They're both quite good at pretending nothing happened. Taeyeon does notice herself being a little more touchy-feely with Tiffany, and makes an effort to curb that. It's three weeks later when Tiffany's father insists that she invite Taeyeon over for dinner again. He plans to make kimchi and bulgogi for old times' sake and would love to hear Taeyeon's review of his cooking. Taeyeon, naturally, says yes right away.
She's already soaked by the storm raging outside when she arrives, and Tiffany fusses over her with a towel and a mug of hot tea. Mr Hwang is slaving away in the kitchen, apparently making a bit of a mess as he strives to achieve his goals, as Tiffany chattily informs Taeyeon while finishing off the task of drying her.
Taeyeon couldn't care less what Mr Hwang is up to in the kitchen, because Tiffany is going quite slowly with the fabric of the towel over the skin of her neck. She sets the mug of tea on the coffee table next to Tiffany, who's perched on the edge of it so she can face Taeyeon while she dries her off. Taeyeon's hands gravitate smoothly to Tiffany's lower back.
Tiffany only bites her bottom lip briefly at the contact before ignoring it. But Taeyeon is persistent. She moves Tiffany closer by her hips, causing their legs to fit together like puzzle pieces, her knee brushing against the inside of Tiffany's thighs and Tiffany's knee doing the same to her.
"Taeyeon," Tiffany hisses, moving the towel away and glaring at her. "What the hell are you doing?!"
Taeyeon blinks. It's the first time she sees Tiffany so mad. But her hands aren't put off, and she runs her fingers over Tiffany's thighs and back again to settle lower than their original position.
"Taeyeon, what are you -" Tiffany pulls Taeyeon's hands away and pushes at her shoulders to create distance. "Other than the fact that we're not supposed to do that anymore," she hisses at the girl, "my father is right in the next room! Did you become some stupid hormonal pubescent boy, huh? Can't you keep your hands to yourself?!"
Taeyeon stares at her blankly. Tiffany swears at her in Korean and storms out of the room.
Mr Hwang notices nothing different between his daughter and her friend as they all eat together later, and this is because nothing is different. Tiffany has gone back to normal, though Taeyeon is sure there's something maybe a bit lighter in the way she touches her, and the dinner goes on like anything else.
The rain is still almost dangerously heavy outside when it's time for Taeyeon to leave, so this time when Mr Hwang insists she must stay the night, she agrees. He leaves Tiffany to help her out, reminding her of where the spare bedding and futon is since they don't have a guest room, and wishes them a goodnight.
The lights in Tiffany's room are dark for less than an hour before Taeyeon lifts Tiffany's blanket and slips into bed with her.
Tiffany sighs resignedly. "You really are like a teenage boy, huh?"
Taeyeon's hands run along the curves of Tiffany's body slowly before she rests her arms around Tiffany's waist and presses against her back. "It's okay, sleep. I'm not after sex."
Tiffany sighs again. "I can't believe you even just said that. What are we doing, Taeyeon? We used to be strangers, then friends, now we're like this."
Taeyeon nuzzles her face into the crook of Tiffany's neck from behind and places a soft kiss there. "Shh. Don't think about it yet. Sleep. I'm here."
Tiffany closes her eyes and they drift into sleep together while the storm rages on outside the window.
When Tiffany wakes up, she finds Taeyeon staring at her. She huffs, annoyed, and wiggles her body as she pushes Taeyeon away with one hand.
"What do you want, weirdo?" she mutters, still sleepy, and yawns.
Taeyeon watches her rubbing her eyes. "What do I want…" she murmurs.
Tiffany blinks at Taeyeon who has moved to press against her body again, from the front this time. She lets Taeyeon kiss her, unwilling to think about things. The kiss is sweet in the first moment and develops into firmer, more determined movements of Taeyeon's lips on hers. Before Taeyeon pulls away, she takes Tiffany's bottom lip between her own and tugs it, satisfying herself with its elasticity.
They stare at each other again.
Then Tiffany huffs again and runs a hand over her face as she wiggles her body away from Taeyeon and stretches. Taeyeon rests her chin on her crossed arms, lying on her stomach, and runs her gaze over Tiffany's body.
When Tiffany stops moving she lies on her back with her head turned away from Taeyeon and her arms left stretched above her head. She starts wondering how long it would take Taeyeon to start touching her, then admonishes herself for thinking so lowly of her friend's self-control, and then wonders why she was wondering in the first place when she was so sure it shouldn't be allowed to happen.
"Taeyeon?" she whispers, still not moving, keeping her head facing away.
"Hmm?"
"Do you love me?"
Taeyeon is silent for a long time. Eventually Tiffany hears the sound of shifting from her side of the bed. Taeyeon rests her body on top of Tiffany comfortably, nuzzling her face into Tiffany's neck again and taking a deep breath.
"I think so," she answers. "I don't know how this kind of love feels, but I don't recognise what I'm feeling for you. I think it's love."
Tiffany exhales, wrapping her arms around Taeyeon. "Aren't you scared?"
"I am. But I'm not sure what I'm scared of."
Tiffany closes her eyes, and together they are absorbed by the warm morning silence.
It's four days before they touch each other again. Tiffany comes into Taeyeon's dorm room at a time when she knows the girl will be there. She dumps her stuff on Taeyeon's desk even though Taeyeon's working there, flops herself on Taeyeon's bed, and muffles a scream of frustration in Taeyeon's pillow.
Taeyeon just stares at her for a moment, her pen still in hand even though the book she was writing in is buried beneath Tiffany's purse. Then she puts the pen down and sits on the edge of her bed.
"What's up?"
Tiffany groans. "Life sucks, Taeyeon."
Taeyeon is trying not to go closer to Tiffany. It's been days since she's seen her. Her eyes are tracing every part of her body.
