Chapter 1: Day 1 (Huening Kai & Taehyun)
Chapter Text
It's seven in the morning and really, some people should have been up a long time ago. A middle-aged woman, fully attired in office wear steps into the room of a sleeping girl. Seeing her still in bed, she narrows her eyes.
"Why are you still asleep?" She hisses, sending a heavy smack down towards the girl’s shoulders.
Astra jolts awake and her eyes snap open. The girl sits up from bed in a single, swift motion. The wind stirs and the curtains flutter, allowing Astra a glimpse of the city lights outside. It’s still dark. The girl turns to the woman who woke her up, "Mum?"
The lady folds her arms, and Astra catches a glimpse of the bag her mother used to carry to work many years ago—one that should have been thrown away.
"It's seven now. I called you at six thirty and yet here you are, still asleep."
Seven in the morning? What?
Astra rubs her eyes. "Did something happen?"
There's a short silence as her mother shakes her head, a sigh escaping her lips. The older woman reaches over, tapping lightly on her cheeks. "Are you still not awake? Today's your first day of school."
Astra looks blankly at her mother, she must have heard wrong. The familiar coolness from her mother's palm travels from her cheek to her forehead. Astra's mother mumbles, "You don't have a fever."
"What are you talking about? I'm already in my third year." Astra stares at her mother, her eyes conveying her deep suspicion. Her classes in university never start this early.
Perhaps it's the rude awakening in the dead of the night, Astra is still groggy and not in the best of moods. Regretfully, her common sense is still in the process of booting up and her mouth is loose, "Mum, is it Alzheimer's?"
Astra's mother looks up, her eyes glinting dangerously, "What's that?"
Astra, not quick on the uptake, corrects, "Dementia." Her mother didn't take English as her first or second language and her vocabulary was somewhat limited. However, "Dementia" was a word she knew all too well, all women in their forties, she believes, are highly sensitive to it.
The cool palm lifts from Astra's forehead and comes back down on the back of her head. Astra's head swings forward and her brain takes a few seconds to process where it went wrong.
"What did you say?"
Astra lowers her head and before her mother lands another blow, the girl takes it upon herself to roll across the bed, an apology tumbling out, "Sorry!"
"Humph! Aren't you going to wake up now? You are late!"
"Yesyes." Astra mutters, but internally, she's thinking about the medical services available to take her mother for a check-up.
Next thing Astra knows, she's in her school uniform. She looks down at the uniform, ironed perfectly with no wrinkles, white with no stains. This exact uniform that her fussy mother had gotten rid of years ago, complaining that it took up unnecessary space despite Astra herself wanting to keep it for its memorial value.
It was also that day her mother bestowed titles upon both her and her room— Astra was the garbage collector, and her room, the dumpster.
Astra's fingers trace the buttons on her uniform as she glances at her mother, wondering if her mother has a softer heart than she portrayed, secretly keeping it through all these years.
Astra has decided to go along with all these shenanigans for the sake of her mother's mental health. The girl has decided that when the clock strikes nine and the clinic opens, she will immediately drag her mother for a check-up.
"Hurry up! Still dilly-dallying? Get your bag and phone and get to school!" At this point, Astra's mother is frustrated beyond measure, her dumb 16-year-old woke up with the wrong brain today, standing there like a fool, staring at her and awaiting her step-by-step instructions.
Hearing no reply, Astra's mother turns back to her, finding her daughter staring back at her, her eyes big and round. The woman's heart softens. She pulls Astra into a hug and Astra finds herself surrounded by a cool leafy smell- the familiar smell of her mother.
"It's alright. Don't be anxious. I'm sure you will have a great day."
The nostalgic sensation brings the girl back to the old days, and her eyes water, lamenting the passing of time. The woman pats her back, "You are 16 now, a big girl. I need to leave soon, can you go to school by yourself?"
The number 16 rolls around in Astra's head. She thinks I am 16?
In her daze, the woman hands her a phone along with her school bag. The door is already open, awaiting Astra's departure.
The woman gave her a gentle push. "Now go."
Astra is stiff, her eyes glued to the phone in her hands. This phone is the one she used more than half a decade ago.
This phone had passed when it was dropped into a basin of water while she was brushing her teeth. Younger Astra had researched ways to recover it, knowing well that her precious game progress, resources, and everything she cherished was inside.
Astra remembers going as far as dipping the phone into a bag of rice, reading from a dubious source that the rice could somehow absorb out the liquid that got into her phone. And no. It didn't work.
Astra had cursed everything but herself, ranging from her Google Drive— for being full, resulting in nothing being backed up to the bathroom tray— for being too slippery, causing her baby to dive towards its unfortunate end.
And yet here she is, with but a click, before the phone's screen lights up. Astra gasps— it's a miracle.
A familiar wallpaper of a blue cartoonish notepad lights up and her gaze is drawn to a line of numbers. It lists the date.
2018, January 1st.
2018?
Astra's eyes widen. As she thinks, she finds herself staring at her mother's scalp. Her mother certainly did not have this much hair. Astra remembers a visible bald spot in the middle, which her mother often stressed about. Yet, no matter how Astra looks at it, all she sees is a head full of dark, black hair.
Did she really travel back to 2018? Six years back in the past?
Astra thinks she's a little screwed.
"Can I— " Astra looked her mom in her eyes, trying to communicate her very sincere intent, "Not go to school today?"
Astra should have known better, her mother was famous for making her children go to school despite sickly conditions. Once, Astra was down with asthma bad enough that she had to stop and rest every 10 steps. That day, she was given a three-day medical leave and where did she spend it?
School. Where else?
"No." It's an unexpected answer. The woman checks her watch, "You are already late."
So, with no time to process what's going on, Astra is forced out of home into "uncharted territory" or as she would like to term it.
Astra watches her mother leave and she shouts after her, despite knowing she will sound really stupid in her mother's eyes. "Where is my school?"
The woman stops and turns around, a heavy expression on her face, "I brought you there yesterday! You can't remember?" Her mother, if not in consideration of their neighbors, would have shouted. Astra's mother is now convinced that she is stirring all this drama to skip school.
Astra looks back towards the door of her house, the black door, which she once thought was ominous and ugly now gave off a highly comforting and lovable aura. What if she went back home after her mother leaves?
"And!" Astra's mother knows her well. "If I receive a call from your school..." The older woman pauses to send her daughter what Astra thought was a death threat, "You'll know what happens when I come home."
Astra imagines her tiger of a mum swinging the umbrella at her.
Fine. She would just go.
After all, what should she, a 22-year-old be afraid of in a school of teenagers?
Astra's alma mater was a 15-minute walk from home, the school she and her parents picked after considering its convenience and good reputation.
The road to school is familiar and walking through the neighborhood at this early hour brings a surprising calm to her heart. The rustling grass, the occasional chirps of birds, the gentle breeze, and the warm orange glow of lamps under the dark sky— it was all great. Astra strolls, her head towards the sky, enjoying the experience instead of worrying about matters she doesn't have answers to.
As she strolls, a sudden gust of wind blows, and a boy wearing the same uniform bumps into her shoulder. When he turns his head back, Astra thinks he looks like a doll, with strikingly pale skin and red lips. The boy mutters a word of apology before picking up speed again, running away.
He looks familiar. Where has she seen him before?
Astra continues down the path,
Why is he in such a rush? The streets are still dark and he should be more careful, it's not like he's going to be late—
Ah. Shit.
Astra knocks on her head. I'm late too. She grits her teeth and takes off, sprinting through the streets.
When Astra arrives before the school gates, a middle-aged man is guarding it. Astra recognized the disciplinary head immediately, his buff body and beer belly were his trademark, well-known across the student body.
And the disciplinary head never appeared by the school gates unless it was for catching late students- catching her.
In the past, Astra has never needed to talk to him, being the typical goody-two-shoes. The girl once again entertains the idea of going back into the comfort of her home, yet is soon interrupted by a gruff voice, "Student with glasses!"
Me?
Astra lifts her feet, an urge to run overcoming her.
"Don't run. I saw you. Come over here." Indeed, the eyes of the disciplinary head are well-trained to catch students who ever thought to run.
Astra walks over, tightening her grip on her backpack, feeling the weight of it more than ever before.
Just at this moment, the skies rumble, a streak of light flashes across the sky, and right after, big drops of rain come pouring.
"Come with me." The disciplinary head leads Astra towards shelter.
The two stand in front of the school's main office, "Late on your first day of term?" The disciplinary head asks. Astra nods, her eyes glued to the disciplinary head's beer belly.
"Look at me."
Astra looks up, the disciplinary head is frowning, holding a notepad and pen in his hand as he looks her up and down, "You didn't wear your school badge either."
Astra looks at her empty collar, reminded of the money she wasted purchasing badges due to her poor memory.
"Name and year." He Inquires.
"Astra… year 1."
The disciplinary head writes her name and year on the notepad. "First day of school?"
No.
The disciplinary head taps the soles of his shoes on the floor, "And you are late?"
Astra bobs her head up and down, internally complaining why she, who had graduated years ago was back here and scolded. It wasn't her fault that she was late— Well, on second thought,
It is.
"Why are you late?"
Astra morphs her expression into what she hopes tells him she's an obedient student. "It was last-minute diarrhea."
The disciplinary head looks up at her, the ends of his lips tilting upwards as he suppresses his smile. He pretends to cough, looking away. "Are you feeling okay now?"
"Yes."
"Since it's your first charge, I won't penalize you, but next time, there will be detention unless you can provide valid reasons."
Astra tilts her head. Wasn't diarrhea a valid enough reason? Was she supposed to come anyways and risk poop potentially ending her social life?
"Next time, you have diarrhea and might come late, get your guardian to call your teacher or me." The disciplinary head continues.
"Address me as Mr Robert, though I hope that there won't be a next time."
Mr Robert points towards the school's bookstore, "Head there and purchase the school's badge. After that, go up to the school hall. There should be prefects around to lead you."
Astra nods, obediently getting her purchase, pinning her badge on her collar before she heads to the school hall. Though she knew where the hall was, she had no idea where to sit among the hundreds of students inside the hall.
"Year 1 student?" Thankfully it seems like a teacher noticed her dilemma, saving her from the need to ask around.
Astra nods for the umpteenth time today.
"Name?"
"Astra."
"Oh! You are in my class. I have heard from the disciplinary head, no more late coming next time, am I clear?"
Astra takes a clearer look at the female teacher who looks to be in his fifties, short bobbed hair, along with glasses linked to a chain around her neck- Mrs Thon, her class teacher in her first and second year. Astra recalls that the teacher will be retiring next year.
"Yes."
Mrs Thon smiles warmly and gently pushes her forward, guiding her with slow steps.
Astra places her bag beside her as she settles down, a sudden sense of dread creeping up at the thought of restarting school life again. She did not have a good experience here.
Astra looks around, wanting to identify her year 1 classmates. Right next to her, Astra's eyes widen— is the boy who bumped into her earlier.
At this distance, she now sees the boy's face in quality, he's strikingly handsome. However, her awe at how handsome he was soon settles into a deep fear.
This boy was never in her class. Astra is also sure that he never existed in her cohort. And as Astra continues to stare, she becomes certain that she has seen him somewhere.
The boy eventually notices her stare and turns to her, his ears red.
"...hi?" The boy hesitantly raises his arm, waving slightly. When their eyes meet, he exclaims in surprise. "Oh! I saw you just now, you were slowly strolling— "
Astra's shoulders jump as she turns back, finding Mrs Thon staring straight at them. Astra whips her head back, slightly turning her body to the boy, placing her finger on her lips, Astra whispers, "Please don't expose me."
The boy turns his head, confused but as the soft tapping of shoes comes from behind, his ears redden further and he lowers his head, nodding.
Mrs Thon watches the two students, one slightly late and the other missed the whole first session of the orientation- lower their heads towards their chest.
The beaded necklaces on Mrs Thon's neck clack with every step forward, "Did you two see each other while coming to school?"
Astra slowly turns to look at Mrs Thon. Clearly, the teacher had heard their conversation.
Astra is about to confess when the boy beside her shouts, "No!"
The boy's hands tremble as he gestures with exaggeration. "She's my neighbor, I see her strolling around the neighborhood park sometimes."
Mrs Thon continues to stare, clearly not convinced. "Is that so?"
.
.
.
As Mrs Thon leaves, Astra secretly gives the boy a thumbs up. "Thank you."
The boy didn't reply, absent-mindedly staring at his lap.
Astra calms her beating heartbeat, questioning her coward of a heart being afraid of teachers.
As the principal above the podium continues to ramble on and off about the school's history, Astra thinks that maybe this is a second chance. A second chance for her to re-paint her time here. In a better mood, Astra turns to the boy beside her, "Hey, what's your name?"
"Oh!" The boy turns to look at Astra and once again, she was awestruck by his unique features. "I'm Huening Kai"
Astra hears it, the sound of her world crumbling.
Huening Kai.
Astra finally remembers why he looks familiar. The boy was part of a popular 5 member idol group, Tomorrow X Together [TXT], who are direct juniors of BTS— The one group she follows.
Following the same company, Astra saw news about them every now and then and even had a few of their songs in her playlist.
There's no way Huening Kai used to be in her class and she didn't know. No way she would forget that face.
It could be due to immense shock, for Astra shouts what she was thinking outwardly, "How the hell are you here?"
Astra wasn't loud enough for the whole hall of people to hear her, but the people sitting in the same and adjacent rows certainly did, which included Mrs Thon.
Mrs Thon walks to the problematic pair in the back row. "The two of you will have a talk with me later."
As Astra immerses herself in conspiracy theories, Huening Kai was staring at her, convinced that she has a screw loose.
"Huening Kai right?" Mrs Thon asks.
"Yes. "
"Could you go up to the boy sitting at the very front and tell him that I requested you two to switch seats?" Mrs Thon is now determined to separate this pair of neighbors for the foreseeable future.
Huening Kai stands up and takes his bag with him. Hearing the shuffling noise, Astra looks up, her brain too muddled to feel any strand of guilt in causing trouble for the poor boy.
Astra's gaze continues to wander to her classmates, who are actively looking back to find out what's happening. And as they turn back, Astra is able to name them- all classmates she had in her first year, Veronica, Faith, John, Isla, Issac, Justin...
This is her year 1 class, they were all students in her class, but Huening Kai, Huening Kai was not.
Astra grew anxious, trying to find links to explain what was happening. She starts referencing the cliche novels she reads, where due to a traumatic incident, the female lead lost her memory of the male lead-
Just as she was about to convince herself, another boy sat beside her, "Hey, are you alright?"
Astra looks and sees a boy with big eyes stare at her, offering her a one-dimpled smile.
The girl hears it again, this time it isn't just her world that is crumbling, she thinks she's crumbling too.
Astra recognizes him, with all certainty. She remembered him particularly as he had a one-letter difference with her BTS bias, Taehyung.
Taehyun
Astra's lips open, but she quickly shuts it again. Another fuss she caused, and chances are, she would be having another meeting with Mr Robert.
Astra takes a deep breath, her lips trembling, "I am okay."
Astra wants confirmation, "You are...?"
"Taehyun." The boy supplies.
Of course. She should have known when she saw Huening Kai. What about the other members? Beomgyu? Soobin? Yeonjun? Perhaps they were all in the same class, like some sort of twisted fate.
And perhaps, Astra pinched herself on her cheeks. She would wake up now.
This must be a hell of a funny dream.
Astra chuckles softly, scolding her brain, for why wasn't she dreaming of BTS instead?
But it's alright. Astra turns and introduces herself to Taehyun, "I am Astra. Nice to meet you."
Having her name known to a world star, though this might be a dream, an experience is still an experience. Astra classifies happily.
.....
A few seconds of self-consolation later, Astra remains seated, under the bright hall lights and the principal's speech continues to be chanted like a mantra through her head. She's still here.
Why?
Maybe I didn't pinch hard enough. Astra wriggles her right fingers, flexing them before diving down for a hard pinch. Intense pain shot through her skin and it turns a deep red.
But she's still here.
It was at this moment, that the mentally 22-year-old girl came to a deep understanding.
Ah.
And for the first time in her life, she uses a curse word eternally banned by her mother.
I'm fucked.
Chapter 2: Day 1
Chapter Text
Walking down the cement-paved corridors, Astra passes by numerous classrooms, her sight mixes into a blur as she follows the head in front mindlessly. Class 1A is smack in the middle, neither near the toilet nor the stairs— that's her class.
And she didn't like it. Never did.
She would have much preferred it to be right beside the toilet, or at least near the stairs—just not in the middle. Being in the middle feels like she's getting caught between places without any real advantage. The middle is the worst spot—not too close to everything, and too far from a quick escape.
She scowls as she passes the door.
"Astra."
It's an instinctive, automatic reaction as she hears her name being called by the teacher, her posture snapping into alignment. Her lips pull into a polite, obedient smile, one she’s mastered over the years to finally become qualified to be termed as a 'teacher's pet'.
"Are you unhappy with anything, my dear?" Mrs. Thon’s voice rings out, sharp.
My dear?
The words, warm as they might have been intended, only sent a chill down Astra’s spine. Her thoughts short-circuit and she yells. “No!”
Mrs Thon blinks, the sudden energy in Astra’s voice out of place. Mrs. Thon’s expression falters.
"I mean— No. Everything is fine." Astra corrects herself, realizing she has come out too strong for everyone's now staring at her.
The teacher doesn’t reply immediately, blinking again. Her gaze softens a little.
"Please wait here while I assign you to your seats." Mrs Thon says, attempting to draw the class's attention back to herself.
Due to arriving late, Astra stands at the very back of the line, her feet shuffling restlessly beneath her. She tries to blend in with the group, to shrink into the background.
Yet at 16, she looms taller than most of her classmates, and this height doesn’t offer much in the way of cover. It is also what reminds her that she's really a 22-year-old stuck in a group of teenagers. A part of her wants to laugh at this— this that caused her to be placed among a sea of sixteen-year-olds.
But she can't. Not when she's stuck in this sick reality, in this body, in this time, pretending to fit in with a life she doesn’t feel a part of.
"Astra, over here," Mrs. Thon calls. The teacher's bony finger points toward a seat right in front of the teacher's desk, at the very edge of the room, beside the window, the seat. The one reserved for troublemakers.
Astra's never had to sit there before, and she’s certainly not thrilled. A sigh threatens to slip out, but she stifles it, instead trudging to the designated spot under Mrs. Thon’s watchful eye.
Just as she’s settling into her new seat, the chair beside her clatters. Astra looks up, seeing Taehyun plopping down beside her.
He flashes her a soft, "Heheh" smile, one so effortlessly disarming. “Hi”
Astra does her best to maintain her inner calm, offering Taehyun a small nod. "Hello," she replies, her voice steady despite the quiet storm of thoughts swirling inside her. She has yet to figure out how to deal with a presence that isn't supposed to appear here, in her timeline.
Taehyun, in contrast, has his smile vanishing almost instantly, replaced by a stoic expression. He turns his attention away from Astra, reaching down to grab materials from his bag—pens, notebook, halfway through, he stops, looking up.
A group of female classmates, no doubt drawn to his presence, are looking at him openly, blinking unabashedly. Taehyun blinks back at them, momentarily caught off guard, before his signature "Heheh" smile reappears. With a soft bow, he mouths a quick "hello" to them. But then, just as quickly, he averts his gaze.
He's done.
Taehyun's eyes wander to the girl next to him. Astra, her attention fully on her phone, furiously typing into it. She’s partially hiding the screen beneath the table, but her focus is sharp, the rapid tapping of her fingers pulls his curiosity.
He leans in slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of what she's typing. The search bar catches his attention first, and he leans in a little more, scanning the screen.
_BTS
Astra’s thumb hovers over the screen as she scrolls. The web lists it as an abbreviation for "Behind the scenes", listing different behind-the-scenes clips.
Astra's fingers swipe quickly, deleting the search term, and replacing it with _Bangtan Sonyeondan.
Taehyun watches her movements quietly, his eyes flicking to her screen as the search results rapidly flip across the screen, too fast for him to read. The results load, but they don’t make sense. The page fills with a jumbled mix of articles and videos, most of them completely unrelated, the results stretching into seemingly random topics.
What's she looking for?
Taehyun's gaze lingers on her before darting back to the mess of the 'search results'.
A tiny frown begins to form as Astra scrolls through the seemingly endless, disjointed entries. Her legs begin to shake under the table.
_Spring Day is up on the search bar now. It’s one of BTS’s most iconic songs, a hit that’s still remembered and played everywhere back in her time. A wave of nostalgia passes over her, but she quickly pushes it away. If the boy band is still here, then this song must still be around.
She taps 'search', and scenery images flood the screen—beautiful landscapes, soft golden hues, flowers in spring—but none of them is what she’s looking for. As Astra scrolls through the results, she sees a variety of unrelated topics— literature, science, even history, but nothing that leads her to the right answer.
Oh!
Under Taehyun’s bewildered gaze, Astra suddenly slumps forward, her forehead tapping the table. The soft sound breaks the stillness, and when she sits back up again, Astra wears a bright smile, suddenly enthusiastic again.
In the year of 2016, Spring Day was not yet released. 2015...
Astra clears the search bar again, the album BTS released in 2015, a record that shaped her teenage years,
_The most beautiful moment in life, BTS
Yet as she hits ‘search,’ the results are just as barren as before.
Nothing.
Astra slumps back into her seat, circling through memories of the albums she had collected back at home, her photos, fandom light stick, and even the overpriced card packs she’d once scammed herself into buying—now all lost to her.
Her beloved idols, their songs, their presence in her life… all gone from the face of the earth, wiped clean in a way that left no trace behind.
Why?
Astra clenches her hand, a feeling of loss, of everything slipping through her fingers makes her panic.
Astra’s lips move, the words caught in her throat as her mind spirals. She feels like she’s trapped, locked in this accursed seat. There arises a need to do something—literally anything—that could break her free from this reality. But her introverted nature holds her back, like a tight leash around her neck. If this is really her life now. She knows can’t afford to act out, to make a scene, not when the fragile threads of her social life hang by a thread. Being treated like a psycho isn’t an option.
But still, the building frustration seethes inside, even as she forces herself to remain still. Her fingers grip the edge of the table, her knuckles white, but she stays quiet, eyes fixed on the screen.
Beside her, Taehyun is watching, observing her every expression as it morphs from frustration, then deflation to anger, and back again. He notices how she hunches over, her posture slumping as though the weight of her thoughts is too much to bear. She’s clearly in a bad mood.
Unable to resist any longer, Taehyun speaks up. “BTS?”
The boy swore he saw a whole galaxy of stars take shape inside Astra’s eyes as the girl suddenly lunges forward, her excitement obvious. Taehyun’s reflexes kick in immediately, his body leaning back, hands poised in front of him, ready to swat her away if needed. Thankfully, Astra stops just short of overstepping her boundaries.
"You..." she stammers. "You know BTS?"
Taehyun lifts a hand and presses it gently on Astra's shoulders, nudging her back into her seat. He's uncomfortable with how close she is now, her proximity too sudden.
"I saw you type BTS on your phone," he says, his voice steady, though his discomfort is evident in his fidgeting fingers.
Astra blinks up at him, wide-eyed but now slowly collecting herself. She pulls back, sitting upright again, smoothing down the front of her skirt.
She shifts in her seat, pulling her chair just a little closer to the front.
Astra beckons him with a subtle motion. "Come closer," she says softly, her voice conspiratorial.
On any other day, Taehyun would have dismissed such words with his signature laugh, but today, driven by his intrigue and in wanting to understand the meaning behind her strange behavior. Taehyun leans in.
"Kang Taehyun?"
Taehyun’s eyes widen instinctively as he tries to figure out how she knew his surname. It wasn’t like they’d had a proper conversation before—how does she know?
But then, he catches it. The slight shift in her gaze. Astra’s eyes move down to the small name tag stitched above his chest pocket, her expression flat and deadpan.
"Ah," she says, almost as if reading his thoughts.
Taehyun feels his face flush slightly. He’s sure she’s thinking he’s an idiot for not noticing. The judgment behind her stare is real, and the thought that she’s probably calling him dumb inside her head makes him frown.
Astra looks at Taehyun, taking her time to consider her words and deliver them in a manner that wouldn't make her sound out of whack.
“What do you want to be in the future?” she asks, the random question hangs in the air. There’s no direct lead-up to it, no reason why she’s asking, and Taehyun feels his brow furrow in confusion.
He hesitates for a moment before he lies, offering a rehearsed response. “Doctor.”
Astra shakes her head confidently, her voice unwavering. “No, you want to be an idol singer.”
What?
He's unsure of how to process the statement. Idol singer? He’s never once thought about that career path.
He hasn't once considered an idol singer as his future career path.
"No?” Taehyun’s voice sharpens.
Astra blinks, her confidence faltering. Eh? The confusion is evident on her face now as the question lingers in her mind: Then how did he end up in TXT?
Okay. Astra thinks, a mental shift happening in an instant. Time for damage control.
She clears her throat, trying to smooth over the uncomfortable moment. "It’s just… you have this out-of-this-world handsomeness, and a nice voice," she stammers, her words rushing out faster than she intended. "So I just assumed…"
Taehyun’s expression tightens, his irritation building, but before he can snap back, Astra continues in a higher pitch. "Anyways, don’t take it seriously." She forces a chuckle. There’s silence. The tension lingers in the space between them.
...
And so, Damage control has failed.
"I was asking about BTS." Taehyun takes a deep breath, trying to remind her of his initial question.
The thoughts whirling in Astra's mind come to a standstill. Astra scrambles to collect herself, clearing her throat before replying. "BTS stands for Bangtan Sonyeondan," she begins, "Or Bulletproof Boy Scouts," she adds, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
Taehyun tilts his head, signalling her to continue.
Feeling encouraged, Astra's tone grew in confidence. "They’re an idol group. Really, really, really famous," she emphasizes, each "really" an extra layer of importance. "You can’t go anywhere without hearing about them. They’ve made a huge impact worldwide."
This isn’t just some random group to her—it’s a part of her past, something she’s determined to hang onto, even if they no longer exist.
It certainly wasn't like that when the girl went through the five stages of grief while searching for them online, and Taehyun points it out, "But they don't exist?"
"I..." Astra wrecks her brain.
As Mrs. Thon begins the roll call, Astra sits at the edge of her seat, thoughts of how to prove BTS's existence now out of her mind. Her focus is now on the sound of each name. Her heart pounds with anticipation, a mix of hope and dread.
Taehyun is here, Huening Kai is here, what about the other members of TXT? Soobin, Beomgyu, Yeonjun—maybe, just maybe— Astra's breath hitches in her throat, Taehyung?
Astra pinches her arm, stopping herself before her fantasies run wild. Still, with the appearance of Taehyun and Huening Kai in her class, everything might actually be possible.
With that thought, Astra whirls her head back, her eyes scanning through every one of her classmates. Some frown at her blatant stare while others offer a cordial smile. They are all faces she remembered, all her year 1 classmates, with the exception of Huening Kai and Taehyun, everyone else is the same.
Astra turns to Taehyun again, her fingers trailing the jagged surface of the plastic table. What exactly is going on?
Is she really here? Or is this just another dream?
She wants to ask Taehyun outright what’s going on, shake him till he spills the truth, but she can't. The boy is like her, equally, or if not, more clueless. It’s already difficult enough to be back in this school, let alone deal with the confusion of what feels like a parallel reality, one where nothing and everything is the same.
Astra remains still, her mind racing with thoughts of how and why. Despite it all, she is certain. She's sure that Taehyun and Huening Kai are the keys, somehow, to fixing whatever is wrong with this world, to unlocking the truth. But for now, all she can do is sit and wait.
Mrs Thon keeps an eye on Astra, glancing back at her every so often, as if ready to keep her in check. In response, she keeps her gaze fixed on the teacher, nodding at appropriate times, and trying her best to blend in.
The teacher, now pleased with herself for seating Taehyun beside Astra, continues her instructions. Mrs Thon seems to have this unwavering confidence in Taehyun’s ability to influence Astra positively, believing that his diligent, well-behaved nature will rub off on the more troublesome students in the class.
When Mrs. Thon wraps up the formalities—talking about the books they need to buy, her contact information, and the endless list of school rules, she announces the next activity, an ice-breaker.
"But before that," Mrs. Thon raps her knuckles against the table, calling for the class's attention. "Come up, one by one, and pick a slip of paper from me," she announces, "Each slip holds the name of one of your classmates."
Mrs Thon waves the slips of paper in her hands as she explains further. "You will become this person's 'secret angel.' Your task is to get to know them, understand them, and, by the end of each Friday, write them a kind note."
A small pause, her gaze sweeping across the class. "And remember, keep it a secret."
She turns toward the back of the classroom, where a large board displays rows of envelopes, each one waiting to be filled. "Pick one of these envelopes. On the front, write your name. This is where you'll drop your notes for your secret angel. Make sure you drop it in the right envelope."
A girl with a high bun raises his hand.
"Yes, please ask."
The girl hesitates before speaking. "So, does this mean we can send notes to people outside of our 'secret angel' assignment?"
Mrs. Thon nods with a knowing smile. "Yes, you can send notes to anyone you like, as often as you want. But the note for the person on your slip must be sent by the end of each week."
Astra unfurls the slip of paper in her hands, her eyes scanning the name scrawled across it.
-Dominic-
Dominic. Of all people.
Before Taehyun, Dominic had been Astra’s seatmate for two whole years. It wasn’t by chance—the teachers had a strange fondness for pairing them together, and to this day, Astra couldn’t figure out why.
For two years, their desks stayed side by side. And over the course of that time, Astra had developed feelings for him—quiet, secret feelings that she never dared to voice.
Astra's heart thumps. Is this a sign of her blossoming love life?
"Who did you get?" Taehyun asked, glancing over with curiosity.
Astra finds no harm in showing Taehyun, holding up her slip, "Dominic."
"I got Veronica, who's that?"
Astra’s eyes shift, glancing toward a girl sitting in the middle, her long ponytail tied at the side. Veronica. She remembers her well, though in the past, their friendship was more of a one-sided effort.
Veronica had always been there for her, trying to pull her out of her shell and make her feel included. But Astra, in her own world, had pushed everyone away.
The memory stings, a pang of regret creeping up on her— still, considering her situation back then, Astra couldn't find it within her current 22-year-old self to blame the her of six years ago.
Astra points towards a girl sitting in the middle of the class. "She's Veronica, she's really nice."
Taehyun raises an eyebrow at Astra’s words, nodding.
Astra’s thoughts drift back to her year 1 class, where a select few boys were known as the top 3—Dominic, Ezekiel, and Olive. The girls in her class had coined them the "Top 3," drawn to their charisma, good looks, and overall appeal. It was a delicate triangle that defined the social order of class 1A.
But as the class plays their ice-breaker game of 'duck, duck, goose', Astra notes. It’s a childish game, one she finds almost beneath her now. Still, she can’t help but observe the change happening in front of her. The once solid "Top 3" is no more— the triangle has fallen out of favor, it's now a rectangle— all about the top 2, Huening Kai and Taehyun.
The two are always picked first, always up and running when the baton lands in the hands of a girl. The others? Abandoned, left behind in the shadows of the two who are now the clear favorites.
Astra herself doesn’t have much room to speak. She’s but a bystander in the game, quietly watching the chaos unfold, till she hears her name.
"Astra."
She looks up, meeting Dominic’s sharp eyes.
"What are you doing?"
Astra blanks out. What's she doing?
"Heheh."
Astra’s head snaps toward the sound of Taehyun's laughter. The boy, right in front of her, isn’t even running, he’s jogging.
Astra quickly turns to the baton behind her, her fingers jolting when they touch the baton's cool surface. Astra shoots to her feet, sprinting to catch up with him.
But Taehyun, despite his leisurely pace, is ridiculously fast. She barely has a chance to close the gap before he’s already several steps ahead.
Astra slows to a stop, taking a deep breath, then taps Huening Kai’s head gently. “Duck.” She repeats the process—tap, “Duck,” “Duck,” “Duck.” The game feels endless, a blur of faces and steps, until finally, she reaches Taehyun. And she grins.
Astra takes this as a great chance for her to relieve her built-up frustration against the boy, smacking his head harder than she should.
Taehyun's head jerks forward slightly from the impact, and he glares up at Astra, who pointedly avoids his eyes.
"Goose!" she calls out with a breathless urgency, tossing the baton behind Dominic as she sprints away.
Astra runs as if she’s being chased by a monster, pushing herself harder than she thought possible. When she finally reaches Dominic’s seat, she slides into it, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
In the midst of her sprint, her ponytail, flapping wildly behind her, swings right into Huening Kai's eyes.
Astra doesn’t notice. She’s still engrossed in her excitement from having outrun Dominic, who had been known for his athletic prowess. Her mind is too occupied to realise that Huening Kai, now rubbing his eyes, is silently pondering whether he did something wrong, or whether this girl and himself had some grievances in their past lives.
Being in close proximity to Astra always seems to warrant some harm. Huening Kai glances at Astra with his one good eye, resolved to stay away from her in the future for his well-being.
A loud voice rings through the room. "You hit him!" Alice, the girl with a penchant for drama and who, as Astra notes, had a past crush on Olive, which ended badly, points a finger accusingly at Astra.
Astra turns her attention to Huening Kai, blinking when she sees the boy looking at her with accusatory eyes. Between the gaps of Huening Kai's fingers covering his eye, Astra could see the spreading redness in the whites of his eye. Stunned, Astra points to herself, "Me?"
"Yeah. Your hair," Alice says.
Mrs Thon catches the exchange and steps in, "Astra, bring him to the infirmary. I'm sure you know where that is."
Astra blinks again. I do? How does she know?
Mrs Thon must have seen the confusion written on her face, because she adds quickly, "It's right beside the office Mr Robert brought you to when he recorded your name."
Ah.
Astra lowers her head in shame, holding a hand out towards Huening Kai, "Let's go."
But before anything can happen, Alice’s voice rings out, sharp and eager. "Mrs Thon! I can bring him!"
"It's alright. I called Astra." The teacher wants Astra to take responsibility for her own actions.
Huening Kai stares at Astra's outstretched palm, weighing his options. Then, after careful deliberation, he takes her hand. He stands up slowly, and the two of them walk toward the door together.
As they exit the classroom, the door clicking shut behind them, Astra feels the weight of the situation catch up to her. "I’m sorry," she says quietly, her voice almost lost in the empty corridor.
Huening Kai waves his hands dismissively, his tone light and reassuring. "No, it’s alright. You didn’t do it on purpose."
So he's the angelic member of TXT, Astra thinks, a soft smile tugging at her lips, though she quickly hides it behind her hair.
"I'm sorry for earlier this morning too, when I shouted at you and got you into trouble." Perhaps it's his excessive kindness, the way he speaks, gentle and patient, that makes Astra feel even more guilty.
Huening Kai watches her closely, noticing the genuine remorse on her face. She looks… normal, nothing like the sequence of strange emotions and bizarre behavior he'd witnessed just hours before. He can't help but chuckle softly. Just this morning, he was convinced she was a little crazy.
With a warm smile, Huening Kai reassures her, "It's fine. Really."
The infirmary is a familiar place for Astra. Over her four years at this school, she’d become a regular visitor, mostly for asthma attacks and now in this strange twist of fate, it's officially her fifth year. She knows the way to the infirmary like the back of her hand.
As they push open the door, a cluster of small bells jingles.
Inside, a lady in a long white coat sits on a stool, reviewing something on her tablet. As soon as she notices the two students, she looks up and pushes her glasses up her nose. "Who's injured?" she asks.
At the same time, both Astra and Huening Kai answer, "Him."
"No, me," Huening Kai corrects with a small laugh.
Astra’s eyes fall to the nurse's name tag, neatly stitched above the pocket of her white coat.
Ophelia.
It's been a really long time.
Ophelia nods, with a flashlight in hand, she ushers Huening Kai, who's still covering his eyes to sit on the bed. Ophelia asks, "What happened to your eye?"
Huening Kai hesitates, uncertain of how to explain, he turns to Astra.
Astra steps forward, her voice steady as she fills in the gap. "He got hit in the eye…" she pauses, tugging nervously at her long ponytail, "...with my hair."
Ophelia raises an eyebrow but doesn’t comment, instead nodding as she takes a more professional stance. "I see. Can you open your eyes for me?"
Before Huening Kai can respond, Ophelia turns her gaze to Astra. "Student, you can wait outside for now."
A few minutes later, Huening Kai is out with Ophelia trailing behind him, her hands already busy with paperwork.
"It's nothing major, just some irritation. Use these eye drops and the redness should clear up soon." Ophelia pulls out two small bottles of eye drops from a white cabinet, passing it to Huening Kai.
"Make sure to use the drops, and if it gets worse, come back to see me." With that, Ophelia moves swiftly back to her desk, leaving the two students alone.
Huening Kai stares at the two small plastic bottles in his hand, unsure of how to proceed. He sets one down and tries to twist the cap off the other, but it doesn’t budge. He grits his teeth, pulling harder. The cap creaks but stays stubbornly in place. His fingers strain as the veins in his neck pulse with effort.
Astra watches speechlessly as the boy struggles with the tiny bottle.
"Twist it." Astra offers.
Huening Kai glances at her, with a determined grunt, he twists again, but the plastic bottle begins to deform under the pressure. The cap, now warped, still refuses to come off. In one final, desperate pull, Huening Kai exerts all his force, and with a sickening crack, the bottle crumples, flying off in a wild arc.
Huening Kai turns to Astra, mortified.
Astra stands still, her voice flat but tinged with a playful bitterness, "...Is this your revenge?"
Huening Kai’s panic skyrockets, his hands trembling as they hover uselessly before her glasses, now smeared with eye drops. His breath comes out in short, erratic bursts. "I—I didn’t mean to!"
The bottle has flown straight towards Astra's eyes. She was wearing glasses, shielding its impact, however, her glasses did not prevent the liquid from splashing on her face. Astra can taste the eye drops in her mouth.
Astra sticks her tongue out, irked by the chemically astringent flavor in her mouth.
"No! I really didn't think it'd fly like that!", Huening Kai didn't mean for it to happen. The boy remains in a fluster as he circles Astra, not knowing how to help and what to do.
"You have a great aim." Astra adds to Huening Kai's stress.
"No! It's not like that!" Huening Kai waves his hands, his hands in denial as he backs off from Astra's increasingly gloomy face.
Astra takes off her glasses, wiping her lenses dry with her shirt.
"What are you waiting for?" Astra comments as Huening Kai stares at her.
"... Me?" He stammers.
"Get me tissues." Astra points at her face.
"Oh oh! Yes, immediately!" The boy darts out of the room in a hurry.
Astra's watched him go, her gaze following Huening Kai's guilt-ridden back till he leaves Astra's line of sight. The girl breaks into a grin, whispering, "This is fun."
Then it dawns on her.
Huening Kai hasn't treated his eyes yet.
Astra scratches her cheeks, chanting mentally to herself, "I am 22 years old, not a kid, have to be mature, I am 22 years old—"
Huening Kai watches Astra from outside the glass panels. She has her eyes by the table, muttering something he can't catch with a serious expression. Huening Kai swallows, scared for his impending fate.
As Huening Kai pushes the door, it jingles again and catches Astra's attention, the girl spins to look at him.
Huening Kai takes a step back and gets into a defensive posture despite being much physically bigger than the girl. Astra stands up and pats the couch she was sitting on. "Sir, please sit here."
Huening Kai pales, "...Why?"
"I'll help you apply the eye drops." Astra shaking the bottle in her hand.
Huening Kai sits, though, in his head, he plays the horrifying scene of Astra slamming the bottle in his face. He couldn't help but imagine the worst as he eyes follow her every move, eye wide and silently begging for mercy.
"Don't worry." Seeing Huening Kai cowering, Astra reassures him, "I won't hurt you. Your fans will butcher me."
".... My fans?"
Astra closed her mouth. Damn her loose lips.
"I mean the girls in class! Didn't you see how they were eyeing you and Taehyun with sparkly eyes?"
"Then.." Huening Kai gathers the courage to look Astra in the eye, "You too?"
Astra's smiling face immediately cools down. With a light twist, Astra pops open the cap easily.
Silence falls between the two of them and Huening Kai lowers his head again.
"So you did it purposely." The cap is opened so easily and this big guy couldn't do it?
Huening Kai stands up, about to deliver his statement in defense of his innocence when Astra presses him down, "It's alright. I forgive you, now let me help you."
Forgive? Huening Kai's thoughts stutter, but I really didn't do it!
Huening Kai waves his hands again, "No no! I can do it my—" But under the weight of Astra's stare, Huening Kai chose to shut up.
"Pull your eye open." Astra's voice left no room for Huening Kai to protest.
Huening Kai’s hands tremble as he follows her command, his eyes wide with reluctance. Astra leans in close, positioning the drop above his eye with unnerving precision. But just as the liquid is about to fall, his eyelid jumps and closes shut. A few drops spill harmlessly onto his cheek, wasted, and Astra's patience finally snaps.
With a swift motion, she swats his hand aside, taking matters into her own hands. Her fingers grasp the edge of his eyelid, forcing it wide. In fear for his eye, Huening Kai recoils, a panicked, high-pitched scream escaping him. The sound catches Astra off guard, but only for a fleeting moment before she gets back to business, her tongue curling out to touch her upper lip, a subtle sign of her high concentration.
"Hold still," she mutters, gripping his eyelid tightly as she squeezes the entire bottle of eye drops into his eye.
Finished.
Astra smiles in satisfaction at the job completed, letting go and wiping her hands across one another, praising herself for the job well done.
Huening Kai's eyes feel heavy and he blinks, the excess eye drops spilling from his eye, drawing a line of what looks like tears down his cheeks.
Ophelia stands at the doorway, arms crossed, having arrived just in time to hear Huening Kai's scream. She eyes the scene with suspicion, a frown forming as she wonders if Astra has bullied the boy into tears.
"What’s going on here?" she asks, folding her arms.
Astra turns to her with a cheerful, almost too cheerful expression, as if nothing is amiss. "Oh! I was just helping him get the eye drops in."
"Is that so?" Ophelia glances over at Huening Kai, who, looking aggrieved, responds softly, "Yes."
Ophelia rubs her temple, letting out a weary sigh. She decides not to press the matter further, eager to send them back to class. "Alright then. You two can head back now."
Astra and Huening Kai exchange a glance before stepping out of the infirmary and into the stuffy hallway, the lack of air-conditioning making the heat more oppressive. As the two make their way back to class, Huening holds out a stack of tissues toward her, his expression still a little wary.
“Here,” he mutters, “Tissue.”
“Thanks!” Astra smiles, taking the tissue from him and wiping her face.
"You." Huening Kai says, his voice thick with grievance, "took revenge on me just now."
Astra quickly shakes her head, her tone defensive. “No! I swear, I wasn’t! I was just helping you out.”
"No!" Astra denies. "I really didn't. I was just helping you."
"Really."
"Really!" She insists.
Huening Kai studies her eyes, catching the bright joy dancing in them. It’s then that the memory of her wide smile after dousing his eye with the entire bottle of eye drops hits him.
Huening Kai pouts. She's too happy about this.
"As if."
Chapter 3: Day 1
Chapter Text
Returning from the infirmary, Astra and Huening Kai step back into the stuffy classroom, now stuck in this cramped space till the day ends, under the heat from the old whirling fan almost suffocating in its attempt to provide relief.
Astra turns towards her seat, meeting Taehyun's bright eyes staring back at her. The moment their eyes meet, Astra gives him a light smile, to which Taehyun returns.
"For the sake of the two students who just came in, I'll introduce myself again. I am your literature teacher for this year, call me Mr Winston." The teacher taps on the board, which has his form of address written in big bold letters.
Mr. Winston launches into an unusually detailed self-introduction, sharing everything from his hobbies and weekend plans to his thoughts on love and life. It’s like he’s narrating the entirety of his existence, down to the most minute details.
True to his profession, he speaks with such passion and enthusiasm that Astra finds herself drawn in, just as she had years ago when she had her favorite teacher in front of her. The words flow with such ease that it’s hard not to listen.
Meanwhile, Taehyun taps his fingers on the table, drawing her attention. He slides a slip of paper toward her, "This is the timetable. I grabbed it for you while you weren't here."
Astra takes the paper, the familiar grid of the schedule already making her groan. "Thanks."
"And this too," Taehyun adds, pulling an A5-sized notebook from beneath his desk. "The school handbook."
"Thanks again," Astra replies, slipping the timetable into the handbook. Looks like school life is really starting— all over again.
Taehyun’s gaze remains on her, his expression unreadable.
Astra glances up. "What?" she asks, her voice wary.
Taehyun's lips take the shape of three letters— B. T. S., reminding her, "You haven't proven yourself yet."
"Prove… Ah!" Astra stumbles over her words, caught off guard by the sudden reminder.
"We'll continue that later," Astra mutters, her attention already shifting back to Mr. Winston as he continues his lecture.
After what felt like a never-ending class, the lunch bell finally rings.
"Hey! Taehyun!" Dominic calls out, waving energetically as a group of students gathers around him. "Lunch? Join us!"
Taehyun glances over at Astra, who waves him off with a casual gesture, signalling that he’s free to go.
"Sorry, not today." Taehyun declines.
"Alright, next time then!"
Taehyun turns, and he spots Astra sneaking out through the back door.
"Where are you going?" Taehyun's naturally sweet voice calls for Astra to stop.
"Toilet!" Astra’s voice snaps in from outside the class, "Why? You want to come to the toilet with me?"
Taehyun answers with a straight face, "Yes. In fact, I do want to."
Astra’s escape plan crumbles in an instant. Her stride falters as she turns toward him, irritation bubbling up—this is supposed to be her time to think. The nerves begin to build up inside her.
She’s going to have to convince the two TXT members eventually, but shouldn’t she have a moment to gather her thoughts first? She needs to plan the right words, the right approach, something to avoid sounding like she’s insane.
Astra glares at Taehyun, but as she catches the boy's side profile, of the morning rays shine on his skin, tracing the contours of his sharp features, his long eyelashes casting soft shadows down his cheek. Like this, magically, her irritation fades.
Astra gives Taehyun a thumbs up.
Taehyun glances over, "What?"
