Chapter 25

Pursuit of Parallel Happiness

“Okay, look into the camera. Good!”

 

I smiled awkwardly towards the photographer as I wondered where I should put my hands.

 

“Nice, you look naturally awkward! Excellent!”

 

For a moment, I don’t know if I should feel angry or happy at the compliment.

 

Wait, is that even a compliment?! I sighed inwardly as I tried to convince myself all this is worth the effort.

 

Things I do for Taeyeon. I shook my head of the thoughts and tried to concentrate on the shoot.

 

“Good, weird head shaking is the new awkward!”

 

Great! I thought sarcastically. Here I was trying to psych myself into doing this and the photographer is seriously not helping.

 

UGH. Seriously, they better make up or I will personally kill them!

 

-

 

“Thanks.” Taeyeon said sincerely as she sat down on her bed after dinner.

 

“For?” Tiffany asked as she closed the door behind her.

 

“Everything.” Taeyeon whispered softly, feeling a little unsure of what to say. The dinner started off slow as Tiffany and her family got to know each other. There was no doubt that they quickly hit off with Tiffany’s bright personality and the mood quickly lightens up. In Taeyeon’s eyes, nothing could top the feeling of seeing Tiffany and her family laughing and chatting over dinner.

 

On the other hand, Tiffany heard the whisper and smiled. Taeyeon was finally relenting.

 

Summing up her courage, Tiffany moved towards Taeyeon and leaned in for a kiss.

 

“No, thank you.” Tiffany said as she pulled away. “Thank you for being so forgiving.”

 

A moment passed as they looked into each other’s eyes, searching for a reason why they gave up.

 

Taeyeon broke the gaze first and sighed.

 

“This feels so right.” Taeyeon forced out her words.

 

“Then don’t break up with me.” Tiffany held Taeyeon’s hands and knelt in front of her. “I don’t want to.”

 

“But all we do when we see each other is yelling at each other. I don’t want that. I don’t want us to be like this.” Taeyeon choked as her tears started to well up.

 

“Then talk to me. Work things out.” Tiffany reached out to wipe Taeyeon’s tears. “I want us to work.”

 

Taeyeon moved off the bed and knelt in front of the kneeling Tiffany before pulling her into a hug.

 

“I miss you.” Taeyeon sniffed.

 

“I miss you too.” Tiffany finally let her tears dropped as she hugged Taeyeon tighter.

 

-

 

Ooooohhhhh eel rice!!!

 

There is a silver lining to this after all! I gulped at the sight of my favourite food.

 

After the excruciating shoot, I can’t help but smile widely at my well-deserved reward.

 

Not sparing another moment, I took the chopsticks and dived right in.

 

Just as I stuffed myself with a mouthful of rice, I saw Seohyun, Tiffany’s manager sat down in front of me.

 

“Slow down, unnie.” Seohyun said. “They are all yours and you have an image to maintain.”

 

I nodded in response but continued to munch on my mouthful of rice nonetheless.

 

“You did well today, Stephanie unnie.”

 

And I choked.

 

And I spit out my mouthful of rice.

 

Into her face.

 

Where did that come from?! My eyes widen in shock as I stare blankly at Seohyun.

 

How the hell she knew?

 

She knew?!

 

Seohyun chuckled awkwardly as she slowly removed the rice on her face.

 

“Guess I should have waited till you finish chewing.” Seohyun shrugged. “Yup, I know though Tiffany unnie doesn’t know that I do.”

 

“Don’t worry, I want the same thing as both of you want.” She added as she gave me a reassuring smile.

 

“But… but… how?” I asked, confused.

 

“I have my source.” Seohyun smiled mischievously.

 

-

 

“Let’s hold a get together, invite our friends and tell them about us.” Tiffany suggested as she looked up at Taeyeon. They were cuddling in Taeyeon’s bed with Tiffany side hugging Taeyeon.

 

“You don’t have to do this.” Taeyeon said as she played with their intertwined hands.

 

“But I want to.” Tiffany insisted. “I want to know all your friends and I want you to know mine.”

 

Taeyeon sighed as she looked into Tiffany’s eyes, wondering if she has been too hard on Tiffany.

 

“Thank you.” Taeyeon finally said. “So who do you want to invite?”

 

“Yes!” Tiffany exclaimed excitedly. “Well, there’s Jessica and Yuri of course, though they know about us already. Oh, my manager Seohyun, I kind of feel guilty every time I slip out to meet you. It’s about time to let her know, don’t you think? And my friend Hyoyeon, she always managed to bring a smile to me during my dance practices. What about you?”

 

“Hmmm…” Taeyeon wondered for a moment. “Yoona and Stephanie for one, but they know about us too. How about Sunny and Sooyoung? They have been my great friends at work.”

 

“Okay, that’s a deal!” Tiffany smiled widely.

 

-

 

A week later

 

“Yah, why did you start eating before everyone comes?” I asked as I tried to grab the bowl in Yoona’s hands.

 

“Do you even know what kind of dinner we having later?” Yoona asked back.

 

“Erm, a gathering for Taeyeon and Tiffany to tell close friends about their relationship?” I replied, a little unsure why that has to do with her eating first.

 

“Uhuh. I probably can’t get to eat later.” Yoona continued to stuff herself with the spread Taeyeon prepared earlier.

 

Taeyeon had gone off to pick up Tiffany and Seohyun from her dorm while Yoona and I were waiting in our apartment for the other guests to arrive.

 

I was about to question what Yoona meant when the doorbell rang. Thinking Yoona can very much eat two portions and therefore there was no need for me to worry about her eating again later, I headed towards the door.

