I laid on the grass and stared at the night sky, the stars shifting a little constantly in unruly circles as if following some kind of a rhythm.

‘Geuraeyo nan neol saranghae eonjaena mideo,’ I started singing to the sky and the stars danced along to my not-so-silent singing. “I knew this was an awesome idea!”

‘Taengoo-yah, what on earth are you doing?’ I heard Sunny’s voice nearing me.

‘Singing, of course, what else!’ I looked at the little “waving light sticks”. “Just like a concert,” I thought.

‘Okay, let’s get up now,’ she extended both arms to help me up from the ground. ‘If we were anywhere near people right now, you’d be in so much trouble, you know that, ri—?’ and with a big tug – by the hands of no other than this genius here, at your service – she landed on the ground, and… well, half her body on top of me. Ouch.

‘Gosh, what is wrong with you, girl?’

I pointed up at the sky for her to see my amusing discovery too. ‘See? The stars are SONEs too! We’re conquering the outer space now, the n—’

‘Alright, good, good, it’s really a dream come true,’ she interrupted dismissively and got off of me. ‘Now come on, get up, I think the others are already in the vans.’

‘Aish~’ I whined as I struggled up to my feet in probably the most unbalanced way I possibly could and swept the dirt off my knees and . ‘You didn’t even look,’ I grumbled. Sunny did not seem to hear it.

‘Finally,’ I heard Hyoyeon say. ‘It’s like we’ve been waiting for you since the day King Sejong was born! I really need to pee,’ the girl announced as soon as she saw us nearing the cars.

We really were lucky that we weren’t recognized as easily here as back in Korea. I just saw a group of teenaged students pass by our cars without giving us a second glance. At the same time, I wished for more success and recognition in this beautiful country as well.

‘What, you guys were there by the path too like two minutes ago!’

‘Two minutes is a long time when you really have to go, you know.’

‘Yeah, I know, sorry, but look!’ I pointed at the sky again enthusiastically, but Hyoyeon was already getting in the car. ‘Hey, birthday oppa, which van?’ I half-yelled to manager oppa who stood about two meters from me but because nobody seemed to hear me before…

‘This one,’ I heard Tiffany’s voice come from the van further from me before manager oppa could've uttered a word. She stood by the side of the white vehicle, waiting for me to get in. She liked to sit at the front.

‘Fany, look, SONE!’ I held my index finger up towards the sky once more as I wobbled to our van.

She followed my fingers with her eyes, then laughed audibly and said, ‘They follow us everywhere, right?’ while still smiling at me widely.

Before I would’ve stepped in the car, I shouted to Sunny as she was about to get in to their own too, ‘See? She looked! She looked.’

And even though I felt kind of sick with the road from the park to our hotel apparently upgraded to a rollercoaster-ride, I grinned to myself before falling asleep at the backseat of the car.

***

‘Taetae~ wake up,’ I felt someone nudging my shoulder and heard a few raspy coughs. ‘We’re here,’ the voice lowly announced. I opened my heavy eyelids and d around to get my bag.

Tiffany got out of the car and I clutched at her arm as soon as my feet touched the ground, with me feeling as if I was going to plummet towards the ground like a meteor had I not held onto something.

We headed for the hotel lobby, the little walk making my sense of balance return to somewhat normal. All the others were still waiting - Hyoyeon especially impatiently, I noticed - and discussing the room arrangements.

It seems like only Fany and I have been planning ahead.

‘Can I get a key for Taeyeon and me?’ I heard Tiffany ask as she walked to manager oppa who had four keys in hand.

Sunny looked at me with a raised eyebrow then. I didn’t understand what that was about so I just mirrored her questioning expression.

‘Okkkayy, well, you know what you’re doing,’ she shrugged.

I just thought, “Sunny’s becoming stranger and stranger by the day.”

***

Tiffany was sitting on the floor by her opened suitcase when I came out of the shower, her schedule planner open, sitting on a stack of shoes wrapped nicely so that they’d be kept safe along the road. She was reading a book on her iPad and she was probably too occupied with it to finish taking her stuff out as she usually would, and just started reading it mid-way in packing, sat on the floor with her legs folded.

