284: Chapter 264 A Hangover Morning and the "Breast Grab" Incident

The morning sunlight spilled diagonally into the living room of Kim Taeyeon's apartment through a gap in the poorly drawn curtains.

A faint, complex scent still lingered in the air—a mix of soju, snacks, and... some kind of suspicious fishy smell.

A hangover headache, like a dull chisel, hammered away at Kim Taeyeon's temples. She furrowed her brows, her consciousness struggling on the edge of drowsiness and wakefulness.

Her memories of last night were fragmented and blurry. She only remembered drinking a lot, Sunny chattering away about something, Yoona seemingly drinking too, and then... then it was all a blur.

But amidst these chaotic memory fragments, one name appeared with unusual clarity, recurring like background noise that wouldn't fade away—

Jiang Zhiyu.

Jiang Zhiyu...

Jiang Zhiyu...

Was Sunny saying it? Was Yoona mentioning it? Or was she... thinking it herself?

Accompanied by the dizziness of alcohol and an indescribable emotion, this name eventually fermented and twisted in her sleeping brain, weaving into an extremely... shameful dream.

In the dream, the light was dim and ambiguous.

It seemed to be a place both familiar and strange.

She seemed to be... held tightly in someone's arms. The embrace was unbelievably warm, carrying a familiar, heart-fluttering scent of ripe fruit.

It was Jiang Zhiyu.

She could "feel" it was him. Although she couldn't see his face clearly, that scent, that presence that made her heart race...

Then... he seemed to... lean down and kiss her.

It wasn't a tentative touch, but a fierce, burning demand that was almost domineering.

Her breath was instantly stolen away, her mind going blank.

What was even more excessive...

His hand... that hand with distinct knuckles that always carried a sense of calm power... actually fumbled its way into her clothes...

"Mm..."

A muffled, nasal whimper escaped Kim Taeyeon's throat.

It wasn't a reaction within the dream, but... a real sensation of being touched, coming from her chest, forcibly dragging her out of that absurd and blushing dream!

Someone... was touching her?!

This realization was like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing the lingering sleepiness and the heat brought by the dream!

Kim Taeyeon snapped her eyes open!

Her vision was still a bit blurry, and the hangover headache made stars dance before her eyes.

But she could clearly feel a hand that wasn't hers resting firmly on her chest in an extremely indecent posture, and even unconsciously...

Squeezed?!

"!!!"

A flame of shock, anger, shame, and offense surged from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head!

Kim Taeyeon's face instantly turned bright red, not out of shyness, but out of extreme rage!

Stiffly and slowly, she turned her head to look beside her—

The enlarged face of Lee Soon-kyu, sleeping soundly with even a suspicious trace of saliva at the corner of her mouth, was right in front of her!

The sunlight shone on Sunny's defenseless, even somewhat silly sleeping face, but in Kim Taeyeon's eyes right now, this face was more hateful than a demon's!

And the source of all evil—Sunny's right hand—was naturally hooked through Kim Taeyeon's arm, precisely...

...firmly "grasping" a certain key area,

her fingers even slightly curled in a relaxed state.

Shi—ba—!!!!!!

All of Kim Taeyeon's refinement, her composure as a leader, and her hangover headache were blown to pieces by this shocking scene!

She could even hear the string named "rationality" in her head snap completely!

"Ya!!! Lee Soon-kyu!!!!"

A roar filled with endless shame and fury, loud enough to blow the roof off, exploded in Kim Taeyeon's apartment!

The volume and piercing power were simply not what someone who had just experienced a hangover and should have a raspy voice could produce.

On the other side of the living room floor, Im Yoona, wrapped in a blanket and curled into a ball, still struggling with her hangover and the hardness of the floor, was jolted awake by this earth-shattering "Shiba."

"Ugh..." Im Yoona let out a groan of pain, furrowing her brows and reluctantly lifting her head from her uncomfortable "bed." Her hair was as messy as a bird's nest, and her face bore sleep marks and the confusion of a hangover.

She struggled to open her sore eyes, looking toward the source of the sound and the murderous intent that had almost become tangible—

What met her eyes was a "tragic" and incredibly "bizarre" scene on the sofa:

Taeyeon Unnie was looming over like a mountain, her face flushed red (not sure if from anger or shame), gritting her teeth as she strangled... Sunny Unnie's neck? (Due to the angle, she couldn't see clearly, but Taeyeon Unnie's hands were definitely above Sunny Unnie's neck!)

