Taeyeon entered their room and saw Yoona sitting on the edge of Jessica’s bed, “Where is she?”

“She’s in the bathroom, changing.”

“Is she still angry at me?”

“I don’t think so.”

Taeyeon nodded and plopped herself on her bed. She lied on her belly. She was still thinking about her sudden brain malfunction earlier. Then, a few minutes later, she heard the door of the bathroom opened. She didn’t know what to say to her so she pretended that she was already sleeping.

She heard Yoona’s voice asking if the girl is alright.
 

It was just cold water, it’s not like it was some deadly chemical. I didn’t even mean it.

She heard Jessica speak, her voice was so gentle when she spoke to Yoona, far from the voice the blonde uses when she talks to her.

“I’m fine, Yoong.”

Yoong? Where the heck did that come from?

“We should probably go to sleep now.” She heard Yoona say.

She didn’t hear any response from Jessica so she assumed that the two of them proceeded on whatever it is they have to do before they go to sleep.

Good night, Jessica.


---


So the day ends with two pairs bickering with each other, one irritated that she couldn’t find her DS Lite, one who’s somewhat upset that she’s not sharing a room with a particular someone, two that are happy sharing a house with someone they know and one just plain happy because her housemates are far more interesting than she thought they would be.

All of them had three more days before the new school year at IU begins. The remaining light that was switched on, coming from 17C’s room was finally turned off and Villa 17 was filled with serenity. For now, it was.


---


The next day, they all ate cereal for breakfast. There wasn’t much talking, only chewing and occasional glances. Jessica glances over to Yoona while the other girl munches on her cereal. Hyoyeon’s glances are directed to her best friend who is blatanly staring at Tiffany.

She nudged her, “It’s rude to stare. Don’t start being a creeper.”

“I’m not. Is it so wrong to appreciate something so beautiful?” she whispered.

Then there was silence again.

Sunny broke it and asked, “Where do you guys want to go today? We have three more days ‘til school starts.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave today. The dean would be paying us a visit,” said Taeyeon.

“How’d you know?”

Oh snap! Stupid stupid Taeyeon.

“Uhm…well, they said it yesterday. The dean’s going to visit every house to check up on the freshmen,” she quickly made an excuse. She’s gonna kill me. Now I’ve given her more work. Instead of just visiting this house, she has to go to every house around the campus to cover up for my slip.

“I didn’t hear anything about that yesterday and I’m pretty sure I was paying attention to the whole lecture about the school,” Seohyun said.

Taeyeon was screwed at this point, she couldn’t think of any excuse. Everyone will find out about her secret.

She noticed Jessica staring at her and the blonde started talking, “I told you she’s fishy. This is why I don’t like you. Whatever it is that you know, spill it. How come you know about the dean visiting us?”

“Hi. Good morning, Taengoo-ah… and friends,” a voice from the foyer said.

“Ji eun-ah…I mean, Good morning, Dean Lee.”

“No need to be formal, dear cousin,” she looked at the other girls, “Good morning freshmen. Welcome to IU,” she said with a warming smile, “Taengoo here didn’t want anyone to know that she’s related to me…she didn’t want people to ‘expect more from her because she’s related to the school’s founder’.”

A bunch Oh~’s and Ah~’s resonated around the house.

Ji-eun winked at Taengoo and the latter caught on what her cousin was doing, “Yeah, I didn’t want to be pressured on being the best.”

“Oh, so the dean’s actually just visiting you, contrary to what you said that she’s going to visit all the houses?” Hyoyeon asked.

Taeyeon nodded, “Can I have a private talk with my cousin?”

The other nodded and left.

“Ji eun-ah,” Taeyeon whined, “Why’d you tell them?”

“Oh please, it’s not like I told them you’re only boarding in this house because of that blonde, which by the way looks really gorgeous but I think she’s giving you the evil eye. And it’s not like I told them you saw her profile on my computer and fell in love instantly or the fact that you could actually live on a house by yourself because you’re my cousin. And certainly did not tell them that your schedule would be in sync with Jessica’s. I just told them you’re my cousin. My mouth’s sealed when it comes to your dirty little secret, you stalker,” she grinned while Taeyeon had her eyes wide open.

“Aish, you need to shut your mouth about that and don’t say it too loud, someone might hear you.”

The two continued to talk without noticing that someone’s actually listening in on their whole conversation. Ji eun asked Taeyeon about Jessica and the latter told her cousin that she’s not really in good terms with the girl, as of now.


---
 

After her talk with Taeyeon, she volunteered to prepare their lunch. Lunch? What the heck, right? They just finished eating breakfast but the thing is, they ate their breakfast at around 11 am. She was quite hungry too and she wanted to somehow talk to Jessica and hopefully convince her that her cousin is a nice person. Taeyeon is her favourite cousin and she couldn’t help but to meddle. She even sat down between Yoona and Jessica. She was already informed about Jessica’s little crush in Yoona. The blonde looked confused at first when Ji eun started talking to her but since Ji eun was the dean and she was a really good person to converse with, Jessica felt comfortable except for the times when the dean would mention something about her cousin.

They ate their lunch merrily, their dean was really friendly and she was more like a friend than the school’s superior. Everyone was chatting to the person next to them except for one. She was observing a certain someone and smiling to herself about the secret she found out. This is what she feeds on, gossips. When she was still in high school, she would know all the things about everyone. From the popular kids to the geeks. What does she do with all the information she’s gathered? Nothing really. She just likes the fact that she’s somewhat superior by knowing all those secrets. No one would dare say anything bad about her because if they do, they have to face her wrath.


