Sunny glanced down at her phone for any new messages, disappointed to see nothing new since the last 5 times she did so. A small smile crept on her face as she looked at her phone’s wallpaper, which was a picture of her and her best friend Hyomin eating ice-cream during one of their recent outings. Those outings were always few and far between, as T-ara and SNSD always lead pretty busy schedules.

“9pm.” she read the time on her phone out loud.

 

She finished her schedules early today, and now she was sitting on the living room sofa at home, one hand on the remote control while the other was buried in a bag of chips. It amazed her how even though she was working in the entertainment industry, she had no idea what was on TV aside from the programs that she was part of, as she never really had much time to just sit down and watch it. She was slowly getting immersed in a variety show hosted by Shin Dong Yup about eating healthy food when her phone vibrated, alerting her to a new message.

 

Message from Hyomin: Hey Sunny, whatcha up to?

A bright smile graced her face as she read the message. Hyomin always had this way of brightening up her day and giving her an energy boost no matter how exhausted she was.

 

Message Sent: Nothing much Minnieee. Just watching some TV. Schedules ended early today. I’m exhausted! How was your day??

Message from Hyomin: It was good! Didn’t have that much going on today, so the members and I went out. They want to go drinking now tho, but I’m totally not up for that right now so I wanted to go home, but then I realised I’ll be bored at home because I’ll be all alone and I wouldn’t know what to do….

Message Sent: Hahahaha we really at spending our free time don’t we? So what’re your plans now?

Message from Hyomin: Well…. I’m actually close to your dorm right now… do you think I can drop by? That is, if you’re free and if I won’t be interrupting anything. It’s totally fine if I can’t tho!

 

Sunny chuckled at her friend’s message. She could totally imagine Hyomin looking all flustered and shy as she typed out that message. She pondered Hyomin’s request for a second because as much as she would love to spend time with her favourite girl, she wouldn’t want to inconvenience the other members by causing a ruckus. The only members of her 9 member girl group that were home at the moment aside from her were Yuri, Hyoyeon, Seohyun, Sooyoung and Jessica. All of them were in their rooms, and even though it was only 9:45pm she was sure at least 2 of those members were already fast asleep. After a second of deliberating she came to the conclusion that having just one guest over wouldn’t cause that big of a racket, and she was sure her sisters wouldn’t mind.

 

Message Sent: Of course you can come over! We’ll have to be reeeaall quiet tho. I think some of my sisters are sleeping. We can just chill and watch TV or something.

 

Message from Hyomin: Yay! I’ll be there in about 10!

 

Sunny got up and decided to freshen up a little before Hyomin arrived. She looked like a total mess right now in her faded t-shirt and her hair messily tied up in a bun. She didn’t really need to look her best for her friend, heck Hyomin saw her look absolutely less-than presentable on the regular when they first met on Invincible Youth about 5 years ago. She felt obligated to however, as she knew Hyomin practically wakes up every morning looking nothing short of fabulous and she wouldn’t care to admit it, but it always made Sunny feel the slightest bit self conscious. It’s funny how she was in a group with 8 other women whose looks could make a goddess droop her head in shame, but only Hyomin made her feel that vulnerable. Maybe it’s due to Hyomin always putting her in such high regard, but something about that girl always made her want to do better, and be a better person.

 

 

****

 

“Waaah feels like ages since I last came here!” Hyomin exclaimed excitedly, before realizing she was being a little bit too loud, and promptly clasped her hands over , eyes apologetic. Sunny just gave her a warm smile and waved her off, saying it’s fine. Hyomin grinned and ran towards the large sofa in the living room and flung herself onto it.

 

“This sofa is amazing! Is this new?” Hyomin asked while caressing the soft white leather of the SNSD sofa, as if she was a very exotic cat. Sunny could swear her friend had hearts in her eyes. “So this is what it’s like to be the Nation’s girl group. Even your sofa is on a different class!” Hyomin went on while lying down almost spread-eagled on the sofa. Seeing the petite Hyomin on the couch, Sunny had to admit that the sofa looked much larger than the average.

 

“Did you lose weight Minnie?” Sunny suddenly noticed, eyes scanning her friend’s arms and thighs. They did look a lot smaller then when she last saw her, and Sunny wasn’t quite sure she liked it.

 

“Yeah, just a little bit. I told you I’m preparing for my solo debut yea? My CEO has me on this weird diet to prepare for it. Just between you and me, the title track is gonna be called ‘Nice Body,’ so… Ta-Dah!” Hyomin explained while flaunting her legs. There was a tinge of embarrassment on her face however, and Sunny wondered how many times did her friend have to repeat that line to herself until she felt justified about the diet she was being put through.

 

“I think you had a nicer body before though, for what it’s worth.”

 

“Maybe, but we’re idols Soonkyu-ya. This is just part of the job.” Hyomin stated matter-of-factly.

 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Just… take care of yourself won’t you?” Sunny responded, eyes full of concern. Yes, they were idols. She understood that, but she’d be lying if she said a part of her didn’t feel like running into the kitchen to grab the box of leftover fried chicken she had for dinner and shove it down Hyomin’s gullet.

 

“Yah. Scoot over. Let me in on that plush-couch action.” Sunny said to lighten the mood. Hyomin smiled wide and gladly made room for her. They settled down into each other’s company and Sunny threw a blanket over them. They proceeded to make light conversations while watching TV.

 

“Is this show really just about people eating food?” Hyomin asked incredulously, and that made Sunny burst out laughing.

 

 

****

 

Kwon Yuri gently placed her guitar on it’s stand and rubbed her temple. Nothing was more frustrating to her than having a melody stuck in her head but being unable to translate it onto her guitar. It didn’t sound complete, like a major part of it was missing. She decided to head to the kitchen to get a drink, because her brain needed some cooling down.

 

The sound of the TV in the adjacent room peaked her interest as soon as she left her bedroom. She wasn’t even sure if that TV set was still functioning, as she couldn’t remember the last time any of her fellow members actually watching it. She walked towards the living room to investigate, and grinned at what she saw.

