Outside the Caffé Bene, the night sky was shrouded with menacing clouds as a shower of rain poured itself onto the streets of Seoul. The cedar clock that hung high on the café wall read 11:00 PM. Many of the employees in their green aprons were sweeping up the store or were diligently wiping down the espresso machine. Not a single customer was inside the deserted café except for a short high school girl who sat at the corner of the café with five empty paper cups in front of her. The small girl lifelessly stared at the polished wooden table. A tall man who was untying his apron approached the strange blonde haired girl.

 

“Excuse me miss. We’re about to close soon. I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” the worker tried to say as kindly as he could.

 

The gloomy girl turned her head towards the nervous worker.

 

“Can you just give me fifteen more minutes? I’m waiting for somebody very important. I’m willing to buy more coffee,” the short girl tried to bargain.

 

The high school girl tried to find her wallet, but the young guy shook his head with a nervous smile.

 

“I’m sorry miss. It’s store policy. I’m not saying you have to go home, but my manager says you can’t be here.”

 

The young employee bowed his head low in apology. She felt bad for him. She might have a better chance if she was to wait outside for a few minutes.

 

“I understand. Sorry for that,” the young girl bowed back.

 

She grabbed her small yellow umbrella and in long, quick strides she burst through the exit as she heard the employees say ‘thank you, come again’. The girl looked up to see an old red awning shielding her from the rain. With her quick reflexes, she stepped to the side in order to dodge the tiny waterfall that was coming through a hole in the shade.

 

Kim Taeyeon was waiting for a certain somebody that night. A girl who she saw as nothing more than an acquaintance, but who seemed like a very sweet person deep down. This certain girl was a little awkward and sometimes downright mean, but Taeyeon knew that there was some good in her and she always pestered her in hopes that she would open up more. Ever since this afternoon, Taeyeon stayed at the café for hours in hopes her special acquaintance would arrive. She even bought more coffee and pastries every hour so that she had an excuse to sit there.

 

Taeyeon pulled out her cell phone to check if she received any text messages. Sadly her phone looked the same as it did the last twenty times she checked it. Taeyeon was willing to stand outside and wait for her special girl. It looked like the rain wasn’t calming down either. Throughout the barren street the only noise that could be heard was the pitter patter of rain.

 

Minutes passed as Taeyeon continued to stand under the awning, with her yellow umbrella firmly grasped. Eventually the entire café staff came out of the entrance and bowed to each other as they attempted to get back home dry; some of the workers glanced at Taeyeon with questionable looks. The only thing on Taeyeon’s mind was wondering if her friend remembered to bring an umbrella. It would be terrible if she were to catch a cold.

 

It felt like an hour passed by and Taeyeon was feeling a bit sleepy. The workers already took the chairs away so there wasn’t anywhere to sit. Taeyeon was about to close her eyes shut, but then she heard big splashes coming from her left. She looked down the dimly lit street and could barely make out a girl, without an umbrella, running frantically while wearing a pair of light blue jeans and a black tee-shirt.

 

“TAEYEON!” the girl hollered as she sprinted toward the closed café.

 

Taeyeon was happy at first, but then saw that the girl was completely drenched from the rain.

 

“Oh my god! Tiffany!”

 

Taeyeon was about to run after her, but Tiffany ran under the shade before she could leave. Tiffany was bent over next to the shorter girl while panting heavily and soaking wet. Taeyeon looked down at her friend with a worried look on her face.

 

“Fany, why didn’t you bring an umbrella? You’re gonna catch a cold,” Taeyeon asked in a concerned tone. As Tiffany caught her breath, she straightened up and was already red in the face.

 

“Who cares if I get sick? What the were you thinking you idiot?! Were you really going to wait at that café the whole time?!” Tiffany belittled Taeyeon while pointing to the dark café. “What were you going to do if I never showed up, huh? Just stand here until some came and kidnapped you?”

 

Taeyeon shook her head while wearing a dorky grin. “But you did show up Fany. I knew you would. But still,” Taeyeon’s smile became a look of worry, “you could’ve at least wore a rain coat. You’re soaked to the bone.”

 

“Who the cares if I’m wet?! I broke your heart Taetae! You shouldn’t be this nice to me,” Tiffany yelled while holding back her tears.

