Taeyeon laid on the bed still and quiet as Cho Hee cleaned her face gently with a small, pink towel, as carefully and gently as a sister would.

"Aigo, unnie..." she whispered. "You must've had such a long night. You've been out of it for hours already. I'm glad you're finally awake." She swiped Taeyeon's face one last last time and precded to clean her own hands after she'd tossed the cloth aside.

"Argh...I don't even remember half of what happened," Taeyeon groaned, hitting her palm against her head.

"Well there's really no point in trying to stress yourself out htinking about it anyways," Cho Hee smiled. "I don't have to know yet, and if you think about it too much, it won't be very good for you."

At that, Taeyeon bolted upright and moaned out loud.

"How can I just forget about it?!" she exclaimed. "That had to be the most traumatic thing that's ever happened to me in my life!" She buried her hands in her hair for a moment. And before Cho Hee could stop her, Taeyeon started spilling out every single detail she could remember about her little incident in the woods. Although she'd left out the reason why she ran out into the woods in the first place (surely Cho Hee would misunderstand it, and she didn't really want to tell her about the whole fire in the building thing at the moment), she sould still sense Cho Hee's growing uneasiness as she went deeper and deeper into the story.

"It still gives me the chills just to think about that creepy shadow-like thing," Taeyeon muttered. "I still don't know why I didn't drown."

"You'll be okay, unnie," Cho Hee tried to comfrt her immediately. She gave her a quick wink. "I'll do my best to protect you." Taeyeon smiled weakly at her new dongsaeng's cuteness, which was enlightening even in such a situation. Regardless of all the pleasant attention that Cho Hee was giving to her, she couldn't but yearn for her own eight dongsaengs at that moment, wishing for them to be here to comfort her in this time. 

"You know, I never knew there was so much bad stuff going on on this island," Cho Hee mumbled as she poured some tea out of a fancy teapot. "I always thought it was safe since my father left me here...but maybe he does want to get rid of me after all."

Taeyeon's expression immediately became concerned and bewildered.

Cho Hee immediately burst into her bubbly laughter.

"I'm kidding!" she smiled. She the cup of tea she'd been handling towards Taeyeon's hands. "Here! Have some of this! It's some fancy herbal tea that's supposed to make you feel better. Taeyeon couldn't help but smirk at the heiress' lack of attention to pretty much anything, even the kind of tea she was offering her friend.

Slowly, Taeyeon leaned forward and grabbed the cup earnestly. "Komawowyo," she whispered, as she brought the white porcelain cup to her lips. She took a careful sip, and the taste seemed to stay in for awhile. It was sweet and delightful at first, but then turned bitter as it reached the middle of her tongue. However, when she swallowed it, she miraculously felt a soothing and honey-like feeling coat , and almost made her feel better instantly.

"It tastes...special..."

Cho Hee laughed at the comment. "I know," she said. "It took me awhile to get used to....I mean, it's fine at first but then it gets so bitter I want to spit it out."

Taeyeon shrugged. "It's not that bad..."

"Really?! I'm surprised you even managed to swallow it."

"But it tasted fine by that time."

"...maybe it's my taste buds?" Cho Hee thought about it for a moment, but then immediately shrugged the thought of her head. Taeyeon couldn't help but be reminded of Jessica again; the resemblance between the two was suddenly striking to her.

Cho Hee suddenly moved over and placed her hand on Taeyeon's head.

"Ah, it looks like your fever is cooling down fast!" she said happily. "No worries! That tea'll clear you up in no time! Soon things'll all be back to the way they once were!"

Back to the way they once were...

"Yah, Cho Hee...where's Leeteuk?"

Taeyeon hadn't meant to bring him up. In fact, the thought of him never even crossed her mind until then. But somehow, she felt his name slip off her tongue before she could help it. Even Cho Hee looked surprised for a moment at her sudden comment.

It makes sense to ask, Taeyeon rationalized. After all, I believe he's the last person I saw before I completely forgot everything anyways...

