CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Sooyoung's Party

Sooyoung's engagement lasted six months. During this time, Sunny unexpectedly reached out to Taeyeon in a text. It was completely out of the blue, but Taeyeon had missed them too and it had been neccessary but awkward losing her only group of friends because of their fall out with Jessica. Taeyeon was glad that Sunny wanted to keep in touch.

Sunny invited Taeyeon to the daily dinners with Hyoyeon, Seohyun, Yuri and Yoona at Daehak. She joined them twice a week, when she wasn't working at Shikshin.  It was nice not being on the serving side of the dinner conversation. They met at the cafes and pojangmachas around Daehak near SNU. Taeyeon had never bothered with those places before, when she was running her own with Sooyoung. Everyone agreed that the food was lackluster in comparison. 

When Seohyun asked her why she was missing a finger, Taeyeon sheepishly admitted that she had accidentally cut it off while working at Shikshin, and the finger was completely unredeemable. The table fell silent when all of them didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Taeyeon, seeing that, said something self-deprecating. Then Hyoyeon guffawed, which set everyone else off.

That was the single shining moment in the darkness that lingered. Her life had returned to normal, and she was operating as usual, but some things had changed. Waiting at bus stops made her nervous. Out on the streets, she was always on the lookout for cheaply suited individuals. If she sat in a chair for too long, her spine would ache as it remembered what she didn't want to. The silence of her room, which she still thought of as Tiffany's because of the pink curtains, would scream at her until she started drawing, texted Hayeon, called Sooyoung, or retreated to Jessica's room. The people she rarely bothered, unless they reached out first, because the world did not revolve around her. 

So Taeyeon looked forward to every single dinner. Sunny laughed like a Wedding Peacher but handled things like a Wise Person. Seohyun was the purest person she had ever met, and Taeyeon found that endearing and exasperating. Hyoyeon and Yuri would pull off the most awesome gags with her. Yoona was nice to look at but even nicer to laugh with. Best of all, Taeyeon liked listening to everyone talk about their lives.

The Friday before the wedding, Taeyeon threw Sooyoung's bachelorette party at the apartment. She invited Jessica, Sunny, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Yoona, Seohyun, Hayeon and Minji. 

Even though they were mostly more her friends than Sooyoung's (because Sooyoung's social circle was really just Taeyeon and Hayeon, and nowadays maybe Jessica), Taeyeon wanted to change that, because the gentle giant was a closet awesome person and Taeyeon always felt that Sooyoung deserved the most friends possible.

It was a little hard to invite Sunny, Hyoyeon and Seohyun because the last time they met Jessica was at Tiffany's funeral, but it was not like Taeyeon could exclude either of them. So as an ice breaker, she made the four go with her to get party decorations and food.

The party started at nine. Everyone took a plastic cup of champagne and gathered around Taeyeon.

Sunny and Hyoyeon, ever the computer science graduate students, had brought their LCD monitors to set up noraebang in the living room. They had brought mics and a sound system as well. 

Taeyeon turned the microphone in her hand on.

"Welcome, everbody, to Choi Sooyoung's last party as a Choi. Thank you, unnies and dongsaengs, all for coming. I just wanted to say that Soo is the most amazing friend I could have ever asked for. When I was younger and had no one else in the world to rely on, Soo was there for me. She had a legit future in front of her, but she ditched that to help me and Hayeon out. Because of that she had to live a really ty life like a criminal, and we had a lot more downs than ups, but I'm glad that we got to go through every single thing together. I've never met someone so giving and loving as her. Soo, thank you for being someone who tells me when I'm being terrible. Thank you for making me want to be better. Thank you for trusting me with your concerns. I'm so glad that Shikshin is taking off, and I know that it's going to be the best restaurant in Hongdae one day. I hope that you have a happy marriage with Kyungho-oppa and prove that heteroual relationships are all that they're cracked out to be."

Sooyoung wiped a tear from her eye.

"And now, for the main event!" Taeyeon said. She gestured at the counter that was lined with bottles. "Tonight we are starting classy. As you can see we have half a bottle of champagne left. There's fish cakes and twigim. Super classy. When we're too good to be classy, we have real drinks- vodka, moutai, rum, sake, you name it, and we're going to finish every single bottle tonight. Hayeon and Minji, speaking as your responsible older sister, please stay sober if you can."

"Yes, unnie," they laughed.

"Now we toast for Sooyoung... Gunbae!"

"GUNBAE!"

"And I now hand it over to the Sunny and Hyoyeon, the MCs of the night."

Sunny and Hyoyeon went up to the front of the living room. 

Sunny said, "The goal tonight is to get capital S M to the A S H, smashed."

