PUBG is such a distraction and I blame the game on why I haven't been writing much these days.

Just a little change
Small, to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the beast
 

Nightwatch was a horrible enough activity.

They had to wake up in the middle of the cold night while the others were sleeping soundly, just to make sure the campfire kept burning as they fended off mosquitoes and other small critters that were flying all around them. Another fun side quest included keeping a careful watch on their surroundings to make sure that no uninvited guests in any forms lingered around their campsite.

It would be bearable if one could scroll through their phone while being on duty and remember to toss firewood into the burning pile every once in a while. Perhaps one could fill time by chatting with their friends that were valiantly suffering with them for the sake of the whole camp; that sounded very noble (almost) and preferable (the truth). Unfortunately, Wendy was on the worst nightwatch duty ever in history.

There was no coverage, so she could not surf the net or even text anyone (it was 2AM anyway). Her phone’s battery was dying since she did not have the time to charge them fully before leaving the house. It was not like she could just casually stroll to the farm a few hundred metres away from their campsite to charge her phone, Yunho would probably murder her.

On top of that, she was also stuck with the one person who hated her gut the most and to add salt to her various injuries, Irene had somehow pushed a good chunk of their piled firewood into the river while she was trying to grab a ‘pretty one’ to put in the campfire.

“Seriously?” Wendy hissed as she scanned the extent of damage being caused by Irene as the Beauty hugged herself beside Wendy, biting her lips like she was about to cry.

“It was an accident.”

“It was stupid! You could have grabbed any firewood that was accessible but noooo, you had to choose the pretty one. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I said I was sorry, okay.”

“You – urgh! We’ll die in the morning when our coaches hear about this. Damn. We kept screwing up today, I won’t be surprised if this is the one that do us in.”

Wendy muttered angrily and Irene took a deep breath, trying to hold her own anger. There was no use crying over spilt milk. They should not be fighting now.

“I’ll go in the woods and gather some firewood, I’ll be back.”

“What? You don’t go in there looking for firewood right now.”

Wendy threw a glance at the jungle that appeared so sinister at night, filled with things unseen to eyes but were surely, very much there. She shuddered as she recalled the show ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ which she used to love as a kid but being near a campfire at night now, surrounded by a jungle and only her worst enemy as her companion, she regretted being a horror/thriller fan.

“You do know there’s a possibility we’ll have to do this camp again if we fail to fulfil the missions our coaches had assigned us, right?”

Irene shot Wendy a look and Wendy let out a sigh. “You’re right. But it’s dangerous to go alone. I’ll go with you.”

There was a look in Irene’s eyes that showed she wanted to protest Wendy’s volunteerism. Going into the woods at night with the one known as the biggest playgirl in their school did not sit well with her but as her eyes trailed at the path she was on, right at the darkness waiting in front of her, she gulped and nodded timidly.

“Okay but stay 2 meters away from me at all times.”

Wendy wanted to roll her eyes but decided against it since it was more of an Irene thing.

Nobody in the camp noticed as two of their own slipped into the unfriendly woods – and it would not be noticed until that morning as the nightwatchers for 4AM shift jolted awake as the sun shone on their faces with a realization that no one had woken them up for their turn.

*

It started well enough, but disaster came soon enough. Wendy carried a bunch of dried sticks in her hands and looked around her, only to realize she could not see Irene. She called out loudly for the other girl in panic and when she heard a faint scream, she dropped whatever she was holding to chase after the girl who ran deeper into the woods.

It took her a few minutes of running and when Wendy got closer to Irene, Irene chose that time to trip upon a tree root and stumbled, causing Wendy to crash upon her and they rolled together, somehow holding tightly to each other as their bodies were hit mercilessly by branches, roots and small plants all around them. When they stopped turning, Wendy was the first one to get on her feet and jumped away from Irene, cursing as she fumbled around, looking for her phone.

She let out a sigh of relief when she located the device in her thick jacket’s pocket but quickly frowned when she heard soft whimpers. She took a glance at her phone and realized that they were on their own, she still had no way of contacting anyone due to the absence in signal.

Wendy rushed over to where Irene was. The cheerleader was holding her ankle and tears ran down her cheeks, clearly in pain. The Beast had a sinking feeling in her chest as she used her phone’s flashlight to check on the extent of damage. Irene’s ankle was red and when Wendy pressed over it slightly, Irene’s scream almost deafened her ears.

“That’s pretty bad.”