"Nothing," Astra quickly turns her gaze to the floor.
But Taehyun knows, "You think I’m handsome? Yeah, I get that a lot."
Astra's stride breaks for a second, marveling at how easily he delivers such lines with a straight face. Still, he’s right, so she kept her silence.
As they walk toward the cafeteria, Astra can't help but notice how the crowd seems to part for Taehyun. Every person who passes him shoots a look of admiration, some even stealing furtive glances as if captivated by his presence.
This must be the legendary visual buff.
"Maybe you are just born to be an idol." Astra mumbles.
The cafeteria smells nostalgic. Seven different food stalls line the walls, each serving a variety of cuisines. Astra is scanning the area, her stomach conveying her hunger with a loud rumble.
“I’m waiting,” Taehyun reminds her, annoyingly persistent.
Astra looks up at the taller boy, her eyes tired. She wasn’t ready to deal with him yet. “Proving myself can wait. Can’t we eat first?”
"Yes." Taehyun answers, following behind Astra as she walks ahead with big steps, her hands folded behind her back. As an alumnus of the school, Astra thinks she should do her part to introduce her juniors to the great food that their cafeteria offers.
She steps forward. “This stall,” she says as she points toward the farthest corner of the cafeteria, “sells the best rice soup. Guaranteed.” Astra pushes a thumb out, backing up her statement like a seasoned promoter.
The cafeteria hums with the chatter of students, their footsteps echoing across the tile floor. The air is thick with the aroma of food, but the stall Astra pointed to is oddly silent. It’s tucked away in the farthest corner, with barely a soul in sight.
Taehyun eyes it skeptically, noting how deserted it is. The only occupant behind the counter is an elderly woman with a warm smile, who greets them as they approach. But beyond that, there’s only a small signboard above the stall, written in faded red letters that say, "Grandma's Rice Soup," accompanied by some oddly unappetizing pictures of what Taehyun assumes, is the rice-soup.
“I thought this place is supposed to be good?” Taehyun mutters, still eyeing the near-empty stall.
Astra’s lips part to defend her beloved rice soup, ready to launch into a passionate speech about her years of experience eating it here, but then—Ah.
It's supposed to be her first day of school. She peeks at Taehyun’s downturned brows, lowering her head, suddenly deflated, "... Yes."
Taehyun notes Astra's sudden change in demeanor. "It's your first day of school, how do you even know it's good?"
Astra gives him a firm pat on the shoulder, leaning in slightly. "Bro, trust me."
But Taehyun isn't buying it. His voice deepens as he counters, "Would you trust yourself if you were me?"
Astra has nothing to say. Indeed. She would not. If their roles were reversed, she’d probably be walking in the opposite direction. Taehyun truly has incredible patience even standing with her here.
Astra gives up, dropping her hand from his shoulder. "I get it. You do you." With that, Astra spins and, with light steps, heads straight for the rice soup.
"Hello!" Astra greets cheerfully, her smile widening at the elderly woman in a pink apron behind the counter. She points to a menu item, "Can I have that?"
A familiar scent spurs her excitement, causing the girl to tap her fingers on the counter. The elderly lady sets the bowl down in front of Astra, sprinkling condiments with practiced hands and adding an extra egg, like she always had. Astra’s eyes brighten as she looks up at the lady, who offers her a warm, genuine smile.
"Here you go," the lady says.
Astra gazes down at the bowl, filled to the brim with steaming rice soup, and a wide grin spreads across her face.
The two share a moment, their exchange simple but full of meaning. For the first time in a long while, Astra feels a sense of contentment. Coming back in time—maybe it isn't such a bad thing after all.
"Thank—" Before Astra could express her gratitude, she is interrupted.
"I would like the same thing she's having." It's Taehyun.
The elderly lady, who had looked disheartened by the lack of customers earlier, brightens up at the sight of the two students. The stall, once lonely, now feels a little more alive with their presence.
As she turns to prepare his order, Astra glances at Taehyun with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you didn't want it."
"It doesn't hurt to try," he replies casually, a hint of curiosity in his tone. From the back, He has seen it all, even catching the minute details Astra didn't know— while waiting, the girl has been swinging her legs widly, and Taehyun got the impression that she's going to swing over the counter at any moment. This energy, as if she’s been waiting for this moment for longer than she even realises fuelled his curiosity.
Trying it wouldn't hurt, Taehyun thinks.
Astra nods. "Good choice," she says with a thumbs up, her face lighting up with a small, teasing smile.
Once their food is ready, they pay and make their way to an isolated corner of the cafeteria. Astra sits down first, quickly grabbing her spoon, taking large, rapid spoonfuls of rice soup, it's so fast that Taehyun doesn't think she's even tasting each bite.
Taehyun holds back his urge to point out Astra's less-than-refined eating habits as he picks up his spoon and takes a bite of the rice soup. As the warm broth hits his tongue, he's surprised. The flavors are rich, the rice tender, and everything blends seamlessly.
Tasty.
Before long, both of them cleaned their bowls, leaving nothing behind.
Taehyun sets down his spoon, turning to Astra with a raised eyebrow. "So?"
And Astra catches on; he's asking to prove herself again, harping on and on, not letting her off till he gets his answer. Fine. She will just give it to him straight.
Astra pushes her tray aside, sitting up straight as she shifts her posture to something more serious. She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes as she gathers her thoughts. When she opens them again, her voice is steady and direct.
"I am a time-traveller."
At first, all of Astra’s actions, all the strange and confusing things she did, had Taehyun’s curiosity piqued, yet now, all of it feels like a joke. As soon as the words leave her mouth, his intrigue fades. He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms,
"Or so you say."
"Anyways, how does that link to BTS? What's your point?" Taehyun asks. He might not believe her, but he's willing to hear her out, he wants to know what exactly is whirling inside her brain.
“BTS,” Astra repeats, more to herself than to Taehyun. “They were here once. I was here once, too.” It's a cryptic sentence, one that summarises her current situation, yet one that Taehyun doesn't understand.
"Explain properly." He demands.
"First," Astra says, her voice firm, "You have to promise that you won't report me, no matter how insane I sound." She looks at him, willing to bet on the integrity of a future world star.
Taehyun's lips curl into a small smile. "Okay. Promise."
With that, the two 16-year-olds—one of them with 22 years’ worth of memories, seal the deal by linking their pinky fingers in a silent pact, a simple yet meaningful gesture.
"Spill." Taehyun cues Astra, pulling back his finger.
Astra, feeling more assured now, begins to explain, "Before I time-travelled here, BTS was a huge deal, and I was just another one of their fans." She pauses. "I came back 6 years into the past, and BTS debuted in 2013."
She counts on her fingers. "That's about 11 years ago."
Astra taps her hand on the table for emphasis. "So what I'm saying is, BTS is supposed to exist now. They were meant to, but they aren't."
Just like how you have appeared before me when you weren't meant to. Astra looks at Taehyun— a future global star, now an ordinary student before her, it all feels so wrong. Like this is a fake reality, a glitching timeline.
Taehyun considers her words. He gives her the benefit of the doubt, his tone thoughtful as he gives his take on a what-if scenario, deciding to humor her. "Maybe something changed. Maybe they never debuted. A butterfly effect."
A butterfly effect? Astra shakes her head. "I just came today, I have neither the power nor time to affect things in another country, let alone change history."
Taehyun raises a brow as if asking her why she hasn't thought of this, "If you were a time-traveller, wouldn't there be others too?"
Astra blinks, feeling her mind clear up at his words. She stands up from her seat— the missing puzzle piece has finally fallen into place.
With newfound energy, she places her hands on Taehyun's shoulders, her fingers pressed into his uniform. Yet before Taehyun can pull away, he meets her eyes and again he sees it—her eyes seem to shimmer, as though a thousand stars had gathered inside them, flickering at him.
"You must also be a time-traveller."
Astra's words snap him out of his trance, and his lips press into a thin line.
It's a bullshit idea.
He shakes off her hands on his shoulders, pulling back, unsure if he's supposed to laugh at her conclusion. "What?"
Astra is almost certain now, convinced of her newfound theory, the excitement in her tone evident. "In 2024, you were in an idol group yourself, TXT. You guys were in the same company as BTS." She lists the five members off without missing a beat. "Huening Kai, Taehyun, Beomgyu, Soobin, Yeonjun."
"Me?" Taehyun points at himself, speechless at how he is suddenly dragged into her mess of a story. "You’re saying I’m part of this... this time-travel thing?"
Astra nods earnestly.
"Huening Kai? Who's that? The tall boy in our class?" he asks again.
She nods again, this time with more certainty.
TXT huh. Taehyun glances at Astra finding this whole situation quite amusing, "And what does TXT mean?"
"Tomorrow by together." Astra responds.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"I..." Astra was embarrassed. "I'm not sure. I didn't research deeply enough."
"So you weren't exactly a fan of this TXT." He lets the words hang, laced with doubt.
Or is it because this whole time-travel story is just a sham, a surface lie that she can't dig deeper into?
"I—"
Before Astra can gather her words, Taehyun presses on. "Do you even know when they debuted?"
Astra's answer tumble out before she can catch it, eager to answer a question she has answers to, after all, she needs to convince this boy. "In early 2019. I remember."
TXT's debut was brilliant, setting off huge waves in the industry, quickly gaining the group massive attention and popularity almost unheard of for a rookie group.
"We debuted in early 2019?" Taehyun asks, a light smile on his lips.
Astra is certain, "Yes." When their debut song, "Crown" was released, it was the only song she listened to for several months.
"It's 2018 now." The boy reminds Astra, questioning her. "And right now, you are telling me that in a year, I and the tall boy will travel to a country thousands of kilometers away and debut?"
"And what?", he lets out a soft, mocking laugh, resting his head in his palm. "I’m supposed to believe that?"
....
Looking at the present Taehyun, so casually sitting before her, Astra sees the impossibility of it all— even to her. But it’s the truth, nothing but the truth.
The truth is never wrong, and if something doesn’t add up, it just means she’s missed something. Astra takes a beat to breathe, to think, to untangle the web in her mind.
"No." She shakes her head, a spark of realisation lighting up her eyes. She claps her hands together, "That's the thing! It’s not about what’s happened, it’s about what should have happened."
Her eyes lock onto Taehyun’s, her words spill out quickly, "You and Huening Kai, other than the disappearance of BTS, are the only differences between my past and this present."
Astra’s heart races, her words tumbling over each other. She knows it sounds insane, she knows it's hard to follow, but she can see it now. It’s like the pieces are starting to fit, even if no one else sees the puzzle.
She jabs a finger in Taehyun's direction, her hands gesturing wildly, "You and Huening Kai aren't supposed to be here. Not like this, not in my school, not as my classmates. In my timeline, you are supposed to be trainees in a large entertainment company."
Astra inhales sharply, "And that’s why everything else has gone off course."
"Heheh" Taehyun laughs again, and his lips part half-heartedly, showing his canine teeth and the dimple only on the right side of his cheek. His smile is barely more than a sarcastic gesture, and Astra feels a heavy weight settle in her chest. "You don't believe me."
"Yes. You sound like you're trying to patch up one lie with another," Taehyun is blunt.
Astra blinks, a hot rush of frustration filling her throat. She knows she isn't lying—she doesn’t have all the answers, but however much she wishes she's making this up, she really isn't.
"But don't you see? Isn't it obvious? You guys are so different from us." Astra hides her hands beneath the table, her fingers pressing hard into her palms to steady herself.
"Us?" Taehyun questions.
"Your looks."
"Being handsome makes me different?" Taehyun could not find it within himself to laugh, "You are not making sense."
Astra swallows, not wanting to answer. A few seconds later, under Taehyun's intensifying doubt, Astra spills reluctantly, "Your handsomeness is not within the normal range."
"So I am excessively handsome. And?" Taehyun tilts his head, his hair tilting along with him, "So?"
Astra holds two fingers in front of her, she continues, "Second. Your ethnicity, you are obviously not from here. You don't belong here."
Taehyun frowns, "What do you mean?"
"Your names. Kang Taehyun, Huening Kai. They aren’t local names at all." Astra's voice grew louder, trying to get her point across.
"I was born and raised here." Taehyun states with a chilly tone. "My parents are locals and so am I."
"Impossible." Astra says, almost to herself. Kang Taehyun is obviously a Korean name, how's it a local name?
Taehyun is no longer smiling. "Last question, you said you were time-travelled, so how old are you now?"
She's 22. But she wants to project a sense of maturity to the boy, to portray herself older than she actually is. "I was 32," she says, conveniently adding a decade to her age.
This time, Taehyun doesn’t even offer the usual half-smile, nor does he show any sign of amusement. Instead, he simply gathers his tray and stands up. His voice, now disinterested, makes her clench her fists, "Figures."
Astra feels the sting of his words, frustration building inside her. The mockery in Taehyun’s tone is unmistakable, and it pulls her back to thoughts of her younger brother.
The two of them had a 6-year age gap. It mirrored the age difference between the 22-year-old her right now and the 16-year-old Taehyun. If he were her brother, she would curse him out in a flurry of words that could never be known to her mother and run up to deliver a smack to the back of his head. Still, at the end of the day, they were siblings. At some point, one of their anger will dwindle, and gradually, time smooths over everything.
Yet they’re not siblings, and Taehyun isn’t the same as her brother. She doesn’t have the luxury of time to smooth things over. The anger she feels right now is sharp and raw.
Still, Astra takes a determined step, keeping her tray. She knows one thing for sure, at the end of the day, she needs him. She needs Taehyun, and maybe even the others from his group. They are the keys to understanding what’s going on with this fragmented timeline—and how she can return to her own time.
Astra's class is only two blocks away from the cafeteria, but the walk is enough to cool her head, and by the time she reaches the classroom, a sense of guilt begins to replace her anger. As she replays the words she'd thrown at Taehyun earlier, she sees how she has crossed the line. Questioning his identity, his right to belong, she sees now how her impatience could have offended him.
Astra hesitates for a moment, standing just outside the class, before walking in. She drops into her chair, her gaze fixed on her hands. Finally, she gathers her courage, muttering, "I'm sorry."
But Taehyun doesn't respond. He doesn’t acknowledge her apology, doesn’t even look in her direction. The silence stretches between them, lasting till the rest of the class. Neither speaks, and the atmosphere feels suffocating. When the bell finally rings, dismissing them for the day, Taehyun is quick to grab his bag and make his way toward the door.
But Astra, with the resolve to right this timeline pushing her forward, isn’t ready to let him go. She leaves her bag behind on the desk and dashes after him. She skirts past the other students, barely noticing the few who glance up at her in surprise.
In a burst of urgency, she slides to a stop right in front of him, blocking his path as she stands tall, chest rising and falling with the rapid beating of her heart.
Taehyun halts, and the moment his gaze flicks to her face, he's drawn by her eyes. She’s wearing large, round glasses, but even they can't hide the intense light in her eyes, as if inside spans a whole galaxy, a millennium of stories.
Taehyun hears Astra ask in a lighthearted tone, breaking him out of his trance,
"Bro, do you really not know BTS?"
Taehyun narrows his eyes and turns away, leaving in the opposite direction.
He doesn't look back, a silent message with his every step: he’s done here.
.
.
The students of class 1A are gazing out of the window, watching Astra and Taehyun's retreating figure. Whispers ripple through the air like a gradual heavy rain, their voices getting louder and more critical with each passing second.
"She's an attention-seeker," Isla’s voice seems to lead the murmurs, and echoes of agreements follow.
Huening Kai sits by the window, his eyes shifting between his seatmate, Isla, and the girl standing outside, Astra, whose posture gradually slumps, her figure becoming smaller and smaller as she curls into herself.
With a soft sign, he stands up, going for the bag Astra had abandoned on her desk. He doesn't give it a second thought. His stride is purposeful, long steps silencing the voices behind him, replaced by the sound of his footsteps. He stands right before her, his towering figure casting a shadow over her smaller frame.
Huening Kai, standing above 180cm, is like a giant in front of the slouching Astra, like an umbrella that covers her from the pouring rain.
"Here." Huening Kai holds Astra's bag out to her. His voice is gentle, devoid of any hint of pity, but instead, it’s derived from the kindness of his heart. There's no obligation, no hidden motive—just a quiet, genuine gesture.
Her fingers hover over the strap of the bag briefly before she takes it off Huening Kai's hands. Without any need for grand gestures, Huening Kai had just made her feel a little less alone in that moment. She offers a soft smile, one of quiet gratitude.
In reply, Huening Kai’s expression shifts into a wide, unrestrained smile—the corners of his eyes crinkling.
"Let's go." He doesn't leave. Instead, he stands a few steps ahead, turning slightly, gaze back towards her, his head tilted just enough to catch her eye.
It's an invitation, a reminder that she isn’t alone in this strange world. The quiet sincerity in his posture is something Astra hasn’t expected, and for a fleeting moment, she forgets about the absurdity of the reality she is in, of the heavy truth that she carries alone. For now, only Huening Kai remains in her eyes, with his bag slung casually over his shoulder, his expression a quiet expectation, as if he’s waiting for her to catch up.
Astra moves to follow him, her footsteps gradually falling together with his. The world around them fades into the background as they walk together, down the stairs, and finally, out of the school gates.
The walk stretches on in a comfortable silence, not awkward in the least. With each step, it feels as though they’re not just moving in the same direction, but walking parallel lives, down the same paths, the same routes. Astra couldn’t help but think that this must be why they’d crossed paths earlier in the day. They must live close to one another.
And finally, Huening Kai broke the quiet, his breath drawn in softly. "Are you okay?"
Astra, a little surprised, glanced up at him.
Huening Kai scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, his hands gesturing wildly. "You and Taehyun— but, uh, it’s totally fine if you don’t want to talk about it." He laughs nervously as if to soften the question.
Astra responds with a laugh of her own, "You remember his name?"
"Yeah. Everyone knows his name. He's good-looking." Huening Kai shrugs.
The admission of Taehyun's good looks pulls out a flashback inside Astra's mind, and she falls sullen again.
"You’re good-looking too," Astra adds, giving Huening Kai a pat on the shoulder, trying to offer some comfort. "But Taehyun only called you by, 'the tall boy.'"
Huening Kai's brow furrows. "He’s just jealous of my height."
Taehyun himself is considered one of the tallest among the boys in class, but Huening Kai's just really tall. As Astra walks beside him, a thought suddenly crosses her mind, and a smile tugs at her lips. It’s a memory from a random thread she came across while scrolling through her phone—netizens had jokingly dubbed TXT “Tall X Together” because of how notably tall all the members were.
A soft chuckle escapes her, and Huening Kai feels a quiet sense of pride, secretly pleased that he managed to lift her mood. But just as quickly, her laughter fades. Astra suddenly stops walking, her gaze locking onto him with an intensity that sends a chill straight down his spine.
Huening Kai wonders why he feels so small, standing before someone with a much smaller build. He tries to shake off the uneasy feeling, but the way Astra's unblinking gaze presses on him leaves him uneasy. The intensity makes him look away, his eyes finding the concrete floor below, focusing on the small cracks in the pavement as if they hold the key to escape.
Astra doesn’t break her stare. Her voice comes out smooth, like she’s testing something, trying to gauge his reaction. "I know a lot," she says.
Huening Kai takes an instinctive step back.
There is a growing sense of urgency in her delivery. "I know Alice likes Olive. Mrs Thon is going to take a bad fall next year and retire. Our new form teacher will be Ms Kelly. We’re going to have a three-day orientation camp next week..." The information flows out of her like she’s reciting a list, as if each fact is another piece of something bigger.
"and BTS, BTS... Right." Astra cuts herself short. BTS no longer exists.
Astra pauses, then, without warning, drops the words like a stone into still water, sending ripples through everything. "I am a time-traveller."
Everything goes silent. Huening Kai, still processing the absurdity of what she just said, opens his mouth, but no words come. He blinks, his brain struggling to form a response. Time-travel? It sounds like a joke. But the sincerity in her eyes, in the way she speaks, keeps him frozen.
She’s not joking.
Astra watches him carefully, sensing the hesitation, the confusion brewing behind his eyes. She doesn’t wait for him to respond, instead, she launches into a rapid stream of information, her voice unwavering as she spills out everything she’s been holding back— her past, BTS, TXT, her theories, her truth, what she has experienced, and everything in-between.
And somehow, in the middle of this chaotic monologue, Huening Kai realises something. Astra isn’t just telling him a story. She’s showing him a part of herself— a part of the truth she’s been carrying alone. He doesn't just hear her; he feels her—the uncertainty, the desperation to understand, to make sense of a world that no longer fits the way it should. He sees the cracks in her story, the pieces she doesn’t fully understand herself, but the sincerity in her eyes makes it impossible for him to deny the truth of what she’s saying.
The fact remains that what she's spewing now would be shot down any other time with any other people— but she's with Huening Kai.
Huening Kai sees it. He listens, he absorbs, and he believes.
2018, January 1st.
It marks the starting point of her journey back in time, the date she caught the first TXT member atop her pirate ship— the most gullible one.
Chapter 4: Day 1 - 2
Chapter Text
The two walk side by side, their steps falling in sync, on the same familiar path back home. The road ahead feels oddly comforting. Past the wide stretch of pavement, the bridge with its metal rails, the playground with its fading laughter, and the stairs that lead up to their homes—it all feels so ordinary, yet nothing about today is.
When they both arrive at a quiet intersection, their eyes lock on the same tall, blue building in the distance.
"This is where I live." Astra points at the blue building.
Huening Kai’s gaze shifts, darting around the neighborhood. He hesitates momentarily, taking in the details before finally raising his arm and pointing at a green building. "I live there."
Astra looks to the building he pointed at, right across the blue one, "We... really are neighbors."
The two exchange looks. What they thought was just an excuse to cover for Astra earlier that day, a lie to Mrs Thon, turned out to be the unlikeliest of truths. An odd coincidence, it's as if the universe has decided to throw another curveball into the mess of their already confusing day.
Astra stretches out her arm towards Huening Kai, her expression serious, her words thick with an intensity that shifts the atmosphere around them.
"This is fate. Perhaps we were meant to cross paths from the beginning." Her tone, deep and resolute, transforms the moment.
It no longer feels like the playful exchange of strangers. This unspoken gravity makes Huening Kai hesitate, yet, sensing the sincerity in Astra’s eyes, he reaches out. His hand grips hers firmly, and they shake, not as simple acquaintances but as comrades embarking on something much bigger than either of them can understand. The handshake is strong—more than just a greeting, it's a silent pact, one made towards the unknown.
In the back of his mind, Huening Kai can’t help but laugh inwardly. As a big fan of anime and action shows, he’s always dreamed of moments like this—heroic partnerships, camaraderie, and the sense of destiny unfolding before him.
They break from the handshake and exchange a fist bump, grinning in unison, the kind of gesture that feels right for brothers in arms. A sense of shared purpose in this strange, fragmented world Astra finds herself in, as if they’re the only two who truly understand the world.
They stand there, right under their homes, truly believing they have a mission—to set things right, and maybe, just maybe, find their way back to where they’re supposed to be.
.
.
"Your brother said he saw you and a boy holding hands downstairs."
Astra’s heart skips a beat. Horror flashes across her face, her mind racing to correct the misunderstanding. She bolts upright, hands flying up in a flustered gesture.
"Not holding hands!" she protests. "We were shaking hands!"
She pauses, her tone softening as a smile tugs at the corners of her lips. "He's my friend."
Astra watches her mother, waiting for some kind of judgment. But then, to her relief, her mother’s gaze lowers as she turns away.
"I see," she says, her tone warm and accepting, the matter has already been put to rest.
When Astra retreats to her room, the door clicking shut behind her, there arises an overwhelming need to process everything that has happened—everything she’s been holding inside. Her fingers tremble as she pulls out her worn notebook, flipping it open to the first blank page.
The pen moves frantically across the paper, her thoughts spilling out in a chaotic rush. Her handwriting is a mix of hastily scrawled letters and wild loops, legible only to her.
There’s no time for organization—this is her mind on paper, raw and unfiltered. The ink scraps ten pages of her notebook before she even realizes it. She doesn’t stop to think; she just writes—about the timeline, about the people she’s met, about her confusing place in this world. Astra tucks the notebook away when she’s finished, sliding it under a pile of textbooks.
The rest of the day drifts by in a haze. She spends hours surfing the internet, jumping from one search to the next, trying to dig up anything that might explain her situation. She looks up BTS, TXT, and the company behind them. She scours the dates, the news articles, the fan sites—anything that might offer a clue as to what went wrong, or how she ended up back in time, stuck in this fractured reality.
But there’s nothing.
The groups she once knew, the music that had shaped her life, the company that brought them together—it's all gone. Cleanly erased, as if they had never existed at all. There are no traces, no hints of the future she remembers. It’s as if she’s stepped into a world where they never even existed to begin with.
Astra leans back in her chair, staring at the screen in disbelief. She refreshes the pages, hoping to find something, anything that can explain it all. But no matter how many times she looks, the result is the same, just like this morning. Nothing.
Her past now feels like an unreachable fragment of another life.
She sits blankly by her desk, “It's all wrong.” she mutters.
Astra is in an impossibly vast space, one so dark it feels like it could swallow her whole. The emptiness stretches on endlessly, an infinite expanse where nothing but the void exists. Yet, within this overwhelming darkness, there are small pockets of light—clusters of stars, scattered like fragile diamonds in the night.
They flicker in a strange rhythm, glowing softly and then fading, only to return again, pulsing in time with something she can't quite place.
Thump.
Astra’s hand instinctively presses to her chest, feeling the beat of her heart thumping loudly in the silence. Her eyes remain fixed on the stars, the only source of light in this boundless blackness.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The stars flicker, their rhythm matching the pounding of her own heart—synchronized, like a cosmic dance and everything seems connected, as if the stars are alive, beating in time with her.
Or is the beat of my heart instead synchronized to the flickering stars?
Astra can’t tell. The two—her heartbeat and the rhythm of the stars—seem indistinguishable, as if they’re one whole. She wonders if she's inside some kind of dream, or if this is reality itself. Everything feels so surreal, like she's floating between worlds, tethered only by the sound of her pulse.
She stands frozen in the vast, infinite space, her breath caught in her throat. The stars above her—those small, flickering lights in the endless darkness—suddenly seem closer, brighter. Her eyes widen as she watches the light grow, the soft glow intensifying until it overwhelms her vision.
Unbeknownst to the girl herself, her pupils, once round and human, begin to distort. The edges morph and pull, elongating into five distinct points, almost like the petals of a cosmic flower blooming inside her eyes.
A cascade of swirling, radiant colours—purples, blues, and golds—begin to seep into her irises, replacing the black that had once consumed them. The colors twist and blend, faster and faster, till a shimmering white light up her eyes, mimicking those blinking at her up in the sky.
The very air seems to crackle as if the universe itself is breathing around her, pushing its energy into her being. Astra doesn't flinch. Her gaze remains steady, locked onto the sky, as the stars above her begin to move.
Fall.
They fall.
Hundreds of them, thousands, millions even, streaking downward like meteorites. They plummet toward her with incredible speed, pillars of light.
Astra watches, mesmerised, as the stars crash toward the ground below, each one carrying the weight and force capable of reducing her to dust. And yet, she stands there, unmoving. Her heart, eerily peaceful in the face of such incomprehensible power, beats in rhythmic unison with the stars as they fall.
She stands, amidst the falling stars— like a fool.
But suddenly, through the surreal spectacle before her, a voice, clear and sharp pierces the silence. It cuts through the scene like a blade through the fabric of a dream.
"Wake up."
And with that, Astra wakes.
Her eyes snap open, still tingling with the lingering aftereffects of the dream, her mind feeling oddly alert despite just waking. She squints at the clock beside her bed. "What time is it?" she mumbles.
"6:30," her mother answers from the doorway. "You need to get up and get ready for school."
With a resigned sigh, Astra collapses back into her pillow, its softness pulling her deeper into the comfort of sleep. She knows she can still steal a few more minutes. Her eyes flutter shut as she tries to drift back into slumber, but the haunting image of the starry sky refuses to leave her mind. The vision lingers, persistent.
Frustrated, Astra forces her eyes open once more, staring blankly at the ceiling. The quiet of the room presses in, and her eyes feel wide and alert. With a soft groan, she swings her legs over the side of the bed, pushing herself up reluctantly.
When Astra emerges from her room, her mother, dressed in her office attire, is already heading for the door. She doesn’t pause to check if Astra is ready. Instead, she casually announces, “I’m going to work now,” before stepping out without a backward glance.
Astra mumbles incomprehensibly as she gets ready, finally locking the door behind her, feeling bitter about how her mother didn’t even bother to check on her before leaving. She drags herself down the stairs, her bag bouncing lightly with each step, but her mind drifts back to the vision of the starry sky, it lingers there, stubborn.
"Astra!" A voice cuts through her thoughts, pulling her out of her trance.
She looks up to see Huening Kai standing beneath the orange glow of a streetlight, his wide smile lighting up his face as he waves at her.
"Why are you here?" she asks in surprise.
"I was waiting for you!" Huening Kai says, tugging at his bag and walking toward her. "We live close, and we’re even classmates."
Astra’s lips curl into a soft smile. Her eyes twinkle as she begins to speak, her voice carrying a quiet, wistful tone. "My world is just like now—"
She goes on to describe her world as they walk toward school, the words flowing freely. Huening Kai listens intently, his questions interspersed throughout the conversation, mostly about himself—about TXT, about how he’s perceived, about his family, and his role in it all.
.
.
This time, the two arrive early enough to claim the second row, right behind the ever-early Taehyun, who claimed his seat for two days in a row.
Taehyun nods lightly, his expression unchanged. "Thank you."
With that, the conversation wraps up as quickly as it started.
Sitting at the back, Astra's gaze is fixed on Taehyun, her mind churning with thoughts. One of the best students admitted this year? That’s no small praise. He must be exceptionally smart, far more than she originally gave him credit for.
She entertains the thought that maybe Taehyun could be a great help to unraveling the strange web she’s caught in. He could offer her the answers she so desperately needs, yet…
Astra’s gaze drops, a flicker of disappointment clouding her features. She remembers how he’d ignored her when she greeted him earlier, as though she wasn't there. She swallows, the bitter sensation settling in her chest. I'm on his blacklist, she realises.
.
.
Later in class, Astra’s attempts at communication remain unanswered. Every time she tries, it’s as if he shuts her down with an invisible wall.
Occasionally, he makes the extra effort, fixing his gaze on the teacher whenever Astra speaks too much. His piercing stare is like a silent signal—one that never fails to catch the teacher’s attention. And just like that, Astra is once again punished, this time standing outside the classroom as her classmates snicker behind her.
They must have some sort of radar. She thinks bitterly, still unaware that Taehyun is the culprit.
The sound rings out in her ears, too loud for the quiet classroom. Astra stares at the desk in front of her, trying to steady her breathing, but the unease is gripping her throat. It tightens, and she feels an invisible weight pressing down. The air feels thin, hard to breathe. Her breath comes in shallow gasps, and she squeezes her eyes shut, as if doing so could block out the discomfort.
Her lips quiver, and for a moment, it feels as though she’s sinking, all down into a place she can’t escape from.
The teacher reacts quickly, sensing Astra’s distress. “Can someone bring Astra to the infirmary?”
A few students glance at each other, uncertain of who will step up. Huening Kai, who had been just about to raise his hand, pauses, his fingers hovering mid-air. Before he can make a move, the teacher cuts through with a firm command.
“You,” she says, pointing directly at Taehyun. “Bring your seatmate to the infirmary.”
Her words leave no room for argument, and Huening Kai lowers his hand with a quiet sigh, frustration flashing in his eyes as he watches the teacher call the shots. His gaze flickers back to Astra, still slumped over the desk, her face pale and drawn.
Taehyun doesn’t hesitate. He stands, swiftly moving toward Astra. He slips her arm across his shoulder, his grip firm and steady as he helps her up, lifting her weight with ease.
"Can you walk?" The question is simple, but there’s something new in his tone— concern, as if it's only now he's truly seeing her, despite the moments of indifference earlier.
Sweat beads on Astra’s forehead, and though her face is ghostly pale, she manages to rasp out a shaky, breathless, "Yes."
But Taehyun feels the weight of her condition immediately. He can hear her shallow, laboured breaths—each inhale stuttering and unsteady. Her chest rises and falls in rapid, shallow movements, and he can feel her heart pounding against his side, erratic and frantic.
Astra’s grip tightens on her chest, her eyes barely open. She remains eerily expressionless, but her ashen face betrays the struggle within. Her mind races, counting the beats of her heart as she tries to steady her breathing. She knows panicking will only make it worse, but the pressure in her chest is unbearable. She needs to keep herself calm.
Every step Astra takes feels like a battle, each one draining more of the air she’s barely managing to hold onto. She leans most of her weight into Taehyun, her fingers digging into his arm, gripping him as if he were her lifeline.
Taehyun doesn't complain and instead sweeps the girl up into his arms, breaking into a run towards the infirmary. His movements are fast, urgent, but whether it’s the jarring change in position or the speed, something causes Astra's physical condition to deteriorate, rather visibly at that.
Astra’s breath catches in her throat again, ragged and shallow. Her shoulders rise and fall in a frantic, uneven rhythm, where every inhale is a struggle she’s losing. Her eyelids are clenched shut, her entire body trembling, trapped in a tightening grip of suffocation. The wheezing fills the air, louder now, but each sound is a warning—of the narrowing line between life and death.
Her world has narrowed to nothing but the desperate need for air, every breath coming in jagged bursts.
Taehyun's grip on her tightens, and panic surges through him. He wonders if the girl in his arms, his seatmate who’s been nothing but a puzzle to him, is really going to slip away like that. Her skin feels colder now, and her breathing—each wheeze becomes more desperate than before.
Then, another loud, painful wheeze erupts from Astra's throat, louder than the rest, and for a terrifying instant, Taehyun wonders if it’s the last one. But that sound— that horrible, ragged sound— has one silver lining. It means she's still alive.
Taehyun picks up the pace, passing through the hallway, his focus locked on the elevator ahead. It’s a luxury the school reserves for staff, but he pushes the button, willing it to arrive faster, not caring about the rules anymore.
The elevator doors open just as he reaches them, and without hesitating, Taehyun steps inside, Astra still clutched tightly in his arms. His mind, usually composed and controlled is unraveling, pushed by the weight of life in his hands.
Each second feels like an eternity, and the elevator moves at an agonisingly slow pace.
When the doors open again, Taehyun is already moving, rushing down the hallway toward the infirmary, his heart hammering in his chest.
The door jingles softly as he pushes it open—a sound that marks the second consecutive day Astra finds herself here, in the white space of the infirmary.
Ophelia is already waiting. She catches sight of Astra immediately, her gaze sharp but not without a flicker of recognition. She holds a stethoscope in her hands, gesturing for Taehyun to help Astra onto a stool.
"Looks like an asthma attack," Ophelia says, pressing the stethoscope against Astra’s chest. "Can I have you hold her still, please?" She says to Taehyun.
Without hesitation, Taehyun places his hands gently on Astra’s shoulders, anchoring her in place.
"Deep breath in," Ophelia instructs, her tone steady and calm.
Taehyun feels Astra’s shoulders rise beneath his hands, the slight movement filling him with relief— she's listening.
"Did you have asthma before?" Ophelia asks.
Astra's eyes move, and she barely manages a nod.
"Did you bring your inhaler?"
Astra's lips open and close, as if wanting to say something, but only hot air comes out. She gives up, weakly shaking her head.
"Please look after her for a while," Ophelia says, her eyes briefly meeting Taehyun’s before she sets the stethoscope down and steps into the adjoining room.
The room falls into an eerie quiet, save for Astra's ragged breathing and the faint hum of the air conditioners overhead.
Then, amid the soft sounds, he hears something—faint but unmistakable. His eyes dart down to Astra, who is hunched forward, gripping the stool with both hands.
"Did you say something?" Taehyun asks, his voice careful.
This time, he's sure he heard it—a barely audible whisper. He leans down closer, straining to catch the words. "Sorry?"
A long silence stretches between them. Taehyun watches as Astra's hand trembles, her fingers curling inward. Her breath catches, and she inhales deeply, as if summoning the strength for something big.
But it’s only a word, though louder now, “Thank—"
It then break apart as a series of violent coughs forces out of her. Astra’s face turns bright red, blood rushing to her cheeks as the coughing wracks her body. Her chest heaves with each strained gasp, and her body curls in on itself as if trying to escape the pain.
Taehyun’s heart leaps into his throat. Panic surges through him again, all he knows now is to use his hands to pat her back, just like his mother used to when he descends into a coughing fit.
"Ms Ophelia!" Taehyun calls out, his voice cracking with urgency as he watches Astra’s face scrunch up in pain again, the situation taking a turn for the worse.
Ophelia rushes back into the room, inhaler in hand. "Open your mouth," she instructs.
Astra shakes her head, her face flushed with effort, struggling to rein in her coughs.
Taehyun watches on, deep fear filling his eyes. She really looks like she's about to die.
Ophelia’s voice, calm and measured, seems to reassure them both. "Whenever you’re ready," she says, shaking the inhaler gently in her hand.
Seconds stretch like an eternity, and Taehyun can see the toll it’s taking on her—her energy draining with each failed attempt to stop the coughs. But then, finally, the coughing starts to fade, and she opens her mouth.
Ophelia doesn’t hesitate. She presses the inhaler to Astra’s lips. "Deep breath in."
A sharp puff fills the room as the medicine enters Astra’s lungs.
Astra’s breath becomes a little steadier, the strained gasps easing with each inhale. After a moment, Ophelia administers another puff, followed by a third. By last puff, Astra’s condition begins to stabilise, her breathing becoming less erratic.
Ophelia glances down at her, a slight smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "You’re the second student in my entire career to make it to the infirmary on both the first and second day of school," she teases.
"Additionally—" Ophelia flips through the file in her hands. "Why does your student profile record no medical complications?"
"It's childhood asthma, and it got better so.." Astra trails off.
Asthma had been Astra's childhood friend, the two going hand in hand, but severe asthma attacks only occurred when she was younger, afterwards, her asthma improved. Even in her past— her previous timeline, Astra never had this bad of an asthma. Mostly, it was her liking to exaggerate things for the sake of skipping class and spending time in the air-conditioned room of the infirmary.
"You should still report it to school."
Ophelia shakes her head at her, handing over the inhaler. "You can take this. Keep this one in your bag."
"Thank you."
"I'll keep you here for observation," Ophelia says, the rhythmic clack of her keyboard filling the room as she updates Astra’s medical records. Her glasses slide down her nose, and she pushes them up absently as she works.
A moment later, Ophelia's head peeks over the top of the computer. "Student, what’s your name?"
Taehyun stands frozen, his hand still holding Astra’s shoulder, his mind still reeling from the chaos of the last few minutes.
"Student?" Ophelia repeats, calling him again.
Astra lifts her shoulder, and Taehyun comes to his senses, tightening his grip on her in response, holding her down firmly.
Astra winces at the pressure on her shoulders. Internally, Astra swallows her anger, too tired to even turn her head.
"Oh! I'm Taehyun," he blurts out, finally realizing that Ophelia had been speaking to him this whole time.
Ophelia nods, typing the last bit of information into the computer. "Taehyun, please go back to class and let your teacher know I'll need to keep her here for observation. Thank you for your help."
"Okay." Taehyun gingerly lifts his hands from Astra's shoulders, carefully watching her movements, treating her like a glass toy that would shatter any second.
Astra isn't looking at Taehyun but she can feel his careful actions, taking a deep breath, she tries again, "Thank you."
Taehyun pauses.
"It's alright." He turns away again, but if one were paying close attention, one would notice the faint flush of red creeping up his ear, betraying the warmth he tries to hide.
Indeed. It would have been alright. The roadblock to their friendship could have been cleared if only Taehyun hadn't turned back for the second time.
Taehyun did, perhaps out of worry about leaving his sick deskmate by herself.
Lo and behold, Astra, facing her life-saver with just the whites of her eyes—her weak rebellion against the boy who she thought is no longer looking.
In Astra's defense, she thought that Taehyun had pretended not to hear her earlier attempts to thank him. Additionally, to clarify, she wasn't genuinely angry because of that, but she rolled her eyes almost like second nature— a bad habit to anything that bothers her.
She's still thankful for Taehyun's help.
Of course, that wasn't how Taehyun would see it. Taehyun takes a U-turn back to Astra, his steps wide, yet the words he wanted to say were butchered the moment he meets her gaze with her weary eyes.
Instead, Taehyun asks in a soft, honey-like voice. Still, his tone did little to ease the sharpness of his words, "Why did you roll your eyes at me?"
Astra knew something was wrong when she saw Taehyun stomping back towards her. "I..." She stammers, "didn't..?"
Very weak. Unconvincing. Astra mentally grades her own rebuttal. Still, Astra knows she is in the wrong and the girl glances at Taehyun, her pupils shaking.
The next second, something changes. The heat of her guilt dissipates, and her facial features drop back to rest as she watches Taehyun roll his eyes right back at her.
Taehyun chuckles softly, a sound that felt far more genuine than any of his previous little "heh-heh"s. Astra can’t help but feel a small twinge of irritation at the fact that he’s laughing at her. Her lips thin into a straight line. She decides that there is no boy more detestable than this one before her.
Soon, Taehyun collects himself and gives Astra what the girl now identifies as a deceptive smile as he bids farewell sweetly, "Get better soon!"
Taehyun even does a little cheer. Any other day and Astra would have thought he was cheering for her recovery. But now, Astra narrows her eyes— Taehyun must be cursing her.
.
.
.
Lunch break arrives, but Astra still hasn’t returned to class. The minutes drag on, and Huening Kai can’t help but glance at the door, a quiet concern gnawing at him.
"Huening Kai! Lunch?" Isla’s voice interrupts his thoughts, and he looks up to find his deskmate, Isla, grinning brightly at him, her arms swung casually over his shoulders as if they were the best of friends.
He’d agreed to eat with Isla yesterday, and nothing about it had been pleasant. To put it nicely, Isla was observant. Too observant. And her attention to detail extended well beyond the usual. She had a habit of pointing out every little thing about their classmates, from their quirks to their outfits.
But it wasn’t just the observations that made Huening Kai uncomfortable. It was the way she turned every innocent detail into gossip. She seemed to notice everything—and not in a harmless, friendly way.
Isla had a knack for dissecting every small thing, turning it into a spectacle for her amusement.
“She’s so fake, don’t you think?” Isla would say, leaning in like they were sharing some sort of secret. “I saw her blink excessively in class today—obviously flirting. You know what that means, right?” And with that, she’d give Huening Kai a look as if he, too, should be appalled by the very thought of someone blinking too much.
Couldn't they just have dry eyes?
Then, it would continue, a waterfall of judgment and speculation. Isla would point out how Girl A always walked with her hair in a certain way or how Girl B’s laugh was “so staged.” By the end of it, Huening Kai would feel like he’d been forced to listen to a rundown of every "flaw" in their class, each girl reduced to some shallow observation.
It was exhausting.
Huening Kai is visibly uncomfortable but just nods along, not wanting to irk Isla who stores poison darts in her mouth. Who knew when they would be pointed at him?
Isla likes to talk to him in class, even after being called out by the teacher a few times, she isn't deterred, cursing right back, just loud enough for no one but Huening Kai to hear. The first few times, Huening Kai flinches, but now? Now, Huening Kai just tunes it out. He’s grown numb to it, his ears deaf to the constant stream of chatter that never seems to stop, letting Isla’s voice blur into the background like the hum of an old fan.
Early today, Isla had leaned in close and dropped her usual bombshell: she hated their class. The girls, apparently, are all “bitches” in her eyes, and because of that, she was done trying to fit in with them. She was going to hang out with the boys instead, specifically him, as Isla had made very clear through a string of suggestive comments and knowing glances.
Nope. No way.
To say Huening Kai felt shivers run down his spine at the thought of Isla’s implications would be an understatement. The idea of Isla hanging out with him, in any context, is his nightmare.
He would hate it. He really would.
Huening Kai, using more of his brain to navigate the psychological war with Isla rather than for the actual class, finally managed to shift the conversation. He can feel the subtle tension in the air as Isla’s sharp eyes pick up on his discomfort.
Isla's gaze shifted towards Astra, and with it, her curiosity flared. Isla, as always, was quick to observe and analyse, a practiced observer of human behaviour, tilts her head, eyes narrowing ever so slightly, and she casually leans in, her tone softening just enough to sound like an innocent question.
“So, what’s the deal with you and Astra?” Isla asks.
Their conversations—Isla's one-sided conversation drags on, the questions grow more invasive. A flicker of anger began to rise within him. Isla was stepping over the line now, her words growing more cruel, her tone sharper, grating on his nerves.
The problem is, Huening Kai isn't brave enough to call out Isla. A few seconds ago, Huening Kai had rolled his eyes, pressing his right hand to his ear in the hope that the subtle gesture would get through to her. He didn’t want to engage in this conversation any more than he had to. It was the silent plea for Isla to stop, to take the hint and shut the hell up.
But Isla didn’t take the hint.
Huening Kai wouldn't tolerate it if she badmouthed Astra.
The thought hit him with surprising force. Huening Kai, who had spent most of his life avoiding confrontation, is now finding himself protective of someone. Someone who, to his surprise, mattered.
A few moments ago, he’d referred to Astra as his "sworn brother" in his mind, but the words felt off.
"Sworn friend," Huening Kai thought with a slight discomfort, but that too didn’t seem to make sense.
His thoughts scrambled, trying to find the right term. Eventually, after a moment of mental wrestling, he settled on a simple word: friend.
She's my friend.
But even then, it held a weight he hadn’t anticipated. The word “friend” had always carried a deeper meaning for Huening Kai. It might be because, in his lifetime, Huening Kai didn't have many friends, therefore, he cherishes his friends just that much more.
And as Isla prattles on, the word “friend” feels heavier than it should.
Chapter 5: Day 2
Chapter Text
Today, for the first time in what felt like forever, Isla didn’t talk to Huening Kai at all. He wasn’t sure why, but he wasn’t about to question it. In fact, it was the one bit of peace he’d had all morning. He wasn’t looking for anything else, just the simple reprieve of silence from Isla’s constant noise.
That was, until lunch.
