That's so Us - Chapter 1 : As we grow up

Chaos around the kitchen may seem ruckus and noisy for some, but for them it’s their routinely duty yet daily joy. It’s one of those busy evening, the kitchen and service teams are working diligently with smiles plastered on their faces while doing their respective jobs, they didn’t realize how fast time passed until the last order of the day finally comes, in that case they find it relieved and accomplished.

“Last order?” Hyomin mumbles to herself as she was reminded by a waitress named Yeri who is broadly smiling as she hands her chef an order.

“Yes, chef-nim, it’s 8:40 PM” Yeri adds

“Ah, yeah” Hyomin agrees after she shortly checks the time.

“Oh, also Mrs Kim said your cooking is the best meal she has ever had in a day” Yeri turns around to convey the message that their regular customer wanted to pass the compliment to their chef.

“Aw, that’s sweet, thanks to her for me”

“Yes I will” Yeri leaves the kitchen to help her workmate

Hyomin smiles admiring her work of art for the food she cooks, and it doesn’t only look pretty it tastes great according to their customers

Despite being famous as a young chef with huge numbers of followers in her social media platform, Hyomin chose to work in a small restaurant around the corner in lively city of Seoul instead of working in luxurious restaurant, five star hotel or opening her own although she got a lot of lucrative offers, she turned down them all, and there is a reason for that. This restaurant has a capacity of 10 tables only, it’s rather a small scale size of restaurant considered blooming of café in Seoul these days and opens only from 12:00 PM – 9:00 PM, and their last order is sometimes before 9 PM .

“Thank you everyone for your hard work today, you did a great job” Hyomin shouts out to all her workmates, that they are none other than two waitresses, a cashier, a sous chef or assistant chef.

Enthusiastic encouragement and end-of-the-day conversation are exchanged among their team before they get ready to leave for home or spend their night out and as usual, Hyomin seems to be the last one

After a long day doing what she loves, it’s her second favorite thing to check out her social media accounts to see the feedback of her posts which mostly are about food and random photos of anything she finds interesting, most often are well-received from her followers and close friends, and every comments mean a lot to her as someone who loves to share things to people with common interest, her smile is always the widest, until she scrolls down to a particular feed of her favorite friend that she sets as “See first” in her timeline of favorite social media apps.

Hahm Eunjung is in relationship with Kim Soohyun , posted 12 minutes ago

Not totally surprising, it’s nothing new, Eunjung is Hyomin’s best friend and that’s what best friends are for, knowing most everything that going on in each other life, Hyomin was even the first to know when Soohyun asked Eunjung out, and from that moment when Eunjung told Hyomin now it has been five months that they have been seeing each other, they are technically dating and Hyomin sees this coming but now that they confirm it socially for mutual friends to know, it doesn’t make it hurt any less for her after all. What she didn’t expect is the sudden and sharp thug at her chest, not totally unbearable, but rather a suffocating as if someone squeezed the air out of her lung, then stabbed it with invisible pointed metal, she is not prepared for this and tear threatens to fall without her consent.

Eunjung is calling

As if taking this news is not already touch enough for Hyomin, life throws her another round of bitter when she has to force herself to speak what is opposite from her feeling.

“Hey, Eunjung, I’m so happy for you”

That’s what I’m supposed to, though I’m not

Not before that her work has worn her out this much, it’s clearly something else that mentally bringing her down her energy out that she necessarily needed some air so she just drove endlessly and by the time she got home it was already 1:20 a.m.

Dragging her feet tiredly, Hyomin wishes she could just dash into her bedroom and lay there foolishly in her safest place at last, and as she thought she finally reaches her comfort, the rustle sound from the kitchen alarms her nervously, her sense of peace suddenly drifts away and replaces by the subtle fear with increasing noise. Contemplating between running for her safety or fight to save her property, Hyomin looks for something she can use as a weapon, and within her range, she finds one or at least it looks like one, and with each heavy step increases her heartbeat, holding her breathe as she reaches the kitchen door then she is greeted by a cold voice

“Why are you home so late?”

Hyomin feels the dragger from the intruder’s eyes somewhat she feels relieved when their eyes meet, Hyomin releases her breath she has been holding.

“Um, meeting some friends and stuff” Hyomin lies and it must have been sounded unconvinced that the intruder with a glass of milk in her hand starts to search for a truth in the brunette’s eyes

“By the way, care to tell me what you are doing in my house at this late?” Hyomin is quick to change the subject and succeeded to end the curious look from her late night guest.

“I thought I would come for a sleepover” Eunjung sounded neutral, “Why? Don’t I usually do this?”

Eunjung finishes washing her glass then turns to face Hyomin as if she is being accused for something bad.

