Sorry I took so long with this update!  Ahh! School is my excuse hahaha.  Please enjoy!

To make it up to you guys, I have chapter 15 already planned out.  I only need to put it into words! (:

Happy reading!

“Tae, you do so much for me.  Sometimes I feel bad about it.”

“Why?”

“Because I feel like I’m a burden to you.”

“You can’t be a burden.  It’s not possible.”

Lying to you again.

“Why not?”

“Burdens are generally things that you have to take care of but you don’t want to.”

“Yeah…”  Tiffany’s eyes pointed to the ground.

“I love doing things for you, even if it’s difficult.  It’s fun.”

“But it wears you down, especially when I ask you to do things in the middle of the night.”

“For a day, yes, but long term…  You make me stronger.”

“How can I make it up to you?”

“Just be you.”

“Hehehe, you’re so mushy, Taengoo.”

“I only dare to be mushy because I’m good at it.”  Taeyeon winked and smiled.

I hate that often when I smile, it’s fake.  I smile because I don’t want you to worry.  I smile because it makes you happy.

“Besides…”  Taeyeon continued.  “You have Siwon…”

“I guess you’re right.”  Tiffany smiled at the sound of his name.

I guess you can’t hear it.

You can’t hear the sound of my heart breaking.

_______________________

“She called me mushy and laughed.”

“Hahaha, so I guess you’re going to give up with the ‘Gentletaeng’?”  Sooyoung laughed.

“Nope.”

“… Huh?”

“It makes her smile… and…  and… and… and… and…”  Taeyeon sat on the couch, staring at the ceiling with her arms spread out.  In one quick and awkward motion, she hugged herself with a dorky smile on her face.

“Yah… What’s wrong with you…?”

“You don’t know how it feels, Soo.”

“How what feels?”

“How it feels to fall so hard in love that…”

“… That…?”

“I would explain, but it would take days to get the whole idea to you.”

“Ever heard of paraphrasing?”  Sooyoung joked.

“It’s like…  When she smiles…  You know the rush you get when you ride rollercoasters?  It’s like that, but warmer.  When she laughs, my heart skips a beat and I feel like squealing.  Even when she just happens to be in my field of vision, it’s like…  Everything else turns white and she’s the only one I can see.”  Taeyeon stood up, put her hands over her heart, and turned.  “I just wanna hug her and kiss her and never let her go!”

“Taeyeon.”

“Hm?”  Taeyeon lowered her head slightly and looked at Sooyoung, who was doubled over in laughter.

“You look really funny right now!”

“But then…  After she takes all those feelings and builds them up in me, she steps on them.”  Taeyeon sighed.

“When are you going to realize that loving this girl is only hurting you?”

“I realized that a while ago, actually.  I think I just need to hear it from her.”

“She’s straight and with Siwon.”

“Yeah…  I never felt this way until I met her.”

“Well… I remember you said that you don’t believe love has genders.  Nobody’s born with preferences.  It just takes that one special person to change your perspective.  I guess that person for you is Tiffany.”

“I just never thought it would hurt so much.”

“So you’re going to continue to be ‘Gentletaeng’?”

“For now, I don’t think I’m ready to confess yet.  I like our friendship right now and I don’t want it to change just yet… Mostly because I don’t know how it would change.  I just want to enjoy her company a little longer.”

“Are you sure?  Don’t you feel… a weight on your shoulders?”

“I’d rather endure a weight on my shoulders than ruin everything for us.  I promise to confess eventually, but not too soon.  What would I do if-”

Taeyeon froze.  Tiffany had joined the conversation by initiating a warm back hug for Taeyeon.

“Hey, Tae Tae.”  Tiffany called to Taeyeon in a husky, groggy voice.  “What are you guys doing up so late?  Or should I say early?”

“Uh, nothing, really.”  Sooyoung smirked.

“I heard voices.  Whatcha talkin’ about?”  Tiffany’s aegyo showed as she rocked Taeyeon left and right.

“Eeehh…”  Taeyeon tilted her head down with a big smile, while making a high pitched squeal.

Could she be any cuter?

“What was THAT?”  Tiffany let go and moved to get a better view of Taeyeon’s reddening face.

“Aha…  Wow.  Alright, well…  I’m tired, so goodnight!”  With that, Sooyoung patted Taeyeon on the head and left the room.

“Tae Tae… Snap out of it!”  Tiffany waved her hand in front of Taeyeon, who was busily having a heart attack from Tiffany’s adorable voice.

“Eh… Why are you up so late?  Or should I say earlyyyy?”  Taeyeon repeated Tiffany’s line in a mocking voice.

 “I was hungry…”  She smiled shyly.

“Well…  there’s plenty of food somewhere in the kitchen…”  Taeyeon pointed to the fridge.

