[A/N] You don't have to read the finale again if you have already read it. I'm here to inform you that I wrote a new one-shot and it'd be great if you'd check it out. It's called Dear Death, and...you can check it out for yourself :) 

(FINALE)

- Story view -

"H-Hwayoung..." was the last word that Jessica had heard from her girlfriend. She wasn't able to get a hold of the girl ever since the call got disconnected and she was worried sick. She had almost forgotten about Ryu Hwayoung completely, and was only starting to get used to having Taeyeon by her side all over again. Jessica didn't know of the tears which were filling up her eyes as she continued dialing Taeyeon, but her attempts were futile, because Taeyeon's phone had been switched off the moment the line went dead.

Nothing deterred the Korean American from constantly calling Taeyeon, even when she had decided to aimlessly drive around to every place she could think of. Taeyeon's office, Taeyeon's house, Taeyeon's studio, the place they always celebrated their anniversary, Sunny's theme parks, Tiffany's bar... In no time, she had already travelled for more than 7 hours and it was already 8pm in the night. Jessica's tears had run dry and a part of her was deeply convinced that something terrible must have happened to her Taeyeon. She pulled out her phone and sent a message yet again, after the endless spam of messages that she had been sending for the whole day.

 When her worry started to overwhelm her, Jessica found herself sending a message to Hwayoung herself. She didn't know if the number was still in use, but she didn't care anyway. She would even kill Hwayoung if it meant saving Taeyeon.

Jessica buried her face in her hands as her tears started welling up again. When she heard the vibration from the phone beside her, she let out a sigh as she swiped her finger across the screen, opening the message she had just received from Tiffany.

Jessica only threw her phone to the side again, her palms hitting the steering wheel with a loud thud before she let her head fall forward, hitting those hands. "Taeyeon... Where are you...? Please tell me you're fine..."

***

Mrs Kim was crying, and so was Hayeon, while Mr Kim and Jiwoong sat quietly with obvious looks of worry. Jessica, on the other hand, sat with them, emotionlessly, and soullessly. The close bunch of friends, too, had been helping to find Taeyeon the moment Jessica contacted them in the afternoon, but there was no good news at all, not to say that there was bad news. In fact, Jessica was hoping to at least hear from the girl.

"Shouldn't we call the police?" Jiwoong broke the silence. Jessica thought for a moment, before she replied as emotionlessly as she looked.

"Let's just wait for a while more... If we still can't get a hold of her by noon, then we'll call the police..."

Jessica spent the night in Taeyeon's room, lying on her bed without being able to catch a wink at all. The moments she used to spend with Taeyeon replaying non-stop in her mind.

"Sooyeon..." Taeyeon purred into Jessica's ear and left the girl shuddering.

"Get off me gosh. Can you please let me sleep? I need to meet a client later on at 9."

"Instead of catching that useless few hours of sleep, why not...let me keep you awake?" Taeyeon was being all cheeky again.

"No. I want to sleep and you're n- Kim Taeyeon, get your paws out of my shirt." Jessica warned, but Taeyeon had no intentions of obeying. "Did you not hear m- Ah!" Without warning, the older girl brought her hand up to Jessica's chest, and squeezed one side gently, and Jessica wanted to slap herself for letting out that sound. "T-Taeyeon I'm telling you to stop. I really need to slee... Ah... I... Kim Taeyeon!" Realising that Taeyeon wouldn't listen to her, Jessica grabbed Taeyeon's arm herself and yanked it out of her shirt. "I'm not kidding. I'm getting angry if you're gonna be like this."

Taeyeon quickly kept her hands to herself, fearful that Jessica would really get angry. "But I... I'm feeling really hot and bothered now..." She could only try to let Jessica know how she was feeling. Although in actual fact, Taeyeon was feeling really bad for keeping Jessica up, but it was one of those days that she really wanted, and needed, Jessica so badly.

"Some other day, okay...? I'm really tired now..." Jessica only gently brushed her palm across Taeyeon's cheek, before she turned her back on her, trying to regain her sleep.

