The neighborhood is good. Tiffany has lots of friends. The small distance from their houses in the village kept their communication interminable. She frequently gives her friends visits and they hang out often. And, they would sometimes play and chat in front of Tiffany's house. 

That's when Tiffany saw a girl peeping outside her window. She always does this. Whenever she goes out of her house, she sees this brown-haired girl looking at her from across the street. Tiffany lived in the village for almost two years. She's been close with a lot of people there. She's quite famous there actually. But she's never met this girl before. 

•••

 It's Christmas Eve. As usual, Tiffany's house is loud. Her friends all go for a visit to hang out. 

All eight of them girls slumbered down the long sofa so they can watch a movie together. After watching a movie, they had dinner together. Then, they all sit down by the clock and countdown to midnight before they go back to their homes to celebrate with their families. 

They do this because they know Tiffany doesn't have a family to celebrate with so they come together like sisters to cheer her up.  

"Bye Tiff~! We had fun" the girl with blonde hair said as she waves goodbye. 

"Goodbye Sergeant Sica!" she said jokingly to the blonde. 

"Goodbye everyoooonnnneeee~ Merry Christmas" as she watched the seven girls walk away back to their homes.  

Just like that, the celebration was concluded. Tiffany was standing by her doorway. Her smile shined together with the colourful lights that illuminated the empty streets. 

But across the street, the lights she could only see are those hanged on a little tree. She can see the tree being decorated with simple white lights and a few number of balls and some garlands with a little star on top. There was that girl too. Tiffany can see that the brown haired is having a meal all by herself. 

Thinking there's nothing better to do, she walked out of her pink house then across the street. She knocked on the door of the little house. A few seconds later, the door slowly opened. Right there, was the brown haired girl. She was standing, looking at the taller girl with a blank expression on her face.  

"Merry Christmas~" Tiffany handed out a small pink box decorated with a ribbon.  

"Th-thanks" the smaller girl replied with her eyes glued to the latter. 

For the first time in a very long time, Tiffany saw the girl smile. Her smile complemented her facial features. ‘Stunning’ is the word. Tiffany stopped for a moment before she—again—spoke. 

"You should really smile a lot. It looks good on you" she said giving the girl her very own eye-smile. 

"I should—yeah. Thank you uhm...I never caught your name"  

"It's Tiffany. And you?" 

"I'm Taeyeon~ Nice to meet you Tiffany." Suddenly, a cold breeze huffed across them. 

"It's cold" *shivers* "Can I come in?" Tiffany asked. 

"Sure. Come in" 

Taeyeon wasn't the type of girl who trusts people that easily but for some reason, she knew she could trust Tiffany.  

The two talked all night, with Tiffany always starting the topics. The night went by so fast they both didn't notice the time. It's almost dawn and Tiffany went back to her house. 

For the first time, Taeyeon had experienced being happy with someone else. Usually, she would just be with herself. She's still a student—an arts student to be exact. And she gets money partly from her uncle and partly from her little artworks. The 'wons' she get isn't that much but it is more than enough for her to continue her studies. 

Time after time, Tiffany would visit Taeyeon in her house. She can see the joy in the girl's face whenever they're together. Maybe it's because Taeyeon never had the chance to hang out with anybody else. She likes seeing her happy. And somehow, it makes her happy too. A talkative and outgoing girl with a quiet and independent girl. Who knew they would become best friends? 

A couple of weeks passed. The two girls developed their relationship with each other quite fast.

"Bye Taetae~" the girl in pink said. Her eye smile radiates to the whole village. 

"Bye Fany~" she reflected her smile right back. 

"Ahh she's so cute" Tiffany thought to herself.  

Both of them decided to call it a day. They've managed to come up with cute nicks for each other too.  

They've been friends for quite some time now and they've found out a lot of things about each other. And because the two are the exact opposite of each other, it's really hard to find anything in common about the two. Yet surprisingly, except the fact that they study in the same school, they have peculiarly a lot of things in common.

It seems Taeyeon changed a lot. She used to be the girl who stays in the house, studying, painting, drawing, doing chores, all by herself. She has friends but only those in school and they're not very close. But when tiffany came into her life, all those changed. She had someone to share secrets with, someone who will help her in times of trouble, and someone who will be always by her side whenever she needs a friend. 

Now, Taeyeon never shares secrets to anyone but Tiffany. The two of them are like sisters now. Except...that’s what it seems like. That's right. Taeyeon have had a secret crush on Tiffany ever since she moved there. All this time, she hasn’t had the courage to tell her how she feels. She is afraid of how the other girl might react. During that Christmas Eve, when Tiffany gave her a present, Taeyeon felt something in her that she hasn’t felt before. Her heart skipped a beat. She can hardly breathe. That smile on Tiffany's face was all she could see.

