CHAPTER SEVEN: Black

Jessica did not come back after that. If Taeyeon was being very honest, it was disappointing. But she had no time to dwell on that. Her days were filled with traveling around Seoul and the surrounding provinces with Sooyoung to get furniture, interview kitchen staff, and arrange supplies to prepare for their upcoming Hongdae restaurant.

Sooyoung took a loan from the bank, and an office worker who frequented their food stall actually offered to loan them more money once he heard that they were going to move in a few months. He turned out to be the CFO of a large company whose wife was a professor at SNU. In total, they had one hundred million won to work with.

Meanwhile, Hayeon seemed to shrink even more. She continued coming home late at night even though Taeyeon told her to just study at the goshiwon because it would be less tiresome. She did poorly on her first midterms too. To Taeyeon, the grades were good enough, but Hayeon assured her that it was not on track to getting a full scholarship. Taeyeon was worried, but both Sooyoung and Minji could only conclude that Hayeon was depressed. When she tried suggesting SNU's student counseling services, Hayeon flipped out. So Taeyeon brought back famous food from the places she went to in the day, and hoped that it would make Hayeon feel loved. She knew it was not enough to heal Hayeon's heart, but it was all she could do.

Taeyeon was working the tables when Sunny ran into the stall. All the customers turned to look at her when she shouted, "Yuri, help! Come quick!"

Yuri got up immediately and followed Sunny out. Yoona and Taeyeon exchanged looks before going out as well. They went through an open-air carpark at the supermarket one block down. Taeyeon's eyes widened when she saw cars with their windows smashed open. There was glass glinting against the road around them. They reminded her of the shattered glass cases at the old spectacle shop. She faltered.

"Taeyeon-unnie?" Yoona stopped running and asked her.

Taeyeon looked up, startled. She realized she was rubbing her right forearm, feeling the faint ridges of the scars she got years ago. "Oh, nothing."

They went to the back of a row of shophouses, where a group of people were gathered around a fallen body. Yuri was there already.

Taeyeon and Yoona caught up to the group, and Taeyeon gaped. It was Tiffany, lying in a pool of blood. Hyoyeon was pressing against Tiffany's abdomen with a jacket. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was groaning.

"Have you called 119?" Yuri asked.

"Yes," Hyoyeon replied.

"Does anyone have pads here?"

Seohyun dug through her bag and gave Yuri two packets. Yuri ripped one open and got Hyoyeon to remove the jacket, so that she could press the clean sanitary pad over the puncture wound in Tiffany's midsection. Tiffany moaned.

"Miss, bear with me a little longer, okay?" Yuri said to her. "An ambulance is coming soon and you will be fine."

Yoona, Hyoyeon, Sunny and Seohyun hovered around. Taeyeon knelt on the other side of Tiffany and slipped her hand over Tiffany's and squeezed it. Her fingers touched something wet, and she gasped when she saw the broken knuckles peeking out of Tiffany's skin. She loosened her grip, immediately, but Tiffany's fingers clenched around hers painfully.

"Tiffany, this is Taeyeon. Hang in there." 

"Taeyeon, you know her?"

"Yes, she's a friend."

But the seconds ticked by, and Taeyeon felt Tiffany's hand become clammy and cool. Tiffany started breathing in short, sharp gasps.

", she's going into shock," Yuri said. "Miss, concentrate on my voice and do not fall asleep. Open your eyes. Taeyeon, keep talking to her and make sure she does not go to sleep. Yoona, help me open the other pad."

Finally, there was the distant whine of a siren, and it got closer to them. An ambulance appeared at the lip of the alley entrance, and two paramedics ran out with a medical kit and a stretcher. They took over the situation immediately. Sunny, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Yoona and Seohyun told Taeyeon that they would contact the police and help Sooyoung with the stall tonight, so she climbed into the ambulance with the paramedics.

Taeyeon had a thousand questions about what happened. She texted Sunny for answers. The hand that Tiffany had held onto was bloodstained, and she was smearing red over the number pad, but it felt like a waste of time to even wipe her hand on her shirt. Sunny replied almost immediately. Their car was burglarized and they got to the carpark in time to see the two criminals. They shouted for help, and two women gave chase. The criminals split up, and so did their pursuants, and one of them started fighting in the nearby alley.

The other one must be Jessica. Sunny and the others had not seen her yet. Taeyeon felt her stomach drop. She scrolled through her call history and called Jessica immediately.

The call connected, and Taeyeon heard a breathless hello. "Jessica! Are you okay?"

"Taeyeon? Yes. How did you-"

"Tiffany's been stabbed. We're on-"

"What!"

