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Turns out, under pressure, Mina has no control over her shapeshifting abilities whatsoever. Not even Akari’s coaching could get her out of the predicament she was in, much to her despair, and so Akari left Mina’s room around 10PM that night being unsuccessful.

Mina laid on her bed on her stomach, face pressed against her mattress, groaning. Akari had told her it was all in her head—this mental block—stopping her from shifting again, but Mina was convinced the universe was hellbent on embarrassing her.

She wanted so badly to visit Chaeyoung and thank her again for bringing her dinner. Could she face Chaeyoung looking like this though? Could she even bare to cross the hallway to the younger girl’s room? Mina was determined to stay hidden and locked away until she looked like herself again, but what if she was stuck like this for another day? Another week? Another month? Another year? What if she was stuck like this forever?!?!

At that dreadful thought, Mina sat up and shushed her nagging brain. She decided she’d visit Chaeyoung. A quick knock on the door, and she’d ask Chaeyoung to come back to her room. She didn’t want to face Chaeyoung’s roommates like this. She was sure Dahyun would never let her live it down.

And so, like lightning, Mina raced out her door and knocked three times on Chaeyoung’s door, praying that the short girl herself would be the one to answer it. It turns out Mina was in luck, because it was Chaeyoung’s face who she saw gingerly poke out from inside the room. (It wasn’t luck really, it was Chaeyoung sitting on the edge of her bed waiting anxiously to see if Mina would visit her after her session with Akari, and the girl practically jumped when she heard a knock on the door).

“You’re still…” Chaeyoung replied, looking at Mina with wide eyes.

“Yeah,” Mina said quietly, avoiding eye contact all together. “Would you like to come back to my room so we can talk there?”

Chaeyoung nodded, turning back around to tell her roommates where she was headed, before she followed Mina back into the hallway, across the way to her bedroom.

“So you can’t change back?” Chaeyoung began, looking at Mina with a hint of shyness, as if she weren’t supposed to be looking at Mina at all.

Mina shook her head sadly. “I tried so hard...but nothing happens. Akari says it’s normal, and that I’ll shift back when I shift back. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later.” Mina looked absolutely humiliated, and she was hiding behind her hair again, only this time there was more hair for her to hide behind. “But I wanted to thank you for bringing me dinner earlier. That was very thoughtful for you.”

“It was nothing,” Chaeyoung smiled. “I figured you’d be hungry.”

“I was starving,” Mina confessed. “And there was no way I’d leave my room looking like…you know.”

“You can’t hide away in here forever,” Chaeyoung replied. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed. Everyone knows you just got this new power, and no one was in control of their powers when they first developed. Do you know what I did when I first got mine? I accidentally squirted a tube of paint all over myself and some of my classmates during my art class in elementary school. I’m talking green in my hair that wouldn’t come out for days.”

Mina smiled slightly at that, imagining a little Chaeyoung in art class, but it quickly faded as she grew self conscious once again. “I know...but it’s still embarrassing. I’m horrified I’ll run into Nayeon. She’ll really never let me live this one down.”

Chaeyoung knew Mina was right, but she’d fight Nayeon if the older girl tried to pick on Mina. “Don’t worry, I have loads of embarrassing stories to blackmail Nayeon with if she tries anything at all.”

Mina didn’t doubt that. Nayeon was quite gifted at embarrassing herself in any given situation but still managing to think she was the coolest girl in the room.

“Earlier today I accidentally shifted into Momo without knowing it,” Mina confessed. “Nayeon saw me and thought I was actually her at first,” Mina’s voice trailed off as she thought about that awkward encounter: Nayeon practically sitting on her lap and kissing her cheek. Mina's cheeks began to flame, just thinking about it. “It was horrifying.”

Chaeyoung could imagine that encounter and couldn’t help but smile. “I bet she got a kick out of that. So she found out it was you, right? And that’s why she told me you were sick?”

Mina nodded. “I’m glad she didn’t tell anyone else.” In fact, it was actually a blessing that her entire group of friends hadn’t found out about her predicament already. But maybe Nayeon was a bit embarrassed too, and slightly grossed out that she’d kissed someone who wasn’t her girlfriend on accident.

