#since1765

*

Choi Family Villa

District of Gangnam, Gyeonggi Province

The moment Choi Seunghyun and Tiffany Hwang entered the Choi Villa, they were welcomed by a screaming two-year old who ran towards Seunghyun. The man immediately carried the baby and handed him his gift as well as Fany's. Like any other child, Yeonjun immediately opened the presents from his favorite uncle.

The little boy was happy about the toy car from TOP. But what really made him scream with joy was the Marvel action figure set from Tiffany.

"Yeonjun-ah, do you like it?" asked Fany, stooping low to level with the kid. He has now sat on the floor of the living room to play with the figures.

"Yes, thank you Miss Tiffany," answered the boy in broken Korean. He stopped playing and opened his arms to Tiffany. The woman had no choice but to take him in her arms and lift him up. Yeonjun kissed her and said, "I like you, Aunt Fany."

"He is so precious," Fany cried out, telling TOP as she squeezed Yeonjun's little body in her arms. She kissed the baby’s cheek too and said, "You are just the cutest thing ever!"

While the aunt and the kid were enjoying each other's skinship, two Choi women approached them in the living room. They were surprised at how quickly Yeonjun accepted and liked a person he only met that day. TOP greeted his mother and sister, and introduced Tiffany to them.

"I feel like I've seen her somewhere before," commented Mama Choi, watching Tiffany with a curious face. The young woman only bowed to them slightly, smiling from eye to mouth, because she was unable to properly greet them due to Yeonjun's attachment.

"Of course you have. She is a member of SNSD," explained Choi Hyeyoon.

"So Nyuh Shi Dae?"

"Yes, Ma'am Choi. I'm also a singer like Seunghyun," Tiffany replied, finally able to hand Yeonjun to Seunghyun. When she was free, she bowed, kissed, and embraced the elderly Choi. "Good afternoon Ma'am, my name is Tiffany Hwang. Miss Hyeyoon, thank you for inviting me."

"Oh please, call me Mama Choi. No need to address my daughter as Miss too," TOP's mom jovially remarked. She looked at TOP and asked, "Son, is Tiffany your new girlfriend?"

"Mom!" cried TOP childishly.

Hyeyoon and Fany laughed at his juvenile reaction. Smirking, Fany answered, "Not yet, Mama Choi. Your handsome son is too shy to ask me out."

"Oh my Lord! I did not raise him as such!" exclaimed Mama Choi, holding Tiffany's back and leading her towards the dining area, where lunch was served.

It turned out that Yeonjun's party today was only an intimate family affair, with no outsiders. In the dining room, Tiffany was introduced to Yeonjun's father, TOP's father and grandparents, and Hyeyoon's in-laws. Fortunately, none of the other elders recognized her as SNSD's Tiffany.

Every single one in the table adored the English-speaking Stephanie Hwang. How could they not? She pronounced Korean with a cute accent. She constantly had to ask what certain words and idioms meant in their jokes and stories. Above all, she used the wrong Korean words in many of her own stories. The Choi elders found her endearing and cute!

By the middle of the dinner, there was no denying that Stephanie Hwang was welcomed with an open arms, a lot of smiles and hugs, by Choi Seunghyun's family.

"Son, since when did you get shy with the ladies?" wondered General Choi, TOP's father. "You used to date one woman after another!"

Grandma Choi added fuel to the fire, asking, "How come you are making such a beautiful woman like our Tiffany wait for you?"

"Well... just... uhm..." Seunghyun stuttered. Clearly, he did not brief his family about not incriminating him in front of Tiffany. "Don't embarrass me now, gran and dad."

But it was too late. The elders' questions already got Tiffany's attention. From what they said, it didn't sound like the man was the Choi Seunghyun she came to know -- shy and awkward around girls or clueless about dating.

What happened to being a solleo for a long time? Did you lie to me, Choi Seunghyun?

"Eat more of these desserts," Mama Choi egged, putting a lot of things on Fany's plate. Seunghyun was glad, as it redirected the conversation.

"Mom, what are you doing? She can't possibly finish all those sweets!" cried TOP, observing Fany's face. The woman seemed to fear the amount of fats and sugar in all the baked goods served to her. "

"If she is my potential daughter-in-law, then I want her well-fed and healthy," explained Mama Choi. "How light are you dear? Less than 50 kg?"

Fany slowly nodded, smiling.

"Then that won't do. Eat all that!"

"I'll try, Mama Choi. Thank you very much," Fany replied, looking and sounding very emotional. She wasn't used to the care of a maternal figure, let alone an entire family.

"So how long have you known each other?" inquired Yeonjun's father, Hyeyoon's husband.

"A few months. Tiffany and I have common friends. We were introduced."

"And you haven't asked this young lady out yet?!" wondered Grandpa Choi, surprised and almost mocking his grandson.

"She's here gramps, isn't she?"

