Chapter 5
Concrete Angel
A/N: Hey. I'm back. Sorry for the VERY long wait. Has it been three months since I updated this? I'm really sorry for that :( It's just that ever since college life started for me, I rarely had time to write. *sighs sadly*
Chapter 5
Tiffany woke up to the ringing of her cellphone. She opened her eyes and realized that she was curled in a fetal position on her bed while hugging the family album. She quickly got up and fumbled for cellphone as she placed the photo album back on the top shelf. She checked who was calling her and found out that it was Taeyeon.
"Taeyeon?" Tiffany asked as soon as she answered the call.
"Tiffany, where are you?" Taeyeon's concerned voice came out from the cellphone.
"I'm at home. Why?"
Tiffany could hear an audible sigh at the other end of the line. "Fany-ah, we have a study group session this afternoon. Have you forgotten about it?"
Tiffany's eyes grew in realization as she glanced at the pink wall clock in her room. "Oh my god! I completely forgot! I didn't realize that I slept that long!"
"It's alright, Fany-ah. Just come here soon, okay?"
"Okay, Taeyeon. I'll be leaving the house now."
---
"Unnie," Yoona started as she played with the letter Y of her pendant, just like how Yuri would.
Jessica kept quiet, encouraging the guardian angel to continue.
"Yuri and I...we're friends."
"Friends?"
"Well...used to be." Yoona sighed as she held onto the pendant, as if she was afraid that it would get out of her grasp.
Jessica furrowed her eyebrows. She has never heard Yuri talk about anyone before or heard Yoona sound so depressed.
"How come Yuri never told me about you?"
Yoona bit her lip. She looked hurt.
"I know that you must be confused right now, Sica. But twelve years ago, Yuri and I were friends." Yoona laughed bitterly. "Our paths crossed just once. We were never supposed to meet again after that one encounter."
"What encounter?" Jessica asked.
Yoona bit her lip as she remembered the incident. "Sica unnie...Yuri was supposed to take Tiffany's life away twelve years ago."
FLASHBACK
Yoona was only five years old when TIffany was six. Although at a very young age, she knew her role as a guardian angel. She understood what she was supposed to do.
"Mommy! I'm gonna play outside!" Tiffany giggled as she tugged on the hem of her mother's shirt.
"Okay Tiffany, remember to look both ways before crossing the street." Ms. Hwang smiled as she patted the top of her daughter's head.
"Yes Mommy!" Tiffany squealed as she ran out of the house excitedly.
Yoona followed Tiffany from behind, watching with careful eyes as Tiffany skipped happily.
"Hello little girl." a man suddenly called from behind.
Tiffany turned around and faced the stranger who called her. It was a man, possibly in his early forties. He smiled at Tiffany, in which Tiffany smiled back innocently. Despite his harmless appearance, Yoona knew that he wasn't...
"Hello mister!" Tiffany greeted giddily, unaware that the stranger wasn't a friend.
The man just continued to smile and brought out a pink lollipop that he was hiding behind his back. "I just thought that you looked like a nice little girl and that you deserve this lollipop as a gift."
"Strawberry!" Tiffany exclaimed with joy as her hands reached out for the candy, only to grab nothing but air.
The man held the lollipop above Tiffany's head and shook a finger at her. "Not so fast there, little missy." he chuckled as Tiffany eagerly tried to reach for the lollipop. "Before you get this little treat, you have to come with me to the park."
Tiffany frowned. "But mommy told me not to go with strangers. It's dangerous."
"But I'm not a stranger if you know who I am, right?"
Tiffany scrunched up her nose and thought about it. "I guess so..."
"Well then my name is Mr. Tak. And what's your name, little girl?"
"My name is Tiffany!"
"Well then, Ms. Tiffany, I'm not a stranger to you anymore, am I?"
Tiffany shook her head. "Nope!"
"So now can you come with me to the park?" Mr. Tak asked as he stretched out his hand towards Tiffany.
Tiffany took the hand and smiled. "Okay! Then I'll get my lollipop, right?"
"Of course Tiffany." Mr. Tak smile grew wider as he handed Tiffany the lollipop.
"Yay! Strawberry is my favorite!" Tiffany said while on the candy.
"Ah, my daughter also loved strawberry." Mr. Tak said as they started to walk together.
"Where's your daughter, Mr. Tak?" the little girl asked.
Mr. Tak's smile grew dim as his eyes became sad. "She's not with me anymore..."
