At the Gym

"Unnie, you coming or what? You're taking forever!" 

"Yeah, I'll be right out!"

Tiffany had just finished a (dreaded) workout session with a few friends at the gym. The last time they asked her to come along, she was quick to dismiss the possibility and simply rescheduled to join them the next time, lying about having classes or a project to complete that day. Of course, Tiffany had no idea that "next time" would come so soon. 

As long as I don't have to look at another treadmill this week, I'm good. 

After a few more minutes, she finally exited the locker room all clean and fresh-smelling at last. Tiffany promptly returned to her friends, who made it seem like they had been watching the grass grow for about a decade or so. 

"Next time, we're not inviting you if you decide to take seven years to change your clothes," Jessica said in a faux-threatening tone. Tiffany only snorted. 

"Feel free to not invite me, then. I feel so out of shape whenever I run next to Sonic the Hedgehog over here," Tiffany chuckled, gesturing to Yoona, the younger woman.

"Not my fault you can't keep up, unnie." Yoona grinned, purposefully taking a few quick steps ahead, surpassing Tiffany and Jessica. 

"Yeah, whatever." Tiffany smiled and shook her head, not willing to further continue the witty banter.

Suddenly, a noise demanding to be heard emanated from her stomach region. Yoona had to turn around, more than highly amused. Even Jessica was holding back a laugh. It was just so audible. 

"Wow, didn't know the workout was that draining, Tiff," Jessica giggled and poked Tiffany's hungry tummy once or twice, causing her hand to be swatted away by Tiffany. She looked up to see Tiffany's brows furrowed in annoyance. It only made Jessica giggle even more. "Well, seeing that some of us obviously need it, why don't we get some lunch?" Jessica offered when the giggling finally subsided. 

"You're paying for me," Tiffany humphed. 

"Ugh, you're such a baby. Fine, I'll pay." Jessica shook her head. "You in, Yoong?" 

"Sorry unnies, Seunggi oppa said he will be picking me up soon. It's... date night today," Yoona looked down coyly. She'd been seeing this Seunggi guy for a few months now, and yet Yoona still blushed at the mention of his name. The innocence was refreshing, and extremely cute. However, it also made her extremely susceptible to her unnies' teasing. 

"I see someone's enjoying the taken life! Aigooooo, our Yoona's been bitten by the love bug~" Tiffany laughed, pinching both of Yoona's already-reddened cheeks. She stepped back and pushed Tiffany's hands away from her face, looking away to conceal it until the blushing was gone. 

"Hmm, but what about you, Tiffany? Is there anyone worth mentioning, huh?" Jessica slyly half-smiled. The corner of her lips curled with mischief, her eyebrows daring to waggle knowingly. Surely enough, a specific person suddenly came to mind. 

Petite cutie. 

Intense brown eyes, pretty smile. 

Charming. Kind. Guarded. 

Taeyeon. 

"Absolutely no one." 

"No? A certain photographer ring a bell to you?" Jessica's grin threatened to grow wider as she repeatedly nudged Tiffany.

"Ooh, what photographer? Do tell, Sica-unnie~" Yoona crooned brightly, in a voice soaked with aegyo. 

"Oh, she has a little crush on a certain someone, but Tiff hasn't made any viable forward advances yet," Jessica continued, wrapping an arm around Tiffany's shoulder. "Which is a bit unlike her, don't you think?" Sica giggled. An eager Yoona was now listening to every single word, making sure to observe Tiffany's every reaction as well. Oh, this was too good. 

"Yah, what do you mean? I literally met her this week. And I do not have a little crush!" I so do. 

"She so does. You should have seen her face when I gave Tiffany Taeyeon's number." Jessica laughed, mimicking Tiffany's expression. She was enjoying every second of this flustered Tiffany. Her friend was usually very outspoken, so when she was silenced like this, Jessica made sure to take advantage.  

"Who says I can't be happy to meet new colleagues?" 

"No one's that happy to meet new colleagues," 

Beep Beep. 

