“Oh man, do we have a story to tell you guys,” Sooyoung laughs as her and Jessica exchange matching looks of mischief, earning a quirked eyebrow and wry smile from the blonde.

          “Well, as hilarious as I’m sure this little anecdote will be, I suggest you wait until I’ve at least managed to gather everyone at one table. Besides, if the story ends up being incredibly dull I don’t want to subject myself to that torture more than once.”

           “Yah! I tell awesome stories you litt-“

           “Story time?” Krystal’s head suddenly pokes through the freezer door, accompanied by a small, shivering Taeyeon.

           Without missing a beat, Hyoyeon is already tucking the older girl into the bulk of her own jacket.

           “Shouldn’t have left your coat in the car, silly,” Hyoyeon chides, pulling the material tight as she buttons it up to the girl’s neck.

          The other three, who have suddenly become oblivious to the danshin duo, exchange looks and Krystal opens to offer, what Jessica assumes to be, a ual quip but the older girl is too fast and accordingly clamps a hand over the younger girl’s mouth.

          “Well if you need us, Hyo, we’ll be at the usual table. Come on little sis,” Jessica groans, gritting her teeth as Krystal continues to struggle.

            With the maximum effort a Jung can possibly manifest, she manages to force her way through the kitchen doors with Sooyoung, ever the loyal pup, trotting at her heels.

          “Wonder what that was all about,” Hyoyeon muses, her only response being Taeyeon’s bewildered expression.

Outside The Kitchen

          “! Did you really just bite my ing hand?!” Jessica’s voice is struggling to stay at a whisper but the annoyance and disbelief still manage to drip from every syllable.

          “I didn’t appreciate being silenced,” Krystal’s tongue darts between her lips as she smiles coyly at her disgruntled sibling.

          “So you bite me?” Jessica seems to almost growl at the girl.

          The two continue back and forth, each remark growing more scathing than the last, as Sooyoung makes a feeble attempt to interrupt but quickly decides her energy is better spent pestering the staff for leftovers.

          “Look,” Krystal stops, becoming exasperated by the fickle nature of the bickering as it has failed to answer any of the questions that continue to pop into her head.          “Just tell me what’s going on because you have never stopped me from being a ual deviant before, especially to the innocent ones like her,” Krystal smirks.

          Jessica allows herself a small laugh before ushering Krystal away from the possible prying ears that may be lurking beyond the kitchen door.

         “That’s the problem though, Krys. This is about Taeyeon.” Jessica pauses, looking about to make sure the girls in question weren’t within earshot. “I think Hyoyeon might like her.”

          “Well yeah, Jess, Hyoyeon has kinda always been super friendly to people-“

          “No, Krystal. Like the way I liked Sooyoung in high school before I figured out I was biual.”

         Krystal stares blankly for a moment, trapped in the infamous Jung denseness. She looked between her sister and the kitchen doors, her head going back and forth like an owl before gaped open and the two launched into a dolphin screeching session.

         “Holy ing !” Krystal shouts.

         “I know right?!” The two jump excitedly, clapping their hands together haphazardly and squealing, earning confused glances from the lunch rush patrons. 

         Within an instant, Hyoyeon abruptly peeks her head out of the double doors, causing the two to clamp hands over the other’s mouth.

         “Well,” she quirks an eyebrow at the two as they remove their hands from each others mouths, moving them behind their backs and smiling dubiously, “as suspicious as this looks, I’m going to choose to ignore it and settle for telling the two of you to cut the aquarium soundtrack and for Jessica to sit down.”

          “Sure thing, Hyo,” Jessica laughs, grabbing her sister’s hand and pulling her to their usual table.

          Krystal turned her head back as the two dashed off, sticking out her tongue before throwing her head back in laughter and disappearing.

          “Yah, Krystal Jung! You are on the clock ya know!” Hyoyeon huffs in annoyance, knowing full well that the girl could no longer hear her above the chatter of lunchtime customers. “Aish, those girls. I’m supposed to be off today,” Hyoyeon whines, slinking back into the bustling kitchen, feeling defeated.

