The sun was beginning to set, bringing about the time of day when most of the trainees would go their own ways and relax after classes. The dorm halls were quiet all but the sound of the critters buzzing from outside the open double doors, people laughing in the distance as stars began to poke out of the baby blue overhead. This was the time of day Lully preferred to take her showers, as most of the boys were elsewhere and the risk of one of them walking in on her, as she and Nana shared an adjoining bathroom with Chen next door, was at a low. Despite not wanting to get too intimate with any of her co-trainees, Lully was also feeling incredibly awkward about her pre-teen body that was in the middle of changing, everything so uncomfortable now.

Towel and clothes clutched close to her body, Lully opened the sliding door into the adjoining bathroom, sneaking in as if she were trying not to get caught. As she sat her things down on the toilet seat, however, she noticed that the sliding door leading into Chen’s room was wide open, the sound of his mumbling voice spilling into the bathroom. He hadn’t noticed her enter the room, his back to the door as he continued talking to himself. Curious, Lully made herself invisible, tip-toeing into his bedroom to listen better.

He sat on the floor, hunched over a stack of papers, his hair staticky and a mess. “What in the heck do they want us to learn this stuff for, anyway? I have Thunder, not a green thumb, this is so dumb!” His voice was somewhere between a light-hearted laugh and a strained frustration.

Lully was nearly holding her breath listening to him. Chen had been rooming next door to her since they were nine, but she hadn’t ever made an effort to get to know him before. It was a strange realization that came over her, that she had known this boy for three years, had a room directly next to his, and yet they never shared more than a few words during their training or in classes.

Chen’s skinny legs stretched out in front of him, his shorts a few inches above his knees, weight into his elbows as he stared at his homework. He could feel a headache coming on, decidedly dropping the work for today. “I’m not doing this, anymore, screw it!” He flung himself backwards to lay on the ground, arms spread out wide. Lully was sure he would hit her and discover her presence, jumping quickly out of the way unseen. Despite her invisibility, Chen thought he heard a strange thump from behind.

“That was weird,” he mumbled to himself, sitting up against and leaning against his bed, brows still furrowed as he looked in Lully’s direction. Sighing, he finally let it go, beginning to sing to himself. He had a very warm sounding voice that reminded Lully of something like home. She wanted to sing with him, but knew better than to reveal herself to him. Did he always sing like this? She didn’t remember hearing it before. It was so lovely, and it took her by surprise, actually. Lully didn’t know boys her age that liked to sing, she’d never seen it before.

That was when she decided she would visit him much more often.

~  ~

Since the bonfire the night before, Sehun kept finding himself wandering the streets of Suju alone, looking for anything that had a piece of Sydney hiding inside. Looking at what remained of the city, the bright colors, neon signs, and posters which seemed to be animated, it was all too obvious that she would have come from a place like this. Even the ruins of Suju were full of life, just like Sydney.

He wandered into the suburbs, imagining which of the homes would have belonged to her family. Almost desperate, he rummaged through his memories, hoping she gave him a clue. Anything.

It wasn’t long before he found himself aimlessly walking through all the houses, the lack of life in each eerie and unsettling. Sehun tried to imagine the bodies that filled these places up, each room b with life. Every home was a story.

Finally, he made his way to a home in the cul de sac; a one-story home, with a tree fallen down onto the roof. Stepping inside, he instantly saw the family photo hanging off the edge of the frame, one of the young faces all too familiar. His heart stopped for a moment, seeing Sydney’s face. It was the realization that he hadn’t seen her in so long that he nearly forgot what she looked like. And even this did nothing to remind him; this photo was taken when she was eight years old at the latest.

Sehun stumbled through the hallway, ducking under the debri that had fallen in through the roof, shoving open doors until he found what he was looking for. Making his way to the last door on the left, he finally found a relatively empty bedroom, still decorated for a little girl. Besides the shattered glass on the floor, the room was still standing and clean for the most part. It was strange, he felt like he were walking into an old memory of hers.

A faint smile crept up onto his face when he saw the dolls laying on her bed, a pink comforter neatly made on top, lipstick stains on the mirror, dress-up clothes hanging on the bed-frame. The Sydney he knew wasn’t quite so stereotypically feminine. Not that she didn’t enjoy girly things, just that he couldn’t remember a time when she would have seemed to enjoy these kinds of things. But then he was suddenly reminded that she had a little sister, and imagined she probably did a lot of things purely for the sake of their bond.

Walking over to the vanity, he knelt down, fingers hesitantly reaching out to touch the words written on the mirror. “Write to me everyday! I love you, Sarah!” complete with a pair of lips. So, her little sister’s name was Sarah. He chuckled faintly to himself, trying to imagine what kind of sister Sydney was.

His fingers traveled to the vanity drawers, hoping to find something he could take with him inside. Pulling the drawer open, a thick stack of letters, wrinkled as they had been crammed to fit inside. Shaking fingers pulled the one on top out, smoothing it out and opening it up, a small picture falling out. Too distracted with the letter itself, he let the photograph fall down to the floor as he tried to find lighting to read with.

