Sat slouched in her bed with a laptop burning into her thighs was a girl more or less Tiffany's age. Her eyes struggled to stay open as the blaring blue digital clock next to her bed flickered over to 1:32 AM; she was desperate to stay awake to finish her piece of writing. No, it was not the essay that she was meant to turn in the next day, but rather a piece of slash fiction she had already been slaving over for hours. She had not updated her blog - The Princess Dubu Diaries- in three and a half weeks, but the urge to update had suddenly come over her at just past midnight.

Theprincessdubudiaries.blogspot was filled to the brim with miscellaneous slash fiction, food critiques, and fanfics of her OTP (Onew x Chicken) that Sooyoung had written herself, and while it housed quite a few pairings, her favorite was anything involving her precious Dubu and food.

Sooyoung was, to the untrained eye, someone who seemed extremely boring. She turned up to lessons on time, did as she was told more or less, she didn’t drink, and had never been invited to a house party.

Maybe if I look at my old work, I'll find some inspiration.

Clicking out of her unfinished work, Sooyoung stared long and hard at the empty publishing queue in the sidebar of her web page before signing out of her administrator account. She was ready to read the comments she had already written like a fan, someone who completely, and without bias, enjoyed the work of the elusive Princess Dubu.

Wanting to get comfortable, she wiggled out from beneath her comforter and let her laptop slide off her lap. She swung her numb limbs over the side of her bed and shuddered at the cold air on the back of her uncovered legs, making her way to the light switch by the door. Too tired to use her hands, Sooyoung simply flicked down the switch with her forehead and stumbled back to her bed. Before collapsing down onto it, she bent over and clicked the brightness of her screen down to a minimum.

Sooyoung snuggled into her sheets, trying to get cozy. It was feeling a bit too warm, so she yanked one leg out from beneath the down comforter and draped it around the top as one would with a bolster. With that, she layed on her side and let her fingers skitter on the laptop's trackpad, scrolling down through her comments section.

Her pseudonyms never failed to amuse her.

MaryLanaSue231 says: I love how you capture Dubu's obsession, kekeke.

Knowing that she needed some variety in the comments she left on her own work, Sooyoung had also dropped some rather dry ones.

MichaelMikes says: I think that you should consider not being so predictable. This story is getting boring and I've stopped regularly checking the site.

While Sooyoung felt slightly bad that she was writing reviews on her own work, they were the only reviews she was getting, and reviewless work was nothing in the vast sea of fanfiction the Internet had to offer. She scrolled down the page to double check that the reviews had been posted under the fake names rather than under her account- that would seem desperate. Sooyoung’s eyes widened as she hit the comment section.

There was a review there that she hadn’t written herself.

Tiffanythecatmeow2011 says: DO YOU EVER CHECK YOUR REVIEWS?! I’VE BEEN COMMENTING FOR THE LAST 4 DAYS!!!!! I’M THE FOUNDER OF THE PROCRASTINATION CLUB THAT YOU SIGNED UP BUT NEVER SHOWED UP FOR! BUT THEN AGAIN NO ONE ELSE SHOWED EITHER!!!!!!!!! Just reply to this asap.
P.S, I read your fics and they’re hella creepy!

Sooyoung’s eyes widened further. She had signed up for that club! She remembered now… actually, she had remembered that she needed to go on that very day, but she had come up with a million reasons not to show up.

As quickly as she could, she switched back over to her real account to reply.

princessdubu says: SORRY! My cat died so I couldn’t make it! I’ll be at the next one I guess?
P.S, they’re not creepy, try reading some other slash, it’s all like this.

I didn’t have a cat. I've never had a cat. I have allergies.

Sooyoung clicked off her blog and flicked through Tumblr for all of about thirty seconds before a wave of wanderlust hit her and she loaded up her blog in the next tab once more. Her heart nearly thumped out of her chest as she saw she had yet another notification.

Tiffanythecatmeow2011 says: Uh, no. I’ve read slash fics before and yours is still the creepiest. Actually, I don't even know is Someone x Food counts as slash but you learn something new everyday. AND NO, I don’t believe you'll turn up to the next meeting, so come and meet me now. And yes I know it’s 2am, but you’re awake and so am I, so meet me now before you procastinate more.

