put not your trust in men or devils - not idols!college!supernatural!dreamcatcher (tw: horror)

[ec.li.ps.e]

chapter 9: outliars and hippocrates: a fun fact about apples
“Minji,” her father is saying two days later. He’s got that edge to his voice that he only gets when she’s being disobedient , when she’s done something wrong - at least, it sounds that way over the phone. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea-”

“You don’t think it’s a good idea?” She presses her phone so far against her ear it pinches, squeezes so tight she fears she’ll break it. “Dad, this is her funeral we’re talking about.”

“I-I know.” He sounds flustered. “If there were any other circumstances, I would be paying for all of your plane tickets myself, but…”

Minji sighs. “You know we’ll wear our masks.”

“I’m not worried about the virus.”

Suddenly, he sounds serious . The shift startles her. She jumps. “Then- What’s the problem?” she asks.

“Where are you? And your friends?”

“Um…” She puts her thumbnail in her mouth. “I’m at the dorm. I think Yoobin and Gahyeon are here too, but I haven’t seen them. Siyeon’s at work, Yoohyeon’s in class... Bora was gone when I woke up this morning, but I dunno where she went…” Cautiously, she crosses her room and sits on her bed. “Is something wrong?”

Her father pauses for a long, long, long time. “For your sake - and the other girls in the dorm, just in case - I have instructed a few of the officers to check up on you. Consider yourselves under an almost lockdown of sorts.”

This time, Minji actually drops her phone. “Shit!” she sputters, and she drops off the bed to pick it up. “What do you mean, Dad?” She laughs reflexively. “Lockdown?”

“Given that this is an active investigation, I can’t say a lot, but I will say that what we have uncovered thus far has suggested a couple of things that- or rather, it’s- I can’t tell you why. It’s for your own good.” He sighs.

“Serial killer?” Minji says. She’s been watching too many crime shows. “Or like a rapist or-”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Were you ever going to tell us this in person, or did you just expect us to figure it out on our own?” There’s two very conflicting emotions circling through her head right now. The first is anger, anger that her father’s just springing this on her now, anger that she doesn’t know what’s going on, anger that Handong’s dead. The second is fear, the kind that tells her to wrap herself in her blanket and not move ever again. Her hands are shaking.

“Officer Shiang was going to come by tonight, yes. Try not to tell anyone before then, okay?”

Minji shakes her head, despite him not being able to see her. “How is this gonna work? How long is this gonna take? What’s the deal?”

“I have to get back to work. All of your questions will be answered tonight, I promise.” He coughs. “Hey. I love you, Minji. I just wanna keep you safe.”

“Love you too, Dad,” she mumbles. “Talk to you soon.”

He hangs up. She tosses her phone on her pillow and flops back on her bed.

Lockdown. Again. It hasn’t even been six months since the last one ended.

She sits there for god knows how long, at some point picking up and hugging a pillow to her chest, until she hears the door to the dorm open. “Y’all?” calls Yoohyeon. “Anyone home?”

Minji scrambles to her feet, practically chucking the pillow across the room, and runs outside. “Oh, hey,” Yoohyeon says as she drops her bag. “Is something-”

“Hug, now ,” Minji says. She doesn’t even give her friend a chance to respond. She nearly knocks the taller girl over.

“-wrong?” Yoohyeon finishes. She coughs. “Jeez, ow. What happened?”

Minji rests her chin on Yoohyeon’s shoulder and sighs. “Dad’s not letting any of us go to the funeral, or even, like, leave the apartment, and he wouldn’t tell me why but I think there’s a serial killer on the loose and that’s who got Handongie and I wasn’t supposed to tell you any of that.” She closes her eyes. “Officer Shiang’s coming by tonight to officially tell us. It affects everyone in the building, though, so… I guess? That’s a good thing.”

“Oh, shit,” Yoohyeon says. “Oh, shit .” She wiggles away and puts her hand on Minji’s upper arm. Her eyes are wide as dinner plates. “That’s so not a good thing.”

Minji shrugs. “God, the last thing I want is to be stuck here. Everyone’s so tense, I don’t like it…” She steps back. “Let’s… Just go sit on the couch. You look tired.”

“Yoobin’s not gonna like this.”

“Bora’s not gonna like this, either.” They walk back to the couch, and Minji sits down and rubs her face. “If he wants to prevent a murder, he should let us go to the funeral. They’re gonna kill each other.”

Yoohyeon sits next to her and crosses her legs. “I’m… kinda worried about Bora, to be honest. She’s been the most removed of all of us, which is so… unlike her, y’know? I woulda thought that Yoobin or Siyeon would’ve pulled away, but I guess not.” She leans on her hand. “This is just… So… Wrong .”

Minji sinks into the couch. “You can say that again,” she says. She tries to reach for the TV remote, but her arms don’t stretch far enough.

“So, we’re not allowed to go to the funeral?” Yoohyeon asks, grabbing it for her.

Minji shakes her head. “Dad’s worried.”

The younger girl pushes a button and flips through the channels. She eventually stops on a movie that they’ve seen a million times and sets the phone down. “About us getting killed? Or the virus?”

“Us getting got.” Minji sighs. “We’ll learn more tonight.”

“About what?” Gahyeon asks from the hallway. They look over to the youngest girl, who’s wrapped in a blanket. She looks very small today. It’s the first time anyone but Yoobin’s seen her since Saturday night.

Minji looks at Yoohyeon, shrugs, and pushes herself upright. “Get over here,” she says. She wants to scream and wrap Gahyeon into a bear hug, but something holds her back.

“Huh?” Gahyeon says, her face twisting. “Did I do something wrong?”

"No, get over here,” Minji repeats. Gahyeon obeys and sort of waddles across the room towards the pair. She doesn’t make it to the couch before Minji grabs her around the waist and tugs her ober. She squeaks.

“Wh- Minji, hey!” She wriggles away and rolls onto the floor. “Ow.”

Yoohyeon starts giggling. “We- We were worried about you, Gahyeon,” Minji stammers, slipping off the couch to sit next to her. “You haven’t left your room.” She grins and nudges her.

Gahyeon curls up and presses her back to the cushions. She elbows Minji off of her. “Yoobin was with me,” she mumbles. “I was fine.”

Yoohyeon rubs Gahyeon’s hair. “We’re still allowed to worry,” she says. “We should be sticking together right now, anyway.”

Gahyeon swats her away. “I guess,” she says, and she pulls the blanket up around her neck. “Do we have a date for the funeral? I just…”

Minji shakes her head. “About that,” she says. She pushes herself upright and brushes her hair out of her face. “That… Things are getting complicated.” She sighs. “We’re not even allowed to go to the funeral. Or leave the dorm.”

Gahyeon’s eyes widen. “Are you serious ?” she says. “Why not?” She covers her mouth with her hand. “Are we suspects ? How are we suspects?”

“No-no-no-no!” Minji puts her hand on Gahyeon’s shoulders. “We’re not suspects. Dad just has.. other suspicions. Or… Okay, look, Officer Shiang’s coming by later to explain all of this situation.”

The younger girl makes a face, her nose scrunching up. “Why him?” she says. “Has every other officer been fired or something? It’s like he’s just conveniently everywhere … y’know, connected to… her.” She trails off and rests her chin on her knees. “And if crime shows teach you anything, it’s that anyone who like, puts their hands everywhere has something to do with this.”

Minji laughs involuntarily. “I mean, I don’t think he did it,” she says. “It’s weird, yeah.”

“Maybe you could ask for a different officer to swing by,” Yoohyeon offers. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“He could say no,” Minji says. “Yeah, I’ll call later. He sounded busy earlier.” She pushes herself back up on the couch. “I’m surprised he hasn’t made me come home, if he wants to keep an eye on me.” She pats the cushion next to her. “You know you can sit with us, right?”

Gahyeon mumbles something and hunkers deeper into her blanket. Yoohyeon shrugs. “I dunno, dude. None of this makes sense.” She pokes the older girl’s shoulder. “Maybe it’s a de-mon,” she teases. “That would explain like, everything, right?”

“This isn’t something to joke about,” Gahyeon mutters. Yoohyeon taps her head.

“Would you rather I cried?” she says. It starts like a joke and trails off into a horrible, horrible silence.

No one says anything. Minji reaches over the girl’s head and grabs the remote. “Wonder if there’s anything new on Netflix,” she says, more to herself than anyone else, just to fill the silence, just to lighten the mood.

“That sounds good,” Yoohyeon says.

Gahyeon says absolutely nothing at all.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

Bora comes home before Siyeon, surprisingly. She’s clutching a plastic bag like it’s holding her very life blood and barrels into the dorms like she’s on the run. Minji twists around to look at her. “Hey!” she chirps. “We’re watching, uh, Kingdom, again.”

“Hi,” Bora says, her voice flat and emotionless. “Sorry. I was looking for something…” She shuffles into the dorm proper. “Just a snack, it’s nothing bad.”

“Wanna join us?” Minji asks. She slides around to make a space for her. “It’d be better than hiding…” She coughs and turns away.

Bora shakes her head. “I’m okay,” she says. “Where’s Yoobin?”

“She should still be in her room,” Gahyeon calls, flinching away from the screen. “Or, my room. She was in my room.” She shrugs. “I dunno.”

Bora nods and darts off down the hallway before she can say a word. Minji blinks after her. “That was weird,” she says, after a decently long pause.

“They’re getting along again!” Yoohyeon says with a little cheer. “That’s good.”

“Maybe,” Gahyeon says. She leans back and looks up at her. “At least they’re talking .”

Minji wants to say something, but then her phone rings, and she is cut off. “Oops,” she says, scrambling to pull her phone from her pocket. It’s Siyeon. She pops off the couch and presses it to her ear. “Hey! What’s up?”

“Dude,” Siyeon says, and Minji can tell right away that something is wrong. “There’s a police car tracking me.”

“Huh?” Minji says. Her phone nearly slips from her hands. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, there’s a police car behind me and it’s been following me since I turned out of work.” Siyeon curses under her breath. “I dunno who it is, it’s just weird.”

Minji sucks in a breath through her teeth. “Okay, that’s… Well, okay, there’s supposed to be an officer swinging by soon, ish, maybe that’s just who it is? Can you see who it is?”

There’s a pause, during which Siyeon does something that makes a loud rustling noise. “Um. No. It’s just a police car. Why…?”

“We’re being put under lockdown for our protection,” Minji says, all in one breath. “Or something like that. That’s all Dad told me and dammit, I really shouldn’t have told you, either-”

“You’re kidding.”

“I really, really wish I was.”

“ Fuck .” Something in the car click-click-clicks. “That’s just great. Why?”

Minji combs her fingers through her hair. “I mean, I don’t know, either. But we aren’t suspects.”

“I’ll be home in three minutes,” Siyeon says. “Then you can tell me.”

“Well, don’t speed -”

“Don’t test me, Minji. You know I won’t get caught.” Then, she hangs up.

The other girls are staring at her when she turns back around. “What?” Minji asks, slipping her phone in her pocket.

“Is everything okay?” Yoohyeon asks. “Or, uh, will everything be okay?”

Minji shrugs pathetically. “I have no idea,” she says. She shuffles back around the coffee table and drops back onto the couch, folding over onto Yoohyeon. Gahyeon grabs the remote off the table and pauses the show.

“Let’s watch the Animal Channel,” she suggests. “Maybe kittens will help.”

Yoohyeon laughs. One of her arms is looped around Minji’s shoulders in a way that must be awkward, but she’s not complaining, so Minji doesn’t move. “I wanna see Cherry,” she says. It’s a little childish. She leans her head on Yoohyeon’s shoulder. “Maybe Dad’s gonna swing by with her.”

“The dorm doesn’t allow pets ,” Gahyeon says, flipping through the directory until she finds the animal channel. It switches onto a documentary about pandas.

“Maybe they’ll make an exception for an emotional support animal.”

“If you can convince them that Cherry’s an ESA, can you try for Pie, too?” Yoohyeon asks. Minji nods.

Gahyeon shakes her head.

The door opens with a little too much force. Minji doesn’t need to look up to know it’s Siyeon. She lifts one of her hands. “You good?” Yoohyeon asks.

“Guess who’s here,” Siyeon says, her voice dropping into a whisper.

Minji sits up fast enough that she clocks her head into Yoohyeon’s chin. She winces and rubs the spot. “The officer?” Gahyeon says. She mutes the TV and starts to push herself onto the couch. “Already?”

Siyeon nods. She combs her hair out and starts to retie it in a low ponytail. “He was following me, so it’s not surprising…” The hair tie snaps. “Dammit!”

“You good?” Yoohyeon repeats.

“I was followed by the police,” Siyeon says. She shakes her head, smooths her hair. “Where’re the others?”

“Right here!” says Bora, who is hurrying down the hall; Yoobin follows her, much more slowly. She hovers at the doorway, swaying back and forth on her heels.

Everyone is on edge. Minji clears her throat. “Maybe we should sit down,” she says. “Look, like, put to-”

She gets cut off by a knock at the door. “There goes that plan,” Yoobin says. She sidesteps Bora and takes a sideways seat in one of the chairs. In the light, she looks tired - no, she looks exhausted . Minji makes a note to ask her later, even though she has a good guess.

“Come in!” Siyeon calls, hurrying away towards the coffee table. Bora moves to join her.

Minji holds her breath. Part of her wants it to be someone else - maybe her father was wrong , maybe it’s someone else - but she’s not sure why, and it doesn’t really matter who comes. That doesn’t stop something inside her from shriveling and dying when Officer Shiang comes through.

“Good evening, ladies,” he says, pushing his hat upright. “It was nice to have a day without rain, no?”

“Sure was,” Siyeon says. She moves around the coffee table to take a seat on the already crowded couch.

Bora is at her side, unsurprisingly. “Why is he here?” she hisses. Siyeon shrugs.

