Chocolate Love ♥
-ANONYMOUS

“So, what seems to be the problem, Ms. Kim?” a girl with a blonde bobcut addressed the kkokkoma sitting next to her with a small smile. They were inside a classroom, minutes after the ending bell had rung. The fading rays of orange sunlight casted the two friends in a warm brilliance, making their distinct features stand out further.


Meaning it made the already-nervous girl look like a jumpy cat. “You know… that is coming,” she spoke in a low voice, afraid that others might overhear what she was saying.


“Um… That?”


“You know…” the girl fidgeted a bit before speaking again. “…That.”


“Seriously… what is that?” the blonde simply tilted her head in confusion.


“GAH! Of course you know what that is…”


The blush on her friend’s cheeks finally got the message across, and the blonde gave a sagely nod as if she finally understood what the other girl was trying to say. “Ahhhhhh! I see. So it’s that, huh?”


The brown-haired girl sighed in relief, a small smile replacing the worried frown she had earlier. “I’m glad you finally understand, Sunny-ah…”


“Yes, yes. Taeyeon-ah, you know you could’ve just told me about it outright instead of beating around the bush,” Sunny exasperatedly said.


“I’m so sorry… It’s just that I find it hard to talk about this topic out in the open…” Taeyeon meekly apologized.


“I get ya. It’s a girl thing, after all. Don’t worry, my precious friend. I know exactly what to do about your problem.”


“Thank you very much, Sunny-yah… I’ve been troubled by that all day, so much that I couldn’t concentrate in class.”


“Yeah, I saw that. BoA-seonsaengnim literally had to scream at your ear just to get your attention,” Sunny sniggered at the hilarious memory.


“Eesh… that was an embarrassing scene…” Taeyeon smiled sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head.


“Okay then! Onto business…” and then Sunny began rummaging through her blue school bag for a certain something. Taeyeon was surprised at the urgency in her friend’s search.


“Um… what are you looking for?”


“I’m looking for the thing that will solve ALL your problems! I know I have it somewhere…” she took out a bear-shaped wallet, a couple of ballpens, her brown 100%-recycled paper notepad and her Nintendo DS, and put them all on top of her desk. She sighed in frustration and continued her search with more vigor than before.


“No really, what are you looking for?”


“Oh don’t play dumb with me, little missy. You’re having a problem with that, right?” Sunny said it like it was as obvious as two plus two. “It’s that… time of the month for you, isn’t it?”


Taeyeon’s face couldn’t get any redder. In a state of great embarrassment she, for lack of a better word, exploded. “W-W-W-W-W-W-W-What are you talking about?! O-Of course I’m not having THAT!!! I was referring to VALENTINE’S DAY! V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E-S!!! The one with chocolates and pink hearts and chubby cherubs and all that stuff!! Not… that g-girl stuff!!! Seriously, I can’t even begin to fathom where that ridiculous thinking came from!!!”


“Woah, woah, calm down there. You can’t blame me for arriving at a different interpretation than what you expected. You were being too vague, even by normal standards,” Sunny retaliated, holding out her hands in front of her friend who was fuming with a face that couldn’t be any different from a puffed tomato.


“So you’re worried about Valentine’s Day… Oh, that’s tomorrow, right?” Sunny mused, rubbing her chin with a troubled look. “Don’t tell me that a guy actually managed to pique your interest enough for you to buy him a box of chocolates?”


“Well, yes it concerns a box of chocolates. And no, it’s not a guy. You of all people should know that…” Taeyeon’s voice slightly faded at those last words, prompting a smirk from the playful blonde girl.


“So it’s Tiffany, then?”


Sunny’s smile widened as Taeyeon quickly lowered her head in silence. She knew just how much that single word, that name meant to her best friend. Well, she considered herself to be Taeyeon’s best friend, but there was someone else who got first dibs on that spot, many years before she even met the little girl. And that someone had the ability to turn Taeyeon into a nervous wreck just by existing. She wasn’t surprised. Heck, if she had the chance she’d be going after Tiffany with roses and love letters herself.


