Yerim takes her to the rooftop when she should be teaching Seungwan how to use a crossbow. She’s smiling sadly, fidgeting with the pen in her hands.

“What are we doing here?”

Yerim takes a deep breath, taking the cap off her pen and revealing a tiny knife. “You’re part of us now, I guess.” She takes Seungwan’s hand and pricks it with her knife, the blood not falling to the ground and instead filling the pen. After, she turns the pen around and takes the actual cap off, revealing the ball point.

“What am I going to do with this?” Seungwan asks, taking the pen hesitantly from Yerim.

The young witch gestures around them. “Write.” She grabs Seungwan’s hand again and drags her to the wall with the names. “Write your name.”

Seungwan does as she’s told, watching her blood forms her name on the wall, at the edge of all the other names, right under a ‘Joohyun’ and beside a ‘Sooyeon’. As soon as she writes her whole name, the red turns black, blending in well beside the others written in the same black ink, different fonts and personalities. “What now?”

“You’re now enchanted so whenever you touch a word,” Yerim touches her own name, eyes getting a faraway look as she smiles, “even if you weren’t there, you’ll see what was happening when it was written.”

Curious, Seungwan touches Yerim’s name too, and it catches her off guard as suddenly she’s in the same rooftop, with Yeri still in front of her, both of them touching Yerim’s name.

But Yerim’s name isn’t there yet. Yerim, who looks exactly like she looks now, with the tacky fashion of the 90s. The rooftop is the same, but it has party decorations all around, a banner saying ‘Happy birthday, Yerim!’ hanging above the fridge.

“Is this a great idea, or what?” younger Yerim asked the others giddily, her finger bleeding.

Johnny, sporting a horrible haircut and wearing a jean jacket way too thick, grunted. “Absolutely cringeworthy. What are we, Friends?”

Yerim sent him a glare. “We’re better.” She beamed at him, making him roll his eyes and look away, a fond smile on his lips. Yerim turned back to the wall, a glint of excitement in her eyes as she walked closer.

( Seungwan steps back quickly, flustered.

Yerim laughs at her. “They can’t see us, obviously. We’re not here.”

“It’s just… weird.” She blinks, taking in the sight of two Yerims, of Johnny, Seulgi, Sooyoung, and Baekhyun, all of them watching Yerim. She can hear a party under them, shouts of happiness and love. “It’s weird.” )

“I’m doing it,” Yerim announced.

The door opened and Soojung walked in, a frown on her face. “MerSoo is devouring the cakes.”

Seulgi turned and grinned brightly at Soojung, raising a hand towards her. “We’re putting a spell on the rooftop.”

Soojung’s gaze landed on Yerim. Then she rolled her eyes and took Seulgi’s hand, stopping beside her. “What wacky thing are we doing now?”

“When you write your name using your blood, it makes you part of this rooftop. So, when you touch another writing, you’ll be taken back to when it was happening and see it all again,” Yerim answered, breathlessly and happy. She pointed to a few writings around them. “I found a way around time so even those already written can work.”

“Why the sudden sappiness?” Soojung asked, voice annoyed. But it was obvious she thought it was a good idea, a smile ghosting on her lips.

Yerim shrugged. “So we never forget,” she answered, softly. It made everyone else shift uncomfortably, silence taking over them.

Soojung rolled her shoulders, letting out the most annoyed groan. “Fine. Whatever.”

Yerim smiled at her before looking back at the wall and, with another giddy smile, wrote her name right in the middle, huge and in bold letters. “Because I thought of this, I get the center spot.”

Soojung rolled her eyes once again. “I’m next.”

Suddenly, dizzyingly, they’re back to the empty rooftop. Yerim stands in front of her, an unreadable expression on her face. “So, that’s… what it does.”

Seungwan nods, almost reaching out to hug the young girl in front of her. Yerim might be centuries old, but there’s vulnerability there that’s suppressed. She grew up too fast. “Can I—?"

Yerim nods, waving a hand towards the walls.

Seungwan eyes the name above hers. Joohyun. It’d be nice to see how they roped her into the idea, and a smile lifts her lips as she imagines it, heart throbs that way it does when she’s thinking about Joohyun.

But she doesn’t touch it, and instead touches the one right under Yerim’s just as big as Yerim’s: Soojung.

“I thought you found this sappy?” Sooyoung teased, smirking as Soojung took the pen from Yerim.

Soojung sent her a glare. “It is sappy,” she said indignantly, slicing her thumb without even a wince and watching as her blood flowed in. “But I can’t let Yerim’s name be bigger than mine.”

Sooyoung rolled her eyes, a nonverbal ‘duh’ and put an arm around Seulgi, leaning against her as they watched Soojung push Yerim to the side, contented smiles on their faces.

Yerim huffed. “It was my idea.”

