Writer’s Note: Hello guys. Before you read this chapter, I just want to quickly get some things out. PLEASE READ THIS WN. Given what has happened in Kpop in the last few days—I am still trying to come to terms with it since I do not deal with death well, especially the death of young people and of suicides. I just want to give some disclaimers for this chapter. This chapter touches (briefly) on some sensitive topics. So if you are not comfortable with that right now, I would suggest you put this chapter off for a few weeks, or months, or just skip the part with it all together (the last part). I am sorry if you expected something longer concerning Kim Jonghyun, given I’ve commenting on it, but like most of you guys I am still coming to terms with my feelings. However, if you want to talk about him or mental health and suicide, I am all ears. I also suffer from depression, which is why his death has greatly impacted me, so this is something I can relate to you on and understand you on. As always, thank you for reading. And, if you want to give me a Christmas/holiday present, please comment your thoughts on the last three chapters. Thank you and happy Holiday/Merry Christmas.

 

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“I don't know if you belong to someone else. I know that I want you to myself. They might say I ain't for this. Just know that I meant everythin' I said to you for sure.”—Karrueche by Tory Lanez

 

“What are you humming?”

 

Jaejoong startled a dazed Yunho who was distractedly staring in the distance at a group of freshmen playing around, their thick and loud laughter permeating the hot mid—afternoon summer air.

 

“What?” Yunho lit up like departments did during the Fire festival.

 

Jaejoong could not help but stop mid—way from lowering his body to return his friend’s smile.

 

Yunho truly had the best smiles.

 

“The song you were humming.” Jaejoong’s grin was large and playful.

 

“What about it?” Yunho colored.

 

“Butterfly. The name of the song. You like it? It is nice.”

 

The general quickly shook his head. “No!”

 

The light skinned teen leaned over, head low, laughter spilling out of his throat. “It’s okay, Yunho. I like the song, too.”

 

“No.” Yunho’s frown dissipated as soon as it formulated. “I don’t.” He shrugged.

 

“Okay.” Jaejoong tone held disbelief. He grabbed his fork and sent Yunho one last playful smirk.

 

Something hot washed over Yunho’s chest and rapidly trickled down to his abdomen, making him feel awkward. He shifted.

 

“My family love the song. It has been playing in all the radios at home. It is just...stuck in my head. You know?”

 

“Don’t I?” Jaejoong widened his smile to catch the bottom of his lip playfully.

 

Yunho had to wrench his eyes away.

 

He tilted his head back to stare up at the thousands of green leaves of the trees shading them from the harsh sun rays, the large trees formed a makeshift gazebo.

 

Poppi and Sanah loved the song and had the radio on whenever they were home, and the song would play every time, like clockwork. It was as if they had the timing down to magic. The song was being played all over the radio stations. No one could escape from the singer’s smooth vocals as he hammered at their heart with nostalgia and what-ifs and the early memories of beautiful summers, springs, innocence, and first love.

 

Yunho had even found his sister having a small solo concert with the song as the only set while she made her breakfast.

 

Poppi told Yunho the song made him feel nostalgic and got him to reminiscent of years passed and his wife and their ‘love’; Sanah told him it gave her hope for a better future and fueled her with romance.

 

To his ears, the song was average, meeting all the censorship requirements and not stepping out of the drawn boundaries. Basic.

 

“I hate it, though. It is annoying.”

 

“What? Really? I like it.”

 

Yunho grabbed the courage to finally look over at Jaejoong. “You do?”

 

The handsome singer nodded. “It is a nice song. It talks about life.”

 

Yunho snorted against his will. That made Jaejoong frown.

 

“What? You think otherwise?”

 

“Well.” The tanned teen shrugged his broad shoulders. “The lyrics are nothing special.”

 

“Nothing special!” Jaejoong gasped. “That’s the best part of it. You must listen to it again.”

 

“It’s...it’s nothing special. It’s about, you know, first love and all that crap. There are millions of songs of its caliber that plays on the radio all the time.”

 

“Listen to it again,” Jaejoong insisted. “It is much more deeper and meaningful than that.” Complex emotions shaded Jaejoong’s face. His eyes, which were bright and playful a moment ago, were somber.

 

Yunho wondered if he had said something wrong.

 

“Hey, I really did not mean anything by—”

 

The boy stopped him. “It’s okay. I interpreted the lyrics as I saw fit. You might have a different take.”

