(it's been a long time~ happy new year!! I told you we were going into 2024 with this- I can't believe I planned this to be a short one hahaha. I'll keep this short, it's a filler episode (not really) so have fun with the less action filled chapter. Oh but there is still important happenings, it's me building up Minjoo's character basically.)
 

Winter remains completely rigid, unconscious on her bed, having been brought home by Karina and Ning with the excuse of,

" She decided drunk karaoke was a bucket list item" Which obviously didn't fly well with Taeyeon but the girls only concluded that it was a problem for morning awaken Minjeong.

Next to her, Jimin decided to stay over and accompany the now sleep mumbling hero. The sight of which would cause Jimin to kick her feet back and forth while giggling to herself, finding the younger girl too cute to handle.

"Sleep well~ Everything will be just fine, I'll be here for you, you big baby." Running her fingers through the girl's bangs, Jimin finds herself smiling softly to herself. Oh god I look creepy right now don't I-

Clearing and looking back down to the book they had to read for their English assignment, Jimin's right hand would hold the book while her left was holding Minjeong's pinky. Reassuring the girl herself that the younger girl was still there, that she was still warm.

Originally having brought both Chaewon and Minjeong back to Aeri's apartment, Jimin had to watch as the girls they had saved were crying in the corner, some of them trying to comfort the others.

"Turns out not all of them were lost, Yujin brought us to find the others like the cute short one I was squealing over. But yeah, all the girls WERE here, not now though... 3 of them disappeared through this portal when you went out to find Minjeong, and we had Kim Minju still missing." Aeri would sit down on the couch next to Jimin.

The pair watching as NingNing brought in a pot of rice, a big plate filled with sunny side up eggs and a bowl of luncheon meat simply fried along with ketchup, mayo and soy sauce.

The two oldest girls would stand up and walk over to the kids, trying to convince them to eat something at least.

"It's been a long day, don't you want to eat something? Not hungry?" Jimin would try squatting besides Yujin who quickly starts crying even more.

"Wonyoungie can't eat anything right now, why should I eat!" Looking over to another girl for perhaps some backup, Jimin's expression turns to horror seeing the previously calm expressionless girl suddenly crying.

"Hyewon would've wanted to eat it..."

"KANG CHAN~" Hitomi would wail from the other side, causing Jimin to find herself trying to put herself in their shoes, imagining if she lost Aeri Ning or Minjeong overnight.

I can't...I don't think I would eat either...

"Don't cry Jimin, we need someone to remain logical for all of us, we need someone to remain strong." Ning would hold the older woman's shoulder, shaking her head slightly.

" Everyone, however much you think you can finish, just eat something. We need the energy to find and get those girls to their senses don't you think? "Suddenly one of the kids stands up with her hands balled into fists by her side.

"KANG HYEWON I WON'T FORGIVE YOU FOR FORGETTING ME AND NOT PLAYING PUBG WITH ME!" She stomps over to the table before eating with determination.

" Stupid Eunbi, how could you slap my hand away when I was trying to help you... I thought we were leading this team together... saku chan, let's eat, I want to slap her back to her senses." Two more girls join the table.

“They’re not our unit, but it feels weird not doing anything if they’re so important to Chaewon unnie..”

" It doesn't feel right to stand next to Yujin without the other tower next to me..." 

"Hyewon owes me bread, she stole it from my fridge. I'll pinch her cheeks until they explode." Giving herself a fist as encouragement, the blonde girl would walk over to the table along with Nako who had a hard time getting into the seats.

“ I hate winning by default, Jang Wonyoung come back and be a better rival.” Grabbing Liz’s hand and dragging all 3 girls to the table, Rei stabs the rice with her fork, a frown on her face. 

"...Yuri, do you want to eat?" Yujin looks over at Yuri who sits with her back against the couch, staring into space.

" Who are you dedicating eating to, Yujin?" Remaining unmoving, the girl's only change would be the tears welling behind her eyes.

" Wonyoung. I don't want to celebrate my birthday alone, it has to be a 48 hour celebration, it's only right that way." Using the shorter girl's shoulder as support, Yujin would stand up, trudging her way to the dinner table and fetching herself a bowl of rice. Plain rice.

The only one remaining was Yuri and Chaewon who was in the same room as Minjeong, still unconscious.

"Yuri...You should eat something." Jimin would reach her hand out for the younger to take, but said girl would only stand up before walking into the room where the two patients were staying, biting her lip.

Jimin would sigh before following after, watching as the girl crouched next to the sleeping Chaewon.

"Chaewon, I know I told you not to hurt her and yes, you didn't, but you let my best friend become evil and run away, you idiot." Throwing light punches on the older girl's shoulder, Yuri would finally let her tears flow, wailing and trying to muffle herself.

" You dumb doppelgänger, you coward. You can't confess your feelings, you can't protect yourself against her, you can't realize she likes you too, you can't even wake up and eat with me. Couldn't we have been the ones who became evil, we would've had a stupid name like Jo Yuriz at least. She's clumsy, dumb, gullible, who knows what she's gonna use her magic for. Kim Chaewon wake up already! Eat with me!" Blinking her eyes as she listens to the younger girl diss everyone and everything, Jimin walks to Minjeong and holds the hero's hand, playing with her fingers as a way to pass time.

"Look at them, so lovey dovey. If you had the balls to confess, maybe you and Minju would've been like that already." Yuri glares at the girl, finding anything and everything to blame for this whole situation. Anything to keep herself sane.

At the younger girl's words, Jimin immediately snorts and lets go of the hero's hand, suddenly feeling conscious of herself.

"You don't even have the balls to wake up and eat with me because you're scared of me scolding you, right?" A jerk up from the bed, Chaewon looks over to Yuri who smirks at the girl and wiggles her eyebrows.

" Feeling called out?" Jimin blinks in confusion at the effectiveness of telling Chaewon she had no balls.

Huh??

"Huh? I felt like I needed to sneeze so I woke up but now the sneeze is gone." Chaewon sniffs the air, seemingly chasing after the sneeze before climbing out the bed and grabbing Yuri’s wrist.

"I smell food, let's go eat Yuri." Walking out the door with the younger girl following behind her, Chaewon would rub her nose, still wondering where the sneeze went.

Closing the door for a moment's privacy with Minjeong, Jimin found herself wondering about the effectiveness of Yuri's calling patients out to wake them up.

"She should sleep more though...but she also didn't have dinner...aaaaaah" Scratching her scalp in frustration, Jimin steels her resolve, breathing in and out before beginning.

"Kim Minjeong, you have no balls. I mean you're literally a woman so of course you don't- You have no balls, the moment I do anything back you're immediately red and falling through the air, even smacking yourself face first into the empire state. You're such a terrible actor, it's a miracle nobody knows you're Spider-Man except for us." Finding herself thinking of what more to say, Jimin decides the opposite would work better.

Blame Kim Minjeong for simply being too perfect of a being for the older girl.

" Your smile is endearingly dumb looking, your hands feel nice to hold yet you never let me hold them much, your skin is ridiculously perfect considering how often you wear that damn mask of yours, your hair is always unfairly perfectly ruffled from the mask. So much so that it makes you look impossibly more attractive, we’ve been friends for only a week but most of it was spent unconscious, either you or me.” Poking the younger’s cheek with the tip of her index finger, Jimin giggles under her breath at how Minjeong’s cheeks would ball up like mochi.

“ Wake up and spend time with me, I wanna get to know you better. Sometimes, it feels like I both know you well and not at all…it’s frustrating. I already find myself so fond of you, how much deeper can I fall for you, Minjeong?" Intertwining