A/N: Thank you so much everyone for your support and loving comments! They really help me write and they make me really happy hehe. Here's the final part of Chapter 25!

When Sungmin opened the door to the Karaoke place for Sooyoung, the tall girl rushed in and closed the door behind her, tightly holding onto it so that her boyfriend had no way in. Yoona quickly noticed her friend’s loud laugh and dashed towards the door in an attempt to help her keep it closed.

All of the girls were gathered in the lobby waiting for the remaining couple while Taeyeon and Hyoyeon were ordering a room and some food for them. Because of the New Year’s evening, the place was rather busy so they were thankful that Hyoyeon made a reservation a week or so beforehand.

Although the lobby was bustling with excitement and noisy teenagers, the 9 girls somehow managed to stick out like a sore thumb.

Sunny was aggravated at being unable to open the door and gave her best pout to Sooyoung without giving herself away. Instead of melting at her boyfriend’s aegyo, she stuck her tongue out and laughed so loud that Sunny could hear her on the other side of the door.

It didn’t make them any quieter seeing that Sooyoung’s laughter was so contagious that Yoona was also cackling maniacally. Sunny wondered since when has she known such children. She shook her head, finally giving up on opening the door, a small smile on her face.

“Are you guys done?” a voice called out, opening the door next to the three girls.

Sunny blushed a deep crimson upon not realizing that there was another door right next to her.

Jessica could only snicker at Sunny as she held the door open for the small girl. Yoona and Sooyoung clutched their stomachs and continued to howl with laughter at their stupidity, and the other patrons could only stare in wonder at these girls with seemingly endless amounts of energy.

“Let’s go guys,” Taeyeon yelled out as soon as she and Hyoyeon confirmed their orders.

The huge group cheered loudly as they followed the eldest to their karaoke room, each girl filled with excitement over the upcoming new year.

Once Taeyeon opened the door up, the girls flooded in the dark room and Tiffany went straight for the song book.

“I’m first!” she squealed, opening the book and flipping for one of her favourite dance songs. “I think I know the perfect song to open up our party.”

“If it’s one of her English songs that I pretend to know the lyrics to,” Hyoyeon started, smiling and shaking her head at the enthusiastic girl.

“It probably is, knowing Fany unnie,” Seohyun giggled.

“Nope,” Tiffany replied, giving the room her classic eye smile, “It’s an oldie, but a goody.”

The small crowd of girls cheered enthusiastically once the song Tiffany had picked started. The screen flashed ‘Hug by TVXQ’, the group’s debut song and the choice received epic feedback.

“I haven’t heard this song in ages!” Yuri said with a wide, toothy smile. She grabbed a mic and ran next to Tiffany to join her.

“They need three more members,” Sungmin declared, holding up the other microphones, “Taengoo you love this song!”

Taeyeon nodded and shyly stood up, grabbed the microphone and inched towards Tiffany. Although she said things were okay on their drive over, she couldn’t help but feel hesitant and a little insecure. Does Tiffany think of her differently now? Was she not allowed to be as close to her as she used to be? Her body felt stiff, but she didn’t want to show her discomfort to her friends. It was their time to party and have fun after all, she had to be strong.

Jessica also stood up and grabbed a mic from Sungmin and ran over to Yuri. The latter instantly wrapped an arm around Jessica’s waist, causing the girl to squeak.

“That tickles!” she squeaked, giggling as Yuri pulled her closer.

“I guess I’ll be the last one then,” Seohyun quietly offered as Sooyoung, Yoona and Hyoyeon were already positioned as back up dancers. They were swaying back and forth in sync, clapping to the beat.

“Alright!” Sungmin cheered, tossing the remaining microphone to the youngest.

Tiffany had started a boy band trend.

They sang Replay by SHINee after, followed by Super Junior’s Miracle and Infinite’s Paradise. Yuri, Sooyoung and Hyoyeon showed off their knowledge of the choreo while the rest of the girls sang their hearts out. Tiffany was soon without a microphone, Jessica yelling at the girl to give it up since she was already so loud. At first she resisted with a pout, but when Yoona quietly asked for the mic instead, she couldn’t say no.

Taeyeon had given up her mic as well to check on the food they had ordered with Sungmin.

“Having fun?” Sunny asked, her voice still in disguise in case the others came out to find them.

Taeyeon was sweating slightly, a nod and small smile answering her best friend.