Taeyeon walked to each person and filled their cups with the rest of the champagne.

Hyoyeon said, "There are only five rules: Every time someone starts a song, you drink. Every time you liked the singing, you drink. Every time you liked the dancing, you drink. Every time there's the word 'love' with in a song, you drink. Every time Sooyoung drinks, everybody else drinks. "

"And your goal," Sunny said, "is to black out and do the most embarassing in your life. Anything is permissable as long as you don't have to get your stomach pumped at the hospital. Kapeesh?"

"YEAH."

"Then take a drink!" Sunny said. "And Sooyoung will kick us off with the first song, so take another!"

Taeyeon finished her champagne in three long gulps, so she went to the counter and opened the vodka and a can of coke. She jogged back to the group where Sooyoung was crooning her opening number. 

When Sooyoung was done, Taeyeon cheered. It was time to take another drink. She sang a few songs. Hyoyeon started dancing madly and everyone went insane laughing.

Taeyeon was pouring so much happy liquid into her cup. She enjoyed the bitter heat burning down . It gave her uninhibited freedom. Getting drunk was not about deliberately losing control for escapism, but about experiencing and reacting in the present moment. Taeyeon loved it. She was aiming for the laptop to select her next song, but she faceplanted in the sofa. 

Jessica pulled Taeyeon back up. Jessica was still sober. As a disciplined athlete, she was nursing only one drink for the night. Every 'drink' she took was really just a sip. 

Taeyeon jumped onto Jessica and said, "Sica, let's sing a duet."

Jessica smiled, and Taeyeon was sure that it was because Jessica's girlfriend was the most adorable thing in the world. 

Jessica asked, "What would you like to sing?"

"Hayeon, recommend a song for your unnie!"

Hayeon and Minji looked at each other. "S.E.S.'s Sharala!"

"Shalalala, put it on," Taeyeon said. Jessica passed her a microphone, the song started playing, and it was upbeat in an innocent, y way, and Taeyeon was happy singing it with Jessica.

Yuri and Sunny went next, and Taeyeon was pouring another vodka-rum-soda combination down . 

Sooyoung was standing at her shoulder. "How's that?"

"It's good. I've had two. Favorite ever... it's even better than Soojin's pumpkin sikhye if you can believe it. Can you believe it?"

"No. Make one for me."

"Okay, because I love ya."

"Sorry but I love Kyungho."

"Ho ho ho," Taeyeon said. "SICA!"

Taeyeon shouted until Jessica was beside her. "Ms. Jung Sica, do you love me like Soo loves Mr. Jung Kyungho?"

"Yes, I do, you silly girl."

Taeyeon cried tears of joy. "I'm so happy, Jung Sica, this is the first time you said 'saranghae' to me."

"I indirectly said it before. This time too," Jessica said. Taeyeon pouted. "But yeah I love you."

"Hell yeah. Everybody take a shot!" Taeyeon missed and tipped the rest of her drink into her face. Jessica wiped her off briefly before she stumbled over to Yoona and Hyoyeon. They were singing an idol boy band song, and she joined in.

The night passed by in a blur like this. Taeyeon was throwing as many drinks as she could back. It was the least she could do for marrying away her best friend.

"Taeng," Sunny said.

"Yep?"

"Can Yuri and I see your room?"

"Sure, why not?" Taeyeon said. 

"Wooooooooooo," Hyoyeon and Yoona cooed at Yuri and Sunny as they shut Taeyeon's bedroom door and locked it.

Meanwhile, Seohyun, Hayeon and Minji were dancing while Sooyoung sang a song. Jessica was curled on the couch.

"Ya, Taeyeon, Yoona, you girls never went to university, right?" Hyoyeon asked.

"Yep," Taeyeon said, puffing her chest out. "Middle school graduate."

"Just have a certification," Yoona said.

"Booyah, it's time to get educated. We're going to play a college drinking game," Hyoyeon said. She brought the bottle of rum to their circle on the floor and pulled a coin from behind Taeyeon's ear.

Taeyeon went ballistic. "How did you do that?"

"Magic, my young padawan," Hyoyeon said. "Here's how it's gonna go down. It's flip-sip-strip, made in the USA."

"USA?"

"Yep."

"Sica, come're and play, it's a game you made," Taeyeon called out.

Jessica came over and sat down between Yoona and Taeyeon. Taeyeon crawled onto her lap.

"So, flip-sip-strip," Hyoyeon said. "You flip a coin and guess whether it's head or tails. If you get it right, everyone drinks. If you get it wrong, you drink. If you get it wrong twice, you take off an article of clothing. Got it?"

"No." Taeyeon shook her head.

