Chapter 12

It is currently five o’clock in the morning. Two women walk towards a familiar local pub. Instead of going through the front door like the rest of the regular customers, they are heading towards the back door instead. A person is already waiting for their arrival. Upon seeing their faces from afar, she straightens her back to greet them properly. “Ms. Kwon.” Tiffany smiled at her boss in which it was responded with a scoff.

“Please, God knows you only call me that in front of the VIPs.” Yuri replied, earning a chuckle from her favourite employee. She shifted her eyes to the brunette standing next to Tiffany. “You look…not terrible.” She awkwardly spoke. Well, she knew Jessica was far from being okay.

“Thank you for not…avoiding me after what happened with...” Jessica could only leave stay ajar since she could not say the name out loud. Yuri sighs silently. She approaches the shorter woman and hold her shoulders. “The midget…is being childish. I know she’s not straight, but she should at least, well, think straight.” She nodded to her own words. “Let’s go inside before anyone sees you.” Yuri opened the door and let the two to get inside first before she does.

The pub has already closed. The rest of the staffs went home just now. Hyoyeon can be seen sitting at the bar with a glass of water in her hand. As much as her head was aching from all the troubles her cousin had caused, she could not bring herself to subdue to alcohol again. Instead, Sunny is the one doing the drinking for her. They heard footsteps and turn their attentions to the women who just walked in with Yuri not far behind.

“Hello.” Tiffany greeted first with a polite bow. Jessica remained quiet as she did the same. She stares on the floor; not being able to meet the eyes of the cousin and best-friend of Taeyeon’s. She could not do so, not when the guilt inside her heart has been suffocating her.

“Come on now, don’t stare at her like that. Jeez.” Yuri spoke up to loosen up the somewhat intense atmosphere.

Hyoyeon took a deep breath as she nodded. Yes, Yuri’s right. She cannot be angry at Jessica. None of this is her fault. She stood up from the stool and stepped closer to Jessica. She gave a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, you’re always welcome here.” She patted her arm lightly. Jessica feels relief, at the same time sad, seeing Hyoyeon in a troublesome state. Taeyeon is her best bartender. Not having her around must have taken a toll on her business.

“Stop making that guilty face.” Sunny finally talked. She took a bottle of beer and set it next to her. “Let’s drink. You look like you need one.” She smiled. Jessica breathes in deeply to hold back her tears. She glances at Tiffany who gave her a nod. With a hesitant pace, she takes a seat on the stool next to Sunny and takes the bottle, taking a gulp of the bitter taste beer. She frowns by the aftertaste. Sunny chuckles.

“You’ll get used to it.” She spoke. Tiffany sits at the bar too and Yuri serves her a glass of wine instead. The chef prefers to give her a refined-taste drink in which she gladly accepts. “Now, I need something stronger.” Yuri took out a bottle of whiskey and pours herself a shot of glass. She hisses once she gulps down the strong alcoholic drink. “Taeyeon has been on my nerves lately. I might just collapse from being her babysitter.”

Jessica bits her lower lip in anxiousness. She has no idea what’s going on with Taeyeon ever since that incident. She has stopped texting her and calling her. As if she went into hiding. Jessica feels desperate but she could not bring herself to leave a few messages to her. She thought, it would hurt Taeyeon even more especially after what she had said to her. “How…is she? Taeyeon.” Jessica asked with a low voice.

Hyoyeon decides to answer for everyone’s behalf. “She hasn’t gone to work ever since the party. I’ve been trying to contact her but she never answered any of my calls. I heard from a few friends of mine that she has been drinking and getting drunk. My cousin is a drinker. But she doesn’t get drunk, at least at this age.”

Yuri continues the conversation. “She came barging into my home, expecting me to comfort her. She gets violent whenever I refused. I handled it, of course.” She paused for a few seconds. “But, last night, she didn’t come. I don’t know where she went. I texted her. There were no answers.”

“W-wait, she is in some-kind of trouble?” Jessica felt concerned. Yuri was the only person Taeyeon stays in contact. Now, not even Yuri knows where she is. She might end up somewhere dangerous or have done something reckless. “We got to find her.”

“Hey, hey, relax. I’m sure she’s safe, Jess.” Tiffany tried calming her. But Jessica feels incredibly anxious. “N-no, she’s not. Tiff, she’s been acting reckless! She might be in danger.”

“I don’t want to make you worried but you’re right. My cousin can be an idiot and do something unexpected.” Hyoyeon sighed heavily.

