Walls are fascinating. If you stare at them long enough, you start seeing the most interesting things. For instance, as I was staring at the wall, Tiffany’s portrait suddenly formed in front of me. Beautiful sight, I must say.

Loud knocks on the door broke my deep staring contest with the wall. I pushed myself off the chair and walked toward the door. Must be Sooyoung, I thought. She did promise me ice cream and class should have been over by now. I was forced to skip class today, thanks to her, despite the fact that my temporarily disabled arm really wasn’t going to cause me any problems.

I opened the door. “Yah! Do you know how lonely I was? Don’t you ever leave me like that again,” I whined. It was a running joke between Sooyoung and I. For boredom’s sake, we had started to reenact random scenes from dramas which included overly dramatic hugs, sobs, deaths, and then a finisher with us shoveling ice cream down our throats.

But to my horrific dismay, it was not Sooyoung half-dead on the floor but a drop-dead gorgeous angel standing at my doorstep. She stared at me, her jaw slightly open. “I-Uh. W-Well…” A light shade of pink flushed her features.

She was wearing the usual black hoodie and adorned them with her ripped skinny jeans. Still looked as beautiful as ever…unlike me. I was wearing an oversized grey sweatshirt that practically dropped all the way to thighs which were accompanied with green leggings. Probably the only thing that looked like I put some effort into was my hair which was devotedly curled to perfection at the ends and my bangs were swept to one side (I curled my hair due to boredom. Boredom makes you do weird things).

“Tiffany?! W-What are you doing here,” I scanned the hallway, “alone?”

She didn’t answer. Maybe she didn’t hear me.

I was about repeat my question until I locked my eyes with hers. My breath caught in my throat.

Why?

Why was just making eye contact with her…so exhilarating?

I’ll tell you why.

I was hopeless. Hopelessly in love. I was addicted. Addicted to one Miss Tiffany Hwang. And it killed me. It killed me that I couldn’t touch her. It killed me that I couldn’t tell her I loved her more than anything in the universe. It killed me that no matter how much I told myself that I would tell her those feelings, I would always have that sinking feeling in my heart that she would reject me and I would never see her again.

She broke off our eye contact and flashed me her eye smile. “Your ears are turning so red,” she giggled.

“Ah. That’s so embarrassing,” I smiled sadly. Out of embarrassment, I covered my burning right ear which was probably turning even redder.

Tiffany took a few steps toward me and placed her hand on my cheek. My nerves tingled as her cold finger lightly caressed my burning face. “It’s cute,” she said. She moved her hand down to my neck. “You’re burning up. Fever?”

I shook my head, taking her hand off of my neck. Her light touches were going to make me go crazy. “I’m just embarrassed over what I said once I opened the door. Sorry. It must have really shocked you. It was-“

“I was lonely…I missed you a lot, TaeTae,” Tiffany hastily said. She covered her angelic face with her hands. Was she just as embarrassed as me?

“…Eh?” Was I hearing things right? Was Tiffany embarrassed? What the hell was going on?

Tiffany separated two of her fingers so that only her left eye was visible. She then placed her hands to her side. “W-What do you mean ‘Eh’? I was just responding to what you said before…”

“Oh…I didn’t know it was you. I thought Sooyoung was at the door so-”

“Sooyoung?”

“Yeah. It’s something we always do. It’s-”

“Oh. So you two are…lovers,” she stated blatantly. Her voice sounded somewhat…disappointed? Monotone? Either way, her tone didn’t exactly sound natural…like she forced herself to say it. Or was I being delusional? Was Tiffany…jealous? 

“Well, I guess you could call us that...” Technically, I wasn’t lying. I was just bending the truth a bit…okay, maybe by a lot. We were “lovers” in our little drama reenactments, alright? Besides, whether or not I was lying was the least of my worries.

I was curious. Really, really curious. I wanted to know her feelings. This isn’t exactly the best way to do it but I don’t think there was any other way. (There’s asking her straight in the face. But I’d probably explode from embarrassment before she could answer.)