“Thank you for pointing it out, Captain Obvious.” Irene screeched through her tears and Wendy sighed.

“We have a more pressing concern right now, Beauty. I don’t suppose you know the way back to our camp?”

Irene’s alabaster face paled even more and Wendy would have been scared at how white the girl looked right now if it was not such a critical situation. Wendy took a deep breath as she assessed the state they were in right now. She felt mostly intact, so that was good. At least one of them could move freely. It seemed pretty unlikely for Irene to run or walk though.

“Where’s your phone? Maybe we can trace the way we came from or something, but we need more light sources.”

Irene fumbled in her pockets and when she came up with nothing, she gave a helpless look at Wendy and this time, Wendy almost cried along with her.

“I…I think I dropped it while I was running.”

“Yeah, that. Why the f-” Wendy swallowed the profanity that was about to escape . Losing her temper at this time would not help anyone at all. “Why did you run anyway? Can you imagine how much more horrible it would be if I couldn’t keep up with you? You’d be alone in the dark with a swollen ankle!”

“Something fell from the tree beside me and I just…I got startled. I thought I was running to our camp. I’m sorry.”

The Beauty whispered her apology softly and Wendy sighed. She could see it happen to Irene, out of all people. She recalled how at loss the girl was that afternoon when she had to read the map and the times she saw Irene being surprised over the smallest things in school.

Not that she had been watching Irene intently, she just…happened to be particularly observant. Or at least that was how she tried to convince herself.

Wendy decided to sit beside Irene then and patted her back awkwardly. She had never been too good at comforting people. She locked her phone and a little anxiety crept by when she saw that the battery bar was red. The phone would not assist them much longer.

“It’s okay, Irene. The woods aren’t that thick. They’ll be able to find us in the morning. Or we can find them. It shouldn’t be that hard.”

There was something in the way Wendy called her name that brought a surge of trust and sense of safety within the cheerleader, although she would never tell Wendy that. Irene wiped her tears using her thin cardigan’s sleeve. “I don’t want to sit in the dark all night long. It’s scary.”

Again, the last words were spoken in whisper and Wendy would not have been able to hear her if they were not sitting closely together. For a few moments, they sat in silence as Wendy wrecked her brains in looking for words that could comfort Irene while Irene tried her best to dry her tears.

“It kinda feels like we’re in a Disney movie or something.” There was a sudden amused lilt to Wendy’s voice and Irene turned to her sharply.

“A Disney movie?” Irene asked, incredulous. “What kind of Disney movie did you watch exactly?”

“Wasn’t there a scene between Beauty and the Beast in the woods?”

“…which version of Beauty and the Beast did you watch, Wendy?”

“I don’t know. There’s Emma Watson in it. She’s hot. I couldn’t really concentrate.”

“Geez. Are you always this obsessed with beautiful women?”

“Maybe. That’s why I’m always looking at you.”

Irene rolled her eyes but this time, she was smiling slightly. Wendy was silly, but it distracted her from having a panic attack due to the situation they were in. The softball player grinned when she saw Irene’s feature softened.

“How’s your ankle?”

With the aid of Wendy’s phone faint torchlight, Irene examined her ankle and even in the dim light, the colour looked all wrong: bruise was starting to form and she winced when she pressed lightly on it. She would not be able to make full use of her left leg anytime soon.

Wendy seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion when she suddenly sighed and straightened her posture, as she gripped her phone in one hand.

“Stand up.”

“What?”

Irene was bewildered by the sudden thoughtless order. She had just thought that Wendy might not be as bad as she thought but Irene was apparently wrong. The cheerleader’s face hardened and the cold tone in her voice resurfaced; she regretted letting her guards down around Wendy.

“I know it’s dark and you might not be able to see properly but my ankle is ing gone right now, Beast. I can’t walk.”

Irene could faintly made out Wendy’s smile although the light was not pointed to her face.

“I know, Beauty. I’m not asking you to walk. Just…stand will ya?”

There was a gentleness in Wendy’s voice that Irene had never heard or expected to come from Wendy before so reluctantly, she complied to Wendy’s order. The standing girl helped to pull her up, being extra careful in the process so that Irene would not pressure her hurt ankle. With much difficulty, she managed to stand up and she just stared at Wendy with a questioning look. ‘Now what?’ she asked with her eyes and Wendy seemed to understand as she turned, bent her body slightly and pointed at her back.

