“Die.”

“What?” Jessica tried to recover from the impact of a brick wall against her back, but the shock of pain shot through her spine. She had to support herself against the wall before her body would respond to her commands.

The alleyway was narrow, and left Jessica with few places to hide or run to. Seohyun had blocked off the door that lead back into the restaurant, and Jessica didn’t know if she should just make a break for the street. It was already dark, and the streets were fairly empty. Could Jessica maybe run far enough to get help? Or even around the corner and back into the restaurant?

“Don’t even think about it.” Seohyun lunged towards Jessica with evil intent. “You’ll never get out of here!”

Jessica took a not-so graceful step to the side and was able to dodge Seohyun. She took the moment as a blessing – Seohyun had to stabilize herself after hitting the wall, giving Jessica a chance to run – and bolted towards the street.

Unfortunately, Seohyun was one of the most fit people Jessica had ever met, and that meant Seohyun was fast. Really fast. Before Jessica could hit the main street, Seohyun was already an arms length away.

“Jessica!” Taeyeon appeared before Jessica. Taeyeon stepped around her panicking girlfriend and tackled Seohyun to the ground. “Stay away from Jessica!”

The girls struggled for dominance as Jessica stood to the side.

“Jessica, run inside and call the police!” Taeyeon said as Seohyun tugged at her hair.

However, Jessica stayed where she was. Her body was paralyzed as her mind relapsed and relived her prior encounter with death.

“Jessica!” Taeyeon tried to get Jessica’s attention, but fear had overtaken her. In the second that Taeyeon was distracted by her concern for Jessica, Seohyun kicked Taeyeon on side where Taeyeon’s scar was. Taeyeon let out an agonizing scream.

That woke Jessica up. But instead of running away, Jessica ran up to Seohyun and shoved her off of Taeyeon. “Tae, are you alright?”

Taeyeon pushed herself up to her knees as she clutched her side. “Yeah…she just hit that spot.” Taeyeon winced as she forced her body up on her feet. “Just get inside and call for help. Get out of here. I’ll catch up later.”

Jessica nodded and ran.

“You traitor.” Seohyun said as she tried to make her way towards her vanishing target. “You were supposed to kill her, not kiss her.”

“Just give me some time.” Taeyeon said, holding her own against one of her bosses. “I’ll do it, but I can’t do it when people are around!”

“Liar! You’ve had chance after chance to get rid of her, and yet she lives!”

Taeyeon took a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure Jessica was gone. “Listen, I’m working on it. If I get caught, you know that you’ll eventually be found out, too!” Taeyeon kept a safe distance away from Seohyun.

There was a calculated exchange of words. Taeyeon lied through her teeth. “I’ll kill her, just wait!” she said, but at heart Taeyeon was thinking of a way to save Jessica. Seohyun, however, refused to trust Taeyeon after being forced to take matters in her own hands. “Kill her then!” Seohyun screamed.

“Kill her!”

~~~~

Jessica ran back inside, and sat down at the table. There were visible signs of fright and fear written on her face, so her companions asked. After, Taeyeon was still gone, and that made them even more concerned.

“We need to leave.” Jessica said quietly. “Taeyeon will catch up with us later.”

“What? Why? Where is she?” Yoona asked.

Jessica gave Yoona a look. Somehow, in the moment where their eyes locked, Yoona understood Jessica. “Lets hurry up, then.”

Sooyoung had a vague idea of what was happening. Yuri, on the other hand was completely lost.

The girls paid for their meal then snuck their way to the car. Jessica gave Sooyoung the keys before crawling into the back seat. “Just get us back to the dorm.” Sooyoung complied. The girls left the restaurant – and Taeyeon – behind. No one liked it, but they knew that it was for the best.

As the car pulled out of the lot, dark clouds filled the sky and rain fell from the sky as if trying to erase any traces of Jessica ever being there.

~~~~

Taeyeon was still in the alleyway. It was getting later and the light provided by the moon was all that was there. Seohyun was getting tired, but refused to leave with Taeyeon so untrustworthy. The rain made it difficult to fight, and the ground became slick.

“Why?” Taeyeon asked after an exchange of blows. “Why do you want Jessica dead?”

“She’s the reason I lost everything!” Seohyun went for Taeyeon once more, with every ounce of rage focused into her onslaught. “If she didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have had to suffer.” The rain continued to pour down on the girls and soak through their clothing.

