“Pour another one! I bet you can’t down the whole bottle!”

“You wanna bet money on that?”

Yuna partly regretted returning to her dorm but she had nowhere else to go except for maybe her parent’s house. Scratch that, going back home was worse than the dorms to Sojung and Yerin. As she soon entered the door, a wave of savory smells hit her nose. Instantly, Yuna could recognize the familiar scent of cheesy and buttery sweet potatoes. salivated as she kicked off her shoes and put on a pair of slippers.

“What are you two love birds up to?” Yuna snickered. She placed her guitar against the wall and moved to their small kitchen. 

Their dorm was a luxury in Yuna's opinion. They had a working fridge and stove, a bathroom and two bedrooms. Technically the dorm was for two students only but since Yerin practically begged the building managers, she was put in with them; along with having to share a room with Sojung. Which Yuna didn’t mind because she got a room all to herself.

“Love birds? Never say that again.” Yerin pretended to vomit. “Don’t mistake friendly love for romantic love, Choi Yuna!”

Sojung nodded her head quickly, pushing Yerin away from her as if her being close meant anything romantic. “You think I’d fall for this rat? Yerinie literally tests her weird food creations on me!”

“Rat!” 

Yuna let out a loud laugh and sat herself across from her friends, grabbing a fork. “You know,” Placing a piece of meat in , Yuna pointed her utensil at Sojung. “You fall for everyone Sojung, maybe it could be Yerin-eonni.”

“Actually it’s the opposite, people fall for me.” Sojung said, reaching over to stab the pork belly.

“And you end up playing around with them – what happened with that one girl? I forgot her name.” Yerin chimed in. This information was completely new to Yuna and while she did know Sojung had her tendencies to… “date”, she didn’t think the girl would actually get into something serious. Knowing Sojung, she never commits to anyone. So far at least.

“I forgot her name too, I think it started with an “E”?”

Yerin rolled her eyes. “Very helpful.”

Yuna blinked at the mention of the letter and pondered for a second. Right, Eunbi’s name starts with an E. Jumping out of her chair, Yuna stared at Sojung with determination.

“Speaking of E’s, do you guys know anyone that’s named Eunbi?”

Yerin and Sojung looked at Yuna with straight faces. As if it couldn’t get vague enough!  Eunbi was one of the most common names and Yuna expected a serious answer from them? 

“Yuna, are you being serious?” Yerin laughed jokingly as she tapped on her phone. “There are probably dozens of Eunbi’s here.”

“Well, just like, the ones you know? Girls? You know?”

Once the word girls left Yuna’s lips, Yerin’s attention was immediately hooked.

Yerin's eyes bugged out of their sockets as she leaned into Yuna's personal space. “Girls? Yuna, you’re finally interested in someone!”

And that’s her cue to leave! Yuna knew talking to Sojung and Yerin would be a bust, much more a disaster. Before Yuna could even leave the kitchen table, Sojung blocked her way of escaping, cornering the girl in her seat. The hairs on Yuna’s arm stood up as Sojung and Yerin looked at her with a sort of intriguement.

Yuna let out a heavy sigh. There was no way to escape.

“Alright, are you guys going to tell me?”

Sojung her chin before snapping her fingers into a gun. “Ah! There’s the dancing one, what’s her name? Hwang Eunbi?”

The name sounded familiar to Yuna, the gears in her head slowly turning. She had some idea who Hwang Eunbi was but she didn’t know what the dancer looked like. Hope bloomed in Yuna’s heart though the question remains: who is Eunbi? 

“Um–”

“Oh oh oh oh! Yewon knows another Eunbi,” Yerin quickly added. “I think her name is Jung Eunbi.”

A puzzled expression replaced Sojung’s excited one, tapping her finger against her lip before pointing it to Yerin. “Isn’t she that art genius or whatever?”

“Dunno, don’t really care but if she is Yuna’s mystery girl then yes I do!” 

The conversation continued to tangents; with Yerin trying to recall any other Eunbi’s and Sojung not particularly interested (unless if she recognized a name). Yuna let out a heavy sigh, standing up to grab her wet coat and empty out the pockets. Strands of wet hair flew in her vision and she was reminded to get that rain water out of it.

