When Sooyoung let go of her embrace with her incredibly thoughtful boyfriend, she snuggled her head into his neck.

 

“Thank you,” she whispered affectionately, wondering if the heat she was feeling was coming from her face, their embrace, or her boyfriend’s own bashfulness.

 

By this time, Taeyeon called everyone’s attention to the maknae who was sitting at the keyboard that they brought into the living room. Taeyeon dimmed the lights and focused one of the ceiling lights on her younger sister, like a spot light.

 

“Ladies and Sungmin, I present to you the host and star of tonight’s Christmas party,” she ignored the protest from her younger sister, “Seohyunnie!!!”

 

The girls clapped for the youngest and Taeyeon found her seat next to Tiffany. Upon seeing the necklace on the girl’s neck, she couldn’t help but blush.

 

“You like it?” she asked timidly, her eyes finding it difficult to meet Tiffany’s.

 

“I love it,” she exclaimed in a hush tone, as to not attract attention away from Seohyun.

 

“Hello unnies,” the maknae finally started, “I wrote this song a while ago and truly, it was difficult finding the right melody. I wrote it in preparation for most of your near departure and as a sort of theme song as the year comes to an end. I hope you take the lyrics to heart.”

 

“Whoohoo Seohyunnie!!” Yuri, Yoona and Hyoyeon cheered loudly. The rest of the girls followed along and clapped, encouraging the girl before calming down to allow her to start.

 

[Tongue Tied playlist – Forever by SNSD]

 

“Yeongwonhi neowa ggumgugo shipda,” she whispered at first before she started to play the keyboard in front of her.

 

The other eights girls began to sway as the youngest played her song. They all sat in a line on the floor, Taeyeon, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yoona, Yuri, Jessica, Sungmin and Sooyoung. Their hands found each other as they began to move as one.

Gibun joheun parameul ddara nuni pushin jeo haneul arae
Areumdaun norae joheun hyanggiro gadeukhan neowa geotneun gil
Gieokhani cheoeum mannatdeon eosaekhago natseon shigandeul
Seoteulgo eoryeotdeon nal geujeo mareobshi jikyeojun nege komawo

 

The girls took the lyrics in, their eyes beginning to close. Taeyeon squeezed Tiffany’s hand and felt the girl pull her in closer. She rested her head on the shorter girl’s shoulder and Taeyeon instinctively kissed the girl on her forehead. She froze upon realizing what she just did and hoped that Tiffany wouldn’t be disgusted. To her surprised, Tiffany just turned her face and gave her a bright eye smile before nuzzling her head further into her shoulder.

 

Hyoyeon and Yoona were chanting “Seo Joohyun!” at the girl after each line before raising their connected hands and continueing to sway.

 

Jicheyoitdeon gaseumi dashi sumshwigo
Gananhaejin maeumi bicheul chajasseo
Yeongwontorok ireohke neoui sonjabgo gatchi geotgo shipeo
Uri dul manui sesange saranghaneun nae saramgwa hamgge

 

Yuri turned to Jessica and watched the girl admire their talented maknae. She smiled as Jessica closed her eyes again and began to hum along with the piano. When the girl opened her eyes, she turned to face Yuri, startling her and causing her to blush.

 

She mouthed a thank you before using their connected hands to carress her neck where the snowflake charm was.

 

Sooyoung was cuddling with Sungmin’s side, her head buried in his neck. Sunny stopped being stiff and enjoyed the warmth coming out of the girl’s body. She smiled widely at Seohyun who looked so passionate as she played the song that she wrote for them.

 

Jjalbji anheun geu shigan dongan itji mothal manheun gieokdeul
Useumgwa nunmul soge eonjena nal mideojun geon baro neoyeosseo

 

As she got ready to sing the chorus again, Yoona got up and ran over to Seohyun’s side. She held the girl around her waist, which startled the younger girl but didn’t stop her from playing. She rested her head on her shoulder and basked in the girl’s talent up close. She hated it, but she was falling deeper and deeper into Seohyun’s charms. She was trapped, thinking about how she wouldn’t mind staying in that position forever.

 

Jichyeoitdeon gaseumi dashi sumshwigo
Gananhaejin maeumi bicheul chajasseo
Yeongwontorok ireohke neoui sonjabgo gatchigo getgo shipeo
Uri dul manui sesange saranghaneun nae saramgwa hamgge

 

Taeyeon let the lyrics sink in more, each word spilling out like honey. Her eyes were closed as she inhaled Tiffany’s scent and admired the poetry that flowed from her little sister. Everything seemed so perfect, the melody, the tear jerking words and the way that the nine of them were swaying as one.

