Wednesday evening.

Taeyeon sped through the rehearsals and quickly said her goodbyes before running off to some unknown destination. Taeyeon almost never ran anywhere, so she quickly ran out of stamina but she pressed on, a mission clear in her head. The girls watched the small girl’s back awkwardly run towards the school’s exit, wondering where in the world she could be hurrying off to.

“My bet is diarhrrea,” Hyoyeon said bluntly, causing the girls to burst into laughter. She smiled widely at her own joke and punched the air before cheering out loud for Taeyeon as she sped off.

“I told unnie not to eat the leftover pizza,” Seohyun sighed, shaking her head with disappointment. “I should have thrown it out before she got to it.” Yoona smiled at her girlfriend who took Hyoyeon’s joke a little too seriously and squeezed her hand. Seohyun on the other hand was confused as to why Yoona was so happy that Taeyeon might have some issues with her bowels.

“Tomorrow night is dress rehearsal guys,” Sooyoung announced, exiting the auditorium only a few minutes after Taeyeon dashed out. “You all did great today, but it’s almost the real thing so don’t you dare disappoint me!”

Sungmin wrapped an arm around Sooyoung’s waist and pulled her closer before going on his tip toes and giving her a kiss on the forehead.  She blushed immediately, not expecting it since she had been the one initiating all of their intimate moments since the beginning of the week. She was happy nonetheless and happily made herself snug in his small arm.

The girls all walked towards the same direction, deciding to go get some snacks at a nearby café. Even though all girls were fairly busy, they felt that sparing less than an hour to be with friends would be a good idea. Company was always a stress reliever, especially in a group as large as their own.

“I wonder where Taeyeon ran off to,” Yuri asked out loud, feeling the void left behind by their eldest.

Jessica glanced over at Tiffany who looked a little gloomy. She nudged the girl and tilted her head, asking the obvious question.

“Guys, I have some news for you,” she announced as they filed into a booth. They were squished as usual and Jessica even sat on Yuri’s lap as they sat on the edge.

They all looked at her expectantly, knowing that it had something to do with the missing girl. And as she prepared her words, Yuri ordered everyone’s regular to make the waitress go away as soon as possible.

“My dad found out about us,” she stated with slumped shoulders. “He told me that I wasn’t allowed to talk to Taeyeon until I realize that what we have isn’t ‘real’.” Tiffany rolled her eyes as she put as much emphasis into her air quotes as possible, her irritation clear.

“What?” Sungmin blurted, doing his best to act as if this was news.

“Right? It’s so stupid. But at least he didn’t do anything worse,” Tiffany sighed, resting her head on her arms.

“So what’s the plan then?” Hyoyeon asked, scrunching her face up before leaning her head on Seohyun.

Tiffany shrugged, “Wait it out, I guess? I’ll just tell him that I’m over Taeyeon in like a week or something and then we’ll go back to being perfect secret girlfriends again!”

The group of friends exchanged similar looks.

“What?” the pink clad girl asked.

“Wouldn’t you just end up in the same spot again?” Yoona brought up with a frown, “And to be honest, while it is kind of cute how you guys get all lovey dovey when we’re all alone, I’m sure you can’t be a secret forever.”

Sooyoung nodded and leaned against the table once her slice of chocolate cake arrived. She dug in without a second to spare, but made sure her focus remained on Tiffany.

“It may be fun now, Fany but you’re going to get tired of pretending nothing’s happening,” Sooyoung began, full but it didn’t stop her from continuing. Sungmin cleaned the crumbs off her chin silently and she blushed, unaware of the mess she was making.

“Family is important you know and so is telling the truth. Plus, wouldn’t you want to show Taeyeon off like how I show off Sungmin to my family?” Sooyoung gleefully added, grabbing Sungmin’s arm tighter and shaking him slightly.

“But that’s different,” Tiffany groaned, picking at the strawberry on the top of her cake slice. “He’s a boy, so I’m sure your parents won’t be upset. He can marry you and you guys can have kids, a family and all that jazz.”

Sungmin stood up suddenly, nearly scaring his girlfriend and the surrounding girls. But he laughed it off, bowing in apology.

“Sorry guys, I just remembered that my mom needed me for something,” he said rather lamely, avoiding eye contact with the others. He leaned down to kiss Sooyoung goodbye. “Good luck Fany, and I’m sorry guys but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He walked quickly out of the café and the girls watched him disappear almost as quickly as Taeyeon.

“Well that was weird,” Yuri commented. “It’s almost as if-“

Her speech was interrupted when the girls noticed Sooyoung quickly taking Sungmin’s cheesecake.

“What? He’s my boyfriend.”