“I’m gonna shower.” Yuna yelled earning incoherent words and quickly scrambled to the bathroom. “And Yerin-eonni, don’t break in like last time!”

She could’ve sworn she heard a faint “no” but Yuna chose to ignore it. Like always, she was going to lock the door — except last time, Yerin somehow snuck into the bathroom even with a locked door. It wasn't like she kept a pick-lock around, right?

Turning on the water, Yuna stared at herself in the mirror. Her hair was slightly disheveled by the rain — though her bangs were still in place — and the coat she wore dripped with water. An ache stirred inside Yuna’s head, collapsing against the sink, and held her head tightly; as if it would stop any pain. The smell of rain always made things difficult for Yuna. She didn’t know why and it wasn’t because of some secret illness (she hoped), instead the scent was weirdly nostalgic.

Yuna stared at herself in the glass, a frown naturally framing her face. Brushing the incoming thoughts to the back of her head; Yuna undressed and stepped into the shower.

The blazing water rolled against her skin smoothly, steam rising into the vents as Yuna hummed to herself. Rubbing the shampoo into her scalp, Yuna closed her eyes and embraced the warmth overwhelming her body. She could only hear the running water hitting the shower floor and the quiet hissing of steam. By now, the shampoo was washed from her hair and Yuna stood in the shower.

For a second: Yuna felt herself slip into oblivion. She snapped her eyes open and quickly finished her shower. But in that moment, the ocean was clear in front of her. The ocean she visited with the Eunbi. As weird as it sounded, the place felt surreal yet… real at the same time. It was her mind making a world, no doubt about that, with it’s symmetrical sky and ground — that was presumingly water that reflected the sky. The amount of inspiration and energy she felt when she visited the ocean state of her mind wasn’t normal.

Yuna scoffed. She sounded silly just thinking of that.

Her concentration was cut as soon as the door clicked and it opened slowly.

“Yerin!” Yuna screamed, scrambling to put on her clothes. “What the ! I thought I told you not to come in when i’m showering!”

The girl stared at her, unperplexed, and walked into the bathroom. “The water was off so I assumed you were done already.”

Yuna gave Yerin a confused look. “How did you even open the door in the first place?!”

“None of your concern.”

Whilst wiping her hair with a towel, Yuna stepped next to Yerin. “Well did you need something?”

“Just brushing my teeth.” Yerin pursed her lip and looked at Yuna from the mirror. “So why’d you come home late?”

“Rain.” Yuna said. She really did not want to tell Yerin about Eunbi — plus she already told too much when she mentioned if her roommates knew anyone by the name. Sure, Yuna would tell Yerin in a heartbeat if Yerin wasn’t such a cupid. Everytime she told the girl about someone, Yerin somehow found a way to get that someone to want to date her. Yuna didn’t even like them!

“Ah, but that’s not it, is it? Your face looked disappointed.”

Except that Yerin already knew everything about her. The two hadn’t been friends for that long but they were close. Much to Yuna’s dismay, Yerin knows when she’s lying or hiding something.

“Met… a — someone, I guess they were nice.” Yuna hesitated on the last word. She didn’t forget that Eunbi used her as a water shield.

“Their name happens to be Eunbi?”

“What?!” Yuna backed up from Yerin’s grinning face, stained with toothpaste. “No! That’s not her name! I don’t know her name, I swear!”

“Oh Yuna, you know that I know when you’re lying! Also you just told me the gender so I am assuming that whoever Eunbi is, she’s the mystery girl?”

Yerin was too good. The girl was spot on making Yuna lower her defenses; she knew she could trust Yerin with these kinds of things. It wasn’t that the older girl told anyone anything, not even Sojung, Yerin could take a secret to the grave but this time something was stopping Yuna.

Placing her chin into her hands, Yerin watched Yuna with a smug grin. “C’mon Yuna~ I’m interested! Who is she? What does she look like? Is she tall—”

“Yerin!” Yuna whined. “Why are you so interested anyway? I’m a boring person!”

“Correction: boring and weird.” She added in.

“Not the point!”

A surge of annoyance evidently passed Yerin’s face as she pouted her lips in an attempt to pry a clear answer. “Well, for one: you’re never interested in anyone so you asking about a whole strange is out of character, and two: see if they’re good enough for you!”

