The air around me felt stagnant. The garden I’ve always dreamed of has become dead. Dead by means of the appearance; all of the beautiful flowers, wilted. It all became sad and gloomy. Where is she anyway?

“Hey!” I shouted.

“Where are you?!” Suddenly, it became hard for me to breathe, why can’t I breathe? Why!?

“What are you doing Taeyeon? Why are you making me slip away?” I try to turn around to meet her face. I feel guilty, why? I saw her face, it was all blurry, but her features seemed so familiar to me, who the hell are you for real?

“I don’t get you?” she sniffed, I guess she was crying now, “Please, time is almost running out, don’t let me slip away like this Taeyeon, don’t.”

She cried harder, “How can I help you when you won’t even let me see you…”

“You’re the one who’s hindering yourself to see me.”

“What?!” I guess she tried to wipe her tears, “Stop hurting people Taeyeon. Wake up…”

And then I wake up, I met Ailee’s eyes which depicted sadness and worry. I could feel I was sweating all over my body

“Taeyeon-ssi” Ailee called out, “You’ve been spacing out for quite a while now, is something wrong?” Taeyeon wanted to say what was really wrong, but nothing came out of , all the words were stuck in , and it just made it even harder to breathe for Taeyeon.

Ailee let out a deep sigh and sips some milk from her glass, she cooked breakfast for the both of them, to repay Taeyeon’s kindness, but how can you call this ‘paying back’ when all of the efforts were left untouched

“Ailee-ssi”

“Hmmm?”

“If a person tells you that they wanted to punch you in the face so that they can make you realize a few things… What do you think they are feeling?”

Ailee rubbed her chin as she tried to think of an answer, while Taeyeon gently taps the bottom of her mug in anticipation

“Maybe that person is upset then…”

“Upset? About what?” Taeyeon’s eyebrows met in confusion

“Maybe everything? I don’t really know…It depends” Ailee then smiled slightly at Taeyeon and sips again from her mug

“Everything? How can that be it?”

Ailee chuckled softly, “Let’s just say when a girl…” Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows, “Ahem, I mean, when a person is upset about something that means you did something wrong or have offended them in any way…”

“Me?”

“Possibly, I’m not saying it’s just you, but generally speaking everyone. A person wouldn’t say such outburst if it wasn’t of a big deal for them…” Ailee then stood from her seat and washed the plates

“The both of you should make up in the end, Taeyeon-ssi. It’ll just be hard for the both of you if you keep this argument up.” Ailee turned the faucet off and faced Taeyeon, “I don’t want you to end up like me Taeyeon-ssi. There was not a single explanation or closure with my relationship and I suggest you just talk to this person.”

“What if that person still doesn’t want to talk to me despite the efforts?”

Ailee smiled slightly, “Then you just have to try a little bit harder…” Taeyeon then smiled slightly and sipped from her mug. The milk was now cold, but who cares anyway, now that she may have the hypothetical answer and question to her ‘problem’…

“One more question Ailee-ssi, before you leave…”

“Yeah? What is it?”

 “If you have a sudden palpitation of heart whenever you see this person, what does that mean?”

Ailee giggled softly, the innocence is too much, “You like them Taeyeon-ssi. You like them a lot”

“Really?”

“Yeah...” Ailee went near to Taeyeon and gently pats the latter’s head, “Look. I have to go, thank you for all the kindness Taeyeon-ssi. I’m sorry if I kissed you last night.”

Taeyeon shook her head, “It’s cool. You too, I wish you’ll have the courage to talk to your boyfriend some other time…”

“I’ll just take my chances…” Ailee smiled and bowed at Taeyeon as she made her way out of the latter’s apartment, leaving Taeyeon dazed in the dining room.

Though she was married once, the feeling felt suddenly new to her. She has to see Tiffany now

“I’m glad she wasn’t all just s, she makes sense…”

Taeyeon flinch a little as someone suddenly spoke in dead silence, “Hey, that’s kind of… Mean”

“That was a compliment…”

“Still, it sounded mean enough…”

Tiffany sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of her nose, “You’re pathetic. Come ‘on Taeyeon, we have work to do. Or else, I’ll die…”

“Right…” Taeyeon felt happy as the atmosphere between her and Tiffany was now better than yesterday, though there were still few hesitations, but it’s better than nothing…

***

Taeyeon sat in the tub, feeling the warm water as she relaxed in her seat. She thought about her search again… She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to think harder for an answer

‘I’m a surgeon.’

She flicked her finger as she thought of a good head start for her search, “I got it. Hospitals!”

“What’s with hospitals?”

