Tiffany slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times to adjust her sight with the faint light in the room, waking up feeling relaxed, comfortable, and warm. Her head is craddled against Taeyeon’s bare chest and his arms were wrapped around her, holding her close to him with only the white, thin, and silky duvet covering their bodies while Taeyeon is softly and gently her exposed arm that’s comfortably wrapped around him. She then slightly raised her head, glancing up at him and meeting his warm, loving eyes.

“Hi.” Taeyeon softly said as he lovingly smiled at her, tucking her hair behind her ear before sweetly kissing her on the forehead. He hasn’t slept yet as he relished the moment of having Tiffany in his arms and the joy that it brings to him while watching her sleep is just too precious for him to miss.

“Hi…” she answered in a slightly hoarse voice, blushing madly as the memories of last night flashed through her mind along with the fact that she’s completely in the bed cuddling with him who is just as equally as her. She mentally thanked the dim light in the room that hides the obvious blush in her face as she looked away from him, fighting the urge to just snuggle back to him.

Hesitantly, she pushed herself up from him, lying down on her back against the soft mattress. She pulled the duvet tighter over her bare chest as she tried to calm her pounding heart down while glancing on the digital clock on top of the night table, indicating that it’s still too early in the morning – quarter after 3 am.

There was a comforting silence between them as Taeyeon carefully rolled to his side, facing her while watching her staring blankly at the ceiling.

In a beat, Tiffany turned to her side too as she faced him, making sure there’s a small gap between them that their skins are barely touching.

“How are you?” he asks, sounding worried as he carefully reached out and caressed her face.

Tiffany closed her eyes as she relished the warm feeling, succumbing to his touch. It was just a simple touch but it was so warm and comforting, relaxing every bit of her whole being.

“I’m good…” she breathes, not wanting to open her eyes as her blood rushed to her face once again.

‘Amazingly good…’

It has been a really long while – four years – since she last slept with someone, with Taeyeon. And it feels like doing it the first time with him again but the pleasure last night was bitter-sweet yet she feels heavenly good.

“Do you… regret it?”

Her eyes fluttered open with his question, meeting his eyes full of anxiety as he looks helpless waiting for her answer. He continued running his thumb through her cheek, staring deeply into her eyes and fighting the urge to hold her in his arms again.

‘Do I regret it?...’

There was a long silence between them as Tiffany hesitated to answer him. She wanted to say that she regrets it – for her pride, maybe – and tell him she was not in the right mind last night, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t because she doesn’t regret it. She wanted him, just as much as he wanted her.

Finding her voice that was like stuck in for a while, she sighed as she held Taeyeon’s hand that’s still gently caressing her face and stared directly into his eyes.

“No.” she shyly whispered as she blushed yet again upon uttering the word, making Taeyeon freeze for a second.

He blinked at her, surprised by her answer as he already imagined and expected that she will be mad at him, hate him more, and run away from him.

“No?...” he mumbled, staring confusedly at her and Tiffany tries hard to stop herself from giggling at his cute, confused and surprised expression that she missed, too.

Seeing her having a hard time keeping a blank expression, Taeyeon sighed in relief. A sweet smile was then drawn on his face and Tiffany slowly let go of his hand as they continued staring at each other.

There was another long silence between them as Taeyeon retracted his hand from her face, not daring to break their eye contact.

“I missed you… I really missed you, Taeyeon.” Tiffany softly said as she reached out and gently run her fingers through his messy, y hair and then caressed his cheek lovingly.

“But I’m still hurt… it still hurts…” she continued, staring deeply into his eyes as she cupped his face with her hand.

Taeyeon’s eyes flickered with pain and Tiffany had the urge to kiss him but she restrained herself from doing so. He looks so sad, broken, and dazed. She wanted to comfort him as it breaks her heart to see him looking like a lost, vulnerable child but she just stayed in her place – staring deeply at him as she absentmindedly run her fingers through his hair.

Silence once again engulfed them and Tiffany inwardly flinched as she continued staring directly into Taeyeon’s eyes. She has never seen that deep, pensive, and painfully sad look in his eyes and something inside her told her that it was not only herself who suffered and was hurt through the past few years.