 

Sunny had her head on Hyomin’s lap while the latter was absentmindedly caressing the former’s hair, both too engrossed on what they were watching to notice Yuri coming up behind them.

 

“Yah Sunny! You could have told me that we had a guest over! I would have actually made sure I was presentable before stepping out!” Yuri complained, and Sunny lifted her head from it’s comfortable resting spot and turned to look at Yuri, trying to pin point exactly which part of the ensemble that she had on at the moment that she deemed was so unfit for Hyomin’s eyes.

 

“You look fine Yul. Besides, Hyomin doesn’t care that you’re wearing that old baggy t-shirt of yours. Isn’t that right Minnie?” Sunny cheekily turned to her friend, who agreed. “Sunny’s right Yuri! Besides, you look waaaay better now compared to when you were on Invincible Youth with no make-up on. Your smile lines at the time were practically the show’s mascots!”

 

“Rude!” Yuri scoffed at Hyomin’s remark and feigned a look as if Hyomin had just insulted her mother. Hyomin was very comfortable with Yuri, as they were part of G7 during their Invincible Youth days, and after months of working in the fields and being covered in dirt and manure, a bond naturally formed between them. Sunny returned to resting her head on Hyomin’s lap and listened as Yuri and Hyomin caught up with each other, occasionally butting in to give a snarky comment. The three of them continued to banter and tease each other for a few minutes until the sound of a door opening caused the three of them to turn towards the bedrooms just in time to see Jessica closing the door behind her, looking as if she just woke up.

 

The three of them stared at Jessica as she groggily shuffled towards them, amusement etched on the faces of Yuri and Sunny. Hyomin however, ceased her absentminded caresses on Sunny’s hair (much to Sunny’s dismay) and repositioned herself on the couch so that she was sitting up straight. Hyomin was close to Yuri and Sunny, but it was a different matter with the other 7 members of SNSD. They were still her sunbae’s in the industry, and she had the utmost respect for them, even though the half-awake zombie known as Jessica Jung didn’t really have a presence that commanded such attention at the moment.

 

Jessica rubbed her eyes and asked Yuri what time it was and whined when she heard it was 11pm, complaining that she fell asleep and missed dinner. She just only then noticed the unfamiliar face sitting on the couch, serving as a makeshift pillow for her friend’s head.

 

“Oh hey Hyomin, didn’t see you there.” Jessica said, before turning her attention to Sunny. “Sunny Bunny you gotta give us a heads up before bringing your girlfriend over so that we could give you guys some privacy!”

 

And with that comment, Jessica turned towards the kitchen to find something to eat, but not before grinning at the flustered expressions on both Hyomin and Sunny’s faces as they vehemently denied her claim.

 

Yuri just stood there inwardly smiling at how cute the two girls in front of her were, and took that as her cue to leave as well, but not before doing a double take after noticing something.

 

“Hey Minnie, did you lose weight?” Yuri asked while carefully scrutinizing Hyomin’s curves. Already flustered from Jessica’s comment earlier, Hyomin immediately covered her body with the blanket to shield it from Yuri’s gaze.

 

“Come off it Yuri-yah!” Hyomin whined, cheeks visibly red.

 

Yuri just laughed and continued her journey towards the dorm’s kitchen to get her drink.

 

The two returned to their rooms after finishing their business in the kitchen and said goodnight to the two on the sofa. With the loud sound of the door being closed, Hyomin and Sunny were left in the living room with each other again. As time passed by, Sunny was slowly starting to lose herself with the softness of Hyomin’s thighs, and she could feel her eyelids getting heavier and staying awake became a much harder affair than it should have been….

 

“Have you ever thought about it though?”

 

Hyomin’s soft voice cut through the night like a blade, effectively causing Sunny’s eyes to snap open. Head still in her friend’s lap, she replied.

 

“Thought about what Minnie?”

 

“About us… in a relationship.”

 

If Sunny wasn’t awake before, she definitely was now. Her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest and the butterflies in her stomach were doing some sort of ritualistic dance with the crazy way they were fluttering.

 

“Well, to be honest yeah, I’ve sorta entertained the thought. I mean, you’re the person I’m closest to aside from my sisters in SNSD, plus you’re really attractive so yeah, I’ve entertained the thought.”

 

Sunny vastly downplayed her answer. It was her favourite past time, imagining being Hyomin’s girlfriend. To hold her hand whenever she wants to and make it have a different meaning then just simply ‘holding hands’ and to kiss her luscious lips any time she got the chance to just because she could. But no, she knew that couldn’t happen. At least, Sunny had to make sure it wouldn’t happen.

 

“What about you?” she found herself returning the question back to Hyomin.

 

There was a slight pause before she got her answer from Hyomin.

 

“Yeah, yeah I have.”

 

For some reason Sunny knew that Hyomin had a smile on her face when she heard her friend say that. She could feel the upward curve of her friend’s lips on the words floating through the air. The tension in the air was heavy, and the both of them knew the other felt it too. There was a long moment when Sunny couldn’t even hear Hyomin breathing, and she started to wonder if the weight of the moment had knocked her friend out. Curious, she lifted her head from Hyomin’s lap to stare directly at her friend’s face, trying to decipher her emotions through her facial expressions.

 

Hyomin was looking down at her hands while gently biting her lip. Her eyebrows furrowed, as if she was in the midst of an internal struggle with herself. Her eyes slowly met Sunny’s and the doubt and uncertainty that was clearly visible in them a second earlier was shaded with a tinge of determination. Sunny knew where this was going, and she fidgeted slightly in her seat. She was not ready to face this moment yet.

 

“Do…do you want to? Be in a relationship with me?”

 

‘Yes!’ Was the first answer that came to Sunny’s mind, and it took every fibre in her being not to vocalize that answer. They couldn’t be. Sunny knew it.

