Bad Liar
Bad Liar
"And the last determinant of demand is?" Mr Kang tapped on the board with the back of his marker.
Two hands shot up at the exact same time.
"Yes, Taeyeon?"
"The number of substitutes available."
Mr Kang nodded. "Very good Taeyeon, I expect an A on your next class test."
Taeyeon cheekily grinned and nodded, earning the envious glances from the other students in the night tuition class. Well, all except one girl who had her eyes glued onto the board, mentally taking notes and jotting down every single word the professor said.
"Supernormal profit is-"
"When total revenue minus total cost is more than zero." Taeyeon nonchalantly responded.
"Yes Taeyeon, very good." Mr Kang smiled a little. "Give the others a chance."
She earned even more envious gasps and stares.
"So, what's subnormal profit then?"
A hand shot up from the second front row of the class.
"When total revenue minus total cost is less than zero." A girl with a husky voice responded.
Taeyeon suddenly stopped paying attention to the eraser she was playing with and focused towards the front. She had heard that husky voice a couple of times before, but she was never paying enough attention to catch the name.
"Very good, Tiffany."
So it's Tiffany.
Taeyeon unconsciously smiled and continued fiddling with her eraser, hoping that if she didn't answer anymore questions, Tiffany would answer some of them.
"The average curve cuts the marginal cost curve at it's minimum point."
Mmmm, such a nice voice. Wonder how she looks like.
"Profit maximisation is when the marginal revenue is equal to the marginal cost."
Eh, she's pretty smart too.
"Okay class is over, remember to revise." Mr Kang's voice brought her back to reality.
Damn, I wanted to continue listening to that nice soothing voice.
"And oh, the first person that manages to finish this stack of questions gets my special notebook."
Taeyeon gasped and momentarily forgot about everything else. It was the notebook. The special notebook, the one that got every single student an A in economics in the final exam. She had to get it, that book. It was the only reason she was here. She slung her bag over her shoulder and skipped a little to the front to grab the questions.
She gaped at how many there were. It was literally a stack, no, it was a mountain. There had to be at least 200 questions in there. But then she shrugged, economics had never been a problem for her anyway.
As she was on the way out, Tiffany's voice caught her attention. She her heel and threw a sidelong glance.
"Yeaaaah, that's how you do it! And you draw this line here…"
Oh? The girl was helping the others. The crowd of students shifted a little, and through the gap in the convulsing mass of bodies that Taeyeon probably would never join, she saw Tiffany.
So it was this girl.
The one that was always helping others, before and after class. Taeyeon paused for a little, shifting her body so she was simply standing at the door, staring at the crowd of people. It had always confused her, how Tiffany could be so kind, so… helpful.
Taeyeon shrugged and slung the bag over her other shoulder. Tearing her eyes away from Tiffany, she saw an eyesmile at the last second and had to stop herself from involuntarily looking back.
Although the cold wind rushed at her once she entered onto the cold nighttime streets of Seoul, her heart beat frenziedly and her cheeks felt hot.
She only had one question.
Why?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Taeyeon?"
"…"
"Taeyeon?"
"…"
"TAEYEON!"
Taeyeon finally broke out of her reverie and jumped out of her seat, finally focusing her on Mr Kang.
"You don't seem like yourself today, are you alright?"
Taeyeon smiled sheepishly and sat back down. "I'm fine."
"Okay, then let's go on with class."
"…Damn that red hair." Taeyeon muttered under her breath.
"Taeyeon are you talking to yourself?" Mr Kang questioned, still facing the board scribbling.
"Uh, y-y-, no, sir, no." Taeyeon stammered but finally managed to get her words out.
"Is something bothering you? A certain boy perhaps, since you never seem to be worried about results." Mr Kang chuckled, amused, as did the rest of the class.
"No sir, please continue with the class." Taeyeon huffed, her cheeks turning a rosy pink.
More like a certain girl.
Taeyeon sighed.
Class flew by pretty swiftly, with Taeyeon secretly fangirling over Tiffany's voice, and her silky red hair. Tiffany's voice was like music to her ears, gently prodding her heart, rhythmically creating a melody, a tune, that only she seemed to be able to hear.
Taeyeon pushed past the convulsing mass of bodies after class. She never thought she would ever do this. But Tiffany just intrigued her so, and she couldn't help herself.
