The wind blew and tickled her body, so gently yet so provocative. Its presence was like that of a forbidden lover; she wanted to fall into its embrace and let it take her away forever, yet she knew that if she did, it would be disastrous. Taeyeon struggled to open her eyes as the roaring winds kept brushing against her body. She had no clue where she was and how she got there.

At last, her willpower was enough to force her eyes open. All she saw was a barren and grey landscape with nothing but white sand and duststorms. Even the sky was a dull colour, and every which way she looked there was not a person or thing in sight. It was as if some phenomenal force had wiped the Earth clean of anything that existed on it in order to pay for someone's dreadful sin.

At that moment, Taeyeon felt a horrible pain shoot through her side, as she clutched her waist and cried out in pain. The gun shot. She remembered the blurry vision of the man standing by the door, a dark and eerie nozzle pointing straight at her. She remembered Yesung's desperate face as he yelled at Leeteuk to go and leave him alone, and she remembered the resonating sound that she'd heard when Leeteuk crumpled down to the ground as if someone had broken all the bones in his body.

And then she fell too.

Am I dead? she thought. What is this place?

At that moment, she saw a dim glow in the distant. Taeyeon squinted her eyes at it, as it was the only unique thing that she'd seen so far in this strange world. The glow grew and shone brighter and brighter the more she looked at it, and before long she had to turn away because the glow was too bright for her to handle.

The glow suddenly exploded abruptly, and Taeyeon had to shield herself from what she thought were flying knives of heat. Instead the harmless flakes drifted to the ground and landed softly beside her. When she turned back to what was once the glow, she felt nauseous and she felt her head turn as if she was about to faint.

It was a girl, and she had a pair of white wings sprouted out of her back. Her head was tilted forward, and her long brunette hair covered her face. She was wearing a simple white dress, and her feet were bare. Her arms were dangling as if they were held by some invisible pupetteer's strings, and her entire body was limp.Taeyeon could only stare at her, mesmirized and not sure what to do next.

Slowly, the girl raised her face and when Taeyeon saw who it was, she wanted to burst out into tears.

"Seohyun...." she whispered. "Is that really you?"

Seohyun's expression remained emotionless, as she stared into Taeyeon's eyes. Seohyun's eyes were cold and barren, as if they never experienced any emotions at all before, and never would again. All of sudden, seven more glows shone up behind her, and all exploded respectively just as Seohyun's glow did before. They all erupted into the figures of Yoona, Sooyoung, Yuri, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany and Hyoyeon, all with expresionless faces and giant pairs of white wings growing out of their backs. They were all more beautiful than ever before, but it was in a terrible and unearthly way. They surrounded Taeyeon and looked down on her with their expressionless eyes, and Taeyeon felt a shudder fall through her.

It's me, unnie.The words were in Seohyun's voice, and they resonated in Taeyeon's mind even though Seohyun had never opened at all, and Taeyeon felt a cold shiver trickle through her. Slowly and carefully, Taeyeon reached out hoping to be able to touch Seohyun, to confirm that she was really there at all.

Unnie, DON'T! It was Sunny's voice, and it came much too late. Taeyeon's hand came into contact around Seohyun's wrist. Seohyun's eyes widened, and flared with the first emotions she'd seen yet out of her. At that moment, Seohyun's hand started to dissolve and break away into tiny pieces of white dust.

Taeyeon let go and screamed in horror as she saw Seohyun continue to break away. The rest of arms dissapeared, and then her legs.  Taeyeon whirlled around to the other girls and saw that the same thing was happening to them too. And they were slowly all getting blown away by the wind as they dissolved.

"Annyo! ANNYO!" Taeyeon screamed, even though she knew it was no good. She could only stand and watch in horror as her dongsaengs evaporated and blended in with the dull background. First it was Seohyun who disappeared completely, and then Sooyoung went, followed shortly by the others, until Yoona was the only one left.

Unnie, be safe, Yoona’s voice resonated in Taeyeon’s head as Yoona’s neck started disappearing.

Unable to restrain herself, Taeyeon lunged at Yoona with a scream and tried to grab whatever was left of her last companion. However, it was much too late. Taeyeon fell down the ground with tears in her eyes, unable to believe what had just happen. She looked down at her hand and saw that there was still sparkling, white dust in it. It trickled away slowly as it was exposed to the wind, and droplets of water started dropping onto the palm of her hand.

“Shiro…SHIRO!” Taeyeon cried out. Gone, melted away like they were nothing but grains of saids. They were like sisters to me. She felt helpless and for some reason she couldn’t hold back her tears any more than she had tried, and she let herself go, sobbing like a madwoman.

The images of her dongsaengs flashed through her mind, as she remembered what her last moments with them looked like.

