"What are you doing here, Yuri?" Tiffany asked the alluring girl she met at the airport just a few days ago.

"Well, I'm going to dance and choreograph for a number and you could also say that I'm helping out my buddy Taeyeon here with her concert", Yuri replied while ruffling Taeyeon's sweaty locks but not taking her eyes off the sweet crescent moons on Tiffany's face. Yuri was being friendly to Tiffany but it seemed like her player skills are still coming out unknowingly.

Taeyeon rudely brushed off Yuri's hand and continued on watching the two like a hawk.

Help out my buddy. Yeah right, Yuri. And you Tiffany..I mean  Manager Hwang! How'd you get to know this player? Goofing off on a managerial job eh? Tsk...you sure are one fickle!

"Oh, you're good friends with Taeyeon?" Tiffany asked, bewildered that someone like Yuri would hang out with a detestful brat like Taeyeon.

"We're good buddies. Really good ones despite just knowing each other for such a short time. Taeyeon here doesn't really get along much with anybody else." Yuri bantered playfully, poking Taeyeon.

"Oh. You must be very nice and patient then." Tiffany complimented.

"What? Yah! Manager Hwang, what are you trying to say?" Taeyeon blurted out. Did she just insult me too?

"Nice and patient are not enough to describe her. Yuri's really a great person, in and out. Hyo and I have known her for only a few months but she's a real chic girl. Anyway, Tiffany-ssi, how did the two of you meet? I'm really curious." Nicole interrupted Yuri and Tiffany as she settled herself into one of the monoblock chairs.

"Yeah, it's interesting that you know each other since we haven't seen you around here Tifanny-ssi. You must be new to Seoul." Hyoyeon seconded. "Yuri mentioned something about ahjussi and....airport???"

"Well, it was kind of an accident?" Yuri and Tiffany answered at the same time, making them pause and giggle for timing it together. Tiffany looked down, bashful from the coincidental response.

Ha! Jinx! You two will have 10 years of badluck! Hahaha....haha...ha...ha...

Yah! yah..wait a minute...What's with the giggling? So what if you answered at the same time! Yuri-ah, why are you acting like this? And you! You manager Hwang! How come you're acting like a lady?!

Taeyeon smugged at the obviously blushing manager and turned to her side acting like she was barfing. Yuri ignored the ridiculously behaving friend of hers and continued to explain to Hyoyeon and Nicole.

"I was supposed to have my 2 day vacation and planned to fly to Jeju for some relaxation. However, no thank you to this little hallyu star friend of mine, my trip was cancelled. I was a bit angry that morning but something happened that made up for my day." Yuri paused as she fronted Tiffany, emphasizing on the brunette for that "something" that she just mentioned.

"Anniyo Yuri. You're too much." Tiffany said, turning pink again.

"Well, it's true Stephanie..." Yuri replied, giving Tiffany a huge smile which only lit a fuse in Taeyeon. "Anyway, continuing with the story, Stephanie here, I think, just arrived from the US. I think she was too excited with coming here. When I was about to enter the airport, this pretty little missy here spilled my cup of coffee---"

"Awww....Spilled coffee on the first meet, how melodramatic! It's like a scene from a movie." Nicole commented dreamingly as she pulled Hyoyeon's arm next to her cheek while still sitting down on a chair. "Isn't that romantic Hyo?"

"Anniyo." Yuri held her hands up, denying the tease, thinking that Tiffany wasn't into women. 

"Well, it seemed like it was the movies. Come to think of it, it was really romantic to meet someone like that." Tiffany said, turning all shades of red and feeling a bit warm. However, as fast as she burned up, she quickly dove down to freezing point when she realized she met Taeyeon the same way...spilling drinks. Yet, unlike Yuri's encounter, Tiffany found nothing romantic about that incident with Taeyeon at all.

"Tch. more like liquid klutz. Cofee...soda and water...what more can you spill manager Hwang?" Taeyeon gave a snide remark, recollecting in her head the spilling incidents she had with Tiffany involving a can of sweet sticky soda and a bottle of crystal clear water.

Hmmpff. Hope that coffee was scalding hot Yuri! Melodramatic. Yah. Movies my hiney! Those types of movies flop all the time! Bleah!

