“Ughh, when do we college kids catch a break?!” Momo groaned, annoyed, helping Dahyun and Chaeyoung work on the assignments they missed. “Seriously, the things I do for you two... You better buy me some nice jokbol after this, or you won’t get any more favors.” 

Chaeyoung sighed, and said, “Yeah, well, it’s not my fault professor hates his job. He must have something stuck up his-” 

“Guys! Why don’t we, you know, take a break for today? We still have plenty of time since it’s the break soon, so let’s go somewhere and chill out,” Dahyun said, exasperated, leaning her head back on the headboard of her bunk bed. 

“I heard there’s a nice restaurant by the park. We can go there and eat, and hang out,” Tzuyu said, throwing her pencil on the desk, slumping in her chair tiredly. She glared at the pile of sheets, combined with her, Chae, Momo, and Dahyun’s work they all missed. 

“Yeah! Totally! I’ll call Jeongyeon and Nayeon, we haven’t seen those two in forever,” Momo grinned, pulling out her phone before jumping up and looking for her shoes. 

“I’ll call Mina, then, I’m sure she’s working hard too since she missed a couple days, as well,” Chaeyoung said nervously. She pulled out her phone, as well, and started messaging Mina, a smile automatically making its way on her face when she replied, saying she’d come. 

“Okay then, I guess maybe I’ll invite Sana, if that’s okay with you guys..” Dahyun trailed off, looking at the three dormmates expectantly, but nervously. She wasn’t sure if they liked her, but she hoped they did, or at least would try to know the sweet girl better. Dahyun really wanted to see her again, too, but she pushed that thought in the back of her mind when they all replied simultaneously, shouting out, ‘yeah!’ and ‘for sure!’. Dahyun sighed in relief, and pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket, messaging her for the first time. 

--- * --- 

Sana was walking around her apartment, which wasn’t very far from her college and the hospital, anxiously. She wanted to go flower picking for her grandmother today, but she was scared. She feared breaking down in the flower field; all her fond memories coming back to her. She was nervous about that and scared because was nervous. Everything would be alright, she told herself, and she’d go. It’d be nice if someone could come with her, though, and make things brighter for her. Or she’d make herself brighter, because that’s how she was around other people. She couldn’t help but hold a bubbly, bright personality around others, because making people happier made her happier, and brought light back into the darkest corners of her life. The corners that she swore were hidden far, far away.

 That’s why she was so scared when she met Dahyun, because she couldn't hide behind her charming, sweet, bubbly mask with her. She let herself out. She let everything out. She showed someone a part of her she swore she’d never reveal-

Her hidden sides. Sadness. Brokenness. 

But it felt good.

She let her mind race. And boy, was it running circles in her brain. Sana rubbed her temples, feeling a small headache ruining her mood. She took some medicine and decided to grab something to eat, before she lay down in her bed in her empty apartment.The only sign of comfort around her were in the baby pink walls and gentle looking flowers around her desk, and the familiar scent of earth and flowers filling the small room, but Sana was already used to the smell, so she barely noticed it. She turned on her small laptop, distracting herself from her thoughts.  

Her mind suddenly went back to her hospital friend, Dahyun. She, after a few minutes of hesitating, decided to search her, and ended up finding an article on the Kims.  

“Kim Dahyun, reported missing after incident with her brother, Kim Taehyung, and father Kim Myung... parents are looking for her...” Sana mumbled, reading the first things that pop up. Missing? But she saw her, just yesterday. Maybe it’s a different Kim Dahyun, Sana thought, scrolling down more for more information. But there it was, a picture of a teenage Kim Dahyun, striking mono-lid eyes, chubby face, medium length blonde hair... That was her. She’s missing? Sana couldn’t believe what she was reading. How did Dahyun keep all of this- and how does she act so normal? And what was this incident the article said? Apparently, the author of the website didn’t know, either, so they left it at that. An incident, tragic at that. 

Dahyun must be really good at hiding her thoughts, and hiding her emotions, Sana thought. Suddenly, she felt her phone buzz in her pant pocket. Sana pulled it out, carefully looking at the screen in the dark room of her quiet apartment.  

