Chapter Thirty-Three

Sitting on the peak of the hill with her arms spread out widely, the young woman with shoulder length hair was enjoying the morning breeze when another woman, who had a long ponytail tied to the back of her head, appeared out of nowhere and interrupted the peaceful and silent moment.

“Yah! Get down here right now! The wind’s gonna blow you away!”

A frown was drawn on shorter hair woman’s face when she heard her lover’s voice. She turned to the long-haired women and retorted with a pout, “It isn’t! You’re worrying for nothing!”

“Yah!” The long-haired woman rested her palms on her hip. “How is it nothing when my babe may be blown away by the wind? I don’t wanna lose her, you know!”

Those words were supposed to be her grumbles, but it turned out cheesy as they came out from . The frown on the short-haired woman’s face was immediately replaced with an unusually happy and sweet grin. “If you’re sooooo afraid that the wind will blow me away, then come up here right now and hug me tightly!” The short-haired woman stuck out her tongue and lover.

The long-haired woman’s eyes widened at her lover’s suggestion, “No way!” She protested.

The short-haired woman ignored her lover’s protest and stood up, jumping around the limited spacing as though she was dancing. “Lalalalala~~”

“YAH! YAH! YAH!”

And the long-haired woman lost the tolerant game against her lover instantly. She climbed up the hill with her fastest speed and reached for her lover before any accident happened. When the short-haired woman saw her lover was approaching, she stopped moving and waited for her to come.

As the pair of warm arms encircled her waist, the short-haired woman leaned forward and rested her head against her lover’s shoulder. She tilted her head up slightly and stared deeply into her lover’s eyes.

“I love you.” She said with a wide smile, revealing the set of perfect teeth hiding behind her rosy lips. Her eyes turned into beautiful crescent shapes, almost hiding the pair of sparkling orbs away.

“Babo!” The long-haired woman was supposed to be angry with her stubbornness and playfulness, but the confession was a remedy to her anger. A smile naturally crept onto her face too as she tilted her head to her side and planted a kiss on her lover’s lips, “I love you too.”

*

The sunlight shone brightly into the room, waking one of the sleeping figures on the bed. Yuri tried to raise her right arm, but it was numb and heavy so she raised the left one instead to block her eyes from the lights.

Darn, did she forget to draw the curtains again?

She forced open her eyes and peeked through the tiny gap in between her eyelids.

The room decoration…?

Yuri rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times. Oh yeah, she almost forgot, she was in Tiffany’s room. She crooked her head to her side and was surprised to see Tiffany snuggling up to the nook of her neck, sleeping soundly.

No wonder her arm felt numb.

Yuri tried to wriggle her fingers until she felt her arm was ready to move. She lifted it slightly and rested her palm on Tiffany’s waist, pulling the sleeping hunter closer to her.

Tiffany… Yuri sighed inwardly. Still, she did not manage to get anything out of Tiffany’s mouth despite the havoc night they shared.

Tiffany is just too secretive and hard to convince.

Just as Yuri pulled and covered the blanket over Tiffany’s bare shoulder (to prevent her from catching a cold), she heard soft knockings on the door. She frowned and decided to ignore it since Tiffany was still sleeping.

The door cranked open on its own despite receiving no reply. Yuri froze right on her spot. Great! And she thought the knocker would back off if she didn’t reply to it! Her right arm naturally pulled the sleeping Tiffany even closer to her and her left hand quickly pulled the blanket up till their collarbones.

Yuri watched in horror as the door went ajar. A familiar face popped out from behind it, “Yuri––HOLYSH––” Sooyoung quickly covered before the inappropriate word managed to escape . She observed the sleeping figure on Yuri’s shoulder from far.

It doesn’t matter what Yuri will do to her, but it SURE matters if Tiffany found out she saw this.

Tiffany stirred a little due to the sudden disturbance. Both Yuri and Sooyoung almost thought they lost the ability to breathe until they saw her lying comfortably on Yuri’s shoulder again.

The two hunters heaved out a sigh of relief in unison. Yuri glared at Sooyoung, “What do you want?” She mouthed the words to her angrily.

“I’m just checking up on you!” Sooyoung mouthed back. She pointed at Tiffany with her chin, “How is she?”

Yuri took a quick glance at Tiffany, “She’s alright already.” She mouthed back. “You better leave now before she wakes up!” Yuri shot Sooyoung a warning glare. They both knew clearly that the warning sign meant Tiffany.