“I don’t care,” Soojung shot back, lacking the bite Seungwan has heard, seen, her have. She wrote her own name, a slow smile creeping up her face, almost bigger than Yerim’s. She watched in awe as the blood turned black. “I guess it’s kinda beautiful.”

“I’m next!” Sooyoung exclaimed, the same time as Baekhyun lurched forward to take the pen from Soojung.

Yerim grinned proudly at everyone, hands on her hips and chin raised. “Call everyone and form a line!”

Seungwan takes a deep breath as she goes back to the present rooftop, Yerim watching her seriously. “She was so close with everyone.”

Yerim looks away, jaw tensing and shoulders stiff. “I guess.”

“Do you miss her?”

Yerim’s lips pinch into a thin line, almost like she’s trying to smile but all she can manage is grimace. “I miss them all.” With that, she takes Seungwan hand and presses both of their hands against another name that Seungwan doesn’t have enough time to read.

A bright-eyed smiling girl hugged Soojung from behind, beaming beautifully as Johnny handed her the pen. “Me next?”

Johnny nodded. “You’re the first to not jump at the chance to write.”

The girl laughed, making Soojung flinch at the loudness. She smiled apologetically at Soojung before leaning down to press a kiss against the side of her jaw. Soojung grimaced, almost slipped away from under her.

“I’m not afraid of forgetting,” the girl said, still smiling brightly. She stepped up to the wall.

( And Seungwan’s eyes dart to Yerim, whose face is crumpled and stiff with tears falling down her cheeks. There’s a pounding in her chest that hints on the identity of this girl.

There’s the heartbreak in Yerim’s trembling lips that confirms her suspicion. )

The girl scanned the wall, now with not less than fifteen names scattered around. She settled on a space high up the wall, standing on tiptoes as she wrote her name.

( Each makes Yerim wince, and Seungwan swears Yerim almost reaches forward to hug the girl.

But then. )

The girl stepped away from the wall, admiring her work. She smiled. “Let’s not forget, yeah?”

There was a small chorus of yes, all automatic and unconsciously. A promise they were so used to telling each other. A promise they meant every single time.

( Yerim in a ragged breath, shoulders shaking as she stares at the floor. Her fists are shaking against her thighs, brows trembling. )

“I think my handwriting’s pretty,” the girl said.

Soojung rolled her eyes, but there was fondness in them as they landed on the taller girl again. “Sure it is, Jinri.”

-

Sooyoung sits cross-legged on the mattress, head tilted as she looks up at Seungwan. “Having fun?”

Seungwan lets out a sheepish laugh. “Yeah, I guess.” She moves around to another writing, a short ‘Lucas’ booger’ pointing to a small mark on the wall. Seungwan laughs loudly at that, moving away. Maybe something else then.

“There’s a ladder in the closet if you want to reach the roof,” Sooyoung suggests, looking bored as she looks around the writings.

“Only the locals write their names here?”

Sooyoung nods. “There’s a rock somewhere behind The All Nighter that also has writings and are enchanted, for those who are Supers but aren’t locals.”

“I have a question,” Seungwan says, blinking as she remembers something.

“Ask away.”

“What are Wheein and Hyejin?”

Sooyoung’s lips curl downwards. “I’m not actually sure. I don’t keep track of everyone’s abilities around here. Boa does.”

“Is there a list I can see?”

Sooyoung’s expression turns sad. “Even if you know what they are, they won’t ever remember, Seungwan.”

Seungwan sighs, walking over to Sooyoung and dropping down beside her. Wheein’s scared, confused eyes stare right back at her when she closes her eyes. “Where do their memories go?”

“Tucked somewhere deep in their minds. They’re mortals now, and as mortals they shouldn’t have any idea about the Super side of things”

“But they lose their childhood memories too,” Seungwan mutters, voice weak.

“They do,” Sooyoung replies, just as weakly. “Being a Super is such a huge part of your life, Seungwan. If you lose your powers after years of being a Super, there are blank spaces you can’t put a finger on anymore. They’re just gone.”

“No way to retrieve them?”

Sooyoung shrugs, looking away. “I’ve been trying to research how to for so many years. But I can’t get an answer that won’t harm them. There are phantom pains that come with getting their memories back.”

“When—if—” Seungwan looks around at the writings. “Have you tried making Jinri touch any of these writings?”

Sooyoung smiles sadly, nodding. “They burned her.”

“Is it because she’s not Super anymore? Because I’m human and this works on me.”

The witch shakes her head. “It’s because she’s not supposed to remember.”

Silence takes over as they both mull over their thoughts. Seungwan knows the feeling of something knocking against your skull, trying to make you remember memories you know are too deep in the box to find. She lost quite a few memories from the concussion she got during the house fire.

She can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for everyone like Wheein and Hyejin, parts of their lives they cannot take back so many it’s scary.

