“Okay, everyone!  That’s all for tonight!  Great job!”  Taeyeon patted everyone on the back and they all proceeded to the change rooms.

As soon as Taeyeon had finished changing, she waited outside for Tiffany.  The practice space was within walking distance to their hotel and as usual, Tiffany took the longest time to change.

“Taeyeon, aren’t you coming?  I thought your schedule ended.”

“It did, I’m just waiting for Tiffany.”

“Well, alright then.  We’ll see you back at the dorm.”  Yuri and Jessica continued walking.

Taeyeon waited for what seemed like an eternity for her.  Waiting for Tiffany’s company always felt like years.  But this time, it really took almost an hour.  Finally Tiffany opened the door and stepped outside.

“Yah, why did you take so long?  You’re so slow!”

“Sorry…”  Tiffany looked down.

“Hey, don’t worry about it.  Ready to go?”

“Y-yes.”

“You don’t look so good, Fany…”

“I’m just a little tired.”

“More than usual…  When was the last time you slept?!”

“Two days ago…”

“Fany!  You have to rest!  Why did you stay up?!”

“I couldn’t get the dances right.  I stayed up to practice them.”

“You could’ve woken me!  Maybe then you would’ve finished earlier and you could’ve gotten some sleep.”

“I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“It’s okay, Fany.  I don’t mind if it’s you.”  Taeyeon smiled and gave Tiffany a warm feeling inside.

“Ahaha, thank you…”

“Let’s go home quickly, then.  You have to sleep tonight.”

“I…  will…”

Suddenly Tiffany tipped to the side and nearly hit the floor.  Taeyeon moved fast enough and managed to catch her.

“Ahh!  Tiffany!  Fany ahh! Are you okay?”

Tiffany felt cold to the touch and was unresponsive.

“Ah, no!  Nobody else is around!”

Taeyeon looked down at exhausted Tiffany and let out a strong, controlled breath.  With plenty of strength, Taeyeon lifted Tiffany and began walking.  Taeyeon was just as tired as Tiffany.  She knew that Tiffany had been getting less sleep lately and ended up worrying instead of sleeping.  She just wasn’t physically exhausted yet.

It’s not that far…

I can make it…

I have to…

I can’t let her down…

I’m tired…

What am I doing?

I love her…

I have to make it…

These were the thoughts that went through Taeyeon’s mind when Tiffany kept waking her in the middle of the night.  The happened either through texts because she couldn’t sleep, or because she spotted a bug in her room.

Taeyeon turned and looked back.  She had only moved about fifty metres from the exit.

Only seven hundred more to go…

It was already 2:45am and Taeyeon was getting extremely tired.  Many times, her knees almost gave way.  But she couldn’t fall.  No, not now.  Not while she had to get Tiffany back to the hotel.  She looked down at Tiffany, who had drifted off into sleep.

You look like an angel, Yeppeuni.

You’re my angel.

Haha, what am I saying?  That’s sounds so stupid.

But it’s true.

I love you.

The dim street lights cast the perfect shadow on Tiffany.  Strangely, she seemed to feel lighter with each step Taeyeon took.  Few cars had passed by and most lights were already off in nearby apartments.  Taeyeon looked up and for the first time in a while, she could see stars.

“It’s moments like these that I really believe you’re magical.”

Taeyeon looked up but never stopped walking.  She slowed down to enjoy the view of the dark sky that was dotted with white stars everywhere.  She always spent her time in cities for concerts and practice sessions.  She never had a chance to find an open and dark area to observe the sky.  Of course, with Tiffany around, Taeyeon didn’t observe the sky for long.  She looked straight ahead.

“Fany ah.  I love you…  More than anything in the world.  I wish I could make you mine.  But I’m not brave enough to do it.”

“I…  love you… too…”

Taeyeon looked down in surprise.  Tiffany was still asleep.  Her eyes were closed, her body was still, and her breathing was steady.  Seconds later, Tiffany shifted and her eyes opened slightly.

“Tae?”

“Hey, relax.  Just sleep.”

“But…  Aren’t you…  Tired?”

Taeyeon began singing a song she heard a few years before.  Back then, she never sang it out loud.  She didn’t have anyone to sing it for.  But now, it fit so perfectly.

Song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AgdKaOB3ps

“What I think

You are just perfect

Could it be

That I am worth it

Is this thing an open door

Walk right through to something more

You and me

My life would change in a second

In a second”

She felt Tiffany relaxing in her arms again.  Taeyeon kept singing.  She concentrated on the words as her accent was still present even though it had gotten fainter.  She remembered the nights that she received private language lessons from Tiffany.  She learned how to pronounce the ‘r’ sound properly and fixed up her accent.  Tiffany was patient and loving, no matter how bad Taeyeon was at speaking English.