 

“What a-are you saying Hyomin-ah! Don’t joke about things like that with a serious face.” Sunny helplessly tried to brush off her friend.

 

“I AM serious.” Hyomin was resolute now. All doubt and uncertainty gone, she was determined. Sunny rarely saw her like this, and she had to admit her heart skipped a beat or three.

 

“H-Hyomin-ah I…”

 

“I love you Soonkyu.”

 

The words escaped Hyomin’s lips and reverberated in the room. Sunny had waited so long to hear those words, and in all of her many fantasies she could never have imagined the words to sound that sweet. It lifted her up and she could feel a swell of emotions inside her. Sunny faltered when Hyomin clasped her hands in her own and looked at Sunny straight in the eye, as if she was trying to convey all of her emotions to Sunny by ocular means. Sunny tried to break their eye contact by looking away, but Hyomin’s eyes were captivating.

 

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

 

‘Yes!’ Was the answer that ran through Sunny’s head but not the one she vocalized.

 

“Hyomin we can’t-“

 

“Tell me you don’t feel the same way.” Hyomin challenged. She was already too far gone, there was no turning back, so Hyomin decided to push through and give it all she had.

 

“Leave.”

 

The answer caught both of them by surprise, even Sunny couldn’t believe that those very words had just left . Hyomin’s lips quivered and her eyes watered. A huge lump formed in and she was in disbelief over what she had heard. Sunny was determined to not look at Hyomin’s face as she knew the expression her friend was giving her right now would be enough to break all resolve she had, which was barely enough as it is.

 

“W-what?” Hyomin meekly asked, her voice trembling and Sunny could feel wetness on her hands, knowing full well that the source of it was Hyomin’s tears.

 

“I think it’s time for you to leave Hyomin. It’s getting late.” Sunny repeated, still not making eye contact.

 

“Sunny, p-please don’t-“

 

“Your members must be getting worried. I have a schedule tomorrow too.” Sunny finished, her insides dying as she heard her friend’s sobs and hiccups. The tears were freely flowing down Hyomin’s cheeks now, and she tried her best to wipe them. Slowly, she got up and grabbed her handbag, knowing that Sunny was resolute. Hyomin looked at Sunny who was still sitting on the couch and avoiding her gaze for once more before exiting the door, as if pleading to the heavens for Sunny to change her mind.

 

She slowly opened the door, and with one last look, closed it behind her. Sunny heard a dull thud and the sound of bawling, and she knew Hyomin had crumpled down outside her front door and was crying out with reckless abandon. Sunny knew because she was doing the same on the couch. She had to tell Hyomin to leave, because she didn’t have the strength to tell her that she didn’t feel the same way. It would have been the biggest lie she’s ever said.

 

Sunny curled up on the sofa, and continued sobbing, even when the sobbing from the other side of the door subsided, signaling that Hyomin must have gone home. All thoughts of sleep pushed aside, Sunny switched off the TV and was left alone with her thoughts, eyes blankly staring at the empty screen in front of her. She was not sure at what hour did sleep finally claim her, but all she knows is that she really did not need Taeyeon yelling in her ear to wake her up like that.

 

 

****

 

“Sunny!” Yuri snapped her fingers in front of her friend’s face to get her attention. She had been trying to talk with her friend, but Sunny was so out of it that Yuri’s last 4 attempts at calling her name went by as if unheard.

 

“Huh? What is it Yul?” Sunny asked, finally snapping out of her trance. She had been staring out of the window of their van for what felt like ages now, as their group is currently en route to the location of their next performance in god knows where. She wasn’t paying attention, as the events that took place last night still has her head in a mess.

 

“Is everything alright?” Yuri asked in a low whisper, not wanting to alert the other members, who were fast asleep except for the maknae who was reading a book.

 

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be alright?” Sunny attempted to lie her way out of it. She was never good at lying, as she never really did it often. She was usually very blunt and open about her feelings, but she did not want to alarm Yuri, nor did she really feel like talking about how NOT alright she was at the moment. Yuri saw completely through her façade, as her friend’s red and puffy eyes gave away the fact that she had a rough night. The lack of sleep apparent in Sunny’s appearance didn’t help matters much either.

 

“You look like .”

 

“Ouch Yul.” Sunny replied, disinterested. Her gaze slowly going back out the window to watch the world go by.

 

“Want to talk about it?”

 

“No, not really.”

 

Yuri exhaled exasperatedly. She did not want to push it, but she hated seeing her usually cheerful friend act this way. They were as close as sisters, but frankly Yuri wasn’t that good at getting people to open up. There was a painful moment of silence in the van that even caused Seohyun to look up from her book to stare at the two. Yuri shot her a meaningful look which caused her to simply nod and return to perusing the pages of her book, trying to pretend that the silence was not making her uncomfortable.

 

Sensing that she did not have much time to talk about this before they reached their destination, Yuri slowly arranged her words in her head and whispered to Sunny.

 

“Hyomin confessed to you, didn’t she?”

 

The speed of which Sunny turned her head to face her friend would have been almost comical, but given the circumstances, Yuri decided to brush it aside. Sunny’s eyes were wide and was gaping open in surprise, making Yuri’s attempts to hold back her laughter a bigger struggle.

 

“H-how do you—“

 

“You guys weren’t exactly being quiet last night you know? I wasn’t exactly listening in, but I heard sobbing and you asking her to leave, so I just assumed. Don’t worry, I think I’m the only one who heard. Taeyeon was worried when she came home and found you on the couch though.”

 

It took a moment for Sunny to respond, not quite sure what to say.

 

“She told me she loves me.”

 

“And, what did you say?”

 

“Nothing. I-I told her to leave.”

 

Yuri frowned slightly at this and looked at Sunny to continue, wanting to know why she did that.