Taeyeon opened his mouth to say something but closed it again as he was not exactly sure what to say and Tiffany continued staring at him, not saying anything as her heart clenched in pain seeing the melancholy and vulnerable look in his face that he tried to hide by averting his gaze from her.

“I’m really sorry for hurting you…” he softly said as he stared back at her, gently grabbing her hand that’s now cupping his cheek and softly kissed it.

“Last chance, Fany-ah… just give me one last chance, please?”

“Taeyeon, I----“

“You said you love me, too.”

“When did I say I love you… too?”

Tiffany furrowed her brows as she stared at him anxiously for she couldn’t remember saying those words to him last night. She racked her brain trying to recall if she really had said those words to him but she just ended up blushing as she remembers their intimate love-making last night.

“Before you fell asleep. You don’t know how happy I am when you said those words...”

Taeyeon’s gentle voice interrupted her thoughts and snapped her back to her senses. Her breath caught up on her chest as he stared lovingly at her, smiling warmly as he looked openly pleased at her unconscious yet genuine declaration of love after their very intimate bonding last night.

“One last chance, Fany-ah… that’s all I’m asking for.”

Tiffany took a deep breath and retracted her hand from his hold. She was confused. There’s no doubt she still loves him but she wasn’t sure if it will be the right choice to follow her heart and give him another chance.

“It’s not gonna be that easy, Taeyeon. If I’d give you that chance, how can I trust you that you’d never hurt me again?... And do you think you can accept Lauren?... Can you love another man’s child?”

Her voice cracked. She bit her lower lip upon seeing the shift in Taeyeon’s eyes as she lied about Lauren’s father. It was the same look in his eyes when she first blurted out to him about having a daughter.

Ever since that day when Taeyeon told Lauren that he wanted to be her daddy, she has been thinking whether she’d tell the truth to him or not because no matter how hard she tried to deny it, she is actually happy to see him and Lauren together. She knows Taeyeon would be happy to know that he is indeed her daughter’s father and she can see that he sincerely cares for her. However, she doesn’t want him to come back to her just because he has a responsibility to her – their child.

She wanted him to prove himself to her because no matter how much she loves him, her trust to him and their relationship had been greatly damaged. She doesn’t want to get hurt again but most of all, she wants to protect their daughter. If it was only her, she would’ve accepted him back in her life without giving it so much thought. But she has a daughter, they have a child – Lauren, who will be hurt and suffer more if Taeyeon would repeat the same mistake or even worse.

She stared at him and anxiously waited for his answer. Ironically, she wanted to take her lie back as Taeyeon seems to be really hurt by her words.

“If you’d let me be selfish, then the answer is yes.” said Taeyeon after a few moments of defeaning silence between them.

Tiffany blinked and her heart skipped a beat when Taeyeon leaned closer and stared lovingly at her. She bit her lower lip as he gently held her hand and kissed it before continuing, with a warm smile drawn on his face.

“I wouldn’t have told you that I want you back if I can’t accept your daughter. I’d be honest, I was really surprised and hurt when I learned about her… but that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t accept her…”

Taeyeon paused and chuckled a little as he remembered the first time he met Lauren. At first, he really found it strange but nonetheless enjoyed their little interaction until he learned that she is Tiffany’s daughter and ironically, he found himself gradually loving the adorable little girl who calls him daddy.

“I love you, Fany-ah… and I'm going to love your daughter as much as my own.”

“Tiff?”

“Oh, hi unnie. Am I late for the meeting?”

“No. Not yet. Wait, aren’t you supposed to still be in Jeju?”

Hyoyeon suspiciously eyed her, narrowing her eyes while patiently waiting for the fidgeting young woman’s response. In a few minutes, they will be having the bi-annual meeting for the higher management but the last time she checked Tiffany’s schedule, she’s supposed to be still in Jeju Island until later in the afternoon.

“Errr… I don’t want to miss this meeting and I figure it’s better to let everyone know that we managed to get the attention of Ms. Kim. We didn’t have the chance to meet her though ‘cos according to Mr. Choi, she had to go back to Seoul urgently after the conference but he said she wanted to meet us, earliest would be this week… and there are few respected directors and producers who want to work wi---“ Tiffany started babbling and was cut-off by Hyoyeon who held her shoulders, stopping in front of her as they stopped walkin