Chapter Seventeen

~~~

Somewhere during the night, the two face each other, eyes locked and bodies together. They couldn't sleep. Taeyeon's eyes flickered between Tiffany's, "Shouldn't one of us be staying with Jessica?" she asked, fanning her breath against Tiffany's lips. Tiffany shrugged, her arms still locked around Taeyeon's waist, "Once she's out, she's out. She won't wake up until the morning,"

"Oh," Taeyeon replied softly, scanning her eyes over Tiffany's face. Her hands were placed around Tiffany's neck. Even in the dim lighting, Taeyeon could clearly see Tiffany's pink lips, that weren't far from her own. Taeyeon's breath hitched as it seemed the distance between them became less and less each passing second.

And once Taeyeon felt her upper lip come in contact with Tiffany's, she gasped and turned around. She can't kiss Tiffany again, she can't fall back into the same pattern.

Meanwhile, Tiffany took a moment to process what happened. She couldn't believe it. Tiffany was the one who was leaning in. She gulped, she had a boyfriend, she can't be doing that.

Taeyeon took a deep breath and Tiffany felt it, "You're confusing me, Tiffany," Taeyeon whispered. Tiffany buried her face into Taeyeon's back.

"I'm confusing myself too,"

~~~

Jessica ran, and she ran quickly. She went to the place where she knew Yuri would be. Fastening her pace, she slowed when she saw a tan girl leaning on the tree located behind an elementary school. "Go away," Yuri's cold voice rang out once she saw Jessica's shoes. Yuri lowered her head, turning it so she wouldn't face Yuri.

Despite her hurt feelings, Jessica walked closer, only resulting in Yuri raising her voice, "Go away!" she boomed, causing Jessica to flinch. Jessica blinked the tears away and leaned on the tree, right next to Yuri. "Did you not hear me?" Yuri questioned, clenching her jaw.

"He hit you again, didn't he?" Jessica asked, lowering her head to look at Yuri's face. Yuri avoided Jessica's stare, "N-No," The older girl sighed, "I just want to help,"

"Then get out of my life," Yuri mumbled, surely breaking Jessica's heart. Jessica didn't bother with the tear that fell down her face, "I want to stay in your life. I want to help you, I want to be there for you whenever he shoves you or whenever she slaps you," Yuri turned her head, causing Jessica to gasp.

Blotches of purple mixed with black stained Yuri's face, Jessica walked closer and gently cupped Yuri's cheek. Yuri reached up and pulled Jessica's hand away, "You're going to get hurt," Jessica held onto Yuri's hand, "Let them hurt me," she replied in a soft tone, breaking down Yuri's walls.

The younger girl pulled the latter in, crying. Jessica wrapped her arms around Yuri's shoulders, "Just let me be there for you, Yuri," she whispered, kissing Yuri's ear softly. "I... I don't want to be the cause of your pain," 

Jessica shook her head gently.

"As long as you're here next to me, I'll never be in pain. Just don't leave me, Yuri-ah,"
 

~~~

"I should be going now," Tiffany stated, looking down at the new text message on her phone. Taeyeon, who was sitting next to her on the couch, nodded, "Bye," she mumbled, changing the channel on the TV. "Do you need a ride home?" Tiffany asked, "Siwon could-"

"No, I'll just stay here," Taeyeon cut her off, the name of Tiffany's boyfriend felt like a jab to her heart. Tiffany glanced at Taeyeon before standing up, "Bye," she said, fixing her hair and her clothes before heading to the door.

Taeyeon laid back on the couch, after being able to avoid Tiffany for so long, last night had to happen. She closed her eyes. After begging Jessica to never let Tiffany know of her whereabouts, that had to happen. After successfully avoiding Tiffany, all of that happened.

The girl let out a sigh, rubbing her face before sitting up, staring at the TV.

"Why can't I get over her?"

~~~

"You can do this, Taeyeon, you've studied so hard for this," Jessica smiled, rubbing Taeyeon's shoulder as the older girl began to panic. "What if-" Jessica cut Taeyeon off, "You'll be fine, come over today after your exam, we can watch some movies," 

Taeyeon sighed and nodded, "Thanks, Jessica, I'll see you," Jessica smiled widely and kissed Taeyeon's cheek, "Fighting, Taengoo!~" she cheered. Taeyeon waved a good bye and walked to Seoul University.

Arriving at the campus, Taeyeon quickly went to the exam room, sitting down and watching as one by one, students began to flood in, all of them looking either really tired or really hyper. Most likely due to caffeine.

Tiffany entered and Taeyeon noticed the tiredness in Tiffany's eyes. Tiffany connected eyes with Taeyeon and gave a small smile, in which Taeyeon turned her head as she saw Siwon walk in behind Tiffany. The younger girl felt hurt when she saw Taeyeon ignore her but then she felt Siwon's arm around her waist, "We'll do fine, we studied so hard for this,"

Tiffany's eyes trailed over to Taeyeon, noticing the girl's sudden grim look before she looked back at Siwon, forcing a smile, "Yeah," she spoke through her teeth, walking to her seat, which was no longer next to Taeyeon's; it was all the way across the room from her.

Meanwhile Taeyeon was blinking away the tears that came to her eyes, she shouldn't cry. She was here for the test, not for Tiffany nor Siwon. She lowered her head and waited for the professor to come, impatiently shaking her leg.

Once the test started, Taeyeon was surprised that everyone began to finish before her. She glanced up in nervousness, hands beginning to sweat. When she saw Tiffany walk by her table, she looked up, greeted by Tiffany's worried eyes as the younger girl gave her finished test to the professor.

