Invisible String || PURINZ

04 • LE SSERAFIM

But then the ghosts started to haunt them, and half an hour into the movie, the three on the couch were so scared that they were cuddled up together.

Chaewon was sandwiched between a scared Kazuha and an even more scared Yunjin. She had her arm around the Japanese girl's middle, and held her best friend's hand.

It wasn't uncommon for them to end up like this while watching a scary movie. This one wasn't nearly as bad as the last one they watched; Sakura ended up needing their comfort as well. The only one who always stood tall was their maknae, who seemed immune to scary things.

Yunjin occasionally glanced down to avoid seeing the scary scenes. Yet that didn't help; if it wasn't the horrors on the screen, it was the insecurity she felt when she saw their intertwined hands on Chaewon's lap.

She wasn't sure why she was always so self-conscious around her best friend. She'd never experienced it with any of the other members; but each time she was in close contact with the smaller girl, she was afraid that she was breathing wrong.

She ended up looking back up at the screen at the wrong time: it ended up with the three yelling loudly, and even Sakura flinched as well (though it was probably by their voices).

"Are you crazy? We have neighbours, you know!" Sakura hissed at the three who were nearly in tears on the couch.

Kazuha dismissed the question by waving her hands in the shape of an X. "I think I'm going to have nightmares," She cried.

Chaewon was squeezing Yunjin's hand so hard that she thought it'd fall off. She figured the other didn't notice her deathly grip, but she didn't want to say anything about it either because that meant her 5 '3 source of comfort would be gone.

"You're not actually crying, are you?" Eunchae asked the very distressed Kazuha.

The Japanese girl leaned back, releasing Chaewon. "I'm not– it's sad, okay, his little dog is missing! Imagine that's Shiro, we all love him!" She wiped her tears.

Chaewon glared over her shoulder before burying her face in the fabric of Yunjin's cardigan. "I didn't want to think about that!" She called out.

With a soft laugh, Yunjin combed the fingers of her free hand through her best friend's short hair. "Shiro's sleeping in your room, you don't have to worry about that." She spoke gently.

She felt Chaewon nod against her shoulder, though she still refused to move. After ten minutes Yunjin started to think the girl was mad at Kazuha– only to realise that she'd actually fallen asleep. She didn't know whether to laugh or applaud the fact that she fell asleep this quickly after having the biggest scare of her life.

Then again, Chaewon was never one to stay up late.

Everyone started to clear out fifteen minutes after the movie ended. After five more, Yunjin started to figure that she should find a way to move Chaewon to her bedroom.

Fortunately the girl weighed next to nothing: she was much shorter than Yunjin, which meant that she could easily carry her. So, she carefully scooped the girl up in her arms, and immediately realised she was way in over her head because it was a whole person she was carrying.

She struggled towards the girl's bedroom, trying her absolute best not to let Chaewon drop on the ground. Miraculously, she was still sleeping soundly.

Yunjin opened the door by awkwardly poking at the handle with her elbow, and prayed she wasn't disturbing anyone else as she kicked it open more.

There were two sides of the dorm: on the right side were Sakura and Eunchae's rooms, and the bathroom they all had to share. On the left side were Yunjin, Chaewon and Kazuha's rooms, which ultimately led to way too many pranks being played on each other. Sakura always reminded them that she was happy she was sharing a side with Eunchae. 'Nice and peaceful' was what she called it.

The girl laid her best friend on her bed (next to Shiro, who had taken up the far corner of the bed) and exhaled a sigh of relief: they made it back safely. She pulled the bed sheets up to Chaewon's chin, and stood there in silence for a moment. The small girl's chest slowly rose up and down under the sheets, and her perfect face glowed in the moonlight. There was something angelic about the way she was laying there so peacefully.

After more than a minute Yunjin started to feel embarrassed for staring at her sleeping best friend for so long. She turned around and walked out the room, closing the door behind her. The rain outside echoed through the hall, and Yunjin was pretty sure she was having a heart attack when thunder suddenly started roaring outside.

She'd be safe in her bed, she reminded herself.

Only Chaewon didn't have the same idea about that. "Yunjin?" She called softly from behind the door.

The other slowly opened the door again, peeking her head inside. "Yeah?" She asked in a whisper.

"There's a thunderstorm."

"Yeah, I've noticed."

"It's loud."

"So I've heard."

"Oh, don't be such a smartass." Chaewon groaned. Yunjin was thankful that the darkness of the room hid her large smile.

"Scaredy-cat," The tall girl chimed as she closed the door once again. She marched over to her best friend's bed, annoyingly letting herself fall right on top of the small girl.

She yelped in response, attempting to roll Yunjin over to the right side of the bed– but the only one who seemed to be able to move her was the girl herself.

After a laughing fit and ten complaints from Chaewon, she finally laid down beside the girl. The pillow smelled like Chaewon, the mattress was incredibly soft like Chaewon and the sheets embraced her like Chaewon.

This was Yunjin's favourite place to be. She always lied to her best friend, telling her how her room was so much better. Yet that wasn't true at all.

"Don't snore," Chaewon whispered.

Yunjin scoffed. "Don't drool," She muttered back.

Their knees brushed against each other after Chaewon turned to face her.

"I don't drool." She said.

"And I don't snore." Yunjin reminded her.

She expected her to pull her knees back and turn around again. From this angle, the moonlight fell perfectly on Chaewon's face again. It was like staring at the most beautiful painting.

She didn't move away.

With a sigh, Yunjin closed her eyes. "Goodnight." She whispered.

"Night." Chaewon returned.