“Tiffany Hwang!”

After the MC said her name, Tiffany went up onto the stage and smiled at the audiences, also at the flashing cameras. She waved her hand a few times and ended with a bow before she walked to the centre. She had a schedule that night. There was this annual award ceremony for actors and actresses and Tiffany was invited to sing.

To be honest, Tiffany didn’t really like such events. Because Lim Yoona was there. Because the actress was watching. Because if she wasn’t careful enough, she would catch the actress with her reckless eyes, and it was going to be hard for her to focus. This time Tiffany tried her best not to roam her eyes to anywhere and just do her job well.

Then again she only had to sing one or two songs. Another side of herself would always tell her to do well, to impress the audiences, to make everybody falls for her. Tiffany was confident enough. And she had easily chosen her songs for that night.

She sat down in front of the grand piano and took a deep breath. She wasn’t really used to quiet audiences. Her fans had those crazy screams and shouts. But this time her fans weren’t around. Seconds passed, and finally, she started the first song that night.

I walked down the path

Confused heart, ruined mind, scattered feels

Were you there?

Did you care?

Baby, I am your empty garden

I am your beautiful punishment

I am your demon in disguise

I am your sin

And I am yours

I am always yours

Tiffany would admit, when she sings, she forgets everything. By sings she means, only sing and not dancing. She was a ballad freak and she felt kind of proud. She had to say that she felt even more confident after Lim Yoona told her what her favourite songs were. Tiffany wouldn’t have to think much to choose her songs. She knew what Lim Yoona liked. And that reason was enough.

Tonight, tonight

Take me with you

We may be apart, we may be far

It doesn’t matter, no more

Baby, I’ll do anything

Dance with me

Swing with me

Let out this ghost tango just for tonight

To you just you

I would, I feel

In this silence we make our music

Only us, you and I

Baby, I’ll do anything

Dance with me

Swing with me

Let out this ghost tango just for tonight

Her eyes were closed when she finished the last song. She inhaled a relieved breath and stood up, facing the clapping audiences. The lights were on again so she could see them clearly. Still, being careful not to roam her eyes carelessly, Tiffany smiled and gave a deep bow to everyone, before the light was off and she walked away proudly.

Once again, she did in impressing the epitome of perfection, Lim Yoona.

-

“Oh wow, Empty Garden and Ghost Tango. I didn’t think you’d choose those. Didn’t you say Waltz in Sorrow was your favourite?”

“Well…”

The singer only shrugged with a lopsided smile at her manager. She fixed her eyes on the screen in front of her and was silenced again. After finishing her performance, she stayed in her waiting room and watched the remaining award ceremony through the TV. And there she was, Lim Yoona, the star of the night.

As expected, she won the Best Actress award. Well, say that her performance earlier was an early gift for Lim Yoona. The actress was giving her speech and Tiffany couldn’t take her eyes off of her. Even through the screen, Lim Yoona was still beautiful. It didn’t do any justice to her real beauty actually. She was much more gorgeous in real life.

Tiffany didn’t realize Sunny had sat beside her. She then unconsciously clapped her hands when Lim Yoona finished her speech and ended it with that smile, Tiffany’s favourite, still with a dumbfounded expression. Sunny saw that and giggled.

It made the singer jerked her head, “Why are you laughing?”

“You’re totally whipped.”

“What?”

“But she’s indeed pretty, though.” Sunny pointed at the TV, “Lim Yoona.”

“Oh.”

Lim Yoona had disappeared from the screen as the MCs started talking again. Tiffany took her phone and busied herself with it. The battery was running out and she mentally slapped herself because she didn’t bring the charger with her. Unluckily, her phone, which was a gift from a fan, was different with her from managers’. She couldn’t borrow their chargers.

She pouted and put the phone down on the table. She then realized there were some magazines being placed on it. Because she was bored she mindlessly took one of those. She was about to flip it open before she realized who was the person on the cover.

“What the…” She cringed.

It was Jessica Jung.

“What?” Sunny scooted closer to her and saw what Tiffany was looking, “Oh wow, it’s her.”

