The bright red color of the insides of my eyelids come into focus,the sun peaking through my curtains and beaming straight onto my eyes. I feel groggy and heavy. I pull myself slowly into a seating position and check the time on the alarm clock 11:53 a.m. 

My stomach growls hungrily. Ugh, it's been a long while since I've last eaten.

Tiffany did say something about ordering food today.

Remembering the plan we had made last night, I jump out of the covers and run into the living room, skipping the morning rituals. Unfortunately it seems that I'm the first to wake up.

Did Yuri stay the night?

Right now it's just Tiffany, Sunny, and me living together. Yuri did go to the Hello Counselor taping last night, so I guess she's in either Tiffany's or Sunny's room. I decide that I should probably get ready for the day in the meantime, but a sleeping figure on the couch grabs my attention.

Upon further inspection, the figure revealed itself to be none other than my problem and solution. Sunny, of course. She's out cold, a laptop resting on her lap. Curious, I glide my finger along the trackpad to wake the computer up from its hibernation and unlock the thing. The first page that the tab is activated on is the allkpop site. Scandalous creeps. After what happened with Ailee I'm surprised some people still use the thing. I guess news is news.

SNSD Couples Contest 

The title sits in big, bold, black text. I scratch my head, wondering why in the world Sunny would be looking at this stuff. It was just a fun sub-fangroup the SONEs liked to take part in.

As expected, and I don't mean this in a bragging sense, Taeny is in the lead with YoonYul and Yulsic following close by. I guess Yuri's popular with the girls. I chuckle at my childish thought. Sometimes I wonder if our fans really believe that we're dating... I mean, do we not interact normally?

I never really thought about that. You could argue that we're more friendly than the average girls, I guess. Anything's possible...  I sit back and think a bit. I personally wouldn't mind if a couple of the girls got into relationships with one another. It might be weird to say, but I don't think any man could ever become closer with one of the members than any of the other members could. Could I see myself with any one of the girls?

I can't really comment on that. I've never seen myself with a man but I've never been with any person either. I wouldn't really know. I get that Taeny is popular, but I'm not sure if I could see myself being romantic with her... and, well... she's sort of taken. Curious as to what the fans are saying, I make my way down to the comment section.

"Hnng..."

Sunny's grunting startles me and I go into a state of panic realizing that she's waking up. She'd probably think I'm being nosy or something. I quickly bookmark the page and make a mental note of returning to the comment section later today. After closing the laptop, I set it on the coffee table and sit on the edge of the couch.

"Morning," I say, not facing her. I feel her getting up into a sitting position and turn to her. She smiles but it fades quickly. 

"How long have you been up?"

"A few minutes."

"Were... were you waiting for me?" I furrow my eyebrows slightly.

"Uh yeah, it's almost lunch time. We were going to order food but no one was awake and I didn't want to order for four and make it seem like I'm the shikshin of the group." She nods in understanding and sighs as she pushes herself up and off the couch. 

"I'll call in a few minutes. Chicken?" she motions towards the phone with her thumb. 

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"Ok. Wake up the others soon then." Sunny wanders off into the kitchen and I hear her punch the buttons on the phone. My eyes dart to the laptop on the couch and I immediately grab it and run over to my room.

Flipping open the laptop, I open the bookmark from earlier. 

Why I'm so frantic about taking Sunny's laptop, I do not know. It's not like I haven't done this before. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm browsing a page she was viewing privately? I shake off my conscience and scroll back down to the comment section.

It's as expected. Taeny this, taeny that. The back of my mind wonders how things would be if news gets out about Tiffany and her dating situation right now. Would it really crush the fans that much? I know all the fans who were upset about the whole YoonYul thing as well. Yes, I follow this. It's stuff that makes the fans happy, how could I not? 

A few pages down and I see a comment with a lot of replies and votes. 

Why is no one talking about Dandyu? Shorties have the closet bond! <3

I couldn't help but smile at this one, regardless of why. It's true, we are close. I'm glad someone noticed that. I mean, I'm close to everyone, but Sunny's really the closest friend I have. I couldn't imagine how I would have turned out without her.

A thought crossed my mind. This is a coupling discussion, right? 

I guess I've never really thought about Sunny and me together. Well... I can think about that without it being weird, right? It's modern times... Though still, there are a lot of closed-minded people out there. I guess our time and age doesn't matter. I wonder what others have to say. I hover my hand over the mouse-pad.

As my finger scrolls down, so does my smile.

Please, Sunny isn't even pretty enough for Taeyeon.

No.

Taeyeon deserves better than her. Taeny is so much better.

No one even remembers them together. 

Dandyu is so outdated.

Taeyeon should be with someone whose vocal talents match hers. Taeyeon is amazing. Sunny is just mediocre.

Sunny who?

I thought the fans were loving to each other. I mean, most are, but knowing that some are like this towards other members makes me really upset. What's more upsetting is how many upvotes these negative comments have gotten.

I don't understand it. Sunny's beautiful, to me at least. She's kind, smart, talented. Do these people really mean what they're saying or are they just slandering her name to make their opinion seem right? 

My stomach sinks to the pit. Sunny's been reading these comments, hasn't she? She's making herself feel worse, taking in the poison of the negativity the people cowardly post behind their computer screens. No wonder she's been acting so... unlike herself, lately.

I scroll the mouse pointer over to the history button. I hesitate. Under any other circumstances, I'd consider this a violation of personal space, but I need to know to what extent Sunny's been mentally harming herself. I click it.

Pages upon pages pop up, each with their own slanderous and vile words.

