“Why are you ignoring me? Did I do something wrong?”

Yuri sat up and stared at Tiffany. “I’m not ignoring you.”

“What do you mean you’re not ignoring me? You won’t talk to me unless I talk to you first and you’d give me answers like ‘Yes’, ‘No’, or ‘I don’t know’ and the conversation would end there because you’ll start walking away!” Tiffany said, raising her voice to show how frustrated she is.

Yuri didn’t answer. She really didn’t know what to say. Should she just tell Tiffany what she feels about her? If she did, what would the older girl think? What would happen to her friendship with Sooyoung? She couldn’t just blurt out to her roommate that she’s fallen for her.

“Look, if I did something wrong then, I’m sorry. Just… stop ignoring me. We’re roommates for Pete’s sake. I can’t focus knowing that I might have done something wrong to you for you to ignore me like this,” said Tiffany, clearly upset that her roommate has been pretending like she doesn’t exist for two months now.

“I already told you that I’m not ignoring you so no need to say sorry.”

“You’re still going to deny it, huh? It doesn’t feel good getting ignored, Yul! For two months, you’ve been avoiding me like I have some sort of contagious disease. For two damn months, I feel like I’m sleeping in the same room with a stranger. To be honest, i think it’s better if I didn’t have any roommate at all.”

Yuri was listening attentively to every word she’s saying. The next sentence that Tiffany uttered though just felt like a bunch of daggers thrown at her, straight to her heart, piercing it and ripping it into pieces.

“You don’t know how happy I am every time Soo comes here to talk to me. While you make me feel like I’m not worth a drop of your saliva, she—“

“Do you want me to switch rooms with Soo then?” asked Yuri faintly. She was staring at her bed sheet so Tiffany won’t see her crestfallen face. 

“You know what, that’s by far the smartest thing you’ve ever said. You’re the worst roommate ever.”

“I’ll tell Soo,” she stood up, not daring to look at Tiffany. 

She got out of their room quickly and went to the kitchen. Her hunch that Sooyoung was there was right. 

“Soo, let’s switch rooms.”

Sooyoung was busy stuffing herself with the kimbap that Jessica made. She didn’t have any choice since the batch that Taeyeon made was already gone and she didn’t want to waste food so she’s going to settle for the bland kimbap.

“Switch rooms? Tonight? Okay,” she answered as she devoured the last two pieces of kimbap.

“Permanently. I’ll be roommates with Seohyun. Let’s move our things tomorrow.” She walked out of the kitchen before Sooyoung could ask her why.

Sooyoung took out a bottle of water from the fridge and drank it before heading upstairs. 

She went straight to Tiffany’s room and noticed that the door was slightly opened. The keyboard typing sound mixed with the huffing sound Tiffany’s making was a clear indication that she was upset. That and the fact that she’s pouting and her eyebrows are creased, almost forming a unibrow.

As much as Sooyoung adores her girlfriend’s pout, she couldn’t help but feel sad knowing that Tiffany was upset. 

“Hey,” she said softly as she sat on Tiffany’s bed.

Tiffany didn’t answer and continued to type like there’s no tomorrow.

“You two fought again?”

“I’m busy.”

Sooyoung stared at her while she typed furiously. I’m not gonna be surprised anymore if one of the letters on her keyboard would go airborne.

She stood up and sat beside the shorter girl only to see her typing a hateful comment on some random video on Youtube.

“You’re BUSY hating on innocent souls?” Sooyoung rhetorically asked, sporting an amused smile.

“I’m not hating on him. I’m stating facts! He ! He shouldn’t have had posted that y video of his. He knows that people ar—“

She got cut off when Sooyoung kissed her. Sooyoung never intended it to be a quick peck. She gently pushed Tiffany until the latter was lying flatly on her back. Tiffany, on the other hand, carefully pushed her laptop to the other side of her bed using her foot.

Before Tiffany could even pull Sooyoung down, the tall girl broke the kiss. “Ready to talk?”

