Psychedelic

[7] Color Burst

Pairing             : Siwon x Tiffany, Siwon x Seohyun, mild/friendship Eunhyuk x Tiffany, Eunhyuk x Hyoyeon

Genre/Theme   : Romance, angst, slice of life, married life

Notes               :

Second part of “The Birdcage”, but told from Tiffany’s perspective. This is a continuation, and not merely a repetition from a different POV.

Pinboo’s spazzing on Siwon x Tiffany:

Beautiful couple does look good together, and I actually really like Sifany. Sifany used to be the pairing that I really adore so much (until I find Hyukfany, but that’s another issue), and despite my newborn love for Hyukfany, Sifany will always be a pairing that is just so… beautiful to imagine, beautiful to write. They’re actually very, very compatible and, can I say it again and again just how goddmn beautiful they both look together? The divine couple, ah, I’d even say that personally, they’re just the most beautiful pairing in supergeneration –and yes, this is even compared to my personal OTP. Really, I’m close to shipping this pairing again and including them in my OTP list again, haha.

“Hello, ,” he greeted.

Tiffany averted her gaze from the 8PM soap opera she was watching, sighed when she realized it was just him visiting, and groaned when he casually walked to her refrigerator to find some edible foods to eat. There would not be much food, because Tiffany was really the take-outs type of eater, and he should have known this by now.

She returned her attention to the TV show again and murmured, “Just finished dinner. I still have some ramyun though, but you’ll have to cook it yourself.”

Lee Hyukjae, or Eunhyuk, grabbed an apple from Tiffany’s fridge and sat on her kitchen table. “Make me one? You are a lousy cook, but your ramyun always tastes the best.”

Tiffany rolled her eyes, but still stood up anyway. People said that she was the indecisive type –but really, she was just the type of person who did not like to disappoint another person. Eunhyuk knew this well, and the bastard always used it against her. Tiffany gave Eunhyuk an irritated glare, but the blonde-haired (dyed) boy only grinned in return, murmuring something between his munch of apple that sounded like “You’re the best, Fany-.”

“Tell me why do I still allow you inside my apartment, again?”

“Because you’re Hyoyeon’s roommate, and I am Hyo’s boyfriend. And I have her key, and you just are the nicest in the universe?”

His grin made her softened up. It was weird, but Lee Hyukjae was the only person (aside Hyoyeon) in the world who could rudely refer her as a “” and not made her cry a waterfall afterwards. Other girls often called her rude names such as “” or “” or “man-stealer” (and recently, “husband-stealer”), but only Eunhyuk dared to make a joke out of those supposedly hurtful words. In a weird effect, Eunhyuk’s way of referring her as a “” made Tiffany tolerate the word much more.

Her friendship with Eunhyuk had been quite a weird one (though everything about Eunhyuk was just weird, that was aside the point). They knew each other years ago when they were still in junior high school. Eunhyuk was just a best friend of a cute boy named Donghae. In junior high, Tiffany used to have a big crush on Donghae. But Donghae already had a girlfriend named Yuri or something. Tiffany swore she did not do anything or even to intentionally lure Donghae, but eventually Donghae broke up with Yuri and went out with Tiffany instead. Tiffany still remembered how popular Yuri was, and how Yuri turned the whole female population of the school to hate her. In the end, Donghae and Tiffany broke up when they were in high school, and Donghae went out with another girl named Jessica instead. But even this did not seem to erase the image of Tiffany as a boyfriend-stealer. 

Back to Hyukjae, Tiffany did not get to be really close with him until the first year of college. Tiffany swore she did not know that the guy she had liked, Kim Kibum, already had a relationship with another girl named Lee Soon Kyu. Upon knowing that Kibum already had a girlfriend, Tiffany did not want to make the same mistake again and refrained herself from falling for Kibum more. That did not seem to change the perception of the other girls though –and again, Tiffany had to undergo the sensation of being ostracized during her college years. Oh, by the way, Eunhyuk kinda got into the picture because apparently, he was also Soonkyu’s cousin or something.  Eunhyuk had ever since –making the ostracized experiment less burdensome. Tiffany supposed that was why Eunhyuk remained the only person who could call her “Fany-.”

