[Chapter 20]

The Act Of Deceiving

The case wielding duo made their way down the back hall of the shop. They had already marched back and fourth numerous times until Tiffany was able to walk without looking so awkward. Eventually their positions with the case seemed practically flawless as they made one final trek down the hallway towards the swinging double doors. With every step, Tiffany's heartbeat grew louder and louder. Did she really want to go to the front of the store where the others would undoubtedly question her?

“Fany-ah.” Taeyeon cooed out with a slight tug on the case to stop her Troubled One. It wasn't hard for her to spot the distracted look on the other girl's face and she didn't want to take another step forward until Tiffany was certain that she really wanted to go out there. The both of them locked eyes with each other as the cafe owner waited anxiously for what her Guardian had to say next. “There's always the backdoor you know. We would be in and out of there before they even knew it.” Her lips pursed slightly the moment she noticed how uneasy Tiffany was getting. “They wouldn't even know you left.” Taeyeon added with a small plea in her words.

Slightly pursed lips were the Troubled One's only answer. She had been thinking about the situation for a long while now, even before they were doing their practice runs. “I know there's the backdoor Tae, but I think it would be best to tell them that I'm leaving.” Tiffany's eyes flickered back towards the swinging doors that separated her from the others. The Troubled One let out a gentle sigh and looked over towards her Guardian. “With a week like this and then me suddenly being gone wouldn't be so good. They might think that I went to go do something...” Tiffany's eyes searched the floor for the right word. Every other answer on the tip of her tongue felt like acid. “...regretful.” Once again, her eyes rose to meet with the latter right next to her.

Taeyeon pursed her lips at how Tiffany's mood had suddenly dropped. It was now clear to her that if she hadn't stolen the gun like she did when they first met, then there probably wouldn't even be a Troubled One anymore. Slowly, the woman in white nodded her head at Tiffany's reasoning. “Arasso.” She gave the shop owner a small nod of reassurance before turning her attention back to the double doors.

Thump. Thump. Thump. With every step that she took towards the doors it became easier for Tiffany to feel how uncertain of her decision she really was. She felt her heart beat so loudly in her chest that she could have sworn it was hooked up to a speaker that was echoing in the room. Potential questions from her two workers quickly zoomed in and out of her head as she tried to find an answer for every single one of them. Then one thought lodged itself inside her head. All she had to do was stay calm and listen, that way she would have a clear mind to think with.

A loud sigh seeped its way into the hallway just as Tiffany set her free hand on one of the double doors. “What do we do about Tiff now, Sica?” Yuri's voice slithered into the hallway with a hint of desperation. Hearing that much made Tiffany freeze in her place just before she barged through. With her name in their conversation, the curious shop owner wanted to know what her workers were talking about. “Siwon's out of the picture and Tiff has no way to pay for the cafe.” Yuri's voice rang through the hallway again. The simple mention of his name made the two beings cringe. Still, they both wanted to know where the conversation was going, even putting down the case to pay attention to the topic at hand.

Jessica stared at the raven haired worker with semi-pursed lips. “I know.” The older worker glanced down at the flooring beneath her feet. “I really thought it was gonna work.” She let out a sigh and settled her gaze lifelessly on the counter between them. “I really thought that all of this would be done with.” The auburn haired girl muttered senselessly.

Something about the older girl bothered the main barista. It was as if Jessica had more on her mind than Yuri had anticipated. “Sica-yah.” She called out to get the other girl's attention. “Did you really think Siwon and Tiffany were going to be boyfriend and girlfriend?” Yuri walked up to her co-worker who was sitting on one of the stools. Not wanting to miss the answer, the darker girl leaned against the wooden counter.

“Honestly?” Jessica rose an eyebrow. Yuri's only answer to her was a simple nod. “Aniyo.” The auburn haired worker shook her head. “At first, I thought that Siwon would be a great guy that could help her stop stressing over the cafe, whether they were going out with each other or not. I mean, she has us, but we're her workers and that could easily remind her about the bills.” Again Jessica shook her head negatively. “Then after seeing how much Tiff actually owes, I named the first rich person I could think of.”

