It was seven o'clock. Tiffany fidgeted on her seat. She was very nervous as she waited for Nick to come for dinner in their favorite restaurant. She had no idea what should she say to Nick. She would definitely tell her boyfriend that she no longer had any feeling towards him. But the most frightening thing for her was if her boyfriend would ask her more detail. It was impossible to tell Nick everything about her feeling towards Taeyeon. Her thought was interrupted when a familiar figure took a seat across her.

"Hi." Nick's voice greeted her.

Tiffany looked up to find the voice's owner, "Hi." She forced a smile.

Nothing followed the greetings. None of them seemed having no willingness to start conversation. A waiter approached their table, bringing two menu books and soon left them alone again. Tiffany put her focus on the menu book on her hand, suppressing her own nervousness. She actually already had something to order in her mind since the restaurant was Nick's favorite place to have a date with her. She had tried almost all the menu and no longer need the menu book to choose.

"Do you really need to look at the menu or you just don't want to see me, babe?" Nick finally broke the silence.

Tiffany sighed, "No, I'm just nervous, Nick. I don't even know where our conversation will bring us after."

So, still 'Nick'? Haven't changed back to 'babe' again?" Nick's voice was full of disappointment.

"Nick, please... Let's just order first." Tiffany raised her hand calling an idle waiter coming to their table. She ordered a plate of Caesar Salad and fresh orange juice, while Nick ordered tenderloin steak, and lemon tea. The waiter repeated their order and after got confirmation from the couple, he left again.

"So, we should have a talk?" Tiffany sighed for the second time since Nick arrived. She felt the burden in doing this. But she needed to do it sooner or later. The sooner, the better.

"Yes, we should." Nick coldly replied.

"Where should we start?"

"I don't know. You tell me. I have nothing to explain." He shrugged.

"Let's start with what do you want to know."

"Everything, Tiff. I want to know about everything. You've been different." Nick frowned to his own sentence.

"Do you want me to answer honestly or-..."

"Is that even a question, Tiff? Of course yes!" Nick tried not to yell at his girlfriend.

"My feeling towards you..." Tiffany tried to find the right choices of words before continuing.

"No longer there? You no longer love me?" Nick bluntly guessed

Tiffany was not able to answer with words. She silently nodded.

"Who?"

"Who?" Tiffany knew Nick would ask this. But she pretended not to understand.

"Who's the guy?" Nick somehow bothered by Tiffany's reaction. He was sure Tiffany knew what did he mean yet the girl played innocent.

"What guy?"

"The guy who take over my place in your heart."

"No guy ever takes your place, Nick."

Nick snickered, not believing what Tiffany said. He was sure there was someone who successfully drifted the latter away from him.

"I demand you to answer with all honesty, Tiff." Nick's voice was stern. Tiffany knew Nick was at his limit of patience. She knew her boyfriend had refrained himself a lot ever since she started to give less attention to him.

"I am not lying, Nick. No guy. You can check my phone if you want." Tiffany surely kept a hold on her answer before. She was not lying at all. No guy ever took Nick's place. It was Taeyeon who took his place, and Taeyeon is not a guy.

Tiffany rummaged her bag to find her iPhone and handed it to Nick, forcing him to take the phone. Nick shook his head and pushed Tiffany's phone away.

"No need. I believe you already deleted all the message from him." Nick cynically refused.

"For Pete's sake, Nick. I do not date any guy behind your back." Tiffany furrowed her eyebrows. She knew she was at fault but she hated to be accused.

"So what's the reason behind all your weird behavior towards me? Do you notice how much you've been ignoring me?"

"Every time I ignore you, it's all about work, Nick! Don't you notice that I always be with Taeyeon, Jess, and Yuri? We still have dates, dinner, chats, and phone calls anyway. It's not that I totally ignored you." Tiffany massaged her temple.

"Right. Work it is. Let me tell you something. Yes, we still have our dinner on weekdays only if you don't have schedule with Taeyeon, Jess, and Yuri. Yes, we still chat a lot only if you are not in the office or having lunch or dinner meeting with Taeyeon and Jess. Yes, we still talk on the phone only if you have finished with all your business with Taeyeon. Yes, we still have dates on weekend but this week, you didn't even seem like enjoying the date and chose to be with Taeyeon to discuss about something. I know you've been really close with Taeyeon. I know how much you adore that smart woman. But don't let her make you to be a working machine like her, Tiff!!" He raised his tone as he clenched his jaw.

