Be my friend?

One last time?

…

Friendzoned…

______________________________

Taeyeon’s eyes opened as the sunlight hit her face.  Squinting, she sat up and looked at the time.

“5:30am. I guess I’ll get up now.”

She slid her feet into a pair of slippers and stretched.  Taeyeon looked to the kitchen counter when she reached the doorway of the bedroom.  The worst mornings are when she’s welcomed by the sight of sad Tiffany, eating breakfast by herself.  Silently, she walked back to the middle of her room and sat down on her bed.

What have I done?

I’ve messed everything up.

Everything we had.

Everything we could’ve had.

And it’s my fault.

It’s been almost two weeks since Taeyeon and Tiffany haven’t talked to each other.  Both were suffering heartbreak worse than they have experienced before.  Taeyeon lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling.  If she was going to do this, she would need help; the help of seven sisters.  Taeyeon decided to find the locksmith captain first.  She got up, snuck behind Tiffany to Sooyoung’s room, and closed the door.

“Sooyoung…”  Taeyeon called softly to the sleeping shikskin who’s feet were sticking out the bottom of the bed.

“Five… more… minutes…”

“Sooyoung, help.  I have a TaeNy problem.”

“Eh?”  Sooyoung sat up.  “What is it?”

“Look, I know that when you talked to me last week, I didn’t listen.  I’m sorry.  I wasn’t thinking properly.”

“Clearly… You never do when Tiffany is involved.”  Sooyoung teased.

“What I know now is that I messed up everything.  I made the biggest mistake of my life.  And I really want to set things straight.”

“Then go talk to her.”

“I don’t just want to apologize.  I’ll do that, but I want to make it up to her too.  I need your help to do it.”

“So, what are you planning?”

“I don’t know, but let’s gather everyone.”

“Okay then, let’s go.”  Sooyoung’s voice rose as she stood up.

“Shhh!  Tiffany’s outside having breakfast!  You go through that connecting door to talk to Yoona, Yuri, Jessica, and Hyoyeon.  I’ll wake up Sunny, and Seohyun.

The two split up and worked hard to wake up all of the other members.  Every five minutes, they would have to check to make sure that Tiffany hadn’t moved.  Finally, they all managed to sneak into Taeyeon’s bedroom behind Tiffany, without having her notice.

“Wow, if Tiffany couldn’t hear all of us shuffling here, she must be really down…”  Jessica said bluntly.

“Shhh, Unnie that isn’t very nice to say…”  Seohyun nudged Jessica lightly.

“No, Seohyun, she’s right.  I regret everything I said when we had that fight.  Sooyoung and I gathered all of you because I need your help.  Of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it’d be great if you did.  I need help to make it up to Tiffany.  I feel really bad and I want to fix things.”

“I don’t know...” Hyoyeon joked.  “It took you this long to figure out that you regret the things you said?”

“Actually, the minute she turned around in tears, I wanted to redo our conversation.  I never meant to hurt her.  I just wanted her to know how I felt.”  Taeyeon explained.

“Well, even in a fight, you’re still wearing the necklace.”  Sunny pointed out.

“It’s a symbol that we unlock each other’s potential best.  That’s the meaning behind the key and the lock.  And if something is stored under a lock and key, it is stored very securely…  The way our friendship should be.”

“I think your friendship IS stored very securely.”  Yuri comforted Taeyeon.

“How?”

“You’re still wearing the key and Tiffany’s still wearing the lock.”  Seohyun pointed at the key necklace on Taeyeon’s chest.  “You two have been wearing it almost since debut days.  She hasn’t stopped and neither have you.”

Taeyeon put her hand on the key.

“I don’t intend to take it off, either.”

“Ok, so what does Tiffany love the most?  No…  What does TaeNy love doing the most?”  Sooyoung began planning.

“Well, before it didn’t matter.  As long as we did those things together, it would be okay.”

“Is there a particular memory that you both loved?  Is there a special place that you went to or a special moment?”  Yoona asked.

“We both really love going to the park together.  We would take a walk, and then sit down on the bench and talk.”

