Letting Go

Letting Go & Holding On

Time. Is the most precious thing we could give to other people.

Care & attention. Are two things we give to our loved ones.

Forgiveness, self-reflection, & understanding. Three things that made relationship works.

When one doesn’t have time to give for another and the other couldn’t take it anymore. That’s when you know to stop and realize what you did.

‘I got up and went to the kitchen to be utterly surprise. Rose petals were everywhere and the table was set so nicely with candles. Right there and then, I just realized that today was our anniversary.’

Let's Start With Love

Taeyeon’s

I heard the front door was open and, “I’m home! Taeyeon-ah, where are you?”

I unconsciously smiled, “In the kitchen!”

I was putting a bowl of rice on the table when I felt her arms around my waist and a head on my shoulder.

I turned around and wrapped my arms around my girlfriend’s body.

“You came just in time for dinner.”

She mumbled something incoherent and I kissed her head.

“How was it?” I asked her and rubbed her back gently.

She answered me with her head still on my shoulder, “Sucked.”

I chuckled, “First day always sucks.”

She got a new job with better pay and closer office. Today was her first day on the new job.

“Oh, really? How come?”

“Turned out our office buildings are near.”

“Ah, that explains it. Well come on, let’s eat and you can tell me all about your first day.”

I gave her a peck and pried her arms off from me. I sat down and she washed her hands on the sink before she took a seat across from me on the dining table.

She told me that everybody at the office stared at her because she’s new and some were greeting her but some just looked away.

“But I think it’s going to be difficult to make new friends.” She told me.

“Why is that?”

“Because all of them are old.”

I laughed, “Seriously?”

“Well at least older. I haven’t met anyone our age yet. Although my supervisor told me the CEO is only a year older than us.” She said.

“Wow. Super genius or family business?”

“Family business. His father just retired a month ago and I guess he’s trying to recruit younger people now.” She chuckled.

I smiled and kept eating while she continued to tell me what happened today. This became a regular thing for us now. Getting home after a long day at work and just talked about our day over dinner. Although it became a daily routine, somehow my heart still beat a little faster than usual whenever I saw her like this.

After all these years, Tiffany Hwang could still make my heart beat faster than normal.

“And?”

“I think someone has an admirer.”

“He likes Hyomin?”

“I think so. But I don’t think Hyomin realizes it though.”

“She doesn’t? Soonkyu really tamed her, huh?” I grinned.

“Yeah, nobody else matter to her anymore since they got together.”

“Well, speaking of admirer. You have one too, you know.” I stood up and began to collect the dirty dishes.

“Really? Who is it?” she leaned back on her chair and looked a little bit surprise.

I looked at her and winked, “Me.”

“God, you’re so cheesy!” she threw a napkin at me but there’s a growing smile on her face.

I laughed, “It’s true! I admire you. You’re very easy to admire, you know.”

I put the dishes on the sink and she followed suit. I was about to turn the tap when she grabbed my hand.

“Leave it. I’ll do it later.”

I looked at her, amused. “You’ll do it later? Why can’t I do it now?”

“Because now... I want you to do something for me.” She had a glint on her eyes.

I smirked, “What is it?” she pulled me closer to her.

My smile couldn’t get wider than this, “Can’t you do it yourself? What are you? A big baby?” she pulled again and our noses were now touching.

“Your baby.”

She had her lips on mine before I got the chance to say anything.

“Who’s the cheesy one now?” I said breathlessly.

She didn’t say anything and kissed me again while pulling me towards the bathroom.

Love never felt so good.

Tiffany’s

I heard the alarm and put it off instantly. I yawned and searched for the other occupant of the bed. I opened my eyes and found the bed was empty. I stretched and yawned some more before I sat up.

I smelled something delicious and smiled. She’s making breakfast already. I put on my clothes and got up.

I went to the kitchen and saw her in front of the stove.

“Good morning~” I chirped and went to kiss her cheek.

“Hey, good morning.” She smiled.

“How do you want your eggs, Fany-ah? Scramble, omelette, sunny side up?”

“Scramble please.” I sipped my coffee. Perfect. Just how I like it.

“Coming right up, Ma’am.”

I put my chin on the palm of my hand and stared at her back. She’s definitely the most wonderful person I’ve ever met and she’s mine. Honestly, I never thought I would end up with a girl. I always thought the love of my life would be a prince charming, not a princess. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t trade her for anyone. Not even for a real prince from England or wherever.

I didn’t know how long I daydreamed when she put a plate of scramble egg in front of me, “One scramble egg for the pretty lady.”

I snickered, “Did you put some cheese on my scramble egg or did you eat it all?”

She pouted and sat on the dining chair, “I didn’t even mean to sound cheesy.”

“Aaaawh, don’t be mad. Thank you for making breakfast, my cute chef.”

The pout was gone and replaced by a small smile.

We began to eat and as I chew on my scrambled egg, I knew she didn’t put much salt into it. Exactly how I like it. These little things she did make me love her more and more. I couldn’t be more thankful to have her in my life.

I smiled and asked her, “Why are you so good to me?”

She looked at me with that loving stare, “Because I admire you.” And came her cheeky answer.

“Seriously? That line again?” I laughed.

“What? It got you wanting me last night, didn’t it?” she answered teasingly.

She laughed, “Maybe you can bathe me this morning.” She raised her eyebrows playfully.

“Not gonna happen. We need to go to work and I don’t want to be late. It’s only my second day, remember?”

She got up from her seat and walked to mine, “Fine, fine.”

Suddenly she cupped my face and kissed me ever so tenderly.

I was in a daze when she pulled away and I hadn’t snap out of it when she whispered in my ear, “I’ll ask again tonight.”

I shuddered and slowly open my eyes to see her walking towards the bathroom.

“Don’t forget to do the dishes, Fany-ah! You didn’t do last night’s either.”

She closed the bathroom door and I let out a sigh, a grateful one.

Love never felt so fine.

Tiffany’s

“Miss Hwang?”

I looked up from my laptop to see the CEO’s secretary looking back at me.

“Mr. Dong wishes to see you.” She gave me a small smile.

He wished to see me? What did I do wrong? Oh God, it’s only been two days! Did he change his mind about recruiting new people? But usually the Human Resource people would tell me about stuff like that, not the CEO himself. My hands started to sweat.

We arrived in front of the door and the secretary looked back at me. She smiled again, “Don’t worry, Miss Hwang. He just wants to meet his new employee.”

I looked obviously nervous, didn’t I? “O-oh, right. Thank you.” I felt relieved a little bit and took a deep breath to calm myself while the secretary knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

The secretary opened the door, “Mr. Dong, Miss Hwang is here.”

“Ah, good.”

The secretary stepped aside and let me come through. I saw a young man looking all neat in a suit sitting behind a desk.

“Good morning, Sir.” I bowed and gave the man a smile once the door closed behind me.

“Good morning, Miss Hwang. Please, have a seat.”

I sat in front of the desk.

“Welcome to the company.” He gave me a smile.

“Thank you very much, Sir.” I returned the smile.

“How are you settling in so far?”

What? I just worked here for two days. Wait, today barely began, so actually I just worked in this company for a day. But I couldn’t really tell him that, could I? I went with a safe answer instead.

He nodded his head and looked lost for a moment. I guessed he’s really new to being a CEO. I kept my smile intact on my face. Maybe he’s just as nervous as I am.

