“I've done it,” Sunny says with a gleam in her eyes. Her palm stretches out, face up and her head tilts just slightly. “Pay up the next ten ice creams.”

But I don't pay her immediately. I'm not about to let this voluptuous teenager steamroll over me. No, no, no, no. I'm not that easy. “Define 'done',” I say. It's important to know what you're paying for. As a discerning consumer, it is an essential detail to find out.

“I told her you're a massage student and your price for a massage is a fraction of the price she would have to pay for a professional masseuse. You're in luck because her cheerleading practices have been intense lately and she's been complaining about tension in her muscles.”

“Did you tell her that I specialize in the gluts?”

Sunny shakes her head and looks at me as though I'm stupid or something. “That's way too suspicious and it'll sound like a erted scam.” She leans forward, elbows on the table between us. “I've done my part. She's willing to go to your house and pay a nominal fee for the massage. That's more than what I promised, since your original request did not involve her paying you to rub her .” Sunny leans back against her chair and folds her arms, her BOSS-like aura ever increasing. “Of course, I also expect to get half of what she pays you.”

“What?!”

Her brow raises ever so slightly. “You weren't thinking of pocketing all of that money, were you?”

“I didn't even think about it. I suggested charging for the massage only because I thought it would make the whole thing sound more convincing.”

“I have to admit that you're right. But money is money. And butts are butts. No money, no butts.”

Surely, I must be striking a deal with the devil herself! But I have come this far and Sunny has done her part. I don't really care for the money either. “Okay, you'll get half of what she pays me.”

Sunny's sunny grin is back and she flaps her hand at me, palm up. “So, that will be ten ice creams right now.”

B

I walk away from the cafeteria ten ice creams poorer but a thousand ice creams happier. Soon, my hands will be all over Tiffany's ! Hehehehehehehe...

“Hey Taeng!”

I recognize Yuri's voice and turn, looking for her. She's sitting at a table with Sooyoung, comfortably shaded by a patio umbrella. “Hey.”

“Come join us.”

Sooyoung nods at me then turns back to Yuri. “I'm telling you, he's definitely gonna invite you to the play.”

“It doesn't matter if he does. I'm not going with him.”

“What are you talking about?”

Sooyoung looks at me. “Yuri's project partner has been pestering me to find out what she likes so I told him Yuri likes plays to shut him up. Then he asked me if she's into school plays. I said good luck getting a ticket if Yoona is the lead but he didn't seem as though he was going to give up.”

“It is pretty hard to get a ticket to Yoona's plays. It's a good thing we're her friends,” I say.

“You should've told him I hate guys who spend more time staring at me than actually doing the project.”

“You can't blame the poor guy for succumbing to your charms.”

“Meh.” Yuri rolls her eyes. “Enough about this guy. What about you, Taeng? How's your grand plan coming along?”

I grin and rub my hands with glee. “It's coming along just fine. She's agreed to come over to my house for a massage.”

“What?” Yuri blinks in surprise. “You mean you actually found somebody willing to pay you for a massage?”

“A massage?!” Sooyoung splutters as she puts down her Frappuccino. “What the heck?”

I look at the two tall idiots and feel sorry for their head-in-the-clouds existence. “As you both know, I've been attracted to Tiffany's for some time. But at last, I have decided to take things into my own hands and make it happen.”

“By making her pay you for a massage?!”

I can see that Yuri is still in disbelief so I elaborate, “I didn't think she would agree to let me rub her if I asked her directly so I went to her best friend for help.”

“Sunny? That small but scary creature?” exclaimed Sooyoung.

“What's wrong with Sunny?”

“Haven't you heard? She catches chickens and snakes with her bare hands and thinks nothing of killing bugs too!”

I roll my eyes at Sooyoung. “That's not scary.”

Sooyoung crouches low and lowers her voice suddenly. “Not only that. I heard she's been trained as a ninja too.”

“A ninja?”

“Haven't you seen how well she can bend her body? She can practically fold herself in half. And haven't you heard of how she kicked that falling pen back onto the table when she thought no one was watching? She's a ninja I tell you.”

I don't see how any of this makes her scary. “Well, it's good if she's a ninja. I've got her on my side.”

“You do?”

I nod, feeling proud of my brilliant plan to ask Sunny for help.

But Sooyoung narrows her eyes and asks, “Do you have to pay her for it?”

“Yeah, I'm paying her with ice creams.”

“How many?”

“Forty.”

“Forty?!” Both Yuri and Sooyoung exclaim in shock.

“Forty is for both Sunny's and Tiffany's . So it's actually twenty each.”

“Aren't you only after Tiffany's ?” Yuri asks.

“Sunny offered hers with a bundle price.”

“Isn't twenty ice creams for Sunny's a tad too expensive...?” asks Sooyoung.

I think about it for a moment. “Well, she does have a very good . I'll probably enjoy rubbing hers after rubbing Tiffany's.”

“You're one -hungry woman, Taeng.”

I grin. “One can never have too many butts.”

Sooyoung sighs as though she's resigned to my unexplainable love for butts. “Well, if she's coming over to your house, you'll have to make it look convincing. I hope you've thought of that.”

My eyes open wide in dismay. “No, I haven't thought of that.” Oh no. No, no, no, no. My room looks like a dump at the moment. I have to clean it up!

“You'll need some kind of massage mat or something, won't you. You can't expect her to lie on your bed for a massage. It's not professional.”

“You're right. Oh my God. I need to fix up my room.” I jump to my feet, determined to get everything right. “Thanks Sooyoung. You just saved me from messing up my mission. I'll go home and get my room ready for Tiffany. Right now.”

“Good luck, Taeng.”

I wave goodbye to my friends and march off home to do more research. Tiffany is coming over two days later. No time to bum around now.

B