Chaeyoung's POV

I can't do this anymore

I whispered that to myself, it seems weird that I've been stuck on this rock for so long that I forgot how to live essentially. I don't know what I'm doing now, but it seems like it's been a loop so far.

"Chaeyoung!" I snap myself out of my conscience and looked back, only to see Jihyo, the leader of our group. She comes up to me and pats me on the back. I stare at her in confusion.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, blankly.

"You were gone for like...5 classes. That's skipping classes and the teachers are even finding you, but I just told them that I would find you instead, so it's easier for you not to throw a tantrum" Jihyo stuck out her tongue.

I wanted to laugh, but I held it in to keep my aura. "Wow, that's....smart of you."

"That's what happens when you're friends with seven other people who are a total mess." She sighed but grinned. "Our friends are waiting for you! Don't worry, I won't get you into detention. I'll talk it out with the teachers." She winked and gestured me to stand up. I nodded and headed out for the cafeteria.

Something tells me that "something" is right.

Mina's POV

I wonder where that cub went

I thought that to myself. She's been very "Down To Earth" lately, not daydreaming, not being unrealistic, she's suddenly lost her energy and I don't know why. The vibe around her changed, and I was not comfortable with that. Chaeyoung wasn't..how do I say this

Herself.

Speaking of which, I saw her heading to our table. Chaeyoung looks dreadful, like something the soul out of her body. I frowned, but I tried not to make it obvious.

I pointed to a free seat next to me as we made eye-contact, she quickly looked away from me as she began to sit down. I offered her a gummy smile.

"Are you alright?" I said as I smiled at her, she didn't reply to me immediately, but she gave back a weak one. "I'm fine. Just a bit off lately...I think I haven't been getting enough sleep!" She awkwardly laughed off the tension away.

"So..uh" Sana broke the silence between all of us, "What are we doing for tomorrow? Isn't it a holiday?" Sana smiled as she took out a planner and opened it. "See look! It's a whole day free tomorrow, and it's Friday! So it's a long weekend!"She smiled, holding on to Dahyun's hand.

I noticed Chaeyoung beamed up a bit, rather glancing at the planner. Her eyes were darting in every direction I could think possible.

I pushed her a little bit to get her attention, "Hey, are you there?" 

Chaeyoung snapped back quickly into reality as she tilted her head, "Yeah..I am. What's up?" She seems to dodge the fact that she was looking off to somewhere else. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She just stared at me

"Yes, I'm fine. I just..uh...I need to go somewhere." 

"Chaeyoung-ah, you can't leave just yet! You just came here." Jeongyeon seemingly tried to make the atmosphere feel lighter. "C'mon, No-Jam Bros time at the table, remember?" 

Chaeyoung forced a smile.

 "Okay, I'll stay for a bit longer." It felt like the saddest smile she could pull off in awhile.

Jihyo came back, somehow in relief. "Chaeyoung--, you aren't getting detention today! I managed to conceive the teachers by telling them you had an emergency to deal with! Isn't that great?" A slight smile appeared on Chaeyoung's face, "Thank you, I guess?" She gave a sheepish smile to Jihyo, which she just nodded at. "Okay, classes are going to start again, but..has anyone seen Nayeon, Momo and Tzuyu?"

"I think Nayeon is teaching them dumb again" Jeongyeon chuckled, Jihyo rolled her eyes. "I wonder where she got those information from..." she glared at Jeongyeon and Jeongyeon just laughed. "She learns the best from her hubby~"

I ignored their conversation and focused only on Chaeyoung, who also seemed to be ignoring the noise coming from the others. "I know Tzuyu won't listen, that girl is savage enough to roast Nayeon and Momo!" Dahyun added.

"Tzuyu is a savage in general."

"True."

The bell rang and everybody stood up. Chaeyoung and I are in the same class. Usually, she's the one who walks up to me when we line up, but this time it was me going up to her.

"See you later at class losers!!" Jeongyeon shouted from the other line and teased the others.

When we arrived in the classroom, the atmosphere felt a bit sadder than usual, there's no one talking, there's no one being noisy, there's no one being a total pain in the .

I guess because it's a substitute teacher.

Everyone was bored out of their minds, but Sana and Dahyun are just passing notes to each other while Momo was sleeping like there's nothing important. I took a glance at Chaeyoung who was sitting in front of me, I peeked a little bit to see her drawings, it was some kind of food.

'Would you have felt happy if I had eaten up curry and rice for supper today?'

What does that mean? Is she talking about someone that I don't know about? Something is definitely going on in this girl's mind, and I'm going to find out what it is.