 

It was a pity only she, Jessica, Seohyun and Yoona knew that Sunny was with them. It was a pity how they were the only ones that knew that their group of friends since primary school were altogether now.

 

Amudo uril banghaehajineun anha
Shigane jjeutkyeoya har iyudo eobseo
Ddaeron meolli isseodo
Gateun maeum hanaro gateun ggumeul ggul su itdamyeon

 

The song had hit its and at this point, Hyoyeon also stood from her spot and embraced Seohyun from the other side of her seat at the keyboard. The two best friends on both side of the girl squeezed her, causing her to flinch a little with her breathing, but she kept going with the song.

 

Tiffany pulled on Taeyeon’s hand and urged her to get up. She turned to the rest of the group and nodded her head, as if urging them to do the same. Yuri and Jessica happily agreed, Jessica wiping a tear from her eye. Sooyoung and Sunny were also a sobbing mess at this point.

 

Aju oraen shigani heulleo jinaseo
Neowa naui moseubi jogeum dallado
Yeongwontorok ireohke neowaduriseo ggumeul ggugoshipeo
naui sowoni dwoeeojun naui mideumi dwoejun neowa

 

Sunny hoped that her tears wouldn’t give her away. After all, why would Sungmin be so touched by the lyrics that seemed so fitting for a group of best friends? But Sooyoung and the rest of the girls were too absorbed in the song to notice the liquid pouring from her eyes.

 

It was Taeyeon’s turn to walk towards Seohyun. She let go of Tiffany’s hand and hugged her sister from behind, rubbing her face into her back and not revealing that she was also tearing up a little. The other five approached the keyboard and held hands while swaying as Seohyun finished up.

 

Aju oraen shigani heulleo jinaseo
Neowa naui moseubi jogeum dallado
Yeongwontorok ireohke neowa deuriseo ggumeul ggugo shipeo
Naui gijeogi dwoeeojun naui ggumeul hamgge haejun neowa

 

At this point, all the girls had at least one tear coming out of their eyes. How could they not when Seohyun was singing the touching lyrics so beautifully while looking like a complete angel? The girls in front of the keyboard migrated to behind with Taeyeon, Yoona and Hyoyeon, all of them huddled as one.

 

Seohyun played the last part, her hands gracefully and swiftly hitting the right keys. She was relieved that she memorized the song by now, for her eyes were blurring from the tears that were coming out. Her stomach swirled as she felt Yoona kiss her cheek and the rest of her friends’ warmth engulf her.

 

Oraen sewori hulleodo yeongwonhi neowa ggumggugo shipeo

 

As she played the final notes and her hands came to a rest, the girls all pulled away and began to clap for their youngest. It was truly a touching gift.

 

“That was beautiful,” Sooyoung commented first, finding her words despite feeling choked up. Sungmin rubbed her back and kept his arm around her waist, comforting her and hiding his own tears.

 

“The lyrics were so…” Tiffany continued, wiping her eyes and smiling beautifully at their youngest. “Perfect and wonderfully written.”

The others nodded, all smiling and beaming at the musical prodigy still seated at the keyboard.

 

“You need to record this and give it to us,” Hyoyeon suggested, nodding furiously and grabbing Seohyun’s hand. “I will listen to it every night before sleeping.”

 

“We should all learn how to sing it and sing it together,” Taeyeon suggested, picking up the sheet music that was on top of the keyboard. “We could divide the lines and have Seohyun play the piano again and Sungmin play the guitar.”

 

“We should wait until Sunny comes back,” Sooyoung brought up, not noticing how Sungmin tensed up next to her. “We can’t sing a song this perfect for our friendship without us being a whole group.”

 

Jessica glanced over at Sungmin with a faint smile. She noticed Sunny’s tears and held back her teasing.

 

“You should sing this at the talent show!” Yuri declared with an enthusiastic nod. “I’m sure the senior class with be bawling at the lyrics and pretty melody.”

 

“Ah no,” Seohyun finally responded, Yoona wiping her eyes with a tissue. “I have another song planned for the talent show.”

 

“Is it another original, Hyunnie?” Yoona asked, wiping her own eyes with the same tissue. “You seriously have a talent for this.”