Sooyoung wanted to leave too, but!

“What about breakfast?”

“What?” Yuri couldn’t decipher what was saying.

“Brreeeaaakfffassst!”

“Huh?”

Sooyoung rolled her eyes at Yuri, she swore she did that on purpose!

Using her last resort, Sooyoung cupped and whispered softly into the quiet room. “BREAK––FAST––!” Unless Yuri provides a certificate proving that she is deaf, she is not going to believe Yuri did not hear her!

Yuri subconsciously clutched her left hand into a fist.

If Tiffany isn’t in her arm now, she will make sure she kills this woman before Tiffany does!

“GET OUT!” Yuri raised her arm, hinting to Sooyoung that she wanted to punch her. She pointed at herself, then drew an invisible horizontal line across with her thumb and directed her forefinger at Sooyoung.

I will kill you if you mention that word again!

That was what Sooyoung interpreted from that simple gesture.

Damn! She knew it! She knew she was right all along! Heck, that Yuri only had Tiffany in her eyes and she still had the nerve to deny their relationship?! Zzzzzz…… Sooyoung retreated from Tiffany’s room grumpily and closed the door as gentle as she could.

It would really mean Hell if she was to wake Tiffany up.

“Hey…”

Sooyoung felt a sudden tap on her shoulder.

“AH!” And she screamed, but immediately brought her hands to as she spun around and stared at the blonde, who was wearing an oversized t-shirt and a long track pant, standing behind her. “Gosh! What are you doing here?”

Jessica bit onto her bottom lip timidly, “I’m wondering if Tiffany’s fine…”

Uh… What can she says? Good job for caring for your idol despite she hates you? Cough! Whatever.

“Look Jessica, let me tell you something…” Sooyoung placed her arm around Jessica’s shoulder and pulled the clueless blonde away from Tiffany’s room. She brought her to the pantry and settled the poor blonde and herself on the chairs. “It’s good that you have concern for Tiffany and I’m sure Tiffany will appreciate that, BUT!” She grabbed onto Jessica’s shoulder and stared straight into the slightly surprised eyes. “Never! Ever! Enters her room without her permission!” If it wasn’t for Yuri in the room, she wouldn’t even place her foot in that room either! Heck! And that woman acted like she was the owner of the room and chased her out just because she was asking for breakfast!

Yuri is just like those typical people who values love over friendship!

“Um… okay…” Jessica observed the angry girl silently. “Sooyoung-ah, are you… alright?” The hunter looked like she was suffering from… constipation?

“WHAT–Oh! I’m fine, really!” I’m just depriving for food!

Sooyoung shifted her gaze to that steel-made large rectangular standing box, which is also known as refrigerator, on the other end of the pantry. If only her culinary skills was as awesome as Yuri, or, as edible as Tiffany’s, she wouldn’t be so troubled now!

Just then, something struck into her mind.

Sooyoung snapped her head towards Jessica’s direction. A creepy smile slowly crept onto her face.

“Do me a favor Jessica…”

*

Yuri lay back on the bed comfortably as soon as Sooyoung closed the door. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander aimlessly. She couldn’t remember when was the last time she dawdled in bed, since she wasn’t those kinds that would laze on bed after waking up.

But today is quite an exception – thanks to Tiffany.

Yuri tilted her head and observed the sleeping figure in her arms.

Tiffany is different when she was awake and when she was sleeping. The former her was a cool, strong, mysterious and scary person. She had this aura in her which caused anyone who saw her to stay away from her as though she was a destructive bacterium.

However when she was asleep, the situation was completely different.

Yuri thought Tiffany looked like a newborn baby. She looked pure, innocent and peaceful. She seemed softer and fragile as well. It gave people the urge to protect her.

A smile was formed on Yuri’s face unknowingly as she caressed the bare skin on Tiffany’s shoulder.

How she wished Tiffany could stay like this forever.

“Yuri stop it, it’s ticklish…” A muffled voice rang from her neck.

The whole of Yuri’s body froze immediately.

Tiffany is awake?!

“You’re awake?”

Tiffany snuggled closer into the nook of Yuri’s neck. “Nobody is able to sleep with Sooyoung’s loud voice…” She answered without opening her eyes.

Uh… Yuri felt the corner of twitching. God bless you Sooyoung.

