I take off running.

"What do you mean?!" I shout frantically into the phone, ignoring the confused stares glancing my way. I hear a thump through the line and incoherent screaming. Trying to take even breaths, I run past the bus stop. It will take too long to figure out which bus to take and to calculate how many minutes I would have to wait for it. 

I estimate it to be a ten minute run from Baekhyun's house to Tiffany's. I'm not sporty, I'm a nerd. I can't continuously run for that long.

"Kai? Kai! What's happening?" I exclaim urgently, already feeling my breathing clog. My legs are starting to burn and I haven't even been running for three minutes. I am badly out of shape.

After a few seconds, I hear Kai hiss into the phone, "Hurry!" and then the line goes dead.

I exhale in frustration before inhaling quickly as my body needs it. What does he mean when he said blood is everywhere? What's happened to Tiffany? Did she get hurt? Kai mentioned something about a blade. . .

I start to feel nauseous but I push it down. There is no room for me to start feeling sick. They depend on me to get to Tiffany's place as fast as I can and fix the situation. I consider calling him back but what if something serious is going on over there and my interference causes unforgivable consequences?

My shoulder feels sore and it isn't until then do I realise I am carrying three thick textbooks. I groan. My eyes flash around the shops, looking for a place to hide my bag, until I spot a cafe I usually visit. Heading in there will surely cost me time but it is better than running with two kilos weighing down my shoulder. Grabbing my phone and shoving it into my jean pocket, I hastily push open the door, breathing in the pleasant aroma of coffee.

"Taeyeon?" Xiumin, my favourite bartender, calls out in surrpise.

"I can't talk right now," I say, trying to catch my breath. "I have something really important going on so can you please hold onto my bag? It holds my textbooks and my purse." Without waiting for Xiumin to respond, I throw my bag over the counter and take off, leaving a dumbfound man - that I trust - staring after me. I'll come back and explain everything to him afterwards.

As I get nearer to my destination, my heart starts pounding faster and my breaths become rigid with nervousness. I run over every possible incident that can have happened and how I will come to treat it. If Tiffany has fallen over and scraped herself mutiple times, I will find medical treatments and apply them. If she is being threatened, or for whatever reason is threatening someone with a knife, I will try to talk her out of it like they do in the dramas.

Then my thought drifts to Sehun. Can he be involved in this?

I see the familar three-storey household, and using every ounce of my energy, I sprint the last hundred metres. My lungs are burning and I am wheezing as I stumble through the fancy garden. The front door is already open and I bring up my guard. An intruder can't be the problem, can it?

Once in the hallway I try to quieten my ragged breathing and look around the rooms I come across, just in case the intruder is waiting for me. The house is eerily quiet and I am not sure what to expect. I trip over a grocery bag that I should have spotted beforehand and my head darts from left to right, scared that the loud thump had attracted whatever is causing this bizarre silence.

"Taeyeon?" a voice whimpers out from the room to my right. I jump and slowly peek my head through the doorway. Two young maids are clutching each others' hands, fear on their faces. I give them a look of confusion.

"What's happening?" I ask softly, walking through the doorway to show the full view of my body, feeling as if that would comfort them.

"It's Tiffany. . " one of them whispers. "She. . ."

"She what?" I press on.

"She broke down."

"What?"

"Please, go to her bedroom and you'll find her and your friends. . ."

Without hesitation, I fly upstairs, forgetting all about being quiet. "Hyoyeon? Kai?" I call as I enter the pink bedroom, looking the same as it had last time I visited.

"In here. . ." I hear Hyoyeon's unusually small voice.

Slowly, I make my way to the bathroom, scared for what I will see. As I come in line with the doorway, my eyes survey a figure attempting to comfort another who is lying on the ground. I inhale quickly as I spot the drops of blood around the tiles. Hyoyeon is pressing a hand to as she grips paper towels trying to wipe up the blood. Kai is with Tiffany, his clothes showing faint blood stains, and the male is murmuring to Tiffany. My eyes catch sight of the numerous cuts on her lower arms, bright red slashes, her skin stained. Tiffany's eyes are closed, silent. 

"Tiffany. . ." My voice shakes as I take a step into the bathroom. I am instantly hit by the putrid, stomach-turning stench. I gulp down my gag and walk to stand at Tiffany's feet. 

Her eyes shoot open to stare at me for a moment, before she tries to writhe away from me. "No, n-no go away."