“Okay then. I just want to welcome you to the company and I hope you’ll work hard for us.” He said with a confident smile this time.

“I will, Sir. Thank you.”

He nodded again, “You can go back to your work now.”

I stood up and bowed before I left his room.

Once I closed his door, I saw the secretary was looking at me with a smile.

“Not that scary, right?”

I smiled and shook my head. I thanked her before went back to my own desk.

I let out a sigh when I sat on my seat. Well the CEO was not bad and obviously trying his best to adjust to his new position. My supervisor told me he took the position right after he finished his master degree. Unlike Hyomin, he didn’t have time to learn the ropes around the company first.

I checked my cell phone before I resumed my work and saw a text from Hyomin asking me to join her for lunch. I immediately said yes and put my cell phone away before returning to my work.

I was on the subway on my way home when Taeyeon’s text came:

Are you home yet? I’m still on my way.

I replied:

I was about to put my cell phone back to my bag when it buzzed again. It’s still from Taeyeon:

Okay. Can’t wait to see you. I’m going to ask you the question later. Be prepare for it.

I stifled a smile and text her back:

What if I said no?

I waited for a bit before a reply came:

Then I will ask again

I hadn’t got the chance to write my reply when another text came:

And again

Another text came:

And again

I couldn’t help to let out a giggle. She kept sending me the same text until I decided to call her.

“Yah! Stop it.” It was kind of quiet on the subway so I had to whisper.

I heard her laughing and that made me smile wider.

“Where are you? Still on the subway?” she asked.

“Yep. You?”

“Just got into the station.”

“Guess I’ll got home before you.”

“Oh, then can I ask you a favor, Fany-ah?”

“Can you prepare the bathtub for me?”

“YAH!” I forgot the subway was quiet and threw an apologetic look to the people who were surprised by my loud voice.

I could hear her laughing again. While I felt warmth on my cheeks.

“What? I just asked you to prepare the bathtub for me. Were you thinking perverted things, Miyoungie?”

“I’m not!” I hissed. Totally lying. I bet my face was red by now.

“Whoops, my train is here! I’ll see you at home. Bye~”

“Bye.”

“Love you.”

I felt all tingly and couldn’t help to feel fluster. It’s very embarrassing to say these things in public, so I put my hand over the receiver on the cell phone and said it really quietly.

“I love you too.”

I heard her giggle and hung up the cell phone. I felt people around me was staring and smiling at me. So I just kept my head down bashfully while trying to suppress my growing smile.

I looked at the half-filled bathtub in front of me. I didn’t know why I did this. I shook my head. I knew exactly why I did this. That girl by the name of Kim Taeyeon could make me feel a lot of things with her words and action. She could make me feel all fuzzy, warm, tingly, but also hot & bothered.

I put my hand on the bathtub to test the temperature. It’s a little bit too hot. I needed to add cold water. When I felt the water’s temperature was fine, I turn off the tap.

“Fany-ah, I’m home!”

I almost jumped. I didn’t hear the front door open. I wiped my hands on a towel and got out from the bathroom.

She was putting her bag on the couch and when she saw me coming out from the bathroom, she had a smug look on her face.

“What were you doing in the bathroom?” she asked.

“Did your favor.” I answered nonchalantly. Trying to sound nonchalant.

“Aaaawh, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” I tried to walk past her but she grabbed my wrist.

“Whoa, wait a second.”

“What?” In my mind I was putting a blank expression but I seriously didn’t know how that came out.

“Won’t you join me?” she began unbuttoning her shirt with her other hand and I bit my lip.

“Sure. Why not?” My eyes traveled down to her parted shirt and I knew it was a wrong move because she laughed.

“Stop trying to act cool, Fany-ah. I know you’re looking forward to this too.”

Taeyeon’s

After that relaxing bath, we sat on the couch and watched the TV while waiting for delivery. I was not in the mood to cook tonight and cooking's also not her forte.

She was putting her head on my lap and I was stroking her hair. I felt contented. It was one of the moments I wanted to cherish forever.

We were watching the TV peacefully when suddenly she looked up at me.

“Tae?”

“Hmm?”

“Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”

I looked down to her, “That’s random. Why?”

She told me she met with Hyomin again today and they talked about marriage and stuff.

“I thought we have talked about that before, haven’t we?”

“We have. I just... want to hear it from you again.” She looked away shyly and I couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re loving my cheesiness, aren’t you?”

“Forget it.” She tried to get up but I held her down while laughing.

I brushed up her bangs and leaned down to kiss her forehead tenderly.

“10 years from now, 20 years, even 50 years from now, I see myself with you, I see myself as yours. Maybe we couldn’t get married and I couldn’t shout to the whole world how much I love you, but then again, you’ll be deaf if I could because you are my whole world.”

She cringed but didn’t bother to hide her infamous smile. Her eyes turned into crescent and her smile was wide.

“What was I thinking asking you to say that again?” She said.

“You’re not thinking straight for sure. Oh wait a sec, you’re not even straight!”

I laughed and she heaved a sigh, “You and your weird jokes.”

I directed my gaze towards the TV again with still a smile on my face, “You love me anyway.”

“Yeah, I love you anyway.” She took my hand and kissed it.

Excruciating Monday

Tiffany’s

It’s been a month after my first day and I still had a hard time making friends from work. They’re all nice and even asked me to join them for lunch. But due to the age gap or maybe because I was the only new kid, I felt kind of left out. So I chose to eat by myself on the desk with the excuse to finish my work or having lunch with Hyomin if she’s not that busy.

I looked at the clock and it was already lunchtime. Hyomin was busy today so I guessed I would just buy a sandwich and eat it on my desk. I saw the others already went to lunch. They did ask me to join them, but I declined politely. I didn’t feel like uttering platitude today.

I got up from my seat and went to the elevator. I saw it almost closing so I rushed, “Please hold it!”

The person inside pushed a button and I successfully enter the elevator before it shut close. I looked at the person. Surprisingly, the person was a young woman.

Was she the new staff of the HR department? I heard my colleagues talked about it.

“Thank you.” I spoke after my breath was back to normal due to the small run I did for the elevator.

She smiled, “You’re welcome.”

Should I ask if she’s the new staff from HR? But it would be impolite to ask if she turned out had work here for years and she would judge me ignorant for not recognizing my seniors.

But then again she did look young and that’s rare in here. So I just went with my guts, “I’m sorry, but are you new here? I haven’t seen you around before.” I asked her as politely as possible.

She immediately bowed, “Ah, I’m very sorry. Yes, I’m new here. My name is Seo Juhyun and I’m from the HR department.”

I bowed back, “I’m Hwang Tiffany and I’m from the marketing department.”

She smiled, “Nice to meet you, Tiffany-ssi. Today is my second day actually.”

“No wonder. Nice to meet you too, Juhyun-ssi. I just got in the company for a month.”

“Oh, my supervisor told me about another ‘young staff’ on the marketing department. That must be you.”

I snickered, “Yes, that’s me. So we’re the ‘young staff’, huh?”

“Compare to them, we are young.”

I laughed, “I guess you’re right.”

She laughed with me. Now this kind of person could definitely be my friend.

“Juhyun-ssi, are you going to lunch?”

“Well I was going to buy it and went back to my desk.”

