‘Taeyeon-ah. Taeyeon-ah, wake up’

‘Mmh..’

‘Taeyeon-ah, wake up. You’re gonna be late for class’

Taeyeon slightly opened her eyelids to find the owner of the voice. A short-haired girl was standing near her bed, perfecting her strayed clothes.

‘Rise and shine sleepyhead’, she said.

Taeyeon buried her head back to her pillow, clutching the bed sheets, she curled up under the soft blanket. ‘It’s cold’, she mumbled.

‘Cold?’ Sunny raised her eyebrows upon hearing the faint words. She rolled the older girl’s body to face her. Her motherly instinct told her to put her hand on the latter’s forehead. After all, she had a hard time sleeping when Taeyeon was coughing really hard the whole night.

‘You’re burning up’, she claimed.

‘Nghh..’

‘There’s no way you’re going to class in this state’, her voice was filled with worrisome and concern.

‘Stay at home. Rest well and don’t forget to take your medicine. I’ll tell Hyoyeon to handle your things at school’, she continued. She tugged the girl neatly under the covers.

‘I’ll come home during lunch hour to check on you, okay?’ hearing no reply, Sunny gently shut the bedroom door closed, hoping not to wake the sick girl up.

-

‘Mmmmhhh…’ Taeyeon lazily opened her eyes. Her body felt heavy as she removed the covers, trying to get out of bed. ‘Ugh’, her head felt like it was just got hit by a car. She snorted the overflowing mucus that blocked her nose onto a tissue.  She could feel her body temperature rising like an automatic heater. Later she heard the front door opening and closing. At this hour? Taeyeon thought. She folded the bed cover on her shoulders and went to check outside.

‘Ah, Taeyeon, are you doing better?’ Tiffany shrugged off her jacket from her shoulders.

‘I don’t know. Why are you home so early?’ the shorter girl blew hard into the crumple of tissues in her hand.

‘Early? It’s already 1 o’clock. You slept the whole morning didn’t you?’ Tiffany chuckled. ‘Haish, our TaeTae’, she added.

‘TaeTae?’

‘Taeyeon. Tae. TaeTae.’

Taeyeon raised her eyebrow, satisfied with the girl’s answer, which later became an ‘only-Tiffany-can-call-me-TaeTae’ nickname.

‘I assume you haven’t had your breakfast. Since it’s already lunch hour, I’ll make something for you. Can you wait for a while?’ Tiffany asked. The older girl nodded, still holding on to her bed covers.

Taeyeon took a seat at the dining table, not taking her eyes off Tiffany’s back for even a second. She watched as the girl expertly took control of the kitchen. ‘Fany-ah, you look y’, she suddenly uttered.

‘What?’ the younger girl burst out laughing.

‘Seriously, you look the hottest when you’re cooking’, she said with a straight face.

‘Ah, byuntae…’ Tiffany finally found a reasonable answer for her friend’s strange words.

‘That was one time, by accident’ Taeyeon defended herself.

‘But you seemed to enjoy it’, Tiffany teased.

‘You’re right. Those firm and squishy curves, I could see you’ve been working out’, the sick girl unashamedly stated.

‘Ya! You major byuntae!’

A napkin flew across the kitchen and hit Taeyeon in the face. She victoriously let out her infamous ahjumma laugh, winning the teasing game between her and her newly-discovered best friend.

‘Ouch!’ Tiffany suddenly yelped.

‘What’s wrong?’ Taeyeon’s worried voice cracked.

Taeyeon jumped off her seat and ran straight toward Tiffany. A small cut carved the girl’s finger. Blood was flowing as the poor girl hissed in pain. Taeyeon opened every cabinet over her head, looking for the first-aid kit.

‘Here’, she grabbed Tiffany’s finger and ran it through the tap water.

‘It stings’, the girl whimpered.

‘Big baby’, Taeyeon playfully said.

The older girl earned a slap on her shoulder. She then put Tiffany’s finger on her lips, slightly the excessive blood, which surprised the taller girl.

‘What’s that for?’

‘Grandma said it’s the best medicine for cuts and small wounds’

 ‘Your saliva?’

‘Not only mine, babo-ya’, Taeyeon ran her fingers on Tiffany’s head, messing the brunette locks. She gently wrapped the band-aid on the damaged finger, covering the small cut.

‘Now for the final touch’, Taeyeon gently kissed Tiffany’s finger, earning a smirk from the taller girl in front of her.

‘Cheesy’, the younger girl said.