Isla, who had been unusually quiet for most of the day, finally breaks her silence with the kind of question Huening Kai had been dreading, “Lunch?
Huening Kai barely manages to pull a smile together, his lips twitching awkwardly. “No.” His voice is firm, but it comes out quieter than he intended.
He doesn’t feel like offering an explanation or a half-hearted apology. He’s not going to explain himself to Isla. Instead, he turns away, cutting across the room with quick steps.
His movement is sharper than it usually would have been, a reflection of the growing frustration that grows every time Isla opens her mouth. His childhood manners, the ones he’d spent years perfecting, seemed to disappear entirely as he makes his way toward Taehyun. With Isla, he felt no need for pleasantries or civility. His gentle halo? Gone, burned to ashes the moment he made the decision to stop playing along.
Isla didn’t care about anyone else. She didn’t care about him, and that is all he needed to know. And so, in return, he didn’t have to care about her. It’s as simple as that.
“Hi!” Huening Kai greets Taehyun with a smile, a warm, familiar halo settling back around him. It’s an unintentional shift from the sharpness he had just moments ago with Isla. With Taehyun, the tension melts away, replaced by a quiet sense of ease.
“Can I ask if Astra is alright?” Huening Kai asks, his voice laced with concern.
“She should still be in the infirmary,” Taehyun answers.
Huening Kai nods again, his fingers absentmindedly fiddling with his thumb as his mind races. Based on Astra’s story, he and the incredibly handsome boy before him were supposed to debut together in another timeline, a year from now. And now, facing Taehyun, there’s this strange, comforting sense of familiarity. It’s as though he’s known him far longer than just today.
“Thank you,” he says quietly, offering a shy smile, the words feeling softer than usual.
The quiet exchange seems to linger in the air for a moment, but as Huening Kai starts heading toward the infirmary, he’s stopped by Taehyun’s voice.
“I’ll go with you.”
Huening Kai freezes mid-step, surprised by the offer. Especially considering how Taehyun and Astra hadn’t exactly been on the best terms yesterday. Huening Kai can’t help but wonder what’s changed, but the offer still feels genuine, and a small but appreciative smile forms on his lips. “Okay!” He answers.
“But—” Taehyun cuts in with a smile. “Let’s get our food first.”
Huening Kai nods. “Right.”
As they step out of the classroom together, the sound of their footsteps echoes down the hallway. Before Huening Kai can process, a boy rounds the corner, nearly colliding with them.
"Where are you two going?" The boy asks.
Taehyun smiles, "Going to eat."
"But what about your friend? The one that got sick?"
"Oh. We were planning on looking for her after." Huening Kai scratches his hair.
"Can I tag along?" Dominic asks.
Before either of them can say anything else, a shout comes from behind them. "Hey! We said we would grab lunch together!" Veronica's voice is sharp, and she slides into view, facing Dominic with a dissatisfied expression.
Dominic laughs, unfazed, and shoots back, "I didn’t agree."
Veronica’s lips press into a tight line as she bites down on her lower lip. With a quick glance at Dominic, her posture stiffens, and she plants her hands on her hips. Without another word, she starts walking away,
“You can come with us!” Huening Kai calls after her, his voice trailing as he tries to salvage the situation.
Veronica doesn’t even turn around. Her back is the only thing visible now. She keeps walking, her voice low. “It’s okay.”
She doesn’t wait for a response and she quickly disappears from sight, leaving only the quiet echoes of the corridor behind her.
Huening Kai and Taehyun exchange a glance.
Dominic? Well, he didn’t seem at all bothered by it. Shouldn’t he be doing something? Wasn't she his friend?
Dominic catches the silent question in their eyes and meets it with a nonchalant look. He shrugs. "Don’t worry about her. I’ve known her since we were kids. She’ll come eventually. You’ll see."
Huening Kai highly doubts it. He steals one last glance back down the corridor, where Veronica once was.
Is everything really okay?
.
.
It is okay.
It takes a few minutes but just as Dominic had predicted, Veronica reappears, slipping back into the group as if nothing had happened. And with the additional presence of Veronica, the four of them have split off to queue at different stalls.
Taehyun stands in front of the rice-soup stall, which has a noticeably longer line today. The scent of simmering broth and steamed rice fills the air. When it’s his turn, he steps up to the counter, his voice polite. “Can I have it takeaway?” he asks, eyes scanning the menu for a moment before locking onto the warm rice soups that have already been ladled into steaming bowls.
The old woman behind the counter, leans over slightly, reaching for a container tucked away in the cabinet.
“Is it for that girl?” the elderly lady hums, her voice light and full of warmth. But there's something in the way she asks that makes Taehyun reluctant to answer.
It's not just the words themselves—it’s the tone. The knowing glint in her eyes, the gentle, almost teasing lilt of her voice. He can’t quite place it, but he’s sure that somehow, she’s misreading the situation.
Taehyun opens his mouth to clarify, to correct the assumption before it gets any more confusing. “Yes. She’s sick. I’m bringing it to her,”
"Sick?" Her voice shifts, just a touch of concern creeping in, her wrinkled eyes widening in surprise. But then, like a switch, that concern fades, and the knowing look comes back, stronger this time. It’s an expression that makes Taehyun feel like he’s being seen through—like she knows more than she should.
But really, there's nothing that she's seeing through, nothing more that she knows.
Holding back a sigh, he presses his lips together, resisting the urge to say more.
Her face softens, her eyes twinkling with a secret understanding as she peeks up at him. She adds another generous ladle of soup, brimming with vegetables and hearty broth, to the container. “I’ll give her more."
Taehyun watches as her wrinkled hands move deftly, packing the food into the container.
When he blinks back into focus. The food's already packed. He takes the plastic bag when she hands it to him, thanking her.
Taehyun moves toward the exit to wait, standing quietly by a tall pillar, watching the people, all dressed in the same uniform continue to come and go. Despite being tucked away at the very back of the cafeteria, it’s still noisy here—the steady murmur of conversation, the clink of spoons, the hiss of steam from the food stalls, the shuffle of footsteps, and a loud booming voice, calling his name.
"Taehyun!"
Taehyun turns, his eyes catching the figure of Huening Kai approaching, bags of food in hand, a grin tugging at his lips. "I'm here," he says, his breath a little short from the rush. He lifts the extra bag with a casual flick of his wrist. "I got yours too."
Taehyun’s lips curl into a soft smile, as he reaches towards the bag. “Thanks,”
"No, it’s okay!” Huening Kai quickly protests, noticing that Taehyun already has a bag in hand. He tightens his grip on the bag, his fingers curling around the plastic. “I can carry it for you.”
Taehyun’s hand hovers for a moment, eyes narrowing as he studies Huening Kai. “I can carry it,” he says.
A beat of silence hangs in the air before Huening Kai stammers, “Then—then I can help carry Astra’s bag?” Huening Kai looks at the bag Taehyun is carrying, his words tentative, as if offering a compromise. But Taehyun’s eyes remain fixed on him, their gaze sharp, the scrutiny making Huening Kai’s throat tighten.
Taehyun’s head jerks up, a realisation hitting him like a sudden burst of light. "Did Astra tell you something about time traveling?"
"Yes!" Huening Kai practically jumps out of his skin, his excitement clear in his wide eyes. But Taehyun’s expression sharpens, and he points a finger at Huening Kai. "You’re brainwashed by her."
Huening Kai waves his hands frantically as if to ward off the accusation. “She didn’t brainwash me! I trust her.”
Taehyun’s smile remains sweet, almost mocking in its gentleness, but the words he spews make Huening Kai feel like a fool. "That’s brainwashing."
Huening Kai stumbles over his words, still defending Astra with as much fervor as he can muster, but the sharpness in Taehyun’s tone leaves him uncertain. He opens his mouth, but the words feel empty, caught in his throat.
"What did she tell you?" Taehyun presses, his gaze unwavering.
Eager to back up Astra’s wild theory, Huening Kai starts spilling everything he knows, barely pausing for breath. He rattles off details, his excitement building as he tries to convince Taehyun of Astra’s strange story of time travel.
Taehyun, on the other hand, listens with half interest, but of course, he can’t resist interrupting. "Wait, Alice likes Olive?" he cuts in, his voice laced with mock surprise.
A mischievous laugh escapes him—one of those soft, mocking "heh-heh-heh"s that makes Huening Kai cringe a little. He watches as Taehyun reaches into his pocket, pulls out a letter, and casually waves it in front of Huening Kai. “She likes me,” he says, voice nonchalant, as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
Huening Kai's eyes land on the letter, the name 'Alice' shining in glittery fonts across the envelope, and he feels a wave of disbelief wash over him. It’s hard to ignore the fact that the letter is for Taehyun, and even harder to ignore the implications of what’s inside.
"You don't believe me?" Taehyun observes, his eyes glinting with that teasing look Huening Kai was starting to recognize. Taehyun flicks his fingers, then pulls open the flap of the letter, revealing a suspiciously pink sheet of paper inside.
"Stop, stop," Huening Kai groans, his cheeks flushing as he holds up his hands. “I believe you. There’s no need to—” He gestures toward the letter, there's really no need for him to uncover and lay his eyes on a young girl's confessions of love that she possibly poured her heart and soul into to write.
"Okay." Taehyun generously keeps the letter.
With a flick of his wrist, Taehyun motions for Huening Kai to continue. “Go on,” he urges, as if he hasn't just brutally shot down one of Huening Kai's claims. “I’m listening.”
Huening Kai hesitantly continues before he is interrupted again, "Mrs Thon retiring and Ms Kelly being our form teacher next year are events too far in the future for you to confirm."
Huening Kai freezes, speechless, his mind stuttering to a halt. He stares at Taehyun, trying to find words, but all that comes out is a frustrated sigh.
"Please continue," Taehyun adds, looking far too amused with this situation.
.
.
“The three-day orientation next week is real, even I know that. A senior I met yesterday told me. She said it’s a school tradition. All orientation camps are held in the second week of school,” Taehyun says, his voice flat, as if he's just proved his point beyond any doubt. "So that doesn't prove Astra's someone who knows future events."
Huening Kai feels like he's standing in the middle of a battlefield, and Taehyun’s words are the bullets, tearing through his defenses with precision. One after another, the points he’d gathered fall apart.
"Anything else?" Taehyun presses, his arms crossed arrogantly.
Huening Kai looks at him, fists itching. He knows there's more he could say, but every word feels useless now, as if it too will be obliterated in an instant.
He exhales, feeling the weight of his frustration. "No more."
"See how you got tricked?" Taehyun’s smile widens, a satisfied glimmer in his eyes. He’s won this round, and Huening Kai can feel it, the sting of defeat.
He won. But didn't manage to convince Huening Kai, just like how Huening Kai hasn't managed to convince him.
Yes, Huening Kai can see how he could have been deceived. Taehyun’s logic is sound, and everything makes perfect sense. Still, there’s a quiet certainty in Huening Kai’s chest, one that refuses to be shaken.
He trusts his friend. He trusts the sincerity Astra had in her when she showed him her world.
Huening Kai lifts his chin, a grin tugging at his lips, and with a tilt of his head, he answers, “Nope.”
The simplicity of his response, the unshakable confidence behind it, catches Taehyun off guard. Huening Kai doesn’t have an answer, no retort, nothing to counter Taehyun's logic. It’s like facing a stubborn six-year-old, who, despite all the evidence and reasoning laid out before him, refuses to bend, insisting on his way or no way.
In the finale of this verbal battle, even though Huening Kai's been shot down time and time again, battered and bruised by the exchange, but still, it’s him who smiles, he's the last one standing with a grin—riddled with bullet holes, but unbroken. The battlefield might be littered with logic and reason, but Huening Kai's faith stands tall, unscathed.
In the end, it’s the ones who cannot be swayed—who refuse to be reasoned with—who always come out on top.
Huening Kai beams at Taehyun, a grin spreading across his face as he tilts his head with the kind of satisfaction only a stubborn soul can have. Taehyun’s fists itch now, a flash of irritation crossing his features. He feels that, even if he couldn’t win the verbal sparring, stubborn fools like Huening Kai can always be knocked down with a more physical approach.
"Huening Kai! Taehyun!" Dominic's voice cuts through, a timely intervention that saves Huening Kai from the dangerous thoughts Taehyun is entertaining. Dominic’s footsteps grow louder, his breath short as he hurries over, still catching his breath from the run. "Sorry, the queue was long," he says.
A few seconds later, Veronica appears behind Dominic, her gaze sharp as she points subtly behind Taehyun. “A girl is glaring over in our direction,” she says, her voice soft.
Dominic follows her finger, his eyes widening in recognition. “Oh!” His face brightens immediately, the shift in his expression almost comical. “That’s Astra, the one who was sent to the infirmary earlier.”
He looks at Veronica, a skeptical eyebrow raised. “You didn’t know?”
Veronica rolls her eyes. “There are, like, 30 people in our class. Cut me some slack.”
As the two start to bicker, Taehyun and Huening Kai both glance over to where Astra is sitting—just a bench away from them, her figure rigid, her eyes locked onto them with an intensity that allows Taehyun to understand—Astra must have heard them and judging by the way she’s staring, drilling holes into him with her eyes, she must be offended.
Taehyun offers her a smile, unperturbed.
Huening Kai walks up to Astra, gently tapping her on the shoulder. "Did Ophelia let you leave?"
Astra blinks, her eyes fill with a dewy warmth when she looks at Huening Kai. "Yes. She told me to get takeaway lunch and then report back to eat together."
Huening Kai grins. "Oh, we bought yours!" He gestures toward the bags Taehyun is holding, his voice upbeat.
Astra’s gaze flickers to the bags, her mind racing. A few minutes ago, she had spotted them—Taehyun standing together near her favorite stall. She’d noticed the familiar packaging of the rice soup takeaway immediately.
But... they bought it for her?
The hostility that had been clouding her eyes toward Taehyun melts away, replaced by something softer. She steps forward, her voice trembling with a mix of emotions. "For me?"
"Yes. For you," Taehyun responds smoothly, swiftly pulling the rice-soup behind him. Without a moment's hesitation, he hands Astra a bag from another stall—one that’s clearly not from her favorite stall.
Astra’s smile falters, her initial joy evaporating. Still, she reaches for the bag, her fingers brushing the plastic before she pulls it to herself, murmuring a quiet thanks.
"Follow me," she says, her voice flat as she turns, her footsteps heavy. "It’s peak hour in the cafeteria now, there won’t be any seats. Ophelia said to eat with her."
Veronica, overhearing, raises an eyebrow, skeptical. "Is that allowed?"
Astra offers a nod. "It’s just for today."
The walk to the air-conditioned room feels oddly tense. Astra’s eyes flicker to the bag in Taehyun’s hands, and her thoughts swirl, devising polite, nonchalant ways to "borrow" the rice-soup from him. She imagines how she might claim it without making a scene—without embarrassing herself in front of her old classmates.
Ophelia watches the students file in, her eyes counting each one as they settle into the room. When Astra enters, she speaks up immediately, her voice holding a light hint of irritation and helplessness. "Astra," she says, "I invited only you."
Astra smiles, sitting down beside Ophelia, folding her legs neatly under her. She lifts one finger, a pleading gleam in her eye, "Just this once."
Ophelia sighs softly, opening her lunchbox. "Go get the cutlery for me and your friends," she says, gesturing to the cabinet beside the door. "They're in there."
"Okay!" Astra responds eagerly, already on her feet. She moves to the cabinet, her fingers counting out the utensils as she pulls them one by one.
As she walks back to the table, a sly smirk plays at the corners of her mouth, and she holds a spoon between her lips. She bows slightly as she hands the cutlery to Ophelia with both hands, bowing in a humble posture, causing Ophelia to chuckle in response.
Turning to face the others, Astra’s tone shifts, becoming more authoritative. "Open your boxes so I can put the cutlery in," she instructs.
The four students—none of them used to eating in a staff-only area—are keenly aware of the rare opportunity they've been given. They don’t question Astra’s commands, responding quickly to her directives. After all, she’s currently Ophelia's only patient, and if they want to enjoy the air-conditioned room and the cushioned chairs, they’ll need to stay on their best behaviour.
Dominic is the first to open his lunchbox, and Astra moves swiftly to insert a fork and spoon into it. Taehyun, seated across from her, takes out the food boxes from their bags, carefully setting them down on the table. He leans over, pulling at the lids, and the moment the rice-soup is opened, the smell fills the air.
But before anyone can say anything, there’s a flash of silver. A spoon—Astra’s spoon, the one she’d just had in her mouth—clinks into the rice-soup.
Taehyun looks up, his eyes wide, a flash of realisation crossing his face.
"Oh, sorry. I accidentally gave you the spoon that was in my mouth—"
Taehyun had intended to give the rice-soup to Astra from the very beginning, earlier. And when he handed her the other bag of food earlier, he was tricking her.
His plan had been to withhold the rice-soup—her favorite—out of spite, his irritation simmering from Huening Kai’s unquestioning belief in her and the way Astra had carried herself with such confidence. Maybe he just wanted to see her face fall, to deny her something she desperately wanted, to prove a point. An experiment perhaps? Or maybe it was just pure curiosity, a fleeting impulse that came from his irritation and in wanting to see her reaction.
But in the end, he truly did intend to give the rice-soup to Astra. He wasn't as evil to deprive a sick classmate of their favorite food— even if she was his annoying seatmate he wanted to open a big gap with.
But then, seeing Astra’s actions, her blatant despicability—it was as if his brain short-circuited. His disbelief and frustration built up in waves, washing away all reason. It was as if the world tilted on its axis, and in that split second, his impulse took over, overriding every ounce of sense he had left. Taehyun snatches the spoon that had fallen into the rice-soup and, without hesitation, pops it into his mouth. He looks straight at Astra, the corners of his eyes crinkling in a tight, almost mocking smile. "It's alright. I'm not saliva conscious."
A cold silence descends upon the table, thick and heavy— like the temperature in the room had dropped ten degrees. The others watch, mouths slightly agape, their eyes bouncing between the spoon and Taehyun’s face. The shock was palpable—his casualness leaving them speechless.
And then it hit him.
Saliva-conscious or not, there was no rational person who would willingly eat from a spoon that had been sitting in someone else’s mouth. The realisation hits, and the taste of the spoon suddenly feels wrong. His stomach churns.
I must have been crazy.
Taehyun resists the urge to spit the spoon out, keeping it firmly in his mouth as if the act of doing so would somehow negate the mistake. Slowly, painfully, he takes the spoon out, his hand trembling just a little as he reaches for the next scoop of rice-soup, his movements deliberate, but the taste still lingering on his tongue, tainting the otherwise comforting food.
He could feel their stares on him, burning into his skin and he asks, "Why are you all looking at me?" His voice came out a bit sharper than intended, a defensive edge creeping into his tone.
All five pairs of eyes are trained on Taehyun. The silence lingers, heavy and suffocating, and Taehyun can practically feel the weight of their judgment pressing down on him. A flush of discomfort creeps up his neck, he wants nothing more than to bolt from the room.
But no one says a word. Not a comment, not even a chuckle. Taehyun’s unease only deepens under their silent attention. In a strange way, the silence is worse than any insult they could throw his way.
Lunch ends uneventfully, and the awkwardness lingers in the air. Neither Taehyun nor Astra leaves satisfied. Taehyun has sacrificed too much—his dignity, his pride, even a little bit of his sanity—just to spite her. And Astra, despite all her planning and efforts, gets nothing in return.
Ophelia’s voice breaks the tension as she calmly instructs Astra to stay behind. “You should be able to return before the end of the next class.”
.
.
Astra returns to class a full 30 minutes after the bell for the next lesson rings, walking back into the room like nothing ever happened. Though the two, Taehyun and Astra have their tables connected to reflect their positions as deskmates, between their tables, there exists an invisible wall stretching from the ceiling to the floor— the two didn't talk throughout.
When the bell signalling the end of class rings, Huening Kai jumps up immediately, eager to escape before Isla catches him. He moves quickly, wanting to avoid her as best as he could. As he grabs his bag, he’s greeted by a familiar voice.
“Let me explain,” Astra says, her tone already defensive. “Alice would have liked Olive.”
She points to where Alice and Olive are sitting together, chatting as if there’s no one else in the room.
“See! They’re even sitting together.” Astra’s eyes are sharp, and she waits for some kind of acknowledgment from Huening Kai.
"And?" Taehyun interrupts, hoisting his bag over his shoulder as he moves to follow Huening Kai and Astra out of the classroom.
“You’re the butterfly effect,” Astra says, her voice almost matter-of-fact. “You two weren’t here in my past. Now that you are...”
Astra glances briefly at Olive, who's still deep in conversation with Alice, before her gaze snaps back to Taehyun and Huening Kai. Their faces almost seem to sparkle in the harsh white glow of the ceiling lights, and she nods, as if in understanding. “Alice must have preferred more handsome faces,” she adds.
"So what? Even if we are the butterfly effect, whatever you told us still doesn’t prove your time-traveling theory. Your logic, your explanations—they’re all highly flawed and—" Taehyun lays out his point, his tone sharp and matter-of-fact.
"You still sound like a nutcase." He continues.
Huening Kai, sensing the tension escalating, quickly steps in between Taehyun and Astra, his hand raised as if to separate two sparring animals. He looks at them both, trying to gauge the mood, but Astra surprises him.
"Right," she agrees with Taehyun.
Taehyun smiles, happy he finally managed to get his logic through. "Huening Kai is just on the dumber side."
Huening Kai's eyes widened, feeling wronged. It was supposed to be a crossfire between Astra and Taehyun, but somehow, as an innocent bystander, he ended up getting caught in the blast. And to make it worse, Astra—his friend—had actually agreed with Taehyun.
Astra glances at Huening Kai, her expression suddenly thoughtful. So it wasn’t me who was good at talking, she realises. It was just that Huening Kai was too naive.
"But," Astra continues, her voice firm, "I really travelled back in time."
"So you did," Taehyun responds, his words dripping with sarcasm.
"Then. There must be something, something that you know and I don't. Something unique on your end." Taehyun presses. "Something solid enough to convince me."
Astra falls into silence as she stares at Huening Kai and Taehyun, these two boys in front of her are clearly enough proof.
She sighs, pondering her next move when Huening Kai suddenly speaks up, a thought sparking in his mind. "You said we were in an idol group, what about our songs?"
Astra's face lights up, her eyes shining with a hint of excitement.
"Right," Taehyun agrees with Huening Kai, his tone is sharp, as if daring her to back it up, "Prove it then. Even BTS's songs. After all, they are unique entities that only exist in your world."
"Then Spring Day." Spring Day is the very song that made Astra climb into the big ship called BTS. A song regularly and passionately sung in the bathroom by Astra,
"보고 싶다, 이렇게 말하니까 더 보고 싶다
너희 사진을 보고 있어도 보고 싶다
너무 야속한 시간 나는 우리가 밉다
이젠 얼굴 한 번 보는 것 조차 힘들어진 우리가
여긴 온통 겨울 뿐이야 8월에도 겨울이 와
마음은 시간을 달려가네 홀로 남은 설국열차
니 손 잡고 지구 반대편까지 가 이 겨울을 끝내고파
그리움들이 얼마나 눈처럼 내려야 그 봄날이 올까, friend?"
.
.
.
The trio are out of school now. Walking down the same path that took them home, the cool evening air filled with the sound of their footsteps. Astra hums a beautiful tune. It's in a language that feels foreign to the two boys, but the melody flows effortlessly, as though it belongs in the air around them. Even though neither of them understands a single word, it is undeniably one meaningfully crafted and composed— it makes sense and it fits, all so perfectly.
Taehyun, with his phone in hand, quietly opens a music recognition app. The phone screen glows briefly before the app announces: No results found. He frowns, running the song through the app again. 'Spring Day', really doesn't exist.
He finally breaks the silence. "What do these lyrics mean?" His voice is filled with curiosity.
Astra pulls her bag to the front and digs around inside. She pulls out a small notepad and a pencil, her fingers deftly flipping through the pages. She begins to write quickly, the pencil scratching softly across the paper.
As Astra becomes more immersed in her task, her focus sharpens, her lips curving into a slight smile as she writes.
But just as the moment deepens, a voice interrupts.
"You can stop there," Taehyun says. "Neither Huening Kai nor I can read what you're writing. Please type on your phone instead."
Astra doesn’t flinch. Her handwriting has been insulted too many times to matter anymore. It's something she’s long since accepted. She glances up briefly. “I prefer writing."
"No point if we can't read it." Taehyun points out.
"I can read it to you." Astra says.
The way she says it is so matter-of-fact that Taehyun almost forgets the words he's about to say. He opens his mouth, intending to speak his mind—then you should have done that in the first place—but before the words can leave his mouth, he feels a sudden pinch on his arm from behind.
He turns, finding Huening Kai shaking his head at him, wary of another standoff between the two and not wanting to be caught in their crossfire again. Taehyun, swallows his words and turns back to Astra, who is still scribbling away. He bites back his frustration and just watches her.
Astra finishes writing, her notepad now filled with lines and words, she finally turns her attention back to the two boys.
She sits down next to them on the bench, carefully crossing her legs and placing the notepad beside her. She begins to break down the lyrics she’s written, translating them into words they can understand.
Taehyun leans forward slightly, hanging on every word she speaks. He’s silent, his eyes sparkling with the same curiosity that had been building up ever since this strange encounter started. He doesn’t quite understand why he’s so fascinated by the song, but there’s a pull, an almost magnetic force drawing him in.
Huening Kai, still relaxed and not quite as consumed by the mystery, watches Taehyun. He smiles, amused by how deeply he is diving into the conversation. He folds his arms, leaning back on the bench, looking up at the sky. The clouds are soft, stretching lazily across the horizon, and for a brief moment, Huening Kai empties his mind, simply enjoying this moment.
Taehyun’s eyes never leave Astra as she speaks, breaking down each sentence of the song’s lyrics. He wants to understand, wants to unravel the meaning behind every word, behind every note, but most of all, he wants to understand Astra.
Why is she so certain of this? What does she know that they don’t? What did she see or feel that made this song so important, so real to her?
"Are you convinced now?" Astra asks, her tone calm but laced with the anticipation of a long-overdue answer.
Taehyun doesn't immediately respond, but his silence speaks volumes. He does. Whether it's a time-traveller or a 16-year-old genius composer, Taehyun doubted such characters would waste their time fooling two 16-year-olds.
Taehyun asks, "So, if you're really from another time, what’s the reason you time-travelled?"
Astra shrugs, her eyes distant, she's finding the answer to this question herself. "That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out, too."
Taehyun narrows his eyes as he presses on. "Do you have any connection to me or Huening Kai from your past? Any reason we might have crossed paths before?"
She thinks for a moment before answering, "I knew you two existed, I listened to your songs, and I even liked them... But on a personal level? I don’t know you. And you don’t know me. We were literally on opposite sides of the world."
Taehyun frowns, mulling over her words. "What about the rest of TXT? Is there a chance they might be here, too?"
"What about the 3 other members of TXT? Any possibility they might be here?"
"No way. That's way too much of a coincidence," Astra laughs, her voice tinged with disbelief. "If that were true, I might as well be living in a fanfiction—a girl time-traveling to the past, where the five members of TXT are her schoolmates."
"But you're not our fan," Huening Kai points out.
"And that’s why this is definitely not a fanfiction," Taehyun adds, heavy conviction in his tone, as if he’s trying to convince himself as much as anyone else.
"And," Taehyun says, his voice rising slightly.
Astra turns, surprised to find him quite a few steps behind. She watches as Taehyun stands by a bus stop, waving to both her and Huening Kai. "This is my stop. See you tomorrow," he says, giving them a quick wave.
Huening Kai spins around dramatically and waves both arms wide, his voice playful and exaggerated. "Bye-bye!" he calls out in a sing-song tone.
Taehyun flashes a small, calm smile and lifts his hand, offering a small wave in return—his gesture a stark contrast to Huening Kai’s exaggerated, over-the-top motion.
Astra, unable to resist the urge, mirrors Huening Kai's dramatic flair, her grin wide and playful. "Hey! Kang Taehyun! Bye-bye!" she calls, her voice rising in a teasing sing-song.
The few people at the bus stop begin to glance their way, curiosity piqued by the lively exchange. Taehyun groans, clearly embarrassed by the attention, and quickly looks away, his face flushing as he pretends to not know either of them.
The sun begins its slow descent as the evening stretches on. By six o'clock, a dirty yellow glow begins to bathe the streets, casting a warm yet muted light over the path that Huening Kai and Astra are walking. The world around them feels quiet, suspended in the soft glow of twilight.
Like it’s alive, pulsing with energy—each gust of wind, each subtle shift in the atmosphere, seems to affirm the existence of everything here. Taehyun scratches at his neck, his thoughts wondering. His eyes land on Astra’s retreating figure, her back growing smaller with each step she takes, the distance between them growing as the light dims.
He scratches harder, the feeling of unease creeping up his spine, mixing with the weight of his thoughts.
If I wasn’t supposed to exist here, then...
His head drops, his voice quiet, barely more than a whisper in the evening air.
"Am I real in this world?"
Chapter Text
The stars are falling again. From where Astra stands, they seem both impossibly far and too close at the same time—huge and bright, yet so small against the vast expanse of sky. But Astra knows. She knows that when they fell, they would destroy the very ground she stands upon.
It’s the same dream. A beautiful, starry sky, the stars descending like meteors, crashing down into the world. And there she is, standing frozen beneath them, blankly watching them, locked in place.
Huening Kai notices her stillness and calls out, "What are you thinking about?"
Astra blinks, her thoughts still tangled in the dream. She looks at him, voice distant. "What if the stars hit me before I wake up?"
"What?" Huening Kai is confused.
Astra turns toward him, placing her hands on his shoulders as she asks an absurd question in a serious manner, "Have you ever died in your dreams?"
Huening Kai laughs lightly, shaking his head, "Nope. I always wake up before I die."
Astra had the exact same odd dream for two nights in a row, and it’s starting to scare her. What if the dreams are trying to tell her something? A warning? A glimpse into the future? She can’t shake the feeling that they mean more than just a passing idea from her subconscious.
Later in class, the unease still clings to her. The question she’d been turning over in her mind lingers, and she couldn’t shake the sense that it needed to be asked.
With a hesitant glance at Taehyun, she asks, "Have you ever died in your dreams?"
There’s an edge of fear in her tone, as if the question itself carries the weight of a truth she’s not sure she wants to face, as if she's afraid of his answer.
"No," Taehyun responds, not looking up from his notebook, his pen gliding quickly across the page as he summarises the notes the teacher wrote on the board. His answer is simple.
"But what if you died in your dreams?" Astra continues, a hint of something darker underneath her words.
Taehyun pauses, pen hovering mid-air. "That doesn’t happen," he says, the logic in his voice clear. "We always wake up before we die."
Astra’s eyes remain fixed on him, his words sending a chill down her spine. “But what if I died before I woke up?” her voice is a little more urgent, the fear she’s been trying to hide is slipping out.
Taehyun finally looks up at her, his gaze unbothered. "Then I guess you will really die— brain dead," he gives it to her straight, as if the answer is as simple as any other.
Astra goes still, her chest tightening.
"What? What else did you expect me to say?" Taehyun asks, turning back to his notes, unaware of the weight his words have on Astra.
Astra doesn’t respond, her thoughts swirling.
"Did something happen?" Taehyun asks, sensing something wrong.
Astra hesitates, then answers, eyes distant. "I had a dream," she begins, her voice trembling slightly. "There were thousands—no, millions..." She stops, a frown tugging at her features as she recalls the images in her mind. The memory feels too vivid, too real.
Taehyun cuts in before she can go further, his usual bluntness breaking through her quiet reverie. "You can’t count to millions, especially not in a dream."
"Countless stars." Astra corrects herself. "They were just... sitting in the sky, flickering. And then, in the next moment, they started to fall. And there I was, just standing under the falling stars." She falters, her voice tightening. "I think … I was admiring the view."
Her words hang and even she knows how absurd they sound. Why would anyone stand there, staring up at falling stars, knowing they might destroy everything? It doesn't make sense, even to her. But what’s worse—what really unsettles her—is that she’s conscious in the dream. The her in her dreams isn’t just a passive observer. She knows. She knows she’s dreaming.
"Admiring the view?" Taehyun looks at her with a raised eyebrow.
"I’ve been having the same dream since the day I travelled here," she adds softly.
"Same dream?" Taehyun asks, frowning. He leans back slightly in his chair."If you keep having the same dream, try to notice the differences in each one. If you're worried the stars are going to crush you before you wake up, next time, see how far they've fallen by the time you wake up."
Astra takes his words to heart. "Okay."
Taehyun turns back to his notes, quickly scribbling down everything he missed, his pen moving in quick strokes. But from the corner of his eye, he notices that Astra hasn’t moved. She’s sitting still, her gaze distant.
"Aren’t you going to take notes?" Taehyun asks.
Astra sniffs, then wipes her nose with the back of her hand. "I’m going to die when the stars fall anyway. No point in writing it down."
Taehyun jolts at her words, his gaze snapping back to Astra, concern flashing across his face.
Astra grins, but it doesn't reach her eyes.
Taehyun shakes his head, "Think about it," he says, his tone more insistent now. "If you can never return to your past, then..." He glances at Astra’s empty notebook, the pages untouched. "You’ll be ruining your future here."
Astra stays quiet. She doesn't meet his eyes, nor does she offer any rebuttal. Instead, her fingers slowly curl around the pen, and words begins to fill the blank pages of her notebook.
During the brief break between classes, as students shuffle through the halls to grab a snack or catch up with friends, Taehyun’s phone vibrates in his pocket. He pulls it out, glancing at the screen, his expression changes in an instant.
Without a word, he grabs Astra’s wrists, his fingers tightening just enough to draw her attention. His eyes burn, something unfamiliar flickering in them—
“Beomgyu and Yeonjun are in this school.”
Astra's eyes widened, almost to the size of Taehyun's gigantic ones, mirroring the shock in his gaze. "How.. how is that possible?"
Taehyun doesn’t look at her, his eyes glued to the screen of his phone as he reads. “Beomgyu is a second-year senior prefect. He's a big deal here, pretty famous actually.”
Astra’s brow furrows, confusion seeping in. “How did he become a senior prefect in Year 2?” She’s sure that only the third and fourth years could earn that kind of title.
Taehyun shrugs, a nonchalant edge to his movements. “Grades. Charisma. I mean, he must be famous for a reason.”
"Then, how did you know?" Astra asks, her mind still racing from the new revelation.
Taehyun doesn't look up from his phone, slipping the device back under his desk as the teacher walks in. "I know a senior in this school. She’s in year 4, same as Yeonjun. Yeonjun's also pretty well-known, he represented our school for dance."
As the pieces shift in her mind, she asks again. "If they’re here... then where’s Soobin?"
"She doesn't know." He answers, clicking off his screen. "She says she's never heard of him."
"You came from the year 2024," Taehyun says, his tone a little more deliberate, his gaze studying her closely now. "How old did you say you were again? In 2024?"
Astra’s stomach drops. She's 22 in 2024. But she can’t remember exactly what she told him. She knows she said something; she lied about her age, and her mind blanks.
She wipes her forehead with her sleeve, the stress mounting. Taehyun’s question feels like an interrogation now.
"30," she says, sitting up straighter, her voice a little louder than necessary, hoping her confidence might sway him. But even as the words leave her mouth, Astra feels the weight of the lie press down on her. She’s not even sure why she said 30.
"Astra!" The teacher’s voice, though sharp, offers Astra a much-needed reprieve from Taehyun's questioning. "Please pay attention in class."
Astra nods quickly, her cheeks flushing as she turns to the whiteboard, But the words on the board blur before her eyes. Her mind is miles away, tangled in the uncertainty of the lies she’s spun.
Her heart races as she struggles to maintain a neutral expression, feeling Taehyun’s eyes boring into her. His gaze is quiet, but it’s like a thousand questions, a thousand doubts, all piled up and waiting just beneath the surface. She knows—he's still thinking about it. And that knowledge makes her skin crawl. She’s secretly terrified, praying for him to just let it go.
The teacher turns her back to the class, focusing on the whiteboard. Turn around, she screams internally, just turn back around. She's already dreading it, the looming presence of the boy beside her, who she's sure is just waiting for the right moment to unleash his one thousand and one questions. Or perhaps just one— one more and the truth will all unravel.
Then, her horror intensifies as it comes— in the form of a low, soft chuckle from the person sitting beside her.
Taehyun leans in, his voice a whisper, but crackles like thunder in her ears, "You said you were 32."
Her blood runs cold. He knows. He remembers everything. This whole time, he’s just been testing her.
I shouldn’t have lied in the first place, she thinks, panic rising in her chest.
Her voice falters as she tries to salvage what little control she has left. "I must have counted wrongly. Right, I'm 32." The words feel hollow as they leave her mouth, but she says them anyway, hoping they'll hold together for just a little longer.
Taehyun’s smile is almost knowing, as if he already has the pieces to the puzzle in front of him. “Then what about TXT?” he presses, his tone light again. “How old was I in your time?”
Astra exhales slowly, the breath she hadn’t realised she was holding finally slipping out. For a moment, she thinks Taehyun has finally dropped the subject, or perhaps she’s managed to convince him. Her confidence starts to return, and she rolls her eyes.
Isn't that just simple math?
"Six years from now, 22." she replies, her tone dismissive.
But Taehyun doesn’t back down. A sly grin creeps onto his face—he’s caught her in a lie. Tilting his head slightly, his voice shifts into a casual, but piercing tone. “But doesn’t time here not match your time? Otherwise, how are you 16 in 2018, but 32 in 2024? Where did your 10 years go?”
...
"Did you eat your 10 years?" Taehyun’s next words come like a soft but unforgiving whisper. His eyes—those wide, big eyes—are locked onto hers, his gaze beaming at her like a car’s headlights, blinding her and leaving her no place to hide.
Astra’s throat tightens. Her mind racing for an escape, but as it churns, it blurs and her mind scrambles, trying to find a way out of this. But instead, all she can do is ask herself, Did I really eat those 10 years?
He's Kang Taehyun. The student Mrs Thon encouraged to jump grades. She knows he's smart. She should have known better than to let her guard down.
Astra tries to brush it off. "Right, right. It must not match. I think I got a little confused."
But Taehyun isn’t buying it. He’s already pieced it together, and he's no longer shaken by her lies. “So, you’re the same age as me and Huening Kai? We’re all 22 in 2024, huh?”
Astra falls silent. There’s no denying it now—he’s nailed the truth, hit it right on the head. Bitterly, she thinks—Sometimes, smart people are a pain in the ass.
"So how old were the rest? Beomgyu is 23 and Yeonjun 25, what about Soobin?" Taehyun turns back to face the front.
She doesn’t know. She wasn’t informed enough to know every little detail. But she knows, Soobin is the leader of the group, probably on the older side. She knows she can’t lie to Taehyun anymore. He’s too sharp, too observant. But she wants to give a last-ditch struggle, giving false information just for the sake of it.
"Soobin's 21 in 2024."
Taehyun looks straight at Astra, "Younger than us? Impossible. Do you even want to find him? We at least have to figure out what year he is in."
Astra's sure now. There is no point lying in front of Taehyun. One slip-up and everything will collapse like dominos.
Astra lowers her head, it feels like she's surrendering, waving the white flag, "I don't know. But Soobin was the leader of TXT, so he should be about Yeonjun's age."
"We are all about Yeonjun's age." Taehyun corrects her, his voice sharp and unforgiving. He watches Astra, who, despite her obvious discomfort, keeps her gaze fixed on her notebook as if the words she writes can shield her from him.
"So, you don’t know anything," Taehyun mutters with a sigh, more to himself than to her. "We’ll have to start from scratch, then."
Astra grits her teeth, fighting the urge to respond. She ignores him, focusing on the scribbled words in front of her, pretending that he hasn’t just chipped away at the walls she’s carefully built around the image she wanted to portray.
Just as she thought she’d found a moment of peace, her name is called again.
"Astra! Are you talking to Taehyun again?"
Astra blinks, pointing to herself with exaggerated confusion. Wasn’t he the one talking to her?
"Yes, you. One more time and you’ll be standing at the back."
Astra stares at the teacher, her frustration rising. The teacher's eyes must be blinded by Taehyun's grades and his deceptively angelic face, Astra internally complains.
What an unfair world this is. She sighs internally, her shoulders slumping as she fights the urge to throw her notebook out the window.
.
.
.
When lunch rolls over, Astra immediately bolts out from her seat, escaping from it.
Taehyun, startled by her sudden action, asks. "What are you doing?"
"Food," Astra replies quickly, not bothering to look back.
"We're looking for Soobin," Taehyun says, his voice a little sharper, "Just grab something simple."
Astra’s smile falters. "No."
"Don’t you want to go back?" Taehyun presses down his annoyance.
Astra goes silent, her gaze briefly flickering toward him. She does want to go back—she really does. But today, just for today, she’s not going to let anything get in the way of her rice-soup.
"No. I must have my rice-soup before I go."
Taehyun and Astra lock eyes, a silent standoff between the two. Neither one of them backs down.
Then, a voice breaks the tension—a soft, almost hesitant tone.
"Taehyun... Astra..."
They both turn in unison. Huening Kai stands behind them, surrounded by a small crowd of girls. He’s smiling awkwardly, clearly out of his element.
Astra freezes, her gaze flicks from Huening Kai to the girls, a light frown forming on her lips. She takes a step back, her discomfort obvious.
Unlike Astra, Taehyun doesn’t hesitate. He steps forward with a quiet confidence, and the girls immediately part to make way for him. He looks over his shoulder at Astra, then at Huening Kai, before addressing the group with an easy smile.
"Sorry, Huening Kai is having lunch with us," he says, gesturing toward himself and Astra.
The girls murmur among themselves for a moment before one of them, a confident voice, speaks up. "Then can’t we join too? The more the merrier."
"No." Astra’s voice cuts in from behind Taehyun. She steps forward, the space between her and the girls narrowing as she walks to the front of the group.
Her eyes fixate on the girl standing at the very front—the girl that turned Astra's school life into shit.
Isla looks back at Astra, brows furrowed and lips twitching in a sneer. The words that pour out of her lips are sharp, holding a cutting edge unexpected for a 16-year-old, "Bitch? Hogging all the boys to yourself?"
Huening Kai gasps, his hand instinctively covering his mouth, clearly caught off guard by the escalating tension.
Astra’s lips tremble, but she steels herself, pushing down the wave of unease. She lifts her chin slightly, trying to hold onto some semblance of confidence as she says, “So? What about it?”
The words taste like acid on her tongue, but she keeps her gaze steady, refusing to let Isla see how much her presence still affects her. Even after six years, the memories of Isla and everything she represents are burned into her mind. This place—this school—still feels like a cage she can’t escape.
Isla doesn’t even hesitate. Her eyes flash with contempt before she raises her hand and shoves Astra's shoulder, the force enough to make Astra stumble slightly.
Taehyun steps in quickly. He grabs Astra’s wrist firmly, “We have to go.” His eyes flick to Isla with a flicker of annoyance, warning her. But the words he speaks are too calm, almost too calm, "I'm sorry. But can't you mind your own business?"
Isla steps forward, her hand raised, ready to escalate things further. But before she can make a move, Dominic is there. His hand wraps around Isla's wrist, stopping her in her tracks with ease.
“What are you planning to do?” Dominic’s voice booms through the space, rich and commanding. His eyes lock onto Isla, challenging her to make another move.
For a brief moment, it’s just silence, heavy and suffocating, as Isla lowers her hand. Dominic doesn’t need to do anything more. His presence alone is enough to make Isla retreat, her bravado crumbling under the force of his figure.
Just like this, It’s like this every time. When things get bad, when no one else is willing to step in, it’s him who shows up. Just like he had in the past.
He’s always been the shield when everything else felt like it was crumbling around her. Astra doesn’t even need to say thank you. It’s been understood for years.
But now she does—Because this is no longer her past.
The words are small, but they carry a weight that she’s been carrying for years. They are words long overdue, yet somehow, they feel like the right ones to say now.
"Thank you."
It’s a simple exchange between two classmates, two people who’ve shared more history than Astra would ever let on. But in this moment, in this fleeting space between past and present, it’s enough.
And Astra smiles, a soft, melancholic light flickering in her eyes. It's bittersweet, the kind of smile that carries the heaviness of all the things left unsaid, and all the things time has taken.
.
.
Today, the queue for rice-soup is longer than usual. Astra stands at the back and watching the line grow, her gaze eventually settling on Taehyun and Huening Kai. After the two boys joined the queue, more students began to file in behind them, drawn like magnets to their presence.
The rice-soup stall hadn’t always been this popular. In her first and second years, it was a quiet little spot, barely a line to speak of. But by the time she hit her third year, something had shifted.
The stall gained a kind of momentum, a word-of-mouth popularity that turned it into a daily staple for many. And now, it seems, its appeal has somehow found its way, thanks to Taehyun and Huening Kai, who have somehow become the catalysts of this newfound fame.
Astra’s eyes narrow, focused on the back of Taehyun and Huening Kai’s heads, wondering if this is what they call star quality. The way people seem to gravitate toward them, like they’re magnetic.
Astra imagines a time in the near future when the line for her rice-soup would become a long snake. The girl shudders. Maybe she should start encouraging them to try other stalls. Maybe then the queues won’t stretch so far.
"This is actually really good," Huening Kai mumbles, his voice muffled by the bowl in front of him. His eyes don’t leave the food, still savoring the taste. "I see why you’re obsessed with it."
Astra looks up, guilt stirring in her chest. "It’s... just okay." She hesitates, pushing the spoon into her bowl, avoiding his eyes. "Look, there are so many stalls in this school. There must be something better. You should try all of them first."
The words feel wrong coming out, maybe it's because she is lying again. She buries her face deeper into her bowl, trying to hide the guilt that crawls up her neck.
"Why? You think the queue for the rice-soup stall is because of us?" Taehyun pokes at the truth immediately.
Astra's spoon clatters back into the bowl, the noise sharp. She looks up at Taehyun, his smile widening, and then at Huening Kai, who seems confused by the exchange. They’re waiting for an answer, but it’s hard to speak when she knows she’s been caught.
