Karina wakes up to the smell of butter and subtle noise coming from her kitchen. Oh right, She thinks. Giselle stayed the night when she called her after her brief walk with Winter. She wonders why the night took a turn for the worse. Karina enjoyed the night with Winter, no doubt. She loved the silence, completing each other’s thoughts, the constellations, and the random anecdotes about their lives. Karina recalls Winter mentioning Wonyoung’s name. Or is she making it up?

“Hey, there,” Giselle greets as she enters the room. “It’s only 6 AM and you look like you can use some cocktail. Bad dream?” Giselle eyes her best friend curiously. Karina rolled her eyes and gave her best friend a playful glare.

“Come on now, sleepyhead,” Giselle says as she encircles her arms around Karina and starts pulling her up. The other girl smiles at this. This has been a common gesture between them since childhood. She automatically wraps her arms around her best friend’s neck and allowed herself to be pulled up.

The two girls walked toward Karina’s kitchen. Karina sat at the counter and grabbed the coffee her best friend offered. Giselle observes as her best friend slowly takes a sip of the beverage and sighs.

“Alright,” Giselle says. “That feels like a meaningful sigh. What’s bothering you?” Karina looks at her best friend and smiles apologetically.

“Well, I was with Winter last night,” She begins.

“I thought you were with Jeno?” Giselle counters.

“Yep, at first I was with him but I saw Winter walking alone so I decided to approach her.” Karina did not miss the knowing smile her best friend makes and decides to ignore it.

“Winter and I walked and chatted about random stuff,” Karina remembers, smiling involuntarily. Giselle observes how her best friend recounts every detail of her brief walk with Winter. She notices how Karina’s eyes twinkle with excitement and humor circling her voice. Everything looks and feels blissful until Karina frowns and Giselle sees sadness coming back to her eyes.

“Up until we reached my street, she suddenly acted weirdly,” Karina says. Giselle raises an eyebrow at this, obviously interested in wherever this story is going. She waits for her best friend to gather her words. “She abruptly stopped in the middle of the street,” Karina says. “She turned pale and held onto my arm. Of course, I started getting worried.” She takes a gulp of her coffee as if to soothe nerves that were triggered by recounting the whole ordeal. “I looked at where she was staring,” She continues. “But there was no one there.”

“No one? Are you sure?” Giselle asks. Karina shakes her head aggressively to let her best friend know that what she was saying was not a dream. “But that wasn’t what bothered me,” Karina continues. “She called Wonyoung. She uttered the name Wonyoung,” Karina says. Giselle cannot believe what happened. Whatever she prepared for in her mind about her friend’s predicament, it has come nothing close to this.

“She knows Wonyoung?” Giselle asks. Karina once again takes a sip of her coffee and shrugs. She is at loss for words. To say that she is unbothered by what happened will be an outright lie. Karina is filled with dread and worry for Winter. There is a reason that she cannot pinpoint -- and this makes her restless.

“What do you want to do about it?” Giselle asks, snapping Karina out of her thoughts. If she is being honest with herself, she wants to know more. She wants to get to the bottom of this. Her instinct tells her that this is her business.

“Jimin,” Giselle calls her attention promptly. “What do you want to do about it?” She asks once again. Karina looks at her best friend and for a split second Giselle sees worry and fatigue in her eyes. Karina merely shrugs, shoulders falling.

“I have an idea,” Giselle says. “What if we befriend Winter? I mean, she is an interesting person, I am sure we’ll enjoy her company.” Karina raises an eyebrow, urging her friend to go on. “We’ll ask her about it when we get the chance,” Giselle concludes. Karina once again falls silent and Giselle lets her be. She knows that her friend is weighing all her options. Karina. Always the careful woman.

It takes several heartbeats before Karina nods in agreement. To be fair, she does not have a better idea than what her best friend suggested. And, if she is being truly honest, she looks forward to talking to Winter again.

“What if Winter sees ghosts?” Giselle says out of the blue which makes Karina choke on her toast. Karina knows Giselle is just pulling stuff out of her but, in the back of her head, she considers the possibility. She doesn’t know why exactly but that joke made the hair on her nape stand up. Karina is electrocuted with the small possibility. She remembers the old woman that she was fond of back in the city. She smiles at Giselle and continues to eat.

---

Winter wakes up and, for the first time in the week, feels as if she has gotten a full rest. She can hear faint chatter coming from her kitchen. She almost drowses off to sleep once again when she feels light caresses on her face.

At first, Winter thinks that those were just ants. After all, ants are quite common during the summer no matter how clean or spotless your space may be. Winter opens her eyes to a floating specter positioned above her and gaping at her with her feet lightly touching her. The specter slowly turns its head towards Winter -- painfully slow. The specter emits cracks as she moves her head. Winter is frozen, eyes wide open.

For what felt like an eternity, Winter sees the specter fully. If dead spirits can look dead even further, this is it. Everything about the specter is gray, its gaping mouth a swirling void. Winter sees the area where the specter’s eyes are supposed to be and sees a white void.