 

Yunho scowled. This was about more than just the song.

 

“Jaejoong, is something bothering you?”

 

“Huh?” He in his bottom lip again, making Yunho’s gaze flicker there. “I am fine. Everything is fine.” He gave Yunho a quick smile and exclaimed, “I am famished!”

 

That line of conversation was closed.

 

“Right,” Yunho muttered under his breath.

 

Sitting without their bodies touching, they remained in a strained silence Yunho hated as the rest of their friends slowly assembled for lunch.

 

“Hello beautiful boys.” Hyein sang, making her presence known. She dropped next to Jaejoong and smiled at the two males. Juhli who was with her followed suit with a much calmer, normal greeting.

 

“Why the silence?” Keen Hyein demanded, snagging one of Jaejoong’s strawberry. She rewarded the boy with a cute smile.

 

“What silence?” Yunho quickly asked.

 

“We were just talking about Butterfly.”

 

“I love that song!” Juhli exclaimed, she regarded Yunho with twinkling eyes.

 

“Yunho wanted me to sing it for him.”

 

“Right?” Yunho glared at Jaejoong who avoid his gaze, the corner of his lips trembling in amusement.

 

“I know the lyrics.” Hyein informed, smiling at Yunho she offered, “I’ll sing it for you. My version is even better than the original.”

 

Great!

 

Yunho glared more intently at Jaejoong who still refused to catch his eyes.

 

Juhli unconsciously scoffed at her friend’s declaration. Hyein flipped and stared openly at her friend. Juhli lost it and began laughing once their eyes met.

 

Chuckling, the petite young woman lightly slapped the guffawing girl on the arm.

 

“Sorry,” Juhli choked between suppressed barks of laughter.

 

“Not accepted.” Clearing , the doll like young woman looked back at Yunho and lavished him with a prepossessing smile. “Today I will bless your ears.”

 

Yunho could only smile and waited for the girl to begin.

 

The first note seemed to hush everyone. All eyes swung to her.

 

Greatly pleased with the crowd’s amazement, Hyein, with Juhli harmonizing and singing back vocals, gave a spectacular show. She was a good singer. Yunho saw why she was so confident in her skills. Such talent did not need outside reassurance.

 

The boy, however, wished he had gotten the chance to hear Jaejoong sing his own version.

 

Hyein jumped up barefooted when she finished, simpering as if she had just concluded the closing act on the grandest stage in the country, she bowed in all directions, shouting, “Thank you!”

 

 

The group of friends agreed to go eat together at the small family restaurant they frequented after practice.

 

They walked in the tender darkness, the moon high working with the trees to create shadows on the cement road.

 

Yunho walked behind Jaejoong who was in the midst of their lively friends.

 

Something about the singer’s demeanor of late had been bothering him.

 

Since they talked about that song, Butterfly, Jaejoong had been acting bizarrely. Yunho would find the teen staring blankly into the distance, and other times he would let out those loud, laborious sighs that seemed to be weighting his whole existence down. Whenever he would ask him if he was okay, Jaejoong would smile and nodded and lie. It was an obvious lie and it hurt Yunho.

 

The fact that there was something weighting heavy on Jaejoong‘s soul that he could not—refused—to share with him pained him, but he also had to come to terms with the fact that they hardly knew each other and Jaejoong might not feel completely comfortable in sharing the treasures of his soul with him. Even if to Yunho, it felt like a thousand years since he had known the beautiful singer; it was as if their soul had always known each other, but Jaejoong might not feel the same. He might not hold him in the same regard. And he had to accept that.

 

Yunho felt an affinity for the male he had never felt before for anyone of his friends, all of who he adored greatly. The feelings were foreign to him. And, maybe that was why Jaejoong closing him off hurt so much.

 

“Yunho.”

 

Snapping his head up, his eyes landed in Jaejoong’s—the ruler of his thoughts—bottomless, luminous soft brown.

 

“What?”

 

“You’re falling behind.”

 

He was.

 

“Right. Sorry. The night is just so beautiful.”

 

Jaejoong scowled. “You’ve been saying that a lot lately.” Jaejoong slowed down and waited for him to catch up.

 

Yunho quickly looked around for Jaejoong's wardens.