“Don't know how you feel

You seem to keep it to yourself

Would you climb mountains

…

…To show me this is something real?”

Finally, after a long walk, the hotel came into view.  Most of the lights were already out and nobody was in the lobby.  Taeyeon carried Tiffany to the elevator, the hallway and finally, to the door of the room.  She used her head to push the doorbell.  A few seconds later, she heard footsteps nearing the door.

“Taeyeon?!  What took you-”  Sunny looked down at Tiffany.

“Please, open the door.”  Taeyeon requested as Sunny stepped aside and held the door obediently.

“Tae, the others are all sleeping in the main bedroom.  The beds are full…”

“It’s okay, she can sleep on my bed.  What about you?”

“I have the couch bed, remember?”

“Right.  Mind if I share tonight?”

“Not at all.”

Taeyeon pushed the door to her room, slowly, with her left foot.  She made her way to the bed and gently lay Tiffany down.

“Rest well, 천사”

She pulled the covers over Tiffany and kissed her on the forehead.

“I love you.”

___________

“Do you think she’s okay?”  Yoona whispered to Yuri.

“I don’t know.  I’ve never seen her sleep this much.”  Yuri whispered back.

“And you guys call me the sleepyhead.”  Jessica chuckled and elbowed Hyoyeon.

“Taeyeon’s always been a sleepyhead.  Hahaha.”  Sooyoung joked.

“Hey, guys, don’t laugh.  Taeyeon and Tiffany were out really late last night.”  Sunny came to Taeyeon’s defense.

“What were they doing?”  Yoona asked.

“Tiffany hadn’t slept in two days and she’s been practicing non-stop.”

“What?!”  All of the girls gasped at Sunny’s information.

“She passed out when she stepped outside of the practice room.”

“What did Taeyeon do?”  Seohyun asked with worry in her eyes.

“She carried Tiffany all the way back here.  It took her almost an hour.”

“Awwww… TaeNy…”  Sooyoung looked back at Taeyeon.

Suddenly, a clicking sound was heard.  Immediately, all the girls turned their head to the main bedroom door.  Tiffany walked out, in last night’s clothes and with messy hair.

“Morning, everyone…”  Tiffany yawned and looked at Taeyeon.

“Good morning, Tiffany.”  The other seven girls bowed and proceeded to the kitchen.

“…  How did I get here…?”  Tiffany turned to the kitchen’s direction and scratched her head.

All she could remember was stepping out of the practice building and suddenly everything faded slowly.  She stared at darkness and felt scared.  Until she heard a voice say “I love you more than anything in the world.”  She calmed down and allowed her body to relax.  She could see Taeyeon looking at her with the night sky behind her.  Taeyeon started singing a familiar song and she drifted off to sleep again.

“Good morning, 천사.”  Taeyeon spoke with slurred speech and a drowsy voice.  She gave Tiffany her favourite hug; a hug from behind.

“Good morning, Tae Tae.”  Tiffany held Taeyeon’s arms as the two remained in the same comfortable position for a short while.

“Are we going to have breakfast today?”

“Sure, but I’m going to go shower first.  I’ll meet you later when I’m done.”

“Mmmm… Hurry okay?”  Taeyeon tightened the hug and gave her a playful poke in the side.

“Ahaha, don’t miss me too much.”  Tiffany laughed and turned to avoid the next poke.  She winked and gave Taeyeon a quick kiss on the cheek.  While Taeyeon was busy turning incredibly red, Tiffany went to the bathroom to clean up.  Taeyeon remained in the living room, next to the couch, thinking to herself.

Did she really hear everything I said?  Does she remember what happened last night?  Does she feel the same way?  Does she love me back?

“Hey, Tomato Tae.  Are you having breakfast?”

Taeyeon looked up at Sunny and the other girls standing behind her in the kitchen.

“Y-yes!”

As Taeyeon entered the kitchen, Sooyoung gave her a pat on the back.

“You finally told her, hm?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, she was asleep.  And that’s the only time that I had courage to say anything around her.  When I said that I loved her, she responded.  But I think she was still sleeping.”

“Does she know you carried her home?”

“I don’t know…  She woke up halfway through when I was carrying her and asked me if I was tired.”

“What did you say?”

“I told her to relax and I sang her a song until she fell asleep again.”

“Mm…  Try to figure this out later.  You’re probably sore and hungry right now.”

“You’re right.  My arms are incredibly weak today.  I had trouble getting out of bed.  Hahaha.”

“That sounds terrible…  I’m sorry…” Sooyoung chuckled.