 

“I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that I…that I love her too.”  That was the first time Sunny ever said those words out loud, and she always figured that saying it would be amazingly liberating, but there was tightness in her chest, and it felt like something was physically constricting her heart when she said it. This was not the feeling that those Disney movies were trying to sell her as a kid. Sunny looked at Yuri, slightly curious to see how she would react to this new bit of info she just laid on her close friend.

 

To Sunny’s surprise, Yuri just took it in stride and asked her “So? What’s the problem then? Why is it so hard to tell her that?”

 

“Because… We are idols. Can you imagine what will happen if people find out about us? And not to exactly blow our own horn, we are not just regular idols, we are SNSD. Our fans, the SONEs, they love us. They treasure us, but I’m not sure how understanding they would be if suddenly the Energizer bunny that they love suddenly comes out as a lesbian.”

 

Sunny struggled to control the volume of her voice because she was starting to feel overcome by her emotions. Her hands were trembling and Yuri could tell this has been eating Sunny up for a long time so she just waited for her friend to continue, allowing Sunny to vent and release her pent up emotions.

 

Sunny started to continue after a few minutes of trying to calm herself, but Yuri could see her friend’s eyes were starting to water.

 

“Do you remember the backlash the group had when Sooyoung revealed that she was dating Kyung-ho oppa? We had to get extra bodyguards and Kyung-ho oppa had to lay low for his own safety! Yoona and Tiffany are lucky that the netizens had been encouraging their relationships with Seunggi oppa and Khun oppa before their relationships even happened! I’d hate to find out what would happen to Hyomin if people found out that we were in a relationship. I’m scared Yul! T-Ara has been covered in controversies and scandals, and the netizens would gang up on her if word got out. I don’t want to be the cause of pain for her, or this group…”

 

Sunny was openly crying now, and Yuri just held her friend’s hand and gave it an occasional squeeze to show her support. Looking a bit lost, she looked around the van to her other members who were obviously just pretending to sleep at this point. Even their manager oppa kept glancing back at them through the rear-view mirror from the driver’s seat, giving Yuri pointed looks to comfort her friend.

 

A hand on her shoulder caused Sunny to look up, and her eyes followed the hand that was her shoulder encouragingly to it’s owner. Hyoyeon had the softest smile on her face and the warmth of it calmed Sunny down exponentially. She then looked around the cramped van and realised that the other members were either looking at her, or doing a poor job of pretending to sleep. Yoona and Sooyoung had watery eyes, and she suspected that her comment about their respective relationships sparked the waterworks.

 

“Look Sunny…we know.” Hyoyeon softly said. Sunny looked perplexed and was about to ask her what she was talking about when Tiffany piped in.

 

“We know that you and Hyomin have something going on. You were so obvious about it, although it was cute trying to see you cover up when one of us caught you staring at her.” Tiffany informed her with a tinge of amusement in her eyes.

 

“We’ve talked about it you know. Your sisters and I.” Taeyeon said out loud, and all eyes went towards their leader. “We’ve talked about what we would do if you and Hyomin ever became an item.”

 

This piece of information further served to confuse the shortest member of the group. She didn’t understand. They knew?! But they never confronted her about it. Not only that, they even had a serious discussion regarding what they would do if she and Hyomin were to ever become a couple. Sunny wasn’t even aware that they knew she was gay! Sunny was beyond curious however, as to what the outcome of the discussion between them was.

 

Sensing Sunny’s curiosity and taking liberty to answer the unasked question just because Sunny was stuck staring at them with gaping like a fish instead of getting around to asking it, Jessica continued for the leader. Obviously she was tired of pretending to be asleep.

 

“We decided to do nothing. I mean hey, it’s your life.” Jessica just said nonchalantly, causing Yuri to look at her pointedly.

 

“What Jessica means is, we chose to support you if that ever happened. We know you’ll be worried about us and you’ll hesitate because of us, but we just want to to tell you to go with what your heart tells you. Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine.” Yuri said while reassuringly caressing Sunny’s hand. The other members just nodded in agreement.

 

“We want you to be happy Sunny Bunny! Even if word got out that you were dating Hyomin and our popularity took a hit because of it—“ Tiffany started but paused when Sunny winced at the thought of her causing SNSD’s popularity to plummet. “—none of us would be angry at you at all. We all know that fame is just temporary, that’s why we’ve made investments in other ventures and stuff.” Tiffany finished, flashing her beautiful eye smile.

 

“Besides, if the both of you just continued acting the way you two normally do and save the couple-y stuff for behind secure doors, no one would be any wiser! You’ve been hanging out with Hyomin for years now! Holding hands, hugging in public, nobody ever accused you two of being lesbians before this. No reason for them to start now.” Taeyeon stated matter-of-factly.

 

Sunny was quiet for a moment as her members’ words sunk into her. She was deeply moved by their words, and she could feel herself tearing up again, but this time in gratitude.

 

“But… what about Hyomin and T-Ara? They would suffer too.” Sunny asked uncertainly.

 

“Well we won’t speak on Hyomin’s behalf, but you’ll have to ask her yourself. She might have had this exact discussion with her members as well.” Yuri said. Sunny knew she was right, but she was hesitating to meet Hyomin again, as she felt ashamed and guilty for kicking her best friend out of her house when Hyomin was at her most vulnerable.

 

“…How long have you guys known?” Sunny had to ask. She was never one to be outspoken about her relationships, and she wondered if she was being too obvious with Hyomin.

 

“Forever”  “Ages!”  “I was on the same show as you two! So obvious!”  "Stop staring at your phone while smiling you doofus!” “You only treat Hyomin to good food! We want some too!”  “Unnie was being very obvious.”  “I’m tired of picking you up from T-Ara’s dorm late at night!”

 

Sunny was shocked at the bombardment of answers she received. She was surprised that Seohyun spoke up, but she was even more surprised when she heard the last answer coming from the driver’s seat of the van.

 

“Sorry manager oppa! It’s only because I only trust oppa’s driving at night!” Sunny told her manager, putting in a hint of aegyo in her apology, showing signs that she was starting to feel better.

