Sooyoung’s joke

The bell made its first sound as Tiffany arrived at the lecture hall for her History class. She felt relieved that their professor hasn’t arrived yet and she can still use the remaining ten minutes to rest before the second bell rings. Her dance class has drained some of her energy and she needed recharge.

Tiffany takes her seat to her usual place, puts her bag on the table in front of her and folded her arms in a comfortable manner where she could take her short nap at ease. She was about to take her nap until she heard Sooyoung’s loud chattering coming from the other side of the lecture hall.

The entire class is already making random noises but Sooyoung’s loud talking and laughing nonstop is a different story for Tiffany. It’s not that she hates her friend for being loud. Tiffany is also aware that she too is a loud person, but she needs her mind to be calmed.

She was about to reprimand her friend and tell her to keep her voice down when her eyes are transfixed to the person that Sooyoung is having a lively chat with. All of the exhaustion that Tiffany is feeling was gone in an instant when she finally sees that person today. It randomly crossed her mind that her best friend’s name does suit her. She’s calm and she makes Tiffany calm. Taeyeon.

Tiffany wanted to approach her friends and join them, so that she’ll know what they are talking about that it made Taeyeon giggle and grin like that. She wanted to, but she just decided to ask Sooyoung about it later. She preferred to just stay in her seat and use the remaining time to observe how innocent and child-like her best friend looked right now.

The idea of leaving Taeyeon a text message telling her that she has arrived in the lecture hall too had crossed Tiffany’s mind. She wanted to tell her best friend that she is watching over at her and Sooyoung right now but she immediately shove off that thought. Save it for later, Stephi.

When the second bell started to ring, the other students including Sooyoung began to go back in their assigned seats before the lecture starts. Before Taeyeon can settle herself down and go back to her original sitting view, Tiffany met her gaze. Taeyeon smiled at her in her usual dorky way, whilst Tiffany gave her best eye smile on Taeyeon.

Tiffany doesn’t know what is up with Taeyeon right now but unlike the normal school days, her best friend seems so cheerful today. If she has recalled it correctly, Taeyeon’s been like that since this morning when she called her and greeted her good morning. Tiffany also noticed that the expression that Taeyeon’s showing is a mix of excitement and uneasiness. The reason? She doesn’t know yet.

Their eye contact was interrupted when their professor has finally arrived to their class, and Sooyoung’s just on the right time too when she arrived their row.

“What are you and Taeyeon talking about? She seemed happy.” Tiffany instantly asked her friend about it hoping that Sooyoung will give her a clear answer.

“Oh, that? Nothing.” Sooyoung responded vaguely and takes her seat on the chair beside Tiffany. She placed her bag on the available space on the table and took out her notes for their History class.

“Come on, Soo.” Tiffany said in exasperation. She can’t believe that her friend won’t tell her the reason why Taeyeon was acting like that. She badly wants to know why. She’s curious on what could possibly they were talking about that it made Taeyeon show her flashy white teeth and deep irresistible dimples knowing that she doesn’t do that in public.

Sooyoung can see from her peripheral vision that Tiffany is still staring at her. She’s aware that Tiffany won’t stop until she hears something so she stopped flipping her notes and whispered at Tiffany. “Baekyeon is real.”

“Huh?” Tiffany furrowed her eyebrows as she didn’t hear very well what Sooyoung has just said.

Sooyoung sighed and delicately whispered to Tiffany so she could fully hear and understand her. “She’s going to confess her feelings with that hoobae that has a crush on her.”

“What?!” Tiffany was taken aback by Sooyoung’s revelation. She just can’t believe that the reason behind Taeyeon’s giggling and happiness today is not her but that random hoobae who has a crush on her best friend.

It didn’t take long when Tiffany has noticed that the lecture hall suddenly seemed so quiet. She was impassive about it at first but then she realized that her reaction could have been too loud that it caught the entire class’s attention.

“Is everything okay, Miss Hwang? Are we interrupting you and Miss Choi from your important conversation?” Their professor asked them in a sarcastic tone as he’s giving the both of them a disappointing look.

Tiffany looked around them and she sees that all of her classmates, including Taeyeon are staring at their direction. Not wanting to ruin her image to her best friend, and to everyone else, Tiffany immediately came up with a lame but wise excuse. “No, Mister Lee. I’m sorry. I’m just confirming my knowledge with Sooyoung about what happened right after King Taejo’s death and she just told me to watch Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo.”

‘Are you okay?’ Tiffany saw Taeyeon mouthed at her from the other side of the room.  She responded at her by giving her a reassuring smile.

Sooyoung was fast and immediately caught up on Tiffany’s pretense. She acted naturally and casually said, “The series and the history are just similar as far as I know. The only difference is that there’s no Hae Soo exists during that time, and there’s no treason happened during King Hyejong to King Jeongjeong’s reign.”

Tiffany saw how their professor raised his brow at Sooyoung’s words and nodded. She knows that he already took the bait. “Point taken, Miss Choi. But you also need to remember that some scenes that were shown in the series were not factual.”

“Yeah, I know Mister Lee. That’s why I’m taking your History class, right?” Sooyoung confidently said with a wide smile on her f