Eunhyuk parked the car in front of the building Hyoyeon and Seohyun pointed out. “This is really it?” He asked as he stepped out of the car.

The two girls nodded. “Stay behind us. We’ll navigate and try and protect you two.” Hyoyeon said. “If you see anything just say something.”

The group of four walked inside the decrepit building. They were surprised to see all the lights on but no one around to greet them. Hyoyeon took the lead while Seohyun sandwiched Eunhyuk and Sunny. They were careful with their movements as they tried not to make anyone aware of their presence. Hyoyeon peaked into rooms, only to be welcomed by dust and emptiness. The more the group looked, the more confused Hyoyeon became.

“Seohyun, is there another area that I never knew about?” Hyoyeon asked quietly.

“Did she ever let you into the back lot?”

Hyoyeon shook her head.

“Then let me lead the way from here. There’s a second small building that only she used. She’s probably around there. But first…” Hyoyeon allowed everyone to pass her by. Seohyun led everyone down the stairs towards the basement. “This is where Taeyeon trained. If you look to your right, you will see her wall of weapons.”

Hyoyeon ran her hand over the metal hangings on the wall. Knives of all sizes and shapes were suspended by little grips next to an array of pistols and handguns. Boxes of ammunition sat on the floor along with sheathes that could hold a half-dozen knives.

“Arm yourselves if you want. We don’t know what’s in store for us.” Seohyun said as she examined a few of the knives. She tucked a 9mm in her back pocket. A few extra magazines of ammo found themselves on Seohyun’s person.

Sunny couldn’t bring herself to take a weapon with her. The others, however, followed Seohyun’s lead. Hyoyeon took a couple of knives while Eunhyuk took a revolver and a handful of bullets from a box with the broken words “froc mo” scribbled onto it.

“Everyone ready?” After receiving a nod from everyone, Seohyun led everyone back upstairs.

~~~~

“You play dolls wrong! The tiger eats the giraffe!” Krystal took the doll out of Taeyeon’s hand for the second time. “Like this!” The dolls crashed into each other as Krystal slammed the bodies together. To end the fight, Krystal tore of the giraffe head. She replaced the decapitated body part, albeit backwards, and gave it back to Taeyeon. “Get it right this time!”

“Okay, I will.” Taeyeon tried to go with Krystal’s idea of fun, but Taeyeon couldn’t stomach the idea of it easily. The dolls attacked each other and the giraffe head flew off more times than it should physically be possible. Then again, a person with a giraffe head isn’t something that is physically possible to start with, so clearly the realm of reality wasn’t something Krystal was capable of dealing with at the moment.

After playing for a few more minutes, Krystal got bored and threw the dolls against the wall. “Lets play something else!”

“Okay…what do you want to play?” Taeyeon asked. “And will you tell Tiffany to leave my other friends alone if we play more?”

“Only if you win.”

“But we don’t even know what we’re playing. How can I win or lose if we don’t even know what the game is?”

“Um…” Krystal looked around the empty room. “Oh! Let’s play the finger game!”

“The what?”

“Hold your hands like this.” Krystal held both her index fingers out while her other fingers curled into a ball. Taeyeon did the same. She was still confused, but she just did as Krystal said. “Me first!”  Krystal taped one of her fingers on Taeyeon’s right hand. “Plus one! Put out another finger!”

“Okay? Now what?”

“Now your turn.”

“What do I do?”

“Tap my hand! If my hand gets exactly five, it’s out. But if it gets more than five, then I have that number minus five!” Taeyeon was still confused. She proceeded to loose in three more turns. “I’m not very good at this, am I?”

“We’ll keep playing until you win. And if you win, I’ll tell Tiffany to let you out, too!”

“Really? Okay!”

~~~~

Seohyun peeked around a corner after hearing footsteps. She saw the shadow of a person crossing the hallway, but couldn’t tell who it was.

“Wait here.” Seohyun moved up and tried to see if she could identify the person. All she could see was the back of a cloak. She returned to the group and led them down another hall to a black door. It opened the way to a pathway the led straight to a second building, just as Seohyun had said it would. On both sides of the path were high fences that towered over the group.

Hyoyeon carefully scanned the area for traps or cameras, but she couldn’t find anything. Seohyun put her hand on her gun as she opened the door slowly.

“Tiffany! You’re ba…you’re not Tiffany...”

“Guys!” Taeyeon ran and gave everyone a hug. “What are you doing here?”

“Krystal?” Sunny pushed up to the front. “Krystal, what are you doing here?”