---


When they finished their delicious meal, Ji eun said her goodbyes and asked Taeyeon to go with her. They had more talking and scheming to do in order for Taeyeon to sweep Jessica off her feet. Her cousin fell hard.

The others stayed. Some washed the dishes, cleaned the house and some lazily plopped themselves on the couch and chairs in the kitchen. They planned on how they’ll spend their free time. Two more days before they face all sorts of stress that college life brings, they had to have fun. Four years of making projects, endless homework, presentations and facing the dreaded midterm and final exams.


---


Taeyeon arrived at the house. She had a long talk with Ji eun that it took them until night time to get everything settled. She opened the door using the new set of keys that her cousin gave her. It seemed like everyone was already asleep but she was wrong. She was greeted by a mischievous looking short girl.

“Hi, Taeyeon,” she said, unleashing her aegyo-filled voice.

Taeyeon cringed, “Uh… Hi there, Sunny,” she said walking away from the girl.

“Taeyeon, wait. I know your little secret.”

Her heart beat quickened. One statement made her heart beat like that of a hedgehog. “What secret are you talking about? You guys already know that I’m related to the dean.”

“Not that, silly. You’re in love with J—“

She got cut off by the karate chop Taeyeon gave her. It was one of the things she learned at karate school. No, she did not kill Sunny. She just made her unconscious. Can you blame her? She panicked. Blame her reflex.

Crap! What the hell? Why did I do that? Damn it!

Just when she thought things couldn’t get worse, it did. She saw Jessica going down the stairs.

“What did you do to her?”

“Who?” she asked even though the answer was obvious. There were only three of them there standing in the foyer.

“Uh… girl No. 6… the sixth one to arrive yesterday.”

Unbelievable. She doesn’t even know what Sunny’s name is. How did I fall in love with her again? Oh yeah, ‘coz she looks pretty and cool. Stupid me falling in love with an image on the computer but still.

“Yeah, she’s Sunny. I hope you don’t mind but how come you know my name and Yoona’s but you don’t know the name of the other five?”

“I remembered Yoona’s name because…” she paused, “It’s none of your business and I only remembered you because you’re shady and annoying. Hey, don’t try and change the subject. What happened to 6?”

“Sunny. She…uhm…I dunno,” she lied, “I arrived here and saw her sleeping there, she must’ve been sleepwalking.”

Jessica nodded her head, “She was sleepwalking and eating?” She pointed at the lollipop that Sunny was holding.

Geez, that sounded so ridiculous. I’m doomed now. Why did Sunny have to be carrying around a lollipop at night.

“Aren’t you going to wake her up or carry her up to her room?” Jessica asked.

Wow. She believed what I said? U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E!

“Ah, yes. I’ll do that.”

Taeyeon half carried, half dragged the little girl up to her room. Luckily, Sunny’s roommate, Hyoyeon was not there. She must be with her best friend.

She laid down Sunny’s body on the girl’s bed and waited for her to gain her consciousness back. It dind’t take long for the other girl to be conscious again.

“YAH!!” she hit the girl on the shoulder.

“Ouch! I’m sorry but it’s your fault. Were you eavesdropping when I was talking to my cousin earlier?”

“I didn’t mean to but you didn’t have to pull a karate move on me geez! You could just cover my mouth or something. It’s what normal people would do. I feel dizzy.”

“Sorry.”

“Enough of the non-gossip talk. So~ you’re in love with blondie,” Sunny said teasing Taeyeon who was now as red as a cherry tomato.

“Yes. I hope that’s all you know.”

“Sorry but I heard everything, from you seeing her student profile to you asking your cousin to let you two live in the same house. Everything,” she grinned.

“OH MY GOD!” Hyoyeon exclaimed. She was standing inside the room for quite some time now. It turns out she was just in the bathroom.

“Oh no! Another eavesdropper. Please forget everything you heard,” she pleaded Hyoyeon.

“Can’t. I’ve already saved it in my brain’s hard drive and even made a back-up on the other side of my brain…Sorry, I got that from Sooyoung. So you’re in love with her, for real?”

Taeyeon nodded.

“Why?”

Hyoyeon and Sunny asked in unison.

“She’s pretty and she looks cool.”

“That’s superficial of you,” Hyoyeon said bluntly.

Taeyeon glared at her but realized it was true, “I know but that’s me. I fall for someone just by looking at them and I dunno… I guess now that I’ve met her and we’ve spent two days together in this house with you guys, I’m falling for her more. Her simple ways do that to me…I think. The fact that she thinks I’m annoying and fishy… it somehow makes me feel special. If it wasn’t for those traits that I have she’d probably be calling me No. 1, right now. She doesn’t even know your names.”

“Really? So that’s why when I said ‘good morning’ to her this morning and called her by her name she just answered by saying ‘good morning’ and mumbling what seemed to sound like No. 4,” said Hyoyeon.

“Yeah. She called Sunny No.6 earlier.”

“You’re attracted to someone that’s rude and who couldn’t even remember our names?” Sunny asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She’s not rude. Well, I don’t think so. She’s just bad at remembering your names. I mean, if she didn’t remember you at all, she wouldn’t have had those silly numbers as your names. She called you No. 6 because you were the sixth one to arrive yesterday. Same goes to you, Hyo.”

“Oh~ but I still don’t think she’s friendly,” Hyoyeon said.

“Tiffany said she’s just like that at first.”

“I heard my name. What’s this about? Are you guys having some sort of forum? Can I join?”

When the others didn’t respond she went towards the bed and sat in a lotus position. “Yay!”