 

“Heehee. You never broke my heart silly. I knew you were a good girl from the start.”

 

Tiffany looked to the ground in shyness. She couldn’t believe she ran all the way here in the rain just to find out everything was okay.

 

“So does that mean we’re going out now?” Taeyeon grinned.

 

Tiffany choked on a cough when she heard that question. When did that dork learn to be so cute?

 

“So? Does that mean you lo~ve me?” Taeyeon asked with an excessive amount of aegyo.

 

Tiffany’s left eye twitched at the thought of wanting to punch the annoying, yet strangely cute, girl. “Just shut up and let me dry myself.”

 

Tiffany immediately grabbed her long dark hair and tried to squeeze out the moisture as if it was a towel. Taeyeon pulled out a white handkerchief and was doing her best to dry off Tiffany’s wet face. Tiffany cleared while wearing a face of seriousness. She had her hands behind her back and Taeyeon wondered what she had behind her.

 

“Even though I wasn’t planning on seeing you at the cafe, I saw this growing near my house and I thought you might like it since you like crap like this.”

 

Tiffany looked away in embarrassment and pulled out a small pink rose that had a few wet petals falling off. Taeyeon’s eyes grew wide with wonder. She thought it was so sweet of Tiffany to give her such a pretty flower. Taeyeon slowly reached out and gently held the wilting rose.

 

“Aww, its beautiful Fany. I bet you liked this flower because it’s pink,” Taeyeon joked.

 

Tiffany scratched her cheek in embarrassment. While Taeyeon was admiring her cute little rose, Tiffany got closer to Taeyeon and inspected her gift.

 

“Oh no… my little flower is all wet.”

 

Taeyeon inspected the pink rose. “You’re right. It’s a bit drenched,” Taeyeon played with the rose.

 

“No.” Tiffany moved Taeyeon’s arm down so that she could get closer to her. “Not that flower.” Tiffany swept away Taeyeon’s bangs and was wiping away the little rain droplets on the shorter girl’s forehead.

 

“I was talking about this little flower.”

 

The blush of Taeyeon’s face was so strong, the shade of red resembled a ripe tomato. She looked into Tiffany’s longing gaze and she felt her face gravitating towards Tiffany’s wanting lips. Taeyeon turned her head a bit and closed her eyes, anticipating what was yet to come. Before she knew it, she could feel the softness of Tiffany’s lips gently pressed onto her own.

 

The scent of strawberries was intoxicating to her senses. Taeyeon was feeling very bold, so she stuck out her tongue and forced herself into Tiffany’s unsuspecting mouth. She didn’t really know what she was doing, but Taeyeon lashed her tongue around in Tiffany’s mouth until Tiffany responded with a little tongue fight of her own. In order to help Tiffany feel good, Taeyeon pressed her body onto Tiffany and was diligently on Tiffany’s tongue. A low moan emitted from Tiffany’s mouth and that only fueled Taeyeon to massage Tiffany’s firm . There was nothing in the world that could ruin this moment.

 

***

 

Taeyeon slowly opened her eyes and was greeted with the morning sun blinding her retinas. The young girl instinctively turned her body to the side in order to hide from the rays of light. The feeling of sleepiness had already left her and sleeping on the couch had made her back ache a bit, so she thought she might as well wake up. The first thing she saw as she opened her eyes again was a small pillow close to her face. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but then she noticed that the corner of the small cushion was lodged inside of , and the taste of the cushion became apparent. She didn’t even notice she was subconsciously on it.

 

Taeyeon spat out the cushion and threw it away near the TV. It was a weird feeling, but it felt like she dreamt of a very special someone and the pillow played the role of her lover. The thought of kissing someone and on their tongue was very to Taeyeon for a second, but then the young girl tried to chase those thoughts away since it was way too early to have erted thoughts. She slowly sat up from the couch, but a feeling of heaviness hit her head and Taeyeon had to grab the arm of the sofa in order to keep herself from falling to the ground. The living room felt like it was slowly spinning and was awfully parched. If Taeyeon didn’t know any better, she would’ve thought she was experiencing a hangover.

 

As Taeyeon tried to collect her thoughts about what happened last night, her cell phone in her pocket vibrated. The drowsy girl pulled out her phone and tried her best to read the text she just received.