Tiffany heard what Taeyeon said and gave the twerp a little kick on the shin causing the danshin to give out a yelp as she held her leg and rubbed it forcefully to ease the pain away. Her manager glared at her but quickly changed into an eye-smiling aegyo queen when Yuri turned back her attention to Tiffany. Taeyeon just glowered in disgust; she was almost at her limit.

"Oh yeah, I have your travel guide book, Stephanie. It got stained with coffee but it's generally fine. I think I have it in my car" Yuri said to Tiffany, placing her hand on Tiffany's shoulder as a gesture of assurance. "I should return it to you."

"Gee. Thanks. It was nice of you to pick it up after that... And by the way, we've been talking for quite a while, please Yuri, call me Tiffany rather than Stephanie", the manager replied sheepishly as she took Yuri's hand in between her own palms.

"Guraeyo. But I prefer Stephanie. Fits you better. A beautiful girl like you would have a beautiful name. Why not use it?" Yuri said, smiling back at the melting brunette. 

"Oh...thanks." Tiffany murmurred a flustered reply. She definitely was crushing on Yuri.

Taeyeon's eyes popped at the casual skinship. Pulling the neckline of her shirt up to , Taeyeon faked a loud cough to intercept the farcical play happening in front of her.

Oh! Please call me Tiffany. Stephanie!? Pfft. Tiffany. Stepany. Tippany. Pany-Pany. They're all the same!

A sarcastic voice was cussing constantly in Taeyeon's head as she tried to dissipate her unusual anger towards her best buddy and her manager.

"Are you okay Taeyeon-ssi?" Hyoyeon asked, simultaneosly amused and concerned at the ripening tomato-faced hallyu star. Nicole just nudged her lover for being too blatant about Taeyeon's situation.

"Uhm ehem" Taeyeon pretended to clear and grumbled like a troll under the bridge. "No, I'm not okay...I'm hungry! When am I supposed to eat when we're all chattering about some nonsense? My kimchi fried rice probably feels like the North pole now. Yah! Let's eat!"

Tiffany remembered her little vengeance scheme and quickly took three of the 'safe' boxes of kimchi fried rice and handed one to Hyoyeon, Nicole and Yuri, respectively. She then took the marked styro box and shoved it to Taeyeon, earning a grunt from the latter. When all the chopsticks and food were given out, everyone settled on chairs in a semi-circle fashion around the corner plastic table.

"Eat up guys. I know this might not be that appropriate for lunch but you're probably hungry from working with my client here. Hope you like kimchi fried rice. I'll make sure to bring a better meal tomorrow or on the next scheduled practice. Please eat well." Tiffany coaxed.

"Anniyo. Thanks Tiffany-ssi. This is great! It was actually nice of you to get us food too" Nicole said, shaking her hand with her chopsticks and daintily expressed her gratitude for the food.

"Gomawoyo/ Thanks Stephanie." Hyoyeon and Yuri followed up and bowed slightly in acknowledgement. However, unlike the three, Taeyeon just broke her chopsticks apart and vigorously brushed the two bamboo rods together to remove any splinters, not saying thanks at all. 

The rest started to eat including Tiffany who took the last styro box and munched on her own meal. Nicole and Hyoyeon were feeding each other shamelessly while Yuri ate in peace. Taeyeon inspected her food as soon as she opened her styro box. She took a waft of the red pasted clump of long grained rice and instantly she knew there was something funky with her set. Taeyeon shot a glare at Tiffany but her manager was too busy watching Yuri happily eat.

"Yah. Yuri-ah. Let's switch meals" Taeyeon offered while checking on Tiffany's reaction.

"Wae? It's all the same. Why do you always take my food Taengoo?" Yuri whined while furrowing her brows.

"What's wrong with yours Taeyeon-ssi?" Hyoyeon asked in addition to Yuri.

"I just want yours. Just give it to me." Taeyeon stubbornly persuaded the taller girl and they traded their boxes.

Tiffany saw that they switched and her eyes bulged from their sockets as soon as she realized that Yuri now has the double extra spicy kimchi fried rice she had asked the chef to cook for earlier from the restaurant. Taeyeon took a bite of originally Yuri's meal and found nothing weird about it then she glanced at Tiffany who had now a worried expression on her face as she viewed on Yuri partaking her new meal.

