Yebin never really was the type of person to watch where she’s going, so when she’s snapped out of her daze with a rather strangled gasp, she doesn’t react much, but she does automatically mutter a string of apologies to the unfortunate victim.

“Yebin!”

She lifts her head to see Minkyung, staring at her in dismay, and then her eyes land back on the floor, where all of the older girl’s books lay scattered. Yebin belatedly gulps. (“What a performance to put up for your crush,” Eunwoo would say.)

“Hello? Stop staring into space, you dunce. Help me pick up my stuff!”

Yebin nods obediently and happily complies, her teeth biting down on her lower lip to stop the laughter threatening to spill from her lips.

“Are you, perhaps, laughing at me?” Minkyung accuses, and snorts. “You’re unbelievable.”

And Yebin finally releases a full-fledged guffaw, her shoulders shaking as she hands Minkyung her books.

“What’s so funny?” she says, her tone slightly filled with irritation.

“Nothing,” Yebin fakes a look of innocence, and massages her sore cheekbones.

“You little–“

And Minkyung has Yebin in a headlock, tickling her sides, and forcing her to give her the answer. Yebin only laughs out loud, again, her laughter echoing in the school hallway, her flinging arms flying around and one of them accidentally hits Minkyung’s books, and they drop to the ground for the second time. Minkyung lets out a shriek, but instead of picking up her books, she tightens the headlock, increases the frequency of the tickles, and Yebin laughs louder, harder, oblivious to the judgmental looks other students are throwing at them; because with Minkyung, everything else becomes irrelevant.

//

“Yebin’s gone.”

“What?” Nayoung’s voice cracks as she exclaims, “What do you mean she’s gone?”

“I-I don’t know!” Eunwoo babbles, her voice trembling in fear and worry, her fingers threading through her hair in nervousness and frustration. “By the time we woke up, she’s already gone. No one saw her leave.”

Nayoung pushes past her with a hint of irritation in her actions, treading towards the rest of the girls as she rummages their backpack for another weapon. She retrieves the machete, and gestures towards Siyeon.

“Take the baseball bat and come with me.”

Just then, she feels a hand tugging at her sleeve. “Can I go with you too?” Jieqiong quavers, the corner of her eyes dipping down as forms a pout. She’s too precious, and Nayoung needs to protect her.

“No, you’re staying here,” Nayoung solemnly peels her hands away, trailing after Siyeon.

They trace back their previous footsteps, stepping on the already flattened patches of grass. The scorching sun burns into their skin, coating their necks and backs with sweat. The path is considerably easy, a straight road back to the cottage house, now decorated with broken glass windows and torn and tattered doors. It stares back at them, and the half-drawn shades of the windows reminds Nayoung of watchful eyes, as if the house is looking down upon them, with eyes that are looming, waiting, and watching.

“Stop,” Nayoung says when Siyeon proceeds to take a step further, grabbing her by the wrist. “You’re not planning to go in, right?”

The younger girl barely bats an eye, staring straight at Nayoung; cold and unfeeling it sends a chill down her spine. “What if Yebin’s inside?”

“No,” Nayoung stops her again, her heart pounding with an unknown and never-felt-before fear. “We can’t go in, there’s–“

“Then I’ll go in alone,” she simply says, this time taking off before Nayoung can even attempt to stop her, and the older girl can only stare after her in horror. She looks away when she sees Siyeon disappearing into the house, trying to think of other places that Yebin could be at instead. The wait feels petrifying, as her hand constantly tightens around the machete, readying herself for any fight that could come. Just when she’s starting to feel extra uneasy, Siyeon reappears, unscathed and clean.

“Not here,” she says when she walks past Nayoung, “Maybe somewhere near the stream.”

Nayoung swallows a lump in , before her tremulous legs move on autopilot, striding behind Siyeon.

“Did you see…” Her voice trails off, and she wonders if questions are meant to be answered if the expected answer is undesirable.

“What?” Siyeon simply retorts, and Nayoung shrinks away, too afraid to continue.

“Nothing,” she averts the other girl’s gaze, walking ahead of her. She doesn’t know her, doesn’t know who this Siyeon is anymore.

The silence is deafening as they continue their search for hours, noticing that the sun is setting and that it’ll soon be too difficult to find their way back in the dark. Nayoung doesn’t say anything, though, because finding Yebin, to her, is of utmost priority.

“We should head back,” Siyeon says before she does.

“But Yebin–“

“We need to save ourselves before we can even save Yebin,” Siyeon says, her tone a little harsher than necessary, and Nayoung resists the urge to raise her voice at her and reprimand her, a thing she used to do back then when they were younger, when Siyeon was constantly temperamental. The silent that follows simply mean consent to Siyeon, so she takes the lead back to the gas station, and Nayoung can only follow suit.

The journey back feels longer than when they set off.

//

When they return late afternoon, Nayoung is greeted with a bone-crushing hug from Jieqiong. She spends a few seconds melting into the hug, before she peers to look behind Jieqiong, and her eyes widen in shock, surprise, and relief.