“Well, your secret is safe with me as well,” Chaeyoung assured.

“Thank you,” Mina whispered, and smiled a slight, closed-mouth smile at Chaeyoung.

“So you were thinking about Momo, hm?” Chaeyoung teased slightly, causing Mina to hold up a hand and wave it dismissively.

“I was just admiring her and Nayeon together...they make such a cute couple, don’t they?” Mina asked, anticipating Chaeyoung’s reaction.

“They do,” Chaeyoung agreed. “They’ve been so cute with each other for as long as I can remember. I’m happy Momo finally asked Nayeon out.”

Mina smiled at that. “It must have taken a lot of courage but it was definitely worth it.” Her and Chaeyoung fell into a comfortable silence. Mina wanted so badly to kiss Chaeyoung—thank goodness her chip was firmly in place behind her ear, blocking any unwanted hypnosis—but she stayed frozen. You look like Nayeon, Mina reminded herself. Not a good time. So, Mina simply allowed herself to gaze at Chaeyoung’s lips while the younger girl looked down at her shoes.

“When you shift, do you feel any different?” Chaeyoung asked, ungluing her eyes from the floor and turning them to look at Mina.

Mina instantly tore her eyes away, focusing on her desk instead. “No, not at all. I just look different and sound different...but that’s it.”

“So your ego didn’t dramatically increase in size or anything?” Chaeyoung joked, and Mina caught a glimpse of the girl’s snaggletooth that made her look more like a lion cub than an eighteen year old girl.

Mina smiled at that. “I don’t think any superpower can replicate the force of nature that is Nayeon’s ego.” They both laughed.

“Well, it’s late, I should be heading to bed soon.” Chaeyoung got up off of Mina’s bed and turned around to look back at Mina. “Thanks for letting me know how you were doing.”

“Of course,” Mina replied. She stood up too, and moved closer to Chaeyoung. They both moved toward the door together. “Thanks for...everything.”

Chaeyoung turned her head to look at Mina and offered another smile. “Hopefully you’re back to normal before morning, huh?”

“Yeah, I can’t go to classes like this,” Mina said, suddenly looking horrified. Chaeyoung giggled.

“Well, here,” Chaeyoung stood up on her tiptoes and her face suddenly grew closer and closer to Mina’s. Mina gulped and watched in fascination and anticipation as Chaeyoung brought her lips to Mina's cheek. Chaeyoung’s lips were soft and warm, and they only remained pressed for about a second before Chaeyoung pulled away. “Maybe that’ll help you get back to normal. I’d give you more but...you know...that’d be a little awkward under the given circumstances.”

...more? What did Chaeyoung mean by that? Mina’s heart was already about to burst, she wasn’t sure she could possibly withstand anything more than that without collapsing. “T-thanks,” Mina said, feeling her cheeks burn a crimson red.

Chaeyoung smiled up at Mina a bit longer before she opened Mina’s door. “Goodnight!” Chaeyoung stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. Mina remained standing in place for a few more minutes with a gummy smile on her face before she retired to her bed.

The next day rolled around, and Nayeon walked into her 10AM abilities class half awake. She didn’t have to stay up as late as she did the night before, but Momo had come over and the two of them were watching prank videos together, laughing hysterically. Jeongyeon and Jihyo both stayed up late usually, so they didn’t mind the extra noise.

“Where’s Mina?” Jihyo asked, noticing that their friend was nowhere to be seen and class was about to start. Before Nayeon could even answer, she knew her thoughts were betraying her, because Jihyo gave her a weird look but said nothing.

“She must still be sick,” Nayeon explained. “She wasn’t feeling good yesterday…”

“Poor girl,” Jeongyeon mused. “It’s probably the stress of everything that’s happened weighing down on her.”

“Alright everyone,” their professor, Nichkhun, called. “Time to get started.” He motioned for all the students to join him in the center of the room.

As soon as class was over, Nayeon took advantage of her short break before her history class started and hustled over to Mina’s room. She wanted to visit and check up on the girl. Did Mina still look like Momo?

“Mina?” Nayeon asked outside the door. She didn’t hear a response, so she knocked once before ing the door open. She caught Mina, who was awake and wearing headphones, completely off guard. In a flash, the younger girl, who was laying on her bed, threw her comforter up over her body so that was was completely covered. “Mina, are you alright?” Nayeon asked earnestly. Luckily, Nayeon hadn’t gotten a good look at the girl—she’d simply seen a flash of brown hair and assumed that Mina was still sporting Momo’s looks.

“I’m fine,” Mina muttered under the blanket while pulling her earbuds out of her ears. “You can’t just come into people’s rooms like that!”

“I knocked first,” Nayeon stated simply. “And I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I was worried about you, you know. Now come out from there,” Nayeon urged. “You’re being silly.”

Mina shook her head. “No.”

“Mina,” Nayeon warned. “Seriously, come out from there. Why are you hiding?”

“Can you please go?” Mina asked. Her voice was muffled but Nayeon could tell something was up. It didn’t sound like Momo’s at all.

Nayeon crossed her arms and continued to stare at the shape under the covers that was Mina. “Nope, not until you show me you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, believe me,” Mina assured.

“Then why don’t you come out from there, huh?” Nayeon teased. She walked over to the bed, and grabbed the comforter. Mina could feel a slight tug so she gripped the comforter as well and held it down with all her strength.

“Seriously?” Nayeon nagged. She was not about to let Mina win this one. She was determined to be as nosy as possible and she wouldn’t let Mina spoil her fun. She yanked on the comforter hard, and Mina cried out as she was stripped of her barrier and shield, squinting at the exposure to the harsh, bedroom light overhead.

What Nayeon saw made her gasp. As soon as Mina was exposed, the girl quickly hid her face with her arms and hands, but not before Nayeon got a quick look. “No way…” she murmured, staring at Mina in fascination.

“Nayeon, please go,” the younger girl begged, and finally Nayeon figured why Mina's voice sounded so familiar yet so strange. It was the voice Nayeon heard when she was recorded—the version of her voice that sounded different than the one she heard through her own ears when she talked.

“I knew you were hiding something!” Nayeon announced. “First Momo, now me...what’s the big idea Myoui, hmmm?”

“It’s all an accident,” Mina sighed, still covering her face.

“I’m sure,” Nayeon teased. “Wow, just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder.”

“I didn’t want this to happen,” Mina assured. “I just want to be myself again.”

“Move your hands, I can’t hear you,” Nayeon instructed, and Mina did as she was told, keeping her head down.

“Akari couldn’t help you?” Nayeon asked, trying her best not to stare at Mina (but that was impossible...I mean, Nayeon was looking at a copy of herself).

Mina just sadly shook her head.

“I don’t look bad with bangs,” Nayeon noted, and Mina fell back onto her bed and turned away from Nayeon. “What, I’m just saying!” Nayeon cried.

After a few seconds of mopey silence, Nayeon sat down on the edge of Mina’s bed. “I’m sorry,” Nayeon said gently. “You’ll be back to your grouchy self in no time, don’t worry.”

Mina said nothing but sighed and continued to stare at the wall.

“But in the meantime, no funny business with me either. Wait…” Nayeon’s eyes widened. “You haven’t...changed out of your clothes or taken a shower, have you?”

Mina’s body froze up and she felt a weird sound erupt from . “Of course not!” Mina practically yelled. “I’ve been in the same clothes this entire time because I haven’t been myself since yesterday.”

“Phew, good. Or else that would be embarrassing,” Nayeon laughed awkwardly. “Thanks for respecting my privacy. But you know, I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to look…”

Mina was internally screaming at this point and she was so tempted to kick Nayeon off her bed. “Stop it.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Nayeon snickered. It really was too fun to tease Mina. At Mina’s adorable pout—her own adorable pout, actually—Nayeon couldn’t help but smile. “So what are you gonna do, just hide in here until you change back?”

Mina simply nodded.

“What if that takes awhile?”

Mina sighed.

Nayeon did something bold. She laid down next to Mina, on the same, twin bed, and snuggled her face into the back of Mina’s head. She inhaled and discovered that Mina still smelled like herself—a magical, expensive scent that seemed to linger wherever she went. It wasn’t overpowering, but rather a soft, concealed fragrance that you just barely tickled your nose with a pleasant jasmine smell.

Mina scooched her body away from Nayeon so that she was pressed against the wall. In return, Nayeon scooched over and continued to snuggle into her.

“What are you doing?” Mina asked. She sounded too tired to put up a big fuss.

“Trying to make you feel better,” Nayeon replied. “Is it working?”

“No.”

Nayeon simply smiled at Mina’s moodiness. “You know, anyone else would probably be taking advantage of your power. I know I would. I’d mess around with everyone.”

She’d love to pick on Dahyun especially. Tzuyu too, it’d be fun to get a reaction out of her. Nayeon prided herself on being good at mimicking her friends, so she could surely get away with a lot of things.

“Well, I’d never do that,” Mina stated.

“Oh c’mon, you don’t think it’d be fun to trick Dahyun into thinking you were Sana to get her all flustered? I’d probably do the same with you and Chaeyoung…” Nayeon smiled mischievously.

Mina groaned. Nayeon was infuriating. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she whined.

“It’d be funny to see Chaeyoung’s face if you actually made a move for once. She’d be taken so off guard.”

Mina stayed silent. Nayeon had backed her into a literal corner. She’d never been more embarrassed in her life.

“That’s right, everyone knows you like Chaeng,” Nayeon whispered. “Seriously Myoui, if your puppy dog glances weren’t enough, your adoring comments are the biggest red flag I’ve ever seen. You might as well be carrying a sign around 24/7 that says: 'Mina loves Chaeyoung' on it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mina murmured, but she knew any resistance was futile.

“I see right through you,” Nayeon stated levelly. “And I have good reason to believe Chaeng likes you too. So one of you better do something about it before I pull my hair out.”

Mina sighed. “I’m not good at this sort of thing.”

“You just gotta go for it. Don’t think about it.”

“Easier said than done,” Mina sighed again, sounding defeated.

“Well, I’m rooting for you. We all are,” Nayeon assured. She stealthy moved her hand up until she began running her fingers through Mina’s hair. “So soft, just like Momo’s,” Nayeon mused.

Mina would’ve smacked her hand away if it didn’t feel so relaxing. In fact, she hated to admit it, but Nayeon was giving her a strange sense of comfort during such a weird time. She let her body relax and closed her eyes, letting Nayeon play with her hair, until she drifted off to sleep.

Nayeon kept running her hands through Mina’s hair like she did for Momo sometimes, until Mina’s body shook slightly and before Nayeon’s eyes, Mina’s light brown hair began to shorten and grow darker. Nayeon retracted her hand, watching with wide and frightened eyes as the girl before her changed. Nayeon sat up slowly and leaned forward to get a look at Mina’s face, which was still turned away from her. Sure enough, Mina was back to normal.

Mina looked incredibly peaceful, sleeping away. The sight was so endearing, Nayeon felt her chest tighten up. Whenever Nayeon saw Mina, she normally looked troubled or sad. It was a nice sight to see her looking relaxed. Satisfied, Nayeon stealthily slid off Mina’s bed and pulled the covers up over the girl so she could stay nice and warm. Then, Nayeon crept toward the door and opened it slowly…

...to reveal a surprised looking Akari with her hand raised, as if she were about to knock on Mina’s door.

“Oh, you finally got her hair right,” Akari said, giving Nayeon a small and awkward smile. Akari lowered her hand and stepped back slightly.

It took Nayeon a few seconds before she realized Akari thought she was Mina. There’d be no way Akari would smile at her like this. They might have been on better terms now that Akari helped save Tzuyu, but Nayeon still didn’t trust the girl. She probably never would.

There was a brief pause as Nayeon shut the door gently behind her. She looked back at Akari and made her decision. “Yeah, but I’m still stuck,” she mused. She pouted the way she’d seen Mina pout earlier. She could already see Akari soften up before her eyes.