"Don't----" Tiffany blocked Yuri's hand mid-air as she was about to put food inside .

"Stephanie, waeyo?" Yuri questioned, quite baffled from the abrupt interruption.

"Yes, why manager Hwang? Something wrong with my food?" Taeyeon jeered at Tiffany who knew that Taeyeon had discovered her little vengeful prank.

Looking down, Tiffany hesitated on revealing her prank for she knew Taeyeon would just vaunt about her superiority. 

Looking at Taeyeon and not waiting for any more response from Tiffany, Yuri shoved in a dallop of the fried rice into her hungry mouth. Yuri was fine for a few seconds then she started to feel her ears warm up and burn. She coughed a few times, getting the others' attention and she desperately begged for water. Tiffany looked up at Yuri and realized that her crush had fallen into her prank. Tiffany immediately moved her box from her lap to the table and quickly ran to the water dispenser. She grabbed a glass full of water and dashed towards the panting girl. Yuri gulped down all the contents of the the cup and heaved deeply as she tried to recover the sensation in her taste buds.

"Yuri-ah, gwaenchanna?" Nicole asked as she rubbed Yuri's shoulder and Hyoyeon stood nearby Taeyeon.

Taeyeon shook her head disapprovingly and cocked at Tiffany. She celebrated in her head for she outsmarted her manager.

You thought you'd get me manager Hwang, eh? well, Boohoo! I'm smarter this time around. Hahaha. Yah! Sorry Yuri, you had to bite the bullet for me. Well, you kinda deserve it my friend. Hahaha! Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Taeyeon you're the best! 

"Wow. That was some spicy kimchi" Yuri said while fanning , finally recovering from the one spoonful TNT in her tongue.

"Mianheyo Yuri. That wasn't really meant for you. I'm so sorry. Oh gosh...this is embarassing" Tiffany apologized, wiping Yuri's forehead with some tissue.

"Gwaenchanna Stephanie. I'm okay. I still can talk, right?" Yuri guaranteed Tiffany as she wiped her own sweat, incidentally touching Tiffany's hand again. She saw the sincerity in Tiffany's eyes and Yuri could only laugh at the situation.

"Are you sure?" Tiffany continued to ask, still worried about Yuri's condition.

"Yeah I'm sure." Yuri affirmed and patted Tiffany's soft hands. "It's nice of you to care so much about other people...Don't worry Stephanie. Seriously, I'm fine."

Taeyeon's jaw dropped at the sight of the two. She couldn't believe what was happening. Everything was happening exactly opposite to her predictions.

What?! Yah! Yah! Manager Hwang!!! What's with all this touchy-touchy stuff? Why are you so nice to Yuri? If I would have eaten that fried rice, you would have probably rollled down on the floor laughing!!! You probably would have just left me to die if I was in Yuri's place!!!

Crossing her arms across her chest, Taeyeon pondered on Tiffany's actions and suspired in disbelief. She was mad at the same time wounded.

Why? Why do I feel hurt? I wasn't pranked by Tiffany... I totally won this round!!! But...but why do I feel like I lost? It's like I never won in  the first place. Aish! I'm going crazy! Yuri-ah, stop touching her! Be a player to anyone...just not my manager!!!

"Green-eyed monster Taeyeon-sii?" Hyoyeon whispered to Taeyeon at her side.

"Mwo?", Taeyeon replied back in a hush, baffled at Hyo's random statement. "Green eyes? Anni Hyo. My eyes are brown- colored. And what monster are you talking about? There's no monster here."

Hyoyeon facepalmed herself and retorted back to Taeyeon. "Aish. Taeyeon-ssi. That was such a wrong move."

"Wae? What's wrong with me moving? Why are you saying it's wrong to move?" Taeyeon asked again, this time more puzzled.

"Aish, jinja. You're hopeless." Hyoyeon sighed in return and walked back to Nicole's side, extremely dismayed. She didn't know whether Taeyeon was just clueless about what she was feeling or just plainly stupid.

Yah! What green eyed monster is she talking about? And heck if I move? That Hyoyeon is weird!

The danshin scratched her head, wondering what Hyoyeon meant. However, her attention was brought back to two other people, again. Taeyeon snatched a glance at Tiffany and then to Yuri and she saw both their hands still attached to one another. Her heart felt like it shrivelled and got poked at multi directions. She felt like her breathing was impaired and she was losing air. Clenching her fists, Taeyeon tried to gain self-control.

