3 days after the incident, Mr.Hwang tried to locate his daughter who still didn’t answer any of his calls.
He can’t even find which hotel she is staying at so he let Nickhun chase after her.
Tiffany ended up staying with Sooyoung who warmly welcome her into her apartment.
She knows out of everybody Sooyoung is the only that she go to.
Sooyoung and Tiffany are catching up with everything that happen in their lives temporary forgetting the problem that they are currently facing.
“Soo, why didn’t you tell me about you and Taeyeon?”
Tiffany ask while they are strolling the streets of Seoul looking for a place to eat
“It’s best that you didn’t know coz until now we are not okay. She still can’t forgive for lying about you” Tiffany felt bad upon hearing that. She knows that the two are very close and knowing that their friendship is like that because of her, it makes her more guilty.
Tiffany spotted the Pink Monster Cafe again and she drag Sooyoung there
“Tiff, I don’t think this is a good idea to come here” Sooyoung is hesitating to the enter the cafe. She’s afraid that it will trigger something when Taeyeon saw the two of them together.
“Why? The pastry her is so good and also the their drinks. Besides Taeyeon works here. I want to see her” Tiffany still has no idea that Taeyeon owns the cafe and that Taeyeon fulfill her dream of having a cafe because both of them can’t leave without coffee
The bell on the door chimes when they open it. Sooyoung notice that it wasn’t there before. Then they saw Taeyeon went out of the kitchen
Taeyeon saw the two and she tries to act professionally in front of them.
“Hi. What would you like to order?”
“I’d like to try the strawberry smoothies, a slice of cheese cake and cookies” Taeyeon look at her because that was all her favorites
“I’m sorry but we run out of cookies. I am still baking. It will take about 20 more minutes”
Tiffany smile at her “It’s okay. We are not in a hurry anyway”
Taeyeon nodded and punch her order
“How about you,Soo?”
“17 shots americano” Sooyoung absentmindedly tell her. She’s still looking around the cafe trying to figure out what is missing in that place
Taeyeon personally serve their orders and ask to wait for the cookies that is still in the oven.
When a customer left, Taeyeon cleaned the table too. And when a new customer will walk in, she will run to the counter to get their order and then make their drinks.
Taeyeon returns to the kitchen and Sooyoung follow her inside leaving the confuse Tiffany alone
“Why are you here?” Taeyeon ask without looking at her. She knows Sooyoung will ask her something
“Since when are you running the cafe alone?”
Taeyeon sighed as she put the last tray of cookies in the oven “3 days ago. I can’t afford to pay them,Soo. The rent is really high that I need to let go of my staffs. I can’t lose this cafe. I just can’t”
The door chimes indicating another customer walks in
“Stay here. Rest for a while. You’re tired Taeyeon” Sooyoung told her before grabbing an apron
Sooyoung gets their order and make their drinks. She knows how to blend the ingredients because Taeyeon post it on the bar whenever they will volunteer to help her.
Tiffany who was waiting for Sooyoung suddenly saw her behind the counter attending to the customer
“What are you doing,Soo?”
“I’m sorry Tiff. You can go home it you want. But I’ll stay here for a while” Sooyoung says as she entertain another customer
Few moments later Taeyeon walks out of the kitchen looking very tired while holding the jar of cookies
“Soo, you still okay here?”
“Yeah. You know I always enjoy doing some bartending here” Sooyoung replies while making some coffees for the customers
Taeyeon is about to clean the tables when Sooyoung offers to clean it “Taeng, I got it. Just eat something will you. I know you haven’t had any meals. Go eat and don’t forget your medicines”
Tiffany is getting frustrated because there are a lot of things that all of her friends are not telling her about Taeyeon. She can feel that it was not a small incident or accident for them to hide it from her
“Why are you helping her Soo? Since when did you know how to make those drinks? Why does Taeyeon needs to take medicine? What is that for?”Tiffany bombarded them with a lot of questions. Questions that she needed an answer
Taeyeon signalling Sooyoung not to answer her. She understand it but she is feeling bad for Tiffany for hiding important details from her
“Tiffany go home” Taeyeon is trying to calm herself
“I’m not going to leave until you tell me what I should know” Taeyeon sigh and look away
“Suit yourself them”
Sooyoung just gave her an apologetic look before attending to another customer
Tiffany stay seated on her table for almost an hour before she realizes that there are a lot of customers going in and out of the cafe. Some tables are yet to be clean and Sooyoung and Taeyeon are both busy making their orders.