“You seem to be pretty safe,” commented Eunhyuk as he sat on the chair –waiting for Tiffany to cook his ramyun.

Tiffany looked to him behind her momentarily, before she focused on the boiling pot in front of her. “What do you mean?”

“Heard that the girl you’re messing up this time comes from the powerful Seo family or something,” idly remarked Eunhyuk. “I thought there would be mafias around your apartment or death threat phone call or something.”

Tiffany exhaled a tired breath. “I know Seohyun. She’s a really nice girl.”

The guilty and depressed air around Tiffany was nearly visible that even Eunhyuk could read it properly. “Nice, but boring, definitely. That’s why Siwon-sshi chooses you in the end, doesn’t he?”

“Oppa!” Tiffany scolded, turning around to face him immediately. “Don’t talk that way about Seohyunnie!”

Eunhyuk gave Tiffany one inquiring look before he mercilessly added (oh, Tiffany often forgot how cruel this guy could be). “Well, if that can make you feel better about yourself, fine. Go defend Little Miss Joo Hyun. After all, from any perspectives, you’re the one at fault this time, aren’t you?”

The water was boiling in the pot behind her, and that seemed to be the only thing that caught Eunhyuk’s attention. He stood up from his chair and instinctively dashed towards the stove to turn the gas off. He could hear mild sobs coming from her, but he had known her too well to know that Tiffany was simply an emotional girl who always cried easily.

She cried harder, and it was only then that Eunhyuk exhaled a sigh and asked, “Yes, Tiffany?”

“I really don’t want to hurt Seohyunnie. But I just really like Siwon Oppa, and I just can’t stop myself from falling for him and –“

“You’re a hopeless romantic, Tiffany. You always say that.”

“It’s different this time,” Tiffany argued.

“You also said that too last time,” pointed Eunhyuk out in the “as a matter of fact” tone. “Look, Tiffany. I can sympathize with you if this is your first time falling for someone who already has a girlfriend, or a wife, in this case. But you know the truth that –“

“That I’ll always be a ?” she asked him with tears in her eyes.

Eunhyuk sighed and tried to use gentler words that time, “That you will unfortunately always fall for someone who’s not meant for you.”

“But Siwon Oppa and I –“

“You know the risk, Tiffany,” Eunhyuk reminded. He poured additional seasoning to the ramyun and carelessly lifted the pot from the stove, and without moving the noodle into another bowl, he just carried the pot to Tiffany’s table. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks on Tiffany’s table and started to stir the ramyun using the chopsticks. He realized that Tiffany’s stare was still directed to him, and impatiently, Eunhyuk only responded, “I may be your best friend, Tiffany. But that doesn’t mean I can always sympathize with you and tolerate your mistakes.”

Tiffany leaned to the kitchen table and watched Eunhyuk ate. How she envied Eunhyuk sometimes. The boy did not seem to have many troubles in his life because as blunt as he was, his attitude always made him somehow less stressful. Eunhyuk’s words always said the truth louder than anyone else, but perhaps that was why Tiffany treasured him very much.

But as nice as Eunhyuk was, Tiffany suddenly felt like she needed some time alone. Glancing at her wristwatch, she then told Eunhyuk. “Isn’t Hyoyeon’s train supposed to already arrive by now?”

At the mention of his girlfriend’s name and the reminder of time, Eunhyuk let out a mild curse out of his lips. He murmured something about eating the ramyun later so Tiffany could not clean it up yet before he dashed out of her apartment to pick his girlfriend up.

“Morning,” Tiffany said with a bright beam when he fluttered his eyes open.

