“Tiffany, we don’t have anything until two. Why are you up so early?” Jessica asked groggily when she opened the door of her bedroom to see Tiffany whizz right past her bedroom door. Tiffany stopped in her tracks and turned at Jessica to beam a bright smile with a piece of toast and jam in . She then reached her hand up to pull her toast down and swallow what she had in .

“I know, but I’m going to see the manager of the restaurant. I might be able to work today too if I’m lucky.” Tiffany answered eagerly. Jessica raised her eyebrow up. Her vision of Tiffany was still blurry from being woken up so early in the morning by the hustle and bustle of Tiffany running around the house.

“Okay then. When is Taeyeon coming to pick you up?” Jessica let out a yawn. Tiffany just shook her head and continued on down to the stairs.

“I’m going alone. If I’m late to the tutoring tell Taeyeon to wait please? I’m taking a bus to get there. Okay I have to get going. Sleep well Jess.” Tiffany called out whilst she hopped down the stairs. Jessica narrowed her eyes at Tiffany exiting the house downstairs and just rolled her eyes.

“That girl has too much energy in the morning,” Jessica mumbled before she walked back to her room to continue with her sleep.

Tiffany quickly ran to the bus that had just stopped at the bus stop. Just as the door was about to close, she reached the door just in time. The bus driver rolled his eyes at Tiffany, annoyed that there was always someone holding up the bus timetable. As Tiffany went in and paid for her ticket she moved all the way to the back of the bus. As she was walking down, she saw people in suits and casual clothing seated along the bus. She realised that she wasn’t the only one taking public transport to work and was somewhat relieved.
As she continued to move down she found two empty seats and decided to take the one closest to the window as the bus continued to move down the road. As the bus stopped at the other few stops, more and more people boarded the bus. Tiffany sat silently, hoping that if anyone were to take her seat, it would not be a male. Although she did not despise men as she used to, she was still uncomfortable with being next to an unknown man. The only few men she was comfortable around was Leeteuk and probably Gi Kwang due to their relation with Taeyeon.
The bus continued picking and dropping off more people and Tiffany prayed even harder that the seat next to her would remain untaken as the other seats filled. Once the bus stopped again, she closed her eyes and waited to see if anyone would take the empty seat beside her.
When she heard the seat beside her move, she immediately moved closer to the window and opened her eyes slightly.

“Relax.” A familiar voice uttered. Tiffany immediately opened her eyes upon hearing the voice and stared at the person sitting in the seat beside her. There sat a blonde girl with a calm expression on her face as she stared forward.

“Taeyeon?!” Tiffany exclaimed upon seeing the owner of the seat beside her. Taeyeon smiled slightly when Tiffany’s loud voice resounded through the bus and turned around with a finger on to tell Tiffany to keep it down.

“What are you doing here?” Tiffany whispered, feeling slightly embarrassed that the whole bus heard her before.

“What? Can’t I take the bus once in a while?” Taeyeon defended. Tiffany raised her eyebrow at Taeyeon suspiciously. Taeyeon’s car was more than enough to get around the country, let alone the city. And Taeyeon could have travelled with ease without the hustle and bustle of people on public transport too.

“Where are you heading to then?” Tiffany challenged. Taeyeon just chuckled and responded with a shrug.

“I don’t know. Wherever the bus takes me I guess.” Taeyeon answered back vaguely. Tiffany then sighed and lightly hit Taeyeon’s arm before sitting back in her seat with a frown on her face.

“Jessica told you, didn’t she?” Tiffany mumbled. Taeyeon smiled triumphantly once Tiffany understood.

“SeoHyun told me actually. Do you know how hard it is to catch up to a bus in this traffic? And find a parking spot at that too.” Taeyeon lectured. Tiffany just turned her head to the side and faced the window as the bus continued on. She had wanted to do things independently, but Taeyeon seemed to be always around babysitting her.

“I can get off the next stop if you want.” Taeyeon interrupted Tiffany’s thought and stood up slowly. Tiffany then quickly reacted by turning around and pulling Taeyeon back down to her seat by her hand. She then gripped onto the warm hand, not allowing the owner of the hand to move from her seat.

“No… I just…” Tiffany stuttered. Although she was annoyed Taeyeon didn’t give her all the freedom, she was relieved that Taeyeon had sat next to her. As she tried to find the right words, she felt a hand pat her head gently.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure no one takes this seat.” Taeyeon chuckled. Tiffany then slowly let go of Taeyeon’s hand and smiled thankfully.