"Okay..." Taeyeon was disappointed, but she cared more about the girl than to force it on her. She forced her eyes close, hoping to drown that feeling. She ended up tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, but she still tried to reduce her movements to avoid waking Jessica up. However, even though Jessica was really exhausted, it was impossible for her to not sense Taeyeon's restlessness. It was about 20 minutes after when Taeyeon stirred yet again and Jessica reached out behind her, holding Taeyeon down by pressing her arm on the bed, while still back facing her.

"Stop moving."

"S-sorry..." Taeyeon's apologetic tone only tugged harder at Jessica's heart. The Korean American could only let out a sigh, before she suddenly flipped herself over and straddled Taeyeon's hips.

"I give up." Jessica mindlessly looked at the Taeyeon who was looking right back at her with widened eyes, shocked at what just happened. "I give up Kim Taeyeon. You always have a way to get what you want."

"I... No I..." Taeyeon wanted to explain herself. She wasn't doing any of those tossing and turning on purpose.

"Just a quick one okay? I really need some sleep." Jessica didn't stop to hear her explanation and she dived in for Taeyeon's neck.

"No wait I didn't mean t- A-ah..." Taeyeon's goosebumps came up, as she failed to hold back her moan.

The two girls went on for two hours without knowing it, and Jessica was dead tired by then. "Taeyeon seriously... Don't use that trick on me next time again... I'm so tired I sdkblwqksdf..." Jessica started to mumble indecipherable words but Taeyeon wasn't paying attention herself because she too drifted off to sleep, her hand across Jessica's stomach, hugging the girl.

"Taeyeon... I don't mind if you use that trick on me... No, I don't mind you doing anything to me... Just...please be fine... Please..." Tears seeped into the pillow that Jessica was lying on.

***

Looking at the weak girl, she felt her heart softened, she found her two-year long anger subsiding. Taeyeon knew that she had forgiven that girl. How could anyone still hold a grudge against such a sickly girl who looked like any breath she was taking each second could be her very last breath?

"How long have she been like this...?" Taeyeon finally brought herself to ask the person sitting next to her, who was almost an exact copy of the girl who was lying on the bed not too far away from her.

"Her situation took a turn for the worse yesterday morning... That's why I..." The girl couldn't continue, her words stuck in .

"Why didn't you look for me earlier...?" Taeyeon was starting to take pity on the pair of sisters, which included the one who made her and Jessica this way.

"She did you wrong... She..." Yet again, the girl buried her face in her eyes, unable to finish her words.

"Hyoyoung..." The older girl gently pulled the girl named Hyoyoung into her arms, slowly patting her back. Her mind was in a whirl, recalling everything that had happened barely 13 hours ago.

"H-Hwayoung..." The sight of that girl sent shivers down Taeyeon's spine, her phone slipping out of her hand, dropping onto the floor with a loud thud. Snapping out of her shock, she quickly picked her phone up, only to realised that the screen had cracked, and it wouldn't work any more. "Damn it..." She cursed under her breath, before pocketing her phone and then shifting her attention back to the girl standing in front of her.

When the girl started taking steps towards Taeyeon, Taeyeon found herself taking a few steps back with each step she was advancing. But she couldn't do it for long, because she suddenly found herself trapped in a quiet part of the carpark, cornered by the walls and the girl. She swallowed her saliva, as she kept blinking, fear creeping up inside her.

"S-stop. W-what do you want?" When the girl kept inching nearing, Taeyeon spoke up once again. "H-Hwayoung what do you want?!"

The girl finally stopped, barely 4 or 5 steps away from her. "Unnie... I'm not Hwayoung."

"W-what?" Taeyeon's eyes widened once more. "W-what are you saying?"

"I... I'm her twin older sister, Hyoyoung." With that said, Hyoyoung took another step towards Taeyeon and Taeyeon found herself trying to push against the wall behind her, as if she could travel through the wall if she tried hard enough. Hyoyoung was about to take another step when she stopped, noticing how scared Taeyeon was. "Unnie I'm not gonna hurt you or anything... I'm... I'm just here to ask you for a favour..."

