consider this something to ease myself back into the story after so long. unedited edited 27/03

Chapter 6

"I don’t think I am going back this summer. I have projects to do."

Sunny watched her best friend slash roommate nod her head and mumble "yes" and "okay" repeatedly in response to the caller.

"Sorry...I will come back for the next extended holiday."

Taeyeon made a strange expression while waiting for her turn to reply

"No...it's embarrassing. I'm not a baby anymore." Taeyeon sighed and replied, "Okay then, bye.”

Taeyeon threw her phone onto her bed in resignation.

"Your mom?"

"Who else?" Taeyeon groaned and rested one arm over her eyes. She was actually looking forward to spending her summer holidays with Tiffany but now her plans were ruined by her mother's insistence to visit.

"Let me guess? Someone insists on seeing her baby TaeTae?" Sunny deliberately raised her pitch to emphasize on her best friend's childhood nickname.

"Stop it. It's not funny and I'm not a baby."

"Meh. So what are you going to do about it? With the amount of time you spend with Tiffany, your mom is bound to suspect something. I wonder how she would react if she knows her little TaeTae is gay."

"Shut up."

"Speaking about Tiffany, how long are you gonna avoid her? Why haven't you been going on your cute bento eating dates?"

Taeyeon had been avoiding Tiffany ever since that fateful day. She was still a little shaken by herself.

"I am busy."

"Yeah. Busy mopping around and spying on Tiffany during lunch."

"..."

"You need to talk to her."

"I know but I need to prepare myself first. I'm in a midst of writing a draft."

"Are you serious?" Sunny has been friends with her for a long time, but this girl never ceases to amaze her.

"Of course. How can I just go up to her and talk about it?"

"Normal human beings do that all the time you know."

"But Tiffany is special."

"Whatever floats your boat, I am giving you until tonight to talk to her. I will talk to her if you don't."

"At least give me two more days!" Taeyeon tried to bargain with her scary friend.

"Latest tomorrow by lunch, take it or leave it."

"Fine, I'll take it."

==

Taeyeon wiped her sweaty palms against her jeans as she stood gingerly outside the lecture hall. She tiptoed and took a sneaky peep inside the lecture hall and saw the students slowly packing and coming back to life. She was trying to spot her girlfriend when she felt someone grab her hips. She squirmed a little before being turned around forcefully.

"What are you peeping at?" Tiffany suppressed a smile when she saw Taeyeon's stunned expression.

"N-nothing." Taeyeon was caught aback by her sudden appearance. She had long forgotten the things that she was supposed to do and say

"Are you sure? Alright then, I will leave. You don't seem very keen to hang out with me these days anyway." Tiffany faked ignorance and her heels.

"Wait!" She hastily grabbed onto Tiffany's fingers. "Can we talk?"

They went to the cafe right behind the school. Tiffany found herself sitting beside an almost silent Taeyeon who was nervously chewing her straw.
 

Taeyeon resisted the urge to pull the piece of paper in her pocket out to refresh her memory. In her nervousness, she had forgotten what she was supposed to say to Tiffany. She knew she should have at least written the key points of what she was planning to say on her palm.  

"Are you gonna talk or not?"

"Ah..." Taeyeon pushed the cup aside carefully. "Actually I...think we need to talk..." She stuttered.

"About?" Tiffany knew where the conversation was going but decided to play along with her jittery girlfriend.

"Ah." Okay Taeyeon, you can do this. She took a deep breath and spit out the words quickly. "Iamsorryabouttheotherday"

"Huh?"

She took another deep breath to slow herself down. "I said...I'm sorry about the other day."

"What do you have to be sorry for?"

Taeyeon bit the inside of her slightly pink cheeks. "My hands..."

Tiffany smirked and reached out for Taeyeon's cold fingers. "Your naughty hands you mean?"

Taeyeon withdrew her hands almost immediately. "I promise it wouldn't happen again. I swear I will chop my fingers off if it happens. I really really didn’t mean to do it. It was just that I lost control there for a while. I swear--"

The red haired girl leaned in closer. "But what if I said I like your naughty hands?"

Taeyeon struggled to find a decent response to an indecent comment.

"Baby, I'm your girlfriend. You know you can do anything you want right?" Tiffany's upper body was now sprawled across the table. She reached for Taeyeon's reddened ear and whispered teasingly, "I want you to do naughty things to me."

And poor, poor Taeyeon was left open mouthed for the next few minutes. Everything was spinning soundlessly around her as Taeyeon tried to reboot her brain without success for several times.

Tiffany had to pat her cheeks several times to get her attention. "Hello? Earth to Taeyeon?"

"A-affirmative...."

"So we're okay now? I want my bento making girlfriend back."

Taeyeon nodded slightly, relieved that she had finally managed to get it off her chest and apologized to Tiffany even though her responses were unexpected. She would never have expected Tiffany to be so easy going and open about it. Taeyeon thought Tiffany would freak out and maybe even sever all ties with her. But then again, it is Tiffany and Taeyeon is learning to slowly adjust to her unpredictability.

==

Taeyeon and Sunny woke up early in the morning to clean the room. Taeyeon’s mother was arriving later today and the two girls had to make sure that everything was in order.

“I didn’t sign up for this when we agreed to be roommates.” Sunny plopped her on the cushioned seat after vacuuming the entire room.

“You know how my mom gets. I will treat you to lunch.” Taeyeon tiptoed and checked the top of the bookshelves for one last time, making sure that there was no dust or dirt.

“Dinner too, and also breakfast please.”

“Okay.”

“Aish, I should have chased you home for the holidays. Then I wouldn’t have to go through so much trouble.”

Taeyeon was about to retort when her mobile phone started ringing. She groaned when she saw the name on her phone.

“Hello? Okay. I will come down now. Love you too.” Taeyeon placed her phone back into her pocket. “My mom’s here, I need to go down now.”

Taeyeon skipped down the stairs and saw the shiny black car parked right infront of the school. She scanned around and sighed when she saw several students gawking at the expensive looking car. She forced a smile the second she saw the familiar figure emerging from the vehicle.

“My baby!” The lady cooed and spread her arms open as Taeyeon walked towards her.

“Hi Mummy.” Taeyeon inched closer and lets her mother hug her.

“Taetae, you look like you have lost weight again.” Her mother kisses her on her cheek and her hair.

Taeyeon could literally feel the judgemental eyes of other students staring at her being hugged and kissed by an unidentified lady. “Mummy, can we go inside? It’s hot out here.”

She led her mother into her room, with her mother making comments about how old and run down the school compound was and how it needed renovations.

“Here’s the room that I share with Sunny.” She opened the door, allowed her mother to step in first and mentally braced herself.

“Oh my god, what is this?” Her mother exclaimed as she paced around the room. “The room is so small. How can the two of you live in this pigeon hole?”

Sunny tried to greet the lady but was ignored as she examined the room with much distain and disgust.

“Taetae, we need to get you transferred to a more spacious single room. And Sunny too. I will speak to the school later.”

Knowing where this conversation would be going, Sunny immediately nudged her best friend into action.

“No Mummy, I like it here. It is nice and cozy. I like sharing a room with Sunny.”

“Baby, you’re always so stubborn. Am I right Sunny?”

Sunny could only nod her head. When it comes to Taeyeon’s mother, there is no room for disagreements or compromises.

“Alright, now that I have seen your terrible living conditions, let’s go out for lunch. I will treat you two to something nice. ”