𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗞𝗘 [ UNDER HEAVY REVISION ]

AWAKE : THREE

A shiver ran down my spine. The intelligent aura I had initially sensed from Mina now felt laced with a chilling cynicism.

What...?

My voice trembled slightly as I challenged her. "You're accusing people? They're the ones who are... who are..." The words stuck in my throat. 

Accusing the sleeping masses felt wrong.

She sighed, a weary sound that seemed to carry the weight of the world. Pressing her lips together for a moment, she finally spoke. "Humans are the reason we're in this mess," she stated, her voice firm despite the tremor in her hand. 

"But... they're all asleep," I stammered, clinging to the one certainty we had.

A sharp glint entered Mina's eyes. "Are they?" she countered, her gaze locking with mine. "I'm awake. Your sister is awake. You are awake. Do you honestly believe every single person on Earth succumbed to this... whatever it is... at the exact same moment?"

Her words struck a chord of truth. It did seem unlikely, a global phenomenon with such perfect timing. A cold dread began to creep into my heart. 

 If Mina was right, if there were others awake besides us, then the situation was far more complex, far more dangerous than we had imagined. 

Who were the awake? Where were they? And most importantly, were they friend or foe?

Mina's statement hung heavy in the air, unanswered and unsettling. Before I could even formulate a response, a loud shout cut through the tense silence, tackling Mina from the side, engulfing her in a bear hug.

"Mina! Long time no see!" the girl shrieked – Momo, if the phone call was right.

Mina, momentarily stunned, sputtered out a laugh. "Cut it out! We're here to figure things out, not make out in public." Despite the playful jab, a genuine smile tugged at her lips.

The pale girl from the group call, Dahyun, stepped forward, her gaze sweeping over us. "Alright, lovebirds," she said, a hint of amusement in her voice. "We get it. By the way, I'm Kim Dahyun, and this quiet one here is Chaeyoung." She gestured to the shy girl beside her who offered a small bow in greeting.

A sense of relief washed over me. These weren't enemies, but the others from the call – Jihyo, the quiet, Jeongyeon with her cap, and of course, Tzuyu, the varsity basketball player. Their arrival brought a welcome wave of normalcy to the bizarre situation.

"I'm Jihyo," the girl with the glasses announced, taking charge. "And this is Jeongyeon." Her gaze landed on Nayeon and me. "You must be Nayeon and Y/n?"

Nayeon, ever the social butterfly, beamed. "That's right! We're so glad you guys could make it." A hesitant smile crept onto my face.

My earlier annoyance flared up. "I thought you weren't interested in coming," I muttered towards the stoic figure of the girl with the cap. Her silence was unnerving, a stark contrast to the growing chatter around us.

"I changed my mind," she finally replied, her voice devoid of emotion. Her words offered no explanation, only a confirmation of her presence.

The tension eased slightly as Sana, the cheerful girl from the call, plopped down beside Nayeon. "Alright, alright," she chirped, her voice laced with nervous energy. "So, what's the plan? We gotta do something, right?"

Jihyo, stepped forward. Her gaze swept over the group, her voice firm when she spoke. "Sana's right," she declared, her eyes hardening as they scanned the deserted streets. "We need a plan. First and foremost, we need to understand what's happening. Why is everyone asleep? Is this isolated to Seoul, or is it global?"

The question hung heavy in the air. "How?" I echoed, voicing the collective confusion.

Dahyun, ever the optimist, piped up with a suggestion. "Maybe it's because we're teenagers!" she exclaimed, her voice tinged with a desperate hope.

I rolled my eyes. "That doesn't make sense," I countered. "Nayeon's already twenty." A playful swat landed on my arm, courtesy of Nayeon who shot me a mock glare.

Ignoring the momentary distraction, Chaeyoung spoke up, her voice thoughtful. "Then what makes us different? Why are we immune to whatever caused this?"

Her question echoed the sentiment we all shared. Age didn't seem to be a factor. Gender wasn't a clear answer either. A tense silence descended upon the group as the weight of the unknown pressed down.

Suddenly, a voice broke the silence. It was Tzuyu, "Maybe it's not about immunity," she said, her voice low. 

Mina's voice cut through. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she addressed the group. "Alright, everyone," she began, "I need information. Where were you all late last night? What did you do?"

A beat of surprised silence followed, then a flurry of responses.

"Nightclub!" I blurted out, my eyes widening as Tzuyu mirrored my answer.

"Which one?" I pressed, a strange sense of urgency welling up inside me.

"Blue Moon," Tzuyu replied, her voice tight.

A collective gasp rippled through the group. Sana and Momo exchanged wide-eyed glances. "Wait, what? We were at Blue Moon too!" Sana exclaimed.

Nayeon added her piece to the puzzle. "Me too! It's weird. I didn't even drink much, but this morning I woke up feeling like I had a hangover."

A suffocating silence descended upon the group. The revelation about the Blue Moon bar hung heavy in the air, a single point of connection in a world gone eerily still. 

What had happened there that night? 

My tongue darted across dry lips, my voice barely a whisper when I spoke. "So, we were all at the Blue Moon last night. What if..."

Mina cut me off, "What if the answers lie there?" she declared, her gaze sweeping over the group. "We need to go back to the Blue Moon bar. Find out what happened to us, what caused this... this phenomenon."

Chaeyoung, offered a curt nod. "She's right. The bar might be our only lead."