Taeyeon froze as she stopped trying to back away. "A...favour...?"

"I'm here because Hwayoung can't be here herself, even though she would have come here herself if her body allowed her to..." Taeyeon raised an eyebrow, getting more confused by the minute.

"What do you mean by that...?"

"She... She's dying. Hwayoung's dying." Dying...? Taeyeon could only stare at Hyoyoung, not knowing how to react. "I really don't know if she can make it past tonight... So I'm just... I know I don't have the right to even see you, unnie... But I... I just hope you'd do it for someone who's dying..."

"D-do what...?"

"Can I have you to come home with me to see her...? I'm not gonna do you any harm... I just hope you will believe me..."

"I..." Taeyeon was at a loss for words.

"It's just her last wish... She has things to tell you..." Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows, still staring at Hyoyoung, completely shocked at the whole situation. "Please..."

In the end, Taeyeon complied, and she went in Hyoyoung's car, back to their home. It was a long 4-hour drive. Taeyeon couldn't believe her eyes when the sickly Hwayoung came into view once she stepped into the bedroom. Was she even the same person who tried to take their lives years ago...? Taeyeon thought to herself. Hyoyoung stayed in the living room, while Taeyeon took slow steps towards the girl who was lying on the bed, and the girl looked back at her, the expression on her face undecipherable.

"T-Taeyeon unnie..." Hwayoung's voice was so weak that it almost came out as a whisper. "Sit..." Taeyeon found herself sitting down, unable to take her eyes off the girl whose face looked like it was drained of all colours.

"What happened...to you...?" The words carefully escaped Taeyeon's lips.

"Let's just say...karma's a ..." Hwayoung let out a lifeless laugh, and Taeyeon couldn't understand how she could still laugh. Her laugh didn't last long, because a serious expression took over. "Unnie..." The girl extended her arm, wanting to hold Taeyeon's hand, but Taeyeon didn't budge, as she just stared blankly at her. Noticing that, she slowly lowered her hand back onto the bed. "I'm sorry..."

"You're... You're what?" Taeyeon didn't know why she responded that way. It just didn't sound like something right to say to someone who was dying, but Taeyeon hated the girl, and she wouldn't hold back from unleashing her wrath onto her.

"I'm sorry... Taeyeon unnie..." Tears began welling up in Hwayoung's eyes, but Taeyeon only bit hard on her teeth.

"You're sorry? Ryu Hwayoung. You..." The older girl was about to raise her voice when somehow, something inside her heart just told her to be a little bit more forgiving towards her. She took in a deep breath, before continuing in a calmer tone. "You're telling me that you're sorry, after almost taking our lives. Are you kidding me...? I... I don't know, Hwayoung. Was money that important to you? Was that project so important to you? It's human lives we're talking about here, do you know that? Freaking human lives. The project wasn't allocated to the Jungs because of my relationship. The Jungs was indeed a better candidate for that project. Did you...did you have to turn to killing? Just for that?"

"You don't understand..."

"You're lying here on this bed, close enough to see death taking you away, and you're still telling me that I don't understand? Lying on this bed, is money still everything that matters to you? Is it even worth it?"

"No, Taeyeon unnie, you don't understand."

"Of course I don't understand. Money will never be that important to me, and it's not because my family is rich. It's because it's not worth it. I will never let wealth get me like this."

"It only shows further that you don't understand."

"What the Hwayoung?" Taeyeon had so much to say, and yet, she didn't know what to say. She was beginning to shake from the anger that was building up inside of her. She had completely no pity in the girl who was so pale right in front of her. She couldn't even bring herself to pity her. "You know what, this. I thought... I thought you probably had something important to tell me, but I guess not. I'm sorry that I can't pity you. Not even the slightest bit. I'd never wish bad things, but I don't wish you well. You're ed up, Ryu Hwayoung." Taeyeon stood up, pushing her chair away with the back of her knees, wanting to leave.

"It was never about money..." Hwayoung's shaking voice stopped Taeyeon in her tracks, making her turn back to look at her, furrowing her eyebrows. "It was never about the money." Hwayoung repeated her sentence, this time, her teary eyes fixed on Taeyeon's. "I never wanted your money." The older girl was utterly confused as she kept staring, slightly agape. "You missed the entire point, unnie..."

