"Cheater!"

She screamed loudly, her fingers pointing at the girl who was grinning mischievously.

"Lee Soonkyu..." The teacher walked out of the classroom upon hearing the shout. The girls were in the playground, having a sandcastle building competition and among them, Soonkyu was jealous of the biggest and prettiest sandcastle the other girl had built and therefore, kicked it down harshly.

"It's Sunny!"

The girl pouted, looking away and crossing her arms as the teacher who sighed in defeat.

"Alright, Sunny, what did you do again?"

"Nothing." Sunny shrugged, blinking her eyes innocently.

"Taeyeon..."

Taeyeon was about to speak up when she felt a piercing glare shot towards her. Immediately, closed and she stared down at her feet with her chin tucked in timidly.

"Soonkyu," the teacher shot a disapproving stare at Sunny, who shrugged and turned the other way, kicking the sand on the ground. "Taeyeon, tell me what's wrong."

Taeyeon glanced at the kicking girl in hesitation. Despite the teacher's constant reassurance, the former refused to say anything, for fear that Soonkyu, or Sunny as the latter insisted her name to be, would take revenge on her.

"Nothing's wrong." Taeyeon mumbled, her eyes darting everywhere but the teacher. The latter sighed after seeing the fearful expression of Taeyeon, but could do nothing despite her willingness and earnest to help her. Turning around, she left the duo alone after reminding them to play well and not quarrel.

Simply a step back into the classroom and out of shot, Taeyeon started scooping sand into her bucket, this time pouring it carelessly over Sunny's sandcastle, to which the latter simply ignored.

That year, the girls were 5.

---

"Cheater! Yah!"

She scowled angrily at the girl who grinned back.

"You cheated!"

A loud slap rang out in the air and a bright red handprint started to form on the pale arm. The moment the slap rang out, Taeyeon looked at the other girl in shock, her arm still raised while Sunny rubbed her arm gently, wincing painfully.

"It hurts!" Sunny pouted as Taeyeon put on a apologetic smile.

"I didn't mean to!"

"Yeah! So we are fair. I won the game."

With that, the duo forgot about the slap and started quarreling about the winner once more.

"I won."

"You did not! You pushed my Mario off! That's why you won!" Taeyeon pouted. "I would have won the game."

"But you didn't!! I won!"

Sunny stood up and did a merry dance only to have Taeyeon staring at her accusingly, her fingers clutching on the control tightly.

"Fine! We play again!"

Sunny finally took a quick glance at the fuming girl and proceeded to set up another game.

Eyes focused at the television, eyebrows furrowed in concentration, lips slightly agape as thumbs flew over the joysticks quickly.

"Yah! Cheater!"

That year, the girls were 8.

---

"Yah! Cheater!"

She screamed loudly as she pointed accusingly at the girl. The duo were separated by simply an empty space between them and were in a test when Taeyeon's voice rang loud and clear in the class, catching the attention of the teacher and classmates.

"Lee Soonkyu." Sunny lifted her head meekly, shrinking at the sight of the teacher. "Were you cheating?"

Sunny stood up, looking as innocent as she could at the teacher who was towering over her. It did not help that she was in fact the smallest in the class and the teacher seemed to be at least three times her size. Still, the young child was not to be intimidated as she shook her head.

"So you weren't cheating?" Another shake of her head. "Then why did Taeyeon shout that you were cheating?"

Sunny pouted sadly, taking a quick glance at Taeyeon who simply turned her head away and buried herself in answering her paper.

"So were you cheating?" The stern voice boomed, emphasizing each syllable, which sent shivers down Sunny's spine. Sunny bowed her head, biting her lips as she contemplated whether she should speak the truth.

"Go to the Principal's office and call your parents to see me tomorrow."

Sunny's eyes widened at the instructions as she took a quick glance at Taeyeon only to see the latter with an equal shocked expression.

"Miss..."

Taeyeon rose up from her seat, only to be met with the piercing eyes of her teacher. Immediately, she shrunk back into her seat, avoiding all eye contact with Sunny.

"So Lee Soonkyu, you can go down to the Principal's office now."

With that, the teacher took Sunny's papers away and walked back to the front, leaving Sunny rooted to the ground.

"Lee Soonkyu. Out!"

Sunny bit down on her lips, willing herself not to cry. She could bear getting scolded or punished or even meeting the principal, but to call her parents over, she was more than afraid.

"I didn't cheat."

The girl whispered.

"What did you say?"

