Hello
Taeyeon couldn't sleep that night. She couldn't stop thinking about how close she was in figuring out who her mystery friend was. She couldn't stop thinking about how she didn't realize it when she first saw the hooded person's figure.
J is real.
She wasn't hallucinating. There really was a person she was talking to. She exists. And she was determined to catch whoever it was.
-
"Taeyeon? Hey, Taeyeon!" Sunny snapped a finger in front of the daydreaming girl.
"Ah yeah, w-what were you saying again?"
The shorter girl sighed.
"Are you okay? It looks like your mind is somewhere else. Wanna share?"
"It's nothing, sorry. Continue with what you were saying earlier please."
"As I was saying... Siwon and his poles have been eyeing and staring at you like they're shooting lasers from their eyes since this morning. I'll alert Sooyoung about this, but I want you to be careful, okay? I won't be around you all day."
Taeyeon looked at the direction where Sunny was looking at, and saw Siwon whispering to one of the boys, while the other one was staring at her with a smug smile. She wanted to scoff.
"Don't worry. I can handle them." She turned her head back to the shorter girl.
"Taeyeon... please. I'm serious." She looked up from her food and saw the worried eyes on her friends face. "No sudden trashtalks or actions, okay?"
She sighed. "Okay, okay. I'll be careful. I promise." She smiled to reassure the other girl. They both then went back to eating their lunch, and Taeyeon's thoughts were back to the mystery person she just encountered.
-
As usual, she went over to her neighbor's rooftop, but she's careful than ever. Since the incident a few nights ago, she decided to lie low. It was a really close call. But hearing her neighbor talk about how hungry she was and how lonely she was... she knew she wouldn't be able to let it fall on deaf ears.
So now she's here... tiptoeing her way towards the edge of the rooftop, the one just behind the roof of the front part of the house. She carefully placed the paper bag containing the sandwich on the ground, before taping the piece of paper on the edge's wall. She was about to lean back when she thought she heard a faint sound of footsteps. As her head turned in reflex, the shadow of a small and petite figure approaching made the hairs in the back of her neck to stand.
On panic mode, she immediately scanned the place to see if there was any spot she could hide in. Her eyes stopped on a pair of barrels several feet away from her, and she wasted no time in running towards them and almost dove behind the two big containers.
"Shit shit shit!" The hooded girl muttered under hear breath. Her eyes were closed as she allowed herself to recover from the world-breaking dash she just attempted.
Did she see me? The hooded girl gently raised her head to peek over the barrel she was hiding from. Her eyes quickly scanned the area for another form of life.
Nothing.
The note taped on the wall was gone.
The paper bag containing the sandwich was gone.
She's gone. Unconsciously, she let out the breath she was holding. Thank goodness.
"Thanks for these."
Upon hearing a voice, her whole body froze. Cold sweat began forming on her forehead, and she slowly turned her head, mentally thanking herself for putting her hood on. It was dark but she risked a millisecond to catch a glimpse of the owner of the voice's face, and in that millisecond, she saw a small smile on the girl's face while holding the paper bag with one hand, and the note with the other. She pulled her hood even lower to cover her face.
"H-hello."
The hooded person swallowed, but she didn't answer. It's not like she could've. Not when her entire body was rooted on the ground like a spell has just been casted on her.
"I'm Taeyeon."
The girl who introduced herself as Taeyeon, bended down and tried to sneak a peek of the hooded person's face.
"J?"
The hooded girl gasped as she came back to her senses, doing the first thing she could think of, which was to run away. She immediately stood up and was about to make a dash for it when the other girl made her stop in her tracks.
"Wait!"
Taeyeon unconsciously took a step forward.
"I won't hurt you. I just-" The hooded girl heard Taeyeon take a step closer to her and she sprinted off. "W-wait!"
In the process of running, the the hooded girl accidentally stepped on a rock, causing her to stumble forward. Taeyeon's eyes widened as she sprinted and stretched both of her arms to reach the other person just in time to catch her halfway into letting her face meet the concrete rooftop. "Woah, careful!" She kept her steady, helping her find her footing, the previous contents of her hands now on the floor. Her left hand was on the person's stomach while her right hand was on... something she wasn't quite sure of.
Taeyeon tried to move her hand and even gave it a gentle squeeze to help her determine what she was holding, but was met with a dolphin-like scream which easily pierced her ears. Her eyes closed and she let go in reflex, tapping her ears and shaking her head. She came back to her senses a second later to take everything in.
That scream.... she's a girl??
