Taeyeon mentally slapped her face as she squeezed Sunny again for the outburst. Sunny held her composure, trying her best to avoid being even more suspicious.

 

The girls at the table were taken aback at the mysterious guy’s comment. Jessica and Tiffany exchanged looks and so did Yuri and Hyoyeon and as well as Sooyoung and Yoona. Seohyun smiled at her unnie and her unnie’s new boyfriend however, not finding the outburst strange at all.

 

“I told you guys that oppa seemed really friendly,” she stated confidently, getting up to greet the couple.

 

“He sure is,” Jessica muttered sarcastically, “He’s acting like he knows us or something.” Her gaze pierced Sunny’s and the girl nearly forgot how cold Jessica was to strangers.

 

Sunny mentally hit herself, she had to remember that she's not Sunny to them, she's only some guy who's dating their best friend. She had to remind herself as well to think before speaking, no matter how overwhelmed she was with emotions.

 

“Sica,” Taeyeon frowned, lightly tapping her friend on the shoulder, “Don’t be rude now.”

 

“It’s okay,” Sunny replied before Taeyeon and Jessica could argue. “I’m sorry if I seemed too friendly there, I was just taken aback. You guys look different from the last picture Taeyeon showed me of you all.” She hoped that her quick thinking saved her.

 

“Oh so you show your handsome boyfriend a picture of us but we don’t get to see him until now?” Hyoyeon asked, mockingly angry.

Sunny blushed at Hyoyeon’s comment but smirked internally at her success. Although her entrance was executed poorly, it seemed that the girls had no doubt about her identity. Score!

 

However, there was one girl who studied Sunny carefully, suspiciously actually. Yoona sipped innocently on her strawberry milkshake. There was something painfully familiar about this Sungmin oppa but she couldn’t place her finger on it right now.

 

Yoona had to stop her staring though as this Sungmin character sat next to her and across from Taeyeon. The two held hands sweetly on the table as the girls began questioning this new guy.

 

Most of the girls watched Sungmin amazed by his good looks and charisma. Despite the slightly awkward introduction, he managed to carry conversation with them all without a problem. Taeyeon smiled at Sunny's courage and laughed at all the made up facts she made for her little prank on the girls. She also caught sight of how infatuated some of the girls looked with Sunny or well, Sungmin. Tiffany, Sooyoung and Hyoyeon seemed very pleased with him.

 

Taeyeon couldn’t help but notice Jessica scowling at the two. She occasionally smiled, but Taeyeon could see right through her. It made her strangely happy that Jessica seemed even a little bit jealous of Sunny.

 

“So what’s your name?” Tiffany asked, scrunching her nose. Taeyeon felt a little put off by her sudden display of aegyo, although she was uncertain as to why. It wasn’t news that Taeyeon wasn’t fond of aegyo, but usually she found Tiffany’s to be adorable.

 

Sunny laughed at the new side of her friends. They have all probably had experience in the dating field by now and it was more than entertaining to see their pretty expressions for a boy. It was even better to see that these displays were for her.

 

“It’s Lee Sungmin,” Sunny offered, giving the girls a peace sign. They had been talking about his transfer to their school and about his recent move to Korea but it wasn’t until now that they asked for his name.

 

“Ah!” the girls cooed in unison, “That’s cute!”

 

Jessica rolled her eyes and Yuri placed her hand on Jessica’s shoulder, “Hey, be friendly, for Taeng’s sake at least,” she whispered. She could feel Jessica’s jealousy, but she didn’t want her friend and her other friend to fight over a boy.

 

“Sorry,” Jessica responded quietly. It was harder for her than she expected since it’s been so long since she’s seen Taeyeon this happy with a guy, or anyone for the matter.

 

“It’s been over a year Sica, I thought you two were over that,” Yuri continued, whispering softly, hoping that she didn’t offend the girl.

 

“We are over that,” Jessica reluctantly said, frowning inwardly, “I don’t know how to explain it, but I just don’t like the look of this guy.” Her gaze never left the blonde boy as she bore her eyes deep into him.

 

As Yuri dropped the topic and the two focused their attention again on the new couple who had stood up from their spot.

 

“Aish, did we miss something?” Yuri asked, upset at what seemed to be the new Sunyeon couple leaving them.

