“Taetae?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you okay?”

Tiffany asked the obviously anxious guy across her. Taeyeon seems to be bothered by something and Tiffany is getting a bit worried and puzzled as she always catches the guy staring at her then will sigh since they began eating breakfast.

“Fany-ah? Can you stay at Jessica’s place for today?”

“Why?”

“Errr… my mom’s gonna visit me here today…”

“WHAT?!”

Tiffany’s eyes widen and choked her food. Taeyeon quickly went to her side and patted her back as she drank her juice.

“Are you alright?” Taeyeon asked as he continued patting the girl’s back. Tiffany cleared and gulped her juice one more time.

Tiffany took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Though they’ve already planned before on what they should do if their family decided to visit them, she still feels nervous about it. She stayed quiet for a few moments while Taeyeon gently her back, making her feel at ease.

“Why didn’t you tell me yesterday so we could have prepared?” Tiffany stared at the guy beside her and brushed away some messy strands of hair from Taeyeon’s forehead.

“I didn’t know she’s already here in Seoul… she just told me about it last night…” he sighs and leans his forehead on Tiffany’s shoulder.

They stayed silent in same position for a few moments until Tiffany broke the silence and patted Taeyeon’s head.

“Hey, better get ready now… you’re going to be late. I don’t want Soo and Yul to beat the daylights out of your life because of being late.” Tiffany giggled, imagining her cousin and her friend strangling Taeyeon but was frozen when the guy suddenly kissed her on the cheek.

“Thank you for your care but I know what you’re thinking just now and just to inform you, those two love me so much and they won’t beat me for being late.” Taeyeon giggled at her and stood up to clear the table.

Tiffany ducks her head to hide the pink tinge on her face, faking a few coughs before standing up as well to help the guy.

==================================================================================================================

“Fany-ah~ Jessie will arrive in any moment from now to pick you up.”

Tiffany went out of the media room and found Taeyeon typing something on his phone, already dressed casually – white printed shirt, gray leather and cotton matching training pants, with white/black sneakers but still effortlessly charming.

“She doesn’t need to though…” Tiffany said and sat comfortably on the couch.

“Guess your best friend misses you… she’ll drag you to the mall later.” Taeyeon looked at her and chuckled as he turned his attention back to his phone.

“Really?!” Tiffany’s eyes sparkled at the mention of the word ‘mall’ and a wide grin is plastered on her face.

“Aigoo~ you two are really best friends.” He chuckled. He carelessly slings his training duffel bag on his left shoulder, making his shirt crumpled as he put his phone in his pocket.

Tiffany then walks up to him and playfully hits his shoulder, making the guy to confusedly stare at her.

“Seriously, how old are you?” she chuckled as she fixed the wrinkled part on Taeyeon’s shirt on his left shoulder. Taeyeon awkwardly scratched the back of his head and sheepishly grinned at her.

“There. Hurry up, your school bus is waiting.” Tiffany joked around and both of them giggled.

“Okaaay~~ see you later mommy!” he playfully waves his hand like a kindergarten student with a dorky smile on his face. Tiffany chuckled at the dork in front of her and decided to play along with him.

“Be a good boy~~” she says as she ruffles Taeyeon’s hair.

“Mommy~~~ my hair~~~” Taeyeon whined and pouts as he crossed his arms over his chest, totally looking like a cute little kindergarten kid.

Tiffany bursted out laughing, clapping her hands, making the guy sulk. He dramatically puffed his cheeks and playfully glared at Tiffany, with his arms still crossed on his chest.

“Awww is my baby mad at me?” Tiffany chuckled before fixing the childish guy’s hair.

“There… my baby looks handsome now…” she continued and patted Taeyeon’s head.

“Really???” Taeyeon beamed a cute smile, showing off his dimple at the girl who’s already mentally squealing at the sight of the cute Taeyeon in front of her.

“Yes, baby~~” Tiffany cupped his face in both her hands then pinched it, making both of them giggle.

“Ahem…”

Taeyeon and Tiffany snapped both their heads and saw Jessica staring at them, crossing her arms over her chest, with a smirk plastered on her face.

Seeing her bestfriend with a plastered smirk on her face, Tiffany blushed and quickly retracted her hands from Taeyeon’s face.

