Loved Since Forever

Taecyeon - Present Day

The transport van pulled into the Langham Hotel on 5th and then everything moved rather quickly. Daniel ushered Taecyeon into the lobby where Taec sat in a lavishly modern armchair with his backpack resting at the base of the chair.

He has never stayed at a Langham Hotel before. The lobby did not have super high ceilings, which is deceiving since the building itself is fairly old and tall, and located directly next to the Empire State Building. You can't even hear the traffic or the bustling feet outside. The modern interior was not really his personal style, but he can see how it can appeal to some people. This place is lavish.

Daniel leaned over. "There's a really nice gym here, and a rooftop bar, in case you need to invite a certain CEO to meet for cocktails," he whispered. "You just need to make it to filming tomorrow, for me... I can't get fired." It's as if he already knew what Taecyeon was thinking.

"You read my mind," Taec whispered back.

"Taec. Here's your room key. It's your turn for the penthouse" Hyun-joo said, handing Taecyeon a pamphlet with some room keys over. "DO. NOT. LEAVE. THE. HOTEL." she stressed. She looked over at Daniel, who is straight-faced and professionally deceiving. "You're in the conjoining room," she said, handing him the other keys. "There is a separate entrance if needed."

The other cast had the penthouse in the other filming locations, and the actors have been switching off who will get the penthouses. New York was Taecyeon's turn for the penthouse. Well, and Daniel too... by proxy.

"They're bringing your bags up as soon as we get organized," she said, "be sure to be at the studio for 10 am."

"Yes, ma'am", he said in formal Korean. He would speak this way to the commanding officers if he was still in the army.

She gave Taec a stern side-eye. She may be small, but she is no-nonsense. Daniel and Taecyeon gave each other a small smile as if they were about to make some trouble. Taec scoops up his bag and heads for the elevator with his protector by his side.

As soon as the elevator doors close, he turns to Daniel with a huge laugh.

"Dang! It's so hard not to laugh when she is so strict," he said to Taecyeon first with a laugh.

"So funny!" They were both cracking up.

"I've never stayed at this hotel before," Daniel said, "and definitely not at the penthouse. This is going to be sweeeet."

"It's going to be awesome, for sure!"

Taecyeon doesn't want to tell Daniel that he is eager to ditch him and check out the convention center next door where the publishing conference is. With a sigh, Taecyeon decides that it's better, to be honest. He will understand. He's a cool guy.

"Dan, I want to go check out that publishing conference, will I be able to?", Taec asks.

"Heck yeah you can!" he responded enthusiastically. Daniel goes into his backpack and pulls out an unopened black face mask. "I'll have to go around with you, but you can wear the mask, and I'll dress in my civilian clothes."

Taec was lucky to have a laid-back bodyguard this time. The bodyguard, and the lavish suite. Today, no... this whole trip to New York is going to be awesome. The best.

The penthouse at the Langham was like any other penthouse. 3 bedrooms, a conjoining wall to what would normally be a nanny's room, 2 Bathrooms, a full kitchen, etc. The noticeable difference with this penthouse is the view of the city and the Empire State Building. Taecyeon watches Daniel step out onto the conjoined balcony.

"Not too shabby" he yells over.

"Not at all!" Taec replies.

They hear the doorbell ring and figure it must be the bellhop with the luggage. At the door was the 17-18-year-old bellhop looking like he had signed up more than he bargained for. Hyun-joo and her interpreter were behind the large rolling cart looking disheveled and tired.

After getting their luggage, Taecyeon quickly opens it and rustles around for a black jacket and a black t-shirt. His jeans are still fine to wear and his sneakers are city-walking-ready, so he feels as is if that is sufficient.

Taecyeon takes out the mask that Daniel kindly provided and puts it on. Okay, Ok. It's time. He opens the door to the penthouse and Daniel is already out there with his normal, non-bodyguard-looking clothes. Daniel helps Taec over to the double elevators and watches Taec reach to push the down button.

"NO! Not that one," he urges. And presses the down arrow for the service elevator. "My mom used to work at hotels when I was a kid. I spent a lot of time knowing where we should go to be undetected." The pair walked into the other set of newly opened elevator doors.

"Incredible," Taecyeon said. He is completely astonished at his luck on this trip. Daniel pressed the button for B1.

The good news is, they ended up in the basement, for Taecyeon it was a challenge to find the exit. Apparently not for Daniel, who was effortlessly navigating through the labyrinth of hallways.

"I'm following the smokers," he whispered to Taecyeon as they hurried past the other workers. They were definitely following two kitchen workers, conveniently towards a different exit sign. The exit emptied out into an alleyway on the side of the hotel. The two smokers Taec and Daniel were stalking were meeting up with their friends who were already out in the alley.

The good news was that Daniel already had his phone out with directions. The buildings are just so tall it is hard to determine where they are.

"This way", he said and pointed to the opening of New York. "It's the building across the street."

Taec and Daniel start crossing, not at a crosswalk, mind you, but that's irrelevant. Taecyeon takes in all his surroundings. This is where he will casually bump into Rachel. Completely on accident and not at all planned... and also not creepy.

The convention center was huge from the outside, but from the inside, it was even more impressive. The big hall already had an extensive layout of tables and booths. There were signs put up, directing people on where to find the lectures and other breakout activities. A big poster suspended on an easel had the schedule of events for the weekend. One problem. The conference starts at 8 am tomorrow and ends at 8 pm. Taec will be in filming. The last day of the conference is on Monday in 4 days and he sees that Rachel is expected to give a class on creative writing.

Taec pulls out his phone and takes a picture of the schedule for the weekend, so he can have it, and then checks his schedule for the week. Compare and contrast. The production assistant gave Eun-Gab PD, the manager, a copy of it before they left the airport. He is free on Monday and then the production team leaves on Tuesday back to Korea out of JFK. This could not have worked out any better.

Taecyeon opens the safari app and googles the conference to buy two tickets, one for his trusty bodyguard and one for himself.

"Ok Taecyeon?" a voice said behind him. He did not recognize this woman at all but he knew that he was not allowed out of his room, and pictures of him cannot end up on the internet.

"Are you Ok Taecyeon?" she asked in Korean this time.

He responds in English, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh I'm sorry, you have the same building as a KPop idol," the woman said suspiciously.

"Hey! Mike! You comin'?", another voice called over. It was Daniel. Thank you to the powers at being for providing a Daniel in his life.

"Oh hey, Dan!" Taec responds to him and starts walking towards him. "I owe you big time, buddy."

"Anytime, man, that's my job," he said, leaving the stranger behind. That was a pretty close call.