"We're going to the SNU Hospital. Hurry!"

", okay. Tell me the exact location when you reach."

"Okay. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. Make sure she's okay." Jessica cut the call.

The doctors managed to save Tiffany. She had lost thirty-five percent of her blood, so they were incredibly lucky that she had been near a hospital. She would stay in the intensive care unit for the night for observation. They were not allowed to visit her until two hours after the surgery.

During that time, Sunny, Hyoyeon and Seohyun came to the hospital. They had two police officers with them. Sunny was surprised to see Jessica. The three talked about their stolen car and how Tiffany and Jessica gave chase. Jessica gave her side of the story. The man she had chased ran fairly far and when she finally caught up to him, they only managed to fight for a while before he stunned her with a punch to the ear and ran away.

"But I remember that he had a buzz cut. And he had a tattoo. A huge one on his bicep of a mermaid... having with a dragon."

"That's distinctive. It will be useful for ID-ing."

"Good. Catch those sons of es, sir."

When the police were satisfied and left, Sunny, Hyoyeon and Seohyun thanked Jessica repeatedly and apologized for Tiffany's injuries. Jessica just waved them away, and Sunny said that they would be back tomorrow to visit Tiffany.

The nurse came by and Jessica and Taeyeon were allowed to visit Tiffany for fifteen minutes tonight. They washed their hands at the entrance before meeting her. Tiffany was pale and her eyelids were closing.

"Tiff, you're so ed up," Jessica said.

Tiffany's eyes brightened up at that. She raised an eyebrow.

Jessica walked to the side of the bed and pointed at Tiffany's hand, which was heavily bandaged in a cast. "This is concrete proof. I told you Muay Thai is superior to boxing. You can't even punch right without gloves."

Tiffany glared, but her after-surgery glare was lame, and Jessica told her so. Taeyeon stayed quiet at the side of the room. She was relieved to see the both of them fine and bantering as usual. When the nurse told them that their time was up, she looked Tiffany in the eye and told her to rest well, before following Jessica out.

They walked out of the ICU area. The silence was awkward, then Taeyeon remembered. "Oh! How's your ear?"

"Ugh, it's fine. He didn't hit hard enough to damage it. Blows to the ear just stun you. I can't believe that got the drop on me."

"It's just good nothing else happened," Taeyeon said. "Well, I'm going to go back to work."

"Okay. Thanks for taking care of Tiff," Jessica said.

"It wasn't just me. Yuri-unnie and the others saved her life."

"Who?"

"Regulars at the food stall. Other than Sunny-unnie, Hyoyeon-unnie and Seohyun, there's also Yuri-unnie and Yoona. Yuri-unnie's a nurse," Taeyeon said. 

"Ah I see. I have to thank this Yuri and the other Y-person then. When do they usually go to the stall?"

"At eight. But hey, do you want to come with me to the stall? Yuri-unnie and Yoona might still be there. They offered to help Sooyoung out while I came here."

"They sound like good friends."

"Yeah, they are. We were just okay, but recently we just got to know each other better," Taeyeon said. 

"I'll go to the stall with you to see them."

Taeyeon nodded, and then Jessica walked side by side with her into more awkward silence. She still wanted to keep Jessica and Tiffany at a distance, but it seemed stupid to act out when Tiffany just had a near-death experience. And she could tell that Jessica was tired and worried as well. For now, she would just set her anger aside and pull it out again when everyone was fine. Taeyeon smiled wryly. What a party-pooper.

After that night, Tiffany took a turn for the worst and stayed in ICU. Sunny, Hyoyeon and Seohyun visited every day. They felt unbearably guilty for what had happened. Jessica ditched her training schedule and practically stayed at the hospital. If she was not in the ICU ward during visiting hours, she would be sitting outside, waiting. 

Taeyeon came during her breaks. Everyone looked so helpless. She had no way to alleviate the situation. It was not like she could aegyo to Jessica at a time like this. And this being a hospital, she could not bring drinks in.

Tiffany took one week to die. Sunny called Taeyeon when it was happening, and she drove over immediately with Sooyoung.

Jessica, Sunny and Seohyun were in the ICU when they got there. Jessica was bent over ward bed, silent as she held Tiffany's hands. The BP machine was already flat.

Sunny and Seohyun were standing at the back. Tears were streaming down Sunny's face. 

After a long moment, Jessica straightened up. Her shoulders were set. As she turned around, her eyes were on fire. She moved towards Sunny. 

Taeyeon reacted before thinking because she had subconsciously expected it. She stepped in front of Sunny and held on when Jessica shoved her aside. Sooyoung grabbed Jessica from the back.