 

taeng. i hope ur awake cuz ive been thinking a lot last night. about yesterday, our friendship, and the future. i really want to see you so im coming over rite now. dont worry I still remember your passcode for your place. im omw now. see u then

 

It took Taeyeon a good minute to comprehend what the message was talking about. When she slowly read out loud the word ‘pass code’, the acronym of ‘on my way’, and the name of the sender, ‘Yuri’, an imaginary switch went off inside Taeyeon’s head and a wave of terror slowly crept through Taeyeon’s limp body like a shock of electricity.

 

Yuri’s coming? And she knows how to get into my apartment?!

 

Taeyeon wobbled as fast as she could to her bedroom, but then memories of last night flashed through her eyes as she remembered the strange yet memories of having Jessica make out with her, Tiffany ‘confessing’ her feelings, and being kicked out of her own bedroom. This just made the situation a whole lot worse. Not only was her best friend about to confess her true feelings again, there were two uninvited guests in her bedroom, and there was no way Taeyeon could explain their presence to Yuri. The living room wouldn’t stop spinning. Yuri would probably come here in a few minutes, and Taeyeon didn’t know how to get Jessica and Tiffany to leave without having Jessica go ape over waking them up. Despite the sharp pain in her head, Taeyeon had to think quickly so that Yuri wouldn’t catch those two in her apartment.

 

Of course! She can stop Yuri at the doorway and they could just talk outside or at Yuri’s place! That sounded like the best plan so far and without thinking of a backup plan, Taeyeon wobbled towards the front door as quickly as she could, while keeping a hold of anything she could see like the dining table or the wall. She was about to place her hand on the door knob when suddenly the door quickly swung open, and Taeyeon’s forehead connected with the door with a loud smack. For a second Taeyeon’s vision became black and felt her back crash to the floor.

 

“Hey, Taeng? I’m sorry for coming uninvited but I...”

 

Yuri looked down to see her crush lying on her back, clutching her forehead.

 

“Oh god! Taeyeon! Did I just hit you with the door? I am so sorry!” Yuri spastically apologized while trying to help Taeyeon sit up. “I didn’t know you were there.”

 

The world was spinning even faster than before. Taeyeon had to clutch her head and her stomach in order to force herself not to regurgitate her dinner. She waved her hand away as if to say she was fine, but the cross eyed look she gave Yuri told otherwise. Taeyeon tried to get up, but Yuri saw that she was very unbalanced and slung the short girl’s arm around her neck.

 

“I really am sorry for hitting you with the door. Let’s get you to the couch.”

 

Yuri closed the front door and slowly assisted her friend who looked to be wondering where or who she was right now. Taeyeon was carefully placed on the sofa and Yuri immediately went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and a cloth soaked in cold water. Yuri knelt down on one knee while handing the glass over and gently dabbed at the red mark on Taeyeon’s forehead.

 

“This really isn’t how I wanted to start your morning. Again, I really am sorry.”

 

“It’s fine,” Taeyeon whispered in a raspy voice. She sipped some water which helped clear , but the massive headache was still there. “I’d prefer if we didn’t talk here though. You think we can go to your place instead?” Taeyeon tried to persuade.

 

Yuri didn’t respond, but instead stared blankly at Taeyeon. Her eyes analyzed Taeyeon’s face from the top of her head to tip of her toes. The raven haired girl leaned in closer to study Taeyeon’s face more and then backed away with surprised eyes.

 

“Oh my god, Taeyeon. Is that you?” Yuri asked with a look of disbelief.

 

“Of course it’s me Yuri. Who else would I be?” Taeyeon tried to say, with her voice not as raspy.

 

“No it’s just… your hair is black. You’re wearing pink pajamas and your face, it’s…. cuter,” Yuri looked to the ground, embarrassed that she called her best friend cute.

 

Taeyeon impulsively grabbed her hair and saw that it really was dyed black. She internally face palmed herself. She forgot Jessica gave her a full makeover and hair dye. Taeyeon tried to rub her face of the waterproof makeup, but it looked to be caked on thick since her hand was still clean.

 

“Well, umm… I was bored last night so I thought I’d go for a new look.”

 

The short girl tried to end the conversation, but Yuri kept pressing on.

