(Part 1)

“Yah! How come you are the better than me in this?! And you’re saying you only played this game now! Tsssss..”

…and you were not helping me adjust at all.

You gave me a scrutinizing look, scrunched up your lips before turning back to the flat TV grudgingly. You kept mumbling words under your breath while you pushed the buttons of the controller, setting yet another round of Naruto team battle. My eyebrows perked up automatically. A question bugged me in the back of my mind. ‘Excuse me, miss, but who are you?’

I admit that I didn’t know anything about you. I could enumerate superficial facts but nothing deeper than that. The whole time mom and I lived with you I didn’t give a damn on getting to know you. All those times, I only saw you as an obstacle, something I needed to get rid of. The thought of you being childish had never occurred to me. I didn’t even think it was possible!

The Kim Taeyeon excitedly barging in my room first thing right after she arrived fr0m her Paris concert? The Kim Taeyeon begging me to play newly bought PS3 games with her? The Kim Taeyeon on the floor, comfortably lying on her stomach, feet absentmindedly swaying in the air? The Kim Taeyeon paying no attention to the puzzled look I was giving her?

I was seeing all those right in front of me yet I still couldn’t believe my eyes.

Even though I had already acknowledged you as a sister, I still didn't know how to act around you. You we're still a stranger to me. Seeing you acting like that (A week after we made up) was weird. And overwhelming.

That's why, when you asked me to play with you, I had an urge to deny your request. I knew that agreeing would bring about awkward result and I was the kind of person who'd always prefer a bad atmosphere over an awkward one. Agreeing to your request was absurd for me... and yet, I did. The hopeful look in your eyes when you asked me tugged a heartstring; backing down had become inevitable.

So, I found myself playing Naruto Shippuden with you in the entertainment section of your room. We had done playing so many battle rounds (You have yet to win even once) that I already lost count.

Even with the amount of time we spent playing and the number of times you kept doing un-sports-like and childish behaviors, especially when you lose, you never failed to amuse me.

“Fany-ah, could you please pass me the bowl of gummy bears? Thank you.” You suddenly asked without taking your eyes off the screen. I quickly stood up and put the bowl in front of you. I sat beside you, waiting for you to reach out for the bowl. You never did. The way your mouth hung slightly as you focused on the screen told me you already forgot about them.

See what I mean? Amusing.

I cocked my head slightly to have better view of your face. Where was that calm and mature person I saw on TV? Where was that elegant music icon everyone looked up to? Were you trying to play with me? Was it all a hidden camera and anytime, someone would pop out from nowhere and scream ‘You got Spunk’ in my face? I looked around your room suspiciously at the thought.

I tried to brush the thought away by focusing on you again. ‘Was this really the true you?’ I asked myself for the nth time that day. Observing you furrowing your eyebrows in concentration as you picked for a better character to play, aside from your face, I saw no remnant of that person you portrayed yourself in front of the public. All I saw was a child in a body of a young adult. You were a strange sight indeed. 

I was never a fan of strange and creepy beings (Especially of bugs. Bugs will be the death of me) but when you suddenly turned to me with a child-like pout, eyebrows raised expectantly, the corner of my mouth turned up a little. Seeing you like that, I thought you didn’t look bad. As a person, I mean. I wasn’t checking you out or something.

“Aren’t you going to change character, Fany-ah?” You asked me innocently, interrupting my train of thoughts. You were referring to the game character but your question came to me differently.

Aren’t you going to change character, Fany-ah?

Am I going to change now? Could I? Would I?

I paused to consider. You were looking at me expectantly, waiting for an answer. I thought I didn't have a lot of time to decide so I nodded. When, I reached for the game controller, I saw you smile before you turned to the screen again. Sneaking a glance at you from the corner of my eyes, I thought, 'It probably wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.'

You loved ice cream. Every time you were home to join us for breakfast, whatever the food being served may be, you always had a cup of ice cream beside your plate.

I knew that because the following days after you asked me to play with you, I started joining you and Mom for breakfast; something that I never did before the day we made up.

Before you found us, it had always been just Mom and I who eat together. I didn’t enjoy the sight of you and Mom sharing the same table. I thought you were trying to replace me. That's why,  I normally just grab food from the kitchen and eat in my room; I couldn’t bear sitting at the same table watching you do that. 

I could still remember the first time I joined the two of you. How nervous and shy I felt. The look on Mom’s face when I walked into the dining room and hesistantly sat opposite you. The grin plastered on your face that was way too creepy I got tempted to ask Mom if you’re normally like that and swore in my mind that time if Mom said yes to that, I would never sit at the same room as you ever again. I still remember everything about that day clearly. 

Especially the way our mother smiled and the reason behind it.

I remember that after long awkward moment of you two staring at me, you were the one who broke the silence. “Oh!” You suddenly exclaimed while looking at the cup of ice cream you were holding, as if you just remembered what you were doing before I came. You immediately scrambled to open the lid and asked me, “Want some?” right after you successfully opened it. Though I had to decline (Eating cold foods in the morning made my teeth ache), that simple interaction between us was enough to make Mom smile that smile that even now was still embedded in my mind.

Eyes b with happy tears, forehead and side of both eyes gaining creases, eyes glittering as her vibrant chuckle echoed in the dining room,  corner of the mouth turn upwards; full of contentment. That smile. A smile so happy that it made Mom look so young and healthy. I loved that smile.

Seeing that smile on our Mother's face, I knew I made the right choice. 

Hwang Tiffany could  and would change. Hwang Tiffany knew it would be hard but for her that smile was worth trying. Hwang Tiffany could do it. Hwang Tiffany would do it to keep that smile on her mother's face.

That day, I promised myself not only to do everything to keep our Mom happy but also to make it up to you, in whatever means possible. Not only because I 0wed you for all the bad things I did, but also for you being one of the reasons that smile became a possibility.

So if you found Taeyeon acting not like her usual calm, collected, 'glamorous' character, it's because Tiffany didn't pay attention to those things before or had failed to recognize them. There might also be other reason for taeyeon acting the way she did but I will not disclose that for now. 

Thank you all for reading and if you have questions, suggestions, violent reactions, or ANY kind of  matter you want to say, feel free to include it on your comment. Whether it's a criticism or just an insight, I'll be happy to hear it. Please continue supporting this fic. Thank you again.