Chapter 1

“Hi Good afternoon! I’m Kim Taeyeon for the 2 o’clock appointment with Dr. Hwang.” A polite smile was plastered on the face of the petite girl.

“Hi! Mrs. Kim. Yes, your daughter will be next after the patient inside. Just please take a sit first.” The young lady that’s probably in her early 20’s smiled back in response for the inquiry.

“Thank you.” It wasn’t taken a few minutes when the doctor’s assistant approach Taeyeon again.

“Mrs. Kim, we still haven’t had the necessary information in our data about your daughter. Can you please kindly fill up the form?” The young lady hand out a sheet of paper and Taeyeon took it with a smile.

“Hmmm what should I put down here?” Seconds later Taeyeon is busy scribbling down her pen on the piece of paper.

“Oh my God! Baby I forgot your b-day!” The other patient in the waiting room turned their head to the shrieking girl with a pouting child beside her.

“Mama, October mine!” The little girl that is quietly sitting beside her said in all seriousness. If a pouting lips and a puff out cheeks is considered serious then it would be like that.

“Yes baby nine! My baby is so smart! What I forgot is the year!” Taeyeon corrected the little girl’s pronunciation and she can’t help but to kiss the little girl’s lips and pinching her cheeks lightly.

“So cute! Aha I remembered!”

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After receiving the information sheet from the older girl the assistant’s eyes round up with quite a shock. “Uhm. Ms. Kim, Dr. Hwang is now done with her patient. You’re next, please follow me.” The assistant kindly pointed the doorway in front of them while Taeyeon is still busy prep-talking the now anxious little girl in her arms.

“Baby, we already talked about this at home right? And you promised us that you will now get your tooth checked by the dentist. Come on baby don’t back out on Mama now. Please!” Taeyeon tried to soothe the little girl.

“But. It hurt. Hurt. Taeji hurt. Mama!”

“It won’t hurt that much. It’s only like you’re being bit by ants. Not painful at all!”

“Ants! Taeji afraid of ants! Ants hurt hurt hurt! I don wanna!”

“Baby, it won’t hurt promise! Mama would be there too. I’ll pinch all the ants that would bite you!”

“Prawmise?”

“Yes baby I promise! Let’s get inside now the doctor is waiting for us.” Taeyeon gave the little girl a reassuring smile and successfully lead her inside the dentist’s cubicle.

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“Hi!” Taeyeon looked up to see the greeting dentist that is still covered with complete dental scrub. A pink dental scrub with tiny prints of Minnie Mouse plus a pink hair net and a pink mask all courtesy of a very pink Minnie Mouse.

Taeyeon couldn’t help but inwardly winced because of too much pinkness the lady dentist is sporting. ‘Wait wasn’t Minnie supposed to be black and red like Mickey? But whatever she’s a one very unique dentist.’

“Hello Doc!” She tried greeting the pink doctor as normal as she can while trying to suppress her stupid smile because of the unusual get up in her own dictionary. ‘Taeng, get a grip! So what if this is the first time you saw a dentist clad in pink!’ Taeyeon yet again made another round of snickering with herself.

“So our patient is your baby girl.”  The lady dentist holds her gaze to the petite woman in front of her who is now busy looking down at a very nervous kid.

“Uhm yes Doc. I think she’s a little nervous. She wasn’t like this on our way here or yesterday and the other day too. Actually, she was quite enthusiastic during those times, almost too hyper on our view. So, I’m sorry if I’m rambling too much. I just don’t want her to be out of control now. Sorry Doc!” Taeyeon looked up to see the smiling eyes of the dentist in front of her.

The smiling eyes the lady dentist graced upon Taeyeon almost immediately shut down her brain from blabbering another random thing. And the eye smile alone sends her heart beating wildly under her chest. Taeyeon absentmindedly wondered how the lady dentist would look like with her full smile.

‘I bet she would absolutely look dazzling! Hey! She’s a dentist’s for Christ’s sake I’m sure she have the most glorious smile but her eye smile alone is far more than magnificent! Yah! Kim Taeyeon get a hold of yourself! You’re not here to make an imaginary assumption of the dentist smile!’ She immediately wanted to punch herself for being suddenly distracted with the beautiful eye smile.

“Hi! Baby girl! Can I know your name?” Tiffany leveled down on the nervous kid to get a hold of her eyes. She knows how important it is to get the kids trust and attention before proceeding to her task and she knows nothing beats the old school catching the eyes tactic. It surely helps a lot in every given situation, could be used at work or for other non-work related stuffs. Well, she’s only speaking base on her own personal experience though.

“I-I-I’m Te-tae-Taeji..” The little girl stuttered but none the less look straight in the eyes of the asking dentist in front of her.

“You have a very lovely name Taeji. My Korean name so I’ll just tell you my other decent name ‘kay. I’m Tiffany. You can call me Fany unnie if you like.” Tiffany held out her right hand to the little girl for a handshake.

“Tip-pa-ni. Pani.”

Tiffany smiled underneath her face mask because of the pronunciation of the girl.  “Yes! So can we be friends now Taeji-ah?”

“Uhmm I-I-I think so if Pani unnie call Taeji Jiji.” Tiffany then took the outstretch tiny hands of the little girl asking for a handshake with her. She couldn’t help but to smile to herself with the cute gesture.