Tiffany flinched at Nick's last remark, "Taeyeon is not a working machine. She's a human! Are you jealous at her? That's silly!" She raised her voice as well. When Nick emphasized things about Taeyeon she was actually afraid that she was that obvious.

"As silly as I could be, but who else should I be jealous at except her? You spend more time with her than with me." Nick's voice lowered. He knew how silly it was to feel jealousy towards a woman. But he was afraid of losing Tiffany and he could not think straight.

"Nick, you know it-..." Tiffany's sentence was cut out by Nick.

"So, what did I do wrong? If it's not because of other guy, then it must be my fault. Did I do something wrong to you?" Nick seemed so submissive right now.

"No, you did nothing wrong. It is just because of me." Tiffany sighed.

"Cliché." Nick replied shortly.

"I know. But I am telling you the truth Nick. There is no other guys, and you didn't do anything wrong. It's just me who can't control that my feeling towards you get lessen as days go on." Tiffany fixed her gaze to her lap, did not have any courage to look at Nick.

"So, how less is it now?" Nick asked. He lost his hope. He knew what would be the result of today's conversation.

"Almost zero." Tiffany answered honestly.

"What can I do about that?" Nick asked again.

Tiffany shook her head. There was no answer for Nick's question. She did not know how to grow her feeling towards Nick again. A deafening quietness followed after.

A waiter came to their table, putting their meals on the table and left them right away. Nick took the fork and knife from the table and started eating his steak. Tiffany noticed that Nick was disappointed at the moment, she decided not to say a word and quietly ate her Caesar salad. Both of them finished their meals in no time since there was no word exchanged. Nick gulped his lemon tea and finally put his gaze to Tiffany who quietly sipped her fresh orange juice.

"You haven't told me the truth. Who is the guy?" Nick got back to his previous question.

"I told you the truth, Nick. There's no-..." Tiffany had not finished her words.

"Who is the person?" Nick boldly asked.

Tiffany looked up to Nick, hardly believe at what she just heard. Nick only slightly changed the question but it surely would make the answer totally different. She was worried that Nick might already know that she and Taeyeon had secretly had dates behind his back. Even though it was supposedly just a friendly date, it was still counted as a date especially with all the kisses they shared earlier that day. Tiffany tried to keep her calm exterior while thinking whether to spill it all out to Nick or not. Nick patiently waited Tiffany to answer him, but his eyes could not hide how sad he was. Tiffany already felt bad to him and finally decided to be honest.

"Someone from the company." She lowered her gaze from Nick to the table.

"Why did not you just answer at the first time I asked you? Why don't you just tell me who is the guy?" Nick got back to his original question. Making Tiffany realized that Nick was just randomly changed the question earlier without suspecting on something but she already answered the question and she could not step back.

"Because she's not a guy." Tiffany lowered her voice. She could not imagine what would Nick reaction be. The silence remained. Tiffany looked up to see Nick's expression. He had his jaw dropped and his eyes blankly stared at her.

"Nick?"

"Who is the guy?" Nick repeated his question, still shocked.

"She's not a guy." Tiffany calmly replied.

"Are you? You know, are you?" Nick hardly said the word.

"Lesbian? I don't know yet. But my feeling towards her keeps developing..."

"Then how could you? Please don't lie to me! If you cheat with a guy behind my back, just tell me honestly rather than having this nonsense conversation, Tiff..." Nick pleaded

"I am not lying at all Nick. I do not plan to lie to you. I feel guilty already for falling for another person. I have no reason lying to you."

"Tiff, this is nonsense. I am not having this kind of conversation with you." Nick furiously massaged his head. "Please just tell me you cheat with a guy. Please just tell me that you suddenly hate me and want to break up with me." He continued.

"I am sorry." She only said that three words and remained silent after. She did not want to lie. No matter how bad the result would be, she was ready to take it. If it was too bitter to be taken by Nick, she let it be. Because if someday Nick had to find it himself, she knew it would be even worse than now.

"So it's true?" Nick chuckled, trying to hide his mixed feeling. Tiffany nodded.

