So sorry for the month-long wait. I was going to post this two weeks ago but our WiFi here at home wasn’t working so I had to wait. Anyway, thanks for the comments! I appreciate every single one. Enjoy!

She grunted as she tried to reach for the box on the top shelf of her cabinet. She was standing on the tip of her toes but still couldn’t reach it. She sighed. She needed the extra space for her peas. The box had to go.

With determination in her eyes, she jumped and extended her arm as much as she could to reach for the box but failed when her jump came up too short. She tried again. This time however, she lost her footing once she landed and had to grab whatever she could to keep balance. Wrong move. The middle shelf gave way and she found herself under a mountain of her stuff while the box that got her into this mess sat proudly on the topmost shelf – almost as if mocking her.

She groaned as she felt her forehead. Unsurprisingly, there was a small cut just above her right eyebrow. Great. And she was supposed to call Tiffany in two hours! How was she going to cover the stupid cut now?!

---

“Wow, your room looks… clean.”

“Thanks,” she answered without looking up from her phone.

“Why?”

“Huh? Why what?”

“Why is it so clean? Usually it’d be like going through a military obstacle course from the door to your bed. Now, it’s… wow, spotless.”

Taeyeon shrugged and went back to fiddling with her phone.

“And wow, where are your plushies?” Her cousin eyed the bed. “Where are your peas?”

“In my cabinet.”

Her cousin gasped. “Why? I thought you couldn’t live without them?”

“I still can’t.”

“Then why… what’s going on? Something’s up, I’m sure. You wouldn’t clean your room and hide your peas if nothing’s going on.”

Because Tiffany might think they’re too childish if she sees them. She shrugged. “Just felt like cleaning up a bit.”

“This isn’t just a bit, Taeyeon.” She walked closer to Taeyeon and sniffed. “You smell good too. You rarely smell good.” She sniffed some more. “And hey, you finally used the perfume I bought you two years ago!”

Taeyeon pushed her cousin’s face away in annoyance. “Please get out of my room?”

“Gasp! Why do you have a cut on your forehead?!”

She rolled her eyes then sighed. “Just… a few boxes fell on me while I was cleaning my closet, okay?”

Her cousin moved to open her closet then looked up. On the topmost shelf was a lone green plushy. She snickered. “You couldn’t reach the top shelf, could you?” When Taeyeon didn’t answer, she laughed louder. “You should’ve used the chair.”

“I… I kinda didn’t think of it at first…” Taeyeon hesitantly admitted.

Her cousin didn’t stop laughing.

“Ugh! Get out of here,” she said before standing up, pushing her cousin out of her room and slamming the door shut.

---

Only a few minutes left until the Skype call and Taeyeon was close to hyperventilating. It didn’t help that her peas – her lovely peas – were neatly kept inside her closet ­– away from her reach.

She tried calming herself by thinking happy thoughts – something that didn’t work because her happy thoughts mostly consisted of conversations with Tiffany. It made her more anxious than calm.

She got startled when the alarm on her phone went off. It was time and her heart wanted to jump out of her chest. She quickly sent Tiffany a message before going to her laptop. She took a deep breath then clicked the only name in her contact list.

She waited for Tiffany to pick up from the other end but frowned when it kept ringing. She tried it one more time.  It rang and it rang. Just as she was about to end the call, the ringing stopped.

She furrowed her eyebrows as the screen turned black before a face finally popped out. She unconsciously held her breath as her eyes scanned the beautiful face right in front of her. Tiffany was beyond beautiful.

Although she had to admit, Tiffany looked a little more mature than she had first imagined. Wasn’t Tiffany just her age? She shook her head. Nah. It didn’t matter. She still enjoyed talking to her.

“Tae…yeon?”

Her voice sounded a bit different too. Maybe it was different with Skype? She guessed so.

“T-Tiffany?”

Tiffany chuckled and gave her a big smile. “I’m glad I could still pass as a college student, but no, I’m not Tiffany.” She glanced back before speaking again. “I just answered the call because the ringing is bugging me. Tiffany’s in the bathroom, attending to her busted lip.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh look, you both have cuts! You must be meant to be.”

“Unnie!” A muffled voice came from behind the woman talking to Taeyeon.

She chuckled again as they both heard a door opening. “I think that’s my cue to leave. Nice meeting you, Taeyeon.” She gave a quick wave goodbye then dashed out of the room before her sister could get a hold of her.

“B-bye…?” Taeyeon sat there; watching a younger version of the woman she talked to earlier run after the older one. She swore she could see smoke coming out of the younger one’s ears.

This family’s got good genes, she thought, as she finally got a better look of her face. She was even more beautiful than the one earlier – something she didn’t think was possible. For some reason, she had a gut feel that this was Tiffany.

“T-Tiffany?” Damn. When was she going to stop stuttering?

Her voice must’ve reminded Tiffany of her presence because the girl stopped glaring at her closed door and snapped her head towards the computer, her eyes widening as she stared at Taeyeon.

She walked closer the computer and Taeyeon had to stop herself from gawking. She was even more beautiful up close! How was that even possible?

“T-Taeyeon…” Tiffany smiled then sat down in front of the computer, completely forgetting about her bleeding lip. Not that it mattered much now anyway.

“H-h-hi.”  She wanted to bang her head on her table. Tiffany’s smile rendered her almost speechless.

Tiffany suddenly frowned, making her worried. “What happened to your forehead?”

She scratched her head and smiled sheepishly. “Long story.”

“I have time.”

“I’ll tell you what happened only if you tell me why you have a busted lip.”

Tiffany thought it over before finally agreeing. “Deal.”

They laughed at each other’s misfortune while trying to hide the blush on their faces. It was good to hear that both of them were nervous about their first Skype meeting. Now that that’s out of the way, they continued their conversation with little anxiousness and more fun. Just like how they used to.

---

She closed her laptop after saying goodbye and went to her bed. She lay down on it then stared up the ceiling. She smiled when she remembered how cute Tiffany looked when she suddenly sneezed. The embarrassed look on her face made her look so adorable to Taeyeon.

“Sniff. Sorry.”

“No, no. Don’t be. It’s cute, actually,” she remembered saying after Tiffany apologized. She was saying the truth but her face heated up after realizing how honest she was.

“Thanks,” Tiffany had replied in a cute, shy voice. In all honesty, Taeyeon wanted nothing but to grab the laptop and kiss her screen but fought the urge; otherwise Tiffany might think she was a creep.

And the last thing she wanted was for Tiffany to think she was that – even though she kind of was.

Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, her phone beeped. She reached for it on top of her nightstand and squinted as she tried to read the name. She quickly slid her finger across the screen then read the message.

It was nice talking to you. Good night, Taeyeon. Sweet dreams. :)

Her lips formed a smile as she replied.

Good night, Fany-ah. Sleep tight. :)

Oh it was a good night, indeed.