“You and Fany were dancing just now, or was I just imagining that?” Sunny asked slowly, unsure if it was a sensitive topic or not. Her eyes were fixated on Taeyeon’s expression, hoping to not see hurt flash across her face.

To her relief, her fellow shorty’s face remained the same, “We were dancing.”

“So are you two okay?” Sunny continued to ask, rather worried about the situation. She wanted to know the whole story but she figured that asking at the party probably wasn’t the best idea.

“I think so,” Taeyeon responded, her voice small but firm. “I didn’t want to show my sadness in front of everyone, but Fany was able to pick up on it. She whispered in my ear to cheer up and she told me that nothing’s changed between us.”

Sunny could only furrow her eyebrows. It was impossible to say that nothing’s changed. Everything’s changed, no matter what Tiffany says or thinks. The atmosphere is not the same. Sunny wondered if the others felt it too. Or maybe she just knew Taeyeon too well.

“Am I doing a good job at acting?” Taeyeon asked as they picked up their bags of food and began to walk back to their room. “It’s not my first time pretending I’m okay.”

Sunny wanted to drop the box of chicken wings and fries that she was carrying to hug her best friend. Although her voice wasn’t shaking or faltering in any sense, Sunny could tell that her spirits were as low as ever.

“Taengoo,” Sunny cooed, not sure what to say next without accidentally opening floodgates. Not for Taeyeon, no, that girl was way too damn good at holding back her tears. But both girls, no, everyone knew how much of a cry baby Sunny was.

“I’ll be fine Soonkyu,” Taeyeon replied with a reassuring gaze and tilt of her head, “I have to just pretend I never said anything, I guess.”

Sunny didn’t like the sound of it, but it seemed that that was the only thing she could do. Both girls were stuck under the labels of friends. And although neither girl can erase the confession or the hurt and frustration that came as a result, they had to put it aside for the sake of their friendship and for the sake of the others.

Sunny suddenly felt a little more down as thoughts of her and Sooyoung in the near future crossed her mind. She’d have to face the same fate, she concluded. The two would forget their relationship, Sooyoung would want to forget Sungmin and the two would have to go on like nothing happened.

The small girl wondered who had the nerve to invent unrequited love.

“Wanna sleep over later?” Sunny offered. She may not be able to give Taeyeon Tiffany’s love, but she would be able to give her a comforting cuddle and a shoulder to cry on if she needed it.

“I’d love to,” Taeyeon responded as she rubbed her face into Sunny’s shoulder in thanks.

“What took you two so long?” Yoona and Sooyoung demanded at once as the two entered with their food and bag of cold canned drinks.

Sungmin and Taeyeon exchanged glances before rolling their eyes and placing the food down on the table.

“A simple thank you would be nice,” Taeyeon responded, sticking her tongue out at the hungry young girls.

“Thanks for getting the food Tae Tae,” Tiffany said as she reached for a refreshing drink to soothe her overused vocal cords.

Taeyeon cursed as she blushed at Tiffany’s words, nodding instead of giving the girl a proper response.

“How about you two sing next?” Jessica offered as she handed two microphones to Taeyeon and Sungmin.

Yuri wrapped an arm each around Taeyeon and Sungmin’s necks and pulled them close to her, “Yeah you two! Sing something nice for us while we eat all the food you brought back.”

“I’ve never heard oppa sing,” Seohyun stated as she clapped her hands together in anticipation.

Sunny could feel herself sweating, it was now or never. Her ‘manly voice’ training couldn’t have been for waste, right? She turned to her girlfriend. She had five fries sticking out of and grease around which cause Sunny’s nervousness to widdle away with a chuckle. It was a wonder how she still managed to look flawless while stuffing her face.

They made eye contact and Sooyoung blushed immediately. While Sungmin was used to seeing in such a position after all this time, she still couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. Sungmin gave his girlfriend a charming smile.

“I wanna dedicate this next song to Sooyoungie,” Sungmin declared, pointing his hand towards Sooyoung who was slouched over the food with Yoona, Hyoyeon, Jessica and Yuri.

She only blushed a deeper shade of red as she tried her best to swallow what she was chewing so she wouldn’t choke by accident. She smiled shyly at Sungmin, her heart beating so fast that it she felt like her chest was swelling up. What song could her boyfriend be singing for her?