"Hi um… Tippani, could you help me with this?" Taeyeon stuttered a little towards the front of her sentence, and she inwardly cursed, hoping that she'd run into a wall later.
"Sure, but you'll have to wait okay? They kinda asked me first." Tiffany smiled apologetically.
Taeyeon retreated to the back row of the class, observing Tiffany while she helped the rest of the students. To be honest, the rest of the students were just making use of Tiffany's kindness. Taeyeon caught a glimpse of the questions they were asking, and they were simply asking about questions they didn't have problems with, but those that they were just too lazy to do themselves. The longer she watched, the more peeved she got.
The students finally cleared out of the class.
Finally.
Taeyeon gathered her books and moved towards the front.
"So you wanted to ask me a question?" Tiffany smiled.
"Yeah, why are you so nice?" Taeyeon looked straight into Tiffany's soft but determined eyes.
"Sorry?"
"Nice. You. Why?" Taeyeon earnestly asked. She couldn't believe there was someone so kind… It was just so unreal in the competitive backstabbing world she lived in.
Tiffany waved away Taeyeon's compliment and laughed embarrassedly.
"I'm not that nice, I just help people when I can."
Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows. "That's nice to me."
"You're sweet, Taeyeon." Tiffany stretched out her hand but suddenly stopped and changed the topic. "You wanted to ask me a question?"
Taeyeon blanked out for a moment. "U-u-h yeah."
Wait what question?
"I kinda figured it out myself when you were helping the other students." Taeyeon knocked her own head lightly and grinned.
"You're a bad liar, you know?" Tiffany gave an eyesmile to Taeyeon as she packed her books up.
Taeyeon gulped. She didn't trust herself to say anything coherent.
"See you next lesson, Taeyeon." Tiffany waved as she exited the classroom.
"See you…"
Taeyeon could only stare dreamily at the already closed door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Taeyeon tapped Mr Kang's shoulder.
"Sir I finished it."
"Oh? That was quick." Mr Kang grinned. "Not that I'm surprised though."
Mr Kang passed Taeyeon a thick leather cased notebook. It smelt… like knowledge.
"Thanks sir." Taeyeon grinned as the notebook was bestowed upon her.
"No problem. Oh, any progress with the boy?"
"Uh… what guy sir?" Taeyeon asked, confused.
"You're a bad liar, Taeyeon. You know, the one you have a crush on?" Mr Kang teased.
"But I don't-"
"The one you stayed back after class with the other day, I mean." Mr Kang winked.
"But that wasn't a bo-" Taeyeon's didn't manage to finish her sentence as she quickly mouthed an "Oh."
Flustered, all she did was nod a quick thank you to her teacher and sprint out of the classroom.
She didn't have a crush on Tiffany, nah she didn't.
Nope.
Nope nope nope.
Okay fine, she did.
Just a teeeeeny one. Tiny crush.
Ohgod who was she kidding.
She had a crush on Tiffany Hwang.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Taeyeon was running late for class. She was very very late. Almost twenty minutes late. She had never been this late before, but the weather was frosty cold and she had forgotten her jacket.
She felt terrible. Like she had just eaten a cookie that was her younger sister's.
Taeyeon swung the door open, and class was already in progression.
Damn damn damn she must've missed something important, she always missed important stuff and caught all the useless stuff.
"Oh Taeyeon, EunHyuk from the other class came for a replacement. You'll have to sit in front today." Mr Kang said while he scribbled on the board.
Was he a psychic or something?
Taeyeon took her seat.
Next to Tiffany.
Her heart was pounding and she felt delirious. She liked the feeling though. She liked it very very much.
For the next ten minutes, it was pure torture trying to force her head not to turn towards Tiffany's direction. Pure. Torture. Worse than math class. Worse than higher math class, in fact.
After eleven minutes, she couldn't take it anymore.
She peeked a little to her right.
But what she saw wasn't what she was expecting at all. Tiffany's eyes were red, and her lips were a taut straight line. She looked upset.
Taeyeon pulled out a post-it note from her pencil case.
Are you okay? （゜ロ゜；）ノ
She pushed it over.
Yep.
Tiffany pushed it back.
You're a bad liar.
Tiffany frowned and scribbled an angry face.
D:<
You at drawing. But have a cookie.
Taeyeon scribbled a chocolate chip cookie. She made it pink.
How did you know I like pink?
