EDITED

The sun rose above the mountains and the birds chirped just like in the movies. Hyoyeon woke up to the sound of her phone alarm. She turned over and reached her right arm for the phone while her left was still under Sunny. She looked at the time, 7am. She grunted at the hour and slowly removed herself from Sunny. Sunny still asleep, adjusted her posture when Hyoyeon left the bed. Hyoyeon rubbed her eyes and stretched out her arms. After brushing her teeth, she sluggishly made her way back to her room to get ready for the day. She turned to her closet but mentally slapped herself. ! I almost forgot to wake her up. She went around the bed and leaned down. She gently shook Jessica's shoulder.

"Sica. It's time to wake up," she nudged her again, "Sica. Come on Sica."

 Jessica shifted her position but she still remained unconscious. Aigoo. Why do you have to be so hard to wake up? Well, I guess there's no other way. She let herself collapse on Jessica. It did the trick as the latter grunted in agony.

"Get off meee…" she complained half asleep.

"Nope. Not until you open your eyes." Hyoyeon looked at her.

"Okay… I'll get up." Jessica opened her eyes to have a pair of dark brown orbs stare right back at her. Her face instantly flourished into a crimson red.

Hyoyeon laughed and got off of her. "Good morning," she went back to the closet.

"Morning…" Jessica sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Oh by the way, what was the reason for last night?" her curiosity took over her.

"Not my story to tell. If you want to know why don’t you go ask her yourself after your rehearsal? No work for her today."

"Mkk. Have fun at work," she mumbled, "don't forget about my musical premiering in a week!"

"I'm part of the production cast idiot! Did you forget?" Hyoyeon said as she crutched herself down the hall.

***

It was late afternoon. Jessica threw her bag as she walked into the door. Though preparations for the musical was finalized and everything was set, the director still had everyone run through the musical once every day until premiere day. She slid out of her fuzzy boots, and shrugged off her heavy coat. Her sluggish and weakened legs brought her to accompany Sunny on the couch, sitting at the end of her feet. Sunny lay comfortably over the couch with her legs stretched and her back rested on the arm of the couch. Jessica's mind wondered as she looked at Sunny who was absorbed into a book with hot chocolate next to her and a blanket over her legs. Sunny knew Jessica was staring at her. A smile crept on her face. She knew what was going through the latter's head. In an effort to make asking easier for her, Sunny decided to talk first.

"Isn't there something to ask me?" Sunny startled Jessica with her sudden question, her attention still into the book.

"W-what? There's nothing to ask," Jessica slouched into the couch and took a magazine out.

"Hyoyeon told me. It's okay. You can ask if you want," she laughed subtly.

Damn you, Hyoyeon. Jessica mentally cursed the dancer. She gently threw the magazine on the coffee table and walked over to Sunny. She sat at the foot of the couch and leaned her back against it. Her head tilted up and she looked at Sunny with a bit of regret. She didn't know if it was right for her to be asking about something so personal but Sunny seemed willing to share her story. Sunny looked down and saw Jessica looking back at her. She inserted her bookmark and put it down the book next to her.

"Will you tell me?" Jessica asked in a concerned tone, "it's okay if you don't want to."

She sat up and situated herself properly. "Come sit next to me," she patted the spot next to her.

 Jessica got up and obediently sat right next to her.

Sunny put the blanket over her and began her story. "At school I was known as the girl who never talked and never associated with anyone. I was the typical loner and outcast. All of that, of course, had a reason. I went to the same middle school as Taeyeon and Hyoyeon but I never talked to them since they were also the typical popular kids. I met the two at a park in sixth grade. I had been crying for a while when they approached me."

I sat at the tree with my knees up to my chest and arms hugging my legs. It happened again. Another wave of tears flowed out of my eyes from the thought of what happened a few hours ago. I kept crying and crying. I didn't want to go back. It hurts too much to be there. I heard footsteps coming from the bottom of the hill but I figured that it's other kids who are passing by.

"Taeee! Come over here!" I heard the girl scream. What is she doing? Why did her footsteps stop? Then I heard another girl talk.

"What is Hyo? Why did you suddenly run over here in the middle of our spar?" She's panting. Why is she panting?

"The girl on top of that hill has been crying for a while now. I'm worried." I heard that she was panting too. What are they doing? Why can't they just leave me alone?

"Aigoo. You and your personality. Alright, let's go see if she's okay." Why can't they let me cry alone? Tears fell even harder after I heard them walking up the hill.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do so I kept my head in my arms.

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard that girl's soft voice. It was Hyoyeon.

"Hey, we just want to make sure if you were okay." I felt Taeyeon sit next to me.

I peeked my eyes above my arms just enough to see what they wanted. They both were wearing taekwondo uniforms and had yellow belts to keep their top closed. They looked nice. My eyes were bloodshot red from all the crying I did and seeing their caring faces just made more tears fall. I quickly wiped my eyes with my sleeves.

"Hey what's wrong?" Taeyeon scooted closer to me. I scooted the other way.

Hyoyeon sat on the other side of me so I couldn't scoot anymore. "It-It's nothing." I bolted up and ran down the hill wiping the tears that fell.

"I kept running for a while until I was sure they didn't follow me," Sunny took a breath, "they were quite intimidating even though they looked very nice," she laughed awkwardly.

Jessica looked at her a bit worried, "you don't have to keep talking about it if you don't want to," she put a hand on Sunny's shoulder.

Sunny gently pulled Jessica's hand off her shoulder and held it reassuringly. "It's okay. You should know so you don't have to be so jealous," she winked.

Just then Hyoyeon came in from the front door and threw her bag next to Jessica's. She exhaustingly limped over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. She cracked open the cap and took a long gulp of the ice cold water before facing the two.

"Whatcha guys talking about?" Hyoyeon crutched over to the stairs.

"I'm telling her about how you two didn't even know of my existence until that day," Sunny teased. "wanna join?"

"Hey! Not my fault that you made yourself into a living ghost!" she bickered back, "and no thank you. I don't really want to relive that again. Thinking about that day sickens me." Hyoyeon's hands gripped her crutches tightly. "I'll see you guys for dinner."

Sunny looked at Jessica again and let out a subtle smile. Jessica understood that the rest would it hard for Sunny to tell so she sat up right to her and held her hand. Sunny smiled wider and continued.

I slowly limped into the house hoping my dad didn't hear me. I closed the door ever so quietly. I was doing well until I reached the stairs and my dog saw me. He barked. I loved that dog to death. He was my only companion, my only real family after my mother left me but right now I wanted to stab a knife down his throat.

"Soonkyu, is that you?" A raspy voice called from the living room.

 Son of a . I put my hands over my mouth to make sure no form of noise would escape in terror. I pulled out my index finger and pointed at my dog. I was stupid enough to think a dog could read sign language when it barked again. I squeezed my eyes shut hoping it would make me disappear into tiny particles and dissipate into thin air