 

“Who cares,” Jessica replied, watching this Sungmin as he walked hand in hand with Taeyeon away from the table. She could feel some anger build up and since Taeyeon was leaving the table, it was easier to let it show.

 

“Call me Taeng,” Jessica then called out. Taeyeon looked at her uncertain but nodded anyway. She couldn't exactly read Jessica's expression but now wasn't the time to be questioning her friend's actions.

 

“Later girls, it was a pleasure meeting you,” Sunny called out to her friends, giving a bow to the group. It was fun seeing them again but she had to keep their meeting short before she accidentally gave away anything else. Taeyeon made up the excuse of them shopping for his debut at their school to get them away from the situation. As much as she hated being away from them when they could all be together, sorting things out properly with Sunny came first.

 

The girls waved their goodbyes and waited for the couple to exit the restaurant before turning to each other again.

 

“Why did they suddenly leave?” Yuri asked.

 

“They had to go shopping or something,” Hyoyeon replied shrugging, “I think they just wanted some alone time.” She winked quite obnoxiously, which made some of the girls laugh. She even laughed at herself, making Seohyun slap her on the shoulder lightly.

 

“I haven’t seen TaeTae that happy with another person in a long time,” Tiffany muttered, almost fascinated, “We didn’t get much from Sungmin oppa but he must be something special. Did you see the way they looked at each other?” She couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of the two for some reason, it must be nice having a significant other. Tiffany hasn’t had a boyfriend in a long time.

 

“Ah, we should’ve asked them how long they’ve been dating,” Seohyun was surprised that no one had thought of the question until now.

 

“Some of us were too busy ogling him,” Yoona mentioned, eying her unnies, “I admit he’s good looking but you guys do realize he’s dating one of our best friends?”

 

She elbowed Sooyoung after saying her comment and looked at Tiffany and then Hyoyeon. The three girls looked away with a smile and Yoona just rolled her eyes.

 

“It’s not my fault he’s so…pretty,” Sooyoung defended, although it wasn’t much of a defense. Even though she noticed how close he was with her friend, all she wanted to do was run her fingers through his messy blonde locks. And it wasn’t like Taeyeon was bothered by their flirting with the guy. It’s been a while since Sooyoung took any interest in someone and she missed the feeling. But she sighed, remembering the ethics of it all and how much she loved Taeyeon.

 

“You know we were just fooling around,” Hyoyeon also defended them, “You know we wouldn’t try to take a guy from Taeyeon. But like Sooyoung said, the guy was wow, he was really pretty and handsome at the same time. You don’t see that very often.”

 

“Yeah guys! It was just some innocent flirting,” Tiffany brought up, crossing her arms, “We wouldn’t hurt Tae like that, it was just being a little friendly. It’s hard not to flirt even a little, he was gorgeous.”

 

Jessica shook her head, “Anyway guys, didn’t he seem a little suspicious though? I mean he suddenly came into our lives and you all know Taeng doesn’t hide stuff from us. Not to mention he’s a little too pretty. I’ve never seen a guy like that before.” Yoona looked over at her unnie and wondered if she had the same suspicions that she held.

 

“He looked a little different, but isn’t that just his style?” innocent maknae offered, “We should just trust Taeyeon unnie on this. I’m sure she wouldn’t just date any random guy.”

 

“She’s only ever been in one other relationship,” Yuri stated a little hesitantly, watching for Jessica’s reaction, “So I think she’s pretty serious about this. We should be happy for her.”

 

The Jung girl could only nod with the rest of the girls.

 

“Ah! Taeyeon left but she was supposed to pay for all this!” Sooyoung suddenly exclaimed.

 

“Don’t worry unnie, Taeyeon unnie left me some money for the meal!”

 

Sooyoung and the rest of the girls sighed in relief, none of them wanting to pay for the unfortunate amount of bowls they all managed to consume.

 

----

 

Meanwhile, outside of the restaurant Sunny and Taeyeon sighed heavily as they got inside a taxi.

 

“Why are we doing this again?” Taeyeon asked, feeling a little too exasperated from the first day of what was supposed to be Sunny’s ultimate prank on their friends. She realized that it would be the funniest thing to see their reactions from when they revealed the truth, but why did this first encounter feel more intense than it should have?

 

Sunny wrapped her arm around Taeyeon as she told the driver their destination to her house before turning back to her best friend.

