Life was perfect. There were no words to describe the feelings that shot throughout my body. It was bliss. Tiffany was holding my hand dearly, not out of friendship, but out of love. We were walking back to our dorms, hand in hand. To those around us, we looked like the usual friends holding hands. But they didn’t notice our occasional shy glances at each other. Or our giggles when we would automatically look away from each other if our eyes connected. Or when we would actually hold a longing gaze at each other. Tiffany shed away her sunglasses due to my insistence that she didn’t need it. Because I would be the only one staring into them. No one else would look. I wouldn’t let anyone else look.

As we walked into Tiffany’s dorm room that she shared with Jessica, Sunny, and Yoona, I hugged her tightly from behind. There was no one else in the dorm thankfully. It was probably really likely that they were at the bar, working.

Tiffany squealed as my arms wrapped around her waist. “Yah. Don’t surprise me like that.”

“Sorry. I’m just so happy…I thought this day would never happen.”

“That I would tell you that I loved you?”

I paused before saying, “Yeah. I was so scared that you would reject me.”

I heard Tiffany let out an annoyed sigh. My arms loosened around her and she turned to me, her face close to mine. She pinched my cheeks.

“Ow!” I yelled, rubbing my cheeks.

“That’s what you get. TaeTae, why are you so negative about yourself? You’re…perfect. I couldn’t ask for more from you. Even after you discovered about my problems, you still stayed by me.”

“B-But Sunny, Yoona…Jessica! They stayed by you, too.”

“But you…you were a stranger to me. Yet, you gave your all to make me happy. Me. Some person who would ignore you, scowl at you, but you never left my side. Your kindness…I can’t ever repay you for what you did for me.” Tiffany placed her hand over her chest. “I’ve never felt so happy before. These past few months were…tough. I would live my life in complete paranoia. Every day, I would be scared to move on. I would wake up the next day, feeling relieved that I made it out alive to live another day. My heart never felt safe…until I met you. And before I knew it, I would start looking forward to tomorrow…because that meant I would see you. It’s strange, you know? Who would have thought that someone like you would save me?” Tiffany softly laughed at her words.

“Fany…will you ever tell me what happened to you?” I asked in a solemn tone. I already knew what had happened to her but I wanted her to tell me. I wanted her to tell me in her own words what happened. I wanted to comfort her as she cried remembering about it. I just wanted her to let out all her problems so she would know that she was not alone. So she didn’t have to suffer keeping it inside her.

Tiffany bit her lip, her eyes turning into a greyish hue. I think it was safe to say that her eyes would change color in accordance to her feelings. Then that would mean pink was happy? I recalled the memory of Tiffany’s grey eyes at the haunted house. So would the grey color mean that she was scared?

I gently touched Tiffany’s cheek. “You don’t have to be scared to tell me.”

“I was scared, TaeTae. That you would look at me with hateful eyes if you knew what I am now. That’s why…That’s why I stalled. When you tried to ask me out before, I-I couldn’t find myself saying anything. If I said yes, it would only hurt even more when you would be disgusted by m-”

I placed a finger on her soft lips, telling her to shush. “Just stop, Fany. I think we’re both at fault here.”

“But-”

I shook my head, showing that it was my turn to talk. “We’ve been through a lot in our lives. Holding secrets inside of you won’t help. You’ll break down. I know that too well. Just tell me. You know I won’t leave you. Heck, if you really need me to, I’ll chain our hands together.”

A small giggle escaped from Tiffany’s lips. I smiled knowing that I succeeded with my small joke. I placed my hand on top of Tiffany’s, slowly intertwining my fingers with hers. I rested my head on her shoulder before whispering into her ear, “I love you and I think you know that by now. Whatever you’ve been through, I’ll still love you. And I’ll keep on loving you. Whatever troubles you went through then and troubles you’ll have later, we’ll go through them together.”

Tears welled up in Tiffany’s eyes. My heart pounded against my chest as I watched her heavy tears fall down her face. They trailed down her cheeks slowly as if they were trying their hardest to not fall, trying to cling to her so they would never escape from her grasp. So no one would know the reason they accumulated to begin with. But it was too late. They fell from her cheeks down to the cold floor.

Tiffany tightly grabbed my shirt into her hands, pulling me closer to her. She dug her head into my shoulder, shaking uncontrollably. In between her muffled sobs, she told me, “I…I was kidnapped. I was tortured. I was just a lab rat to them! To them, I wasn’t even human…and then, they turned me into a freak.” With every sentence, Tiffany’s voice would get louder and even more heartbreaking. Placing my hand on the back of her head, I pressed her head closer to my body as a way for her to confirm that I was there by her side.