Because I'm smart. Huehuehue. (*⌒∇⌒*)ﾉ
*rolls eyes* I'm bad at drawing so I'll use words instead. You creepy stalker!
Taeyeon drew a big frowny face.
o(╥﹏╥)o I'm not a creepy stalker!
You're a bad liar, creepy stalker! >:3
Mr Kang cleared his throat. Taeyeon and Tiffany expected to get a scolding, but when they looked up, Mr Kang simply winked, earning a confused expression from Tiffany, and an embarrassed smile from Taeyeon.
"As you all know, I gave out an assignment that had the special notebook as a reward. It has already been claimed. Thank you all for you hard work." Mr Kang announced as he ended class.
Tiffany sighed as she kept her stationary. "Darn." Her face scrunched up in disappointment. "I really wanted that notebook."
Taeyeon didn't know what to do. She wanted to give the notebook to Tiffany, but she also needed it to get an A. She decided she would quickly read through it, then pass it to Tiffany. Yup, she would.
"Maybe next time?" Taeyeon smiled.
The notebook was usually rotated through the semester. A person was allowed to keep the notebook for a month, then return it after. There was no minimum time for keeping it, though.
Tiffany sighed and the right side of her lips curved upwards. "I guess so."
As Tiffany turned to leave, Taeyeon's voice stopped her.
"Hey um Tippani, do you wanna go for supper?"
Tiffany paused for a moment, contemplating whether or not she should accept the offer. After the most gruelling few seconds of Taeyeon's life, Tiffany finally responded.
"Sure, why not?" Tiffany smiled politely, but it didn't reach her eyes.
They went to a nearby pastry shop that Taeyeon recommended. It was somewhere she had been frequenting since she was a kid, even before she knew what "tuition" meant. The shop had an island concept, where the cakes where kept in the middle of the shop, and the chairs bordered the walls. There were photographs of customers that were pasted on the wall, and it had a rather homely feeling despite it's modern concept.
"Welcome!" A middle aged lady greeted as the two girls stepped into the shop.
"Hi Mrs Lee!" Taeyeon greeted back, beaming.
"Get their pink special, i promise you won't regret it." Taeyeon whispered to Tiffany as she excused herself to go to the washroom.
Tiffany walked towards the counter which had such an unbelievable variety of delicately and exquisitely prepared cakes. She frowned as she couldn't locate the pink special Taeyeon had told her to get.
"How may I help you, dear?" Mrs Lee asked. "Do you need a recommendation?"
Tiffany paused and pouted a little. "I'm looking for the pink special, but I can't seem to find it."
Mrs Lee seemed to be taken aback, as she gasped and remained agape momentarily.
"She…" Mrs Lee finally regained her composure. "Sure. Hold on a moment dear." Mrs Lee disappeared into the kitchen, then brought out a slice of cake that had four layers. A strawberry was placed on top of a dollop of cream, and the frosting on top of the cake was baby pink. There were four layers of sponge and in between, there were layers of pink cream.
It was like a pink paradise.
Tiffany almost squealed at how pretty it was, but she restrained herself and thanked the lady.
"How much is it?" Tiffany enquired.
"It's free, dear, don't worry about it." Mrs Lee paused then continued. "She's a nice girl."
Tiffany nodded and politely smiled, then returned to the table.
Taeyeon returned from the washroom within the next few minutes. She took her seat and grinned dorkily.
"You can go ahead!"
"Aren't you getting one?"
"Um… Yeah I forgot all about it." Taeyeon chuckled at her own forgetfulness.
To be honest, she honestly didn't feel like having a slice anymore, having Tiffany in front of her was more than enough.
"Hey isn't this you?" Tiffany pointed to the photograph on the wall.
Taeyeon blanked out for a moment. "Oh yeah, that was a couple of years ago."
"Your middle school friends?"
"Yep." Taeyeon didn't seem like she wanted to elaborate so Tiffany didn't pry.
They had an enjoyable time after that. Taeyeon learnt that Tiffany couldn't stand bugs, no matter what shape, size or colour, that she came from San Francisco, and that she was staying in Korea on a scholarship. She learnt many many other things but they were all in a confused bundle in her head because Tiffany spoke like a bullet train, pausing only momentarily to laugh or smile.
Before long, a bell rang through the shop, which meant that they were closing in ten minutes. Taeyeon looked around. The shop was already empty. She could've sworn it was full when she last looked… which was probably an hour ago because she was solely focused on Tiffany.
