“Tiffany. Sunny said stay home tonight. She needs to talk to you or something, I don’t know” Jessica said tiredly as Tiffany walked pass the lounge.

“Sunny? Really?” Tiffany raised her eyebrow at Jessica. Jessica just nodded as her eyes were still fixed onto the TV in front of her. Tiffany started to wonder why Sunny would want to talk to her as she took a bite from her chips.

“Did she say what it was about?” Tiffany asked.

“Something along the lines of, ‘giving Tiffany a little talk to’ thing” Jessica waved her hands carelessly, telling Tiffany to be quiet. Tiffany gave a huff as she took out her phone and fiddled with it. She then remembered the poster Yoona has pointed out to her in the library. Suddenly feeling excited, Tiffany unlocked her phone and opened up a new text message, direct to Taeyeon.

To: Taeyeon
There’s a festival next week and I was wondering if you and I could…
You know… Go together ^^
From: Tiffany

Tiffany’s finger hovered over the send button as she reread he message. She hesitated as she wondered whether the text was too casual.

“Unnie” SeoHyun suddenly said from behind, causing Tiffany to jump and slip her phone. She juggled the phone a few times before she managed to secure it in the palm of her hand, letting out a sigh of relief before examining whether her phone was okay. Tiffany froze when she saw the notice on the screen.

‘Message Sent’

“Urgh…” Tiffany groaned as she slouched on the couch.

“What is it?” Jessica asked bluntly.

“Nothing” Tiffany sighed.

“Ermm Unnie” SeoHyun said again as she stood behind Tiffany. Tiffany and Jessica looked up curiously at SeoHyun.

“The Elites have invited us for a private study session with them this afternoon…” SeoHyun said slowly. Tiffany and Jessica sat up straight on their chairs and stared at SeoHyun curiously.

“Really?” they said in unison. SeoHyun nodded as she took out her phone and showed the three text messages which were from Yoona, Yuri and Taeyeon, all inviting them to a study session.

*Hang on. How come I didn’t get a…* Tiffany’s thought was interrupted as her phone beeped three times. She took out her phone to see three text messages similar to SeoHyun’s, only difference was Taeyeon’s message. Tiffany bit on her lower lip as she slowly opened up Taeyeon’s message.

To: Tiffany
We’ll see. I’ll give you a mini test at the study session. If you manage to pass, I’ll come with you to the festival along with an extra ten points.
 However, if you fail I will not come with you to the festival and I will deduct fifty points.
I won’t be nice to you like before.
Deal?
From: Taeyeon

*She sure loves to make a game out of everything* Tiffany thought to herself as she felt her blood boil at the challenge.

To: Taeyeon
Deal!
From: Tiffany

After sending the text Tiffany gave a loud huff of proudness and locked her phone. SeoHyun and Jessica gave Tiffany a curious look, wondering why she was so intent on a text message.

“Ermm… So, are we going?” Tiffany laughed nervously trying to change the subject.

“Count me out” Jessica said bluntly as she turned back to watch her program.

“Aww, why not?” Tiffany whined.

“Well one, because you have to see Sunny this afternoon, two because I need to pick up my stuff and three because I don’t want anything to do with the three.” Jessica listed with annoyance.

Just then Tiffany got another text message.

To: Tiffany
Please pass the next text onto Jessica.
From: Taeyeon

A little confused, Tiffany passed her phone to Jessica.

“The next one is for you” Tiffany explained slowly as Jessica stared down at the phone. Just as she held the phone a new text message came.

To: Tiffany
Hello Jessica,
I’m sorry for the way the Elites have acted. To compensate for our behaviour, we are willing to restart the study sessions.
Please take this into consideration.
From: Taeyeon

Tiffany peeked over Jessica’s shoulders to read the text message that was sent to Jessica. Her eyebrows furrowed as she read the text, knowing that there was no way that Taeyeon would willingly apologize for something she didn’t do.

*Something’s up* Tiffany thought to herself. Just as she finished her thought Sunny came through the door with her keys breaking the small silence of the lounge.

“Oh Tiffany. You’re here. I need to talk to you for a bit.” Sunny smiled as she took the keys out of the keyhole.

“SeoHyun let’s go.” Said Jessica as she passed Tiffany her phone and stood up.

“Where to?” SeoHyun asked curiously.