"I—" Astra hesitates. For a moment, she wants to keep lying, but the thought of being caught in another web of deceit stops her. "Yeah. What if one day, the queue gets so long that our one-hour break isn't enough for me to get my rice soup?"
Taehyun’s grin stretches even wider, his teeth flashing as if he’s enjoying the conversation. "Think about it," he says, gesturing toward himself and Huening Kai, "In the past, you’ve binged on this rice-soup for four years straight, while we—" He gestures to himself and Huening Kai, "Have barely even tried it. Don't you think it's a little cruel to deprive us of it just for you?"
"You should be the one trying other food. Don’t be so fixated on rice-soup." Taehyun leans back, his voice casual, but there’s a hint of amusement in his eyes as he throws her words straight back at her. "Look, there are so many stalls in this school. There must be something better. You can’t be eating rice-soup five days a week. Are you a rice bucket?"
Astra feels a sharp pang of guilt and begrudgingly nods, her eyes sorrowful. She's somewhat convinced, she knows Taehyun’s right—rice-soup alone won’t give her the variety and nutrition she needs. Still, it feels like a betrayal to give up something she’s grown so attached to, something so simple and comforting in the chaos of her days.
Indeed, the observers always saw things clearer than the manipulated victims, and Huening Kai, bursts into loud laughter, clutching his stomach, his body curling in on itself with amusement.
"Is he laughing at me?" Astra asks Taehyun, a frown tugging at her brows.
Taehyun shakes his head, his expression serious, though the smile tugging at the corners of his lips betrays him. "He’s not."
He's laughing at me. Astra is convinced now, though she still has no idea why.
She scoops another bite of rice, her eyes narrowing as she watches Huening Kai still giggling, barely able to catch his breath. It isn’t the laughter that bothers her—it’s the ease with which they see through her, the way they pick apart her little habits and comfort zones like they're nothing.
She wishes she could be more like them—unbothered, carefree, able to shrug off the small things she clings to.
Her gaze shifts behind Huening Kai to the snack store, a tempting array of drinks and snacks neatly lined up. Her eyes lock onto the bread stand. The wooden bread box is filled with fresh, soft loaves, their golden crusts glistening under the lights. And there, in the corner of the tray, is the cream bread. Astra's mouth waters just thinking about it. She remembers the smooth, rich taste of the cream filling—how it melts perfectly in her mouth.
It’s settled, then. After school, she’ll treat herself to that cream bread.
Eh?
Bread?
Astra's mind clicks into place as the thought dawns on her, and she abruptly stands up. The sudden motion causes Huening Kai to stop laughing, and both boys stare at her in confusion.
"What are you doing now?" Taehyun rubs at his neck, clearly puzzled by Astra's sudden change in energy.
"Soobin," Astra mutters to herself, her memory playing out a few clips of Soobin that she’d come across in the past, where he’s stuffing his face with bread. "Soobin likes to eat bread."
"What?" Huening Kai and Taehyun say in unison.
"I just remembered," Astra blinks, as if the thought had just clicked into place. She sits back down, looking a little embarrassed by her own reaction.
Taehyun raises a finger, pointing at the tall boy lining up at the snack stall. "Then, is he Soobin?"
Astra’s neck stretches to try and see the boy Taehyun is pointing to. "What? Where?"
"Him!" Taehyun exclaims, sounding almost certain.
Astra squints, only catching a tuft of hair in her line of sight. "Huening Kai, you’re blocking me, move, move." She gently pushes the side of Huening Kai’s head, her voice laced with impatience.
"Hey!" Huening Kai complains, but moves anyway.
Behind Huening Kai’s frame stands a tall boy—easily over six feet—grinning with a cute dimpled smile as he looks down at his phone.
Soobin.
Astra blinks, staring at Taehyun, a strange curiosity flickering in her eyes. She wonders, for a brief moment, if there’s some kind of fate-bound connection between the five boys, like the red strings from the old legends—the ones that tie people together across time and space. Perhaps this is how it works: the string pulls them all together, slowly but surely.
That could explain why they are all in the same school!
Astra doesn’t know whether to laugh or feel unsettled. She hadn’t realized how perceptive Taehyun could be, how easily he read the room, and maybe, her thoughts—her lies, especially.
Before she can process it further, Huening Kai pokes Taehyun in the side, his eyes mischievous. "I know you’re just jealous of his height."
Taehyun doesn’t hesitate for a second. "I am. I want to be taller," he admits without a hint of shame, his gaze sincere as he looks at Huening Kai. "Just like you."
Huening Kai freezes for a moment, his eyes widening slightly, not expecting the compliment—or the unexpected admission. He scratches his head awkwardly, his lips twisting into a shy smile. "Uh… Thanks?" he responds, unsure of how to react to the sudden praise.
The silence stretches for a beat before Huening Kai bursts into a small, embarrassed laugh, scratching the back of his neck. "I didn't know you felt that way."
Astra watches this exchange, admiration in her eyes. Taehyun’s honesty is almost disarming. He never hesitates to say what’s on his mind, even if it’s something as simple as wanting to be taller. And Huening Kai, the innocent one, just doesn’t know how to handle the unfiltered nature of Taehyun’s thoughts.
"Let’s go," Astra says, standing up, determination flooding her. She’s ready to confront Soobin.
Immediately, Huening Kai tugs her back down. "What do you mean, let’s go?"
Astra shoots him a sideways glance, her eyes narrowing. "We have to tell him!"
"Tell him what? That you time-travelled and he's not supposed to be here?" Taehyun raises an eyebrow, looking at her like he's looking at a fool.
Astra winces, remembering how that backfired before, resulting in Taehyun ignoring her for the rest of the day. Not exactly her best move.
Taehyun taps Huening Kai on the shoulder. "You go. You at least look the part."
"Huh?" Huening Kai recoils, his eyes wide in confusion and horror. "Look what part?"
"You look the most harmless," Astra adds in, nodding seriously. Taehyun nudges Huening Kai, clearly finding the situation amusing.
Huening Kai, looking even more confused, shakes his head. "But I don’t know him! What do I even say?"
"Just ask him for a bread recommendation," Taehyun suggests.
Astra grins. "Yeah. Then get his number while you’re at it."
She adds. "Then we can text him."
...
"He'll block us." Huening Kai says.
Taehyun is also concerned, he turns to Astra. "Your socialisation skills are... lacking. Did you even have friends in the past?" His words land with uncanny precision, a sharp reminder of just how few people had ever gotten close to her. She could count her friends on one hand—heck, on one finger.
Astra's face is momentarily clouded. She knows it’s true. She’d always been the outsider, the loner who stuck to herself. But that was the past. Now, she’s 22. She can handle this. She’s better at it now. Right?
"Fine," she mutters, shaking her head to shake off the memories, "Now go."
Huening Kai, still looking uncertain but strangely resigned, takes a deep breath. His hands are stiffly held in front of him as if he’s about to embark on some mission of grave importance. His steps are robotic, each one more reluctant than the last, but he doesn’t turn back. The poor boy is walking straight into the unknown, forced by his two friends of just three days, on a mission from which there is no return.
“Uhm. Hello?" Huening Kai’s voice is soft, barely audible, as if he’s unsure whether he’s making a mistake or not.
Soobin, who had been looking at his phone, raises an eyebrow curiously. "Are you talking to me?" he asks, his voice light and friendly, not at all offended.
"Yeah..." Huening Kai stumbles over his words, visibly nervous. His fingers twitch at his sides as if they don’t quite know what to do with themselves. "I wanted to ask..."
Soobin’s gaze softens. He places a hand on Huening Kai’s back, patting him gently like a reassuring older brother. "It’s okay, take your time," he says, offering a warm smile.
Huening Kai returns a shaky smile, one that barely conceals his discomfort. "What kind of bread do you recommend?" he blurts out, the words rushing out without much preamble.
Soobin blinks, then chuckles softly to himself. The question is so direct, so abrupt, and paired with Huening Kai’s shy posture, it almost feels like a pick-up line. He can’t help but find the awkwardness endearing.
Huening Kai, noticing the laughter, feels his face heat up. He lowers his gaze, mortified that he might’ve made a fool of himself. "I knew this was a bad idea," he mutters to himself.
But Soobin, a good-natured person, tries to make the situation less awkward. "Don’t worry, it’s fine," he says with a smile. "I actually really like the bread with the chocolate filling. It’s delicious."
His tone is kind and encouraging, and Huening Kai’s nervousness eases slightly as he looks up again.
From the exchange though, Soobin was able to figure out—this boy hadn’t come up to him on his own. His gaze flicked toward the two other first-years, who were watching them intently from across the room. They stood out, and it was clear that something was off. Soobin narrows his eyes, beckoning for them to come over.
The two of them hesitate for a moment, exchanging glances, before they make their way over to him. Soobin watches them closely as they approach, curiosity flickering in his eyes. "What’s going on?" he asks, his tone a mix of interest and subtle caution.
Taehyun answers first. "We want to tell you a story." His voice carries confidence, but Astra can’t help but gape at him in surprise. Is this really how they’re going to approach Soobin? Isn't this similar to how she did it?
Soobin’s gaze flicks between the trio, assessing them with a careful eye. "You’re all first-years, right?" His question is casual, but his look lingers a little longer than usual, as though he’s trying to figure them out.
The three of them nod in unison, like little chicks pecking at the same grain.
Soobin's eyes narrow as he considers them for a moment before speaking with a hint of caution. "You shouldn’t engage with any suspicious groups. Have you heard of pyramid schemes?"
The three first-years exchange uneasy glances. Did they really give off that vibe? Lackeys of a fraudulent system? None of them had expected to be mistaken for con artists.
Well, maybe Taehyun had.
Soobin’s face softens, but his concern doesn’t fade. His round eyes scan the group one more time, clearly worried.
Taehyun lets out a resigned sigh, his shoulders slumping as he pulls Huening Kai and Astra away. "Let’s just go," he mutters, knowing that today was a lost cause.
"Wait, wait!" Soobin calls out, his tone more uncertain now. The three of them pause, turning back at the sound of his voice. Their wide eyes, parted lips, and slightly hunched posture seem to make Soobin pause too, like he’s suddenly seeing three lost, abandoned children.
Astra, however, seems to snap out of the awkward tension. With a sudden burst of confidence, she shakes off Taehyun’s grip and strides over to Soobin. She pulls out her phone and holds it up to him. "Can I have your number, please?"
Soobin blinks in surprise, but then quickly takes the phone and keys in his number. As he hands it back to her, he offers a reassuring smile. "Call me if anything is wrong, alright?"
Astra bows slightly, the gesture polite, knowing that she has just taken advantage of his genuine concern. "Thank you," she says, her voice tinged with quiet gratitude.
When Astra returns to Taehyun and Huening Kai, she waves her phone in front of them triumphantly. "See? We should've asked for his number from the start," she says with a grin.
If she has done that first— Taehyun is certain. She would have been blocked.
Huening Kai, still a bit confused but eager to contribute, scratches his head. "What now?"
Astra pauses for a beat, then says with surprising clarity, "We tell him. No point in dancing around it. We say it straight to his face, then figure out the rest later."
"Straight to his face?" Taehyun echoes, raising an eyebrow at the boldness of her statement. But before Astra can respond, both boys start walking away, chatting amongst themselves like they haven't just heard Astra’s suggestion.
Astra stands there for a moment. Her words feel like they’ve been lost in the air, unimportant to them. She huffs, blowing a lock of hair out of her face. But then she shifts—her lips curl into a mischievous grin, and without a second thought, she turns on her heel and sprints back to the canteen.
The snack stall is still open, but Soobin is nowhere to be found. A little disappointed, Astra glances around, but her eyes quickly land on the cream bread she'd been craving. She snatches it up with a sigh of relief. Then her gaze flickers to the other tray, where the bread with chocolate filling sits, just as Soobin recommended.
Astra grabs that one too, clutching both pieces of bread to her chest as she dashes back toward class. Her heart races—not just from the sprint, but from the giddy rush of doing something a little spontaneous.
Once back in the classroom, she checks the time. Only a minute before the next class. Astra quickly places the bread on her desk and darts out again, heading for the toilet.
Taehyun watches as Astra breezes in and out of the classroom like a whirlwind, leaving a trail of energy behind her. He leans back in his seat, catching the sweet scent of warm bread wafting through the air. The doorways remain empty, and Astra has yet to return.
His gaze flickers to the bread resting on her desk—still untouched. Without a second thought, his hand reaches out, grabbing the chocolate-filled bread. He stands up and walks over to Huening Kai.
Huening Kai looks up from his notebook, his expression a mix of confusion and curiosity as Taehyun rips the bread in half, offering half to him.
Huening Kai beams and immediately chucks the bread into his mouth, "Thanks! When did you buy it?"
Taehyun gives a shrug, his smile unwavering. "Just now," he says, delivering the lie with no change in expression.
Huening Kai is clearly delighted, completely buying it, "This is so good," he mumbles through a mouthful.
Taehyun watches him for a moment, still the same smile on his face, his fingers tapping the edge of his desk. He hadn’t actually bought it, of course.
.
.
.
When Astra exits the restroom, she nearly bumps into Isla, who’s flanked by two other girls—Ally and Lillia.
Astra blinks, confused.
Weren’t Isla and Ally on terrible terms?
The memory of their constant bickering in the past surfaces, but here they are, looking like a tight-knit trio. Did something change?
Ally’s eyes narrow when she sees Astra, and without any hesitation, she steps into her personal space, blocking her path. "We have been waiting for a while." she sneers, her voice dripping with annoyance.
Astra steps back, raising her hand instinctively to stop her. "Stay back, please." She’s not in the mood for a confrontation.
But Isla was quick to act, grabbing Astra's arm and swinging it off Ally’s shoulder, a movement full of force. She pushes Astra roughly, sending her stumbling back. Astra loses her balance and lands hard on the cold, wet floor of the bathroom with an audible thud.
Her expression crumples in pain, but she quickly masks it with a tight frown.
Isla doesn’t look at her with even the smallest trace of remorse. "Oh. Excuse us," she says, her voice dripping with faux politeness as if Astra’s presence were an inconvenience to her. The look she gives Astra is nothing short of dismissive—like an insect that’s been accidentally stepped on.
Astra’s anger flares for a moment, but she swallows it down, the fire in her chest smothered by the suffocating weight of familiarity. Not the first time, she thinks, gritting her teeth.
It’s okay. I have been through this.
Astra pushes herself up from the bathroom floor, wincing slightly as she glances at her arm. A thin, long cut streaks across the back of her arm, a result of the sharp impact when she fell. She quickly runs her hand under the tap, the cool water stinging against the cut. She can’t afford to stay much longer, class is waiting.
By the time she returns, the teacher has already started the lesson. Astra quietly slips into her seat, but she hears the teacher's voice ring out as soon as she reaches the door.
"Where's the girl sitting here?" the teacher asks, directing the question to Taehyun.
"Sorry, I was in the toilet." Astra hurries inside.
The teacher raises an eyebrow, clearly displeased. "Next time, go earlier. Any latecomers will be penalized. Understood?"
"Yes," Astra lowers her head.
Astra takes her seat and starts settling in. Taehyun taps on her shoulder, asking her. "What took you so long in the toilet? You were five minutes late."
Astra shrugs, feigning innocence. "I needed to complete my big business."
Taehyun tilts his head, confused. "Big business?"
Astra looks at him like he’s missing a fundamental life lesson. "To do my business means I need to go to the toilet. So, to do big business means—" she begins, ready to explain, to taint Taehyun's dictionary with knowledge existing in hers.
Taehyun quickly interrupts, holding up a hand. "Stop right there. Okay, I know."
Astra doesn't relent, finishing the sentence anyway. "I needed to shit."
The expression on Taehyun's face contorts into one of pure disgust, and he pulls back slightly in his seat as if he might’ve just heard something far worse than he'd expected.
"Really?" he says, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Astra nods, satisfied—until she finds her chocolate bread missing. "Wait. Where's my other bread?" Astra suddenly asks, her eyes scanning the desk.
Taehyun shifts, but he doesn’t look at her. He’s staring pointedly at the front of the class, clearly trying to avoid her gaze.
Astra jabs her pen into his side, the pressure firm. "You took my bread." Her tone isn’t a question, more like a statement of fact.
Taehyun immediately gives a mischievous grin, pressing his lips together in an innocent way. "Yep." He leans back a little, owning up immediately.
Astra’s patience snaps in an instant. Her hands shoot out, and before he can even react, she wraps them around Taehyun's neck in mock strangulation. "I’ll end you," she says, her voice half-playful, half-threatening.
Huening Kai, who’s been watching the whole exchange from the back of the classroom, chews thoughtfully on the last of the chocolate bread. The flavor still lingers on his tongue, and as he watches the scene unfold, he quickly connects the dots. The bread, now in his stomach must be the one Astra bought.
Glancing at the teacher, Huening Kai realises the situation might escalate. Astra had forgotten she was in class, sitting at the front, practically the focal point of the entire room. She was definitely about to get into trouble.
"Astra. Out now," the teacher calls, pointing toward the door.
Astra freezes.
Taehyun immediately raises his hand, wanting to say something in her defense, but Astra quickly places a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention. She shakes her head with a soft smile, meeting his worried gaze.
"It’s alright," she says quietly, her tone calm despite the tension. "Not the first time."
The words settle between them, and Taehyun falls silent, his hand slowly dropping back to his side. His brow furrows slightly, but he doesn’t press. He knows there’s more to her calm than she’s letting on. Something oddly wrong about her expression that he couldn't pinpoint.
Astra’s gaze shifts to the front, where the teacher is still waiting, the stern look on her face unwavering.
With a sigh, Astra stands, her movements smooth and unhurried as she heads toward the door. She doesn’t glance back. The room seems to breathe with her absence, the tension dissolving as the door clicks shut behind her.
Notes:
Hello everyone, if anyone even manages to get here😘🌚
But if there is someone and you have enjoyed this enough to answer, I would humbly like to get your opinion,
I'm actually working on chapter 24 now and I was thinking if I should try to keep the slice-of-life, keep the characters in a happy, fun bubble for a little longer or should I start cracking the bubble n drop them down into the depths?
Chapter 7: Day 3 (Beomgyu)
Chapter Text
The sun blazes overhead, its relentless rays bathing Astra in an unforgiving light, pushing her deeper into the discomfort she already feels. The heat stings her eyes, and she squints against it, trying to ignore the growing sorrow building in her chest. Her arms hang limply at her sides, her wound on her arm pulses, reminding her of the way she’d been shoved in the bathroom—an unwelcome reminder of how her day had gone.
Today isn’t her day.
First, she’s shoved to the ground, got cut. The smell of the bathroom clings to her skirt—an unpleasant, nauseating mix that she suspects might have traces of urine. The thought makes her stomach churn whenever it crosses her mind.
Then, she returned late to class, only to be scolded by the teacher. And to top it all off, the bread she had been looking forward to—the one she’d reserved for her walk home—is gone.
Her frustration builds. She lets herself get too worked up, and before she knows it, she’s chased out of class.
This has never happened before. She has always been quiet, self-contained, obedient, and out of trouble.
But today?
Today, the world has tossed her aside. Under the intense light from the sun, she feels dirty, broken, like the world has left a stain on her that no amount of time can wash away.
The light stabs into her eyes, making her vision blur. She inhales, trying to steady herself.
Am I crying?
She quickly wipes at her eyes, her breath coming out in short bursts.
No. She’s 22.
This is nothing. It’s just a little bread. A cut. It’s nothing.
But her chest tightens, and the truth sinks in. It's not about the bread. It's not about the cut. It’s the quiet weight of feeling lost, feeling like she’s crossed a line that she doesn't know how to come back from.
As Astra lets herself drift deeper into her thoughts, the weight of everything that’s happened, all the way back from day one, begins to suffocate her. She’s overcome by a wave of sadness, and before she can stop herself, her tears start to fall.
Her nose reddens, and a slow trickle of snot begins to seep down. She tries to sniff it back in, but it’s impossible to do so quietly. Still, she does her best to keep it contained, hoping no one notices.
Minutes pass, but her emotions refuse to settle. It feels like a storm inside her, the turbulence of her thoughts reflected in the constant flow of tears. Astra had been someone who cried a lot when she was younger. From 16 to 19, she cried herself raw, until eventually her tear glands ran dry. By 22, she thought she was past all of that. She thought she had grown strong.
But maybe she hadn’t changed as much as she thought.
The snot now reaches her lips. She waves her hands in frustration and wipes it with the sleeve of her uniform. Disgusting, yes. But she doesn’t have the luxury of alternatives in this moment.
It’s embarrassing. Yet, somehow, it feels like she just allowed herself to feel.
.
.
The moment class is over, Taehyun is the first to rush out of the classroom. Astra is standing just outside, her eyes red and swollen, clear remnants of tears on her cheeks. Her face is vacant, a blankness in her expression as if every ounce of emotion has just been drained away. She squints against the sunlight, the brightness making her already weary eyes sting.
“I’m sorry,” Taehyun says, his voice soft, he pauses, careful with his words. He’s looking at her with an almost pained expression. “I’ll buy you as much bread as you want.”
Before Astra can react, Huening Kai appears behind Taehyun's smaller frame. He reaches out and grabs her wrists, his fingers warm against her skin. "I ate your bread too. Sorry," he says.
Astra remains silent, too absorbed in her thoughts to respond. Her mind is swirling, and all she wants is to escape—escape to the bathroom, hide from everyone, and wash her face. She must look awful, a mixture of tears, snot, and sweat streaked across her face.
With her lack of reply, Huening Kai, still holding her wrists, repeats himself, his guilt becoming more apparent. "Sorry," he murmurs, and Astra wants to pull herself together, wants to tell him it’s fine. She wants to be okay.
But she can’t.
Her silence hangs in the air, and Huening Kai's gaze shifts downward. That’s when he notices tiny splotches of bright red on the floor near her feet.
"Blood?" he asks, his voice tight with concern. "Are you injured?"
His voice cuts through the haze that had settled over Astra, and it feels like light has suddenly flooded back into her eyes. The weight in her chest lightens just enough for her to feel the air again.
Instinctively, she hides her arm behind her back, the instinct to conceal her vulnerability kicking in.
"No, I—" She starts, but her denial falters under Taehyun's sharp gaze. Her smile is small, embarrassed, barely a flicker of defiance left. "...Am I?"
With a quiet flick of Astra's wrist, Taehyun turns her arms, revealing the line of blood trickling from the top of her arm, snaking its way down to her fingers, then drips to the floor.
Her stomach twists, and she steps back. How hasn't she noticed this mess that she has created?
Taehyun doesn’t miss the change in her demeanor. His expression hardens, his voice quiet but urgent. "What happened?"
Chance.
Astra doesn’t answer. Instead, her legs propel her forward, and she dashes toward the girls' restroom, frantic in her movements. She bursts through the door and heads straight for the sink. Water splashes onto her face, and she scrubs away the remnants of her tears.
She presses a paper towel to her face, drying her skin carefully. When she glances up into the mirror, her reflection stares back at her, clean, composed.
Astra pulls a smile.
Veronica steps into the bathroom, her footsteps light and unsure. "Hey, the boys sent me in to check up on you—"
The moment their eyes meet, Veronica's face shifts from casual concern to sheer panic. Before Astra can even register what's happening, Veronica lets out a high-pitched scream that echoes off the tiles, filling the small space.
Astra instinctively raises her hands in surrender, "Why, why?" she asks, trying to figure out what she’s done wrong now.
Within moments of Veronica’s scream, Taehyun, Huening Kai, and even Dominic rush into the bathroom, concern etched on their faces.
But the scene they walk into is far from reassuring. It’s a trail of chaos, blood stains on the counter, the tiles, even the edges of the sink—all tell the story of a hurried attempt to fix one mistake, only to create another.
Astra stands there, pursing her lips. She’d been so focused on cleaning her face, on hiding the cracks, that she didn’t even realise what she left behind.
It's ironic. In her haste to hide the signs of her tears, she’s only managed to create a bigger mess.
Really, nothing is going right today.
Astra tries to shift the focus, away from her, away from all her mess, "What are you three doing in the girl's bathroom?"
Taehyun doesn’t even acknowledge the question. Instead, he taps Huening Kai on the shoulder, his tone serious. "Could you go tell the teacher?"
"Okay," Huening Kai nods without hesitation and hurries out of the bathroom.
Astra attempts to defend herself, "This isn't what it looks like."
Taehyun watches her, and there's a soft light. There’s something in the way he looks at her—like he's seeing something, understanding something that she doesn't want him to. Perhaps it's pity—but it makes Astra want to hide.
Astra opens her mouth, wanting to say something, but the words get stuck in her throat. Her thoughts scatter and she can't seem to pull them together long enough to make sense of it.
Astra forces herself to look at him, her eyes still a little red, but Taehyun’s words hit her in an unexpected way. There’s a strange sincerity to his apology, something that feels more like an offering than just trying to fix it all. "I’m really sorry for eating your bread and getting you into trouble," Taehyun repeats, his voice softer than Astra has ever heard it.
It’s a tone that feels foreign coming from him—one that doesn’t match the usual easy confidence he carries, the one that’s as direct and unflinching as his personality. She knows Taehyun as someone who speaks exactly what's on his mind without hesitation. Yet, here he is, looking at her with an almost vulnerable sincerity.
It makes the moment feel all the more real, like he sees through the layers she’s built around herself, but instead of judgment, he's trying to understand.
She knows Taehyun is waiting for her to say something. But she couldn't bring herself to say it. Even with all the sincerity he's showing her.
Dominic steps in, punching Taehyun lightly on the shoulder with a laugh. "You took her bread? Wow! You’re a menace." The teasing attempts to cut through the tension, but it really doesn't.
It doesn’t erase the mess she has created. Astra is still standing here, facing the bathroom she has tainted.
The bread is never the issue. It’s everything. Everything today had gone wrong, like the universe itself is conspiring against her. She feels everything, pushing her against the edges, building up against her—the push, the fall, the punishment, the tears, the blood, the mess of it—
Astra!" Huening Kai’s voice echoes down the hallway, and moments later, he appears in front of them, panting heavily with his hands on his knees. "Let’s go." He straightens up. "The teacher told me to bring you to the infirmary."
He glances at Taehyun and Dominic. "The rest of you are to return to class." With that, Huening Kai pulls Astra in the direction of the infirmary.
As she’s led away, Astra can’t help but sneak a glance at Huening Kai. He’s the one escorting her to the infirmary, but somehow, it feels like the roles are reversed. His head is lowered, his posture slouched, like he's the one being guided.
Contrary to her inability to talk to Taehyun, she finds it easy to talk to Huening Kai.
"Huening Kai" She calls his name.
"Yes?" His voice is soft, his steps slowing down.
"It isn’t what it looks like. I just… fell in the toilet and got scratched." Astra says, the words a fragile attempt to maintain her carefully constructed front.
She sees it now, the difference between the two boys.
Taehyun, sharp, perceptive—seems to barrel through her walls, cutting past her lies without hesitation, seeing exactly what she doesn’t want him to.
But with Huening Kai, he’s different. Huening Kai just follows her, quietly accepting whatever she says, never questioning too deeply. Even if he does see the cracks in her facade, he doesn’t push. With him, she can maintain her mask.
But with Taehyun, there’s no hiding. She can’t lie to him—not without him noticing, not without him calling her out. That’s what makes him so unsettling. Taehyun doesn’t just hear her words—he listens to her silence, to the things she’s not saying, and that’s where Astra falters. He sees too much, too easily.
Huening Kai’s response is measured, though he doesn’t quite look at her. "I see."
Astra lets the silence fall between them for a moment, reflecting on his words. His acceptance feels comforting. She doesn’t have to explain herself to him—he’s not asking for more than she’s willing to say.
Her smile tugs at her lips naturally, her steps lightening with every movement, the heavy clouds that filled her skies are parting, and for the first time in hours, she feels a little happier.
"And... you ate my bread, right? With Taehyun?" she asks, her voice teasing but easy.
"Sorry," Huening Kai replies, his voice laced with genuine remorse.
Astra waves her hand dismissively, a playful glint in her eyes. "No need to apologize. I'm not that petty over bread," she says, swinging her good arm around Huening Kai's shoulders. "You just owe me now."
Huening Kai really regrets eating that bread.
.
.
"You again. three days in a row." Ophelia is already at the doors of the infirmary, staring at Astra with her hands crossed as if she has been waiting for her.
Astra laughs lightly, her voice full of playful defiance. "Three days in a row. I think I’m becoming a regular here. Maybe I should ask my teacher if I can just move my classes to the infirmary. It’d save me all the back-and-forth." She stops right in front of Ophelia, grinning mischievously, but the tiredness still lingers behind her eyes.
Ophelia raises an eyebrow, unimpressed, and delivers a light smack to Astra’s back. "You can continue to dream," she mutters.
Despite her words, there's a softness to her expression, a fleeting look in her eyes—and momentarily, Astra feels like she's back to her past, into a time when Ophelia herself might have been the one holding things together, at that one point, Ophelia was all she had.
Ophelia gestures for Huening Kai to sit outside. The harsh fluorescent lights overhead cast a sterile glow on the room as she moves swiftly, grabbing a roll of bandages, antiseptic, and several other medications, placing them down in front of Astra on a metal tray with a clink.
"You remind me of Beomgyu," Ophelia says as she organises the items with practiced precision, eyes focused on the task rather than Astra.
Astra blinks, her gaze snapping up to Ophelia. "Beomgyu?" Her voice comes out a bit too loud in her surprise. "Choi Beomgyu?"
Beomgyu. Txt
"He's your senior by a year." Ophelia's eyes crinkle, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips as she recalls something. Astra notices it, the way her whole demeanor shifts at the mere mention of Beomgyu. It’s like his name is a reminder of something ridiculous and fun, something she can’t help but laugh at.
"The senior prefect?" Astra leans forward.
Ophelia chuckles and places Astra's arm gently on the table, preparing to clean her wounds. "You heard of him?"
Astra nods, but her thoughts briefly wander. "I heard about him from my friend. He's famous here." She glances down at the silver tools on the tray, their metallic sheen catching the harsh light of the fluorescent bulbs above. Something about them makes her feel uneasy.
"Famous? He's infamous, for sure." Ophelia laughs, shaking her head. "All our staff, from the cleaning lady up to the principal—everyone remembers his name."
"Really?" she mutters, her eyes tracking the tweezers, the cotton swabs, the bandages, the antiseptic bottle—everything that promises to make her pain even worse.
Astra's fingers twitch involuntarily, dread swirling inside her. She’s barely listening, her mind preoccupied with the thought of the upcoming sting.
Astra's lips pressed tightly together. She’s heard a lot about Beomgyu, but right now, the thought of his antics doesn’t seem all that interesting. Not with the wound on her arm burning and Ophelia hovering over it, with what looked like gleaming weapons in hand.
Ophelia shrugs nonchalantly, picking up another cotton swab. "Oh, yeah. He’s something else." She pauses, looking straight at Astra. "How many students do you think come to the infirmary three days in a row?"
Astra’s mind doesn’t immediately compute the question, but her eyes flicker up to meet Ophelia’s with a vague sense of confusion. "What? Why would anyone come here three days in a row?"
She winces as Ophelia presses the cotton swab against her skin, the sharp sting pulling her back to the present.
Ophelia laughs, the sound light and teasing but she doesn’t let up on her work. "You. You are here for three days in a row." She leans back for a moment, eyeing Astra’s injury critically before continuing, "And considering your track record with that wound? I’m guessing you’ll be back tomorrow too.
"What—"Astra winces slightly as Ophelia begins cleaning the cut on her arm, the touch of the cotton swab against her skin making her flinch. "What track record?"
"This track record." Ophelia answers teasingly. "I heard you were jumping around the walkways and washroom with this wound of yours."
Jumping? Astra’s mind goes blank. Who said that?
Ophelia shrugs, still methodically dabbing at Astra’s injury. "You're not exactly normal," she says with a slight chuckle, "but Beomgyu? He's more abnormal. He's practically lives in here whenever he’s in trouble."
Astra snorts despite herself, trying to ignore the pain. "Trouble?"
"Trouble," Ophelia confirms with a small, knowing smile. "Beomgyu’s always in some kind of mess. That’s how he once came in for a whole week straight."
Astra lets out a long breath, feeling the pressure from the cotton swab and the sting of the antiseptic. "Seems like a mess just follows him everywhere."
Ophelia pointedly looks at her, "And I think you are catching up to him, don't you think?"
She instinctively pulls her arm away from Ophelia, her hand twitching in an effort to protect the sensitive skin from further irritation.
Ophelia sighs. "Please, don’t move."
Astra shakes her head, still feeling a bit on edge. Despite the cold air blasting in the room, sweat beads on her forehead.
Ophelia stares at her for a moment, as if contemplating how best to proceed. "Huening Kai! Come in here, I need your help," she calls out after a beat, clearly deciding that Astra is too fidgety for her to handle alone.
Astra doesn’t expect it, but the door clicks open, and Huening Kai’s heavy footsteps echo in the hallway before he pokes his head in. "Can I help?"
"Come in, come in," Ophelia waves him over. "Help me hold down your friend here. She's moving too much, and I can’t clean her wound."
Huening Kai hesitates for a moment, looking at the three cotton swabs and a bottle of unknown solution Ophelia is armed with and he thinks that the kind lady before him looks a little evil.
He steps into the room, walking up to Astra and gently wraps his hands around her arm, holding them in place.
Astra feels the sting of the solution as it makes contact with her wounds, the sensation sharp and immediate. She flinches, her body instinctively trying to pull away from the pain. Huening Kai, holding her down, is caught off guard by her sudden movement, her fingers tightening around his with a force that makes him gasp. The boy freezes, his face contorted in a mixture of surprise and discomfort as he feels Astra’s grip on his hand.
He swears he can hear his bones creak under the pressure. Astra doesn’t scream. She bites her lip, holding it in, refusing to give in to the weakness. But Huening Kai can’t keep quiet. His high-pitched scream cuts through the air, echoing off the sterile walls of the infirmary. The force of it seems to reverberate through Astra, and for a moment, all she can focus on is his voice—the intensity of it, the pure shock that vibrates with every note.
Ophelia doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t seem bothered by the chaos that’s unraveling in front of her. Instead, she calmly sets the bottle of solution down, turning her attention to Huening Kai, who is now clutching his arm in disbelief.
"Your screams could rival Beomgyu's," Ophelia says lightly, her lips curling into a small smile as she pats Huening Kai’s shoulder with a chuckle. "I almost forgot what it sounds like when someone else screams that loud."
Huening Kai, his face flushed with pain and embarrassment, feels wronged. He looks at his arm, reddened by the abuse inflicted by Astra, he asks, "Why was Beomgyu screaming?"
Ophelia grins, a glint of mischief in her eyes as she gives him a knowing look. "What do you think?"
Huening Kai stares back at her, confused.
Astra, still clenching her teeth against the pain in her arm, lets out an exhausted laugh. "I think I know." she says, her voice hoarse.
Ophelia shrugs, knocking on the walls of the infirmary. "Your screams can’t be worse than Beomgyu’s. Just be thankful this room is soundproof.”
Ophelia raises an eyebrow as the familiar deep voice calls her name, its drawn-out tone unmistakable. "Op-he-liaaaa!" The voice booms through the infirmary doors, almost theatrically.
Ophelia rolls her eyes but can't hide the amusement tugging at her lips. "Speak of the devil, and he arrives," she mutters under her breath as she shakes her head.
A boy steps into the room, looking like he just walked out of a romance comic. Paired with his beautiful, faultless appearance, his uniform is immaculate—his tie striped to perfection, his vest crisp, and his shirt as smooth and wrinkle-free as if freshly pressed. Even his school badge is pinned precisely, like his collar, which is perfectly folded. He exudes the kind of polished, refined image that only appears in the school’s photo albums—exactly like the prefects who stand at attention in the background of those carefully staged shots.
But instead of walking in with the composed dignity one might expect from such a polished figure, he skips into the infirmary, a goofy grin on his face, as if he's just entered a playground.
"Beomgyu," Ophelia calls to him, and he freezes in place, blinking as he finally notices the others in the room. He immediately skids to a stop, his silly smile flattens into a neat business smile, his posture snaps upright and his words clear and well-articulated, "Hello."
The two juniors, still staring at him with a mix of curiosity and disbelief, don’t reply. Beomgyu's ears turn a shade of red, and he instinctively ducks behind Ophelia—though, standing taller than her, his presence is hardly concealed.
It’s Astra’s cheerful greeting that finally pulls him from behind his makeshift shield. "Hi, senior! I’ve heard so many great things about you. I’m Astra, a first-year student."
Beomgyu peeks his head around Ophelia, his eyes widening. "Really?" he asks, clearly caught off guard. Astra nods enthusiastically.
After a quick, dramatic clearing of his throat, Beomgyu straightens further, regaining his previous air of self-assuredness. With his chin tilted slightly upward, he strides toward Astra, his posture now regal and commanding. "Nice to meet you. I’m Choi Beomgyu, Second-year senior prefect."
"Yes, yes, everyone knows you're a senior prefect. You can stop flaunting it now," Ophelia remarks dryly, tossing the used cotton swabs and empty bottles into the trash with a dismissive turn of her wrist.
Beomgyu's smile slips a little, the edges of his usual charm slipping off.
He quickly recovers, his grin widening once more as he turns back to Astra. "Please, give me a moment," he says, his voice smooth as always, before turning toward Ophelia. Whatever he murmurs to her causes her to chuckle, nodding in approval.
He then offers a handshake to Huening Kai. "Choi Beomgyu, second-year senior prefect," Beomgyu introduces himself again.
He pauses for a beat, his chest puffing out slightly as if the next words are a declaration of his future greatness. "Soon to be head prefect."
... Big dreams, indeed.
"Hi!" Huening Kai shakes Beomgyu's hand, clearly enjoying the moment. "I’m Huening Kai. Also a first-year."
Ophelia raises an eyebrow at Astra as she casually mentions, "Beomgyu, this junior of yours is becoming a regular here, just like you. As a fellow senior regular in the infirmary, don’t you have some words of wisdom for her?"
Beomgyu glares at Ophelia, his eyes narrowing. This lady is hell-bent on ruining his image in front of his juniors. With a frustrated sigh, Beomgyu leans closer to Ophelia, whispering something neither Huening Kai nor Astra could catch.
Then he straightens, his professional smile returning, and he addresses Astra again. "For the record, I have no such history," he says firmly.
Then, with a softer look, he adds, "But it’s only the third day of school. You should take better care of yourself and steer clear of trouble."
From the corner, Ophelia rolls her eyes dramatically. Of all people, Beomgyu giving advice? The irony wasn’t lost on her—if he had followed his own advice, he wouldn’t have earned his frequent visitor status here.
Astra clears her throat. "To clarify," she begins, her voice calm, "The first day I came here was to help Huening Kai." She gives him a friendly pat on the back. "The second day was due to unavoidable medical complications. And finally—" Astra rolls up her sleeve to reveal a slight injury on her arm, "today’s incident was an accident. I didn't get into trouble, really."
Ophelia crosses her legs, clearly amused by Astra's words, and snickers to herself. "You two are exactly the same."
Beomgyu looks Astra up and down, his disdain obvious as he scoffs. "Same? Me and her? In what way?"
Beomgyu is in denial. Astra looks like a hermit who has just descended from the mountain after living there her whole life. Her long, unkempt hair, rounded glasses covering half her face, and oversized uniform make her appear disheveled and out of place. Still, to be fair, Astra has no say in the uniform; her mother always insists on buying one two sizes too big.
And Ophelia is saying they are alike? Beomgyu snorts.
Astra, though silent, is equally unimpressed. She’s comparing me to this troublemaker?
Ophelia bursts into laughter at their exchange before turning to Huening Kai. "What do you think? Don’t these two seem like they’re cut from the same cloth?"
Huening Kai glances hesitantly between Beomgyu and Astra, shaking his head slowly.
Ophelia walks over to the door, the soft jingle of the bells ringing as she opens it. She pauses, casting a knowing look at Astra. "You’ll all figure it out soon enough," she says, her voice tinged with mischief. Then, her gaze sharpens as she addresses Astra directly. "And Astra, though I enjoy your presence, I hope you don't make the infirmary your second home. I'm not running a daycare here."
Astra, her hand now wrapped neatly in bandages, offers a small bow. "Yes, thank you," she replies quietly.
Once Astra and Huening Kai return to class, the teacher announces a 10-minute break. As Astra settles into her seat, Taehyun slides her notebook over to her. She flips it open and finds the latest page filled with neat, precise lines of writing. And for the first time, through page after page that looks like it is scratched by a chicken, a human finally graces the girl's notebook with his writing.
"I helped you take down the notes while you were away," Taehyun says, his left hand nervously twirling a pen. If Astra had looked closer, she might have noticed the faint redness at the tips of his fingers—small marks of the effort he put into copying the notes for her.
Astra’s attention, however, is focused entirely on her notebook. As she flips through the pages, she comes across a striking contrast. On the right side are the neat, human-like writings of Taehyun, and on the left are her own—symbols and characters that no one but Astra could ever understand.
It’s not some mythical new language or some intricate code she’s created—no, it’s just her atrocious handwriting, the kind no one would ever want to decipher. Astra watches her own scrawl with an increasing sense of self-awareness. This is what I write?
The difference is jarring. She can write in a more human-like manner, if she really tries. She’d have to focus, slow down, and lose some of her natural rhythm, but she could manage.
The problem is, doing so would cut her writing speed by at least five times. But when Astra writes in her usual, natural flow, she can write at lightning speed—but only she can read it.
Astra picks up a pen, her fingers tight around it as she leans in closer to the notebook. With conscious effort, she writes in the most polished handwriting she can muster, carefully recording today’s date and subject at the top of each page Taehyun has written. She even adds his name with an extra degree of attention, hoping to match his neatness, though she can’t help but feel like she’s already failing.
Astra’s eyes shifts, making a comparison between their handwritings—
There has been no need to compare. This incredible difference can be seen even with half-closed eyes.
She leans back in her seat, feeling a sinking sensation in her chest. It’s like shit placed next to gold, she thinks bitterly. They aren’t even supposed to be in the same league.
In this moment, Astra feels an uncomfortable weight settle on her—a weight that has little to do with the bandages on her hand, and everything to do with the six extra years of life she’s had to live.
All that time, and this is what I’ve learned to do with it? The thought stings, leaving Astra with a burning sense of shame.
Taehyun watches Astra in silence, his brow furrowing as she scribbles furiously in her notebook.
She’s acting incomprehensibly again.
He observes how her hands tremble with effort as she carefully writes down his name in a rare, legible font. It’s almost as if she’s forcing herself to do it, putting so much focus on each stroke that it’s making her hands shake.
Astra sighs deeply, her eyes still fixed on the notebook, lost in her own world. Taehyun cocks his head to the side, intrigued. Then, it suddenly clicks.
"What? Are you jealous of my handwriting?" he asks, his voice light but curious.
Astra finally looks up, her eyes blank with confusion, as if she didn’t expect the question at all. Her gaze is distant, her thoughts still stuck on the page in front of her.
The next blow comes with the smile that spreads across Taehyun’s face. It’s perfectly sculpted, effortlessly charming, a contrast so sharp it’s almost unfair.
We’re both human, Astra thinks, but why does it feel like there’s such a vast difference between us?
He must be a special kind of human. He has to be.
Without a word, Astra plops her head down onto the table with a soft thud. "You don’t talk to me.” she mutters into the desk, her voice muffled.
A deep, almost mocking chuckle escapes from Taehyun’s lips, in the form of his usual, "heh-heh"s.
Astra’s brows furrow instinctively, the sound grating on her already frayed nerves. She closes her eyes tightly, as if the simple act of blocking it out could make the irritation go away.
She's upset. It’s obvious in the way she’s sitting, her face buried in the crook of her arm, her body stiff with frustration.
Taehyun realises he has screwed up again. He hesitantly peers over at Astra, remembering he's supposed to get her forgiveness instead of annoying her.
Taehyun digs out a candy from his bag and places it on Astra's table, he then humbly holds two of his hands together in front of him, eyes turning to Astra every now and then as if awaiting judgment.
At the other end of the classroom, Huening Kai’s usual calm and gentle presence is nowhere to be found. Instead, he leans toward Isla, his tone sharp, full of accusation. Right now, all of Huening Kai’s usual fear of confrontation and wariness of his seat mate, Isla has completely vanished, consumed by a surge of intense, burning anger.
"You just pushed her a little?" His voice rises, growing higher with each word. "A little?"
Isla leans back instinctively, suddenly aware of the storm brewing in Huening Kai's eyes. She swallows hard, but forces a nonchalant tone.
"I said she’s being dramatic." She replies, though there’s an edge of uncertainty creeping into her voice. "She didn’t have any injuries when we left."
A scenario comes to mind and Isla regains her confidence, "Maybe," Isla makes a slashing motion on her arm, sticking out her tongue mischievously, "She did this."
Huening Kai’s brow furrows, and he leans in closer, trying to make sense of what she’s implying. "What are you trying to say?" he asks.
Isla observes that Huening Kai seems to be calmer now. "Don't you understand?" Isla chuckles, "She must have cut her own arm on purpose."
"Why would she do that?" Huening Kai’s voice is strained, his anger bubbling just beneath the surface.
Isla grins, her expression sly, as she wriggles her eyebrows. "Why do you think?
"Just say it straight!" Huening Kai snaps, his face turning red with frustration. His fists clench at his sides, the veins in his neck bulging with the force of his shout.
From the front of the classroom, the teacher finally looks up from his laptop, his voice cutting through the tension. "Huening Kai, volume please."
It’s an unsettling sight—Huening Kai, usually the epitome of shyness, now visibly shaking with anger. His face is flushed, his posture tense, and the thirty or so students in the room exchange curious glances, each one taken aback by his outburst.
Whispers ripple through the classroom as everyone tries to figure out what’s happening. But amidst the sea of staring faces, there’s only one person Huening Kai seems to be focused on—Astra.
Seizing the moment, Astra glances over at Huening Kai with a cheeky grin, pointing at him and then at herself, making a circular motion with her hands before mimicking a chomping gesture. She then gives him a thumbs-up, as if to say, Got it?