"Aw! That's too bad! We could've played together at the park!"
Yoona's face became filled with concern. Although she was only five years old, she understood how dangerous the situation completely was more than Tiffany did.
"I need to take Tiffany away from him..." Yoona mumbled as she followed Tiffany from behind.
While the little Guardian was thinking of what to do, another angel appeared beside her. But instead of white, she was wearing black clothes.
"Don't even bother of thinking of what to do. That little girl's fate is sealed."
Yoona suddenly snapped out of deep thought and was surprised to see someone walking beside her. It was a little death angel who was slightly tan and had long jet black hair; probably was the same age as Yoona.
"Who are you?" Yoona questioned.
"Doesn't matter." the death angel shrugged. "What's important is that I'm here to take her." she said as she pointed at Tiffany who was still walking with Mr. Tak.
Yoona frowned in disagreement. "But she's only six!"
"You're an angel. Although you're not a death angel like me, you should rightfully know that all humans die."
"But I didn't expect it to be this early." Yoona whispered sadly.
The reaper heard what Yoona said and felt a bit of pity. But she shrugged off the feeling quickly, knowing that death was a part of her job and that she shouldn't be affected by it. Or was she really affected by the fact that she was about to take the little girl's life or was she affected because the little girl's guardian angel was sad? The Death Angel didn't know the answer.
"How much time does she have left?" Yoona asked.
The black angel looked at her watch. "5 minutes and 36 seconds."
Yoona nodded, trying to process the information. The Death Angel stayed quiet, observing the Guardian who was starting to have tears in her eyes.
"Hey, are you crying?"
Yoona sniffled and shook her head while looking away. "No."
"But your tears say otherwise." the Death Angel pointed out, feeling a pang in her heart as she saw the tears fall from the white angel's eyes.
Yoona just kept mum and sobbed quietly as she watched Tiffany talking animatedly to Mr. Tak about her family.
"Mommy and Daddy are the best! I'm really happy to have a family like them!"
Mr. Tak smiled, although there was a hint of bitterness behind it. "You must really love your family huh?"
"Of course! I love them so much! And I'm so happy that they love me too!" Tiffany exclaimed. "How about you, Mr. Tak?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you love your family too?"
Mr. Tak smiled sadly. "Of course I do."
A tear unexpectedly fell down on his cheek which surprised him. He didn't even notice that he was holding back tears in the first place.
"I love them very much."
Tiffany smiled as she held onto Mr. Tak's hand tighter. "Then I'm sure that they love you too. Especially your daughter. You seem like you're a great dad. Your daughter is very lucky to have you. She must love you so much!"
Mr. Tak suddenly stopped walking, pulling Tiffany back. Tiffany looked at him and tugged his hand.
"Why did you stop, Mr. Tak? I thought we were going to the park?"
Mr. Tak shook his head and knelt down to face Tiffany on eye level.
"Mr. Tak? Are you crying?" Tiffany asked as she wiped the tears on Mr. Tak's cheeks.
He shook his head and smiled sadly. "Don't worry about me, Tiffany. You...you should go back home. Your mom must be worried about you right now."
Tiffany frowned in confusion. "Mommy?"
"Yes, Tiffany. Go home. You can do that on your own, yeah?"
"Okay, Mr. Tak." Tiffany nodded, although unsure. "But I'll see you again, right?" the little girl asked hopefully.
Mr. Tak and smiled. "Maybe, Tiffany. Maybe."
Tiffany smiled and suddenly wrapped her arms around Mr. Tak's neck. "Thank you for the strawberry lollipop, Mr. Tak!"
Mr. Tak was surprised by the sudden hug but slowly wrapped his arms around Tiffany's small figure. He shut his eyes tight, letting his tears fall freely.
"You're welcome, Tiffany." he whispered as he kissed the top of Tiffany's head gently. "Goodbye."
He slowly released Tiffany and stood up with a content smile. Tiffany smiled back, showing her cute little eye smile as she waved to Mr. Tak.
Yoona furrowed her brows in confusion as she faced the Reaper. "Wait...I thought you were going to take Tiffany?"
The black angel nodded. "I am."
"But Mr. Tak let go of her. She isn't going to die." Yoona said, confused as she saw Mr. Tak turn around while Tiffany started walking in the direction of her home.
"Mr. Tak wasn't going to kill her." the death angel shook her head as she summoned her scythe in thin air. "The van that's out of control with no brakes that's coming this way in less than 30 seconds will."
