“Also, after that, there was one more thing. Tiffany asked Jessica when her reports were due, and then asked her what she would write in her report since she stayed in her residence the whole time. Apparently, Jessica already had to submit a report that had almost nothing on it, and she told us not to worry about it, that she won’t include the day’s events in her reports. Tiffany scolded her for it, saying that it was dangerous to lie to a man like him, meaning her father. This confused Jessica, and me too honestly, so she asked about it. Tiffany then clarified that her anger was because of Jessica’s lie, but once she realized her situation, Tiffany forgave her from understanding her situation.

              “That’s another thing I really admire about her. She’s really empathetic and can read people well, which is especially important for someone like me. As I said already, I started to realize that I might like her a while ago, but after all that happened two days ago, and after spending all day yesterday listing and compartmentalizing everything I liked about Tiffany yesterday, that feeling got stronger.

              “I still don’t know though, because I’ve never liked a female before and I’m scared that I might alienate Tiffany if I just tell her all these things and it just weirds her out; I mean, you can love a friend, right? There’s such a thing as platonic love, so it might be that, right? What do you think?”

              Hayeon was smiling like an idiot throughout the whole story. “Unnie, you’re so cute,” she replied simply. “It’s ok to admit that you’re in love. So what if it’s a girl? It’s still love, right?”

              “L-Love? I only met her a month ago, can you fall in love that quickly?”

              “Sure you can!” Hayeon said energetically, “Unnie, this is exciting for you. Do you know what this means?”

              I shook my head. Maybe it was due to the scar from my past, but I still couldn’t accept it. Love was more complicated than that, especially because everyone was different and had their own agendas. I couldn’t imagine Tiffany was like that, but then again … “I don’t know. I think I could call it a crush, but not love,” I admitted.

              She nodded enthusiastically, “Sure, it’s a crush then. Still, this is exciting for you!”

              I couldn’t help but smile: her energy was still as dangerously contagious as it was in high school. “Yes, yes, I understand Hayeon-ah,” I said, patting her hand, “What about you though? Do you have a boyfriend yet?”

              “Ah-ah,” she interjected, “Don’t try to run away from the topic. Tell me more about Tippani.”

              I pouted. “What more do you want to hear from me? I told you so much already.”

              “Hm,” Hayeon stopped to think, tapping the spoon against , “What kinds of things did she do that made you think that she might like you as well?”

              “Oh,” I responded dumbly, looking down at the table, hoping that I wasn’t blushing. Those were memories I would rather not recount in front of others, precious as they were to me. “Um, well, I don’t know, it just—”

              “Aww unnie, you’re blushing!”

              Well . Great. Perfect. Good job, Taeyeon. Why can I never do anything correctly?

              “I never knew Taeyeon could be this cute~” she cooed, smiling widely.

              “Yah, Hayeon,” I reprimanded her, “I’m older than you, you know.”

              “Only by one year,” she reminded me, “Not that you even look older than me. Now go on, tell me all about her advances onto you.”

              I sighed, wondering how I should go about wording everything. “Well she doesn’t really do much I guess, she just says a lot of stuff, like she would date me or that she—” I stopped myself before I could reveal anything too erse. “—basically, she would always threaten to do things you’d expect couples to do,” I said in a noticeably quieter voice.

              “Oh, so like se—” I reached over the table and covered before she could continue that sentence, feeling my cheeks burn a fierce red.

              “No! Not like that! Like…” I stopped to quiet my voice down. “Like kissing and going on dates and stuff.”

              “You should have accepted then! You haven’t even had your first kiss yet, right? If you really do love her, or at least have a crush on her, then you should pursue her! I mean, I feel like no one could resist you if you really try, unnie.”

              Hearing all of this but feeling such a contradictory emotion was immensely frustrating. Here Hayeon was, encouraging me with all her might, and I wanted to meet my high school friend’s expectations, but it just felt … impossible. There was a roadblock in my head, a mental obstacle, a nagging voice in the back of my mind reminding me of my past experience on the subject that killed my motivation. Even the prospect of following through with Hayeon’s suggestion caused anxiety to blossom in my chest: my lungs constricted uncomfortably, my arms and legs growing restless, an overall discomfort enveloping my body. Would I just be annoying if I told her this? Would she just get frustrated at me, as frustrated as I was at myself, if I informed her of my troubles?

              No, it’s my problem. Not only that, but she’s younger than me. I’ll just try my best to heed her advice, attempting to work through the trials and tribulations. “I’ll try, Hayeonie.”

              “Good luck, unnie! You can do it!” she cheered me on, giving me an encouraging fist pump. I smiled again, feeling the effects of her infectious happiness.

