“I got you your favorite, Taengoo-yah.”

She shuts the front door with one violent nudge. One by one, her boots fling carelessly across the short receiving hall as she struggles to remove it without dropping the heavy bags balanced on both her arms. Up ahead, the dulcet voice continues to echo inside their seemingly empty apartment, its owner still blissfully unaware of the dirty looks it is currently receiving.

“Yup. I bought the large, multi-colored ones.”

It doesn’t take her long to follow the brown-haired girl into their kitchen. Without a second thought, she dumps the load unceremoniously on the tiled kitchen counter, right beside the bags her shopping companion had neatly piled just moments before.

“Uh-huh, I got three.”

“You’re back.” Sooyoung whips her head at the sound of the new voice and comes face to face with their smiling maknae. “Here, let me help put those groceries away, unnie.”

“Thanks. Where are the rest of the kids?”

“Fany-unnie went out to meet some friends for coffee while the rest of the unnies sneaked out to watch that new horror movie.” Seohyun tugs the pantry door open and reaches for the snack-filled bag. “Oh, and Taeyeon-unnie still hasn’t returned from her schedule.”

“What time will you be finished with the recording?”

“I know.” The tall girl mutters darkly. She sends another glare at the other girl who, up until now, had been busily chatting with their pint-sized leader on her phone. “Taengoo this, Taengoo that. If they’re not busy talking to each other, then they’re busy doing something else.”

“Ah, is someone actually jealous?”

“I’m not!” Sooyoung bristles at the maknae’s light teasing. She tosses another grocery bag at her with much frustration, but Seohyun deftly catches the item with both hands. The younger girl starts to rummage inside.

“It’s just… never mind. You wouldn’t understand, Seohyun-ah. And I’m not ready to explain these things to you just yet. Not at your age.”

“Oh, really? Just make sure you’re not too tired when you come home tonight, then.”

Her right eye twitches uncomfortably as Jessica giggles into her phone. The girl’s words automatically trigger a flash of images in her head. Shaking away those thoughts, Sooyoung grumbles under her breath, “When you turn thirty, maybe.”

“Marshmallows, again?”

The shikshin turns her attention to the girl holding up the bag-in-question. “Don’t look at me. I’m not the one who insists on buying it for the midget.”

“Leave that alone, maknae.” Jessica finally comes striding in from the corner of the room and joins in on the conversation.

“Unnie, these things are so unhealthy. Why do you keep on buying them for Taeyeon-unnie?” Seohyun voices out, her tone clearly chastising. An unmistakable frown etches across her face, which grows deeper by the second as she pores over the nutritional facts printed on the back of the huge, pink fluffy bag. “Her cheeks are chubby enough as it is. She doesn’t need to gain any more weight on other parts of her body.”

“Hmn, if you ask me…” Jessica starts to mumble, a thoughtful look passing on her face, but before she can continue, she clears and catches herself. “Of course I know that, Seohyun-ah.” Grabbing the bag nearest her, she proceeds to take out its contents one by one and set it on the countertop. “That’s why I’m helping her keep in shape.”

The short-haired girl lets out a badly-disguised snort.

Jessica an eyebrow but nevertheless keeps quiet. Instead, she calls out to their youngest member and waves her over. “Can you put these in the bathroom for me, please?”

The maknae obediently nods her head and quickly trots in the direction of the bathroom, both arms filled bottles of various hair and body products.

“What now?” the older girl boredly asks, keeping her back turned away from the scoffing shikshin. Jessica’s attention remains on the still untended packages and begins digging out the various foodstuffs and household necessities they had acquired during their trip to the market.

“I don’t think your late-night activities qualify as keeping in shape.” Sooyoung air-quotes with a roll of her eyes.

“What late-night activities?” a curious voice pipes up from behind, causing the tall girl to freeze up in surprise.

“She’s talking about late-night jogs at the park, Seohyun-ah. Taeyeon and I go there for a few rounds of jogging on most nights,” Jessica smoothly answers for the shikshin, folding away the used grocery bags they have emptied so far.

“Oh, so that’s why Taeyeon-unnie always looks so tired in the mornings.”

