AN: A(sort of) double update. I have midterms next week so I won't be able to write for a while >.< 

Hope you enjoy this update! Things are starting to pick up!

(Also can we all just take a second to appreciate this picture of Hyoyeon?)

---

 

Jessica noticed something a little weird today. This morning she was dismissed from the infirmary and Yuri, who had come to pick her up, walked her to the common rooms to shower and change. They got breakfast like usual and walked to classes but Jessica had been feeling a little...claustrophobic.

 

She glanced up at Yuri, who noticed and looked down at her. “What’s wrong?”

 

Jessica shook her head. Nothing was wrong per say. But Yuri was..sticking a little closer than usual.

 

“Did McGonagall ask you to do this?” she asked suddenly as they walked to Charms.

 

“W-what? What do you mean?” Yuri’s blush only made Jessica want to laugh. So she was right. McGonagall had asked Yuri to watch over her.

 

“So convincing,” Jessica teased.

 

Yuri pouted. “Okay. You caught me. She did. She said to watch you for these couple of days, just in case.” ‘In case someone tries to kill me again,’ Jessica finished the sentence in her mind.

 

Jessica nodded. That explained Yuri’s weirdly overprotective behavior this morning...and why they hadn’t left each other's sides for over four hours. The girl had even stood right outside the bathroom waiting for her as she showered. 

 

“By the way,” Jessica mentioned, as her conversation with the Headmistress popped into her head. “McGonagall talked to me last night too.”

 

Yuri perked up. “What about?”

 

“She told me we shouldn’t stick our noses where they belong. Basically, stay out of trouble,” Jessica elaborated.

 

Yuri hummed. “Are you going to listen to her?”

 

“What do you think?” Jessica shot back mischeviously, causing Yuri to grin.

 

“I knew there was a reason why I liked you," Yuri commented. 

 

“We have to talk to the Gryffindors,” Jessica announced suddenly.

 

Yuri’s face changed dramatically. “Remind me why I like you again?”

 

“I’m serious,” Jessica stayed firm. “I know you don’t get along with them, but they have information that we may need.”

 

“Uh, fyi, you don’t get along with them either,” Yuri pointed out childishly, purposely avoiding the topic.

 

“Yuri. They might be able to help us find my attacker.”

 

Yuri stayed mum knowing Jessica was right, as usual, but that didn't mean she had to like it. 

 

“Look, I don’t know why, but the Kodama and the attack - I think they’re related,” Jessica rambled. “I can’t really explain why. I just have this feeling. When I was attacked, I saw a hooded figure retreating into the forest, where the Kodama were. Something’s going on in that forest, and we need help.”

 

The look on Yuri’s face clearly showed that she did not enjoy the idea but she was not about to leave Jessica alone on this mission or whatever this was. Especially not in the hand of those Gryffindors.

 

“Jessica,” Yuri’s face was solemn. “We do not get along, and we will never get along.”

 

"Why?" Jessica insisted. The Gryffindors weren't that bad, even if Hyoyeon seemed to hate their guts and Taeyeon would not stop glaring at her. They were pretty civil otherwise. Plus, Tiffany always seemed like a ray of sunshine to everyone. 

 

Yuri averted her eyes and Jessica instantly knew it had to do with whatever happened in the past. Jessica felt her heart clench at the sight of Yuri. Whatever happened, whatever caused the whole school to turn on Yuri, had clearly left a big scar on the girl.

 

“Please try to cooperate,” Jessica begged, which was completely uncharacteristic of her. She blamed the recent incident causing her to go weak. Normally, she would’ve just left Yuri there and went about this alone. But things had changed. “At least until we figure this out.”

 

“Fine,” Yuri agreed after a moment of consideration, but her face darkened significantly, and Jessica started to second guess her idea of collaborating with the Gryffindors. Jessica could only wonder why they had bad blood, why the whole school seemed to be against Yuri.

 

Jessica paused in front of the door to their Charms classroom where the three people they were just talking about were hopefully sitting inside. “I’ll ask them to meet us. After curfew.”