 

“It is,” Seohyun responded with a slight blush and smile.

 

They grew silent again as Hyoyeon pulled them all into a big group hug again, the effects of the song still clear in the air.

 

“Merry Christmas guys!” she yelled from the centre of their group hug. “I love you all so much!!”

 

After their touching moment, Seohyun and Taeyeon offered to start playing the movie chosen for the night. They decided to save the rest of their tears for when graduation got closer.

 

Jessica pulled Yuri onto the couch with her while Tiffany dragged Taeyeon to her own room. Seohyun stared back curiously, but Yoona told her that they should get their alone time, giving her a wink. Seohyun blinked back at her confused before putting in the Love Actually DVD into the player.

 

Hyoyeon was watching Sooyoung and Sungmin exchange words, smiling a little too creepily at them while hoping to catch their conversation.

 

“Go watch the movie!” Sooyoung called out in embarrassment as soon as she caught Hyoyeon.

 

“But you guys,” Hyoyeon replied before pointing at the ceiling above the couple. She didn’t notice until now, but there was a mistletoe hanging right above them as if appearing out of no where. No one had taken notice earlier, but suddenly it was clear as day.

 

“Oh I forgot I put that there,” Seohyun commented casually, staring up at what her unnie was pointing at. But then she smiled as Yoona grabbed her arm in excitement.

 

“You have to kiss!” she screamed in delight, bouncing in her spot.

 

Sooyoung and Sungmin looked up immediately, their faces turning red at once. Sunny felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest and tried her best to think of excuses.

 

“Y-You don’t really want to do that, right?” she asked, trying not to let her eyes meet with Sooyoung’s.

 

“Do you not want to kiss me, oppa?” Sooyoung responded with a pout, her cheeks still pink but her eyes glowing with desire. She felt shy, but she wanted it, she wanted to kiss him.

 

“But they’re all watching us,” Sunny retaliated, feeling the other girls’ smiles and stares. She couldn’t fight it, she wanted to kiss Sooyoung and she wanted to kiss her badly. But it was so embarrassing to do it in front of everyone and she knew she was slipping from her ‘cool oppa’ image.

 

“I don’t care,” Sooyoung immediately replied, grabbing Sungmin’s shoulders and pulling him close.

 

There was a pause, and Sunny could feel Sooyoung’s gaze on her. She took in a deep breath and exhaled, feeling sweat starting to drip from her forehead. Her face felt hot and her body felt like it was on fire.

 

She finally looked up and as soon as she caught Sooyoung’s eyes, everything else didn’t matter. Her world turned white and all she saw was the beautiful girl before her, looking at her with so much love in her eyes. Sooyoung’s eyes sparkled, her gaze filled with so much tenderness that Sunny wondered how her knees didn’t give out underneath her.

 

She cursed herself for feeling so shy. She wanted their first kiss to be on her terms, with her feeling brave and daring and Sooyoung the one being shattered by nervousness. But unfortunately that wasn’t the reality.

 

However, what was reality was staring at her with hopeful and impatient eyes.

 

“Kiss her, kiss her, kiss her!” Hyoyeon, Yoona and Yuri began to chant. Sunny could only hear their voices as she couldn’t look away from Sooyoung.

 

This was it.

 

She closed her eyes and went on her tip toes, holding her breath as her lips came into contact with Sooyoung’s. She craved it and she cherished the hot breath that grazed her face and her whole world melted around her.

 

It was everything she imagined. There were fireworks and she could feel a warmth spreading from their lips to her stomach. The two held each other closer, but hesitated before deepening the kiss just a little.

 

But when she realized what she was doing, Sunny pulled back before watching Sooyoung with a shy expression. She wished that her friends weren’t just cheering for them and that they were alone so she could do it again without hesitation. But she stopped having a choice when Sooyoung pulled her face towards her again.

 

---

 

Taeyeon closed her bedroom door behind her and watched as Tiffany took a seat at the foot of her bed. She looked at her, curious as to why they were in her room but happy that they were alone.

 

“Tonight’s been really great, huh?” Tiffany finally started talking, patting the empty space next to her.

 

As soon as Taeyeon took a seat, Tiffany wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

 

“I-It’s been magical,” Taeyeon responded, cursing herself internally for stuttering. She coughed a little before comfortably wrapping her arm around Tiffany in return.

