I was running.

Running away from something.

What it was, I didn't know and I didn't dare look back to see what it was. Something told me it would catch up to me if I did. So I kept running, panting hard. I couldn't help but wonder when I wouldn't be able to run any more. It seemed like it wouldn't be long.

From the corner of my eye I saw a figure appear out of nowhere. Slowly materializing, it took a while for me to recognize what or rather who it was. Just as I realized who it was, she called out to me. Seulgi. She called my name. Her voice sounded worried. No, she actually sounded genuinely scared. Why? Seulgi wasn't the type to get scared easily. Why would she be scared? Was it because of me?

A sharp pain in my neck snapped me out of my thoughts. My right hand flew to the back of my neck and when it touched the painful spot, it felt warm and ... Liquid? Still running, I looked at my hand. It was completely covered in a dark blue liquid. Suddenly the pain became excruciating and my legs slowed down until they couldn't run anymore. I collapsed and fell down on my knees. A dark blue color, the same color as the liquid, was spreading from the top of my arms. It looked like branches growing and connecting to each other. At first I found it fascinating, but as I realized that my body was going to be completely covered in this dark stuff, I let out a long, high-pitched scream. I didn't even know I was capable of producing such a sound.

I finally dared to look behind me and a big, dark, formless shape overwhelmed me as if it was an enormous wave of darkness. Long, black claws made their way into my arms, slicing through as if I was made of nothing but air. For some reason it didn’t hurt. Maybe it was because my neck was already hurting so much?

Dark blue spots began to appear on the edge of my sight and they spread until I was completely blind.

A sudden pain in my chest and then I felt nothing.

“Mali” a voice called from somewhere.

Reacting to the person calling for me, I opened my eyes. Bright lights blinded me and I decided to just close my eyes, hoping the light would go away.

“Mali-yah. You have to wake up or you’re gonna be late” the person from before said to me.

Instead of answering I waved my hands in front of me, still with my eyes closed. Why did I have to wake up? What was I going to be late for? And most important of all what had just happened?

Oh… It was a dream. It had seemed so real for a second.

The person next to me began humming, and I laid still for the next minute or so, just listening to the humming and the different sounds around me. I was slowly getting back to reality, wondering about where I was. Why I didn’t just open my eyes, I didn’t know. It just felt much better to let them stay closed.

Someone touched my shoulder.

“Mali, you have to go to school” the person sighed. Namjoon?

I opened my eyes, and looked around. I was still in Namjoon’s room, still lying in his bed and he was still there.

“Are you awake?” he asked. I turned my head to look at him. He looked surprisingly lively, despite the fact that we had been drunk just hours before. Or maybe it was just me. I couldn’t really remember him drinking much. On the other hand I realized I didn’t remember much from the party from after I had been drinking with Jungkook and Jimin. My head was filled with blank spots, which was something I really hated. When I was drunk I tended to be more awkward than normal and say weird things too (I guess this was pretty normal for most people though) and the thought that I didn’t know just how awkward I had been, was really frustrating.

My thoughts got interrupted as Namjoon stood up from the bed. His hair was messy, the only thing that actually showed how he had held a party yesterday. He was wearing a tank top and some shorts. The tank top was hanging loosely on his upper body, showing his shoulders as he opened his closet with his back turned towards me.

“Yeah…” I mumbled as an answer to his question, though it didn’t seem relevant anymore somehow. He probably knew I was awake by now. I hadn’t lain down again yet after all.

Namjoon returned his attention to me, when he heard me speak nonetheless.  He was smiling his characteristic dimple-smile. I stared into his dark eyes and suddenly memories from last night started flooding my mind. Why? Why had I confessed like that?... Wait… Why had I kissed him? My god, couldn’t I just bury myself in the ground somewhere far away?

I pulled the duvet up and over my head, trying to hide the incoming blush.

Namjoon began laughing and I sighed loudly.

When it sounded like he had removed his attention from me, I slowly pulled the duvet down, until it was just below my chin. Namjoon had gotten dressed while I had hid. Was he a ninja or what?

“Oh, I put your clothes on the chair by the way” Namjoon said to me and pointed at the chair in front of the desk. My clothes? I looked at my body underneath the duvet. I was wearing a big, white t-shirt. Probably Namjoon’s. Seeing as how I was almost as tall as Namjoon, the t-shirt had to be oversize or something because it went further down than my hips. It was seldom clothing was this big on me but I actually enjoyed feeling smaller than usual.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. The sudden movement made me dizzy and I could feel a dunking in my head. Ah, headache. Luckily, it seemed like it was only my head which was hurting. My stomach was feeling just fine. On the other hand, it felt like my body was just one big bruise. I was hurting slightly everywhere. Had I fallen down the stairs or something?

A breeze of cold air made me aware of the state my legs were in, which was... Well, it was a state of there's-nothing-there. I turned around to look at Namjoon, who appeared to be busy with something on his phone.

I quickly lifted the shirt a few inches.

Ah thank god. I was wearing shorts underneath the t-shirt, so at least I wasn't completely . Still, I wondered how I had ended up like this. Who had taken my clothes off of me and who had dressed me in this?

I looked at Namjoon over my shoulder, he was looking at me.

As if he could read my thoughts he began explaining.

"You were completely wasted. Taeyoon helped me undress you, because your pants were soaked in redbull. You weren't very cooperating" he grinned.

“Oh… that explains this” I said and pointed at the t-shirt.

Namjoon nodded in response, still wearing a smile.