The officer shuts the door and steps into the room. He leans against the little shelf. “I get it too,” he says. “It’s never easy when someone close to you dies, especially… in such a way.” Flexes his hand, sighs. “Rest assured, we’re doing everything in our power to find who did this and serve them the justice they deserve. It won’t bring her back, but it might ease something.”

Gahyeon takes a deep, shaky breath beside Minji. “It’s okay,” Yoohyeon says. “It’s okay.” She doesn’t sound very put together, either.

He pauses to let her finish, then takes another step into the apartment. “I know you have a lot of questions, which is why I’m here - to answer them. We… Do have some unfortunate news.” He presses his hands together. “From our investigation thus far, we have determined that there is a significant risk for another of you to be, well, targeted.” Takes another step forward. “Therefore, we’ve determined that the best course of action is to put you under witness protection, just in case.”

“Witness protection,” Yoobin echoes.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

Officer Shiang nods. “We’re also suggesting, though it’s not mandatory, of course, that you don’t really… leave. It’s easier to keep an eye on you if you’re in here, after all. And besides-” he laughs, scratching the back of his neck- “I’m the only one here, I’m like, the new guy. Take it easy on me.” He laughs again. It grates on Minji’s ears. “We can get you the groceries, we can get you what you need. Besides, this will be temporary. A week, maybe two at the most.”

“A week ?” Yoohyeon squeaks. “And we can’t leave the dorms?”

He tilts his head. “Is that a problem, Miss… Ah…” He lifts his hands, snaps his fingers. “Forgive me, I can’t seem to remember your name.”

Minji glances at Yoohyeon, who suddenly seems very, very uncomfortable. "Miss Kim," she says, poking her finger into her chest. "And, I mean, yeah, sort of…” She trails off.

“What seems to be the issue? Surely we can work something out.”

Minji gets a weird feeling in the bottom of her stomach, far too empty and far too full at the same time. Yoohyeon clears her throat. “My photography class, we have a mandatory assignment,” she says. “Have to go out to the art museum. It’s part of the exam.”

The officer nods. “We can send someone to escort you, perhaps? Just for safety purposes.” He pulls his phone from his pocket and taps something on it. “Do you know what day you need to go?”

“Wednesday’s fine?”

He makes a note of that. “Wednesday. We’ll figure it out, not to worry, Miss Kim.” He hesitates for a moment on her name. “Well, then. There’ll be someone who comes by twice a day, though they might not always go in, just to make sure everything’s alright. The other people in this dorm will be under similar restrictions.” He slips his phone back in his pocket. “After all, the killer could be among those in the building. Not to, well, scare you, but until we get further along, we can’t be sure.”

“Is there anyone you’ve been able to rule out?” Yoobin asks. She’s crossed her arms, crossed her legs.

“I can’t tell you that much.” He shakes his head, adjusting his hat. “Ongoing investigation and all. Someone higher up than me will probably be contacting you, when we have any questions. I can’t say more than that.” His eyes are hidden now.

Yoobin nods. Her face is unreadable.

Minji pats Gahyeon’s back again, more for her sake than the younger girl’s. “Is there anything that you can do for us right now?” she asks. “Even, like, a list of resources or something?”

Officer Shiang shakes his head. “I don’t have anything right now. I can find some for you.” He makes a move to take his phone back out.

She looks over at Bora, who’s shaking like a leaf, then to Gahyeon, who’s staring at the floor with glassy eyes, then at Yoobin, who’s shut her eyes completely. “I think that’d be a good idea,” she says. “No harm in therapy.”

“You’re completely right.” He laughs, like she’s made a joke. She hasn’t, not really. “We’ll pull something together for you. Does anyone else have any questions?”

The room has gone quiet, save for the sound of breathing. Part of her wants to speak to break the unbearable silence, but she can’t think of anything to say. So she ducks her head instead.

Officer Shiang rustles something and takes a step back. “Well, if that’s the case, then I think I should go.” He sighs. “I know this is hard, but I’m going to thank you for doing your part to make this investigation easier. Believe me, I miss her too. It’s a shame that we couldn’t really catch up, but-” something changes in his demeanor, but Minji can’t tell why- “ah, enough about me. Here, wait. If any of you need something, feel free to give me a call.” He pulls something out of his pocket - a small box of business cards - and hands it off to Yoobin, who taps one out of the box and passes it to Minji. “Any leads, any suspicions, or whatever, like, vents you need. I’m here for you guys.” Minji hands the box to Gahyeon, who doesn’t respond for a good few seconds.

“Thank you,” Siyeon says.

“Of course. It’s my duty, as a police officer and as her friend.” He comes around to Bora, the last person to receive a card, and takes the box from her. “Don’t hesitate to reach out.” He offers to shake her hand, but Bora just stares at him. He flinches away. “Alrighty then. Well, have a good night, ladies.”

With that, he crosses out of the apartment.

The door’s barely even shut before Yoobin pushes herself out of the chair, crushing the card she’s gotten in her hand and dumping it in the trash. “That was weird,” she says, flatly.

“It feels like he’s lying,” Siyeon says. She turns her card over in her hand. “Or at least, there’s something he’s not telling us.”

Yoohyeon squirms on the other end of the couch. “Why him ? I don’t think he even existed a month ago.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Yoobin says. She folds her arms again. “Why’s he getting so involved? From the way she spoke about him, they didn’t really end on good terms. So he’s either delusional, in love, or the-”

“Don’t,” Bora says. She shakes her head. “Let’s change the subject.”

Yoobin sets her jaw, but she doesn’t respond. Minji feels a little bit of tension release. At least they won’t kill each other.

“I’m gonna go take a shower,” Gahyeon says, easing herself off of the couch.

“Maybe we should order dinner,” Minji comments, when she’s gone. Bora nods.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

chapter 10: flight, part one
Wednesday comes way too fast for Yoohyeon's liking.

The day of the museum trip dawns gray, much like most of the wintry days they've been having, and something about it rubs her the wrong way. She tugs her brown cardigan around her, checks her bag again, sighs. She's probably just overthinking.

Still, the concept of taking a police car to the museum in the middle of an active murder investigation is enough to make anyone's head spin. She gets a pass for this one.

Camera, extra film, notepad, cell phone charger, granola bar, water bottle. She has everything she's gonna need. She can relax.

Except she can't.

She sits on the couch, her hands running over and over her bag, and sighs. The floor is eerily quiet, despite everyone being home. She guesses it's stress, but still, it bothers her. They should be sitting together, or something. But they're not. And Yoohyeon sits in the living room alone.

She leans back on the couch, so that she's looking at the ceiling.

"You good?" Minji asks, and she's standing in the hallway.

"Maybe?" Yoohyeon replies. She's never been so thankful for a question in her life.

She sits up, and Minji crosses towards her. She sort of hops over the coffee table to sit next to her, narrowly avoiding a small pile of trash that’s accumulated over the past few days. “Whoa. Someone should clean that up,” she says as she drops onto the couch.

“Like you?” Yoohyeon offers. She smiles a bit.

Minji waves her hand. “Later. I’ll do it for real.” She leans on Yoohyeon’s shoulder and sighs. “Maybe. Depends on if I’m up to it.”

Yoohyeon shakes her head. “You gotta get to it eventually,” she says.

“Eventually. Not now.” She pats Yoohyeon’s shoulder. “Once you’ve gone. Then.”

Yoohyeon tilts her head over and stares at the older girl. “Are you good?” she asks, cocking her eyebrow.

Minji shrugs. “That’s a tough one,” she says. “I mean, my stomach kinda hurts. And I might be a little anxious.” She sits up; Yoohyeon follows suit. “Or a lot anxious. Can you promise me something?”

“Yeah, of course, Minji,” Yoohyeon says. She furrows her brow, a little unnerved by the sudden weight in the elder girl’s voice. “What’s up?”

“Don’t die.” She squeezes Yoohyeon’s hands. She sounds completely serious.

Yoohyeon laughs awkwardly. “Wh- What are you talking about, Minji?” she says. “I’m not gonna die, I’m just going to the museum.”

“I mean, this whole thing is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.” Minji sighs and falls backwards, letting go of Yoohyeon’s hands. “Like, there has to be something up here, or else I’m just overthinking.”

Yoohyeon’s phone buzzes in her bag, and she jumps. “You probably are,” she says. She unlocks it and scans the message.

[ I’m here, waiting outside. ] It’s from an unknown number. It must be one of the officers.

She puts her phone back in her bag.

“I’ll do my best, okay?” she says, and she smiles at Minji. Minji flashes her a thumbs up. They stand up nearly in unison.

Minji snaps her fingers. “Wait. Before you go,” she says, putting her hand on Yoohyeon’s wrist. “Can I give you something. Y’know, just in case?”

Yoohyeon tilts her head. “What is it?” she asks.

“Wait here, let me get it.” Minji pulls away and practically bolts back around the coffee table and down the hallway, towards her and Siyeon and Yoobin’s room. She squeaks an apology to someone on the way down, slams the door. Yoohyeon stares for a moment and watches a very startled looking Siyeon walk with a little more trepidation the rest of the way down the hallway. She waves.

“Is she okay?” Siyeon asks, pausing at the doorway and looking back over her shoulder.

Yoohyeon shrugs. “Man, I dunno. She might need to eat something.”

Siyeon grins. “We have that in common,” she says. “Are you heading out?”

“Mhm.” Yoohyeon checks her phone again.

[ Where are you? Is everything alright? ? ]

She sends back a quick [ one moment please ] and tightens the strap of her bag. “It should only be an hour or so,” she says. “Because of the virus crap the course is lighter, y’know?”

Siyeon crosses the sitting room and approaches the kitchen. “Stay safe,” she says before vanishing behind the fridge. “Okay?”

“Jeez, you’re both so worried.” Yoohyeon scratches her arm. “I’ll be fine. I promise.”

Minji comes back down the hallway, holding a small can of something in one hand. “Here,” she says. She’s a little out of breath from running. “Take it.” She thrusts it at Yoohyeon. “Just- Just in case.”

Yoohyeon takes the can and turns it over in her hand. The label reads Pepper Spray - Extra Strength . “Oh,” she says, unable to keep the shock from her voice. “This is definitely illegal.”

“Dad gave it to me a while ago, when I first moved out,” Minji says. “Y’know. For self defense. As long as you don’t have to use it, you’re fine.” She pushes it at Yoohyeon. “Please. Just for peace of mind.”

“Would you do this if Handong were alive?” Yoohyeon asks.

“Just take it.”

“Minji-”

“Seriously.”

Yoohyeon’s phone buzzes again. “Fine,” she says, and she puts it in her bag. “I’ll give it back when I get back.”

“You better, or else you could get in serious trouble.” Minji smiles. “See ya later.”

Yoohyeon nods, then turns and hurries towards the door. ‘I’ll take good photos for y’all!” she chirps, before slamming the door and jogging down the steps. Idling in front of her is a single black car. If it weren’t for the person sitting within’s unfortunate familiarity, she’d barely know it was supposed to be the cop car.

Of course it’s Officer Shiang. Because why wouldn’t it be?

She slides into the passenger seat with more disappointment than she should rationally be feeling. The officer dips his head at her. “Evening, Miss Kim,” he says, with a smile in his voice. “You got everything you need, right?”

She nods, her throat suddenly dry. “Sorry it took so long,” she says. She clicks her seatbelt on. “I was… Missing something.” Her bag is at her feet.

“Hey, if this is for a grade, I get it.” Shiang switches the car into reverse and starts to back out of the parking space. “You gotta pass your classes.”

A memory worms its way into Yoohyeon’s brain, of the intervention they’d held at the end of last semester and the party they’d thrown when she’d passed all her exams. It makes her a smile. “Yeah, I do,” she says, leaning her arm on the door.

“What are you majoring in, if I may ask?” he asks. He spins the wheel. He seems entirely focused on the road.

“English,” Yoohyeon replies. “Why?”

He shrugs. “Just making conversation is all. Don’t need this to be any more awkward than it needs to be.” He laughs, as if he made a joke. “English, hm? You wanna be a teacher or something?”

“I dunno, actually,” she says, fixing her gaze out the window. “I could do a bunch of things. Language is just fascinating to me, y’know? I have a whole list that I wanna learn.” She sighs. “Handongie was gonna help me learn Mandarin, actually…”

He hums. “That’s very cool. I wish I could do that. It took so long for me to learn Korean.” He twists the wheel, flips the turn signal, and turns into the main road. “If you’re still interested in learning, I might be able to help. Or at least, point you in the right direction.”

Yoohyeon blinks in surprise. “That’s really nice, sir,” she says. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Of course, Miss Kim.” He flashes a look at her, the kind that suggests a smile under his mask. “I don’t mind at all.”

They continue to drive, making small talk, for quite a while. Officer Shiang loosens up very quickly, Yoohyeon notices, and he seems excited to talk outside of the professional setting of delivering bad news or whatever. She almost forgets that he’s an officer.

Almost.

“You and Handong were pretty close, hm?” Yoohyeon comments while they sit in front of a red light.

Shiang nods. “All of our childhood, at least. It was very exciting to see her again. I just wish it could have lasted longer.”

The light turns green, and they drive on.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

“It could have, I mean,” he says, suddenly. “But that part was her fault.”

He turns on the highway at the next light, without even waiting for it to change.

“Wait,” Yoohyeon says. She sits upright and clutches the door handle a little tighter. "What are you doing? The museum-"

“We can go faster this way.” He glances over at her. "We just have to make a small pit stop first. Something wrong?"

Yoohyeon watches the world fly by. "Lots of things," she says. "Where are you taking me?"

He shakes his head. "I can't lose you, too, Miss Kim. You seem like a nice girl. A smart girl. You can succeed, where Handong failed. Right?"

He pulls into the next lane without signaling. Yoohyeon feels her heart sinking. She looks out the window, counting the cars and the trees and the signs. They're going too fast for her to jump. She would die.

