After dinner, things at Taeyeon and Seohyun’s house calmed down. Christmas was approaching and this year, as per usual, the group was going to celebrate at the oldest and youngest’s house. It had been tradition since their first get together the year they met. Their house was the biggest and was generally in the centre of all their houses. It was the most perfect location and the girls were at their house the most often. It was only fitting.

“Should we do Kris Kringle again?” Seohyun asked as the four girls sat on the living room floor in a little circle. “I think we should do something different this year.”

Yoona nodded eagerly, “Yes! One of my friends in class was talking about some kind of Rush Hour Kris Kringle and I really like the idea.” She was clapping her hands together just thinking about it.

“Oh?” Tiffany looked incredibly interested, “Can you explain that?” Yoona was an excitable girl, but when she looked this energized, it had to be for a very good reason.

“It’s when you and your friends all go to a mall and everyone gets the same amount of money and you have an hour to find a gift for your person! You do the draw there too so there’s no preparing.”

Taeyeon smiled widely, “That sounds like a lot of fun! I’m sure the competitive girls in our group will make it really interesting.” She looked forward to the chaos they were probably going to cause at the mall on their designated day.

“I’m sure you’ll end up finding something really strange unnie,” Seohyun commented with a laugh, “Sunny oppa too!” The duo always found the best and most interesting things together.

The second the girl’s name was brought up, Yoona and Taeyeon looked at Seohyun who covered . She bit the inside of her cheek as she slapped herself mentally at the careless mistake.

“You mean Sungmin oppa?” Tiffany corrected, smiling at Seohyun’s casual mistake. “I think someone misses Sunny!”

Taeyeon thought that she finally knew what it was like to have a heart attack. She thanked Tiffany for not being suspicious at all and let out the breath she had been holding in.

Seohyun mouthed a sorry to Taeyeon and Yoona managed to carry the conversation on as the four planned the upcoming Christmas celebration.

An hour or so later Yoona had to leave for home and so Seohyun retired to her room to leave Tiffany and Taeyeon alone. They decided to finish their discussion when they were all gathered together again.

The two decided to hang out in Taeyeon’s room, both lying in bed side to side while staring at the ceiling. There was a mobile of cranes hanging on her ceiling now and Taeyeon explained how Sungmin had given it to her. Tiffany’s care free expression soon changed to a more serious one.

“I told my dad I was sleeping over,” Tiffany muttered as she grabbed Taeyeon’s hand.

“Oh, okay I’m sure my parents don’t mind,” Taeyeon responded simply. She wondered what was on Tiffany’s mind for she caught a sort of serious expression on her face.

“Tae,” Tiffany started, turning her head to face her friend, “What are you and Jessie going to do?”

Taeyeon sighed. How did she not see that coming? She was surprised that Tiffany, Seohyun and Yoona didn’t all corner her at once instead of the Christmas planning conversation.

“You guys are so concerned about all this,” Taeyeon let out with a chuckle.

“Of course!” Tiffany responded with passion in her eyes, “How can we not when the entire group can feel the tension between you two? How can I not be concerned when it’s between two of my best friends?” She squeezed Taeyeon’s hand and Taeyeon just smiled at her.

“You worry about us too much,” Taeyeon replied, taking her other hand and pushing some hair away from Tiffany’s face. “Fany-ah, I love you and I appreciate your feelings. But honestly, the situation with Sica is difficult.”

“How so?” Tiffany immediately shot back, “You two clearly still have feelings for each other! One of you guys just have to it up and do something about it.” Love was usually that simple once the feelings were in place, right? That's how it usually worked.

Taeyeon took in a deep breath, “Fany, I’m going to tell you something that only Sica and I talked about when we were together.” 

Tiffany watched her carefully and nodded, “Well, of course when we were together we had our insecurities but we always talked about them freely. And we have of course told each other that we loved each other and honestly I have imagined myself with her for the rest of my life.”

Tiffany nodded again and somehow felt uneasy but she kept listening. Taeyeon was smiling but her eyes were watering.