‘Lunch is almost ready. Help me set the table, okay? I’m handicapped’, she continued.

‘Aren’t you supposed to be taking care of everything for me? I’m the one with the high body temperature’, Taeyeon complained.

‘It’s all your fault. Only if you didn’t go all byuntae on me’ Tiffany said, pinching the shorter girl’s cheeks.

Taeyeon sneaked her arms on Tiffany’s curvy waist, wrapping it tightly to her body.

‘Don’t you like the byuntae me?’ she seductively asked.

‘Yah, stop it’, Tiffany pushed the petite girl away, trying to control her laughter.

‘Arasseo, arasseo’. Taeyeon obediently followed Tiffany’s order of placing the food on the table. They would sometimes playfully slide their shoulders together and shared intense stares, and laughed off when they found it to be too funny –which others might question, the reason behind their silly behavior.

-

Taeyeon finally found the soft comfy mattress that never failed to pamper her into a deep sleep at night. She lazily threw herself into it, letting out a long sigh of relief and satisfaction. She buried her head into the fluffy pillow. Slowly, her eyes began to shut.

‘Wha-!’

Taeyeon felt a pair of hands gripped her ankles, dragging her out from the warm bed covers. She turned her body around to find the familiar brunette chuckling at her dorky expression. The girl kept pulling her feet, making her helplessly slid against the silky bed sheet.

‘What are you doing?’

No answer.

Instead, she kept being dragged until she finally reached the end of the bed.

‘Let me go!’ she helplessly shouted, continuously giggling at the terrifying yet amusing situation.

‘Now you’re wide awake’ Tiffany flashed her infamous eye smile.

‘Okay, what do you want?’ the shorter girl stood up, correcting her wrinkled clothes.

‘Play with me’

‘What?’ her jaw dropped.

‘Let’s play outside’

‘I’m not feeling well’

‘Excuses’

‘What? Feel me’, Taeyeon put the younger girl’s hand on her forehead.

‘That’s why you need to get some fresh air’, Tiffany suggestively stated.

‘Huh?’ the blonde heaved out a long sigh as the taller girl pulled her into the bathroom.

‘Change into this’, Tiffany passed a set of clothing to her and closed the bathroom door, preventing the blonde from escaping.

‘Did Sunkyu tell you to do this?’ a voice echoed from the bathroom.

‘Nope, it just came across me’, Tiffany replied.

Taeyeon came out wearing a light blue jogging suit, similar to Tiffany’s pink one.

‘What’s with the outfit?’ the blonde asked.

‘We’re going out for a run’, Tiffany happily chirped. She pulled the hoodie from Taeyeon’s back and covered it on the latter’s head. ‘Now, that’s better’, she praised herself, satisfied with her ‘work of art’.

‘No way!’ the shorty shockingly stated.

-

‘The sun is too bright’, Taeyeon covered her eyes from the blinding rays.

‘Don’t overreact. You’re not a vampire’.

‘Haish’ she leaned against one of the house pillar.

‘You’re like an old man, you know that?’ Tiffany started stretching, preparing her body up before the run.

‘Why am I an old man?’

‘Sighing and whining. I’ve lost count to how many times you’ve been sighing today’

Taeyeon silently followed Tiffany’s move, stretching her stiff body unwillingly. A few bones cracked.

‘See? Your body is rotting at a young age’, Tiffany chuckled.

‘Let’s go!’ Tiffany slowly jogged out of their yard, leaving the shorter girl behind.

‘Yah! Wait for me~!’

‘Try to keep up, Kim Taeyeon!’ Tiffany started increasing her speed, triggering the older girl to catch up.

Taeyeon geared up to full throttle but never had the chance to get near the athletic American girl, whilst the brunette playfully speeding up and slowing down her pace, sticking her tongue out at times. It seemed more like two kindergarten kids playing catch rather than two best buddies jogging out in the evening.

‘Slowpoke!’ Tiffany shouted. 

After running a few miles the shorter girl finally stopped, panting really hard. Her leg muscles felt like they were ripped out from the bones. She could hear her heart beating irregularly.

‘Worn out already? We’re just getting started!’

‘Just getting started? Where the hell are we now? I never ran this far in my life before!’

The two started shouting at each other from a distance, ignoring the stares from passer bys. Tiffany looked around and realized how far she had taken the girl with her. She recognized the children playground to be the one outside their common neighborhood.

‘Wa…ter…’ Taeyeon mumbled to herself. She lowered her on the rough pavement, inhaling deep breaths and letting them out loudly, hoping for the taller girl would show her some mercy.

