VI

All of Taeyeon’s life, she was taught on how to properly live—to do exactly the right thing in any given situation. How to stand. How to eat. How to dress. How to talk. And sometimes, she thinks, even how to breathe. ‘Princess, you are a royalty. You should be graceful.’ ‘Always a young, pretty lady, princess,’ her tutors would demand.

Elegance. Sophistication. Manners and proper decorum at all times. That was the life she had lived in.

So, to say that she was born with a silver spoon in is a big understatement. Taeyeon Kim, the eldest daughter of King Jongkuk, never needed to lift her finger. Not…until…today.

“Okay, Taeyeon. You can do this.” She exhaled, a hand on a chair she needed to move. “All you need to do is help fix the set.” She nodded to herself. “Tiffany trusted you with this job.” She grinned. “Just. Act. Normal. Yep. You can do this. Fighting!” Taeyeon lightly raised a fist to cheer herself.

“A chair in here, please!”

“More light on the set!”

“Water for the model.”

Commands were fired like raging bullets towards her. But Taeyeon happily complied with each and every single one of them. With a gleeful smile, she handed water bottles for the models, gave seats when they needed them, and made sure everyone’s requests in the studio were given attention to. Taeyeon wanted Tiffany to be proud of her so she meticulously gave more effort than she had ever done in her entire life.

She was standing behind the main photographer, admiring his passion, Evian in her hand, ready to give to whoever needed it, when a tap on her shoulder caught her attention.

“Hi.” A model smiled at her.

Taeyeon pivoted her heels to fully face the other female. “Oh, hi. Do you want this?” She offered the bottle of water to her.

“Oh, thanks.” She took the item and chuckled. “Name’s Cara. Been working here for a while and this is the first time I’ve seen you. You’re new here?”

“Yes, Ms. Cara.” Taeyeon smiled, her hands clasped behind her as she stood with her back straight.

“Cute.” She giggled. “Cara would do. And your name is?”

“Taeyeon. My name is Taeyeon Kim.” She extended her hand to shake Cara’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Taeyeon.” She smirked as she gave a firm shake on Taeyeon’s hand. “So, having fun?”

“Yes, yes, I do.” Taeyeon bobbed her head. “This is actually all so new to me.” She added in a subtle tone.

“New to you?”

Oh, crap. You didn’t just blew your cover, Taeyeon. “Uhm. Ah. Yes. Ah. I mean…” What happened to acting normal? Now, she’ll think you’re some—

“Ahahaha. It’s okay. I understand; you really are new here.” Cara laughed. “I thought you seemed familiar. But I just can’t remember where I’ve seen you. Are you friends with anyone from the crew?”

A breath of relief escaped Taeyeon’s lips. “Ahahaha. Ah! Yes. Actually, I’m friends with Tiffany. She’s a model here too. Do you know her?”

“Oh, the Tiffany Hwang? Really? Wow. I mean, who doesn’t know her? She’s really famous!” Cara’s eyes sparkled. “I’m like one of her biggest fans. Wow! And you’re friends with her? We’re actually friends too, sort of.”

Taeyeon couldn’t help the upward lift of her lips. She knew her smile reached her ears. “Oh, really? That’s good to know. And, yeah. Tiffany is a very good person. It’s impossible not to be friends with her. She’s kind and she’s really pretty. Really, really pretty. So beautiful! She’s really down-to-earth, too; I can’t believe I’m friends with her.” The evident rush of pride for Tiffany was so evident, Taeyeon wanted to facepalm herself. You didn’t have to say all those things, Taeyeon! Too much info!

“You sure are proud of her, huh? I mean, who doesn’t?” Cara held a teasing smirk.

Taeyeon’s eyes darted downward. She couldn’t look at Cara straight in the eye. Why would you say that about Tiffany, Taeyeon? She didn’t need to know that Tiffany is special to you. Wait…special? When did…

“Oh, speaking of the devil.” Cara tilted her head to the side. Tiffany just came. “Hi, Tiffany!” Cara waved.

“Hi.” Tiffany walked towards Cara and gave a light hug. “You done with your shoot?”

“Yeah. Just having a chat with Taeyeon here.” She beamed at Taeyeon. “Gotta go. See you around, Taeyeon. You too, Tiffany.” She gave a warm smile and left the two.

“Glad to see you’re having fun here.” Tiffany said, not looking at Taeyeon.

“Uhm, ah, yes. It’s fun.” Taeyeon didn’t know why but Tiffany seemed off. She wanted to ask why or whether Tiffany needed something she can help with—a bottle of water or a seat perhaps?—but the director calling his model to the set made her unable to do so.

She stared at Tiffany’s back as she paced towards the center. The moment she posed in front of the camera, Tiffany’s lips curved into smiles. But Taeyeon felt weird. Something was not right. Tiffany was smiling. But it was not the smile Taeyeon had seen her with before. The gentle and warm smile that made Taeyeon believe that Tiffany’s the most beautiful of all—it wasn’t the same as that. And she thought, for the first time in her life—regardless of the endless royal education given to her—she didn’t know exactly what to do.

“Are you talking about my girlfriend?” Tiffany blatantly asked the models behind her.

“Oh, uhm.” The two Asian models bowed to her. “Sorry, Ms. Tiffany. We didn’t know.” And they scrammed out of the room.

‘Crap. What did you get yourself into, Tiffany?’

She didn’t know what came up to her. But she was sure that that was the stupidest question she had as