Tiffany Hwang of Class 3-A was Hallyu High’s top idol, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the male student body bow down to her whenever she passed by them in the hallways or in the cafeteria. She had the beauty of a goddess, the wonderful voice of a siren, and the kindness of an angel sent down on Earth… at least, that was Taeyeon’s definition of Tiffany as seen in an embarrassing notepad Sunny managed to snatch from her. It was those qualities that made Tiffany one of the most sought-after women in the entire campus. If it weren’t for the fierce yet adorable protectiveness of the kkokkoma, Tiffany would be swarmed with suitors every day of the week.


Sunny had the privilege of being the first of Taeyeon’s friends to know about their awkward confessions to each other in their precious playground in the city park, and even about what was going on between the two of them before that. And once again, she wasn’t surprised. She knew something was up between them the moment she heard Tiffany jokingly declare herself as Taeyeon’s ‘wife.’ She was aware that they were best friends, but she couldn’t help feeling that there was something else, something much deeper than mere friendship. She could see it almost everyday, at their actions that the two girls would simply dismiss as ‘normal.’


To Sunny, there was nothing normal about holding hands while walking along the corridors and feeding each other during lunch time with cute sounds that annoyed the heck out of the blonde girl. They were blatantly obvious, and the two didn’t even seem to realize it. And so she waited until either of them made the move. It was terribly frustrating for the blonde girl, as neither of the two seemed to have the guts to just come out and say it. She had to wait for one year or more before things finally shifted towards the .


When the awkwardness began, Sunny carefully watched over the two of them like a skirmish in a battlefield. She realized that Tiffany was beginning to feel certain emotions that would no doubt bring her much confusion. What she didn’t expect was Tiffany taking it all out on poor Taeyeon in the form of the patented silent treatment… and the temporary eviction from their very own dorm room, forcing the little girl to bunk inside Sunny’s dorm room alongside their other best friend, Sooyoung.


Seeing Taeyeon’s pitiful teary face, the blonde took it upon herself to intrude in their affairs, whether they liked it or not. She knew someone had to do it, or else the two would get nowhere, stuck in the mire of awkwardness, or worse… they might end up pushing each other away to the point that it’d be very difficult for the two to even stay within ten miles of each other.


So when Tiffany finally found the courage to call Taeyeon out on a heart-to-heart talk in their ‘private hideout,’ Sunny heaved a huge sigh of relief. Her efforts in trying to talk some sense into the girl paid off in the end. But it wasn’t easy. It was like setting up a psychiatric session, since Sunny had to bring a huge Totoro plushie and dozens of pink things just to convince Tiffany to have a talk with her and to keep her interested in the talk.


Which was why when she saw the two girls shyly holding hands together with warm, happy smiles on their faces, she felt that everything was worth it… well, that was until the two forgot that there were still people around them (a.k.a. their closest friends) whenever they did excessive PDA. Sunny had to fight back the urge to barf every time she caught them doing such acts.


And now, that girl… that very same girl who had the tenacity to protect Tiffany from suitors and bullies alike with the aura of an overprotective ahjumma, was troubled at the simple thought of giving chocolates on Valentine’s Day. Sunny found this highly amusing, and she showed it in the sly smile she gave Taeyeon.


“I don’t see why you’re getting worried about something like this,” Sunny spoke up, breaking Taeyeon from her silent daze. “You two already spent your first Christmas Day together, which was just a month ago, need I remind you. How is this any different?”


“It’s Valentine’s Day… a lot of people will be giving each other chocolates, not just me. Some guys might be giving her chocolate, too…” the slight edge of the green monster in Taeyeon’s voice didn’t escape Sunny’s ears.


“But Taeyeon-ah, only girls give chocolates to anyone on that day. We’ll have to wait for White Day before we can get our chocolates from the guys. Worry about it when that day comes.”


“I know that, and I’m thinking about it as well. It’s just that… Tiffany has a lot of female admirers. More than you expect,” Taeyeon’s green monster was getting stronger.


“And you’re worried about them giving chocolates to your Fany honey?” Sunny, being the good friend that she was, found Taeyeon’s predicament absolutely adorable, enough for her to hug the little girl to death even as said girl stared daggers back at her for using an embarrassing nickname, as seen once again in Taeyeon’s notepad. “Awwww… Is my little Taeyeon jelly of those other girls?”


“Ugh, stop it please. Your aegyo is making me cringe,” Taeyeon shivered and rubbed her shoulders as if trying to remove the cuteness that had clung to her.