"I didn't cheat." The girl mumbled, but loud enough for the teacher to hear.

"If you didn't cheat, why would Kim Taeyeon say that you cheat?" The teacher frowned angrily.

Sunny bit down on her lips, staring at her hands fidgeting under the table. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at the teacher, tears b in her eyes.

"I was telling Kim Taeyeon the answers. She got them all wrong."

Sunny immediately bowed her head while Taeyeon looked at her paper in confusion. The teacher stood up and strode towards Taeyeon's table, snatching the paper from the latter's hands and compared the answers.

As she went through the answers from both papers, the frown on her face deepened. Glancing at the two girls, she returned the paper to Taeyeon.

"You are lucky your answers are totally different from hers." The teacher slammed Sunny's paper on her desk. "But one more time you peek at Kim Taeyeon's paper, you are going to the Principal's office. I don't care if you are telling her the right answers or not. Is that clear?"

Sunny nodded her head meekly, picking up her pencil as she started to do the questions, totally avoiding any eye contact from Taeyeon.

"And Kim Taeyeon, if you don't want to fail, re-do those questions."

That year, the girls were 10.

---

"Cheater!

"I'm not! I swear!"

"So now you're also a liar?"

"No!"

"Then cheater!"

Sunny pouted at the accusation, but the other girl seemed adamant about her assumptions.

"I saw the both of you talking. How can you?"

Smoke was literally puffing out from Taeyeon's ears and nose but Sunny could care less. She was more concerned about the tears in the latter's eyes.

"I didn't. I really didn't. Taeyeon-ah..."

"But..."

A palm clammed over Taeyeon's mouth.

"She's just a classmate. Only a classmate. I promise. We are best friends, she's just a classmate. Nobody will take over your place. I promise."

Sunny crossed her hand over her heart, looking sincerely at Taeyeon who was still hesitant. Frowning at the latter, Sunny dug into her bag, fishing out her notebook. Scribbling quickly on it, she tore the paper up and stuck it on her shirt with tape.

"There. Nobody will take me away from you. And I promise I won't cheat on my best friend."

Seeing the solemn yet dorky face of the girl, Taeyeon relented and a bright smile formed on her face.

On the paper it wrote: Kim Taeyeon's bestest friend! I won't cheat on her.

That year, the girls were 14.

---

"Yah! Cheater!"

Taeyeon screamed at the equally short girl, pointing at her with a pain expression on her face. The other short girl turned around quickly, shocked at the recognition of the voice. Her eyes widened at the sight of the girl.

"Taeyeon-ah..."

Sunny immediately ran forward, her face laced with panic and concern.

"Taeyeon-ah..."

The moment Sunny touched the girl, the latter flinched and moved back.

"Tae..."

"You cheater..."

"I'm not! I swear I'm not."

"You promised you would love me only, but you..."

Taeyeon trailed off, tears cascading down her cheeks like open tap.

"Tae..."

"Soonkyu-ah, who's that?"

An arm hooked around Sunny's waist, seemingly intimate. Taeyeon felt her heart shatter at the sight of it.

"You cheater..."

The voice was soft and weak. Taeyeon stared at Sunny, waiting for an explanation but when the latter kept shut, Taeyeon knew that all was lost. She was gone, Sunny had left.

Without saying anything, Taeyeon ran off, wiping her tears as she went, while Sunny stared after her. The long kept-in tears falling freely down the latter's cheeks as she tugged her head in the other's girl neck. The duo were heart-broken.

That year, the girls were 17.

---

"Yah cheater!"

The voice was full of agony and pain. She wailed as she clenched her chest tightly, the ache in her heart was as though a piece of her had ripped off.

Indeed, something had ripped away her heart, shattering into pieces. Something, that someone.

"Yah! You cheater! Soonkyu!"

She wailed, hugging her knees close to her body. The events from that afternoon played in loops in her mind, reliving the same heart-shattering scene countlessly.

Each touch, each smile, each words, each wink, each kiss, it was meant for her, and only her. That was what she promised. She promised she would love her forever. She promised she would stay by her side, would protect her from all the bullies, and most importantly, she promised she would not cheat on her.

Fresh tears rolled down her face at the thought of her. The only person that could make her heart ached as though she was about to die.

Five years. It had been five long, painful years since she had last seen her. Her hair had grown so much longer and she had dyed it brown, a contrast from her previous blonde bob. She looked a lot more mature and dressed feminily. But the way her eyes would disappear into a small slit when she smiles, the way her lips would form into a mischievous grin when she was playing, the way she would tilt her head when she was curious, the way her eyes would widen when she was unamused, the way...

