Do You Like Waffles?

Tzuyu sat nervously in the car with her friends. She’s never done this before. She’s worried about all the possible things that could happen.

“Tzuyu, chill,” Dahyun said as she rolled her eyes as she drove.

“Yeah, calm down,” Chaeyoung added. She softly patted Tzuyu’s back.

The three were currently going to a New Year’s Eve party. Tzuyu has never been to a party that wasn’t a simple birthday party. She was worried that the party would be like all those crazy parties that she’s heard about.

“What if we get hurt?” Tzuyu asked in fear.

“We won’t get hurt,” Chaeyoung was ready to throw Tzuyu out the window.

“What if we-”

“Tzuyu!” Dahyun interrupted, “Jihyo, Nayeon, and Jeongyeon are the ones throwing this party! They wouldn’t let psychos into the party and they certainly wouldn’t let anyone get hurt!”

“But-”

“Just shut up and enjoy yourself.” Chaeyoung shoved her hand in front of Tzuyu’s mouth.

Dahyun soon made it to the party. The party was being thrown at Jihyo’s house, simply because it was massive. Dahyun parked in the designated parking areas and the three got out of the car. Dahyun and Chaeyoung skipped towards the front doors happily; Tzuyu trailed behind them cowardly.

“This is going to be awesome!” Dahyun shouted as she knocked on the door.

“Yeah! Aren’t you excited, Tzuyu?!” Chaeyoung looked at Tzuyu.

“Uh-”

“Why is no one opening the door?!” Dahyun harshly knocked on the door again.

“Maybe this is a sign, we should go-” Tzuyu tried to say.

“I’ll call Nayeon,” Chaeyoung took out her cell phone and called Nayeon, “Nayeon can you-”

The door slammed opened.

“Hey guys!” Nayeon smiled at them as she let them inside the house. The second the door opened, they heard very loud music. Jihyo’s house exterior must be sound proof.

“You guys didn’t open the door when I knocked!” Dahyun whined as she entered the house. Chaeyoung skipped inside. Tzuyu quietly followed them.

“Sorry, we couldn’t hear you. The awesomeness in the house was just too loud!” Nayeon giggled. She and the other three s through the large crowd that was currently dancing in Jihyo’s large living room. They entered the kitchen, where Jihyo and Jeongyeon were.

Jihyo was currently pouring some fruit punch into a large bowl. Jeongyeon was pouting, leaning on the counter.

“Nayeon! You’re back!” Jeongyeon hugged Nayeon the second she appeared in the kitchen.

“She was gone for like ten seconds,” Jihyo rolled her eyes.

“More like, an eternity,” Jeongyeon and Nayeon cuddled.

“Whatever,” Jihyo chuckled. She faced the younger three, “I’m glad you guys can make it here to the party!”

“Thank you for inviting us!” Chaeyoung thanked.

“Yeah! You have tons of people here! Are you expecting more?” Dahyun smiled at Jihyo.

“A few more, I think three,” Jihyo replied. She looked at Tzuyu.

“Why so quiet, Tzuyu?” Jihyo raised an eyebrow at Tzuyu.

“I-”

“She’s just super excited to be here!” Dahyun smacked Tzuyu’s back, “Right?”

“Y-Yeah,” Tzuyu looked down and played with the hem of her shirt.

“Well, don’t just stand around, have fun!” Jihyo ushered them out of the kitchen.

“Hey Jihyo! Awesome party!” Some random friend of Jihyo’s shouted. Everyone cheered as well when they saw her.

“Nayeon and Jeongyeon are awesome for helping you prepare for it!” Someone else shouted.

Jihyo smiled at the crowd. Nayeon and Jeongyeon were missing. They were probably in the bathtub making out or something.

Jihyo looked at the three again, “Remember, we’re all going to be counting down to the new year, come back at exactly 11:55 P.M.”