"So, I am having a relationship with a lesbian?" He now started to laugh. Tiffany sighed.

"Fuck." Nick hissed. Tiffany hated the word but she remained silent.

"Now I know why do you keep rejecting me every time we were about to have sex. It's because you're a fucking lesbian!" Nick's voice was a bit too loud that some heads in the restaurant started to look at their direction. Tiffany flinched but she kept her mouth shut. Nick humiliated her in public. She started to hear people around them murmured about them. She wanted to cry but she held it. She knew crying would not solve the problem.

"You know what? Just pretend that we don't know each other. I don't know you. We never have any relationship. I never have such a lesbian girlfriend!" Nick stood up from his chair and walked out from the restaurant leaving Tiffany alone. People in the restaurant who witnessed their drama kept talking about her even after Nick left. Tiffany could hear them all, how disgusting, disgrace, weird, and freak lesbian is. Tiffany took her phone and called a number.

****

Taeyeon just finished sending her report to the BOD when her phone rang. Tiffany's name appeared on the screen.

"Hello." Taeyeon answered.

"What will you do if people around you talking about how disgusting being a lesbian is, and stare at you with disgust?" Tiffany questioned her as soon as she answered the phone.

"Fany?" Taeyeon was confused.

"What is so wrong about being a lesbian? These stupid people." Tiffany hissed.

"Fany? What happened?" Taeyeon concerned about Tiffany. Something must have happened to the latter.

"Where are you? Can you come here, Taetae?" Tiffany sounded like she was about to cry. Taeyeon immediately stood up, snatching her car keys.

"Where are you?" She answered as she made her way out from her apartment.

"Steak House. It's near my place." Tiffany whispered. Sounded like she tried to hold her tears.

"I'll be on my way." Taeyeon answered.

"Taetae... Don't hang up the phone. I don't want to hear these people talking." She requested.

"Okay. Don't listen to them. Do you know them anyway?" Taeyeon finally reached her car, quickly unlocked it, started the engine, fasten her seatbelt and drove to Tiffany's location.

"I don't know them at all. Why don't they just mind their own business, Taetae? They don't even know me so why do they bother?" Tiffany whispered.

"Then why do you bother? You don't know them either." Taeyeon tried to keep their conversation going as she drove. She estimated that she would reach the place in fifteen minutes and with Tiffany's state at the moment, she was afraid that the latter would yell at those people she mentioned. Tiffany was known as an outspoken person in office after all.

"Because they are talking about me. They keep saying that I am disgusting." Tiffany's voice cracked.

"Then I bet they haven't seen your killer eye smile." Taeyeon tried to console Tiffany.

"I don't want to smile at them, Tae. Why should I smile to them? They don't even like me." Tiffany whispered again.

"What do you want then? Just do what you want. Ignore them."

"I want you to be here, Taetae. I need you." Tiffany sniffed.

"Fany don't cry..." Taeyeon frowned.

"Are you driving?" Fany asked with her normal voice out of a sudden.

"Yes. Why?"

"Then you should hang up the call, Taetae. It's not safe driving while having a call." Tiffany explained.

"It's okay. You need a company, right?"

"Yes, but I need you with me. So please drive carefully, Tae. I'll try to find another distraction."

Taeyeon sighed but Tiffany was right. "Okay, then. I'll be there soon. Don't cry okay?" Taeyeon made sure before she ended the call.

"Okay. See you..." Tiffany weakly replied and ended the call.

Taeyeon put her phone on the passenger seat and focused on her driving.

****

Taeyeon finally arrived at the mentioned location, taking her phone and purse from passenger seat and passed her car to the valet service. She did not want to waste any time to look for parking space. She hurriedly entered the restaurant and found Tiffany right away. She walked towards Tiffany, and patted the latter shoulder the moment she reached her. Tiffany looked up and gave a sad smile to her. Taeyeon returned the smile even though she clearly noticed that Tiffany's smile was not as bright as she always saw. Taeyeon sat on the chair where Nick was seated before.

"What's wrong?" Taeyeon asked. But before Tiffany answered, she started hearing the people around them murmured things about lesbian.

"So, they are the one who talks about how disgusting lesbian is?" Taeyeon finally understood what Tiffany said on call before. Tiffany nodded but kept her head hung low.

