Seulgi woke up to one of the most terrible headaches she’s ever had. The hunter grunted, slowly opening her eyes. Her vision became clear and a white ceiling was perceived. She jerked her body up and frenetically looked around, she registered the whole room and found nothing special. It was a small bedroom, white walls like in her apartment, the lights where dim, making it almost impossible to catch the details with one glance. The furniture kept on being antique like the rest of the house, wooden bed with bright red covers, wooden closet, a night table and a small red lamp on it.

“What the hell?” Hunter Kang whispered, throwing her body back on the bed. She was more than confused by the past events, all she could remember was her waking up in a completely different city, with a completely different outfit and even a completely different hair color. Now, everything was back to normal.

“Hey, you’re awake”

A voice snapped her back to reality. It was Wendy, standing between the half-opened door. “Want something to eat?” She sweetly offered.

“How can I eat when I was in a whole different continent just five minutes ago?” Seulgi complained, making Wendy come inside the room.

“I remember my first night here… it was terrifying, but with time I got used to it” The latter said, sitting on the bed, next to the hunter.

“I’m here to catch the witch, not sleep at work, Seungwan” Hunter Kang annoyingly expressed.

“Call me Wendy, please?” The shorter girl requested, making Seulgi frown.

“Why is that so important? Seungwan is your real name” She insisted.

“Good morning, sunshine” Irene barged into the room, making the girls jump in surprise. “Wendy, go help Joy make breakfast, please” She commanded, the younger nodded and quietly exited the room, not even bothering to make eye contact with the older.

“I’m leaving this place” Seulgi confidently said, getting off of the bed and walking to Irene’s direction.

“I thought you said you wanted to take me down and rescue the girls… are you going to bail?” The witch tried to get on the hunter’s nerves.

“I’m not” Seulgi sternly said. “I lost my stupid phone; I need to find it and call for backup”

“Ooh, cop talk, I like that” Irene seductively said, playing with a lock of her hair.

“And you can stop that too” The hunter said, shooting the witch a dirty look before walking through the door.

“You don’t like me being nice to you?” Irene playfully asked, smirking.

Hunter Kang stopped her track, not bothering to turn and look at the beauty behind her. “I don’t like you thinking you can get in my head by being all flirty and nice, it’s not working so stop it”

“Get the out of here, then” Irene lost her temper, making Seulgi quickly turn to face the angry witch. Something in those words of hers, something about the hunter thinking Irene was ‘getting in her head’ bothered the beauty, she didn’t know why she was being this nice to her a this point, but one thing she knew for sure and it was the fact that she didn’t want to get in Seulgi’s head by being nice and warm, if she was going to control her, she wanted the hunter to suffer.

“Fine, goodbye” The monolided girl said, resuming her walk.

Something felt off with this though, it was weird that Irene didn’t stop her, she actually encouraged her to leave. It shouldn’t be this easy, the hunter thought but kept on moving without hesitation. Once she was out of that doomed house, she walked to the hostel since the festival wasn’t open yet. The cold weather made her shiver, she hugged herself, trying to preserve a little bit of her warmth. Hunter Kang was lost in her miserable walk that she didn’t even realize she was already inside the hostel, standing right in the middle of the reception.

“Hi, I accidentally lost my key… my room is #4, can I get a replacement? I will pay for the one I lost” Seulgi said, still looking down both in embarrassment for losing the key and cold.

But nobody answered.

Confused and thinking that the lady didn’t hear her the first time, she repeated herself but this time looking at the employee. “She doesn’t seem to hear me…” She whispered, waved a hand to her face and received no reaction.

“What did you do to me?” She blankly asked, looking straight into the lady’s eyes.

“You thought I was going to let you go that easy?” Irene asked, standing right behind the poor hunter.

“What did you do to me!?” Seulgi snapped, frenetically turned to face the witch and gripped both of her arms, eyes completely wide, demanding her answer. “She can’t see me!... or hear me!... what is this!?” She cried.