Winter has her eyes fixed on the specter’s eyes. Every movement of the specter is a rotoscoping frame. Every movement is painfully slow -- literally. Winter feels extremely cold down to her fingertips. She can’t speak and, worse, she can’t move. When the specter manages to look directly at her, only then did Winter realize who she is. Wonyoung?! Winter thinks. What the ?! 

Wonyoung’s specter manages to emit a dry sound. Winter looks and thinks of what the specter will do next. She does not have a choice. She cannot move. The specter smiles, blood oozing from the white voids of her eyes and drips down to Winter.

In a blink of an eye, the specter is in front of Winter’s face and screams.

Winter never realizes that she is already screaming until Yizhuo, Ireh, and Chaein come rushing into the room. Her moment of paralysis is long gone, Winter tries to make it to the door but was stopped when Yizhuo hugs her.

“Winter, it’s me,” Yizhuo says calmly, trying to shake Winter off her stupor. “It’s me, Winter. It’s Yizhuo,” Ningning says once again, shaking Winter. Ireh rushes back to the living area to get something from her bag,

As Ireh returns to Winter’s room, she sees Chaein holding their friend while Yizhuo continues to shake Winter. Meanwhile, the poor girl still looks out of it, her teeth chattering even though the air conditioner is already turned off. Ireh uncaps the small vial and places it under Winter’s nose, allowing the latter to smell the contents.

The three of them witness the change in Winter after sniffing the content inside the bottle. Yizhuo notices that Winter is slowly regaining her ‘consciousness’ and transfers her into her arms.

“What’s in the bottle?” Chaein asks.

“Extracted volatile oils from lemongrass,” Ireh simply answers. “I harvested it myself and Grandmother Cookie taught me how to make one.”

“What does it do?” Chaein asks again.

“Aside from making you unappetizing for mosquitoes, it helps for grounding and cleansing… I can’t wrap my head around those concepts yet,”

“Guys,” Yizhuo calls. “Winter is back,”

Winter sees the three women sitting in front of her, worry apparent in their faces. She closes her eyes and opens them once again. This time, the feeling of calm and safety is back. She sighs and resigns into Yizhuo’s arms. The women allow Winter to gather her thoughts and regain her energy.

The memories from last night were blurry for Winter. As she breathes, however, the puzzle of the memories slowly comes together. What happened last night was worse than a nightmare for Winter. She relaxes in Yizhuo’s arm, eyes closed, trying to remember the gruesome scene.

Winter remembers little. It seems her mind wants to delete the series of events from last night. The haunting faces of Vernon, Gahyeon, and Seolhyun were still etched in her mind. Winter remembers contacting Yizhuo.

In her frantic state, she was proud that she was able to dial her best friend. Winter heard a growl -- a growl that is all too familiar for her. She knows what it wants, she knows why it was there. Winter stayed outside -- on the corridor of her penthouse. The evening wind is cold and got extra colder because of its presence.

Winter understands that it came for her. She, however, does not understand why it had to come sooner. She continued sitting in the corridor with her head braced on her arms, avoiding seeing the familiar yellow orb -- that is if it decided to make its presence known further.

The growl becomes louder and Winter recognized the sound as a cry of frustration. Was it really that desperate to get her? Winter heard a familiar chime. The elevator. She was not sure if it was safe to have people over but she is thankful that Yizhuo is already here.

Yizhuo immediately saw Winter and enveloped her best friend in a hug. Although this was not the first time Winter got overwhelmed by the spirits, this is the first time she sees her best friend cowering in fear. Yizhuo rushed to where Winter was situated and embraced her best friend. She can feel Winter shaking and decides to rub her hands on her best friend’s back hoping the warmth will help.

Meanwhile, Winter keeps her eyes closed as leans on Yizhuo. She can still feel the entity, ready to pounce at any given moment. Winter thinks of Yizhuo. What if the entity gets her instead? Her breathing starts to shorten as the growls continue. Winter tightly embraces Yizhuo and prays that whatever this is will stop soon.

The girls heard a loud ding signifying an entry into the penthouse floor. A few moments later, the elevator spews out Chaein and Ireh, both girls looking like they got out of bed and went directly to where Winter is. Both of them rushed towards Yizhuo and Winter. The latter faintly remembers the conversation between Yizhuo and Chaein.

Although it was a blur, Winter sees Ireh rush inside the apartment. Winter tried to warn her friend of the danger but her eyes are closing in, fatigue making its presence felt. In the last minutes of Winter’s consciousness, she saw Ireh lighting incense, and moments after that, a cool breeze encircled the area.

A moment of calm occurred. Winter registers the smell of ammonia under her nose. She realized Chaein is trying to bring her back to consciousness. Winter was alarmed when she heard a loud, angry growl. It seems everyone heard it as well. Chaein and Yizhuo worriedly looked at Ireh who continued lighting incense while reciting something from her phone.

The angry growl turned into a painful yelp and all four young women were surprised when a strong wind encircled the whole apartment for a quick moment. Chaein, Ireh, and Yizhuo shielded their eyes from the breeze and were surprised to find everything quiet.

Winter felt that the apartment is now empty -- no ghosts, no entities, no lost spirits. It’s... clean. That was the last thought Winter had before she gave in to fatigue.