          Taeyeon stands awkwardly by the exit door all the while, her hands pulling the length of Hyoyeon’s coat around her more snugly. Hyoyeon notices Taeyeon’s uncomfortable stance and hurries through the commotion of her staff to get to her. Taeyeon jumps at Hyoyeon’s sudden presence but soon smiles at having the blonde by her side again.

         “So, with the degenerates out of our hair, how about that tour I promised?”

         Taeyeon’s eyes light up with excitement as she nods fervently, intertwining their fingers with a boldness Hyoyeon had yet to see from the woman.

         “I’ll take that as a yes,” Hyoyeon laughs, pulling Taeyeon into the pandemonium that characterized the lunch rush at her restaurant. “Everything is a little busy at the moment so hold on tightly to me, Taeyeon-ah.”

Taeyeon’s POV

          “Everything is a little busy at the moment so hold on tightly to me, Taeyeon-ah.”

          Taeyeon doesn’t quite know why but she feels so much warmer hearing Hyoyeon say that. No, it must just be Hyoyeon’s jacket finally taking effect or the heat from all of these stove tops getting to her. Hyoyeon’s grip on her hand becomes tighter though and she finds herself doubting that theory.

          “That’s Amber, Krystal’s girlfriend,” Hyoyeon gestures to a girl with short, coiffed blonde hair. She’s moving around rather rapidly, taking trays from the various stations and maneuvering between cooks with a sense of ease. “She’s a waitress here part time while she attends university. I’m sure she’ll be joining us for dinner later so you’ll have time to be properly introduced later.”

          Taeyeon eyes the younger girl’s uniform for a moment, taking note of the mixture of formality and casualty; a button down white shirt that goes un-tucked and a tie that hangs loosely from her neck. She finds herself preferring it to the starched, ironed shirts and tightly pulled cravats that Tiffany would often have her wear. She’d like to think her and this Amber may have a lot in common. Though the fact that she’s dating someone as brazen as Krystal shows how different their taste in women must be, let alone the thickness of their skin.

          Hyoyeon continued on, naming a number of things that left Taeyeon intrigued but overall befuddled as Hyoyeon’s pace of speech and use of foreign terminology increased and she found herself just taking everything in with Hyoyeon’s voice serving as a lulling noise amongst the bustle. She found herself smiling and nodding politely when names were mentioned and within twenty minutes or so she had met Min, who served as the kitchen chef in Hyoyeon’s absence, Jia, the sous-chef, Victoria, the saucier, Luna, another cook, Baro, a dishwasher and busboy, Jinyoung, the bartender, and Sulli, Suzy, and Minzy, the other waitresses alongside Amber. Her head was buzzing with all of the names and terms but, as Hyoyeon’s friend, she felt that it was her duty to commit them to memory. Hyoyeon noticed the look of consternation on her face and Taeyeon noticed Hyoyeon noticing the look on her face, which only resulted in making her more anxious.

         “Hey, Taeyeon,” Hyoyeon spoke, her voice soft and calming.

         Don’t say my name like that. Don’t say it like it’s the most tender word you’ve ever held.

        “Don’t worry about learning all of their names today,” she smiled. “Sometimes I still mix up Jinyoung and Baro, and those two don’t even look a bit alike.”

         You went through so much trouble to introduce me though. I don’t want to disappoint you.

          Taeyeon typed the message into her phone and passed it to the blonde. Hyoyeon frowned and Taeyeon felt the nervousness bubbling up in her chest, waiting for Hyoyeon to speak, to be angry with her.

         “Stay right here.”

         Where is she going?

          Taeyeon panicked, her hands fidgeting inside the pockets of Hyoyeon’s coat as the younger girl disappeared into her office.

          Oh god, Taeyeon, you really did it now. You can’t even bother to remember the name of her staff and went and made her angry. After all she’s given you you go and make her ma-

          Taeyeon’s train of thought stops as she sees Hyoyeon exit her office, several pieces of paper in her hand that she couldn’t quite distinguish from a distance. She watched as Hyoyeon made her rounds once again, stopping at each staff member, talking for a moment, and handing them a slip of paper. By the time she got to the fourth person, Taeyeon realized what was happening and couldn’t help laughing at Hyoyeon’s actions. She had given everyone a sticker, a nametag, to be specific.