Yoona's eyes widened in fear as she looked at Tiffany worriedly. The little girl was about to cross the street on her own. She didn't look both ways before she took a step on the street though.
Yoona was about to run towards Tiffany but was held back by the Reaper. "Don't! You know that this is how things happen!"
"No! I have to save her! Let me go!" Yoona shouted while trying to pull herself away from the death angel's tight grip on her arm.
"There's nothing you can do now."
Yoona slowly stopped pulling away, knowing that her attempts were futile. The death angel was suddenly taken aback when Yoona faced her with bleary tears in her eyes. She never saw someone so broken before.
"Please..." Yoona's voice cracked quietly...pleadingly.
The little Reaper bit her lip with uncertainty. Why did it pain her to see the little guardian in great sorrow?
She looked at her watch and noted the time left for her to finish her job.
12 seconds.
After a few moments of hesitation, the death angel lifted her hand towards Mr. Tak's retreating figure. With just a flick of her wrist, Mr. Tak was turned around by an invisible force. His eyes grew wide when he saw Tiffany and the incoming van.
"Tiffany!"
7 seconds.
Mr. Tak ran as fast as he could towards Tiffany. He kept on running faster with each step he took. His breathing became hard as he tried to reach for the little girl.
"I am not going to let her die like my daughter." he thought desperately.
4 seconds.
There was a loud and long honk and skidding of tires. That's when Tiffany realized what was coming her way, but was too shocked to even move from her spot in the middle of the road.
1 second.
Tiffany shut her eyes tightly in fear.
The death angel stood calmly beside the little girl with her scythe in one hand.
Mr. Tak jumped in front of the van and pushed Tiffany aside.
0 seconds.
The scythe has been lifted. A soul has been taken.
Yoona ran towards an unconscious Tiffany. The little girl's forehead was bleeding so badly. A lot of blood was gushing out of her fresh wound. She's been badly injured. But she was alive, nonetheless.
The Guardian quickly placed her hands on Tiffany's forehead and used her powers to heal the wound. Thankfully, she made the flowing of blood stop.
"A soul for a soul."
Yoona looked up to see the death angel. A weak smile came up the tan angel's face.
"Your human is alive in exchange for Mr. Tak's soul."
"B-but...are d-death angels allowed to take a person's soul even though it wasn't the human's time yet?" Yoona asked.
The death angel looked away. "My job is to take a soul at the given time. I have done my job here."
And with that, the Reaper spread her black wings and was about to leave when suddenly...
"Wait!"
The black angel stopped and looked back at Yoona.
"Thank you."
The end of the little Reaper's mouth tugged upwards a bit upon seeing Yoona's grateful smile. "You're welcome."
"What's your name?" Yoona asked.
The death angel tilted her head in thought for a while before she faced Yoona again.
"Yuri."
And before Yoona knew it, the little death angel named Yuri had spread her black wings once more. But this time, she had left for real.
END OF FLASHBACK
"So Tiffany was supposed to die when she was six even before I saved her when she was eight." Jessica concluded.
"Yes, unnie."
"Does Tiffany know any of this?"
"No. When I healed her I also blurred her memories of what happened. She woke up the next day on the hospital bed and was confused on how she ended up there with a gauze on her forehead. When her mother asked her what happened Tiffany said that she wasn't sure because it felt like a dream."
Jessica nodded her head. "How about Yuri?"
"She kept appearing to me after that. I didn't know why though. But I was always happy whenever I got to see her. We got to know each other and we became very close friends. Maybe even best friends."
Yoona held the pendant that was hanging around her neck. "Yuri gave this to me after Tiffany's mom died. She told me that even though we she was a Reaper and I was a Guardian, we would always be friends and that she'll never forget me. And then she stopped visiting me after that..."
"Why? What happened?" Jessica asked.
Yoona sighed sadly and shook her head. "I don't know, unnie. I never saw her again after that."
The blonde and the guardian angel were quiet in the room for a few moments until a quiet sob was heard from the angel.
"I miss her, unnie."
---
Tiffany was catching her breath as she knocked on the front door of Taeyeon's house. Aish! I really shouldn't have slept that long! There was a click on the other side of the door as Taeyeon opened it to let Tiffany in.
"I'm sorry for being late, Taeyeon!" Tiffany immediately apologized as she bowed a full ninety degrees.
"It's alright, Fany." Taeyeon smiled. "Come on. The others are already upstairs. We just started on Math."
