Chapter 10

“So, your real name is Tiffany Hwang?” Mrs. Jung mused, seeing Tiffany nod her head lightly.

“Auntie, you are not angry that I deceived you, are you? I swear to you that I didn’t mean to.” Tiffany said earnestly, uncertain whether she was still welcome in the house.

Mrs. Jung laughed & patted her hand in assurance, “Silly girl. This is what has been eating your inside all this time?” She asked gently. Tiffany squirmed a little, answering the question without saying anything. Sighing softly, Mrs. Jung asked her again, “Do you remember what I said to you the first moment we met?” She must have noticed the blank look in Tiffany’s eyes for she smiled & shook her head, “I told you how much I wanted to have a daughter. I knew you were a girl from the start, Tim, but I also knew you must have your reason for hiding your identity so I let you get away with it but seeing the way you moped around these days, I couldn’t take it anymore. That’s the reason I came here tonight, trying to see if maybe you need someone to talk to & I’m so glad that you confided in me.” Squeezing her hands, Mrs. Jung looked into Tiffany’s eyes deeply. Tiffany’s smile wobbled as the compassion in Mrs. Jung’s eyes touched her heart.

“Yunho mustn’t have told you about me yet. Tim, I used to be a stage performer before I married Yunho’s dad so I’m very familiar with making myself up into characters using those pots & creams. I must admit though, you did a great job pretending to be a guy. Not just the makeup but also the gesture & deep voice but I guess genes speak for themselves.” She remarked lightly. Then she chuckled affectionately as she added, “& I’m also very ashamed to admit that I’m not surprised Yunho didn’t see through your disguises. Although, he’s my dearest son, it is the fact that he is also one of the most obtuse guys I know.” Heaving a long-suffering sigh, Mrs. Jung fixed a martyr look on her face, even as her eyes twinkled with merriment.

Tiffany snorted into laughter & nodded enthusiastically, “That he is alright. If not, he’s the most obtuse one.” Realizing whom she was talking to, Tiffany hastily swallowed the rest of her words but Mrs. Jung only smiled & said dryly, “No need to be polite, Tim. It’s Yunho we are talking about here. I might be his mother but I’m not blind.” Then in a more serious tone, Mrs. Jung added, “But for Chanyeol to be taken in also, that’s an achievement you could be proud of, you know, for Chanyeol is a very observant guy. It’s so rare that everything could get past him.”

“I’m not sure I can fool him though. Sometimes, he looked as if he wanted to see the inside of my head, as if he knew I was hiding something from him.”

Mrs. Jung pursed her lips & tapped her chin with her finger, “Hmmm. He must have not known the truth or at least not sure about it yet. You have just met him for a week, Tim, so you don’t know him well enough. Chanyeol is a no-nonsense guy. If he was sure, if he got something that would confirm his suspicion, he would confront you in the open with it. I have known Chanyeol for a long time since Yunho’s high school years. The poor boy is an orphan so he sometimes stayed here with us during school break. During their school years, he & Yunho were almost inseparable. Once I even suspected that my son was somewhat gay.” She laughed heartily as if amused by her own foolish thought, “Could you imagine Yunho & Chanyeol together that way? & I almost asked Yunho about his ual orientation too, panicked as I was by the possibility. Could you imagine what Yunho’s reaction is going to be if I really asked him that? He would probably fly through the roof.” Tiffany felt as if she was electrocuted on the spot & Mrs. Jung’s voice faded into the background. Yunho & Chanyeol? How come she had never thought about that possibility? All this time, she thought Yunho was attracted to Tim, the guy. Tiffany suddenly longed to ask Mrs. Jung whether she was sure about her son & Chanyeol’s relationship. Were they really platonic best friends or were they actually romantically involved behind her back? Tiffany mentally shook her head to shake the thought loose. She was deep in denial when she felt Mrs. Jung touching her arm.

“Sweetie? Are you okay? You look so pale.” She sighed & looked at Tiffany lovingly, “I know it must be hard to keep these secrets by yourselves but you don’t have to, Tim. I really think it would be easier for you if you told Yunho & Chanyeol what you have just told me. They could help you with your cover too, & you wouldn’t need to be on your toe all the time because we all would protect you.”

With panic obviously coating her voice, she grabbed Mrs. Jung’s hand & pleaded, “Auntie, you must keep this a secret. I don’t want anyone else to know, not Yunho & definitely not Chanyeol. Would you promise me?”

“Is that really what you want? You know you could trust me, Yunho & Chanyeol to keep your secret for you. We wouldn’t hurt you.”

Tiffany shook her head vehemently, “No, I don’t want anybody else but you to know about this. Will you promise me, auntie, that you won’t tell my secret to anybody else under any circumstances?”

Mrs. Jung sighed & finally nodded her head, “You must have your reason for not wanting to tell Yunho & Chanyeol & I respect your decision. You don’t have to worry about it, Tim. I promised you that I won’t even tell anybody else even if I were on my deathbed.”

