Taeya was determined to stay by Stephanie’s side from now on. Taeya loved the girl, but that wasn’t the only reason why she wanted to keep Stephanie close. She knew how reckless Stephanie could be, even with her new roommates looking after. To guarantee that Stephanie is safe, or at least safer, she decided to join their mission on uncovering the mystery of the abductions. Stephanie tried her best to fill Taeya in on what had happened over the past few months. Luckily, Taeya had convinced her to use their car, rather than jumping across the city together. This allowed Taeya to catch up on the important details while they struggled through the rush hour traffic. Once they arrived back into the apartment building, countless memories flooded Taeya’s mind. She had missed this place ever since she was forced to leave. It was a gift from her careless mother, probably the last thing she had given to her and Dean before she abandoned them. Taeya had never known her mother very well, she always kept her distance and had her secrets. That explains why Dean was the way he was, so secretive and overprotective. She wanted to give her mother the benefit of the doubt and believe underneath her silent exterior there was a caring and loving woman, but it had been decades and not a single phone call, email or even a letter of any kind. It seemed clear that Taeya’s mother cared much more for her work than her own children. It was obvious after the first month that Taeya and Dean were abandoned, but at least she had the heart to leave them with a cozy apartment.

The duo finally made it to the front door of the apartment, Stephanie was carefully opening the door as if she was trying her hardest not to make a sound. “What are you doing?’ Taeya asked in her normal volume.

“SHHH!!!” Stephanie hushed.

“What?” Taeya whispered.

“I just have that feeling when I open this door…” Before Stephanie could finish explaining, the door violently swung open and revealed a fiery HellSica glaring through the door frame. Stephanie was immune to fire and heat, but she could have sworn that even she was feeling hot at that moment. “WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN???” she screamed, not even caring that it was already night time and the other tenants would be asleep by now. As a reflex, Stephanie shoved Taeya behind her so that she could take the full blame of Jessica’s fury. “Whoa, calm down alright? I’m fine, I was just resting.” Stephanie reasoned.

“RESTING??? YOU COULD HAVE TOLD US THAT YOU INSENSITIVE ! THEN I HEAR ON THE NEWS A RANDOM REDHEAD LADY FALLS FROM THE SKY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUBURBS!!! FOR ALL WE KNEW YOU HAD BEEN ARRESTED OR WORSE, TAKEN TO SOME SORT OF SECRET GOVERNMENT AGENCY!!! WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL? YOU SELFISH ING…” Luckily, before Jessica could finish off her rant, Sooyoung had stepped in and shoved a sandwich in her face. Jessica immediately calmed herself down and went to eat the sandwich in peace. Not before glaring angrily at Stephanie one last time. “She was worried, Steph. We were all worried, but it’s good that you’re safe. What actually happened when you fell down? The news only had shaky mobile footage, so we didn’t really see anything going on except the crowd around you.” Sooyoung explained.

“Everything’s fine. All thanks to her.” Stephanie finally thought it was safe to reveal her savior. Taeya stepped to the right of Stephanie and waved cutely at the taller girl. Stephanie continued to explained what had happened when she fell, but Sooyoung wasn’t listening at all. Her eyes were merely fixated at the being in front of her. The petite body, the slim neck, the sharp jawline, the adorable chin dimple, her perfect teeth and her beautifully formed eyebrows, she had seen them all before. Although it was so familiar, there was also something way different, her eyes were ocean blue, so beautiful and alluring. Then there was her shining silver locks, hair that bleached would look fried and completely destroyed, but hers looked healthier than any normal hair Sooyoung had seen in her entire life. How was this possible? Her eyes were still fixed firmly on Taeya and Stephanie finally noticed that she hadn’t been listening to anything Stephanie had said. Stephanie looked up to Sooyoung and saw eyes of disbelief and confusion and decided to ask what was wrong. “What’s wrong with you? looks like you’ve seen a ghost?” Stephanie laughed.

