Sighing to himself deeply and warily rubbing his face, Dohyun slipped off his shoes and made his way to kitchen, hoping to find something to eat, anything to get his mind off his current situation. Walking in, he found his father stirring a pot of food, a flowery apron wrapped around his body. 

"I know you miss mom but do you really have to wear her favourite apron?" he asked with his arms crossed over his chest, a smirk on his face. 

"Oh crap. You scared me," Youngbae said with a hand over his chest. "What? Does it not suit me?" he spun on his feet and 'modelled' the apron for his son. 

"Oh my god. Just stop dad. You're so embarrassing," he facepalmed, making sure his eyes were shut so he wouldn't have to witness what was in front of him. 

"Yeah, yeah. You always say that but I know you love me so I'm okay with it," Youngbae laughed at his own joke. He turned back to stirring the soup in the pot, making sure it was just like how Taeyeon said it would be, every so often glancing at the text she had sent him that contained instructions. 

Sigh.

He continued to prepare dinner, listening as the sound of the kitchen stool scrapped along the floor.  

Sigh.

This time he couldn't ignore it. He turned to find his son sitting by the kitchen island, his head buried in his arms. Sighing quietly to himself, he lowered the heat of the stove and put the lid over the pot before pulling out his own stool. "Alright, out with it already."

Dohyun looked up, only to find his dad sitting directly across from him. "Out with what?"

Youngbae chuckled to himself, amused by the actions of his only son. "Please. Don't pretend like you weren't trying to get my attention before with all that loud sighing," he laughed. "Now, out with it."

He looked at his dad at little longer, wondering if he really should tell him what was only his mind. "Alright, fine. But you have to promise you won't tell mom, okay?" he stuck his hand out. 

"Fine by me," he shook his son's hand in agreement. "So what's all the secrecy about then?"

"Well... there's this girl..." he started, only to be cut off. 

"Ahhhh. That's how every great love story starts," Youngbae chuckled to himself. "Sorry, go on."

"Anyways... she's sort of my.... girlfriend," he whispered the last part, his gaze now directed on the table. 

"Ah, I see. Now I know why you don't want to let your mother know," he laughed. 

"Right. She would probably rip my head off," Dohyun chuckled, although there was no mirth behind it. "It's just that... have you ever had a fight with mom?" he suddenly asked. 

Youngbae was slightly caught off guard by the sudden question, "Well, of course we have. We've been together for a long time so we've had our fair share of fights," he explained. "Based on your question, can I assume you had a fight with your little girlfriend then?"

He slowly nodded his head, not meeting his father's eyes. "How do I make her forgive me?" he asked desparately, resting his chin on the cool surface of the kitchen island. 

"Well.... it really depends on what you did wrong. But the first step is admitting you were wrong in the first place and apologising."

"Is that what you did with mom?" he asked. 

"Oh absolutely. I can't stand it when she's mad at me."

"You can't stand it when who's mad at you?" They both turned to towards the kitchen entrance to find Haeun with her bag slung over her shoulders. "What are you guys talking about? And what is that smell?" she crinkled her noise. 

"Your mother. And that smell happens to be ox bone soup. Why? What's wrong with it?" he asked worriedly as he followed his daughter over to the pot, watching as she carefully tasted it. 

"It's alright. Just missing a few ingredients but I can fix it. You two go back to talking about whatever you were talking about," she shooed them away as she stole his apron from him. 

"She really does get her bossiness from mom, doesn't she?" Dohyun whispered to his dad, receiving an affirmative nod. 

"What did you say?" she asked threatening, her hands on her hips. 

"Wow Haeunie. You're a spitting image of your mother with that pose," Youngbae chuckled. "But like I was saying before, if you want this girl to forgive you, just man up and admit you were wrong, even if you weren't," he clapped his son on the shoulder. "It's much easier than being head strong and having her not talk to you for a long time."

"Wow... Now I know why all the uncles and aunties call you whipped dad," Haeun said from the stove. 

"Hey, I'm okay with it was long as your mother's happy," he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Wait. So when was she mad at you? And what did you do exactly?"

"Well..."

His promotions for his album were finished and now he was preparing for his concert which was still a while away. He still practiced everyday though, whether it was with back up dancers or just by himself. 

He was currently in one of the practice rooms, working through each individual song's chereography. He had been there for a good three hours so far and it didn't seem like he would be finishing any time soon. 

"Wait, why are you continuing on from your story again?" Haeun asked from the stove. 

"Because it has to do with Dohyunie's situation with his little girlfriend," Youngbae cleared up. "Anyways, like I was saying..."

While going through the chereography for 'Break Down' for the third time, he heard his phone emit its message tone, waiting until he was satisfied that his chereography was solid before walking over to his bag. Taking a seat against the wall, he grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his face and body before drinking half a bottle of water. Grabbing his phone from the side pocket of his bag, he opened it to find a text message from Yuri.

Oppa. Please call Taeyeon unnie when you can. 

Reading the message, he became confused. Worry overcame him when he thought of all the possible scenarios of what could have happened to her. Unfortunately they hadn't been able to talk to each other everyday like they used to because of their hectic schedules. Youngbae thought that he should give her some space since she needed to concentrate on SNSD's comeback. 

