Tiffany sat in a very uncomfortable flimsy plastic chair in the middle of a bland room completely devoid of anything noteworthy. Sitting in a panel in front of her were members of the board, and none of them looked particularly friendly. Mr. Lee sat on the end and he was the only pleasant sight in this horrendous room.

It was like she was a terrorist being interrogated. All they were missing was rope to tie her up and a bald light bulb swaying in the middle of the room. That and a sinewy cop in a sweaty, dirty wife-beater and twin shoulder-holstered guns.

Ahh yes…John McClane would make this so much more exciting…

Someone, Mrs. Kang she believed, cleared their throat in a very brusque manner. Tiffany snapped back to focus. She grabbed her guitar at her side and stood up, bowing backbreakingly low for each board member. And when Tiffany finally stood up to face them…she smiled her brightest smile.

Members of the board froze, but Tiffany never noticed.

She strummed a few test chords, her smile still blindingly bright and infectious, some of the board members felt a curious force tugging at the corners of their lips. Dipping her head a little in silent concentration, Tiffany began to sing.

But it wasn’t for members of the board, for they were gone and before her, was Jaxon goading her to climb the tree, Dominic running up from behind her and throwing her sky high into the air, mom scolding her for hiding cinnamon-oatmeal-raisin cookies in her pillowcase and attracting ants all over the place, dad trying to teach her how to wrestle so boys couldn’t ‘take advantage of his little girl’, and babygirl…chortling and burbling her toothy laugh that lit up even the blazing sun around her.

Then, finished with her song, Tiffany bowed once again, murmuring her thanks. Bowing one final time, Tiffany left the room and the board began to deliberate.

It was curious, although no one would say it aloud, the room seemed to darken just a slight bit the moment the door clicked behind Tiffany’s retreating back.

Mr. Lee leaned back and smiled widely like a proud father would.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Three days after Tiffany’s re-audition, the eight girls chosen for the up-and-coming new girl group were flown to the Maldive Islands for two weeks in an effort for the girls to get comfortable with each other and to work on their teamwork without the pressures of being at SM.

So, Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and maknae Seohyun were shuttled off, leaving Tiffany behind. The board members were taking their sweet time in reaching a decision and that meant Tiffany was stuck here until a decision was made.

Jessica was resigned to the fact that she would be separated from Tiffany for two weeks and was super clingy in the days leading up to the departure. On more than one occasion, the older girl made no attempt to control her desires and things had almost gotten out of hand in the bedroom. But Tiffany wanted Jessica’s first time to be something the girl could look upon as a good memory, and not something out of pure anxiety and desperation. The younger had to constantly remind Jessica that they were going to do things properly and go slowly. Something that Jessica seemed to forget every time she was physically close to Tiffany.

On the last night, Tiffany had actually slept in her jeans with a belt tightly cinching the denim snugly around her waist. A t-shirt tucked into her jeans and a long sleeved sweater over top completed Tiffany’s ‘keep-Jessi-from-jumping-me’ ensemble. Tiffany had sweated profusely in bed that night but she daren’t take anything off in case Jessica made any last desperate attempts.

Talk about role reversal.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning, a huge van came to pick up the girls and take them to the airport. Tiffany skipped her morning run to help the girls load their luggage and watched as they drove off, Jessica’s face pressed forlornly into the back window.

Tiffany sighed and went back to prep for the rest of her day.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next two days were unsettlingly quiet. Tiffany still trained with the other trainees and went about her schedules like usual. But it was when she was back at the dorm, alone, that she realized how much she had come to enjoy the company of her roommate and…girlfriend?

It still felt weird thinking about Jessica in those terms, but Tiffany had no other category to place the girl in.

She missed the small things.

She missed having to fight over the bathroom with the two girls. She missed going out for late night food runs for her roomies. She missed Taeyeon’s voice as she sang while showering. She missed having to wake up Jessica in the mornings. She missed the occasional billowing cloud of black smoke coming from the kitchen cause Jessica had set the microwave to thirty minutes rather than thirty seconds for a Pop-Tart. She missed Taeyeon’s erted weirdness and dorky poop-centered jokes. Gawd…she even missed those nights where Taeyeon would sleepwalk up and down the hall while incorrectly memorizing her multiplication tables.

But mostly…she missed sleeping with Jessica in her arms, missed the girl’s scent and the effects it had on her. With Jessica gone, she took much of everything with her. Tiffany couldn’t sleep and reverted back to wandering the streets at night, loitering around in 24-hour gyms, and drawing charcoal drawings.

It had only been two nights, but Tiffany felt like she hadn’t slept in weeks.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On the third night, Tiffany was lazing around on the couch, flipping through random channels when there came a knock at the door.

She looked at the clock.

10:16 PM.

Who the hell would come knocking at this hour?

Groaning and peeling herself from the severely unsupportive couch, Tiffany went and opened the door.

It was Mr. Lee.

The moment the door was opened he engulfed her in bear hug, eyes gleaming like a little boy with his new toy fire truck. He lifted Tiffany clear off the floor and walked, with Tiffany still in his arms, into the living room, laughing boomingly as he went.

Finally setting her down her pulled something out of his suit pocket and handed it to her.

It was a plane ticket to the Maldive Islands.

Tiffany stared for a second before it all clicked and before she could stop and think, she launched herself back into the man’s arms, almost bowling them both over. There was a rumbling sound in her ear and Tiffany realized Mr. Lee was laughing again, and she found herself laughing right along with him.

This was great. Everything was great.

Mr. Lee put Tiffany back down and smoothed out her crumpled clothing. He looked up and suddenly he smiled even brighter than before. Tiffany turned around to see what had made Mr. Lee so happy.

A woman in her mid to late forties stood tentatively by the door. She was dressed casually in khaki-colored denims and a long flowing turquoise shirt that reached mid-thigh. She held a jacket in one hand and she had a kind smile on her face. In her other hand she dragged a fair-sized honeydew-green hard-cased suitcase.

Mr. Lee strode to greet the woman with a loving hug.

“Meet my better half Tiffany. My lovely wife.”

The woman blushed. Tiffany bowed low.

“Dear, I am so glad to be finally meeting you,” the woman said, seeming a little shy and unsure. As if she were afraid she was not a welcome presence here.