Hearing the promise, Tiffany felt the burden inside of her heart starting to lighten up a bit & she smiled tremulously. With the utmost sincerity & gratitude shining clearly in her eyes, she whispered, “Thank you, auntie.”

‘Tim is a girl?’ That was the only thought that was buzzing in her head. Tim, the nicest guy she had ever known, was a girl? No, she shook her head defiantly; no, it must be a joke. A cruel joke designed to test if she would ever give him up. He must have known that she was nearby & decided to play a joke on her. That must be it, she thought resolutely. Tim was really a guy; he must be. Why, she could practically count his manly attributes on top of her head. Like…

Instead, what came into her head was the one thing she had desperately wanted to forget. Against her will, yet unable to do anything else, she could only watched as the scene came to life inside her head like a movie. Even as tears started to flow down her cheeks, she could only watch herself skipping along that corridor towards his room, towards heartbreak.

*Flashback*

She only wanted to say goodnight to him when she noticed that the door to his room wasn’t fully closed. Thinking of catching him unaware & giving him a surprises, she tiptoed gleefully towards his room & was shocked to the bone when she heard his voice. At least she thought it was his voice, although it was more high-pitched. Curious of what was happening in the room, she peeked inside & felt her heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach by what she heard & saw.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not a person I seemed to be, auntie. I’m not really a guy. Actually, I’m a girl in boy clothes.”

As if in slow motion, she watched as Tim was wiping his face with a damp towel. He wiped the lower end of his face first, causing the faint moustache on his face to disappeared. The slightly pale & thin lips were transformed into rosy full lips. Then he wiped the area near his eyes & those thick bushy eyebrows were gone. In their places were feminine & perfectly arched straight eyebrows. Gone were the slightly puffy eyes. In their places were eyes so clear & brilliant. She felt as if she wanted to shout for him to stop what he was doing but the words couldn’t get past her constricted throat. She could only managed a soft whimper. As if in a dream, she saw the towel covered his whole face & what was revealed afterwards shocked her. The little roughness & flaw on his face vanished & a silky creamy white complexion were revealed. Gone was the Tim she knew. In his place was a girl so mesmerizing & beautiful that a gasps had slipped from her lips before she could stifle it. As the truth finally entered her mind, blackness soon followed. She didn’t know how long she had sprawled out cold there, on the floor but by the time she was aware of her surroundings again, she saw Mrs. Jung making a promise to the girl who had been Tim.

Then she saw herself running from that place as if a pack of hellhounds had been on her tail.

*End of Flashback*

Too exhausted, she slumped down on her bed. Why was fate so cruel to her? She really liked Tim. He was so nice & kind to her. Even when he was neck deep in work, he had never snapped at her & whenever he came back from his jaunt with master Yunho, he always had something for the staff to enjoy. Despite the fact that he...Suddenly, she felt as if she was electrocuted. No, he’s not a he, he was a she. A little sob escaped from her lips before she could hold it in. How could Tim dupe & humiliate her like this? A nice & kind person wouldn’t do things like this to her, right? No, it’s not true. She had to see Tim now & asked for an explanation. Yes, there must be some explanation behind all of this.

Getting up, she instinctively checked her appearance in the mirror & gasped aloud. Her rectangular shaped face was blotchy red, her eyes were swollen, her sharp, small nose was puffy red & her lips were colorless but what really had undone her were the misery, dejection & humiliation reflected clearly on her face. Out of the blue, anger, bitterness & hatred rose up in her. Whatever explanation he...no, it was she. Whatever explanation she would come up with, that deceitful girl could take it & stuff it somewhere else because she, Yoona Im, wouldn’t be so dumb to trust someone so devious ever again. She quickly took a damp warm towel & fussed over her face. No, she wouldn’t stay defeated, she swore as she dabbed some facial cream on her milky white skin. She would give that Tim what she deserved & she would let her know that she, Yoona, couldn’t be played like a fool.

A couple of days later, on a saturday morning, Yunho & Chanyeol were lounging around near the pool after their morning workout. The day after he had introduced Tim & Chanyeol, Yunho had taken Chanyeol on a business trip with him. To Chanyeol, he had made an excuses that he might need him since he was his legal representatives. As to himself, he honestly admitted that the main reason he took Chanyeol with him was to prevent more interactions between Tim & Chanyeol while he wasn’t there. The not-so-main reason was to find out Chanyeol’s take on Tim. However, during that week of tough negotiation, they were too busy to talk about matters outside business that he had to postpone his investigation until now.

“So, what do you think of Tim?” Yunho asked him, striving to be as casual as possible while his heart was squirming inside.

Chanyeol pursed his heart-shaped lips as he pondered Yunho’s question, “Hmmm, weird.” He muttered, out loud.