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 “Taeji-ah, do you wanna know what else besides my horrible Korean name?” Taeyeon couldn’t control herself this time and faint stifle laughter escape . Tiffany in return looked at the silently giggling woman behind the kid.

“Sorry Doc! Please continue!”

Tiffany guided the little girl to sit on top of the dental chair before continuing her little side talk.

“The other thing that awfully are does nasty cavities in our teeth’s. Do you know they crawl from teeth to teeth every night when you’re asleep? They ate your milky white teeth because they say it’s tasty like milk.” The little girls’ eyes widened upon hearing the story while the Taeyeon just silently listen.

“Do you want the bad cavities to eat your beautiful teeth?” The little girl immediately shakes her head in answer to the dentist question.

“Do you want unnie to shoo away the bad cavities?” A hyper nod was ensued this time.

“Very good baby! Will you now sit on this lovely chair so unnie can get rid of the bad bad bad cavities?” After another nod, she helps the little girl to sit up from the dentist chair.

“Mama!” the little girl reaches out her tiny hand.

“Baby no need to be afraid Mama is here and dentist unnie says that she will shoo the bad cavities away right?” Taeyeon assuringly held the little girls’ hand for comfort.

The little girl finally resides and calmly lies down on the dentist chair. Although still a little hesitant she obediently followed the eye smiling dentist's instruction.

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“Now baby Taeji say AH and tell unnie which teeth hurt okay?” Tiffany instructed the little girl.

“This hurt, down here hurts all of them hurts!” Taeji pointed each using her own fingers. Tiffany chuckled with little girl’s broken speech.

“Oh! then unnie has to make the hurt go away now. I promise it won’t hurt and it will be really quick!” Tiffany pulls out a tweezers and grabs a tiny cotton ball and dab it a bottle of numbing gel. But the little girl suddenly burst out crying upon seeing the tool in Tiffany’s hand.

Taeyeon suddenly runs towards the dentist chair and started to console Taeji. “Baby, Dentist unnie just need to swab the cotton on your gums it won’t even hurt!” Taeyeon calmly spoke although inside she’s starting to panic seeing the teary Taeji in front of her.

“Look baby its pink! It smells and taste like strawberry too!” Tiffany held up high the tweezers so the kid could see.

“No! no! no! I don wanna! Mama I wanna go home! home! Please! Please! Please!” Taeji was now crying so hard that all the adults inside the room has started to panic!

“Oh no!” was all Taeyeon could say.

“I think it’s better for us to stop it. At this rate the child would be traumatized and be afraid of the dentist all her life. You don’t want that right Taeji’s Mama?”

“Uhm, Yeah I don’t want that. I think I’ll just talk to her some more. Or maybe I’ll just wait for her Dad to get home. Yeah I think that would be my plan Doc.”

“Okay.”

Taeyeon politely nods at Tiffany before turning back her attention to the still crying Taeji. She gently scooped her from the dentist chair and carries her. Taeyeon gently caressed Taeji’s back to calm her down, a little hush and sway and the child has now stopped from crying.

“Doctor Hwang, I’m sorry for the inconvenience Taeji has caused you today! We’ll just comeback some other day. I’ll surely make another appointment!” Taeyeon smiled before walking out of the Tiffany’s clinic.

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“Unnie what happen to the little girl?” Seohyun went back inside the clinic after she sends out Taeyeon.

“Taeji got scared and started crying. I tried to calm her down and talk her out. But I think whatever I said back then didn’t help. Argh kids really hate me specially kid’s around her age.” Tiffany slump down at her chair lifelessly.

“But you handle older kids just fine. Why are you so afraid of a three year old kid? That really doesn’t make sense, Unnie.”

“Kid’s that ages are really sensitive and fragile. You know how easily I get afraid to handle fragile things Seo.”

“But unnie Kids are not things. They’re not as fragile as you think they are. I wonder how you would touch a baby?”

“I will never ever gonna hold a baby!”

“So, you’ll never have a child of your own?”

“Uhm, I don’t know. Gosh Seo, I don’t even have a boyfriend right now! Yet alone dating! How could you ask me about having a baby of my own?!”

“Just curious Unnie, that’s all.” Seohyun just smiled at her now flustered unnie and then decided to finish her remaining paper works.

Tiffany was left alone inside the clinic as Seohyun return to her table. She then remembered the cute little girl that was her last patient this afternoon.

‘That little girl is so cute! Like her Mama. Cute.’ Tiffany violently shook her head with her last thought.

‘What the hell Tiffany Hwang! Did you just call the mother of that kid CUTE!’ Tiffany then abruptly stands up and run outside to her assistant/dongsaeng Seohyun.

“Hyunnie, we’re done for today right?”

“Yes, Unnie. Ms. Taeyeon and Taeji was your last appointment for this afternoon.”

“Can we go now? Let’s go to the mall or something or and then have dinner together.”

“If you says so Unnie. Let me turn off my computer first.”

“Okay I’ll go and hang my coat and get my bag. Be right back!”

After Seohyun secured the clinic’s door and all the Unnie and Dongsaeng finally set out of the clinic’s confine. Tiffany was hoping that this sudden hang out with Seohyun would shake off the unknown feeling that suddenly crept into her heart.