Tiffany did not know what went wrong with her relationship that led to an abrupt breakup. She had been tossing and turning on her bed all morning; thinking what she had said to her Jessi that made the woman choose to call it quits between them with a phone call.

   
“And to think that I moved all the way back here to Korea to experience a better life, she just had to do it weeks before Christmas. So festive.” She kicked off her blanket in frustration and sat up straight. 

 
The full-body mirror just by the foot of her bed reflected how much of a mess she was, still in her clothes from last night and hair sticking all over the place. She pouted at her reflection. She felt like crying but she could not. Maybe she needed a drink; yea, definitely a drink or two.  

She put on her coat. Taking her purse out of her bag and combing her bangs with her fingers, she went out without washing up or changing her attire.  

Trudging along the wet pavement, she noticed the convenient store near her apartment to be closed. How convenient, indeed, she thought. She changed her course and walked towards the supermarket a block away.    

 

---

 

 

“Clean up on aisle 3, clean up on aisle 3.”   

Tiffany yanked the basket hard from its stack, annoyed at the noise of the bustling supermarket on a Saturday morning. 

 
“Twiggies and beers, twiggies and beers..” she mumbled to herself as she searched for the items. She deemed them to be her ceremonial breakup meal, binging on them without any guilt.

An ice cream in this freezing weather seemed ridiculous, but she headed for the frozen food area anyway to satisfy her craving after picking up five packs of twiggies and a dozen cans of beer.  

Just one tub of strawberry ice cream and it will be enough for her ceremonial breakup binge. She nodded to herself as placed the cold treat next to her drinks in her basket.  

She was merely walking away from the fridge when she stepped on a foot. She looked up to see its owner’s face slightly contorted in pain.  

“Oww.. Oh hey, miss. We’re having a seasonal offer on red bean ice bar, 2 for the price of one!” the woman’s transition from her pain to eager persuasion took Tiffany aback. 

 
Tiffany felt sorry for the woman. So she took two red bean ice bars from the small fridge beside her, and she asked if she was okay.   

“Yea, my toenail probably died again but it’s no biggy.”  

“Sorry again. Uhmm, Taeyeon?”  Tiffany read out the name from the woman’s nametag.     

Taeyeon nodded in acknowledgement and grinned. Tiffany gave a small wave and walked towards the cashier, watching her greet other shoppers and offering them ice cream bars while slightly wincing. Cute. She smiled inwardly as she paid for her items.  

 

 

---

 

 

 
Tiffany visited the supermarket again the next day after feeling guilty about her food binge. Strange, she thought, usually she would feel tempted to go on a second round of food binging and never feel guilty about it.  

She reasoned with herself that she needs to cleanse her body; not wanting to get sick before Christmas although she would probably be spending it alone in her apartment since she recently broken up with her ex. Strange, she thought again, she never felt so bad about the breakup as much as she thought she should.    

Shrugging all of the unnecessary thoughts, she picked up a bundle of asparagus and went to get it weighed. She greeted Taeyeon who was helping an elderly weigh her sack of potatoes. 

“Hi, how’s your toenail?”  

“Okay, I guess. You look better today.”

She passed Taeyeon her asparagus, “Yea, I was a mess yesterday. My girlfriend dumped me.”  

“Oh?” an eyebrow cocked up.  

“Yea. I’m Tiffany. Say, you’re not from Seoul, are you?”   

She shook the hand offered to her, “How’d you know? I’m from Jeonju. Are you from America?”  

 “People around our age wouldn’t usually work in a supermarket here in Seoul. Yes, sunny California!”   

Taeyeon chuckled at Tiffany’s cheerful exclamation. She must be glad to be out of that relationship. She packed the bundle into a plastic bag after the machine printed out the sticker.  

“Here you go. See you around, Tiffany-ssi.”     

 

 

---

 

 

With her week off from work due to the holidays, more trips to the supermarket followed. I definitely need to eat cleanly.  

With every trip to the supermarket, small talks with Taeyeon took place: At the cashier as Taeyeon packed her groceries, while Taeyeon promoted various types of ice cream products, which the girl was really good at, and even when Taeyeon restocked the shelves.  

And with every small talk with Taeyeon, she learned a lot about the woman: She was the same age as her, she chose to work part-time for the semester break in a supermarket because she likes interacting with ahjummas, she acts like an ahjumma, her phone number, and she was staying in Seoul all alone now because her girlfriend cheated on her when they moved to Seoul together.  