"Yeeee, I wonder who that is!~" Yoona giddily squealed, comically bouncing her two fists against Tiffany's shoulder, like a hyperactive five year old. TIffany rolled her eyes. 

"Chill out, it's probably just manager oppa or daddy-" 

1 Unread Message from: Taeyeon~

The sudden disparity in her expression told her two friends everything they needed to know. 

"No way... that little dork actually texted you?!" Jessica leaned in to see for herself when Tiffany tilted the phone to show them. At this point in time, it was Yoona's turn to older friend, squealing like a little fangirl and hugging Tiffany with joy.

However, something about this out of the blue text seemed very uncharacteristic of Jessica's best friend, almost as if she didn't send it herself. Jessica chose to ignore the slight suspicion and inwardly commended Taeyeon for finally growing a pair. 

-  are u down for lunch with me? i'm dying in the library, help >< -Tae - 

Meanwhile, Tiffany blinked numerous times to make sure the text wasn't a figment of her imagination. When she was at least ninety-five percent sure that it was indeed real, she flashed a megawatt smile at the screen, a smile that could probably light a whole football field with minimal effort. 

Look who's finally decided to come around. 

"Well? Are you gonna text her back or what? Go, go, go!" Yoona prompted, nudging Tiffany to reply as soon as possible, as if the text would disappear if she didn't reply soon enough. 

Unlike Taeyeon, Tiffany didn't need more than a few minutes to reply. She hastily typed her replies and pressed send. 

"Hmm, so I'm guessing our lunch is now a no-go?" Jessica laughed, honestly pleasantly surprised at the progress the stubborn duo was both making. 

Progress, finally!

Now, I gotta find me a date. Sigh. 

"Sorry, Jessie. I'll make it up to you, I promise! Ugh, I gotta go get ready... I'll see you guys later, okay?" Tiffany beamed, now ambling towards the parking lot. She put her sunglasses on and walked with a noticeable spring in her step. 

"Unnie, don't forget to use protection!" Yoona mischievously added when Tiffany was far enough away, but just within her earshot. 

"I won't need to," Tiffany turned around briefly to wink at her dongsaeng. Yoona shuddered in response and buried her face in Jessica's shoulder. Soon, she was inside of her car with the biggest grin plastered on her face, awaiting the rest of Taeyeon's replies. 

Today will be good. 

Meanwhile, Yoona and Jessica continued to walk together. Once again, Jessica offered to wait with Yoona before Seunggi arrived. 

"What about you, Sica-unnie? Has anyone caught your eye?" Yoona asked, with no playfulness or mischief behind her words this time, just good intentions and honest curiosity. Jessica was always so absorbed in work that Yoona couldn't remember the last time her older friend had expressed interest in anyone. 

"Well, there is someone..." 

"Great! Who is it?" 

"Thing is, I don't actually know her. I've seen her here more than a few times, but she wasn't here today," Jessica looked down at her hands, her lower lip just slightly protruding in disappointment. Yoona wondered if Jessica knew she was suddenly pouting like a sulking little kid. It was cute, and 'attractive' would be an understatement for Jessica. How did this unknown girl not notice her?

"Well, what does she look like?" Yoona asked. This time, Jessica zoned out, touches of pinkish red spread on her face. 

"She... has a great body. Nice smile. She's tanned, and she's kinda tall. Really friendly to everyone at the gym..." 

"Hmm... I'll keep an eye out for her," Yoona processed the info in her head, wanting to help Jessica out. 

"If it's meant to be, it will be, right?" Jessica smiled.

