November 17

Finally the big day arrived. Hyoyeon was freaking out a lot more than me for some reason. Then again she didn’t have anything to lose; I on the other hand could lose pretty much everything. While we were waiting and she was jumping around our tiny apartment asking a hundred different questions she knew I couldn’t answer, I was staring out the small window next to the door waiting to see Taeyeon appear.

So many things crossed my mind those hours that it was hard to concentrate on anything else. What if she was lying? What if she is with the Disciplinary Squad and they are just setting us up? Yuri and Yoona made it clear that they don’t like me. Or what if Kyuhyun has been deceiving me all this time? What if his personality is just an act he puts up for the media? But then why put it up for me too? Does he even care about me? He is married after all.

I shook my head trying to erase all those thoughts but they kept coming back to me, every doubt for Kyuhyun piercing my heart like a dagger.

Finally, about half an hour before sunset Taeyeon knocked on our door. Hyoyeon rushed her in, checking to make sure nobody saw her coming in.

“Please, you really think I would let anyone follow me?” Taeyeon asked rolling her eyes.

Hyoyeon shrugged her shoulders and sat by my side. “Better safe than sorry”

We watched as Taeyeon surveyed our apartment. There were not much to see really, it barely had enough space for all three of us to sit.

“Your apartment is… lovely” she said even though I could see that she wanted to get out as fast as possible.

“You said you wanted to talk?” I required when it became clear she was too busy judging everything around her to speak.

She glared at me for only a second but soon she smirked. “Right, there’re two ways to do this” she told us and when it was clear that neither Hyoyeon nor I knew what she was talking about she continued. “You can ask questions and I can answer or I can tell you the story from the beginning, everything I know”

In reality, I wanted to ask her questions because I thought I had most of the story figured out already and I only wanted details on matters that I was personally involved into but Hyoyeon thought otherwise. She leaned forward with her bright eyes opened wide and begged her to say the whole story.

Taeyeon got up and paced around the room – just barely made five steps before she had to turn around. She furrowed her brows in deep thought and tugged her hair behind her ear to keep it out of the way. She checked outside to make sure nobody was eavesdropping and then plopped down between me and Hyoyeon. She crossed her legs and prepared to begin her narration.

“Well of course there are a couple of things I can’t tell you” she said battering her eyelashes at Hyoyeon.

Hyoyeon turned to her surprised. “You said you would tell us the whole truth” she yelled and immediately covered with her hands realizing the mistake she had made.

Taeyeon gave her her icy glare and turned to me. “Please tell you friend that she has to keep it down. We don’t need people to know that I was here”

I nodded and peeked at Hyoyeon who was now staring at her feet, her cheeks a deep shade of red.

“There are a few things that I can’t tell you because of course I can’t trust you” Taeyeon picked up where she had left as if she was never interrupted. “Let’s see, everything started about 70 years ago during the Great War. I’m not sure about the details because it’s too long ago but here’s what probably happened: Our King had made an agreement with our enemies to…”

“Wait a King? We used to have a King” Hyoyeon interrupted her before she could stop herself.

Taeyeon rolled her eyes and checked her watch. “Quick flashback, before the Great War we had a King, the Parliament House used to be the Palace and the mansion Kyuhyun lives now, or at least used to live” – she peeked at me from the corner of her eye – “was something like a guest house. When the royal family had important guest they would stay there, the Royal Gardens have their names from that time”

Most of the things she had told us didn’t really interest me. I wanted to know about our present and if possible about our future, not a past that everybody has forgotten about. Once again, Hyoyeon had a different opinion.

“In school” she started hesitantly “In school we weren’t taught that. We were taught that we got involved in the Great War because the previous government wasn’t good enough to protect us and that it ended when the current government rose to power” she muttered under her breath.

Taeyeon chuckled softly and patted her head the same way she would do to a confused child. “See how easy it is to manipulate the masses?” She leaned towards Hyoyeon, a threatening glimpse in her eyes. “If you repeat a lie enough times it becomes the truth” she said like she was reciting from the Bible.