It took Siwon extra seconds to get adjusted to the voice, to the bed, to her scent. It was weird, because he had been having this secret relationship with Tiffany for nearly a year, but he just did not seem to always get used to it. Despite anything, he kind of like the feeling of unfamiliarity, because the whole ‘out-of-daily-routine’ sensation he felt whenever he was with Tiffany injected a weird spirit into him.

Tiffany giggled. “You’re still not used to everything, aren’t you?”

Siwon blinked several times, and rubbed the sleep off his eyes. He yawned and fixed his position on her bed. “Morning,” he finally said with a soft smile.

She stared at him and he stared back at her.

It was one of Tiffany’s favorite non-ual activities with Siwon: staying up on the bed in the morning, looking at each other eyes. Tiffany was indeed a hopeless romantic. Her foundation of relationship with Siwon might not have been very pure, but she really loved the way Siwon’s deep eyes looked at her and made the tingles crept from her stomach to the tip of her toes. She always liked the way he made her like a high school in love.

Except that she was not a high school student, she was a mature woman who was supposed to know the consequences of her actions and everything.

The thought of responsibility seemed to take an amount of happiness from her, but she maintained her smile. Siwon had told her how her smile had that…energizing effect on him. She knew that lately, Siwon needed more support and cheering. And thus, even when she was not in the mood of smiling, she would force herself to smile in front of him.

His big hand found its way to the top of her red hair and he ruffled them affectionately. A second later, however, he got up from her bed and began to search for something to cover his modesty.

“It’s Saturday,” she reminded him.

“I know. But the meeting is on Monday,” he replied vaguely.

She frowned. “Exactly. Monday. That’s two days from now.”

Siwon sighed. “But Monday will be very important, Tiffany, you know that.”

Yes, she knew. Being the secretary to the President Commissioner in the Choi Company made her aware of the internal turmoil the Choi Company was facing at the moment. The public shareholders of the Choi business were restless with the real estate falling price, and the notion of a spin-off had been the talk within the company for weeks. The shareholders meetings would be held on Monday, and it would certainly be a detrimental day for the future of the Choi Company.

Tiffany knew that. And she knew how hard Siwon had been trying to keep his father’s company intact. But to Tiffany, it only strengthened her argument on why Siwon needed rest more than anything.

“You don’t have to –“

“I have to,” he said reluctantly.

“Maybe later in the afternoon?”

“I still leave some documents at home. I need to go back first before heading to the office.”

Home? But isn’t here your home now, Oppa?

Tiffany let the question remained unsaid.

Siwon had not officially got his divorce with Seohyun, despite the latter had been ready for it. Tiffany knew that de facto, Siwon slept at her apartment now, but more than anyone, Tiffany remembered the fact that he was still someone else’s husband the most.

But she promised herself not to demand anything from Siwon. Having Siwon by her side every morning had been blissful enough. Despite the popular belief, Tiffany was not that greedy (she tried her very best not to be). She knew that there would be times where the human feeling of her kicked in, and she was tempted to ask him when he would get his divorce. But every time she wanted to ask so, she reminded herself that it was not her place to say so.

Even if she was a , she hoped she was still one with dignity.

Another voice inside of her mocked her contradiction, but she decided to ignore it.

“Rough day?”

Tiffany looked up to see the figure of Eunhyuk and Hyoyeon cuddling at the sofa of her (and Hyoyeon’s) apartment. Eunhyuk was sleeping on Hyoyeon’s lap while Hyoyeon was reading a magazine. Hyoyeon lowered her reading glasses down and stated to Tiffany, “It starts again?”

Hyoyeon might have only been close to Tiffany once they became roommate (and after Tiffany introduced Eunhyuk to her), but Hyoyeon had been one of the very rare female friends that could understand her the most.

But despite that, Tiffany did not want to share her problem (more) to Hyoyeon. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Hyoyeon. No, it was definitely not that. It was just that Hyoyeon had been a very precious girl friend that Tiffany just did not want to lose, and Tiffany did not want to make Hyoyeon irritated at her. She felt bad already that Hyoyeon was going to move out of their apartment soon (Hyoyeon had reasoned that it was so that she could get closer to the dance studio, but Tiffany knew that the main reason was because Siwon’s nearly daily existence in their apartment could no longer be comforting). Tiffany did not want to add more reasons for Hyoyeon to sacrifice more for her.