 

Hyein was laughing with a group of guys, and Juhli was being badgered by Changmin and Mino who were making her laugh at the top of her lung while she simultaneously swatted them on the back.

 

Yunho quickened his steps and caught up to Jaejoong. He smiled down at the slightly shorter male who flashed him a quick grin in return.

 

“What make the night beautiful?” Jaejoong was not looking at him but at the night sky as he asked that question.

 

Yunho's eyes trailed over the pale column of Jaejoong’s neck, the jugular bone popping, Adam's apple rapidly moving up and down. Heat sizzled through Yunho. He was dazed for a few seconds. Mind going white.

 

“Hey?”

 

Snapping back to reality, he hurriedly flipped his own eyes to the sky. Lately, it had been feeling dangerous for him to look at his friend.

 

“The moon and stars.”

 

There was a moment of silence.

 

“Nothing spectacular.”

 

Yunho laughed. “I thought you were a poetic soul.”

 

“What led you to believe that?”

 

Yunho shrugged. “You love the lyrics of Butterfly.”

 

Jaejoong’s eyes darkened. Carding his fingers through his hair he sighed. “I just can relate.”

 

“Relate? How so.”

 

“Nothing.”

 

“Ooh? Okay.”

 

Rejection stung.

 

Jaejoong heard the hurt in his voice.

 

He snapped his head up to gaze at Yunho and shook his head. “It’s not like that.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Like…” He lowered his eyelids and stared intensely at the back of his spirited friends and finished in a soft voice, “It talks about growing up. Life. I can relate with that.”

 

“It does?” Yunho did not know what to say to a Jaejoong who sounded so open and vulnerable. He simply wanted to gather him in his arms and squeeze him till he was alright.

 

Alas, that could not happen, because society dictated so.

 

Yunho settled for the next best thing. He bumped his shoulder against Jaejoong’s.

 

The boy took a steadying step. Yunho quickly reached for his arm, fearing he would fall. Jaejoong was okay. He shook Yunho off.

 

“I am sorry. You okay?”

 

“I am fine. I am not that weak!” Jaejoong snapped.

 

His form of consolation backfired.

 

“I didn’t say you were.”

 

The singer shook his head, bit his upper lip and pushed his fringes away with both hands.

 

Why did they feel so removed from their group of effervescent friends? Yunho pondered, gazing at a distressed Jaejoong.

 

“Are you okay?” Yunho carefully asked.

 

“I am…” the frustrated male blew a bubble of hot air.

 

Jaejoong landed his scintillating eyes on Yunho.

 

Fire zigzagged through the general. He dropped his gaze first.

 

“I am just tired.”

 

“Ooh. I see.”

 

The disappointment was too loud. Jaejoong felt the need to add something.

 

The preoccupied male stopped and inhaled before he continued. “I’ve been thinking about life. The future, you know?”

 

Yunho silently nodded.

 

Since his mother and older sister talked about beginning his marriage process, Jaejoong had lost his center. He felt unbalanced. He was sure he wasn’t ready for such a huge step in his life, but he should be, and Yunho being the person who consumed all of his mind and made him feel as he did make the whole experience worst. He kept on committing crime after crime against himself and his country.

 

“I... Yunho, have you ever thought about...the future? Children? Marriage?”

 

Lately, a lot.

 

The sporty teen nodded. “Sure, sometimes. You?”

 

Jaejoong shrugged. “Not until now.”

 

Something heavy and uncomfortable sat on Yunho’s chest and clunk in his lower belly.

 

“Not until now?” It was as if the words were being cut out of Yunho’s soul.

 

Scowling, Yunho asked, “Are you…. Have you been presented with the List?”

 

Jaejoong quickly shook his head. But his answer lacked passion and conviction. “Not yet.” He sighed a second later, dropping his head. It was as if he was tired of pretending. “I haven’t been.”

 

“Then, why?”

 

Jaejoong met Yunho’s beseeching eyes.

 

“I was listening to the lyrics of the song, you know, and I couldn’t help but think about...my future.”

 

About my feelings...No, my longing for you. And you, what do you think of me?

 

But Jaejoong could enunciate none of those things. Instead, he casted his gaze on the cement road and furrowed his eyebrows in mocked concentration.

 

Yunho frowned. Jaejoong wasn’t telling him all the truth. He wasn’t necessarily lying, he picked up that, but he was withholding the real reason he looked so miserable.