Hyoyeon was still confused though. Taeyeon sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “They have been lying to you from the moment you were born. Everything you read and everything you hear has been deleted, rewritten and altered to suit the truth they want you to know” she pointed out as-a-matter-of-factly. Now these were some interesting information. “Can’t tell you how they do it right now, but history books, magazines, newspapers, radio stations, even the gossips going around have first been approved by them.”

She tapped her finger on her chin. “Where was I?”

“70 years ago the King made an agreement with our enemies” I offered.

Her eyes brightened and for the first time since I had met her she made a grimace that could or could not be a smile. “Oh right. 70 years ago the King had made an agreement with our enemies to give them the country in exchanged for his and his family’s lives. Unfortunately for him, he was making plans without thinking about the burning passion his people had for their country and their freedom. “

“One day, 25^th of March, the revolution began. The people rushed to the streets, they used everything they owned as a weapon, a lot of them were killed but they managed to take down even more enemies and a couple of hundreds even made it into the palace. See they thought that the King was being held hostage but what they saw when they broke into the palace was the King having dinner with the enemies. Unable to contain their fury they attacked and killed everyone in that room. Not even the children were spared.”  

“When they came to their senses and realized what they had done most of them panicked. A few of them however saw that as an opportunity to seize power. They knew that they couldn’t continue with a King so instead they decided to change to ‘democracy’” she used her fingers to make air-quotes when she said the word democracy.

“Of course you know the story about the blood of the enemies and our own painting the ground red right? That’s a true story” she declared proudly. “They say we fought like heroes back then, I say heroes fight like us.”

At that point I thought it was about time I voiced my opinion. “Cute story but what does it have to do with our current situation?”

“Great stories are always relevant” she disregarded my comment. “Of course those few people who took over the role of the government founded the political party that has been governing us since then. Bonus info: Choi Siwon and Sooyoung’s great-a-couple-of-more-great- grandfather was one of them. Funny coincidence huh? Or maybe it’s not a coincidence” she quickly added winking at Hyoyeon.

He comes from an old family that has always been involved with politics Kyuhyun’s words replayed in my mind. So he knew?

I don’t know if my expression changed but even if it did Taeyeon probably didn’t notice as she went on talking. “The harsh reality is that we have oligarchy, two or three families have been on the top for almost a century now and they’ve changed history itself to their liking”

“Which brings us to our current situation. Cho Kyuhyun, a charismatic young man, smart and ambitious. Not only is he a skilled politician but a skilled speaker as well, the citizens love him for his fresh and youthful looks and the fact that he comes from a relatively unknown family is a plus for him. He quickly rises in the ranks until finally he becomes the Prime Minister”

“So basically he got where he is with his hard work” I exclaimed trying to hide my excitement.

Taeyeon looked at me bewildered. “When did I say that? He cheated and threatened people, he made alliances and betrayed people. Did you know, our whole economic crisis and all that bull are actually his fault.” She stayed silent for a moment contemplating her own words. “No scratch that, it’s not entirely his own fault, other helped as well. The point is that he didn’t stop them. He let his friends steal public money to the point that the country almost went bankrupt. Unfortunately for him, like the King before him, he underestimated the citizens. Nobody wants to live such a life. The people don’t trust any of them anymore and they are already protesting”

I felt my heart sink. My stomach was so tight I felt like throwing up. “So, Kyuhyun has been lying to the public all this time?” I whispered weakly.

Hyoyeon narrowed her eyes at me but at that moment I didn’t particularly care. If Kyuhyun had been lying to me all this time then nothing else mattered. It scared me that he meant so much to me but I couldn’t, nor did I want to deny it any longer. “Maybe he was just being manipulated by Siwon?”

“Oh, I thought you were a smart girl” Taeyeon accused me jokingly. “Of course he is not being manipulated. He is as deep in as it goes. It’s basically him and a couple more people making all the decisions. The rest of the congressmen don’t have much of a say in things you know.”

Hyoyeon gave me a we’ll-talk-later look and then turned back to Taeyeon. “What about Golden Dawn?”