“I’ll piggyback you. Hop on. You’ll have to hold the phone for us though.”

Irene bit back a smile. Guess she had misjudged Wendy, after all.

“You couldn’t have told me earlier that you want to piggyback me instead of ordering me to stand like a jerk?”

Words spilled from before she could stop them and she heard Wendy chuckled.

“That would be too romantic. I’d rather half-force you into following my orders.”

“What makes you so sure I will follow your order now?”

“Uh, you kinda have to? Unless you want to be left in this place alone? The woods are not that thick anyway, if you’re lucky, you might be found in a day or so.”

Irene thought of her luck so far and she decided that it was not worth the risk. She pried the phone Wendy was holding before she wrapped her arms around Wendy’s neck, with the softball player hoisting her cautiously.

“Are you alright? Did I hurt your ankle?”

Irene shook her head, before she realized Wendy could not have seen her. “I’m fine. Let’s go, captain.”

“Hold on tight, sailor.”

*

They, or rather Wendy, walked to the faint sound of the river they could hear under the reasoning that their camp was near the river, so they could probably figure out which way to go during daylight. Irene just went along with Wendy considering her bad sense of direction and loss of mobility. Wendy probably knew better than her in this situation.

Both of them could not talk much, since Irene knew Wendy needed to preserve her strength in order to carry her. Wendy did not stop at all, even if Irene could hear her laboured breath and the number of times she had to adjust her hold on Irene’s thighs increased as they trudged on.

Initially, they depended on the light from Wendy’s dying phone but only after a few minutes, the phone just shut down completely, slowing down their progress. In the dark, Wendy became all too aware of Irene's arms being wrapped around her neck and how close they were – she could feel Irene’s breath right beside her ear.

In an attempt to calm her nerves and comfort Irene, she sang softly under her breath. The only song that came to mind was Beauty and the Beast, considering their namesakes and she smiled when Irene hummed along.

When Wendy got too tired, Irene was the one who hummed a new song and Wendy basked in the sound of Irene's smooth, husky voice.

None of them knew how long they walked but both, especially Wendy heaved a sigh of relief as they reached the riverbank. Exhausted, they plopped by one of the trees by the river. At least it was not as dark as before, since the moonlight could shine unobstructed now.

“You sing really well.”

Irene began once she noticed Wendy appeared less breathless and more relaxed. Wendy smiled at the comment; she knew it was Irene's way of thanking her.

“Yeah, my whole family is into music. I wanted to join the school’s glee club actually, but Sejeong - she's my childhood friend - said that my talent in softball would be wasted so…” Wendy opened both of her arms and shrugged. “Here I am, a Beast.”

Irene nodded as she absorbed the new information. There was a softer, more artistic side to Wendy that she never expected. Then again, she did not know much about Wendy at all. Wendy seemed to realize Irene's thoughts and smiled in amusement.

“You sing really well too.” Wendy returned the compliment and Irene just waved her hand in dismissal.

“I can follow the beat since I'm a dancer but that's about it.”

“You're giving yourself too little credit.”

“And you can't hear how good you are in singing so shh.”

“Actually, I do know. I sang at a few of the school concerts before and I am enrolled in the choir class, although I can't join in the glee club. Videos of me singing went viral a few times.”

Irene's mouth fell agape at this and Wendy grinned at the response. “You're joking.”

“Nope. Seulgi told me she doesn’t talk much about me to you because you’d get mad whenever you heard my name. Wow, she really meant it huh.”

“I can’t help it, you got on my nerves too many times.”

“At least a part of me got to your nerves.”

“…was that supposed to be an inappropriate comment?”

“Depends on what constitutes as inappropriate for you.”

Again, Irene rolled her eyes. Wendy laughed as she expected it, but this time she noted that there was a certain fondness in it rather than the usual annoyance.

“I guess this is why you hate me, huh. Always flirting around, always making inappropriate jokes.”

Wendy muttered almost too quiet to be heard if it was not for the muted surrounding around them. The sound of flowing river could have drowned her voice, but this time, it was different.

Irene was paying attention to Wendy, hanging on her every word.

The old Irene would have said that it was because Wendy was her only companion in this dark, cold woods but this Irene had experienced Wendy's kindness, time and time again today. She was not an evil ice queen, despite what everyone thought.

“I don't hate you. It's just that… I was a cheerleader since I was really young and whenever I go to any sporting events, I was, am, always hit on by jocks and most just see me as a trophy to be honest. So when you, urm, confessed to me back then, I just become wary of you.”

