Hyoyeon and Taeyeon sat in the middle of the living room, both staring at the chessboard with a serious expression. Hyoyeon chose to be black because dark colours always gave her good luck; she could remember the day Yuri bought her a new pair of shoes for her birthday and they were navy blue. Her dancing ever since wasn’t as tiring as normally. Taeyeon, being the sweet girlfriend, gave in to Hyoyeon though she preferred black to white; white wasn't really her colour and everyone knows that. 

Yoona marched out of her room, looking at her phone, “Taeyeon-unnie, Hyoyeon-unnie. I’m going to meet Fany-unnie to do our nails, okay? Please keep the door locked.” Hyoyeon waved her dongsaeng off; Yoona was a sweetheart who never failed to make sure her members were fine and safe before she focused on doing her own things. 

“Yah, stop dreaming. It’s your turn.” She pouted at Taeyeon’s sharp comment, “why are you being so mean to your own girlfriend?”

Taeyeon’s eyes widened, “I wasn’t! Hyoyeon-ahhhh…” Hyoyeon bit her lower lip, Taeyeon whining at her was always something to be amused about. She reached forward and pinched Taeyeon’s cheek, “I’m just kidding, Taengoo. Don’t be so sensitive.” Taeyeon smiled in satisfaction and went back to focusing on the game, oblivious to Hyoyeon’s intense gaze on her. 

Flashback.

The girls were all in Japan for their first tour and all of a sudden, Taeyeon felt her head start to spin. Everything in front of her became double, especially Tiffany who was busy talking to her about something. “TaeTae!” Tiffany pouted, “are you listening to me?” Taeyeon squinted and tried to smile but the constant pounding on her head wasn’t helping. At that moment, Tiffany knew there was something wrong with her shorty best friend. “TaeTae, what’s wrong?”

Taeyeon brought both hands to her head, “headache, Myong-ah. I’ll be okay.” Tiffany frowned and moved a bit closer, “Yah, Taeyeon-ah. I think you’re a bit pale. Do you want to lie down?” Taeyeon shook her head and took the bottle of water from Yuri’s bag, gulping it down.

By now, everyone was gathered around Taeyeon, checking to see if she was fine. Taeyeon was rarely unwell so it was worrying to see their kid leader so pale and sickly. Hyoyeon awkwardly cleared and bent down in front of Taeyeon, “you can go to the room first, Taeng.” Taeyeon chuckled softly at Hyoyeon’s effort to be closer to her as compared to the old days.

Jessica shook her head at the two awkward Kims and quickly whispered something to their manager-unnie. Once she got permission, she walked towards Taeyeon and let the older one lean against her waist. “Hyoyeon-ah, I think you should bring Taengoo up to rest. We will go out and get some necessities for her. The unnies and oppas should rest too.” Hyoyeon didn’t have a chance to reply since the other girls instantly ran out of the waiting room.

She turned towards Taeyeon who was still leaning her head against Jessica’s abs, “Sica, you know I’m not good at taking care of people…” Hyoyeon whined, collapsing onto the ground. Jessica cocked an eyebrow, “that’s rubbish, Kim Hyoyeon. You always take care of Joohyun well.” Hyoyeon huffed and sat on the ground, crossing her arms childishly. Taeyeon felt sorry and hurt that she had to make Hyoyeon do this, but Hyoyeon didn’t have to act like she didn’t want to, “you don’t have to take care of me. I’ll be fine, Sica. Don’t worry.” 

And from the tone Taeyeon was using, both Hyoyeon and Jessica knew Taeyeon’s heart was hurting. Jessica glared at Hyoyeon, she would have hit the silly blonde if Taeyeon wasn’t resting on her right now. “How can you say that?” Jessica mouthed, balling her fist. Hyoyeon shook her head frantically, she didn’t mean to hurt Taeyeon with that. She simply wanted to make sure that Taeyeon was left in better hands.  

Taeyeon patted Jessica’s gently, “I’ll be okay, really. Run along, Sooyeon. I promise I’ll take a nap upstairs.” Jessica couldn’t just leave Taeyeon like that. Hyoyeon looked so reluctant and unwilling that Jessica didn’t know if leaving the two Kims together would be the right decision. “Go, Sica.” Taeyeon’s tone was firm and unwavering, she didn’t need Jessica to scold Hyoyeon because of this.

She could take care of herself just fine.

The room was engulfed in silence the moment the door slammed shut. Taeyeon bit her lip and mustered all her strength, pushing herself off the couch forcefully. If she stayed here any longer, she would probably just get more upset at the thought of her burdening Hyoyeon. Hyoyeon stood up urgently, “where are you going, Taeyeon?”

Taeyeon scoffed, turning around weakly, “oh, now you care?”

Hyoyeon stayed silent at Taeyeon’s sharp comment and looked down at her feet, she really needed to work on expressing her feelings in a clearer way. She continued to berate herself, not aware that Taeyeon was wobbling from side to side by now. “Tae--” She finally decided to look up, only to find out that Taeyeon had already passed out on the floor, “YAHHH!! KIM TAEYEON!!!”  She quickly bent down and patted Taeyeon's cheeks, trying to get her to wake up but her attempts proved futile when Taeyeon continue to lie there lifelessly. Placing her forehead against Taeyeon's, Hyoyeon retracted as fast as she leaned downwards, the kid leader was starting to burn up. 

Damn it, why didn't she bring Taeyeon up to the hotel room earlier?

“Taeyeon?” Hyoyeon whispered, her hands moving to cup Taeyeon’s cheeks, “ Please, Taeyeon-ah… wake up…”

And all of a sudden, the thought of losing Taeyeon made her tear up. She didn’t realize how much Taeyeon’s presence affected her till this very day. She just remembered how Taeyeon had watched over her throughout the entire night when she was sick with high fever and had to stay in bed. Taeyeon ended up falling sick afterward but she had Yuri, Tiffany and Sunny to take care of her then.