“I don't have to tell you where to go, you know the way Minji.” The voice whispered and the worst part was how true her words are. I didn't have to be directed, my feet knew where to go. I didn't need to be ordered, my body knew that I had to stop at the pit. The only problem was my mind did not want to. It did not want to walk down that path and face what was waiting for me, it did not want to listen to this suffocating voice, and it definitely did not want to believe that I subconsciously knew where to go. None of that mattered here though. In this place where I should be the one in control, I am anything else but that. I cannot act on what I want or do not want. So just like all the nights before, I walked down the path. I reached point B. The journey was significantly shorter than the first night. I stared down and was more mentally prepared for what was in the pit. I still felt queasy looking into it though.

“Good, you're finally starting to behave.” I heard her say. I felt my mouth go dry and my stomach knotting up.

“Jump Minji.” She whispered into my ear. I closed my eyes and felt myself take a step closer to the edge. I blinked my eyes open and right before I did jump, things went black, just as I expected.

     I woke up definitely nauseous but no longer panicking. It was easier to deal with when I knew what to expect. I still had to go to the bathroom to gargle water and splash water on my face though. I sat down on the floor, leaning against the sink, slipping into deep thought. Why was I having these dreams? What is being consumed? I closed my eyes and tried figure out an answer. When I opened my eyes, they were met by those suffocating, amber ones and I gasped.

“I'm disappointed in you Minji, I told you to jump.” I heard. I took in a sharp breath and could only stare back. I could feel the suffocating feeling crawl all over me as I looked at those piercing, controlling eyes.

“You are so disobedient. You won't listen to your parents, you won't listen to your conscience, and now you won't even listen to me. When are you going to pull yourself together?” She asked. I could feel my heart beat faster and my hands started getting sweaty. I wiped them on my cotton shorts and just stared back at her.

“Minji? Are you ok?” I heard Eunmi ask. As she opened the door, the eyes disappeared and I whipped my head to look at her. I gulped down and shook my head.

“I'm fine. Just had to go to the bathroom.” I told her and forced a weak smile onto my face.

“Why are you on the floor?” She asked as she eyed me.

“I tripped.” I lied as I started standing up again. The sudden movement made me lightheaded, causing me to stumble into the sink. Eunmi hurried over and helped me straighten myself.

“Are you sure you're ok?” She asked worried.

“I'm fine.” I quickly told her before shrugging myself out of her grasp and making my way back to the beds. It was six-thirty but I was too scared to go back to sleep. If I did go back to sleep, I would probably have those nightmares again. If I did go back to sleep, those eyes would probably reappear. I quickly pulled out my clothing for the day and changed into them. During that whole time, I felt Eunmi's eyes bore into my back. I felt bad for lying to her but it telling her about my situation is way out of my comfort zone. I rushed by her to get into the bathroom. She was sitting on her bed when I came out, still watching me.

“Stop watching my every move, you're making me nervous.” I joked as I started stuffing everything into my backpack.

“You seem very different today.” She told me as she got up and started changing.

“Me different? You're the different one today. You actually woke up!” I said with a laugh as I sat down on my bed, facing her. She stuck out her tongue before going to the bathroom. I watched her go in and leaned my head back against the wall. Was I really different? Besides the weird eyes I don't think I'm different. I don't think I'm acting different.

     It was seven-thirty in the morning when Eunmi and I ran to Kyuhyun's dorm, banging on the door. It was seven-forty when we were bowing, embarrassed for our actions to his sleepy roommate. He looked at us confused before he called Kyuhyun over and asked if he knew “Who these crazy lunatics were.” We just looked down at our feet, blushing. My eyes met Khyuhyun's and he threw me his signature smirk. I almost punched him in the face. We also went and woke up Hyunki and Jihae. Slowly, we made our way to a nearby library to try and get some homework done. We were almost kicked out because we were too “rowdy”. As we packed up books and stuff, we started making lunch plans. Eunmi obviously wanted to come with Kyuhyun and me but Kyuhyun kept sending vibes telling her that he didn't want her to tag along. I felt a great amount of pity when a downcast Eunmi walked the opposite direction with Hyunki and Jihae to a cold noodle shop. The two of us made way to a dukbokki stand and inhaled plate after plate. The last time Kyuhyun and I did this was the week before finals our third year in high school. The nostalgic food was surprisingly comforting. We walked aimlessly and ended up at a bench where we sat down.

