Hurricane Diarrhea #7

“What’s the matter?”

“My phone isn’t in my bag. Weird.”

“Did you bring it with you?”

“I did.”

“Did you drop it in the toilet again?”

Taeyeon blushed and shook her head vehemently. “No. I didn’t have time to go to the toilet at all.”

“But you left mid-lecture.”

“Oh, right! I did.” Taeyeon blushed as she recalled why. “You noticed?”

“It’s hard not to notice.”

Again, Taeyeon couldn’t tell if Tiffany was saying something more or just as it was.

“I should check the theatre.”

“I’ll help.”

They re-entered the place and Taeyeon headed straight for her seat. Ah! Her phone was on Noeul’s seat. Strange. Why was it on Noeul’s seat? But she was overjoyed to find her phone and didn’t dwell on the matter.

She twirled round and showed Tiffany her phone. “Here it is!”

Tiffany smiled. “Great!”

Taeyeon pressed the home button to activate the screen and to her surprise, it was a picture of her and Noeul. Wait a minute…

Tiffany pointed at the picture. “Isn’t this the girl seated next to you?”

“She’s Noeul. And this is her phone.”

“Her phone?”

Taeyeon nodded. “We have the same phone but my lock screen picture is my dog.”

“You have a dog?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, I love dogs!”

“Really? Do you have one too?”

“I have a little white Maltese called Prince Fluffy.”

Prince Fluffy? Prince? Fluffy? Eww.

“What.” Tiffany was looking at her pointedly.

Taeyeon blinked. Tiffany didn’t sound too happy either. Opps.

“You made a face when I said my dog’s name. You don’t like it?”

Taeyeon’s brows leaped and she shook her head in alarm. “It’s not that.”

“Then what is it.”

“It’s…it’s…”

“It’s cute, okay,” Tiffany defended her dog’s name but her tone wasn’t severe.

“Yes, it’s cute,” Taeyeon nodded vigorously and agreed nonetheless, not wanting to say something wrong that would mess things up between them.

“It’s very cute.”

“I’m sure it is,” agreed Taeyeon and Tiffany seemed appeased.

“I think we’ve digressed though.”

Ah, her phone. Taeyeon looked at Noeul’s phone in her hand. What could she do? She’d have to find Noeul and exchange phones with her. Just then, the phone rang. Taeyeon answered it in a hurry once she saw the word ‘home’ flashing on the screen.

“Hi Noeul!”

“Taeyeon, I’m so sorry, I took the wrong phone back with me.”

“I realized. How about we meet somewhere to exchange our phones?”

“The café would be a good place.”

“Okay. I’ll see you there. What time?”

“Give me thirty minutes.”

“Okay.”

Taeyeon ended the call and smiled. “I’m going to get my phone back!”

“I’ve got to go though.”

“Oh yes. I almost forgot that the prof is waiting for you. Well, how about this. I’ll give you my number and you’ll give me yours.”

“Good idea.”

Taeyeon gave Tiffany her current number and wrote down Tiffany’s on her notes. Yay. At last, they weren’t just acquaintances with a toilet connection. Now, they were pretty much friends with a phone connection too. Maybe one day they would have a rainbow connection. But now what she had to do was get her phone back to get their phone connection going. Baby steps. Baby steps.

“Okay, I’ve really got to get going now. See ya when I see ya.” Tiffany flashed a bright smile and waved as she began walking away.

Taeyeon smiled and waved too. “Bye, Tiffany.”

~

A trip to the café near their university and a cup of coffee later, Taeyeon had her phone back and she couldn’t be happier. She was running a little late, however. She hadn’t expected Noeul to ask her to stay for a cup of coffee with her but she obliged and now she was late. When she got home, Sunny was already seated on the couch with a gigantic bowl of popcorn.

“Young lady, what’s up with your concept of time recently?” chided Sunny.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I had a cup of coffee with Noeul at the café. She took a really long time to finish her coffee but I couldn’t hurry her.”

“Tsk, tsk.” Sunny shook her head but her eyes were understanding. “Well, hurry up and get your on the couch already.”

Taeyeon grinned, brisk walked to the couch, jumped over the armrest and landed neatly on the cushioned seat.

“Lesgo!”

~

Two hours later, Taeyeon and Sunny were sniffing away. Man, that anime sure was good at tugging their heartstrings. It was a touching tale of a little boy’s friendship with his fox and there was nothing that got their taps flowing like cute little baby animals. It was so cute. And the little boy was so brave. Taeyeon’s eyes watered all over again at the thought and she had to try really hard not to end up sobbing again.

