Kang Seulgi was a curious little bear.

At the young age of 6, she’s sustained her fair share of bruises and cuts from exploring the big open world around her.

(Which was really just the backyard, kindergarten, and the playground in front of the house but who would want to pop her little bubble?)

She’s quite proud that she’s already encountered a tiger cub in their neighborhood, thank you very much (no one had the heart to tell her is was just the super, duper fat orange tabby next door).

Auntie Taengoo would always worry about her whenever she picked a tree that was a little too big with branches a tad too high for the woman’s liking to climb. Or when she’d wander to the park’s pond by herself to take a sip (it was only once, Seulgi swears…okay, maybe twice). But nevertheless, Auntie Taengoo was always there with a special pack of yellow bandages to patch her up when she needed it, finished with a pat on the head, a kiss on the cheek and then send her on her way again.

But this time was different.

Seulgi wasn’t curious about what tree she would climb next or when she’d build her blanket fort again. No, this time her curiosity was piqued because of a person. And this person was special.

Ever since Seulgi and her sisters came to live with their aunt, she’d always spot the older woman smiling whenever she talked on the phone or FaceTimed someone in her study. The woman never really explained to them who it was when Seulgi asked one night at dinner, only saying it was a special friend she really cared about. But now that special friend was coming for dinner and Seulgi was very excited!

The six-year old loved meeting new people, making friends easily with anyone and anything, from the old grandmas in the park who exercised to the nice ice cream man who’d give her and her sisters an extra scoop each whenever they saw him.

When the doorbell rang that evening, it was no surprise to her sisters that she was the first one at the door.

“Woah hold up there, little bear! You know the rules about answering the door,” Taeyeon said.

“Never answer the door without a grownup. And never, ever open the door if it’s Auntie Sooyoung, Auntie Yuri, or Auntie Hyoyeon,” the little bear recited.

“That’s my girl,” her aunt chuckled, ruffling her head.

They open the door together, at Seulgi’s insistence, and what was behind it made the child’s jaw drop. It was a lady, with a bright smile and even brighter eyes that turned into little crescent moons when she smiled. Seulgi thought she was really pretty, and that meant she was nice.

The lady even had gifts in her hands, so Seulgi just knew. This person was pretty much like Santa, except she wasn’t big and round but tall and slim. And pretty. Did she mention pretty?

The little girl turns to her aunt in awe, her hand tugging on the woman’s shirt.

“Auntie Taeyeon, there’s a pretty angel at the door,” she whispered not so quietly.

The pretty angel lady beams at her and laughs and Seulgi thinks her laugh sounds like bells. She watches as her aunt pulls the guest into a tight hug with the same smile she sees on Taeyeon’s face whenever she talks to that one person on the phone.

Could it be? Is this Auntie Taeyeon’s special friend?

She turns to ask the guest herself. “Are you Aunt Taeyeon’s lady friend? Auntie Sooyoung said there’s this pretty lady that really gets Aunt Taeyeon goin–”

“OKAY, heh, I think that’s the last time you’ll be talking to Auntie Sooyoung for a long, LONG time,” Taeyeon exclaims as the lady laughs.

As Taeyeon invites her in, Seulgi trails behind closely, wanting to know everything about her soon-to-be new friend.

“Girls, come here! There’s someone I want you to meet!”

The trio settles in the living room as little thumps of running feet come bounding in.

“Kids, this is Tiffany. She’s a very special friend of mine,” Taeyeon introduced.

The pretty lady, Tiffany, smiles at them warmly with her crescent moon eyes and waves.

“Taeyeon has told me lots about you all so I hope we can be good friends!”

Before Seulgi can speak up excitedly and say “Yes, let’s be friends!” her eldest sister Joohyun speaks up.

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Tippany. My name is Joohyun and this is Yerim, Seungwan, and Sooyoung. And next to you is Seulgi.”

Tiffany coos at the shy introduction. “Oh, you don’t have to call me that! You can just call me Tiffany! Or Aunt Fany if you’d like!”

“Tippany…what kind of name is that?” Sooyoung asks bluntly for a five-year old.

Seulgi watches as Auntie Taengoo grimaces at the question, looking at Tiffany apologetically while Tiffany just giggles.

“It’s an American name,” Tiffany responds easily, “I work in America, but I wanted to take time off to visit your aunt and meet you girls.”

Seungwan chirps up at that. “You’re from America?! That means you can speak English! Hello, my name is Wendy!”

“Hewwo, mai name is Yewi,” their youngest parroted.

Tiffany couldn’t stop smiling and Seulgi really liked that. She liked it even more when Tiffany scooped them all into one big group hug.

