Du-geun. Du-geun. Du-geun. Dugeun. Dugeun. Dugeun. Dugeundugeundugeun.

This was definitely better than sketching someone who wasn’t aware they were being sketched. So, so much better. Taeyeon didn’t realize how much she missed sketching Tiffany until now. Tiffany’s eyes, nose, lips. The way her hair fell around her face. And she could never have gotten a chance to sketch Tiffany this way in the café. On a bed. Back against pillows. Browsing a sketchbook. Knees up. Relaxed. This was beautiful.

Strange, how it was harder to sketch Tiffany now. She wasn’t moving much, other than the occasional page flipping. The inactivity of the subject should have helped but Taeyeon found it more distracting instead. Was it the inactivity? Or was it the subject? The location?

Having Tiffany on her bed was distracting.  Her thoughts were straying. There were too many lines and curves to admire. The calves, the thighs, waist, s. There was so much that she was suddenly at a loss. How should she begin?

Tiffany lifted her head and looked at her. “Are you starting soon?”

“Yeah. I’m just getting a sense of the composition.”

“Oh.” Tiffany smiled and resumed browsing.

Taeyeon frowned. Start sketching already!

o|v

There was a thrill in her heart Tiffany had never felt before. It felt as though she were on display for Taeyeon exclusively. Kind of like the way people posed for student artists in art classes. Only, here in Taeyeon’s room, this artist was hers and hers only.

Taeyeon was focused. She could tell from the way the singer’s brows were furrowed. The way her eyes were focused. And that pencil, moving over the paper, swift and sharp. Her mind wasn’t on the sketches anymore. But she looked at them all the same.

After looking through half the book, she couldn’t help but notice how the sketches progressively zoomed in on parts of her at a time. Her face, her bottom . . . and her torso. And by torso, she meant chest. It was for the curves, she told herself. But she couldn’t help wondering if Taeyeon found her y when she sketched a full page of her cleavage.

All the sketches were beautiful though. Tiffany’s admiration of Taeyeon’s talent increased tenfold after looking through the sketches. Body part focus aside, the skill required was no joke, so Tiffany felt in no way offended. And she was impatient to see the result of Taeyeon’s current sketch. How would it look? How would she look?

“Taeyeon!”

Tiffany’s head snapped up and her eyes homed in on the intruder who was staring at her with big, round eyes and mouth wide open in surprise.

“W-What’s going on?” asked the intruder.

“Nothing.” Taeyeon was on her feet, moving towards the door, arms outstretched. “Don’t you know how to knock on doors?”

The intruder gave her an odd stare. “Is she the manager?”

“Ouuut now.” Taeyeon pushed the woman back “Out.” The door was shut and locked. Silence reigned for a moment before Taeyeon sighed and hanged her head.

“How did she know I’m the manager?” Tiffany asked out of curiosity.

“She’s too smart for her own good.”

“Is she your flatmate?”

Taeyeon nodded.

“I should greet her.”

“Don’t move. I’m not done.”

“But—”

“You can greet Sunny later. Sit still. Don’t move.”

Tiffany relaxed against the pillows obediently and watched as Taeyeon picked her sketchbook up and resumed sketching. Taeyeon looked up after a moment and their eyes met. Tiffany held her gaze, smiling, and suddenly, Taeyeon smiled too.

o|v

Taeyeon laboured over every and shade. She laboured till the very end, till the last of her pencil on the paper. Satisfied with the sketch, she smiled as she signed it. This was the first sketch she had ever done of an actual model posing in her room like this. Sure, she had sketched a few simple portraits for her friends before. But never like this. Not this seriously. And as soon as she signed it off, she wished she could do it again.

“Are you done?” Tiffany asked, sitting with her legs dangling down the side of the bed.

With a nod, Taeyeon handed the sketchbook to Tiffany. She watched Tiffany’s reaction carefully, noting the rise of those well-shaped brows and the admiration in those chocolate brown eyes. “What do you think?” she asked as foreign nerves made themselves known in her heart.

Tiffany met her eyes with a bright smile. “You’re so talented. This is far beyond my expectations.”

Taeyeon released the breath she didn’t know she was holding and smiled. “Thanks.”

“Can I have it?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“No, I’m keeping this. It’s the first sketch I’ve ever done so seriously.”

Tiffany pouted and puppy eyes appeared. “Can you draw another one and give that to me?”

