The Taste of Tears (VFany Fanfiction)

Chapter 4

Tiffany had been sitting by the window in her bedroom for hours. She really couldn’t believe that someone as weird as Taehyung really existed in this world.

“What was he thinking? He always gets on my nerve. Taehyung and his stupid smile. I regret that I used to think his smile was pretty. Oh wait, what? Nope, that smile is really annoying. Should that stupid smile be carved on his face? I can’t believe God let me meet a guy like him. Kim Taehyung…. Ugh!” For a thousand times, Tiffany shook her head again and again and again.

“Fany-ah, what are you thinking there?” Taeyeon came into Tiffany’s room. She had been watching her best friend act like something was bothering her mind. That girl kept looking outside her window, shaking her head, crossing her arms, sighing, taking deep breath, twirling and blowing her hair. Something was definitely disturbing that girl. Tiffany didn’t use to be this … peculiar!

Tiffany was caught off guard, she spontaneously turned her head to see whose voice that was. Silly, of course it was Taeyeon’s. There were only the two of them in that house.

“Uhm, nothing. I wasn’t thinking of anything. I am just… uhm, I’m just bored. That’s it.”

Taeyeon put a chunk of cookies into her mouth. She kept looking at Tiffany suspiciously. Hmmm, her face turned pink. Yup, something fishy is in the air right now! Taeyeon was thinking hard. What could possibly cause Tiffany act like a teenager who was confused about how to do her homework? She didn’t use to act like this. Something strange suddenly popped out in Taeyeon’s head.

“Are you thinking about the man that keeps waiting for you near our house every morning?”

Tiffany was startled. She never thought Taeyeon would know about Taehyung. But who was she trying to fool? Taeyeon had a really good instinct.

“Which man?” Tiffany lied. She smiled awkwardly.

Taeyeon looked at her bestfriend in the eyes. They had been sworn sisters for years, Taeyeon knew when Tiffany lied to her. Taeyeon couldn’t explain what she felt at that precise moment. It hurt her to see the sparks in Tiffany’s eyes. It wasn’t that she was jealous of her… but rather, Taeyeon was scared Tiffany would get hurt. That girl always followed what her heart desired and never thought twice. Just like….

“Fany-ah,” Taeyeon opened her mouth. She looked at her best friend the way a mother would look at their daughters with all her concerns. “You better not see that guy again. Our lives are hard enough. And a guy like that guy will only bring you nothing but trouble.”

Tiffany quickly looked away. She realized that Taeyeon had read her mind. She hated the strange feeling that suddenly slipped into her heart.

“I understand who we really are. Don’t worry Tae, no guys will ruin my life.” Tiffany forced a smile. But for Taeyeon, that smile looked like a silent cry.

“I’m sorry, Fany.”

Tiffany tapped her hands and smiled wider, “don’t be sorry, Tae. I don’t regret anything. This is our lives and life is so precious, right?”

Taeyeon wanted to smile back, but she couldn’t bring herself to do that. “If there was something we could do about our debt, we wouldn’t have to live like this. I’m really really sorry.”

Tiffany approached Taeyeon and hugged her, “naaah. Don’t think too much about everything,” her voice sounded so cheerful and soothing, “we are doing fine.”

Taeyeon felt like crying. She mumbled imperceptibly, “if only we could take care of Seohyun better…..”

………………………………………….......

Taeyeon sat on the bus, watching the buildings, trees, lamps, and everything pass her by outside the bus’ window. She was reminiscing about their lives.

Tiffany, Seohyun, and herself were raised in an orphanage in Jeolla-do. Taeyeon never knew why her parents left her at the orphanage’s door, but she never regretted it. It was true that her parents had abandoned her, but they also gave her a new family. It was Tiffany and Seohyun. They slept on the same bunks in the same bedroom. They shared the same dreams; to become successful artists. They used to sit together at the porch, watching and counting the cars that passing by. Someday, they would drive one of those fancy cars. Everytime they saw pretty houses, the three of them would quickly ‘claim’ those houses as their future houses. And everytime they saw a man and a woman come to their orphanage, they secretly hoped that those people would adopt all three of them and give them a new home. But after a while, their hope vanished into thin air.

After finishing high school, Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun decided to leave the orphanage. One main reason was because it had been stated that if no one adopted an orphan until they reached eighteen years old, that orphan had to leave the orphanage to give room to the other orphans.

Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun decided to come to Seoul to build a better life. They had every dream in their pockets and optimisms in their smiles. They were one happy family. And the ray of sun shone the path to their future.

Until Seohyun got into an accident…..

One day, the three of them were going to audition for SM Entertainment, but they never made it. A drunk driver couldn’t control his car. Seohyun who saw the car coming toward their direction, spontaneously shoved her unnies aside. She successfully saved them, but the car hit her hard instead and put her into coma.

That was when everything started to crumble down. Their dreams had turned into nightmares and their optimisms gone with the cold autumn wind.

   They had to earn a lot of money to keep Seohyun alive. They had forgotten their long lost dreams of becoming successful idols. Those dreams were too good to be true. And the only place that could offer them money was ‘that place’.[]