“You don’t have to be fully independent from day one. Just slowly reach the independence.” Taeyeon whispered. Tiffany nodded obediently and sat in her seat with relief. As the moments passed, the people on the bus slowly got off. Taeyeon and Tiffany sat silently but it was comfortable. The two always found the silence somewhat reassuring.

“Tiffany?” Taeyeon then broke the silence. Tiffany looked up from Taeyeon and raised her eyebrow. Taeyeon then pointed to the bus stop outside that was slowly moving away.

“Wasn’t that your stop?” Taeyeon said slowly as her hand followed the stop. Tiffany quickly whipped her head around the stop to see it moving away. She saw the number 2727 on the sign as her eyes immediately popped open.

“Oh my god!” Tiffany yelled as she jumped out of her seat. Taeyeon quickly got out of her seat as well and couldn’t help but laugh as she grabbed Tiffany’s hand and ran up to the front.

“Excuse me, could you please stop the bus?” Taeyeon asked calmly whilst Tiffany was impatiently fidgeting behind her. Taeyeon squeezed onto Tiffany’s arm to calm her down as she waited for the bus driver to respond.

“I’m sorry but you will have to get off the next stop” he answered back lazily. Taeyeon felt Tiffany freeze slightly behind her. Taeyeon however, just calmly reached into her pocket and pulled out a few notes and placed it on the dashboard before she pressed the button to open the door. Before anyone could react, Taeyeon pulled Tiffany out of the door and landed on the side of the street. She quickly turned around and caught Tiffany in her arms safely before putting her down safely.

“…” Tiffany didn’t utter a word as her heart was still beating fast from jumping off a moving bus. Taeyeon then clicked her fingers and snapped Tiffany out of the daze.

“Shouldn’t you be running right about now?” Taeyeon questioned as she pointed down the street. Tiffany responded by slapping Taeyeon’s hand and giving a frustrated grunt.

“What were you thinking?” Tiffany yelled. Taeyeon then just raised her hand up and pointed at her watch.

“You can yell at me later. Right now, you’re going to be late for your interview.” Taeyeon said bluntly. Tiffany then checked her own watch and saw that she only had ten minutes left.

“Go on.” Taeyeon added as she nudged Tiffany towards the direction of the restaurant. Tiffany glared at Taeyeon before she started running to her interview. Taeyeon then turned around and started walking down the street in the opposite direction to the bus to retrieve her car miles away.

“You’re late.” The manager crossed his arms and frowned at the huffing red head in front of him. Tiffany stood up and bowed down again in apology as her breath was coming back slowly.

“I’m sorry. I missed the bus stop and had to run here.” Tiffany apologized. The manager then just rolled his eyes and threw an apron at Tiffany.

“We’re short on staff, so you’re lucky today. When is your college timetable?” he asked indifferently. Tiffany caught the apron and smiled thankfully at the manager.

“I have classes at two to four on Monday and Wednesday. On Tuesday and Thursday I have class at ten to eleven thirty and on Friday I have classes from ten to three.” Tiffany recited precisely. The manager then just nodded and waved his hand at Tiffany carelessly.

“Okay it all works out then. You will work from twelve to eight every Tuesday and Thursday. Monday and Wednesday you will work the morning and night shift. Friday will be the night shift and Saturday will be the lunch shift. Clear?” The manager listed. Tiffany was a little taken aback at the times. With that time table, she would rarely have enough time for herself.

“I heard you needed money to pay your college. Consider this as a favour here. I could easily just hire anyone else. College students are always a hassle to deal with.” The manager scoffed and walked off. Tiffany bowed at the man nervously before putting on her apron. She then stood there and looked around, not entirely sure of what to do.

“You’ll be in the kitchen helping with the dishes and running the tables if needed.” The manager then called out before disappearing. Tiffany jumped at the manager’s voice but then quickly rushed off into the kitchen to start her job. As she walked into the kitchen, she saw people preparing breakfast for the customers who were slowly piling in. For the moment, there were no dishes so Tiffany was to run the tables. One of the waitresses handed her a notepad and pen and pushed her out to the tables.

Tiffany was completely lost on what to do, so she just went with whatever she thought was best. She handed the people menus and ran to the tables that had closed menus to take their orders. She was a little confused on exactly how to take orders so she spent a lot more time than the others taking down the orders. Once she had finished taking the orders, she ripped off the note and passed it into the kitchen and continued on. She then had to take the orders to the tables once they were done and it wasn’t long before problems started to arise.

