A pretty woman was staring back at Taeyeon. She gazed into those brown eyes, matching stare for stare. Those eyes did not blink, so she didn’t. Until her eyes grew dry, which took only a few seconds in reality.

“Do you know who Tiffany is?” Taeyeon asked the woman. Those brown eyes simply stared straight back at her. Framed by long brown hair that fell straight past the shoulders and accented by a little nose, those brown eyes were the stuff attraction was made of. They were just eyes to Taeyeon, but she had been told many times that they were pretty. “I guess not.”

It wasn’t clear where this was leading. This feeling that she knew Tiffany from somewhere. This feeling that Tiffany wasn’t as simple as she tried to appear to be. From the boiling of hot water in the electric kettle to sipping the last drop of coffee, their conversation had largely been about her and very little about Tiffany. It was as though the woman had something to hide—the long, black box especially. She had asked, but all she got was a mysterious smile and the ever-so-cliché ‘if I tell you, I’ll have to kill you’ line. Jokingly said, of course.

What was Tiffany hiding? And why was she hiding?

Taeyeon had more questions than answers after talking to her. Shaking her head, she washed and dried her hands before taking another look at the woman. She didn’t have any answers either.

“Are you alright? You were in there for a while,” Tiffany asked when she returned to the couch. “I was just going to see if you had passed out or something.”

“I didn’t drink any alcohol, remember?”

“I know. You had nothing but coffee.”

“So I’m not drunk.”

“People pass out for many reasons. Too much alcohol is just one of them.”

“Well, I guess I should get going,” Taeyeon said while standing. “It’s getting really late.”

“Wait,” said Tiffany, mirroring her. “Are you sure it’s safe?

Taeyeon glanced at her watch. “It’s alright. I’m driving anyway.”

“It’ll be dawn in a few.”

“Which is why I should get going.”

“Really? That’s it? You’re leaving?”

“Should I not be leaving?”

Tiffany’s hands flew up. “No—I mean yes—I don’t know what I’m trying to say.” Stretching her arm out, she offered her hand with an apologetic smile. “Thank you for helping me out.”

Taking it gladly, Taeyeon smiled as they shook hands. “Glad I could help.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you have pretty eyes?” Tiffany asked instead of letting Taeyeon’s hand go.

The compliment took Taeyeon by surprise and for a second, she couldn’t come up with an answer.

“I’ll bet lots of people have told you that before, huh.”

“Just a few.”

“Right. I’m sorry. Do you have a boyfriend? Or girlfriend?”

“I don’t.”

“You don’t have a boyfriend or you don’t have a girlfriend?”

Taeyeon looked into the twinkling yet piercing eyes of Tiffany and smiled. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“I thought so.”

Taeyeon raise a brow. “Is there a sign on my face or something?”

“What? No. Of course, not.”

“How did you—”

“The pub we were at? It’s a friendly pub, isn’t it?”

“Oh.” Taeyeon realized she had misunderstood what Tiffany meant. “Yeah, it is.”

“So there’s a good chance you might be into women.”

“Right, of course. You’re right.”

Tiffany was smiling mysteriously again. “What did you think I was asking?”

“Never mind,” Taeyeon replied with a shake of her head. “It’s not important.”

“I agree. What’s important is how you’re going to drive home when you’re clearly not thinking clearly.”

“Why are you so concerned about how I’m going home?”

“I’m being responsible for your safety.”

“Is that the entire reason?” Taeyeon asked, remembering the similar conversation they had earlier.

Tiffany smiled. She remembered it too. “I really am being responsible.”

Taeyeon watched as Tiffany took out her phone and looked expectantly at her. “Kakao, Line or number?”

Tiffany chuckled. “All of three. Just in case one of them doesn’t work.”

Taeyeon began to laugh. This was beginning to feel like the start of something good. Even if it was still full of mystery.

T

Ding!

Taeyeon reached for her toast and dropped them on her plate. She had them nicely buttered up and was about to sip her steaming cold coffee when a voice message popped up from her Kakao app. It was from Tiffany. Taeyeon swapped her coffee cup for the phone immediately.

“Hi, Taeyeon. Good morning! Did you sleep well?”

Taeyeon put her phone down and chewed on the buttered toast. Tiffany sounded brighter this morning than she did yesterday. Almost like a different person. And perhaps, she was. Last night had been rather traumatic for Tiffany so she couldn’t blame the woman for being subdued. It was good to hear Tiffany all chirpy like that.

“Good morning to you too! I slept well. Did you?”

Taeyeon swallowed her toasted and recorded a chirpy reply of her own before finishing her coffee.

“I slept very deeply. I must have been more tired than I thought.”

“It’s understandable. It was a long day for you.”

The voice message conversation went on like this all morning until Taeyeon left for the studio. Once there, it was hours of sound checking and fine-tuning until lunch time. Taeyeon checked her phone while waiting for her food and was surprised to see a number of voice messages from Tiffany.

“So, do you wanna have dinner with me after work today?”

