“How are things going in your love life?” Ginna asked with a wide grin.

Tiffany returned the grin with a pinch of glee, still basking in the afterglow of her date from the day before.

“Oh my, oh my.” Ginna touched her fingers to her chest, feigning surprise. “Somebody is happy.” She nudged Tiffany. “You owe me.”

“It’s too early to say.”

Ginna rolled her eyes. “The cat’s in the bag already.”

“No, no. The bag is approaching the cat,” Tiffany corrected.

“Ooh, and you’re the bag sneaking up on the cat.”

“I hope I won’t mess things up and let the cat get away.”

Ginna chuckled. “Don’t worry. Even if the cat gets away, you’ll still have me.”

“Ginna—”

“Don’t tell me I’m wasting my time. I’ll be the judge of that, thank you very much.”

“I wasn’t gonna say that.”

“No? What were you gonna say then?”

Tiffany giggled. “I was gonna ask you to pray hard for me.”

“I don’t pray. I’ll just wish you luck.”

“Thanks, Ginna. You’re definitely second on my list.”

Ginna whistled. “Second? After Taeyeon? I’ll take that.”

o|v

“Doesn’t Ginna have better things to do than to hang out here almost every night?”

Sooyoung, Hyo and Seo exchanged looks and snickered.

“What are you laughing at? You’re all crazy like mana,” Taeyeon grumbled.

Sooyoung squinted at Taeyeon. “Tiffany isn’t crazy like us.”

“Oh, trust me. She is.”

“And how would you know?”

“I just know.”

“Bull, Taeyeon. You’re hiding something from us.”

Hyoyeon nudged Taeyeon. “What is it? Tell us.”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

Seo stood suddenly. “If you’re not going to tell us, I’ll just ask Tiffany.”

Taeyeon grabbed Seo’s arm, stopping the woman from leaving their booth. “No. You stay away from her.”

“But why?” Seo asked innocently, with her big, round eyes peering into Taeyeon’s soul.

“Don’t make things ing awkward for us.”

“I don’t think Tiffany will find it awkward.”

“I think it’ll be awkward as .”

Sooyoung put an arm around Seo and grinned. “Relax, we won’t make things difficult for you if you come clean with us. Something is up. We know it. You can’t lie to us.”

Taeyeon took a deep breath. “Nothing—ing—happened.”

“We don’t believe you.”

Taeyeon kicked back and folded her arms. “You don’t have to.”

o|v

A couple mornings later, Taeyeon’s phone rang. She saw the caller’s name and answered it with a little smile. “Hello?”

“Good morning, Taeyeon.”

“What’s up? Why are you calling?”

“Am I calling at a bad time?”

“No.”

“Are you busy?”

“No.”

“What are you doing?”

“Are you Shirley Holmes or something? What’s with all the questions?”

“Are you doing something illegal you can’t talk about?”

“What the ? No.”

“Are you with someone?”

Taeyeon looked at her black and white inanimate companion lying beside her. “I’m with Jack.”

“Jack?”

“Jack Skellington.”

“Jack Skelli—” A fierce huff came through the phone. “Taeyeon, seriously.”

“Can you just get to the ing point already?”

“Are you free tomorrow afternoon?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I need your help with auditions.”

“Are you gonna pay me?”

“Yuri will pay you. I’m the manager, not the boss.”

Taeyeon was about to retort when Sunny’s head popped into her room.

“Taeyeon, why are you still in bed?”

“Breakfast in bed, honey?” Taeyeon asked cheekily.

“Who you calling honey?” Sunny’s face was contorted with disgust. “Get up, bedbug. Yoona’s reaching in five.”

“Can’t you see I’m on the phone?”

“I can see that. I can also see your armpit hair and it’s disgusting. Get uuup, Kim Taeyeon,” Sunny growled before disappearing from the doorway.

There was laughter like a hyena’s on the other side.

“Manab—ger Tiffany, what’s so funny?” Taeyeon asked as she got up from bed. “Stop laughing.”

“You haven’t told me if you’ll help out with auditions tomorrow.”

“Fine. I’ll help.”

Tiffany giggled. “Great. See ya tomorrow.”

o|v

Tiffany giggled when she saw Taeyeon entering the bar the next day. The rock singer looked as cool as usual in her white t-shirt, plaid shirt and denim jacket ensemble, but her hair was a little windblown and some ends were sticking out like grass or something. Cute.

“What are you doing?” Taeyeon protested when she patted the singer’s hair.

“Your hair’s messy.”

Taeyeon made a face. “It’s like a typhoon outside.”

Tiffany smoothed out the mess and smiled. “Done.”

“Thanks,” Taeyeon mumbled and sat down. “Where are the bands?”

“They’re coming soon.”

“How many bands are there?”

“Three.”

“Darn it.” Taeyeon dragged her hands down her face. “I need coffee for this.”

Tiffany grinned and placed a cup of coffee before Taeyeon. “My treat.”

Taeyeon’s eyes widened. “ABeanC!”

“I thought you might miss the coffee from there. Looks like I was right.”

“I don’t miss it,” said Taeyeon as she got a good whiff of the coffee.” “How do you know what I like?”

“I asked the barista.” Tiffany stared hard at Taeyeon. “Are you sure you don’t miss it?”

“I don’t,” said Taeyeon as she lifted the cup to her lips. “I get my coffee from there all the time.”

“But you don’t sketch in there anymore.”

“There’s nobody left for me to sketch there.”

“So you just grab your coffee and go?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” Tiffany was disappointed. She had hoped to see Taeyeon back at the café now that things were fine between them. “So which café do you sketch at now?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I want to know which café to avoid.”

Taeyeon snorted. “Then you don’t have to worry. I’m not sketching in any café.”

“Why not?”

“I prefer windy places now.”

“Oh . . . is that why your hair was messy? You had just come from sketching?”

“Yeah.”

“May I look at your new sketches?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“It’s private.”

“Sooyoung has seen them though. And Hyo. And Seo.”

“Did they mention stealing my sketchbook to look? They didn’t, right?”

“I think you draw very well though. Why don’t you want people to admire your sketches?”

“I don’t need that. I just sketch for fun. To let relax.”

“What must I do to have a look?”

Taeyeon stared at her. “Why must you look?”

“Because they’re beautiful.” Tiffany pouted. “Won’t you at least let me look at the ones of me?”

“You already saw yours the last time.”

“Like a proper look.”

Taeyeon made a face. “How much time do you need?”

Tiffany started to laugh. This was a ridiculous question. “How much time do I need? Are you going to time me?”

Taeyeon tapped her watch. “How much time?”

“Are you serious right now?”

With a solemn expression, Taeyeon nodded.

Tiffany frowned and considered her answer for a moment. Then she stuck out the peace sign with her fingers. “Two hours.”

“Dafuq? Two ing hours? Are you trying to memorize every ?”

“You asked, I answered. Two hours.”

Taeyeon palmed her face. “Whatever. But you’re not looking at it here. Not for two hours.”

Tiffany almost smiled. “ABeanC then. And the coffee’s on me.”

“Two coffees.”

This time, Tiffany couldn’t help grinning. “Two coffees.”

o|v