"What do you mean, where Handong failed?" she asks, her voice a little higher than she intends.

"I mean, she refused to listen," he says, his voice strangely level. "She lied and tried to save me, but it was she who needed saving. And when that failed-" he swerves past a minivan in front of them- "and I realized the unfortunate truth, I had to do what God willed." He sighs. "God wanted her one way or another. Just like God wants you."

One by one, the puzzle pieces click-click-click into place, and Yoohyeon can see the horrifying picture all in one place. "You- You-" she stammers, her heart dropping into her stomach. "You fucking killed her?"

"It wasn't my choice," he says.

Yoohyeon swallows. "What do you mean ?" she asks. "Then- if you didn't-"

"I told you. God wants what God wants. Are you so proud as to argue with a deity, Yoohyeon?"

How does he know my name?

Yoohyeon gets a horrible feeling that starts at her stomach and claws its way into her throat.. She is going to die in this car if she doesn't do something. But what? She can't call the police - she's with a police officer. She can't jump - she'll get hit by a car. She can't hit him - she's not strong enough. She toes her bag at her feet.

Clink .

Suddenly, she has an idea.

"Call someone and I'll kill you right here," he says. "I can make it look like an accident. I will make it look like an accident. You're the chosen one right now. You can't escape your fate." He sounds like a video game character. It’s uncanny, unhuman. It feels unrealistic. “God wants what God wants.”

It’s difficult to open a bag with her feet. Yoohyeon thanks her past self for being stupid enough to forget to snap it shut. She stares at Shiang and prays that he doesn’t notice. “What God are you talking about?” she says. As long as he talks, she’s fine. If only he were saying more palatable things.

“The only God,” he says. Yoohyeon gets the feeling that they mean two different deities when they say that phrase. “He came to me in my dreams. He tells me what I must do for him. I am his servant.” He laughs. “I was hoping she’d be the same, that she’d join me, and we’d both be rewarded come his return, but no… She’d other plans.” He’s talking in circles. It makes her head spin.

“And what kind of rewards are there?” she asks, just as the flap flips off of her bag. Excellent. She slides down so that she can better navigate. The car rolls over a pothole and knocks her off balance. Her camera bounces off her foot. It’s heavy. It hurts.

But death will probably hurt worse. She swallows and starts trying to ease the pepper spray free.

“The chance to be gods in our own right.” He’s staring at her. Yoohyeon grimaces. “The chance to rule the world and be given the respect we deserve. Power beyond any imagination. What does that sound like to you , Yoohyeon?”

Being honest would get her killed. Her throat closes up when she tries to lie. “Sounds-” she says. The can is out of the bag. She tries to catch it with her foot. It rolls out of her reach. “Um- It sounds- You- God, huh?” She doesn’t have any coherent thoughts rattling around in her head beyond pepper spray, pepper spray, pepper spray . “You wanna be God?”

“I will be God,” he says. There’s a firmness in his voice that scares her. “This is your last chance. Would you like to join me?” He turns back to the road, and she uses this as her moment. She ducks, searching for the pepper spray, picks it up. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Let! Me! Go!” Yoohyeon shouts, and she bursts up with speed she wasn’t aware she possessed. Her finger presses the button on top of the can so hard that it digs into her skin. “Now!”

He recognizes what she’s doing a moment too late, and then he’s howling, screaming, and it fills the car and rings in her ears and her head and it’s enough to make her let go for just a moment. He whips his head back, his eyes red and streaming, and presses one hand to his face. “ Fuck !” he spits.

The car’s swerving. Back and forth, back and forth. Yoohyeon clings to her seatbelt for dear life, or else she’s going to fly through the window. Her hands are shaking. The can falls from her grip.

“P-Pull over!” she shouts, though her voice is whiny and strained. “Let me go!” It’s weak to her ears. She goes to unlock the door.

“You ***** ,” he says. “I’m going to savor killing-”

He doesn’t finish the sentence, because the weaving car slams into the safety rail and suddenly, they are upside down. Suddenly, they are flying. And then, much too quickly, they aren’t, and all Yoohyeon can hear is the crunching of metal and glass as they roll and slide their way down into a ditch. Her camera becomes a projectile, smacks her in the head. Glass bites into her face and arms. She covers her head but not fast enough. Her vision goes red. There’s pain, but the adrenaline muffles it.

The car comes to a stop and crumples against a tree. For a brief moment, it hovers on one wheel, and then falls back to the ground and rattles the bones that are still intact in Yoohyeon’s body. Her ears ring and ring and ring. Her breathing is coming in shallower and shallower gasps. Her hands, her face, her neck feel wet and hot and sticky. The world spins.

She expects the black at the edge of her vision to take over.

It doesn’t.

Her breathing echoes in the silence of the car.

Tentatively, she leans forward, and the world lurches . She covers her mouth with a bloody hand to try and keep the nausea back. Fuck. Her head pounds, her shoulders ache, her legs feel glued to the leather, and yet somehow, she is alive. She is alive .

She lifts her head to try and look around, but it’s impossible to see through the red film and the blur. Is this a concussion? It feels like a concussion. She’ll find out. As long as she gets out of the car.

There’s no other sounds in the car.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

“ F-F-F-Fuck ,” she stammers, more to prove to herself that she can than for any other reason. “H-H-He’s dead.”

She tilts her head to the left, where she remembers Shiang being. There’s a silhouette slumped to the side. It might be moving. She genuinely has no idea. She swallows - it hurts - she ignores it - it still hurts. Where is your god now? she thinks, and she smiles, and then she realizes that she is quite possibly completely alone. No one will find her down here. She'll die.

“Get- Out- Of car,” she tells herself, slowly twisting to the right. The door is leaning farther in than it was before the crash. She lifts her hand and swipes for the door handle. She misses. This is how she learns the window is completely gone save for the bits of glass now digging into her palm. The new pain blurs into the rest of it.

She slides her hand down the door until she finds the handle. It takes effort to close her fingers around it.

Somehow, she manages to do it.

Her other hand traces the seatbelt, until she can click it free.

“One.” She slips herself forward. “Two.” Tries to put more weight on her legs. “Three.” Pushes the car door open.

She falls with it, right into a bush.

The feeling of dirt beneath her feet and hands and elbows nearly makes her cry.

She is out of the car.

She lets herself lie for a moment, just sitting there, in the bush, with dirt and gravel biting into her still stinging wounds, collecting her thoughts, steadying her breathing as much as she can. She was facing this way when the car crashed. If she turns around, she can return to the highway. She can get help.

She starts, very slowly, to twist around, but any movement makes her head pound , and she has to stop several times or risk passing out. She can’t. She can’t let herself lose. Not when she’s already gotten so close.

Her vision is slowly starting to clear, though everything’s blurry and tinted with red. Blinking hurts. That is a problem for later.

“Can we stand?” she asks herself.

She tries to push herself to her feet. Her legs don’t last the length of a breath.

Fine, then. She’ll crawl.

Her arms are the only thing supporting her weight. She lurches forward, pauses, breathes, repeats it. Every scrape of her skin sends pain that starts as a sting and only gets louder and louder and louder shooting up her forearms. It burns . She can no longer ignore it.

She slumps forward and sobs.

The tears hurt as they come down.

Keep climbing. Keep climbing. Get away from that . Come on.

“I’m- I’m not gonna die to-to-today,” she croaks. “N-Not today.”

Her arms feel like lead weights, and yet she keeps trying to climb.

The sun has begun to set by the time she hears the very first car from the highway. They must be worried sick about her. She was definitely supposed to be home by now. She whimpers. No one can hear her. It’s pointless. She’s crying again. Maybe she never stopped.

Her mind is filled with images now - her friends, smiling and laughing. The last movie night they had, when Bora screamed so loud and threw the popcorn at the screen. Her and Gahyeon sitting in the living room struggling over calculus homework. That time she and Siyeon got drunk and watched reality TV until dawn. Minji sneaking Pie into the dorms with her. Minji and her trying to bake a cake. Minji’s head on her shoulder-

And then she touches concrete, and she makes a strangled noise halfway between a sob and a laugh, and she throws herself the rest of the way under the safety rail, and she stretches out on the highway.

It’s getting darker, and her normally white shirt has been darkened by mud and blood, and she knows that lying here is a bad idea, but she can’t bring herself to move. Whatever was propelling her forward has vanished into thin air. Maybe it was never there to begin with. She feels no motivation. She feels only pain . There is not a inch of her body that is not damaged. Her knee - maybe both of them - is throbbing and stiff. Her ribs feel like they’re squeezing the air out of her lungs. Her hands, her hands, her hands .

There’s a rumbling. There is a vehicle coming. It sounds big.

Get up, she tells herself. Get up and live. Get up for your friends. Get up for Minji.

She is awash in the golden glow of a headlight. A truck’s horn cuts the air.

“No,” she tells herself. “It’ll stop. It’ll stop. Stop…”

It doesn’t.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

chapter 11: safe and sound

Yoobin’s phone rings, and it’s a number she doesn’t recognize.

She looks at it for a moment, studying it, wondering if the hope that flares in her chest is ever worth it, then presses it to her ear. “Hello?” she says.

“Congratulations!” says something that is clearly a bot. “Your car has been chosen as the Lucky Light Post Winner for today-”

She hangs up and drops her phone on her bed. It’s not going to be him. It’s never going to be him.

What even is a Lucky Light Post Winner, anyway?

She picks up her hoodie off of her bed post, slides down the ladder, and makes her way out of her room. She should really talk to someone, before her anxiety gets the better of her and she never leaves her room again. She has to stay at least somewhat put together.

She pulls her hoodie on and zips it up as she walks down the hallway. The only person in the sitting room is Minji, though it sounds like there’s at least one person in the kitchen. Minji is sitting on the couch, half asleep from the looks of it, with a blanket wrapped around her entire body and only her head sticking out. There’s still trash littering the coffee table. She doesn’t move when Yoobin starts collecting it.

“You alright?” Yoobin asks, dropping some balled up napkins into an empty cardboard box.

Minji doesn’t move. “Sort of,” she mumbles, though it’s difficult to make out her words through the blanket.

“Worried about Yoohyeon?” Yoobin says. She dumps what she’s gathered into the trash can and moves to take a seat next to the older girl.

“She hasn’t texted me anything, and she hasn’t read any of my messages, and it’s been over an hour.” Minji buries her head in her knees. “I know it’s stupid, but I just can’t… What if she doesn’t come back? We can’t lose her, too.” She shrinks further into herself. “Not now. Not ever.”

Yoobin offers her a hug, but Minji doesn’t seem to notice. “I miss Handong,” she says without even acknowledging Yoobin. “I don’t know what I’ll do if she doesn’t come back. How are you okay ?” With that, she turns to look at her, and Yoobin winces to see the pain etched in her friend’s expression.

“You think I’m okay?” Yoobin says, and she sort of smiles, sort of doesn’t.

Minji shrugs. “You seem okay. You’re not a crying mess. And you’re not… Whatever Bora’s doing.” She shakes her head, tugs the blanket tighter around her. “You seem just the same as always.”

Yoobin reaches her hand around and pats Minji’s shoulders. “I’m really not,” she says. “God, I’m really not.” She tries her best to smile, but it’s falling from her face like that . “It’s just… in here, I guess.” She touches her chest. “Which probably isn’t good for me, but, well, one of us needs to function.” She laughs, like she made a joke. Minji laughs a bit too.

“It’s not fair,” she says, with her eyes cast downward. “It’s not fucking fair.” She swallows. “I hope whoever killed her burns in hell.”

“You and me both,” Yoobin mumbles. “You and me both.”

They don’t speak for a while, during which whoever’s in the kitchen continues to make a lot of noise. Eventually, Yoobin’s curiosity gets the best of her, and she slips off the couch and pokes her head in to see what’s happening. She finds Siyeon standing at the counter, a cutting board with fresh vegetables resting in front of her. “What’re you making?” she asks.

Siyeon jumps. “Oh, shit, Yoobin,” she says, and she puts the knife in her hand on the board. “You scared me.” She looks down at her handiwork, shrugs, and reaches up above to the cabinet. “Just… Something, I guess. We haven’t cooked in a while. Figured I’d make something for all of us.” She pulls a large skillet down and rests it on the stove. “You wanna help?”

“Sure,” Yoobin says. “Might as well. Takes my mind off of…” She trails off, then steps into the kitchen proper, rolls her sleeves up, fidgets. “What do you want me to do?”

Siyeon smiles softly. “Yeah, I know.” She taps the fridge handle and steps to the side. “There should be some beef in there, I think in like, strips? Maybe you can start browning it.”

Yoobin opens the door; sure enough, there’s a package of pre-cut beef that looks relatively old. It’s a good idea to use it tonight, that’s for sure. She takes it, peels the package off, and dumps it into the skillet. “Is this just a whatever meal?” she asks, reaching over Siyeon’s cutting board to pick up a wooden spatula.

“I’m thinking rice?” Siyeon says. She tilts her head. “And maybe some of the sesame seeds, and some of the leftover sauce from last night.” She picks up the knife and starts to cut up an onion. “What do you think?”

Yoobin shrugs. “Sounds good to me.” She pushes the beef around in the pan some. “You’re the leader here.”

“Salt,” Siyeon says. “Don’t forget the salt this time.” She steps back so Yoobin can reach better. The knife slips from her hand. “Shit!”

Yoobin drops the salt just as she picks it up. “You okay?” she says. She picks up the knife and steps it away.

Siyeon shakes her head and sticks her finger in her mouth. “It stings,” she says around it. “Oh, that’s sharp.”

“Uh, here.” Yoobin steers her towards the sink. “I’ll grab you a bandage from the bathroom. Just keep that clean.” She backs off and hurries out of the kitchen without checking to see if Siyeon obeys.

Minji stares at her while she passes. “Something wrong?” she calls.

Yoobin just waves her hand as she goes.

