It’s safe to say that fate has its own hands on making people stop in their tracks. To start thinking about decisions and igniting the fire deep within them. Their hearts find their own person to rely on or some prolonged forgotten feelings abandoned for years. Only to remind that one could still have a purpose.

Purpose.

Finding purpose isn’t as easy as one plus one. Nor as easy as securing deals on their shipyard.

Lawmaking? Attending meetings for the National Assembly?

It was all more manageable.

And you know what’s not manageable? Trying to pick an outfit at four in the morning with only caffeine running in her veins.

“Now, this is the part where I regret not paying attention to fashion advice…” she sulks while holding up a chinese collared shirt on her left and a plaid shirt on her right.

Sighing, she tosses both shirts back on her bed before lighting a cigarette. The peacefulness of being alone was about to take her over when the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Taeyeon-ah? Is that you, darling?”

Taeyeon breaks into a smile when she realizes who it is. “Mom!”

“How are you? Your father and I are worried because you’re not returning our calls!” Aera scolds her.

“I was just busy, Mom. I’ve told you I’m working-”

“No excuses, Taeyeon. We’ve let you go on that all-around-the-world trip you kept on insisting on even before your term ended with the condition that you call us at least twice a week. And what work? You’re working?!”

Taeyeon moves the device away from her ear. Her nagging mother tends to overreact and become loud when they can’t get ahold of their precious child.

“Managing ports, of course! And I’ve told you I’m interested in some real estate, so I was going around-” she gets cut off for the second time. She blows a cloud of smoke to calm herself.

Oh, for the love of god. Mothers.

“Darling, you’re supposed to take a rest and enjoy yourself. You don’t even have to worry about your finances or us. It’s time for you to focus more on your own life.”

“Mom, it’s not that. Traveling isn’t that fun anymore. I’ve seen Sunny, visited some of my old classmates, heck, I even started to join some book club just to try something new.”

“And yet, you still don’t seem to be able to find happiness or contentment, huh?”

She doesn’t have any response to that.

“Taeyeon-ah…” her mother calls out.

Hearing her mother sigh, she didn’t want to pose problems for the woman, so she decided to reassure her.

“It’s okay, Mom. I’m doing alright. I mean, running a country is much more complicated work.” she lightly chuckles to calm the worrying woman. “Tell Aboji to take it easy at work. Pro bono jobs can stress him, and stop doing late-night surgeries, Mom. It’s not good for you.”

“Hmm, always got to have the last word. I will tell him but promise to call him back.”

“Yes, mother. I’ll try to visit home soon.”

“Understandable. Yuri and Kibum seem to miss you a lot, and those kids are constantly dropping by the hospital to bring food and eat with us. Oh, and Taeyeon-ah?”

“Yes, Mom?”

“Try to get some sleep. It’s too early for you to be fussing around-”

“Mom!” she protests when she realizes what her mother meant this time.

“Don’t ‘Mom’ me, Taeyeon. Relax, you’re already in Milan. I raised you to be the smartest one in the country, don’t act dumb when you two meet.”

Mothers. Just what do we do without them?

_______________________________

The right wing consisted of all the luxury brands Taeyeon could and not name. Just as she predicted, Hyuna was right. The woman had no reason to lie, but Taeyeon could still be pranked, knowing Hyuna liked to about her past relationships.

She had her Nikon FA around her neck this time, with no bags. She decided to go out as casually as possible after debating on what to wear, going for the white chinese collar polo shirt under her Louis Vuitton coat.

Her boots added a few inches to her height, and Taeyeon couldn’t complain about that.

She loved her in any white shirt as far as she could remember. A thought passes through Taeyeon’s mind.

No reports or papers that needed to be signed. On top of that, she got a whole week for herself, not worrying about business—a good time for her hobbies and self-care.

Taeyeon drags her feet to one of the local enotecas to pick up an order before making her way to her primary destination.

She glances at one of the frequented shops in the Palazzo and smirks when she sees a portrait of a public figure.

“No wonder you’re so popular here.”

_______________________________

“Slow day?” Tiffany asks one of her staff on duty.

She’s on her typical day at visiting their physical stores. Galleria Vittorio is the last place to see for today. Her feet ached from driving with her heels, and she just couldn’t wait to get home soon.

“Yes, Signora. Our clients just came to pick up some of their reserved items. The copy of today’s sale is also ready for your review.”

“Thanks.” Tiffany starts reading while proceeding to the small office dedicated to these short visits.

“Isabella? Are you sure about this? We only have four walk-in customers, right?”

The woman rushes upon being called. “Yes, Signora. We opened at 1 PM, as you said. We ran for five hours and had four in total except for the other booked clients.”

Tiffany frowns at the paper in her hand. “And yet the total sales for these four people is seven thousand euros?”

“Si. Everything’s been recorded for today.” the woman starts to fidget in front of Tiffany, who suddenly goes around the store, checking the items.

She’s not suspecting anything, these people had been working with her for years, and robbery was the last thing that could cross Tiffany’s mind. But it was pretty unusual for such a big purchase when a single receipt was already thousands.

Almost four thousand euros for a single receipt purchase? Come on.

“What the– someone bought the Medusa Icon jewelry set?!”

“And a couple of other items like the limited edition bathrobes and shirts, Signora.”

It isn’t surprising to have someone take an interest in these items. After all, everything they sold was loved by the public. But buying the whole and only set sold in this shop is quite intriguing, especially for someone who didn’t arrange a meeting to meet her.

Because usually, if someone shops like this, they’d call for an appointment to chat with her.

And who knows, it could be a movie star, a singer, a politician, or a big-time businessman who just dropped by. It could be anyone with a relevant name.

Tiffany didn’t want to be caught in another drama where she turned out to be a rude and problematic brand owner. She’s had enough of the nosy reporters every time she steps into the US.

“You guys go ahead and close up. Just one schedule for me on Monday?” Tiffany verifies.

“Si, Signora. The details are still in the works, and they said they’ll be back in two days.”

“Okay, call me if something else comes up.”

_______________________________

“I swear you have to learn the time difference between us, Tiff-”

“I need help.”

“Oh, this is serious?”

She sighs, “Yes.”

Sooyoung knew this was code red. It had to be something serious when Tiffany didn’t scold her when she got too whiny with the sudden phone calls.

“What is it? How do I help you while I rehearse my lines.” the actress says.

“Sometimes, I am so right about so many things, and it would make your head spin.” Tiffany starts.