Chapter 14
edits
Tiffany rubbed her eyes and stretched. “I shouldn’t sit like this,” she muttered to herself, massaging the back of her neck.
The moment she got home from work, she had taken out her laptop and googled “Kim Taeyeon songs”. She quickly found a YouTube playlist and set it on autoplay. By the time she finished making, eating and cleaning up her dinner, she had gotten through two and a half of Taeyeon’s albums. She nearly took the computer into the bathroom while she showered, but the idea of listening to Taeyeon’s voice while she was showering…it kind of didn’t sit very well with Tiffany. So here she was, cross-legged on her bed with her laptop in front of her, waiting for her hair to dry and listening to the rest of Taeyeon’s songs.
They surprised her. Maybe it was because she really hadn’t been listening to more recent music, but Tiffany found herself nodding along to the beat a lot. The faster songs made her want to dance, but the ones she really, really liked were the ballads. The slower and sadder, the better. Tiffany was just wondering how Taeyeon managed to sing with so much emotion when her phone buzzed. She paused the music.
“Hello?"
“Hey, sorry, I forgot to tell you at lunch,” said Taeyeon, “can you be downstairs in the lobby by 12:55 on Wednesday? We’re going come by to pick you up."
“Do I need to bring anything? Is there a dress code?"
“Oh. Um, give me a second.” Taeyeon’s voice suddenly sounded a lot farther away. “Minjoo unnie, does Tiffany have to wear anything specific for the recording?"
Tiffany waited anxiously, eyeing her modest closet.
“Hello? Tiffany?"
“I’m still here."
“My stylist says to wear whatever you would wear to work. When you have a meeting with clients."
“Okay. That’s really enough?"
“Yeah. It’ll be casual, don’t worry,” said Taeyeon. “That should be it. Just don’t be late, okay?"
“I won’t."
“Good. By the way, have you checked your Wikipedia page?"
“Hmm? Not yet. I’ve been listening to your songs.” It suddenly clicked. “Oh my god, please tell me you didn’t!"
She set the phone on speaker and threw it onto her bed, typing furiously on her laptop as Taeyeon’s laugh echoed around the room. She found her page, clicked, and scrolled down.
“Kim Taeyeon!"
“Isn’t it great?"
Tiffany shook her head in disbelief. “Tiffany enjoys doing puzzles in her free time and has a undying passion for the Eagles,” she read, shaking her head.
“See, I even hyperlinked the Eagles."
“I do not have an undying passion for the Eagles! I just listen to them!"
“But you only listen to them,” said Taeyeon, still laughing.
“I’ve been listening to your songs for three hours straight, okay?"
“Wow, you really did it?"
“Still doing it,” said Tiffany grimly, rubbing her aching neck again. “Do you know how many songs you’ve even sung?"
“About a hundred."
“So I’m not even halfway?!"
“I told you that you didn’t need to do this."
“But I should,” said Tiffany. “Plus, I like them."
“You like my songs?"
“Mhmm!"
“Better than the Eagles?"
“Stop it!"
Taeyeon snorted. “Fine, fine. You like them all?"
“Yeah!"
“Every single one of them so far?"
“Why not?"
“There are at least ten that I don’t like, to be honest."
“Which ones?” Tiffany frowned at her laptop screen, going through the titles that she had already listened to.
“You’ll have to figure that out yourself."
“Is one of them ‘Can You Hear Me’?"
“No, that’s one of my favorites. What have you got against the poor song, anyway?"
“I was just wondering,” said Tiffany, grinning. “Is it 'Starlight’?”
“You don’t like Starlight?"
“I really like the guy’s voice."
“And not mine?!"
“Meh."
There was a scandalized gasp. “I can’t believe you right now,” said Taeyeon, her voice full of hurt.
“I’m kidding, Taeyeon."
“You better be, or else I’m going to go kick Dean in the shins right now."
“Right, quick question: what episode was it again?"
“Why would I tell you?"
Tiffany typed into the search bar. “No need, I found it. Wow, it was an action movie?"
“No, it was the saddest drama you could ever hope to see."
“Then…why are you holding a gun?"
“What?"
Tiffany looked closely at her screen. “It says, ‘Taeyeon: That Summer, The Sun Shines OST’?"
“Are you sure it’s not a fan-made video?"
“Oh! Wow, your fans make videos of you?” She clicked and watched the beginning of the video play out, jaw dropping in awe. “Are you saying this isn’t official?!"
“I don’t think so. I’ve never done anything even remotely related to action movies."
“Wow. This puts my little video to shame."
“What little video?"
Tiffany paused the fan-made video. “My team leader wanted me to put together a video of you doing that photoshoot."
“Oh? Can I see it?"
“I don’t have it with me.”
“Did it give you a nosebleed?"
Tiffany bookmarked the video and went back to the search page, continuing to look for Taeyeon’s drama episode.
“It did, didn’t it?"
“I’m not telling you if you don’t tell me which episode it was."
“You just basically implied that it did,” said Taeyeon smugly.
“I’m hanging up."
“Wait, don’t."
Tiffany stretched again. “I need to go listen the rest of your songs,” she said, stifling a yawn.
“You can do that tomorrow."
“And what am I supposed to do now?"
“You don’t want to talk to me?"
“Oh,” said Tiffany. “Oh, were we—okay. Sorry, my mom says I’m really oblivious."
She blushed as Taeyeon’s laughter crackled over the line. “It’s cute. I’m guessing your puzzles don’t really respond when you talk to them?"
“I should never have told you about this."
“I’m really tempted to post the link to your Wiki page on my Instagram right now.”