The three nodded at Jihyo before she left. Dahyun and Chaeyoung walked towards the table full of snacks that was in the corner of the massive living room. Tzuyu followed them.

“This party has a lot more people than I thought it would,” Chaeyoung said as she munched on some cookies.

“I know, right?” Dahyun bit into a potato chip.

Dahyun and Chaeyoung swallowed their snacks before looking at Tzuyu. They both looked at her confused.

“And what are you doing?” Dahyun raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, partying with you two?” Tzuyu replied.

“You aren’t partying.” Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, “Go walk around or something, stop following us around.”

Tzuyu’s eyes widened in fear, “But-”

“Stop trying to glue yourself to our backs, we can’t keep watch on you forever,” Dahyun shook her head, “Go have fun, a new year is starting soon!”

Tzuyu nodded cautiously before walking to another corner of the living room. She heard the front door open again.

“Welcome guys!” Tzuyu heard Nayeon greet the newcomers.

“I wonder if that’s the last three friends that Jihyo was expecting,” Tzuyu peaked into the hallway where the front entrance was at. She saw Nayeon with three girls. They looked foreign, like her. The girl that she thought looked the most beautiful looked Tzuyu in the eyes. She winked.

Tzuyu blushed deep red and fled back into the living room. She ran to where Dahyun and Chaeyoung still were.

“Wow, you're back already? It’s been what, one minute?” Dahyun glared a little at Tzuyu.

“I-I just-”

“Hey guys! I wanted to introduce my super close friends to my other super close friends!” The three heard Jihyo shouting at them. Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu looked at Jihyo. Nayeon and Jeongyeon were beside her, kissing each other on the cheek. Three other girls were also beside her. Dahyun and Chaeyoung gasped a bit when they saw them.

“H-Hi! I’m Chaeyoung!” Chaeyoung stammered while look at a girl with a figure that resembled a ballerina.

“I-I’m Dahyun!” Dahyun stammered as well. Her eyes were locked onto the girl that seemed like a good dancer.

Tzuyu didn’t say anything as she stared at the girl who winked at her earlier. Tzuyu could feel herself flush again.

“Psst,” Chaeyoung nudged Tzuyu.

“T-Tzuyu…” Tzuyu squeaked out. The girl that Tzuyu was staring at giggled.

“Uh, okay…” Jihyo raised an eyebrow at the three,” Anyways, this is Mina, Momo, and Sana! They’re Japanese!”

The three Japanese girls waved cutely at the youngest three. The younger three nervously waved back.

“Alright guys, mingle! We’re going to check on everyone else!” Jihyo, Nayeon, and Jeongyeon left. Well, it was more like Jihyo had to drag the other two away by the ear.

The six were left together. They were standing there awkwardly.

“I-I like drawing!” Chaeyoung suddenly exclaimed. Dahyun and Tzuyu almost facepalmed.

“That’s cool, I hope you can draw for me sometime,” Mina smiled at Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung almost died.

“W-What do you like to do?” Chaeyoung asked Mina.

“I like ballet. In fact, I’ll be participating in a competition soon. You guys should come!” Mina beamed at the three, but mostly at Chaeyoung.

“R-Really? We just met,” Chaeyoung replied with wide eyes.

Mina patted Chaeyoung’s head, “Any close friend of Jihyo’s is a friend of mine.”

“O-Okay,” Chaeyoung flushed into a nice shade of pink. Mina giggled.

“Wanna d-dance?” Chaeyoung pointed at the middle of the living room where everyone else was dancing.

“Sure,” Mina took Chaeyoung’s outstretched hand and allowed her to lead her onto the dance floor. Now there were four of them standing there.

“C-Cookie?” Dahyun randomly stuck out a cookie into the air.

“Yeah, thanks!” Momo took the cookie and chomped on it. Sana and Mina shook their heads. Anyone that offered Momo food is automatically on her ‘cool friends list’.