I'm in no rush, anyway. 

~~~~~~~~~

Taeyeon fiddled with her phone several times. Unlocking, relocking, followed by a pensive tapping on the desk with her two fingers and the readjusting of the black-rimmed spectacles on her face. Ah, seriously... Out of nowhere, a surge of sudden courage overcame her as she opened up the text, her thumbs hovering over the untouched screen. A breath, another push of the glasses up the bridge of her nose and she was ready. Kind of. 

Here goes nothing. 

She then proceeded to reply to Tiffany's text very tersely and almost monotonously, in an attempt to mask her actual curiosity and growing excitement to see Tiffany once more. 

Nope, too formal, kind of cold. Weird. Try again. 

This time, she tried to be more amiable. Perhaps even a little more comfortable and relaxed. Emoticons, no emoticons? For a moment, Taeyeon had to lightly chuckle. This whole thing was bizarre to her, as Taeyeon never really paid attention to the little nuances that came with texting another person until now. She never thought she'd be texting Tiffany, let alone meet her for lunch. 

Taeyeon first texted Tiffany her exact location, before anything else. 

- Ready whenever you are, take your time - 

She pressed send before any second thoughts could interrupt her actions.

And now, Taeyeon waited.

She felt like a lovesick little teenage girl awaiting the phone call of the boy (or in Taeyeon's case, girl) of her dreams. Only, she was still stuck in extreme denial and Tiffany was probably everyone else's dream girl. Including mine? Well, if I keep this up, she'll be exactly that.  

She was about to rest her head on her arms and silently groan when the desk softly vibrated. How long was that, three seconds? 

- i'll be there in a little less than an hour or so, wait for me~ - 

Oh, crap.

As soon as she read the text at least fifty times, Taeyeon stood up in a swift motion. She ran a hand through her hair and gathered her belongings, repeatedly mumbling her personal mantra of motivation.

Never had she been so thrilled yet averse to an innocuous lunch meeting... rendezvous... thing. They were sure as hell not girlfriends, barely friends yet, so it was just a random, impromptu meeting? Whatever helps you sleep better at night, Taeyeon. She distracted herself with trivial thoughts so she wouldn't have to acknowledge herself supressing a smile, her gradually racing heartbeat, and the newborn baby butterflies fluttering about inside her stomach.

What is going on?

Lunch. It's just lunch.  

Digest those butterflies. Digest them. 

Soon enough, Taeyeon managed to exit the university after putting her books away. She looked at her watch and estimated that Tiffany would arrive in a little more than twenty minutes. That's good. Enough time to prepare myself. 

And so Taeyeon had passed the time by zoning out outside of the campus on a bench for about another fifteen minutes. Everything was fairly quiet when an adorable pink beetle pulled up in front of her in the most recklessly smooth manner. It honked twice, eliciting the unwanted attention of many onlookers around the school. Great. 

It was unmistakable, this car couldn't have belonged to anyone else but Tiffany. From the way it was being driven to the single pinstripe running along the side of the pink vehicle, there was no question that it had Tiffany Hwang written all over it. Taeyeon's eyes widened, and her eyebrows were raised to the top of her forehead. She wasn't sure if she was more amused or alarmed. 

No. Way.   

The driver of the cute little car rolled down the window and flashed that high voltage smile she could recognize anywhere, even with the designer shades covering part of her face. 

"Hi, there," Tiffany greeted jovially. 

"H-hey. Hi. Hello, Tiffany." Taeyeon unknowingly repeated herself. She found it really hard to concentrate on acting normal when Tiffany was looking at her like that. That, and Taeyeon couldn't see much from where she was standing, but she was sure that Tiffany looked amazing. Shoot. 

"So, are you getting in, or?" Tiffany laughed, unlocking the doors with the push of a button. Taeyeon jolted herself awake from her temporary daze and soon came back to her senses. 

"Yeah, of course." Taeyeon's expression became collected once more as she entered Tiffany's car. The both of them had a weird, yet warm feeling of deja vu once everyone got situated. Of course, It didn't take a while before the awkwardness started to set in, so Taeyeon looked out the window while Tiffany turned the radio on. 

