TAEYEON'S POV

-December 12-

I sat all the way in the back of the class again. This time, when Tiffany and Co. walked in and they all sat down, Tiffany kept walking. She walked all the way to the back of the class, and sat down right next to me. All the students in the class turned around and started whispering. “Who is that?” “Why is Tiffany sitting next to that nerd?” “What happened?” “I heard Mr. Park made Kim Taeyeon tutor Tiffany.” Mr. Park walked into the classroom and everyone stop whispering. “Why are you sitting here?” I whispered to Tiffany. “Because you always sit back here alone. I thought you would like a friend.” she answered. “But why me? There’s plenty of people in this classroom that sit alone.” I asked, still a little confused. “I told you last night. I like you.” Then she turned to face the front and started taking notes. I’ve never seen Tiffany take notes before. About 10 minutes into class, I turned to look at the clock. Just as I was turning my head back to the front, I got hit in the face with what I think is a crumpled up ball of paper. I looked in front of me to see the shocked faces of Tiffany’s friends. “Oh my god, are you okay?” Tiffany whispered to. She took my face in her hands and checked over it to see if she could see any injuries. Her touch sent a shock through my body. My cheeks heated up as I whispered back “I’m fine” and turned back to Mr. Park. I looked at the ball of paper on the ground. Tiffany picked it up and opened it. Apparently, they were going to pass notes from all the way across the room. I looked back to the slideshow at the front of the room. I couldn’t help myself from taking a peek at the note. “So, how’s sitting by the nerd? –Yoona” it said. I saw her lean down to get a pencil out of the corner of my eye and begin to write. I craned my neck over far enough so I could see her, but not far enough that she would notice me. “Hey she’s not as bad as you think. Plus you shouldn’t be passing notes in class. Listen to the teacher Yoona. What would your girlfriend think? ;P” she wrote on the piece of paper. She got up to sharpen her pencil and as she walked by Yoona’s desk she slid the note onto the wooden surface. She sharpened her pencil and sat back down next to me, actually listening to the teacher this time and what surprised me the most was that she was actually taking notes. Maybe she’s not as bad as I thought she was.

TIFFANY'S POV

                I slid the note onto Yoona’s desk and sharpened my pencil. I sat back down next to Taeyeon and opened by notebook that I hadn’t used except to tear papers out of to write notes to Yoona and Sooyoung. The structure of DNA was actually kind of interesting. “I want to learn all this stuff now so Taeyeon will be proud of me. Wait what? Why do I want Taeyeon to be proud of me? So I can stare at her face when she’s teaching me instead of listening and Mr. Park won’t yell at Taeyeon for not teaching me anything… Wait why do I care what happens to Taeyeon and why do I want to see her face?” I thought. “Whatever. I’m missing half the stuff he’s saying.” I turned my thoughts back to the lecture and continued to take notes until I felt Taeyeon begin to shift next to me. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw her get a new pencil. I keep getting the urge to look back at her. “BEEEEEEEEEEEEP” “AH!” I yelped as the bell rang right in my ear. Why was the speaker right next to this desk? How does Taeyeon even deal with this every day?  I gathered my things and went out the door, not before I was almost tripped by Yoona. “Yoona don’t do that to your friends.” said Seohyun to her. “Yes Hyun” she whispered her head down in shame. “Haha, that’s not the Yoona we used to know!” laughed Sooyoung as we walked to our next class. Taeyeon wasn’t in this class with me. I unconsciously frowned. “Hey why do you look upset? Did something happen?” asked Jessica. “Nah Jessi. Why? Do I look upset?” I asked, slightly confused. I wasn’t paying much attention though; my mind was still racing with thoughts of my tutor. “Well there has to be a reason you were frowning.” she answered, now slightly puzzled. “Was I?” I asked, barely paying attention now. “Um…yeah…?” she said, now thoroughly confused. “Huh.” I said as we entered the classroom. Just then did I fully process what was happening. I was frowning…because Taeyeon wasn’t in this class with me…? Why did that disappoint me so much? Oh well. Mrs. Kim walked through the door, looking angrier than ever. Guess I better start listening now, since I don’t feel like getting yelled at by her again.