Sooyoung’s eyes flickered over to her bedroom door. Her parents weren’t even aware she was still up. She couldn’t ask them if she could go out. But, she’d never left the house without their permission before. Sooyoung clicked back over Tumblr ready to pretend she had never seen the reply. In the middle of her dashboard with a hipstery island background in swirly pretentious font was the breaking point: We regret the things we don’t do more than the things we do.

"Damn it, Tumblr!" Sooyoung hissed out loud, smashing her laptop closed. 

She was already out of her bed, awkwardly hunched over as she swapped her pyjamas for a pair of striped shorts and a sequin top; neither of which were suitable for the weather, not that that ever stopped Sooyoung from making any outfit choices.

princessdubu says: where do you want to meet?

Tiffanythecatmeow2011 says: the 24 hour Safeway on the outskirts of town.

Sooyoung bit her bottom lip and glanced at the door once more. She slid across the lock as she pushed open the window. Her room looked out over the extension to the bottom floor, so in theory she’d only be dropping a floor at a time; not exactly a feat James Bond style agility is needed for. She grabbed her phone, and prayed to several gods (none of which she believed in) as she hurriedly lathered BB cream into her skin.

With that, Sooyoung leaned out of the window; shoes in hand and phone in her pocket along with her house keys. With an ungraceful thud, she fell onto the extension roof which creaked slightly under her weight. With the grittiness of the roof digging into her feet and the wind chilling her skin, Sooyoung felt free of worries and confrontation.

She jumped the remaining space to the ground, falling in to the dewy grass. Once her shoes (yet again unpractical- wedged boots) were on her feet, she snuck through the side gate of her house and into the road. The rain from the day before left it glistening like silver beneath the street lamps.

Sooyoung didn’t have a car, which left her with two options: walking there, or taking the public bus.

Whipping out her cellphone, she decided to check which was more practical.

Safeway is six miles away. By foot it takes who knows how long, but Google Maps is telling me that the bus would only take eight minutes from the rec centre.

But then again, who knows what kind of creeps ride the bus this late? But...I could get kidnapped if I walk. BUT I COULD GET ON THE BUS. What? No, this isn't India, Sooyoung. I guess the bus is just as shady as walking alone this late at night, but at least it's only just as shady for less time.

"Forty-six, huh? Okay, Sooyoung. You've got this," she gave herself a little pep talk.

With that, the girl daintily began her walk to the appropriate bus stop, trying not to let any grass or puddles ruin her shoes. Occasionally a car passed by, or she heard trees rustle in the wind. It felt slightly eerie, but in a way, Sooyoung was elated to finally be taking a risk.

Soon enough, she found herself seated at a bus bench, staring at the glaring white rec centre across the street with her legs crossed tightly to keep them from getting cold. Looking to her left, she could see slivers of the nearly-full moon from in between the parted bare branches of the damp tree hunched over the bus-stand like a hook.

Coming over the sloping road, a bus shone its headlights over the wet asphalt, creating a ghostly prism of other reflections onto the sidewalk and right onto Sooyoung's face as it jerked to a stop in front of her.

Sooyoung quickly collected herself and speed walked through the opening doors, squeezing herself through before they were even fully extended. The bus driver nodded at her as she flashed him her student identification car and gave him tight-lipped smile. She made her way to a random seat and slid into the cold blue plastic.

The only other person on the bus was a man across the aisle who looked to be in his forties, donning a long black coat over a nearly all-black ensemble of a black suit jacket over a white dress shirt and black tie and black slacks. Atop his head sat an old fashioned black bowler with wisps of ginger hair sticking out from beneath the brim like weeds. He had a hooked nose and a youthful face with a couple of freckles splattered across his round cheeks. He tittered away at the keys of a black laptop, a glare shielding the eyes behind his round spectacles.

A writer. Although that outfit's a bit pedo-ish, I suppose another writer can't be that bad.

A few minutes passed by before the forty-six rattled to a stop.

The neon sign of the Safeway was lit up brightly, like always, which oddly reassured Sooyoung in the sense that it didn’t look like a place she’d be murdered in. As she entered through the generic revolving doors, she saw the place was pretty much dead apart from a member of staff stocking the shelves. But then again, she supposed that not many people like to do their weekly shopping at 2:30 AM.