Seungwan always said to stay close to people who feel like sunshine and Seulgi knew for sure Tiffany was the sun itself.

_

After opening the little gifts from Tiffany, which were little candies from America, Auntie Taengoo told them they could only have one piece so they wouldn’t spoil their dinner before making her way to the kitchen with Tiffany in tow.

“I like Miss Tippany, she seems really nice,” Joohyun commented as she unwrapped a purple lollipop.

Sooyoung barely looks up from rummaging through her little gift bag as she responds, “If she makes Aunt Taengoo happy then she must come from heaven. Auntie Taengoo says the only things in life that make her happy are us and Ginger.”

“And Zero!” Yerim added happily with chocolate on her face.

“Auntie Taeng has been tired lately because of work…but maybe if we can get Tippany to stay, Auntie Taeng will be happy all the time!” Seungwan said, cheeks puffed and filled with sour candy.

“But she works in America,” Joohyun pointed out, “She can’t stay forever.”

Seulgi watches her sisters frown at the thought. Seungwan was right. Taeyeon has been tired and sad lately. Sometimes, the young bear can hear Taeyeon up late at night in her study, talking to someone, Tiffany probably, and sounding really sad. She didn’t want her aunt and sisters to be sad.

She had to do something.

And so, the curious little bear had a plan.

_

“Aunt Ppany, are you married?”

Seulgi sat back and watched innocently as Tiffany gently pat Taeyeon on the back as the older woman choked on her drink, coughing and sputtering at the sudden question, while Sooyoung and Yerim laughed at their aunt’s expense.

“W-what makes you ask that, little bear?” her aunt asked awkwardly.

“Because I wanted to know. And you said there are no dumb questions and that we should always ask if we don’t know something,” she recited again.

She needed to know. It was important. If she can get Tiffany to marry Taeyeon, then her aunt will surely be happy all the time instead of having that frowny face like she’s been having lately. All they have to do is fall in love and get married and Tiffany will stay! And Seulgi and her sisters can be at the wedding like in the movies with the happy ending. Oh, and with a pumpkin carriage!

This shouldn’t be hard, the six-year-old thought.

Taeyeon groans inwardly, facepalming herself and wondering why Seulgi was one of the most obedient and literal kids to have graced the planet.

“It’s okay, Taeyeon. She’s just curious,” Tiffany said reassuringly before turning to Seulgi, “I’m not married, no. But I’m engaged!”

She stretches her hand out to show the sparkly ring on her finger for the girls to see, aweing at sight.

“Wow,” Seungwan breathed.

“That’s a weally big wock!”

“It’s a diamond, Yerim,” Joy nudged.

Tiffany chuckles. “It is, isn’t it? My fiancée gave it to me.”

Joohyun tilts her head curiously. “What’s a fiancée?”

“Can you eat it?” Seulgi asks.

Taeyeon chokes again but Tiffany doesn’t help her this time, opting to laugh instead. “Well, a fiancée is someone who promises to love you forever and they give you a ring as a symbol of that promise. And when you get married, they replace this ring with a wedding ring.”

Seungwan gasps and shouts excitedly, “You’re getting married?!”

While her four sisters started bombarding Tiffany with questions, Seulgi looked at Taeyeon, who has stayed pretty quiet during this exchange. Her aunt looked sad again and she hated it.

But what can Seulgi do if Tiffany is already getting married to someone else?

_

Tiffany stayed late to help Taeyeon put the girls to bed, reading them stories and singing them lullabies in English, which Seulgi didn’t understand a single word of but her voice sounded like a Disney Princess’, so she didn’t mind.

There really wasn’t anything about Tiffany that Seulgi didn’t like.

The woman played pretend with Yerim, playing the role of the princess to Yerim’s handsome prince.  She had two puppies of her own so she’s definitely on Sooyoung’s good side, especially with the promise of bringing the two pups the next time she visits. She didn’t hesitate to have a whole conversation in English with Seungwan, which the girl loved. She even listened carefully whenever Joohyun spoke, which Seulgi appreciated because she knows her older sister is shy and doesn’t speak very loudly but Tiffany always gave the girl her full attention with soft eyes. Even better was the woman snuck Seulgi another piece of candy after dinner when Auntie Taengoo wasn’t looking!

But most importantly, Tiffany made her aunt happy.

And Seulgi wanted her to stay. It’s all her little heart wanted.

So, after the two adults kissed the other four goodnight, they made their way over to Seulgi’s bed to do the same.

“I had a very fun time with you today, Seul-Bear,” Tiffany whispered with a smile, “Is it okay if I call you that? Seul-Bear?”

