CHAPTER 7: 보고 싶어요 (I Miss You)  

      “Wait, what? You and Tiffany are dating?” SooYoung’s eyes comically dilated.

      “Well, not exactly,” TaeYeon said.

      “So you’re not dating?”

      “We haven’t dated.”

      “Want us to help you with that?” Yuri said.

      “What?”

      “You know, help you with your first date with Tiffany,” Yuri said. “Even though we’re guys, we have some pretty cheesy ideas up on our sleeves you know!”

      “Like what?” TaeYeon scoffed.

      “Your polo half ed as you lay on a bed full of rose petals and candles with the scent of chocolates around the room,” SooYoung said rather gaily while caressing his own cheeks.

      “What?” TaeYeon was taken aback for a second but burst into laughter anyway.

      “Ei, what’s that?” Yuri pouted. “That’s too provocative for a first date”

      “It’s a good idea though,” TaeYeon smirked as he gave SooYoung a high five.

      “Byuntaeng!” Yuri exclaimed. “You guys are gross. Nobody does that on a first date.”

      “Calm down,” TaeYeon held in his laughter. “We were just joking.”

      “In all seriousness, we can be quite useful, you know.” SooYoung asked, “But do you really even need our help?”

      “Maybe,” TaeYeon got up and said, “We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

      TaeYeon left Yuri and SooYoung in the room and headed to the kitchen to drink a glass of water. There he found Tiffany in front of the fridge also about to do the same thing.

      “Oh hi,” Tiffany took out two glasses. “You up for a glass of water?”

      “Yeah,” TaeYeon leaned on the sink.

      “So what boy stuff do you guys talk about in there?” Tiffany asked as she poured water on the two glasses.

      “Nothing boyish actually,” TaeYeon replied. “Or I guess maybe it is a boy thing… I don’t know, hahaha,” he laughed.

      “Really? What were you talking about then?”

      “Dating you and Jessica,” TaeYeon said, making Tiffany withdraw from giving TaeYeon his glass of water. “Hey, give me my water,” TaeYeon chuckled.

      “No,” Tiffany stubbornly pouted. “Not as long as you tell me what exactly you guys were talking about.”

      TaeYeon saw a hint of jealousy in Tiffany’s eyes. He just chuckled since he found her cute. “Look, it’s nothing to do with me and Jessica dating, okay? Yuri and I were just talking about Jessica since he has problems with asking her out. I mean, you know how Yuri is and you know how Jessica is.”

      “What?” Tiffany’s pout turned into a hefty chortle. Tiffany finally handed him his glass of water. “Yuri likes Jessica?”

      “Yeah,” TaeYeon nodded, drinking from his glass of water.

      “That’s funny because Jessica was just talking to us about how she likes Yuri!”

      “Ah really?” TaeYeon snorted, almost choking from drinking.

      “Yeah, Jessica likes Yuri,” Tiffany chuckled. “Or it seemed like that…”

      “Wow, out of all the guys that hit on her, Yuri is the guy huh?” TaeYeon chuckled.

      TaeYeon looked around to see if anyone was around and scooted closer to Tiffany. He whispered, “How about we set those two up on a date? We’ll say we’re going on a double date, but we actually won’t go.”

      Tiffany’s eye-smile grew bigger and she clapped her hands, “Oh, that sounds fun!”

      “We’ll talk about this tomorrow,” TaeYeon patted Tiffany’s head and went back to the room.

 

 

      While eating lunch, the doorbell’s ring echoed in the peaceful residence of the YongHwa and SeoHyun. They don’t recall having any guests today. They haven’t been inviting people over for a long while now. YongHwa opened the door and there stood Yuri, Jessica, and SooYoung, along with the two kids.

      “Oh, hi,” YongHwa let them in. “What are you guys doing here?”

      “Oh, we just came to stop by,” Jessica said as she removed her sandals and helped Yoona take off her shoes.