"Come to think of it, I'm not even sure..." Cho Hee replied slowly. "When we came back, he helped me bring you up to this room and then he left. He said he was going to bandage his hand, I think, and he completely dissappeared after that. He should be in his room I gue--"

"Wait." Taeyeon blinked several times. "Bandage his hand?! Why?!"

Concern appeared once again in Cho Hee's expression. "Do you not remember anything?"

Taeyeon grabbed onto her head and looked utterly and completely confused. "What...what are you talking about?"

"You don't remember fighting him off for no reason and then hitting and breaking his hand during the midst of it?"

"Wait, WHAT?!"

Cho Hee could only stare back at Taeyeon in disbelief.

"You seriously don't recall anything?!"

"NO!"

Cho Hee suddenly looked panicked. "Aigo! Eotteoke! You're here like this, there's no doctor, no one else, the phone lines are cut off...."

"Wait, THE PHONE LINES ARE CUT OFF?!"

"Calm down," Cho Hee quickly soothed. "It happens all the time in this place. The phone systems in this place aren't particularly well set up, considering I would be the only who uses them anyway, so they didn't bother to put in much effort. Of course, it's still somewhat sturdy but consdering this place's wild weather, lack of maintenance and who-knows-what creatures from the forest, it's hard to keep it stable and constant."

"So, how long does it take for them to be recovered?" Taeyeon asked worriedly.

Cho Hee shrugged. "Depends on when my father decides to pay attention to me."

"So...in the meantime we're cut off from all communication outside of this island."

"Well...I guess I don't really have Internet out here either so....pretty much."

Taeyeon felt a stone sink in her heart.

Without thinking, she suddenly sat up and flung the blanket aside.

"YAH! UNNIE!" Cho Hee stood up with her. "What're you doing?! Where do you think you're going?! You're still ill!" She moved to tuck Taeyeon back in, but was brushed aside at once.

"Cho Hee, tell me what happened!" Taeyeon said desparately.

"But-"

"I'm fine..." Taeyeon rubbed her head again. "I...I just want to know what the heck happened out there...and how I got back here."

Cho Hee sighed, realizing she had no other option. Slowly and carefully, she retold every single detail that she recalled from the moment she found Taeyeon and Leeteuk together in that horrible situation in the forest. Taeyeon could only listen to her blankly, her expression the same as that of Cho Hee's only minutes ago.

"So...he rescued me...? In a way?" Taeyeon said.

"What do you mean 'in a way'?" Cho Hee said. "I don't think it can be seen any other way. He was literally holding you protectively in his arms."

Holding me protectively in his arms.It sounded like something the old Leeteuk would've done, the Leeteuk she knew before the fire incident. Taeyeon felt her blood turn cold. He was the reason she'd ran away in the first place. Now to find out he was likely...no close to definitely the one saved her was an eerie thought.

"You know...it seems like you want to talk to him..." Cho Hee said suddenly.

"What?! NO!" Taeyeon gasped in horror. To her mind, it was probably the last thing she wanted to do at the moment.

Cho Hee shrugged. "Well you brought him up and you keep talking about him so I thought you'd wanted to ask him something." Cho Hee stood up and rearranged the food tray again, putting a lid over it. "He's probably just recovering in his room anyways."

"Is it that bad...?" Her voice was so concerned for a second that it surprsied even herself.

Cho Hee lifted the tray up and smiled weakly at her. "Why don't you go find out?" 

"What?! No! WHY?! Why can't you do it?!"

"I think it'd be better if I don't see him right now."

"And I should?"

"Come on, you've been with him for three years or something already. I haven't seen him in years, and for some reason he keeps looking at me weird. I really don't think I should be alone in a room with him. It'd be awkward."

"And I should?"

"You two are so close to each other though!"

"No! We're not!" 

"Please...he wouldn't have rushed out of the mansion without hesitation screaming your name if you two weren't close."

He did that? Taeyeon becamse lost in thought for a moment. She could hardly believe that he would do such a thing just because of her. Surely Cho Hee was telling lies to persuade her and warm her up to go visit him. But it was enough to make Taeyeon extremely curious. She suddenly became flooded with questions she wanted to ask Leeteuk.