“I’ll pick up my stuff… and then, if we have time, visit the Elites.” Jessica shrugged as she grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

“Hey, what about me?” Tiffany exclaimed as she stood up.

“You can catch up with us later.” Jessica waved her hands and then disappeared through the door.

“We’ll meet up at Yuri’s house” Tiffany told SeoHyun. SeoHyun gave a nod before quickly following Jessica outside, leaving her and Sunny by themselves.

“Makes things easier” Sunny nodded approvingly.

“So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?” Tiffany asked cheerfully as she sat on the couch.

“We’re going somewhere first. Get ready; when I come down we’ll leave.” Sunny explained as she went upstairs. Tiffany just gave a shrug as she started to get ready.

 

 

 

 

 

“Where are they?” Taeyeon growled under her breath as she impatiently paced up and down the lounge. Yuri and Yoona were sitting on the couches playing their own game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’, with punishments involved for losing, to entertain themselves.

-Knock, knock, knock-

Taeyeon, Yuri and Yoona all whipped their heads towards the door when they heard the knock. Yoona got up from her seat and walked towards the door to open it, expecting to see all three girls standing there. To her surprise, and Taeyeon’s, there was only SeoHyun standing there with a sheepish smile on her face.

“Hey…” SeoHyun greeted shyly. Yuri and Taeyeon walked up to the door and looked out, hoping to find Tiffany and Jessica behind her. When they couldn’t see any signs of anyone else behind her they looked back at SeoHyun with a curious look.

“Jessica… Didn’t want to come…” SeoHyun explained. Taeyeon, Yuri and Yoona nodded slowly before whipping their head back at SeoHyun.

“Where is she?” Yuri asked cautiously.

“She’s going back to Tiffany. I tried to bring her here but she didn’t seem like she wanted to.” Said SeoHyun.

“And Tiffany?” Taeyeon added.

“Oh, she said she will join with us as soon as Sunny was finished talking to her.”

Taeyeon’s and Yuri’s eyes opened wider after SeoHyun’s statement.

“Sunny?!” They exclaimed.

Yoona furrowed her eyebrows as she turned and faced the two behind her.

“There’s something you’re not telling me.” Yoona accused as she turned her body fully towards Yuri and Taeyeon. SeoHyun nodded as well, agreeing with Yoona’s accusation.

“Wait… so Tiffany is alone with Sunny… and Jessica is going to join them?” Yuri asked SeoHyun.

SeoHyun just gave a short nod. Taeyeon brought her hand up to her head as she realised the dilemma she was in.

“Yuri…”

“You don’t have to ask me twice” Yuri interrupted Taeyeon before she could even start. Then, without hesitation, Taeyeon and Yuri grabbed their keys and walked out the door.

“Look after SeoHyun, Yoona. We’ll be back soon.” Taeyeon called back before getting into her car, leaving Yoona and SeoHyun alone and bewildered. In less than a minute Yuri and Taeyeon were out of sight with Yoona having an annoyed expression on her face and SeoHyun wondering what was going on.

“Do you know what’s happening?” SeoHyun asked slowly. Yoona gave a short huff and shook her head.

“If I knew I wouldn’t be so annoyed right now”

 

 

 

“Stupid Yuri. Stupid Taeyeon. Stupid Yoona” Jessica muttered as she kicked a rock on the floor down the street.

“Thinking that everything is fine after one text. I’m not so fickle you know!” Jessica yelled as she kicked the rock as hard as she could. Her eyes followed the rock towards a retail store where she saw three people talking. As she got closer she recognised two of them.

“Sunny? Tiffany?” Jessica called out as she squinted her eyes.

“Oh Jessica” Sunny greeted as the other two turned around.

“Who’s he?” Jessica asked as she nudged her head towards the unknown figure.

“Oh he’s Gi Kwang. Just a friend of mine.” Sunny explained quickly. Jessica just nodded slowly, not caring for her explanation as she looked over at Tiffany who seemed to be cowering away from them.

“Is… everything okay?” Jessica hesitantly as she moved towards Tiffany. Sunny and Gi Kwang exchanged glances of annoyance before turning and smiling towards Jessica.

“Yeah everything is fine. You two should probably get home now.” Sunny beamed. Gi Kwang rolled his eyes as he walked away from them, making Tiffany sigh with relief.

“Make sure you look after the house tonight… I’ve got another meeting with someone.” Sunny’s mood changed as she glared at Jessica. Jessica shot Sunny back a glance before turning her full attention to the shivering Tiffany.

