The door to the dimly lit dorm room opened, the occupant of the room being oblivious to the person that walked around in the room while she was sleeping. Soon the light in the room was , but the person in the room remained asleep.

“Taengoo.”

No answer.

“Taeyeon.”

“Hmm?” Taeyeon finally woke up but didn’t open her eyes.

“I have a lecture in the morning.”

“Mhmm, have fun.” Taeyeon said and turned to lie on her back.

“But you have to take care of Taehyun.”

“Why…?”

“Because you have to learn how to take care of other living things and take responsibility.”

“I’m taking care of you isn’t that enough…?”

“No, here.”

Taeyeon felt something round being placed on her stomach and when she opened her eyes she saw a flower pot with a small sprout growing out of it. A sigh left her lips and she turned to Jessica that was now busy combing her hair in front of the mirror in her room.

“But I also have lectures today.” Taeyeon said and watched as Jessica put her hair in a ponytail.

“Just take it with you then.” Jessica said and turned to the girl on the bed.

“But it’s a hassle carrying it around.” Taeyeon complained and looked at the flower pot.

“It’s not. It’ll be good for you. Then you know how it feels thinking about someone else but you.” Jessica said and picked up her bag from the floor.

“I’m constantly thinking about you so I don’t know how I have time thinking about myself.”

“That won’t work on me. Just take care of Taehyun for today, okay? Besides it wants to spend time with its appa.”

“But I don’t wanna…”

“You’re not going to overwork yourself. You just have to chat a bit with it so it won’t feel lonely, that’s it. I’ve already given it water.”

“It sounds like we’re talking about a baby…”

“Then you know what the future awaits.”

“Sica!”

“I have to go now. Just take care of it, okay? You’ll be able to do it, I promise. “ Jessica went to the girl on the bed and gave Taeyeon a kiss before she went to the door.

“Bye, I’ll pick it up after your last lecture.” Jessica waved to the girl on the bed before she exited the dorm room.

Taeyeon lied her head back down on the pillows and let out a long sigh. Her eyes went to the flower pot she had in her hands. Another sigh escaped her lips and her eyes went up to stare at the ceiling, before she slowly closed tem again.


---


“Sica, I can’t carry around this pot all day.” Taeyeon said and looked at the flower pot that was now on her desk while she was putting on clothes.

“You can,” The girl on the other line said.

“I can’t. I feel awkward around it.” Taeyeon said and shifted the phone to her other ear as she slipped her arm into the sleeve of her shirt.

“Then you have to take care of it! You’re its appa, it’s your child, Taeyeon. You should bond with it today.” Jessica said from the other line.

“But I don’t even know what to talk about with it!”

“Just talk about anything. I’m sure Taehyun will find anything you say interesting. It just wants to spend time with its appa. It looks up to you.”

“Are you saying a plant is looking up to me…?”

“Yup. Taeyeon, you’re going to be fine. Just talk about something you feel comfortable talking about. I have to go now. Good luck!”

Jessica hung up and Taeyeon was left with slumped shoulders staring at the flower pot on her desk. She knew that Jessica would find out if she left the flower pot in her room, and she felt she couldn’t do that towards her fiancée. But she didn’t know how to bond with this plant.

A sigh left Taeyeon’s lips and she threw her phone to her bed and let her eyes fall back to the sprout. She shifted awkwardly in her position in front of the sprout, her hand went up to her head and she scratched the back of it before it fell down to her side.

“So…do you have any favorite poems?”


---


The girl finally found a seat in the lecture hall that would be good to sit at. She placed the flower pot on the table and brought out her notebook and a pen. She wrote a title on the paper and looked in front of her.

She noticed in the corner of her eyes how people looked strangely at her, but she ignored it and waited for the professor to arrive.

She heard whispers coming from behind her, and it took all her willpower to not turn around and snap at the two girls. She reminded herself that she had to look good in front of the sprout, Jessica had after all said that Taehyun looked up to her.

Her pen drummed impatiently against the notebook. She glanced at the flower pot beside her, looking at the small sprout growing in the soil. A small smile appeared on her lips as she realized she didn’t feel that awkward around it anymore.

She felt someone take a seat beside her which made her turn towards the girl. Noticing the tall, familiar girl that had begun taking out a notebook and pens Taeyeon turned back to the front.

“Hey, isn’t that Taehyun?” The girl beside her asked.

“It is.” Taeyeon replied.

“I thought only Sica took care of it.”

“I had to bond with it so I’m taking care of it for today.”

“Ah, I see.” Sooyoung propped her chin into her hand as she looked at the sprout growing out of the soil. “It has grown a lot since last week I saw it.”

“I know, it grows really quickly now.”

“It must be because of how well Sica takes care of it.”

“Probably.”

