They desperately crawled their way closer to their eldest unnie, while carrying the ill Eunha.

“Eunha, hang in there”, Yuju tightened her embrace whilst struggling to move.

All this time, Sowon was right there, waiting to be saved. They had no idea as to why she was there, but that didn’t matter at that moment. She has suffered in the cold alone; that’s enough reason to pull her out.

With their combined effort, they managed to remove Sowon from the frozen glass bead. She was freezing, and they shared  her their warmth.

They waited for Sowon and Eunha to wake up; they did.

Shocked and seemingly absent-minded, Sowon stared at her members and her self. But when she came to her senses, she realized how much she hurt them with her words.

“Forgive me, I have no right to be your leader”, she was bawling her eyes out.

“Unnie, you had a reason...”, Sinb pulled their eldest to a tight embrace.

“... and what you said made us reflect as well”, Yewon patted her hair, gently caressing each strand.

Yerin could feel her heart wrench with every tear Sowon cried, that she herself started to tear up.

“Unnie”, Yuju intertwined her fingers with Yerin’s, assuring her that everything would be fine.

Eunha, whose condition was worsening, could barely support herself, but she joined the embrace.

“We love you, unnie”

The coldness was getting severe, but they were warm; their hearts were.

As they got hold of their eldest, they felt a bit more secure. Now, they just need to figure out how to get out of this place the same way they went in — safely together.

“Where do we go out?”

“I don’t know”

“Let’s just walk around and hope for some door to pop out or something”

They began wandering all over the place, shivering at the sudden gush of winds. At first, the winds were bearable till they became violent and they clouded over them.

Another turmoil rose when Sowon stopped moving. Along with the winds, she started screaming at the top of her lungs language they could not decipher.

“Unnie! What’s happening again?”

Yewon held her unnie’s cold hands, attempting to understand the situation they were put into.

“Damn!”

Yerin punched the winds to vent out her frustrations.

“Who are you playing around with us? Why do you target unnie? Just freaking shut it, bastard!”

She didn’t care about filtering her words. She believed she had the right to utter sharper curses, but she still restrained her tongue.

With Yerin’s question, the place became calm once again. They looked at each other worryingly before attending to their eldest.

“Unnie, are you fine? What happened?”

Eunha struggled to ask.

“Eunha-ya… it’s here. Kids, it’s here… she’s here”

Tears began to pour out from Sowon’s eyes, but Sinb was wiping them simultaneously, keeping her unnie sane.

“Kim Sojung, the mighty leader of Gfriend… I warned you already, didn’t I? Still you had the tenacity to have these kids here”, a voice suddenly resonated within the place.

“Eh? Who’s that?”

It felt weird, hearing such a clear message despite the openness of the place.

“Please, don’t hurt them”, their eldest was shaking but still standing firm on her request.

“If it’s gonna be a pleading game, you should have just obeyed silently”

The voice continued to pierce through their ears, making them fear its words.

“A—Aren’t you a coward? Hiding like that… sh-show you-yourself, e-e-evil crea-creature”, Eunha clenched her fists and  held her tears as she tried to provoke the voice.

“Heh… you’re threatening me, Jung Eunbi”, the voice chuckled a bit then continued, “but I see your heart— it’s full of fear”. At that second, Eunha levitated.

“Eunha-ya!”

“Damn! Let Eunha go!”

Yerin and Yuju were trying to pull her down, but every time they try to reach unto her, she rose further.

“I-I can’t brea...the”

“Stop it! Stop it, please!”

Yuju was horrified, looking at Eunha who was suffering in her illness and this torture, especially because those strangulation marks appeared once again.

“Ahh! Please! Please!”

As their begging became stronger, the voice became pleased, releasing Eunha who was bruised from asphyxiation.

“Eunha-ya”

There was minimal breathing and pulse, but thank goodness she was still alive.

“Damn you!”

The maknaes who were on Sowon’s side were seemingly not in the position to support someone. Their fragile hearts and memories brought them back to their dreams— or nightmares.

Sinb who saw Eunha gasping, convulsing at every tightening of the grip made her remember her slain opponents. Those eyes made her feel dirty and guilty. She thought she already made it clear to herself that it wasn’t real, but it was still creeping into her.

Umji who saw Eunha gasping as if her soul was leaving its body made her remember how she gasped for her own air too. Those little yet big attempts to be forgotten scared her, even though it wasn’t real. That dream ruined her somewhere and she cannot be divorced from that fact.

Meanwhile, Sowon could not shed a tear or so, as she remembered their detailed conversation the first time she heared that voice.

“Where am I?”

“Kim Sojung, nice to meet you”

“Who are you?”

“Fret not. I am here to help you find them”

“Find… who are you?”

“Heh, you don’t easily trust people, huh. That’s good”

“What’s with you?”

“I am here to tell you a story”

The voice told Sowon her scariest nightmares and the position she’s on. What Gfriend was going through, she could stop it.

“W-why are you…”

“I like that. You’re stammering now. I’d like to offer a deal, Sojung-ah”

“D-deal?”

“Yes, a deal”

It was surely a bait, a trap to pin her and manipulate her, but Sowon knew no other options. She clung onto the sharp edge of the blade, making her bleed. A supererogatory act as it may seem, but sacrificing herself for her members— that’s always been Sowon’s opinion of a leader.

“Please… take me. I’m the one who took your deal, they have nothing to do with this. Please, let them go”

“Unnie, what are you saying? We’re all in this together”

“We’re not a one-man act, right? Don’t say that”

“Please… let’s do this together”

Everyone was giving their fair share of opinions, even Eunha who could barely move from pain, tried her best to speak out, but Sowon remained unbothered. As if she was extremely pleased with the whole situation, she managed to smile through her decisions.

“Kim Sojung!”

Yerin yelled at her, cheeks red either from embarrassment or coldness.

“Yerin-ah”

“You are our eldest unnie, our leader… not a damn hero who chooses when to sacrifice yourself”

“Unnie”, Yewon could feel Yerin’s intentions.

“We trained together, debuted together, endured everything together… even if you’re our leader, don’t you think this is too much?”

Sowon could not believe what she’s hearing, nor the other members. All they could feel are their tears streaming on their faces.

“Don’t go thinking that we need to be saved. We don’t need to be saved. Stop acting tough… Kim Sojung”

As if those were the words she had been waiting all her life, her fear-stricken face was replaced with a determined one.

“I’m sorry, Yerin-ah, everyone… You’re right. We’re Gfriend after all”

A trite as it may be, but they felt energized after that little TedTalk from Yerin. Soon they had this fearless aura in their eyes, and as they gathered in a circle, their hearts chanted a song.

We may look like glassbeads who are fragile, but we won’t break that easily.

“Fools!”

They were pouring their soul onto the song.

“Tonight’s just one song for your escape, but in another dream, we’ll meet again… by then, I will get stronger”

The voice echoed within the place until it slowly disappeared.

“I am you all”

Then, the voice disappeared.

“That’s it?”

“You want more, Yewon-ah?”

“No, unnie… but”

“What that creature said… I am you all… it doesn’t make sense”

It seemed strange to them how everything just happened in an instant. Second after second, things have been unfolding rather quickly that they barely had the time to think further. Not to mention, the last sentence stirred up greater confusion within them.

“Let’s not mind that, shall we? What’s certain is that we all did a good job, guys. We all did”

But did they really?