“Well, I just wanted to check up on you to see how you were doing,” Akari replied.

“Thanks, but you can stop following me around like a lost puppy, you know,” Nayeon said.

Akari’s eyes practically bugged out of her head at hearing this attitude from “Mina.”

“It’s getting a little annoying and to be honest...it’s kind of creepy.”

Akari felt her jaw slack, and her tongue felt weighed down and heavy. It was as if Mina had slapped her in the face.

“Your little crush just isn’t cute anymore. Actually, it never was.” Nayeon took a step away from Akari, further down the hallway. “It’s never gonna happen between us, okay? You nearly killed my friends. How could I ever like a m u r d e r e r?” Nayeon drew out the last word, letting it hang in the air longer than it should have. It felt all the more powerful that way. At seeing Akari’s absolutely broken expression, Nayeon smiled smugly to herself.

“Besides, I like Chaeyoung. So you should just save yourself the strife and find someone else to pine after.” With that, Nayeon spun around and began walking away. For effect, she decided to knock on Chaeyoung’s door. Nayeon walked confidently away, though she felt a pit growing in her stomach. This is for Mina’s own good, she reminded herself. The sooner Akari left JYP’s School, the safer everyone would be. Nayeon knew the only thing keeping Akari here was Mina, so the sooner that connection was severed, the better.

Akari could only stand in the hallway numbly, watching “Mina” walk away. Nayeon knocked loudly on the School Meal Club’s door. Dahyun answered, and Nayeon simply pushed past her to get inside.

Akari wanted to destroy something. Absolutely decimate it. She considered punching a wall. She moved in circles, feeling dizzy and out of place. The walls were moving toward her, boxing her in like the room Mina had left her in months ago. Scared and alone...she thought she was going to die there. But as soon as more people arrived, when she was on the verge of dying from dehydration, she tore her way out of the building the first opening she got. She was savage. She was brutal. She left a wake of blood behind her. But she escaped. She survived.

She would survive this, too.

Jihyo knocked on Tzuyu’s door a minute after she said she would. Tzuyu, waiting anxiously with her shoes and jacket on, quickly sprung up to open it. “Have fun!” Dahyun called to Tzuyu, smiling from ear to ear with that blinding smile of hers until Tzuyu simply nodded and closed the door behind her.

Jihyo was wearing a long, plaid trench coat with large buttons going down the middle. Her face was partially hidden by a wide, black scarf that wrapped around her head several times. She was cute. Adorable, actually. Tzuyu didn’t even have to see the bottom half of her face to know that she was smiling. Her eyes reflected that much.

Her eyes. Jihyo’s very unique blue eye was gone. Instead, two brown ones stared back warmly at Tzuyu. The sight was shocking at first, even though Jihyo had told her yesterday that she’d be wearing a colored contact lens. It almost made Jihyo look like a different person entirely. Tearing her gaze away from Jihyo’s eyes, Tzuyu resumed looking down at Jihyo’s coat.

“How do I look?” Jihyo asked, batting her eyes at Tzuyu a few times for effect.

Tzuyu remained silent for a moment, looking down at Jihyo with a very slight smile on her face. She opened to say something…

“Like a normal human, right?” Jihyo injected.

Tzuyu closed and nodded thoughtfully. She suddenly regretted wearing her more fashionable fall coat that’d probably do nothing to keep her warm. She tightened her grip on her small purpose anxiously.

“You ready?” Jihyo asked, voice slightly muffled.

Tzuyu nodded and followed Jihyo, who began walking toward the front of the school, toward the gate where the assortment of vehicles were kept for strictly school use. It was nice that Jihyo could drive (driving was actually a required course after a student turned 20 years old, JYP thought learning to drive was important). She slipped into the driver’s seat of a sleek looking black car, while Tzuyu got into the passenger side. The garage door opened and Jihyo slowly pulled the car out, giving the guards at the gate a wave as they left the school grounds.

Tzuyu watched with wide eyes as they began to drive down the long road which led up to the school. It was a long and windy path, and Tzuyu took in the bare trees and muted colors of the snowless winter ground. “It’s so nice to be out of there...on my own accord. Staying there for so long can be…”

“Suffocating?” Jihyo guessed. She’d pulled her scarf down so that it was no longer covering her face because she blasted the heat in the car until the windows all fogged up slightly.

“Yeah,” Tzuyu responded. “So thanks for this.”

“Of course!” Jihyo answered cheerfully, smiling at Tzuyu warmly. “I’ve been wanting to get off the campus too. We’re gonna have so much fun! I have some ideas for us to do but we can feel it out when we get there! We can do whatever you want! There’s a movie theater, a dessert shop, a good selection of restaurants...we can buy you a nice and heavy winter jacket!”

Tzuyu looked down at her thin, fall jacket and nodded. “I looked up a movie for us to see. It’s called Left Behind. It’s a mystery thriller but it looks promising. There’s a showing in a few hours.”

“Perfect!” Jihyo cheered. She cranked up the radio slightly as a Taeyeon song came on and hummed along to herself. “Let’s grab dinner before hand then, and we can check out a few shops too!”

Jihyo was a surprisingly aggressive driver. She gave Tzuyu a few apologetic looks as traffic became heavier and she had to slam on the breaks. She even stuck out her right arm and held it out in front of Tzuyu in an attempt to buffer the consequences of an abrupt stop. “Sorry, I don’t drive a lot,” she smiled with a hint of embarrassment.

Tzuyu was excited to learn how to drive, but she couldn’t help but feel slightly worried by the other people on the road. They were often reckless.

After about a half an hour drive, they made it to a surprisingly large mall with a parking lot that wrapped around it. Jihyo found a parking spot outside of the movie theater. After wrapping up her face in her scarf again, Jihyo opened her door and ventured out into the cold. Tzuyu followed with chattering teeth. They hurried inside the mall, practically running.

But before they made it inside, Tzuyu stopped and yelled: “Jihyo?”

Jihyo slowed her fast walk down and spun around to face the younger girl.

They were standing a few feet apart on the sidewalk right outside the entrance of the movie theater. Had it been snowing, it might have looked like a scene directly out of a kdrama.

“You look really nice,” Tzuyu replied, with her hands jammed into her pockets and her lips pressed together. “But I think you look even prettier with your two different colored eyes. It suits you well.”

Tzuyu only gave Jihyo a second to digest that compliment before she continued walking toward the door, brushing past Jihyo playfully. Jihyo was reminded of how cold it was outside once again—in that brief moment the unpleasantness of that had faded away—but now it was back. Jihyo rushed forward to keep up with Tzuyu’s long steps. Secretly, she was beaming.

“Ah, it’s so nice and warm in here,” Jihyo sighed happily once they made it far away from the exit. The place was bustling with normal weekend activity. Not once did anyone give either Jihyo or Tzuyu a second glance, and it felt nice.

“Let’s walk around and find a restaurant! What are you in the mood for?”

“Anything really,” Tzuyu said. The two girls walked closely down the large mall corridor, with their arms brushing slightly.

Once they’d walked about five minutes away from the theater, they stopped at a cute, sit-down ramen bar. “How about here?” Jihyo asked, only because she noticed Tzuyu’s eyes light up slightly when she saw the menu displayed in the window. Tzuyu nodded eagerly and Jihyo grabbed Tzuyu’s hand, which was cold to the touch, and pulled her inside.

They were seated at a bar like area, just chatting about little things, as they looked at the menu and pondered what they’d order. A man seated next to Jihyo—a middle-aged man with thick glasses and a generally unpleasant look about him—was muttering something loudly to the man on seated on his other side. This man was clearly younger, but had the same, worn look about him. Perhaps they were coworkers.

“It’s just insanity that nothing’s being done,” the older man was saying—voice rising with his alcohol intake. “We’re just sitting here and letting them take over. They’re infiltrating our government. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if ten percent of all of our representatives weren’t human.”

The younger man looked like he disagreed slightly, but didn’t dare say a word to confirm this.