              I sighed, scooping out another bite of ice cream. Can I? What if Tiffany got weirded out from my advances and started to distance herself away from me? I mean, I at least know that Tiffany’s ual preferences includes women.

              “So what will your first move be? Ooh, you should sing for her! Bring her to karaoke and sing a ballad for her,” Hayeon suggested animatedly.

              “I don’t know, I don’t sing that much nowadays,” I told her, “Plus, we already went to karaoke before.”

              “Oh really? What did she think? What did she say?”

              I remembered her reaction, pursing my lips. “It wasn’t negative,” I said carefully, unwilling to reveal more.

              “Aww come on, that’s too vague. Did she think you were an angel? Did she fall in love with you after listening to you? Did you sing a duet together?”

              Though I chose not to respond, I had the suspicion that the blush creeping up my face was more than sufficient to tell the whole story.

              “Oh? Did everything I just said happen?” she continued, giddy as ever.

              “Never mind,” I desperately insisted. Embarrassing myself in front of Hayeon was definitely not on my to-do checklist for meeting her today. My phone received a notification shortly after, which normally would be ignored if I wasn’t so relieved to escape the situation for a little while.

              However, upon seeing the message’s sender, my heart skipped a beat.

              No Taeyeon, don’t jump to conclusions. Read the message.

              However, it was as I suspected. I had intermittent contact with them for the last month, but there was never a hint that they were returning home this soon.

              “I’m so sorry Hayeon, but my parents just got home, and—”

              “Really?! What are you standing here for? Go!” she said animatedly, shooing me away. I stood up and smiled gratefully at her, but not before she gave me a cheeky, “Good luck with Tippani!”

              I chose not to respond, running the rest of the way home, which was impressive given that I never partook in strenuous physical activity. My heart was pounding the entire way, I couldn’t even think properly, my lungs starting to constrict from a lack of oxygen; I probably looked crazy, being this small woman, racing down the street with a lopsided smile, but for some reason, I didn’t care at all.

              “Mom? Dad?” I said tentatively as I stepped through the door.

              “Sorry Taeyeoh-ah, were you hanging out with a friend?”

              My mom emerged from the living room as I was putting on my slippers.

              “Mom!” I yelled, scampering over to her, jumping into her arms.

              “My baby,” she greeted in kind. I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath, a warm, homey shiver traveling throughout my body.

              “You aren’t going straight back to work are you?” I asked, peering at her. The worry I felt for them must have been evident in my eyes, as mom laughed heartily.

              “Taeyeon-ah, I’m the mom here,” she chuckled, “How have you been? Have you been having fun with your new friends?”

              I nodded, smiling as dad walked into my peripheral vision. “Dad!”

              “Hi princess,” he laughed, catching me easily.

              However, as I was hugging him, something felt off. “Dad, you feel skinny,” I said, reaffirming my suspicions by grabbing his arms.

              “Really? Wow, I guess my diet payed off then!” he commented heartily.

              “Dad!” I whined, scolding him, “You shouldn’t be losing weight in the first place! Were you working too hard and forgetting to eat again?”

              The laughter died in his eyes when he met my gaze.

              “You shouldn’t be working so hard and start taking care of your health more. You tell me this all the time but never practice it yourselves,” I continued.

              “Taeyeon-ah, we aren’t that old yet,” mom pouted, eliciting a smile from me.

              “I’m sorry for worrying you princess, it won’t happen again,” dad grinned, patting my head affectionately.

              “So was that your new friend you were hanging out with?” mom said as we walked over to the living room.

              “No, it was my high school friend,” I said, sitting down on the couch.

              “Oh? What were you doing?”

              “I was—” I froze. How much of the truth should I tell them? Tiffany’s philosophy on liars must have caught on to me, as I felt it harder and harder to convince myself that omitting the truth was ok. I mean, they were my parents; they wouldn’t do something as drastic as, say, disown me for admitting that I love—well, had a crush on another woman, right?

              “Hm?” mom interjected, breaking my line of thought.

              “Um, I was just talking to her and catching up,” is what I ended up settling for, cringing at myself for not telling the entire truth. I felt unready for doing something like that, especially if I was unsure of my feelings up until an hour ago.

              “So how is Hayeon?”

              It was my dad’s turn to talk this time.

              “She’s having a hard time finding a job right now, so she’s currently working as a waitress and taking the occasional singing gig.” Unlike me, who has been sitting at home and doing nothing. The only reason why I haven’t started looking for a temporary job is because my parents requested me to just stay at home and rest, but that was becoming increasingly hard.

              “Taeyeon-ah, you’re worrying about that again, aren’t you?”

