At his apartment, which he rented with Wooyoung, Taecyeon was sprawled out on the couch, trying to work in some sleep before he had to leave to work on his second part-time job. For as long as he could remember, he had worked two jobs trying to support himself and his sister in her education. And as much as he loved and cared for Suzy, and would do anything for her, he sometimes, in his rare ungrateful moments, blamed his parents for passing away early leaving him with the care of a sister almost ten years his junior. Not only that though, because he was struggling to support her, he wasn’t able to heedlessly pursue his ambition, of becoming a serious writer; as the beginning few years of that particular career did very little in the way of making money.

He groaned internally, as remembered that he and Wooyoung had to meet up in the diner later on that night. When am I going to get to sleep today! The diner they were going to was somewhat fancy and the only reason that they could afford it was because the son of the owner used to be in the same high school, and was close to Wooyoung, gave them a hefty discount once in a while. Guess I can’t complain much, I’ll be eating well tonight. Maybe I should call Suzy there. I’m going to have to let her know at some point that our financial situation isn’t doing great… Wonder how she’ll take that. At least she won’t be able to make a huge ruckus in public when I tell her about the possibility of her having to switch schools. Yes, that’ll be perfect, she’ll understand eventually. And I’ll be spared her immature tantrums until she calms down a little, and then hopefully they won’t be as bad. So he picked up his phone and texted her, and then fell into a deep slumber right away.

His first part-time job was at a coffee house, which he liked to work at because of the light, bright, cheerful atmosphere. He got to meet new sorts of people every day, and as a habit imagined their lives and their names and what they did;  like making up a story for any of his more interesting customers. This kept his mind alive, and he could almost delude himself into thinking that this job would give him some real advantage when he began writing, if I begin writing, he reminded himself. His second job, though, was one he enjoyed thoroughly, and it really did do something to help him become a writer. He worked at a bookstore, and in his free time, which he had, granted, very little of, he could pick out and read any of the books available around him. But, today he was clumsy at everything he attempted to do, because all his thoughts were focused on Suzy, and her reaction to his news. He regretted having texted her to meet them as soon as he had hit the send button. Nothing I can do about it now. She isn’t childish enough to make a scene in front of people, is she?

At about 6:30 pm, he met with Wooyoung and they both made their way to the diner. “So, I told Suzy to come and meet us. I’m going to tell her today…” Taecyeon said timidly. At first all Wooyoung did was stare at his fried, then slowly his mouth dropped sensing that this wasn’t a joke. “Are you crazy man, she’ll blow her top off, and if she breaks any of the furniture there, half your pay check will disappear!” Wooyoung looked imploringly at his friend, hoping to get some sense into him. “No, that won’t happen. She would never embarrass herself like that. She’ll probably just take my cellphone and dump it down the toilet or something…” Taecyeon finished lamely. Wooyoung just stared at him incredulously. Sighing loudly both made their way inside the diner, and looked for a secure spot, far away from anything that looked expensive.

Their nerves just kept heightening as the clock neared 7 pm. Their heads swivelled towards the door each time they heard the bell above it chime, indicating its being opened. I seriously hope I didn’t make a mistake by doing this… Taecyeon kept thinking over and over again. Just as he was about to call Suzy, to cancel, all of a sudden getting cold feet, he received a text from her saying that she had arrived. Ah hell, well I’m screwed. Better order her favourite food to even her anger out a little. Why the hell am I so scared of her reaction in the first place? What can she really do, and the more that I give in to her tantrums, the more they’ll become absurd. I need to take a firm stance with her. God, this is so frustrating, I don’t know how to connect to her, we’re so different from each other; I don’t know how to deal with her.

Their heads turned around again as they heard the bell chime, but it wasn’t Suzy. Instead three girls entered and walked over to the table closest to them, within Taecyeon’s sight. His attention momentarily diverted, was rudely brought back to his table, when Wooyoung hit his shoulder, indicating that he’d seen Suzy. And sure enough, the bell chimed again to show Suzy walking in, looking around the diner, a smile on her face. She spotted them and hurried over, greeting her brother and Wooyoung. She sat down, and immediately began rambling about her life in school, asking them about their day, and also mentioned the foods that she would like to eat, all without much breath. Taecyeon sighed internally, as he noticed Wooyoung looking at him, a frown etched on his face. Wooyoung treated Suzy like his own sister, and was possibly closer to her than Taecyeon managed to be. They were both alike in their personalities. Both were playful, childish, and really earnest open people. Their relationship was natural and unburdened. Taecyeon knew it had something to do with the fact that Wooyoung wasn’t her real brother, and thus didn’t feel the need to take care of her like a parent would; a role that Taecyeon had been forced to assume. He knew that somewhere, both he and Suzy resented what he had become to her, which was what caused all the tension in their relationship, but he just couldn’t help acting like a parent figure to her.