 

“It is okay to think about life, but do not think about it so much that it brings you down.” He gave a soft smile of solace.

 

Reaching over he squeezed the troubled male’s shoulder in comfort in favor of the hug he desperately wanted to give him.

 

Yunho was ready to wait for Jaejoong to feel comfortable enough to tell him what was really going on. He wouldn't force him. They were friends, after all.

 

Jaejoong nodded and lifted his hand and rested the tip of his fingers against the soft inner skin of Yunho’s wrist from the hand was still passively resting on his shoulder.

 

“Thank you. You are right.” He inhaled, and a smile fluttered on his beautiful lips.

 

 

Yunho listened to Butterfly.

 

He made sure to hear the lyrics word for word and thought deeply and meaningfully of all of them.

 

He wanted to understand why Jaejoong liked the song so much, and what his sorrowful eyes of late had to with the lyrics.

 

With each honey soaked word that the singer sung, the heavier Yunho's body got and the colder he felt in the middle of summer.

 

The List, it seemed to be coming for all of them.

 

Jaejoong's dark eyes reminded him of...Sanah.

 

It hurt thinking that Jaejoong had someone who was making him look so dejected. Someone who was making his List a torture. Someone who commended his every waking thoughts. Someone who would one day soon take him away from him.

 

Someone who mattered to him more than Yunho.

 

Yunho hated his own selfish desires and desolating thoughts.

 

The lyrics that stayed with Yunho that night as he was submerged under the comfortable darkness of unconsciousness was “I am fifty, four children, beautiful as crystallized water droplets, like the balmy summer wind, I remain unchanging.”

 

Yunho slept feeling an aching sadness in his bones that night.

 

He dreamt of a sad Jaejoong that night who confined him in that he was in love with someone who was not in his list. Jaejoong’s beloved have the face of someone Yunho knew well, but in his dreams, and even when he woke up, he could not, for the life of him, put name to the face.

 

The dream left a bitter taste on Yunho’s tongue and he woke up in a foul mood.

 

The dream was one he would not be discussing with his family over breakfast.

 

Walking into the sun-drenched kitchen still thinking of the dream, all of his questions were suddenly answered. His eyes zeroed on the radio perched on the window sill.

 

“The damned song,” he muttered under his breath, catching his mother's attention.

 

He covered his mouth, blushing in shamed at his mother hearing him use foul language.

 

“Good morning.” She chuckled. “What about the song?”

 

“It was in my dreams.”

 

She hummed, nodding kindly. “These things tend to happen.” She added, “Must have been a nice dream. Who was it about?”

 

“This sticky, awkward weight on my chest, soul, is unwanted as much as I'd be finished without it.”

 

Yunho closed his mouth, swallowing the name he was going to say. It did not seem right.

 

“No one in particular. I just heard the song in my...dream.”

 

The older woman bobbed her head again in that motherly way of hers, letting him off the hook.

 

“Sit down for breakfast.”

 

“I am starving.”

 

She laughed. “You had a large supper last night. Mind, it was late too.”

 

“I always wake up hungry.”

 

“Like father like son.”

 

 

Sitting with their back against the wall, sweat pouring down the side of their faces, Juhli screwed the cap back on her water bottle and balanced it between her knees and grabbed the bag of durian chips on the floor between her legs. She yanked it open and grabbed a piece, took a bite and looked at Jaejoong.

 

“Hey.”

 

He popped his water bottle from his lips and nodded.

 

“Can I ask you something about Yunho?”

 

Jaejoong’s heart pivoted at the mention of Yunho’s name. He tried to act nonchalant.

 

“Sure. What about him?”

 

Jaejoong reached for her chip. She pushed the bag toward him, making it easier for him.

 

“Yunho,” she paused, biting her bottom lip in possible nervousness, her dark eyebrows snapping together in a thoughtful line.

 

Swallowing, he cleared his throat, reaching for more chips. He was too distracted by the mention of the handsome teen’s name that he did not look at Juhli to read her emotions.

 

Juhli broke through her trance and inhaled, tilting her head to rest against the wall. “You guys are closed, right?”

 

He shrugged. “Maybe.” He finally looked at her. Her pensive look made him shrugged again and added, “Yes, I suppose so.”

 

“Would Yunho.” She swiveled her head from side to side. “No. Is Yunho interested in dating before marriage?” She lowered her voice to a secretive whisper.