“Why don’t we have lunch then? The ‘young staffs’ should stick together, don’t you think?”

She nodded her head and smiled, “I’d love that.”

It was Friday and Taeyeon wanted to have dinner outside. We agreed to meet in a restaurant we frequently visited. The food was great and I loved the place.

As soon as I arrived at the restaurant, I could spot her sitting in our usual table looking smart & sexy in her office attire. The bell dinged when I opened the door and she looked up from the menu she was reading. My lips had mind of its own and I guessed my whole face too because it instantly showed my infamous smile when our eyes met.

She also showed her cute smile and waved.

I gave her a swift kiss on her cheek and sat down in front of her, “Hi.”

“Hi~”

She gave me the menu and we ordered our food. When the waiter went away from our table, we started to talk about our day and I told her about this new ‘young staff’ I had lunch with today.

“That’s nice! She’s the same age as us?”

“She’s 2 years younger. So she’s the maknae of the company now.” I grinned.

“Did you connect well with her though?”

“Very well! I knew we’re going to be good friends.”

“You knew only from one lunch?” she looked amused.

“Of course. I told her to skip the formalities and called me ‘unnie’ already.” I grinned.

The food arrived and after thanking the waiter, Taeyeon spoke again, “What’s her name?”

“Why you want to know?”

She shrugged.

I smirked, “Are you jealous, Kim Taeyeon?”

“Nope. I just think I’m entitled to know the name of my girlfriend’s new BFF.” She said in all seriousness.

I laughed, “Her name is Seo Juhyun, your highness.”

She looked surprised, “Seo Juhyun?”

“Yes. Why? You know her?”

“Is she tall, fair skin, with a long black hair?”

I recalled Juhyun images on my mind and it fitted, “Yes.”

“She’s my junior back in high school!” She said excitedly.

“Seriously?” I said enthusiastically.

“Seriously! I remember her because she’s very proper and polite but nice kid nevertheless. Now I’m sure the two of you are going to be good friends.”

We talked about other stuff and finished our meal merrily.

On Monday, I went to lunch with Juhyun again. In the middle of our lunch, I remembered the connection between Taeyeon and her, so I ask to confirm it.

“Juhyun-ah, do you happen to know Kim Taeyeon?”

“I have a senior in high school with that name. Why, Unnie?”

I clasped my hands in delight, “I told her about you and she said you’re her junior! Wow, small world, huh?”

She looked a little bit surprise and smiled, “Small world indeed. Last thing I heard about her was she got into the best university in the city. It’s actually what motivates me to move here.”

She nodded, “Kim Taeyeon was a respectable sunbaenim to her juniors. She’s always nice to us and she made it into that university. Which was a very big deal in our school.”

I smiled, proud to be hearing good things about my girlfriend.

“How do you know her, Unnie?”

“She’s actually my-” I remembered Taeyeon saying that Juhyun was a proper kid. My

relationship with Taeyeon was not really ‘proper’, wasn’t it? I didn’t want to make her feel weird towards me. Uh-oh. What should I do?

“Unnie? She’s actually your what?” Juhyun asked.

I smiled nervously, “She’s my... roommate.”

Juhyun smiled, “Ah, I see. Well then maybe we can hang out together sometimes. We’re not close back in high school, but it would be nice to know someone from my hometown.”

“Yeah, sure.” I answered her with a smile still plastered on my face.

We continued to eat and I just realized, my colleagues were old. Supposedly, they would think the kind of relationship I had was uncommon, right?

Taeyeon’s

I was having lunch with Sooyoung on this new restaurant near our office. Sooyoung was really eager to try the restaurant and I was the only one who’s willing to accompany her. Usually we would have lunch with our other colleagues, but they were too lazy to go outside our office building.

We placed our order and Sooyung was looking around the restaurant.

“This place is not so bad.” She commented.

The place was nice, it had a vintage feeling to it.

“I like it.” I said and looked around also.

“How things going on with you and oppa?” I spoke after a brief silent.

“Yah!” She looked around the restaurant again, this time with alert.

I chuckled, “Nobody from our office is here. They won’t even know who this ‘oppa’ I’m talking about, Soo.”

Sooyoung moved from our apartment and she lived with a guy who was one of the head department in our office and apparently her senior in high school.

“There’s nothing going on, okay. We’re just roommates.”

“Oh come on, you literally left me and Fany to live with the guy and you tell me there’s nothing going on?”

She shook her head and put a finger up, “First of all, I know very well that you’re actually happy to have the place for yourselves.”

I snickered.

“Second of all... I don’t even know myself.” She looked downcast.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s like he’s giving me mixed signal. One time he would be super sweet making breakfast and dinner, but other time he would ignored me the whole day. It’s confusing.”

Sooyoung turned red, “Shut up. Talk about something else than my relationship, please.”

I chortled, “What do you want to talk about then? My relationship?”

She made a face, “Ugh, listening to you gushing over Fany in a lovesick way? No thanks.”

I grinned, “What? Not my fault she’s gushable.”

“Gushable?! Godness, that’s not even a word.” She rolled her eyes.

The food arrived and Sooyung seemed to forget everything I said already.

Tiffany’s

People loved to leave the office early on Friday. So did I. But I had this work I still need to finish and I didn’t like to leave things unfinished over the weekend. It made me more reluctant to face Monday. Therefore, here I was, still on my desk while everybody had gone home already.

I was immersed on my laptop when someone called my name.

“Miss Hwang?”

I gasped and jerked from my seat and looked up. It was the CEO. I got up abruptly and gave him a bow.

“Good evening, Sir.”

He looked at his watch, “Why are you still here?” He had his briefcase on his hand. My

colleagues told me Mr. Dong was always the last one to leave the office. Well I guessed this time it was me.

“I still have some work to finish, Sir.”

He looked surprised, “Oh... okay.”

He started to walk away from my desk and when I was about to sit down, he turned around and spoke again, “Don’t overwork yourself, Miss Hwang.”

I gave him a smile, “I won’t, Sir.”

He nodded and smiled back at me before going on his way.

I sat back down and continued where I left off.

I was almost done when my cell phone rang. It was Taeyeon.

As soon as I put the receiver on my ear, I could hear her whining voice.

“Are you done already?”

I smiled, “Not yet, Tae.”

“It’s late!!”

I laughed, “No, it’s not. It’s only..” I looked at the time on my laptop, “8.37pm.”

“It’s soooo late! You should’ve left office at 5pm. 4.30 even. It’s Friday!”

“I can’t. I don’t like to leave my work unfinished.” I put the cell phone between my ear and my shoulder so I could start working again.

“Bring it home then. You can do it on the weekend.”

“Ugh, no way. I don’t want this work to interrupt my day-offs.”

She heaved a sigh, “But don’t go home too late, Fany-ah. It’s dangerous.” She sounded worried.

“Okay. I’ll see you at home.”

“Okay." I looked around to make sure nobody's around me, "I love you.” I said with a smile.

I could imagine her dimple smile when she said it back, “I love you too.”

I hung up and put the cell phone on the desk.

Now I needed to finish this as quickly as I can.

Monday. Excruciating Monday. Weekends and Taeyeon were two great things for me to unwind. Thank God for them. But surprisingly, this particular Monday started off nicely. I handed my work that I did on Friday to my supervisor first thing in the morning. She was pleasantly surprise and told me I did very well so far.