For the most part, Yuri had nodded to the latter's explanation of the man. It was what the both of them wanted. Her eyebrows then furrowed together in confusion at the last sentence. Surely trying to remember someone rich would have made the average person call out names of actors or idols. So then, “How did you know Siwon was rich? None of us even knew who he was when he gave that piece of paper with his number on it.” Her head tilted to one side in curiosity.

Thinking back to that day, Jessica rested her head in the palm of one of her hands. “Hyoyeon told me about him before Tiff called him for their first date. After Siwon gave the note, Hyoyeon heard his name in school one day. She wanted to know more about the guy that was hitting on our friend.” While she spoke, Jessica waved her free hand around in the air to lazily emphasize everything.

Yuri's eyebrows only crashed together even tighter. One thing just wasn't clicking in her head. “Wait a minute. Where was I when you guys were talking about this?” She was so confused at how she could have missed such a conversation. Obviously that sort of thing wouldn't have gone unnoticed with her. Especially since it involved the very girl that had everyone worrying over.

A shooing hand towards the double doors was the older girl's answer. “You were in the back grabbing more cups because we ran out after the lunch rush and we forgot to restock for Hyoyeon.” Jessica ended her sentence with a simple shrug of her shoulders and rose an eyebrow towards the other girl to see if there was something else she wanted to ask about.

Hearing the explanation made Yuri's lips turn into an O as she nodded her head gently. Now it was coming back to her. She had almost dropped the cups on the way to the front too. Still, she couldn't believe that they were talking about such a juicy topic while she was gone. The Black Pearl's head quickly reran through the day that Tiffany had called Siwon for the first time. “But Sica,” She spoke out. Apparently something in her head wasn't connecting all the way through. “Hyoyeon was practically in favor of Siwon that day until he showed up at the cafe for their first date. Remember that look on her face when he walked through the door?” The barista looked to the front door of the cafe, reconstructing the rather disgusted look that their Dancing Queen friend had displayed.

Jessica dropped her hand that served as a stand for her chin and let out a sigh. “Yeah, I remember.” Every moment Hyoyeon saw Siwon at the shop suddenly replayed in her head. It was always that sickened look. Her eyes then locked with the younger girl across the counter. “You remember why she was like that though, right?” Yuri only gave the auburn haired girl an unsure look, even mentally cursing herself for not remembering. A long sigh slipped through Jessica's lips at the latter's facial expression. “I asked her about it after the two of them left for their last date. Apparently at her school, a guy that goes on a first date the same night they get called by a girl is someone that's hiding things up their sleeves.” Every listener's lips pursed tightly as they easily recalled the horrific reality of what Siwon was hiding.

“If Hyoyeon knew he was no good then why didn't she tell us about him?” Yuri questioned with a gentle tone of regret over the whole ordeal. The only thing buzzing through her mind now was how everything could have possibly been avoided. There was no ounce of doubt in her that Tiffany was most likely traumatized over everything.

The older worker scanned the counter between them for a moment. The answer was obvious to her, she just had to make sure that the latter understood. “I honestly think she didn't want to say anything until the bills were paid.” Her answer only made the other worker look at her with confusion. “Think about it Yuri.” Jessica looked up and locked eyes with the only girl behind the counter. “You and I were trying so hard to push Tiffany on those back to back dates that everything would be ruined if Hyoyeon said anything against it. Then it would just be us against her. Where would that leave our friendship?” Her eyes locked solely on Yuri, hoping she would understand where the big problem would be for their dancing friend.

Looking down at the counter, Yuri pursed her lips guiltily. She knew for a fact that they would have argued if anyone would try to stop their plan. “You're right, but we did that for the cafe. That was our plan remember?” Her eyes shifted up to meet with Jessica again. “If Tiffany and Siwon went on those dates then they'd know each other better. That's when we hoped that he would help pay for all of the bills.” Yuri's fingers curled in to make lose fists. Their seemingly foolproof plan was completely foiled all because of his need to get in bed.

“I know.” Jessica's voice was soft. “When I made up the plan I figured that if Tiffany didn't want to take our money, then she wouldn't mind taking it from someone who was already rich. Money would be his last worry and in the end, if the both of them became a couple or not, he wouldn't be struggling with any finances.” Jessica sighed. Her gaze falling to the counter, focusing weakly on the other girl's fists. “I just can't believe that he was that much of a jerk.” She shook her head regretfully, hoping that her best friend wasn't secretly going insane because of what he had put her through at the restaurant.

