‘Fine. Then we’re all out.’

'Taeyeon asked Tiff to have lunch with her.' Sunny said as she took her seat.

The witches huddled over the mix of dishes they had bought to share. Carrots, tofu, beans, mushrooms and way more, they slowly picked at the food as they spoke.

'Sun...' Tiffany chided. She didn't want it to seem like a bigger deal than it was.

'Oh man Tiff, I'm sorry you had to reject her to her face...' Seohyun pouted and gave Tiffany's hand a squeeze.

'Of course she didn't. I was the one who rejected her.' Sunny said after seeing Tiffany's guilty expression. 'It's okay Tiff, we understand how difficult it must be for you.'

'Did she pester you guys?' Sooyoung asked.

'I dragged Tiff away before she could say anything.'

'Hmm... She's getting a bit too persistent isn't she?' Jessica wondered aloud.

'Yes, her drive to gain back the hours she lost might pose a problem if she, say, follows us home or something.' Sooyoung sighed. 'Why didn't the spell work on her...?' She muttered, still stressed out of her mind trying to figure it out.

'Okay, enough of that. Cheer up guys~!' Sunny sang, lifting the mood.

'Thanks little Sun-shine, I think we all needed that.' Tiffany grinned.

'Sunny's right, we need to keep our spirits up! It seems like we're going to be a lot busier these days... There's the poem, Taeyeon's apparent immunity to our potions, and not to mention those out-of-control demon attacks. We don't have much time to solve them all.'

'Seo's right, thanks for grounding us back to reality little ones. We older kids could really take a page from your playbooks. We're never going to get anything solved if we spend all our time moping around so let's set our afternoon plans now. I'm going back to consult The Council, they'll want an update, and I need to ask them about Taeyeon.' Sooyoung said matter-of-factly.

'I'm headed to the shop to get a new phone. I'll buy dinner before heading back,' Tiffany said between mouthfuls.

'I've got no plans so I'll probably go back to the cave. Whoever’s not busy should work on the poem,’ Jessica barely lifted a finger and suddenly there were ice cubes floating in her water.

'Jess,' Sooyoung hissed, 'we're not supposed to be using magic.'

'I don't think people would notice if some of my water froze into ice... It's hardly eye catching.'

'It's unlikely but possible. Don't do it again.'

'Okay, okay...' Jessica drawled while sipping on her cold water.

Sunny chuckled and steered the conversation back to the poem. 'I agree with Jess though. From now on, we should dedicate all free time we have to solving Darin's riddle, evidently we're not going to have much of it left with school everyday.'

'Mmhmm, I'll head back to get some research done too.' Seohyun checked the time on her watch. 'Oh my gosh, it's ten minutes to 2pm! Let's finish up and hurry out to meet our group.'

The witches frantically picked at the remaining food before getting up and smoothing their clothes out, ready to leave. Seohyun stacked the plates and utensils on the food tray and carried it to the return station to relieve the burden of the cleaners. By the time they had left the cafeteria, a crowd had gathered outside.

'I guess the other groups had the same idea of meeting out here after lunch,' Sunny giggled.

'How are we supposed to find our group in this sea of people?' Jessica grumbled.

'There,' Tiffany pointed. Of course, she could spot Taeyeon