Victoria Falls (Epilogue)

Taeyeon could not believe why she had actually complied with Tiffany’s request. Her legs had turned into jelly and were trembling uncontrollably as she willed herself to look down from the suspension bridge. “Oh my god…” Even her voice was trembling. Her hands gripped onto the handrail so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. It was as if she was holding on to her dear life.

“Afraid?” Tiffany spoke behind her, like Taeyeon, her safety gears and equipment were already secured. However, unlike Taeyeon, the Creative Director had an air of confidence about her with her hands on her hips. Even if Tiffany was truly afraid, she had been extremely good at concealing it.

Taeyeon nodded her head rapidly, both her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, her pouty lips quivering slightly.  

The pair had made their way to Zimbabwe once again, however, they had made the trip there on their own accord this time round. There were no commitments to fulfil to their companies, only commitments to each other and themselves. The two Directors had requested for a week long break from their respective companies.

Now, here they are, back in Zimbabwe, standing on a bridge which was a hundred and eleven metres above the flowing rapids of the Zambezi River. The same river that they had met an accident with and almost drowned in. Once, they had been terrified of kayaking in fast-flowing water and now, they were afraid of having to plummet down towards the rushing rapids. Goosebumps rose all over Taeyeon as their safety instructor performed a final safety check on her harness and multiple safety ropes. I am going to kill myself. Taeyeon could not help but think of this insane activity as a suicide and her face had exposed her fear.

Upon noticing the agonised expression on Taeyeon’s face, the Creative Director began to the terrified girl’s hair affectionately. “You are going to be fine. Don’t worry, we are doing it together,” Tiffany soothed.

“C-Can we do it tomorrow instead?” Taeyeon pleaded, her puppy eyes almost shining with tears.

Tiffany shook her head sternly. “Nope, we’re going according to our schedules. Tomorrow, we’re going to visit your favourite lion cubs again.”

“B-B-But…” Taeyeon tried to protest but Tiffany had not given her a chance to as she pressed a finger onto Taeyeon’s lips.

“No more buts. Let’s get ready.” Tiffany then guided the girl’s hands away from the railings to wrap around her own waist and did the same to the other girl for they were going to perform what is called a couple bungee jump.

Tiffany was half-dragging the reluctant Taeyeon over to the edge when they heard the instructor’s commands. The Creative Director felt pity but amused at the same time when she felt the other girl’s body shaking uncontrollably against her own body.

“I am with you,” Tiffany whispered into the girl’s ears and pecked a gentle kiss on it.

Taeyeon nodded hurriedly, praying for the ordeal to end soon.

The instructor shouted commands that only Tiffany could understand. The Creative Director nodded her head calmly and inched closer towards the edge where they would leap from. Soft whimpers from Taeyeon were produced with each step made and Tiffany could only hugged the girl tighter to comfort her. This was actually Tiffany’s first bungee jump and like all first-timers, she was afraid. However, no matter how afraid she was, she promised to not let it show, especially not before Taeyeon. The Creative Director felt it her responsibility to become braver for the girl. I can do this. Tiffany felt adrenaline course through her body when she eyed the scene from below her.

“Ready?! Jump!”

Another pathetic whimper from Taeyeon and then Tiffany let her body fall over the edge, bringing along the other girl with her. They fell. What happened next was a blur for the two girls.

Tiffany could hardly see anything with the rush of cold wind stinging her eyes, it was not as if she wanted to see anything anyway. Her ears were tormented both from the angry rumblings of the Zambezi River as well as from Taeyeon’s piercing screams. The Creative Director made it a mental note to bring out mufflers the next time they bungee jump together.

Then, the rope became taut and the two girls bounced with its rhythm, Taeyeon’s screams jerking with it. The pair continued bouncing for a while before they began to spin in mid-air. 

 “Open your eyes Kim Taeyeon, you’ve made it,” Tiffany urged gently.

Taeyeon felt a soft finger caress her tightly-shut lids and her eyes fluttered open. She let out a gasp as she took in her surroundings and beamed when she was greeted by Tiffany’s smiling face.

Taeyeon could not believe that they had really taken the leap and were now hanging upside down. Despite herself hanging upside down, Taeyeon was once again enraptured by the scenery offered by nature, by Victoria Falls. hung open stupidly as they continued swivelling on the bungee rope.  

There were no responses from her partner initially and Tiffany’s worries grew, Taeyeon seemed to be in a complete daze and Tiffany thought that the girl had gone full retard. “Hey, talk to me, Kim Taeyeon. Are you okay?”

All her worries dissipated when Taeyeon squealed delightedly out of sudden and hugged her partner tighter than ever. Tiffany felt the air squeezed out of her lungs but was fortunately prepared for that, she had gotten so used to Taeyeon’s bone-crushing hugs.

“We made it, we made it, we made it,” Taeyeon chanted in elation.

Doing this together with Tiffany was indeed a beautiful choice.

“Yes we did, but I may not be able to make it if you do not release me soon,” Tiffany joked.

“Oh… I am sorry…” Taeyeon apologised, flustered, and slacken her hold around the girl in an instant. 

Tiffany chuckled and let out a sigh of contentment. “Well… this is the best feeling ever,” the girl proclaimed.

“What is? Hanging upside down and in perpetual danger of falling into the rushing waters below? I disagree!” Taeyeon argued even though she felt otherwise. They had grown too used to bickering with one another after all.

“This is an entirely new experience isn’t it? Quit complaining, you scaredy-cat. Who was the one who said I should start giving my praises generously the last time we were at Zimbabwe?”

"That is the problem with you! Always so stingy with praises for anything. Can't you just drop the 'quite' and say that it is pretty?" Taeyeon lectured.

Taeyeon smiled as she reminisced, she had lectured the Creative Director for being stingy with her praises. “That does not mean that you need to praise everything especially not things like this. I swear this jump has shortened my life by at least ten years.”

“It is okay, we still have tens of years to live together,” Tiffany assured.

Taeyeon then began to find points to rebut her and once again, their volleying of arguments had started, even in the midst of a bungee jump. Taeyeon’s mind was completely distracted from the fact that she was still swinging from great heights of Victoria Falls.

“You guys all right down there? Ready to come up?” They were finally interrupted when the echoes from the instructor reached them. There was a hint of irritation in his voice. The couple realised that they always managed to annoy their instructors during their visit to Victoria Falls.   

“U-Uh… yea. Help us up please,” Tiffany managed to reply.  

The two stuck out their tongues at each other when they had remembered that they were actually amidst performing a dangerous activity and put a pause to their arguments. Upon reflections, the couple learnt that there would be endless disagreements and arguments between them and they would be bickering in any and every place. Yet, not one of this disagreements nor arguments could be big enough to weaken the relationship they share. The bond that was formed during their travel to the world’s natural wonder, Victoria Falls.

Instead of leaving our footprints behind in Victoria Falls, we forged many of our cherished arguments and memories. We will never forget this place, the place where we found each other and more importantly, love, Victoria Falls.

**

A/N: 

yeapyeap here is the epilogue and a snippet of TaeNy's honeymoon-ish trip :) orz TaeNy bickering all their life xD

With this, the story is really completed. :) 

I will thank all of you guys for the upvotes, subscribes and comments for the last time <3

Appreciate all of you so much <3 <3 <3 

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