“, is that Jihyo?” Sana whisper-yelled, peering through the window and watching as Jihyo was walking towards the building, Mina next to her at an awkward yet polite distance.

“Is it?” Dahyun whisper-yelled back, risking a glance at Sana but then quickly looking back down the hallway, keeping a lookout for any guards that may have notice they weren’t in their cages rooms anymore.

“Hey, be quiet, you’re gonna get us caught!” Sana said as she moved to the next window on the right, trying to follow Jihyo but the angel had already gotten in.

“Then stop whisper-yelling!” Dahyun pouted, curving her finger around the gun’s trigger when she sees a shadow move down the hall.

Sana came across a door and tried to open it, but it was locked. Huffing, she tried to squeeze the handle and just managed to break it, but it opened it for her. She smiled to herself, proud over this act of successful villainy.

“Yo, wanna see something cool?” Sana asked all of a sudden, joining Dahyun to take her to the room she just discovered.

The younger girl simply pushed Sana back, pressing a fist to the demon’s mouth to keep her quiet, managing to keep herself in a good position to shoot. Sana tries mumbling a complaint but Dahyun doesn’t budge.

Whoever was walking in the hall simply keeps walking, entering a different hall without coming across them.

Dahyun finally lets go of Sana after a minute now that they’re safe.

Sana rubs her jaw. “For an angel, you’re not very nice.”

Dahyun rolls her eyes at her. “What is it that you wanted to show me?”

Sana’s eyes light up, grabbing her hand. “Come with me!”

And, like a who never learns from her mistakes, Dahyun follows her.

“That Tzuyu girl, why did you let her go?” Mina asks the angel of death, her curiosity having a deadly edge. “She’s my enemy, you know,” she reminds her.

“So?” Jihyo answers with a bored expression. “You’re not my master or anything. Shouldn’t you be more worried about that demon?”

“Don’t change the subject.” Mina sighs, annoyed at how difficult the angel is being.

“She changes everything,” Jihyo points out. “She can destroy us just as easily as she can save us.”

“She’s a demon,” Mina reminds her.

“But Sana has Dahyun.” Jihyo smiles, waving her hand around. “That’s what makes her dangerous.”

“You and I both know that that’s not how the universe works,” Mina snaps, getting up and looking down at her. “And I’m more dangerous that they will ever be, so there's no need for you to worry about it.”

Jihyo just shakes her head. “Fine, believe what you want to.”

That just makes Mina angrier. “Stop acting as if you’re better- you’re just another demon, you have no power.”

And the angel smiles a little wider, happy to have successfully deceived Mina. “You’re always so annoyed by me,” Jihyo points out coolly, standing up, “I wonder why?”

Mina shrinks under her gaze and, finally, gives up and sits back down.

Jihyo crosses her arms in front of herself. “Don’t hide it.” She takes a couple steps back but, before she leaves, she stops and turns back around. “Sana’s not the only one you should worry about.”

Mina looks up at that moment. “What did you do?!”

And Jihyo just turns away. “You’ll find out soon.”

“Is everything a game for you?” Mina says as she gets up and grabs Jihyo by her wrist. “I’m trying to keep everyone safe and yet you keep making everything worse just because it’s fun to you.”

“Chaeyoung is her name,” Jihyo hints, pulling her hand back. “But she’s not your enemy. I’m sure she’ll love to meet you.”

Mina narrows her eyes at her. “What are you planning, Jihyo?”

Jihyo just smiles. “I was thinking of leaving now, but I’d rather stay the night, if that’s fine with you.”

“It’s not fine with me,” Mina deadpans, but she knows that Jihyo’s already decided.

The room Sana and Dahyun find themselves in is filled with memorabilia, pictures of the royals and their not-so-royal past.

“You know, when you said you were going to show me something cool, I thought you actually meant that it was cool.” Dahyun grabs a picture from the wall, pulling it from it’s frame. The picture is thinner than paper and brittle in her touch. She folds it before dropping it into her pocket.

“What are you doing?” Sana asks, attempting to grab the picture back.

“We can’t just pretend we didn’t just find this,” Dahyun argues, but gives Sana the picture.

It was of a six-year old girl, wearing one of the royal dresses, standing between the previous King and a woman that looked like a handmaiden. As soon as Sana saw it, she knew that the young girl was Mina, but there was only one problem: Mina isn’t from a royal family.

“No way,” Sana gawks at the picture. “No way.”

