It wasn’t until 10am that Yuri managed to get out of bed.  After stretching last night’s fatigue from her body, she pulled aside the covers and got out of bed.  “Breakfast, then a shower, I think,” Yuri agreed with herself before opening the door.  She walked a few steps towards the kitchen before slowing down in thought.  It was obvious Sunny was awake, but what was that music she was listening to?  It didn’t sound like something she would normally listen to; it was quite old.  As she neared the door, she could hear the lyrics clearer.

Come on, shake your body baby, do the conga

I know you can't control yourself any longer

Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger

Don't you fight it 'til you tried it, do the conga beat

“Not bad,” she mumbled as she reached the door.  She was about to greet her flatmate until she saw something that stunned her.  Standing with her back to the door was Sunny, oblivious to everything around her.  She wore nothing but an oversized white shirt, which covered her safely, and a pair of grey socks, with her hair tied up loosely in a ponytail.  She was preparing her breakfast.  And dancing.  Well, swaying her body, waving her arms and occasionally hopping from one side to the other in tune to the music.  It passed as dancing.  She seemed happy, too.  Her iPod was playing through its speaker dock, entertaining its captivated audience of one.  Yuri smiled.  Yoona was fun in the morning, but she was never like this.  She never had bounds of energy like this.  Come to think of it, nobody she knew had bounds of energy like this, at least not first thing in the morning.  At some point in the middle of the chorus, Sunny span on her toes completely around and again until she faced her own audience.  Sunny jumped out of her skin as Yuri stood, leaning against the door frame, smiling and chuckling to herself.

“!”  Sunny shouted, clutching her chest, as though her heart might have burst at that moment.

“Sorry,” Yuri laughed and blushed.  “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, it’s ok,” she replied, breathing a little more, no longer dancing.  She walked over to her iPod and turned the volume down.  “It’s fine, I forgot you were here already.”

“I can see that,” she chuckled before taking a seat at the table.  “Is this how you are every morning?”

Sunny nodded and blushed, returning to making her breakfast.  “I have to shake off the junk from yesterday and put on my funk for today.”

Yuri nodded, understanding.  It took a few minutes before Sunny turned to sit down at the table.  She had made herself scrambled eggs, with pepperoni, cheese, fried onions and mushrooms, and they looked really nice.  They smelled delicious too, especially when Sunny poured a little chilli sauce over them.

“Want to share?” she smiled, sheepishly.

Yuri politely shook her head.  “If it’s ok with you, I’ll just get some fruit,” she smiled as Sunny took a bite of her breakfast.

Sunny nodded, swallowing her mouthful.  “I don’t have much in, but you can grab something from the fruit bowl over there,” she motioned with her fork.  Yuri nodded and stood up from the table, walking to the worktop that her housemate had directed her to.

“Do you have any orange juice?” she asked, picking up an apple and a banana.

“Umm hmmm,” Sunny confirmed, full.  Still eating, she pointed to the refrigerator with her fork.  As Yuri opened the door, she could see there wasn’t too much there, but what was there was very good.  Taking the bottle of fresh orange juice from the door, she closed the fridge and looked through the cupboards for a glass.

“Other corner,” Sunny directed, now empty.  Picking a tall glass and filling it with orange juice, Yuri sat back at the table and took a bite into her apple.  “You’re healthier than I am,” Sunny smiled.

Yuri shrugged.  “It’s how I like to be,” she explained.  “Healthy, fresh.  I don’t like to have a lot of weight.”  Sunny nodded, understanding, just before Yuri jumped in.  “Not that I’m saying you’re fat,” she backtracked, “you look great, you’re not fat at all, you’re perfect, I just meant ….”

“It’s ok,” Sunny giggled.  “I knew what you meant.”

Yuri took a few deep breaths before quickly taking a mouthful of orange juice.

“You look very slim, so obviously you’re not really big on eating junk, right?”  Sunny asked.

Yuri nodded.  She was very slim, although she was bigger at one point.

“Living with Yoona couldn’t have helped, could it,” Sunny laughed, stating it rather than asking.

Yuri shook her head.  “It’s like she just lives on take-outs,” Yuri laughed, taking another bite of her apple.  “You’d never think so, though.”

Sunny shook her head in agreement.  “The amount she eats, you’d expect her to be the size of a truck.”