“You two like really simple things…”  Sunny thought deeply.

“It was simple, but we were comfortable like that.”

“Then…  We’ll plan something for you two in the park.”  Sooyoung tried to think of ideas.  “Alright!  Taeyeon, you come with me and bring your credit card.  We have things to buy.  Hyoyeon, Jessica, Sunny, get Tiffany to clean up and meet us at the park at 9am in about 3 hours.  Yoona, Yuri, Seohyun, you guys have schedules today, right?  So… I guess you can’t help out…  Would it be too much trouble to clean up a little around here before Tiffany got back?”

“Okay, we have plenty of time.  Hyo, Sica, and Sunny, go get Tiffany to the bathroom.  Signal us when she’s inside.  That’s when Tae and I will sneak out.”

At once, the trio left the bedroom and began working at their part of the plan while the others listened from the door of the bedroom.

“Tippani!!”

“Hm?”  Tiffany lifted her head from her arms and looked at Hyoyeon.

“Yah… Go fix your hair and wash up.  You look…”

“Like a mess?  I know…”

“Go!”

“But I don’t want to.  Can’t I just sleep forever?”

“Sleeping won’t rid you of your problems.”

“But it allows you to temporarily forget the pain…”

“Stop being so depressing!  You’re bringing everyone down.”  Jessica complained.

Tiffany didn’t budge.

“Plan B, Sica.”  Hyoyeon looked over to the girl standing directly behind Tiffany.

The two nodded and in a second, were holding Tiffany by the arms, dragging her to the washroom.  They shoved her inside and closed the door.

“Ugh, fine, if I repel you that much.”

Sounds of the tap turning on and Tiffany brushing her teeth could be heard.  Instantly, Sunny ran to the bedroom and told Sooyoung and Taeyeon to hurry.  The two ran across the room quietly, put on shoes, and bolted out the door.

___________________________________

“Sooyoung…  Are we going where I think we’re going?”

“Yup.”

“Ok, I have my credit card.  Let’s hurry.  I want to make it look perfect.”

“Here we are!”

Sooyoung and Taeyeon stood in front of a florist.

“Okay, Taeyeon, pick out flowers you think Tiffany would like.”

“What if she gets the wrong idea?”

“… If she gets any idea, it won’t even be wrong.”

“… Good point…  Ahhh my heart is beating so fast.”

“So… are you going to tell her?”

“Maybe not today.  I just want to be friends again for now.”

“Alright well, take your time.  You have until 8:30am.”

Taeyeon nodded and entered the shop.  She looked at all of the combinations of flowers and felt a sense of disappointment.

No pink…

It’s the wrong shade…

“Are you looking for something?”  The shop owner asked.

“I’m looking for pink flowers that are this colour.”  Taeyeon held out the travel book that Tiffany had given her a few weeks ago.  “But I see that you don’t have any… would you?”

“Uhmmm…”

“I’m sorry to bother you.  I just.  I owe something huge to a friend that I had a fight with.  And I really want to set things straight.  I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”  Taeyeon looked at the floor.

“Come with me.”  The shop owner whispered to Taeyeon.

Sooyoung and Taeyeon followed the shop keeper into a room in the back.  Taeyeon’s jaw dropped as the owner brought out a plastic vase full of assorted pink flowers.

“These aren’t for sale here since they’re difficult to breed.  I breed them on my own time at home.  But I’ll make an exception for you.  I know that if you’re willing to buy these expensive flowers for someone, that friendship must mean a lot to you, hm?  And those friendships are once in a lifetime things.  Here, just take the whole thing.”

“진짜?!”  Taeyeon gasped.

“I’m not asking for anything in return… But I’d be really grateful if you could promote for me, Kim Taeyeon.”  The owner smiled.

In surprise, Taeyeon looked closely at the owner’s face.

“Have we met before?”

“Well, everyone knows you here… But you helped me when I fell and spilled my groceries everywhere in the supermarket plaza.  This is my way of repaying you.”

“Ahh, 감사합니다!”

“So would you like me to arrange them in a bouquet for you or would you like to do it on your own?”