Unknown: hey, unnie, it’s dahyun, the friend you met at the hospital. how are you? I hope you’re doing well  

Sana-chan: Dahyun-ah! It’s so funny how you messaged me, just now, you were in my thoughts! I’m doing well, Dahyun-ah, how are you? I hope your dormmates aren’t bombarding you with their messiness straight off the bat, hehe. 

Dahyunnie: ha ha very funny, ‘sana-chan’, but no, shockingly they aren’t being super messy, really, we were about to head out to the park. we’re all sick of doing make up work for college, ugh, but I’m okay, glad to hear you’re doing good too unnie!! 

Sana-chan: Hey, watch yourself ‘Dahyunnie’, you have no right to judge my contact name, hyprocrite! Also, that sounds so fun! I was thinking about heading out to the park today, to get some fresh air, but I didn’t want to go alone, as bad as it sounds.  

Dahyunnie: actually, that works out perfectly hehe. I was gonna ask if you wanted to come with, y’know, hang out with the gang, get to know each other... if you’re up to it, that is. It's totally cool if you don’t want to since I know there’ll be a lot of people and... sorry, i'm rambling, aren't I? 

Sana-chan: That sounds fun, really, I’d love to go Dahyunnie. Can you come pick me up at my apartment, though, so I know when I need to finish getting ready? Here’s the apartment complex and number- ******* * * * * 

Dahyunnie: of course, unnie, I’ll be there in half an hour, is that okay? do you have enough time to get ready? 

Sana smiled at what Dahyun said. The girl really was considerate, huh, putting others feelings way ahead of her own. That’s something Sana learned about the girl yesterday, when Dahyun comforted her. Dahyun always looked out for others and was always ready to be there. Sana loved that in a person. She loved that in Dahyun. 

Sana-chan: Of course, that’s plenty of time! I’ll be ready, just knock on my door when you get here, okay? I’ll see you later ;) 

And with that, Sana threw her phone on her bed, a genuine smile on her face, finally, and started getting ready for Dahyun. Oh, and her friends. 

--- * --- 

Dahyun was walking up to the apartment number Sana sent her. For some reason, she felt nervous. She didn’t know what she was nervous of, though. She was just picking up her friend to hang with her and her other friends; it wasn’t a big deal.  

Chaeyoung, Mina, Tzuyu and Momo trailed slightly behind her, staring at her for some unknown reason. Dahyun felt weird about it, but she shrugged it off, thinking it was probably just their unrivaled hunger starting to affect their personalities. 

The cold weather was really starting to wear Dahyun out. She was wearing a thick, fluffy jacket, complimented by a white beanie on her head, but she still could feel the cold itching at her sensitive skin. She shivered as she held onto the stair railing, walking up slowly to avoid slipping on some ice that had formed on the stone stairs. The apartment complex itself wasn’t too bad, it was a basic, brick building with rooms just big enough to live in. Each room had two windows, but most of them had curtains covering them, anyway. 

She finally arrived to Sana’s apartment number, and decided to just ring the buzzer, since if she knocked on the door, she knew her hand would probably fall off from the cold. The group behind her was oddly quiet the whole time, which creeped Dahyun out even more. In these moments, Dahyun really wondered what it’d be like to be able to read peoples’ minds.  

Tzuyu side eyed her as she rung the buzzer, and a hum could be heard from the apartment. Dahyun glanced at her questioningly, but her gaze went back to the door as it opened. As Dahyun’s dark brown eyes met with Sana’s hazel brown, soft eyes, her mind suddenly went blank. She registered how she looked, though- She was wearing a brown long coat with black gloves, and black sweatpants. She had her pink hair down neatly framing her small face, and her eyes glistened with stars as she looked back into Dahyun’s eyes. 

“Hey,” Sana breathed out, still staring at Dahyun. But when a cough sounded from next to the raven haired pale girl, Sana turned her attention to the people she saw behind Dahyun. Oh. She bowed at them all, saying a quick greeting before she fully stepped out of her apartment. 

“Can we go now? I can hear it... I can hear the jokbal, guys... I think it's... calling out to me,” Momo said, staring off into space, or at the imaginary jokbal gods, Dahyun guessed. Dahyun laughed at her, hitting her head to snap her out of her trance, before grabbing Sana’s jacket sleeve and pulling her along, the rest of the group following behind them. 