 

Yuri didn’t meet her eyes but she didn’t protest either. Instead, she pushed open the doors, strutted to her seat and plopped down wordlessly. Jessica sat down next to her, worrying over whether the five of them would be able to work together properly.  

 

She glanced across the room. Tiffany caught her eyes and sent her an ever charming eye-smile. Taeyeon met her eyes only to look away. Hyoyeon didn’t even bother looking in their direction, though Jessica did notice Hyoyeon glancing briefly at Yuri upon their entrance.

 

‘I just hope we don’t end up killing each other.’

 

---

 

 

Yuri didn’t talk to her the entire Charms class, but even when mad, Yuri didn’t just abandon Jessica after class ended. Instead, she waited by the door with a careful eye on Jessica,  fully intending on keeping her promise to McGonagall.

 

“Did you send the message?” Yuri asked as Jessica approached her with her book bag in hand.

 

Jessica nodded as she pursed her lips out of habit. Hopefully they would get the message. She looked up at Yuri who looked unpleased at the whole situation.

 

Now, they wait.

 

 

---

 

 

Tiffany sat on her bed, unpacking her bag as she hummed along to a random melody. She was finally done with classes for the day and had to start her homework for tomorrow.

 

“Hey, Fany, did you do the potions homework?” Hyoyeon asked lazily from her bed.

 

“Don’t bother her for homework. Just do it yourself,” Taeyeon grumbled halfheartedly from her bed, too immersed in the transfigurations textbook. Hyoyeon of course paid no attention to Taeyeon.

 

“Please, Fany.”

 

“Yeah sure.” Tiffany grabbed her book bag, preparing to pull out the potions worksheet when suddenly, something white jumped out of her bag.

 

“Kyaaa!” She flung her bag across the room in panic, which knicked Hyoyeon on the side of her face, causing the girl cry out in pain and fall off her bed. Taeyeon snickered behind her textbook as the whole scene played out in front of her.

 

“Not funny!” Tiffany screamed. “Which one of you pranked me this time.” She glared over at Taeyeon who peered innocently at her from behind the thick book. She then turned to Hyoyeon in rage. “You!”

 

“I didn’t do it I swear!” Hyoyeon clutched the side of her face which was hit. “Why would I put a...paper crane into your bag? It’s not even a bug!”

 

"I also doubt you know how to fold paper cranes," Taeyeon retorted from her bed. Hyoyeon merely grunted in response. She couldn't say Taeyeon was wrong.

 

Tiffany looked curiously at the white object. In her panic, she realized she didn’t even get to see what it was. True to Hyoyeon’s words, a white paper crane flapped its wings as it sat on Tiffany’s bed.

 

“What the.” Tiffany reached for the crane, which hopped onto Tiffany’s open palm. As Tiffany reached to poke the crane, it suddenly unfolded, revealing neat handwriting.

 

“We need to talk. Please come to the library at midnight. Bring your friends.

                                    -Jessica Jung”

 

Tiffany read the note out loud, and as soon as she finished, the paper refolded itself into a crane and combusted into ashes. Tiffany looked over at her friends for their reactions.

 

“Sounds like she’s breaking up with you,” Hyoyeon commented snarkily, as she laid down on her bed.

 

Tiffany blushed at the insinuation while Taeyeon threw her giant transfiguration textbook at Hyoyeon.

 

“Ow!” 

 

“Stop joking. We should take this seriously,” Tiffany defended, trying hard to cool down her face. “What do you think she wants?”

 

“Who cares?” Hyoyeon asked defensively, rubbing the other side of her face. “We are not going. I’m telling you, that invitation is fishy. Why didn’t she ask us in person? We literally saw her in class today, like less than an hour ago. Instead she sends you this magical crane thing. I’m telling you it’s a trap, probably Yuri’s plan.”

 

Taeyeon stayed quiet, looking like she was thinking a thousand thoughts at once.

 

“I don’t think so,” Tiffany murmured, eyeing the message in thought. ”Do you think it has to do with that night?” Tiffany asked cautiously. None of them had mentioned it since that night.  “With...the Kodama?”

