The ignoring tactic wasn’t working. If anything, it had the opposite effect in making eight people even more curious. Dahyun couldn’t figure out if the other emotions were distrust or if they were just eager to finally solve whatever mystery surrounded her. She was also feeling a strange fatigue. It had started when she was walking to the school. It was as if the days were catching up with her. She felt drained.

She walked into class, relieved that most of the attention surrounding her had lessened. Only the girls around the place she sat looked up, as if they'd known she was coming. That likely meant enhanced senses. Dahyun had always found it unfair that her kind seemed to have the worst of the augmented senses. 

“Good da–I mean, good morning,” she said. 

The surprise was comical. Chaeyoung couldn’t stop it from appearing on her face, Mina raised her eyebrows, but Sana just looked at her. It almost made Dahyun feel shy, but she held the girl's gaze.  

“Hey,” they all said.

She sat down, unsure of what else to say, so she didn’t say anything. At least she'd greeted them. That was a start, wasn’t it?

The teacher launched into a discussion on acids and their properties. Dahyun felt her discomfort fade away. It was at times like these where she was able to shut out the emotional world and just listen. Whenever she had anything to do with the human discipline of science, she got a wonderful buzzing feeling in her head. She admired the humans endlessly for their pursuit of knowledge about the natural world. There was so much she and her people didn’t know about the universe, they only ever cared about magic. In the sense of distancing themselves from the physical world, her clan had been the absolute worst.

Her thoughts were broken when she felt eyes on her. When she met Sana’s gaze, she felt like she was being studied. 

The girl leant forward until her chin brushed her shoulder. It was too close, but Dahyun didn't lean away.

“Sorry about last week,” Sana whispered. “I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” 

What could she say to that? Acknowledge that the other girl knew something and that Dahyun had caught on to something as well? That was likely not the way to go.

“It’s alright.” Dahyun focused on the girl's pink hair. It reminded her of her friends. How they would always cast charms on one another, turning their hair or skin into the strangest of colours. Paired with her character, she could have passed for a fairy. The reminder tugged at the emptiness in her chest. She met the girl's gaze again.

She gave her a look. “Sure.” 

Without the help of her ability, Dahyun couldn’t figure out what that expression meant, but she sensed doubt. She just shrugged and turned her attention back to the teacher. The topic was bases. They were going to do an experiment next class. She was looking forward to that. 

Then class ended. she was slower this time as she packed up. If she wanted to show them she was taking a different approach, then she might as well put in the effort. 

“How does this school compare with your old one?” Sana asked.

They were all packed at the same time she was. Was that intentional or just a natural progression of packing up? She couldn’t tell. 

She’d done her research on British schools in case the question ever came up. Now she just had to make sure she told the same thing to Sana that she had to Mina. “There’s more work than I’m used to.” Not a lie. “But they also wore a uniform at the school I went to, so I was used to this.” Definitely a lie. She found the tie constricting so she intentionally loosened it when ever she could. In fairness, she found most of the human clothes too restrictive.

“You don’t think these are too restrictive?” Mina asked. “Some people always complain that they can’t wear what they want.” They walked out of class together.

Dahyun shrugged. “It’s nothing terrible. A few hours in the day and then you can wear what you want.” She adjusted her sleeves. She’d rolled those up as well. After seeing how the other students wore their uniforms, it became clear that the teachers didn’t care much about what they did. It just mattered that they showed up and didn’t make this part of their day hard. Dahyun could do that. Easily.

“Right.” Sana nodded, a light smile on her face. 

She let the emotional world colour her vision a bit. It was more difficult than it should have been. The air around Sana was being tinged with orange. There was no malice in the humour, so she wasn’t exactly making fun of her. If not that, then what was so funny about Dahyun? 

“Did you change your hair?” Chaeyoung asked.

Dahyun’s hand went to her head. Had her illusions weakened again? “I, uh, bleached it again. Is it bad?”

“No,” Sana tilted her head to the side, “but it is whiter. So if you were going for that, it worked.” She gave her a gentle smile. Dahyun took it to be a silent reassurance. 

“Thank you.” She nodded. “I,” she trailed off, realising what exactly Sana had said her hair looked like, “will see you all later.”

With that, she hurried to the restrooms. She made sure she went through the right door. She hadn’t known the difference between them on her first day. That had led to a very embarrassing series of “Sorry” and “Wrong room”. Restrooms themselves were strange. She understood why they existed, but that did not mean she hadn't been extremely confused when she'd first encountered a toilet.

She took in her reflection. What should have been a subtle gold was bone white. That meant sickness.

Another girl came in. Dahyun smiled at her before she went out. She didn’t want to also be seen as someone obsessed with her reflection. She touched her hair again. It didn’t feel any different. Was this related to why she was so tired? She hadn’t been using her abilities much. Was it the sheer amount of emotion she'd been exposed to? Perhaps that was the case.

She left the school later today. There had been an assignment she needed to turn in. She’d done her citation