“NO!” She pouted even more before sighing. “Ugh! Fine.”

She sat up and made room for Sooyoung.

Sooyoung sat on her bed with her back leaning on the headboard and her long legs stretched. She smiled at Tiffany and stretched her arms out beckoning the girl to sit on her lap.

Tiffany shook her head. “I’m not a baby.”

After a few minutes of saying ‘Yes, you are’ and ‘No, I’m not’, she agreed to sit on her girlfriend’s lap. Her face was buried on the crook of Sooyoung’s neck and the latter was cradling her like a baby.

“She was ignoring me and pretending that I was Invisible Girl or something.” She just finished telling Sooyoung what went down when she decided to talk to Yuri. 

Sooyoung who was tracing random shapes on Tiffany’s leg looked at her upset girlfriend and said, “Both of you are at fault.”

She stared at Sooyoun in disbelief before standing up. “Fine, be that way. Just because she could cook you good food and I could only buy you cooked food from some restaurant nearby, you’d take her side?”

Sooyoung stood up and followed her before she could get out of the room. “Yah, what’s wrong with your ears, Fany-ah? I said ‘BOTH of you are at fault’.” She pulled Tiffany with her as she walked towards the bed. She lay down on Tiffany’s bed. “Would you like to hear me out first?”

The shorter girl lay next to her and hugged her tightly. 

Sooyoung got hold of her right hand and kissed it. “You know, if your roommate was a total jerk, I’d be ecstatic to switch rooms and be your roommate. But your roommate’s Yuri. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and yes, she could be moody at times but she’s really nice. I’m not just saying this because she cooks me good food. I think you guys just misunderstand each other a lot.”

“But she’s been ignoring me for two months and I don’t think I’ve ever done anything for her to do that,” Tiffany defended.

“Well, maybe she really isn’t ignoring you. Maybe she just doesn’t know what to say to you.”

“Right~ She was fine talking to me before, Soo.”

Sooyoung wasn’t really sure what to say. “I’ll try to talk to her tomorrow. I don’t want you two fighting and ignoring each other. She’s my friend. She’s our friend.”

Tiffany scoffed. “Friends aren’t supposed to treat each other like that.”

“We’ll fix this. I really don’t want you guys to be in bad terms.”

Tiffany didn’t answer.

Sooyoung was about to doze off when she heard Tiffany sobbing. “Hey, are you…why are you crying?” Although her voice seemed calm, she was panicking on the inside. Tiffany has not cried in front of her before.

“I thought we were friends. After she brought me to her mom and told me stuff about her, I thought we’d be fine. No more stupid arguments. Sure, we didn’t have any arguments anymore but that’s only because she doesn’t want to talk to me. Not even in class.” Every time her voice cracked, Sooyoung hugged her tighter and rubbed her back.

“I told her she’s the worst roommate ever…I didn’t even mean it. I was just angry,” she said as she cried harder.

“Then say sorry.”

Tiffany, once again, didn’t answer. A few seconds later, she heard the shorter girl’s light snore. “Night, Fany-ah.”


---


After Yuri told Sooyoung about switching rooms, she got out and sat on her favourite spot. The doorsteps. Yes, it’s been her favourite spot ever since she realized that she was in love with her now, ex-roommate. Every morning after her daily run around the campus, she would sit there and think.

This time, however, was an exception. This is the only part of the house where she could cry and no one would notice. She was clutching her phone tightly, contemplating on whether to call Victoria, Nichkhun or her brother. She decided to call Victoria but she was having a hard time on dialling because of her blurry vision and trembling hands. She tried to wipe away the tears that are falling from her eyes but it was no use. Tears still continued to fill her eyes.

Yuri was never a cry baby and would usually hold back her tears for as long as she could. She never thought simple words from Tiffany could make her cry like this.

I know she’s happy with Soo. She didn’t need to rub it in.

She buried her face in her palms and cried even more when she thought about what Tiffany said. 

