“I need to know how it ends,” she said as she the lamp between us, illuminating both our faces. Her bright eyes met my weary ones and I groaned, expressing my unwillingness to participate in a midnight discussion - holding on to the dull shimmer of hope that Tiffany would be a considerate roommate for once.

“Your story,” Tiffany pressed on, her gaze intensifying. “It’s about me and Taeyeon, isn’t it?”

I held my fingertips to my eyelids, massaging them gently as I d for my glasses placed somewhere on the nightstand with my free hand – resigned towards my fate.

***

Tiffany always got what she wanted. I don’t mean it in a negative way –she wasn’t born with a silver spoon, she wasn’t a spoilt child, and she definitely wasn’t a bully – she just never gave up whenever she wanted something. Her personality might seem aggressive to some at first, but most people would find themselves rooting for her in the end. Liking her was inevitable, but I wasn’t too sure about love.

I remember the first day she met Taeyeon. I wasn’t there to witness it – but when I came back to our room, Tiffany was staring at the ceiling, mumbling to herself. For a moment, I thought she was having some kind of breakdown – math majors are infamous for their breakdowns – so I just sat at the foot of her bed, waiting for the storm to pass.

“I think I’m in love,” she confessed, without me asking.

That was how it started.

It was the most ridiculous thing. You would expect something momentous to inspire such a declaration – a magnetic talent, an electrifying touch, an obscure shared interest etc. but nothing of the sort had transpired.

Tiffany fell in love with the way Taeyeon gazed into the sky from under a maple tree.

“She was smiling. I swear in that moment, I saw the beauty of the world through her eyes.” Tiffany said, no doubt conjuring clouds in the stark ceiling.   

“You’re insane.” I responded, dismissing her fixation.

“I’m in love,” she corrected me with conviction.

***

“I don’t like the way you described us.” Tiffany commented, bringing me back to the present. Somehow we ended up sharing a bed - a convenient way for Tiffany to prevent me from falling asleep. I had the manuscript in my hands and was skimming the pages to recall what I had written.

“Which part?” I asked.

“You made us seem like a volatile couple – like we could crash and burn at any moment.” She bit her lip, obviously worried. I wanted to remind her that it was fiction, but it was too close to reality for me to fortify an argument.

“That’s because you were moving too fast.” I explained. “You said you loved her the moment you met her.” I took a jab at the absurdity of their first meeting.   

“And I was right.” she responded with unwavering certainty.

***

They didn’t have a chance to become friends before lovers.

On the very next day, Tiffany went to the same maple tree and sat beside Taeyeon.

Again, I wasn’t there - but I was told that they sat in silence until the moment Taeyeon stood up to leave.

“You’re different. I think I’ll be spending a long time figuring out why.”

Those were her first words to Taeyeon.

***

“You’re lucky that you’re pretty enough to get away with saying things like that.” I commented as I tousled her hair. “If you didn’t have gorgeous eyes and an enchanting smile, people would find you less romantic and more creepy.”

“I like how you described me,” she said as she flashed her winning smile, then leaned against my shoulder and turned the page. “It seems like you figured out why Taeyeon was different before I did.”

***

“Don’t hurt Tiffany.”

Those were my first words to Taeyeon.

“Who’s Tiffany?”

Those were her first words to me.

***

“I can’t believe you did that!” Tiffany exclaimed. “We weren’t even friends then.”

“You were never friends.” I replied.

***

We ended up having lunch together.

“Tell me about Tiffany.” Taeyeon requested politely as she offered me half of her sandwich - like a subtle bribe.

“She thinks she’s in love with you.” I said as I took a bite of her sandwich. It was the best sandwich I had in a while. “She’s slightly in love with everything. Tiffany falls in love with everything until it hurts.” I explained, unsure as to why I was revealing more than necessary.

Taeyeon responded with a smile that could have meant anything.

***

“Do you think that we will break up once I figure Taeyeon out?” Tiffany asked, slightly offended.

“I don’t think you’ll ever figure Taeyeon out.” I replied.

“She’s more than a math problem to me, you know.” Tiffany kicked me lightly on the foot, expressing her annoyance.

“I know.” I asserted.

It would be much simpler if Taeyeon were a math problem – even if she was an unsolvable one.

***

“Made any progress under the maple tree?” I greeted Tiffany with a question.