It’s true that Eunjung’s visit has become her usual showup at Hyomin’s place as if she was one of the housemate, to be exact, the slightly older friend has been doing this since they were little girl where Eunjung would pop up at Hyomin’s bedroom back at her parents’ house anytime like it was alright to intrude people place, but to her defense she did it only with her best friend, Hyomin, which Hyomin didn’t know if she should have felt honored or cursed for that.

“Anyway, I’m tired I need some sleep” Hyomin put down a vast she has been holding as a weapon, and it earns her a laughter from Eunjung who just notices it.

“Poor thing, you thought I was a thief” Eunjung steps ahead and throws a hug around Hyomin, and with almost their same height, she reaches to ruffle the younger’s hair

“Yah, who wouldn’t?” Hyomin defends as she struggles from a hug

“What if I had a heart attack?” Hyomin complains further and that makes Eunjung contemplete

“I’m sorry” Sincere apology is enough to make Hyomin stops in Eunjung’s hold, for a moment she wanted to stay like that forever.

“Well, apology accepted” Hyomin can’t resent the warmth emitting from her hug, and her voice softens

“Well, well, get some sleep, we will have a girl chat tomorrow, I can’t wait to tell you how Soohyun asked me to be his girlfriend” Eunjung finally breaks the hug, pink tint is shown in her cheeks while she drags Hyomin’s out of the kitchen.

The realization hit Hyomin once again whist reminding her why she was mentally exhausted today, she wanted to save the pain for later, but her conscious debating whether to disappoint her best friend or save herself. Then, it turned out that they had a long night chat until 4 a.m in the morning, as cruel as it seemed, Hyomin found it less torturing than she expected to hear Eunjung’s rambling about her just-now-official boyfriend, it wasn’t for how sweet Soohyun was or how cool he asked her to be his that made thing was easier for Hyomin , it was just the way how simply Hyomin could feel the happiness in Eunjung’s voice echoing through her storytelling, how every time Hyomin gave Eunjung a side glance and witnessed those smiles, it was pretty and genuine. An urge inside of her wished she could do anything to save them for herself, while bigger part of her told her to be truly happy for the person she has always loved, and according to every wise words people say, it was true love when you were happy to see your loved one happy, that was way it was supposed to be, and on the top of everything she was her best friend after all and nothing was gonna change that, not that she was willing to risk their friendship though.

As long as you are here the last thought that came into her mind before she dozed off with Eunjung’s hand rested loosely on her waist while her back faced the older one.

It’s better this way

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“I seriously believe you will be drawing a lot of customers if you open your own”

Talking though her chewing, it’s not hard for Hyomin to comprehend every words that Eunjung said, while she passes her friend a tissue

“Nah, I’m all good”

“But ….”

“I’m happy to work there”

“That’s that then”

Right after their conversation ends, a honk from a car draws their attention, they both turn to the same direction of the front gate where a car can be seen from glass door.

“It must be Hanbin, he texted me early and I told him I was at your place” Eunjung explains as she takes a last bite of her breakfast

“I guess he’s picking you up then” Hyomin tries not to sound disappointed

“Yeah, he will give me a ride before he goes to work, isn’t it sweet?” Eunjung gulfs down the last portion of juice

“ Um he is” Hyomin hides her bitterness

“ Besides, I want you to get some rest before going to work” Eunjung reasons as she knows Hyomin might be ready to give her a ride.

“Thanks to him, I save my gasoline” Hyomin fakes a laugher,

“That’s meanie” Eunjung pouts

“Not gonna work on” Hyomin shrugs

“Save it for later, I’m late now” Eunjung gives in as she busily grabs her stuff

“Hey wait” Hyomin calls after Eunjung before she exits the entrance, there Hyomin is holding up what looks like a lunch box

“In case you may miss my cooking” Hyomin hands it to Eunjung

“Thank you my wifey” Eunjung playfully addresses Hyomin the way she has been used to, and flashes her last thankful smile that Hyomin has grown as time goes by

“That’s alright, say hi to Soohyun for me” Hyomin forces herself to look gleeful as she pronounces his name

“I will” Eunjung replies with her back facing Hyomin as she bids goodbye and makes her way to a waiting car

With that Eunjung slowly disappears from her view and into a car, Hyomin stands there for some minutes longer until the car furthers away from her sight.

Back to her dining table, Hyomin sits down with her heavy heart, it can’t be more worse than this, her unfocused stare finally falls up on an empty plate and empty glass, nothing left in them, not a bit and that is Eunjung way to eat everything Hyomin cooks as if they were last meal on earth, Hyomin can’t help but have a bittersweet smile, she seems to love everything about Eunjung by default.

As Hyomin has a few hours before she would be off for work, she decides to be productive and puts herself together, she remembers she hasn’t done some cleaning and laundry for a week, but then the closer she examines, the cleaner and tidier her place seems to be. Dish washer has been loaded as well as garbage bin, no single trash left with new replaced garbage bag, dust and dirt doesn’t appear as it should be, and as well as some stuff were put back, most of all her laundry has been taken care, it was pretty neat, and she come to a conclusion as who did it, cause there is only one person who would dare to touch her personal stuff or care enough to take care of these things without asking.

