Seulgi was singing. Irene could recognize that voice anywhere, but what she couldn’t figure out was where the singing was coming from. Like the pillars of some austere temple, Irene felt dwarfed by the tall, dark trees surrounding her, their vague silhouettes disappearing into dark in all directions. A chilly night; Irene could see mist clinging to the branches high above her, obscuring any stars that might have been trying to peek through the canopy. There was something quiet and natural about it, but Irene couldn’t help but feel that there was also something a little sinister lurking beneath it all as well. Why was this the backdrop of Seulgi's dream?

Was this really something out of her subconscious?

Irene wracked her brain trying to remember where Seulgi grew up; surely it wasn’t in the middle of the woods. Maybe Seulgi was reliving some childhood memory of camping, or maybe she had been lost once on a family vacation - why else would she be dreaming about a place like this so vividly? Irene strained her ears for the sound of Seulgi’s voice, not wanting to get lost, too.

It was so nice to finally be able to walk around without the fatigue she had been consumed by in the mortal world. She let her fingers brush along the bark of the trees she passed, marveling at the detail of Seulgi’s imagination. Maybe it was because she was an artist, but every sense was present: this setting looked like, felt like, smelled like a forest. The heady odor of decomposing flora wafted up to her nostrils with every step she took. Her breath even clouded when she paused to take a look around - all in all, a refreshing change from the sweltering heat of the city.

She was starting to feel like maybe invading Seulgi's dream wasn’t such a horrible idea after all when a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder.

“Shh, good grief, woman!” Amber whispered, as Irene startled violently.

“Amber?!” Irene barely managed to whisper back. “What are you doing here?”

It had to be Amber, the real Amber, and not some figmentary conjuration of Seulgi's imagination. In the Dreamscape the focus of attention was the Dreamer, unless there was more than one Dreamrider in their mind. 

“I wanted to see if you’d do it,” Amber said cheekily. Irene glared at her.

“If you’re in our dorm, get out!” She ordered.

Amber shook her head and wagged a finger in Irene’s face. “Please, what do you take me for, some kind of amateur? I don’t need to touch someone to Dreamride,” she boasted, tapping Irene on the nose.

Irene smacked her hand away. “Well, go away. You can’t just jump into someone’s mind so… so frivolously!” She knew she was projecting, but Amber had just as little right to be in Seulgi's Dreamscape as she did.

Amber just shushed her again. “Keep it down, Seulgi’s right over there!” she said, pointing through the trees to a clearing. As they quietly approached, Irene could see Seulgi lying in the grass, with her arms folded behind her head. They paused at the edge of the field, and Amber put a hand to her ear, indicating that Irene should listen.

Irene was way ahead of her.

She had always admired Seulgi’s voice; her perfect pitch, her delicate vibrato, it was a comfort to hear it after all these years of training together. The reasons she and Seulgi had entered the company couldn’t have been more different, but she had been really touched by Seulgi’s passion. Hearing her sing reminded her of how Seulgi had helped Irene realize her own potential and find her own passion, and now Seulgi was going to be able to share that gift with the world.   

“They’re going to love her,” Irene murmured.

Amber suddenly clapped a hand on her shoulder, startling her all over again. The younger girl gave her an exasperated expression and waved her hand, indicating that Irene should listen again. That’s when she finally noticed: underneath Seulgi’s voice was the faint lilt of a violin.

Seulgi was dreaming about singing in the middle of a forest while someone played the violin? It wouldn't the strangest dream Irene’s ever heard of, but once again Irene found herself wondering where Seulgi was drawing this inspiration from.

“Someone else is in here with us,” Amber whispered darkly.

“Someone else is in Seulgi’s dream?” Irene asked incredulously. What was this, Grand Central Station?

They heard a tsk from behind them. “You’re not in a dream,” came a familiar voice. “Seulgi’s in the Hedge.”

Irene whipped around in surprise, and Amber rolled her eyes. “I told you to stay back.”

Krystal stepped out from the misty underbrush and joined them at the edge of the clearing. “And you expected me to listen? I took a walk and you were right, this isn't a dream. This is real... sort of. It's real enough,” Krystal warned darkly. “She shouldn’t be here. You need to lead her back out and wake her up.”