Taeyeon looked around and those people stopped talking as soon as she fiercely looked at them one by one. The murmur was gone in no time. Tiffany lifted her head noticing the restaurant was silenced. She had no idea what Taeyeon did.

"It's okay now." Taeyeon soothed her.

"I don't wanna be here, Tae." Tiffany finally said something.

"Why don't you go home, then?"

"I don't want to be alone..."

"It's almost nine, Fany. You need to go home."

"I don't wanna be alone, Taetae!"

"Then go to my place. You need to rest." Taeyeon stood up and grabbed Tiffany's wrist, forcing her to stand up and followed her.

"Wait. I haven't paid the meals." Tiffany said.

"Just pay to the cashier then. Let's go." Taeyeon did not let go off Tiffany's wrist and walked towards the cashier. She released Tiffany's hand to opened her wallet and pay for the meals. She then held Tiffany's hand and made her way to the exit door without even waiting for the change from the cashier. She felt people staring at them but she did not care even a bit. She loosened her hand a bit only to interlocked their fingers together and walked out of the restaurant.

She approached the valet service showing her ticket. Minutes later, her car finally arrived. She signed Tiffany to enter the car first while she paid the valet service. The latter followed her order and entered the car. Taeyeon walked around the car to reach the driver seat and drove the car away.

Taeyeon drove slowly while checking on Tiffany once in a while. Tiffany looked so restless. She had no idea what exactly happened in the restaurant before. But she kept her question for later. Tiffany seemed not being in her own mind at the moment. She decided to focus driving and questioned the latter after reaching her apartment.

As soon as they reached Taeyeon's apartment, Taeyeon asked Tiffany to sit on the couch in the living room while she made her way to the kitchen to make two cups of hot chocolate. She walked back to living room with two cups of hot chocolates in her hand. She put one on the table, in front of Tiffany while she held her own cup and took a seat beside the sad girl.

"I hope you will like the hot chocolate. I got it from my friends. This is the only sweet drink I have in my apartment." She opened the conversation.

Tiffany looked at the cup on the table and took it. She took a sip and looked at Taeyeon. "Thank you."

"Mind to share what happened?" Taeyeon asked.

Tiffany frowned at the question. She remembered exactly the humiliation caused by her now ex-boyfriend. She took a deep breath and told Taeyeon what happened in the restaurant.

Taeyeon listened attentively to what Tiffany told her. She mentally praised her crush for bravely confessed that she liked her. She felt like a coward compared to Tiffany. She had been hiding her preference for as long as she could remember, while the girl in front of her admitting it in front of her ex-boyfriend even after knowing the consequences.

"He humiliated me, Tae. I know I was at wrong. I know. But, he didn't need to do that. And all those people in the restaurant started to talk about me." Tiffany halted for a moment. She could no longer hold her tears.

"They talked about how stupid I was for letting go a man for a woman. How disgusting I was for choosing woman over man. How I will rot in hell for what I do." She let her tears wet her pretty face.

"So, this is what I must face if I choose to be with you, Tae?" Tiffany stared at Taeyeon's eyes, demanded for an answer. Taeyeon only sighed and gave a nod.

"Why does it have to be difficult?" Tiffany let another drop of tear flew to her cheek.

"I'm sorry..." Taeyeon answered.

"Is this the reason why you rejected me, Tae?" Tiffany asked another question.

Taeyeon nodded. "But there are more than this, Fany." Taeyeon felt a pain in her heart as she said that. As much as she wanted to be with Tiffany, she did not want Tiffany to experience worse than what she just experienced. And she was sure if this already at the beginning there would be more to come.

"Will it hurt more than this?" Tiffany asked again.

"Maybe, Fany. I don't know. I never came out. No one knows about me yet. They don't know I swing that way." Taeyeon admitted.

"So I already experienced the thing you haven't been experienced, it makes me one step ahead of you as a lesbian, huh?" Tiffany chuckled, wiping her cheek from the tears. She then put her cup on the table and looked at Taeyeon again.

"Now, can you, my lesbian friend, give a good warm hug to this poor newborn lesbian to make her feel better?" Tiffany was finally able to joke after sharing her story to Taeyeon. She opened her arms wide, asking Taeyeon to hug her. The latter smiled, put her cup on the table and hugged Tiffany tightly.