"It's okay. We'll do things step by step. I'll start first. I guess tails," Hyoyeon said. She flipped the coin. It was tails. Taeyeon laughed and drained a third of her cup.

"Heads," Yoona said, predicting wrongly.

"Tails." Taeyeon was wrong too.

"Heads." Jessica was right. Taeyeon booed.

"Heads." Hyoyeon was wrong this time, and everyone cheered.

"Heads." Yoona chose heads again, and was right.

"Tails," Taeyeon said, but the coin spun on the floor and fell flat, heads up.

"Clothes off!" Hyoyeon said. Yoona and Jessica joined in, and at the other side of the living room, Hayeon and Minji were chanting too. 

"Shirt off or pants off!"

"Soo," Taeyeon said across the room. "What should I take off?"

"Take off your pants to show off your duck ."

Taeyeon pushed her shorts down. She hopped up and gave it to Sooyoung in two hands as a wedding present. "Be happy forever, Soo."

Sooyoung, Hayeon and Minji ditched the karaoke and joined the game.

Two cups later, Taeyeon had to strip again. 

"Shirt off or off!" Hyoyeon shouted, and Jessica, Yoona, Hayeon and Minji chimed in again. 

"Shirt off or off!"

"Soo, what should I take off?"

Jessica was laughing at her. "Your shirt, of course, you dummy. Nobody should see your junk except me." 

Sooyoung looked frowny for some reason. "No, keep your shirt on."

"No, I should listen to Sica."

Sooyoung was suddenly serious. "Wait, Tae. Just take off your ."

"I thought you didn't swing my way," Taeyeon said. She grabbed the edges of her shirt and started pulling it up. It hardly rid up her stomach when Sooyoung stretched it back down. 

Sooyoung was smiling tightly. "Keep it on, Tae. You're drunk. You don't want your shirt off."

Taeyeon tapped her temple. "Oh... oh... Hmm oh I know why now. It's okay though. Everyone here is my bestest friend and they know I'm J-"

Sooyoung slapped her hand over Taeyeon's mouth. In a flash of deja vu, Taeyeon thought back to the instant she was pulled into the van at the bus stop nearest to this very apartment. The thrill of fear quietened her.

Jessica, Yoona, Hayeon and Minji didn't know what the big deal was with Sooyoung. Hyoyeon was impatient. "Just take something off, Taeyeon."

"Alrighty," Taeyeon said. She hooked her fingers into her and pushed it off. She disentangled it and bequeathed it to Sooyoung. Taeyeon giggled when she sat on the cold floor. And the game continued.

Somewhere along the way, Taeyeon fell asleep on Jessica's lap. She woke up. Hyoyeon was in nothing but her . Yoona had taken her shirt off. Hayeon and Minji still had their clothes on. Sooyoung was . Jessica was hot in her bra and underwear. 

Taeyeon sat up. Jessica blinked awake when Taeyeon left her lap. Unlike Taeyeon, Jessica looked sober. Taeyeon's mouth felt dry and stale. She finished her cup of alcohol and made her way to the bathroom. Blearily, she squeezed toothpaste onto her toothbrush.

While she was brushing her teeth, Jessica was leaning against the doorway. "My room is free, Taengoo."

"Mhmm...?"

"I don't want Yuri and Sunny to be the only ones who got action tonight. This is our home, for chrissake."

"Ooh." Taeyeon rinsed out. "You don't have to ask. You're Jung Sooyeon. You can do whatever you want to me."

Jessica smiled as their faces got closer to each other. "You always say I can do whatever I want, byuntae. You're such a ert."

Taeyeon kissed her back. "But it's true."

"Yep, it is. You're my one and only," Jessica said. Taeyeon hopped onto Jessica and Jessica walked them to her bedroom. Jessica locked the door, and lowered Taeyeon onto the bed. 

As usual, Taeyeon's hands were all over Jessica's . And as always, Jessica was twining one hand in Taeyeon's hair and running the other against Taeyeon's nonexistent abs. Then Jessica pulled Taeyeon's shirt off and trailed kisses, starting at her neck, across her collarbone, down her stomach. Jessica stripped off Taeyeon's and continued her way south...

The next morning, Taeyeon woke up alone on the bed. She only had her shirt on and couldn't remember yesterday night. Everyone in the apartment except Jessica had splitting headaches and dry mouths, so Jessica had taken it upon herself to go out early to buy breakfast back. 

A day later, Sooyoung married at her church and it was a simple ceremony. Then Kyungho whisked her away to Hokkaido for their honeymoon.

A/N: Thanks for reading, and for the comments/subscriptions last chapter:) Let me know what you thought of this one!