The moment Siyeon has her eyes open, she’s met not with the sight of sunlight seeping through the cracks of the wooden house, but with Eunwoo balancing a plate of bread on her cross-legged lap, as she sips from a plastic bottle of water. Siyeon notes that the tree house is as quiet as it can be, the other three occupants nowhere in sight and honestly Siyeon would rather have it this way because the less she interacts with Sejeong, the less it reminds her of the reality that is the possibility that any day could be their last day. Her eyes trail towards Eunwoo, who remains uninformed of her conscious presence. It requires a shuffle and a clearing of throat before the other girl notices her.

“Oh, you’re awake!”

Eunwoo reaches for her own bottle, and Siyeon automatically relaxes her lower jaw, as the contents of the bottle of water are emptied into . She relishes in the moment when the water clears her dry throat, and she silently reprimands herself for always taking food and water for granted before. Ironically, just as the thought crossed her mind, her nose scrunches up in disgust and she chokes back an eye roll when she sees Eunwoo picking at a piece of bread, decorated with blue-green fuzz. She feeds Siyeon a white part of the bread, which the latter accepts with a frown still clearly displayed on her face, before feeding herself with a moldy part.

“Hey, what the ?”

Siyeon moves forward to stop her, only to realize that she’s still being tied to the tree trunk, the ropes rendering her movements useless. Sejeong had suggested for both of her hands to be tied, and after a sarcastic scoff and a prolonged glare, Siyeon had agreed. She tugs at her restraint, to no avail.

“Better a horrible, gross-tasting food than no food at all,” Eunwoo grins back before stretching her arm and offering Siyeon another clean piece of the bread, but the younger girl refuses this time.

“Look out for yourself first before looking out for others, okay?” she says with an intended sigh, “Plus I’ve got no more appetite after seeing you put that thing in your mouth.”

Eunwoo responds with a pout, before obediently taking one piece of the clean, white part of the bread, and then she’s back to urging Siyeon to eat, until they finally agree to share the non-moldy portions. When the plate’s left with only blue-green pieces, Eunwoo gets up to dispose of them, only for Siyeon to stop her and gesture her to sit.

“I just thought maybe we could sit and talk for a bit,” she says as a slight excuse when her eyes are met with Eunwoo’s quizzical look. But if her request was awkward and out of the blue, Eunwoo certainly did not point it out.

“Sure,” Eunwoo says as she places the plate back down on the wooden floor, “What do you want to talk about?”

Siyeon shrugs and averts her gaze from Eunwoo’s smiling face, finding it a little too blinding and cheery if she were to stare at it for a long time. “I-I don’t know.”

She hears Eunwoo giggle, and from the corner of her eyes, she sees Eunwoo putting both of her hands together. And then she claps twice, like she’s a teacher gathering the attention of her students. And then she starts to speak very quickly, but Siyeon manages to get each and every one of her words.

“Okay, you see, I’ve thought about it over this period of time, but once we’re out of this hellhole and back to leading our normal lives, I want to study music,” Eunwoo ends her mini speech with a huff.

“Seriously?” Siyeon turns her head back to grin at the other girl, who has her eyes away this time. Her face is flushed with a shade of pink as she chews on her lower lip. “I think it suits you, though.”

“Really?” Eunwoo beams, clasping her hands together, “I would totally love to be a musician.”

“I mean, you have a great voice,” Siyeon says in all honesty albeit a slightly teasing tone, “And I think you’re pretty and talented too.”

“Stop that, it’s starting to not sound like you,” Eunwoo slaps her shoulder with her face now in a darker shade of pink. Siyeon lets herself laugh wholeheartedly, and it feels good to hear the sound of her own laughter reaching her ears.

“What about you?”

“Me?” Siyeon readjusts her position, feeling the friction burn from the constant rubbing of the rope and her wrists, “I haven’t given any thought to it, actually.”

“I think you’d suit being an athlete,” Eunwoo says, her tone half-mocking and half-serious. She watches as the corner of Siyeon’s lips tilt upwards, and feels hers do the same.

“What? Because I’ve been chasing zombies all these while?”

“No!” Eunwoo buries her face in her hands as she breaks into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, and Siyeon can’t help but laugh along at her reaction. And then her laughter subsides, her face now a sad smile.

“I mean, Kyungwon and Minkyung were once athletes,” she says, looking down at her lap, “And you used to always do sports with them.”

Siyeon watches as Eunwoo sighs loudly, her head hanging down in sadness and regret, and then she moves her right foot as far as it can go to nudge the other girl, until she looks back up at her again.

“So you’re here to remind me that I constantly got thrashed by them?” she says, smirking, “And they always laughed at me for being short?”

“Oh my god,” Eunwoo chuckles, wiping the tears that brimmed at the corners of her eyes, “They were so arrogant.”

“Narcissists,” Siyeon adds, and a chuckle escapes Eunwoo’s lips again, until their laughter blends and develops to a cross between a cuckle-cackle and a gobble-giggle.