Back then Tiffany would be excited every time she saw Jessica Jung on magazines. Well, not that excited, more like interested. But unfortunately, some people were worse in real life. From that meeting Tiffany lost almost all her interest to this businesswoman. Almost, though, because sometimes she would still be left in awe knowing the achievements Jessica Jung had in such young age.

“Oh look! Her sister is going to Korea too!” Sunny pointed at one of the headlines on the magazine’s cover, “Did you know she has a sister, Fany?”

“Ugh, like I care.”

“But you do, though?” Sunny raised her eyebrows, “She might be a but also an amazing one. You wouldn’t find a person like her or her sister everywhere, Fany.”

“Whatever. Once a forever a . Just take this.” Tiffany made a disgusted face and shoved the magazine away which Sunny gladly took it from her.

Lucky for her, the other magazines were mostly fashion ones. She picked one and started flipping pages of it. Tiffany didn’t really read magazine, she actually only liked seeing the pictures inside. Her lips pursed seeing how nice the fashion items were. She made a mental note that later, when she had a lot of free time, she would go buy these. Even though she wasn’t really sure when she would get it.

“Five years , for real?!” Sunny suddenly shrieked.

Tiffany narrowed her eyes, irritated, as she slightly turned her head to her manager beside her, “What--”

“Look, Jessica Jung’s sister!” Without being asked, Sunny showed Tiffany a picture, “She’s five years younger!”

Forcefully, Tiffany looked at it. There was a young woman on the picture, smiling only slightly. The singer frowned. The woman didn’t really look like Jessica Jung, but somehow, she still had the same aura. The y aura, to be exact. Well, it made Tiffany didn’t question them as sisters.

“Oh.” Tiffany muttered, “Does she have a hidden daughter too?” She asked, jokingly.

“I don’t know.” Sunny shrugged, putting the magazine onto her lap again, “I don’t think so. She’s still young.”

Tiffany only rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, whatever--”

“Excuse me?”

Just then she realized the door of her waiting room was opened a little and a gorgeous figure was peeking from the small gap. Tiffany went frozen instantly and kept mum in awe when Sunny quickly stood up and told Lim Yoona to come in politely. Yes, Sunny was right. Tiffany was totally whipped.

When Lim Yoona said she wanted to talk to Tiffany, the others, included Sunny, immediately excused themselves from the waiting room. As Tiffany stood up, she was about to say hi but was silenced with a pair of lips engulfing hers.

The magazine in her hand was dropped onto the floor. It was long forgotten.

-

Tiffany stopped her car immediately. She held onto the steering wheel as she eyed the crowd in front of the building she was heading. For real? They were there already? In this hour? The singer couldn’t believe her eyes.

It was past 1AM and the tired-but-bored Tiffany wanted to buy some books or magazines, probably it could help her insomnia. It was kind of crazy indeed going here and there alone but because it was already late, Tiffany thought those insane fans would already disappear. But she was wrong. They even waited in front of Tiffany’s usual bookstore.

Years of being stalked had made Tiffany understood a little bit of the way they worked. When they couldn’t tell where Tiffany was heading, they split into some kind of stupid teams and waited in the places Tiffany often visited. Sometimes they were right, sometimes they were wrong. And this time, the luck was on them.

Sighing, Tiffany dropped her head until her forehead hit the steering wheel quite hard. She hated things like this. She only wanted to buy just probably one thick novel but look at how hard it was. Luckily this time they hadn’t spotted her car. Her eyes were quick enough in catching them so she could stop her car far before the bookstore.

There was nothing she could do about them, she knew. With a tired groan she quickly made a U turn and drove away from there. Great, where would she go now? As usual, her insomnia was striking. That bookstore she liked to visit opened 24/7. The owner was really kind and didn’t recognize her, at first, which made her comfortable being in there. But because of those insane human beings, now she felt bad for the owner. Maybe she should stop going there for some time.

She spent almost half an hour pacing back and forth around Seoul until finally her eyes caught a bright café in between closed stores, it was still open. Her eyes lit up as she stopped there. She had never been there before, which was good, because it was somehow, safe. Putting her thick jacket and her beanie on, Tiffany exited her car.

