“Can somebody pass me some dumplings?”

Sunny sighed and reached for the plate near her and taking a couple of dumplings using chopsticks, putting them into Sooyoung’s box. “There, happy now?”

Sooyoung winked. “Thanks, babe.” Earning a groan from the other girl, she laughed slightly before continuing to eat her dumplings.

Jessica covered as she let out a burp and reached for her cup of water to wash the rest of the food down her stomach. It was until she finished taking a swig when she notice Taeyeon staring at her. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, she asked, “You okay, Tae?”

Taeyeon blinked her eyes a few times and shook her head as if she was daydreaming the whole time.  Looking down at her own box of dumplings, she realized that she hasn’t taken a single bite of her dinner. Honestly, her stomach wasn’t in the mood to be fed right now. Then again, she stopped having an appetite for food since four days ago.

Two days ago. Days. How long have we been here?

“Actually... I-I’m not hungry, does anyone want mine? Sooyoung?” Taeyeon offered, placing her box in front of the tall girl. The latter looked at the leader in confusion, but thanked her anyway.

Taeyeon stood up and started walking to the corner she had gone to most of the time. Ever since that day, the day Yuri took the easy way out, it has been nothing but torment. The scene kept playing on and on in her mind like a movie and she kept trying to stop it, yet she couldn’t. It left a scar in her heart, knowing that her dearest and closest friend had chosen the most terrible route to be free from the nightmare she was in.

But the truth was, it didn’t help any of them left at all.

Taeyeon’s eyes fell upon the white sheet concealing the already lifeless body of Kwon Yuri. The blood stains eventually dried overnight, but every now and then Taeyeon would check if it’s bleeding or not. Slowly sitting down, she reached her hand towards the sheet only to stop midway. The bullet wound was left untreated, so even if she did took a small peak, she would still see the small hole planted on Yuri’s left side of the forehead. And so, Taeyeon only sat silently and stared blankly at the body in front of her.

She didn’t felt crying anymore. All of her tears were wasted for the four lives of her beloved sisters and she was near to the point of insanity. Taeyeon felt exhausted and hopeless just thinking about it and also the possibility of not being able to taste freedom. What a great leader she had been for being there for her members, she should receive an award becuase of that.

Taeyeon chuckled. She couldn’t even tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

A warm hand was felt against her shoulder. “Hey.”

It was Jessica; she recognized that voice anywhere. Years of spending every single day with one another was all worth it. Taeyeon nod her head slightly. “Hey.”

Jessica sat next to the silent girl and casually looked at the body in front of them. Frowning upon thought, she couldn’t help but feel the guilt and sadness washing over her again. Jessica sighed. “I miss her.”

Taeyeon nodded, searching for Jessica’s hand and held it tightly without looking away. “I know. Me too.”

Jessica pursed her lips, sighing through her nose. She laid her head onto Taeyeon’s comforting shoulder, and close her eyes. “I would do anything to see her again. Anything.”

It was at this point that Taeyeon felt her eyes watering, an unbelievable pain was greatly felt in her heart. “I miss them...”

Jessica held the older girl’s hand tightly while her thumb created circles against Taeyeon’s skin. She was also getting emotional, the silent tears running down her eyes gave it away.

Taeyeon inhaled sharply and let out an unsteady breath. She was trying hard not to cry. “I miss them. So, so much... and I...” She couldn’t speak out the rest of the sentence. Taeyeon looked down at the ground, letting her tears hit the floor. She knew she couldn’t hold it in anymore. She started sobbing. They were loud, uncontrollable and the rest of the girls took notice.

Jessica sniffed, wiping her nose with the back of her hand and pulled Taeyeon into an embrace. “Come here.”

The leader’s head settled against her chest, bawling her eyes out even more as the American girl could only held her even closer in an act of comfort. Jessica turned to look at the others, shaking her head when they tried to help Taeyeon out.

Jessica knew that Taeyeon doesn’t need that right now. All she wanted was to see ‘them’ again.

-

“Jessica?”

“Hm?”

Everyone was asleep. The day went by too fast, as if time was on the run again and couldn’t slow down for a second. The two girls remained awake, with Jessica leaning against the wall while her legs were far apart from one another and Taeyeon invading the space between them. Silence was all they ever needed, though small talks at times form here and there.

