Part 4

They were at the same restaurant that they frequented in a few years back. Both were silent as they took the time to study each other’s faces. Nothing had really changed, except the coldness emanating from both parties.

She wanted to hug her, tell her that she missed her, so bad, but she couldn’t. Not when Taeyeon just witnessed her with some guy dropping her off.

She wanted to explain herself. But what difference would it make? They had already broken up- which meant there were no strings attached between them anymore.

She decided to break the silence.

“Congratulations on your graduation, Taeyeon.”

“Thanks.”

Their food arrived- serving as an excuse to escape from the awkwardness that was rising up.

“Let’s eat?”

In the middle of their dinner, she noticed that Taeyeon had traces of sauce at her bottom lip.

“Taeyeon-ah…” She pointed at her lip with a smirk.

‘Why is she pointing at my lip all of a sudden? Does she…. want to kiss me?’

Taeyeon furrowed her brows and tilted her head on one side. She pointed at her own lip and made a pouting gesture.

“Kiss?”

Tiffany burst into laughter. Her eyes were disappearing once again.

“Dork.” Giggles. “There’s a sauce on your lip.”

Taeyeon wanted to hide her face in shame, or bury herself alive if possible. She wiped the wrong part of her lip.

“Not there.” Tiffany moved forward and wiped the sauce away using her own thumb, leaving Taeyeon dumbfounded.

She realized that what she did was making the both of them blush instantly.

“Uhm.” A pause. “The food here’s still great, right?”

Taeyeon’s heart was suddenly beating fast. She smiled. “I missed the food here. You know my stomach can’t really digest American food so well.”

“That’s why I worried a lot. I don’t want you to starve yourself.”

That made Taeyeon stiff.

Tiffany mentally face-palmed. ‘Am I making her uncomfortable?’

She wanted to ask her the question that had been lingering on her mind for the past few months.

“Taeyeon-ah… Are you back here… for good?”

‘If you give me reasons to stay, I won’t think twice anymore.’ Taeyeon was silent for a moment as she thought about an answer that would be appropriate for the both of them.

“There’s something I want to know.” A pause. “You know, confirm. That’s why I came back here.”

Tiffany felt frustrated at the sly response.

“So how are things between you and… Vegetta?”

Taeyeon wanted to be honest, so she gave a direct answer.

“He’s persistent.” She smiled.

“Oh,” was all that Tiffany could say.

She was hurt. She knew that it was all her fault for letting Taeyeon go. She said some things that weren’t true just to stay away from more heartache.

“How about… you and that guy?” Taeyeon managed.

“Well… We’re taking things slow.”

“I see.” Taeyeon looked away, too hurt to even ask further questions. ‘So it all ends here now, huh?’

“I hope you’re happy, Fany-ah.”

“I am,” she lied. ‘Why can’t we just go back to what we were before?’

They stopped in front of Tiffany’s apartment.

“So...” Taeyeon trailed off. She wanted to hug her, or kiss her even, but something was stopping her. ‘She’s already taken.’

She knew that if she hugged her, it wouldn’t be just a friendly one. There were always feelings involved.

“Can I hug my best friend?”

That question struck Taeyeon like lightning. She was glad that they were thinking of the same thing.

She stepped forward, and shoved everything that was holding her back. She enveloped Tiffany into a suffocating yet comforting hug.

Indeed, they were both longing for this.

Tiffany’s arms were wrapped around her shoulders, and hers were around her neck. They savoured the moment, for it took them years to finally feel each other’s warmth.

“I miss you, Fany.” Tears started to fall down her cheeks.

“What happened to us?” Tiffany couldn’t hold it in any longer. Her voice trembled as she tightened the hug.

Taeyeon didn’t answer. Instead, she just pulled away slowly, stared at Tiffany for a while before planting her lips on her cheek.

Tiffany was taken aback. She surely didn’t expect that. But she liked it. She longed for it to happen- to feel Taeyeon’s lips once again.

She caught Taeyeon’s face between her palms and closed the remaining gap between them.

It was a kiss that conveyed a thousand words that were unspoken.

Their foreheads were glued together