“I’m gonna go find them,” Seungwan announces, jumping up. Her gaze lands on Sooyoung, who’s eyeing the ‘I love you’ written on top of the fridge that Seungwan looked at when Yerim left and she was alone. She sends Sooyoung a sad smile.

Sooyoung looks away, refusing to see the sympathy in them. She nods, waves a hand. “Go. Have fun. Seohyun has her own list of this town’s occupants, by the way. Joohyun knows about them, too.”

Seungwan nods, still eyeing Sooyoung and seeing the cracks she didn’t see there before. “Okay. Thanks.”

-

(

Seulgi pouted at Sooyoung, shoving her weakly. “You’re such an ”

Sooyoung laughed, grabbing Seulgi’s shoulders and pulling her in for a hug. “Shut up, I’m not nearly as mean to you as I am to everyone else.”

A smile appeared on Seulgi’s face, crumpling into pure happiness and as she looked up at Sooyoung lovingly. “Just how mean are you to everyone else, then?”

Sooyoung cupped Seulgi’s cheeks, squishing them and letting out a sigh of contentment at the sight. “Hopefully you never know how mean that is,” she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She paused, stared into Seulgi’s eyes. Her smile dropped and was replaced by an awestruck gaze.

It was Seulgi who leaned close to press her lips against Sooyoung’s, eyes fluttering close. Her arms s around Sooyoung’s waist, a happy smile on her lips as she kept kissing Sooyoung.

After a while, they broke away from each other, still smiling merrily at each other, in that way that let the audience know they love each other. Know that they were meant to be for each other.

Know that no matter what happens, they’ll for sure find their paths crossing and the end scene will always be of them two, kissing and smiling into the kisses like they’re so contented. The world may be in flames around them, or they might be in the middle of the fields.

But it’ll always be them two. Kissing. Happy. In love.

Seulgi took a pen from on top of the fridge, uncapping it and writing ‘I love you’ carefully above the fridge. She beamed proudly at Sooyoung right after.

But Sooyoung just stood there, staring in shock. “I love you too, but you do know now everyone will see us being incredibly sappy and stupid when they touch that, right?”

Seulgi shrugged, placing the cap back on the pen. “Let everyone know I love you.” After a short pause, she added, “Let this remind you whenever, whatever happens, that I love you.”

Tears pricked Sooyoung’s eyes as she rolled them rather fondly. “Okay, but—” she pointed around the place accusingly, “whoever’s watching this right now, I will ing crush your kneecaps if you use this to tease me,” she warned, glaring.

Seulgi laughed beside her before pulling her in for another kiss, like she couldn’t help herself. Sooyoung melted right into it like it’s the first time.

)

-

Seungwan finds Wheein and Hyejin in The All Nighter, playing games with Hyoyeon and Sooyoung in one booth.

“Hey, Wan,” Yuri greets from behind the counter, following her gaze. “They’re having fun, aren’t they?”

“Do they know each other?” she asks, slipping into a seat and twisting so she can watch her oblivious friends.

“Not before you came here, no.” Yuri slides a drink to her, still watching the four. “What are you here for, Wan?”

“What were they?” Seungwan asks, chest constricting as she remembers the uncertainty in Hyejin’s voice when she lied to Wheein.

Yuri sighs. She mutters a quick ‘wait’ before ducking behind the counter and leaving Seungwan still staring at her friends, so much childish happiness in their faces as Hyoyeon screams about Sooyoung cheating.

After a moment, Yuri emerges with a notebook, pushing it towards Seungwan. She presses a finger to the cover. “In there is every name of every creature, every occupant in this city.”

Seungwan frowns, suspicious. “What do you need in return?”

Yuri shakes her head. “I don’t need anything.” At another of Seungwan’s suspicious glares, she raises her hand in surrender. “I swear. I’m just happy you found Sooyeon.”

Seungwan winces, retracting her hands from the notebook. “What we found is the shell of Sooyeon.”

“It’s still Sooyeon,” Yuri smiles sadly. She gulps down the drink beside her and lets out a sigh. “Although thankful she’s alive, everyone’s heartbroken over it. Yoona and Seohyun are holed up in their rooms, refusing to come out. Taeyeon hasn’t left the rooftop. Soonkyu and Miyoung, well, they think they’re fooling everyone.”

Yuri points carelessly towards Hyoyeon and Sooyoung, arguing and a few minutes into throwing the monopoly board on their table. “They’re drinking their asses off.”

“You?” Seungwan asks, voice soft. Her eyes are warm as she stares at Yuri, finds the misery in Yuri’s flawless face. “How are you?”

Yuri shrugs. “Been better.” She offers another smile and pushes the notebook forward. “I’m not asking for anything. I’m just happy we found Sooyeon unharmed.”

“Where is she?” Seungwan asks. She absentmindedly traces the letters embroidered to the cover: Lee Town members.

“In Déjà vu. They’re trying to treat her wounds and helping her cope with her fear.”