Huening Kai stares at her for a moment, the meaning dawning on him quickly. She’s reminding me that I owe her bread.
But there’s something strange about the way his chest tightens as he watches Astra’s lively, playful expression. It’s a feeling he can’t quite place, somewhere between guilt and anger.
Without a word, he turns back toward the whiteboard, his face unreadable. He doesn’t return the thumbs-up, as though the act itself is too complicated for him to acknowledge right now.
Huening Kai sits at the edge of his seat, his gaze unfocused, as the world around him blurs into the background. His thoughts are a tangled mess, but one thing is crystal clear—he wants to switch seats. Anything to escape Isla, whose presence has become a constant, irritating pulse in his space.
When the bell finally rings, signaling dismissal, Astra and Taehyun approach him. He’s still sitting there, his thoughts adrift, seemingly unaware of the bustle around him.
"My friend," Astra says, her voice pulling him back to the present, "What’s up?"
He looks up at them, blinking as if emerging from a daze. Taehyun is already busy packing his things, meticulously placing his belongings back into his bag, every item lined up in a specific order. Something Huening Kai would never attempt.
Huening Kai forces a smile, though it feels like a thin mask. "Nothing. Let’s go."
Astra and Taehyun don’t press him. They head out together, and as they walk, Astra gives Huening Kai a gentle nudge, pushing him toward the snack store. He doesn’t resist, letting himself be guided.
"These three, please. Thank you." Right after he pays, the bread is snatched off the counter by Astra, who immediately sinks her teeth into it.
Huening Kai watches her for a moment, his smile softening. Then, he takes the remaining two pieces of bread, handing one to Taehyun.
Taehyun glances at the bread in his hand, his eyes flicking up to Huening Kai. "Thank you," he says.
Astra pokes Taehyun, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Next week is your turn."
"Okay."
Astra blinks, taken aback. Okay?
She must have heard wrong. Taehyun has never agreed to anything that puts him at a disadvantage without at least a few arguments, throwing in his logic here and there. Now, Astra finds herself staring at him, caught off guard. All her carefully prepared counterarguments—the ones she was ready to deploy when he inevitably argued—have nowhere to go.
She pauses, considering the quiet acceptance in his voice. Then again, we’ve only known each other for three days, Astra thinks. Maybe she's still just scratching the surface of the iceberg named Taehyun.
.
.
.
Television is her mother's favorite pastime. She watches all kinds of drama from various countries as long as they have a handsome middle-aged man as the male lead and a sufficiently strong revenge-focused plot.
So when Astra comes back, her mother is engaged in another exciting episode where the female lead finally gets her sweet revenge, triumphantly putting her evil mother-in-law in her place. It’s honestly just the same old plot with a fresh coat of drama.
But despite her intense focus on the drama, Astra’s mother still manages to pull herself away for a moment to check on her daughter. The TV show pauses, the screen freezing on a dramatic scene. As Astra pulls off her socks, her mother’s gaze shifts to her.
Astra holds up her bandaged hand with exaggerated pride, as if it were some kind of trophy or medal of honor.
“What’s that?” her mother asks, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Astra grins, playing along. “It’s my spoils of war.”
But before she can say anything else, a shadow looms over her. Without warning, her mother’s hand comes down sharply on her back, a blow that knocks the breath from her chest. Astra coughs, stunned by the sudden force.
“Speak properly,” her mother demands, her voice steely. “What is that?”
"I fell in the toilet, and I think I cut something," Astra explains casually, swinging her bandaged arm for emphasis. She wrinkles her nose, twirling slightly and pointing to her skirt. "My skirt is wet too, it smells a little bad."
Her mother looks at her, disgust clearly written on her face. "You smelled it?"
Astra freezes for a moment—of course, she smelled it. How else would she know? But that's beside the point. She raises an eyebrow, choosing not to address the obvious.
"Why does it smell bad? Did you fall in urine?" her mother asks, her voice pressing for an answer. It’s almost eerie how much they think alike.
Astra tugs at the wet fabric of her skirt with two fingers. “I think so too,” she mutters, her tone dry.
Her mother sighs dramatically, hands on her hips. "Don’t put that skirt in the washing machine today. You’ll hand-wash it."
Astra stares at her in disbelief. “Huh? But I injured my arm,” she protests, her bandaged arm hanging in the air.
Her mother points to Astra’s other arm. “I’m sure I gave you two hands.”
Today is another day where Astra questions the origins of her birth. She must not have been her mum's biological daughter. Maybe the running joke that her mother makes to their relatives- that she's a child picked from the dumps, isn't just a joke.
Chapter 8: Day 4
Chapter Text
This time, Astra watches in awe. Again and again, the stars begin to fall, each bright spark a glimmer of something unreachable, yet now descending at an alarming speed. The sky, once dark and endless, is now alive with streaks of light.
Underneath the shower of stars, Astra stands, motionless. Her eyes reflecting the shimmer of the very stars that are plummeting towards her.
She places a hand over her chest, her pulse calm and steady—no longer in sync with the rapid flickering above.
Astra jolts awake, the quiet serenity of her dream shattered. She sits up in her bed, her fingers instinctively pressing against her neck. Her pulse is erratic, thumping faster than usual, each beat pounding against her fingertips.
Her eyes flutter shut, and she takes a long, deep breath, trying to calm the racing rhythm of her heart. Time seems to slow as she focuses on her breath, allowing the frantic pace of her body to ease.
Fifteen minutes pass before the pounding in her chest begins to slow. Gradually, her heartbeat finds a more regular rhythm, returning to its normal pace, though the unsettling sensation lingers.
Astra glances at the clock: 06:28. She rises from her bed. With a quiet stretch, she heads to the bathroom to freshen up, her mind still lingering on the strange dream.
When she exits the bathroom, she’s met with her mother’s surprised gaze. “You woke up by yourself?” her mother asks, clearly taken aback.
Astra nods. “Yeah. I had a funny dream.”
Her mother’s eyes narrow, but she doesn’t press further. Instead, she hands Astra a small bundle of keys, “Remember to lock up when you leave.”
Astra fumbles with the keys as she heads toward the door. Her fingers graze the cool metal, but her mind drifts back to Taehyun’s words.
Stepping outside, the chill of the early morning air greets her. The street is quiet, save for the soft hum of the city waking up. She looks up at the sky—white stars hang in the skies, not as visible nor countless as the ones in her dream but are the same white speckles that add life to the night skies.
Did they fall closer to me this time? She wonders, her gaze lingering on the stars.
She glances down at the street below, but there’s no sign of Huening Kai yet. Astra takes her time, letting her feet carry her towards the streetlight. She leans against the pole, assuming Huening Kai’s usual spot as she waits.
Five minutes pass. Then, in the distance, she sees him—Huening Kai, walking towards her with that absent, almost robotic pace. He’s lost in his thoughts, his eyes glazed over, unaware of her presence until he's almost upon her.
Astra can't help but grin, slipping behind the streetlight to hide in the shadows. Her eyes glint mischievously as she waits for Huening Kai to come closer. The anticipation builds, and just as he's almost at arm’s length, she leaps out from behind the pole with a dramatic, "Boo!"
To her disappointment, Huening Kai doesn’t flinch. He simply stares at her, blank-faced, there wasn't even a slightest change in his expression.
Astra stands there for a beat, waiting for the gasp, the startled jump she was so sure would come. But instead, Huening Kai blinks slowly, then clears his throat, as if he’s only now realizing she’s there. "Oh... oh, ahhh! I'm... scared...?" he says, his tone flat, but an obvious effort to play along.
....
Astra’s grin falters for a moment, now replaced by a light smile. She pats Huening Kai on the shoulder with a sigh. “It’s alright. Let’s go.”
Huening Kai, still with that awkward smile plastered on his face, falls in step beside her, clearly trying to mask his failure to react in the way she’d hoped.
The walk to school feels unusually heavy today, the quiet between them thick with neither of them inclined to break the silence, each wrapped up in their own tangled thoughts.
When they reach school, the hall is nearly empty, with the exception of a few odd students, who perhaps worried that they didn’t spend enough time in school.
The two of them, Astra and Huening Kai move without words, as though on autopilot, finding the first two seats and sitting down. Their bags pushed together, leaning against one another like old friends who’ve grown used to their silence.
They don’t pull out books or phones, don’t make small talk like the others around them. They just sit. Both of them staring ahead, eyes fixed on nothing in particular. Blank. Detached.
Like two dumbasses. Taehyun thinks.
"Hey." Taehyun greets them, squatting between the two. Taehyun missed his first spot, but he at least took third.
When Astra notices Taehyun, as if seeing him is the switch, she says abruptly, "I couldn't tell."
Huening Kai looks at her in confusion.
"Oh. You mean the falling stars? You couldn't tell if it's falling closer to you?" Miraculously, Taehyun can put two and two together and make sense of Astra's words without further clarification. She nods.
"That means they’re still far away," Taehyun responds, his tone casual, but his eyes flicker with thought. "But—are there any other differences? Anything else you've noticed?"
Before Astra can answer, Huening Kai waves his hand between them, trying to get a sense of the conversation. "What are you two talking about?"
Astra’s eyes flick to Huening Kai before she explains, her voice still carrying that unease. "I’ve been dreaming about these falling stars. I feel like they’re... they’re coming closer, but I can’t tell how fast or why."
Huening Kai, his brow furrowed in thought, speaks up, providing his opinion. "Could it be a countdown? Like, something’s going to happen when the stars land?"
A countdown.
The moment the words leave his mouth, Astra feels a jolt in her chest, her heartbeat spiking as though something in her body recognises the truth before her mind can catch up. A cold chill runs through her as her skin prickles, her body instinctively recoiling from the thought.
She’s the only one under the stars.
What else can happen when the stars fall?
Soobin rubs the dark circles under his eyes as he trudges through the brightly lit hallways of the school. His dark circles and fatigue are due to his secret gaming sessions which raged through the night.
Thinking back, It was a vicious cycle, fueled by his intense desire to at least get his win rate back up after his consecutive losses. Did it go up after one whole night of intense gaming?
Nope. Instead, it fell even more.
Soobin attributes his loss to being too worried thinking about the three first-years he suspected were embroiled in a pyramid scheme. They have yet to contact him.
The faces of those three, sad and desolate, kept popping up in his mind as he gamed, distracting him.
—Or so the sore loser believes.
Soobin stops right outside the computer lab. This lab is located at the very back of the school, unused by students for a long time due to its inconvenient location and complaints of its haunted history. Due to this, the lab is mostly abandoned by both students and the school faculty.
In this exact place, a weak light is shining through the window. Soobin, with his unusual sense of curiosity, turns the doorknob and is surprised to find it unlocked. He steps inside cautiously, peering into its dimly lit confines. His eyes scan the room, settling on a figure slumped in a chair at the far corner of the lab. The boy’s head tilts back, his body completely relaxed, clearly lost in a deep sleep.
Soobin freezes for a moment, not expecting to find anyone here. He blinks, slowly approaching the desk, trying not to disturb the slumbering figure. Without thinking too much, he slides the mouse across the table. Instantly, the screen flickers to life, the computer coming out of its sleep mode with a loud buzz.
Defeated.
The words hit him like a ton of bricks, filling the screen in bold, undeniable font. Soobin’s jaw drops as he stares at the screen in disbelief.
This game. It’s the same one he had been obsessing over all night. The one he’d lost miserably at.
But this?
Soobin stares at the boy in the chair, wide-eyed. Two things are immediately clear to him. First, this computer lab—left abandoned and almost forgotten by everyone—is somehow still operational. The machines still work, still run programs. And second, this boy, whoever he is, has the audacity to game in school, overnight at that.
The realisation settles in that this boy shares his plight. Both of them had been up all night playing the same game, both consumed by the same obsession. But there's a stark difference, Soobin notes.
He was gaming at home, where the worst consequence would be a whooping from his parents.
But this one? He’s playing at school. If he’s caught, the consequences will ripple far beyond just family—he’ll be in trouble with the school, maybe even more.
He would be in big shit.
Soobin's eyes narrow as they land on the boy's vest.
"A prefect?" He mutters to himself, taking a few quiet steps forward to get a closer look.
As he leans in, his gaze sharpens. Choi Beomgyu. The name clicks in his mind—of course. The senior prefect everyone knew about. Soobin had heard enough stories, but seeing the boy slumped there in front of him, with a gaming screen glowing in the background, it’s a far cry from the polished image of the infamous senior prefect.
A smirk curls on Soobin's lips. Clearing his throat dramatically, he lets out a series of loud, exaggerated coughs, deliberately aimed to jar Beomgyu awake.
The effect is immediate. Beomgyu jolts upright in his chair, his balance thrown completely off. His eyes fly open, but before he can process what’s happening, the chair tips, and he crashes to the floor with an audible thud.
Beomgyu lies there for a second, completely stunned. The disorienting moment lingers before he finally registers that someone’s standing over him. He lifts his head from the floor and freezes when he hears his name, "Choi Beomgyu" echoing from above.
A chill runs down his spine, and for the first time in his life, he regrets how famous he had made himself become.
Right now as Beomgyu looks up, he sees the tall boy staring down at him with a light smile. He sees it now— he's in deep shit.
With a resigned sigh, Beomgyu flips over, still sprawled on the cold floor. His image is already ruined, so there’s no use trying to salvage it now. Still, instinctively, he tries to wriggle out of the situation. "My dad’s surname is Jonz. You’ve got the wrong guy," he stammers. At this point, It's a last-ditch struggle.
"There's only one Beomgyu in this whole school," Soobin says.
Beomgyu gives a half-hearted laugh, almost like a defeated chuckle.
...
"So, how did you end up here?" Soobin asks, his voice casual but with an edge of curiosity.
"Why would I tell you?" Beomgyu shoots back, as if testing the waters.
Soobin raises an eyebrow, his expression unchanged. "Oh. Fair enough." Without missing a beat, he turns and heads for the door.
Beomgyu grabs his hair. "Okay okay! Let me explain! Mr Delwin gave me the spare keys to the computer lab. "
Soobin pauses, a single word slipping from his lips. "Why?"
Beomgyu shrugs. "I'm his favorite, I guess."
Soobin doesn't even flinch, turning to walk away again.
"... Fine, fine!" Beomgyu's voice cracks. "It's because I'm his subject representative!"
Soobin said nothing but there’s a hidden pressure— an unspoken threat that if Soobin ever left the room unsatisfied, by this evening, the whole school would know of Beomgyu's night out in the lab.
Soobin turns back, showing off his dimples as he stands before Beomgyu, giving off a harmless, innocent boy look. Yet in front of Beomgyu's eyes, the boy towering over him is nothing but a horned devil.
Soobin sits beside Beomgyu, neatly crossing his legs. "Let's make a deal."
"No!" came Beomgyu's immediate reply.
There's a two-second silence before Soobin stands up and Beomgyu immediately grabs onto his legs, his voice weak, "What do you want?"
"Let me use the computer lab too." Soobin sits back down.
"I can't! You know how much trouble I'll get into if I do that!"
Soobin points at the computer screen, "Trouble? You are already in deep enough shit. Staying in school after hours and abusing your position to play games? What is more trouble to this?"
Soobin's right and Beomgyu has nothing to say.
"So?"
"I still can't! Bringing another student would make things worse."
...
Soobin stands up again.
"Damn!" Beomgyu explodes. "Stop threatening me!" The boy screams, "Just go! Go!"
"Oh. Okay." Soobin remains nonchalant as he lifts his legs, prepared to leave. But he couldn't, simply because Beomgyu’s still grabbing onto his legs.
"Let go." Soobin shakes his feet.
Beomgyu did let go. He stands up, stomping to the door and opening it for Soobin, "Just go! You think I'm scared of you?"
Soobin could not look more indifferent, "Okay. I'll go, don't need to scream."
The tall boy walks out of the door, stepping out without a look back. Behind Soobin, Beomgyu stomps his feet, his eyes rolling around as he considers his options. Finally, the boy calls out to Soobin, "Wait."
A smug smile tugs on Soobin's lips.
In class, Astra is still thinking about what Huening Kai said. A countdown.
Am I running out of time?
A sense of urgency fills her heart as the girl frantically drums her fingers on the table. She then turns to Taehyun, asking, "What do you think is going to happen when the stars fall?"
Taehyun replies after a short pause, "I don't know. But maybe nothing will happen. It might just be a dream."
It can't be just a dream. Everything in there is too real for it to just be a dream.
It must be— Astra thinks as she sees Taehyun just a few feet away from her. It must be related to what is going on now.
But she doesn't speak out her thoughts, the girl keeps it to herself, "You're right. I could just be thinking too much."
When Taehyun isn't looking, Astra pulls out her phone, the urgency gnawing at her feels unbearable. Tapping into Soobin's number, she sends him a message, "I want to tell you something."
Astra quickly receives a reply, "I'm not free today. Can we talk tomorrow?"
Soobin is willing to talk. At that thought, Astra feels an immediate relief. She quickly types into her phone, "Yes."
"Remember that all of you have to write a note to your secret angel by tomorrow!" Mrs Thon reminds them. "If you don't have paper, I have placed multicolored papers on the back shelf, please take them as you need."
Astra's attention is drawn back to class and she sees the content-filled whiteboard that she has yet to copy, she quickly grabs her pen, furiously copying down the questions and workings Mrs Thon wrote on the whiteboard.
Astra flinches as an elbow jostles her arm, sending her pen skidding across the page.
"Sorry," Taehyun mutters, he didn't even look up, still focused on his work.
This is the fourth time today. Astra sighs quietly, trying to steady her hand.
The problem is simple. Taehyun is left-handed and Astra is right-handed. The two of them sitting together spells conflict in their table space, especially in times like this when students are rushing to copy.
Astra, trying to be considerate, has been making the effort to adjust, shifting her arm uncomfortably to make room for him. Her posture is awkward, her handwriting further sacrificed from the cramped position—now even she needs some time to decode what she's writing.
But despite her efforts, Taehyun is getting more and more overboard— whenever Astra moves her hand away, Taehyun takes over the little space she opens up and this repeats. With the final bump, Astra’s no longer able to hold back her irritation.
"You." Astra calls Taehyun, "Can't you scoot over? I can't write with you bumping into me."
Taehyun blinks his doe eyes at Astra, the boy glances at Astra's notebook and says innocently, "Is there even a point for you to write notes? It can't be read anyways."
"Who said it can't be read?" Astra is appalled. "I can read it—“
"I'll lend you mine." Taehyun cuts Astra off.
"Deal."
Therefore, two deskmates here have regained their peace, their table once again a calm space. But on the other side of the room, there's a different dynamic brewing—one of silent tension between Huening Kai and Isla.
Talking to Huening Kai was like talking to a brick wall. The boy no longer bothered to acknowledge her and his silence has been frustrating.
Isla stops trying, though she would continue to annoy Huening Kai, turning back and talking to Lillia, telling her how Astra has, quote, "Huening Kai wrapped around her pinky finger."
Huening Kai's patience is running on a thin line. The boy clenches his fists as he turns to Isla, "Can't you two shut up?"
Isla’s mouth opened, prepared to fire back, but before she could, Huening Kai raised his hand in a gesture that silenced her.
"Yes, Huening Kai." The teacher turns from the whiteboard, gesturing for him to speak.
"Ms Lily, these two have been exchanging notes since this morning."
With a swift movement, Huening Kai's long arms reach under Isla's table and he pulls out a paper note.
"Hey! That's mine!" Isla shouts.
Huening Kai holds the note out of Isla's reach, expressionless. He opens the note under Isla's fearful eyes, and lines and lines of conversation stretch before him. Each line dripped with malice as it scolded Astra in the harshest, cruelest ways, so laced with hate, even detailing how they had planned and pushed Astra into the bathroom.
So it was planned.
"Huening Kai, bring the note here."
Huening Kai's grip on the note tightens, crumpling its edges. He doesn't want to hand it over.
"I—"
"Bring it over." Ms Lily extends her hands towards Huening Kai. When he remains stubbornly in his seat, unwilling to hand it over, Ms Lily walks over, taking the paper off his hands.
Ms Lily unfurls the paper and her eyes trail over its content. Isla keeps her head down, not daring to check the teacher's reaction.
Huening Kai bites his lips, glancing at Astra, who is staring at the note Ms Lily is now holding. Ms Lily, without a word, slips the note under her water bottle, before calling Isla and Lillia outside. Through the classroom window, the muffled sounds of Ms Lily’s voice could be heard, though the exact words could not be heard over the distance.
When Ms Lily's class ends, she stops in front of Huening Kai, "Can I talk to you?"
Huening Kai stands from his seat, following Ms Lily out.
“Is Astra your friend?" Ms Lily asks.
"Yes." Huening Kai's reply came back swift, certain.
Ms Lily handed him the note, her fingers pressing it into his palm. “You think about what you want to do with this. You can choose to report it to the disciplinary head, but try to talk to your friend before you do so.”
Ms Lily continues, “Or you can choose to keep it quiet. Isla’s group of three will get off free, but at least, Astra wouldn’t be affected.”
She pause, letting him absorb everything she had said. The decision’s his.
“If you do decide to report,” Ms Lily continues, her voice soft but firm, “you can let me know. I’ll help you.”
With everything said, Ms Lily leaves, her high heels clacking on the ground. The teacher shakes her head, mumbling to herself, "Students these days are really scary."
Huening Kai holds the note in his hands, the singular piece of paper weighed close to nothing in his hands, easily blown away by a gust of wind. Yet the boy holding it is immensely burdened, he feels he cannot shoulder its weight.
.
.
During lunch break, Huening Kai walks up to Astra and Taehyun, asking, "What's the plan today?"
"The plan." Astra begins, "Is to start the day with rice soup."
"What about Beomgyu and Yeonjun?" Taehyun asks. "Shouldn't we at least confirm their identities first?"
"We met Beomgyu at the infirmary yesterday." Huening Kai mentions.
"Eh? Nobody told me?" Taehyun eyes Astra and Huening Kai.
"We are telling you now." Astra says.
"So? What's he like?"
Astra scrunches her face. "He has a funny personality."
Taehyun gestures at Astra to continue. Astra thinks for a moment before she continues, "A bit weird. Like he's someone living in two extremes."
"Two extremes? How?"
Astra squeezes her eyes as she thinks of the boy she met yesterday, from the way he talks, acts, and presents himself. "I don't know. It's just a feeling."
"I think you are just too lazy to explain." Taehyun points out.
Astra is ashamed. Taehyun's right again, but for the sake of her image, Astra is forced to deny his claims, "No! Anyways, you'll know when you meet him."
Huening Kai swings his arm over Taehyun's shoulders, whispering into his ears, "Ophelia also mentioned that Beomgyu and Astra are alike."
Taehyun turns his large eyes to Astra who has walked ahead, excited to get her daily fill of rice soup. The boy tilts his head in contemplation, "Then I think I understand it now."
"You understand?" Huening Kai grabs Taehyun's sleeves.
"What Beomgyu is like." Taehyun adds.
"What do you understand? You haven't even met him!"
Taehyun grins, repeating what Astra said, word for word, "It's just a feeling."
Huening Kai scowls. "Fine."
At a corner table is where the three find their place. Each of them has a bowl of rice soup before them.
"You two are attracting too many bees." Astra says, lifting her spoon.
Taehyun ignores Astra. But Huening Kai smiles as he leans in, "What do you mean?"
After the three of them sat down, as if on cue, many students started to sit near their table and soon, they were soon surrounded by sounds of joyful laughter and light chatter.
Huening Kai is looking at Astra with an expectant twinkle in his eyes and Astra purses her lips. This boy obviously knows what she's talking about. When Astra doesn't reply, Huening Kai cups his face in his palms, his grin wide, "Do you mean I am the flower? Attracting all the bees?"
"You have changed." Astra comments. Astra reaches a hand out and hits Taehyun, causing the spoon in his hand to shake. Taehyun spills a few drops of soup on the table.
"Your influence must have rubbed off Huening Kai."
Taehyun was flabbergasted, having done nothing to warrant a hit. "And now you are blaming me?"
"This just shows I am comfortable with you two now." Huening Kai cuts in before Astra and Taehyun could argue any further.
Astra leans back. "Then by all means, let's be back to being uncomfortable friends."
"No."
"It's alright, Huening Kai. I'll like you the way you are." Taehyun smiles.
Now Astra feels like a bad person. "I—“
"Anyways, you two—" Huening Kai swings his arm across both Taehyun and Astra "are stuck with me, for better, for worse, till death do us part."
"Don't make it sound like marriage vows." Taehyun says.
"I reject." Astra is still chewing as she answers, making her sound gurgled.
"How dare you two?" Huening Kai pulls his arms in, trapping both Taehyun and Astra beneath him.
Before Huening Kai could laugh, the world spins and he finds his face pressed against the table with his hand pulled up behind him.
"Heheheheh" Taehyun laughs, tightening his pull. "I have trained in boxing."
"Ah!" Huening Kai taps his palm on the table. "Surrender! I surrender!"
Taking advantage of Taehyun locking the bigger boy under his iron grip. Astra escapes from Huening Kai's hands, she doesn't miss giving Huening Kai a smack on his back in the process.
“Hey!”
Taehyun scoffs, generously letting Huening Kai off.
"And. I am the flower. Not you two." Astra clarifies.
Taehyun's mouth opens and his "Heheh" laughter fills the space, while Huening Kai lowers his head, avoiding Astra's stare.
Astra lowers her head, pulling at her braids. In regards to hairstyles, due to her family's long history of hereditary baldness, Astra always tries to keep her hair in low ponytails or braids after reading online that these types of hairstyles would help to prevent hair loss.
The girl sincerely hopes to keep her hair full and healthy till old age.
It wasn't like Astra cared to look better either, and as noted by Beomgyu yesterday, her hair tends to become messy, but Astra never bothers re-tying it.
But it wasn't that Astra didn't care about appearances. She really did, when she was truly 16. Now, with 22 years of memories, she just became more open-minded. Now she values comfort more.
Comparing her with the two members of TXT, who are all known for their visuals, is like comparing flowers with rocks.
Now, Astra's face is twitching at their reactions.
Huening Kai notices and tries to salvage it, the boy laughs awkwardly as he gives her a thumbs up, "Yeah!"
"Heheh"
"No look, look." The girl pulls down her rounded glasses to the ends of her nose bridge, her eyes peering at the two boys through the dark metal frames. "I have pretty eyes."
She is proud of her eyes, though not exactly big in size, Astra thought that her eyes were expressive.
"You look like Ms Adeline." Taehyun's mouth is unfiltered, as always.
Ms Adeline is a teacher in her fifties, who constantly had to pull down her glasses to her nose and peer above them to read textbooks due to farsightedness.
"No!" Astra yanks out her glasses and widens his eyes, staring at the two boys.
Astra's eyes sparkle and even though it's still daytime outside, her eyes capture an eternal night sky, shining with a thousand stars. They were truly beautiful orbs.
Unfortunately, to prove her point, the girl is pulling at her eyes on both ends, destroying whatever beauty it had and instead looked comedic.
"Heheheh" Only Taehyun's laughter remains.
.
.
After the three had their fill, their find for Yeonjun was rather easy.
Yeonjun's popularity rivalled Beomgyu's. Everyone knew him.
"You're looking for Yeonjun? He's sitting right there." Everyone knows where he is.
The boy is surrounded by a lot of people. He looks carefree, a smile leisurely hanging on his face. Yeonjun is easy to find but isn't easy to approach. The boy is enclosed by high walls— made of both boys and girls crowded around him.
The three first-years now find him too intimidating to approach.
Or as Huening Kai thinks.
Astra didn't find it hard. She is no longer the shy 16-year-old. With a firm feet down, Astra makes a beeline towards Yeonjun as she pushes past her seniors, "Excuse me".
"Sorry."
Astra continues to push past,
"So sorry, please excuse me."
Huening Kai watches in horror, his hands clasped over his mouth. Taehyun gets into action, the boy runs and moves with great efficiency, and right when Astra is a few steps away from Yeonjun, she is grabbed by Taehyun. With a tug, the girl is helplessly pulled backward, "Wait wait! I'm so close!" Astra struggles.
"Why did you stop me?" Astra asks, once again behind the crowd.
"You're too rash. Don't you think before you act?" Taehyun still doesn't let go of Astra.
She shakes her head, pulls her hands behind her back, and gives Taehyun life advice, "Thinking is good. But sometimes we just do it. Don't think too much."
What Astra didn't say are her concerns that she could be running on borrowed time. This unknown feeling chases after her, makes her heart race, and scares her.
Taehyun sighs as he whispers to Huening Kai, "We have to keep a close eye on her."
Huening Kai looks at Astra. He certainly will.
The three return to class.
"Toilet." Astra raises her hand and veers off the path back to class.
"Again? Didn't you just go?" Huening Kai is concerned. "You might have a bladder issue." Huening Kai adds.
Astra's hands tremble. It isn't an issue but a habit. She just must go to the toilet right before lunch break ends.
"Anyways." Huening Kai says and grabs Taehyun's wrist. "I need to go to the toilet too. Taehyun will come with me."
"You just went too. You have bladder issues." Astra immediately grabs hold of the opportunity to throw Huening Kai's words back at him.
"Plus—" Astra looks at Huening Kai oddly. "Why do you need Taehyun to go with you to the toilet?"
Taehyun sends a kick towards Astra's direction. "Bullying my friend?"
Astra purses her lips, raising her hands in surrender. "Please let me off. I really need the toilet."
Astra is let off with a word of warning from Taehyun, "Better not fall in the toilet again."
Huening Kai flinches.
Instead of the toilet, Huening Kai led Taehyun to a quiet area behind the stairs.
"So you wanted to tell me something." Taehyun looks around before he sits on the steps. "Spill."
Huening Kai pulls out a slip of paper and passes it to Taehyun. Taehyun unfurls the paper and reads. He's surprisingly calm.
"Is this the note Ms Lily took just now?"
Huening Kai nods.
"So Isla is what caused the bloody mess." Taehyun looks at Huening Kai, "What do you plan to do?"
"I'm not sure. I want to report Isla but I don't want Astra to be affected."
"What should I do?" Huening Kai asks Taehyun, who doesn't hesitate to answer, "If it's me, I would want it to be reported. "
The boy leans himself towards the railings, looking out. Lunch break is almost over and students filter in and out across buildings, whether alone or with their friends, it's a bustling scene and their voices can be heard even from the sixth floor, where Taehyun and Huening Kai are.
"A lot of things happened the past few days and it feels like we have gotten really close." Taehyun continues and Huening Kai listens quietly. "But just 4 days ago, we were complete strangers."
Huening Kai jolts from that realization, "You're right. But It feels like we have known each other for a really really—" Huening Kai pauses, "really long time."
Taehyun smiles. "That might be right. Astra did say that we were together as TXT in another timeline."
"But she's not part of it." Huening Kai says.
Taehyun shrugs. “But who would know? If there is a other life, what makes you think there wouldn’t be more?”
“Maybe, we could have already spent hundreds of lifetimes together.” Taehyun says with a tilt of his head, his eyes reflecting the scenery under the railings.
"But, none of it would matter. Whether we were part of TXT as she claims, or the number of lifetimes we spent together, It's all something we know nothing about."
"You still don't believe her?"
"I do. But I don't want to." Taehyun's voice carries undertones of sadness. "If what she said is true, then it would deny our existence here."
Taehyun takes a deep breath, continuing in a softer voice, "Are we not supposed to be here? Are the 'us' here a lie?"
There is a short silence as Taehyun's words linger in the air. Huening Kai's fingers tightened on his wrists, "I never thought of that."
Taehyun smiles at Huening Kai, "Don't worry too much. I could be overthinking."
Taehyun hits his palm on the railing and the railing shakes slightly, "Back to topic, anyways what I am saying is, we don't really know Astra and what is better for her. It might be best to get her opinion."
Huening Kai and Taehyun's conversation ended there and the two had to rush back for classes.
That day, Huening Kai seeks out a second opinion. In the silence of his room, Huening Kai pulls out a paper.
In Huening Kai's identity as Secret Angel, he writes to his chosen. The boy fills the first half with rainbow farts before arriving at his true motive,
-I have a scenario, my friend is being bullied and I have evidence for that. Do you think I should report the evidence to punish the bully or should I keep quiet to protect my friend?-
As a consultation fee, Huening Kai digs his hands into his pocket and drops in his pocket change.
Chapter 9: Day 5
Chapter Text
Another night, yet the same dream repeats. Like expected, the stars fall, and the girl stands under the stars. It's exactly the same.
But this time, Astra thought it was different. When the stars fall, they flicker in odd short and long bursts and as they flicker, her heart races and gradually seems to match the beat of the flickering stars. She presses her hand over her heart.
The stars light up and quickly dim—it's a short burst.
Then the stars light up and remain lighted for a much longer period before it dims—a long burst.
In short bursts, Astra's heart beats once and stops, and during long bursts, her heart beats in rapid succession.
When Astra wakes up, her heart is beating irregularly. Exactly like it had done in her dreams—one short burst, one long burst, followed by two short bursts.
With each erratic thump of her heart, pressure builds in Astra’s chest, a crushing weight threatening to overwhelm her. She fights the urge to scream, squeezing her eyes shut while her hand is pressed tightly against her chest.
The air grows thick, and soon breathing feels like a struggle. Astra leans back, trying to block out the pain, focusing all her energy on steadying her breath, even as it seems to slip further out of her control.
In. Out. Inhale. Exhale.
She remains frozen, clinging to each breath, until, after what feels like an eternity, the pain and difficulty in breathing finally start to subside.
Astra checks the time: 06:27. She stays where she is, leaning against the bed frame, her eyes fluttering shut.
In the darkness, Astra sits motionless, tears welling up in her eyes, her mind swirling with confusion and fear. The unknown presses down on her, suffocating. Something is definitely wrong.
Taehyun. Astra thinks of her seatmate. He must be able to think of something.
She climbs out of bed, wanting to get to school. Just as she’s about to step into the bathroom, the door creaks open, and her mother’s voice floats through. "Good! You’ve been getting up on your own these days!"
It's a compliment but Astra didn't feel good at all. "Yeah."
.
.
Huening Kai waves his hands enthusiastically when he spots Astra coming down the stairs. As she approaches him, a smile tugs at her lips. "Good morning," she greets, her voice light.
"Morning!" Huening Kai beams, then quickly shifts to stand beside her, his expression full of surprise. "Woah, you're sweating in this cool weather?"
Astra shrugs, a slight unease flickering in her eyes. "I had that dream again."
"Is it the same one?" Huening Kai asks, his voice soft.
Astra nods slowly. "Same. But also... different."
She places a hand over her chest, still trying to shake off the lingering sensation of pain.
"The stars were flickering," she continues, her voice trembling slightly. "Like they were following some kind of pattern. And... my heart, it was beating weirdly, in sync with the flickering of the stars."
"In your dreams?" Huening Kai asks, a frown tugging at his brow.
Astra's eyes darken as she nods again. "In my dreams, and even after I woke up."
Huening Kai's eyes widened. "It continued after you woke up?"
"Yes. In the exact same order."
"It must be telling you something." Huening Kai says. "A message of some sort."
A message. Could it be a clue about this world? Astra grows hopeful. "You think so?"
"Yes." Huening Kai is certain.
"Taehyun must know something about this," Huening Kai says, his voice laced with the same blind faith Astra holds—both believing that their 16-year-old friend will somehow find the answers they need.
Finding Taehyun is easy. The boy is the first thing they spot when they walk through the school gates. With his back turned to them, he walks calmly, completely absorbed in his book, Boxing for Self-Defense. His focus is so intense that he doesn’t even notice the two of them running toward him.
"Kang Taehyun!" Huening Kai calls.
Taehyun is rudely pulled off his learning session with his book. His body tenses, instinctively reacting to the sudden interruption.
Taehyun turns just in time to see Huening Kai’s imposing figure charging at him. Without thinking, his mind goes in auto-pilot, flicking through the memory in the pages of the book he just read. His training kicks in, and his body responds before he can even process it.
Sidestepping, Taehyun adjusts his stance, securing a better angle to dodge what he perceives as an incoming threat—the cannonball called Huening Kai. As he closes in, Taehyun pulls his left arm back, positioning himself to throw a well-timed uppercut towards the boy's jaw.
It’s a textbook throw. Perfectly executed.
Really, Huening Kai has come running at the ideal moment, offering Taehyun the perfect opportunity to put his theory into practice.
Learning has never been so efficient.
But then—just as Taehyun’s fist is about to make contact with Huening Kai’s jaw, as Huening Kai's eyes widen in horror. The realisation hits Taehyun in that split second, It’s just Huening Kai.
In an instant, his body adjusts, and he turns his shoulder, retracting the punch at the last second. Instead, his fist lands softly on Huening Kai’s shoulder, yet the blow delivers enough force to send him stumbling back.
Huening Kai lets out a scream, and his mind flashes back to that moment in the infirmary, when Astra had used his arm as a stress toy. Poor Huening Kai—he seems to be the punching bag for both of them, right and left, back and forth.
With these two, Huening Kai is being hurt left and right. He is now on the floor, one hand clutching his shoulders, still reeling from the hit. Taehyun's eyes are shining oddly as he looks at Huening Kai. It's probably from this day forth that Taehyun has allocated a new use to Huening Kai— his punching bag.
No. That sounds wrong— my sparring mate.
For Huening Kai, though, it's just another day of being hurt by his friends.
Astra stands a full ten steps away, watching the scene unfold with a wary eye. She’s already got a pretty good idea of Huening Kai’s fate, and judging by the grinning Taehyun and the groaning boy on the floor, her hunch seems spot on.
"Are you okay?" Taehyun extends his arm towards Huening Kai, who is still groaning in pain, "I almost died!"
"I went easy on you," Taehyun says nonchalantly. "Or else you would’ve really died."
"Easy?" Huening Kai taps at his injured shoulder, wincing. "This is easy? How could you even bring yourself to hit a cutie like me?"
A cutie?
Taehyun's face hardens, clearly not amused. "You know, you've changed quite a bit since we first met."
"I didn’t change," Huening Kai grins, reaching up to grab Taehyun’s hand, pulling himself up with surprising strength. "You're just getting to know me, and I’m getting to know you."
Taehyun doesn’t seem impressed, turning his arm and scanning the area. "It doesn’t matter. Cuties die faster under my palms anyway."
The boy blinks, taking a step back as he looks again, "Wait where's Astra?"
Huening Kai rolls his eyes, "Probably scared off by you."
Roughly 11 hours before Astra's disappearance, two figures had appeared in the school's abandoned computer lab.
The key turns in the lock with a soft click, and the shorter boy bursts in, his voice carrying through the quiet hallway.
"Hurry up!" he beckons, glancing back over his shoulder at the taller boy trailing behind him. As the two slip into the computer lab, they lock the door behind them, securing their little sanctuary. One of them flicks a switch, and with a dull hum, the lights flicker on, revealing the familiar faces of Soobin and Beomgyu.
Beomgyu wastes no time. He moves around the lab like he owns the place, pulling out cushions, a water bottle, and snacks from a cabinet, setting them on the desk with practiced ease. With a few quick keystrokes, the monitor comes to life, casting an eerie glow on their faces. Beomgyu turns to Soobin, a playful smirk tugging at his lips. "Ready?"
Soobin, following Beomgyu’s lead, slides into the seat beside him. "Ready."
It's 3 am, an absurd hour for the school's keyboard and mouse to be abused by the two boys in the computer lab. The two are tapping furiously away, and clicking and clacking sounds are all that is heard in the room.
The minutes stretch on, until Soobin, with a sudden burst of energy, throws his hands into the air, his victorious yell shattering the silence. "I win!"
"No?" Beomgyu twirls his chair, facing Soon, "I killed you more."
Soobin folds his face into one of disbelief, "Hah? I took your base."
Soobin points at his monitor, "Don't you see this? Victory!"
Soobin leans over, pointing at Beomgyu's monitor, "Defeat!"
Before Soobin can even relish the moment, Beomgyu quickly skips the "Defeat" screen. "You didn’t say the winning condition was the base."
"I thought it was the KDA," Beomgyu adds with zero shame, shrugging as if it’s perfectly valid.
Soobin’s expression twists with irritation. "Taking the base is common sense."
Beomgyu leans back in his chair, crossing his arms with a teasing look. "No?"
Soobin forces a smile, "Anyways, you lost."
"No. You lost." Beomgyu is equally stubborn.
Soobin tries again, his voice almost cordial now, though the frustration is still clear. "You lost. And I won."
Beomgyu doesn’t budge. "No!"
Soobin stands up from his chair. His finger pointing at Beomgyu's face as he shouts, "You. Lost! And I. Won."
Beomgyu remains unfazed, spinning in his chair with the same calm demeanor. "No."
Soobin’s face turns a shade redder, his voice rising in frustration. "Can't you just admit it? Can you not be such a sore loser?"
Beomgyu shrugs nonchalantly, as if the whole situation is beneath him. "I'm not the loser though."
Soobin trembles with irritation, his hands clenched. "Rematch."
Beomgyu shakes his head. "No. It's three now. We should sleep."
Soobin's fists shake and he closes his eyes to avoid looking at Beomgyu's face which he wants to take a swing at, "Fine. Rematch tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Beomgyu looks at him with feigned innocence, stretching his arms. "But I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I’ll need to go home and catch up on my sleep."
Before Beomgyu can say another word, Soobin is on him, his arms locking around Beomgyu’s neck in a swift, forceful chokehold.
"Rematch. Tomorrow," Soobin’s voice is low, cold, and uncompromising.
Beomgyu chokes, his hands instinctively grabbing at Soobin’s arm, his breath growing shallow. The pressure tightens, and finally, in a voice that’s almost a gasp, he surrenders, "Okay, okay! Let go of me!"
With a quick roll of his eyes, Beomgyu pulls out the pre-prepared blankets he'd stashed behind the cabinets earlier, spreading them out on the floor. As he works, he glances up at Soobin. "Can you go turn off the lights?"
Soobin, now sitting on the blankets, gives him a small nod, but his face is a little more serious than usual. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something."
Beomgyu raises his eyebrows, "What?"
"I met three first-years two days ago."
"So?"
"I suspect they are part of a pyramid scheme."
"What?" All traces of sleepiness are gone and Beomgyu turns to Soobin. "Do you know their names?"
"Why? Are you going to report them?"
Beomgyu shakes his head, it's only during times like this that the boy looks like a senior prefect. "Not until I figure out what exactly is happening."
Soobin explains, painting his skewed perspective of what happened that day to Beomgyu and as he finishes his explanation, Beomgyu's head flops back onto the blanket. "Your suspicions are valid. But—" His eyes start to flutter shut. "There are also a lot of other possibilities. You might just be... overthinking."
With his last word, Beomgyu succumbs to sleep.
As for Soobin, he had unexpectedly fallen asleep seconds before Beomgyu, his face already relaxed in a peaceful slumber. Both boys were utterly drained from their illegal gaming session.
But in their exhaustion, they’d forgotten one crucial thing—the lights are still on.
The fluorescent glow seeps out the windows, an uninvited beacon. The light remained on, seemingly an open invitation for anyone passing by to take a peek inside. But no one came, at least not until 7 in the morning, when a curious visitor finally answered the unspoken call.
She approaches the door, turned the handle—but it was locked. Undeterred, she turns her attention to the window. The thick curtains blocked her view, concealing the identities of the two boys who had claimed the computer lab as their temporary refuge.
With a small tug, the window latch gave way, creaking open with a reluctant sound. The curtains fluttered slightly, and as she steps closer, she catches sight of Beomgyu and Soobin, both deep in their dreams.
Her heart races as she carefully lifts her first leg through the window. Then, as her other leg follows, disaster struck—her shoelace caught on the window ledge, and before she knows it, she is tumbling forward, her body crashing into the room.
The loud thud of her shoulders slamming into a chair sent a shockwave through the silence, rattling the stillness of the room. Both Soobin and Beomgyu jerk awake in surprise.
The two boys, though half-awake, instinctively knew that they are screwed. They get on their feet quickly, all armed and guarded against the newcomer.
The newcomer, despite her less-than-graceful entrance, carries herself with an air of confidence, swaggering toward them like Beomgyu had earlier. Like she owned the place.
"Pyramid Scheme!" Soobin shouted, pointing an accusing finger at her.
Astra raises an eyebrow at him, the corner of her lips twitching as she recognized the name. "Astra..?" Beomgyu mutters, his voice filled with disbelief, remembering the junior he met at the infirmary. The one who threatened his regular status.
Astra bit back the urge to break into Taehyun's signature "Heh-heh" laugh. She instead mimicked Taehyun's usual mischievous grin as she stands before the two boys, her voice chipper and casual. "Morning, seniors. Looks like I’ve stumbled onto a great find here."
Beomgyu and Soobin exchanged a glance, confusion and wariness mixing in their expressions.
The scene was eerily familiar—a déjà vu in its finest form.
Beomgyu and Soobin sit cross-legged across the blankets while Astra's legs are humbly tucked neatly behind her as she kneels on the cold floor.
Their actual situation though, is different.
.
.
Beomgyu props his arm up under his head, sighing. "You know what you’re saying is absurd, right?"
Soobin is in a daze, his mouth slightly agape as he stares at Astra in shock. Who knew she was cooking up a theory even more ridiculous than the pyramid scheme?
“Anyways,” Beomgyu tugs at Soobin. “We need to go. Assembly is starting soon.”
“Oh? Is that so? Please go,” Astra replies, her tone laced with unspoken threats.
Even if Soobin is too dazed to pick up on it, Beomgyu can. There really is a reason why Beomgyu managed to become a senior head prefect in just a year.
"You're threatening us." Beomgyu growls.
Astra takes a different route from Soobin. While Soobin threatened to leave, Astra forced the two to stay and listen.
When Soobin threatened Beomgyu, the boy screamed and kicked up a big fuss. But today, as Astra threatens Beomgyu, the boy instead kept a monotonous low tone, his movements small and controlled.
Maybe this is what Beomgyu is like when he's really angry.
Soobin wonders if the difference lies in their age gaps or is the difference in the fact that Astra is threatening them about an impossible theory?
Astra stirs at Beomgyu's words, feeling guilty and wondering if she went too far. Eventually, she decides to stop here, standing up, she apologizes "I'm sorry. Then please meet me back here after school."