"Thanks for accompanying me here." Taeyeon grinned.
"Thanks for listening to me ramble on." Tiffany bit her lip.
Taeyeon chuckled. "I enjoyed it, don't worry about it."
Tiffany leaned forward to give Taeyeon a hug. As Tiffany's arms tightened momentarily around Taeyeon's waist, she felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest, and she prayed hard that Tiffany couldn't feel it.
"Bye Taeyeon!" Tiffany gave her one last eyesmile, the many of which she had given during their chat.
Taeyeon silently hoped her face wasn't red. "Bye Tippani!"
She stared after the girl that had already turned her back, but suddenly Tiffany turned around.
"It's Tiffany!" She waved a last time and disappeared around the corner.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tiffany stepped into the pastry shop. Being the middle of the afternoon, the shop was rather empty.
"Hi Mrs Lee, may I get the pink special again?" Tiffany beamed.
Mrs Lee paused for a moment, as if in deep thought. "Sure, do you have time to chat for a little?"
"Sure."
"You know… Taeyeon hasn't ordered that cake for years." Mrs Lee started.
"Why not? It's delicious!" Tiffany's eyes widened and gaped in disbelief.
"You must be very special for her to have recommended it to you."
"We're just friends."
"I hope she doesn't kill me for telling you this," A pause. "But I think she likes you."
"Nah, she doesn't like me! She's just a nice person." Tiffany laughed and waved the statement away.
"The last person that she bought that cake for… was her ex-boyfriend."
Tiffany gasped.
"He passed away two years ago."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Tippani!" Taeyeon tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hmm?"
"Here!"
It was the revered notebook.
"But it's your turn! I'll get it next month, it's okay."
"Take it or I'll bring rubber bugs to class." Taeyeon mischievously threatened.
Tiffany gasped exaggeratedly. "How could you! I trusted you!"
"Hehehehe just take it."
Tiffany pounted. "Fine."
Mr Kang started class after that, cutting off their little chat. But of course, it continued in the form of yellow post-it notes.
Taeyeon drew an ugly bug and pushed it to Tiffany.
Tiffany's expression changed almost immediately and she flipped it over to the other side.
EVIL! ):
But your expression was cute o(≧∇≦o)
NO ):
YES Σ(・ω・`|||)
Then Tiffany changed the topic altogether.
Thanks for cheering me up yesterday.
No problem, I just didn't want to miss any eye smiles ヾ(＾∇＾)
It's been a year since I found out my ex-girlfriend was cheating on me.
Taeyeon nearly gasped out loud. Girlfriend?
She quickly wrote a response.
What a meanie (｀⌒´メ)ノ It's okay, you'll find someone better!
Tiffany responded with her phone number.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Taeyeon had everything planned out. From the smallest detail. She had run through it over a million times in her head. She would ask Tiffany out for a romantic movie date, and then ask her to be her girlfriend.
"Tippani!" Taeyeon waved at the girl.
"Hey!" Tiffany skipped up to her friend. "What movie are we watching?"
"So what are we watching today?"
Taeyeon passed Tiffany and tickets, and to her horror, Tiffany's faced turned as white as sheet.
"Are you sure you bought the right tickets?" Tiffany looked up, her hands shaking.
Taeyeon tilted her head, confused, then received the tickets back.
Paranormal Activity
OH
MY
GOD
She bought the wrong tickets.
"I meant to buy-"
"It's okay, we'll watch that anyway, since you bought it already." Tiffany managed to politely respond.
Taeyeon didn't mind, she could take horror movies, but it looked like Tiffany couldn't.
"Are you sure?"
"Mmmhmm. I'm sorry if you go deaf." Tiffany half heartedly joked as they walked towards the cinema.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ohmygodohmygod don't go in there don't go AHHHHHHHH" Tiffany screamed, but there was actually nothing there.
Taeyeon chuckled amusedly while the rest of the people in the cinema turned back to shush Tiffany.
Tiffany whispered in Taeyeon's ear. "Are you deaf yet?"
Taeyeon froze, not because the show was scary, but rather because Tiffany's lips were almost pressing against her, and she felt hot puffs of breath on her skin. She shivered.
"N-n-no."
"You sound like you are." More hot puffs of air.
"It's more like I'm scared of you." Taeyeon mumbled.