“You have an Instagram?”
“Please don’t tell me you don’t have one?”
“I do have one,” said Tiffany, picking up her phone and minimizing the call to pull up the Instagram app. “What’s your username?”
“Taepeapeas309.”
“…I’m sorry?”
“Tae,” said Taeyeon slowly, “pea, like the vegetable. Pea twice. With an S for the second pea. And then 309.”
“Your username is taepeapeas?”
“309.”
Tiffany covered to stop laughing out loud.
“I can hear you giggling,” said Taeyeon flatly.
“Sorry, I just— really? Peepee?”
“I like it.”
“Your fans didn’t say anything about it?”
“They like it too!”
“But,” Tiffany bit her tongue, “never mind. I found you!”
“What’s your username?”
“I just followed you.”
“Three different people just followed me. And…I can’t actually tell which one you are.”
“Guess,” said Tiffany, scrolling through Taeyeon’s pictures.
“Uh, you’re probably not brokenhearted852, right?”
“Nope.”
“Not xolovebabyinn0cenz?”
Tiffany made a face. “Ew, of course not.”
“So you’re the81st?”
“Yep.”
“Is there a story behind that?”
“Is there a story behind peepeeTae?”
“It’s not peepeeTae.”
“Oh, sorry, peepeeTae309.” Tiffany laughed to herself. “I’m really impressed that people are just going along with that username.”
“You’re mean.”
“I just think it’s hilarious.”
Taeyeon made an annoyed sound. “Can I follow you?”
“Yeah, of course. I don’t post much and it’s a public account anyway.”
“Well, you know what’s gonna happen when I follow you, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we’re officially dating and all that,” said Taeyeon smoothly, “so there’s no scandal there, but people are going to follow you in droves, your pictures will probably be in the news tomorrow morning, and there will definitely, definitely be haters in your comments.”
“Oh.”
She heard Taeyeon clear . “Yeah. You…still want me to follow you?”
“Um…”
“You can make your account private if you want. Because they’re going to find you one day, even if I don’t follow you now.”
Tiffany stared down at her phone.
“Tiffany?”
“I’m here,” she said. “Go ahead and follow me.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, why not? I’d rather you be the first one.”
“Okay then,” said Taeyeon. A moment later, Tiffany got the notification. “There.”
“A superstar just followed my Instagram. Did I save the country in a previous life?”
“Shouldn’t you have said that when we started dating?”
Tiffany froze and felt her cheeks flare with sudden warmth. But before she could say anything, she got one, then two, then five, then ten notifications. “Oh, I see what you mean,” she said distractedly, watching her notifications explode.
“They found you?”
“Yeah.” She held her phone in fascination as her picture of a 5000 piece puzzle went from having 6 likes to 600 in a matter of seconds. “Is it always like this for you?”
“Always,” said Taeyeon, and there was almost a hint of something in her voice. Tiffany hesitated, but thought better of commenting.
Instead, she went through and liked every single one of Taeyeon’s pictures.
“What are you doing? Are you going through my pictures?”
“They’re really artsy,” said Tiffany, lying back on her pillows.
“Yours are all…puzzles?"
“Like I said, I’m not a very exciting person."
“How long do these take? Like the one of the dog?"
“I stayed up the whole night for that one. It had 2000 pieces."
“The whole night?!"
“That’s fast, you know."
She heard Taeyeon breathe out heavily. “I would not be able to focus on one thing for that long. Didn’t you get tired?"
“Of course. The last 200 pieces were hell because they were all in the middle of that very white dog and I couldn’t even see properly anymore."
“And you do this voluntarily, all the time?"
“I like puzzles,” said Tiffany, resting her phone on her stomach.
“I’m really beginning to see that."
“Do you do things like that? Stay up to watch movies or something?"
“Nah, I sleep whenever I get the chance. Shut up, unnie."
Tiffany sat up slightly. “Your stylist is still there?"
“Sorry. Yeah, Oppa too."
“Oh!” Tiffany checked her phone. “But it’s 11!"
“This happens a lot, don’t worry."
“Am I bothering you guys? Do you have a meeting?"
“No, we’re just really casually discussing the show. Or,” said Taeyeon in a whisper, “they are, and I’m in the corner talking to you."
“You should go join them."
“Why?"
“It’s your show!"
“I already know what to do."
“But—”
“You’re tired?"
“No, I’m fine."
Taeyeon laughed. “You seem eager to get rid of me."
“I’m not."
“You sure you’re not tired?"
“Nope. But,” said Tiffany, trailing off.
“But?"
“I still have to look for that episode."
She heard Taeyeon groan. “Seriously?"
“Yes, I said I would do it all tonight."
“You’re really going to stay up the whole night?"
Tiffany shrugged. “Nothing new to me."
“I don’t know if I should be flattered or mildly worried."
“Are you going to sleep anytime soon?"
“No, they’re going to stay for a while and then I’ll probably sleep in a couple of hours. Why?"
Tiffany moved off the bed, taking the phone with her. “I’m going to get some water and keep listening. Wanna keep me company?"
“At this rate, what with you listening to my songs and talking to me for so long,” Taeyeon’s voice bounced tinnily against the kitchen walls, “you’re really going to get tired of me."
“Or, we can combine the two and you can sing the rest of your albums for me."
Tiffany took out the jug of cold water from the fridge. “I won’t be able to talk for a week if I do that,” said Taeyeon. “And you’ll have to talk for both of us on the show."
“I’ll stick with Youtube,” said Tiffany decisively.
“I hope you’re listening to the official versions."
“…Oops."
“Tiffany!"
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