“My ideal type?” Yoona can think of one name to answer that question but maybe she wasn’t ready for her secret to be out just yet. “It’s pretty simple actually.” She answers the host with a rehearsed smile.

Sooyoung’s audible scoff could be heard in the corner. Yoona shoots her bandmate a glare which only makes the latter smirk in amusement.

“It’s simple alright, simply high.” Sooyoung remarks, thankfully she didn’t bust her out to the public just yet.

Yoona allows a chuckle. “She’s right, my standards are pretty high and they just keep getting higher. Maybe that’s why I’m single still.” She offers a shrug, Sooyoung does another obnoxious scoff. The host seemed unsatisfied and tried to pry a bit more. To Yoona’s relief, Sooyoung answered for her.

Sooyoung starts, everyone hanging off her words. Yoona couldn’t help but chance a glance at a certain person— her precious, small leader. To her surprise, she was also intently waiting in bated breath for Sooyoung’s answer.

“So let me spell it out for you all…” Yoona narrowed her eyes when Sooyoung stressed on all, the tanned girl’s gaze fixed on the same person she was eyeing just earlier.

i. Must look good in a suit

It started out simple enough. The time was golden for a concept change for their group. Gone were the short tennis skirts they were all used to. Now was the time for suits and ties.

Yoona was buzzing with excitement. As much as she knew this wasn’t permanent, she just wanted to dance fully without being conscious of her dress riding up too high— even if for just a few months. If she was being objective, Yuri definitely fit the concept best. The girl was oozing with charisma, the ultimate girl crush as their fans would usually say.

So it baffled Yoona why she was ogling their kid leader the most. There was also Jessica who looked attractive as hell in the pants and vest. Sooyoung was dashing with the tie and hat. And yet Yoona kept taking second glances at a simple Taeyeon in a suit.

She looked cute as a button just standing there but it all changed whenever they were on stage. Taeyeon puts on a certain look every single time and Yoona just couldn’t take her eyes off the scene before her. It was frustrating though as Yoona sometimes found herself flushed and it wasn’t because of the choreography.

“Yoong are you okay?” Of course the girl who caused all her inner turmoil noticed first. “Your face is really red.” Taeyeon asks with her lower lip jutted out, eyebrows knitted together— a sign she was genuinely worried.

The concern from her crush made her all the more flustered. “I-I’m fine. The choreo’s just kind of… you know.” Yoona flings her arms around for emphasis.

Taeyeon seemed to agree with the sentiment as she laughs and nods along. Yoona thought that would be the end of their little moment— she cherishes all these small things. Until the shorter girl suddenly started wiping the sweat off Yoona’s face and neck with a cool towel.

“This might help.” Taeyeon simply says, not spotting the younger girl staring at her with wide twinkling eyes. She even pats her head gently, unintentionally making Yoona fall even more.

I really like you.

The thought almost slipped out of Yoona’s lips. But to anyone else paying attention, the affection radiating from her eyes already said it all.

ii. Must look good in a white shirt

Yoona’s sure that everyone has that one favorite shirt. A comfortable one, something you could always trust. But the way their leader loved her literal favorite tee just borders on crazily stupid (like Yoona’s feelings).

It’s been what— three years since Taeyeon got the shirt? Yoona remembered the day clearly when the supposedly older girl came back home with a skip to her steps. Spotting Yoona first, she dramatically took the white shirt out of its bag and brandished it like a hard-earned trophy.

Cute.

Yoona giggled and listened to the shorter girl’s story— no quest, as Taeyeon called it. “It was love at first sight Yoong.” Taeyeon exclaimed like the kid she still was.

Yeah, just like my feelings for you.

Yoona bit back her tongue, yet again almost accidentally confessing. It’s not that she never planned on telling the older girl how she felt. But she already accepted long ago that it wouldn’t be returned— not the way she wanted it to.

Her love was unrequited but Yoona didn’t mind it as much as before. She was just happy she could still spend time with Taeyeon, be with her now and all the next years to follow. The older girl’s happiness was equivalent to her own these days.

Some days were harder than the rest. Those days when their strong impassive leader couldn’t hide her sadness anymore. All the girls wanted to help, they all loved Taeyeon that much. But the eldest sometimes couldn’t understand it— that she was capable of receiving all this love and support. It messes her up, that she believes she isn’t worthy of something good.

All Yoona wanted to do was oppose her, tell her she deserved everything. She wanted to shower her with all the love she could give— if only she’d let her. But Taeyeon was Taeyeon. That in itself was the most frustrating part. If Yoona couldn’t break their leader’s walls, she wished the girl would let someone else in, even if it wasn’t her.

It didn’t matter though, Yoona still tries her best for Taeyeon— she stays.

