**Phoenix Bakery**

“How can food shopping take the whole day?” An angry Taeyeon asked as she cleans the store tables roughly with the towel. 

“Taeyeon. Please don’t take your anger out on the tables. The tables work hard keeping the food on their surface you know. Can you please wipe them gently?” Amber retorted with a small smile upon seeing her older sister’s behavior.

Taeyeon didn’t respond but Amber could see from the corner of the eye that Taeyeon actually listened to her. ‘You are funny unnie’ Amber thought to herself.

“I hope she didn’t get into another fight with some more old women again over the sales items again like last week. Or like that one time when the free samples ran out and she refused to leave until there were more. And then there was that time last month when she… ” Taeyeon was now looking out of the windows every now and then.

As Taeyeon’s rant about Sooyoung’s food craze continued, Amber observed Taeyeon’s behavior behind the counter and couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.  She was clearly amused by her older sister’s outbreak. After a while, she decided to say something.

“First of all, it hasn’t been the whole day. There’s 24 hours in a day. Its only 4pm and we have another hour before closing.  Second of all, you already know how happy she is when dad visits.  She probably took him to all the grocery stores in Seoul to show her love.” Amber answered Taeyeon with a chuckle.  ‘She sure is worried.’

“You don’t have to worry about her Taeyeon.  She’s with dad.” Amber said with a reassuring tone as she calculated that day’s profit.

Taeyeon immediately stopped cleaning the tables and faced Amber with a serious face before justifying her behavior.

“I’m not worried. Sooyoung tends to be excessively hyper and can do stupid things, even with dad around. One of us should have joined them to keep Soo under control.”

Amber sighed to herself.  There she goes again with her “I- don’t- care –so-shush” act….

“Okayyyyy. Whatever you say sis.”

Just then, both of them were interrupted by a short-hair woman barging into the store with a big smile.

“Hey sistahs!!! I’m back! Yo!Yo!Yo!” Sooyoung yelled as she put her purse down on the counter top and did some gang gestures with her fingers. She then skipped her way to wear her own apron to help clean but wasn’t given the chance to put the apron on.

“Soo! Where did you go all day with dad? Does food shopping really take 7 hrs?! Huh? Did you take dad to one of your food tours again? Or did you get into another fight with the kids at the ice cream parolor? Don’t you know-” Amber dragged Sooyoung behind the counter before Taeyeon could say anymore.  She can go on and on when it comes to her sisters.

The moment Sooyoung and Amber were together, Amber hits Sooyoung on the head, not too hard but enough to feel some pain.  Sooyoung looked at Amber as she rubbed her head to ease the pain.

“Sorry. But I got into a fight in the grocery store with this-” Sooyoung began to explain but was cut short by Taeyeon’s voice.

“Fight? I knew it.” Taeyeon slightly shook her head back and forth before lifting both her arms above her head in frustration. “Why am I not surprised?”

Sooyoung ignored Taeyeon’s comment and continued on with her story. “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted…”  By the time she was done, both Amber and Taeyeon were speechless. Suddenly, Amber bursted out laughing. Taeyeon remained quiet.

“Kicked your cart? That has got to be one of the most strangest counter-attack you received Soo.” Amber sarcastically retorted as as she wiped some tears from her eyes. “I thought you were bad and childish but she-” Amber quickly covered with her hands as soon as she felt Sooyoung’s piercing eyes on her. “Sorry. I’ll just shut my mouth now.”

“Good choice Amber. One more word out of your mouth and you will starve for the rest of the month. So Tae? What do you think?” Taeyeon looked up at Sooyoung before answering.

“It’s a good thing both of you didn’t get hurt. By HURT, I’m referring to the blonde woman Sooyoung.” Taeyeon said in a serious tone while emphasizing on the world ‘hurt’. “I don’t want to pay anymore hospital bills.”

Sooyoung just sighed to herself. “I guess. Let’s not talk about her anymore. So how did today go?” Sooyoung changed the subject to calm herself down. “No one’s on my side” Sooyoung thought to herself. 

“Everything is sold out. It’s a good thing you have tomorrow off before baking some new pastries Sunday.” Amber answered as she closed the cash register. After talking a little longer about that night’s dinner and plans, it was finally closing time. 

“We should clean up before we leave. You guys take care of the kitchen and I’ll clean the front.” Amber made sure her sisters understood their tasks before cleaning her part of the store.

As Amber turned her back to the front door in order to sweep the floor behind the register, she heard the door open.

“Sorry but we’re-”

“Ajhussi!” a little girl hollered as she hugged Amber on her legs.  Amber was taken by surprise but it didn’t take her long to bend down and give the little girl a proper hug.

“Hello to you too Hana. Didn’t I tell you that I was a girl?” Amber asked with a pout, pretending to be angry after ruffling with Hana’s hair.

