A/N: Risky? Thrilling? Breathtaking? Think Monster (Middle Note) pink/yellow rooms. Let's go!

It was warmer than usual, Seulgi noted.

Normally in the cold Dreamscape, Seulgi knew her older sister- …Well, her older half-sister preferred to keep her place warm, but never this warm. It was stuffy to the point that Seulgi was on the verge of calling it uncomfortable. Oh dear…please don’t say she’s angry.

Simply standing in the dark corridor that led to her sister’s room gave rise to an unwanted sense of dread within her. Faint day light streamed out from her sister’s room, dimly lighting up the area around it. The silence within the dark Dreamscape, absolutely unnerving. Seulgi was hesitant to call out as she approached the window.

She was never allowed into her sister’s room in the Dreamscape, unless it was something extremely urgent or required her immediate attention. Or both. Everyone was prohibited from entering her sister’s room. It was strictly by invitation only.

Seulgi knew the reasons why, knowing full well what activities her sister was doing in the wee hours in the morning… Seulgi shook her head to clear the intrusive thoughts. She pursed her lips, deeply hoping it was not an urgent matter that required her immediate attention…but she doubted it. Taking a deep breath, she took the step to the window, calling,

‘Irene unnie.’

Stepping down, Seulgi found herself in her sister’s room, feet landing softly onto the pink carpeted floor, a wave of heat instantly engulfing her body, the strong scent of sandalwood filling her head. Instinctively, she scrunched her nose, wheezing. It was a scent she still couldn’t get used to.

Standing in the completely pink room, Seulgi instantly caught onto her sister. Poised on a small plush chaise longue, dressed in her signature long black sleeved leotard, towards her, the short tulle bustle flaring behind. Black heels strapped on, sleek black shoulder length hair slickly combed back… …Did she just get out of the shower? Seulgi sighed, walking over,

‘Unnie, do I always need to remind you to dry your hair before you sleep-’

‘Yah, Kang Seulgi. You’re late.’

‘Well, I had difficulty falling asleep.’

‘Took you long enough.’

Seulgi could feel her sister’s eyes trained onto her as she rounded the chaise longue, settling down quickly onto an arm rest. The golden ochre gaze of her sister held her briefly before her attention was taken away by a soft groan that drifted across the room. There was something on the bed in the other corner, tucked underneath the white covers… Seulgi felt her belly churn uncomfortably. Oh dear, that better not be a person dy—

‘Do you remember? I told you about someone interrupting my meals, not twice but thrice, in the last two weeks?’

Seulgi found it difficult to tear her eyes away from the lump that lay motionlessly on the bed,

‘Is- is that the person!?’

Her sister simply blinked slowly at her and Seulgi instantly scrambled over to the bed, terrified that her sister may have gone a bit too overboard with her nightly activities, ‘Unnie! Oh- Please don’t tell me that you couldn’t control yourself-’

A small body lay curled up under the thick white duvet, a head of short deep cherry brown hair peeking out and-

‘Wendy!?’

Blinking repeatedly, Seulgi held her chest as she leaned forward, craning her neck awkwardly to get a closer look at the person in the bed… who was breathing a bit too slowly for her comfort. It couldn’t be, but Seulgi’s eyes immediately widened as she recognised the distinctive sharp nose and the small star-shaped white scar on the end of the left brow, a fact Wendy had randomly decided to tell her about one evening.

There was no doubt about it. It was Wendy! Bubbly Wendy. Small Wendy. The weekend Wendy, who shared the same noon to night weekend shift at the cafe near her sister’s house.

Seulgi gulped and her sister beat her to it as her hand hesitated from pulling back the duvet,

‘She’s decent, and alive.’

Seulgi breathed out in relief, dropping to her knees. Goodness, what a scare! The last thing she wanted to have to deal with was a dying colleague in a dream! She heard a shuffle and looked back to find her sister making her way over, arms folded, face stoic and eyes cold. Seulgi eyed Wendy briefly before turning back up to her sister,

‘Unnie how- Wait, do you know Wendy too?’ The footsteps stopped beside her. ‘Did you seduce her?’

