Tapping her fingers irritably against the wooden table top, Kim Taeyeon grew disturbed by the surging impatience ruling within her.  She continued to take small bits out of her almost empty glass every other minute until there was little tolerance left to keep her calm.  She was not used to waiting, growing up with everything always done for her immediately when requested.  Nonetheless, she could not pull herself up to leave; she still needed her sickening daily dose of that voice.  It was sickening indeed, and maybe obsession was the right term for it despite her constant self-denial.   Expectantly, she found herself not to be only one that had been trapped by the siren as there were still others waiting in the night bar even at this late hour and eyeing the empty stage with the same anticipation.

Yes, even after a month or so, she would still preferred the young woman as a siren, a gorgeous, but dangerous, mythical creature who had called men to their death with her sweet, harmonic voice and music.  Negatively defined, but accurate nonetheless.  She was truly admirably attractive with an absolutely alluring voice, and Taeyeon was addicted. It was an accurate label, she decided.

Nevertheless, the longer she was to stay, the longer her story would be on the papers the next morning.  It was a challenge for her management at times to keep Taeyeon off the public rumors and on low profile.  However, recently some of those paparazzi-peeps had been digging their nosiness in between somewhere of more fame after having been bored with the same routine Taeyeon had been carrying out every night.  She was rather content to have those loads of attention off her shoulders, although it was not that she cared much about them from the start. 

Taeyeon was hoping that she could walk in the night bar unnoticed, have a glass or two of that favorite liquor of hers, be entertained by the enchanting ‘siren,’ then quickly leave for home without further questioning from everyone and anyone.  So far that had worked to her satisfaction every other time that she had been making this a daily night trip, but today was fairly odd.  She was receiving less attention, yes, but that did not mean she had gone without being known.  She had been drinking more than usual and had chucked down almost half of the Merlot bitter-sweetness.    And it was well past an hour of the usual scheduled performance, thus, making her trip home much later than planned.

After calling her chauffeur at the available local telephone in the bar, notifying that she would be out late, she returned to her seat.  Taeyeon waited a bit longer, counting the seconds in her head upon when she would lift herself up and actually leave.  Five more minutes, ten more, maybe fifteen – it was endless, just like how one would be during the dawning morning, wrapping tightly to the sheets and refusing to roll off.

After a while, she then finally heard the familiar sounds of the uneven, excited claps.  Hollering, hooting, hyperventilating.  And the voice.  It was her.

“How is everyone tonight?”

Her surroundings got louder as Taeyeon winced at the shrieking sound; she still needed to get used to that.

“I see familiar faces.”

Their eyes did not meet but Taeyeon jolted and uttered an unintentional low cough.

“Did you guys wait for me?”

More shouting shot as a reply.

“I apologize for the inconvenience of the sudden change in schedule but I hope this last performance I’m about to give you will bring you good dreams in your sleep tonight!”

The alcohol side effects had been knocked to the back of Taeyeon’s head as her whole-hearted attention had been laid to the finally lit stage afar.  She leaned forward on her seat and sit uptight as her eyes peered awake at the soloist who were about to start her song.

As soon as the voice started singing, Taeyeon felt as though a spell had been casted on her once more as she had fallen trapped to it – all over again.  It was so strange.  So peculiar.  She still could not understand as to what attraction had led her here every night.  It was not the admiration, since she had the talent in vocals herself and none could deny her own matchless beauty.  (She had once irrationally thought that maybe it was the girl’s height because of her sensitivity about her own, but the latter was not as much taller than herself and even the bartender stood like a giant.)  Maybe she felt comfortable.  It was the first time she felt comfortable.  But comfortable was dangerous.

After a few minutes, the performance ended just like that.  And her whole day ended, just like that.  Like the ending number of an opera play, that was the closing of her show.  Taeyeon huffed out a sigh as she silently watched the red-haired songstress stepped off the stage and people leaving the bar altogether.

