The spring was causing Mina’s pollen allergy to trigger but she loved seeing the flowers bloom anyway. The cherry blossom tree on their lawn was so beautiful. She was running around with her friend, sniffing her snot as she chased the other girl around. Mina was always playing with their visitor, whom she considers as her friend now. She was a little older than her, she was a little taller than her, She seemed to know a little lot than her too. They were picking the fallen cherry blossoms while her friend was talking about her school and her friends.

Mina could listen to her talk all day, she might not understand, but her friend seemed to love sharing to her these things so she enthusiastically listened every time. “Oh, and Jihyo used her powers to see the inside of these trees!” Her friend’s sparkled as she held Mina’s tiny hand and pulled her closer to the tree. “She saw tiny worms crawling and they looked hairy when you look closely. They are actually disgusting. Bleh.”

“They are ew?” Mina excitedly asked. Her friend beamed at her and ruffled her hair playfully. “Yes Minari, those worms are ew.”

Her friend was reading a book under their favorite cherry blossom tree and was not playing with Mina anymore. She grumpily stood beside her and sulked. “Stop reading and play with me!” Mina closed the book and glared at her friend.

“Mina, that’s rude. I’m telling your mother what you did!” Her friend was about to go back in the house when Mina started bawling out. Her friend started to panic and tried to make her stop, Mina shoved her away. “Why do you like reading anyway? Book don’t run with you! Books don’t play with you! And books don’t talk! I want to play!”

Using the sleeves of her jacket, her friend wiped her tears and gave her a hug. “Now stop crying, you look ugly when you cry.” Mina sniffed her snot was about to cry again when her friend sat down on the tree and patted the space beside her. Her friend read a story about Alice, who fell into the rabbit hole and meets the evil Queen of Hearts.

“Off with her head!” Mina gasped as she listened to her friend read. She was feeling afraid about what will happen to Alice. Those guards were bad! Her friend’s smile was growing bigger and Mina couldn’t help but grin as well. With her voice lowly and eyes filled with mirth, her friend tried to spook little Mina. “The card guards crowded Alice and swarmed all over her and then…”

Mina was shaking her friend’s shoulder to continue the story but she was teasing her. “See, Minari? Books can run too. You ran , played and listened to Alice.” Mina pondered and spaced out.  She couldn’t understand but   h er friend was smiling again, Mina liked it whenever her friend smile . Her cheeks looked so squishy and – “Mama told me that books can be heard too, Minari.”

When they reached the infirmary, the swelling on Mina’s foot was not that bad, it was awful. She had to rest and skip classes to avoid more pain and swelling. The ice slush bath was the worse part. It was more painful than the explosion at the assessment. While wrapping her ankle with an elastic bandage, Sunmi told them to elevate her ankle and the idiots immediately grabbed her injured foot and raised it 90 degrees. “That’s good at reducing the swell too but I meant at night.” Mina refused to accept the crutches. She was not injured. But that would mean the three had to accompany her back to her room and she couldn’t stand limping between Jeongyeon and Nayeon. She quickly asked Sunmi for the crutches.

This would be the first time that Mina was genuinely thankful for Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s persistence and existence in her life. The other Dahyun carried her tray as they walked towards their table. When Dahyun offered her help, Mina gladly accepted but she didn’t know Dahyun would use her powers and duplicate herself. Chaeyoung said it was going to worth the detention. Apparently, Dahyun hadn’t realized that when she used her powers. “Dammit, you threw me under the bus, Chaeng!”

Jeongyeon dismissed Dahyun’s fear and didn’t give her a slip when they walked past the table. “Do you need spoon feeding?” Momo sat beside her, setting her tray on their table. Jeongyeon was still hovering on their table as well. “For the love of god, I have an injured foot, not amputated arms!” Momo laughed and quickly left. Mina would never admit it but it felt actually nice to have people look after your welfare. It made her feel weird fuzzy things. 

**

Jihyo was dozing off reading the documents but Nayeon was not tired. “Hyo, go to your room and get some sleep.” Nayeon was separating the papers per date. These were the ones Jihyo got for her before. The Minutes of the Council meeting from seven years ago. This would prove that her father was innocent and was unlawfully banished.

The order to sending her back to her room appeared to wake Jihyo up. “Don’t you think it’s about time you clear your name, Nayeon?” The latter momentarily stopped piling papers. Clear her name? From what?

“We both know that it’s not true that you hurt those students.” Jihyo was looking at her like that again. All worried and sad. Month after her father got kicked out of the council, Nayeon was accused of purposely injuring two students a few years ago and was immediately named as dangerous and scary. From having no power to having too much power. Classic. Her mother believed it was the council’s way of completely getting rid of them, but Mr. Park, that monkey, refused to release her. He was the only person who believed it was not Nayeon. “I like how it made people fear me, I’m good.”

Jihyo was worried. She had been over the years. First was the council, then Nayeon. When she learned it was Jeongyeon’s father after accidentally peeping on the wrong wall,  she saw him arguing Mr. Park over the position of the council head. Instead he gave it to Mr. Im but he got ousted and the position was immediately handed down to Mr. Yoo. But really Jeongyeon had nothing to do with all of these, she would surely believe Nayeon if they would tell her the truth. That was why Jihyo wanted their friend to know. But Nayeon believed otherwise and that’s her call.

 “I just think-” Nayeon loudly filed the papers and looked at her defiantly. “There’s no need to talk about it to Jeongyeon. Can we drop this conversation?” Jihyo often underestimate the magnitude of Nayeon’s stubbornness and her tendency to shut herself out of everyone when she didn’t want to listen. The least that she need was for Nayeon to cut her off too. She did it to Jeongyeon and they drifted apart, she tried doing it to Sana but that girl was too persistent, and Momo was just there beside Jeongyeon. Out of the four of them, Jihyo was the only to break the defenses Nayeon built over the years.

***

Mina was still in her crutches, though the swelling in her foot was not that bad anymore, Miss Sunmi insisted. It was already past the lights out and everyone was supposed to be asleep by now but she couldn’t. She just stared at her window and watched the Moon rise in peace, with everyone else in the comfort of their own chambers. So imagine her curiosity and intrigue growing when she saw someone walking through the field towards the forbidden forest. That’s like violating things all at once. Before Mina could even think, she already limped her way to the field and followed the felon. Mina was standing at the opening of the forest, still deciding whet