The professor entered the lecture hall and the two girls averted their attention to him, and let the sprout listen to the lecture together with them.


---


Taeyeon felt someone taking a seat in front of her of the table in the library. Seeing the blonde girl Taeyeon nodded in a greeting towards her before she went back to writing. She noticed the girl had taken an interest in the flower pot that stood beside her on the table.

“Hey, isn’t this Taehyun?” Hyoyeon asked and pointed at the pot.

“It is.” Taeyeon replied and looked up at the flower pot.

“Why do you have it?”

Taeyeon sighed and leaned back in her chair as her eyes fell on the small sprout.

“It’s my and Sica’s child. And because I’ve never taken care of it or bonded with it I had to do it today.” Taeyeon said and shrugged her shoulders.

Hyoyeon nodded her head and let her eyes fall back to the pot.

“So how is it going?”

“It was awkward in the beginning, but now we’re comfortable with each other.” Taeyeon said and went back to write. 

“Ah, that’s good. You shouldn’t be awkward around your kids.”

Taeyeon refrained from rolling her eyes and continued to focus on what she was writing instead.

“It’s peas right?”

“What?”

“I mean, it’s a pea plant, right?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Right, I thought Sica had mentioned it sometime.” Hyoyeon said and turned to the plant. “But why peas?” Hyoyeon looked from the sprout to Taeyeon.

“Because it’s my favorite vegetable.” Taeyeon said without tearing her eyes away from the paper.

“It is?”

“I actually don’t know, but when Sica asked me I randomly answered peas, and now we have a pea plant.”

“It sounds cute.”

“Heh…thanks, I guess.”  

“How come it’s named Taehyun?”

“Sica wanted it to have a character from my name, so she named it that."

“That’s just so adorable. Only something to be expected of you two.”

A small smile appeared on Taeyeon’s lips and she continued doing her essay while Hyoyeon picked out her books and began studying as well.

The two girls continued doing their thing for almost an hour until another girl showed up. Taeyeon looked up from her essay when she felt someone taking a seat next to her. To her relief the girl seemed happy and a kiss landed on her lips.

“Hi, how is it going?” Jessica asked and looked at the pea plant.

“It’s going well. We’re not awkward anymore.” Taeyeon said.

“See, I told you’d be able to do it.” Jessica said pleased and turned to the pea plant. “And Taehyun looks well too.” Jessica said and turned to Taeyeon again.

“I was afraid I’d bore it out.” Taeyeon admitted.

“No! I told you Taehyun looks up to you. It wanted to get to know its appa, and look, its all happy now!” Jessica said and pointed at the pea plant. Taeyeon looked at it, not seeing any changes in it at all, but she trusted Jessica’s words. Her eyes left the flower pot to look at the blonde girl that sat in front of them. She suddenly blushed when she realized Hyoyeon had been listening.

“Y-yeah, that’s good.” Taeyeon said and turned Jessica.

“Why are you blushing?” Jessica asked when she noticed Taeyeon’s red cheeks.

“I’m not blushing.”

“You are.” Jessica said and placed her hands over Taeyeon’s hot cheeks. Her eyes went to the third person by the table, and a smile formed on her lips and she turned back to her fiancée. “You’re embarrassed because Hyoyeon is here!”

“I’m not!”

“You are. You totally are.” Jessica said.

Taeyeon turned embarrassed away from her the girl, and Jessica could only grin by the cute action.

“So…Taeyeon is the father?” Hyoyeon asked and looked up at the two girls.

“Yes, isn’t it obvious?”

“How is that obvious?!”

Amused by the couple Hyoyeon leaned back in her seat and observed the two girls, one with a grin on her lips and the other with flushing cheeks. She had never a dull moment with these two girls around.

“Now when you mention it, Taeyeon seems more like a father figure.” Hyoyeon said.

“I know, right?”

“I do not!”

“You do! You only play games, or read books or do other things while I take care of Taehyun. I’m totally the mother figure while you’re the father figure.”

“So because I never take care of it I’m the father figure?”

“Yeah!”

“Fine! From now on I’m going to take care of it. Say goodbye to my father figure, because I’m becoming a mother figure!” Taeyeon gather her books and grabbed the flower pot and left the two girls.

Hyoyeon and Jessica watched as Taeyeon left the library. When Taeyeon was out of sight Hyoyeon began laughing and Jessica turned to the girl.

“She’s cute, right? Totally the father figure.” Jessica said. 

Hyoyeon nodded her head agreeing, wiping the tears from laughter from her eyes.

“It won’t take long until she asks me to take care of it again.” Jessica said and smiled.

“I bet five hours from now that you’ll have it back.” Hyoyeon said.

Jessica looked the way her fiancée had gone, smiling to herself before she turned back to the girl in front of her.

