The treehouse is sturdier than it seems. Simple and small.

The three of them had run into it accidentally. It was serendipitous, really, for several reasons. Jieqiong and Eunwoo saw it as a new shelter. Nayoung saw it as a sign that they’re nearing an exit to the forest. It had seemed like they’ve been trekking deep into the woods for days.

It’s now their third night in the treehouse. They rotate watch duty every night. Last night, Jieqiong and Eunwoo stayed up together while Nayoung slept.

Nayoung has been alone during her turn for the past two nights. But it’s alright; she’s quite used to it. This was the original plan anyways.

/

The blaring music and flashing lights are tremendously exhilarating.

Nayoung smiles the widest she has ever smiled in a long time, laughs the loudest she has in weeks, moves her body in ways she hasn’t in forever. Final exams are finished. Her last year of college is finished. It was rough, but she survived. Like always.

She feels hands on her waist and twists around to find Jieqiong dancing far too close to her. In the midst of the lights, the shouts, and the moving bodies, Nayoung’s cheeks redden (and not because of the alcohol or the rising temperature in the club).

She plays along. She dances, she returns Jieqiong’s smiles, and even drapes her arms on Jieqiong’s shoulders. Is it the atmosphere? Nayoung isn’t sure, but she feels her inhibitions disappearing with every dropping beat of music.

Jieqiong puts her forehead against Nayoung’s and suddenly, Nayoung feels her heart thump so loudly that she can’t distinguish it from the deafening bass drops of the run-of-the-mill EDM song playing in the background.

“You did it,” Jieqiong says to her and her words come out slurring. Nayoung stares at the other girl’s face, only because Jieqiong’s eyes are closed. If they were open, she would’ve looked elsewhere; Nayoung couldn’t have possibly gazed at Jieqiong straight in the eyes at such close distance. Her heart might’ve jumped right out of her chest.

“Did what?” Nayoung asks and she isn’t even sure if Jieqiong had heard her in this loud, crowded mess in the middle of the dancefloor.

“You made it through college without getting crucified by your mother,” says Jieqiong. “See? I told you so.”

“You worked hard, I know you did, so I’m sure you rocked your exams,” Jieqiong continues, her head lolling side to side, but still keeping her forehead glued to the older girl’s. “So you deserve to let loose today.”

“You and I both,” Nayoung says under her breath and she can’t help her eyes from wandering to Jieqiong’s lips; something she’d never dare to do outside of this atmosphere.

A lopsided goofy grin spreads across Jieqiong’s face as she brings her hands up to cup Nayoung’s face. Nayoung’s heartbeat quickens incredibly at the other’s soft hands.

And then Jieqiong opens her eyes, unglues their foreheads, and they lock gazes with their faces just mere centimeters apart. Nayoung would’ve looked away if she wasn’t already captivated by the brown eyes that stared back at her intently. Jieqiong had every inch of her mesmerized hook, line, and sinker. Nayoung’s breath hitches in .

“And today. You look pretty today,” Jieqiong says with a sigh. “Breathtakingly pretty.”

Behind the sweet aroma of her cotton candy perfume, there’s a whiff of alcohol in Jieqiong’s breath. Nayoung knows she’s drunk, it’s unmistakeable. She had been trying to ignore the fact all night.

She knows; this is the closest they’ve ever gotten and Jieqiong probably wouldn’t remember it tomorrow.

But that doesn’t stop Nayoung from feeling like her heart’s about to beat right out of her chest as the cotton candy fragrance invades her senses.

Nayoung hasn’t had a single sip of alcohol today.

But she’s absolutely intoxicated.

v.

You set me on fire.

/

Jieqiong is crying now.

Nayoung’s always known that the other girl was a drunk crier, so she had been waiting for Jieqiong’s waterworks to come ever since she downed her seventh shot.

It was surprising to everyone, actually, that it took Jieqiong more shots than usual until her tears finally started pouring. By that time, they were already in the back of a cab on their way home from the club.