“I’ll consider,” Siyeon says after feeling her stomach hurt from laughing too much, “Oh. Sungyeon talked about being a musician too, right?”

“Yeah,” Eunwoo places a hand on Siyeon’s knee, giving two reassuring pats, “God, I miss them so much.”

“You’ll see them soon,” Siyeon tugs at the ropes again, feeling the sudden urge to take Eunwoo’s hand in her own, “And Yebin can laugh at you when I tell her you’re an aspiring musician.”

“I hate Yebin so much,” Eunwoo says without being able to hide the grin on her face.

“Pinky promise? That we’ll be strong and make it out alive?”

“Pinky promise? What the hell?” Eunwoo chuckles before slapping Siyeon on the knee.

“Why not? My wrists may be tied but my pinky isn’t.”

Despite the shaking of her head and creasing of her eyebrows, Eunwoo gets up and goes behind Siyeon, taking her pinky into hers.

“You can be so stupid sometimes, you know,” Eunwoo laughs, her little finger still latched onto Siyeon’s.

“Well, you pinky promised,” Siyeon swivels her head around, and breaks into a smile when she sees Eunwoo grinning down at her, her eyes sparking and her smile lingering.

//

Nayoung releases a sigh of relief as she plants her rear on the grass, watching as the beautiful picture of a clean lake unfolds before her. The lake glimmers in the callow light of the evening, appearing as if by magic, and Nayoung finds it almost impossible to believe that such a sight still exists for her to behold in their catastrophe-stricken state of living. Unruffled by wind or rain or any disaster, the lake remains still and restful. The only sounds are the bumbling of bees and the heavy echo of raven crawking, and Nayoung remembers what it feels like to be young and innocent again.

“What were you thinking?” Nayoung hears just as she feels a jab to her left rib.

“Nothing,” she replies, observing the way Sejeong tosses the bottles of water back into their bag, and then her eyes trail back to the far end of the lake.

“You adore her very much, don’t you?”

Without taking her eyes off the ethereal image of a young, pure girl dancing along the rim of the lake, accompanied with long, silky black hair brushing the edges of her shoulders, Nayoung simply nods, taking in the peace and tranquil around her. Sejeong makes a sound, something between a snicker and a chuckle, before she slings the bag over her right shoulder, giving a pat on Nayoung’s.

“We should go before the sun sets.”

Nayoung is automatically on her feet, but instead of moving them, she pauses, either too entranced by the sight of the lake or the sight of Jieqiong creating puddles on the surface of the water with every light step she takes.

“It doesn’t kill to spend a few more minutes here, does it?”

“Sure thing, boss.”

Nayoung can almost feel Sejeong smirking behind her, but she really couldn’t care less when Jieqiong swivels around to wave in her direction, and she finds herself waving back, her heart swelling with a form of happiness she hasn’t been feeling for a long time now.

The next few minutes, however, doesn’t feel as long as the first few as the roaring sound of thunder disrupts the silence, and Nayoung cranes her neck upwards to witness the forming of dark clouds, introducing a subtle form of premonition. The light that gave the stream its shimmer earlier starts to fade away, and the expression on Jieqiong’s face slowly turns from joy to worry.

“We should really start moving now,” Sejeong urges, and Nayoung waits until she feels hands on hers, before jogging to keep up the pace.

The ground feels increasingly muddy with every step they take, as the frequency of drizzle increases, the raindrops landing on their heads and backs are suddenly like sharp icicle jabs, urging them to move faster, warning them of the dangers that could present.

“Hurry up!” Sejeong shouts from a few meters away, and Nayoung tugs at Jieqiong’s arm, only to feel their palms slip from each other’s, and they both succumb to their helpless fall with a loud splash on the muddy ground. Nayoung, scrambling to her feet with her face covered in sweat and rain and mud, desperately searches for Jieqiong, before they resume their running again.

As the distance between them and Sejeong closes, she sees Sejeong lifting her rifle, and for a split moment she thinks she sees the muzzle of the gun being pointed at her. The next second, she hears the sound of the gunshot, and the second after she feels some sort of liquid trickling down the shell of her ear, and something tells her that it is neither sweat, rain nor mud.

“Nayoung, you’re bleeding!”

Jieqiong would’ve stopped in her tracks if it weren’t for Nayoung, who continued running until they’ve reached Sejeong. When she jogs to a stop, she brings her right hand up to her ear, ghosts a finger over the shell of her ear, and brings her hand down to see a red stain on it. She turns her head, and sees a dead body a few meters away from her.

“Bloody hell, Nayoung, one step slower and I would’ve shot you instead,” Sejeong huffs in slight annoyance, before she leads the road again.

“Sorry,” Nayoung murmurs, brushing a strand of hair from her damp forehead, “And thanks.”

By the time they step foot into their tree house lodging, the rain has come to a halt, and the place looks slightly distorted as compared to before. There seems to be no internal damage, however, but their trip today was partially a waste of time as Nayoung looks into a plastic bag filled with only a handful of nuts and coffee beans.

