Tiffany eventually woke up to the familiar sound of the overhead announcement and Tokyo’s bustling streetlights flashing by outside of window. The night had long before thrown its darkening mantle onto the world, leaving it only punctuated by numerous spots of lightness beaming from street lights and neon signs.

The hands of the clock must have passed midnight, she thought as she glanced into the window to behold her own countenance in the reflection. Her eyes quickly jumped to the right and registered, with a mild surprise as though the slumber had erased all memory of what had happened before, that Taeyeon was still sitting there, arms crossed, apparently wide awake.

Startled, Tiffany blinked the last remaining bits of the dense fatigue away when she noticed that Taeyeon’s eyes were firmly resting on her, scrutinizing her, almost as if she would examine a valuable piece of jewelry instead.

She sat up in her seat, adjusted her clothes and turned to Taeyeon who quickly put on a leisure smile on her face, making her eyes glisten faintly. Tiffany only mirrored her smile, feeling her peculiar doubts melt away in a blink of an eye.

“Tokyo already?” she mumbled wearily.

“Uh-huh. No idea, where we have to leap off, but we haven’t passed the exterior districts either so I guess…”

“We?” Tiffany prompted.

“Yeah… “we”. I thought we wanted to go have a drink? You’ve said that!” Taeyeon replied a bit brisk. However Tiffany only felt a strange sensation thriving inside her chest. When was the last time someone else remembered something she had said? Tiffany simply couldn’t tell. 

Her eyes unwillingly transformed into crescent moons again at the mere thought of how lovely it is to have found somebody to talk to again, even if their friendship is only destined to be of a brief nature. But she appreciated it with all of her heart, nonetheless.

“Ahh, I’m sorry, I forgot.” Tiffany chuckled and peered outside the window again to check the location but she couldn’t recognize it. The dark, the train’s pace, the flashing streetlights, the shadow of dark buildings turned the outside world into a weird, undefined clash of colors. Tiffany leaned back in her seat to listen in to the next announcement.

“Lost your orientation?” asked Taeyeon with a layer of amusement in her voice at the sight of Tiffany’s apparent oblivion, her arms still locked around her chest.

“Well, it’s not the first time though. Tokyo is just so… big. It’s so ridiculously easy to get lost.”  

 But I have found you, captured every signal you send out night by night, Taeyeon thought as she loosened her posture and checked her phone again.

“Nothing in comparison to Seoul.” She remarked coolly and glanced down at it.

An app, she had programmed herself, allowed her to receive even the tiniest signals Tiffany’s phone emitted and displayed it precisely on her phone. Taeyeon knew exactly where they were but from years of experience she was aware of the advantage that came along with acting as clueless as one could be. Simple spy ware, she smirked and slid her phone back into her pocket.

 “Next stop, Taeyeon! We’ll have to get off at the next stop!” Tiffany suddenly exclaimed and solely earned an affirmative nod from the other.

Quickly both stood up and moved down the aisle to the exit. The train car, though stuffed with passengers at the beginning of the trip, was just as abandoned as during the hours of Tiffany’s morning shift. Again, no one bothered to look up. Not even the few remaining male passengers, who usually wouldn’t resist peeking up rather curiously to these two good looking women travelling all by themselves in the middle of the night, bothered to acknowledge their presence in any kind. They simply were too exhausted to care.

The train was gradually decreasing its pace and Taeyeon checked her phone a last time before the train came to halt. The map on her display marked the outlines of Tiffany’s daily routes all too clearly. She swiftly checked the restaurants and bars in the vicinity in hope to find one that wasn’t too far away from a train station or some other kind of traffic junction.

Her eyes spotted a bar that was conveniently located near the train station and Tiffany’s apartment as well. The Kent, perfect for the occasion, she thought.

“Any plans where you want to go, Tiffany?” She said, looking up from the phone.

“The Kent. It’s near my flat.” Tiffany smiled back.

So predictable.

The train stopped and after the doors flunk open both rushed outside only to be greeted with the night’s nagging cold.  The platform was fairly emptied at this hour and even as they proceeded to the exit they didn’t encounter as many people as they normally would over the course of the day.

All clocks simultaneously read “0:37 AM” and only brought back tips Taeyeon once grabbed up from her predecessor. After dark, when the casual man is either too drunk or too tired to give a damn the trap is best to be sprung, she recalled the gruffly voice. No witnesses.

If it wasn’t for the damn whereabouts I would end this game right about now, she thought testily and concentrated on Tiffany’s figure strolling along at her side.

With professional precision she estimated Tiffany’s possible physical condition. She was taller, her body was forming the typical s-line, but probably lacking in stamina considering the long hours of monotone work each day. She wouldn’t stand a chance against an unexpected assault.

“Do you go out often?” Tiffany suddenly broke the silence, making Taeyeon re-compose herself again.

“Occasionally. But as of late I just haven’t found the time.” She buried her hands in her pockets when she suddenly felt a soft vibration coming from her phone.

“You know, the last time I was out with a friend…” Tiffany went on cheerfully but Taeyeon zoned out, only focusing her attention on her phone. Frowns were forming on her forehead as she quickly pulled it out. She would never receive any text messages. This isn’t her style. Never would she risk revealing her number and make herself traceable this way, never. She wasn’t the one to be spied on. It was her job to be the spy after all.

Neglecting Tiffany’s careless monologue she opened the inbox and the few words the message contained only read: “S.W. has arrived. Be prepared. Meeting at 7 AM.”

He is there. He knows where we are.

A fine terror emerged inside her as the realization sunk in that her camouflage was exposing its first crevices. This isn’t totally going according to plan.

“Everything’s alright, Taeyeon?” Tiffany suddenly inquired, ripping her out of her worries.

“Ah, yeah. Sorry, my phone just…” Taeyeon motioned her hands in excuse.

“Ah, okay, well anyway which one is your favorite drink? Do you like Soju?” Taeyeon gave her head a small shake. “No? Well, then let’s have some Sake, how about that?”

This idea actually came in handy for Taeyeon who stuck to the old phrase: ‘in vino veritas – in vine there is the truth’. Or Sake in this case.

So both of them left the train station and wandered down the street until the sign of “The Kent” finally came in sight.