Wendy wakes to the sound of water being brewed. She groans and hears footsteps before her until she opens her eyes, finding concerned eyes staring back at her. 

"What--"

Joohyun shushes her and presses the back of her hand against her forehead. Wendy blinks, feeling the other's fingers delicately brush some hair away from her sticky skin. 

"Who are you?" Seungwan grunts, bringing her hand to her hip, freezing when she taps at her waist, not feeling the handle of her sword.

"It's over there," Joohyun swallows, and nods her chin to the coffee table. 

Seungwan sighs and moves to sit up from the couch when she feels the other's hand push her down carefully by her shoulders. "You need to rest, Seungwan."

"My name is Wendy," she says calmly, eying the woman carefully. She wonders who this person is from the other world. So far, she seems nice enough but Wendy has experience with monsters who appear to have good intentions but eventually forces her hand amd she's always killed them anyway. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

"That's your birth name," Joohyun replies with a pained smile. "You don't remember?"

Wendy shakes her head. "My name is Wendy," she answers as if that's the only thing she's programmed to know.

Joohyun nods to herself sadly. "My name is Joohyun," she chews on her bottom lip and holds a cup of water to the younger's lips. Wendy eyes it in distrust and Joohyun purses her lips before taking a sip of it herself. "Drink," she urges and Wendy hesitantly obliges. "Maybe you'd recognise my English name? Irene?"

Wendy shakes her head. "Sorry lady," she shrugs after downing the cup. "I don't know anything about that other life."

"So you know that you don't belong here," Joohyun states with an inquisitive tone.

"I know," she begins, sitting up now to see Joohyun kneeling on the floor in front of her, "that my name is Wendy, and I have to kill things like you."

"'Things like me'?" Joohyun echoes. 

"Monsters," Wendy replies gruffly. 

"Why do you think I'm a monster, Wendy?"

"I don't 'think,'" she says swinging her legs over the couch to slowly stand. "I know that you're a monster because all the pretty ones are. And they're the worst kinds."

Joohyun quirks a brow and watches helplessly as Wendy gets to her feet and slowly reaches, trying to hide a wince of pain as she grabs her belt and places it around her waist. Wendy grunts as she ties it, it's almost as if it tightens even after she puts it on. 

"You think I'm pretty?" Joohyun manages a small grin and Wendy rolls her eyes as she fastens her sword to her belt. 

"I think you're a snake," Wendy retorts. "Maybe you're a manifestation of Medusa."

"I haven't turned you into stone, though," Joohyun points out.

Wendy gives her a noncommital hum, "Yet."

Joohyun sighs and stands up, going into the kitchen to pour some tea as she says, "You need to come back to the real world, Seung--Wendy." She eyes the younger to be sure she doesn't try bolting out of the house, but Joohyun had jammed the door earlier and even made sure to lock all the windows, throwing away the key.

"I'm where I belong, Medusa," says Wendy, watching Joohyun return to the living room and she hesitantly accepts a cup of tea. "What is this?"

Joohyun shrugs, holding her own cup. "I don't know. This isn't my house," she replies and leans down to sniff the aroma. "It smells nice though."

Seungwan considers it for a moment before placing it down on the table. "This is Kim Yerim's house."

"You know her?"

Wendy shakes her head. "No. It's what the dinosaur said before it knocked me out."

Joohyun grimaces and thinks of all the wounds decorating Seungwan's body beneath the bandages she'd meticulously covered her in. Fortunately, Joohyun had managed to find a cabinet almost identical to the one in her own apartment in the real world, shared with Wendy. It was definitely a strange coincidence but Joohyun chalks it up to the weird magic that is this soul space. 

"The dinosaur is your friend," Joohyun says calmly, blowing the steam in her cup as she takes a seat on the couch where Joy's body has now disappeared from. "Park Sooyoung is her name. She's the Devil in the real world."

"Uh," Wendy starts and slowly sits beside her, though a large distance Joohyun's not really used to when they ever sit together on a couch in the past. "Okay..?"

"I'm telling you this because I want you to remember that you have people in the real world that want you to come back, Wendy. We miss you. This world is not the one you want to be in."

"Say you're telling the truth," Wendy begins. "That you're not a monster, and you're really a person from that place...What makes you think I want to go back, Medusa?"

"My name is Joohyun," she repeats, taking a sip of tea as she considers Wendy's words. She eyes herself in the reflection of the golden liquid, watching as it turns into little ripples when she blows on the steam. Quietly, Joohyun sets the cup on the table, and tucks her feet beneath herself as she leans into the pillows of the couch. "And, I don't," she admits softly. "I'm here to convince you to come back."

Seungwan chuckles without a hint of humour and traces the engravings on her sword. "Good luck with that."

"I'm not giving up on you, Seungwan. Not this time," she shakes her head in determination. 

"What do you mean by that?"

Joohyun hesitates, not sure if she should go spewing her whole life story before a Wendy who doesn't even recognise her. "Things happened in the real world. It's--It's complicated and I'm not sure how to recount it myself without going crazy but basically, we've had feelings for each other for a decade. And we were scared and we were stupid. And just when things could've gotten somewhere, mistakes were made and I should've been smarter when I knew something was up with you."

"What was 'up' with me?"

"You...It's the reason you're here right now," Joohyun answers plainly. "I didn't know about it until a couple days ago... Or if that's how long it's been out there I'm not sure if time works the same here."

"How long have I been out?" Wendy asks casually, quite accustomed to her losing track of time in this world.

"Two days," Joohyun answers making Wendy groan. "What, are you okay? Are you in pain--"

"No, I'm fine," she waves her off. "I just--There's this pig. I don't remember its name but I was supposed to leave it under the care of someone capable. I found this place and thought I'd drop it off with the rest of the farm animals but..."

"But you went inside and found Sooyoung here?"

"Yeah," Wendy utters bitterly. "The dinosaur."

"It's Sooyoung," Joohyun asserts. "Or she goes by 'Joy,' sometimes. And she's one of our best friends."

"Medusa..." Seungwan starts, biting her lip as she turns to her slightly, eyes trained on the older's hands. "Will you..." She swallows and slowly raises her gaze to meet Joohyun's. "Will you tell me more about my life out there?"

"Call me 'Joohyun' and I'll tell you anything."

***

Yeri ch