“Give me your apron and towels” Tiffany follows Taeyeon inside the kitchen who is getting another bunch of cookies
“What?”
“I said give me your apron and towels” Taeyeon is confuse but Tiffany won’t move an inch unless she gives her want she wants
“You don’t have to do that” Taeyeon says as she handed her the clean apron and towels
“Beat me” Tiffany left her
Taeyeon is not sure how to act in front of Tiffany. She wanted to keep her distance away from her but Tiffany will always find a away to move closer to her.
Tiffany candidly attending some customers while she clean the other tables
“Soo why is she still here? Her wedding is right at the corner right?” Taeyeon ask while she’s watching her happily talking to some elderly couple
“You already know the answer why she’s still here” A short but meaningful answer is what Sooyoung can give hre
It’s almost closing time when Sooyoung excuse herself because she has a family dinner to attend. She left the two alone hoping that they could somehow find their on way to talk to each other.
“You can go home now. I will be closing the cafe shortly” Taeyeon told Tiffany who is still helping her inside the cafe
“It’s fine. There is nothing I will do tonight. I will wait til you close it”
Taeyeon just shrugged and continue checking the sales receipt. When she’s done with the inventory, her next stop is to clean the kitchen.
That day is very tiring for her. Not only because she did almost everything, but the volume of customer that day is beyond their total for a week.
It was almost 10 pm when she finished all the necessary works. She grabs her bag, ready to leave when she saw Tiffany is still there, sleeping.
Without Sooyoung and Tiffany she didn’t know how she can manage to run the cafe that day. She is very thankful for them for helping her.
She’s staring at Tiffany who is still sleeping. She wanted to wrap her arms around her and kiss her telling her how much she misses her and how much she loves her. But she can’t. Tiffany is no longer hers.
“Tiffany” Taeyeon calls and tap her on the shoulder. When tiffany still haven’t wake up she tries calling her again. She’s tired and Taeyeon feels bad for her.
Tiffany slowly open her eyes and saw Taeyeon in front of her
“What time is ti?”
“Almost 10 pm. Do you want to have dinner with me?”Taeyeon offers that immediately Tiffany accepted without thinking
“Can we go to the night market? I want to eat tteokbokki” Tiffany finally saw Taeyeon smile, a smile that is pure and without pretentious.
At the night market Tiffany is happily devouring different korean street foods that she missed.
“Eat slowly. You will have an upset stomach later on” Taeyeon warn her before wiping the sauce on the side of her mouth like how she always do whenever they eat together
“Tae, why are not eating?” Tiffany stops eating when she realize that Taeyeon didn’t buy anything for herself
“I’m still not hungry. I just want to repay you for helping me today. Do you want anything else or water or soda?”
“Water please”
“Okay. Wait me here. I’ll buy you water” Taeyeon left trying to find a stall that is selling some water
Unknown to her, Tiffany follows her and she saw Taeyeon counting her money. When she still have enough money she bought a buns and eat there very quick before going back to Tiffany.
Tiffany saw it and she can’t understand why Taeyeon became like that. She came from a well known family that owns a lot of famous coffee shops in the country so she is wondering why Taeyeon suddenly became like that
“Here’s your water” Taeyeon handed her the bottle like she didn’t sneak out just to have a piece of bread
“Thanks Tae” Tiffany saw an open ramen store and she grabs Taeyeon inside. Even though she is already full, Tiffany still want to go there so that Taeyeon could have a proper meal
“Are you still hungry?” Taeyeon ask her while looking at the price of the ramen
“I just want to try their ramen and we can share, I can’t eat all by myself” Tiffany answer her and order a big bowl of ramen
Taeyeon let her thinking that she probably just missing the foods in Seoul. When the ramen arrives Taeyoen could hear her stomach growl
“Tae, let’s eat” Tiffany watches her devoured the ramen. It looks like Taeyeon haven’t had a proper meal for a long time with the way she ears.
Tiffany is smiling seeing Taeyeon finishes the whole bowl.
“It’s already late. We should go home. Let’s go, I’ll pay for the ramen” Taeyeon is about to stand up when Tiffany stops her
“I already pay for it” Taeyeon’s expression suddenly changes. A smile turn into a frown
“I ask you eat her so I should be the one to pay. Besides you pay for my foods a while ago” Tiffany tries to explain not to offend Taeyeon
“Okay”
They walk back to Tiffany’s car and she notice that Taeyeon suddenly became very quiet again.
