After knowing the identity the woman behind the mask, Sinb couldn’t help but feel terrible and confused. 

“That can’t be…”, the young girl refused to eat what the woman served her, but deep inside she felt that connection. She is indeed related to that woman. 

“Why would I help you then?”, the woman asked her, making Sinb dive inside her thoughts. 

“You tortured me…”, Sinb hesitantly said, for she knew that she didn’t exactly feel oppressed with the whole tormentation thing. 

The woman looked at her and rolled her eyes. 

“First things first…”, she snapped her finger and unexpectedly the Monarchs, the guards, the audience and even Momo’s corpse — they vanished. Sinb was disturbed with the quick transition of events. 

“... we wouldn’t want any nuisance in our heart-to-heart conversation, would we?”, the woman beamed at Sinb, but she wasn’t too pleased with her. 

“What do you want? Why are you doing this to me? If you’re really me, how could you change like this? You basically made everyone fight, and die in this whole senseless battle!”, Sinb stormed at her older self, but the woman wasn’t answering. 

“Why are you shutting your mouth? I need no silence, I want your response! Answer me!”, Sinb’s tears were bursting out of her eyes. There was a heap of anger inside her, and she couldn’t stop venting it out. 

The older version of Sinb just stood there in silence. She could sense her younger self’s fury, but she took her time before finally responding. 

“I was the weakest back then… always looked down, treated like crap when it comes to dancing. I definitely wasn’t fed with a golden spoon”, she giggled to herself upon realizing the mistakes in her statement. “Pardon me, we weren’t fed with golden spoon”, she grinned. “Due to that predicament, I learned to stand up for myself, and earned my way here, til I became someone with power. People idolized me, praised me, and feared me. I love the attention and the recognition I was lusting for when I was your age”, she continued.

The older Sinb’s facial expression transformed. It was filled with darkness, and it was evident with the chills that Sinb was getting from her other self. 

“You suddenly came here, from the other side of the world… and I knew I had to strengthen you, build you up, create another image in you”, the woman grimaced. 

“Those battles, they were proof that I am the best! I controlled them, I manipulated their fates… they were like puppets I played with. I became god, and I love the feeling”, she laughed hysterically which made Sinb shake. She felt helpless upon seeing her other self, living off of others’ pain. She felt embarrassed of how reckless and ugly she had become. Even though their worlds aren’t exactly aline, it was still shameful to see her turn into a monster. She refused to accept this fate. 

“I… I don’t want to be like you”, Sinb stuttered. “You’re evil, and I am not like you!”

Sinb tried to run away from her other self, exerted tremendous force on her lower extremities to aid her in her escape. She was scared of her other self. She was scared of this whole thing. 

“You can’t run away from me, Hwang Eunbi! This will be your written fate!”, the woman began to chase her. 

Sinb went out of the arena, to the woods of the North, she kept on huffing and puffing; so did the older Sinb. 

“No matter how much you detest me, it’s of no use. Hating me means hating yourself, Eunbi”, the woman continued to counter attack. 

The world kept on spinning on its axis, the leaves kept on rustling with the wind, their hearts kept on pumping blood out and in to their hearts. Everything was still in motion, and Sinb wanted to stay in her motion, but she couldn’t keep up with the exhaustion. After battling with Momo, and being confronted by her other self, she was drained. 

Like a withering flower, she gradually chipped off, her body completely coming to halt. 

“There’s no reason for you to turn away from your destiny, my younger self”, the woman came near her and wiped Sinb’s tears. 

“Sometimes, we have to change, even for the worst, especially when it’s the only way to survive. You see, natural selection is real, self, and we have no choice to become greater than everybody else”

Sinb hated herself for falling. Sinb hated herself for putting her reasons that way. In her mind, she knew her excuse was a product of cowardly action. Sinb knew there are other ways to survive the consequences of time. Sinb knew so, but she couldn’t stop her older self from caressing her head. She couldn’t stop her from possibly rewriting the stars. 

“It’s fine, Eunbi. You will survive and come out as the best”

She just let her be, until a voice spoke to her, “EUNBI! Are you out of your mind?”

There was no mistaking to it, that small voice was Yewon’s. Hearing so made Sinb get back to her senses, and prevented her older self’s manipulation of fate. 

