The next morning, Sooyoung woke up to the smell of food in the air. She quickly got herself out of bed and wandered into the kitchen to find that Taeyeon was making breakfast. It was another feast with eggs, bacon, toast, jam, fruits, etc. Sooyoung’s wide eyes got even wider as her stomach rumbled and salivated.

                “Good morning.” Sooyoung’s voice was raspy.

                “Good morning.” Taeyeon turned back from the stove.

                “Smells good …” Sooyoung tried to steal a piece of bacon, but Taeyeon smacked her hand. It was strange how they were almost enemies two days before and now they were friends.

                “You should go get ready, breakfast is almost done.” Taeyeon smiled and Sooyoung noticed that she had an eyesmile, too. Not as obvious as Tiffany’s, but just as cute, nonetheless.

                “Okay.” Like a good girl, Sooyoung nodded and shuffled back to her bathroom. It must have been record time for her because she showered and brushed her teeth all in ten minutes. When she came back out to the kitchen, her hair was still dripping wet and Taeyeon sent her back to dry it.

                “Alright, I’m finally done!” Sooyoung came running out again; her hair was dried and pulled into a little sparrow tail.

                “Then please grab the glasses of juice and we can eat.” Taeyeon carried the tray of food over to the dining table.

                As Sooyoung pulled out a chair for herself, she noticed two pieces of luggage sitting in the livingroom. She stared at them for a second before she took a seat and gathered some food over on her plate. “Thanks for cooking, I haven’t had breakfast like this in a while.”

                “I’m glad you like it. I like to cook so I love it when I find a … connoisseur to enjoy my food.” Taeyeon laughed and added some bacon to Sooyoung’s plate.

                “Are you going to the café to work later?” Sooyoung added ketchup all over the eggs and bacon.

                “My shift starts in the afternoon …” Taeyeon stopped spreading the jam on her toast. “This morning, I stopped by the apartment to gather some of my things, but Tiffany didn’t even acknowledge me. I think she’s still mad and I didn’t say anything to her, so I think she’s beyond mad now.”

                “Ah … I was wondering why there were tiny pieces of luggage in my livingroom … they suit you.” Sooyoung tried to hide her smile. She ignored Taeyeon’s depressing comments.

                “Hey! Spit that bacon back out! You can’t eat my food if you’re just going to make fun of my size.” Taeyeon bit her lower lip and reached over to grab Sooyoung’s chin.

                Sooyoung pursed her lips and shook her head. She leaned back to dodge Taeyeon’s reach and started to chew when the older girl backed away. “You’ll get it back later …”

                “UGH! Choi Sooyoung, don’t make toilet jokes at breakfast.” Taeyeon made a disgusted face.

                “Kekeke … if you’re going to live with me, then you’ll just have to deal with it.”

                “Fine. So my food will pay for living fees, right?”

                “Sure.” Sooyoung nodded after she took a big gulp of her orange juice. She her lips before she smiled. “Hey, Taeyeon … can I ask you something?”

                “What’s up?” Taeyeon was curious.

                “Um … can I call you Taeyeon-unni?” Sooyoung blushed for the first time in a while. “I know I said I wouldn’t … but I really would like to call you unni.” Last night, Sooyoung laid in bed and thought about why she felt so close to Taeyeon in such a short time. She had a familiar feeling of how her own brother and sister used to treat her before their argument. Now that Sooyoung was estranged from her family, she suddenly thirsted for some sibling interaction.

                “… if this is a joke about my old age, then I will decline.” Taeyeon peered suspiciously at Sooyoung.

                “No! No it’s not … I just thought it felt nice … to have an unni.” Sooyoung smiled, but only sadness touched her eyes.

                “Oh …” Taeyeon was reminded of Sooyoung’s story and quickly nodded. “I haven’t seen my little sister in a long time, so how about you be my little cute dongseng?”

                Sooyoung was relieved and ecstatic that Taeyeon agreed to her request. She clapped happily, “Thank you, unni.”

                “You’re welcome, dongseng.” Taeyeon laughed and reached over to pinch Sooyoung’s cheek. “D’awww, look at my dongseng’s cute puffy cheeks. So cute!”

