···

“Wake up, wake up! Everybody wake up, wake up! It’s morning! It’s time to wake up!” Claps in the hallways could be heard here and there.

For some reason, Seulgi was in a good mood today. She went next to Irene’s bed first, and slightly shook her, “Irene.. It’s time to wake up..!”

Irene smiled with her eyes closed, recognizing whose voice it belonged to, “Mm, I’ll be up..” Satisfied with her answer, Seulgi stood up straight, then looked over to Wendy’s bunk. She climbed up onto her bed.

“Wendy, it’s time to wake up, it’s morning! Let’s leave early for breakfast so we don’t have to wait in line..!” Seulgi smiled cheerfully. But getting no response from Wendy made her smile fade, “Wendy?” Seulgi shook her gently, “Wendy..”

Wendy finally turned over, showing her sleepy face along with bloodshot eyes, “H–hey.. Good morning.” She showed a very little smile.

Seulgi’s happy aura dissolved, “Wendy, why are your eyes red? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine.”

“Oh.. Let’s, uh, go get breakfast together..”

···

“Wendy, what’s wrong with you today, and what’s wrong with your eyes? You’re usually never the quiet, depressed one,” Jinri asked. Then she leaned in and whispered, “Have you been crying?”

“Jinri!” Luna whispered harshly, sounded clearly.

“What? Can’t I just ask how my friend is doing? Jeez, what’s the big deal,” Jinri rolled her eyes, then turned around and proceeded to talk to Amber.

Seulgi and Wendy were standing next to each other –– Seulgi in front, Wendy last in line –– with everyone in the dance crew in front of them (excludes Irene and Taeyeon). Wendy was looking at the floor with a solemn, but subtle, facial expression. Seulgi wasn’t paying attention. She reached for Wendy’s hand and entwined hers with Wendy’s. At the sudden contact, Wendy looked up while Seulgi turned her head and smiled at her.

That’s not how it is, Seulgi. It doesn’t work like that, Wendy thought, you can’t…

Once they all got their food, they sat down on one of the indoor benches, together.

“So did they say that we were learning something about outdoor nature and all that, and also going hiking onto the top of a mountain? I mean, how in the world is that fun?” Jinri said, with lots of sass in her tone of voice.

Amber laughed along.

Luna chuckled, “But this is a requirement right? It’s not like we’re spending our whole lives here, I don’t understand why we have to learn about plants and animals, ugh, seriously. The school has got to get their together, to be honest.”

“Uhh.. Yeah! Luna has a good point! So, why do we have to learn about the plants again?” Jinri scoffed.

Seulgi and Krystal just smiled along, amused by the conversation while chewing. Wendy just looked at her plate and twirled her fork slowly with an expression that showed dissatisfaction.

“Wendy, what do you think? Why are we going around on the trails walking around just to learn about nature and these trees and stuff like that? And what about the hike, do you know the purpose of it?” Luna asked. She tried to include Wendy into their conversation, just in case she was feeling down because she was excluded.

“No, I don’t know,” She replied flatly, literally no joy in her voice but monotone. All attention turned towards her, including Seulgi’s.

“Wendy, is something bothering you?” Seulgi asked.

“Where’s Irene?” Wendy asked all of a sudden, emphasizing her name, and looking straight at Seulgi, then to everyone else, “And Taeyeon?” She included, after a pause.

Everyone just looked around their seated area, but it was only the people within the dance crew. Amber merely shrugged without spending any effort to really look for them, “Who cares? No one ever knows what those two sisters are up to anyway, or what they’re thinking in their brains.”

Everyone continued to eat. Seulgi kept watching Wendy cautiously to see if she could deduce if anything was wrong with her.

···

“You saw it yesterday, right? You saw how she passed out again. Aren’t you worried? I thought you cared about her!” Taeyeon yelled.

She was standing up with a displeased expression, her arms crossed. She was watching Irene feed on a poor prey that had unluckily stumbled upon them. Her eyes were closed, as if she was only focusing on her source of food. After getting a fair amount that she needed, she pulled away and gasped.

“I’ve left some for you if you need it. We should really go back or else they’ll notice that we’re missing,” Irene calmly said.

“Did you even hear what I just said a few moments ago? I literally –– ”

“I know,” Irene muttered once again. It was the same reply to Taeyeon’s chastise again, as if she didn’t take it seriously. She turned around and started walking away.

“I mean it! Ire –– Joohyun!”

Irene stopped in her tracks, “I thought I told you that you weren’t allowed to call me by that.. Ever.”

“If it’s the only way I can get you to stop where you’re going and listen to me for once, then I would dare say Joohyun as many times as I ––!”

Irene stepped right in front of her face, but barely using her power, “I let you touch her once that day, and now I know I can’t let it happen again.” And then she disappeared into thin air.

Taeyeon could still feel the tiny empathy of hers –– seeing that she left a portion of blood for her to feed on. Her head lowered, facing the ground, and she raised her hand to brush her hair and sighed heavily.

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