Momo gave Dahyun a quick hug before continuing to devour the snacks on the huge snack table. Dahyun almost choked at the tight hug. She smiled at Momo and ate snacks with her. The two were in their own little world.

And now there were two.

Sana giggled as she looked at her friends. She then looked at Tzuyu with a cute smile.

“Having fun so far?” Sana asked.

“I-I just got here, I haven’t done anything yet,” Tzuyu looked down. Sana looked amused. She brought her hand to Tzuyu’s chin and lifted her face.

“Don’t be shy.”

Tzuyu looked into Sana’s eyes with very red cheeks, “It’s hard not to.”

“Why?” Sana giggled.

“H-Have you seen yourself?” Tzuyu slapped her hand in front of her own mouth.

“I-I mean-”

“I get it,” Sana chuckled. Tzuyu awkwardly nodded and looked into the crowd. She found Chaeyoung with her hands on Mina’s waist; Mina’s arms were around Chaeyoung’s neck.

“They sure got close fast, didn’t they?” Sana said amused.

“Y-Yeah…” Tzuyu stole a few glances at Sana. Sana caught every single one. They both heard a burp. They looked at Dahyun. Dahyun’s cheeks were as red as an apple. Momo giggled and patted Dahyun’s back.

“It’s okay, I understand,” Momo comforted. Dahyun smiled at Momo and they continued eating.

“You wanna dance?” Sana took Tzuyu’s hand and was already tugging her towards the dance floor. She didn’t even try to wait for Tzuyu’s response to her question.

“I don’t really dance-”

“Everyone dances! At least in their own way~” Sana started swaying her hips. Tzuyu looked down at Sana’s y hips. Sana turned around as she dance, giving Tzuyu a view of her swaying backside. Tzuyu gulped.

“I’m going to get some fresh air!” Tzuyu ran from the dance floor and up Jihyo’s enormous stairs. Sana raised an eyebrow as she watched Tzuyu leave.

Tzuyu ended up at a large corridor with a balcony. She slowly walked towards the balcony. She closed her eyes when she felt the comforting wind blow through her hair. She walked to the edge of the balcony and rested her hands on the bars that are meant to prevent her from falling over. She breathed deeply.

“Tzuyu?”

Tzuyu turned around and saw Sana.

“Sana?”

“Sorry if I disturbed you. I just… I just got worried that you became uncomfortable because of me…” Sana said as she stood next to Tzuyu.

“No, no… It’s fine; I’m fine,” Tzuyu replied, “I’ve just never done this before.”

“Done what?” Sana asked.

“This,” Tzuyu waved her arms around her, “I don’t go to parties, I don’t mingle with people, and I certainly don’t feel this around people I’ve just met.”

“Feel this? What do you mean by ‘this’?” Sana placed her hand on top of Tzuyu’s. She looked outwards into the night sky. Tzuyu looked down at their hands, not sure what to make of this feeling.

“I don’t know… You make me nervous. The second I saw you, I felt… nervous,” Tzuyu explained.

“Oh,” Sana nodded with a little smile on her face, “Maybe you need to mingle with me more. That may make you less nervous.”

“H-How?”

“Just talk to me,” Sana said simply.

“I don’t know what to talk about,” Tzuyu looked into the sky with a sigh.

“Anything, talk about anything,” Sana rubbed Tzuyu’s hand, encouraging her.

“Do you like waffles?” Tzuyu blurted out.

“What?” Sana blinked.

“Do you like waffles?” Tzuyu repeated herself.

Sana laughed, “I guess I do, why?”

“The verb waffle means to be indecisive,” Tzuyu randomly said, “and ‘waff’ means ‘to yelp like a puppy’.”

“I see,” Sana giggled, “Anything else I should know about waffles?”

“The world’s largest waffle is eight feet long,” Tzuyu continued, “It was made in 2013 by some guy in the Netherlands.”

“That’s cool,” Sana smiled, she was very amused right now.