“Playing a game with Taeyeon! You guys are bothering us, go away!” Krystal pulled Taeyeon back to her side. She started to throw a fit now that there was company.

“Wait, Krystal, these are my friends. They can…they can play with us, right?”

Everyone finally got a good look at Taeyeon. They winced at her disheveled appearance and knew she was being abused.

Krystal shook her head. “No! I want to play with Taeyeon. Only Taeyeon!” Krystal clung onto Taeyeon’s arm.

“But isn’t it more fun to play with many people?”

“No!”

Out of nowhere, a pair of arms reached out and grabbed Krystal away from Taeyeon. “Wahh! Let me go, you meanie!” Krystal thrashed against Eunhyuk’s hold on her.

“So what do we do now?” He asked as he tried to avoid getting an elbow to the face.

“Let’s just get out of here, get back to Jessica, Sooyoung, and Yoona, and report this all to the police or something!” Sunny said as she helped Taeyeon up. “Before the boss person comes back.”

“No! No one leaves here!” Krystal managed to loosen Eunhyuk’s grip on her, but Hyoyeon came to his aid. “Everyone is staying here. If you don’t listen to me, I’m making sure Tiffany never lets anyone out!”

Sunny looked up at Krystal, but addressed her questions to Taeyeon. “Tiffany? Does she mean our Tiffany?” Sunny’s expression darkened as Taeyeon nodded and explained what she had learned moments ago.

“Seohyun, I’d really like a plan on how to get out of here already.” Eunhyuk was not enjoying Krystal’s retaliations.

There was only one way out and that path likely led to Tiffany. With Taeyeon as damaged as she was, it would take at least one person to help her move. And with Krystal being so insane that she would likely need to go to an asylum, it would take another person or two to restrain her. That left one person to deal with Tiffany if she came out and attacked.

“Let me go!” Krystal managed to worm one arm out of Eunhyuk’s grasp. She swung it wildly.

“Seohyun! A plan, please!” Hyoyeon ducked as Krystal tried to kick at her face.

“Sunny, can you call the police? Call Jessica, too, and see where she is.” Seohyun stood by the door.  “Taeyeon, can you tell me everything again? From the beginning?”

Taeyeon started from the beginning. She skipped on some details, but gave the important parts to Seohyun. “That just…it still doesn’t make sense. Why did she have you target Jessica?”

“Don’t say that name anymore!” Krystal yelled.

“That’s why…” Taeyeon said. “Get me to hurt myself, and it keeps them totally innocent while I get sent to jail. But we can’t just leave this place. Tiffany is just as crazy as this one. She’ll keep coming after us. After me. “

“So kill her?” Eunhyuk said as he adjusted his grip on Krystal. “Maybe this one, too?”

Taeyeon shook her head. “I couldn’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Someone already died. I can’t kill someone else just for the sake of it. That makes me no better than them! Uh, no offense, Hyoyeon.”

“None taken.” Hyoyeon replied. “Look, Taeyeon, I know you don’t really want to do anything crazy, but don’t you remember when you first came here? You were crazy enough to go through all of this to get back Krystal.”

“But that was before-“

“You realized she’s a nut job?” interjected Sunny.  Taeyeon gave Sunny a playfully hurt glare as tried to support herself on her own feet. “I’m just being honest, Tae.” Sunny let go of Taeyeon but kept her hands out.

Taeyeon tried to motion for Eunhyuk and Hyoyeon to put Krystal down. Though they hesitated, they carefully put down their prisoner. Krystal started to smack Eunhyuk around when Taeyeon finally caught her attention. “What?!” She yelled as she whipped out a taser and threatened to zap the next person who touched her. Eunhyuk and Hyoyeon cowered away as sparks flew from the tips of the hand-held weapon.

“Let’s play a game.” Taeyeon said calmly.

“A game?” Krystal turned off her taser but kept it in her hand for quick usage.

“Yeah. All of us play. If I win, you listen to me and help us leave this place. If you win, then I’ll stay but everyone else leaves.”

Krystal thought for a minute before asking, “What if one of them win?”

“Then that person is safe gets to leave. But only that person. And then we keep playing until you or I win.”

“Hmph, that doesn’t seem fair. They get to leave no matter what unless I win!” Krystal pouted. “If I win, everyone stays and will play with me forever.”

“No!”

“What, are you chicken?” Krystal started to make noises and mimic a chicken. “Taeyeon is a scaredy-cat!”

While rolling her eyes, Taeyeon walked over to Eunhyuk and reached into his pockets. “Hey! Stop that…what are you…hey!!”