That made me happy. So it wouldn’t hurt to join my colleagues for lunch, right? I asked them if Juhyun could join and they said it’s fine.

“I heard our supervisor is going to retired soon.” One of them started to speak after we sat down with our meal. We were eating in the office cafeteria.

It piqued my attention, “Really?”

“She said she’s tired and she wanted to enjoy her time with her family. Especially since her daughter’s going into labor soon.” She answered.

That’s too bad. I thought my supervisor just started to like me.

“Who’s going to replace her?”

“I don’t know. But I think it’ll be you. You’re the assistant supervisor and you worked here the longest between us, right?” she said and asked the guy who’s silently eating his meal.

“I hope so. But Mr. Dong has this fresh new ideas in mind.” He looked at me for a split second, “Nobody knows who will he choose.”

“I agree with you. It’s like he wants to change this whole company altogether.” Another one chimed and everybody seemed to have the same opinion as him.

Juhyun and I kept quiet. They’re not trying to be rude by talking about this ‘fresh new ideas’ from the CEO, but we knew that we were part of that ‘fresh new ideas’.

Thankfully the topic moved to their family. Someone just got divorced for the second time, someone complained how school intuition was really expensive these days, someone showed a picture of his son in a toga, and someone finally asked Juhyun and I about relationship matters.

“I see both of you haven’t married yet.” One of them looked at Juhyun fingers.

“I haven’t thought about marriage to be honest and I don’t even have a boyfriend yet.” Juhyun spoke.

“How about you, Tiffany-ssi? You have a boyfriend?” one of them asked and now all eyes were on me.

Honestly, I wanted to brag about my amazing girlfriend. But then again, they already scrutinize me for being... well younger than them. Even though I had no problem with people judging me, but I didn’t want to give them a reason to alienated me. I wanted to work here for a long time and they were the people I would work with everyday. Even I couldn’t really be friends with them, but at least they’re not hostile towards me.

I resolved in shaking my head politely. I didn’t lie though. I didn’t have a boyfriend. But I did have a girlfriend.

“Really???? But you must have at least a dozen of men asking you out.”

“Honestly, I had my share of heart break because of them in the past and right now, I just...” I cleared my throat before I stated out a lie, “think it’s best if I’m not involved with anybody.” I sipped my drink in hopes to look convincing and expected the topic would end here.

A woman nodded, seemingly approving my decision, “Well that’s okay. Take your time. It’s better than swearing off men and turning to women.”

I choked on my drink and coughed. Juhyun gave me tissues and patted my back. While the others started to state their opinion about the matters and I concluded not to reveal my relationship to anyone in this company.

Excruciating Monday indeed.

Taeyeon’s

“Yo, Taeng! Lunch! Come on!”

Sooyoung stood in front of my desk with excited face. I saved my work and took my cell phone and purse before getting up.

“Why are you so excited?”

We walked towards the elevator to the cafeteria office.

“Because it’s lunch time! You really need to ask me that?”

“You’re usually excited for lunch, but not this excited.”

“I’m on the average level of excited.”

“I am.”

We got inside the elevator and there were already other people inside.

“You’re so not.” I whispered to Sooyoung.

She elbowed me to keep me quiet.

Before we arrived on our destination, the people went out on other level. Finally it’s only the two of us on the elevator.

“Care to tell me why are you so excited now?”

Sooyung sighed, defeated. “Fine. Oppa made me breakfast today.”

“Wow, food gets you everywhere, huh?” I teased her.

“It’s a sweet gesture, okay.” She retaliated.

We arrived at the cafeteria and our other friends already there.

We bought our food and join them.

“Hey, you’re not exploring new restaurants today, Sooyoung-ah?” one of them asked.

“Nope. Nothing new around here lately.” She answered while grinning.

“That’s because you have tried every new restaurants there is.” I said. The others laughed.

“Anyway, we were just talking about you, Noona.” Kibum, a guy from different department than me or Sooyoung said.

“You dare talk about me behind my back?” I pretended to be angry.

“That’s why I’m telling you now.” Kibum said with a grin.

He had this mischievous look on his face, “Someone has a crush on you.”

“Really??” Sooyoung stopped eating and looked at him with interest.

“It’s the new kid on my department. He kept on asking me about you.” Kibum said.

“That doesn’t mean he has a crush on me, Kibum-ah.”

“He asked me too, Taeyeon-ah.” A girl from my department, Noeul, spoke.

“For real?”

She nodded with a smile.

“Well did you guys told him I’m taken AND also not interested in... well... his specimen?”

They laughed and Kibum answered me, “Not yet. We decided to play with him a little bit.”

“Gosh, you guys are mean.”

They laughed again, “We’ll tell him soon.”

I shook my head and smiled to myself. It’s been a long time I heard someone had a crush on me. The last one was... Hwang Tiffany?

A New Position

Tiffany’s

Another month had passed and slowly I got used to my colleagues. The awkwardness was still there, but with the addition of Juhyun made it easier.

I worked over time for 3 nights this month. Every time, Mr. Dong would go home before me and he nodded his head in acknowledgement with a small smile when he saw me still working on my desk.

Every time, Taeyeon would whine and sulk whenever I got home late. But despite all the complaints, she would still wait up for me. Which made me love her even more.

All in all, I loved doing my job. My supervisor also praised me a lot, which made me want to work harder.

I just got back from a peaceful lunch with Juhyun when the CEO’s secretary came up and told me I was needed in the CEO’s office.

I wondered what does he want this time?

I stepped inside his room office to find my supervisor also there, sitting in front of his desk.

“Ms. Hwang, please have a seat.” Mr. Dong smiled and gestured for me to sit on the other chair beside my supervisor.

She turned to me and said with all seriousness on her face, “Tiffany-ssi, I assume you’ve heard about my retirement from this company?”

I nodded slowly. Where would this lead to?

“Well, Youngbae-ssi and I are looking for someone who’s capable enough to take my position.”

O-kay? And?

“And both of us agreed that you’re the right person to take it.”

WHAT?! My eyes widen. What the?

Were they asking me to be the head of marketing department?!

“We want you to be the head of marketing department, Ms. Hwang.”

They were. I froze on my seat. The head of department. Not just the assistant, but the head of department.

Was this a joke? Or maybe a prank for the new staff? I looked at him, then at her. Both were looking very serious, no hint of ‘you’ve-got-punk’d’ expression on their faces.

“What do you say, Ms. Hwang?” Mr. Dong asked me with a glint of expectation in his eyes.

“Bu-but I just work here for... two months.”

“From that two months, I could see your dedication to this company.” My supervisor said with a smile, “Maybe the others who’s been working here longer, knew about this company better than you. But I’ve never seen them put so much passion into their jobs like you do.”

My mind was still trying to process this new information, that it didn’t really register what my supervisor just said.

Mr. Dong let out a sigh and said, “Mrs. Shin, I think I need to talk with Ms. Hwang.”

My supervisor stood up understandingly and patted my shoulder, “I believe you’ll do great, Tiffany-ssi.”

She went out from the office, leaving me with the CEO.

“Ms. Hwang, I know it seems to be too fast for a promotion, but I need someone who has the same way of thinking with me to improve this company. We’re not doing badly, but we’re not moving anywhere either.”

I blinked, trying to understand what he’s saying.

