23

Things weren’t easy. It never was. I was in the studio shoot, being primped, being waxed being straightened up till I looked picture perfect for the company. I smiled too much, then I smiled too little.

I was having a headache trying to not look at the two of them fooling around. Or I should say One person who was doing all the fooling around. Sunny was just impassive. She was standing like a statue while Taeyeon (clad in her yellow trench coat) was having all sorts of fun throwing props in her direction.

One moment, she was holding a duck and pretending that she was swimming around. Swimming in circles around a not too amused Sunny.

The next, she was a T-rex, surprising Sunny who did get a shock and had to resort to making Taeyeon stay by one side with her hands pulling her ears as punishment. Taeyeon merely stuck out her tongue when I looked at her.

Finally, there was a break from the flashing lights and I had enough of the photographer guy telling me to loosen up.

I walked towards the yellow trench coat kid (aka as Taeyeon) and dug out a strawberry lollipop from my bag and I passed it to her. Her eyes beamed when she saw it.

“Hi Tiffany.”

“Hello, boss.” I said, and took one for myself too. It wasn’t my favourite. Abruptly, a grape flavoured lollipop was in front of me and I glanced up to see Taeyeon handing a lollipop to me.

She smiled and shrugged, “In exchange for your strawberry one.” She said and I took it.

Strange, how long ago was it? Was it the third year we had met?

I was crying, crying over something really sad. It probably was the day that I realised that I was adopted. Or that I was abandoned. Either which, it didn’t matter. It was a moment of weakness and I remembered sitting at the park, on the bench with my legs curled up. It was close to sunset. The air was cold, it was August.

And then, she sat beside me. She had her white suit on, pristine white, beaming almost like an otherworldly being. She wasn’t smiling of course. She never did. Then.

She had a streak of blood on her cheek and she didn’t seem too bothered by it. I was simply too tired to care.

But the next thing she said sounded rather anti-climatic, “You know, I generally hate sweet stuff.” She said slowly, as though working her jaws took much effort.

I nodded my head absently, and she handed a grape flavoured gum to me, “But I feel that chewing on something sweet does elevate pain. Or, maybe, it’s just psychological.”

She smiled thinly and handed one to me. Via her lips and I remembered thinking then, that it wasn’t too bad, actually.

The grape flavour lingered on my lips.

-

Back to now, back to the present. I felt an abrupt peck on my cheeks.

I paused, and glanced up at Taeyeon who was smiling super sweetly at me, almost as though she didn’t know what the context meant. She leaned forward and whispered, “Seriously, earth to Tiffany, earth to Tiffany. You can be rather cute sometimes too you kno. You have this ‘spacing out’ moments these days. Is it normal?”

I looked at her and she was already waving good bye to me, “Bye Tiffany. I’m leaving with Sunny. Take care, and remember to head back to earth these days. It’s dangerous out there!”

She said and I could only stare at her…

What did she mean?

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