Chapter Three

HYOYEON

Having cleared customs Hyoyeon stepped foot on Korean soil for the first time in over a year. It was more the concrete pavement but it was good to be home. He didn’t like the circumstances he was in, without his best friend and baby-sitting his best friend’s sister. It would be some homecoming.

He took in the smell of the Korea air, Hyoyeon smelt taxis and tourists but the air was different here than Boston and he loved it. He took out his phone and punched in the number of Choi Sooyoung.

It was 4pm in Korea and Hyoyeon knew it would be 2 in the morning back in New York. He knew Sooyoung would be up waiting for his call about his arrival.

"How was your flight?" Sooyoung said softly, Hyoyeon knew he was tired. Sooyoung had been working on the Owen's accounts for hours at a time, starting early and finishing late.

"Long! I got sat next to a twenty year old and she was a little grabby, if you know what I mean. Had I not been strapped to my chair with about a hundred other people on the plane, I might have said yes." She was cute but he wasn't up for any kind of fling during his eight-week stay in Korea.

"Jesus, Hyo. Taeyeon’s turning nineteen. I don't want you thinking about her in the way you were thinking about that girl on the plane. I trust you to not lay a finger on her!” It was more of a demand than a question. Hyoyeon knew his best friend would rip him apart, balls and all, if he tried to touch Choi Taeyeon. The threat did little as Hyoyeon laughed into the speaker of the phone.

"Don't worry, Soo, your poor heartbroken little sister won't be rebounding with me. I can assure you. She was an annoying brat when I last saw her!" Hyoyeonl said almost too proudly.

"! You better make sure she doesn't go and throw herself at the next guy she sees. Her head isn't working properly, Hyo, and I don't want her rebounding at all! No matter how much she wants to go home with a guy, you tell her, no!" Sooyoung was almost growling.

Is he serious?

He was one protective bastard over his sister, Hyoyeon always knew that but this time it was different. But what did he know? Hyoyeon only had his older brother, Mingu, who was sailing around Greece with his bride-to-be, Penelope.

"Alright, Soo! No guys trying to get into your sister's pants. I got it!” Hyoyeon said sounding irritated.

"So, does little Kiddo know you aren't coming for two weeks now?" Hyoyeon asked as he shuffled his bag in front of him "Crap!" Hyoyeon heard Sooyoung fumble the phone and then the sound of bang. He must have punched the table again. Hyoyeon had heard that sound numerous times

whenever he spoke to Sooyoung lately.

"Don't tell me you didn't tell her you’d be a week later than expected?" Hyoyeon asked raising the eyebrow he knew Sooyoung wouldn’t see.

"I didn't even tell her I wasn't going to be there for her birthday, let alone two weeks late to see her!" Sooyoung said sounding defeated. Sooyoung had been so consumed with the Owen's case that he had forgotten to tell Taeyeon about the change in plans and of his circumstances. Sooyoung had done the one thing he never wanted to do and that was to disappoint his sister.

"Don't worry man, I'll let her down easy for you. Just concentrate on that case so you can get your down here!" Hyoyeon teased. This was meant to be their summer to get away from work and everything in between.

"I owe you one. Thanks for doing this for me and checking in on Taeyeon. I’m one lucky bastard to have you as my best mate,” Sooyoung said with pride. Hyoyeon too felt the same sense of pride through him. Sooyoung had been his best friend since his first memories. He was everything to Hyoyeon practically his brother, blood or not.

"Remember, not a hand on my sister, got it?" it was another demand and not a question. Hyoyeon shook his head and let out a bothered breath of air.

Really? Sooyoung must be sleep deprived.

"As if I'd lay a finger on my mate's sister, let alone annoying little Taeyeon."

"She isn't little anymore, I'll tell you that!" For as long as Hyoyeon could remember, Sooyoung had always protected Taeyeon throughout their childhood. Fast forward and from all they way in New York, he was still looking out for her.

"Yeah, yeah, Soo. She is still a little brat to me, five years doesn't change anyone. We're still the same. I better go, a taxi's just pulled up,” Hyoyeon said as the  driver lifted up the boot and put his bag into the back.

"Thanks again, Hyo," Hyoyeon noted the heavy sigh Sooyoung let slip. A warning bell sounded, he felt himself start to worry over Sooyoung. This feeling in him was unnatural. Such circumstances were normally the other way round between the two of them.

"No worries. I'll call you later," Hyoyeon replied and hung up the phone. Five years doesn’t change anyone … much. I’m still the same.  Sooyoung is still the same Taeyeon probably twice as irritating as she was a kid.

Hyoyeon remembered the brown haired clumsy little girl that plagued his childhood. Back then she was annoying, tagged along where ever they went and Hyoyeon found himself irritated by her presence alone . Hyoyeon pointed it down to her clinginess with Sooyoung as the main reasons to his attitude towards her. During their time at Stanford, Sooyoung’s framed picture of him and his sister sat proudly on his nightstand table. It was always a reminder that Choi Taeyeon was unbelievably forgettable.

That one picture reminding Hyoyeon that he had no issues keeping his promise, Taeyeon was just a name to a person he barely thought of. She wasn’t even worth the thought of remembering back then and right now.

TAEYEON

Taeyeon looked at the mess in her living room. It resembled the aftermath of a bomb dropping. She looked around the room to find two wine bottles and noodle boxes from the Chinese restaurant a few streets away on her coffee table. A box of chocolates lay scattered across the floor and her TV was

paused in the middle of the movie that had been playing. Taeyeon walked over to her coffee table and picked up the two wine bottles. Both empty.

She didn't even remember stopping by the bottle shop on her way home from her exam. Taeyeon was never one to drink. She couldn't handle her alcohol but it seems she could, she had drowned herself with two bottles the night before.

Taeyeon had promised herself forty-eight hours to mourn the expired and crumbled relationship she had with Onew. Forty-eight hours was all she needed to expel her lying, cheating bastard of an ex-boyfriend out of her system. Events of last night would be a one-time occurrence. There was no point in letting history repeat itself.

Lee Onew was a waste of her tears.

In twenty-four hours, her brother would be coming home and he didn’t need him to witness her fall from grace. When Taeyeon drew back her curtains, she was met with the reality of the mess. In the light of day she saw a visible stain of red wine on her rug and the scattered chocolates had made their way to her window seat, some distance from the couch.

Taeyeon felt the surprise of the sight of her apartment appear on her face. She prided herself on self-control but the sight made her feel ashamed. She let her failed relationship get under her skin. She let him cheat on her and she let herself crumble behind closed doors. All of it was truly her fault.

Taeyeon started to pick up the pieces of white choc nut squares from the floor They had never been her favourite and she understood why the settled on the floor, she presumed an emotional fit of rage during her intoxicated state of mind.

As she stood up from the floor Taeyeon noticed what she had been watching last night. Taeyeon let out a deflate sigh.

Katherine Hiegl … of course!

27 dresses was her go to movie when she was upset. It had the right mix of heartbreak and a happy ending. Taeyeon winced at the thought that she probably belted out ‘Bennie and the Jets’ along with Jane and Kevin. It seemed so fitting. Taeyeon walked over to the kitchen and disposed of the chocolates in the bin. She walked back into the living room to collect the empty wine bottles and noodle boxes and placed them on the kitchen bench.

As she looked around her apartment, Taeyeon was satisfied that it looked better than it did before. Sooyoung would be home this time tomorrow and she could concentrate on spending time with her brother. Taeyeon had missed him more than anything. The last time she saw Sooyoung was when they met up in Switzerland for their ski trip in the Swiss Alps last winter and that had been in January.

Sooyoung's time in