Another day meant more running, and more running meant deeper secrets; and more trouble. Eunha and Umji had been running ever since they were little—SinB recognized the way she felt was only a fraction of what they felt. They ran from home–they had no home–at least SinB grew up somewhat normally. Everything that they had gone through, everything they were fighting for–or should have been. Would they keep going like this? When would it end? 

The thoughts always made their way into SinB’s head, no matter how often she tried to suppress them. This life wasn’t easy, she knew that when she signed up for it. The Pyeonghwa  clan was their maker; they couldn’t even fight back. They were too powerful, and they’d only grown more powerful since that incident. The running was endless. SinB wanted it to end, but it was not that simple. At the very least, she had university to look forward to—it was the only thing that kept her sane amidst her pitiful existence other than...

“Yerin eonnie!” SinB made her way over to her friend, suppressing her somber thoughts. How could one person turn your entire world around? Because Yerin did that for SinB. Despite all the , Yerin’s smile kept her going; and a bandage over the hole in her heart found its place.

Yerin was speaking with a girl too tall for comfort. She’s gigantic... like a tree–or a skyscraper.

“SinB-ah! I’d like you to meet Sowon eonnie!” SinB gawked at Sowon unblinkingly.

“I-I’m SinB.” She pushed out after staring for an uncomfortable amount of time–cursing herself for not thinking of something better to say. The two girls before her began laughing as she lulled her head in shame.

“Yes, I’ve heard all about you from Yerin-ah.” The giant spoke sweetly, calming her laugh as to not further drive SinB into a hole. E-eonnie is talking about me? Are my thoughts actually stuttering? Pathetic.

“What’s with the formal introduction, SinB-ah?” Eunha spoke as she rounded the corner of the hallway. Eunha was one of the girls that lived with SinB, and she’d argue that there was nobody who had it worse. She liked to act tough; but underneath that hard exterior was a girl more frightened and fragile than anyone SinB knew–and she was a mercenary. She wanted to distance herself from people by appearing unapproachable, both to protect herself, and others around her–the clan was after her, not SinB, not Umji. Odds were, if they ever found the three of them, they would likely kill SinB and Umji on sight, and Eunha was not about to risk that. Eunha had a lot riding on her shoulders, but she insisted running was the best course of action—even if it meant they would do so for the rest of their lives.

“What are you staring at?” Eunha directed her attention to Sowon who had been staring at her since she showed herself. A wave of suspicion ran down Eunha and SinB’s backs, but they weren’t about to let their discomfort take physical form. SinB wondered why the tall girl was staring at Eunha. Maybe she took an interest in her? Regardless, SinB didn’t dwell on it. She needed to be on high alert, but she couldn’t fault someone for being curious. And after taking a glance at Sowon’s face, the suspicion was unnecessary–she looked like a fish out of water.

“She’s just captivated by your looks”. Yerin’s response made SinB keel over in laughter, Yerin quickly following suit. As SinB was wiping her tears–recovering from her laughing fit–she noticed Eunha glaring at her in sheer disgust. She bit her tongue to prevent from laughing more, glancing at Sowon’s expression, noting a mix of embarrassment and anger.

“Aw, is miss pretty girl angry?” Eunha mocked while facing Sowon.

Pretty girl? Pretty? Eunha eonnie, are you feeling okay? Amazed by what she was hearing, if SinB were to hear ‘pretty’ and ‘girl’ in the same sentence, it would be directed at Eunha, not initiated by her.

“I’m Eunha, pretty girl,” she continued.

“Nice to meet you… shortie.” Oh no. SinB glanced at Eunha through her peripheral, annoyance covering her demeanor.

“Your name?” Forced words flew out of Eunha’s mouth. It would be an understatement to say Eunha’s unwillingness to tear Sowon apart at that moment impressed SinB.

“Those two are something, huh?” Yerin whispered to SinB, the two friends sharing giggles.

“What are you two laughing about?” Sowon and Eunha asked in unison. SinB and Yerin only laughed more in response.

“Whatever.” After regaining composure, SinB watched as Eunha became a silhouette.

“Wait! Don’t leave without me!” Before leaving, SinB turned to face Yerin. “I’ll see you later, eonnie!”

“Eunha eonnie! Wait!” SinB quickly followed her.

“SinB-ah, why are you following me? I have a class to attend,” Eunha spoke without turning to face the racing footsteps.

“Don’t get on the wrong foot please, she’s still eonnie’s friend.” Eunha relaxed ever so slightly after hearing SinB’s request. “I know, don’t worry. The last thing I want is to hurt your friendship with Yerin eonnie. I’m happy that you and Umji-yah have people that you can fall back on.” She smiled at SinB, but both of them knew how fake that smile was.

“Eonnie, you-”

“I’ll be going now.  See you, SinB-ah.” Eunha cut her off before she could say anything more.

SinB-ah never deserved this life; it was her fault Eunha’s dragging her into this mess. Those days haunted Eunha, and some days felt far worse than others. The days of gunshots, deceit, the lying—the same lying that persisted even to this day. The lying would never stop as long as they lived, at least that’s what Eunha thought. She even wondered sometimes if death was the better way to go, but she knew in her heart that she didn’t even deserve that.

The thoughts rolled around in Eunha’s head. She hated the fact that they had to keep running without an end in sight, but stopping was out of the question. It may not have been the best choice, but she didn’t know what else to do. She couldn’t answer her roommate’s questions because she didn’t even have the answers. Umji wanted to fight back–so did SinB–but all Eunha wanted was to hide. She wouldn’t dare hurt another person again. Her thoughts would often wander when she looked out the somber classroom window that would often be dressed with the sky’s tears.