Frustratedly, Yuri pounded the counter between them, startling everyone listening in on the conversation. A long sigh escaped through the Black Pearl's lips as she hung her head in anger. “If I had known from the beginning about what Siwon was really about, then I would have called it all off.” Her tightened hand slowly relaxed. She knew that what happened had already happened and there was no way that they could change it.

Jessica looked right into Yuri's eyes with a stern expression. “Would you really?” She rose a challenging eyebrow to the barista. “Or would you have done exactly what Hyoyeon did and just hoped for the best? You and I both know that there was absolutely no way for Tiffany to pay off all of that debt without his help.” Silence lingered between the two workers for a moment as Jessica's words seeped into everybody's heads. “That's another reason why I think Hyoyeon never said anything else about him. If she tried taking him out of the plan, then there would be no plan. Tiffany would be left without even having a chance at saving this place.” The auburn haired girl easily spotted the latter's hopelessly pursed lips. Her words were completely true.

Yuri sighed heavily at the reality. Nothing would have worked if they had intervened. “I just regret pushing Tiffany so much to go with him. He almost had his way with her and...” Again the younger worker sighed, too disgusted to even finish her own sentence. “Do you remember what I promised you, Jess?” Her eyes locked hopefully on the girl across from her. They were practically pleading in her eye sockets for the other girl to remember.

The auburn haired worker simply nodded her head at Yuri's question. “If he laid a wrong finger on Tiffany then you would have beaten him up, whether or not the bills were paid off.” Jessica recited so confidently. It was as if the words were written on a paper right in front of her. She could never forget it because it was something even she mentally promised to herself. The main barista bobbed her head up and down in approval, signaling that she had gotten none of it wrong.

“I just wish Tiff knew why we were doing all of that.” The Black Pearl muttered with a shameful hang of her head. “I want her to know that we did it because we were trying to help her, not hurt her with that bastard.” Her head rose slightly, locking weak eyes with the girl that had thought of the plan to help save the cafe.

Jessica easily spotted what Yuri was hinting at. She knew exactly what that look meant because in all honesty, it was something she wanted to do too. “We can't tell her though. We can't tell her any of this. She would probably hate us for making up that kind of plan without telling her in the first place.” The older girl let out a hopeless sigh as she looked away. “Just keep your mouth shut about everything that ever happened and maybe one day we can all forget about this. It's not like we can go back and change the past.”

Hearing everything made Tiffany droop her head forward in thought. It was all so much to take in at once. So that's why they always wanted me to go with him. They were doing it for the cafe. From the corner of her eye, the shop owner could see that Taeyeon was thinking everything over as well. Quietly, Tiffany turned to her Guardian. “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” She whispered, not wanting to get the other girls' attention at the front.

Taeyeon's head rose to meet eyes with her Troubled One. She kept quiet for a moment to let her question sink in. “Do you mean mentally apologizing to the two of them for being so pushy with you and Siwon?” Her lips pursed regrettably for thinking some mean thoughts about the two. Then again, how was she supposed to know about their plan? Her Troubled One was Tiffany. She didn't have to take note on what her friends were doing every second of every day of their lives.

Rerunning her worker's conversation once more in her head made Tiffany let out a gentle sigh. So that was the truth. It wasn't because they wanted her and Siwon to sincerely get together, but because they wanted the cafe to survive. The truth even put a small smile on Tiffany's face. How was she going to repay the others for doing something like that?

Not wanting to jumble her mind over the whole ordeal, the cafe owner quickly picked up the case, along with Taeyeon's support, and pushed through the swinging double doors. She was now determined to save the place that she dedicated to her mother. Her feet stepped in a quick rhythmic time, walking towards the front of the store like she hadn't heard anything. “Annyeong.” Tiffany greeted before slipping in between the slit in the counter. Before long, Tiffany was already marching towards the exit of the store. “Annyeong.” She said again, this time meaning the polar opposite from the first time.

“Whoa. Where do you think you're going?” Jessica spoke with a firm tone in her voice. She approached the cafe owner with her eyes set on the black box that her best friend seemed to carry effortlessly. She had never seen Tiffany carry it before and by the looks of it, it was something that didn't match with her usual interests. This case was large, black, and completely heavy looking, the complete opposite of Tiffany's usual small, light,and pink concept. “What's that?” She gestured to the hard to miss item in her best friend's hand.