“I actually think that us arguing more and deciding to break up was my fault,” she laughed lightly to herself, closing her eyes and Tiffany watched in concern as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I started keeping something to myself because I thought that maybe our first promise was kind of ridiculous?”

Tiffany hesitated, but she had to know, “What promise?”

---

Jessica felt something that she didn’t want to feel when Yuri’s lips met hers. Immediately she pulled back and pushed Yuri away.

“Taengsic Generation rule number one, if you ever have feelings for someone else, tell the other right away because if you have room to love another, then the first love was never enough,” Jessica recited as her teary eyes made contact with Yuri.

“What?” Yuri asked softly, confused and still trying to process the words Jessica just uttered.

Jessica laughed a little through her tears, “Taeyeon and I, when we were together, we made rules or vows or whatever and that was our number one rule. If I ever had feelings for someone else besides her, then we would break up. If our love ever faltered to the point where I had feelings for someone else, then that means we wouldn’t work out.”

Yuri’s tears were falling but she couldn’t find any words to say. She and the rest of the girls knew that Taeyeon and Jessica had their own little world but she didn’t think they had rules or anything. But as she repeated Jessica’s words in her head, she started to slowly understand.

---

“I promised that if I ever had feelings for anyone besides her, then I would tell her and we’d have to break up because we had this rule that if we had room in our heart to feel something for someone besides the other, then that means that our love wasn’t enough.”

“You…?” Tiffany’s words came out slow but she thought that she understood, “You liked someone else then I’m guessing?”

Taeyeon nodded, “I started having feelings for someone else. However, I didn’t want to follow the rule because I didn’t want to break up with Jessica. When it came down to it, I found it ridiculous.” Taeyeon’s hands were gesturing frantically and her eyes burned into Tiffany’s with a passion she had forgotten about.

She continued and Tiffany watched her carefully, waiting for her to finish before trying to comfort her.

“I could like someone else, but it could be momentary, you know? Like a fleeting feeling so I decided not to tell her about it. But then it restrained our communication because I was scared she’d find out anyway,” Taeyeon was speaking faster with every word, “But then it led to us arguing and then eventually breaking up because we kept asking you guys to take sides. I’ve been trying to get over her since and I still haven’t told her that I had feelings for someone else.”

Tiffany was curious, “Was it Sungmin oppa?”

Taeyeon wanted to lie but something inside her urged her not to.

---

Even though she was starting to understand, she didn’t want to say anything yet. She thought over her words carefully, but Jessica spoke up instead.

“Honestly, I do like you Yuri,” Jessica said with a low voice, avoiding eye contact, “I don’t know if they’re the same feelings as yours but I do know they’re there.”

Yuri felt a giant weight lift off her shoulders, “Then what’s wrong?”

Jessica let out a bitter laugh, “Forgot already? I’m in love with Taeyeon too. I can’t pursue any of these feelings if they both exist at once. Do you know what that means?”

Yuri nodded, “Yeah, that your love with Taeyeon wasn’t enough and that you can move onto me,” she said with a pout.

Jessica shook her head, “No, it’s unfair we can’t do anything, I don’t trust myself. I’m going to hurt you and I care about you too much for that.”

“I don’t care!” Yuri retorted fiercely, “Here I am, standing in your room and confessing my feelings to you. You don’t think I don’t mind taking risks?”

Jessica almost forgot that she was in the heat of things and felt herself blushing at her body.

“Yuri-ah…” Jessica was unsure what to say next, suddenly feeling nervous.

“Are you going to pursue Taeyeon?” Yuri asked as she turned away and started putting her clothes back on.

“No,” Jessica responded simply, watching as the other girl covered herself up again.

“Then wait for me,” Yuri stated with confidence and a smirk, “I’ll make sure I’m the only one in your heart, Sica.”

Jessica wanted to yell at Yuri for her cheesy line probably taken from some drama but instead she let her leave her room quietly. She didn’t think today’s events would escalate so much and Jessica became more thankful that school would be over for the break soon.

She sighed. At least she knew that Yuri wasn’t the type of girl to use an event like this to make things awkward in the group. She shook her head and wondered what kinds of thoughts were roaming her mind.