I feel a pang of hurt, as well as confusion. I am - or was - her best friend and she needs help, why is she acting like this?

"Tiffany," I say as I start to walk to towards her but halt abruptly when she screams.

"Stop! Don't come near me!"

I give Kai an urgent questioning look and his sad eyes stare back into mine. "She doesn't want to see you," he whispers. 

"What?"

I have run all this way, ignoring my burning legs and lungs, wheezed for ten minutes in urgency to get here and I've been told to get lost?

Kai bites his lip and looks away, staring at the deep cuts displayed over Tiffany's arms.

"Have you called the ambulance?" I say without thinking. Kai's eyes widen and at the same time, Tiffany starts to squirm violently.

"No! I don't want the ambulance! I don't need the ambulance!" Tiffany screams, tears spilling out of her eyes.

"What do you mean you don't need the ambulance?" I ask in annoyance, clenching my fists, ignoring how her arm is pressing againt Kai's torso, creating more blood marks.

"No, please stop Taeyeon. She doesn't want the ambulance," Kai says quietly, pressing against Tiffany to make her move less. I throw him a look of disdain.

I pinch the bridge of my nose and look around. She isn't pale so the situation isn't an emergency. She just needs to calm down and clean herself.

"Tiff, where's the medical kit?" I look around her bathroom.

"Don't!" she screams, making me jump. "I don't need your help!"

I look at Tiffany, her eyes boring into mine, filled with so much hate. I can't think of a valid reason as to why she would despise me - it should be the other way around -, but I slowly kneel onto the ground, not caring that her blood is seeping onto my jeans. "Tiffany, I'm going to clean you up. You're hurt."

"It's all because of you," she hisses, tears streaking down her cheeks. "Don't you see? If you hadn't come in, everything will be alright." I frown as I process her words. If I had never made myself responsible for bringing Tiffany and Sehun together, if I had just let them fix everything up themselves, if my involvement had never existed, would everything return back to normal? I'd have never lost Sehun's trust, never caused Tiffany to cut, and never divided the group.

I glance at Kai who looks up to shoot me a quick look. His eyes are sad, forgiving, guilty. I turn around to look at Hyoyeon, who puts her head down and keeps scrubbing at the floor. They agree with Tiffany. The simple truth hammers at my heart, shards stabbing into my body. They want me to stay away. I've done the damage.

Meeting Tiffany's glare with an expressionless face, I press my lips into a thin line and stand up. "I'm sorry," I say, my tone stating otherwise, and without another glance, I turn on my heel and walk out of the bathroom. No one says anything to halt me from taking my leave, not even a movement.

As I breathe in the fresh air, I feel the itchy feeling at the back of my throat, spreading to my nose. I haven't encountered this process in years. As salty pools gather at the corner of my eyes, blurring half my vision, I quicken my pace, quietening my footsteps at the stairs as my vision becomes opague. I run through the corridor to avoid Tiffany's maids as the first tear slips down my cheek.

Fury boils inside of me as I stomp through her garden. I can't believe it. I only wanted to help. It isn't my fault that Tiffany had flirted with Kris, nor was it my fault that Sehun had flirted with an unknown girl; nothing is my fault at all. They aren't going to do anything to save their relationship because they are too stubborn and have to 'save their pride'. All I did was step in and just like that, I am marked a girl who ruins everything, and an untrustworthy person at that. And what's worse? Hyoyeon and Kai joining in the blame when they are the ones who had the potential to stop everything from happening in the first place.

I've had enough, I think angrily, nearing my house. Hyoyeon and Kai can take Tiffany's side for all I care. I'm done with this.

"Mum, I'm home," I call out, concealing my cracked voice.

"Lunch will be in twenty minutes," comes the reply. Taking a deep breath, I squeeze my eyes shut, digging my fingernails into my palm, ranting out my family's golden rule. Always stay calm, always stay calm.

Slowly, my anger disappears as I stand in the daylight shining through the open door. I open my eyes and feel a little better, like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I am about to shut the door and head upstairs to my room when I remember that I left my bag with Xiumin. I groan and shout a 'Be right back, forgot something!' to my mum as I shoot out of the house and speed walk to my favourite cafe.

I allow myself a small smile as I glance at the cosy houses, relishing in the warm atmosphere of the street. It feels great to be alone, to not face other people's problems, to just be. . . free. I don't need my friends, and they don't need me. Tiffany is right; without my involvement, everything will be alright.