“Tae, can I ask you a question”
“What is it?” Tiffany saw Taeyeon stops walking and look at her
“What happened? I saw you buying a bread. Do you any financial trouble?” Tiffany carefully ask her. She just want to know why so that she can help her somehow
Taeyeon is trying to control her emotion, she doesn’t want Tiffany to see her having an anxiety attack. But it’s too late, her hands are shaking,she’s sweating and she’s having difficulty to breathe
Tiffany saw what is happening to her “Taeyeon look at me” she tries to calm her by calling her name but Taeyeon seems to be refusing to hear her
“Boo, listen. Look at me” Taeyeon finally look at her “Okay. Try to take a deep breath. Slowly. Okay you’re doing good. You will be okay. Just try to calm down. I’m here. You will be okay” Tiffany hug her when she stops shaking but still clearly not okay
Taeyeon return the hug trying to follow Tiffany’s breathing and also she feels safe around her arms
“Can you bring me to Sunny” Taeyeon ask her while she’s still hugging Tiffany.
Upon hearing that, Tiffany wanted to ask her why there and not to her house but she knows at the current state of Taeyeon it is not a good idea so she just follow what she ask her to do.
Thankfully Sunny is still awake when she inform her about Taeyeon. She find it strange that Sunny didn’t ask her anything and it seems like she knows what to do with Taeyeon.
When she pulls out of Sunny’s house, Taeyeon immediately run to her.
At the living room, Tiffany saw Sunny gave her a pill.
“I know you want to ask what happened to her, what did I gave her, why I am not panicking” Sunny beats her with all the questions running aroung her head
“This is the first that I saw her like that. I’ve known her for a long time” Tiffany told Sunny while she’s looking at Taeyeon trying to relax on the sofa
Sunny and Tiffany walks away far enough for Taeyeon not to hear them “You just saw her having a anxiety attack. It’s great that you manage to calm her because it is not easy for us to control her, I guess she feels safe around you”
Sunny sighed as she continues “All of us has Taeyeon’s pill to help her relax and calm down. It’s like a precautionary measure in case something like that happens”
“Is she seeing a doctor for that?”
“She stops seeing a psychiatrist because her health already improves but she is still under some medication to make sure that she is really okay. But I think she needs another session”
“Sunny, I don’t understand. We went to the night market, she bought me foods that I like then I saw her counting her money before buying a piece of bread like she can afford to have a decent meal”
Sunny turn her attention to Taeyeon who is resting her head on the sofa “She’s broke Fany. She has no money. She’s been supporting herself”
“But why? Should I talk to mom and dad to support her?” Sunny gave her a meaningful but sad look
“You don’t have to do that. There is nothing that they can do for her. Let’s bring her to the guest room. Do you want to sleep over too?” Just like that, Sunny ended their conversation before she could ask more
Taeyeon woke up early the next morning and it was the best sleep she had for a long time. Her eyes look around to check if she is still in Sunny’s house
Taeyeon felt an arm around her waist, when her head turns to see who that belongs to, her heart beats so fast
Tiffany is sleeping beside her with arms securely wrap around her and she realize why she had that sleep. It was because Tiffany sleeps beside her.
She removes the hair that was covering her eyes and caress her face.
“How I wish you can stay with me like this. How I wish I would woke up everyday with you by my side” Taeyeon softly stroke her hair
“I miss you so much. If only I could freely tell you that. I waited for you. But I have to stop waiting now, there is no reason for me anymore” She places a long kiss on her forehead as she let her tears fall
“I love you so much Fany-ah. But it hurt to continue loving you when I know you already belong to someone else. But I can’t stop. I still love you so much that I choose to be hurt like this than to see you hurting” Taeyeon kiss her lips
“I love you but we need to let go of each other. I want you to be happy. I want you to stay with your family” Taeyeon then slowly went out of bed and left Sunny’s house
Little did Taeyeon know that Tiffany is actually pretending to be sleeping that time. She heard everything that she said that pierce into her heart
“Tae, I want to stay with you too. I want to be there for you too. Please don’t give up on us, on me. Just let me in into your life again. I love you so much Taetae” Tiffany talks to herself as she let herself cry again.
Taeyeon is broken, she is too. Taeyeon is hurting, she is too. She needed Taeyeon. Taeyeon needs her. But why can’t her family and her dad see that.