She then gathered her belongings and made certain to leave her usual tip with the usual note strictly directing exactly who it was to be paid to.  And finally, she was able to get her bottoms off that seat – well, almost.  Taeyeon did not realize the curtains had yet to be casted.  There was still the last scene for the night, an unusual one that had not been planned or scripted by her.

“Hello, stranger.”

The voice which she had seen from afar was now ringing in such near proximity it had literally knocked her back down her chair.  Taeyeon took a brief moment to adjust herself as well as retained her composure before she could gaze up at the person who had interrupted her leave.  Heck, she already knew well who it was without checking.  It was just the assurance that she needed to relieve, and maybe some of that shock as well.

“I’m sorry, did I startle you?”

‘Bloody hell, yes!’

“No,” Taeyeon contradicted herself, swallowing the lump caught in as she stared at the eye-smiling siren in front of her.  Just as she thought, the young lady was gorgeous and even more so up close.

“I’m Tiffany.  Hwang Tiffany.”

The songstress held out her hand and Taeyeon took it timidly, shaking it very lightly before withdrawing with an out-of-the-ordinary shyness.

“Taeyeon,” she properly introduced herself, ridding the mention of her surname.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” the young woman asked politely, pointing her finger at the vacant spot across from the bewildered mistress. 

She did not know what had gotten to her but she had hesitantly permitted with a rather weak nod.  The Taeyeon who preferred to be left alone without unnecessary company had allowed someone to intrude her space with given invitation.

“Thank you!” the siren expressed her gratitude cheerfully, stunning Taeyeon again with those smiling eyes of hers.  They were unique and Taeyeon had to admit there were too beautiful.

Taeyeon cleared , trying to retrieve back her usual confidence.

“I see you here almost every night recently,” Tiffany spoke up again.

“I see you have taken notice,” Taeyeon responded, her voice gaining back its normal volume and tone all the while looking at the latter in the eyes.

She still could not help but fiddle with something to distract herself, choosing to play with her empty wine glass again. 

“This place has good liquor.”

“I would prefer to hear that from someone who had tried most of our drinks here.”

Taeyeon’s eyebrow curved into a confused frown, “Excuse me?”

She watched as Tiffany twirled the bottle until the label was at the latter’s view.  The young girl smiled again.

“Would you mind me drinking the rest of this?  I’m a tad thirsty,” Tiffany asked out of the blue, grabbing the drained bottle in her hand while observing the decent amount of the liquor tilting to one side.

“Suit yourself.”

“Thank you.”

Tiffany looked at the bar stand behind her for a quick second before turning back to Taeyeon, finger pointing to the wine glass resting on the table top.

“Are you still using that?”

“No…” Taeyeon replied, clueless as to what Tiffany was about to do but withdrew her hand from the cup anyway.

“Good.”

After the confirmation, Tiffany poured the remnants into Taeyeon’s glass, filling the container all the way to the top.  The young mistress’s mouth hung low as she speechlessly watched the latter brought the cup Taeyeon had drunk from to her own mouth, gulping down the liquor in one quick shot.  The wide-eyed Taeyeon continued to stare at the glass as it was placed down to the table.  The different lipstick stains were now clearly visible on opposite sides of the transparent goblet.

“You always drink the same kind of wine,” Tiffany stated, tapping her finger lightly on the label of the bottle. “Merlot.”

The crease on Taeyeon’s eyebrow deepened.

“And how did you know that?”

“Sooyoung over there told me that someone had been ‘sharing my obsession with Merlot’ so I was curious as to who was drinking up my favorite,” Tiffany explained as a matter of fact, pointing back to the tall figure standing behind the bar. “Then I found out the culprit were you.”

 ‘So it’s her favorite.’ A small grin slid on Taeyeon’s lips but then shortly disappeared. 

“Well, then, I apologize, Miss.”

Tiffany only giggled in response, catching Taeyeon off guard once again.

“So…was that the only reason you came here for?” Tiffany questioned, staring straight into Taeyeon’s eyes.  “At the same hour, sitting on this same seat, almost every night?”