      “Sica Unnie!” SeoHyun wiped with tissue and slowly got up from her seat.

      “Hey, no, no, no,” Jessica stopped SeoHyun, understanding that the pregnant woman on her 9th month has quite a hard time to move around. “You just sit still. I’ll come to you.”

      “Aunty Seo~!” Yoona cheerfully skipped her way to SeoHyun and hugged her.

      “Yoona! How are you?” SeoHyun patted Yoona’s head.

      “Wow, your belly’s so big!” Yoona said with her eyes filled with amazement.

      “Yeah, it is, isn’t it?” SeoHyun said as she looked down on her stomach.

      Yuri, Jessica, and SooYoung positioned themselves comfortable on the Jung’s living room. Even though they haven’t been there in the couple’s small home, they have already seated themselves like they were the ones who owned the place.

      “So when’s that baby gonna pop out of you?” SooYoung asked SeoHyun.

      “Well, Yong and I already know the due date, but we’re not exactly sure, so I’m taking time off from my jobs.”

      “Oh, so is that why you stopped teaching Eunji?” Yuri asked.

      “Yeah,” SeoHyun nodded.

      “What is TaeYeon doing here?” Jessica impatiently and bluntly asked as she relaxed herself on a white bean chair. YongHwa, who was preparing snacks for the unexpected guests, suddenly turned his attention to the conversation.

      “O-oh, TaeYeon Oppa?” SeoHyun stuttered. “You’ve met him?”

      “Yes we have,” Yuri said.

      “Yeah, why is TaeYeon back here all of a sudden?” SooYoung asked. “He said he lived at Seoul just fine.”

      “Well uh… I kind of hired him to be Eunji’s music teacher while I’m gone,” SeoHyun said, slowly backing away knowing that the three will probably scold her any second now.

      The three became silent for a moment as they tried to process the words that came out of SeoHyun’s mouth. Soon, they exploded all at once, “Why did you do that?!”

      “Are you crazy?” Jessica retorted. “Eihh, SeoHyun-ah!!” Yuri whined.  “Oh, SeoHyunie!” SooYoung looked at his dongsaeng in disappointment.

      “Yah, calm down,” YongHwa came to the rescue as he laid a plate of hot sweet potatoes on the coffee table. “Let her explain herself.”

      “Fine,” Jessica crossed her arms to her chest as she relaxed herself on the white bean chair.

      “I’ve been close with Eunji and TaeYeon for so long. But it just hurts me to see that both don’t have any idea of their existence. I mean, I can’t imagine Yong not knowing he has a child. That’s why I let TaeYeon and Eunji know each other’s names at least.”

      “But still,” Jessica sighed. “You should’ve given us a heads up that’s he’s coming in town!”

      “Yeah,” Yuri nodded. “What if Tiffany finds out that he’s in town?”

      “You’re lucky we’ve kept TaeYeon under our control for now,” SooYoung said.

      “Sorry… I know the consequences of the decisions I’ve made. Don’t think I haven’t thought this through. I didn’t really need your permission for this,” SeoHyun said, making Jessica and Yuri’s eyebrows furrow. “I got permission from TaeYeon Oppa’s sister, HyoYeon Unnie.”

      Jessica and Yuri’s glares were replaced with understanding. It made sense to them that SeoHyun would talk about this to HyoYeon first. I mean after all, HyoYeon is TaeYeon’s sister and is also SeoHyun’s closest friend.

      “You should’ve at least talked about this to us so that we could’ve prepared things beforehand,” Yuri pouted. “You know we also think about this a lot.”

      “Fine,” Jessica clapped her hands. “Since this is your fault SeoHyun, help us in our plan.”

      “What plan?” SeoHyun asked.

      Since TaeYeon works at Xiah Dragon Noodles now, he’s going to sing. We’re gonna set our song lists perfectly to open up Tiffany’s heart. You have to sing with us since your voice is one of the best,” Jessica insisted. “You got me crying once…”

      “Oh I’d love to but it’s hard for me to go anywhere!” SeoHyun pouted.