Almost nothing kept Eunha going. She wanted to become a police officer to protect the good and keep the evil out. She also had Umji and SinB to take care of. Other than that, there was nothing else.

Eunha whipped her head away from the window to escape her dark thoughts; they were making her sick. The desks were lined up well, and the seats were filling up. She didn’t pay close attention to the flurry of students rushing into the classroom, but she took note of one. Her breath hitched when she saw her—Sowon.

Panicked, Eunha turned her head back towards the window, hoping she wouldn’t be caught staring. Eunha knew that the only available seat left was right next to her, so it was only a matter of time before Sowon’s footsteps rang clear in Eunha’s ears.

Eunha played with the idea of simply ignoring Sowon, but then thoughts of SinB popped into her head. She figured that ignoring her was not the best move. Initiating friendly conversation to not put a fork in SinB’s friendship would be a smart choice, so Eunha turned to Sowon and smiled.

“Why do I have to sit next to her?” Sowon’s words caught Eunha off guard as she began contorting her body away from the shorter girl. This upset Eunha, but she shrugged it off. Maybe ignoring her was the better choice after all. Eunha decided there was no need to try speaking to her. She resumed her place, gluing her eyes to the sadness offered by the window.

“Good morning, class.” Eunha breathed a sigh of relief as the professor walked in, saving her from Sowon and the memories.

“Today we will discuss Plato’s Republic. We will begin with Book I.” The professor began his lecture, and as he continued talking, Eunha felt the weight of her eyelids grow heavy. Trying hard to keep them open, they fluttered, dragging her mind to the world of the unconscious.

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A large shove woke Eunha from her pleasant slumber.

“HOW DARE YOU!” She screamed at the source of her rude awakening—that just so happened to be the girl she wanted desperately to avoid. She trailed her features from her perfectly curled eyelashes to her finely shaped chin. She was breathtaking.

Eunha slinked into her seat as soon as she realized she was staring at Sowon, sliding further into her chair from embarrassment.

“Good! Now that you are awake, can you please tell me what Socrates discovered in Book I of Republic?” The professor asked, staring at Eunha, who only wanted to slink into nonexistence.

I don’t know! If I knew we were studying Plato’s Republic, I would have explored on my own at home or work!

“We are waiting,” He continued.

Just think of something quick and end this. Eunha’s mind wandered at lightning speed to figure out something she could pull out of her . Luckily, one of Umji’s various phrases popped into her head.

“Factum fieri infectum non potest.” Eunha was proud of herself for remembering that. She didn’t actually know any Latin—she wishes she were that cool. It was Umji who knew Latin–or was learning–for reasons unknown to Eunha. The phrase Eunha spoke was one that she took quite a liking to after being subjected to hours of Umji practicing her skills on her and SinB. It helped to turn her thoughts away from the past, if only just a bit.

“A Latin proverb, it ties to my response.” Eunha spoke confidently.

“What does it mean?” Sowon asked curiously.

Eunha smirked, peering at Sowon through her peripherals. “It means, ‘it is impossible for a deed to be undone.’ I fell asleep; therefore, I can’t accurately answer the question.” Sowon looked defeated, and Eunha thrived on the feeling she got from looking at her face, even though it faded quickly. A pain entered her chest that she couldn’t pinpoint, but she hoped the pain was nothing but her mind playing tricks on her.

───────────────

“Yerin eonnie... I’m worried.” SinB spoke.

“About Eunha-yah? When aren’t you, SinB-ah?” Yerin was right, when wasn’t she? It was almost impossible for SinB not to worry, though. Eunha was always worrying and looking out for others, but she never took the time to do it for herself.

“I hope she doesn’t cause Sowon eonnie too much trouble.” SinB only told Yerin half of the truth; while she trusted her, she couldn’t relay too much information.

“Come on SinB-ah, I can read you like a book.” Yerin suggested.

Please read me like a book.

“What?” SinB stared at Yerin blankly, wondering if she had said that out loud. All Yerin did was laugh at the unblinking girl.

“What I’m saying is that there’s something else that’s bothering you.” Yerin spoke after her laughing ceased.

“Am I that easy?! To read, I mean.” Yes, I am that easy.

“It doesn’t matter if they don’t get along. Our relationship won’t be hindered because of it.” Yerin reassured, assuming that was what was bothering SinB. Again, not off, but not entirely on the mark either.

The way the words rolled off her tongue made SinB swoon harder than she already did whenever she spent time with Yerin. To top it all off, Yerin knew her better than she thought she did. That sparked a brief feeling of happiness through SinB, knowing they were close enough to read one another–at least a little. Unfortunately, that meant she would need to close herself off more, she wouldn’t dare share with her the truth—she wouldn’t risk the pain it would inevitably cause Yerin.

“I’ll talk to Sowon eonnie; I’m sure she and Eunha-yah will become good friends.” Yerin smiled with her eyes.

“I hope so–that could be good for Eunha eonnie.” Eunha deserved a genuine friend outside of SinB and Umji. As long as they didn’t get too close to people, they should have a little sense of normalcy.

“Alright, I’ll see you later SinB-ah, gonna go talk to the giant.” The girls laughed before exchanging goodbyes.

After SinB and Yerin had parted ways, SinB had caught up with Eunha, who had just exited from her classroom.

“Hey SinB-ah, where’s your girlfriend?” Eunha smirked.

“She has something to… wait.” Mentally slapping herself, SinB combated, “Eonnie! Yerin eonnie is not my girlfriend!”

“Funny, I don’t remember saying her name.” Eunha was smug in her response, getting a kick out of a struggling SinB.

. SinB the more words that come out of your mouth the worse it gets! She groaned.

“Your thoughts are deceiving you, SinB-ah,” Eunha adm