Sana’s face was buried in Dahyun’s pillow, letting her limbs lay steady and relaxed across Dahyun’s bed, while the latter had her face buried in something other than a pillow- her essay she had to write before class was back in. She tugged on her hair, growing frustrated as the words washed over her brain, waterfalls of information and ideas rolling around her head, but none of them making their way through her hands onto the keyboard. She was stuck. She chewed on her straw and sipped a bit of tea, closing her eyes and leaning back in her chair, letting out a deep breath through her nose.  

Sana picked her head off the pillow without a thought, and leaned over towards Dahyun, giving her nose a peck while her eyes were still closed. Dahyun blushed and opened her heavy eyes carefully, squinting at Sana while the latter let out a hearty giggle. Dahyun couldn’t help her smile. 

Sana reached over and put her finger on Dahyun’s cheek, stretching it down and making the bags under her eyes disappear for a moment. Sana frowned a bit, worried. “Dahyun, you really look dead. I think it’s time to call it a night?” Sana asked hopefully. Dahyun bit her cheek and sighed, glancing back at the dreaded paper that as of now, was only about half written. It wasn’t necessarily a difficult paper to write, but Dahyun’s head had been jumbled recently, so thoughts were coming to her a bit slower than they would for the average person. 

After taking another look at Sana’s expectant eyes and soft smile, she ultimately felt her lips tug up and her hands unconsciously turning to close her laptop, after making sure the document was saved, of course. Dahyun raised her arms up, closing her eyes again and stretching out the tenseness. 

Sana made room for Dahyun as she stumbled her way to the bed, falling down on it and instantly wrapping her arms around Sana. Sana sighed into the embrace, letting herself relax even more, moving her arms around Dahyun’s waist, face hidden in her hair, letting the vanilla scent wash over her. 

Dahyun took in a sigh, eyes fluttering shut. She relaxed even more when she could feel Sana’s soft, steady breaths against her neck and feel her heartbeat against her chest, signaling she was fast asleep. Then she heard a ding next to her. She groaned quietly, trying not to wake Sana up, but her frustrations in not being able to sleep getting to her. Her eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the dim light her nightlight offered her small room. Chaeyoung was out, opting to let Dahyun and Sana relax and have time to themselves while she went over to Mina’s.  

When her eyes adjusted, her gaze landed on her phone. It was lit up, showing a notification that seemed to be a message. Dahyun ran her hand over the screen, entering her pin before opening her messages curiously. Her eyebrows raised when she saw that the message was from her brother. 

A couple messages showed, not very detailed but enough to settle panic within Dahyun. 

Tae-Tae: Dahyun, we have an issue. He’s back.  

Dahyun felt her stomach churn uneasily, a bubbling burn rushing up . She brought her hand up to , then rushed out of Sana’s grip, ignoring her unsatisfied grunts, and rushed down the hallway to the bathroom. 

She swung the door open, instantly bringing herself on her knees in front of the toilet. She felt sick.  

Suddenly, she felt her hair being pulled back into a ponytail, then soft, caring hands were rubbing her back comfortingly. Pulling her hand away, she let it out, heaving until she finally couldn’t breathe. Her tears fell on the floor, puddling, her reflection shining off of them. She blanky stared at herself before her vision was surrounded in darkness. 

--- * --- 

“How is she?” Sana asked softly, eyes never daring to leave the girl laying on the couch. Dahyun had a warm, damp towel resting snugly on her forehead, lipstick smeared and hair a mess.  

“Well, she doesn’t have a fever or anything, that’s for sure. I don’t know why she just suddenly passed out like that,” Momo replied honestly, worriedly looking down at her friend. She sat on a chair in front of Dahyun, patting her flushed cheeks.  

Tzuyu, Sana, Chaeyoung and Mina had all gathered when they got a distressed call from Momo. Sana could hear her loud voice from Dahyun’s room, and when she heard her panic, she immediately jumped out of bed and rushed to Momo’s side.  