I myself could never really get into these books. Or dramas for that matter. I liked games and movies much more. They were just more exciting to me, to be honest.

I went to my own luggage to get my pajamas, a pair I hadn’t really used before, I just got it recently from a fan. I threw my towel off and got into my night wear. They were a nice choice. Very soft and fluffy.

I sat down next to Fany then, while applying some cream on my face and my hands.

I didn’t say a word, I just waited and waited for her to realize that I’m there, wanting her to finish reading so that we could go to bed already.

After a few minutes of her just turning the pages on the little device and coughing every once in a while, I finally said, ‘wow, that was a really nice chapter there, can we go to bed now?’

She looked up at me then. ‘Oh, I got the same kind,’ she said instead of answering my question as she pointed at my blue night outfit splattered with pictures of little… “umm… what are they called again? Goats… geese… Oh! Sheep! Yeah, they’re sheep. Sheep are very cute.” ‘Mine is pink,’ she added with a proud smile at the end of the sentence.

‘What a surprise!’ I grinned. ‘I thought you said your favorite color was taeyeonsaek*!’ [wordplay: eg. hayansaek=color white -> taeyeonsaek=Taeyeon-color]

‘Yeah, cuz you blushed and you were pink!’ she grinned, then cleared a few times.

‘I didn’t blush, I was hot,’ I protested meanwhile.

‘You were hot because you were embarrassed, honey.’

‘I wasn’t.’

She gave me a look of disbelief accompanied with a crooked little smile.

‘Maybe a little,’ I admitted childishly, folding my arms across my chest.

She was referring to this time when I was a bit buzzed and I thought she was going to kiss me again when she leaned in for this cocktail, which was pink by the way, and, well… on instinct, I closed my eyes. But as soon as I felt that the lights were not blocked from me anymore, I opened my eyes and realized that I totally misunderstood the situation. Turns out she wasn’t even drunk that time.

‘Taeyeon-ah? If you were a guy, who would you date out of us?’

‘I don’t know, why are you asking?’ I turned my head towards her.

‘Well, I’m curious. We’ve been asked so many times and I’ve never heard you reply before.’ Yeah, well that’s true. I think the last time we were asked this was like… two or three days ago? But I wasn’t the one to reply, as usual. ‘And I’ve answered a few times already so…’

‘Yeah, and you always pick someone different too! You’re a total player,’ I teased.

‘Tch. Yeah sure,’ she rolled her eyes. ‘No, really, it’s just that… I just choose according to who I think Tiffany Hwang as a guy would like. And… since the members change over time too…’

‘Hmm,’ I hummed as I closed my eyes and rested the back of my head on the bed.

‘Are you not telling me cuz you’d choose me?’ Tiffany asked, and I heard her smile widely as she did so. ‘You know, I wouldn’t misunderstand it or anything,’ she grinned cheekily. I could hear it in her voice but I refused to open my tired eyes. ‘People say we’re quite compatible anyways.’

‘Yeah,’ I scoffed, ‘the same people think I'm most compatible with butts, so...’ Tiffany sniggered. ‘Don't laugh.’

‘Okay. So?’

After a few moments of confusion over what we were just talking about, I finally blurted out ‘Myself?’ and looked at her when all I heard was silence. I knew that look in her eyes. ‘What? I really haven’t thought about it yet! And anyway, I’d have to be a really great guy to actually get to date any other SNSD member so… maybe I would be a bit more achievable.’

‘That’s stupid,’ again, Tiffany rolled her eyes. ‘Other than yourself then, who would you date?’

I sighed. ‘Well, obviously apart from you, I guess I would either choose Hyoyeon or Yoona…’ she was about to interrupt before I could even finish my sentence but I didn’t let her. ‘No. Maybe just Yoona cuz Hyoyeon wants to create like a whole new K-pop group of babies so… Yeah. I don’t want that.’

‘Yeah, like, doesn’t she want at least a little rest in her life once we’re not living this lifestyle anymore?’ Tiffany put her iPad down, shaking her head. ‘She’s crazy.’

‘Mmm.’ The back of my head landed on the bed once more as I slipped my body downwards a little on the floor, shutting my eyelids.