              My mom’s seeming ability to read my mind was nothing new to me: she actively used this on me all the time, which was the better for someone like me who tried to hide my worries from even my parents.

              “You haven’t found a job yet, right? You’re just taking a break from school?” my dad said, turning to look at me.

              I nodded, perhaps a bit too dismally to my parents’ liking.

              “Have you been spending most of your time with your new friend?” my mom inquired, to which I nodded again. “Good! Time spent with friends is time well spent. Your dad and I both know very well how important friends are to having a healthy life and a healthy mind, especially after you start working. Never think for a second that you’re wasting your time by spending it with a friend, because by spending time with her, you’re also increasing the quality of her life, right?”

              “Ok, I understand,” I responded. My dad rubbed my shoulder encouragingly.

              “The work we’re doing is really important to us—to me in particular,” my dad added, “but even if you started working, we would still be doing what we’re doing. So don’t worry about providing for us quite yet, ok?”

              I don’t know what came over me at that point. It must have been a mixture of Tiffany’s recount of her experience with her father, the events of the last two weeks, all my pent-up anxiety over my parents, and having them suddenly come home and comfort me, a good-for-nothing daughter who can’t even tell the whole truth to her parents, that caused the choked, tightened feeling my lungs, a tear escaping my eye. However, it was feeling my dad hug me that ultimately broke the dam.

              I leaned onto him, pushing my face into his chest and letting it all out: my frustration, my worries, my anxiety, and sobbed into his shirt. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I hiccupped, wrapping my arms around him again as he my hair comfortingly.

              “There’s nothing to apologize for princess,” he responded softly, my mom tenderly placing a hand on my back.

              I shook my head adamantly. “I’m sorry,” I repeated, again and again and again.

              “You’ve really had it hard, haven’t you? We’re home now Taeyeon, don’t worry,” he said. The effect of him my hair was amazingly effective, as I found myself calming down from my sudden outburst shortly.

              “Dad, mom, I actually need to tell you something,” I said, hiccupping mid-sentence, pushing against the couch, away from my dad’s embrace.

              I plopped myself down next to him, my mom gingerly bringing a finger to my eye and wiping it clear of my tears.

              “What is it, sweetheart?”

              I treaded on my words for a few seconds, deliberating on the method of delivery, calming myself down further before continuing. “My new friend really hates lying, which extends to omitting the truth, so I guess it rubbed off on me when I told you that I was just catching up with Hayeonie,” I admitted. My mom nodded, urging me to continue. “I was catching up with her, that was true, but I was also talking to her about—” I froze, fear seizing my body again. Damn it Taeyeon, what are you afraid of? In this day and age? They’re your parents, for god’s sake.

              “Go on, princess.”

              My dad’s encouraging words were all that I needed to push forward.

              “I was also talking to her about my new friend. I spent a lot of time with her, and actually my college friend came to Korea too, and—” Taeyeon, stop dragging this out so much. Get to the point. “—anyway, there was some stuff that happened that made me realize that the way I felt about her wasn’t purely platonic, or might not be. So I talked to Hayeon about it and she claimed that it was love, but I don’t know about love since I only met her recently, so we just settled for crush.”

              I ended it there awkwardly, figuring it was best to cut my losses there and stop myself from fumbling over my words any further.

              “Oh, that’s great! So are you saying our daughter has finally fallen for someone?”

              My dad was surprisingly giddy, almost childlike, in his excitement.

              “Are you going to bring her home? Oh, actually, if you need to be home alone, then we can go some—”

              “Dad!” I smacked him, feeling a burst of heat erupt onto my cheeks, causing him to laugh.

              “Yah, Dad, that’s inappropriate,” my mom said, smiling nevertheless. “I’m happy for you Taeyeon, when do we get to meet her?”

              I was so surprised at my dad’s words that it took a while to register how easily they just accepted it, like it was nothing. I guess it wasn’t that big of a deal these days—but then again, Korea was less open about this kind of stuff than America. Still, none of that took away the immense relief at the ease at which my parents responded, of which reminded me once again how amazing my parents were and how lucky I was to have them.

              On the other hand, it just put into perspective what happened to Tiffany, and what kind of thing would have needed to happen for her to get exiled.

              “Um, I’ll ask her,” I said, smiling. See Taeyeon? In the end, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Welp, I ended up like barely working on this over the break LOL

Winter break starts in a little under 3 weeks for me, so I should be able to update more frequently then.

Also, to those who have read my previous story, this story will not last that long. I was thinking something like 30 chapters, although it seems more like 35 chapters now. Maybe more. We’ll see :D

Anyway, thanks for reading as always, and hope you enjoyed!

P.S. https://fb.me/affkesujo go check it out! :D