Taeny Arknights AU, General, 600 words
09.06.2024
context: Tiffany is a vulpo noble, she got infected and ran away, Taeyeon is just an ursus commoner
this is an old something that was hidden on my folder for a long time that i never explored too much but wrote a bit more for @everydayau
"Why are you even hiding me?" Tiffany sighs, "you're always moody around me and complaining about everything."
Taeyeon looks up from her book, but doesn't speak. She’s not trying to make Tiffany feel uncomfortable and unwelcomed, but the way Taeyeon stays quiet and composed is enough to make her squirm in her seat.
She shows no signs of answering and Tiffany looks around the kitchen table nervously, scratching her skin, trying to concentrate on something else; she looks at the small chunk of crystals showing on her left thigh before she gives in, "I mean, you clearly hate me.”
Still no answer, Tiffany feels her stomach churning and blood boiling, “I’d never do it to you.”
"Do what?" Taeyeon keeps her impassive face, which only adds to the irrational rage.
Tiffany frowns, bothered, "Help you. If the tables were turned, I’d never help an infected."
"Maybe that's why I'm helping you," Taeyeon wrinkles her nose and closes her book, sliding it aside, finally expressing some degree of tiredness, "so I can be sure that I’m better than you."
The silence lingers around, and they fall into a staring contest, which Taeyeon wins the moment Tiffany shifts on her chair uncomfortably and scoffs.
She opens her mouth a couple of times, "So this is just a situation so you can feel superior?"
"Yes."
"You live in a cottage in the middle of nowhere," Tiffany starts, gesturing around at the dead trees at the window and thick layer of snow on the windowsill, "your parents are barely home and now you're also exposed to the infection because of me. I pity you."
Now Tiffany has hit a nerve, for Taeyeon straightens her back and stiffens her jaw, "at least I'm not hiding at some lowlife's house in fear of being thrown away by my own family. I'm sure my father would at least try to save me. I'd not be disposable, as it seems you were."
Tiffany closes her eyes. Taeyeon wasn't lying, and she deserved the retaliation to some degree, she started it anyway. Although she would argue about Taeyeon’s father, he didn't show any actual concern about his daughter, only a mouth more to feed with the small income he probably makes; Tiffany hears it sometimes, when he rarely arrives home and she has to hide inside Taeyeon’s room and be quiet. The walls are thin, she hears him ordering Taeyeon around and only keeping formalities before he sends her off to her room, voice thick with alcohol and steps heavy as he, too, walks to his own bedroom and comes out before the sun's even up, Tiffany’s seen the way Taeyeon enters the room and goes straight to bed without saying anything, suddenly exhausted and head hanging low, ashamed of her situation.
There's no reason to keep the argument, both are miserable, Tiffany notices Taeyeon shrinking a little into the chair. Taeyeon doesn't reach for her book and Tiffany keeps staring at her small patch of crystalized skin.
She touches the soft skin around, always afraid to touch directly into the black crystal, "I was lying. I'd help you now, you know," Tiffany whispers, still looking down. Taeyeon looks up, confused. "Right now, I wouldn't even hesitate to help you if the tables were turned."
Tiffany offers her a small smile, and Taeyeon fumbles to reach her book again and open into a random page to hide her face. Tiffany can't see her expression when Taeyeon replies, "well, now doesn't matter too much when you've already lost everything," and she notices that her flustered tone doesn't quite match her words.
Tiffany’s had the marks for as long as she could remember. Yes, marks, as in plural.
During school, she hides the ones on her left wrist under cuffs, bangles and bracelets—unlike her fellow classmates who gush, and compare handwritings, hoping to find their match.
It was strange enough having two. She had to have three.
The first one is in blocky Korean, a sentence circling around her wrist that her mom translates to ‘Five more minutes mom.’
That soulmate will apparently be sleeping when she runs into them, but they sound friendly enough. Much better than the other mark that she was born with anyway, beneath the sentence wrapped around her wrist is two words written in a thin cursive script.
‘Oh God.’
That’s it, and Tiffany wonders what on Earth she did for those to be the first words her soulmate utters to her. At least it’s in English.
The third one appears when she was four months old, meaning this person is younger than her, still they are close in age—the other two could be thirty years older for all she knew.
The mark lies on her right hip, again in Korean, but according to her mom, a much neater scrawl which translates to, ‘You look like you can use some help.’
Tiffany spends most of her youth imagining scenarios that could lead to the third one. Sometimes she thinks she should feel bad about neglecting the other two, but well…what reasonable situation could she come up with for ‘Oh God’ and ‘Five more minutes mom’?
Here’s what Kwon Yuri knows about her future. She’s the youngest out of all her soulmates; she was born with all her marks. When she learns how to read, she knows that she would speak first. She would speak first to all three of her older soulmates. Apparently they weren’t very outgoing types.
She also knows that she would follow in her aunt’s footsteps and dance instead of going into professional swimming like her dad wants her to. There is only so many situations that her mark (the one that spirals up her ankles), ‘Thanks, this week’s choreography hates me.’ can apply to.
Another thing she knows is that one of her soulmates is kinda bossy. That was putting it rather lightly. ‘That’s nice. Now take off your shoes.’ can’t be interpreted in a lot of ways. She wonders if she’ll meet them both in the same place, shoes and dancing could go hand in hand.
The third one is a little stranger. It sits right underneath her collarbone and says, ‘I’m still growing!’
Yuri was of course, prepared to withhold judgement until she actually meets her soulmates. But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t always curious about what kind of people they’d be.
______________________________________________)
Yoona’s always had a fascination with the words that are written just underneath her diaphragm in impeccably neat handwriting. The kind that her teachers would always point to when saying ‘why can’t you write like that!?’
It’s got five simple words, ‘Yes I would like that.’ and she’s intrigued because they’re written so formally. Yoona doesn’t know a single person that has ever spoken to her with honorifics like that before and it’s kinda saddening, because it probably means that she wouldn’t meet this person until she’s older and speaking politely like the rest of the stuffy adults.
Taeyeon isn’t born with any marks. Then one shows up when she’s a month old, another one turns up four months later, and if her parents weren’t already having a panic attack, the third one shows up exactly four months after that.
She’s not sure whether to thank whatever deity is up there that no more appear because she’s already having issues covering them up—or curse whatever deity is up there because of course she had to have three.
When she first learns how to read, the first one she deciphers is written vertically down her forearm. ‘Oh, so you do talk!’ She hates her soulmate already.
The one down her thigh (and the reason why she could never wear shorts) reads, ‘Brilliant, we get the midget.’ She takes back what she thought about the other one, she hates this person even more.
The third one is written in English, and it’s sprawled across her back. By the time she’s gained proficient skill in the language to even try to decipher it, she’s already beyond annoyed as hell at this person, because the bloody thing is over a paragraph long and it had to be a rant.
Despite her best efforts, she hasn’t managed to make out much other than, ‘Hi I’m ********* nice to meet you. ******************************************* ************************************************************************ ******************************************************************’
Taeyeon was not very impressed by any of these people. Especially the motor-mouth that used her entire back as a notepad.
