With her head in a wreck and her hair in a mess, Yuri rolled herself off the bed in a failed attempt to sit upright , accidentally knocking her head against the drawer beside her in the process. “Ouch…” she said groggily, as her world seemed to spin uncontrollably like a out of control merry-go-round.

“Yuri, are you awak—YURI!”

Jessica, who had brought in a bowl of hangover soup for Yuri immediately put the bowl on the table and ran over to Yuri who was still groaning on the floor. “How long was I asleep?” Yuri mumbled as she staggered to get up, but her weak body couldn’t pull itself anymore than 2 steps before she tumbled onto the floor again, this time, with her arms eaglespread as she lay on the cold, marble floor.

“About 2 days, don’t know whether it was the alcohol or the fatigue then knocked you out but you should’ve stayed in bed.” Jessica reprimanded as she helped Yuri to her feet and got her to lie back down on the bed.

“What’s the commotion?” Tiffany asked as she peeked into Jessica and Yuri’s room.

“Nothing much.” Yuri lied.

Jessica gave Yuri a quick flick on the head before she answered Tiffany. “Our sleeping beauty here fell off the bed while still having a hangover.”

“Good morning sleeping beauty.” Tiffany teased, giggling as she pulled off the hood of her hoodie.

Yuri reacted to Tiffany’s statement with a roll of her eyes as she tugged on Jessica’s sleeve. “I’m hungry.” She pouted.

“I’m hungry.” Taeyeon said teasingly at Yuri’s aegyo when she  stopped by the door and leant casually on Tiffany’s shoulder.

Tiffany smiled and knocked Taeyeon’s head with her own, whispering something into Taeyeon’s ear. “So you’ll make me something special later?” Taeyeon said aloud.

“Shhh! You’re not suppos—“ Tiffany shushed but Jessica cut her off.

“I want a special breakfast too.” She beamed innocently at Tiffany as she force fed Yuri the rest of the hangover soup before letting Yuri lay back on the bed to rest.

Tiffany’s lips immediately curled into a frown and she bolted for the door. “I’m not feeling well!” she yelled, making a mad dash out of the room to avoid being caught but just as she opened the door, she crashed into a person, causing her to fall backwards.

“Owwie!” She squeaked as she covered the back of her head which she had knocked against the floor and screwed her eyes shut to overcome the pain.

“Tiffany for the last ti—“

“Yah, don’t scold her, Sooyoung.” Sunny said, her strength had returned to her voice and she was now walking arm in arm with Sooyoung, though she still had to lean on her taller half for support because of the slight wobbliness in her legs.

“Fany ah?” Taeyeon called out as she looked down her eyes widened when she saw Tiffany holding her head and  lying on the floor.

“Tiffany!” she yelled, immediately jumping down over the ledge of the second floor of their penthouse room and onto the marble floor where she immediately held Tiffany in her arms.

“I’m fine, TaeTae.” Tiffany smiled reassuringly, poking Taeyeon’s cheek playfully.

“Taeyeon!” a voice came from the floor above them.

“Yuri?” Taeyeon said, surprised that Yuri could stand during her hangover.

“Yuri! Yuri what happened? Yuri!” Jessica yelled as she shook Yuri, who was now holding onto the handrails of the corridor so tightly it was as though she was hanging on for her life as cold beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

After several moments, Yuri suddenly jerked and she was immediately brought back to the present, her knuckles having gone white from holding onto the rails so tightly. “Yuri?” Jessica repeated softly as she looked into Yuri’s distant gaze which showed only one expression ; fear.

“Don’t. Do. That. Again.” Yuri said in between her clenched teeth as she glared down at Taeyeon before turning back into her room, ignoring Jessica who was repeatedly trying to find out what happened.

“What did I do?” Taeyeon asked as she looked around the room at Sooyoung and the others who simply gave her a shrug.

Tiffany, who had finally opened her eyes, gave a gasp of surprise when she saw the two girls arm in arm with each other. “When did you two?” she managed to say in shock as she cupped her hand over , trying to acknowledge the fact that the two of them were together.