Taeyeon kept dodging, but she knew she couldn’t do that forever. Taeyeon tipped over a garbage can and used it as a wall between Seohyun and herself. “Suffer?!”

The girls danced around the garbage can. One step to the side, and another step back. Lean right, then left. Waltz around the can. Stop and pose. Repeat until someone gives in.

Seohyun reached across the can. Taeyeon leaned back to avoid Seohyun’s hand, but Seohyun was able to grab her shirt. Seohyun pulled hard and yanked Taeyeon over the can. The rain that had become a puddle splashed as Taeyeon hit the ground.

Before Taeyeon could get up, Seohyun grabbed Taeyeon again and pulled her to her knees. “That girl ruined my life!”

“How?! I heard you two fought, but over what?”

“She was lazy!” Seohyun was practically screaming in Taeyeon’s face. “I worked like crazy, but she was just handed everything. I put in so much effort, but the company gave her my parts, my role, my life!”

Taeyeon listened carefully to Seohyun’s story as she struggled to break free of Seohyun’s grasp.

“I ate healthy and even encouraged her to take care of herself. But who has the abs and fame? Her!” Taeyeon wasn’t quite sure, but she thought that she could see tears in Seohyun’s eyes. “I worked so hard, and she took everything from me!” Seohyun threw Taeyeon down.  Maybe it was just the rain, but Taeyeon was almost certain there were tears. Taeyeon stayed fairly still, but she continued to watch Seohyun.

“I couldn’t go back home. I wanted to, but…but I was too ashamed to face my own mother.” Seohyun cradled her face in her hands. Yeah, there were definitely tears. “I failed her.”

Taeyeon slowly got up. Her body didn’t ache at all, as if the rain had cleansed her body of all the pain. She didn’t realize it at first, but Taeyeon had walked up to Seohyun and opened her arms. “Seohyun, can I-“

“Shut up!” Seohyun swung an arm at Taeyeon. Seohyun didn’t really aim, but Taeyeon still moved out of the way. Before Seohyun could recoil her arm, though, Taeyeon latched onto Seohyun’s waist.

“Seohyun, stop! Please!” Taeyeon tried to calm down Seohyun, but she felt very conflicted. Could Taeyeon really help Seohyun, one of three people who forced Taeyeon into such a dangerous position?

But Taeyeon couldn’t just leave Seohyun. In the moonlight, without her cape, Seohyun felt utterly vulnerable. Never before had she felt so powerless. But, despite it all, Seohyun felt relieved to be able to say the words she never did. Even if she couldn’t say it to Jessica, the weight of her burden was not so heavy anymore.

“Please, stop this.” Taeyeon pleaded. “Please, let’s just talk.” Taeyeon tried to move Seohyun to the main street. Maybe there, Taeyeon thought, she might be less willing to act violent.

“Just let go of me!” Seohyun summoned all of her strength in an effort to pry Taeyeon off of her. But like the rain, Seohyun’s tears everything out of her. “I don’t need your pity!”

Taeyeon just kept holding tightly to Seohyun. How long was she going to be able to last? Even Taeyeon wasn’t sure. But Taeyeon was willing to put everything into making Seohyun stop and talk to her.

~~~~

Back at the dorm, Jessica sat down with Sooyoung and Yoona. Yuri was dropped off at her real dorm before ZoNE returned to their own home.

“Seohyun was trying to kill me. I guess Taeyeon didn’t realize that Seohyun was who she was until after the fact.” Jessica said after sipping from a cup of coffee.

“That doesn’t excuse the fact that you were almost killed again.” Sooyoung added. “We have to report Seohyun.”

Yoona threw in her own thoughts, too. “But Taeyeon did save you, right? So let’s just let Taeyeon take care of Seohyun and figure out something after we hear back from her.”

“Yoona, don’t be so naïve. If we let her roam free, she might come back for Jessica!”

“But Taeyeon is taking care of it. We trust Taeyeon, and I want to believe that she can make things right.”

Jessica kept quiet as she lost herself in thought. She picked up a few words here and there, but she was too preoccupied with Taeyeon. Was she safe? Was she okay? Would she be able to make it back? Jessica was worried.

Out of nowhere, Jessica stood up. “I’m going back for her.”

“What?!” Sooyoung and Yoona said together. “You must be insane!” Sooyoung added.

“No, I can’t just leave her there. She’s fighting for my life, and I can’t just leave her!” Jessica turned to go back to her car. Sooyoung and Yoona both got up to block the exit.

“Jessica, calm down.” Yoona said. “Taeyeon is trained. She can take care of herself. You wanted us to trust her, but you have to trust her, too.”

Jessica kept fighting through. Sooyoung and Yoona were too strong, though, and managed to get Jessica to sit down. But in the end, Jessica complained enough to have her way. Sooyoung and Yoona went along with her to make sure Jessica didn’t do anything too reckless.