Tiffany looked up from her notes filled with equations and frowned.

“We’re almost lovers.”

“You make it sound like a bad thing.” I raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“It is possibly the worst. We’re like parallel lines, heading in the same direction, but never intersecting.” She started drawing two lines - a fraction of an inch apart – reaching the edge of the page without ever crossing paths.

“Please elaborate.” I pleaded, tired of searching for meaning in a maze.

“We held hands today.”

“And?” I pressed, my patience wearing thin.

“And I felt like that was enough.”

***

“You make her sound so elusive in your story. I’ve learnt nothing about Taeyeon in the first 10 pages.” Tiffany complained.

“It’s just a story, Tiffany.” I tried once again to drill that fact into her stubborn head.

“But I’m really scared of how it ends.”

***

They were almost lovers for three days - which felt like an eternity for Tiffany.

“A prime number for your thoughts?” I attempted to lighten the mood on the third day, tired of watching her mope.   

Tiffany was under the covers, breathing heavily.

“I’m praying.” Tiffany said with a muffled voice.

“You don’t believe in God, Tiffany.” I reminded her.

“You’re right.” She flopped the covers over her head and sat up. She started scratching the back of her head with a finger, evidently more confused than I was.

“What were you praying for anyway?” I asked, curious as to what made Tiffany abandon her faith in logic and math.

“I prayed that Taeyeon wouldn’t fall in love with someone else,” she replied.

“Why didn’t you pray for Taeyeon to fall in love with you instead?” I queried, pointing out an obvious flaw in her wish.

“We’re inevitable.” She smiled. “It’ll just take longer if she gets distracted.”

***

“I sound like a retard.” Tiffany pouted. “Or a psycho.” She added a frown. “A retarded psycho.” She kicked my leg again after reaching that conclusion.

“It’s just a story, Tiffany.” I’ve lost count of the times I’ve repeated that same sentence.

“I hope it has a happy ending.”

***

“Don’t hurt Tiffany.”

Those were my first words to Taeyeon after they became lovers.

“I don’t like that she’s giving me the power to hurt her.” Taeyeon replied sadly.

I had not seen or heard about Taeyeon respond to anything negatively until then.

“Does she have the power to do the same?” I asked, questioning the foundation of their relationship.

She nodded.

***

“Thank you for being so protective of me.” Tiffany murmured as she wrapped her arms around my waist.

“You’ve never been in a relationship before. Watching you fall in love with Taeyeon was the scariest thing.” I explained while trying to break away from her crushing hug. “Like watching a baby attempting to stand for the first time.” I flicked her on the forehead and she released her hold.

“Did you actually think that Taeyeon would hurt me?” she asked.

I took a minute to ponder the question. I had known too little about Taeyeon then to judge.

“No.” I decided.

***

I seldom saw Tiffany for the next two weeks after they became a couple. She often left the room before I did and came home after I had fallen asleep.    

I was worried, but work was sufficient to distract me.

I had more pressing matters to concern myself with other than my reckless roommate.

***

“Hey.” Tiffany whined.

“You’re reckless.” I affirmed. “Deal with it.”

“You deal with it.” Tiffany retorted immaturely.

“I have no idea how Taeyeon deals with it.”

I received another kick to the leg, much harder this time. I had a feeling I was going to wake up with bruises – if I am ever blessed with the privilege to fall asleep.

***

“Tell me about Taeyeon.” I demanded one day.

For someone who could rave for days about the beauty of differential equations, Tiffany was being awfully secretive about her latest preoccupation.

“What do you want to know?” She gave a nonchalant shrug.

“Everything?”

“That would take longer than we have.” She gestured towards the clock. I had 15 minutes before my next class.

“What’s her major?” I thought it was ridiculous that I didn’t even have the most basic information about the person whom was currently dating my roommate. That was reckless of me.  

“She’s not a student.”

“What?” I dropped my book, a million thoughts flooding my mind.

“Her father is a professor here so she waits for him to finish his lectures.” She explained, without giving away more than necessary.

“Doesn’t she have to attend college?”

“I just told you that she wasn’t a student!” Tiffany replied, with a slight annoyance in her tone.

“Why isn’t she a student?” I urged, equally irritated.

Tiffany squeezed her eyes shut, as though the question weighed her down.

"She’s sick.”

__________________________________________________________________________________

A cliché, I know