“Anyway,” Yoona spoke up, laughing a little to ease her nervousness. She knew exactly why Sungmin left. She coughed into her hand and smiled a little at Tiffany.

“Maybe if you sat down and talked to your dad about how serious you are about Taeyeon, he’ll reconsider?”

Tiffany shook her head, “He doesn’t really listen, especially when it comes to something like this.” She picked at her cake until it fell into crumbles all over her plate.

“You can still have a family,” Seohyun brought up, her face stern as she looked Tiffany in the eye. “You guys can adopt. Your father is just stubborn unnie, if my parents and Yoona’s parents can accept us, then I’m sure your father will eventually.”

“You just gotta be as stubborn as the old man,” Hyoyeon backed up, placing an arm around her precious dongsaeng. “My parents hated the idea of me liking Min at first. Actually, in the beginning I was in denial too. But in the end, they told me as long as I’m happy, that’s all that matters.”

Jessica raised her hand, “Wait a second are you guys together?”

Hyoyeon started to laugh in some sort of attempt to hide her blush. Yoona smiled slyly before pinching Hyoyeon’s cheeks to make the colour seem a lot more obvious.

“We might be,” Hyoyeon answered, her laughter not stopping. She wagged her fingers at the other girls as the volume of her laugh flunctuated. It was awkward, but the girls soaked it in and enjoyed it. At least there was one source of good news.

---

Taeyeon sat in front of Tiffany’s house, huffing and puffing. Why did she run the entire way over? Was it some sort of attempt to calm herself down? She asked herself over and over as she tried to regain her breath. She felt a little dizzy, almost as if her body and soul had been separated on the run over.

She ignored the laughter from the neighbourhood kids. Apparently she ran like an elderly woman. But she couldn’t focus on anything other than finding her way to the Hwang residence.

Taeyeon went over her mental checklist. Tiffany was going to Jessica’s house tonight and probably wouldn’t be home until after dinner, which gave her plenty of time. And if she was correct and Mr. Hwang still had the same working schedule he’s had since they were kids, then he’d be home right at this moment.

Taeyeon felt hot. Was it because of all the running? The sweat was pretty evident on her face and it seemed that no matter how much she tried to wipe it off, it just wouldn’t stop.

But she had downed two water bottles and had been resting for at least fifteen minutes.

And not to mention it was still really cold outside.

So why did she feel so hot?

Taeyeon wondered if she prepared enough for this moment. She wondered if maybe she should have waited until tomorrow night so she’d be doing it at the same time as Sunny. Remembering her best friend’s bravery always gave her a boost of confidence.

But no, tonight was the only time she could do it. Tomorrow was dress rehearsals so Taeyeon needed to stay extra long after the performers have left and Tiffany was going to be resting at home.

She couldn’t possibly do it with Tiffany around, especially with what she was planning on saying.

The door opened and Taeyeon immediately stood up. She held her head, feeling a strange rush as she became flustered.

“Taeyeon?” Tiffany’s father called out as he opened the door. “What are you doing here?”

Taeyeon couldn’t clearly read the expression on the man’s face, but she was grateful that he didn’t immediately close the door on her.

“I wanted to talk with you, sir,” Taeyeon managed to spit out. She could feel her body shaking, trembling, and she was thankful for the cold weather for the cover up.

“Sir?” Mr. Hwang repeated, a small smile on his face. “Taeyeon, you’ve been calling me daddy like Fany has since she first introduced you in elementary school.”

The small girl wasn’t sure of what to make with that response, so she shut , lips pressed tightly together as she looked at the tall man confused.

“Come on in, you must be freezing,” he said, leading the girl in and closing the door behind her.

The two sat at the kitchen table, face to face, each with a cup of tea in hand. Taeyeon seemed to be searching for the words she carefully went over at home in her tea while Mr. Hwang gazed at Taeyeon with curiousity.

He knew exactly why Taeyeon came over, why she wanted to talk with him. Honestly he had to give her points for being so brave. Not even Tiffany always had the courage to talk back at him.

“U-Um,” Taeyeon stuttered, her gaze finally averting from the green liquid to the man sitting across from her. He didn’t even look mad, but his presence terrified her. This man was what was keeping her from Tiffany, this man was the one who held all the power. As much as she hated it, it was essential to get his approval no matter what.

“Yes?” he responded, leaning a little more forward. When he noticed Taeyeon flinching he laughed inwardly, never having seen the small girl like this ever.

She was always brave for his scaredy cat of a daughter. She was always there to protect her.

“Why can’t you accept Fany and I being together?” she managed to say clearly. She surprised even herself with her success, but supressed her victory dance. She had took the first difficult step.