Nayoung, sandwiched between Jieqiong and Chaeyeon, was the first to notice Jieqiong’s tears. She was keeping a watchful eye on the girl anyways. The cab had stopped at Chaeyeon’s place first. Even though Chaeyeon expressed her desire to help Nayoung bring Jieqiong home, she had a flight to catch in the morning. So Nayoung urged her to go inside with ‘it’s okay, I’ll take care of her’ and ‘goodnight!’.

“She hates me!”

“No, she doesn’t,” Nayoung says as she gives comforting pats to a sobbing Jieqiong in the middle of a living room.

“What does Heehyun have that I don’t?”

“What? Nothing. Why are you bringing up Heehyun?”

“They were practically attached at the hip all night,” Jieqiong whines. And then she dry heaves. “Am I that undesirable? Ugly?”

“Don’t be silly. They’re just friends,” Nayoung says. She feels like she’s talking to a child. “And no, you’re not… Not at all.”

“Then why did she reject me? I thought we had something good going!” An ugly wail of misery leaves Jieqiong’s lips before her sobs suddenly turn into calm sniffles. “I just don’t get it. I really liked her, Nayoung…”

Nayoung can only look at her sadly; half in sympathy, half in empathy. “I know…”

If Nayoung were to be honest with herself, she didn’t understand it either. Jieqiong chased few girls, very few, and she could count on one hand how many lucky people have received a key to Jieqiong’s heart. Jieqiong does not get rejected; she is the one who rejects. That’s how things always were.

“And now,” Jieqiong says and then her sobs begin to return again. Nayoung sighs. “And now! She’s leaving tomorrow! And half of me is like, relieved that I don’t have to see her anymore. But I’m also sad, of course I’m ing sad!”

“Chaeyeon isn’t going away forever. She’s just gone for the break.”

“Yeah, I know, she’ll come back,” Jieqiong murmurs and it sounds so miserable, Nayoung almost pities her. Almost. “But I don’t think I can look at her ever again.” 

At this, Nayoung lets out a chuckle. “Don’t be dramatic. She’s your friend–“

“I know! And that’s the worst part. I’m so pathetic,” Jieqiong whines. “Pathetically in love. Learn this from me, Nayoung: don’t ever fall in love with a friend. It’s torture. You can’t tell the meaning behind anything. Always treading the thin wire between friendship and something more. Ugh, love .”

And then she swings back into her depressive mood, letting out ugly sobs as her body trembles with every dry heave.

Nayoung smiles sadly to herself. “I know that already.”

Jieqiong is oblivious and Nayoung knows she’s the real pathetic one. It’s funny, really. Nayoung can’t help but laugh at herself. It’s better than crying about it and downing bottles of soju, at least.

Nayoung pats her back. This is routine; Jieqiong has gone on a drunken breakdown plenty of times before. Everyone understands, of course – they wouldn’t expect anything less from a Yonsei student. Nayoung thinks everyone in their friend group has had to comfort a drunk crying Jieqiong at least once during the school year (or twice). (Yebin is an exception; the short-haired girl bails as soon as the tears start pouring.)

“No one will ever like me,” Jieqiong murmurs as she buries her face in her arms.

“Don’t say that,” Nayoung says. “I like you…”

There’s conviction behind her words; conviction that goes unnoticed, unsurprisingly. Jieqiong wouldn’t have noticed even if she was sober. 

The door to the apartment opens. Jieqiong’s roommate waltzes in, a plastic bag in one hand and car keys in the other.

“Is she drunk off her ?” Eunwoo says as she shakes her head at Jieqiong. “Not again.”

“You went grocery shopping at 1 in the morning?” Nayoung asks her amusingly.

 “No, you dummy. I stopped by the convenience store on the way home. The ramen was on sale.”

Nayoung chuckles. “ you had to work tonight. You could’ve hung out with us.”

 “I know,” Eunwoo says, lips protruding into a pout. “But it’s okay. There’s always a next time.”

Jieqiong lets out another ugly wail of misery as Eunwoo sets down her things. Nayoung’s comforting hand doesn’t leave her friend’s drunken back.

