Chlorine

Taeyeon couldn't even smell the chlorine damp coming off the pool water anymore. Her job had ruined that. It wasn't like she ever liked pools anyway... until that one summer she met Stephanie Hwang.

It was her first summer as a pool cleaner. It didn't sound very fancy, and it defenitely wasn't. You had to get up early to filter all the pools from leaves and twigs and other stuff that had fallen in it over night. You had to make sure the temperature was exactly 20,5 degrees and you had to throw in exactly two chlorine tablets every day in every pool. There were about 120 pools to be cleaned, all before midday. The pools belonged to large villas, which on their turn belonged to a large holiday park. People often rented them because they stayed here for a week or two, then moved out again.

It was a boring job, but at least she was off early and she was able to wear her headphones. The wage was good enough for a summer job. Little did Taeyeon know that a certain person had signed in that week to stay all summer. And she had always been week for sexy brunettes who looked hella good in bikinis. How she could've managed those first two weeks, was a mystery to her, even now.

It started off unknowningly. It wasn't Taeyeon's first job, so she picked up the rhythem pretty well. Filter, temperature, chlorine, next pool. It only took her a couple of days to get a good routine. In a matter of time, she had her own route through the park.

Most people were still asleep when she came to filter the pools, since she'd start at 7 AM every morning. She always went around the back, opening the entrance to the pool with a key. In Florida, it was common to keep fences around your pool, in case of alligators who lived at the lakes nearby wanted to visit. It took her often only ten minutes - five if she was doing well - to clean a pool, then she'd move over to the next one. She had to clean 40 pools every day, the others were taken care of by her collegues. One of the first pools on her route, was of the most beautiful girl she had ever seen.

Taeyeon didn't know any better when she stepped through the entrance of the fence of villa 203 at half past seven that one morning. She didn't know who had rented it — sometimes the houses were empty — and she didn't care at that time. When there were people, they'd often ignore her, like she wasn't even there. After all, she was just some employee who was there to make their lives easier, right? Most people stayed asleep a little longer, especially the younger ones in their teens or mid-twenties, so often Taeyeon didn't even encounter the guests. She liked it that way; a job with little or no social contact.

With her dip net across her shoulder and one earplug in her ear, she walked in. She ran with her hair across her freshly dyed blonde hair — she had thought it was a good idea to dye it in a fresh colour, only regretting it after she saw how blonde it actually turned out to be. Taeyeon opened the top button of her shirt. The emblem of the holiday park showing proudly on her chest.

She walked over to the pool, placing her bag with the necessities on the ground. Taeyeon was just about to take her net and start cleaning up the leaves, when her eyes fell on something big... and pink, floating in the water.

It was a huge inflatable bed with a... with a girl?

Taeyeon frowned her eyebrows at the sight of it. The girl wore swimming clothes — duh — but her sunglasses as well. She didn't seem to be wet at all, at the sight of her dry hair. Only the tips who touched the water were wettened a little bit. She laid on her back, with her fingers dangling in the water. But that was all. There was no magazine or book she seemed to be reading, nor did she have a phone to entertain herself with. She just... laid there.

Right at the moment Taeyeon wanted to touch the drifting pink monstrosity with the end of her dip net, the girl suddenly moved, getting up. Taeyeon looked at her, startled, and took her net away quickly, as she sat up straight and stretched her body with a moan. Taeyeon's throat tightened for a second.

The girl at first didn't seem to notice Taeyeon at all, she just stretched and eventually took her sunglasses off, blinking against the fresh morning sun. She ran with long slender fingers, that seemed excellent for playing a piano, through her hair, fixing the way they perfectly fell over her shoulder and onto her back into a way that seemed even more beautiful.

Then, when Taeyeon thought she ought to make a noise to announce her precence, the girl looked up to her. Her heart stopped for a moment when two bright brown eyes fixed upon her. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. A beautiful smile appeared on the girl's face, a smile brighter than the sun that was currently burning Taeyeon's uncovered arms. When she smiled, her eyes squinted a little bit together into an eye-smile that she had never seen anyone do so cutely before.

"Will you be cleaning my pool from now on?" the girl asked, still with her bright smile. There was this obvious Californian accent sounding through in her voice, making it only more attractive, besides the fact that it was ringing like a bell and was so velvet-y that all Taeyeon could do was compare it to her favourite song. She had always thought that the Californian accent was the prettiest, if the person had a nice voice, and damn, she sure as hell did.

To Taeyeon that sounded as: "I am going to ruin your life from now on."

And God, she fucking did.

From that day, Taeyeon decided not to go past her pool anymore around that time. The next day, she made sure she was there an hour earlier than she had done the previous day, but the girl was still there.

"I'm Stephanie. Well, many just call me Tiffany! You can call me whatever you want though."

Taeyeon softly cursed under her breath. Stephanie was a name that suited her beauty perfectly and it made her more uncomfertable by the second. She almost tripped over a loose tile, causing her to loose her dip net in the pool. She cursed again, a little bit louder. Tiffany didn't respond to her 'Shit...' and continued to look at her like she was an interesting art piece.

"What's yours?" Stephanie asked.

Taeyeon stayed silent for a moment before looking up. At the moment she wanted to tell the stranger her name, Tiffany let herself slide in the pool. She immediately let herself go completely underwater. Stephanie swam up towards the net, which had sunken to the bottom, and grabbed it. She came up again, and offered her her dip net back. Taeyeon just stood there, with widened eyes.

Taeyeon had been impressed when she was all dry, but seeing the drops of pool water run down her partly uncovered body made her almost drool. Her hair was pushed back and fell slick over her back. When she regained her conciousness enough to reclaim her net, their hands brushed past each other's and she almost had a hard attack. They felt so soft..