"What...are you saying...?" Taeyeon didn't know why she was stuttering.

"All I wanted..." Hwayoung swallowed her saliva before she continued the rest of her sentence. "...was you."

"W-what...?"

"You heard me." The girl on the bed took her eyes off Taeyeon, refusing to say any more. It suddenly struck Taeyeon, why Jessica was dragged into the whole incident, when Taeyeon should have been the only one Hwayoung was targetting. Taeyeon kept staring at Hwayoung, unable to digest whatever that the girl had just said. "Sorry...unnie." The girl apologised yet again, not moving from her position. Taeyeon didn't know how to feel at that instant. She was supposed to be angry, but all of a sudden, pity was creeping up. "I was wrong..."

The two girls didn't talk much after that, and Taeyeon watched as Hyoyoung tried feeding her younger sister during dinner, only to have Hwayoung vomitting out almost all of it not too long after.

It was 2am, in the blink of an eye, about 3 hours after Hwayoung had fallen asleep, although with much difficulty. Taeyeon sat on the couch in the bedroom with Hyoyoung, both extremely tensed up, knowing that this night was crucial. In fact, Hwayoung herself could feel her life slipping away from her fingers as each second passed. That was the reason why she had suddenly rushed her sister into looking Taeyeon up. It was today, or never. She had no more time to waste, and she knew it.

"She...was really hard on herself for doing those things..." Hyoyoung words came out weakly.

"Ah... Really...?"

"She really wanted to make it up to you... But how easy was it to make it up for...wanting to kill you...? She lost her courage when she heard that Jessica had died from the accident... And not too long after, she got ill and...yeah..." Taeyeon didn't say anything, as she just listened, her eyes fixed on the sick girl who was asleep. "Unnie... Hwayoung was just... She did everything in a rash moment..."

"I know... Hyoyoung I know... I just d-" Taeyeon's words were cut short when coughing sounds from Hwayoung pierced through the still air all of a sudden. Hyoyoung and Taeyeon found themselves rushing over to Hwayoung who was coughing profusely, her body shaking badly.

"Hwayoung? Hwayoung are you okay?!" Hyoyoung slid her arm under her sister's neck, holding her. Hwayoung couldn't speak at all, as she kept coughing. Taeyeon clenched her teeth, watching Hwayoung struggling to keep a grip on her life. What made Taeyeon so unsettled was also how Hwayoung kept her eyes on Taeyeon's, as if she had a million things to tell her, which she couldn't.

"Is there...something you wanna tell me...?" Taeyeon asked, without even knowing why she did it, because she just did. Hwayoung seemed relieved at Taeyeon's question, and she shakily reached out for the drawer beside her. Hyoyoung quickly helped her open the drawer, and took out an envelope before passing them to Hwayoung. Her hands trembling badly, Hwayoung held out the envelope to Taeyeon, who took it. For a strange reason, the moment her hand touched the envelope, her heart wrenched. It felt as though sadness was almost tangible.

Hwayoung's left hand was held tightly by Hyoyoung, and she extended her right to Taeyeon. This time, Taeyeon took it, as she tightened her grip. She was feeling choked. She didn't want Hwayoung to die. She never wanted her to die. "U-unnie I..." Her coughs stopped her from completing her sentence, and when she finally had a few seconds more, she took the chance to finish it. "F-forgive... Forgive...me..." Her last word trailed off, as her hands went limp. Taeyeon didn't know what happened. She could hear Hyoyoung shouting for Hwayoung, her cries echoing throughout the room. She could feel herself still gripping the hand. She couldn't see, because all of a sudden, her vision was blurry with the tears almost fully blocking her view. "D-don't... Don't die..." The words escaped Taeyeon's lips, as her tears fell. "I... I forgive you... I forgive you..."