“No,” Taeyeon replied honestly, “I didn’t meet Sungmin until a while after.” She could almost laugh at how she was telling the truth and yet lying at the same time.

Tiffany was extremely curious, “So who was it?”

Taeyeon took a deep breath. It didn’t have to mean anything, she could just pretend that the feelings were only temporary. If Tiffany asked her if she still felt the same, she could easily lie.

“Promise you won’t freak out?” If Taeyeon knew her well, she might just be flattered in anything.

Tiffany nodded. She really wanted Taeyeon to answer her right away after that question.

“It was you.”

Taeyeon was waiting for Tiffany to loosen the grip on her hand and look surprised, but instead it tightened. Tiffany's expression became difficult to understand but as she started leaning into Taeyeon, it didn't change.

Taeyeon wasn't sure to retreat or accept so she just looked back at Tiffany and waited for what was going to happen.

But nothing did happen as Tiffany retracted with a small smile, "Oh," she mumbled. She bit her bottom lip and tried her best to sort out the millions of thoughts that plagued her mind. She hoped and prayed that Taeyeon would take it as a hint and kissed her. But instead, Taeyeon just laughed.

"But don't worry, Fany!" she hoped that she was the only one who could feel the force in her laugh, "I don't anymore."

Tiffany's smile faltered for a split second before she answered, "Yeah, what a relief!"

The two ended up falling into forced nervous laughter that neither girl wanted to point out. As Taeyeon started feeling unable to take it anymore, she sat up.

"I'm gonna go brush my teeth," she said with a forced smile. She needed to get away for some air so she could turn the mood back to normal. 

"Yeah, I'll go after you," Tiffany responded a little weakly.

As Taeyeon shut the door behind her, Tiffany screamed into the pillow beneath her.

---

Sunny decided to go to a local buffet since she knew how much Sooyoung enjoyed eating. The girl had been working very hard having to deal with the talent show, her school work and the upcoming performance with the Chodings. She deserved a very good award.

As the two took the bus to the location, Sunny started noticing Sooyoung becoming more and more nervous. It was really cute and Sunny couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“What’s so funny?” Sooyoung decided to ask, embarrassed that the answer would be her. She was fidgeting like crazy and she swore that the sweat on her palms were abnormal.

“Are you nervous about having dinner with me alone?” Sungmin teased, flashing a wide smile at his junior. “We’ve been alone together before, right?”

Sooyoung could feel her heart beating faster, “Yeah! But you’ve never treated me to dinner. It’s like a…it’s like a…”

Sunny’s smile grew wider, “Date?”

If words could kill, Sooyoung would be knocked out dead no problem.

Sunny watched Sooyoung for a response, but she just slapped her on the shoulder instead of voicing her words. Sunny’s laughter increased in volume and Sooyoung slapped her again.

“Yah! You should treat your oppa better,” Sunny joked before placing her hand on Sooyoung’s shoulder. She could feel the girl freeze under her touch.

Their stop came and Sungmin and Sooyoung got off the bus in silence. The buffet was only a block away at this point.

“It’s cold,” Sooyoung whined as she shivered in her spot, “Where to Sungmin oppa?”

Sunny was concerned over her taller friend’s shivering and took off her hat to put on Sooyoung.

“You should get ear muffs or something for those big ears,” she teased as she jumped up to put on the hat.

"Do you need a ladder, oppa?" Sooyoung teased back as her shorter companion.

“I was just jumping to add some humour!” Sungmin replied with a pout. Sooyoung found her nervousness leaving her as she laughed at the shorter guy.

But that was instantly taken away when Sungmin grabbed her hand.

“Do you want this to be a date?” Sungmin asked with a cheerful expression. She didn’t want to seem too serious in case she scared off Sooyoung. She wasn’t sure how much she wanted to date Sooyoung but she didn’t see the harm in trying it. That is, if Sooyoung accepted this as a date.

“I would love it to be,” Sooyoung replied, her words coming out quickly before she could be too nervous to not speak at all.

Dreams do come true.