In the bathroom, when she opens the door, is Bora. She’s standing over one of the sinks. She looks ill. She jumps when Yoobin opens the door. “Are you alright?” Yoobin finds herself asking while she heads for the first-aid kit in the corner.

Bora shrugs. “Fine,” she says hoarsely. It’s clearly not true. “I’m okay.” She hunches her shoulders.

Yoobin doesn’t pry, just opens the first-aid kit and searches through it for the box of band-aids. “Did something happen?” Bora asks.

“Kitchen mishap.” The first box has two ace bandages in them.

“Is Yoohyeon back yet?”

“Nope.”

Bora makes a weird, squeaky noise. “She’s not?” she says.

The third box is the charm. Yoobin pulls out two bandages, one smaller than the other, and shuts the first-aid kit. “Not yet. Minji hasn’t heard from her in a while.” She shakes her head. “I’m just trying not to think about it. We’ll know soon enough.”

Bora combs her fingers through her messy hair. “Do you think she’ll come back?”

Yoobin stops at the door, one hand on the doorknob. She drops her gaze to the orangish tiles. Someone should really clean them. “I… Don’t know if I can answer that,” she says.

Bora presses her lips in a thin line. “Oh, come off it. She’s not. She walked into a trap. At least, that’s what you really think, right?” She sounds bitter.

“Bora, calm down-”

Bora shakes her head. “I’m sorry, does expressing emotion make you uncomfortable?” She crosses her arms. “Are you afraid of being sad ?”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Yoobin says. It’s a phrase she’s said over and over again, both to herself and the other girl, and yet neither of them seem to believe it. “Stop blaming yourself.”

“Stop assuming what I’m doing!”

“You only get like this when you’re mad at yourself.” Yoobin sighs. “I know you’re still upset. But we can’t have this conversation right now.” She holds up the bandages. “We’re making dinner.”

Bora scowls. “There’s no conversation to have, Yoobin,” she says, quite childishly at that. “I’m not mad at myself. I’m not mad at you. I’m not mad at anyone .”

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

Yoobin can’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t make any of this worse. She settles on, “If you say so,” and hurries back out of there. She nearly collides with Gahyeon on the way out, mumbles an apology under her breath, and brings the bandages into the kitchen.

“...Never have good news,” Minji is saying on the phone, and Yoobin feels a sudden chill wash over her entire body. “Please, Dad…”

She bursts into the kitchen with the bandages and pretends she hadn’t heard anything she’s heard in the past five minutes. Siyeon holds up her hand - there’s only a small slash on her finger - and lets Yoobin patch her up. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Siyeon comments quietly.

“You’re the only person Bora’s gonna listen to,” Yoobin says, smoothing the small fabric patch. “Please, please talk to her. She’s…”

Siyeon sighs. “I know exactly what she’s like. I’ll do my best.” She shakes her head. “She doesn’t want to talk about it. I’m starting to get worried. The last time she’s been this… angry , it was middle school. And middle school universally sucks.” She looks over at the stove. “Let’s just finish dinner.”

Yoobin touches Siyeon’s hands. “I wish things could be different,” she says.

“I do, too.”

They cook in silence, broken only by the sizzling of the food in the skillet. Whatever Minji’s phone call was about, it doesn’t seem to be that important - or maybe, it’s too important, and she can’t find the words - because she doesn’t run in to tell them, or beg for anyone to come to the hospital with her, or do anything at all to suggest a positive or negative scenario. It’s frankly, a little frightening. Yoobin focuses on cooking the rice to keep her mind from exploding.

It’s not the prettiest dish they’ve ever made, but it smells absolutely fantastic. Siyeon grabs five bowls and sends Yoobin out to go fetch the rest of them. Minji is gone when she steps out; the only sign that she was ever there is a crumpled blanket on the couch. Gahyeon is sitting on the chair next to the couch sideways, her eyes glued to her phone. She looks up, nods, and then drops her gaze again.

“Dinner’s ready,” Yoobin says, making her way towards the younger girl.

Gahyeon shrugs. “I’m not really that hungry right now,” she says, and she swipes something. “What did you make?”

“Just something,” Yoobin says. “Siyeon had the idea, I was just helping her.” She walks around the chair. “Pokemon Go?”

Gahyeon looks up at her. “Just like back in quarantine.” She sticks her tongue out. “Look, I’m bored, and sad.”

That makes Yoobin smile. “Aren’t we all,” she says. “Have you seen Minji?”

“She went back into her room. She was on the phone.” Gahyeon sighs. “I’m trying not to think about it. If- If it- Nevermind.” She exits the app and opens up Instagram. The first post on her screen is a video of bunnies.

Yoobin hums. “There’s a lot of things that I just don’t want to think about right now,” she says. She pushes off the chair and walks back off across the room, her intention being to head back into the dorm rooms.

“Yoobin?” Gahyeon calls, as soon as she reaches the hallway. The older girl pauses and turns around. Gahyeon’s put her phone down. “Do you… Think everything’s going to be okay?”

Yoobin swallows, unsure how to answer that question. Clearly, she’s seeking comfort, but comfort isn’t the thing Yoobin can provide right now. She puts her hands on the doorjamb, shrugs. “I hope so,” she says, eventually.

“So it won’t,” Gahyeon mumbles.

“Hey.” Yoobin holds up her hand. “I didn’t say that.”

“You were thinking it.”

She snaps her jaw shut. Damn, she’s much easier to read than she thought. “A lot’s happened in the past couple of days, but it has to get better. Eventually. Everything gets better, right?”

Gahyeon sighs. “What if you die? Or I die? Or more people die? Did it get better for us?” She curls up into a tighter ball on the couch. “I guess, maybe, if heaven is real, but what if it’s not? What if there’s nothing left? God.” She presses her hands to her face.

“Gahyeon,” Yoobin says, “I love you, I really do, but I am not the person to have a religious crisis with.” She crosses back over to her.

Gahyeon shakes her head. “None of this would have happened if I hadn’t gotten drugged,” she mumbles. It’s difficult to make out through her hands. "Then she'd never have seen him."

“Maybe,” Yoobin says. “But that wasn’t your fault.”

“I know.” Gahyeon peels her hands from her face and looks Yoobin right in the eyes. “And it’s not your fault that Handong is dead. And it’s not Bora’s. But fuck… It really feels like it sometimes.”

Yoobin is at a loss for words. She nods slowly.

“I miss her,” Gahyeon says. “I miss her so, so much.”

Whatever Yoobin was about to say is cut off by loud, hurried footsteps, and they both look up to see a haggard Minji scrambling into the sitting room, throwing herself at the coffee table, and handling the remote with shaking hands. “What did he mean, look at the news?” she says out loud, flipping through the channels.

“What?” Gahyeon says. Yoobin pushes away.

Minji shakes her head. “Dad- He said- The news is covering something about Yoohyeon and-” She finally lands on the main news station and drops the remote. “Oh my God.”

Right now, it’s a commercial. Minji stands, watching it with wide, terrified eyes and a hand pressed over her mouth. She looks like she’ll fall over in a light breeze.

The first thing on screen when the news returns is helicopter footage of a section of the highway. Cop cars blink red and blue up and down the highway. “Late afternoon, a police car was noticed spinning off the highway,” the reporter says. Yoobin’s heart stops. “The wreckage was discovered near where one of the bodies was, but the second body has yet to be found.” The screen cuts to talking with a truck driver, who looks extremely distraught. “The driver of the truck that struck the first body had confirmed he has no relation to the woman.”

Minji pulls her phone out of her pocket. “Dad?” she says. "Dad, wait- Dad-"

"If anyone has any news on the whereabouts of this man-" Yoobin looks back to see a photograph of none other than Officer fucking Shiang flash onscreen, and her blood runs cold- "please call the following number. Audio recovered from the car suggests that he himself caused the crash and could be dangerous."

Minji makes a horrible squeaking sound and drops to the ground. "No, wait-" Gahyeon says, and she pushes herself out of the chair. Yoobin flinches away from the TV.

"So- So he- It was- Oh, no ," Minji mumbles incoherently.

Siyeon, who's poked her head out of the kitchen, drops the dish she was holding. "Are you serious?" she says. She rushes out towards them. "Oh, god, no, no, no." She shakes her head.

Yoobin crouches next to Minji and puts her hand on her shoulder. "At least, now we know," she says. "At least now we'll be safe."

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

chapter 12: tick tock

Minji paces back and forth when she's upset. It's a habit she's had since she was a child, and a habit that she doesn't think she'll be giving up soon.

Unfortunately, her coping mechanism has gotten in the way of her sleep. Every time she lies down, her body tingles with nervous energy, and she has to push herself out of bed and obey the urges of her muscles until she's finally, finally, finally tired enough to go to sleep, and then five minutes later, she's up again.

She paces her way into the bathroom and opens the medicine box. Fine, if she won't sleep naturally, she'll take some Benadryl. That always seems to knock her out. She rummages through the assorted bottles and packs in search of the pink pills. It's on the bottom; after all, it's been a few weeks since allergy season. She pulls it out, unscrews the lid, shakes three little pills into the hollow of her hand.

For a brief moment, she hesitates.

She could take more.

She looks at the mirror, at her tired, sunken eyes and messy hair, then back down at the pills, then shudders. Once she's able to leave the house again, she's calling a therapist, because that's unhealthy. And also terrifying. She puts the lid back on the bottle and puts it back in the box. One cup of water to wash it down.

She wanders out into the kitchen, walking on her toes, and notices halfway down the hallway that the light's on in. "Oh," she says, mostly to herself. She speeds up.

Siyeon's sitting at the table, her hands wrapped around a steaming mug of tea. She jumps when Minji appears in the doorway. "Shit," she breathes. "You scared me."

"You can't sleep either, huh," Minji says, crossing the kitchen and picking up a glass from the drying rack.

Siyeon sighs heavily. "Nope. What do you have there?"

Minji sticks her hand out to show her. "Just Benadryl. I'm hoping it'll work." She fills the glass with tap water and brings it to her lips. Siyeon is giving her a look. "Relax. This is all I'm taking."

The younger girl nods. "Right, right. I didn't think you would- I just. Forgive me." She takes a sip of tea and grimaces. "Ow. Hey, why don't you sit down? We'll walk back together."

"Why not?" Minji walks back over and pulls a chair out.

They sit in a not-uncomfortable silence, Siyeon swirling her tea around her mug and Minji taking small sips of water, until Siyeon takes another deep breath and says, "I'm worried about Bora."

"Oh, me too," Minji says. "I mean, I don't see her as much, what with school, but…"

"That's the thing. No one's seen her as much." Siyeon takes another drink of her tea. "She barely leaves her room, doesn't talk to anyone but me, and that's only when I go in there and talk to her myself. She snaps at everyone who even tries to talk to her." She puts her mug down and presses her hands to her face. "She's barely eating , Minji. Something's clearly bothering her but every time I ask her she just tells me she needs some space, just needs some time, and I'm going to lose my mind." She takes a deep breath. " Fuck , man. I'm worried to leave her alone."

Minji pushes her water aside and reaches for the girl. "Hey. That's valid, um. Should we call someone?" She swallows. "Do you think she's going to… Y'know…?"

Siyeon shrugs helplessly. "I don't know. I hope not. I don't think she's done anything yet, but I can't really tell …" Her shoulders slump. "She probably still blames herself for Handong, which is stupid, but I get it. I guess. I've told her a hundred times that there was really nothing she could've done but she refuses to listen. I don't think she's going to get over it any time soon."

"She definitely isn't going to listen." Minji sighs. "Okay, I'm making an executive decision." She pushes away from the table and taps her hand on the kitchen table. "We're calling the hospital tomorrow. Just to like, see if they have space. And then we can get her somewhere." She nods firmly. "It's the best move. I really… Dammit, Siyeon." She scrubs a hand down her face. "I don't know what I'd do if…"

S iyeon puts a hand on Minji's. "Me either," she says. "Thank you. Really."

"Of course." Minji smiles. "Now, I think we should go back to bed. Or to bed, in my case." She stands up and bites back a yawn. "C'mon."

Siyeon rises too, picking up her mug and the other's glass as she does so. "I hope we didn't wake Yoobin," she says, with a little bit of a giggle. "I don't need her worrying either." She puts the glasses in the sink.

"Yoobin sleeps like a rock," Minji says, waving one of her hands flippantly. "She'll be fine."

Siyeon crosses to Minji and grabs her hand, squeezes. "And so will you, and so will I, and so will Bora and Gahyeon," she says.

"Exactly!" Minji chirps.

They walk back to their room, linking arms. Minji falls into her bed and falls asleep. She dreams of absolutely nothing.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

She wakes up at noon, and there are three missed calls from her father and two texts, one from Gahyeon asking if she used up all the milk. She clicks the voicemail and listens to her father's forlorn voice mumbling his condolences. He sounds upset, too.

"But, I have good news, and bad news, and an apology, too. We uncovered some things on Miss Handong's case that I'd rather not share with you in a voicemail, mostly because, well, you know how I'm not supposed to share these things." He pauses to cough. "Call me when you get this. It's important.

"I love you, Minji. Stay safe."

Minji pulls the phone away from her ear as the answering machine takes over, reading out the date and time when the message was received. Her heart has leapt into her throat. What new things could he have uncovered? Her thoughts race ahead of her, running in circles. She pushes the blankets off of her and hurries to call her father back. "Dad? Dad, what do you mean?" she stammers by way of greeting.

" Good afternoon, Minji," he says. He shuffles some papers on his desk, judging from the sound. "You woke up late."

She combs her fingers through her hair. "Y-Yeah, I took a Benadryl, couldn't sleep," she says. "What did you mean?"

"You want the good news or the bad news first?"

She hesitates. "Good?"

"The good news is, seeing as our prime suspect is either dead or fleeing the country, you are free to leave the dorms again, effective immediately."