“Fine, we’ll just play with the two of us then.” She turned back to Krystal as she held a single bullet up in her right hand. A revolver was hanging from her left hand fingertips.

“Taeyeon, what are you-“

“So Krystal. Ever heard of Russian Roulette?”

~~~~

Jessica was sitting on the bed. It was stiff, uncomfortable, but most of all, not hers. Yoona and Sooyoung were both sitting with her in the hotel room idly as they awaited for their manager to return to them.

“Do you think Taeyeon is alright?”

“Jessica, for the last time, stop worrying.” Sooyoung said. She sighed upon seeing Jessica’s hurt look. “I know you’re worried. We all are. But we can’t do anything to help her or even contact her.”

“She promised me that she would call!”

“Something probably happened. Just give it a little time, and you’ll see that everything is alright.” Sooyoung hugged Jessica. “Just rest or do something to get your mind off of Taeyeon and the others, okay?”

Something landed in Jessica’s lap. “Let’s play a game!” Yoona suggested as she walked over the Jessica.

Jessica opened the small package and pulled out a fresh set of playing cards that she handed to Sooyoung. “Anything but 52-pickup.”

“How about a round of old maid? Loser has to do something for the winners.” Sooyoung suggested. She started to deal out the cards while Jessica and Yoona moved closer. “Joker is the maid!”

The girls took turns taking cards from one another. Their piles of pairs grew until only Jessica and Yoona were left with a few cards.

“Will the two of you hurry up? I want to make someone do something already.” Sooyoung watched with a bored expression on her face, yawning every now and then as she waited for Jessica to pick a card from Yoona’s hand.

“Then…this…ha! Yes! I win!” Jessica threw her last pair down, leaving Yoona to pout with the lone joker left in her hand. “Loser!”

“Yahhh!” Yoona grabbed a pillow and threw it at Jessica.

“Hey!”

“So what do I have to do, oh great Sooyoung?”

“Go order dinner. Surprise us, please!” Sooyoung kicked back in pride now that she could finally make Yoona do something.

“And no cucumbers or anything!” Jessica said as Yoona put on her shoes.

“You didn’t win, so I don’t have to listen to you.” Yoona said.

Jessica gave Sooyoung a look. “No cucumbers for Jessica.”

Yoona let out a playful rawr as she shut the door behind her. She went to get food with one of the managers.

Jessica and Sooyoung laughed to themselves at Yoona’s expense. They decided to pass the time with more card games, but with just the two of them their choice of games were limited to Go Fish and some odd version of Solitaire that Sooyoung had learned from a friend.

When Sooyoung had said “Go Fish” for the fourth time in a row, Jessica threw her cards up and claimed defeat. “I give up. I suck at this game.”

“Jessica, you just have to say a number. You can’t suck at this game when the only thing you have to do is pick a number.”

The mess of cards on the floor just seemed to irritate Jessica more as he stomach growled for sustenance. “Where’s Yoona? I’m hungry.”

“Oh? Speak of the devil, look whose here!” Sooyoung said as the door opened. Yoona and their manager walked in with takeout from a nearby restaurant. They group dug into their food to fill the craving pits of their stomachs.

Yoona turned the TV on after their manager left. They took turns flipping through channels when they were disturbed by Jessica’s phone ringing. “Hello?”

“Jessica! Ohmygod! You’re safe!”

“Uh, who?”

“Sunny!”

“Oh! Hi. Why are you talking kind of funny and quiet?”

“Cause we’re practically being held hostage by Krystal and Tiffany and Seohyun just wanted me to tell you that Taeyeon seems fine and that we’re doing out best to get out of here and-“

“Woah, woah, calm down Sunny.” Jessica put the phone on speaker. “Please start over and breathe between sentences this time, okay?”

Sunny started over and briefly went over the recent events. “I called the police, but I don’t know how much they’ll be able to do, or how long it will take them to find us. Just…as long as Tae knows you’re safe I’m sure that will be a huge relief for her.”

“Where are you? Maybe I can make some calls and get you guys more help.”

“No, just stay wherever you are. We’re out beyond the industrial district. Not much you can do, so just stay out of trouble. Bye!”

“Sunny, wait!” But it was too late. Sunny had already hung up. Jessica tried to call her back, but Sunny sent every call to voicemail. “You guys what do we do?”

Sooyoung gathered the broken Jessica and Yoona into her arms. “We wait. Wait and pray for the best.”

~~~~

“Taeyeon, you can’t be serious.” Hyoyeon said as she tried to take the gun away.

