“ah sooyoung, I am glad to see you again child” a man in his 50-ish spoken as soon as he saw the tall girl whom rarely  came back to the mansion. Eventhough her reason to not wanting to came back is vague to be comprehend for him, at least he understand when he saw that the girl didn’t want to be caged.

“father” sooyoung rose up from her seat and bowed to him before engulfing him in a hug “I’m sorry, but I am quite busy in my last year in college now” sooyoung released her hug “where is umma? I didn’t see her on her room either”

Sunny who still out of the conversation just looking at the two, feeling confused more and more from each passing minutes she listen to them talking. Choi sooyoung, her friend, best friend, by the family name of choi is calling someone who had different family name than her by ‘father’.

‘what the hell is going on! I don’t know anymore…’

Sunny let her eyes and mind wander a bit, leaving the conversation of sooyoung and than man to continue on their own. She looked at the room again, the wall is so high, the furniture is quite exquisite to be say, but when her eyes land on this family picture…

‘why is there two different picture?’

The first one, there is no sooyoung on it. The second one, she can see sooyoung on it… wait, although the man is in both of the picture but the woman, presumably the wife is different in each picture.

‘… what the hell is this?’

“sunny, I will leave you with my father a bit okay? I need to talk with someone” sunny just managed to nod, too confused with everything surrounding what supposed to be her best friend. The mystery of choi sooyoung and all her secret… gosh, she would never imagine.

“I believe your name is lee sunny, correct?” the man spoken to her and sunny just managed to nod, a bit. “thank you for taking care of her, sooyoung is a handful doesn’t she?”

“ha…hahaha, ye-yeah. But it is my pleasure to know her sir, since we are best friend”

The man looking at her, questioning her words “best friend never hides anything, correct?” sunny was so surprised as soon as he spoke like that “I see… she never mentioned me nor my family, doesn’t she?”

“ye-yes… t-that’s why it was a surprise to be taken here and… i… to be honest I am confused” the man nodding his head, the young girl in front of him needs explanation and it seems sooyoung is keeping everyone else she meet in dark on her family circumstances

“then first order would be introduction, right miss sunny?” sunny tilted her head, wondering what he meant by that “my name is jim hwang… as you can see, I am not sooyoung biological father. I am her step father who marries her mother, after her father died 17 years ago”

“w-what!!?” sunny yelled, her voice echoed in the room “but she… she never told any of that!”

“calm down miss sunny” the man waved his hand, gesturing her to calm down “I will explain it in order… although I can only explain a bit side of it, since sooyoung must be have something that I too, been kept in dark”

“a-alright” sunny sat back to the sofa. She didn’t even realize that she had rose up to her feet when she yelled. It was embarrassing

“first of all… I know sooyoung father way back, since we are best friend on high school days. His name is choi junwoo, if you are wondering. As our high school days ended, we parted away. I goes to states to continue my study while he taking his family business in seoul. For some reason to another, when he marries he told me to attend it and in response of that when I married I told him too. It was hilarious for us since at the time of his marriage I am still at the states and all… well at least I managed to pay him back when I told him my marriage is in the states” the man laughed a bit, remembering his old days while sunny became more and more intrigued, at least the story is interesting

“back to the story… although he marries first it was I whom being blessed with first child, a daughter I raised like a princess… her name is stephanie hwang and she-“ his storytelling time stopped when he saw sunny surprised expression “oh? What is it miss sunny?”

“y-y-you d-don’t me-mean… t-th-the… the girl with r-red hair?”

The man nodding his head, seems that her daughter decided to have a visit to sooyoung place and it didn’t bode well. He never knew why but his daughter and sooyoung, there is some unspeakable territory around them. They rarely talked and sometimes he could see that sooyoung is terrified by his daughter when they are still teenager.

Although when he confronted sooyoung about it, the girl never told him anything. She said it was fine, she is fine and all.

“it seems that she visit sooyoung recently?”

Sunny honestly don’t know anymore what she had to think about… but one thing that she know now that, this man identity and sooyoung whole family ordeal thingy.

But still…

“um… sir, can I ask something?” sunny decided, it seems that it will be much simpler to ask than to guess by herself. The man nod his head “did you know why sooyoung is… I don’t know… afraid of your daughter?”

The man sighed… so even after this whole years they separated from each other, sooyoung is still like that?

“I don’t know what happened between them. At first, I thought it was simply because both of them disliked each others but then I cant figure it out after they grown up. Because as they grow, they began to hide things from us parents”

Well… sunny had things she hide from her parents too to be honest, like those magazine she secretly bought during her high school days and some adult rated video she watched… ah, erted thing she learn in sake of sating her curiosity… , why the hell her mind wonder to that?

“I see… so only sooyoung and your daughter know of it then?” the man answered with short yes “I believe your daughter say this when sooyoung ran away from her ‘she hates me’, wonder if that had anything to do?”