She had been watching her; either that or the girl was overly observant.  Though, she should not be surprised that the performer had taken notice of her since her presence was not all that difficult to spot, despite the fact she would shadowed herself at the blind-side seat.  They never once made eye contact so she assumed that the latter had never seen her.  How wrong was she…

“I wasn’t quite finished earlier,” Taeyeon finally replied, “You give off good performances.”

Indirectly, she was stating Tiffany as another subject of her appearances every night.  Taeyeon was hoping she did not just appear to be like a creeper but Tiffany merely smiled it off again.

“Thank you, m’am.  I’m happy that you enjoyed them,” she flashed another wide grin, her shoulders lifting, her eyes turning crescent, and her white teeth showing.  Tiffany then moved her finger slightly over the little note Taeyeon had placed on the table with the money stacked right under.  “And you… you gave good tips.”

Taeyeon smiled, satisfy that the compensation had been going where she had been instructed. 

“You’re welcome.”

Both understood where that the other was understating their compliments, but nonetheless, it was what worked for them.

“You’ve brought company again,” Tiffany whispered, eyeing the suspicious remaining few staring at their table with sharp, eagle eyes then standing up to leave quickly once they caught the songstress’ unwelcoming glare.  “Who are you exactly?”

Taeyeon shrugged, knowing exactly what sort of company Tiffany spoke of.  “Just a spoiled rich kid.”

“You take your name so lightly.”

Taeyeon glared at the girl in front of her shortly before scoffing under her breath.

“It seems like you do you know about me.  Is that why you’re speaking to me at this moment?  To fish out whatever you can get from me?”

Tiffany shook her head and waved her hands in the air.

“No. No- It’s not that,” she brushed back her red locks, “There are more reasons to have a friendly chat than just that, don’t you think?”

“Name one, then,” Taeyeon said, her doubts lessened slowly.

“I want to know the person who listens to my songs and leaves me generous tips and who also drinks up my favorite drink.  It’s as simple as that,” Tiffany replied, beaming yet again, “There are so much more things to you than just your family’s business, Taeyeon.”

Taeyeon exchanged eye contact with Tiffany for a moment, not because the girl had just called her by her first name without honorifics, but because that phrase seemed all too familiar.  She brushed it off and hid her smile with her head hung low.  She liked hearing that.

“Didn’t you want to talk to me as well?”

She continued to stare at the table until Tiffany’s voice seemed a bit louder than earlier.  She lifted her head instantly and backed away when she found the girl had leaned closer.  The latter’s elbows were placed on the wood surface with her head tilting to the side and chin resting on palms.  Taeyeon cursed the table for being a bit too small for comfort.

“You’re assuming,” Taeyeon managed to mutter through the lack of oxygen she was receiving.

Tiffany leaned back onto her chair, displaying a different curve on her lips than the usual.

“Am I?”

Taeyeon was only drifted into more bewilderment.  She wanted to know what Tiffany was implying and was about to open to speak before she was silenced by the shouting bartender from the distance.

“Go home, you two!”

The young mistress thought it was odd that the bartender had only preferred to both of them in the decent sized place.  Although after taking a short moment to browse through the night bar, she realized the only ones left were the woman behind the counter, Tiffany, and herself.  No paparazzi either.  Just them.

She glanced up at the wall clock displayed and realized that it had been well past midnight.  Sighing at her preoccupation, Taeyeon looked back Tiffany and excused herself.

“I’ll be heading off now.”

She stood up from her seat (feeling a bit sore on her bottoms) and strapped her bag over her shoulder.

“Goodbye.”

“It was nice finally getting to talk to you, Taeyeon.  I hope there will be a next time,” Tiffany stated, waving a hand at the young mistress.

Taeyeon could only stare blankly at the smile again before turning to walk away with a quiet whisper under her breath.

“…Maybe.”