"That's fantastic, Dad," she says, and she lets herself relax a bit. She'll be able to get more milk. "And… And the bad news?"

He doesn't talk for a long, long time. Then: "The bad news is, that I fucked up, Minji."

She feels her heart drop. "Wh-What do you mean, Dad?" she asks. Her voice has a whine to it. "How?"

"After the crash, we were able to recover the dashboard footage from the car, and from what we we heard, Officer Shiang had… He had intended to kill Miss Yoohyeon, and he admitted in the footage to killing Handong."

She whimpers. "So… He did do it," she says, more to herself. She balls her blanket in her fist. "And-"

"And I accidentally enabled him killing Yoohyeon, too. If I had trusted my gut, none of this would've happened. He'd be in jail, instead of God-knows-where, and you'd have your friend, and this conversation wouldn't be happening. But we didn't have any evidence, and he needed to do something, so…"

"Oh, my God." It's all she can think of saying. She can't think anymore.

"You're allowed to hate me. I'm pretty damn mad at myself right now, too."

"Can I go tell the others?" she asks, sniffles, wipes her eyes. "Please? I mean, we- we kinda- it was- Yoobin figured it out a long time ago."

Her father makes a noise, half in between a cough and a choke. "I can't stop you," he says eventually. "But you probably shouldn't."

"That's- That's good enough. Thank you for telling me." She swallows and hangs up before he can respond so he doesn't hear the animalistic sob she knows she won't be able to contain. She curls into a ball, dig her fingers into her hair, and wails . She doesn't care who hears her.

"Shit, Minji," Gahyeon says from the doorway. "Are you- Are you okay?"

Minji looks up at the younger girl, who's wrapped herself in a pink blanket. Her brown eyes peek out from under her hood; they look scared. She shakes her head. "N-no," she stammers, rubbing a hand across her face. "Fuck n-no."

Gahyeon shuffles across the room. "Wanna talk about it?" she offers.

Minji pushes her blanket aside to make room for the smaller girl. "We were right," she says with a deep breath. "Shiang killed Handong."

Gahyeon's eyes go wide. "How'd we figure this out? I thought he was, well, dead-"

"He admitted it," she mumbles, "in the car. They recovered the footage. He was gonna kill her, too, but, well, she fought back." She sniffs. "Not that it matters, in the end."

Gahyeon stares at the ground. "Holy shit," she says, her voice a breathy whisper. "And now he's dead."

"Hopefully." Minji shakes her head. "I won't believe it until I see the body myself."

The younger girl shrugs. "I mean, they showed us the car on TV this morning. It's a miracle that Yoohyeon managed to crawl her way out, it was all busted and shit…" She shakes her head. "That's so fucked. I'm so sorry."

Minji leans her head on Gahyeon's shoulder and whimpers. "This shouldn't be happening," she says. "None of this should be happening."

"Yeah…"

They sit like that for a while, until Minji's breathing slows and she can see clearly. She picks her head off Gahyeon's shoulder and wipes at her eyes again. "Thank you," she says. "For sitting with me. Are you okay?"

Gahyeon lifts one of her hands from the blanket and wraps it around the elder's shoulders. "Probably not. I don't really feel anything, just… I dunno. I'm numb." She smiles warily. "It's not good, but it's… better than… Better than…"

"Better than Bora?" Minji suggests.

Gahyeon sighs. "I was trying not to say that."

Minji pushes herself off of the bed and smooths her pyjama shirt. It's stained with tears and snot. "I'm gonna be taking her to the hospital," she says. "Siyeon's worried she's gonna hurt herself, and frankly, so am I."

She walks over to her dresser and starts pulling open the drawers. Gahyeon watches her. "I mean, she seems better today," she says. "She smiled during breakfast, even when we didn't have any milk. Maybe she's getting better."

Minji pulls out a white blouse, with flowing batwing sleeves and a ripple on the collar. "Maybe."

"I don't think she has to go to the hospital," Gahyeon says. "Just… Maybe we shouldn't leave her alone. She might get angry if we just… take her, anyway."

Minji presses her lips into a thin line. "I guess that makes sense," she says. She takes a pair of black jeans from the bottom drawer and tosses them over her shoulder. "I'll talk to Siyeon about it." And then she nudges Gahyeon's side. "Get out so I can get changed."

"Will do." The girl picks herself up. "I think it's gonna be okay, Minji. I knew, as soon as I saw the news today, that it was gonna be okay."

She backs out of the doorway, swinging the door shut behind her. Minji sighs.

It sounds like Yoobin's been talking to her, which is a good thing. Yoobin's got a good grasp of herself. She's the person to talk to in any kind of mental health crisis - unless you're Bora, clearly.

She picks up her hairbrush and runs it through her hair a couple of times. But maybe they've been able to break through to her. Maybe Bora really just needed some space. Maybe it really is going to be fine.

The brush snags on a knot; she winces. It's not going to be fine. Yoohyeon and Handong are still going to be gone. There is no replacing them.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

She swallows. Yoohyeon would want her to mourn; Handong, not so much. She'll settle on a compromise and put on a brave face for the others, then retreat when she needs to cry. Lord knows everyone else is doing the same.

The common room is busy, but not like it used to be. It feels more frenetic, panicked, as if they are trying to distract themselves at all times. "I have class till three," Siyeon is saying. "But I can pick something up after then-"

"Hang on," Yoobin says. She's sitting on one of the chairs in the common room sideways, a lollipop in her hand. "I had an idea."

"Yes?" Siyeon asks, leaning back from the doorway.

Minji studies the people in the room - Gahyeon is sitting on one end of the couch, and Bora is on the other, balancing a plate in her lap. Yoobin swings her legs around so she's facing front. "Shouldn't we have a buddy system in place, when we're off campus? Just in case."

"He's dead," Gahyeon mumbles. She's still wrapped in her blanket.

Minji clears her throat. "She's got a point," she says. She steps into the common area and sits down at the other chair. "This way we can keep an eye on each other. Until we know for sure at least."

She looks directly at Siyeon. Siyeon raises an eyebrow. "I mean, that does make sense," she says.

"But there's five of us," Bora says. "Is one of us going to be left here alone?"

Yoobin leans on her hand. "Either three of us go out at once, or two of us do, then, or all of us, if we want to," she says. She points at Minji with the lollipop. "But like you said, it'd just be until we know for sure. No more than a week or two."

"A week," Bora says. She pushes her fork around the plate, making an awful screeching noise. "I guess."

Gahyeon pulls the blanket tighter around her. "Sounds good to me."

"So, who's getting the milk?" Siyeon asks. "I have to go, so we should, like, figure this out…"

Yoobin raises her hand. "We'll go, tonight. My last class wraps up at five." She swallows. "But if anyone else wants to go, that's alright."

Minji darts her eyes from Yoobin to Bora to Siyeon and back to Yoobin again. There's an entire conversation happening in the looks people are giving each other that she's having trouble keeping up with. "I can stay behind," she ventures, lifting her shoulder in a shrug. "That's fine."

"I don't really wanna go shopping," Gahyeon says.

Bora says nothing, just stares at her plate.

"Okay!" Siyeon says. "Okay. That sounds good to me. Minji, can I talk to you really quick before I go?" She curls her finger and calls her over.

Minji obliges, and the two of them step outside. "What's up?" she asks.

"When are you taking her to the hospital, then?" Siyeon says, her voice hushed despite the shut door behind them.

Minji startles. "Oh, well…" She shrugs. "She seems to be doing better today. And she probably won't be receptive, and… I'm not doing so hot myself, Siyeon." She sighs, folding her arms over her chest. "At least I can admit that I'm having a problem."

"Right," Siyeon says. "I… I don't know. I don't think it's a good idea to not do it. She needs something." She puts her hand on Minji's shoulder. "And you need something."

Minji nods. "How about this. I'll stay behind to keep an eye on her - I don't think Gahyeon's stable enough to be on ******* watch, anyway, what with her being numb and all, but I am. You and Yoobin go out and get groceries. If anything goes wrong, I'll call for help immediately, and the three of us will go with her to the hospital. We'll text you and Yoobin any updates. Okay?"

Siyeon bites her lip. "It's not… Ideal. I want to know she'll be safe."

"She will be. I promise." Minji picks up Siyeon's hand and gives it a squeeze. "Bora’s my friend, too, and I care about her just as much as you do. I don't know what I'd do if any more of us… Here." She pulls Siyeon into a hug. Siyeon melts into it; her fingernails dig into Minji's back.

"Thank you," Siyeon says. "Thank you." She peels away, wipes at her eyes. "This is going to be okay."

Minji nods and tries to smile. The expression on her face feels strained and painful. "Yep," she says. "Have fun in class."

Siyeon shakes her head. "It's calculus. It's not gonna be fun." She backs off down the steps, pulling her black mask out of her pocket as she does so. Minji watches her run through the parking lot and lets out a deep sigh.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

The day passes agonizingly slowly. Minji spends it puttering around the kitchen, washing the dishes from breakfast and then some more that she finds around the rooms. All the while, she keeps one eye on Bora, who's stretched out on the couch, watching TV. Gahyeon has gone into her room - something about an online class, and Yoobin left a bit ago for her classes.

Minji finally runs out of dishes to wash after forty-five minutes. She wipes her hands on her jeans and heads out into the common area. Bora has yet to move. The only sign that she's still alive out there is her eyes tracking Minji as she goes to sit on the other end of the sofa. "What're you watching?" Minji asks.

"Just whatever," Bora says. She picks up the remote and presses the guide button. "It's kind of really bad. I don't know why I'm watching it."

Minji smiles softly. "Sometimes really bad is all you need," she says. "Like, bad acting, or what?"

"Bad everything." Bora pops her head up on one hand and rolls her eyes, a soft smirk playing across her face. Minji mentally relaxes at that. "The acting is terrible, and then the writing is even worse, and the plot is so cliche , and I don't know how it's been running for four seasons." She waves the remote at the other girl. "You can change it, if there's something else you'd like to watch, but not much is on right now."

Minji waves her hand. "Eh, I don't really care."

Bora shrugs and puts the remote on the table as the drama cuts back to commercial. They sit in silence for a moment, before she says, "I know what you're doing. It's not subtle."

"What do you mean?" Minji asks.

Bora stares at her. "It's not subtle," she says. "You think I'm going to hurt myself, don't you."

Minji swallows and shrugs. "It's more of a general worry." She looks at her hands. "We're all stressed right now. I think we're just trying to keep out for each other, you know?" Curls her hands into fists, presses them into her legs. "Yoohyeon was telling me how distant we'd become after Handong… It's not right."

"I love Siyeon," Bora mumbles into her arm, "but she can really worry. Especially about me." She sighs. "I dunno. It feels like she's trying to guilt me into not doing anything, at least, that's what I feel like, even if she wouldn't- even though I wouldn't, don't look at me like that."

"I promised her I'd take you to the hospital if anything goes wrong," Minji says. Her eyes flash. "Don't test me."

Bora sits up. "Oh, my god, you don't need to do that!" She covers her mouth, hiding a wary smile. "Seriously, I'm okay. I wouldn't be talking to you if I were in any danger, promise." She leans forward and puts a hand on Minji's arm. " Promise ."

Minji stares at Bora's eyes, at the way the smile on her face doesn't reach them, and furrows her brow. "Bora, I don't think I can believe that - you look exhausted."

"Ah, yeah." Bora falls back on the couch, her arm over her forehead. "I haven't been sleeping well since… It's been a week or two."

Minji tilts her head. "Why didn't you just say so?" she says. "I can give you some Benadryl. Maybe you can take a nap."

Bora nods. "That sounds fantastic ," she says, without moving from her spot. "A nap and some iced coffee and I'll be back to normal."

Minji pushes herself off the couch and heads back to the bathroom. She passes Gahyeon's room; the girl's sitting on her bed, blanket over her head, laptop in her lap. She knocks on the door. Gahyeon pulls an earbud out and hits the spacebar. "Yeah?"

"I'm giving Bora some Benadryl," Minji says, "to help her take a nap. She seems to be doing better, though."

Gahyeon's face slowly splits into a smile. "See? I told you. Everything's going to be okay." She waves her hand. "Okay, now get out, I'm still in class."

Minji does so, enters the bathroom, pulls out the medicine box. She shakes a couple pills into her hand. She can't shake the feeling that not all is as it seems, but she ignores it. It's probably just her anxiety talking.

She takes the pills back out of the bathroom and hands them to Bora, who's already grabbed herself a glass of water. Bora smiles and washes them down eagerly. "Thanks, Minji," she says, rising from the couch with grace. "I'll see you in a few hours."

Minji watches her walk back towards her room.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

Sure enough, Bora's awake by five, with a new, familiar spring in her step, and Minji feels her worries wash away. "I'll cook," she says, clapping her hands. "It's only fair. But you can help, if you'd like."

Yoobin twirls the keys around her finger. "Are you sure you don't want to wait until we're back?" she asks. "There's not much here…"

Bora shrugs. "We've made due on less before," she says. "Don't worry, me and Minji will come up with something." Her eyes glitter and she loops her arm through Minji's. Minji squeaks.

"Hang on, I don't think I agreed," Minji says, but she can't help but smile.

"Too late! You're my sous chef."

Siyeon hides a giggle behind her hand. "Alrighty then," she says. She taps Yoobin's shoulder. "Should we get going, then?"

Yoobin nods. "We'll be back soon," she says. "Jeez, it looks dark out there. You don't think it's gonna rain, do you?"

Siyeon deflates. "I really hope not," she says. "It's rained enough for the rest of the year."

Minji waves at the two girls as they head back out the dorm. It sure looks overcast outside. It's odd, the amount of rain they've been getting. She looks back over at Bora when the door clicks shut. "Alrighty, Bora. What are we doing?"

Bora lets go of Minji's arm and twirls around her towards the fridge. "Excellent question!" she chirps. "Let's see, what do we have…"

She starts pulling out packages of leftovers and other containers and stacking them on the table. Minji just takes a backseat and watches her.