Soobin watches Astra leave, feeling sympathetic as he watches her defeated figure leave the lab. Soobin turns to Beomgyu and hits him.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"Why were you so mean to her?"
Beomgyu sweeps his hair backward, frowning. "She's involved in some shady business for sure." The boy's eyes sharpen, "Threatening us with that shady business? No way."
"Shady business? Like?"
Beomgyu keeps away the blanket and prepares to leave the lab. "Like what you said, a pyramid scheme. But now I suspect it's a cult of some sort."
Soobin helps Beomgyu to clean the computer lab and return it to how it was before they came. When they are done, Beomgyu prepares to lock the door. As he takes the key, he informs Soobin, "I might report her."
"We should wait till later and see what she says." Soobin says.
"Right. I'm just telling you to let you know that if she's screwed, we are screwed too." Beomgyu turns the key into the keyhole.
Soobin nods. "Yeah, I know."
"Shouldn't you be saying something to me by now?" Beomgyu asks.
"What?"
"Apologise that you didn't turn off the light yesterday! That's how she was able to find us!" Beomgyu is shouting again.
"I'm not in charge of the lights."
"I asked you to turn off the lights! And I was laying out the blankets!"
"If you admit that you lost to me yesterday." Soobin says, "Then I'll apologise."
"They are separate issues!"
"So you are not going to admit you lost?" Soobin didn't care.
"I didn't lose."
Beomgyu is stubborn.
Soobin shrugs, "Then I won't apologise either."
Soobin is stubborn.
And when stubborn fools collide, nothing gets resolved.
Astra knew she was not thinking through her actions before she acted. The incident with Beomgyu and Soobin is a great example. Regardless, she would do the same thing again. She has to find out what is going on before everything potentially spirals out of control.
"Found her." Taehyun is the first to see Astra. The girl walks slowly across the field, dragging her feet.
"Astra!" Huening Kai shrieks.
Taehyun checks his watch, "It's almost time. We have to go now."
The two boys run towards Astra and grab her wrists, pulling her to run.
"Are we late now?" Astra asks.
"Not yet. Soon." Taehyun answers.
"Where did you go? We combed through the whole area for you!" Huening Kai is still confused over Astra's sudden disappearance. They had even suspected some sort of kidnapping.
"I caught Soobin and Beomgyu at the unused computer lab right behind the back gate."
"What?"
"They slept the night over."
"That's a big violation." Huening Kai's eyes are wide.
"Wasn't Choi Beomgyu a mighty senior prefect?"
"He is." Astra says. "Anyways. I think I screwed it up." Astra breaks the news.
The two boys weren't surprised. "How badly?"
"I don't know about Soobin but Beomgyu's definitely angry."
Astra's grip on her backpack loosens as she slumps, "And I'm sure both of them think I am crazy."
Taehyun grins, "Be more confident. You are."
"But at least!" Astra smiles, pointing a finger up to the sky, "I secured a meeting with them after school. We have to convince them then."
"We?" Taehyun steps away from Astra.
"Yeah, then we will have two more in the bag."
"You make it sound like you are catching Pokemon." Huening Kai says.
Astra waves her hand, "Perhaps I am."
“Oh!” Huening Kai recalls. “You need to tell Taehyun about your dreams.”
Taehyun glances over, his head tilting slightly as his gaze shifts to Astra. “The assembly’s starting,” he says. “We can talk about it afterward.”
.
.
"Short, long, short, short?" Taehyun asks.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"In Morse code, that represents the letter, "L".
Astra leans closer, "Is it like Huening said? It's trying to tell me something?"
"Maybe." Taehyun nods.
Astra finds it hard to wrap her mind around this concept, "Wow."
"Taehyun." Mrs Thon calls the moment she enters the class.
".... and Huening Kai. Both of your envelopes are flooding. Aren't you two going to collect it?"
At the very back of the class, two paper envelopes are bulging, give it one more day and Mrs Thon is sure that the paper won't hold.
"Okay." Huening Kai walks to the back of the class and pours all the notes into his shirt to hold it. Using his shirt as a bag, Huening Kai carries it to his table and dumps it there.
Huening Kai also helps Taehyun, using the same method of delivery.
Big and small pieces of notes in multiple colors now lay piled in front of Huening Kai and a particular one catches his eye. Huening Kai pulls it out and his suspicions are confirmed.
This one is addressed to him by Alice. Huening Kai curiously opens it, skims it through, and closes it just as quickly, ears blushing. It's a love confession, a cheesy love confession that praises all aspects of Huening Kai's "Otherworldly beauty".
Huening Kai thinks he would have appreciated it more if he didn't know Alice had also written the same one to Taehyun. Now Huening Kai suspects this girl is a serial fisherman, casting a wide net and has written to every boy in class.
Peeking across the classroom, Huening Kai notes that Taehyun doesn’t even make an effort to read a single note. Without a second thought, the boy has swept them all into his bag. Huening Kai can’t help but internally complain about how cold-hearted Taehyun is.
Turning back to his desk, Huening Kai sighs, eyes falling on the small mountain of notes in front of him. His lashes flutter as he stares blankly at the pile for a moment, deep in thought. Then, with the thought— well, at least I read one— he lifts his hands and does the exact same thing Taehyun did—shoving the notes into his bag.
The collective groan from their classmates is almost audible as they watch their carefully crafted messages disappear into their bags, without as much as a read from either of the two.
As Taehyun zips up his bag, Astra asks him, "Have you written to the one you picked yet?"
"The secret angel?"
"Yes."
"I'll write now." Taehyun extends his hand towards Astra.
"What?" Astra leans away from the boy's outstretched palm, reminded of the heavy power it hid when it flew at Huening Kai this morning.
"I knew you would take extra papers." Taehyun replies.
"Tsk." Astra clicks her tongue and digs into her bag, pulling out a stack of multi-colored paper collected from the pile that Mrs Thon regularly places at the back of the class.
"Pick one." Astra generously spreads out her hands.
"You took so much?" Taehyun's eyes tremble.
"I only take 5 every day. It just accumulated."
Taehyun touches the stacks, mentally counting the days since they have started school, "Liar. This is obviously more than 25."
"5 when school starts and 5 when school ends." Astra corrects herself.
Taehyun continues to stare at Astra. The girl stares at him, "What?"
"More."
"Another 5 whenever I come back from the toilet." Astra admits, lowering her head.
Taehyun claps his hands. "You're amazing."
Taehyun, with the same casual air, reaches over and snatches half the stack of papers Astra had painstakingly gathered, pushing them deep into his pockets. Astra’s eyes widen in disbelief, and she almost jumps out of her seat to protest—until she catches Mrs. Thon’s icy glare fixed on her.
“Astra,” the teacher’s voice rings out, cutting through the classroom, “From now on, you will be charged for every piece of paper you take.”
Astra's heart sinks. It seems the teacher had been watching her this whole time. She bites her lip guilty, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
“Students!” Mrs. Thon continues, her voice sharp and authoritative. “Especially those of you sitting at the back—if you see Astra taking any more of my papers, snap a picture and send it to me. I’ll charge her, and use that money to buy the class a gift!”
The class erupts in laughter and cheers while Astra slinks back into her seat, her head lowered.
Taehyun pats her head, "It's alright. Just don't take it anymore."
But Astra, her half-stash now gone and her paper-collecting days officially over, swats away Taehyun’s hand with an exaggerated huff.
After Astra swats his hand away, Taehyun nonchalantly turns, his focus shifting back to his note. Astra, unable to resist, angles her head, trying to sneak a peek at his note.
Taehyun doesn’t seem to notice, or if he does, he doesn’t mind. His handwriting is unlike the neat, precise kind the boy left in her notebook. This handwriting of his could actually make it into the same competition category as her best handwriting. To simplify, Astra thinks its shit.
On the paper that slightly crumples on the edges is a short message that reads,
-Hi, Veronica. I am your secret angel. You are a decent classmate with decent qualities. Not too bad, I guess-
Astra’s eyes widen in disbelief as she watches Taehyun finish the note with a final flourish.
Have a nice day!
Not too bad? Not too bad, I guess?
This… atrocity.
Astra shoots Taehyun a look, but he’s already moved on, calmly flipping his pen between his fingers.
Astra thinks she would tear such a note into pieces if she ever receives it.
It's actually worse than nothing.
"Your handwriting isn't that good either?" Astra points at his note.
"I don't want the reader to recognize me from my handwriting." Taehyun says.
Astra calls bullshit, "You just don't care."
Taehyun smiles prettily. "Is that so?"
Astra's offended on Veronica’s behalf as the words, "A decent classmate with decent qualities" stick around in her head.
Unable to stand it, she says to Taehyun, "I'll write it for you."
Taehyun shakes his head. "No thank you. I finished mine. You can write her one of your own."
Astra sighs as she digs into her bag again. She pulls out a sheet of sparkly rose gold paper. At first glance, anyone could tell it’s of far better quality than the standard stuff Mrs Thon hands out. The subtle glint catches the light, making the paper almost too pretty to write on.
Taehyun gives Astra a dirty look, "So you have a different stash."
"Of course.” Astra shrugs, tapping on the paper. This came from her premium stash—the rare, beautiful sheets she sifted out of the bulk of Mrs Thon’s paper supply that the teacher provided to the class, the ones that felt just a little too special to be used on any ordinary note.
"Now. Please stop talking to me." Astra says to Taehyun as she shakes her wrists, prepared to craft the perfect message for Veronica.
Her pen slides quickly across the paper as she pens down what she wanted but never got to tell to a select few in her past. Veronica, Dominic, the boy band, BTS who inspired her, and all the others who helped her. Her note is short but every word reflects her sincere intent.
Minutes later, Astra leans back in her seat, stretching her arms above her head, a satisfied smile on her face.
Before she can even relax into her chair, her rose gold paper is snatched away. Her seatmate has it now, and he holds it in his hands, reading over the note with a look of quiet amusement. His eyes flick across the words, and Astra’s smile falters as she watches his expression shift.
His hands tremble ever so slightly, his gaze never wavers from the note, but his mouth twitches as if fighting back something—until finally, a silent laugh breaks free, frozen on his face. The kind of laugh that comes from pure cringiness, but one that he’s trying to hold in.
-Hello. I am your secret angel.
You might not know, but to me, you are like the starlight during my darkest nights.
And I'll never forget the light that you shone on me.-
Astra snatches the paper back from his hands, her fingers gripping it tightly as she holds it up to her chest. “What do you know?” she mutters, her tone sharp. “This is my heart.”
Taehyun laughs, “What starlight, what light?” he teases. “Did you forget this is still our first week of school?”
Astra’s voice hardens, unwavering. “No. You forgot I came back from a further past.”
And Taehyun’s expression shifts, the playfulness fading as he processes her words. He’s forgotten that she is not from this timeline. “So this Veronica helped you?” he asks.
Astra doesn’t answer right away, her eyes lingering on the rose gold paper in her hands. This Veronica—a part of her past that feels as distant as a dream, yet somehow, in this moment, is very real.
Before she can drift too far into her thoughts, Taehyun’s voice just has to keep her in check as he points to her note. “But your handwriting is just barely readable.”
Astra’s eyes snap up, her irritation flaring instantly. “Hah?” she leans forward. “As if yours is any better?” She taps her finger against Taehyun’s note on the table.
Taehyun’s chuckles, “I’ll show you.” His hands move towards her, palm outstretched. “Give me one of those papers from your hidden stash.”
Astra narrows her eyes, wary.
Taehyun wriggles his fingers, "Give it here."
With deliberately slow movements, Astra pulls a sheet of coral blue paper from the stack, the color rich and deep, almost glowing under the dim light. She hands it to Taehyun, albeit reluctantly.
Taehyun doesn’t hesitate. He reaches into his pencil case and pulls out a silver pen, the tip gleaming under the fluorescent lights. Lowering his head slightly, he begins to write. The sliver ink shimmers as it seeps into the paper. Each letter formed with careful precision, as if it’s meant to be, almost too perfect.
When he’s done, Taehyun holds the note out in front of Astra with a quiet smile. The silver ink seems to catch the light in a way that makes it look ethereal, as if it carries with it the essence of starlight. The coral blue paper, dark and velvety, feels like the night sky itself, framing the words as if they’re a piece of the universe.
-Hello. I am your secret angel.
You might not know, but to me, you are like the starlight during my darkest nights.
And I'll never forget the light that you shone on me.-
Astra takes the note, examining it. It’s the same message, yet it feels entirely different, like it’s been imbued with a kind of magic. It’s now more than just a note—it feels like a quiet message from the stars, a masterpiece that makes her breath catch in her throat. The words are simple, but the way they’re presented, the way they seem to glow with meaning—
All she could offer to Taehyun is a silent thumbs-up. Her hand trembles slightly as she holds the note out to him, her fingers gripping the edges, not wanting to let go. She hesitates, just a beat too long, before finally passing it into his hands.
"You can give this to Veronica," she says, holding the paper up with two hands.
"And. Can you write one more?" Astra asks, eyes still on the paper in Taehyun's hands.
"You want it?" Taehyun gaze flicks between Astra and the sliver-inked paper.
"I want to give it to the person I chose."
"Who?"
"Dominic."
"Okay then." Taehyun quickly agrees, "What's in for me?"
"Your promise to buy me bread for the whole of next week is nullified."
"Deal." Taehyun extends Astra his arms for a handshake and she shakes it firmly.
The instant Taehyun finishes writing, Astra snatches the note straight out from his hands, her movements quick and decisive. She skips toward the back of the classroom, she's on her way, on with her task to slip the note into Veronica and Dominic’s envelopes.
Meanwhile, Taehyun leans back in his chair, his eyes drawn to the sparkly rose gold paper left forgotten on the dusty floor. Its owner has long abandoned it for something better. With a sigh, he bends over, picking it up gently. The paper curls in his fingers, and he folds it with care. Taehyun slips it into his pocket without another word.
On the same day, Huening Kai also received a reply.
-First, thank you for the compliments. I agree as well.
Next, I appreciate the fee. I'll put it to good use. Regarding your scenario. I think it would be better if you reported it. It's admirable that you are thinking of protecting your friend, but she's not really protected when she's in the dark. Let her know who's plotting behind her back so she can be better prepared.
And most importantly, let the wrongdoer face the fiercest consequences of her actions, let the lightning, the heavenly judgment come down on their ugly soul. Thank you.
P.S. Please take it with a pinch of salt.-
Huening Kai holds the paper, his hands trembling as his eyes skim the words over and over. The more he reads, the more he couldn't help himself, before long, he bursts into uncontrollable, shaking laughter, crumpling to the floor.
It’s break time, and the classroom is mostly empty, with only a few students scattered about. But as Huening Kai’s laughter shatters the peace, everyone’s attention shifts toward him.
Astra, who has been quietly minding her own business, looks over at Huening Kai, her brow furrowing in confusion. “What’s wrong with you?”
Taehyun stands up from his chair, drawn by the sight of Huening Kai shaking with laughter. He walks over, his gaze dropping to the note in Huening Kai’s hand. He squints, leaning in closer to read the words—struggling to make out the words that are shaking in Huening Kai's grip, caused by his uncontrollable laughter.
“Hey, don't move. I can't see” Taehyun says, his voice a little more serious now. Despite it though, the shaking becomes worse, and without thinking, Taehyun reaches out and grabs Huening Kai’s wrist, forcefully steadying his hand.
It takes a few seconds before both their maniac laughter fills the room, echoing in a way that even Astra can’t help but smile at as she watches from the side.
It hasn't been long, but it feels like these two are now really good friends.
Though she doesn’t know that it came at her expense.
Chapter 10: Day 5 (Yeonjun)
Chapter Text
It was 6:30 pm. And the fateful time has arrived. Huening Kai, Taehyun, and Astra were standing outside the abandoned computer lab, waiting.
"Hey! Why are you three just standing there?" Beomgyu's hushed whisper can be heard along with his footsteps, he pointedly looks at Astra who is flanked left and right by Huening Kai and Taehyun. "You even brought your whole gang?"
Astra isn't shy to admit, "Yes."
"And you are all standing in a line like this? You want to get discovered? No one's supposed to be here at this hour!"
"We know." Taehyun says. Truth was, he didn't. But let's just say he did.
Beomgyu sighs. "Whatever, just come in." He unlocks the door, ushering them in.
"Wait!" Soobin runs down the corridors, a hand held out at the front as he waves in big motions to them. "Don't close the door yet! I'm coming!"
Soobin's big. And he is loud—whether in his voice or his heavy footsteps as he runs towards them. His presence alone had superseded whatever presence the three first-years had when they stood in a line outside the lab, for at least they were quiet.
Beomgyu exhales sharply, pressing a finger at his lips as he signals to Soobin to tone it down.
"Well." Taehyun quips, smiling at Beomgyu, "At least now if we get discovered, you know it wasn't us."
Soobin footsteps take softer landings and he purses his lips, catching onto Beomgyu's hint. But now, his speed has taken a toll, he has his back completely bent over, in a crouching state as he shuffles forward, practically inching one inch after another.
"Hurry up!" Beomgyu holds onto the handle of the door, itching to shut Soobin outside. And Soobin goes, sensing Beomgyu's unspoken intentions—he picks up speed, his feet stomping down into the ground.
Right before Beomgyu's anxiety over the ruckus Soobin caused reaches a new high, Soobin inserts his feet by the crack of the door, pulls the door open, and invites himself in.
The lab, long abandoned, is stuffy and smells of old cardboard. Astra coughs, feeling the inexplicable tension as the five stand in a circle, staring each other down, each forming their portfolios and evaluations of one another in preperation for the battle ahead.
Tap tap tap tap tap
Footsteps could be heard through the gaps between the door and the windows. The footsteps were slow and steady as if carrying with them a structured weight, one that spoke of the walker's familiarity in this routine down this same path—the guard's making his final rounds in school before he locks it up. Taehyun peeks out through the windows, and sure enough, he catches the guard's blue uniform rounding the corner.
Taehyun acts, pulling Soobin aside, closing and locking the door behind him. "Hide." He hisses, quickly hiding behind the door.
The sun is setting and the light dips under the horizon. With the door now closed, the room becomes dimmer. Perhaps in another few minutes, when the sun completely goes under, the five of them would only be able to make out vague outlines of one another.
Beomgyu, an expert in avoiding the guard's eyes with a so far ninety-percent accuracy slides towards the window, crouching down right under it. He beckons at the other three standing blankly, "Hide here." Beomgyu calls.
Beomgyu's eyes shift as he sees Taehyun still behind the door. "Not there!" His whisper is sharp, filled with increasing urgency, "Get here! Now!"
Taehyun shifts, but stays in his spot, not trusting Beomgyu enough to move.
As Astra squats in place, she takes a tentative glance toward Beomgyu, whose eyebrows are furrowed, his eyes glued to Taehyun who's still stubbornly remaining behind the door. Frustration overtakes Beomgyu as he begins to shake in place.
Astra narrows her eyes and reaches her hand out to Taehyun—crouched under the door, his body tensed up with a frown etched on his features. "Taehyun." Astra pats the space beside her, and his name echoes like a cool breeze in the lab. "Come here."
Tap tap tap tap.
At sunset, its rays filter in through the windows, lighting the floor underneath in soft orange squares. A dark shadow covers half a square and as it moves, they can make out an outline of a man wearing a cap—he's right outside.
It's also this moment when the boy who has been ignoring Beomgyu—responds to Astra's call. Taehyun lifts himself from behind the door, bending his back to avoid being seen through the window. He runs.
With his head lowered and the lack of light, Taehyun didn't see the chair leg blocking his way. He trips over it, losing his balance, falling out—towards the orange squares lighting up the cement floor. There's dread, there's panic, and Taehyun shuts his eyes.
Two different pair of hands stretch out towards Taehyun, grabbing onto him. One grabbed onto his collar and the other had an arm over his waist. Taehyun's weight shifts, and he finds himself being effortlessly pulled back. The hands belonged to Astra and Huening Kai, who at the instance Taehyun tilts, had reached out without hesitation, pulling him back in at the last possible moment.
As Taehyun blinks, a white light pierces through the darkness of the lab, shining right behind the door—just where he previously was.
"We were so close to being screwed." Beomgyu mumbles, eyes following the light from the torch.
Taehyun heaves, finding himself leaning on Huening Kai, who still has his arms around his waist, "Thanks." He says, looking up at Beomgyu.
"Eh? Did you say something?" Beomgyu asks and Taehyun furrows his brows. But regardless, he repeats, "Thanks, Beomgyu."
Taehyun taps on the arm on his wrist, Huening Kai hasn't talked, seeming to be still in shock.
"Thanks for catching me."
Astra waits with anticipation, awaiting the time when Taehyun would too, express his gratitude towards her for saving him. But when Taehyun didn't even spare a look toward her, she asks, "Hey what about me, I also did my part!"
"Right." Taehyun rubs at his neck, still feeling the choking pressure pushing against his neck when Astra pulled him. "Thank you for pulling my collar. I almost died."
Astra looks away. "Sorry."
As the two talk, they didn't notice Huening Kai's odd silence. He's clutching his arm, face contorted in pain. They didn't see, but Soobin did. "Hey are you alright?"
Soobin's words instantly draw the attention of Huening Kai's two friends. Huening Kai chuckles awkwardly, as their gazes burn into him, he nudges his aching arm forward, "I think I pulled my arm the wrong way. Just give it a minute and I'll be good."
So he wasn't pulled so effortlessly after all. Taehyun thinks.
The torch turns as the guard shines it through the window, lighting white round corners through the lab, but never right under the window where they were—a blindspot, where the light could not reach. The guard found nothing despite being sure that he heard noises. He digs his hands into his pockets as he walks towards the door, his fingers gripping the bunch of silver keys in his pocket.
He takes the key out and there's a loud jingling sound of keys clashing into one another. And the faces of the students in the lab pale. They fall into deathly silence, holding their breaths until Beomgyu lets loose a chuckle. All four pairs of eyes turn to him.
"He won't come in." Beomgyu shrugs. "He always takes his keys out, but he never comes in."
Beomgyu lowers his voice and Soobin, who's the furthest from Beomgyu could only hear snippets of what he said, "He's..... funny.... scared of..... haunted....."
But it's enough for Soobin to piece it together and he's suddenly more aware of the space he's in. Soobin shivers, shifting closer towards Huening Kai beside him.
And Beomgyu's right. The guard didn't come in. The jingling of the keys stops and the guard's shadow can be seen exiting the orange squares.
Beomgyu gets up, flinging himself on a chair. "There is no need for introductions, let's get talking."
Taehyun and Soobin look at one another, nodding in collective understanding. Taehyun draws the curtain of the lab tightly and Soobin heads straight for the light switch.
Soobin doesn't turn the lights on yet as he introduces himself. "Hello. I'm Soobin, currently in my third year." Soobin says, smiling sweetly at the three first-years, though it wasn't like any of them could see it without light.
Taehyun goes next, "I'm Taehyun. First year."
"Astra, first year."
"Huening Kai, year one."
Beomgyu glares at Soobin, the one who started this chain of introduction. And soon, everyone's eyes turn to him, as if expecting him to do it, too. Beomgyu doesn't want to, not when he just declared seconds ago that there's no need for introductions. But in this darkness, their eyes shone, catching whatever minuscule light was left in the room. Five simmering eyes bore down on him and feeling the pressure, he twists uncomfortably on the chair.
Click.
Light floods into the lab and Soobin exhales, as if a weight has been lifted off their shoulders.
"I have heard of you." Taehyun takes a step toward Beomgyu's direction as his eyes adapt to the light, "The second-year senior prefect."
Beomgyu's back straightens, his eyes and lips curving up, "So you know me." He says it like it's a matter-of-fact, his earlier resolution to be a rebel and not introduce himself—forgotten. "I'm Beomgyu."
Beomgyu's tone is already kinder, "What did you want to tell us?"
Astra is immediately eager. "First, I want to say that I have evidence to back up my time-travelling experience."
Soobin grows interested, moving his swivel chair closer towards Astra's voice.
"As I mentioned that day, there were two bands that existed in my past that don't exist here. BTS and TXT." Astra thinks of the narrative that convinced Taehyun.
"You said that. And the two of us are part of TXT right?" Beomgyu leans his head backward, already feeling tired. "Do you think that makes sense?"
"Not just the two of you."
"The two of us too." Huening Kai points at himself and Taehyun. "And one more, Yeonjun."
Beomgyu's eyes shift between his three juniors, in part disbelief and part amusement at their audacity to even put out such ludicrous claims.
"That makes five of us who are supposed to be in another country as famous idols?" Beomgyu groans. "You are free to fantasize all you want. But please don't pull us into it."
"Even if like you said, the five of us are really idols, or TXT—as you say, then how is there such a coincidence that all of us are in the same school?"
"I don't know. But I do have a theory, that the five of you could be connected by a string of fate." Astra answers, lowering her eyes.
That's the only thing that could explain this coincidence.
Yep. She's not right in the mind. Beomgyu folds his arm. "Then what about you? What role do you play in the past? What connection do you have with TXT? Why are you the one who time-travelled?" His questions are sharp, each pointing at the crux of reasons behind her time-travel, yet all of which are questions she doesn't have explanations for.
And as Astra stays silent, Beomgyu snickers. "You don't know? Have you not made up this part of the story yet?"
As Astra shrinks into herself, discouraged, Huening Kai places his hand on her shoulders, "It's okay." He whispers, "I trust you."
Huening Kai turns to Taehyun, his lips open and close. No sounds leave his lips, but Taehyun can tell what he is trying to say—"Should we just leave?"
Taehyun shakes his head in response, turning back to Soobin and Beomgyu. "It's not a coincidence."
"The five—no six of us here for a purpose."
"What purpose?" Soobin has been sitting quietly all the while, he doesn't say anything but his eyes are sharp, an undeniable presence in the room as he watches the conversation unfold, only asking questions when it is truly important.
"It is something we are trying to figure out." Taehyun answers.
"Alright, Fine. Then what is the evidence you mentioned?" Beomgyu rubs at his temple.
The big fan, Astra begins listing the whole of BTS's discography. Their albums, their songs, and even down to their lyrics. The boy band released hundreds of songs in their career, and as Astra presents a wide array of undeniable history carved by a group that once took the world by storm, Beomgyu's questions take a shift—no longer questioning in nature, turning towards one of curiosity. Beomgyu himself is unaware of this change as he gets pulled into her narrative.
"Anything else?" But Soobin was still skeptical. He was in reality, a tougher nut to crack compared to Beomgyu. He just preferred to keep to himself more.
Astra's eyes flicker and she straightens up. Taehyun, catching this shift, frantically shakes his head at her, hoping that she holds back what she's about to say.
Soobin frowns, not missing Taehyun's reaction. He presses Astra, "You aren't exactly proving your words with songs that we aren't sure exist."
"There is." Astra pretends not to see Taehyun forming an 'X' with his arms. She's eager to prove to Soobin, and to her, this fact had always been the greatest proof.
"Your names," Astra begins and Taehyun sighs. "Prove that you five don't belong here."
"Oh?" Now with half a mind to believe, Beomgyu is more receptive.
Unfortunately, Soobin wasn't. Now that Beomgyu's no longer up to shake up the "cultist" trio, Soobin has to hold the reins. "What do you mean?"
"Your names aren't local names." Astra puts out her point.
Taehyun scratches his neck, his frustration building up. Here we go again. Astra insulting the origins of their names.
"Your names do not have meaning in local contexts." Astra continues.
"I'm sorry? My name is well thought and given by my parents." And as Taehyun expected, Soobin's frown deepened.
The computer boots up as Astra turns it on. Her finger pushes on the keyboard as she types in Soobin's name in the search bar.
Meaning of name, "Soobin" in local contexts_
The screen loads while Soobin folds his arms.
"You won't find anything." Astra says. "Because it doesn't exist."
"Who says it doesn't?" Soobin's tone now loses it cordiality, taking on a sharp edge, "You?"
"It won't exist! Look!" Astra points to the monitor, which took an abnormally long time to load. "Eh? Why is it still loading."
Astra gave the monitor a few knocks, "Must be old."
The four boys stared at one another. Soobin asks, "Did she say your name doesn't belong too?"
Huening Kai shakes his head while Taehyun admits, "Yes."
Soobin's lips pull slightly when Beomgyu's voice interrupts him, "It's up."
"Look! There is nothing—"
Beomgyu interrupts her, "There is something."
Astra's eyes shake, afraid of what the screen is saying. She wonders if Soobin's name really exists and if her plan to convince him will go up in flames. "What does it say?"
_The name Soobin is a prevalent and highly meaningful name in local culture. "Soo" meaning soup. "Bin" meaning bin. It represents the parents' hopes for their child to be outstanding and refined, shining for as long as he lives_
There was a long silence. The explanation is so stupid that the five students had to wreck their brains to process it.
There's no proper explanation, no link. It reminds Astra of a poorly written history paper her teacher went on and on about for that week, criticising her classmate's work.
Her classmate started off with her point, her perspective that the purpose of the source is to convince youths to join the youth corps. Which was valid, however her explanations were superficial and served no link to her point. 'The uniform for the youth corps is beautifully designed with fine cloth and intricate golden embroidery, speaking of the seamless blend of fashion in the 18th century, representing what the corps wanted its members to represent—Youth, Valour, and a fierce courage to charge into the battlefield...' Her classmate went on to describe what each intricate detail of the uniform could represent, from the belt to the tiny buttons by the side of the sleeves.
She remembers her history teacher screaming at her, "Why are you gushing about their uniforms? This is history! Not a fashion class!"
At that time, Astra was desperatly trying to hold in her laughter as her classmate meekly responded, "It's historical fashion."
"Soup Bin?" Beomgyu's laughter pulls Astra out of her thoughts.
Beomgyu laughs with his mouth hanging wide open, each ring of his laughter annoying Soobin. Beomgyu doubles over when Soobin, unable to bear it, lands a hit on Beomgyu.
Everyone's laughing, except Taehyun and Astra.
"It doesn't make sense." Taehyun mumbles. The results about Soobin's name seemed like it was entered last minute, a poorly-made filler to urgently patch a leaking hole.
Taehyun looks at the screen, saying again, louder this time, "It doesn't make sense."
The ground shakes beneath them, so briefly and weakly that it feels like an illusion.
Bzzt.
The screen fades to black. Astra swings the mouse and the screen lights up again.
_404 Not Found_
_Oops! The page you are looking for does not exist_
Astra refreshes the page which lands her back on the "404" page.
"Let me." Beomgyu, who has been observing makes his way to the computer. He presses down on multiple keys on the keyboard at once, sending the screen into another whirling wait. It loads longer this time and once again, "404 Not Found" is staring back at them.
Beomgyu opens another tab and searches again, the exact same sentence,
Meaning of name, "Soobin" in local contexts_
The screen loads again,
_Your search - Meaning of name, "Soobin" in local contexts- did not match any documents.
Suggestions:
Make sure that all words are spelled correctly.
Try different keywords.
Try more general keywords.
Try fewer keywords._
It was as if when the ground shook lightly just now, something was altered.
"Try my name." Taehyun says. "Kang Taehyun."
Beomgyu's hands practically fly across the keyboard and he searches. "There's nothing."
Beomgyu continues searching for the rest of their names,
Huening Kai_
Beomgyu_
Yeonjun_
And it's like their names became a taboo word blocked by search engines.
"No results." Beomgyu declares, flabbergasted.
Beomgyu backspaces again, this time, he keyed in a 5 letter name, Astra. Immediately, the screen loads,
_Star.
Astra is a name of Latin and Greek origin.... this name means “star,” “a celestial body,” or an “illustrious person.”...
.
.
.
The search results for "Astra" ran long, with many explanations and definitions, but all of them pointed the meaning towards Light, Stars, and Strength.
"This is creeping me out." Soobin remarks.
"So it's like—" Soobin pauses to reorganise his thoughts, "We are just not supposed to be here?" The tall boy looks at Astra for answers. Despite being older and a lot taller, at this moment, Soobin looks like a little child, fear and confusion swirling in his eyes.
Astra feels strangely guilty. While Beomgyu, Beomgyu is strangely excited.
"This is so fun." Beomgyu says, which earns him Soobin's look of distaste.
"So." Beomgyu twirls in his chair and slides over to Astra, "Please explain in great detail."
Explain. She's explaining again.
The first explanation she did was with great enthusiasm. The second, third, and fourth too. Looking into Beomgyu's enthusiastic eyes, Astra's lips part, but no words came. She doesn't know how to begin.
At some point, there's a realisation—that she has been repeating herself, over and over like a broken record, her experience, her passion, her past, everything. It all cycles, through her head and out her lips.
Now, it feels like a far-away memory, an old manuscript on her lips, chewed through, wrinkly, and damaged.
"I'll explain it to you!" Huening Kai raises his hand. "Can I?" The boy looks at Astra, his eyes alight with the same spark of enthusiasm in his eyes—like those Astra had when she first told her story to him.
Astra sees it and smiles. The next moment, she's off her chair, patting Huening Kai's back, she stands before them, her demeanor flipping a hundred eighty, "That's a great offer, but let me start it off first, you can take over later."
"I'm Astra and this is—" The girl dramatically swings her hands towards Huening Kai.
Huening Kai has a wide smile, "Huening Kai."
"And the both of us will be presenting what happened in Astra's timeline before the 2018 today."
"In 2024, I was 35 years old—"
Beomgyu, Soobin, and Huening Kai's eyes collectively widen.
"You were 35?" Huening Kai took the biggest blow.
"You told me you were 30." Taehyun cuts in.
Astra curses internally, momentarily, she has forgotten about Taehyun's presence here. Her eyes sharpen. But since she already lied, she believed she should go all the way.
"Right. Right. I was 30." Astra corrects herself.
"Before that, you said you were 32." Taehyun's words continue to stab at Astra.
Astra forces a smile on her lips, a deadly glint in her eyes. One day, she swears to hang Taehyun from a tree. "Oh! Yes! 32. Sorry, I miscounted the years."
Beomgyu narrows his eyes, suspicious.
"Then how old were we? When we came over?" Soobin was audibly more polite to Astra, his posture and tone shifting to reflect it.
Astra doesn't fail to catch that, nodding in satisfaction, her eyes snap over to Taehyun, cueing him to answer. She's sure that boy would know.
"In 2024, me and Huening Kai are 22, Beomgyu's 23, Soobin's 24, and Yeonjun's 25."
Soobin nods. "Then it's the same. I'm 18 now and 6 years later, I'll be 24."
"You are 16 now?" Soobin asks Astra, confused.
"... Yes."
Soobin waves his arms around, "I'm guessing that time runs differently for you on that side?"
That side. Soobin was referring to Astra's past timeline where TXT and BTS existed.
"....." Lying is really not a fun game to play. Perhaps she should have just fessed up that she was the same age as Taehyun and Huening Kai in 2024.
"Anyways. It was 2024 and I was a big fan of BTS—" Astra pushes Huening Kai to the front. "Now, my dear friend Huening Kai will be taking over from here."
Huening Kai's still in a daze. Perhaps in too much shock that the one who he thought was his same-aged friend is actually 32—about twice his age. He wasn't sure if he could treat her the way he usually did and wondered if their friendship would change.
"Hello? Huening Kai?" Astra waves her hand before Huening Kai's eyes. His eyes start to focus on Astra. Her face, the way she speaks, the way she acts all screamed to Huening Kai that she's 16—just like him.
"Huening Kai?" Astra calls again.
"Oh! Yes, my turn?"
Astra places her hand on Huening Kai's head, "Yes my dear friend. Your turn to shine."
Huening Kai looks into Astra's eyes, which reflect his own figure, all the same. Huening Kai nods. He doesn't need to treat or see her differently. She's still Astra, his dear friend that he hopes will stay in his life.
.
.
.
Under Huening Kai's insistence, even Beomgyu and Soobin did not manage to camp overnight in school. The five of them stood under the school gates and Astra asked the big question, "How should we get over?"
"Simple." Beomgyu answers, his experience in this department apparent. "We climb over."
Astra stares at the looming gate, judging the probability of her ass getting over that gate. The locked gate stands between her and outside like a wall stretching to the sky. Unlike the boys, Astra was someone who never exercised. In the past or now, it's all the same, instead, she was famed for the time she spent on the couch.
The boys were getting rowdy before the gate, their voices conveying their ambitious plans to get through.
The most absurd plan was one suggested by Huening Kai, the angel-like boy had suggested for Taehyun to swing and throw each of them over the gate. It made sense why it was Taehyun. He had boxed since young and she knew of his daily trips to the gym, so despite being the smallest in size among the oddly tall members of TXT, he was arguably the strongest and one who held the best control of his own body.
But even Taehyun—Astra thinks as she looks at the gate which was about twice her height—cannot possibly haul whole human bodies through it.
Huening Kai's suggestion, however horrifying and improbable is met with a positive reaction from Taehyun, who starts swinging both his hands likely doing image-training for the plan he accepted.
Thankfully though, the boys do have enough brains to not consider Huening Kai's grand plan—with Taehyun as the human catapult—any further.
There's one thing that plan managed to affect though. It has managed to fuel Astra's belief—There's no way. No way she would get through that gate.
There is a clear line drawn when Astra comes to that conclusion. As the boys continue to chat animatedly, other than shooting down ridiculous ideas from particularly Beomgyu and Huening Kai especially, Astra is mostly quiet, hatching her own plan to have all the boys get over the gate first, before she camps overnight in school.
Soon, a feasible plan, headed by Taehyun and Soobin is formed. Their plan, summarised, was basically to form human ladders for the physically 'not-as-abled' ones to get through first, and the ones with the best physicality—who must be able to get over the gates by themselves, will be last.
Then it begins, the strength ranking competition.
And here are the results.
Soobin is the designated human ladder. He's the tallest and can, with Taehyun's support, carry the heaviest, Huening Kai up on his shoulders.
Taehyun is the only one able to climb up and down the gates by himself and will therefore be the last one through the gates.
Beomgyu will be the first to get over the gates. He has the strongest legs and can jump down from the top easily. Once the boy gets on the other side, he will be able to support the rest of them down.
Therefore, all roles were allocated, except for fodder 1, Huening Kai, whose strength doesn't match his size, and fodder 2, Astra, who just didn't have a say.
"Astra will be the second to get over." Taehyun announces.
"But I said I'll be the last! You said you started boxing at ten? I have been climbing trees since I was five! This gate is a piece of cake." Astra is on a lying spree, as usual. The girl has yet to truly learn her lesson.
"I didn't say I started at ten." Taehyun says to which Astra blinks. Oops.
"Then you go first, since you can climb so well, you should be able to get over without a problem." Taehyun steps back, ushering her forward.
Behind Astra, Huening Kai claps, "Wow, I didn't know you could do this."
Astra gulps as she comes face-to-face with the gates. Of course you didn't know. It's because I can't.
"The best show..." Astra smiles at Taehyun, "has to be saved for the last."
While Taehyun and Astra are arguing, at the side, Soobin and Beomgyu already had their plan set in motion. Beomgyu steps up on Soobin's shoulders, who groans at the brown shoe marks Beomgyu left on his uniform.
Beomgyu continues to climb up, unceremoniously stepping on Soobin.
"Ahhhh!" Soobin suddenly begins screaming as he moves backwards, without Soobin's support, the two boys tumble on the ground. When Soobin looks up again, he clutches his head and glares at Beomgyu. "You stepped on my head?"
Beomgyu grins, scratching his hair. "Did I? Sorry."
That was a half-assed apology that even Astra, standing the furthest away, could identify.
"You!" Soobin takes off his shoes and chases after Beomgyu. "I'll step on your head too."
Aware that they were still in the school vicinity, Beomgyu doesn't scream, but he runs fast, with Soobin chasing right behind him.
"I can't believe they are older." Taehyun quips.
"They aren't older. I'm 30."
Taehyun places his hand on Astra's shoulders, smiling, but chills run down her spine, as if he's daring her to lie again, "How old were you in 2024?"
Astra shrinks back. "... 22."
"Then how old are you in 2016?" Taehyun's smile is sweeter than before.
"....." Truly, appearances can be deceiving.
Taehyun places pressure on Astra's shoulders. The girl relents, "16."
"What?" Huening Kai stares at Astra's deflated look and he shakes her shoulders, "You said you were 32!"
"I—" Astra immediately shuts up when Taehyun turns to her, the same sweet smile hanging.
"You are naive. She's the same age as us." Taehyun pats Huening Kai's head.
"But!" Astra protests, "I have my memories till I was 22! So in fact, I'm older than all of you here.
But that wasn't Huening Kai's focus, "Why would you say you are 32?" The boy had a frown on his lips, upset.
Her breath hitches in her throat and for a moment she didn't know how to answer, she feels like she's caught by the pure, simple earnestness in Huening Kai's eyes.
Astra missed her chance to answer, for a scream interrupts them.
Seconds ago, whilst aiming his shoe at Beomgyu's head, Soobin's eyes spot a tuft of hair moving through the bushes on his left, illuminated by the night lamps.
Soobin licks his lips, swinging his arms as his shoe flies in an arc through the air and lands straight on.
Jackpot.
There's a groan of pain.
Soobin has on a victory smile as he pulls off his other shoe, once again taking aim.
"What are you doing?"
Beomgyu?
Soobin's smile is immediately gone as he stiffens in place, one shoe still dangling from his hand. He turns his head, following the sound of the earlier voice. Beomgyu's not hiding behind the bush but instead stands proudly before him, making funny faces.
The bush rustles and Soobin's head snaps back.
Beomgyu's before him. Astra, Huening Kai, and Taehyun were still arguing about god-knows-what at the back. So—
So who's that behind the bush?
Soobin screams, his legs carrying him backward.
A head pops out from the bushes, hands up in surrender. "Please don't scream." The boy begins, "You'll get us all caught."
The boy holds Soobin's shoe in his hand as he stands up, a devious smile gracing his plump lips as he uses his free hand to brush the leaves and small branches off his hair. "Also, who threw this at me?"
Choi Yeonjun.
Chapter 11: Day 5
Chapter Text
At the deserted hour, when no one's supposed to be in school and when they least expected it, Yeonjun arrival is like fate. To Astra, it's as if the stars aligned before them. Like her theory about the strings of fate, the same ones that wove the five boys together—It’s like fate.
Yet for Soobin, it was nothing but an unlucky encounter, where perhaps all the stars did align, coming together to screw him up. Intimidated by Yeonjun's sinister expression, Soobin takes a step back, pointing at Beomgyu.
"What?" Beomgyu points at himself, initially in confusion before he realises that Soobin is throwing him under the bus.
He shakes his head rapidly when Yeonjun's eyes shift towards him. He refused to be the scapegoat.
"I didn't do it!" Beomgyu roars.
"Look!" He points at Soobin's bare feet, "They are obviously Soobin's shoes!"
Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Soobin wriggles his toes, sneakily moving his bare feet to the back.
Beomgyu jumps up and down, excited at the thought of deflecting the blame Soobin threw at him. "See, it's him!"
"You." Yeonjun asks Beomgyu who's dramatically pointing a finger at Soobin, lips pulled in an exaggerated grin, paired with an almost crazed look in his eyes. "Were you always like this?"
The Beomgyu he thought knew—Before Yeonjun could go into recollection of his impression of the senior prefect, he's interrupted.
Beomgyu tilts his head, blinking his eyes repetitively. "I have always been like this."
Yeonjun's mind stutters as he registers Beomgyu's attempt to act cute. Then, Yeonjun decides to drop it and instead pursue responsibility from the one who threw a shoe to his head.
Much to Soobin’s horror, Yeonjun strides towards him, his steps quick and heavy. Yeonjun swings his arm around Soobin, pulling him close, forcing Soobin to look up at him. Soobin stiffens, uncomfortable.
"You know who I am right?" Yeonjun asks.
".. who?"
"Did you see the school forum?" Yeonjun asks.
Soobin knows what Yeonjun is referring to. Their school had a popularity ranking list, made by a few bored, but well-informed students in their school.
There's even a written analysis for the top 10.
_Choi Yeonjun is a student who is highly regarded by his fellow students. He possesses extensive connections throughout the student body, encompassing, honourable mentions in particular, are the two only head prefects in school. Additionally, Yeonjun has represented the school in numerous dance competitions. His remarkable flexibility and talent are unparalleled and widely admired. Such qualities and achievements contribute significantly to his preeminent standing on the list_
Choi Yeonjun is ranked one. Yeah, Soobin knows about that list. He was ranked 67th, solely based on his appearance and sorely dragged back by his introversion and anonymity.
Today, ranked 67th landed a headshot on the 1st ranked with a shoe. It's a scary achievement, to say the least.
So Soobin pretends not to know, shaking his head, saying softly. "No."
Yeonjun smirks, "Go check the forum's popularity list. See who ranks first."
He didn't need to tell them to check, just basing it on his confidence and tone, everyone would know that he reigned at the very top of the list.
"Such a thing exists?" Astra asks Taehyun.
Taehyun turns to Astra, giving her a look that makes Astra cringe—You're asking me?
"Aren't you supposed to know it better? This is supposed to be your fifth year in this school."
"I didn't know about this then!"
"Either you are a student living under a rock or the popularity list doesn’t exist."
Astra looks back on her school life. In the past, when she was at school, she looked forward to going home. And when she was home, she dreaded going to school. This mindset has propelled her to always look forward to dismissal, where she would be the first to leave the class, rush down the stairs, and speed-walk her way home. 16-year-old Astra had no social life to speak of.
Right. Astra admits, albeit reluctantly—Must be because I was living under a rock.
Meanwhile, Yeonjun is confidently striding towards the gate, a wide smile that seems to light up the dark skies stretches from cheek to cheek.
His confidence came from the fact that he has two hostages with him, who he had conveniently grabbed under his arms. On the left, Soobin and on the right, Beomgyu.
“Should we help them?" Huening Kai looks to Taehyun, the only one who could potentially help Beomgyu and Soobin from the grasp of the first ranker.
The two are held under the same conditions, yet both boys have vastly different levels of compliance.
Beomgyu's twisting and turning under Yeonjun's tight grasp, to which Yeonjun responds by tightening his grip, leading Beomgyu to sputter into a series of loud, choking coughs too dramatic for Yeonjun to take seriously.