Taeyeon played with Jessica’s fingers, admiring the girl’s clean nails. She opened to speak, but changed her mind. “Nah, nevermind.”

“What? Come on, just freaking tell me,” Jessica chuckled. Her other free hand massaged Taeyeon’s scalp, assuming that the girl was thinking about heavy thoughts. “You promised, remember?”

Taeyeon knew what Jessica meant. It was two or threee years ago that all their friends and every SONEs knew about the whole ‘Taengsic fight’. Some theorized it to be ‘harsh’ and would leave both parties in a long-term grudge, even though it wasn’t true. Yes, they had an argument about some things and yes, they have tried to ignore one another because of it. But it wasn’t the end of the world; Taeyeon remembered the night they made up which was filled with tears and laughter. She would chuckle about it now, but the past was the past.

“You and I gotta promise each other that, whatever that’s in our messed up heads, we’ll try to not fight about it ever again. Alright, Tae?”

“Agreed. Damn, being mad was so exhausting.”

“I know. Now come heer, . You haven’t hug me yet.”

Taeyeon smiled a little at the memory. It was both childish and funny at the same time, the other girls even celebrated with a huge buffet of pizza, soda and all kinds of junk food. Seohyun didn’t approve that much but for the sake of her two unnies finally reuniting again, she joined in the fun as well.

“Yeah, I remembered,” Taeyeon said, chuckling. “We were both idiots back then, huh?”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “More like you were the idiot. You did started the whole thing. Now tell me, what were you about to say?”

Taeyeon’s smiled faltered, heaving a sigh as she rubbed her nose nervously. “It’s a stupid thought, but-“

“But nothing, Tae. Come on, what is it?”

Taeyeon was a silent for a moment, thinking about it for a while. And then she asked, “Do you love me?”

Jessica didn’t expect something like that to come out of the older girl’s mouth. She felt confused and worried about Taeyeon ever since the girl wasn’t like herself anymore. And by adding with the question just now only made her worry even more. “What?”

Taeyeon shrugged casually, continuing to play with Jessica’s fingers. “I was just curious. But, do you?”

Jessica scoffed, shifting her body slightly so she could get a look at Taeyeon’s face. “Of course I do, Tae. I really, really do. Why would you ask something like that, hm? What’s in your mind?”

Taeyeon sighed as she stopped fiddling with the other girl’s hand, and turned around so that she could face Jessica. “I just... I just think about it sometimes, you know.”

Jessica raised an eyebrow. “About what?”

Taeyeon clasped both of her arms together, her eyes not meeting with Jessica’s. She shrugged again. “That I’m an absolute failure.”

Jessica frowned, feeling sad that her friend would think of such a thing. She reached for her hands which felt oddly cold. “Taeyeon-“

“I just want to have a say in this. About everything. About why are we here, what is the ing reason why we’re in this goddamn place. About myself and how I fail trying to protect all of you. About all of you,” Taeyeon’s voice cracked at the end. “Why do you stick around with me for so long?”

Jessica looked directly into Taeyeon’s tired and hopeless eyes, trying to find a small spark hiding behind them. The hands that she had been holding tightly right now was trembling slightly. In that moment, Jessica realised that Taeyeon was lost. She was there, but her mind wasn’t.

“Hey. Listen to me, alright?” Jessica spoke, catching Taeyeon’s attention. “Nobody’s at fault here. No one. We were all just very unlucky and that’s fine. It would’ve been worse if it was only one of us who’s trapped, so at least we’re facing this together.” Jessica softly caressed Taeyeon’s cheek. “We love you. Okay? We all love you so much and we wouldn’t be the famous Girls’ Generation without you. Hyoyeon loves you, Seohyun loves you, Yoona loves you, Yuri loves you, Tiffany, Sunny and Sooyoung loves you. I love you. And that’s all what matters right now, because we all need to be together to get through this.”

Taeyeon nodded, feeling a bit better. “Okay.”

Jessica smiled. “Everything’s going to get better. Alright? I promise.”

“Okay,” was all that Taeyeon said. Though she was hesitant to believe in such a promise.

Slightly longer than the last chapter, woot!

And also... who's liking the girl's comeback? 'We can't stop stop stop, yeogin party time~' I swear, that song's stuck in my head. #GGisback

Hope y'all enjoy the update! Follow me on Twitter just because I want to!