Chapter 2:

Ever since that day, Yuri began to frequent the café. She didn't know why, but her conscience seemed to be catching up to her lately, and the place offered her refuge. Everyday, without fault nor falter, Ailee and her friends would greet her with a warm smile and a gentle hello. They would welcome her as if she was a part of the family, their family, and no one questioned it.

No one but her. She hated it, she felt dirty, because unlike everyone else in that place, she was dirty. She alone did not have a job like theirs. Never did she think that her job was dishonest, but there were times when she wondered if her job was disgraceful. And it was, to everyone around her, and to some degree, even to herself. Because every night, she gave herself to the man who would give her anything she wanted, as long as she gave herself.

Truthfully, it had started out simple. She was a naïve young woman who thought that lust and love were the same thing, and that when someone promised you something, they'd give it to you. But she had given what she had, and got her heart broken instead. She never got pregnant, something she was thankful for, but her dreams were shattered.

From one tiny mistake, her world had gone downhill: her parents disowned her, the love of her life--or so she thought--left her for someone else and the bright future ahead of her became a flickering candlelight which was promptly extinguished by the howling winds of reality.

Who knew how one person could change the way you'd see yourself. And in just a matter of days.

"He's too young for you," she muttered to herself. "Besides, he deserves someone better. I should just leave him alone and stay out of his life forever-"

"Miss Yuri!" a familiar bubbly voice called, drawing her out of her self-reflection. She sat face-to-face with Taemin, Sungjong beside him. "Nice to see you again. You're a regular customer now?"

"I guess," she offered, unable to steel herself in front of him. "The coffee you gave me was particularly good, so..."

"No need to explain," he laughed. "Just glad you're enjoying the coffee."

"It's splendid," she replied reassuringly.

"That's good," Sungjong said. "Coffee here is the best, if not the atmosphere. But I like to think both."

Yuri nodded in agreement. Surrounded by innocence, she did not know what to do but agree. She herself had stopped being so innocent so many years ago that those years are now but a distant memory she could hardly recall.

~°~

"Fifty," Sungjong said optimistically and firmly, challenging anyone who dared say otherwise.

"I say thirty," Taemin said thoughtfully. He looked at his brother questioningly.

Yunho shrugged. "I actually say forty!"

"Wrong!" Changmin declared. He showed them the card in his hands with a grin plastered on his face. "It was ten."

Jaws dropped, and Yoochun loudly exclaimed, "I can't believe it! We were all guessing so high when it was so meager."

"I told you guys we should have played Baskin Robins 31," Junsu quipped.

"Junsu, you're forgetting there are two of us who aren't legal yet," Jaejoong reminded. "Although if Yunho says it's okay, I don't think the kiddos will counter, right?"

"No, absolutely not. These twins will not be tainted by alcohol yet," Yunho declared, ruffling his younger brother's hair as the two laughed. They'd been best friends since they were little kids, and they've stuck through thick and thin that they practically know each other inside and out. It sometimes got to the extent that they dressed similarly that people initially thought them to be twins.

"I wish I had a brother to say that for me," Changmin said. "But no, Kyuhyun had to be the one to start the vice."

"It wouldn't be Kyuhyun otherwise," Yoochun laughed.

"Hey, don't you have another date with Ailee today?" Jaejoong asked.

"Yes, but I'd told her I had something to do so I might be a little late."

"You might've set up one of the most romantic anniversary dates the two of you ever had, but being late never earns anyone brownie points," Changmin tutted. "If you're talking about dropping the maknaes home, I'll do it for you. Give Ailee more love, hyung. She deserves it."

"But I have duties as a hyung," he said. "Which, by the way, she said she totally understands."

"But understanding isn't enough. Noona has to feel it as well!" Taemin objected.

"Taemin, does this mean you like Changmin more as your hyung than you like me?" Yunho asked.

"No, Changmin-hyung is cool, but hyung is the best!" he beamed.

~°~

Taemin sighed as he laid down on his bed, eyes searching the ceiling, as if hoping for an answer. He was tired, a little too tired, of getting up everyday and living as he did even if he knew it was best that way, because sometimes, even those who are strong internally have weak links; we're human, there's only so much we can do.

He had stopped resorting to tears long ago, and turned to smiles. And, he realized, smiles were better. When you smile, the world seems a little bit better, as if clouds have stopped darkening, and the people around you seem to smile back reflexively. It was fun, smiling for no real reason save the act of smiling itself, and the choice to smile.

No matter who you were, some things never changed, and he was faced with a challenge. His brother, Siwon, was getting ready for the launch of his new product. Naturally, they were invited, but he wanted to invite someone else as well--Yuri. Taemin found her beautiful, but whenever he looked at her, he saw the fragments of what was left of her, not the outward beauty that everyone else saw. And when he got curious enough to really find out about her past, he felt he was given this as a burden by God. She was his burden, as he may be someone else's, particularly his friend's, and he was alright with that.

Those sad, lost eyes of hers... She was swimming in a sea she did not like, he could tell, but she was too afraid to leave that acquarium for the ocean to find out what she was meant to be. There was hurt in her eyes, and there was a longing in the way she spoke. He noticed that she refrained from talking to them too long and too deeply, perhaps because of what she was, but he wanted her to trust him...

Some things had to be done with patience rather than force, but even his highly trained patience was not strong enough. His heart was hurting for her, he wanted to help her, but he was just a child, what was he to do? He could not ask Yunho to help him, because he knew it would take a strong commitment on their part to help her, commitment that he knew was for Ailee and his family alone. And his only choice was Siwon.

Siwon would do it for him, right...?

"Help her, God," he prayed, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. "Save her."