Yuna’s jaw dropped to the floor though she quickly picked it back up after Yerin guffawed at her reaction. Reasons for things were always hard to explain, at least to Yuna, she didn’t think Yerin actually had one. For the time she knew the girl: Yerin seemed to do things out of context. Just randomly — include the time Yerin decided to get drunk after Sojung dumped someone. Who does that?!

Finally giving into Yerin’s pleading look, Yuna sighed and leaned against the bathroom sink. “I barely know anything about her but…” The girl’s name lingered her mind.”... Eunbi has pink hair and has such a strange aura.”

“Wow, sounds almost supernatural.”

The look on Yuna’s face was almost incomprehensible, causing Yerin to let out a hearty laughter. Yeah right, “supernatural”.

“Um, anyway, she wore a washed-out purple sweater that day and has glasses.” Yuna described, reliving the memory. The rain was back and Eunbi’s distinguishable pink hair bobbed up and down excitedly, running towards her to use Yuna as a water shield.

“That’s all I really know.”

“You remember that? I can’t even remember what I ate for breakfast! Yesterday!” The girl said exasperated, Yerin’s hands throwing up into a messy gesture. “So what, you like this Eunbi or something?”

“What no! I don’t even know who she is!” Yuna put her hands up in defense but Yerin thought otherwise.

“Yeah okay, I believe you.”

“You do?”

“No! Of course I don’t, you oblivious !” Yerin yelled in frustration. “Were you not at least attracted to her?”

Yuna tapped her chin. She couldn’t help but agree with the girl; Eunbi is interesting in a way.

“Well…” She mumbled softly.

Yerin jumped in excitement, ready to call out Sojung to tell her the news of Choi Yuna finally being attracted to someone, and ran out of the bathroom in the speed of light.

Oh hell no.

"Yerin, you little !" Yuna screamed, chasing her out of the bathroom and into the halllway. The latter was just about to barge into the bedroom but before that could happen, Yuna leaped onto Yerin, tackling against the hardwood floor.

“SOJUNG! Help me!” Yerin cried out.

"Why the hell are you playing at this time?" A voice rumbled from behind the door.

Yuna and Yerin shared the shivers, clasping on to each other for mental support as Sojung slowly cracked open the door.

This is it. This is what true fear was.

A pair of eyes could be seen in the darkness, black pupils burning into the two girls' souls. Before Yerin was trying to move out of Yuna's weirdly strong grip but now she found herself hugging Yuna back. Ice filled the hallway as Sojung silently opened the door fully to reveal her grandma-like pajamas.

Nothing else was scarier than Sojung being geninuely annoyed while wearing her grandma dress (where did she even get that from?).

“What’s this all about? I’m trying to sleep for s sake.” Sojung huffed, picking the whining Yerin up off the ground.

“Yuna’s—”

“Yerin went into the bathroom when I was showering so I chased her out then she slipped on the ground and I fell on top of her.” Yuna smiled innocently, silently whooping in joy as Sojung’s face turned from anger to relaxation.

“Oh why didn’t you tell me that before?” The eldest of the room glared at Yerin. “Don’t you know how to respect others' privacy?”

As the girl was about to speak, Sojung held a hand up. She really did not want to deal with Yerin’s crazy antics tonight — living with her was already enough.

“Go to sleep already, I have to get ready early.” Grabbing her roommate by the sleeve, Sojung waved a good night to Yuna.

The door was slammed shut and a scream came from the room. A scream that definitely belonged to Yerin. Yuna found herself not curious about Yerin's well-being and returned to her room. As soon as her head hit the pillow, sleep washed over her.

How much crazier could things get?

Yuna opened her eyes not too long after she fell asleep. Her eyes squinted at the light shining through the window. Expecting to see her room, Yuna let out a scream once she realized she wasn’t. She was laying on the ground in water but she wasn’t wet — not even a single drop of water stained her clothes. It was bright, a blue sky with scattered clouds. The sky lit up without a sun. Yuna finally found the strength to stand up, the water sliding off her clothes and adding to the giant ocean. She anticipated falling into the ocean but Yuna had gained the ability to walk on water — in whatever this world was anyway.

Looking around curiously, Yuna spotted a chair and her guitar and ran towards her belongings in a hurry. Right when she touched her guitar, it dissipated into the air. A trail of stardust floated in front of Yuna. She followed the glowing trail like a lost puppy, plus Yuna didn’t know what else to do.

