Hurricane Diarrhea #2

A hundred dollars. A hundred dollars. A hundred dollars.

Taeyeon could’ve sworn that she had last seen at least two fifty dollar bills in her wallet. At least two! That would’ve been exactly a hundred dollars. Problem was, there was only one left. Where had the other bill gone?! Already, there was a sinking sensation in her tummy. She had a bad feeling about this.

Feeling desperate, she dug into her bag and rummaged through it.

Aha!

Her fingers struck gold as they wrapped around two bills at the bottom of her bag. Those must be the fifty dollar bills. Relieved, she pulled them out. Oh no. They weren’t fifty dollar bills. They were ten dollar bills. Oh no. This was bad. This was very bad. Tiffany, the plumber’s daughter was still waiting patiently for her payment and the stress of coming up with the money was increasing in quantum leaps.

“I’m so sorry,” said Taeyeon as she straightened up after giving up on searching for more money in her bag. “I’m thirty short. If you don’t mind, I’ll pay it back tomorrow.”

Tiffany smiled, stood up and said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll give you a discount. Fifty will do.”

“What? No, I couldn’t do that. Please, at least take the seventy.”

“That’s all the cash you have, isn’t it?”

Taeyeon blushed yet again and nodded. She wanted nothing more than to melt into nothingness and disappear from the face of this Earth. Just how many things could go wrong in one freaking morning?!

“You’ll need twenty for stuff. I’ll take fifty. It’s fine. I’m not a real plumber anyway.”

“But you fixed my toilet. I’ll…I’ll pay you back tomorrow. I’ll send the money to you.”

Tiffany stepped forward, placed a warm hand on her bare arm and held it gently. “Fifty is totally fine,” she says firmly. “I insist.”

The combined effect of Tiffany’s warm hand, soul-sapping eyes and subtle fragrance on her was overpowering and Taeyeon was unable to object any further. All she could do was nod numbly and hand over the fifty.

Tiffany’s eyes twinkled as she accepted the payment. “Thanks.”

“I still feel bad about this.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” said Tiffany as she picked up her big black bag and slung it on her shoulder. She walked to the door, turned around and smiled. “Bye,” she said, with a casual wave of her hand.

“Bye.” Taeyeon waved back.

~

“The plumber’s a girl?!” Yuri‘s eyes sprang wide open. “Is she pretty?”

“Bleah.” Taeyeon stuck her tongue out at Yuri. “I’m not telling you. If you’d stuck around to help me yesterday, you’d have seen her.”

“Oh, come on, you’re not that petty,” Yuri said with a laugh and a nudge of her elbow, “…are you?”

“Yes, I’m very petty and I’m not telling you anything about the plumber.” Taeyeon folded her arms, resolute in her stand.

“Taeeeeengggg…” Yuri whined, trying to coax the information out of Taeyeon.

“Shh. The lecture’s starting.”

Yuri and Taeyeon looked to their left and shook their heads resignedly. It was Seohyun. Seohyun, two years younger and the youngest in their group of friends, who was also on par with them in academic studies despite their age disparity, had basically just politely asked them to shut up. So they shut up.

~

“So where is this house party? I don’t wanna stay too late. Sunny’s waiting for me.”

“Gawd. What game is it this time.”

“It’s not a game. Sunny has this new anime all downloaded and ready to watch.”

“Well, ask her to join us and you won’t have to leave early.”

“She’s out shopping with Hyoyeon.”

“You’re not much fun, you know.”

“I’m fun, okay. Just not the way you think.”

“Yeah, you have weird ideas of fun.”

“Still better than you and your childish pranks.”

“Taeng…” Yuri growled warningly and Taeyeon flashed a wide grin before bolting down the corridor to her next class, leaving Yuri far behind. She looked behind her as she ran to check if Yuri was chasing her and was immensely relieved to find that her friend did not bother to do so. Her lips curved up to the right, celebrating her escape.

Phew. I got away. Haha!

“OOF!” Taeyeon had her wind knocked out of her when she slammed into someone. She fell backwards and landed on her . “Oww,” she groaned and a slew of apologies was lavished on her at once.