‘Wow, your body has great moves. I mean you move great…I like watching you dance. I mean you dance really well. I…Damnit.’
Hyoyeon thinks her soulmate is an idiot.
But at least she can thank that one for telling her about one of her favourite hobbies. The other one is completely useless, and even more idiotic than the first.
Sooyoung is eleven when she joins SM Entertainment as a trainee, and as stupidly cliché as it sounds, her first day will forever be imprinted in her memories.
She remembers the cheap floorboards that were only painted to look like wood, and the sturdy metal door that opens into the dance hall. The mirrors are lined up on the sides, while cloud-patterned curtains cover the bare plasticine wall on the far end. But all of that is secondary.
The first thing that catches her eye is the dancing brunette in the corner of the room. Her limbs are flailing all over the place and she doesn’t look like she has a care in the world. Before Sooyoung can even register what she’s doing, her feet are already moving.
A million things are running through her brain, thinking up of ‘cool’ phrases to say, but the word-diarrhoea that comes out of her mouth is:
“Wow, your body has great moves,” she feels like slapping herself in the face, “I mean you move great…” Urgh, someone kill me, “I like watching you dance. I mean you dance really well. I…damnit,” well there goes any chances of ever speaking to this girl ever again.
To her complete surprise, the black-haired trainee next to the dancing girl just pouts and moans, “No fair! It’s been like four months!”
Before Sooyoung could even begin to ask what that was about, the dancer speaks up, “That was quick.”
Sooyoung’s world freezes, and instinctively she pulls on the collar of her shirt and looks over at her shoulder. Yep. Those are the words.
The dancer looks her up and down and says, “So you’re the stupid one.”
“Hey, I am not stupid!” Sooyoung protests indignantly, “…most of the time,” she relents before a huge grin spreads on her face, after all she had just met her soulmark. “Hi I’m Choi Sooyoung.”
“Kim Hyoyeon, nice to finally meet you.”
“Finally? You waited four months,” the other girl says, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Ignore Jessica,” Hyoyeon says before lowering her voice to a whisper, “She’s just upset because she has three, and she’s been here longer than me, and none of them are here yet.”
“I can hear you,” Jessica points out petulantly.
“So, what’s your favourite food?” Sooyoung asks immediately. It’s her go-to question when meeting someone new, and it usually gets weird looks as a response.
Hyoyeon however, just cracks up laughing. When Sooyoung asks why, she wordlessly pulls back the sleeve of her shirt for Sooyoung to see. Sooyoung just grins, she can tell that they’re all going to get along famously.
_______________________________________________)
Jessica’s never had a lot of friends growing up, due to being a painfully shy child. Always hesitant to talk to others, always hiding behind her parents when they’re bringing guests over or trying to introduce her to friends.
But for some reason, Hyoyeon and Sooyoung stick to her like glue and the three of them are rarely ever seen apart. Despite the fact that the two of them are each other’s soulmarks, they never make her feel like a third wheel. After seeing one of her marks, the one on the back of her hand that refers to her as ‘sunbaenim’, Hyoyeon declares that they have to start behaving like ‘eonnies’ and break the new trainees in, whatever the hell that means. Jessica just plays along.
Which is how she finds herself standing outside the training hall, Hyoyeon on her left, and Sooyoung on her right. All three of them had their hands on their hips and are trying their hardest not to crack up laughing while glaring down at the obviously terrified newbie.
“Hey punk, haven’t you around before,” Sooyoung says, and it’s hilariously evident that she is trying not to laugh, but the trainee doesn’t even notice.
“Um…” the poor girl says, and for some reason she decides to focus on Jessica, probably because she is standing right in front of the girl, “Hello sunbaenim, I’m new.”
Jessica hears Hyoyeon inhale sharply, she knows that both her friends recognise the phrase on her hand, but she could barely think. Instead of saying anything remotely welcoming, she blurts out the rest of their scripted ‘hazing’.
“That’s nice. Now take off your shoes.”
So they watch as Jessica’s potential soulmark takes off her sandals and walk into the room pitifully.
“…That was yours right?” Sooyoung checks uncertainly.
Jessica just blinks, “I…think so…”
“Great! One down, two to go,” Hyoyeon cheers.
Jessica smiles and couldn’t resist adding, “Gotta catch ‘em all.”
Yoona’s never really paid much attention to the shy girl that hangs out with Hwanhee. She was nice enough, but quiet and easy to overlook, especially by Yoona who bounces around to every friendship group with a huge smile and an adorkable laugh.
Three or four of the class normally takes the subway together after training. But this week Hwanhee’s got to stay back for extra lessons, and Jungmo went to buy a new guitar, so that just left Yoona and the shy girl.
Yoona, ever being the playful ‘choding’ that she is, bends low in a formal bow and holds out her hand to the shy girl, “May I have the honour of escorting the lady home?”
The girl’s eyes widen and her voice is slightly shaky as she replies, “Yes, I would like that very much.”
Yoona tightens her hold on the other’s hand ever so slightly, “You know, I don’t think I ever asked for your name.”
“Joohyun,” she says quietly, her lips quirk up imperceptibly, “Seo Joohyun.”
Not for the first time in her life, Taeyeon curses her alarm clock. For some reason it hadn’t rung on time (and yes, she did set it before taking a nap!), so now she’s late. Again.
Her instructor is going to kill her.
She sprints around the corridor, and spots something that makes her heart sink. Great. It’s the American girl, though luckily she just had one crony with her. Taeyeon still hasn’t forgotten about the three of them accosting her on her first day. New girl, wide-eyed from Jeonju, and what do they do? Embarrass her, that’s what.
City girls.
She did not have time for this right now. Unfortunately the girls spot her and one of them opens her mouth to speak—Taeyeon beats her to it.
“I’m lost and I’m already late as it is—
But the girl speaks over her and interjects snarkily, “Oh, so you do talk!”
“—can you just tell me where the training hall is!?” Taeyeon finishes, and then all three of them blink as each one processes exactly what the other just said.
“Brilliant, we get the midget,” the taller one says brightly, “She sings better than you,” she says to the American girl, which earns her an annoyed elbow in the ribs.
“I’m still growing!” Taeyeon bites back automatically.
Silence ensues as three pairs of eyes glance around at each other, unsure of what to say.
Taeyeon clears her throat, “Hi,” she says sheepishly.
“Hi,” the American girl says holding out her hand, “I’m Jessica Jung.”
“Kwon Yuri,” the taller one puts in.
“Kim Taeyeon,” and of all the scenarios that she had concocted in her head, this first meeting is definitely not one of them. Then Taeyeon remembers the rest of the marks on her, “Do you guys have…?”
“More, yeah,” Jessica nods.
“Have you met the other one?” Yuri asks hopefully.
Taeyeon shakes her head, “Nope, just you guys. But the other one…well…Actually, you can tell me what it says!” she says excitedly before turning around and lifting up her shirt a little bit, so Jessica can see the English rambling on her back.