“You tell her.” Sunny said shyly as she hid behind Sooyoung’s frame.

“Last night. Want me to tell you the whole story?”

“From the beginning till the end.” Taeyeon replied, smiling when she saw the black kitten push it’s way into the room from in between Sooyoung’s legs.

Two nights ago…

“Send my regards when she wakes up.” Leeteuk said just before he left the room.

“Right…” Sooyoung replied softly as she looked at Leeteuk’s gift, a basket of fruits, which was one of the many gifts that the rest of the team and the resident police had sent after knowing about Sunny’s condition.

“She’ll be fine, he said.”she scoffed at the doctor’s words as she looked at Sunny, who looked peaceful and without a care in the world as she lay there, uncertain whether she was unconscious or she was just sleeping. Her expression was almost as if she was about to depart from this world.

“What am I thinking? Choi Sooyoung, snap out of it, it’s just a blood clot, what’s there to be afraid of? It’s not like she’s gonna die.” Sooyoung laughed to herself, hoping that her mind would psycho her into not being pessimistic, but suddenly, another sentence followed her previous one.

“Is she?” she asked herself, all the self comfort in her previous words seemed to have been striked off with a red marker immediately when that sentence popped into her mind.

“Mew.”

“You hungry?” Sooyoung asked the feline, who had popped it’s head out of the harvesack that Taeyeon had passed to her.

“I wonder…”Sooyoung mumbled as she carried the cat out of the bag and rummaged through the bag, hoping that Taeyeon had put something for the animal to eat. “Why did I bother?” she asked herself as she put the bag back onto the chair after finding nothing that the cat or her could eat.

“She could’ve at least put a sandwich in. Is games all she thinks about?” Sooyoung grumbled as she looked down at the cat who was now looking up at her, giving her the expression that said “Feed me”.

“Alright alright, I get it, move your , we’re going down to the canteen to get you some food.”

At that moment, the door of the ward opened, causing the kitten to jump in shock and run under the bed. “H-hi.”

“Onew?” Sooyoung said, tilting her said slightly sideways to look at Onew who was half hiding behind the door ,”What’re you doing? Come on in. It’s not like I’m going to eat you or anything.”

“Y-yeah I guess so. I bought you…” he looked at the Sooyoung first before he looked at the black kitten who was now peeping out from under the bed ,” And you, dinner.”

Sooyoung’s eyes immediately lit up when she saw a few packets of food inside the plastic bag that Onew was holding, along with a large paper bag that contained fruits, chips, drinks, candy and a tin of cat food. “I bought everything that you and Sunny liked. I thought she’d be awake by now.” Onew said before he took a chair and sat in one corner of the room.

“Onew,” Sooyoung called out as she sat on another chair and started to chow down,”Come here, I can’t finish it all.”

“But…”

“I said get your over here.” She commanded, leaving him with no other choice.

“Right.” Onew replied, defeated as he dragged his chair over and awkwardly sat beside Sooyoung. “What’re you feeling so awkward about? Dig in!” the tall girl said, handing Onew a packet of food, which he took reluctantly while straining to maintain a distance between himself and Sooyoung.

“Look, I’m not mad at you anymore alright, so just get your fat over here and sit beside me.” Sooyoung said frustratedly, glaring at Onew.

Silence filled the room with a stale aura as the two sat side by side on a couch situated beside Sunny’s bed. “I should seriously get one of these back to our office.” Sooyoung said as she gave the soft seats a punch before she sank back into the seat.

“Well, I think the store hasn’t closed yet, I could order one and have it delivered to our pantry next week.” Onew suggested, jabbing his rice with a spoon.

“That’s really ni—“ Sooyoung had wanted to say that Onew was a nice person but Onew cut her off before she could finish her sentence, leaving her slightly annoyed.

“Sooyoung, listen,” he began, taking a deep breath before he continued,”I didn’t know you liked her, if I knew, I would’ve pushed her to you instead of just hurting her. Didn’t know you were into girls…”

“What about it?” Sooyoung asked challengingly.

