There was no other feeling than hope these days.

Optimism was nothing but some distant thought, a sunlight that dimmed itself until oblivion. The girls were undoubtedly exhausted, physically and if not emotionally, going through their days as prisoners frolicking around their cell. No sense of contact came through the outside, no television, no radio, and by this point their phones have no more battery life in them anymore.

All they had to keep each other occupied was one another. Whether they like it or hate it. Waking up every morning to see the exact same faces you saw before falling asleep every single night is already depressing as it is.

And by now, there’s only three girls remaining.

Taeyeon couldn’t easily explain how it has come to only her and the two fellow Americans to be left alive. It was about one or two weeks ago, Taeyeon couldn’t exactly remember when, and she was awoken by the truly gut-wrenching sight of both Sunny and Sooyoung lying on the ground with horrified looks across both of their faces.

She didn’t know that the two were already dead until she went over them and panickingly tried to get them to ‘snap out of it’.

Taeyeon first thought that they got drugged by some unknown reason. But after checking their pulse on their neck and wrist, it’s confirmed that she has lost two of her friends by food poisoning due to the last dumpling dinner in the previous night. Tiffany and Jessica went up to Taeyeon after a while, and had an emotional breakdown together as they realized the situation at hand.

They were down to three people now.

As terrifying as it sounds, both girls had been thinking of ways on how to die in the most peaceful manner as possible. Until now, they still haven’t figured out a thing.

-

“So this is it?”

In the somewhat comfortable silence of a lifeless studio in an abandoned building, the three remaining Girls’ Generation members sat quietly in a small circle on the stage whilst eating another stale breakfast; a big cup of cold water and a medium-sized bowl filled with cold jjajangmyeon. Their stomachs has gotten used to the plain taste of prison food by now, and they simply couldn’t complain if it tasted okay or even like .

Tiffany and Taeyeon stopped eating their share of cold noodles, looking at Jessica who seemed to have a troubled look upon her face. “What is?” Tiffany asked, giving her fullest attention towards the girl.

Jessica sighed, her eyes downcast at the ceiling above her. “Is this how we’re gonna spend the rest of lives? In this god awful place?”

“Come on, don’t say that. There are so many better places we could be spending time in rather this,” Taeyeon spoke before taking a sip of her cup of water. “Honestly, I think this place is better than hell itself.”

Tiffany chuckled, getting used to the dark humor circling around most of their conversations these days. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“Yeah, Tae, like what the hell? You just offended Satan just now so be careful when you sleep tonight,” Jessica played along, causing the three girls to laugh at their own jokes that were supposed to be strange and religiously offensive in general but seem to sound as funny as a knock-knock joke to them.

Taeyeon briefly took a moment to think about what they had been bantering about, and felt chills down her spine. “Jesus Christ, we shouldn’t be joking about like that.”

Jessica shrugged. “I don’t mind. Even though I’m a Christian, I sort of like to take some time and wonder if there even is a God. Like, are we really worshiping the right one?”

“Damn, Jess, since when did you become so emo?” Tiffany teased and giggled when she earned a glare from the other girl. “But seriously though, like what gives?”

Jessica stopped for a moment to think, and shook her head. “Nah, I think we shouldn’t be talking about religions and God right now. Come on, guys, I don’t wanna die that early.”

“Since when did you become such a whiney baby, hm?” It was Taeyeon’s turn to tease the girl in which was replied by an annoyed groan.

“Guys, seriously, oh my God!” Jessica exclaimed angrily, causing both Tiffany and Taeyeon to completely regret their joking manner, immediately silencing their mouths. Jessica’s eyes slowly pierced its way to their souls, and they couldn’t help but feel frightened for a second before the girl’s stern face turned into a guilty one.

“...” Jessica ran her fingers through her dry, unshampooed hair and heaved a long tired exhale. “Look, I... I’m sorry. My head’s been so ed up lately and I’m starting to say things I don’t even mean. You guys are the only ones I’ve got left, and honestly, I don’t want to be the first to die. I just want to stay with you guys, for a little bit longer before everything turns into ... do you get what I mean?”

Tiffany looked at the fragile girl with pitiful eyes, seeing how vulnerable and undisclosed Jessica was being right now. Scooting closer to the girl, she pulled the other American into a hug and gestured Taeyeon to join as well. It didn’t take long for them to start a session filled with reassuring back rubs, ‘everything is gonna be okay’s and silent tears coming down from Jessica’s eyes.

In dark times like these, silence is the worst possible villain in this agonizing story.

Oh my God, how long has it been since I've abandoned this story...

I'm so, so, so, SO SORRY guys. You have no idea how hard it was for me to come up with a decent chapter for this story, and I blame the constant writer's block I've been suffering from these past few months. An update in life: I'm now in my second year of high school, which makes me a senior towards the juniors (ha, I'm much more superior. Hehehe, just joking). Homework and assignments still a pain in the , it doesn't even surprise me anymore which honestly terrifies me even more. And I'm still single, which is FANTASTIC (no, but seriously I'm content with being alone).

Guys, if this chapter isn't that good, I truly apologize since my head has been filled with school, school and more school. So I'll try to update again in the next few days and try to make a better chapter! Alright? Alright!

See you guys later!