CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Realigning The Lost Stars.“Hey, you alright?”
With a startled jolt, a nervous seventeen year old Yoona spun around to face the feminine voice, her doe eyes bright, reflecting the anxiety coursing through her entire system.
“I’m scared, unnie.” Confessed Yoona in a shaky whisper. Their debut stage was due in less than ten minutes and the fresh-faced teenager had never felt more nervous in her whole entire life, certain that she was a minute away from a full blown panic attack.
Tiffany smiled, inhaling a deep breath to soothe her own nerves before taking the shaking girl’s hands into hers. “Breathe, Yoona.”
“What if I forget my lines?! Worse, what if I forget my moves and stand there blankly?!” exclaimed Yoona, the horror of possibly messing up Soh Nyu Shi Dae’s debut performance dawning on her. The Soh Nyu Shi Dae visual didn’t think that she could survive knowing that she would be the one responsible for pouring all of their combined efforts down the drain, all the preparations that they’ve made… and to screw it up…
With an exasperated chuckle, Tiffany gave her panicking member a tight hug. “You’ll be okay. We’re all nervous, we’re all jumpy, but hand in hand, I believe that we can make it. You’re not going to screw up, Yoona-ah. We have all practice enough to do the entire routine in our sleep.”
“You think so?” questioned Yoona, her twinkling eyes trusting.
And that was when Tiffany knew that this girl would nothing short of family in the future times to come, that she would love the girl before her like no other; a dearest younger sister who she never had.
Showcasing her soon-to-be famous smiley eyes, Tiffany beamed, “I know so. After all, Right now it’s Girls Generation, From now on it’s Girls Generation, Forever Girls Generation!”
“Yoona...”
All it took was that one word from that same feminine voice; the reassuring voice that gave her strength right before her… their debut performance, for Yoona to return back to the present. Oh, how things have changed.
With anger-filled eyes, Yoona glared hatefully at the speaker, her lower lip quivering before spinning on her heel, making her way to the exit without a second glance. The doe could feel her eyes watering and she would be damned if she let any of them see her cry. She couldn’t… wouldn’t cry, not in front of those two. How could she have been such a fool?
“Yoona-ah!”
Yoona strode on determinedly, refusing to pay heed to the terrified tone. The idol could hear shuffling noises upon her departure, it was almost as if her leaving was the key to thawing the frozen state of everyone-alike. Catching on to the sound of hurried footsteps following her, Yoona lengthened her stride, wanting nothing more than to get out of Jiyong’s apartment before any of them caught up to her. A flash of dark colored hair appeared in her vision out of the corner of her eyes as she pushed the apartment’s door open, allowing Yoona to be aware of the fact that Yuri was trailing after her hurriedly. As much as Yoona was thankful for her sister’s concern, at this very moment, Yuri’s presence did nothing but to suffocate Yoona even more. The worry and pity adorning the tanned beauty’s face had Yoona’s windpipe constricting in such a manner that the latter was surprised that she was still breathing.
“Just a bit more, a bit more to the elevator.” thought Yoona, cheering herself on silently, freedom was so close now… an elevator ride away and she could hail herself a cab, enabling her to put as much distance as she desired from them both.
But just as Yoona was about to take a step towards the direction of the opened elevator doors, she found her path obstructed by a mob of raven hair bowing before her, clutching onto her feet.
The doe’s breathing hitched, recognizing the wild curls of raven hair anywhere. “Why, now?” questioned Yoona silently in despair, “Why have her appear just when I’m so close in succeeding to escape?”
“Yoona-ah…” called out Tiffany helplessly, the tears rolling down her cheeks as she held onto Yoona’s leg as though it was her lifeline.
Tiffany regretted it. She regretted it the moment she saw Yoona walked into the bedroom earlier, the look on the beauty’s face as the latter recognized who the person was in Jiyong’s bed... Tiffany could almost swore that she heard the deafening sound of Yoona’s heart breaking in the worst way possible.
