It was the third day of their tour and already there were surprises in the morning. Mason, a small Korean boy aged around six had been waiting patiently at the hotel lobby with two matching keychains in his tiny hands. Accompanying him were his parents and two younger siblings, all of them were carrying bags. Their eager faces told others that they were packed and ready to catch a plane after a fulfilling leisure trip. Mason’s cute, round eyes peered anxiously into the faces of passers-by and lobbyists when his parents had once again, gently reminded him about the time.

Tiffany, dressed in a pastel pink flutter sleeve top and cream white shorts was matched with Taeyeon’s pastel blue flutter sleeve top and ivory shorts. The two girls had exited their hotel rooms simultaneously. Even though their rooms were not adjacent to one another, it was still along the same corridor and they could see each other clearly from where they were and they were dismayed to find their styles so matching with each other. Taeyeon had first broke out into a half yawn when she stepped out from her room but paused momentarily she saw the proud girl and took notice of her pink outfit, again. Taeyeon then silently rebuked herself for picking that pastel blue flutter sleeve shirt.

Tiffany, after noticing Taeyeon’s matching top faked nonchalance about it and strode past the girl, as if she was invisible.

Taeyeon scrunched up and nose and scowled after the girl’s snobbish attitude. Both girls averted each other’s gazes as they waited in silence for the elevator. When it had arrived, they were both hesitant to ride in it with each other but eventually got in for convenience's sake. As the elevator descended, the temperature within it seemed to have dropped past sub-zero as the two rode in uncomfortable silence, throwing sneaky glances at one another from time to time. They were still harbouring grudges from the scuffle they had at the lobby the day before and both merely wanted to escape from this confined space as quickly as possible.

Why can’t she be kinder? What’s the use of being pretty if your heart isn’t beautiful as well! Taeyeon later realised that she had actually admitted that the haughty pink girl was actually pretty in those thoughts of hers.

How dare she scream at me yesterday! She should have gotten her facts right before doing so. To think I was about to give her credits for being my photographer. Tiffany felt her grievances piling up as she thought about it.

In their midst to escape from the awkward situation, the two girls had attempted to get out of the elevators at the same time and almost got themselves stuck. A few heads turned toward them and it was then when the little boy had spotted them. His eyes lit up at the sight of them and he ran towards the both of them.

"Noonas!" The little Korean boy, Mason, called out to the both of them in Korean. Unexpectedly, the two girls broke out into similar wide smiles as they spotted the little figure running towards them.

“Morning Mason!”

“Hello, Mason!”

The two echoed at the same time. Both their eyes went wide in bewilderment and they gaped at each other.

“You know him?!” They asked in synchrony.

**

The two girls sat opposite each other at the cafeteria at loss of what to do. The encounter with Mason earlier had cleared numerous misunderstandings between them and they even found themselves to admire each other’s deeds for the boy. Mason’s parents, together with their other children in tow had personally recounted of the encounters Mason had with the individual girls and thanked them profusely.

Taeyeon, the apparent muddle-head and latecomer, had first found Mason crying helplessly in the lift lobby of the hotel because he had gotten lost. Not having the heart to not leave the boy by himself, nor feeling safe enough to leave the boy with the receptionist, Taeyeon had waited by the boy’s side until his parents came for him. Apparently, the bus driver knew of Taeyeon’s circumstances which was also why he had been so amiable towards the girl. 

As for Tiffany, she had a run in with Mason when he was being teased and bullied by another burlier Korean child. They later reckoned that they were from the same tour group since that bully was almost always around wherever Mason was. It was unlucky for both Tiffany and Taeyeon that when Mason had already ran off in tears when Taeyeon witnessed Tiffany scolding the bully.

Taeyeon had been fiddling with the keychain, in the shape of a lion cub, in her hands awkwardly while Tiffany had been sipping away at her coffee, the edges of the same lion cub keychain every now and then, her eyes thoughtful.

"U-Uh..." Taeyeon started, wishing to break the silence yet she found herself fumbling for words. "The weather's good eh?" Oh yes, talk about the weather, good move Kim Taeyeon. The girl chided herself mentally and prepared herself for sarcastic remarks from the pink girl. Yet, none came.

"Yeah, the weather's pretty good today." Tiffany lips were pressed into a hard line right after she replied. Apparently also surprised by her own non-sarcasm-laced reply. 

They made eye contact for a brief moment until it was broken off by Tiffany, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. Tiffany hoped that her cheeks would not colour and began to wonder why was she reacting in such a way. It was a novel experience for her for she was never a shy person yet she was feeling that way at the moment when their eyes met.