Fany cleared again and I felt her head rest next to mine on the mattress.

‘What are you trying to get at though? Why “apart from me”?’

‘Huh?’

‘You said, obviously apart from me… what does that mean?’

‘It means,’ I mumbled sleepily, ‘you’d be too busy with work to take good care of me. And you can’t cook for me either, so…’

‘What?’ my eyes snapped open instantly at her loud voice. She gaped at me incredulously, lifting her head up properly again. ‘Is that what’s important for you, Kim Taeyeon? And what do you mean I’d be too busy to take care of you? When did I ever—’

‘Whoa whoa whoa Tiffany, that’s totally not what I’m saying,’ I stopped her just in time before she could rip my head off with her glare. ‘I’m saying that if I were a guy, I’m sure I’d want my girlfriend to cook for me. Cuz I probably couldn’t cook. Well, at least Jiwoong oppa can't. So, at least every once in a while. Also, I would want to take care of you too and be with you a lot and so… because you’re so passionate about what you do, I’m sure I wouldn’t say a word that you’re so involved with work but I’d miss you too much.’ Tiffany didn’t interrupt when I held a little pause. ‘So, knowing that, if I were a guy, I probably wouldn’t get involved before it’s too late,’ I finished my explanation.

Tiffany looked somewhat pleased and mildly surprised.

‘Aww~ that’s so sweet of you, Taetae~’ she finally crooned.

“Umm… okay. Was it?”

She cradled my waist towards herself as her head rested on my shoulder and her eyes closed shut.

With a smirk growing on my face, I continued ‘and I’m sure you’d boss me around all the time too so—’

‘Yah! Kim Taeyeon!’ she let go of me and gave me an angry frown and a pout.

‘What?’ I grinned at her teasingly, thoroughly amused by the reaction I was getting. Her eyes squinting as they emitted those little invisible lightning bolts, the crease between her brows deepening and her full lips puckering… ‘I’m just telling the truth here, don’t get so worked up about it!’ She looked so cute. ‘Or are you in love with me now or something?’ I laughed. “We haven’t kissed in a while now…” ‘Cuz if you are, I’m warning you—’

‘Pfft. As if,’ she rolled her eyes. ‘Just so you know, I wouldn’t date you either if I were a guy.’

‘Okay,’ I shrugged, knowing that she was just being childish, trying to get back at me. I was really sleepy already so I pulled myself up off the floor and took my towel back to the bathroom to hang it up there to dry.

I thought about the last time we kissed which I barely remembered the next day, along with many other things from that night. I just know we got home, I fought with Fany over something, I don’t know what, and then we somehow ended up kissing again. The next thing I remember is throwing up in the middle of the night and Sunny helping me with everything. I could only hope that that wasn’t going to be the case this night.

I started to brush my teeth since I forgot to do that before.

“I hope it’s gonna be okay tonight,” I pondered. I didn’t mix things like before, I learned from last time… but I kinda felt more drunk now to be quite frank, than that night.

I heard the sound of my phone through the door signaling that I received a message and a moment later, Fany said, ‘Taeyeon, Sooyoung says she found a good Korean restaurant near the shooting location and asked if you wanna get some ddukbokki tomorrow morning with her. Says she’s gonna ask Jiho oppa to get it if you want.’

‘Tell her I do!’ I yelled out with half my mouth stuffed with the toothbrush.

“I’m not very happy with the food here, to be honest. I mean, it’s not bad… it’s different, but not in a bad way… It’s just that, my stomach can’t handle foreign food that well. So I’m always glad if we can find anything authentic to eat on our trips abroad.”

I stepped out of the bathroom for the second time that night and Tiffany went in to put some of her stuff down there. I could see that the rest has already been arranged nicely in the room in the few minutes I was away.

I went to get my contact lens holder and changed the liquid in it, then took out my right lens and just as I closed the lid, I heard Fany call, ‘Taeyeon?’ from behind me.

I turned around, with a little spin in my head and said ‘Yes?’

And then, she kissed me. Out of the blue, she kissed me and I couldn’t say I was pleasantly surprised... I was just taken aback.

