Hurricane Diarrhea #10

A slow trickle of warmth started from the deepest recesses of her tummy and crept up to her cheeks. Taeyeon couldn’t blink. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t speak. Tiffany had already turned away but she was still caught up in the moment. A nosy elbow was prodding her arm but she didn’t respond. The elbow grew more and more insistent until she couldn’t ignore it anymore and turned to her left to stop the perpetrator.

“Yuri!” her fierce whisper was kept to a minimum but heads turned and faces frowned and she sank low in her seat. As low as she could. But not low enough. Not. Low. Enough. Six feet under wouldn’t have been low enough as far as she was concerned but one single smile saved her. Tiffany’s. Tiffany’s big, bright smile. She caught it, a beam of light shining through the dark, and clung on to it and all was alright again.

A long, deep sigh made her turn to Yuri. “What.”

“You’re a goner.” Yuri pulled a mournful look and clapped her hand over her heart. “Goodbye, my friend. I will miss you dearly.”

“What are you talking about?” Taeyeon frowned. Yuri could spout the most nonsensical things at times. Like now.

“You’ve lost your soul to Tiffany.”

“No, I haven’t.”

Yuri snorted and Taeyeon thought it was rather unbecoming of an attractive girl like Yuri. Yuri snorted at her way too often. If the school population ever saw the side of Yuri that she saw, half of Yuri’s admirers would disappear in an instant. But they didn’t. And Yuri continued to be popular. Very popular.

“If the girls you’re going out with ever get to hear your snort…”

“They’d think it’s y as hell.”

Taeyeon couldn’t help it. She snorted.

Yuri grinned. “Yours isn’t half as y as mine,” she patted Taeyeon’s shoulder, “but you have your charms.”

Taeyeon rolled her eyes. Charms? What charms?

Yuri prodded her arm. “What.”

“Exactly. What.”

“What what.”

“You’re confusing me.”

“You’re too easily confused, Taengoo.”

Taeyeon was about to make a comeback when Yuri nudged her suddenly.

“What!”

Yuri winced and that’s when Taeyeon realized just how quiet it was. No one was talking. Not even the prof. What? What? Yuri sat up straight, kicking her foot as she did and Taeyeon kicked back. It was their code for ‘Sh*t, we’re in trouble’ and ‘I know’ and both of them braced themselves for what was to come.

“Are you enrolled in this class? I don’t remember seeing you in the first two lectures.” The prof’s deep, booming voice hit them like a ton of bricks and Yuri kicked Taeyeon’s foot again. This time, Taeyeon didn’t kick back. No, she didn’t even feel Yuri’s kick. All of her senses had focused on one thing. Tiffany. Tiffany was glaring at her. Oh no, why was she glaring? Did she do something wrong?

“No, I’m not.”

“Would you like to explain why you are in this lecture then?”

Yuri kicked Taeyeon’s foot yet again (Help me!) and she kicked back (OK!). Her mind was in utter chaos, however. Yuri was in trouble! What could she do?

“Explain your presence in this lecture,” repeated the prof. He didn’t sound happy and Taeyeon swallowed hard. This was bad. Very bad. This prof wasn’t like other profs who couldn’t care less about who attended or did not attend their lectures. This prof was strict and firm and wasn’t going to let this slide. What to do?!

Her brain went into overdrive and she was up on her feet suddenly, speaking before she could stop herself. “Sir, your lectures are effective and I’ve learnt a lot from you so I challenged my friend to sit in when she didn’t believe me.”

Taeyeon could feel all eyes on her, including Yuri’s big, round ones. What? What? What did I just say?

“Ah, I see. You think my lectures are effective?”

Taeyeon found herself nodding and heard herself saying, “Yes, I do.”

Much to Taeyeon’s surprise, the prof broke into a big smile. “Well, in that case, your friend is welcome to sit in but no more chatting.”

“Thank you, sir.” Taeyeon didn’t understand what had just happened but she wasn’t about to question the prof’s decision to let Yuri stay. Neither did she want to think about what Tiffany thought about her outright lie. All she wanted to do was kick Yuri really, really hard for getting her into trouble. So she did just that.

“Mmmnngg!” Yuri made a weird guttural sound of pain and tried to kick back but Taeyeon foresaw what was coming and had already folded her legs on her seat, keeping them safe from Yuri. She grinned triumphantly at Yuri, satisfied that she got her revenge. She could feel Yuri’s eyes boring holes into her but she ignored those eyes completely, focusing instead on the lecture that had continued.

