Chapter 30
 
 

Their fingers weren’t interlaced but Yuri still adored the feeling of Jessica’s hand in hers. Her grip wasn’t that tightbut it was firm enough for Yuri to feel that her hands were trembling. Yuri’s eyes glanced sidewards to catch a glimpse of Jessica’s face but the latter was really an expert in hiding her emotions.
 
What made The House of the Departed slightly different from other horror houses was it was designed like a labyrinth. It would change from time to time so the chance of getting familiar with the maze was almost nil. The first to escape the haunted place would be declared the victor.
 
There were four doors and each of them had to take one to enter. Yuri took the first door, while Jessica nervously calmly stood in front of the next one. Tiffany decided to take the third entrance, leaving the last door to Taeyeon.
 
“If someone wants to leave, just raise your hands and yell ‘STOP’, understood?” The staff informed them.
 
The four girls nodded. When the staff disappeared, the lights went off without notice. 
 

 A loud shriek pierced the air, catching the attention of the patrons inside the spooky attraction. While Yuri and Tiffany thought it was just one of those eerie sound effects, Taeyeon absolutely knew whom it belonged to. 
  
Taeyeon rushed immediately to the source of the sound ignoring the pain caused by the accidental bumps here and there due to the pitch black darkness. It took her a while to get past the challenging path. Taeyeon laughed to herself when she realized she was like a knight in shining armor that needed to save his princess from grave peril. 
 
“Jessica. Are you okay?” Taeyeon wasted no time and encased the trembling figure in an assuring embrace. As a reflex, Jessica tried to break free but she surrendered when she saw the familiar face under the faint light, “Ssh. It’s me, Taeyeon.”

“T-tae-“ Another ear-piercing scream escaped Jessica’s mouth before she could utter the older girl’s name. A bloody, mutilated hand fell from the ceiling and onto Jessica’s left shoulder. Taeyeon swatted it away, not bothering to protect her ears from the shattering noise. 
 
“Taeyeonie…” Jessica sobbed quietly. “Taeyeonie…” 

Taeyeon felt something inside her melt. Perhaps because Jessica looked so fragile before her very eyes. She found the way Jessica called her very endearing. But she immediately shook off the thought when she realized the poor girl was doing it out of intense fear. 
 
As the horrifying experience went on, Taeyeon felt Jessica’s arms were squeezing the life out of her as ear-splitting screams and chants of her name rolled out of her tongue. She tilted her head back in hopes of taking oxygen into her body but Jessica grabbed her head, wrapping her arms around her neck, their cheeks touching. 

If they weren’t in this kind of situation at the moment, Taeyeon would be probably panicking on how close their bodies were pressing against each other’s, so close that if she paid attention, she’d feel the softness of those curves of Jessica’s front. The scent of the lavender perfume she wore was intoxicating, invigorating. Alas, the adrenaline rush made Taeyeon focus on more significant things. 
 
“J-jessica…” Taeyeon inhaled a large breath. “Calm down. I’m here. We’ll leave this place together.”
 
Taeyeon felt Jessica relax a little when she took her hand in hers, twining their fingers together. Her breathing gradually returned to normal as Taeyeon guided her every step, her free hand protecting Jessica from nasty stuffs and sights as they find the exit. 
 
After quite a while, they finally escaped the place, in one piece. Fortunately. Though Taeyeon suffered minor scratches and bruises. Good thing they weren’t that noticeable or else, Tiffany would flip out when she saw them. 
 
Taeyeon let Jessica recover and left her sitting at one of the benches nearby while they waited for Tiffany and Yuri to come out. She looked over her shoulder and found Jessica taking out several stuff from her handbag and began combing her messy hair. 
 
Carefully, she headed to the counter near the exit and peaked at the monitor. After a while, the staff handed her something that seemed like sheets of paper.
 
Her lips formed a wide smile before putting the envelope carefully inside her bag.
 

 The next thing they did was ride Han Express - it was similar to a roller coaster ride, except that there's water along the way.
 
Hearing the forecast say it might rain today, Tiffany fished out two disposable raincoats, giving the other one to Taeyeon. “Sorry, I didn’t bring more.” Taeyeon, being one of the gentle(wo)men of the group, proffered the protective wear to Jessica but Tiffany sent her a disapproving look, leaving her no choice but to put it on.
 
Yuri smiled. “No worries. I’m okay.” She then took off her black leather jacket and gave it to Jessica. The blonde maid took it, her eyes asking ‘What about you?’. “I’ll be fine. It’s just water.”

Jessica nodded and put on the leather outerwear. Due to Yuri’s height and built, the jacket was a size or two larger. Nevertheless, it would still serve its purpose.

 “Your top’s completely drenched.” Taeyeon pointed out as they exited the ride. More playful insults would have come out of that mouth if it were only the two them.
 
Trying to act cool, Yuri didn’t pretend to be cold when she felt the freezing wind against her wet skin, “I know.” In an attempt to wipe her face dry, she fished out a handkerchief from the back pocket of her jeans. Unfortunately, it was soaking wet as well so it didn’t do the job. 
 
She kept on doing that until she felt a dry piece of cloth touch her face. Looking up, she found Jessica use her own hanky on her face. When the blonde was done, she moved to her neck, then up to her hair though she knew it wouldn’t dry it completely with a small cut of fabric. 

“Uhm, I have a platinum membership card. We can use the rewards points to get you a new top and undershirt.” Tiffany offered.
 
“I’m fine. You can use them to get the stuff you like.” Yuri politely declined with a smile, acknowledging Tiffany's concern.
 
Tiffany shook her head and gave Yuri a pleading look. The latter couldn’t tell if Tiffany was really a nice person in general or she just didn’t want to owe anything to anyone. “No, I insist. Please.”
 
Yuri didn’t reply immediately and shot Taeyeon a glance. The short blonde jerked a nod, urging her to go. “Okay.”
 
Reaching the members’ office would take quite a while, Jessica seemed reluctant to go with them and Yuri would not definitely