The bell rang when she opened the door. The warmth made her sigh in relief. The café was almost empty. She could only see the employees and one customer in front of the cashier, ordering. Smiling a little, Tiffany queued behind the only customer and waited for her turn. She then frowned slightly after she realized this customer was a woman with blonde hair. Was she a singer too, probably?

“Please wait a second, Miss.” The cashier smiled and left to get the order ready.

The blonde woman nodded and put her wallet inside her jeans pocket, before she met Tiffany’s eyes and gasped in surprise.

Okay, she recognized Tiffany, meanwhile Tiffany didn’t, but somehow, the familiar feeling was there again.

She silently flinched. Don’t say that they actually knew each other but the forgetful Tiffany couldn’t remember who she was.

“Oh, I know who you are.” The blonde flicked her fingers with a smile, “But I’m not going to say it out loud because I know you’d hate it.”

She chuckled and Tiffany only awkwardly smiled at that. Did that mean they actually didn’t know each other? Tiffany exhaled the breath she had been holding, feeling somehow relieved. But this blonde was beautiful, though. She looked like an idol group member. Tiffany swore she felt really familiar.

“You’re really pretty in real life.” The blonde suddenly said with a smirk.

“O-oh, really?” Tiffany let out a throaty laugh at the sudden compliment, “Thank you.”

“No problem. I like your album, by the way. Water in the Sky? That’s such a hit.”

“Thank you very much.” The singer’s smile widened and bowed her head slightly.

“Sure, sure. It’s only my first week in Korea and look what’s happening.” The blonde smiled proudly, “Now I can say I’m actually glad being in here.”

Again, Tiffany only smiled at that. She wanted to politely ask further but then the cashier returned with the blonde’s order. Tiffany saw the blonde shot the cashier a sly smirk and the latter handed the coffee shyly.

“Here’s your order, Miss.”

“Thank you, uh…” The blonde read the cashier’s nametag, “Yoo Kangmi. You’re very cute, you know.”

Tiffany frowned when she overheard that. Was this blonde some kind of a flirt or something?

“T-thank you, Miss.”

“Mm-hmm.” The blonde nodded, still with the smirk, and moved away from the queue.

Then it was Tiffany’s turn to order. The young cashier of course recognized her and couldn’t look her in the eye before she, in a speed of light, excused herself away to prepare the order. Tiffany only chuckled lowly at that before she realized that the blonde was still there, standing right beside her, eyeing her.

Their eyes met and Tiffany saw that smirk again. She formed another awkward smile and averted her gaze to somewhere else. This blonde was clearly a flirt.

“Are you alone?” She heard the blonde ask.

“Yes?” Tiffany turned her head.

“I asked, are you alone?”

“Oh, yes I am.”

The blonde nodded her head with her lips pouted, and Tiffany found it cute.

Suddenly she heard a phone ringing and turned out it was the blonde’s. She watched the blonde took her phone and as she looked at the screen, she sighed. Lazily, she answered the phone call.

“Hello?”

Tiffany frowned again. The blonde spoke in English.

“I’m about to go!” She exclaimed, fluently speaking English, “I know, I’ll be there soon. Sure, I-- ugh, okay. Yeah, yeah. I get that. Okay. I heard that! I heard that! Yeah, I said I will! Yes, yes as you wish!”

The singer couldn’t help but giggle a little.

“Okay. Bye.”

With another sigh, she ended the call and put it back inside her pocket. She grabbed her drink and started walking away,

“I got to go now, that’s too bad.” She said again, in Korean this time.

“Oh well,” Tiffany smiled, “be careful on your way.”

“I will. See you when I see you, Tiffany.”

“Sure, uh…”

The blonde grabbed the doorknob and again, smirked, “It’s Krystal. Bye, gorgeous.”

Before Tiffany could say anything else, the blonde named Krystal pushed the door open and exited the café. Tiffany eyed her until she got into her car and soon drove away. She then scoffed. Krystal? She felt like she never heard that name before. But why was she feeling familiar all over again?

Tiffany shrugged. That blonde Krystal woman. Such a flirt she was.