Tiffany nodded as she followed Taeyeon inside the house.
"Why were you late, Tiffany?" Taeyeon asked as they went up the stairs.
Tiffany bit her lip as she rubbed her eyes unconsciously, trying to erase any signs that she had cried.
"I was just a bit tired, I guess. I fell asleep and didn't realize the time." Tiffany answered as nonchalantly as she could.
Taeyeon looked at Tiffany and furrowed her eyebrows. She knew that her best friend wasn't telling the truth but decided to ignore it if Tiffany didn't want to talk about it.
"Okay then, Tiffany. But don't tire yourself next time, okay?" Taeyeon said comfortingly with a warm smile.
As soon as they reached Taeyeon's room, all the girls greeted them. "Oh hey, Fany-ah!"
"Hi guys. Sorry I'm late." Tiffany apologized again as she sat beside Sunny on the extra bed.
"It's okay, Tiffany. We were just getting started anyway." Sunny said.
"Yeah. We only started just now becuase this shikshin here couldn't get enough of her hamburgers!" Hyoyeon added as she pointed at Sooyoung.
"Yah! I need brain food!" Sooyoung defended.
Seohyun shook her head sadly. "Unnie with that much hamburgers you've eaten a while ago you might die earlier."
"Ah don't worry, Seohyun! Unnie is still strong and I'll make sure that I'll live long too!" Sooyoung said as she gave Seohyun a sisterly hug.
"Guys, we should be studying now." Taeyeon reminded.
"Oh yeah! Now where were we?"
---
"We were with your question, Sooyoung."
"Oh okay. My question is very difficult so you guys better answer this very well!" Sooyoung smirked as she looked at her paper. "My question is......."
Everybody leaned a little bit forward, anticipating Sooyoung's question.
"If x is all elements of food and food equates to my happiness, then supply the equation that would represent how much food I can eat to satisfy my hunger if I haven't eaten for two hours."
"YAH! What kind of a question is that?!" Hyoyeon said incredulously.
"A question that I like since it involves food."
Hyoyeon face palmed herself. "Aish! What a shikshin..."
Everybody started discussing about their answers to Sooyoung's question. Tiffany tried to answer as well but couldn't concentrate. She sighed in defeat as she absentmindedly watched her friends argue about the amount of hamburgers that it would take for Sooyoung's death.
"Hey Tiffany. Are you alright?" Sunny asked as she noticed a quiet Tiffany.
"Yeah. I just don't feel like talking." Tiffany sighed.
"Are you sure?" Sunny asked with concern.
"Yup." Tiffany smiled, trying to show her friend that she was okay.
Sunny sighed and rubbed Tiffany's back. "Fany-ah, whatever it is that's bothering you, just remember that we're always here by your side, okay?"
Tiffany smiled sincerely, thankful for Sunny's concern. "Thank you, Sunny."
"I miss her, unnie."
The death angel choked back a sob when she heard Yoona's broken voice.
She took out the twin pendant from under her shirt and held it close to her heart as she closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
"I miss you too, Yoona."
TBC
A/N: Okay...I know that I said from my A/N in the last chapter that Jeti would be meeting here. Well..................I guess I kinda forgot that I was supposed to be writing this Yoonyul scene before that. Oh god, I am seriously such a bad author :( I am really sorry for not updating my fanfics regularly. It's just that I never knew that college life would be this hard OTL It's my midterms soon and I have to study hard. But I'll try my best to keep on writing and updating if I can. But I think I'll go on a hiatus for this story. Maybe a three month hiatus again or four? I'm not sure. Just long enough for me to write at least 5 or 6 chapters so that I could update regularly. Anyway, I AM REALLY SORRY, my dear readers. Aish...this bad author never changed her ways >< I just...........need to recollect my thoughts on this and how it should go. Believe it or not, I already wrote the ending for this fanfic lol. I'm only having trouble writing the stuff in between. So anyway, I'll go on hiatus for Concrete Angel (and maybe My Life Is Secretly A Movie. I'll still think about it.) But know that I'll be updating my A Cup of Caramel Coffee soon with a lot of one-shots. I just need to finish writing them.
Again, I AM REALLY VERY TRULY SERIOUSLY SORRY, my dear readers. I just don't want to post a chapter when I know that it isn't good enough. I really take time in writing my stories, shaping the whole plot and thinking very carefully of each word that I should use. Give me time to cool down....
Till the next update for Concrete Angel!
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