      “I’ll go for you,” YongHwa volunteered himself. There was something deep inside SeoHyun’s heart that only YongHwa and HyoYeon knew. It’s because of that reason that made SeoHyun tell TaeYeon stories about Eunji even before TaeYeon came to town. YongHwa knew how badly SeoHyun wanted to help reconcile the small family but since SeoHyun cannot do much of anything in her state, it was his duty to do what SeoHyun wanted.

      “Great,” Yuri stood up and patted YongHwa’s back. “Here,” Yuri took out a small paper from his pocket and showed it to YongHwa. “These are the main points the song should have. Write and compose a song by tomorrow and work at Xiah Dragon Noodles just this once.”

      “We’re bringing back Tiffany and TaeYeon together tomorrow?” SooYoung asked.

      “Yeah, so prepare yourselves.”

      “Ah fun,” SooYoung chuckled.

***

      Meanwhile, there was also a guest in the home of the mother and daughter. It was Sunny, Tiffany’s cousin and SooYoung’s girlfriend. Sunny had a week off from her job in Seoul, and to save SooYoung from driving to her apartment every night, she figured she’d spend the week in her cousin’s home to save some distance. However, she arrived at their home when Tiffany was busy with her internet job and Eunji was out with her friends. The two didn’t have time for her today. The two knew she was coming, but she didn’t want to be a bother in their everyday life. She could just use a bit of days doing just nothing.

      “Aren’t you gonna unpack your things?” Tiffany asked Sunny, not taking off her stare at the computer.

      “I’ll unpack them tomorrow,” Sunny said as she flopped herself on the couch. “I just wanna be lazy all week and do nothing.”

      Tiffany chuckled and said, “Okay, suit yourself.”

     Tiffany’s schedule today in the internet was completely packed. Sunny just stared at her cousin trying to wait for at least a split moment with her eyes off the screen. Soon, she sighed, “Ugh, I’m bored.”

      “Isn’t that what you wanted—to be bored?” Tiffany laughed.

      “I guess it’s really not as exciting as I thought,” Sunny sighed.

      “Then why don’t you go to SooYoung?”

      “Oh right,” Sunny chuckled. “I’ll call him.”

***

      “So, what are you guys doing?” TaeYeon asked while he watched Yuri, YongHwa, SooYoung, and Jessica set up instruments in SooYoung’s home.

      “Every day we gather here to decide on which song we’re going to play for Sunday,” Yuri said.

       “Oh, so what, I’m here to…?” TaeYeon asked.

      “You’re here to babysit our kids,” Jessica said in a straightforward and serious manner.

      “What?” TaeYeon thought he would also be playing music with them, but apparently he was just invited as a babysitter. When he turned his head to the two adorable kids playing with themselves on SooYoung’s large couch, it didn’t seem like such a burden. “Oh okay,” TaeYeon chuckled. “I guess that’s fine.”

      “If you get bored though,” YongHwa said as he approached TaeYeon. “Here,” he said, handing TaeYeon a piece of paper with lyrics written on it. “Why don’t you go and finish this song for me?” TaeYeon didn’t think this was anything out of the ordinary for he and YongHwa had passed unwritten songs to each other many times before. TaeYeon looked at the paper and there written:

Always under exactly the same sky
Always exactly the same day
Other than you not being here
There’s nothing different at all

I’m longing for you
Because I really miss you
Every day, all by myself,
I keep on calling and calling you

I want to see you
Because I really want to see you
Now it’s like I have this habit

I keep calling out your name
It’s the same today

I thought I’d let go
Not leaving anything behind
No, now I still can’t let you go

Day by day, it feels like I’m gonna die
What should I do?

      In one look, TaeYeon started to write the rest of the song and the four could not help but feel excited. They knew TaeYeon had a talent in writing songs. And since he knew YongHwa’s writing style well, he was able to greatly add to it. Surely, this one would be a perfect song to use for tomorrow’s performance in Xiah Dragon Noodles.