“Hey you.”

A high pitched voice rang in Yuna’s ears, stopping abruptly to search for the owner. Much to her disappointment, no one else was there except for her.

The trail ended sooner than she thought. Yuna frowned, there was nothing else except the endless water and blue skies. 

“Hey, i’m right here!”

And she could’ve sworn she heard that voice again.

“Yeah, you did hear me! Now look down!”

Yuna complied to the voice, her pride slightly damaged for listening to an unknown voice, and jumped back at the sight.

“What? Do I look scary?” A light green bunny appeared at her feet, slightly translucent though Yuna couldn’t exactly see through the body. If she did, she might as well try to wake herself up from this dream. Was this a dream? How else would a green bunny be here? Yuna slapped her cheeks and kneeled down to the bunny.

“Um, excuse me but where am I?” Yuna asked. A part of her felt dumb and while a dream was the correct answer, Yuna sought for more.

“Hey Choi Yuna! You don’t know?!” The bunny hopped up and down, obviously flabbergasted. “This is your mind, doesn’t it look pretty?” Gesturing to the sky, the bunny evidently smiled (don’t ask how she knew) and bumped Yuna on the leg.

“Aren’t you wondering who I am?”

Yuna’s bottom lip jutted out, puzzled with her current situation. Who knew her mind was so beautiful? Not that she actually believes the strange bunny, no one can enter the mind, whatever it’s supposed to mean. This was obviously a dream and Yuna was somehow able to move around in it.

“Well you’re a bunny that’s green.” Yuna said. An urge to pet the bouncing animal, she reached out to rub the head. 

The bunny jumped back. “Hey! Are you really trying to pet me?”

This was all too strange. Her dreams are weird but never this weird. A talking green bunny who’s claiming this is in her mind (technically it is) and water that she could walk on. Even for Yuna this was weird.

“Anyway, I’m just going to wake myself up…” Yuna muttered to herself, quickly pinching herself but found the action to no avail. Cold sweat ran down her temples as she tried to slap her face instead yet she was still standing in this strange world. “Hey, why aren’t I waking up?” 

The bunny snickered at the rush of panic in Yuna’s voice and bounced onto the girl’s shoulder. “You’re in such a deep sleep, why not wait for Yerin to wake you up? I’m sure classes are starting soon.”

“You are one strange bunny.”

“Don’t complain! You made me!”

Now things were getting too weird. Yuna stared at the bunny like it was crazy. Even if the little animal was cute with its chubby cheeks, it had a sour personality.

Yuna flicked the bunny’s ear. “How could I have made you?”

“You’re really annoying aren’t you? Asking so many questions.” The bunny’s words trailed off into a whisper but Yuna could still hear very clearly. “I’m part of your consciousness. Parts of your memories made me.”

Okay, time to leave.

“Oh god, Yerin’s going to think I’m going crazy!” Yuna whined. “Come on! Wake me up already!”

“Hey—!”

“Hey Choi Yuna! I see Eunbi!”

“What?!” Yuna almost fractured her spine from how hard she sat up in her bed. She looked around frantically and much to her relief, the familiar blue skies were gone. The sight was replaced with a shadow towering over her.

A face leaned in front of Yuna and she didn’t know she could ever hate a face more than she did now.

“You actually woke up from that? Not even my usual “the dorm is on fire”? I can’t believe you Choi Yuna.” Yerin crossed her arms, stomping towards the door. She looked over her shoulder with a small grin. “Just wanted to tell you bye before I leave for my class.”

Before Yuna could even process it, Yerin had left the room and out of the dorm — leaving Yuna alone. Such a bothersome Yerin was. Her classes weren’t starting for another hour! Yet the girl just had to make her suffer. Well, at least she wasn’t dreaming that weird green bunny any longer. A series of groans,  incoherent mumbling, and cracked bones echoed through Yuna’s small room.

What a strange dream.

Rain pattered against the canopy of the umbrella, it’s washed out blue blending with the colors of slate and grey. Her shoulder was wet but Yuna didn’t care — she couldn’t even feel the cold staining her skin. The sound of rain made up for the lack of talking but Yuna wished there were at least a few exchanges of words. 

“How long can you hold on to someone?”