“My employees are great, they did their job well done. But they’re afraid of changes. Looking at their range of age and how long they’ve been working for this company, they don’t want

changes. They’re satisfied enough with what they have now.”

He leaned back on his chair and continued, “I don’t want this company to stand still. I want this company to fly higher, I want to take this company to another level.” He said this with so much conviction.

“That’s why I need someone who can make the change with me. You’re young and full of new ideas, Ms. Hwang. That’s one of the reason why we hire you. Why I hire you.”

The room was silent and finally I get a grasp of everything.

“So, how about it, Ms. Hwang?”

I was watching this show on TV when I heard the front door open, “I’m home! Taeyeon-ah!”

I diverted my gaze from the TV when she came into the living room with a wide grin.

“Hi there.” I gave her a smile and went back to watch the TV again.

But she went to stand right in front of me, blocking my view of the TV.

“Yah! I’m watching the TV!” I tried to shove her but she sat astride on my lap instead.

“I have a good news to tell.”

I wanted to protest, since I still wanted to watch the show on TV, but she held me by my shoulder and swooped in to give me a passionate kiss. My hands went to her back almost like a reflex. Her hand went to the back of my head, giving it a message and her other hand was on my nape, pushing gently to kiss me deeper.

I didn’t even remember what the show was about on the TV anymore when she broke the kiss.

“Woah.” I said in a daze and opened my eyes slowly.

“Guess what happen at the office today?” she let her arms hang loosely on my shoulder.

“They hire a bunch of young people to be your friends?”

She giggled, “No, silly.”

I smiled, wait, no I was smiling ever since she gave me that kiss, “What happened then?”

“Well.... you’re looking at their new head of marketing department.” She beamed.

“What?” I tried to decipher her answer, “You got promoted?!”

She nodded her head eagerly.

“Yep.”

“You’re not kidding, are you?”

“Nope.” She began to tell me about the CEO’s plan to renewed their company and why she was offer the position.

“Wow. Seriously, my girlfriend is amazing. Congratulations!” I gave her a peck.

“Thank you.” Her eyes turned into a crescent shape.

I kissed her again. And again. And again.

“Tae, with the income I have now,” she said in between our kisses, “you could just stay at home and be a housewife, you know.”

I stopped and pulled back, “Hwang Miyoung, are you asking me to be your wife right now?”

She opened her eyes in an instant, flustered. “Wh-what? No.. I was just saying.”

I laughed, “Just kidding, Fany-ah.”

We had talked about the future and marriage was one of the things we’re looking forward to. But somehow the idea of being married to this woman in my hold still made me feel giddy and fluttery. I guessed it’s the same with her, judging at her reaction now.

She smiled sheepishly and grabs my shoulder, slowly kneading it.

“So how’s your day? What happened at your office today?” she asked.

“Same old, same old.” My hands started to go lower and I encircled my arms around her waist.

I leaned forward and started to drop kisses on her jaws to her neck.

“Oh, Kibum said the new kid on his department has a crush on me.” I mumbled.

“What?!” she pushed me away abruptly.

“What?”

“Someone has a crush on you?”

“Yeah, so?”

“So?!” Her eyes widen and she pushed me even further, adding distance between our bodies that wasn’t there before just a second ago.

I chuckled seeing her worked up over this, “So what? Everybody can have a crush on me, but yours is the only one matters.”

She grinned and pulled me close again, “Good.”

I laughed, “Good?”

“Yes, good to know that. Since you’re mine and all that.”

“I’m always yours.”

She kissed me again and I gladly reciprocated.

“Want to have a celebratory dinner?” I asked her with ragged breathing once we parted for air, “I’ll make anything you want.”

She shook her head and rubbed my upper arms with her hands, “I’d rather celebrate in a different way.” She said in a husky voice.

Tiffany’s

Everybody hated me.

The next day, the CEO himself and my supervisor broke out the news to everybody on our office and most of them were shocked. Especially the staff of marketing department.

The only sincere congratulation I got was from Juhyun.

The whole ordeal would be effective on Monday. The next two days, my supervisor would brief me on everything and helped me eased in to the position.

On Monday and the following days, my subordinates no longer asking me to join them for lunch. They gave me the cold shoulders and only spoke to me regarding work. They didn’t even spare me a smile.

I guessed I kind of expect this to happen. But even though I expected it, didn’t mean it was less awful.

It resulted in me having lunch only with Juhyun on my office room. Yes, one of the good things about the position was I got my own room now.

“They hate me, Juhyun-ah.” I sighed.

“No, they don’t, Unnie.”

I looked at her skeptically.

“They’re just surprised. They thought the assistant manager who would take the position, not the ‘young staff’ who just got hired a couple of months.”

“What I mean is, they don’t hate you. They’re just surprised that you could get promoted this fast.”

“So they don’t think I’m capable, huh?”

“You just need to show them that you are, Unnie.” Juhyun gave me a smile.

I looked up at her, stared to be exact. Well what did you know? She’s younger, but nevertheless, wiser than me. That’s exactly what I needed to show to my subordinate, right? I was capable being the head of marketing department.

“You’re right. Thanks, Juhyun-ah.” I smiled back at her.

“You’re welcome, Unnie.”

We ate our meal in silence before Juhyun spoke again.

“Actually, Unnie, you inspired me.”

I gave her a questioning look.

“You became the head of department in just two months. Eventhough I know the CEO motive, but he wouldn’t just pick a random person based on their age. He must’ve analyze you first and make sure you could give your best to this company. You inspired me to work harder.”

Her words warmth my heart.

“You’re great, Unnie. Don’t let anyone told you otherwise.”

I told you Juhyun and I were going to be great friends, didn’t I?

Thus, I began to work until late night and the appearance of whiny Taeyeon became more frequent.

No matter how annoying her whining and scolding about how dangerous it was to go home at night for a woman, I still found it endearing. She would also still wait for me, just like now.

I got home just before midnight and I found her asleep on the couch, in a sitting position, with the TV remote on her hand, and the TV was still on.

I felt a little bit guilty because she also had work and I bet she’s tired too. But there she was, still trying to wait up for me.

I went to stand in front of her, smiling to myself. I brushed her bangs back and kissed her forehead.

“Taeyeon-ah, wake up.” I whispered and placed my hand on her cheek. I rubbed her soft cheek slowly with my thumb.

She opened her eyes, “You’re home.” And a smile.

“I am. Thanks for waiting up for me, but you really shouldn’t.”

“Have you eaten?” she ignored what I said.

“Just entered the apartment.” I showed her the bag on my other hand.

She stood up and went to the kitchen. I put my bag on the couch and followed her.

She was putting rice on a bowl & I raised my eyebrows, “You haven’t eaten either?”

She looked at me sheepishly, “I have. Sorry I didn’t wait for you. I was hungry.”

The rice was for me. She was preparing dinner for me.

“Tae, you really shouldn’t. I know you’re tired too.” I tried to take the bowl out from her hand, but she held it away from me.

“But-”

“No buts. Just let me do this for you, Hwang Miyoung.”

I relented at that and resulted in giving her a back hug while she scooped more rice on the bowl. “Thank you.” I mumbled on her shoulder.

She chuckled, “You know, you could heat up the side dishes rather than hugging me like this.”

I let go of her, “Oh, right.”

After my dinner’s ready, I sat down and ready to eat while Taeyeon sat across from me.