“I think you should go and make Sooyoung breakfast. She will go berserk if she doesn’t have food.” Tiffany said, still not opening her eyes.

Eh, so she heard everything… “What about you?” Yuri asked.

“I’m not hungry.” Tiffany turned her body around and had her back faced Yuri. “I’ll make my own breakfast later. Go ahead, don’t worry about me.”

“But––”

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Before Yuri could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a loud scream…… a dolphin-like shriek to be precise.

“YAH!!! JESSICAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!” Followed by that is Sooyoung’s voice. “WATER! WATER!!!! GET THE WATER!!!!!!!!!”

“Choi Sooyoung, what did you do to Sica!?!” Yuri shouted at her friend right from the room, but no replies were received as expected. She quickly jumped off the bed and dashed towards the door.

“Yuri! Your clothes!” Tiffany bolted up from her bed too. She stopped Yuri, reminding her that she was still .

“Ugh!” Yuri ran back to the bed and dug for her clothes that were scattered on the ground.

Damn that Choi Sooyoung, she will definitely kill her before Tiffany does if anything happens to Jessica!

“YAH! CHOI SOOYOUNG! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!?!” Yuri dashed straight out of the room as soon as she pulled her t-shirt over her head. She didn’t even bother to zip up her pants – she planned to do that on her way to the pantry.

“Yuri, your jacket!” Tiffany tried to stop her again, but Yuri had already gone out of her sight. She withdrew her already-stretched-out arm in frustration. “Jessica…” Tiffany mumbled the name to herself.

Is she really that important?

Tiffany snorted and threw Yuri’s leather jacket onto her bed. She wrapped herself with her blanket and stepped out of her bed. She couldn’t believe Yuri just ran out of her room like this, leaving the door open when she was still bare on the bed.

She slammed her door close and walked to her wardrobe to change into a fresh set of clothing. Her clothes, no doubt, they were all in black, complete opposite of Taeyeon’s white. A bitter smile was formed on Tiffany’s face as she stared at her own reflection.

Kim Taeyeon… Just who is she? A friend or a foe?

Tiffany spun around and carefully avoided those items she threw on the ground the night before, making her way to the corner of her room. She squatted down and picked up the diary and small box which she left behind before going to bed with Yuri.

The diary was written by Stephanie Hwang, her great-grandmother. Whereas the small box, it contained the exact same ring she found in Taeyeon’s house, except that the carving in this ring is a ‘T’, rather than an ‘S’.

Tiffany flipped open the diary again and searched for the particular page which recorded the background of these rings.

Two more days to our first year anniversary ♥ I’ve designed a pair of couple rings for the both of us, I think she’s gonna love it~ ^^

Tiffany frowned and closed the book in her hands.

Yesterday was the second time she read through her great-grandmother’s diary. The first time she read it was after her parent’s death. She was fumbling through her house for food when she came across this diary hidden inside her dead father’s closet. Initially, she thought Stephanie Hwang was her aunt, but after reading through the diary, she realized Stephanie Hwang is her ancestor and also… the reason behind their curse.

Her great-grandmother is the daughter of a very wealthy man – who is her great great-grandfather, but whatever. Apparently, people who were born into wealthy family had lesser freedom than the normal peasants and her great-grandmother is unfortunately one of them.

She was engaged to this man – who later became her great-grandfather – since before she was born. But she never liked him, or in fact, she hated him. She called him all sorts of ugly words one could ever think of.

Then, at the age of seventeen, she ran away from home and met this young girl who lived in a rather isolated village behind the mountains, far away from home.

According to what her great-grandmother had written, this young girl might be a sorceress. Her great-grandmother never really specified that this girl – who she never exposed the name before – is a sorceress, but in her diary, she said that girl taught her magic skills during their free time.

Tiffany lifted up her arm and stared at her palm.

Her great-grandmother also mentioned that she mastered all the skills the sorceress taught her. She wondered if that would give her the possibility of becoming a sorceress too?

Tiffany scoffed at herself and put her arm down to rest.

Straight to the main point, her great-grandmother and that sorceress spent too much time together that they fell in love with one another and became lover eventually.

And this was where all the problems started.

Her great-grandmother went to town for her custom-made rings. Someone spotted her and reported to the authority. Her great-grandfather came right over the next day and waited for her. However, when her great-grandmother came back for her rings, her great-grandfather did not capture her immediately, instead, he followed her back to the isolated village secretly.