•••

Christmas break is over. Tiffany and Taeyeon are getting ready to go to school. They decided to go to school together. It was at a walking distance from their house so they didn't really need to commute. They were walking beside one another. Taeyeon has her eyes just staring at the beautiful girl beside her. Tiffany's arms were around Taeyeon's shoulder which makes the girl blush. Taeyeon is trying to hide her red face from the taller one. 

"Taetae Are you okay?" Tiffany said, noticing the shorter girl's weird actions. 

"Yes, I'm alright. I'm just a little bit nervous" Taeyeon lifts her head to face the taller girl.

"Aww look at your face. It's all red" Tiffany chuckled. 

"Oh...uhhh...It's because I-I'm n-nervous...hehe"  

"Don't be. Remember what I told you. No one can hurt my little Taetae while I'm around" Tiffany said with an assertive tone. 

This made Taeyeon blush even more.  

They continued walking until they reach school. That was about ten minutes of walking. When they got there, Tiffany gave Taeyeon a goodbye kiss on the cheeks since they will have different classes. Taeyeon was stunned but she tried her best to hide her emotions. Being best friends, this is quite a normal thing to do—Taeyeon thought.

"Tae~ your face feels really warm. Are you sure you're alright?" 

"I'm okay now~ don't worry about me Fany. I'll be alright" She showed that dorky smile of hers. 

"Aww you're so cute hehehe. Hmm bye shorty~" Tiffany teased the short girl. 

"Yah! Don't call me that" She pouted. 

"Aheheh~ I was joking Taetae...forgive me???" Both of them now pouting really really cutely. 

"Hmm...Okay then. You are forgiven" Taeyeon smiled.

"Annyeong! See you later" Tiffany said 

"Bye bye~" Taeyeon answered waving back at her.

Time after time, they will see each other at school, either during recess or during lunch. But, sometimes they didn't have the time to see each other since their schedules are different. Even though they have such overlapping schedules, they still make sure they see each other after school and go home together.  

They walk together like sisters. Tiffany's arms are always on Taeyeon's shoulders. They got so used to doing this and being with each other now. You would rarely see both of them apart. Every time they would go separate ways, they would always give each other a goodbye kiss. They have been like this for several weeks. Tiffany's friends noticed that.

One Friday afternoon, Tiffany was waiting at the school's garden. Her classes are over but Taeyeon's are not. She promised Taeyeon that she will take her to a restaurant and eat their dinner together. 

"Tiff!" said a girl's voice coming from behind her. 

Tiffany turned around and saw Jessica. 

"Sica-ya~ how are you?" she said giving Jessica a hug. 

"I'm fine...I haven't seen you for a while" 

"Yeah...Sorry I'm always with Ta--" 

"Taeyeon..." Jessica cut her off with her words with a cold tone. 

"Sorry..." Tiffany said in a low tone. 

"It's okayyy~ But tell me Tiff..." 

"Hmm?" Tiffany was wondering what Jessica would say. 

Jessica got closer to Tiffany's ears and whispered something. 

"What?!" Tiffany shouted. 

"Sheesh Tiff~ you don't need to shout in front of my ears" the annoyed Jessica said 

"No I don't like-like her! I'm not a lesbian" Tiffany continued shouting. 

"Don't pretend that you're not Tiff. We know heheh. You have a lot of girl crushes" 

Jessica teased. 

"Y-yeah? So?"

 "Taeyeon is one of them isn't she?" Jessica teased.

Tiffany leaned towards Jessica and whispered something.

 "Knew it" Jessica said while pumping her fist. "Hey, let's go to Yoongie's house she said she's having a party." She added. 

"Really? Ok then!" Tiffany said.

Both of them went out together. But something is bothering Tiffany's mind. It seems like she forgot something but can't put to mind what it is. 

Back in the school, Taeyeon was sitting on a bench not far away from the school's garden. There was a completely distinguishable frown on her face. What's making her sad is what she heard a while ago. Yes, she heard Tiffany and Jessica talking to each other.  

She was walking to the garden to meet Tiffany as the two of them talked about. Then, she heard someone mention her name. It was Jessica. She eavesdropped without the two knowing. 

She saw Jessica whispering something to Tiffany. Then, she heard Tiffany say "No I don't like her." Taeyeon presumed that it was her they were talking about so she ran away, not wanting to hear the same painful words coming from Tiffany. 

After a while, she realised that she shouldn't have prejudged the situation. She ran back to the garden while trying to mask her emotions. She didn't want Tiffany to see her sad. 

But, when she got there, Tiffany was gone. Taeyeon searched for her all around the campus but ended up not finding her. She stayed there in the garden for a full hour. She waited for Tiffany to return but still nothing. 