"So, your name?" the brunette asked again, whilst she pulled up the corners of her mouth into that bright smile she had showed her yesterday. That bright smile that made her cheeks feel like hellfire.

"T-Taeyeon," she stuttered. Stephanie chuckled for a moment.

"Mind if I call you Tae?"

"N-no," she forced out. God, Tiffany could call her anything she wanted to. How could she be so weak for someone who she just met a day ago? It already felt like something more was growing than just common attraction.

"Okay, Tae it is then!" the brunette cheerped happily. Taeyeon just nodded, trying to hide her burning cheeks by looking down to the ground. If someone'd notice, she could always say it was because of the heath right? She quickly cleared the pool and threw in some chlorine tablets before trying to get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

In the next few days, she tried cleaning the pool at different times, hoping she'd find a standard time where Tiffany wasn't laying in the pool, practically waiting for her to turn up. Every time she'd try to talk, and every time Taeyeon would become extremely flustered up 'till a moment where is wasn't fun anymore.

It turned out, after a few awkward meet ups, that around noon, she was mostly inside the house, so that was the time she picked to clean the pool of villa 203. Taeyeon did notice that her house mates were out around noon quite often, but they were not causing her stomach to turn and her insides to turn into a soft mess whenever she catched their gaze, so she didn't mind them as much as she minded Tiffany. They were quite a duo; some girl with a cheeky grin called Summer and a short girl with bright red hair called Sunny. The two names seemed ridiculous, but they sure lived up to it. While Tiffany seemed a bit quieter and relaxter, the other two seemed to be constantly beaming around. Tiffany'd lay with a magazine on her inflatable pink bed, while Summer and Sunny jumped around in the pool. Taeyeon couldn't help to wonder how a girl like Stephanie could be around such energetic people all the time, but then she reminded herself that it was none of her business. She was just a pool cleaner.

Cleaning villa 203's pool as one of the last on her list was actually one of the best ideas she came of. It went on for weeks, actually, until the very last week of summer. Everyday she'd make sure to clean the pool at a time the brunette wasn't there. Everyday she would ask her boss when the costumers in villa 203 would sign out. He always told her they'd sign out at the very last day of the summer vacation. They were here already for weeks and Taeyeon's tiny crush on the Californian beauty hadn't gotten any less. It wasn't like she didn't want to be around Tiffany. She seemed like a genuine nice person, someone she'd actually love to hang out with, but when she tried to be around her... her body just rejected being normal. Her insides twisted until it hurt, her throat clenched until she couldn't speak and her cheeks flared up until it felt like she was on fire. She suddenly became twenty times as clumsy than she normally was and she couldn't get a normal word out of her mouth without talking nonsense or stuttering extremely. Taeyeon wasn't a smooth talker in general, but Tiffany made it so much worse. She really hated it to be so helpless. Taeyeon was normally a very independant person, but with Tiffany it felt like she would give up so much to be with her. You could easily say that she was an admirer from afar.

Taeyeon had never been good in handeling crushes and now too she hoped that the feelings for the hot brunette would probably go away if she'd just stopped seeing her. Previously, she had mostly succeded though, but only after a while. She just hoped she wouldn't fall any further for Stephanie nor would encounter her anymore before she signed out. After that she'd be able to fully get over her, because they wouldn't see each other anymore. Of course, that went horribly wrong.

There were only six days left until Stephanie and her friends would sign out. Taeyeon told herself that there could impossibly happen something bad now.

She had never been really smart.

Taeyeon was walking her usual round across the park. Fishing out some leaves here, sprinkling in some chlorine tablets. It was easy and time consuming, but her skin had nicely tanned over summer and she liked it more that way than her usual close-to-white skin. It felt more natural.

Villa 203's pool was her last pool for that day, like she always did. She opened the fence and got through, closing it behind her. She whistled along with song that blasted through her one earplug, loving the beat. Taeyeon placed her bag on the ground and took her dip net off her shoulder. At the moment she wanted to dip it into the water, she heard an angelic voice.

"Are you avoiding me?"

Taeyeon almost fell in the water by hearing Stephanie's voice suddenly out of nowhere. She caught her balance just in time. Slowly she let out a shaky breath, while her eyes searched for the brunette. She was seated in the corner of the pool, with her arms draped over the edge. Without her pink bed Taeyeon hadn't recognized her that quickly. Her hair was wet; the sun made it sparkle like a diamond. Her eyes were bright, but contained some annoyance right now. Taeyeon felt like she was about to be grounded.

"I-I, what," she stuttered. Tiffany stood up and got out of the pool. Taeyeon wanted to run away as quickly as possible, but this was her last pool, she had to clean this one. And she probably wouldn't get far; that fierce look in the girl's eyes told her that she wasn't going to let her escape now. At this moment, she wasn't flustered by Tiffany's body in a bikini, but a little scared and defenitely ashamed.

"You're avoiding me," Stephanie said again. This time it was a statement instead of a question. She placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head a little bit to the left.

"W-what do you mean?" Teayeon asked softly. She had to look up a little bit, which made the other girl even more scary. Taeyeon tried to back up a little, but could only take two steps back until her back hit the fence. Tiffany had no problem taking a few steps towards her, until they were so close their bellies almost touched. She gulped audibly.

"At the beginning of the holiday you were always here at exactly half past seven. We met a couple of times but after that you simply dissapeared. You always seemed very unwilling to come here when I was around, but Summer and Sunny told me you were actually very cheerful when they were out in the pool and you stopped by. So, are you avoiding me or what?" the brunette said strictly. Her voice had become a little high-pitched and loud, probably due to the fact that she actually seemed really angry with Taeyeon. In another situation the sight of Tiffany frowning her eyebrows and placing her hands on her hips would be funny, but Taeyeon felt far from laughing. All the blondine could do was blink helplessly. Because she had, in fact, been avoiding Tiffany, probably not for the reasons Stephanie thought.

