"Caught you red-handed huh, Kwon Jiyong? Knew you'll head back up~"

"W-What's wrong?" Jiyong got flustered. "Wha-What are you doing here?"

Taeyeon gave him a scowl before rolling her eyes at him.

"I realized that I left my phone on the table. I wanted to head back up, but when I turned around, I found that you weren't following us." Taeyeon walked past him, towards the ward. "Wait for me here! You got to drive me back to the practice room!"

Taeyeon was in the midst of band practice when she saw Jiyong's message in the group chat. She apologized and took a few hours break before rushing down to the hospital by cab.  At first, she didn't think there was anything wrong when Jiyong texted the group regarding Yoona, however, now that her mind was clearer, she finally saw the big picture. When she realized Jiyong was not following the group at the lobby, that confirmed her suspicion.

"Aren't you gonna spill it?" Taeyeon pulled the safety belt, eyeing weirdly at Jiyong. "What's up with you and Yoong?"

"M-Mwuh?" Jiyong quickly put on his seatbelt as he started the engine. "Nothing's up."

He lied through his teeth.

"Are you sure you want to continue your act in front of me?" Taeyeon shook her head, "You know it yourself, I can see through all lies~"

True enough, it's a fact that Jiyong had to admit. Amongst the entire group,  Taeyeon is always the first one to catch on when someone lies.

"Your demeanor may scare the rest but it doesn't work on me. And it seems like you're no longer calling her Yoona-sshi?" Taeyeon leaned against the seat comfortably. "So, you guys are dating?"

"Mwuh?! No!" Jiyong exclaimed. "We're just friends."

"Is there a need for such a big reaction? I was just asking~"

"Stop fooling around Kim Taeyeon," Jiyong grimaced. "We just got to know each other better after the LA trip and it was fun hanging out with her."

"That's why Fany said she was surprised that you guys didn't click well at the start," Taeyeon nodded her head, "I was surprised too."

Then it was silence for a short while before Taeyeon spoke up once again.

"She probably enjoyed your company too. She might seem like an innocent deer from the outside but in fact, she's always looking for fun, wild on the inside~ Meanwhile, you're the opposite."

Jiyong could only smile at her words, focusing on the road in front of him while Taeyeon continued to blabber on.

"I stole a glance at her when she unwrapped my present. When she saw the card, she immediately looked towards your direction." Taeyeon giggled, "She probably thought you were the gifter."

Jiyong got a little happy inside upon hearing that but remained his poker face.

"So, what did you got her for Christmas?"

"It's supposed to be a secret, Kim Taeyeon." Jiyong was planning to keep his mouth shut but an idea suddenly popped out in his head.

He probably could use this chance to find out why Yoona had a sudden change of attitude when he revealed the gift he got for her.

"Come on, there's only 2 of us here. I promise to keep everything within this car." Taeyeon was excited, anticipating Jiyong's reply.

Jiyong took this chance to see if he's able to fish a reason out from Taeyeon. 

"Just before you came up, I told her what I got her for Christmas. But her reactions weren't as good as what I'd expected? Or I should say it's the opposite end?" Jiyong was getting more confused as he talked about it. "Shouldn't she be over the moon?"

"Hello, Mr Kwon. You mentioned everything but you haven't say what did you get her!" 

"Oh, right. I gifted her the Pandora bracelet." Jiyong was still very proud of himself, "I even got ahold the 2020 limited edition charms! Limited edition mind you!!"

"Oh my god! Oppa!" Taeyeon was mortified and slapped him on the arms. "Are you being serious now?!"

"What! Do you know how hard it is to get the entire set of charms?"

"Did you even do some research before deciding on that gift?" Taeyeon sighed. "If I was the one receiving the gift, I would definitely be over the moon and even pass you a VIP ticket for my upcoming concert."

"I did! I checked with Youngbae and he said that she likes Pandora! I even confirmed it with Yul and Fany... But her reaction wasn't very bright when I told her that that was the gift from me?"

"Oh my god, oppa. You're hopeless." Taeyeon let out a sigh once again, shaking her head. "Did you even went into Pandora's website or even search up Pandora on Naver?"

"No? Why would I? I just called up some of my friends that are familiar with all these and told them to send it to me." Jiyong was puzzled by her question. "Why?"

Jiyong was right, all he needed to do was to pick up the phone, makes some calls, and the next day, the full set was delivered to his house, nicely packed.

"Oppa! Since when are you so dense? I thought you should be the ultimate when it comes to stuff like this?" Taeyeon couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Yoona is the freaking muse for Pandora Korea! Do you think she needs another set of charms? They would have probably given her a few sets when she was shooting the advertisement!"

Jiyong was so focused on Taeyeon that he almost went past the red light. The car came to a sudden halt when the traffic light turned red.

"Yah!" Taeyeon glared at him.

"What did you say just now?"

"I say, Yoona is the muse for Pandora Korea!" Taeyeon repeated, "I'm not kidding you."

"Why didn't anyone tell me!"

"They don't even know who you're getting it for!"

Everything seemed to piece up like a puzzle and it started to make sense. Recalling now, Yoona seemed to have also mentioned to him back in LA before about her Pandora endorsement when they talked about appearing on portal sites. This was why she had such a big change of attitude when he announced it. To think that he was still so proud of getting ahold of those charms before they were released!

Jiyong made a right turn and went straight into SM's car park, Taeyeon grabbed the bottle of tea that was beside the seat; the China tea brand that Jiyong was advertising for.

"Thanks for the tea and you owe me a meal! I think I did you a pretty big favor here." Taeyeon got off the car and before she closed the door, "Oh oppa, if you really like Yoong, why not give it a chase? She doesn't seem like she's detesting it? To think that she thought the flowers were from you and was disappointed when she realized that her answer was wrong."

✾✽✾✽✾✽

Jiyong went straight home after leaving SM, his mind filled with Taeyeon's words, and instead of feeling embarrassed, he was grinning his way back home. If what Taeyeon said was true, that Yoona was a tad bit disappointed that the bracelet was not from him, he was more than happy to hear that.

Jiyong went home and had a heart-warming home-cooked dinner by his mum. All of the Kwon's were lazing around, playing family board games. Unknowingly, it was already night.

"I'm going out!" Jiyong informed as he came out from the room.

"Yah! Where are you going again?"

"Meeting friends!"

Jiyong drove his car and stopped by a flower shop before heading to the restaurant at Gangnam to pick up the food. He then made his way to the hospital, humming along to the songs on the radio. He was in a good mood.