                We walked into the lunchroom and sat down at our usual table. “Guys do you have any idea how to do the homework Park gave us? I don’t even know what’s in a DNA.” Sunny said, staring at the homework we got right before the bell signaling the end of our first class rang. “Yeah, it’s actually pretty easy. I’ll explain it to you later.” I replied. The others looked incredibly shocked. “You, Tiffany Hwang, out of all of us, know how to do the homework?” Jessica said incredulously. “Yeah, I figured Seohyun would be the one who would offer to help first.” said Sooyoung, equally confused. “Well I was about to, but Tiffany beat me to it.” said Seohyun. “Well, if you actually listened in class, you would realize that it’s actually kind of interesting. Right, Hyunnie?” I said, waiting for Seohyun’s response. Something past Sunny’s head caught my attention. I looked forward to see Taeyeon, sitting alone. I was about to get up to sit next to her, but she got up and walked out of the lunchroom before I could. I saw her walk into he library from the window in the room. I heard someone yell off in the distance. “Ti … Fany … Any …Tiffany … TIFFANY!!!” I heard someone scream my name into my ear. Maybe it wasn’t in the distance…  I turned my head to see Jessica next to my head. “What?” I asked, puzzled. “I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET YOUR ATTENTION FOR THE PAST MINUTE TIF!” she yelled at me. “Calm down Jessi” I said, turning to look at Taeyeon through the library window again. “What are you even looking at?” Sooyoung asked. Everyone turned their heads in the direction of the library. “Are you staring at your tutor?” Yoona said mockingly. “Yoona be nice.” said Seohyun. “Yes Hyun.” Once again Yoona put her head down in shame after being scolded by her girlfriend. We snickered at the sight before everyone turned their attention back to me. “So, do you like her or something Tiff?” asked Jessica. My cheeks heated up as a wave of pink spread across them. “No…” I said, not even sure about how I felt about her. Maybe I do like her… “Whatever you say Tiff” said Sooyoung as they all giggled and went back to eating their lunches in silence, Yoona occasionally feeding Seohyun a little of her kimbap. “Wow Yoona, I never thought my fellow shikshin would give anyone her food. I feel a little betrayed right now.” Sooyoung said after a dramatic sigh. We all laughed at her random dramatic outburst. “Well my girlfriend isn’t just a normal person you know.” she said as she smiled to Seohyun. We all “awww”ed as Seohyun gave Yoona a little kiss on the cheek. We finished the rest of our lunches in a relatively peaceful way.

TAEYEON'S POV

                I felt someone’s eyes on me as I finished my tuna sandwich. I looked up and saw Tiffany staring at me. I felt myself blushing, so I put my head down again and quickly finished my lunch. I almost lost control of my body. I wanted to get up and go over to Tiffany. I wanted to taste her lips. What is happening to me? “You like her” a voice whispered inside my head. Do I like her?

                Tiffany and I walked to her apartment in silence once again. I looked to my side and I saw her deep in thought, probably trying to figure out how to do today’s Biology homework. We walked through a park, one of the many shortcuts to Tiffany’s apartment we had discovered over the past week. She did not notice the fallen tree branch a couple inches in front of her as she walked forward. I turned around to warn her. “Tiffany watch out there’s a-“I cut myself off as she tumbled forward. I managed to catch her and she threw her arms around my neck for support. My heart beat almost out of my chest as I noticed our position. I didn’t want to let go. I wanted to stay like this for a while. However, I knew I couldn’t. She let go of me with a blush. “Sorry about that” she apologized. “It’s ok” I replied and we walked the rest of the way to her apartment in an awkward silence. My mind raced. It was that moment that I admitted to myself the thing that had been bothering me all day. Tiffany Hwang, I like you.

                We walked into Tiffany’s room and once, just like almost every time I walk into Tiffany’s room, I was slightly blinded by the abundance of pink. I had gotten used to it a little, but not enough to the point where I didn’t have to stop in the doorway and let my eyes adjust. We sat down on Tiffany’s bed and I began teaching her as she hugged the now fairly familiar Totoro plush close to her. She listened more to me than the first tutoring session, but at times she zoned out looking at me. I wish I could do the same, but since I was the one doing the teaching, that was a luxury I could not afford. I looked up to make sure she understood, only to see her face inches away from mine. “Can I see the diagram on the last page real quick Taeyeon?” she asked. My heart began beating faster than normal and I felt the now quite familiar feeling of a blush spreading across my cheeks. I lowered my head and turned the page quickly to allow Tiffany to see the diagram.