"What did you sa-AHHHHHHHH" Tiffany buried her head in the crook of Taeyeon's neck and her arms tightened around Taeyeon's waist.
Taeyeon could've sworn she lost her hearing at that moment, but she didn't mind. Nope, she didn't mind at all.
The man in front of their seat turned around to shush them, but the moment he did, he quickly turned back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Text
1:23am
I hate you for making me watch that ):
1.24am
You said it was okay! ((o(;△;)o))
1.24am
I can't sleep ):
Taeyeon stared at the phone, typing and retyping what she wanted to say. She didn't want to sound too desperate, but neither did she want to sound too nonchalant.
1.26am
Do you want me to call you? ( ・◇・)？
Incoming call
Tippani
"Hello?"
"I'm scared."
"We should've just bought different tickets." Taeyeon laughed.
"It's okay, I got to hug yooouuu." Tiffany slurred.
"Are you drunk?"
"Alcohol makes me sleepy okayyyyy, but it's just not working todayyyyyy." Taeyeon could almost imagine Tiffany lying on her bed pouting.
"Try counting sheep!"
She could hear light breaths from the other end of the line.
"Tippani?" The girl must've already fallen asleep.
Taeyeon sighed. She didn't manage to ask her question today.
"I haven't liked someone in such a long, long time. But I really do like you Tipp-Tipppp-Tiffany. I hope when I finally get the courage to ask, you'll say yes." Taeyeon softly whispered into the phone as she lay on her bed.
As the minutes passed by, her eyelids felt extremely heavy and she fell asleep to the sound of Tiffany breathing.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hello?" Taeyeon awoke to the sound of someone calling her, and when she opened her eyes, she half expected to see someone in front of her.
"Hello??"
Oh! Her phone!
"Hi!" Taeyeon grabbed her phone.
"Morning sleepyhead."
"Says the one who fell asleep on me last night." Taeyeon chuckled.
"I had a dream."
"Hmm?"
"You asked me to be your girlfriend."
Taeyeon choked on air.
"What a weird dream…" Taeyeon could only mutter, cursing herself for not making sure Tiffany was already asleep.
"If you did ask, I'd probably say yes. Too bad you don't swing that way eh?" Tiffany laughed into the phone.
Taeyeon was beyond flustered. "I- I- I- gotta go bathe my dog! See you in class tonight!"
Taeyeon didn't actually have a dog.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So what's it's name?" Tiffany asked as she packed up her books.
"What's name?"
"Your dog!"
"Oh! U-u-m cookie?" Taeyeon stammered.
Tiffany laughed, "You're a bad liar, you know that right?"
"But… It's the…"
"Not the truth, I know." Tiffany giggled. "You know… Mrs Lee told me."
Taeyeon's facial expression immediately changed, her lips formed a stoic thin line.
"Oh. What else did she say?"
"That that cake is special to you."
"I…"
"I like you too, Taeyeon." Tiffany paused, trying to find the right words to say. "If you're not over him, it's okay. I'll wait for you."
Taeyeon reached out and cupped Tiffany's cheek with her hand.
"I'm over him already. I… I slowly found myself falling for you." Taeyeon got a little closer to Tiffany. "I found myself looking forward to hearing your voice during class, looking forward to seeing your smile. I just… I don't know how to explain it."
"Then don't." Tiffany's lips met her own in a chaste kiss.
"Girls! GO HOME IT'S LATE." Mr Kang shouted all the way from the next room, startling both of the girls.
"I swear he's psychic." Taeyeon mumbled.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Taeyeon lazed around on the couch, fumbling around for her phone.
"Here." Tiffany held it up as she rested her head on Taeyeon's lap.
"Thanks." Taeyeon leaned down to peck Tiffany's forehead.
"I like this."
"I like you."
"You're lying." Tiffany teased.
"I'm a bad liar, i know."
"So how many other girls are you keeping, byuntae?"
"Maybe two." Taeyeon grinned and mischievously played along.
Tiffany immediately got up from Taeyeon's lap and pouted. "I hate you."
"I like you."
"You're lying." Tiffany retorted.
"You know I am."
"Ohmygod you're serious."
"Yup, I love you." Taeyeon looked deep into Tiffany's eyes and continued. "Lie back down it's comfortable."
"Demanding."
"Mmmhmm."
"Do you believe this situation?"
"Yeah."
They both smiled.
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