“Are you okay? Why are you shivering?” Jessica asked worriedly as she tried to find something wrong with her. After a quick once-over Jessica found nothing apparent that would make Tiffany shiver.

“S-Sunny…” Tiffany started but slowly stopped once she saw Sunny’s gaze.

“Sunny wanted to see me urgently… so I forgot my jacket” Tiffany lied as she tried to pull off a smile. Sunny gave an approving nod towards Tiffany’s lie and smiled sweetly.

“You two run along now. We wouldn’t want something to happen to you two now do we?” Sunny smirked before walking off towards Gi Kwang’s direction.

“L-Let’s go” Tiffany stuttered as she pulled Jessica away.

“What did she talk to you about?” Jessica asked as her arm was pulled away forcefully. Tiffany just remained silent as she was focused on getting away from the place and back home.

 

 

 

“We’ve driven around the city five times already. I still see no sign of them” Yuri sighed as she got out of her car. Taeyeon got out of her car and leaned against it as she let out a defeated sigh.

“They’re not picking up their phones either…” Taeyeon growled under her breath.

“Wait…” Taeyeon suddenly said as she took out her phone and called Yoona. On the third ring Yoona picked up.

“Yoona. Has SeoHyun received any text or some sort yet?” Taeyeon said quickly, not allowing Yoona to start.

“You know I have no idea what’s going on here. And yet you and Yuri are off somewhere telling me to do this and that without any information. Aren’t we supposed to be a team?” Dark Yoona answered through the phone.

“Yoona I really don’t have time for this. Can you ask SeoHyun if she has any information about either Jessica or Tiffany?” Taeyeon said impatiently.

“Hang on” Yoona growled.

“SeoHyun. Did you get any messages from Jessica or Tiffany?” Yoona called back.

“Nope” Taeyeon heard SeoHyun’s faint voice through the phone. Not waiting for Yoona she hung up again and let out a frustrated groan.

“Nope” Yoona answered through the phone, only to be greeted by the beeping tone. Her grasp on the phone tightened as her dark side started to rage.

*Relax… You can get them back later…* Yoona thought to herself as she relaxed her grip.

“Is everything okay?” SeoHyun asked curiously. Yoona turned around and gave SeoHyun an innocent smile.

“Yeah everything’s fine. So did you get the question it asked you?” Yoona changed the subject towards SeoHyun’s studies.

 

“One last round” Taeyeon told Yuri as she got back into the car. Yuri just nodded as she got back into her own car and started up the engine and headed down towards Tiffany’s, Jessica’s and SeoHyun’s place, wasting no time with the speed limits hung up on the side of the road.

Taeyeon’s grip on the steering wheel was firm as she started to wonder about the possibilities that could have happened to Tiffany and Jessica. Yuri in the other car was expressing her stress in a rather different way. She channelled her anxiety towards the pedal and hence causing the car to speed pass many different cars. A few honks of the horn was heard as Taeyeon and Yuri whizzed pass them, just inches away from crashing into the other cars.
Finally they reached their first stop. Taeyeon didn’t bother cutting off the engine as she hurriedly walked up to Sunny’s door and knocked on it impatiently. Yuri then came up to her with both her own and Taeyeon’s car keys in her hand as they waited for the door to open. Not expecting any answers Taeyeon decided to continue the search when suddenly, they heard a noise inside the house. Taeyeon turned around to face Yuri, thinking that it was her making the noise, but Yuri was also facing backwards towards the door with a puzzled expression on her face.
Yuri slowly walked back up to the door and held her ear against the flat surface of the door and listened carefully. She could hear feet shuffling around the house and the TV at a moderate volume, evident from the sound of audience laughter. Yuri motioned for Taeyeon to come up as well as she put her hand onto the door knob. Taeyeon gave a short nod as Yuri slowly tested the door knob. To both their surprise, the door was unlocked.
Taking caution, Yuri continued to open the door, careful to not make any sounds.

“Stop what you’re doing!” Taeyeon yelled as soon as they barged into the house.

“Ahh!” a scream echoed off the walls of the house as a figure stood in the middle of the lounge, flustered and scared.

Taeyeon and Yuri were caught off guard when the figure turned out to be Tiffany.

“What the…?” Yuri whispered as she relaxed her shoulders.

“Oh Taeyeon… Yuri, I thought you were someone else” Tiffany gave a sigh of relief.

