Tiffany went back to the office, told Yuri about what happened and earned a standing ovation from the tall woman.
"Good job! If she's still all meek and afraid, I'll gladly lend you my boxing gloves," said Yuri, totally forgetting the earlier incident with her almost girlfriend.
"That won't be necessary. Like I told her, it's all up to her now. I'm not going to do anything from now on. I won't text her or call her or invite her for meals. The only contact I'll initiate will be work related."
"Good for you! Man, I can't wait to see what she's going to do. She's quite the cheesy one, you know. Don't be surprised if she goes all cliché on you."
"I don't mind cliché as long as it's sincere," said Tiffany. Deep down, she already had a sense of how Taeyeon was as a person. She had, after all, lived with her for a week even though no one would ever know that.
"I'm hungry," said Yuri all of a sudden. "That whole anger thing took a lot out of me."
"Let's get something to eat then. I'm pretty much too distracted to work today anyway," Tiffany replied, taking her purse. She suddenly remembered something and snapped her fingers. "Of course! Now why didn't I think of that?"
"Think of what?"
"I know just the right person for you! Oh my god. I was so wrapped up in this whole Taeyeon business that I totally forgot about her." Tiffany took out her phone and began typing.
"Don't play matchmaker, Fany. I'm technically on the rebound. No one would want me in this state."
"You just had some bad luck. She'll understand. She had also recently broken up with her girlfriend of many years."
"So she's also on the rebound? Two people on the rebound getting together. That should be interesting. Heck. Why not? Set me up, Miss Hwang!" Yuri exclaimed. "And should things work out, I plan to get a little revenge on that barista."
"Don't use my friend for private revenge plans, Yuri," warned Tiffany.
"Of course not! She'd have to agree to participate first. Do you have a picture of her?"
"I think so. I'll send it to you. Her name's Jessica."
"Ooh! Pretty name. I like!"
Tiffany chuckled as she pulled the now happy Yuri out of the building.
—-
Tiffany was busy for the rest of the week after that encounter with Taeyeon. A high profile client demanded a major redesign by Saturday and she was pulling long hours at the office every day. Key had told his group to meet somewhere else that Friday night since he was also unavailable, too busy helping Tiffany and the rest of the staff.
She was about to take a break and eat dinner when she heard Key's voice.
"Noona? What are you doing here?"
Tiffany looked up to see Key talking to Taeyeon and suppressed a smile. Well, well... look who's here. I guess that little collar grabbing threat and kiss did the charm.
"Since you bailed on us, I thought I'd come by and nag you," joked Taeyeon.
"Right. You're just using me as an excuse," said Key knowingly before stepping aside. "She's inside."
Taeyeon nodded and cautiously went inside the busy workshop. It wasn't hard to find Tiffany since the woman was standing near the door.
"Um... hi," said Taeyeon shyly.
"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."
"I see. You're that type, huh?"
"What type?"
"The go getter. You know what you want and you go for it."
"Yes, I am. And you're the exact opposite."
"I know what I want."
"But you don't exactly go for it, do you? Otherwise I wouldn't have resorted to such extreme measures. It was kinda embarrassing for me too, you know, but I was frustrated and I didn't want you to misunderstand or avoid me like a plague again."
Taeyeon grinned shyly. "I'm sorry for that."
"It's okay. What's done is done."
They stopped talking when their food arrived, waiting for the waiter to leave.
"So why are you here if you find me so frustrating?" asked Taeyeon.
"I already told you why." Tiffany picked up a fork. "Let's eat," she said.
Taeyeon followed suit, picking up her own fork while watching Tiffany eat. "I like you too, you know."
Tiffany was biting into a piece of chicken when Taeyeon said that. She quickly tried to bite the meat off and scrambled for a napkin to wipe her mouth. "So much for romance," she said. "Sudden confession over chicken. Nice, Taeyeon. How did you manage to get girls to date you anyway?" she joked although, inside, she was elated to hear the unexpected confession.
Taeyeon turned red in the face and looked down. "Sorry. You said I should be assertive and since you've confessed, I thought..."
Tiffany chuckled. "Relax, Taeyeon. I was just kidding. Thank you for being honest with me." She reached out across the table and placed her hand on Taeyeon's, giving it a quick gentle squeeze. "Next time, wait until I at least look presentable and pretty? That wasn't really my best moment," she said as she withdrew her hand.
Taeyeon looked up at the touch, staring at her hand then at Tiffany. "But you always look pretty to me," she said before blushing yet again.
If Tiffany was still a dog, she would've leaped over the table and licked every inch of Taeyeon's face when she saw how cute the woman was behaving. But she's human so she was struggling to not grab Taeyeon and kiss her senseless instead.
"Thank you," Tiffany finally said. "I think you're pretty too."
Taeyeon grinned at that and began eating. She grew more relaxed as time went by thanks to Tiffany's warm and welcoming responses. By the end of the meal, they were talking comfortably like they used to, before Taeyeon thought that there was something going on between Tiffany and Yuri.
"Do you still have to work tomorrow?" Taeyeon asked as they walked back to Tiffany's office.
"Depends on whether we can finish everything tonight," said Tiffany.
"Oh."
"Why?"
"Nothing. If you're free tomorrow, we could maybe go see a movie or something."
Tiffany broke into a smile. "I'd like that."
"I'll call you tomorrow to make sure then."