Jessica takes one look at it and is too busy laughing for the next hour to be of any use.
Tiffany bounces back and forth on the ball of her heels nervously.
She can do this!
After all, there’s no point going to Korea just to loiter outside her dorm because she was too nervous to go in.
She grits her teeth and twists the doorknob.
The room that greets her is a mess. The walls are a nice light blue, and there are two beds on either side. One is neatly made, and probably hers, because the other one is basically a lump with a blanket thrown on top.
The lump moves and a head pokes out, “Five more minutes mom,” the occupant grumbles blearily, before opening her eyes, “Hi, you my new roommate?”
“Hi I’m Tiffany Hwang nice to meet you,” and the ramble that comes out of her mouth is pretty much indecipherable as she went on autopilot mode. She knows that she has a tendency to ramble when she’s nervous, but this is getting ridiculous even for her. Oh god, someone stop me!
When she finally stops, she barely has time to duck before a pillow goes sailing through where her head used to be. Tiffany frowns, she’s had a lot of responses to her nervous ramblings—usually eye-glazed and slack jawed looks, but never a pillow to the face before.
“You!” her roommate glowers at her, “Do you even remember what you just said!? Actually no, just read it off my back. My entire back! Do you know how hard it was to go swimming with this thing!?” and with that, she turns around and strips off her shirt.
Tiffany was starting to wonder why she even came to Korea. Sure, she’s met one of her marks, but the language barrier was a much more problematic issue than she realised. Communication was something she had definitely taken for granted back in the States. It was incredibly lonely to not be able to properly speak to anyone.
So when she heard that there was another American trainee here, she was understandably beyond ecstatic. Finally! Someone that she could talk to. Someone that would understand all the things she found so confusing here. All the honorifics, and the shoes, and the bowing, and the apparent taboo subjects.
She practically skipped to practice that afternoon with a huge grin on her face, and spotted the girl that Taeyeon had described. It was impossible to miss her really—short, cool eyes with a very indifferent expression, surrounded by a shorter blonde, and a taller athletic girl.
“Oh, American girl!” Tiffany exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands together.
The girl glanced at her and had that stereotypical ‘deer-in-the-headlights’ look and mumbled, “Oh god.”
Tiffany blinked, thinking back to all the different horrible ways that she had imagined the situation to surround that line, “Huh…That wasn’t so bad.”
Platonic soulmarks weren’t something that many teens paid attention to back in sex-ed. After all, why would they when the tales of burning romance and star-crossed lovers were infinitely more exciting. What was a platonic soulmark, but a glorified best friend?
Hyoyeon realised that she couldn’t be more wrong. She and Sooyoung got along amazingly, but it wasn’t the same as her relationships with her other friends, like Jessica. There was something more, they complemented one another, and it was almost as if they possessed the same brain sometimes. Yet at the same time, there was no need for anything else, they were the closest friend the other could have. She didn’t know if that was because of the lack of a third—Jessica and Yuri never did anything before Taeyeon turned up (albeit, age could’ve been a factor there).
“I’ll show you useless!” Sooyoung’s enraged hiss snapped Hyoyeon back to reality, where she was sitting on the couch, watching her soulmate blowing some poor dude’s brains out.
“Ha! Suck it!” Sooyoung roared in triumph, trampling over the smug bastard’s limp body and kicking at his head, which lay disconnected, brains splattered against the brick wall, “Who says girls can’t game? Eat my f—
“—Do you really have to be this graphic?” Hyoyeon sighed as Sooyoung cheered, though she couldn’t bring herself to really be upset over it. She wasn’t her mother after all.
“I’m standing up for the pride of all female gamers out there,” Sooyoung defended with a grin. Her right hand reached out for the bag of Cheetos lying on the coffee table, her left continuing to manoeuvre her character through the maze of buildings.
“Sonuvabitch!” she cursed as her character got his head blown off.
“Ha,” Hyoyeon laughed, it was way too easy to get invested in these sorts of games, “My turn.”
“Wait, wait, gimme a sec. I need to kill this guy two more times,” Sooyoung muttered, she spotted the name of her killer in the little corner of her screen—‘Sunny25’. Brilliant, so either she was killed by a twelve year old—or else some college dude who decided to call himself a cutesy name to seem harmless.
“What happened to the second controller you had?” Hyoyeon asked, wondering why she was waiting for a turn instead of shooting stuff right alongside Sooyoung.
“Rage quit,” Sooyoung said simply. Barely a second after her character reappeared, his brain got splattered against the concrete. And then again, and again, and again.
“Ok, it’s totally my turn now,” Hyoyeon said as veins started popping out on Sooyoung’s forehead.
“Who the fuck camps in the re-spawn zone!?” Sooyoung exploded into her mic, “You juvenile shitheaded fuckwit! I bet you play COD, yeah, go back to playing COD!”
There was a silence in the game coms before a cheerful feminine voice answered with, “Nope, but I do have Pokémon. Relax Jeolla-do*, it’s just a game.”
Hyoyeon stared as Sooyoung’s hand slammed on the power button of her Xbox.
“Um…Wasn’t that your…?”
Sooyoung blinked, pausing for a tense moment, “Yes, oh hell.”
Yuri found that she was very different from her marks. Where she’s outgoing, Taeyeon is shy. Where she’s athletic, Jessica would rather walk and be late than do any bit of running. Where she’s reserved, Tiffany is opinionated, and never hesitates to state whatever she’s feeling. They’re four very different people, and they shouldn’t get along, but they do.
Perhaps it’s the youth, their shared dreams, or the innate excitement of finding one’s mark. They give and take, push and pull.
“Here, let me help you with that. It’s one, two, turn,” Yuri’s hands guide Tiffany’s hips as they sway to the beat.
“Yul, try this exercise, it’s great for the abs,” Tiffany suggested after seeing Yuri stumble back from the gym, sweaty and red-faced.
“Hey Sica, breathe from your diaphragm, it’ll help hold the notes. You’re still breathing from the chest,” Taeyeon explained to a rather out-of-breath Jessica.
“Taeyeon, you should check out this cream. It clears the skin right up.”
Just because they were each other’s marks, doesn’t mean that they would magically fit together seamlessly, like pieces to a puzzle. For every story of perfect happy ever afters, and greatest loves in the world, there were plenty about those who just couldn’t click. Sometimes they were just too different, or too similar to get along, headstrong personalities that clashed. Other times, people change, and they find themselves trapped, unable to be content and they wouldn’t know why.
No one knew the reason, none of the brightest minds had ever figured out how the marking worked. One day, you’d wake up with the person’s words on your body. There were no explanations, no mechanisms—none that could be documented or noted anyway.
Im Yoona and Seo Joohyun have no idea what they’re doing.
They don’t seem to match at all. It’s not just the obvious difference of one being loud and sociable, while the other is quieter than a mouse—they don’t seem to have anything in common at all.
Not even the reason that they’re there at SM entertainment as trainees.