“You were here all along?” Taeyeon asked bluntly as she quickly scanned the house.

“Well I was talking to Sunny first. And then I came back here.” Tiffany explained calmly.

“What about Jessica?” Yuri added. Tiffany raised her eyebrow at Yuri’s question but quickly relaxed.

“Oh her. She’s upstairs sleeping.” Tiffany beamed as she pointed upstairs.

Taeyeon raised her eyebrow at Tiffany.

“I’ll go check on her” Yuri excused herself as she walked upstairs, leaving Taeyeon and Tiffany alone in the lounge.

“Taeyeon~ Was there something you wanted?” Tiffany chimed as she skipped over to Taeyeon. Taeyeon crossed her arms with annoyance as she stared at the cheerful Tiffany.

“So I asked you to come over for a study session and you said that you were coming but decided to stay home. Not only that but we had a little test that we had to do and you just disregarded it like it meant nothing?” Taeyeon scolded as she glared at Tiffany. Tiffany bit her lower lip guiltily as she swallowed down hard.

“M-Maybe?” Tiffany shrugged innocently. Taeyeon let out a long audible sigh as she walked over to the couch and slumped over it, using her hand to cover both her eyes tiredly.

“I swear, even I would collapse from tiredness chasing you around. Tell me where you plan on going next time!” she groaned. A smirk grew on Tiffany’s face as she walked over to Taeyeon’s side.

“Were you worried about me?” Tiffany asked cheekily as she poked Taeyeon’s cheek. Taeyeon got up abruptly from Tiffany’s poke and raised her eyebrows at Tiffany.

“Admit it, you were worried.” Tiffany beamed.

“You wish” Taeyeon scoffed as she crossed her arms and looked away. Tiffany stuck her tongue out cheekily as she stood up beside Taeyeon.

“Then why were you chasing me around? If you weren’t worried you wouldn’t need to chase me” Tiffany rebutted.

“That’s what you think. I didn’t want to lose my source of entertainment that’s all” Taeyeon quickly reasoned.

“Entertainment?” Tiffany furrowed her eyebrows.

“So I’m just a little game to you?” she added.

Realising what she had said, Taeyeon quickly froze.

“Maybe… besides it’s not like I’m forcing you or anything. You can call the deal off anytime you like” Taeyeon muttered.

“What would you do if I did call off the deal?” Tiffany smiled.

“Then I would pack my bags and leave this place, like I said.” Taeyeon answered calmly as she sat up and crossed her legs.

“Do you really think that I will be able to win though?” Tiffany asked with more seriousness. Taeyeon turned around to see Tiffany staring straight into her eyes, waiting for her answer all too eagerly.

“Maybe. Anything is possible” Taeyeon shrugged as she stood up. At the same time Yuri came down from the stairs quietly, giving Taeyeon a nod indicating that Jessica really was asleep upstairs.

“So Sunny has already talked to you has she?” Taeyeon quickly asked as she stood next to Yuri. Tiffany gave a quick nod.

“Nothing suspicious about her?” Yuri asked with her eyebrow raised high. Tiffany responded with a shake of the head.

“Okay then… We’ll let Yoona bring SeoHyun home soon… If there is anything… out of the ordinary… make sure you call m-…. Yuri” Taeyeon quickly changed her last word of the sentence. Tiffany let out a quiet giggle as she nodded obediently.

“Yes, I’ll be sure to call Yuri” Tiffany emphasized Yuri’s name.

Taeyeon scoffed to herself at Tiffany’s antics before she headed for the door.

“See you tomorrow Taeyeon~” Tiffany chimed cheerfully. Taeyeon rolled her eyes as she turned the knob of the door and exited the house with Yuri following close behind her.

While they were halfway to their car Yuri decided to ask Taeyeon something.

“Hey Taeyeon… Do you think that maybe… we’re over thinking things?” Yuri asked curiously. Taeyeon stopped walking for a moment as she gave a sideways glance to Yuri.

“Well what would you do if a group of immortals, who seriously despises humans, were lurking around these areas and were doing everything they can to get you to re-join their small little group?” Taeyeon asked back bluntly.

“Good point” Yuri chuckled as she continued to walk to her car.

Taeyeon remained where she was as she did another quick scan of the house, making sure that it was safe for the time being.

*Should be fine* Taeyeon thought to herself as she threw her keys up into the air and caught them again.