---

It was a late night at the SNSD dorm; eight girls were scattered about the living room, watching an American movie, eating popcorn, chatting, dozing off--the last one was Jessica.

Taeyeon wasn’t with them, of course. It had been a long day of preparing for their second album yesterday, so their manager agreed to let them have the next day off. Their leader spent it with her boyfriend, but the other girls decided to relax with each other.

“It’s really raining hard out there,” Yoona muttered, peeking outside the window.

“I hope Taeyeon isn’t outside.” Jessica added, opening her eyes slowly.

“Wait, I see her!” Yoona cried.

“Taeyeon-unnie?” Seohyun asked.

“Oh my god,” Yoona raced to the door and threw it open, and instantly, a drenched girl fell upon her.

“Taeyeon!” Tiffany bolted to Yoona’s side and helped the leader inside.

“What happened?” Sunny demanded, pushing the pause button on the movie and tossing the remote aside carelessly.

“Let’s get her dry first,” Yuri suggested, worry etched all over her face.

“I’ll get some towels,” Sooyoung and Hyoyeon volunteered, jumping out of their seats.

“Wait, no, I’m fine,” Taeyeon said hoarsely.

“You’ll catch a cold, Taeyeon, are you crazy?” Jessica frowned then. “Wait, what’s wrong with your voice?”

“Are you crying?” Sunny noticed next, shocked.

“I’m--no,” Taeyeon lied.

Sooyoung and Hyoyeon re-entered the room with towels and a fresh change of clothes for Taeyeon. Tiffany grabbed a few towels and Yoona took the clothes, and the two girls led Taeyeon into the nearest bathroom. Sooyoung followed with the remaining towels, looking at a loss for what to do.

Never had any of the girls seen their leader in such a state.

“What happened?” Seohyun asked Yuri, almost in tears from seeing her unnie so broken.

“I’ll tell you guys what happened,” Jessica glared, gritting her teeth, “She got into a fight with Kangin.”

“Like a physical fight?” Hyoyeon’s eyes widened.

“No, just a really bad argument,” Jessica sighed.

“What could they possibly have fought over?” Sunny wondered out loud.

Jessica thought for a moment and then answered, “I bet you it was about Leeteuk.”

“What does Leeteuk-oppa have to do with anything?” Yuri whispered.

“Taeyeon’s coming back; we’ll see then.” Jessica responded.

“Kangin and her got into a fight,” Tiffany told the five girls who were sitting down.

“I knew it,” Jessica muttered, fists balled up.

“That’s awful,” Sunny said dolefully.

“Taeyeon, don’t talk anymore, okay?” Yoona patted her back comfortingly, “Your voice will get better that way.”

“I’m gonna go kill that as--”

“Sooyoung!” Tiffany said strictly.

“Sorry,” Sooyoung mumbled, plopping down next to Hyoyeon.

“What’d he do?” Hyoyeon tapped the taller girl’s knee.

“He hurt her,” Sooyoung said darkly, eyes cast downward.

“He hurt you?!” Jessica shouted, staring at Taeyeon in utter disbelief.

“He didn’t hurt me,” Taeyeon mouthed, trying to smile.

“Taeyeon, stop,” Sooyoung cried, voice shaking slightly, “You know what he did to you, stop trying to cover up for him.”

“What did that guy do?” Hyoyeon demanded, standing up. “I need to know now, so someone needs to ing tell me!”

Tiffany looked away and said quietly, “He hit her.”

Taeyeon hid her eyes with her bangs, and Yoona hugged the smaller girl to her chest, biting her lip in worry.

Infuriated, Hyoyeon punched the wall next to her. “That jerk, I swear...if I ever see him--”

“Unnie, please don’t,” Seohyun choked, pulling Hyoyeon’s arm away from the wall.

“None of us can do anything to him,” Sooyoung glowered at the floor. “He’s way stronger than us.”

“Sica, why are you on the phone?” Yuri’s brows furrowed.

“Hey, Leeteuk-oppa,” Jessica exhaled deeply, her index and middle finger holding her temple.

“Don’t tell him!” Taeyeon shrieked.

“He has to know!” Jessica retorted fiercely.