All of a sudden, Tiffany's gaze softened a bit.

"This is your last pool right? It's always your last pool.." she said. Taeyeon nodded slowly, wondering how she'd even know that. For a moment she wondered if Tiffany had also been watching her, but her mind whiped out that thought rather quickly. That'd be ridiculous, right?

"Yeah," she muttered. Tiffany smiled, which brought back the incredibly cute eye-smile. She could just feel her intestines melt together into a stinky mess, although she did not quite understand why Tiffany was so nice to her again..

"Want a drink?" the taller girl asked. Before Taeyeon could even answer, Tiffany had skipped back inside. She stayed helplessly behind, uncomfertably waiting for the other girl to come back.

A few moments later, she came back with two big glasses filled with an orange-y drink. Tiffany smiled brightly, causing Taeyeon to look down from the eye-smile, a little shy. She pushed the glass in Taeyeon's hand. From the smell of it, the drink defeintely contained alcohol, even though it was only a quarter to twelve. She wasn't really supposed to drink under working time... But then again, she was neither allowed to interfer with the guests more than necessary.

"Drink up, it's great! I made it myself!" Tiffany exclaimed. Taeyeon wasn't much of an alcohol drinker, but ah well.. how could she say no to her?

Taeyeon brought the glass to her lips and took a careful sip. A sweet taste immediately spread through her mouth. It was almost not noticable that there was alcohol mixed in the beverage.

Tiffany grinned when she saw Taeyeon's positively surprised face.

"It's good, right?" she asked.

"What is it?" Taeyeon asked in response. It wasn't like she was going to turn it down anymore, but she sure liked to know what she was poisoning her body with. Tiffany smiled kindly.

"It's mimosa, great right?" she replied. "It mainly consists of champagne and orange juice."

Taeyeon took another sip, a bigger one this time. It sure was nice, even refreshing after a few hours of work. A silence fell between the two girls. Taeyeon hopped from one leg to the other, a little uncomfertable. She didn't understand why Tiffany was being so kind to her. She had confessed into avoiding her and all out of a sudden she was offered a drink? It had seemed like the brunette's angry mood had dissapeared suddenly. Had she forgiven her already? She needed to know.

"Why are you so nice to me?" she blurted out, after a few minutes. Stephanie looked up from her drink and smiled again. Taeyeon looked up. Her hands gripped the glass hard nervously.

"For the same reason you avoided me," she said. Taeyeon's eyebrows frowned together instantly and she couldn't help but to stare at the smiling brunette. She opened her mouth to say something, completely forgotten her drink, when Tiffany started to fan air at herself with her hand.

"It's so hot here, come to the pool with me," she said. Tiffany smiled again and touched her hand for a moment — defenitely intentional — before walking off to the pool. She sat down and let her legs dangle in the water. The girl closed her eyes, leaning on her arms behind her back and let a soft moan escape from her mouth, which immediately let Taeyeon's throat tighten some more. As if she wasn't flustered enough. The sun made her skin almost sparkle.

"Ah, this is better..."

When Taeyeon didn't join her, she opened one of her eyes and looked in her direction.

"So, are you going to join me or what?" she laughed, causing her one eye to close almost again because of her eyesmile. Taeyeon nodded quickly. She placed her glass on the ground and started to untie the laces of her sneakers. She took them, and her socks, off, before joining Tiffany at the poolside. She sat down next to the brunette and slowly let her feet join Tiffany's. Even she sighed out of pleasure. Taeyeon let the sun warm her skin and the water cool her feet. She isn't much of a summer person, but this was nice.

They sat like that for a while; their legs dangling in the cool water and their eyes closed, enjoying the sun and each other's presence. Taeyeon started to feel more and more comfertable around the brunette. The silence between them wasn't uncomfertable anymore, it was rather pleasant. She was still wondering about what Tiffany had said to her though, that she was nice to her for the same reason she was avoiding her. Did she mean that she actually liked Taeyeon? Or did Tiffany think Taeyeon was avoiding her because of something else? She let out a short sigh. Why were feelings and thoughts so exhausting?

After some time, Tiffany opened her eyes again. She looked up at the blonde next to her and smiled weakly for a moment. Taeyeon was not aware of all of this, she still had her eyes closed. Tiffany bit down on her lip and exhaled slowly.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked, in a sudden rush of courage. Taeyeon opened her eyes, disturbed by the sudden question. It immediately made her mind race again though. Why would Stephanie ask her that, if she wasn't interested in her too? To be nice? You could ask so many different things if you wanted to be nice, right?

The blondine looked down at the water and shook her head.

"I don't like boys much," she said softly. It wasn't a direct confessment that she was gay, but she still wanted to give a hint. It had been a while since she pretended to be something she was not for the sake of someone else, and it had hurt her every time she had to pretend some boy was handsome while in fact she couldn't care less. She wasn't interested, but she was too scared to admit she liked girls. It somehow felt comfertable to tell Tiffany that though — or at least hint to it. It almost felt like they had known each other for forever.

She noticed the brunette looking at her, but Taeyeon kept staring at the water. She slowly kicked her feet up and down, making small waves. Again, she could not see how the other girl was smiling at her.

"I understand. They always mess up anyway," Tiffany chuckled. Taeyeon bit down upon her lip.

"So, do you have a boyfriend...?" she asked softly, almost inaudibly. She was already dreading the answer. What if she said yes? It wasn't like Taeyeon was hitting on her but she sure was interested. The thought of Tiffany kissing a boy made everything twenty times more awkward again.

"Nope. I used to have one a while go, but we eventually didn't fit anymore," she said. Taeyeon's heart dropped. So she is into guys...

She bit down upon her lip. Stephanie's laugh made her look up, confused.