“Do you know why this is my favorite tee?” Taeyeon asks as they stand out in the balcony, bearing the frigid weather, just the two of them. Sure enough, the girl was in her favorite white shirt, a blanket wrapped around her small shoulders.

“Is that rhetorical?” Yoona snorts and gets a chuckle out of her pensive companion.

Taeyeon speaks up once their quiet laughter died down. “It’s the only thing I could keep with me.” Her voice sounded amused, but Yoona knew better. “Even through the years, I couldn’t get rid of it nor could the shirt get rid of me.”

“Sounds tragically romantic.” Yoona understood what the leader was implying. The undertones of her words— how once they were nine, then eight, and then they were five.

She knows they’re not really gone. It was Girls’ Generation forever after all. Her girls would always be her girls but no matter what she did, it was just never the same as before.

“You stayed.” Taeyeon kept on. “I think that’s what’s tragically romantic.”

Yoona looked at the older girl by her side. She could see the sadness in her eyes, but there was something else. Taeyeon looked grateful, a mix of melancholy, and confusion.

“Why do you think I stayed?” Yoona could read the silent question hanging off the other girl’s head.

“I—“ Taeyeon falls quiet before looking back up. “I honestly don’t know…” She shakes her head. “I think I do but I don’t think that’s it.”

The confession came naturally, whether this was the right time or not, Yoona couldn’t care less anymore. “I love you Kim Taeyeon. I always have.” She chuckles a bit disdainfully. “But I’ve accepted long ago that my feelings weren’t going anywhere.”

She knew this because she witnessed how two of Taeyeon’s greatest loves walked away from her. How it left the small girl with only part of her heart— the rest taken away without her consent. Yoona was there for everything, left herself open whenever the leader couldn’t take it anymore.

Seohyun called it irrational, Yoona knew that but she still subjected herself through it. Stupid and foolish but it all became worthwhile once she spots the familiar smile from her favorite person. The dimpled one she usually only reserved for two other girls, Yoona was able to witness it several times as well. It made the acceptance stage easier somehow.

“You’re an idiot.” Taeyeon huffed exasperatedly and before Yoona could even rebut, she finds herself pulled down by her collar, the smaller girl’s face only an inch away and then… warmth.

Taeyeon’s lips was on hers. Taeyeon was kissing her. Yoona’s brain tried to catch up, realizing, she finally kisses back. It was soft, it was simple— just their lips locking together in the best way possible. It felt right and Yoona didn’t want it any differently.

They part slowly, breaths catching up. Yoona didn’t want to move away, instead she held onto Taeyeon’s waist tighter. There was no urge to run.

She continues to stay.

iii. Must look good in glasses

“Is it really a need that you keep wearing those glasses Tae?” Yoona was referring to the non-prescription glasses the older girl decided to take home after her magazine photoshoot ended earlier that day.

“Don’t you like them?” Taeyeon lowered the restaurant menu she was currently browsing only to push the aforementioned glasses back up with a smirk, teasing Yoona.

Yoona simple rolled her eyes, knowing exactly why her girlfriend kept wearing the glasses. “You know exactly how much I like them Tae.”

It should be criminal how good Taeyeon looked in glasses. She couldn’t take her eyes off the newly dyed blonde girl as she posed for the camera. Yoona almost regretted accompanying Taeyeon for the shoot overseas simply because she couldn’t handle how attractive the girl was.

She should be used to it— she’s not.

“So was I able to tick all the boxes in your ideal type checklist?” Taeyeon cheekily inquired, remembering that embarrassing (it was for Yoona) interview years ago.

Yoona expected it— she could read her girlfriend more than she let on. Yet here she was fumbling but trying her best to order their meals in English, hiding her flustered state. Once the waiter left, Yoona tried to look at anywhere and everywhere but Taeyeon.

“Yooooong.” Taeyeon drawled in a whine, trying to get her attention back.

Yoona sighed, it was inevitable. “About that.” She still couldn’t directly look at the girl seated across her. “That ideal type thing well… I actually had someone specific in mind when I made it.”

There, she said it. Yoona was expecting deep laughter from the other woman but instead she was greeted with silence and a stern look.

“Who was it?” Taeyeon clenched her jaw. “Was it that Seunggi guy?” Her face transformed into a bitter look then. “All he did was pat your head, I could do that too you know, I mean I already do. Does he even look as good as me in glasses? Or a white shirt? Okay maybe I was questionable when it came to the suit but still….”

Taeyeon went on, thinking of times she was able to one-up all the other guys Yoona’s encountered. To think she even remembered the three aspects of her ideal type. Yoona was beyond astonished, was her girlfriend….

