AÑOS
7. EL ISR ES DEVENGADO Y EL IETU ES A FLUJO
2.2 IMPUESTO SOBRE LA RENTA (I.S.R.)
2.2.3 EVOLUCION DEL IMPUESTO SOBRE LA RENTA
Chapter 16: I’ll Protect You
“Where is she?” The man seated on the huge chair asked.
“We f–failed to get her, Sir.” The poor subordinate stuttered.
With a slam on the table, he stood up furiously. “What do you mean by you failed? Why can’t you all do such a simple task of capturing a mere human?!”
“T–there were others with her, Sir. And Kim TaeYeon has s–something to tell you.”
“What is it?” He went to his desk and pulled out the drawer where a revolver was placed nicely. He took it out and spun it around his hand.
The man saw it and he gulped nervously. “She said that y–you’ll never get w–what you want.”
He clenched his fist before holding onto the gun properly. A click was heard when he pressed down the hammer of the gun. “You know what happens when you fail a mission?”
“Y–yes...” The man’s voice cracked.
In one swift movement, he had already gone to the back of his subordinate. He brought up the revolver and shot the back of his neck without any word.
The man fell onto the ground after and blue blood was gushing out his wound.
“Bring him out and set his body on fire,” he took out a cigar from his pocket, lit it and placed it in between his lips.
“Yes, Sir.”
He exhaled and smoke could be seen coming out from his nose and mouth. “Kim TaeYeon...
You’ll fall under me one day.”
He took out the cigar from his mouth harshly and threw it carelessly onto the blue trail on the ground. Flame immediately appeared and the room was heated up.
---They immediately left the place after the whole fight and decided to just go back to the palace. As much as they loved the fun they were having, they couldn’t afford the dangers to be attacked again.
While everyone was having thoughts on who attacked them earlier, a certain person had her mind elsewhere.
Why did she run away earlier on? Did she know that someone was there? Tiffany asked herself as she continued walking towards the main door of the palace.
But that can’t be. If she knew, then she would have stayed with me instead of running away.
So, what is–
While asking herself those questions, Tiffany did not notice that the person in front of her had stopped walking, causing her to bump into the person’s back.
“Oh, sorry!” The person turned around and Tiffany blushed when she realised who she had bumped into. “Are you okay?”
“I should be asking you that.”
“W–what?” Tiffany stared back at TaeYeon who was looking into her eyes. She felt uncomfortable – because Taeyeon’s stare was as though she was searching something inside her eyes – so she looked away. “What are you saying?”
“You were distracted the whole ride back. And till now, you still are. What’s wrong?”
TaeYeon’s tone softened. “Are you traumatised by the incident?”
Tiffany was surprised at how worried TaeYeon sounded, but she did nothing to show how she felt. Instead, she tried to look back and forced a smile onto her face, “I'm fine. Really.”
She then walked on, without looking back.
---Tiffany went into her room and immediately locked herself in. She leant her back against the door while questions were still running through her mind. As much as she would like her answers, she was also afraid of them at the same time. She was afraid that the answers would hurt her – although she doesn’t exactly know the reason why.
What if... she ran away because she was afraid?
But she was the one who took the initiative and then ran off the next moment...
She lightly banged her head against the wooden surface and closed her eyes. Kim TaeYeon, you’re killing my mind!
She stood still for a minute before opening her eyes. I should thank her for helping me earlier, right? Come to think of it, I really didn’t thank her yet...
But that would be awkward. A sigh escaped from her lips.
Still... she got hurt because of me. Tiffany bit her lips as the memories of how TaeYeon got hurt started to flash through her mind.
I should... just go. Yes, just go.
She finally nodded her head to herself before opening the door. She poked her head outside first and once she checked that the coast was clear, she then stepped out of her room and tiptoed to the room that was next to hers.
She noticed that the door to Taeyeon’s room wasn’t fully close and there was a gap big enough for her to look in.
She slowly leant forward and looked inside. She then saw TaeYeon sitting on her bed with Seohyun beside her.
It looked like Seohyun was applying something on TaeYeon from her angle and the latter was squirming around as if trying to get away from Seohyun.
It was almost hard for Tiffany to hold in her laughter when she saw the expressions on TaeYeon’s face but she knew that she had to.
While she was busy trying to have a better look inside, her leg accidentally kicked the door, causing a soft, but audible creek to be produced.
“Who’s there?”
Tiffany gulped. Oh crap...
---Taeyeon flinched a little when her sister applied the medicine on her jaw.
“Can you please stop moving around? I can’t apply properly if you keep doing so.” Seohyun aaid.
“Fine, just... do it softly.” TaeYeon gritted her teeth and tried to hold the pain.
“Alright, done. Now take your shirt off.” Seohyun said and threw the used cotton wool away before taking a new one. She looked at the still not moving TaeYeon.
“W–what?”
“Take your top off. I have to apply on your abdomen, as well. You got hurt there, right?”
Taeyeon nodded and slowly took off her top before placing it beside her awkwardly.
“There’s a cut and it’s bleeding...” She went into the bathroom before coming out with a wet towel. “There’s some splinters stuck there so I will have to pluck it out later.”
