Chaeyoung was there, listening. Everybody went to sleep, midnight being on time to spread its shadows over the country. Candles were faintly illumination the living room, giving a new impression to this place. It seemed old but comfy, like a luxurious room from Versailles. The paintings were quiet, if we took a closer look, we would bet the person living inside the paintings were sleeping tight. Chaeyoung sighed and looked up at Sana and Nayeon. Both of their shadows dancing against the yellowish walls.

"This is a mistake", Nayeon said while putting down her glass of wine. They opened a bottle, asking Chaeyoung if she wanted a glass of red wine but she turned down the proposition.

"It isn’t, the mistake would have been to let them destroy us, the Humanity", Sana was convinced about her words, she probably rehearsed it for herself during months because the veracity was authentic.

"There is always multiple solutions to a problem, but bringing us all together here today isn’t one. I can do my best, you know I won’t fight if-"

"Stop lying, you can’t shut up, even if it isn’t intentional you’re always there to pick up a fight and you know how Momo is hard to control sometimes", Sana chuckled but she just spilled the tea, making Nayeon scoff.

"Not a physical fight, I just have an opinion on things but… I’m not fond of hurting people, you know that it’s just not me", Nayeon shook her head, looking for something to hold but she preferred to pick up her glass and drink away whatever emotions started to bubble up.

"I know that it’s not you, I know you only mean to be honest but not everyone is ready to live life with it’s brutal realism. We all are trying to fix things with illusions or to live with half-truths, and we do it or else it would be too hard to live", Sana’s expression hardened. From Chaeyoung’s sit, light covered half of her face giving a very inflexible aura to Sana. She took a deep breath, taking in the whole discussion, there was nothing aggressive but both women tried to find a final accord about the situation. Chaeyoung felt small, unable to utter a word, it was suffocating but also incredibly hard to stop watching Sana and Nayeon talking.

"You are asking me to deny reality, but I’m sorry mine is harder to escape than yours Sana", Nayeon finished drinking her glass. Tears were forming in the corner of her eyes and she looked away, towards the painting of a woman. The canvas was prodigious, as much as the nine others. Once again, Nayeon slowly shook her head, looking at the woman proudly sitting on her chair, a hint of challenge coloring her full lips.

"If we start arguing about who’s the unluckiest of us all, then we all should start packing and go home, but this is not a war between us, this shouldn’t be", Sana stretched her arm, her hand cupping Nayeon’s jaw, making her look right into her clear brown eyes.

"What if we start believing about the good side of our abilities ? The world wouldn’t be so dark", Sana whispered. Nayeon stayed silent for a moment, frozen in time just like Chaeyoung. Their silhouette almost kissing each other against the walls full of past history. One day, would they be on those paintings ? Will it be their turn ? Chaeyoung thought.

"You’re asking the wrong person to believe about this bull", Nayeon’s voice wavered and she stood up, freeing herself from Sana’s grip. They both shared a silent look, full of words that Chaeyoung couldn’t grasp and Nayeon walked away.

At this moment, Chaeyoung wanted to comfort Sana even though she seemed to be perfectly fine. The blonde was looking at the ceiling, her back facing the last person inside the room. But she obviously wasn’t very satisfied about Nayeon’s words, maybe a little bit frustrated and Chaeyoung was too coward to even move a finger.

"It’s so early, couldn’t find sleep ?" Dahyun made some space beside her. They were both outside, with Chaeyoung, sitting on the steps she first came through the night thunder growled.

"I have a hard time sleeping lately", Chaeyoung admitted, hugging her knees and pressing them against her chest.

"You must be lost, I can understand, I was lost once too." Dahyun bumped her shoulder against Chaeyoung to create some intimacy between them and won a little tiny smile.

"You were ?" Chaeyoung asked, still a bit sad about the last events. The team looked shattered and had a past hard to get over. She was the newbie, unaware of the past events and the danger coming at them.

"I was. I wasn’t the first to join the team. With Nayeon we kind of... were outsiders you know, I was against fighting, hurting, anything close from violence and Nayeon, well… it took Jihyo so much time to convince her to join us", Dahyun sighed but not out of sadness, nostalgia was building up inside her stomach and the sensation wasn’t that bad.

"We’ve been through worse than that, I promise", Dahyun chuckled before looking at her feet, “Way worse than that, yeah…”

"But it already seems like we are going through the worst phase ever, I barely know any of you, I’m just getting used to those dynamics but everybody are sad, angry, unsure and what if we just don’t agree on the mission we are supposed to execute ?" Chaeyoung was making wide movements with her arms, letting out the frustration she’d been holding for days now. Dahyun was listening, she was able to listen and to give no judgment. And maybe Chaeyoung felt more at ease because she didn’t need Sana’s mother figure but more like a friend, and Dahyun seemed to be able to endorse this role.

"To be honest, it looks messed up but it isn’t “that” messed up. The only problem we have is..." Dahyun bit her lip, looking for a way to express herself. Chaeyoung was desperate to understand but found back some composure.

"I feel like, there is a thing nobody wants to talk about", Chaeyoung mumbled, a bit hurt that this “story” nobody is ready to open up about can’t be voiced out for her inner peace of mind.

"It’s just that only one person knows what happened that night during the last fight we got against the darkness…" Dahyun shrugged, looking at the dead tree protecting the grave a few steps away from the manor. Chaeyoung kept looking at Dahyun’s green hair and then, her facial expression. They all were hiding something.

"But just don’t feel too lonely, I’m here and if there is a thing I hate it’s when someone feels left out", Dahyun reached for Chaeyoung’s arm and squeezed it a bit. The warm feeling flooding over Chaeyoung’s heart was new, did she made a friend ? Someone she could rely on ?

Momo was walking around her room, reading an old piece of theatre at loud. Her body moved accordingly to the tone she must use to give life to the text but when she turned around in a swift motion, her eyes met with the ghost of her dreams.

"Things never change", the soft voice spoke before reaching Momo’s hand to catch the book. Their fingers brushed past each other.

"Is there a way for you to break the spell and to live in two thousand nineteen ?" The voice teased a bit but the monotonous vibration made Momo blink before breathing again. She looked at Mina from head to toe, her hand empty from her eternal treasure but she managed to catch her hips to press her slender frame against her cold body.

"You never complained, Juliet", Momo murmured before letting go of Mina’s hips to make her spin. The room was small, the luminosity only coming from the round window. But it was wide enough to keep their secret, to keep this moment intimate and for Momo to make the girl dance and spiral despite the small space.

"Because I die before being able to", Mina breathed.

A/N : Okay, so, is it good ? I love this chapter so far, my favorite for the moment. I wanted to put some tension over here.