“Wait, I want to know what Russian Roulette is.” Krystal pushed Hyoyeon out of the way so she could reach Taeyeon. “What’s Russian Roulette? Tell me, Taeyeon, tell me!”

Taeyeon secured the gun from Hyoyeon and had everyone evacuate to the sides of the room. “It’s a game of luck. I’ll load a single bullet into the barrel. We take turns shooting ourselves in the head, but we spin the barrel between shots.”

“But…if you lose, then you die and I can’t play with you…”

“Yeah. And if you lose, then we all get to leave, and you have to leave us alone – that includes Jessica and the rest of ZoNE.”

“But I die!” Krystal screamed.

Taeyeon nodded. “That is how the game works. I guess if we play where you shoot yourself in the leg, you have a good chance at living. But only babies play it like that.”

“Tae! You’re taking this way too far!” Sunny yelled. “I’ve already called Jessica and the police. You don’t have to do this!”

“So, Krystal? What’s your call? Do you play like a baby or do we go hard?” Taeyeon blatantly ignored Sunny’s concern as she awaited Krystal’s answer.

After letting the idea roll around in her head for a few minutes, Krystal held her hand out. “No one calls me a baby and gets away with it.”

“Yes, that’s very true. Now Krystal, move aside and give me the gun, Taeyeon.”

“Tiffany!”

“Sister!”

All attention turned towards the door. Tiffany stood there glaring at Taeyeon. She seemed to be unarmed, but one could never be too careful now that they knew Tiffany was half-way crazy. As Tiffany approached Taeyeon, the tension in the air tripled as the observers watched every step Tiffany took. Every step was purposeful and full of rage.

“Taeyeon. If you know what’s best for you, give me the gun.”

“Only if you want to play pinch-hitter for Krystal.”

“Are you suggesting that the two of us play Russian Roulette with your freedom at stake? Do you really think you’re in a position to be making such requests?”

“Sunny already called the police. There are more than enough witnesses to testify against you, and I do believe I’m the one with a gun and bullet. So yes, I do think I’m in a position make such requests.” Taeyeon managed to keep her composure. For some reason, she felt courage despite being so scared of Tiffany before. It wasn’t just the fact that Taeyeon had a lethal weapon in her hand. Even before the gun was part of the picture, Taeyeon started feeling better.

“Tae, you know you don’t want to do this. So, just give me the gun and we can talk.” Tiffany smiled at Taeyeon. It was that deceptive eye smile that Taeyeon couldn’t help but find as one of the more beautiful things about Tiffany. Even now, knowing the truth about Tiffany and the lie that was their friendship, Taeyeon couldn’t help but adore the way Tiffany’s eyes shined.

But this time, Taeyeon knew there was more than just rainbows and bunnies behind the face. There was murderous intent – or at least torturous intent – all aimed at Taeyeon, and maybe even her friends. And Taeyeon wouldn’t stand for such things. “Tiffany, I’m saying this one more time. I’m not letting you have this gun unless you agree to play. Fairly. We don’t have to play for keeps. I’m fine shooting at the leg so that you still have a chance at living.”

“Please. Don’t you remember who taught you how to use this thing?”

“Yeah. Hyoyeon. Remember?”

Tiffany scoffed as a look of offense overcame her calm demeanor. Her jaw dropped a bit with every lash of Taeyeon’s words.  “Let’s shoot for the leg. That way you can feel every bit of pain as your leg writhes and rots.”

Taeyeon could only smile. The bullet slid into the barrel of the revolver easily. She spun the barrel before snapping it into place. “I dunno. Headshots started becoming my specialty.” Taeyeon mimicked a gun with her free hand and faked shooting Tiffany in the face. “Maybe I’ll have fun and go for the kill every now and then. You know, add a little more thrill to the game.” The icy metal rested on Taeyeon’s temple. A chill went down Taeyeon’s spine. But it wasn’t fear. This chill was pure adrenaline kicking in and sending an almost twisted joy through her body. “What do you say? You fine with that?”

“You’re crazy and full of it.”

“I learned from the best.” Taeyeon smirked as she squeezed the trigger with her delicate fingers. She didn’t even bat an eye when a quiet click echoed into her ear.

Off to the side, Hyoyeon, Seohyun, Sunny and Eunhyuk had gathered. Krystal was with them as well. “What is she doing?!” Sunny panicked. “She’s going to kill herself!”

“Maybe.”

Krystal was sitting on the floor. “No! I don’t want my playmate to be killed!”