But for some reason, I didn’t resist her tongue quickly darting its way in to my mouth.

As our tongues twirled together, my mind seemed to twirl into an indescribably confusing state too. As if I had no control of it whatsoever, it just raced into a huge mess of nothingness, making me feel slightly dizzy in a pleasant way.

Out of the twirling mess of tornado thoughts, the ones that my brain seemed to elevate to be able to comprehend were unexpectedly trivial.

“Ouch, my palms hurt like this,” I adjusted my hand on the nightstand as the corner of the top was cutting into my palms that I was supporting myself with while this crazy girl pushed me against it, also supporting herself by her hands placed on top of the small wooden furniture, her arms by my side.

The next one, “hey, if you keep nibbling on my lips like that, I won’t be able to eat that ddukbokki later, it’ll sting!” So I bit at her lower lip roughly, signaling that she was going a bit too far.

Instead of the expected reaction of retreating, I felt her smile against my lips. I opened my eyes slightly to confirm my suspicions and saw that I was indeed right and she was smiling.

“What, am I that funny?” I thought, but when she got back to her seemingly very expert tongue work, breathing heavily, I understood that she was smiling in content.

My eyes closing fully again, I wondered if she was just a natural talent or if it took a lot of practice for her to become such a good kisser. I had no idea how good or bad I was.

She bit at my lip again.

‘Yah!’ I now broke apart with a smacking sound leaving our mouths as we separated.

She grinned at me mischievously as she distanced herself from me to an appropriate proximity.

‘Dare say you didn’t like it and I’ll kill you,’ she wagged a finger at me sternly.

‘I won’t. But if my lips are gonna be all chapped because of you—’

‘They won’t,’ she touched my lips, tracing her finger on it, examining. ‘They’re good as new!’

‘Glad to hear that,’ I mumbled. I turned back around towards the nightstand to take my left contact lens out too, since I was kind of distracted after taking out the first one, then threw myself on the bed, closing my eyes and feeling like I could fall asleep right in that moment. I felt the bed bounce with a heavy weight plopping down next to my body.

An ambulance car’s alarm was heard from outside and I wondered what happened to someone right in the moment when I was busy kissing my friend. "Could a grandma just be having a heart-attack? An office worker struck by electricity? Or maybe—"

‘Aren’t you even going to ask me why I did it?’ the low voice suddenly distracted my thoughts.

‘Nah, I think I know why you did it.’

‘Really?’ I felt her body shift towards me, from her back, she turned to her side to look at me and I opened my eyes slightly too.

‘Yeah, because I’m too attractive for you to handle,’ I really couldn’t say this with a straight face though. I burst out in laughter at the end and received a hit on the shoulder in exchange. ‘You just couldn’t resist, right?’

‘No, really. Ask me why,’ she poked my side.

‘Okay. Why in the name of the Lord is it that you suddenly just launched yourself at me in the middle of preparing for bed, if I may ask, milady?’

‘I like your pajamas.’

‘Hey, don’t avoid the question now—’

‘No, I mean, I like your pajamas so... I don’t know, instead of saying it so, I just felt like kissing you.’

‘Huh? ... Now, that’s pretty weird.’

‘Yeah, I know, right?’ she sighed and to her back again.

‘So, you said you liked Sooyoung’s bracelet just the other day...’ I mused. ‘Did you make out with her too?’

‘Would you be jealous if I said yes?’

‘Yeah, I’d totally kill that jangshin first thing in the morning,’ I yawned, ready for dreamland to finally take over my exhausted body.

‘Mmm...’ was all I could hear her reply and I felt her pulling up the blanket a bit higher next to me.

I heard her cough a few times, making it hard to fall asleep despite my tiredness and drunkenness.

“So that’s what that faint trace of mint taste was! If only she would stop straining her voice all the time, would be much better.”

Her cough pulled me out of my way to sweet dreamland again.

‘Fany, you need to stop trying to substitute a loud-speaker, okay?’

‘Shut up, Tae.’

I fell asleep, wondering how many times it had been we’d done this and if she had any plans to stop any time soon.

~~~

PS: Taeyeon is most compatible with butts.

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