Blueberry Pancakes (1/1)

Taecyeon put another pancake onto my plate as we sat across the table from his mother, explaining to the best of our abilities the situation at hand. I turned to look at him for a moment: despite all the pain that he had endured these months, he was still able to put on a happy smile as if nothing had happened. I was glad his feelings had never changed-- he needed no "warming up" at all."So, you're saying that you were forced to end your relationship so that you could get married to someone you have absolutely no feelings for?!" Mrs. Ok squinted at me as she clenched onto her tall glass of morning tea. All I could do was nod. She turned and glared at Taecyeon, "And you never bothered to explain to me why you were so depressed these months?" Taecyeon avoided her question by pouring syrup on my pancake. "Tiffany, you know you could've sought refuge at our house at any point in time. I might as well be your mother. Anyone hurts you or my own son-- or both-- and I will kill them."I dipped my head, acknowledging her offer. "I don't think there's really anything you can do about it. I can only run away, and as far away as possible too... so they can't find me and drag me back." "Tiffany, we don't run away from our problems; we confront them and make people understand that it's not okay to push people into corners," Mrs. Ok said. A couple of minutes of silence passed, "All this time, I honestly thought you had cheated on Taecyeon and dumped him for someone else. I had my doubts about his story at first, but... seeing how he decided to take a mental health leave from school, to return next year, I didn't know what else to believe. I didn't realize people actually still forced marriages on their children."I turned and looked at him again, waiting for him to say something."Eat your pancake. It's getting cold," Taecyeon mumbled."You never told me you were taking a health leave from school," I said quietly, "Taec--"He pretended not to hear me and began to cut my pancake. After a bit of silence, he proceeded to speak, "it doesn't matter now." He looked up at me, let out a single chuckle and smiled at me, "We're together now; that makes everything okay.""So how are we going to go about solving this problem?" Mrs. Ok clasped her hands together.I sighed, "I don't know. I've been trying to figure that out for the past months, ever since Dongwoon proposed to me."Taecyeon reached under the table and took my hand into his hands. They felt slightly rougher than usual. I looked down at our clasped hands: along his knuckles were bruises and scabs. I gasped quietly and looked to him as if demanding answers."Later," he whispered to me, pulling away his hand. I quickly grabbed for it, needing the comfort of his grasp."Taecyeon's uncle is a lawyer. We can get him to help," Mrs. Ok had finally come up with a possible solution. "There must be a law that prohibits forced marriage.""Would he have time to, though?" Taecyeon winced, "He's been so busy lately.""He's my brother, your uncle. He will make time," She said in a matter-of-fact way. "I'll go call him now." She stood up and left the breakfast table.I looked to him once again, "Taec, what are these?""Don't worry about it. You still haven't eaten your last pancake! I made those especially for you, you know," he said happily."Stop changing the subject; what is this?" I squinted at his face and saw a bandaid on his eyebrow bone, under his overgrown hair, "Wait..."He looked away, trying to hide whatever it was on his face, "Tiffany, stop.""No, you stop. Turn."He sighed and looked directly at me. I pressed my fingers through his thick hair, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. A small bandaid covered his right browbone."Does it hurt?" I asked, softly."Of course not. It's almost completely healed." He smiled at me, "Now let's stop worrying about me. If you're not going to eat that pancake, then I will."I slid my plate towards him and cut the pancake in half. "How did you get that cut?""I got into a fight," he said, non-chalantly."Over... what?""You.""Who did you fight?!" I demanded."Dongwoon.""What?!" I yelled a little too loudly."Calm down. It was a while ago," he said."Clearly not! You're still injured!" I yelled again, "Tell me everything, now."He put a giant piece of pancake in his mouth to put off answering my question a little longer. And as I waited for him to finish, I took his hand again and gently ran my fingers over his scabs; I kissed them.He swallowed and downed his water. "Nothing big happened, I just drank a little too much and got a little too emotional." "Taec--""Now stop worrying about me." He stood up and walked into the kitchen, balancing dirty dishes on his arms. I could hear the dishes clanking against the kitchen counter. His footsteps echoed through the kitchen and dining room. He popped his head out the door and smiled charmingly. "Aren't you going to help me with the dishes?"