Sunset at Hamdeok

Chapter 7

Tiffany had arrived at SNSD coffee Shop since seven in the morning. She greeted Kwangsoo who also worked there as a chef pastry. Tiffany went straight to the employee lounge and put her bag inside her locker. Then she headed to the storage room to check if they needed to buy something. After writing what she had to add to their shopping list, Tiffany left the room. She bumped into Sunny and Hyoyeon who had just arrived.

    "I thought today was your day off?" Sunny slipped her smartphone to her purse.

    "Is Jessica still sick?" Hyoyeon chewed the last cheese cracker in her mouth.

    Tiffany walked toward her working station, "yeah. Jess is still having fever. But it's alright. My friend is coming here today, I still needed to be here after all."

    Hyoyeon leered at Sunny with a sneaky grin. "Is this friend... Uhm... Someone you met in Jeju?"

    Tiffany pushed her hair behind her ear. "Why are you so obssessed with my vacation in Jeju?"

    Hyoyeon took the bait. She sprinted to the bar table. "Tell me, what happened in Jeju? Did something hot happen?"

    Tiffany switched the espresso cup warmer on. She set several demitasse down on it. She turned around and smiled. "Of course. It's summer, everything is hot in Jeju."

    Hyoyeon pouted and tapped the table. "You're avoiding my question. Now tell me everything about that guy. Did you and he.... Hehehehe.... " She smirked devilishly.

    Tiffany suddenly felt weak. It was as if she had a heatstroke all of a sudden. "N-no... Nothing happened." Tiffany held on to the table rim and touched her forehead. Her head spun around.

    "If you don't want to tell me your little secret, fine." Hyoyeon leered, "you don't need to pretend you were about to pass out." She giggled. "Next time, I'll get your dirty secret and you can't play pretend anymore."

     Hyoyeon left Tiffany, believing she would get what she wanted in no time. Tiffany expelled a breath. She moved to reach a stool. She sat down. Only Tiffany knew what had been surging up in her heart since that romantic night in Jeju where she had to leave it behind.

    I didn't want to leave, but I had to....  She whispered all alone. Nobody knew Tiffany was keeping a big secret to herself. As she stared at the dynamic street outside the window, her heart began to feel very lonely.

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Tiffany's phone rang. She read a message. I'm here outside SNSD Coffee Shop. Tiffany smiled. She slid her phone back into her pocket. She tidied her hair and checked her reflection in the mirror.

    "Look at her! I'm sure her secret guy is here. Wanna bet?" Hyoyeon quickly approached Sunny who immediately turned to see their barista looking busy in front of the mirror.

    "I don't believe it." Sunny mumbled.
    "Ten thousand won?" Hyoyeon grinned widely.

    "Ten thousand won." Sunny tapped Hyoyeon's palm.

Sooyoung closed her message application and glanced at her fiance. "Come on." She pushed the glass door in front of her.

    "Tiffany ssi!" Sooyoung waved her hand at the sight of Tiffany.

    And even before that beautiful girl with a long shiny hair turned around to greet her guest, Taehyung had already recognized her.

    And there she was, standing still, couldn't believe her own eyes that she would see that handsome man again.

    It wasn't only Tiffany who was choked with surprise, but Taehyung as well. His eyes were set on her alone as if nobody else existed in the room. And his heart raced like crazy.

    "Sooyoung ssi," Tiffany faked a smile. She brushed off the bittersweet memory engraved in her mind. Who knows, maybe they're just cousins.

    But ten seconds later, Tiffany found out that these two people were not related by blood at all.

    Tiffany shook Taehyung's hand after Sooyoung introduced him. As soon as their hands touched, Tiffany let it go as if she had just touched the burning sun.

    "Tiffany." She faked another smile. She could see a scar on his forehead. Tiffany promptly turned to Sooyoung and never tried to look at that guy again.

Taehyung secretly looked at her. So..., I'm just a stranger to you?

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Tiffany never knew she could make a great actress. She held everything inside. She smiled, she laughed, she even joked around with Sooyoung. And even after that girl had gone with her extremely gorgeous fiance, Tiffany still faked a smile. An empty and meaningless smile.

    But the moment she got home, Tiffany let tears come down her cheeks. She covered her beautiful face and very slowly, her body sank behind the closed door. Why does it hurt? Why does it hurt so bad? The unspeakable pain twinged her chest.

    A week ago, Tiffany helped a girl around her age whose heel got stuck between elevator's door. That girl was Sooyoung. She insisted on treating her lunch. In return, Tiffany asked Sooyoung to come to SNSD Coffee Shop where she would make her the best caffe mocha she could find in entire Seoul.

    Who would have known that this world was so small? Who could've guessed that Sooyoung was Taehyung's fiancee? Kim Taehyung, an irresistible stranger Tiffany had to leave in Jeju because she knew she wouldn't have any future with him, because their relationship would only be a mistake, because she was so afraid she'd opened the forbidden pandora box. So before the spark between them grew into a blaze that would burn that guy in the end, she had to cut it short....

    Tiffany wiped away her tears. A bastard like Kim Taehyung didn't deserve her tears. She got up and decided to throw away her remaining feelings for him. She had been wrong, Taehyung was not a sweet guy she had used to think. That guy had got a fiancee, a beautiful fiancee, yet he still seduced another girl and slept with her, made her feel like there was no other girl in his eyes.

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Taehyung hardly said anything since they left SNSD coffee Shop. He let Sooyoung do the talk the whole time. That girl even asked why he was so quiet that day. Was he sick or having some troubles? Taehyung told her the most common lie, "I am fine."

    But he wasn't. He had never thought that silence could be this painful. There were so many words he wanted to say to Tiffany. So many millions words he should have said, but that girl hadn't given him a chance. She just pretended they had never met before.

    And Taehyung couldn't blame her for acting that way. But why did his heart feel so uneasy right now? If she only knew... If she could only know what really happened....

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Tiffany walked slowly amid thousands of people who were walking fast. No face in that crowd was familiar to her, who cared? Tiffany sighed. She stopped at the traffic lights and waited for the red light to switch into green.

    Tiffany didn't even realize that she had skipped two green lights. Her mind was in another dimension. When the third green light was about to change, a harsh nudge on her shoulder dragged her back to the real world. She winced. That acciddental nudge really hurt. She rubbed her shoulder and began to walk.

    But the red light came too fast for one rider. He wasn't even paying attention to it. He hit his brake as soon as he saw Tiffany walking in front of him.

    Taehyung swore his scooter didn't hit her, nonetheless Tiffany still fell onto the ground. Taehyung quickly got off his white Piaggio and knelt beside her. "Did you get hurt?" He spluttered. His hands touched her arms

    Tiffany looked up and saw his heavenly gorgeous face went paler than she had ever remembered. That girl quickly brushed his hands off.[]

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