"All those hours at the library must have really done a number on you," Tiffany stated. "You look nice," Tiffany shyly added. Taeyeon looked like the regular college student, but in Tiffany's eyes, something about the messy bun, the glasses and the fashionable hobo clothes just worked. Taeyeon made it work. 

However, Tiffany had no idea why she was acting so stiffly awkward. Had it been anyone else Tiffany was interested in, they would be hitting it off quite nicely by now. But everything with this Taeyeon was... different. Like peeling an onion. She loved onions, but that was beside the point. 

Meanwhile, Taeyeon took her eyes off the scenery and watched Tiffany focusing on the road.

"Thank you." Taeyeon gulped. "Not too bad yourself," To say the least. No one should look that good in a t-shirt and cutoff shorts. It's ridiculous.

Tiffany smiled. I'll take it for now. "I was thinking of hitting up a cafe in town, is that all right?" Tiffany asked. 

"Of course. Which one?" Taeyeon replied, noticing the atmosphere getting less thick. Huh. 

"It's a quaint little cafe a few minutes from here, I think you'll like it." Tiffany answered. This time, the silence didn't bother them as much. Just when they were getting more comfortable in each other's presences, Taeyeon felt the need to say something. Should I tell her it wasn't my idea, or? I probably shouldn't, don't wanna ruin this. This... you know what, Taengoo? This is nice. Sigh. 

"You know, I didn't actually wanna have lunch with you," Taeyeon suddenly blurted out before her mind could even process her sentence. She facepalmed. Complete slip of the tongue. That came out wrong. That came out entirely wrong, what is wrong with me? She looked over at Tiffany, who didn't look too pleased anymore. Oh, no. I've hurt her feelings... It's not even true, I do wanna have lunch with her. Oh no. . 

"Are you forgetting who texted who? Why are you wasting our time, then? I didn't know I was that terrible to be with," Tiffany retorted, her voice containing a certain acidity. In fact, she almost slammed on the brakes, but due to the busy traffic, it was probably wise not to. She did, however, take off her sunglasses to glare at the now guilty Taeyeon. It was the first time she had ever heard Tiffany use that tone of voice to her, something she wasn't expecting to hear in the nascent stages of their... friendship?

"N-no, that's not what I meant, I swear!"

"Then what do you mean? Because you're really confusing, if you haven't figured that out already," Tiffany sighed with impatience. As much as she was trying to be unaffected, she couldn't help but feel hurt. Again. She just wanted to get closer to Taeyeon, but the closer she got, the farther she seemed to be pushed away. It was tiring, annoying, even. 

Suddenly she felt a hand on hers, and she briefly glanced to her side to find a genuinely apologetic Taeyeon gazing right back at her. It took her by surprise, but she didn't jerk her hand away. She did keep driving, though. 

"Fany, I'm sorry. That's not at all what I meant, it came out wrong, I promise," Taeyeon started apologizing at a speedy rate, but the remorse and sincerity was indeed there. Tiffany glanced at Taeyeon again and her eyes were still just as contrite. She even detected the new nickname Taeyeon had used on her. 

Tiffany wanted to smile, but not quite yet. She loved seeing all these different sides of the funny little Taeyeon next to her. From cool, to hot, to protective, to annoying, and now apologetic. Suddenly, she wondered how many things Taeyeon got away with by apologizing so cutely.

"I meant that I wasn't even close to planning on asking you to lunch today, but I'm happy that I, uhh, I got a push in the right direction." Taeyeon added, borrowing some words from Yuri. "I'm sorry, and you're not terrible to be with. My friends are actually completely worse," Taeyeon half-smiled in hopes that Tiffany's feelings were no longer hurt. 

Tiffany paused for a while, finally smiling. 

"Forgiven." 

"Whew," 

"...Under one condition. You're gonna have to accompany me to another lunch at some point in the near future after this one, Kim Taeyeon," 

"I-I said I was sorry!"