“Excuse me miss, but I didn’t order this.” One of the people said hesitantly as Tiffany laid the waffles onto the table. Tiffany then rechecked the order number and was pretty sure that it was ordered for table number five.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Tiffany apologized as she took back the plate and searched around. She had written the wrong table number onto the order and was now trying to remember which table had ordered waffles.

“Stop standing in the way” one of the waitresses with a plate of bacon, eggs and toast grumbled in front of Tiffany. Tiffany moved to the side and accidently bumped into one of the customer’s chairs. She then moved to the side and apologized as she continued to search the tables.

“Table number fifteen.” The waitress returned with an annoyed expression. Tiffany then turned to table number fifteen to see the customer staring at her, waiting for their waffles.

“Thanks.” Tiffany thanked quickly as she rushed to the table.

“Idiot.” The waitress cussed just loud enough for Tiffany to hear. Tiffany would have turned back and confronted the waitress if she didn’t have a plate of late waffles in her hands.

“I’m sorry.” Tiffany apologized once she placed the plate down. She could see the customer was not pleased and did not answer back at Tiffany as she walked away.

“Do your job properly.” The people in the kitchen yelled. Tiffany bowed in apology and continued to work to the best of her ability. For the few hours of the breakfast rush, Tiffany had messed up three orders, mixed up eight tables and dropped two plates. As expected, the manager came and reprimanded her for her lousy abilities.

“Go and do the dishes.” The manager sighed tiredly and waved her off. Tiffany nodded solemnly and walked off slowly to the kitchen to the piles of dishes. She rolled up her sleeves and slowly began to wash the dirty utensils and plates. The people in the kitchen huddled around and talked to each other as the customers were slowing down. They made remarks about Tiffany and made sure that the red head could hear them loud and clear.

Tiffany bit onto her tongue as she continued to wash the dishes. She decided to take everything they said as she knew that she had started off on the bad foot. She also did not have enough time to find another job which would accept her timetable with the college funds being due before the month ended. So, she stood there quietly as she continued washing the dishes, making sure that she would not drop any and cause any more troubles.

“Are you sure letting Tiffany work on top of her studies is a good idea?” Yuri asked Taeyeon slowly as they entered the small room that was reserved for the Elites. Taeyeon gave Yuri a questionable stare before they split up into their designated seats.

“Of course it’s not. But, who am I to tell her what to do and what not to do? If it’s too much, I can just take care of everything for her.” Taeyeon shrugged. Yoona was the last to take her seat as she rested her feet onto the table.

“Nothing has changed much has it?” Yoona asked slowly. Yuri and Taeyeon turned to give Yoona a questionable expression.

“We’re still Elites. The girls are still human. Our nights haven’t changed and our days are similar to what they used to be.” Yoona continued staring out to the window. Taeyeon gave a sigh knowing what Yoona was referring to.

“Yoona, you know I can’t do that. There is too much of a risk and if we were to go with the second option, there is also a chance that it might not work.” Taeyeon said slowly. Yoona just nodded in response to Taeyeon. They had been talking about the issues for a while. The Legion was still trying to find a way to turn humans into immortals without any risks.

“I know… I just… never mind.” Yoona shook her head slightly and peeled her eyes away from the window. Just as she did the door opened again and in came two girls. Yuri and Yoona’s expression brightened when they saw Jessica and SeoHyun entering the door. As the two were walking in to take their seats, Jessica paused in front of Taeyeon’s table.

“Tiffany might be a little late. She asked you to wait for her and apologizes in advance.” Jessica said tiredly before walking off. Taeyeon just nodded indifferently and rested against the back of her chair with her phone in her hand. As the other four went on with their studies, Taeyeon searched around on her phone and played a few games.

Halfway through the tutoring class, Tiffany had still not showed up for class. With only an hour left of the tutoring, Yuri and Yoona were a little worried when they saw Taeyeon fidgeting with her phone. Just as Yoona was about to ask Taeyeon is she was alright, Taeyeon’s phone went off. All of the four girls looked over to Taeyeon as she answered her phone.

“Have you found a way yet?” Taeyeon asked as soon as she answered the phone. The other four knew who Taeyeon was talking to and went about their studies.

“The Legion sure has a lot of phone credit” Jessica remarked as she turned to the next page. Yuri just chuckled under her breath and shrugged.

“It’s more like we have a lot of money” Yuri answered back.

“A what?” Taeyeon’s voice suddenly raised by a pitch through the phone. Taeyeon then stood up from her seat and headed for the door where she would be able to talk privately without everyone else listening. Just as she opened the door, Tiffany appeared in front of her.

“Sorry… I’m… late” Tiffany huffed. Taeyeon just nodded quickly to Tiffany and pulled the phone away and covered the microphone at the bottom of the phone.

