Yuri rushed to the door and flipped the sign around to show "Closed". She went back to sit in front of Taeyeon and grabbed the plate away from the latter, to be met with a protest.

"Hey! My cake!" Taeyeon shouted and glared at Yuri.

"You can have all the cakes you want later, now tell me, what's going on?" Yuri lowered her voice even though there was no one around except the both of them. "I thought you were avoiding her?"

"I was!" Taeyeon placed tip of the fork into and bit it. "It's just- she asked me... I couldn't- and Sunny said... Well, I can't okay? It's difficult."

"What do you mean by difficult and what did that shorty say?" Yuri took a bite of the cake angrily. "Kim Taeyeon, do you know what you're doing right now?"

"Yuri, what's the big deal? Can't I hang out with her as friends?" Taeyeon emphasised on the last word. "Sunny said she would be a great friend, and I totally agree."

"Oh, friends," Yuri took another bite and placed the fork down with a loud 'clank'. "Do you think you can remain as friends with her, huh, Kim Taeyeon?"

"Yuri, I don't know why you're being so hyped up about this. I mean, yes, I do have feelings for her, but I get it. She's married. I accepted the fact, I've moved on from it and I just want us to be friends. You mean I can't do that? Give me that cake." Taeyeon dragged the plate across the table and stabbed the cake.

"Have you?" Yuri looked straight at the person in front of her.

"Have I what?" Taeyeon chewed and swallowed the cake, taking a glance at Yuri. The stare that Yuri gave was full of doubt and that made her lost all the confidence in her reply just now.

"Moved on from the fact that she's married."

"Damn it, Yuri, why do you always have to look right through me?" Taeyeon lowered her head and ate a mouthful of cake. She stared at the cherry lying on the empty plate. She hated cherries but that was how she felt like. She felt like the leftover cherry on the plate. Unwanted.

"I've known you for 14 years, Tae, of course I know how you feel just by looking at you."

"I don't like that." Taeyeon pouted and squashed the cherry with the fork. Defeated and crushed.

"Haven't you learnt to deal with it? It has been more than a decade already Tae, and now you have Sunny who also knows your every move."

"Yes, and that woman. Give me a break, will you?" Taeyeon sighed in defeat. "I really know what I'm doing. For goodness sake, I'm not 24 anymore!"

"Even a 32 year old can make mistakes, you're very susceptible." Yuri passed a casual remark and felt Taeyeon's piercing glare fixed on her. She slowly raised her head and saw the flames in Taeyeon's eyes threatening to burn her. She thought back on what she had said and smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

"Kwon Yuri, don't you dare mention her again. I'm different from her!" Taeyeon shouted and stopped. Was she really any different? The both of them committed immoral acts. The only difference was Taeyeon did it involuntarily and her mother did it voluntarily. What done was done and she had then be labelled as a vile woman, at least for the first two years after that foolish accident. "I'm a mistake from the start. I was never meant to be here."

"Hey, don't say that." Yuri flicked Taeyeon's forehead. "Remember who got the privilege of a mother's love for at least 14 years of her life?"

Taeyeon looked at Yuri apologetically and she felt bad for wallowing in self-pity when Yuri was the one who grew up without a mother. She recalled how she hated Yuri the first time she saw her because during that period of time, she felt as though everyone had wronged and owed her. It was then she realised that Yuri had stuck with her without any resentment and instantly, she felt so immature. "I'm sorry."

Yuri laughed at flicked Taeyeon's forehead again. "What are you apologising for, kiddo? We were all victims of the game that adults are playing. And I don't want you to be the victim again and this time, of your own game." 

"Yuri, it's not a game. I really... like Jessica."

Yuri got up and cleared the plates. She walked to the counter and started cleaning up to close for the day. "I'm sure you know how you feel, but I just don't want you to get hurt again, Tae."

Taeyeon looked at the back of Yuri. Yuri was always so strong in front of her, always protecting her and worrying about her but when she turned around, Taeyeon knew she was hurting too and she blamed herself for not being strong enough to share Yuri's pain. She was in no place to find Yuri's nagging and interrogation annoying because without Yuri, she would be alone and maybe making blunders one after another. Yuri was right. They were victims of the game that their parents played, not her alone. Sometimes Yuri looked so strong to make Taeyeon forgot that she too, grew up with only half the amount of love.

"I'm sorry," Taeyeon whispered.

"What is it?" Yuri turned around and dried her hands on the apron. "I'm done, let's go home."

Home, Taeyeon smiled. After her parents left her one after another, her only home was where Yuri was. "Yeah, let's go home."