"This is all your fault!"

"I'm sorry. We're sorry..." Sunny sobbed.

"If it was not for your stupid car, Tiff would still be alive!"

"Technically, Tiffany and you were the ones who got yourselves involved," Seohyun said.

Jessica roared. She backpedaled, slamming Sooyoung into the wall. Sooyoung cried out and let go of her.

"Jessica!" Taeyeon shouted. "Calm down. Seohyun didn't mean what you think. She can't be sensitive about this sort of thing. She's... different."

Jessica stopped struggling, but she said, "Do I look like I give a right now? Sunny, Seohyun, just get the out. You better not come near Tiff again."

"We're sorry," Sunny said.

"Soo, are you okay?" Taeyeon asked. Sooyoung nodded, and at Taeyeon's hint she led Sunny and Seohyun out of the unit.

Taeyeon continued holding Jessica by the shoulders. Then one tear started dropping down Jessica's face, and the next. "Taeyeon, why did this happen?"

Taeyeon pulled Jessica into a hug and squeezed tight even though Jessica's arms were limp at her sides.

"How the could this happen? She still had so much to do. So many things unresolved."

"I know, it's not fair," Taeyeon agreed.

"It's not ing fair at all. She wasn't able to prove to her father that she made the correct decision coming here. That can't ing happen. She's not supposed to be dead yet," Jessica said. She was sobbing breathlessly, like someone who had not cried for a long time and was now learning how to again in full force. Taeyeon just held her.

Tiffany's skin was becoming stiff and blue, and Taeyeon shut her eyes in fear. She needed to leave. She gently and slowly pulled Jessica with her as they made their way out of the ICU. The nurses took it as their cue to go in and take care of the body. Once she was outside in the corridors, Taeyeon was able to breathe easy again.

Jessica saw Sunny, Seohyun and Sooyoung standing down the corridor, but she just turned back into Taeyeon's shoulder and continued gasping wetly.

Sooyoung had to go to setup the stall, and Sunny and Seohyun took it as their cue to leave as well. Taeyeon would have to be back at Daehak in a couple hours. 

The hospital had called a funeral home, and someone arrived to take the body away. Jessica arranged the cremation date with them, and Taeyeon texted the time to Sunny.

Taeyeon took Jessica's car keys from her. "Do you want to go home?"

"No." Tiffany's room was there.

"Do you want to go to Krystal's?"

"Not now."

"Okay."

"I think I should go to the gym. They need to know this personally."

"Okay. Come to the stall after you're done."

Taeyeon drove them to Seorim, then walked to the food stall.

It was strange, going through the motions until the night felt normal again. Out of the five, only Yoona came tonight. Yuri was out comforting Sunny.

Jessica finally came to the stall at eleven. Taeyeon opened a bottle of soju for her before going back to work. Jessica drank, tears streaming down her face. This time, it took her a whole bottle to fall asleep.

When the peak crowd left, Taeyeon went to the kitchen area to wash the dirty dishes.

Sooyoung talked to Taeyeon. "You've forgiven her already?"

"Now's not the time, Soo. But I'm not mad at her, and of course not at Tiffany, anymore."

"Okay. Just don't get yourself too deep."

"Yeah. Now's really not the time to be nagging me about this."

At the cremation, Jessica was still angry at Sunny, Hyoyeon and Seohyun, but she did not make them leave. Tiffany's two older brothers had flown from California to attend the funeral. They met with Nichkhun, who gave them his sincere condolences.

With Jessica's information, the police found the car burglar with the mermaid tattoo and quickly caught his associate, who had broke his jaw and nose from confronting Tiffany. The two were small prawns in a local gang. The case wrapped up in three weeks. Mermaid Tatoo was sentenced to eight years in prison for the burglary of five cars at the supermarket carpark, and Broken Jaw was slapped with the life sentence for burglary and second-degree manslaughter.

Upon hearing the news, Jessica was no happier, but she told Taeyeon to tell Sunny and the rest to 'continue with their lives, because Tiff would want that'.

Taeyeon still cared for Jessica. She did not allow herself to think of them romantically, but she wanted to be around to support Jessica. Taeyeon had seen her first as a woman who was always confident in who she was, training inhumanly hard with insane discipline. When they dated, her idea of Jessica expanded to a person who was mature and took care of her without expecting gratitude in return. Now, Jessica was vulnerable and human, and Taeyeon just wanted to be there for her until she was okay again.

A/N: Thanks so much for the comments/subscriptions the last time. It was super helpful writing this chapter and onwards... Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!