Taeyeon looked over at Tiffany who was chatting with Seohyun and took in a deep breath. Should she be a little brave? There wasn’t much more to lose after being rejected. And friends could dedicate songs to each other, right?

“And I’ll dedicate it to Fany,” Taeyeon muttered, coughing a little to hide her embarrassment. Sunny looked at her with wide eyes, surprised by the statement.

Taeyeon nodded at Sunny before turning to see that Tiffany was staring at her. Taeyeon wished that she could understand exactly what expression the girl was making, but it had to be okay because the girl was smiling at her. She let out a small sigh of relief.

“What song do you have in mind?” Sunny whispered to Taeyeon as she flipped through the book.

“You like CN Blue right?” Taeyeon whispered back before pointing at the song she wanted. Sunny glanced at the title and chuckled.

“That song’s perfect.”

The music started and all the girls cooed as they recognized the song. Yoona began elbowing Sooyoung as her cheeks flushed pink and Tiffany couldn’t help but place her hands on her face. Seohyun watched Tiffany in amusement, wondering if maybe her older sister hadn’t lost all hope.

“When i look at you my face gets red
When i see you my heart goes thump thump
I talk with shyness like a kid
When i look at you i just smile out of nowhere
Like a fool I keep doing that
I think love came to me.”

It was as if Taeyeon was reading Sunny’s mind as she started the song. She could probably hear how loud her heart was beating with how nervous she was. Taeyeon’s verse gave Sunny enough time to gather her courage and the small girl made her way over to Sooyoung as the rap began.

“You’re the president of my heart
You’re my chests’ star embroider
I’m Genie for you girl
You make me stop breathing
whatever you want
because i love you
There’s no reason for my love you know.”

Sooyoung stared at Sungmin in wonder which only filled him with more confidence. She decided that her boyfriend’s singing voice was a little strange but incredibly endearing at the same time. And she had decided that it was something that she definitely wanted to hear as often as possible.

Sungmin turned to Taeyeon as the two sang the chorus together. They smiled brightly as they harmonized with ease, both girls filled to the brim with confidence as their respective objects of affection were clearly reacting well to their song.

“You’re a darling
you’re more beautiful than the stars above in the night sky
the shining thing deep inside my heart
my own love light.”

The other girls had their arms and cellphones raised in the air, swaying to the beat of the song. Both Jessica and Yoona were teasing Sooyoung at this point, the former giggling at her pink face and the latter giving her best friend a backhug while laughing at her staring at her boyfriend.

“I love you darling
give me light next to me whenever
every night i look at you
and you’re beautiful even when i look at you
you’re my love light.”

Tiffany had her eyes closed at this point as she took the lyrics in. She wondered if Taeyeon remembered and that’s why she picked that song. It was only a few years ago, but when the song first made its debut she had declared it as her favourite song from the band. Taeyeon made her a promise to sing it to her one day and here they were. She wondered in her heart if the lyrics were something to consider, but her mind told her to stop it. She had already made her decision, right? But it was difficult to remember that decision with Taeyeon staring at her and with the girl’s angelic voice ringing through her ears.

Taeyeon glanced at Sunny to indicate it was her turn to sing a verse. Sunny nodded at her before returning her attention back to her girlfriend.

“when i see you i feel like im up on the clouds
it may be immature but i keep doing this
i tihnk love came to me.”

Sooyoung could feel herself melt into her seat. She was suddenly incredibly grateful for Yoona holding onto her from behind for she swore that she could’ve fallen over if not for her support.

Jessica was fanning her face at this point and Sooyoung used everything within her to ignore the stupid expression on her face as she tried to hold back her laughter. She’d punch Jessica for teasing her later. Right now it was time to enjoy the act of being serenaded.

Sungmin and Taeyeon broke into the chorus again, this time switching the roles of melody and harmony. While she was rather occupied with the bubbling mess that was Tiffany next to her, Seohyun couldn’t help but seriously admire her unnie’s ability to hide her usual higher tone while singing.

But while Seohyun was closer to Tiffany, Hyoyeon couldn’t help but notice Tiffany’s slightly constipated expression. It was hard to put her finger on it, but she somehow looked incredibly enthralled yet constipated at the same time. She wondered what was going on through her mind and it Taeyeon had anything to do with it.

