glass slippers. ʲᵃᵉᵐⁱⁿ

TWELFTH.

Third Person's POV

"No, no, no!" Donghyuck continued to walk through the dark forest in a fast pace and covered his face, distributing wet tears all over his cheeks. "This is all my fault. We should have arrived earlier. Damn you, Donghyuck!"

Yena let him face her and brought his hands down. "Hyuck, stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault." He violently shook his head and dropped himself on the ground. When she heard him starting to sob, Yena felt like her heart was being gripped tightly.

She held his hands and moved her head side to side as well. "Lee Donghyuck, look at me. Look at me!" He sniffed and fixated his gaze on the girl in front of him. "Don't put the blame on you. You didn't put the spell on her. You did your best to save her."

"But we were too late, Yena," He messed up his brown-purple hair and she can see the tears scattered across his soft cheeks. "I failed to save Rachel. She's innocent, she didn't deserve to die wearing those ridiculous shoes!"

Yena intertwined their fingers this time and let Hyuck's back rest on a tree trunk. "I was with you, aren't I? I also didn't succeed on pulling the slippers off her feet. The both of us failed. Don't blame you. We were in this together," Seeing his vulnerable state, she also started to cry. "Don't put all the burden on your shoulders."

He exhaled and bit his lower lip so hard it bled. "I just feel like I have to. We came in too late. I should have been there earlier. I.. I should have warned her. I.." Yena placed a finger over his lips and shook her head. "Shut it, Donghyuck. This is my fault. I thought all of this—"

Donghyuck grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, making their faces dangerously close to each other. "Don't even think on putting the blame on you. Your plan showed us that we can help the other girls — if there would be more — from getting themselves killed by the slippers. If it weren't for your idea, we would have just watched chosen ladies die one by one."

"But I made you blame yourself." He sighed and licked the inside of his mouth then looked back at Yena. "Am I making you worried?" She glared at him and put a hand on the tree beside his head.

"Of course! You keep on blaming yourself for the trouble you are not the cause of. It hurts me seeing you like this. Don't put the problem all on your back. I already am feeling very guilty about what happened to Rachel and then you start blaming you and your subconscious. You didn't do anything wrong, okay?" She covered her face and tried to suppress the cries that wants to escape her mouth.

The two of them stayed silent for a while, thinking about who they should put the blame on. They honestly don't deserve to feel the guilt. They did their best to save Rachel but time was faster than they were.

Donghyuck took a deep sigh. "Okay," The girl looked at him. "I will stop blaming myself and you should, too. This is none of our faults," She nodded and suddenly chuckled which made Hyuck raise a brow. "What's so funny?"

"You're cute when you cry." She brought her hand up and wiped the dried tears all over his face. He just sent her a glare but then she leaned in to hug him. "What are you doing?" He asked again. "I know you need a hug. You always do after you cry."

Hyuck chuckled and hugged her back. "Yes.. Yes, I do need a hug," He buried his face on her shoulder and closed his tired, puffy eyes. "Thank you."

•••

Eunice's POV

Today was quite strange because Donghyuck and Yena weren't in my room when I woke up. They didn't even sleep here. They were probably hanging out, working on their friendship or out with their animal friends. It didn't really bother me much.