IRENE woke up early the next morning despite having a little bit of a hangover. She stared at the girl sleeping next to her, checked her work mails, gave the girl a kiss on her cheek, washed her face and brushed her teeth, gave the girl another quick kiss before finally preparing breakfast.

When she’s finally at the kitchen, she falls deep into her thoughts since she doesn’t know what kind of foods Gi likes. She ate with her a few times but she never really mentioned anything whether she liked the food or not.

“I’ll just ask her later.” Irene told herself while smiling like a fool. She proceeded to prepare the breakfast that she planned to prepare that day.

Irene is definitely in a good mood.

First and foremost, nothing happened after the bathroom door locked. Irene only helped Gi wash her hair while the girl was soaked in the tub. They were just talking about random stuff even though Gi was close to passing out because of alcohol.

Irene thought that Gi would be disappointed in her because she tricked her about responding to her in Gi’s special language but surprisingly there was no complaint from Gi at all. She just sat there and listened to everything Irene was saying… with a smile on her face.

For now, it’s enough for Irene. She believes they are making small steps towards healing. Getting too intimate with Gi might not be good for the girl because of her trauma. There are many ways to show that she likes her aside from that kind of intimacy.

“But kissing would be okay, right?” Irene asked herself while giggling.

It’s the first time that she felt this giddy. It’s as if she’s finally experiencing the type of romance her highschool classmates felt back in the days. She was just watching and listening to their stories since she wasn’t allowed to date back then. But now, being in a relationship with the person she actually likes released all the butterflies in her stomach.

Irene finished preparing breakfast but Gi was still sleeping. She decided to check out on her and she found her sleeping like a baby. The alcohol probably took a toll on her body.

Irene then decided to go back to bed and suit herself by staring at Gi’s sleeping face.

She started poking those cute cheeks and pointy nose. “How do you feel now, huh, lady? How do you feel now that I am the one staring at your sleeping face?”

Irene let out some giggles and took her phone. She snapped a picture of Gi and saved it to the online drive that she made last night. Only her and Gi have the access to the said drive. They agreed to upload their pictures there, giving the drive a name called Beautiful Memories.

Irene fell into trance as she examined more of Seulgi’s features. She can’t deny the fact that her visuals are so appealing. Seulgi is just too beautiful.

“I still wonder how you really look, Gi…”

What Gi told her when she was drying her hair suddenly entered her mind. There was noise from the air blower but she was sure of what she heard since it felt like Gi purposely waited for the noise to die down a bit before she said it.

“I actually got a name.”

Irene wanted to interrogate her about it but Gi was already drifting to dreamland. She already fought enough and her body gave in. Irene guided her to the bed and helped her get a comfortable position to sleep.

‘If it’s true that she was not originally nameless then it is possible that she also knows what she really looked like.’ Irene then turned to the table where her tablet was placed. She suddenly remembered all Gi’s drawings of the other alters.

Irene let out another sigh and started poking Gi’s cheeks again. “Why did you lie about not having a name then? What’s your real name?”

The sleeping girl started to move which made Irene pull her hand back. She covered her face up to her nose and pretended that she was sleeping.

“U-Ugh… so bright…”

Irene opened one eye since it didn’t sound like it was Gi. It didn’t sound like Seul either.

She watched the girl rub the sleep from her eyes before rolling to lie on her back. She took one big stretch followed by a long yawn.

The said girl stared blankly at the ceiling for some time before her head suddenly turned to Irene, making the latter let out an audible gasp.

Irene watched how a mysterious smile slowly curved up to the girl’s lips the moments her eyes sparkled with recognition.

“Snow White is in front of me~” the girl said with glee. “Finally~!”

“W-Who—“

Irene squeaked when the other girl suddenly rose up. She was surprised by how quick the girl moved as Irene was already being pinned down to the bed.

“Hey, Snow White!” The girl who has Seul’s warm smile and Gi’s dead eyes called out. “Give me a kiss!”

“W-What!?” Irene struggled to free herself. The taller girl is much stronger than her. “There’s no way I can let you kiss me! And why do you call me Snow White!?”

The taller girl laughed. “Why not? I already kissed your brother! Why can’t I kiss you?”

“You what!?”

Irene was even more shocked. All the time she thought it was Gi who kissed Francis but it was someone else all along.

What Wendy said during their last call suddenly rang in the back of her head. The statement about the alter the others call as shadow—the holder of anger. The one who fused with Gi.

But if she really did fuse with Gi then why is she out here? Irene was also sure that Wendy told her about the shadow’s inability to surface. She was just really like a shadow with no body at all. All she had was her voice.

“W-Who are you? What’s your name?” Irene asked as she gritted her teeth. “W-What happened to Gi!?”

The girl just laughed as she tightened her hold to Irene’s wrists, making Irene’s face crumble in pain. She then descended her face closer to Irene.

“Don’t worry. She’s just too dizzy to come out now. She’ll be here soon.”

Irene was relieved. She was thinking that Gi already disappeared or something.

The girl then started smelling Irene’s skin through the girl’s neck. Irene squirmed when she felt the lady’s breath on her neck. “S-Stop…”

“Oh, Snow White~ You don’t know how much I yearned to meet you like this!” The girl chuckled once more. “She is sure taking her sweet time to claim you, I am getting bored to death!”

“S-Stop… please…” Irene already felt like crying.

“Right, that’s right~ Let me see you cry~” The girl spoke from her side. “I’ll your tears dry for—“

Irene gasped when the girl suddenly fell silent, her eyes were wide open. She then turned by the window where the sea can be clearly seen and oh, Irene lacked the vocabulary to describe how those dead eyes suddenly sparkled.

“It’s the sea!”

Without any more word, the girl freed Irene and jumped out of the bed. She scanned the whole room for the door and rushed to it after finding it.

“H-Hey!” Irene quickly got out of the bed to follow the said girl. She was already out of the house when Irene made it in the living room.

Panting heavily due to uncalled exercise, Irene found the girl admiring the sea the moment she stepped outside.

“Don’t go running outside like that…” Irene said, catching her breath.

“I mean it’s the sea, Snow White!” The girl said with the same enthusiasm as Seul. “I’ve always been curious how it would feel to drown in the sea!”

Irene stiffened. “W-What?”

The girl turned to her smiling but those dead eyes again. “I want to try, Snow White! Maybe drowning will solve