"Oh? And you also said I'm not terrible to be with," Tiffany quipped in response, using Taeyeon's own words to her advantage. Taeyeon sighed, but it wasn't a negative one, nor was it completely positive. It was somewhere in between. On one hand, she was enjoying Tiffany's company so far, but she could also feel herself getting drawn in deeper and deeper by this new friend of hers. Tiffany Hwang who once, and slightly still, irritated Taeyeon was now on her way to becoming a friend. Wonder of wonders. 

"Whatever, Tiffany," Taeyeon shook her head. Before she knew it, Tiffany's smile had infected her as well. 

"Awesome," Tiffany said, nearing the cafe. "I like the sound of Fany." 

"Huh?" 

"Fany. You called me Fany a few seconds ago. I like it," Tiffany simply replied, pulling into the cafe parking lot with ease. 

"All right, then. Fany..." Taeyeon was about to question the new nickname, when she realized where she was as Tiffany parked. Out of nowhere, the strongest feeling of nostalgia started flooding her senses and slowly overcame her. Wow... when was the last time I've been here?

"We're here," Tiffany said, unbuckling her seatbelt. They exited the car and started walking to the main entrance. Of course, Taeyeon was quick to open the door for Tiffany. 

"I haven't been here in years..." Taeyeon thought aloud, not to anyone in particular. The inside of the cafe remained the same, and retained its old character, despite the fact that Taeyeon hadn't visited in years. There was always a comfortable amount of customers, always a singer on the stage at the back of the cafe where everyone could see, always a relaxed atmosphere that Taeyeon had forgotten the feeling of. She missed this place, this feeling, all too much. 

"You know about this cafe?" Tiffany inquired, maybe a little slightly disappointed that Taeyeon was already familiar with the cafe. Oh well, there's other places.  

"Yes. Maybe I'll tell you about it later. Shall we order?" Taeyeon gestured her towards the counter politely with an open hand, and Tiffany's heart started beating a little faster. Since their unexpected meeting, Taeyeon had been guarded, but always polite in her actions. She was like a little gentlewoman.

"Kim Taeyeon? Is it really you?" Another voice suddenly interjected from behind the counter. Taeyeon immediately followed the famililar voice behind the counter. It was none other than an old friend from back home, and Sooyoung's genuine surprise and eagerness to see her made Taeyeon feel guilty. Perhaps the high-paced city life and the responsibilities of school made her lose touch with the things she loved, the people she treasured. Taeyeon made a mental note to talk to Sooyoung more often, maybe even ask her if she could stand behind the microphone once more, for old times' sake. 

"Sooyoung-ah! How's the air up there!" Taeyeon smiled, complete with a chin dimple that Tiffany hadn't noticed before. So Sooyoung the owner and Taeyeon seem to know each other... This is a bit awkward, but at least I'm closer to peeling this little onion?

"How dare you make fun of me after not visiting for yea- Oh?" Sooyoung stopped dead in the middle of her sentence when she realized that her long-lost pal had some company. Not just any company, some really stunning company who happened to be a frequent customer she liked. Sooyoung immediately grinned, realizing why Taeyeon had come. Well, isn't that something? She's finally moved on and got a girl! Tiffany-ssi, no less!

"Hey, Sooyoung-ssi!" Tiffany eyesmiled shyly, directly correlating with Sooyoung's growing grin.

"Tiffany-ssi! Looks like you've met my little friend, here. You two look like the perfect couple, congratulations Taengoo~" Sooyoung giddily clapped, but halted once the two were violently blushing and avoiding glances. 

"S-Sooyoung-ah! We're just friends," Taeyeon tried to say in the most even tone of voice, yet neither seemed to mind the harmless assumption, at least on the outside. This only coerced Sooyoung a little more. Just friends, huh? Sooyoung thought, still excited. 

"All right, calm down shorty, it's whatever." Sooyoung smiled. "But I still think you're cute together, so whatever you two order will be on the house, okay? Mazel tov to the happy couple!" Sooyoung cheekily declared and air-quoted the word 'couple', which only earned death glares from Taeyeon and awkward (yet sincere) laughter from Tiffany. 

"Now I remember why I stopped coming here," Taeyeon rolled her eyes, but in truth, she really did miss Sooyoung and the little cafe. She knew Sooyoung meant well. 

"Oh, quiet you. We have catching up to do." Sooyoung quipped. "And really, please don't hold back, Tiffany-ssi. It's my treat." 

"Will do. Thank you, Sooyoung-ssi!" 

