“I’m telling you, this is a bad idea.”

“You’re the one who said to choose by majority, unnie,” Hyejin calls out from the kitchen.

“Yeah but-” Yongsun protests as she watches Wheein fumble with the remote. “-you guys planned this from the start!”

Byulyi rolls her eyes. Typical Yeba.

“No, we didn’t. You’re just scared.” She teases the older girl, poking a smooth cheek and snuggles closer to her. Yongsun swats her hand away.

“I am not!” Yongsun says. “Okay, maybe a little.”

“Oh, they’ve got The Exorcist!” Wheein exclaims and Byulyi chokes back laughter at the way Yongsun whips her head around to look at her with panicked wide eyes.

“No/Yes.” They both say at the same time and immediately, Yongsun’s fists rain down on her. Byulyi weakly fights back. Hyejin laughs and places the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table before seating herself beside Wheein.

“I’ll be here to protect you, don’t worry.” Byulyi says assuredly, pulls Yongsun closer under the thick rainbow blanket, laces their fingers together and squeezes.

Yongsun looks at her strange, the light from the television screen glinting in her eyes, and Byulyi smiles. She looks away then, a light pink tinting her cheeks.

The movie begins and Byulyi feels Yongsun squeeze back lightly.

After two hours of increasingly loud shrieks, a hyperventilating Yongsun, and treating the scratch marks on Byulyi’s hands, they’re all in their rooms, ready for sleep to take them to the realm of dreams and nightmares.

Byulyi goes to sleep fairly easily, barely fazed by the horror on the screen just minutes ago.

“Byul?”

Yongsun, on the other hand…

“Byul!”

…isn’t as fortunate.

“Oh my god, don’t tell me you’re possessed.”

“No, I’m not possessed, I’m trying to sleep.” Byulyi mumbles, now wide awake from Yongsun’s ruckus. “What are you even doing here? Why aren’t you in your room?”

Yongsun’s squatting at her bedside, lips pressed in a worried line.

“I’m scared, Byul.”

It’s a few short seconds of Byulyi looking at Yongsun blankly before she sighs and makes space for the older girl to climb in the bed with her.

“Alright fine, climb in.” Yongsun wastes no time in scrambling in next to her, hugging Byulyi tight and hiding her face in the taller girl’s neck. Byulyi pulls the cover over the both of them. 

“Do you feel better now?” She whispers, and she feels Yongsun nod against her.

“You always make me feel better, Byulyi.”

Byulyi hopes Yongsun doesn’t hear how fast her heart is beating.

It’s only a few minutes before she falls back asleep.

Only to be awaken to Yongsun’s thrashing and loud cries.

Byulyi sits up, bleary and confused but quick enough to shake Yongsun awake. She jolts up and looks around, frightened eyes scanning the room like a cornered animal before they land on Byulyi.

“Byul-” Yongsun’s tears fall quickly and drips down her chin. “I-I was there and the girl grabbed me an-and-” She sobs and lunges at Byulyi, clinging to her for dear life as Byulyi holds her tight and rocks her, whispers words of comfort and reassurance.

“Hey, it’s okay, you’re okay,” She tells Yongsun. “I’m here, don’t worry.”

Yongsun’s sobs die down to sniffles, but her grip on Byulyi doesn’t falter, not even when she starts singing to soothe Yongsun’s nerves. They stay like that, with Yongsun straddling Byulyi and resting her head on her shoulder.

“Are you feeling better?” Byulyi asks with a gentle voice. Yongsun sniffs and nods. She pulls away to look at Byulyi and mumbles a ‘thank you’.

“I’m sorry, I just- I didn’t know that,” Yongsun tries to explain but byulyi shakes her head.

“You were having a nightmare, I know. I’m not upset.” She says and lays back down on her bed. “Come on, I’ll sing you to sleep.”

Yongsun doesn’t have to think twice about it; she quickly lies down next to Byulyi and holds her even closer than before. Byulyi laughs softly and Yongsun blushes, embarrassed.

Yongsun doesn’t dream of hellish little girls after that.

Byulyi doesn’t let her go even once the entire night.