Yoona gave her a soft smile when Seohyun excused herself to get the door, a little unwilling to break off their now intertwined hands. Seohyun made sure to briefly squeeze Yoona’s hand, telling her that she’d be right back before getting up and walking towards the door.


Yoona sighed when she disappeared. A little bored, she decided to scan the dining room: it was a fancy room with an interior design so professional it rivaled the ones she saw in the cover of those upmarket housing magazines. A lavish chandelier hovered just above the small dining table both contrasting and complimenting the room’s simple set-up. After Seohyun’s revelation of their wealthy background, Yoona didn’t doubt that it was indeed professionally done.


But what caught her eye was a seemingly misplaced item placed just above the chimney: two old but matching tea cups. One was pink and the other was blue and both seemed to lack the “expensive” guise the room possessed. Yoona got up to look at the writing on each tea cups, laughing silently to herself at the corniness she discovered: “Tea-Fany” and “Tea-Yeon”. Just in front of it were two silver rings.


Before Yoona could further inspect it, Tiffany suddenly walked in closely followed by Taeyeon.


“Who is that by the door?”, she asks, a hint of worry in her tone.


“Oh. I’m not sure. Seohyun came to get it”


The three turned when Seohyun came into dining room with their unexpected guest, their arms around Seohyun’s shoulders as the latter looked uncomfortable.
“I’m back!”, the guest yelled, smiling broadly at the Kim-Hwangs.


TaeNy gaped their mouths open at the familiar face before them.


“Victoria?! What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here ‘til tomorrow!” Tiffany screamed in excitement as she ran towards her older daughter.


“I wanted to see Seohyun!”, Victoria said, letting go of Seohyun to hug both her parents.


Yoona noted her bubbliness; no doubt inherited from Tiffany.


“What about Nichkhun?” Taeyeon asked after breaking away from a tender hug, like Seohyun, looking a little uncomfortable with extended public displays of affection.


“Still with his parents. I wanted to give them some family bonding time anyway”. She smiled at each person in the room lovingly until she came to an unfamiliar face.


Victoria gasped when she saw Yoona.


“Omg. Is this her?”, she turned to Seohyun, excitedly whispering the words although the entire room heard it, obviously indicating that she also inherited her volume control from her mother, Tiffany.


“Unnie~!”, Seohyun whined in embarrassment. Victoria only widened her smile at the reaction. She walked over to Yoona and stuck a hand out.


“HI! I’m Victoria, Seohyun’s older sister”, she said with much enthusiasm.


Yoona took it with a smile, “I’m Yoona. It’s nice to finally meet you”


“Well sit down! We were just having dinner with Yoona”, Tiffany tried to usher them to their seats.


“Oh I need to put my stuff upstairs real quick. Yoona, do you mind helping me?”


“Oh no, not at all!”, Yoona said, not wasting any moment to help her girlfriend’s sister.



-------------------------------------------------




YoonToria
TaeNy Residence: 2nd floor




“It’s great that my sister finally found somebody. I was beginning to worry she was going to grow old all lonely and senile”, Victoria said as they continued their conversation up the stairs. “Seobaby can be rather…stubborn”


“Well, I promise you she won’t turn into that old lady with 50 cats”, Yoona said.


Victoria paused and gave her a look of disbelief. Yoona bit her lip and internally scolded herself, assuming she had said something unintentionally unpleasant that had offended her girlfriend’s older sister. To her surprise, Victoria started laughing.


“Thank God! Someone with some sense of humor!”


Yoona breath out a sigh of relief.


‘Thank God! Someone who understands me!' Yoona thought excitedly. This sister of Seohyun’s would definitely make her time here so much easier. Things were finally looking up.


Victoria personality profiler: Bubbly, Funny and NOT serious.


**********


They stopped in front of Victoria’s room, “Please go ahead and place that bag in the closet”, she told Yoona politely.


As the two entered Victoria’s room, Victoria quickly closes the door behind her.


At the sound of the door silently closing, Yoona turned around only to see Victoria with a sudden serious expression with her arms crossed across her chest. Gone was the friendly and bubbly girl from 5 seconds ago.


“Umm…”, Yoona couldn’t help but glance nervously around at the sudden change of personality.


“How long has it been?”, Victoria said in a detached yet dangerous tone.