“Eunhyuk, this is no time to be optimistic about this game. She dies, we’re all screwed.” Sunny retorted.

“Let’s just trust that Taeyeon has a plan. Maybe there’s something she knows that we don’t.”

“Eunhyuk, if I may ask, where did you find ammo for that gun?” Hyoyeon asked. “I never saw any actual ammo for a revolver even when I was training her how to use one.”

Eunhyuk looked at Hyoyeon with a confused look on his face. “It was sitting next to the guns in a box. There was something written on it, but I’ve watched enough TV and read enough books to know what the bullet should look like.”

Seohyun started to laugh a bit. “Oh, this is priceless.” Everyone turned to her. “Just watch. I think Taeyeon does have a plan.”

~~~~

“Jessica, this is the one time I will not allow you to leave.”

“But I can’t just sit here comfortable after that phone call.”

“No means no, Sica. If it wasn’t as dangerous as it was, then we’d be fine with you leaving, but this time it’s too much.”

“Sooyoung! Yoona!”

“No!”

It was already late, and the clock was inching towards the next day. Jessica still hadn’t heard anything else from Sunny or anyone. She wanted to be with Taeyeon. She wanted this dreadful dream to be over already, but reality was much crueler than that. Jessica sat back down and pouted.

“It’s bad for your face if you keep scrunching your nose like that, Sica.” Sooyoung said almost sarcastically.

Jessica didn’t acknowledge Sooyoung at all.

Yoona tried to reason with Jessica, but she knew Jessica would either ignore her or just bite back with harsh words. In the end, Yoona said the only thing that could keep Jessica from leaving.

“You don’t even know where they are. How can you help if you’re just running around the city like a lost puppy?”

“I’ll find them. Somehow! I have to!”

“Too bad, you’re not leaving this room.” Sooyoung said as she rigged the door to make noise if someone opened it. “Why are you so desperate to find her anyway? She’s trying to protect you. You’ll make it harder if you just go out looking for trouble.

“I just…I have a feeling she’s going to do something crazy.”

~~~~

Each rattle and click of the revolver was scarier than the one before. Everyone’s anxiety jumped up as they watched Taeyeon play with the cylinder and point the muzzle at herself – her leg, her head, her side, her everything.

It was clear that Tiffany was getting frustrated with how long the game was going. Someone should have killed themself by now. If she didn’t personally check that there really was a bullet in place every few rounds, she would have thought Taeyeon was cheating some how.

“This really can’t last this long, can it?” Sunny asked.

Hyoyeon just shook her head. “It’s a game of luck. Maybe the gods are having a hard time picking who to kill today.”

“Can’t one of you guys just shoot Tiffany? I mean someone else brought a gun, right?” Sunny asked.

“Ah! I have…” Seohyun patted her back hoping to feel the gun against her skin. “What did it go?!”

“How do you lose a gun?!” Eunhyuk asked as he stared at Seohyun.

“You got yours taken from you! And you just let her do that!”

“Well where are you knives?” Eunhyuk asked Hyoyeon.

“I…” Hyoyeon started to pat herself down. “I can’t find it!”

BANG!

Everyone turned their attention to Tiffany and Taeyeon. It was like a slow motion matrix moment.

The gun dropped and hit the floor with a metallic clank as the arm holding it fell limp to the side revealing a large hole in her shirt. The body followed as it collapsed to the ground, blood slowly leaking from her side.

“A…ahha…ahhaha!” Tiffany started to laugh, cradling her face in her hands, as she basked in victory.

“Tae!” Sunny was about to run to her friend’s side but was held back by Hyoyeon. “Tae! Tae!!”

“Sunny calm down. You can’t just go over there, it’s dangerous!”

“But Tae!” Sunny was unable to say anything. Her only thought was to be by Taeyeon’s and do whatever she could to heal her. “Tae!”

“Shut up!” Tiffany turned her attention to Sunny and her group. “Tae this, Tae that, what’s so great about her? She’s dead, got it?”

~~~~

Sooyoung and Yoona were both already asleep, but Jessica was still awake and staring at her phone, hoping that Sunny would call back or Taeyeon’s name would light up the screen.

To her dismay, the phone never lit up.

“You haven’t heard anything bad, so there isn’t anything to worry about.”

“What are you, a character from a drama? You’re just going to get your hopes up every time you hear your phone go off. Just go to sleep and deal with it in the morning.”

Yoona and Sooyoung tried their best to get Jessica to relax, but she refused to sleep knowing that Taeyeon was out there worrying about her.

“Why are you so stubborn sometimes…”

“She’s going to show up totally fine and you’ll just be a crying mess when you see her, wont you?”

“Tae…” Jessica could feel herself falling apart. “It’s not like I like you that much…” Jessica kept trying to convince herself that if Taeyeon wasn’t around, life wouldn’t be that bad – in fact it would be better. “She just brought me…trouble. That stupid day at the stupid staircase with her stupid fever and her stupid face that was red and…”

“No matter what happens to her now, if you keep acting like this it isn’t healthy for you and you’ll make her worry more.”

“Jessica, if you don’t sleep now you wont be able to stay awake when Taeyeon comes back with everyone.”

“And I really miss you Tae…please be okay…”