"Fine, I'll do it," Taeyeon blurted at once. She was ahamed at how easily persuaded she'd become: it was much too fast and easy for Cho Hee., and for some reason she wanted to punch herself. Something told her she actually would've if it wenre't for the fact that she'd already felt as if a bulldozer just ran over and crushed every part of brain.

Cho Hee flashed her a brilliant smile.

"Oh! Thank god!" Cho hee squealed. "I thought I was going to have to do it myself! I mean, one of us was going to have to do it and check on him to see if he's fine and boy, am I glad it's not me! That dude is too hard to be alone with."

"What?" Taeyeon responded dumbly.

Cho Hee shrugged. "Meh, I figured you'd want to go anyways," she winked. "It's not like you could stop thinking about him this entire time."

It was a good thing Taeyeon didn't punch herself because those words pretty much had the same effect.

But wordlessly and obediently, Taeyeon slowly dragged off the bed still in her dirty forest clothes and hopped off the bed into a comfy pair of slippers, after which she followed Cho Hee out the door and into the vast corridors which were suddenly unfamiliar to her within the few hours of being away from them.

Cho Hee pushed her into a strange room she'd never been in before. It was dark, but she quickly flipped on the lights to reveal an empty room with four doors in it.

"What? This isn't Leeteuk's room..." Taeyeon said slowly.

Cho Hee suddenly popped out from nowhere in front of Taeyeon, startling her.

"Of course not," she said sternly. "Look, we need to clean you up before you see anyone. I don't want you looking like you just came crawling out of the forest when you see him."

"...but I kind of just did. And he knows that. I really don't think this is prioritized right now. Besides, who cares? It's just Leeteuk."

Cho Hee waved her hand disdainfully. " I don't care if you're seeing just Leeteuk, the president, the scum of the Earth or the perfect members of some boy band. It doesn't matter. The point is, you came back into my house unconscious covered in who knows what while you're soaking wet with half of your hair chopped."

"Half my hair what--?"

Without another word, Cho Hee whipped out a golden rimmed mirror she pulled from who knows where and held it in front of Taeyeon's face. Taeyeon gasped and her eyes widened as she saw her reflection in the mirror. Her pale clear skin was covered with dirt and it her eyes seemed almost dead and sullen. But those would return to normal soon enough.

Cho Hee was right.

Her once long, brunette hair had been messily chopped off by the neck, and what was left was a tangled mess with jagged ends that seemed completely foreign to her.

"What the...?" Taeyeon gasped. "Who would cut off my hair life that?"

"I don't know, but they sure weren't trying to make you look attractive," Cho Hee prodded.

"Okay, I don't care what my hair looks like! This is not important right now and--"

"DUDE! IT GOT CHOPPED OFF! I'm giving you a haircut NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU ARGUE!" She started pushing her unnie effortlessly towards one of the four mysterious doors.

"WHAT?! WHAT ABOUT LEETEUK?!" Taeyeon screeched desparatelly.

"Please, everyone else would know that I was only using his name as a ploy to get you out of bed. He's completely fine, I already bandaged his hand for him...besides...heaven knows you would jump out the window if I told you he was standing outside."

Taeyeon felt the blow hit her...hard. "WHAT?! THAT IS SO NOT TRUE!" she yelled back defensively.

"Well, it worked," said Cho Hee apathetically, as she pulled the door open and shoved Taeyeon into the darkness.

Third blow. Taeyeon already felt like falling over and fainting right there.

"Ohh! JUST BE QUIET AND DO IT!" Taeyeon broke at last.

"Yeah, not like I was going to let you get away with it." Cho Hee smiled herself as she closed and flicked on the light.

Taeyeon gasped.

In front of her were shelves and shelves of make up and hair products, in any colour and style and shape and bottle that you could ever imagine. The shelves were so stacked and cluttered that a few bottles tilted over and fell off their place when Cho Hee closed the door behind them. As Taeyeon took in the overwhelming sight, she started to wonder what Cho hee really looked like without all this stuff. 