Quickly dialling her number, he put the phone next to his ear as he drank the rest of his water. Not receiving an answer on the other line, his worry started to escalate. Where was she that she couldn't answer the phone? He tried again and again, but there was still no answer. He decided to call Yuri to find out what was going on. 

"Hello?"

"Hello? Yuri-ah? Is Taeyeon alright? She didn't asnwer any of my calls," Youngbae calming said, rationalising that if the situation was indeed serious, Yuri would have called him earlier instead of messaging him about it. 

"She's not picking up your calls? She's in her room though?" Yuri asked, confused. 

"What's wrong with her? Has something happened?"

"No, it's nothing serious oppa, but the girls and I are watching television at the moment and we're watching Heroes," Yuri said.

Realisation dawned on him when he heard this. "Ah...." He didn't know what else to say. "Did she say anything when she went to her room?" 

"No. She just got up from the couch and locked herself in her room. Sunny unnie can't even go in," Yuri explained. 

"Oh no. I probably should have told her. What can I do?" he asked with clear distress in his voice. 

"I don't know oppa. She seemed pretty upset about it," Yuri said with worry in her voice. 

"Maybe, if I'm allowed that is, I can come over and talk to her. It's all just a misunderstanding and I don't want her to be upset anymore. It's my fault after all so I should be the one to solve it," he suggested. 

"Are you sure oppa? It's quite late. I'm sure we can deal with Taeyeon unnie's bad mood tomorrow morning. Sunny unnie can just sleep on the couch. Ow!" She said as she was hit on the arm by Sunny. 

"No, come over oppa. We don't want to go through that again after what happened last time," he heard Sunny's voice. He had to laugh at their playfulness even though they were clearly worried about their leader. 

"Alright. I'll be over as soon as possible, okay?" After receiving confirmation from them, he started packing up his belongings and made his way towards his car in the YG building basement. 

On the way to the SNSD dorm he started thinking about the strange relationship that he and Taeyeon had. They weren't necessarily dating. That was clear. However, the subtle affection they showed each other was clear to those that were close to them. They communicated frequently and always worried about the other whenever they heard bad news about them. He knew that he liked Taeyeon, but he was still aware of the dating ban that she still had. He would rather be her close friend for the moment than not have her in his life at all. He didn't think he could go through that again. 

With his thoughts still consumed with Taeyeon, he found himself outside their dorm building twenty minutes later. Opening his bag, he fished out a black hoodie to use to disguise himself so they could avoid another incident like the last time he was here. 

Walking his way up the elevator, he walked down the corridor until he was standing outside their dorm. He rang the door bell and waiting until someone opened the door, the door swinging open to reveal Tiffany and Yuri. 

"Hi oppa," Yuri bowed and Tiffany bowed. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"No, it was my fault to begin with so there's no need to thank me," he said as he made his way through the dorm. He walked into the living room to find the other girls watching TV. "Hey girls," he greeted and bowed. 

"Hi oppa!"

"So can you show me to Taeyeon's room?" he asked cautiously. 

"Yep, follow me," Sunny directed as she lead him to her room. "Here we are. I tried following her before and she locked the door so I couldnt get in," she explained. 

He just nodded his head and was about to knock on the door, before he re-thought it. Moving his head to the door knob, he turned it to find it open, raising his eyebrow at Sunny.

"Oh? She must have unlocked it for me," Sunny said, slightly embarrassed. 

"Well, while I'm here, I might as well talk to her so she isn't upset tomorrow," he said, receiving a nod from Sunny. 

He composed himself before entering. This would be his first time going into a girl's room and he was nervous. Obviously he wasn't going to do anything, but the prospect was still daunting for an inexperienced person like himself. 

"Wait. So you just went into mom's room? Isn't that a bit..." Haeunie started, trying to find the right word. 

"Yes, it's inappropriate and you shouldn't ever do that unless you have a girl's permission," he pointed at his son. 

Finally composing himself, he opened the door quietly and peeked inside. He saw her alseep on the bed and he swore he had never seen a more beautiful image. Her hair was tossled and she didn't have any make up on but she was still so beautiful in his eyes. 

Smiling to himself, he quietly approached her and kneeled down in front of her, just staring at her angelic face for a few moments with a smile on his own face. 'How can one person be so perfect?' he thought to himself.

"So corny dad... You can skip those parts," Dohyun grumbled.

After a few minutes, he decided to wake her up. Lightly tapping her shoulder, he stepped back and sat on the opposite bed when he saw her stirring in her sleep. 

Taeyeon stretched as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, unsure of why she was woken up. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light coming from the corridor, she didn't see anything in front of her. So she looked around the room and saw Youngbae sitting on Sunny's bed. 

He smiled at her confused look. "Hi," he said lightly as he waved his hand at her.

"What are you doing here oppa?" she asked tersely, still upset about what she had witnessed on television early.

His smile faltered when he heard her icy tone and his expression straightened. "I'm sorry Taeyeon-ah," he said sincerely. 

"What are you sorry about?" she asked, not meeting his eye as she sat up in her bed and turned the bedside lamp on. 

