5

1:15 AM

Taeyeon looked up at her clock.  She should be home by now, right?  Should I give her a call?  What if she thinks I’m annoying?

She hesitated to just pick up her phone and call the girl.

Aish… whatever.  I know I won’t be able to sleep unless I call her to make sure she’s home anyways.

She called.

No answer.

She tried again.

Still no answer.

Fany-ah, why aren’t you picking up? 

She dialed again.

“The customer you are calling is temporarily unavailable at the moment.  Please try again later,” was all she heard from her phone.

“Fany, didn’t I tell you to call me when you got home?  Did you forget and just fall asleep?”  She muttered aloud.

Just then, her cell phone rang.

Incoming Call:  Unknown

…Hmm.  Unknown?  Who could it be?

She clicked answer, curious to know who would be calling her, especially this late.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Miss Taeyeon Kim?”

“Yes, that’s me.  But how do you know my name, and who are you?”

“Oh.  Um, I’m Tiffany’s boyfriend.  And I was just wondering if you have seen her recently, like in the past few hours?  I know you’re her best friend, so I was just wondering…”

“Actually I have.  But that was over an hour ago.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah.  Wait, how do you know my number and why are you suddenly asking this?”

“Oh, um.  I just remember seeing your number on her phone all the time.  And she called me about an hour ago asking to meet me at the park.  I’ve been waiting for almost forty five minutes, but she hasn’t showed up yet.  So I was just wondering…”

Park?  Didn’t I tell her to go straight home?

“I see… well, I just tried calling her cell phone but it doesn’t seem like anyone’s answering.”

“Yeah, same with me.”

“Maybe she’s home?”

“But she specifically asked to meet me at this time…”

“Oh.” 

“I don’t know.  She’s usually never late…”

“Maybe I’ll go look around.”  What is that girl thinking?  Not listening to me, and now not answering her phone calls?

“Alright then.  Me too.  Call me if anything happens, okay?  Miss Taeyeon?”

“Okay.  And just call me Taeyeon.  I don’t like formal greetings.”

He let out a nervous chuckle.  “I see.  Alright then.  Taeyeon.” 

-Beep-

Fany, where are you?

She decided to look for the missing girl.  Suddenly, she remembered something.  Jessica… Tiffany mentioned Jessi before she left.

She took out her phone and dialed the familiar number. 

“Hello?  Taeng?”

“Jessi!  Have you seen Fany?”  She could hear the panic in her voice.

“…Yeah.”

“When?  Where?  Why?”

“At the park.  A few hours ago…”

“You just suddenly met her?”

“Well, it was after you called me.”

“What did you guys meet for?”

“… I told Fany everything…”

“You what?”

“I’m sorry Taeng.  But I couldn’t see you like that anymore.  Wait, why?  What happened?”

“No wonder she mentioned you earlier…”

“Huh?  You guys met after?”

“Yup.  And… stuff happened.  Let’s just say she finally understands.”   She smiled.

“Oh my gosh!  Really Taeng?  And you’re not mad at me?”

“Not really… not now at least.  There’s other stuff to worry about.”

“Hmm?  Like what?”

“Tiffany’s missing.  I can’t contact her… even her boyfriend called me.”

“Her boyfriend?  I thought you said…”

“I did.  But she didn’t have the chance to tell him ye—”  It hit her.  The reason why Tiffany’s boyfriend would have called her looking for Tiffany was because Tiffany must have wanted to talk to him.  “Sorry Jessi, I have to go look for her.  I’ll talk to you later.”

“Oh.  Okay Taeng, um, call me if you need anything?”  She was confused but hearing how much of a hurry Taeyeon was in, she didn’t dare ask.

She remembered distinctly that Tiffany’s boyfriend had called her telling her that he was waiting for her at the park.  Maybe she wanted to talk to him…

*Ring ring*  It was her phone.  She recognized the number; it was him again.

“Hello?”

“Hello Taeyeon.”  He sounded out of it, and there was not much emotion in his voice.

“What is it?  Anything happen?”

“…”

“Why’d you call if you’re not going to say anything?”

“I found her.”

“Really?!  Where?  I’m heading over to the park right now actually.”

“Don’t bother.  I think you better head to the hospital instead…”

“What are you talking about??”

“I think Tiffany was in a car crash.”  She could hear his voice was starting to tremble.

“…What?”  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“I found her lying on the road… there was a lot of blood…”

Taeyeon was in so much shock she almost dropped her phone.  She didn’t know what to think.  She was lost in her own world.  On one hand she couldn’t really believe what she had just heard, but there was no reason for him to lie like that.  He didn’t sound like he was lying either.

“Taeyeon?  Hello?”