“Jessica~~” Taeyeon skips towards her and gives her a warm hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Good morning baby~” Jessica returns the hug and kiss as she greets Taeyeon with aegyo, purposely teasing her best friend.

Tiffany, who mentally cursed their apartment for having a private elevator instead of a door so no one can just barge in without at least knocking, shot a glare to Jessica as she walked near the two.

“Well, I have to go now. You both take care, okay?” Taeyeon said and the two girls nodded with smiles on their faces.

“Max of five shopping bags only Jess.” He hugged and kissed Jessica on the cheek again, and the girl just giggled at him.

Tiffany stared at the two and was amused by their brother-sister relationship. Though sometimes she admits that she turns a bit jealous with Taeyeon’s closeness to Jessica, she became used to it since she knows where Jessica stands on Taeyeon’s life and vice versa.

“And you, enjoy your date with your best friend. I’ll pick you up tonight.” Tiffany blushed again when Taeyeon hugged her and kissed her on the cheek in front of Jessica.

Although their friends know that the two are already close to each other, it is the first time that Taeyeon kissed her in front of their friend though it’s just a kiss on the cheek. Besides, they rarely hang out together as a group because of each other’s works.

Taeyeon smiled and waved at the two girls as he entered the elevator, leaving a blushing Tiffany and an amused Jessica in their apartment.

“Are you sure you two are not together?” Jessica turned her attention to her best friend, with a smirk on her face and an eyebrow raised.

“O-of course! Give me a minute, I’ll just get my purse in my room.” Tiffany stuttered and dashed towards her bedroom before Jessica could utter another word.

“Not together… yet.” Jessica mumbled as she watched Tiffany rushed towards the girl’s room, with a sly smile on her face.

==================================================================================================================

Meanwhile, Mrs. Kim decided to surprise her son. Knowing that Taeyeon and Yuri are both in the dance studio until early afternoon, she thought of preparing the boys’ favorite dishes and probably do some cleaning in their apartment.

On her way towards the private elevator, Mrs. Kim saw a familiar person walking towards her way and she smiled as she warmly greeted her magazine staff.

“Hi Tiffany.”

“O-oh! Hi Director Kim.” Tiffany bowed in respect as she greeted her boss.

“Aigoo~ we’re not in the office Tiffany. Just call me Aunty, okay? Is she your friend?” Mrs. Kim chuckled and gestured to Jessica.

“O-okay Direc--- Aunty… Yeah… this is Jessica, my best friend. Jess, this is Mrs. Erika Kim, our company’s Director and founder of CeCi magazine.” Tiffany introduced the two to each other.

“Good morning Mrs. Kim, I’m Jessica Jung. It’s nice to meet you.” Jessica politely greets her and bows in respect.

“It’s also nice to meet you Jessica. Just call me Aunty as well, okay? You’re also beautiful like Tiffany, are you a model or something?” Mrs. Kim chuckled and patted Jessica’s arm.

“T-thank you Aunty… no, I’m not a model. I’m actually a wedding planner and entrepreneur.” Jessica smiled at the older woman.

“Oh… I see… well, good luck young lady.” Mrs. Kim warmly smiled at her and Jessica returns it with a warm smile as well.

“Uhm, Directo--- Aunty, do you live here?” Tiffany inquired as she noticed the shopping bags Mrs. Kim is carrying.

“Oh, no. But my son does. I’m just paying him a visit today.” Mrs. Kim smiled at the two girls in front of her, making Jessica and Tiffany to look at each other.

Tiffany is about to speak but Mrs. Kim’s assistant appears, carrying few more shopping bags. Seeing her assistant, Mrs. Kim bid goodbye to the two younger girls in front of her and made their way towards the elevator.

Since they are in the car park, the two didn’t see which elevator the older woman and her assistant had enterred to since you have to enter a particular room first prior to reaching the elevator lobby.

“Jess… please don’t tell me that my boss is my housemate’s mom…” Tiffany mumbled while staring blankly at the door where the older woman and her assistant had entered.

==================================================================================================================

Taeyeon, Yuri, and Sooyoung are sitting on the floor and busy watching the performance practice of the dancers for the upcoming musical. Though Taeyeon is the main choreographer, he still asked his two buddies to check whether the choreography is good enough for the performance.