The two singers decided to split the last two parts of the song, Taeyeon starting them off. She walked over to Tiffany as bravely as she possibly could. Only Sunny and Seohyun could notice the slight trembling in her legs.

Tiffany wondered if her heart was going to jump out of her chest at this rate. With every step that Taeyeon took towards her, her mind was jumbled up in possibilities. Was Taeyeon going to kiss her? She wondered why her thought went to that question immediately.

Taeyeon leaned down to leave a soft kiss on Tiffany’s forehead, much to her disappointment.

Oh how she hated herself for being disappointed.

But a giggle couldn’t help but escape when she saw Taeyeon’s expression immediately change as she was flushed and shocked by her very own brave action.

It was Sunny’s turn as the song finished and she pulled her arm out towards Sooyoung, asking for her hand. She made absolute sure that she and Sooyoung were in direct eye contact when she told her for the last time through song that she was her love light.

As soon as the song finished and the score was shown, Sooyoung stood up and practically jumped on top of Sungmin. Instead of screaming or squealing or saying anything at all, she simply buried her head in the crook of Sungmin’s neck and nuzzled her face into him, enjoying his scent.

Hyoyeon and Yuri stood up to grab the microphones from the two singers.

“You guys eat now, okay?” Yuri said as she grabbed the microphone, “Now it’s my turn to dedicate a song.”

Jessica raised her eyebrow in curiousity at Yuri, “Really now?” she asked in anticipation.

“Oh you’re gonna love this,” Hyoyeon declared with a wink.

Somehow that made Jessica feel uneasy.

It was an old song so Jessica didn’t recognize it immediately, but when the melody began to click she burst into laughter.

“No way!” she cackled, clutching her stomach as tears threatened to fall down her face.

“Are you two serious?” Tiffany asked with an amused expression. She was thankful for the two’s antics for she was finding it difficult to snap out of the spell Taeyeon seemed to put her under.

“So serious,” Yuri responded in English as she prepared for the song.

It was Savage Garden’s I Knew I Loved You, a very old song from Tiffany and Jessica’s childhood. The girls only knew the song because the two sang it often when they had their frequent Karaoke sessions. It was an unbelievably cheesy song, but Yuri saw it fit for her and Jessica.

Hyoyeon was aching to start passionately singing an English ballad. She stared at the lyrics excitedly, her hand gripping the microphone tightly. While she didn’t entirely care much for the meaning of the lyrics, she knew that she just had to help Yuri sing to Jessica. Especially since in passing Jessica mentioned that Yuri and her English was her favourite.

Taeyeon buried her face into Yoona’s shoulder as she could barely hide her laughter at Hyoyeon and Yuri’s drunk sounding English. Although she wasn’t that much better than them, their slurring was on some other level.

Yoona was cackling into Seohyun’s shoulder, the three making a train as Seohyun stared at her unnies in wonder. She was glad that they were practicing their English.

Jessica and Tiffany were giggling to each other while whispering into each other’s ears about how ridiculous this all was.

“But you totally love it,” Tiffany teased, poking Jessica’s side, “Don’t you?”

Jessica refused to answer that question and only laughed more as Yuri screwed up another line.

Sooyoung was still high on the simple ballad that Taeyeon and her boyfriend had sung earlier. She was holding onto Sungmin tightly as she was in the same position as earlier. Sunny thought that she probably wasn’t moving anytime soon and simply enjoyed the show while cuddling her girlfriend.

“A thousand angels dance around you,” Yuri sang passionately as Hyoyeon flapped her arms, probably imitating wings of some kind. “I’m more complete now that I found you.”

The chorus rang out again and Yuri and Hyoyeon broke into some sort of strange harmony. The girls weren’t sure if it was their excellent English skills or the fact that they probably couldn’t hear each other over the belting that resulted in the beautiful chorus.

As Yuri sang the final chorus, Hyoyeon added all the ad libbing in the background, her expression as if someone had punched her in the stomach. She had been watching too many music programs lately, it seemed. But the exaggeration didn’t fail to entertain her audience.

Seohyun couldn’t help but giggle as she shook her head at her seemingly drunk unnies. Yoona had her face buried in her shoulder still, body shaking uncontrollably as she was possessed with laughter.

“Shall we sing a duet next?” Seohyun asked her girlfriend, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“You know I’m not that great of a singer, Hyunnie,” Yoona mumbled before letting out a sigh, “Why don’t we just sing a theme song from a show or something like usual?”

