A/N: Hello, everyone! I’m sorry that this isn’t the JLT update OTL I promise you it is not abandoned, please don't worry haha ^^

But yes, one quick thing about this one shot. Most of it was inspired by real events from my life, and a beautiful song called Hiding Tonight by Alex Turner. I highly recommend it :) Things that Tiffany and Taeyeon discuss here are real conversations between me and my first girlfriend. The naivete of first loves. I just wanted to share it with you all ^^

Now, read on! haha
-Sare

Tomorrow I'll be quicker
I'll stare into the strobe light flicker
And afloat I'll stay
But I'm quite alright hiding today

Taeyeon disliked the cold weather. 

She rolled her eyes at anyone who romanticized autumn.

They saw golden leaves, she saw brown.

It was cold and too windy all the time. And no one could say that they loved to rake leaves only for the leaves to come falling back down again in the near future. 

But, she made only one exception regarding her contempt for the fall. Every now and then, she wouldn’t mind the bite of the wind on her mildly pallid face. She wouldn’t mind the ground demanding to be kissed by the rain. She walked with a spring in her step, and went out of her way to crush every crunchy leaf in her path. She’d even whistle an old love song if she was in the mood. 

Every now and then, she, too, would see gold instead of brown. 

On those special days, she spent the night in her own little world within a world.

One with only her and Tiffany Hwang. 

There was nothing particularly extraordinary about how the two teenagers met. No love at first sight, no fireworks, no butterflies. Not yet, anyway.   

It all began on the day that Tiffany transferred to Taeyeon’s school in their first year of high school. 

It didn’t take a long time before Tiffany Hwang rose to popularity. She was socially harmonious and ridiculously beautiful. Ridiculously beautiful to the point where Taeyeon initially questioned if it was even okay to glance in her general direction. Yes, that beautiful. Rumor even had it that Tiffany was extremely affluent and cultured, and that much was true, whereas Taeyeon deemed herself as as run-of-the-mill and average as they came.

Oh, how wrong she was. 

Naturally, Taeyeon believed that a friendship between the two of them would prove to be highly unlikely.

Until one day, Tiffany Hwang decided to be a little sneaky during one of their lectures. A lovesick guy who practically every girl fawned over was passing notes to Tiffany, and Tiffany to him. Being in between the two, Taeyeon was irritated at having to pass flirty notes back and forth while one smirked and the other giggled. And as the universe would have it, the teacher managed to catch them... with the note in Taeyeon’s hands, of course. 

Taeyeon took the blame, one thing led to another, and it ultimately resulted in Taeyeon and Tiffany having to tidy up the classroom after school as a small punishment.

Things just fell in place after that.

Tiffany appreciated Taeyeon’s kindness and unintentional humorous remarks, and Taeyeon was surprised to find that Tiffany had a golden personality to match her physical appearance. 

Things were good, although they weren’t expecting to see each other outside of class much after that. 

Yet there they were, more than three years later, laying on the ground of the damp playground looking at the stars - as if they had a clue about anything at all. 

As time went on, Tiffany began to flock less and less with her varying groups of friends she barely knew and developed a new curiosity for little Kim Taeyeon. The more she discovered, the more her curiosity doubled. The more they interacted, the more her attachment to this girl was unable to be quelled. She caught herself thinking about Taeyeon a bit more often than usual. Why this was, Taeyeon would never know. But Taeyeon was glad, because it resulted in their unlikely “friendship.” 

And they would be friends "for as long as as they still liked each other."

Somewhere along the line, as fate would have it, Taeyeon began to see Tiffany in a totally different light. Everything Tiffany did began to have a stronger pull on her: be it the fixing of her bangs, her wondrous laugh, the way she’d play the flute... Anything. Anything that Taeyeon touched told her it would be better if shared with Tiffany. Somewhere along the line, Taeyeon became more and more dissatisfied with whomever it was she happened to be dating at the moment. 

She tried to play it off as “he’s just not good enough for you”, when it was really “that should be me.”