****Sitting on Taecyeon's lap, leaning my head against his chest, I looked up at the stars and waited for a sign that this was a dream. This is how I envisioned our relationship to be. He played with the ends of my hair, twirling them around his fingers. The gentle rising and falling of his chest felt like slight rolling waves of an ocean-- mesmerizing. He swung back and forth on the swing couch in his backyard, slowly rocking us in sleepy motions. I closed my eyes and listened to the chirping of crickets and breathing of the wind."Tiffany," I heard him say, almost as if from a distant world."Hm?" I managed to hum through a small yawn."I got a call today from my school asking me if I wanted to just resume my freshman year next year since the school year is almost over," he said, "which means that I'll get to stay here for the rest of the year and that I'll get to be in your class next year."I lifted my head from his chest, feeling a rush of adrenaline pump through my body. "Really?!" I smiled at him, "that won't negatively affect your resume... will it?""No," he shook his head, "That just means that I'll get to spend more time with you."I grinned at him and leaned in to kiss him. Yes. I had almost forgotten that I was going to be with him in college.My cellphone rang: Dongwoon was calling.I looked at Taecyeon with worry and then picked up. "H-hello?" My voice was shakey."Your dad just called. He wanted to know where you went--" he sighed, "I told him that you were out with friends. I reassured him that you weren't with Taecyeon.""You did?" I blurted out. He seemed very unlike himself, "Uh; thanks.""No problem," he said, "I guess that's the least I can do for you.""Dongwoon," I mumbled, "After we graduate, could you sign the divorce papers? We are both legal adults now; we wouldn't need their consent.""Uh, yeah," he cleared his throat, "What are you going to do about college, then?""I'm filing for emancipation. Not that I really need to," I began, "and I'm borrowing money from Taecyeon's parents. At least that's the plan for now... If I can just get them to agree to let me go, then none of that would be necessary.""Ah, I see," he said, "Well... if you need me to vouch for the fact that neither of us has feelings for the other, then I will.""Dongwoon. You don't have to." I knew what it was like to lie about your true feelings. I didn't know what to say."But I do. If this ends up in the hands of the law, then I will make sure it all goes through smoothly."I felt Taecyeon's hands feeling their way up my hips. I turned to face him. I wanted to tell Dongwoon that I was sorry for the way I was making him feel, but I didn't know how."Anyhow, I'll talk to you later. I just wanted to let you know what was going on on this end," he said, sounding miserable."Do--"He hung up.Taecyeon leaned forward, pressing his cheek into my arm."I wish there was a way I could tell him how sorry I am for everything he's been put through. All the false hope he's been receiving. I just don't know how," I said.He circled his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to his torso, closer to his crotch."I wish I could help him find someone else.""He will find someone else. It takes time. He began to like Ji-Eun last year, didn't he?" Taecyeon's calming, dark voice soothed my worries."I hope he will," I closed my eyes, burying my face into the curve of his neck, tracing shapes against his chest.We sat in silence, holding each other. Moments passed.Before I knew it, the soft glow of the rising sun was illuminating his damp skin, gently shaking me to wake up.The front doorbell rang from a distant world."Tiffany?! Tiffany!!" I heard my father yell.-------------------------------------------------------------------@StrawberryBoo: Thank you :)@marikrismas: keke she may or may not have just been caught. I guess Dongwoon is on their side now-- but you never know what the future may bring!!@Mzjulieb2uty: ;;____;;; thank you. I've always secretly loved writing, but I've also always been too shy to actually share any of my serious writing-- which this is not-- with anyone I know in real life. keke, Taecyeon and Tiffany are the definite "main couple" in the story, but they may or may not have a happy ending together-- you'll just have to read on! (Also, I may be ditching "misunderstanding" b/c I have no idea where exactly I'm taking that fic....also, to all of you: I seriously cannot thank you guys enough for sticking with this fic for so long and putting up with all my hiatuses.