"It's good to have you back, Bora," she says, when the smaller girl starts opening the shrimp.

Bora just smiles at her and says nothing.

Somehow, despite the sparse ingredients and questionable instructions, the duo manages to produce something… Edible. Minji hesitates to call it good , but it will suffice for tonight. She's mostly just glad to hear Bora laughing again. They call Gahyeon in and scoop out three bowls of Something. They leave the rest for Yoobin and Siyeon.

After dinner, Gahyeon volunteers to do the dishes, and Bora and Minji go sit outside. "This was fun," Bora says, suddenly very solemn. One of their favorite game shows is playing, but the volume is extremely quiet. “I’m glad we did this.”

“Me too,” Minji says. She leans over to give Bora an awkward side hug. The smaller girl wiggles around and turns it into a real one. “I’m glad to see you’re doing better.”

Bora hums. “I guess,” she says. She pulls away.

“Though it would’ve been nice if it tasted better,” Minji laughs as she speaks. “That sure was something.”

Bora shoves her side. “We were working with limited ingredients!”

“And who didn’t want to wait?” Minji pushes back, and they both start laughing. It is interrupted by Minji’s phone ringing - it’s Yoobin. “Oh, shit,” she says, digging the phone out of her pocket.

“I’m gonna go take a shower,” Bora says. “See ya.”

Minji waves at her and presses her phone to her ear. “Hey,” she says. “What’s up?”

“Here, take this- Oh, shit, Minji.” Something in the car clicks. “Right, so, something’s come up, and we’re going to be a bit late.”

Minji leans forward. “What? What happened? Are you and Siyeon-”

“Yeah, we’re fine. Mostly.”

“We found a clue!” Siyeon shouts.

“Yup. A clue,” Yoobin says.

Minji grips the phone tighter. “Wh- What do you mean, you found a clue ? Shouldn’t you call the police?”

Yoobin mutters something unintelligible. “Yeah, that worked well the last time, didn’t it? It wasn’t my idea. It’s only a couple of minutes out of the way. We’ll be home before you know it.”

Siyeon says something now, but Minji can’t make it out. “So- So what are you going to do?” she asks.

“We’re just swinging by this place Siyeon knows to check something out,” Yoobin replies. “Twenty minutes, give or take, right?”

“Well…” Minji swallows. “Stay safe, okay? Do you need me to call someone?”

“Not yet. We’ll contact you if we do. See you soon, Minji.” Yoobin hangs up, and Minji stares at her phone. Her heart has begun to pound again. She puts her phone back in her pocket and tries to focus on the TV screen. It proves a difficult task.

Gahyeon comes back out of the kitchen some time later, wiping her hands on a towel, and sits next to her. “Where’re Siyeon and Yoobin?” she asks. She curls her feet under her.

“Yoobin said they’re gonna be late,” Minji replies. Her thumbnail is in her mouth. “They said twenty minutes, maybe.” She glances at the clock. “It’s been fifteen.”

“And where’s Bora?” Gahyeon wrinkles her face and looks around. “I woulda thought she’d want to wait for them and show off her creation.”

Minji shrugs. “She said she’s taking a shower,” she says.

Gahyeon groans. “Ugh. I really gotta go,” she whines. “Do you think she’ll mind if I were to walk in?”

“Probably not. She has been in there for a while.” Minji sighs. “She hasn’t showered in a while, so she’s probably taking her time.”

Gahyeon nods. “Probably.”

Time ticks on slowly, slowly, slowly. Twenty minutes have passed since the phone call. Minji fishes her phone out of her pocket to call back. Gahyeon stands up. “Fuck it, I’m not pissing myself on the couch,” she mutters, and she hurries down the hall.

Minji just nods and calls Yoobin back. The girl picks up on the third ring. “Yeah?”

“Where are you?”

Yoobin sighs. “Minji, we just made it to the place,” she says. “It’s gonna be a bit longer.”

“I miscalculated, sorry,” Siyeon says. Her voice sounds muffled, like it’s stuffed up by something.

Minji digs her fingers into her knees. “Okay, so? When will you be back?”

“Half an hour?” Yoobin asks, more to Siyeon than herself.

Siyeon makes a noise of agreement. “Sounds about right. We’ll be faster since we know where we’re going.”

Minji is about to say something, and then Gahyeon screams from down the hall. “Bora!” she’s screaming. The phone drops from Minji’s hand, and she scrambles to pick it up again.

“Okay, sounds great gotta go bye-” she says, and she starts running down the hallway before her friends can ask her what’s wrong.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

chapter 13: fight, part one
"Should we go to the corner store or the grocery store?" Yoobin asks, as Siyeon is sliding in the car.

Siyeon looks at her phone, checking the time, and shrugs. "It'll be cheaper if we go to the grocery store," she says. "By like, fifty cents."

"Is that worth a ten minute drive?"

She sighs. "I haven't worked in a week, you haven't worked in a week, we have some more things that we need… I'd say the answer is yes." She clicks her seatbelt into place. "Bora seems to have dinner under control, at least."

Yoobin hums. "I'm worried about her," she says, as they pull out into the street.

"So am I." Siyeon leans against the window. "But Minji promised , and she keeps good on her promises."

Yoobin clicks the turn signal. "People who've made up their minds tend to be happier the day before," she says solemnly. "I've seen it happen."

Siyeon digs her fingernails into her knees. "Let's- Let's stop talking about this, please," she says. "I have faith in Minji and Gahyeon and her. She wouldn't do something this stupid. She's better than that. What do you mean , you've seen it happen?" She leans forward and stares at the other girl, who looks impassively at the road in front of her. "Care to explain?"

"I really don't want to."

Siyeon's face softens. "That's understandable, I guess. Trauma and all that."

Yoobin grimaces. "That sure is a word for it."

Siyeon reaches for the radio and turns it on. It crackles through static for a brief moment before a remarkably bubbly and completely unfitting pop song warbles out. "Shit, you gotta get this fixed," Yoobin mutters, more to herself than anyone else.

The corner of Siyeon's mouth twists into a small smile. "Yeah, this sounds possessed," she says. "The devil's coming for you and he's speaking to you in LOONA."

Yoobin laughs. " God , Siyeon-"

Siyeon nudges her side. "Nope! It's the devil! Listen-" and she starts singing along, purposefully as bad as she can. She makes eye contact with Yoobin and the two girls fall apart. For the first time in a week, they genuinely laugh in a shared moment of stupidity. It's almost like old times.

The song switches to commercial, and the moment passes. Siyeon wipes her eye and leans on the armrest. "Oh, man, that was good," she says.

Yoobin hits the button to turn the radio off again. "Now you know why I tend to drive in silence," she says.

"And here I thought you were just brooding." Siyeon raises an eyebrow.

Yoobin shrugs. "Can't say there's not a bit of that there, too."

Siyeon giggles again. "Never change," she says.

They smile at each other, in a blessed moment of friendship, and Siyeon completely forgets about her stress. The rest of the drive to the grocery store passes in relative quiet, broken only by the girl's humming to herself. "I think," she ends up saying, while Yoobin parallel parks in front of the small grocery store they tend to use, "that when this is all over with, and everything's stable again, I'm gonna do something special for Bora. She deserves that much, at least. I feel bad for her."

Yoobin nods and twists the key in the ignition. "What kind of something special?" she asks, tilting her head. "The kind you need help for?"

Siyeon laughs and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't know. Maybe. I might just do something small." She pushes her door open and climbs out.

"It's your call," Yoobin says. "But if you need any assistance, I know that Gahyeon would trip over herself to offer."

Siyeon covers her face with her hands. "Oh, god, no ," she says. "Gahyeon'd go overboard. I don't think we could do that."

Yoobin shrugs and hops up on the curb. "You'd be surprised," she comments.

Siyeon just shakes her head. She picks up a basket by the entrance of the store.

It doesn't take long for them to find what they need - milk, eggs, a package of cubed beef, some vegetables, bread, the usual stuff. Siyeon keeps gravitating back to the candy section. She eventually settles on some sweet and sour gobstoppers as a treat for herself. Yoobin throws a bag of chips in for fun.

When they go to leave the store, Siyeon notices right away that once again, it's trying to rain. She groans. "You're kidding me, right?" she says, slumping over.

Yoobin sighs, scanning the road. "Since when did we have a rainy season?" she asks rhetorically.

"I don't know," Siyeon mumbles. She straightens up and tightens her grip on the plastic bags. "Let's get home before-"

Something in the alley besides the store clatters to the ground, and she jumps. The bags slip from her hands. "What was that?" she says.

Yoobin crouches and picks up the bags. "Probably just a stray cat or something," she says. "No need to…" She trails off, silenced by something starting to cry.

" Help ," wails a masculine sounding voice. "Someone, please, help." Something about it sounds familiar, but Siyeon can't quite place where she's heard it before. She looks at Yoobin, who shrugs slowly, her eyes wide as dinner plates.

"Should we call someone?" Siyeon asks. Her feet are already carrying her towards the alley. She curls her hand into her chest and peeks around the corner, but she can't see anything from here. She glances back at Yoobin.

The other girl nods. "Are you investigating?" she asks.

The sobs from the shadows continue, getting more and more insistent. Siyeon swallows. "I-I just need to see. This is leaving a bad taste in my mouth."

"Alright. Then I'll call someone…" Yoobin's voice moves in the direction of the car. Siyeon turns back around, steels herself, and eases her way into the alley.

Perhaps it's because of the overcast sky and the setting sun and the coming rain, or maybe it's the high pitched panic of the man's voice, or maybe it's the sinking feeling in her gut, but something about all of this feels wrong . Her footsteps ring loud as thunderclaps as she walks into the alley. "Hello?" she calls, her voice barely above a breathy whisper. "Where are you? What happened?"

"C-Come here," the voice says. It's coming from behind a dumpster. "Pl-Please, help."

Siyeon would hurry towards him, but something strikes her as off, about the voice. It's eager , like it wants her to come towards it. A voice in the back of her head starts whispering, Trap, trap, trap . She shakes her head to clear it and takes another tentative step forward. "Who are you?" she whispers. "What happened?"

"I w-was just walking," the voice stammers. She inches closer. "And then all of a sudden I was-"

A shape lunges out of the shadows and slams into her. She opens her mouth to scream, but a grimy, bloody hand is clamped over her mouth. "My god, you're stupid," the speaker says. "Shiang was right." The man loops his other arm around her back.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

Shiang? Siyeon writhes, trying to free herself. Her feet scrabble on the wet ground. She can't find purchase. She stares at the man - his face is familiar, like she's seen him before, but only once or twice. He has an interesting face, one that's currently speckled with blood.

"Wait," he says. "You're not the pretty one."

He drops her on the ground, and she takes the opportunity to scamper away. Her nice shirt is stained where his hand was; her thighs hurt from the impact. She uses the wall to help herself upright. "The… pretty one?" she echoes. Her heart is pounding in her ears.

"Where's your pink-haired friend?" he says. He shoves a hand in his pocket. "The one me and Shiang discussed? What's her name?"

Gahyeon ? Siyeon realizes. Her breath catches in her throat as a piece suddenly slips into place. The bloody face in front of her grins. In her memory, a man behind a bar grins. "What the fuck ?" she breathes, curling her hands into fists.

"Guess you'll have to do," the bartender mutters. He pulls something shiny out of his pocket; the light catches on it, revealing it to be a long, deadly looking knife. Siyeon realizes that she's going to die.

No , she thinks, gritting her teeth. Not me. Anger courses through her veins. Her blood runs red-hot. She tries to think back to those self defense classes she's sat through, the taekwondo she took as a kid, and remembers: the elbow is the strongest point in the body.

The bartender raises the knife, and she charges right at him. She swings her arm and catches him off guard. Her elbow slams right into his shocked looking face, catches on his teeth. Pain shoots up to her shoulder. She staggers backwards, circles her arm. “Will I?” she taunts.

The bartender presses a hand to his face. Fresh blood drips from his nose; he wipes it, spits on the ground. “Oh, you’re tougher than you look,” he says. He circles around her. “This might be a challenge.”

Siyeon swallows. Brings her hands up to her face. Wishes she had a knife. Images from action movies flicker through her mind - if she can disarm him, she can get the knife, she can get the upperhand-

She doesn’t need to do that.

They have a gun.

She looks over her shoulder and prays that Yoobin’s heard the commotion. She knows the girl well enough to know she’d come to her rescue first before letting the police touch her - truth be told, after the disaster that Yoohyeon’s death had been, Siyeon finds herself less trusting of the institution, but she doesn’t have time to think about that right now-

She snaps her head back around just as the bartender slashes at her stomach. Adrenaline takes over and she hops backward, but not without the blade biting into her stomach. She gasps, closes her eyes, presses her hand to the wound. It’s warm and wet and sticky and she doesn’t like that she knows that now. She needs to get out of here, needs to run.

Her foot catches on a pebble and flies from under her, sending her to the ground. Her head smacks into concrete. The wind leaves her lungs. She gasps and gasps and gasps and little black dots swirl in her vision. They block the face of the bartender as he looms over her, raising the knife. “I do this for my god,” he is saying, and then there are two of them, then three - she is dizzy. “He will appreciate your sacrifice.”

He makes to plunge the knife down just as she manages to take a breath; she uses the momentum to roll to the side, and the knife just misses her shoulder. Further movement is blocked by one of his stick-like legs. She rolls up, wraps her arms around his knees - there is a blade now digging into her left shoulder blade and all she can think about is the pain. She pulls at his knee. He curses; his knee buckles under her grip; he falls on top of her. Metal skitters across pavement. He’s dropped the knife. Oh, god, he’s dropped the knife.

