Sunny felt numb as a young girl tended to her wounds. Although she was happy to finally be away from her boyfriend, there was still some fear and panic left of how he might retaliate.

“Alright, you’re all patched up and ready to go!” the girl in front of her smiled before taking in her state once again. “Well… on the outside anyway. If I had a band aid to help your heart I’d use it in an instance…”

Sunny took in her kind words and realized she had yet to thank this stranger, who had risked her life for her. “T-thank y-you… so much” Sunny’s voice cracked and she felt tears start to form once again.

“No, please don’t cry… it’s okay. You’re safe now sweetheart.” She felt a tender hand caress her face before it was pulled away. “I’ve got something that’ll definitely cheer you up!”

Sunny watched the short girl disappear through the door before returning with a small bakery box.

“From what I’ve noticed it’s your favorite, right?”

Sunny took the box and opened it to find one of her favorite cakes from the Talk Talk Café. She was tempted to smile before she realized how strange it was that this girl knew what her favorite pastry was.

“How do you know that?” Sunny’s head began to hurt thinking she had gone from one bad situation to another. “Who are you?”

“Relax, I’m not a creep.” The girl laughed before she continued. “My name is Hyoyeon, I work at the Talk Talk Café.”

Sunny looked closely at the girl. She then realized she had seen her often at the Café working. It hadn’t occurred to Sunny why this girl looked so familiar but a traumatic experience could do that to you.

“Oh right… Im sorry.”

“Its no problem! Now…” Hyoyeon looked at the girl expectantly.

“Sunny. My name is Sunny.”

“Sunny! Im sorry to say I have to go.” Hyoyeon looked at Sunny sympathetically as she became restless. “Don’t worry, im leaving you in excellent hands.”

“But..”

“Listen my friend went to get some pain relievers for you. This is her place. She said you can stay the night.”

“…”

“Don’t worry, really. She’ll take care of you. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

XXXXXXXXX

“AHHHHHHHHH!!” Yuri’s eyes shot open at the sound of Yoona’s high pitched scream. Panic surged through her as she jumped off her bed and darted down the hallway.

Yuri followed Yoona’s voice to the bathroom and barged in. “What’s the matter!?”

“Oh My God! Yuri!” Yoona was standing in a defensive position. “Thank god you’re here!”

Yoona frantically pointed to a spider crawling up the side of the bathtub. Yuri took a deep breath and tried to control her anger as she crushed the poor little spider unexpectedly. Yoona flinched as she watched the overkill.

“Yoona…” Yuri turned to her and twitched a bit as she stopped all her muscles from hitting Yoona. After last night’s events it was clear to Yuri that the danger Mrs. Im was worried about was real and Yoona almost gave Yuri a heart attack early in the morning for a tiny insect. “If you ever scare me like that for a false alarm again Im going to put thousands of these little guys in your bed.”

“You wouldn’t!” Yoona was taken aback by the threat since no one ever dared speak to her in  such a manner, unless they wanted to face the wrath of her father.

“Try me.” Yuri looked at Yoona up and down to make sure she was left unharmed by the intruder the day before. Yoona being in nothing but a towel made it all the more easy to inspect her, as Yuri justified it in her head. Yoona grabbed her towel protectively when she noticed Yuri check her out but before she could say anything a smirk spread across Yuri’s face. “Just making sure you’re all right…”

Yoona was shocked for a second to see a different side of Yuri that wasn’t entirely too serious. However she quickly snapped out of it as she realized what had just happened. When she was focused once again she notice Yuri was already gone so she shouted out to the hallway.

“ert!” Yoona could feel herself turning red as she heard Yuri chuckle.

XXXXXXXXX

Sunny hear knocking on the bedroom door and looked up. She saw a girl roughly her same height standing in the doorframe with a worried expression on her face.

“Hi.” The girl approached her slowly with a pharmacy bag in one hand and a cup of tea in another. She gently handed the cup to Sunny and smiled as she sat beside her. “It’s peppermint. It’ll relax your muscles.”

“Thank you.” Sunny’s voice was nothing but a whisper. She watched the girl’s moves intently.

“My name is Taeyeon. Who might you be?” Taeyeon noticed how Sunny’s gaze followed her every move and so she introduced herself. She figured after what had happened to her Sunny was going to have trust issues with everyone new and maybe even old in her life. However Sunny’s reason for staring was much different.

“I-I’m Sunny.” Sunny watched Taeyeon laugh lightly.

“I’m sure you are!” Taeyeon’s smile dazzled Sunny as she tilted her head to the side, confused as to what she meant. “Listen Sunny, you are welcomed to stay here as long as you’d like. I’ve fixed up this room and left you some clothes on the drawer so you can clean yourself up. If you need me I’m going to be in the living room just outside the door. Before you go to sleep let me know okay, I want to change your bandages for new ones.”

“Thank you. I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

Sunny watched Taeyeon’s eyes flicker with emotions she couldn’t read. “Just get better alright. Anything for my favorite customer…”

“Huh?”