“Anyone in here could be a monster and we wouldn’t know it!” The man began pointing his finger at everyone nearby, slightly slurring his words together.

Tzuyu and Jihyo looked up in alarm at the man. Tzuyu’s brow was furrowed while Jihyo’s eyes were slightly big. She leaned closer to Tzuyu, trying to put some distance between her and the loud man.

“We need to start arming ourselves...testing them to see their weaknesses…” the man mumbled. “If the Mutant Registration Act doesn’t get revised and readdressed, we’re fools.”

“They’re still people, they have rights,” the younger man beside him adjusted his glasses and said quietly. “Registration has never led to anything good in history.”

“You’re sympathetic toward their cause, huh?” the older man moved much too close to the other’s face. “You’re not one of them, are you?”

Tzuyu began to grip Jihyo’s arm hard. Jihyo turned to looked at the younger girl, who appeared to be trying her best to hold back. Jihyo shook her head, hoping her eyes expressed the importance of Tzuyu keeping shut. This was not a fight worth fighting—not in a very public place.

“No,” the man denied. “Just a man with some compassion.”

“Compassion will only get you killed!” the older man cried. “I’m glad at least some people have the guts to do what’s right while their government sits back and does nothing.”

“The HCA are terrorists that murder innocent people. Children, even.” The words came out quickly. Jihyo looked at Tzuyu with wide eyes before she realized they’d actually come from her own mouth. She’d spoken without thinking. Now, the man sitting next to her was glaring at her with a sneer, as if sizing her up. “Sir,” she quickly added on the end, hoping that some form of respect might stop him from losing his temper.

“Didn’t you hear what happened recently at that school for freaks? Over 10 people were murdered. Last I checked, no mutants were harmed,” he challenged.

Jihyo set her jaw and stared the man down. “They invaded the school—they broke in with guns and—-“

Tzuyu tightened her grip on Jihyo’s arm. “Jihyo,” she whispered in warning. “Stop. It isn’t worth it.”

“How dare you speak to me like that?” the man snapped. “Kids these days have no sense of respect.” He raised his hand, as if he were about to strike Jihyo, and Tzuyu pulled the girl back instinctively, out of his reach.

Tzuyu stood up quickly and pulled Jihyo up with her. “Come on, let’s go,” she whispered.

“Is there a problem here?” a middle aged woman approached Jihyo and Tzuyu, looking back and forth between them and the loud-mouth drunk. She was the manager, presumably.

“My coworker has had a bit too much to drink, I apologize,” the younger man said, bowing his head slightly.

“I’m just speaking the truth,” the older man declared. “You’re all fools if you can’t see that.”

“Disruption in this restaurant won’t be tolerated,” the woman replied.

“It’s alright, we were just leaving,” Jihyo said. She took Tzuyu’s hand in her own and began pulling Tzuyu toward the door.

“Filthy mutants,” the guy spat out as they left.

It took every ounce of self control Tzuyu had to not turn around and clock the guy. But she was reminded that she was just a normal girl. Without her super strength, she could get seriously hurt.

“Let’s try another restaurant...how about some kimchi stew?” Jihyo suggested.

Tzuyu was seething, but she remained silent next to Jihyo and let herself be dragged by her, away from the the jerk’s disgusted stare.

Sana and Dahyun were sitting side by side in the library. Dahyun was hard at work on her laptop, staring at her screen with her eyebrows drawn together. Meanwhile, Sana was supposed to be working on an essay but she kept getting distracted. It wasn’t her fault that Dahyun was just so….well...beautiful. Every minute or so, Sana couldn’t help but tear her gaze away from her textbook to look up at Dahyun. She traced her side profile with her eyes, taking in every detail, while biting her tongue without even noticing.

“Your staring is distracting,” Dahyun stated without even taking her eyes off of her computer screen.

“How can you even see me?” Sana asked—pouting and shrugging her shoulders up and down. “Aren’t you focused on…” Sana’s voice trailed off as she leaned against Dahyun’s side and peeked at the younger girl’s computer screen. “Human genetics?”