“Nothing,” Onew replied ,” Just… be the man that I wasn’t and go for her. Just take care of her, don’t be another jerk like me.”

“I’ll be damned if I did.” Sooyoung chuckled, punching Onew in his abdomen playfully,” And what’re you going all sappy for?”

“Well, maybe because I feel guilty and because Sunny’s been unconscious ever since she got here,” Onew stated, reminding Sooyoung of a fact that she had been trying to get her mind away from by keeping herself busy with other things like feeding the cat and doing the necessary paperwork. ”So much for trying to keep my mind off it.” She thought as she unconsciously let out a sigh and hung her head low.

“I’m sorry, did I s—“

“It’s fine.” Sooyoung replied Onew, who sounded rather guilty.

“Should I leave?” Onew asked.

“That’s your call.” Sooyoung replied, massaging her temples as her eyebrows, her mood taking a huge swing.

“I’ll be going then. Call me if she wakes up so that I can pick you two up.” Onew said before he left.

“Yeah.”

And with that the door closed behind Onew, leaving Sooyoung to be alone in the semi-lit room.

Clouds gathered quietly over the city in a flock, and the first signal of a upcoming rainy night was the gust of strong wind which was followed by a low rumble of thunder. A small tap on the window followed by another, and yet another and soon enough, rain fell over the sky of Las Vegas. 

“Guess you’re going to have to accompany me for tonight.” Sooyoung said clapping her hands lightly to gesture the cat, who was pawing at the window, to come to her.

“Good boy.” She praised, it’s head while looking out the window as she awaited the passing of this painfully long night.

The evening sun hung low in the horizon as Sooyoung continued to sleep soundly, her body fatigued from the sleepless nights over the past few days due to the case. But in the midst of her dream, Sooyoung was awoken by the small shift of the bed. “Mmph what?” she mumbled sleepily, her eyes widening immediately when she saw Sunny shifting into a more comfortable position.

“Oh god yes, the cold side of the pillow.” Sunny murmured under her breath as she slumped back onto the bed after having flipped the pillow to the other side.

“Sunny you’re… You’re awake!” Sooyoung exclaimed after the fact hit her like a kick to the face.

“Yeah I guess so, Soo, can we go ho--” Sunny said but she didn’t complete her sentence before a sharp pain to the back of her head cut off her sentence and left her writhing in pain as she screamed in agony.

“Oh god. DOCTOR!” Sooyoung yelled, startling the cat who immediately ran out of the room with her.

Looking left and right as she ran out into the corridor, she saw a man in a white coat and immediately, she ran to him. “Doctor!”

“Yes? How can I he—“

“My friend! Her head’s in pain! Help her!” Sooyoung blurted out, her breath coming so fast that she didn’t know if half her words were making any sense.

“Which room is she in?” the doctor asked urgently, gesturing for two nurses behind Sooyoung to follow him.

“Room 517!” Sooyoung said, running after the doctor but she was told to wait outside the door before she could even enter the room.

Weakly, she complied and sat lifelessly on a bench outside the door while the cat who had followed her jumped onto the bench and took the seat beside her. “God help her please.” She pleaded as she clasped her hands together tightly, praying for the best outcome.

After what seemed like a whole day, but was in fact half an hour, the doctor emerged from the ward along with the nurses who immediately left in another direction. “Are you a family member?” the doctor asked.

“I’m a friend.” Sooyoung replied hurriedly.

“I see.”the doctor smiled ,” don’t worry it’s just the side effect of not having enough rest and fluids, she’ll be fine tomorrow. Oh by the way, we just gave her some painkillers that knocked her out so if you want to talk to her, I’d suggest you come back in a few hours. Oh and don’t give her anything that will aggravate her condition, if you want to get her some food, I’d suggest something light like porridge or soup. No burgers. Oh, and no pets allowed.”

“Right.” Sooyoung nodded her head in understanding as the doctor walked off.

Quietly she opened the door and the pressure that had been built up in her immediately dissipated when she saw Sunny peacefully lying on the bed, resting. Deciding to ignore the doctor’s words of “no pets allowed”, Sooyoung gestured for the black cat to come in with her.