“That wasn’t exactly what I expected,” Sunny admitted, upset that her prank for the girls wasn’t going to be as simple as she wanted it to be. “It was nice having Hyo, Sooyoungie and Fany flirt with me but I couldn’t help but feel Yoona staring at me and don’t even get me started with Jessica.”

 

Taeyeon flinched at the topic of Jessica, knowing very well what Sunny meant. However, she wanted to avoid the topic temporarily. She would explain more about her later.

 

“Do you think they’d still be that attracted to you if they knew it was you?” Taeyeon asked to distract the younger girl.

 

“I wonder,” Sunny started, furrowing her brow, trying to imagine the scene. “I’m not incredibly manly to begin with.”

 

“That is true but you still managed to pull it off,” she laughed, remembering how quickly she caught Sunny in the act. But the laugh faded when she thought about the effort they both put in. Surely, it was fun but there were a few elements out of place.

 

“Do you really think that this is all worth it? I had way more anxiety than when I took my midterms,” Taeyeon fell on top of Sunny, burying her head in the crook of her neck. She admitted that she was a bit tired from worrying about getting caught.

 

“I’m sorry Taengoo,” Sunny responded, petting her girlfriend’s head gently, “I don’t know, I think it will be. You know how they say that a senior prank should be completely unexpected and epic?”

 

“Are you sure this isn’t too much, though?”

 

Sunny paused, contemplating again. She had thought this over and over again since she first created the idea. After that first meeting it seemed like there might be too much baggage attached to the entire idea of Sungmin. She thought of the end results too much of a surprise to pass off the chance of pulling it off. It was only three months after all. And there was one more issue.

 

“You know Taengoo, I’ve been dressed like a guy and pulling off this disguise for a while now. And honestly, this is the happiest I’ve been in a long time. I’m comfortable in my clothes, no longer agonizing the defeat to my anatomy and now I have my best friend in my arms and I’m getting to know my old friends again from a new perspective.” Sunny looked at Taeyeon with a smile, her eyes pleading the girl to keep going with her little idea. “I know it seems like much now, but you get used to it, I promise. The longer I stick around, the less the other girls will be suspicious right?”

 

Taeyeon nodded slowly, “I guess…” she started, squinting her eyes as she continued to think about their situation. “It’s probably only suspicious cause it’s so sudden. Plus, half the girls have already accepted you it’s just…”

 

“Yoong has always been really protective, hasn’t she?” Sunny laughed, remembering her junior well. She had sent plenty of emails in their time apart and very long essay type letters. She was a very observant, detailed and sweet friend. Sunny was actually surprised that she didn't ask her more questions.

 

“And incredibly perceptive,” Taeyeon added, remembering how Yoona was always one of the first to find out if one of the girls were hiding secrets.

 

“But then there’s Sica,” Sunny brought up, looking at Taeyeon with curiousity as she once again saw the expression in her eyes change at the topic. “Yah, Taengoo, tell your best friend what happened!”

 

Taeyeon sighed, feeling like she just passed a ghost through her system. It was difficult bringing up what happened between her and Jessica, especially since they decided as a group never to bring it up again. It’s not like things were awkward, her and Jessica are completely fine and still the best of friends. However, the both of them haven’t moved on since their relationship, making both wonder if maybe there was still something there.

 

But she felt bad talking about it now, considering how long ago it happened and how she never even told her best friend about it. It wasn’t that it slipped her mind, it’s just that the entire situation was too complicated and almost tiring.

 

“What’s on your mind, Taengoo?” Sunny then asked, interrupting Taeyeon’s trail of thought, “Did it happen while we stay out of contact? Or have you been hiding things from me?”

 

“I didn’t mean to,” Taeyeon started, looking straight into Sunny’s eyes.

 

“We’re here,” the driver interrupted. The Sunyeon couple exchanged glances before Sunny paid the driver and the two left the taxi. They both walked in silence into Sunny’s house and only proceeded to talk once they were safe inside Sunny’s room.

 

“It feels weird being here,” Taeyeon finally spoke up, taking in Sunny’s room which used to feel like a second home.

 

“What, being in a guy’s room?” Sunny teased, plopping herself down on the bed and inviting Taeyeon to lie down next to her.

 

“Yes, that’s exactly it,” Taeyeon joked, placing one of her arms over Sunny, “Things really have changed, haven’t they?”