                Sooyoung blushed then pinched Taeyeon’s cheek, as well. “My unni has cute cheeks, too!”

                They continued to pinch each other’s cheeks until they both were sore. After agreeing to stop, they finished their breakfast. Sooyoung wanted to help Taeyeon clean, but her new unni ushered her to her room to get ready for school. When she returned, Taeyeon was still doing the dishes.

                “Unni, I’m off to school!” Sooyoung chirped happily when she presented herself next to Taeyeon.

                “Aigoo, my dongseng is such a good girl. Have a good day at school, alright? Play nice with the other kids.” Taeyeon quickly dried her hands and gave Sooyoung a hug. Sooyoung found out that Taeyeon is a hugging sort of person.

                “Thank you, unni. Have a good afternoon at work. And cook me something yummy later!”

                “Brrr … your aegyo gave me chills.”

                They shared a laugh before Sooyoung left the house. Her steps felt lighter and she was thankful for Taeyeon. She made a promise to herself to help her unni get back together with Tiffany.

                So skip forward past her classes and study session, Sooyoung pulled out her phone and dialed Tiffany’s number.

                [“Hello, this is Tiffany speaking.”] The other line picked up.

                “Hi, Tiffany. This is Sooyoung.”

                [“Oh hey Sooyoungie. How are you?”] Tiffany’s husky voice managed to come out like a purr, Sooyoung was not sure how she did that.

                “I’m good. I was wondering if you have time to meet for lunch?”

                [“You read my stomach, it’s been growling. Where do you want to go?”]

                “Near your work place, there’s a little restaurant that has really good ddukbokki and kimbap. Want to meet there?”

                [“I know the place you’re talking about. Sure. I’ll see you there in …”]

                “Give me twenty minutes.” Sooyoung glanced at her watch.

                [“Okay, see you soon.”]

                “See ya.” Sooyoung tossed her bag into the passenger seat and drove to the place of appointment.

                “Sooyoungie.” Tiffany called to Sooyoung when she arrived.

                “Hey, Tiffany.” Sooyoung waved slightly from her table.

                “Hey. I’m surprised that you called me for lunch.” Tiffany flashed her famous smile as she sat opposite of Sooyooung.

                “Sorry for the sudden call, I hope I didn’t interrupt your work.”

                “No you didn’t, it was about time for me to lunch anyways.”

                “I’m glad.”

                 “So … what’s up?” Tiffany sensed that something was on Sooyoung’s mind.

                “I …” Sooyoung started, but just then the food arrived, Sooyoung had ordered a tableful. She waited until everything was set down before she continued. “I really don’t know how to say this and you know I like to be straightforward, so I hope you won’t get upset.”

                Tiffany nodded for Sooyoung to continue. Despite the plates of hot delicious food in front of them, Sooyoung could not pick up her chopsticks. “Taeyeon-unni is staying with me at my apartment.”

                Tiffany’s eyes narrowed briefly before she smiled. “Unni? Since when do you call her unni?”

                “Since this morning, she’s a really good unni.” Sooyoung could not stop herself from smiling back whenever Tiffany smiled at her. “But I can tell that she misses you a lot. I think you two needs to meet and clear out some misunderstanding.”

                “What is there to talk about when she doesn’t trust me?” Tiffany’s voice was hushed and her eyes were averted elsewhere.

                “She didn’t ask me to come here, I wanted to help where I can … as for what to say, I’m not sure, only Taeyeon-unni can say what she wants to say … I’m just here to ask you to give her a chance to talk and also give yourself a chance.”

                “I know. Taeyeon likes to settle things for herself; she wouldn’t ask someone to come in her place. What do you mean by that?”

                Here came the hard part and Sooyoung shook her head. “I don’t want to offend you … but I have a feeling that you still like me. Please tell me that I’m wrong.”

                Tiffany remained still and silent while Sooyoung searched her face for any emotion.

                “I’m not sure …” Tiffany finally spoke. “I haven’t thought about you in a long time … but when I saw you again, I felt some of those old feelings returning to me. And now that I know you and Jessica …”

                “We are going to be together.” Sooyoung decisively ended Tiffany’s dangerous train of thought. “Jessica and I will be together.” Her adamant voice extinguished the light in Tiffany’s eyes.

