Chapter Fifty

It was late in the evening when Stephanie returned home from her dampened trip. She had never expected Wooyoung to find her here. This place was so isolated. It was purposely built behind the forest – which was some distance away from the village where Taeyeon’s friends stayed – as Taeyeon disliked the crowds. It was really surprising and shocking that Wooyoung managed to spot her trace and find their house.

She had to think of a solution as soon as possible and get Taeyeon to leave this beautiful place with her without alerting the latter. She didn’t want to see Taeyeon getting panic for them. She was always the one who was taking care of her, protecting her, showering her with love and doting her, but now, it was time for her to play a part in their relationship too and protect Taeyeon from Wooyoung and his threat instead.

Stephanie hid her dampened feeling and kept her usual smile on the face as she pushed open the door and entered their house. “Taetae! I’m home!” She shouted to the empty hall and walked into the kitchen, leaving the basket of mushrooms, which she picked from the forest nearby, on their small dining table. “Taetae, are you home?” Stephanie called out again when she received no reply. She paced out of the kitchen and scanned the quiet hall.

Not a single soul… Stephanie frowned at the sight of the empty hall. Didn’t Taeyeon say she would be home?

Stephanie spun around and headed for their bedroom. Perhaps she could get a little rest now and come out with a plan while waiting for Taeyeon to come home… Stephanie was about to throw herself on their king-sized bed when a figure with long ponytail sitting on the edge of their bed caught her attention.

“Taetae? You’re home?” Stephanie exclaimed out loud, feeling rather angry. She was already feeling frustrated over Wooyoung and his threat, and now, knowing that Taeyeon actually ignored and did not reply her, it vexed her even more. Stephanie stomped her way to Taeyeon and stopped right in front of her. Folding her arms across her chest, she questioned Taeyeon with an interrogate tone, “I’ve been calling you for so many times! Why didn’t you answer me?”

Taeyeon did not reply. She was staring at the space in front of her. She looked as though she was spacing out.

“TaeTae?” Stephanie came to realize that something was amiss with her lover. The anger within her dispersed almost immediately as she quickly sat beside Taeyeon and nudged her worriedly. “Taetae, what’s wrong?” It was kind of weird to see her spacing out like this.

It was a simple nudge, but somehow it triggered the hidden fear in Taeyeon. Taeyeon jumped up from her seat and was about to cast a deadly offensive magic – which she only learned recently – on the culprit when she realized it was Stephanie who nudged her––

––Rather than the person who almost her the other day.

“Phanie, you’re home.” Taeyeon withdrew her magic and said with a rather dull tone.

Stephanie was puzzled with her lover’s reaction. 

This is definitely not the usual her.

“Taetae, what’s wrong? You look awful.” She raised her arm and caressed Taeyeon’s cheek with the back of her hand.”Did anything happen?”

Anything… happen?

These two words reminded Taeyeon why she was spacing out earlier on. Her fist clutched tightly together unknowingly as she recalled the news which her friend told her. However, her expression remained unchanged. Taeyeon turned to Stephanie, who was staring at her with a pair of worried eyes.

It can’t be real… Stephanie will never betray her, never.

“Phanie, are you keeping anything from me?” Maybe there was more to what Sunny had seen. How could she possibly betray her when her love for her was reflected clearly in her eyes?

There must be a mistake somewhere.

Taeyeon’s question made Stephanie hesitated. It reminded her of the incident which only happened awhile ago. “Um… No! Of course not! Why would I hide things from you?” Stephanie flashed her infamous eye-smile at Taeyeon. “Anyway, you said you are going to prepare a mushroom feast tonight! Aren’t you supposed to be getting up now?” Stephanie crossed her arms and pouted at her.

If it was like the usual times, Taeyeon would probably find it cute. But the slight hesitation Stephanie made earlier on had changed Taeyeon’s perspective.

She is hiding something.

An unusual grin was formed on Taeyeon’s lips suddenly, “What’s with the rush? We can always do that later.” She leaned forward and sealed Stephanie’s lips with her own ones.

Sunny’s voice rang in her head once again.

Stephanie… She is going to marry to that Jang Wooyoung!

*

Stephanie woke up to the abnormal coldness that was stinging her wrists and ankles. She tried to rub away the blurry in her eyes only to find her hands was restricted down by thick chains encircling her wrists.