“It wasn’t me, Seulgi” The beauty softly said, almost apologetic. “There’s a spell in the house… once you enter, nobody in the outside world can see you”

“Jesus Christ” The hunter whispered, hands traveled to her head, she was losing her mind. Quick, think Kang, think.

Back in the house, Wendy and Joy made breakfast just as instructed by the leader witch. Wendy quietly mixed the pancake ingredients in a bowl while Joy was taking care of the bacon and eggs.

“Wendy…” Joy called, but the other didn’t answer.

“Wendy, please…”

“You can’t keep doing this, Joy” The shorter girl adverted, still mixing the ingredients nonstop.

“No, she can’t keep doing this to us” The taller girl backfired, approaching Wendy.

“This is what’s best for us, why can’t you see that?” The latter said, trying to convince Joy.

“She’s controlling us, why can’t you see that?”

“Joy, stop this conspiration, she’s going to hear us”

“If you say she’s good for us then why are you so afraid of her?”

Wendy finally stopped mixing and turned to face Joy. Both of them knew that something was going on, Irene’s always been secretive about her plans and they have overheard a few conversations that made them conclude there was something else going on with the leader. Although they weren’t a cult or something like that, they were still a sisterhood of witches and that meant they were somehow a family, meaning that all the members should be aware of what is going on in their own house.

“She’s the authority, we should all be afraid of her” Wendy tried to explain, but at this point it was futile, Joy was convinced.

“Wendy, I love you” Joy said, moving closer to the shorter girl. “I won’t forgive myself if something happens to you”

“Then I think we should break up” Wendy suggested, making Joy’s heart break.

Sooyoung arrived to the house two months before Wendy did, falling in love with her at first sight. There was something about Seungwan that Joy found very appealing, maybe it was her charm, her beautiful eyes, her dreamy smile or her overall kind character. Even so, Joy was never brave enough to confess her feelings, not until she started with the conspiration against Irene. After learning that they might be only dolls and that the leader witch was probably the one puppeteering them, she wasted no time and confessed. The couple agreed on dating but only if Irene never finds out about them.

After all the things Joy and Wendy had to pull through, it was painful for the younger girl to even think about breaking up.

“Why would you say that?” Joy asked, trying to maintain her peace and not to cry.

“If you keep pushing like this… Irene will find about us… she’s not going to be happy about it” Wendy tried to reason with her girlfriend.

“She’s way too absorbed in Seulgi, she won’t even know… now it’s our chance to strike” Joy insisted.

“And what about Yeri, Joy? What about the spell? What about our life after this?” The taller girl didn’t want to admit that her girlfriend had a point, entering the house was death for them, literally.

“So you rather stay here and rot with this stupid house instead of fighting?”

“I just play by the rules and I don’t get why won’t you”

“Do you remember how you got in here?” Irene asked, trying to help the monolided girl comprehend.

“What do you mean!? I walked!” Hunter Kang snapped back, she was done with that witch and her games.

“Did you open the door?”

“What the hell, Irene!?”

“Seulgi, did you open the door?”

“I don’t remember! god damn it!”

A long silence invaded the room, the hunter interrupted her psychosis to look at Irene, the witch nodded.

“No…” She said, under her breath.

“C’mon, witch hunter, you’re not stupid”

“Quod cedant in nihilum…” Seulgi whispered.

“I knew you could recognize it” Irene praised.

“I’m an idiot” Hunter Kang sobbed, slowly falling to the ground. “I accepted this case to prove something to myself, to my parents, to my co-workers… but I’m worthless, I just screw everything up and now I’m stuck with you forever” She whimpered, arms hugging her legs, head hung low.

“You make it sound like being with me is bad” Irene expressed, with a tint of disappointment in her voice.

“Aren’t you?” The other asked, looking up to the witch with a broken and glassy stare. “Aren’t you bad?”

