Chapter Four

~~~

Taeyeon glanced at the young highschool couple that were sitting at the bus stop together, whispering words into each other's ears as they grasped onto each other's hand as if their life depended on it. The black girl shifted in her seat a bit as she heard three words she hadn't heard for a while. I love you.

She had almost let out a scoff but she held it in. Love. It was a strong word, was it not? Taeyeon hadn't said that word to anybody for the past four years, no one. Only because she had no reason to say it. She had not loved anybody nor does she think she will ever.

To be quite frank, Taeyeon thought of the word Love as just a word now. It was just a word that had no special feelings behind it, no purpose to her. It was an empty word. Taeyeon could say the words 'I love you' to a million people and never mean it, simply because she knows love is something that'll never exist in her life.

Boy, was she wrong.

~~~

"Taeyeon," the voice made Taeyeon freeze for a moment because she expected a load of questions to follow up. But, instead, Tiffany simply sat besides Taeyeon on the bench while staring at the garden, "The garden is doing good. It's pretty, isn't it?"

The older girl gave Tiffany an odd look. Wasn't Tiffany going to bombard her with questions? The red head caught on to Taeyeon's stare, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" 

Taeyeon decided to shrug it off, perhaps Tiffany wasn't bothered at all due to her absence. The black haired girl shook her head and turned her gaze to the pink flowers that were in front of her. "Pink is my favorite color," Tiffany stated, looking at the pink flower that had caught Taeyeon's eye, "That one's a Petunia, isn't it?" Tiffany asked, pointing to the pink flower.

The shorter girl gave a nod of her head, staring at the pink colored flower. For some reason, Taeyeon liked flowers. Maybe becuase they were pretty. Sure, they were pretty, but they tasted pretty bitter. That's why Taeyeon liked them, flowers reminded her of herself. Pretty on the outside but bitter once you take a bite into it. And don't ask how Taeyeon knows the taste of a flower, she was a curious kid when she was younger.

" It shows love and awareness," Taeyeon mumbled under her breath, surprising Tiffany at the random sentence. Tiffany furrowed her eyebrows, "Love and awareness?" The older girl nodded once.

Tiffany decided to take a chance with her luck as she asked Taeyeon a question that the older girl could not answer with a shake of her head, "What's your favorite color?" 

"Blue," Taeyeon answered shortly, staring at the dark blue orchids resting in a pot over at the side. Tiffany was not looking at the flower this time, but she was looking at Taeyeon, who surprisingly spoke again, "It shows striving for something that's unreachable, for the infinite,"

The words made Tiffany confused for a moment as she had to replay it in her mind a couple times. Taeyeon stared at the orchids, "That's why I like blue," she whispered and Tiffany barely caught it. Tiffany looked at Taeyeon's face, to her large eyes, small nose, petite face. Tiffany Hwang was really intriqued by Kim Taeyeon.

~~~

Even Taeyeon herself was surprised at the words she let out to Tiffany. She didn't expect herself to simply talk like that. Letting her thoughts drift away as her mind zoned in onto the distant honks of cars in the city, Taeyeon wondered what in the world she was going to do now. She was currently sitting at a bench at one of the local parks, a place where she used to go to when she was little.

Taeyeon has been living off of tteokbokki, sink water, and small bowls of noodles for the past few weeks and the girl knew it wasn't exactly good in terms of living and being healthy. Having to find a public restroom every time you need to use the bathroom or to brush your teeth wasn't exactly her cup of tea either.

And Taeyeon knew that in the Winter, things would not be as easy as things were now in the Spring. She could get hypothermia or worse, freeze to death. Maybe she could just chill out at the noodle shop for the winter until it closes, then she could find another place to stay the night.

Her thoughts were interuppted when a voice spoke, "Taeyeon?" Taeyeon was surprised to see Tiffany, why was it that they always met unintentionally?

"It's going to rain pretty soon, you should get home," Tiffany warned, looking up at the sky that was turning gray by the seconds.

Taeyeon gave a shake of her head and stayed on the bench as the first drops of rain fell. Tiffany opened up the umbrella she had ready in her hand and sat besides Taeyeon, holding it above both of them, "Do you need a ride home? I brought my car with me," Tiffany asked the girl.

The older girl looked at Tiffany for a moment, "I'm going to walk to the noodle shop down the street, I'll be fine,"

Tiffany hesitated, "Are you sure? You don't need a ride?"

Looking into her eyes, Taeyeon saw the worried look. She felt a tug at her heart, she hates when people worry about her. She absolutely hates it, "I'll be fine," Taeyeon replied as she got up, walking under the now pouring rain as she ran to the noodle shop.

~~~

Being the naturally worried person that she was, Tiffany quickly got into the car and drove to the noodle shop to check on Taeyeon. As she arrived, Tiffany saw Taeyeon through the windows, running back and forth from kitchen to table with a calm look on her face despite the fact that she was soaking wet from the walk to the shop.

Tiffany sat in her car for a moment, watching Taeyeon work relentlessly. She parked in the parking lot until Taeyeon's shift ended. Taeyeon walked out into the rain that was still pouring. Looking up, Taeyeon stood, her back against the building as she wondered about her next actions.