Irene looked between the two other girls. “What? Why is Seulgi in the Hedge?” It was starting to make sense now: the forest, the fog, that unaccountable, unsettling feeling that permeated the area. The Dreamscape and the Hedge always felt so similar, both acting as veils between the mortal and Faerie world. The difference was that the Dreamer was protected in their own dreams, while in the Hedge, no one was ever truly safe.

"More importantly, how," Krystal corrected. It wasn't entirely unheard of for mortals to accidentally wander into the Hedge, but it was far more common that they were led there.

Amber shrugged. “That’s actually what we’re trying to find out. Something's up with ol' Seulbear, and we're on the case.”

“And you didn't tell me any of this earlier?” Irene asked, eyeing Amber.

“Hey, I thought you'd better see for yourself,” she said with an easy shrug before turning a more serious expression on Krystal. "Did you find out where that music's coming from?"

Krystal simply shook her head.

Amber made finger guns and waggled her eyebrows. “I could always smoke them out~”

Krystal gave her a leveling look. “And get us killed in the process?” She turned back to Irene with a softened expression. “The Hedge is dangerous enough as it is, let alone for someone like Seulgi. You need to take her back,” she iterated.

“But how- where?” There was too much information being thrown at her all at once: Seulgi’s in the Hedge, Amber and Krystal are tailing her, there’s some mysterious violinist out there in the darkness, probably watching them as they all argue. What did any of it mean?

“We’re barely inside as it is, so it shouldn't be too hard to find a way out,” Amber mused, gesturing off at the opposite side of the clearing.

“We’ll stick around to make sure she doesn’t come back when she falls back to sleep," Krystal added.

Irene took a deep breath, watching Seulgi. “It’s not far?” she asked. She didn’t like being in the Hedge. None of them did. It was a necessary evil sometimes, but for most of them at the company, all it did was bring back painful memories.

Krystal pointed where Amber had previously indicated. “There’s a creek across that field - it has a pool you can dive through that should let you out. That should be where the portal is.”

Irene’s expression grew serious. This dream harvest had somehow turned into a rescue mission, and she felt sorely unprepared. “Okay, I’m going, but… you be careful, too.” Krystal nodded and Amber gave her a winning smile. They may be Irene’s seniors in the company, but she was still older than them both.

She took another breath and stepped into the clearing. Seulgi saw her almost immediately and looked shocked.

“Irene…” she murmured, scrambling to her feet. Seulgi was vaguely aware that she was dreaming. How else could she explain Irene emerging from the misty woods like some ethereal, elfin princess? The only difference was that Irene was giving her that characteristic stony glare she wore when she was focused. Seulgi was happy to see the older girl, regardless.

“You’re breathtaking,” She said, smiling faintly at the absurdity of it. Seulgi didn’t think she’d ever get over Irene’s beauty, and it was only in her dreams where she felt at liberty to acknowledge it.

Irene nearly tripped. How many times a day did she hear people say things like that? But she had never heard Seulgi say it quite so unabashedly before. It was strange how she hadn’t noticed it until now: Seulgi often mentioned that Irene was pretty, but usually she was talking to someone else, never quite saying it directly to Irene herself. She closed her eyes for a moment and composed her thoughts. Now was definitely not the time to fall victim to Seulgi’s ‘charisma’.

“Seulgi, I…”

But Seulgi was distracted by something. She looked around the clearing suddenly, and Irene followed her gaze.

The music had stopped.

Irene risked a glance back to the edge of the field where she had left the f(x) girls, but they were gone. “We need to go,” Irene said, walking up to Seulgi and taking her arm as calmly as she could.

“Sure?” Seulgi half-asked, her attention pulled back to Irene. “Where to?” As was the nature of most dreams, this one seemed to be filled with non-sequitur surprises and Seulgi was content to roll with it.

“Home,” Irene said, her apprehension growing. The sudden silence was too eerie.

Seulgi let herself be led away to the other end of the field, but she was looking at Irene’s hand on her arm curiously. Irene followed her gaze and dropped the younger girl’s arm. “Sorry-” but as soon as she let go, Seulgi reached out and took Irene’s hand. She blushed; dream Seulgi was awfully forward.