Then, everything was exposed – their love-nest and of course, their relationship.

Her great-grandfather felt humiliated when he discovered the truth. He decided not to capture her great-grandmother until he punished her great-grandmother’s lover. He suffered in silence, waited for days and days, watching his fiancée enjoying intimate moments with a female stranger as though they were the most blissful couple in this world, he knew letting the sorceress off was the last thing he would do.

The day finally came when the sorceress was left alone in the house. Wearing a rare armor which was meant for immunizing magic, her great-grandfather easily took down the sorceress and tortured her tremendously. He almost her too, if her sorcerer friends hadn’t discovered her in nick of time. They managed to chase him away and healed most of the lover’s injuries before her great-grandmother came back, thus her great-grandmother was actually clueless about it until her lover inserted an object called Crystal Tear – which contains her lover’s memories, love and hatred – into her body when she found out her great-grandmother betrayed her, then she finally knew about it.

However, it was all a misunderstanding. Her great-grandmother never betrayed her lover at all.

Apparently, what happened was her great-grandfather returned again, this time secretly, and threatened her great-grandmother that he would kill her lover if she refused to marry him.

Oblivious to the incident whereby her lover and friends actually defeated him, her great-grandmother agreed to his proposal – but with the thought of eloping to a faraway paradise with her lover – as she was afraid he would harm her lover if she disagreed with his proposal.

Unfortunately, things did not go as how she planned.

Her lover somehow learnt about their marriage and thought her great-grandmother had betrayed their love. Hatred overcame her and that was when the curse in their family started.

According to her great-grandmother’s diary, her lover chained her to the bed after their intimate moment. The lover was already berserk before her great-grandmother had the chance to explain everything to her, therefore failing to prove her innocence and resulted tragedy to take place.

Her lover opened up her chest and inserted an object called Crystal Tear into her body. However, it seemed that the Crystal Tear wasn’t enough for the lover to vent her resentment, she added a droplet of her blood into her great-grandmother’s body before sealing it up with magic.

And that droplet of blood is the curse which now flows in her body. It was passed down to the descendents through births.

“Have a taste of my bitterness Stephanie.”

Tiffany dropped the diary to the ground and clutched her chest tightly.

She had no idea why she felt like this. These images weren’t there when she first read Stephanie Hwang’s diary. But recently… more and more random images were flowing into her head, including the blurry dream she had last night too. Tiffany was lying about Sooyoung waking her up. It wasn’t Sooyoung’s fault that she was awake, it was that strange dream which woke her up even before the sun rises and she couldn’t get back to sleep right after that.

She felt like as though… whatever happened to Stephanie, her great-grandmother, actually happened to her (which also explained the tears last night).

What Tiffany learnt from the diary’s content is not only a tragic love story of her great-grandmother and lover. She learnt about pain. It was a heartbreaking and disappointing pain, and it was actually rousing in her chest.
Tiffany released her grips when she felt the pain was no longer there. She took in a deep breath and stood up, walking to the front of her mirror and stopped.

She lifted up her shirt to her collarbone, revealing the half body of hers with a black-colored bra covering her chest. A faint line could be seen stretching from near the top left of her cleavage down to the middle of her ribs.

That is her birthmark.

Tiffany frowned and pulled her shirt down.

Now that she had those weird images in her mind, she kept having this thought; the birthmark is actually not a birthmark, it is a scar.

Tiffany scoffed suddenly.

I must be crazy to think of it that way.

She spun around and returned to where the diary was. She bent down and picked up the small box beside the diary and opened it up.

The rings… they were supposed to celebrate her great-grandmother and her lover’s first year’s anniversary love. Though Tiffany knew about the existence of these rings and actually owned one of them, she had never seen the other one before, since her great-grandmother only left one behind after she passed away.

Tiffany took out the ring and brought it to her face. A visible carving ‘T’ could be seen on the inner side of it.

Taeyeon?

Tiffany snorted at herself again. That was the most ridiculous assumption ever. If Taeyeon was her great-grandmother’s lover, she should be dead already.

But then again, why is that ring with her?

Her eyebrows furrowed deeply into her skin. Tiffany balled her hand into a fist and had the ring stuck within.

Maybe Taeyeon is the descendants of her great-grandmother’s lover, and that means she might be right about Taeyeon being a sorceress after all.