"But that was five years ago, y'know. You honestly didn't think I'd offer my alcohol to a girl while having a boyfriend? Come on.." she said chuckling. Taeyeon blinked, still a bit confused. Eventually, she chuckled along, letting a small smile consume her face. Tiffany lifted her hand. The tips of her fingers found the corner of Taeyeon's mouth, pulling up her smile even more. Taeyeon froze but let the brunette touch her without pulling back. God, her hands seemed even softer than the last time she had accidentally touched them. They seemed to linger way too long on her face, and Tiffany eventually came to notice that too, because she pulled them back quikcly, laughing softly to herself afterwards.

"So, now tell me something about you! We have a whole summer to talk about," she said. "I want to see that beautiful smile more."

Taeyeon was happy to talk.

Her feet and lower legs had eventually become numb, but Taeyeon had gladly been willing to sacriface the feeling in her legs for more minutes with Tiffany.

She turned out to be even greater than Taeyeon thought she was. She had been born here, in Californa, Sacramento to be exact. She had a close relationship with her family, though not so much with her dad anymore because she lived a little out of town. Her mother died when she was 13. When she told about that, there seemed to be a sad veil covering her eyes. They weren't tears, but she sure had trouble talking about it. Taeyeon praised her courageousness that she talked about that with her, whilst they didn't even know each other very long. As soon as the topic changed, her cheerful mood appeared again. Taeyeon stayed amazed how much energy she had and that she could talk with such interest and kindess about stuff.

Taeyeon had long forgotten about her job. Tiffany just had that effect on her. Her boss must be rigid right now, because she was presumably still 'cleaning pools' at 4 o'clock, while most cleaners were supposed to be out of the park at 12. Taeyeon couldn't care less; it wasn't like she had really enjoyed this job anyway. Let him fire her.

Taeyeon had at first been a bit uncomfertable to talk in great lengths about herself. Tiffany seemed to be such a good talker. She could talk about Donald Trump's day to day life and she wouldn't even have been bored. The way her voice shot up whenever she talked about something she loved was plainly adorable. When it was her turn, she simply didn't know what to say. She told her she was born in Korea and moved here to study. That cleaning pools was just a summer job because she needed the money. She's in her last year of her masters and would be able to get a job as a psychologist real soon. After that she fell silent. She wasn't used telling people more than the average school-and-job-talk.

But Stephanie was a wonderful conversation partner. Whenever Taeyeon fell silent, she'd ask questions. She asked about her relationship with her family, since she moved away from her native country. She asked about her friends here, her living situation. She asked about anything Taeyeon could imagine and more. Her favourite colour, favourite drink, zodiac sign, everything. Taeyeon was a bit shy to admit some of those things, but Tiffany never made her feel stupid and always reacted positively. It was great.

Summer and Sunny came out a few times, asking if Stephanie wanted to join them for lunch or to go shopping. She always said no, and Taeyeon couldn't help but to feel a little bit special.

Eventually, the sun started to set. They were still by the poolside. Taeyeon had moved from a sitting position to laying on her belly. The still warm stones were pleasant against her skin and she let her hands go through the cool water. Tiffany had gotten in and was currently leaning over the edge, letting her face rest upon her arms, watching Taeyeon when she talked.

At a certain moment, their hands brushed past each other. Taeyeon's heart started to beat faster again, especially when Tiffany's hand lingered when she didn't took hers away. The tips of her fingers started to turn lazy circles at the back of her hand. Her deep brown eyes turned from Taeyeon's to her hand, biting her lip softly. Taeyeon couldn't help but to stare for a moment. Her cheeks flushed.

"Tae..." Tiffany softly mumbled. Taeyeon looked up. Her smile faded from her face. The teasing and cheerful air that had settled between them turned into something serious. Mysterious even, perhaps. It made her heart beat even harder and her stomach clench together of nervousness and excitement.

"Yes?" she almost said inaudibly. Tiffany didn't look up to her, but kept turning circles.

"Why exactly didn't you want to be around me this summer? Did I do something wrong?"

Taeyeon blinked out of confusement, at first not understanding how the brunette's mind could go from cheerful, happy thoughts to something so serious in a few seconds. Especially the second question made run shivers down her spine.

Taeyeon swallowed for a moment before clenching her jaws upon each other. She let out a sigh for a moment. Did she had to tell her she liked her? That she every time she saw Tiffany's body in a bikini her cheeks flushed? That she so desperately wanted to be her friend that her mind just blacked out?

Tiffany looked up to her. Her sparkling eyes had turned sad and Taeyeon wanted to slap herself for being so stupid. She needed to comfort her.

She adjusted her body a little bit, so her face was a bit closer and she was leaning on her lower arms.

"I'm not good with people... or girls... You were just-" Too much?

Why were feelings so hard to express? Stephanie raised her eyebrows in confusion; of course she didn't understand her. Taeyeon ran with her hand through her short blonde hair and sighed again. They locked eyes. Once more Taeyeon was mesmerized by Tiffany's beauty. She was cute and adorable while smiling, but when she didn't — and had her lips slightly parted like that — she was a whole other kind of beautiful.

"You made me nervous.. You're really pretty and I just.. I think I kind of blacked out, so I tried to avoid you, I think..." Taeyeon went on. She cringed at her own words. It was the truth, but she withheld critical information; that Tiffany made her feel like alive again. She partly hoped she'd discover it herself. It would be so much easier; she wouldn't have to stuntle with words but just confirm Tiffany's thoughts. Nodding and shaking your head was much less painful than forcing the words out of your mouth.

"So.. you do like me?" Tiffany asked. Her voice was soft and quiet. It seemed like she was really looking for Taeyeon's approval. She smiled weakly and nodded towards the other girl.

"I do like you," she said.