“Or…” All of them turned towards Sunny, waiting for what she has to say. “She might be with her again.” She gave a look at Hyoyeon and Yuri. Jessica and Tiffany are clueless on what she meant by that. “It won’t be the first time.” Sunny said, giving a clear hint whom she had in mind. Yuri can only mouth a ‘’ while Hyoyeon groans in annoyance. The reactions made Jessica desperate for an answer.

“W-what…what do you mean she’s with…her?” She asked.

“Taeyeon is…a private-type of person. Not many knows about this except for us. It was around after graduation; we were all going our separate ways. Yuri was travelling overseas and I was helping my uncle with his business. Hyoyeon was a DJ. Taeyeon…she was offered to teach Arts at an Arts Academy. She was teaching high-scholars, in some occasion, University students too.” Sunny looked at Hyoyeon to continued her story in which she did afterwards.

“She met an Art student named Hyeri. From what I know, she was a sophomore. She wasn’t even an Arts majored but she took the lessons at the Academy. Taeyeon was her mentor.”

**

“Ms. Kim?” A young Hyeri called. Taeyeon turned around to look at her. “Oh, Hyeri…right?” She asked. Hyeri nodded to the question with a smile. “Do you…need anything?” Taeyeon asked once more. All the students in the classroom had already gone home a while ago after being dismissed for today’s lesson. But, Hyeri seemed to stayed. She assumed there must be something she wanted to ask.

“I just wanted to hang out with you. I heard you always stay at the studio to paint.” Hyeri said. Taeyeon knew what this was heading. She faked a chuckle. “I’m sorry, Hyeri. I prefer to work alone.” She smiled and went on to put the bowl of fruits she had prepared on the round clothed table in the middle of the room. Hyeri looked at her. She seemed to not given up yet despite the rejection.

“Well,” Hyeri stepped closer and stood next to Taeyeon. “Instead of painting these boring fruits, how about I be your model?”

Taeyeon arched her eyebrow. She needed to say something so Hyeri would leave for sure. “I only paint models.” She lied. She thought her words would creep the young woman. Instead, it was the opposite. She went to the windows to shut the blinds and locked the two doors as well. Once she did, she put her bag down on a nearby table and started taking off her clothes. Taeyeon silently watched her as she revealed her body in front of her. Hyeri was not embarrass at all. Not even the slightest. She went to the table and comfortably sat down with her legs crossed.

“Paint me, Ms. Kim.” Hyeri said with a seductive tone. Taeyeon found herself caught in her game. She has seen many women in her lifetime. But she had to admit. She cannot pry her eyes away from Hyeri’s beautiful body. “Okay.” Taeyeon said and went to sat down, facing the blank canvas.

“It’s going to take a long time.” Taeyeon told her as she folded her sleeves.

“Take all the time you need.” Hyeri smiled while maintaining an intense eye-contact with her arts teacher.

**

“Taeyeon and Hyeri dated briefly after. Of course, Taeyeon wasn’t serious about their relationship. She thought Hyeri would be bored of her sooner or later. Girl, was she wrong.” Yuri gulped down her drink.

“Hyeri was nice at first. She was easy-going and friendly. We were even fooled by her. We found out she was way too obsessive of a girlfriend. She didn’t want Taeyeon to see us especially after she knew we used to date in the past.” Sunny explained. “That woman was crazy. She would yell and scream at Taeyeon whenever they were arguing. When she couldn’t get Taeyeon to agree with her, she would victimize herself, talking about her sob stories and tried gaining sympathy.”

“We told Taeyeon she should just broke up with her for good. She said she would do it after Hyeri got back for retreat camp.” Yuri said and it was followed by silence.

“What happened?” Tiffany asked. Jessica remained quiet. Hyoyeon sighs heavily. “About two days later, Taeyeon’s mom called her. Her dad had passed away because of a heart-attack.” The whole room became gloom. Jessica is the one who feels the most pain inside. She was way too pre-occupied by the whole situation between her and Taeyeon that she has forgotten about this. Taeyeon had told her before that her father had passed away and it made her quit doing Arts since she lose her passion. 

“Tae was really closed to her parents. But she was closer to her dad. The man was her, well, biggest supporter. It was so sudden. Taeyeon wasn’t ready at all. None of them were.” Hyoyeon could not continue on. Sunny pats her back to comfort her. It was a very hard time for all of them. Yuri decides to pick up what Hyoyeon left. “Taeyeon loses herself after her dad’s passing. She stopped coming to the Art Academy. She didn’t talk to us. She locked herself in her home. She would drink until she was passed out. We found out that she quit her job a few weeks after. The landlord was pissed off caused she didn’t pay her rent. She almost got kick out but we helped with the paid.”

