BEWITCHED (COMPLETED)

Bewitched (Part 10)

"Hi. What brings you here?" asked Tiffany.

"Well... since you've been busy and probably haven't had dinner yet... maybe I could buy you a meal? Or coffee?"

Tiffany finally broke into a smile. "That'd be nice but we'll have to be quick. I can't leave this for too long."

"Yes, you can." Key suddenly appeared. "We're almost done and I have everything under control."

"But-..."

"No buts, Noona. Go. You've worked harder than any of us these past few days so it's time to take a break. Just come back later."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." It was one of the team members who answered this time. "Go, Unnie. We'll be fine without you."

"If I hadn't known better, I'd say that you're trying to get rid of me," said Tiffany.

"Well, it's true that we work better when you're not around to nag us," joked another staff.

They all chuckled, including Tiffany.

"Just bring us snacks and coffee and we'll call it even."

"Thanks, guys," Tiffany told her team before turning towards Taeyeon. "Dinner it is then."

—-

Taeyeon considerately proposed to eat somewhere nearby so Tiffany wouldn't have to leave work for too long.

They didn't talk much, at first, besides discussing what to eat and ordering their food.

Despite her joy at seeing Taeyeon take the initiative, Tiffany knew that she had been very straightforward about her feelings that day so she wasn't sure what to say now or whether Taeyeon felt the same way.

Luckily, Taeyeon seemed to realize that she should be the one to start the conversation. She cleared her throat, shifted in her seat a bit then opened her mouth.

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" replied Tiffany.

"For causing you to act the way you did the other day," said Taeyeon, lifting her eyes to meet Tiffany's. "It's just that... I thought that you and Yuri had a thing going on and I didn't want to... I mean, I couldn't..." She took a deep breath. "Yuri's my best friend and I value our friendship a lot."

"I know that but surely you've realized that I like talking to you or spending time with you."

"I have but at the same time, you kept going on dates with Yul and I-..."

"They weren't dates," Tiffany quickly cut Taeyeon off. "They were just friendly meals because I didn't want to reject your friend out of fear that you'd dislike me for it."

"Oh."

The table grew quiet for a few seconds.

"I know how you stole glances at me when you thought that I wasn't looking," Tiffany spoke.

Taeyeon blushed, looking down at the table.

"And I understand how much you care about Yuri but come on, you could've at least asked her whether she and I were dating."

"I could but I didn't have to. She was clearly very into you."

"Well, I wasn't into her. I like her as a friend but that's pretty much it. And I've told her that. Directly."

Taeyeon's eyes widened. "You have?"

Tiffany nodded. "I don't want to give her false hope or string her along. I'm not a player."