 

Sunny laughed at her comment, “People change, Taeng. Did you expect me to come back and have everything be the same?”

 

“I know,” Taeyeon pouted, lightly slapping Sunny’s abdomen, “I just didn’t think you’d change so much.”

 

“I’m still the same Soonkyu, you know that right?” she wrapped an arm over Taeyeon too, the two girls now facing each other in bed. “You’ve changed too, you know? You all have.”

 

“But we’re also still the same girls you abandoned more than three years ago,” the taller girl threw back, poking Sunny’s collarbone.

 

“Aigoo, don’t say it like that! You know I had no choice.”

 

Another silence. Sunny took the moment to listen to how her heartbeat and Taeyeon's had become one.

 

“We really missed you.”

 

Sunny smiled sweetly at her best friend before leaning upwards to kiss her forehead, “Despite the constant emailing and letter sending and occasional skyping, it never really was the same, was it? We all still managed to hide things from each other.”

 

Taeyeon sighed, remembering that they never finished talking about Jessica.

 

“I knew you always liked her Taengoo,” Sunny started, urging Taeyeon to just tell the story. “And I knew she had a thing for you too.” Although Sunny and Taeyeon were known as the best friends of the group along with Jessica and Tiffany, Jessica and Taeyeon were always incredibly close as well. Sunny believed that Jessica was even more touchy with Taeyeon than she was with Tiffany which was really strange, but she guessed that they were just that comfortable with each other.

 

“We confessed to each other a few months into freshman year,” Taeyeon finally responded, “We kept it to ourselves for about a year until Yoona called us out on it. Since we only kept it to ourselves, I hid it from you as well.”

 

Sunny smiled widely at the news, of course her junior would be the one to call it out first, “Before you go into what happened when you guys were exposed, please do tell me how it happened. I can’t even imagine you telling her how you honestly felt, you awkward shorty friend.”

 

Taeyeon laughed at the comment and lightly punched her best friend, “I’m going to ignore that last part. Anyway, at the time, I was trying to get closer to Tiffany since she was Jessica’s best friend and since you know, she’s so sweet. I realized that I didn’t know her as well as the rest of the group and as we started hanging out, we found out that we click well. Unfortunately, Jessica kind of took it the wrong way and when we were alone one day we argued about it.”

 

Sunny’s eyebrows raised, “Wait a second, how did she even know that you were even interested in girls? I’m sure it should’ve just looked like you were getting close?”

 

Taeyeon sighed for the millionth time, “Apparently I looked at her a different way, which I never really realized until she brought it up.”

 

“Wait, so were you attracted to Tiffany?” Sunny asked seriously, doing her best to absorb the information.

 

“Well, yeah! Have you seen her? But I didn’t think that I liked her in that way until Sica pointed it out. But then it got me thinking, why did she care? And so one thing led to another and we ended up making out on her bed about an hour later.” She blushed at the memory, remembering how intense the moment was. They both kept shouting at each other, thankful that Jessica’s parents and sister were out of the house. Both girls were afraid of confessing their feelings first and both of their eyes started tearing halfway through. It wasn’t until Jessica stopped talking and turned away from Taeyeon that she decided to hold her and the two cried together. It may have been the heat of the moment or Taeyeon just feeling really brave, but she let the passion seep in and kissed Jessica for the first time through salty tears that turned into happy ones.

 

“So you really were in love with her?” Sunny finished, smiling sweetly at her best friend.

 

“Especially after you left, despite us skyping every other night, I felt a little lost without you. And then Sica and I became closer and she was really the most important person to me. I had always been in love with her whether I liked it or not,” Taeyeon’s eyes hazed over at the memory of the two of them being together. It wasn’t that short of a period but it sure as hell felt like it was.

 

Sunny hesitated before asking her next question. It’s not that she couldn’t handle an upset Taeyeon, but she hated seeing her cry.

And it’s not that it was that horrible of a topic considering that the two were still close, but it was still difficult. She Taeyeon’s face in support and asked, “How did it end?”

 

Taeyeon’s eyes closed as she felt Sunny’s soft hand delicately caress her skin. She placed her own hand over Sunny’s and tried to smile, but a tear rolled down her face instead.