                “I … I know …” Tiffany nodded.

                “Tiffany, we have been good friends and while I was oblivious to your feelings in high school, I still know a lot about you. I know you are a wonderful person and the perfect match for Taeyeon-unni. Don’t squander your chance of happiness away for a shadow of your former feelings.” Sooyoung was as straightforward as possible without sounding cruel.

                “But what can I do when she doesn’t trust me and I don’t trust myself? I know that I love her, but I also have feelings for you … I need some time.” Tiffany smiled sadly.

                “Then take a few days to clear your head. She’s staying with me for a little while, so don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her. But please think about the past few years and your love for her. I know you’ll make the right decision.” Sooyoung nodded. “It won’t be easy, but she will support you anytime.”

                “Alright.” Sooyoung has never seen Tiffany this sullen and quiet before. She felt bad for hurting the other girl’s feelings, but it was something that had to be done.

                “At least answer her call with a text or something, she’s worried about you.”

                “You’re awfully worried about Taeyeon.” Tiffany suddenly said. “For a person whom you just met, you’re even more worried about than me, your high school friend.”

                “That’s because she’s my unni now.” Sooyoung cryptically replied.

                “What does that even mean?” Tiffany was agitated, Sooyoung could tell because her volume was getting louder.

                “It means that I will treat her as my own sister.”

                “How do you think it makes me feel, Choi Sooyoung? You suddenly came back after these years and stirred up these feelings that have settled. Then you took my girlfriend’s side and made me feel like the bad guy … you are such a jerk!” Tiffany snapped and grabbed her things. “I can’t believe you.”

                Sooyoung put down some money and felt bad for wasting food. “Ajumma, please box this up. I’ll be back for it in a bit.” She told the owner then rushed out the door to chase after Tiffany.

                “Tiffany, please. I’m sorry …” Sooyoung grabbed Tiffany’s arm. 

                “Sorry? Sorry about what? About never having noticed my feelings? About never giving me a chance? About making me the bad person? Or about making me feel like crap?” Tiffany whirled around and Sooyoung could see the tears in her eyes.

                “I’m sorry about everything! I just want to make it better so you and Taeyeon-unni can go back to before!” Sooyoung frowned.

                “So you thought you would be like the white knight that march in and fix everything? Well, you can’t, Choi Sooyoung. People’s feelings aren’t your toys, you can’t mend things just because you spout out some crack logic.” Tiffany cried and struggled.

                “Then make me the bad guy, blame me for being an .” Sooyoung refused to let go of Tiffany’s arm.

                “Ugh! You are so self-righteous … just leave me alone!” Tiffany finally jerked her arm out of Sooyoung’s grasp. “I … need to forget you. Stop being nice. Don’t contact me anymore … give me some space … please. I beg you and Taeyeon.”

                Sooyoung’s heart clenched when she realized that she had made a mistake coming here. She bowed, “I’m sorry, Tiffany … I won’t contact you anymore. I’m sorry for … everything. I really am.”

                Tiffany nodded and turned to leave Sooyoung standing in the cold streets. For the first time in a while, Sooyoung felt like a big fool. A fool who screwed up a lot of things.

                When Sooyoung returned home, Taeyeon greeted her with a big grin and presented a table of delicious food again. Suddenly, the tall girl welled up and embraced Taeyeon. Big droplets of tears already streamed down her cheeks before she realized it. She bawled into the shorter woman’s shoulder and cried until she lost her voice.

                “I’m sorry, unni! I made a mistake!” She wept.

                Taeyeon was surprised, but she just continued to hold the younger girl. She patted her back and her hair. “It’ll be alright, unni is here for you, Youngie.” They stayed like that for a while until Sooyoung calmed down enough to explain what she did to Taeyeon.

It's a TaeNySoo triangle! Well ... sort of ... I'm slightly jealous of Soo, she gets to have all these meals made TaeTae!

Sooyoung is my bias, but Tae is fighting pretty hard for that position. Garh! Tae, y u so cute?