Yuri nodded, not offering a counter-remark.  The pair continued eating and drinking in awkward silence.  Sunny, still enjoying her hot shot of caffeine, did what she always did: she put her elbows on the table, held her mug in both hands, and gazed lovingly into the liquid goodness she held, before closing her eyes and inhaling deeply the glorious scent it proffered.  It was at this point that Yuri decided to look towards the wooden table they shared, before quickly looking away.  Her shirt, with her sleeves rolled above her elbows, was clearly too big for her.  Probably her father’s or her ex-boyfriend’s, Yuri reasoned internally.  However, what made her look away was that it has been buttoned save for the three top buttons, leaving a substantial amount of cleavage on show.  The deep inhaling of her coffee only enhanced the view she had been gifted with.  It was close.  As Yuri averted her gaze, Sunny exhaled and opened her eyes, smiling to herself, completely oblivious to the embarrassment her friend was experiencing.  A sip of coffee later, and she rested her still warm mug on the table.

“You ok?” she asked, noticing the look on her companion’s face.

Yuri nodded.  “I’m fine,” she replied awkwardly, “just … you’re … kind of … ‘showing’ a little …”

Sunny furrowed her brow for a moment, before catching on.  “Oh my god, I’m sorry!” she cried, buttoning up her shirt.  “I didn’t think, I am so sorry.”  Now it was Sunny’s turn to be embarrassed.

Satisfied that she had covered herself up, Yuri turned back to her mortified roommate and smiled sheepishly.  “It’s ok, you’re not used to company yet.”

Sunny returned the smile.  “It’s my dad’s shirt,” she explained.  “I’ve always worn one of his shirts to sleep in, even as a child.  It was the only thing that ever got me to sleep.”  Yuri nodded, understanding, whilst Sunny continued.  “That changed when I met ‘His Royal Jerk-ness’ and I started sleeping in one of his shirts instead.  Now, it’s back to Daddy’s wardrobe.  Shame, really.”

“It is?”  Yuri asked, confused.  “How so?”

“Even though he was a terrible boyfriend, he had excellent taste in clothes,” Sunny smiled.  “It’s almost a shame that I threw them out.”

“Seriously?”  Yuri laughed.

“Almost,” Sunny conceded.  “But I guess I don’t know who else has been wearing them, and I don’t want to catch anything from those .”  Yuri almost choked, as Sunny smirked.  “Hey,” she reasoned, “What would you call a random girl who just opened her legs for your boyfriend?”

“I …” Yuri started, shocked by Sunny’s comment.  The shock didn’t last long before it was replaced by a modicum of pain.  Yuri lowered her gaze, looking directly at the section of the table in front of her.  “I guess the same thing,” she agreed, a few seconds later.

Nothing more needed to be said on that subject.  Sunny knew she had crossed the line.  “I’m sorry,” she apologised.  “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Yuri shook her head.  “It’s cool,” she smiled.  A few more tense moments passed, before Yuri stood from the table.  “I should get in the shower,” she announced.  “Thanks for breakfast.”  A sheepish smile formed on Sunny’s lips, as Yuri turned and headed to her bedroom.  As she closed the door, Sunny closed her eyes in despair and sighed.

“Oh god,” she muttered.  “Way to go, Sunny, now she thinks you’re a heartless .”  She downed her coffee in one gulp, before heading to her own bedroom to prepare her clothes for the day.

Yuri closed the door and stood behind it, resting her back on the wooden pane between her and the outside world.  She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down.  ‘What is wrong with you?’ she mentally chastised herself.  ‘Sunny was being funny, and you had to take it seriously!’  She leaned her head against the door and covered her face with her hands.  She had never been so sensitive to comments like this.  Normally, she was resilient, cool, collected.  But here, with Sunny, she didn’t know what to do.  She walked away from the door and sat on her bed, thinking of what to do and how she could get past this in her own mind.  Sunny wasn’t at fault, and yet she felt compelled to apologise for her words.  Yes, they were sharp, but they weren’t meant to hurt her; her poisonous darts were aimed squarely at her ex-boyfriend’s conquests.  Were there more than one?  She did say “those ”, so there must have been.  But those words hurt Yuri so much, so deeply, so precisely.  Especially since …

“No,” Yuri uttered, “that was a long time ago.  Sunny didn’t mean it.  She was just talking about her own experience.”  She closed her eyes and breathed for a few minutes, repeating her mantra to herself.  One more deep breath and she opened her eyes, determined not to let this bother her.  She sat straight upright, before standing and walking with purpose to the door.  She walked towards the kitchen to find Sunny … had gone.  She looked at the clock and saw why: those few moments that she had gone turned out to be almost fifteen minutes.  She sighed, her heel, collected her bathroom items and walked to the bathroom.