I already knew what had happened to her yet for some reason, her words crashed down on me like it was the first time I was hearing it. Even remembering that fateful day was painful to me. To Tiffany, it was hell. I could never understand her pain, the torture she went through, or the helplessness she felt. All I could do was to stand by her side and support her when she needed me.

I guided Tiffany towards the bed nearest us and sat her down. She was still clutching tightly to my shirt, her head still on my shoulder. I could feel Tiffany’s tears wet my blue shirt, leaving a dark stain on my shoulder. Running my fingers through Tiffany’s hair, I urged her to continue, “Just let it out. Let it all out.”

“I hate them,” she would continue to repeat like a broken doll that was only able to reiterate a single sentence. “What did I ever do to deserve this?”

I tightened my grip around her waist, trying to minimize what little distance we had between each other. I held her in my arms in silence. I had no idea how to react to Tiffany’s cries even though I would constantly replay this very scene in my head several times. I was at a complete loss of words.

What was there to say? That I loved her? That I would protect her? That I would never let anything bad happen to her ever again?

Right now, those words were useless. Just basic human speech was useless. Right now, I felt that my feelings could reach her just through my touch. It was one of those moments where Hyoyeon’s motivational lines seemed fit: “Action speaks better than words.”

Like how I tenderly moved my finger across Tiffany’s cheek to wipe the heavy tears from her eyes. Or when I inched my face towards hers until our foreheads touched, and I would stare into her wet eyes like I was trying to look straight inside her and save her from the mental torture that she went through every day.

Seemingly endless tears continued to flow from Tiffany’s eyes. In an effort to comfort her, I gently kissed her tear-stricken face, slowly trailing my soft kisses down her face. I could hear her sobs slowly reduce to small hiccups and then the occasional whimpers.

My lips lingered over hers and I slightly hesitated before lightly brushing my lips on hers. Tiffany then took initiative and locked her lips on mine. Tiffany let go of my shirt only to tightly grasp the collar in an attempt to pull me closer to her. Within seconds, we were in the middle of heated kiss.

Any remaining strength left me as Tiffany continued to play the dominant force in our kiss. Through her kiss, Tiffany was unconsciously sending me her torn feelings. As the kiss grew deeper, I could feel her despair. She was desperate to find a safe haven where she could pour her feelings into and leave them there so she could just forget. Forget and leave everything behind her.

“Let’s make happy memories together,” she told me as we broke off the kiss. A weak smile formed on her lips and her eyes crinkled into the familiar shape of a crescent moon.

Before I knew it, a tear slid down my cheek. As much as my peripheral vision could allow, I watched the droplet fall onto my lap and soon, droplet after droplet, they rained down on my lap. I covered my blurred eyes to contain the unexpected tears.

I choked out a laugh. “Ha, this is funny. Why am I crying?” I tried to force a large smile on my face as I wiped my eyes with my palm. It failed, however, when I could feel my emotions take control of me and force my lips into a frown. I gritted my teeth in frustration after failing to hide my feelings again.

I was a hypocrite. Despite telling Tiffany that we didn’t need to keep any secrets from each other, I still did. I was a complete hypocrite.

How was I supposed to tell her that I was the one who saved her? That I was the one who saw her in her broken state? That I knew all along what had happened to her and never told her?

Would she be happy? Angry? Sad? Or even disappointed?

I was too scared to know.

But if Tiffany could tell me, why couldn’t I?

It was because I was weak. I wasn’t strong. I wasn’t brave. I was just good at hiding these unwanted emotions.

I tried to calm down my erratic breathing but it only seemed to worsen.

Tiffany’s eyes flashed with worry. “Tae…what’s wrong?” she managed to say in her tired voice. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly.

If it was time for me to grow up, it was now. I couldn’t continue to be this weak person that I was. How could I support Tiffany, who needed it the most, in this state?  How could she lean on someone like the current me, who would probably break at the slightest wind?

“I-I…” was all I managed to wring out of my throat as I started to lose control of my body. It seemed at this moment, all I wanted to do was to cry.

Tiffany’s sore voice shook as she saw me at my most defenseless state. “TaeTae…I-I think it’d be best to splash some water on your face,” she suggested uncertainly.

I only nodded because I was sure the only thing that would come out my mouth would be wailing screams.

Standing on my shaky, unstable legs, Tiffany guided me toward the kitchen. She turned the faucet on and water quickly gushed out. I started slapping water on my face, inwardly yelling at myself to stop crying.

“Tae…”

I looked up at Tiffany who was staring at the wall with vacant eyes.