Somewhere along the line, when they were fighting over the said boyfriend(s), their lips found each other in a moment of pure, blissful impulse. Their faces were at the right distance, at the right angle, and Taeyeon’s favorite song happened to be playing in the background, as clichè as that was. They didn’t talk about it much, because their lips would find each other again and again after that. 

Somewhere along the line, Tiffany stopped responding to her ever-growing list of admirers and crushes. She wanted to be admired, be held, and be kissed by Taeyeon and only Taeyeon. 

Somewhere along the line, Taeyeon began to form her own definition of being in love.  

But they never said it aloud. They didn’t think it needed saying. They just understood and carried on. As the days passed happily, everyone else began to understand that Tiffany belonged to Taeyeon and Taeyeon to Tiffany. Exclusively. Again, that didn’t need saying. Or so Taeyeon thought. 

Coming out of her daze, Taeyeon realized that she was nearing the corner of the quaint little park, otherwise known as Tiffany and Taeyeon's special meeting place. They told each other they would come up with a better name in the future. 

Soon enough, Taeyeon caught sight of a familiar red duffel coat, its owner sitting on the grass by the dusky, warm streetlight. 

"Hi," Taeyeon greeted, her voice coated with honey. She didn't hesitate when Tiffany pulled her down with her, and rested her head on Tiffany's lap. The star light couldn't even compare to the glint in Tiffany's eyes. It was then when Taeyeon knew that something was amiss, but she chose to ignore it. 

"Hi, baby," Tiffany replied, before acquainting her lips with Taeyeon's, again and again. First, softly, and then more urgently. They had no idea how much time had passed and they didn't care. 

During these little secret meetings, the pair wouldn't really talk or do much. They merely did what they felt like the world was stopping them from doing, something they were constantly hiding - just being themselves. However, there was something that Tiffany wanted to bring out to the surface, little by little tonight. Something that had been bothering her for quite awhile. Tiffany tried to delay her tears threatening to fall by looking up, and tensed when Taeyeon cuddled closer. Alas, this wouldn't go undetected by her young lover.  

"When are you planning on telling me what's wrong?" 

"Hmm?" 

"You seem a little off, Fany-ah." To say the least. Tiffany finally gave in, her last defenses falling inward. What was she to say? 

"Nothing. I don't know, Taeyeon-ah." Tiffany paused, forcing herself to be distracted with the constellations. She was surprised she could even see any, considering how bright Seoul was. "Because I kind of just... I feel like screaming to the world that you're mine," Tiffany carefully and lovingly whispered, finally looking down and meeting eyes with Taeyeon. She could feel Taeyeon tracing every little detail of her face with her eyes, searching for warning signs. 

Taeyeon softly hummed in a quizzical manner, eyes fixed on Tiffany. She read into the eyes swimming with thought, wondering why her girlfriend was suddenly so pensive, and careful. Taeyeon decided that she didn't buy this reason of Tiffany's. 

"Then why don't you?" A simple enough question.

Taeyeon reached up and tucked a few strands of Tiffany's hair behind her ear. If there was a specific moment in which Taeyeon thought Tiffany was at her most beautiful state, this one might have been the winner. Suddenly, she saw tears. She found her warning signs. 

"One day I will," Tiffany sighed again, heart heavier and voice now trembling. "One day, we won't have to hide like this. I'll hold your hand in the streets all I want. One day," Tiffany half-smiled, tracing her fingers along Taeyeon's jawline. She felt Taeyeon tense, and now Tiffany felt guilty for ruining what was supposed to be a night of happy memory-making. After all, she was unsure if they would be able to make any before long.

"Hey, hey, why are you crying, Fany?" Taeyeon worriedly began wiping the tears from Tiffany's now-reddened eyes. She hated it when Tiffany cried, and she automatically resented any possible thing that could be the cause. "Fany-ah, it doesn't matter, okay? Whether the whole world knows or not, I will always be yours. It doesn't change anything, for as-" 

"For as long as I still like you," Tiffany finished their little promise. 

"Exactly." Taeyeon caressed Tiffany's cheek, yet something still felt wrong, and she simply couldn't ignore it. "Now, what's the real reason you're upset?" Taeyeon braced herself for the imminent news, and Tiffany sighed.