Cho Hee popped in front of her and ordered her to plop down into the lone chair sitting in front of the mirror in the middle of the room. She whipped out a pair of scissors, which caused Taeyeon to recoil almost immediately.

"Relax," Cho hee soothed. "I always cut my own hair...there's no one else to do it." Taeyeon was reminded more and more of Jessica and Tiffany, who would usually do anything to be able to cake her face with some new sparkly eyeshadow or curl her hair and stick pink extensions in it.

As Cho Hee started to work, Taeyeon couldn't help but think about how ridiculous this all was: here she was being trapped on an island with no communication with her friends potentially in danger and a psychopathic killer after her and she was getting her hair done. It was so....anticlimatic somehow.

Surprisingly, Cho Hee worked fast, and within half an hour, she had Taeyeon's hair cut, dyed and wrapped up in a towel. From what she'd seen, Taeyeon expected it to be extremely satisfactory. But before she could offer her opinion or even say anything, Cho Hee had whisked her out this room and into the adjacent door.

This time Taeyeon had to be awestruck by racks and racks of dresses, in millions of different colours and patterns and any style you could hope to choose from. Short, long, medium, evening, casual, they were all there...and it was overwhelming to Taeyeon who'd never seen so many dresses in her life.

Without a word, Cho Hee quickly pulled one from the rack so fast that Taeyeon figured she was doing it at random after all.

"Put it on!" she demanded fiercely, throwing a mess of blue and white fabric at her and pointing to a curtain in the corner. Taeyeon had never seen Cho Hee so demanding before, and startled as she was, she was slightly afraid as well, so she demurely stepped behind the curtains and slipped into the dress.

"Are we almost done yet..?" Taeyeon moaned as she stepped back out. She was clearly exhausted and wanted no more part in this whole dressing up business, as extravagant and fantastical as it was. The dress seemed to fit comfortably enough, although there was no mirror to confirm her appearance. She found that strange, although it must be because Cho Hee was always alone anyways with no one to help her get dressed....she had to decide and define beauty on her own...

"One more," Cho Hee smiled. And with that she dragged Taeyeon into the third room. It was weird. Taeyeon ought to be distressed, she ought to have been worried and stressed out about what was going to become of everyone, but for some reason she didn't seem to mind Cho Hee's actions at all. It as some sort of mysterious aura around the girl: no matter what Cho Hee did to Taeyeon, as long as she was happy, Taeyeon as if there was nothing wrong. Had it been anyone else, she would've yelled at them and told them to snap back to reality, even to her dongsaengs but with Cho Hee...it was different...

"Finishing touches and then we can unwrap your hair and see how everything turns out," Cho Hee said. And she the lights once again.

Taeyeon suddenly felt the light hit her in every which direction, and she had to hold up her hands up to shield herself from the sudden luminous glare. She winced, wondering just what was going on, but as she pulled her arms away, allowing her eyes to adapt to the unearthly light.

The sight she saw completely took her breath away. The dresses and make-up were nothing compared to this.

Jewels. Diamonds. Sapphires. Rubies. Chains and chains of them in every kind of jewelery you could think of, thrown messily on racks and shelves within the tiny room. As the dim light reflected of the many crystals, the seemed to shine brighter and bounce back in every which colour all around the room, creating a lovely and unearthly glow within the room in millions and millions of different colours. It was a breathtaking sight, one that Taeyeon never even dared to imagine in her life.

"Wow..." Taeyeon whispered.

"Impressive, huh?" Cho Hee whispered, her voice slightly distant itself. "All these jewels, the necklaces, the bracelts, the rigns...all of it...they were gifts my father gave to my mother back in the day."

Taeyeon turned to look at Cho Hee, surprised. She was taken aback as she saw a sullen and serious appearance in Cho Hee, despite the fact that she'd just made such an extremely touching statement.

"Cho Hee...?" said Taeyeon.

As expected, Cho Hee had been zoning out, and jolted a little as she heard Taeyeon's voice.