The two then simultaneously looked elsewhere embarrassedly. Tiffany was looking up to the ceiling, searching for nothing in particular while Taeyeon’s eyes found the ground, her lips slightly pouted. Silence loomed before them for another good minute before they attempted another talk with each other.

"U-Uh so... You were late for the coach that day because you were helping Mason to find his parents?" Tiffany too, found herself stumbling over words as she attempted to kick-start the conversation. 

"Y-Yea... He gave me the lollipop as well..." Taeyeon bit into her bottom lip and wondered why had she even bothered to explain that part. She then recovered herself before asking the pink girl about her involvement with Mason. "And you were shouting at that kid the other day because he bullied Mason?"

Tiffany just gave a tiny nod, unsure of what else to say. She did not feel proud about helping anybody much less to accord herself credit for doing so. She just thought she had to do it and Tiffany suddenly felt the desire to know what Taeyeon thought about her actions and dared herself to peer into Taeyeon’s eyes. Once again, she felt that shyness creeping in and her face heating up. What is happening? Tiffany was discomforted by her own feelings. Just in the morning, she was trying to ignore Taeyeon and managed to do so but right after she knew of Taeyeon’s kind acts, her face threatened to blush every time they looked at each other.

Silence lingered between the two of them again and when they decided to speak again, both of them did it at the same time.

"I'm sorry..." The two girls were again surprised that they had apologised at the same time. Odd, had they built up a sense of camaraderie during such a short period as to exude such synchronisation skills?

Taeyeon was beginning to grow curious of that glow of pink in her companion’s cheeks. She was pretty certain that that look was from shyness and even though it was odd seeing it on the seemingly aloof girl, Taeyeon found herself liking that look on that girl’s face.

Feeling stares from Taeyeon, Tiffany realised that she must say something to cool herself off. "Well, seems like the misunderstanding between us has been cleared up." Wow, such insights Tiffany Hwang, why had I state the obvious. My brain must have rotted in the Zambezi.

"Yes, all cleared up." Taeyeon leant forwards suddenly, grinning at her with a smile so wide Tiffany swore she bore some semblance to Totoro for a split second. Tiffany also gave her eye smile, her first genuine smile to her partner in days and a small blush graced Taeyeon's face as well.

"Y-You have a pretty smile, you should do it often," Taeyeon found herself saying.

Seeing the blush on Taeyeon's face made Tiffany glad that she was not the only one who was prone to blush in that situation.

"U-U-Uh thanks," Tiffany stuttered so badly that she was becoming embarrassed of herself. Feeling like a stranger in this situation, Tiffany tried to deviate to another topic. "Uh... We're finally visiting the waterfall later right?" No, Tiffany, you signed up for this package to catch a cold and look at animals.

Taeyeon bobbed her head up and down cutely with a small pout. Rather than feeling repulsed, but Tiffany realised she was enjoying it and knew that she had developed an appreciation for Taeyeon's cute antics. Her eyes then caught a glimpse of the plastic round-face clock hanging on the walls of the café and finished the last of her coffee before beckoning Taeyeon to follow.

"Let’s go. By the way I should have done this earlier." Tiffany then extended a hand to Taeyeon. “I am Tiffany. Miyoung is my Korean name but I would very much prefer Tiffany.”

Taeyeon looked at that outstretched hand for a few moments before taking it gladly into her own. “Hello Tiffany. Once again, I am Taeyeon. Yes, let’s go.”

Both girls smiled at each other and began chatting as friends right away when they had exited the café.  

The two of them were seat mates, once more. Taeyeon, as usual, got excited at every single thing. However, what was different was that the easily-excited girl forced her newly attained friend to join in her excitement. Taeyeon nudged Tiffany in the ribs every few minutes, squeezed Tiffany's arms to get her attention and even went as far as to slap Tiffany's thighs as she laughed. Tiffany was not used to the 'affection' her seat mate was showing but rather than becoming annoyed like how she usually would get, the girl merely clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes jokingly.

"Look at that!" Taeyeon tugged at Tiffany's arm when a pair of lion cubs strolled past.

"What what what!" Tiffany peered around, faintly amused by Taeyeon’s all-day enthusiasm.

"Lion cubs!" Taeyeon exclaimed proudly as if she had discovered a chest of gold.

"Seriously?! Haven't we been looking at that since day one?!" Tiffany complained and Taeyeon pouted her lips back cutely in response. "Okay, okay. They are so 'damn' cute." Tiffany sounded force, scratching the tip of her nose as she spoke.

"You don't really mean that. But I will accept it." Taeyeon smiled to herself, she seemed to have gotten used to Tiffany’s direct personality and was beginning to grow fond of it. When Taeyeon had seen her own smile reflected on Tiffany’s face, Taeyeon knew that the girl had actually a reserved well of livelier emotions to her. Your smile is really beautiful, you should smile often, Tiffany.