"What happened?"
"My father thinks he knows everything!" Tiffany punches Taeyeon's pillow. "He's such a self-righteous, close-minded –" Whatever Tiffany was about to call her father is morphed into another muffled scream of anger.
Taeyeon doesn't hold back anymore. She reaches forward, lightly places her hand on Tiffany's lower back. Like a feather, she brushes her fingers up Tiffany's spine. Tiffany tenses at first, but loosens up completely by the time Taeyeon's hand reaches between her shoulder blades.
"Talk to me about it," Taeyeon says softly.
Tiffany takes a deep breath. "He just… He's going on some business trip to New York. He knows I've wanted to move into the dorms for ages, but when I suggested I do it before his trip so I won't have to be home alone, he said it's unnecessary. He wants to get my sister to come live with me while he's away, which would just inconvenience her since she's going for her PhD at Berkeley, you know?"
Taeyeon hums in acknowledgement. She moves. She straddles Tiffany's behind and puts both hands on Tiffany's shoulders. With tender, deliberate movements, she massages Tiffany's muscles.
"It just kills me how he doesn't even listen to me," Tiffany continues, calmer and quieter. "He doesn't consider my suggestions at all."
"When does he leave?" Taeyeon murmurs, her fingers moving over Tiffany's back.
Tiffany moans a little, tries to muffle it into a small squeak. She's almost totally forgotten about the problem, her anger has dissipated, and she really, really enjoys the feeling of Taeyeon touching her.
"In a month," she breathes.
"Maybe you can still convince him," Taeyeon says.
Her hands stop suddenly. Tiffany tenses in anticipation of Taeyeon's next move.
Taeyeon reaches up and gently moves some of Tiffany's hair to expose the back of her neck. Tiffany closes her eyes, and arches her spine to raise her neck ever so slightly. Taeyeon looks down at her. She's given Taeyeon permission, wordlessly, to kiss her neck, and Taeyeon takes a moment to absorb the fact that Tiffany wants her to touch her.
At the feel of Taeyeon's lips brushing against the skin of her neck so lightly she can barely feel it, Tiffany lets out a little noise. Taeyeon's lips come back, brushing again before pressing firmly.
Suddenly the door opens. "Hey Taeyeon do you have -"
Taeyeon jumps away from Tiffany, rolling onto her butt on the mattress, and they both snap their heads to face the new arrival. Taeyeon's next door neighbour in the dorms is blinking at them with wide eyes and her jaw dropped.
"Wow Taeyeon, I didn't know you have a girlfriend," she says, sounding surprised. "You never tell us anything about yourself."
Taeyeon and Tiffany stay silent, still frozen in shock. Taeyeon thinks back to the position they were in; her on top of Tiffany, hands resting on Tiffany's lower back, her mouth pressed tightly to the skin of Tiffany's neck as Tiffany arched her back.
It was no surprise that her neighbour had assumed Tiffany was her girlfriend.
"Um," the neighbour says awkwardly. "Well, sorry for interrupting. I was just wondering if you have a spare pen I could borrow, but I'll just figure something out. See ya!"
She leaves hurriedly, snapping the door shut behind her. Taeyeon knows that by morning everyone she associates with on campus will have heard the girl's story about walking in on Taeyeon and her girlfriend being intimate.
The thought doesn't bother her much. Her neighbour studies biology, so she wouldn't have recognised Tiffany, and no one would know it was her.
Tiffany, on the other hand, is thinking about the word 'girlfriend'.
Taeyeon shifts closer. She takes hold of Tiffany, pulls her up into a sitting position and turns her head to face her. She gently caresses Tiffany's cheek and kisses her sweetly before saying a single word.
"Tiffany," she breathes, her mouth still on Tiffany's, brushing their lips together.
"Taeyeon," is all Tiffany squeezes out before kissing Taeyeon deeply. Her hands come up to cup Taeyeon's face, her fingers in her hair and her thumbs pressing into her cheeks.
They kiss intently, lips moving together confidently. Tiffany introduces her tongue into the equation, causing Taeyeon to rake her nails along Tiffany's waist and grip her tightly. She slows the kiss down so that she can feel every part of Tiffany's tongue and mouth with her own.
Tiffany listens to the little exhalations of breath bursting from Taeyeon's mouth whenever there's a little gap in the joint of their lips. She leans forward into the kiss, feeling Taeyeon push back slightly to keep them mostly upright. When they get closer to needing to breathe, Tiffany slows the kiss and they tug at each other's lips before pulling away.
Tiffany wraps her arms around Taeyeon's neck and keeps their faces close together as they catch their breath.
"Fany," Taeyeon whispers, nudging her nose against Tiffany's cheek. "Will you be my girlfriend?"
Tiffany pulls away, looking surprised. "You're asking me to be your girlfriend?"
"Yes."
Tiffany completely moves away, creating space between them and crossing her hands in her lap, looking down thoughtfully. "I never thought you would ask. I mean… you just seem to be coping with all of this much easier than I am, and I… Taeyeon, what would happen if we were girlfriends?"
Taeyeon moves closer, kissing her. "We would do what people in relationships do. Figure out how to survive life together."
"Why are you so confident about this?!"
Taeyeon just kisses her again and again, cupping Tiffany's face in her hands.
"I learned a long time ago," she murmurs between kisses, "that hesitation brings regrets. I've waited, and I've thought about it slowly. Miyoung, I want you."
At that moment, Tiffany realises that she can't possibly say no. She wants Taeyeon too. She wants to be with Taeyeon, wants to date Taeyeon, wants to be in a relationship with Taeyeon. She wants to kiss her and hug her and touch her. Tiffany wants to let herself fall in love with Taeyeon. And so she does.