~~~~

“Wahhh! I wanted to play with her more, though!” Krystal got up and ran to her sister. “You said you wouldn’t kill her or anything!”

Tiffany took Krystal by the hand. “Well you know what? You can play with her like your dolls. And want to know the best part?”

Krystal looked at Tiffany with eyes full of curiosity.

“You can have four more people to play with. Or I can make them into dolls if you want.” Tiffany pointed at Sunny. Hyoyeon, Eunhyuk and Seohyun.

“Did she just call us…dolls?” Eunhyuk asked quietly to Hyoyeon. “Like, little toys? Like the ones she decapitated and gave horse heads?”

“Technically, one was a giraffe.”

“Like that matters!”

Krystal looked around the room. Clearly, her new dolls-to-be weren’t happy with their fate, nor were they as fun looking to play with as Taeyeon was. But Taeyeon was facedown on the floor with a small puddle of blood forming from her side. “Fiiiine…I’ll play with them. But you promise to make them my new dolls if I don’t like them.”

Tiffany nodded endearingly to Krystal. “Good. Now let me make sure they’re ready for you.” Tiffany whipped her head to face Sunny. “Sunny! How would you like to play with Krystal?”

“I…I…uh, c-can get back to you on that?” Sunny looked at Tiffany and felt her body tighten as Tiffany stood silently before her. “I’ll take that as a no?”

“I’m glad we understand each other.” Tiffany took Sunny by the arm and pulled her towards Krystal. “Now play nice while I take care of that unsightly mess.” Tiffany’s frustrated expression was directed towards none other than the lifeless Taeyeon.

Tiffany shot the rest of the group a dirty look, sending chills down their spines. “Don’t do anything stupid,” she mouthed. Tiffany stepped over to Taeyeon and picked her up bridal style, not caring that she was getting blood all over herself. “Oof…You were just a big pain. All that effort and time wasted for nothing.”

In the distance, sirens could be heard. But they were too late.

“Ugh. You really did call the police. Whatever, I can deal with them soon enough.” Tiffany continued to walk, unphased by the approach of the law.

While “playing” with Krystal, Sunny just watched as Tiffany took Taeyeon as if their friendship over the past few years meant absolutely nothing. She started crying silently to herself as Krystal continued to smile like a blissfully ignorant child – after all, that’s all her mind was capable of doing.

Eunhyuk, Hyoyeon and Seohyun remained still. They were too shocked and confused and scared to process what was happening to them. Would they be trapped eternally as Krystal’s playmates? It was better than being killed, but none of them thought they would last long with Krystal’s unstable mentality anyway.

Tiffany was slowly making her way to the only door in the room, Taeyeon limp in her arms. “Finally! I can say goodbye and good riddance to your stupid self.”

“Yeah…I can, too. And for the record, you’re the stupid one, Tiffany.”

“Wha-”

Tiffany felt the cold metal of a gun barrel against her forehead in the split second before feeling nothing. Her body collapsed as her nervous system stopped and her body ceased to function. The last surges of energy coursing through her nerves faded into nothing as her eyes stared at the supposedly dead body she had been carrying.

“Ugh…that didn’t go as nicely as planned…”

“TAE!!”

Sunny rushed to Taeyeon’s side. She was sprawled on the floor with her left arm clinging tightly to her side, right hand still hanging on to a 9mm. Taeyeon was panting heavily.

“Tae…oh my gosh…Tae, what did…how did…”

“Long…story…go…” Taeyeon was fading in and out of consciousness as she tried to ride on the adrenaline for as long as she could. “Everyone…out…Jessica…”

Sunny motioned for everyone to help her. Eunhyuk took off his jacked and made a makeshift wrap to put pressure on Taeyeon’s wound while Hyoyeon called for an ambulance.

“Seohyun, what are you doing! Help us!” Sunny screamed.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be alright once she gets to the hospital.”