“You can go to sleep, Tae. I’m fine eating by myself.”

She shook her head, once again dismissing what I said, “So what happened at the office today? Does everybody realize that you’re an amazing boss yet?”

I told Taeyeon about my problem at the office & she said the exact same thing Juhyun said. She told me to show them that I was more than capable to do the job.

“They’re still the same. Someone even purposely did a mistake on his work and when I asked him to revise it, he told me to do it myself.”

“What?! For people their age, they surely act very childish!”

I didn’t respond and continued to eat.

“You could report them to the CEO, you know.”

“I don’t want to do that. He’s busy enough already. I should be able to handle this kind of things myself.”

She let out a sigh, “I hope they would stop giving you such a hard time and things will get better.”

I hoped for the same things too.

Begin

I woke up from my slumber when the alarm rang. I stretched and yawned before I sat up. Still with a groggy mind, I realized the apartment was really quiet. She must’ve gone to work already.

I got up and went to her room. It’s empty. I went to the kitchen and checked the sink. There’s a used mug with a trace of black liquid. She had a mug of coffee for breakfast. I heaved a sigh and took a bowl to pour cereals.

I had my breakfast in front of the TV.

I miss her.

She’s very busy lately and I barely talk to her. Heck, I could only see her if I stayed up and waited for her like last night!

I told myself that she’s working hard and I shouldn’t feel like this. I shouldn’t miss her too much. But... she hardly had time for me! Even on the weekend, she would catch up on sleeping or working in front of her laptop.

I let out another sigh before I finished my breakfast and got ready for work.

“Noona, are you okay? You look kind of troubled lately.” Kibum asked me when we ate together for lunch.

“Problem with your girlfriend?” Noeul asked.

Sooyung scoffed, “She’s being childish because her girlfriend doesn’t have time for her lately.”

“She loves her job more than she loves me.” I said exasperatedly.

Sooyoung shook her head, “Such a drama queen.”

“Aren’t you living with her?”

“Yeah, but she’s so busy since she got promoted.” I frowned.

“Why don’t you just tell her about it?” Noeul said.

“I don’t know. It seems like she has already enough things on her mind. You see, her subordinates don’t really favor her as their head of department and she’s trying to fit in her position at the company. I don’t want to add up her problems already.”

“But it’s okay to add up to my problem? You always complained about it to me. Sheesh.” Sooyoung said while rolling her eyes.

“That’s what friends are for. Suck it up!” I retorted back.

“Noona! Somebody’s looking at you~” Kibum said in a singsong voice while looking past my shoulder.

I turned my head and caught the new kid on Kibum’s department was looking at me.

He blushed and bowed immediately. I gave him a quick nod before returning to face my friends who were stifling their laughs.

“Yah! You haven’t told him I have a girlfriend?” I asked Kibum while keeping my voice low.

Couple days ago, I was inside the elevator with Noeul on our way home when he bumped into us. It was really awkward and Noeul didn’t really help by just grinning teasingly. He bravely introduced himself to me and the elevator ride ended shortly. It was very awkward for me but Noeul laughed out loud when we finally parted ways with the new kid.

“Oh come on, Noona! It was so much fun. Noeul Noona told me about what happened at the elevator and I was surprised! He had courage. I’m curious to see what would he do next.”

“Kibum-ah..” I looked at him sternly and he deflated.

“Fine, fine. I’ll tell him.”

“Good. It’s not nice to play with people’s feelings, you know.”

We continued our meal and chat about other things instead.

Tiffany’s

Juhyun got promoted to be assistant manager and the CEO had recruit more young people to join the company. He often brainstormed with me and then held out meetings to talk about it with other head of departments. Honestly, it was exciting. I loved doing my job despite the lack of respect from my subordinates.

Speaking of my subordinates, it’s getting worse, there’s a rumor going around now that I could be the head of department fast because I slept with the CEO. It got me in a really bad mood.

I was working late one night and Taeyeon couldn’t stop bugging me to come home. Yes, I loved her care and attention, but my subordinates really got on my nerves today with their attitudes, the rumor ruined my mood for the whole day, and I needed to finish my work before tomorrow’s meeting with the CEO.

“You know, I can’t finish this quick enough if you keep calling me, Tae.” She’s been calling me for God knows how many times this past hours and told me to go home.

She was quiet for a moment before mumbling, “Fine I won’t call you ever again.”

If only I didn’t have a bad day already and a deadline to meet, I would find her antics cute. But not now. I was so not in the mood for a sulking Taeyeon.

“Then don’t!”

I hung up the cellphone before she could utter a word.

My work was almost done when the CEO came to my room with his briefcase. He peeked his head through the open door.

“Still here, Ms. Hwang?”

I looked up and gave him a smile, “Almost done, Sir.”

I spent a lot of times with Mr. Dong lately and I got comfortable with him than before. He told me to reduce the formalities because our age was not really far apart. But we didn’t talk outside of work or anything. I didn’t want to pry on my boss’s personal stuff and he seemed to respect mine too.

“Good. See you tomorrow, Ms. Hwang. Don’t get sick.” He said with a smile before he closed my office door.

My smile was still intact while I finished my work. It’s good to have a nice superior like him. I got myself readied to go home when my cellphone rang again. It was Taeyeon and I frowned. I was still feeling annoyed at her so I decided to ignore it.

I was walking out from my building when my cellphone rang again. I still didn’t pick up.

By the time I was on the subway, she called again and I just stared at it until it went off.

I heaved a sigh and decided to text her that I was on my home. She didn’t reply nor call me again.

When I arrived at home, surprisingly she’s still waiting up for me. She didn’t greet me and I didn’t too since I was still feeling irritated. She didn’t spare me a glance when she turned the TV off, got up and said, “Dinner’s on the table.”

She went to her bedroom and closed the door, leaving me to eat dinner by myself for the first time.

Taeyeon’s

No matter how many times she disappointed me, I couldn’t be mad at her for too long. Like last night, when she purposely didn’t answer my calls. I was worried sick! But my bitter feelings vanished the instant she came home drenched tonight.

It started to rain lately and she had an umbrella with her, but turned out it was broken so she just ran from the station to the apartment.

I helped take her jacket off and took the bag from her.

“Go take a warm shower, I’ll prepare your dinner.”

She frowned, “Can I just go to sleep after? I’m not really hungry, Tae.”

“You have to eat! I don’t want you to get sick. You’re already drenched and sleeping with empty stomach will do you no good.”

She started to walk to the bathroom, “But I’m really tired. I just want to sleep.”

“How about dinner in bed then?”

She stopped and looked back at me with raised eyebrows, “Dinner in bed?”

“Doesn’t have to be full meal. Maybe soup? And bread?”

She gave me a smile before walking to the bathroom again, “Okay then.”

So I made a soup for her and put it on a tray to take it to her room. She’s finished with her shower and was drying her hair with a hairdryer when I walked inside her room.

I put the tray on the bedside table and sat down on her bed. I forgot to bring her water so I went to the kitchen again to take a glass of warm water.

When I came back to her room, she’s already on the bed, under the cover, and eyes closed.

“Fany-ah, don’t sleep yet. Eat first.” I put the glass beside the soup.

She opened her eyes and sat up while leaning her back on the headboard. “I’m not sleeping. I’m waiting for you.”

“Why are you waiting for me?” I sat down on the bed facing her.