It was getting dark. Taeyeon decided to go home alone. 

When she got there, she checked the house across the street. The lights were turned off. So, Tiffany's not here too. 

Taeyeon ate dinner by herself in her house.  

On the other hand, Tiffany was at Yoona's house. Tiffany didn't even know what the occasion is. Seven of them were there including herself. She noticed that one member of the usual gang is missing.  

"Where's Sooyoung?" she asked Yoona 

Everyone looked around the house. They found no Sooyoung.  

"Hmm...Weird. Unnie was here a second ago. She even tried to gobble all the--" 

 Yoona stopped suddenly with her words.

"CHOI SOOYOOOOUUUUUNG!" Hyoyeon, Sunny, Yoona and Yuri screamed at the same time.  

Yoona ran to the kitchen. Sooyoung was there. was so full her cheeks looked like they were gonna explode.  She was holding a chicken leg on her hand. 

"UNNIEEEE!!!" Yoona shouted. 

They were chasing each other around the kitchen like a couple of kids. Sooyoung just kept on biting and swallowing the delicious thing she has on her hand.  

Eventually, both of them got tired and they stopped running.  

"You...already...ate...half...the...fridge!" Yoona said in between her heavy breaths. 

"I thought you are going to have a party? Aren't we supposed to eat the food?" Sooyoung demanded. 

"Aishh such a shikshin! Not ALL the food!" Yoona said. Everyone else just laughed. 

They had a blast. Tiffany too, who still doesn't have any idea was the party was about.  

"Uhmm...Yoongie?" Tiffany said softly to Yoona.

 "Yes Unnie?" 

"Why are we having a party by the way? What's the occasion?" 

Everyone turned their heads to Tiffany. 

"Ahaha Unnie...nothing! It's just a party. We used to do this in your house, remember? Why were you wondering what this is about?" Yoona said.

They stayed there until midnight until finally, they all needed to go home. Tiffany waved goodbye as well as the others, then they all parted ways. 

Tiffany decided to commute home. 

When she got there, she saw the little house across the street. That's when it finally hit her. 

"I was supposed to take Taeyeon to dinner tonight!" Tiffany exclaimed to herself.

 "But, it's midnight now. And Taetae is probably asleep already. I'll make it up to her tomorrow" she said to herself in her mind. 

She changed her clothes because she was still wearing her uniform. Then, she went to sleep. She couldn't sleep though, all she could think of is Taeyeon. 

•••

Tomorrow morning, she woke up extra early. It's a Saturday today so she usually just dozes off and wakes up at around noon. But she wants to prepare something for Taeyeon because she broke her promise to her yesterday. 

Although she barely manages to keep her eyes open, she was able to prepare breakfast for the both of them. 

She walked to the house across the street bringing the sandwiches and a couple of hot chocos.

She rang the doorbell. No one answered. She pressed the little button again, still no response. She looked inside the house through the window. There was no sign of Taeyeon. Everything was turned off and it looked like she left her house. 

Tiffany decided to wait for her outside the house.  

She just sat there and waited for about ten minutes. And because she only got a few hours of sleep, she was unable to deny the fact that she was really sleepy.

 But, just when she was about to go to close her eyes, she heard the sound of a doorbell from a distance. She looked around and found a girl pressing the doorbell at her house. She went nearer and called her out.  

"Kim Taeyeon~" Tiffany said. 

Taeyeon turned around and was shocked when she saw the latter.  

"Oh! Fany-ah!" the shorter girl exclaimed. 

"Sorry I forgot about our dinner yesterday. Have you had breakfast yet? Here I made breakfast for us. It's not much but I—"  

Tiffany's words were cut when she felt a pair of soft lips on her cheeks. Her face looked a little pinkish when she looked at Taeyeon. 

"You talk too much" Taeyeon smiled widely. 

"D-does t-this mean y-you forgive me?" the taller girl stuttered with her words. 

Taeyeon paused for a moment and then nodded twice. Then, she noticed the sandwiches Tiffany brought.  

"Aigoo~ Fany, I went out to the convenience store for a while to buy us something for breakfast but you already made sandwiches. Let's go in your house now, it's getting cold." Taeyeon said. 

"Oohh...That's why you were not in your house." Tiffany looked at the two instant noodles Taeyeon is holding. 

"Mmh."  

They ate the sandwiches together. Tiffany was kinda disappointed because the sandwiches became cold. But she changes her mind immediately when she sees Taeyeon enjoying the sandwiches as if a gourmet chef made them.  

"Mmh...Fany-ah?" Taeyeon said in the middle of chewing food. 