“Let go of me.” Commanded Yoona firmly, her fists balled tightly by her side.
Tiffany shook her head vehemently from where she knelt in nothing but an oversized tee, not having the face to meet Yoona’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Yoona. God, I’m so I sorry.”
“Are you sorry for what you did or sorry that you got caught?” questioned Yuri angrily, her eyes glaring piercingly onto the dishevelled girl on the floor.
Tiffany cried harder at Yuri’s words, knowing that she deserved every anger and hate from those that she had disappointed and betrayed. But yet, as ashamed as she was, as much as she hadn’t had a right to beg for Yoona’s forgiveness, here she was clutching onto Yoona’s leg, preventing the latter from leaving the building… from walking away, knowing that if she does, she would lose Yoona for good.
“Why?” asked Yoona in an anguished whisper, “How could you do that to me?”
Biting down on her trembling lower lip, Yoona asked in an eerily calm voice, “Was it because you loved him?”
Only to furrow her brows when Tiffany shook her head, “Was it because y-you hate me then?”
Tiffany gasped, snapping her head up at Yoona’s words, “I would never…” her voice dying in at the amount of pain shown on the doe’s face, knowing that she was the one responsible for everything…
“THEN WHY?! HOW COULD YOU HAVE BEEN SO CRUEL TO DO THAT TO ME?! SLEEPING WITH MY BOYFRIEND. WHY STEPHAINE HWANG, WHY?!”
At Yoona’s outburst, Tiffany could only hang her head in shame, sobbing for the mistakes she wished she could take back. How could she explain to Yoona that the things she had done was a moment of folly? That she had caused so much grieve just because her ego couldn’t handle the fact that Yoona was always preferred over her. That losing yet another guy to Yoona was the last straw… How does she put it all into words so that Yoona would understand?
“I… I wasn’t thinking… Seunghyun… that night… Tae… jea--”
Words failed the SNSD singer as she choked on her sobs, realizing how feeble of an excuse her reasoning was going to be.
“I’m so sorry.” Choked out Tiffany as she stared into the chocolate brown orbs that were swirling with so much confusion. How was she ever going to fix this? Turning her head, Tiffany stared at Yuri who, too, was angrily wiping her own tears away. Ashamed, Tiffany directed her gaze onto the ground, wetting the floor with her tears, knowing that she had lost more than just a treasured sister tonight. All that for some petty revenge…
“Seunghyun?” questioned Yoona, frowning as she tried to comprehend her sobbing counterpart’s reasoning.
A gasp from behind had all three of their attention at once, alerting the trio of Hyoyeon’s presence. How long had Hyoyeon stood there, Yuri didn’t know, but the horrified expression on the latter’s face had the black pearl’s heart pulsed faster in dread.
“You overheard us that night, didn’t you?” whispered Hyoyeon, looking unusually vulnerable as she finally pieced the pieces together.
And when Tiffany bowed her head, sobbing in silent acknowledgement, disbelief floored the dancer’s face, “That was why Taeyeon asked us to keep our mouths shut, wasn’t it.”
“What night?” asked Yoona after a moment of silence, alternating her glances between the duo, only to have nothing but Tiffany’s cries to answer her question.
“What night?” reiterated Yoona, as she gritted her teeth in frustration and anger, the doe was sick of everyone keeping secrets from her, to be the last to know about anything. It just wasn’t fair.
Picking up on the silent command underlying in Yoona’s tone, Hyoyeon directed a look of sympathy to the former, knowing that the truth she was about to reveal would do nothing but twist the knife further into the Yoona’s heart.
“The night of the day you and Changmin fought.”
Yoona frowned, not understanding Hyoyeon’s explanation. “What has that to do with anything?”
Hyoyeon inhaled a large breath, steeling herself for the impact of her following words. “After getting you back to your bed, Sooyoung, Taeyeon and I talked… and… long story short, that was when Tae and I found out about Top’s feelings towards you.”