Taecyeon took a deep breath and gave a curt nod towards Wooyoung, before he began. “Suzy ah…” the tone of his voice caught her attention, and he could almost see her getting tense. “Suzy, I’m sorry, I know how much you enjoy your school and your dorm, but Oppa just doesn’t have to finances to support that kind of a lifestyle. I know I’ve managed to somehow keep you there till now, but it just honestly isn’t working out for us right now. I’m going to have to get you transferred to a less expensive school, and you’ll have to move back in to our house” Taecyeon said in one breath, choosing to look over Suzy’s head, rather than into her eyes as he spoke. Moments passed and no one at their table made any noise. Just as Taecyeon was about to relax, misinterpreting her silence as a sign of resigned acceptance, she stood up violently, sending her chair crashing on the floor.

“How can you do this to me Oppa? Why are you trying to ruin the best days of my life, why do you keep doing things like this. I’ve never once asked you for anything that girls my age have. I have a crappy phone, basic clothes. I never ask for anything brand name, only so that I can keep going to my school. And now you want to take that away from me too; first Appa and Omma, then you Oppa, and now my friends! I hate this!” she looked close to tears, but mercifully, she spoke so fast that no one, other than the two, already used to her angry speech, understood any of what she was saying. Her voice had also lowered in volume after the first couple of words, simply because as she spoke she was hyperventilating, causing her voice to choke.

Oh God, Suzy, did you really have to do this here? He felt particularly embarrassed when he noticed the three girls from before looking their way; the shorter two looked pissed, while the taller looked somewhat taken aback. This is just great, everyone’s looking our way. I bet they assume that I did something to upset Suzy without any reason, from the manner of her behaviour. Wooyoung, judging the situation to be beyond repair, looked over at Taecyeon, who looked lost and confused and tired, and decided to rescue his friend. He dragged Suzy out, much to Taecyeon’s relief.

“Jung Mal Chesonghamnida. Chesonghamnida” Taecyeon quickly profusely apologized to everyone in the diner, bowing down low, feeling his ears go red in the process. Goddamn these ears, can’t they not turn red for once. Feeling more and more embarrassed by the second he sat down quickly, and slinked lower and lower onto his chair, a hard feat to achieve considering his immense size.

Wooyoung didn’t return for another twenty minutes, in which Taecyeon found himself staring at the face of the girl sitting right in front of him. He counted how many drinks she consumed in the time that he waited for his friend to return. He was fascinated to see that no amount of alcohol seemed to make her woozy; she looked absolutely in command of herself. And as the minutes ticked by, he found himself reverting to his old habit; he tried to guess her name, what her day was like (which he could guess hadn’t gone too well, considering how much she was drinking), and what her life is like.

His open imagination got interrupted when Wooyoung made it back, looking hassled. “I’m sorry man, I couldn’t calm her. She’s really upset, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her that upset before. I literally had to spend five minutes to get her breathing back to normal, before I could try and explain things to her. I really don’t think you should have her switch schools; she’s happy where she is. It’ll be hard on both of you if she stops going there” Taecyeon knew what Wooyoung was saying made sense. He agreed with everything, but this wasn’t something he could help, no matter how much he knew Suzy wanted it. What the hell am I going to do? It really is for the best if she were to remain in her present school, but how the hell am I supposed to pay her fees. “I’ve got her covered for a few more months, but if nothing improves by then, I’ll literally have no choice” Taecyeon said dejectedly.

Both spent about another half hour there, before Wooyoung had to leave to work his night shift. Taecyeon made it out to the back of the diner, to take a shortcut back home, when he noticed the girl from the diner making her way steadily to her car. As he watched, he saw a man roughly grab her by her wrist and pull her further along into a dark corner. Just as he was about the approach the scene, he witnessed something that honestly blew his mind. If he had been impressed by her steadiness after drinking huge amounts of alcohol, it was nothing compared to what he was seeing now.

NOTE:

Suzy does love Taecyeon, but their relationship just isn't as smooth as it can be. It's because Taecyeon feels compelled to act like a parent, rather than an older brother. Suzy's also just a tad bit over dramatic because she's still a kid who's immature becuase she hasn't learned to act her age yet, something that he fails to do for her.

I know I said in the forward that Suzy isn't a prominent character, I've changed my mind, so you'll be seeing a lot more of her than I had originally planned.

Also, I don't think that I'm going to be able to update until next weekend, because I'm really behind my school work... But I promise that in chapter three there will be some (subtle) Taecyoon moments. and you'll also see a new side of Yoona. This next chapter is something that I am really excited about, so please look forward to it :)

Sorry for the long chapter, I just had a lot more to say this time around

and my chapters are going to be Yoona POV to Taecyeon POV alternately (from the next chapter I'll specify who's POV at the start)

To clear any confusion, Taecyeon did not drag Yoona, he just saw it happen.