 

“I really enjoy holidays like Christmas. Especially here with you guys. Being able to celebrate the birth of our saviour with my closest friends and family, I am truly blessed.”

 

Taeyeon nodded and smiled at her American friend, “Fany-ah, you didn’t have to take me up here just to say that. You could’ve said that amongst our friends, they would have been really touched.”

 

Tiffany just laughed before lightly slapping Taeyeon on the arm, “That’s not why I brought you up here!”

 

“If you don’t like Love Actually, then you could’ve just said something when Seohyun said we were gonna watching it earlier.”

Taeyeon was just joking around and began to giggle when Tiffany pushed her over.

 

“Just shut up and let me talk!” she shouted before pulling out a familiar small pink card.

 

Taeyeon froze when she saw the card and eyed it carefully before bringing her gaze back to her best friend. “D-Did you read that yet?” she asked, feeling the heat rush to her face.

 

Tiffany shook her head, her smile returning as she opened it up, “I know how hard it is for you to express your feelings so I felt like embarrassing you by reading it in front of your face.”

 

Taeyeon immediately got up and walked towards her door but sighed in defeat as Tiffany quickly caught her wrist and spun her around.

 

“You’re not going anywhere, TaeTae! I did you a favour by not reading it in front of all our friends,” she waved the card in front of Taeyeon’s face and pulled her back down to her original spot.

 

The shorter girl sighed in defeat and slumped as Tiffany opened the card again and began to read from it.

 

“Merry Christmas Fany! I hope you like your present. I spent a long time picking this out for you!! It’s really hard with all the different choices I had in front of me. It’s pretty, right? I knew you’d like it. You always told me you wanted a new necklace, so why not a heart one from your best friend, TaeTae?” she emphasized the nickname and gave Taeyeon a bright eye smile. Taeyeon continued to sit, shy and completely aware of the rest of the card’s contents.

 

“Can you believe we’re graduating so soon? I can’t believe it either! The years went by so quickly and the months since our senior year started went by even quicklier. I am so glad to be spending my last moments with you all, my best friends. But most importantly, I’m glad that lately the two of us have grown closer. You are my dear friend, Fany-ah and I’m sorry I’m not always the best at expressing that. I’ll try harder, I promise. So you won’t forget about me when we separate to different schools later, right?” she took a pause and looked at Taeyeon. “Of course I won’t forget about you! Because we’ll be friends forever, okay?”

 

“Just finish the card already,” Taeyeon groaned, her blush deepening as Tiffany giggled and returned to the greeting card in front of her. The girl had written a lot.

 

“That would be sad, so I’ll do my best to avoid that. The nine of us are all best friends after all. I think even when we’re 100 years old we’ll still be together! Anyway, this is getting way too long and I’m running out of space. So it’s Christmas time, right? And Christmas is when miracles happen and everyone has to be honest about their feelings, so let me say this now because I don’t have the strength to say it in person. I love you, Fany-ah,” Tiffany looked up at Taeyeon again and Taeyeon noticed that her eyes were getting watery. She bit her bottom lip as she watched Tiffany continue to read. “Please wear this necklace and remember my feelings so that we can be together for a long time. Merry Christmas!”

 

There was a bit of silence and Taeyeon wanted to slap herself for confessing to Tiffany through a card. She blamed Love Actually for giving her the idea and wished that she could just go back in time and write a normal Christmas card instead of telling Tiffany that she loved her. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.

 

But instead, she got a kiss on the cheek and arms wrapped around her tightly.

 

“I’m never taking this off, TaeTae,” Tiffany whispered against Taeyeon’s neck, cuddling her face into the space there. “I love you too.”

And that’s when Taeyeon slapped herself internally. What kind of confession had she made, really? Friends told each other they love each other all the time. But she was relieved, maybe it was too soon.

 

“You’re my best friend, TaeTae. This was really sweet of you,” she continued, holding Taeyeon closer and closer. “I’ll treasure this necklace always.”

 

And she realized in that moment that maybe this was all that she could have with Tiffany and maybe it didn’t have to be so bad. Because she knew Tiffany loved boys and that she could never love her in the same way. Not in the same way that Jessica did, not in the same way she loved Tiffany. And that in the future, if she were to ever tell her again that she loved her, then she’d once again just reply the same words without the same meaning.