Irene couldn’t understand why the girl in front of her was crying so uncontrollably, yes, she failed, yes, she’s trapped in the house, but it wasn’t as bad as she thought. Seeing that kind of reaction really enraged the witch.

“I’m bad!?” The blonde yelled. “You say I’m bad now but just a few moments ago you couldn’t give me the poisoned milkshake!? How can you be that gentle towards me and in a blink of an eye tell me that I’m bad and cry over pure bull?”

“Well, I don’t know what’s wrong with me either! I didn’t kill you, just say thanks and move on” Seulgi said, wiped her tears and stood up to walk back to the house.

“Why the did you stop crying now?” The witch asked, genuinely confused.

“Were you ever human?” The monolided girl stood in front of the witch.

“Of course I was… am…” Irene stuttered.

“Well, that must have been a long time ago” Hunter Kang sternly said, words that cut Irene right through her.

“ing ” Irene mumbled.

“Whatever you say, I’m not playing your games, I’m not five years old” Seulgi said. She tried to open the door but failed when she saw her hand go through it like a ghost would.

The witch couldn’t understand Seulgi’s character, since the beginning it was already weird to her that the girl chose to not kill her, but now it was different. It was if like Seulgi had two sides, a very cute and gentle one and a cold, sarcastic one.

“Oh, you think I’m five? Fine! You’re a dumb dumb!”

Oh… my head…

The witch hunter slowly opened her eyes, a blinding light bothered her sight, making her squint. “Now, where the hell did she put me in?” She asked herself, trying to sit on the cold white floor. She inspected her clothes, hair and surroundings just like the last time and learned that she was wearing some ridiculously ugly shoes, an ugly red dress with a weird yellow apron, her hair was done in the most odd way and could sense something that felt like a ribbon holding her ponytail from hell in place.

“Wendy…?”

“Joy…?”

“Yeri…?”

She called for the girls but this time there was no one else in this Irene’s twisted world. A cold shiver ran down her spine as she experienced fear, it was the first time she was left alone. Is it because I made her mad? She reflected. The hunter stumbled her way to what it seemed to be like a big machine, she examined the mechanism and couldn’t get a clue of what it was for.

She stepped on the big conveyor belt to try to get a better look of it from the inside when it started moving, transporting her into it.

“Unnie, what are you doing? Breakfast is ready” Wendy asked, entering Irene’s quiet room after knocking, finding her sitting in front of her mirror. “Where’s Seulgi?” She asked again, this time more concerned.

“Don’t worry about us, we’ll be there in a minute” The leader replied, trying to make Wendy leave her alone.

“Is that the mannequin factory…?” The younger girl asked, looking at Irene’s mirror, seeing Seulgi trying to escape the machine.

“Get the out, Wendy”

“You can’t do that to her! Dissect her like an animal just to try to understand her feelings… that’s atrocious…”   

“I said get the out!” The leader roared while pushing the other girl out of her room, shutting the door behind her.

“What’s wrong?” Joy asked, being followed by Yeri.

“Where’s Irene unnie?” Yeri asked.

“Girls… we need to stop this”

“No! Wait! Irene, please!” Seulgi shouted at the top of her lungs, she tried to move but was paralyzed, posing like a mannequin. While she was in the verge of losing her mind, a caution sign was spotted.

“Caution: remove every metal piece and/or artifact before entering the chamber…” She squinted her eyes trying to read the rest of the sign. “Character improver 2.0… subject enters the chamber, dissection commences, allowing the machine controller to decide which attributes should stay and which ones should be changed…”

“Seulgi!”

The monolided girl heard Wendy calling her. “Here! I’m here!” She shouted.

Joy and Wendy pulled her out of the machine before the dissection could commence, breaking the paralysis spell. “Thank you” The hunter appreciated the girl’s actions.

“Great, now let’s get out of here” Yeri said, speed walking to the exit of the factory.

“You’re finished? Anything else you would like to ruin for me?” Irene ranted, arms crossed.

