Chapter Seventy-Five

Tiffany took a few sets of her clothing and stuffed them into her small backpack hastily. Closing the door of her wardrobe closet, she turned and scanned the empty room behind her one last time.

Years had passed since the first day she joined Aurales. But ironically, Tiffany found nothing that was memorable enough for her to take along with her when it came to her time for departure. It was as if Aurales was a hotel to her, except that her stay in this hotel lasted for a very long period of time. There was absolutely nothing for her to bring along. All she had to pack into her bag were the things she brought to this place on her own.

Speaking of which. Tiffany’s gaze landed on one particular book and a small ring box which were lying on the dressing table silently. She swung the strap of her backpack onto her shoulder and made her way towards the table.

These two items… were the only things she brought along with her when her master said he was going to bring her back to Aurales. Picking up the ring box and opening it, Tiffany traced her finger along the surface of the ring.

To keep it or to leave it, that was a decision she had to make.

Tiffany let out a soft sigh and closed the box. She stuffed the ring box into her pocket eventually.

How could she forsake it when the other party was still keeping it?

But for this-- Tiffany picked the diary up and briefly browsed through the pages, it shouldn’t be here anymore.

Tiffany made her way to the window and opened it with her free hand. She threw the diary book out of the window mercilessly, watching it soar across the sky.

“Your existence is a mistake.”

With a flick of her fingers, the diary suddenly burst into flames, burning those unwanted memories into ashes.

*

“You shouldn’t have done that to her!”

The trio sent the wounded Jessica to the infirmary straight after Tiffany left. While Yoona was helping the nurse in attending Jessica’s wound, Sooyoung dragged Yuri out of the ward and yelled her for what she did to Tiffany.

“You saw what she did Sooyoung!” Yuri retorted fiercely. “She almost killed Sica!”

“But that doesn’t give you the right to slap her on the face!”

“Then tell me what I should've done then!” Yuri shouted angrily. “Should I have just stood there and watch her hurt Sica? Watch her take Sica’s life in front of my eyes?!”

Sooyoung was annoyed by Yuri’s retorts. She didn’t ask for an argument when she pulled Yuri out of the ward. All she wanted to do was to talk some sense into her and ask her to apologize to Tiffany.

“Yuri, will you please calm dow––”

“You’re the one who dragged me out here to talk about this stupid thing!” Yuri interrupted before Sooyoung was able to finish her sentence.

Sooyoung stared at her friend unbelievably. “I never know you were so unreasonable.”

“Oh, so now you're say I’m unreasonable, huh? Why don’t you tell me what you'd do if I hadn’t appeared?!” Yuri made a step forward, shortening the gap between her and Sooyoung as she glared into the latter’s eyes. “You couldn't even pull Tiffany away from Sica and just allowed her to injure her!”

Sooyoung became speechless because of Yuri’s accusation. It was impossible for her to continue this conversation with Yuri if she kept arguing with her.

“Fine, if you think you’re right I have nothing else to say. And I hope you won't ever regret what you’ve done today!” Leaving those said words behind, Sooyoung spun around and stomped out of the infirmary.

If Yuri feels that friends are not as important as love, then let her be!

Yoona came out of the ward just in time to witness the angry Sooyoung stomping away. She averted her gaze to the other hunter whose expression looked just as bad as her partners.

“Unnie.” Yoona hesitated for a second but decided that she should approach Yuri.

Yuri turned to her almost immediately upon being called. She glared at Yoona with frustration evident in her eyes. She scoffed, “Are you here to lecture me as well?” Yuri hated to admit that although she didn’t think she was wrong for hitting Tiffany, whatever Sooyoung had said… she couldn’t help but feel that her friend was right.

That fact only made her feel even more frustrated than before.

Yoona was slightly taken aback by Yuri’s reaction. She had never seen Yuri so agitated before, not even when those erts who tried to take advantage of Tiffany had she seen Yuri acted like this.

Shaking her head with a frown, Yoona answered, “I just wanted to inform you that we’re done with Jessica unnie’s wound.” She had never wanted to confront Yuri like how Sooyoung did even though she didn’t like what Yuri did to Tiffany.

The situation was too messy. Yoona didn’t want to determine who was right and who was wrong. Anyone could be wrong based on different point of views. For example, everyone thought that Tiffany was wrong for hurting Jessica, but what about Tiffany? What was she thinking when she decided to pull her blade against Jessica? As for Yuri’s case as well, both Sooyoung and she felt that Yuri went too overboard for slapping Tiffany, but was she really wrong? Would Yuri had able to stop Tiffany if she had tried other ways rather than slapping her?

This is seriously way too confusing, there isn’t a definite answer to any of the questions. Yoona rather let the problems solve on their own than to meddle with them.

“Sorry.” Yuri apologized awkwardly when she realized she was taking all of her frustration out on her dongsaeng. Heaving a deep sigh she said, “I’ll go in now.”

“Unnie,” Yoona stopped Yuri before she entered the room. “Just… look after Jessica unnie. I will talk to Sooyoung.”

Yuri nodded and entered the ward.