      After finishing up the song, and after listening to his friends bicker about what they should play for Sunday, TaeYeon decided to play with the kids. Yoona, who was unable to sit still as she slowly became more hyper every minute, said to TaeYeon, “Tell me a story!”

      TaeYeon, who had SooJung sitting quietly but happily on his lap, wondered for a bit and then gave a playful pout, “If I tell you a story, will you stop running around the place?”

      “Yeah,” Yoona nodded, climbed on the couch, and sat beside him. “I like stories!” This got Yuri and Jessica’s attention.

      “Okay,” TaeYeon chuckled. “Let’s see… Once, there was a girl named Yoona!” He giggled and so did Yoona. “She was a normal kid until one day, for Christmas; there was this present for her under the Christmas tree. It was a blue box, and in it were a snow globe that had a castle in it, a note sealed with red wax, a red book titled ‘Magic Castle’, and some kind of pink device. No one knew where the present had come from. It was not from her parents. It wasn’t even from Santa!”

      “That’s because Santa doesn’t exist!” Yoona angrily exclaimed, startling TaeYeon and made him burst into laughter.

      “Anyway,” He tried to keep himself together from laughing and continued with the story, “She didn’t know what all of these gifts meant. Before reading the letter that was sealed with red wax, she turned to the book first and opened it. There it was written, ‘The Christmas gift from…’” TaeYeon trailed off, making Yoona curious. “She couldn’t understand what was written so she still didn’t know who it was from,” TaeYeon continued. “Still, she read the book until she fell asleep.”

      “What kind of story is that?” Yuri sneered. “She just fell asleep?”

      “I’m not done yet, sheesh,” TaeYeon snarled.

          “Then, she found herself standing on the castle, same as the one on the snow globe,” TaeYeon continued. “In that place, she had powers, such as levitating and controlling snowflakes. She could do whatever she wanted and it was like paradise. But after a few minutes of roaming around the magic castle, she found herself back in her home, as if she had woken up from a dream. Now, do you think the magic castle was real or was it just a dream?” TaeYeon asked.

      Yoona pondered for a moment, and giggled, “Real?”

       “If you say so,” TaeYeon chuckled. “Then it’s real!”

      Jessica laughed after hearing TaeYeon’s story and said, “What’s the lesson in all that?”

      “Why, do stories have to have lessons?” TaeYeon snarled.

      “I’m just saying… I mean, all she did was read a book, sleep, and wake up.”

      “What happened after that?” Yuri asked approaching TaeYeon, and carrying SooJung on his arms.

      TaeYeon tried to think about the answer but was interrupted when the doorbell rang. SooYoung and Jessica rushed to the door. Jessica opened it and there stood a cheerful Sunny smiling at them.

      “Ahhh, Sunny!” Jessica squealed in excitement as she greeted her friend. “It’s good to have you around again!”

      “It’s good to be back for a while,” Sunny chuckled. “I see nothing much has changed in you.”

      “Aigoo, Sunny-ah,” SooYoung ruffled her hair and kissed her head while giving her a side hug. “We’re preparing dinner right now.”

      “Sounds good,” Sunny smiled.

      “Sunny!” Yuri also squealed as he was carrying baby Krystal on his arms.

      “Aww, SooJungie has grown a lot since the last time I saw her,” Sunny said as Yuri handed SooJung over to Sunny. “She’s grown a lot prettier too,”

      She walked to the living room. However, she stopped in front of the door as her eyes caught TaeYeon who was still playing with Yoona.

      “That…” Sunny became frozen and Jessica caught on pretty quickly. Jessica handed her daughter over to SooYoung and with her hand covering Sunny’s mouth she yanked her out of sight before TaeYeon could look up.

      “Isn’t that Tiffany’s…,” “Shh!” Jessica silenced her with her finger pressed on Sunny’s lips. “You probably know him as Eunji’s father, but please act like you don’t know. He doesn’t know.”