“You!” Seulgi yelled. “You tried to dissect me!? Tried to change my feelings!? To change the way I am and brainwash me to like you!” She exploded.

“I wasn’t going to change you… I just wanted to understand your feelings… and maybe torture you a little” The witch smirked, making the hunter’s blood boil. “You piece of-“

“No, no, no, no” Seulgi was about to punch the leader right on the face but Yeri stopped her. “She just has a different way of showing interest…”

Hunter Kang calmed down. It amused her how incapable Irene was of being empathic, how everything she did was just for her own interest.

“Stop torturing her, she’s one of us now, we’re a family” Joy pleaded, but Irene wasn’t listening.

“She’s not a witch”

“Neither are we!”

The confrontation between Joy and Irene caught everyone’s but Yeri’s attention, who tried to open the emergency door to exit the factory but couldn’t. After two more tries, she finally decided to call the other girls.

“Unnie, the door won’t open” She said, concerned.

“Don’t be joking like that, Yeri, it’s not funny” Joy annoyingly said.

“I don’t think she is” Wendy said, getting closer to her girlfriend.

“ing amazing” Irene complained, rolling her eyes.

“Now what?” Yeri asked but widened her eyes as something started pulling her and the others to the machine.

“Unnie, what the hell!? Wendy cried, holding Joy’s and Seulgi’s arms tight.

“That’s what we get for being too soft” The witch nonchalantly said, standing mannequin style on the conveyor belt.

One by one they entered the machine and suffered the feeling of their limbs being slowly teared apart, while the machine registered their characteristics and tried to jumble them into perfection. The machine didn’t last long after the five girls were ‘modified’ and just as Yeri was exiting the machine, it stopped working.

“I think I’m going to be sick” Joy said, lying on the ground, holding her stomach in pain.

“I don’t remember this being so painful” Wendy quietly said.

“Seulgi, I’m sorry” Irene said between her heavy breathing, she was lying beside Seulgi, while the other three girls were a little farther.

“You confuse me” The hunter softly said. “There was something I saw in you… something human enough for me not to kill you right then and there”

“You’re intriguing and somehow I can’t stop trying to figure you out” The witch said, turning her head to face an almost knocked out girl.

“I really don’t know if you’re telling the truth but I guess I can give you a chance of redemption” The monolided girl mimicked the leader witch, turning to face her. Irene’s eyes, God… they were something else, it didn’t matter if the girl was smiling or even angry… those eyes, if you stare long enough, you can fall for them. For some wicked reason, Seulgi wanted and decided right here and now to get lost in her beautiful eyes, she wanted to be confused but only if it was Irene, she wanted to be trapped in the house forever but only if she was with Irene and if it was possible, she wanted to free the girls and Irene.

Back in the house, the girls woke up in Irene’s room, pain present in their bodies as they tried to reincorporate themselves.

“Can we eat breakfast now?” Yeri complained.

“You mean dinner” Wendy pointed while peeking out of the window.

“I’m going to reheat the pancakes” Joy said, looking at her girlfriend and the latter got the signal.

“Let me help you” The shorter girl said, following the other out of the room.

“I’m going to set the table” Yeri exited the room, leaving Seulgi and Irene alone.

“You should go, I won’t be long” The witch said, trying to avoid looking at the hunter.

“I will take you out of here, Irene” The younger girl sweetly said, confusing Irene.

“What? Why?” The latter asked, quickly turning to face the other girl.

“I think you deserve a second chance, you know, in the real world” Seulgi said, her eyes warmly gazing down at Irene. “Just you wait, I’m going to save you all” She assured, slowly and carefully caressing the leader’s right cheek and with that, she left.

There she was, the Seulgi that caught Irene’s attention that one time, the Seulgi that radiated kindness and warmth. The witch was touched by the hunter’s actions and hoped for it to be an option, wished for it to be true, hell, even prayed for it to happen.