“What's wrong.” Kyuhyun asked, not looking at me.

“Nothing's wrong.” I told him, it was basically an automatic response.

“Don't lie to me Minji. I can always see through you.” He told me. I turned my head to face him.

“I've just...been having these dreams lately and it's starting to freak me out.” I told him. When he looked over, I squirmed under his gaze.

“Have you asked your psych professor yet?” He asked.

“I have and his explanation makes sense but it just left me more freaked out.” I told him quietly.

“Tell me about this dream.” Kyuhyun demanded and I sighed.

“There's this dark pathway that I involuntarily walk down every night. At the end of the path, there's always this dark pit. The pit keeps getting bigger and the pathway keeps getting smaller. Apparently it means apart of me is being consumed by another. I just don't know what it is, that's why I'm freaking out.” I told him. I left out the voice that was as sweet as honey and the suffocating eyes. I didn't want him to tell me there was something wrong with me.

“Don't worry about it. It's probably because the school year just started. Give it a couple days and it'll probably go away.” He said with an assuring tone. A part of me wanted desperatley to believe him. The other part was almost certain that he was wrong. I received a text from Eunmi telling us to go back to the library. The first hour of studying was fine until we decided to take a break. That's when the talking began again.

“You really should be studying Minji. Remember that grade on the first test of this year? Eighty-seven percent.” The sweet voice whispered, I shook my head to clear my thoughts before focusing my attention back on the conversation at hand. “You should be more like Eunmi. She's so confident in herself and stunningly gorgeous. Look at yourself, you look like a total mess.” I heard when Eunmi got up to get a drink of water.

“Hey guys? I'll be right back.” I told them as I practically sprinted to the bathroom. I looked into the mirror and saw a pair of eyes over my shoulder through the reflection. When I turned around, there was nothing there but when I looked at the mirror, those amber eyes were very real. I met her eyes and immediately regretted it as a sudden wave of nausea hit me and I had to rush to a toilet where my stomach squeezed out all of my lunch. I was panting and a sheen of sweat started crawling over my face. I leaned my head against a the stall before going back out and rinsing my mouth out. I looked back at the mirror and had to choke down a scream. The eyes were a lot closer now.

“There, that's a lot better. If you just eat less, you can become beautiful like Eunmi” She said and her voice made me gag. I ran back to the toilet but nothing came up seeing that my body had already rid itself of any food. My head throbbed as I walked back to our table and I sat next to Kyuhyun. The feeling that eyes were watching me immediately vanished and the throbbing stopped. It was like someone had opened the door of a stuffy room because I began to breathe normally again. I quickly let out a sigh of relief.

“Hey guys? We should go back to studying.” I suggested to them. They all grumbled but nodded in response. Pretty soon we were quiet again, an occasional question asking for help every now and then.

†††

     I held my stomach laughing at a very upset Jihae. We had walked to a park and was standing on the top of a hill when Hyunki kicked  Jihae in the knee, causing her to fall over and roll down the hill. We all went and checked to see if she was alright, laughing the whole time.

“You guys are -holes.” She said with a glare and I tried to contain my laughter with no avail.

“I'm sorry Jihae, but that was too funny.” I told her. She crossed her arms and pouted at me. I couldn't help but start laughing again as the scene played itself in my head. Hyunki reached down to help her up but she smacked his hand away. When she was back on her feet, she sent a punch at Hyunki's chest.

“What was that for?” Hyunki asked, surprised.

“Just felt like hitting you.” Jihae said with a shrug.

“Well you're a nice person.” Hyunki said sarcastically.

“Yes, yes I am.” Jihae said as she dusted herself off.

