❝words that we

couldn't convey

because of our

lack of courage.❞

[after a long tiring lesson,

lunch had finally rolled by

as the dreamies along with

hyeji entered the school's

cafeteria while seating at

the corner to avoid any

sorts of commotion from

the boys' so called fangirls.]

"here *tosses the

the packet of chocolate

over to hyeji*

i didn't know which

one you liked so, yeah

i got this one for you."

[renjun and jaemin

sat beside hyeji whereas

chenle and jisung were

seated opposite from

eachother with jeno

and mark in between

the two of them.]

"omg!! thankyouuu

lele virus you're

the best!! *shamelessly

winks with both her

eyes* i love you~"

"okay i'm offended!

chnele we've been

friends for over 5

years and yet you're

here giving hyeji

free gifts?!?!?!"

"YOU STILL DIDN'T

TAKE ME TO THE

ARCADE!!!!"

"that's cuz she is

hyeji and you are

lee doghyuck."

"ZHONG CHENLE!!

I TOLD YOU NOT

TO CALL ME THAT!!"

"oopsie my bad!

it was a typo!!"

"THIS IS A VERBAL

CONVERSATION FOR

GOD SAKE!!!"

"damn! keep quiet

you're being really

loud *sneeze*"

"that's a first hye-bae

as you are the third

loudest from us."

"okay now i'm

offended and

that's not on

periodt."

"are you okay

hyeji?? you don't

look....*squints*

that well."

"true! even renjunie

is extremely quiet

today if not he would

have been spitting

fire to everything

you say."

"heey!! i'm not

that mean!!"

"finally! that's his

very first five words

of the day."

"noona are you

sure you're okay??

plus it's quite hot

and you're um...

wearing a sweater

and um...thick

stockin....?"

[renjun and hyeji

exchanges quick

glances before clearing

their throat to speak.]

[only to end up speaking

simultaneously.]

"THIS IS MY FAVORITE

SWEATER THAT'S WHY!"

"SHE WAS FEELING

COLD THAT'S WHY!"

"what?!"

"YEAH! I WAS FEELING

COLD THAT'S WHY!!"

"THAT'S HER FAVORITE

SWEATER THAT'S WHY!!"

"okay you guys

are hiding something

from us. and i've

clearly told you

before to not hide

anything from us."

damn you

renjun

damn you

hyeji!!

[hyeji uncomfortably shifts

on her seat, the heat piercing

through her wound as she

tired to make it less obvious.]

"you okay??"

[jaemin clings onto

hyeji's arm, her

wounded arm to

be exact as she

immediately yelped

out loud at the impact.]

"that hurt-"

[mark immediately stood

up, rushing to her side

while rolling her sleeve

up in haste.]

"h-how did this

happen???"

"oh my- hyeji

i know you are

clumsy but i

didn't know that

you were that

clumsy."

"i'm sorry!! did

i hurt you???"

"guys guys please

lower your voice

i don't want other's

to hear???"

"you texted me

saying that you

came home safely

last night. why did

you lie???"

[jisung slightly glanced

chenle, noticing how

serious he was.]

"*sneeze* i think

it's better to tell

them hyeji."

"omo omo!! renjun

AND hyeji hiding

something from us?!?!"

"it's not like that!!

yesterday night-"

"ye-yesterday night?!

don't tell me you guys

already did-"

[jeno headlocks donghyuck,

stopping him from continuing.]

"what the hell?!

no bitch!!"

[jisung quietly stared

at hyeji's bandaged

arm, fear slowly

kicking inside him.]

"okay so this is

how it went..."

"and that was

what had actually

happened unlike

what *coughs*

donghyuck was

*coughs* about

to *coughs* say."

"ohhhh so that's

why?? hehe sorry."

"it's strange to

hear you giggle."

"no wonder you

both look feverish."

"hye-bae don't you

think you should

report it to the

police???"

"EXACTLY!!! that

was what i have

been trying to

explain but she

just won't listen!!"

"nah fine it's okay."

[hyeji stared at her

arm, not wanting to

tell them about the

weird text messages

she had received.]

"i-i'm sorry."

[all of them diverts

their full attention

to latter only to

realize that jisung

was already brimming

with tears.]

"j-jisung why

are you sorry?

you did nothi-"

"noona i'm s-sorry

you had to g-go

through that i'm

sor-ry."

[jisung looked down

at his lap wiping his

tears.]