Tiffany didn’t say anything. turned into a thin line. I stared into her eyes, trying to find any hint of emotion in them. But her eyes were blank, emotionless. Even though it was an absurd idea to begin with, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

“Sooyoung and I act out drama scenes for fun so that’s where we’re lovers, I guess. Other than that, I think Sooyoung is looking for someone else way better than me.” I gently laughed.

“…I think you would make a perfect girlfriend,” she said.

I froze. Heck, my brain must have shut down because I had no idea how to react to that. Did Tiffany just say I would make a perfect girlfriend? Me?! The questions started to spill over. Why would Tiffany say that? Was it a hint that she might like me? Or was she just complimenting me? What the hell is going on?!

After what was probably a few minutes, I finally returned to reality. Crap, I was sweating like a madman. Oh God, I felt like I was sitting in a volcano. I was in dire need for a trip to the freezer. “Um…Thanks, I guess. W-Why don’t you come inside?” I gestured my hand toward the inside of the dorm. “It’s kind of messy in there, sorry.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Tiffany sang flashing another eye smile at me.

I must be as red as a tomato by now. Tiffany was going to be the death of me, I swear.

“Sooo…where’s everyone else?” I asked after shutting the door. I started to walk into the kitchen.

Tiffany plopped herself onto the blue couch, her back facing me. “Oh. I think they’re at the ice cream parlor. I…uh…really wanted to see you especially since Sooyoung said you got hurt.”

“Oh. Well, thanks for coming. I was getting bored anyway,” I said from the kitchen. I hurriedly opened the freezer door and stuck my head in it. The freezing cold air hitting my burning face was practically heaven. I let out a chilly breath of relief as my face as getting considerably cooler. I grabbed two Pepsi cans, closed the door with my leg, and walked over to Tiffany.

I handed her the soda can which she happily accepted. She easily opened the can and took a sip. “Sooyoung told me that you got in the middle of a fight between two guys during your trip two days ago and got attacked.”

Huh, so that’s the story Sooyoung came up with. Well, at least it made me look somewhat heroic. And here I thought she said I tripped over a rock or something.

“Where’d you get hit?” Tiffany asked me.

“On the arm.” I rolled up the sleeve to reveal my newly bandaged forearm.

Tiffany grimaced. “How painful was it?”

I nonchalantly sat on the sofa on Tiffany’s right side, fiddling with the soda can tab. “Painful enough to get stitches, I guess.” I continued to play with the soda can lid, my mind still wandering towards Tiffany’s words.

A gentle touch on my bandaged arm broke me from my daze. Tiffany lightly gripped my arm with her free hand as she placed her soda down on the wooden table in front of her. She looked completely entranced with my arm for some strange reason.

My mind was still wandering around Neverland and words started to spill out of my mouth. “Why did you tell me that?”

“Tell you what?”

“That I would make the perfect girlfriend.”

…Oh, . My mouth was not supposed to say that.

Tiffany looked up at me, another blush creeping up on her face. “I-It just popped up out of my mouth.”

“Oh.”

That…was disappointing. Well, I couldn’t blame Tiffany. It was pretty much my stupid fault for getting so damn hopeful over something like this.

After a few seconds of silence, Tiffany spoke up. “There’s reasons though…You’re so kind to everybody. You’re even nice to me, the weirdo.”

“You’re not weird.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes. Color-changing eyes aren’t normal. I’m forced to wear these stupid brown contacts because of it.” She pointed at her eyes which were indeed not changing colors.

“I think they’re pretty.”

“…Pretty?”

“Yeah. They’re beautiful.”

“…TaeTae, you’re really strange person, you know that?”

I let out a small laugh. “People tell me that a lot.”

“It’s a good thing.”

“Eh? How is being strange good?”

“Being normal is boring. Plus, strange people are cute.” Tiffany started to twist her finger into one of my well-done curls. “Especially the short, dorky ones,” Tiffany smiled.