The two girls continued to tease and every now and then shared their opinions of each other during the first few days of their trip. It was pretty interesting to hear their honest thoughts about one another.

“I really could not believe that whole on lollipop thing kind of unnerved me,” Tiffany proclaimed aloud.

“I know, I know, I saw that look of disgust on your face. But really, you were so judgemental,” Taeyeon rebuked playfully.

Tiffany shrugged at that comment for she knew of that flaw herself but it was probably a first that someone had told her so directly. “Well… yes I am judgemental. Cannot help it.”

“Oh, I guess so too. I think it is too deeply entrenched in you.” Taeyeon grinned playfully when she said that.
 

The two were so caught up in their conversation that they had not even realised they had arrived at their destination. They only noticed it when the other tourists gasped aloud at the scene before their eyes.

Before them, it was one of the most stunning sight, one of the world's renowned natural wonder, and also one of the hottest destination for couples to read their vows, Victoria Falls. Both turning their heads in response, the two girls could not help but marvel at the scene before them. Tiffany’s work mind automatically played out a hundred possible romantic scenes for her advertisements by the waterfall whilst Taeyeon could not help but be in awe of those who came as couples. The two girls turned to face each other in synchrony and as if they knew what was playing on each other’s mind, they smiled sheepishly.

Taeyeon found herself leaning on to Tiffany unknowingly when she became too engrossed in the scene before. "Pretty eh?"

Surprised by that mild contact and the fluttering feeling that was blossoming within her, Tiffany tried her best to still herself. "Mhmm... Quite pretty."

Taeyeon then turned her head sharply towards Tiffany, clicked her tongue and stared fiercely at Tiffany, unafraid to show her annoyance. It was only then when Taeyeon had realised how close they were together. That same fluttering feeling then erupted within Taeyeon as well.

"What?" Tiffany asked innocently and was mildly satisfied to see the blush spreading on Tiffany’s cheeks.

Taeyeon then recovered herself before giving the girl a lecture, "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.

"Okay, okay, it is the most beautiful scenery I've ever witnessed and will ever witness in this lifetime." Tiffany flapped her hand as she spoke and that caused Taeyeon to chuckle. Taeyeon was growing fonder of Tiffany’s sarcastic humour with each passing moment.

Soon, the tour guide began explaining everything about Victoria Falls, including how its name got derived. Apparently the local name for this magnificent waterfall was 'Mosi-ao-Tunya' which meant 'the smoke that thunders'. That was the last piece of information the two girls received before both of them got distracted by each other, again.

Taeyeon found herself sniggering uncontrollably at the foreign name and Tiffany too, was more amused by Taeyeon reactions than entertained by the information the tour guide was providing. The two girls began slapping each other's arms playfully instead of listening to their guide seriously, the rest of the tourists could tell that the guide was becoming irritated by the two’s distractions. Their teasing and playing continued for quite a while before the guide announced that they would be travelling to the top of the great waterfall, the Devil’s pool they call it. That announcement had grasped the two girls' attention briefly then the two returned to chattering, arguing and even debating how the pool got its name, soon, they will know.

It seemed as if the entire tour had been planned solely for the two girls when they had been volunteered first by the guide to try out swimming in the devil's pool with the local instructors. Was the guide looking for payback at the girls for not having paid attention to his speech? They could not tell. However, the two could not have done better to conceal their shock, "Eh?!" The two girls shouted in tandem as both their faces paled.

The other tourists looked over to them with much anticipation and both of them returned it with weak smiles.

Later, two other girls, who revealed their names to be Sunny and Hyomin had volunteered themselves for this activity while the rest opted to watch the four of them before deciding to join.

Tiffany never imagined that the bikini that she had prepared would be put to such use. She had initially expected herself to be sipping juice by the poolside in it. Great… Bikini babe in the devil’s pool. Tiffany sighed audibly in the changing room.

“Hey… You scared? I thought you’ve never gotten less than a gold in kayaking?” Taeyeon teased. Tiffany was in the changing room beside her. The room partition between them shook when Tiffany accidentally bumped into it and Taeyeon laughed when she heard the grunt from the girl.  

“Yes at kayaking but I did not say I am good at swimming.” Tiffany argued back, slightly embarrassed.

“Oh bother! A great kayaker cannot be too lousy at swimming, who are you trying to kid?” Taeyeon shouted over teasingly but got her karma almost in that instant when she tripped over her own clothes and banged herself against the partition. Tiffany’s laughter rang through the changing room.