Seohyun shook her head furiously, the glint in her eyes refusing to leave, “No! I wanna sing a duet, please.”

The younger girl even pouted a little, a move that never failed to make Yoona weak in the knees.

She was screwed.

“Fine.”

Seohyun squealed in delight before tightly hugging her girlfriend, “You know you have a very lovely singing voice, right?”

“You’re just saying that because we’re dating,” Yoona flatly replied.

It was Seohyun’s turn to dig her head into the other girl’s shoulder. She shook her head slowly, affectionately rubbing against Yoona, “I wouldn’t lie, you know that.”

Yoona answered her with a kiss to the forehead before asking Jessica to pass her the song book. Hyoyeon and Yuri had switched from sappy love song to an old hit by Shinhwa and the young couple would be next.

Taeyeon was watching Tiffany carefully since her duet with Sunny. They had only made eye contact since then, Tiffany asking for some time to think with her eyes and Taeyeon quietly obliging. She was more than relieved to find that Tiffany didn’t just pretend that she didn’t understand the meaning behind the song choice. But she knew not to get her hopes up that something may have changed just because of one song.

Although she was the one who enjoyed karaoke the most, she couldn’t bring herself to sing anything until Tiffany said something to her. Anything would be nice. A thank you. An acknowledgement of her serenading, a compliment to her voice, anything.

Taeyeon knew she was sulking a little and she knew that she was the worst and the best at hiding her emotions. She knew that her unsettled heart was expressed clearly on her face, so she excused herself to use the washroom.

Tiffany watched the smaller girl as she quietly left the room. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Jessica looking at her seriously.

“Talk to her,” she whispered. She even pushed Tiffany slightly as if urging her to get up, “She deserves it.”

“I know,” Tiffany replied with a nod. “I will.”

As Tiffany made her exit, Jessica wandered over to where Yuri was sitting with Hyoyeon and sat on her lap. She watched with sheer amusement on her face as the maknae couple chose their next song.

“Is that Japanese?” Jessica asked, ignoring Yuri’s bright pink face and looking at Hyoyeon.

“It’s some theme song from of their anime things,” Hyoyeon answered with a smirk, “I’m not sure which one. Taeyeon and Sunny were the only ones who really enjoyed those shows with those two.” She then turned to Yuri whose expression remained unchanged since Jessica sat on her. “Sica, are you heavy or something? I don’t think Yuri’s breathing.”

Jessica smirked as she lightly patted Yuri’s head, “She’s breathing rather heavily now actually. Come over here and listen for yourself.”

Hyoyeon leaned over the couch and before she could chuckle at Yuri’s nervous breathing, she was shoved over.

“Yah! You two are so mean,” Yuri groaned as she wrapped her arms around Jessica’s waist securely. “I was just…caught off guard.”

“Get a room you two,” Hyoyeon teased, flicking Yuri’s forehead in revenge for the girl’s previous actions.

“But those two are practically doing the same thing!” Yuri protested, pointing to Sooyoung who was still cuddling Sungmin as he cheered on the maknae couple.

Hyoyeon wagged her finger, “But they’re actually cute.”

Jessica kicked Hyoyeon, causing the girl to fall over once more. Instead of wincing in pain however, she just laughed and clutched her stomach. Jessica would’ve kicked her one more time for good measure, but the girl looked like she already couldn’t breathe properly.

Sungmin was singing along, now swaying Sooyoung in his arms.

“You know this song?” Sooyoung asked, her eye brow raised and the corners of raised. She found it absolutely adorable how well Sungmin followed the song and she found his Japanese rather impressive. Within their group, Sunny and Yoona knew a little Japanese due to growing up with anime and various dramas and jpop while Seohyun knew more Japanese due to the same reasons with the addition to her actually studying the language on her own. And Sooyoung was practically fluent, having spent many months in the country due to family friends living there.

“Of course I do,” Sungmin replied with a light squeeze of his girlfriend, “This song was my jam back in the day.”

Yoona and Seohyun decided to compromise with an anime theme song that also served as a duet. Yoona promised that they’d do the sappy duet later, just a few songs later after having some explosive, non embarrassing fun. Seohyun loved the song so she didn’t protest much, especially since Yoona pinky swore to do a duet from one of her favourite dramas and since this was one of her favourite theme songs in the Gundam series.