         What a dork.

            “HYOYEON!”

            Everyone in the kitchen reached to cover their ears as Jessica burst through the double doors.

            “Yah!” Hyoyeon shouted. “This is a kitchen, not SeaWorld, you dolphin!”

            Jessica paused in the doorway, glaring at Hyoyeon in a manner that Taeyeon felt could melt through walls.

            “I’m sorry,” she smiled eerily, “but what the was that, Hyoyeon?”

            “Oh , it’s HellSica,” Baro whispered, his face noticeably white with fear.

            Even Hyoyeon looked noticeably taken aback which amused Taeyeon to no end.

            “Come on, Taeyeon,” Jessica’s smile didn’t budge an inch as she grabbed the girl and dragged her out the doorway. “I guess we’ll just have to go greet Seohyun by ourselves.”

            Oh hell no, I don’t know what a HellSica is and I definitely don’t want to be left alone with one.

            Taeyeon’s eyes were screaming for help but it was Hyoyeon’s turn to laugh now, her hand on her ribs as she tried to keep herself silent, lest HellSica change her target.

            “You go ahead, tell Seohyun I’ll be out in a moment.”

            Taeyeon, sighed, resigned to her fate, and allowed Jessica to drag her away from the still smiling blonde.

Jessica’s POV

            Jessica had, admittedly, been fully warned to no longer meddle in Hyoyeon’s love life. She had waited what most people would consider a healthy amount of time before even entertaining the notion that Hyoyeon was ready to date again, but god, it had been three years before she worked up the nerve to even suggest that Hyoyeon go out on one simple date. Just one, a coffee date with Bora, an old friend to the both of them, because Bora too liked dancing and she was pretty and sweet so maybe, just maybe, Hyoyeon would be willing to give it a shot. All Jessica had gotten was a door slammed in her face and an hour-long conversation with Bora to apologize for why she had to cancel. She’d heard Hyoyeon crying that night and, of all people, Krystal had been the one to scold her. All night she wondered if it had really been too early to try and get her best friend to move on, and all night she told herself that maybe it was, but, in her mind, her intentions were only derived from her heart wanting Hyoyeon to be happy, and in the end that’s what mended their friendship once again. Jessica didn’t really think anything could ruin a life long friendship like theirs, but that night had felt like the closest she ever wished to come to it.

            She decided her approach needed to be more gentle, that she had to make Hyoyeon become comfortable enough with the idea before another attempt. She had Sooyoung over much more often, hoping that seeing a healthy, albeit overtly ual, relationship would have Hyoyeon yearning for company again. The two had discussions about different women in her industry and some nights Jessica would even invite them over for dinner, her outer intentions much more friendly than her inner ones. She even, in her most desperate mindset, thought of setting the girl up with Krystal, knowing her younger sister had looked at Hyoyeon in that way many a time, but she thought too much of the repercussions and, by the time she had placated them, Krystal had begun her relationship with Amber. Jessica thought that maybe the relationship would end quickly and, being the compassionate woman that she was, Hyoyeon would go to comfort Krystal and the path to them forming a relationship that exceeded their current bond would begin to form, but Krystal was happy and Amber was good to her so Jessica couldn’t complain. All in all, nothing seemed to be working and five years later Hyoyeon maintained her ritual of casual with strangers a few times a month with nary a relationship in sight. If it didn’t come as such a relief, Jessica would have been pissed that someone like Taeyeon could just walk in and surpass Jessica’s five years of work within an instant. Already Hyoyeon seemed so caring and comfortable with the girl. She hadn’t seen that kind of chemistry with Hyoyeon and a woman since, well since the last one. Jessica was of course happy but she felt fear b below the surface of that shallow happiness. It was like a bright ocean that had many dark dips in its depths. Sure, it seemed like a good idea to wade deeper into it, but one wrong step and Hyoyeon could drown quicker than Jessica could think to pull her back to shore. Putting all of her hopes in Taeyeon, well, she’d have to know a bit more before she was willing to hand over the reigns.

