May 2010, Saturday night

Taeyeon can feel her tears welling up and the funny strain in her nose is gaining momentum. She tries 

to hold her tears back, but the fluids in her nose are not as obedient. There are two choices: a) make no 

noise and let her snot flow down her nose and face b) sniff it back in. She opts for the second option 

because the first one is quite disgusting. The mere sound of it attracts Tiffany's attention and her head lifts 

from Taeyeon's shoulder.

“Are you crying?” Tiffany whispers.

“No.” Taeyeon whispers back.

“Oh my God, you're crying.”

“It's sad okay.”

“You're so cute.”

“You should be crying too.”

“It's just a movie, Taeyeon,” Tiffany laughs, “It isn't real.”

“But don't you feel sad for them? Poor Elsa wants to go out and play with Anna but she can't!” Taeyeon 

sniffs as her tears well up again. “And Anna...she doesn't even know why her sister won't play with her 

anymore...”

Tiffany reaches for a tissue from her purse and dabs Taeyeon's cheeks with it. “Poor Taeyeon, you're 

too adorable.”

Taeyeon takes the tissue and blows her nose into it. “I'm not adorable.”

“Yes, you are. You're very adorable.” Tiffany hugs her and pats her back. “I'm going to miss you so bad 

after I go back home.”

“I'm going to miss you too.”

“You'll have to pray hard that your next roommate will be as nice as me.”

“I don't think my next roommate will keep using my toothpaste and shampoo.”

Tiffany sighs. “I'm gonna miss the smell of your toothpaste and shampoo too.”

“I can give you some to bring home.”

“Really?”

Taeyeon nods. “Mhm. I'll give you a few tubes of my toothpaste as a farewell present.”

“I want like five tubes.”

“Five?!”

“Five won't even last that long.”

“Okay, okay. Five tubes then.”

Tiffany giggles as her cheek comes to rest on Taeyeon's shoulder. “Okay, enough talk. We're missing 

too much of the movie already.” She brings her lips to Taeyeon's ear and adds, “Plus, I think the couple in 

front is gonna scold us if we talk anymore.”

-oo-

August 2009, Sunday middle of the night

Taeyeon is about to go to sleep after playing her game way past bedtime when she hears a thump on 

the door. She jumps, feeling startled but goes to the door to check things out. There are some voices, both  

male and female, outside and she hesitates, unsure about what to do. Then, she hears a familiar voice.

“Taeyeonggg...”

Taeyeon opens the door slowly. Standing outside in the corridor are a guy, a girl and a drunk. The guy 

and girl look apologetic as they hold the drunk up.

“Zero, two...zero seven...”

“Come on in,” Taeyeon says to the guy and girl and they haul the drunk into the room. “There.” She 

points at Tiffany's bed, unmistakably pink even in the dimness of the night. She lifts the blanket as they lay 

the drunk on the bed with care and Taeyeon pulls her heels off before tucking her legs under the blanket.

“We gave her too many shots. She's probably out for the night,” the girl explains.

“I'll take care of her.”

“Thanks. And sorry for the trouble,” says the guy.

“It's okay.” Taeyeon sends them to the door and waves goodbye before turning back to look at the 

drunk. “Tiffany...my American friend,” she says, shaking her head at the drunk.

-oo-

August 2009, Sunday morning

“Argh, my head.”

Taeyeon is by Tiffany's side at once. “Here.”

Tiffany blinks and squints before taking the glass of water. She empties the glass in two seconds and 

hands it back to Taeyeon. “What happened?”

“You got knockout drunk and your friends sent you back here.”

“Oh.” Tiffany tosses her blanket aside. Then, she stares. “Why am I half ?”

“I took your dress off. It was tight and halfway up your body so I took it off.”

“Oh.” Tiffany groans as she sits up. “I'm hungry.”

“Here. Have more water.”

“I need something nice for breakfast.”

“I'll make you some toast. Wait here.” Taeyeon puts the entire pitcher of water next to Tiffany. “Drink 

some more. It will make you feel better.”

Taeyeon brisk walks to the pantry with a loaf of bread and plants two slices into the toaster. She then 

opens the fridge and retrieves her jam, humming a happy song. She bustles on, making a cup of coffee 

while the bread is toasting. A short while later, the toaster goes 'ding' and she plucks the two slices out and 

spreads some jam on them.  She cuts them into neat triangles and arranges them on the plate, brushing the 

crumbs away, turning the plate to check her work. When she's happy with how it looks, she picks up the 

cup of coffee, remaining loaf of bread, and returns to the room.

“Breakfast is here,” she announces at the door.

Tiffany looks up and puts the pillow she is hugging down. “You're the best, Taeyeon. Thank you so 

much.”

“You're welcome,” says Taeyeon as she sets the breakfast down on Tiffany's desk. “Eat up and feel 

better.”

Tiffany gets off the bed and grins. “I would give you a kiss to thank you but I haven't brushed my teeth 

yet.”

“It's okay. You don't have to do that.”

“I have to.”

“You don't have to. This is Korea. We don't kiss to say thank you.”

“But I come from America and I kiss my dad and my friends all the time.”

“Really unnecessary. It's okay. It's my duty to be a good host to you.”

Tiffany rolls her eyes as she sits down. “We'll continue this later. After breakfast.”

-oo-