“I’m sorry?”


“How long have you two been together?”, she said, with a firm voice more intimidating than before.


“T-ten months…”, Yoona stuttered at the sudden authoritative ambiance.


Victoria raised an eyebrow.


“Do you two live together?”


Yoona gulped. Seohyun told her not to tell her parents; she wasn’t sure if it also applied to her sister.


“N-no…”


“Are you sure?”, she asked slowly in that knowing tone of hers that oddly reminded her of Tiffany with a hint of Taeyeon’s coldness.


“Yes…we’re not living together”, Yoona lied. She would never throw Seohyun under the bus like that; she’d prefer to push her out the way, if anything.


“You’re lying”


Oh sh*t


“…But at least I know you’re not going to sell her out at the first signs of trouble”


OMG she knew! The girl had been testing her! WTF is wrong with this family?!


Victoria uncrossed her arms and walked over to Yoona while the latter involuntarily found herself backing away.


“You listen to me and you listen good: If you ever hurt my little sister I won’t hesitate to cut off your pair”


Yoona widened her eyes and instinctively covered her chest.


As if realizing what she had just said, Victoria immediately reverted back to her bubbly self, laughing at her mistake.


“Oh…I’m sorry that came out totally wrong~”


So far, Seohyun has only been with a guy. I don’t have a girl version of my threat prepared …”, Victoria continued to laughed apologetically while Yoona could only cower at the crazy sister who seemed to be apologizing for a light slip-up rather than the technical errors of a death threat.


“But yeah, I’ll definitely do something about it if you hurt my sister…Got it?”


Yoona nodded vigorously as if her life depended on it…and it probably did.


“Okay! Now let’s go have some steak!” Victoria said giddily, throwing an arm around a now lifeless-looking Yoona as if the interrogation never took place.


*EDIT* Victoria personality profiler: Fany on the outside, but definitely Taeyeon on the inside.


--------------------



SooSic
YulSic Residence: Kitchen



“So where’s my god daughter?”, Sooyoung asked as she followed Jessica to the kitchen while Yuri headed to the garden with Minho still in her arms.


“Yoona already left. She's at her girlfriend's parents' house right now”, Jessica replied.


“I’m going to beat that little … I’m still upset she didn’t tell me she was visiting. I haven’t seen her since she moved out”


“She was only here for a day or so. I don’t think she would’ve wanted you to come down all the way here just so you can see her for an hour”


"So has she proposed yet or not?"


"I don't think so. She told me last minute that she wanted to ask for their parent's permission"


"How seobang-like of her"


“What the hell”, Sooyoung suddenly stopped when they entered the messy kitchen.


“Did a storm just pass by here or did you and Yuri do it in the kitchen again? Judging by the cuffs on her wrist, I’d say it’s the latter…”


Jessica hits Sooyoung playfully.


“Well…I’m glad to see you two still have a healthy life”, Sooyoung sat on a stool after brushing off some food crumbs on it.


“I needed to punish her”, Jessica said with a hint of malice as she gave the breakfast she made for Yuri to Sooyoung. She could just give Yuri the breakfast she cooked for herself as she only made two, unaware of Sooyoung’s unexpected visit.


”Uhuh..punishment right. I wish my girlfriend would ‘punish’ me”


Jessica gave her best friend a look of disapproval.


“I don’t like her…”


“You haven’t even met her”


“It doesn’t matter”


Sooyoung raised a brow then resumed eating her food, not bother to swallow it before speaking again.


“Hmm that’s too bad. Out of all my recent relationships, she seems to be the most compatible with me. We’re doing pretty well”


“What, are you going to marry her or something?”


“No, I don’t believe in the institution of marriage. People divorce as if the union isn’t sacred. I don’t want that”


“Listen. I’m just going by my gut feeling and I’m not going to bother thinking about this and that. I like her…I’m staying with her”, Sooyoung said firmly, unwavering.


“You contemplated being with Yuri initially when it was absolutely unnecessary. I mean, look at you two. It’s like you just got married yesterday. How do you do it?”, Sooyoung continued.


“I don’t know. Chemistry, I suppose”


“You need to be nicer to her”


“I am”


“Oh please. I know how b*tchy you can get”


“YAH!”, Jessica yelled, suddenly hitting Sooyoung on the shoulder, her face a centimeter from getting buried in the mountain of pancakes in front of her.


“SEE, SEE that!?”, Sooyoung yelled back, pointing an accusing finger at the blonde.


“And I’m your best friend! I can’t imagine what Yuri goes through as your seobang”


“You know, I find it funny you defend her behind closed doors despite acting like you hate her guts”


“I’m your best friend. I’m supposed to act like I hate your other half. It keeps them in line.”


Jessica smiled at her protective friend.


“Do you need a place to stay for a couple of days? You can stay in the guest room if you want”, Jessica offered fully aware that Sooyoung had no place to stay in the area.


“No thanks, I’m staying at my girlfriend’s house”


Jessica's soft expression immediately disappeared.


“Sooyoung…”


“Now before you say anything, why don’t you meet her first?”



-----------------------------------



“MMMMMMMM Appa~ I miss your cooking!”, Victoria complimented Taeyeon as she chewed her food.


“Oh and yours too mommy~”, she added when she noticed Tiffany sulking on the other side of the table.


Tiffany suddenly looks pleased, her eyes forming those beautiful half-crescent moons.


“And try this new tea I bought all the way from Europe!”, Tiffany exclaimed.


“Oh mommy, you and your tea obsession”


“Speaking of tea, I saw you eyeing the 'Tae' cups earlier, Yoona”, Tiffany turned to the pale girl.


Snapping out of it, Yoona took a second to figure out what she had just said, "Oh yeah, the cups! I thought it was pretty cute"


"Taeyeon gave it to me on our first anniversary", she said cheekily, her eye smiles ever present. 


“You still have it after all these years?”


“Yep, it’s our most prized possession. Tell her how you made it, hun”


“You made it? Wow”


“It wasn’t a big deal really”, Taeyeon says with a hint of bashfulness. It was probably the first time Yoona saw her act like a slight softie.


Taeyeon never liked it when Tiffany talked about their past; not because she wasn’t fond of them but rather because she was protective of their memories as she was very selective of who they share it with. Even their daughters haven’t been told their whole story. Needless to say, both Tiffany and Taeyeon did many things that weren’t exactly “smart” and she feared setting a bad example to her children if she shared them.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Flashback...


“When we get married, we can have matching tea cups”, Taeyeon smiles as she kissed Tiffany's hands, her lips feeling the warm silver band. Taeyeon's first gift to her.


And Tiffany wore it everyday despite the cheap metal turning her finger green. Taeyeon hadn't been able to afford a more extravagant and the fact that Tiffany’s skin was only used to pure gold or silver also didn’t help the matter. Despite the reaction, Tiffany still wore it everyday, not telling Taeyeon what it was doing to her since she didn't want Taeyeon to further feel the financial gap between them. It perfectly signified their relationship; That's what their love was after all. It hurt...but she was willing to bear it to stay with Taeyeon.


“When are you going to marry me? I’m getting impatient”, Tiffany says with a sigh.


“Baby, just wait a little bit more. I’m asking your father again tomorrow”


“He’s not going to let you…”


“I’ve been working hard these past couple of months…I’ve been promoted twice just this year alone. I’m sure he sees it”


“It’s not enough for him…whatever you do, it won’t ever be enough.”


Although Taeyeon knew it too, she had to reassure her girlfriend---even if it meant lying to her.


“Of course it is. Don’t worry too much about it. He'll say yes if I keep trying; it's not like he can reject me forever”, Taeyeon joked. But Tiffany knew her father; he WILL never approve of Taeyeon.


“Taeyeon...Do you love me?”


“Of course I do. Where is this coming from?”


"Will you do anything I ask of you?"


"In a heartbeat. What do you want?"





“I want you to take me away from here”


-------------------------------------------


“Now will you tell me what bet you lost to cause you to dye your hair such a hideous color?”, Taeyeon as she tried to change the subject, eyeing her daughter's bright red tips.


“Look who’s talking Appa. Didn’t you just have blonde tips?”


“Blonde is a natural color. Red isn’t. How are you going to wear that hair during the wedding? People might think you leaned your head a little too close to the altar candles with your tips looking like it caught on fire.”, Taeyeon said distastefully as she took a bite out of her own food.


“Appa, stop being so overdramatic. It’ll be fine. My hair is going to be tied up for the wedding.”