~~~~

Taeyeon and Seohyun were sitting on the sidewalk. The rain had stopped, and the clouds had cleared the way for the stars to shine.

Seohyun was too tired to keep fighting and Taeyeon was too exhausted to do anything else. Both girls were soaking wet, and each had their fair share of scratches. Neither girl said anything for a while, but the wind fill the silence as it swept the street.

“We were good friends,” Seohyun began out of nowhere, “When she first joined the group we got along really well.” Seohyun was still crying, but her tears had slowed down and her breathing had become normal again. “Jessica was really nice…not like what people say. She can be mean, but to us she was super kind.”

Taeyeon didn’t know what to say. Should I even say anything?

But Seohyun just kept talking. “Jessica was really talented, too. She could hit notes I could never even imagine singing. I didn’t mind at first, but then the company gave her more and more attention.”

“And that’s when you started to hate her?” Taeyeon asked.

“Sort of. I was mad and got really jealous, but she’s older, so I didn’t want to be rude to her. That’s not how I was raised.”

“It isn’t good to keep it all in. You have to let your anger out every now and then.” Taeyeon said. “Even if not to Jessica, you can’t just stay stressed about things all the time. Or else…this happens.” Taeyeon pointed at their current situation. “And do you really want to kill Jessica for all this?”

Seohyun shook her head. “I complained to the company, but it didn’t go well. They backed up Jessica, saying she would likely do better than myself. I left the company after that. I was to embarrassed to face Jessica and the others. I really wasn’t mad enough to want to kill Jessica at first, but then…” Seohyun trailed off.

“Then what?”

“Someone found me. Confronted me. Somehow, she knew that I had ill will towards Jessica. She used that and urged me to join her in an effort to kill Jessica.”

“She? She who?”

Seohyun shook her head again. “I don’t know. I don’t know her face or her name. She always wore the cloak and never told us her name. She’s the leader of the three of us – the three cloaked ones who order you around.”

“I see.” Taeyeon looked at the ground. She wanted to cheer Seohyun up, but she didn’t know how. There was a puddle near her feet and Taeyeon looked at her reflection square in the eye. Then Taeyeon had an idea. “Seohyun, sing something.”

“Huh?”

“I bet you haven’t really sang much since leaving the company, have you?”

“Uh…no…not really, now that you mention it.”

“Sing something then. I bet it will make you feel better.”

“No, that…I….” Seohyun was uncomfortable singing for the first time in a while. And in front of a girl she tried to blackmail and kill? Well, I guess that doesn’t matter, but Seohyun was still not feeling up to singing.

“Come on, sing something.” Taeyeon said with a smile.

“Yeah, sing something.”

Seohyun and Taeyeon looked up. In front of them was a red car.

“Jessica!” Taeyeon exclaimed.

“You!” Seohyun stood up. “What do you want?”

Jessica stepped out of her car. Sooyoung and Yoona both got out as well, but stayed a short distance away. “For you to sing.” Jessica stepped closer to Seohyun. “Unless the company was right in dropping you.”

“Take that back! And I chose to leave, I wasn’t dropped.” Seohyun said.

“Really?” Jessica leaned towards Seohyun

“Ye-yes!” Seohyun was clearly intimidated, but she refused to be completely bested by Jessica.

“Then sing.”

Seohyun clenched her fists. Then she parted her lips. And finally, she began to sing. As she grew more confident in her voice, Seohyun closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall back into what it felt like to be in ZoNE again.

When the song was over, Seohyun opened her eyes. Jessica was still there. But she didn’t seem scary anymore. She was smiling at her the same way she did before Seohyun left the company. “Jessica, I’m so sorry!” Seohyun collapsed onto her knees and began to cry once more. “I’m sorry!!”