Yoona wanted to be a dancer, Joohyun a singer. Yoona was energetic, always ready for another round, and while Joohyun was by no means lazy, she just didn’t possess the same zealousness for dance as the other girl, instead, channelling her energy into regiments of vocal exercises.
Joohyun was straightforward, always the one you could trust to tell it to you straight, couldn’t lie to save her life. Yoona was an aspiring actress, she could talk rings around a stranger and make them believe that her ‘poor great grandmother’ was dying and needed a kidney transplant.
Yoona loved dramas, and action movies—car chases and loud, spectacular explosions. She loved the gunfights, the escalating spectacles, and the fiery blazes that had her heart pounding. Joohyun preferred cartoons and fairy tales, cutesy animals and stories with morals, of elves and centaurs, and wizards and fables of old.
Yoona liked pop music. Light, fun, dance tracks that you could bop your head to, and spaz out with your friends, yelling the iconic lyrics out to the wind. Joohyun listened to ballads. Songs that revealed the singer’s soul, and touched the listener’s heart. Gentle rhythms that one could fall asleep, or listen to after a long stressful day.
Yoona attended school because it’s compulsory. She does averagely and managed to get good grades, all the while complaining about it like the rest. Joohyun strived for nothing less than excellence. She loved learning new things and hated the stereotype of entertainers being stupid—so she sets out to end that ridiculous notion singlehandedly—she’s show them, even if she had to stay up till 2am, with all her dance and vocal lessons in the way.
They hung out with the same circle of friends, but once they were alone, they could hardly say two words to each other. The conversations never come about naturally and they just don’t flow, often trailing to an awkward silence.
How fate decided that they were compatible, neither Yoona, nor Joohyun could understand.
When Sunny joined the company, she didn’t expect to be able to debut for years. Imagine her surprise when they tacked her onto a pre-existing group that was about to debut. A group that had trained together for at least two years, and had already been working on their choreography for six months. A group that was apparently split into three different soulmark bonds. Was her uncle trying to alienate her?
The first day was beyond awkward.
She’d come in, introduced herself, and gotten one enthusiastic wave (apparently the American girl was always excited), one formal bow (the maknae never strayed from her manners after all), and two half-hearted helloes out of the remaining six.
It was pretty clear how they divided up. The dancers went one way, and the singers went another. Dancers practiced their vocal techniques, while singers refined their dancing. Sunny wasn’t sure what to do. She needed to learn the choreography and learn the lyrics.
As she was watching the two groups, feeling more and more lost as they merrily talked, and laughed at inside jokes years in the making—Sunny wondered if she should just quit. The group that she was supposed to debut with, Sugar hadn’t gone through, and after five years of training, maybe she should just give it up. Her old company had gone bankrupt, and her uncle’s feeble attempt at fast-tracking her here was not working out. These guys obviously don’t want her here, and she could only imagine what kind of disaster discord between members would cause when they actually debut, and—
“Hey, wanna come practice with us?” the tallest girl asked with a bright grin.
“Um…Yeah, I…I’m kind of hopelessly lost,” Sunny admitted sheepishly.
“Eh, don’t worry about it. Half of our group are still asleep, but you probably already noticed that,” the tall girl indicated to one of the singers who looked like she was sleep-dancing, “Sorry, what was your name again? Soonkyu was it? I’m Sooyoung.”
“Sunny,” she said, a small smile appeared on her face. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“Sunny?” a strange look passed over Sooyoung’s face.
“What is it?” Sunny asked, wondering what was wrong with her chosen name. It was cute, and most importantly fresh. Much better that grouchy old Soonkyu, what on Earth had her mother been thinking?
“Nothing,” Sooyoung shook her head, “It just reminds me of this annoying person I used to play Battlefield with.”
Sunny blinked, “Wait…” she narrowed her eyes, she knew that accent sounded familiar, “Jeolla-do?”
“Don’t call me that,” Sooyoung replied automatically before her mouth dropped open, “No way…”
“This is just too weird,” Sunny agreed, pulling back her sleeve, “Do you know how much trouble I used to get in by my teachers for writing swear words on my arm?”
“Sorry,” Sooyoung said sheepishly, “but that’s what you get for camping in the re-spawn zone.”
“Hey lazybums! Let’s get practicing!” Hyoyeon called.
“We’ve got the set!” Sooyoung exclaimed, jabbing her thumb in Sunny’s direction.
*Sooyoung is from Gwanju, and she used to speak with a very heavy Jeolla-do accent. Hence why Sunny called her that.
Sorry about how long this took to get out. I was having major issues with everything and I’m still not too pleased with how this turned out…It’s completely all over the place…
Time changes everything.
It’s not often that we remember. After all, what’s ten days to a human? One thousand years is not even a blink in Earth’s history, but incomprehensible to us. Maggots to mayflies, mountains to dust. Mayflies to maggots, dust to mountains.
Time changes it all, Yoona and Seohyun know that more than most.
They were two distant ‘friends’—if you could even call them that, part of a larger group. Now they are two of the youngest, also part of a larger group. On the surface, not much seems to have changed. But after being surrounded by same-aged peers her whole life, suddenly Seohyun finds herself to be the youngest of nine.
Unnie this, and unnie that, and –yo ends up tacked onto every sentence. Yoona’s her closest age-mate now, and somehow, that just makes it easier to talk to her.
“You know, you don’t have to speak so formally with them all the time. They don’t really care about formalities,” Yoona tells her.
Seohyun shrugs, “I can’t really help it. They’re unnies,” she says, as though that explained everything, and when it came to Seohyun, it actually did.
“Well don’t do it for me,” Yoona says for the hundredth time, “Seriously don’t.”
Seohyun has to smile at how adamant Yoona is about it, “Ok.”
***
Yoona used to love being at the centre of attention. Whether it be the centre of her social group, introducing people to their future best friends, or centre stage as everyone watched her dance and sing.
Now she hates it.
“Attention whore always in the middle.”
“Whys the camera always on her!?”
Yoona clasps Seohyun’s hands and pulls her over to the middle of the stage with her. It’s almost a habit now, bringing the others along so she wouldn’t be alone with the members of Super Junior.
“Oh my god. What is she doing with Oppa!?
“Get away from him bitch!”
She can’t help it if they talk to her. They’ve all been friends for years and Yoona’s always had more guy friends, than girl friends.
“Ignore them,” Seohyun runs her hand down Yoona’s arm and whispers, “They don’t matter. They’re just jealous that they’ll only ever get to see their beloved ‘oppas’ on stage, while you know them as goofy, drooling, idiots.”
“Lucky me then.”
“She’s useless. Can’t sing, can’t dance. Why is she even in the group?”
“You’re a talented actress, beautiful, brave, and more hardworking than anyone would ever know. You don’t need them, you’ve got your real fans, and more importantly, you have us,” Seohyun’s voice is always soothing.
Yoona gives her a small smile, “I’ve got you.”
***
They call Seohyun stuck up. A social stick in the mud, rigidly proper and polite. They think she’s a total bore, but Yoona knows better.