She gently presses a kiss to Jieqiong’s forehead, ignoring the whine from her when she breaks the hug first. Then, with slow but steady footsteps, she makes her way towards Yebin, who’s cradled in Eunwoo’s arms.

“I’m sorry!” the younger girl wails, sinking deeper into Eunwoo’s arms, who only wraps her tighter, “I’m sorry, Nayoung, I’m sorry.”

Nayoung sinks to her knees until she’s facing Yebin, and with a gentle , she brushes away the hair from her eyes, resting her palm against the younger girl’s wet and warm cheek. “Hey, look at me.”

And she does, with swollen eyes and quivering lips. Nayoung smiles.

“It’s okay,” she whispers, “As long as you’re alright.”

Yebin detaches herself from Eunwoo before pouncing on Nayoung, soaking the collar of her shirt as she sobs uncontrollably.

“You’re such a baby,” Nayoung comments, her smile still plastered on her face, “Just don’t do things like this anymore, promise?”

Yebin nods fervently against her, and Nayoung continues to her back softly, until the rise and fall of her chest steadies.

“All of you should get some sleep,” she effectively dismisses the other girls, as they listen to her words acquiescently, gathering at one corner to lie on their sides. Nayoung passes Yebin onto Eunwoo, who drags her towards the rest of the girls, patting her head comfortably and putting her hands around her shoulders protectively. Once Nayoung’s made sure that all of the girls are soundly asleep, she makes her way out of the gas station, with half a bottle of water in one hand and the machete in the other.

//

Nayoung parks herself at the far corner of the cafeteria, away from all the prying eyes and fatuous chatters. She thinks it’s built into her DNA – this social ineptitude of hers – but she tries to not let it affect her. Surely, her eyes turn green every single time she sees Eunwoo – her junior – effortlessly striking a conversation with a random stranger, but Nayoung can’t even imagine putting herself in Eunwoo’s shoes. The best she could do is issue a formal statement or instruction as the president of the student council, but whenever she does that, her audiences shy away, intimidated by her priggishness. And when Nayoung tries to speak up and introduce herself in her most amiable tone, she doesn’t know how to start.

“Hey, pres, can we share this seat?”

Nayoung looks up to two unfamiliar faces, both of the girls clutching onto their food trays. She turns around, sees no one, and realizes that they were talking to her.

“Yep, you, pres, can we share this seat with you? Just two of us, no more, no less,” the redhead continues talking, and Nayoung manages an awkward nod.

The thing is, Nayoung hardly even shares her seat with anyone, with Siyeon being the only exception. And whenever the younger girl doesn’t share the same time slot as her for lunch breaks, Nayoung scoots to an end, and scarfs her food down as if she’s famished. That’s definitely not the case, however, because it’s either 1) she has council work to rush, or 2) she just wants to escape this inferno of a cafeteria as soon as possible. Point is; Nayoung doesn’t share seats.

“… Right?”

Nayoung is snapped out of her reverie, and she’s greeted with the sight of the same redhead staring at her. “I’m sorry?” she croaks, her spoon idly playing with her untouched food.

“I was saying,” the redhead starts again, “doesn’t my friend over here,” she gives a rather hard shove to the girl beside her, “look like a popcorn? You know, with her ridiculous blonde hair and all that.”

Laughter erupts from Nayoung’s lips, short but sincere, nothing like the half-hearted ones she forces whenever some others try to talk to her.

“You have such a cheap sense of humor,” the blonde shakes her head, before cupping her hands over , “I’m sorry! I don’t mean–“

“It’s okay,” Nayoung smiles back, feels her cheekbones hurting (she doesn’t smile much), but she kind of likes the way they hurt.

“Forgive Kyungwon Kang, she’s a rude ,” the redhead says, earning a slap from the other girl.

“You’re Kyungwon?” Nayoung her head slightly at the blonde, who nods with a beam. “And you’re…?”

“Minkyung, Kim Minkyung,” the redhead chirps, “And you’re Im Nayoung, president of the student council, right?”

“Yes,” Nayoung responds, and says something implausibly uncharacteristic of her, “But now I kind of want to be Im Nayoung, friend of Kang Kyungwon and Kim Minkyung.”

Kyungwon breaks into fits of giggles, and Minkyung pretends to wipe a touched tear from the corner of her right eye. And they both drop their dramatic acts, but Nayoung still finds herself grinning.

“Can we share the table again tomorrow? We see you a lot during lunch breaks, which means our lunchtimes must be the same, and you know, Kyungwon and I are just so bad at finding seats…”

Nayoung’s grin only grows wider, her heart feeling warmer. “Of course,” she says, and watches as the other two girls share a high five, “Of course.”

And that day onwards, Nayoung learns that even the most random and absurd things can turn out to be the most precious and meaningful things ever.

//

“Nayoung?”

Nayoung hears Yebin’s voice from behind as she hastily wipes her tears, covering up her sniffles as she tries to fake a runny nose. “Yeah?”

“Were you crying?” Yebin sits beside her, and Nayoung knows she can’t deny, so she shrugs.

“Were you thinking about Minkyung and Kyungwon?”

Nayoung almost breaks into tears again, but she holds them in and takes Yebin’s hands. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Why aren’t you keeping watch?” Yebin rests her head on the crook of Nayoung’s neck. She doesn’t reply, letting the silence engulf them.

“You know, I think you’re right,” Yebin says suddenly, causing Nayoung to bend over and look at her, “I found the buses.”

“You found the what?” Nayoung’s voice raises an octave higher.

“The buses,” Yebin drums her fingertips on the older girl’s palm, “And people escaping, surviving, leaving this hellhole.”

“Yebin…” Nayoung starts, but she’s interrupted.

“I’m being serious, Nayoung,” she says, “I left this morning, initially wanted to go back to the cottage house, hoping that a miracle would happen, that Minkyung and Kyungwon would still, you know, be there waiting for us. But halfway I got so scared, and I turned and ran, away from the gas station, away from the cottage house, away from everyone, but then I saw men decked in uniforms, rifles in their arms and knifes in their pockets. And then I saw people, people like us, some getting escorted to rooms – quarantine rooms – some boarding the buses. What Siyeon saw on the Internet is true, there is a way out.”

Nayoung blinks, her dry lips, and frowns at the other girl. “Yebin, you could’ve escaped–“

“And leave all of you here, worrying about me?” she chuckles lightly, “No thanks, I’m not much of an attention seeker anyway.”

Nayoung in a sharp breath, and exhales slowly, and repeats it again and again, until her mind is finally clear.

“Okay, do you know the directions?”

Yebin shakes her head, a sad smile tugging at her lips. “I was just, so scared and so confused, and I didn’t even know if leaving this place is actually any better. I mean, what’s the point of making it out when not all of us are going together? But then, I remembered what you said, and that Minkyung and Kyungwon would want us to survive for them, and I can almost hear Minkyung cursing at me for having stupid thoughts, and–“

Yebin starts to splutter, her words getting tangled as she starts to mumble them, but Nayoung holds her tighter, and assures her that it’s okay.

“It’s not that far,” she finally says, “If we maintain a jogging pace, we should be able to reach there in a couple of hours.”

“Okay,” Nayoung lightly pats Yebin’s hand, “That’s great. You’re so brave, Yebin, and I’m really proud of you, you know that?”

Yebin chuckles, her laughter is lighter and cheerier this time. “No, I don’t.”

Nayoung gives her a playful shove at the shoulder, eliciting more giggles from the other girl.

“Want to hear something?” Nayoung asks as she gazes up at the sky.

“Hm?” Yebin hums back, mirroring her actions.

“Minkyung used to take the same subjects as me, so we had the same lecturer and tutor,” she starts, her eyes b with tears of nostalgia, “And we got the same tests too. But my class was a period before lunch break, while Minkyung’s was the one after. You know what she used to do?”

“What?” Yebin snickers.

“She used to ask me for answers, because the answers were always given out right after the tests. And then she’d go around bragging about her perfect score, until everyone believed she really was the top student of her class.”

“What?” Yebin exclaims, doubling over in laughter, “That’s hypocritical!”

And Nayoung laughs at a laughing Yebin. “Oh, Minkyung would surely smack you if she heard that–“

“And Kyungwon would run after her to stop her from smacking me–“

“And Minkyung would hit Kyungwon instead–“

“And Kyungwon would–“

Their chattering comes to a sudden halt, with both of them realizing that none of all that makes sense, because there is no would, or could, for both Minkyung and Kyungwon. But as they stare at each other with eyes that convey things that even words cannot, they realize that none of all that matters anyway, because Minkyung and Kyungwon are still here, forever and always.

“And Kyungwon would hit her back,” Yebin completes her statement, and feels a lone teardrop trickling down her cheeks.

Nayoung smiles, nods, and swipes her thumb across Yebin’s face, erasing the traces of the teardrop. “Kyungwon would definitely hit her back.”

That night, Yebin stops regretting, stops wishing for her own death. That night, Nayoung stops blaming herself, stops wishing to rewind time. That night, the stars in the sky are twinkling and sparkling much brighter than before, the pin-pricks of light showering the dark canvas of the night sky, and if Yebin and Nayoung were to squint closely, the little stars almost resemble the crinkle of eyes, as if up there, someone, or two someones, are smiling down at them, their eyes shimmering and their smiles lingering.

//~//

A/N: I hope the flashbacks weren’t too confusing… Just to clarify, the first one with Yebin and Minkyung is their latest one, which means they’re past the strangers stage. While for Nayoung, it’s her first meeting with Minkyung and Kyungwon. Was this a weak chapter? Hopefully the small interactions made up for it… Also, I believe that we’ve made it past the half mark of this story. Thank you to those who’ve been reading + commenting all this time, and hope that all of you will stick with me till the end! (: