Hurricane Diarrhea #4

“Taeyeon, are you alright in there?”

“I’m fine.”

Taeyeon had flushed the toilet and done everything she could, including fanning and blowing at the surrounding air, but everything failed. Even putting down the toilet bowl cover didn’t help much. That had been one epic bomb splatter. Argh. What was worse was that this time, Tiffany had been right outside, by the door, so by now, this pretty semi-stranger acquaintance had not only smelled her but also heard her.

Just. Kill. Me. Now.

Taeyeon was resolute. She was going to stay in the toilet until the stench was gone. It was not an option. Tiffany wasnot going to smell her crap again.

“Are you coming out yet?”

“No.”

“Why not? What’s wrong?”

“Just in case.”

“Just in case?”

“There’s some more.”

“Oh.”

“Tiffany, you don’t have to stay outside. You’re here for the party right? I don’t want to take up your time.”

“I’m not really here for the party but somehow or rather, I ended up here and I’m glad I did.”

Taeyeon wasn’t sure what she meant. Was she talking about her girlfriend?

“Well, you shouldn’t leave your girlfriend alone for so long…”

“Girlfriend?”

“The girl you were talking to a while ago. The one who hugged you.”

“Oh, Jessica?” Tiffany laughed. “She’s not my girlfriend. I love her very much but not in that way.”

“She’s not your girlfriend?”

“Nope.”

Taeyeon’s heart leaped. Jessica wasn’t Tiffany’s girlfriend! Her lips curled up happily and stretched into a grin.

But she probably has a girlfriend anyway.

Her grin vanished instantly and turned into a pout. Darn her negative thoughts. Why did she have to think of things like that! Why couldn’t she think of happier things like how Tiffany was single and had the hots for her?

“Taeyeon, do we really have to talk through this door?”

It became evident that Tiffany wasn’t leaving anytime soon so Taeyeon opened the door, red-faced.

“Are you okay?” Tiffany’s brows were furrowed with worry.

Taeyeon nodded sheepishly. Now, not only had she run away from Tiffany in the hallway, she had also locked herself in the toilet to hide from Tiffany. What in the world was she doing. Gawd.

“You should head home. Did you come with friends?”

“I came with some friends.”

“Do you know where they are?”

Taeyeon shook her head. The last she’d seen of them had been at the drinking circle. She’d left the circle in search of a toilet to relieve herself when she crashed on the bed. She wasn’t actually drunk, however. It was the beer. She’d turn red after a mere mug or two and by the third or fourth mug, she’d feel sleepy. She didn’t know why beer had that effect on her but she found out that it had when Yuri, Sooyoung and Yoona tried to get her drunk on her birthday a year ago.

A quick walk around the house proved to be fruitless. Her friends were nowhere to be found.

~

“You’ve gone back home?”

“We thought you’d left. You said you were leaving early to watch anime with Sunny.”

Taeyeon palmed her forehead hard. Sunny! She was two hours late and Sunny wasn’t going to be happy about it.

“I’d better call Sunny now. Bye.”

Taeyeon hung up on Yuri and called Sunny. Fortunately, Sunny was disappointed but not upset.

“We’ll watch it tomorrow night then.”

“Okay.” Taeyeon could finally breathe normally again. “I’m really sorry, Sunny.”

“Taeyeon, I’m not mad. It’s alright. Are you still at the party?”

“Yes.”

“What about Yuri and the rest?”

“They’ve gone home.”

“Oh my, you’re all alone then? Where’s the party? I’ll drive over and pick you up.”

“It’s too late for you to be driving around. I’ll take a cab back.”

“You’re running low on cash, Taeyeon. Taking a cab at this time will bankrupt you.”

Just then, Tiffany, who had been standing quietly beside her all this while, began gesturing to offer her a ride home and she made a quick decision.

“It’s alright, Sunny. Another friend has just offered to send me back.”

“Another friend? Didn’t you say that they’ve all left?”

“She’s a new friend that I just met recently.”

“A new friend?”

“The plumber’s daughter.”

Sunny went silent for a moment as though surprised.

“You met the plumber’s daughter at the party?”

“Mhm. She’s standing next to me right now. I’ll hitch a ride with her.”

“Alright. I’ll wait up for you.”

“See ya in a bit.”

Taeyeon hung up and looked at Tiffany sheepishly for the second time that night.

“Thanks for offering.”

Tiffany smiled and Taeyeon’s heart stopped.

“It’s the plumber’s daughter’s pleasure.”

Eeps! Was she unhappy about being referred to as a plumber’s daughter?

Tiffany giggled and patted her shoulder. “You don’t have to look so terrified. I’m not pissed or anything. I’m amused, more than anything. So, I’m known as the plumber’s daughter now huh.”

Taeyeon was red from head to toe by now and it wasn’t because of the alcohol roaming in her blood.

“I…”

“Taeyeon…I’m not pissed. Really. Now, hop on.”