“It might be the answer to our problems!” Taeyeon said happily

“Okay… I still don’t get it…”

“You’re a surgeon right? We’ve got to go now!” Taeyeon suddenly stood up, trying not to waste time, forgetting that she was in the bathroom with another person

“OH MY GOD! COVER IT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!” Tiffany suddenly covered her eyes as she saw something that was not supposed to be seen

“Eh?” Taeyeon raised her eyebrow and looked at Tiffany in confusion

“You’re… You’re…” Tiffany pointed at Taeyeon continuously while her eyes are covered; Taeyeon then looked at herself, realizing how she looks right now…

She forgot that she was . Taeyeon quickly grabbed a towel and covered herself

“I’m just gonna go now and wait for you in the living room…”

“Y-y-yeah…” Taeyeon blushed beet red as soon as Tiffany left the bathroom

‘That was too embarrassing’

***

Taeyeon wore casual clothes and hurriedly went to the living room. Taeyeon and Tiffany’s eyes met. Tiffany looked away, remembering how Taeyeon looked earlier…

“We should probably go now…”

“Y-y-yeah, I think we should.” Tiffany cleared and hurriedly went through the door, while Taeyeon was still blushing madly

‘Stupid Taeyeon. That was really, really embarrassing…’

Taeyeon started the car engines while Tiffany remained silent. The atmosphere in the car was really, really awkward. None decided to speak. They drove to one of the hospitals in Seoul, in case that they might figure something out. Taeyeon stopped at a certain hospital and breathed deeply

“We’ll just take our chances for now Tiffany.”

Tiffany nodded meekly and both went outside the car. They proceeded to the lobby, and stopped by the counter table. Taeyeon cleared as Tiffany just waited for an answer

“Yes? How may I help you?” The nurse asked

“Uhh… I was just wondering if you have a patient named Tiffany Hwang.”

“Oh… Let me look it up, okay?”

“Okay.” Taeyeon waited patiently. Minutes later, the nurse decided to speak

“Miss, I’m sorry, but we don’t have a patient named Tiffany Hwang”

“Oh, okay. Thank you” Taeyeon bowed and left the building slightly disappointed, the latter went inside her car while Tiffany looked at her worriedly

“Hey, it’s just one hospital, not the end of the world right?” Tiffany smiled at Taeyeon, trying to cheer the latter up. Taeyeon returned Tiffany a smile, and drove to the next few hospitals in town.

***

Taeyeon gritted her teeth in disappointment. They went to at least, eleven hospitals now, and none of them has a patient named Tiffany Hwang. Its dark already and the duo were still doing their search. Taeyeon gripped the steering wheel hard in irritation while Tiffany remained silent

“Tae-Taeyeon…”

“What?”

“We could just… Continue this again tomorrow, its okay f----“

“Tomorrow?! Really Tiffany? How many tomorrows will I give you? Huh?! How many!? You’re a living soul Tiffany. Living and I just can’t ignore that fact. You don’t belong to that kind of state Tiffany. Never.”

Tiffany hung her head low while Taeyeon let out a heavy sigh, “Look, I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to end up completely dead Tiffany. No, I’m not gonna let that happen. I don’t wish for a day that you’ll just disappear on me suddenly, and end up realizing I’m too late to save you.”

“I’m just worried about you. You’re exhausted.”

 Taeyeon shook her head, “Fine. There’s the last hospital. Then I’ll rest. For you”

Tiffany smiled slightly, “Okay…” Taeyeon pulled over at the last hospital, she prayed that somehow, this hospital might have the answer. She stopped the engines, and with heavy foot steps, she entered the tall building. They hurriedly went to the lobby and looked for some assistance, Taeyeon stopped by the counter table and asked the nurse

“Excuse me; do you have a patient named Tiffany Hwang?”

“Wait a minute ma’am, I’ll look it up”

Taeyeon nodded meekly, “Okay.” Minutes later, the nurse finally answered, “I’m sorry ma’am, but we don’t have a patient named Tiffany Hwang.”

Taeyeon’s hands balled into a fist, “Thank you for the help” And with that, the two went inside Taeyeon’s car, all frustrated and disappointed for today’s results. Tiffany wanted to pat Taeyeon’s back for comfort, but sadly she could hardly touch a thing, so the latter just remained silent…

Both of them arrived at the apartment, with Taeyeon wearing an aggravated expression. Taeyeon plopped herself on the couch and pinched the bridge of her nose in disappointment.

“Tae…” Tiffany croaked, Taeyeon held up her hand and let out a heavy sigh.

“Let’s just rest. This has been a rough day.”

Tiffany could only nod at the upset Taeyeon.

‘I wish I could help you.’

[A/N: This chap feels so boring... I'm sorry once again. But thank you to all new subs! Please spread thy virus and moreover feed me with ya comments! >_<]