The frown marring Yoona’s face deepen, not following Hyoyeon’s words. Yuri, on the other hand, caught on immediately, “And Tiffany likes Top, doesn’t she?” Her question sounding more like a statement than it was a question.
Directing her eyes to the sobbing figure on the ground, Yuri spoke in a horrified tone, “Please tell me that you didn’t seduce Jiyong out of jealously, Tiff.”
And when the crying singer replied with a barely audible “I’m so sorry”, Yuri felt herself staggered a step back; the brunt of the truth overwhelming her.
“I just wanted to be like you.” confessed Tiffany in a silent whisper, shutting her eyes as she delivered the last of the blow of her words to each of her sisters, her heart shredding into pieces, the pain from her fellow members so tangible that Tiffany felt like she would suffocate from it all.
“Jealousy?” echoed Yoona silently in disbelief, her eyes teary at the absurdity of the situation. To know that a trusted sister seduced her boyfriend as payback for some sort of jealousy, to do this to hurt her deliberately... Yoona heard herself let out an incredulous chuckle, mocking herself as the tears spilled.
“Je-Jealousy.” repeated Yoona, hating the crack in her voice as she stared at the crown of the mob of raven hair.
“Heol, you really outdid yourself Stephanie Hwang.” Commented Yoona tearfully, and with a forceful shove, the doe freed herself from Tiffany’s clutches as she made a hasty exit to the elevator, ignoring the sting of pain she felt when Tiffany fell to ground with an anguished cry.
Knowing that she literally only had seconds to spare, Yoona bolted out of the lobby as quickly as she could when the elevator pinged open on the ground floor, hopping onto the first available cab she laid her eyes on. The beauty won’t put it past any of her other two members to catch up on her, given how speedy the two could be.
“Where to, Agassi?” asked the driver.
“Good question.”, thought Yoona. Where to, indeed.
“Please just drive first, ahjussi.”
Perhaps it was the defeated tone in her voice, or maybe it was the tears staining her porcelain face, the taxi driver shot a worried glance at the rearview mirror before training his eyes on the road without another word.
The phone started ringing within minutes of her departure, but Yoona ignored every one of the incoming calls. She couldn’t find it in her to face any of them, or the others when the rest of her SM family found out about Jiyong’s and Tiffany’s dirty affair.
“Oh God.” whimpered Yoona as she choked back on a sob, “What’s going to happen when the rest of the girls find out about this?”
Yoona’s body shook as the idol cried harder at her thoughts, knowing that the world her sisters knew would be in shambles after they learnt about what happened tonight and an illogical part of her blamed herself. Maybe, just maybe if she realized Tiffany’s feelings sooner, she could have stopped all of these from happening.
The doe needed a temporary sanctuary to heal, a place for her to cry it all out before she attempted to piece herself back together again. But where could she possibly go? Returning back to the dorms wasn’t an option, neither was going back home to where her father and sister stayed… Yoona couldn’t bring herself to be the one to break the news, and to see the devastated look on any of their faces was more than what her heart could bear. She certainly didn’t want, nor did she feel like she deserved their pity, after all, she had indirectly caused this to happen; the pushing factor behind Tiffany’s actions were based on the former’s jealously of her.
Despairingly, Yoona stared out at the window, watching the streetlights passed her by in a blur. Why was it so hard for her to find someplace where she could be alone? Hotels and motels were taboos, given her celebrity status, if only she could find an empty apartment of some sort at this timing…
With shaky fingers, she dialed Siwon’s number, stilling her tears as the dial tone donned on. Super Junior’s Choi Siwon had been a dear friend for years now, someone she can count on without a doubt and given the guy’s chaebol status, he was the only chance Yoona had in finding an empty apartment to hide away for the night without giving any lengthy explanation of sorts… Well, not until Siwon demands for it in the near future. Like any of her other oppas back in SM, Siwon doesn’t take things kindly whenever the latter found out that Yoona had been mistreated in one way or another.