            “Seohyun,” Jessica waved, her other hand still holding tight to Taeyeon’s wrist in case the brunette thought she could escape.

            “Ah Jessica unnie, Taeyeon unnie,” she smiled, reaching her arms around Jessica’s waist and pulling her taught to her chest.

            Her elbow banged into Taeyeon’s ribs, causing the girl to visibly wince in pain.

            “Omo, sorry, unnie,” Seohyun’s voice became higher as she panicked and she rubbed Taeyeon’s ribs in a feeble attempt to comfort her.

            “Still got that killer elbow, kid,” Jessica laughed as Taeyeon’s eyes grew wide at Seohyun’s actions. “I wouldn’t touch her too much, Seohyun. She only likes when Hyoyeon touches her.”
            That comment managed to push Taeyeon entirely over the edge as a blush quickly overtook her features.

            Gotcha.

            Jessica smirked knowingly as Taeyeon tried to avoid her gaze and Seohyun only stared on in confusion.

            “Let’s head to the table, unnie. Usual arrangement?”

            “Usual arrangement,” Jessica agreed.

            Taeyeon quirked an eyebrow but Jessica waited to explain, knowing their system would seem somewhat complicated to outsiders without an example.

            “All right, Taeyeon, the usual arrangement goes like this. We seat by uality, so far we have no strictly dickly so we go by the Kinsey scale. Basically the gayer you are the farther to my left you sit. I’ll leave it up to you to find a spot once everyone else is seated since I already have it in my mind that you’re at least kind of mute.”

            Jessica hadn’t thought that Taeyeon’s eyes could become any wider but it seemed the girl was full of surprises.

            “You’re scaring the out of her, love,” Sooyoung said, taking her seat in the near middle of the circular arrangement.

            “What? It’s the simplest way to explain,” Jessica laughed lightly again, taking her seat to the left of Sooyoung.

            “Your fault for coming up with such a complicated system.”
            “If someone like you can figure it out, it’s obviously not that complicated.”
            “Calling me dumb, Ms. Jung?”

            “I call them as I see them, Ms. Choi,” Jessica smirked and Sooyoung only sighed. She did, however, feel a tinge of guilt at annoying her already exhausted girlfriend and felt that she deserved a little something for all of her trouble.

            “Can you two not make out at the table?” Krystal groaned, hoping over the side and joining her sister.

            “Oh come on, Krys, Soo has had a rough day,” Jessica pouted, earning another, much louder groan, from her sister. 

            “I’ve heard, or rather, I’m waiting to hear. Also, why is Taeyeon still standing?” Krystal asked.

            “We have to wait for the others for story time and Taeyeon can’t sit until she’s seen where she fits on the scale.”
            “You and your silly scale,” Krystal rolled her eyes at her sister. “Well, as you can see, Jessica is in the exact center because she is a biual that is equally attracted to guys and girls. Sooyoung is to the right side of the table because, although she’s biual, she really prefers girls. Amber and I sit over here because we’re both panual and, since that encompasses those outside the gender norm, we’re technically less gay than Jessica. Seohyun is gonna sit next to Sooyoung because she’s just plain gay and, as for Hyoyeon,” Jessica elbowed the younger girl, “it seems like you’ll just have to wait and see then,” Krystal whined.

            “It’s strange but Jessica likes it because it makes sure all of the couples sit together. We just go along with it because HellSica is scarier than an active volcano,” Amber explained as she appeared behind Taeyeon, removing her apron and taking her seat alongside Krystal.

            With Amber now seated, there were only four spots left, one on the left and three on the right. They all watched with what Jessica could only identify as mixed emotions as Taeyeon stood silent beside the table. Most of them had been caught up on the plan and were incredibly nervous over what side of the table Taeyeon would end up on.

            Seohyun had gone to fetch Hyoyeon and, finally, the two emerged from the kitchen, taking two of the three available seats to Sooyoung’s left.

            “Well, Taeyeon, are you going to sit down?” Hyoyeon asked, oblivious to what was going on in the minds of the six girls around her.

            Taeyeon only nodded, taking a seat beside Hyoyeon with a satisfied smile on her face.

            “Glad that’s settled,” Jessica smirked.