Taking the Lead (1/1)
“Hello?”
“Hello, this is Jessica’s friend from earlier,“ a female voice said. “My name is Kim Taeyeon.”“Oh, hello, my name is Lee Shin.”
“I apologize for calling at such a late hour,” Taeyeon’s voice was calm and measured. “Would you have time to meet for a conversation sometime soon?” The wave of anxiety was returning to Shin. With Jessica it was absent but the thought of conversing and being with another person made beads of cold sweat appear and his heart race uncomfortably. Fighting the symptoms with all his might, he clenched a clammy fist and gave his best excuse to avoid the meeting.“I… uh… the thing is… uh… I… I am restricted from going outside.”
It was not his best excuse. An elementary school pupil could have come up with a better one than that.“Well, I guess I will have to go and visit you myself,” Taeyeon said. “I suppose I can come with Sica the next time she visits you? It’s settled then.”
And she hung up the phone before he could even get a word of a reply in.Shin lay dazed, staring at the phone until he fell asleep. The doorbell rang again.Shin shuffled his way to the front door, still half-asleep. Outside, Taeyeon and Jessica were squabbling as Jessica was trying to open the door using the passcode from the day before, while Taeyeon hissed at her to stop and kept slapping the younger girl’s hands away from the device.As soon as Shin opened the door, a woman’s arms ensnared his neck.
“DARLING!!!”
“Ooomph!”As he lay winded on the floor and trying to catch his breath, he recognized the scent of her hair.
“Kyaaa,” Jessica squealed, rubbing her face into his chest. “Darling, I missed you!!!”
“Miss Jessica Jung,” he wheezed. “Personal space is something to be respected…”Jessica seemed not to hear him as she continued to nuzzle into his T-shirt. Standing over them was a girl even smaller than Jessica.“Hello , nice to meet you,” she said. “My name is Taeyeon. We spoke on the phone last night?”She extended her hand out for a shake. Shin instinctively began to lift his but hesitated at the thought of touching her. Taeyeon took this as his movements being restricted by the mewling Jessica straddling him and reached forward to grab his hand herself rather impatiently.“H-hello,” Shin was still apprehensive of interacting with anyone other than Jessica. “I am Shin.”
“Shin…? God?” her eyebrows furrowed.“Ah, it’s just my name: Lee, Shin.”
“Oh,” laughed Taeyeon. “What a strange name…” The three of them sat on the sofas and exchanged small talk. They hadn’t done so for long when Jessica suddenly put her hand up like she was in class and apologized.“Shin,” she said, her face frowning with disappointment. “I actually have a schedule now… I have to go to the broadcast station right now… I only came here to show Taeyeon the directions… sorry… keep safe, okay?”
“Sure, if you have to go, then go,” he laughed inwardly at how she sniffed at just saying goodbye. “Do you want me to drive you there?”“No, the manager oppa is here.”
“Good luck, Jess.”“Okay, and don’t cheat on me!” She suddenly pointed at her friend. “Taeyeon, just because you’re the same age doesn’t mean you can get comfortable with him, got it?”
Taeyeon’s shocked expression seemed to be enough answer for Jessica, and she finally made it to the front door after running back to Shin for a “final hug” for what must have been over a dozen times. The silence that followed was deafening. Finally trying to break the ice, Taeyeon spoke up.“Sorry for coming into your house like this but I really did need to ask…”
“No, make yourself at home… what was it that you wanted to ask?”Shin wanted no more of this awkward conversation with Taeyeon and jumped at the chance to get to the point, resolve it, and send her home as quickly as possible.“Ever since I first met Jessica, and maybe even before then,” Taeyeon said. “She’s spent all of her spare time and sometimes stayed out all night saying that she needed to find someone. Every time, she would come back with looking depressed.But yesterday, she came back to the dorm with a stupid smile on her face and for the first time ever, she didn’t go outside to find that missing person again. From seeing everything that’s happened then and now, I suppose I should really thank you for making Jess-“In the middle of Taeyeon’s monologue, her tummy roared a declaration that it was hungry. The girl broke eye contact with him and froze on the spot, unsure of what to do.Shin struggled to stifle a laugh before asking, “Have you eaten yet?”
It was a polite greeting in Korea, to ask someone if they had eaten. People who weren’t close would usually answer that they had because they knew it was an empty question asked out of courtesy, not an actual invitation to a meal.“Me? Not yet.” Taeyeon replied.
No. Not Taeyeon. A normal person would have said they had and that the sound was probably digestion or something, but not Taeyeon.“Then you should at least stay for lunch before you go,” Shin had to ask. It would be rude in the culture to send a guest home on an empty stomach when they had clearly indicated their hunger. “I don’t have anything tasty but there’s some basic stuff in the kitchen.”“Oh, thank you,” Taeyeon smiled. “Could I get some water, please?”
“Of course,” Shin stood up from his seat.. “It’s in the fridge, hold on.” It was only then that he noticed that he was still wearing his pajamas. He tried to move as naturally as possible to his bedroom for a quick change of clothes. When he had finally put on something more presentable to wear, Taeyeon had disappeared from the lounge.“Taeyeon-sshi…?” he asked tentatively. “Where are you?”
He walked towards the kitchen and saw a very different Taeyeon from before.“Hic! Hmmm? Hmmm...” mumbled Taeyeon, red-faced, eyes unfocused and struggling to stay on her feet. “You! Who are yoooooou… because… because I! Hic! I am SNSD leader Taeyon hahahaha!”Shin could tell from just one glance what had happened. He’d always enjoyed a chilled William’s Gin with ton