“Stop! Stop! Stop… okay guys! You did a good job but some of you still missed a beat in the chorus.” Taeyeon said as he stood up and turned off the music.

“But not bad for our first day… Remember guys, your musical is in two months and this is just the first song. I suggest you listen to the music more and understand what the lyrics and melody means.” He continued as he gestured the dancers to sit down and rest.

Yuri and Sooyoung have warm smiles plastered on their faces as they watch Taeyeon cheerfully discussing the music and choreography to the dancers. They are always amazed how Taeyeon would not just teach the steps but makes sure that each student will get it correctly and helps them to progressively build their own technique in dancing or performing. He always respects his students either in the University or in the dance studio and that’s one reason why many, if not all students love him.

Taeyeon gave them an hour break and told them that Sooyoung will be watching over them till the rest of the day, causing the girls’ mood to drop.

“Yah! I’m more handsome and definitely taller than this dork so you should be thankful that I’m monitoring you!” Sooyoung exclaimed, earning giggles from the dancers and his two friends.

“But teacher Soo, you are already taken unlike teacher Taeng.” One student said before going out of the room. Before Sooyoung could protest, the student already dashed out of the room and Yuri and Taeyeon just patted their friend’s shoulder to console him.

“Hey, you two should go now. Don’t worry I can handle this.” Sooyoung said as he looked at his two friends who are now watching the practice earlier that they’ve recorded.

The two obediently stood up and handed Sooyoung the videocam. They all walked out of the room and headed to their office located upstairs. Taeyeon excused his self to have a quick shower, leaving the two in the office as they continued to watch the practice video.

After a few minutes, Taeyeon returned to the office, already prepared to leave and meet his mom.

“Taeng, check your phone.” Yuri told him as soon as he enters the room. He just received a call from his cousin and told him to tell Taeyeon that she’s been calling him since earlier.

Taeyeon didn’t bring his phone with him in the practice room and just left it in his bag in the office. He was surprised to see a lot of missed calls from Tiffany. He then opens a text message from her, asking him to call her back as soon as he read the message, so he did.

“Why are you not answering your phone?!” Tiffany exclaimed. Taeyeon was surprised and got confused why she sounded mad at him.

“S-Sorry Fany-ah… I left my phone in my bag while we’re in the practice room. Is there something wrong?” Taeyeon explained. He feels worried as he heard Tiffany sighed on the other line.

“What is your mom’s name?” Without wasting any second, Tiffany asked Taeyeon his mother’s name to confirm her presumption.

“Eh??? Why’d you ask?” Taeyeon is confused as to why Tiffany is asking her his mom’s name all of a sudden. Before he could think of any reason, Tiffany whined and he knows that the girl is getting impatient on the other line.

“Just answer me Taetae~”

“Kim Hayeon.”

Though Taeyeon’s mom has an English name, Taeyeon always introduce his mom with her Korean name. For him, the name Erika Kim is only used for business matters. And since he’s not interested in their family business at all, he never had called his mom by her English name.

“H-Hayeon?... O-okay… I thought she’s… nevermind. By the way, have you already taken your lunch?” Tiffany was taken aback by the guy’s answer. She had already imagined the worst case scenario having her boss’ son as her housemate but after hearing the guy, somehow she felt at ease.

“No and I’m not hungry yet… Yul and I are off to the apartment and I’m planning to cook for mom anyways. How about you and Jess?”

“We’re already in a restaurant here at the mall… and our orders just arrive...”

“Oh, enjoy your lunch then! I’m gonna hung up now so you can eat.”

“Okay~ be careful in driving. See you later!”

Tiffany ended the call and Taeyeon has a smile plastered on his face as he put his phone inside his duffel bag. When he turned to his friends, Yuri and Sooyoung are both grinning at him like two idiots.

“What?” he raised an eyebrow at the two.

“Are you sure you and Tiff are not together?” Yuri asked.

“As far as I know, yes.” Taeyeon answered and stood up from the couch, carefully slinging his duffel bag on his shoulder and making sure that his shirt is not crumpled.

“Taeng… seriously? You two look like a couple…