“It’s okay if you don’t wanna.”

“Really, it’s okay. I totally understand.”

“You don’t have to avoid me. It’s just a simple dinner invite. Nothing else.”

“I hope you’re ignoring me otherwise it means something happened to you.”

Taeyeon was laughing by the third voice message and guffawing by the fifth. Tiffany was quite a character, she thought.

“I’m not ignoring you. Nothing happened to me either. I was just working. Anyway, I’d love to have dinner with you.”

Taeyeon left it at that and returned to work. Another few hours and several fixed problems later, she checked her messages again.

“Please forget it ever happened. I don’t know what got into me with the message spam. If you really wanna have dinner with me, do you know a nice Japanese restaurant we could go to? Only if you really want to. Don’t force yourself.”

“I’m not forcing myself. And I know a Japanese restaurant we can go to. It’s a personal favourite of mine but I can’t guarantee you’ll like it.”

“Take me to the place, Taeyeon.”

“Are you at home? I can pick you up in a while.”

“Yes, I am. I’ll be waiting.”

“How’s an hour later sound?”

“Sounds perfect.”

An hour later, Taeyeon pulled up at Stay Inn’s foyer and Tiffany hopped in with a charming smile on her face. The charm was double the dosage today. The red lipstick she was wearing had that effect. But that wasn’t the only charming thing about Tiffany. Her hair was charming too. It had been washed and blown and brushed and was full of sheen. And her skin. Was it on the verge of glowing?

Taeyeon found the transformation astounding and told Tiffany just that.

“Thank you,” she replied, beaming wider than ever. “Self-grooming always pays off.”

“I should groom myself more,” Taeyeon said, checking her hair and makeup in the mirror. “I look like a mess, compared to you.”

“No, you don’t. You look good. Very good. Trust me.”

Taeyeon chuckled. “Okay, I’ll trust you.”

“So, where is this Japanese restaurant you’re taking me to?”

“Cheongdam. It’s called Sushi Kwon. Have you heard of it?”

“No, I’m new to this place, in case you forgot.”

“Oh, right. I forgot.”

“It’s okay. Treat me to sake and I’ll forgive you.”

“You’re not hard to appease, are you?”

Tiffany’s mysterious smile made its appearance again. “You’ll find out.”

Two hours later, Taeyeon was fighting a losing battle. After polishing off a platter of sushi and sashimi for two, Tiffany had subjected Taeyeon to a round of drink or answer. It consisted mainly of Tiffany drinking and Taeyeon answering.

“I am a music producer. It’s been three years.”

“I have met a few famous singers, yes.”

“No, I did not date them.”

“There are a few I really like. We’re friends.”

“The money is good enough.”

“My turn.” Tiffany lifted the little glass of sake and smiled. “I’ll drink.”

“It’s not fair,” Taeyeon protested, kicking off her losing battle of getting Tiffany to answer a question. “Just one answer, come on.”

Tiffany tossed the sake back like a professional and grinned. “Your turn. Drink or answer?”

“It’s not like I can choose to drink,” Taeyeon grumbled. “You knew it when you suggested this.”

“Well, you agreed to it.”

“Out of kindness and hospitality.”

“So you’re unhappy because you want to drink but can’t?”

“Not entirely.”

“I can solve the problem. You drink. I’ll call a taxi to fetch us home.”

“My car will be stuck here though.”

“You can pick it up tomorrow. I’ll send a taxi to get you back here.”

“You know, that’s not the point.”

“Then what is?”

“The point is . . . you’re not answering anything so I still don’t know anything about you but you know almost everything about me.”

“Almost everything?” Tiffany shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Well, compare to what I know about you . . .”

“Fine. I’ll answer one question. What do you want to know?”

Taeyeon bit her lip. Now that she had a chance to ask Tiffany a question, she didn’t know what to ask.

“No burning questions?”

“I have one.”

“Ask away.”

“Why are you moving to Seoul?”

“For work. Didn’t I already tell you this?”

“Yes, but that’s very vague. I mean, what kind of work is it? And what made you decide to move here?”

“That’s not one but two questions,” Tiffany countered with a smile.

“Inclusive of.”

“If you wanna know so badly, I’ll tell you. I’m an instrumentalist and song writer. I moved here because this is where everything happens and the proximity will help my career.” Tiffany stared her in the eyes, dead serious. “Good enough?”

“I’d love to know which instrument you play but it’s good enough for now.”

Tiffany nodded. “Now that’s I’ve answered one question, it’s your turn to drink one shot of sake.”

“I can’t.” Taeyeon pushed the sake away. “I have to drive.”

“I offered a great solution to that problem so it’s no longer a problem.”

“It’s a solution but it’s not great.”

“Well, a solution is a solution.” Tiffany held the sake up to Taeyeon’s lips. “So.”

“Oh, fine.” Taeyeon took the sake and emptied it into . It burned as she swallowed. Mouth, throat, chest. It burned all the way. And it didn’t take long before things became blurry.

T