---

Taeyeon began taking small steps on the stairs, her heels clanking against the rough cement one by one in a slow pace.  She held her balance with her left hand almost clawing against the wall; the alcohol was starting to kick in.  Her mind was still rerunning the short conversation she had just shared with the stranger, with each and every word still fresh in her mind like there had been no intake of liquor to wash it out.  Shaking her head and slapping her cheeks, Taeyeon pushed away the thoughts and made herself appear awake before walking out to the public streets.  Despite the hour, anyone could still be waiting and watching for her.

Even at this time, that someone was bound to be near and to eye her every action.

“You took in quite a lot this time, Kim.”

Taeyeon stopped walking upon the sound of the familiar voice formally calling out to her.  She let relief of a deep sigh, brushing her fringe back and roughly scratching the back of her head all the while conflicting upon whether to say her small greeting to her ‘stalker.’

“Finally talked to her, didn’t you, Kim?”

“How long are you planning to keep up with this, Jung?”

Taeyeon turned around to the casually-dressed brunette, who was leaning near the entrance of the night bar she had just walked out from.  Strapped around the girl’s shoulder was a small pouch, in which, Taeyeon assumed, held the profound piece of technology that had brought her torment since the day she was known to public.

Yes, she knew her ‘stalker’; her name was Jung Jessica.  They were once college classmates – just people attending the same school taking the same class, nothing special.  A few times they would be working together on an assignment both had difficulty on and a few times they would share small talks.  At some point, they were good friends, until Taeyeon decided to distant herself after knowing that Jessica played a role in part of the paparazzi team. She thought it was a prank, a cruel joke even, when Jessica walked up to her one day and spontaneously decided to choose Miss Kim Taeyeon as a subject of self-entertainment, constantly following her around like a lost leech.  Although unlike every other creeping paparazzo out there, Jessica never hid in the shadows.  In fact, she made sure Taeyeon knew clearly she was there.  She could never understand why but never bothered to know.  She rather not had herself involved any more than she already was with the meddling media, and especially with Jessica, whom she had once gotten too comfortable with in the past.

“’Till I get bored,” the other woman said, flicking her nails as she wore a smirk on her face.

“I expect that is to be soon,” Taeyeon remarked sarcastically, scoffing at the bitter fact that it had been over a month.

“Depends.  You just get more interesting every day, Kim.”

Taeyeon clicked on her tongue at the reply and merely stormed off.

“Whatever.”

---

Jessica continued to observe Taeyeon until the latter got in the backseat of some expensive, tinted Mercedes.  She waved to the chauffeur then headed down to the stairs once the vehicle drove off, ignoring the dimming lights of the sign above her head.  She continued to walk to the bar, each step a bit quicker than the other until she felt a harsh clash on her shoulder and a series of apologies ringing against her ears.

“I’m sorry!  Sorry!  Are you alright, m’am?”

Nodding only slightly, she would walk again, ignoring the other girl’s alert of the closing time.  Eventually, she stopped shortly to glance behind at the red haired woman who hastily rushed out the gated doors.  A peering glare emerged on her eyes as she snickered with amusement. 

She continued back to her stroll down to the bar room, where the only one left in the isolated place was the lonely bartender cleaning glass and dishes.

“We’re cl-…” The tall woman standing behind the counter hollered then stopped when she realized who her ‘early-morning customer’ was.  “You’re late.”

“I don’t ever recall having a set appointment with you, Choi Sooyoung,” Jessica responded, comfortably seating herself on one of the tall stools as she placed her prized digital camera on a vacant spot.

“You don’t.  But I would have preferred if you keep it to the hours,” the successful owner and skilled bartender of the business remarked, placing two glass cups on the counter as she poured the red wine into each.

“I would have if you let that girl perform her regular shift,” annoyed, Jessica said, staring as her Merlot was being served.

“I swear I’m going to run out this because of you three,” Sooyoung complained, pouring the maroon liquid into her own glass.  “Are you still following that kid around?”

“You make it sounds so bad,” Jessica snickered, sipping her delightful drink, “And just a reminder, she’s older than you.”