“She went missing one day and went all over the place to look for her. Turns out, she was staying at Hyeri’s apartment. When we got there, she was not herself. As if she was lifeless.” Sunny said.

**

“Tae, let’s go home. We’ll stay with you.” Hyoyeon said to her cousin. But Taeyeon seemed to ignored her completely. “Tae, listen to us. Please, we’re worried about you.” Hyoyeon tried persuading again and Hyeri immediately intervened. She sat next to Taeyeon and put her arm around her shoulders. She looked at them. Although her face does not show it, but she was threatening them to leave with her eyes.

“Taeyeon doesn’t want to be around you. She only needs me from now on. I suggest you leave my apartment.” Hyeri said with a fake polite tone. Taeyeon remained silent. She was way too down to even realized she was being kept as a ‘prisoner.’

“Taeyeon’s my cousin. I’m not going anywhere.” Hyoyeon said. Hyeri scoffed. She turned to Taeyeon. “Babe, do you want them to leave?” The trio was shock when Taeyeon just nodded her head. They were in disbelief as Hyeri felt victorious. “See? Leave.” She stood up and pointed at the door. Hyoyeon was about to jump on the woman but Sunny quickly calmed her down. Being violent would only make things worse especially how twisted the woman can be with her manipulations.

“Let’s just go. We’ll try talking to her again.” Sunny whispered. Hyoyeon breathed out heavily and nodded. The two women were heading to the front door but Yuri did not move. They halt their steps. “Yul.” Sunny called but the woman did not listen. She stared at Taeyeon. Despite Sunny repeatedly calling her name, Yuri did not budge. Instead, she approached Taeyeon and pulled her by the shirt collar. Everyone was shock when she landed a heavy punch on Taeyeon’s cheek. Taeyeon stumbled down onto the floor.

“Yuri! What the hell!?” Hyoyeon quickly helped her cousin while Sunny held back Yuri. Hyeri stood there in silence.

“You stupid !” Yuri yelled. Taeyeon looked at her while holding her bruised cheek. “Look, I know your dad died! You’re grieving, we get it! We’re here for you and what did you do? You ing ran back to this !” Yuri pointed at Hyeri. “Face it, Tae! Getting drunk and having doesn’t help you move on! You can’t keep dodging your feelings!” She ran her hand through her hair in frustration. “If you want to waste your life like this, go ahead. But don’t come looking for us. I’m tired of your stupid stunts, Tae. You want to move on? Pull yourself together!”

**

“Taeyeon came back home a few days after. She broke up with Hyeri and she worked here ever since.” Hyoyeon said. “You’re not her first heart-break, Jessica. But you were the first one she opened her heart to after a long time. I know it’s hard for you. You’re an idol and to date someone of the same gender is tough for you. But Tae, she was way too heart-broken to see that.”

After a long silence, Jessica stands up and looks at them. “I’m sorry.” She apologized and ran off. “Jess, wait!” Tiffany chased after her. The trio friends can only sigh. Jessica sobs as she heads over the van. Seulgi sees her and quickly gets out of the vehicle. “What happened?” She worriedly asked when she saw the tears on the singer’s face. “Let’s just leave.” Jessica said and opens the door to the backseat. Seulgi feels confuse. Tiffany arrives just in time. She pants as she stops Jessica from closing the van’s door.

“Jess, please. Let’s talk.” Tiffany said but Jessica shook her head in tears.

“I’m sorry. I can’t- I can’t do this anymore. It’s my fault.” She sobbed.

“No, no, it’s not. You’ve done nothing wrong.” Tiffany tried to comfort her but clearly, Jessica does not want to listen anymore. “She’s better off without me. I ruined her. I can’t lie to myself anymore.” Jessica said. Tiffany could not say a word. She stands there as Jessica closes the door in front of her. She looks at Seulgi with a guilt. The young manager can only sigh heavily.

“I’m sorry.” She apologized and got back inside the van. She drives away and Tiffany can only silently see them leave.

To be continued.

I saw the comments and I couldn't help but enjoy the reactions. I'm on break this week so I managed to finished the latest chapter quick. Thank you so much for the new subs and votes. Please do comment on your opinions on the newest chapter <3 Your reactions made my day. See you guys on the next update! (btw, don't hate on Hyeri, okay?)