Chapter Forty-Six

By the time Yoona came out of her room, she realized she and Jessica were the only ones left in the dormitory. She understood that Sooyoung and Yuri had gone out early in the morning for patrolling, but Tiffany… Yoona sighed to herself as she flipped the sunny-side egg in the frying pan.

After the conversation with Yuri, Yoona was enlightened much enough to realize the mistake she had made. But there was another problem. She wasn’t sure how should she apologizes to Tiffany. She was worried that Tiffany would not forgive her even after she said sorry to her.

Yoona sighed again and served the well-done egg into an empty plate.

She had the intention in searching around the headquarters for Tiffany since she knew Tiffany was free for the day, but leaving Jessica in the dormitory alone did not sound like a great idea at all. Yuri would probably be unhappy and worried if she learnt about it.

Jessica was in the shower. Yoona had offered to prepare the breakfast after she heard from Sooyoung that Jessica couldn’t cook. Not wanting to risk the possibility of burning down their dormitory (or perhaps Aurales), Yoona ushered Jessica to the bathroom when she said she was hungry.

She should be probably out by now… Yoona took a quick glance at the clock which was hanging on the wall. Just then, the corner of her eyes noticed a familiar figure was walking in the foyer and she was heading straight to the staircase without noticing her existence.

Fany unnie!

Yoona quickly switched off the stove and wiped the grease on her hand onto the apron she was wearing. She paced back and forth around the kitchen, hesitating if she should approach the hunter and ask for her forgiveness.

Aish, just do it Yoona! If you have the nerve to be so mean to Fany unnie, you should have the courage to apologize for your wrongdoing too!

Finally made up her mind, Yoona removed her apron hastily and left it on a chair before running out of the kitchen. Tiffany was already on the second floor when she reached the bottom of the stairs. She ran up immediately, only to find a raging Tiffany dashing into Yuri’s room.

“Take off your shirt!”

Huh? Yoona was puzzled. What was tha––Oh no! Jessica unnie!

*

Tiffany returned to the dormitory as soon as she left Kyuhyun’s office. It was about one in the afternoon now, and in two hours’ time she would be meeting Kyuhyun before departing for Satron’s headquarters.

Frankly speaking, Tiffany had no idea how long this trip would take them. Satron’s headquarters was practically located on the other side of the mainland. Even if they never rest in between their journey, they would still take at least two days to reach that place. It was impossible for Tiffany to go for the patrolling with Yoona two days later.

Tiffany stopped in front of Yuri’s room.

The search for magic-immunization equipments was important. Dragging it any longer might increase the possibility of putting them into risk. She had to inform Yuri about her plan and let either her or Sooyoung replace her for the patrol.

Tiffany knocked on the door twice and opened it without waiting for anyone’s consent. She was about to call for Yuri when a blonde who was back-facing her caught her attention instead.

The fair and slender body was covered with droplets of water. Tiffany watched in captivation as the pearl-like droplets rolled off the smooth skin, leaving faint trails of water across the flawless and beautiful back down towards the owner’s bottom––Realizing where her eyes were leading her to, Tiffany quickly withdrew her gaze and tried to look elsewhere. Her eyes immediately came in contact with a pair of melancholic eyes which were staring at her since who knew when.

Tiffany felt intimidated out of the sudden.

The blonde’s gaze wasn’t intense, but it somehow created fear in Tiffany. Those eyes… they looked as though they contained some kind of authority and were commanding her to get out of the room.

Tiffany swallowed the lump that was formed in subconsciously and muttered, “Sorry.” She apologized softly and retreated out of the room panicky.

Once she was out of the room, Tiffany found herself releasing a heavy breath as if she was holding on to it for a long time. Her mind couldn’t stop replaying the scene she just witnessed; a Jessica with droplets of water all over her body. The way those droplets rolled down her body reflected how smooth her skin was, but… Tiffany pressed her palm against her forehead.

Something seemed wrong to her, as if there was a mistake somewhere––Her back!

The scene where she watched the water rolled off Jessica’s back replayed clearly in her head.