She sighs, loud and sad and frustrated. Heavy. She takes the notebook and flips it open, finding almost yellowish paper inside. “Everyone’s here?” she asks, thinking of her sister and Hyuna.

“Everyone we know about,” Yuri answers. She wipes her cheeks with the sleeves of her clothes, looking away. “It also says what they were and what they are. And everyone who were here but… aren’t anymore. Everyone from when this place was still peaceful.”

Seungwan nods, gaze brushing over the familiar names in the first few pages. Names she saw written all over the walls of the rooftop.

Jung Yunho, Angel

Shim Changmin, Demon

Kim Kibum, Zombie

Choi Jinri, Faerie

She tries not to think about the slash after ‘Faerie’, the hastily written ‘human’ after it. A few pages after the Witches, right after the names of Taeyong’s group, are the first non-locals.

Ok Taecyeon, Incubus, from Park Town

Kim Jisoo, Kupua, from Yang Town

Park Jinyoung, Grim Reaper, from Park Town

Seungwan stares at the only ‘Slayer’ written on the notebook, heart beating loudly at the thought of such a huge threat making it in, but they wrote the name on the notebook, so they know, maybe they weren’t a threat.

The name, however, is carelessly scrubbed off, the paper brittle where the words used to be. Seungwan almost asks Yuri but something else catches her attention.

Kim Yongsun. Moon Byulyi. Jung Wheein. Ahn Hyejin. All written in order, ‘human’ written on the other end of the notebook.

‘Siren’ written right beside the names. ‘From Rainbow Town’ written carefully after.

“They’re Sirens,” Seungwan mutters, feels her heart drop. It makes sense. They always had the most beautiful voices Seungwan ever heard, and they’re oddly scared but attracted to the sea. She looks up at Yuri, war waging beneath her eyes. “What happened to them?”

“They came from a very small town. They were the only survivors.” She gets some sort of bittersweet smile. “Burned to ashes like some of the other towns. They swam to here, almost reaching the town when they—” Yuri’s lips twitch.

“They didn’t make it,” Seungwan finishes with a small voice. She glances at Wheein and Hyejin, so unaware of the huge gap between their memories. They’re lucky, all four of them lost their memories. No Soojung left behind, no Taeyeon.

But still.

“We found them one night when we were guarding the seas, washed up by the rocks and looking around, terrified.” Yuri’s shoulder slump, eyes drooping. “We were too late. But we got them to adjust to their new lives.”

“Do you offer them group therapy?”

Yuri glances at her, then goes back to staring at the girls. “For a few years, yes. But they quickly grew out of it and I don’t think the nightmares are as bad anymore.”

Seungwan stares at Yuri, studies her face. “You guys are so kind.”

“Thanks,” Yuri says, usual confidence gone. Just sincerity. Gratitude that they’re appreciated. “We have no one else but each other, anyway.”

“Listen, I’m really sorry about Sooyeon.”

Yuri pats her hand, smile not reaching her eyes. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Maybe one day, they’ll find the cure to the memory loss.” She in a breath, shaking her head. “I’m just not entirely sure if that’ll be good.”

Seungwan turns her hand around, trapping Yuri’s in her own and squeezing encouragingly. “I hope Sooyeon’s the last one.”

When Yuri squeezes back, there’s desperation in her eyes. “I pray to Neptune that she is.”

With another smile, Seungwan steps off the seat and walks over to her friends, stopping Hyoyeon and Sooyoung from coming at each other’s throats again, Uno cards in their hands.

“Wendy!” Hyejin greets, grinning as she pulls Seungwan and hugs her tight. “I missed you.”

Wheein smiles and waves from beside Hyejin. “We missed you. But The All Nighter has been more than welcoming every time we came here.”

“Which is every night,” Hyejin mutters against Seungwan’s stomach, voice muffled as she hugs Seungwan tighter.

Seungwan looks at Hyoyeon and Sooyoung, who look up at her with hidden sadness peeking out the cracks. “I think we should let Hyoyeon and Sooyoung… be alone for a while.”

Hyejin murmurs something incoherent against Seungwan’s stomach, shaking her head.

With a soft chuckle, Seungwan pats Hyejin’s head. “Go out to the shore, I’ll meet you guys in a while.” She pulls Hyejin up and away from the booth, handing her to Wheein as soon as the shorter girl stands. She watches as they walk out the backdoor, sadness pinching at her heart.

“You don’t have to apologize,” Sooyoung says before Seungwan can even speak. “What happened to Sooyeon wasn’t your fault.”

Seungwan nods, sitting across them. “I’m not here to apologize. Yuri already told me not to.”

Hyoyeon opens like she’s about to snap, but with a nudge from Sooyoung, her angry eyes turn defeated and she slumps against her chair. “I just… I miss her, and I haven’t talked to her since she went undercover… and now if I ever talk to her again, she won’t even remember me.”

