“Why are you so nice to me…” It wasn’t really a question but, more like a thought that accidentally slipped out of my mouth. I guess the fatigue is catching up to me causing me to become a blabbering idiot. I don’t think before I speak.

“Do I have a reason not to be?” she answered it anyway and had put on this expression on her face that I couldn’t tell if ever she was hiding dead bodies behind her back. “Would you have done the same if I were you?”

Her accompanying me here was already a stretch, since she could’ve just told me where I needed to go. Or maybe she was concerned. I have a lot of questions going on in my head that I forgot to speak.

“I don’t know, what do you think my answer would be?” I finally managed to say.

“Well don’t ask me that, I asked you first,” she told me in a joking manner.

“You’re being confusing right now, you know,” my tone was flat.

“But you started it,” she started walking away.

“Hey come back! Are you just going to run off like that?” I caught up to her. I hated being left alone.

“I wasn’t even trying to run away, see..” she chuckled. “I let you catch up to me,“

She was right, I was exaggerating. I felt stupid for a moment and felt my face heat up.

The outburst wasn’t necessary.

I just followed wherever she was going.

I cleared my throat, breaking the silence. “Where are we going?”

“You hungry?”

It took us more or less 10 minutes to get to the food area, there was a large selection of stalls and pop-up restaurants with various types of food but what caught my eye is the Afters Ice Cream stall. I heard from Sooyoung that it was quite popular here and to my surprise no one was at the queue, great timing. I was going to ask Taeyeon if she wanted to get ice cream but she was already heading there.

“One cookie monster glazed bun and a strawberry cookie crisp bun for my friend please,” I heard her say to the cashier. Did she just refer to me as a ‘friend’?

“We’re friends now?” I said as I approached her.

“I don’t know, do you see anybody else here with me?” she paid the cashier, “Thanks,”

“Hey, let me pay for—“ I reached for my wallet inside my bag but she stopped me.

“Consider it as a sorry for making you run after me,” she said emphasizing on the word run. She was obviously teasing me. “you fancy strawberry ice cream?”

“I admit that I exaggerated okay?” I exhaled through my nose. “..and thank you, how did you know that I liked strawberry?”

“I didn’t, I was just guessing.”

We looked for a place nearby to sit, as usual it was crowded but we found a mini picnic area within an illuminated rose garden. We sat on the grass and ate as we started talking about my career and her life at the university. We both are in similar fields after all so we had a lot to talk about, with her being an aspiring architect and me being an interior designer.

I found out that she also plays piano and that she was a member of a local band. The mood was just nice and calm. It feels like I was catching up with an old friend.

“You must be a very busy person then,” I told her, taking the last few bites of my ice cream bun.

“Yeah— quite. I’m just glad I get to go to these festivals and relax, having a hobby is like a sin to us uni students nowadays,” she laid down on the grass propping her arms up, facing her body to me, “What about you? Aside from your job, what else do you do?”

“I babysit my cousins as a side job,” it came out like a whisper. My main job salary isn’t that well either, well that’s to be expected since I just started.

“That’s cool, how much do you make for an hour?” she looks very interested. And I don’t know what is more shocking, her not laughing or her being interested with the mediocre things I do.

“I babysit for 5 hours once a week, I get a hundred bucks,” It was already embarrassing to admit but to say it to someone who looks like they already have their together despite being practically the same age, yeah pretty embarrassing.

“Hey, that’s not so bad for a side job.” she laughed.

“Yeah, not so bad especially when you take care of three brats,” I laughed along with her.

“Ooh, are they triplets?” there was like a small glint in her eyes.

“How did you know?” I gasped jokingly and covered my mouth.

“I didn’t, I was just guessing.” she said that line again.

“Well sorry to say but you’re wrong, but the two are twins though, that was a nice guess.”

“I should just quit university right away and be a full time fortune-teller,” I could tell from her voice that she wanted to say something else. I wonder what’s on her mind.

“Well if you did change your mind just tell me, I’ll be your first customer,” I tried to joke.

“Okay but I’m not giving discount to strangers,”

We laughed together and there was a moment of silence after that. I looked around the place and saw couples walking together. That could be me and him right now but he isn’t here. I just sighed.

“What’s your idea of fun, Tiffany?” Taeyeon asked me. It wasn’t a serious tone but, it wasn’t exactly a playful one either.

“Disneyland,” that was the first thing that came to my mind.