"Oh...it's nothing," she laughed nervously. She immediately shuffled awkwardly to one of the necklace stands and quickly threw her a few bracelt and rings

"Here, put them on," she smiled.

Taeyeon was still slightly dazed. "But why would I near to wear such jewelery just to--"

"Just put them on!" Cho Hee demanded as she turned to look for something else. Taeyeon could only sigh. Thus was the Cho Hee Affect: you can't seem to go wrong with her.

As Cho hee slipped on the silver charm bracelet and diamond ring, she suddenly felt slightly overwhelmed by the new precious treasures she was being presented with. She didn't understand why she suddenly deserved all this and what exactly was Cho Hee's motive in doing so. Suddenly her list of priorities came rushing back to her as she stared at the expensive jewelery. She knew it would be useless to argue against Cho Hee, but a disturbing feeling suddenly started to nag at her, threatening to make her blurt out nonsense against.

"Uh...Cho Hee...shouldn't we hurry and get this over with before something bad happens?" Taeyeon frowned.

"Relax...the worst is over...you need to calm down..." Cho Hee said slowly. "Look around, see what you like. You're safe here with me now, don't you know that? You only got into trouble because you left this sanctuary." She winked at Taeyeon. "I need to go get something, I'll be right back. You look around."

"Uh...wait..." But it was too late. Cho Hee had already slammed the door behind them. Again, Taeyeon couldn't help but feel selfish and totally out of place for picking out jewelery when there was potentially so much other stuff she could be worrying about. But, like she'd thought before, it was the Cho Hee factor, and there was no way she could deny her genuinity and kindness. Besides, Cho Hee seemed confident that the worst was truly over, and either way, there was nothing Taeyeon could do at this point anyways except maybe complain and yell a little more...both of which would do no good to help her out...

But still, as she looked around the room, it was not enough to put her in the right mind to care about her appearance right now. She had no idea what Cho Hee was ideally planning, but she found it unnecessary and unneeding at this point. She was tempted to rip it all off and ran back to her room, pulling on her nightgown and hide under her blankets so she could hope for a miracle that would bring her friends to her.

And before she could help it, she thought about Leeteuk too. Her heart sank as she realized how much he missed his smile, and sound of his voice bubbling in her ears in a way which she'd thought to be so genuine.

Suddenly, a tiny flickering caught Taeyeon's eyes as she mused. Her attention diverted, Taeyeon slowly moved towards a pile of necklaces tossed messily together on a table. It was a tangled mess indeed, yet she couldn't help but claw through it, feeling that she'd jsut saw something within the pile that had truly caught her attention, and she would regret it forever if she didn't find it. She pulled and spreaded the lengths and lengths of silver chains out until at last, she found what she was looking for, and she knew why.

It was a lovely diamond necklace.

It had two hearts, one entwined within another. The inner heart was pure diamond, while the outer heart was pure silver, somehow seeming strong and protective of the inner one as it protected and shielded the precious thing. but what really caught her attention were the wings that'd spread from the centre, brandished like that of an angel's, glimmering beneath the timid sunlight.

"Taeyeon unnie!" Cho Hee called out suddenly. By a sudden instinct, Tayeeon had the impulse to turn around quickly and slip the necklace safely into one of her dress pockets, hidden from Cho Hee's sight. And she had no idea why.

Cho Hee rushed towards her gleefully, holding something out. Without another word, she wrapped her arms around Taeyeon's neck and clasped the chain around her. Taeyeon looked down and realized that it was a pearl necklace, pure and pretty, white and beautiful.

"It was my mother's," Cho Hee said slowly. "It was a wedding gift from my father."

Taeyeon's shock was clear. "What?! Then I can't wear something like th--"

"NO!" Cho Hee said. "It...it doesn't suit me very much...and...and it looks beautiful on you..." Cho Hee patted Taeyeon's collarbone gently. "Promise me you'll wear it."

Taeyeon sighed. Of  course she couldn't refuse. Although an entire wave of guilt rode over her as she remembered the necklace still hidden in her pocket, now burning against her chest.

I'll tell her later... Taeyeon sighed.