Glancing around she saw no sign of the girl she expected to be meeting. The only other person around was a girl who looked about her age idly browsing through small snacks like pretzels and gummy worms.

She abruptly plucked a few bags from the shelf with a self-satisfied smile and began walking in a straight line, eyes unfocused.

Sooyoung pointed to herself with a small gape.

The young woman stopped in front of her and dangled the bags in front of her face with his long fingers; expression pleasant.

"Do you prefer chips or pretzels? Maybe some gummy worms?" Her eyes curved into crescents as she asked the other girl.

Sooyoung did one of the worst things you can do upon a first encounter. She smacked her straight across the face.

The snacks went flying and Tiffany clutched his cheek, rubbing a thumb into the hollow of it.

"Ow! What was that for?!" The girl asked; fuming.

"Oh, I just felt like it."

"You just felt like it?!" Hissed the slapped girl.

Sooyoung looked at her with large innocent eyes and an amused expression, "do I know you?"

The girl pursed her lips, "well, you’re Princess Dubu, aren’t you?"

Sooyoung’s mouth fell open, "Wait! You’re Tiffanythecatmeow?" She exclaimed.

Tiffany(thecatmeow2011) laughed to herself in a slightly hysterical manner.

"Do you see anyone else around here that could be Tiffanythecatmeow2011?" She snapped.

Sooyoung, almost for comic effect, peered around at her surroundings.

"I guess not. It’s nice to meet you, I’m...Dubu."

"Are you seriously telling me that's your real name?" Tiffany looked intrigued.

"It’s a nickname!"

"Yeah? A nickname from whom?" She snorted.

"Your mom when we were in bed together."

"Hey! That's not a comeback, that's just gross," she scrunched up her nose.

"Well, what kind of screen name is Tiffanythecatmeow2011?" She asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"The kind you make when your name is Tiffany and you want a damn slash fic blogger to come turn up to something she made a commitment to," she deadpanned.

As she glanced back at Sooyoung, she realized there was no further use in trying to talk to the girl at the moment, as she was simply staring at all of the fallen snacks.

Sooyoung squat down and began collecting all of the snacks in her arms. Bouncing right up again, she gave Tiffany a tight-lipped smile.

"Well, Tiffy, we can definitely talk about my 'commitment' over all this food. Which you shall be paying for."

"Hey-!"

"Ah ah," she wagged a finger in front of her nose, "you lured me, a young girl, out here in the dark by leaving spammy comments on my exquisite blog without even considering the fact that I might get or kidnapped and even ruin my shoes on top of it," she placed a hand on her shoulder, "so I think you should pay," she finished with a sarcastic nod.

Tiffany sighed as they made their way into the checkout line.

The cashier, who looked mind-numbingly bored, scanned all of the items without looking down.

"That will be twelve dollars."

"Thanks, uh," Tiffany peered at her name tag, "Rhonda,"

She counted a few tattered bills and slid them over the conveyer belt to "Rhonda".

"Have a good night. And, as I am legally required to tell you- not that I care- the legal age of consent is eighteen in this state."

She thinks we're lesbians. Livin' the dream, Soo.

The two teenagers exchanged glances and shuddered in disgust.

"Glad it's mutual."

"Yeah. Not that hard," Tiffany replied with a snobbish sneer. She glanced at Sooyoung out of the corner of her eye to see her sticking her tongue out.

"Where should we eat? It’s cold outside," stated Sooyoung.

Tiffany gave her a once-over.

"That would be because you’re wearing shorts and a tank top and it’s nearly October."

Sooyoung rolled her eyes.

"Pfft."

"Great comeback. Let's go find a nice aisle to sit in," Tiffany grabbed her wrist and tugged her through a large aisle stacked to the ceiling with different bleaches and washing detergents,
"I think the toy aisle is nice this time of year. The summer toys are still out, but at the same time they’re stocking new things for Christmas," she said.

Sooyoung laughed. "Why're you talking about aisles like fine wines? Or better yet, fine cheeses?"

"Why is it your fanfics are so creepy?" Tiffany shot back, dropping Sooyoung’s wrist as they arrived at the spacious toy section.