Taeyeon considered it for a moment. It seemed like a reasonable request. But she didn’t feel up to sketching another one so soon. “Some other time.”

“Is that a promise?”

Taeyeon nodded. “I will do it.”

“When’s the next time?”

“When are you free?”

“Wednesday. Before the bar opens.”

“Okay. It’s a deal.”

“Thank you!” Tiffany squealed and for a moment it looked as though she were about to jump off the bed and hug her, but she hugged a pillow instead.

o|v

Sunny was lying in wait when they emerged from Taeyeon’s room. She stood, arms folded with a sense of expectancy and eyes like a hawk staring at prey as Taeyeon led Tiffany out to the living room. “Are you finally going to introduce us now?”

Ignoring Sunny’s taunt, Taeyeon made the necessary introductions with little enthusiasm. Taeyeon braced herself. Sunny’s grin wasn’t exactly evil but she knew it was going to be bad.

Sure enough, Sunny’s first question was tabloid level ten.

“So how did Taeyeon lure you into her room?”

“Sunny, you’re disgusting.”

“You’re the one with your manager in your room,” Sunny retorted with a grin.

“Get your mind out of the gutter.”

“Well, if it’s nothing, you shouldn’t have a problem talking about it.”

Tiffany raised her hand. “Taeyeon brought me here because I asked to see her sketches.”

“There. It’s nothing.”

Sunny’s mouth fell open. “She let you look at her sketches?”

Tiffany nodded.

“Wow, she literally beats me if I go anywhere near her bookcase.”

“Nothing you don’t deserve.”

“See? This is what I get.”

Tiffany giggled. “The two of you have such a great relationship. I’m envious.”

Sunny turned to Taeyeon. “Your manager is crazy.”

Taeyeon rolled her eyes. “Is your interrogation over? Tiffany needs to get going.”

“Are you in a hurry?” Sunny asked Tiffany. “If you aren’t you can stay for dinner with us.”

“Tiffany has better things to do.”

Sunny directed a piercing glare at Taeyeon. “Tiffany will decide that.”

“I’ll be happy to stay for dinner.”

Sunny clapped her hands and grinned. “Great! Do you like fried chicken and beer?”

Tiffany put her hand over her heart. “I think we can be best friends already.”

“Why don’t you move in and take over Taeyeon’s room?”

Tiffany giggled along with Sunny while Taeyeon sulked. “You two stink like old s.”

“Too bad then. You’ll just have to hold your breath all through dinner,” said Sunny and with that, she brought Tiffany into the kitchen. “I can’t believe Taeyeon didn’t even offer you a drink. I apologize for my uncultured friend.”

Taeyeon groaned in her heart. Sunny was going to dig her claws into this and she wasn’t going to let go. If she had known Sunny would be home this early today, she would never have brought Tiffany back with her.

o|v

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Tiffany’s eyes widened. “What have you heard from Taeyeon?”

Sunny smiled as she reached for the home delivery menus. “The usual complains about work.”

“I suppose she said horrible things about me.”

“Well, it’s nothing personal. She’s never had anything good to say about managers.”

“Really? She hates them all?”

“She had a thing against people who try to tell her what to do. She’s a rebel, that one.”

“Why does she hate it so much though?”

“She’s been played out by a couple of managers before. And the last few at the bar weren’t great.” Sunny handed the menus to Tiffany and grinned. “So the fact that you’re standing here and not getting dragged out by Taeyeon is quite amazing. How did you do it?”

“I asked to see her sketches but she didn’t have it with her so she brought me here to have a look.”

“You don’t get it. Taeyeon doesn’t like people looking at her sketches. How did you get her you let you look?”

“I sorta bargained with her? Since she had sketched me, I should have the right to at least look at them.”

Sunny’s mouth fell open again. “She sketched you?”

Tiffany nodded. “In the café.”

“Oh my gosh. This is a discovery.”

“I had no idea she was this private with her sketches.”

Sunny shook her head. “You have no idea.” With a hand on Tiffany’s shoulder, Sunny leaned closer and said, “You got the special treatment. She must like you a lot.”

Tiffany’s heart warmed and she couldn’t help smiling.

“Oh . . . look at your smile.” Sunny smiled too. “I guess my trashy friend might end up dating a manager after all.” She giggled. “This is meant to be.”

Tiffany stared at Sunny. “What do you mean?”

Sunny’s responding smile was mysterious. “You’ll find out one day.”

o|v