“You did. But its my special nickname for you Amber.” Hana responded with puppy eyes, earning a head pat from Amber. “Fine…you win.” Suddenly, a woman barged into the bakery, with both hands on her knees.

“Hana! I told you to wait for me!”

Amber stood up and looked at the woman from head to toe.  The woman had long black hair, and was wearing a white tank top with a cardigan and denim short.  The woman looked really tired so Amber made her way to the fridge to grab a water bottle.

“Excuse me? Are you okay?” Amber asked before she offered the girl the water bottle. “Have some water.”

The woman looked up upon hearing Amber’s voice.

“Yeah… I’m…*pant* ok.” The woman grabbed the water and drank it down quickly.  Amber never saw someone drink water so fast so she stared with her eyes open at the strange woman.

“Thanks for the water. I’m Krystal by the way. And Hana is my cousin. What’s your name Mister?” Krystal asked Amber with a smile.  Upon hearing herself being referred to as a man once again, Amber had to correct her gender status.

“I’m not a guy. I’m a girl.” 

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry. It’s just that you look..um…your hair…um” Krystal began stuttering as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

Amber saw Krystal’s cute antics and found it quite amusing.

“Krystal, Amber is a girl, not a guy.” Hana clarified to Krystal after witnessing Krystal’s embarrassing statement.  When Krystal finally understood the situation, she frantically apologized to Amber.

“It’s okay. It happens all the time.  In fact, hearing it from such a beautiful lady such as yourself, I’m flattered.” Amber responded with a smile.  “Wow. I did not just say that.” Amber thought to herself as she blushed at her response.

Krystal blushed even harder before she quietly gave out small smile to Amber. 

“Amber!!! Who is it?! A customer?!” Amber was immediately knocked from her thoughts as she answered Sooyoung.

“It’s Hana. Come out here you guys!”

Taeyeon and Sooyoung both came out to see their little visitor.  However, the instant Hana spotted them, she hugged them.  Unfortunately, their reunion was short lived as Sooyoung and Krystal saw each other.

“Neorago!!” Both Sooyoung and Krystal shouted at the same time as they pointed at eachother.

Taeyeon, Hana, and Amber looked at the two women, curious as to how they know eachother.

“Ahem! Care to explain Sooyoung?” Taeyeon finally asked to break the awkwardness and confusion amongst the girls. After  hearing Taeyeon’s question, both Sooyoung and Krystal exchanged looks before explaining.

“And that was why my sister kicked her cart.” Krystal finally said, ending the explanation.

Taeyeon and Amber listened attentively before Sooyoung broke the silence.

“Your sister is crazy. She kicked my cart for something that she obviously did wrong. She’s at fault. Why did she do that to my cart and my groceries? They are innocent.” Sooyoung said with her arms folded against her chest.  Krystal smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry Krystal.  My weird sister here is obsessed with food so don’t mind her comment.” Amber didn’t want Krystal to feel sorry for something that she did not have control over.

“I’ll apologize on behalf of my sister. I hope you forgive us.”

Upon seeing Krystal apologize, Amber stood up to help Krystal.

“Come on Sooyoung. Just forgive her already. You’re not the type to hold a grudge.” Amber pleaded with Sooyoung.

“Okay. I forgive you Krystal, but not your sister.  You should not have to apologize for her. It’s her fault.” Krystal was satisfied with Sooyoung’s reasoning, because she herself knows that her sister was wrong too.

“Alright. That’s fine with me then. So you and I are on good terms now right?” Krystal asked.  Sooyoung nodded her head and gave Krystal a smile.

Finally, Taeyeon spoke to change the subject.

“Now that the case of the ‘shopping cart kicking incident’ is over, why are you here Hana?” Taeyeon didn’t want Hana to feel like she was forgotten.  Hana gave a small smile before confessing her real reason for coming to the bakery.

“Tay, Soot, and Ahjhussi! I personally came here to invite you to my birthday party. I’ll be seven  years old. My daddy and mommy says I can invite all my friends. ” Hana proudly announced as she held up 7 fingers.  Krystal couldn’t help but chuckle at Hana’s cuteness.

“What time is your party?” Amber asked as she lowered herself and grabbed a hold of Hana’s hands.

“Sunday @ 7pm. All of you must come.”

Taeyeon, Sooyoung, and Amber looked at each other.  The party would be a problem, especially for Taeyeon.  That day was the day of her mission and Taeyeon does not like having events planned on days of her missions. 

After a few minutes, Taeyeon crouched down to Hana’s level to give her answer. Taeyeon sighed before talking.

*sigh* “Hana, we can’t-”

Another chapter before i go snooze. Amber and Krystal finally meets. Yay!!! Lol…but will TaeSooBer really not go to the party? Stay tuned to find out.

1^st meeting for Taeny on next chapter for sure!!!! I’m excited, are you? :)