A new batch of tears flooded out once more as she buried her head in her arms. Her body trembling as she hiccuped. Five years, she thought she would never see her again. Five years, she thought she was long over her. Five years, she thought her heart was dead for her. Five years, she thought wrong.

That year, the girls were 22.

---

"Yah cheater!"

Taeyeon pointed an accusing finger at the lone girl who had a nonchalant look on her face.

"How could you steal my idea?"

A shrug was simply what Taeyeon got in response as the young woman fumed in anger.

As fate would play with them, the two ladies met again while working in the same company, the same project but different teams.

Sunny was half-way through her pitch when Taeyeon realized how similar their ideas were, to hers. Scratch that, it was the same, the only difference was the lower budget needed and the greater outreach to the mass public, which would definitely make Sunny's project more cost worthy than Taeyeon's.

"Kim Taeyeon."

A sharp glare was shot towards the woman who immediately sat down, her eyes seeing red and her blood boiled with anger. Clenching her fists tightly under the table, it took all her will to not punch the baby face of the familiar yet unfamiliar lady as she kept her piercing gaze focused in front.

The moment the meeting ended and the rest of their colleagues had left the room leaving the two ex-friends behind, Taeyeon stood up, glaring at the girl as Sunny packed her papers neatly.

“Cheater.” Taeyeon muttered under her breath. The soft voice floated all the way to Sunny, causing the latter to look up in surprise.

“Excuse me?”

“You cheated. You stole my idea and presented it as your own.”

“I didn’t.”

“You did.” Taeyeon pointed an accusing finger at the latter.

“I didn’t. We just happened to have to same idea."

"So you're a liar now too?"

"Tae..."

The voice was soft, almost begging, accompanied with a pair of pleading eyes. For a moment, Taeyeon found the ice walls erected around her heart melting, only to freeze it forcefully again. Unable to stand the puppy eyes Sunny was giving, Taeyeon turned and stormed out of the room, ignoring the despair in the eyes following her.

That year, the ladies were 24.

---

"Yah! Cheater!"

The clear voice boomed in the office. Eyes glaring piercingly at the crown of a head buried deep under piles of files and papers and seemingly oblivious to the commotion that had the attention of all the other workers in the office. It was only when a colleague nudged her when she rose her head only to catch sight of dozens pairs of eyes looking at her quizzically.

Feeling uncomfortable by the unwavering stares, Sunny pulled out the earpieces from her ears before standing up awkwardly. Her eyes made a big sweep around the office as her ears perked up at the soft crying whimpers.

"What's happening?"

She turned to a colleague only to see the latter's eyes dart to the direction of the whimpers. Feeling self-conscious, Sunny glanced around unsure of what to do as she fiddled with her earpieces with her fingers.

"Cheater!"

Sunny turned almost immediately, as though on reflex at the familiarity of the voice, only to realize that the owner was staring back at her seething with rage.

"Yah!"

Seeing the eyes glaring at her, Sunny took a quick look around her, finding nobody nearby. Confusion clouded her mind as she pointed to herself.

"Me?"

"Once a cheater, always a cheater."

The girl of a similar built and height muttered under her breath, which was unfortunately loud enough for the whole office to hear. Almost immediately, stares were thrown towards Sunny and whispers rose in the room.

"What did I do?" Her voice full of confusion and curiosity. "I did not do anything."

"You played with her heart!"

Eyes widen at the realization as Sunny took a step back.

"I did not!"

"You are a cheater and a liar!"

"I am not!"

"How could you say you love her and then break her heart the next moment?"

Taeyeon could hear the choking of her voice. In fact, she could feel the clamming up of and a surge of emotions rising to her eyes, as her mind relayed of similar incidents. Yet she refused to back down. Staying strong, she stood without wavering, staring into the black orbs of the other lady.

"I did not. I said I liked her, but only as a friend."

Sunny tried to explain, gazing back into the brown orbs of the other lady, but the small explanation only made things worse when the whimpers turned into wails. Despite so, Sunny remained motionless, gazing straight back at Taeyeon, trying to convey her sincerity, apologies, guilt, hope to the other lady. However, the latter seemed to have drift off into space as her eyes drew a blank.

"Friends. She only loved as friends."

Taeyeon muttered, only loud enough her ears to hear. Unfortunately, in doing so, she failed to hear the last sentence that Sunny had confessed to the whole office.

