The drizzle started to turn into an actual rain, with the rain drops gradually becoming thicker every second.

"We have to get you out of here." Taeyeon secured the girl in her arms as she adjusted her feet. "Can you stand?" Taeyeon realized as soon as the words left that her question was very stupid. Jessica did as requested, but she was barely able to stand on her own two feet before her body slumped back towards the girl supporting her. Taeyeon tried to think quickly, and so she crouched and hunched over, signaling Jessica to climb on her back. She doubts she's strong enough to carry the other girl in her arms, and this isn't really one of those times when she'd risk to test if she could. She didn't want to hurt the other girl even more. 

"Trust me, Jessica, okay? Just hang on, and wrap your arms around my neck properly." Taeyeon secured her hands around Jessica's thighs before she began walking towards the parking lot where Mister Park was waiting. She hunched a bit more forward, in fear that the other girl would fall.

"Miss Taeyeon!" Mister Park got out of the car and hurriedly ran towards the two girls upon sight. "Miss, what happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Mister Park, but please help me get her inside. She's bleeding." The middle-aged man did as told, carefully getting Jessica to lie on the backseat, with her head on Taeyeon's lap. "To the hospital please, Mister Park!" 

"Yes, miss."

Taeyeon looked down at the girl lying on her lap. She took her handkerchief from her pocket and used it to wipe the other girl's tears and stains on her face. When she reached the side of her forehead, she gasped at the bleeding open wound surrounded by a big bruise. She tilted her head to the side, trying to examine the bruise. "What the heck is this, what did they hit you with?" Taeyeon mumbled as her eyebrows furrowed. She then pressed down on the wound, with an attempt to try to control the bleeding. She didn't expect an answer from the other girl, but she heard a whisper in reply.

"r-rock."

"A rock?!" Taeyeon's eyes widened. Her shock was quickly replaced as the thought sunk in. Her fist unconsciously clenched in anger, same with her teeth. How could they do this to her? Just how messed up are those students, especially the student who threw the rock at Jessica? Taeyeon wanted to go back out there and get back at all the students who bullied her friend. But it took one look on Jessica's eyes to snap her out of her thoughts. 

"Jessica?" Taeyeon shook her slightly. "Jessica, do me a favor and keep your eyes open, okay?" She placed her hand on the other girl's cheek, gently tapping on it. "Don't close your eyes."

The last thing Taeyeon wanted was for Jessica to become unconscious, or worse, to slip in a coma. It was dangerous especially if things get complicated, she didn't know when she would wake up next. "Just hang in there, okay? We're almost at the hospital."

"N-no.."

"What do you mean no?"

"No..n--"

"Jessica? Jessica, hey!"

"We're here, miss." Mister Park got out of the driver's seat, opened the door to the backseat, and soon people dressed in white were transferring Jessica from Taeyeon's lap to the stretcher.

Taeyeon quickly got out of the car as well, running along with the stretcher, until a nurse stopped her from going further. Another nurse approached her, with a clipboard on hand.

"Are you with the patient that just went in, miss?"

"Yes."

"How are you related to her?"

"I'm her friend."

"I see. Do you mind if we ask you to fill out this form for our records?"

"Ah sure, no problem." She took the form and a pen from the nurse, with the latter excusing herself first. Taeyeon took a seat, writing "Jessica Jung"  on the blank asking for the patient's name, and "18" for her age. As her eyes skimmed through the form, the short girl realized that those were probably the only information she knew. He hovered over the address for a bit, deciding to just write the address same as theirs, since they're practically just neighbors. She wrote the street where they live, and then skimmed through the rest once more. Taeyeon sighed. she didn't even know her birthday.

Once again, Taeyeon realized that they barely talked about the other girl's life. She was embarrassed that almost all their conversations were about her life. But then, Taeyeon thought that if the other girl's past was painful, then she couldn't really blame her for anything.

Half an hour passed, when a doctor went out of the room, causing Taeyeon to immediately stand in anticipation. 

"Are you with the patient?"

"Yes, doc. H-how is she?"

"She has a moderate concussion. Because of this, she can experience nausea and dizziness." The doctor looked down on her briefly, before fixing his eyes back on her. "It's best if you could tell your professors to excuse for for at least three days. If you could let her be excused for a week, that's even better." Taeyeon opened to explain, but then decided that shutting was the best option. She realized that the doctor must've noticed that they were wearing the same school uniforms. Instead, she just nodded her head.

"May I see her now, please?"

"Sure, but don't overwhelm her. It may cause her head to hurt more."

"I see. Thank you so much, doc." Taeyeon bowed, before letting the doctor head on his way. She took a deep breath, placing her hand on the door knob.

"I think I'll just stay here outside then, Miss Taeyeon." The said girl looked back and stood face-to-face with Mister Park, who gave him a small smile. Taeyeon didn't know how long he was standing there, or if he has been there since earlier, but in all honesty, she didn't even notice that he was there. 

"I'll explain everything later, Mister Park." Taeyeon shyly stated, which was far from her normal attitude.

"Don't worry about me, miss. I think I understand. I'll be right here outside if you need me."

"Thank you, Mister Park." Taeyeon turned back facing the door, then finally turned the knob to allow herself to step inside. She allowed her eyes to scan the room, before they fixed on the girl lying on the bed. Taeyeon walked towards the lying figure she had her eyes on, stopping as her thighs hit the edge of the bed. Jessica was peacefully sleeping on the bed; her wounds patched up.