She’s seen every side of Seohyun.
The clumsy klutz who drops everything she picks up.
The dedicated hard worker who will never fail to meet deadlines.
The fangirling goofball who hums theme songs of Sergeant Keroro and spazzes over Jack Sparrow (she says ‘Johnny Depp’ to the cameras, but Yoona knows better—it’s Jack Sparrow).
The determined organiser who would somehow make a timeslot convenient for all nine members to sit down and have a group talk, (or Therapy Nights as Yoona likes to call them).
The mischievous prankster who wouldn’t hesitate to get one up on her unnies—now Yoona has to admit, all eight of them had a hand in creating that monster.
“Hey, what are you thinking about?” Seohyun’s voice drags Yoona back to their bedroom, her hot breath sends shivers down Yoona’s spine.
“You,” Yoona answers truthfully, eyes roaming over the absolute fantasy that was Seohyun in lacy black lingerie.
Seohyun quirks an eyebrow and her lips pull up into a deliciously smug smirk, “Good,” is all she says before sinking her teeth into Yoona’s neck.
In the beginning, they were far from a good match, let alone a perfect one. It’s funny how time changes things.
______________________________________)
A certain quartet wouldn’t find anything funny about the test of time.
In the beginning they had an uncertain, but fairly smooth start. Four who were so different, but gelled so easily. It must be fate.
Then the division makes itself apparent—and really, it is inevitable. Even looking back, how would they have acted differently?
Yuri and Jessica had known each other for years, Tiffany and Taeyeon were roommates.
They were always going to split in those two pairs.
Sure, Tiffany got along with everyone, ‘girl-talk’ sessions with Jessica, surprisingly existential musings with Yuri, and of course, everything else with Taeyeon. Jessica and Taeyeon got along swimmingly, both vocalists who often trained together, and even Yuri and Taeyeon managed to find common ground in bantering about their ‘American best friends’.
But it was an unstable foundation, and eventually everything goes tumbling down. It wasn’t one particular thing, or moment that they could look back to and say ‘that was it. If I could go back in time, I could change it’. No, it was the little things that slowed down their well-oiled interactions and fracture it from the base up.
Suddenly it wasn’t ok anymore; no, you’re not excused, and every little thing grates on each other’s nerves. Their manager starts to get concerned, asks questions, wonders if something happened to make them all upset. But they can’t give him an answer, there’s no one problem to give, and marks weren’t exactly something a celebrity advertises. After all, you had to at least give the viewers some illusion that they could get with the pretty girl group.
It’s doesn’t end there. It never really gets resolved, because their private lives aren’t exactly private anymore. Everyone’s privy to the charade of perfect unattainable single girls that they manufacture, and they knew, eventually something will slip.
So one half of the four move out. Then one of them start dating, or perhaps it’s a publicity stunt, the others never know. Then another starts dating. And a third one joins the relationship party, and the remaining ‘single’ girl leaves.
It all goes to hell again and again, and they all stay tight-lipped, because by then, what’s the point? One’s cut off contact completely, another one has decided to drown herself in a new variety show, and the remaining two dip their heads in the clouds with a screen of ‘bestfriendsforever’.
So the ones who are left, and the one who isn’t, didn’t say anything.
Taeyeon as a tattooist called Taettoo Tiffany as a fashion magazine editor of Seoul Sister Tiffany goes to Taeyeon for a tattoo and the rest is a story. Written for a request from some Twitter frie | Tags: taeny
The story has been completed! Thanks for supporting TFT all the way to its completion <3
Luckily, the girls' photoshoot fell on a Saturday, my rest day. I was free, and it was the perfect opportunity to go see my girlfriend. My girlfriend. I shuddered and felt giddy all over. It's finally official. I'd have to get used to calling her that from now on.
She and the other girls may be tired from lack of sleep so I decided to bring treats. I brought eight frappes, all the same flavor to avoid favoritism, to the set of the photoshoot. Sunny texted me the location and informed security that I'll be coming. It was one hell of a challenge not getting any of the drinks spilled on my car seat, and even more carrying them to the third floor of the building alone.
Pushing open the glass door with my shoulder, Yuri, who had just finished taking her individual shots and was resting in the corner, noticed me and helped with my handful of drinks.
"OHH Y/N!! It's been a while! What're these...Frappes? Are these for us? Y/N, you're jjang! Hey guys, Y/N's here!"
Dodging the staff that were redoing their makeup, Seohyun and Yoona came over excitedly to get the drinks and distribute them to their unnies.
"Y/N, you're really kind. Belated happy birthday! By the way, I'm really sorry if I wasn't able to attend dinner last night..", Seohyun pouted. "It's all right. If you came I'd be obliged to treat you to steak too. Then I will make you pay for yours afterwards.""Ah jinjja!" She slapped my arm teasingly, then I remembered the main reason I came. "Seohyun-ah, do you know where Tiffany is right now? Can you take me to her?"
The kind maknae led me through a sea of staff, busy going about the set, carrying some props and coordinating through their headsets. I noticed the theme of the photoshoot was summer on the beach. The staff had a backdrop of the shore adorned with palm trees, complete with a view of bright blue ocean waters. They also hung white sheets that serve as makeshift curtains on bamboo poles and set up a couple of rattans and a table decorated with tall glasses of colorful, refreshing fruit shakes with tiny umbrellas resting on the rim. It was in that same moment that I also observed what Yuri, Yoona and Seohyun were wearing and simultaneously realized the motif of the girls' clothes: white and flowy blouses and light gowns, something that epitomizes "goddesses of the beach". Even if I was temporarily preoccupied with how gorgeous the girls will complement this bright set, I was careful not to step over all the cords and plugs. Yoona trailed behind us, carrying the other drinks.
Seohyun brought me to the back of the studio, where there were several changing rooms. I took a peek at the few that were open: one on the right had Sunny playing video games and Taeyeon next to her, working on her coloring book. Yoona ducked in and set their drinks on the table. Seeing the frappes, Taeyeon looked up quickly and mouthed "thanks" at me. In the adjacent room were Sooyoung and Hyoyeon, already dressed and getting their hair and makeup done. Yuri handed them their drinks, saying it's from me. I peeked in and yelled as I passed "Yah Choi Sooyoung!! We're even now, okay?" and ran out before I heard a diss, demanding more for her Cupid act last night. The changing room at the back has Yoona, Seohyun and Tiffany. I distributed to the two youngest their drinks and set the last one on the nearest dresser.
Tiffany was sitting and listening to something intently on her phone. I crept up behind her and covered her eyes. She was startled but she did not put up a fight. I removed one earphone, then leaned in closer to her ear and whispered "It's me," and left a quick peck on her cheek before letting go. I can hear sounds of disgust mixed with glee from Yoona and Seohyun. Tiffany removed her other earphone and turned to face me, smiling sweetly from ear to ear. "Jagi~ what brings you here? I thought you'd be resting."