Worst roommate ever? Was I that big of a jerk? Was I being selfish when I was avoiding her? Maybe she’s right. I didn’t even care about her feelings every time I ignored her. I only cared about what I feel. I was hurting so I tried to avoid her. Here I am, claiming that I love her yet all my actions showed otherwise. Things would’ve been easier for me if I didn’t fall in love with a friend. My roommate. My friend’s girlfriend. FU life. Why are you so cruel to me.

She didn’t get to call Victoria and ended up crying there, thinking about the weirdest things. If anyone would’ve seen her in that state, they’d probably think she got kicked out of the house and was now homeless.


---


“Taengoo, my pen,” Jessica whined. She was trying to do a pen spinning trick that she learned a while ago from Taeyeon. She wasn’t able to do it and it got her frustrated. When she’s had enough, she mindlessly chucked the pen out the window and it was now in their front yard.

“Sica, go get it yourself. God gave us legs to walk. You know about the ‘Theory of Use and Misuse’, right? If you don’t—“

“It’s a THEORY. Not a law.”

Two months of being in a relationship with Jessica is quite the roller coaster ride for Taeyeon. For the first month, they’d have petty arguments which would end up with Taeyeon apologizing. That gradually changed though, much to Taeyeon’s surprise. There are times when Jessica would apologize first and Taeyeon even gets a hug. 

Jessica doesn’t treat Taeyeon as her slave anymore. Well, she still boss Taeyeon around from time to time but the good thing is that Jessica has also learned to comply with Taeyeon’s requests. PDA was still not allowed because Jessica said so. Taeyeon couldn’t even hold her hand when they’re walking. It was fine for Taeyeon since she could see Jessica’s effort to adjust and be more comfortable with their current relationship as lovers.

“Taengoo,” Jessica whined.

Fortunately for Taeyeon, she has learned the art of ignoring Jessica’s cute whining voice. Before she would usually distract herself by saying, “I will not submit to your demands until you let me touch your .” She doesn’t let Jessica hear her though. The blonde girl would probably give her a hard slap for saying that. She doesn’t do that nowadays because she felt like she was some sick ert. 

Every time Jessica uses her whiny voice on Taeyeon, she would just pretend that the person in front of her is Sunny. She figured that if she did that then she wouldn’t be tempted to do what Jessica wants her to do. Why on Earth would I do what Sunny told me to do?

“Sica, just go downstairs and get it. The sooner you do that, the sooner you’d finish your homework.”

Jessica stood up and stomped her way to the door. 

“Come back soon. Don’t take too long. I’ll miss you,” Taeyeon said sweetly.

Jessica turned around to face Taeyeon and armed herself with her most charming smile that Taeyeon has yet to see. “Why don’t you just get it for me? That way you—”

Taeyeon shook her head vigorously before saying, “Not gonna work. Just get it, Sica.”

Jessica pouted and left. 

“That was close. I am not her slave. I am her girlfriend,” she said her self-made mantra before continuing what she was doing.


---


“I have to think of ways to make Taeyeon do whatever it is that I tell her to do,” Jessica said to herself as she made her way downstairs. “I should make a list. Let’s see…” She tapped her index finger on her chin several times. She looked like she was losing her mind, talking to herself like that. It’s a good thing their housemates were all inside their respective rooms except for Yoona who hangs out at Seohyun’s room before going to bed, leaving her and Taeyeon alone. It’s really a miracle how no one, save for Yuri, knows about them yet, even their roommate.

“Blackmailing Taengoo should be on top of that list but how would I—“

She stopped talking when she opened the front door and was welcomed by a sobbing Yuri. Her sobs were muffled by her hands but from the back, you could see her shoulders shaking.

“Yuri-ah?” She walked near her and placed a hand over the crying girl’s shoulder. “Yah, what’s wrong? What happened?”