Anti-Sunshiners Forum: Page 5

The Most Useless SNSD Member

Why SNSD Should Be 8, And Not 9

I can hear the sound of my heart breaking after reading each set of hateful phrases. I feel sick. I feel... I feel ultimately horrendous. I exit the browser and close the laptop, getting up off my bed and returning it to the couch in the living room.

My hands find my temples and I close my eyes. Sunny doesn't deserve this kind of hate. People are disgusting.

"Taeyeon, are you ok?" I snap my head up from my palms.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just tired from last night," Sunny nods in understanding. An awkward silence passes. Neither Sunny or I know what to say.

"And uh, hey. You look really pretty today," I mentally slap myself. What was that? Might as well call me Obvious Impulsive, for goodness' sakes. I nervously scoot away from the laptop next to me.

Her widened eyes and raised eyebrows tip my conficting decisions of whether or not I did something stupid, but the pink blush on her cheeks lighten my burden. My heart quickens a little, excited that I got this kind of reaction from her.

"Well... um. Thank you. But I still haven't showered from last night," she reasons. I shake my head.

"Oh well, I guess you're just so naturally pretty that I couldn't tell the difference," I smirk at my comment as she unconsciously brings her palms to her tinted face.

"U-uh... Well I ordered the food. You should probably wake everyone up," the bright smile on her face makes me return it. It's a real smile for once. Not one the usual one that disappears once she thinks I'm not looking; not one that looks too weak to hold up a feather. A genuine, happy smile.

She turns her back to me and walks off to where I'm guessing is her room. I stand up, still smiling to myself. That felt amazing, making her happy. I should definitely do that again. Even if it makes her a bit uncomfortable. It's... funny, seeing her stutter and squirm. I make a mental note to compliment her later today. Maybe this will help more than I thought it would.

Chicken arrived quickly and we all sat around the television, eating our faces off. Ugh, food is just what I needed. My stomach felt like it was about to implode a few hours ago. 

Finishing my last chicken wing, I throw the bone into the empty box on the coffee table. I take a deep breath, making room in my stomach to help it all digest. The simple moments in life.

I click the bottle cap off the strawberry soda I've been drinking and let it flow down my throat, burning its way with sweetness all the way. The cold beverage makes me sigh in satisfaction. 

"You sound like you're enjoying yourself," Tiffany laughs on the far right side of the couch. 

"Ah," I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, "It's been a while since I've had a meal like this."

"It's nice, just loafing around like this. I wish we could do it more often," Yuri leans back on the white couch and puts her feet up.

"Yah, some of us are still eating," Tiffany says as she slaps Yuri on her shoulder.

I smile inwardly and return my attention to the screen. A movie's about to start. "You wanna stay around and watch?" It's only 3 p.m. now. A movie marathon would be great.

All of the girls nod and we sit ourselves in more comfortable positions.

"Hey, Sunny. Sit over here," I motion for Sunny to join me on the long end of the couch. She lays down in front of me and I take the opportunity to wrap my arms around her waist. She looks at me surprised.

"What?" I ask. It's not like we haven't done this before.

"Nothing... It's just been a while. I thought you thought you were too old for this stuff," she says through a weak giggle. 

"The last thing I need is someone saying I'm too old," I say with a joking air. Tiffany and Yuri decide to join us as well, moving closer to Sunny and my little cuddle section. 

By the time the movie, or should I say movies, ended, we were all huddled into one big cluster of hugs. It was still freaking freezing outside, so this has to be the most comfortable thing in the world right now.

Snacks are laying around everywhere, the sickening smell of sweet candies and treats wafing through the air. 

This is the best.

The television is now the only source of light in the room. I don't even remember how many movies we've watched. I feel Sunny moving in front of me, turning to hold me closer. I cherish these small things. It's just the most genuine feeling of closeness, you know?

It's getting late, and if we all sleep on this oddly-shaped couch we're bound for a lot of muscle cramps in the morning. I shake Tiffany first with my foot, snapping her out of her half-asleep state.

"Oh gosh, what time is it?" she pushes herself up from the couch and sits back. "We've got a schedule tomorrow."

"It's probably not that late. It's not like we haven't operated on little sleep before."

Yuri is the next to wake up, and she has to slap herself a few times to get her to open her eyes fully. 

"Ah, really..." she groans and stretches out her back, then joining Tiffany in her sitting position. She looks at me and laughs lightly.

"You gonna wake her up now, or are you enjoying that a bit too much?" she catches me off guard and I can't really say anything back.

"Shut up," is all I can reply with. Yuri claps in delight.

With this, Sunny groans and wakes up, but is startled to see how close up I am. She's literally got me sinking into the crevices of the couch cushions. 

"Sorry," she stands up and rubs her eye. Remembering what I told myself to do earlier, I take this as another opportunity to dish out another compliment.

"Ah, it's fine. I didn't really mind having a pretty girl close up like that," I laugh in my mind and smile at her flustered expression. Flattery is probably the best medicine after reading all those hate speeches. It's what I would want, anyways.

"Um... I'm just going to head for bed now. Thanks for a fun night guys," she scurries off to her room and slams the door lightly.

I didn't even realize Tiffany and Yuri trying to hold in what was either laughter or giddiness. Maybe it's both.

"What?" I ask, completely puzzled as to why they were acting this way. Tiffany simply sighs and hands me her signature eyesmile.

"Kim Taeyeon, you've finally figured it out."

...

...

Hello guys (: I just want to say WOW you left a ton of comments last chapter. Thank you so much! It's amazing that you guys are thoughtful enough to leave a message down there. Please continue leaving your two pennies of thoughts, whether it be general comments, predictions, questions... whatever is good. Thank you very much. Until next time~