6 years ago

A group of college students were gathering at the canteen for their little chit-chat, which included Taeyeon, 3^rd year senior of culinary degree, Yoona ,2^nd year majoring in Acting Arts, Jessica, 3^rd year in Fashion Design, Qri 3^rd year , majoring Finance and Economics, Jiyeon 2 years in Fine Arts , Hyomin 2^nd year in culinary and Eunjung, 2 year majoring in Economics . It was a long story how these people with different majors and different personalities were friends but for sure they had something in common that anyone would wish for in friendship and in friend, and what stood out was their lovely bond.

“Any plan for tonight girls?” Qri started

“I was thinking about going shopping malls, I ran out of eyes shadow and stuff” Jessica voiced out her plan

“I’m in” Taeyeon butted in and with that she earned the eyes-rolling from everyone except Jessica

“Can’t you be any less obvious Taeyeon unnie?” Yoona scoffed

“Why ? I wanted to go shopping” Taeyeon defended

“Since when you like shopping ?” Qri smirked

“Since I started the college” Taeyeon was unconsciously staring at Jessica

“That’s a hint” Yoona added jokingly

“Anyway, I’ll be going too” Qri bluntly stated ignoring sweet smile Taeyeon was giving Jessica

“Will you go and eat after?” Jiyeon asked curiously

“That’s a good question Jiyeon” Yoona agreed, started thinking of the food

“Sure if you guys are coming along, we could have a group dinner, that shall be fun” Jessica’s face didn’t match the way she meant the word fun

“ It has been a while since we last had dinner together” Eunjung joined the idea

“ I think I may need to buy something too” Hyomin was half thinking

“What do you need to buy?” Eunjung asked

“Some toiletries” Hyomin answered without much thinking

“What are them in particular?” Eunjung continued her questioning

“I think my shampoo almost finishes as well as my toothpaste is already hard to squeeze” Hyomin tried to remember

“Did you check your upper cupboard, they are plenty of them, I believe they will last three months” Eunjung nagged

“I couldn’t find any” Hyomin quickly argued

“Believe me, they are stored on the second cupboard above the sink on your left” Eunjung explained in details which awed the group as they attentively listen to the best friends’ bickering

“Really?”Hyomin wasn’t convinced; she started to remember that she never looked into those cupboard in her bathroom for it’s high to reach though

“Absolutely, and they are plenty of stuff in your kitchen that you stocked and forgot to use them, I just threw some expiry ingredient couple days ago

“Oh, it’s that so” Hyomin gave in in lower tone, that was the way she was, stocking stuff way too much

“At some point I wonder whose house was that” Yoona teased amusingly

“That got me thinking too because last time I visited Hyomin unnie’s, it turned out Eunjung unnie knew where all

things are kept” Jiyeon added informatively

“I just can’t stand her messy place” Eunjung reasoned

“ It’s not that bad” Hyomin felt hurt

“And it’s not like you live there Eunjung ” Qri smirked

“You can’t imagine how I have to dig my way to her bedroom when I have sleepover” Eunjung was exaggerating

Jiyeon and Yoona laughed

“Which it’s very often considered, technically it’s Eunjung unnnie’s house too” Jiyeon sided her unnie

“The guy who takes Eunjung as his wife must be a lucky guy?” Jessica commented which made Eunjung blushed

“I can clean too, plus I can do all the chores” Taeyeon butted in

“Here she comes” Qri shook her head and everyone laughed

While everyone else let this topic slip, and found it super adorable to have such a friend like Eunjung but Qri and Jiyeon didn’t, it got them thinking how on earth a best friend would do so much for one another, if it wasn’t for

Hyomin inhaled a deep breath as if to relive her memories longer, and that is Eunjung to her, someone who not only cares enough to nag about her messiness but ends up cleaning it for her and much better than she does it herself and she has never changed through times and Hyomin kinda hopes it gonna last a bit longer

What would I do without you?

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“We’re gonna celebrate Christmas together every year”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I believe”

“What if I go aboard and you are still in Seoul during Christmas”

“Well angel will take me there”

“That’s absurd”

Hyomin laughed at her friend’s childish idea or rather wishful thinking,cause she herself never believed in such a thing and Christmas was just a festive holiday that she was happy to get presents and had friends and family gathering.