"I have already given my heart to someone."

That year, the ladies were 26.

---

"Yah Cheater!"

"I'm not. You know that I'm not. Or else I wouldn't have waited for you."

"Were you really waiting for me or did you find other girls while you were there?"

The arms around her waist loosened and almost immediately, the lady regretted her question, missing the warmth that came from the other woman. Turning around, she found herself lost in the innocent pair of eyes that had never fail to mesmerise her. Her gaze then slowly moved downwards towards the pouting lips and she found her mind longing to taste them. It was only when the lips that she had longed moved forward and covered her own that she jerked back to reality. Before she could return the move, cold wind assaulted her lips, causing her to tremble momentarily.

Almost immediately, a jacket was draped around her shoulders. Taeyeon could smell the familiar scent of perfume as she embraced the warmth from its owner.

"Better?"

Taeyeon nodded, though still wishing that the lady in front of her could use another method to provide her with warmth.

"I told you long ago that I was not a cheater, didn't I?"

Taeyeon looked up in surprise, confused and lost. She had totally forgotten about the question she had asked prior to the kiss, coldness and warmth.

"I was not a cheater, am not one and will never be one."

"Really? Then what about the time when I caught you with someone else during high school?"

"I thought I explained it to you already?" Sunny groaned loudly, her palm hitting her forehead.

"You didn't even want to explain to me even though I waited for your explanation. And you didn't even chase me when I cried." Taeyeon continued rambling on. "And what about the time when I saw you kissing another girl on the lips in front of the restaurant? And about your confession to Minah in the office? And what about last month when a girl came looking for you with red roses? And last week..."

The sentence trailed off as Taeyeon's brain failed to construct coherent sentences. Her eyes widened for a moment before closing them. Arms slowly wrapped around the other body, bringing the latter closer as head tilted slightly.

Slowly but steadily, oxygen started to run out and the couple parted reluctantly, panting for breath.

"Sh*t. We should learn to hold out breaths for an hour. That will be the best!"

Sunny panted, leaning her forehead against her girlfriend's.

"But then again, I don't think I want that," Sunny stepped back from Taeyeon, a mischievous grin that the latter had grown to love spread across her face. "I would probably go deaf hearing all that non-stop nagging."

"Yah!" Taeyeon pouted, slapping Sunny's arm playfully. Sunny chuckled before placing another chaste kiss on the former.

"But then again, I wouldn't mind listening to your voice all day." A warm boyish smile spread across her face as she faced her partner. "And don't worry, nobody in the right mind would cheat on you. Those girls you have seen me with are just friends. I won't kiss them, hug them or even touch them if you are jealous."

"I'm not jealous."

"Right. Not jealous. Simply possessive."

"Not..."

"Not possessive either. Just don't want her partner to be too close to other people. Right! Got it! Or maybe..."

Voice trailed off as Sunny checked through her bag, pulling out a piece of paper and marker. Scribbling on it quickly with Taeyeon watching in confusion, the former quickly secured it with the hem of her pants, allowing the paper to stick out.

"There. Nobody will steal me away from you. Everyone knows who I belong to."

Sunny grinned as she placed a quick peck on Taeyeon's lips, causing the latter to blush into crimson red.

"You better make sure you don't check other people out too." Taeyeon warned, to which Sunny gave a salute before grasping onto Taeyeon's hand. Turning around the duo walked off, enjoying the sunset and occasional whispers when...

"Yah! Cheater!"

Almost immediately, Sunny raised her arms holding up the paper that was attached to her as a female runner clad in sports wear and tight shorts ran past, suppressing a smile at the cute duo.

On the paper it wrote: Kim Taeyeon's girlfriend. I will never cheat on her.

That year, the girls were 28.

-END-

A/N: had been a long wait isn't it? I'm sorry. Its my first time in a cold country and my brains were freezing along with my fingers. Its not really cold since there isn't snow at all, but it's cold enough for me considering that I have been living in a tropical country all my life. It should be better now that I have been adapting to the cold...

My first dandyu story and another part of the 'thief, liar' kind of storyline. I kind of imagined it to be a 'not so happily ever after' story but my brain decided to freeze up. This should be the last of it I guess. 

One of the readers commented on having a Jungli for the 'liar' storyline. Should I? But I don't know much about their relationship or likes though... Maybe i shall start and rewatch fx's variety shows or if anyone could give me info, I can consider. 

Till then...