 

“I think you can go into the venue now oppa. I’m getting dizzy from us circling the block.” Jessica called out to their manager, and the rest of the members just laughed. Now that she mentioned it, Sunny realised the van had driven by the same ddeokbokki stand several times now, and she realised their manager must have purposely circled the block to give them time to talk. Sunny just felt a wave of gratitude wash over her because of how understanding all the people around her are.

 

 “Thanks. All of you.” Sunny finally turned to the rest of her group, and they just nodded and smiled. They were as close as sisters, and she should have known that they would have reacted this way. Sunny wondered why she ever expected anything less. Sunny then turned to her manager and thanked him as well. “Oppa won’t tell anyone about what we talked about, right?” Suddenly worried that he would reveal their conversation to management.

 

“What conversation? Weren’t you all asleep in the back a second ago? These long drives are always so quiet…” Their manager said, and Sunny lunged towards him to give him the world’s tightest backhug while a huge smile was plastered on her face. Their flustered manager flailed about and asked her to let go, yelling that he was driving and she was going to start a scandal.

 

****

 

It had been a week since Sunny had that talk with her sisters in the van. She hasn’t spoken to Hyomin since the day she kicked her out of the Soshi dorm, and she still feels horribly guilty about the incident. Sunny still hasn’t apologized for it yet, and she herself was not quite sure why that is. She blamed her pride, but she knew she really didn’t have much of that when it came to her best friend. It was fear. She was afraid to face Hyomin after hurting her so horribly, but Sunny was starting to miss having Hyomin around. She felt as if a part of her was missing, kind of like how she feels whenever she accidentally leaves her phone at home. Speaking of her phone, she hated to look at it now as it just reminded her of the constant conversations she used to share with Hyomin, and how it’s been ages since she last heard her voice. Sunny had to make do with monitoring her best friend through her live stages on TV, as Hyomin made her solo debut with “Nice Body” recently.

 

Today she was in Incheon, currently getting her hair done backstage in a large waiting area while the rest of her members were…. actually Sunny had no idea where the other 8 members were. They were there for a music festival, and SNSD will be performing alongside numerous other acts. She wasn’t quite aware of who else was there to perform however, as she’s been living her days in a daze, constantly lost in her own thoughts.

 

Her phone vibrated, alerting her to a text message. Her eyes shot to her phone, half wishing that her phone would display the name she missed so much yet dreaded.

 

Message from Yuri: Sunny-ya! Meet us in our dressing room once you’re done. Group meeting. Urgent Urgent!

 

Sunny wondered what they had to meet about. She texted a quick “Ok.” and watched her stylist put the finishing touches on her hair. She had to get her hair done outside of the dressing room in a waiting area as their dressing room was too small to fit all 9 members of SNSD as well as their coordinators. Sometimes there were slight disadvantages to being in a large group.

 

Finding the dressing room turned out to be a bigger ordeal than initially suspected because of the large venue. After taking a few wrong turns and asking 2 staff members for directions, she eventually found herself facing a grey door with a piece of paper stuck to the front of it, their group name emblazoned in bold letters.

 

Feeling slightly sheepish about being late and getting lost, Sunny slowly opened the door and braced herself for a lecturing by her groupmates.

 

“Sorry Yul I kinda got lost! This place is hu—“ Sunny stopped dead in her tracks. Did she get the wrong room? No of course she didn’t. There was no way she could have misread the sign on the door. The girl currently in front of her however, was not Kwon Yuri, or any of the other 7 members of her group. Sitting on the couch across from her, hands demurely folded on her lap, softly biting her lips while her eyes sought out to pierce Sunny’s, was Hyomin.

 

Sunny had half a mind to turn and bolt out the door, but that was all she was capable of as the other half of her mind didn’t really seem to be functioning all that well. She was too captivated by the beautiful visage in front of her. Hyomin had cut her hair short and dyed it a bright blonde, but left her roots dark. She was wearing a bright sparkly red crop top with the words “Nice Body” written across it, and a pair of ridiculously short, and equally sparkly blue shorts. Sunny couldn’t help but notice that Hyomin had lost even more weight since the last time they met, but she still looked absolutely ravishing. Sunny felt her lips go dry as she stared at Hyomin’s milky thighs, and she found herself her lips before she could restrain herself. ‘It’s the air conditioning! It’s too cold, so my skin is dry! Yeah that’s the reason!’ Sunny quickly thought up an excuse but before she could say it, Hyomin had slowly gotten up from the couch and began walking towards her.

 

“You…weren’t expecting me, were you?” Hyomin shyly asked while scratching her cheek in nervousness. She looked absolutely adorable.

 

“Uh…n-no. Yuri told me to meet the rest of the members here for an emergency meeting…” Sunny was confused, but was even more confused at Hyomin’s reply to that.

 

“Funny, Yuri messaged me to meet her here as well…She said there was something I needed to hear.” Hyomin was standing right in front of her now, just a few inches away. Sunny could have easily reached out to touch her if she wanted to. She could have easily caressed her cheek, held her hands, pulled her close for a tight embrace….

 

“Well? Is there something that I need to hear? Or should I just…g-go?” This snapped Sunny back from her wandering thoughts and brought her to focus on Hyomin’s face. She was looking at her hands nervously, and her lips were trembling. There was that moment of painful silence again as Sunny tried to collect her thoughts. Sunny knew she was a jerk, so she tried her best to come up with the best apology without slipping on her words, but Hyomin took the silence to mean something else.

 

Slowly, Hyomin made to move towards the door. Her hands trembling and it was as if she was trying her hardest not to meet Sunny’s eyes. “S-sorry for the intrusion.”

 

This felt like a repeat of that night at the dorms, when Sunny let her friend walk out into the dead of night. It has become one of the moments that Sunny has regretted the most, and she’ll be darned if she’ll let it happen again. As if by instinct, Sunny reached out and grabbed ahold of Hyomin’s wrist, just as the taller girl had reached for the door handle.