 

But it didn’t matter at that moment; what mattered was that the girl that made her forget about her first love was in her arms, cherishing her and loving her. Maybe it wasn’t in the exact same way that she wanted her to, but it may have been selfish to ask for more.

 

However, no matter how much she told herself these things, she couldn’t help but feel her heart hurting. And she just held Tiffany closer, trying her best to hide the fact that she felt like crying.

 

“Let’s go downstairs, yeah?” she offered after the two held their position for a few minutes. Taeyeon wanted more than anything to hold the girl for the rest of the night, but she couldn’t do that. Not with the thoughts that were running through her mind at the moment.

 

“Not yet,” Tiffany responded quietly, surprising the other girl. “I like this, I like being like this with you. Just a few more minutes.”

Taeyeon’s heart ache was lifted temporarily as Tiffany snuggled her face deeper into her neck. She told herself that she hated Tiffany for doing this to her, but she was lying to herself. She could never hate Tiffany.

 

---

 

Jessica was leaning on the couch and Yuri was leaning on her while Hyoyeon leaned on her. They looked like they were awkwardly positioned, but they were comfortable.

 

“Let’s watch a Korean movie next time,” Hyoyeon commented as she squinted at the Korean subtitles. She knew Seohyun loved watching English movies for practice but she was getting tired of reading.

 

“Alright,” Seohyun replied simply, she was sitting on the recliner with Yoona.

 

At that moment, Tiffany and Taeyeon came downstairs. Tiffany was leading the way, tugging on Taeyeon’s hand.

 

“Where’s Sooyoung and Sungmin?” Tiffany asked, noticing the couple missing from the room.

 

“Sooyoung dragged him outside to build a snowman,” Hyoyeon responded simply, not taking her eyes off of the movie.

 

“At 2AM in the morning?” Taeyeon asked, her eyebrow raised in surprise.

 

“She gave some excuse for it, but I don’t remember it,” Jessica answered this time, lazily lifting her hand in dismissal of the issue. “She just wanted alone time with him from what I gathered.”

 

“You missed something amazing,” it was Yoona’s turn as she turned to face her unnies with a wide grin. “They kissed for the first time!”

 

“What?!” Taeyeon and Tiffany yelled at once, Tiffany’s voice in particular almost shaking the earth beneath them with its shrillness.

 

“It was so cute,” Yuri gushed, folding her hands together as she remembered the intimate moment between the couple. “Sungmin oppa was so shy, I had never seen him like that. And Sooyoung was a beast and kept kissing him after until Jessica yelled at them to stop.”

 

“I can’t believe we missed it, TaeTae!” Tiffany whined, stomping her foot on the spot.

 

“What were you guys doing anyway?” Hyoyeon asked, finally turning her attention away from the screen. “You were up there for a while! You missed the first quarter of the movie.”

 

“That’s okay,” Seohyun defended her sister, “Taeyeon unnie has seen this movie a thousand times.”

 

Tiffany giggled, “We were just talking,” she cooed, swinging Taeyeon’s arm. “Anyway, we’ll join you guys now. Shall we sit on the floor, TaeTae?”

 

Yoona immediately stood up however, pulling Seohyun with her. “Sit here unnies, I have to show Seohyun something.”

 

“Huh?” Seohyun was confused but she followed Yoona anyway as they ran out of the living room.

 

“Why is everyone being so weird?” Yuri asked as the rest of the girls in the room watched the maknaes disappear.

 

“Don’t you know what’s going to happen, Yuri-ah?” Jessica asked, sitting up a little, a smile forming on her face.

 

“I kind of want to eavesdrop on them,” Hyoyeon giggled, still watching the space where Yoona and Seohyun ran off.

 

“Oh, is she doing that now?” Taeyeon questioned, her smile matching Jessica and Hyoyeon’s. Yuri gasped and nodded her head in understanding, finally realizing what her best friend is doing with the maknae.

 

“What?” Tiffany was the only one out of the loop. She stared at the other girls’ creepy expressions, not really catching on.

 

“Yoona’s confessing to Seohyun!” Hyoyeon finally blurted out as if it was the most obvious answer. “Come on Miyoung, get with the program.”

 

Tiffany’s eyes went wide for a second before she tilted her head, “Wait, so you mean…”

 

“Yeahup,” Taeyeon answered, not meeting Tiffany’s curious gaze. “That rascal is in love with my little sister and we’re pretty sure she’s telling her exactly that now.”