Taeyeon is light-headed when their kiss ends. She holds still, breathing hard, staring into the deep eyes looking up at her. Amazing. That was ing amazing.

“Taeyeon,” Tiffany says softly, her hand cupping Taeyeon’s cheek, “that was amazing.”

“It was,” Taeyeon breathes out, “pretty amazing.”

“Oh, c’mon. Pretty amazing? It was more than ‘pretty amazing’. It was one of the best first kisses I’ve ever had.”

“It’s not our first kiss. You ruined that for us.”

“Are you seriously blaming me?”

Taeyeon pouts. “Yeah.”

“Seriously?”

Taeyeon breaks into a grin and sits with her legs over Tiffany’s waist. “Not really.”

“You’re such a .”

“So are you.”

Tiffany grins, then bursts into loud laughs. “You’re absolutely right.”

Taeyeon relaxes, leaning her head back against the couch. She stares at the bare ceiling for a bit, then closes her eyes. Tiffany is quiet, and there’s nothing but sounds of their breathing. It’s nice. She likes it. And she finds herself smiling. Really smiling. It’s the kind of smile that comes from happiness deep inside. In this moment, everything is just perfect. Absolutely perfect.

X

Should I ask Tiffany to share my bed or take the couch? It’s weird if I ask her to sleep on the couch, right? But my bed is just enough for one. What do I do? What do I do? Taeyeon stares at the empty glasses of milk and feels her eyes drooping as she ponders. What’s the right thing to do now?

Tiffany spares her from making a decision by kicking her off the couch. “You’re tired. Go to sleep on your bed instead of my shoulder and let me get comfortable here.”

“Are you saying you’re not comfortable with me sleeping on your shoulder?”

Tiffany snorts. “I’m too experienced to buy in the romantic movie bull. I don’t wanna end up with a stiff neck and shoulder in the morning.”

Okay, if you say so. “I’ll see you in the morning then,” Taeyeon says as she moves to her bedroom. “Goodnight.” I should have just said goodnight, Goddamnit.

X

Taeyeon wakes up to the sun’s warmth streaming into her room. She smiles, remembering the guest she has outside on the couch. Rolling off her bed sideways, she slips her feet into her furry bedroom slippers and pads out to the couch. Tiffany is still asleep, tucked in like a cuddly puppy swabbed in blankets.

Adorable. Just plain adorable. My heart.

Inspired by the sight, Taeyeon decides to make breakfast so that Tiffany can wake up to a nice spread of morning food. Not the best cook in her family, she supposes eggs and toast are manageable and presentable enough.

“Do I get a share of your toast?”

Taeyeon whips around and smiles at bed-hair, sleepy-eyes Tiffany. “Sorry, I made just enough for myself. But you can help yourself and toast some.”

Tiffany pouts. “Really?”

“Just kidding,” Taeyeon says with a chuckle. “I made your share too.”

“Awesome. I’ll just wash up first. Be right back!”

X

Taeyeon has everything laid out on the dining table when Tiffany returns. She smiles and takes her place where a plate of toast and scrambled egg await her. “It smells great.”

“Disclaimer alert. I’m not a great cook. Don’t set your expectations too high.”

“No expectations. None whatsoever.” It’ll taste great no matter what. All homemade breakfasts taste great. Tiffany puts a bit of the egg on a generous piece of toast and stuffs it into . Taeyeon is watching her closely for her reaction so she puts on her smiling eyes and gives her a thumbs up. It’s crunchy and all, but why is the egg so salty? Did she pour the entire bottle of salt in this thing?

“Is it okay?”

Okay? Definitely not. But how am I supposed to tell you when you’re looking at me with puppy eyes? “Totally.”

Taeyeon takes a bit of her toast and frowns. Then she pops a little heap of scrambled egg in and that’s when her frown turns into a grimace. “Oh my God. The egg is so salty. How is this okay?”

Tiffany swallows her egg and pulls a smile. “It’s a little salty but it’s not too bad.”

“A little salty? That’s the understatement of the year.” Taeyeon swipes Tiffany’s fork from her hand. “Stop eating the egg. It’ll kill your liver or something.”

Tiffany snatches her fork back. “I’m not gonna waste the breakfast you made for me.”

“If you eat anymore of the egg, this will be the and also the last breakfast I ever make for you.”

“If I stop eating the egg now, will you promise to cook me breakfast again?” Please don’t add so much salt the next time though.

“Yes, I promise. I’ll even make you lunch and dinner.”

Tiffany puts her fork down immediately. “It’s a deal. But what about our breakfast now?”

Taeyeon takes the plates to the kitchen and empties the world’s saltiest egg into the bin, much to Tiffany’s relief. “We’ll eat out today.”

X

A few days later, Taeyeon runs into Hyerim and Jihyun at the locker room of the competition arena. She greets them with a smile but is taken aback when they give her massive smiles and pats on her back.

“Taeyeon . . . we heard the news. Congratulations!”

Taeyeon is stunned. “News? What news?”

“One of my friends hangs out at Pot Shot and she told me a new girl had snagged Tiffany,” says Hyerim, “so I asked her to describe the girl and it matches you perfectly.”

“Tiffany?” Taeyeon’s jaw drops. “You know Tiffany?”

“Not personally. But we’ve seen her around. It’s a small community. Even smaller when you’re popular.” Hyerim grins. “You probably don’t know this, but you’re gaining fame too.”

“Me?” Hyerim must be kidding.

“My friend mentioned a new girl some time back so they noticed you even before you hooked up with Tiffany.”

“Seriously?”

“Mhm. If you had mentioned Pot Shot when you asked us, we could have put two and two together earlier.”

“I don’t know what to think about this.”

Jihyun pats Taeyeon’s shoulder. “It’s nice to be popular. You don’t have to worry about it. On the bright side, it means you have options if things don’t work out with Tiffany.”

Taeyeon shakes her head. “I’m not sure about this. I’ve never been attracted to women before Tiffany came along.”

Hyerim elbows Jihyun while chuckling. “Advance rejection by the new girl. I can hear hearts shattering in the distance.”

“Those poor souls . . .”

Taeyeon smiles as Hyerim and Jihyun clutch each other and giggle. They are sweet together. It would be nice if she could have this kind of relationship with Tiffany too.

X

“Are we famous or something?” Taeyeon asks Tiffany later on, during dinner.

Tiffany chokes on her margarita. “W-What?”

Taeyeon tells Tiffany about meeting Hyerim and Jihyun earlier in the day and Tiffany ends up collapsed on the table, laughing hard. “What’s so funny?”

“The idea that I’m dating the ‘new girl’ like I’ve just earned a notch or something.”

“I’ve been going to Pot Shot for a while. I’m not new anymore.”

Tiffany smiles with affection in her eyes. “That’s not what ‘new girl’ means.”

“What does it mean?”

“It means a girl.”

“But I’m not—”

“ to girls, I mean.”

“Oh . . .”

Tiffany giggles. “Your friends are adorable. I wanna meet them.”

“I don’t really know them that well, but they do seem keen on hanging out with us.”

“Cool.” Tiffany throws her arm around Taeyeon’s shoulder. “Ask them out then. It’ll be fun. And I would like to know who her friend is. I have a feeling I might know who she is but I can’t be sure.”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

X