“I wonder why they didn’t burn it or something,” Dahyun says as she moves further into the room, looking at everything.

Dahyun turns back to her in time to see an entire bookshelf fall onto Sana, having barely enough time to cast a spell that kills the sound.

Sana groans at the weight that had fallen onto her, but quickly becomes confused and panicked when she realizes that she can’t make a sound.

“Don’t worry, it’ll wear off in a minute or two,” Dahyun says, pulling the bookshelf up to let Sana escape from underneath it.

Sana tries to thank her but, again, nothing comes out of .

“What is it that you found?” Dahyun sighs, now curious.

Sana dusts herself off before grabbing a specific book from the floor. It’s of a faded brown leather, lost within its years. She opens the first page and then raises an eyebrow, turning the book towards Dahyun.

“To you, the nightmare,” Dahyun reads. “Sounds fun.” She grabs the book out of Sana’s hands and passes a few pages before something catches her eye. “Oh.”

Sana tries to pick the book out of her hands but Dahyun just pulls it away, too busy reading.

“The first thing I learned,” she reads out loud, “was that love didn’t exist.”

Sana tried to grab the book again, being successful this time just for it to fall from her hand.

Dahyun picks it up, frowning at the demon. “Just let me read it for you, okay? Aish, stop being rude.”

Sana pouts, but finally gives in. She sits down on the floor, pats the space in front of her so Dahyun will follow her, and Dahyun finally sits next to her.

“I wanted to tell her it was just a dream,” Dahyun continues, finding her place again. “An awful dream, a nightmare where she found out she was the monster. Just a nightmare, not real life. Why couldn’t things be that easy? ”

Mina sneezes, feeling cold and exposed all of a sudden.

“Bless you,” Jihyo says, making herself at home on the couch, even fluffing the cushions. She doesn’t even have a blanket over her.

Mina hovers by the door. “How are you not cold?” she asks, practically demanding an answer.

Jihyo shrugs. “I’m not human enough to be cold?” she says it more like a question, unsure of whether or not it’s true.

Mina just crosses her arms a little tighter around herself, trying to press her sweater against her skin so that maybe it would warm her up more.

“You should stay here,” Jihyo suggests, sitting up and turning towards her. “It’ll be like a fun little sleepover or something.”

Mina just looks at her.

Jihyo giggles at her reaction. “Live a little, Mina. Not everything has to be serious.”

And, finally, Mina gives in, though she goes to grab a blanket to fight the cold with.

“Oh, but how I loved it, this quiet warmth. I loved feeling like I had something to love in this life.”

Sana winces. “Damn, I thought that Mina girl had problems but like, she has problems.”

Dahyun just rolls her eyes at her. “Looks like the spell wore off, unfortunately.”

Sana pouts. “Just keep reading instead of complaining about my existence.”

Dahyun hesitates, deciding to close the book. “Shouldn’t we stop? Obviously no one was supposed to find this, and it’s pretty invasive of us-”

“Yeah, yeah, whoops,” Sana says while grabbing the book from Dahyun’s hands and propping it open again. “Ohhh nooo , I guess I’ll just have to read it now,” she exaggerates.

“You’re going to hell,” Dahyun informs her unhelpfully.

“Ah, it’d be fun to go back home again,” Sana says while memories come back to her. “You’ll even get to meet my mom! Can I read now?”

Dahyun sighs. “Sure, I guess.”

“The second thing I learned was that love was not something I could hold onto. I couldn’t depend on anyone to save me but myself, couldn’t wish that my life could become a fairy tale after living so long knowing that it’s a tragedy.”

~

“Will that happen to us?” I had asked her, wondering out loud.

And she had smiled, but there was an unforgiving sadness etched into it. “Maybe,” she had answered. “I hope not. But don’t worry. I’ll make sure they don’t.”

I had laid my head down on her shoulder, holding onto her like I always did. “You’ll really protect me?”

“You’re worth it.”

But the second thing I learned was that love was not something I could hold onto.

Mina woke up all of a sudden, sitting up with tears falling and falling and falling.

Jihyo looks at her worriedly, but Mina just shakes her head.

“Nightmares,” she gasps for breath.

“I know they’re more like memories than nightmares to you, Mina,” Jihyo says, taking her hand and rubbing comforting circles on her skin. “Well, memory of a nightmare might fit better.”

“They’re getting worst,” Mina admits, finally letting herself lean into Jihyo’s comfort.

“They’ll get better,” Jihyo promises, intertwining their fingers. “You’ll get better.”