This made Tiffany smile too. She lifted her head from the arm that was still resting on the edge and took her hand from Taeyeon's. She was almost pouting because the sweet tickling feeling of Tiffany charassing her hand had left. Instead, Tiffany placed them both on the edge, her hands flat on the still warm stones. She lifted her body partly out of the pool. Her face came closer. Taeyeon would have backed away if it was anyone else but Tiffany.

"Really?" The brunette asked. Taeyeon nodded.

"Really," she confirmed. Tiffany smiled bright again, catching her lower lip between her teeth.

For a moment, their eyes met again; they stared at each other. Taeyeon's gaze only last a few seconds before moving to Tiffany's full pink lips which where so close to hers. The brunette was still lifted up from the pool, and didn't seem to have any diffeculty with staying like that. Taeyeon's breath was shaky; her heart racing; her hands suddenly sweaty. Her breath got caught up in her throat.

She almost didn't proces it when Tiffany lifted herself up a little more. Their faces came closer and closer. They were only inches apart and the brunette was still closing in, waiting after every inche, giving Taeyeon time to pull away. Taeyeon didn't. Even if she wanted to, her body was completely frozen.

She had expected that the last few inches were crossed at the same slow pace, but Tiffany had other plans. Out of a sudden, she moved up and ther lips collided at once. But not harshly, oh no. Tiffany's lips felt like kissing pillows, so soft. They tasted like chlorine, with still the faint hint of alcohol on the tip of her tongue because of their mimosas. She felt a hand in her neck, to keep her there. Taeyeon frowned her eyebrows.

She was the first to break the kiss off. Taeyeon pushed Tiffany away, a bit too rough in her confusement and conflicted emotions. The brunette backed off, eyes wide with a mixed gaze. Taeyeon tried to stand up as quickly as possible, almost falling in the pool herself therefor.

"I-I-" she stuttered. "-I can't.. can't do this. M-my boss is waiting and-and I have to go home."

Taeyeon turned around and walked as quickly as she could to entrance of the fence. Tiffany called her name, called her by her nickname, asking her to wait, that she could explain, that she had miscalculated Taeyeon's feelings and that she really wanted to be friends. Taeyeon stormed away from the villa, but ran back to get her stuff. She threw her bag over her shoulder and grabbed her dipping net as quickly as possible. Tiffany called again, but Taeyeon was already on her way out. She was almost running.

Back at the employee building near the entrance, she threw her stuff in the closet. To her boss she lied that she had forgotten to clock out, and she wrote down her usual time; from 7 AM 'till 12. As soon as that was done, she rushed to her car and drove home as quickly as possible.

Once back in her apartment, she couldn't believe what she had done.

Taeyeon let herself fall face first on the couch and groaned. What has she done?

She had wanted to kiss Tiffany so badly. All summer she had watched her from afar, amazed about her beauty and her kindness. When they finally talked, she turned out to be even better than Taeyeon had expected, sweet and kind. Every reason to kiss her back, right?

Then why did she black out like that? She moaned again, covering her face with her arm.

Taeyeon knew she was scared. She was scared for starting a relationship; afraid of the heartbreak and the crippling pain that could follow afterwards; afraid she couldn't give everything to Tiffany. She seemed so confident, Taeyeon guessed she was already out for a long time, while she only had had the chance to explore that part which she had hidden for years the moment she arrived in America. It still wasn't overall accepted in Korea to like someone of the same gender. She had only told her parents. Their reaction hadn't been exactly positive but it had neither been negative. After that, she didn't dare to tell anyone. Because of her own parents couldn't even support their only daughter, then how could she expect to receive support from other people?

Here in America she experienced that the people were a lot moee open-minded about these things. But Taeyeon still had to adjust. She wasn't comfertable just yet. Kissing Tiffany had been great and gosh, she couldn't get the feeling of her lips against the brunette's out of her head, but she was still nervous. Her whole life that kind of life style had been critized. To just live it like it was nothing was too big of a step yet for Taeyeon. She couldn't start something with Tiffany yet. She was afraid of holding her hand in public and she still lied to people about her sexuality. Even though that pained her, she was still a little ball of stress whenever she tried these things. Whenever it happened in private though — like when Tiffany kissed her — was better, but it still made her insecure as hell.

But kissing Tiffany... It had been the best thing she had done in months... years maybe. And she so badly wanted to tell Tiffany it wasn't her fault, that she wanted to kiss her again.

Later that night she decided to go back, so she could at least apologize to her. They still had a whole week to go before they signed out and they'd defenitely meet again in that time. Taeyeon wouldn't be able to handle the awkward silence that'd settle between them. She needed to make it up.

So she dressed up; she wasn't planning on going back there in her working clothes. She decided on wearing black shorts with a blue, somewhat see-through, top above. Because it would be cooling down fast tonight, she wore her army green bomberjacket too. To give it an extra rebellious tint, she put on her black army boots as well. She let her hair fall over her shoulders. Make-up wasn't too obvious, but she had put on a nice mascara and eyeliner, something she never did on a day she had to go to work. Too much trouble for people that didn't acknowledge her presence anyway.

She drove back to the holiday park and got in without much trouble. It was a private park, but she told the security guard she forgot some of her personal belongings. With a quick wave of her employee pass, she was allowed to get in.

Villa 203 showed no sign of quietness when Taeyeon arrived. The loud music could be heard from a block away. When she closed, she saw that the door was open. Beer cans and cups laid all over the front yard. The sprinklers were on and several people were dancing, but Taeyeon reckoned that the handful of drunk people that were doing a wet t-shirt contest in the front yard weren't the only one on the party.

Taeyeon quickly got inside, ignoring the guy who cat-called to her. Once she got in, she wished she had stayed away tonight.

