"Oh, you don't mean nothin' at all to me..." Tiffany sings the chorus, the handle of the mop as her mic. "No, you don't mean nothing at all to me." Her earbuds are blasting Say It Right by Nelly Furtado and she's just gotten into her night-shift groove. She knows Taeyeon is watching her, but she can't find it in herself to care. The Christmas gala-fundraiser-auction-whatever-the- was fast approaching and Tiffany was stressed the out.

 Her usual formal dress had a noticeable rip right on the tummy, so even sewing it would show clearly.

 She didn't have a way of getting to the party since she didn't have a car.

 Her arsenal of makeup wasn't equipped for anything more than casual outings, nowhere near the glitz and glamour this thing called for.

 So, in short, she was ed. To destress, she'd danced and sung during her shift, trying to forget reality for a small moment. She'd noticed Taeyeon lurking a minute into MJ's Thriller, grinning with all her teeth and eyes shiny in mirth. She had on that ghostbusters hoodie and big basketball shorts that made her look like a teenage boy. She'd taken a seat on one of the lounges while Tiffany vacuumed the communal spaces. She didn't have any studios on her assignment tonight.

 "Nothin' feels right when I'm not with you. Sick of this dress and these Jimmy Choos.." She sings the pre-chorus of T-Shirt by Shontelle despite the lyrics being quite literally the opposite of what she needs. "Takin' them off 'cause I feel a fool. Tryna dress up when I'm missin' you..." She glances up as she switches the vacuum off. Taeyeon looks annoyed but somehow pleased as she hauls the vacuum cleaner back onto the hefty cart. She continues singing and the actual singer of the two closes her eyes.

 "Imma step out of this lingerie. Curl up in a ball with somethin' Hanes. In bed I lay..." Tiffany quickly forgets Taeyeon was there in the first place as she wipes down table surfaces. "With nothin' but cha T-shirt on... With nothin' but cha T-shirt on..." The croon of the chorus is one of her favourite parts. It's so sensual and longing.

 "AH!" Her singing's interrupted by Taeyeon grabbing her from behind. The hands on her hips feel all-encompassing, even though they're smaller than her own.

 "Could you stop giving me heart attacks, ?" She gripes but doesn't pull away. Avoiding Taeyeon's touch only egged her to touch more, and Tiffany's poor heart couldn't handle that. 

 "Can't help it, it's just your body's inherent reaction to my swaggy presence." Taeyeon's smug, as she always is, and Tiffany's eyes roll out of habit. The over-confidence has begun to wear on her. It's not misplaced.

 "Did you just use the adjective swaggy?"

 "I can use a lot more than adjectives if you come to my place right now." Taeyeon's hands trail from her hips to her tummy. Tiffany knows she's got a bit of pudge, but with the way Taeyeon caresses her, it doesn't seem to be a bother.

 "I have a shift to do. Go home alone, you're a big girl."

 "I'll show you just how big I can be."

 "Jesus Christ, how do you keep coming up with these? How does such a big ert fit into such a tiny body?" Tiffany twists around, voice and face twisted in mocking concern. She cups Taeyeon's cheeks and pinches them until they're burning pink. Taeyeon looks to be enjoying the attention, though, her eyes shut and a low hum resonating from her. Her arms are still around Tiffany's middle. Lower back. Hips. And then-

 "You squeeze my and-" She switches her hold on Taeyeon's cheeks so that her nails are digging in. They're still covered in cute pink polish. "See what happens." Taeyeon's hands land right on her buttocks and her eyelid twitches. The singer doesn't squeeze, only keeps her hands there. Tiffany sighs.

 "You're being awfully chummy with your fake girlfriend."

 "Maybe I'd like to get chummy with my real girlfriend." Tiffany hates the way heat climbs up her neck, painting her face red. Taeyeon's eyes are still closed, there are still a few tables to wipe down and she can hear the vague melody of Be Without You by Mary J. Blige rattles from her earbuds.

 "You can't ask me to be your girlfriend when you haven't even taken me out to dinner," Tiffany says, bolder than ever. Taeyeon looks up at her with wide eyes,  agape in delighted surprise. "And you have your hands on my . I like a gentleman, thank you very much." And she steps away from the singer, the high tension making her heartbeat uncomfortably loud.

 "Does that mean you'd be my girlfriend? Real girlfriend?"

 "I just said I wouldn't be."

 "Before I took you out to dinner!" Taeyeon laughs in what sounds like pure joy. Tiffany can't fight her own smile. It makes her feel soft inside to see how happy Taeyeon sounds at the prospect of dating her. A mere mortal.

 "We'll see." Tiffany pauses. "Also, did you happen to get that email from the agency?"

 "I did. We can break up any time you'd like." Taeyeon smiles, she smiles so wide Tiffany decides that the surfaces are clean enough. It's time to clock out. It might be about one and a half hours early, but who cares? It's a Tuesday morning.

 "We just talked about a date and now we're breaking up? Are you bipolar, Kim Taeyeon."

 "Nah, I just think it's time we graduate from fake girlfriends to real girlfriends." They're suddenly nose-to-nose, Tiffany isn't sure how they ended up so, with Taeyeon whispering right up against her skin. "I'll take you wherever you wanna go, girl." She's smirking again, but the edge to it is soft. Like she's watching her favourite thing do something it does all the time, and yet it remains as endearing as the first time.

 "You sound so confident I'll agree."

 "I'm all you could ever want, Tiffany." She's so arrogant that it makes Tiffany's skin itch in irritation, but smile because she's so right. "And you're all I'll ever want." Taeyeon boops their noses together and takes her cart by the handles and starts pushing it away.

 "C'mon, still-for-a-bit-fake-girlfriend, clock out and we're going to my place and snuggle!" Tiffany laughs. Yeah, that sounds pretty nice.