 

There was an awkward silence as the three were reminded of what transpired that night. Hyoyeon furrowed her eyebrows. “It’s bloody suspicious. I don’t trust them. They’re probably just trying to lure us out so they could kill us. I wouldn’t put it past them, the bloody Slytherins. We probably know too much and they just want us dead.”

 

“They won’t kill us,” Tiffany deadpanned, fed up with her friend's immaturity. “Besides, Jessica did seem to know a lot about the Kodama. And isn’t this something we’ve been trying to figure out since last year? Maybe she can help us.”

 

“Or she wants to kills us.”

 

Tiffany rolled her eyes. Sometimes, Hyoyeon's childish fantasies were too much. The girl's watched way too many muggle films. She looked over at Taeyeon for support, only to find the girl staring blanking into space.

 

“Taeyeon?”
 

The the girl snapped out of her thoughts. “Sorry, what?”

 

“What do you think we should do?” Tiffany asked her best friend. Taeyeon was usually the most logical one out of the three of them. Tiffany trusted Taeyeon to give a sound response. 

 

Taeyeon frowned. “I don’t trust them.”

 

“Wow! Taeng and I actually agree for once!” Hyoyeon exclaimed in wonder.

 

“But,” Taeyeon interrupted. “I think we need to go.”

 

Tiffany beamed at her best friend while Hyoyoen groaned.

 

“Can I at least still get the potions homework, Fany?”

 

 

---

 

“I can’t believe I’m breaking curfew to sneak into the library,” Yuri deadpanned as they walked into the library.

 

“It was the only place I could think of,” Jessica shrugged nonapologetically. Plus, books always calmed her down. 

 

Yuri stared incredulously at Jessica. “Remind me to take you to the Room of Requirement tomorrow.” Yuri followed Jessica through aisles and aisles until they wound up in the section for ‘Magical Creatures.’

 

“How much longer?” Yuri asked. The tall bookcases were starting to look a little terrifying. Never in her life would she have thought libraries to be scary until now. 

 

“Five minutes."

 

“Jessica?” Yuri called out after a moment of silence. 

 

“Yeah?” Jessica answered. She looked to Yuri who had her face hidden in the shadows of the bookshelves.

 

“I just want you to know, that no matter what happens, I’m glad to be your friend," Yuri stated, sincerity dripping from her voice. 

 

Jessica contemplated the confession with surprise. She didn’t know how to react or where it was coming from. The only thing she did know was that it didn’t help settle her nerves.

 

“I’m glad you are my friend too,” she replied minutes later. She meant it. 

 

 

---

 

 

“So this is the library,” Hyoyeon breathed out, her eyes darting around as they took in the massive shelves and thousands of books.

 

“You mean you’ve never been in here?” Tiffany questioned disbelievingly. “How’d you do assignments that required borrowing books from the library?”

 

Hyoyeon shrugged. “I copied off of you or Taeyeon.”

 

Tiffany shot Taeyeon an exasperated look who returned the gesture with her own look that said ‘Trust me, I know.’

 

“So where is the ‘Magical Creatures’ section?” Hyoyeon asked impatiently. Taeyeon rolled her eyes and walked deeper into the library. Tiffany and Hyoyeon followed behind her silently.

 

As they approached the ‘Magical Creatures’ section, Taeyeon suddenly stopped and held out her wand. Out of the shadows stepped two figures.

 

“It’s us.”

 

Tiffany recognized the voice as Yuri’s. Holding out her own wand, she quickly cast a lighting spell. “Lumos.”

 

Tiffany’s eyes traced the familiar outline of Jessica’s slim body, heading up her luscious brown hair, pearl white skin, smooth neck, all the way up until she met piercing brown eyes. Next to Jessica, stood Yuri.

 

“Hi,” she greeted, somewhat feeling a little self conscious though unsure of the reason why. It might’ve been the way Jessica was looking at her. Or it might’ve been the stare Yuri was giving her. Or maybe it was the way she had just unconciously checked out the brunette Slytherin. Either way, Tiffany was unnerved.

