Chapter Seventeen

It took Yuri almost an hour before she finally found Tiffany hiding in a small corner within the library. She hurriedly paced towards her partner who was sitting behind the table with piles of thick books placed in front of her.

Yuri stopped when she reached the opposite side of the table. She stood there akimbo, and looked at Tiffany helplessly.

“Fany.” She called her partner who was engrossed with the book on her hands. “Why did you leave?” Even if Jessica might be a little too excited, Tiffany would never leave just like this.

Tiffany sighed and glanced up from the book. Her eyebrows were slightly knitted towards each other as she stared at Yuri.

From Yuri’s point of view, she didn’t look like she was mad. Rather, she seemed to be in deep thoughts.

Yuri returned Tiffany a puzzled stare. Despite living in the same dormitory for more than five years, there was many times where Yuri failed to figure out her partner’s thoughts. Tiffany might be close with her, but Yuri felt that they were only physically close because Tiffany seldom shared her thoughts with the others.

A black hole full of mysteries and secrets, this was how Yuri would describe her.

“What happened to the both of you at the shrine?”

Tiffany threw a question back at Yuri, ignoring the latter’s doubt. Yuri wasn’t expecting Tiffany to ask anything about this now, her body stiffed for a mere second when she recalled the incident yesterday.

How she got carried away when the mutant died and Jessica cheered for her, it was a careless mistake which could not be reverted. Both Hyuk-Jun and Jessica might have convinced her not to blame herself for it, but Yuri could not help thinking that she was partially responsible for Jessica’s tragedy.

Yuri dragged the chair out and sat on it. Her head hung low, eyes scanning aimlessly on the piles of books between Tiffany and her. A heavy sigh was heard and her voice followed right after.

“I underestimated the mutants. They are more intelligent than we thought. They know how to hide their odors…” Something struck Yuri suddenly and the lifeless gaze regained its focus. “They hid their odors!” She looked at Tiffany with a concerned and worried look on her face. “That’s right, I remembered it now! The reason why I let my guards down is because I didn’t sense any other mutant’s presence when I arrived at the shrine.” She recalled how Jessica ran to her after she killed the mutant and how the absolute fresh air turned stinky in the speed of light. “The odor just seeped in out of the sudden, there is little time for me to react and Jessica was already on the ground.”

“Did you see where the mutant came out from?”

Yuri shook her head regretfully, “The mutant appeared the moment I smelled the odor. It came out of nowhere I would say.”

“I see…” Tiffany leaned back on her chair. “I guess we weren’t alone.”

“You mean?”

“Someone must be controlling the mutant nearby.”

“The Satrons.” Yuri clenched her teeth. “I should have realized that.” The Aurales had been looking for the members from Satron ever since the outburst of mutants, but never did they once catch any of them because Satron were too secretive and sneaky. In order to escape from the Aurales, they actually abandoned their base and sneaked into the neighborhood.

It is highly impossible to differentiate the Satrons from the normal humans and no way will the Aurales attack or capture the people recklessly.

Tiffany went through the piles of book and pulled out one from it. She threw it across the table gently and it landed right in front of Yuri.

“You should read this.”

“What’s this?” Yuri picked up the book and read the title out loud. “History of the Sorcerers – Wideon?” Wideon, the only clan which was capable of controlling magical powers, was eliminated by Satron a century ago.

Yuri gave Tiffany a confusing look, what was up with this book?

Tiffany withdrew her arm and rested her chin on her palm. Her index finger tapped on her cheek lightly as she voiced out her curiosity, “I wonder if Satron is really the one behind all these mutations.”

“But Wideon no longer exist.”

“It is the same logic as Runical, Yuri. I suggest you read through the WISA war and you will realize how absurd the war is.”

“What do you mean by that?” Yuri asked. Her hands flipped open the book at the same time.

Tiffany replied, “Wideon was the one who initiated the war, but Satron wiped them out within one night. If they really had the intention to fight this war with the Satrons, it is too ironic for them to be defeated so easily.”

“So you meant to say this is a conspiracy by the Wideons?”

“Perhaps?” She shrugged.

“But how did you come with this conclusion? What did you see?” There must be a reason why Tiffany brought up Wideon out of the sudden and Yuri suspected it involved the two lost communications they encountered before.

Tiffany simply returned Yuri a sweet smile, “You told me magical powers are discovered in the mutants’ flesh, didn’t you?”

“Uh… huh…” True, she did mention that to Tiffany before. But her instinct told her that there is something more to it.

Tiffany definitely knows something which she doesn’t.