"How could you mention yourself as a newborn lesbian, silly?" Taeyeon asked as she stroke Tiffany's back.

"What am I then?" Tiffany mumbled, enjoying Taeyeon's embrace.

"Maybe you're still straight. Just confused. Or maybe bi?" Taeyeon asked back.

"I don't know, Tae. All I know is I like you a lot." Tiffany answered as she buried her face onto the crook of Taeyeon's neck, made the latter blushed from both the confession and also the contact.

"What you do to me, Taetae? How can you make me feel this way? Why can't I just see you as a friend? Why am I being all greedy when it comes to you? Why do I want you to be mine? Why do I want myself to be yours?" Tiffany continued mumbling against Taeyeon's skin.

Taeyeon only moved her hand from Tiffany's back to the latter's hair, stroke it gently without giving any answer. She also questioned the same thing as Tiffany. The question had always been in her mind from the first time they met. But again, she was one step behind Tiffany in saying the words. She silently cursed herself for being a coward all of these time.

"Tae, if I ever really fall for you one day. For real. Will you catch me? Will you catch me when I fall, Taetae?" Tiffany asked again.

"Yes, Fany. You know I will." Taeyeon replied, mentally promise that she would stop being a coward for the girl in her embrace. The girl had fought a lot for her.

"Thank you, Taetae..."

Tiffany finally broke the hug as she realized something. "I'm sorry for calling you out of a sudden and asked you to pick me up, Taetae." She smiled.

"No problem." Taeyeon smiled along. Tiffany's smile was always infectious for her. She would smile every time she saw Tiffany's smile. She reached out to wipe Tiffany's tears on her cheek, and fixed Tiffany's hair, tucking a few strand behind her ears and smoothing down the messy part.

"Do you want to rest?"

Tiffany nodded.

"Wait for a moment." Taeyeon said as she leaving the room. She walked back to the living room after a while, bringing a pair of pajamas, a towel, and a new toothbrush. "Come with me, Fany."

Tiffany followed Taeyeon who apparently walking to her bedroom. Taeyeon's room was minimalist most of the furniture was black and white. Taeyeon handed the pajamas, towel, and toothbrush to Tiffany.

"The bathroom is behind that door." She pointed to a tinted glass-door.

Tiffany nodded and head towards the bathroom. Taeyeon heard the water running in the bathroom and sighed. She felt guilty for what Tiffany just experienced, if she was not that obvious maybe Tiffany would never like her this way. If she did not accept the sleepover invitation, this would not happen to Tiffany.

Tiffany opened the door after couple of minutes and noticed that Taeyeon did not even move from her spot. "What are you doing, Tae?"

"Waiting for you. I need to clean up as well." Taeyeon said as she walked to the dresser, taking out another pair of pajamas and entered the bathroom. Tiffany sat on Taeyeon's bed and started to feel really sleepy. She felt restless and slowly dozed off before Taeyeon got out from bathroom.

Taeyeon finally got out of the room and walked back to the living room to cleaned up the cups. After washing the cups in the kitchen she was back to the bedroom finding Tiffany asleep in sitting position and turned off the lights before climbing onto free space on the bed. She patted Tiffany's cheek softly, waking the girl up. "Fany, get to a comfortable position." She said as the girl opened her eyes lazily. Tiffany looked at Taeyeon, smiled and got under the covers, laid down on one side facing Taeyeon.

Taeyeon followed the latter, made herself face to face with her crush. "You need to get some rest. You'll feel better tomorrow morning." Taeyeon said as she stroke Tiffany's arm.

"I know it's not a date, Tae. But can you hug me?" Tiffany requested without opening her eyes.

Taeyeon inched closer, reached out to gently push away the hair covering Tiffany's face, then put her hand on the latter's waist, pulling her closer to her and asked Tiffany to put her head on her arms under her. They just hugged peacefully until both drifted slowly to the dreamland.

****

Taeyeon woke up to the alarm rang from her phone. She pushed herself to sat up when she noticed something kept her arms from moving. She opened her eyes and found Tiffany's face inches away from her. Tiffany's eyes were a bit puffy clearly showed she was crying. All the memories from the night before rushed in to her mind. She frowned remembering yesterday was a bad day for Tiffany. She thought about giving the latter one day off from work so she slowly pulled her arms under Tiffany's head, not wanting to wake the latter up.