“Nonsense. I have known him for three months already & I could tell you that he’s just as normal as the next guy. Although, he has one hell of a temper, I tell you & so easy to goad, too.” Inwardly, he cursed his friend for his perceptive eyes. He knew from the start that it was almost impossible to pass Tim as a guy under Chanyeol’s eyes; that’s why he had decided to confess the truth to him after he introduced them but that was before the staring contests. Now, however, he must do his damnedest to convince Chanyeol that Tin really is a guy! At least until he got her safely by his side, ‘What a mess.’ He mumbled silently, but what choice did he have? He had never dreamed that Chanyeol’s reaction would be that strong seeing Tim, the guy. What would his reaction be if he saw Tim as a girl? What if Chanyeol & Tim...Suppressing a shudder, he said forcefully, “Why do you think he’s weird anyway? Surely not because of his look? If that’s the case, just because he was one pretty boy doesn’t mean he’s one strange guy.”

“No, no.” Chanyeol mused, out loud as he shook his head, “I said it’s weird because I felt like I have known him before. Or something about that guy looked awfully familiar & Yunho, I could feel that he’s hiding something.”

Laughing nervously, Yunho silently thanked his dark glasses so he didn’t have to look Chanyeol in the eye, “Buddy, you are thinking way too far. How could you have seen him before? The guy used to live somewhere in Los Angeles. There’s no way you have met him before.”

“Yunho, I’m telling you. I felt like I have met Tim before & this guy is definitely hiding something from us. Didn’t you see the way he stared at me when you introduced us? The panic & recognizance in his eyes before they became blank?”

This time, Yunho’s laugh was genuine albeit a little dry, “What I noticed was the way you are staring back at him like an idiot! Add some drool & you would complete the picture.” Yunho grinned as Chanyeol’s round face became as red as a cooked lobster, “I didn’t know a guy could make you react that way. Have you turned gay all of a sudden? Should I be afraid?” Yunho even more.

Chanyeol guffawed & started to make some kissing noise, leaning his body closer to Yunho. Deciding to join in the fun, Yunho made some coy gesture & pretended to push him away while batting his eyelashes. They almost rolled on the floor in laughter when someone suddenly grabbed Yunho’s ear & twisted it.

“Ow!” He screamed, as if he got pierced with the world’s dullest needle, “What did you do that for?!” He grumbled, as he rubbed his red ear, glaring at the person in front of him.

“Your mother has been calling you for breakfast until ’s sore & here you are, playing with your...your...your boy-toy boyfriend!” Tim hissed at Yunho, & glared at both guys. She could feel her heart going numb as revulsion & devastation flooded in, “Well?” She croaked, suppressing her emotion, “What are you waiting for? Get your butts to the dining room now.”

“Boy-toy boyfriend?!” Yunho repeated loudly. He winked at Chanyeol, signaling him to pull a prank on Tim. Chanyeol replied with an imperceptible nod & a roguish grin, “We are no boy-toy. We are man-toy.” They said in unison. Yunho started to bat his eyelashes at Chanyeol while Chanyeol was giving exaggerated dreamy sighs & then they burst into uproarious laughter.

A minute ago, Tiffany had felt as if she wanted to slap for blurting out the boyfriend word but she deemed it was still a forgivable mistake since her mind was so preoccupied lately. In addition, it was still early & she was definitely not a morning person. However, morning person or not, seeing Chanyeol & Yunho so close together had made her brain short-circuited. Right now, what she wanted to do above all was to tie them onto a rock, push the guys into the deep end of the pool & let them drown for making her feel so wretched. Before she could give into her desire, she pushed her hands deep into her pockets.

Grinning unrepentantly, Yunho & Chanyeol started to walk towards the dining room together. Biting her lips, she looked down to hide her emotions & try to compose herself.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when she suddenly felt his breath on her ear which caused the butterflies in her stomach to start flapping their wings, “Aren’t you coming? What are you doing standing here like a statue?” Then she heard his soft teasing chuckle, “Or do you want me to carry you?” She looked up only to see Yunho flexing his biceps muscles, his wolfish grin fixed in place. Chanyeol was nowhere to be seen.

Her horrified look must have made him chuckled even more. Then without any warning, he bent even closer to her & whispered gently, “Come on, Tim, tell me. Why the long face? Who’s upsetting you now, hmmm?”

His face was close enough to hers that she could see the warm & dancing gold flecks in his eyes, the care & affection he felt for her & felt the flutter in her stomach intensified. As if transfixed, she couldn’t take her gaze away & could only shake her head, whether in answer or in denial she wasn’t sure herself. As if hypnotized, she could only watch as those eyes started to burn when they travel down to her lips. As if she had lost her mind, she only closed her eyes when his lips touched hers in the softest, sweetest kiss.

Only when he started to mold her lips to his, when he started to pull her into his embrace as the kiss deepened, did she realized what they were doing. Her eyes flared opened in shock as reality finally intruded. Yunho was kissing Tim, not her. Yunho was kissing Tim, the guy. Her suspicion was finally confirmed & then she could feel it, the nudge.