Taeyeon examined her face, and upon seeing her bruises, her blood began to boil again. Her hands clenched as she noticed multiple bruises on her arms too. A thought crossed her mind, making her contemplate whether she should do it or not. But as she looked at Jessica's sleeping face, it made her more determined to do it. Taeyeon walked towards the corner of the room, pulling out a device she hasn't really quite used in the past few months since she moved to an entirely new neighborhood. She used it mostly to accept, but never to initiate... until now. Taeyeon scrolled through her phone, stopping at one of her contacts. She gave one last look behind her, and when she saw that Jessica was still asleep, she finally pressed the name, then held it up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello Sooyoung?"

"Oh, who is th--. Wait, Taeyeon?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Omo it's the first time you called me. What's the matter?"

"Sooyoung, I need your help."

"I'll do my best. What is it about?"  Taeyeon swallowed the big lump in before proceeding.

"I need your help to delete and take down any videos or pictures that have been taken in school or uploaded this afternoon."

"Why? What happened in school this afternoon?"

Taeyeon took a deep breath. She stopped to think for a few seconds if there was any way she could make this work without revealing everything, but she decided that if she really wanted Sooyoung's help, she has to tell her everything that happened.

"Jessica went to school this afternoon."

"Jessica? As in Jessica, the s-" 

"She went to school this afternoon, and the students did all sorts of horrible things to her." Taeyeon cut her off. "Please help me take them down."

"O-okay, I'll check my sources, and I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you, Sooyoung." 

"Anything for you, Taeyeon."

Okay, I'll--"

Taeyeon's response was cut off when she heard a groan coming from the other side of the room.

"Soo, I'll call you back later. Bye."

She turned around and quickly went back to the source of the sound. Her hands gripped on the side of the bed, as she leaned forward, worried about the other girl. Jessica slowly opened her eyes, squinting every now and then, adjusting to the bright hospital lights. Her eyes finally landed on the girl leaning over by her side.

"What is it, Jessica? Do you need anything?" Taeyeon leaned forward more.

"Taeyeon?" Jessica's brows furrowed. "W-where am I?"

"You're in the hospital." As soon as those words left Taeyeon's mouth, the other girl's eyes widened, and she pushed herself up in reflex. A sharp pain was felt in the side of her forehead, causing her face to contort in pain.

"Hey, hey, don't get up so suddenly." Taeyeon placed her hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back to lie down.

"I can't be here."

"Why not?"

"I have to go home."

"You have to rest first."

"No, I have to go home."

"Do you need to call your mom? I can call her and tell her you're h-"

"No, Tae-- I just, it's.. you don't understand."

"What? What is it that I don't I understand? Please tell me, so I could understand."  Jessica looked up to meet Taeyeon's eyes and could see nothing but concern. She looked down and sighed. 

"I can't pay for this." It came out barely above a whisper, but Taeyeon heard it loud and clear.

"We can call your mom and--"

"That's even worse." Jessica buried her face in her palms. And for a few seconds, all that could be heard was her deep sighs.

"You don't have to worry about it."

Jessica shook her head. "I can't not worry about it, Taeyeon. I really don't know how I can pay for this."

"I mean... don't worry about it anymore, I'll take care of it." Jessica lifted her face from her palms to look at the other girl, trying to see if she misunderstood what she just said.

"You didn't just say that."

"I just did."

"You can't be serious."

"I am."

"You can't do that."

"Watch me."

"Taeyeon, I'm not a gold-" She stopped herself before she could even say it. 

"Jessica, you need to rest. Stop thinking about it. How about this, I'd pay for the bills and you'll rest for the night, and if you recover well overnight, I'll ask the doctor if we could get you discharged by tomorrow morning." She gulped, silently hoping that Jessica would relent. A few seconds passed before she heard the other girl sigh.

"I'd pay you back."

"You don't have to."

 "I'd pay you back, I promise." Taeyeon quietly sighed and nodded, knowing that it's useless to argue with Jessica at this point. "Are you sure you don't want to call your mom, though?" She noticed the other girl's face flinch before returning to her usual expression.

"No need, I'll explain to her tomorrow morning when I get home." Taeyeon noted how Jessica said tomorrow morning, making it obvious how much she wanted to go home at once. 

"Okay, you can rest now." Taeyeon sat by her side, giving her a gentle smile, as the other girl once again went back to sleep. As soon as she was sure that Jessica was asleep, Taeyeon pulled her phone back out to contact Sooyoung.

-

The next morning, Taeyeon talked to the doctor, and after a lot of persuasion, he finally allowed Jessica to be discharged, in exchange for a lot of reminders, pieces of advice, and recommendations, which Taeyeon all took by heart. She informed the other girl all about it, and Taeyeon was kind enough to ask Mister Park to drive Jessica home. Before she stepped out of the car, she once again reminded her of everything the doctor said, including the reminders to take her medicine on time, and to not move around too much.

Taeyeon went to school that day, going straight to Sooyoung in the student council office.

"Sooyoung?" She peeked from the door after knocking.

"Oh, Taeyeon, come in."

"Hey Soo, sorry for coming to meet you here."

"It's no