The attacked Sunny Unnie didn't seem fully awake yet, flailing her limbs and making strange "he-he" sounds as if the throat of fate was being squeezed, her face filled with pure innocence (?) and terror, not knowing what was happening.

The sofa cushions beneath them were a mess, with empty soju bottles and snack bags scattered nearby.

The air was thick with murderous intent, the smell of alcohol, and... a hint of indescribable awkwardness?

Im Yoona blinked her dry, hungover eyes, her mind blank for a few seconds.

...What happened?

...Where am I?

...How much did we drink last night?

Then, fragments of last night's memories began to piece together with difficulty: failing to kill the fish... the Unnies drinking... Sunny Unnie talking a lot... Jiang Zhiyu... the script... a treat to a meal...

And... it seemed everyone ended up sleeping directly in the living room?

So now... is this... morning grumpiness? Or... a post-drinking brawl?

Watching the "intense" battle between the two sisters on the sofa, Im Yoona silently buried her head back into the blanket, pulling it up to cover her ears.

I can't see, I can't hear, I don't know anything.

I'm still drunk, I'm not awake yet.

The Unnies' business... let them solve it themselves.

She decided that she would definitely not stick her head out until she was sure it was safe outside.

And at the center of the "battlefield"—

"Ya! Kim Taeyeon! Let go! I'm dying, I'm dying!!" Sunny was finally fully awake, struggling to pry Kim Taeyeon's hands away from her neck (actually near her shoulders and cheeks), gasping for air with a look of confusion and grievance. "Are you crazy?! First thing in the morning!"

Kim Taeyeon's chest heaved violently as she pointed to where she had just been "attacked." Her face turned between red and white, her voice trembling with rage. "Your... your hand! Where did you put it?! Lee Soon-kyu! Explain yourself!!"

Sunny looked down at her hand following the direction she pointed, then looked up at Kim Taeyeon's expression of utter shame and indignation. She froze for two seconds, then it suddenly dawned on her, and then—

"Pfft... Hahahaha!!!"

Instead of apologizing or explaining, she burst into an earth-shattering, unladylike fit of laughter, even pounding the sofa!

"Hahaha! Taeyeon-ah! You... you don't think I... Hahaha! I was... I was asleep, okay! It was unconscious! Who told you to... Hahaha... lean over yourself! Besides, we're both women, what's wrong with a little touch! Hahaha! Your reaction is too much! You're killing me! Ow, my stomach..."

Sunny laughed until tears came out, completely unaware that her words and attitude were just adding fuel to the fire.

Looking at her lack of remorse and even the way she was making fun of the situation, Kim Taeyeon felt a surge of blood rush to her head, and her vision went a bit dark.

Unconscious?

Both women?

What's wrong with a touch?!

"Lee. Soon. Kyu!!!" Kim Taeyeon squeezed these words through her teeth, the murderous intent in her eyes almost solidifying. "You. Are. Dead. Today!!!"

A new round of "sanctions" was about to descend.

In the corner, Im Yoona, wrapped like a silkworm, listened to the chaos and Sunny Unnie's unrestrained laughter, silently lighting a candle for Sunny Unnie in her heart.

Unnie... good luck to you.

And... my head hurts so much... the fish... seems to still be in the kitchen?

This chaotic morning was destined not to be peaceful.

—

A crisp "ding" from the microwave in the kitchen broke the fishy silence peculiar to a hangover in the living room.

Rubbing her still-aching temples, Kim Taeyeon padded over in her slippers, took out three cups of warmed milk, and grabbed a bag of the most ordinary sliced bread she'd bought at the convenience store yesterday, tossing it onto the coffee table without even opening the packaging.

"Breakfast," her voice was still raspy from sleep, with a resigned flatness. "Do it yourself, and you'll be well-fed."

Sunny leaned in for a look and immediately let out an exaggerated lament: "Ah—just this? Not even a fried egg? Taeyeon-ah, we are poor souls who have gone through the Great Fish-Killing War (attempted), the protection of Buddhist dharma, the lonely leader's care night, and the morning 'breast attack' scare! Shouldn't we have a hearty breakfast to soothe our wounded souls and stomachs?"

Im Yoona had already silently torn open the bread packaging, stuffed two slices into her mouth, and gulped down a large mouthful of warm milk, trying to suppress the lingering burn of soju and the nausea of the hangover. She glanced at Sunny and said indistinctly, "Unnie, it's good enough that there's food... Not making us face that fish in the kitchen ourselves is already Taeyeon Unnie's greatest mercy."

At the mention of the fish, a faint, lingering fishy smell seemed to waft from the kitchen. The three of them fell silent in unison.

Sunny picked up a piece of dry bread, sighed, and her eyes suddenly drifted into the distance, her tone full of unrealistic longing: "I really wonder what the mornings are like for those aespa girls... Do they have exquisite breakfasts prepared by nutritionists? Do they have a dedicated Manager Unnie to wake them up gently? Do they have energetic team greetings before practice?"

She took a bite of the bread and chewed, as if savoring the cruel gap between her imagined luxury breakfast and the dry bread in reality.

Im Yoona finally swallowed her bread, rubbed her throbbing temples, and replied irritably, "If Unnie wants to know, you can apply to the company to film your own variety show. I've even thought of the name for you. How about... 'The Great Senior's Curiosity: Sunny's aespa Observation Diary'? Or 'Lee Soon-kyu's Re-debut Plan—Starting with Scrounging Breakfast from Juniors'?"

Kim Taeyeon was sipping her milk and almost choked at those words. She set down her cup, squinted at Sunny, and a look of mixed hangover fatigue and mischievous teasing appeared on her face.

"The fifth member of aespa?" Kim Taeyeon drawled, mimicking the tone of an award ceremony host. "Wow, congratulations to our eternal energy pill, the gem of Girls Generation, the embodiment of variety sense—Sunny-xi, on re-debuting with the new identity of 'aespa's unofficial maknae'! A round of applause!"

She even clapped symbolically, though the applause sounded weak, more like swatting a mosquito.

Sunny's eyes widened as her two younger sisters tag-teamed her, and she even forgot to chew the bread in her mouth. "Ya! You two! I came here with soju and snacks, carrying deep concern for the maknae and the great mission of awakening our sleeping team spirit! And now you're teaming up to diss me?!"

"Concern?" Im Yoona pointed to her messy hair and still somewhat pale face. "Unnie's concern was bringing alcohol and food to watch me kill a fish, then interrupting me with screams and Buddhist dharma just when I was about to succeed (in her opinion), and finally getting everyone drunk and ending this chaotic night with the shocking act of 'breast attacking' the leader?"

Kim Taeyeon's face darkened another shade, and she glared fiercely at Sunny.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

Sunny immediately shrank her neck, but she still refused to admit defeat: "That... that was an accident! Besides, without my soju and snacks, how could your frustration from last night have dissipated so quickly? Emotional support! I provided valuable emotional support!"

"Yes, yes, yes, emotional support until everyone blacked out." Kim Taeyeon picked up a slice of bread and shoved it directly into Sunny's mouth, which was still trying to argue. "Use your emotional support to properly chew on this 'sumptuous' breakfast, aespa trainee. Remember to clean up the kitchen after you finish. That fish... and that mess in the sink, it's all up to you. After all, you're 'protected by Buddha's dharma'; transcending a fish and cleaning up the battlefield should be a piece of cake for you."

With her mouth blocked by bread, Sunny could only make "woowoo" sounds. Her eyes were wide open as she looked at the "kindly smiling" Kim Taeyeon, then at Im Yoona, who was pretending to focus on eating her bread but whose mouth was already curling up in an uncontrollable smile. She finally realized that on this post-hangover morning, not only had she failed to get any clues for her plan regarding the pink Lemm, but she would also likely have to shoulder the heavy responsibility of cleaning up the "fish-killing battlefield."

The breakfast table was filled with the warmth of milk, the blandness of dry bread, and the unique, lively "friendly" bickering atmosphere between Girls Generation members, which remained vivid even after a hangover and embarrassment. As for the ultimate fate of the sea bass that survived the disaster in the kitchen, and how Sunny's "pink Lemm master plan" would proceed, those would be new stories after this chaotic morning.

The morning sunlight, slightly pale, filtered through the kitchen window and shone on the mess in the sink.

Kim Taeyeon, Im Yoona, and Sunny stood side by side by the sink, looking down from above at the sea bass that had finally stopped breathing and looked absolutely hideous. Its scales had been scraped off in patches, the half-deep, half-shallow wound on its belly was no longer bleeding, and its eyes were half-open, as if still retaining the bewilderment and pain of being repeatedly tormented last night.

The air was filled with a complex scent: raw fishy smell, water vapor, detergent, and a faint, lingering hint of a hangover.