 

“Well I thought your blonde hair looked just fine as it was. Not to say you with black hair and blonde tips is bad, ‘cuz you still look good. It’s just a surprise is all,” Yuri rambled on, trying to find the right words to please her friend.

 

Taeyeon looked behind Yuri’s head to see that her bedroom door was still closed. Jessica and Tiffany are probably still asleep. This might be the perfect time to get Yuri out of here.

 

“Hey, why don’t we go get some breakfast at a restaurant somewhere? My treat.” Taeyeon tried to get up, but Yuri firmly held her friend’s slender hand.

 

“Taeyeon…” Yuri gently pulled Taeyeon back down with hesitation written on her face. “I’m sorry, but I can’t keep my feelings to myself forever. I really need you to be a pal and listen to what I have to say. I can’t wait any longer.”

 

Again Taeyeon saw her bedroom door was still closed. Maybe Yuri’s speech will be really quick and Taeyeon could ask to postpone her feelings in the matter. With a nod and a small smile, Taeyeon gestured an open hand.

 

“Okay. What did you want to talk about?”

 

The tanned girl took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled with her eyes closed. Yuri placed both of her hands on her bent knee.

 

“I thought about yesterday, Taeng. About what I said, what I did, what I felt, I thought about it all. And I think I finally understand everything now.”

 

Yuri took Taeyeon’s delicate hand and intertwined her fingers with Taeyeon. This wasn’t good. Taeyeon’s palms were feeling sweaty from the anticipation. Was Yuri really going to confess like this?

 

“Yuri. We can’t do this. You’re my best friend and it’d be too weird,” Taeyeon tried to reason.

 

“But it’s because you’re my best friend that I want this!” Yuri yelled with passion. Taeyeon cringed in fright, hoping Tiffany and Jessica didn’t wake up from that. “Let me tell you what I found out last night Taeng. Whenever I’m with you, I feel complete. It’s like I don’t have to worry about keeping up with appearances and just be whoever I want to be. I really believe you complete me Taeng. I really like you.”

 

Taeyeon thought Yuri was being really sweet, but this just wasn’t right.

 

“I like you too Yuri, but I only see you as my sister. I’m really thankful I got the chance to meet you and I want us to be best friends forever,” Taeyeon explained softly. She tried her best to put Yuri down gently, but her best friend could only shake her head at that.

 

“Well here’s the thing Taeng. I’m not your sister. I’m your friend and right now I really think we can be closer than friends,” Yuri whispered as she used her other hand to meet with her enlaced hand. “And even though I forced that kiss, I’m still sorry by the way, don’t tell me you didn’t feel anything.”

 

She felt something during their kissing session yesterday, but it wasn’t affection; it felt more like forced arousal. But just as Taeyeon was about to respond about yesterday’s kiss, she looked behind Yuri’s head once more and was hit with a bone chilling glare as she saw two glowing eyes staring directly into her soul from the slightly opened bedroom door.

 

“Jesus!”

 

Taeyeon’s entire body went numb when she saw Jessica staring from afar, then suddenly her body jolted to the floor with fright.

 

“Taeng! What’s wrong?”

 

Yuri tried to help Taeyeon up, but she too could feel a familiar chill run up her spine and there was only one person who could freeze the atmosphere like that. Yuri turned around to see Jessica in pink pajamas similar to Taeyeon who slowly closed the bedroom door while keeping eye contact with Yuri.

 

“Jessica?!” What the hell are you doing here?”

 

This was bad. Taeyeon’s second worst case scenario had just come to fruition. How was she supposed to explain to Yuri why Jessica was here in matching pajamas?

 

“Yuri, I can explain. You see Jessica just stopped by a few minutes ago and-”

 

“Shut up Kim!” Jessica shrieked

 

Taeyeon automatically clammed up, but this time she chose not to hide behind Yuri and tried her best to get on her feet, despite her lingering headache. Yuri could only give Jessica an incredulous look, as if this was a dream. But despite Jessica being here, Yuri had enough of the rich girl disrespecting Taeyeon. Since she was being more honest with her feelings, this was the perfect time to stop being nice.

 

“Hey, don’t tell Taeyeon to shut up! This is her apartment and she has the right to say whatever the hell she wants. And beside the point, what are you doing here Jessica? And why the hell are you and Taeyeon wearing matching pajamas?” Yuri pointed at Taeyeon’s pink pajamas, which made Taeyeon twitch since she didn’t know how to explain this.