The kitten trotted into the room after Sooyoung just before the door closed and Sooyoung went back to her original seat, beside Sunny’s bed. “She won’t be up for a few hours, he said.” Sooyoung mumbled as she scratched the kitten’s head, making it purr lightly.

“What should I call you?” she asked aloud, resting her palm on the kitten’s head and pushing it’s head down a little.

“Mew?”

“How about Charlie?”

“Mew.”

“You like it?”

“Pfft…”

“S-sunny? Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” Sooyoung asked in disbelief when she saw one of Sunny’s eyes blink open.

“I only pretended because the doctor was boring me to death,” Sunny explained as she sat upright.

Without a moment’s hestitation, Sooyoung helped Sunny sit up properly by adjusting her pillow. “Yo.” Sunny said to the kitten, who flinched at her hand gesture, “Seriously… Charlie?”

Sooyoung’s face immediately flushed red and her mind went into overdrive as she tried to find an excuse to cover up for her embarassing act. “I was talking to someone on the phone.” She lied.

“Right~” Sunny replied saracasticallyas she gestured for the kitten to come to her, but the moment the kitten jumped on the bed, it was frightened away by another sound ; Sunny’s growling stomach. “Hehe…” she scratched her head in embarassment,” I’m really hungry.”

“Hang on, I’ll get some food from the hospital canteen for you.” Sooyoung offered, immediately standing up.

“No. Wait.”

“Yes?”

Sunny’s expression curled into a pout ,” I don’t like the food here.” She said in her child-like voice.

“You haven’t tried anything from this canteen, if I recall.” Sooyoung argued.

“I don’t care, I want something else.” Sunny frowned.

“Fine. What do y—“

“A happy meal.”

Sooyoung instantaneously shook her head ,” No fast food for you. Doctor’s orders.” She said, emphasizing strongly on the last two words.

“Please?” Sunny pouted.

“No.”

“Puhhhleaaasseeee?”

“N-no.”

“Pretty pretty pretty pretty please?” Sunny said in her cutest possible voice.

“Fine. I’ll go get it for you.” Sooyoung grumbled as she stood up but Sunnyy grabbed Sooyoung’s hand before she could leave.

“I wanna go with you.” She said, swinging herself off the bed and on her feet ,”And I don’t care, I’m going.”

“Just try not to get seen.” Sooyoung warned as she held Sunny’s hand tightly and the two of them slipped out of the room and into the car park below the hospital.

A gust of cold wind blew across the street once again as Sunny hummed a short tune while waiting for Sooyoung, who was still in the fast food restaurant buying dinner for her. “How could I be so blind and not see you?” Sunny mumbled to herself, chuckling when she saw ‘charlie’ sticking it’s head out of Sooyoung’s hoodie.

“I’m sorry I hurt you so many times. It must’ve been hard on you, Sooyoungie.” Sunny sighed as she hung her head low.

“Yay! Happy meal!” Sunny squealed with delight when Sooyoung finally came out of the restaurant holding a paper bag.

“You get your burger and drink, but no fries for you.” Sooyoung said sternly as she passed Sunny the food.

“Yes Ma’am.” Sunny smiled sweetly as she unwrapped the burger and took her first bite in two days,”It’s good.”

“You’re gonna catch a cold.” Sooyoung mumbled, taking off her jacket and carefully putting it over Sunny’s shoulders.

“Thanks.” Sunny smiled.

“Sunny? Your eyes… You look sleepy.”

Sunny simply gave a weak smile and continued chewing on her burger, though she could feel her eyes getting heavier and her mind starting to go blank. Her movements were getting slower and after she had swallowed the third bite, her body began to sway from side to side. “Sunny. Sunny. Yah! Sunny!” Sooyoung yelled when Suunny suddenly dropped her food and slumped onto her shoulders ,”I knew we should’ve stayed in the hospital. Idiot.”

Without finishing the rest of the food, Sooyoung carried Sunny on her back and began her slow walk back to the car. “Should’ve used the drive-through.” She muttered.

