prologue;

The clouds were thin that morning, marching in line slowly yet in sync—leaving no trails in between their journey. A pair of feathered-creatures came to a halt on the strings of dim-coloured lights with weatherproof cable which was hanging up at the other side of the road. Twirling in sync, the couple waited patiently for the great fire ball of Earth to bring out its flames. Every single soul around was longing to feel the heat again.

It had been weeks of humidless in town. The sun would creep out shyly only sometimes rather than all the times, hiding low in the southern sky. The thing that conquered the ground the whole day was soft white bits of frozen water that continued to tend others tramping heavily. There was pure liquid gathering everywhere, making several small ponds on the street. To walk around without getting damp was nearly impossible. But always at the end of the day, everyone would still love winter.

Yet, there would always be exceptions for everything and in this case—Inhye.

The trail of snow melted away underneath her old-ripped shoes, leading its way into her pale skin. It was freezing cold but she fought the urge to stop walking. The obvious stares from every person nearby were suffocating enough to drown her in every way possible. Flaw never failed to assail her in the form of insecurities. Her self-doubt was eating her slowly whenever she stood in the crowd.

There was like a large block built between her and other existents. She was something out of bounds for so long that she herself doubt her existence sometimes. Everything could be obviously deceptive through her sight. Thus, creating those brick walls around her was always helpful. She felt inadequate, useless and mixed up.

Everything engulfed her at once.