When she opened her eyes, the other person had her head tilted away from her, but her hands were hugging herself, doing an "X" shape across her torso. Only then did it occur to Taeyeon... what that thing was.
"Oh my God, I'm s-so sorry!" Her cheeks heated up and she was suddenly thankful for the scarcity of light. She acted on her instincts and reached for the other girl's wrist, only to earn her a gasp, followed by a yank. Taeyeon wanted to curse herself. She realized that it was another wrong move, and was already panicking hard.
"I'm sorry!" She raised her two hands up like a gun has just been pointed at her.
She didn't hear any reply so she put her hands down and risked to take a step forward, only for the other person to take a step backwards. She gulped as she understood the reaction.
"I'm a girl too!"
She later on realized that it wasn't an excuse too.
"I-it was an accident, I swear!" Taeyeon held her hands up in the air. "I really am sorry."
She observed the other person, which seemed to have no plans in replying or even facing her direction.
"I'm not a pervert, nor am I creepy person."
Taeyeon internally sighed. She waited for a long time for this to happen, but things weren't going according to how she wanted it to. She was worried that her action, although an accident, must have scared or pushed J away.
"Are you okay?"
She took another step forward, and the other girl took another step back, this one with her left foot - the same foot which stepped on the rock which caused her to trip. Taeyeon didn't miss the flinch in her step.
"Your foot doesn't seem okay." Taeyeon kept staring at the other girl's foot. "Do you want some ice?"
She looked back up when she saw the other person nodding.
"Th-then I'll get you some ice! I'll be right back!" Without thinking, Taeyeon turned around and ran, and it was a few seconds later when she realized her dumb mistake.
Wait.
She used all her leg power to stop then she turned around to spot J already gone from her previous spot. She ran back and looked around, hoping to see where the other girl went. Her head looked around until she thought she spotted a figure moving in the next rooftop for a second. She rubbed her eyes and checked again, but the figure was gone.
"Darn it, Taeyeon! You're so dumb!"
She didn't know why it took her this long. She should have known that J was a girl. Her caring notes and letters practically gave it away. It was another night where she blew her chances away, but it also made her more determined to figure out who J is.
-
Taeyeon asked Mister Park to drop her off for a few minutes at one of her neighboring houses, hoping that she hadn't run out of luck yet. She looked up and eyed the two-storey house right next to theirs. It wasn't as large as the big house (or mansion) she's currently staying at for sure. The exterior looks simple and the size is normal, but that was the least of her concern.
What she wanted to know is whether a certain 'friend' of hers could possibly live there. Taeyeon rubbed her hands together, and took a couple of steps towards the front door, preparing to knock, when her attention was caught by a girl, fitting a large garbage bag inside one of the bins just outside the house she was observing.
"Umm... excuse me?" Taeyeon waited for the girl to face her but the latter didn't respond, so she decided to just ask away. "I'm looking for J. Does she live here?" She noticed that the girl stopped her hands' movements for a second, before she resumed trying to fit the garbage bag inside the bin.
"No such person lives here." The girl who had her back facing her coldly replied.
"A-are you sure?" Taeyeon widened her eyes. She was sure that this was the house that J escaped to last night. She craned her neck, trying to at least look at the girl's face but the latter didn't seem like she was even interested in talking to her. She didn't hear any reply.
What's with this girl?
Taeyeon was starting to lose her patience and was about to open her mouth to say something but decided against it. Maybe J really didn't live there. There are still a couple of houses next to theirs that she haven't visited yet. Maybe she escaped through this house's rooftop but actually lived somewhere else. Who knows? She decided to save her energy.
"Thanks then."
Taeyeon didn't wait for a reply that she knew wasn't coming. She turned around and began to walk away when she heard a dolphin-like scream.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
She flinched at the loud high-pitched sound but immediately opened her eyes again when she recognized that particular sound.
Wait. That scream.
Taeyeon quickly turned around.
"Wait!" She tried to run after the girl but she already got inside the house and closed the door behind her. Taeyeon panted and huffed.
Could it be?
She stayed rooted in her position before deciding that thousands of other girls probably scream the same way. She turned around to take a step when her foot landed on a metal instead of the concrete ground. She looked down to see what it was.
A can.
Taeyeon thought that it must have fallen out from the large trash bag the girl was carrying earlier.
The girl must have stepped on this too and almost lost her balance causing her to scream like that?
She bent down to pick it up, walked towards the same trash bin the other girl went to earlier to drop it but her eyes caught the packaging of the can, causing them to widen just as her hand was about to let go of it. Taeyeon turned the can just a bit to confirm and she was right.