 

“What do you want?” Hyoyeon demanded. Jessica raised her two hands in surrender, revealing her empty hands. It was meant as a sign to show that she did not come here to fight. She was standing wandless and therefore defenceless. 

 

“We’re not here to fight,” Jessica revealed diplomatically. “I’m here to talk. Tell me what you know about the Kodama.”

 

Hyoyeon growled. “Why should we tell you anything?”

 

“Because,” Jessica responded calmly. “Hogwarts may be in danger.”

 

The Gryffindors stilled in fear at the revelation. They looked at each warily. 

 

“From what?” Taeyeon demanded, setting her narrowed eyes onto Jessica’s.

 

Jessica directed her attention toward the shorter girl. Her eyes quickly swept over Taeyeon’s stance. Unlike the other two Gryffindors, Taeyeon wasn’t as tense from the news.

 

‘A lion’s courage,’ Jessica thought brieflt to herself. “I will tell you after you tell me what you know about the Kodama.”

 

Hyoyeon squinted her eyes in distrust. She did not trust Jessica. She definitely did not trust Yuri. However, Tiffany thought otherwise.

 

Stepping forward the usually bubbly girl began speaking. “We ran into one, last spring.”

 

 

---

 

 

Last spring...

 

“I caught one!” Hyoyeon shouted in joy as she came out of a bush, clothes disheveled, leaves in her hair, and a struggling chocolate frog in her right hand.

 

“I still don’t get why you can’t just eat your chocolate like normal people,” Taeyeon grumbled as she searched the grass for any hidden frogs. There were still three unaccounted for and they’ve been at it for about half an hour now. Taeyeon just wanted to get back inside and finish her potions essay. She cursed the person who gave Hyoyeon chocolate frogs. ‘Lee Sunkyu, whoever you are…’

 

Tiffany laughed from next to Taeyeon. “She takes playing with her food to a whole ‘nother level,” she commented as she sat in a squatting position, more concerned with enjoying the feeling of grass between her fingers and the breeze blowing through her hair than actually catching any runaway frogs.

 

Taeyeon snorted and was about to respond with another snarky comment when a high pitched scream cut through the air...right next to her ear.

 

“Kyaaaaaaa!” Tiffany shrieked. “Bug! Bug! Bug!” she swatted wildly at whatever just hopped onto her shoulder, jumping up and down like a small kid needing to pee. “Get it off! Get it off! Get it offff!!!! Is it off?!”

 

“It’s off, Pany-ah,” Taeyeon sighed, as she rubbed her ears. They were still ringing from the first scream. She was seriously scared of losing her hearing before she turned thirty at this rate. Tiffany was capable of reaching inhuman decibels. 

 

“Oh! You found one! Nice going Tiffany!” Hyoyeon grinned as she grabbed the offending ‘bug’ that Tiffany slapped away. “That makes two more.”

 

Tiffany shivered, shaking away the feeling of that thing crawling on her. “Y-yay,” she cheered shakingly. She stayed upright, not taking any more chances of letting ‘bugs’ jump at her face.

 

Hyoyeon frowned at the chocolate frog she just picked up. “Is this...blood?” The frog was covered in a red liquid that looked suspiciously like blood, unless it was a special edition chocolate frog with raspberry filling that Hyoyeon didn’t know about.

 

“It’s probably mine,” Taeyeon deadpanned. “Pany screamed so loud, my ears probably bled out.”

 

“Yah!” Tiffany protested. 

 

“See?” 

 

Tiffany smacked Taeyeon. Hard.

 

“Guys!” Hyoyeon interrupted (their lovers quarrel). “Hello? Can we focus here please? Bleeding chocolate frog?”

 

Taeyeon rolled her eyes, but nonetheless gathered around the still wiggling frog. “How do you know it’s blood?” Taeyeon asked. Tiffany hesitantly extended a finger toward the frog in response.

 

“You’re not about to touch that, are you?” Taeyeon eyed Tiffany’s finger in alarm.

 

“Uh...I am. Why?” Tiffany furrowed her eyebrows.