 

Out of Jaejoong's view, her eyes rapidly surveyed their surroundings.

 

Jaejoong should have had asked his friend why she was interested in such a topic, for that was the first time Juhli had ever brought up such topic and even appeared to be interested in the fineries of romance.

 

However, the girl’s noncommittal tone, and the way Jaejoong’s mind was completely overtaken with thoughts of Yunho barred him from doing anything but mumble, “I don’t know. We do not talk about such things.”

 

“Meaning he is not interested in anyone.”

 

A hot volt of something crashed through Jaejoong’s body. The thought of Yunho looking at a girl with moony eyes, thinking about her and talking about her nonstop with a large, sugary simper made him feel awkward.

 

He repositioned his body.

 

Lifting his head, Jaejoong inhaled and lifted his shoulder. “No. I do not think so.”

 

Juhli’s face lit up. “That’s good, yeah?”

 

“I guess,” he muttered, reaching for more chips. He didn’t know.

 

Hyein said, walking next to where they were and dropped next to Jaejoong and instantly plastered her hot body against the male’s, “What are you two gossiping about.”

 

Juhli laughed. “Jaejoong do not gossip. He doesn’t waste the little energy he has like that.”

 

Jaejoong cracked a dry chuckle.

 

“I like that about Jaejoong,” Hyein murmured tenderly, Jaejoong’s wet, greasy hair.

 

“Me too,” Juhli energetically agreed.

 

Don’t think.

 

Yunho woke up to his family congregating in the kitchen, leaning toward each other and discussing a matter in hushed tones. They were all in something he wasn’t.

 

His steps faltered when he noticed, with the tender light streaming through the kitchen window, his sister’s battered figure. She had her right arm in a cast, large bruises on her cheeks with a few cuts on her lips and nose, a darkening eye and bruises on her working arm and chest. What happened?

 

His heart jumped.

 

The bruise appeared angrier from the contrast of the white chiffon tank top.

 

How did it happen to her? She went hiking with her boyfriend. That was all!

 

Did he abuse her?

 

He had heard of men hurting their partner before. The police would be called and if they had children, they would be forced to reconcile and work it out for their children’s sake, while being monitored for months, even years, depending on the development of the case. If they were still childless, they would go to therapy, and if at the end the abuser didn’t change after tight monitoring, they would be separated, and the abuser would be sent to a labor camp. The fear of the labor camps kept most straight and narrow.

 

As he made to storm into the kitchen, fume funneling out of his ears, he stopped when his sister’s face crushed and she started crying. Ugly gut wrenching sobs rolled out of . Poppi slid a soothing hand on her back.

 

Yunho momentarily froze in fear. He had never heard such pin before.

 

The words streamed out of in loud octaves, allowing Yunho to hear snippets of what they had been discussing.

 

“She is dead! I should go to the ash ceremony!”

 

Yunho staggered back, his mind reeling. The word dead looped through his head in aghast surprised. He pressed his body against the wall and held his breath. Who died?

 

The dead in Peyisivil are burnt and stored in urns known as ‘ash urns,’ because they were specifically bought and used for that purpose. Funerals are referred to as ash ceremonies because the demised are honored with those closed to them—commonly composed of loved ones, mainly family members as is customary in Peyisivil—watching their bodies be burnt.

 

The saying goes that the dead are phoenixes rising from the ashes, becoming their most beautiful selves. The traditional funeral song was appropriately titled Phoenix. It was sung at every ash ceremony without fail.

 

Yunho hated the song.

 

Was this a hiking trip of death? He furrowed his eyebrows, heart pumping. Who died?

 

“She was ready to die for this.” He heard Poppi say in his deep soothing voice.

 

“Nineteen, Poppi! A child,” her voice wavered. “I... Hyeena...She…. What if she is not dead and...I saw them take her? She was alive then,” she choked.

 

Hyeena? Do Hyeena? The girl with the large smile and deep dimples. Sanah’s best friend. What? No way.

 

Yunho covered his mouth to suppress any sounds that might escape his parted lips.

 

No!

 

There was silence, then his mom said, “I am so glad you made it out of there safe.”

 

There? Where?

 

“Sanah, maybe you should stop this.” His father finally added. “Poppi talk to her. She will listen to you. You know the ins and outs of this.”

