Once they were out of the huge school building, Taeyeon was suddenly conscious that she was still squeezing Baekhyun's hand, and let go instantly, feeling embarrassed. She'd never hold a guy's hand before and it felt weird.

They walked silently toward the campus garden, where the pre-autumn wind rustled the leaves and green, fresh grass. Baekhyun led Taeyeon toward a nearby bench and sat down, his eyes glancing at Taeyeon every once in a while.

Taeyeon glanced back at him and said, "Thank you. For, you know. For helping me." 

Baekhyun smiled his wide, innocent smile. "It's nothing, really. I'm glad you're alright."

"Thanks," Taeyeon said again. "Do they do that to every students? Bully them, I mean."

He chuckled lightly. "Not every students. Only freshmen. You know that girl, don't you? Tiffany?"

"The beautiful girl? I just knew her name. What about her?" Taeyeon asked.

Baekhyun laughed. Taeyeon thought his laugh was soft and melodic, like it was a medicine to cure her emptiness and loneliness ever since she came here. "Do you think she's beautiful?" he asked. When Taeyeon didn't answer, he went on. "I think you're more beautiful than she is."

Taeyeon looked up at his smiling face and couldn't help smiling too. Nobody has ever complimented her like that in Korea. "Well... That's a nice thing to say but... You know it's not the truth." She tried to hide her smile.

He merely chuckled again and stood up, both hands in his pockets. "I'll have to go now, Taeyeon-ssi. You're elder than me, aren't you? I guess you are." He smiled and before she could answer, he strode off toward the school building.

***

Krystal frowned slightly as she saw Siwon emerging from the cafeteria, with the cutest girl in the academy, Sunny Lee beside her. Damn her and her lame flirty jokes, Krystal thought as she glared at them.

Siwon glanced toward her direction and before she could turn back, he caught sight of her and waved frantically, grinning as he did so. Krystal sighed and walked toward him, aware that Sunny was staring at her.

"Aigoo, Krystal!" Siwon grinned as he patted her head. "I haven't seen you for like five days now!"

But I have seen you for five days and every other days, it's just that you're so busy flirting you didn't notice me hiding behind lockers and in the shadows, Krystal thought sullenly. 

Siwon pointed at Sunny and said, "You know her, don't you? She's one of the best female vocalist in this academy."

Krystal gritted her teeth but didn't say anything. Sunny smiled sweetly at her and said, "Nice to meet you. I'm Sunny."

Krystal scowled at her as she said, "Krystal."

Siwon grinned and patted her head again. "Why the sour mood, pretty?"

Sunny looked from Krystal to Siwon and back, and decided that this sweet and cute convesation have nothing to do with her. She muttered something to Siwon and melted away, blending in with the other students.

When Krystal caught sight of Sunny leaving, she smiled triumphantly. "She's finally gone. I hate her voice. I get goosebumps everytime I heard her speak."

Siwon smiled and said, "She has a cute voice." When Krystal glared at him, he bent down to kiss her forehead and whispered, "But your voice will always be the cutest to me."

Krystal pouted and smiled lovingly at Siwon as they walked away, toward the main entrance.

***

Nichkhun grinned as he and Tiffany sat down on one of the benches nearby the lockers section. Tiffany glared at him and said, "That's funny to you? That nerdy vocal guy just made us look like fools!"

Nichkhun stopped grinning. He leaned toward Tiffany and kissed her on the forehead. She tried to hide her smile when Nichkhun wrapped his arms around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him; it made her feel comfortable. 

That was what Tiffany liked about Nichkhun. He has always been there to protect her, to support her and make her feel warm when she has just had a bad day. She smiled up at him and whispered, "Nichkhun... I love you."

He returned her smile and said, "I love you too."

***

After Baekhyun left, Taeyeon had wandered around campus and explored places she has never been to before. She found the indoor swimming pool with a few good-looking seniors swimming laps in the pool and had taken her eyes off them almost immediately. Gazing at someone, especially a half- adult was considered rude in the Korean culture. 

As she walked out of the indoor pool building, she couldn't help remembering Tiffany's threat earlier. That she'd deal with her tonight, alone, without anyone being there to protect her. Surprisingly, she did not feel scared. Yes, Tiffany was cold and her stare could rip your soul out but instead of fear, all Taeyeon felt was curiosity. Why had Tiffany been so cruel and mean to everybody, especially freshmen, like Baekhyun had said? Why was she behaving like that? Curiosity filled Taeyeon's mind as she tried to shake that thought away. 

