SPECIAL GIRL

-anonymous

Taeyeon’s POV :

I stepped into the home where abandoned kids and teenagers were at and my heart almost skipped a beat. It was different from what I had conjured in my mind before coming. I thought the children here would be sulking while teenagers isolated themselves, being all upset about their backgrounds but nothing was like that. 

The joy was felt as soon as I arrived.
The place was bright, kids were getting along well, playing under the red ball of fire. Maybe my professor in school lied to us during psychology lessons, telling us about how dark these people would be. Or maybe, just maybe, this home was a special place where kids found love and care. I went on to explode the huge place alone, eventually reaching the entertainment room. A delightful piano melody came out of the place, triggering my interest towards the person behind the instrument.
I was gently swaying with the music until it reached the last note and loud claps roared within the space. I followed suit, showing my appreciation through my two hands. A girl stood up and my brain stopped functioning instantly. She had long beautiful dark hair reaching her shoulders and outstanding face features. She tried to make her way to the sofa among those little children surrounding her. I couldn’t bother about anything else but to keep my sight on her resplendent face. A kid took out a strawberry flavoured lollipop, handing it to her after she comfortably settled on the seat and accepted it without hesitation.

‘’Unnie, you played so well! Can you teach me someday? I promise I will treat you to more lollipops!’’ The young girl voiced out. The pianist didn’t have any expressions and other than savouring the sweet, she did nothing else.

‘’Girls, are you disturbing Tiffany Unnie again?’’
A tall lady walked into the name with a bright smile and like bees attracted to honey, all the children rushed up to hug her. She messed those kids hair and looked up at me. I gave a slight bow and she did the same. She ushered the crowd outside, telling them to play in the garden instead.
‘’Are you Miss Kim Taeyeon? I’m Michelle Hwang, person in charge of this place.’’ She held her hand out which I quickly received and we shared a firmed handshake with a smile on our faces.
‘’Yes I am Kim Taeyeon. I will be the new psychologist until 27 weeks later. Nice to meet you, Miss Hwang.’’
‘’Just call me Michelle, and it’s our honour to have you here too. I hope you will enjoy your internship here at our SunSmile Home. I had arranged a new room for you to lodge in and I will bring you there shortly. If you need help and I’m not in, you can look for that guy out there playing basketball. He is Leo, my younger brother. Not to forget, she is Tiffany, our maknae.’’

Tiffany.

‘’I’m sure I will enjoy my stay, thank you Michelle Unnie.’’ I thanked her and shifted my gaze back to the fair girl with the lollipop stick outside her small mouth. I was probably too oblivious and Michelle Unnie eyed me with a sly smile.
‘’My sister is very pretty isn’t she?’’ She teased while I swore my face was flushed. ‘’Just so you know, Tiffany isn’t like any of us. She is autistic. She suffers a minor neurodevelopment disorder. The doctor ran tests and it showed that she was perfectly normal in terms of physical development and IQ, or in fact, she was smarter than any of the people and had special talents in music. But she had social impairments and lack the intuition about others it’s probably going to take you some time to communicate with her.’’

I was dumbstruck when I heard about the girl’s psychological condition but regained my composure in no time, afraid that I might offend her sister who was also my current boss. I had no idea if it was my profession problem or something else that made me vowed inside my heart, that I would try my best to cure her problem.
‘’Noona! You have a phone call!’’
The man who was known to be Leo Oppa, shouted for Michelle Unnie and broke my train of thoughts. She signalled to him about her acknowledgement before turning back to face me.
‘’It’s probably one of my business associates. How about this? I will get Tiffany to bring you to our room and show you around at the same time. Tiff, come here.’’ Michelle Unnie called out for her and she came over to where we were but keeping a distance away from me while holding onto her sister’s hand.
‘’She is Kim Taeyeon, our new intern. Can you show her to the room at our house beside yours? She is 23 this year so she is your friend, don’t be afraid. Take her around too and Unnie will be right back.’’
Michelle Unnie pat me on my shoulder, assuring me that everything would be fine and then prepared to leave the room when someone let out an almost intangible whine, refusing to let go. According to what I learnt in college, autistic patients tend to get unsecured when they were left with a stranger or at an unfamiliar location alone. She received a light pinch on her sharp nose and soon, it was soon only us in the room. She stared at me while she twirled the lollipop around and I looked back at her awkwardly.

‘’My name is Kim Taeyeon. It’s my pleasure meeting you, Tiffany.’’
I put on my best smile, trying to let her be at ease and adapt to my presence. She nodded her head continuously and left the room, heading towards a separated building sitting beside each other in the front yard individually. I followed her up to the second floor, passed by the television room and this pink door before entering this neat room with sky blue wallpapers.