She was swarmed by so many people that she couldn't even see where she was going. They were all taller than her — the curse of being short — so she couldn't see a thing. She was disgusted; the house smelled like sweat and spilled alcohol. The loud music in combination with being drunk made sure that people either laid on the couch and/or ground, kissing each other, or shoving their bodies up another person's at the rhythm of the beat. People were yelling and laughing and pushing and Taeyeon had never felt so out of place. God, she hated it. But she was here already, and she needed to find Tiffany.

She had literally no idea where to find her though. Her only hint was going to the pool, but she reckoned Tiffany wouldn't be chilling in her bikini right now. Still, she started to make her way towards the pool, it would at least be a little less crowded than in the house.

Taeyeon had to push several people away, but eventually she made it outside. She took in big gulps of air that wasn't polluted by the scent of sweaty bodies and exhaled slowly. Even though there were less people at the pool, it was still too busy to Taeyeon's liking. The pool was full with guests, empty bottles of alcohol floated between them. They seemed even drunker than the people inside the house, but maybe that was because Taeyeon only got a good look of them now.

Suddenly, she spotted bright red hair between the masses of bodies. Sunny was seated on Tiffany's pink inflatable bed, a drink in both hands, hand-banging along to the beat of the music.

"Sunny!" Taeyeon said. The girl didn't seem to hear her.

"SUNNY!" She yelled harder. The redhead looked up, disturbed, trying to find who had called her name. Eventually her eyes landed on Taeyeon.

"Aye! Pool girl! I knew you were secretly a party animal!" she called, with a slight lisp. Taeyeon repressed the urge to roll with her eyes and just nodded.

"Where's Stephanie?" she asked. Sunny frowned her eyebrows.

"Who?"

"Tiffany!" she said a bit louder. Sunny chuckled.

"How should I know? She went inside after half an hour already!"

Taeyeon nodded again and turned around, sighing. Sunny clearly had no idea where she was and that meant she had to get back in life. She moanded slightly out of annoyance.

Taeyeon forced herself to get back inside and actually ask people now. She made sure she went to somewhat quiet corners, where she wouldn't have to yell her question at someone and that they were at least a little bit sober. She asked around for Tiffany, but no one knew. They answers they gave were either 'I don't know, I haven't seen her in a while' or 'Who is Tiffany?'.

Eventually, she saw someone come down from the stairs. The famous cheeky grin was spottable from afar and Taeyeon quickly made her way to Summer, glad to see a familiar face. She slipped underneath the 'no entrance' rope that was spanned in front of the stairs, probably to make sure they wouldn't find anyone shagging in their beds, and walked up to Summer.

"You know, you're actually not allowed behind the rope, so-" Summer started. She seemed a lot less drunk than Sunny, perhaps she wasn't even tipsy yet. Taeyeon quickly nodded and sighed of relief that she could talk to a sober human being.

"Yeah, yeah sure, but where's Tiffany?" she asked. Summer frowned her eyebrows.

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"I have to.. tell her something," Taeyeon quickly made up. Summer signed that she was upstairs. The blondine smiled quickly, nodded as a thank you and ran upstairs.

"Taeyeon, wait! She doesn't feel that well, so if it isn't really important-" Summer started again. Taeyeon looked over back and nodded quickly.

"It is, it really is," she said. Summer sighed and nodded. Taeyeon turned her back to the other girl and sprinted up the last few stairs.

She walked through the hall, opening some random doors, but none led to Tiffany. Eventually, she softly started to call Tiffany's name.

"Tiff... Tiffany.."

Taeyeon stopped to listen, but there was nothing, so she called again, a little louder this time. After she had called a few times, she started to wonder it Summer hadn't been so drunk that she was past the stage of tripping over her own feet while walking. But then she heard someone turn around the doorknob of the bathroom. She hadn't checked that one, believing that Tiffany would probably be laying on bed if she felt bad.

"Tae...?" Tiffany's voice sounded. Taeyeon was surprised how weak and soft it actually was, completely different from the usual loud, bright voice. The bathroom door opened and Tiffany looked around the corner. Her skin had turned from nicely tanned to ghostly pale; a shade of white that was not natural for a healthy human being anymore. There were dark circles underneath her eyes; even though they were covered up with some make-up, they were still visible. She overal looked ill and weak, as if she could barely stand.

"What happened?" Taeyeon asked, worried. Tiffany smiled weakly and chuckled softly.

"Had too much to drink, I suppose. I've never been someone who could handle alcohol well," she explained. "I think I puked twice this last hour... Thank scientists for inventing mouthwater."

Taeyeon sighed and shook her head slowly. She walked over to the bathroom to take a look, wrickling her nose a bit of the sour smell that had formed there. She opened a room and got Tiffany out. The somewhat taller girl had to support on her a bit, Taeyeon let her drape her arm over her shoulders and lean. She led Tiffany to the first bedroom she saw and helped her with taking off her dress. If it had been any other situation, she would have blushed to see Tiffany in her black lingerie, but right now she just wanted to make sure that she was fine. Taeyeon helped the brunette get in bed and wrapped the blankets around her. Tiffany let the other girl do whatever she wanted, and willingly cooperated. Taeyeon got some water from the bathroom sink and sought in the cabins for some asperines. She walked back to Tiffany, offering the medicine. She thankfully drank it.

"Thanks Tae.." she mumbled weakly afterwards, smiling already a little more like she did yesterday. Taeyeon nodded and sighed again. Taking care of someone was hard, exhausting and rather worrisome. Even though it'd probably turn out in just a hangover, she would still be worried. She let her fingers go through her hair; the music downstairs caused her a headache.

"Would you lay with me...?"

Tiffany's voice was barely audible, but Taeyeon turned around nevertheless. The brunette looked like a little kid, the way she was wrapped around in blankets like that, seeking approval of the older girl, wanting her close so she'd feel safe. Tiffany had always wanted to be an adult, but she didn't mind at all being a child again now.

