Decked out in a different black dress, sleeveless this time, Taeyeon steps out of her hovercar and sends it into the HOST. Not entirely sure about what the night will entail, Taeyeon is prepared to call for a hovercab if necessary. She checks out the latest games available in the app store while waiting for Yoona but she doesn’t have long to wait. The tall woman who has rejected countless modelling agencies and talent scouts arrives in her limited edition Zneb hovercar, No.53 out of 100 in the whole wide world.

Taeyeon smiles, remembering the day Yoona received the hovercar as a present from an anonymous admirer. Gleaming under the sun in its brilliant white sheen, her hovercar stood out with its flat body and streamline design that allows it to inch ahead of the next hovercar just by sheer aerodynamics alone. Along with it came a card that said: A token of my admiration. SG.

Try as they might, nothing came up from their investigations, and Yoona’s secret (and very rich) admirer is still unknown to them. But Yoona continues to use the hovercar to this day, one year on. And if Taeyeon knows anything about Yoona, she will bet on the woman to use the hovercar for many more years, until it completely breaks down.

Despite being the daughter of a filthy rich man, Yoona does not treat her wealth like tap water. She has investments and properties littered all over Leous as well as neighbouring mistrepools like Neonich and Ganygo. The full extent of her wealth is unknown to most, except perhaps Yuri. These two often talk to each other late at night and probably know each other’s secrets well.

“You look great tonight, Yoona,” Taeyeon comments as she falls into step alongside her taller friend.

Beautifully shaped eyes smile at her. “Save your flattery for later, babe.”

“It’s not flattery when it’s true. Where did you get your dress? It looks fantastic on you.”

“The dress is from Lenahc.”

Taeyeon raises a brow and whistles. “Someone went trigger happy on their credit, huh.”

“Well, I sold an apartment and made a quarter of a million in profit the day before we got dragged in for training again. To celebrate, I bought the dress today.”

“What a way to shut me up, Yoona.”

Yoona grins. “Drink’s on me tonight, babe.”

“You said it.”

Taeyeon opens the door and leads the way into Crash & Burn. They carve a path through the crowd straight to the bartender who recognises them and gives them a warm welcome.

“My beautiful ladies. My goodness, what did we do to deserve your presence among us?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Taeyeon says with a grin. “You’re just goddamn lucky today.”

“Oh, and I just got luckier.”

Taeyeon and Yoona turn to look where the bartender nodded at. Oh, it’s Irene and Wendy. Nice. The new arrivals appear to have seen them as they deviate from their original path and approach the bar. A round of greetings later, the four of them move to a table, armed with mojitos and margaritas. Propped up on bar stools, they chat over the small round table, discussing lipstick colours and other cosmetic products.

Time slips by and before they know it, their drinks are drained again so a new round of drinks is ordered. While waiting for the drinks to arrive, Irene excuses herself to visit the toilet. Their merry chat resumes but out of a corner of her eye, Yoona spots a man stopping Irene by the corridor. She nudges Taeyeon.

“Trouble?”

Taeyeon nods as Wendy turns to see what captured their attention. She gasps when the man wraps his arm around Irene’s waist and grabs her wrist then she tries to push him away. She gets off her stool, alarmed by the sight, but Taeyeon is already halfway there with Yoona close behind.

“Mister, this is my friend,” Taeyeon says with a firm tone. “She’s with us.”

The man holds Irene to the side and leers at them. “You and your friend can come with us into the back room if you want. My friend, Josh has a thing for pretty little girls like you.”

“We’re not interested,” says Taeyeon. “Give us back our friend.”

“Your friend agreed to go with me.”

“I did not,” Irene protests, still trying to get the man’s hand off her waist.

“Hey Mister, our friend just said no, loud and clear. It’s time you let her go,” says Yoona and she reaches out for Irene’s hand.

The man growls. “I’m bringing her to meet my friends. Whatcha gonna do about that.”

“This.” Taeyeon steps up close and brings her knee to his groin.

The man howls in pain and bends over, hands releasing Irene to cradle his precious organ. Yoona seizes the chance and pulls Irene to her side, stepping in front to protect her but by this time, the bouncer has arrived.

“What’s the problem, ladies?”

“This man was gonna drag our friend to the back room.”

The bent over man spits out in a pinched voice, “She was willing!”

The muscular man looks at Irene. “Were you willing?”

Irene shakes her head. “No, he grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go.”

“Dude, you’ve have enough drinks for the night. It’s time for you to go home.” And at those words, the bouncer grabs the man by his arm and hauls him out.