“Uh-huh.” Nodding her head, Jessica adds with a disappointed sigh, “Unfortunately, she’s still quite lacking in stamina.”

“Juhyun-ah, could you put these away in the bathroom, too?”

“Um, I don’t think these chips belong there, unnie.”

“Just do it!” Sooyoung almost shrieks, eliciting a startled look from the youngest member of their group. Guilt immediately washes over her and she hastily amends her words. “I mean, please? I’ve always wanted to have a snack while I take my showers.”

“Take your time!” She smiles reassuringly while she nudges Seohyun away, and as soon as the confused girl disappears from her sight, Sooyoung immediately turns to her companion and hisses, “You got to stop corrupting the maknae.”

At the other end of the cluttered area, Jessica lets out a small, dry laugh. “Hello, Pot. My name is Kettle. It’s so nice to finally meet you and all, but… you’re black!”

The short-haired girl draws in and readies a preformed rebuttal but her roommate’s actual words stop her short. Frowning slightly, Sooyoung reels back in confusion. “You– what?”

“Get your mind out of the gutter, shikshin. You’re the one who’s corrupting the maknae, not me.” Her hands planted firmly on her waist, Jessica finally steps from behind the pantry door and shoots her a pointed look. “Exactly how many times has she walked in on you watching those videos, huh?”

A slash of crimson stains Sooyoung’s cheeks. opens and closes a few times as she tries to sputter out a suitable retort. “Well, at least she hasn’t… walked in on you two… doing… your thing!”

“This coming from the girl who likes to watch .” Jessica shakes her head and tosses her a hand of ripened bananas. “If you can’t take the heat, Sooyoung-ah, then stay out of the kitchen.”

“That’s the problem.” Sooyoung walks over to the fridge and tugs it open. She chucks the fruit inside before grabbing a bottle of water for herself. “I would have stayed out, too, except that you took the heat right out of the kitchen and straight into our room!”

“Huh? What are you heating inside your room?” For the second time that day, Seohyun manages to creep up from behind and surprise the giant shikshin.

“Marshmallows. We like roasting marshmallows.” With a sickeningly sweet smile, Jessica decidedly abandons the work and drops on the empty breakfast stool a couple of feet away. She takes one bag of the chewy delight tears it open with her teeth. “Taeyeon especially likes it when the marshmallows are extra sticky.”

“And how do you do that?”

“With fire, of course.”

“Inside your room?”

“Well, that’s what the portable stove is for.”

“Oh, okay. But… should you really be playing with fire in your room? Isn’t that a little dangerous?”

The tall girl watches the exchange from the sidelines, torn between wanting to hit Jessica for bringing up the awkward topic in front of their maknae, and wanting to hit Seohyun for being the pure, innocent and burdensome girl that she is. Sooyoung ends up just hitting herself for even agreeing to do the grocery run with Jessica in the first place.

“Don’t worry, Hyunnie. Burning down the house is out of the question. Taeyeon wouldn’t allow it to happen. You know how she likes to stay on top of things.” The shikshin’s eyes flash in warning, but Jessica only spares her a mischievous grin. “Besides, we could always count on Sooyoung here to put out the fire.”

“I guess the rest these marshmallows belong to your room, then.” Seohyun shrugs unsuspectingly, and like the obedient little maknae that she is, she picks up the remaining bags of the spongy confection and trundles off again.

“I can’t believe you.” Sooyoung glares accusingly.

“Gutter,” is all Jessica says in a singsong voice, popping a piece inside . She tilts her head and looks slightly past her shoulder with a smile. This time, Sooyoung accurately holds her tongue as their maknae silently bounds past her.

“You’ve been working hard today, maknae.” The brown-haired girl motions for the younger one to take a seat, and then turns to Sooyoung to do the same. Clutching the opened bag of goodies, she brandishes it in front of the maknae and gestures for her to take one. “Here, have some. Eating a couple of pieces is not enough to kill you.”

With an impish grin, Jessica dips one hand inside the bag and in a blink of an eye, shoves a big, white marshmallow on Sooyoung’s lips even before she can even protest. “You too, shikshin.”