Just as she had predicted, all the summer toys were still out, and a row of bikes and scooters were carefully placed put on display; new and shiny. Tiffany just walked past them all until she arrived in the back corner of the shop. There was a plastic child’s playhouse with a price tag on it that said it was $179 dollars on sale, which Sooyoung thought was a little over priced. Tiffany pulled open the small door, and crouched over to walk through it.

"Hey!" Sooyoung exclaimed, following the shorter girl in.

"Aren’t you meant to hold open the door for ladies?"

"I did," she straightened her back, "for myself," she finished, sticking out her tongue like Sooyoung had before.

Following Tiffany's lead, Sooyoung sat herself down on a plastic chair, looking about the cozy little hut. It felt as if right outside, a farm or a forest laden with elfen creatures would await her, but the sad albeit mildly amusing truth was that she was in a plastic house at two in the morning waiting to be served gummy bears and chips by a snarky girl in a pink rain jacket that was attempting to use her perfectly manicured nails to shred open a plastic bag.

When the bag finally tore open, Tiffany excitedly popped a gaggle of gummy worms into her waiting mouth.

She gave a self-satisfied giggle before feeling Sooyoung's stare bore into her. One of her fine eyebrows was arched, and she sighed to herself.

"Fine, here you g-"

"I don't need to be asked," she whipped out an arm and snatched the bag, "thank you very much.

Tiffany rolled her eyes and ripped open a bag of chips.

As the two ate in peace for a moment, they were starting to feel less hungry and more curious about each other.

"So..." Tiffany broke the silence first.

Sooyoung in the remains of a gummy worm with a blue tip poking out from between her pink lips and looked down at the table.

"So..."

"Princess Dubu Diaries?"
"Procrastination Club?"

The two spoke at the same time and laughed, really looking each other in the eye for the first time that night.

"I guess I should explain first since I called you all the way out here this late at night...may I?"

"I'm listening."

"Well...I like to write. No, I love to write. And I'm good at it too. Just...I never finish anything. So, I came up with this idea, the Procrastination Club! I thought there had to be some other people out there like me- that always procrastinate despite knowing they have a problem- so I figured, why not gather them together and finally finish something...together?"

Sooyoung didn’t look convinced, and although she had signed up for the club, it had been a spur of the moment 'why not?'

"Do you seriously think that there's really any helping those people? Even I'm one but...I mean, that's really only something that can change if you do something deep within. You have to really, I dunno...feel it..." She trailed off.

"Ah, you know, I don't really know either," Tiffany shook her head, "but I think that I really could get this to work."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

Tiffany seemed to be at a loss for words, but diplomatically responded, "well, maybe someone with your set of skills and uh, caliber of writing could really click with me. We could try to make it work together."

Sooyoung looked about forty-seven seconds away from being sold.

"You really think so? I just might help you, Tiffy."

The girl groaned, "Please refrain from calling me that."

Sooyoung lightly popped another gummy worm into , "your fault for telling me your real name."

"Not all of us are weird sociopaths like you," she retorted.

"Gaspeu, me, a sociopath?! Why I never...at this rate, I may never help you," she looked down at her fingers and blew on her nails idly.

Tiffany nearly rolled her eyes as she bent over the table on her elbows; jeans riding up past her socks as she did so. Starting to speak, she tapped the table with a nail each time she reached an important point, "-listen. I'm very sincerely asking you to help me out. Keep in mind- you signed up for this," she paused for dramatic effect.

Mouth full, Sooyoung retorted, "-to eat junk food in the Seven Dwarves' house while Snow White takes them on a summer vacation?"

Tiffany ran a hand through her jet black hair, "-look, no one showed up, okay? I need your help."

"...Would you beg?"

Tiffany threw her hands up in the air with hysterically wide eyes, "fine!"

The girl got out of her seat and began to crouch down, shoulders knocking against various items in the little toy house. However, Sooyoung grabbed her hand with a slight smirk before she could get on all fours.

"Okay, this is getting too intense. That was a joke- no need to beg. Although, that was preeetty hilarious."

"Ugh," Tiffany brushed some dust off of the seat of her jeans before taking her place at the table, "just tell me what it'll take to get you on board with this."

"You know, I kind of think I was in the minute I got here. The rush- finally feeling accomplished even if it wasn't something I originally wanted- you've got yourself a partner. As long as I get to be Vice President of the club, that is," she added jokingly.