“I was kidding.” Hyunki said.

“Well I wasn't.” Jihae resplied as she stuck her tongue out at him.

“You're impossible.” Hyunki stated, exasperated. I only giggled at the scene. They were like an old married couple quarreling over the smallest things. It was really cute to watch. We rolled around in the grass and ordered some fried chicken before we made our way back to campus. Being locked out did not sound like a fun thing and I did not want to imagine my fate that was worse than death if I ended up on my parent's doorstep. Hyunki bid us good night as he walked over to the boy's dormitory. Jihae said bye as well when we arrived at her room. Kyuhyun decided to walk us back as if we were going to get lost, When we arrived at our room and told Kyuhyun good night before closing the door. As soon as it closed shut it opened again. I looked over and watched as Eunmi ran over to Kyuhyun and pecked him on the cheek before running back inside and slamming the door shut, closing it with her back. Her face was crimson and stared, incredulous at her bravery.

“Good job Eunmi! Good for you!' I told her as I hugged her when she sighed. I wonder how Kyuhyun is dealing with the shock. I had just changed into my pajamas when my phone went off. I quickly went over to see who it was. The caller ID said that the Ninja Chipmunk was calling and I was glad he called.

“Hey.” I said as I answered the phone.

“Hi, how are you?” He asked and I just realized how much I missed his voice.

“I had fun today, finished homework, ate food, hung out with friends. What about you? How was your day?” I asked.

“Uneventful. I wish I spent my day with you though, sounds like it was fun.” I smiled at his response.

“It was but it probably would have been better if you were here.” I joked. Eunmi started making gagging motions and I stuck rolled my eyes at her before grabbing a fleece blanket and sliding into my flip-flops. I made my way over to the common room and sat on one of the couches, spreading the blanket over me.

“Tell me something I don't know about you.” I asked him. I had just met him and I wished I knew so much more.

“I'm from Canada.” He told me. I was surprised, not that the was foreigner but because he didn't tell me earlier. Where you're from is normally one of the first things you tell people when you meet them. “Ok, your turn.” He told me.

“I still sleep with my teddy bear.” I confessed to him. It felt nice to be able to hold something as I slept.

“Cute.” I heard him say on the other side and could imagine him grinning and his dimples showing.

“I'm discriminated against at school.” He told me. I furrowed my eyebrows. Why would anyone bully such a cute foreigner?

“Why?” I asked him, hoping to get more information about it.

“Because I'm not from around here.” He told me. There was a moment of silence on the phone before we started talking again.

“Have you had your first kiss yet?” He asked me.

“No, what about you?”

“No.” He admitted and we both laughed.

We were silent again, just listening to our breathing. The silence wasn't uncomfortable and was rather soothing.

“You should get to bed, it's late.” I heard him say and I felt my heart sink. I didn't want to hang up, not yet.

“It's not that late.” I told him but I really didn't know what time it was.

“Minji, it's two in the morning. It's either really late or really early. Whichever way you want to look at it.” He told me and I was surprised. Two in the morning? Already?

“Ok, fine. It's late,” I yawned into the phone. “I'll text you tomorrow ok?” I told him but I didn't hang up.

“Ok bye.” He said but the call didn't end and we found ourselves laughing at each other.

“Ok bye.” I told him before hitting the end button and felt my lips turn up into a smile. I sighed as I walked back to our room, Eunmi was already asleep but she had written me a note and placed it on my bed.

Minji,

Had fun with your little chat? Next time just meet him in person. ;]

                    -Eunmi

I smiled as I took the note off my pillow. Jeez, this girl must have gotten really bored. I crawled into my bed and the mattress felt like a cloud. Just as I was falling asleep my phone vibrated and I opened the new message.

To: Minji

From: Ninja Chipmunk

        Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!

     I didn't reply but I just stared at his message and re-read the sentence over and over again. My mind was telling me to get a hold myself and stop fawning over this boy. My heart felt like it had been snatched by a hawk and soaring somewhere in the sky.