My face was heating up again. I mentally sighed. Looks like I’ll have to make another trip to the freezer.

Silence filled the room again. I continued to play with the soda can tab, the sounds echoing throughout the room. I still hadn’t managed to open the thing.

“Here. I’ll open that for you.” Tiffany stretched out her hand.

I moved the soda closer to my body. “No. It’s okay. I can do it.”

“Yah. TaeTae, you’ve been trying to open it for at least ten minutes now. Give it.”

“Nooo,” I whined. I hugged the soda can.

“Why are you so stubborn?” Tiffany sighed.

“Deal with it.” I stuck my tongue out at her.

I focused my full attention to my soda can. I’d open it with ease but right now, I couldn’t. Tiffany was making my arms turn into jelly.

Suddenly, Tiffany snatched the can out of my hands. “Yah!” I yelled.

Tiffany giggled. “Your soda’s going to expire before you open it.”

Lalalalala Lalalalala 1 2 3 4 5 6~

I blushed as Tiffany tried to hold in her laughter. I really needed to change that ring tone. “Sorry about that,” I apologized. I slowly got up.

Tiffany smiled at me, her eyes forming a crescent-moon shape. I tried to copy Tiffany’s trademark eye-smile but it only ended up with Tiffany bursting out in laughter, her hands clapping loudly. “Soo cute!”

I ran over to my bed and grabbed my phone off of it. I checked the caller ID: “Lee Jung-Su” better known as the store owner from last mission. We had exchanged phone numbers before I left to go back home two days ago.

I kneeled down on the floor, hiding myself from Tiffany’s eyesight.

”Hello?” I answered the phone.

“Ah! Taeyeon, I hope this isn’t a bad time…”

“Uh…Well, actually, it is,” I said in a quiet voice. I didn’t need Tiffany hearing this.

“Oh…my bad. I guess you wouldn’t want to have a small chat with me then,” he gently laughed.

“Sorry...”

“Can I guess that you’re with that friend you like?”

Wow, right on the mark. “Are you psychic?”

Jung-Su softly laughed. “Good intuition. Did he receive the present?”

“Umm…it’s she and no, I didn’t. Thanks for reminding me, though. I almost forgot.”

“She?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“What’s there to be sorry about? If anything, I should be the one to apologize.”

“I’m sick of your apologies. It gets tiring hearing them.”

Another deep laugh entered my ears. “My bad. Well, sorry for interrupting you. Bye.”

“It’s alright. Later.”

I ended the call with Jung-Su and started to search near my bed for my bag with Tiffany’s present. I finally managed to find it under a pile of random crap that wasn’t mine. It was probably Sooyoung’s. She was always invading my space.

I grabbed the bag and ran back to Tiffany. “Sorry about that,” I gasped.

“It’s alright,” said Tiffany. “I opened the can for you. Wasn’t that hard, you know.”

I seated myself next to her, bag and phone in hand. “I told you I could do it myself.”

“Sure, you can,” giggled Tiffany as she took another sip of soda.

I bent over my seat to reach the lone Pepsi can sitting on the table. “Oh. That’s mine,” I heard Tiffany say.

“What? But you’re drinking that one.” I pointed at the can that was sitting on her lips.

“…Oops.”

“Yah!” I smirked as Tiffany shyly returned my Pepsi back to me.

“So what’s in that bag?” Tiffany asked, curiosity shining in her eyes.

“It’s…um…a present for you. I got it during out trip,” I said shyly.

“Really?! You’re so sweet, TaeTae!” Tiffany flashed her famous eye-smile at me again.

Seriously. There’s no way I could get sick of it. I don’t want to get sick of it.

I guzzled down my Pepsi, choking a bit as the soda left a burning sensation in my throat. “It’s nothing, really. When I saw it, it reminded me of you.” I shuffled around the bag to make sure that I only grabbed the Totoro phone charm. I wasn’t all that ready to let her see the key and lock necklaces.