Taeyeon merely shook her head in disapproval at her troublesome daughter, however years of dealing with it rendered her indifference. She has grown to accept this fact and so she kept mum. No matter what she says, this rebellious child will never listen to her; she acted just like Tiffany when they were younger. 


“Who’s doing your hair, sweety?” Tiffany asks Victoria.


“OMG, we should get you a Vera Wang wedding dress!~”


TaeNy and Victoria continued their wedding conversation with Seohyun listening intently until she notices her unusually quiet girlfriend.


“What’s wrong?” Seohyun whispered to Yoona, leaning in a bit.


“Huh? What? I’m fine”


“Seriously, what’s the matter?”


“I’ll tell you later”


Already assuming her sister had said something to upset Yoona, Seohyun could do nothing but try to cheer her up.


And what better way to cheer up somebody than to offer/force them some gogumas?


“Here, try my mom’s sweet potatoes. She makes the best”, Seohyun says as she takes a piece of sweet potato and places it in Yoona’s plate.


Yoona scrunched her nose and shook her head, letting Seohyun know she wasn’t interested.


Disregarding her girlfriend’s rejection of her favorite food, Seohyun began to cut the goguma on Yoona’s plate and stabbed a piece with her fork.


“Just try it”


Seohyun slightly opened and signaled Yoona to do the same so she could feed her. 


‘No’, Yoona’s face showed disgust.


‘Do it’


Seo pretty much shoved a fork full in her face, forcing her unwilling girlfriend to take the bite and causing Yoona to cough when a rather large piece went down the wrong pipe.


‘Now don’t you feel better?’, Seohyun smiled sweetly but rather naively


'…’


The two continued to hold their intimate conversation with their eyes, so into their own little world that they failed to notice the other Kim-Hwangs eyeing them surreptitiously while trying to continue on with their own conversation. 


Their usually formal Seohyun is feeding her girlfriend? Tiffany and Victoria internally 'aww'ed.


Dinner continued with more talks of the upcoming wedding.


Now a little cheered up due to Seohyun’s force feeding, Yoona spoke up.


“I got something for dinner”


The Kim-Hwangs looked at Yoona, a gold bottle of champagne in one hand.


“Wow, that looks expensive”, Victoria eyed the bottle in Yoona’s hand.


“Thank you, Yoona. That was very kind of you” Tiffany said with Taeyeon slightly nodding in approval.


One thing was for sure, Yoona was racking up so many positive points from all Kim-Hwangs.


Yoona tried to pry the cork but it stayed shut.


“Oh, the cork opener is in the kitchen. Second drawer to the left”, Tiffany said, noticing her struggle.


“Do you need help, Yoong?”, Seohyun asks, about to get up from her chair until Yoona stopped her. 


“It’s fine, I got this”, she said as she walked over to the kitchen yet failing to find the damn cork opener.


She decided to head back to the dinner table and pry it open by force; she wasn’t known as Him Yoona for nothing.


“But yeah, thanks for hooking me up with your ring person, appa. Look at the ring Nichkhun gave me!”, Victoria told her family as Yoona continued to try and open the bottle.


“I can’t help but think it looks somewhat familiar, though…”


“Well baby, that’s because that’s the same design Yonghwa got Seohyun”


Seohyun choked on her food at what Taeyeon just said.


At the mention of Yonghwa and Seohyun’s name, Yoona’s attention suddenly snapped to Taeyeon.


“Yonghwa? Seo’s ex?”


“Appa…”, Seohyun warned her mother as she cleared , wanting her not to say anymore although the latter didn’t hear it.


Taeyeon looks up at Yoona, a little surprised that the girl knew nothing about Seohyun’s past love life. And how could she not? The man in question used to be a big part of Seohyun’s life.






“Well yeah, actually he was Seohyun’s fiancé”







Yoona’s mouth gaped open at the revelation, not noticing she had been gripping the top of the champagne with added force.


Yonghwa...Seohyun...fiance...marriage...


A loud popping noise snapped Yoona out of her brain fart: the champagne's cork flew out, inadvertently hitting the teacups resting peacefully on the top of the chimney.


In a painstakingly slow manner, it tipped over…




and broke in a million pieces when it hit the ground.


What came next was Taeyeon’s anguished cry:





“MY TEA-FANY!!!”