~~~~~~~~~

Much to Taeyeon's surprise, the lunch meeting was flying by smoothly. They talked about anything and everything that they wanted. Tiffany learned about Taeyeon's beginnings as a photographer, and Taeyeon found out about Tiffany going to college for business, doing a little modeling on the side. 

The slight moments of stiff awkwardness was, of course, still there to some capacity, and yes, Taeyeon was still trying to be wary when it came to Tiffany... but there was a growing sense of irrevocable fondness between the both. It was unshakable, and It became easier to be around each other. Soon, Taeyeon's initial annoyance towards Tiffany completely disappeared

Perhaps Tiffany was not as bad as she originally thought, but it still couldn't hurt to be too careful, right? After all, Taeyeon had learned the hard way numerous times in the past... but even she knew it was so unbelievably difficult to hold onto that notion when Tiffany smiled that beautiful yet dooming smile of hers.

I wonder how many hearts you've broken, Fany. I hope you don't make me one of them. 

Little did Taeyeon know that someone else was thinking about her just as much as she was now thinking of Tiffany. 

Why are you holding back around me, Taeyeon? You don't have to do that. 

They had forgotten about their responsibilities for that day, and neither really cared much. This, whatever was going on, was undeniably nice. 

"So, why did you stop coming to this place? If you don't mind my asking, that is..." Tiffany asked, inquisitively testing the waters between her and Taeyeon. Taeyeon stopped sipping her espresso momentarily, before formulating some type of response. Oh, no... I haven't pushed her, have I? She was just getting comfortable around me, too... Shoot. 

"It really is a long story," Taeyeon began, wetting her lips. "But long story short, an... old friend and I came here to perform quite a lot, and we were close to getting discovered, but my parents didn't want me wasting my time on music. So I stopped." Taeyeon slowly said, using carefully chosen words and phrases, and Tiffany only listened intently. She couldn't help but notice that Taeyeon was deliberately leaving out details, and Taeyeon indeed was, but she decided that the rest was a story for another time. Maybe. 

"That's awful, Taeyeon-ah. I'm sorry about your dream," Tiffany almost whispered. Taeyeon met her gaze and smiled, reassuring her that everything was indeed okay. 

"Tiffany, it's okay, really. Don't worry about it. I'm happy with what I do now. Science is pretty cool, and photography opened up another world for me," Taeyeon stretched casually, emptying the last of her tiny cup of espresso. Besides, that was years ago.

"Well, you're good at what you do now, I'll say." Tiffany said, hoping to ease the suddenly heavy atmosphere. 

"Damn right, I am," Taeyeon smirked, only eliciting another eyeroll and smile from Tiffany. Taeyeon inwardly sighed. 

Don't make me one of them, please. 

A/N: I know, I know, 7 months late and I am so terribly sorry for being so morbidly late, I hope y'all are still there OTL

But to those who are, hello again! Please forgive me and this update, for it is long as crap and I revised this for the 123129180298th time today and I am still rusty and unsatisfied. I know a lot has happened in between this update and the last, but rest assured I am still here and I will be here for a while haha. 

So, how are you all? I had to do a bit of re-reading of my own fic to get to where I want to, and I imagine that you guys will have to do some memory refreshing too (again, sorry haha) but I'm glad to be back ^^

Anyway, what'd you think? I tried splitting this chapter into two but I didn't think it worked. Quite a lot happened in the JLT world, I wonder who Jessica is referring to?? I wanna give her a gf, she works way too hard lol I'll let you decide for yourself what you think is gonna happen between Taeyeon and Tiffany but I am definitely excited ^^

Thank you for sticking around, i'll see you guys soon!

p.s. i got a wordpress!! i'll be posting stuff there (like drabbles and little oneshots) that won't be posted here randomly and it'll be fun, I have a lot of stuff planned. I also have a twitter if you wanna talk and such ^^