“What do you-“

“Those were dummy bullets, weren’t they, Taeyeon?”

“Uh…yeah…they…they were…” Taeyeon struggled to talk without having to gasp for air between breaths. “How did you…know?”

Seohyeon just smiled as she walked over, carefully poking at Taeyeon’s side as if looking for something. “Because we’ve never had real bullets for the revolvers here. And I’ve had a few too many incidents myself where I got hit close range with one of these things. Hurt a lot, but wont actually pierce skin if you shoot it right.” When she found what she was looking for, she wiggled her fingers underneath the makeshift bandage and pulled out a blade.

“My knife!” Hyoyeon reached for it, not caring that there was blood all over it. “How did it end up there?”

“Taeyeon, you took all the weapons from us when we first came in didn’t you?” Seohyun asked. “And that’s why Eunhyuk, Hyoyeon and I couldn’t find them.”

Taeyeon nodded. “Seohyun…leave…with everyone.”

Seohyun didn’t like the idea, but she complied anyway. She dragged a screaming Sunny along as Eunhyuk and Hyoyeon followed, constantly looking back at the depressing sight of death and blood. Hyoyeon tripped over Tiffany’s body, and apologized to the still figure with eyes open as if she could still see everything going on.

“Wahhhh!!”

Everyone turned their attention to Krystal.

“You…you big meanies! You killed my sister! Waahhhh” Krystal was sitting down crying her eyes out. “I’m going to kill you!”

But unlike Tiffany’s cold words, Krystal wasn’t that threatening. She just cried and cried. She was a child after all. If not physically, mentally;

“Krystal. Do you…want to go? With Tiffany?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Taeyeon could see Krystal nod her head. Between hitched breaths and sniffles, Krystal managed to sputter out a “yes”.

“You don’t want to go to jail, do you?”

“N-no…jail is…sister said…jail is sc-scary…”

Taeyeon rolled onto her side and pushed herself up onto all fours. “Okay then. Just…close your eyes.” It took everything in Taeyeon to stand up without collapsing to the floor again. “Seohyun, I thought…I said…go. Now.”

Seohyun winced at Taeyeon’s shaking voice. She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to help Taeyeon, but Sunny was on the brink of insanity and that needed to be taken care of immediately. The sirens were only getting louder and Seohyun knew Taeyeon didn’t want her friends to be around if the police were going to be involved.

Without another word, Seohyun left the room with Sunny in hand and Eunhyuk and Hyoyeon at her heels.

Krystal was still crying. Her eyes were closed as she tried to wipe her ears away in a vain attempt to wipe out the image of Tiffany dying. “Sister…wahhh!”

Taeyeon managed to limp her way to Krystal. She was a bout two arm lengths away when she stopped. “Are you sure…you want to be with Tiffany?” Taeyeon asked once more.

Krystal nodded.

“Well…sorry. This is the best I can do.” Taeyeon closed her eyes as she let her finger squeeze the trigger one last time.

~~~~

Seohyun had managed to get everyone outside and back into Eunhyuk’s car. They drove a little ways off at Seohyun’s command, but didn’t get very far before running into police cars. They passed by unnoticed and pulled over off to the side of the road.

They waited quietly and soon an ambulance rushed by.

Sunny clung tightly to Seohyun as she shivered at the thought of Taeyeon being alone in that dreaded building.

Eunhyuk and Hyoyeon were quietly talking in the front of the car when a dim light caught their eyes. They looked around, but it was coming from inside the vehicle.

“Sunny, your phone…” Hyoyeon pointed to Sunny’s pocket.

“Oh…I silenced it after I called Jessica cause I knew she would keep calling…” Sunny looked at the caller ID and wasn’t surprised to see that it was, in fact, Jessica. She had just missed the call and decided to let Jessica call back again if she wanted to.

“Shouldn’t we tell her?” Eunhyuk asked. “I mean, isn’t she and Taeyeon a thing? She has the right to know.”

Sunny couldn’t exactly disagree. If she were in Jessica’s shoes, she’d be trying as desperately as she could to get in touch with Taeyeon. But then it hit her. “Are they a thing?”

Everyone looked at Sunny like she was an idiot.

“No, just…have you ever actually heard them say they love each other? They act all cute together but…”

“Sunny, are you really trying to argue this right now?” Eunhyuk wanted to slam his head into the steering wheel. “Just answer the next time she calls, okay? Better yet, if she doesn’t call back in twenty minutes, you call her.”

“Fine…”

~~~~

Jessica gave up after what was probably her 30th attempt at getting in touch with Sunny. Resigning herself to the bathroom, Jessica quietly cried while she locked herself in.