Her back was clean!

“Damn!”

Tiffany cursed under her breath.

I knew there is something wrong with that blonde!

She spun around and dashed back to Yuri’s room.

Jessica had already dried up herself and changed into Yuri’s clothes when Tiffany came in again. Unlike the kind of gaze which Tiffany spotted earlier on, Jessica’s eyes reflected clueless and innocence. She looked at Tiffany in surprise, wondering why Tiffany was here… again.

“Take off your shirt!”

Tiffany demanded the surprised blonde.

“Wha––t? Why? No……”

Tiffany’s demand made Jessica even more surprised, and frightened at the same time.

She might be only a guest in this dormitory, but that does not mean Tiffany had the right to force her abiding to such ridiculous demand! She was not going to obey her command obviously, but Tiffany’s cold and stern gaze was sending out warning to her.

Jessica took a step back, trying her best to extend the distance between her and the cold hunter as far as she could. She hugged herself while grabbing onto her top tightly, afraid that Tiffany would come and take it off personally.

Unfortunately, her guess was correct. When Jessica chose to go against her instruction, Tiffany lost her anger and patience immediately, and stomped to the blonde, reaching for the shirt she was grabbing onto, planning to take it off with her own hands.

“No! Please don’t!” Jessica cried out loud when she saw Tiffany coming towards her. She quickly turned and ran away, but only to be pulled back by the hunter the very next second.

Jessica felt Tiffany’s hands on the hem of her shirt. She pleaded in flustered, “No! Tiffany! Please don’t do this to me!” Tears trickled down Jessica’s cheek as she tried to struggle out of Tiffany’s grip. But for a commoner like her, Tiffany was just too strong. No matter how much she struggled, she just couldn’t free herself from the hunter!

“Unnie!”

This was what Yoona saw when she rushed in right after Tiffany. A crying Jessica was pleading a raging Tiffany to let her off. Without a second thought, Yoona dashed towards the duo and helped Jessica to pull Tiffany’s hands away.

“Unnie! Stop it! You’re hurting Jessica unnie!” Yoona screamed at Tiffany, hoping that she would stop if she hears her voice.

But Tiffany ignored her completely. There was no way she would let this suspicious blonde off this time. She was affirmed that Jessica was here to harm them!

Pzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

“NO!”

Yoona could only watched the top torn into two from Jessica’s back helplessly, revealing her back with a big ugly scar plastered in the middle of it.

“Damn it!” Yoona reached for the blanket on Yuri’s bed quickly and wrapped it around Jessica’s body. She pulled the petrified blonde into her embrace and hugged her protectively.

No way… Tiffany couldn’t believe her eyes. She swore she saw nothing when she accidentally barged into the Jessica just minutes ago!

“Unnie, how could you do this?!” No matter what Tiffany had done before – kissing that stranger in the public or being harsh to Jessica when the girl first came – she could forgive and understand them all. But now, this was way too over! How could she humiliate a defenseless girl! Even if she was jealous of Jessica wearing Yuri’s clothes, she should not have done this to her too!

“I’m really very disappointed with you!” Whatever apology she wanted to make had gone like a wind. She simply couldn’t bring herself to apologize when Tiffany was being so ridiculous towards Jessica!

Tiffany clutched her hands into fists. She didn’t care whether Yoona mistaken her or not,  because she knew for sure it was that blonde who had planned these!

“Stop your acts Jessica Jung!” Tiffany pulled out one of her blades and directed it at the blonde in Yoona’s embrace.

The sight of the blade sent horror into Jessica. Her eyes dilated in fear as she tried to pull herself away from Yoona, wanting to escape from this room and hide away from Tiffany.

Fury boiled furiously within Yoona.

“UNNIE! STOP IT WILL YOU?!” Yoona pulled Jessica even closer to her and slapped Tiffany’s blade away with her bare hand. “Can’t you see Jessica unnie is frightened because of you? Can you STOP doing this to her for the goodness sake?!” This was way too ridiculous! It was worse than the kissing scene she saw in the café! She could explain Tiffany wasn’t betraying Yuri because they were not a pair of couple in the first place, but this… there was absolutely no excuse for her to behave like this! Tiffany was no different from a bully bullying the weak!

