Okay. Maybe she had overreacted. Only a little bit. It was still a big deal! Dating rumours with Kim Taeyeon, a super in terms of fame, was a huge deal. But Tiffany's life wasn't ripping at the seams. Well, not yet. Not when she's holed up in the safety of her apartment. It was likely that all hell would break loose the moment she had to leave home.

 "Tiffany Hwang speaking..." She answers her work phone numbly. It's Hyoyeon. Tiffany hopes it's not to call her in early. Or worse, to fire her. She hadn't even considered that. Dating rumours, not to mention gay dating rumours could make Taeyeon's whole career crash and burn. So, to avoid that, the threat had to be exterminated like a pest. The pest being Tiffany.

 "Hi, Miyoung, I've been trying to reach you since yesterday evening." Tiffany had slept for a total of twelve hours, the double shift and dating rumours having exhausted her to the bone. It was now Wednesday morning.

 "I'm sorry, Hyo..."

 "It's fine. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you've heard the news. Taeyeon's team wants you for a meeting before your shift today, do you think you can make it to work by 5 pm?" Hyoyeon's a good supervisor, straight to the point and fair. There were rumours that she used to be BoA's, one of the agency's artists, apprentice before becoming a cleaner. She's married to Sunny's cousin now, the heir to the company, so it was a perfect Cinderella story. Hyoyeon was far from a Cinderella, though.

 "Yup, I'll be there. Do you know where I'll meet them? Will I get an email or something?"

 "I was told you were needed in conference room 67, on floor five." Tiffany rarely went to floor five, mainly because Hyoyeon had strict instructions to not assign her there. You see, Byun Baekhyun frequented that floor. Hyoyeon continues.

 "I know how restless you are about work, so just to reassure you: you're not losing your job. As your supervisor, I'll take care of that. Okay?" Even though Tiffany was older, she really appreciated Hyoyeon taking care of her. This was also why she allowed the woman to call her Miyoung, the name that was on her papers. "I know the agency reps might try 'n' scare you and get you to resign, but they have no power over that — I do. So, just figure out what you and Taeyeon wanna do and I'll have your back. Alright?"

 "Alright." She says, her voice wobbly and clearly she's on the brink of crying. "But, Hyo- but we aren't-"

 "Oh, by the way, I totally support you!" Does she think that they're actually- oh no."If it's not too much, would you come to the company's Christmas fundraiser? It's a donation bidding type of thing and the money's going to support queer folks all over the country. Thought you might be interested."

 "I mean, sure, but Taeyeon and I aren't-" together, she means to say, but Hyoyeon cuts her off again.

 "Oh, gosh, duty calls! I'll email you an invite! See you!" Before she can say anything like hey, I'm definitely not dating Kim Taeyeon, Hyoyeon's already hung up. Tiffany is stunned. What the was that? What just happened? She has to meet some pissy execs at five and do her shift and she's invited to some fundraiser? How had she spiralled out of her comfort zone like this?

 Just last Thursday everything had been fine. Then Sunny had asked her to cover for her because she was going to some gala, blind date, whatever-the-, then she'd met Kim Taeyeon. She'd met Kim Taeyeon and everything had gone to . When Tiffany sees her next she'll exchange some words with her. She can't wait for five pm. Anger is an emotion Tiffany's always been good at.

 She spends the rest of her day nervously prancing about her apartment. She cleans even though there are no messes, rearranges her closet even though there is no disorganization to be seen and waters her plants, even though they're all either cacti or plastic. She irons her scrubs and sends a link to those shoes she wanted from Sunny. Then she texts Sunny some. And the rest of the time she's bored as hell.

 She leaves for work an hour ahead of when she should. Commuting takes only thirty minutes to fourty-five, but she left a whole hour in advance. She takes a long way and pretends to enjoy nature, the ambience, on the scenic route. It's not really her thing. She's at the building a quarter to five. She gets a coffee, black with no sugar, no creamer, from the cafeteria and makes her way to conference room 67.

 She still needs to kill time, so she takes the stairs. Though, as soon as she makes it to the landing between floors one and two, she gets an inexplicable urge to peek onto the balcony. Taeyeon was smoking there yesterday. Chances she's smoking there right now are incredibly low. So, what does it matter if she checks, it's not like Taeyeon will actually-

 "." She says out loud as she spots Taeyeon. She has on a scruffy brown leather coat and between her fingers is a cigarette. She blows smoke from .

 "Indeed. Hi, Tiffany." The singer smiles as if this wasn't prime material for a scoop. Way better than a damn dating scandal, that's for sure. "Mind closing the door?" Tiffany contemplates it for a second. Then she steps on the balcony and lets the door close behind them. She did want to talk to Taeyeon and since there were no witnesses, this was perfect. Except it was cold as . She hated November with a passion.

 "So..." Taeyeon trails off and Tiffany goes off.

 "I ing hate you." She almost yells, a condescending smile on her face and a mean laugh on her lips. "I so ing hate you, Kim Taeyeon. Why did you feel the need to do that? I told you we were being watched. And you didn't believe me. I told you to just drop me off. I- I, god, why did you even talk to me on Friday? Couldn't you just leave me alone? This is such a mess!"

 "Why exactly are you taking your frustrations out on me?" Taeyeon's Colgate smile is almost like a grin and it infuriates Tiffany even more.

 "Because they're because of you. You dimwitted , who else?" Tiffany grits her teeth. "This is why I hate celebrities. You're all the same."

 "Do you have a habit of being in dating scandals with famous people?" The edge to Taeyeon's tone is not at all something Tiffany is willing to tolerate.

 "Whatever you're trying to insinuate with that, is not true. This is why I hate celebs. Entitled, arrogant and just plain ing stupid. Get your head out of your , Miss Popstar." Taeyeon nonchalantly drops her cigarette and rubs it into the ground with the toe of her boot. She takes a step towards Tiffany. She doesn't let herself be intimidated, even if the smell of cigarettes on Taeyeon's breath is unpleasant.

 "Are you done?" Tiffany is about to tell her exactly what she thinks of being patronized by someone like Taeyeon, but the singer doesn't let her. "I didn't want to get into a dating scandal any more than you did. But here we are. So, huffing and puffing all up on me isn't going to solve our case, sweetheart."

 "Call me sweetheart again and I'll sell out your little smoke spot to your managers." Taeyeon actually laughs at that. Tiffany's fists clench and her jaw clenches so hard she hears something creaking.

 "Okay, sweetheart." Tiffany sneers and goes to open the door. She's probably already late. But, like deja vu, Taeyeon doesn't let her go. "I don't give a if management knows. I actually wrote a song about it and they didn't even catch on." Tiffany doesn't care what kinds of songs Taeyeon's written. She's made a conscious effort to never listen to any kpop lest she likes a song of someone in the agency. Celebrities far away, in both distance and time, like 90s' pop-divas, were the only exception to Tiffany's I Hate Celebrities -attitude.

 "I don't care. Let me go. I have a meeting to get to."

 "Yeah, same. It's the same one, genius."

 "I am aware, however, unlike someone, I don't want to be late."

 "Too late, we're already late." Taeyeon shoves Tiffany out of the way and leans her back against the door, blocking the way out. Tiffany contemplates jumping over the railing.

 "Can't you pick someone else- else to bully?" She really just wants to get out of here. It's cold as hell and her scrubs aren't weatherproof. "Let's just go- go settle the scandal in the meeting and we'll never have to speak- speak again." Her teeth begin clattering right in the middle of her sentence. Taeyeon takes her ratty jacket off and puts it around Tiffany. She tries to shrug it off, but the singer doesn't let go of the lapels.

 "I don't want your stinky jacket- hey!" She grits out and yelps when Taeyeon pulls her closer and wounds her arms around her under the jacket. It's warm, the jacket sticky with Taeyeon's heat. With the singer's arms around her middle, forearms resting on the small of her back, it's toasty. It's the proximity, nothing more. Not the blood rushing all around Tiffany's body because of her rapidly beating heart and not anything else.

 "Hey," Taeyeon's smile is easy, Colgate-teeth on full display but nothing like the idol-smiles she's given before. "And no, I won't pick someone else to bully. I quite like you, Ms Tiffany."

 " you." But she doesn't pull away. It's just for warmth, nothing else.

 "Mm, you can once we make it official." Tiffany hates that that makes her blush. What the heck is up with her!?

 "Stop it, ert. We're not going to make anything official! Except for the fact that we're definitely not dating!"

 "I'm gonna ignore that you just called me a ert. But why? I think we look good together." The smirk on her face is infuriating. "And, I'd be one lucky gal to be dating this..." She trails off and her hands squeeze at Tiffany's waist.

 "ert. You are a ert. Get away from me." She tries to push Taeyeon by the chest, but the singer doesn't let her budge. "You're supposed to be weak as how the hell-"

 "Maybe you're the weak one?"

 "Shut the up."

 "I love it when you're mean, honestly. Very y."

 "Ew!" Tiffany scrunched her nose and leans back as far as she can from Taeyeon. "I'll never date you!"

 "Ooh, is that a challenge?" Taeyeon leans in close despite very vocal protests, her lips ghosting Tiffany's cheek.

 "This is assault! I'll report you, asshat!" Taeyeon pulls her face away then and her arms loosen around Tiffany's back.

 "Pull away, right now. If you don't want to be near me, pull away." Her voice is serious and the smile on her face isn't the mean and taunting one, but a careful sort of tug on her lips. Tiffany's sort of (a lot) drawn to it. She's shocked by the sudden change in mood and the tenderness Taeyeon looks at her with, so she doesn't immediately react when Taeyeon pushes her forward and into the railing. The door behind them has opened.

 "Taeyeon! You're late!" A broad man, an average Korean at least by his face, scolds.

 "Sorry, manager-nim~" Taeyeon stretches out the last syllable cutely. "Tiffany was just having a quick smoke." Tiffany sputters something unintelligible, partly because how dare she and also Taeyeon's squeezing her hips underneath the jacket, out of the manager's sight. It's a pleasant sensation, a possessive gesture Tiffany would be into if their situation wasn't quite so... Messy.

 "Taeyeon! You can't be around cigarette smoke! Your lungs are the most important." Oh, if you only knew, Tiffany thinks to herself. Taeyeon's grin is mischievous and Tiffany's baffled the man doesn't see it. It's obvious she's up to no good.

 "Yes, yes, I'm sorry. C'mon, let's go!" Taeyeon tugs Tiffany along by the wrist and she almost falls but manages to save herself by clinging to Taeyeon's arm. The preening expression the singer gets almost makes her wish she'd have fallen on her face.

 "We have dating news to deliver!" We have what to deliver? Tiffany's inner monologue is incredulous. I'll deliver my fist to your throat if you try anything funny, Kim Taeyeon!