It was her turn to keep watch. She looked down at her clean golden kicks and blanked out at the dark sky.

In the midst of complete silence, just above her head, the ground thudded and she froze. She reached for her gun and another thud appeared, she could almost see the creature above her. Whatever it was, it produced a spluttering sound and just like in the jump scares she'd watched in horror films, she saw the face of one of the men that tried to kill her peer down into the cave, his mouth twisted inhumanly into a sinister sneer.

"Found you!"

She jolted awake with a soft gasp, her eyes shot open as she scanned the environment she was in, her orbs darted to her kicks that were dirty as ever. It was a dream after all. Morning had settled in and her brain twisted and turned until it fully occurred to her it was really only a nightmare. Alas, a realistic one. Her heart that was sprinting a second ago calmed down to a mellow soft thumping although with reluctance.

"It felt so real." She proceed to sit up and Taeyeon noticed a number of things that morning. First of all, she has survived the second night. Second, she noticed, as if it was mere reflex that Tiffany wasn't in the cave with her. The third thing she later on realized was the duffel bag under her head and the jacket draped on top of her body that she was almost sure wasn't there when she had gone to sleep last night.

Her hands grabbed hold of the beige jacket and after giving it a lingering gaze brought it up to her face to smell the sweet sweet scent of warm strawberries. Her brain turned into mush and somehow it felt nice and soothing taking in a scent so painfully delicious.

I just like the smell, not her.

As if uttering it mentally wasn't enough to solidify her thought, she spoke it out loudly for herself to hear and to confirm it.

"Not her, but the smell." She folded it and placed it in her bag.

Then, she noticed the fourth thing. Her gun was missing. That led her to the fifth thing. Tiffany might've ditched her, taking her gun in the process. Frantically jumping to her feet, she rushed out of the cave and her heart skipped a few beats after not seeing Tiffany along the line of water. Maybe she might have been abducted by nocturnal creatures. Or even worse, she might've gotten out to get more wood for the fire and got lost. Scenarios flushed through her mind fueling to her worry.

She was about to call out when-

"Morning." Taeyeon clamped shut and twirled around to see Tiffany in her clothes. She suddenly remembered that she had offered them last night.

"Oh, morning." She wondered how embarrassing it would have been for her if she had called out Tiffany's name just now. Her eyes trailed down to the gun gripped in Tiffany's hand.

"You" She paused, "have my gun. Why?" She furrowed her eyebrows and waited for an explanation. She didn't want to throw the next question but figured out she wanted to know.

"You weren't here when I woke up, where were you? Don't go too far, it's dangerous, who knows if those people are still searching for us?" She sincerely hope she didn't come out as way too concerned. She just doesn't want Tiffany to get into trouble and drag her into more trouble.

"I was just scouting the area. I know it's dangerous that's why I brought this?" She held up the gun.

"You have your taser, but yeah just don't get lost and wish I would go find you." At her words, the Hwang's lips pulled down slightly into a frown but Taeyeon pretended she didn't see.

They stood before each other in silence when Tiffany held out her hand to grab hold of Taeyeon's.

"How's your hand feeling?" Taeyeon followed the trail of Tiffany's gaze and seem to only remember there was a cut on her palm and it was then that she began to feel pain blooming subtly from beneath her flesh. She stayed mum and fixated her eyes on the cloth tied around her.

"You changed the piece of clothing?" She inquired instead of answering to Tiffany's question.

"While you were sleeping, yes, I kind of cleaned it. You sleep like a rock."

A scene of Tiffany holding her hand while she sleeps cracked her up. It's a sappy image. Taeyeon chuckled softly, agreeing to the statement. "And yeah, it feels better. I can feel it healing. Thanks."

"Well yea just-" She pulled Taeyeon down to sit on a rock.

Taeyeon sat and watched as Tiffany pulled her hand onto her lap and attended her wound. The way she treated Taeyeon's palm made Taeyeon felt things. She felt important and fragile as she witnessed the way her hand received feathery touches and being handled as if it's a dying butterfly, as if she's carved and made from sheer glass.

Tiffany slowly unwrapped the knot, taking all the time in the world. She lifted Taeyeon's hand to slide the piece of silky cloth out. Taeyeon flicked her eyes to the gash somberly. Dried blood painted around the mouth of the slit which looked an inch long. Tiffany dipped the fabric into water and dabbed the blood away.

"Tell me if it hurts." Taeyeon nodded and wondered why Tiffany was putting so much attention on her.

While Tiffany cleaned the blood, Taeyeon never took her eyes away from Tiffany's face, half hoping the answer to her question would be engraved on Tiffany's face.

Tiffany dabbed a little too hard and Taeyeon hadn't even felt it.

"Sorry." She mumbled without facing up and Taeyeon's eyebrows knitted. Did she just apologize? She resumed to bore holes into Tiffany's face until her gaze was returned by a startled pair of eyes.

"Wh-"

"Have you finally came to the conclusion that I am not a corrupted coward?" Taeyeon cut her off. "Compared to yesterday- if I hadn't known better, I'd say this is a completely different person."

The other girl's cheeks seemed to lightly flush from the statement and she shrugged. "Maybe you're not that bad as what my parents have said," Taeyeon's lips quirked up half way, "BUT, I hope you won't do things that make me doubt myself, Kim Taeyeon."

Taeyeon winced as Tiffany retired the knot quite forcefully.