Seungwan doesn’t know the answer to that. She doesn’t know what the right reply is. There’s a terrifying amount of fear and grief in the usually cheerful girl’s eyes.

She doesn’t reply, just sits there in silence as Sooyoung wraps an arm around Hyoyeon. Sooyoung sends Seungwan a thankful smile before ushering Hyoyeon out of the booth and towards Yuri, who pulls them both into a hug as soon as they get behind the counter.

Seungwan lets out a broken sigh, eyes filling with tears.

It’s funny, she used to think this place is creepy. But now all she can see is heartbreak everywhere, spikes of determination and bravery all around. They’ve lost so many, but they’re still willing to fight.

It’s unfair to call them creepy when all they really are is reserved, a protective wall between the locals and the others. And Seungwan can’t blame them.

-

She watches the sand between her toes, Wheein sat beside her with her legs crossed and Hyejin’s beside Wheein, lying down on the sand and looking up at the afternoon sky.

There are so many things Seungwan wants to tell them, so many stories she has. ‘You’re Sirens!’ and ‘I’m dating a Witch!’ on top of that list.

But then she remembers the heartbreak, the longing, in everyone’s eyes when Jinri is mentioned, and now, Sooyeon. The four of them may have still found each other, but what if they remember things important to them? Things they realize they can’t live without. And the others don’t?

Seungwan isn’t dumb. She isn’t unaware of her friends’ lives. She sees the looks Hyejin gives Wheein, knows there’s history there that their hearts know but their brains can’t remember. Familiarity in the intertwined hands, the hugs that go on far longer than how the ones between friends usually go.

Seungwan can’t give them the same heartbreak in Soojung’s and Taeyeon’s hearts.

So, she settles on a simple “So, how are you guys?” instead.

Wheein laughs, sound bouncing off the waters. “Everything’s amazing, actually. The All Nighter treats us like we’re… like we’re part of them.”

“To be honest, it’s the first time I actually felt like I belong here,” Hyejin adds, voice raspy. She plays with the sand around her, scooping them up in her hands and letting them flow between her fingers. “I feel like they understand me.”

“Oh?” Seungwan’s throat is thick with protectiveness, sadness. Her friends don’t know just how much they went through. They deserve to feel at home. “That’s great.”

“Yeah,” Wheein agrees, nodding. “It is.”

But there’s something in her voice, something Seungwan can’t quite put into words, that makes both Hyejin and Seungwan look at her with worried expressions.

Wheein does what she does best: smiles to convince the two she’s okay. And Hyejin lies back down, a sigh escaping her lips.

Seungwan hooks her arm under Wheein’s, pulling her close so she can lay her head on the crook of her neck. It’s a small gesture, one that Seungwan hopes translates to everything she wants to say: ‘I love you’, ‘I’m proud of you’, ‘you belong here’.

Wheein Seungwan’s hands. ‘Thank you’.

(And who is Seungwan kidding? She knows that something in Wheein’s voice, heard it in one of the memories from the writings. It’s craving for something they lost. Homesickness for the memories they lived in gone.)

-

(

Jinri stood in the middle of the rooftop, staring wide-eyed at everyone crowding around her as she cradled her right hand in her left. “What was supposed to happen?” she asked.

That got quite a few reactions from the others. Soojung let out a wail, crashing into Amber’s arms. A girl Seungwan learned to be Sunyoung ran a hand through her hair, pulling at them frustratedly. The last of their group, Qian, looked up away with trembling lips trapped between teeth.

Yerim stepped forward, eyes darting around confusedly. “We were never supposed to forget,” she whispered, gaze brushing over the writings and landing on the ‘never forget’ and multiple ‘I won’t’s on the ceiling. “You promised.”

Joohyun pulled her back before she could land a betrayed punch on Jinri’s shoulder. “Yerim, it’s not her fault.”

“I guess it doesn’t work on those like… like her,” Amber said softly, rubbing Soojung’s arms. Sooyoung hugged her from behind, knowing she needed the comfort as much as the others do. “Thanks,” she muttered, eyes filling with tears.

Jinri stared at them curiously, and there was pain in her eyes as she did so, but also confusion. Like she didn’t know why her heart was hurting for these people. Craving for these people.

When everyone was busy talking over each other, crying, throwing words they would later regret—‘I hate you!’, ‘we tried out best!’, ‘you let them almost kill her! Some kind of heroes you are!’— Jinri took a pen from the ground and uncapped it, delicately writing on the wall, writing small.

“There’s something in my heart that tells me I miss you all.”

)

-

Sunmi stops munching on the cookies, tilting her head at her sister. “They let you be part of the rooftop?”

“Yeah,” Seungwan breathes out, playing with her own cookie in her hands. She sighs. “It’s depressing. So much has changed, Sunmi.”