Tiffany stopped and turned to face her best friend the moment her hand rested on the push bar of the door. Right beside her was the one and only Guardian who was also turned to face the remaining two in the store. “Oh, this?” The cafe owner rose the piano case slightly. “I found this in the back alley while I was throwing away some trash from my office. It's pretty heavy so I'm guessing the piano is still in it.” She gave her friend a small shrug. “I'm planning on selling it to the music store just down the block. It looks pretty brand new and I was thinking maybe I can sell it to them for a couple bucks. Every dollar counts.”

Hearing the explanation of the mysterious case made Jessica's eyebrows crash together. She wasn't exactly believing her best friend's story. That case just seemed to have come out of thin air. There had to be a catch. “Can I see it?” The older worker questioned nonchalantly. She stuck a hand out towards the box as she came closer towards the pair huddled at the door.

Watching her friend get closer to her Guardian built a cold sweat across Tiffany's forehead. She had to think of something quick to get them out of there before deja vu happened. “Aniyo Jess. We might break something. If that happens then it won't be worth anything. I just wanna get it to the music place and sell it for as much as it's worth. Besides, I think my arm is gonna fall off so I really want to get going before I lose all my strength and accidentally drop this thing.” Tiffany huffed out a tired breath as she tried to readjust her grip on the handle. “Do you think you two can watch the shop while I'm gone?” Her head tilted to the side curiously as she focused her attention between her two cafe workers.

“Tiff, you're usually in the back while we run the front.” Yuri answered while slipping through the counter's slit and joining the side of the auburn haired girl. She wrapped a reassuring arm around the older girl's shoulder as if it were nothing. “Sica and I will just use our imagination and think that you're still back there. Now go, you might dislocate your shoulder.” Yuri ushered with a shooing hand. “Like you said, 'every dollar counts'.” The tanner girl flashed her boss a smile that seemed to wish her good luck on trying to rack up all the money.

With a thankful smile of her own, the cafe owner nodded in agreement and pushed open the front door. The moment Tiffany took her first step out of the cafe, she reached her free hand into her pocket to take out her phone. With a few quick taps on the screen of the hand held device the cafe owner put the phone to her head and waited.

However, the Guardian could only furrow her eyebrows at the display. Who was she trying to call? Let alone, how was she supposed to make a call when the screen was never ? “Uhh. Fany-ah?” Her head tilted curiously as she walked beside her Troubled One. “Who are you calling?” Everything was still so confusing to the woman in white.

A smile surfaced onto her face at her Guardian's question. It was funny to her that for the first time ever, she had now fooled the other girl who practically knew everything. “I'm calling you, silly.” She just couldn't believe it. Was it possible that she really did do something that her Guardian couldn't figure out?

“You're...” Taeyeon muttered more confused than anything else. She couldn't find the right words to even construct a sentence. How was her Troubled One supposedly calling her? She didn't give her a phone number. She never even had a phone to begin with! “I'm sorry but you're doing what?” A single eyebrow rose in utter confusion.

Tiffany merely giggled into her phone. She said nothing as they continued to walk until there weren't any other people around in ear shot. “See, we're in public now TaeTae. The sun is up and there are a lot of people out. If I do this, I can talk to you as much as I want and everyone will just think that I'm on the phone.” A smile stretched from ear to ear at how smart the Troubled One was feeling now. It was practically a foolproof plan!

Taeyeon smirked when the truth was revealed. In turn, it really was a great idea. No one would ever suspect a thing. “You and your technology.” The Guardian mumbled with a chuckle. Just then, her ears caught the sound of a nearby cellphone going off. That's when she caught the one flaw her Troubled One didn't seem to exactly catch. “You better set that thing on silent though. If it rings while you're having a 'phone call' then the gig is up.” Taeyeon couldn't help but chuckle at her Troubled One's widened eyes. Even though Tiffany was very clever with all of the present day gadgets the Guardian always found a way to be on top of things.

The case wielding duo ventured down the streets of Seoul for a while, not even sure if they had passed the shop that they were looking for. “So where's this antique place you said was over here?” Taeyeon turned her head left and right to look for anything that would indicate an antique shop.