She lifts her good arm and pushes him in the gut and manages to free herself from the tangle of his limbs. Standing would be a waste of time, so she crawls towards where the light is glittering off the knife blade, stretches her hand out, just barely manages to reach it. She tugs it towards her with her good arm, gets it under her, goes to stand, and her head is cracked against the concrete. “You’re not getting away so easy,” it sounds like he’s saying. “I can’t fail. I refuse-”

He’s cut off by a gunshot; his words change to a garbled “Fuck.” He stumbles backwards a few steps.

When Siyeon lifts her head, Yoobin is backlit in the alley, her hand outstretched. “That’s what I thought, you fucking monster,” she’s saying. She cocks the gun again.

Siyeon moans by way of greeting. Blood is trickling down her face - from her nose, from above her right eye - and everything hurts, but she rolls around and pushes herself to her knees. The man is stumbling back and forth, one hand pressed to his side. “You-You have a gun,” he says, shocked and confused.

Siyeon wipes her eye - it stings from the blood - and pushes herself, shakily, to her feet. Her left shoulder pulses with pain. “Thank you,” she says, taking steps towards Yoobin.

“Holy shit,” Yoobin breathes. “He was trying to kill you.”

Siyeon shrugs with her right shoulder. “Of course he is,” she says. Talking is difficult. She winces and leans against Yoobin’s side. “He’s working with Shiang.”

Yoobin tenses. She turns back to the man in the alley, who’s still standing somehow. “You know an Officer Shiang?” she calls, without dropping the gun.

The bartender spits. “I suppose,” he says, which isn’t very convincing. “What does it matter to you?”

Yoobin and Siyeon exchange a quick look. “Everything,” she says. She tilts her head towards Siyeon, whispers, "What do you think we should do?"

"Logically?" Siyeon's ribs sting where the blade slashed them. "We should call the police and get the fuck out of here."

"But you don't want to do that."

She shakes her head. "Absolutely not. I want to rip Shiang's throat out with my teeth ." She sucks in a breath.

"God will not appreciate this delay," the man says. His voice hinges on the edge of madness. "He will be angry-"

Yoobin fires the gun without looking. It sounds like it hits the concrete. Siyeon shivers. "Shut up," she says to the man. "We'll talk later." She turns back to Siyeon - her eyes flash with something that's unmistakably fear . "I didn't think you'd have that in you, Siyeon."

"I could say the same for you, Yoobin," Siyeon says.

"There's a first aid kit in the trunk." Yoobin nudges Siyeon off and strides towards the bartender. Siyeon sways uneasily for a bit, but doesn't move, doesn't take her eyes off the other woman.

The bartender tries to back away; all he succeeds in doing is falling on his ass - it brings a small smirk to Siyeon's lips. "You are simply delaying the inevitable," he says. "Your fate's been sealed, you and all the rest. God's will is not to be-"

"I told you, be quiet," Yoobin says. She curls her fingers in the man's collar and pulls him upright. "When you wake up, you're taking us to where Shiang is. Understand?" She raises the butt end of the gun.

"Do you understand, Yoobin?" the man says, before trailing off into a maniacal laugh.

Yoobin cracks him in the side of the head with the butt of the gun. He falls silent, limp. She starts to drag him back out of the alley. "Get to the car, Siyeon," she says. "We have to move before someone finds us. They had to have heard that ."

Siyeon staggers backwards towards the car. Her left arm dangles limply at her side, but her hand still holds the knife. "Are we stopping at the hospital?" she asks, even though she knows the answer.

Yoobin shakes her head, her face set in a grim line. "No, we don't have time. I think I can take care of it."

She drags the bartender's unconscious body down to the car, opens the door, heaves him in, steps back to catch her breath. Siyeon leans against the hood of the car. "Did you learn that from your father?" she asks, as she walks around to the passenger seat.

"Unfortunately." Yoobin stares at her hands. "Perhaps, I'm more like him than I thought."

She climbs into the driver's seat.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

They drive ten minutes out and pull next to a small park, the bartender unconscious in the backseat the whole time. The gravity of what they're doing doesn't hit Siyeon until Yoobin's pulled the first aid kit out and is tending to her wounds.

They have one gun and a questionable amount of ammo, and one knife, and one of them is injured. They don't know what Shiang has - hell, they don't even know where they're going. They're going to be relying on a helluva lot of luck.

"Close your eyes," Yoobin mumbles, holding up a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol. The car reeks of the stuff. Siyeon obeys, winces when the younger presses the ball to her eyebrow. "You look tense."

Siyeon curls her fingers into her knee. "Of course I am," she says. "This is quite possibly the stupidest idea we've ever had."

Paper rustles, the kind that surrounds a bandage. Yoobin sticks it to Siyeon's eyebrow and smooths it. "It really is," she says. When Siyeon opens her eyes, the other girl is looking at the backseat and the man stretched out on it. "The only thing we have going for us is the element of surprise."

"And anger," Siyeon says. Her fingers curl into fists. "I want him to hurt."

Yoobin sighs. "Revenge is never a good motive," she says, and she sounds like she's talking from experience. "Put this in your nose."

Siyeon obeys. Her injured arm has been put in a makeshift sling. "It's not just revenge. I want to keep the others safe. We cannot let them die." Her voice is muffled by the cotton ball. " I would rather die than let that happen."

"I know." Yoobin squeezes Siyeon's left hand. "How's your stomach?"

"Stings like a *****, but it's bearable." Siyeon squeezes back. "Let's just get something clear right now - are we planning on killing them, or bringing them back with us?"

Yoobin pales. "Bringing them back. I don't know if I could actually kill someone, regardless of the things they've done." She looks down at her hands; her eyes are wide. Siyeon gets the sense that she's not all there right now, that she's half here and half in the past.

There's a noise from the backseat, like someone trying to stand up. Both girls turn around in a flash. The man moans. "Where the fuck am I?" he says.

"Do you remember what I asked you?" Yoobin says. Her tone shifts completely; she's almost authoritarian. Siyeon lifts her chin.

The man lurches upright. His hands are bound by medical tape, which isn't very strong, but it keeps him from running. His bloodied face breaks into a smile. "Very clearly, Yoobin," he says. "You want me to show you where Shiang is."

"Don't think about calling him," Siyeon says. "And don't think about running, either. We only need you alive to get us there."

Yoobin looks at her out of the corner of her eye - I told you we weren't killing them . Siyeon half shrugs - Intimidation? "When I tell you to, you are going to sit up and let me pull you into the front, and then you are going to drive," Yoobin says. "Don't try to crash the car or lead us elsewhere."

He shakes his head. "You don't have to worry about that." He lifts his bound hands. "Lead the way, Yoobin."

Siyeon gets out of the passenger seat to join Yoobin in the back. The man makes no attempt to fight back, no attempt to run. It leaves a bad taste in her mouth. She slips in the backseat and pulls the man's cracked phone out of her pocket. No texts, no calls, no notifications. The time reads 6:14.

"You should call Minji," Siyeon says, once they're situated.

Yoobin mumbles a swear under her breath. "Yeah, you're right." She digs her phone out of her pocket, presses it to her ear. "Here, take this- oh, shit, Minji."

She pushes the handle of the gun into Siyeon's hand. Siyeon flinches, but takes it nonetheless. She leans forward and presses it against the man's shoulder. "You? Don't say a word," she says, her voice a rough whisper. "For all intents and purposes, you don't exist."

She tilts her head back and shouts, "We found a clue!"

The man obeys. Good. He's learning. Or maybe he just doesn't want the police called on them right now - and to be frank, Siyeon muses, it would look bad for them, too. Lord knows what would happen, if they saw her leaning over like this, looking like hell on wheels and pressing a gun to a man's shoulder.

It scares her, almost, how smoothly Yoobin is lying about their motives, about their mission. She reminds herself to demand answers once this is over.

"Twenty minutes, give or take, right?" Yoobin asks.

Siyeon wiggles the gun against the man's shoulder. He grits his teeth and nods. "Thereabouts," she calls over her shoulder. She turns back around studies the man's face, the way his jaw is set, the almost casual look in his eyes. He's treating this like he's delivering a package or something.

She wouldn't consider herself an angry person - normally, she's not. But right now, she feels very little besides rage.

Yoobin hangs up. "Alright, I have some questions," she says, and she motions for Siyeon to hand her the gun back. Almost reluctantly, Siyeon passes it over.

"I have very little to hide," the man says. There's a smile in his voice. Siyeon flexes her fingers.

"What's your name?" she asks, leaning over the center console. "And how do you know Shiang?"

The man shrugs. "Song Chinmae," he says. "Du, he is… My partner in crime? My disciple?" He glances over at Siyeon. "Student? I'm not sure."

"Your student ," Yoobin echoes. Siyeon turns around and watches the other girl's eyebrows draw together. "Were you an officer at one point, then?"

Chinmae laughs. "Oh, no. I simply taught him about our god, you know." He hits the turn signal and merges onto the highway. "He came to Seoul lost and confused, and I helped him get back on his feet and find purpose in life. He's like a brother to me, at this point."

Siyeon slides backward, her good hand seeking the knife, just in case. She can't trust whatever he's saying; she feels that in the bottom of her stomach. "Who is this god you speak of?" Yoobin asks. "Clearly, when you and I say the word, we mean two different deities."

"We do." He lifts one of his hands from the wheel, waves it delicately. "I don't know his real name, just that he needs my assistance - our assistance. He's weakened, you know, since he doesn't have believers, but he's promised me unquantifiable power once he returns to his full strength. My original plan had been to recruit seven people, but Shiang had other ideas." He sighs and returns his hand to the wheel. "He's a very impulsive young man, but he had a point. And our god seems to be enjoying the sacrifices - since the first, he's only asked for more." He flashes a grin over his shoulder. "How convenient, that there were seven of you, no?"

Yoobin swallows, loud enough for Siyeon to hear. Siyeon's breathing catches in her throat. Once again, the little voice in the back of her head is saying, Trap, trap, trap, trap . She runs her thumb over the handle of the knife. She should have just killed him in the alley and run.

"So, that's why you targeted Yoohyeon," Yoobin says, slowly and carefully, "and why you knew who we were. Did your god tell you that we were going to be there?"

He nods. "He's been very keen on following this plan through."

"You said I wasn't the pretty one ," Siyeon says. "And by that you meant Gahyeon. Were you the one that drugged her, then?"

Chinmae tilts his head, then nods. "Yes, I believe so. I wasn't counting on you being so close as to not leave her, but that was a mistake on my part. It led us to Handong, so it worked out in the end."

Siyeon stares at Yoobin - oh, my God, she mouths, and Yoobin just nods. She looks down at the gun, at the knife, and wonders, briefly, if she is capable of ending a life. Her gaze flickers to the person in the driver's seat, then back to the knife. Yes. She very well could, if it was his .

"What if we kill you now?" Yoobin asks. She, too, is staring at the gun in her hand. "And leave you to rot?"

He just laughs. "It's too late, my dear . Your fate's been sealed."

Yoobin lifts her chin. "I don't believe in destiny."

He says nothing. They drive on in silence.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

After twenty minutes, Chinmae exits, and they drive off a dirt road seemingly into the middle of the woods. He puts the car in the park. "We have to walk the rest of the way," he says.

Siyeon leans forward, squinting out the windshield. "Looks wide enough," she says, shrugging with her good shoulder. "We can keep moving."

Chinmae flashes her a glare. "I'd prefer if we didn't," he says. "The tires leave tracks."

"Good," Yoobin says. She takes a deep breath, pushes the gun barrel through the headrest, presses it against Chinmae's head. "Drive."

Siyeon slips backward into the seat again. Her leg is bouncing like crazy; her stomach turns with anxiety. Every second that passes feels like an eternity. She takes a deep breath to steady herself, but it just kind of makes it worse.

Yoobin leans to the side. "Do you have a plan?" she hisses, barely audible.

Siyeon shrugs. "Slit his throat and push him out of the car?" she whispers back. "As a message?"

"You're talking like a gangster," Yoobin says, and it's the kind of sentence that sounds like a joke, but clearly isn't, judging from the lack of smile on her face. "That's really tempting."

"Better yet, make him kill himself." Siyeon taps her chin. "Then it'd be more difficult to trace it back to us if he ever gets discovered."

Yoobin presses a finger to her lips. "Let's… hold off killing, as long as we possibly can," she says. "Even if we want to, it'll just… It's probably not worth it."

Siyeon nods. "He'd probably savor dying for his cause or whatever."

"Exactly. He's completely insane." Yoobin's eyes light up as she gets an idea. She grabs Siyeon's hand. "I'll hold him hostage with the gun - you take the knife. It'll- Shit!"

At this point, her phone rings, making both girls jump. Yoobin lifts her hand and smacks it into Siyeon's nose by accident. "Sorry!" she hisses, fumbling to pull her phone out. "Yeah?"

"We're here," Chinmae says. Siyeon raises a hand to shush him.

"Minji, we just made it to the place," Yoobin mutters. "It's gonna be a bit longer."

Siyeon rubs her stinging nose and hopes it doesn't start bleeding again. "I miscalculated, sorry."

Yoobin nods, waits for a response, then turns to Siyeon and asks, "Half an hour?"

Siyeon just nods, rubbing her hand on her nose. "Sounds about right." She sniffs. "We'll be faster since we know where we're going."

Yoobin pulls the phone away from her ear with a confused look on her face. "That was… Odd."

Chinmae shuts the car off. Siyeon tilts her head. "What?" she says, and her brain immediately provides her with images of the worst , of Bora's body dangling in a closet, or a broken window and a bullet in Minji's head, or a fire in the dorms, wiping out even their neighbors.

"We need to move, and we need to move fast ." Yoobin kicks her door open, jerks her head to tell Siyeon to get out. Chinmae just sits there and does absolutely nothing, even when Yoobin opens his door. "Alright, move."

Chinmae smiles placidly. "My work here is done, Yoobin. I don't think I need-"

"Whatever." Yoobin loops her arm around his and yanks him to his feet. She cocks the gun and presses it somewhere Siyeon can't see, thanks to the car being in the way. "Walk."