She continued after she heard me turn off the faucet, indicating that she caught my attention. “I want to show you something.”

The atmosphere seemed to only get stiffer as Tiffany slowly turned to me, he head slightly tilted. Her lips curved into a poignant smile as she asked me, “Are you feeling better?”

“Ah…yeah. Everything that you told me…I guess it was too much for me to handle.” I clenched my hand into a fist as I could feel the anger inside me rise. “I’d do anything to give them a piece of my mind right now,” I snarled. “Kill them, even.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. “But I still haven’t told you everything.”

I stayed silent waiting for her to continue.

“It’s hard to believe…that’s why I’ll have to show you,” she said. Tiffany, then, reached out toward the drawer and began searching or something in the array of utensils.

My heart raced as it came to me what Tiffany was trying to do. I already watched it happen, her regeneration ability and she was going to reenact it for me. “Stop! Don’t!” I grabbed Tiffany’s hand, halting her movement. “D-Don’t hurt yourself.”

Tiffany blinked at me. “…What do you mean?”

I gulped. “Don’t hurt yourself,” I repeated. I looked down at the floor, unable to look at her. I had to tell her. Tell her that I was in on her secret since the beginning.

Tiffany’s eyes narrowed at me in suspicion. “And why would you assume that?”

I couldn’t hold it in anymore. My guilty conscience couldn’t take it. “Because! Because I know! I know!” I could feel tears coming out of my eyes again.

“You…know?”

“I know what happened to you.” That helpless feeling appeared again as Tiffany stared at me in confusion, her eyes flickering into the color of darkish blue. “I knew all along…that your eyes could change color, that you were kidnapped,” I paused before forcing the words out of my mouth,” and that your wounds healed at an inhuman rate.”

Frightened, I looked up at her. Now all I had to do…was to wait for her response.

It was strange. I felt almost relieved to let that secret go. I had finally dropped the heavy burden off my shoulders. This is what I wanted, right? For Tiffany and me to share the terrible burdens that only we would share.

I felt my life slowly being taken away from me as the painful seconds passed by. “Are you mad at me?” I timidly asked, trying to break the silence.

Tiffany hung her head, her eyes examining the white tiles that decorated the floor.

Flustered by her silence, I bowed to her in apology. “I’m sorry for not telling you before! W-We had to keep this a secret b-but…I couldn’tnot tell you. I know I have no reason to keep this hidden from you. I-I just…I’m so sorry.” I collapsed, landing on the floor on my knees. “I’m so-”

“Shh,” Tiffany interrupted me.

“Fany…”

“We? So who else was in on this?” She asked in a somewhat angry tone.

I hesitated. I was breaking the rules…but so what? “Me…Jessica-” I started to name.

“Sica? Sica knew? She knew that you were involved?” Her voice echoed her obvious anger in me.

I nervously answered her, “…Yes.”

Tiffany sighed as she bent down to reach my eye level.

“I’m sorr-”

“Be quiet,” she ordered.

I hung my head in shame. “…I love you,” I said in a pathetic attempt for Tiffany to accept my apology.

“…We both have our reasons. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t mad…I’m confused. Should I be angry that you kept this secret hidden from me? I can’t believe you all kept this secret from me but…at the same time, I feel happy.”

“Happy?”

She nodded. “I’m happy …because you knew what happened to me all along and you still treated me like a normal person. TaeTae…you really are perfect.”

I smiled inwardly at her comment. Tiffany’s compliments seemed to be the only thing that kept me content. “…So you forgive me?”

“Hmm…maybe,” she said in a joking manner. Tiffany smiled brightly at me, her eyes puffy from the crying she had done before.

“Maybe?” I cried in despair.

“Just do one thing for me and I’ll forgive you.”

“Anything for you…”

“I want you to love me as much as I love you. I need you in my life, TaeTae. So will you always be there beside me?”

“Always,” I promised her. With a small kiss, we sealed the promise. We would be together forever. Until the end of time, even. So until then, we would never be separated. I was sure of that.

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A/N: S: I apologize for taking so long on updating. I was losing motivation for this story so it took long to get back to it. But I’m excited to write future chapters so good news, I guess? Anyway, I apologize once again. I hope you guys like this chapter. Subscribe and comment~

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V: READERS. I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE. IF YOU WANT US TO CONTINUE WRITING, GET ME YOUR CONNECTIONS AND GET ME AND S A TICKET FOR THE GOOGLE CONCERT. KTHXBAI. jk. sad lyfe. Happy Mothers Day. I am the biggest procrastinator in the whole freaking world, I'll update HvH soon... soooooon... SOOOOOOON. not. maybe. idk.