Dinner was a thoroughly enjoyable affair. Between the fried chicken and beer and Sunny and Taeyeon, Tiffany found herself throwing her head back in laughter many times over the couple of hours. Sunny was bright. And by bright, she meant intelligent. Perceptive and knowing. Which made a lot of sense since she found out that Sunny worked as a counsellor for troubled youth.

“Your job is very meaningful.”

Sunny smiled. “All jobs are meaningful.”

“That’s true. But yours is helpful too.” Tiffany looked down at her fingers for a moment before meeting Sunny’s kind eyes again. “I got a lot of help from a counsellor in the past. I’m very thankful to her.”

“Do you mind sharing how counsellor helped you?”

Tiffany bit her lip. “I was bullied in school. And ostracized. It was a very difficult time for me but the counsellor helped me to regain my confidence.”

“Do you still keep in touch with the counsellor?”

“Yeah. I send her the occasional message. Festive days, her birthday . . .”

Sunny smiled. “That’s nice. Some of the youth I counsel will do what you do. But some of them vanish. I don’t mind that either. I just hope they are living well now.”

Tiffany looked over to Taeyeon who had been quiet the entire time. “I hope the topic isn’t too boring for you.”

“You don’t have to worry about Taeyeon. She’s listening.” Sunny raised her glass of beer. “A toast to survivors of troubled youth.”

With a smile, Tiffany lifted her glass and clinked it with Sunny’s. “To all survivors.”

o|v

“Thanks for having me. I really enjoyed dinner with you girls.”

“You need to come over more often. Dinner is a lot livelier with you around. It’s not as fun when it’s just Taeyeon and I.”

Tiffany looked at Taeyeon. The rock singer wasn’t saying a word. “I will if you’ll have me. It sure beats having dinner alone in my tiny apartment.”

“The door’s open to you anytime,” Sunny declared with a wide grin. “Bring beer along and we’ll love you even more,” she said with a laugh.

“Speak for yourself, Sunny,” Taeyeon interjected. “You’re the alcoholic.”

“I’ll be sure to bring some along the next time.”

With happy smiles, they bid each other goodbye and she was accompanied by Taeyeon to her car. The rock singer opened the door for her and gave her an extended stare as she strapped on her seatbelt.

“Are you sure you’re okay to drive?”

“I didn’t drink much. I’m pretty sober.”

A crease formed between Taeyeon’s brows. “Pretty sober isn’t good enough.” The singer tapped on the door and jerked her head towards her car. “Get out. I’ll drive you back.”

“There’s really no need—”

“Drink driving is no joke. I’m not gonna be responsible for letting you drive tipsy.”

Tiffany pouted. “You’re too dramatic.”

“Acting cute won’t work.” Taeyeon tugged at her arm. “Come out. Now.”

With a sigh and grumble, Tiffany unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of her car. Taeyeon closed the door and she stared at the singer. “What do we do now?”

“I’ll send you home.”

o|v

Taeyeon glanced at her passenger every now and then while driving. The mana-Bear- was looking out the window at the scenery passing, unusually quiet.

“Are you okay?” she asked after a while.

Tiffany turned to her. “Yeah.”

“You’re pretty quiet.”

“I’m just thinking about my counsellor. I haven’t spoken to her in a while.”

“You sound close to her.”

Tiffany smiled warmly. “She’s a great person. Loving and kind. When we have dinner together, she always insists on giving me a treat just because she’s my senior but she’s only a few years older than me.”

“How old is she?”

“Thirty.”

“That’s younger than I thought.”

Tiffany chuckled. “You don’t have to be a granny to be a counsellor you know.”

“I know.”

“I think I should give her a call soon.”

“Yeah, you should.”

“Did you ever get bullied in school?”

Taeyeon shook her head. “I would fight anyone who tried to bully me or my friends. I got into fights for that reason.”

“That sounds heroic.”

“Nah. Nothing heroic about that.”

“It is to the person who is being bullied.”

Taeyeon didn’t know what to say. She remembered Tiffany talking about being ostracized. It must have been really hard for her. No friends, no support. “I wasn’t that afraid because Sooyoung would be right behind me. It helped that she’s much taller than other girls. So it wasn’t because I was very brave or anything.”

“You and Sooyoung were school mates?”

“We were in the same Maths class.”

“That’s cool. Classmates then, bandmates now.”

“It’s not cool. I’ve known her for so long that I’m ing sick of her. I need someone new.”

Tiffany snorted. “You and your nasty words that you don’t mean.”

“Only people who don’t know me well enough think I always mean what I say.”

“I’ve realized that. But that makes it harder for people to get to know you.”

“Speaking from personal experience?”

“Obviously.”

Taeyeon chuckled. “It’s a good way to get rid of people who aren’t really interested.”

“So it’s like a test?”

Taeyeon shrugged. “Not really.”

“It felt a bit like a test to me. Have I passed the test?”

“Do you really need to ask?”

“Why did you let me look at your sketches?”

“You’re the one who ing bugged me to let you look at them.”

“Yeah, but you could’ve said no.”

“I did say no. But you wouldn’t stop asking.”

“So you let me look at them because I’m stubborn?”

Taeyeon shot Tiffany a side glance. “Irritating and stubborn.”

“Is that so?”

“Is this your place?”

Tiffany looked out the window. “Yes, it is. Thank you.”

Taeyeon unfastened her seatbelt. “I’ll send you to your door.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Shut up. I’m already here. I’m not gonna let you go up by yourself when you’re obviously tipsy.”

The ride up the escalator to the eighth floor was silent. Taeyeon walked behind Tiffany until they got to the door.

8-01.

“Thank you, Taeyeon,” said Tiffany as she opened the door.

Taeyeon waved off the thanks and nodded. “Goodnight.”

Arms stretched around her shoulders and Tiffany leaned in suddenly, lips landing on her left cheek. “Goodnight, Taeyeon,” Tiffany mumbled with a smile and Taeyeon stared as she disappeared behind the closing door.

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

o|v