***

Taeyeon stared out of the taxi's window, looking at the trees zooming past. She let her eyes fall to the envelope in the hand, which was addressed to Jessica. She couldn't believe that a life was just gone like that. She couldn't believe that she watched the life slip away right before her eyes. She couldn't explain why her heart felt so heavy, when it was someone who wanted to kill her, and Jessica. Her eyes suddenly widened when she thought of Jessica again. She quickly reached to her pocket, wanting to give the girl a call. When she saw the state her phone was in, all she could do was to sigh, as she slid the phone back into her pocket. Her heart felt so unsettled, and it didn't help that she was going to be all alone for another 4 hours.

Taeyeon was in that temporary state of depression all the way until she alighted at the park near her house. She needed some fresh air, and she reckoned that walking the distance from the park to her home was necessary. It took her another twenty minutes when she finally reached her house. Not knowing that her family was on the verge of calling the police, she still made doubly sure to be quiet so as to not wake up any of her family members, instead of letting them know that she was safe. She gently turned the doorknob of her room and made her way in.

"Who's that...?" A voice suddenly sounded from her bed when Taeyeon had only just closed her door and she jumped. Her reflex action was to flick the light switch on, and when the light came on, she was so shocked to see Jessica's almost lifeless face, not forgetting that her eyes were extremely red and puffy.

"Sooye-"

"Kim Taeyeon!" Taeyeon didn't even manage to call her name when Jessica climbed out of bed and jumped into her arms.

"Sica ya..." She only just wrapped her arms around the girl when she was held by her shoulders and roughly pushed back. "Wh-"

"Where exactly have you been?! WHERE THE EXACTLY HAVE Y-" Jessica was fuming mad, especially after all that worrying, but all of those disappeared when Taeyeon's legs suddenly gave way. Taeyeon would have fallen flat on the ground if not for Jessica's grip, and she fell into her arms instead. "T-Taeyeon watch it!" Taeyeon really wanted to stand up straight on her own, but she felt like she was drained of all her energy.

"Sica..." Jessica found herself worrying again when Taeyeon slowly started sobbing. "Sica ya..." Taeyeon kept calling her name like this, and every time she heard her name, it broke her heart once more.

"Gosh baby..." Jessica held Taeyeon tight as she patted her back. "W-what happened?" The younger girl tried to ask, but Taeyeon couldn't say anything, as she kept crying. "I shouldn't have raised my voice at you... Gosh I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... It's okay now... I'm here... Everything's gonna be alright..."

***

Taeyeon was finally back in her room with Jessica again an hour later, after properly notifying everyone who was worried about her. The two girls were sitting beside each other on the queen-sized bed, with Jessica holding onto the envelope.

"She gave you this, you said?" Jessica asked, and Taeyeon only nodded. "Do I...read it?" The older shrugged, and Jessica took that as a yes.

Jessica's expressions were darker and darker as she continued reading. When she reached the end of the letter, Taeyeon was shocked to see Jessica's eyes b with tears. She only gave the girl a look, wanting to know the reason behind her tears. Jessica said nothing. Instead, she only held out the letter to her, silently asking her to read it for herself. Taeyeon hesitated for a while, before taking the letter over. She swallowed her saliva and took in a deep breath, before she started.

Taeyeon slowly lowered the letter, her eyes furrowed. She shot Jessica a look, who gave her the exact same expression back. The letter was left at the table beside her bed, before she climbed into Jessica's open arms, nuzzling her head into her neck, hoping to seek some warmth for her heart which suddenly felt so cold. How was she supposed to feel exactly? She didn't know.

***

It was two weeks after the incident, and it was a dark and stormy morning with the rain pouring outside. The two girls were sound asleep on Jessica's bed, A sudden loud clap of the thunder jolted Jessica out of her sleep and she furrowed her eyebrows, annoyed that she had to be woken up in this manner. She grunted a little, before pulling the blanket up to cover her face. Her frustrated actions in turn woke Taeyeon up, who wondered why she was covering her face with the blanket.

"What's...wrong with you...?" The older girl asked sleepily, while gently tugging at the blanket, successfully exposing Jessica's face.

"ing thunder." Her girlfriend answered, obviously upset. Taeyeon could only chuckle, and it earned her a glare from the ice princess.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing..."