"Because I invited her, not because you asked her out!" cried Choi Hyeyoon.

"Yah Choi Seunghyun, grow some balls," screamed Mama Choi, and her audacity and bluntness pleasantly surprised Tiffany.

She exclaimed, "That's exactly what I told him Mama Choi! Word per word, I swear."

"I like you a lot Tiffany, we think alike," said Mama Choi.

"Stop it guys. Don't give Fany reasons to dislike me."

"You used to be such a ladies man," General Choi shared. "Maybe you got so tired playing the field son, huh? Playing women left and right."

"Really? He was a playboy General?" Fany probed, curious now, because TOP suddenly seem tense beside her. "Please tell me more!"

Mama Choi happily expanded. "This son of mine made a lot of girls cry. He had his first girlfriend in the fifth grade, and he's bought home girls tens of times. But all of a sudden, he stopped. You're the first girl he introduced to us in what, let's see... five years I think..."

"I wonder why's that?" Fany playfully wondered. She looked at Seunghyun and teased, "Where's this player, all of a sudden? Is he still somewhere there?"

TOP just looked at her with uneasiness.

"His last girlfriend was--"

"Okay, enough mom," cut Choi Seunghyun. "Don't bore Fany with my colorful past. Let me be the one to tell her all those crazy stories, okay?"

"Alright, fine," conceded the lady.

"Bro, please do not take advantage of this woman's liberal attitude," Choi Hyeyoon added. "You couldn't have found a more perfect person to pull you out of your motae solleo stage."

With that, Tiffany Hwang's curiosity just reached all-time highs. What happened to you, Choi Seunghyun?

*

Seoul Gardens Residence

City of Seoul, Gyeonggi Province

In the comfort of her bed, Kim Taeyeon had been locked in her bedroom for 34-hours straight. She didn't eat properly. She didn't see the light of day. All she did was eat junk foods, watch TV, take a bath, and cry at night.

Why? I don't know. I just hate Jiyong so much.

Even when she was in the middle of watching Running man, she'd suddenly blurt out:

"He's so judgmental."

Or:

"He's such a hypocrite."

Whenever she was brushing her teeth, or washing her face, as she looked in her bathroom mirror, she'd mutter:

"He's the most obnoxious."

Or:

"He's very self-righteous."

And a few times when she was trying to fall asleep, she would suddenly stand upright and shriek: "He's a total idiot! The biggest idiot in this world!"

Her worst outburst came while she was scanning the TV channels, and came across the MV of Bang Bang Bang playing in Mnet. The moment Kwon Jiyong's line came, her blood boiled and she threw all her pillows towards the TV. When she saw how Jiyong was symbolically dominating a woman, who was on his leash, she felt angrier. The man who was projecting violent on TV judged her for sleeping outside marriage!

"HOW DARE YOU LOOK DOWN ON ME, KWON JIYONG?! I HATE YOU VERY, VERY, VERY MUCH!!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, and she cried like a little girl until the end of the song.

The next two hours were spent hiding again under her sheets, trying to sleep, overthinking, hating Jiyong to the core.

"ADJJDHCUSGAAFFJCICODHG!" she blurted out at past seven at night, sitting upright from the bed. After she screamed, she heard voices and movements from outside her room.

"Hey girl, what's going on in there?"

Suddenly, Taeyeon became nervous. She watched in apprehension as her doorknob twisted open, only to reveal seven ladies in their pajamas.

"Surprise!" the visitors screamed together.

The seven members of SNSD came to her room, some jumped on the bed around her, some grabbed the pillows and pieces of trash on the floor, while the rest brought with them bags of food and drinks.

"Girls, what are you doing here?" Taeyeon asked, feeling Seohyun and Yoona hug her from each side.

"We heard about the breakup," answered Sunny. She was one of those who cleaned the floor.

Yuri continued, "We prepared your breakup slumber party."

But even if the girls' arrival temporarily made her forget about the sadness she nursed, Mnet's next music video seemed to taunt her. Big Bang's Loser played, and the more she listened, the more she watched Jiyong's face, the more she got reminded of the painful things the man said to her!

She bawled her eyes out, like she never had before, in front of the girls. By instinct, her best friends took turns consoling her.

"Uh-oh. She's crying."

"Whoa, you really loved Baek that much?"

"Every breakup is hard."

"Just cry and cry. Soon it'll be over."

But when Jiyong's face got focused again, she threw her bolster pillow towards the TV again, crying, "I hate you so much. YOU ARE THE LOSER!!!"

"I know, Taeng. Ssssssh."

"When you're ready, you can tell us what happened."

"Just express all that anger. We're here to listen."

While the six members of SNSD thought the woman was crying over her breakup with Byun Baekhyun, Stephanie Hwang knew the truth. She observed from a distance, watching Taeyeon get so emotional while watching G-dragon on TV. She was almost smirking to herself, not because she was ha