There was a rustle of papers as Yuri rummaged her bag but Taeyeon’s eyes didn’t leave the screen. Until a note was slipped right under her nose. It read:

what was the kick for

Taeyeon looked at Yuri. But the girl’s eyes were focused on the screen, mimicking what she just did. Incorrigible Yuri!

revenge
 
what?!?!
 
for making me lie for you
 
that’s what friends are for TY
 
no
 
i’d lie for you
 
tiffany is pissed
 
like i said you’re a goner
 
i’m not!!!
 
if you’re not you wouldn’t kick me so hard
there’s gonna be a bruise
 
what. i have a strong leg that’s all.
 
don’t make me lol in here TY
 
don’t you dare
 
are you daring me

Taeyeon shot her fiercest look at Yuri and scribbled like a woman possessed on the paper that was running out of space for scribbling.

are you here for j or not

Yuri straightened her back, nodded and crushed the paper in her fist inciting a small smile from Taeyeon. Yuri, Yuri, Yuri. So full of .

~

“Bye, Yuri. Bye, Taeyeon. I’ll see you soon,” Noeul said as she made a quick exit. Taeyeon and Yuri smiled and waved goodbye in return. The lecture finally ended and they were packing up when Yuri asked, “Where are you having dinner tonight?”

“Tony’s.”

Yuri raised her brow and a knowing grin stretched from ear to ear. “Sounds good.”

“Really?”

Yuri nodded. “It’s a nice place. I went there with Sooyoung last week.”

“Good for a first dinner date?”

Yuri indicated a thumbs up and Taeyeon beamed. Getting the thumbs up from Yuri was a huge boost of confidence for her since the girl had so much experience in dating. It was like getting the stamp of approval from a dating guru and that meant she was doing it right. But before she could thank her guru for making her feel better, she’d already been abandoned by her.

Taeyeon watched as Yuri sauntered down the steps to the front wishing she could do the same. But she didn’t have Yuri’s wonderful height and figure so it probably wasn’t a good idea to try. Instead, she walked down the steps the way she always did  and sat on a seat just behind Yuri to wait for Tiffany who was busy packing papers that were strewn across the table by the prof during the lecture. She kept her eyes on Tiffany, hoping to get a look or a glance in but Tiffany didn’t look up from her papers at all. Meanwhile, Yuri wasted no time.

“Hi, Jessica,” greeted Yuri, wearing a smile that promised fun and adventure.

Jessica looked up from the stack of papers she’d been rifling through, eyes wide in surprise. She clearly wasn’t expecting to be spoken to.

“Hi…do I know you?”

Taeyeon almost snorted but stopped herself in time. It wouldn’t do to snort when her friend was trying to woo someone. Supportive was what she was supposed to be. Yeah, supportive. And that meant a straight face. No snorting.

Yuri put on her best smile. “I’m Yuri. I saw you at your house party.”

“It’s not my house party. And I wish they wouldn’t hold them so often.” Jessica scrunched up her nose and Taeyeon thought she looked cute doing that. “I lose sleep when they do.” Wow, the sleeping beauty nickname definitely belonged to her.

“Actually, you were sleeping when I saw you.”

Jessica looked a little alarmed and Yuri hastened to explain, “I was looking for the toilet when I found you.”

“Oh. I see. In that case…”

Taeyeon blinked and stared. Jessica hadn’t completed her sentence and instead, carried on rifling through her stack of papers, effectively ignoring Yuri in the process, after giving that monosyllabic-not-even-a-word response. Wow. She knew a couple of girls who would’ve given Yuri their most seductive smile and launched themselves at her, if given the chance, but Jessica had done none of that. Wow, Jessica.

Yuri seemed to be a little thrown off by Jessica’s lukewarm response but she didn’t show any signs of giving up. If anything, her resolve strengthened as her back straightened and she raked her fingers through her hair, flipping it back like a shampoo model. That, Taeyeon knew, was Yuri leveling up her game. The hair flip would be followed by an intense gaze, a move that never failed to send a clear signal that Yuri was interested. But Yuri’s intense, sensual gaze never got to stun Jessica for one simple reason. Jessica wasn’t even looking at her. Oh, how easy it was for Yuri’s move to fail, Taeyeon has never ever realized. Until now.

She was so enraptured Yuri’s big fail that she didn’t notice Tiffany passing her by. A hand clapped over her shoulder and she jerked, turned, looked.

“I’ll take a while to be done. Do you want to meet me after I’m done to take a stroll before dinner or meet me straight for dinner?”

“A stroll would be great.”

Tiffany nodded briskly. “I’ll call you when I’m done. Wait for me.”

“Okay.”

With that, Tiffany flashed a quick smile and was gone and Taeyeon was left to wonder if that glare she had seen was a figment of her imagination or not.