"Okay."
Taeyeon decided to walk Tiffany up, standing quietly next to her as they waited for the elevator to arrive.
When they had stepped inside the metal box, she leaned back and turned her head, looking at Tiffany. "Have I told you that when I first saw you, I thought you were familiar? As if I've met you before?"
Tiffany nodded, turning her head to meet Taeyeon's eyes. "Yeah. You told me that."
"I wonder why that is."
Tiffany shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's just chemistry." Or a side effect from Sooyoung's little spell, not that I'm complaining.
"Maybe." Taeyeon looked away, staring at the glowing numbers on the dark panel. "So you're really not going to initiate anything?"
"Nope."
"Not even a call?"
"No. Not even a text, actually."
"Until when?"
"Until you've learned your lesson," said Tiffany.
The elevator dinged, signaling their arrival at Tiffany's office floor.
Tiffany stepped forward and turned around, standing face to face with Taeyeon.
"Here's the bottom line. I want you to win me over. Woo me. Court me. I don't care if your best friend or a dozen men and women are trying to do the same. I want youto fight for me. Show me that you mean business, show me that you're willing to do anything to win my heart even on days when I don't seem to respond according to your expectation," she said. "It's time you go get what you want, Taeyeon, and stop letting other people walk all over you."
Taeyeon gulped when Tiffany took a tiny step forward, leaving barely any space between their faces.
"Because you're too amazing to be taken for granted," whispered Tiffany. Her eyes went to Taeyeon's lips and she wanted nothing but to kiss her yet she knew that she couldn't. Taeyeon was supposed to take all the initiative from now on.
Tiffany was about to walk away when hands grabbed her arms. She was caught off guard when Taeyeon kissed her but closed her eyes and gave in, unable to resist this person she had fallen head over heels for.
"I'll do all that," breathed Taeyeon against Tiffany's lips after the kiss ended.
Both their eyes were still closed and they were breathing heavily – their hearts beating out of their chests.
"And more. Just you wait and see."
Tiffany smiled and welcomed another kiss before Taeyeon finally let go.
Her eyes fluttered open to see Taeyeon grinning shyly at her, cheeks pink and chest heaving.
She was about to say something when there was another ding, followed by the sound of the elevator doors opening.
"Noona?"
Tiffany spun around to see Key standing in front of the elevator, holding the door open.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Err... getting back to work?" said Tiffany.
The elevator had apparently stayed still on that floor while the two were inside, ignoring the doors that had closed automatically.
"Taeyeon's just walking me up. I got you chicken." Tiffany lifted the large plastic bag in her hand, hoping that Key would be distracted by the food and stop questioning her.
"Awesome! I was going to get some snacks from the minimart but this would do." Key took the bag and ran back inside the office screaming, "Guys! Chicken!"
Tiffany exhaled in relief and turned around to see an amused Taeyeon leaning back against the wall.
"Nice save," Taeyeon said.
"Thanks. You better go home. It's getting late." Tiffany stepped out of the elevator but pressed the button to keep the doors open from outside.
"How are you getting home?" asked Taeyeon.
"I brought my car."
"Oh okay. Well, you better get back to work so you could go home and sleep."
"Yeah, I should. Drive safely." Tiffany released the button and waved goodbye. "And thanks," she said, smiling at Taeyeon who waved and smiled back.
—-
"Hey, Taeng."
"Hey, Yul. Busy?"
"Nope. Free as a bird. What's up?"
"Um... there's something that I want to talk to you about. Wanna meet me for breakfast tomorrow?"
"Sure but I think I already know what this is about," said Yuri into the phone as she smiled to herself. "It's Fany, isn't it?"
"She told me over dinner that you were in on this whole plan to make me more assertive."
"I was just trying to guide my best friend onto the right path."
"Why didn't you just confront me about it?"
"I did that a few times already over the years but you never listened."
"Sorry. I didn't want to stand in your way."
"I wouldn't have minded the competition, you know, as long as it's fair and healthy. You would've won in the end anyway. She doesn't like me that way."
"I know that now but I didn't know back then."
"You could've asked me about it. Best friends are supposed to be honest with each other, Taeng. I'm grateful that you love me and appreciate me that much but I want you to be happy too. You like her a lot, don't you? I rarely see you so eager and comfortable talking to someone you've just met."
Taeyeon unconsciously smiled. "Yeah. I do. She feels familiar from the get go, as crazy and weird as that may sound."
"See? You really should've talked to me about it. Oh well, better go get her then. Don't let this one go, Taeng. I think she really likes you too."
"Thanks. Do you still wanna get that breakfast tomorrow?"
"Sure. You're buying, right?"
"No way."
"Hey, I backed out and let you have Tiffany! Buying me breakfast is the least you could do to thank me."
"Excuse me? She was the one who pushed you away, Kwon Yul. Don't lie to me. I'm not buying you breakfast tomorrow. I'd rather use the money to take Tiffany to the movies."
Yuri had to laugh at that. "Ouch. What happened to bros before hoes, Kim Taengoo?" she joked.
"I'm changing it to bros equal to hoes," Taeyeon said. She then laughed when she heard her own weird sentence. "I think I just called you a ho."
"And Tiffany a bro. Ew!"
They laughed, chatted about other things for a while before ending the call, bidding each other goodnight.
#taeny
#thedonkatsu