Chapter 5: Kang Seulgi

"Behind every beautiful thing, there's always some kind of pain."

    Blood.

    There was blood all over her hands. She tried to wipe them away with her clothes, but even her clothes were dripping red. 

    Was it her own blood?

    Everywhere she looked there must have been blood, because her entire vision was red. She lifted her eyes to look in front of her, but it was a hazy transition, like her eyes didn’t want to cooperate with her.

    Someone was lying down, just a few feet away from her. She wasn’t sure if she should still call the thing in front of her a person; the body was completely bloated, and even through her blood-red vision, she was somehow able to determine that the body was a dull purple.

    She tried standing up, but found her legs unable to move. Finally, she started feeling a sense of terror: there was a body in front of her, it was obviously dead, and she couldn’t move her legs. Failure of muscles only happened to her when she overexerts her Alice. Did she… 

    … She couldn't have.

    With her heart beating like a thousand drums, she made her way to the body the only way she could at that moment—she crawled. It was a struggle, and it seemed the more she crawled, the further away the body was. 

    But she was determined, and the dread she was feeling was unlike any other she had ever felt before. She was terrified of finding out who was the owner of that carcass, and that terror fuelled her to keep on going.

    Finally, she had reached the corpse. It was a mangled mess; she would have puked if she could have. But none of that mattered at the moment—she just had to know who that person was. 

    The face was barely recognisable, but she could see a bit of recognition flash in her eyes. Her eyes widened. 

    Finally, she started to scream.

    Seulgi woke up in a cold sweat. She had another nightmare—she’s been getting those a lot lately. The theme always seems to be the same: Seulgi, being completely unable to control her Alice, wreaking havoc wherever she went, and inevitably killing all those whom she loved… she blinked rapidly in an effort to forget those conjured images, although she could already barely remember the nightmare she just had.

    She looked at her surroundings, momentarily confused at the unfamiliarity. It was a massive room, with ornate decorations found all over. It’s not to be confused with Seulgi’s personal style—these all came from academy itself. If it was up to Seulgi, she’d throw everything away, even the annoying vanity directly across from her bed. 

    Yeri was sleeping beside her comfortably in the massive king-sized bed, softly snoozing away. Seulgi remembered now—she was in her bedroom, and Yeri had asked her yesterday if she could sleep over, and she did, from what she could gather.

    Seulgi didn’t really understand why Yeri always stays by her side. She wasn’t particularly friendly, even towards her circle of friends, and she’s never treated her more generously than the others. But no matter how cold Seulgi was towards her, Yeri somehow manages to put up with it all with a bright smile on her face.

    She reached out to brush a stray hair out of Yeri's face. It was barely sunrise, with the room being softly lit with the growing signs of dawn. Seulgi would love to get a few more hours of sleep, to stay inside the warm cocoon of her spacious bed, but someone else was waiting for her. That someone was also a very impatient person and was often intolerable if tested.

    Sighing, Seulgi gently kicked off the sheets and went off to her own bathroom to fix herself. After she was done and dressed up for the training, she was about to leave her room, but stopped before opening her door, remembering that there the figure who was sleeping on her bed.

    She quietly approached Yeri, who looked extremely peaceful as she slept. Seulgi wasn’t even thinking of waking her; she just watched her sleep for a couple of minutes. There was something peaceful in catching someone be completely off-guard, she realised.

    Unknowingly, Seulgi was slowly approaching her sleeping dongsaeng until she was directly by her side. Yeri was one of the very, very few, who had seen her Alice in action, but has chosen to not despise her. Instead, she had loved Seulgi even more, treating her like a favourite unnie. 

    She still hasn’t forgotten how hard it was have been isolated from everyone and have no control over her Alice—they were her worst fears come to life. 

    Seulgi knelt down and leaned closer, her lips nearing Yeri’s forehead.

        There was blood all over her hands. She tried to wipe them away with her clothes, but even her clothes were dripping red.

    Seulgi closed her eyes as she slowly stepped away. I can’t do it, she miserably thought. 

    “I can’t be the unnie you want me to be, Yeri.” Seulgi whispered, before finally leaving her room to dash off into the forest.

    Deep within the Western Forest, with the sun just about to appear in the horizon, there was a medium-sized clearing. It was a clear patch that had no trees growing within its unusual symmetrical shape. The grass there was less green than those shaded by the trees; however, it was a sweet spot for the sun to make an almost ethereal appearance any time of the day.

    Seulgi had reached the place by jumping through the thick tree branches. There was such a calm silence to be found in the forest this early in the morning—birds, frogs, all the animals were still in their last hour of sleep, and so, only the gentle rustle of the leaves could be heard.

    Right in the middle of the clearing was a stump that was definitely not a natural occurrence. Jungkook and Seulgi were sparring there a few months ago, and things just got a bit too physical. Fortunately, no other harm has been done to nature ever since that fight. Both of them loved the environment too much to continue hurting it.

    Near it, though, was a figure who just stood there with his head tilted towards the sky and his eyes closed. Seulgi smiled at the sight.

    Swiftly jumping down from the tree, she made her away towards him, not bothering to hide her footsteps. Perhaps he knew that it would be her and that she would do just that, and so his eyes were still closed and his posture remained unmoving.

    She stood beside him. Inwardly, she marvelled at their growing height difference. In no time, Seulgi will probably only reach until his shoulders. For now, though, she was still up to his neck, so she didn’t feel too small. 

    He opened one of his eyes and peeked at her, before closing it again. “You’re late,” He said.

    She looked away from him and closed her eyes, breathing in the forest scent. It was truly a peaceful morning.

    “Yah,” He nudged her, and yet she chose to not respond. How could she? She didn't want to break the fragile peace she was having at that moment, for it was the only peace she's ever known.

    Regardless of how she felt, she finally opened her eyes, meeting his usual intense ones. “Are you ready?” She asked him.

    Jungkook just blinked for a few seconds before nodding. “I… Trust you, Seulgi-yah.”

    He put up his pinky in front of her, and she did the same, both linking their pinkies together. Instead of letting go, they just let their intertwined hands drop in between them. This was a thing they’ve always done whenever they needed strength from one another—and it seemed that