Derick W J Tan

Tae Yeon squeezed the warm towel dry before wiping Tiffany’s face with it.

“Stupid girl…” she murmured for the ninth time.

“Stop it…” Tiffany started pushing the towel away. “I wanna sleep…”

She turned and lay on her side. Tae Yeon sighed before she slapped the girl really hard on her bottom and got a long, drawn out ‘owww’ in return. Tae Yeon started to sob again and slapped Tiffany on the butt once more, thinking back how worried she was when the girl was trapped in there with so many guys.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid…”

Tiffany turned and lay on her other side, butt facing away from Tae Yeon, frowning.

“I’ve never seen you so drunk before,” Tae Yeon said, remembering how well Tiffany could hold her liquor. Even if they drank and intentionally wanted to get drunk, it never got this bad. “Something must have happened.”

And it started to ache her heart to know that although her closest friend was in pain, she could do nothing about it.

“Stupid little mushroom.” Tae Yeon bent over and kissed Tiffany on the forehead. A silly smile emerged on the sleeping girl’s face. “Stupid little mushroom that I love so much. You’ll get it from me tomorrow.”

Tae Yeon took the basin of water and went out quietly, leaving Tiffany alone to sleep for the next couple of hours before someone else came in.

“Wake up,” Ixion poked her on the tummy.

She rubbed her eyes open, slowly, until she was awake enough to sit up five minutes later.

“Why is my butt so sore…” She looked at Ixion and giggled. “You have a bump on your forehead– Ow!”

“That’s for head butting me,” he said after flicking her. “Now tell me, who made my little mushroom so sad that she got herself so drunk and nearly raped by six guys.”

Tiffany’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“You’ll get an earful for that from Jessica and Tae Yeon later.” He handed her a bottle of sports drink for the hangover. “Now talk.”

“Talk about what?” Tiffany scratched her head before she struggled to get the cap open. “Help me…”

The cap popped open without him even touching it. She smiled sweetly and started drinking.

“Talk about why you got yourself so drunk. It’s not like you to just follow a bunch of guys to a party and let yourself get so drunk in a stranger’s house. Especially when you’re surrounded by guys.”

Tiffany knew exactly what he wanted her to talk about.

“What’s wrong with drinking with guys?” She drank another gulp before offering him some.

“Because all guys are pigs,” he said, not realizing that she was holding out the bottle. “And they all turn into dogs when they see a cute girl who is drunk and vulnerable.”

“But you’re a guy too…”

“No, no,” he was quite quick to correct her. “The male gender is a degenerated form of what I am. What I am is actually one of the last few remaining members of the dying race known as the Gentlemen.”

Tiffany pouted at his nonsense, but deep in her heart, she completely agreed with him. Not mentioning how politely and chivalrously he treated ladies – without ever offending one – Ixy had never once reciprocate when she flirted with him. In fact, he was always quite uncomfortable with situations like her walking in on him to bath while he used the toilet – their old toilet door had a broken lock for the longest time. It never bothered her if she was a few feet away taking a shower while he was sitting on the toilet. But it always bothered him quite a bit.

“For crying out loud, can’t you let me pee in peace?” was what he’d always say.

Ixy never once tried to take advantage of her, even if she playfully tried enticing him to–

–Something hard hit her on the forehead.

“Ow… Why does it feel like I’m getting hit all the time!”

“Stop dreaming and answer the question,” Ixy said. “Who made my little mushroom so sad?”

Tiffany looked at him and frowned. She knew exactly who was the culprit but she couldn’t understand it. Ever since she knew Ixy, she never really had that kind of feelings for him. At least, not until the past few years when she started noticing him and Yoona together. What she first dismissed as a crush just got stronger and stronger over the years. And along with it, her jealousy and envy grew as well. Sure, she may spend a lot more time with Ixy but she always felt like he had a deeper connection with Yoona.

Maybe it’s because he gave her his eyes… she thought to herself.

To be exact, it was his corneas and not eyes.

She felt much better now, though a little guilty, to see the worried look at his face.

“No one made me sad, I was just really tried from all the practice and work.”

“Really?” he asked. “You really think you can lie to me?”

Tiffany frowned. She didn’t. Somehow he always knew when she was lying or telling the truth. At first she thought he could read minds, but he made it clear that even though it was possible, it was too dangerous and he never tried it. Somehow, he just knew.

“I like someone,” she then said.

“And…?”

“I don’t know if he likes me.”

Ixy started to laugh. “You’re Tiffany Huang! You’re passionate, hardworking, beautiful, maybe not the smartest- but you’re an incredible girl. You can get any guy you want in this world!”

Tiffany frowned. “Not this guy… He’s unique, unique like you could never believe.”

“George Clooney?”

“No.”

“Danny Oh?”

“No.”

“Donghae hyung. (Big brother Donghae.)”

“No…”

“Kang In hyung?”

“No and no for the other eleven of them.”

“One of the Jonas brothers?”

She laughed, “no.”

“One of the male singers you performed with?”

“No.”

“Kim Tae Yeon.”

Tiffany paused to consider the notion.

“No…” she said. “I’m quite sure I don’t…”

“Then who?”

“Someone!” Tiffany yelled all of a sudden, half from the frustration of him being so oblivious and half from her just wanting him to stop questioning her. “I don’t want to talk about it so just leave me alone!”

She threw her blanket over her head and buried it under her pillow.

Ixion sighed and got up. There was no point pressing on for the truth if she didn’t want to talk about it. But it did worry him a little that she wasn’t willing to open with him now, when in the past she would share almost everything with him.

He considered bidding her a goodnight but decide otherwise and left the room without a word. Outside his room, Ixion pondered again why she wasn’t willing to talk. The only logical reason he could come up with was that Tiffany just didn’t want to talk with her hangover, but he knew that was just his way of consoling himself that there wasn’t something deeper – something more worrying – about her behaviour.

“Ixy… oppa, gwenchahnahyo? (Are you all right?)”

He turned to Seo Hyun and hearing her voice brought that sensation back again. That sensation where he felt like he knew her from a long time ago. It was something akin to déjà vu but it felt a lot more real and he was a lot more sure that he had met her before.

Perhaps the boy Tiffany saw in that Japanese hotel really was him.

- Chapter 18 (Friends)