“Who the hell parks a car ten blocks away?” Taeyeon said out of the blue, her eyebrows knitting and her expression skeptical while Sooyoung gave her a roll of her eyes in response to the useless comment.

“The only free-for-all parking lot was ten blocks away, the rest were either full or belonged to the bar beside it.” Sunny explained.

“Ah…” Tiffany nodded ,”That’s usually the case around here. It was like that in Los Angeles too, I remember I would spend about ten minutes driving around the neighbourhood just to find the nearest parking space.”

“You studied in L.A?” Taeyeon asked, her eyes widening.

“Yeah. Studied business when I was younger until I argued with my dad to let me become a policewoman after my apartment in L.A was robbed by a burglar.” Tiffany shrugged indifferently.

“Your dad was probably worried you’d get into trouble, like me.” Sunny chuckled ,”And Taeyeon.”

“Shhh!” Taeyeon shushed, bringing a finger up to her lip.

“Something like that I guess. Anyway, Sooyoung, continue with your story. I’ll call for some cheesecake.”Tiffany smiled, taking Taeyeon’s hand off her shoulder as she walked over to the phone to call for room service ,”Leeteuk’s paying anyway.” She added cheekily as she dialed in the hotel reception.

2:08 a.m, Spring Valley Hospital, Las Vegas.

“I knew I shouldn’t have brought Sunny’s laptop along to play games.” Sooyoung sobbed regrettably as she hugged her bag, occasionally turning around and looking warily at the dark sky which lay outside the window to ensure that no zombie from ‘dead space’ was creeping up on her.

“Mew~” Charlie meowed at the screen where Sooyoung had opened up clips of other cats to keep him entertained.

“Life’s easy for you, isn’t it? Get a female cat, doesn’t matter if she’s pretty or not, mate, have kids, and you have nothing to worry about.” Sooyoung remarked as she replayed all the videos again.

Charlie gave a mewl in response to Sooyoung’s comment and turned it’s head back to Sunny who was slowly beginning to stir. “Yah, Charlie.” Sooyoung hissed urgently.

“Mew~”Charlie purred, Sunny’s face and causing her to flinch slightly upon contact with it’s small, wet tongue.

“Charlie!” Sooyoung said a little too loudly, and immediately, the cat jumped off Sunny and ran off to the other side of the ward, waking Sunny up.

“Soo..” Sunny said in a bare whisper as she seemed to struggle to keep her eyes open.

“It’s nothing, go to sleep Sunny. You need to rest.” Sooyoung ushered as she pushed Sunny’s forehead back down.

Straining her neck and using half of her remaining energy, Sunny managed to push Sooyoung’s hand away. “I’m not… tired.” Sunny protested.

“You were never a good liar.” Sooyoung chuckled ,”What do you need? A drink? Or do you want a bite of your burger.”

“Some things are more important than burgers and drinks.”

“Did Leeteuk brainwash you with his philosophies and again?” Sooyoung questioned, gently knocking Sunny’s head ,”You need to stop talking like him.”

“He didn’t. I just need to tell you something.” Sunny said, panting as her eyes began to flutter.

Realising that Sunny wasn’t going to give up if she didn’t get to say her piece, Sooyoung gave in,“Alright alright, shoot.”

“I think I’ve started to grow on you, and… After all this while, maybe I’ve been saying I love you the wrong person.” Sunny confessed with short pauses.

“Wh-what?”Sooyoung blathered, feeling her tongue coil itself into a knot while she frantically tried to untie it to make her sentences comprehensible.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m moving you out of the friendzone.” Sunny giggled, then coughed violently.

Sooyoung supported Sunny and her back gently. “I told you no fast food, but nooooooooo, you had to insist.” She scolded.

“My bad,” she smiled as she rested her head on Sooyoung’s shoulder ,”Soo, do you think you could give us a chance? Give me a chance?”

“I don’t understand what you mean.” Sooyoung lied, gently putting Sunny back down on the bed.

