SIGNAL

INTRO-J-LINE ver.

ONE YEAR AGO

Mina was incredibly irritated.

Sure, she loved her best friends to death, but at the moment they really were getting on her nerves.

The three Japanese students sat on the floor, with a mass of paper strewn around them. Mina sat between the other two, frantically scribbling down notes for a group project that was in for tomorrow and it was getting on her nerves that neither of the other girls were contributing to the task.

On Mina's right sat Sana, who was bobbing her head up and down, whilst humming along to a song that was blasting through her headphones. On her left sat the oldest of the three, Momo, who was frantically tapping on her phone, engrossed in some sort of mobile game.

Letting out a small sigh, Mina nudged the eldest. "Care to give me a hand?"

Momo hummed, her eyes not leaving the small screen held in her hands. "Yeah Minari, one sec I just need to finish this level."

Thanks a lot.

Mina turned to Sana and gave her a light tap on the shoulder. "Sana! Can you start your part of the project? We need to get it done."

Sana nodded, but continued swaying to and fro, not really paying attention to Mina's pleas.

"Fine. Go away then. Leave me alone and I'll just do it myself."

To Mina's surprise, both girls immediately stood up and began to walk away. They walked closer and closer to an open door in front of them, but never actually reached it. They kept walking further until they were just blurred dots in the distance, somehow never reaching the door.

"W-wait! I didn't mean it. Come back! Please." Mina called out desperately as she sat in the room, the walls beginning to shift closer.

The two girls faded away from view, not hearing the youngest's cries.

The walls had closed in on Mina, so close that she felt suffocated.

She was suffocating.

She let out a silent sob, one which held a mix of fear and regret.

She pulled her knees up to her chin and sat curled up in a ball, her eyes tight shut, willing everything to go back to normal. Willing everyone to come back to her.

With a choked sob, she let out a whisper.

"Don't leave me. Please don't leave me."

The walls pressed onto her body, making her gasp in pain as she felt the immense pressure exerted on every inch of her being. She couldn't move. She couldn't escape.

Mina was stuck.

-

A soft embrace woke Mina with a jolt. She sat up on a bed, in a mess of tears and sweat, but most of all she was an entanglement of relief.

It wasn't real.

It was only a dream- Wait, not even a dream. A nightmare. A nightmare that filled her up like wine in a glass bottle. Inside everywhere. A nightmare she couldn't stop having.