Hyoyeon stood dumbfounded as the cardio surgeon just walked pass her without saying anything. She asked Taeyeon about their routine to visit Heecul oppa. Taeyeon’s face was emotionless. Taeyeon was very sensitive about this certain topic. They always brought it up gently. They'd ask subtly and wait for her respond. That was exactly what Hyoyeon did. After the question, Taeyeon usually hardened her jaw, sighed then uttered a low okay. But this time, she probably didn’t even mind her presence.

“Hey! Good things you guys are here!” Hyoyeon greeted her friends. She was hungry and wanted to steal some food from surgery department’s lounge. She went straight to the fridge without further ado, mussing its content. “I just saw Taeyeon. I asked her if it’s okay if we go visit Heecul oppa tomorrow. She looks like a ghost, I tell you. You know, empty face and everything.” The blonde doctor opened a plastic box containing Chicken Katsu then put one piece into . “I haven’t seen her like that since…” She stood up to see the same blank face on Sunny’s and Yuri’s face. “Oh my, what the hell did you guys do?!”

“I – I should go to find her. It’s my fault,” Yuri abruptly moved from her place.

“No, Yul. Don’t.” Sunny said sternly.

“Should she do something stupid, Sunny, I can never forgive myself.”

Hyoyeon didn’t have a clue on what was going on. But she knew something really bad happened. “It is not wise if she see you now, Yuri-ah. She won’t hear whatever you say. Let her calm down first then maybe we can talk to her later.” Hyoyeon said.

“This is my fault! It is my responsibility to make sure she’s okay!”

“Let’s not do this is my mistake or your mistake. We are all in blame here. Taeyeon is an adult, she perfectly understand the consequences if ever she do something fool.” The anesthesiologist tried to explain. “Let her be for now. We’ll talk later.”

-----

Tiffany was done waiting for Taeyeon to give the fight up. She’d confront Taeyeon tonight. She was sure as hell she’d win the argument. Taeyeon will lose and Taeyeon will apologize.

The woman on the couch lowered the TV volume as she heard the front door flew open. She held her breath waiting for the certain person she had been avoiding for the past weeks to walk in. Taeyeon wasn’t home last night. She was probably on call, Tiffany thought.

Tiffany heard the door closing. For some odd reason, she felt nervous. She wondered if the current situation would take them back to the beginning where the awkwardness was unbearable. Or… would they be just like the usual since Taeyeon was an expert in ignoring such circumstances?

“Taeyeon?” She called as the sound of something fall reached her ears.

No respond.

“Taeyeon-ah?!” She quickly got off from the couch and ran towards the front door. She gasped to the sight of Taeyeon on the floor.

“Taeyeon-ah, are you okay?” She turned over her body only to catch very strong alcohol smell. “Taeyeon, are you drunk?!”

The girl on her lap slumped. She slurred, “No. I is tipsyy.” She chuckled.

“Come on, get up. Let’s get you clean up,” Tiffany struggled to lift the small body. The latter wasn’t cooperative at all. With all the strength she had, Tiffany led Taeyeon to the bedroom.

Now she wasn’t sure where Taeyeon was last night. How much did she drink to be drunk this severe? Since Tiffany moved in, wine was the only alcoholic drink Taeyeon consumed. And she was always totally sober.

The lawyer settled Taeyeon’s body on her bed slowly. The doctor already fell in a deep sleep. Her face was innocent. Her chest rose up and down steadily. Tiffany removed her sneakers and socks carefully.

Taeyeon’s smell troubled her. As much as she didn’t want to take Taeyeon’s clothes off, she was more reluctant to let Taeyeon sleep in this condition. She wasn’t going to take advantage or something like that anyway. Besides, she had seen Taeyeon with shorts before. She’d be okay, she thought.

But…

The temperature in the room grew hotter as more and more Taeyeon’s clothes coming off. Tiffany felt her face redden by the act. She never saw Taeyeon’s body this close. Her skin was incredibly white and smooth; it was tempting for her to touch more of it.

“Are you nuts, Tiffany?!” She shook her head furiously. “Keep yourself together!”

By the time she finished changing Taeyeon’s outfit with comfy pajamas, her face was completely flushed. She covered Taeyeon’s body with a thick blanket then gathered the dirty clothes into the laundry basket. She was about to turn off the lamp when she heard Taeyeon talked in her sleep.

“I tried, Ppani-ah. Do happy things,” she mumbled. “I – it don’t – don’t work. It hurt bad. I’s sorry. Don’t mad,” she stuttered with a frown on her face.

Tiffany didn’t know what to feel or think. Happy things? Hurt? What hurt her? Why was she apologizing to her?

Slowly, she got the clue on what Yuri told her. Her heart sunk as Taeyeon kept on saying she was sorry with weird pronunciation.