“Taeyeon.” That stops the older woman from her rambling. “Are you jealous?” Yoona couldn’t stop the endearing but amused smile on her lips.

The older woman’s eyes widen comically. “Wha—“ A squirm. “I mean…” And finally a defeated sigh. It was kind of adorable how Taeyeon went through all those reactions in just a few seconds. “Yeah, I guess I am? I-Is that bad?”

Yoona shakes her head, their leader was really forever a dense brick of a wall. She decidedly bends across the table and kisses the other girl short but deeply, how could she not?

“Wh-What that for?” Taeyeon’s cheeks were beyond red, Yoona basked in the effect she had on the older woman.

“What do you think?” Yoona directs the question to which Taeyeon only shrugged at. “You’re cute when you’re jealous Tae.”

It seems that wasn’t enough to reassure her girlfriend though as Taeyeon continued pouting. Her unintentional aegyo was really the cutest. Yoona was more than happy to be the only one who could witness it on the daily.

“My ideal type.” Now that caught her attention again. “Is the one and only Kim Taeyeon.” Yoona simply laid out, she realizes she wasn’t as embarrassed as she thought, finally admitting the truth.

“You’re just saying that.” But yet again, Taeyeon was Taeyeon. “It’s okay Yoong, I don’t mind if I’m far from your ideal type.”

Yoona groans, why was her girlfriend so… Taeyeon? She decided to do an intervention, she dials a number. She hoped they were awake.

“Hello?” A groggy voice replies from the other line. “Im Yoona if you aren’t in danger and decided to call me on a whim at two in the freaking morning, I will hunt you down. I know where you are in Prague.”

“Oh don’t worry Sooyoung this is an emergency alright.” Yoona switches her phone on loud speaker, allowing her companion to hear their conversation. Taeyeon shoots her a questioning look but keeps quiet anyway.

“Our lovely kid leader here wanted to know who my ideal type was.” Yoona says over the phone.

“Oh god, did you say it was actually her and she didn’t believe you?” Sooyoung guessed in exasperation, hitting the bullseye. “Yah Kim Taeyeon! I’m supposed to be the stupid one in the group!” Taeyeon visibly winces. “Im Yoona has only ever had one ideal type and although it’s very questionable—“

“Yah unnie!” But Yoona wasn’t able to finish her sentence.

“It’s always been you Kim Taeyeon. Believe your girlfriend for once will you.” And with that, Sooyoung hangs up, leaving the pair slightly stunned.

“S-So…” It was Yoona’s turn to stutter. “Do you believe me now?”

Taeyeon was silent. Yoona looked up nervously to gauge the woman’s reaction. She was surprised to see the blonde looking at her thoughtfully, like a million questions were somehow going around her head in just one second. Until she finally found the one thought she was looking for.

“T-Tae?”

“That long huh?” A short answer. Yoona didn’t know how to respond, but Taeyeon wasn’t done speaking. “I’ve been an idiot for that long?” A sad smile paints her face.

Before Yoona could even react properly, Taeyeon places her hand on top of her own. She clutches them tightly, like she didn’t want to let go. “I’m sorry you had to go through everything by yourself for so long.” Somehow, a stray tear runs down Yoona’s face.

Taeyeon gave her time, let her process her emotions properly. Who knew how hard it was for her, enduring all those years thinking she could never have the person she wanted. She thought Taeyeon was the unattainable for too long.

Maybe they were both idiots. Yoona only saw things in her perspective after all. Trying to convince herself she would never be enough for Taeyeon. The girl who always treated her well, was just ultimately too good for her, she used to think. But now, maybe she could believe in herself more. Let herself be happy too.

“You’re here now.” Yoona sniffles and grips the woman’s hand as tightly. “That’s what matters to me.”

Yoona could understand the quiet message Taeyeon didn’t say out loud.

We could be happy too.

This time, Yoona would make sure to do just that. Taeyeon silently agreed as she naturally set the plates and utensils down for the younger girl. That was something that never changed. She knew exactly how to take care of her, probably read a manual on it— Taking Care of Im Yoona 101.

It never fails to make her heart flutter, as cliché as it sounds.

It was only natural for Yoona to hold her girlfriend’s hand as they walked around the foreign city together. Taeyeon lead ahead of her, never breaking their contact. She’d look back at Yoona with the brightest smile whenever she spotted something that intrigued her.

Everything around Yoona seemed new, unrestricted— just like her and Taeyeon.

-

I really really really love this pair. I promise to write a happier fluffier yoontae soon.

Also can we talk about Tae's Cosmopolitan shoot in Prague? God, most beautiful woman ever?

Thank you for reading!

Im on twitter @reallybadYR if yall wana talk