Chapter 7 – Unveil

“What’s with the long face, Tae Tae?”

Taeyeon sat in her regular café and seat. She picked the corner of the room when the sunlight was thin and privacy was at least present. The change in atmosphere probably would help her progress in work. In front of her, the laptop stayed put, displaying emails and other tabs of lyrics and music, a hot Americano, and a waitress who acclaimed to be a freelance fashion stylist.

“No inspiration, Tiffany,” Taeyeon said and let out a big sigh. Staring at her unmoving screen with the same content like three days ago , her mind screamed to reconcile with Sunny, but her disappointment towards Sunny told the otherwise. Taeyeon could feel the ice between them was thinning, yet the big rock was as dead as hibernating bear. At least, they started to tell each other where they go like old days. Taeyeon was somewhat relieved when she heard Sunny grabbed her car keys this morning. She just had some bad feeling about the car Sunny got off last night.

When Taeyeon was about to enter their apartment lot, she saw a car on the drop off area, the engine was off.  She decided to check, Taeyeon had the same scenario once when she was too drunk to get upstairs and slept in the dead car to the point she could easily die in suffocation (Sunny woke her by banging the window which resulted in broken glass instead because she used the nearby rock) so Taeyeon thought it might be a wise decision by doing so. By the time she entered the building area, she could see faint shadows in the car, she slowed her speed to make sure the figures were moving before drove to the parking lot. In time, Taeyeon saw Sunny exited from the passenger seat, presumed there was a little talk before Sunny waved her hands and the car drove away.

Sunny didn’t bow goodbye, she waved. It must be someone she was very familiar with.

Taeyeon fidgeted in her seat, arm crossed in front of her chest and eyebrows furrowed.

“You hear me?” Tiffany asked.

“You’re right.” Taeyeon responded whatever. She was accustomed to this kind of situation. She tried many answer and this one always worked best.

Tiffany sniggered. “You’re quiet but so easy to read,” she murmured.

“Pardon?”

“I said, usually coffee helps.” Tiffany smiled and rested her chin on her hand that propping up on the table. “If it doesn’t, then it’s not the problem.”

Taeyeon sipped her coffee. There was a brief pause in her movement before she said, “Maybe coffee doesn’t help everyone.”

“Or maybe inspiration wasn’t your problem.”

Taeyeon knew that. “Then, what is it?”

Tiffany’s finger traced an invisible circle to her own head.

“You’re telling me I’m stupid?” Taeyeon deadpanned. She quirked an eyebrow.

“No, Silly.” Tiffany laughed. “There’s something bothering your mind and you couldn’t focus.”

Taeyeon let out a sigh.

“I’m listening.” Tiffany sat upright and smiled warmly to induce Taeyeon to talk.

Taeyeon hesitated. She had been here quite often these past months and she shared ideas and small talks to Tiffany but never privacy.

“You’re so reclusive you know,” Tiffany said.

“I’m not.” Taeyeon defended. If she was being compared to Sunny, she could say that, “she is.” But she knew the fact that they both were, which was made conversations between them harder to be done.

“I’m just trying to help, girl.” Tiffany shrugged.

Taeyeon heard Tiffany’s seat was dragged and cup was being lifted. Taeyeon opened before she retracted the decision she made in split seconds before Tiffany completely left, “I just lost a feature artist.”

Tiffany sat back down, “See? It wasn’t that hard.” Tiffany sipped her latte before she took out her phone, tapped on it for a while and set it on the table near to Taeyeon, “You just have to talk.”

“What’s this?”, Taeyeon looked at the devices with playlists on the screen.

“Play it.”

Taeyeon did what Tiffany said. At first she was listening in open air but immediately took out her earphones to focus on the voices. She stopped momentarily, “Is that you?”

Tiffany nodded, she playfully asked, “Want to hire me as your featuring artist? I’m quite free now. I sang many guide songs.” She flipped her hair. Somewhat in Tiffany’s gesture was to show her bright personality, a complete opposite with Yuri.

“Can you play guitar?”

Tiffany shook her head.

And Taeyeon slumped back.

“But we can hire guitarist.”

Taeyeon did calculation on her head, cost and stuff. But mostly, thinking that the merrier the worse. Taeyeon wasn’t a team player and she practiced hard. And the main problem with team was, matching the schedule was even harder.

“I don’t know, Fany. Let me think about it.”

“Sure.” Tiffany rose from her seat. “See? You just have to talk and new possibility comes.” Then went back to her post as customers just entered.

Talk? New possibility?

Taeyeon tapped her index finger beside her coffee.  Then she let out a heavy sigh. “Screw it.”

She took out her phone and typed a message to Sunny.

“Let’s see how this talk will go.”

==== ==== ====

Sunny just came back to her apartment and set down her mobile and keys on the kitchen counter just before one of them dinged. She slid across the screen to reveal the sender.

Skinny Bear. ‘Hey, you’re free tonight?’

Last night flooded her mind. It took Sunny longer to type the reply.

‘It depends’.