 

For the first time ever, Taeyeon saw Jessica not giving Yuri a smile, but a frown of disgust.

 

“Don't you use that tone with me Ms. Yuri. Be thankful I'm holding myself back from beating some well deserved sense into your head. You know here I thought you actually had some brains in there, but as an F.Y.I., whatever I do whether it’s with Kim is none of your business. Besides, I think me being here is the least of your problems.”

 

Jessica marched towards the taller girl, not showing any weakness as she was only inches away from her target.

 

“You mind telling me what the you were talking about with kissing and closer than friends?” Jessica stressed her words with anger in her eyes. Taeyeon wasn’t sure, but it looked like Jessica’s eyes were getting moist. Was Jessica about to cry?

 

“Well maybe whatever I do with my friend is none of your business, Jessica. Plus I was the one who asked first.” Yuri looked to Taeyeon for answers. “Seriously Taeng, what the hell is she doing here?”

 

“I uhh…well you see I-”

 

“What’s this, Ms. Yuri? Do I sense a bit of jealousy in your tone?” Jessica evilly grinned.

 

Jessica grabbed Taeyeon’s small shoulders and pulled the shorter girl towards her.

 

“What do I have to be jealous for? I just want to know why the hell you’re here early in the morning AND wearing pink pajamas!”

 

Taeyeon was feeling really uncomfortable right now. What she wouldn’t give to just crawl into a hole and hide until all of this blew over.

 

“You really want to know Ms. Yuri? Fine.”

 

Jessica wiped her eyes and enveloped Taeyeon from behind while resting her chin on Taeyeon’s head.

 

“I stayed over last night with Kim. She suggested we wear matching sleepwear and we even had our first kiss last night, which she initiated by the way. How does that make you feel Ms. Yuri?”

 

The inaudible breaking of Yuri’s heart was painful to hear. Yuri just stared at both of them as if it was just a joke; her hands starting to shake.

 

“Taeng…”

 

“Yuri, don’t listen to her!” Taeyeon struggled in Jessica’s grasp and was eventually released. “She’s lying. That’s not what happened.”

 

“So then what the happened last night Taeyeon?!” Yuri cried in anguish.

 

This was the first time Taeyeon could remember Yuri being this upset with her. The problem was the truth probably won’t calm Yuri down.

 

“The truth is Jessica actually forced me to wear this and she was the one who kissed me during truth or dare,” Taeyeon tried to explain, but it still didn’t make things right.

 

“Oh, well that makes things so much better,” Yuri rolled her eyes in sarcasm. “So why the hell did you let Jessica spend the night? Don’t tell me…. you two are going out?!”

 

“You shut your mouth Ms. Yuri. I would never even dream of going out with somebody like Kim,” Jessica shoved Taeyeon away as if she was a ragdoll. “And I think you’re missing the point here. You also kissed Kim and you abhorrently admitted to want to go out with her? If I may Miss. Yuri, that’s complete nonsense and you deserve to be slapped for your stupidity.”

 

Taeyeon just laid on the floor a few feet away as the two girls continued to argue, not noticing she was limp on the ground. She helped herself get up since she was practically invisible in the room.

 

“Why the hell would it matter who I like or not, huh? What’s it to you? It’s not like we’re going out or anything,” Yuri retorted.

 

For a second, Jessica’s eyes became soft. The idea of them going out together made her heart flutter for a second, but reality came back and Jessica was as angry as ever.

 

“I don’t need to be in a relationship with you to point out your flaws Ms. Yuri. The fact of the matter is that Kim isn’t good for you. She’s emotional, stupid, introverted, a klutz, can’t even stand up for herself, and when you two stand together it looks like a mother standing next to her child,” Jessica explained.

 

“Umm, hello? I’m still here you know. You two don’t have to keep talking like I’m not here.”

 

Taeyeon managed to get back on her feet and was trying to ease the tension, but the atmosphere was so cold that Jessica and Yuri were frozen in place.

 

“So what if Taeyeon isn’t perfect? Neither am I,” Yuri pointed to herself.

 

“You can do so much better Ms. Yuri. You deserve someone who cherishes everything about you. Someone like me,” Jessica blatantly admitted.

