“Mr. Lee? I’m he–”

“Tiffany! Here, come, take a seat.”

Nayeong’s parting words echoed in her head. “…remember to try and smile more...” Tiffany grimaced, hoping it could pass for a smile.

“Hah! Don’t look so nervous, I don’t bite. How…how is your sister? My wife and I have been meaning to visit her, but I haven’t yet found the time. Perhaps this weekend,” Mr. Lee mumbled more to himself.

“She’s fine. Thank-you for asking sir,” Tiffany replied in a low tone.

She wasn’t really sure how she should treat the man. He had helped her for sure, in a huge way, and she felt indebted to him. But he seemed to be after a more than a simple employer-employee relationship, like…like he was trying to adopt her and her “poor comatose sister” or something. A charity case? For the sake of maintaining an image? Or could she be so lucky as to find another person who ‘gave a damn’? She already had Nayeong, but could fate be so impish and give her a second?

“Why so distant? An independent worldly-wise girl like you, it can hardly be that you are scared of me. So I can only conclude that you are wary. Distrustful of my motives for offering something that seems too good to be true. Am I right?” the man asked matter-of-factly, laying bare everything.

He was extremely sharp and insightful, perceptive of all the doubts that ran like a treadmill in her head. Was he going to show his hand? Why be so transparent? Or was there an obscurity behind this clear-cut front?

“Go on. Ask the question you want to ask. Ask and see if my answer satisfies you,” he urged kindly.

“Why?” Tiffany’s question was more a command, a biting demand that obligated an answer.

“Because of my commitment to my company, I once made the mistake of hurting the one closest to me. I was a young and ambitious man, and my thirst to climb higher cost me the life of my unborn child. I have since lavished all that love I had for the child-that-would-have-been on my lovely wife. When I saw you that day in the hospital, for some reason, it hit me close to the heart. I will be frank with you. I see you more as a daughter. Someone I want to protect and give the best to. But I know you would never allow me to do that, so I could only opt to keep you close by me, to watch over you from a ways away. That is my answer, and whether that is enough for you, allow my future actions to speak on my behalf,” Mr. Lee said confidently. The man seemed sincere enough. But Tiffany had known her fair share of great and moving manipulators of emotions. She would indeed let his actions judge him.

“Now that we have cleared that out of the way, I promised the board that it would be worth their while turning a blind eye and bringing you in like this. And knowing something of your headstrong character, I can be confident you will not disappoint. If you work hard enough and show enough progress, I intend to push for you to be included in a new girl group the board is planning on debuting in two years time. The board’s intention is that this will be one of the largest girl groups and they are committed to investing quite a bit to ensure it becomes a success. I want you in that group. Then I can be assured of your being taken care of when I eventually step down as president. More on that later when things are more stable and finalized. As for now, I’m going to take you to one of the trainee rooms and introduce you to some of your fellow trainees. It will probably just be introductions all around for you today. The real work starts tomorrow. One of your instructors will inform you of your schedule and bring you to your dorm room that you will share with a few other girls. Leave your luggage here, you can retrieve those later. Come with me,” Mr. Lee said as he swept out of the room.

It irked Tiffany that he so casually expected her to follow his commands without question. Even if he had been more than understanding and hospitable with no demands of unreasonable expectations, it was vexing more as a matter of her control. Life had ensured that she was headstrong and willful, and even her parents had understood and accepted that. Then again, they loved her and she was never anything more than loving to them. But being ordered around by strange men, even if they were nice strange men, did not sit well with Tiffany. And this one had even planned out the next two years of her life. Irksome.

Despite all this internal conflict, never did it once occur to Tiffany to outright defy the man…at least not yet. She knew her aggravation was simply a result of her raging internal control-freak being a pain in the . She had no concrete reason to find the man even slightly objectionable and her rational mind stuck a damper on the control-freak.

Tiffany was no volatile fool. When it suited her, she could be more than “accommodating” and obedient. Some would call it being manipulative and two-faced, but it was what Tiffany had learned. And life had never been a better teacher.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Girls! This is Tiffany. She will be joining your training officially as of tomorrow. She’s a little late in the game, so I want you to be understanding of her and help her as much as you can. Jessica and Taeyeon, I believe the company has arranged it so that Tiffany will be rooming with you. So the two of you should try and get to know Tiffany better, help her along if you can,” Mr. Lee said with a kind smile.

Tiffany glanced at the two girls that Mr. Lee had specifically pointed out. Her roomies. A raven and a brunette. The raven was relatively short and had an innocent kid-like face, pale baby’s-bottom-soft skin and brown inquisitive eyes. Cute.

The brunette had more defined features. A sharp jaw line, an astute bridge of the nose, an alabaster perfect complexion and a keen pair of almond russet eyes. Beautiful. Gorgeous.

Tiffany struggled to contain that spreading warm feeling in the apex of her legs. But there was also a slight coldness there in the girl, an underlying aloof countenance, arrogant almost. The girl intrigued Tiffany as much as she turned her on. Her icy aura pointed to a strong character, and that piqued an immediate interest.

“You should know not to go prancing around with rainbows and whatnot and proclaiming your love for the ladies,” Nayeong’s voice rang annoyingly in her head. Damn. And it really didn’t help that the girl was simply ravish-worthy. Tiffany wanted to rip her clothes off with her bare teeth and throw her to a bed, to hear the girl moan her name over and over again until her voice was hoarse, to rub lust-heated bare skin with more lust-heated bare skin, to... Damn.

She was wet.

Tiffany would definitely have to watch herself around that one.