“Yeah…” Tzuyu nodded, “Did you know that that several countries have a specific day where they celebrate waffles?”

Sana giggled again, “No, I didn’t. Tell me about them.”

“In the United States, National Waffle Day is on August 24th. That’s the day Cornelius Swartwout first patented the waffle iron in the United States,” Tzuyu explained.

“That’s interesting, anything else?” Sana smiled as she looked into Tzuyu’s deep eyes.

“Uh, in Sweden, Waffle Day is on March 25th. Lots of waffles are eaten on that day over there.”

“Cool.”

“Yeah.”

Sana and Tzuyu both looked away from each other and gazed into the dark sky again. They continued to stand there quietly.

“You made me feel nervous too, you know,” Sana suddenly whispered. Tzuyu looked at her surprised.

“Really?”

“I can’t explain it either, but when I first saw you, I felt… something,” Sana explained with a faint blush.

“But you seem so confident-”

“I seem confident,” Sana emphasized, shaking her head with a little laugh, “I was shaking in my knees when I spoke to you.”

“O-Oh.”

Tzuyu looked at Sana with a small smile. Sana did the same. They both felt a force pulling each other closer to each other. Their lips were a millimeter apart-

“There you guys are! Jihyo says that it’s almost time for the countdown!” Jeongyeon shouted at the two before running back downstairs to her beloved Nayeon.

Sana and Tzuyu backed away from each other while giggling.

“We should go,” Tzuyu pointed back towards the corridor.

“Yeah,” Sana held out her hand. Tzuyu looked at it for a few seconds before taking it. They both walked into the corridor and down the stairs. Everyone was outside on Jihyo’s front lawn. She prepared tons of fireworks. She was going to force Nayeon and Jeongyeon to light them all.

“The countdown is going to start very soon!” Jihyo shouted as she looked at her cell phone’s time.

Sana and Tzuyu stood next to each other. Sana had her arms wrapped around Tzuyu’s waist. Tzuyu had one of her arms around Sana’s back. They both said the excuse of ‘it’s cold’.

It wasn’t cold at all.

They looked beside them. Mina and Chaeyoung were hugging each other. Momo and Dahyun were holding hands.

“Where were you guys? You guys suddenly disappeared,” Mina raised an eyebrow.

“We were in the balcony,” Tzuyu replied.

“Doing what?” Momo asked.

“Talking,” Sana answered this time.

“Talking about what?” Chaeyoung and Dahyun both simultaneously asked.

“Waffles,” Sana and Tzuyu said at the same time. They both looked at each other with huge smiles on their faces.

The other four looked at each other awkwardly. They didn’t understand.

“Guys! We’re about to start the countdown! The second we reach ‘1’, Nayeon and Jeongyeon are going to light the fireworks!” Jihyo shouted excitedly. Everyone raised their arms and cheered.

“Starting from 10… NOW!” Jihyo shouted as she put away her cell phone.

Sana and Tzuyu looked at each other again.

“Thank for teaching me about waffles,” Sana smiled.

“Waffles are fun to talk about,” Tzuyu smiled back.

Tzuyu and Sana got a little closer to each other.

They hugged each other tightly.

They looked around for a second to see Nayeon and Jeongyeon getting ready to light the fireworks.

They also saw Jihyo jumping up and down.

They saw Mina and Chaeyoung hugging each other tightly; Momo and Dahyun were gazing into each other’s eyes deeply.

Sana and Tzuyu looked back into each other's eyes, leaning into each other.

Fireworks erupted around them as their lips met.

“Happy New Year!”

Sana and Tzuyu ignored the noises around them as they gently moved their lips against one another’s. When they pulled back, they found all the other couples kissing as well.

Great minds think alike, I guess.

Tzuyu smiled down at Sana, “I think this is going to be a great year.”

Sana pecked Tzuyu on the cheek, “Yeah… We should eat waffles together sometime.”

“Definitely.”