When she learned that last bit, she was relieved.  Why? She was not that sure. However, she also felt bad that Taeyeon got cheated on. How can someone cheat on someone as adorable as Taeyeon? Tiffany just wanted to wrap her up, tie her with a pink ribbon and bring her home to place her under her lone christmas tree. What for? She was not that sure either.    

 

 

---

 

 

The supermarket was crowded on Christmas Eve. It was even more crowded the day before though, leaving Tiffany frustrated at not having a chance to talk to the busy Taeyeon.  

She found Taeyeon offering small cups of steaming coffee to shoppers at a corner.  

“Hey, want some coffee? It’s 3-in1!”   

“No thanks. I’m not into coffee.”  

“How about tea?”  

“Nope. Are you a fan of Christmas dinners?”  

“Well, I don’t celebrate Christmas. I guess I like dinners, food!”  

“Wanna accompany me for Christmas, the two of us, dinner at my apartment tonight?”  

Taeyeon blinked at her. Was she too straight forward with her invitation?  

“You can say no, you know. I guess you’re working late, huh? Bye then.” She her heels, feeling flustered about the silent rejection, and took a step when she heard Taeyeon spoke.  

“It’s a date!”    

 

 

---

 

 

Her apartment was bare of any Christmas decoration except for the mistletoe she hung up near her bedroom door. She put it up because she just felt like it; definitely not because she was having dinner alone with Taeyeon on Christmas Eve. Nope. Nah uh.  
 
She set up a small feast for her and Taeyeon, something she bought from that morning. The girl would come over after her shift, which was about an hour ago, and she texted Tiffany that she will be reaching soon.  

Tiffany paced around her small dining table. Would Taeyeon notice the mistletoe? Gah! I shouldn’t overthink things. But she called it a date though.. Maybe I should light up the candles..  

There was a knock on her door. She steadied herself as she walked to answer her door, feeling giddy with her excitement.   
She opened the door and found Taeyeon with a bottle of wine, “Merry Christmas, Fany!”   

Gone was the red apron that Taeyeon wore over her clothes for work, replaced with a white knitted sweater with its sleeves covering her hands. Her hair that was usually in a loose bun, now cascading down around her shoulders. Where is that pink ribbon..  

“Let me guess, we’re having ham and log cake?”  

“Yes, yes. Don’t be a smart , you helped me pack them. Let’s eat before they get cold!”  

 Both of them were all smiles throughout the dinner, glad that they could finally spend time together out of the supermarket; getting to know more about one another other than the superficial things they shared during their supermarket small talks.

Tiffany screwed open the wine Taeyeon brought and poured for the both of them. She gestured towards her bedroom, wine glass in one hand, “Let me show you around my humble fortress.”   

Taeyeon stood up from her seat and took a sip from her glass. She raised her thump up, “Is this a mistletoe?”  

She looked up to where Taeyeon was pointing, the mistletoe just above them. There was a mischievous glint in Tiffany’s eyes as she inched closer to Taeyeon.  

“Why, yes, it is. It’s Christmas.”  

“Funny, it’s the only Christmas decoration you have.”  

“Well..” she placed her palms on Taeyeon’s shoulder, not missing the dimple that appeared on the woman’s face when she smiled. 

 

“Err, Merry Christmas?”  

Tiffany brought her arms around her neck, feeling a smile creep to her face as Taeyeon timidly held her waist. Foreheads glued together, she gazed at the brown eyes staring back at her, “Merry Christmas to you too, Taeyeon.”  

Their lips met each other gently. She tasted lip gloss and wine. Taeyeon felt like a gift to her sent by the heavens so she did not need to spend the holidays alone. Not anymore, she won’t. 

 

---

 

 

A/N: Hi!!!! This was the oneshot I submitted for the 3981 christmas contest. I wasn't one of the finalist, but it's an honour to know some of my favourite authors read them :D I edited it a bit from my initial submission and finally posted it after 2 months hehehehe. Maybe I'll make it a two-shot if I have time and post in time for Valentine's Day ;)

I would update my on-going but my MS Word subscription ran out.. and I kinda need it for the grammar and spelling check hehe I don't have a beta so T~T It's written half-way and it'll be up as soon as I get my MS Word back.

Let me know what you think of this shot ^^;; Happy Chinese New Year to whoever is celebrating!