“You’ll have to ask Yuri or Yoona to help you study today. I need to take this call.” Taeyeon whispered quickly before she lifted the phone up to her ear and walked off down the hall. Tiffany was still trying to catch her breath as she watched Taeyeon quickly disappear from her sight. She was a little disheartened that she wouldn’t be able to study with Taeyeon but understood that Legion matters were more important.

“Tiffany. Come join us. We’ll have a group study today.” Yoona called out as the other three stood up and pushed five tables together. Tiffany peeled her eyes away from the hall which Taeyeon had disappeared to and slowly walked into the room with the Elites and her friends.

“Sorry about Taeyeon… Something came up and it seemed rather urgent.” Yuri apologized once the tables were set up in a five seated line. Tiffany gave a reassuring smile and nodded.

“I know. It’s been like that since she reaccepted her role as the leader. I understand.” Tiffany said reassuringly. Yuri smiled at Tiffany’s understanding and took her seat next to Jessica. Tiffany took the seat next to Yuri, Yoona took the seat next to Tiffany and SeoHyun sat on the end beside Yoona.

“There has been another loose soul from the afterlife. Ever since the incident about Sooyeon and Miyoung being able to leave the afterlife was leaked to the people of the afterlife, souls have been doing whatever they can to break through the barriers of the dead and return to the life of the living. Because they are nothing but souls with a temporary body, they have been finding bodies that contain no soul to take over, but the problem is that the bodies are no longer functioning. There has been an incident where one of the Legion members was deliberately injured so that the ghost could collect some of our blood and give it to the empty body.” The voice said seriously through the earpiece of the phone.

Taeyeon was standing on the Elites’ private roof listening to the details of the phone. The news of more souls leaving the afterlife would be causing trouble for both Sunny and the Legion since they had ties with the council of the afterlife.

“What has the afterlife been doing?” Taeyeon asked back through the phone.

“They have strengthened the barriers of the afterlife and so far, only one soul has managed to escape. This soul had previously had ties with one of our Legion members and before they passed on, knew about our immortality. It was surprising that they were able to track down our headquarters so easily and managed to cut one of the members.” The voice answered back.

“What happened after they managed to get samples of our blood?” Taeyeon continued.

“Luckily, the member was not alone. Moments after the soul collected the blood sample, the other member managed to detain the soul. As of now Sunny is sending him back to the afterlife.” The member answered sternly. Taeyeon paused for a moment as she began to think about the consequences.

“In conclusion… All of this chaos in the afterlife is happening because Miyoung managed to stay in this world?” Taeyeon finished off.

“Yes… I was calling today to inform you that you should be careful, Leader Kim. Please remember that although you are our leader, you are the most vulnerable out of us. If the word leaks out about your Achilles heel, you shall be in danger. As of now though, it is highly unlikely that anyone else would escape the afterlife.” The Legion member’s voice lowered. Taeyeon lifted her hand up to the bridge of her nose and pinched it as she realised that dangers that she were to face.

“Alright… I want the Legion to know that they are to always have another member with them. They are not to go alone and if they spot anything suspicious, they should warn the others immediately. As for the situation here… I’ll try to stay away from the public as much as I can until the chaos in the afterlife has been nullified.” Taeyeon sighed tiredly.

“Thank you for understanding… As for the research about the immortality with no risks, we have not had any progress so far. I shall inform you if anything were to change.” The voice finished off.

“Thank you…” Taeyeon answered back slowly before ending the call. She then put the phone back into her pocket and sighed heavily. She then reached her hand up to her neck and rubbed it tenderly as she stared up into the sky.

“I probably should hate Miyoung for giving me this weakness… but I can’t bring myself to hate her fully.” Taeyeon murmured to herself slowly.

“I may not love her anymore… but I don’t hate her…” Taeyeon lowered her gaze to the floor and lowered her hands back to her side. She then put her hands into her pockets and rocked on the back of her feet, taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

“All that matters is Tiffany… Everything else doesn’t matter anymore…” Taeyeon told herself before she took one last breath and turned around to head back to the Elites’ room. As she stood in front of the door, paused for a moment, debating whether she should just lie about what she was talking about or just dismiss them. Thinking that it was probably best to lie to them, Taeyeon mustered up every courage she had in her to think of a lie to tell them whilst she opened the door.

Once she opened the door, she noticed that Yuri and Yoona were helping Jessica and SeoHyun silently whilst there was a desk in between them. Taeyeon saw the crown of a redhead on the table as she shoulders of the girl slowly rise and fall.

