"Thank you Secretary Seo."

"Have a great day ahead, Miss Hwang."

Tiffany had just signed the sanction papers and finally exhaled relief, glad to be back in school again. Luckily, her friends had given her everything she needed for the preparations of their department on the seasonal line of wear for Christmas. All she needed to do was report to the head of the department and complete her requirements.

She thought of hanging out with some friends before going back to work mode and scrolled through her contact list. Her thumb stopped at one name that she had never called or texted yet since it registered on her phone. 'Should I?'

After a minute of weighing her decisions, she tapped the ID and pressed the call button.

"Hello?"

"Hi. Are you busy?"

"Not really. I'm just brainstorming ideas to paint for the Christmas exhibition of our department. Why did you ask?"

Tiffany hesitated for a second. "I thought we can go eat dinner before the start of the school preparation but I guess you're busy..."

'Is she asking me out to dinner?' Taeyeon heard the disappointment in the girl's voice and unconsciously smiled. "Count me in. Maybe I can get a change of scenery while we're at it."

The eye-smiling girl almost squealed at the phone when she heard that. She fanned herself and breathed in and out silently before speaking again. "Okay. I'll pick you up?"

"Are we going on a casual date here, Miss Hwang?"

Tiffany could feel her cheeks burn at the straightforward question. "I-I..."

Taeyeon chuckled. "Just kidding. I'll come and pick you up. And I'll wear something decent, don't worry."

"O-Okay then. I'll see you?"

"See ya."

Tiffany hung up. She placed a hand on her chest and realized that it was beating too rapidly that it could jump out anytime. She closed her eyes to calm her racing heart. "It's just a friendly dinner, Tiffany. You can do this." She told herself and got inside her car and drove home.

---

She took one last check on her attire and breathed in and out. "Friendly dinner. Yes." She reminded herself again and headed down to the front of the building, meeting Taeyeon outside.

"Hey." The short girl greeted.

"Hi." She nervously smiled.

Taeyeon saw the casual clothes and suppressed a chuckle. "I think I'm underdressed." She pointed at her tattered pants and hoodie then at Tiffany's tight jeans and blouse. "You should've told me to be casual and not decent," She finally let out the chuckle she was holding after seeing Tiffany's blushing cheeks. "Aigoo. I should start learning synonyms of words so I can differentiate one from the other."

Tiffany relaxed when Taeyeon tried to break the awkwardness and found herself smiling along. "I'm sorry. This is just a fri