Chapter Sixteen

The shikshin duo found Tiffany just as the latter came out of the forest, though none of them actually saw her walking out of it, they only wondered why they failed to notice that slender figure when they drove past the row of trees earlier on.

Yoona jumped out of the car before it came to a complete stop. Ignoring her partner’s annoyed glare, she ran towards Tiffany, who was standing by the trees waiting for them, and threw her a tight bear hug.

“Unnie! You scared me! I thought you were in troubles!”

Tiffany wrapped her arm around the younger girl’s waist naturally and patted on her head. “I’m sorry. I guess I took too long this time.”

“I hope you really realized that.” Sooyoung said angrily. She seldom panicked for Tiffany and when she did, that means she had gathered tons of wild imaginations and conclusions for that hunter. For once, she really thought something bad happened to Tiffany and that certainly scared the hell out of her.

Tiffany raised her eyebrows with amusement, “It’s rare to see you getting so anxious for me.” She grinned and quickly added on before Sooyoung tried to hit her out of annoyance. “I’ll give both of you a treat, how does that sound?”

Sooyoung and Yoona turned to one another immediately. Their eyes glittered like sparkling stars.

They answered in unison, “Perfect!”

And so, thanks to Tiffany’s awesome suggestion, the trio went straight to the city instead of reporting back to the headquarters for this good news. The shikshin duo was literally lost in their world of food with a helpless Tiffany following behind, looking after them as though she was their mother instead of a friend.

It was only until two hours later, they finally returned to the headquarters.

While Sooyoung and Yoona returned to their respective rooms with all the goodies they bought back from the city, Tiffany went to the infirmary when she heard from Sooyoung that Yuri was searching for her.

Conversation could be heard as she approached the ward after getting direction from the nurse in-charge. Tiffany knocked on the door and entered the ward, interrupting the people inside before they had the chance to react to her arrival.

Yuri and Jessica stopped talking when they heard the knocks. Yuri, who was back-facing the door, turned around and looked at the door. When the door opened and revealed her partner from behind it, her eyes dilated with surprise and she jumped up from her seat immediately.

“Fany!” Yuri walked in big steps towards her partner. “Where have you been?”

“I was checking out the wilds just in case we missed out any mutants.” Tiffany lied, hoping to keep her meeting with Taeyeon as a secret. She tried to divert Yuri’s attention away by changing the topic to the blonde lady who was lying on the bed, staring at her.

She frowned slightly at the sight of that. “How is she?” Tiffany asked. Though that blonde’s gaze wasn’t intense, still, Tiffany didn’t like how she stared at her.

Yuri took a glance at Jessica, “She is alright already, but got to stay on bed until the skins on her wounds develop.” Yuri slipped her hand into Tiffany’s hand and pulled the latter towards the bed. She smiled at Jessica who was wearing a curious expression on her face. “Jessica, this is Tiffany, she’s a hunter too. And Tiffany, this is Jessica. She is a rather um… bright person.”

It was as if Jessica wanted to prove Yuri was speaking the truth, she held up her hand in the mid-air immediately and greeted Tiffany, “Nice to meet you Tiffany. I’ve been longing to see you!” Her eyes overflew with excitement.

However, Tiffany only felt awkward. She was never comfortable with strangers–– actually no. She never felt comfortable with anyone other than her housemates: Yuri, Sooyoung and Yoona.

And perhaps Taeyeon too…? That little ert sure amused her.

Tiffany was never like this before the death of her parents and after she was brought back to Aurales. She was originally a bubbly and cheerful little girl, until some miserable experiences she had in the past turned her into the now quiet and conservative person.

For someone like her who lived in the jungle with zero restriction, life was always wonderful in her eyes whether it shines or rains. She could laugh whenever she was happy and cry whenever she was sad, no one would be there to reprimand her for any mistakes she made and her parents would always praise her whenever she did things right.

Life was so simple back then, yet amazingly perfect and certainly filled her with warmth. It was only until her father’s death and her mother chose to follow her father and abandoned her all alone in this world, her world turned upside down.

An Aurales’ member found her when he was exploring the jungle. Upon learning that Tiffany’s parents had passed away, he took her in and brought her back to the Aurales’ headquarters, genuinely hoping that Tiffany could have a better life rather than being left astray in the wilds.

But little did he know his decision only worsened Tiffany’s life.

Tiffany was well-known as a beauty ever since she was young. When she first came into Aurales, the amount of attentions she had gotten herself was more than anyone could imagine. She initially thought it was a good sign, as everyone was welcoming her with their greatest passion. It seemed only legit that they would treat her nice and well, which they did actually, but obviously there were also people who disliked her arrival and treated her badly.

Out of all the ill-treatments she had experienced, the worst one was being ually harassed by the erts. Her pretty appearance had obviously not attracted only the good people, but also the rotten ones who wanted to have physical contact with her.