"Of course," Taeyeon said softly. Even if she had wanted to say 'no', she wouldn't be able to turn those eyes down. She took off her jacket and placed it together with her shoes near the door. Despite the fact that Tiffany was dressed only in her lingerie as well, she didn't feel much like it to undress herself, so she just got in whilst wearing her shorts and her top. Tiffany turned on her side as soon as she laid down, placing one of her arms under her head, even though she was already laying on a pillow. She laid her other hand in the space between them. Taeyeon turned too. It was dark in the bedroom. The sun had finally set and even the faint lost sunrays that always stayed behind whenever the sun had sunken behind the horizon were gone now, completely swallowed by the darkness. The people downstairs didn't seem to mind and partied on, Teayeon doubted they wondered where their host even was. In return, the moon had come, and she was shining her light — or well, reflecting the sun's light, but Taeyeon pretended she didn't know that mos tof the time — into the bedroom. It made Tiffany's face light up with a certain beauty that was hard to capture. She wasn't cute, nor sexy. She was just Tiffany, but she was hella beautiful. The way she laid there, almost too ill to move, with her usual tanned skin paler than she had ever seen it, to Taeyeon, it felt like nobody could be any prettier. Tiffany had this pretty smile on her face. A relaxing smile, like she was just chilling, lazing around with Taeyeon. It seemed as if she was happy. Her eyes sparkled again too.

"Why did you come back?" the brunette asked after a while, causing the silence that had once again settled between them to stop. Usually, Taeyeon preferred silence above a conversation, but she didn't mind Tiffany interrupting her beloved quietness, not with a voice that sounded like an angel. Tiffany talked quietly, partly because she basically just felt horrible, but also because it seemed inappropriate to talk loudly now. She didn't have to be.

Taeyeon thought about the answer she was going to give for a few seconds.

"I wanted to tell you something. But I hadn't expected-" she waved with her hand to include the party downstairs,"-all of this, you know."

Tiffany chuckled for a moment.

"Yeah, I understand. You always come by noon so..." Tiffany said, letting her voice trail off. Taeyeon's eyebrows shot up in an I-cannot-believe-you-look, the way moms always give their kids whenever they pull off something stupid.

"So this isn't your first time giving a party like this? And getting drunk?" she asked. Tiffany grinned and shrugged.

"Perhaps it's better if you don't know," she said. Tiffany winked. Taeyeon frowned and shot her a warning look.

"Guess not," she said, blamingly. Then her expression turned soft, worried. "Are you often puking like this?"

Tiffany smiled sweetly and shook her head.

"No, only tonight, I guess," she admitted. Taeyeon sucked on her lower lip for a moment.

"Why tonight? Or is there no reason?" she asked. Tiffany turned her eyes away from hers and looked up. She shrugged again.

"Well, y'know, there's this certain blonde that I like, but, she kind of turned me down this afternoon.. And I don't really understand why," she said, still not looking in Taeyeon's direction. She swallowed audibly.

"I actually came to talk about that..." Taeyeon mumbled. Tiffany looked back at her, suddenly wide-eyed and surprised. Her mouth formed an O.

"Oh, awkward..." she said softly. "I didn't mean you, there's this other blonde that I have a crush on and that has been cleaning my pool all summer."

Taeyeon blinked a few times confused, but then frowned annoyedly when she got the joke. She slapped Tiffany's arm softly, making both of the girls laugh. Tiffany's eye smile returned and Taeyeon had to look away to not let her blush show.

"Yah..." she said softly, pretending to be hurt by it. Tiffany touched her arm, causing goosebumps to form all over her body.

"I'm just kidding," the other girl laughed. Her face turned serious out of a sudden. "But.. you wanted to talk with me about that?"

This time it was Taeyeon's turn to lift her gaze from Tiffany's eyes. A bit uncomfertably, she looked around, rubbing with her hand in her neck. She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, taking her time to think of an answer.

"Well, yeah, I was going to-" she started, then fell silent.

"But...?" Tiffany added, pressing her to go on. Taeyeon pursed her lips together and sighed again.

"-but... I- ehm, I thought it'd be more romantic," she mumbled. Tiffany looked up, surprised. A chuckle left her lips.

"How did you picture it?" she asked, her voice dropping low. She looked at the blondine with an endearing look, inviting and at the same time daring her to tell more. Was she trying to be sexy? It worked. It really worked. Taeyeon's breath stocked in her throat, her heart stopped. She had to call herself together before she could continue. She wanted to play along, but she didn't know if she'd be as good as Tiffany.

"Well...?" Tiffany insisted. Taeyeon cleared her throat, deciding to move away her gaze. If she'd look one more second in those deep eyes, she wouldn't be able to speak at all. Instead, she placed her hand over Tiffany's. She started to draw slow circles across the back of her hand — just like Tiffany had done at the pool this afternoon. Taeyeon heard the other girl breathe in deep for a moment then hold her breath. Was it working? She hoped so, because she could defenitely not make people shudder with just her voice, like Tiffany had done with her.

"Well..." she started, "-I imagined that I'd come here and we'd be alone, like we are now."

She paused, looking up once. Tiffany's eyes were fixed on her fingers turning circles on her hand, but she knew she was listening; as soon as she stopped talking, her gaze shifted upwards too. The younger girl's lips were slightly parted. Taeyeon waited a little longer, wanting Tiffany to yearn for the next part of her fantasy.

"Summer and Sunny would be somewhere else, it wouldn't matter where. We'd be in the kitchen, or at the pool again," Taeyeon went on, eventually. Tiffany licked her lips slowly.

"Firstly, I'd walk up to you. You'd walk back, until your back would hit the counter, or a wall. I'd stay close to you. We'd both feel nervous, a tad unconfertable, but it would be good. Exciting."

Taeyeon's voice had dropped a few octaves. She emphased every syllable. Her finger stopped drawing circles, instead it started to follow the lines of Tiffany's hand.