Seulgi laced their fingers and laughed in surprise. “I can feel it.” This dream was getting stranger and stranger. She wasn’t a lucid dreamer, but for the past few weeks, her dreams had begun to take on this extra-sensory nature. She could feel more, hear more, and move and act freely. She must be really worn out from their debut preparations if she was able to fall into such a deep sleep.

Irene smirked lightly. She wasn't going to bother trying to explain it to Seulgi. Just because the girl was here in the Hedge didn't mean Irene could completely lift the veil and reveal their world to her. If Seulgi thought this was just a dream, it was all the better. But it was an odd sensation, knowing that Seulgi thought she had dreamed Irene up. Anything she did now could easily be dismissed as a figment of Seulgi’s imagination.

What a waste.

Distracting thoughts began to invade her mind: did Seulgi hold Irene’s hand in her normal dreams? Just how often did she appear in them? Irene shook her head, trying to dispel her sudden curiosity. She had gotten strangely lucky that she found Seulgi in the Hedge instead of invading one of the girl’s dreams, lessening the guilt of violating her privacy. She shouldn’t let Dreamriding turn into a regular thing, no matter how curious she was.

They had just entered the brush on the far side of the clearing when Seulgi paused. “... And I can smell that.”

“Smell what-?” Irene began to ask before she noticed it, too.

Smoke.

Amber.

“Seulgi-!” Irene whipped her head back to look in the direction they had come and there she could see it: the faint, red glow of a fire through the trees. “Seulgi we have to go. Now.”

Seulgi followed her gaze back across the field. Was that a fire? In the middle of the forest? This dream was turning into a nightmare. She renewed her grip on Irene’s hand and started to run. They sprinted through the undergrowth, the dark trees of the Hedge passing by in a blur.

“There’s a creek,” Irene panted, risking a glance over her shoulder to see how much the flames may have spread. “We have to reach it!” The glow had spread across her entire field of vision when she looked back. Was Amber trying to burn the whole Hedge down? They needed to get to the water before they got cut off.

“Okay,” Seulgi replied, not about to argue with dream logic, despite the fact she was certain Irene had told her at one point that she was afraid of the water. They could hear the crackle and roar of the fire now behind them, and… were those screams? Were there people in this forest? Seulgi wondered. And she’s dreaming that they’re burning alive? She must be really stressed out about their debut. It didn’t sound like the screams of people, or even animals, and there was definitely some unearthly quality to them. She turned back to watch where they were going just in time to see them quickly approaching a drop. She slid to a stop and caught Irene by the middle before she could go careening over the edge. “Wait!” Seulgi cried. It was a dirt cliff, perhaps the result of a landslide, but it didn’t seem like more than 20 feet to the ground below.

“Let me go first,” Seulgi suggested as she released Irene and half-hopped, half-slid down the dirt cliff.

“-run! RUN!” Amber shouted as she came up behind Irene and leapt off the edge, plumes of smoke roiling off of her pinwheeling arms.

“Amber!” Krystal shouted as she came up to the edge and began to hastily climb down. The short-haired girl hit the ground hard and tumbled, leaving a trail of smoldering ash behind her.

Seulgi watched the other two girls pass her in surprise. “A-Amber? Krystal?”

“Irene, come on!” Amber cried as she painfully pushed herself up. Krystal rushed over to her and helped her stand.

“You idiot.”

“Sorry.” 

Seulgi reached up towards Irene. “Come on, I’ll make sure you don’t fall!”

There was an awful lot of distance between where she stood up on the edge of the cliff and Seulgi’s outstretched arms, Irene calculated. As the air grew warmer around her, though, she knew she didn’t have much choice and carefully climbed down the edge of the cliff as Krystal had done.

As soon as Seulgi could reach her, she pulled Irene into her arms. “I’ve got you!” she said with a quick hug. “Okay, now let’s go!”

Amber broke into a limping canter and led them along. “It’s just up here!” she shouted back. Krystal kept looking behind them as she ran along, but what she was looking for, Irene would rather she didn't know.