“Taeyeon, don’t talk!” Yoona exclaimed, on the verge of tears.

“Don’t tell him, please, Jessica!”

Tiffany joined Yoona on the couch and rubbed Taeyeon’s back in circles. “Shh, Taeyeon, Jessica’s got this.”

“Sorry about that,” Jessica shrugged, “But you need to get over here now.”

Silence.

“Forget the stupid damn rule, Park Jungsu, Taeyeon needs you! Don’t you care about her?” Jessica yelled.

More silence.

“It was Kangin.”

Click.

“He hung up?” Sunny guessed.

“He’s coming,” Jessica flung her phone carelessly on the floor.

-----

“Where are you going?” Heechul interrogated at the leader, who was putting on his coat in a hurry.

“Taeyeon’s,” Jungsu said simply, slipping on his shoes.

“What happened?” the second oldest member’s voice lowered, as if he understood the urgency.

“Kangin,” Jungsu sneered.

“What did that bastard do to her?” Heechul’s eyes turned serious.

“I don’t know yet, but it’s Kangin. My mind’s coming up with the worse-case scenarios.”

“Go, I’ll cover for you if I have to.” Heechul ushered Jungsu out the door.

“Thanks,” Jungsu smiled.

Then he ran, sloshing through the enormous puddles and getting soaked in rain. He didn’t care.

Taeyeon needed him.

-----

“What’s taking him so long?” Jessica tapped her foot impatiently by the front door.

“Traffic?” Hyoyeon spoke up.

“There’s no damn traffic right now, Hyoyeon!” Jessica snapped.

“I’m trying to lighten the mood, Sooyeon; calm the hell down.” Hyoyeon glared darkly.

“Both of you--shut up!” Sooyoung intervened.

“Jessica, calm down, seriously. You need to chill.” Tiffany said to the girl in English.

“So this is what happens when something bad happens to Taeyeon,” Yoona laughed bitterly.

“Yoona?” Yuri frowned.

“We all start fighting with each other,” Yoona looked at Jessica and Hyoyeon.

“I’m sorry,” Hyoyeon apologized immediately.

“No, I’m sorry; I snapped at you.” Jessica left her post by the door and hugged Hyoyeon.

“He’s here!” Yoona announced.

Tiffany reacted first and flung the door open. “Oh my god, oppa, why are you all wet?”

“I ran,” was Jungsu’s response.

“You--why did you run?” Yoona exclaimed angrily.

“Forget that, where’s Taeyeon?” Jungsu glanced around the room, slipping his sopping wet coat off.

“Dry off first!” Sooyoung insisted, “We don’t need you getting sick too.”

“I’ll be fine,” Jungsu shrugged away from her and left the living room.

-----

“Taeyeon?” Jungsu whispered gently, poking his head into the room.

Taeyeon squinted and slowly sat up. “Jungsu?”

“Hey,” he sat next to her on the bed and smiled.

“You came,” Taeyeon smiled back, her voice still sounding hoarse.

“Of course I came, silly,” Jungsu ruffled her hair.

“Wait, why is your hair wet?” Taeyeon sat up straighter, “Did you run here?”

“Yeah, I did, but forget about that.” Jungsu smiled again.

“When I get my voice back, I’ll yell at you,” she sniffled.

“So Taeyeon, what did Kangin do to you?”

“He...nothing, it’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing--otherwise you wouldn’t be crying over him.”

“He,” Taeyeon’s voice cracked at the next part, “He hit me.”

Jungsu stayed silent and clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

“Oh.”

“Don’t hurt him, Jungsu, please don’t.” Taeyeon pleaded desperately.

“He hurt you!” Jungsu argued, horrified.

“It was my fault though!” Taeyeon said, straining her voice.

“Stop,” Jungsu put his hands on her shoulders gently. “How was it your fault?”

“I can’t tell you,” Taeyeon hid her face in her pillow.

“Why not?”

“It’s weird.”

Jungsu scoffed, “That’s a lame excuse. Now tell me before I tickle you.”

“I-I accidentally called him Jungsu.”

---

Time Period: October 2008

Song: Lost My Pieces (Piano Version) - Toradora OST

Double update because I love TaeTeuk<3