“Yea yea, I am a great swimmer! Good enough to swim against the rapids to save you!” Tiffany relented, spurts of laughter still erupting from her.

“What?! My vest was damaged!” Taeyeon protested childishly, as she rubbed her arm, the spot where she hit the partition.

After fifteen minutes of volleying of arguments. Someone else in the changing room spoke and that was when Tiffany and Taeyeon remembered that they were not the only ones in the changing room. The two other volunteers whose names Tiffany and Taeyeon vaguely remembered was in there as well. 

“Erm… hello, I know it is rude to intrude into your lovey dovey exchanges but I think the rest are waiting.” Taeyeon recognised voice as the girl by the name of Sunny.

The two of them came out from their changing rooms with apologetic looks on their faces. The embarrassment soon turned out into a pure look of surprise from each other. 

“W-Woah. You look good.” Tiffany accidentally blurted out.

Taeyeon looked away shyly, “You too…”

It was the first time Taeyeon had worn a bikini, something that was considered excessively revealing and she had bought it for some forgotten reasons. Taeyeon started covering parts of her body but which was undoubtedly ineffective in hiding the milky skin of hers. Though her body shape was not exactly perfect, due to her long break from working out, she still looked good.  

Tiffany on the other hand, had been rather used to exposing herself to the sun in her bikini-clad self. Like Taeyeon, she was slim as well but not exactly toned due to the lack of workout at the gyms. Her jet black hair was pulled back into an athletic ponytail which suited her and though she was fair-skinned, her yellow undertone gave her a healthier glow.

A tall, beautiful brunette soon came into sight and stopped beside Sunny. Tiffany and Taeyeon were immediately taken to the girl’s presence. Her arms s around the shorter girl’s waist unashamedly. It soon became apparent to Tiffany and Taeyeon that the pair of volunteers was a couple.

The pair of girls still had their clothes on, apparently having worn their swimming gear underneath. “Awh… the two of them are behaving like how we did in the past, so cute.” The girl by the name of Hyomin teased.

That statement had caused the two of them to blush at the same time.

“Uh…” Taeyeon’s eyes darted about as if guilty of something.

“Hyomin, we should go first…” Sunny, the shorter sensing that the two were slightly awkward in their presence suggested to her partner and they later left.

“Don’t make us wait too long!” The beautiful brunette’s head popped back into the washroom and gave a teasing wink before disappearing shortly after.

“Erhem, I don’t think we should keep the rest waiting. Let’s just go.” Tiffany beckoned and Taeyeon nodded, hurrying out.

Both became acutely aware of their behaviours around each other. They enjoyed it but after watching that cute display of affections for the lesbian couple in the changing room, began to contemplate upon Hyomin’s words. Had they really behaved like a budding couple?

Too soon to think about that. Tiffany told herself.

Too soon. Taeyeon scolded herself mentally as well.

A/N:

Hello peeps, the length of this chapter has increased by nearly 40% after editing it >< gosh... and that is why I had to shift several scenes to the next chapter. 

I'm so sorry about the long chapters >< tell me if you guys are uncomfortable with it. 

Also, there is the brief introduction (cameo appearance) of the SunByung (SunnyxHyomin) couple in this chapter. No worries, they won't steal TaeNy's limelight if that is what you guys are worried about. And like what I have said in the previous A/N, this couple would appear in another fic which I have yet to complete (maybe would not complete as well) orz

xD okay so now back to business xD as the chapter title suggests, TaeNy's relationship is budding or rather has taken a great leap forward. I hope this do not appear to sudden to you guys. What I wanted to portray was how when after people see one another in a different light, they totally have a changed perspective... I do experience them from time to time. xD like when I have a preconceived mindset of someone, everything she/he does becomes good/bad xD

okay. enough of my personal experience :) so yea... TaeNy... besides taking a great leap forward in their relationship, they are so going to take a great leap into the Devil's Pool and well... if things can happen in the Zambezi River, more things can happen at the Devil's Pool, hint hint xD

Finally, this is not relevant to the story plot but I thought I might address this. There was a sudden swell in the number of subscriptions on Sunday night (+8:00 GMT) and that really surprised me (in a good way of course). I mean... I am not a prolific writer nor do I think I am that good of a writer to get such numbers >< not to mention that it's rare that I get so many subs to a particular story so I am really thankful to those who have subbed (be it whether you've stayed or just joined). I am grateful to all of you guys from the bottom of my heart and I hope that you have done it because you truly enjoy the story :)

well... I guess that concludes what I have to say. Plus the usual, thanks to all who have subbed, upvoted, commented :)

p/s In addition to being a writer I am a pokemon hunter too, one of my latest and proudest addition was a Hypno xD have fun guys! and please be safe!