I lifted my hand out of the bag taking the Totoro charm alongside it. And with my horrible, horrible luck, the key and lock necklaces were tangled together on the charm. My jaw dropped. I thought I just said I wasn’t ready for this. What the hell did I do in my past life to deserve all of this bad luck? 

Tiffany let out an adorable squeal. “Woow! It’s so cute!” She touched the lock necklace with her delicate fingers. “Are these…friendship necklaces?”

“Ah…Uh….Yeah,” I managed to sputter out.

“It’s beautiful…” Tiffany crooned, gazing at the two intertwining necklaces. “TaeTae, which one do you want?”

“What? Uh….You first.”

“No. You bought them, you choose.”

“Ladies first.”

Tiffany lightly knocked me on the head. “Yah. What are you then?”

“…Short?”

Tiffany laughed. She gently punched me on the shoulder. “Alright. I’ll take the lock.” She started to untangle the two necklaces from the Totoro charm.

“You need help?” I asked as I placed the Pepsi can on the small table.

“No.” The necklaces separated. Tiffany placed the charm on the empty space to the left of her. She wrapped the lock necklace around her neck and smiled at it. She held up the key necklace in front of my face. “Here. I’ll put it on for you.”

“N-No thanks. It’s okay. I can do it myself.”

“Aww. Just let me do it.” Tiffany opened the necklace clasp, holding the silver chain with both of her hands.

Tiffany scooted closer to me. She brushed my hair to one side to get a clear view of my neck. Without difficulty, Tiffany wrapped the necklace around my neck and clasped the two ends of the silver chain together. “You have a pretty neck,” she commented, sitting back in her normal position.

“Uh…Thanks?” Even though I said compliments were rare for me, I really didn’t expect this one. Of all things, my neck? What about my perfectly done curls?  

Tiffany giggled. “Sorry. Was that a bit creepy?”

“Yes.”

Tiffany placed her hand on her chest, pretending to be insulted. “You’re so mean~” She gently flicked my nose.

“Yah! That hurt!” It didn’t really hurt. But hey, if Tiffany was being playful all of a sudden, why not me?  

“Want me to kiss it for you?” she teased, her tongue slightly sticking out.

“Yes,” I blurted out.

…I seriously needed to shut my mouth. I always had the stupid tendency to blurt out things that didn’t need to be said.

“Alright then,” said Tiffany.

“…What?”

“I’m going to give you a kiss on your oo,” Tiffany replied in a mocking tone. She moved even closer to me.

I couldn’t refuse her offer. I just froze in place, my heart beating rapidly. I swear, she was flirting with me. I ing swear. I mean, what else could it be? But that feeling deep inside, buried somewhere, continued to chant the same words to me: “Don’t get your hopes up.”

I gulped as Tiffany was practically hovering over my face. “Yah. TaeTae, close your eyes.”

“Why? It’s just a peck.”

“It’s…weird. Plus, your stares…embarrass me,” Tiffany said, her face getting redder.

“…Sorry.”

I closed my eyes tightly. I was lying on the back rest of the sofa in a stiff position. My fingers continuously tapped to a random beat as I waited for my “kiss”.

Instead, I felt a cold hand cover my eyes.

“Yah! What are you doing?!” I cried out.

“N-nothing. Just in case…”

“Seriously-”

I felt something brush across my lips. Something soft, something that tasted like Pepsi, something called Tiffany’s lips. Then, I felt a quick peck on my nose.

Tiffany took her hand off of my eyes, leaving me completely dumbfounded.

Did she just try to kiss me on the lips? Was it some kind of mistake? Why on earth did she do it? Was it possible that she liked me? Should I be crying of happiness right now?

I opened my eyes and turned my head toward Tiffany, who had her back turned to me. Her hands were covering her face.

My mind was going absolutely nuts. I needed to cool my head so I grabbed my Pepsi and gulped down a large amount causing me to painfully cough.