I took my clothes from my chair. My pants were still slightly wet, but I had to wear them, I couldn’t go out in these shorts.

“I’m going to change now… could you..?” I mumbled, not knowing where to look.

“Right… of course” Namjoon answered, looking a bit flustered and exited the room.

When I had changed my clothes, I went downstairs. The stairs proved to be a bit of a challenge, since my body wasn’t really cooperating. It was just hurting everywhere. When I reached the end of the staircase, I saw Jimin and Jungkook hanging out in the couches. The small table was filled with empty cans and bottles, evidence that there had been a party last night. Other than that, most of the living room seemed clean.

Jimin were sleeping soundly in one end of the couch, while Jungkook was sitting in the other end, playing some kind of game on his phone. He was already wearing his uniform and looked much more awake than me.

When Jungkook noticed me, he sent me a look of disapproval.

“Are you going to wear that to school?” he asked.

“Eh.. no…” I mumbled. I had forgotten to bring my uniform, but I wasn’t going to show up at school like this.

“You can borrow one of mine” Jungkook said dryly.

I just nodded in response, though I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to fit into his uniform.

The smell of food caught my attention and I left the two guys in the couch. Jungkook had already returned his focus to his game.

When I reached the kitchen, Seokjin was standing in front of the stove, cooking something which unmistakably looked like fried rice. Next to him, leaning against the counter, Hoseok and Namjoon were discussing something. It sounded like they were discussing the lyrics for a rap.

Taehyung was sitting at the dinner table with Taeyoon on the other side. Her face was buried in her hands and she was leaning forward, looking like she could fall asleep then and there.

Seulgi was nowhere to be seen.

I entered and placed myself on the chair beside Taeyoon.

“Good morning” I said, while trying to hold back a yawn. The attempt wasn’t very successful though and I held my hands in front of my face and nodded as the others greeted me.

“Where’s Seulgi?” I asked Taeyoon. She mumbled something intangible into her hands and I looked from her to Taehyung, who, for once, also looked tired, but also kind of confused.

“Seulgi went home last night. You were there?” he said

“Wh-what?” 

“It’s true” Namjoon said from the kitchen counter.

I wanted to ask why Seulgi had gone home, it didn’t seem like her, but I didn’t get to ask, as Seokjin started handing out plates and, after that, fried rice.

It didn’t taste like anything special, just… fried rice.

“We should try calling her” Taeyoon mumbled into her hands.

I took out my phone and dialed Seulgi’s number. It beeped a couple of times, before it went to the standard voice-message thing. It wasn’t like Seulgi looked at her phone all the time, but most of the time, she would pick it up. The call ended and I looked at the screen, confused, until it went black.

“She’s not answering…” I muttered.

“If she doesn’t answer I’m gonna kick her ” Taeyoon said, finally looking up at me with a very noticeable pout. The state of her face told me that she had a bad case of the hangovers.

“She’s a loser” I grinned, making Taeyoon laugh.

After we were done eating breakfast, Seokjin and Namjoon began rushing Jungkook and me, as they didn't want us to be late for school. I still hadn’t gotten myself changed into a uniform.

Namjoon let me to Jungkook’s room, where he pulled out a uniform from a small closet.

“Are you sure I can fit into that?” I couldn’t help but feel a bit skeptical.

“Sure you can!” Namjoon said and almost threw it at me.

I went to Namjoon’s room to change into the uniform. Looking at myself in the mirror, I could see that the fit of the shirt wasn’t that bad. It hung a bit loosely on my waist, but the length of the arms was alright.

The pants were a whole other story. They were tight around my hips and loose around my lower legs.

I ended up folding the pant legs upwards, as they were way too short – I knew this would make them even shorter, but then it would at least look like it was on purpose.

My shoulders looked even more broad than usual, as the boys’ uniforms had much more padding in the shoulders than the girls’ uniforms. I looked absolutely hideous, but I guess it was better than nothing. I didn’t want to tell my dad that I had missed out on school, because I had gotten myself drunk (while I was on medication) and covered myself in alcohol.

“You look cute!” Taeyoon grinned, as I made it downstairs.

“Stop joking around loser” I poked my tongue at her.

In a matter of seconds Taeyoon had gotten her phone out of her pocket and the familiar sound of a photo being taken could be heard.

“No, you did not!” I whined and began wrestling her, trying to get her phone, so I could delete the photo.

“But you’re so cuuute” Taeyoon laughed, successfully avoiding my hands.

“You are cute” a voice said behind me.

I turned around, facing Namjoon. For some reason, when he said it, I couldn’t just joke around and I immediately felt the incoming blush.

“Thanks” I mumbled, looking down. Hey, the floor was pretty interesting, alright?

"Hurry up, you two" Seokjin suddenly said. He was walking towards us, pushing a tired looking Jungkook in front of him. He hadn’t looked that tired before, but I guess the thought of going to school could make anyone tired. Seokjin lead us to the frontdoor.

“You have to hurry or you’re gonna be late” he said and gave me a light push, making me jump out the front door. Jungkook had already begun walking at a slow pace.

I looked at Namjoon and Seokjin who were both standing in the doorway, waving at us. Somehow, I found Namjoon’s hand so... graceful? Oh my god Mali, get a grip. You couldn’t just go around admiring people’s hands. I couldn’t help but mentally face-palm myself.

Jungkook pulled me out of my thoughts, as he took my arm and pulled me with him. Before turning around I waved at Namjoon and Seokjin who were still standing in the doorway.