There was silence for a full ten seconds.

Kim Taeyeon took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as if she had made up her mind: "...Should we go buy another one?"

Im Yoona's shoulders slumped, and the frustration from last night seemed to surge up again.

Sunny, however, rubbed her chin, her eyes darting around, and she revealed an expression that said "I have a good idea": "How about... we let Im Yoona go to the market to learn? See with her own eyes how the fishmonger uncle handles it, from descaling to gutting, all in one go. It's definitely more intuitive than watching videos! No matter how rich your theoretical knowledge is, you still need practice to gain true knowledge. Our Im Yoona is a Blue Dragon Film Award Best Actress nominee-in-waiting!"

Kim Taeyeon glanced at her but didn't speak.

Seeing this, Sunny persisted. She leaned in a little closer, lowered her voice, and spoke with a hint of instigation: "Or... buy a fish and go to the company cafeteria? Just say we, Girls Generation, want to eat the freshest sashimi, and have the head chef demonstrate how to prepare it. While you're at it... Im Yoona, you can 'humbly ask for advice' on the side? How natural, how reasonable! And we can get a good meal out of it too!"

This time, Kim Taeyeon really couldn't help but turn her head and look Sunny up and down with a gaze tinged with surprise.

"Sunny ah..." Kim Taeyeon's tone was somewhat subtle, "...you're actually quite useful."

The expression on Sunny's face froze instantly, and then she jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "Mwo-rago?! Yah! Kim Taeyeon! What do you mean by that?! Am I that unreliable in your heart?! I, Lee Soon-kyu, am the wisdom representative of Girls Generation! I can always offer constructive opinions at critical moments!"

Kim Taeyeon watched her flustered and exasperated appearance, but instead revealed a gentle, even slightly admiring smile, though the words she spoke almost made Sunny choke:

"At least..." Kim Taeyeon said slowly, glancing pointedly at Sunny's chest area, "I wouldn't 'harass' a teammate after getting drunk."

She said the word "harassment" clearly and calmly.

Sunny froze, as if she hadn't reacted yet. Then, her fingers... those few fingers that had committed the "crime" this morning, actually curled up unconsciously and gently, as if the fingertips were reliving a certain sensation.

This tiny, subconscious movement was caught red-handed by Kim Taeyeon, who had been staring at her.

The smile on Kim Taeyeon's face vanished instantly, her eyes widened, her cheeks flushed red at a speed visible to the naked eye, and her voice rose sharply, filled with incredulous shame, anger, and rage:

"Yah! Sibal!!! Pervert Sunny! You pervert Gyu! Sibal!!! What are you doing!!! What are your fingers doing!!!!"

Sunny snapped back to reality, quickly putting her hands behind her back as if burned, straightened her back, and instantly replaced her face with a look of innocent, even slightly bewildered, expression, tilting her head:

"What did I do? What did I do?" She blinked her eyes, her tone extremely innocent, "I drank too much last night, I completely, totally, can't remember a thing~ E-he~ ☆"

After saying that, she deliberately stuck out her tongue and gave a standard wink, intending to use cuteness to get away with it.

Kim Taeyeon looked at the teammate before her who was trying to get away with it using "E-he" and acting cute. She felt a surge of hot blood rush to her head, and all her reason and leader's composure evaporated at this moment.

She grabbed her own hair and screamed in a breakdown: "What are you E-he-ing about!!! Lee Soon-kyu!!! You... you... Aaaaaahhhhh!!!"

The scream echoed in the kitchen, startling sparrows outside the window and making them flutter away.

And that poor, dead sea bass lay quietly in the sink, becoming the only (and silent) witness to this morning farce of "pervert accusations" and "playing dumb counterattacks."

The kitchen farce eventually came to a temporary end with Kim Taeyeon unilaterally declaring a "gaze sanction" against Sunny. None of the three had the energy to actually clean up the fish and the messy kitchen (Sunny tried to avoid it by saying "I am the planner, not the executor," but it didn't work), and they tacitly chose to temporarily seal it in the sink, out of sight, out of mind.

They were like three salted fish washed ashore by the waves, dragging their still-heavy steps and bodies not yet recovered from the hangover, and flopped back onto the living room sofa. Their postures were varied, their eyes unfocused, as if the fierce confrontation about "harassment" and "pervert" had just exhausted their last bit of energy.

Sunlight filtered through the window, casting bright spots on the floor, but it couldn't brighten the thick aura of decadence radiating from the three of them.