~

“I can’t believe Jessica totally ignored me.”

Taeyeon patted Yuri’s back comfortingly as they walked down the corridor to the cafeteria. “It’s okay. It happens even to the best of us.”

“Not to me, it doesn’t.”

“She’s called sleeping beauty for a reason. She’d probably have more interest in you if you were a bed.”

Taeyeon ducked right after saying that and Yuri’s hand went swooshing over her, catching nothing but air. She grinned, stuck out her tongue at Yuri, and ran for it but Yuri was too quick for her and soon, she was caught in a stranglehold and begging for mercy.

“Take that back, if you wanna live.”

“I take nothing back,” squawked Taeyeon, trying to wrestle herself out of Yuri’s iron grip.

Yuri sighed, rapped the back of Taeyeon’s head with her knuckles and let her go. “You’ve got some guts, my friend.”

“Thus, worthy of you, my friend.”

Yuri grinned and ruffled Taeyeon’s hair. “You’re about to be very useful to me, my friend.”

“What.”

“Help me.”

“Huh.”

“You’re dining with sleeping beauty’s best friend tonight.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Yuri’s grin stretched even wider and clapped Taeyeon on her back. “Just a tiny favour, Taengoo. Just a tiny favour.”

~

Taeyeon had a cup of fruit juice with Yuri and they chatted for a bit before Yuri had to leave. She’d decided to walk in the general direction of where Tiffany was when the said girl called her and arranged to meet her at the school gate. They met, smiled, and began walking down the road, crossing it to get to the shops on the other side.

“Is it tough being a TA?”

Taeyeon wanted to kick herself as soon the question left her lips. What sort of a conversation starter was that! Couldn’t she talk about something other than work?

“It’s quite alright.”

“That’s great.”

“Mhm.”

And the conversation died. Yikes. Taeyeon didn’t know what to say next and Tiffany didn’t seem to be in the best of moods today. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Then, an idea struck her. Yes! There was something she could talk about.

“Is Jessica your best friend?”

“Yes, she’s one of my closest friends.”

“Why does she sleep so much?”

Tiffany giggled. “She’s a human koala, that’s why.”

“I’ve never seen a TA sleeping on the job and getting away with it.”

“Jess has her ways.”

“She’s very pretty.”

“It’s not just her appearance that wins her points on the job.”

Opps. Tiffany didn’t sound too happy. Taeyeon sneaked a peek. Tiffany didn’t look too happy either. She gulped as her heart raced. Things weren’t going so well.

“I’m sorry. T-That’s not what I meant. It…It came out wrong.”

“Taeyeon, it’s alright. You don’t have to apologize.”

“I don’t want you to misunderstand. I wasn’t thinking of anything when I said it.”

“I understand. Relax.”

“Okay.”

~

As they walked along the street (awkwardly, in Taeyeon’s opinion), they passed by a lingerie shop and Tiffany announced that she wanted to shop in it. So, of course, Taeyeon followed, her heart thumping hard at the thought of Tiffany in lingerie.

She tried to breathe evenly but Tiffany’s scent was overpowering her senses, sending her sense of smell into seventh heaven while her brain tried to grapple with imagination that was running wild and loose in the lingerie shop. Meanwhile, her hairs stood every time their arms brushed and her ears sighed at the sound of Tiffany’s husky voice. All in all, she was bordering on turning into a nervous wreck.

Hang on! You can make it! A little voice yelled from the inside. Yes. Yes, she could. She would. Just like Sunny had said.

So, after taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she browsed through the extensive collection of lingerie in the shop and found herself walking towards a pastel pink coloured bra that was striped like a candy cane and picking it up to admire it.

“I thought you prefer blue and purple.”

Taeyeon jumped in her skin at the sound of Tiffany’s voice in her ear and turned, candy cane bra in hand.

“I prefer blue and purple.”

“So what are you doing with this?”

Taeyeon looked at the candy cane bra in her hand and answered, without much thought, “I think you’d look very nice in it.”

She blinked as Tiffany giggled and squeezed her shoulder. Then her heart skipped a beat as Tiffany whispered, “Patience, Kim Taeyeon. We aren’t there yet.”

Tiffany patted her shoulder twice before moving on to browse through other shelves of lingerie and Taeyeon remained rooted to her spot, arm frozen in mid-air, candy cane bra still in hand. That was most definitely a come-on from Tiffany, wasn’t it?

The answer seemed to be a yes and she had trouble breathing yet again. She looked at the pink candy cane bra in her hands.

Candy cane will never be the same again.

Holy .

~