Soobin, on the other hand, is like a fish on a chopping board, one who has admitted his fate and is simply letting himself be pulled along.
Taehyun watches all of it unfold from the side, his eyes clearly showing his amusement. "No need." Taehyun's eyes follow the trio as they stumble around."They will manage."
"Anyways. I have heard you guys talking just now. You all are planning to climb over this gate right? Count me in." Yeonjun stops and turns to Taehyun, declaring, "I'll be the third one through."
Astra's hand shoot up, "And I'm last." She says.
Taehyun sends a suspicious glance in Astra's direction but this time, he lets it slide.
"And I'm the first." Beomgyu had managed to slip away from Yeonjun after an extensive struggle. He had deployed everything he could, changing tactics every second to force Yeonjun to let him off. He had even went as far as to threaten Yeonjun, having proclaiming just a minute ago, "By next year, I'll be the first ranked."
Yeonjun had chuckled in response, "That's cause I would have graduated."
The plan was set into motion again. This time, Soobin insisted for everyone to remove their shoes before stepping up on him. Beomgyu, the first to go, climbs up with ease, stepping all over Soobin, much to the latter's annoyance.
And Soobin waits. The moment right Beomgyu got to the top and got into balance, Soobin pulled out his shoes, taking aim.
Beomgyu is navigating himself atop the gate, one leg lifted in mid-air when Soobin moves. A shoe comes flying, landing with great accuracy—a headshot.
Beomgyu rubs his head. He looks at the people back on the ground. His reaction is a few seconds late, but arrives nevertheless, breaking into a dramatic cry of pain.
Soobin laughs in reaction, loud enough to hush out Beomgyu's cry, Soobin clutches his stomach, his laughter coming with so much power that it feels forced. He's clearly just trying to get back at Beomgyu.
"Beanpole, Beomgyu. Keep it down. Don't want the guard to hear us."
Beanpole?
Their first meeting and Yeonjun had given him an unsightly nickname, Soobin's dislike towards this first ranker grows.
Beomgyu, though, who has gotten over Soobin throwing his shoe at him has already moved on, already on the other side. Beomgyu climbs down to a lower platform and jumps down in a swift motion.
Beomgyu lands, his hands pressed against the flat ground to break his jump. Unlike the gate, which shakes so occasionally with every step, the ground is sturdy, giving him a sense of security. He now feels more at ease to turn against Soobin. Beomgyu stands up, pointing at him, "Just you wait."
Soobin sticks his tongue at Beomgyu.
Then, goes Huening Kai and with the support from Soobin and Taehyun on one end, they managed to push the boy across.
Yeonjun quickly gets across the gate too, effortlessly done with minimal support, all thanks to his limbs, well trained in dance.
And soon, everyone was across and on the other side—all expect for Astra. They stood face to face, separated by a gate, all waiting for Astra to showcase the decade of experience in tree climbing that she had boasted of.
Their anticipation, however, can only be let down. Climbing? Astra has dabbled in no such art. The only art she has mastered was the 48 ways of lazing on the couch.
Astra claps her hands.
"Okay! This is the end. Goodnight everyone!" Astra acts as if she's ending a performance, bowing towards the 5 boys blankly staring at her.
"What's she saying? She's not leaving school?" Yeonjun asks Soobin.
Huening Kai runs forward, shaking the gate, "No!" He shouts, "You're coming with us."
Taehyun sighs as he combs his fingers through his hair. He wanted to trust her, he gave her the benefit of the doubt. But she lied to him. Again.
Astra bows again. "I'm so sorry everyone. But I have decided that I could not possibly get through this gate and have decided to camp in school."
Astra approaches the gate and walks as close to Beomgyu as she could. The girl smiles at Beomgyu, the light in her eyes brighter under the moonlight. "Could you be kind enough to let me borrow the lab keys for a day?"
"Oh sure." Beomgyu is unexpectedly compliant, digging into his pocket and pulling out a key tied to a string.
"Are you serious?" Soobin watches as Beomgyu walks over to Astra.
"Don't give it to her!" Huening Kai yells as Beomgyu reaches a hand over, the key dangling from his fingers.
In gratitude, Astra walks closer, reaching out to grab the key. "Thank—"
It's all in a split second. Before Astra could touch the shiny surface of the key, it's no longer in her reach. Instead, her arm is now held in a tight grip, pulled by Beomgyu.
Beomgyu lifts his head, and Astra meets his eyes, pulled in crescents, along with a smile curved with diabolical intent. "Got her."
Huening Kai runs forward, and before Astra can react, he pushes his arm through the gate and grabs her ankle, effectively trapping her on the spot.
"Heheheheheh" Each and every ring of Taehyun's laughter sends Astra's heart into a pounding spree. "Lying again." He says, pointing accusingly at her.
"Do you not trust us?" Taehyun is just like he always is, calm, controlled, voice with a sweet timbre unique to him. His face is expressionless, but as she looked into his eyes, they betrayed the fragility the young boy tries to hide.
Something seems to shatter inside Astra. "No." Astra denies quickly, her words forced out by guilt. But does she trust them? She's not sure.
"Then let us help you." Soobin adds.
"Hey you. Auntie." Beomgyu tightens his grip. "Don't be a boomer and hurry up."
Auntie—indeed the consequences of lying never fails to bite back at her.
Astra looks up at the gate again; her vision flashes, distorting, and she sees a light yellow bag—it's her bag. Her bag hangs at the very top of the gate, like a flag of surrender. It's a distant, painful memory she never wants to recall, one Astra keeps locked in the back of her head. Yet, as her head throbs, the line between the present and past starts to blur. She blinks, and the scene shifts.
The boys disappeared, and she sees herself—when she was truly 16—curled up on the other side of the gate. The girl is hugging her yellow bag tightly as if it's her only companion in this world. She's on the floor, bruised and bleeding.
She's crying too. Loud and desperate, coming from deep within her, which was why even though it's soft, muffled even, each cry reaches Astra, it pulls her in, traps her and breaks her down.
Astra's vision blurs as her past comes pounding at her door, memories hitting her like an endless tide. That's when she feels it, warmth and pressure on her limbs. Alarmed, she swings out in a sudden movement, trying to break free.
Bang!
Beomgyu's arm hits the bars of the metal gate, and he hisses in pain, letting go of Astra instinctively. Huening Kai winces, sharing the same fate.
Their cries snap Astra back to reality, her eyes shifts to the two boys crouched on the ground. They had on expressions scrunched in varying levels of pain, and she realised what she had done.
"I'm sorry." Astra reaches out to them both, though her finger touches nothing but air. She grows flustered, unsure of what she should do.
"You're crying." Beomgyu notes as he pulls up to her, meeting her eyes.
Beomgyu's eyes are clear, so clear that they seem to reflect the very essence of her self. Astra sees herself through his eyes, and her breath hitches in her throat. What she saw wasn't the 22-year-old self who had already made it through. But the 16-year-old, who has given up on the world, eyes red and tears tracing her cheeks.
Pathetic.
That thought—that thought of her pathetic self sends her crashing backwards, once again forced into her past trapped within the confines of her mind, and she's reminded of her pain, wounds that she thought had scabbed over. The influx sends her mind into overdrive, and she's standing still— just standing still.
I want to leave.
Leave.
Leave.
I hate it here. Hate this school.
Hate everything.
Astra's eyes are blank, not in focus, stuck in some place only she can see. Despite her unfocused gaze, her tears trickle, slowly, like a small hole opened in a water tank, leaking in small, but definite amounts.
Beomgyu turns towards the other boys behind him, all of whom look to be in confusion. "Something's wrong." Beomgyu whispers.
Taehyun doesn't hesitate this time. He climbs back up the gate and gets back in the place he just stepped out of.
"Help me get over it too." Yeonjun says to Soobin.
Yeonjun did not remove his shoes when he stepped on Soobin's shoulders, leaving a deep shoe mark. Fortunately, Soobin would only notice that mark much, much later, when his mother gently sits him down, and though doubtful, asks her excessively tall son if he had been bullied in school.
Taehyun and Yeonjun land softly inside the gates.
The two make eye contact. Yeonjun nods. "Get her!"
The boys ran towards Astra who is still standing in a daze. Taehyun reaches his hand out, wanting to press his palm on her shoulder, yet before he could, Astra has turned back to face them, leaving Taehyun's hand hanging in the air.
Astra grabs Taehyun's arm. "I want to leave."
"Right!" That's what we have been doing all along!" Yeonjun grins as he moves to stand beside Astra. "Let's go then. I'll help you over." Yeonjun flexes his arms.
Astra nods, keeping silent.
Her expression, her clenched fists—everything about her now screamed that something was so obviously wrong. Taehyun exchanges a glance with Beomgyu, who was watching Astra closely. Beomgyu nods his head, a silent confirmation.
"Come on." Yeonjun smiles at Astra as he kneels before the gate. Astra walks over, her hands trembling as she grabs the bars. She lifts up one feet, stepping on Yeonjun's thigh, then onto his shoulders.
Yeonjun slowly stands up and Astra finds herself further away from the ground. The girl inhales deeply, trying to calm her nerves.
Taehyun reaches out, holding her hand, "It's alright. Even if you fall, I'll be your human cushion." He spreads open his arms and legs like a starfish. "I'll catch you."
Astra's lips curl. "I'll make sure to squash you flat."
Soon, Astra finds herself sitting on top of the school gate. Everything so familiar that she thinks that she was really back to 2016. Her vision blots, and a familiar darkness sweeps over. Then, she sees herself reaching towards the yellow bag. The young girl wraps her hands around the strap, pulling it, but, Astra winces—it snaps. The girl loses her balance, crashing down to the floor, all in a painful, wrenching instant.
If I don’t move... does that mean I won't fall?
Astra shifts her butt, sitting stably on the gate. The girl is trapped in a trance as she swings her legs through the air. The night wind sweeps her hair, clearing an unobstructed view towards the stars flickering above.
The stars are smiling at me. Astra smiles back.
It's nice up here, much more than she thought.
Underneath Astra, however, the five boys watch in horror, their eyes wide at her crazy antics. It wasn't exactly a new sight for Huening Kai and Taehyun, but it was a different story for the rest.
".... What is she doing?" Soobin asks wearily. "I just really, really want to go home now."
"It looks like a trauma reaction." Beomgyu says.
"Trauma?" Huening Kai asks.
"Something probably happened here. Maybe in her past." Beomgyu looks back up at Astra, who is still leisurely swinging her legs. Her head turned to the sky, as if there was nothing else here. Just her, and the sparkling stars above.
Isla. A name instantly pops up in Huening Kai's head. It must be her.
"Her past is just the past, and since she's returned to the past, that event shouldn't exist now." Beomgyu smiles, brushing his pants as he stands up.
"Hey auntie!" The boy screams towards Astra, drawing an alarmed look from Soobin. "Keep your voice down. We are still in school."
Beomgyu ignores Soobin, his voice raising another octave. "Are you really making this bunch of kids half your age wait here while you swing your legs up there?" Beomgyu wildly gestures towards the four boys who each now have their mouths gaping open.
"Here's another crazy one." Yeonjun mutters.
Yeonjun thinks back to when he first met Beomgyu. The boy toddled behind the two head prefects during a school meeting. Yeonjun, though not part of the student council, was there to wait for his friends. He watched as the boy quietly sat in the corner, legs neatly folded and arms humbly placed, keeping to himself and only talking to the head prefects who had brought him here.
When Beomgyu was introduced as the new senior prefect, Yeonjun had thought to himself, How could such a shy kid become a senior prefect?
Yeonjun knows now.
And it works. Beomgyu's words achieved their intended purpose. Astra stirs, and the haze in her eyes starts to clear.
Beomgyu nudges Huening Kai, "Hey, say something."
Huening Kai shuffles his feet in place, hesitantly looking up at Astra, "I... I don't know what you went through here but—" Huening Kai steps closer to the gate, "Aren't things different now?"
"Didn't you come back to the past again? Everything has changed." Huening Kai stretches his hand out and barely tugging at Astra's shoelace.
"You said it yourself. We are the difference." Huening Kai continues. "And you—" The boy's eyes fill with certainty as he gazes at Astra, "You are different too."
"What are they talking about?" Yeonjun asks Taehyun, who he has identified as one of those rare sane individuals in this group.
Taehyun doesn’t even turn his head, "You will know soon enough."
Yeonjun had an ominous premonition, and his instincts whispered a warning—this one wasn't exactly right in the head either.
Late in the night, six students are gathered around the school gate. A crazy one on top while five others surround her. They each wore different expressions, ranging from impatience to concern, but regardless, all of them were waiting.
Waiting for her.
It's a far cry from the past, when she had to walk back home alone, bloodied and scaring the daylights out of anyone unlucky enough to cross her path in the dead of the night.
Right. It will really be different this time. Nothing can be the same.
Astra pushes herself up, and she stands, two feet balancing precariously on the tips of the gate.
"Astra!" Taehyun yells, alarmed.
"Wait wait wait!" Soobin waves his arm. She's not going to jump down, is she?
But she is. She's not waiting for anyone.
Perhaps like time waits for no man, Astra waits for neither time nor man. She steps off, taking a leap of faith, grinning stupidly.
"Fuck." It was the senior prefect who cursed as he ran over.
The gate stood about 3 meters in height. To come down without injuries, one had to step down on a small platform jutting out from the gate first before jumping off. But Astra was leaping straight down from the very top.
She wouldn't die, but the chances of injuries were sky-high.
The only three boys on the other side of the gate rush forward, their hands out in an attempt to catch and break her fall.
Astra lands straight on Soobin, who was standing closest to her before she jumped.
"Oof!" Soobin manages to catch her in his arms. The boy groans as Astra's weight push against him, tripping his balance, and he falls backwards.
Huening Kai, just in time, tries to pull them up, fails, and falls alongside them.
Beomgyu, who was right beside them, also tried to catch them, but how could he ever hope to catch the combined weight of three? So, like dominos, they collapse, with Beomgyu at the very bottom, struggling to bear the weight of three bodies now piled on top of him.
"This damn auntie is really a pain in the ass." Beomgyu huffs.
Astra looks at the skies. The stars are still flickering at her. She fell, but strangely, it didn't hurt at all. It was warm beneath her, and she could hear someone's heartbeat thumping behind her. Astra chuckles, one that sounds like a release, as if all that was weighing her down had finally found an outlet.
She closes her eyes.
"Auntie! can you get up now? I know it feels good lying on top of this distinguished senior prefect here, but I'm dying here." Beomgyu complains.
Soobin shakes the girl lying on him. She didn't move.
Taehyun had, at a point in time, climbed over the gate by himself. He pulled Astra off Soobin, saying, "She's out cold."
Soobin gets up, "She's still alive, right?"
Taehyun didn't answer. That's a dumb question, especially after getting three human-cushions beneath her.
"She's alive but I'm about to die here!" Beomgyu screams, wriggling the only parts he was able to move, his fingers.
"Get off me, you pigs!" Despite it all, Beomgyu's throat remains in peak condition.
"Seeing how he's screaming like that, he won't be dying anytime soon." Soobin stretches his legs, taking his time getting up.
When everyone’s load is finally off him, Beomgyu stays on the floor, his chest heaving up and down, getting his much-needed space.
"What are we going to do about her?" Soobin looks at Astra, who is hanging off Taehyun.
"Huening Kai, you said you live right next to her, right? Could you bring her home?" Taehyun asks.
"I can." Huening Kai answers readily. "But I don't know how her family will react to a boy bringing her home at this time."
"But we can't exactly have her camp at school." Soobin says.
"So, how about," Taehyun grins, "You bring her home, leave her outside the door, ring the doorbell, and run for your life?"
Beomgyu’s eyes sparkle and he nods. "That works!"
Soobin claps his hands. "Great idea!"
Huening Kai thinks his friends are a little cruel. But he wasn’t eager to face Astra’s family either. So, he gave his silent approval.
"Hey friends. I think you all are forgetting something." Yeonjun was still in school, behind the gate. Unlike Taehyun, Yeonjun was unable to scale the gates without help.
Four pairs of eyes stop at Taehyun, making Taehyun go was the most labour effective way.
...
Taehyun swings his arms, giving in to his fate. "Huening Kai, you can bring her home first. The rest of us will deal with Yeonjun."
"Eh? Rest of us? But aren't you alone enough?" Beomgyu asks.
Taehyun's sharp eyes turn over, and the boy raises his fists. Beomgyu shuts up, intimidated by the younger boy.
With experience, Huening Kai fearfully eyes Taehyun's fists and quickly nods, kneeling over. "Put her on my back."
Taehyun walks over with Astra and pushes her onto Huening Kai. The boy stands up, shifting slightly to adjust the girl on his back.
"Good to go?" Taehyun asks.
Unlike the force that Huening Kai had to bear when Astra and Soobin came tumbling down, the weight of the unmoving girl is light enough. "Good to go."
"Be careful."
"Now what do we do about him?" Beomgyu asks.
"Can we just leave him here?" Soobin asks.
"You can't!" Yeonjun shouts, shaking the gate to draw attention to himself.
"Go then." Beomgyu pats Taehyun on his back. "We'll wait for you."
"Save the damsel in distress." Soobin dramatically poses, taking the chance to tease Yeonjun. Anyway, tomorrow in school, he thinks he will be screwed either ways.
Taehyun grins, playing along. "Princess! Your prince is coming!"
Yeonjun feels humiliated. His 1st ranker image ground into dust.
The moment Yeonjun lands on the ground outside the school, the boy rushes forward, jaw tight. Quickly, the boy was again able to take both Beomgyu and Soobin hostage, trapping them under his arms.
"What were you saying just now? What princess?" Yeonjun pushes his face close to Soobin.
"Hey! Why me again?" Beomgyu protests, thrashing under Yeonjun's grip. "I didn't say anything!"
Beomgyu is ignored.
A minute later, Taehyun jumps down and lands on the ground. Yeonjun smiles and approaches, with Beomgyu and Soobin still under his grasp.
"Save me! Ah! Taehyun!"
Beomgyu is still ignored.
"Thank you." Yeonjun says to Taehyun as the boy stretches his limbs, in today's operation, he's the one who paid the most in terms of labour, after all.
Taehyun nods, smiling, "No problem."
Yeonjun takes one arm out for a handshake, freeing Beomgyu, who was twisting around.
Taehyun and Yeonjun shake hands.
Beomgyu immediately runs, shouting, "I'll be going back first. Goodnight Taehyun!"
Soobin turns slightly, a confused expression on his face. He understands why Beomgyu didn't acknowledge Yeonjun, but what about him? Was he not here?
Soobin huffs and obediently stays under Yeonjun's grip. He wasn't even attempting to escape and instead lets himself be dragged along. This was his way of apologising to the older boy. Hoping that Yeonjun would let him off the hook in school tomorrow.
Soon, the three of them went separate ways, going home for the night.
Yeonjun takes his usual route home, his steps light, skipping across the dimly lit path. It's a funny bunch of people he's run into today, and he has his reasons to suspect they were a group who had staged a group-break from a mental institution.
But it's alright.
A warm feeling spreads across his chest and Yeonjun allows a wide smile to stretch across his face.
I like it.
Chapter 12: Day 6
Chapter Text
Saturday. Astra dreams again.
She sees it clearly this time. Huening Kai has been right.
The falling stars—it's a countdown.
The stars are noticeably closer to her than ever before. In her dreams, they flicker, much faster than they did yesterday.
A short burst. A Long burst.
A pause.
Short. Short. Short.
A pause.
Long.
There's no pain in the dream. The "her" in her dreams is relaxed, her eyes locked on the stars in the skies as if there's nothing else more important.
The stars flash again.
Long. Short. Long. Short.
Pause
Short. Short. Short. Short.
Pause.
Short. Long.
Pause.
Long. Short.
Pause.
Long. Short. Long. Short.
Pause.
Short.
It's a total of 39 beats in this irregular manner. And there's an odd 1 beat pause where her heart stops entirely in between intervals. That must be the space between letters, the girl thinks.
The girl in the dream is her, yet at the same time, not exactly. The two of them are beings separated by the starry sky. Under the starry sky, the girl feels at home, yet outside the starry sky, all she feels is horror towards the falling stars.
She knows she's going to wake up soon, and she knows the pain that will come, yet somehow, the girl thinks it's okay.
She thinks everything is going to be okay-
So she wakes up.
A symphony of beats crushes her heart.
It wasn't okay.
Astra's hands tremble as she reaches by her bedside. On the table is a notepad—a dream diary that she places conveniently by her bedside to record all her dreams when she wakes up.
She clicks her pen. And her heart starts to speed up. Boom. Then it pauses. Then it begins, pounding exactly like it had done in the dreams. Astra grits her teeth as she records the beats in her diary, just like in Morse code, just like how Taehyun taught her.
Astra pens every beat, her hands shaking badly like a leaf in the wind. Her other hand clutches her chest, as if putting her own pressure on her heart could relieve the pressure that came from within.
The beats go on and on, continuously and urgently, like they want to convey something, perhaps a desperate message. And as she records it, she thinks she's stuck in an endless hell, with each beat adding on to the pressure in her heart.
Astra curls into herself, the pain eating her up from within. Yet she writes. She has to. This might be the hint that can help her escape this, help her understand this world, and also help the five TXT members trapped in her time return to where they truly belong.
The hammering stops and the pressure on her heart lifts, yet right before Astra can feel relief, her airways constrict, and she inhales a sharp, scratchy breath.
A gasp, and her pen falls off the bed, rolling down to the floor.
"M—" Astra tries to scream for her mother, but her airways closed so rapidly that only a syllable manages to escape her lips. Tears gather in her eyes as she drags herself off the bed. The girl crashes to the floor, falling onto the ground. Astra glances at the clock on her bedside table, her mind scrambling to pull herself together.
06:26
She's on the floor, struggling to even keep her head up. The bedside table, usually so easily accessible, reminds her of the insurmountable school gate, looming, suffocating.
But it's not insurmountable. She got over it, didn't she? Just yesterday.
She grits her teeth, and with a grunt and intense effort, Astra pushes herself up. It feels like a rock lodged itself in her throat, pressing deeper with every ounce of energy she exerts. Her hands sweep across the table, barely pushing the clock to the edge. Yet her best efforts falls short, and she slumps back on the floor, gasping for air. The clock stands at the very end, teetering, yet it stubbornly remains on the table.
One more time.
She takes a loud, noisy inhale before ruthlessly throwing herself towards her bedside table, knowing that's her last chance. A harsh thud and pain shoots through her shoulders, which bore the brunt of the impact. That pain though, is soon covered by the more urgent need for oxygen.
The clock tilts and falls. It's made of metal parts, and when the clock crashes on the floor, Astra's so sure it will create a loud clanging sound, one certainly loud enough to alert her mother.
But it doesn't.
It might have been because she's in a oxygen-depreieved haze, for she failed to take into account where the clock would land. The clock drops straight on her head, on her shoulders, rolls off her arms before landing on the floor with a soft thud, well-cushioned and silenced by the many pit-stops it took.
Fuck.
Despair floods her, and in comes the ringing pain from her head being the first contact point of her well-weighted clock, one that sounds like the disgusting ring of her dreaded morning alarm. It echoes like the metal strike of her clock's mechanism hitting the bells, slamming both sides of her head and sending her head into an intense pounding session, one so consuming she thinks she can hear it, too, reverberating within her skull.
Through it all, her mother's scolding voice is like a clear spring. "Turn off your alarm! You are going to wake your—"
The ringing continues, but now her head seems to clear with every chime. Her eyes drop to her alarm a few fingers away. Between the two metal bells of the clock, the metal part swings back and forth, hitting the bells and producing a clear, crisp alarm. It wasn't that she thought she's hearing it—She's actually hearing it. Somehow, as the clock fell, it triggered the activation of the alarm, a sound that hasn't worked for a long, long time, is miraculously blaring away now, saving her.
"Astra!"
Her mother screams. Immediately, the older lady rushes out. She has always made sure to keep an inhaler in the house, a typical paranoid parent, but today, it sure worked out in her favour.
Astra's mother roughly pulls Astra's head up to her thigh before shoving the inhaler into her mouth. Her face is getting paler by the second, and even the horrifying gasps are fading away.
The puff from the inhaler provides an almost miraculous relief. Within 3 puffs, Astra's eyes are no longer squeezed together, her breathing gradually returning to normal. Astra remains spent, lying weakly as she greedily inhales air into her lungs.
"What's going on with you?" Astra's mother propped Astra up against the bedpost. "I thought your asthma was getting better."
It was supposed to get better, her asthma would completely disappear when she turned 21. But ever since she jumped 6 years back in time, her medical condition took a downward spiral. Is this supposed to be a trade-off? A price to pay for returning in time?
"And yesterday." Astra's mother continues, worry evident in her voice. "I thought you told me you were sleeping over at a friend's house?"
Right. Astra had sent a message to her mother the moment she decided she could not get over the gate.
Yet she herself doesn't remember how she returned home, how can she then, answer her mother?
"Our doorbell rang, and when I checked outside, you were asleep beside our potted plants."
"...."
"What happened yesterday?"
Astra's breathing became heavier, and the girl closes her eyes.
"Don't pretend." Astra's mother ruthlessly smacks her head, knowing she's pretending to avoid answering the question. "What happened yesterday?"
Astra bites her lips. She doesn't know either.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" Her voice raises fiercely.
"I really don't know."
Astra earns another hit on her head.
Astra's mother looks into her eyes, her tone as if talking to a hopeless fool, "Then what do you know?"
"I..." Astra stutters. "I saw something scary at school yesterday. It reminded me of many things, and I think I fainted after."
"Something scary? Like what?"
"Like... last year..." Astra's lying. It wasn't last year's problem, it was a problem of her past time, which no longer existed. Yet she couldn't possibly tell her mother she travelled 6 years in the past. Not when she thinks her mother is her only beacon of sanity in this world.
The event last year, though, is one enough to throw her mother off her tracks.
And as Astra's mother leaves the room, she sinks into her bed. Her thoughts once again sinking into the crushing pain. The day has barely started, and she's already dreading tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
When I wake up, will it be the same? The same crushing pain followed by a struggle for air?
Astra's eyes soon turn to the diary on the table, and she sits up, suddenly motivated.
Right. She should at least decipher when she literally spent her sweat and tears to record.
Astra pulls out a Morse code sheet from the internet and references her notebook. Her handwriting is originally a mess, but today's is even worse. Astra is sitting beside her bedside table, trying to figure out what she was writing and which lead to where. It's so bad that it took three grueling hours of hunching in the chair trying to infer and piece together the scratches on her diary.
Astra looks at the paper in her hand, where she records her translation.
"A. S. T. C. H. A. N. C. E"
"Last chance." Astra whispers, breathless. The stars. The falling white lights in the sky.
It's telling her something.
Last chance?
What does it signify?
Astra stares hard at the letters on the table, as if glaring at them could somehow force them to unravel and provide the answers she desperately needs. Was she perhaps given chances before?
Last chance... Astra's head slumps to the table as she murmurs, "Last chance to what?"
Astra pulls out her phone. She wants to call Taehyun and place the boy's high-functioning brain to good use. Yet when her screen lights up, Astra realizes that she doesn't have his number.
Should she pay a visit to Huening Kai? When Astra exits her room, she is alone in the house. Looking at the time now, her parents have probably left for a morning jog.
Astra whips out her phone and sends a message in their family group chat, "I'll be going out to look for my friend."
A message instantly comes back. It was from her mother, as expected, heartlessly urging. "Go go. Don't rot at home."
...
Was it this bad when she was 16?
Astra heads to the door and slips into her slippers. Just when she takes a step in her slippers, she stops.
Wait. She didn't think from Huening Kai's perspective. She couldn't just show up uninvited, she might not be welcomed.
Astra pulls open her family chat again. "Never mind. I'm not going."
Her mother sends a disgusted emoji.
"Kai?"
Huening Kai is standing still under the blazing sun as he stares at the tall building beside his block.
"What are you doing just standing there?" Huening Kai's mother is concerned.
"It's nothing. I was just thinking of a friend."
The lady follows Huening Kai's line of sight and points, "You have a friend staying in the block beside us?"
Huening Kai nods.
"It's such a coincidence. I think it must be fate." She nods, slowly folding her arms at her back as she turns back to Huening Kai. He was smiling.
"I think so too."
Huening Kai's mother chuckles, mirth in her eyes.
Ding*
Huening Kai checks his phone. A text came from Taehyun.
"Did you get caught?"
"No. I ran like the wind."
"Is Astra alright?"
"She was still breathing when I placed her on the floor."
"Where do you guys live? I want to come over."
Huening Kai blinks, momentarily taken aback by Taehyun’s straightforwardness. He then throws his hands into the air, doing a silent victory cheer. "Mum, let's quickly go home. My friend is going to come over."
"Is it the one living the block over?"
"No. Another one."
Huening Kai's mother pats his head, seeing his son's excitement. "Alright. Let's go home."
The boy quickly types in his address.
A reply soon came from Taehyun, "I'll be there in 40."
10 minutes later, Huening Kai receives another message from Taehyun. A prelude to his misfortune.
"By the way, you will be having another guest."
"Who? Is it Beomgyu or Soobin?" Huening Kai can't think of anyone else.
Taehyun doesn't reply.
Almost an hour later, Astra receives a call from an unknown number. When the call connected, Huening Kai's voice came over,
"Astra?"
"You have my number?"
There's an odd pause on the other end, "I don't. Yeonjun gave it to me."
"Yeonjun?" Astra is confused. That Yeonjun?
Behind Huening Kai's voice were some other talking voices that Astra couldn't make out. Huening Kai speaks, bringing his phone closer to his lips to ensure that his voice doesn't get drowned out. "He said being a rank one has its perks."
"It's illegal." Astra points out.
"So?" This time, Astra could catch a raspy voice from the other end of the phone. That voice certainly didn't belong to Huening Kai.
"Is that Yeonjun?"
"Yes."
"Why?" Astra is really puzzled. Didn't they just meet yesterday? There had never been a TXT member who sent himself to the door. So far, it has always been a series of ups and downs before they were willing to join her pirate ship.
There is a long silence on the other end. Huening Kai gulps at the silent stare Yeonjun sends towards him. Finally, Huening Kai breathes in, and the boy speaks at a much faster and softer pace than before. "He came uninvited."
There is an audible smack, followed by Huening Kai's screams. Astra pulls her phone away from her ears, wincing.
She can hear Huening Kai's protests, "Wait wait! This is my house! Ahhhh!"
"It's true you came uninvited!" Another smack.
Astra could also hear Taehyun's familiar laughter at the side.
There is another smacking sound before all stills to a calm.
Heuning Kai clears his throat. "Anyways. Do you want to come over? Taehyun and Yeonjun are with me."
"...." Astra, who had been quietly listening, doesn't want to.
"No. Actually. Please come over. I'm begging you. Or I'll go ring your bell."
Huening Kai's voice suddenly rose, and he shouts into the phone, "Just come and save me from Yeonjun—"
Beep* The call hangs up.
One would have thought Huening Kai was in some sort of mortal danger. Still, Astra stands up, she's a loyal friend. Astra tears a page from her notepad— the one that holds her translation. Next, the girl walks to their fridge and steals a box of shine muscat grapes, shoving it into her bag.
Soon, the doorbell rings, and Huening Kai immediately separates himself from the floor, rushing to the door.
Outside his door stands Astra, carrying a bulging sling bag. Huening Kai smiles widely at her. "Let's go to my room."
The first thing Astra noticed about Huening Kai's room was the sheer number of soft toys. It came in different shapes and sizes and was everywhere, on the bed, shelves, table, floor.
Clearly, the soft toys were the VIP guests of Huening Kai's room. So much so that the humans had to sit on the floor instead.
Yeonjun and Taehyun were two such humans, settled down on the carpeted floor, smiling up at Astra. Yeonjun waves at her while Taehyun nods his head.
"You can put your bag down and sit anywhere." Huening Kai gingerly carried some of his soft toys away.
Astra hesitantly takes a seat beside Taehyun, looking weirdly at Yeonjun, "Hello."
Huening Kai quickly sits beside Astra, far away from Yeonjun.
"Are you better? You fainted yesterday." Yeonjun asks.
Astra lifts her head, her smile warming. "Yes. I'm feeling great now. Can I know what happened yesterday after I blacked out?" Astra is talking in an uncharacteristically polite tone.
Huening Kai raised his hand, proud. "I was the one who piggy-backed you home."
"You left me outside, rang the doorbell, and ran away?" Astra asked.
Huening Kai, feeling guilty now, wants to push the blame, and he immediately says, "That was Soobin's i—"
"That's a great move." Astra gave Huening Kai a thumbs out. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to leave my house today."
Astra folds her head in a kneeling position and humbly bows towards the three boys, "Sorry for all the trouble yesterday." Astra remembers all the insanity she displayed yesterday. She turns to Huening Kai, "And thank you for bringing me home."
"Yeah. You really do have to thank us. Or right now, you will still be swinging your legs atop the school gates." Taehyun points out.
Astra ignores Taehyun and pushes her hands into her bag, bringing out the box of shine muscat grapes, "I brought this just in case." The girl turns to Huening Kai, "Can we eat in the room?"
Huening Kai's eyes sparkle as he grabs the box of grapes. "This is my room, only the room owner is allowed to eat here."
Astra raises her brows as she looks at Huening Kai, who is hugging the grapes. She smiles.
Astra, the owner of the grapes, lets Huening Kai have his way. But the two others weren't planning to.
Taehyun's smile is already threatening Huening Kai. And Yeonjun is already up and squatting beside Huening Kai, "You are going to have the whole box by yourself?"
Huening Kai frowns. Even his same-aged friend wasn't helping him. Taehyun didn't help him even when he was bullied by Yeonjun earlier.
Still, seeing Taehyun moving his legs, a sign that the boy was about to get into action, Huening Kai quickly surrenders the grape to the floor.
The boy sullenly gives a last, soft protest, "This is my house."
Huening Kai's ignored.
The box of grapes is opened, and Yeonjun immediately reaches in, pulling out a few grapes and dropping them into his mouth.
Not wanting to lose, Huening Kai stuffs his mouth too. Taehyun watches the two, his eyes laced with disdain.
Astra pulls out the paper she had in her bag and passes it to Taehyun.
"This is what I translated from my dream yesterday. Plus the letter L from yesterday, it spells Last Chance."
Taehyun looks at the paper in his hand, crumpled with odd blotches of unidentified substances on it—
"Is this some sort of satanic writing?" Yeonjun conveys exactly what Taehyun is thinking.
Astra looks at the paper and freezes. This is the wrong paper. This is the one she initially recorded when she was in intense pain.
The stokes on the paper were uneven, shaky, and all over the place, like the pen has been held by someone who wasn't in the right state of mind. Huening Kai's eyes shift between the paper in Taehyun's hand and Astra. And Huening Kai is reminded of what she told him yesterday.
"And my heart... it was beating weirdly, in sync with the flickering of the stars."
"You said that when the star flickers, your heart jumps along with it. Does it hurt a lot too?"
Astra takes the paper back from Taehyun's hand, "Anyways. I have deciphered it already. It says Last chance."
"What does it feel like?" Taehyun presses on the topic, frowning. "When your heart jumps like the stars."
...
Astra looks at the three boys staring at her, and she tells the truth, burying her unease. "It feels like someone is forcefully squeezing my heart. Making it compress and expand." As Astra recalls, her eyes close, "Crushing in and out, in and out." The pain feels so familiar, seared deeply in her mind.
Huening Kai winces, disturbed.
Yeonjun looks at the three of them before he says with a solemn expression. "This is a serious condition. You should visit the hospital."
The three continue their conversation, pretending they didn't hear Yeonjun.
"Last chance?" The words roll from Taehyun's lips. "This would suggest that there were chances given before, which didn't end well, which is why more chances were given, which—"
"Which is why this is the last chance." Huening Kai finishes Taehyun's sentence. Taehyun nods.
"Then what do I do? What am I supposed to do?" Astra is anxious. The words, "Last chance" hang like a guillotine over her head.
She doesn't even know what will happen if this supposedly "Last chance" falls through as well. Astra thinks of her worsening asthma and comes to a scary thought—Wouldn't I just die?
She doesn't want to die.
"We don't know who's sending you these messages. It must be a higher being for sure, seeing how it can control your dreams and your heart." Taehyun says.
"But morse code is invented by a human in the 18th century. Why would such a being use Morse code to communicate?" Taehyun continues, perplexed and talking to himself.
The boy falls into an abrupt silence. But his thoughts are clearly still whirling.
Taehyun suddenly looks Astra in the eye, "But before everything, you must find out if that being is on our side."
"What if it's not?" Huening Kai asks when Astra keeps silent.
"Then it will be bad for us, but since it's communicating with you, it must need something from you. We need to make use of that." Taehyun answers.
"Last chance..." Taehyun murmurs.
"I'm guessing that 'thing' might be the one who sent you back in time." Taehyun nods, already convinced.
Taehyun whispers, "Perhaps, like this time, you have been sent back multiple times before."
"But I have no memories of that? I only know about my previous life! And my past life was very normal, nothing like this—" Astra gestures towards them, "Happened."
"Then, what happened before you time-travelled? What were you doing?" Taehyun asks.
Astra opens her mouth, about to answer with confidence, yet her words come out empty. There is nothing. Searching her memories now, that period is like a blank slate. "I... can't remember."
Taehyun sighs, certain. "Your memories were tampered with."
"Because those times you don't remember, you failed that chance and your memory is cleared." Huening Kai speaks of a disturbing theory.
Taehyun scratches his head, "There is not much information and at this point, everything is speculation."
"But—" Taehyun continues, uttering words that perhaps he failed to grasp the cruel weight of. "The messages from that being in your Starry Sky as you say, is very important. You must record it."
Astra's heart thumps, almost as if in response to Taehyun. "I know."
Day 6:
.- ... - -.-. .... .- -. -.-. .
Chapter 13: Day 6-7-8
Chapter Text
Yeonjun watches blankly as the other three discuss alien topics. Yeonjun listens and understands, but at the same time, he doesn't. The boy is now convinced that his new friends are a little loose in the head.
He feels like an outsider in their conversation and rightfully so. When he doesn't understand, he asks questions and logically expresses his concerns, but the other three as if under some collective understanding treat him as if he didn't exist. Yeonjun is irritated but he doesn't intrude further, he could tell the three were talking about a topic very important to them. And Yeonjun doesn't necessarily want to know enough to be pulled along and influenced by their lunacy.
It is enough, he thinks, for him to just be there to stop them when they get too out of hand.
Their conspiracy theories, though wild, are interesting to listen to. And with them, Yeonjun finds that time seems to pass quickly, where everything seems to fall perfectly into place, where he feels oddly right, even if he doesn't understand shit.
Yeonjun's thoughts wander to the other two boys who are not present here today and he lifts his chin, a smirk pulling up. Yeonjun whips out his phone, switching to selfie mode. The boy bites a grape between his teeth and snaps a picture with the other three who are fervently discussing behind him. Yeonjun checks the photo and with a few taps, the picture is now up on his social media with the following caption:
Grapes_
Beomgyu, who follows Yeonjun's social media is the first to see the post. Initially, he didn't intend to click into Yeonjun's post, he swears it was accidental. But he does and he jumps out from his chair, his frustration palpable.
Yeonjun is with his juniors. Didn't they just meet yesterday? Why is Yeonjun invited and he isn't?
Beomgyu immediately heads into the comment section, typing furiously,
🤬😡 Where?_
Tell the auntie and the youngins they are screwed when I see them in school_
Yeonjun is still on his phone when Beomgyu's replies arrive seconds after his post. Yeonjun clicks his tongue before giving a simple reply,
Lol_
For reasons like needing to protect his online reputation, Beomgyu is deleting his previous comments on Yeonjun's page. And as he deletes, an inexplicable sense of crisis fills Beomgyu. He turns his chair and logs into his game account, sure enough, Soobin is there, currently in a match. Beomgyu clicks his tongue, smacking his hand on the table. He pulls out a chat between him and Soobin, typing,
"Your pyramid scheme juniors are with Yeonjun right now, eating grapes"
After hitting send, he heads to the toilet. The toilet in Beomgyu's house isn't just functional and at times like these, serves as Beomgyu's thinking corner. He's sitting on the toilet seat, his hands supporting his head as the blue cement walls and cool minty fragrance send Beomgyu into reflection.
And there surfaces a question,
Why exactly, is he complaining to Soobin about how their juniors are eating grapes with Yeonjun?
Beomgyu unfurls his fingers, pinning down his thumb,
"We aren't close."
Then his index,
"It's just grapes"
Then his middle finger,
"They—"
Beomgyu shakes his head. "What the hell am I even doing?"
Beomgyu quickly completes his business in the toilet, with a resolve to delete his message to Soobin before diving back into his bed. He leans towards his computer, clicking back into the chatbox, his mouse hovering on the delete option when Soobin's message pops into view.
A series of question marks.
Beomgyu's fingers twitch slightly and he's soon typing into the keyboard, whatever conclusion he came to from his introspection in the toilet forgotten. "They called me but I didn't want to go. What about you?"
On the other end, Soobin freezes in front of his screen, his hands hanging in mid-air. Still, the boy quickly regains his composure, "I know. I didn't want to go either."
It's a conversation between experienced liars.
"They must be talking about the time-travelling thing. I thought you would have gone to listen." Soobin continues.
Beomgyu's eyes widen and again, he jumps from his seat. Angrily, he smashes his pillow. "I would have gone! If they had called me!" The boy screams into his pillow. A few seconds later, Beomgyu lifts his head from the pillow, calm returning to his features.
The two boys now had the same thought: So he's the only one not called? When even Yeonjun, a one-day acquaintance is called?
"Where are they?" Soobin is thinking of crashing in. It's still early afternoon anyway.
Beomgyu blinks. Yeonjun didn't say anything about that. He opens his social media, opening an empty chat between him and Yeonjun.
"Where are you guys?"
Yeonjun took a minute to reply, "Why?"
"Soobin wants to go." Unhesistantly, Beomgyu throws out Soobin's name.
"Soobin? Then have him message me himself."
"I want to go." Beomgyu prides himself on being highly adaptable, changing his words without batting an eye.
"You really want to come?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Really really?"
Beomgyu is silent as he holds his phone in his hand, feeling a sudden urge to throw his phone out of the window. Finally, he grits his teeth and suppresses the urge.
With one finger, the boy taps at his screen with much bigger force than needed, "Yes."
Ding*
“Aren't you just jealous that I was called and you aren't?"
Beomgyu boils in his seat, seriously considering the probability of becoming head prefect before this year ends and pull Yeonjun down from his pedestal before he graduates.
Ding*
“Wait. I need to ask Huening Kai."
Beomgyu fumes again.
Ding*
“He said okay. He asks why you want to come."
Beomgyu keeps an expressionless face as he types, "Because I want to bond with my juniors and eat grapes."
Beomgyu's phone vibrates again and an address is sent to him. Then, there was Yeonjun's reply, "They are my juniors. Plus the grapes will all be in my stomach by the time you come."
Beomgyu throws his phone on the bed. The phone bounces thrice on his bed, fueled by Beomgyu's excessive force. With today's series of events, the year two student is now aiming for the stars—He must become head prefect before the end of this year.
With this determination, Beomgyu turns to the computer and sends the address to Soobin, "Let's go."
The three first-years are talking about their orientation camp next Monday. The camp in Sanders Island spanning for 3 days and 2 nights.
"All of us will be going, actually." Yeonjun is glad to finally be able to talk to them about a topic he actually knows and understands. "For the first years, it's called orientation camp. And for the second, third, and fourth years, it's a yearly camping exercise. We go there every year."
"Huh? So the whole school is going?" Taehyun asks.
"Yes. The island is owned by the school's sponsor or something like that. The island is basically our school's private property."
No wonder. So it's because their school is broke that all camps are planned in the exact same location. Astra muses. Most importantly, Sanders Island is one severely lacking in toilet facilities. She hated it.
"There's a difference in duration though. Orientation camps are for three days and yearly camps go on for five."
Five-day camps. Astra certainly remembers. She always makes it a point to empty her bowels before leaving for the camp. She also tries to eat as little as possible to hopefully with her efforts, not shit for five days and as a result, return with constipation. But that's a trade-off she's very willing to pay.
"I haven't packed my bag." Huening Kai admits.
"I haven't packed mine either." Yeonjun laughs.
"What are we going to do there?" Taehyun asks.
"The usual. Outdoor cooking, kayaking campfire, night walks, climbing mountains, and all the team-building activities, then end the day by writing a reflection." Astra answers and Yeonjun widens his eyes. The boy claps his hands, "You are completely right. How do you know?"
Astra looks up at Yeonjun, "Been there. Done that."
"You have been there?"
"Yeah. Didn't you hear us talking just now? I came back six years from the future."
Yeonjun chuckles, "Sure sure."
Taehyun and Huening Kai exchange glances. It's clear Yeonjun has taken them as a bunch of overthinking kids who read too much fantasy.
It's fine. They doubted Yeonjun would be of much help anyway.
Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong*
The bell rings thrice in succession. Huening Kai stands up and gets the door, "They must be here."
Soobin and Beomgyu arrive, each holding a box in their hands. Their eyes lock on Huening Kai, drilling into him.
Huening Kai opens the door, startled by the intensity of their glare, "Welcome?"
Soobin and Beomgyu step in, pushing the boxes they were holding in their hands toward Huening Kai. Confused, he carries the two boxes in his hands as he walks behind Soobin and Beomgyu to his room.
"What are these?" Huening Kai asks as he stacks the boxes in the middle of the room. He turns, about to return to his seat only to stop when he sees Beomgyu occupying it. Now, the only place available was the one next to Yeonjun, the place he had been avoiding.
Great. Huening Kai sighs.
"Fruit tarts." Soobin answers first, gesturing to his box.
"Homemade marinated chicken. My dad forced me to bring it here." Beomgyu says next. He's telling the truth. He hasn't been allowed to leave home unless he stepped out with the chicken.
The eyes of those present immediately light up and Yeonjun's hand is already reaching towards the boxes Huening Kai stacked in the middle.
"First." Beomgyu slaps Yeonjun's hand away. "Why wasn't I called?"