Eunwoo sighs. “You should go home. I’ll take care of her. I’m her roommate, so the responsibility falls on me. I don’t want you staying up here late. You need to sleep too.”

“It’s fine, I can just sleep here again.”

“Nayoung, I’m not gonna let you sleep on our disgusting second-hand couch again. It’s not even comfortable,” Eunwoo nags with a chuckle.

Nayoung opens to retort, but Eunwoo interrupts her. “And no, I am not letting you sleep on the floor either. You woke up with a sore back last time. Please go home and get the sleep you deserve.”

Nayoung sighs in defeat as she looks at Jieqiong pitifully curled up into a ball on the floor.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Nayoung says as she gets up from the couch and heads for the door. She turns around just in time to see Jieqiong throw her hands around Eunwoo in between sobs.

“Jung Eunwoo!” A dry heave and then a sniffle. “You like me, don’t you? I’m a nice girl, aren’t I?”

Eunwoo gives Nayoung a parting smile as she mouths a goodnight. Nayoung leaves the apartment, sent off tired and alone. She didn’t want to leave.

/

Through the leaves of the trees, Nayoung sees a figure drag itself across the ground in the distance. The bottom half of its body is nowhere to be seen; a trail of blood follows as it growls hungrily in the dark. They’re lucky it’s alone. Nayoung draws her attention to the silver in the sky instead.

A tired voice murmurs from behind her, snapping her out of her distracted 1AM musings. “Nayoung.”

At the call of her name, Nayoung’s head turns away from watching the moon. She finds Jieqiong looking at her, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she crawls over to Nayoung sitting at the entrance of the treehouse.

“It’s my turn to take watch,” Jieqiong says. “What were you thinking about?”

“Nothing much, really,” Nayoung answers her. “Just how our lives were like before everything turned to and people died.”

“That’s depressing,” Jieqiong says emptily, her voice free of any real emotion. Nayoung figures it’s because she’s just tired. “Get some sleep.”

Nayoung nods her head tiredly at Jieqiong and crawls over to their sleeping space in the corner of the small treehouse.

As Jieqiong takes her place and sits cross-legged by the frame of the door, Eunwoo stirs awake and gets up with a stretch.

“Eunwoo,” Nayoung says. “Did I wake you up? Sorry.”

“No, you didn’t, it’s okay,” Eunwoo answers sleepily. “I’m going to stay up with Jieqiong.”

“Again?” Nayoung says with a small frown. “The two of you have to stay up twice as long whenever you guys watch together. You’re both missing sleep.”

“It’s okay,” Eunwoo answers her, as if it’s reassurance. “I have trouble sleeping nowadays…”

“But Jieqiong?”

“She always falls asleep before me anyways. It’s fine, Nayoung. Get the sleep you deserve.”

Eunwoo smiles at her and gives her a pat on the shoulder before crawling over to Jieqiong, whose head drops to rest on Eunwoo’s shoulder as soon as she sits down.

Nayoung sighs as she lies down and curls up next to the wall, her back to the other girls.

Truthfully, she never imagined Jieqiong to be the one to start chasing again. But she isn’t surprised at Eunwoo ultimately becoming the one to receive the untouchable Jieqiong’s affections either. Eunwoo let Jieqiong’s heart out from its cage without needing a key before Nayoung’s fingertips could even touch it.  

/

16.

I would much prefer to see the lovely
way she walks and the radiant glance of her face
than the war-chariots of the Lydians or
their footsoldiers in arms.

/

“Eunwoo?”

The quiet murmur suddenly breaking the silence causes Nayoung’s curious ear to perk up. She’s supposed to be sleeping, but she hasn’t been able to ever since her shift for the night ended.

So she’s just been lying, motionlessly and counting sheep, for what she has estimated to be twenty minutes (give or take a few seconds). Usually, she falls asleep quite quickly, but it seems sudden insomnia has plagued her tonight.

It had been so quiet that Jieqiong’s whisper didn’t even sound like a whisper.

“Hm?” Eunwoo hums in response and Nayoung can tell she is tired.

There’s a pause.