Sunny went to grab a drink, as soon as the refrigerator door was opened, her phone rang. She picked it up.

“There’s a movie that got a good review and I think I should take you with me.” The other line spoke almost immediately when the call was through.

Sunny forgot when the last time she was being asked out for a movie was (coworkers didn’t count). It was usually her role to update Taeyeon with the latest movie. And it felt nice to be asked instead.

Pinching the phone between her ear and shoulder, Sunny grabbed a citrus soda from her cooler. She sipped from the can and asked for the title. It sounded familiar. She opened her tablet to search on the internet. The director looked promising. “I’m in.”

“I’ll pick you up at,” there was a break on the other line. “Is five alright? Maybe we could stuff ourselves before movie? Tickets say it was on six forty.”

Sunny alternated the phone to another ear. “You already bought the tickets?” Sunny laughed and looked at the time on the corner of her gadget. It was a bit tight, thirty minutes for her to prepare herself. Sooyoung was probably worse since she had to pick Sunny up. “Is it okay with you? We could meet there if you give me the address.”

“I’ll be there on time. I’ll call when I’m near or maybe you could tell me your flat number so I could ring your door instead.”

Sunny looked at Taeyeon’s bedroom, it was open but her studio door is closed. She sighed at the thought Taeyeon worked too hard again. “Just tell me if you miss Taeyeon and want to see her. She hasn’t known you’re back in town so I think it could be a surprise.”

“Surprise.” Sooyoung deadpanned. “I’ll hang up so you can properly dress yourself. See you.”

“I’ll hang up soon anyway. See you.” 

Just before Sunny completely ended the call, the phone spoke again. “Wear a dress!”

“You wish!” Sunny yelled to the speaker and pressed the red button.

Sunny walked into her bathroom and set her phone on top of her towel before it dinged again.

Sunny rolled her eyes at the thought of Sooyoung just wouldn’t leave her at peace. That was annoying but not to a dangerous extent. It’s quite adorably silly.

But, it was Taeyeon.

Underage Gangsta. ‘At the café. You have time? Can we talk?’

Sunny took a breath. Staring at her phone for a while. She barely had time to prepare herself for the movie and Sooyoung asked her out first.

She hesitated a while before sent a reply.

‘Yes. But I have to go at six.’

Sunny had to cancel her dinner with Sooyoung now. She hoped the latter would understand.

Sunny waited for Taeyeon’s reply which came faster than she thought.

‘I’ll wait at the same spot.’

‘I’ll meet you there in 20 minutes.’

Sunny then sent a message to Sooyoung to inform the new plan and apologized. She didn’t bother to look at her phone as it dinged twice and stepped into the shower to let the water calmed her head.

She was sorry towards Sooyoung who apparently was prepared for tonight. But every day in these past weeks were like stormy winter and Sunny was thinking they should talk soon as she was afraid they’ll be getting used to cold silence between them and took it as a problem-solving. When actually, one was too disappointed and one was too distress to make an approach.

Taeyeon and Sunny were the quiet types. They had always been. Even in their first meeting. When was it, Sunny tried to remember.

She actually forgot their first meeting, but somehow Taeyeon managed to leave some impression. Like a white plain paper. Sunny remembered Taeyeon that way. A pale, never talked much, looked fragile kind of girl. It wasn’t easy to get close to Taeyeon, because Sunny too, never really talked much.

No, Sunny, she refused to talk.

Because it seemed every words or actions she did always related to her family member, her uncle. Her rich and irrelevant uncle.

If she did something wrong, they called her conceited because of her uncle, thinking that she could get away because her family was rich. If she did something right, they said she tried to be perfect, because her family was rich. She acted mean, they called her rude and improper and that was how every rich people acted. She acted kind; they called her fake because rich people never did something for nothing.

Disappointed but mainly dejected, Sunny tried to keep low profile and remained silent. But she still got names, such as, too good to have friends as she lived on the clouds.

And Sunny tried to not care, but bad voices always came to her ears and settled in on her brain. She remembered how awful her high school times. She wasn’t bullied physically, yet she wasn’t grateful for that, because mean words were so much sharper than real knife.

She became very careful towards people. Many came to her and played friends, only to leave when Sunny said, “I can do nothing for your audition. I might be his niece, but it didn’t mean I could make you train there and debut.”

They always left like leaves, and Sunny stood there like a tree in the fall. The cycle repeated every ing year.

Until Taeyeon came. Suddenly, there was an aster beside her. Sunny didn’t know how she got there, how long she had been there until she was fully blossomed. All she noticed, the aster never left and never ask for life supporting system. She just sat there and attracted butterflies, lived independently yet coherent with the surroundings.

And they started to live together unknowingly. 

The very first companion Sunny had. She still saw Taeyeon as a white plain paper. But now, as a clean, full of potential, with honest intention kind of girl. How long she had been wanted a friend, Sunny thought. And now she got a friendship, she would cherish it.

And as years went by, Sunny slowly gave her trust away to Taeyeon. Taeyeon never asked too much but always gave away as much. Sunny would do her best to provide whenev