“She’s a midget,” Sooyoung belittled, earning a sharp glare from the girl sitting in front of her, “Oh, sorry, I forgot you’re one, too.”

“You want to bathe in expensive wine because I could totally help you with that right now,” the brunette threatened, pointing to the bartender’s precious collection on display.

“No, thank you.  I like soap.”

They both giggled then quickly submerged back into silence, drinking their wine as they stared off into space.  It had always been like this; it was as if they could understand each other without having to say a word about their day. 

Bored of the quietness, Sooyoung then dumped the remaining red wine that she could not swallow in a nearby sink, filling up the glass with tap water from the faucet.

“You know, I don’t understand why an executive reporter in chief like you would be fishing out for her own stories for the papers,” Sooyoung started again, picking up the towel from the tiny hook underneath the counter.  “You were never the type of person to do physical labor.”

“That’s because I’m not doing this for the press,” Jessica explained, grinning as she saw a confused twitch of an eyebrow from Sooyoung.  “She intrigues me.  I’m merely entertaining myself.”

Sooyoung threw the piece of rag aside, slightly hovering over the counter as she inched closer to Jessica.  The other girl did not budge and looked back into the glare aiming at her.

“Really, is that all?”

“I don’t think you need me to say it.”

After a few seconds of what became a staring contest, Sooyoung withdrew and glanced back to whisper quietly.

“I don’t want you to.”

Jessica placed a finger on the bridge of Sooyoung’s nose to draw the attention back to her, smiling as she gently ran it down against the girl’s skin.  When she felt the soft touch tickling her lower lip, Sooyoung grabbed hold of Jessica’s wrist and removed the latter’s hand away from her, tumbling back as she turned back to the sink.  She could hear Jessica giggling at her childlike reaction and red tint glowing on her face.

“You’re blushing.”

“Shut up.  It’s the wine.”

Sooyoung went back to washing the dishes, roughly pulling on the tie around her neck as she yanked it off.  Jessica watched as the piece of fabric was tossed aside on the counter.  She picked it up and frowned at the torn material.

“Why is it like this?”

“It got stuck on something this morning,” Sooyoung explained simply.

Jessica examined the cut, fiddling with the fabric until she figured out the problem.  She placed down the tie and reached for her purse.  Pulling out a handy kit, she began to sew back the battered material in mere seconds.

“Come here,” Jessica demanded, calling Sooyoung with one hand while the other held onto the fixed tie.

Sooyoung obeyed immediately, turning off the running water and letting the dishes air-dry.  She strolled over to the other side of the counter where she was instantly tugged down to match the shorter girl’s height once in reach.  Remaining completely still with one hand on the counter to keep herself balanced, Sooyoung observed Jessica as the latter wrapped the tie around her neck and fitted the fabric under her collar.  Her gaze shifted toward the small, black pouch on the counter and a frown creased on her beautiful face.

“Maybe you should quit that damn reporting job of yours.  You’re meant for something else.”

“Maybe I should,” the brunette commented indifferently, still adjusting the tie as if she was searching for perfection in the lines of folds.

“Why don’t you try out fashion designing?  Or photography?  Or maybe both.  It’s better than being a stalker all day every day.”

“Both a fashion designer or a photographer needs her model,” Jessica stated, a sly grin sliding on her lips.  She pulled the tie around the taller girl’s neck and tugged the latter even closer, whispering into her ear softly, “You want me to be my model?  You’d be perfect.”

Sooyoung swallowed the lump on but proceeded to fight with her mind and pushed the brunette off of her.

“Speaking of which, didn’t you and that midget used to attend the same college?  As I recalled, you two were close friends, were you not?” Sooyoung posed the question, side stepping to another topic, “It seems like she doesn’t want you around anymore after knowing what your occupation is.”

Jessica’s smile wore off but she stealthily replaced it with another one to coat her mixed emotions.  The truth was a bitter sting. 

“She has some trust issues.  That’s all,” Jessica whispered, holding her camera tightly, “Can’t blame her, I wouldn’t want someone like me around either.”

