Part III of the Southpaw Arc.

"How's you and your boyfriend, Jess?" The nurse asked, wrapping her hands with gauze. 

Her friend shrugs, sipping on some of her protein shake. "Good. Oh, did I mention I signed him up for boxing classes?"

"No way? He doesn't really seem like a fighter, no offense." She chuckles softly. "It's just, I've never seen him in anything else but a suit."

"Well, he is a businessman."

"Exactly, so..why boxing?"

"I just wanted to see him get punched in the face."

"..."

"..."

"......oh.."

Jessica lets out a wicked laugh, finding humor in Tiffany's expression. The two best friends were always smiling and despite their busy schedules, they always made time for each other. "So how about you? How's your little monster?"

Nine fights and three years later, the fighter and the nurse were still madly in love. Taeyeon had won fights and lost fights, but Tiffany was always there supporting her at every level. She had seen sides of the celebrity no one had ever seen before, and explored parts of the world she never cared to see.

Despite the fighter's snarky attitude in the arena, she was the most humble, mature person Tiffany had ever known. Contrary to her tough persona, the nurse loved taking care of Taeyeon more than anything. 

Tiffany's eyes lit up, just thinking about her lover. "Oh! I'm moving into her apartment tomorrow!"

The two finally decided on living together officially. Taeyeon's apartment was more than enough for the two of them, and with the ideal location in downtown, the nurse ultimately decided to move out of her original house to start a new chapter in their story. "I don't have much belongings to bring. We've already half-loaded the van last night, then early morning we'll finish organizing everything. Maybe you can come have dinner at our place after?"

Jessica grins. "That depends on who's cooking."

"Don't be a rude I make bomb kimchi spaghetti."

X X X

After they finished moving in, Jessica and her boyfriend, Tyler, came over to their newly decorated home. Taeyeon wanted to barf at how incredibly obsessed her girlfriend was with the color pink. "Wow..babe.." The older woman steps into their bathroom, once simple and clean, now puffed up with the neon color. "...Did you..paint our toilet pink?"

Tiffany waves her hand reassuringly. "Oh, it's temporary, I just wanted to see what it looked like."

"Right.." She mumbles. Regardless of their favorite color difference, the two had been waiting to move in for the longest time. They were reaching their 4th year together near the end of the year, and Taeyeon had been planning a question.

Nevertheless, the fighter was thankful that her girlfriend didn't touch any part of her personal gym. Taeyeon had converted one of the rooms to be a miniature gym, it wasn't too grand, but sufficed enough if for whatever reason she didn't go to a real gym. Aligned on the walls were photos, newspaper clippings, and belts hanging proudly. Sometimes the fighter would simply stay and here and meditate. But she hadn't been able to do it lately..

She turns around to switch the lights off when a sharp pain strikes the side of her head. A wave of nausea wraps around her, her head ripping itself apart, before a gripping, throbbing pain numbs the rest of her body. Today, it's a little worse.

For the past couple months, Taeyeon was experiencing headaches. At first, they didn't worry the woman. Headaches were normal after taking a few hits, concussions were unfortunately common. She blamed it on a list of things : stress, dehydration, and the fact that she fought for a living.

But after finishing bottles and bottles of pain relieving pills, she began to wonder if it was anything more. Of course, it struck her many times that her girlfriend was a nurse, but she was also Tiffany. And Tiffany was a worry .

X X X

"If a cat looks like a goat, is it called a gat or a coat?"

"Uhm..I don--whack!" Tyler groans out loud, holding his nose. "Ow! That was unfair!"

"Stay focused you walnut." growled Taeyeon, who continued an array of slow but strong punches. "How do you expect to protect your girlfriend like this!"

"Well first of all--poof! OWW!! You're distracting me!"

"That's the point." Taeyeon shifts to the side, then drops her fists. She picks up a towel hanging on the side, throwing one at her friend. She takes the moment to check her phone, scrolling happily at Tiffany's texts.

Tiffany : have fun with your sparring with tyler!
Tiffany : oh and jessica said "try not to kill him, but if you do, thats ok"
Taeyeon : i promise NOTHING, can you pick me up at 8?
Tiffany : oki, love.
Tiffany : babe im in the garage whenever you're ready

She stared hard at the clock across the gym and stomped on the stage. "Okay, I gotta go. Next week, same time?"

"You got it." He says, collapsing into a chair. Taeyeon quickly slipped into the private locker rooms, taking a quick dip under the shower. She'd take the time to genuinely wash herself later at home, allowing the warm water to rid of the sweaty smell that accumulated. After putting on cleaner clothes, she texts Tiffany she was on her way. Stepping outside of the elevator that lead to garage, Taeyeon curiously looked around for her girlfriend's car.

She took a moment to listen to the otherwise silent garage, finding a low rumble of an engine nearby. The fighter steps forward, there weren't too many cars parked, but in the far corner, a large black car revved it's engine, catching the woman's attention. Without any warning, it rams forward, drifting across the side. Taeyeon is quick to dash to the side, losing her duffel bag in the process. It quickly disappears into the surface.

"ing idiots.." Taeyeon mumbled, walking over to pick up her bag. But now that the bigger car was out of the picture, she found her girlfriend's car at the same place.

And her girlfriend leaning against the door with blood on her face.

"Tiff..?" She's quiet and unsure at first, but after taking a few more cautious steps, rage and worry filled her veins as she sprints across the lot. The nurse looks up, her hair rough and out of place, eyes puffy, a small trickle of blood dripping down her nostrils. "Taeyeon.." She bursts out into heavy sobs, desperately holding onto the shorter woman.

"Tiff, oh god, Tiffany." The fighter holds her tight, rubbing her back reassuringly. "What happened, are you okay?"

Her eyes dart all over the