Author's note: As promised, here's your early update. I had a lot of fun reading what you guys were decoding BUT I will not explicitly decode it to keep it fun. Just know that you guys got it right ;) 

--

The stress of going back to daily life was starting to get to everyone. The academy lifted the lockdown after 3 days, removing evidence that the crash had ever occurred at all. No one spoke about it openly, although there were rumors about the demon but nothing was officially announced. Dami and Gahyeon were often seen together with serious looks on their faces. Siyeon, Handong, and Bora decided to train together after classes (Originally, it was just Siyeon and Handong but Dami insisted that Bora joined as well. Probably to keep an eye on the chinese girl.). Jiu went to class and did her clinic duties as usual but at night, she would stay at Yoohyeon’s bedside. The window that was hit by the bullet was replaced and the entire room was made bulletproof, just in case someone decided to come back to finish the job.

Thankfully, the tallest girl woke up at the end of the week, feeling groggy but overall okay. The others try to visit her/question her but Jiu’s stern warning prevents them from even entering the room. She settles back down on the chair next to the bed, pouring a cup of water for Yoohyeon. Yoohyeon sits up and downs the glass in one gulp and stretches her sore limbs back and forth.

“What’s your name?” Jiu asks without preamble.

“Eh?”

“What’s your name?”

“...Kim Yoohyeon.” The younger girl answered with her eyebrows raised.

“Age? Occupation?”

“17, Student at Happyface Hero Academy.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

Yoohyeon hesitates, trying to piece together what she could in her head. Jiu stays silent, letting the girl take her time.

“I helped stop a plane...and there was a strange demon...” Her brows furrow as she tries to make sense of everything. Jiu sees that it is starting to cause some distress so she places the tips of her fingers against the younger’s temple and releases bits of magic into Yoohyeon. Instantly, she calms down, able to think more clearly.

“What happened after I out?” Yoohyeon’s gaze was sharper, more alert now.

Jiu withdrew her hand and Yoohyeon felt a pang of disappointment, not that she showed it outwardly. “Bora arrived and Gahyeon captured the demon. Your circuits were badly damaged and I healed you. The academy went on lockdown but that was lifted 2 days ago.” Jiu summarizes. Yoohyeon looks at Jiu who was clearly lacking sleep. Even with all that makeup, Yoohyeon could tell (she always could).

“When was the last time you slept?” Yoohyeon speaks calmly, not wanting to start another fight with the healer. They were definitely prone to that, especially since the whole decable with Kang Jinwoo.

(Yoohyeon went out of her way to avoid Jiu whenever she could. Once, Jiu opened the door, making eye contact with her by accident, causing Yoohyeon to drop everything she was doing and escape to her room. That sandwich was sadly wasted.

Jiu tried to extend an olive branch by buying sweets but Yoohyeon refused them all. They were left on the table, untouched. It was so unlike Yoohyeon’s usual food stealing habits that Jiu had to admit that Yoohyeon was really upset this time.

“Where are you going? It’s past curfew.” Jiu asks the younger girl. Yoohyeon was dressed in all black, ready to jump out the living area window for a nighttime adventure.

Yoohyeon doesn’t even spare her a glance. “Just leave me alone.”)

If Jiu was surprised, she didn't show it. “I’m fine-”

“You aren’t.” Yoohyeon interrupts. “You always do this.”

“What are you talking about?” Jiu’s starting to get a little irritated at Yoohyeon’s attitude. She didn't take care of her for 5 days straight, only to be berated as soon as she woke up.

“You’re always putting others above yourself. I get that you want to be a doctor but you need to take care of your body in order to help others. What good is it if you collapse?” Yoohyeon scoffs, glaring slightly at Jiu. Being her roommate meant that she knew how little Jiu gave to herself. The older girl spends more time in the clinic or hospital than in her own bed.

Jiu looks down, not knowing how to respond to that. She knew that the black-haired girl was completely right. But this was something that she had to do. It was the reason why she enrolled here in the first place. If she didn't, then her f-

“Jiu...” Yoohyeon’s expression softens, seeing the distress on the blonde’s face. “It’s just me.” Jiu snaps her head up, lips unconsciously lifting up a little on one side after hearing that familiar phrase. It must’ve been ages ago since she’s heard it.

“It’s just me. You don’t need to act strong around me.” The gentleness in Yoohyeon’s words is what breaks Jiu’s walls down. She takes off her glasses to wipe at her eyes, causing Yoohyeon to panic.

The wind-user reaches out with her hands, stopping short of actually touching Jiu. “U-um!” The healer giggles, the sound coming out a little wet from her clogged nostrils.

She wipes her eyes again, lifting her head when she’s cleaned most of the tears away. “I’m okay, really. I...I just thought that I’d never hear that from you ever again...And yes, I’ve been pretty stressed out this week. Things are crazier than what you could imagine, Yooh.” Yoohyeon’s heart skips a beat. Jiu was beautiful even when she was crying and hearing her say her nickname brought an unknown feeling in her.

“I know. But let’s put that aside for now and rest.” She opens the blanket, gesturing for Jiu to lay down next to her. Jiu blinks rapidly and then blushes, shaking her head. “C’mon, if you don’t rest, then I won’t either. Do you want your patient dying from lack of sleep?” It was an exaggeration of course, but it got Jiu to finally lay down.

The younger tucks the older in after she lays down too. Yoohyeon thought that Jiu might be feeling too awkward to fall asleep but she drifts off rather quickly. She must have been really tired if she was willing to fall asleep next to the person she hated. (Yoohyeon knew that deep down, Jiu never hated her. It was just Yoohyeon’s childishness that was getting the best of her.)

“Hey, Yooh?” Jiu says out of nowhere, startling Yoohyeon a bit. Wasn’t she sleeping? There was that ticklish feeling again in her stomach.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for saving my life.”

“Let’s call it even, you saved me too. Go to sleep, M-Jiu...” Not wanting to seem like a creep, Yoohyeon closes her eyes, hoping that nothing will interrupt the older girl’s much needed rest.

--

“, that’s the 4th one this week...” Dami curses under her breath. Dami continued investigating the murders, now knowing the connection between them and the strange events surrounding the academy. So far, she’s traveled to 4 different cities, all different types of women but all being killed in the exact same way. It was a bit frustrating that all she saw with her powers were more or less the same as the first victim. But at least it was pointing to the same culprits.

This 4th body was not as mangled as the other 3 so at least the detective could get a closer look at the damage. Grimacing as she shifted an arm with a gloved hand, Dami snaps a few HD photos. “Get this body to the coroner.” She instructs when she’s done. The officiers wrap the body up in a body bag.

When she is alone in the back of her car, she goes through the pictures she just took. A few lighting edits and a negative copy was all it took for her to be able to see blackened veins on the victim. Just like the ones in Handong’s pictures. She would need to take this back to her room for further analysis. A knock on the window snapped her out of her thoughts. Gahyeon stood there with a tired look on her face. Dami quickly opens the door to let her in. The teleporter just flops onto the seats like a dead fish.

Dami is a little annoyed that her pristine leather seats were getting dirty but she needed to hear what Gahyeon had to say. “Well?”

“...nothing.” Gahyeon had spent the last few days scouring for information throughout the main city. No new clues showed up even when she used her most extensive information networks. It was a dead end.

Dami curses under her breath. “...we don’t have much more to work with and that sniper disappeared before we could get to h