I handed her the last frappe and she took it cheerfully, squealing and even dancing a bit in her chair. As she started sipping and assumed her sitting position from earlier, I stood close to her back again and this time, wrapped my arms around her, resting my chin on the crown of her head.
I took a good, long look at her in the mirror. She was fully dolled up for the shoot. Even when she wore a simple, white jacket with denim shorts and a few gold bangles, and her voluminous, auburn hair ending with luscious curls...I was very certain; she was the most splendid beach goddess out of all the goddesses in here.
"I thought you guys could use a pick-me up. And besides, I really really missed my girlfriend." Tiffany gripped my arm tightly, signalling that she felt the same, and thankful for the drink too. But right then, she stood up abruptly, making me take a few steps back.
"AH!! That's right. There's something I want to give you," her voice trailed away as she walked over to her huge pink bag on the opposite side of the room, digging through its contents for something. Curious about what it was, I looked over to Yoona and Seohyun for a hint, but they silently got up and left, exchanging mischievous smiles.
Tiffany brought out a black velvet box, and handed it to me. "Open it, jagi. It's yours." Raising my eyebrows, I took the box and unveiled a luxurious, rose gold necklace with a peculiar pendant: a small amethyst gemstone, shining the perfect hue of my favorite color purple, encapsulated by a shape that resembles half a heart. It was a very beautiful necklace indeed; I was overwhelmed by all the warm emotions swelling up in me.
"Fany, I absolutely love it! And it's amethyst, you remembered my birthstone! When did you get it?"
Tiffany took the box from me, removed the necklace and made me stand in front of the dresser. "Hold your hair up for a while, jagi." I watched her in the mirror as she dangled the necklace around my neck, and placed the lock. She took a step back to observe my reaction in the mirror. I fixed my hair and admired myself as well, then I continued to play with the pendant.
"I got this a few weeks ago, after the girls convinced me that it was time to fix us. It just reminded me of you, when I saw that shade of purple which I'm sure you love. I planned to give this last night but I stupidly left the box in my drawer at home. At least today I remembered to place it in my bag this time, in case I finished the shoot early and I could go visit you. The pendant is half a heart, because...well, you know where the other half is." She patted her chest. Her eyesmile shone, it was a very happy one, so I widely smiled back. "Happy birthday again, Y/N." This time she hugged me from the back, her arms sliding around my waist. She rested her chin on the space between my neck and shoulder. I placed both my arms on top of hers and held her hands closer to me.
"Jagi, you really made my birthday this year. You're the best. I love you." She giggled and pecked me on the cheek. We stood like that in front of the mirror for a while, completely absorbed in our little bubble of happiness, until someone from the doorway yelled "YAH Y/N IT WILL TAKE MORE THAN ONE FRAPPE TO THANK ME FOR MAKING THIS CHEESY REUNION A SUCCESS", the voice was undeniably Sooyoung's.
Tiffany released me from her back hug and we walked over to Sooyoung as she also entered the room. "Also, Y/N-ah, did you know that Fany also wrote a song about you while you guys weren't okay? She's making me rewrite it to include your name somewhere in the lyrics too---" Tiffany rushed over to her and covered her mouth, pushing her blabbing form out the doorway while I stood there, dumbfounded. Tiffany slammed the door behind Sooyoung.
"Jagi, don't panic. I can explain." She sat down on the sofa and patted the space next to her, inviting me over. I started frowning. What about me did she write? Am I the bad guy? Is she 'Taylor Swift'-ing me right now?
"Jagi" she looked me straight in the eyes, "I'm not 'Taylor Swift'-ing you, okay?" My frown disappeared; how did she read my mind?
"The company gave me the green light to start preparations for my solo album." I suddenly lit up in excitement. "Jagiya, that's great news!! You’ve always hinted at it before but now it's actually happening! Congrats!"
"Well they mostly made me pick from songs that were already written, and I barely got my own songs in. Luckily they agreed to this one, the one I wrote about you." She grabbed her phone and handed me the earphones. "Here, listen to it jagi. I wrote about my feelings during our time apart. I swear, you're not the bad guy." As soon as I settled, she played the demo of her self-written song.
Don't know what to do, baby, 'cause I'm not over you
What do I do, baby? You're still the one
And I can't seem to move on from the thought of being apart
I'm sitting here alone and lost and confused, so what do I do~
I listened intently, absorbing the lyrics while getting lost in the R&B synth pop sound. She really put her thoughts and feelings in the song. It made me feel guilty at first, learning more of her side, but I oddly felt proud that I was the inspiration for the verses. The pop sound of the track definitely matches the lyrics and the song overall is totally her style. This song is definitely Tiffany. When the music stopped, I took the earphones out and she looked at me shyly. "I was about to give you the heads up but, jinjja, that Sooyoung. She's actually rewriting it in Korean, and it's gonna be in the tracklist as well...so is it okay with you that this song will be included in my solo album?"
I chuckled at the prospect. Korea and all the international fans out there will hear this story. But they won't know it's me. Not right away at least.
"Jagi you know I’m supporting you always. Of course it's fine. But when you win at the year-end awards for being the best rookie with the best album because of this song, you'll give me some of the royalties, okay?"
A/N: wow, i promise i’ll be more consistent in updating next time HAHA
The dim bulb flickers. The light wavers once. Twice. Then extinguishes. Then it’s quiet.
No, Taeyeon thinks, not quiet, it’s complete and utter silence. It isn’t like the nights, even in the country side, where you could hear the crickets chirp, and the occasional cars pass. It is deathly quiet. Silent to the point that she can hear her heart beat. Silent to the point that she swears she just heard her blood rushing.
She swallows thickly, eyes twitching about. She’s heard stories about this. A cold shard of fear stabs into her chest. They separate you. All alone in a cell. Completely dark and devoid of life. Left like that for months. Cutting off the senses. Cutting off reality. Make the prey helpless. Making the prey go insane.
She sitting there, on the floor, feet pulled up, head resting on her knees.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
It’s the beat of her heart. She tries to ignore it. It’s unimaginably dark. Which way was the wall again? They say you lose track of all orientation given no fixed point to identify yourself with. She used to think that was bullshit. Now, she’s starting to think otherwise.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
She wonders how her family is doing. Hopefully they are well. Her siblings should all be fine. The youngest should be in high school now. The youngest… She can still recall her sister’s face. Sweet Hayeon, so young, so innocent. She was not going to let anyone ruin that.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
She can keep herself entertained. Yeah, she can sit still. Hope stirs within her, she can do this. What is the last thing she argued with someone about? Soccer? It could’ve been soccer. She isn’t too sure.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
That’s right. She knows their game, and she refuses to let them play her like a fiddle. She is not going to give in. She is not going to let them get to her.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
Why in the world did they take her anyway? It’s not like she’s very special. Not like she has anything to offer.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
Not like her.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
The sound is starting to pound in her ears.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
It’s all she can hear.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
And it’s deafening.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
Make it stop.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
It only increases, pumping faster and faster.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
Make it stop.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
Drilling into her mind.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
Sinking it’s talons into her skull.
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
Oh god, make it stop!
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
Make it stop please!
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum
“MAKE IT STOP!”
Metal slams against the wall, the heavy footsteps thunder in. The world is a roaring of noise before everything slows down to a buzz.
The last thing Taeyeon hears is a soft murmur before her head smacks the cold concrete floor.
I’m basically doing house-keeping and dumping all of my old stuff online
Every drabble is based on the phrase ‘free at last’ and a random word from a tumblr prompt list. They range from tragic, to light and carefree, and everything else in between.
_____________________________________________)
River 125 words
The cool winds caressed her face as she stared out into the dark city lights. It was nice, she thought absently. To be able to walk down the streets, slouched, incorrect posture, with her feet turned outward, not a care in the world. As Taeyeon glanced at the icy waters of the Han River below, she allowed a smile to spread across her face. Not the dainty half-grimaces that her family deemed as ‘lady-like’, nor the over exaggerated ‘ajumma’ laughs that her betrothed lapped up, but a genuine soft smile.
As one foot stepped forward, she allowed herself one final glance up at the sparkling stars—somehow they felt slightly closer, more reachable than usual—before plunging into the murky depths below.
The papers were shoved into her hands, wrapped up neatly in a thick manila envelope like some kind of hushed secret. As if the entire building hadn’t heard of it by now.
“I don’t want it,” she maintained adamantly. There wasn’t anything in this world that they could tempt her with to sign a deal with the devil.
“Don’t act rashly Soonkyu. You and I both know that your band is going one way from here and that’s in a downward spiral. You hold in your hands a contract that most in this industry will kill for.”
Sunny almost snarled, she had no use for sweetened words and bribes. Ripping open the envelope, she pulled out the ludicrously expensive papers and looked the executive in the eye, one hand held the paper firmly, the other reaching for the middle—and tore it in half. Grinning with smug satisfaction as the sound echoed in the office.
The most reckless thing she had ever done, and perhaps she won’t even live to regret it. But as her feet touched the grass below, hand in hand with the most important person in her world, she couldn’t bring herself to care all that much.
“Where are we going Yong?” she asked breathlessly, coming to a skidding halt at the top of the hill.
Yoona’s eyes glinted, reflecting the sea as she gazed down at the docks where several dozen ships bobbed lighting in the waves, “Where ever we want.”
Seohyun gripped Yoona’s hand tighter, laughter bubbling to the surface and they soon found themselves flat against the ground, staring out to the yellow horizon.
Free at last.
__________________________________________)
Red 122 words
Tiffany gripped at the photo frame with shaking hands, paying no attention to the cracks on the glass, not even as they grew, not even as they shattered under pressure. Her eyes remained glued on the smiling faces in the photo, paying no heed to the shards tearing into her skin, washing the picture in red, like her final memories of the people within. Of the carefree faces drenched in blood, unmoving as she knelt beside, throat raw and voice hoarse, and yet still no help came forth.
Pulling the bottle to her lips, she tipped her head back and swallowed down the vile liquid, burning her throat and warming her chest, until her vision too, faded to red.
Free at last.
___________________________________________)
Peace 176 words
“Just let me go,” her voice sounded foreign even to her own ears. So tired, defeated, hopeless, lifeless.
“Jessica—
“—No,” she interrupted, barely collecting the strength to hold up her hand. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself to try anyway, “Just listen to me for once. I’m tired, so tired. I can’t do this anyway. I don’t want to do this anymore. Why can’t any of you understand that? Please, I’m sick of fighting the inevitable, sick of holding on to something that’s already lost. If you love me, please just let me go.”
She shuddered, coughing heavily into her hand. Her chest constricted, lurching painfully. A voice cried out, hands reaching out, only for her to brush them away. It was as if all her remaining spirit had gone into that outburst, leaving nothing left but an empty husk.
The room fell silent, save for the beeping monitor by the bedside. For once, no one moved to call in help. For the first time in months, Jessica slumbered on peacefully.
She sighed, pencil tapping against the wooden table top dully. As the teacher droned on monotonously, she decided to scribble sketches into her notebook instead. Graphite tracing long and round lines, etching out the faces and expressions of those in the classroom— “Ow!” She jolted as a sharp pain dug into her stomach.
Seohyun’s disapproving face greeted her, “Pay attention!”
Her hand snapped up in salute, “Sir yes sir!”
“Ahem! Would you like to add something Miss Im?”
“No sir,” she mumbled, cheek’s flushing red as the rest of the class laughed.
“Yoona…” Seohyun stared at her sternly, and she couldn’t help but grin.
Fingers drawing an X over her heart, “I promise, I’ll pay attention,” she whispered.
Before Seohyun could express anything else, the bell chimed, signally the end of class. Yoona’s lips twitched upward into a wide grin, and she grabbed her best friend’s arm, sprinting out of the room.
The metal door slammed open with a bang, blinding light flooded into the room, casting red and blue hues over the stone bricks.
Yuri jumped, whimpering behind the shelf. What in the world was going on?
She could hear shuffling and muffled voices as footsteps thundered into the room. She hugged her knees closer, curling into herself, perhaps they won’t find her. Breath hitched, praying that her pounding heart won’t give her away, she swallowed, painful against a dry throat. Head burrowed between her knees to stop the dizziness.
“There!” a voice shouted.
And she knew it was over, she shut her eyes, heart leaping into her throat as the footsteps came closer.
“Oh my god.”
“He kept a girl down here? Jesus Christ, it’s that missing girl from—
“Not now!” the other lady knelt down next to her, “It’ll be ok now, we’ll take you home.”
Yuri cracked open one eye, not daring to hope, “Home?” she croaked, chained metal jingling at the slight movement.
“Yes dear, home. You’re free at last.”
__________________________________)
Lead 147 words
The head rolled off his shoulders and landed on the carpet floor with a sickening crunch. Hyoyeon paid it no mind as she ploughed through the next set of obstacles in her way. A flurry of limbs, a twang of metal on metal, before finally coming to a stop in front of an ornate door, painted white with colourful stones imbedded along the side.
Kicking it open, she entered the room, flintlock cocked in one hand, and brandishing a cutlass in the other.
“Hello Governor, fancy seeing you here,” she greeted cheerfully. Before he could do so much as open his mouth, she sent two lead pellets in his head, “Goodbye Governor, it’s been good talking to you.”
There was an immense satisfaction to watching the body of the man who killed her men fall lifelessly to the ground.
Finally, her crew will be free at last.
________________________________)
Lake 120 words
She didn’t need it.
She didn’t want it.
The only thing it ever gave her was grief and trouble, and yet, others would kill to have but a mere fraction of the lot. Faces flashed through her mind, her parents, her siblings, her friends. Those that have thrown away their lives protecting and procuring it—and for what? To live a retched life alone, in fear of those who would come to steal it, just as they have done so?
No, Sooyoung decided and did what her family and so many before them failed to do. Lifting the sack by the bottom, she emptied the contents into the lake, watching it go plunging into the murky depths below.