She is worse than a jerk!

“Yoona, give her to me.” Tiffany demanded.

Jessica has to die before anyone gets harmed by her.

Yoona narrowed her eyes at the stubborn Tiffany. She couldn’t believe Tiffany was still insisting despite she had asked her to stop numerous times.

She gritted her teeth tightly and glared at Tiffany.

“Tiffany Hwang, you are ridiculous!”

One sentence, five words, it struck into Tiffany’s heart like a dagger stabbing her mercilessly. Tiffany looked at her dong-saeng in disbelief.

Is ‘ridiculous’ the only answer she got for trying to save her companions?

“Yoona! She’s––”

“Yoona! Tiffany!”

Tiffany was going to explain what she saw when someone from the outside interrupted their intense argument. Both of them turned to the source of the voice immediately out of reflex, while Jessica remained to hide in Yoona’s embrace as she was too scared to move.

Nicole appeared from behind the door. She held on to the hedge for support as she bent down a little to catch her breath.

“Yoona, Tiffany!” Nicole took in a deep breath before continuing, “Yuri and Sooyoung are back!”

The two hunters stared at Nicole with frowns.

What is so surprising with their fellow housemates coming back from their patrol?

Nicole seemed to have not notice the tension between them. She inhaled a deep breath again to ease her lungs before adding on, “I don’t know what happened to them, but Yuri was carrying Sooyoung to the infirmary! I think you guys should go and take a look!”

Her words changed the expressions on their faces immediately. Tiffany dropped her arm and ran to Nicole, “What did you say again?”

“Yuri… was carrying Sooyoung to the infirmary!” Nicole became rigid at first when she saw Tiffany dashing towards her, but when she noticed the usual cold and stern expression was replaced with an unusual soft and worried face, her initial fright disappeared as though it never existed before.

The Tiffany she was looking at now is so unfamiliar, yet she felt unusually comfortable while looking at her.

“What happened to them?” Anxiety and worries filled her voice.

Nicole found herself softened at the sight of such a fragile looking Tiffany. Not that Tiffany was really looking THAT fragile, but as compared to the strong image she portrayed normally, the soft look on her face made her looked so much weaker than the usual her.

A pitiful-looking puppy which is in need of comfort; That is probably how she will describe the current Tiffany.

“Nicole?”

Not wanting to hold her back any longer, Nicole quickly explained the situation she saw after she returned from her very own patrolling, “I don’t know what happened to them exactly, but Sooyoung looked really pale! And… And I spotted tears on Yuri’s face too……”

Tears?

Both Tiffany and Yoona were utterly shocked at that piece of information. Yuri was never the kind of person who shed tears easily, and if she did, it only meant something big or serious had happened.

… Which means something must have happened to Sooyoung!

Tiffany diverted her attention back to the blonde who was still hiding in Yoona’s embrace. She couldn’t see her expression clearly as Jessica had buried her face on Yoona’s chest.

“Jessica Jung, you can escape once, you can escape twice, but you can never escape forever!” Tiffany slid her blade back into its respective scabbard and pulled Nicole along with her. “Nicole, please take me to them!” As much as Tiffany wanted to deal with Jessica now, her friends were more important.

Jessica was just lucky that something popped up when she was confronting her.

Yoona wanted to go with them as well, after she heard the bad news from Nicole. But the tight clutches and trembling in her embrace was preventing her from doing so. Yoona lowered her head and looked at the blonde who was still mentally suffering from Tiffany’s wrath.

“Unnie…” Yoona patted on Jessica’s back lightly, trying to calm her down. “Everything is going be alright! Tiffany unnie isn’t here anymore and Yuri unnie is back too! We will protect you together! So don’t worry about it anymore! We won’t let her harm you!”

Jessica did not say anything. Her body was still trembling in fear as she nodded her head lightly as a form of reply.