Seulgi beamed. Tiffany gave her a nickname! That definitely means they’re friends now. She nods happily but then she remembers that Tiffany is leaving after she goes to sleep, and she can’t help but tear up at her failure to get Tiffany to stay.

“Woah, what’s wrong, Seulgi?” Taeyeon asked, wiping a stray tear.

The little bear whimpers. “I want Aunt Ppany to stay. She makes you happy. But if she’s marrying someone else then she’ll never see us again and you’ll be sad. You’ve been really sad, Aunt Taengoo, and I don’t want you to be.”

Seulgi sits up to hug Taeyeon tightly, burying her face in the shocked woman’s neck. Taeyeon lets out a sigh and coos.

“Oh, my sweet little bear, you have nothing to worry about. Auntie Taeng will be okay, I promise.”

“B-but I want you to be happy forever,” Seulgi sniffled, rubbing her now red nose as she tries to stop the tears.

“Well, kiddo, that’s a hard thing to do. No one can be happy forever. We all have our sad days. Things can get rough and it wouldn’t be good if we tried to be happy when we really want to be sad. See, we have to let our feelings out. And what’s great about that is if we’re sad, there’s always a chance for us to be happy again. Remember when Seungwan’s hamster went missing? She was sad for a few days, but once we found it, she was back to our happy Seungwan. So Auntie Taeng will be happy again too. It’ll take time, but I’ll be okay. You don’t have to worry.”

“And you don’t have to worry about not seeing me again,” Tiffany added. “I came because I missed your aunt, but I really wanted to meet you and your sisters too. And now that I have, I already can’t wait to see you again. Taeyeon’s family is like my family and I love you guys already. Do you believe me, Seul-Bear?”

Seulgi nods with another sniffle. “Promise you won’t forget us when you leave?”

Tiffany reaches out with her pinky up and Seulgi hooks it with her own. “I, Tiffany Hwang Miyoung, promise to never forget you, Kang Seul-Bear,” Seulgi giggles at this, “nor will I ever forget your sisters, Joohyun, Seungwan, Sooyoung, and Yerimmie. And I especially promise to never forget your Aunt Tae.”

The woman turns to look at Taeyeon softly. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Taeyeon’s smiling now and it was a different smile than from Seulgi has seen. Her aunt is smiling the same smile Joohyun gets when she sits on the swings and looks up at the sky; the same smile Seungwan gets when she’s baking; the same smile Sooyoung gets when she’s cuddling with Ginger and Zero; the same smile Yerim gets when Taeyeon holds her close to rock her to sleep.

It was a smile full of love and…peace. Calm.

And the sight of this exchange between the two adults in front of her was enough to reassure little Seulgi that everything was going to be okay.

–

True to her word, Tiffany never forgot about Seulgi and her family. She came back five months later after many FaceTime calls since she left and celebrated both Seulgi and Seungwan’s birthdays. And then three months later, then two months, and then the best thing in Seulgi’s young life happened.

Tiffany finally came and stayed.

The woman arrived a week before Christmas, with open arms as always.

And on Christmas Day, after the girls opened their presents, both Tiffany and Taeyeon presented them with a small box to open together.

Seulgi wondered if it was more chocolate. It sure looked like it could fit a chocolate bar.

But it wasn’t.

Inside was a card with some flowers and glitter on it. Seulgi couldn’t really tell what the words said though. Thankfully, Joohyun was able to.

“Join us for the wedding of Tiffany Hwang Miyoung and…Kim Taeyeon!”

The girls all lets out shocked gasps while the adults in front of them smiled happily, hands entwined. And just like the first meeting, Tiffany envelopes them all in a group hug, but not before winking at Seulgi, who had the brightest smile on her face, stretched from ear to ear.

She was right – Tiffany really was an angel. And now that same angel is going to be her aunt!

Later that night, after the girls happily helped Tiffany unpack her things, Taeyeon pulled her aside, kneeling down to meet the child’s eyes.

“Thank you for always looking out for your Auntie Taengoo, little bear.”

Seulgi smiles in return. “Thank you for being my aunt, Auntie Taeng.”

“C’mere, you,” the woman says, pulling the child into her arms.

Tiffany walk up to them just then after tucking Sooyoung and Yerim into bed. “Let’s go, you two. Time for bed!”

Seulgi reaches her arms out to Tiffany and the woman picks her up, walking to the bedroom the girls shared.

“Aunt Ppany, will you tell us a story?” A chorus sounded in agreement from the little occupants in their respective beds. Tiffany shines her bright smile again at the request, placing Seulgi down and tucking her in.

“I have just the story for you. Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Stephanie Hwang…"

The End.