I chuckled, “Such a big baby.”

“Yours truly, remember?”

“I’m going to start to call you ‘baby’ at this rate.” I picked up the bowl and started taking a spoonful of soup.

She opened her mouth compliantly when I fed her.

“Nuh-uh. Yuri and Jessie called themselves that.”

“Eat the bread too, baby.” I said teasingly while spooning the soup.

“Yah! Don’t use that term.”

I laughed, “Fine, fine. Just eat the bread too, will you?” I fed her again and waited for her to take a bite of the bread.

But she just opened her mouth without moving her hands.

“Fany-ah...”

She pointed at the bread and then her mouth.

“Seriously?”

“Hurry up, Tae! I’m sleepy.” She whined.

So I put down the bowl and started to feed her the bread. She had this smile all the while.

It’s a little bit childish but it was the longest and nicest time we had for weeks. She fell asleep right after she finished up and drank the water.

I went to my room to get some sleep too, but then I remembered about her broken umbrella. She wouldn’t have the time to buy it on the way to the office tomorrow, would she? Well she

wouldn’t have the thought to do so anyway. Therefore, I took mine and went to her room again. I put it on her bedside table so she would see it in the morning and bring it to the office. I gave her a kiss on the forehead before I went back to my room.

The next day, I got home and just like any other day, the silence and emptiness greeted me.

I put my bag in my room. I felt tired and a warm bath seemed like a good idea. It didn’t rain when I was on my way home, but the weather started to get cold nowadays. A warm bath and an instant noodle would be perfect.

I took a relaxing bath, felt refreshed, and made myself an instant noodle. I didn’t bother to cook something for my girlfriend since she probably didn’t want to eat again like last night.

I ate my instant noodle while watching the TV. After I finished, I wrapped myself with a blanket and continued to watch. After almost an hour of watching TV, I started to feel drowsy and it started to rain. It rained almost everyday lately. Thank God I’m already at home, in this comfy couch and wrapped up in a warm blanket.

I hoped Tiffany would come home soon. I heaved a sigh, missing my girlfriend’s presence. Would be nice to cuddle with her rather than this blanket.

It was getting pretty late. Did she got stuck in her office because this rain? But the rain didn’t pour that hard, she could go to the subway with an umbrella.

She had an umbrella with her, right? She didn’t forget to bring it, did she?

Damn it! The umbrella was still on the bedside table, which meant she was probably got stuck in her office.

I tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail. I couldn’t let her get home drenched again. I changed my clothes and grabbed her umbrella also my brand new one before heading outside.

I reached the ground floor and walked as quickly as I could. The rain was pouring harder and harder. I hoped she didn’t go through the rain like last night. She would surely get sick this time.

When I reached the lobby, the door flung open and in my girlfriend, looking very dry without a hint of rain on her at all.

“Thank you very much, Oppa. You really don’t have to go all the way inside my building with your umbrella.”

“I have to make sure my best head department is safe and sound. You work like crazy for our company, this is the least I can do.”

Clueless Hwang

Tiffany’s

The rain started to pour again. I cursed for forgetting to buy a new umbrella. I looked outside the window. I could just run for it, but the distance between my office and the nearest subway was a little bit far. Maybe I should just wait until the rain had stopped. I grabbed my cellphone to tell Taeyeon but it was out of batteries. Damn it!

I stared at my closed laptop for the longest time. My work was done and I got nothing to do now. Should I review it again?

“Ms. Hwang?”

I jerked from my seat due to the surprise. Turned out it was the CEO, who else would it be anyway?

“Mr. Dong! You scared me.”

He chuckled, “Sorry. You’re still here?”

That same question every night if he got home before me.

“Yes, Sir.”

“You still haven’t finished?” he looked at my closed laptop.

“I have, but... I forgot to bring my umbrella so I decided to wait until it stops.”

I smiled at him, “It won’t, Sir. Besides, if it did, then I’ll go home when it slows down.”

He still stood there and looked at me like he was contemplating something.

“I could drive you home.” He finally said.

“Oh no, Sir. It’s unnecessary!”

He looked outside the window, “I don’t think it’ll slow down any time soon.”

“It’s fine, Sir. I’ll just wait.”

“For all we know, the rain could go until sunrise.”

I guessed it’s a nice offer and nobody knew when will the rain stop. So the most logical thing to do was to take his offer.

“I’m really sorry I become a bother to you, Sir.” I said once he started driving with me on the passenger seat.

“Hey, I’m the one who offer you a ride home. No need to apologize.” He said with a smile.

“Thank you, Sir.”

“And we’re outside the office now, so please lose the Sir?”

“But-”

“Also no ‘Mr. Dong’. It makes me feel so old, really.”

I could be friends with the CEO, couldn’t I? There’s no rule that forbid an employee to be friends with a CEO.

He scrunched his eyebrows, “I’m not that much older than you. Maybe ‘Oppa’?”

“Alright. Oppa when we’re outside the office it is.”

He took a glance at me for a second before focusing on the road again, “Good.”

Besides the talk about what to address him, we didn’t really talk about any personal stuff. The furthest was about our education background. I wouldn’t even say that was ‘personal’. We talked mostly about work.

I thanked him again when we arrived at my apartment building. He said it was not a problem and told me to wait. He suddenly got out from the car with an umbrella and went to my side.

Oh gosh!

The rain still pouring hard but from where he parked the car to the lobby of my apartment was not that far.

I got inside my apartment building without getting wet at all. I was really grateful to have a boss like Dong Youngbae.

“Thank you very much, Oppa. You really don’t have to go all the way inside my building with your umbrella.”

“I have to make sure my best head department is safe and sound. You work like crazy for our company, this is the least I can do.”

We smiled at each other and I just realized my girlfriend was standing not far from us.

“Oh, Taeyeon-ah!”

She blinked for a couple of times before she walked a couple of steps towards me.

“What are you doing down here?” I saw her holding two umbrellas.

“Um.. I wanted to go to the minimart. But the rain was crazy, so...” she trailed off and she was stealing glances to Mr. Dong.

“Oh, right. Tae, this is my boss, Dong Youngbae. Oppa, this is my roommate, Kim Taeyeon.”

“Nice to meet you, Taeyeon-ssi.” He offered his hand with a smile.

She took it and gave out a stiff smile, “Nice to meet you too, Youngbae-ssi.”

“I better go now. I’ll see you tomorrow, Tiffany.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Thank you once again for the ride, Oppa.” I gave him a bow.

He returned to his car and once he’s out from the building, Taeyeon started to walk back to the elevator. I followed her.

“Tae, why are you bringing two umbrellas?”

She didn’t look at me, “For you.” She handed me the umbrella and I took it.

“You bought me a new one? Aaawh, thank you.”

The elevator came and we went inside. I gave her a kiss on the cheek when the elevator door’s closed.

She didn’t budge nor smile. Something’s wrong.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

She kept on looking on the numbers, “Nothing.”

The elevator stopped at our floor and she walked ahead of me. I went out from the elevator and grabbed her arm.

“Something is wrong. What is it?”

She looked at me and said nothing.

“There’s definitely something.”

She let out a sigh and held my hand instead.

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just tired. Let’s just go inside.”

I followed her pull and we got into our apartment.

“I didn’t cook tonight. Want me to make you something?” she asked.

