Playlist for Chap 11:

Halo - Beyoncé (Tiffany's POV)

Only One - Tiffany (Blood OST) (Taeyeon's POV)

“With this, let's wrap up today's morning meeting! Please enjoy your lunch and have a good time, everyone!”

The announcement from the project leader got everyone in the meeting room move around, preparing to go for lunch. Tiffany was also packing her documents and files when someone approached.

“Tiffany.”

She looked up to see Donghae standing before her with a faint smile.

“Yes, Manager-nim.”

“Can we have lunch together? I have something to tell you actually.”

He looked serious, almost upset, that Tiffany felt something was going on.

“Well...sure.”

“To Berlin?” Tiffany repeated what Donghae just said, surprised at his revelation.

He nodded, “You might be aware but I have a younger brother living there. And he's starting a small entertainment company there and wants me to help out as I have some experience in that industry.”

The American-Korean woman nodded along, agreeing.

“I have to go at the end of this month,” he continued, “and to be there with him until his business starts to become stable, it might take around two years at least. Well, if I could, I would've taken you along with me, but I guess I can't, right?”

Tiffany smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to react to it.

What the heck was that.

“So let me make a request at least,” Donghae leaned forward, looking straight at the woman across him at the table, “Will you wait for me a little bit?”

She blinked, dumbfounded, “Sorry, what do you mean?”

“I asked if you can wait for me until I come back here,” he repeated, “come on, Tiffany, everyone knows that I'm romantically interested in you, and I'm sure you're aware of it too but not ready to reciprocate yet. And I also know that you're not seeing anyone at the moment. So can you wait for me when I'm gone and let me continue to court you when I come back? Time actually passes quickly and two years should be nothing. I'm not giving up on you, Tiffany. I know you're the one and I mean it.”

At that moment, Tiffany started having a quick debate in her head. She definitely didn't want to give him any false hope. However, if she outright rejected it, he'd start asking her why and if she was in a relationship with someone. She didn't want and had no solution to deal with that.

So, she stiffly smiled and slowly nodded, swallowing the awkward unpleasant feeling inward.

“Really?! At least two years?!”

Tiffany chuckled at Taeyeon's increased tone, as she stood by the coffee machine, making her espresso, “Good news, huh? You should see yourself, you look too excited right now.”

“Was it obvious?” the teenager grinned, “But two years is too short though. That ahjussi should be gone for like 20 years instead.”

The older woman laughed, “Why do you dislike that ahjussi so much?”

“You know why, he is so very into you,” Taeyeon pouted.

Tiffany smiled secretly. She found the girl's possessiveness cute and charming at the same time. And she felt she made the right choice intentionally leaving out the “will you wait for me” part as she was fully aware that the girl's jealousy was no joke.

“Here,” she leaned over across the coffee table to hand the mug of hot chocolate to the girl which she extended her both hands to receive.

“Eo?” Taeyeon exclaimed when the woman leaned toward her to give her the mug, noticing something.

“Wae?” Tiffany questioned at the exclamation.

“I think I just saw two or three strands of grey hair on you.”

“Is that so?” the woman subconsciously touched her head, “I started having a few since last year. Definitely getting old,” she joked.

“Want me to pluck them off?” the girl asked.

“Don't,” Tiffany defended, “It will only make them grow even more. I think I might just dye my hair if I find more.”

“You're considering dying your hair?” Taeyeon said in excitement, her eyes sparkling, “Then how about re-dying it red as in the past? That hair colour suits you so much.”

“Nah, red will be too...” Tiffany's words trailed in mid air as if she noticed something, “wait, how did you know that?”

Taeyeon blinked, “What?”

“That I had red hair in the past. I'm sure I've never told you that or shown you the photos,” the woman frowned. Even to Yeri, she remembered she had only shown her photos from when she was young a few times before. Thus, to think that the girl knew this detail from her daughter was also kind of far fetched.

“Well, I just...” the high schooler hesitated. She just said it instinctively and now that she thought about it, she couldn’t seem to remember that from anywhere.

Loud sound from the doorbell rang, interrupting the conversation.

“Yeri must be back from grocery store,” Taeyeon stood up, “I'll go get the door.”

“Good morning, um- woah!” Yeri's greeting turned into an exclamation as she entered the kitchen, once she found their dining table full of Chinese dishes, such as jjajangmyeon, tangsuyuk, jjampong, and many more. She wondered if it was a festival setting and she nearly drooled at the sight.

Tiffany warmly smiled at her daughter standing in awe with her eyes fixed at the table, walking toward the girl and gently wrapping her arm around the student's shoulder, “Lately, our daughter’s been doing a very good job with all the classes, studies and exams. Also your ranks improved in last mid-term exam, right? So umma wanted to replenish your energy with your favourite Chinese food. Actually I wanted to cook myself but you know my level, so I just decided to order from that Chinese house you love.”

“But you already bought me the Iphone the other day though. And my ranks didn't even improve a lot in this exam,” Yeri replied after seating herself on a chair, looking up at the woman with sad puppy eyes.

“It's okay, baby,” the mother put a hand on the girl's shoulder, softly rubbing it on the side in a manner of comfort, “Umma is already satisfied if you keep going steadily like this. I won't pressure you to be a top student, to go extra miles, or whatsoever. All I hope for you is to continue growing up healthily, prettily and positively, and to go to a good university, graduate and get a decent job for your living. I admit I do scold you and get strict about studying and ranks, but that's because I want you to be able to live on well by yourself even when the time comes when I can no longer be with you.”

“Don't say this kind of thing,” the teenager side-hugged her mother, leaning her head on the woman's waist, “You know you're the best for me, right? And I promise, I'll study hard, get into a great university, grab a nice job and earn a lot of money so that you can retire and stay at home comfortably without having to work. And maybe we'll go on an around-the-world trip together too.”

Tiffany beamed widely, feeling touched at the girl's words, “I'll be waiting for that time, sweetie,” she pinched the girl's cheek gently, “for now, let's eat up. Don't want the food to get cold.” She left the table to take two cups of tea from the kitchen counter as her daughter started gobbling up the noodles.

Then, Yeri's ear perked up at the sound of Instagram notification from her mother's phone put on the table near to her.

Curious, she peeked at the screen nonchalantly before her eyebrows curved up in surprise.

“Umma, you have a DM from Taeyeon!”

Tiffany felt her heart was about to burst out from her chest at Yeri's holler as she scurried over to the table in lightning speed.

“She said ‘good morning' to you,” Yeri said, looking at her mother who grabbed her phone quickly.

“Ah, is that so?” Tiffany felt relieved all over. Good thing it was only a morning greeting, otherwise she couldn't imagine what would've happened if the DM Yeri saw contained Taeyeon's occasional teases.

“Have you two been messaging each other? I didn't know,” the girl asked, looking curious.

“Just sometimes,” the woman quickly defended, “she sometimes sends greetings but mostly to ask me if she can come over, this kind of