“Because it could be dangerous?” Taeyeon felt stupid for saying something that should’ve been obvious. Merlin’s forbid she was the only one among them who had common sense. “It might be some toxic substance or some weird potion. You don’t know.”

 

“But Hyoyeon already touched it, and she’s fine,” Tiffany pointed out.

 

“Okay, but who cares about Hyoyeon,” Taeyeon pointed out. "And is she ever actually fine?"

 

“Hey!” Hyoyeon wiped a bit of the blood on Taeyeon’s hand in retaliation.

 

“Yah! You did not just do that!” Taeyeon shrieked, pulling out her wand and immediately cleaning it off of her. She kept her wand out just in case Hyoyeon tried something else. She would jinx the girl before she could even come with a couple inches.

 

“It’s blood, okay? It looks like blood.” Hyoyeon sniffed her hand. “It smells like blood.” She poked it. “It feels like blood.” She paused and Taeyeon watched her next move with appalled apprehension. 

 

‘She wouldn’t. She’s not that stupi-’

 

“It tastes like blood,” Hyoyeon commented nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. 

 

Idiot.

 

Hyoyeon was an idiot.

 

A reckless, stupid, simple minded, no-brain, idiot.

 

Taeyeon sighed, relenting to the fact that she really can’t stop Hyoyeon from doing something once she’s set her mind to it. It didn’t help that Tiffany usually backed Hyoyeon up and they would end up ganging up on poor old her.

 

However, this time, it seemed as if Tiffany disapproved as well.

 

Tiffany frowned as she eyed Hyoyeon for any sudden illnesses. Her friend had just blood off of a chocolate frog which had been who know’s where. To say she was slightly worried was an understatement. “That...probably wasn’t very smart,” Tiffany offered hesitantly.

 

‘THANK YOU TIFFANY!’ Taeyeon screamed in her mind. It was soothing to know she wasn’t the only one with a sensible head on her shoulders. This was why she lov - liked Tiffany.

 

Hyoyeon rolled her eyes. “I’m fine, aren’t I?” She wiggled her body for emphasis.

 

Tiffany’s eyes suddenly widened as she spotted something. “Look!” She pointed to the ground behind Hyoyeon. It was barely noticeable, and Taeyeon wouldn’t have even noticed if it weren’t for Tiffany.

 

Hyoyeon eyed the trail of blood, following it until it reached…

 

“The forbidden forest,” she whispered. The blood lead right into the forest, probably where the chocolate frog got covered in blood. Hyoyeon stalked forward until she stood at the edge of the trees. Taeyeon and Tiffany followed with a bit more caution.

 

They paused and Hyoyeon observed the surrounding area, trying to see as far into the woods as possible. The trail of blood continued on into the forest.

 

It took only a second for Hyoyeon to decide. She stepped forward.

 

“You can’t go in there,” Taeyeon immediately warned, grabbing Hyoyeon’s wrist. Knowing Hyoyeon, she would’ve gone in without a second thought, or a first thought for that matter. Tiffany, no doubt, would have followed because she was always curious, and she did not want Tiffany to be in danger because of Hyoyeon’s rashness. She didn’t want either of them getting hurt.

 

“We have to,” Hyoyeon pulled her hand out from Taeyeon’s grasp. She glared at Taeyeon with resolute eyes, trying to bend force Taeyeon’s decision with her own iron will and determination.

 

“We don't have to do anything. It’s dangerous,” Taeyeon reminded the girl steely. “And forbidden. Do you have some sort of death wish?”

 

“A chocolate frog made it out just fine. I’m sure we’ll be fine too,” Hyoyeon pointed out stubbornly.

 

“You are so - ugh!”

 

“Why, thank you. I’m going inside no matter what and you can’t stop me.” Hyoyeon turned back around to face the forest.

 

“Don’t you dare take another step, Kim Hyoyeon,” Taeyeon growled, pulling out her wand to show how serious she was.

 

Hyoyeon groaned. She went to her last resort. “Fany!”

 

Tiffany looked between the two of them before looking down and sighing, taking the moment to clear her head and make a decision. She often found herself in this position, always playing mediator between the two. Who would she side with this time?