Taeyeon took a deep breath, she had studied all night, why was she suddenly blanking out now? Even the professor was surprised Taeyeon hadn't finished first. It was past time given for the test, "Taeyeon, you need to pass in your test now,"

The pencil dropped from Taeyeon's hand in surprise at how time seemed to pass quickly. Taeyeon gulped and gave her unfinished booklet to the professor, who gave her weary looks, "Are you okay, Taeyeon? You seemed out of it today. Usually you would finish before anyone else,"

Taeyeon gave a small nod, "Y-Yeah.. just stress," The professor nodded, "Travel home safely," But instead of heading home, Taeyeon wandered the streets as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. She gave a disappointed scoff to herself, "Stupid Taeyeon," she muttered, fiddling with the bottom of her sweater. Taeyeon tried to think of why she didn't complete the test.

"Taengoo!" a unique voice called, snapping Taeyeon out of her thoughts. She turned and saw Jessica panting before the girl straightened her back and pointed a finger at Taeyeon, "You! You worried me! Where were you? I saw all your classmates exiting but you weren't there!" Jessica continued to scold Taeyeon.

"I didn't finish the test," Taeyeon muttered. Jessica stopped her rambling and stared at Taeyeon as if she told the biggest lie ever, "What?" Taeyeon walked closer to Jessica and grabbed her wrist, "Can we just go to your house and watch a movie now?" she grumbled.

Jessica knew Taeyeon was in a vulnurable state, she always was whenever she saw Tiffany. The younger girl wrapped an arm around Taeyeon's shoulder, giving the girl a quick kiss on the cheek, "It'll be alright, Taeng,"

Taeyeon nodded.

"I hope so,"

~~~

Taeyeon paused in her step, "Jessica, why is she here?" Taeyeon whispered harshly to Jessica, pointing to Tiffany who was on the couch, watching TV. Jessica frowned, "I know you aren't in good terms with her, but please, just stay here. I need to do this with both of my bestfriends here,"

The older girl gave a sigh and her shoulders slumped, "Fine," Jessica gave a soft smile, "You don't even need to talk to her," Taeyeon got dragged over to the couch and reluctantly sat down next to Tiffany as Jessica stood in front of them, none of them said a word.

Jessica cleared , "I want to introduce you to my girlfriend. Yuri-ah!" A tall, tan girl walked out of Jessica's bed room. Taeyeon's stare turned hard and Tiffany noticed it. Before Taeyeon could lunge at Yuri, Tiffany grabbed her wrist and pulled Taeyeon back onto the couch, closer to Tiffany than she originally was, 'Behave, Taeyeon," Tiffany whispered.

Taeyeon gritted her teeth, "She's the one who made you cry all those times?" she asked, ignoring Tiffany. Yuri cringed at the question but Jessica simply nodded, "I don't blame Yuri for making me cry... She's just in a bad situation and I need to be there for her,"

"What exactly is her situation?" Taeyeon questioned, turning her head to the side slightly. The back of her mind slowly noticed that Tiffany had interlocked their fingers. Man, Taeyeon missed holding hands with Tiffany. But, Taeyeon pulled her hand away. She will not fall back into the same pattern, it'll only cause her more problems.

"My parents are abusive.." Yuri mumbled, lowering her head. Taeyeon's look softened.

Yuri shared her story, about her parents beginning to beat her everytime she brought home a bad grade. It seemed as if whenever Yuri had a good grade, her parents didn't check. But whenever she got a bad grade, it was beating nonstop.

It wasn't like they ever cared if Yuri broke a few bones in the process. A simple drive to the hospital stating that Yuri had fallen out of a tree branch was enough for them. And when the doctors asked Yuri about the bruises on her body, Yuri would lie because she still had love for her parents despite the beatings. Her parents had raised her to be who she is, they give her shelter, they brought life to her body, how could she not love them?

But her parents seemed to think different, Yuri was an accident, a disgrace. She was only there because of a drunken night.

Yuri dropped out of high school and ran away but of course, her parents had found her. She got beat worse than she's ever been beaten. Then that's when she met Jessica.

~~~

Yuri roamed the streets, holding onto her badly bruised stomach and painfully taking each step. She gasped for breath and leaned on the building next to her. She wanted to cry, but it'd only hurt her more. A couple broken ribs, a bruised stomach, and a scratched up arm. Not too shabby.

She took a deep breath and nearly fainted, it hurt. It hurt a lot.

"A-Are you okay?" a faint voice came out.

Next thing Yuri knew, she was in the hospital, with a brunette girl at her side. The girl gave Yuri a small smile.

"My name's Jessica,"

~~~

That was way back. Yuri was nineteen now, Jessica was twenty. 

Taeyeon had completely calmed down, now realizing Yuri's situation. Tiffany had been quiet the whole time.

"She's going to live with me from now on," Jessica announced, surprising both Taeyeon and Tiffany. Yuri took a deep breath and looked out the window, "I didn't want to agree. What if my parents find out where I live? They'll hurt you too," she whispered. Jessica took hold of Yuri's hand, causing the younger girl to turn and look at her.

Tiffany stared at their interlocked hands, her heart suddenly ached at the thought of Taeyeon pulling away from her.

"I already told you, I'll never be hurt when I'm with you,"

Taeyeon took a quick glance at Tiffany, who also looked at her. Taeyeon looked away and stared at her feet, It's the total opposite when I'm with Tiffany. Taeyeon painfully thought.

I'll only get more hurt when I'm with her.

exactly 2000 words!~ new record for me :) also if you like the story, hit the upvote button! there's 700 of you but only 88 upvotes :o