She didn’t react, still lost in shock.

“Are you okay?  Taeyeon?”

“…No…”  And she hung up on him.

Why is this happening to me?  Just when I get her…

Tears began to build up in her eyes.  There was no way she could get to the hospital fast enough by feet, and there were no taxis around at this time.  She picked up her phone once again.

“Taeyeon?”

“Sica!  Can you please give me a ride to the hospital right now?”

“Um.  Sure, but what happened?  Are you hurt?”

“Tiffany got sent to the hospital…”

“WHAT?!”

“Her boyfriend said she got into a car crash… and…”  She couldn’t hold her tears back.  Her speech became broken and she couldn’t finish her thought.

Jessica was confused, but there was no time for her to think or cry.  She just had to tell herself to focus.  “I’ll be there in a second.  Taeng, you stay there okay?”

--

The ride to the hospital was quiet.  Only sounds of sobbing were heard.  Jessica couldn’t come up with a way to comfort Taeyeon this time.  They drove there in silence.

When they arrived, Taeyeon immediately dashed inside the hospital and asked where Tiffany was.  Her face expressed fear, panic, and grief all mixed together.  Taeyeon was still crying when they rode the elevator the floor where Tiffany was.

As the elevator doors opened, Taeyeon spotted Tiffany’s boyfriend sitting on a chair.  She ran to him, and Jessica followed closely.

Taeyeon could barely see his face, as his head was ducked and he was staring at the floor.

“Hi…”

He looked up to see two girls; both looked tired and he could tell they had also been crying.

“…You must be Taeyeon.”

“Yeah.  And this is Jessica,” she pointed at her friend.  “Where is Tiffany?”  She was a lot calmer now, and was able to ask that without bursting into tears at the thought of losing the one she loves.

He pointed to the room across from them.  The lights were still on, meaning that the operation was still in process.

The three of them sat in silence, waiting for the operation to finish.

Fany-ah, you have to pull through.  I can’t lose you, not again… not after I just got you back.  Please… don’t leave me all alone… Taeyeon’s eyes began to tear up again.  And without herself even noticing, a tear trickled down her cheek.  She then felt a hand on her shoulder.  She looked up only to see a comforting smile.

“Don’t cry Taeng.  It’s gonna be okay.”

All Taeyeon could do was give her a tiny smile back.  It wasn’t sincere, and Jessica knew it.

They waited for another few hours.  Finally, the light shut off and the doctor came out.  Taeyeon was the first to jump up from her seat.

“Doctor!  How is she?”

The doctor didn’t have a happy expression on his face.  “Well, the good thing is, she’s alive.”

No words could describe the amount of relief Taeyeon felt when she heard this.  Wait, if he said the good thing… then there’s a bad thing?

“But.  Unfortunately, we won’t know when she will wake up, or if she will ever wake up.  She’s in a coma right now… And also, if she ever wakes up, she might not remember anything.  I’m sorry.”

“Oh… Nonetheless, thank you so much doctor.”  She bowed to express her gratitude.  But in her head she was thinking … she might not ever wake up?  Why is life testing me again…?

--

A few weeks passed since the accident occurred.  Taeyeon had been going to visit Tiffany every day.  When she did, she would sit there and hold her hand, and just talk to her.  Often times when she visited, her boyfriend was also there.  He would do the same thing; hold her hand and talk.  But Taeyeon couldn’t just tell him not to do that.  He didn’t know what had happened before the accident.

“Hi Fany.  It’s been a month now.  I miss you.  I miss your smile, your laugh, your voice… and your eyes.  When will you wake up, Fany-ah?”  She squeezed her hand tightly.

There was no response, as usual.

“Please Fany… you promised you were never going to leave me… but you are.  Can you please wake up?”  Tears began to fall down her face again, while she was still holding to Tiffany’s hand tightly.

As Taeyeon loosened her grip on Tiffany’s hand, she felt the latter grip’s on her own hand.  Taeyeon saw that Tiffany was holding onto her hand.  Eyes wide, and completely in shock, she then heard sounds coming from her.  It was very quiet, but still audible.

Taeyeon leaned in to listen to what she had to say.

“…Oppa…”

“Fany-ah.  Can you hear me?”

“…Oppa…” was all Taeyeon could hear.  Tiffany’s eyes were slightly open.

“Doctor!  Doctor!”  Taeyeon sprinted outside the room to look for a doctor, tears still flowing down her face.  But the tears were tears of happiness.

--

After the doctor checked on her and told Taeyeon that she was on her full way to recovery, Taeyeon couldn’t be happier. 

“Tae-tae~”

“Yes?”

“Where’s oppa?”

“Oh… erm.  I already called him.  He should be coming soon.”  She tried to force a smile.