And when she said erts, she meant most of the men from the I.T. department.

There are reasons why Tiffany became a hunter and was one of the best ones in Aurales. First, she was talented. She learnt things fast and smooth. For majority of the time, she could execute the skills by taking just one look. And not only were they portrayed correctly, she always hit the given targets accurately even in her first try.

And the second reason, the erts.

Tiffany was harassed by those erted men almost every day ever since she stepped into Aurales. But since she was new and weak at that point of time, she did not openly resisted or went against them. Instead, she hid in all kinds of places where one could hardly think of – even during bedtime – to escape from those disgusting claws and at the same time, trained herself to become a stronger person.

She succeeded eventually and was able to punish those who still belittled her and tried to offend her. The news was quickly spread across Aurales and Tiffany gained a new image in everybody’s eyes as a result.

A strong, cool and beautiful female hunter who one must not underestimated.

Tiffany frowned at the hand before her, hesitating whether she should shake it or leave it as it was.

Jessica seemed to be oblivious to Tiffany’s hesitation and continued to leave her hand hanging in the mid-air, waiting for Tiffany’s to meet hers. “I’ve heard a lot about you when I went on travelling! Those people I met, most of them were talking about how a beautiful hunter saved them from the mutants. Every time I heard them talking about you, I always dream of meeting you one day… But I’ve never thought that I will really meet you today! Oh gosh, you’re my idol! You know that? I really admire you!”

The atmosphere in the ward was getting awkward. Yuri gulped silently as she watched the two women, who are on her either sides, looking (or staring in Tiffany’s case) at one another. Being stuck in between the two, Yuri could clearly see the differences in their moods. One was indifferent, while the other one was enthusiastic. Tiffany was expressionless, while Jessica had the sweetest smile on her face.

What an awkward situation! Yuri mentally face-palmed herself. Even breathing seemed to be a tough task now.

She nudged Tiffany secretly, eye-signaling her to shake Jessica’s hand. Judging by the look and anticipation on Jessica’s face, Yuri doubted the blonde will give in to Tiffany’s refusal anytime soon.

Tiffany shot her partner a deadly glare. As her partner, Yuri should know better that she hated to interact with strangers, let alone shaking hands with them? That was far worse than talking.

She turned back to Jessica who still had her gaze, filled with excitement and hopes, fixed on her. She had never imagined herself as someone else’s idol. All these rescuing of innocent lives was only meant for creating a better and peaceful future. Once the goal is achieved, she will return back to the home which she left a decade ago by herself. All the fames and glories she inherited during the period when she was in Aurales shall be left behind.

She doesn’t need any of those to live the simple life she is seeking.

But since Yuri wanted her to comply with this blonde, she would make it an exception this time round.

It felt like decades had past when their hands finally met one another. The first thing which came into Tiffany’s mind was that Jessica’s hand was icy cold, as though she had kept it in a freezer just seconds before their hands touched.

And she froze, when Jessica clasped her hand with hers. Many weird images started to flash through Tiffany’s mind. She saw herself with shoulder length’s hair, dressed in clothes which she had never worn or sees before. There were other things too, but the images flashed too fast that she could only manage to capture a glimpse of one particular person with long ponytail who appeared several times in those images. She couldn’t recognize that person, but, supposedly a she, looked awfully familiar to her.

Tiffany abruptly pulled her hand away from Jessica roughly as soon as the images stopped flashing and her reaction startled both Jessica and Yuri. She glared at Jessica with utmost cautious in her eyes, like a prey wary of its predator that may pounce on it when it is not aware.

“Jessica.” Yuri heard the soft, but unusually deep tone of Tiffany’s voice. She observed her partner. The way Tiffany narrowed her eyes at Jessica was like pulling out her very own blades, slicing through the poor and ignorant blonde ruthlessly like when she eliminates the mutants on the battlefield.

Both Yuri and Jessica were terrified due to the sudden change in Tiffany. They stiffened in their positions and held their breath unconsciously, waiting for Tiffany’s next sentence to come.

But it never came, since Tiffany headed out of the ward right afterwards.

“Did… did I anger her?” Moments passed, Jessica finally found back her voice and timidly tugged Yuri’s sleeves. She stared at her savior with guilt in her eyes.

Yuri, too, was confused and clueless. She had never seen Tiffany acting like this before, and she wasn’t even an unreasonable person to begin with. There must be a reason why she acted so hostile towards Jessica out of the sudden.

“I will check on her, don’t think too much about it alright?” Yuri patted on Jessica’s hand as a form of comfort. She set her hand down on the bed and tugged it under the blanket. “Rest well. I will visit you again tomorrow.” She reassured her with a smile and left the room quickly to chase after her partner.