“I’m sorry! Really sorry! I wasn’t looking at where I was going. I—”

The apologies come to a screeching halt just as Taeyeon looked up. She blinked, taking a while to register the pretty face that was closing in on her.

“H-Hwang!” Taeyeon blurted, completely surprised to see the plumber’s daughter on campus.

“Tiffany. Hwang is my last name.” Tiffany leaned over her and examined her closely. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Taeyeon shook her head and accepted Tiffany’s hand, allowing the plumber’s daughter to pull her back up. “I’m alright, thanks. I’m just surprised to see you here, that’s all,” she lied. She didn’t see the need to let Tiffany know that her hurt like crazy.

Tiffany smiled. “So long as you’re alright. Are you in a hurry to get to the toilet? Don’t let me hold you back,” she said, jabbing her thumb behind her.

Taeyeon realized that the toilets were just behind Tiffany and blushed to the roots of her hair. She had almost forgotten about how they’d met but the embarrassing memories were flushed right back into her mind at the sight of them.

Oh gawd!

She was sure that even the tips of her ears were red from the sheer embarrassment that was oozing out from every pore on her body. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to look but Tiffany. Halp.

“Er…I’m…I’m not…heading to the toilet…” Taeyeon coughed awkwardly.

Tiffany giggled. “You don’t have to be so embarrassed about it, you know. I’ve seen plenty of clogged toilet bowls and believe me when I say yours isn’t the worst even though it did stink like a boss.”

Taeyeon didn’t know what to do with herself until Tiffany burst out laughing.

“I’m just kidding, Taeyeon,” said Tiffany, her eyes twinkling like the brightest stars in the darkest night sky. “It didn’t stink that badly. I was only teasing you.”

“Oh.” Taeyeon still didn’t know what to do with herself and her arms felt completely useless, hanging by limply by her sides.

“I’m sorry.” Tiffany’s smile slipped a notch and she stepped forward to put her hand on Taeyeon’s arm. “I was only pulling your leg. Really.”

Taeyeon froze. The touch of Tiffany’s warm hand on her arm sent a jolt zapping through her bones, akin to the static shock that she sometimes experienced. Her mind was temporarily numb from the sensation and it took her a moment to respond with a mumbled, “I’m okay. Gotta go for class now. Bye.”

She zipped down the corridor once again, refraining from running this time and managed to put a safe distance between Tiffany and herself before slowing to a normal walk. Oh gosh. Had she just run away from Tiffany? Oh no. Tiffany would think that she’s either very weird or very rude.

Taeyeon inadvertently groaned out loud at her thoughts and jumped in her skin yet again when somebody slapped her shoulder playfully.

“Taeyeon!”

Taeyeon turned and looked. Oh, it was her coursemate, Noeul.

“Where are you heading to?”

“Class.”

“You’re going for 2027 right?”

Taeyeon nodded.

“But that class is that way,” said Noeul, looking puzzled as she pointed in the direction that Taeyeon was walking away from. “I’m in it too.”

“Ah. So it is. Haha, I must have missed it,” Taeyeon laughed awkwardly and turned around to walk back.

“Are you going to the house party at the Jungs tonight?” asked Noeul as they walked together.

“I’m not sure if that’s the one I’m going to but I’m going to one tonight.”

Noeul’s face lit up with joy instantly. “Then it must be the Jung house party! There’s no other house party going on. Nobody would have one on the same night as the Jungs anyway. So I guess I’ll see you there tonight then. Are you going with anyone?”

“Yuri.”

“Oh, cool.”

Just then, they reached the room where their class was being held at. They entered the room, found a couple of seats near the back and made themselves comfortable. The lecturer was already in there and the class started promptly.

“Welcome to CS2027: Genre and Narrative Strategies. Those of you who are in the wrong class can take the chance to leave now,” said the lecturer with a little impish smile. “If you’re in the right class, congratulations, I have a surprise quiz for you. My teaching assistants will distribute the quiz now. You’ll have 45 minutes to attempt it.”

.

~