“Does… does L.A. have some sort of secret cloning program with New York or something?? Like what the actual ? First, you look like Tiffany and now her?” Sooyoung questioned. Taeya was completely confused as to what she had meant. “She had a friend that looks like me and apparently one who looks like you who both live in New York,” Stephaine explained calmly as if it were a normal situation.

“Wait, what? How’s that possible? Do they just kinda look like us or…” Sooyoung shoved a picture of Taeyeon right in front of Taeya’s face. At first, she was shocked, but the shock didn’t stay and was followed by a cheeky smirk. “What are you thinking about?” Stephanie questioned.

“Was just thinking, damn, I do look hot,” Taeya smirked.

“Yah!” Stephanie gave Taeya a little tap on the back of the head for being a creepy ert.

“What? Is it wrong to admire yourself?” Taeya smiled.

“No, but that isn’t you, it’s someone who’s completely different,” Stephanie argued.

“Not from what I can see…” Sooyoung said, still in pure shock.

“Why are you guys still at the…” Jessica arrived after finishing her delicious sandwich and only shared the same expression as Sooyoung when she saw Taeya with her own eyes. “AHH! Another one!! Who’s going to be next?? Please don’t say me. One me is already enough to handle.” Jessica sighed.

“Don’t worry, I’ve never seen anyone else that looks like you Miss. Choi-Jung.” Taeya smiled.

“Wait, she knows me??” Jessica blushed.

“Stephanie told me a bit about you on the way here, but I’ve seen a lot of your fashion designs. Truly stunning stuff.” Taeya complimented.

“Aww thank you so much.” Jessica smiled uncontrollably at the compliment.

“Why are you calling her Mrs. Like she’s an old lady?” Stephanie questioned.

“Maybe, it’s because she has respect, Steph! Unlike some.” Jessica scoffed.

“But she’s older than you, both of us are. You guys should be showing us respect.” Stephanie reasoned.

“Wait, you’re 25 like Steph??” Jessica asked.

“Yeah, I should probably just introduce myself. Hi, I’m Taeya Kim…”

“KIM???” SooSic screamed.

“Come on guys, it was one thing to question Tiffany and I having the same last name, but do you really have to question this? Kim is a common name after all.” Stephanie reasoned.

“Yeah sure it is Steph, have you ever met another Kim that has exactly the same physical features as another? The fact that they look the same and have the same name must mean they’re connected. Plus, they’re both humans.” Jessica argued.

“Umm, sorry but your friend and I aren’t related…” Taeya admitted. “I’ve never seen her before in my whole life. I’ve never even been to New York. Born and raised on the west coast.” Taeya smiled.

“How about we get inside and sit down before we continue?” Stephanie finally suggested. The other three people nodded and headed over to the cozy living room.

It seemed that Hyori was still in her new room as all of her electronic equipment had been moved out of the living room. Taeya and Stephanie sat on one couch while Jessica and Sooyoung shared the other. “So, you were born in L.A, what about your parents? Maybe they had another daughter a few years after you?” Sooyoung suggested.

“Well, as far as I’m aware my father died during one of his experiments and my mother, who’s also a scientist, ran off when I was around ten, maybe?” Taeya answered.

“Hmmm, guess you really aren’t related to Taeyeon. Besides, Taeyeon was always moving around with her uncle when she was younger. If she had a sister, they probably would have just left you guys together. This is so strange though. Of all the people we meet in L.A., it happened to be two people who looked identical to our friends from New York.” Sooyoung said in awe. “Honestly, if another doppelganger shows up, this would just be getting ridiculous.” Sooyoung laughed.

“Who do you reckon the next one’s going to be?” Jessica asked.

“What?” Sooyoung didn’t quite hear Jessica as she said it in a quiet tone.

“I bet you $50 it’s Sunny next.” Jessica stretched her arm out to Sooyoung, signaling she was quite genuine about the bet.

“Hmm, I would’ve probably picked her too, to be honest. But I guess if it’s someone else, maybe you?” Sooyoung suggested.

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