 

She looked up to Taeyeon with sad eyes. “Someone could be hurt, Tae. We have to go.”

 

“That someone could be a vicious creature,” Taeyeon tried to reason.

 

“Or it could be a student.”

 

Taeyeon shut up. The possibility hadn’t escaped her, though it was low. If it really was a student in there…

 

Taeyeon would not be able to live with the idea of leaving someone to die.

 

“I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Taeyeon murmured weakly, her demeanor changing completely.

 

Tiffany smiled and reached for Taeyeon’s hand. “You worry too much.” Another light squeeze from Tiffany, and Taeyeon’s resolution had completely melted. Once again, she had lost against Tiffany and Hyoyeon. (Mostly against Tiffany)

 

“Fine,” Taeyeon grumbled. “But we are not going in too deep. And if something starts chasing us, we’re leaving Hyoyeon as bait.”

 

Tiffany threw her head back and laughed. “Of course. I’ll even trip her if she doesn’t offer herself willingly.” Taeyeon smiled back in good humor.

 

Hyoyeon smirked at the softened up ‘Taetae’, not even offended by the joke. ‘Thank you, Tiffany.’ Her last resort almost never failed. “Let’s go.”

 

The trio followed the trail slowly with their wands out.  Taeyeon’s eyes were restless, trying to cover every inch of the forest, alert for anything, anything, that moved. She was not about to die in this wretched place. No, if she were to die, it would be when she was old, granny age old, and after a long life beside the love of her life, Ti-

 

She glanced at the hand holding hers, and then followed it up to the owner’s face. Tiffany’s side profile was always so breathtaking for Taeyeon. Especially when the girl looked so determined like that. It was kind of hot.

 

Taeyeon grimaced. She can’t believe she just thought that of her best friend. Also, what was she doing, checking out Tiffany while they were potentially trekking to their deathbeds? She could not afford to get distracted. She had to keep Tiffany safe.

 

“Look!” Tiffany whispered urgently, before pulling her hand from Taeyeon’s to point in front of them. Taeyeon grew slightly disappointed and annoyed at the sudden loss of skinship, but the sight made her forget about her stupid thoughts for a moment.

 

There was blood everywhere. A huge puddle lay at the bottom of a large tree, and blood was splattered everywhere on the tree, including the very top. Strangely enough, it was only this one tree that had any trace of blood on it.

 

Hyoyeon let go of the previously blood covered chocolate frog, letting it pounce back the way they came. She approached the tree carefully. “What happened here?” she breathed in awe. “There’s so much blood.”

 

“Please,” Taeyeon deadpanned wryly. “Don’t it.”

 

Hyoyeon was reckless but she wasn’t stupid (Taeyeon would disagree). Even she knew better than to just slurp up a puddle of blood.

 

Tiffany placed her hand on the tree, feeling her stomach sink as a thought entered her mind. “We might’ve been too late,” Tiffany spoke up, voicing what the other two were thinking. “Whatever was here, creature or student…” She didn’t finish. She didn’t need to. Taeyeon and Hyoyeon got the underlying message.

 

‘Whatever it was, it’s too late now.’

 

Tiffany ran her hand along the bark as she observed the traces of blood on the tree. “Wait.” Tiffany suddenly started climbing.

 

“Tiffany!” Taeyeon screamed after the girl. Tiffany ignored her and continued to climb up two more branches, paused, and continued climbing.

 

“Guys!” Tiffany shouted from the tree. “Come up here.” Hyoyeon heeded the command instantly, grabbing the same branch that Tiffany did and hoisted herself up.

 

“Why climb when you can just use magic,” Taeyeon muttered to herself. Muttering a spell, she rose herself up next to Tiffany.

 

“That’s cheating,” Hyoyeon exclaimed as she reached where they were. The girl was covered in blood from climbing up the tree. Taeyeon inwardly groaned. If they ever did make it back to the castle alive, they‘d better make sure to clean up or else they would have a lot of explaining to do.

 

“What did you find, Fany-ah?” Taeyeon decided to turn her attention to the girl who was less of a mess.