Pluck. It. Out. TaeYeon’s mind had everything summed up to become... hurts.
“Alright, you’d better not move now.”
“It won’t hurt, right?”
Seohyun tried her best not to roll her eyes at her sister. “No, it’ll just sting.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
Taeyeon watched closely as her sister brought the towel closer to her injury. As soon as the towel touched her skin, TaeYeon flinched and jumped away. “Ouch! You said that it doesn’t hurt!” She swatted away the hand.
“It doesn't!” Seohyun exclaimed and finally rolled her eyes. “Stop acting like a kid now, will you? You’re a vampire, how can you be scared of cleaning your wounds?”
“It hurts! I’d rather be beaten up then to have you clean my wounds.”
“So, you’re saying that it’s because of me?” Seohyun deadpanned.
“Ye– I mean, no.”
“You mean yes.”
“No, I meant no. Anyways, why do I have to clean my wounds? It will heal in time.”
“Unnie... Cleaning the wounds makes it heal faster. You wouldn’t know when the enemy would attack, so if by then you still have an injury, it would be to your disadvantage.”
TaeYeon’s jaw dropped at her sister’s explanation. “But I–” a sudden creak made her stopped talking. “Who’s there?” She quickly put on her shirt and got off the bed.
“Your wound isn’t bandaged yet!” Seohyun complained.
The door slowly opened and Tiffany stepped in. “H–hi,” she smiled awkwardly.
“What are you doing out there? Come on in, Tiffany.” Seohyun got off the bed and went to pull Tiffany in.
“Why are you here?” Taeyeon asked as soon as Tiffany was brought near her.
“I... Uhm... Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“Are you alright? Your injuries, I mean.”
“Oh. Yeah, I’m fine.”
“O–oh, that’s good then.”
Seohyun looked between the two girls who suddenly got quiet. “I’ll be outside for a moment, alright?” She sent a wink to TaeYeon who rolled her eyes at her sister.
As soon as Seohyun had left, Tiffany took in a deep breath and looked at TaeYeon. “I’m sorry that I caused trouble again.” She bit her lips.
“You have a tendency of biting your lips when you’re nervous, huh?” Before she could even speak, TaeYeon had brought up her hand and used her thumb to press down on her bottom lip so that it would be pulled out.
Tiffany was surprised at the sudden gesture and all she could do was stare at TaeYeon with wide eyes.
It was then that TaeYeon had realised what she have just done. She quickly retreated her hand and placed it by her side. “Y–you could hurt yourself if you keep doing that. And, it’s not really good to have a cut on your lips in a house full of vampires, right?” She tried to joke. “But anyways, it’s not your fault.”
“It’s because of me–”
Taeyeon shook her head. “No, it’s really not your fault. Don’t ever think that it’s your fault.”
Tiffany looked into those warmth eyes and gulped once before nodding her head. “Okay...”
All of a sudden, the sky started to rumble and lightning could be seen from the outside.
Since the room was slightly dimmed, the lightning then could be seen flashing around the room. The sounds of thunder could then be heard very loudly.
TaeYeon had her eyes on the window as she watched the rain that fell soon after. The least expected thing for her was when a body came crashing onto hers and latching on her. She gasped and looked down to see Tiffany, “F–Fany, what are you doing?”
Her hands that were clutching onto the back of Taeyeon’s shirt tightened. “I–I’m scared...”
She's scared of thunder?
TaeYeon’s hand went to her back and started to caress her gently. “Don’t be. I’m right here.”
Another roar of thunder started to rumble and Tiffany jumped in surprise.
TaeYeon thought she had heard wrongly when a sniff came from Tiffany. She looked down and could see that the girl’s face was slightly wet. She became worried but she didn’t know what to do except letting Tiffany hold onto her.
After a while, TaeYeon could feel her own legs getting sore from all the standing since her knee was also injured. She started to pull back so that she could guide both of them to sit on the bed but Tiffany held onto her.
“D–don’t leave me.”
Taeyeon felt something crack within her. “I’m not leaving you. Let’s just go to the bed, alright? I promise that I won’t leave you.”
She nodded meekly before following TaeYeon.
“Here.” Taeyeon led her to sit on the bed with her back against the headboard before she joined her.
As soon as TaeYeon was next to her, Tiffany had her hand holding onto TaeYeon’s arm.
Taeyeon turned to look at the girl who looked tired now. She asked, “why are you afraid of thunder?”
Tiffany sniffed once, “m–my mom... she d–died on the night where it was r–raining heavily...”
TaeYeon’s eyes went big. Her other hand went to hold onto Tiffany’s hand that was on her arm.
“I’ve h–had a trauma s–since then.”
TaeYeon didn’t know why, but she found herself saying, “I’ll help you.”
“W–what?”
“I’ll help you overcome your fear.” I’ll help you overcome all of your fears. I’ll protect you.
“H–how?”
“We’ll try to stand through stormy nights.”
“I c–can’t.”
“You can,” TaeYeon squeezed her hand. “I’ll be with you.”
“You p–promise?”
“Yes, I promise.”
I promise, Fany-ah. I promise that I’ll protect you. I’ll be your protector. I’ll... love you.