Collection of TaeNy Oneshots (TheDonkatsu Collection)

Old Fashioned - 2

A knock on the open door makes her look up from the photos she's been observing for the past five minutes.

"Coffee break?" says Yuri, showing her friend the glass in her hand. "It's almost 3. You're not gonna stalk her today?"

"I don't stalk," mumbles Tiffany under her breath as she goes back to work, sorting and selecting photos for the next edition's fashion spread.

"I feel bad for her," continues Yuri as she comes to stand on the other side of the large, messy table. "You don't even know each other and yet she's been glared at every day as if she's done something terrible to you. What has she done to deserve this hate?"

"I don't hate her. I just hate everything about the space she occupies."

"But she doesn't know that, does she?" Yuri sets her glass down. "That poor girl aside, I know it's only been a couple of months but don't you think it's time you get over him? I know he hurt you. Badly. But it's not like you loved him, right? This is more about pride, isn't it?"

"Go back to work, Yul," replies Tiffany without looking at her friend. She silently clenches her jaws because her friend had a point. As painful as it was to see him cheat on her, to be betrayed like that, the biggest blow came not because she was very much in love with him or because she had given him everything. They hadn't even slept together—one of the things she was extremely grateful for. Yes, she had invested a lot of time and energy in him because he seemed kind and sincere, and given another month, she probably would've agreed to sleep with him. But all in all, her heart was broken but it wasn't shattered beyond repair. It was her pride that took the biggest hit. No one, especially not some mere copy writer from a new, tiny start-up company, played Tiffany Hwang like that.

And although she had made sure that he wouldn't be able to find a job in the publishing world, her ego hasn't recovered. It still stings. Every time she looks out that window and sees that office space in that other building, it stings. The memories of the cute, fun stuff they used to secretly do from their offices—smiling and waving at each other, talking on the phone while staring at each other through the window, sticking heart-shaped post-it notes on the glass—add to the pain.

I was such a fool, she keeps telling herself every time those memories cross her mind. How did it get that far? I really let my guard down. I didn't do cute stuff and I shouldn't have done cute stuff and I will never do them again.

Yuri's about to leave when another knock comes from the open door, making the two women in the room turn their heads.

The receptionist appears, looking for Tiffany.

"A package came for you, Miss Hwang. I put it on your desk," says the young woman.

"Thanks, Seolhyun."

The girl nods and leaves the room.

"You bought more clothes? Or stuff for your dogs?" asks Yuri who's well aware of her friend's online shopping hobby.

Tiffany shakes her head, takes the photos she has picked out and walks out of the room with Yuri following her. "I didn't order anything. Probably samples from that new brand we plan on featuring next month," she says.

She gives the photos to a junior editor then goes to her office, telling her friend to close the door behind her.

Yuri does as she's told and takes a seat across from Tiffany, waiting for the woman to open the neatly wrapped box sitting on her desk.

There's a small card with Tiffany's name and position written on the box but nothing else so the brunette carefully opens it, only to see a mug inside.