Why am I angry? What's this feeling? Am I jealous? Anni! It can't be! I barely know Tiffany and I can't have just fallen just like that! No. Last time I felt this way was with--- No! Taeyeon. That's it! Enough! You are not allowing this to happen again!

"Ehem. Excuse me. I'll be in the washroom. I'll be back." Extremely confused now with her emotions, Taeyeon excused herself quietly from the group and she trudged her way into the exit of the practice room. She was like fighting a duel, a fencing match between two sides of herself.

The rest of them paid not much attention and went back on attending to Yuri. Well, all of them except Tiffany, whose gaze curiously followed Taeyeon's figure as she slowly disappeared from the doors. Despite the ruckus happening between all theree dancers, Tiffany slipped into her own thoughts and started to wonder.

Where is Taeyeon going? Why did she suddenly look like the world has dropped on her shoulders. Was it something that I did? Taeyeon, what the hell is wrong with you?

_________________________

"Here's your order."

A sleek guy in a dark brown coat passed an A4 document envelope across an opaque glass table. Lowering his sunglasses to the peak of his nose, he inspected the client he was transacting business with across himself. The other person was wrapped from head to toe, wearing an ash-colored Fedora hat, dark smoky spectacles, plain black scarf and a well-made suit.

They were in a high-end bar at two forty-five in the afternoon, therefore no one else was around except for the old bartender at the far corner of the classy tavern. Behind the two who were conversing discreetly, were walls lined up with aquarium containers. An Arowana fish was swimming in a streamline from one glass panel to another. Its scales glistened like silver drapes in an ocean wave background that matched the eerie and awkward atmosphere.

The other reached out into the envelope and brought it up. Slowly, that person uncoiled the string around the opening of the brown paper container. His gloved hand dove into the envelope and pulled out the pictures. He spread the pictures on his palm and dropped them back one by one into the casing after checking each. He again coiled the string and laid the envelope flat on the glass table.

"This is everything?", the person under the black scarf asked as he tapped on the brown paper.

"Yeah. That's all that you wanted, right?", the other guy in the brown coat responded, brushing his gelled hair back.

"What about the memory card? Make sure you've got no copies of these left under your files."

"The stick's in the envelope too. I've got nothing of that stuff anymore." the photographer remarked back.

The mysterious guy lifted up the scarf again and spoke in a muffled tone.

"You know what you'll get if these come out somewhere else. I'm just warning you."

Threatened, the one in the brown coat looked around suspiciously and started to become agitated.

"Look, I just want my money. I got nothing to do with that girl. So pay up."

"Tch. Impatient are we?"

Under his suit, the mysterious man pulled out a wad of bills. The hired photographer's pupils dilated as he greedily examined the amount of money that the other guy brought out. With his gloved fingers, the man in black pretended to count the bills but hesitated. He then threw the whole pad of money into the photographer's chest, which was warily caught by the other. The guy in the brown coat trembled as he held the huge amount of cash in his bare hands.

"Get out of here and don't mention this to anyone. If you screw up, I know where to find you."

The photographer quickly stashed the cash into his coat's pocket and bowed down to his partner. He tipped his sunglasses back and scurried off into the exits of the bar. The man in black was left alone and he blithely picked up his merchandise. He stood up from the aquarium-surrounded booth and disappeared into the shadows behind the tavern.

"Ah. Watch where you're going ahjussi!" Jessica yelled as she almost crashed into the man in a brown coat while she was holding a pair of canvasses and a box of acrylic paint.

"Heok. Chesong hamnida", the man apologized as she tried to help Jessica from dropping her items. The man suddenly froze, his blood drained from his face as he saw Jessica's face.

It's her.

The photographer quickly bowed down again and apologized before rushing into the next pedestrian and blending in with other business people.

Such a weird ahjussi.

Jessica thought for a while as her gaze tried to follow the man she just bumped. She shrugged her shoulders and  decided it was just pure randomness of events. Then she whipped out her phone and scanned through her contact list, finally smiling when she found what she was searching for.

Kwon Yuri a.k.a. Miss Lily.

Jessica pressed the green colored telephone icon.

Call.

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