There was no use in dragging it out. 

"I'm leaving after we graduate, Taeyeon-ah." 

Taeyeon opened to speak, and nothing came out. She felt her center of gravity being thrown off, and she wasn't sure what broke first; her heart or Tiffany's. 

"W-what do you mean, Fany-ah? You're l-leaving me?" Taeyeon managed to utter. What was supposed to be an even sentence came out like a defeated, futile whimper. 

Tiffany kissed Taeyeon's forehead, and her own tears wet Taeyeon's face. 

"I'll never leave you, TaeTae. We knew this was gonna happen, right?" Tiffany sighed, closing her eyes. Her forehead remained pressed onto her best friend's face. "It'll only be for four years. A-And I'll come back as often as possible and..." 

"And then what? Do you really think we'll be able to do it? Honestly, Fany." Taeyeon said, almost scoffing. 

"How are you already doubting us?! We still have time left. And yes, Taeyeon, I do believe we can, so I'm sorry if you don-" 

Another pair of lips kept her from continuing. Taeyeon gently kissed Tiffany, letting her body convey what she couldn't verbalize, and Tiffany held her closer. 

"I'm sorry, Fany. It's not that I'm doubting us, but..." 

"But?" 

"I don't know." Taeyeon kissed Tiffany's cheek. "You must have done something to me. I don't really think I can function right without you, after all this time," Taeyeon said. To her relief, Tiffany smiled for the first time that night. How I'll miss that smile...

"You make it sound like you're some kind of robot." Tiffany half-heartedly giggled. 

They didn't really know what to say after that, so they lay in each other's arms for seconds, maybe hours, maybe days. It didn't matter. If they were going to be pressed for time soon, then they would prolong this moment for as long as possible. 

Suddenly, Tiffany turned her head to look at Taeyeon. 

"Taeyeon-ah?" 

"Mm?" 

"Can we adjust our little promise?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"Instead of 'for as long as I still like you'... Maybe we can change 'like' to something else?" Tiffany breathed. "I love you." 

Taeyeon was silent for a while, and Tiffany waited. 

"Ask me how far the the most distant star is," Taeyeon said instead, ignoring Tiffany's request. 

"I'm in love with you, Taeyeon-ah," 

"Ask me," Taeyeon repeated, with a glint of something Tiffany couldn't read in her eyes just yet. Was it happiness? Was it sadness? Fear? She didn't know anymore. Tiffany just knew that it wasn't supposed to hurt this much. 

"Fine. How far?" Tiffany breathed, disappointed at Taeyeon's response. She made herself vulnerable and here Taeyeon was talking to her about the damn stars. 

"Some say 76,000 light years away," Taeyeon's hand found Tiffany's again, and before Tiffany could even think about pulling away, Taeyeon's lips pressed onto her own, effectively silencing her and causing her to forget why she was so upset to begin with, even if just for a little while. 

Seconds, maybe minutes passed, and time wasn't an issue this time. But they kissed until their lips burned, and their hands roamed, and their tears fell. The way Tiffany kissed Taeyeon made her wonder why Taeyeon ever believed that she was better off alone before they met. "76,000 light years away. And I am in love with you," Taeyeon smiled, with her eyes closed and forehead pressed gently on Tiffany's. "I love you, Fany. So much." 

"I love you, too." It felt too right. "Are you scared?" Tiffany kissed Taeyeon's tears away. 

"No," Taeyeon shook her head. "But, you're right. The promise needs to be adjusted. I'm not sure I'll stop loving you, should you stop loving me." They both smiled. 

And for the first time, they were completely clueless. 

"What do we do now?" 

"I'm in love with you. That's all I need for now. Is it enough for you?" 

"It's more than enough, TaeTae." She gave Taeyeon's now warmed hand a gentle squeeze. "We'll give this our hardest try," 

"We will." Taeyeon sighed.

"I'll give you the world one day, Taeyeon-ah. One day..." 

That wasn't as good as I thought it would be lolol