Meanwhile in New York, USA, the eye-smile queen from Girls’ Generation had just been back at her room after finishing a full round of shopping. She threw herself on the king-sized bed before she heard a loud ringing from her phone. Too drowsy to even check the number, she just grabbed the phone and brought it to her ears.

“Hellooo” She greeted; her voice was full of sleepiness.

“Miyoung-ah”

“Soonkyu?” Tiffany widened her eyes when she recognized the voice owner. “Why are you calling?”

“Well I miss you”

“Lie” She giggled. “You would usually just text me if you miss me. You don’t call unless there’s something urgent”

“…I guess so”

“So? What happened?”

“It’s amazing how you know me so well”

“Hey, I know all of you guys so well” Tiff confidently answered with her English. “So let’s get to the point”

“Well… I had this bickering with Taeyeon two nights ago”

“Okay?” The American’s face turned serious. “Then?”

Sunny went on with the story; it began with how it started to how it ended. Tiff only made ‘uh-huh’ and ‘hmm’ sounds most of the time as the other girl on the phone kept going.

“So what you mean is, you think Taeyeon accused you of neglecting the group by chatting with another girlgroup? In this case, with Park Chorong from Apink?”

“Yeah, but not that simple. I think she thinks I do not like talking with her that I find another people to talk with”

“Hmmm” Again, Tiff made that sound. “Sunny-yah”

“Huh?”

“Do you remember when you once talked to me last year, about how Taeyeon got really close to a girl she often went to concert with?”

“That’s last year right? I remember but, why that? Why bringing that up again?”

“Well as far as I remember you kept telling me of how Taeyeon did not speak to you but instead she went out a lot of times with this girl?

“…Yeah?”

“And you literally exploded the day she went to a concert with this chick and with Shinee’s Key and some other people as well”

“Okay, I do remember it and the pictures she posted with them but please, Miyoung-ah. I don’t get your point at all by bringing this up”

“Do you remember why you were so angry back then?”

Sunny went silence for a while. “Because she did not find me even though I openly stated that she could come to me at any time? I even mentioned that in a radio broadcast where the whole nation could watch it”

“And how did you feel when she came to that girl instead of you?”

“I was jealous… Well, not literally jealous, but… Ugh! What’s with this anyway!?”

“So you understand now. You keep mentioning lately how you like Chorong, even when we were in the dorm. You rejected her when she asked you to spend time coloring with her because of Chorong. This Chorong could be interpreted as that girl who was with Taeyeon back then, multiplied by ten”

“…I still don’t get what you’re trying to say”

“What am I trying to say? Seriously, Soonkyu? You’re asking what I’m trying to say?”

“Yeah because you keep beating around the bush!”

“What I mean is that Taeyeon is jealous of Chorong. That’s what I mean, Lee Soonkyu”

“Jealous?” Tiffany could not see Sunny, but she knew that girl was panicking. “Why would Taeyeon be jealous of Chorong?”

“I don’t know, maybe you should try asking Taeyeon yourself?” Tiff shook her head. “Seriously, it is about time you should talk about your real feelings with her”

“My real feelings?”

“Just talk with her, Soonkyu”

Sunny sighed. “Gomawo, Miyoung-ah”

* * *

Watercolor pencils were spread all over the table as Taeyeon lazily took one of them and started scribbling. She did not know what she was coloring; all she knew was these colors helped her calm down. It did not necessarily distract her from her thoughts, but at least it could make her a bit happier.

The door was then opened after she finished coloring the fifth fish. She turned around to find Sunny standing frozen right in front of the door; her face was cold yet sad. Not wanting to be the one who started first, the older danshin returned her focus to her ‘friends’ on the book.

“Hey” Much to her surprise, Sunny started first.

“Hey” She answered, still faking her ignorance.

“May I join?”

“Sure”

Sunny took the seat across her. She grabbed any color she could find the closest before bringing it to the page. After a few minutes of silence though, Taeyeon decided to peek over the girl shortly. She gulped, trying to pile up courage to begin a conversation.

“Your coloring does not seem right today” Again, Sunny unexpectedly initiated.

“Maybe I am just still having a lot of thoughts”

“About what?”

Taeyeon wanted to run away; she wanted to fake another thing to escape. But no, she mentally told herself, she had had enough torturing herself with Sunny’s absence these two days. “Sunny-yah”

“Hmm?”

“I…” Taeyeon avoided her gaze. “I am sorry”

Surprised by the sudden apology, Sunny was taken aback. Her hand stopped motioning as she stared deeply into Taeyeon’s eyes.

“Taeyeon-ah…”

“I am sorry” Taeyeon repeated. Even though her hand was still moving the pencil, she literally did not know where she was putting the colors on. “I shouldn’t have blamed you. I know I should have had more courage to be by your side and cover your ears that night”

Noticing that Taeyeon still hadn’t looked at her, Sunny put her grip back on the pencil and continued even though, same like the latter, her focus was not on the paper at all. “It’s not that, Taeyeon-ah. I just want you to understand… that I had no intention to go to someone else to talk with or whatsoever”

“I know… I understand. Like I said, it’s not your fault”

“And it’s not your fault either”

“I don’t know but…” Taeyeon paused for a matter of seconds. “I… was jealous of Chorong back then. Or so, I guess”

For the nth time, Sunny had to move her attention from the coloring to Taeyeon’s face. This time, however, she was stunned by the girl’s honest confession. She did not flinch from staring at her dandyu partner this time, as if she was sure Taeyeon still had more to say.

But Taeyeon did not, so Soonkyu decided to hold the other girl’s hand tightly. “I did not mean to make you jealous, I swear”

“I know you did not mean to. In the end, it was me who wasn’t supposed to get jealous. To you, I feel –” Taeyeon let out a short, shy laugh. “What do I do? I think I just admitted something I shouldn’t have”

“No, continue” Sunny locked their eyes. “Be honest with me now. Please”

Taeyeon let her teeth bite her own lips for a brief moment. “I guess I like you, Sunny”

Sunny sat still without moving a single inch.

“No, I think it is even more than just like. I don’t like you like you’re my crush. I have been in love with you, all this time” The taller said again.

Sunny snorted; she didn’t even realize tears had welled up in her eyes. “Then…” She forced herself to speak. “Then why haven’t you been honest with me until now?”

“I thought you liked someone else. Even as we speak now I still think you like someone else”

“Who? What makes you think so? Park Chorong?”

Taeyeon once again avoided the stare. “Well yeah, one of them”

“Gosh, Taeyeon. She is no more than a slight crush”

“But you keep mentioning you like her”

“Doesn’t mean I love her like I love you”

It took a few seconds for Sunny’s statement to be understood by Taeyeon. The older looked up in disbelief and found the latter still looking deeply into her eyes.

“Why do you think I like Chorong?” Sunny asked. “It’s because she reminds me of you, Taengoo. She’s cute, she’s the leader, and somewhat dorky, too”

This time, it was Taeyeon who sat still without moving.

“I miss that side of you. I want to see you smile dorkily again like you used to”

“Then…” Taeyeon gulped again. “Then you should help me out from now on”

“Sure!” Sunny’s lips finally turned up. “What is it?”

“Will you look at me more than just a crush?” Taeyeon fixed her expression; it was a serious one.

“Hmmm… I thought I have done so since a long time ago”

“Re- Really?” Taeyeon yelled in shock.

There was a couple quiet seconds before Soonkyu walked across the table and sat down in front of Taeyeon. slightly hung opened, wanting to speak some words that could assure her oldest fellow member. Those words never came out, though, as Sunny forgot everything once she caught Taeyeon watching her.

So instead of continuing, the two girls were suddenly lost in each other’s eyes as Sunny’s glare slowly turned into soft stare. Taeyeon’s eyes, however, found their ways down from Sunny’s eyes to Sunny’s nose before finally landing on Sunny’s lips. She gulped and unconsciously her own lips just by watching Sunny’s.

Finding her courage, she brought her hand to Sunny’s mouth and touched those same lips gently.

“May I?”

The question was then answered by a nod from Soonkyu. Without giving herself a second thought, Taeyeon moved forward and leaned in closer and closer until their lips touched. The moment their fingers met each others’ to intertwine perfectly was the moment she felt the warmth radiating from the girl she was kissing – the same one coming from herself. The moment she felt Sunny replying her kisses was the moment she was sure that Sunny really thought of her more than just a friend, more than just an eye-candy, and more than just a crush.