Somehow Eunjung made it happen, they got to celebrate Christmas together every year since then until this year, that belief broke its spell and now Hyomin is here with some other friends for Christmas party at Taeyeon and Jessica’s

“It’s a shame Eunjung can’t make it” Yoona sighs as she sips a drink

“It’s not like every day we can finally reunite” Taeyeon adds, regret is obvious in her voice

Qri notices a silent girl besides her, she nudges Jiyeon, the other girl turns to her and their eyes are conversing

“Eunjung really wanted to come and meet us, she sounded sad when she knew she wouldn’t be able to make it” Jiyeon tells everyone

“Is there any other plan important than us?” Yoona sounds hurt

“She had a plan to visit her boyfriend’s parents and that was before we could finally agree to have a reunion meeting” A silent girl speaks up for the first time, on behalf of Eunjung, she sounds neutral as possible.

“That never changes” Jessica joins the conversation while pouring more drink for her friends

“Eh?” Yoona seems to has no clue what Jessica means

“An overprotective friend” Jessica puts her arm around Hyomin’s neck

“I’m not” Hyomin denies

“Tell me about it” Qri challenges

Then they start reminiscing the old time stories of them while they were at college, those young and beautiful days that Hyomin wishes she could go back for once. They start laughing about silly things they did.

“I’m glad we did those things” Taeyeon says

“They made us who we are now” Jessica adds while giving a peck on her girlfriend’s check

“Never thought you guys would make it this far” Qri admires an adorable couple

“Persistence won it all” Yoona points it out

“She never gives up” Hyomin praises her friend as she gives Taeyeon you-are-great look

“I couldn’t when I knew what I was fighting for” Taeyeon grins, she reaches out for Jessica’s hand

“Aw …” Everyone exclaims with their hand curves while it hits Hyomin home.

“Well enough for the past, how about we update what is going on now” Jessica cuts in, whether she is trying to hide her blush or she is naturally lame the way she has been.

Qri is currently dating a lawyer and is doing great with her business, as well as other who are succeeding in their own respective way, Yoon and Hyomin seem to be the two who are most seen in media as public figure , Yoon as actress and Hyomin as an young influencer for her appearance on TV program as chef, Jiyeon is working for a company exhibiting Arts, and as for Taeyeon and Jessca, are couple and pursing their own dreams.

The more they drink, the hyped they are, they start singing and laughing at the very little things, that’s when Qri phone rings and it’s none other than one person who is missing among the group

“Is Hyomin there?” Eunjung asks, sounds hurried

“Excuse you, don’t you really have a manner to greet me first ?” Qri snaps sarcastically

“Oh sorry, Hi Qri unnie, is Hyomin with you guys?” Eunjung asks once again, Qri rolls her eyes

“Why don’t you see it for yourself , everybody else wants to greet you too?” Qri tells

“I miss them too” Eunjung is excited

Eunjung greets everyone through video calling while they wish her a happy Christmas day, it turned out that Eunjung called Qri because she couldn’t reach Hyomin on her phone which she forgot to charge it. The chat continues for a while until Soohyun comes into the view and borrows Eunjung back for they have to say goodbye to his parents.

“They make a perfect couple” Yoona compliment

“Why don’t you eat more chip Yoona” Jiyeon shoves potato chip into Yoona’s mouth

“Yah” Yoona struggles in Jiyeon’s arm

“They are drunk” Jessica shakes her head at their childish behavior, so does Qri

“Hey, Hyomin, don’t forget to charge your phone, Eunjung was worried when she couldn’t reach you” Qri turns to remind a girl next to her

“Thank you for reminding Qri unnie” Hyomin smiles in gratitude but it’s not only the fact that the older friend reminding her to recharge her device that makes Hyomin feels grateful, but also how Qri affirms that someone out there cares for her so much and that’s someone is Eunjung who matters to her.

Because none of them are in state where it’s safe to say that they can drive home, Jessica makes them or more like forcing them to sleep in her place, at least until they get over or in somber state, and nobody dares to fight back the dead glare, not even Qri who is infamous for being cold.

- Ice Princess threatens us to stay over, so guess I’ll save my life by being obedient lol –

Hyomin texts Eunjung just to let her know but she didn’t expect a reply since it’s already too late and she didn’t want to think about what Eunjung is doing right now, but to her surprise, Eunjung promptly replies

- That’s better, she wants to make sure everyone is safe-

- Are you still up? –

- Yes, but I’m about to go to bed now, Merry Christmas Hyominnie –

- You too, Merry Christmas –

Without Hyomin knowing, on the other side, at Hyomin’s house, Eunjung sighs in disappointment, she clutches a Christmas’s present in her hand

“I’m sorry, thought I could make it”

With one last look, Eunjung makes the exist, locks the door and leaves Hyomin’s house behind.

To be continued

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Author note: It has been a long while since I was last active here. But since it’s T-Ara 10^th Anniversary, I planned to have some short fic posted, I am a bit late though.

This story is gonna 3 shots-fic long while few other short-fics of MinYeon and EunMin are coming. Hope you guys still hang in there with T-ara girls