She didn’t notice how long she had been in the bathroom, but she was brought back to reality when she heard Sooyoung groaning for her to pick up her phone. “I’m going to throw it out the window if you don’t shut the stupid thing up!” Sooyoung said in a groggy manner.

Jessica crawled out of the bathroom and answered the phone. “What do you want?”

“…Jessica?”

“Sunny?” Hearing Sunny’s voice woke Jessica up. “What…how…who do you think you are just calling me and not answering any of my phone calls! Do you realize who I am? You better-“

“I’m sorry…”

“You better be!” Jessica would have continued talking had Sooyoung not thrown a pillow at her and sent her a cross looked that screamed “if you don’t shut up I’ll break you.” Jessica returned to the bathroom to continue her conversation with Sunny. “Where’s Tae? Let me talk to her!”

“I…that’s not possible right now.”

“Well, when can I?”

Sunny couldn’t bring herself to answer Jessica.

“Sunny, I’m not one to make puns ever, but if you want to stay sunny and not have to deal with whatever storm I’ll bring your way, you better answer me now.”

“Never!”

“Just answer me!”

“I did! I don’t…I don’t think you’ll be able to talk to her again.”

Jessica felt her heart drop into her stomach and her chest tightened. Her breaths were cut short as her lungs struggled against her ribs. “You better be joking, shorty.”

“I wish I was but she was really hurt when we left her-“

“You let her stay back alone?! What are you trying to do, kill her?” Jessica’s free hand had clenched into a tight fist. Her nails pinched her own skin.

Jessica could hear Sunny sniffling, but it just made her even more angry at the world. “I wanted to stay but…she…she…and Seohyun…we left…”

“Sunny, if you’re not dead the next time I see you, I’m going to be the one killing you.” Jessica was already miles past the point of anger. She was furious. She wanted to break things and cry and run far away – and Jessica never runs. “Was she okay when you left her at least?”

“She was hurt…but Tiffany is dead. Krystal was still there and the police were on their way so you shouldn’t have anything to worry about…right?”

“If Tae is dead then of course I won’t have anything to worry about! If Taeyeon is dead then I won’t have anything to worry about because I couldn’t bring myself to worry about anyone like I worry about her!” Jessica reached her breaking point. “Don’t you dare leave me in the dark anymore. Don’t you dare lie or tell me any half truths anymore, you hear me!”

“Ye-yes!”

There was an odd rustling sound on Sunny’s end of the line. “Jessica? It’s Hyoyeon.”

“What is it?”

“First, stop scaring Sunny.”

“She’s the one-“

“Second, I promise that we did everything to stay and get Taeyeon to leave with us. She was intent on staying, and we couldn’t do anything about that.”

Jessica had no answer to Hyoyeon.

“Third…you believe her, right?”

“Tae?”

“Yes. You believe in her, right?”

“I have a feeling this is going to get corny very fast…but yes, I do.”

“Good. Now just believe that things will go fine. Lady Luck already shinned on her before, and I don’t think she’s going to switch sides anytime soon.”

“And I was right. This talk got very corny.” Jessica shook her head.

“But you feel better, right?”

“Barely.” Jessica managed to smile a bit. She was happy that her friends (at least she was pretty sure Hyoyeon was a friend…her relationships with others were just confusing these days) were trying to cheer her up. “But wait…”

“Yes?”

“Where are you guys anyway?”

“Industrial district. Sort of. Kind of.” There was a slight pause. “It’s complicated.”

“Everything is.”

~~~~

“Bring another stretcher!”

“It looks like she’s still breathing…but the other two are probably a lost cause.”

“Just bring the stretcher already and save your amateur comments for later.”

“It doesn’t take much to realize they have a bullet in there heads!”

“Will you-“

The voices were almost a blur in Taeyeon’s head. She was too dead to move her body or focus on any one thing, but she heard people screaming orders at one another and squeaking wheels making their way toward her. She felt the hands lift her up and her heavy body being placed onto the hard cushion on the gurney.

“Hey, stay with me, okay?” Taeyeon assumed the voice was trying to reach her, but she couldn’t really tell. The face was muddled and her eyes were playing tricks on her. “Don’t fall asleep! Hey!!” A gentle arm shook Taeyeon’s shoulders. “Damnit, get her to the hospital!”

The squeaking wheels were the last thing Taeyeon heard, and the faint flashing lights bouncing off the walls faded into black.