“She last about twenty minutes before she decided to use her book as a pillow.” Yuri whispered once she spotted Taeyeon with a confused expression at the door.

Taeyeon just nodded and lifted a table to set it in front of Tiffany’s desk. Because it was no longer winter, Taeyeon no longer had a blazer so she made do with her vest. She calmly took off her Elites vest and laid it over Tiffany’s shoulders as the redhead continued to sleep.

“She stayed up late last night preparing her résumé and getting in extra studies, just in case she wouldn’t make it to tutoring today.” SeoHyun informed Taeyeon silently. Taeyeon then nodded slowly and packed whatever she could on Tiffany’s desk before she pulled out her phone and started up another game, allowing the redhead to catch up on some of her sleep.

“Taeyeon… is there something going on?” Yoona was the first to ask as she noticed Taeyeon’s silence. Taeyeon lowered her phone and returned Yoona’s gaze with a questionable look.

“You seem alarmed before you left.” Yoona continued. Taeyeon then waved her hand carelessly.

“It was nothing… One of the Legion members decided to adopt a pet tiger and bring it back to headquarters.” Taeyeon lied. To anyone else, that would have seemed like a lie, but with a group of immortals it seemed highly likely.

“Oh what kind of tiger was it?” Yuri joined the conversation eagerly. Taeyeon quickly turned to Yuri and pressed her finger onto her lip to tell her to quieten down. Yuri covered with her hand apologetically and smiled sheepishly.

“Do they even have tigers in Japan?” Jessica asked sceptically. Taeyeon was never good at lying. She would always dismiss the question or say a simple lie.

“Who brought it back to the headquarters?” SeoHyun joined in. Tiffany stirred slightly from the conversation going around her, causing everyone to quickly close their mouths as they waited for Tiffany to fall back to sleep.

“Gi Kwang brought it back a golden tiger from his trip to India. He found it on a poacher’s car so decided to take it.” Taeyeon answered with a shrug as she avoided eye contact. Yuri and Yoona smiled brilliantly as they heard Taeyeon’s explanation. Taeyeon knew that the two had fallen for her lie and was somewhat surprised that the two were so naïve.

“I want a pet lion. Or even a pet bear.” Yoona started whispering excitedly. Taeyeon then allowed the two to go on about their pet fantasies and returned to her phone.

“Or maybe even a pet polar bear… But we would have to move to the Arctic for that.” Yuri continued. Taeyeon then clicked her fingers and caused both eager immortals to pause their fantasies.

“Please remember that you are responsible to teach during this time period. Your students are being ignored right now.” Taeyeon said bluntly. Yuri and Yoona turned to their respective partners to be met with a returning gaze.

“Okay! Back to studies!” Yuri called out nervously, a little too loudly. Tiffany stirred in her seat and ended up opening her eyes. Jessica hit Yuri across the head in punishment as they returned to their studies.

Tiffany rubbed her eyes slowly and frowned at her surroundings. She then turned her head to look at the front to see Taeyeon on her phone and immediately woke up. She shuffled her books and tried to find her pen to continue studying when she saw that most of her stuff was packed away.

“Relax. You can rest for today.” Taeyeon called out in between Tiffany’s small panic attack. Tiffany unconsciously let out a tired yawn as her eyes began to water from the yawn. She then felt some material rub against her shoulders before falling off. She looked down to see Taeyeon’s vest was sitting crumpled on her chair.

“We’ll continue our studies tomorrow.” Taeyeon clarified. Tiffany looked up at Taeyeon for a few moments before she let out a small smile before resting her head against her open books again. Her eyes began to feel heavy again and before she knew it, the dreamland was welcoming her with open arms. Taeyeon reached over to Tiffany’s seat and pulled the vest up again and laid it over the redhead’s shoulders. Tiffany stirred slightly as she has not yet fallen asleep and smiled when she felt the vest drape over her shoulders.

‘At least I got to see her today…’ Tiffany thought to herself before the sleep pulled her into the dreamland. Taeyeon sat back in her seat and smiled at Tiffany sleeping soundly in front of her.

‘Nothing else matters anymore… Tiffany’s safety is all that I should worry about’ Taeyeon told herself silently as she fixed Tiffany’s bangs. Jessica peeked over Yuri’s shoulder and tapped Yuri’s shoulder as she gestured to Taeyeon. The two ended up giggling to each other before they shifted away from the two in the middle, allowing them more space.

SeoHyun saw Tiffany sleeping soundly and calmly pulled her table further away. Naturally, Yoona followed as all three pairs had their own separate areas.