Flashback (3 years ago)

It was the beginning of February. The Kim family had invited Mrs Choi and Sooyoung over to have dinner at their place. The elders were busy conversing among themselves while the girls were playing around with their food. Sooyoung was already on her second serving when Hyoyeon decided to .

"Soo-unnie, how come you can stay so skinny when you are a shikshin?" Hyoyeon giggled when she saw Sooyoung tried to gulp down her food to answer her but before she could do so, she was interrupted.

"Unnie?" Mrs Choi turned and look at Hyoyeon. (Since Mrs Choi is usually busy at work, she rarely meet Hyoyeon. Most of the time, she only got to meet Taeyeon who sometimes will come over her house to study with Sooyoung.)

"Wae, Umma Choi?" Hyoyeon was puzzled by Mrs Choi shocked expression.

"Sooyoung-ah, you didn't inform Hyoyeon that both of you are the same age?" asked Mrs Choi, looking at Sooyoung who was shaking her head vigorously.

"Mwo??!!" Hyoyeon and Taeyeon were shocked to know the truth from Mrs Choi.

"Dae. Sooyoung is actually the same age as Hyoyeon but since she was born before March, she had to join one grade earlier that's why she is in the same grade as Taeyeon. Speakingof which, I'll be planning a small birthday party for Sooyoung next week. Please keep yourselves free okay." explained Mrs Choi.

Sooyung who was seated between Taeyeon and Hyoyeon was laughing out loud when she saw the Kim siblings glaring at her but she stopped laughing when Hyoyeon suddenly grabbed her around the neck and tackled her to the floor while Taeyeon starts to tickle her feet.

"Yah! For one whole year, I've been calling you unnie when we are the same age and you didn't even say anything about it. You even ordered me around, asking me to do this and that." Hyoyeon was relishing her anger on Sooyoung.

"And you even act as if you are older than me just because you are taller when I'm actually your unnie. You better start calling me unnie from today onwards." Taeyeon said as she continued to tickle her feet.

"Okay, okay. Please stop tickling me and let me breathe. I'm sorry. Let me explain myself." Sooyoung tried to loosen the grip on her neck. The Kim siblings stopped and waited for Sooyoung to talk. "Look. I'm sorry for not telling the truth about my age. It's just that when Hyo starts calling me unnie, it felt so great to have a dongsaeng. Since I'm an only child, I've always wanted to have a younger sibling. I'm sorry Hyo. And Taengoo, I'm sorry if you felt that I act like an unnie. I didn't mean to make you feel that way and I will start calling you unnie from now on if that is what you want." Sooyoung looked down, feeling guilty.

Both Taeyeon and Hyoyeon looked at each other and realised that they felt bad for making their friend feel guilty over such a small matter. Both of them went to Sooyoung and hugged her. "I'm sorry, Soo. I didn't mean it that way and it sounds better if you just called me Tae or Taengoo as usual." Taeyeon patted Sooyoung's back to make her feel better. "Sooyoung-unnie, I also think that I prefer to act as your dongsaeng too." Hyoyeon smiled at Sooyoung as Sooyoung tighten her grip on both of them.

"Umma, I want lots and lots of food during my birthday party." Sooyoung excitedly told her mum. The elders just shook their heads while the Kim siblings just laughed at their shikshin friend.

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In the classroom

"Taengoo, how come Hyo didn't attend the same middle school as us?" asked Sooyoung who was busy munching on a pack of chips.

"That's because the school that Hyo choose is nearby to the dancing studio that she always went to. So it's easier for her to go there straight after classes.' Taeyeon replied as she continue drawing on her sketchbook.

"I've seen her dance before and I've to admit that she's really good at it. I'm envious of her because I love to dance too but after my dad passed away, Umma was not able to pay for my dancing lessons." Sooyoung looked away, trying to hide her sadness when she was reminded of her dad.

"Hey.. Don't be sad. You can always join Hyo when she practices her dance at home on the weekends, like you always do." Taeyeon tried to cheer her bestfriend up.

While the two of them were lost in their own thoughts, a bunch of girls came into their classroom and started to make a lot of noise. Taeyeon and Sooyoung were not interested in their conversation but since the girls were talking rather loudly, they both came to know what the fuss was about. It seems that there will be two new students joining their school and one of them is well-known to be the leader of a famous band among students called "VIPers". The famous male student is a 3rd grader while the female student is a 2nd grader.

"I hope she's pretty." Taeyeon smirked as she began to daydream of the new student.

"Yah! Byuntae. Stop imagining." Sooyoung smacked Taeyeon's head.

Late last year, Taeyeon admitted to Sooyoung about her inclination towards girls after Sooyoung caught her oogling at a girl's . At first, Taeyeon thought that Sooyoung will break their friendship and feel disgusted towards her but Sooyoung proved her wrong by accepting her for who she is. Sooyoung said that it doesn't matter what your uality is because it doesn't change who you really are.

"I'm not imagining. I'm just saying. And how dare you smacked my head. I'm still your unnie, okay." Taeyeon slapped Sooyoung shoulders.

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When the 2nd semester of school starts, the male student which Taeyeon and Sooyoung found out the name to be Kwon Ji yong, seems to have gained a lot of fame over the months. He even has his own fanclub and almost everyday, there will be girls following him around. He was well-known for his singing and composing songs abilities for his band. One day, Taeyeon and Sooyoung were having their lunch break when they heard some commotions behind them.

"Yah!! What's so special about you that Ji yong oppa choose to send you home yesterday? How dare you flirt around with our Oppa?" a girl was seen screaming and pointing her finger to a girl who seems not interested to answer her. The girl, who was tanned-skin with long black hair and with a nice S-line body, was being surrounded by a group of girls. Seeing that the girl was not responding to her, the other girl, who is actually the president of the VIPers fanclub, got really pissed off and started to insult the tanned-skin girl, saying that she's a cheap dirty girl because of her skin colour while the rest of the girls started to taunt the poor girl and pushed her to the wall.

"Yah!! Don't you girls have nothing better to do?" Taeyeon, who has been silently watching, could not suppress her anger anymore.She hated the act of bullying especially when a girl is being ganged up against.

"Shut up, shorty and stay out of this." the arrogant girl replied.

"How many times must I remind you girls, never to call her shorty?" Sooyoung stood behind Taeyeon and put her arms over Taeyeon's shoulder. "And what is this I see? An act of bullying I presume. I'm not sure if this kind of act is acceptable in this school though." Sooyoung stared hard at all the girls. The girls were taken aback by Sooyoung's words and decided to walk away, leaving their leader behind.

"Pffft.. just because you are tall and a student prefect, don't think I'm afraid of you." the arrogant girl replied and walked off but not before shoving the tanned girl to the wall.

"Hey, are you okay?" Taeyeon walked towards the tanned girl and tried to see if she was injured after the shove.

"I'm fine and thanks for the concern but please don't interfere in my problems in the future." the tanned girl walked away from Taeyeon after bowing her head.

"Boya?? How rude can she be after we helped her out." Sooyoung was clearly not happy with the girl's attitude towards them.

"Forget it Soo. At least she said thanks. But she sure seems to be an interesting character." Taeyeon continue looking at the girl's back until she disappeared out of sight.

"Interesting my foot. With that kind of attitude, walking away and swaying her bu...Yah!! Kim Taeyeon, were you checking out her ?" Sooyoung flicked her best friend's forehead and walked back to their table to continue her lunch while Taeyeon followed behind, complaining about the pain and rubbing her forehead that was turning red.