“There you go… That’s it Sunny!” Taeyeon encouraged her as she led Sunny’s hands around the cake.

Taeyeon had suggested Sunny should go out and have some fun. Being always in her room couldn’t possibly be healthy. However Sunny confessed she was still afraid of being out there. Taeyeon understood her and so she dragged her to the café kitchen. There she asked Sunny to help her make her pastries.

“D-does it look okay?” Sunny was trying to concentrate and impress Taeyeon but when her hands became unsteady Taeyeon took hold of her hands and directed her. Together they made an intricate design that Sunny had never seen in the café before.

“It’s perfect!” Sunny could hear the excitement in Taeyeon’s voice.

“I-its new, right?”

Taeyeon stopped moving their hands and smiled gently at Sunny. “How’d you know?”

“When I sat down here I would study the designs. I always wondered how you came up with them.”

“I sketch the design first. When I’m happy with how it looks I try it on the pastry.” Taeyeon went back to leading Sunny’s hands as they frosted the cake.

“What’s this cake about?”

“I came up with it last night… it’s a lemon and spice cake. Its bright and tangy…”

“It sounds delicious!” Sunny thought as she marbled at being part of one of Taeyeon’s creations. “It’s a new take on a lemon cake!”

Taeyeon looked at Sunny with wide eyes. “That’s exactly what I was going for…”

“I can’t wait to try it…” Sunny smiled sheepishly.

“You have to be the first to try it Sunny” Taeyeon smiled at her.

“W-why is that?”

“You inspired it…” Taeyeon chuckled when she noticed Sunny’s cheeks turning pink. Taeyeon’s smiled spread and she turned to face Sunny. “Its ‘Sunny’s Lemon Cake’”

“Huh?” Sunny felt her heart soar and she worried maybe Taeyeon could hear it.

“It’s beautiful and sweet on the outside but inside its spicy and tangy. It’s kinda like you… Your bad experiences give you depth and spice but never take away from your sweetness.”

Sunny was completely speechless. She had never heard anyone say something like that about her. Sunny never believed anything anyone said. With all the fake compliments she’d received in life, she knew when someone was playing her. However this was different. She knew Taeyeon wasn’t trying to play her. Taeyeon had nothing to gain from being nice to her and Sunny loved that.

She couldn’t stop herself when she grabbed Taeyeon’s face and pressed her lips against hers. Taeyeon was taken completely by surprise and she just couldn’t process what had just happened. Sunny let go and looked at Taeyeon with fear.

“i-I am so sorry! I couldn’t help it…” Sunny’s breathing picked up as she realized she might have just ruined their budding friendship with a simple kiss. “I’m sorry…”

“Sunny! Wait!” Taeyeon was too late, Sunny had already run off. “Wait…”

XXXXXXXXX

Jessica walked in front of the building and sighed. She vaguely remembered her last time being there. It was a business party and she had had one too many cocktails. She remembered Tiffany walking up to her and helping her to the bathroom since she didn’t feel well.

Jessica remembered how she sat on the sink as Tiffany patted a wet towel across her forehead, how she spoke soothing words to her as she threw up, how regardless of how disgusting she looked Tiffany still looked at her like she was the prettiest thing in the world. She lastly remembered the kiss and how she just ran off afterward, without a single thank you or goodbye.

Jessica groaned. “I am such an !”

She went to the door and found it to be locked. She saw a sign on the window that said they’ve been closed for the past week. Jessica felt her anger rise and she kicked the door. “Dammit!”

She looked up and gasped. In the window she saw the reflection she was searching for. Tiffany was sitting on a bench across the street. She was looking up to the building’s rooftop, where the party had been held.

“Ms. Hwang!” Jessica ran across the street and called out to Tiffany. Tiffany’s head snapped up. When she saw Jessica she stood up quickly and tried to run. Jessica was already too close for her to get away.

Tiffany was pulled back and held by Jessica. She struggled and tried to get away, forcing Jessica to hug her forcefully so she couldn’t escape.

“No! NO! I’m not going back! Let me go!” Tiffany thrashed but Jessica’s hold was too strong. Tiffany had grown too tired to keep moving and stopped. She had tears running down her cheeks and she looked down.

“Ms.Hwang?” Jessica’s voice was low. She was afraid of snapping or raising her voice because Tiffany didn’t deserve it.

Tiffany leaned her head on Jessica’s shoulder and whispered in defeat, “Please Jessi… I can’t go back”

“Where have you stayed the past couple of days?”

“In my car.” Tiffany slid her arms around Jessica and hugged her tightly. “I don’t want to go back… he can’t make me throw my life away Jessi…”

“Who is?” Jessica awkwardly patted her back.

“…”

Jessica held Tiffany at arm’s length to look at her face. “You can tell me you know… if you want I’m here to listen.”

Before Tiffany could say anything her stomach growled loudly cutting her off when she opened .

“Ms. Hwang, when was the last time you ate?” Tiffany looked down sheepishly. “When?”

“Yesterday morning… I ran out of cash…” Jessica looked at Tiffany sternly before she began to pull her to her car. “Jessica no! I can’t go back!”

“You can’t live like this! Let’s go!”

XXXXXXXXX

“Yoona?” Yuri walked downstairs to the living room. She had woken up in the middle of the night for a glass of water. Yuri had made it a habit now that when she awoke she’d check on Yoona. However when she went to her room she didn’t see her there. Now she walked through the house half asleep in search for Yoona.

“Yoona where are you?” Yuri scratched her head and walked into the kitchen. There she saw Yoona on the floor surrounded by papers and files.

“Hey Yuri…” Yoona looked incredibly tired yet she kept going paper by paper and file by file.

“What are you doing at three in the morning?”

“I want a job… I asked one of my dad’s employees to help me out so I’m coming up with a proposition for my father.”

“That’s great Yoona… but why this late?” Yuri went over and sat next to her. She looked at the pictures of venues Yoona had marked up.

“I want to get this done as soon as possible.” Yoona yawned and stopped reading. She leaned back into the counter as Yuri had done.

“You need to sleep Yoona. I’ll help you tomorrow but its bedtime now…” Yuri looked to her side and saw that Yoona had already fallen asleep.

Yuri tried to shake Yoona awake but instead ended up moving h r a bit. Yoona placed her head on Yuri’s shoulder and kept sleeping. Yuri looked at her and sighed. “Goodnight Yoona…”