Tiffany must have thought I was dying since she quickly came to my side, worried. “TaeTae, are you okay?!”

I looked up at her and once our eyes connected, she blushed and turned her head to avoid my gaze.

In an attempt to evade my eyes, she grabbed my phone. “You have such a cute,” Tiffany’s excited voice quickly became more dull, “…screensaver.”

I bent over to her side to see my phone. Tiffany was staring at the picture that Hyuna and I took together, our tongues sticking out in a childish way. “Oh. Hyuna’s a cutie, isn’t she? Plus, she’s around my height. We should all hang out together some time, I’m sure you’ll like her too.”

“Sure,” Tiffany replied halfheartedly. Her eyes then lit up, “Hey…we should take some pictures together.”

“I-If you want.”

Still avoiding my eyes, she grabbed my arm and dragged me closer to her side. She raised my phone slightly diagonal from our heads. “1, 2, 3…what should we say?”

“Taeny.”

…After this, I’m taping my mouth shut.

“Taeny?” Tiffany asked, confused.

My ears were probably turning red again. “Taeyeon…Tiffany…Taeny,” I mumbled.

After a few seconds, Tiffany finally understood me. She clapped her hands. “That’s a good one! Okay then, let’s use that.”

She raised the phone in the air again. “Okay. 1, 2, 3…”

“TAENY!” we both yelled in unison.

Tiffany looked at the end results of our photo-taking. She giggled, “Yah. TaeTae, your eyes are closed.” She waved the phone in front of me.

I stared the picture. Yup, my eyes were indeed closed. I blame the flash. But it wasn’t me who I was staring at, it was Tiffany. Her eye-smile wasn’t as breath-taking as it was in reality but it was still beautiful. She was definitely photogenic.

“Yah. How long are you going to stare at the picture?” Tiffany asked.

As long as I wanted to which was basically forever. But I wasn’t going to tell her that. “Sorry. I was looking at my curls,” I lied

“They are pretty…”

I smiled. “I worked really hard on them.”

“Good job.” Tiffany patted me on the head like I was a pet dog. Our eyes connected for a second before Tiffany quickly turned her head.

Alright, I wasn’t going to deal with this anymore. I was not going have Tiffany right next to me and not look at her beautiful eyes. I was going to ask her straight out about that ‘kiss’. After a few seconds of me mustering up my courage and yelling encouraging words in my head, I planned exactly what I was going to say. “Fany-”

“TaeTae, I’m going put this picture as your new screensaver, okay?” Tiffany cut me off. “And tomorrow…Oh! I’m sorry! What were you going to say?”

“No…It’s okay,” I said. “Go on. What about tomorrow?”

“Well…I was going to meet up with Siwon tomorrow,” answered Tiffany as she twiddled her fingers.

“Oh,” I said in a dull tone. That guy. He needs to fall in a hole, preferably a dirty sewer.

“But, Jessica refused to let me go alone. So I was wondering if you would come with me and maybe after, we could go somewhere else.” Tiffany stared at her fingers, her cheeks colored a pinkish hue.

“Of course!” I said a little too enthusiastically.

Tiffany turned her head toward me. “Great!” She smiled, flashing her perfect white teeth at me. But she was still avoiding my eyes.

Alright, try #2. “Fany-”

I was cut off again by loud sounds from outside. I managed to hear Sooyoung chanting “Ice cream!” and other chatter.

“Oh. I guess they’re back,” said Tiffany. “I think I’ll leave now…”

“Okay,” I replied in disappointed tone.

Tiffany got off of the couch and did a small bow. “Thanks for having me,” she held up the Totoro charm, “and this. Oh, by the way, be ready for tomorrow by nine okay?”

Then she smiled. But it was different from all of the other ones. It was more beautiful than all the other ones combined. Her smile and her eyes showed off a somewhat timid behavior but they were radiating something else too. Something that I had no idea what it was. But it was something beautiful and it was something she was giving to me.