“Hello? Yoona? My my, someone finally had the time to call, huh? What’s up, kiddo?”
A sob escaped Yoona the moment she heard her friend’s jovial tone, clogging from the cries she was trying to hold back at the familiar voice.
“Wh-Where are you, oppa?”
Sniffling as quietly as possible, Yoona wiped the tears off her face forcefully, hoping that Siwon hadn’t caught the little hitch in her voice. It wouldn’t do any good for Siwon to start fussing over her, God knows that she would crumple the moment a dear friend question her well-being. Besides, her oppa sounded so happy, so light-hearted that it would crush her to know that she was responsible for the misery and worry of another soul.
“Me? Filming in HongKong, wae?”
And when silence, together with a sound that greatly resembled a muffled sob, greeted Siwon, the Super Junior member immediately knew something was terribly wrong, something had happened to Yoona. Straightening up, Siwon’s listened intently to his phone, trying to pick up any sound of importance from the background of where his friend was.
“Yoona, what’s wrong?”
At the somber tone of her companion, Yoona knew that her friend had caught on. Gone was the cheerful tone, and in its place was a tone so reassuring, so comforting that had Yoona wanting nothing more than to bawl her eyes out like a young toddler, for her dear friend to hold her and assure that everything would be alright.
“Hey, talk to me, Yoong.”
“I--” The words were lost within her vocal chords, refusing to make themselves known. Shaking her head, Yoona swallowed a sob, this was her problem to bear, and she couldn’t… wouldn’t burden anyone else that she held so dear to her heart.
“It’s nothing. I’m fine, oppa. I’m fine.”
The lies burned and stung her eyes but Yoona persisted in dragging the words out. Maybe, just maybe, if she said the words enough, she too could believe in them.
“Yoona--”
The subtle warning had Yoona known that Siwon hadn’t believed her in the slightest, and Yoona knew that she had to do something before she gave into the temptation of spilling the beans. Siwon could be an extremely persuasive man when circumstances demands him to be. And so, Yoona opted for the easiest way out, as cowardly as it seem.
“Oppa, I gotta go now. Talk to you soon, okay? Bye!”
Hanging up the call, Yoona tossed the phone onto her lap, the tears streaking down her cheeks as she watched her phone lit up with every incoming call from Siwon. Not only had she failed to get a place for herself tonight, she had successfully worried yet another of her friend. Why? Why was she only bringing misery to the ones she loved?
“I’m sorry.” She whispered silently as she switched her phone off, knowing that it would do nothing but to worry her friends more, before burying her head into both her palms. Where could she go now?
“Agasshi, you look familiar.”
Yoona’s head shot up at the mumblings of the taxi driver, staring straight into the eyes of the driver who was looking intently at her via the rearview mirror, having forgotten that she wasn’t alone. How could she have been so careless? The idol’s mind raced, recalling if she had said anything that would have jeopardize her, or anyone else’s career. Had she done anything to give her identity away?
And when the knowing look flashed onto the driver’s face just as the moonlight spilled into the back of the cab, shedding light onto the idol’s bare face, Yoona knew the man had recognized her instantly.
“Ahjussi, stop the car please.”
The cab driver’s gaze soften, knowing he had spooked the idol. “I mean no harm.”
“Stop the car.”
“Yoona-ssi, I wouldn’t--”
Yoona couldn’t process any of the cab driver’s words, behaving like a startled wild animal. The risk that she had placed herself in had her panicking.
“STOP THE CAR!!” Yoona all but screeched.
With a defeated sigh, the cab came to a stop at the nearest dropping point. Tossing a huge bill to the front of the cab, Yoona exited the cab rapidly, ignoring the driver’s cries for the change as she ventured further into the unfamiliar neighborhood.