“Taeyeon?!” Stephanie shouted her lover’s name out of reflex. The drowsiness in her dispersed like a wind. Stephanie sat up, causing the blanket covering her to fall and expose half of her body. She struggled panicky as she tried to free herself from the entangling chains but to no avail.

“You have awake.” Taeyeon emerged from behind the door and walked to their bed. She had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

“Taeyeon, what’s going on? Why did you tie me up?” Fear was growing in her. Emotionless was the only word, which she could think of, to describe Taeyeon’s current expression. She had never seen such expression portrayed on Taeyeon before, not even when she was in a bad mood would she reveal such expression.

It was as if… the Taeyeon she knew and loved had gone.

Stephanie swallowed the lump that had formed in unconsciously as she watched Taeyeon climbed onto their bed and kneeled right in front of her.

When the cold hand touched her face, it sent shivers down Stephanie’s spine. She was forced to look into Taeyeon’s eyes because Taeyeon had cupped her face tightly with her hand.

“Phanie-ah, I heard you’re getting married.”

Stephanie’s eyes widened at her words. The little reaction from her had just proven to Taeyeon that whatever Sunny told her was true.

She had, indeed, betrayed her.

“Taeyeon, it’s not what you’re thinking––”

Before Stephanie could finish her sentence, Taeyeon swung her palm against her cheek with all her might. 

“It is a lie from the beginning, isn’t it?” Taeyeon shifted away from Stephanie and climbed off the bed. “When you told me you were running away from your home and your fiancé, it was a lie, isn’t it!” Taeyeon randomly grabbed an object from the dressing table and smashed it on the ground furiously.

Stephanie tried to avoid the broken pieces by turning her head away, but a small piece of it still managed to hit and cut her face.

“You and that Jang Wooyoung plotted this together!” Taeyeon pointed her finger at Stephanie. She stomped to Stephanie and forced her to look at her again by pinching her chin. “You come to me and gain my trust purposely, so you can let that b*stard me, am I right?!”

? Taeyeon’s words shocked Stephanie. “He you?” No way… her initial fear was gone and being replaced by anger and disbelief. Wooyoung… Although she never liked him, but she never expected him to do such a thing!

Jang Wooyoung… Stephanie clutched her fists. You b*stard! I will kill you!

“Unfortunately, he didn’t.” Taeyeon scoffed and released Stephanie, returning to the dressing table. “Luckily Sunny and the others found me in time, or else that he would have succeeded. You must be disappointed, aren’t you?” Taeyeon turned her head back and smirked at Stephanie. Her hands were reaching for a particular object which she had created just an hour ago, after sharing intimate moments with Stephanie.

Stephanie shook her head in panic, “Taeyeon, I didn’t betray you! You have mistaken me!” Why? Why was she suspecting her?

Taeyeon ignored her words. As she spun around and faced Stephanie’s direction again, a shining diamond-shaped crystal was seen floating above her left palm.

“What is that?” Stephanie stared at the crystal intently with fear. Her intuition told her to be bewared of that crystal.

Taeyeon approached Stephanie again. She sat on the edge of the bed and caressed the smooth bare skin of Stephanie’s chest with her index finger. “Stephanie…” Taeyeon whispered her name softly and moved her finger down her chest.

“This is what you get for betraying me.”

“No… Taeyeon, I did not––AH!”

The spot where her finger trailed off split open suddenly. Stephanie scrunched her face and let out a short cry, but she bit onto her lower lip almost immediately, forcing the rest of her voice to drown in . The chains, which were holding her down, knocked against each other as her clutched fists trembled tremendously due to the pain.

She was in pain no doubt, but it was more of a mentally pain than a physical pain. She couldn’t believe Taeyeon suspected her and was hurting her!

“This Crystal Tear…” Taeyeon lifted up her left hand and grabbed hold of the Crystal Tear with her index finger and thumb by its tips. “… Contained not only our memories, but the pain and suffering I’ve been through.”

Stephanie wanted to explain, but the pain was too overwhelming that tears trickling down her cheeks were the only response she could make.

“Have a taste of my bitterness Stephanie.”

Taeyeon squinted at her lover, now ex-lover, and shoved the Crystal Tear right into the opening on Stephanie’s chest.