‘Seduce her?! No! I don’t even know her!’ Seulgi hardly saw her sister get this riled up, but needless to say, no one likes to be interrupted during a meal— ‘She’s the one that has been intruding into my room, uninvited!’

‘But no one is allowed here unless you invite them in-’

‘Yah Kang Seulgi! Did you not just hear me?’

Seulgi raised her hands up, nodding meekly as her sister huffed out loudly,

‘Today as well! She just appeared before me and instantly fell asleep on the bed without a word… The nerve this girl has!’ A loud click of her tongue, ‘Who is she to come barging into my room without any consent!?’

Golden ochre hardened, and Seulgi flinched slightly as her sister’s piercing glare narrowed onto her,

‘Kang Seulgi, I’m not the one with the mystic shaman eyes. I asked, who is she?’

‘Oh? Oh! Oh yes!’

Seulgi exhaled out another breath, the current level of anger her sister was emanating: placatable. She was also relieved that her sister was asking for an ancestral evaluation and thankfully not something else entirely… It wasn’t the first time her sister had asked of her mystic eyes either. Seulgi’s eyes that could see beyond the physical realm and into the supernatural plane. Seulgi didn’t know whether it was a genetic hassle or a gift… seemingly how it ran only in the female side of her family’s maternal bloodline. Thankfully, her grandmother taught her how to control and make full use of it before passing.

Turning back to face Wendy, dead asleep on the bed, Seulgi focussed her sight onto the girl’s entirety and stilled. Not a beat later, Seulgi recoiled back slightly and she heard her sister’s voice echoing her confusion,

‘So?’

Pursing her lips, Seulgi glanced at her sister and back,

‘There’s nothing, Unnie… She’s normal.’

‘Normal?’ Her sister’s questioning voice pressed on, ‘Are you sure? No vengeful shaman spirit attached? Not a scorned soul of a past mistress? No war mongering past? Righteous warrior incarnation?’

‘Unnie, if you want something to feed on, her family runs a noodle shop that has been passed down through the generations.’ The joke didn’t land and Seulgi immediately looked back at Wendy to avoid the icy glare her sister sent her, ‘She’s as pure and as normal as a human soul can ever be.’

‘Pure as the driven snow?’ Her sister clicked her tongue loudly again, ‘What is she? A saint? Gross.’

From the corner of her eye, Seulgi saw her sister’s hand slip before her, dropping a wrapped toffee candy into her hands. She chuckled as she unwrapped the candy and popped it into , caramel sweetness alleviating the stark bitterness swirling in , a side effect from using her mystic eyes. Though her sister was blunt with her words, Seulgi knew how caring and thoughtful she was deep down. Knowing the circumstances her sister was in, Seulgi knew full well why her sister took to being so brusque.

‘Unnie, have you tried talking to her?’

‘She pulls me out of the dream before I can even say anything!’ Her sister replied angrily, golden ochre eyes rolling as Seulgi stood back up, ‘I can tolerate the hunger. …But the fact that she can enter my space without my permission, and touch me! That is what annoys me!’

Her sister drew in a deep breath, flustered, ‘Are you sure she’s not related to any spiritual beings.’

‘Noodle shop owners.’

Seulgi watched her sister seethe. Wendy was certainly unusual. She had never seen anyone with such a clean, morally upright past and lineage… Maybe, perhaps, that was the reason why this unassuming girl could easily slip in and out of dreams? Moreover, her sister’s dreams.

‘Yah Kang Seulgi, tell her to mind her own business before I lose my patience.’

‘What? Me?’ Seulgi paused as her sister took a step forward, bending over to look at Wendy, ‘Why me?’

‘Because you know her.’

‘I barely know her! And I only interact with her on the weekends!’

‘Great. That’s today.’

‘But Unnie, it’s best that you explain the situation to her.’

Her sister turned her head, deadpanned,

‘Do you want me to feed on her?’

Aghast at her sister’s proposi