Now, Year 2012

‘Does it break my heart? Every single damn time.

I don’t know how do people deal with grief. Do they just bury it aside, hoping it’ll ebb away because believe me, it doesn’t. Or do they just pretend that the person never existed, hoping that perhaps, it was all a beautiful sad dream – like a faded photograph that you had forgotten only to remember its beauty when you look at it again. And then you get that shock, over and over again which leaves you empty and trembling with your fingers stabbing through your palm, jolting you through the head, reminding you of all that intense pain, over and over again.

Perhaps, it might be easier if I put it that way. Placed her in a jar of dreams, never to be awoken, never to be touched. Never to be remembered.
Never, never, ever to be spoken. Nor mentioned.

Like a taboo.

Perhaps, just perhaps that would make it so much easier.’

Taeyeon shook her head as she looked at the note she scribbled from 3 years ago, from then on, she had forbidden everyone from mentioning the word ‘Tiffany’.

She loathed the notion of love and she made sure she steered away from songs that involved that. She got pretty good at that, after a while – at avoiding the ‘feelings’ part, that is.

She learned that, alcohol helps, she also learned that dating around helped – a lot. And boy, she dated. She dated everyone and anyone who caught her eye. And they liked her back easily enough, she had the looks and the money. Most people bent to her will after awhile…

It was pretty easy – to numb your emotions after all….

-

Tiffany got out of Seoul’s international airport. She breathed the cold air, it was still the same. The same underlying sweetness mixed with the city’s cosmopolitan life, she couldn’t explain the smell but she missed it.

And then, the familiar dull ache would soon follow after. Someone placed an arm around her shoulders, “Are you cold?”

It was her doctor and best friend Daniel Henney, he was mixed Korean-American and was really cute, but he’s gay.

No one knows about it (he hasn’t come out of the closet), not even his parents but her. She could always count on him for tips about Taeyeon. They had spent many nights discussing the ‘great mystery of Taeyeon’. The lover who said that she had loved her with all her life and might, and yet failed to show up when she needed her the most.

She had almost lost her life doing what she did –

“That stunt you pulled 3 years ago. That would make Jackie Chan’s moves pale in comparison. You nearly lost your life by placing yourself in front of the truck then jumping into my car that happened to be waiting at the side.”… She had jumped in front of the truck then into the car in order to escape from the ‘bodyguards’ guarding her every move.

“Wasn’t it your lucky day! A pretty bride landing in your car!” Tiffany teased and Daniel smirked, “I know right, what did I do to deserve that?”

“Probably loads of good deeds.” Tiffany agreed and Daniel helped her into his car as he placed his coat around her. Tiffany’s health was not quite the same ever since she pulled that stunt 3 years ago.

“By the way, are you sure about this?” Daniel asked once they were in the car, driving towards Seoul.

Tiffany paused, thinking about what she had in mind… “Yes, absolutely.”

Daniel sighed, knowing that trying to dissuade Tiffany from what she had in mind was impossible. He knew she was stubborn when she wanted to be, “Maybe I shouldn’t have tried digging up information about Taeyeon…”

“You were just doing me a favour, Dan.”

Daniel had managed to find out that in all these years, Taeyeon had managed to become one of Korea’s top and most influential music composer. Yet, since she never ever used her real name, it took quite a lot of connections for Daniel to figure out that this reclusive composer was actually Taeyeon, the same Taeyeon that broke Tiffany’s heart 3 years ago by not showing up in US as planned.

“And I’m going to be Korea’s Next Top Singer.” Tiffany smirked, “In order to win my girlfriend back....”

“At whatever the cost?” Daniel asked with his brow raised.

Tiffany nodded her head, “At whatever the cost.”

Who said the broken hearted had to remain sad. Couldn’t they fight for their love?