XXXXXXXXX    

“Where do you think you’re going?” Yoona stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of Yuri’s voice.

“I’m going shopping.”

“Without me?” Yuri raised an eyebrow at Yoona’s sarcastic tone and the fact that she was trying to go out. Alone. Even after what had happened yesterday.

“Listen, I won’t tell if you don’t tell. I know you don’t want to look after me all the time so lets just pretend that’s what you do until my parents learn to trust me on my own.” Yoona had finally ran from the watchful eye of her father and she wasn’t going to let Yuri stand between her and freedom.

“Don’t make this about me.”

“Fine.” Yoona looked at her with a defiant look. “I don’t want you taking care of me.”

Yuri let out a humorless laugh. “That’s too bad.”

“And why is that?”

“I was given a job and I’m going to do it.” Yuri looked at Yoona with just as much force as the younger girl’s stare.

“But you don’t have to! I just told you,  you can do as you please just let me be!”

“Its not about if I want to or not; which I don’t by the way. After yesterday you really think I can just let you go out on your own when you’re my responsibility?!”

Yoona scoffed and turned to walk out the door. Yuri narrowed her eyes and knew it was going to take more than scolding to get this bratty kid to listen.

“Yoona if you touch that door handle I’m going to have to stop being nice.” Yuri sounded like a scolding mother which only fueled Yoona’s need for rebellion greater.

“Watch me!” As soon as Yoona tried to grab the door handle she was turned around. Yuri slung her over her shoulder like she was nothing at all and started walking upstairs to Yoona’s room. “What are you doing?!! LET ME GO!”

“I tried to be nice but you can’t stop being difficult now could you?!” Yuri reached Yoona’s bedroom and dropped her on the bed.

Yuri went to the door and locked it. Then she turned around, arms crossed, and looked at Yoona with a piercing stare. Yoona suddenly became frightened by Yuri’s sudden silence and intimidating posture. Yuri slowly began to approach Yoona, slowly and somewhat menacing. When Yuri was just steps away from Yoona a phone went off. She saw that it was Yoona’s and quickly snatched it from her, turning it off.

“W-what do you think you’re doing!?”

XXXXXXXXX

Jessica sighed and leaned her head back. It had been a stressful day at work and she still was nowhere close to done. She knew she would have to work until tomorrow if she wanted to finish all the paper work that had piled up while she handled the Yuri situation and Yoona’s move. Jessica figured she should just finish it at home where she would be more comfortable.

With that in mind she packed up all her papers and locked up her office. As she walked into the building parking lot she heard two voices shouting. One was a man and the other an obnoxiously loud voice Jessica knew far too well.

“I can’t stand you!” Jessica heard the sound of Tiffany’s foot as it slammed into the ground. “Why do you do this to me!?”

“I don’t care if you hate me or not Tiffany! You will listen to what I say and do as I say!”

“I don’t-“ Jessica was close enough to see Tiffany’s father and his petrifying glare, even for her.

“THAT’S AN ORDER!” She saw Tiffany wince at her father’s forceful and angry tone. “Now get in the car!”

“No. Yoona’s on her way. I’m going to help her unpack.” Tiffany’s voice was much lower now but her face showed no sign of fear. She looked emotionless and empty.

“Fine then.” Mr. Hwang grabbed Tiffany’s face forcefully. “Next time you raise your voice at me will be the first time I hit my own child.”

He let her go and got into his car. Jessica couldn’t decide whether to hide or pretend she hadn’t seen anything. She figured she’d wait for Yoona to pick Tiffany up just in case and then she would go home. Jessica watched as Tiffany looked for her phone and began to dial a number.

“Come on Yoona… Please pick up…” Tiffany’s voice cracked and she tried calling again. She was taking deep breathes to calm herself as she looked in her wallet for some cash. She wasn’t carrying any so taking a taxi wasn’t an option. “What am I going to do…”

Jessica finally realized that Tiffany had lied to her father and she couldn’t blame her. Jessica wouldn’t have gotten in a car with the infamous Mr. Hwang even if they paid her a million dollars. She knew being near Tiffany in any occasion was always a bad idea yet she couldn’t bring herself to just leave her there. Stranded in a parking lot with nowhere to go. Jessica took a deep breath and began to walk out into the lot to her car.

“Ms. Hwang, what are you doing here all alone?” Jessica watched as Tiffany’s eyes lit up and a sad smile spread across her face.

“My dad had some business to attend to and had to leave me behind. I can’t seem to reach Yoona or Sunny…” Tiffany adjusted her hair before walking towards Jessica. “Hey Jess, I know this sounds creepy and I tend to harass you a lot but can I sleep over at your place tonight?”

Jessica took a minute to think this over. She knew this was going to end up with some negative consequences but she couldn’t see Tiffany going back home to a maniac. No one dared to say it out loud but that’s what her father was, a maniac, and everyone knew it.

“It’s okay if I can’t… I promise I won’t try anything. I just need a place to sleep. I won’t-“

“It’s fine. You can spend the night with me Ms. Hwang.”