a/n: Sorry it took me so long. Thanks for reading. 

Chapter 9

In hindsight, the cafe invitation was a bad idea because Tiffany’s heart was beating a little too fast and she did not know why. She certainly looked forward to have coffee and tea with the reporter.

She had quickly changed out of her suit and into a more comfortable blouse and shorts before heading to the café. She wasn’t planning to go back to office. The interview drained the energy out of her.

She found a quiet spot right next to  the windows where she could watch the crowd while waiting for Taeyeon to arrive. She ordered her usual, a glass of iced cold latte. She had thoughts of ordering something for Taeyeon too but was not sure what the latter would prefer.

She thought about the interview earlier and how seemingly gentle and careful the reporter was to her. A part of her wished Taeyeon was genuine about it, another part of her knew that it was just part of her job. But she really couldn’t deny herself a tiny, tiny flutter of her heart when Taeyeon draped her blazer on for her.

==

Taeyeon walked into the cafe and peered around. It was almost empty, save for a cap wearing man and his laptop and...Tiffany. She hurried over to the woman.

“Hi”

Tiffany looked up from her phone and immediately noticed Taeyeon had changed out of her dress. She was wearing a grey hoodie and jeans that made her look just like a college student. Tiffany quietly noted the stark contrast between the Taeyeon that was in front of her and the great Reporter Kim Taeyeon earlier this morning.

“What would you like to drink? My treat.”

“Nah. I should be the one treating you…except you have already bought your drink. Anything you want to eat?”

“But I said I was gonna treat you.”

“Too bad.” Taeyeon stood up and went to the counter.

She had this very strange sensation that someone was watching her as she made her way to the counter. Taeyeon casually scanned the cafe, Tiffany typing away on her phone while the other man was typing away on his laptop. She dismissed it as her being oversensitive again.

She came back with a cup of tea and a slice of strawberry shortcake.

“Earl Grey?” Tiffany sniffed the aroma of the tea.

Taeyeon nodded. “For you.” She pushed the slice of cake closer to Tiffany. “Thank you for the wonderful interview.”

“But I am supposed to treat you...”

Taeyeon heard the disappointment in Tiffany’s voice and lets out an amused grin. “Do you know that I am much older than you? I should be the one buying you a drink.”

Tiffany narrowed her eyes and examined the older woman carefully. Her eyes traced the milky cheeks and the round eyes. She leaned back into her seat and folded her arms after a thorough examination. “You’re lying.”

Taeyeon shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever.”

“How old are you then?”

“You said I was lying.”

“Fine. I will ask the rest. I can ask Jong Seok.”

Geez. This girl makes friends with everyone.

“33.”

“WHAT?!”

Taeyeon flinched at her outburst. It seemed like Tiffany had to end every sentence with an exclamation mark, something Taeyeon had difficulty adjusting to.

The loud exclamation from Tiffany seemed to trigger some sort of reaction from the man for his head jerked upwards.

“You’re 6 years older than me. But you don’t look your age at all.”

And you don’t act your age at all.

“Just so you know, I have no plans to call you Unnie.”

“Fine by me. I am never one for formalities.”

“Good.” Tiffany poked her fork into strawberry shortcake and scooped a good chunk of cake onto the fork. She raised the fork up, towards Taeyeon’s mouth. “Ah…”

“Why are you doing?” The older woman was caught off guard and squirmed away from the fork of doom.

“Try the cake. Come on, don’t be shy.”

Taeyeon felt the heat rushing up her ears and she didn’t even know why. “Get away from me. I can eat it myself.

She grabbed the fork and ate the cake grudgingly under the watchful eyes of Tiffany Hwang.

“Good Unnie.”

“Leave me alone.” Taeyeon snapped and furrowed her eyebrows. Tiffany thought she looked like a grumpy little elf. But of course, she wouldn’t say it right to the older woman’s face.

There was a temporal silence when the pair found themselves out of words. But Tiffany was not about to just let the afternoon slip away from that. After all, it is not every day that she got to sip tea with someone like Taeyeon.

The enigmatic Taeyeon fascinated the younger woman to no end. She wanted to know more about Taeyeon, to make friends with her even.

“So…why did you decide to be a reporter?”

Taeyeon narrowed her eyes at a question which she considered to be very personal. She countered back, “Why did you decide to be a lawyer then?”

Tiffany shrugged and answered the question with ease. “I like doing what I do and I reckon I am pretty decent at it.”