When Yuri didn’t answer, she sat beside the girl and waited for her to stop crying and collect herself. Jessica was not her normal self anymore. Ever since she’s been Taeyeon’s girlfriend, she was not doing things that are Jessica-esque. The normal Jessica, in a situation like this, would wait for fifteen seconds or so before leaving. The Jessica who’s been influenced by Taeyeon, Taeyeon’s Sica, has been waiting for about three minutes now and she’s willing to wait a little bit more. She has to admit that it’s not really a bad thing being influenced by the kind-hearted Taeyeon.

When Yuri’s sob has died down, she hugged her knees and buried her face in her arms. She didn’t want anyone to see her in that state.

“Yuri-ah, what happened?” Jessica asked.

Yuri just shook her head, face still buried in her arms. 

“You’re telling me you were crying for no reason? Come on, Yuri-ah, tell me.”

Yuri sighed. “Your sister.”

“What? What was that? Could you like…uh…look at me or something since your arms are muffling your voice.”

“Your sister,” Yuri said again, more clearly this time.

“What about her?” It was Jessica’s turn to release a sigh. “Did you guys have a fight again?”

Yuri nodded.

“Tell me it’s not about some trivial stuff this time.”

“I was ignoring her and it pissed her off. Big time.”

“Why were you i—“

“I’m in love with her.” Yuri finally said and she felt good about it. She started tearing up again and hugged Jessica. As much as she hates hugging, she really needed one right now.

It startled Jessica at first but hugged her back nonetheless. “Wait. So you’re in love with her and you guys fought because you were ignoring her? I don’t get it.”

“I can’t be around her. It hurts every time I see her with Soo.”

“Oh~ right. I forgot about the part that she’s already with Soo.” 

They stayed that way and no one bothered to talk. It was getting more and more awkward for Jessica so she decided to break the ice. “So all this time, when you were hanging out with us, you were just avoiding my sister?”

“I guess…well, not really. I—“

“You were using all of us?” she faked an upset tone.

“I wasn’t. It—“

Jessica chuckled. “Relax. I was just trying to cheer you up. Guess I still at that department. Yuri-ah?”

“Yeah?”

“Could we…could you let go of me now? Taeyeon might see us and she might get jealous.”

“Oh, yeah. Right. Wouldn’t want that to happen. You’re not even my type.” She let go of Jessica and quickly avoided the glare.

“Whatever. So you’re in love with my sister, huh? How did that happen?”

Yuri told her the short version of how she realized her feelings for Tiffany. She even told her what she felt every time the two were acting all lovey-dovey together.

“Wow. I sure am lucky that I’m not in your shoes right now,” said Jessica after hearing Yuri’s story.

“You really do at cheering people up.”

Jessica let out a giggle. “So where are you going to sleep now?”

“Seo and Soo’s room. I’ve already told Soo to switch rooms with me. She’s probably sleeping with Tiffany right now.”

“If you told me something like that a couple of months ago, I wouldn’t have had thought about…dirty things. Taengoo’s a little erted sometimes.” She shook her head to get rid of the memory. “Anyways, you could sleep in our room and switch with Yoona.”

“Nah, I feel like I’m such a nomad now. I’ll be fine sleeping in Seohyun’s room. It’s not like I haven’t done that before.”

Jessica nodded. “Well, I’ll go inside now.”

“Me, too.”

Both of them went upstairs but before Yuri could enter the room, Jessica called her.

“Taengoo and I are here for you if you want someone to talk to,” said Jessica.

“Uhm, about that, can you not to tell anyone about this? Not even Taeng.”

“Okay. My lips are sealed but if you need anyone to talk to, I’m here. I could make you my guinea pig so I could be better at comforting people,” said Jessica with a warm smile. The warmest smile Yuri has ever seen the blonde gave.

“Thanks. Good night, Sica.”

“Night.”

Jessica entered the room and saw her roommates sprawled on their beds, sleeping like babies.

She approached Taeyeon and stared at the sleeping girl’s face. She brushed the strands of hair that are covering her face. “Night, Taengoo.” She leaned forward and kissed her girlfriend’s forehead. 

She was supposed to go to sleep but she remembered something.

“Damn it! My pen.”