“This,” Sunny said with a little frustration in her voice as she sent a kiss at Sooyoung, slamming into her lips for a full minute before she finally parted,” is what I mean.”

“I… I… Sunny… I don’t know… What to… say.” I ju—“

“You don’t need to say anything,” Sunny whispered,”just nod your head.”

Sooyoung couldn’t help but manage a smile. So I’m not allowed to say no?” she asked cheekily.

“Do you want to?”

“I guess not.” Sooyoung replied with a weak grin as she closed her eyes and connected their foreheads together. “Eskimo kiss!” Sunny giggled, rubbing their noses together.

“Alright,” Sooyoung said, pushing Sunny gently back down on the bed ,” Now go to sleep.”

“Just one more question.” Sunny insisted, though her eyes were almost closing by now,”How did you know , Charlie couldn’t have told you anything so I figured that you somehow figured out where I was hiding. How did you know?”

“Well, I remember when we passed by Juda’s house, there was this large patch of grass that was flattened. It couldn’t have been flattened by human feet because that area was once a graveyard so no one in their right mind would want to live there, and furthermore, there were tyre tracks. Furthermore, the tracks led up to a mecedes and I’d assume that the senile old lady living near Juda wouldn’t be able to drive a car, and when we checked, the car boot had traces of blood that belonged to the dead victims so since Juda didn’t kidnap you, it must’ve been someone else living in the same house, his manag.. I told you you should’ve slept earlier.” Sooyoung shook her head when she finally noticed that Sunny had fallen asleep halfway through her story when she felt Sunny shift her body into a more comfortable position.”

“That was so cute!” Tiffany clapped.

Taeyeon laughed out loud at the last part and gave Sooyoung a mocking grin ,”You must’ve been too boring, miss supervisor.”

“Shut up.” Sooyoung growled , throwing a pillow across the table at Taeyeon, which Taeyeon easily hit aside.

“Sica, join us!” Sunny called out as Jessica came out of Yuri’s room holding Yurin.

“How’s Yuri?” Taeyeon asked,” she seemed to overreact a little when I jumped down the ledge even though it was just one storey high.”

“She wouldn’t tell me what happened.” Jessica replied glumly.

“Say your sorries.” Tiffany hissed, jabbing Taeyeon in the stomach with her elbow.

Taeyeon winced but quickly complied. “Sorry about what happened.” She said half heartedly.

Jessica smiled as she gestured for Charlie to follow her while Yurin looked down curiously at her new friend. “I’m going to get some cat food for them, any of you want anything?”

“Jjajang noodles!” Sunny shouted.

“Get her fish congee instead,” Sooyoung immediately said before she turned to Sunny and reprimanded her ,”How many times have I told you to eat lighter food?”

“Aish, you two are driving me insane.” Taeyeon shook her head, standing up from her seat and pulling Tiffany up ,”Arcade time.”

Tiffany’s face immediately lit up at the word ‘arcade’ and without further delay, the two of them accompanied Jessica to the entrance of the hotel before they walked their separate ways.

“Yuri ah… What happened?” Jessica thought to herself as she walked down the bustling street with Charlie and Yurin in her arms.

Alright I’m done ^^ Woots sorry for a late update, I was busy with my examinations and projects, just one more exam tomorrow and I’m done for the term ^^ Wahahahahahahahaha but then I have another 2 projects due in like… 5 weeks and another due this Tuesday. Fml >_> Needa finish it tomorrow :\

Anyways hope you guys enjoyed the update and for u new readers, do comment and check out my other stories too. If you have any enquires, please feel free to ask. Oh yeah just so you guys know, I’m returning back to the main case so my updates might get shorter but they’re gonna be more intense and every sentence that I write has a meaning behind it so do take note so that you don’t end up being clueless >< I never believed in long chapters with no meaning behind it so yeah. oh and if you guys find the chapter title weird, I'm sorry coz i was too lazy to think up a proper title ><

Now, Soosun is together and Yuri’s having some major problem with people jumping down floors, what has scarred her so badly that she can’t even bear to remember it? Stay tuned…

Well that’s all for now. Until next time~

Time out~