Winter opens her eyes to find the three girls looking at her. “You’re pale,” Chaein observes. Winter stretches and gathers her thoughts. She looked at her friends who have varying degrees of worry etched on their faces.

“What was the scream for?” Ireh asks. If this were an ordinary day, Winter would have a sarcastic answer. Unfortunately, she finds that she has no energy to engage in a battle of wit.

“I saw Wonyoung’s ghost,” She says upfront. Winter hears gasps from her friends. Yizhuo stands up and huffs in frustration. “Save the story for later, Winter,” she says. Winter knows Yizhuo means business when she is this serious -- and this scares her. Winter understands how much her best friend cares for all of them and there will be hell to pay if one of them gets hurt.

“The boys are coming. Keonhee is bringing food. Can you stand up? If not, we’ll bring the food here.” Winter tries to stand up but her knees gave way. Fortunately, Chaein was there to catch her. Yizhuo sighed and shakes her head before heading to the door. The boys must have arrived.

“Don’t worry about her, batch,” Chaein says. “You know Yizhuo worries.” Winter smiles. “I feel like this is my fault.” She says.

“How come?” Chaein asks, assisting Winter into the bed and helping her adjust her pillows to provide better lumbar support. Winter looks into the window and sighed.

“I wish I couldn’t see ghosts,” Winter says. She sees Chaein and Ireh look at each other with concern.

“Ah, I think I’ll prepare some tea for you, Winter,” Ireh says. “You need to clear your head.” She finishes and nods at Chaein before going out of the room.

“Look, batch,” Chaein starts. “None of this is your fault. We understand that, Yizhuo understands that clearly, and you need to understand that.”

“I feel burdened…” Winter says. “I think I could have said no. Yizhuo warned me about boundaries.”

“Nah, you couldn’t possibly say no,” Ireh says re-entering with Yizhuo and holding a glass filled with ice and a bottle of light blue liquid.

“Butterfly pea,” Ireh explains. “Grandmother Cookie says this works to clear the head. Perfect for anxiety attacks and the like.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Yizhuo asks.

“Nothing --” Winter says and Chaein puts a finger in front of her nose to shut her up.

“Winter blames herself for this weird turn of events, Yizhuo. She thinks that your… uhh… stress is rooted with all these and she feels bad for it.” Yizhuo’s eyes widened and she turns to Winter with concern. “You know, you could have been mindful of your actions sometimes. You are so passive-aggressive.” Chaein says. Trust Chaein to be always direct to the point. Winter thinks. She sees her best friend give their friend a glare to which Chaein returned by sticking her tongue out.

“Is this really how you feel, Winter?” Yizhuo asks. Winter pouts, puffing her cheeks, and nods. Yizhuo rolls her eyes.

“I’m not mad at you if that’s what you’re thinking,” Yizhuo says. “I’m frustrated that I cannot do anything to help you with this… predicament.”

“Well, if I may speak,” Ireh says while pouring a bottle of butterfly pea tea into the ice-filled glass. “When did anything stop you from speaking?” Yizhuo asks.

“Shut up,” Ireh says. “Grandmother Cookie says Winter didn’t really have any choice in this. However, this event was necessary for her to have her own closure.” She finishes and gives Winter the glass.

Winter takes a sip of the butterfly pea tea and the results are immediate. She immediately feels that her mind eases and clears. Winter wonders what kind of magic Grandmother Cookie is teaching Ireh.

“What did you do when you arrived last night?” Winter asks. “I remember you lighting up some incense.”

“Ah, that?” Ireh says. “I was lighting palo santo incense.”

“Grandmother Cookie called Ireh and demanded that we go to your apartment ASAP,” Chaein says.

“Palo santo is often used for cleansing, you know. It smells good, too,” Ireh says. “By the way, do you carry the salt with you?” Ireh asks everyone. The three girls nodded and got their respective salt carriers. While Yizhuo, Ireh, and Chaein had their salts inside a bottle, Winter’s is in a small coconut husk. The four girls immediately smelled the burnt husk.

“What happened? I swear I didn’t touch this,” Winter says, eyeing Ireh for an explanation. The three girls look closely at the salt. Half of it is already gone.

“Huh, you did not touch this, alright,” Ireh says. “But someone wanted to get a hold of you -- literally.”

“Interesting,” Chaein says. “Naturally, salt is not flammable unless, of course, it reaches certain temperatures. What is this made of again?”

“It’s salt,” Ireh answers with a huff. “It’s made through a pre-colonial technique. Look it up.”

“Wait,” Yizhuo says. “What do you mean something wanted to get a hold of Winter?” Winter continues to sip her cold tea in order for her mind to clear. She waits expectantly for Ireh to explain.

“Remember when Grandmother Cookie gave out these salts? She said it’s for protection against entities and bad magick,” Ireh explains. “Of course, when an entity or a spirit attacks, the salt protects. It uses its energy hence the burns. In the case of Winter’s, that’s a very powerful salt, I believe.”

“Does that mean that the entity who is after her is strong?” Yizhuo asks.

“No doubt about it,” Ireh answers. Winter sighs and the three women look at their friend with worry in their eyes. Winter knows they have to take this seriously from now on.