Dahyun finally tore her eyes away from the screen and looked at Sana seriously. “This isn’t school work. This is for Tzuyu.”

“You’re trying to find a way to get her powers back?” Sana asked. She stared at Dahyun intently.

“Yeah, but so far nothing I’m finding is useful.” Dahyun sighed and fell back against her chair.

Sana put her hands on Dahyun’s cheeks and turned the girl’s head toward her. “That’s so thoughtful of you.” She looked at Dahyun as if she was the only thing that mattered, and it made Dahyun’s heart do somersaults. “But this is complicated stuff. Finding answers, if there even are any, won’t be easy.”

Dahyun sighed again and stared back at Sana’s serious and slightly worried expression. Finally, Sana dropped her hands and set them back in her lap. “I just don’t understand how they could isolate the gene that made Tzuyu different and alter it. That shouldn’t be possible...you can’t just rewrite pre-existing genes…”

“You’d be surprised what people are capable of these days,” Sana replied. “No doubt they had very advanced technology and very bright minds working on some way to do it.”

“I just want to help,” Dahyun said defeatedly. “Every time I see Tzuyu she looks so sad. I want to make her smile again.”

Sana wrapped her arms around Dahyun and rested her chin on Dahyun’s shoulder. Slightly embarrassed and startled by their closeness, Dahyun made a strange face. “She’ll be happy again, it’ll just take time.” Their faces were only inches apart, so Dahyun turned to face her computer screen again and Sana whined a little.

“Dahyun?” she asked. At the sound of her name asked as a question, from Sana's lips, Dahyun was brought back to the time when Sana had been saying the same thing with a knife protruding from her chest. Dahyun winced at the image and quickly willed it to go away.

“Hm?” Dahyun didn’t dare turn back to look at Sana.

“You like me, right?”

Dahyun’s body froze up. She inhaled slowly. “Nah. You’re crazy.”

Sana whined cutely again and this time shook Dahyun in her arms.

“Yes, of course I like you, silly,” Dahyun assured.

“I see how you look at me sometimes when you think no one is watching. But I can see you, out of the corner of my eye. And it always makes me smile to myself.” Sana’s voice was a whisper. So close to Dahyun’s ear, it sent chills down the brunette’s spine. “I like that you’re watching because I like you, too.”

There was a brief moment of silence and Dahyun was still enough to feel the pulsing of her heart. For awhile now, she’d been crushing on Sana—admiring her bright and cute personality, and above everything else, the way she saw the world. Despite how Sana appeared to be an airhead sometimes, with her tripping over her own feet and pointing out the obvious, there was an actual earnest intelligence behind her pleasant smile. Dahyun noticed in the way she sometimes carefully crafted her words, or noticed small details that would go over the other girls’ heads.

Now, this girl whom Chaeyoung and Tzuyu had been teasing her about just a few months ago, was hugging her and practically confessing. I mean, that’s what she was doing, wasn’t it? Was Dahyun reading into things too much? Was Sana just being flirty by nature without even realizing it?

“Sana,” Dahyun sighed. “Do you...really mean that?”

Sana simply nodded and kept up her intense stare. “I’m serious.”

“As more than a friend?”

Sana nodded again. At Dahyun’s shy and slightly startled expression, she began to lean her head in slowly toward Dahyun’s lips with her eyes fluttering shut.

Dahyun started to lean in, when suddenly she gasped and leaned forward in her chair, throwing Sana off balance. “That’s it!” she cried, as Sana yelled at the same time.

“Say what you said again about technology!” Dahyun cried out. Her face was suddenly determined and happy.

“T-technology? I don’t even remember what I was saying…”

“You said the HCA has advanced technology and the brightest minds!” Dahyun bounced slightly in her seat and she looked at Sana expectantly, as if she should be understanding what any of this outburst meant.

“I know how we might be able to get Tzuyu’s powers back!” Dahyun announced. “But it’s going to involve danger...and sort of...kind of...kidnapping a scientist.”

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Hey guys! Here's another update. What do you think Dahyun's plans are? And how about Akari...how do you think she's going to handle that rejection from "Mina." Was Nayeon right to do that?