Cho Hee removed the towel from Taeyeon's head, and startled as she suddenly squealed in glee.

"OMO UNNIE YOU LOOK PERFECT!" And she spun her new beloved unnie towards a mirror, and she too had to gasp at her new reflection.

It was an understatement to say that Taeyeon looked like a completely different person from the mess that'd been dragged unconsciously from the woods a few hours ago. In fact, she almost looked completely different from her self before. Although Taeyeon knew that her old long, brown hair was gone for good, it was still a shock to see that her new haircut was short and almost whimsical, snipped cleanly close to the edge of her jawline and framing her face perfectly. It flared out charmingly as she shook her head back and forth, and it made her look so extremely different from the usual mature look she had with her long hair. What's more, her pretty blue dress and sparkling jewelery gave her the impression that she'd gave from a rich family, and at this point it was clear that Cho Hee had styled her in a way that she'd wanted, without any consideration for what Taeyeon would want whatsoever.

Cho Hee clapped her hands in glee, making the scene that much more unbelievable and shoujo-manga like.

"Oh! You've never looked so good! I love it!" Cho Hee exclaimed.

Although Taeyeon would've never chose to do this to herself before, she had to admit she did look quite different, and almost prettier in her eyes. She managed a weak smile, making her reflection that much more convincing.

"Komawoyo, Cho Hee," she said slowly.

Suddenly, she realized that Cho Hee had started pushing her again, and it wasn't long before Taeyeon knew that she was going to have to fall to another one of her demands. Taeyeon immediately told herself that she should stop judging Cho Hee's actions, and they could actually turn out well, as clearly it just did in this case...

"Now you have to go show Leeteuk oppa! Oh, I'm sure he'll be delighted to see you like this!"

...nope, she had thought much too soon.

"Wait, WHAT?! I DON'T WANT TO SEE HIM RIGHT NOW!" Taeyeon screamed and pulled away from Cho Hee at once. There was absolutely NO WAY that suggestion could turn out well, no matter how she looked at it.

"Oh, come on, you were dying to see him just a few minutes ago..."

Or maybe I was dying to avoid him. "That's because you said he was injured!" Taeyeon protested. "Now that I know he's fine I'm not going to bother seeing his obnoxious face anytime soon." She frowned and skulked away down the hallway towards her room, her necklace. 

"...I see you're all better now that I brought him up..." Cho Hee said slyly.

Taeyeon froze. It was true. After all the confusion and the hair and the dress and ther necklace she'd somehow managed to forget all about the slight headaches and nausea, and she was somehow feeling better. For a moment, she could only stare at Cho Hee in disbelief.

This girl...she's...

But she shook the thought out of her head as she realized that Cho Hee seemed to be teasing her again.

"Araseo, why do you want me to see him so badly?" Taeyeon said. "You're the one who keep bringing him up. You're the one who insists I should see him over and over again."

Cho Hee's smile suddenly faltered and she averted her eyes away from Taeyeon, staring down at her feet.

Taeyeon was taken aback. She didn't expect this reaction. And it totally put her in a bind. She owed Cho Hee too much that the last thing she wanted was to offend her.

"Is everything alright...?" she said carefully.

"But unnie...I thought you knew already..." Cho Hee replied, extremely quiet.

"...knew what?" Taeyeon tried wracking her mind of some terrible thing that Leeteuk had done to Cho Hee that might have made their relationship awkward. She couldn't think of anything.

Cho Hee was staring back at her nervously by now. "But what you said before...I thought you..."

Wait, what I said?!  Taeyeon started freaking out inside as she tried to remember what she could've said that might've jeopardized the calm and normal acquaintanceship between the two. It took a lot longer, but by the time  Cho Hee spoke again Taeyeon still had nothing.

"Unnie...I...I just...I thought you knew...and I figured it was kind of obvious by now," she muttered.

"Obvious? What's obvious?" Taeyeon was really confused. "Why don't you just tell me?! It's fine, no one's here anyways so if it's something terrible or harassing he did to you I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

Cho Hee sighed. She dragged her feet back and forth and back and forth across the floor.