 

“A couple months after we were an open couple, we started arguing more often than we should have been. It didn’t only effect us, but our friends too. Sometimes we’d force them to take sides and then things became awkward. And then the next day we’d realize how stupid we’ve been and make up.”

 

“But?” Sunny interjected, her hand now holding Taeyeon’s. She used her thumb to the back of her hand to comfort her.

 

“It was my idea, but she was the one to make the decision. We didn’t want to hurt our friendship and we didn’t want to break the group apart with our dangerous dynamic.”

 

Sunny didn’t respond right away, but she watched Taeyeon’s expression change from sad to relieved to a little confused. It was cute how her expressions changed so quickly and so suddenly. She closed her own eyes and digested the information. Even though they broke up, there were probably still some lingering feelings but the two had to get past it so that their friendship wouldn’t be damaged. And by the looks of it, they succeeded.

 

Although their new formed relationship was a little forced and Sunny wasn’t exactly sure if they were official, she still hesitated before asking her next question, “Are you still in love with her?”

 

Taeyeon was taken aback by the question, but she realized she shouldn’t have been so surprised, “Why? Are you jealous?” she ended up teasing, earning a pout from Sunny.

 

“Just answer my question, Taengoo,” she demanded, making her eyes wider and rounder and irresistible.

 

“I don’t think I am,” Taeyeon answered slowly, feeling each word spill out of to see if it felt right, “I mean, I’ve been fine with how we’ve been for the past year or so since we broke up.” Sunny watched her best friend think hard and almost laughed at how her face just kept scrunching up.

 

“Actually, before you showed up at my door I was pursuing someone else,” she suddenly remembered. Sunny coming back into her life was such a shock that all she could think about was Sunny and Sungmin. She was so happy to have her back in her life that she forgot about the torture that was –

 

“Fany?” Sunny asked, thinking it couldn’t be anyone else.

 

“Yeah,” Taeyeon muttered softly. She noticed the change of expression on Sunny’s face, “Are you jealous, Soonkyu?” She teased, poking Sunny in the cheek repetitively.

 

“Well, my girlfriend kind of just revealed that I have two rivals right now,” Sunny replied, smiling again.

 

Taeyeon just laughed, “Oh come on, I’m really happy with you right now, you know?”

 

“It’s been a day, Taengoo.”

 

“And you’ve been away for over three years Sunny.”

 

“Exactly, you’re probably just happy to see me, that’s all.”

 

“But we're lying together right now, aren’t we? We’re holding each other, doesn’t that mean anything?” Taeyeon stared into Sunny's eyes waiting for an answer.

 

“We always did this,” Sunny said, recalling their many sleepovers. The two had always been really close and nothing felt uncomfortable for them to do. “Just admit that you still have feelings for Jessica and Tiffany so that I can avoid this love square you seem to be forming, Kim Player.”

 

Sunny couldn’t help but laugh at her own words, but the laughter stopped as Taeyeon slapped her arm, “Don’t think that I didn’t notice you flirting with Hyoyeon, Tiffany and Sooyoung earlier, Sungmin!”

 

The two held onto each other and just laughed, shaking the bed and remembering why exactly they were best friends. Sunny missed this companionship, this type of intimacy and Taeyeon simply missed her best friend. Lying together, cuddling and talking about everything and nothing had been their favourite past time since they were children.

 

Once their laughter started to die down, Taeyeon decided to ask a slightly difficult question.

 

“So what are we?” she asked Sunny seriously, tugging on the loose sweater she was wearing.

 

“Boyfriend and girlfriend,” Sunny responded equally as seriously, “You’re Lee Sungmin’s girlfriend, we already established this.”

 

Taeyeon shook her head, “I meant us, what’s Taengoo and Soonkyu?”

 

Sunny held her best friend closer before kissing the top of her head, “We’re the best team ever.”

 

The two best friends laughed in unison to show their agreement. It wasn’t exactly the clear answer that Taeyeon wanted but it was an answer nonetheless. As their laughter died down, Taeyeon held Sunny close, not wanting to let her go anytime soon. She had been away for too long, she had been without her best friend for too long.

 

“I love you, Taengoo,” Sunny whispered as she felt sleepiness suddenly overtake her senses.

 

Taeyeon was extremely comfortable in Sunny’s arms as well, feeling the pull of the sandman.

 

“Love you too, Sunny.”