“Uhhh, this is a meaningful gift.  So I’m hoping to do it myself.”

“I’m short on custom materials, but feel free to look through the bin near the door.  Free of charge, okay?”

“Thank you so much!”

The owner left the room to tend to her other customers.  Taeyeon laid the flowers on the table and prepared to get to work.

“What wrapping design should I use?”

“You know Tiffany the most.  Pick the one that you think she’ll like more.”

“The one with pink hearts around it…”

For two hours, Taeyeon cautiously perfected the bouquet of pink flowers.  Sooyoung was asleep on the table as Taeyeon continued to trim the edges of the wrapping.

“Sooyoung, what do you think?”

“…”

“Yah, Choi Sooyoung, wake up.”

“Eh?”

“How does it look?”

Taeyeon held up the bouquet proudly, with a big smile on her face.

“Wahhh, nice!”  Sooyoung looked at her watch.  “Ah!!”

“What?”

“We have to get going!  It’s 8:30!”

____________________________________

“Good luck, Taeyeon.”

“I still don’t know what to say!!! Ahh!”

“Tae, calm down.  Just open up your heart to her.  Words will come naturally.”

“What if she’s beautiful today?  Like every single day?  My brain short circuits and I’ll become tongue tied.”

“Don’t speak with your thoughts.  Let your heart do the talking.”

With this, Sooyoung left Taeyeon at the park with a bouquet of pink flowers in her hand.  As Sooyoung left, Tiffany appeared at the other end of the park.  She seemed to be deep in thought and talked to herself while staring at the ground.

“What’s wrong with everyone today?  They tell me to meet them in the park, and yet, they don’t show up.”

Tiffany walked by Taeyeon without even noticing her.  She continued to think aloud as Taeyeon quietly walked behind her.

“I really miss her.”  Tiffany sighed.  “Why am I so stupid?”

My head told me to give you the flowers and run.

My heart told me to stay no matter how scared I was.

“Yah, 바보.  I love you.”  Taeyeon hugged Tiffany from behind.  Her arms fit snugly around Tiffany’s waist as she continued talking.

“I’ve really missed you, you know that?  I know we have our fights, but I would never want you out of my life.  You’re more precious to me than anything else in the world.  I’m sorry for everything I’ve said.”

Finally she stepped back and held the flowers in front of her as Tiffany turned around.

“You really think a bouquet of flowers will fix all this?”

Taeyeon stood still as the shock hit her like a deer in the headlights.

…

“You dork, don’t ever hurt me again!”  Tiffany threw herself at the tiny, teary-eyed girl, standing in front of her.  “I love you too.  Please don’t leave.  Ever.”

Tiffany’s tight hug was almost suffocating Taeyeon. Of course, this time, Taeyeon didn’t mind a little difficulty breathing.  Tiffany almost always rendered her breathless anyways.  She relaxed and enjoyed the tight embrace.

“I’ve missed your hugs.”  Taeyeon’s voice was muffled into Tiffany’s shoulder.

“I always knew you were going to apologize!”  Tiffany teased.

“Lie!”

“Nope.  Even in a fight, you still wore the necklace that we bought together.”

Generally, Taeyeon would’ve told her that she also wore the necklace.  Today, Taeyeon decided to take this advantage to make Tiffany laugh.

“When something means everything to you, you don’t let go.  You hang on with every last ounce of your strength.  This necklace happens to be indestructible; much like our friendship.”

Tiffany grinned at Taeyeon’s cheesy remark.

“You’re such a dork.”

“So what?”

“You’re my dork.”

“Always.”

A comfortable silence echoed between them in their embrace.  Before either of them had a chance to speak, Taeyeon’s stomach made a strange sound.

“Tae?  What was that?”

“It was the sound of my heart jumping with joy.”

“No, really, what was that?”

“Can’t I be happy to have you back?”

“You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

“Yes…”

“Let’s go eat then.”

“Can’t we stay like this for a little longer?”

“Ahaha, dork.”

Yes, but I’m your dork.

I always will be.