“It’s all my fault,” she whimpered through her tears.

All of a sudden, Taeyeon felt a rush of coldness fill the open space around her. She looked up, and she realized that a massive windstorm had been whipped up in the open space. She looked up and attempted to shield herself from the wind, but to no avail. She found it was starting too hard to breathe, and she did everything she could to grab a whiff of air. She started to choke, because the wind was much too strong for her.

And then it happened.

A pair of luminous white wings burst out from nowhere and shielded Taeyeon from the harsh winds, covering her. Taeyeon could only duck and stay there until the wind subsided, as the person seemed very protective of her and wouldn’t even let her move.

At last, the winds faded and the wings slowly withdrew from Taeyeon’s body. When she looked up to see who her saviour was, her heart and mind gave an unfamiliar lurch.

It was Leeteuk, dressed all in white and looking down with worried yet cold eyes at her. Unlike the others, Leeteuk actually had an expression on his face, and his arms and legs weren’t completely limp and hanging. Instead, he was floating and standing with power and confidence. His elegance and handsomeness had never been so defined before as now, and his hair and wings moved gently in the wind.

Taeyeon-ah, are you alright? Once again, Leeteuk hadn’t even opened his mouth yet Taeyeon could hear the words clearly in her mind.

“Leeteuk-oppa….” she whispered. “Is that really you….?”

Ne, Taengoo, it’s me. With a lurch of his wings, Leeteuk and landed in front of Taeyeon, one knee on the ground and his eyes staring straight into Taeyeon. He raised one of his white gloved hands and touched Taeyeon’s hand. She jolted and recoiled, afraid that he too would combust into dust, but thankfully nothing happened.

Taengoo, kinchena? Leeteuk looked at her with genuine worries in his eyes.

Taeyeon shook her head, and she felt the tears exploding out of her eyes again.

“Annyo, oppa,” she wailed. “Annyo! My….friends……they’re all gone…..”

Suddenly, Leeteuk moved closer to Taeyeon and wrapped his arms around her. His wings gently covered Taeyeon’s shoulders as he brought her closer into his body. Taeyeon was so surprised she stopped crying and let Leeteuk hold on to her. For some reason, she felt true warmth and comfort, and it confirmed that he really was there and wasn’t just an illusion in her mind.

Taengoo, everything will be all right. Leeteuk’s tone was soft and gentle, and matching with his embrace. He pulled back slowly and forced Taeyeon to look in his eyes.

“Oppa?” Taeyeon spoke.

Taengoo-ah, come with me. The words were now loud and resonate in Taeyeon’s mind.

“Buoya, oppa? What do you mean?”

Come with me. You’ll see your friends again. You’ll be happy for the rest of your life, and never alone again.

Taeyeon could only stare at Leeteuk, not knowing what to say next.

You’ll have me.

The words seemed so honest and truthful that Taeyeon felt drawn to him. He was promising her what she’d just lost seconds ago. She would see them all again. It was more than she could ever ask for at this point in time.

But why did it feel so wrong?

“Oppa……how do I go with you?” Taeyeon quivered.

At this Leeteuk’s eyes seemed to shift uncomfortably, and he slowly withdrew from Taeyeon, spreading his majestic white wings.

“Oppa…?”

You’ll have to kiss me.

Taeyeon’s eyes widened as she heard the request. Her heart started thumping faster. Me? K…kissing Leeteuk? She’d never even ever been sure of what her feelings were for concerning Leeteuk until somewhat recently, and she was sure her acceptance wouldn’t be so abrupt.

At that moment, Leeteuk’s wings flared again and he landed back in front of Taeyeon, but this time, he was much closer, and his nose was almost touching Taeyeon’s. His eyes were dreamy and beckoning, making Taeyeon feel hypnotized. God, he’s beautiful, she thought.

So, how about it? Leeteuk’s question was direct and to the point. And at this point, Taeyeon knew there was no way she could refuse. Slowly and carefully, she moved closer and closer to Leeteuk, taking in every second of this perilous and risky moment.

I’ll see them again, Taeyeon smiled to herself as she pictured all her dongsaengs in her mind. She leaned closer and closer, and she started to close her eyes as she moved towards him.

“Teukie-oppa….” she whispered. Their lips were barely centimeters away.

At that moment, a horrible screeching sound burst out across the barren field and Taeyeon jumped away in horror. A sudden black shadow washed over her and wrapped her in its embrace and started carrying her away from Leeteuk. It flew higher and higher and faster and faster away from Leeteuk.

“LEETEUK OPPA!!!!” she yelled. She heard his voice calling her name and resonating in her mind, but she was useless in the clutches of the dark monster that was carrying her away. At that moment, her eyelids felt heavy and she slumped once again into a state of unconsciousness.