Title: Side by Side Posted: 10 August 2015 Tiffany’s eyes wandered around the table, contentedly chewing on her food. Although there were cameras around them, the eight of them were enjoying the delicious foods on their table. When her gaze fell to the two oldest girls of the group in front of her, however, her face brightened. She didn’t know why, but watching them discussing about the dishes they were currently munching on made her smile.

 

It went unnoticed when Taeyeon saw the smile had reached her eyes that she had to ask, “What’s with that smile?”

 

Saying nothing, the American just shook her head, crescent-shaped eyes still adorning her face.

 

“That pig is acting weird again,” the red-haired girl beside Taeyeon spoke up.

 

Tiffany’s smile didn’t falter despite Sunny’s teasing. Why should it? She’s happy. It was a peaceful –yet noisy as usual – lunch in New York, where they could enjoy the food without people noticing who they were. Of course, things weren’t always peaceful before on their table, but after years of living together, they knew how to handle things better and avoid unnecessary arguments and disasters.

 

And one of them was sitting Taeyeon and Sunny side by side.

 

Why, you ask? Why would sitting the two danshins of the group make their table peaceful, when they’re not even the loudest in the group?

 

There were reasons – silly ones – yet undoubtedly made sitting the two of them side by side crucial.

 

1. They taste each other’s foods

 

It started when they were still teenagers living together in a dorm. One of the ways for the girls to overcome their longings for their families was to throw pranks at each other. It came in various forms, but food prank was one of the few that is rarely done, and when it did, they go big. Salting kimbap on national television was one of it, while wasabi was always a good choice at times.

 

The pranksters? Without a doubt, the chodings of the group – Yoona, Yuri, Hyoyeon, and Sooyoung. The victim? Everybody else.

 

It was all for a good laugh, of course, but it went awry once, and was so traumatic that they stopped their pranks for a while. It was when they mistakenly put a dish with nuts on it instead of the prank food – a dish with hidden fish eyes – in front of Taeyeon who sat beside Tiffany at that time. The oldest ate it without knowing, causing her to asphyxiate within minutes. After a quick trip to the emergency room and a scary warning from Sunny to the chodings in the waiting room, they promised not to do it again.

 

In the first few meals that followed, Sunny took her place beside Taeyeon, making sure that the food in front of the latter was prank-free, and most importantly, nut-free. It became a habit, and she had been sitting there since.

 

Although Sunny had stopped tasting Taeyeon’s food for nuts after a while, the latter had developed a habit of tasting Sunny’s food instead. Surprisingly, the May-born girl was very picky when it comes to food, and yet the food that she ordered when they eat out was always delicious. Meanwhile, although she was a lot less picky when it comes to food, Taeyeon liked to order food that she had never tried before. Sunny would taste it out of curiosity, and although there were times that she didn’t like what the leader ordered, it didn’t stop her to take a bite every time they ate together.

 

2. They secretly dump their food on the other’s plate

 

It was no secret that Taeyeon and Sunny finish each other’s foods. Sunny doesn’t like beans, yet loved eating snacks like patbingsoo or bungeoppang. Taeyeon was the only one willing to finish the beans, after the other girls grew tired of finishing Sunny’s food. She didn’t mind eating the beans for Sunny, or sharing the snacks with her.

 

Taeyeon was not rash in ordering her food or eating snacks, but she did when she ordered drinks. Being one of the lamest drinkers in the group, she was eager to raise her alcohol-tolerance by drinking more than she could handle. One glass was enough to make her slur her words, and since she ordered a whole bottle, who else could finish it better than Soolkyu, who drinks alcohol like water?

 

3. They wipe stray food off of each other’s face

 

After the whole prank-mishap, the girls refrained on putting something on the food, and instead stayed in silence whenever there was stray rice or other kinds of food on their face or teeth. They would hold their laughs until the time came to take a group picture, laughing their bums off when the ‘victim’ realized there was spinach or a pepper flake on their teeth.

 

That never happened to Taeyeon or Sunny. They were quick to tell each other should there was something on their face. Once, instead of sitting side by side, they sat across each other while eating in a meat restaurant. Sunny the meat-lover was eating happily, chewing – or maybe inhaling is more appropriate – wrap after wrap of meat and vegetables into , oblivious that there was a small excess of gochujang on the corner of . Nobody realized it yet, except Taeyeon. She quickly took a napkin and leaned her body forward to wipe the shorter girl’s mouth. Before she could do so, she bumped her hand on her glass by accident, causing it to fall and spilled the whole content on the grill.

 

There was nothing wrong with the grill, and the owner of the restaurant only chuckled when Taeyeon profusely apologized by bowing repeatedly as he replaced the grill. They didn’t need to cover the cost since it wasn’t broken, but the accident was so embarrassing that for the whole remainder of the meal they had to keep their head down to avoid the stares from the other tables.

 

“Next time, just let Taeyeon sit beside Soonkyu. This is so embarrassing!” Yuri whispered irritably, hiding her face with her hand.

 

4. They have silent fights

 

Friends fight, and the two danshins was no exception. There were times that they didn’t meet eye to eye, but instead of talking it out, they gave each other silent treatment. Both were stubborn and insisted on not talking to each other for weeks, hell-bent on thinking that they were right and didn’t want to apologize first. Sometimes when they do talk during their fight they would throw sarcastic remarks at each other instead, and it killed the atmosphere in the room. Neither of them enjoyed doing it – they were just too stubborn to concede first.

 

When that happens, the other girls would arrange a meal together, preferably in a VIP room so they could eat and talk comfortably without people asking for photographs or signs every minute. They would walk in front with the two angry danshins behind, l