"Yea, turns out you're not that bad of a human. How about you? Do you still-"

"What made you change your mindset?" Taeyeon suppressed her smirk.

I now permit you to shower me with praises and grace me with fine compliments.

"I know you are fishing for compliments and you are not getting them."

"Them?" Taeyeon's eyes sparkled with naughty delight and Tiffany noticed her wrong usage of words.

"Does that mean there's more than one?"

"No. In fact there's none." Tiffany roughly pushed Taeyeon's hand off of her thighs and frowned.

"You haven't answered me yet. Do you still see me as a sinister person?" She quirked up an eyebrow and Taeyeon acted like she needed a long time to think when she already knew the answer.

"No." She finally said. Her dad must be filled with disappointment.

"You're a disgrace." She could imagine him saying that to her, his grey eyes reflecting disappointment that seems to make Taeyeon guilty every time. Whenever she gets scolded, it would always usually be in his study room, as he trudges back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back. She was spoiled, she admits that and she even talks back to her mother, however when it comes to her father, she was a disciplined tomato.

"How can you befriend our foe? How can you allow something that have been running on for so long be broken like this?" Then Taeyeon thought that maybe, just maybe this time she can stand up and say that he should stop perpetuating this awful tradition. Things that have occurred in the past, should just be left in the past.

Talking about her dad, she wonders if he'd sent forces to search for her yet. He should be searching right? But how will they even find her? She knows they track her phone and that's why she left it at her house the night she 'ran' away. The thought sounded comical to her now.

"Do you have a phone?" It was a stupid question, because she would see Tiffany use it if she does have one.

"I left it in my car." Taeyeon nodded as she chewed on her lip.

"I will-" She sprang up and sighed. "Fish."

"How is it that you can do this?"

"Do what?" She had told Tiffany to be quiet as to not scare the fish away with their voices but she gave up when the girl won't shut up. Talking to her is like talking to a deaf cow.

"This. All this. You can stand touching those fish and all. I mean are you used to this or what?" Tiffany perched on land, inspecting Taeyeon and constantly reminding Taeyeon she will never catch one.

"No. I'm just like you. I've never done anything independently. I just bear. I kind of think that if I don't do this, then I'll die. I don't really have a choice when I'm stuck in a place with no food and protection. This is the real deal, not a game. I mean, we can really die." She retorted in a low voice.

"I'm surprised you can survive by just eating a few pears and berries." She added.

"I don't like fish."

"Me neither but I need to survive. Beggars can't be choosy." She had noticed how different she had sounded comparing a few weeks ago. She realized how her perception had took a detour over the span of a few days.

"Plus, I-"

"Teach me." Tiffany finally stood up, determination crossed her face. That caught Taeyeon off guard.

"Teach you what?" She had stood up straight, fully given up on fishing.

"How to catch those slimy wiggly animals." She made a face of repugnance.

"They are called fish."

"I know. Come on, teach me."

Taeyeon eyed Tiffany intensely as she contemplated. She hurled the white shirt in her hands to Tiffany and stood with her arms akimbo.

"Lesson number one, all you have to do is walk to me without running back." It was amusing to watch the girl struggle as she tiptoed to Taeyeon which was almost at the middle of the creek. The set of expressions she gave off was enough to let Taeyeon burst into a peal of laughter.

"Don't laugh! I'm trying!" She really did try but the moment a fish nipped her toe, she had flailed her arms and retreated back to shore.

There was one thing about Tiffany that impressed Taeyeon though. It was the fact that she never gave in. She would try again and again to only run back to shore again and again.

"Try number 13. If you don't reach me, I won't teach you anymore. I'm exhausted by laughing at you all day."

And that time, Tiffany did make it to where Taeyeon was standing although she had rushed the last few steps and literally jumped into Taeyeon like a frightened koala. Taeyeon had to coax her to come down and there were many more coaxing until Tiffany had finally catch one fish.

"AH!" The moment she made contact with the fish, she threw it but not to land but back into the water.

"Yah! What?" Taeyeon facepalmed herself mentally and gave Tiffany another chance.

"Stay still and be quiet!" Taeyeon blurted in exasperation and when Tiffany finally caught one for real this time, Taeyeon felt like a proud teacher.

"I did it!" Tiffany jumped in the water and Taeyeon was just as excited.

It was the very first time Tiffany had giggled and laughed and Taeyeon realized wow her laugh can cure cancer.

The way her red full lips pulled back into a grin, showing her white beautiful set of teeth and especially the way her huge eyes squashed and vanished into crescents. It was adorable and enchanting simultaneously.

"Ok so I have a question for you." Taeyeon piped up as she watched the flames up to the fish wedged between two sticks.

"Yea?"

"Say Harry Potter is on a hill. How does he get down?"

"What? What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer."

"I don't know? Walking?" Taeyeon faced Tiffany with a shocked expression.

"You're right!" She exclaimed and paused, "JK, rolling." She deadpanned and Tiffany gave her a quizzical look. She waited for it to sink in and then Tiffany finally bursted out laughing, this time her hands clapped as well.

"J.K. Rowling?" Tiffany said between heavy laughter. "That's so neat!"

Taeyeon just snickered and watched Tiffany the whole time. All she wanted was to just see that eyesmile for the second time. It still manage to take her breath away like how it did. Her smile just radiates, just shines bright like a lone star in the night sky. It stands out.

I like her smile, not her. Her smile not her.

She peeked at Tiffany who was still laughing at a joke that wasn't even that funny.

Ok, maybe I'm in denial.