When Tiffany closed the door behind her, muffled laughter and cheering for the maknae couple could be heard, causing her to smile a little. She’d have to leave the comfort of her partying friends to deal with another problem.

She hated calling it a problem though. She hated calling Taeyeon a problem.

Tiffany was resolved, she was certain of it. But with every pain ridden glance she caught from Taeyeon along with every longing filled glance, her heart couldn’t help but react. She wanted so badly to make Taeyeon smile the way she used to, the way only she could make her smile. But things were different now.

Why did they have to be so different?

Perhaps Taeyeon would let go of her feelings for her if given time? She was able to get over Jessica eventually, right?

But Tiffany didn’t want to wait. She didn’t want to give Taeyeon her space to get over her, she didn’t want to be apart from her for too long. She couldn’t, but she had to.

She promised herself that whatever she was feeling, the deep and echoing pounding was nothing romantic. Platonic. Yes, her feelings were platonic.

And yet, her face got so hot when Taeyeon sang to her. Her heart was threatening to rip out of her chest, to sky rocket through and jump out of . It wanted to run to Taeyeon, to hug her, to hold her and thank her for loving her so much.

Tiffany cursed Taeyeon and her impeccable ability to portray her feelings through song. She cursed her ability to thickly line each word with so much emotion that Tiffany felt like crying.

She took a deep breath and opened the washroom door. There, washing her hands and her face was the girl that Tiffany was looking for.

“Hey,” she greeted, slowly approaching the girl at the sink. “You finished in here?”

Taeyeon smiled at Tiffany slightly, nodding, “Yeah. You can go ahead.”

Instead of staying to chat like Tiffany wanted, Taeyeon tried to escape. The taller girl grabbed her arm however, preventing her from escaping.

“Wait,” she mumbled, pulling Taeyeon towards her. “Let’s talk, huh Tae Tae?”

Taeyeon couldn’t say no and only nodded as she allowed Tiffany to pull her into a hug.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered into Taeyeon’s ear, “I’m sorry I can’t reciprocate your feelings.”

Taeyeon didn’t respond as she was still trying to register Tiffany’s body pressed against her own.

“I love you Tae, a lot. You know that right?” she continued, her arms involuntarily pulling Taeyeon closer and closer to her. “But you…us, I can’t do that.”

Her words pierced Taeyeon’s ears and she finally reacted, her arms surrounding Tiffany finally.

“I can’t, I can’t, I just can’t,” Tiffany continued, her voice becoming more and more shaky with each breath she took. “It’s not…It’s not that I don’t…”

Taeyeon wasn’t sure what was happening, she wasn’t sure where Tiffany was going with this.

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Tiffany confessed.

Taeyeon’s eyes widened as her mind replayed what Tiffany said a billion times over. But the shock settled when she felt her shoulder go damp. The girl was crying.

“I want to, I think, I think I want to. I don’t know,” Tiffany continued, tears flowing, moistening Taeyeon’s shirt further. “I don’t know Tae, and you don’t deserve that, you don’t deserve someone who is unsure, someone who can’t love you because she won’t let herself love you in that way.”

Taeyeon wanted so badly to respond, to tell Tiffany that it didn’t matter, to tell her that she could take her time and that knowing that there was even the slightest chance made her happier than anything possibly could. But she couldn’t, she couldn’t find words.

So instead of words, Taeyeon chose action. And although her lips were trembling, her own emotions overwhelming her to the point where she wanted to cry, she found Tiffany’s lips with her own. She missed at first, catching the side of , but Tiffany quickly fixed it much to Taeyeon’s surprise.

Both girls closed their eyes and melted into the kiss. Tiffany felt Taeyeon’s longing up close and personal and Taeyeon felt Tiffany’s feelings loud and clearly with the way her lips responded.

They seemed hungry for each other, Taeyeon wanting this moment ever since she could remember and Tiffany not realizing how much she wanted this until it happened.

However, their moment was interrupted when a group of girls entered the washroom. The karaoke place was full after all.

“Dykes,” one of the girls scoffed before entering a bathroom stall.

Tiffany’s ears felt like bleeding upon that word as she rushed out of the washroom, leaving Taeyeon behind.

“Your friend is horrible,” Taeyeon spat to the group of girls who just stared in silence before fleeing to find Tiffany.