“Don’t be.  It was all worth it.  I got Tiffany home safely and that’s all that matters.”  Taeyeon smiled.

“That’s still a huge thing you did for her.  I never thought anyone could do that while sleep deprived at night after exercising for a few hours.”

“That’s because I love her.  I feel like I can do anything if I’m doing it for her.”  Taeyeon’s eyes sparkled.

“Aww!  You two are so cute!”

“Eheheh…  Thank you.”  Taeyeon smiled shyly as she proceeded to the kitchen.

The nine girls assembled in the kitchen area in silence.  Taeyeon broke the silence with a loud clap.

“Alright!  Who wants to make breakfast?”

“…”  Silence remained in the air.

“…  I guess I am…  Hyoyeon, would you mind helping me out?”

“No problem.  Everyone else, watch TV or something.  We’ll call you when it’s ready.”

“Eggs, bacon, cereal, toast, milk, fruit…  Looks like we’re all set.”

“Tae, you cook the eggs and bacon.  I’ll prepare the cereal, toast, milk, and fruits.”

“But I’m not that great with eggs and bacon…”

“Didn’t Tiffany teach you how to cook them a couple months ago?”

“…  I was distracted…”

“Hahaha, okay.  Just try your best and make sure that it’s cooked well.  You wouldn’t want to disappoint your wifey.”  Hyoyeon nudged Taeyeon lightly before reaching in the pantry.

Taeyeon reached into the fridge and opened the pack of bacon.

“Oh no…”

“Taeyeon, are you okay?”

“We don’t have any pans!”

“What do we have?”

“…  A muffin tray.”

“Should we go out and get a pan?”

“No, wait!  I was always told to improvise…  I can do this.”

Taeyeon grabbed a plate and paper towels.  She laid the strips onto the paper towels on the plate and added more layers on top of the bacon.  She put it in the microwave and cooked it.

“Pass the non-stick spray please...”

She coated the muffin tray with non-stick spray and waited for the bacon to finish cooking.  When they were done, she took each strip of bacon and wrapped it around the sides of each cup in the tray.  Then, she poured an egg yolk in the middle of each and put the tray into the oven.

“Taeyeon, that looks ridiculous.”

“Well… we didn’t have anything else…”

“I guess it doesn’t matter if it tastes good.”

While waiting for the bacon, Taeyeon began setting up the table for nine people.

Sooyoung’s large spoon…

Tiffany’s pink fork…

Seohyun’s Keroro bowl…

“Taeyeon!  The bacon egg cups are ready!”

“Ahhh, okay, okay!”

Taeyeon carefully removed the tray and looked at the result of her hard work.

“Well, what do you think, Hyoyeon?”  Taeyeon asked with a proud face.

“…  I dunno… It-”

“That looks delicious, Tae.”  Tiffany put her arms around Taeyeon’s shoulder and smiled brightly as Hyoyeon left to call the rest of the members.

“I worked hard on it!  I know how much you love this combination of bacon and eggs.”  Taeyeon turned and gave Tiffany a big hug.

“Yah, lovebirds, stop hugging and let’s eat!”  Yoona teased them as she sat down and motioned for them to join the table.

The girls gathered around the large dining table and sat down.  Of course, Taeyeon sat next to Tiffany, Yuri sat next to Jessica, Yoona sat next to Seohyun, Sooyoung sat next to Sunny, and Hyoyeon sat at the end.

“Wow, these are delicious!”

“They look really cool!”

“The egg slipped out of my bacon!”

Taeyeon was too distracted to notice how much the others enjoyed her creation.  Tiffany was eating and smiling at the same time.  The sight of how much Tiffany enjoyed Taeyeon’s cooking made her happy.  The others chatted and laughed together while the pair sitting shoulder to shoulder was too busy feeding each other.

“Hey, Sunny.”

“Hm?”  Sunny put another bacon egg cup in and looked at Sooyoung.

“They look a lot closer than usual.”

“Do you think Tiffany caught on?”

“I always thought she secretly knew…”

“I don’t know.  They confuse me a lot.  They’re officially just friends but they act like lovers.”

Taeyeon looked up and turned her head to Sunny with a shy smile.

“Tae Tae!”  Tiffany poked Taeyeon’s arm.

“Eh?”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“Last night…  I wasn’t too heavy right?”

“Oh!  Don’t worry about it, Fany.  I’m glad to have been able to bring you home safely.”

“Hehehe.  Taengoo, 사랑해!”

“I’ll always keep you safe.”

“Promise?”  Tiffany stuck out her pinky.

“I promise.  I’ll always protect you.”  The two locked their words and smiled together.

Always.