The group bickered back and forth on the way to the park. It wasn’t far from Sana’s apartment, thankfully, so when they get there they wouldn’t have been bitten by the frost just yet.  

“So, Jeongyeon-unnie and Nayeon-unnie should be at the park, waiting for us. I can’t wait to see those idiots, its been like, years!” Momo exclaimed excitedly. Tzuyu had a thought, and cringed at it, but still voiced her concerns. 

“I just hope, to everything good in this world, that we don’t run into them making out again. I nearly really bleached my eyes after that,” Tzuyu said, closing her eyes at the thought, her nose crunching up in disgust. 

“Oh come on, you know you were like that with your ex, So-,” Chaeyoung quickly got shut up by a hand on . 

“Say her name, Chaeyoung, and you’ll see what happens,” Tzuyu said, her killer glare landing on the petrified cub. Mina, out of instinct, protectively wrapped her arm around Chaeyoung’s shoulder, before she ended up getting killed. It was a nice place to die, Chaeyoung thought. 

“Yeah, you guys shouldn’t judge them. Their love is... um- cute! Respect the unnies, children, please,” Dahyun stated, hesitating because the image of her unnies suddenly flashed in her mind. She didn’t want to see it, but she admitted that their relationship was cute. Other than the kissing and stuff. 

Momo snorted, and whispered in Dahyun’s ear, “I bet you wanna do that with Sana-chan, don’t you, Dubu?” She laughed even harder when Dahyun shoved her away harshly, and glanced at a clueless Sana.  

Sana just tilted her head, but smiled at Dahyun. Dahyun smiled back. 

“Oh! Speak of the devil, there they are! The love birds!” Momo yelled, running up and hugging the two unnies; Jeongyeon and Nayeon, who were previously enjoying some hot chocolate together. 

“Yah! Momoring, my child! It’s been years, how are you! And you all, too, come give your unnie a hug,” Nayeon said, smiling at the group. Sana felt a bit awkward, so she just stayed behind and watched them amusedly. “You too, newbie, come here,” Nayeon suddenly said to Sana. Sana just blushed and quickly went into the hug, instantly being consumed by the excited girls. Their moods were infectious, and the whole group was just happy to see each other. 

Sana enjoyed the warmth of the hug she got. In the embrace of these girls, her new friends, she finally felt like she belonged. She finally felt like she was wanted, and she finally felt like she was..

loved.

--- * --- 

After a while, Sana checked her watch. , she thought, as she saw the time. She needed to go to the flower field now, if she wanted to have time to pick the perfect flowers while also being able to drop them off for her Nana before she had to sleep. Sana didn’t realize she cursed outloud. 

“Sana-unnie, what’s wrong?” Dahyun asked worriedly, coming to Sana and holding her hand comfortingly. Sana instantly relaxed. 

“I need to go to the flower fields, Dahyunnie, and pick flowers for my grandma. You know, what I told you about yesterday...” Sana said, rubbing her neck. She nervously glanced back at her watch, then to Dahyun, then to the group not far away from them. Dahyun noticed this, and said, 

“It’s okay, unnie. Do you want me to come with you?” 

“Would you, really?! I’d love that, Dahyunnie, but what about your friends? I don’t want to take you away from them, since you probably won't see them all in a while,” Sana fixed her gaze onto the worried, but soft eyes of Kim Dahyun. Dahyun looked down. 

“It’s fine, I.. I want to help you. Remember what we said to each other? You’ll help me, and in return, I’ll help you. That’s a promise, unnie. And I keep my promises, okay?” Dahyun looked back up at her, smiling. Sana’s gaze softened, and she reluctantly smiled back, her resolve weakening at the pale girl in front of her. Dahyun glanced at the group, who were in an animated conversation, very distracted, and she said, “Let’s sneak away, it’ll be cool. We’ll be like, uh, spies or something! Come on, unnie, hurry while they’re distracted,” Dahyun took both of Sana’s hands and quickly led her away, behind a building before anyone could notice. 

They made their way to the flower fields, quietly of course since they were ‘spies’ in their minds, but with wide smiles and eyes full of life.