“But…  I want good food.  And I can’t cook.”  Tiffany smiled and hinted at Taeyeon’s cooking skills.

From Taeyeon’s point of view, she could see Sooyoung’s head popping out of the door.

“Gentletaeng!”  Sooyoung mouthed and gave Taeyeon a thumbs up.

“Alrighty.  I’ll cook you something.  What do you want to eat?”

“Any… thing…”  Tiffany tipped forward into Taeyeon’s arms.

“Ah!  Fany, are you okay?”  Taeyeon quickly stepped forward to catch sleepy Tiffany.

“Just really tired…”

“Ok… Why don’t you lie down on the couch while I go make you some…?”  Taeyeon thought about what to make as she helped Tiffany lay down.

“Cereal!”  Tiffany exclaimed happily while clapping.

“What?  That’s not cooking!”

“Please!!!”  Tiffany put her hands together and winked.

“Alright, alright.”

“Yay!!!”  The ‘little girl’ clapped.

“Well, what kind of cereal do you-” Taeyeon turned around and found Tiffany drifting off into another dream world.  “This girl…”  Taeyeon admired the sleeping beauty queen before sitting down on the floor beside the couch.  She closed her eyes and fell asleep with a smile.

Is it weird…

That even when you’re ripping my heart into pieces, your face can still make me smile?

_________________________________

Tiffany woke up as the sunlight penetrated the blinds.  She squinted and looked at the clock.

“9am…  Shoot.  I fell asleep.”  She removed the blue blanket and froze.

“Wait a minute…  A blue blanket…  The first day after our fight …” She quickly unraveled the blanket and looked at the tag.  “Taeyeon…  Awww!”  Tiffany smiled as she finally realized that even with a fight between her and Taeyeon, the short kid would always care for her.

“What’s this?”  Tiffany set aside the blanket and leaned forward.  Her heart filled with warmth when she saw a bowl of cereal with cold, refreshing milk, and a piece of toast with pinkish purple strawberry jam.  The bowl of cereal was no ordinary cereal.  Taeyeon had spent the time to arrange the alphabet cereal to form ‘I really love you’ in English.

“Good morning, Tiffany!”  Yuri walked in while stretching and yawning.  “Oooh!  What’s this?”  She pointed at the love message in a cereal bowl.

“Just Taeyeon being a dork again.”

“I see…”  Yuri grinned and left.

As Tiffany swallowed the last bit of toast, Taeyeon leaned over the couch and hugged Tiffany around the neck.

“Morning, beautiful!”  Taeyeon imitated the guys on the American TV shows that Tiffany loved watching.

“I really love you too.”  Tiffany smiled and leaned backwards into Taeyeon’s embrace.

“I hope it’s the right cereal.”

“It’s perfect.”

“Are you lying?”

“Nope!”  Tiffany smiled.  “See?  It’s real!”  She laughed at her pun and clapped her hands loudly.

I know that was the worst food joke in the history of the world. XD What can I say?  Your author is a er for lame jokes.  If you didn’t get it, ‘see, real.’…  ‘cereal’… sorry… hahaha!

“Psh, and YOU always call ME a dork.”  Taeyeon joined in with Tiffany’s laughter.

“I have to make things up to you, Tae.”  Tiffany said when they both stopped laughing.

“What do you mean?”

“You always do things for me, and I don’t do as much for you.”

“You don’t have to make anything up to me.  I already owe you my whole life!”

“No you don’t!”

“I do.  Being in Girls’ Generation is my whole life.  I’ve dreamt of this career since I was young and when I’m old, I will reflect back to all the happy memories.”

“And how am I related to that?”

“I love all of the girls like daughters.  You guys are the reason that I love doing what I do.  You stopped me from giving up when I wanted to.”

“Well, I can’t let you stop yourself from reaching a dream you want really badly.”

“I love singing and dancing.  But you know… more than half of the fun comes from doing all this with you by my side.  If you left, I wouldn’t have much motivation.”

“Same to you.”  The two remained silent and enjoyed the comfortable embrace.  Taeyeon buried her face into Tiffany’s shoulder, enjoying the scent that made her heart skip a beat.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”  Taeyeon looked at Tiffany, who stood up and turned around.

“I know I don’t say it much… And I should say it more often.  I just really want you to know that I love having you around all the time.  I’m sorry if I ever feel like a burden to you.”

“You will never be a burden to me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Let’s see…”  Taeyeon raised her left hand and stuck out her thumb.  “For starters, you always need help with dance steps…  Then you always need my help at the latest or earliest hours of the day and night.”

Tiffany looked at the floor, feeling slightly sorry.