 

She slowly pulled Hyomin towards her, and the small contact that they made with Sunny’s small hands around Hyomin’s wrist stirred something within the shortest member of SNSD, and she pulled her friend back towards her, into a tight embrace.

 

“Don’t…don’t go. Please. Stay.”

 

Hyomin was surprised by the sudden act, and she just stared wide-eyed at Sunny before slowly surrendering to the warmth of the hug and the tears that she fought to withhold finally fell onto her cheeks. She closed her eyes and savoured the moment, hoping that Sunny would never let go.

 

Eventually Hyomin felt the arms around her retreat slowly and come to rest on her shoulders. She dared herself to open her eyes, only to find that Sunny was looking right at her. Suddenly she felt more vulnerable than she has ever been in her life. Despite this, she found herself staring at Sunny’s lips, and she longed to close the tiny gap between them. Those lips started moving to speak however, and Hyomin brought her eyes back up to meet Sunny’s, before looking away completely in embarrassment, knowing that she had been caught ogling.

 

Sunny didn’t seem to mind this however, and just kept a small smile on her face as she prepared herself for what she was going to say next.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Hyomin just blinked a few times while staring at her friend, not quite sure how to react to that.

 

“I’m sorry. I was being a jerk. I should never have treated you like that. I should never have let you leave that night without a proper explanation, and I’ve regretted it ever single second since. I-I wanted to call you to apologize all this while, but I was scared you would be angry, a-and—“ Sunny found herself trying to hold back her sobbing, and she cursed herself for choking on her words, because she had so much left to say. She couldn’t make sense of the expression on Hyomin’s face as well as she was just staring at Sunny with a blank look.

 

It would have been much better if Hyomin got angry, or started shouting, or even if she started crying. Anything would have been better than this uncomfortable silence.

 

Hyomin however, was left captivated by her friend. She had never before seen Sunny look this vulnerable, and it captivated her. All her years of knowing Sunny, she had always been spunky, confident, and was the capable one in their friendship. Always able to solve problems, and always listened to Hyomin whenever she had issues in her life. This side of Sunny however, was new and fresh. Hyomin couldn’t help but stare because at this very moment, Sunny had never looked more…

 

“Beautiful…”

 

Sunny looked up at the taller girl. What did she just say?? Sunny then felt Hyomin’s warm hands gently wipe the tears off her face, and moved to gently caress her cheek. Sunny closed her eyes and nuzzled into the warm hand in a loving gesture. It just felt so… comforting.

 

“I’ve missed you.” Hyomin said, with a smile so warm that Sunny felt those familiar butterflies in her stomach again.

 

“I’ve missed you too Minnie.” Sunny said, finding that her lips would brush slightly on Hyomin’s hand that was still caressing her face. She turned to softly kiss Hyomin’s palm, openly showing affection towards her friend.

 

Sunny had never done anything like that before, and Hyomin would be a liar if she were to say that she did not enjoy the affection she was receiving.

 

“Can you forgive me?” Sunny asked, with pleading eyes.

 

Hyomin removed her hand from caressing Sunny’s face and rested her chin on it, looking as if she was deep in thought.

 

“Hmmm…I don’t know about that….You did kick me out of your dorm at midnight, and I had to wait for my manager to pick me up from your place which took forever and I had to brush off questions when he and my members asked why I had been crying and it was such an ordeal…” Hyomin paused to look at Sunny’s face, and a cheeky grin graced her face when she saw her friend panicking and tears were starting to form in the shorter one’s eyes already. Hyomin could get used to seeing this side of Sunny.

 

“I’m just messing with you Sunny Bunny.” Hyomin laughed at Sunny’s expression when she realised that Hyomin was just messing with her.

 

“Yah! It’s not funny!” Sunny softly whacked her friend on the shoulder. Hyomin wanted so badly to mess up the shorter girl’s hair because she was looking so adorable right now, but she knew she would most probably get into serious trouble with the SNSD stylists.

 

“I forgive you. Actually, Yuri called me yesterday, and told me about the conversation that you guys had.” Hyomin admitted.

 

Sunny went from being happy that she had been forgiven, to slightly miffed that Yuri had went to Hyomin behind her back. She understood the intention behind it though, and she realised if she was in Yuri’s shoes she’d do the same.

 

“How much did Yuri tell you?”

 

“Everything.” Hyomin said, the smile never leaving her face, which puzzled Sunny. If she knew everything, then she should know that Sunny decided not to be with her, and that was hardly anything to be smiling about.

 

“Then, you know why I said we can’t be together?” Sunny tentatively asked, trying to confirm that Yuri managed to get that bit of information across. She was left even more befuddled when Hyomin just smiled wider and started to nod quickly. Aware of her friend’s confusion, Hyomin took Sunny’s hand and lead her towards the sofa she had been sitting on earlier. The tiny contact still managed to send jolts of electricity coursing through Sunny’s body, as if her fingertips somehow functioned as a weird conductor. What on earth is this girl doing to her?

 

Following Hyomin’s lead, Sunny found herself sitting down on the sofa facing Hyomin, who has moved her hands from Sunny’s wrist to intertwine their fingers together.

 

“Do you remember when we first met?” Hyomin asked. Sunny tilted her head to the side like a confused puppy, wondering what brought on the sudden question.

 

“Yeah. It was when we filmed Invincible Youth, about 5 years ago?” Sunny looked towards Hyomin for confirmation, who just nodded at the answer.

 

“5 years ago… time sure flies. Back then I don’t think I could’ve ever imagined that I’d be sharing a stage with 2NE1 and SNSD as a solo act. But then…here we are.” Hyomin sheepishly smiled.

 

“Yeah, you kept on getting edited out. I don’t know why though. You were pretty funny!” Sunny laughed as she remembered Hyomin’s many antics during the show that never made it into the final cut, such as her adorably awful rendition of G-Dragon’s Heartbreaker.

