The tour of Taeyeon’s apartment went really well. Well, meaning Tiffany got to know Taeyeon’s couch thoroughly, length-wise and corners. From the right seat to the left to the point where Taeyeon was lying on top of her, spanning the length of the couch, Tiffany definitely got in touch with every part of the couch. She had also decided on her favourite cuddling position on the couch in the duration of the tour. It required Taeyeon to have her back wedged into the corner, leaning against the armrest, hugging Tiffany from behind.

Tried and tested, it was the position they were in while watching an episode of The K2, a drama series playing on television that night. Tiffany had poked fun at Taeyeon, comparing her to the K2 character in the show and when the onscreen couple shared a smoking hot kiss under a blanket, Taeyeon, with a towel draped over their heads, did the same to her too. Only, their kiss was hotter and lasted way longer. And involved some hands going places.

It wasn’t until Tiffany got into her own bed later that night, that she realised she hadn’t actually seen Taeyeon’s bedroom at all. Damn it. Feeling miffed, she turned to the candle standing by her bedside and lit it. The fragrant scent of flowers that drifted to her nose made her smile. This was the candle that Taeyeon had bought for her back in Singapore.

Her mobile phone rang while she was staring at the flickering flame. Answering the call, she smiled at the sound of Taeyeon’s voice.

“Hey boo.”

“Hey baby, are you in bed now?”

“Yeah. Your timing is always so good. It’s almost as though you know what I’m doing.”

Taeyeon chuckled. “Who knows? Maybe I have spies sending me information about you.”

“Are you serious?”

“Maybe.”

“Taeyeon! Stop joking around.”

“Fany baby, don’t be angry. You’ll get bad dreams if you’re angry just before sleeping.”

“You made me angry.”

A chuckle came through the line. “Okay, it’s my fault. I’m sorry.”

“You’re doing this on purpose.”

“You’re too easy, that’s why.”

Tiffany huffed. “Do you torture all your girlfriends this way?”

“I wouldn’t know. My last relationship was with Cassie and I was pretty much a follower.”

Tiffany gasped. “What? You haven’t had a girlfriend since Cassie?”

“Not unless you count the girlfriends I had in juvenile training.”

“What about after you got out of there?”

A sigh was heard. “I wasn’t kidding when you told you you’re the first and only ex-client I’ve ever dated in the past six years.”

“But I assumed you dated outside of your job.”

“In that case, let me rephrase that.” Taeyeon made a show of clearing . “You’re the first person I’ve dated properly in six years.”

“What do you mean by ‘properly’?”

“There are girlfriends, and then there are girlfriends.”

“Are you telling me you’ve been having flings for the past six years?”

“Not so much a fling as a casual, open kinda relationship.”

“Your past is so complicated.”

“Am I too complicated for you?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

Taeyeon chuckled. “What about you? How long ago was your last relationship?”

Tiffany turned red. “Six . . . months ago.”

“Really? Your father didn’t mention it in the list of people you are in contact with.”

“My father doesn’t know about my relationships.”

“I see. So he doesn’t know . . . at all?”

“Mmm, he knows. But he tends to ask too many questions when he knows I’m dating so I try not to let him know.”

“He asks because he cares for you.”

“If he asks cos he cares for me, aren’t you gonna ask me about my ex-girlfriends?”

A long chuckle later, Taeyeon asks, “So, your last relationship. How long did it last?”

“Three months.”

“Okay.”

Tiffany waited, but Taeyeon didn’t ask any more. “That’s all?”

“What?”

“You don’t sound interested in my love life.”

“Oh, trust me. I’m very interested in your love life. Now and the future. Not the past.”

“Why not the past?”

“Cos I wasn’t part of it.”

Tiffany was silenced for a few seconds. “Wow. Wow.” Another pause. “Is that narcissism or something else, I can’t tell.”

A short bark of a laugh came through. “Maybe it’s narcissism. Maybe it’s pragmatism.”

“Maybe you’re too pragmatic.”

“I can’t help it. Going through what I did . . . being pragmatic helps me to look ahead. With a past like mine, the future is the most important to me.”

“Do you really hate your past that much?”

Taeyeon sighed. “I don’t hate it. But I regret many things. So if I don’t look forward, the regrets will bury me whole.”

“I want to know more about your past.”

“Why?”

“I want to know everything about you.”

“We can play that game we played at the gala.”

Images of guns and scary men jumped to the front of Tiffany’s mind and she trembled. “I’d rather play another game,” she said, wanting to have nothing to do with that game anymore.

“A new game? Yeah, I’m up for that. But for now, I gotta go. Work is starting soon.”

“I wish you didn’t have to work. I wish we could talk like this all night.”

“Once this job is completed, I’ll talk to you all night as you wish.”

Tiffany shook her head even though Taeyeon had no way of seeing her. “No, no, no. If you’re not working, I won’t want to talk to you on the phone. I wanna see you. I wanna be able to touch you when I want to.”

“Now who’s the ert here?” Taeyeon laughed. “Okay, I really have to go now. Have a good sleep. I’ll talk to you again in the morning.”

“Okay, goodnight, boo.”

“Goodnight, baby.”

Tiffany blew a kiss again and smiled when Taeyeon obligingly blew one back. With this on her mind, she hoped the bad dreams will stay away tonight. Please.

¤¤¤

Getting out of her seat, Taeyeon raised her arms above her head and stretched. She shook out the tension from her muscles and jogged about in the room she’d been holed up in for the past two hours. Things were getting boring but she couldn’t lose focus. It was always when people let their guard down that danger would strike. Taeyeon couldn’t afford to let it happen. She would never forgive herself if her client’s daughter was harmed because of her failure.

The street was empty at this time of the night. A quick scan revealed nothing. Feeling stiff as a steel pole, Taeyeon sighed and did more stretching exercises to maintain her readiness to act at a moment’s notice. She was reaching for her left foot when she caught sight of movement on one of the security monitors. Abandoning her stretching immediately, Taeyeon scanned the six monitors she’d set up in the room.

“Damn,” she muttered. There were not one, not two, not three, but four men moving stealthily towards the house and scaling the wall. She had little time to get there but she stopped to send a text message to her client and his daughter: Lock yourself in the bathroom now. Then she spent a few more precious seconds to call for police reinfo