      “How am I-” “Please play like you have no clue,” Jessica interrupted her. “He may look fine and happy right now, but if you bring up Tiffany, he’ll become more depressed than he already is.”

      Sunny knew who TaeYeon was. Aside from him being the reason of Tiffany’s heartbreak, and aside from being Eunji’s father, she knew he was once in an accident causing him to lose his memory. He knew all about him because Tiffany would tell her stories and show her photographs of them together.

      Seeing how Jessica is giving her an intense stare, she nodded her head and zipped her lips. “Oh, and don’t mention him to Tiffany AT ALL.” Jessica added.

      Jessica then introduced her to TaeYeon, “This is Sunny.”

      “Oh, hi, I’m TaeYeon,” TaeYeon shook her hands.

      “Hi TaeYeon, nice to meet you,” Sunny went along with Jessica’s rules and acted as if she didn’t know anything.

 

 

      “Yes!” TaeYeon made a fist pump as he and Tiffany secretly watched Yuri and Jessica converse in the restaurant from a distance. “They better start some kind of relationship other than friendship or our efforts taking them here would be a complete waste.”

      Having nothing to do while they wait for the two to end their date, TaeYeon walked Tiffany home. TaeYeon’s smile grew bigger and bigger just thinking about Yuri and Jessica, but it changed quickly when he noticed that Tiffany had not been speaking to him for a few minutes. Even her face showed that she was not interested in uttering a single word. It was a little strange for Tiffany had always been a talkative person.

      “Hey, what’s wrong?” TaeYeon dorkily asked, hanging his arms around Tiffany’s shoulders.

      “Nothing,” Tiffany gave a wry smile and crossed her arms on her chest.

      “I know what you’re thinking,” TaeYeon giggled.

      “What?” Tiffany faced TaeYeon and pouted.

      “You’re jealous,” TaeYeon said, softly poking Tiffany’s nose.

      “What?” Tiffany snickered. “What makes you say that?”

      “Because I haven’t taken you on a date,” TaeYeon said, making Tiffany turn her face away feeling slightly embarrassed. He was right, she was kind of jealous just because of that.

      “How about I say I take you on a date today?” TaeYeon chuckled and Tiffany looked at him puzzled.

***

      “Why are we at home?” Tiffany said, looking at where she’s been living for the past few months now.

      “It’s not much but, go inside,” TaeYeon said, opening the door for her.

      Tiffany entered her home and her eye-smile grew. There wasn’t anything different in the cozy home. Everything was exactly where they were as the left this morning, but the dining table was not the same. A large bouquet of pink, lovely roses greeted them on the middle of the dining table, and a whole dining set was before them with dishes already prepared.

      “Woah, when did you get all the time to make this?” Tiffany asked in amazement.

      “Oh…” TaeYeon approached his chair and found a paper from SooYoung. “I had help.”

      TaeYeon read the small piece of paper quietly and chuckled, “Taeng, don’t waste any of the food I have prepared or I will kill you. Anyway, have fun. – SooYoung.”

***

      “So, are we boyfriend and girlfriend now?” TaeYeon asked Tiffany before leaving the place that evening.

      “Are we going public?” Tiffany chuckled.

      “Are we?” TaeYeon laughed.

      The telephone suddenly rang in the living room and Tiffany quickly answered, “Yoboseyo?”

      TaeYeon stared at her anxiously as he still anticipated her answer. He was excited to officially declare themselves as a pair after a few weeks of trying to figure out what relationship they were actually in.

      “What?” Tiffany gasped in shock. “A-a-araso,” her voice trembled. “I will… I promise,” her face flushed with worry. TaeYeon did not like the sound of this.

      Tiffany said bye and she stood in silence with her hands slightly trembling. TaeYeon could not help but feel hurt seeing her like this. “What’s wrong? Who was that?” TaeYeon asked, taking a hold of