There was a personal toilet and a fairly big wardrobe along with a study table. There were 2 beanbags at the corner of the room, a small side lamp in between them. The queen sized bed was soft and comfortable, the covers had a mild scent of lavender flowers. Tiffany stood aside, watching me checked out the room facilities.

‘’Tiffany, are you hungry? I’m hungry. Do you want to go grab a bite with me and show me around?’’
She fiddled with the strips of her overall, debating.
‘’Let’s go for fast food, shall we?’’ I approached her and gave a silly grin. Maybe that would make her loosen her guards towards me. I raised my eyebrows as I waited for a response. Finally after some moments of eye contact, she nodded and turned to walk out almost immediately.

***
Tiffany picked the fries and gave it a bite, chewing thoroughly before she finished the remaining. Similarly she took two mouths to finish the fried potato, regardless of size. I giggled at her actions, attracting her attention. She observed me for a second.

‘’Taetae.’’ She voiced out.
It was the first time I heard her spoke since the whole morning when I was with her. It was electrifying to be able to listen to her angelic voice despite it was only less than a second. Looking around at our surroundings, I pointed at myself, as a way of asking if Taetae was referring to me. Like a bob head, she nodded continuously again. She gave me a nickname and to be frank, I found it extremely adorable.

‘’Yes Tiffany?’’
‘’Taetae, sauce.’’
I narrowed my eyebrows as I tried to digest and infer what she was trying to convey when suddenly, Tiffany brushed her thumb across my lower lip. A shiver was penetrating down my spine upon the touch on my skin. I was immobilized for that brief second while I watched her wiped her finger with the wet tissue before eating. This girl made my heart fluttered, so badly. At that moment, I comprehended that I was fond of her.
I snapped out of my thoughts when she held up a fries in front of my face, offering me her food, which I gladly received after saying my thanks. Without much effort, her eyes curved into crescent shape and the tip of rose. The eye smile melted my heart instantly. I munched on the salty face but I was drowning in sweetness.

***
My intern days at Sunsmile Home began and everything was so smooth. All the children and teenagers were very willing to share their thoughts of their parents. Despite the fact that it was rather heart aching to hear those stories, I was glad that they were cooperative. Things between Tiffany and I were getting much better, probably because the latter came to discover that my only intention of being nice to her was to befriend her. But there was actually one more reason of why I treated her so well.

I had fallen for her.

Although she had autism, she was still considered an easier case as compared to most people. I enjoy listening to her play the piano, liked how pure and innocent she was. Strawberry flavoured lollipops were her favourite snack of all time, but I only saw her eating them on Wednesdays after she finishes her piano practises.

‘’Since you like having these so much, why are you only having one per week?’’ I once enquired her while I pushed her gently as she sat on the swing outside the terrace house that we were living in.‘ ’Unhealthy,Taetae.’’

That was all she said but I clearly understood her meaning. She might spoke little and had the tendency to be ignorance about almost everything, she knew what was good and bad for her. I realized some interesting habits of hers which were amazingly adorable, given the quality time we spent together everyday. She finishes her rice within a certain number of spoons, places her lollipop only on the right side of , sits only at the interception point of the L shaped sofa when we watch television programmes and only drinks beverages with straws that she would fold into hearts after which.

All these little details might not be noticeable or significant to others but it never failed to catch my attention once because these things she did convinced me even further that she was unique.

***
‘’Say Taeyeon, are you interested in my younger sister?’’

I lost my grip of the basketball in my hands, letting it roll away to the other side of the court when Leo Oppa shot me the question. He let out a loud laugh when he noticed uneasiness rising within me and sat down at the bench as he drank out of his bottle. Being a psychologist, I knew that trying to deny was just a sign of further proving one’s statement true. This logic in this case, was actually true.
‘’Were my actions that apparent, Oppa?’’
‘’No. I was just teasing you since I always see you both hanging together and I didn’t expect that for an answer. Are you serious Taeyeon?’’
I shut my eyes and let out a deep sigh when I found out that I had just given myself away. Since it’s exposed, there was no point hiding my feelings for Tiffany.
‘’I’m dead serious.’’
Leo Oppa shook his head. ‘’You must be insane. You probably just think that it was fun to be with an autistic girl because it’s something new and fascinating, and then had the wrong idea that you developed feelings for my dongseng. Give up that thought and wake up, Taeyeon. A psychologist with a bright future being in love with an abnormal girl sounds nothing close to convincing.’’
He picked up the ball and turned to leave.
‘’No, Tiffany isn’t abnormal! She’s just special!’’ I was pissed at his choice of words and to thin