The second time she met Taeyeon, she certainly hadn't been expecting it. Jetlagged and sleep deprived, it was business as usual as Tiffany sat at her desk, fighting her drooping eyelids as she attempted to be productive, but the words on the computer monitor in front of her remained blurry and her fingers refused to type out anything coherant. A brief text from Jessica, still enjoying Seoul (Taeyeon flew out from Incheon today! I was at the airport but I couldn't really see her...), briefly woke her up, but it was all down hill from there and she made the fatal mistake of 'I'll just close my eyes for a few seconds...". A cough and a tap on the shoulder snapped her out of her sleep and mortified at passing out at work, she turned to face whoever it was, with an expression akin to a deer about to hit head on by a truck. 

A chuckle and a pat on the shoulder nonverbally told her she wasn't in any real trouble, but she still felt embarassed.

"I need a favour, Tiffany." Her boss said, pulling up a chair to sit in front of her.

Tiffany would probably have agreed to a nudie run all around the office (all naughty bits covered), so long as she wasn't fired at this point (she needed this job). 

"Sure, what's up?" Tiffany replied, fighting the urge to rub the corner of her eyes where she felt a little bit of crust have formed from her brief nap.

"You know Amy Lee? Over in spotlights?"

'Spotlights' was the jargon phrase they used in reference to those who worked the celebrity and gossip corner of the magazine. Tiffany didn't know Amy persay, although at a company dinner she had heard the girl belt out Beyonce's Halo at karaoke and had been suitably impressed.

Tiffany gave a shrug and waved her hand in the universal "Eh, maybe..." gesture.

"Well anyway," her boss continued, "she was meant to head over to Interscope to run some interviews but she's not feeling great and we thought it probably wouldn't be a good idea to leak mucus all over their hotshot celebs so..."

Urgh. Tee Emm Eye. 

"Anyway, as fate would have it, you're actually the only one who speaks Korean and English, so I was hoping if you could cover the interviews instead? There's a bonus."

Tiffany's Korean was laughable at best, but her boss didn't know that and the word "bonus" certainly held Tiffany's attention, especially after she had forked a fairly sizeable amount of money to indulge Jessica's obsession. That wasn't to say Tiffany was particularly materialistic by any means, but she really could use that bonus in her bank account, if nothing else but to pay the rent and keep eating for the rest of the month.

But at the forefront of everything, Tiffany was a hard worker and a professional and so despite the temptation of money and a day off work, she was forced to question her own suitability for the task.

"It's a wonderful opportunity but I'm not really up to date with the gossip and stuff in Korea..."

"But weren't you just there for a concert? You must listen to some K-pop right?" Her boss pressed eagerly.

"Well..." A mental playlist of her korean music flew through her mind and aside from BoA's hits and a little Fly to the Sky, there wasn't much else, and certainly nothing particularly modern.

"Look, how about this. One of their solo artists is flying in a little earlier..." Her boss glanced at her watch, "so why don't you try an interview with her first. See how it goes? If it's really out of your comfort zone, then we'll hire a proper translator, but I'd much rather just give the money we'd save to you instead."

Tiffany shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

"Excellent. Give me ten to make a phone call and then you can head on over."

"Wait, what? Now?"

"Yep. Don't worry, I'll have Sandra print out the interview questions and the location address for you, all you have to do is translate them to Korean."

Oh crap.

~ ~ ~

A boom gate and checkpoint barred her way and Tiffany found herself hoping that for whatever reason, Tom had forgotten to call ahead and she would have to turn around...

Fingers crossed, she buzzed the window down as the security guard inside the booth looked at her expectantly.

"Hi, I'm Tiffany Hwang..."

Recognition lit up in - Tiffany squinted at the name tag - David's eyes and he passed her a press tag attached to a lanyard and smiled at her.

"Go right ahead Miss Hwang. You'll be looking for studio number 4, it's the last one of the right." He replied, pointing in some direction with his arm. The heavy metal boom groaned as it lifted out of her way, and Tiffany found herself groaning with it. She had gone through the interview already and with Jessica's help, she was confident she could ask all the questions on the sheet she had been given. The problem would be understanding when the interviewee responded to her; Jessica wouldn't be able to help her out there.