Siyeon takes a few steps forward, her sneakers slipping on the wet ground. She grips the handle of the knife tighter. She's holding it blade out close to her chest, as if that will protect her. Maybe it will. She pictures herself slashing at someone's chest, or parrying someone's blow. A shudder runs through her. She's never had to do this before.

"This is unnecessary," Chinmae stammers, and his facade is starting to crack. He's just a scared man, like the rest of them. "Seriously, let me go-"

Yoobin says nothing.

The knife catches some of the last few rays of the setting sun. It's a beautiful blade, like something you'd see on TV.

They stand in front of a squat structure, a cabin made of dark wood planks and covered in a cloth. It looks old and unused, the kind of place that's slated for destruction sometime soon, whenever the government gets around to it. It's the perfect place for a hideout.

Siyeon slides closer to Yoobin. "Call him," Yoobin says to Chinmae.

Chinmae fidgets. "I mean, I can't say he's even there - and he might be asleep, he was incredibly injured."

"Fine, I'll shoot the window." Yoobin pulls the gun away from his head and levels it at one of the upper floors. The man yelps.

"Du! Hey, come here- you'll never guess what I found!" he shouts.

The trio stands there, waiting, in an uneasy silence. A light flickers in the upper floor, a window slides open, a head pops outside. "What are you screaming about?" a very disgruntled officer Shiang rasps. His voice is ragged. "Jesus fucking Christ, Chinmae-"

He stops when he notices the girls. "Oh," he says, and then he disappears from the window.

"Dammit!" Yoobin hisses, lowering the gun. "I missed my chance."

Siyeon nudges her side gently. "There'll be another-"

She's cut off by Chinmae's hand slamming into her stomach and knocking her off balance. She stumbles, gasping for breath, and watches him try to do the same to Yoobin, and fail. He steps forward. "No, no, there won't. Because you are going to die tonight." He grins, much like he did earlier. "Fools."

Yoobin staggers back, her hands wrapped around the gun. Her finger's on the trigger. Shoot, damn you! Siyeon thinks, trying to regain her breath. Shoot him and end this all.

"Fuck you," Yoobin mutters. She pulls the trigger.

The bullet hits Chinmae in the shoulder. He stumbles back, presses a hand to his wound, slides his head down. His face is seemingly fixed in that expression. "If this is how it must be," he says.

He's staring at Yoobin, egging her on. He wants her to shoot him, Siyeon realizes. "Wait- wait- wait-" she says, and she grabs Yoobin's shoulder. "How many bullets-?"

Yoobin shrugs and doesn't lift her gaze from Chinmae's Joker-esque smile. "Six?" she says. "And that's three used."

"Save them for Shiang," Siyeon says. She takes a deep breath, does her best to ignore the pain coming from the wound on her ribs again. Shit, the hit must have reopened it. "I think- I think I can do this."

Yoobin says nothing, just gives a curt nod. Siyeon adjusts her grip on the knife, stares at Chinmae, swallows. It's now or never, do or die.

She runs forward on shaking legs and slashes the man with a wild swing. The knife bites into flesh - blood blooms from his face , oh, God, she missed. He hisses and presses a hand to the wound, which cuts across his cheek and eye. She swallows, steps forward, stabs again, this time paying more attention. The blade goes into his stomach, sticks straight out. He stumbles backward. She grabs for the knife again, just to have it.

A gunshot splits the air.

The bullet embeds itself in her stomach. It hurts like she's never felt pain before, burning and sharp. She screams, collapses to the ground.

"You couldn't possibly think you were the only ones with a gun," Shiang says. He's gloating.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

Siyeon gasps, her gaze searching for the speaker. He's standing on the porch of the cabin, one arm leaning on a silver crutch. The other holds a shiny gun. And then her vision blurs with tears and she can't see anymore.

"You-" Yoobin breathes.

Siyeon starts to climb to her feet and realizes with horror that she's lost sight of the knife. She blinks her eyes clear and searches, desperately, for her weapon.

"Something wrong, Yoobin?" Shiang cocks the gun in his hands again. It's difficult to see his face in the light, but from his voice, he's grinning. "Wasn't what you were expecting?"

Siyeon's legs buckle when she tries to stand, so she settles for crawling towards the prone figure that is Chinmae. Tears run down her face - pain, anger, sorrow, she can't tell what. Her fingers grope the ground, searching for the knife. "What did we do to you?" Yoobin says. She's yet to do anything.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Shiang says. Siyeon watches him lazily sweep both of them with the barrel. "She wasn't supposed to die, but she chose to. And now you all have to. Such is the way of the gods."

"You are a coward ," Yoobin spits. "Hiding behind your religion." She cocks the gun.

Siyeon breathes a sigh of relief. Maybe they'll get out of this alive.

Her fingers brush the edge of the knife. She winces. She traces it to the handle and picks it back up again. Chinmae is still alive - his breathing, though labored, is loud, whistling.

"No, you are the cowards, for trying to run."

Shiang fires as Siyeon picks the knife up again. Luckily, this shot misses - the bullet cracks into a tree somewhere behind the girls. Yoobin responds with a shot of her own; this, too, misses. Shiang laughs and laughs.

Chinmae stares at Siyeon with wide, pained eyes. "You can't do it," he says. "You can't kill me."

She thinks of her friends, of the two that are dead and the four that aren't, of the cold-blood running through the man on the porch. "Go to hell ," She says. She wipes her eyes with her sleeve and plunges the knife into his throat.

He makes a noise something like a gargle, claws viciously at the blade. She leans back. Her hands shake, shake, shake. She watches him struggle. He will not survive.

She, Lee Siyeon, is a killer.

She closes her eyes and feels a wave of nausea wash through her. "Chinmae!" Shiang shouts, but that doesn't break her out of this spell. She simply pushes herself backwards, her breath catching in her throat.

And then there's another gunshot, and now it is Yoobin's turn to scream. Right between Siyeon's ribs. Her eyes fly open; she looks down at the wound, at the blood. There is so much blood. On her hands, on her shirt, on her legs. She no longer knows how much of it is hers. She isn't really sure she cares.

Breathing is hard.

"You can't- You can't do this!" Yoobin shouts. She comes closer to Siyeon, fires again. The bullet must hit home - Shiang curses. Yoobin crouches, throws her arm around Siyeon's shoulders. "Siyeon, talk to me, talk to me.

Siyeon shakes her head. "C-Can't," she slurs. "H-Hurts."

"Gunshots are the worst, yeah," Yoobin says. She's talking fast, in a way that Siyeon's never heard before. "It's- We'll get you out of here-"

She tries to pull Siyeon upright. Siyeon gets halfway there, then slumps over again. Her head is spinning. Her heart plunges into her stomach as she realizes that she is dying , that she is going to die here , and it is Shiang's fault .

"He's going to be so pleased," Shiang drawls. "Three in one night? What a treat."

Three . No, it can't be. It can't be three. That can't be right.

One. One is enough.

Siyeon fights her way out of Yoobin's grip and lets herself lie in the dirt. "Y-Y-You need to run," she says, her voice labored. "L-Let m-me go. Save the- the others."

Yoobin stares at her. "Siyeon, I'm so sorry," she says. "Oh, God."

Someone cocks a gun. Siyeon has no idea who it is. "Don't let this be in vain," Siyeon whispers.

Yoobin nods, turns, and runs, back to the car, back to the others, as Siyeon's vision starts to fade to black. The last thing she hears is glass shattering as a bullet hits it.

Please, God, say she made it .

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

chapter 14: freeze, part two
Minji pulls Gahyeon out of the bathroom and calls the police as soon as she realizes what happened, but not soon enough. The image is burned in her mind - all that blood, and the knife, and the look on Bora’s dead face - and she knows she’s too late to change anything but god, does it hurt.

Gahyeon trips, stumbles, rocks back into the wall. “She-She was fine,” she babbles. Her voice is edged with panic. “She was- She-”

“I know,” Minji says. She wraps her arms around Gahyeon’s shoulders in a tight squeeze. “Dad’s on his way.”

Gahyeon whimpers into Minji’s shoulder. “What do we do, what do we do, what do we do?”

She peels away and scrubs a hand across her face. Minji sighs. “I don’t know,” she says. “That’s why I called Dad. He’ll help us.”

Gahyeon shakes her head. “Yeah, that worked so well the last time,” she mumbles. She rubs her arms. “Should we c-call Siyeon? Let her know that-”

“That we failed?” Minji steps away, pressing her hands to her face. “M-Maybe we should wait, till they’re home- Oh, dammit! ” Her phone rings from her pocket - Yoobin. “Stay calm, we can- we can do this.”

“You’re never gonna guess what happened,” Yoobin is saying. Her voice is impossible to pick apart - flat, tired, adrenaline fueled? Whatever she’s talking about can’t be good.

Minji presses the phone to her ears. “Are you alright?” she asks, though she feels like she knows the answer already.

Yoobin sighs. “No," she says. "Siyeon… Isn't coming home with me."

Minji squeaks. " What ?"

"It's a really long story. I-I'll explain when I get home." The younger girl clicks something in the car. "I'm so sorry, Minji. Tell Bora, so she can-"

" Actually, " Minji says. She reaches her hand towards Gahyeon, laces their fingers together. "Bora's gone, too. It's just us."

Yoobin doesn't talk - the line goes dead silent. "I was afraid of that," she says eventually, after a long enough pause that it startles Minji.

"I called my dad," Minji says. "He's going to be here soon. We can talk later."

Yoobin huffs. "Yes, you're right," she says. "Be there in half an hour."

She hangs up, and Minji just sighs. She's too stressed to feel anything, too numb. She slips her phone in her pocket again. "Yoobin's coming home soon?" Gahyeon asks, squeezing Minji's fingers.

Minji nods. "This isn't right," she says. "It shouldn't be just the three of us. This isn't fair."

Gahyeon steps forward and buries her face in Minji's shoulder. "It's not," she says. Her voice is muffled by her shirt. "It's not good."

Sort of as one, they walk their way back down the common area and sit down on the couch to await the arrival of the police.

 

[ec.li.ps.e]

Yoobin walks in faster than anticipated. In her hand is definitely the pistol. Her hands and face are smeared with blood, but she herself appears unharmed. "I'm putting this in Bora's room," she announces. "Keeps it away from me."

Minji pushes away from Gahyeon, her eyes wide. "Are you serious? You can't do that," she says. She stumbles to her feet. "Can't you just keep this in the car-"

"The car has a hole blown in the windshield," Yoobin says. "From a different gun. Anything to throw them off of my trail is good enough for me." She wipes her cheek, which doesn't do anything to clean it. "I can't risk it. Not when it might put you in danger."

Minji reaches for her hand. "What are you thinking? We can't do anything stupid. It's gotten four of us-"

"Have you ever dealt with this before?" Yoobin says, with sudden intensity. She swats Minji away.

Minji recoils, curling into herself. "Are you saying you have?" she asks.

Yoobin sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "Well, not quite. But we've come close ." She shoves the gun into her pocket. "Minji, listen to me."

"But- But-" Minji stammers. "We've got a plan, when Dad gets here-"

Yoobin grabs Minji's shoulders. "The cops got Yoohyeon killed , Minji. And he's one of them. And he's also a fucking lunatic ." She squeezes. "We can't trust the system when he won't work within the system." Sighs. "I think I know what I'm doing. Trust me."

Minji hesitates, searching Yoobin's gaze for some trace of humor, or some sign that this is a cruel joke, but there is nothing there but fear - genuine, bloodcurdling fear, the kind that sends a chill up Minji's spine. She thinks of Bora and their argument, of Siyeon and the phone call. "But you were with Siyeon," she says, more thinking out loud than anything else.

"I know." Yoobin sighs. "But now I know more, about who's going after us and why." She slides her hands down Minji's arms and gives her hand a squeeze. "He claims to have God on his side. He'd sooner commit ******* by cop then stop."

"What if we ran?" Gahyeon pipes up from the couch. Both girls turn to look at her; she's folded herself into a ball and is picking at her socks. "Moved out of Seoul for a bit? Or even the country?"

Minji nods, snapping her fingers. "Yes! We could run away- I have family, down in the countryside, surely they wouldn't mind me staying-"

Yoobin lifts her hand. "Hang on. We can discuss this later." She backs down the hallway, turns on her heel, jogs the rest of the way. "Your dad's gonna be here soon, right? Gotta remove the evidence!"

Just as she vanishes down the hallway, there's a knock on the door, followed by Minji's father's quiet voice, "Hello? Can I come in?"

Minji breathes out, pulls her hair back, and calls back, "Yup!" She sits down on the couch next to Gahyeon, who nestles her head in Minji's shoulder. Her father pushes the door open. "Bora's in the bathroom," she says. "We didn't touch her."

Her father says something in a walkie-talkie. "Alright. I hate to do this, but it appears the four of you have to come with us." He motions for them to stand up. "Where are your friends?"

Minji pushes herself upright, exchanges a glance with Gahyeon. "Yoobin, she's- down there, cleaning up and I don't know where Siyeon is," she says.

"Is something wrong?" Gahyeon asks. She stands, too.

Her father sighs. "I don't believe so," he says, "but as a precaution, the four of you will be taken into police custody. While Bora's death was likely none of your faults, protocol dictates that I have to do this. There'll be more cars coming soon."

Minji feels her heart drop into her stomach. "You think we killed her?" she asks, clapping a hand over her mouth.

"We wouldn't dream of it," Gahyeon whimpers.

He holds up a hand. "I know. It's just a precaution." He beckons for them to follow him.

Minji and Gahyeon exchange another look. "Am I allowed to get Yoobin?" Minji asks.

He shakes his head. Outside, something clatters. Minji swallows and steps forward. Her father loops his arm around hers and leads her outside, down the steps, to the police car.