“What do you think you’re doing?”, her older self was dumbfounded with her actions. 

“I thought I could just let you be, because even when I felt scared of seeing my possible future, I had trust in myself. But I am crazy for trusting in the lunatic in you”, Sinb responded, feeling a little bit better and confident after hearing Yewon’s voice. 

“I… I admit I am hurt when I’m compared to others. I admit my flaws, but I shouldn’t step on others just to achieve my goals. I will get there with my strength…”, she paused to look at her older self. “... with my unnies’ help, with Buddies and my family. I know I can feel empowered through them”, she wiped the tear in her older self’s cheek. 

It was weird to see herself cry. It was weird that she’s now comforting her, but maybe it’s not that weird after all. She loved to console herself as well, and so she embraced her other self, until she dissoluted and the world did the same. 

After her conversation with her older self, and hearing Yewon’s voice, Sinb felt energized to go on and find her way out. 

She stood up, lightly cleaning her abrasions, and started walking. The old world has transformed into space filled with spirits and loose souls. She was thinking this could be the astral realm, but she wasn’t too sure of it, which is why she just focused on looking for their maknae. 

“Yewon…”, she was murmuring, wary of the other entities with her. 

She looked for her from portals to portals, but the little woman was nowhere to be found. Sinb felt like giving up, but she was reminded of how Yewon’s voice saved her earlier, so she kept going. 

Minutes later, Sinb found herself in a seemingly neighbourly place. They went here when they attended KCon. She arrived at LA, uncertain of why her gutfeel told her she should be here. 

She looked around the busy streets, the less crowded places, until she found herself in small town, resting near the stretch of the seas. There were few humans casually strolling around the town, and Sinb managed to blend into the crowd. She kept on walking, unaware of her destination, til her steps led her inside a school. 

“A middle school?”, Sinb asked herself as she decided to explore more of the place. Classes were going on, so there was no way she had to interact with them. Of course, her in her astral form slipped out of her mind as she was uncertain of her state as well. 

The young girl peeked at the rooms and she almost fainted with the overwhelming effect of language difference. Yewon and Yuju would speak English from time to time, as well as the other four of ‘em, but natives really speak it differently. Before having her energy drained, she walked away, to the bathroom stalls. 

She didn’t have the urge to pee or poo, she cannot at her state unknowingly. However, she just went inside. Hiding at one of the cubicles, beside her was a sobbing woman. Her squeaks weren’t that catching, as if she was trying to restrain herself from making a sound, but Sinb could still hear her. 

“Hey, yo-you… fi-fine?”, her careful English managed to pass through the thin walls of her cublicle to the other. She forgot that she was on her astral state, and the sobbing woman wouldn’t prolly hear her. 

There was no verbal response from the adjacent stall, instead Sinb received a creak from an opening bathroom door. Immediately, Sinb went out of the stall as well, having this sincere heart to comfort the sobbling woman. 

When Sinb went out of the stall, there was an obvious mark of surprise in her face. The sobbing woman was covered in slime and flour, her hair dirty as well as her drenched clothes. But more importantly, what put Sinb to rage was the fact that this  sobbing dirty woman in front of her was Yewon. It was Kim Yewon. 

Even with her astral state, their eyes met signifying that Yewon could see her. Sinb grabbed onto her, attempting to hold her, but she wasn’t able to do so. She could only express distraught at the horrid state of her friend. 

“Who did this to you? Yewon-ah, who did this to you?”

“I know I can see spirits, but please stop acting like you care for me. I told others that I won’t help you spirits cross over”, Yewon nonchalantly responded and walked through Sinb’s translucent body.  

“Spirit? Kim Yewon, are you playing with me? I’m in no mood for games!”, Sinb yelled at her, pissed off that Yewon seem to be ignoring her. 

The sobbing Yewon looked back at her, with eyes somehow asking her to stop. Yewon’s pitiful gaze sent shivers to Sinb’s spine. 

“Yewon, I’m—”, before Sinb could finish her words, Yewon left the toilet. 

More than what Sinb experienced in this tiring nightmare or dream or whatever, this was the most painful. Having her friend look like a mess and hurt, having her friend ignore her and crush her completely — that made her heart ache. Ache so, so much that she became paralyzed in her place.