Tiffany walked briskly into the coffee shop without sparing a glance at the “Closed” sign hung level-eyed on the glass door, it slammed shut with a loud bang behind her, she flinched upon the unexpected bang. The place was usually packed with young people, especially those in their twenties who had just started working in companies, but not a soul was seen when Tiffany barged in. Of course it would be empty by now, she didn’t even notice how fast the clock was ticking in the confines of SM’s practice room. All high stools and chairs were placed neatly and upside down on the sparkly clean wooden tables, the cafe was dimly lit by soft yellow light, but Tiffany knew it’d soon be put out once the barista had finished up. She waltzed her way through the chair maze and made it to the long counter. As she expected, the tall tanned woman was standing upright behind the counter, rinsing and wiping the mugs. The woman noticed the grinning Tiffany approaching, she returned a smile.

‘Hey, you’re back late. How was it?’ Yuri wiped her hands on the black bistro apron as Tiffany halted her step before the counter. It was already ten past eleven at night, but Tiffany seemed oddly excited considering she had been practicing all day. Normally she’d drag her feet into the cafe, then flopped her head on the counter like a dead fish.

‘It’s a long story, an unbelievable one actually, guess who was there too!’ Tiffany exclaimed, her naturally loud voice echoed in the empty cafe.

‘Ummm…the CEO?’ Yuri frowned, hands still busy drying the washed mugs.

‘No, I’ll give you a hint, it’s a she. Now try again.’

‘Fany-ah, I’ve had such a busy day today so I’ll pass the guessing.’

‘Fine,’ Tiffany couldn’t retain herself from spoiling the fun anyway. It was obvious that she was eager to belt out the answer. ‘It was Taeyeon sunbae-nim! The SM legend singer Kim Taeyeon!’ Tiffany leaned forward, throwing her upper body on the counter top. Now Yuri finally understood where did the excitement come from. She too, could only let her jaws drop.

‘No way, for real?!’

‘YES! I sang in front of her and she said I did great!’ 

If the chairs and tables weren’t neatly organised, Tiffany would be doing a random dance, or running around screaming like a girl going to Disney for the first time. The huge grin on her face said it all. Yuri couldn’t feel happier for her, she had always known Tiffany was a hidden shinning gemstone.

‘Wait, but I thought it was just the PDs calling you for another practice showcase for the show?’ Then Yuri realised the logical flaw in the sequence of events.

‘That’s exactly what I thought too, but apparently Taeyeon sunbae-nim dropped by, then I was asked to perform. Goodness me, my heart was about to burst any minute back then! You know, she had those stares…so sharp, like blades. Ahhhh…I don’t know how to describe it, but her stares make you feel all submissive and scared.’ Tiffany furrowed her brows. Their eyes met quite a few times, but she was too nervous that she broke their eye contacts. Now that Tiffany thought of it, Taeyeon’s stare was…piercing.

‘Was she smiling?’

‘Does a smile of courtesy count as a smile too?’

‘That’s…ummmm…well, as least that doesn’t sound like some arrogant two-faced seniors you’ve met before.’ Yuri scoffed. Those stories Tiffany told her about some seniors were still vivid, they were, plainspoken, ugly.

Tiffany nodded in agreement.

‘She seemed nice, but then she was a bit…cold? Or maybe she doesn’t like expressing herself much, I’ve heard people talking about her being an introvert. But I supposed there wasn’t much to talk about with a random trainee.’ She shrugged nonchalantly. One must know his or her place, and Tiffany certainly knew her place in the company - just some dismissible trainee.

‘At least she cared to smile, that’s already a good sign. So what happened afterwards? Did she give you some advices?’ Yuri quickly changed the subject.

‘She wished me good luck then left. But the PD-nims, they told me about a new plan…a new plan for me to -’ Tiffany halted her words mid-speech, still agape, as if she was held spellbound. Oh, crap, this was supposed to be a secret. Tiffany inhaled sharply, mentally scolding herself for nearly defeated the objective of their agreement. Yuri was giving her a confused look. Okay, she could save it before the latter pick up on weird signs, for instance, her tendency to raise her voice whenever she’s lying.

‘What Fany? Don’t leave me hanging.’ 

‘I - I don’t really understand what the PD-nims were talking about either. I’m going to have another meeting with them on Friday to find out more.’ 

‘This Friday?’

And it didn’t raise Yuri’s suspicion, much to Tiffany’s delight. Anymore questioning would certainly expose the guiltiness in Tiffany’s abnormally raised voice.

‘Yeah, so I have to swap my shift with S