“It’s simple Taeyeon, and I’ve explained this to Miyoung as well. You’re a girl, and natural law has made it so that girls and boys should be coupled up.”

Taeyeon frowned. A simple and stubborn, overused answer.

“Love shouldn’t have any laws surrounding it,” came Taeyeon’s retort. It took every ounce of her body to not stutter, to not hold back at all. She needed to be strong, for her and for Tiffany. She needed to show her father that she meant serious business.

“Taeyeon-ah, I don’t want to be mean and I don’t want either of you to hate me. But truly, can you tell me that the two of you are in love?” he asked sternly, his hand now resting on the table as he stood his ground. He watched Taeyeon’s reaction carefully and was pleased that she didn’t flinch at all.

“I can’t speak for Fany,” Taeyeon started, looking down at her tea again. “But sir, I’ve been in love with your daughter for years now. And you know her, she’s been boy crazy since we met and yet, she accepted me after all this time. I-I think she’s made her decision sir, and I trust her when she tells me that she loves me.”

Tiffany’s father shook his head, “Exactly. That is exactly my point Taeyeon. My little girl would come home every day and rave about some boy at school or some pretty boy celebrity and yet one day she tells me she has a girlfriend? That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Taeyeon doesn’t answer, but only hangs her head as she carefully thinks of something to say back.

“That’s why I told her to stay away from you. I felt that space would make her realize that she’s just being swept up in the idea of you two being together. You’re her best friend, aren’t you? Of course she loves you. Platonic feelings aren’t really that far from romantic, she’s probably confused.”

Taeyeon closed her eyes as she processed what the man opposite of her was saying. Of course she’s thought of all those things. They were her biggest fears since the first moment she suspected Tiffany liking her back. But no, they’ve gone too far, been through far too much for this all to be some mistake, some phase.

“If that’s so,” Taeyeon spoke up, her eyes piercing Mr. Hwang’s with their intensity. “Then we will deal with it when the time comes. But sir, I deeply and truly believe that Tiffany loves me, and without a doubt I love her too. So please, let us be together and give us your blessing. It would mean the world to her and to me as well.”

A pause. His eyes were closed. Was he really considering Taeyeon’s words? Taeyeon could feel her chest tightening as she waited for man’s reply. She could feel some glint of hope, even if it was small. At least it was something at this point and it was everything she needed. She just needed to keep pushing, keep fighting.

“What are your intentions exactly, Taeyeon?” his eyes opened and his question caught the girl a little off guard. But she took in a deep breath and kept eye contact.

“I hope to love Tiffany to the best of my ability and one day marry her.” Her answer was simple and completely accurate. What else could there be?

“Can you really make her happy? How can you raise a family this way? You know as well as I do that the girl wants three kids and a puppy. Could you handle that? How can you even provide children?”

Taeyeon prepared an answer for this question. She was thankful that Tiffany’s dad was somewhat reasonable.

“I promise to make her happy to the best of my ability, sir. And kids, I’d love to have kids. We can adopt, there are many children out there without a family. I know Tiffany almost as well as you do, and I’ve thought about all these things. I know I can do it, I know we can do it. Please, just believe in us.”

Taeyeon’s voice became somewhat desperate near the end as she folded her hands and pleaded. The tears that had been building up since she ran out of the school building started to fall and she could even feel a little snot coming out of her nose.

“Miyoung texted me earlier saying that she would be home for dinner,” he replied, getting up. “You should probably leave now, Taeyeon.”

Flustered and a little confused, Taeyeon bowed to Tiffany’s father and thanked him for the tea before getting her coat and other accessories back on. She watched the man’s back as she wondered if maybe she screwed up or missed something?

“I’ll think about everything you said today,” he said as he opened the door. He gave her a small smile and a pat on the shoulder. “I like you a lot Taeyeon and I know how close you and Miyoung are. I honestly believed in what I told Miyoung when she first told me abouit you two, but since you so bravely came out and talked to me I decided to think about it a bit more. It’s only fair, right?”

A bright smile spread across Taeyeon’s face at the sound of those sweet, beautiful words. She hopped on the spot and bowed once again to Tiffany’s father.

“I sincerely appreciate this,” she shouted from her 90 degree bow. “Thank you so much for listening to me. I hope you have a good night!”

And with that, Taeyeon sprinted into the cold winter towards her next destination, Sunny’s house. They had to continue working on the talent show after all.

Meanwhile, Tiffany’s dad watched amused as Taeyeon tried her best to run. Her movements were awkward and he was concerned that she was going to slip or something, but thankfully she was steady. If he remembered well, neither Jessica nor Taeyeon were particularly huge fans of running.

He chuckled as the small girl’s shadow eventually appeared along with her figure.

“You sure are making this harder for me.”