“Oh come on,” she sat up, “at least give me something quote worthy,”

“Okay, well,” I paused, looking for an answer, when was the last time I had fun anyway? I don’t remember, “…having fun is just time well wasted. I don’t know, why are you asking me this?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to know,” she looked at her wristwatch and stood up to fix her clothes, “We have approximately two hours and forty two minutes before 11pm, where should we start?”

I smiled. Well I could use some fun. “I don’t know,” she helped me up. “What’s your idea of fun?”

“It’s about spending time with someone and forgetting all of your worries,” she was looking for something in her backpack, seconds later she pulled out a Redbull can. “Catch,”

“Thanks,” I popped it open and took a sip, “Why do I get a feeling that this is going to be a long night?”

“Because it should be.”

Taeyeon had a long gulp of her own Redbull and looked at me. She just looked at me. I studied her face for a moment, she was glowing, the way she looked at me. Her brown eyes, her cute tiny nose and her perfect jawline. I snapped out of it before she finds me creepy.

“Is there something on my face?” I asked raising my left eyebrow.

She didn’t say anything so I just assumed that the answer was no. We started walking again. It got to the point that we were so silent until our Redbull ran out and we had to throw the can somewhere.

We reached through this weird large structure that glowed blue-green, pink and purple. There were people sitting under it, taking pictures of each other.

“What’s this art installation called?” I asked her, admiring the glowing structure. “…it looks like a tree branch made of rubber bands that are connected to each other,”

“I think this is called Pulp Pavilion,” she replied. “It’s made of paper,”

“Too bad my phone’s broken, I can’t take a picture of it.” I said almost frowning. It’s beautiful, I like it.

“Good thing I have a phone with me huh,” I saw Taeyeon pull out her phone, taking a picture of the structure. Then I saw her take another picture and her camera was right on my face. She didn’t even try to hide it.

“Hey! I saw that,” I tried reaching for her phone but she was quick.

“Saw what?” she was raising her eyebrows at me, trying to look innocent.

“You took a picture of me.” I raised my voice a little.

“And?” her expression was so neutral like she does this thing every single day.

I can feel my cheeks get hot at that, feeling slightly irritated by the way she’s acting “and I look bad in it so you should delete it,”

// Music: Desire (Gryffin remix) – Years & Years //

“You’re a very attractive girl Tiffany.” she was staring at me and she smiled. I paused, trying to digest what she just said. What did she say? Did she just...?

“You’re quite attractive yourself,”

Did I just say that? I swear my breath just got hitched in my throat and my heart just skipped a beat. I caught myself before reacting and doing something stupid again. What has gotten into my head? This must be the Redbull buzz acting up. I have this crazy mantra in my head chanting ‘ it Tiffany, have fun!’

It’s just a friendly compliment right? She’s not trying to flirt with me right? The fact that it’s already weird that I act and feel this way around her, I wasn’t even like this when I’m around guys. I mean I find her really really attractive to be honest, I could totally imagine people queueing in line just to get a handshake from her and I’m not even exaggerating. But this was not the first time I found a girl attractive that way either and that’s what bothers me. I’m familiar with this feeling! I swear if she wasn’t such a cute 23-year old, innocent looking goofball with a y Brit accent I would’ve thought that she’s just a weird teenager who’s good at smooth talking instead.

Right now I have this weird urge to run away with her tonight, I don’t even know where. Anywhere but here. ‘Forget all your problems tonight, Tiffany!’ I hear my own voice doing a mantra in my head again. I must be going crazy.

Is it desire?~ or is it love that I’m feeling for you?~

Before I knew it I was already dragging Taeyeon by the hand to god knows where. Her hands were so soft, like fresh laundry. How long have we been running? I could feel her catching up to me now.

“Slow down!” she said, I can hear her adorable chuckle. I was laughing too, along with her, and I don’t know why but I feel so happy. It feels like I’m a 7-year old kid again without a care in the world.

We ended up going in front of an open stage with a large crowd filled with strangers of different ethnicities, dancing and singing along to the music. It feels weird to call them strangers now, we went here for the same purpose, to enjoy the music and have the time of our lives.

Cause your love~ Cause your love~

I recognized the song that was being played, “Oooh! I love this song,” I said excitedly, tagging Taeyeon along with me. I danced like a dork feeling really jumpy and she was mimicking my moves as we both cracked up. We must look really stupid right now to other people but I don’t give a damn. We did a waltz with her being the guy, and she spun me around and held me close. I pull back and she was doing these steps like she was coming after me. I pushed her back a little and laughed at her cute antics. This is the closest I’ve been to her and it doesn’t feel weird, not at all. In fact, I feel lighthearted. I can feel everything at once, the music, the bass, the warm air hitting my skin….