“I’d say three. She doesn’t know when it needs to be watered or anything. Once she realizes that she will come to me for help.” Jessica said pleased.

Hyoyeon smiled before she went back to studying. Jessica propped up her chin on her hand, already imagining Taeyeon’s face when the girl realizes that she has no idea how to take care of the pea plant except from what she already had told the girl.


---


The girl’s fingers drummed against the table surface of the desk. Her eyes were for once not focused on a book filled with text, but on a flower pot with a sprout growing in it.

Taeyeon bit her lower lip and let her eyes wander from the pea sprout to the pile of books that were next to it on the desk. Her eyebrows furrowed and she returned her gaze to the flower pot.

“How many times do you need to be watered?” Taeyeon asked out loud and leaned forward to take a better look at the soil the sprout was growing in.

“You don’t like that much heat, do you?” Taeyeon asked and looked at the sprout. Silence filled the room and she bit her lower lip and leaned back in her chair.

“You like when people talk to you, I know that much, but what else?” The girl asked and crossed her arms.

Her foot tapped against the floor as she continued to stare at the sprout. She had no idea what to do with it expect talking with it. She didn’t know what else Jessica used to do with it when she was taking care of it.

“God damnit, why is it so complicated taking care of a pea plant?! How is Sica able to do this?” Taeyeon snapped and stood up from her seat.

“She looked it up on internet, didn’t she?” Taeyeon asked the sprout that was just as quiet as any plant she talked to.

“Why can’t you answer me…?” Taeyeon slumped back down into her seat and placed her head on the desk and stared at the flower pot.

“Did she ask her mom?”

“Should I call Sica’s mom?”

“It feels like her mom will laugh me in the face…” Taeyeon closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She opened her eyes and lifted her head off the desk and looked at the sprout.

“Is your soil dry? Do I feel it with my hands? Will you get ill if I put dirty hands in your soil?”

“Wait…you get dirty by soil…how can a plant get ill if you put dirty hands in dirt…?”

Taeyeon slumped her shoulders and let out a sigh. She was beginning to grow frustrated by her lack of knowledge when it comes to plants. Even though she was engaged to someone like Jessica she still knew very little about how to take care of plants.

“I’m getting a headache!!!” Taeyeon shouted and ruffled her hair.

A sigh left Taeyeon’s lips and she placed her head against her desk surface again and stared at the flower pot. Another sigh left her lips and she turned her head to place her forehead against the desk instead.

“With babies it is easy. You feed them, change their diapers, take them to the doctor if they are sick, play with them, and it all seems so easy, but this. How the hell do you take care of a plant?!” Taeyeon asked.

She bit her lower lip and straightened up in her position. She looked at the flower pot with the small pea sprout in it. A loud sigh escaped her lips and she ruffled her hair in frustration.

“I’m going to kill Sica’s beloved pea plant at this rate!” She said and let her hands fall down to her sides as she looked with panicked eyes on the plant. She could already imagine Jessica’s sad face when she told the girl the pea plant had died because she had no knowledge on how to take care of it. Already feeling the tug in her heart upon the tears Jessica would probably shed when the plant was dead Taeyeon regretted ever taking responsibility over it.

A knock on the door made the girl go from her seat by her desk to open the door. Seeing the girl she really needed right now Taeyeon immediately jumped at Jessica, wrapping her arms tightly around the girl.

“Just take the pea plant. I have no idea what to do with it. Be the mother figure, I can be the father figure. I don’t care anymore. I want to be able to read and play games without constantly worrying it’s going to die because I haven’t taken care of it properly!” Taeyeon said oblivious to the other students that walked past them in the dorm hallway where she was hugging the girl.

“It stresses me out. I’m not ready for this much responsibilities yet.” Taeyeon mumbled and buried her face into the crook of Jessica’s neck.

Jessica smiled triumphantly and began leading them back into Taeyeon’s dorm room. She made the girl that clung around her neck let her go so she could face her.

“Okay, I’ll take care of it.” Jessica said and smiled. “I have one condition though.”

“Sure, anything!”

“You have to spend time with it at least once a week. You are the father figure and I think it should be able to spend time with you.”

“Okay, I can agree on that.”

“Good.” Jessica gave a peck on the lips to the girl and led them to Taeyeon’s bed where she made them lie down. Jessica hugged Taeyeon with a smile on her face, pleased with how everything has turned out.

“Sica?”

“Yes?”

“Will Taehyun be okay? I haven’t given it water.”

“Don’t worry. I have it under control.”

“Okay…”

“Focus on thinking about me and you. Don’t worry about anything else.”

“If you say so.”

“You fit that role better.”

“I suppose I do…”

Jessica giggled pleased and hugged Taeyeon tighter. The latter leaned her head against her shoulder, and Jessica couldn’t feel happier about their positions.