you getting?”

“Babe, slow down,” Taeyeon said with a chuckle. “I have an appointment with the car dealer for Monday.”

“Which model are you buying?”

“QM3.”

“Oh, that’s a cute car.”

Taeyeon frowned. “It’s not cute. You think it’s cute?”

Tiffany blinked and stared. “I guess? I kinda remember what the car looks like from the ads I’ve seen. I think it looks nice.”

“I chose it because it looks cool. It’s not cute.”

“You’re right. It’s a cool car.”

“Seriously. It’s not cute.”

“I agree! I just said it casually. I didn’t mean it’s Hello Kitty cute.”

“Okay.”

“Which colour are you gonna get?”

“I want the—”

“Wait, wait. I need a moment to prepare myself.”

“What for?”

“If you chose orange, I’ll have to persuade myself to accept it.”

“What’s wrong with orange?”

Tiffany scrunched up her nose. “I hate orange.”

“You’re insane, you know that? Anyway I want the black or grey one. I’ll decide at the car dealer’s.”

“Sounds great,” Tiffany said with a huge smile. “What made you decide to buy a car?”

Taeyeon shrugged. “I’ll probably need one for this and that.”

“You could use mine, you know.”

“With a car, I can drive to your place. And there’ll be times I wanna pick you up and drive you around.”

Tiffany’s jaw slackened. “Did you buy a car because of me?”

“It’s about time I got a car again. I sold my car to raise capital for my tattoo shop. Now that business is good, I’ve managed to save up enough to get a car again.”

“But you can’t get loans from the bank, right?”

Taeyeon shook her head.”

“So how . . .”

“I got a loan from my brother.”

“Oh . . .”

“Yeah, it’s all settled. I’m getting a car on Monday.”

Lit with joy, Tiffany abandoned her chair for Taeyeon’s lap. “You just made me fall a little bit more in love with you, Tae.”

With a grin, Taeyeon put her arms around Tiffany’s waist and pulled her closer. “Really? How?”

“By feeding me when I’m hungry. And taking such good care of me.” Tiffany dropped a kiss on Taeyeon’s lips and smiled. “You’re an awesome girlfriend.”

Taeyeon chuckled. “It’s only been four days and you’ve decided I’m an awesome girlfriend?”

“It’s the car, Tae. The car gives it all away. You’re a huge softie inside, just admit it.”

“Just shut up and kiss me now.”

Tiffany obliged.

T