Taeyeon blinked. She was standing beside a cute little pink car. Pink! Eww.

“What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with my car?” Tiffany asked with a cocked brow

.

~

Taeyeon hadn’t realized that there was a tiny little lump on the palm of her left hand. It looked like a blister, only, it wasn’t. It was kind of weird but she didn’t worry about it since it didn’t hurt. And she came to this conclusion by the end of the ride back home. It was an efficient use of her time, having made such an earth-shattering discovery about her palm. Oh yeah.

The car stopped and she finally looked up from her palm. Oh, she was home. She turned to thank Tiffany for the ride home only to find Tiffany’s eyes on her, unwavering, intense, mind-freezing.

“Did I do or say something to offend you?” asked Tiffany.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You were staring at your hands the entire time. Do I make you uncomfortable?”

Taeyeon blinked and stared. Tiffany had not spoken for the entire short car ride back to her home and now she was heaping up the questions. It certainly didn’t help that looking at her made it a little hard to come up with an intelligent answer.

“I’m…I’m not usually chatty.”

“Really?”

“Uh huh.”

“So it’s not me then?”

“You?” Taeyeon wasn’t sure what Tiffany was talking about anymore.

“Call me paranoid but I can’t help feeling that you’re trying to avoid me or something.”

Taeyeon blinked some more and shook her head slightly.

“No? Am I mistaken then? ‘Cos you practically ran away from me when we met in the hallway. You didn’t seem to want me to hang around when you were in the toilet at Jessica’s. And you haven’t said a single word to me this entire time.”

“I-I’m not avoiding you.”

“Does this have anything to do with me being a plumber’s daughter?”

Now that was ludicrous. “No, of course not.”

Tiffany relaxed significantly in her posture and leaned back in her seat with a smile. “That’s great. I’m glad we cleared that up. Well, I’ll see you in class or along the hallway…maybe…”

Taeyeon’s heart was thumping harder than a rabbit’s hind leg and she couldn’t wait to run into her room and hug her pillow to calm down. “Maybe…”

“Can I have your number?”

“My number?”

“Yes. For your phone. Do you have one?”

Taeyeon felt a little dumb and blushed. She nodded and proceeded to tell Tiffany her number.

“Is this correct?” Tiffany showed Taeyeon what she had entered on her phone and Taeyeon nodded.

“It’s correct.”

“Great! I’ll send you a message. Maybe we can have lunch together or something, sometime.”

“Sometime…”

Tiffany giggled and Taeyeon didn’t know why. “Bye, Taeyeon. It was really nice meeting you.”

“It was really nice meeting you too. Bye…”

Taeyeon clambered out of the car and turned to wave goodbye. Tiffany flashed a beautiful smile and drove off and Taeyeon was left standing on the pavement, staring at the car until it disappeared around the corner.

~

“So how’s the plumber’s daughter? She nice?”

Sunny certainly hadn’t eased her way into the topic. There was no room for relaxing around Sunny when she was being inquisitive and wanted to find something out. Taeyeon knew this trait of Sunny’s all too well.

“She’s nice.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve met her more than twice, haven’t you?”

“H-How did you know…?”

“I saw you coming back in her car. You didn’t come straight out. The two of you chatted for a bit. And you stood watching for a while even after she’d driven off. She’s more than an acquaintance who unclogged our toilet, isn’t she?”

“You’re such a stalker.”

Sunny grinned and shrugged. “I can’t help it if I’m so freaking brilliant. I’m a born detective.”

“Yeah, yeah. All the criminals out there better be very afraid. Detective Sunny is coming after them next.”

“Hey, hey. Don’t change the subject. Why are you so reluctant to talk about her? Something’s fishy. I know you. You can’t hide anything from me.”

Taeyeon knew that to be true. They’d been roommates for such a long time and knew each other’s secrets. Even the deep, dark ones. She wouldn’t have to say anything for Sunny to know that something is up. Like now.

“She’s a teaching assistant in my 2027 class. And I ran into her along the corridor on campus.”

“Oh…is she a student too?”

Taeyeon shrugged. “I don’t know. We didn’t have a chance to chat much. The few times we ran into each other were pretty awkward for me. I don’t know why I keep seeing her whenever I’m in an embarrassing situation.”

“And that would be an issue because…”

Taeyeon shrugged.

“Ah. You have a crush on her.”

“It’s not a crush. I just think she’s pretty, that’s all.”

“Oh…it’s more than a crush then,” Sunny concluded with a click of her tongue, a habitual act whenever she set her mind to something. “Don’t worry. I’ve got your back. I’ll check her out.”

“No, no, no…please don’t.”

“You sure you don’t want me to?”

“Yes. I’m very, extremely, definitely sure.”

“Okay. Then I’ll do it solely to satisfy my own curiosity,” said Sunny decisively and Taeyeon knew then that there was no stopping Sunny.

.

~