“Is anyone hurt?” Eunwoo asks upon their arrival, her eyes wide in alarm and worry.

“We’re fine,” Nayoung reassures, but chooses not to inform her of their unsuccessful attempt to replenish their supplies. She covers her bloodstained ear with her hair just when she thinks Eunwoo is staring at her, only to realize a second later that Eunwoo was staring behind her. And then she hears a loud thump to the ground before she even has time to turn her head around.

“Jieqiong!”

Eunwoo rushes past her and towards the collapsed girl, shaking her body urgently. Nayoung is beside her within milliseconds, and upon closer look, she realizes that the girl has been sweating a little too profusely, and her face is a frightening shade of white. Nayoung puts a hand to her forehead, only to retract it back immediately.

“S-She’s burning,” Nayoung says as she feels her own heart race, “Let’s bring her to a corner, come on.”

They each grab a pair of limbs, and once they’ve managed to lay her down properly, Sejeong walks in their direction with a soaked shirt, placing in on Jieqiong’s forehead, and they watch as her eyelids flutter slightly upon the contact.

“Do a better job at taking care of her, Nayoung.”

She shoots a glare at Siyeon, who mirrors her actions. “If you want to take care of someone, at least do your best.”

Nayoung takes her words like a slap to her face, and she feels her eyes sting due to hurt and shame. And when she looks at Jieqiong, the bright, young girl who somehow finds happiness and light even in the darkest places, now suffering in absolute silence, she vows to make sure the same thing never happens again.

“Time to change your clothes,” Sejeong points out, and Nayoung is suddenly reminded of her own current state. She takes one last look at Eunwoo refolding the shirt as she places it on Jieqiong’s forehead, before she heads towards the bags to retrieve a new set of clothes.

//

The smell of soil and mud is stronger as night approaches. A fierce wind rattles the exterior of the tree house, raging more and more ferociously as the night goes by.

At one far corner of the room, Eunwoo is curled up into a ball, sleeping soundly and unperturbed by the soon-to-commence storm outside. At the other corner of the room, Nayoung watches as Jieqiong makes another set of toss and turns in her sleep, groaning slightly as she does so.

Oddly, Sejeong had agreed to Siyeon’s idea of keeping watch together tonight, finally convinced that Siyeon was safe enough to be released. Nayoung listens carefully through the crack between the door and the floor, and hears no sound, but figures they’ve got nothing to talk about too, anyway. And then she hears a whine and feels a hand on her wrist.

“You should sleep,” she says to Jieqiong as the younger girl gets up to a sitting position, rubbing her eyes blearily and removing the piece of cloth from her forehead.

“I can’t,” she says, “My head hurts.”

Nayoung feels her forehead. “It’s still hot. Just at least close your eyes, okay?”

There’s a shuffle, a small whine of protest, but Jieqiong eventually plops back down on the floor. Her eyelids flutter close, and Nayoung reaches to tuck one of her arms to her side.

Suddenly, Nayoung hears the slightest sound being made; one that is subtle and bone-chilling, and her eyes widen and her ears perk up automatically. It’s the kind of sound that seems to be there and not there, but Nayoung is quite certain she heard something. Her grip on Jieqiong’s wrist subconsciously tightens, and then, she hears another series of –

Thud, thud, thud.

She freezes, and then feels Jieqiong react the same way. Silence engulfs them, and the room is now filled only with the sound of their breathing – ragged and shallow.

“Nayoung?” Jieqiong whispers, but Nayoung shushes her. She knows Jieqiong is going to tell her to wait till whatever is outside is gone, but her stubborn self tells her that there is more to just that.

Thud, thud, thud.

The sound is dull, consistent and robot-like, with a two second interval in between each of them. Nayoung immediately gets to her feet, but she feels Jieqiong stop her with a sweaty, clammy palm.

“Don’t go outside, please, don’t leave me here.”

Her voice is supplicating and desperate, but Nayoung figures it’s not up to her to make a choice this time. Retrieving the baseball bat until she has it in a tight grip, she brushes the hair away from Jieqiong’s face, giving her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.

“I have to go, Siyeon’s outside. I promise to be back soon, okay?”

With Jieqiong’s confirmation nod, Nayoung heads straight towards the door. As much as she’s mentally prepared for any fight she’s about to put up with, her heart still hammers forcefully against her chest, her forehead already dotted with sweat. Placing one trembling hand on the doorknob, she takes a deep breath, and feels her lower lip quiver.

Thud, thud, thud.

And she turns the doorknob.

//~//

A/N: Wow, it felt like years since I last written! Part of the delay was due to school, and the other half was because this chapter wasn’t originally in the draft. Anyhow, I’m sorry for the delay heh. The main reason of adding this chapter was to slow things down a bit, and also include a bit of interactions since I’m guessing most of y’all are here for NaPink/ other ships ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Anyway, if some of you are curious, the total number of chapters for this story is estimated to be fifteen! Do leave comments or alternatively I created a curiouscat account for anonymous questions! Always, thank you for reading (: