The night was young and Yuha was busy munching with the hamburger in her hand. She was eating it while walking. Food would always be Yuha’s happiness. She was about to eat her second hamburger when she saw a red liquid on the floor.

She followed the line and it leads her to a dark alley, she saw a body lying on the ground and it was looking at her. She was asking for Yuha’s help but she was frozen on the ground, another girl was on her neck and all of a sudden looked at Yuha.

“Help” the girl on the floor said. Yuha couldn’t move. She saw Ye-Eun’s eyes and lips were red. Ye-Eun looked at Yuha, laughed and buried her fangs again to the girl on the ground.

“NO!!!!” Yuha screamed.

“What? What? Fight me, fight me!” Eunwoo said startled by the sudden scream. Yuha woke up and tried to sit-up, Kyulkyung went to her and assisted her in doing so. Yuha’s head was hurting from the sudden scream and her nightmare.

Kyulkyung wrapped her arms around Yuha and tried to calm the gasping Yuha. She caressed her hair and rested her head on her chest. Kyulkyung could hear a subtle sobs from the older girl.

“It’s okay, it’s just a dream” she hushed trying to calm Yuha. The blonde girl broke the hug and stared at Kyulkyung. She also saw Eunwoo across the seat. She looked around and realized where she was. She then remember the girl that was with her.

“Where is? Is she alright?” she panicked. She was about to leave her bed but Kyulkyung stopped her from doing so.

“She is okay” Eunwoo said.

“I want to see her.”

“No, not right now. Take a rest first” Kyulkyung was trying to put Yuha on the bed but she was protesting. She glared at her and in that instant Yuha couldn’t protest anymore.  She asked her to sleep again which Yuha complied.

“Is she alright?” Eunwoo asked Kyulkyung.

“The doctor said, she lost a lot of blood but she is stable.” The youngest among the 98 liner replied.

Kyulkyung stared at the sleeping Yuha. She felt that her heart strings were being pulled. Yuha’s beautiful blonde locks were covered by the white bandage. Her red lips were also bruised. She felt that it was her fault. She felt that Yuha would not be in this situation if it not because of their fight. 

Yuha was still sleeping when the rest of them arrived at the hospital. Nayoung asked Kyulkyung and Eunwoo about Yuha’s condition. She thanked the gods for making Yuha safe. She knew that Yuha was strong and super kind. She would always think of others before her. All 9 of them still didn’t know what had happened to Yuha. They wanted to ask but the tall blonde girl was still asleep.

“What do you think happened to Yuha unnie?” Kyla asked.

“When they found her, they said that there were 3 of them, they said that the other girl is a stregoi” Rena responded.

“Who was the other girl with them?” Sungyeon asked.

“A No-Maj” Roa replied.

“This incident must be erased from her memory” Xiyeon said.

“Yes, the Ministry will do that after they get the info that they need” Roa responded.

“No” they heard a low groan from behind. They saw Yuha trying to sit-up and Rena assisted her in doing so.

“They shouldn’t, where is she?” Yuha asked. She was clearly still hurt, she put her hand on her head as she felt a sudden dizziness.

“She’s with the Ministry, she’s fine unnie you should not be worried” Yehana said in full concerned voice. Yehana hugged Yuha which the older girl returned with a hug too.

“Unnie is okay, I just need to ask her something” she said while patting Yehana’s head.

The 9 of them tried to ask Yuha on what happened which she obliged. She told them the whole story and while Yuha was doing so, Nayoung was already drowned with her thoughts. As the keeper of the prism, she’s kind of worried if the stregois were out to spread evil in their city or just a stregoi out to hunt for food.

Roa noticed this. She held Nayoung’s hand and squeezed it. Nayoung looked at her and Roa was smiling brightly. It was like an assurance that Roa would never ever leave her beside, an assurance that everything will be alright.

“But who saved me though? All I remember was a beaming light towards us?” Yuha wondered. The light was blinding that she couldn’t see who that was. She thought it was Eunwoo but she was surprised upon hearing the answer.

“It was the Minister of Light, Jea.” Xiyeon responded. Yuha was surprised as to why a minister was out during that time. Xiyeon explained that they do rounds in the city sometimes making sure that the whole city was far from harm.

They started to goof around making sure that Yuha would feel comfortable. Eunwoo started to munch on the oranges that were for Yuha and Xiyeon started to make lemonade. They were all laughing when a knock from the door was heard. Nayoung went to the door and saw a girl with a bouquet of flower on her hand. She introduced herself and Nayoung let her in.

Yuha was surprised to see this guest. She wanted to see her and she did not expect that she would be there in the hospital. They offered her a sear and the girl was pretty shocked to see all of them. She hesitantly said her greetings but seeing Yuha smile somehow gave her the courage.

“I came here to see you. I just want to thank you for saving my life”

“It’s my pleasure, what’s your name?”

“Chaekyung, Yoon Chaekyung” Yuha smiled upon hearing her name. She started to introduced her friends to Chaekyung. Yuha felt that she had known Chaekyung for so long. She didn’t expect that she would feel at ease with her. They talked more and Yuha couldn’t help but being happy. It reminded her of someone from the past. A past that made Yuha stronger and made her hate stregois to the core.

Kyulkyung was just watching them and somehow felt uneasy with Yuha talking to a stranger. She somehow feels jealous as how Yuha was talking to Chaekyung in all smiles. Chaekyung would tuck her hair behind her ear and she knew that this move showed that the stranger was interested in Yuha. She sighed and Eunwoo noticed it. She looked at the grinning Eunwoo, she mouthed “what” but the other girl would just grin at her.

Chaekyung bade them goodbye and thanked Yuha again from saving her life. She hesitantly said something but made everyone flustered when she all of a sudden gave Yuha a peck on the cheeks. She bade her goodbye again and shyly left the room.

Xiyeon and Roa teased the blonde girl by slightly wrestling with her. They started to cheer for Yuha. They kept on teasing her. Everyone seemed to be happy except Kyulkyung who does not understand what she felt when she saw another girl kissing Yuha.

Days had passed and Yuha was released from the hospital. Chaekyung would still visit her and she promised that they would see each other. Yuha couldn’t be thankful enough that she was able to save Chaekyung and making friends with her. Ever since that day she promised herself that no no-maj would die in the hand of stregois.

Meanwhile, Eunwoo needed to see Sungyeon and to ask her for some music sheet. She went to their room only to find no one in there, but that was she thought, Kyla was actually inside their room.

She went inside thinking that no one was inside. It was a usual thing for her, Suengyeon’s music sheets were usually in her study table. Upon entering the room, she was surprised to see the adornments hanged in the room. Dreamcatchers and other magical ornaments where there to design the room. Her curiosity kicked in and started to wonder around. She observed a crystal ball and never expected what happened next.

“Boo!” Eunwoo was so startled that she threw the crystal ball and almost fell. Luckily, Kyla was able to catch her and the crystal ball on her other hand.

“You scared the heck out of me!” she complained. Kyla just laughed at her, she pointed to the music sheets on the study table. Eunwoo gathered them and looked at Kyla. The girl doesn’t talk much. Kyla busied herself with the cards on the floor. Eunwoo saw tarot cards and sort of, find Kyla weird, she just shrugged her elbows and left.

Eunwoo went back to her room and found Kyulkyung and Rena but before she even opened Kyulkyung went outside the room. Eunwoo didn’t mind it so much as she had a story to tell. She sat on her bed facing Rena and the latter knows that she had something to say.

“Hey, don’t you think Kyla is weird?” she asked Rena.

“What made you say so?”

“I don’t know, I just feel like she is weird”

“She seems fine to me”

“Her room was filled with dreamcatchers , crystal balls and she was playing with tarot cards”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Maybe she is a witch” Eunwoo said, that statement made Rena laughs out loud. She couldn’t believe that Eunwoo was saying such stuff.

“Where is Kyulkyung?” Rena shrugged her shoulders while still laughing.

Kyulkyung on the other hand was walking in the school’s garden. She was thinking about what she really feels. She suddenly felt a gushed of foreign emotions in her every time she sees Yuha with Chaekyung. She never felt this way before.

She then saw Yuha and Chaekyung on the other side of the garden. She hides and listened to their conversation. She saw Yuha and Chaekyung laughing and that foreign emotions kicked in again. She wanted to leave but her gut feeling says no.

“I like you” she heard Chaekyung saying that to Yuha. She closed her eyes and wished that the blonde girl would decline her. But fate was playing, the next thing she saw was Chaekyung’s lips were pressed against Yuha.

She felt that tugged in her heart but she doesn’t understand why. She never sees Yuha as a lover nor did Yuha shows liking to her. She was the queen of the school and she had almost everybody under her charm. Both boys and girls would line up for her but she never saw Yuha in that line. Even her friends would be in awe of her beauty but Yuha never showed interest in her. She wondered why Yuha would not go in line with them.

But that what she knew. She never knew that Yuha likes her very much. She never knew that Yuha has feelings for her. She never knew that she was the reason why Yuha could smile again. She never knew that, she left the scene with her heart so heavy. She doesn’t understand why but she was hurt. She ran away.

-0-

“I like you” upon those words leaving Chaekyung’s mouth, she leaned forward and kissed Yuha. The taller girl was so surprised that she was unable to react. The kissed lasted for a few more seconds but Yuha broke it.

She tried to speak but no words would come out from . She tried to come up with a sentence but nothing was coming out. She looked at Chaekyung but she can’t comprehend what to say.

“I…”

“You like someone else” Yuha was again shocked as to what Chaekyung said. She sighed and nodded. Chaekyung smiled and assured her that was okay. Yuha’s eyes were unsure but Chaekyung was assuring her that she understands.