“Hey,” she lightly hit Taeyeon on the arm, though it was a very light hit.  “Aren’t you happy to see me here?”  She had to ask, noticing that Taeyeon’s smile was weak, and not to mention, kind of fake.

“Of course!  I couldn’t be any happier!”

“Then what’s with your expression…?”

“Oh… nothing.”

“Come on Tae-tae.  You seriously think you can lie to me?  After being best friends for so many years?”

“…We’re just best friends?”

“Fine.  We’re not just best friends…” 

Taeyeon was expecting to hear something along the lines of them being in a relationship now.  But what she heard next made her heart fall to the floor.

“We’re like, the ultimate, unbreakable, absolute, everlasting, best, best, best, best friends.  In the entire world.  Not even Sica can measure up to this.”  She gave her warm eye smile.

“Oh…”

“What now?  Isn’t that what you wanted to hear?  That you and me are closer than me and Sica?”

“…Not exactly.”

Just then, the familiar figure appeared.  He ran into the room.  “Tiffany!”

“Oppa!”  Her face completely lit up.

He hugged her, and she did her best to hug back. 

Taeyeon got up from her seat.  “I guess I’ll give you two some time together.  I’ll be back later Fany.”  She turned and headed out the door.

“Okay, see you later, Tae-tae.  Oh!  And can you call Sica too?”

“Yeah.”

When she was out the door, she turned back and looked through the window.  He leaned in towards her and kissed her.  She didn’t refuse.

--

As Taeyeon was walking down the hallway, the doctor who was in charge of Tiffany’s case was walking the opposite way.  She noticed Taeyeon’s gloomy expression and also recognized her as one of the people who would always come visit Tiffany.

“Hi there.  You’re the girl who knows Tiffany right?”

“Huh?  Oh, yeah.  How do you know?”

“I’ve noticed you always come visit her.  Is there anything wrong?  You looked kind of, down.”

“Oh.  Not much…”

“You’re glad that your friend woke up right?”

“Yes.  Of course!  But…”

“Any problems?”

“…She doesn’t remember…”

“I see.  Do you remember what I said to you right after I finished her surgery?”

“Um…”  She was trying to recall that day, and what he said to her, but she couldn’t remember much.

“I told you that even if she does wake up, she might not remember anything.  At least she still remembers her friends.  A lot of people don’t even remember the ones closest to them.”

“She doesn’t remember the most important thing…”  She let out a sigh.

“Well, sometimes the brain wants to erase any painful memories.  Maybe there was an incident which caused her a lot of emotional pain, and she forgot.  You know, if that’s the case, then I would say forgetting that would be a good thing.”

“…I see.”

“Well, anyways.  I have to get back to work.”

“Alright.  Thanks.”

--

That night, Taeyeon took a long walk, and somehow, she ended up at the bridge above the Han River.  She used to visit the bridge often, as it was a place where she could just shout her heart out.  She hasn’t come back for a long time.

She took out her phone, and called Jessica.

“Sica.  Can you come to the bridge…?  Right now?”

Sure enough, the other girl was on her way.

Still staring out at the river, she began to ponder.  What do I do now…? 

She didn’t even notice how long she had been standing there.  Just then, she heard a familiar voice.  “Taeng!” she heard.

She looked to where the voice was coming from and saw Jessica running towards her.

“Taeng!” Jessica yelled again while running towards her.

Taeyeon didn’t say anything back, and just looked at her with depressed eyes.

“Taeng!  What’s wrong?” Jessica managed to ask, still trying to catch her breath.

Taeyeon still didn’t respond.  Instead, her eyes started to tear up.  Jessica noticed.

She held her arms open, not knowing why the other girl started to cry.  “Come here Taeng.”  She embraced the older girl as her sobs became audible.  “What’s wrong?  You can tell me.  You know that.”

But Taeyeon still didn’t respond.  They stood there, one hugging the other, for what seemed to be a very long time.  Taeyeon’s sobs grew quieter until the point where the other girl didn’t even know if she was still crying. 

“Yah, Taeyeon.  We can’t just stand here forever.  What’s wrong?”

She was still hesitant to talk.  But she managed to, somehow.  “… I’m sorry Sica.”

“Hmm?  What for?”

“For making you come all the way here only to comfort me…”

“Sigh… are you serious Taeng?”

“Huh?”

“You.  Are you serious?  How can I not care about you?  Now… you wanna tell me what’s wrong?”

“Oh…about that…”  Her eyes suddenly darted away and couldn’t meet with Jessica’s.

“Did something happen?  To Fany?”

“…”  She still couldn’t look directly into Jessica’s eyes.

“Tae.  You know you can tell me.  I’m here to listen.”

“…Fany.  She… doesn’t remember.”

“Doesn’t remember what?”

“Us.”

“… why?”

“I don’t know.  The doctor says it’s some sort of amnesia…”

“I’m so sorry Taeng.”  She pulled Taeyeon into an even tighter hug.  “We can tell her again.  I’m sure if we both tell her again, she’ll definitely remember.”

“Sica…” Taeyeon let go from the hug and looked into the other girl’s eyes.

“Yeah?”

“Please don’t… Don’t ever mention it in front of her again.”  

“Why?  Don’t you want her to know?  After all, you went through so much just so she would know.”

“No.  Please don’t.  I beg you, Sica.  Please.”  Her eyes were red again.

“Okay, but.  Why?”  She was convinced, but she just couldn’t understand why.

“Because.  She’s happy the way she is right now.  I could tell.  She thinks of her oppa as her everything.  I saw, ealier.”

“But she can be happier with you!”

“No.  I can’t risk it.”

“What’s there to risk?!”

“Everything.  Yes, it’s true I want her to remember.  We didn’t even start… but we ended already.”  She was held back by her tears trickling down her cheeks.

“…Then why not tell her?”

“I can’t tell her.  Let’s say she does remember.  Then, it’ll mean all those other painful memories also come back.  But right now, all that is erased from her mind!  She doesn’t know of the painful memories.  I can’t risk her remembering.  She’s happy now.  Let her be.” 

“…Taeng.  You’re just hurting yourself even more.”

“Better for me to be hurt, than for me to see her in pain.”

“You can’t do this to yourself…”

“Watch me.  I’m hopeless as it is.  Doing one more foolish thing won’t make much of a difference.  Plus, I see how he treats her.  He loves her.  If he can give her happiness, I’m in no position to step in and take it away from her.”

Jessica didn’t know what to say anymore.  It’s not like she could have convinced Taeyeon to change her mind.  She had her mind made up, and she wouldn’t change it.

“So… what now?”

“Life will resume.  Fany will be happy.  And I’ll watch her from afar.  Not like that’s not what I’ve been doing for the past few years…” She chuckled, but she knew in her heart it was unreal.  “I’ll just think of it as a dream, which I’ve finally woken up from.  It was surreal anyways… Time to move on I guess.”

Jessica gave her a concerned look.

“Hey.  I’m okay!  Don’t worry about me.  Thanks for coming out here… it cleared my mind.” She forced a smile.  “You better go home now… it’s getting really late.”

“Will you be okay Taeng?”

“Yeah, of course.”

That night, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t help but cry her heart out.  She knew in her heart, that there was no way she could ever let go.  Fany-ah, go and find your happiness, with him.  I’ll always be by your side though, no matter what.

--

6 Years Later

“Congratulations Tiff!”  Jessica hugged the girl in the long white wedding gown.

“Thanks Sica!  Where’s Taeyeon?”

“Should be arriving soon.  Don’t worry, she’ll definitely come.”  She smiled.

And within a few minutes, a short figure was spotted approaching them.  Tiffany was the first to notice and ran towards Taeyeon.

“Tae-tae!  You made it!”

“Of course I did!  I wouldn’t miss your wedding for anything.  Congrats Fany!”  She did her best to put on her most sincere smile.

“Thanks Tae-tae.”  She smiled back, and her eyes disappeared into crescent shaped moons.

I’ll never get tired of seeing that beautiful smile.

“Tae-tae.  You really should find a boyfriend soon.  I mean I’m already getting married!  You better find someone soon.  Or else I’ll start finding people for you!”  She teased, and flashed her smile once again.

“…Yeah.”  If only… you knew.  Fany-ah.  Who I’m in love with. 

Just then, they heard another excited voice.  “There’s my beautiful bride!”  He approached the girls and hugged Tiffany from behind.  “Hi Taeyeon.  Hi Jessica.”

“Hey,” they both replied in unison. 

“Congrats,” Taeyeon said.

“Thanks Taeyeon.”

Tiffany turned around to return his hug and he kissed her on her forehead. 

“Tiffany, we have to go over there apparently.”

“Oh, okay then.”  She turned again to face her two best friends.  “I guess I’ll see you in a bit!”  And with that, she walked off with her soon to be husband.

Jessica turned to look at Taeyeon.  “You okay?”

Taeyeon sighed, but cheerfully replied, “Yup!  Can’t bring the mood down.  Let’s have fun today, Sica.”  She smiled.

That’s right, Fany-ah.  Go with him, and find your happiness.

End

A/N: Thank you all for reading this whole time!~

even if it didn't seem like i replied to anything.. i did read all of your comments~!

thanks for reading my fanfics =]