 

“That’s why I started to stick by you Sunny! The variety darling! The camera loved you! You always knew what to say and how to be entertaining.” Hyomin comically boasted about her friend, flailing her arms and she got more and more excited talking about Sunny. “I think… that’s why I came to become your folding screen. I think I felt that if I were to stay by your side, that it’ll be good for me, and that I could somehow feed off your skills.” Hyomin added with a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

 

A thought suddenly crossed Sunny’s mind that she never ever considered before. She figured that it could be a touchy subject, but she really wanted to know the answer to it now that the question was in her head.

 

“Hey Minnie, were you ever….jealous? Of the attention that I got on that show?”

 

It was Hyomin’s turn to have a shocked look on her face and she quickly shook her head.

 

“No! I mean, I knew why you got all that attention. Everyone did! Even Shinyoung unnie knew! If anything, I was kinda awed by you. You thought me so much at the time! When you, Hyuna and Yuri left the show, I kinda tried to take over your role, but I never would have had the courage to do that if I didn’t learn from you.”

 

Sunny felt a warmth in her heart from hearing Hyomin’s words. She knew Hyomin looked up to her, but hearing Hyomin say all that was something that Sunny was not prepared for. She blushed, embarrassed as she suddenly found herself placed on such a high pedestal that she wasn’t quite sure she was deserving of.

 

There was another silence that followed, but this time it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. It was strangely pleasant. The pair just sat on the sofa while holding each other’s hands, enjoying the quiet comfort that they provided for each other.

 

“You know, I think it was a little under 3 months into filming Invincible Youth that I decided to stick close to you.” Hyomin said while gently Sunny’s hand with her thumb, breaking the silence. She was making eye contact with the shorter girl, indicating that her next few words were important.

 

“Do you know that it wasn’t long after that, that I started falling for you?” Hyomin’s gentle eyes bore straight into Sunny’s soul. Again, Sunny felt more vulnerable that she’s ever been before.

 

“It’s been more than 5 years since we’ve met Sunny, and I’ve been in love with you for nearly that long.” Hyomin reached towards Sunny’s face and tucked a stray hair behind her friend’s ear. Sunny had trouble breathing. Her breath got caught in as soon as she heard Hyomin’s confession. Sunny never knew that Hyomin had felt that way about her for that long. The sincerity in Hyomin’s eyes however, removed any doubt in Sunny’s mind as to the validity of her statement.

 

“Do you really think that in these 5 years that I’ve been in love with you, that I never thought of the consequences?” Sunny had trouble processing Hyomin’s words as the latter had started softly caressing Sunny’s face with her thumb and she was getting lost in the affectionate contact.

 

“Babo!” Hyomin playfully tapped Sunny’s forehead, bringing her attention back from the clouds to the tiny dressing room. Sunny had the cheekiest grin on her face and rubbed her forehead, whining at the slight sting of the tap.

 

“I don’t care about the consequences.”

 

Sunny looked up to stare at Hyomin. Those eyes were filled with sincerity, and Sunny knew Hyomin meant what she said. Before Sunny could protest and try to talk about the consequences to Hyomin however, the taller girl had interrupted her.

 

“Me and my members had the exact same conversation you and your sisters had, but a few years earlier. We figured that people are going to talk anyway. Let them talk about something we can be proud of for a change, instead of them creating lies about us.” Hyomin stated, and as the words sunk into Sunny’s mind, she was left speechless.

 

Things changed between them as soon as Hyomin’s words left her lips. There were no more doubts between them. The fear that Sunny felt had subsided, and was replaced by a fuzzy feeling that she couldn’t quite describe. All she knew was that her heart started beating faster and it was as if she had seen the world through a monochrome filter before this, and now she can finally see in colour.

 

“Lee Soonkyu, will you be my girlfriend?” Hyomin asked, after she had taken a moment to brace herself. She had been shot down once by Sunny, and she didn’t want to acknowledge it, but the fear was still there. Hyomin observed the corners of Sunny’s lips curve upwards ever so slightly, and—were they always sitting this close?

 

Sunny had moved closer to Hyomin and she managed to snake one arm around Hyomin’s neck without the latter even noticing. Time seemed to slow down for the both of them as the distance between them started to close. Their noses were nearly touching now, and Hyomin could count Sunny eyelashes if she wanted to. The sound of their heartbeats could almost be heard reverberating off the walls in the quiet room.

 

“Let me think about it” Sunny breathed before she closed the distance between them and pulled Hyomin in for a deep kiss. It took a moment for Hyomin to register what was happening, until she finally closed her eyes and deepened the kiss. It was a simple kiss, but Hyomin could feel herself melting at the feel of Sunny’s lips pressed against hers. She had been dreaming of this moment for 5 years, and she could cry from the rush of emotions she was feeling now. It was as if her feet had left the ground, and she was suddenly lightheaded. She had never felt anything quite like it.

 

It must have lasted less than a minute, but it felt like an eternity of bliss for the both of them. They were out of breath as they separated, having given their all into the kiss.

 

Sunny cupped Hyomin’s cheeks with her hands, and give her lips a small peck before she finally answered the question. “Yes, I’d like that.”

 

They were both grinning like idiots, and the pair would have looked utterly silly to anyone who walked in on them now. Hyomin cleared and stated that they should probably get ready as the event was about to start, but neither of them wanted to get up and end this moment they were sharing between them.

 

Hyomin eventually got up and extended her hand to Sunny to help her stand. As soon as Sunny took it however, Hyomin pulled her closer to her and enveloped the shorter girl in her arms. Hyomin looked down at Sunny and smiled, before reclaiming her girlfriend’s lips with her own.

 

Girlfriend.

 

Sunny was her girlfriend now.

 

And her girlfriend was a really good kisser.

 

Not wanting to lose to the shorter girl, Hyomin softly ran her tongue across Sunny’s lower lips, and she parted them to allow Hyomin access. They were getting caught up in the moment, and Hyomin wanted to let her girlfriend know exactly how passionate she is for the SNSD member. Sunny could feel Hyomin’s lips lock on to every single breath she took and breathed her in. Eventually, they both had to separate due to the lack of oxygen, and Sunny stood on her toes to plant a brief kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek.