-

"Tiffany Hwang, were you drawing Yuri for the whole afternoon?" Jessica drove into the basement carpark of Tiffany's art studio, which was also Tiffany's apartment. She was definitely sure she saw Yuri's face in the sketchbook and her friend's actions afterwards confirmed her suspicion.

"No. I was studying human features. For inspiration." Tiffany looked at her friend and said as a matter of fact. Jessica looked at her and rolled her eyes. "Don't look at me! Look where you're going! For crying out loud, you're parking the car! Are you trying to kill me!"

"Shut up Tiffany, I'm an ace driver. I got full marks for my driving test."

"Oh yeah, and when was that?"

"Four years ago."

"Four years ago?" Tiffany shouted. "Four years ago, I was so certain that you and that Harvey Lee would be over and looked what happened. You guys got married and what now?"

Jessica took a deep breath and plucked out her car keys. "Stop being so melodramatic, Tiff. Harvey and I are having a wonderful life."

"Hm, I see. Having a wonderful life living apart."

Jessica shot a cautionary glare at her friend and Tiffany placed her hand over instinctively. If glares could kill, Jessica would have been a murderer of many. "Have you talked to him?"

"I did."

"Then?"

"No then."

"What? Nothing happened?"

"No."

"You're such a failure, Jess."

"Thank you for reminding me that." Jessica entered the lift with Tiffany closely behind. "I don't know what to do with him now."

"You know, my sixth sense is telling me something." Tiffany leaned against the lift panel after punching the number to her penthouse apartment. "He has another woman."

"Tiffany Hwang," Jessica warned.

"What? It could be true you know." Tiffany turned her back to her friend. Jessica's face fell. She had thought of all the possibilities as to why Harvey was not at home and of course that option appeared but she dismissed it as soon as it popped up. Impossible, she thought, she was confident of herself. But the more he was away, the more frequent that thought occurred and now Tiffany had mentioned it again, the only thing she feared was it coming true.

"Hey, I thought the conversation was about you." Jessica diverted the conversation away as the two friends left the lift and turned to the apartment.

"Sooyoung, open the door. I'm home!" Tiffany shouted and then turned to Jessica, "The conversation was never about me."

"You like Yuri, don't you?" Jessica had a smirk on her face again.

The door opened, revealing a tall woman with a paintbrush stuck behing her ears and hair tied up in a bun. She was wearing a loose red plaid sweater and loose floral sweatpants.

"Choi Sooyoung, oh my lord, what are you wearing?"

"Hey, Jessica. I could hear you two from the room." Sooyoung let the two of them in and locked the door behind her. "Why do you have time to come over, Jess? Harvey is not at home?" 

"No, he isn't." Jessica looked at the messy apartment and shook her head. An artist in a room would be chaos. An eccentric artist in a room would be catastrophic. But having two eccentric artist in a room would be an apocalypse.

"Tiffany was telling me that she suspects Harvey to be unfaithful." Sooyoung took out a bottle of banana milk and tossed it towards Jessica. "You have to talk to him, Jess."

Jessica glared at Tiffany again. "You told everyone and you decided that it would be nice for me to be the last to know?"

"To be fair, I only told Sooyoung." Tiffany took out a tub of strawberry ice cream and dug out a spoonful. "I was planning to tell you soon, really."

"Anyhow, you need to keep a close eye on him." Sooyoung fixed her friend's fringe.

Jessica laid her head on the dining table and nodded lightly. She told herself that Harvey would be faithful to her and there was no need to probe into his business but it was just like letting the kite fly as high as possible and eventually losing control of it to the wind that was blowing it away. The kite was slipping away from her and she needed to do anything she could to bring it back.

"How about you stay over today?" Tiffany poked her friend's elbow. "Your clothes are still in the wardrobe."

She smiled weakly at Tiffany and Sooyoung and nodded. It was nice to have another home to go to when the other was getting cold. It was the same warm fuzzy feeling she had when Taeyeon agreed to walk with her after dinner and she wondered what the other person was doing now. Probably with Yuri. Yuri. Jessica snapped her head towards Tiffany and pointed. Tiffany stared weirdly at the sudden action of Jessica and looked at Sooyoung who shrugged. Jessica looked at Sooyoung and grabbed her arm across the table.

"Does Tiffany like Yuri?"

"Uh..." Sooyoung was threw off by the sudden question and she glanced at Tiffany who was glaring at her. A red alert sounded in her brain as she looked at both her friends. She shot an apologetic smile to Tiffany. Both of them were scary but in comparison, Jessica was a notch more frightening.

Sooyoung gulped and muttered, "Yes."