Chapter 42: My Future

I felt nervous, uncomfortable. I didn’t like how they were all staring at me, at us. Waiting for an explanation. Their worried and concerned gazes burning a hole in my face. I knew they meant well, they had been scared for me, worried that something bad may have happened to me, but I couldn’t help but feel slightly claustrophobic.

Taeyeon squeezed my hand gently, giving me a reassuring smile, making me relax slightly.

Everything went quiet as they waited for us to speak.

“Well, where did it begin…?” Taeyeon started off, looking over at me for answers.

I swallowed down my saliva, wetting my lips before I began to speak. “Well, after Taeyeon had gone to speak with the business officials, I began to feel a little claustrophobic so I left the ballroom to get some fresh air. I was just standing on one of the balconies when Siwon came out of nowhere.” I explained.

“Siwon! Was it him? Did he have anything to do with it?” My father asked angrily, from the other side of the room, his voice echoing slightly.

I shook my head. “No, let me explain, Appa.” I said softly before continuing, “He didn’t do anything, he just…apologized for everything he had done. He also promised that he wouldn’t interfere with us anymore. I accepted it, and gave him a kiss on the cheek…”

“And sadly, that when I came in at the wrong time. I got angry and jumped to conclusions, and ended up punching him in the face and busting his lip pretty bad.” Taeyeon carried on for me. “Tiffany went back to the ballroom and I apologized for hitting him, we put our differences aside and made up. When I went back to the ballroom, I couldn’t find Tiffany, so I went looking for her. When I went into the bathroom, I saw Yoona…holding a knife to Tiffany’s throat…” Taeyeon said in a low tone.

“Wait. What?” Jessica asked, confused. “Yoona? Are we talking about the same Im Yoona that used to be our best friend?” She asked in disbelief.

I gave her a sad nod, causing her eyes to widen. The whole room went deadly silent. I stared at my lap, biting down on my lower lip.

“I don’t…I just can’t…believe it…” My father said shaking his head.

“I know, neither could we.” Taeyeon agreed, gently the back of my hand with her thumb. I lifted my head, giving her a small smile, to show her I was okay. She smiled back in return.

“Was there a reason why?” Michelle asked, voicing out for the time since everybody had gathered this morning.

Taeyeon wet her lips, and shook her head unsurely. “She…wanted me to run away with her…leave Tiffany. She was the reason I got shot and hit by the bottle…she was trying to kill Tiffany, but I always seemed to get in the way.”

“There had been something off about her…” I commented. “She had been acting weird…I think she might have something wrong with her. I mean the way she was acting and talking…she just seemed like a completely different person.”

Everybody nodded, silently agreeing.

“Well, at least you two are safe and Yoona is somewhere where she can hurt no one.” My father said, looking on the brighter side. “We can inform the police that we know who the culprit was.”

“Well, what do we do now? What are you guys going to say to the public…and what’s going to happen to Yoona?” Yuri asked, putting an arm around Jessica.

I was expecting my father to answer, but to my surprise Taeyeon got there before he could.

“I think the best thing to do would be to just tell the public that it wasn’t a serious matter, and contact Yoona’s father. That’s all we really can do at the moment.”

Once again, everybody agreed.

“Taeyeon’s right. We shouldn’t announce any of the details to the public, not only does it look bad on us, but also on Yoona’s family, who are very close friends of ours.” My father added, “Smart thinking, Taeyeon.”

She just gave a small smile and bow to towards him as a gesture of thanks.

“I’ve doubled the security and asked all maids, butlers and guards to be on the look out. We don’t want any paparazzi snooping around.” Taeyeon informed.

My father nodded. “And make sure all of you keep a low profile for a little while. Wait until all this fizzles out, and then we can move on.”

I nodded. All this was necessary since nearly everybody knows that Jessica and Yuri are very close to my family, paparazzi and reporters would do anything to try and squeeze out a storyline for their own satisfaction. We all had to be careful about the things we said, especially Taeyeon and I since we would be faced with many interviews to do with the coronation.

My father stood, drawing everybody’s gaze towards him. “I’ll do what I can to try and clear up this mess. But in the mean time, you guys be careful with the interview.” He said gesturing towards Taeyeon and I. “And just stay safe.” He let out a tired sigh, before taking one last look at us all and leaving, closing the door behind him.

Jessica had immediately engulfed me in a bone-crushing embrace when I went to stand up, and Yuri did the same with Taeyeon.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Tiff.” She said, her words muffling against me.

I rubbed her back. “I know, me too.”

She finally pulled away, smiling at me with an unreadable expression on her face. Yuri, who also gave me a quick hug, soon joined us.

“Look, I have a photo-shoot now, but I’ll call you as soon as I can.” Jessica said sincerely, holding me by the shoulders and looking me in the eye.

Yuri nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

They both gave me one last hug, before they left hand-in-hand.

When I turned back to Taeyeon, I found her talking to her mother. Mrs. Kim hadn’t said much throughout the course of the morning’s discussion, and I had almost forgotten that she was here, but the way she looked at Taeyeon told me that she had been scared and worried for her eldest daughter.

I walked over and joined them, and Mrs. Kim pulled me into a warm hug, rubbing up and down on the upper part of my spine in a comforting manner. I returned the hug gratefully, taking a deep breath.

We both pulled away and she gave me a small smile.

“I was just talking to Taeyeon about you two maybe letting Hayeon staying over night here.” She informed me.

I looked over at Taeyeon, as she smiled and nodded at me. She had been saying how much she missed her little sister, and I knew they were extremely close, plus Hayeon was a very adorable girl.

I smiled. “Of course. I would love that.”

She returned the smile. “I’ll drop her off later this evening and pick her up tomorrow.”

We both nodded. She bid her last good bye before leaving, once again, telling us to keep safe.

“Are you okay?” Taeyeon asked, wrapping her arms around me, gently pulling me closer and placing a gentle kiss on the crown of my head.

I nodded, leaning my head against her chest. “I’m okay. What about you?” I questioned back.

“As long as you’re okay, I’m okay.”

I lifted my head and placed a simple kiss on