Tiffany mumbled something as Taeyeon pulled her arms. When she was about to free her arm, Tiffany opened her eyes. "What time is it Tae?" She asked.

"Five o'clock. I'm sorry for waking you up. I need to take a shower."

Tiffany nodded and continued sleeping. Taeyeon took her morning shower and prepared herself for another Monday. She was just finished zipping up her sleeveless dress when she heard Tiffany rustled on the bed and suddenly sat up.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Taeyeon asked.

"What time is it?" Tiffany panicked.

"5:30." Taeyeon answered as she put on her blazer and approached the girl.

"Oh my God. I don't have enough time to go back home to change my clothes!" Tiffany jumped out of the bed.

"You can use my clothes, Fany." Taeyeon answered as she walked to her dresser and opened of the drawer, taking out a small paper box. "I also have this unused panties if you need." She showed the paper box and blushed at her own action.

"Is it okay?" Tiffany asked.

Taeyeon nodded. "Are you sure you want to go to work? I can give you one day off if you want."

"No. I'll go with you. I will take a fast shower." Tiffany replied as she snatched the unused underwear from Taeyeon's hand and took her towel before entering the bathroom.

Taeyeon rummaged her dresser to find any clothes that would fit Tiffany. She took out a pink loose blouse and a black skirt from her mom that she never wore because it was one size above hers. She put the clothes on the bed and knocked on the bathroom.

"Fany, I leave the clothes on the bed. I will wait for you in the living room."

"OK!" Tiffany shouted from inside.

Taeyeon then applied a light make up on her face, taking all her needs for work and sat on the couch in the living room, waited for Tiffany.

Tiffany finally walked out of Taeyeon's bedroom at six. "Are we late?"

"No, just in time. Let's go." Taeyeon stood up leading their way out of her apartment.

The drive to their office was totally different from the drive to Taeyeon's apartment the day before. Tiffany sang along every song played on the radio. She even asked Taeyeon to sing along. Taeyeon smiled at the sight, knowing that the girl already recovered made her felt relieved.

"Why do you refuse singing, Taetae?" Tiffany asked after Taeyeon refused singing for the umpteenth time.

"I am shy." Taeyeon answered.

"Seriously? Your voice is very beautiful!" Tiffany protested.

"You never heard me sing." Taeyeon stubbornly refused.

"I heard you sing once. In Aunty Christine's. You sang Barney's song, remember?"

"Don't remind me. That's embarrassing."

"I promise I won't remind you again if you sing now!" Tiffany kept requesting.

"Okaaay! What song do you wanna hear?" Taeyeon asked in defeat.

"Hmmmm... Love To Love You by The Corrs!" Tiffany squealed as she turned off the radio, waiting Taeyeon to sing.

Taeyeon sighed but sing anyway.

"I would love to love you like you do me

I'd love to love you like you do me"

Tiffany mesmerized as Taeyeon started to sing. Her voice was so angelic and it somehow brought warm feelings to her heart.

"I met you on a sunny autumn day

You instantly attracted me when asking for the way

God if I had known the pain I'd make you feel

I would have stopped this thought of us, and turned upon my heel

Though you should leave me, time make it be alright

Though you must leave me, believe me when I tell you

I would love to love you like you do me

I'd love to love you like you do me

There's a pillar in my way you see

I'd love to love you like you do me"

Taeyeon noticed the lyrics. She thought that Tiffany wanted to convey something through the song she requested. She continued singing while stealing a glance at Tiffany who now smiled secretively. She started to wonder why did Tiffany request her to sing the song. It was not a new song, in fact the song was pretty old now.

"You recognized my barrier to love

I know there's nothing worse than unrequited love

So I prayed to God that I could give love you gave to me

But something's lying in my way, preventing it to be

Though you should leave me, time make it be alright

Though you must leave me, believe me when I tell you

I would love to love you like you do me

I'd love to love you like you do me

There's a pillar in my way you see

I'd love to love you like you do me

Break those pillars down

Break those pillars down

Break those pillars down

Take those pillars down."

Taeyeon finished the song and received a big applaud from the only audience in the car. She was about to ask why did Tiffany choose the song but the latter spoke faster.

"I took the pillars down, Taetae." She smiled and turned on the radio again.