"Secondly, I'd tell you that I made a mistake. I'd explain I got nervous, that I had never done something like that before. And that a girl had never made me as nervous as you had made me all summer-"

She stopped to take a breath, pausing. Tiffany swallowed.

"I'd take another step closer, until our bodies would touch. My hand would find the wall next to your head. I wouldn't care about our heights, I'd just lean on closer..."

Even Taeyeon's heardbeat was racing now. Her cheeks had turned a dark shade of pink, but she reckoned Tiffany wouldn't be able to see it due to the absence of light. Tiffany caught her lower lip between her teeth, had to look away from the blonde for a moment. Taeyeon let her hand intertwine with Tiffany's now entirely.

"I'd tell you that I wanted to re-do it. My hand would find your waist, I'd place the other at your jaw, behind your ear. I'm usually scared to do something like that, but I would not feel any fear then, because I know you'd want it too. I'd move closer and closer, until our noses would touch. I'd stop, to make you fully realize what was going to happen, to make you yearn for it, and then-"

Taeyeon paused again. The brunette had her eyes closed, let a soft moan escape her mouth when she stopped talking. Taeyeon knew she got her now. Her hand moved from Tiffany's to her neck, cupping her cheek like she said she would do. The urge to kiss her now was incredible.

"-and then," she continued,"-I'd increase that last inch, letting our lips collide. It wouldn't be a rough kiss, it'd be tender and sweet. But filled with lust, despereation, because I need you. Because I fell for you."

Tiffany opened her eyes again, looking at Taeyeon with an almost hungry look. Taeyeon sucked on her lower lip for a moment.

"I don't think you couldn't have made it any more romantic than this," she breathed hoarsely. Tiffany moved her hand to cover over Taeyeon's, keeping her in her neck.

"I think I can..." the blondine muttered. Tiffany parted her lips tightly and Taeyeon moved closer. It wasn't exactly the same as pushing the brunette up against a wall, but it sure felt more comfertable. Their bodies fit together like to puzzle pieces, their legs intertwined immediately. Taeyeon pushed herself up with her elbow, so she was hovering over the brunette. Tiffany took her arm from under her head. Taeyeon shuddered when she felt it on her hip. Taeyeon's heart was racing even more than before. She was nervous and a little bit sweaty, but she felt better than she had done in a long while. She felt better and more confident than at the pool. She was going to play this by her rules now.

Taeyeon had thought that Tiffany had been the one to be impatient, that she'd pull her closer eventually, but she felt herself being tugged more and more to the brunette the longer she waited. It almost became unbearable to let her wait like that. Taeyeon wanted to bow down closely, but she felt herself going in way faster than she expected. Their lips met hastily. It was a bit clumsy at first, but it took them only a second to find a good pose. The kiss was like Taeyeon had described it; sweet and loving, tender. But desperate, they both wanted each other, wanted each other closer, even though they could not impossibly even closer.

Taeyeon had already had her first kiss, so she knew how it worked, but it had been a boy. Some guy she thought she had had a crush on at High School. He apparently really liked her and they went out for a while, even though Taeyeon had already started wondering about her sexuality then. They had kissed, but that was all. She had never been really kissed by a girl, basically because she had always been too introverted and awkward to really start something with someone. Plus, most girls in Korea kept it a secret if they liked girls, hiding it or lying about it. Taeyeon had thougth that she had had some chemistry with some of them, but because neither one took the first step, she never told any of them her feelings.

With Tiffany it was different. She was so free, so careless. It seemed like it was all so normal for her, while Taeyeon was basically still enjoying her first kiss. She had never really counted the kisses she had shared with her former boyfriend, since she hadn't really been in love with him anyway. The thought that Tiffany had also already kissed other girls — and boys — made her want to try harder. Taeyeon deepened the kiss. She wanted to make Tiffany forget all those other people, she wanted to be the one and only one that made her head spin.

Taeyeon thought that she was the one leading, but Tiffany was impatient; she wanted more, sooner, faster than Taeyeon gave her. For Taeyeon, it all went pretty quickly, she was still dazed by the feeling of Tiffany's wonderful lips against hers when she felt the tip of Tiffany's tongue on her lower lip. Out of a reflex, she immediately opened her mouth. French kissing was something she had never done before, not even during her earlier relationship. She had always thought of it as gross, but maybe that was because she was 'supposed' to do it with a guy. With Tiffany, it felt better. It felt great. And she tasted better than anything she had ever tasted. Their tongues danced around each other during the kiss. The blonde couldn't help but to let out a small moan. She could feel Tiffany smile against her lips.

Eventually, their shallowly breathing turned out not to be enough to keep on kissing and not fainting, so Taeyeon pulled back after some time. She let her forehead rest against the brunette's, her hand still in her neck. Tiffany took her hands from her waist and instead cupped Taeyeon's cheeks, making sure she'd stay close. As if she was ever going to leave. Taeyeon slowly opened her eyes, noticing Tiffany was already looking at her. The same lazy, relaxed, happy smile had appeared on her face. Taeyeon noticed how much she liked it. Maybe this was the best smile. Sure, the bright, cute grin with the eyesmile was great too, but this one just showed how perfectly comfertable she was around her.

"I'm glad you came back..." the brunette whispered. Taeyeon smiled too.

"Me too," she muttered, before giving the other girl a quick peck on the lips. Now that she had had a taste, she wanted more, needed more.

"Will you stay the night?"

Taeyeon nodded almost immediately. She didn't have to think anymore, because she was feeling it already; she wanted to stay. She didn't know what the night might bring, but she sure was up for everything at this point.

"Is it okay if I stay forever?" she asked softly. Tiffany chuckled. The cute sound filled the room like the ringing of a bell.

"I thought you'd never ask," the brunette said, only a second before their lips found each others again.