Once the commotion is over, Irene thanks Taeyeon and Yoona while Wendy gushes over their bravery. But Taeyeon and Yoona play it down modestly, each woman knowing fully well that this incident has just accelerated and cemented a friendship between the four of them. S.N.S.D. will be happy to hear about this.

—

The next morning, Taeyeon receives a call on her ICE. There is no indication of the caller’s identity but she recognizes the husky voice on the other side.

“It’s Tiffany.”

“I know.”

“Good job last night.”

“Thanks.”

“The next step is to take them out to dinner at a Spanish restaurant. The name is Cataluna. Have you heard of it?”

“Yeah, I know the place.”

“Good. All five of you will dine there tonight. Then, you and Yoona will invite them to have dinner with you next week.”

“Is there any purpose to this?”

“The bigger picture will be explained in future.”

“Fine. So our only job for today is to enjoy our dinner at Cataluna.”

“Yes.”

“In that case, I’m going back to sleep. Good night.” Taeyeon ends the call before Tiffany can reply and flops back onto her bed. When will Tiffany stop interfering with my sleep? Taeyeon erupts in a little unspoken grumbling as she turns over and tries to go back to sleep.

—

Dinner at Cataluna is wonderful. The location of the Spanish restaurant offers a splendid view of the city skyline and after indulging in a generous amount of sangria, tapas and soul-fulfilling lobsters and Mediterranean red prawns. Irene and Wendy will definitely enjoy their dinner at this place if they accept the impending invite.

So it is a stuffed-to-the-brim and deeply satisfied Taeyeon who climbs into bed later that night. Briefly, she wonders how S.N.S.D. can afford to finance such expensive dinners for no apparent reason but the pillow under her head is luxuriously soft and cosy and her drowsy mind soon dozes off into slumber.

—

Such deep sleep she must be in because it takes Taeyeon a full two seconds to register what her body had already felt. Someone is in bed with her. Miraculously, as heavy with sleep and a hearty dinner as she is, Taeyeon manages to open her eyes and bring her knee up. It catches the mystery person in a fleshy part and elicits a short grunt as the person pins her wrists to the sides of her head. Her instincts kick in and with a full serving of adrenaline, Taeyeon pushes herself, forcing the intruder to topple on their side.

Unfortunately, that’s as far as Taeyeon gets. The intruder recovers faster than a cat with nine lives and manages to twist Taeyeon’s arm around to the back. This is followed by a quick move to straddle her which pins her down with more weight. Now, pushed face down into her pillow, Taeyeon bucks and tries to toss the person off her back but it isn’t working quite as well as she would like. So with the only free hand she has, Taeyeon grabs the hand that is holding her shoulder down and turns her head to bite it.

“.”

Taeyeon freezes. The intruder’s voice—damn it. “Get the off me.”

The hand continues to hold her shoulder down and her wrist is still pressed hard against her back. “No.”

Taeyeon’s temper flares. “ing let me go, Tiffany.”

“Make me.”

With a savage growl, Taeyeon arches her back and leans over just enough to pull her legs in a little. She tries to push up with what little grip her legs get but it doesn’t work. Then, to make things worse, Tiffany’s legs slide over hers, restricting even more movement and rendering her quite helpless.

“I can’t.”

“You can.”

“ this . You can stay on top of me if you want. I’m going back to sleep.”

Tiffany laughs. “Giving up this easily? You disappoint me, Kim Taeyeon.”

“I don’t give a damn about your feelings.” And with that Taeyeon closes her eyes and relaxes completely.

“Taeyeon? Taeyeon.” For a while, silence reigns. “Taeyeon, are you seriously sleeping?”

With the one hand she has free, Taeyeon reaches for Tiffany’s leg and applies the hardest pinch her fingers can manage, bucking her body with all she’s got, at the same time. She hears Tiffany’s groan and grabs the agent’s wrist, jerking it from her shoulder. That’s a mistake, however, since it results in Tiffany crashing down on top of her which still doesn’t leave her any room to worm out.

Or not.

Taeyeon feels the grip around her right wrist loosening and wrenches it out. Then, using both hands, she flips herself so that the agent is now underneath her. Seizing the split second chance, Taeyeon turns the tables on Tiffany and grabs her wrists instead.

“Hah. I got you now.”

Still panting from the scuffle, Tiffany merely blinks as she says, “Think you can keep me down?”

“Yes, I can,” Taeyeon replies and down she goes, crushing her lips onto the agent’s open mouth.

—