So Tiffany only put up her brightest smile and acted casually as she grabbed the chips on Hyoyeon’s grasp. “Nothing. The spin-off issue, the usual. But nothing much.”

Hyoyeon was clearly not convinced, but she did not press the subject more. Ah, since when did Hyoyeon respect her privacy? If Tiffany could be a bit honest, she would say that she liked the intrusive, nosy Hyoyeon a lot more.

But Tiffany knew that this was for the best. She did not want Hyoyeon to know that the bullying had started again. That the female co-workers had began to harass her again (intentionally hiding the very important document that was supposed to be in her custody, telling her fake information regarding the place of the meeting, spreading rumors to the boss, and such). Tiffany had really been used to bullying since she was a teenager (and Eunhyuk, if he was awake, would only remind her that she kind of deserved it). But bullying in the middle of the crumbling business of the place she was working at surely brought her more stress. Not to mention, the unclear direction her relationship with Siwon was turning to.

“I have transferred my part to your account, by the way,” informed Hyoyeon as she lightly slapped Eunhyuk’s cheek –mumbling something about her cramped legs or something.

Eunhyuk yawned and only moved slightly to the side, but still decided to doze on the sofa. Tiffany momentarily glanced at the boy before she shook her head, “I told you, you don’t have to pay the rent this month.”

“I’ll still be staying here until 22nd. That’s almost a month. So, definitely, I still have to pay the rent.”

“Hyo –“

“You still need the money, Tiff,” reasoned Hyoyeon. “Geez, sometimes I wonder why you have never asked Siwon Oppa to give you monthly allowance.”

“I like him not for his money. And I –”

“I know,” interrupted Hyoyeon softly. “But there’s nothing wrong with being realistic.”

Tiffany wished she was realistic. She kind of wished now that she was undoubtedly a ; she would be a devoted , as wrong as it sounded. She wished she had the thought of forcing Siwon to choose her, she wished she had the intention to remind Siwon that Seohyun was “nice, but boring”. She really wished she had such thoughts, really.

But to her mild dismay, she knew it would not be what made her happy. She was happy enough that she could have the chance to be with Siwon and to show to him a new perspective of the world. Eunhyuk had told her a hypocrite liar when she told him this, but she had ignored him.

“es are usually smart, Tiff. You’re a rare stupid one,” Hyoyeon remarked cruelly, but truthfully.

To this, Tiffany could only smile. “Yeah…” she slowly agreed.

Siwon did not come to her apartment as much as he used to. And now that Hyoyeon had already moved out, the apartment suddenly felt too big for her. Tiffany tried to cheer herself up, telling herself that at least now she could watch all of her romance comedy collection without Hyoyeon’s groaning now and then (Hyoyeon had always detested the way Tiffany sobbed or wailed in happiness whenever she was watching the romcom movie). But truth be told, it was getting rather lonely too.

She tried to shrug the thoughts off and focused more on the movie. It was reaching the and the male lead’s confession was the scene playing on the screen. Five minutes later, when the ending credit was rolling, Tiffany began to think it was indeed a wrong choice of watching a romance drama at her current situation.

Tiffany knew that she should not have been selfish. She had been selfish enough –surely she did not need to be more selfish than this. But she couldn’t help but craved for a happy ending herself. Another voice that sounded like Eunhyuk’s resonated in her mind –telling her that she indeed, already had her happy ending –by sacrificing another woman’s happy ending at that.

She groaned.

She tried to assure herself that she was not taking Seohyun’s happiness either. Tiffany knew that Seohyun and Siwon’s marriage was an arranged one, and they had been having issues in their marriage even before Tiffany stepped into the picture. She tried to assure herself that Seohyun did not love Siwon either, that responsibility was the only underlying reason behind their marriage.

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