She stood next to Taeyeon’s bed, kneeling before her then the latter’s forehead. “Sleep, Taeyeon. I’m right here. It’s okay,” she uttered softly.

After a while, Taeyeon started to snore lowly.

Tiffany turned off the main lamp and let the nightstand lamp on. She left the door ajar, just in case. She settled down on the couch. Her mind drifted to the conversation she had with Yuri a couple days ago.

-----

2 days ago.

The bell jingled, indicating someone was entering the restaurant. Tiffany was lost in her thought while scrolling down her messages. Occasionally, she’d smile at the silly stubborn text Taeyeon sent her. She knew it was irrelevant and absolutely ridiculous to check their old conversation especially when they were ignoring each other’s existence.

She just can’t help it. Besides, she was alone and bored.

“Hey,” Yuri pulled the chair and sat on it. “Where are the others?”

“They couldn’t make it. Sooyoung has urgent meeting and Jessica just got a call from the court. So it’s just you and me. You okay with this?”

“Why wouldn’t I? The two of us is great.” Yuri smiled, perfectly hid her disappointment.

They ordered the food and thanked the waiter.

“You smell really good, by the way. Nice perfume.” Tiffany smirked. Yuri blushed at the compliment.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

They talked about anything random and weird. Yuri was a fun person, the atmosphere was light and joyful for the both girls. Tiffany laughed a lot by Yuri silly act.

Tiffany picked the restaurant. It was Asian restaurant that provided a wide range of food from all over Asia region. Yuri didn’t have any idea of this place before. When their meals arrived, they immediately dug in.

“Tiffany, you’re awesome! This is so good!”

“I know, right?” The latter giggled.

“No wonder Taeyeon likes you.”

Tiffany chocked. “Wh – what did you say?”

“She likes you, why are you acting so surprise? I bet everyone likes you, Tiffany. She’s just the luckiest among all, I think.”

“Well, did she tell you that? Exactly word by word?” Tiffany wiped her lips with a napkin, keeping her cool.

“No,” Yuri shook her head. “She doesn’t have to literally tell me that she likes you. Taeyeon, Sunny, Hyoyeon and I have been friends for years, Tiffany. I know the best and the worst of them. Taeyeon isn’t that hard to read.”

“Really?”

“But approaching her, to get her trust um... let's just say it is not easy. If she lets you in, you’re in. But if she doesn’t, even if you can move the world for her she won’t open the door.” Yuri explained while cutting her chicken to pieces.

“How–” Tiffany cleared . “How do we know that she lets us in?”

“Depends.”

“On?”

“Who and what that person means to her.” Yuri chewed her chicken. “This is really good,” she commented. “Like me, we spent our teenage phase together, we grew up together. Like it or not, she's stuck with me. While you… well, you are different, Tiffany. She resented the idea of getting married to you. She claimed her freedom is over. Moreover, you’re a lawyer and she hates lawyer.”

“Yeah, she told me that.”

“See?” Yuri was amused. “She doesn’t brag about something that she detests especially to new people. You’re new to her, Tiff. This is not how Taeyeon do her things.”

“Okay…” Tiffany replied unsurely.

“Look, now that we’re talking about this.” The aura became serious all of sudden. “Taeyeon is my best friend, Tiff. She uh – she has problems. I mean we all do. And you’re a good person but I can’t see her hurt again.”

“Huh? What do you mean? What problems?”

“It’s not my place to tell you.” She shook her head. “The point is and I beg you, if you think or feel that you can’t deal with her, leave her as soon as possible.” The doctor stared closely at her.

“What are you saying?” Tiffany was surprise by the unexpected issue.

“Don’t give her hope then leave her like she’s nothing.” Yuri’s expression changed. The anger was plain in her face. “She’s a good person, Tiff. Believe me, she is. She’s a dear friend of mine. I’d rather get hit by a truck than to see her hurt again.”

“I never have intention to do that,” Tiffany disliked the sound of Yuri’s sentences

“I didn’t say that you have. I just informed you.” Her voice softened.

“You warned me, Yuri. That’s different.” Tiffany was a lawyer, she dealt with wordplay and voice intonation everyday. It was her expertise.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Just… don’t hurt her.”

-----

The loud ringtone somewhere didn’t allow her to sleep some more. She didn’t even know how she fell asleep or how she walked back home. She couldn’t remember much of what happened last night. As she opened her eyes, a sudden weave of nausea reached from her stomach. She held it back. She ran quickly, blindly found the way to the bathroom.

She kneeled on the floor as she cleared the contents of her stomach to the toilet. Her head was spinning like crazy. Taeyeon kept her eyes shut. She threw a lot of fluid since it was the only thing she digested for the day. She wiped with the back of her hand. Her body trembled. She leaned by the b