A/N: 
Double Update
Enjoy

 

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#2: The Second Encounter

 

 

A week had passed and Taeyeon found himself in another long and boring meeting. This time he wasn’t alone, but with his eight members. Since they year was slowly wrapping up, they were discussing their future schedules and promotion ideas. Boring, he thought. As they sat in the brightly lit conference room, he slouched in the leather chair staring off into space.

 

He was already working on his first album, he already knew what he would be doing. But of course, s had plans of their own. Besides, they were no longer rookies of the game, but veterans who had years of experience and had made a big difference in the business. The words their managers were spurring out was nothing but white noise to him.

 

What felt like eternity, when he had finally zone back into the meeting, he looked at the presentation that was constantly being edited. Hyoyeon, the main dancer of their group, was planning on releasing a solo. They praised him for finally trying to work something out on his own. The other main vocalist in their group, Joseph, was planning on releasing his third mini album. Taeyeon couldn’t help but feel proud for his counterpart, he had deserved this. While the younger ones of the group Yoong, Seo, Yul, and Sooyoung were planning on focusing on possible acting careers.

 

But what really hit him, but everyone else, was that by the end of the year of the following year, they would be hitting their ten years together. Ten years of blood, sweat, tears, and loss of sleep in their singing careers. Crazy.

 

However, while they were deciding on dates and releases; Taeyeon lost interest and started to zone off. His mind went off to his encounter with a particular brunette who absolutely didn’t recognized him. It surprised him, and it definitely felt like something new. A part of him kind of hoped that they would see each other again.

 

“Taeyeon!” yelled his manager causing him to sit up straight and turn to look at his frustrated manager. He blushed as he got snickers from his groupmates.

 

His manager sighed. “Taeyeon, are you okay? You’ve been distracted all week that we aren’t getting far with your recordings… which is definitely not the Taeyeon we know” his voice was soft but had a slight tone of frustration and disappointment.

 

More snickers from his groupmates.

 

“S-Sorry” he stuttered. “Just… stress…”

 

“Right…” scoffed a tall tanned skinned lad, which earned him a slap in the arm.

 

“Anyways” their manager cleared his throat. “Are you okay with a final comeback at the end of the year?”

 

He blinked, looking at the drawn-out schedule. “Ah… yes”

 

“Okay good. Well that seems to be it for this meeting” the manager smiled as he closed his MacBook Pro.

 

On cue, everyone stood up together and walked out of the conference room. Taeyeon heaved a long and heavy sigh. What has gotten into him lately? Has it really been because he was stressed? Or was it because of a particular eye-smiling brunette that he had helped last week?

He groaned. Besides, it’s not like he was going to see her ever again, right?

 

“Tae, you okay?” asked his best friend.

 

He gave a soft smile and nodded “Just… a lot on my mind”

 

“Stress… or a woman?” he smirked.

 

Taeyeon couldn’t help but blush, which confirmed his best friend’s thoughts.

 

“Do I know her?” Yul asked raising his brow.

 

He shook his head. “She’s… She’s not a celebrity”

 

This caught his best friend off guard. He cocked an eyebrow and looked at his friend questioningly. “Not a celebrity?! You barely ever leave your house! How did you manage to meet someone that’s not famous?!”

 

Taeyeon rolled his eyes. “Hey… I go out too… sometimes” he whispered the last word.

 

Yul scoffed. “Go out to walk your dog and to buy stupid gummy bears”

 

Taeyeon threw a playful punch. “Whatever, anyways… I met her walking home from one of the boring meetings about my album… She was struggling with her groceries and I helped her carry them home”

 

“And she didn’t freak out that the ing Kim Taeyeon helped her out?!”

 

He chuckled and shook his head. “Well I had my face covered most of the time… then when we were in here apart-“

 

“Woah! You went inside this stranger’s apartment?! Are you crazy?!”

 

“Well… she lives in our old dorm… so like… if anything, I don’t think media would really be surprised to see me show up there” he said a little too defensively. “Anyways, when she offered me some tea… I couldn’t decline… there’s just something about her” he admitted causing him to blush an even darker shade of red.

 

His best friend kept mum and looked at his friend with some worry. Yet, he was happy for him, because he deserved to be happy. “Did she freak out when you took off your layers?”

 

He shook his head again “She’s from America. She moved here just recently… and so she didn’t freak out. However, when her roommate or best friend came home… she freaked out, but she didn’t like to blurt out my name or anything. She just, stood there frozen like she saw a ghost”

 

It was Yul’s turn to chuckle. “I wish I was there to see this girl’s reaction”

 

Taeyeon rolled his eyes. “Maybe if I meet her again, I’ll introduce her to you guys”

 

“And the frozen woman too” Yul playfully nudged him.

 

“Flirty even though you don’t even know how they look like” he scoffed before walking past his best friend to gather his things.

 

Pulling his coat on and putting on his usual winter accessories, he stepped out on the chilly night. Without much thought, he started to walk home. Not because he wanted to walk home, but because he hoped to see a particular brunette on his way. Except, that night… he wasn’t so lucky to see her.

 

···

 

If that night was not a sign of them never meeting again, Taeyeon found himself walking home from the company every single day, just hoping to see her once again.

 

It was a Friday night and he after a few successful recording sessions, he stepped out of the company to a snow storm. He frowned. It would take a forever for him to hail a taxi. Zipping up his jacket all the way up, he trudged through the snow down a familiar path.

 

During his walk he wasn’t really thinking about the particular brunette. He was more so, thinking about his future plans. Was he going to continue with singing after him and his groupmates reach ten years? If he wasn’t, what was he going to be doing for the rest of his life? Acting was not on the table, he was too awkward for that. He let out a sigh as he turned the corner.

 

And as if the gods were in his favor tonight, he caught sight of a familiar figure down the road walking out the same grocery store with the same amount of groceries in her arms. He let out a soft chuckle as he watched the woman grudgingly walk down the stormy streets with three large bags of groceries. How cute, he thought. Without much thought, he quickly jogged towards the woman. He silently thanked himself for choosing proper boots to have good traction in the snow.

 

“Tiffany-shi! Let me help you!” he called out catching the woman off guard.

 

When he finally reached her, he took the bags of groceries from her arms. There was no complaints or argument. The woman let out a soft thank you and they walked side by side to the familiar building.

 

The walk was silent, but who would really talk in the middle of a snow storm? All they wanted was to get out of the snow. When they finally reach Tiffany’s apartment, without much thought, Tiffany offers him another cup of his favorite tea.

 

As Tiffany was boiling and putting away her groceries, Taeyeon noticed her nervousness. He quickly assumed that she finally knew who he was. He let out a silent sigh, as he hoped that this wouldn’t change how she acted near him.

 

When Tiffany handed him his cup of tea, Taeyeon eyed the woman curiously. He broke the silence. “So… I assume you know who I am?” his voice was soft and had a hint of worry behind it.

 

Tiffany blushed and slowly nodded her head.

 

A part of him wished that her best friend didn’t walk in on them. If she hadn’t, maybe the atmosphere wouldn’t be so awkward. Yet, he knew that deceiving a person wouldn’t be good either. But what surprised him, was that she wasn’t fangirling despite knowing his identity. For that, he was thankful.

 

“Do… you think differently of me?” he asked.

 

She shook her head again. “You may be extremely famous… and any fan would kill for you to be in their home. But… you’re still a regular human being”

 

Taeyeon’s heart started to beat fast. Someone who finally saw past his celebrity status. Someone who finally saw him as a regular civilian. At that moment, Taeyeon can feel himself falling for her instantly.