“Can I go straight to sleep? I’m not hungry, Taeyeon-ah.”

“Okay. Goodnight then.”

What? She didn’t force me to eat this time?

Before I could say anything, she pecked my lips and went to her room.

That’s really unusual of her. I took a quick shower and went to my bed.

Taeyeon was acting really weird tonight. Was it because I introduce her to my boss as a roommate? But she knew my decision about not revealing my relationship to anybody at the office and she was okay with that.

Taeyeon’s

“Taeng! Lunch!”

I didn’t look up from the newspaper I was reading when Sooyoung came.

“Go ahead, I’ll join you later.”

“You’re reading newspaper?”

“Yeah.” I said without leaving my eyes from the newspaper.

“Who’s reading newspapers these days?”

“Well today, I am.”

“Why?”

I finally put the newspaper down and let out a sigh, “I need a car.”

"What? Why?"

I ignored her and picked up the newspaper again to browse the ads about used cars.

Suddenly, the newspaper got snatch from my grasp.

"YAH!"

Sooyoung had it on her hands and she folded the newspaper calmly, "Lunch will be just the two of us. You can whine all you want. Come on." she started to walk away with my newspaper on her hand.

We went to one of the restaurants near our office building and texted our friends that we won't join them for lunch.

After we ordered our meal, I started to tell her about what happened last night.

"Let me get this straight, you need a car so you can pick her up every night?"

"Yes."

"Because you just want her to be safe?"

"Yes. And it'll be less tiring for her."

"It's not because you're being childishly jealous over her boss driving her home last night?"

"No."

She looked at me skeptically. I looked back at her undeterred. We had a stare down for a minute before I finally admit it.

"Fine! It's the thing with the boss too."

"Ha! I knew it."

"She called him 'oppa' for God's sake!"

"So? In case you don't remember, we all call men older than us with that term, you know."

"We don't call our CEO 'oppa'!"

"Because our CEO is waaaaaay way older than us. It's not a big deal, Taeng. You know Fany won't cheat on you."

I took a deep breath and ran my fingers on my hair.

"Ah that’s why. Well she told you she didn't want reveal her sexual preference to her colleagues. And you said you're fine with it."

"Doesn't mean it's not painful when I heard her say it so casually like that."

Sooyoung patted my arm, "You need to talk it out with her, rather than bottling it inside like this."

I shook my head, "She's stress enough already, Soo. I don't want to add up to that."

"But you rather buy a car? You don't even have a driving license, Taeyeon-ah." she smiled a little and threw me a small ball of paper she made from the newspaper.

I finally cracked a little smile, "That's stupid, huh?"

"Very stupid."

Our food finally arrived and Sooyoung picked up her chopsticks before she spoke again, "Seriously though, you need to tell her what's bothering you."

"Fine, when the time is right I will."

"There won't be the right time for this kind of thing, Tae."

Intermission

She watched her girlfriend sleeping peacefully from the door. A smile was forming on her face. It’s true, no matter how hurt she was because of her girlfriend, she couldn’t be mad at her for long.

It’s almost noon and she contemplated to wake up the sleeping form or not. She approached her slowly and watched her steady breathing. She crouched down beside the bed and placed a soft kiss on her lover’s forehead. She stood up quietly but the woman on the bed stirred and opened her eyes sluggishly.

“Sorry, sorry, go back to sleep.” Taeyeon said and stroked Tiffany’s hair, in hope for her to go back to her slumber.

“What time is it?” she asked with hoarse voice.

“Almost noon.”

She sat up at once and took her cell phone to confirm the time. Her fatigue’s gone in an instant.

“Hey, relax. It’s Saturday. You can sleep again.”

But she was already on her feet and groaned, “I have to send an email!”

Taeyeon just stood beside the bed, watching her went to her desk and turned on her laptop.

“You should’ve woken me up sooner!”

Tiffany started to type on her laptop with her back to Taeyeon, who had a dejected look on her face.

She didn’t feel the need to apologize because Tiffany didn’t tell her to wake her up sooner last night and instead, she was a little bit baffled because Tiffany snapped at her like that.

She stood there staring at her girlfriend’s back who’s already in work mode for a couple of seconds before deciding to just leave her alone. She got out from the room stealthily, leaving an unaware person of her disappointment.

They were cuddling on the bed, everything seemed to be well and both had smiles on their faces.

Taeyeon kissed her and Tiffany reciprocated. She left her lips and started giving kisses on her neck.

“Tae...”

“Hmm?”

“Taeyeon-ah..”

She didn’t respond and continued to nibble on her neck. She finally stopped when she felt her shoulder was being pushed gently.

She looked up at her, “What’s wrong?”

Tiffany had this apologetic look on her face, “I’m tired.”

She wanted to curse and let out her frustration, but the other woman did look tired and Taeyeon couldn’t force anything to her.

“It’s fine. Let’s just sleep then.” She turned her body away from Tiffany, hiding her distress.

But a pair of arms encircled her waist from behind and she felt a kiss on her shoulder with a soft voice saying, “I love you.”

She heaved a silent sigh and berated herself in her mind for being such a softie before she turned to face her again and hug her back.

Failed Attempt

Tiffany’s

It was another tiring day at the office and I instantly slept once my head touched the pillow.

I turned to my side and scooted closer to her, wanting to feel her warmth. I felt an arm around my torso and snuggled to her. I inhaled her scent but strangely, it didn't smell like her.

I realized her arm was heavier than usual.

I put my palm on her bare stomach and... there's abs? I glided my palm upwards to her chest and there's... nothing there! It was hard and flat.

I gasped and woke up from my dream.

What the hell was that?! I looked around and I was alone on my bed. It was a weird and bad dream. It was a nightmare. I sat up and checked the time on my cellphone. It was way past midnight.

I lied back down and tried to get back to sleep but I couldn't. That dream left me a bitter feeling.

I got up and went out from my room. I needed my Taeyeon. I opened her door very quietly, afraid to wake her and peeked. She was sleeping peacefully on her bed. I tiptoed to her bed and slipped inside the blanket as stealthily as I could.

I guessed I wasn't stealthy enough because she turned to me and mumbled half-consciously, "Fany-ah?"

"Yes, it's me. Go back to sleep." I inched closer and put her arm around me. Now this felt right. She just hummed and went back to sleep.

I snuggled closer and inhaled. Yep, that's the scent I was looking for. I put my hand inside her loose t-shirt and pressed my palm on her stomach. It was flat and no abs. I felt relieved. My hand went higher and... yes there it is. Soft

I got startled and pulled my hand out from her t-shirt. I looked up at her and she squinted at me.

Damn it!

"N-nothing." this was embarrassing.

"Did you just wake me up in the middle of the night to have sexy time with me?"

I was blushing, hard. Well it's not her fault to think like that. I couldn't even explain my own action to myself. "What?! N-"

Suddenly she flipped our bodies and I was trapped under her.

She gave me a peck and said in a low voice, "Because I don't mind at all."

Next thing I knew, her body pressed against mine and her lips were the only thing I could feel.

Taeyeon’s

I woke up to yet another empty bed. But it didn’t really bother me because I had a great time last night. Wait, was it early morning? I giggled to myself remembering what we did. That girl could still surprise me sometimes.

She could make me feel a lot of things, from irked, angry, worried, sad, happy, exhilarated, contented, and many other emotions.