“I’d expect as much, considering they were attacked by humans a few centuries back, and now Yang is trying to find a way to attack them from the inside,” Hyuna answers for Sunmi. “That’s a good idea, though. The writings. A reminder of what they’re fighting for.”

Sunmi glances at Hyuna, eyes soft as she stares. Then she turns to look at her sister. “Things will change soon. Hopefully for the better.” She drops her cookie on the plate, squaring her shoulders. “Hopefully after we steal a good amount of their potions and leave.”

Seungwan bristles at that. “What?”

Sunmi stares at her like how she did during those times Seungwan wanted to sneak out with Sunmi but Sunmi pushed her back in her room, when Seungwan was in her preteens. With authority, a raised brow and a ‘you know what I mean’.

“The war is dangerous, Seungwan. We can’t be here. You can’t be here.”

“But they’re teaching me how to fight,” she mutters, blinking rapidly as her sister stares right into her eyes disapprovingly. “I’m fighting with them.”

Sunmi lets out a tired sigh. “No, I’m getting you to safety. With our parents. With humans, where you belong. I know a Witch from another town, she can probably make a potion to rid us of the poison they’ve been making us inhale all this time.”

“No, you can’t tell anyone else about the poisoned air!” Seungwan exclaims, abruptly standing up. Hyuna raises a hand ready to catch her as she struggles to stand straight for a moment. “Once they know, they’ll find a way around it and this place won’t be as secured!”

“My friend can be trusted,” Sunmi insists, raising a hand as if it’ll make Seungwan calm down.

“No,” Seungwan repeats, voice firmer and louder. “They protected me from so much, they helped me through so much. They only did good things to me, Sunmi, this isn’t how I’ll repay them.”

Sunmi’s jaw clenches at that, neck muscles tensing and brows crashing. “You don’t know that.”

“How can I not know that when I’ve been here all this time and they never did anything to harm me?” Seungwan shoots back incredulously. She laughs mirthlessly at her sister. “You weren’t there, Sunmi. They saved me from so much harm while you were hiding here in the woods like you’ve done something wrong! Like you’re… you’re a fugitive.”

Sunmi’s out of her seat quickly, pointing a shaking finger at Seungwan. “You don’t know what I went through to protect you, Seungwan. You don’t know how much I’ve lost trying to get you back.”

“How can I know if you won’t tell me!”

Hyuna grunts as she pulls Sunmi back, rubbing slow circles on the spot above Sunmi’s elbow as the two sisters glare at each other.

“There’s so much you don’t know, Wannie,” Hyuna says sadly, not flinching at the glare Seungwan sends her. “And there’s so much your sister doesn’t know either.” She glances pointedly at Sunmi, who relaxes a bit in her arms. “I don’t think it’s right that you’re fighting. You’re on the same side, I promise.”

Seungwan stares at them for a moment, thoughts running wild in her head. Then she shakes her head disappointedly. “I don’t know who you are anymore, Sunmi. There’s so much you hid from me. For now, I trust Joohyun. Not you.”

Even Hyuna’s face falls at that, and Seungwan almost takes it back. Her heart orders her to, tries to force her into apologizing, into wiping that shattered look from her sister’s face. But she just turns around and leaves the cabin, walking as far away as she can before the tears break through and she’s a sobbing mess, ribs closing in on her heart painfully.

Joohyun might not tell her everything, but there are small parts of Joohyun’s history that she saw by touching the writings. She trusts Joohyun.

-

(

The scene has the four Witches all around, having a meeting under an infinite number of stars. Seungwan knows the outfits they were wearing were the ones they wore the first day she walked in Peek-A-Brew.

“What do we do?” Seulgi asked, almost frantic. “Is she the threat?”

Joohyun shook her head. Her features were tense and protective. “I don’t know. The timing matches.”

“But she’s a girl,” Yerim reminded them, sitting beside Sooyoung on the mattress. “They don’t send girls.”

“They did, once.” Joohyun stared pointedly at Yerim, brow quirked.

Yerim almost shrunk under the glare. “But we’re not really sure if she was a threat either.”

“She was,” Joohyun insisted tersely. “We have to keep our guard up.”

“If she isn’t the threat?” Sooyoung queried, an arm around a pouting Yerim.

Joohyun shrugged. “Then we protect her.”

Yerim was still pouting when she grabbed a pen from Seulgi, doodling a frowning face on the wall behind the mattress. “We protect the hell out of her?”

“As usual,” Joohyun replied.

)

-

Joohyun watches her curiously from the couch across her, gaze making Seungwan’s face flush. “Is something wrong?”

“Just…” she shuts , not willing to give away the fact that her sister and Hyuna are illegally staying in an invisible cabin in the woods. “Just tired. I found out what Hyejin and Wheein were.”

“Sirens?” Joohyun asks, corner of lips twitching.

Seungwan’s gaze snaps up and she finds Joohyun adorably smiling at her. “Yeah. You knew?”