Cautiously parking her car in the cramped parking slot, she took a deep breath as she turned the engine off. Deciding she would take a moment to gather herself, Tiffany closed her eyes, resting her forehead on top of the steering wheel. It didn't particularly help and a glance at her watch told her that she would be late if she dallied any longer. Still, she needed a moment to ensure she wasn't a quivering wreck once she got inside.

A coffee vender outside the studio caught her eye and she figured that if nothing else, the caffeine rush might get her sluggish mind moving. The latte came out piping hot and she burnt her tongue barely tasting it. Spluttering in pain, Tiffany shoved the cap back on, grumbling to herself. Coffee would have to wait.

The studio's interior was a legitimate maze. Corridors lead to corridors that lead to more corridors and then dead ends. Tiffany counted herself as officially lost about three times before red faced and puffing, she finally stumbled into the conference room. 

"Sorry I'm-" Tiffany managed to gasp out before a hand darted out to steal the coffee from her hand.

Hey!

A lady bowed to her and jibbered something rapidly in Korean that Tiffany could make neither head nor tail of before turning to a woman who was being fussed over by a group of stylists and handing her the coffee.

But that's... mine...

"Thank you." The woman turned to Tiffany, her voice soft and her words accented with that distinct Korean twang. 

Kim Taeyeon.

Tiffany sighed. 

Well here goes nothing.

"Anny-"

"Oh English is fine." Taeyeon's English was definitely accented, but there was a fluency to her speech that implied countless hours and late nights buried in books titled "English for dummies", or whatever the Korean equivalent was. "I need to practice anyway."

Minutes later she found herself sitting in front of Kim Taeyeon on a comfortable couch, seperated only by a single table where her notes on her interview questions lie, now useless without having to speak Korean. She pushed down the record button on her voice recorder before setting it too on the table. Before she could begin though, the woman who stole Tiffany's coffee, whom Taeyeon kindly explained was her manager whilst she was in America, leaned down to whisper something in Taeyeon's ear. Taeyeon's hand flew to , covering her lips but not covering up her prolonged snort followed by outrageous laughter. Tears course down Taeyeon's face and Tiffany could only wonder what on earth could have possibly been said to gain such a reaction.

"She," Taeyeon gasped for breathe, "wanted to apologize for thinking you were an assistant who she asked to get me a coffee."

Taeyeons manager bowed to her again and looked so sheepishly embarassed that Tiffany couldn't help but flash a grudging smile.

"Let's just say you owe me a coffee now. Shall we begin?"

"Of course."

Tiffany picked up her notes with a frown, because for some reason she suddenly didn't approve of the questions she was about to ask. There were questions about her plans in America, questions about the songs that Taeyeon was to promote.

There was nothing about who Taeyeon was. 

Tiffany had never done an interview with a celebrity before, and most likely would never have an opportunity again. So she in a breathe, threw her notes aside and met Taeyeon's eyes with a smile.

"So," She began. "Who is Kim Taeyeon without the spotlight?"

Taeyeon looked surprised, but then she was grinning widely and nodding her head.

"Kim Taeyeon stays up late eating junk food, watching silly romantic dramas and not doing enough exercise. Somehow I'm still skinny."

It sets the tone for the remainder of the interview. A more intimate interview, perhaps one fueled by more personal agenda then was appropriate, but Taeyeon didn't seem to mind and Tiffany was genuinely curious. 

"Do you mind if I ask you something different now, Taeyeon?"

Taeyeon had insisted that Miss Kim was for too formal and generic.

Do you know how many Kim's there are in Korea? No. Call me Taeyeon.

"Sure."

"If you were interviewing yourself, what kind of questions would you ask? What are some of the things that you'd like to be asked in an interview, so you can send a message to your fans, but haven't been able to because you weren't asked the right things?" Tiffany ventured.

Taeyeon's smile, if possible, grew even wider.

"The kind of questions you were just asking me."