Taeyeon removed her flannel shirt and put it around her waist. She looked so hot doing that in front of me. It doesn’t help that she literally didn’t take her eyes off of me while doing that. I bet she did that on purpose.

I could totally feel my face heating up right now.

God help me, this girl is such a tease.

We continued dancing as I let the music engulf me. The strobe lights in front were so insane that I could literally feel my pulse pounding along with each flash of light. It gave me a sense of euphoria.

Taeyeon said something to me that I couldn’t make out so I gestured her to move closer.

“You having fun?”

I just nodded and smiled. She didn’t even have to ask me that.

She started clapping along with the crowd and my eyes caught sight of the tattoo on her left shoulder that was mildly peeking out of her tank top. It was a black outline of a heart with a rainbow figure inside it. I swear this girl is a walking gay pride.

“Your tattoo is cute,” I moved closer to her so she can hear.

“Thanks love,” she whispered close, too dangerously close that her breath tickled my ears. I caught myself shuddering at the contact. I don’t know about Brits and their need to call people ‘love’, but it’s sweet and I’m liking it.

I took a whiff of her perfume, it was Davidoff Coolwater I can tell, that one for men. “I love your perfume,” I rested my head on the crook of her neck with my arms lying timidly on her shoulders. Why I did that, I don’t even know. It just feels right at the moment. Our heights fit perfectly, and it’s a nice feeling being close to someone like this.

“I love your shampoo,” she held me by the waist and chuckled.

We were swaying now, left and right, dancing slowly to the music, heads almost bumping with each other. Too close I can almost feel her breath on my face. I unconsciously stared at her lips… and back to her eyes. And I can feel her moving closer…

closer..

closer…

The fireworks went off and I jerked slightly from the shock. The people around us were cheering so loud. I looked up at the sky feeling a bit overwhelmed, the fireworks covered everything in my vision. The sky was lit up with a combination of red, blue, purple and green. It’s just so…overwhelming. I peered at Taeyeon’s face for a brief moment to see her still looking up at the sky. Her eyes were so deep I could drown in them. She was so peaceful at that moment I could just stare at her face all day.

I removed myself from her completely as I felt slightly awkward with our position. I remember my boyfriend, feeling guilty that I had this kind of interaction with a stranger… or a friend. It felt like I was cheating on him. What would he say when he caught us in a moment like that? But she’s a girl and I am straight. Well at least that is what I’ve been telling myself.

- - -

We went to one of those little bars with blue and pink neon lights inside. The ambience was nice, Talk is Cheap by Chet Faker was playing on the stereo. The bartender offered us tropical juice as soon as we entered like he was already expecting us.

“Two tropical juice for two gorgeous looking ladies,” he winked. “It’s on the house,” his name-tag read Michael.

“Thank you Michael,” I said smiling at him.

Taeyeon just nodded at him and said a quick thanks.

Not many people were around. It’s just us, Michael the bartender, a lady sitting on the bar stool and a couple in the couch area.

Wow, so there is actually a place like this where you could literally just chill. The music wasn’t too loud, but silence was exchanged between us as we drank that it was almost deafening. We were sitting down at a leather couple recliner, staring at the ceiling, shoulders touching, breaths heaving, feeling exhausted from the events that has happened not too long ago.

“Tiffany, I was meaning to ask you a question,” she broke the silence.

“Hmm?” I turned my head to the side to look at her face.

“Why were you such in a hurry earlier? When you bumped into me,” she was still gazing up at the ceiling.

I don’t know why I feel hesitant on telling her the truth, should I tell her that I was chasing my boyfriend? Or maybe it wasn’t even him anyway.

“I thought I saw someone I knew and chased after them,” I just said. That wasn’t a lie either.

“Wait a sec, someone’s ringing me,” Taeyeon unlocked her phone and showed the number to me. “Is this your friend?” I recognized the number immediately.

- - -

“Hello?”

“Sunny!!”

“Is this Tiffany?”

“Yes yes! Oh my gosh, I’m so happy you finally called, where are you guys?”

“We’re by the VIP lounge area near the main stage, where the heck are you? We’ve been looking for you everywhere,”

“My phone got busted and I got a bit lost but I’m with someone. I’m at this neon bar, are you staying there?”

“We’re actually going to the beer garden after this DJ’s set, who are you with?”

“I’m with…” a slight pause. “I’m with a friend,”

“Oh I see, want us to come pick you up?”

“No I’m fine, just meet me at the beer garden,”

“Okay sure, see you,”

“See you, bye!”