“I’m one of those who keep track of who’s here.” Joohyun closes her book and places it on the coffee table before making her way over to sit beside Seungwan, taking her hand and letting Seungwan tiredly shift so her head’s on Joohyun’s lap, face against Joohyun’s stomach. “I’m sorry I kept it from you.”

Seungwan shakes her head, burrowing her head against Joohyun’s stomach. “Not your place to tell.” She grimaces at her hypocrisy. What if what Sunmi’s doing isn’t Sunmi’s place to tell either?

Joohyun hums, Seungwan so aware of the sound with her face against Joohyun’s stomach. “I didn’t know how to tell you. They’re good people and I think it’s better that they never find out about their past.”

“They have nightmares,” Seungwan mutters. “I just want their nightmares to be gone.”

“I can make a potion,” Joohyun offers, combing her fingers through Seungwan’s hair and massaging her scalp, making her relax. “I hate that you’re going through this.”

Seungwan looks up at impossibly lovely eyes. “What this?”

“With all this. With Witches and Sirens who lost their memories.” Joohyun leans down to kiss Seungwan’s forehead and Seungwan leans into the touch. She smiles gently as she leans back, not fully, just enough so she can stare into Seungwan’s eyes. “You don’t deserve this.”

“I’d rather go through this than never have met you.” Her voice is soft, firm with truthfulness. And she smiles at the sudden affection oozing out of Joohyun’s stare. “I love you.”

Joohyun gasps, eyes darting between Seungwan’s, trying to find the lie in either. But there’s just love and truth and Joohyun’s heart swells. “I love you too.”

-

(

“Joohyun’s in love with the human,” Sooyoung grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. “But she can’t even admit it and so she’s wishing she’s the threat.”

Yerim snorted from one of the chairs, legs crossed under her as she played with her phone. “Don’t let her hear you or you’re sleeping out in the woods for a month.”

“If she could just deal with her feelings like a normal centuries old wise creature,” Seulgi murmured hopefully, exasperatedly.

Sooyoung raised a brow. “That coming from you, Kang?”

Seulgi sent her a glare, huffing and refusing to answer and instead settling for a grunt.

Yerim rolled her eyes, not breaking focus. “I’m surrounded by frustratingly idiotic gays,” she muttered.

Just then, the door opened and Joohyun walked in, face flushed and red. “Here you guys are!” she exclaimed cheerfully.

Sooyoung frowned at her quizzically. “Are you drunk?”

“Nope,” Joohyun answered, nodding her head.

Yerim stared at her, unbelieving, then guffawed. “We gotta get this documented,” she announced, standing and leaving her phone on the table to look for a pen.

Joohyun glared at her. “Whatever.” She fell on the mattress with a thud, head incautiously landing on Sooyoung’s lap, making the tall Witch raise her hands. “I hate her.”

This made Yerim pause from looking for a pen, quirking a brow at their leader. “Wendy?”

“Seungwan,” Joohyun grumbled darkly. “I hate her stupid smile and her stupid songs.” Joohyun raised a hand matter-of-factly, face smug. “She’s definitely the threat.”

The other three Witches exchanged looks, all amused.

Sooyoung poked Joohyun’s cheeks, prodding her to continue. “What else do you hate about her?”

“She’s warm and pretty and caring,” Joohyun muttered sleepily. She took Sooyoung’s drink and messily tried to drink while lying down. She didn’t get a single drop from the empty can and threw it across the rooftop, sulking. “I hate her, Sooyoung.”

“Of course you do,” Sooyoung replied endearingly, brushing Joohyun’s hair from her face. “I’m sure she hates you, too.”

Joohyun’s face fell, lips trembling as she looked up at Sooyoung. “Really?”

Seulgi sighed, glowering at Sooyoung. “No, she likes you. She thinks you’re pretty. She told me herself.”

Joohyun smiled, eyes closed. She took Sooyoung’s hand from her hair and let it stay on top of her face, shielding her from the lights. She hummed happily to the palm.

Yerim crouched at the far end of the rooftop, exclaiming “I found it!” as she triumphantly raised a pen. With another mischievous grin, she wrote down:

J loves S.

)

-

It takes Seungwan almost an hour talking to the elderly ladies, whom Yerim had told her were ghosts who had nowhere else to stay, before she realizes Joohyun’s gone. And Jisung, too, but Jisung hasn’t come to their shop for a few days now and Sooyoung told her the Vampires are teaching Jisung how to be a Vampire and that he’s too busy these days.

Seungwan misses him, of course, but she’s also proud he’s finally about to be officially part of the clan.

She asks Seulgi about Joohyun but only gets a shrug in return. She looks outside, finds that it’s far from sundown yet, then sneakily walks out.

She needs to apologize to her sister. The pain-stricken expression on her face filled Seungwan’s nightmares last night, and she knows no matter what happened, her sister only got her in her mind.