 

The legs of a chair scraped the floor. “No! How can I? They—her!” she screamed, saying the third word so softly that Yunho missed it. Her shout unsettled Yunho.

 

Killed? That was the word.

 

The most heinous crime a brother or sister could commit was killing their own? No one would dare in Peyisivil.

 

What was she talking about?

 

This had to be fake. He was just hearing wrong.

 

“I do not approve of this.” His father sounded stern. “I am your father and I say you stop.”

 

“I am an adult! Twenty.”

 

Twenty was the age of legality.

 

“You are still my child. You are still my little girl!” he screamed, making Yunho frowned harder in concern.

 

What was going on? Someone was dead, but Sanah had seen her taken away alive, so she might not be dead? It was a friend. Hyeena. Someone killed her? She had been somewhere dangerous. Hiking? They go hiking all the time. Completely safe.

 

Dead? That word seemed so foreign. People did not die until they were old and tired in Yunho’s world.

 

“I cannot have you dying, Sanah,” their father confessed in a broken voice.

 

“Daddy.” She sobbed. Yunho knew they were hugging.

 

After that everything quieted down. Though Yunho didn’t know what was going on, but he did know something weird was happening and he was being left out of the loop. And it felt weird. Dead.

 

The longer he remained in the corridor, the more guilt he amassed. He felt as if he was intruding on a private conversation. He felt as if he should be anywhere but outside the kitchen hearing his sister grieve. He felt unwelcomed.

 

He walked back to his room, stared out of his window at the backyard and the sunbeams waltzing off the yellowing grass and tried to calm down. He would have to leave soon and go to practice.

 

He must have heard wrong.

 

Walking out again, he yelped when he saw his sister walking toward him with bead like, red eyes. She looked broken. The fire was gone from her usually strong eyes. A closer look at her concerned him more. She looked as if she had been caught in the middle of a war. It was as if she had been trampled over by a large force.

 

For the first time in his life, his strong willed, smart and beautiful sister appeared weak, like she needed his protection. He did not know what to do, how to treat her, or what to say.

 

“Wha…” Swallow. “You’re back. The hiking …? You okay, Sa?”

 

The distracted girl looked at her younger brother and tilted the corner of her lips. “I fell down. Broke an arm and received a few bruises. Nothing more.” A practiced response.

 

She didn’t say she was fine. A friend died?

 

Hiking trip?

 

Her body was in a straight line, she was taut and panicky. Like a perching bird getting ready to flock away at the slightest sound.

 

What was going on?

 

He smiled at her. “Right. But, are you okay?” He repeated, stretching a hand out to touched her, but got too scared to complete the act. He was frightened she would crumbled when his fingers would touch her flash. What if she broke?

 

He lowered his arm.

 

“I…Me?” Yunho had never heard Sanah's voice like that before.

 

He did not like this pallid, fragile Sanah. She was his strong big sister.

 

Yunho’s trembling, clenched fists hurt.

 

She did not answer again. She reached for him with her good arm. “Give me a hug. I need a hug.”

 

His heart melted. She was always the one giving him hugs. What was going on? His worries mounted new heights.

 

“I love you.” She muttered against his shoulder, her short nails digging into his skin.

 

“Me too, Sa.”

 

He held her for what seemed like an eternity, but even then, he did not want to let her go when she pushed him back and wiped her tear and fakes a reassuring grin.

 

When Yunho entered the kitchen, his parents head were learning toward each other in a circle, in deep conversation. They quickly pulled away when they felt his presence and gave him a stiff smile.

 

When he asked for Poppi, they told him he was outside.

 

He decided to not have breakfast, which made his mother asked him if he was okay? He was not sure he was okay, nor was he sure if they as a family was okay.

 

Death scared him. It was so foreign and enigmatic and made him feel weird. He didn’t comprehend it.

 

All he knew was that he did not want to lose his sister to any dangerous criminal activities.

 

The tension in the house was so thick he could slice it with a knife. He needed to be out of his home and be surrounded by his happy, carefree friends to feel normal.

 

Outside, Yunho could not help but notice how gray everything suddenly looked. It felt somber and quiet. A trick of his mind?

 

Maybe he heard wrong.

 

He liked Hyeena. She had been—no, was, a wonderful girl. He heard wrong.

 

Better not think about it.

 

It was too quiet.

 

He hated it