"It's...it's really nothing like that and...even though I was afraid you'd already figured I realize now that it probably would be easier for me if you did...as in like...you actually, you know, it's kind of a thing where you might get offended because it's really quite a sensitive matter and--"

"HUANG CHO HEE, just spit it out!"

"I really like Leeteuk-oppa!"

The words left Cho Hee in almost a squeal, and you could tell it was threatening to burst out of her for a long time now. Silence followed, leaving the awkward tension evident in the air for a moment, although what for neither of them knew. Whatever it was Taeyeon was recovering from, she knew she had to do it quickly.

"What, REALLY?!" Taeyeon gasped, pretending she could barely believe it (although Cho Hee was right: it really was obvious now come to think of it). "Wait a minute, if you liked him so much why do you avoid him so much and why do you always send ME running after him?"

"Well, it's not as if he would look at me since he's obviously involved with you! I mean, I thought I might as well make him happy in some way considering I can't do it directly because I'm not his girlfriend and I know you might be really really offended and may even potentially hate me for this because you just don't tell a girl that you like her--"

Taeyeon held her hands up. "Wait, Cho Hee, what did you just say?"

At this moment, Cho Hee's shypression was replaced with confusion. "Aren't you two dating?"

Taeyeon felt a huge blow hit her, and she felt as if she was going to be knocked off her feet, literally.

"WAIT, WHAT?!" She suddenly found herself hanging onto the wall for relief, to stabilize herself. "M-Me and him...DATING?!!"

"I dunno, I guess I just got this little vibe coming off from you two--"

"No, no, no, no! Whatever 'vibe' you felt was WAY. COMPLETELY. OFF. THAT JERK AND I ARE NOT DATING. IN FACT, WE ARE FAR FROM IT."

Cho Hee blinked a few times. "...seriously...?"

"Honestly, I can't believing you've been thinking that all along."

A smile cracked on Cho Hee's face again. "Meaning I am completely free to claim him for myself?"

Taeyeon shouldn't have hesitated, but she did.

"Y-yes. I don't see why not seeing as Park Jung Soo and I have no relationship in that way whatsoever..."

Taeyeon didn't think she'd ever seen Cho Hee this happy before. "Ohmigosh! That's great! Why didn't you tell me earlier?! ...well, I guess you didn't know what I was thinking but...hmm, I guess you're right...no real couple would've argued and fought as much as you guys did."

Taeyeon felt an unexplainable hurt inside of her for some reason.

"But that's amazing! I'm SO glad I brought this up!" A delighted Cho Hee was a beautiful Cho Hee, Taeyeon couldn't help thinking, and she immediately felt satisfied inside while she was hurting.

"So...tell me..." Taeyeon spoke slowly. "What exactly was it that you find so attractive in him."

Cho Hee was clearly taken aback by this question, as her amount of delight normally wouldn't result in just a close lipped smile, which she did at that moment.

She shrugged first. "Well, I don't know...but honestly, what is there not to like about him."

He potentially may have committed arson, for one. Taeyeon wanted to say that so badly, but she didn't want to crush her feelings, so she said something else.

"He's kind of...bipolar?"

"Well, I always thought he was totally cute," Cho Hee replied at once. "And ever since he was young he's been kind and sweet and charming and helpful and...ohh, he's just the ideal guy, you know? Not to mention, he's totally cute."

"Isn't that kind of...superficial?" Taeyeon questioned.

"I know, but...HE'S JUST SO CUTE!"

Taeyeon sighed. She knew it was useless to pry anymore. She'd somehow let her non-existent secret that she an Leeteuk were actully not dating out, and now Cho Hee would take advantage of that and likely confess to him in the near future.

The question was, would he accept her back?

"Do you want me to talk to him for you?" Taeyeon blurted out before she could even think about whether or not it was a good idea.

Cho Hee immediately stopped smiling, her expression filled with anguish and concern instead. "What? No! I don't want you to tell him that I...I...like him or anything."

"But don't you.?

"Well, yes but..."