 

“Look at the tree,” Tiffany exclaimed excitedly. “What do you notice?”

 

Hyoyeon eyed the tree with skepticism. “A lot of blood…?”

 

The sarcasm didn’t deter Tiffany’s smile. “Yes, but look at how it’s covering the tree.” Taeyeon looked but couldn’t see what Tiffany was getting at.

 

“The blood...it came  from the tree!” Tiffany revealed. “Look, the blood on the lower branches were wet, but the blood up here is completely dry.”

 

Hyoyeon raised an eyebrow. “So?”

 

“So,” Tiffany continued. “The blood flowed from the top to the bottom, and dried as it went along. If the blood had been released against the tree all at once, they would dry at the same rate.”

 

“Oh!” Hyoyeon exclaimed, mirroring Tiffany’s enthusiasm. “That makes sense!”

 

“Tiffany.” Taeyeon hated being the logical one, but she had to point it out. “Trees don’t bleed.”

 

The smile wiped off instantly. “Oh.” A pause. “You’re right.” Another pause. “Lol. My bad.”

 

Crack

 

Everyone’s head snapped up.

 

“Was that the branch?” Taeyeon asked.

 

“Looks like someone needs to go on a diet,” Hyoyeon teased.

 

“Yah, don’t call Tiffany fat,” Taeyeon lashed out.

 

Tiffany looked offended. “Taetae, she didn’t say I was the one who needed to diet.”

 

Taeyeon recoiled in horror.

 

“Taeyeon....do you think I’m fat?” Tiffany asked with all the seriousness in her voice.

 

“N-no?” Taeyeon stammered. Oh, was she ever in a tighter spot than she was now?

 

Luckily, Merlin seemed to be on her side...somewhat.

 

As she fought her brain for an answer, the branched suddenly cracked, completely giving away under their weights, and they fell down the tree and landed perfectly in the puddle of blood.

 

“Gahhhh!” Hyoyeon choked. “There’s blood in my mouth!”

 

Taeyeon snorted. “I thought I told you not to drink the blood,” she joked. Suddenly a white form caught her eye. “What is that?”
 

The two others turned their heads just in time to see a tiny white figure watching them from trunk of the tree. Suddenly, it turned around and disappeared behind the tree. They got up to chase after it, slipping on the blood, but the figure wasn’t there anymore. It seemed to just disappear.

 

Taeyeon felt the shivers run down her back.  “What was that?” she asked.

 

“A chocolate frog?” Tiffany joked weakly. “White chocolate edition?”

 

“How about we head back?” Hyoyeon asked, and Taeyeon sensed the slight uncharacteristic waver in her voice. Kim Hyoyeon was scared.

 

Taeyeon had never agreed more readily to any of Hyoyeon’s suggestions, feeling fear creep up on her like a cold breeze.

 

They quickly cleaned themselves off, turned and ran, never looking back.

 

“Taeyeon,” Tiffany called out to her as they practically sprinted out of the forest. “Don’t think I forgot what happened back there on that tree.”

 

Taeyeon gulped.

 

HellFany was probably scarier than anything she could encounter in the forest.

 

The beast had been unleashed, and it was after her.

 

---

 

AN: what a quick update! At this rate, yall might get sick of me and this story. lol

The only reason why this was such a quick update was because I had TaeFanyHyo's past already written up and was just waiting for the perfect time to put it in. There wasn't much Taengsic or Jeti, but there was quite a bit of Taeny. Also, HyoTae just crack me up. 

So, that's their story, but what about Jessica's? And Yuri's? How do the other girls fit in? What's going to happen next?

Who knows? XD

P.S. peep that tiny mention of Sunny. (O.o) who knew Hyoyeon and Sunny knew each other? lol am I sneaky enough for you guys?

Thanks for everyone that's been leaving comments! It really motivates me alot, especially when you try to analyze the story and the characters. It's fun seeing all these theories haha. Keep it up please <3

Till next time,

~Sosh

P.P.S. Happy birthday to our eternal Queen Taeyeon! <3