“I would.”

Jessica gazed up at the taller girl who looked at her with furious eyes that wordlessly scold her for being such a pessimist, but at the same time they were gentle ones that were trying to comfort her with mere honesty.  Not all truths were bitter, but some were just too sweet for the ears that heard too much sourness.

“I know.”

---

“You’re out a bit late today, Miss,” Im Yoona, Taeyeon’s personally-chosen chauffeur, remarked as she observed her tired mistress from the rear view mirror.

“Sorry, Yoong.  Unexpected, uncalled stuff happened,” Taeyeon replied briefly, gulping down the water bottle handed to her.  She was started to have the headaches.

“Did my cousin give you trouble again, Miss?” Yoona asked, waving to someone from her seat.

“Well, it’s not her, this time,” Taeyeon sighed, suddenly recalling why she could not do anything much about the smartass brunette due to the unfortunate family relation she had with her right hand woman, “Sorry to keep you waiting, Yoong.”

“It’s alright, Miss-”

“Please cut with the honorifics, Yoona.”

“Yes, m’am- I mean, unnie,” Yoona saluted, giggling at her own awkwardness.  “So are we heading back?”

Taeyeon’s reply was caught in when she noticed a familiar figure from her peripheral vision.  She turned her head to glance through her tinted window and witnessed a cheerful, eye-smiling red-head skipping happily down the barely lit streets.  Circling and tapping her finger around the button on the door, Taeyeon was tempted to slide the glass down for a better view, but decided that her presence should not be known.  However, the longer she continued to watch, the more the dim lamps on the street and the darkness of the fallen sky clawed violently at the edge of her consciousness.

“Unnie?  Are you alright?” Yoona called out to the older girl, confused by Taeyeon’s silence.

‘Just ignore it and go, Taeyeon,’ she told herself, battling other thoughts invading her mind.

The start of the car engine stunned her awake as she remembered she had yet to given Yoona a decent reply.  Sighing in her own frustration, she quietly cursed herself.

Taeyeon hovered over up to the driver’s seat, patting Yoona by the shoulder then pointing her finger at her main attraction of attention.

“You see that girl over there?”

“The red hair one?”

“Yes, her.  Follow her until she gets home safely.”

Maybe this was just in her nature or maybe the alcohol had already gotten the best of her, whatever it was, Taeyeon was going to follow through that the siren arrive to her residence without trouble.  It would be in her guilt if anything of the worst was to happen.  Besides, she still wanted to be able to hear that voice a while longer.

  Yoona did not bother to question her mistress’s intentions (but she was trained with no permission to such anyway) and stepped on the pedal she had been resting her foot on to start the car running.

“Turn off the headlights and don’t make it obvious,” Taeyeon ordered as Yoona obeyed.

As if they could be in any discreet with a luxurious ride like that in the middle of the night on an almost empty street, but Taeyeon found it odd that Tiffany paid no mind or bid any suspicions.  The red hair girl only continued to head forward, hands gripped behind her as she jumped over the cracks on the sidewalk like a little child keenly avoiding bad luck marked on the pavements.  Stepping on an inexistent obstacle, Tiffany lost balance and struggled on her heels not to fall.  Upon reflex, Taeyeon gripped onto the car’s door tightly with purpose of swinging it open, but soon realized that Tiffany, with a shy smile plastered on her face, had already helped herself just fine.

Taeyeon giggled under her breath, feeling a strange sense of ease comforting her as she observed the young lady.  She soon realized her own actions when she caught Yoona staring at her from the rear-view mirror with an uplifted eyebrow and instantly bent a straight line onto her lips.  Surely, the alcohol must be taking its toll on her for her to be like this.

“You seem to be enjoying yourself, unnie,” Yoona remarked, staring at her mistress then back at the unlit road, “Who is she?”

“I believe she said her name was Hwang Ti-…Tip…p-pani…-,” Taeyeon paused, struggling to correctly pronounce the foreignness itching at her tongue, “It’s Hwang something.  She’s a singer.”