The two Red Velvet girls brought up the rear, trying to keep up. “Amber…!” Seulgi panted. “Amber you’re on fire!”

“She’s fine,” Krystal dismissed absently between breaths. “He’s not coming, I don’t think.”

“Good,” Amber grinned. She slowed to a stop at the edge of a pool, the dark ripples already beginning to reflect the red-orange glow. To either side, the fire had already begun to surround them. Irene could see flickering cinders wafting through the air towards them. They didn’t have long.

“Ladies first~” Amber indicated, making a grandiose gesture at the pool for Irene and Seulgi.

“Into the water?” Seulgi asked. She took Irene’s hand again, anticipating her hesitation. “I won’t let go.” She started walking backwards into the water, gently pulling Irene while she held her gaze.

“Promise?” Irene asked quietly, involuntarily dragging her feet a bit. It seemed she had another choice to make: either burn alive or drown. She hoped Krystal guess was right, that this really was a door out of the Hedge, and not just some dark, wet grave waiting for her.

Seulgi smiled at her. “I promise I won’t leave you.”

Krystal was watching Seulgi intently. Amber, however, came up and shoved the two girls into the water. “Time’s up…!” she shouted.

Irene shrieked and Seulgi pulled her into her arms quickly as they were submerged.

But instead of sinking into water, they plummeted through a fog in a freefall. This really was a nightmare, but more for Irene than for Seulgi. She barely had time to consider her life choices up to this point before their fall was suddenly broken by a bed.

“OOF-!” Seulgi wheezed as Irene landed on top of her.

“Seulgi!” Irene pushed herself up quickly as the younger girl gasped and coughed. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Seulgi took a deep breath and her side a bit, choking out a laugh. “Ow.” But strangely, it didn’t actually hurt, she realized. She looked down at herself in surprise. Everything felt a little… dull suddenly. She reached out towards Irene, wanting to see if she could still feel her as acutely as before but there was a knock at the door.

At the door? Irene looked around quickly. They were in a room? A bedroom from the looks of it. There was diffuse sunlight softly streaming in through the slits in the blinds of a window, illuminating a small, messy bedroom. It wasn’t their dorm’s bedroom - there was only one bed, and the decor seemed... dated.

The knock came again. “Seul? What was that noise? Do you have a girl in there~?”

Seulgi groaned, hiding a blush with her hand. “Hold on,” she said as she rolled out from beneath Irene and walked over to the door. “It’s my brother.”

Seulgi’s brother? Then, was this her room? This must be Seulgi’s dream; they had successfully escaped the Hedge and were back in her Dreamscape. But what about Amber and Krystal?

“What do you want, dummy?” she asked through the door as she looked herself over. Irene felt a little self-conscious as well, suddenly realizing they were both wet, covered in mud, and smelling of smoke. This was not the kind of night Irene had anticipated having.

“Open up,” her brother’s voice commanded from the hall. “You should introduce me!”

“What? Why?!” Seulgi asked, scandalized and turning an even brighter shade of red than before.

Irene allowed herself a small laugh at such a sight, though as she watched Seulgi, her vision started to blur. The objects in the room lost their edge and the colors melted together until it all faded to black. Seulgi and her brother’s voices became muffled and dulled to a light, rhythmic snoring. It was Seulgi's snoring. Irene’s eyes slowly opened and she could see her own bed across the dark room. She carefully raised her head and realized she was laying across Seulgi’s sleeping form, her fingers still gently caressing the sides of her face. 

Irene watched Seulgi for a moment - much more comfortable where she lay than she was ready to admit - before carefully pushing herself back up into a seated position. Despite their harrowing time in the Hedge, that brief moment in Seulgi's real Dreamscape had left Irene feeling rejuvenated. The familiar tingling sensation at the tips of her extremities had returned, reminding her that her Seeming was there, as always, waiting just beneath the surface. She rubbed her fingers with her thumb. She hadn’t missed that feeling.  

The Dreamride had ultimately been a success, allowing Irene to soak up all the Glamour she had so foolishly spent showing off to Wendy, though the adventure had raised far more issues than it had assuaged. She got up to leave the room, the asive smell of smoke still clinging to her clothes. She was in desperate need of a shower.