"Not telling you about what happened when I went on that show," he said as he kept looking at her, but she kept avoiding his eyes. 

"You don't need to apologize to me. It's not like we're a couple or anything. You don't have to tell me everything Taeyang sunbaenim," she said, but she regretted it straightaway when she saw the hurt in his eye.

He was silent for a few moments, shocked by what she had just said. Obviously she was right, but hearing it come directly from her hurt him more than he could ever imagine. What was worse was that she called him sunbaenim, not oppa. 

After a few more moments of silence, Youngbae nodded his head. "You're right. I'm sorry I wasted your time and I'm sorry I disturbed your sleep," he said quietly as he got up from his seat on Sunny's bed and began walking to the door. 

He stop just as he was about to leave the threshold of the room. He turned to her, about to tell her how he actually felt about her. How he wanted to make her his, and how he wanted to be hers, but he hesitated. He couldn't get the words out. "Bye Taeyeon-ah," he said as he bowed and closed the door behind him. 

He made his way towards the living room to inform the other SNSD members that he would be leaving. "I'm going to be heading off now. Goodnight girls," he said as he walked to the door, not waiting for a response from them. 

"Why was he in such a rush?" Jessica questioned as she looked at the confused faces of the other members. 

"I don't know. Maybe something happened in there with Taeyeon unnie," Yuri said as she got up, about to walk to Taeyeon's room to determine what happened.

Before she could make her way to the room, she saw Taeyeon hastily pulling on a hooded sweatshirt as she was running to the door. 

"Unnie! Where are you going?!" Yuri called out, gaining the attention from the other girls as well. However she didn't get a response. She could only watch as the front door closed shut as she stared at it with open. She turned back to the group of seven girls staring at her, merely shrugging her shoulders, not knowing what to say. 

"Wait, wait, wait. How could you possibly know what the Aunties said when you weren't in the room dad?" Haeun asked skeptically as she continued to add herbs and spices into the soup. 

Youngbae just shrugged his shoulders. "Educated guess?" he laughed at his own response as the kids grumbled at how lame he was. 

She rushed out of the dorm, looking down the corridor for any sign of which way he went. He couldn't have gotten far since he only left a few minutes before her. When she had watched him leaving her room and closing the room, she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She hadn't meant to sound so cold but it had come out that way. 

It was obvious to both of them, even if they hadn't said anything about it since they renewed their friendship, that there was an obvious affection between them

Rushing towards the elevator, she impatiently tapped her feet as the elevator arrived on her floor. Walking inside, she furiously pressed the ground level floor while pulling her hood up, just in case someone recognised her. Thankfully no one else entered the elevator so the ride down was uninterrupted. Finally reaching the ground floor, she rushed out of the lobby and outside, looking left and right for anyone that looked remotely like him. 

Scanning through the car park, she saw his familiar figure reach his car as he unlocked it and got inside. Seeming like she had everything to lose, she ran towards his car as fast as she could before he could pull away and leave. She heard the engine start as the headlights shone on her. She flailed her arms, hoping that he saw her and wouldn't leave. 

"Wait! Are you just making this up? It sounds so corny. 'A sharp pain in her chest'? 'She had everything to lose'? That totally sounds like you exaggerating dad," Haeun looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 

"Hey, I'm the one telling the story and that's what really happened! Your mother even said so!" he defended himself. 

"Really? Mom said she felt a sharp pain in her chest when you walked away from her?"

"Okay, so maybe she just said she was a little hurt, but a sharp pain in her chest has the same inflection!" he laughed when they just shook their heads at him. 

Youngbae, finally noticing her when he switched his headlights on, quickly turned off the engine as he got out of his car. 

"Hey, what are you doing out here? You'll catch a cold," he said worriedly.

Not saying a word, she rushed to him and hugged him with all her might, clearly catching him off guard. 

He felt her trembling in his arms, but on second glance it seemed that she was crying. "Hey, hey, hey. Why are you crying?" he asked as he quickly wrapped his arms around her and rocked her gently from side to side, trying to calm her down. He took a quick glance around to see if anyone was watching but it seemed like they were alone. "Please stop crying Taeyeon-ah. I'll do anything," he pleaded with her as he held her tightly. 

After a few minutes, he heard her quiet down, only hiccuping on occasion. Taking a chance, he pushed back a bit so her could see her clearly, seeing her tear-stained face. "Why are you crying?" he asked again gently, wiping away some of her tears.

"I'm... I'm sorry about what I said before. I didn't mean any of it," she said quietly, turning away from him so he wouldn't be able to see her tearing up again. 

"Yah. Babo. You don't need to apologize for that. I should be the one saying sorry for just leaving like that," he said as he walked around so he was facing her again. "Stop crying Taeyeon-ah. It isn't your fault. I hate it when girls cry," he said gently, again wiping her tears for her. "Come on. I'd better take you upstairs before we get spotted again."

The two started walking slowly back to the building, not saying anything to one another. "Are you okay now?" Youngbae asked as they entered the elevator. 

"Yes oppa," she said quietly, not noticing the smile he had when he heard her call him oppa. 

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