Halfway to the cabin, however, she hears yelling. Her heartbeat quickens at the sound, walk turning into a jog. And soon enough, she finds Joohyun and Sunmi glaring at each other, both with weapons out and apart by a few feet.

She almost screams at them to stop but a hand pulls her back, another muffling her voice by covering .

“You’re not allowed here,” Joohyun screams, axe raised.

Sunmi shrugs nonchalantly. “I’m here for my sister, Joohyun.”

“She’s not your sister.”

Seungwan feels a scream trying to rip out of . She is Sunmi’s sister. And Joohyun is not going to harm her sister.

But Seulgi keeps her back and her voice doesn’t reach Joohyun’s and Sunmi’s ears.

“They can’t hear us,” Sooyoung whispers, hands raised. “I put a spell on us, so they can’t see nor hear us.”

“Stop acting like you care about my sister, Joohyun! You’re putting her in danger and I’m not allowing you!” Sunmi yells back, Joohyun’s previous statement making her mad.

The anger in Joohyun’s face cranks up a notch, hands shaking around the axe. “You’re putting her in danger. I love her!”

“That’s rich,” Sunmi spits.

Joohyun snaps. Seungwan stands frozen by the side with Seulgi beside her as Joohyun runs from her place to her sister, her axe raised above her head and her face overflowing with anger.

Seungwan almost runs after her to stop her, but Joohyun jumps and slashes Sunmi’s side before she can even think.

The world stops; Seungwan’s heart sinks.

Sunmi looks up, recognition in her eyes as she looks at Joohyun. “—. You didn’t even give me time to think of my last—ugh, last words!” she splutters, blood flowing from . “. Mother—er.” She scans the woods, eyes frantic. “Where’s Seungwan?”

“You’re not allowed to see her,” Joohyun says, voice clipped but hands shaking.

 “My sister is dying, let her see me!” Seungwan exclaims, gaze still on her sister.

Seulgi shakes her head. “She’s not a friend, Seungwan.”

“She’s my sister.”

“She’s the threat.”

That stops her. She watches as her sister falls to her knees, eyes wide as she scans the room. Her sister can’t be the threat. Her sister is her hero, the one who protects her from the threat. They seriously still think her sister’s the threat?

She feels her heart burning with anger.

“What a , won’t even let me have a proper last word.”

From the corner of Seungwan’s eyes, she can see Hyuna walking carefully around the parameter, watching the scene with a fuming gaze. Somehow, Hyuna’s eyes meets hers and there’s a promise there that Seungwan can’t understand. But it puts her at ease, if only for a little.

“Say your last words now,” Joohyun orders, gaze cold as she raises her axe again.

Sunmi looks up and smiles evilly. “How’s this for a last word?” She raises her own hand, fingers ready to snap. “Sike, .” She snaps her fingers and slowly disappears.

Joohyun looks around, clearly taken aback. She turns to where the other four are standing and jogs over to them.

As soon as they’re visible again, she grabs Seungwan and examines her body for any wounds. “How long have you been meeting with her? Did she hurt you anywhere?”

“She can’t have survived that,” Sooyoung says, looking around. “Wherever she teleports to, she can’t survive that deep a wound. She’ll probably—” she stops.

“She’ll probably what? That thing that happens to immortals? Lose their powers?” Seungwan asks, hastily taking her arms from Joohyun. “My sister is human.”

“If she was, she’d have died three seconds into that slashing,” Yerim says, stepping forward and looking around. “Your sister’s a Slayer, Wan.”

“Don’t call me that,” she snaps, forming fists with her shaking fingers. “You just tried to kill my sister.”

“She’s the threat, Seungwan.”

Seungwan glares at Joohyun; Joohyun flinches, hurt. “You tried to kill my sister.”

“You don’t know her,” Joohyun counters, tone turning angry.

Seungwan laughs maniacally. “I don’t know her? She’s my goddamn sister!” She takes a deep breath, shaking her head. “I can’t believe you guys.” She stares at each one of them, all their expressions a mixture of shame, guilt, and determination. Anger in Joohyun's. “Some heroes you are.”

And with that, she jogs away from them, her heart jumping out of her chest in fear. She needs to find Hyuna. Hyuna wouldn’t have let her sister die.

She hopes Hyuna won't let her sister forget her either.

A/N:

Hey. Thank you so much for the comments, subscribes and upvotes last chapter! Tbh I was kinda scared people lost interest in this fic, but I’m so happy to see that a lot of you didn’t!

I looked at my outline the other day and if we continue this pace, there are a few more chapters left before it ends, though that’s obvious because Seungwan’s getting the answers to so many questions already. That is, of course, not to say she won’t have more questions.

Leave a comment! I really love checking who got the hints and it fuels a writer, I promise. I reply to questions too, if you have some.

The title is from I’ll Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab For Cutie.

thepurplewan