Taeyeon found her target outside, shivering in the cold. She tapped Tiffany on the shoulder, as much as she wanted to embrace her and keep her warm.

Tiffany flinched and turned around, her eyes red and her cheeks stained with tears. Her lips were trembling as well.

“Dummy, why did you go all the way out here?” Taeyeon asked, trying her best to smile a little for Tiffany.

The taller girl continued to sob as she practically leaped into Taeyeon’s arms, finding warmth and comfort in her hold.

“Forget what she said,” Taeyeon whispered, anger still laced in her tone, “She doesn’t know anything.”

“She’s not the last of them,” Tiffany responded, her teeth chattering as she nuzzled herself deeper into Taeyeon’s chest. “You’ve seen the way people looked at Seobaby and Yoong. You saw the way people looked at you and Jessi.”

Taeyeon realized then where Tiffany’s real insecurities lie.

“Daddy…Daddy doesn’t even know about them, you know?” Tiffany continued, her words shocking Taeyeon and shaking her to the core.

“Once, over dinner I was talking about you and he said, jokingly that it seemed like I was in love with you,” Tiffany let out bitter laughter as she shook her head, “And then he asked me, seriously after if I was and I don’t know, but I shrugged then instead of saying no. He got so mad and told me to not even think about you like that…that it was disgusting.”

Taeyeon could feel her heart breaking at Tiffany’s words. So that was her barrier, that was the core of it all.

“I’m so sorry Tae,” she continued, but Taeyeon shook her head.

“Let’s go inside, alright? The others are probably wondering what happened to us,” Taeyeon said quietly, letting Tiffany out of her embrace and walking ahead.

Tiffany bit her lip as she watched Taeyeon’s back retreating back to the karaoke place. She followed, grabbing Taeyeon’s hand, needing her warmth again.

When they were outside their room, Tiffany tugged on Taeyeon asking her to stop before turning the door knob.

Taeyeon turned to her, but Tiffany didn’t say anything. She just looked into her eyes and Taeyeon couldn’t help but ask her.

“What is it Fany, that you want?”

Tiffany leaned down slightly and pressed her lips over Taeyeon’s lightly.

“You,” she breathed.

Taeyeon nodded and got on her toes to kiss Tiffany on her forehead, “You dad doesn’t have to know.”

Tiffany’s eyes widened, she hadn’t thought about hiding it. At the prospect, she giggled and latched herself tightly onto Taeyeon’s arm, “So you’d be my little secret?”

While Tiffany liked the sound of it, the secrecy and privacy of their romance, having Taeyeon to herself, having Taeyeon be happy and being able to act on her feelings without anyone knowing, Taeyeon felt uneasy. There would be guilt, and she knew that it would only be a week or so before Tiffany came crying to her about how she doesn’t want to lie to her dad anymore. But she accepted it, she had to. It was something she wanted, even if it had limitations.

“I’m your little secret.”

The group was more than surprised when Taeyeon and Tiffany returned. Tiffany was latched onto Taeyeon happily and the group gasped in unison when Tiffany kissed Taeyeon on the lips.

They even stopped their singing and Tiffany responded with a wink and a little giggle, “This is only between us, okay?”

They understood immediately and nodded.

“Congrats, you two,” Hyoyeon was the first to say, smiling at the newly formed couple.

Yuri joined in on the celebration and hugged Taeyeon tightly, “I’m happy for you!”

However, Sungmin and Jessica exchanged looks before Jessica pulled Tiffany to the side.

“Are you two sure about this?”

Tiffany hugged Jessica tightly and laughed, “I’m so happy Jess, I’m so sure about this.”

Jessica hugged her best friend in return and smiled, happy that the two had sorted things out. But she was still concerned, a secret was never a good thing.

But those concerns were washed away as the girls celebrated with all of them singing Girls’ Generation. And it continued to be pushed further back with more and more pop songs and the occasional ballads. Time went by quickly and midnight approached faster and faster.

Taeyeon found herself lost in bliss as Tiffany proved to be rather clingy and affectionate as a girlfriend. She liked it, loved it actually and her face was hurting from all the smiling. She’d worry about the concequences later, something that Tiffany seemed to have done since Taeyeon suggested they be kept secret. She was in paradise, with Tiffany by her side and occasionally peppering her with kisses, as if making a complete transformation from the Tiffany that had earlier rejected her.