 

“Wow, you really looked like her.” Jessica said the moment I opened the door.

I smiled apologetically at her as I was technically lying about my identity. Taeyeon and Tiffany had vaguely told their our friends about me to avoid scaring them when they arrive for the dinner.

 

“Oh come on, don’t be rude. Hi, I am Yuri.” Yuri reached out to shake my hand. “And this is Jessica, my girlfriend.”

 

“Well hi!” I held out my hand, feeling a little weird to act like I first met them.

 

“Yah, what about me?” Hyoyeon complained.

 

“You can introduce yourself.” Yuri shrugged.

 

“Hi, I am Hyoyeon, Tiffany’s dance instructor.” Hyoyeon shoved Yuri out of the way and shook my hand instead.

 

“Why is everyone standing outside?” Sunny suddenly spoke from behind the trio.

 

“Oh sorry, my bad. Come on in!” I stepped away from the door and let all of them in.

 

“OH FOOD!” Sooyoung pushed her way through and made her way to the dining table.

 

“Yah, where’s your manners? Sorry about that, I am Sunny and that’s Sooyoung.” Sunny said apologetically as I closed the door.

 

They quickly settled down around the dining area as Yoona and Sooyoung continued to help themselves with the food.

 

I looked at them as they started talking amongst themselves as if they knew each other long ago.

 

“You guys know each other?” I couldn’t help asking.

 

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and looked at me and then at Yoona.

 

“Erm, sort of?” Yoona said.

 

I narrowed my eyes at her.

 

“What? I was worried about Taeyeon unnie and Tiffany unnie so I had to get help right?” Yoona exclaimed defensively.

 

No wonder she was worried that she won’t get to eat all the food later. I thought.

 

Just then, the front door opened.

 

“Woah, everyone’s here.” Taeyeon commented.

 

“Good thing you guys look well acquainted.” Tiffany added as she stood beside Taeyeon.

 

Seohyun simply strolled in and sat down next to Yoona.

 

“Okay…” Taeyeon said hesitantly as she watched everyone. “Why are you guys so comfortable with each other as if this isn’t the first time you guys met?”

 

Hmmm perceptive. I thought as I looked at Taeyeon.

 

“Oh well, then we can skip the small talks and go right to the issue of the day.” Tiffany shrugged.

 

“Right,” Taeyeon smiled happily as she held Tiffany hands up. “We are together!”

 

“Finally!” Sooyoung spoke. “Now we can all dig in!”

 

“Get me a plate, Yuri.” Jessica nudged Yuri, who went into the kitchen.

 

“Yah, stop eating from my plate!” Sunny swatted off Sooyoung’s fork.

 

“Do you have alcohol?” Hyoyeon asked as she peeped into the fridge.

 

Yoona remained silent as she scooped some vegetables for Seohyun.

 

“That wasn’t what I expected.” Tiffany said as she watched everyone busied themselves with the food on the table.

 

“Wait…” Taeyeon was confused. “You guys knew?”

 

“Uhuh.” Jessica said nonchalantly as she took the plate from Yuri’s hands.

 

“But… but… how?” Taeyeon asked.

 

Everyone did the same thing when I asked them earlier, they paused for a moment to look at Yoona while Yoona fidget nervously in her seat.

 

“You mean my worries were all for nothing?” Taeyeon frowned.

 

I watched as the awkward silence slipped in.

 

“Cause sooner or later, we’ll wonder why we gave up. The truth is everyone knows~~” I sang to break the awkward silence.

 

Taeyeon immediately gave me the glare and I quickly looked at Yoona to direct the attention back to her.

 

“IM YOONA!”

 

-

 

A/N:

I am not rushing things, am I?

 

Not sure if this is considered spoiler but I have a question. What do you guys think about a genderbender dimension? Yes? No?

 

Replies to my lovely readers who commented on last chapter:

@JewishChinese : Haha, that's what happens when you day dream too much...

@Taenyforevarz : Yupyup, you and me both. Don't want this to be too angsty.

@Derpy123 : I seriously wondered if there are any shoots with the theme 'awkward' LOL.

@tipco09 : yeah, but its kinda sad that people normally learn to appreciate things when they lost them.

@shigatsu023thanks for your patience!! yeah, was having a little writer's block. happy to see my readers being so nice and wait for my updates!

@KkapJpwn : haha, well, i can't really write angsty stuff so goofy it is!

@Rocksmith27 : hmmmm... I can't spoil it, can I? =P

@PANICMOON : around the same age as with the dimension travelling Tiffany. I am planning to make her travel all dimensions but it kind of depends on whether I have ideas for different dimensions. Don't want to repeat plots to bore people. Sssshhhh! Don't tell anyone! Oops too late. I have been thinking about having a genderbender dimension but I am not sure about it just yet. Haha, nono, I like long comments!

 

Till next time~!

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HolyCrab
From now onwards, its gonna be crazy updates till completion. =DDD

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UndefinedCharacter
16 streak #1
Chapter 41: Love the table! That sums up everything! Thanks for posting this chapter!
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16 streak #2
Chapter 40: Yes! I love happy endings! I enjoyed this story very much! Really, better late than never reading this!
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Chapter 37: Yep, that was 2014...
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Chapter 36: Ah, this chapter... 🥲
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Chapter 34: Next!
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Chapter 32: What the?! 🤯
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Chapter 28: Cute!
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Chapter 25: Not rushed for me, I like the flow of the story. 😉
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Chapter 23: I knew it! I thought I was confused! 😁
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Chapter 18: I love jessica! 😁