[hyeji places her hand

over his trembling

ones, gently rubbing it

with reassurance.]

"jisung-ah it's okay

hmm? please don't

cry. seeing you cry

hurts me more than

this wound does."

[mark engulfs the

maknae into a tight

warm hug, joined

by jeno.]

"don't cry baby

sungie!"

"we are here

so don't worry."

"now that i think

about it, i feel like

crying as well."

[jaemin moves his hand

to grab hyeji's to comfort

her but accidentally hits

the glass of water hence

spilling all over her.]

"owww!"

[she hissed at the

water seeping through

the bandage.]

"HOLY SHIT

I'M SO SORRY

HYEJI I DIDN'T

MEAN TO!!!"

[the students passing

by throws disgusted

look at her arm.]

[hyeji was quick enough

to hide it.]

"go to the infirmary

after this, you wouldn't

want your wound to

get further infected, do you?"

[renjun mumbled loud

enough for hyeji to

hear while taking off

his blazer and draping

over her shoulder.]

"o-oh yeah."

[jaemin slowly lets go

of his hold from his

own blazer coat, staring

at the awkward

interaction between

renjun and hyeji.]

"um...so...."

"jisung-ah i'm fine

now okay? so don't

cry hmm??"

"*hiccups* please

make sure to stay

safe noona, i don't

want you to get

hurt."

"yeah hye-bae you

know that we are

worried for you

right? make sure

to tell us if anything

weird like this happens

to you ever again."

"okay okay jaejae

i will, don't worry."

[hyeji smiles at the

two of them, before

looking for her chocolate

only to find out that

chenle had already been

eating it.]

"CHENLE!! WHEN

DID YOU EVEN

TAKE IT?!?!"

"*shrugs nonchalantly*

i have seen the vision

and noticed something

really weird and interesting

*takes another bite*

so in conclusion, shits

aboutta go down. like

hella down."

"what the hell?!"

[hyeji plops on her

bouncy bed, not

even daring to

change her clothes.]

[she was still wearing

renjun's cloth whereas

the male had changed

into his p.e dress after

lending his coat to her.]

[hyeji, instead opened

her last chat with jihye.]

"strange she still

hasn't even replied

yet...."

"wash up quickly

hyeji and come down!!

we need to change

your dirty bandage!!"

[her mom yelled

from downstairs.]

"IN A MINUTE!!"

[she yelled back,

standing up and

walking towards

the door.]

[hyeji leaned on

the door.]

latest notifications 🔔

123 unread messages on

yoo jihye!

are you okay??

you haven't

even replied

was the surgery

successful??

what did the

doctor say??

did you take

your medicine?

do you want

me to visit you?

i'm free y'know

seen

finally:D

i'm sorry dear

this is jihye's

mother.

oh hello mrs. shin😊

thank you for

being her friend

i must say she told

me how happy was

to have met you.

um is she..okay?

[her heartbeat intensified,

hoping that this conversation

wasn't leading to what she

thought of.]

it hurts me

even more to

repeat this

again.

honey jihye

couldn't make it.

the surgery

wasn't successful.

seen

[hyeji slid down,

falling onto the

carpeted floor as

she threw her

phone to the side.]

this can't

b-be!

[she clasped her

trembling palms

over her mouth.]

she promised me

she'd be strong

she promised me

she'd explain it

to mark after her

surgery

she promised me

she'd be strong

she promised!!

friends don't

break promises!!

"th-this has got

to be a dream!!"

[hyeji repeatedly hit

her head, rapidly

shutting her eyes

and opening them,

hoping for everything

to be a dream.]

come on!! wake

up hyeji!! this is

just a terrible

nightmare!!

[amidst all the

heart wrenching

thoughts and cries, her

phone loudly rang.]

[clearly her throat,

she wiped her tears

before grabbing onto

her ringing device.]

"mark..."

[decline]

"o-oh hey

ma-mark

what's up-"

"hyeji i shouldn't

h-have said that to

her."

"i should've have

let h-her explain

instead."

"i shouldn't

have d-done

that."

"sh-she should've

told me that she

was s-suffering.."

"mar-"

"hyeji! jihye

is g-gone."

"she's gone!"

"forever."

"mark no-"

"she's d-dead."

"j-jihye is...

dead."

[hyeji froze, it was

true afterall.]

[and so, jihye had

left them all.]

[without a goodbye.]

[she was gone.]

▆▆▆▆▆