“Oh…” Yoona pried no more despite her curiosity as to what relation did Taeyeon had with this ‘Hwang person’ that was so worth for the older girl to behave out of the ordinary.  She continued to concentrate on following her orders, barely stepping on the pedal under her foot hoping she would not bump into anything in her blind driving.

Taeyeon never took her eyes off Tiffany since she laid eyes on her.  It was strange, but she felt as though she had been under another spell since their talk in the bar. 

‘It must be the alcohol,’ Taeyeon insisted, looking away briefly to tap her temples with her palms.

She felt a hitch in motion and held the front seat for support.  Taeyeon looked up to Yoona to question why she had suddenly stopped but followed the direction of the younger girl’s puzzling eyes to look out to the window.  There she saw the red hair woman, Hwang Tiffany, jogging up the rusted stairs of a shabby, leveled apartment building of broken bricks.  A stinging frown bestowed on her face as she painfully remembered such place exist in the darkest edges of town where she was consistently told to stay away from as a child.  And that girl seemed to live here.

“Let’s go, Yoong.”

---

Standing in front of the main entrance as it was opened widely for her, Taeyeon felt pressured always being so welcomed in this way.  This was not her home, and to think that it would have to be in just nine days was almost a complete nightmare to her.  Sighing, yet once again, Taeyeon stepped in the doors of that man’s house.

The lights were still on and she could still see the flashily lit chandelier from the distance.  Another deep sigh escaped her lips as she felt a comforting pat when Yoona passed by her. 

She could see someone sitting on the couch with pretend patience as he tapped his foot on the tiled ground.  In his hands was the daily newspaper, but his eyes were too unfocused to be reading anything.  His gritting irritation was not on display but it was an abstract work Taeyeon understood all too well.

Park Jungsoo: once a childhood friend and now an unwanted fiancé.

“You’re home,” he said finally, faking his sudden acknowledgement of her presence until she was in a few yards proximity. 

“No, I’m just back,” Taeyeon scoffed sarcastically.

Jungsoo stared up at her through his spectacles, placing down the newspaper that was just a momentary prop to his act.

“Where have you been?”

Taeyeon glared at him, then looked to her side and muttered a quiet laugh.  She saw it coming like a slow motioned pitch.

“Not here,” she disdained, starting to walk off to the stairs.

She felt a forceful tug on her arm, disabling her from moving forward.  She glared at the person grabbing onto her and eyed him a sharp glare.  His mouth opened, as if to speak something that had been on his mind, but decided to let ‘his lady’ off for the night.

“Go to sleep.  We should have breakfast together tomorrow morning,” Jungsoo suggested, taking a couple of steps back from the threatening knives he was feeling.

“No, thank you.  Goodnight,” Taeyeon bid one last time and set off to her ‘assigned’ room.

She closed the door shut, locking it to secure her much needed privacy.  She then tossed her handbag to the side, not caring where it would land, while using her other free hand to her blouse.  Tired and weary from the alcohol and stress building up on her body, Taeyeon left the shirt loosely on and leaped on the bed, burying her head into its soft mattress.

Jungsoo had offered her a room a size of a high quality hotel suite, but she had politely refused and dug her head in this small guest room instead.  Her luggage was still piled suitcase after suitcase in one corner of the living space; she had only touch them when she needed certain pieces of clothing or accessories but, other than that, they were left unpacked.  She did not feel the need to set everything on hangers and in closets as she figured she would not be staying here for long anyways.

Heck, she would rather stay out the whole night than be in his residence; although she had to admit this place was still much better than the scary neighborhood near that night bar.  At least she could get some rest as soon as she stepped passed this wall of burden.

This whole engagement had been a burden to her, and how she wished she had enough self-will to break it down.