Unable to just do nothing, Tiffany pulled up to Taeyeon, who looked at her surprised. "Do you need a ride home?" Tiffany asked the girl. Taeyeon shook her head and began to walk, immediately getting soaked in seconds. Tiffany continued to drive along side Taeyeon, gently pressing her foot down on the gas pedal, "So you're going to walk home?"

Taeyeon nodded once and looked at her worn out shoes that were soaked to the core. Then the black haired girl looked over and noticed that Tiffany was still following her. Her feet made small splashes against the puddles that were all over the sidewalk. "You can go home," Taeyeon told Tiffany, raising her voice against the pounding water.

The red head looked at Taeyeon who was now soaked from head to toe, "You're going to get sick like that," Taeyeon clenched her fist and shook her head, "I'll be fine," she replied, her teeth chattering as the rain made her clothes stick to her skin.

Worry. Tiffany was full of it at that moment and Taeyeon knew she was, so she sped her walking. Maybe if I kep walking, she'll leave, Taeyeon thought to herself as the water soaked her to the bone. "Taeyeon, you're shivering. If you don't want a ride home at least come to my house then," Tiffany said to the shaking girl.

She was turning pale and she turned her feet, getting into Tiffany's car, soaking the seat. Tiffany nudged the heater to the top, wanting Taeyeon to get as warm as possible. Taeyeon had to clench her jaw to keep it from chattering as Tiffany kept sending nervous glances her way.

Arriving at her apartment, Tiffany exited the car door and opened her umbrella before rushing to Taeyeon's side, opening the door and letting her out. Taeyeon was still shivering and it sent a wave of worry over Tiffany as she entered the apartment, Taeyeon following her. She grabbed an extra pair of clothes for Taeyeon, "Here, just wear this for now,"

Taeyeon looked down at the pair of sweat pants and the white shirt Tiffany had in her hands and backed up a little bit, "No, it's okay, I'm fine," she responded, denying the clothes. The red head frowned, "But you might get sick," she reasoned. But Taeyeon didn't want Tiffany's clothes, she didn't want to be in Tiffany's apartment at all. She didn't want to be near Tiffany.

Tiffany sighed and threw the pair of clothing on the sofa and went to the bedroom, coming out with a blanket. Walking back out, she saw Taeyeon sitting on the couch, cuddling her own small body. The red head threw the blanket onto Taeyeon's lap, "If you aren't going to put on dry clothes then at least use the blanket to keep warm," she said.

Taeyeon looked up at the younger girl and then back down at the blanket. Tiffany walked over to the window and peeked outside, "You might as well stay over the night, it won't be safe to drive in weather like this and I'm not going to let you walk," Taeyeon wondered why the girl was so worried about her. Because Taeyeon was no one special in Tiffany's life.

"I'm off to shower, feel free to watch TV or something," Tiffany stated, gently tossing the remote on the spot besides Taeyeon, who was now wrapped up in the blanket as her coldness was slowly subsiding. Hearing the door of the bathroom close, Taeyeon got up, dropping the blanket as she walked over to the window. She stared outside and could barely see what was in front of her due to the pouring rain.

Taeyeon didn't like the rain that much, it annoyed her. The stupid pounding on the windows, the left over puddles it creates. The nonstop patter of it hitting the ground. It annoyed her.

Guess I'll have to stay here, Taeyeon thought to herself as she looked around the small apartment, One night wouldn't hurt, she thought as she sat back on the couch, glancing at the pair of clothes. She then looked down at herself and saw that the clothes was stuck to her body. Grabbing the dry clothes, she quickly changed and sat back on the couch.

Grabbing the remote, she pressed the on button. She hadn't watched TV for a while, it was so unfamiliar to her, and she didn't like it. She looked at the screen as a man kneeled down and proposed to a woman. The black haired girl scoffed, marriage.

She disliked the thought of marriage. She figured that if you loved someone, you wouldn't need a piece of paper and a ring to make it official. Becuase, basically, your whole love counts on that ring and that paper. But, then again, the word 'love' had disappeared from Taeyeon's vocabulary long ago.

~~~

Exiting the bathroom, Tiffany dried her hair with the towel and walked out, hearing the TV on. Walking closer, she saw the pile of wet clothes on the ground and saw Taeyeon at the corner of the couch, sleeping. Letting out a small smile. Tiffany bent over and picked the clothes up, putting it in the dryer.

She thought of waking Taeyeon up for her to go to the bed but she didn't want to wake up the girl who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Letting out a sigh, Tiffany figured it was best to just let her sleep on the couch and she walked to her bedroom.

As she slipped into bed, Tiffany thought of Taeyeon, that weird girl who everyone tried to become friends with but they always failed. And the way she described the color blue, striving for something unreachable. What exactly was 'the unreachable' to Taeyeon? For Tiffany, it was for her mother to be rid of cancer.

But what was it to Taeyeon? What was considered unreachable to Taeyeon? Tiffany wanted to find out and she was determined to find out.

200 subs <3 Thanks all! Please leave a comment about what you thought of the chapter, I worked my off for this chapter :P

And now I'm off, remember to comment! <3