The older woman simply nodded, eyes still flickering between Tiffany and the man seated right behind them. By this time, she could have swore the man was checking them out. (Never dismiss the gut feeling of a journalist)

“What about you?” Tiffany was not about to give up.

“What about me?”

“Why did you decide to be a reporter? There is bound to be a reason behind every decision right?”

“I beg to differ, Tiffany. Some people are shaped by their choices, but others are shaped by circumstances.”

“So are you trying to say that you were shaped by circumstances?”

“I am saying it in general. With all due respect, I would very much prefer to keep my private life private. Being a journalist is both rewarding and meaningful but I would not go into the specific details over my career choice.”

Taeyeon half expected the woman to back off slightly after what she considered to be an abrasive respond to a perfectly normal question between friends. Except Tiffany isn’t really her friend and Taeyeon happened to be someone who guarded her life with great secrecy. It wasn’t the most pleasant thing in the world, but it was very necessary.

But of course, we all know that Tiffany isn’t the sort to back down and hold back when it comes to the people in her life.

“Fine. I wouldn’t ask about it but I would wait until the day you tell me the reason out of your own accord.”

Never in a million years. Taeyeon smiled enigmatically, “We shall see.”

“But can your airtight lips at least tell me when the interview would be aired?”

“Not too sure of the exact date, but the printed edition would be in next week’s paper so I reckon the recorded interview would be aired after that. A staff will inform you closer to the date.”

“Ah…I wonder how it would turn out.” Tiffany remarked, peering out of the window with the dreamiest pair of eyes. Taeyeon caught herself staring for a little too long.

“I am sure you would look beau--…professional.” Taeyeon caught her loose tongue before she said something really embarrassing and out of character.

“It’s the blazer. I wanted to wear something pink! But Seohyun insisted for me to wear a black blazer. She said I needed to look professional and business like.”

“Seohyun?”

“Seohyun is my secretary.”

“Well if it was up to me, I would have told you to stick with the pink. Seems like it would fit your personality.”

“Really? I knew it. Black is such a stuffy colour.”

By now, Taeyeon had already caught the man staring at them several times now. She didn't know who the man was and what he wanted but she didn't have a good feeling about it. The last thing she wanted was to get Tiffany involved. Taeyeon decided it was enough.

She pretended to peer at the watch. “Ah, I remembered I have an appointment later on. Do you need a ride home?”

“No, it's fine. I would just hail a cab outside. I am not going back to the office today anyway.”

“Very well then, I will walk you out.”

Taeyeon made sure to take a quick memorization of the man’s facial features as they walked out of the cafe.

Was the man just a regular customer? Or was the man after her? Just like many other things in her life, she didn’t have the answers to those questions.

==

After making sure that Tiffany had went into the cab, Taeyeon decided not to return to the office just yet.

It seemed like the man have left the cafe. From the peripheral of her sight, she didn’t see anyone suspicious, or the same man lurking around. But she still needed to prove herself wrong, or right.

She sent a quick text to Jong Seok, telling him to bring her briefcase from the office to the carpark near the cafe. Within minutes, a breathless Jong Seok came running down and passed it to her. Taeyeon thanked the intern before he made his way back to the newsroom and told him that she would not be going back to the office today.

Alone now, she pretended to walk briskly, arms holding the briefcase. Her senses were very much heightened now. She made her way to the carpark.

The carpark was well lit but quiet. She paced towards the direction of her car, still very much aware of her surroundings.

She quickly turned a corner and turned around when she caught a glimpse of a shadow. There was someone standing at the other side of the L-shaped wall. She coughed a little, and watched the shadow disappear. Whoever that was on that other side of the wall seemed to have stepped away from her line of sight.

Her heart pounded as she picked up the pace towards her car. Now she was sure someone was following her. She tightened her grip around the briefcase.

(Well, the briefcase was empty, save for a few piece of blank writing paper. But the man that was trailing behind her did not need to know.)

She exhaled the moment she got into her car. Her head was spinning as she tried to come up with an explanation as to why someone was following her. An amateur at that. He couldn’t even be subtle about it.

A rival newspaper? Possibly. Or...him?

Of course not. Taeyeon dismissed that thought as quickly as it came to her mind. She was overthinking again. She scoffed at herself for coming up with such a ridiculous explanation. He would never send a half-baked amateur to tail her like that anyway. It was probably one of the rival newspaper trying to either unsettle her or to dig for leads. She made a mental note to diss the editor of Daehan Daily the next time they meet in a function. Seoul Daily had outsold Daehan Daily for the third year running anyway.