"...hell no."

"Aw, why not? Whatever, that's fine," she pouted then smiled.

"Alright, you're in now...wow, good job, Tiff,"

Sooyoung looked at her funny and the girl who had been praising herself cleared .

"Ahem...well, the next person we need to find is named Joohyun, and I've tried looking her up on the net with her e-mail address, but everything I could find is set to private. The only other thing that I've found is a registrar for school library cards..."

"Can I see it?"

"Uh, yeah, it's on my phone," Tiffany slid her phone across the table to Sooyoung.

The screen displayed a picture and small history of what seemed to be a girl who could be older or younger than them.

"She's only been a member since 2012, I'm sure she's still a student at the school and we could find her some time," Sooyoung observed.

"Ugh, I've tried but I've never seen her at the library!"

"Well you, my friend, are not a true stalker. I can pick her out of a crowd easily," Sooyoung glanced down at the picture again, and as she did her face fell, "but her school library closes at four and my school doesn’t let out until 3:40...there’s no way I’ll get there on time."

"Damn," Tiffany cursed, "mine lets out at three, but like I said, that’s not much help."

Sooyoung glanced at the ground; it seemed she was deep in thought.

"How about if at say- about 3:20- I tell my teacher I need to go to the bathroom, and you video call me off your phone, then I can pick her out of the crowd long distance. Just give me your contact info later."

Tiffany laughed. "It sounds so crazy it might work."

"Well then, we are in business!" Sooyoung exclaimed enthusiastically. "-but right now I need to get home before my parents realise I’m missing.’

Tiffany rolled her eyes, "Your parents don’t know you’re out?"

"Do yours?" Sooyoung shot back, pushing open the door of the playhouse and ducking down to exit.

"Well if they've looked out the window and seen my car missing they do."

Sooyoung’s eyes lit up.

"You have a car?"

Tiffany nodded suspiciously.

"Great! You can drive me home!" Sooyoung walked off in front of her.

Tiffany opened to protest but shut it, realising there would probably be nothing she could say to get out of driving her home.

"You know you’re already annoying me a lot?" Tiffany called after her.

Sooyoung flipped her hair over her shoulder to look at him.

"You can’t hate me, I’m amazing. Duh."

Making their way out into the dark parking lot, Tiffany called after her again, "You know, I'm not really obliged to drive you home whatsoever since you came here on your own anyways."

Sooyoung, who was several strides ahead of the other girl turned around and motioned to her face, "young girl," she struck a dramatic pose, "-vulnerable. You couldn't leave me if you tried," she stated smugly.

"Fine," replied Tiffany as she brought out her car key and tapped it, bringing a nearby black car to attention. The locks clicked open and the two teenagers made their way inside.

Tiffany stuck her key into the ignition whilst her companion munched on some leftover chips. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel for a few seconds, and without even looking her way gave a prompt instruction to Sooyoung- "No eating in the car."

Sooyoung rolled her eyes, but since Tiffany was giving her a ride home, she decided to be gracious and only occasionally sneak a chip.

The car made its way across town and the two discussed various topics; even the most boring conversations buzzing from the excitement of tomorrow's mission. It marked the start of an era in both of their lives.

With energetic music blasting from the car stereo and some junk food in hand, Sooyoung felt more like herself than she had in months- all thanks to a slightly uptight girl with a (in her opinion) slight defficiency in manners.

Tiffany pulled up in front of Sooyoung's house and flashed a tired eyesmile.

"Tomorrow then?"

"Good night, Tiffany," she smiled and made her way through the gate and up her house's drive.

Sooyoung turned to see that Tiffany was still in the car and pounded her chest, throwing up a peace sign into the night sky with her fist.

"It's Sooyoung!" 

Tiffany laughed in reply and her car zipped away in the direction they had come from.

The ride was short, but to this day, Sooyoung and Tiffany both swear that it was the time when they went from being basically strangers to true friends. Their dysfunctionality was a part of what made their relationship easy to maintain from the very beginning, and without it, the work they later ended up doing wouldn't be as unique- but that comes later in the story.

--

Aaaaand that's a wrap! Wow, lots of manager Hwang, huh? Next is Joohyun~~