“You didn’t answer my question though,” Sunny’s constant stare drove the poor girl into a corner, until she finally gave in, throwing her hands up in the air.


“…OKAY, FINE! I’m jealous. I’m friggin’ jealous. Happy now?”


“Actually, yes. I find your jealousy kinda cute~”


“Meanie…” Taeyeon pouted.


“But you know, I don’t really see the point in worrying,” Sunny put her elbow on the desk and rested her chin on her palm, regarding Taeyeon with a knowing gaze. “Tiffany’s your girlfriend, after all. She hugs everyone, but you’re the only one she hugs tightly for an average of five seconds. She makes friendly cheek kisses with friends like me and Jessica, but she kisses you with a passion that makes us spectators wanna puke. She might get chocolates from every single girl in the campus, but at the end of the day she will be anticipating your chocolate the most.”


“I… I… I see what you mean…” Taeyeon felt ashamed that she had to hear those words from her bestfriend to make her realize that she was being too paranoid for something so trivial. Tiffany was her girlfriend, after all. What’s a little chocolate when she could come home to their dorm room every night to a bright smile to could make all her fatigue vanish into thin air?


“Oh whatever will you do without me?” Sunny shook her head in pity, earning her another glare from the little girl.


Still, it meant something to give chocolates to the one you love the most on Valentine’s Day. And Taeyeon couldn’t help but feel a little… selfish. If anything, she wanted Tiffany to have her chocolate and hers alone. If she had her way, not one single girl in the entire campus (other than herself, of course) would have the chance to get ten feet near Tiffany if she was holding a box that had any trace of chocolate on it.


“By the way, you will buy some yummy chocolates for us, riiiight~?” Sunny’s aegyo broke Taeyeon from her train of thought, and once again she had to rub the goosebumps off her arms. “Especially for Jessica… she’s been feeling pretty down in the dumps as of late.”


“I know. And if the Ice Princess could get any icier, I fear for the safety of the entire student body,” Taeyeon jokingly said, but she and Sunny knew the weight behind her words. Jessica Jung was the polar opposite of Tiffany. If you had an angel on one side, then there’s a sleepyhead with a controlled yet huge temper on the other end. Add to that her trademark cold glare that could send even the most hardened gangster running for the hills. And she was one of Taeyeon’s close friends.


“So you’re gonna give her a box of SoShi chocolates, right?” Sunny asked.


“Well, she does like that place…” Taeyeon pondered. “I guess buying chocolates from there should make her smile at least.”


“You go girl! Go show that Ice Princess what you’re made of!” Sunny said enthusiastically, pumping her fist in the air. And like the gullible girl that she was, Taeyeon followed suit with a loud ‘A-chaaa!!!’


“What’s all the commotion about?”


The sudden arrival of the lady-like voice shocked Taeyeon’s body stiff, while Sunny simply responded by waving cutely at the girl that was standing at the doorway to their classroom. “Hey there, Tiff!”


Taeyeon turned her head around to see who it was, and was met with a smile that melted all her doubts and fears away and somehow sent electronic signals to her facial muscles to turn her gaping mouth into a wide, dorky grin. “F-Fany-ah…”


“Hi, Sunny! Hello, TaeTae…” then swiftly Tiffany walked over and stole a kiss from Taeyeon, a brief touch on the lips. It was enough to send Taeyeon’s mind into overdrive, with white steam coming out of her violently red ears. Sunny just rolled her eyes at the scene, even sticking her tongue out for a bit. “What were you guys talking about?”


“Oh that? We were just talking about Valentine’s Day and—HMMMPHF!”


In a burst of speed Taeyeon covered Sunny’s mouth with her hand, giving her the talk-or-I’ll-kill-your-chickens glare. Then she quickly turned back to Tiffany with a sheepish smile and said, “It was nothing, really! Just some stuff about Math homework and how hard it is! Ahahahaha.”


“Really…? I thought I heard something about chocolates and Valentine’s Day…”


Then suddenly Tiffany found herself being dragged outside of the room by a flustered Taeyeon. “You still have to teach me about the upcoming Math exam, right? Integrals and all those equations that looks like some language from an alien world. We have to hurry back to the dorm now so we’ll be leaving!! See you tomorrow, Sunny-ah!”


And in less than a second the TaeNy couple had disappeared from Sunny’s view. The blonde g