There was that sinking feeling in Taeyeon's heart again. She shook it away.

"I'll talk as if you were some stranger. I won't mention your name and I'll just ask him what he thinks of someone like you, except not in an obvious manner," Taeyeon said.

Cho Hee's eyes lit up. "You'd do that?! For me?!"

"Well, it's the least I could do after all you've done for me."

Taeyeon braced herself for the overwhelming, choking hug that she suspected was coming. And of course, like any character in a manga would, Cho Hee ran straight at Taeyeon and threw her arms around her neck, causing her to gasp for breath only after a few moments.

It reminded of the hugs her dongsaengs used to give her.  

"Cho--Hee--You--can--let--go--" she struggled.

Cho Hee broke apart and smiled at Taeyeon with the most radiant smile she'd ever seen from anyone in her life.

"Thank you so much, unnie! You're so kind!" Cho Hee exclaimed. She hugged Taeyeon again, this time more gently.

"It's the least I can do," Taeyeon repeated. "But, I can't promise I'm going to do it immediately, araseo? I...I have something else to deal with right now...with Leeteuk that is..."

Cho Hee nodded gleefully. "It's more than I could ask!" said she. Her eyes became distracted for a moment. "But...now that I know Teukie oppa's an...eligible bachelor I guess I better fancy up a little more!" She smiled.

"No need," Taeyeon smirked. "You look fine as you are...and it's not like you have any competition."

Cho Hee eyed Taeyeon, the Taeyeon that she'd given such a magnificent makeover just minutes ago.

"You never know," Cho Hee winked. And before Taeyeon could say another word, she dashed off and dissapeared down the hallway. Taeyeon looked after her, and it was only after she'd completely gone that Taeyeon allowed her eyes to reveal the sadness that she'd so carefully concealed just seconds ago.

Ugh...what've I done...

But she had no time to think, because like she'd said to Cho Hee, there were truly a few things she had to deal with Leeteuk. There were many answers she needed, and only he could tell her, and these answers could potentially lead to her own safety, and perhaps the safety of her closest friends as well.

She took a deep breath. Taeyeon knew it was going to be hard, but she had to try.

I need to finish what I started.

She looked out the window. It was getting late, and the bright light was starting to falter. She needed to be fast. 

Straightening her new dress and haircut which seemed to shield her from her usual timid self, Taeyeon took a determined step towards the direction of Leeteuk's room.

*********************

Slowly and quietly, Taeyeon stepped inside, her eyes wandering, expecting to see him doing something random in some xorner of the room. She was slightly taken aback for a moment as she realized he was nowhere in sight.

I guess he's not--

And it was only then that Taeyeon realized he was lying on the bed, sleeping in a completely peacful manner.

Her heart took her by surprise as it started beating faster for no apparent reason. Carefully, she closed the door quietly behind her, careful not to make a noise. Afterwards, she realized she really had no idea what she was doing, but remebering her new confident appearance she walked across the large bedroom and towards the bed, where Leeteuk was sleeping in front of the bright windows, the dimmer light still managing to shine gently on his face.

Taeyeon coulodn't help but be taken by him for a moment, and in that moment, she realized why Cho Hee seemed to be so completely charmed by him. She slowly moved to the edge of the bed and sat down, staring down at his sleeping face, so pure and innocent, so void of any complicated thoughts and worries like it normally was. He seemed so relaxed and at peace, so different from what she usually saw in him. It was all perfect somehow, his closed eyes and slightly parted lips.

This was likely his true image, the one that Cho Hee had fallen for years ago, Taeyeon thought to herself.

TO BE CONTINUED

Hey y'alls.

Exams are coming up so this is going to be a last update for awhile

Sorry about the cliffhanger. Next chapter will still be Day 1: Strangers (continuation)

I was going to write more but and I realize a bit is better than nothing ^^ and no, the makeover scene is not as unecesary as some of you may all think but since I cut the chapter off early it DOES seem quite stupid and pointless (*hint hint*)

Wish me luck and see you all soon ^^ :D

~Ami

RANDOM PICTURE TIME

roar ;)