Everyone was silent after that, all collectively and respectfully in their own heads. This was sudden, although not entirely surprising for Chaeyoung and Momo. They had seen Dahyun pass out before, seen her usual breakdowns, but it hadn’t happened for a while. They know whatever must’ve happened, be it nightmare or anything of the sorts, it must have been bad. Really bad.  

You couldn’t cut the tension in the room with a knife. A chainsaw would do you better. Nobody knew what to say, but they all knew how worried they were. Dahyun just lay there, unmoving, unresponsive. Momo had made sure to check her pulse, feel her breathing, and they were all normal. 

“At least she’s not dead, I mean, that’s a plus right?” Momo said, attempting to lighten the mood. Apparently her choice of words weren’t the best, and she received a deadly glare from Tzuyu and a soft, barely audible whimper from Sana, who was barely holding herself together. 

Suddenly, Dahyun started to stir, alerting everyone in the room. Momo’s eyes widened, standing up in a rush and running to the kitchen, not only to avoid the death stare from Tzuyu.  

Sana immediately took Momo’s position in front of Dahyun, resting her hand on her cheek. She almost pulled back from the heat from her cheek, but she kept it there until Dahyun’s eyes eventually opened. The first thing she saw was Sana’s concerned face and damp eyes. She unconciously brought her hand up weakly and wiped at her tears. 

Chaeyoung couldn’t hold back a gag, and Mina shoved her arm for it. Chaeyoung looked at her apologetically. Dahyun’s gaze tore away from Sana and went across the room to Chaeyoung unentertained. 

“Dubs, great to know you aren’t dead,” She said nervously, feeling everyone’s stares on her. Dahyun looked confused, bringing her hand up to the towel on her head. She pulled it off, staring at it, before handing it to Sana, who brought it to the kitchen. She nearly bumped into Momo on the way, who was bringing a bowl of hot soup and tea to the living room. The two smiled understandingly at each other. 

Dahyun eyed Momo as she entered, setting the soup and tea carefully on the table in front of the couch Dahyun was resting on, before sitting next to her on the couch. 

“What happened?” Dahyun finally asked, confused. Chaeyoung’s head snapped up at her, eyebrow arching. 

“The hell? You don’t even remember why you passed ou-” before she could finish, Mina had gently shoved her again, whispering how she was being rude to Dahyun when she just woke up. Chaeyoung got quiet, lips pulling together.  

Dahyun shrugged, sitting up carefully, head spinning as she did. Momo put her hands on her shoulders to keep her steady. 

“Easy easy Dahyun. You passed out, you seriously don’t remember?” Momo asked, tilting her head. 

Dahyun just gave her a blank look. “Of course I don’t remember, I out. All I remember was looking at a text mess-” Dahyun stopped talking, eyebrows furrowing, before her expression dropped. “Oh. Oh, I remember now,” She said dimly.  

Momo looked at her concerned. “You... know? Know what?” 

“I-um, just- here. This,” Dahyun pulled her phone from her hoodie pocket, handing it over to Momo. She watched as Momo frowned, then looked back up at her cautiously. 

“Oh, Dahyun,” Momo wrapped her arms protectively around her, phone dropping forgotten onto the couch beside them. Chaeyoung pulled herself off her chair and stalked over towards the couch, picking up the phone and reading the message herself. Her expression nearly matched Momo’s, and she let herself join the hug. Mina sat there confused, while Sana walked in and shared her confusion. 

When the three finally broke from the hug, Dahyun wiped her eyes from the tears that were starting to form, Momo sniffing as well. Chaeyoung scowled at the phone, then brought it to Sana, showing it to her after seeing her confused look. Sana nodded slowly, letting it sink in. She was still almost equally confused, but it would set it.  

Thought Mina still didn’t know about it, she could read the room. She could tell something was up, but wouldn’t push the information. 

Something was very, very wrong.