Warnings for this part: none

Yuna’s POV

I stood still in front of the big window that was making it possible for the room to drown in sunlight. The sky was free from any clouds that could have covered up the bright sun. The color of the sky irritated me. I felt sick watching the bright blue, cloud-free sky.

“Don’t even think about escaping through that window while I’m gone,” Hoseok’s voice stated and I lazily turned around.

The male stood in the hallway, getting ready to leave. His expression was the same usual: cold and nonchalant.

“I make no promises,” I dryly said.

He wasn’t amused, as usual. I observed his movements and expressions. Everything he did was just so different from what I was used to.

“Is she still sane?” I asked, quite nonchalantly.

He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “_____?”

I nodded.

He let out a soft sigh. “I don’t know. She’s been sleeping, or trying to sleep, since we brought her back. Minhyuk is quite persistent on making sure she doesn’t lose herself in the middle of all this bull.”

I never really cared about the girl but since she had always been important to Eunkyung, I hadn’t dared to let go of her. Besides, she was, in a way, one of the only pieces of Eunkyung I had left. It was like she was a book. A book filled with stories, ones that I hadn’t heard yet, about her. I was never one to burn books.

“I’m going,” Hoseok said before walking out of the door.

I was too lazy to even sigh. The floor seemed comfortable enough so I sat down and leaned on the wall under the big window.

“Were we always like this?”

To pass time, I had started talking to myself. Being inside all day by yourself really had aftereffects on me. At least I could now say I had a hobby if someone ever asked.

My hobby is talking to myself about the stupidest of things.

“Were we really always so nonchalant? I don’t think so.”

I hate to be the one to drag you down a memory lane but no can do. It’s the only way to explain.

Everyone was happy at six years old, right? I know I was. Life was fun back then, exciting even. School hadn’t become the main source of stress in my life yet, learning felt rewarding back then. I was never a social butterfly but I was a chatterbox around my friends. Especially my closest ones.

“The three musketeers,” I snorted with a smirk, reminiscing about my old squad.

I had a friend around three years older than me. He was always like a big brother to me. That’s how close we were. We did everything together since my birth and I spent a lot more time with him than I did with my parents. I never lived a day without him. We were always inseparable. Like we had been glued together.

“Brother…”

Hoseok always had my side. When I was confused with my uality, he supported me and helped me overcome my parents’ disappointment and anger. His disappearance, his change, showed me off the path to a good life. Everything went downhill after he disappeared with no explanation. He left behind nothing, not a single clue about where he could have gone. Sure, his behavior had been weird for some time but his disappearance came as a shock to me.

“If only I knew what went wrong. Maybe I could give Hajoon an explanation.”

Hajoon, oh, Hajoon. The adorable youngest member of our small squad. Without doubt, also the sweetest person anyone could ever meet. Almost like a little brother to me. He was the kind of person who would always be there to cheer me up when I was feeling down. Not that he was jokes only, no, he had a lot in his mind and heart. A lot of worries, a lot of darkness. Still, he never became like me and Hoseok; a blue-blooded weirdo. For that, I thank the heavens.

“That dork,” I couldn’t keep my smile away while thinking about him.

The fact that Hajoon was Eunkyung’s coworker really was just a pure coincidence even though it seemed unbelievable. We met a few times but only greeted each other with small smiles and carried on with our lives. Hoseok’s disappearance really ripped us all apart. We grew distant over time.

“The three of us running around the neighborhood, pissing off everyone with our loud laughter… I miss that.”

I had always been quite shy around girls, maybe because they always made me nervous. I didn’t have many close female friends growing up. Hoseok and Hajoon were the only close friends I needed. They were my brothers and they were the best friends one could ask for. When I had a hard time trying to figure out who I really was they were there for me unlike my parents or anyone else for that matter.

An hour or two would quickly pass by while I talked to myself. Before I even knew it, Hoseok’s footsteps returned and filled the apartment with their familiar sound. I listened to them with my eyes closed while leaning on the wall behind me lazily.

“Still breathing?” the guy’s voice asked.

“Still breathing,” I answered shortly.

A silence followed. Slowly, I opened my eyes to look at him.

His features were still the same. The handsome face that had had everyone running after him was still there. The well-built body that had kept my bullies away was still there. The only thing missing was his bubbly, sweet personality. The only thing that made him, him, was gone.

“What’s your weakness?” I asked quite nonchalantly and he turned his head. “You’ve never talked about it.”

“Well, what did you expect?” he said.

“What is it? Have you not discovered it yet?” I ignored his statement.

No matter how many times I look at those icy eyes I still can’t seem to get used to them…

“I have,” he calmly answered. “It’s my friends.”

I almost gave a laugh. “How not surprising.”

“What do you mean?” he asked and frowned in confusion.

“It’s nothing,” I avoided the topic.

I honestly did not expect anything else… You’re still the same… Deep under that thick cover, I guess.

Kihyun’s POV

I really wanted to make the sun disappear from the sky. It was so irritating that I almost started yelling at it in the middle of the park. Almost. But I didn’t. Not that I was in any way worried of people hearing me. No, I was just too lazy to yell. I wasn’t exactly in the mood for it.

Trying hard not to go crazy, I lifted my gaze. The woman who had been my nuisance for the past six years was playing with her five-year-old daughter. I really wanted to just ditch them and go die in a hole somewhere but couldn’t bring myself to do it. Watching them was hypnotizing in its own way even though I mostly thought it was a nuisance.

“Mom look!” the small girl yelled with an annoying voice. “A butterfly!”
The woman gave her daughter a smile that I had already seen a lot. She was a happy human. For the most part. She chuckled when the girl started running after the