 

“Jessica, I really think you need to understand that Yuri just doesn’t see you that way. You keep trying to get her attention, but haven’t you noticed she always tries to decline your advances?” Taeyeon tried to reason.

 

“I thought I told you to shut up Kim!” Jessica roared at the now terrified girl.

 

“And I thought I told you not to tell Taeyeon to shut up! God Jessica. You know, it’s that kind of attitude that really turns me off. You just need to accept that I like Taeyeon and I’m just not interested in you,” Yuri defended while yelling at Jessica.

 

The living room got eerily quiet. Yuri moved her arm so that Taeyeon was behind her the whole time. Jessica was breathing heavily and Taeyeon saw that tears were again welling up.

 

“Yuri you IDIOT!”

 

Jessica charged forward and used a great amount of force to push Yuri and Taeyeon to the ground, Yuri grabbing Taeyeon so she would land in her arms. Jessica stood above them, her tears flowing freely.

 

“You are so lucky I’m so nice Ms. Yuri! If I couldn’t control myself, I’d beat you senseless until you couldn’t remember your own name! Just so you know, I might not be yours now Yuri, but you need to know that Kim doesn’t belong to you. Somebody already owns her.”

 

Jessica hid her face behind her hands and ran towards Taeyeon’s bathroom, sobbing uncontrollably. Taeyeon felt a little bad seeing Jessica so heartbroken, but Yuri just didn’t see her that way. Taeyeon thought now would be best to settle her own misunderstanding. She pushed herself away from Yuri’s embrace and helped her friend to sit up from the harsh push.

 

“Are you okay Taeng?” Yuri inspected her friend.

 

“I’m fine Yuri,” Taeyeon batted her hand away.

 

They both got up on wobbly feet, Taeyeon still trying to find her balance.

 

“Hey, I got you.” Yuri embraced her crush and held her close. “What I said was true Taeng. I only have eyes for you. You can explain the whole Jessica staying over thing later, but for now please tell me you’ll be mine.”

 

Taeyeon still felt uncomfortable with Yuri. It’s as if she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She really needs to find another way of telling her she’s just not interested. But then, a thought came to mind. Jessica said Taeyeon didn’t belong to Yuri but to someone else. Taeyeon had to think about that for a minute.

 

“You know Taeyeon if Jessica forced herself into your home, you have the right to call the police. What do you think? Yuri asked.

 

Oh no...

 

“Yuri, we need to get the hell out of here. Now,” Taeyeon commanded.

 

“Taeyeon? What’s wrong?”

 

"It's a long story and even I don't understand what happened last night. RIght now we need to get out of here or else she'll-"

 

*BAM*

 

A big bang startled the two and Yuri held her friend even closer. At the bedroom doorway, a girl with disheveled brown hair slammed the door open and looked at the two as if they disturbed her sleep. The oversize black shirt and the exposure of well toned legs mesmerized Taeyeon for a second, but then remembered that those shapely legs belonged to none other than Tiffany Hwang.

 

“Hwang?! Taeyeon, you didn’t tell me you let the mushroom stay over as well! What the hell?!”

 

Yuri was now beyond baffled as this morning turned from bad to worse. Tiffany just stood there, staring at Yuri hugging Taeyeon with what looked to be with affection.

 

“It’s not what it looks like," Taeyeon tried to explain. "Jessica pushed us to the ground and Yuri was just helping me keep balance.”

 

Yuri looked at her friend quizzically. “Taeng, why are you trying to explain the situation to her?”

 

“Let her go…” Tiffany whispered.

 

“What?” Taeyeon couldn’t quite hear.

 

“I’m talking to the dark ,” Tiffany looked directly at Yuri. “I told you to let go of my little flower!”

 

Yuri and Taeyeon could only stand there with wide eyes. Both of them didn't know how to respond.

 

Did she just call me her little flower? For some reason, knowing I’m her little flower makes me feel all nice and warm… Why is it all of a sudden I want to run into Tiffany’s arms?

 

---

 

안녕! (annyeong)! So did anybody else notice Taeyeon called her Tiffany at the end? Will try to update next week. As always, comments and constructive criticism is always appreciated. Also if you really like the story, an upvote would be nice too. Look forward to the next chapter!