...
...
...
A certain short-haired girl groaned, stirring awake...
Chaewon blinked a few times, only to realize that the room wouldn't get brighter.
'Huh?'
She held her head as she sat up, looking around to see... nothing.
She could barely see her hand in front of her face due to the inky darkness of the room she was in, the chilly air not helping the situation at all.
"H-hello?"
...
'Am I alone?'
Her voice bounced against the walls with no reply, making the girl nervous since she was scared of the dark...
And being alone...
"I-is anyone t-there?"
Chaewon called out louder, her heart sinking as no one answered once more.
"Yuri?"
...
"M-Minju?"
...
...
"A-anyone??"
The short-haired girl slowly crawled back, yelping in surprise when she met with the room's wall.
'This can't be real...'
She squeezed her eyes shut, "I must be dreaming, I must be dreaming."
She even pinched herself for good measure, only to open her eyes and see that she was still in the pitch black room.
"O-oh fuck..."
Chaewon's heartbeats began to rise as she hugged herself tightly, her worst nightmare dawning on her as her breathing quickened.
"W-where the hell am I..."
She always thought she was pretty strong, always taking care of her younger sister and their parents, sometimes helping Eunbi around even with those who were older than her... She was fine with scary movies, the monsters, demons, and whatever the movie threw at her would be gone by the time they exited the movie theater...
But her demons...
Always found a way to chew her right up.
She rested her head on her knees, trying to steady her breathing only to have her throat close up as salty tears burned her eyes.
She had to stay strong...
'But all that toughness was just an act to hide everything else...'
She has to go back to her friends, to Yuri.
'Your shaking eyes and legs ruin your bravado...'
Even that stranger from before knew she was weak, powerless...
Chaewon couldn't help but let her tears fall...
She never felt so alone and frightened in her life.
~ ~ ~
...
A finger twitched, the hand's owner slowly regaining consciousness as her head began to throb.
"..."
Her back was aching as well as she pushed off the wall she was leaning on to sit up straight, looking around to see that she was in a room with no light at all. The darkness didn't sway her at all, her thoughts calm and collected...
'Where am I?'
But then her ears caught the sound of panicked breathing, the sound of a girl's crying.
The girl looked around, seeing a familiar aura slowly turning grey with a streak of fearful blue from her original greenish-yellow.
"Chaewon-unnie?"
The said girl yelped, staying silent except for her heavy breathing.
"Unnie, it's me, Minju."
"M-Minju?"
The girl's tone of voice worried the younger girl, so Minju summoned a ball of light, illuminating the dark room to see Chaewon hunched up in the opposite corner of the room they were in.
Minju quickly stood up and went over as she saw Chaewon stare at her with mixed fear and relief.
"C-Chaewon-unnie, are you o-"
The angel startled when Chaewon quickly pulled her into a tight hug, relaxing her tension as she heard the older girl cry.
"M-Minju-yah... Oh jeez I was so scared I was alone..."
The younger girl immediately hugged Chaewon back, rubbing her head as she muttered softly, "hey, hey it's okay now, I'm here... You're fine, we're both fine..."
"I-It was so dark..."
At that statement Minju summoned more spheres of light, brightening up the room, "here, I'll make it brighter okay?"
Chaewon slowly calmed down as she felt the warmth of the light and her friend, weakly pulling away from Minju to wipe away her tears.
"Thanks, Minju-yah..."
The younger girl squeezed Chaewon's shoulder, "you okay now unnie?"
The short-haired girl nodded, "yeah... I'm fine now."
Minju nodded back as she saw her aura change back to her greenish-yellow, standing up and holding out her hand, "let's find an exit then."
Chaewon took her hand, sticking close to the girl by hugging her arm.
The two walked around the semi-large room, only to see that there was no door, no windows, no nothing...
"That can't be possible..."
Minju muttered under her breath, glancing at Chaewon to see a flicker of blue swirling around her, the girl's expression slowly falling to fear once more.
She faced towards her to give her another hug, "hey, we're going to be alright, okay? I'm sure there's a door, how else would we have been in here?"
The reassuring and soothing tone of her voice steadied Chaewon's breathing and heart, and the older girl nodded as she clung onto Minju's arm.
"Y-yeah... Yeah... You're right."
The girls began to walk around again, seeing if they missed anything.
...
...
...
"Minju?"
"Yeah unnie?"
Chaewon looked away, and the angel could see that her aura had a hint of pink.
'Pink? Why pink of all colors right now?'
"This... might not be the best time to tell you this but..."
The radish glanced back to Minju, "I... like you..."
The frog blinked, "you do?"
Chaewon nodded, wondering why she just had to tell her friend right now, in this sort of situation.
"Yeah... I do."
Minju smiled, pulling her arm away only to wrap it around Chaewon's shoulders, "I like you too. Now let's try to find a way out so we can tell each other that without being scared."
Chaewon's heart fluttered, giving the girl a determined nod when a loud sound made them both jump. The two turned around, the sudden brightness a sight for sore eyes as three of their friends stared from the doorway.
"Chaewon-unnie?"
Chaewon squinted to get used to the normal lighting, seeing her sister stare at her, "Y-Yuri?"
Minju pulled her arm away from the older girl, gently nudging her forward with a smile.
The hamster hesitantly walked inside, relief washing over her, "Unnie..."
Chaewon smiled, "Yuri..."
The two met halfway and pulled each other into an embrace, the other girls smiling at the scene.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Yuri-yah..."
Yuri grinned, hugging her older sister tighter, "me too unnie, I'm glad you're okay too."
The two pulled away, Yuri leading the newly found girls out into a concrete hallway.
"We still have to find Saku-unnie, Chaeyeon, Hitomi, Nako, and the maknaes."
"They're gone too? Where are w-"
Chaewon froze when she saw the guard behind Hyewon, but before she could do or say anything he spoke.
"It's me, Eunbi."
She let out a relieved sigh, "oh, hey unnie."
Yena chuckled, "let's go gang, they can't be that far away from here."