Jeonju had always been her sanctuary; her little piece of heaven that no one could take away from her. She grew up here and she experienced both a family's love and patience - a place that she would never be able to erase. She grew up with her precious twin, and their bond had started right here along with her relatives. Her hometown; her paradise... Taeyeon wanted to hide here and protect her vulnerable heart. All her life, she only loved one person and that one genuinely, minus all the flings and one-night-stands she had before she met the love of her life. 

Taeyeon took a deep breath and sighed, “oh God.”

Although it was her haven, she was the only one who was going to be staying at their old house now. Her parents and twin were both staying in Seoul; there was no reason for Taeyeon to ruin their perfect life. She was the only one with a problem here, so why would she involve her family? 

Her twin’s words however, stayed with her throughout.

Flashback.

Taeyeon waited patiently for her bus ticket; she had started out the day in a good mood and everything was pretty smooth so far. She wasn’t going to let anything ruin her day. She had already tried to hold back her feelings for Tiffany after the latter didn't do anything to salvage their nameless relationship. Taeyeon was not blaming her; heavens, no but Tiffany hadn't done anything to express otherwise and she was not going to force the latter to. Their relationship had become a thing of the past when she chose to defend Tiffany silently instead of fighting together.

“Here’s your ticket. Have a safe trip to Jeonju!”

“Thank you so much,” Taeyeon smiled.

All Taeyeon had to carry was a small tote bag since she found out from her mother that their house had been cleaned just two weeks ago when Mrs Kim went back to retrieve files. Taeyeon was thankful that her mother was actually treating her like a daughter now, especially after she was forced to get married for the company’s sake years ago. Nothing could erase the painful memory of her marital status being used for a building of mere financial status but the pain was lessening slowly by the day, and it was enough for Taeyeon for now. She was going to a place where no one would find her anyway. 

Kinda sad, but Taeyeon knew it was a fact too.

“Taeyeon!”

The said woman turned around with an eyebrow raised, wondering who it could be; her suspicions were appeased when she saw the two unexpected people there. “Hey guys… what are you doing here? I don’t remember telling you my departure time.” Taeyeon gulped audibly when she saw the disastrous look on their faces after hearing her tone.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Don’t worry, Hyo,” Taeyeon giggled, patting her twin sister's back to calm her down – she looked as if she was about have panic attack right here. “I’m only going back home, remember?”

There was silence after that but Taeyeon had already answered that in her mind; she was going back to an empty home. She knew it fairly well since she had just let her mother know about her returning last night and her mother was so upset. Taeyeon didn't want to do this but the thing is: she needs a place to sort out her thoughts and feelings without getting too distracted by Tiffany herself or other people's opinions. Her friends were only trying to help and Taeyeon would never be able to express her gratitude enough but it just wasn't helping her enough. Taeyeon had made up her mind already anyway, and it was going to help her. 

Nicole and Hyoyeon walked with Taeyeon all the way to the train station, trying to stop themselves from making sure the woman stayed. They knew very well that forcing this upon Taeyeon was not going to make things better. 

“Take care of yourself when you’re there, okay?” Hyoyeon muttered with a blank expression; anyone could see she wasn’t happy with the arrangement. “I love you, Tae. Don’t get hurt.”

Flashback end. 

Don't get hurt.

Taeyeon knew there was another meaning to that sentence without a doubt, and it was for her not to get hurt herself by avoiding Tiffany. She didn't want to avoid the latter either but it was a fact that Tiffany had been sending her lots of mixed signals. Taeyeon couldn’t go on like that forever, could she? If she could let Tiffany go and let her live happily with someone, then Taeyeon didn’t have a valid reason for her to cling onto Tiffany. She had brought enough harm and pain upon Tiffany as it is... and to let Tiffany go without causing more unreasonable problems was good enough, and it would also be a definite blessing in disguise for Tiffany.

Ugh, she needed space.

*

Yuri was lying in bed with a tube in , her eyes staring at the television above her bed. She was patiently awaiting for Jessica to come and visit since the ice princess went to buy breakfast for her two sisters; it was nice of Jessica to come and all though Yuri said there was no need to. She couldn't stop pouting at the restriction of movement; it was like being forced to lie in bed with absolutely nothing to do. Talking wasn't really an option at the moment but it would be nice to have someone accompany her right now. She had sulked like a toddler for a good half an hour before she allowed the nurses to insert the tube between her lips. 

“Um... excuse me?” Nana poked her head in cutely. She felt her cheeks turn pink when Yuri’s eyes darted towards her, “Miss Kwon, I have to conduct some tests for you.”

The tanned woman lifted her injured hand and waved it lightly, beckoning the nurse to come in. She was delighted that she was finally not alone in the spacious ward; in fact, this nurse was pretty familiar. Oh well, no matter; she was going to treat her anyway.

Nana rarely worked this silently but she couldn't bring herself to open at all, not in front of the person who made her heart pound erratically for the first time. She could feel her nerves tense up every time she had to look up at Yuri's face. Without a single ounce of biasedness, Nana could easily say this was the most handsome female she had ever seen, not that her opinion was going to change anytime soon. Then again, all Nana wanted to do right now was check on Yuri and make sure everything was fine with her fluids. She remembered reading the report after the check-up and almost ended up with an incredibly faint heart afterward. 

Yuri cautiously took the tube out and said, “e-excuse me, but when can I be discharged from here? Not a big fan of hospitals.”

“Not yet. Your vitals are stable but the injections were almost filled with two times the normal amount of drugs so there might be a problem. The doctor wants to keep you here in case they react later,” Nana said everything in one breath, turning even redder when she saw Yuri grinning in amusement. She had never felt so nervous about talking to another person before so it explained her incredibly quick talking. “Sorry for rambling… did you understand any of it?”

Well, probably 50 out of 100% but who cares about that right now? Yuri hasn’t seen a prettier nurse than this one and there was hardly any point in trying to find something else better to look at. She was so lonely and gosh, the stup