It was 11:50 now and Seohyun asked Yoona if they could finally do that duet she promised earlier. With a sigh, Yoona agreed and Seohyun happily put in the number for their song.

“Ah! I love this song!” Tiffany squeed, clapping her hands together.

“You love every song,” Taeyeon teased, “You’ve been saying that all night.”

Tiffany stuck her tongue out, saying as affectionately as possible, “Shut up.”

“Oh I know this song,” Hyoyeon said with a wide smile, “Hyunnie has really good taste in OSTs.”

The two had picked It’s Love from the drama Heading to the Ground. It was a beautiful duet, but Yoona felt nervous since she didn’t usually sing in the higher registers. Seohyun felt confident in her girlfriend however and squeezed her hand in reassurance.

“I’d like to dedicate this song to my Joohyun,” Yoona cooed, looking at Seohyun and giving her a waggle of her eyebrows.

The younger girl giggled and slapped Yoona’s shoulder for the cheesy action, “And this is for my Im Choding.”

It seemed that all the girls knew the song as they all sang along, swaying and waving their arms in unison. They cheered inbetween singing the chorus and Hyoyeon and Taeyeon made it their job to tease the younger girls with wolf calls and requests for kisses.

While Seohyun was blushing, trying to focus on the song, Yoona would occasionally turn back to raise a fist at whoever was making unnecessary noise.

“A real kiss!” Sooyoung called out this time as Yoona kissed Seohyun on the forehead from the last kiss request.

Yoona’s ears turned red as she felt tempted to throw her microphone at her noisy best friend. She glanced back at Seohyun who was a few shades darker than her and Yoona knew that she wouldn’t kiss her on the lips unless she was ready for it. Instead, she just kissed Seohyun on the cheek again before sticking her tongue out at her elders.

When the song finished, Jessica and Taeyeon immediately requested that their final song before the final countdown would be The Boys by their favourite group, Girls’ Generation.

Hyoyeon, Yoona and Yuri cheered in agreement, Sooyoung standing up as well to get ready to scream the lyrics out while dancing in sync with her friends. She pulled Sungmin up as well.

“You do know the choreo right?”

Sungmin winked, “Is that even a question?”

The song had progressed much faster than expected and it was only a minute before midnight.

Hyoyeon was standing on the couch with Sooyoung, Yuri and Yoona, the four making so much noise that the others wondered if someone would come inside to complain.

Taeyeon could only shake her head and roll her eyes and she held an arm around both Jessica and Tiffany.

“My girlfriend is an idiot,” Jessica said with a roll of her eyes, “And so is yours.”

She had her arm comfortably over Sungmin’s shoulders as he laughed, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Who’s calling who an idiot?!” Sooyoung protested as she bounced off the couch to pull Sungmin towards her. She quickly put him in a headlock as punishment and he just laughed off the slight pain.

“Are you kids ready?” Hyoyeon screamed as she lifted her phone which had the countdown.

They all stopped what they were doing and stared at each other as they screamed the final countdown.

“10, 9, 8, 7, 6…5! 4! 3! 2!”

Taeyeon was surprised when she felt Tiffany roughly tug her upwards and kissed her. Her shirt was stretched, but she didn’t care much. She happily wrapped her arms around her new girlfriend and smiled into her kiss.

Yuri lifted Jessica into the air and spun her around before kissing her on the lips. Jessica hit her on the head for surprising her, but she kissed her on the same spot she hit her right after, making Yuri laugh.

Sungmin surprised Sooyoung as well as his tiny body lifted his giant of a girlfriend into the air, via bridal style. Sunny kissed Sooyoung with as much love and passion she could muster, muffling her girlfriend’s surprised yelps with her luscious lips.

Sooyoung moaned and clutched her boyfriend’s face, pulling him as close to her as possible and practically eating his face as she ravished him.

Seohyun felt shy, but her resolve remained. While Yoona kissed her on the forehead, she wrapped her arms around her neck, surprising the shorter girl as she leaned down a little to capture her lips with her own. Both girls felt shy, their lips barely pressing against each other at first. However, they were forced together tighter when Hyoyeon pushed their heads closer to each other.

“Now that’s a real kiss,” she snorted before running away from the maknaes.

“HAPPY NEW YEARS!” she cheered loudly, being the only girl without a partner. She sighed, taking her phone out and smiling at a new text. “You better come hang with us next year,” she murmured to herself before replying.