“AHH!” Stephanie couldn’t hold back anymore and cried out uncontrollably. Series of images started to flow into her head. She saw images of her and Taeyeon together – when they first met, when they first hold their hands, when they first shared their kiss and etcetera. However, there were also other images which she never seen before – Taeyeon during her childhood days, Taeyeon performing the first magic she had learned, Taeyeon with her family, Taeyeon leaving her village with Sunny and the others, so on and so for. But there was one particular image which captured her attention the most.

Taeyeon… was defeated by Wooyoung and almost by him if Sunny and the others hadn’t found her.

Stephanie’s cries triggered the guiltiness in Taeyeon.

Just what have she done to the person she loves?

Taeyeon lowered her head and stared at her hands in horror

 But… it wasn’t her fault that Stephanie was suffering from pain now, right? It was Stephanie… she was the one who betrayed her and earned herself this punishment!

She deserved it!

Taeyeon bit her finger and allowed blood to come out from it. She then extracted it, causing a drop of blood to float in mid-air.

This is what she gets for playing with her love.

“Stephanie…” Taeyeon called out with an utmost gentle voice. Stephanie was already half-conscious due to the pain. However, she still forced herself to look at Taeyeon who had this very weird red droplet floating above her palm.

What is it again? Is she going to shove another thing into her again?

Stephanie was too drained to guess the identity of the object.

Taeyeon lifted Stephanie’s chin with her free hand and stared into her eyes.

“Since you didn’t let me enjoy a relationship, I will do the same thing to you too.” Taeyeon smirked and moved her hand away. Stephanie was forced to look down since the support was gone.

And the next thing she saw, Taeyeon was inserting the drop of blood into her opened chest. She did not felt any pain at all. However, the moment the drop of blood entered her body, she felt as though something had invaded into her blood veins and hid within her blood.

“This droplet of blood contained a curse.” Taeyeon placed her palm over Stephanie’s opened chest. The opening sealed up gradually, leaving a faint scar on it. “It will be activated as long as you get into a relationship. Either your partner kills you or you kill your partner.” Taeyeon cupped Stephanie’s face gently, with her thumb caressing her soft cheek. “And it will never end as long as your blood continues to flow.”

Taeyeon stopped the caressing suddenly and stared into Stephanie’s eyes.

“So don’t even think about lifting it.”

Taeyeon got up from the bed and removed the chains around Stephanie’s limbs. Stephanie dropped to the bed immediately in exhaustion. Her energy had pretty much drained from Taeyeon’s extreme punishment. She had absolutely no strength to move her body at all.

Taeyeon lifted Stephanie gently and laid her on the middle of the bed.

This… may be the last time she is seeing her.

A drop of tear was formed and it dripped right onto Stephanie’s face.

“Phanie… You know I love you, don’t you? Why do you have to do this to me? Why do you have to betray me and force me to do this? I can’t bear to leave you… I just can’t…” Taeyeon shut her eyes tightly as she lowered her head and planted a kiss on Stephanie’s forehead. “But I guess, today shall mark our end.”

No… Stephanie wanted to beg for Taeyeon to stay, but her body refused to comply with her brain.

“Farewell…”

Taeyeon took one last look at Stephanie, her eyes clouded with sadness.

Stephanie could only lie on the bed and watched Taeyeon left helplessly. Her body was still weak from Taeyeon’s punishment and her voice just refused to come out from .

“Taetae… I’ve never betrayed you…”

Words trembled out of finally, but unfortunately, some times after Taeyeon disappeared from her vision. Tears escaped her eyes uncontrollably as she used her greatest effort to reach out for the empty space before her.

“Don’t leave me…” She cried weakly.

It was too late, Taeyeon was already long gone.

*

Tiffany bolted from the bench, almost wanting to chase after her lover when she realized she was in the infirmary and not the house she saw in her dream. Tiffany’s mouth was left hanging as she gulped in as much air as she could inhale to ease the unnatural fast beating of her heart.

It was those dreams again.

Tiffany clutched her piece of fabric in front of her chest tightly, as if trying to feel the object hidden behind it. It felt too real… the pain, the struggles and the tears. Her intuition was telling her that was not a dream. It was a reality which she had experienced personally when she was Stephanie–––

She was Stephanie?

The sudden realization had momentarily struck into Tiffany’s mind and froze the girl in her position.

She was… Stephanie? Her great-grandmother?

Before Tiffany could figure it any further, a loud scream from the ward diverted her attention away.

“SHORTY ERT!!!!!”

That is…?! Sooyoung!

Tiffany got up from the bench and dashed into Sooyoung’s ward immediately.