Park Jungsoo was a good man, kind and warm-hearted, but that was all he ever was to her – just ‘good’…or maybe decent.  However, he was the kind of man that had girls waiting in packs and lines to give their whole life for him and parents sending their daughters to start an arrangement if they had any chance.  Nonetheless, he would refuse everyone and persist to only want Kim Taeyeon as his wife.  She couldn’t blame him for being stubborn about it since he did ask her hand for marriage a couple of times since they were just children – she just never thought he was serious about it.  Although the more she was being pushed by this whole ‘deal’ set off merely for the benefits of both families and Jungsoo’s wishes rather than for herself, aggravation and anger soon got the best of her.  Lately, Jungsoo had become more possessive toward Taeyeon, always asking about her whereabouts or reading the papers to see what she was up to all the while trashing his mind with assumptions from the press as the truth.

Taeyeon’s parents had sent her here with the hope that she could mend whatever brokenness she had for the man before their actual wedding day.  She was to live with him comfortably and adapt to what would be her future lifestyle.  was welcomed, and apparently her parents seemed to even encourage it if it meant that would heal their relationship despite having to break tradition.  However, Taeyeon found it suffocating to breathe in his presence to even get anywhere near that intimate.

Brushing off her mind about the complaints of her heart, Taeyeon slipped under the covers with the unpreparedness for sleep.  She forced shut her eyes, hoping to drift off into a deep slumber that would carry her mind off things.

However, one issue after another, her brain was on a constant run of though processing.  This time, it was about something less stressful but still confusing nonetheless.

Hwang Tiffany.

She had thought about the young woman often, during this hour of the day mostly.  About mindless things, about simple things, about meaningless things… about her, in general.  It might sound ridiculous to some but as much as she was an addiction, Tiffany was also a remedy to keep her head off her life’s troubles.  Taeyeon would remember of the songs sung that night, humming under her breath of the melodies she knew of while trying to recall how the performances were like.  But there were so much more to flashback upon tonight.  She would never expect that the day she would have to speak to her came so soon and suddenly like that.  Yes, Taeyeon had unconsciously day-dreamt of the moment to which they would have their first talk, trying to picture in her head as to what kind of personality the young woman had.  Never before had she met someone so hard to read as this mysterious Hwang Tiffany; quite strangely enough, Taeyeon was actually pulling some effort to understand the young songstress’ vague implications and display of emotions here and there.

“There are so much more things to you than just your family’s business, Taeyeon.”

Their conversation was short, so she could well remembered every word said and heard.  She sworn she had been told something with similar context to that phrase before, although she could not dig up who else had spoken those words to her.

They have spoken to each other a pointless talk, but for some reason unknown to Taeyeon, she was eager to have seconds with this…‘nonsense.’  She had friends she could talk to, of course, but she found a quaint comfort just sitting there to pass time through meaningless chatter with the siren named Tiffany.

Taking the small matters aside, Taeyeon began to empty her mind as drowsiness began to cloud her rational thoughts.  She buried her head deep in the pillow, relaxing her strained muscles as she carried off to dreamland with, surprisingly, the ease knowing that tomorrow night might be far different from the rest.

==========A/N==========

I should have included this when I updated the chapter, but putting it here now is still better not leaving notes at all (>A< )  Here's an explanation of the story's setting and some questions answered.

I still don't know much about the history of Korea so it is fictionally based on the American's or British's style (don't judge me \(T^TT \).)  The 1980s in Korea was a shift toward high-tech and computer industry but it is not of quality just yet.  Cellphones were not prevalent available until the 1990s, thus, explaining that none of them is seen having one.  It was already after the Korean War, so I assume America and Korea do have international shipping and exchange for business.  

Nikon and some other brands have already released their first digital camera before or in the early 80s, thus, explaining why Jessica has one in her possession.  An average camera back then is really expensive but because of her connections in America and title in the company, it was easily achievable.

Also during this time (in American history) homouality had earned some recognition and also had been removed in the list of 'natural illnesses.'  Although I doubt this case applied to Korea, but when has it ever been widely accepted?

I hope you have a better understanding now and sorry I confused you all (>A< )