“…I love you. I really love you.”

The conviction behind Jieqiong’s words doesn’t go unnoticed. She said it so quietly; it was barely a murmur, as if she was worried that if she spoke any louder, it would wake Nayoung up.

But Nayoung, still wide awake in reality, blinks in the dark as her finger quietly draws absentminded circles on the wood. She wants to cover her ears and pretends to never have heard anything.

“I love you too,” Eunwoo says. Then there’s a rustling of clothes, the sound of switched positions, and blissful sighs before it falls into a silence yet again.

Nayoung shuts her eyes when she feels them well up. She chides herself for feeling even a hint of sadness – it’s not the time for this, really. She tells herself that there are more important things to brood about than some lousy unrequited love.

But the heavy heartache is irrepressible. And Nayoung can’t even cover her face with shame at her own hopelessness because the other two would find out that she isn’t really asleep.

Not that it matters anyways; Nayoung knows neither of them know her heart and they would’ve just apologized for waking her up. Then they’d return to their own private world – the one they’ve created to forget about the gloomy reality. A world no one is allowed in except for Jieqiong and Eunwoo and occasionally the light of the moon.

So Nayoung remains unmoved, eyes shut, fist clenched, as she lingers in the gloomy reality (her only world).

Crestfallen and tremendously tired, her insomnia abandons her just like everything else as she finally submits to the hands of Hypnos.

vi.

The moon is set. And the Pleiades.
It’s the middle of the night.
Time passes.
But I sleep alone.

//

It growls lowly as its head twitches and its gray fingers curl. With vicious conviction, the zombie’s head is sliced right off his body with one swing of the machete.

Grasping her machete with two hands, Jieqiong lets out a loud grunt as she severs another approaching zombie.

She twists her body when she feels a hand grasp her arm, but is relieved to see that it is only Nayoung.

“We have to run!” Nayoung shouts as she pulls the younger girl. She swings her bat at a zombie behind Jieqiong and the blow prompts a surge of dark red blood to spew from the left side of its head.

They try to run, but the swarm of zombies only seems to grow larger and larger. The three of them stand back to back, weapons wielded in front of them and breaths heavy as the undead begin to surround them like a gang surrounds a traitor.  

“There’s no way out…” Eunwoo’s whimper drips in desperation and hopelessness. Her grip around her crowbar tightens.

“Don’t say that,” Nayoung rebukes harshly. She has not given her everything for these two girls for the past several weeks only for them to give up so damn easily. She wonders where this sudden surge of motivation is coming from. “We fight.”

They stand cautiously as the swarm narrows in on them at a painfully sluggish rate.

“Nayoung’s right,” Jieqiong says, but Nayoung can sense the fear in her voice from a mile away. “We have to fight.”

“There’s no point in standing here idly and waiting for them to come closer,” Nayoung says. “On the count of three, we attack.” A pause to take a breath. “Got it?”

She receives two hesitant hums in reply.

“Okay. Remember to aim for the brain, not the heart. One…two…”

Just then, a loud whistle interrupts her countdown.

The three girls turn their head towards the direction of the whistle. They find a man with a handkerchief over the bottom half of his face and a bucket in his hand.

“They must be hungry!” he shouts before proceeding to spill the bucket’s contents on the ground. Slabs of meat fall out with a plop as he begins to back away slowly, banging the bucket loudly to draw attention.

Nayoung watches as the swarm’s attention switches from them to the meat.

“Walk away cautiously. Don’t make noise,” the man instructs them in between whistles as he continues banging on his bucket, keeping the zombies distracted as they trudge towards the meat he has left.

The three girls inch away from the swarm just as the zombies begin ravaging on the slabs of meat. The man motions for the girls to follow him.

Nayoung is hesitant, as she is with all strangers. She’s been directing Jieqiong and Eunwoo away from unfamiliar faces ever since they left the city.

But then Jieqiong grasps her arm and she finds herself being pulled towards the man. Her empty eyes switch between the dirtied fingers around her forearm and the savage undead scuffling over the meat as they run after the stranger through the woods.