"I'm asking you what's s- Taeyeon!" Jessica's eyes widened when she felt Taeyeon's hand on her stomach under her shirt, slowly inching upwards.

"I can distract you." Taeyeon said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"No thank you. So if it's okay with you..." Jessica picked up Taeyeon's wrist with her thumb and index finger as if it was dirty laundry, before throwing it to the side.

Taeyeon was about to complain when a sudden loud clap of thunder again made Jessica jump so badly that a string of profanities slipped right out of Jessica's mouth immediately.

"I ING HATE THE RAIN. PERIOD." Jessica once again pulled the blanket and covered her ear as she lay on her side, back facing Taeyeon. "AHHHHH JUST !" Taeyeon chuckled at how short-tempered her girlfriend was. She tugged at the blanket once more but she jumped when Jessica unleashed her fury. "KIM TAEYEON I'M IN AN EXTREMELY FOUL MOOD NOW SO I'M NOT GONNA ENTERTAIN YOU YOU HEAR ME?!"

"WOAH OKAY OKAY CALM DOWN!" Taeyeon immediately let go of the blanket, and quietly lay down on her original position. The two girls were quiet for quite a while. Taeyeon was blankly staring at the ceiling, while Jessica was just curling herself up inside the blanket. There was a sudden shift from Jessica's side, and Taeyeon turned to look at her. It wasn't long before Jessica turned to face Taeyeon and her head popped out of the blanket, meeting Taeyeon's eyes.

"Are you...angry...?" Jessica's words carried a lot of guilt, and Taeyeon only blinked a few times, before shaking her head, pretty cutely. "Really...?" This time, Taeyeon nodded, still cute. Jessica slowly untangled herself from the blanket, before creeping nearer to Taeyeon, putting her arm across Taeyeon's stomach, side hugging the girl.

"Up." Taeyeon said, while lifting her hand, and Jessica knew exactly what she meant. The younger girl lifted her head so that Taeyeon could put her arm underneath, and then lay comfortably on her new pillow, her very own pillow, her Taengpillow.

"You know what?" Jessica snuggled even closer to Taeyeon.

"What?" Taeyeon curled her arm inward so that she could pull Jessica even closer than she already was.

"Let it rain." Jessica's voice was so silky, and warm. "I have you anyway."

[A/N] 16/7/2014

So...this is it! Firstly, thank you all of you who have been staying with me one way or the other. Thank you for trusting me during the times when I brought you on emotional roller coaster rides. Thank you for leaving me comments, especially the long thoughtful ones, you know who you are. When I started on this story, I wasn't too encouraged because I only had a few of you with me. The number of subscribers and upvotes grew, and I found myself feeling so thankful and motivated. Thank you. Yes, you. So, shouldn't you leave me just one last comment for The Broken Puzzle because this is the last chapter...? Pretty please? :)

Now, the next important thing. Most of you should know that my next drama-story will be The Silver Guardian, but an inspiration struck a few days ago and some of you had caught it. Yes, it's a new TaengSic drama-story I'm going to write and it's called Love Assumed. While The Silver Guardian is fantasy based, the theme/style of Love Assumed will be similar to The Broken Puzzle, so be sure to check it out, because I'm doing attendance checking for The Broken Puzzle readers over there. I'm kidding. *goofy grin*

I'm gonna miss writing The Broken Puzzle... I do hope that you have enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed writing! If you like my writing, then you know that you can check out all of Sky Blue Tales' stories listed in the descriptions of my stories. To thank you for reading up till this point, if you have any requests (TaengSic, TaeNy or JeTi), as in rough ideas, let me know in the comments, and I'll tell you if I'm gonna write it :)

Stay with me, my readers. Signing off, with much love.

P.S. I had actually planned to give The Broken Puzzle a completely heartbreaking ending when an idea struck the other day, but I figured out that I'd be brutally murdered by some of you, so I'm just gonna use that idea for a one-shot in the future maybe. But most of you hate angst so much when it's almost the only thing I can write... *pouts*

© Sky Blue Tales ✍