“What’s on your arm?” Yuri noticed the pure white hidden underneath the opening of Tiffany’s sleeves.

Tiffany answered nonchalantly, “Nothing.” She removed her arms from the desk, trying to hide her injury from Yuri’s view.

Nothing? That would be the last thing she believed. And why was there even a hole on her jacket? She remembered Tiffany only got this jacket just months ago.

“Take off your jacket.” Yuri demanded. She got a very bad feeling about that white thing on Tiffany’s arm.

“Yuri,” Tiffany said with a warning tone. “You don’t want me to repeat what I told you yesterday.” It was only the day before she warned Yuri not to get too overboard with her life.

“But you’re injured! Don’t tell me that is not a bandage!”

“Since you already know that is a bandage, then what’s the worry for?”

“That wound isn’t there before we headed for the village.” Yuri paused, staring hard at the patch of white. “Which means you only got it last night.” Guilty was written all over her face, she couldn’t believe she actually left an injured Tiffany all alone last night.

How could she do that?

“It is not your fault Yuri.”

“But I abandoned you in the village!”

“I am the one who forced you to go.” Tiffany reminded her. “Yuri, you weren’t like this before. What’s going on exactly? Why do you keep putting the blames on yourself?”

Yuri pressed her lips tightly together into a straight line. Yeah, she wondered why too. Perhaps too many problems occurred within a night that she didn’t even have the time to calm herself down. Mutants appeared at several places attacking the innocent beings. Jessica was injured by a mutant right in front of her eyes and leaving Tiffany alone in an unfamiliar place when she was hurt. She felt helpless whenever she remembered all of them and the most importantly, she couldn’t solve any one of them, which is why she is feeling so guilty now.

Tiffany stretched her arms across the table and grabbed hold of Yuri’s hands. The latter lifted up her head, revealing the sorrow expression on her face to Tiffany.

Yuri felt guilty because she couldn’t solve the problems, but seeing her acting like this, it only made Tiffany guilty too.

“If you’re going to blame yourself furthermore, I will bear the responsibilities with you.”

“But––”

“Yuri! We are partners. If you think you are wrong, it means I’m wrong too, for not being able to correct you in time. We will take up the responsibilities together. That is what makes us a family, isn’t it?”

“Fany…”

“The Yuri I know isn’t someone who gives up so easily. Everyone has their setbacks in life, but the setbacks are there not to defeat them, but to be defeated by them. People grow stronger each time they conquered their obstacles. Yuri, I believe you are one of those kinds. Don’t be discouraged. Face your problems with courage and go through it bravely. Everyone makes mistakes, but what’s important is that they learn through their mistakes and live a better life than before.”

“Fany-ah…” Yuri was touched. No one could make her felt the way like Tiffany did. The way Tiffany encouraged her always touched her heart and enabled her to realize the importance principles in life.

In a way, Tiffany enlightened her. She was one of the main reasons why Kwon Yuri is Kwon Yuri.

Yuri held Tiffany’s hands tightly in return, “I’m really glad to have you as my partner, accompanying me by my side whenever I’m depressed and give me advices when I really need them. You are the reason for why I am I now and I really appreciate it.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?” Tiffany jokingly asked. She understood what Yuri meant of course, but they were discussing about how pessimistic Yuri was just moment ago. Yuri sounded like she was blaming her for turning her into the pessimistic person.

Yuri scrunched her face and pouted. She slapped Tiffany’s hand away, “That’s not funny Tiffany Hwang, I’m serious!”

Tiffany laughed, “I’m just teasing you, relax.”

“So how’s your arm now? Is it serious?”

Tiffany shrugged, “Nah, just a scratch, no big deal.”

“Where did you get the first aid from anyway?”

“One of the villagers helped me with it.” Tiffany lied. For some reasons, she didn’t want to expose Taeyeon’s identity to anyone within Aurales, especially Yuri. The kiss which happened this morning had not been forgotten by her. They might not be lovers, but Taeyeon would definitely become a sensitive topic between them.

Yuri was worried again. “Why don’t you show me your wound? We will bandage it again for you.” She didn’t really trust the first aid from that village.

“It is fine Yuri, don’t worry about it. I did the bandaging myself, I know better whether it is good for my arm or not.” The bandage by Taeyeon and her kiss, Tiffany wondered if it will really listen to Taeyeon’s instruction and leaves no scar on her.

Kim Taeyeon… Tiffany whispered the name to herself silently. You better not let me find out my guesses are right. If sorcerers disappeared on purpose, and re-appeared again after a hundred years for the sake of harming the innocent human beings and destroying world’s peace…

I’ll make sure all of you really go extinct this time.