Chapter 2

The atmosphere is still, and even with eyes closed, Taeyeon can feel the agonizing stare of a person. She is weary, her body refusing to do whatever she tells them to. After seconds, probably minutes, of shuffling around on the uncomfortable bed and out of dead curiosity, she wrenches her eyes open.

“Yoona.”

Not a question.

“Yeah.” Yoona smiles weakly.

Dark rings show underneath her eyes, making it rather obvious that she has been awake for a while. She must’ve been staying up all night for her unnie. Her leader.

Taeyeon groans as she attempts to sit up, achieving success without the other girl’s help. It sends pulses of triumph through her mind.

“Where are the others?”

Where is Jessica, Sooyoung, Tiffany, and now, Seohyun?

“Yuri, Sunny, and Hyoyeon are outside.”

“Oh.”

She doesn’t ask where the maknae is. Taeyeon has enough common sense to piece things together and guess that Seohyun has most likely moven out already.

The bed creaks as she shuffles to a comfortable position, her screaming in ache. She shudders, suddenly cold as she recalls the previous night. Han River, Beer, Seohyun. It all comes crashing into her, like a wave of cold cold water. Taeyeon flinches and clutches her ears, willing for the memories to stop torturing her. For the world to become a quiet and peaceful place.

Agony. Its something that she can never understand. Not a stranger, but incomprehensible. Dark and shadowy, a vine that will crawl its way to the innocent and unpredicting mundanes.

“I’m going to get some more water.” Yoona declares abruptly.

She stands up, nearly knocking her chair down if not for Taeyeon’s fast and reflexive hands. Heat rushes up to her cheeks, her stiff body posture breaking and revealing a more apologetic and flushed side. It warms Taeyeon’s heart, bringing a smile to her face.

She ushers. “I’m fine. You can leave.”

Yoona nods twice, a small grin on her face, before heading towards the door, pausing by the knob to cast a worried glance at Taeyeon. Her tense shoulders relax when the leader smiles wider. She frowns for a second before slipping out carefully.

As the door clicks shut, Taeyeon’s smile evaporates. She sighs and looks absentmindedly at the arranged posters on the wall.

As Expected of Girls’ Generation.

She clenches her jaw and moves her gaze to the next poster.

Now, Later, Forever, Girls’ Generation.

A tear escapes her eye, a shiny, transparent thing that slides lightly down her face. There’s no use in fighting back. As much as it hurts, the truth is the truth. And only Fate can decide what is True and what is not. Fate and Destiny.

Both are equally unsparing.

Only a second later, Taeyeon finds herself buried under the bedsheet with her head plunged deep into her pillow. Her wet and soggy pillow, soaked by the unstoppable crystal droplets of water.

“You abandoned us.”

Jessica.

“You’re a monster.”

Sooyoung.

“Taeyeon ah. Why?”

Tiffany.

A piercing scream rises up Taeyeon’s throat, slicing through the air cleanly. It never ends, an infinite amount of air in her lungs that is finally let out. The sense of freedom in a single scream flourishes through her body. Solved? No. Better? Yes.

And then the doors open, one by one,