“hate? Well for one sooyoung isn’t a person who able to hate another. No, she is too forgiving and warm for anything like that. I mean, even back there as a child… she never spat any of hurtful words toward anybody”

“even now too sir” sunny added, which seems to make the older man smiled proudly but then his smile faltered and became a frown

“she hates my daughter eh? I wonder what happen back in the days we live together”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

“you know summer is just fine with me and all… but why did you still insist on wearing long sleeve and that ugly long skirt?” taeyeon asked, a bit irritated to see the kind of clothe that her girlfriend decide to wear

Reason? She felt literally like burning up herself when she saw her wearing all that while taeyeon herself only wear a simple sleeveless shirt and a hotpant. Summer already come to this city and ‘normal’ people already thrown away their ‘warm’ clothes and change it to something more comfortable to be wear at this blazing heat.

“w-well I just…” taeyeon just waved her hand, stopping sooyoung for further explanation which taeyeon feel useless to hear. Just like her well known persistence over things, her girlfriend too had a bit tad habit of persistency too. Like her big glasses that she discover not really a glasses to help her eyesight and yet sooyoung still wore it, or those sweater that sooyoung fond of wearing. Whenever taeyeon argued to her to throw it all and at least bought something new and nice, she was beaten by sooyoung utterly hopeless explanation, and the fact that whenever sooyoung trying to explain it while desperately keeping a hold on her threatening tears who want to escape made taeyeon heart softened

And she bend her own rule of not comply to another when she decide something…

All because of sooyoung.

“alright, as promised before today we will going to the place of my choice!” taeyeon happily announced, completely unaware of their location on public park. The attention of many made sooyoung shrunken away, trying to escape

“ah” a soft voice coming from taeyeon when she realize what she had done “come girl, lets get out of here” she pulled sooyoung by her left hand, the taller girl just comply and followed taeyeon… knowing that her short girlfriend is trying to rescue her from the unwanted attention she hates.

Sometimes taeyeon cant help but feel amazing to her girlfriend. Eventhough she wore that kind of clothe, she never been once see her drenched in sweat. In their 2 years long of relationship, taeyeon is still in process of answering the unanswered question whether her tall girlfriend is a robot, alien or shape shifting biology that needed to be in constant high temperature to be alive.

“y-you know… y-you have t-that face again” sooyoung spoke to her. Seating on the bench near the park where the both of them devouring ice cream. Taeyeon raised her eyebrow, wondering what sooyoung meant by that “i-I mean… I seen you w-with that kind of f-face before. I-its either you thinking erted t-things or s-something you cant find answer”

“pfffftttt” taeyeon almost laugh, underline the almost. If she had laughed there she cant imagine the ice cream that already melted in will burst out and it would be embarrassing and hilarious… well whatever it be, still sooyoung might had talent of reading other people expression too… that or taeyeon is as easy to be read like an open book “well… what if I thought of erted things then?” she winked to sooyoung, which earn her a bright blush coming on the taller girl face

Eventhough all of her best friend says that she had the talent to read other people, knowing them inside out just from mingling with them occasionally, she however still did not able to decipher the puzzle that is her girlfriend.

Taeyeon able to grasp that her tall girlfriend hiding something behind her façade of that ungenuine smile of hers, but taeyeon know better to not pried on it… not when she still not know whether if it was personal problem or big-big family matters problem. She at least could wait for sooyoung to sort things out and then she might be let taeyeon in, if she not then taeyeon could be her pillar of support, a place for sooyoung to came back when she is emotionally hurt like a couple days ago… when taeyeon found her crying alone in her classroom.

‘even after she calmed down, she still not giving me a reason why she cries that day… haaah’ taeyeon mentally sighed and this is not go unnoticeable by sooyoung who saw taeyeon usual bright expression fall.

“tae?” she poked taeyeon right cheek, earning her attention “y-you know you could told me a-anything that troubling you, r-right?”

Taeyeon face palmed herself ‘this giant still can think of other people when she is obviously hiding her own problem? Well at least I had the most caring girlfriend anyone could hope for, that a plus’ “nah… what can your girlfriend cant solve soo? You know me” taeyeon said, confidently, making sooyoung giggled in amusement.

At that short amount of time when sooyoung raised her left hand to cover , giggling, taeyeon could see the bruise that hides behind sooyoung long sleeve. Things that she never thought to see on her girlfriend body and yet, those bruise is perfectly hidden by sooyoung that it feels like…

‘she… she didn’t want me to find it out…’

And just because of that sight, taeyeon understand… that if sooyoung didn’t want her to know it yet, then she wouldn’t bring it up.

‘…I guess I at least can make her forget about the problem when she is with me, I hope’

Taeyeon silently made unspeakable promise toward herself, that she will be there for sooyoung… and whomever inflicted that wound to her girlfriend, she hoped that person will burn in hell… well at least she could hope, right?

Cause… sooyoung is too forgiving for condemning other people to suffering…

...............................................................................................................

update.update :3 and a lil flashback again showing sootae moment