Ara stood frozen as she watched Nara rush out of the house; she wanted to run towards her, but her feet were entrenched on the ground, she wanted to scream her name, but her voice was nowhere to be found. Just imagining Nara’s pain at that moment made her chest throb and her eyes watery. Myungsoo on the other hand, quickly turned around: “I’ll be back.” he said before heading out. “Oppa, please, take care of her.” Ara finally mumbled with all her strength before taking light steps that found their way outside. Her eyes tried to scan the surroundings in hope of finding Nara and Myungsoo, but all that she saw were a pair of smudgy footsteps on the winter cold road; from her eyes, crystalline drops started flowing.

After a few moments, her body started moving involuntarily, her vision blurry from her own teardrops. When she snapped back to her senses, she found herself in a familiar doorstep. She surveyed the doorstep while trying to remember but her thought process was still sluggish that even after some minutes she could not remember it. The door opened to reveal a green-haired maiden; and at the sight of the other girl, Ara knew where she was. “Oh, Ara? Why are you here?” blurted Lime in surprise. She didn’t know what to answer, when suddenly, her vision had gone black from blurry.

When Ara opened her eyes, she found herself on a familiar bedroom; it was Lime’s. She sat up and was looking around for Lime when the door suddenly opened. It was Lime and she was carrying a tray with tea and cookies. “Oh, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” Lime asked. “A bit dizzy, but I’m fine. What happened?” she replied. “Don’t you remember? You suddenly fainted. I carried you here. You had me worried. Well, I’m glad you’re okay now. Here, my mom prepared these for you.” Lime said as she put the contents of the tray on the table beside the bed. “Omona, I’m so sorry for all the trouble.” she said as she bowed her head. “No problem at all! But, are you hurt anywhere?” Lime replied as she sat down on one edge of the bed. Ara shook her head in response and she put her hand on her chest; tears started to flow from her eyes again.

“W-Why are you crying? D-Did I say something w-wrong?” the startled Lime asked. At that moment she didn’t know what to do, she felt powerless as she stared at the sobbing girl. She can’t find the right words to comfort her, because she knew she was not in the position to, for they only knew each other for a short period of time. Bit by bit, Ara’s sobbing became a dirge for her; it lit the black flames of despair that blazed in her heart.

But there was another flame; a stronger and much brighter one. It came from her desire to ease Ara from her misery, to see her blissful smile, to hear her angelic voice. “A-Ara…” Lime mumbled with all her might. And in a blink of an eye, she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the other girl. Ara’s eyes widened as their bodies made contact, and a shiver was sent down her spine as Lime hugged her tighter and whispered in her ear: “Don’t cry. I’m here.” and those words were like a spell that worked its magic as Ara’s sobbing gradually came to halt. Lime’s warmth overwhelmed the coldness that she was feeling ever since that morning’s incident. She closed her eyes and hugged Lime back as the words “Thank you” left her lips before figuring into a bright smile.

Meanwhile, Yoonjo arrived at the Kim’s. She rang the doorbell once before Yooyoung opened the door. “Yeobo~!” Yoonjo exclaimed as she glomped at Yooyoung. “Unnie!” the younger girl blurted in surprise. “What are you doing here this early?” Yooyoung added. “First and foremost, you must call me Yeobo. Well, mom and dad left and won’t be back until this evening. So, I decided to stay here; can I, Yeobo~?” Yoonjo said in her cutesy and aegyo-ey voice – trust me, you don’t want that to be used on you; your hands will curl forever. And so, Yoonjo entered the house with Yooyoung, and she saw Mr. and Mrs. Kim on the dining table and greeted them a good morning. Then, she took the stairs and went towards Lime’s room.

She saw that the door was left open, so, she presumed that Lime was already awake. She crept nimbly towards the room with footsteps light as a mouse’s. While she was nearing her destination, she thought of ways of surprising Lime, and when she finally reached the door, she took a peek. It was the opposite of what she planned; it was her that was surprised. Inside the room she saw two familiar figures interlocked in an embrace, oblivious of their surroundings. She immediately withdrew her head and leaned on the wall to avoid being noticed. Her whole body trembled, she felt a weakness in her knees, and her chest started throbbing.

She can’t believe what she just saw – no, she doesn’t want to believe it. It was just a nightmare, she thought, or probably; wished. She wanted to wake up, but the burning pain on her chest is just too real. She can now feel her eyes flooding; but no, she knew that she can’t be seen like that. Yoonjo mustered all her strength and rushed downstairs, she saw the Kim’s again, bade them goodbye with a deep and quick bow to conceal her tears before heading out. But unfortunately (or fortunately), one person noticed what she tried to hide – Yooyoung.

She quickly got up from her seat, but unsure of the situation, she went upstairs first to find out what could’ve happened. She quickly yet cautiously shuffled through the stairs, and in front of Lime’s room she stood; her eyes widened in astonishment at the same image Yoonjo saw. “Yoonjo unnie!” she screamed inside her head before rushing as fast as lightning to chase after Yoonjo. When she got outside, she looked left and right for any trace of Yoonjo, and after some moments, she caught a glimpse of Yoonjo’s back figure – and without hesitation she ran as fast as she could.

She caught up to Yoonjo without the older girl noticing, which was natural because Yoonjo was as lost as a mouse trapped in a labyrinth. When Yoonjo was near enough, she reached and huggled her without any second thoughts. Still panting, she said: “You can cry. I’m here.”