"Hmm? Ahaha don't talk when you're eating Taetae"  

Taeyeon swallowed her food to be able to talk properly and then gave out a soft sigh. 

"Do you like someone?" The older girl's word completely changed the atmosphere. 

"What? Me? Hmm...Well..Yeah" Tiffany was startled at the latter's question. 

Taeyeon felt like an arrow just stabbed her heart. She was frowning but she doesn't want the other girl to see her that way so she tried to hide it. 

"C-can I know w-who?" she tried to ask calmly but she kept on stuttering. 

"Hmm..." 

 

Ding~ Dong~

 

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Tiffany stood up quickly, signaled Taeyeon to hold that thought, and answered the door. Jessica was there. They greeted each other and hugged each other. Taeyeon saw this and she felt like the arrow in her heart just penetrated deeper inside her. Tiffany let the latter inside her house. 

"Oh hey Taeyeon~" Jessica said with a smile. 

"Oh hey" but Taeyeon replied coldly. 

"What's wrong Taetae?" Tiffany asked worriedly

 "Nothing..." the latter replied with a weak voice. 

"Are you not feeling well?" Tiffany kept on asking. 

"I'm fine." Taeyeon now firmly replied. 

Taeyeon sighed silently. If only Tiffany knew how she felt. How she feels every time she would hug another. Seeing her happy with another person. It just breaks her heart.  

"Hey Tiff.  Can i borrow your notebook? I left mine at school." Jessica said while looking around. 

"Oh. Yeah...sure. Go get it. It's in my bag." Tiffany pointed at the pink satchel on the table. 

"Here it is. Thanks." Jessica said in such haste. 

"Why are you here so early in the morning though? It's a Saturday you know." Tiffany said. 

"I have extra classes with Ms. Oh in less than an hour. I haven't studied a thing. Gotta go now bye. Thanks." Jessica explained hurriedly.

 The blonde girl left in a hurry, slamming the door as she went out.  

"That girl really Aishh!" Tiffany sighed. 

Taeyeon suddenly became so quiet. She was bending her head down while taking small bites from her sandwich. The younger girl noticed this.  

She kept on asking the latter what's wrong but she won’t give a hint. Taeyeon just kept saying she's fine although Tiffany knows that's definitely not the case.

The younger girl sat beside the other then intertwined their fingers together. This made Taeyeon look up to the face of the girl beside her. 

"Taetae...You know, when I was young, my mom would sing little songs for me to cheer me up." Tiffany said while looking up the ceiling—reminiscing the memories of her past. 

She reached for her pink bag and pulled out her phone. Moments later, music starts to play: A familiar piano piece.  

Tiffany starts  to sing along harmonizing perfectly with the music. 

"~I love you, I can wait for you endlessly~" Tiffany carried the tune of the song like an angel as she sang the chorous. 

Taeyeon, then decided to sing together with Tiffany. 

"~When you come to find me, I can smile at you, always oh~" 

"~I’ll not be sad. For the belief that you’ll come to find me, the belief makes my love stronger And gives me the energy to live on~~"  Both of them finished the song together, looking at each other's eyes, sending shivers down their spines. 

Tiffany eyes were widened and she was having goose bumps all over her body. Their voices were like a match made in heaven. 

Taeyeon was nothing less. But, she had more of a happy feeling than shocked. She knew Tiffany was really good at singing because she would sing for her from time to time. But, Tiffany didn't know the other girl could sing this well. 

"Taetae!" Tiffany said, eyes still wide open. "You sing really well! You should sing more often." She added. 

"Really?? Thanks" Taeyeon said happily. 

"How come you never joined singing contests? You'll win for sure!" the younger girl insistently said. 

"I...I can't" Taeyeon said stuttering with her words. 

"W-why not?" Tiffany hesitantly asked. 

"I...I just can't perform in front of people." She forged a smile. 

Tiffany felt something different in Taeyeon's words. She knows how shy the girl is with other people. She might be too scared to go to stage in front of hundreds. But, Tiffany senses that's not the case. She means something...different.  

 

The two soon finished their meal and Taeyeon went back home to do some 'homework'. 

Taeyeon went straight to her room, jumped on her bed and lay down. She is staring at space, left with deep thought.  

A while ago when she sang, Taeyeon just heard the most beautiful thing she has ever heard. She was completely engulfed with the ecstasy of an angel's voice. But, something inside her made her feel afraid at the same time. Afraid that one moment in her life would never come once again.  

She began talking to herself. 

"Fany. I love you. My heart races when we're together. Especially when we sang together. But I’m scared that might be the last time I can hear your beautiful voice." she said to herself as tears began to form at the corner of her eyes. 

Droplets soon turned to a stream of tears, as she was envisioning the beautiful face of the girl in her mind.