Unsurprisingly, it only takes her half a second to change her mind and enjoy the treat. Her body goes into (shikshin) autopilot, and whatever inappropriate thoughts she has previously associated with Jessica and marshmallows are soon forgotten. The instant the taste leaves , Sooyoung automatically reaches out and picks out another piece. She dunks it wholly in .

“You guys,” Jessica starts in between chews, “you’re not giving these marshmallows enough credit. They aren’t as bad as you think they are.” Taking out a white, fluffy piece, she holds it up for everyone to see. “Eating a marshmallow actually offers a perspective more insightful than you’d ever think.”

“Really? What makes you say that, unnie?” Seohyun curiously asks, inspecting the halved marshmallow currently stuck between her fingers.

“See, you can tell a lot on how a person treats a relationship by the way they eat a marshmallow.” The half-American nods astutely as she launches off into an explanation she has picked up – Sooyoung posits – from their very own kid leader herself. 

“There are those people who on the marshmallow and never take a bite.” She drops the marshmallow inside to demonstrate. “They let the marshmallow dissolve ever so slowly, unwilling to let it disappear. These people desperately cling on to the relationship and make it last as long as it possibly could.”

Imperceptibly, Sooyoung bobs her head in agreement. Her hand extends across the breakfast counter and snatches a couple of marshmallows from the bag.

“Others prefer biting it in halves, thirds, or fourths. Just like you, Seohyun-ah.” Jessica points to the half-bitten piece on Seohyun’s hand, much to the younger girl’s surprise. Mimicking the maknae’s previous action, she pulls out another marshmallow and cleanly halves it as well. “These people are aware that the relationship isn’t going to last, but even so, that doesn’t stop them from enjoying the relationship, anyway.”

“Which reminds me, try not to enjoy your fake marriage with Yonghwa too much, alright?”

“Ah, unnie…” The youngest blushes, but Jessica waves her off with a smirk. Once again, Sooyoung wordlessly agrees.

“Sooyoung, on the other hand, belongs to the third group.”

At the mention of her own name, the shikshin pauses in mid-bite. She shifts her attention and stares expectantly at her roommate.

“These people are the ones who like to eat it whole, savor the taste, and then swallow. When that’s done, they reach in once again and restart the whole process. They don’t mind going through all those people in search for Mr. or Ms. Right.”

Jessica spots the half-bitten pair of white and pink marshmallows sticking out from the shikshin’s mouth. The older girl lightly wrinkles her nose.

“.”

Sooyoung instantly gags at the partially-chewed, gooey goodness which managed stick itself at the back of .

“Okay, just stop with this ridiculous psychobabble, Sica,” she wheezes after taking a generous swig out of her bottled water. Sooyoung then levels a glare at her roommate, hoping it would be enough to distract the older girl from noticing that noticeable blush on her face. “A marshmallow is just a marshmallow. People can eat it however they want.”

“Actually, what Sica-unnie said makes perfect sense,” the maknae thoughtfully interjects. “Take Taeyeon-unnie, for example. You’ve seen how she eats it, too, right?”

Tentatively, Sooyoung nods, remembering the countless times she had curiously watched their diminutive leader consume the sugary delight.

“Just like how she eats a marshmallow bit by bit,” Seohyun relates, exhibiting the same eating habits as that of Taeyeon, “unnie is someone who likes to analyze the relationship and takes things slow. She knows how to make it last, but she also knows not to hold on when it’s time for her let go.”

A moment of silence passes. Sooyoung lets the maknae go on uninterrupted because even she finds it hard to disagree.

“When it’s all over, she the remaining sugar on her fingers, cherishing the relationship one last time, before completely saying goodbye.” Unlike their oldest member, however, Seohyun decides against lapping her own sticky digits and wipes it off with a clean napkin instead. “It’s a bit… unhygienic, though.”

Jessica’s lilting laugh bounces along the walls of their kitchen. “Well, that may be true, but what exactly can you do?”

Sooyoung’s own smile slowly disappears when she catches the strange twinkle in her roommate’s eyes.

“Taengoo just really likes her sticky fingers clean.”

**ByunSic circa 2011