2785 retweets. 1107 favourites.

Tiffany smiles at the climbing numbers. When she first started out, her tweets had only gotten two-digit retweets and favourites but they have been increasing steadily and by now, her Twitter account has more than a hundred thousand followers. The traffic for her fansite is high too, owing to her conscientious effort in editing and uploading photos on it.

Shining Dung. A lovely fansite name for her perfect man, Ho Un Dung, who has the brightest smile in the entire universe. She’s had to skip lessons at university many times to be at his events but looking at how successful her fansite is, Tiffany knows it’s all worth it. Then, she clicks on the most recent folder containing photos taken at the flagship store opening and her smile dies a quick death. Every single freaking photo in there has the platinum blonde singer hovering around her flawless man, muddying the waters around him.

Speaking of the devil, Tiffany recalls one of her friends mentioning something about Kim Taeyeon flying off today. Maybe she’ll get something to use against Kim Taeyeon today. Her prof had cancelled today’s classes so she has time anyway.

[o]

Incheon International airport. This place is almost a second home to Tiffany. Well, not the entire airport. Just the path that Ho Un Dung takes into arrival and out from departure. And that is all the area she’s interested in. The horde of fans is not as huge as when Ho Un Dung was there too. Tiffany snorts at her observation. Of course. This Kim Taeyeon is just leeching on Ho Un Dung’s immense popularity. Look at how pathetic her airport fans are in numbers.

She finds a good spot and sets up her stool to fix her camera. There is a surprising number of fangirls here. She wonders what is wrong with them. Why would they want to stan a pale, short, kiddy-faced singer like Kim Taeyeon when there’s tall, dark and handsome hunks out there like Ho Un Dung? Shaking her head, Tiffany thinks these fangirls need some counselling. Serious counselling to open their eyes to their poor taste in idols.

Three bites into her kimbap and the fangirls start screaming. Tiffany grumbles to herself as she wraps it up and stuffs it into the side of her bag. She picks up her camera and stands, keeping her stool after. There is no need to put in that much effort this time, since she’s only here to catch Kim Taeyeon in a compromising situation. Anything will do. Any shot of Kim Taeyeon flirting with another man. Standing too close to some other guy. Smiling too much at a dude. Anything.

The tiny mite of a girl stands across the road and everyone is busy snapping pictures while Tiffany stands, disinterested. There is nothing for her to capture. No smile at a dude. Nothing. What a waste of her time. Kim Taeyeon crosses the road and the fangirls follow her into the airport. Tiffany tries to tag along at the peripheral but somehow ends up swept into the horde as well. That’s when she is knocked into by a tall fangirl. She shrieks as her body tries to rebalance itself and several people stop and stare.

“My kimbap!” Tiffany yells but it is too late. A fangirl has stepped on it and ruined her breakfast.

“Are you alright?” a soft, gentle voice enters her ear and sends a tingle running across her skin.

“I’m okay,” says Tiffany but it isn’t until she looks up from her kimbap that she realizes who she was talking to. “Oh my God, Kim Taeyeon.”

The platinum blonde singer smiles. “Yes, that’s my name.” The big, brown eyes rove over to the kimbap lying flattened on the floor. “Here, you must be hungry.” Tiffany looks down at the packet of cookies Kim Taeyeon is giving her. “Take it.” The small packet is pushed onto her hand and Tiffany is stunned. She looks up, mute and belatedly remembers she should have thanked her for the cookies but the idol is already gone, along with her flock of adoring fans.

“Hey, I’ve never seen you before. Are you new?” Tiffany nods, not really registering the question and the girl smiles at her. “You’re so lucky! Kim Taeyeon gave you her cookies! She bought them from Starbucks earlier, you know?”

“Really?” is all Tiffany can get out.

“Yeah! You’re really lucky.” The girl is still smiling. “See you around!”

Tiffany finds herself waving goodbye to the retreating fangirl and looks down at the packet of cookies. Did Kim Taeyeon just give her a packet of cookies? Her kimbap is still on the floor, forlorn and flattened. She picks it up and throws it into the trash bin as she leaves the airport. That was surprising to say the least.

[o]

Back at home, Tiffany puts the packet of cookies on her table.

“You’re back! Where did you go?”

That would be her housemate, Sunny. Should she tell Sunny about the cookies? “I went to the airport.”

“Airport? You didn’t say Un Dung was flying off today.”

“I didn’t go for him.”

Sunny appears beside her on the couch, eyes wide open. “Not Un Dung? Did you start stanning someone new overnight?”

“No. Remember what I said about my pictures lately?”

“Mhm.” Sunny nods then halts. “Oh, you went for Kim Taeyeon?”

“Yeah.”

“So? Did you get anything good?”

Tiffany points at the cookies.

“What. What are you pointing at?”

“Cookies.”

“Uh, what?”

“I got cookies.”

“Okay, I can see that, but I was asking about your photos.”

“I didn’t get any good photos.”

“Aww, nevermind you’ll get her next time.” Sunny pats her leg. “Dong Hoongji is flying to Bangkok for a fanmeet tomorrow. You wanna come with me?”

“Okay, sure.”

“Great. I have a present for him. I can’t wait.”

Tiffany nods absently, her eyes still on the cookies. “Sunny.”

“Mmm?”

“Kim Taeyeon gave me those cookies.”

“What?”

“Someone almost knocked me down and my kimbap dropped on the floor. Kim Taeyeon asked if I was alright and gave me her cookies.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what to think now.”

“You know it’s just an act, right?”

Tiffany blinks. “You think so?”

Sunny nods with confidence. “Of course. She thinks you’re her fan. And by doing that, she’ll be seen being kind to her fans. Don’t forget, there’s plenty of media at airports capturing everything.”

“Mmm, that’s true. But Ho Un Dung has never given any fan cookies before . . .”

“That’s because he’s real. He’s not fake enough to put up an act like that.”

“I guess you’re right . . .”

“Of course I’m right.” Sunny gets up from the couch and pats her head. “I gotta go for class. See you back here for dinner?”

Tiffany nods. “Yeah, dinner.” She picks up the cookies and brings them into her room. She looks at them again and keeps them in her drawer. As Sunny said, it was probably an act for the media. She shouldn’t think too much about it.

[o]