The nurse had just cleared up the equipment and was about to go out when Yuri walked in. Yuri greeted the nurse with a slight bow and muttered a soft ‘thank you’ to her as they walked past one another. She made her way towards the bed, where Jessica was resting on, and sat in the empty chair that was next to it.

“Sica…” Yuri Jessica’s hair as gently as possible, worried that she would disturb the blonde’s sleep.

But Jessica wasn’t really asleep, she was merely resting with her eyes closed. “Yuri?” When she heard Yuri’s voice, her eyes shot open and her hands grabbed the hand on her head. “You look awful Yuri…” Jessica commented when she noticed Yuri didn’t look like the usual happy-go-lucky her.

Yuri decided to ignore Jessica’s comment. She smiled at her, “Did I wake you up?”

“No…” Jessica shook her head. “I wasn’t asleep.”

Yuri’s gaze landed on the dressing on the side of Jessica’s neck. Her eyebrows furrowed together unconsciously, “Is it still painful?” She reached for her neck and caressed it.

“Don’t worry about it, the nurse said the wound isn’t deep.” Jessica held Yuri’s hand again and took it to her lap. She observed Yuri and asked, “Are you… still angry with Tiffany?”

The expression on Yuri’s face immediately darkened.

“Don’t mention her name.”

Jessica tried to persuade her lover, “Yuri…”

“Sica, she tried to kill you!” Yuri exclaimed angrily. “I could have lost you back there if I hadn’t appeared in time or Sooyoung and Yoona hadn’t been pulling her back! You…” Yuri paused, biting onto her quivering lips trying to stop the tears that were forming in her eyes from falling. “You could've been gone, you know that?” Yuri inhaled a deep breath. “I will never forgive her until she realizes her mistake and apologizes to you.” Her stern expression implied no negotiation to the said statement.

Jessica couldn’t find any words to argue her with; but as much as she wanted to help Tiffany, what Yuri had said is all true.

She did almost lose her life.

*

Sooyoung was heading back to their dormitory when she caught Tiffany coming from the same direction with a small backpack on her shoulder. A bad feeling struck upon her immediately. It was definitely not a common sight to see Tiffany carrying a backpack around.

“Tiffany!” Sooyoung called to the hunter from her standing spot, expecting the latter to stop and look at her.

But what she had not expected was instead of slowing down, Tiffany quickened her pace.

“Yah, Tiffany!” Crap, she thought right! “Tiffany!” Sooyoung yelled again as she picked up speed and ran after the departing hunter. “Tiffany, don’t go!”

Sooyoung’s calling only made Tiffany walk faster and faster. While focusing on the path she was walking on, Tiffany took note of the distance between her and Sooyoung by the sound of her footsteps. A frown naturally found its way to her face when she heard the steps getting louder and louder.

She was going to get caught by Sooyoung if she continued to walk like this.

“Tiffa––YAH!”

Sooyoung was about to reach Tiffany when she suddenly leaped and sped through the empty corridor, towards the direction of the main entrance.

“My legs are so going to embaress me if I can’t catch up with you!”

With that, Sooyoung picked up her feet and sped through the corridor, following right behind Tiffany. But as easy as it sounds, reality is always different from expectation. Sooyoung might have had long legs, but Tiffany wasn’t slow either. Despite shortening the gap between each other, Sooyoung was still far from nearing Tiffany. She tried grabbing any small objects she saw and threw at the hunter in front of her, but to no avail as Tiffany smoothly dodged them.

The main entrance of Aurales soon appeared in front of them. Nervousness was rising in Sooyoung. If she couldn’t get hold of Tiffany before they got out of here, it would be harder to find her when they were out in the open.

“TIFFANY!”

Sooyoung stopped then started jumping and screamed her lungs out at the hunter.

“WHAT ABOUT US?!”

Her screams, filled with anger and disappointment, made Tiffany stop as well. Pursing her lips into a straight line, Tiffany hesitantly turned around to face Sooyoung, watching her pant heavily while glaring at her.

“Am I not your friend?” Sooyoung repeated her question through her tightly clenched teeth when she saw Tiffany looking at her. “Answer me Tiffany, am I not good enough for you to stay?”

Instead of answering her question, Tiffany replied softly, “Sooyoung, go back, please.”

“And watch you leave?” Sooyoung answered ridiculously. She scoffed, “I’m not going to let you leave just like that!” Sooyoung paced towards Tiffany slowly. “Tiffany, I know Yuri went overboard for doing that to you. But please, don’t leave because of her!” She stopped right in front of her friend. “Think about me, think about Yoona, you still have us with you! We will fix this together with you!”

Inhaling a deep breath, Tiffany looked into Sooyoung’s eyes.

“Sooyoung, you see me as a friend, don’t you?”

“Of course! And as a friend, I’m not going to let you leave because of this ridiculous problem!”

“Sooyoung-ah…” Tiffany let out a sigh. “As a friend, won’t you want me to be happy?”

Sooyoung stared at her confusingly.

“I’m tired, Sooyoung-ah. I just want to return to where I belong.”

Tiffany continued despite the lack of Sooyoung’s reply.

“I want to go home.”