Shortly after, Tiffany followed suit in search for the one thing that would be paying them. However, none of the signs and logos above every entrance door looked familiar. She could have sworn that it was around the area. How could something with so many things to sell be there one moment and then gone the next? Then a thought struck her head. What if they had to close down? A shaky breath left Tiffany's lips. This was their last hope. If they couldn't find the place then everything would be completely ruined! “It's been a while since I've walked over here TaeTae but I swear the antique shop is around here somewhere. It's name has something to do with time.” Her lips pursed as she tried thinking of the exact name. Tiffany mentally cursed herself for not going out that often.

Taeyeon's onyx orbs scanned the area as quickly as she could the moment the hint was released in the air. Was it possible that they had walked too far? Did they even walk far enough? The Guardian's eyes suddenly locked onto a certain shop with squinted eyes. “Did you say 'time'?” An eyebrow rose in curiosity. She never looked away from the one logo that had stood out to her.

The Troubled One simply nodded her head that had her phone practically glued to her face. “Neh. It's like...” Tiffany scrunched her eyebrows together in deep thought. She really wanted to remember the name. It would be so much easier to find the place if they had at least a name to go by. “Uhm. I think it goes like, 'Something Time' or-”

“Found it.” The Guardian cut her off. Taeyeon's attention was focused on a story in the middle of a line of shops across the street. “There, to the left.” She instructed with a tilt of her head. Tiffany turned to look at the said direction only to find a big entrance sign propped up against the front window with the words “Antique Shop” printed on it. Silently, Tiffany let out a sigh of relief, glad that the place was still standing. She couldn't imagine how much further they would have to travel just to find the closest antique shop in town. “I hope you're ready to get rich Fany-ah.” The woman in white suddenly called out. Her hands quickly readjusted their grip underneath the case as she stared more intensely at the store. “I don't sense a Genie in there at all.” With that, the two made eye contact with each other for what seemed like hours as they waited for the pedestrian cross walk to change signals. The moment the symbol had changed and those around them began to cross the street, Taeyeon smirked and let out a gentle chuckle, leading the way with a slight tug on the case.

“Let's go save your cafe.”

A/N: Hello my awesome readers! Wow! I updated in just 2 weeks! Can you guys believe it?! I know it's not that impressive compared to those big shot authors who get to update every day or so T^T but compared to how I used to update before? This is GREAT improvement don't you guys think? You guys can all thank ah_thien and jinribum for all of this! We've all wanted to write for the longest times and now we've been writing like crazy!

I do want to ask you guys, do you think my chapters are too long? If you haven't noticed, but recently I've been sort of cutting down the chapter length on the past couple of chapters. Both ah_thien and jinribum say that I write too much for my chapters and that I should start cutting them short but I don't know. Let me know what you guys think? Or do you awesome readers just think that it's my chapter and however long or short I wanna make it shouldn't matter? xD

So for this story, I know that the last couple chapters [like I said in past A/N] have been sort of chapter fillers. I know. I know. They've gotten boring. OTL but I promise you that things are going to start picking up soon! I mainly wanted to run a time based chapter for the beginning to show just how much Tiffany [and Taeyeon] had to rush to try and get everything done! I first wanted to write something like "bills were paid for! DONE!" but I felt like that wasn't doing much justice to what I really wanted to express to you guys. Sure it might seem boring and everything to [most likely] a majority of you guys, but like I said before [in a previous A/N] there's a lot of foreshadowing going on with my story fillers. What parts are foreshadowing anything is where I can't help you though. xD

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Yuri and Jessica got caught! Do you guys forgive them for being to pushy with Siwon now? Or do you still have a grudge against them for what they did? Let me know what you guys think about the chapter, about the story, or about what you think is going to happen with the story! I love reading your comments! I hope you enjoyed! ^^

-Jeo

GENIE!

Uh-Oh...

*grabs Jeo's collar*

TAETAE! LET GO!

Aniyo! She's plotting something! She never denied it! She didn't deny she was a Genie last time either!

Tae! Jeo dongsaeng is just writing a story! She would never write about hurting you. Right Jeo?

Uhm. Eh heh. *cold sweat*

Jeo?

It's not Jeo anymore, Fany-ah. It's JE-nie!