Jessica began to approach Seohyun but Taeyeon stepped between them. “Wait.” Taeyeon said before turning towards Seohyun. “Seohyun, I want to trust you the same way they trust me.” Taeyeon pointed to the ZoNE members. “But, I don’t know if we can. Not after what you put me through.”

Seohyun couldn’t answer. Taeyeon was right, after all. She didn’t deserve the next chance.

“Well, you could-yah!” Sooyoung started to say something but then Yoona stopped her.

“What? What could I do?” Seohyun asked. “I’ll do it, I swear.”

Yoona tried to stop Sooyoung, but Sooyoung wouldn’t remain quiet. “Turn yourself in.”

Everyone stared at Sooyoung. But at the same time, no one could really deny the fact that it was likely the best thing for everyone. Jessica would have one less person after her, Sooyoung and Yoona had one less thing to worry about, and Taeyeon had one less person to deal with.

Seohyun nodded in agreement. Sooyoung pulled out her phone to call the police – they arrived in mere minutes. When the police arrived, Seohyun explained everything herself. Taeyeon stood nearby to make sure everything went along smoothly.

Eventually, the police took everyone down to a near-by station. Jessica drove her own car to a parking lot out back while the others rode in the police car.

Everyone say around in the station for a long time. With the wait becoming more and more unbearable, the girls became even more restless. They fidgeted in their seats uncomfortably until they were all called in to an isolated room to be questioned.

One by one, the girls were asked for their recollection of the night’s events.

“It was a peaceful dinner and we realized that Seohyun was our server…”

“…then Jessica asked if I could talk with her, so I agreed…”

“…but then I realized who she really was so I went out and confronted her…”

“…and when I went back I told the others what was happening so we left…”

“…but then Jessica wanted to come back for Taeyeon so we ended up returning.”

The officers looked at each other. Their stories were more or less the same, so the officers had no choice. They arrested Seohyun for attempted murder. She was taken in for further questioning, while Taeyeon and ZoNE were allowed to leave mostly unscathed.

Unfortunately, the paparazzi was quick on the draw and were at the station before the girls knew it. Photographers ambushed the group with camera flashes while reporters threw microphones and questions, and a handful of people had video cameras ready to capture every moment.

Jessica hid behind Taeyeon. “What are you-“ Taeyeon started.

“I can’t let them see that I’m hurt. It will be such a huge scandal…”

Taeyeon ushered everyone back inside. “Well, we can’t just stay here all night. Is there another way out of here that the paparazzi don’t know about?

“There’s a back door.” Said a near-by police officer. “I’ll take you there, but you’ll have to get to your car on your own.”

The girls nodded and thanked the man for helping them. The paparazzi was still waiting at the front of the station, completely unaware that their subject of interest was slinking off into the safety of the dark.

“Do you really think its okay to just leave her there?” Jessica asked as they walked to the car. “I mean, she really is a gentle person and I’d hate to see her in a jail sell with some creep.”

“Are you really being sympathetic to someone who just tried to kill you? Do you have a thing for people who want you dead?” Yoona asked.

Jessica shoved Yoona a bit. “No. But…I just feel like this was somehow my fault. Maybe if I never joined ZoNE, or if I noticed how she was feeling, maybe we could have been friends and she wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Taeyeon gave Jessica a hug from behind. “Don’t blame yourself, okay? We have one problem out of the way, and now there are just two more we have to worry about. If Seohyun wasn’t there to begin with, the others would still be out to get you.”

“Thanks…is that really supposed to make me feel better?”

Taeyeon squeezed Jessica a little harder. “I’m just saying that things will happen no matter what you do. Just look on the bright side, you have me, right?”

“Okay, you are really bad at pep-talks.” Jessica skipped to the car after unlatching Taeyeon from her hips.

“Whatever.” Taeyeon said with a pout. “Hey, wait a minute, are you saying I’m a bad girlfriend?!” Taeyeon ran towards Jessica and slid into the car before Jessica could shut the door.

“Well I never said you were the best.”

“Please, I’ll make you fall for me so hard you’ll regret making me your maid.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

-------

Forever jealous of those who were at KCon, but the live stream was decent ^^ (I have issues with those camera men tho >.>)

BUT HOLY CRAP THE COBU OSTs. CHEaP CREEPER AND SAY YES. MY EXOSHIDAE FEELS ARE ESSPLODING