“On top of that, you always get me in trouble with the manager…”

“Sorry…”

“Then you also make me skip lunch sometimes when you need help getting paperwork done.”

Taeyeon stuck out her pinky along with four other fingers.

“You make me worry about you like crazy, too.”

“I guess I really am a burden.”  Tiffany’s face showed sorrow.

“That’s quite alright.  Life isn’t fun when it’s too easy.”

“So I make your life hard?”

“It’s challenging to make you happy.  And I learn a lot from it.  Plus, life without you is really boring.”

Despite Siwon coming between us…  I guess I’d rather be your friend than nothing.

“I guess the next few days will be boring…”

“Why?”

“I’m flying to LA to throw the opening pitch at the Dodger’s game, remember?”

“Oh… Right…”

“Don’t miss me too much!  Hahaha.”  Tiffany smiled and tipped her head to the side while slightly raising her shoulders.

“I’ll watch the pitch on TV for support.”  Taeyeon forced a smile.

_____________________

“Bye, Tae Tae!”  Tiffany waved as she continued to walk towards the boarding area for her plane.

“Bye!”  Taeyeon waved back with a small smile.

She turned and smashed herself into a sturdy body.

“Euh!  Sorry…  S-Siwon.”

“Taeyeon, are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine.  Really.”

“Don’t worry.  My girl will be back quickly.  Don’t miss her too much!”  Siwon chuckled and pat Taeyeon on the head.

Truthfully I hate you right now, Siwon.

But if you make Tiffany happy…

Then I guess it’s for the best.

She deserves someone who can show her how they feel.

Not a coward like me.

At this thought, Taeyeon’s eyes watered as she rushed towards the exit of the airport.

____________________________

“Taeyeon, what the heck are you doing?”  Hyoyeon sat down next to Taeyeon who was staring out the window.

“I wish it would rain.”

“Why?”

“Because in the rain, you can cry.  Nobody would notice.”

“Just let it out, Taeyeon.  You have all of us to cheer you up.” Six girls walked out of the kitchen.

“Thanks… But I prefer to… let out my sorrows to nature.”

“You’re really strange.”  Yuri commented with a disappointed voice.

“I know.  But that’s what makes me different.”

“You always keep your troubles inside.  It makes it worse for you.  You trust us, don’t you?”  Seohyun looked at Taeyeon worriedly.

“I trust all of you with my life.  There are just some things that I want to think about by myself.  Only my own thoughts will make my decision right.”

“Doesn’t it help to have more input?  I mean, you’ll have a better chance of making the right choice.”  Yoon suggested.

“There are just some things that you have to do for yourself.  I really appreciate the offer though.”

“Why don’t you just talk to us about it?  We can’t help you but we can listen.”  Jessica put her hand on Taeyeon’s shoulder and squeezed it slightly.

What else could I tell you?

You all know everything.

You know that I’m crazy about Tiffany.

You know that I don’t have a single chance with her.

You know that I would do anything to make her happy.

You know that she’s happy with someone else.

Sure Tiffany.

I’ll give relationship advice to the one I really love so that they can be with someone else.

It doesn’t hurt at all.

The sad thoughts overflowed in Taeyeon’s mind.  She hated Tiffany but at the same time she didn’t.  She can’t.

I can’t hate you because you’re everything to me.  The only thing I hate is the fact that you don’t know how I feel and the fact that I was too stupid to not tell you.

______________________________

“I hope Siwon makes her happy; happiness that I wasn’t able to give her.”

“But Taeyeon, you know that you love her.  Aren’t you going to fight for her?”

Taeyeon was having another depressing late night talk with Sooyoung.  Sooyoung had become her advice box.  Out of all the members, Sooyoung was the best at understanding Taeyeon’s feelings for Tiffany.  She herself had experienced one-sided love in a painful way.  It allowed her and Taeyeon to connect well.

“That makes me sound pathetic.  I’m a girl, fighting a guy to win his girl.”

“How long has it been?”

“Since when?”

“Since you loved her.”

“It’s been almost three years.  But I didn’t know it until…  I don’t even know.”

“Then what are you going to do?  You’ve loved her for years and you’re now watching some guy take her away.”

“All I can do… is hold on.  I want to let go of her.  I want to love someone else.”

“But you still haven’t gotten over her.”

“I know.  It’s because something in my heart is telling me to hold onto her and never let her go.”

“You’re strong.”

“It’s because I feel like I can do anything when I do it for Tiffany.”

“So… you still hope that maybe she likes you back?”

“I feel like I just need to give her time to think…”

“She’s taking an awful long time.”  Sooyoung chuckled.

“The longer she takes, the more it hurts.  But I’ll give her time.  I’ll do it for her.”

Taeyeon looked at the floor and sighed.

“I’ll do it for you, Tiffany.”