It was a tuna can.
-
The hooded girl carefully made her way towards the front edge of the rooftop where she always leaves the paper bag with a sandwich and the note. She's really careful not to make any sound, while also squinting hard as not to step on another object which could make her trip... or scream. She barely escaped the other night. So she carefully placed the paper bag on the floor, then took the paper between her lips, taping it towards the edge of the inner wall.
"You could say that to my face now, you know."
She froze.
"I mean... I'm here. You're here..." There was no reply.
"Couldn't you at least... look at me?" The crouching hooded girl just lowered her head even more. Taeyeon sighed.
"Until when would you keep hiding from me?" The other girl felt Taeyeon's pain just by saying those words. "You don't want to be my friend anymore? You don't want to talk to a pathetic girl in real life?"
There was only pure silence in the next passing seconds.
"I see." The hooded girl heard shuffling of feet. Raising her head just a little, she peeked and saw the other girl now sitting on her favorite spot, just like where she always sees her sit before, with her arms on her knees. "It's fine though."
"It's not like I'm not used to being lonely again.." Taeyeon muttered it under her breath but the other girl caught it. The former thought she would finally be able to meet with her mysterious friend in person. She thought they could finally be able to talk normally too. But she blew her chances.
Taeyeon could see from the corner of her eyes that the hooded girl stood up and walked away. She buried her face in her folded arms which were resting on top of her knees. She thought she heard footsteps approaching her, but she thought she was just hearing things wrong, because when she strained her ears, she was sure that the footsteps were walking away from her. She wanted to cry. Just the thought of the only person keeping her company in her lonely home even just at night is making her teary.
"It's not that."
Taeyeon's ears caught a faint voice and her head involuntarily jerked up. She turned her head towards the direction of the voice and saw a figure sitting on the next rooftop. It was her. And she was talking to her.
"It's not that I don't want to talk to you."
She got up and moved closer towards the edge of the rooftop, then sat there, to be able to hear her clearer. She had a beautiful voice.
"I didn't intend to make you feel that way." Taeyeon heard her say. Her mouth was still hanging low but she decided to use this chance.
"I-I'm sorry for the other night. It was an accident and you tr-"
"Apology accepted." Silence followed, with Taeyeon not knowing what to say.
"C-can we start over? My name's Taeyeon. You are?" She almost held her breath, scared that she would miss even the slightest sound the other girl might make.
"J."
Taeyeon frowned.
"J....?"
She waited for a continuation but gave up after a while.
"Don't forget to your sandwich, okay? Don't skip dinner."
Oh yeah, the sandwich!
Taeyeon was about to stand up and get it, but stopped when the paper bag was now gone from its previous place where she has last seen it earlier.
"Look beside you."
The confused girl looked beside her and that's where she spotted the paper bag and the note resting on top of it.
She gulped.
"Thank you, J!"
Taeyeon looked over to the next rooftop, only to find out that she was no longer talking to anyone. She took the paper resting on top of it, tilted it to be able to allow enough moonlight to shine on it, then she read...
Hello, Taeyeon.
It was quite a surprise for me, what happened the other night.
I'm sorry.
I didn't intend to hurt your feelings.
I just didn't expect that we would be standing in front of each other so soon.
And I wasn't sure whether I could face you directly.
I know you're a good person.
I just never expected that we would be standing face-to-face like that.
I've never thought of the possibility of you personally meeting me yet
so I didn't know what to do
or how to react.
J.
Taeyeon folded the note and faced the next rooftop, even if the other person was already gone.
"It's okay, you know."
"It's... fine. I just really wanted to talk to meet you in person." Taeyeon folded the paper once more.
"I wanted to thank the person who helped me and listened to me when no one else did." She smiled as she took the paper bag next to her and peeked inside, remembering something.
"Thank you for this. I will eat it this tuna sandwich well, miss cold-girl-taking-out-the-trash-who-won't-face-me." Taeyeon smirked, then giggled. "And don't forget to apply an ice pack on your foot. Be careful. " She rose from her position, dusted her shorts off, then turned.
"Don't be shy next time, okay?" She waved to no one.
"Good night, J." Taeyeon grinned, before turning around and walking down the stairs, back to her room.
After a while, a sweaty girl peeked from her hiding place in the next rooftop, lowering her hood. Her face was blushing and she literally cursed herself a few times for being so careless and obvious. But then a smile made its way to her face.
"Good night to you too."
She whispered to the wind, before a familiar sound broke her out of her own thoughts, wiping the smile off her face, causing her to head inside her own house too.