Day 1(cont.)
December 5th, 2012
10:36
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The two arrive at a small, two story ramen shop in the middle of a long row of shops and eateries. The girl looks curiously at the small ramen shop and was about to look at the boy but he seemed to have disappeared. She looked all around her but she couldn’t find him.
“Hey! Over here!” he whispers peering from the dark alley on the side of the shop.
She hesitates but she walks toward the dark alley. She notices a narrow staircase leading up to a door to second floor.He lives here? She wonders. Before walking up the stairs he reaches his hand out to her. The girl starts to feel a little scared. Is this safe? Can I trust him? Well, I do need a place to stay for the night. She thought to herself. At this point she felt she had no choice but to trust him. She grabbed his hand and he held onto it as he helped her walk up the stairs. He opens the door for her and she walks in. At an instant she felt the warm sensation of the heated room run through her body. She steps in and takes off her boots and jacket.
“You can go sit on the couch and I’ll get us some Tea.” He informs her, motioning to the couch in the middle of the small room.
The place was small, but cozy and clean. You can obviously tell he lives alone. The living room was connected to the kitchen and there were only two doors, most likely one being his room and the other being the washroom. She makes her way to the couch and sits on the left side as he walks into the kitchen to make their refreshments. She sits down properly with her legs close together, her hands folded on her lap and her back straight. As awkward as she felt she tried not to make herself look uncomfortable. Her eyes began to wander around the room. After he put the pot on the stove he went into his room and came back out with a thin plaid blanket. He put the blanket around her shoulders causing her to smile and blush at his kind gesture.
“Just make yourself comfortable.” The sound of the water boiling alerted him and he headed back in the kitchen.
She put her elbows on her knees and propped her head up with her hands. The boy brought the trey over to the couch, laid it on the coffee table and handed her a cup as he sat on the opposite side of the couch. Awkwardness filled the air. That sat in silence drinking their tea for a good 5 minutes. The amount of time it took for her to defrost and regain some energy.
“Thank you…” She murmurs softly, her voice is hoarse. He pivots his head to her direction in surprise. Eyes widened at the sound of her first words.
“You can talk?! This whole time I thought you were a mute!”
She just laughed at his observation and they place their cups on the table at the same time and convert their attention to each other.
He held his hand out for her to shake, “Ok Taecyeon, Taec for short.”
“Hwang Tiffany, Fany for short.” She mimicked and shook his hand.
Taecyeon raised one eyebrow at her, “Tiffany? American name.” Taecyeon predicted.
“California.” Tiffany says proudly.
“Boston.” He confesses shortly after.
Tiffany’s eyes widened and she turned her body to face him completely. “You’re kidding.” her voice is still somewhat hoarse.
“Well, I was born in Busan, and then I moved to Boston for 7 years then came back”
“Makes sense” She shrugs.
For a little while he just stared at her with a slight smile on his face.
She looked at him puzzled and checked to see if anyone was behind her. “What?” She asked.
“You know, you’re actually really pretty when you don’t look like a frozen zombie.” He admitted.
“Was that supposed to be a compliment?”
He shrugs, “I called you pretty didn’t I?”
She let out a light laugh and nodded in agreement, “You’re pretty good looking yourself.” She admits with a slight smirk. After a short moment of silence Taecyeon felt he needed to get something out of the way.
“If you don’t mind me asking… What happened?” he asks hesitantly.
“What do you-“her smile faded quickly, “oh… yeah…” Tears began to form in her eyes so she put her head down so he couldn’t see.
“Sorry, too personal. I shouldn’t have asked.” He apologized.
“No… it’s not your fault. You helped me, you deserve to know.” her voice wavered as she tried to fight back the tears that should be pouring out. She lifted her head back up and took a deep trembling breath. “My boyfriend broke up with me this morning, and I guess I kind of over reacted.” Tiffany revealed.
He looked at her sympathetically, “Oh, well I’m sorry about that.”
She put on a fake smile, “No need to be. And I’m sorry too, for wasting 7 years of my life with him.” She coldly stated rolling her eyes. He let out a short laugh.
She sighs and pushes her hair back with her hand. She turns to Taecyeon and finds him staring at her smiling slightly.
“Yes?…” She asks smiling back, her voice slowing coming back to normal.
He shook his head, “Sorry. So when do you want to start heading home? NOT that I want you to leave. I want you to stay, not that I’m forcing you to stay, I mean-“ He heard her giggle.
She bites her lip then her smile began to fade again. “I don’t have a home…” she confesses with.
“You don’t have a home?” Taecyeon asks.
“Well, I lived with my boyfriend, then we broke up, I was kind of… kicked out.” She says with a shrug.
“Kicked out?!” He asked angrily.
“To be honest, I kind of kicked myself out…”
His angry expression faded into a sympathetic one. “You know, you can live here with me until you get a place of your own...” he offered hesitantly because they were strangers after all.
Her expression became bright, “Really?” she asked eagerly with a huge smile and smiling eyes.
He was amused by seeing her so happy. “Yeah, I’ve been living here alone ever since I got out of college. It would be nice having some company around here.” He says with an assuring smile.
She pushed her hair behind her ear and bit her lip. “Thank you.” said Tiffany shyly.
