Smiling Petals. The fansite name keeps haunting Tiffany as she sits in the theatre waiting for the musical to begin. The silence around her feels terrible, like a soundless rebuke of her carelessness. Then the music begins and the musical kicks off with a lone female voice filling up the empty stage.

Deeescendaaants, they are the childreeen~
They have a daaaddy and a mooommy~
Beeeautifuuul deeescendaaants need moneeey~
He should neveeer have cooome baaack~

Tiffany sits like a frozen block of ice throughout the entire opening song, not knowing what to do with the emotions swirling in her chest. Kim Shortae has a good voice! It resounds in the theatre and warms her ears. What is this sorcery?

“There’s your man,” Sunny whispers and Tiffany drags her eyes away from Taeyeon to focus on Ho Un Dung. Dashing as ever, he looks every bit the suave, rich man he is acting as. Her heart thumps faster as he says his first line.

“Noyeon, I’ll be back soon.”

Kim Shortae appears behind him, throwing her arms around his waist for a backhug. “Dikin, I’ll miss you. Please stay safe.”

Normally, Tiffany would be puking internally at a scene like that but right now, she feels too guilty to hate on Kim Shortae or her character. Darn it. This is not going to be an easy show to watch.

[o]

Tiffany swears Kim Shortae was looking at her during curtain call and things are beginning to get scary. Why is this idol singer paying so much attention to her? Tiffany feels like a fox, hunted down by the hunter. Is Kim Shortae really going to look out for the fansite too?

“What are you mumbling about?” Sunny asks as she negotiates a turn at the traffic junction.

“Argh!” The mess in Tiffany’s head is too much and she digs her fingers into her hair, messing it up in frustration. “I’m screwed.”

“By who?”

“Tae-freaking-yeon.”

“That was a bit of bad luck,” Sunny agrees. “But she can’t do anything to you. Can she?”

Tiffany shrugs. “I don’t know. But I think she was looking at me during curtain call. It was scary.”

“She was looking at you?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she was.”

“You are overthinking this. How would she know where you were sitting?”

“I don’t know! But I swear she was looking straight at me.”

“You got it bad. You’re starting to sound like a Taeyeon fan.”

“No! I’m not!”

“Okay, okay. You’re not. You don’t have to yell in the car, damnit.”

“Sorry.” Tiffany slumps and slides down in her seat. “I’ll calm down.”

“Good. Do it before I kick you out.”

[o]

Lamenting her life as she sits at her computer, Tiffany heaves a suffering sigh. It is not difficult to design a logo for a fansite so that is not the problem. The real problem lies with the idol that the fansite is supposed to be supporting. Kim Shortae. Okay, so she can sing. But she’s still short. And pale like a ghost. Maybe she is a ghost. That would explain the haunting feeling that won’t go away.

Tiffany doesn’t know how she is going to explain herself if any of Ho Un Dung’s fans find out she is starting a Kim Shortae fansite. Quite a few of his fans do not like seeing the female idol appearing close to their ‘oppa’ and it certainly doesn’t help that she was one of them. Well, she is still one of them but nobody will believe her if they know that she’s the master behind Smiling Petals.

“I’m well and truly screwed over. And it’s all thanks to you, Shortae,” Tiffany growls as she stubs her finger on the idol’s picture on her screen. She sighs again as she adjusts the contrast of the picture and edits the balance. When she is happy with the picture, she adjusts it to the appropriate size and inserts it as the fansite’s main picture. The picture of Kim Shortae outside the theatre is surprisingly well-taken, considering how she had been half-hearted about doing it in the first place. Well, having skin this fair has its advantages, Tiffany supposes. It acts like a light reflector and gives the singer a glow that casts an ethereal effect.

“At least you aren’t taking up too much of my time for editing,” Tiffany says to the picture of the singer. “Know your place. You will never take over Ho Un Dung’s place in my heart. And I will never spend more time editing your pictures than his.”

To make the act more convincing, Tiffany sets up an Instagram account and uploads a few of the singer’s pictures there, including the link to the fansite in the bio section. No Twitter required. That would be too much work. Pleased with her work, Tiffany shuts down her computer and throws herself onto her bed.

A quick check on the clock hanging on the wall reveals that five hours have passed. Five hours! No wonder she’s dog-tired. Enough of Smiling Petals dot com. It is time to sleep.

[o]

Tiffany feels better when she wakes up eight hours later. It’s a new day. Hope is renewed and the haunting feeling is finally gone. Tiffany smiles as she stretches. Today shall be spent editing Ho Un Dung’s pictures. Shining Dung is her blood and sweat after all. Shining Dung should be the main focus of her efforts.

After eating a hearty breakfast that could qualify as lunch, Tiffany sits at her computer and boots it up. She is still logged on to the Smiling Petals email account when she opens the e-mail and there is a new entry in the inbox. Tiffany clicks to see what the new e-mail is and nearly falls off her chair when she sees the sender’s e-mail: [email protected].

And Tiffany’s hand is trembling when she clicks the e-mail to read the message:

Dear Smiling Petals,

Thank you. The pictures are very nice.
See you at the next show. Be careful. Don’t fall.

Taeyeon.

Tiffany isn’t sure if the singer’s words are a warning or a curse but it sends a shiver down her spine just the same. How did Kim Shortae find her site so quickly? Is she some kind of internet ninja? And how did the singer know it’s her?

She knows you will call it Smiling Petals, you . A simple search will dig up the site.

“See you at the next show?” Tiffany re-reads the e-mail with a groan. “I am dead. So dead.”

[o]