-

Confirmed! The singer Tiffany Hwang to sing OST for Midnight’s Dream, the upcoming movie starring Lim Yoona and Lee Seunggi! The track is still to be announced but on the mean time let’s check out the pictures of the script-reading…

“That spread quick.”

Tiffany mumbled as she leaned her back on the couch and fixed her eyes on the TV. Sunny responded with a muffled yes because she was busy eating ice cream. The singer smiled and put the remote down, replacing it with her phone because she heard it buzzing.

Finally, everything about the movie and OST was settled. Tiffany would sing one or two songs. And the filming itself was going to start in January, which meant a week ahead.

Sunny was right, the company didn’t even hesitate in saying yes when the official offer was given. Apparently, the production team totally agreed in Lim Yoona’s choice. They approved Tiffany to sing the OST right away. And as expected, the public was enthusiastic. Lim Yoona and Lee Seunggi in one movie, plus Tiffany Hwang as the OST singer. A perfect combination everyone had been dreaming of.

“Would you compose the song?” Sunny then asked, walked to the couch with the ice cream still in her hand.

“Maybe.” Tiffany shrugged, still busy with her phone, “But if I’m too lazy then, no. Composing is hard, you know. Especially for sad songs. I can’t just put sad words over and over in it.”

“Oh, right. I almost forgot it’s a sad movie.”

They went silence for a moment. Sunny sat beside her and took the remote meanwhile Tiffany was busy with her phone. She accidentally looked at the dates on the screen and exhaled a breath. The year was almost ending. Time surely flew fast. She didn’t really pay attention to dates since she was so busy.

“Wow!”

Suddenly Sunny shrieked as she pointed to screen with the remote. Tiffany put the phone down on her lap and lazily looked at the TV. Her eyes widened in an instant.

It was the blonde girl named Krystal, the flirt she met some time ago.

The founder and CEO of LC Group, Jessica Jung’s sister, Krystal Jung, is officially introduced as one the officials of the company. Miss Krystal Jung has just arrived in Korea after she finished her study in USA…

“Wait, what?!” Tiffany blinked.

“It’s Jessica Jung’s sister that we saw in the magazine, remember?”

Tiffany kept silent and replayed her memories in her head. So she indeed had seen this Krystal woman before. It was in the magazine which had Jessica Jung on its cover. But as she remembered, the Krystal in the magazine didn’t have blonde hair. Probably that was why she forgot. Yeah, the hair clearly made her forgot who Krystal was.

Slowly, she relaxed her tensed shoulder. So the blonde woman who flirted at the cashier and her back then was Krystal Jung, Jessica Jung’s sister. Such a small world indeed.

“But why are you so surprised? Have you seen here somewhere else?”

“Uh, no.” Tiffany lied, she was too lazy to tell the story, “I just… feel somehow familiar with her face and turned out she’s Jessica Jung’s sister. Bingo.”

“I see…”

Sunny only nodded and both of them continued watching the news. There was Krystal Jung, the blonde woman, in a press conference. She looked neat compared to when Tiffany met her. Oblivious people wouldn’t have guessed that she was actually quite flirty. And again, Tiffany felt the slight envy in her. Krystal Jung was still young, five years younger than Jessica Jung and yet she had almost everything her older sister had.

“She’s completely lucky, don’t you think?” Sunny asked.

Tiffany didn’t answer.

“I heard Jessica Jung had prepared a special subdivision for her. It’s an alliance of LC Group under her name. Really, she doesn’t have to do much.” Her manager continued.

“Yeah, right.” Tiffany agreed, “Lucky indeed.”

When Krystal Jung on TV had her eyes straight to the camera and slightly smiled, Tiffany quickly looked at somewhere else. It was similar indeed to the older Jung, her slight smile and her gestures. It’s just probably Krystal was a little bit different in a flirty way. Tiffany should’ve realized it earlier.

Exhaling a breath, Tiffany stood up from the couch and walked to the kitchen, ignoring the TV news. Her mind was still in process of comprehending. How could she met both Jungs and couldn’t recognize who they were?

Whatever. Tiffany shrugged. She didn’t want to involve with any Jungs from now on.

****

I'm really loving Red Light album right now. I think Butterfly is my fave. Or Dracula. Or maybe both. Yes, both.