 

“I love you so much Minnie.”

 

“I love you more Sunny Bunny.”

 

“Yah! As if that's possible!” Sunny shouted before playfully smacking Hyomin on the shoulder.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

“I’m bored Yul.” Jessica said, head resting on her hand as her eyes scanned the dressing room for something to amuse herself with.

 

“Go read a magazine or something.” Yuri tried to brush off her friend, but even she had to admit, she was incredibly bored as well.

 

They were both seated on a couch in a dressing room, a few doors away from the one that they were supposed to be using. Their manager oppa managed to find an empty dressing room for them to bunk in while Sunny met up with Hyomin in their original room. Yuri felt a little bad about orchestrating the little involuntary reunion between the two, but she knew that both of them needed the extra push. But now she found herself incredibly bored in the dressing room, and she would have left to go take a walk around the venue but she didn’t really have anyone else to hang out with over here other than her members. Well, what’s left of them anyways. Taeyeon, Sooyoung, Tiffany, and Yoona had left the room to have a little privacy as they talked to their boyfriends on the phone, Hyoyeon had run off to hang out with Amber in F(x)’s dressing room, leaving Yuri, Jessica and Seohyun in the room by themselves.

 

Seohyun was sitting on a chair across from the couch and as per usual, she had her nose buried inside a book. Upon trying to sneak a peek at what she was reading, Yuri noticed that the maknae was reading a book on how to speak in Mandarin. ‘Ever the over-achiever’, Yuri thought to herself.

 

“Arrghhh why are we sitting here in this room when everyone else is off with their boyfriends?! Sunny is probably face with Hyomin right now too! This blows!” Jessica complained again, for the umpteenth time that night.

 

“You know, you’re not exactly confined to this room you know? Why don’t you go and play with your sister?” Yuri suggested, starting to get annoyed by her friend’s constant complaining.

 

“You know she’s no fun when she’s with her members….” Jessica pouted. Yuri kinda knew where she was coming from. According to Jessica, Krystal always acted like the adorable younger sister whenever they were alone, but she kind of acted distant and refused to show her aegyo around her members, which made Jessica sad.

 

“Why don’t you go and call Tyler? I’m sure he’s waiting for your call.” Yuri teased, wanting to get a rise out of the ice princess.

 

“Shut up Yuri! You know that we’re just friends! Urghh I’m done with those rumour-spewing bunch of—“ Yuri zoned out as Jessica went on another rant about the news agencies making up a rumour that she was dating Tyler Kwon, a businessman that Jessica was acquainted with. Unfortunately in their line of work, acquaintance immediately meant dating. Yuri wouldn’t be surprised if a rumour that Jessica and Tyler were getting married would soon pop up on papers, based on the news agencies abilities to spew out pure works of fiction.

 

Jessica ended her rant with furious swinging of fists, and she must have exhausted herself as she then sunk into the couch, looking spent.

 

“I think I have bad luck with guys Yul.”

 

“Mhmm.” Yuri played along. She saw a spider crawling on the wall opposite her, and she found herself tracking it’s movements with her eyes out of boredom.

 

“Maybe I should move on to girls.”

 

“Are you coming out Jess? Should I gather the other members?” Yuri responded without looking at her friend. The spider was now on the wall above Seohyun’s head. She wondered what would happen if it fell on the maknae’s head. Would be entertaining, that’s for sure.

 

“I can’t be a lesbian tho. I like guys too. Maybe I’m biual.”

 

“You can’t just decide you’re biual because you’re bored Jess.”

 

“If I kiss a girl and I enjoy it, would that make me biual?”

 

“I don’t know, I guess so? You’re gonna have to kiss one to find out though.” Not sure where Jessica was going with this, Yuri continued playing along. Jessica always got up to no good when she’s bored, and this might actually serve as some form of entertainment for her. Besides, she lost track of the spider she was looking at.

 

“Hey Yul….You’re single right?”

 

“Yeah, but where are you getting at with this?” Yuri suddenly felt a chill down her spine and she was not quite sure she wanted to find out the cause of it. She froze up, and slowly turned her head to the right to see Jessica looking at her with a mischievous glint in her eye. It took Yuri a second to put two and two together.

 

“Oh hell no! You get your lips away from me Jessica Jung Soo Yeon!”

 

There was a struggle as Jessica lunged towards Yuri only to be met with a cushion to the face as Yuri had managed to grab one and used it as a shield against the ice princess’ assault.

 

Seohyun looked up from her book to see her two older members wrestling with each other on the couch, putting to waste the hour or so their stylist spent trying to make them look perfect.

 

Seohyun sighed and returned to her book.

 

“I’m so lonely” she muttered under her breath.

 

 

***********

 

 

Author’s Note:

 

It’s done! My first ever fic is done! First off, I’m terribly sorry for any mistakes, whether it be grammatical, misspelling of names, or mistakes with the timelines. I tried to get the timelines to be as accurate as I could, but my knowledge is preeeetty limited.

 

Also, I’m a huge supporter of Yongseo, so I was pretty torn about leaving Seohyun alone at the end. However, I thought there was waaay too many relationships in this fic and I thought this ending was funnier.

 

I’m also sorry for the jabs I make regarding to Hyomin’s appearance for Nice Body. Hyomin is my ultimate bias, and I felt like the concept really did not suit her. I feel like She should have gotten Jiyeon’s song, and Jiyeon should have done Nice Body instead, but that might just be me.

 

Thank you for reading this, and I can say as for now I don’t really have plans to make any more fics. This took longer than I thought. I underestimated fic writing. I applaud you guys who can churn out quality updates constantly. If I do make more however, please support the other stories as well! Thank you!

/PS. Please leave a comment and tell if you like the story and where I can improve on. :D