***

The bell rang, indicating lights out for the students. Every students in the music academy are boarding students and each of them has their own shared dorm. Taeyeon shared a room with a transferred freshman, Sunny. She had not talked much with Sunny, because everytime she tried to start a conversation, Sunny would flash her a ridiculous smile and hum songs. Taeyeon was annoyed and had gave up making friends with her ever since. 

Taeyeon climbed up her bunk bed; Sunny slept in the lower bunk while she took the upper. She thought it'd be cooler on top, like she was the tallest person in the room. Two hours had passed since the lights out bell rang, and she stared up at the ceiling, thinking about Tiffany.

She said she'd deal with her. Where is she now? Oughtn't she be here now, pulling her out of bed and starts torturing her? But Tiffany was nowhere to be seen. She thought about how beautiful she was, even when she was angry. Then she had thought about Baekhyun, how he had said that she was beautiful. She thought it was cute of him when he complimented her like that.

Finally, she couldn't stand it any longer. She jumped down silently from her bunk and tiptoed across and out of the room, wearing a pink nightgown her parents had bought for her when they were having their last family shopping at Myeongdong before she came to America. 

Once she was out of the room and into the dark corridor, she felt like banging her head on the wall. Tiffany must have just been joking. Or scaring her. She didn't meant it. She turned and tiptoed back toward her room when just a voice stopped her dead in her tracks. 

"Kim Taeyeon? Is that you?" a muffled and husky voice sounded from behind her.

Taeyeon turned sharply and saw someone's head popping out from a half-closed door. She couldn't see who it was in the dim light but she could make a good guess on that. Husky voice in the middle of the night, someone who knew her name...

"Tiffany?" Taeyeon whispered.

Slowly, Tiffany walked out, tiptoeing and glancing frantically up and the down the corridor to make sure no one else was there. Students were forbid to wander around their dorms after curfew. She crept toward where Taeyeon was standing and stopped infront of her.

They were silent for a few seconds and Taeyeon broke the silence. "What are you doing... Here? In the middle of the night?"

Tiffany replied in a tired but snappy tone. "Isn't that what you're doing too?"

"I came here to... Find you," Taeyeon gulped.

She couldn't see Tiffany's expression but her surprised tone gave her away. "Find... Me? Me? For what?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to deal with me?" Taeyeon asked. "I'm here to grant you that wish."

Tiffany was speechless for a moment but then she replied, "Go back to bed. I'm tired. I'll deal with you another time."

Taeyeon stepped closer to her. "No, do it right here and immediately. Or not at all."

Tiffany yawned. "What do you want me to do? Hit you? Lock you up? I'll just allow Nichkhun to deal with you." 

"You mean that childish bully boyfriend of yours?" Taeyeon sounded incredulous.

That seemed to snap Tiffany out of her semi-sleep. She sounded furious. "Childish bully? Who the hell are you to talk about him like that?" She was panting slightly, like she had just ran up a steep hill. Suddenly, without any warnings, Tiffany pushed Taeyeon roughly and she hit the cold, hard floor painfully. Tiffany placed her boots on Taeyeon's bare wrist and stepped on it, hard, as Taeyeon's agonizing cry filled the whole corridor. She leaned toward Taeyeon and whispered quietly, in her icy cold voice. "This time it's your wrist. If you talk about my boyfriend one more time, it'd be your brains. You understand?"

Taeyeon didn't care if it was her brain or her at that time; the pain was killing her. She had stopped screaming but tears were spilling down her eyes and down her cheeks. Tiffany didn't seem to care, she kicked her feet one more time before walking back to her room and bolted the door. 

Minutes later, when the pain had died down a little, Taeyeon limped back to her own room and applied bandages on it. She was shocked to see lines of red scratches and dried blood on her once smooth and beautiful wrist. She allowed the tears to spill again before climbing back to bed and letting the darkness consume her as she was drowned in a deep sleep almost immediately.

I feel so grateful for your positive comments, dear readers! ^^ I'll continue to work on this fic as often as I can. Thanks for your support :)