“Lies they made up to keep people in control. It’s a common technique used in propaganda. First you pinpoint the enemy and then you make him look worse than you - you can actually transfer some of the blame on him. If you did the job right, the public of course will choose the lesser of the two evils” Taeyeon explained clearly.

It was my turn to feel my face burning. I can’t believe I fell for that kind of lies so easily.

“So what do you do as a revolutionary army?” Hyoyeon wondered loudly.

“That is for me to know and for you to find out” Taeyeon evaded her question. “I can tell you this though, we are everywhere. Remember Tiffany? She was one of our best. If only it wasn’t for that incident with Jung” she sighed and pouted in an almost cute way.

“Jessica, is she one of you too?” I asked to keep my mind away from Kyuhyun.

“Jessica is kind of a grey zone” Taeyeon answered deep in thought. “She has… issues… She wants to come with us but there are things keeping her behind… Ah, I said too much. Next question!”

“What about Sooyoung. Is she with you?”

Taeyeon smiled deviously at me. “I’ll let you guess that one”

“You said she talked to you about me. But I’ve never spoken to her” I spat back suspiciously.

“Let’s see, I believe it was early October when a young and cute girl visited the library. That day the young girl made the mistake to forget her diary behind. Of course it was the Minister’s job to read through it to make sure she wasn’t planning anything, right?” Taeyeon answered back, looking kind of annoyed at my tone.

I couldn’t believe it. Choi Sooyoung had read my diary. Everything I had written, even how much I hated her. And then she went straight to the leader of the revolutionary army, for what? Do they want to recruit us?

I hadn’t made that thought yet when Taeyeon proved me right. “So you girls have two choices now. You either join us or you die” she declared like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“That doesn’t leave us much of a choice, does it?” I informed her feeling my blood boil. Honestly, who does she think she is? Coming here acting all high and mighty, saying all that stuff about Kyuhyun and then demanding we join her. How do we even know she is not lying to us?

I asked that last question out loud for her to hear me. She raised her eyebrow and scoffed. “Listen kid, we might be the same age but I am much more experienced than you. I know this world, you don’t. I thought you could be trusted but apparently Kyuhyun got to you before I did. I really thought you would be different than all those heartless people out there. I mean I saw you helping that beggar. You gave him your coat despite the freezing cold. You were the first person to impress me in a while. Guess I was wrong”

She had seen that? How long had she been following me?

She checked her watch again and got up with a swift movement. “Okay, gotta go. You guys think about what I said and don’t forget we are following you even when you think you are all alone. So don’t make a stupid choice and try to say anything about this to the wrong people” she said and left without waiting for a reply.

After a few minutes Hyoyeon turned to me. “I can’t believe you. Why were you so aggressive?”

I felt the need to defend myself but tried to keep my voice calm. “I just… I don’t know, the way she described Kyuhyun… it’s nothing like the way he acts around me”

She shook me by the shoulders and forced me to look in her eyes. “You said it yourself Sunny, acts. It’s all an act he puts up. Don’t let him fool you”

“I’m not” I tried to stand up for myself but my quavering voice failed me.

“Why, because you know him so well? How long do you know him really? A little more than a month. Wake up, he is using you” she yelled at me and shook me violently again.

“You know that the best choice we have is to join Taeyeon, don’t you?” She asked after she had finally released me.

I looked into her eyes and I saw that she meant everything she had said. She believed each and every word. I used to be like that too, but Kyuhyun changed me. Why couldn’t they see his true self? Or am I the one blinded?

“I need time to think this through” I told her and grabbed my jacket.

And so, yet again, I find myself in the library, entrusting my deepest thoughts in this notebook. I don’t know if I can go home yet. I still haven’t made a decision. Who do I trust right now? A woman who gave me the information I was looking for and only confirmed my suspicions, or the man who barged into my life without any warning and made me fall for him?

~ ~ ~ ~

Ah, this is a pretty long chapter. It was so much fun to write though ^^

I should probably proofread this again but I'm dead tired. My life has been a mess lately T_T

But enough with that. What do you guys think of Taeyeon? I personally love her ^^ 

BTW, I bet you Sones have already seen it but I love the new paparazzi MV :D