They were positively blushing now, especially Wendy at the mention of one of the most embarrassing moments in her life. She cleared awkwardly.

“Did that really happen…? I can't seem to recall this.”

When Irene gave her a pointed look, she chuckled and threw her hands up in surrender.

“Alright, fine, yeah, I remember. I think I was a little salty about that too, which is why I'm always flirting with someone from your squad. At least you can see what you're missing.”

Wendy flexed her biceps that were hidden by her coat and Irene squinted. “I guess I'm not missing much.

“Hey!”

They laughed loudly, the bounce of their laughter reverberated in the silent woods, mixed with the sound of running river. Irene was a little taken aback by the softball player’s honesty, but she guessed it was an apology from Wendy too.

“You've been pretty since the first time I saw you, I guess it's not a surprise that a lot of people would flirt with you.”

“I'm more than just a pretty face.” Irene said indignantly, and Wendy supplied quickly, “I know. I didn't confess to you because I thought you're pretty. Geez.”

“You didn't?”

Irene asked, surprised and a little suspicious. Wendy in return, looked offended.

“I'm not that shallow, Beauty. I watched over you for over a year before I decided to…you know, talk to you.”

This time, Wendy really caught Irene’s attention. She leaned closer to Wendy, who frowned and tried to scoot away but Irene just moved closer until they were sitting side by side. The Beauty leaned her head on Wendy’s shoulder, closing her eyes as she took in Wendy’s scent.

“Come on, tell me the story. I promise I won’t make fun of you.”

“You’re sitting too close to me.”

“It’s cold here. Please distract me.”

Wendy sighed and wrapped an arm around Irene’s shoulder. It was weird to be this close to a person she was supposed to hate and in return, despised her back but tonight seemed so otherworldly – almost as if they were transported in a different world where only they existed. Irene did not protest to Wendy’s action either. Instead, she just pressed closer to Wendy and the Beast noted that unlike her, Irene was wearing quite a thin cardigan.

“I saw you trained your cheerleading moves at the gym alone when we were freshmen.”

“You did?”

Wendy hummed lightly. “Yeah, I had to keep the equipment at our club room – typical freshman duty and I saw you just practicing alone, looking so frustrated when you made a mistake. The first time I saw you, I didn’t know how long I stood there, just watching while holding a bag full of bats and lugging heavy bases.”

“So, you saw me a lot more times after that?”

Irene questioned, recalling those days when she used to stay back after practice just to have ones of her own. There were older Beauties who mocked her then, believing that she only got accepted because she was pretty and the younger Irene was determined to prove them wrong. She remembered screaming and crying in frustration many times before picking herself up and started all over again. She was not just a Beauty captain in name; she had really put herself through hell to stand where she was at right now.

Wendy chuckled suddenly. “I saw you a lot more times? I watched you almost every day. I volunteered to carry all the stuffs back then, to the surprise of everyone in the team. It was just because I wanted to see you practised every day. I didn't want others to see that as well, so I just carried it all by myself.”

Listening to this, Irene's eyes widened.

“Stalker!”

She jabbed the side of Wendy's stomach and the Beast roared in laughter.

“Hey! That was an open space, okay. I wasn't really doing anything wrong. You were inspirational, honestly. I was struggling to keep up with the rest of bigger, taller girls and then there's you who put in so much effort although with your face alone, you would've been accepted with no question.”

Irene frowned. “I think you're looking down on cheerleading too much.”

“Nope. I watched you practised, so I know how hard it is. But I also know Beauty used to have idle members who just carried the cheerleader title without pulling their weight in the team.”

True. During her leadership tenure, Irene had vetted those who wished to become a Beauty just for the glory of the name. Instead, she chose the hardworking, talented girls who really understood the spirit of cheering.

It was not about winning; it was about not giving up.

“I never noticed you.” Irene remarked and her head bumped with Wendy's shoulder when the other girl shrugged lightly.

“That's the whole point. I was shy and timid, unable to lead anyone. But I watched you not giving up day by day, even if you were crying-”

Irene raised her head then, surprised coloured her expression. “You saw me cried too?

Wendy gave her a look that screamed ‘duh’. “I saw you cry, screamed, just plain kicked the gym mats in frustration when you fell. Yet, you got up and continued the routine - and got better day by day. Eventually, you stayed back lesser and stopped completely.”