Dear Sarah,

Thanks for sending the lotions I asked for. that you can’t get them in the Capitol. Anyways, I really miss you and Mom and Dad. You’re totally having lots of fun without me, right? Ha ha, probably taking over my room, if you haven’t already. Have you met anyone yet? I know you’re going out to those clubs, you can’t convince me otherwise.

The Switching of the Moons dance was about a week ago. I sent you a picture, and that loser, Sehun, I’m always telling you about is in it, too. We both looked pretty amazing in it, actually. Anyways, I’m asking if you met someone because, well… I dunno, I think I might actually really like this loser. What do you think?

~Sydney

Sehun’s heart dropped, rereading the last paragraph until the words didn’t make sense anymore. Remembering the picture that fell to the floor, he scampered around the in the dim lighting, reaching for it awkwardly.

Going back to his light, he flipped the picture over, the back of it reading: “Me and Loser. Pretty cute picture, right? If you have someone you better send a picture!!” Trembling heart, he turned it over again to see the two of them, arms wrapped around the other with smiles reaching from ear-to-ear, smushed together between the crowd of people in the Hall.

Memories of her had made him feel empty before, but this was something totally different. This aching was something far worse and more real. The numbness he felt before was gone and suddenly it was like his insides were non-existent and filled with cement at the same time. I think I might actually really like this loser.

Photograph shaking in his hands, he cried harder than he ever remembered. He cried so loudly he would sure the others could hear him from the miles away that they were. And he didn’t give a damn. Hunched over the vanity, holding onto it for support for fear he’d fall into the heap on the ground, he sobbed until he was sure his throat was bleeding. And the long list of regrets and resentments doubled.

~  ~

They’d been in Suju for several days now, and yet Xiumin already found himself nervous just at the mention of Sulli’s name. In just a little less than a week, the two of them had already becoming close, creating their own little world apart from the rest of the group. He couldn’t think of another time when he’d had so much in common with someone. For once in his life he started to think he belonged somewhere, and it was such an irony that the world would be falling apart around him.

The two of them were constantly sneaking looks at each other, awkward and giggly like children as the others worked hard around them. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to help, it was just that they were so distracted with each other.

Even on this day, Sulli found any excuse to walk by him and give him a few words, about whatever she might think up in passing. They were supposed to be gathering debri from out of the streets to burn, and yet Sulli had hardly gathered anything. Krystal seemed to be the only one that noticed, however, lips pursing together as she waited for her moments to steal Sulli away.

As she finally made her way back, Krystal grabbed Sulli by the wrist, yanking her into an alley. “Hey, Krystal! What the heck?” Sulli held onto her now sore wrist, brows furrowed in confusion.

“You like him, don’t you?” Krystal asked, already knowing the answer.

Sulli laughed, eyes lighting up. “What, no!” Krystal gave her a look. “Okay, a little. Is it really that obvious?”

“Incredibly. And I don’t like it.”

Suddenly, Krystal’s serious demeanor was more apparent, her eyes like ice and her body stiff. She had crossed her arms, expression threatening.

“Why? Do you like him, too?”

Krystal rolled her eyes. “No, and you shouldn’t either. Any other time I wouldn’t mind, you know that. But now? You know what kind of time this is, don’t get attached to anybody. Do you really think you can afford that?”

Sulli looked downward, lips searching for a reply. “Is it really so wrong to want companionship right now, Krystal?”

She sighed, frustrated. “No, but… I just don’t think it’s a good idea… to go looking for that kind of companionship, alright? We need to lean on each other and protect each other, and I’m afraid Xiumin will just be a distraction… or a disappointment. Do you understand where I’m coming from?”

A sigh and a nod. “Yeah, I get you, Krystal. I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“That’s not good enough. We’re like family now, alright? I’m gonna worry about your well-being and the choices you make and all that stuff,” Krystal said awkwardly. She wasn’t very good at these types of discussions.

“That’s fine, Krys. I’m a big girl, I can handle myself. But,” she smiled, “thanks for your concern. I do really appreciate it. It’s just… nice to have something happy to counter all this tragedy, you know?”

“Yeah, I know, I get it,” Sulli smiled.

Krystal gave a wry smile, “I can’t blame you though, he is pretty cute. But I still think you should keep things platonic, alright?” Despite trying to hold an authoritative tone, Sulli could plainly hear the light-heartedness in her voice.

Sulli laughed. “Platonic. Got it!”

~  ~

He shook in the rain, knees trembling with one hand on his gut, hair sticking uncomfortably to his face. Blood dried on his cracked lips and he could still taste the metallic flavor of it on his tongue, churning his stomach, vomit threatening to spill out from him. His eyes were heavy, his entire body exhausted as he begged it to continue onward. Thoughts blurred, he had no sense of direction, just hoping he would find someone, anyone, to help him.

Steam was billowing up from the top of his head, leaving him even dizzier than before. The redhead was in so much pain, so lost. The only place he could think to go was to the arms of the Glow Tree.

Tired eyes looked down at his shaking, blood-stained hands. Praying was all he could do to keep the Wraiths away, too weak to protect himself yet again. He barely escaped with his life, before. And even then, he knew something was wrong.

Taking shaky, pleading breaths, Chanyeol swallowed and continued onwards, hoping the rain would be kind enough to stop shortly.

Author's Note: I redid it because the original Chapter was so ty, sorry guys ~