“Oh my gosh. How are we going to go out for dinner with red, swollen eyes? People are going to think we’re weird or something.”

“We could stay in and cook noodles…”

“I think we should.”

“Okay.”

Taeyeon stood up and was about to pick up the empty popcorn bowl when her phone rang. It was Yuri.

“What’s up, Yul?”

“Hey, I heard that Jessica is a teaching assistant in your class?”

“Yes, she is.”

“Cool. I’ll join you next week.”

“You’ll what?”

“Crash. Your. Lecture.”

“Why?”

“Because Jessica is there.”

“What logic—”

“Yulogic.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Sometimes I wonder why I’m friends with you.”

“Because I’m Kwon Yuri, baby.”

“You’re sick.”

“You’re weak.”

“So much love.”

“You know you love me,” Yuri laughed, “and so does half the school population. Anyways, see ya on Saturday.”

“Why am I seeing you on Saturday?”

“Girls’ night out, Taengoo. Have you forgotten.”

“Oh crap. I forgot.”

“Eat some ginkgo nuts. You need them.”

“Your treat?”

“Dream on, babe.”

“Bye, Kwon Yuri.”

“Bye, Kim Taeyeon.”

~

After dinner and homework, Taeyeon finally had some time to herself. She grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the showers but halted right at the door and looked back. Her phone lay silent and stationary on her bed but it felt as though it were crying out for her. What if Tiffany called while she was showering? Would Tiffany think that she was lying again? She could always call her back though.

But no. She decided she didn’t want to miss Tiffany’s call. However, she couldn’t bring her phone into the shower without the risk of damaging it…could she?

Just then, the brightest idea of her life struck her. Aha! She had just the solution. Hehehe, she laughed to herself. She knew exactly what to do.

~

She finally entered the shower and began singing at the top of her voice while soaping herself. She was happy today. And she was in the middle of a particularly rousing chorus when a loud knock on the door startled her.

“Dear diva Taengoo, can your concert be put on hold for a moment? I’m on a Skype call with my parents.”

“Okay, sure.”

“Thanks.”

Taeyeon finished her shower while humming and wrapped a towel around her dripping wet body before stepping out with her phone which was safely encased in a Ziploc bag. Sunny was still on call so she avoided walking past Sunny’s laptop lest she got caught on camera. She remained in the room and sat on her bed to towel dry her hair.

She’d just put on a comfortable t-shirt and shorts when Sunny entered the room.

Taeyeon saw her eyes narrowing as her gaze landed on the encased phone so she braced for a Sunny inquisition. Sure enough, Sunny asked, “Why is your phone in a Ziploc bag?”

“To keep dry.”

“To keep dry? Why would you—” Sunny’s brows were sky-high. “Did you bring it into the shower with you?”

Taeyeon nodded.

“Why? Whatever for?”

Taeyeon blushed.

“Oh for heaven’s sakes, don’t tell me it’s because of Tiffany.”

“I just don’t want to miss a call or anything.”

“Her call, you mean.”

“Yes. Her call.”

“You like her that much?”

“No, it’s not like that.”

“What is it like then?”

“I just…well…I gave her the wrong number the last time so she couldn’t get me when she tried calling. She thought I had lied to her about it until I explained.”

“So…you don’t want to miss her call because you don’t want her to think you lied again?”

“It’s a little complicated but basically, yeah. I just don’t want any more kinks.”

Sunny laughed. “I wish you all the best in that.”

Taeyeon’s phone sang a bouncy tune just then and she opened the Ziploc bag immediately, eyes ablaze as she unlocked her phone to access the new message.

It was really nice talking to you today..i’m really
glad we cleared up that little misunderstanding
too..hope you got your phone back already!!(:

YES! Tiffany sent her a message! WOOHOO! YAHOO!

The world was rainbows and butterflies and super and spice and everything nice. Taeyeon’s lips stretched to new lengths and curled up so much they could almost reach her ears. This was the best thing to happen to her all week!

Was this the end of her streak of bad luck? Then again, it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Nothing else mattered because she’d finally gotten here. Here with a message from Tiffany. Tiffany, the plumber’s daughter.

Taeyeon took a deep breath and exhaled. This was real. This was happening.

Holy .

~