"Joonhyuk you rascal. Stop flirting with Tiffany! I don't wish to see you in the hospital after her boyfriend's back." Sooyoung smacked him on the shoulder. She couldn't take it anymore since he was being really obnoxious. She didn't want Tiffany to feel uncomfortable.

Their friend's eyes lit up the moment he saw the model walking in with Taeyeon. As they were talking while moving, he caught the eyesmile of Tiffany's and started to get to know more of her while having breakfast. Joonhyuk shrugged and tore his attention away from the brunette.

Taeyeon heaved a sigh of relief and smiled apologetically at Tiffany, who sat beside her. Joonhyuk got on her nerves the moment he started boasting about his work and how great a lover he was. She wanted to smack him inside out so she was thankful Sooyoung beat her to it. 

Tiffany returned the smile with a slight shake of her head to indicate she was alright with it. She got hit on multiple times back in the States as a model. She was used to it. It made her feel great in a way, that she's still sought after. Although to remain polite, she kept mum and let Joonhyuk do his thing. Usually she would have declined the person's advances, saying that she's taken to save herself unnecessary trouble. 

"Anyway," Joonhyuk started after the short silence, "does anybody want to watch the latest action movie tonight? I heard it's quite good."

"Don't you have a handful of women to bring out for dates?" Taeyeon retorted. She had to somehow make him pay the price for flirting with Tiffany so blatantly.

"What did I ever do to you to receive such treatment, Tae? And infront of our new friend?" He jokingly said, raising a brow and looked straight into her eyes.

Taeyeon almost quivered under his stare but did not miss the way he stressed out the last word of his sentence.

Damn, why is everyone suddenly so observant? Or am I too obvious? Taeyeon thought to herself as she stared at Joonhyuk, trying to read his facial expression to gauge if he meant what she had thought in her head.

"She's trying to protect Tiffany from your clutches, if you haven’t realized," Sunny commented, taking the staring contest as a cue to break the tension between them both, "we all are."

Joonhyuk broke the eye contact and put his hand over his heart, "I'm hurt, guys. I may be a flirt, but I know my limits okay? I know girls like Tiffany are off-limits." He glanced over to Taeyeon briefly before finishing his cup of juice in one gulp.

If she were to say she didn't catch that hint, she would be lying. It was obviously directed at her. Joonhyuk wanted her to know where she stood in this. He wanted her to back off from the model and leave her alone.

It all made sense now. Why his eyes sparkled the moment he saw Tiffany, why he flirted with her throughout the meal, why he stopped the moment Sooyoung mentioned Siwon, why he said what he said, and why he looked at Taeyeon that way.

He was trying to mirror her. Did her eyes sparkle that way when she was looking at Tiffany? Did she subconsciously convey the attraction towards that brunette through her actions? She did not know how she looked when she had Tiffany on her mind. It didn't occur to her she'd be obvious since she was one to mask her emotions well.

Yuri frowned at the exchange between her three friends. She was confused. It seemed like it was an insider thing that she didn't know of. But she decided not to probe since they would tell her if it's important anyway. "Well, sad to say I have a hot date tonight so I'll pass."

"You? A date?" Sooyoung teased. "Male or female?"

Tiffany almost choked on her water when she heard the question. Male or female? Yuri swing both ways? She looked at Yuri with wide eyes, unable to hide the surprised look.

Sooyoung gasped as she realized her mistake. She was so cozy that she forgot Tiffany was with them. She wasn't sure if Yuri was comfortable letting her know her ual orientation. "Damn," she cursed softly.

All of them looked at Yuri and waited for her to react. They all knew how upset she could get. Well, speaking from experience. They did not want to go through the long lecture she gave when one of them accidentally spilled that sensitive information to someone.

"What? Why are you guys looking at me like that?" Yuri looked at each of her friends and almost burst out laughing at Sooyoung's expression. She looked like she was having constipation. "It's alright."

She then turned to Tiffany whose expression was still the same as before. "Yeah, I swing both ways. Are you a homophobe?" She figured it might be better to come clean with Tiffany first before building on their friendship. She could be friends with a homophobe but she wanted to make sure Tiffany was comfortable with it.

"N-no. Sorry I was just… a little shocked, that's all." Tiffany paused to collect her thoughts. "I mean, I've always thought that South Korea is a very conservative country. And well, growing up in the States taught me not to brush anything off as impossible."

"Unnie, we are conservative but it doesn't mean that homouals are not around. I've seen a lot in my line of work. I'm sure you’ve seen some while working too, but they don't display their affection much. It's better to keep it down since the older generations still frown upon this kind of relationship.” Yoona explained. 

One of her stylist Unnie is dating a makeup artist of the same gender and everyone knew about the relationship. They kept quiet about it since it did not affect their work. They were all happy for them actually. Both of them looked so cute together.

"Are you, by any chance, into girls too Tiffany?" Joonhyuk asked out of nowhere. 

Taeyeon's jaw stiffened as she clenched her fists tightly on her thighs, and swore she would kill Joonhyuk the moment she gets her hands on him. He was being such a jerk that she wanted to beat the crap out of him, for real this time.

Sunny glanced worriedly at Taeyeon to see her hardened expression. She then kicked Joonhyuk under the table and glared at him. 

Joonhyuk only smirked and leaned back. It was as if he's trying to get on Taeyeon’s nerves and waited to see how she would react. 

---

"Oppa! Don't be rude!" Yoona wasn't sure why but she felt the atmosphere of this breakfast a little weird. Joonhyuk and Taeyeon seemed to be glaring at one another. The rest of them seemed just as clueless as she was. How did a question on whether anyone was interested in watching a movie become this?

Joonhyuk was silent as he looked at Tiffany, awaiting her reply. He knew he's being an and Sunny was trying to kill him with her glare but he's doing this for Taeyeon. She needed to stop hurting herself; she would if she were to continue being attracted towards Tiffany.

He had a hunch the moment he saw the both of them outside of the restaurant. He had seen that look on Taeyeon's face since high school and he knew what that meant; she liked whoever she's with. So he tried to flirt with the model to see how Taeyeon would react. Bingo, he thought as he noticed that subtle change in Taeyeon's expression. At the same time Sooyoung stopped him and the way Taeyeon relaxed thereafter did not go unnoticed.

Tiffany fidgeted a little in her seat as she felt uncomfortable under Joonhyuk's stare. She wasn't sure why it felt a little off, but she reminded herself that she had to be nice. 

"You don't have to answer that," Taeyeon said softly, "just ignore him." She noticed that little shift Tiffany made and attempted to stop her from answering. Or rather, to prevent herself from hearing her answer.

"Um," Tiffany cleared , "I'm not against homouality. But I've never- I don't know if I could ever be attracted to females that way." She unknowingly glanced at Taeyeon from the corner of her eyes. 

What she felt for her… it couldn't be, right? Although she had never felt this way towards any of her friends, but it could just mean that she can be herself best whenever she's with Taeyeon. She felt so comfortable with the blonde that she could open up to her easily. This was hard to come by and she would like to keep Taeyeon with her for as long as possible.

Taeyeon sort of expected the answer but it didn't hurt any less. She wasn't prepared for this. But the question was, would it make any difference?

She unclenched her fists and allowed her hands to fall to her side. She wanted to fight Joonhyuk, but what Tiffany said defeated her. This was not a fair fight. The urge to hit him disappeared and she felt lighter somehow. She wasn't sure if she should kill him for pulling her out of this one-way attraction, or to thank him for it.

At least now I know I don't have to try. And I won't go through having my hopes crushed, Taeyeon thought to herself. It was time to move on. She just hoped that she could do it. 

It would be too painful for her to continue seeing Tiffany in a romantical way while being friends. It was like how a high school student's crushing on her best friend but she couldn't tell her because the latter is a heteroual.

---

Needless to say, breakfast ended with awkwardness. Taeyeon wanted to get out of there as fast as she could, Joonhyuk sustained injuries on his shin courtesy of Sunny and Tiffany looked like she was deep in thoughts. The rest of them, with the exclusion of Sunny, were still as clueless as before. 

The topic on movie was long forgotten as they parted ways from Sunny's restaurant. Taeyeon was the first to bolt out the door, followed by Tiffany since the blonde agreed to send her to work while on their way here. Sunny made Joonhyuk stay as she wanted to talk to him about Taeyeon. 

She waited for everyone to clear out from the place before smacking Joonhyuk hard on his arm. "What the hell were you doing?!" She almost screamed from frustration.

"What you're not doing, duh." He shrugged and rubbed his arm. He made a mental note to claim medical bills from Sunny if he were to sustain any internal injuries. This petite woman could be very ruthless with her physical abuse. 

"How'd you know?" She demanded. She wanted to know what it was that gave Taeyeon away.

"You belittle me, Sunshine. I knew the moment they were outside of this restaurant. That look on her face, and how her eyes sparkled, speaks volume. She's falling, Sunny. We should pull her out before she sinks in deeper."

Sunny knew he had a point. Time was running out and judging by the way Taeyeon took care of Tiffany, it's just a matter of time for her to confirm her feelings for the brunette. Things were not looking good.

"Look, I know I was being a jerk just now. But I did it for her. She needed to know Tiffany doesn't look at her that way. She's not going to give up on her relationship with her long term boyfriend for something 'new' or 'special'" Joonhyuk quoted with his fingers in the air. He knew he had to let Taeyeon down slowly and softly. But he did not want to prolong the wait. He needed Taeyeon to know Tiffany doesn't swing her way.

"Fine. Just be a little more subtle next time. Did you see the look on her face?" Sunny scrunched up her nose as she recalled how dark her friend's expression was.

"I was afraid for a moment that she'd lunge at me when I asked Tiffany the question. Well, at least I'm still in one piece."

"You better be careful from now on. She could be as vicious as I am. She might just throw a punch at you as a greeting next time," Sunny joked as she cleared the table. It was about time to open her restaurant and her employees are coming soon.

Joonhyuk took it as his cue to leave, but not before telling Sunny how determined he was to get Taeyeon out of this situation safe and sound. "She can do whatever she wants. At least she's channeling her frustrations out and not keeping them inside."

Both their expressions dimmed at the thought of Taeyeon keeping her feelings to herself after every unsuccessful relationship. She always thought she was the one who caused it, that she wasn't enough, that she could do better. That was why she always gave her all for her relationships and ended up hurting even more. It was like a cycle and they were all there to prevent it from happening again.

---

So here's another chapter. Wow, I've passed the 2-digit mark. Once again, thanks for subscribing and I hope it's not a disappointment so far! I try to not make it too typical/expected but at times I may just write something that other authors did. Or something really expected.

It's a long chapter but also an exciting one. Kind of. I liked how Taeyeon has friends like Sunny and Joonhyuk that notices things to prevent their friend from getting her heart broken. We all have that kind of friend, I guess. 

Good day, everyone! (:

 -E