Kim Taeyeon sank deeper into the sofa cushion, staring at the ceiling, and spoke weakly, breaking the weary silence: "So... what do we do next?" Her voice was filled with the helplessness of "things seem to have become more complicated, but I have to ask."

Sunny curled up at the other end of the sofa, hugging a cushion, and upon hearing this, her eyes darted around, trying to show the residual heat of her "wisdom representative" status: "How about... we skip that damn fish-killing step that has exhausted everyone (mainly Im Yoona and that fish) physically and mentally?" She suggested cautiously, avoiding the death glare that might come from Kim Taeyeon, "Do something else first? For example... dialogue practice? Find the feeling of the character?"

Im Yoona was sprawled in a "big" shape on the carpet in the middle, and upon hearing this, she didn't even fully open her eyelids, just let out a long, deep sigh. That sigh contained too many things: the longing for the script, the confusion about her own situation, and a trace of imperceptible guilt.

"The problem is I haven't received the specific script yet, Unnie." Im Yoona's voice was muffled, "There's only a rough story framework and character setting, and I... uh, saw it by accident." She paused, seemingly finding it hard to say, "And, although it was Jiang Zhiyu... he left it there, seemingly intending for me to see it, but if we really look into it, my behavior can actually be considered as privately accessing, or even, you could say... stealing another company's project secrets before the script was officially submitted and evaluated by the company, right?"

The more she spoke, the lower her voice became, and by the end, it was almost a mutter to herself. This realistic problem, which she had been deliberately ignoring, emerged with particular clarity on this post-hangover morning, bringing a wave of unease.

Sunny scratched her face, also realizing that this was indeed a problem. Her eyes darted around again, and suddenly she slapped her thigh (hitting the cushion, making a muffled sound): "Got it! We don't have the script details for now, but we can at least cultivate the character's feeling first, right? Let's change our approach!"

She sat up straight all of a sudden, her face glowing with the radiance of "I've thought of a brilliant idea again" (although Kim Taeyeon was highly skeptical about this): "How about... we go to Ulsan to play first? Just treat it as experiencing the local customs and practices of the filming location in advance! Look at the port, smell the real fishy scent, walk around those dilapidated alleys... Art comes from life, right! This doesn't involve script secrets, does it? It's purely a private trip, and while we're at it, we can do a little harmless 'field investigation' for potential future work!"

Kim Taeyeon looked at her suspiciously, as if examining a problem student who suddenly suggested wanting to study hard: "You'd be this kind? Proactively suggesting going out to play? And to a place like Ulsan (no offense meant to Ulsan, but it's obviously not the luxury vacation destination Sunny would usually choose)? Lee Soon-kyu, what are you plotting now?"

Sunny immediately widened her eyes, puffed out her chest, put on an expression of righteousness and unquestionability, and spoke in a sonorous voice: "Kim Taeyeon! What kind of talk is that! How can you call this 'playing'? This is companionship! It's support! It's an embodiment of the solid team spirit of our Girls Generation!"

She reached out and pointed at Im Yoona, who was still sprawled out, her tone filled with "benevolence" and "responsibility": "Look at our Im Yoona, for the sake of a role she likes, she didn't hesitate to challenge herself, starting to experience life by killing a fish (although she failed), and now she is worried and uneasy because of the script source issue. As an older sister, as a teammate, how can we sit idly by? Of course, we must stay by her side, support her with actions, and help her better understand the character's environment! Going to Ulsan, feeling the air, the seawater, and even... the atmosphere of the market, this is all for art! For our maknae's acting career! I, Sunny, as a member of Girls Generation, am duty-bound!"

After she finished speaking, she nodded vigorously, as if she herself were moved by this "impassioned speech."

Kim Taeyeon and Im Yoona both looked at her in silence. Kim Taeyeon's eyes clearly wrote: "I'd have to be a ghost to believe you." Im Yoona's eyes were mixed with the complex emotions of "Unnie, you're overacting" and "Although I know you're unreliable, it actually sounds like it makes some sense?"

The living room fell silent again, leaving only the reverberations of Sunny's "team spirit declaration," and the potentially completely different calculations in each of their minds, fermenting silently in the warm sunlight. Go to Ulsan? It sounded like an excuse to escape the mess in front of them (dead fish, messy kitchen, awkward memories), and it also seemed... like it could really help with understanding that script called "the crab"? At least, it was better than continuing to stare blankly at that dead sea bass in the kitchen.