Free at last.
________________________________)
You know it really speaks wonders for the state of my mind when my brain equates ‘freedom’ to suicide, binge-drinking, euthanasia, and murder (a massacre really)…
‘Red’ was my favourite one to write by far, what do you guys think?
Oh, and I think ‘lead’ was supposed to mean ‘in the lead’ or ‘leading’ or something of that matter, but I decided to interpret it as in the metal lead, makes things more interesting.
The goal of this blog is to create a space where K-Pop writers can share their fics and AUs, hype each other and keep each other motivated!
There's just a handful of rules!
if your fic contains any common triggers, please make sure to include TWs in the description
fics can be NSFW but they can't only be NSFW (meaning you need to share some SFW AUs before the NSFW ones will be reblogged here)
we are currently accepting fics for Seventeen, Twice, SNSD, NCT, ATEEZ and TXT! (more groups will be added later when I find a theme with more custom link options)
to have your fic or AU shared here, simply tag this account or use the tag #everydayau!
Please look forward to fic recs, AU prompts and general discussion questions for readers and writers alike! I look forward to reading and writing with you all!
we fall in love every weekend and swear it's forever
It’s a once-a-year-every-year summer-esque relationship they have going on. Taeyeon knows close to nothing about Sunny—she’s pretty sure, though, that Sunny knows more about her than she shows. They always cross paths at the week-long festivities at the small coastal city, being it completely accidental
(It’s the second time Sunny’s ever been to the festival at this city, Taeyeon’s glad she’s able to spot her in the middle of the crowd. She has an awfully improvised, falling apart mermaid costume; her face, shoulders and belly: all fully bare and full of silver and blue glitter, blue cellophane envelops her legs—Taeyeon knows everything will fall apart within minutes as she dances in the middle of the street, Sunny also knows this, she’s wearing a bikini top and shorts to prevent further problems.
Taeyeon lets the crowd lead and take her to Sunny. They fall into place, bodies glued and dancing together, too close than normal and without sharing a word, save for the lyrics being screamed from the top of their lungs. It’s all it takes before they fall again into their strange weekend-only once-a-year relationship where they exclusively kiss each other and spend their time together in Taeyeon’s small apartment and sharing her bed before going back to the street party and live shows.
However, every time Taeyeon sees Sunny so free in the crowd, dancing and singing with a cold beer in hand and sweat falling from her neck, she can’t help but wonder who she truly is outside of this context—Sunny’s day-to-day life, if she works or studies, works and studies—and every time Taeyeon forgets to ever ask about private lives, too busy enjoying the moment and each other.
By the last day, when Sunny enters the transfer bus to go back to her city, Taeyeon feels empty as she walks alongside the shore, regretting everything she couldn’t find it in herself to ask—phone number, social media accounts, if she likes her back—, only hoping to see her the next year.),
or programmed beforehand
(“Next year,” Sunny says, laughing a tad bit too drunk to remember even the next day. Pink-glittered body glowing under the moon and streetlamps at two in the morning, music still bumming behind them at the main square. It’s their last night together, walking side-by-side back to Taeyeon’s place, “let’s meet at the bar we first met. But only at the third day.”
Taeyeon can only laugh at Sunny’s slurring, she stopped doubting Sunny’s memory not long ago—after they met by chance at the fourth day and, in a drunken haze, saying she waited for her for two hours. She laughs bitterly now, meeting on third day means having their fun before the annual pretend relationship for two days.
It always reminds Taeyeon they’re strangers.
“Are you sure about it?” Taeyeon’s less inebriated, sober enough to not slur her words, drunk enough to talk without thinking, “You can always come before the carnival begins and we can spend time together.”
Sunny falls to her knees from laughing, holding her stomach as she tries to grasp the new idea, “But what’s the fun in it? We should enjoy the carnival as much as we can!”
They’re too drunk to properly think about it, Taeyeon only laughs, “You’re right, let’s just enjoy the moment,” they might forget about this night tomorrow, or at least pretend they never had, “How long has it been since we met?”
“Five years?” Sunny says as she opens her hostel’s door, they share a quick peck, “Or four, I don’t know.”
They wave goodbye and Taeyeon goes back to her small apartment alone.).
It’s always the same situation sooner or later: Sitting at the beach together, sharing a moment before going back to their respective lives and forget about this relationship. Their cosplays are falling apart around them, white feathers are missing from Taeyeon’s costume and sprinkled all over Sunny’s shoulders and stomach, sitting side by side on the sand.
They’re tiring faster, drinking less than what they used some years ago, it means more time being just the two of them without screams around. Taeyeon’s looking at the waves softly coming to the sand, all the sweat and glitter making them shine strangely. Sunny thinks about taking the feathers off her, but her arms hurt too much to make any effort.
“You’re not from here.”
Sunny’s brows furrow, “You already know that.”
“No, I mean,” Taeyeon stumbles, “where are you from? The big city?”
“Yeah,” Sunny answers, Taeyeon feels Sunny’s stare on her, she wonders if they’re going to kiss now, “why, though?”
They won’t, Sunny’s already on edge.
“I don’t know, curiosity,” Taeyeon pretends nonchalance, “you live in the capital, then?”
Sunny’s just confused now, “How do you know?”
Taeyeon draws shapes on the sand with her fingers, “You don’t know how to walk in the sand, it’s funny to watch you run.”
“Is it that obvious?” Sunny laughs along.
“A lot, actually!” Taeyeon raises from her place and dusts herself, “I’m tired, we should head back and sleep. I’ll have work tomorrow.”
Sunny accepts Taeyeon’s hand, and they organize their stuff to walk together, Taeyeon to her apartment, Sunny to her hostel. it’s close to each other, but Taeyeon makes the effort of walking three more blocks just for the company.
Taeyeon takes a deep breath as they near Sunny’s stop, “Don’t you think it’s time we share phone numbers?”
“If we meet tomorrow, we can,” Sunny turns to her, lazy smile on her face, “I’m not with my phone now. You know where I’ll be.”
“You’re not gonna invite me in?” Taeyeon jokes a little desperate—she knows, if they don’t sort whatever they have by now, Taeyeon will not be able to reach Sunny after her work, and another year will pass and they’ll only meet next March, and it’ll stay the same as the past years, “Don’t you wanna spend the last night together at least once?”
Sunny smiles sweetly. She looks down at the sidewalk, understanding everything that Taeyeon wants, “Do you really wanna have a long-distance relationship? I like how it is, a carnival fling.”
“But what if we want to take it somewhere else?”
Sunny gives her a sad smile, “This is just a carnival thing, we don’t need to make it something big, we enjoy each other every year and stay like this.”
“It ends here, then?” Taeyeon doesn’t know what she expected, she feels a void in her stomach, but there’s nothing of the raw feelings that tear her up from inside.
“You know that if I ever find someone, I’ll stop showing up.”
“Okay,” Taeyeon’s voice is strangely small, “it ends here, then.”
this is an old fanfic i wrote once, loosely based on Jão's song amor pirata