Yoona wrapped her arms around herself as the wind blew, listening the cab take off shortly after a moment of hesitation. The night was silent, and Yoona had nothing but streetlights and shadows as companions. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the best of idea to be alone in an unfamiliar territory…
Paranoid, Yoona sped up as she saw a brightly lit convenience store ahead, only to stop in her tracks when she saw a group of three slightly drunk men stationing themselves right in front of the store. Gulping, Yoona tried to back away silently before any of the said drunkards noticed her. Fate, however had other plans for the deer for just as the idol was about to make her hasty retreat, one of the burly man spotted her.
“Yah! Where are you going, sweety. Join us! The night is still young!”
Yoona smiled nervously at the devilish grin on the men’s face, whom at the point of time, resembled wolves more than men in Yoona’s eyes.
“No thank you, ahjussi. I have somewhere else to be, so I’ve to go now. Have a good night.”
Yoona had never felt fear as she did right now when she saw the tall burly chuckled as he pushed himself off the railing and approached her with drunken steps, with the other two men following his lead.
“I don’t think so sweety. Come on, just one drink.”
Darting her eyes around, Yoona attempted to search for a safe getaway route while taking cautious step backwards, her eyes never leaving the group of men before her; the same group of men who were wearing matching predatory looks, having realized how alone Yoona was.
“No, I--”
Yoona never got to finish her sentence as she bumped into a hard chest, yelping in fright at the possibility of being cornered by the company of drunken men before her. But just as Yoona was about to flee, an arm wrapped itself around her shoulder, drawing her closer, anchoring her protectively against a hard chest.
“What I think is that you should leave, ahjussi.”
Yoona should be frightened, after all, she was literally in the hands of a complete stranger. For all that she know, he could be just like the group of lechers before her. But as foolish as it sounds, Yoona could feel herself relaxing, just a fraction, at the deep husky voice, trusting the stranger.
The burly man scowled, and took an aggressive step forward.
Yoona stiffened, her heart pounding in fear. They were at the losing end, despite his possible intentions, her Good Samaritan was outnumbered; three to one, they wouldn’t possibly win if it boiled down to a brawl. The stranger tighten his grip on her, as if sensing her fears.
Just then another voice spoke from the other side of the stranger, harsh and unfamiliar, “Leave, ahjussi, or you’ll regret it.”
The burly man scrutinize them through narrowed eyes, before letting out a scoff, shaking his head as he spun on his heel, deciding that it wasn’t worth it.
Yoona exhaled a shaky breath as she watched the other three men leave, knowing she was safe now, all thanks to the stranger and the other man with the unfamiliar voice. Yoona froze for the briefest second, before shaking her head to banish her thoughts. Why on earth would she label the other man to have an unfamiliar voice? That would mean that the husky voice had some degree of familiarity, and how was that possible when he was a complete stranger? Her nerves must have been frazzled more than she thought.
Taking a step back, Yoona bowed repeatedly, her long hair shielding most of her face, “Thank you so much. I would have been in so much trouble if you hadn’t interfered. Thank you. Thank you to you both.”
A pair of gentle hands stilled her motions as the same husky voice greeted her once more, “Don’t worry about it, I just did what I had to do. Are you alright?”
Nodding, Yoona peered up cautiously to her savoir, “Yes, I’m--”
Only to have her words forgotten and her jaw drop as she recognized her mysterious stranger.
Blinking rapidly, Yoona stared incredulously at the equally shell-shocked man, whom was too stunned into silence. Opening and shutting repeatedly like a gaping fish out of water, Yoona tried to get her vocal chords to work and the idol would have chuckled if she wasn’t as shocked as she was at the moment, what a sight they must be right now.
“Yoona?” questioned the standing figure her in disbelief.
Clearing , Yoona finally got her voice back, “Y-Yoochun oppa?”
Oh, this is going to be an even longer night than what Yoona had originally expected alright.
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