Tiffany’s body was aching when she woke up. Being bound all night made her shoulder and arm muscles sore and even though her bodyguard was keeping her warm from behind, the cold had attacked her stiff legs.

“Things getting real cosy back here.”

Tiffany was taken aback by a pair of worn out trekking shoes came to a stop in front of her face. Her eyes followed up the dirty green pant legs and met with a mobile phone in the hands of her captor.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Taking a picture.”

Tiffany blinked in confusion. “Why?”

“Gotta prove I got you.” Cassie clucked in disgust. “There’s no trust these days.”

Falling silent, Tiffany contemplated the woman. She didn’t seem to be as scary as she had thought at first. But it was dangerous to assume too much about her. A groan from behind distracted her from those thoughts. Taeyeon was only just waking up which struck her as strange. Her bodyguard was usually alert and her conversation with Cassie should have woken her up from the start.

“Taeyeon?” Tiffany tried to turn. An overly warm hand covered her arm and Tiffany was alarmed. “Taeyeon, you feel hot.”

Her bodyguard groaned again as her eyes opened slowly. “I have a headache,” she moaned.

“Oh no, do you have a fever?”

Cassie came forward and pressed a hand on Taeyeon’s face. “. You’re sick.”

Taeyeon coughed in reply and tried to sit up. Cassie helped and leaned her against the wall. “Thanks,” Taeyeon croaked.

“ing piece of .”

“I’m sorry,” said Taeyeon.

“Don’t ing apologise.” Cassie stepped away after palming Taeyeon’s neck and made a call to someone. “Get me some meds for fever before you come back.”

“I’ll be okay after some rest,” said Taeyeon. “It was probably too cold last night.”

“Still stubborn like a loyal dog,” said Cassie, making it sound like an undesirable quality. “You better not die on my hands and mess up my plans.”

“I won’t die.”

Tiffany stared, open mouthed at the exchange between their captor and her bodyguard. Did she just witness an old lovers’ quarrel? There was definitely a lot of history lurking under the surface tension and she did not like it much. She wasn’t going to say anything right now but once they were left alone again, her bodyguard was in for a grilling.

Growing accustomed to the restraint on her wrists and ankles, Tiffany learnt how to work with her fists on the ground and managed to push herself to Taeyeon’s side after Cassie went back to the other side of the shed.

“Lean on me and rest,” she said to her bodyguard.

Taeyeon lifted her head from her arms and smiled at her. “You’re gonna be really sore if I do that.”

“But you got a fever because you were keeping me warm.”

“I got a fever because it was cold. It’s not your fault.” Taeyeon patted her shoulder. “Are your arms sore?” she asked.

Tiffany nodded. “Do you think you can ask her to untie my hands?”

“I don’t think I can ask her to do anything,” Taeyeon replied while positioning herself to massage Tiffany’s arms.

“But she’s your ex. You know each other.”

“She owes me one but I won’t call for the favour yet.”

“What does she owe you?”

“Don’t ask. And don’t let her hear you talking about it.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know how she’ll react. So I’ll save it for now.”