It nearly gave Tiffany a heart attack when she realised who did she run into.

Sleek white greyish mid-long straight hair, petit body frame, fair (well, slightly pale) complexion and a fine sculpted face - the sight shocked the life out of Tiffany. The one and only person who shared remotely similar features was a respected senior artist from none other than her own company - Kim Taeyeon. The huge admiration from the public for the said singer could be seen everywhere, especially a few months ago when her new album was released. Banners, posters, fan signs, bus and underground advertisements…the entire Seoul was covered in Taeyeon’s presence, everywhere Tiffany went there would be a “Taeyeon” nearby. The blond, or the greyish hair, became the singer’s trademark since she promoted with it for over a year already. For Tiffany, the trainee who walked pass Taeyeon’s life-size cardboard by the entrance everyday, it wasn’t rocket science to figure out who was the person accidentally bumped into her.

A close-up was enough to make her heart skip a beat. An unexpected close-up would send Tiffany six feet under the ground - but somehow she survived.

Whoa - was all Tiffany could think of besides stammering and slurring in her very first encounter with the legendary figure in her company. The singer was a lot smaller than she thought, even her face wasn’t even of the size of her palm, and the aura…it was exactly like the comments online, holly and untouchable. But Tiffany couldn’t be held accountable because she too, was accustomed to worshiping the most successful female singer in the company, thus she was naturally biased.

Now that Tiffany thought of it, the singer was actually quite…cool, as in the way she interacts with others.

Like now.

Taeyeon was back with a handful of sweets in her arms. Gummy worms, jelly beans, fizzy and sour sweets…all kinds of kids’ favourite snack one could possibly name, they laid peacefully in the blonde’s hold. Tiffany didn’t mean to be rule - she mustn’t be rule in any circumstances - but it was only natural for people to stare at Taeyeon (biologically in her late twenties but appeared younger than an actual teenager), not only did the legendary singer look like a kid, but also has a taste like one.

‘Recording was a bit tiring so,’ Taeyeon lifted her arms a little to gesture at the bags of sweets. ‘time to pump some sugar in the system.’

Sugar certainly helps temporarily boosting a person’s mood as well as their performance, but Tiffany doubted it was necessary to buy so many sweets. No, there was no way a person could survive after consuming this enormous amount of sugar. It seemed like binge eating rather than solely restoring cheap unhealthy energy to Tiffany, as a matter of fact, she too was the type of person using food as a stress relief.

Tiffany silently followed Taeyeon into the recording studio again. The mess was still there, everything untouched just like before the blonde left in haste. Taeyeon frowned at the unpleasant sight while putting her sugar supplies on the spare table. Then she hurried into the soundproof booth to tidy up. The mess could be sorted easily, it was trying to leave a good impression for the woman that was difficult. Whether Tiffany had witnessed her rampage or not, Taeyeon had absolutely no clue, she could only hope that she didn’t see that side of her.

‘Sorry about the mess, I accidentally knocked the music stand down then everything just went chaotic.’ Taeyeon sat beside the long table, torn open a packet gummy bears. ‘Would you like one, Tiffany-ssi?’

‘No but thank you, Taeyeon sunbae-nim.’ Tiffany chose a seat right opposite the senior, carefully calculating the most suitable distance between them so that both of them would feel comfortable to talk casually. Watching Taeyeon chewing on sweets was rather an amusing sight, for a moment Tiffany almost forgot this was her senior who she thought was cute.

For a moment Taeyeon was active, initiated the conversation, but now she just cruelly left it in awkward silence. It was bizarre to say the least, but Tiffany had expected awkwardness because it was a common knowledge in the company that Kim Taeyeon was a typical introvert, she seldom talks.

Tiffany sighed inwardly. Why did this mysterious senior of hers ask her to meet up today? Was Kim Taeyeon going to talk at all? Instead of letting her watch her biting and chewing on those colourful spongy gummy bears? 

When the packet was finally empty, Taeyeon had nothing to occupy herself with, she’s got to face this sooner or later. She raised her head and tried giving the nervous Tiffany a tiny smile.

‘Tiffany-ssi, I believe you already knew I’ll be working with you from now on.’ Taeyeon’s eyes darted away as her brain was working hard to arrange the words into a much better sentence. ‘Forgive my bluntness, but why now?’

Tiffany knew what Taeyeon meant by ‘now’. She was also a hot topic once - for her position as a trainee still in her late twenties. In other words, there was no hope for her to debut at this age because she was way too old for the public taste. Why now? After all these years of humiliations and letdowns, why joining the competition now knowing her company had long abandoned her?

It was insensitive of Taeyeon of course, but in some way it was great that she was being frank. Pretentiousness really irked Tiffany and she’d rather have bluntness than a snake around.

‘I became a trainee when I was 15 and I’m still a trainee at 27 years-old.’ Tiffany gave a small smile. ‘We all knew what that meant, but I don’t want to give up - it’s not in my nature to give up. I’ve left everything behind in pursuit of this dream of mine and I’ve come so far, there’s nothing to lose anymore, right?’ 

Taeyeon looked at Tiffany, surprised by the woman’s genuinely optimistic tone.

True, for a trainee like Tiffany, there were only two options: to walk out on her dream or give it one last shot. The former erases all the effort Tiffany had put in, whereas the latter might as well hit the jackpot. Nothing to lose, no risk. Why not give it a go?

‘I’ve always loved music, there’s nothing else I want to do besides singin