‘Aww, poor TaeTae’ Tiffany ran back towards her.

‘Let’s…stop…now…’ the blonde desperately gasped for more air.

Tiffany joined her on the hard surfaced ground. She slowly placed her head on Tiffany’s shoulder. Her heavy breathing slowly reduced. They could listen to their cardiovascular veins pumping as they settled down, leaning against each other, exchanging body heat.

‘See? Your temperature is normal again’ Tiffany cheered.

‘But why do I feel like I’m slowly vaporizing into thin air?’

‘Exaggerating, again’, Tiffany pin-pointed.

The brunette stood up and dusted her . Her face sparkled, not hinting even a slight tiredness, even after running the long mile. ‘Let’s go’, she pulled the smaller girl by the hand.

‘Where?’

‘Home’

‘Finally!’ A dorky smile carved onto Taeyeon’s face. She followed the brunette’s steps and surprised to see her running again.

‘This time, you really need to catch up! A priceless reward is waiting for you!’ the distant Tiffany shouted.

‘Ah…not again’ Taeyeon sighed in frustration.

Tiffany did it again, playfully intriguing the smaller girl into her little game of catch. She would some time stop and let the girl come near her before she started fleeing off again. She called out names to the older girl. Words like ‘shorty’, ‘ahjumma’ and ‘byuntae’ constantly came out of , purposely to annoy the exhausted Taeyeon.

‘Ya! You get back here!’ Taeyeon shouted.

The short-legged blonde forcefully quickened up her pace, finally nearing the grinning brunette who was enjoying her little teasing time. She grabbed the younger girl by the shoulder and clutched her elbow on her neck. The girl was suffocating under the unexpected headlock. ‘Ya! Let me go!’ the helpless girl yelped, struggling for air.

‘Beep! Wrong key word’

‘Please?’ Tiffany struggled to free herself.

‘Beep!’

‘Okay, okay. I’m sorry’, Tiffany pouted, flashing her adorable puppy-like eyes.

Taeyeon finally gave in. How could she not? Tiffany always got away with her antics. Just like last time when she accidentally broke Taeyeon’s favorite mug, and when she made Taeyeon eat the unfinished food from her plate. But it was not something Taeyeon would complain about. Instead, she savored it all.

Soon they realized that they were back at their house, standing in the middle of their mini garden. Taeyeon collapsed to the grassy ground. She lied on her back, spreading out her short limbs like an abandoned starfish on the seashore.

‘Goodbye, world’, she muttered as she slowly close her eyes shut.

‘You’re not going to die’, Tiffany chuckled, watching the latter’s chest heaved up and down every time she took a deep breath. Never in her life had she experience this kind of exhaustion. But till then she wondered how Tiffany seemed to take control of her easily, how her brain and body mindlessly coordinated well with the foreigner’s words. The lying girl crooked a smile.

Taeyeon suddenly felt a soft moisture pair of lips on her cheek. Her eyes sprung open in astonishment as she found Tiffany’s face only a few inches from hers.

‘Your reward’, she hoarsely mumbled, slightly grinning.

Taeyeon felt a rush of blood surging onto her cheeks, turning her face tint red. She sheepishly smiled at the rewarding girl.

‘Your face wasn’t this red when you said you like me’, Tiffany revealed.

‘I… said that?’ her eyebrows furrowed. ‘When?’

‘I’m not telling you’, she stuck her tongue at the blonde.

‘Come here’, Taeyeon pulled Tiffany towards her, causing the younger girl to fall on top of her. She rolled her body over to take dominance and starting tickling Tiffany’s waist vigorously.

‘Hajima~!’ Tiffany pleaded for her to stop. Taeyeon knew it was Tiffany’s greatest weakness. Explosions of laughter accompanied by gasps echoed the neighborhood. The younger girl panted hard as the petite girl finally stopped her fingers from running on her body.

Taeyeon rolled over once more and rested her head on Tiffany’s arm. Both of them gazed into the horizon that was slowly changing its color. The thin grassy-ground wasn’t the most comfortable surface to lie on but they stayed in the same position –at least until the girls come home.

It’s ok for me to like her. She’s my best friend.Taeyeon thought.

A/N: Hey, I'm back for another update! This is quite long, I know. It's May 1st- Labour day, and I was free the whole day. I decided to write more. I hope you will enjoy this chapter. Don't forget to leave your comments, okay? ^^

With love,

SoneLocksmith94