"You mean why we didn't call you here?" Taehyun observes Beomgyu's expression, his head tilting to the side as if genuinely confused by the idea that they had some sort of obligation to call Beomgyu.
Beomgyu nods.
Soobin accusingly points his finger at Beomgyu, "I thought you said you were called but didn't want to come?"
Beomgyu pretends to not have heard Soobin's question.
"In the first place, it was just me." Taehyun explains, seeing Beomgyu's darkening expression.
"Huening Kai and Astra live close to one another and I wanted to visit to check up on Astra." Taehyun continues.
"I'm just a block away." Astra points out the window.
Taehyun nods. "Me and Huening Kai agreed on meeting at his house, then we were going to call Astra over."
"Then why is he here?" Soobin points at Yeonjun.
"Bro here came uninvited." Huening Kai practically jumped on the chance to speak, subtly expressing his disapproval towards Yeonjun.
Yeonjun wraps Huening Kai in his arms and leans towards the boy, "Is that so? Am I still uninvited now?"
Huening Kai swallows the "Yes" hovering on the tip of his tongue, under the increasing pressure Yeonjun builds on him, Huening Kai feels helpless, "No. You can treat this place as your own home."
Yeonjun smiles and lets go of Huening Kai, "Wow. You are being too nice!"
"Anyways. Yeonjun had texted me to ask about Astra and I just told him that I would be going to see her now. He said he wanted to come along." Taehyun ends his explanation, then looks at Beomgyu and Soobin, as if waiting for them to provide their explanations too.
"How did you two know we were here?" Astra asks, curious.
Soobin and Beomgyu exchange looks, finally realising that they had been lying to one another.
"Yeonjun posted a picture of you all on his social media. Now probably the whole school knows."
...
Beomgyu pushes the food boxes back into the middle, "Now that things have been cleared up, please eat."
"And while you are eating, let me know what you guys were talking about earlier."
Again, Taehyun tilts his head. "Why?"
"Hey!" Beomgyu slams his hand on the bed. "I'm part of this mess too! Didn't she say I was part of TXT or whatnot?"
"Wait." Beomgyu turns to Yeonjun, who already had chopsticks out. "You believe her time-travel thing?"
Yeonjun makes a face, clearly conveying his disdain.
Beomgyu lets out a chuckle, irking Yeonjun. "So you didn't."
"Anyways." Beomgyu smiles, satisfied. "I'm not like this dumb fool who doesn't understand anything and only knows to eat."
"I—“ Retaliation from Yeonjun comes lightning swift and Beomgyu receives a smack straight to his head. Beomgyu clutches his head and continues like nothing happened, "I will actually listen."
So Astra repeats everything from the top, just leaving out the part of the pain that comes with the flickering stars.
.
.
"Then what will happen if this last chance doesn't work out?" Beomgyu asks a question the trio of 16-year-olds have been avoiding.
Astra shrugs, even though there was already an answer in her head. "We don't know."
Saturday ends and Sunday comes along, together with the falling stars.
Everything repeats. Everything except the flashing stars in the sky.
Her heart beats a total of 21 times today. And this time, Astra is equipped with her inhaler at the bedside.
Today is just a bit more bearable than yesterday. Astra tries to comfort herself as she slams her fists into her chest as if doing so could make the disgusting feeling of pressure in her heart go away faster.
As Astra's breathing evens out, she glances at the time,
06:25
These dreams have been forcing Astra to wake up regularly. Perhaps she won't even need the alarm clock anymore.
Before the morning light splits the skies, Astra cleans herself up and sits on the chair, working on deciphering what she recorded. She translated 4 letters,
"D. O. N. T."
Don't?
The sun rises later than usual today. Outside the window, the skies remain under a blanket of darkness. In the room, Astra has been working with all but a tiny desk lamp dimly lighting her paper. She looks up wearily, wincing as she faces the harsh orange glow, rubbing the dark circles under her eyes. She opens the group chat the 6 of them created yesterday, _Grapes Supremacy_,
Astra sends her translation in.
"D O N T"
Even at this early hour, Huening Kai is up and the first to reply.
"donut?"
...
Astra laughs, slumping her head to the side as she corrects Huening Kai, "It's the translation from my dreams. I think it says, don't."
"It sounds ominous." Huening Kai continues to type, "Like it's telling you not to do something."
Astra closes her eyes, rolling her eyes beneath her eyelids to soothe the weight she has been feeling, her lips pull taut and her unease grows.
"Could it be the camp tomorrow? Don't go?"
It's about an hour later before Taehyun's message pushes into Astra's notification centre. But the girl is dead asleep. Her body spread like a starfish across the bed, her room now baths in the copious amount of sunlight. Tightly gripped in her hand, her phone vibrates and rings. One after another notifications push themselves up as the boys' messages come one after another.
"Might be. But we still have to go. We need to find out what's happening."
Soobin's reply next, feeling scared for what was about to come, "I'll be skipping this camp."
Beomgyu's, "Wimp."
It pushes the start of an intense verbal war set off by Beomgyu and started by Soobin—an exchange of verbal abuse, the phone vibrates rapidly as the two keyboard warriors engage but Astra doesn't stir, her eyes closed with soft snores drowned by the rapid rings from her phone.
To signify the beginning of a new day, the stars fall.
Today, Astra counted 28 times. She goes through her usual routine. The intense pain, the shortness of breath, and the short period of weakness before she's back to normal.
Astra looks at the time,
06:24
She gets off her bed. The girl roughly tears the scribbled page of her dream diary and shoves it in her pocket. There is no time to translate it now, she needs to get ready or she will be late.
Astra checks her pack for the 3-day camp, paranoid as she was, she's packed for 4. For the final check, she digs into her side pocket for the presence of the 3 inhalers. Satisfied, Astra nods her head, bidding farewell to her mother before she hurls her pack over her shoulders, stepping out.
Astra's walking down the stairs and she vaguely hears Huneing Kai's boisterous laughter. Astra raises an eyebrow and her steps slow. Astra peers over the railings, eyes focusing on Huening Kai's figure underneath. He's pointing at her, back hunched over, still laughing, except his laughter now grew more hysterical.
Astra skips down the stairs and breaks into a run towards Huening Kai, though weighed down by her gigantic backpack, it seemed like she is speed walking instead. Huening Kai covers his lips, attempting to stifle his laughter as he turns away, his shoulder shaking wildly.
Astra delivers a solid blow to Huening Kai with her bag.
Huening Kai stumbles and turns back to face Astra with two hands holding down the corners of his lips.
"You," Huening Kai says while forcing down his twitching lips, shaking with restrained laughter, "look like a hermit crab."
His eyes are glued to the pack behind Astra, nearly half her size, which when carried on her back, managed to tower over her head.
Huening Kai tries to say with a controlled voice, "We are only going for 3 days.", Yet Astra is carrying a mini mountain with her.
"Not migrating continents."
Astra scoffs at Huening Kai. She swings her hand back and lands a big hit on Huening Kai's backpack. "As if you are any better?"
Astra shakes her head at Huening Kai, how dare he, when he is carrying a backpack of the exact size?
If the two actually placed their packs down to compare, Huening Kai's pack would be the one bigger. But he has a big build and thanks to it, the pack he's carrying looks somehow reasonable in size.
"Wait." Astra suspiciously pushes up Huening Kai's backpack. "Why is it so light?"
"Oh." Huening Kai chuckles. "It's 50 percent my soft toys."
Astra looks at Huening Kai incredulously. "You bought them for a 3-day trip?"
"What? They are babies I cannot sleep without." Huening Kai dislikes the deeply concerned expression Astra is shooting him. "And it's a two-way thing, they can't sleep without me too." Huening Kai quickly adds on.
Astra can't figure out if Huening Kai is serious or not and as she stares, trying to infer something from his expressions, he grows uncomfortable. Now trying to shift her focus, Huening Kai pulls Astra's bag. He pauses.
His eyes widen, "What did you bring? Why is it so heavy?"
Astra continues to look at Huening Kai in disdain. "It's all practical things. Unlike yours."
"Hey!" Huening Kai stomps his feet. He's no pushover. "Then what do you have in your bag? Pots? Pans?"
Astra turns, surprised, "How did you know?"
"...."
"Wait." Huening Kai needs a double-take.
"Wait wait." Huening Kai lifts his hands. "You're serious? You brought pots and pans for a school trip?"
Astra nods, proud.
Huening Kai throws his hands into the air, "How is that practical? Your pots and pans are just as useless as my soft toys!"
"No." Huening Kai refuses to demerit his soft toys, tightening his grip on his shoulder strap. My soft toys can help me sleep, what can your pans do? Be your metal pillow?"
Astra looks at Huening Kai like he's dumb. "Cook."
Huening Kai snickers. "Don't you know we are having packed meals there?"
"There's going to be outdoor cooking."
"And you think the school won't provide pots?"
"What if we get stranded on the island?"
"Then we steal the local's pots."
...
"That's theft."
"Survival." Huening Kai corrects.
No matter how they quarreled though, objectively, the two were the same. Equally absurd. And Taehyun sees it clearly, when the three of them meet at the school gates. And all froze in their steps. Taehyun doubts his eyes, wondering if the two oddly shaped figures he sees approaching are the two people he knows.
Taehyun looked at his bag, a compact, cylindrical-shaped sling bag—enough to fit all the things he needed for 3 days. Then he looks across, at his two friends, one bag bigger than the other.
Silently, they walk towards one another and Taehyun says, "We are going for three days."
"We know that." Huening Kai and Astra answer collectively, already having enough of this topic regarding their mountain of a bag.
Every step Astra takes forward makes a sound of metal against metal, clinking against one another, pots and pans unmistakable. And the two boys beside her had at some point decided that they do not know her, walking further and further away.
Astra looks at them in disapproval, continuing proudly on either way, with her very own metal orchestra.
Perhaps Huening Kai and Astra were simply meant to be mocked today, for they meet a certain senior prefect on their way up.
Beomgyu had spotted them a distance away, rather eye-catching from their get-up. The boy had forgotten about his need to maintain his reputation and screamed at them, "Astra? Huening Kai?"
The figures that he called didn't turn back but Beomgyu is certain that he is right when he sees another figure beside them. Taehyun turns back to glance at him then shakes his head,
Don't.
Pft.
Beomgyu laughs loudly, running forward. Huening Kai and Astra discreetly pick up speed upon hearing his laughter and footsteps.
Must not be caught.
Beomgyu runs, armed with his camera, taking shots of Huening Kai and Astra from different unflattering angles and sending their images into their group chat with the description, "Immigrating turtles"
The group chat explodes seconds later.
Day 7 & 8:
-.. --- -. - / -.. --- ..- -... -
Chapter 14: Day 8
Chapter Text
With Beomgyu spearheading the charge, their chat becomes a beating field, where Huening Kai and Astra are hanged and mocked.
"Guys? Where are you moving to? Would you like to bring me along?" Yeonjun writes.
"Do they even have the to-bring list given by the school?" Soobin types.
"I passed it to the two of them personally." Taehyun testifies.
"They must have triples of everything. Considering the size of their bag." Beomgyu adds.
Huening Kai and Astra, the two main characters in question look at one another, their faces pale.
"Did you?" Huening Kai asks.
Astra answered honestly, "I didn't. Did you?"
"I didn't."
...
The two lowered their heads, holding their bags tighter in their grips. It's a cryptic exchange of words that only the two of them understood.
Astra's bag was starting to weigh her down. Her back is aching badly as she looks towards Huening Kai, the boy now lay his head on his bag peacefully, eyes closed as he waited for assembly to begin.
Ah. How she envied. Soft toys do have their uses.
The assembly dragged on, consisting of boring briefings, safety precautions, and so on, stretching for over an hour. Astra had, at some point, abandoned her bag to the side in favour of Huening Kai's luxurious pillow of a bag. The two lay their heads on the bag, their faces melting in comfort.
At 08:30, the teachers start to usher students into school buses, class by class.
"Huening Kai, wake up. We are leaving soon." Astra shakes the boy.
Huening Kai yawns as he stands up, pulling to a stretch.
Smack.
He hits a girl in front of him on the head.
Huening Kai quickly bows to apologize.
Tricia clicks her tongue, annoyed. "Can't you look where you are?"
"I'm so sorry!" Huening Kai bows again.
Astra is about to say something in Huening Kai's defense when she notices Huening Kai's eyes rolling all the way up as the boy turns back.
Astra pats Taehyun on the shoulder, "Did you see that?" Astra doubted her eyes.
"See what?" Taehyun is puzzled
Astra points at Huening Kai, who is now blinking innocently at her. "I—never mind."
As Taehyun continues to look at her in confusion, Astra pushes Taehyun, "Let's go, the line is moving up."
"Woah. You three are really on another level." These words triggered both Huening Kai and Astra, the two had undergone enough on their group chat, in fact, Huening Kai is just one click away from leaving the group. The two turn their head back at the same time, their eyes locking onto Veronica.
Veronica had her eyes on Dominic, Astra, and Huening Kai's bags. Collectively, they had bags stretching like towers to the skies.
The three of them stood together, making them the odd ones out, where instead of camp, they were heading for a different destination. A mountaineering trip, perhaps.
"Finally I met some like-minded peers." Dominic grins, his hands trailing up Huening Kai's bag. "What did you bring inside?"
Huening Kai is too embarrassed to reply.
Dominic also pats Astra's bag before giving both of them a thumbs up.
"Can I try carrying your bag?" Dominic points at Astra's bag.
Astra glances at Dominic's bag, her mental abacus clacking away. The boy's bag is about the same size as hers, but there is no way his is heavier because Astra filled hers with heavy metal objects.
Astra grins, dreaming of the moment when she gets this burden off her back. "Sure! How about we exchange bags? I can carry yours and you take mine!"
Dominic blinks at Astra's proposal. He figured there's no harm. "Okay!"
And they exchange bags.
Astra stretches her limbs, a relaxed smile on her lips. Lighter.
Dominic holds Astra's back and looks at her in disbelief, "This is pretty heavy. What did you bring?"
Astra's lips twitch as she vaguely answers, "Just this and that."
Taehyun leans towards Astra, whispering, "Is it fun tricking your classmate of 6 years ago like that?"
"Not a trick. It's about the well-being of my back." Astra quickly denies, pointing at Dominic, "Look at him! That guy's carrying like it's nothing while I was dying over here. It's an equivalent exchange."
Shameless.
"Heheheheh" Taehyun laughs while Huening Kai gives the girl a thumbs up, to which Astra grins back.
When they got on the bus, Astra says to Taehyun and Huening Kai, "You two sit together, I'll sit behind." Astra, for once in a long time, has switched to her 22-year-old mindset and is considering her two friends. Astra didn't want them to feel left out, it was their first trip in this school after all. Meanwhile, she's already well-versed and could even be said to enjoy the art of sitting alone.
Before the two could say anything, Astra had already taken her seat, with her arms and legs spread out like a crab, guarding from the two boys like they were thieves.
"You act as if we want to sit with you." Taehyun's words, once again, pierce her heart.
"Right." Huening Kai folds his arms, eyes looking down on her. The two boys settle in their seats, with Huening Kai arming the seats with his fluffy stash of toys, big and small, lining the seats into a cozy throne.
Astra blinks, not wanting to admit that she's envious.
It is right at that moment that Dominic appears before her. "Veronica has abandoned me for her friends. Can I sit here?"
Astra quickly scoots back inside, "Yeah, sure."
"Everyone. Seatbelts buckled, please." Mrs Thon speaks into a small microphone.
The bus soon leaves the school's gates. Astra pulls the crumpled paper out of her pocket. Discreetly, she passes it to Taehyun sitting in the front. Taehyun looks at her, "Morse?"
Astra nods.
Taehyun whispers to Huening Kai, and the boy pulls out his phone, typing something in. Taehyun and his trusty assistant soon get to work.
At the side, Dominic had a hand gripper in his hand, not letting go of any time to exercise. Sensing Astra's gaze, the boy gives the gripper to Astra, "Want to try?"
"No thank you." Astra isn't interested.
Dominic nods. "Well, you probably can't do it anyway."
Astra blinks, wondering if she heard wrong. Did he have to phrase it that way?
Astra smiles and extends her hands, "I'll try it."
Astra holds the gripper in her hands, annoyed. Did he think she hadn't used this before?
Astra discreetly turns the knob while talking to distract Dominic. "What did you bring in your bag?"
"My bag's big because I brought my exercise tools."
Here's another funny guy bringing unnecessary things for a three-day trip.
Astra is done twisting the knob. She then begins, casually pressing it down, quickly exceeding Dominic's record count.
Dominic though, isn't just all about muscles. "You adjusted the knob"
"I didn't?"
"You did." Dominic insists.
Astra gives up, giving the gripper back to the boy, "I did."
Dominic laughs. "You cheated."
"But I still beat your score."
Before the two could engage in further argument, Huening Kai calls Astra.
"Yeah?" Astra leans forward.
"It doesn't work." Taehyun says.
"What doesn't?"
"Your handwriting. We can't make sense of it." Taehyun passes the paper back to Astra. "You will have to decode it yourself."
Astra stares at her paper, feeling a headache even before starting.
Astra glances at Dominic beside her, who is once again immersed in training his grip strength.
"Do it when he falls asleep. It's a long ride." Taehyun says to Astra.
It took 20 minutes for Dominic to doze off, the hand gripper still in his arms. Astra eyes Dominic beside her and takes out the paper from her pocket.
"He's asleep?" Taehyun asks.
"Yes."
Astra looks at the paper, squinting her eyes.
The next 20 minutes is Astra trying to decipher what she wrote, reading it to her two friends at the front.
Astra is almost done when the bus shakes. Her head jolts forward, and as she leans back, there is now a new weight on her shoulders. Dominic's head had slipped off course and landed on her shoulders. His hair brushes against her neck, and she stiffens. "What—" She asks Taehyun and Huening Kai, "What do I do now?"
"Huh? Just continue decoding your handwriting." Taehyun is confused at Astra's sudden pause.
"It's itchy."
"What itchy—" Huening Kai stands from his seat and looks back. Instantly, the boy plops back down. Through the gaps between their chairs, Astra sees Huening Kai whispering to Taehyun. Then, a second later, two boys peer towards her, covering their mouths yet failing to hide their smirks.
Astra scowls.
"Bear with it." Soon, Taehyun answers, "At least not until we are done with this."
Astra curses internally. He's saying this because he's not the one in her position, not the one whose shoulder has been used as a pillow. It wasn't just about the itch. It's also about the awkwardness.
"Quick." Taehyun urges her. "Continue please."
Astra grits her teeth, now trying harder to push her brain to recognise these scribbles of monstrosity on the paper.
"D. O. U. B. T." Huening Kai says. Finally, with the collective brainpower of the three, they managed to crack the code.
"Now." Taehyun quickly unbuckles his seat belt and stands up. The boy turns and reaches his hand over to Dominic, his fingers masterfully positioned over Dominic's forehead, in preparation for something clearly wrong, "I'll save you."
Before Astra can process what is happening, the flick is fired, and Astra closes her eyes, dreading the consequences.
There is a loud thudding sound, like when someone knocks their knuckles on a watermelon, except it is much, much louder. Astra wonders if it is possible for a forehead to make that sound. Did something break? Astra looks at Taehyun in horror, wondering how the boy managed to hide such power in his thin fingers.
"Brutal." Huening Kai comments, though his eyes curve in delight, like he's watching a show.
The members of TXT sure aren't normal. Astra is sure of it now.
Dominic's eyes fly open, and the boy immediately covers his forehead, where redness is already starting to bloom from the point of impact, where a mass death from his red blood cells dying must be occurring.
Dominic sees Taehyun's wide eyes smiling at him. "What happened?"
"You were sleeping on my friend's shoulder, so I took the liberty to wake you up." Taehyun says sweetly.
"Oh." Dominic's hand fell from his face. He looks at Astra, his ears turning red, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Astra has never been so flustered since her time-travel. It might be because Dominic is someone that she is really grateful to. He's not just some random classmate. And Taehyun—Astra turns to look at him.
Taehyun looks at her with his wide eyes.
She sighs.
"He—" Astra gestures at Taehyun, "Taehyun's sorry too."
Taehyun maintains his smile, tilting his head,
Me? Not at all.
Dominic looks at Taehyun, "It's alright. I understand." Dominic shuffles in his seat, still a little dizzy from the hit.
"Do you know how long before we reach?" Dominic asks, rubbing his forehead.
Astra has no idea. She looks at Taehyun.
"Probably in another hour and a half." Taehyun answers.
"Oh." Dominic says before his eyelids start to close again.
Astra lets out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding as she watches the boy doze back off. Astra's eyes are drawn towards Dominic's sleeping profile, he used to sleep like this too, 6 years ago, head on the desk, eyes closed with light snoring. Just like this, she remembered watching him, it was perhaps that moment where her heart first fluttered for him.
It was also 6 years ago when this crush of hers ended. Astra recalls Dominic being pulled away by his friends. At the last moment, the two had made a brief eye contact. However much she secretly hoped he would stop for her, he didn't. The boy turned away, as if he didn’t see her, leaving Astra frozen in place until Dominic's footsteps finally faded into silence.
All beautiful petals fall when the season passes, and her feelings, like these petals, had fallen the same, accompanied by a dull pain.
Dominic wasn't at fault. He had no obligation to help her till the end. Astra never blamed him.
Astra leans her head against the glass windowpane.
I owe him a lot
With this thought, her eyelids grow heavy and she lets herself drift into sleep.
Huening Kai is one of those few students who isn't sleeping. The boy barely blinks as he concentrates on his phone.
Ding.
Huening Kai clicks on the notification. An image is sent by Beomgyu into the group chat. The image features Soobin's sleeping face, his mouth agape, wide enough to fit an orange.
Huening Kai chuckles. He turns to Taehyun beside him, also asleep. Unlike Soobin, Taehyun looks as perfect as ever, annoyingly photogenic even in sleep. Still, Huening Kai snaps a picture, quickly sending it in the group chat, wanting to join in with the fun.
Huening Kai holds up his phone and turns it back towards Astra.
Click.
Huening Kai lowers his phone. On seeing the picture, his eyes widen. He quickly sends it inside the group chat and nudges Taehyun.
"Taehyun." He pokes at Taehyun, whose brow furrows in response.
Huening Kai tries again, tapping his cheeks. "Taehyun!"
Taehyun's eyes snap open, his silent stare coupled with his lack of expression clearly conveying to Huening Kai that if it wasn't for a good reason, Huening Kai would be beaten.
Huening Kai shoves his phone in Taehyun's face, there's no need for words.
Taehyun blinks twice. Without another word, he shifts in his seat, unbuckling his seatbelt. He turns back. Astra has her eyes closed, her glasses hanging by the end of her nose. She's leaning against the window, asleep. Taehyun's eyes sharpen—On her shoulder is once again, Dominic. The boy had made Astra's shoulders his personal cushion.
Taehyun wordlessly adjusts his position, leaning forward.
Huening Kai quickly positions his phone, not wanting to miss this. Huening Kai's fingers tap on the bright red record button on his screen.
Through Huening Kai's screen, Taehyun clenches and unclenches his fingers, leisurely stretching them out. Then the boy slowly moves it into position, taking aim. Taehyun tilts his head slightly as if he had a sniper gun in his hands. A Bullet— No, Taehyun's middle finger is released as the boy's wrist snaps forward in a swift motion.
Thuck.
This one rings louder than the last. Huening Kai swallows, excited and trying to keep his laughter in.
Again, Dominic is shocked awake. Again, he lifts from Astra's shoulders. Again, he meets Taehyun's eyes. This time, though, Taehyun isn't smiling. He just stares.
Taehyun's irises shifts to Astra's shoulders, and Dominic understood.
Again, words of apology are given, "I'm sorry."
Taehyun narrows his eyes.
"Kang Taehyun!" Mrs Thon called Taehyun by his full name, indicating serious business. "Why are you standing up?"
Taehyun barely manages to pull a shadow of a smile on his face, "I'm sorry. My legs cramped."
"You can stretch when the bus stops. Please sit down."
Taehyun slumps into his seat. He buckles his seat belt and gestures with his fingers to Dominic as he shifts in his seat, prepared to return to sleep.
I'll be watching you.
And Taehyun closes his eyes.
Huening Kai's eyes twinkle with mischief. With a few quick taps, along with occasional bursts of evil laughter that he didn't manage to hold down, the video is sent into their group chat.
Beomgyu aggressively shakes Soobin. "Hey hey! Look at this!"
"Argh" Soobin grumbles, smacking Beomgyu's hands away.
Beomgyu is insistent. "Look at what Huening Kai sent in the group chat."
Soobin's eyes open a slit, now a little interested. "Why are you even here—"
Soobin catches his own sleeping face in the group chat. Soobin's eyes turn murderous as he glares at Beomgyu.
Beomgyu flinches, quickly scrolling down, "Oops. Wrong one. Look at this!"
Soobin is immediately awake. He sits up and grabs Beomgyu's phone. An unknown boy is lying on Astra's shoulder as both of them slept.
Soobin types in Beomgyu's phone, "Who's that?"
Huening Kai's reply came swift. "Our classmate."
"Duh." Soobin replies. "Are you guys close?"
Huening Kai thinks back to their interactions. "Not really."
"So he's close to Astra?"
Huening Kai thinks again, "Not really." In school, Astra is mostly with him or Taehyun.
There comes a series of question marks that flood the group chat. Yeonjun is online.
"Then why's he on her shoulder?" Yeonjun asks.
"He fell asleep, then I guess, his head needed support." Huening Kai replies.
Beomgyu snatches back his phone from Soobin. "Use your own phone!" He exclaims.
Soobin reaches for his phone, opens the chat, and sees a new text from Huening Kai, "This is also the second time."
Soobin types, "Does he like her?"
"How would I know that?" Huening Kai types. "But I seriously doubt it." Thinking of Astra's usual appearance and antics, he really doubts it.
Beomgyu first message after he got back his phone arrives, "How dare that guy bully our auntie! He's using her as his free pillow?"
"Grab him off!" Beomgyu types aggressively.
"He's still lying on her?" Soobin asks.
"Please." Huening Kai is exasperated. "The next video is the highlight. Did you guys even watch it?"
"I'm saving my data." Soobin confesses.
Huening sends a disgusted emoji into the group chat. "Even if you end up exceeding your data limit, this video is what's worth."
"Taehyun! Where's Taehyun? Bravo!" Beomgyu's reply came after a minute, having just watched the video.
"He's sleeping." Huening Kai types.
"Why are there two red marks on his face?" Yeonjun asks.
"Cause it's the second time. Taehyun shot twice."
...
At this point, the boys are feeling pity for this unknown guy. From the sound heard in the video, it's a rather powerful flick.
"Beomgyu, Soobin, why are you guys together?" Yeonjun asks an unrelated question. He's sure the two boys were of different years.
"Their bus's full, and Beomgyu volunteered to come here, it seems. Maybe he likes me too much." Soobin answers.
"Lol, so he says"
Yeonjun leans back on the chair after reading the message, feeling awfully isolated today. The boy holds the phone in his hands, everyone else is with one another, except him.
"Yeonjun! Been on the phone all day?" The boy behind Yeonjun has his head atop Yeonjun's seat.
"Elias! Sit down." The teacher could be heard shouting from the front.
"Boomer." Elias sighs and flicks a middle finger at the teacher.
Yeonjun lowers his eyes, keeping his silence. The boy's eyes trail the messages in the group chat. A smile tugs on his lips.
"Hey, want a candy?" Another boy sitting in front slips a box of candy through the gaps.
Yeonjun nods, "Thanks."
Yeonjun thinks as his eyes shift among the huge crowd sitting around him. So many people surround him, chatting, calling his name, he's never alone, yet looking into the group chat, he feels like he's now a lonely man stranded on a sandy beach. Yeonjun never had the chance to know any of the crowd around him. They are like passers-by in his story, just like he was in theirs.
Yeonjun's phone vibrates again, pulling him from his thoughts. Yeonjun clicks in, a message from Taehyun, who seems to have woken up.
"I'm sure you all have seen my finger cannon. Better not irritate me now 😊😊"
Yeonjun snorts.
"Stop sending meaningless messages into the chat, my phone is buzzing, and I can't sleep."
"Doesn't make sense, can't you put your phone away?" Yeonjun types into the chat.
"Or just switch it to silent mode." Beomgyu rises against Taehyun's iron fist ruling.
"Lol" Soobin sends, indicating his support.
On Huening Kai's side, he sits still, his eyes shifting to sneakily steal a glance at Taehyun. Taehyun is silent. He's looking at his screen while Huening Kai leans away, feeling the silent pressure emitting from Taehyun.
"Huening."
"...yes?" Huening Kai asks, his shoulders trembling lightly as he turns to Taehyun.
"Help me take a picture."
Huening Kai gulps, quickly holding up his phone, aiming at the expressionless Taehyun.
Taehyun adjusts his hands to a familiar position, reloading his middle finger back towards his thumb.
Click.
The picture is taken.
An image of Taehyun's deadly finger in mid-flick is sent in the group chat.
The group chat falls into collective silence, all three of his seniors had shut up— exactly as Taehyun wanted.
Chapter 15: Day 8
Chapter Text
Waking up, two words like an urgent whisper push into her head, mind, "Don't doubt.". Other than the light snores and the rumbling of the bus as it traverses across a bumpy road, it's quiet. She closes her eyes, pressing her fingers against her temples. She rubs the area, as the same two words circle her mind.
Don't doubt. Don't doubt. Don't doubt? DONT DOUBT.
For no identifiable reason, Astra's heart jumps. It picks up speed, rushing, thumping madly against its confines. Astra clutches her chest, anxious, as if doing so, she could bring her heart to a pause.
Shit.
Astra reaches her hands into her pocket, grabbing her inhaler. Her fingers wrap around the inhaler, hands positioned right before her lips, ready to administer at any moment.
Astra stays in this position for a minute. Her face pale, and fingers shaking. But nothing's happening. She can still breathe and her heart is gradually returning to a calm. Astra draws a ragged breath, lowering her head, she reaches for the water bottle she placed under her seat. Grabbing the water bottle, she pops open the cap and drinks.
Beside her, Dominic is asleep, his head bent at an awkward angle on the armrest. On the boy's forehead are two bright red marks.
Two?
Astra chokes, and water splatters from her lips. Astra tries to keep it down as her throat tries to expel the water that went down the wrong pipe. This attempt against her body's natural survival instincts backfires. Her chest convulses, and she's sent into a coughing fit. Her coughs, loud, stir all in her vicinity.
"Hey, are you okay?" Dominic sits up and looks at Astra.
Huening Kai peers in from the front, eyeing the water bottle in Astra's hands. "You choked on your water?"
"You can't even drink water peacefully?" Taehyun's voice carried tones of weariness.
A retort might have been made, it would have, if only Astra's attention wasn't solely drawn by the two almost parallel marks on Dominic's forehead.
Perhaps, she stared far too long. Dominic touches his forehead, covering the two marks, "What?"
Astra quickly looks away. "The water went down the wrong way, I'm alright."
Astra turns her body away, looking out of the window, she has her suspicions, and all points to Taehyun. She peers from the corner of her eyes, seeing Dominic turn in his seat, his eyelids drooping.
It doesn't take long before she picks up on soft snores. Astra turns towards Dominic, her gaze scanning his face, after confirming that Dominic has drifted into Lalaland, Astra places two hands on Taehyun's chair, shaking it.
Astra didn't even have to say a word, Taehyun already knew what she's going to ask, "If you are asking about the red mark, it isn't me." Taehyun says, eyes closed.
"They are almost identical! If not you, who?" Astra says in a hushed whisper.
"I don't know, a mosquito?"
Huening Kai sneaks a look at Taehyun, flabbergasted by his blatant lying. Doesn't he know Astra would find out eventually, especially after all the evidences has been uploaded on the group chat?
Yet, Huening Kai doesn't say a word. He sits silently beside Taehyun, having concluded that a Taehyun that just woke up or is sleepy cannot be provoked.
Taehyun provided no substantial answers, and Huening Kai is keeping his mouth shut. As Astra continues to ponder, she's suddenly reminded of the words, "Don't doubt". The two words loop round and round in her head.
Astra frowns. Right. I should get my priorities straight.
She opens up the group chat, focused, knowing she's diving into a serious topic. Yet immediately, her face cracks.
Right in the chat, warnings from Taehyun, in both verbal and pictorial forms, sit proudly. Astra clicks into a video sent by Huening Kai, and finds her mouth gaping open as she watches Taehyun flicking Dominic.
Holding her phone, Astra shoves her hands towards the front, about to present Taehyun with undeniable evidence and pin him down for his crimes.
Her wrist is grabbed.
"No."
Astra sees Huening Kai shaking his head at her, his eyes shifting back and forth from Taehyun and her. Huening Kai's finger slides down her screen, showing a text from Taehyun,
"I'm sure you all have seen my finger cannon. Better not irritate me now 😊😊"
"Stop sending meaningless messages into the chat, my phone is buzzing and I can't sleep."
Followed by an image of Taehyun's hands in a clearly threatening pose.
...
After a moment of silence, Astra understands. So this is Taehyun's iron fist—no finger ruling. One where, though Taehyun is exposed, she couldn't say anything. Intimidated, Astra can only swallow down her accusations.
"Huening Kai" Astra whispers.
"Uh?" came the boy's reply.
"Is Taehyun asleep?"
Huening Kai confirms. "He's asleep."
Astra considers her options before she creates another group chat with everyone except Taehyun.
A text quickly comes in from Yeonjun, "Another group?"
"This is a group without Taehyun." Huening Kai catches on quickly.
Notifications came pouring in,
_Beomgyu changed the chat name from "Decoding the Stars" to "Democracy"_
_Beomgyu changed the group description. Tap to view. _
_Beomgyu changed the chat profile picture. Tap to view._
"So, what did you want to say without Taehyun?" Beomgyu texts.
"DONT/DOUBT"
"That's the translation we have got for today and yesterday."
"What?" Soobin types.
"It could be telling us not to doubt it." Huening Kai says.
"That day, Taehyun was telling us that Astra should find out if it's on our side." Huening Kai tries to connect the dots.
"Is it like watching us...?" Soobin types.
"Scary." is Beomgyu's one-word reply.
"Please call your friends up if they are still asleep." Mrs Thon's voice booms through the microphone.
Astra taps on the shoulders of the boy beside her, still fast asleep. "Dominic. Wake up. We reached. Wake up."
There's no response.
Taehyun, having gotten a good rest, is cheery again. The boy unbuckles his seatbelt and kneels on his seat, with his head cupped in his hands, he smiles at Astra, "Need my help?"
Beside Taehyun, Huening Kai's eyes practically light up, "I think your help is needed."
"No, thank you" If she enlisted Taehyun's help, there's no doubt there would soon be a third red mark on Dominic's head.
To protect Dominic's forehead, Astra starts shaking his shoulders. "Hey! Wake up!"
As Dominic is shaken back and forth by Astra, his eyes open.
"We reached?"
Astra nods.
"Once you all get out of the bus, take your bags, line up in two lines, and wait for my instructions." Mrs Thon continues to give instructions, her voice loud enough to be heard across chattering students.
Astra unbuckles her seatbelt, ready to follow behind the students filing out of the bus. As she stands up, Astra's phone buzzes,
Yeonjun had uploaded two images into the group chat—pictures of a ship and its interior seating.
"This is our ride." Yeonjun texts.
Taehyun and Huening Kai are looking at their phones too. Then, as if thinking of something, Astra adds Taehyun into the "Democracy" group chat.
_Allow Taehyun to view the past 100 messages?_
Astra clicks yes.
_Taehyun has joined the chat. Say hi._
Barely a few seconds later,
"Astra? What the hell? You betrayer!"
"Damn it."
Too bad for Beomgyu though, before he could make any changes, Taehyun is already staring at "Democracy"'s chat description,
_A place without the demon king_,
along with his sleeping face as the profile picture.
More seconds later, Beomgyu's changes took effect.
_Beomgyu changed the chat name from "Democracy" to "Decoding the Stars"_
_Beomgyu changed the group description. Tap to view. _
_Beomgyu changed the chat profile picture. Tap to view._
Taehyun doesn't reply, but Huening Kai updated the group, "Too late. Taehyun saw it."
A series of laughter and emojis mocking Beomgyu floods in, mostly from Soobin and Yeonjun.
Taehyun clicks into the picture of the ship Yeonjun has sent, enlarging into the back seats. He turns and declares to Huening Kai,
"Later on, during boarding, we run. These seats are ours."
The seats at the back had the most leg space. Huening Kai grins, confirming. "Ours."
"All 30 are here." Mrs Thon says to a man holding a whistle. "Let's go."
"Please board one by one, don't rush."
The class files into two straight lines. It's been a long ride and most were in a state of fatigue, their eyes out of focus, blindly following behind Mrs Thon's lead.
Taehyun nods at Huening Kai, and Huening Kai returns the nod. The two boys dash out of the line, cut the queue of their peers, and are the first few to board the ship.
The two boys run down the rows, quickly settling down on 'their' seats. Taehyun leans downwards, listening for anyone calling his or Huening Kai's name.
"They must not have seen us." Taehyun chuckles after a while of silence.
Huening Kai laughs, raising his hands for a high-five. "They sure didn't."
In fact, their classmates, some of them, had noticed, yet none of them said a word. On the other hand, it is Astra who failed to notice that her only two friends in class are missing. Instead, she's looking everywhere else, the skies, the seas, the ship, in deep reminiscence of her camping days.
"What is she doing?" Taehyun mumbles as he watches Astra through the window. The girl had a light spring in her steps, walking leisurely. Taehyun knocks rapidly at the window, and even that escapes Astra's notice.
"I'm sorry, but can I take the seat by the window?" A girl whom neither Taehyun nor Huening Kai recognised asks with a light smile.
Huening Kai looks around them, seventy percent of the seats are still empty. Why would she want to squeeze with us?
"Sorry. No." Taehyun quickly answers, smiling, "We are saving this seat for our friend."
"I see. Can I sit beside you then?" The girl points to the seat beside Huening Kai.
Taehyun looks at Huening Kai. Huening Kai nods, "Yes, sure. Please sit. There's no one sitting here."
It's only when Astra steps into the ship did she finally remember to look for Taehyun and Huening Kai.
"Astra!" Taehyun calls her name and waves his arm.
Felicia, the girl who claimed the seat beside Huening Kai, smiles, "Is that your friend?"
"Yes." Taehyun replies.
"Over here." Huening Kai shouts when he sees Astra still looking around. "We got a seat for you."
Astra's eyes finally land on them after Huening Kai's shout, she quickly walks over.
"Hello! I'm Felicia."
Astra sees Felicia, and recognition flickers in her gaze. Astra smiles, "My name's Astra."
"Here." Taehyun pats the seat beside him.
Felicia stands up, while Taehyun and Huening Kai pull their legs up on the chair to let Astra pass.
"What class are you guys from?" Felicia asks.
"Class A." Huening Kai replies, "You?"
"From class D."
"Oh." And their conversation ends dryly.
Felicia looks down awkwardly at her lap, suddenly regretting her rash decision to follow after catching a glimpse of the two handsome boys running into the ship. Felicia discreetly pinches herself, mentally scolding her impulsivity.
Felicia's face lights up when she spots Veronica and Dominic stepping through the doorway. "Veronica! Dominic! Here here!"
Huening Kai is surprised, "You know them?"
"We came here from the same school."
"Oh right. You are all in the same class right? What a coincidence." Felicia smiles at Veronica, who waved back at her.
"Hello!" Taehyun greets Dominic, smiling.
Dominic unconsciously brings his hand to his forehead, which he has now covered with his hair after being laughed at by Veronica. "You were too hard on me." The boy complains.
"Was I? Sorry." Taehyun remains smiling.
"It's alright." Dominic waves his hand. "Just be lighter next time."
"Hm? Next time?" Taehyun's lips part open, showing a clear line of teeth, "Is there still a next time?" Taehyun's smiling, but something about his smile has grown eerie in nature.
Noticing, Huening Kai sinks back into his seat, not wanting to be between Dominic and Taehyun.
Dominic sits beside Felicia, answering lazily, "Probably."
The boy stretches his neck, hitting it with his knuckles.
"Neck hurts?" Veronica asks.
"Yeah. The bus shook pretty badly."
Their conversation reminds Astra of seeing Dominic lying on the armrest uncomfortably after being shot twice by Taehyun. Hesitantly, she stands up. "You want to take the window seat? You can put your head on the window."
Instantly, Astra can feel Taehyun's intense stare drilling into her face.
Oh. This seat's the one Huening Kai and Taehyun saved for her. She didn't have the right to give it up.
"..maybe not", Astra sits back down.
"Sure!" Dominic's happy voice cuts above Astra's voice. "Thank you! I have been eyeing the window seat."
"Oh, oh yeah, let's switch." Not finding it within herself to turn Dominic down, Astra switches with Dominic. Passing through, she peers at Taehyun, who's still smiling.
Astra admits she's a little scared of this TXT member. Appearances can be really deceptive.
"Is your head okay?" Taehyun asks Dominic.
"Yeah, I'm good." Dominic jokingly knocks on his forehead. "I have a hard head, so I could take it, but you'd better be careful with your flicks in the future, I can't say the same about others."
"Heheheheheh" Taehyun laughs. "Is that so?"
"Yeah. For instance, Huening Kai over here. He certainly wouldn't be able to take it." Dominic has successfully invited himself on Huening Kai's blacklist.
Huening Kai rolls his eyes, and even Taehyun's smile dips slightly.
As the boys were engaged in their passive-aggressive harmony, the girls were having another conversation.
"How did you get to know the 2 princes of our year?"
Astra almost chokes, "The two princes?"
Felicia gestures at Taehyun and Huening Kai. "They are the two most handsome guys in our year."
"Who said that?" Astra asks, genuinely curious.
"Me." Felicia proudly declares. "I am going to be part of the school's forum moderators one day and change the ranking list."
"The popularity list?" Astra asks, "What are you going to change it to?"
"Beauty list."
"She's crazy." Veronica says.
"From what I see so far, these two-" Felicia peeks at Taehyun and Huening Kai again, "are at the top."
"What about me?" Astra asks.
Felicia's chatter suddenly came to a close at Astra's question. The girl looks Astra up and down. "You.." She stammers. "You might make it into the top 50 for our year.."
Tsk. Astra clicks her tongue. "Might" is a terrible word.
"Why are they on the top and I'm—" Astra continues, looking accusingly at Felicia, "Not even in the top 50?"
Felicia's eyes tremble. What stupid question is that? Felicia looks to Veronica, her eyes screaming for help.
"Beauty is subjective." Veronica smiles as she pats Astra's head, looking into her eyes. "For me, you are in the top 5."
Astra's heart skips a beat.
"Girl!" Felicia laughs, "You're blushing!"
Felicia's shout attracts the attention of the three boys as they look over at Astra. Veronica still had her hand on Astra's head, smiling at her. Astra seemed to freeze under Veronica's smile, her face red.
Huening Kai feels threatened. He has a stinking feeling that his friendship with Astra might take a backseat if he doesn't do anything.
He still remembers—in his skewed perspective— on their first day of school, their handshake that promised eternal brotherhood, no—eternal friendship with the setting sun as their witness.
Huening Kai stands up and looks at Felicia, who sat beside him, "Wouldn't you like to switch seats with me?"
Felicia looks up at Huening Kai, surprised. Honestly, she would love it, she would then be seated between the two princes of her year, or as she terms it. But still, Felicia shakes her head, "No, no, it's alright—"
"Please switch with me." Huening Kai is firm.
"Oh. Okay."
Seats are switched again. The moment Huening Kai sits down, he takes out his phone and snaps a picture of Astra's face and uploads it into the group chat. The clicking sound snaps Astra out of her trance.
Huening Kai places his arm around Astra, conveniently sweeping Veronica's hand away.
Veronica chuckles, and her hands move towards Astra's head, yet before they could reach her, Huening Kai's eyes sharpen. He blocks it.
And this is how the rest of their ride went. Taehyun and Dominic's conversations that seems to have a aggressive undercurrent. And next was the Veronica and Huening Kai pair, where Veronica's every action is eyed down warily by Huening Kai.
Unware, Astra is being blissfully lulled by the shaking of the ship into sleep. And as the ship turned, Astra's head started to tilt towards Veronica, and a sense of déjà vu overcame Huening Kai. The boy quickly pulls out a soft toy from his bag, placing it on his shoulder and pulling Astra's head to lean against it. Huening Kai flashes Veronica a smirk.
Meanwhile, Felicia's in a daze. She's clearly seated in the middle, but somehow, she felt very isolated from the rest.
Why?
The group finally disembarks. Before Dominic can react, Astra runs to the area holding the bags and takes Dominic's bag. The girl stands there proudly, asking Dominic, "Is our deal still in effect?"
Dominic picks up Astra's bag and smiles, "Yeah."
Unfortunately, the time when Astra had to take ownership of her own bag came fast. They now had to head to their lodgings, climbing up hills with their bags to get there. Their accommodation is a two-storey open-air building, divided by gender, boys on the left and girls on the right.
Seperated from Taehyun and Huening Kai, Astra is finally feeling the results of her lack of efforts to befriend her classmates. The girls in her class are laying out their bags, claiming spaces, and talking loudly in groups. Astra walks around with her bag, unsure of where to go.
"Can I sleep here—" Astra pauses, seeing that none of the girls in the group she's talking to turned to even look at her.
They are all ignoring her. Astra lowers her head. It's just like the past. Them walking past her, like she wasn't there, like—
"Astra!" Veronica's call snaps Astra out of her trance, pointing to the space beside her. "Over here! Sleep beside me."
Veronica's words dangle towards her like a lifeline. Astra nods blankly, her feet almost pulling her to a run towards Veronica.
"Thank you." Astra says softly.
"You are thanking me?" Veronica laughs, laying out her sleeping bag and smoothing it across the floor. "I must thank you instead. I didn't bring my blanket, I will be sharing with you!" Veronica declares, wrapping her arm around Astra.
"Sure." Astra's eyes soften.
Just as instructed, the girls soon made their way down after unpacking their bags. All the girls are here, under the hot sun, waiting and waiting, yet none of the boys came down. Something's clearly wrong.
Astra raises her hand, "Mrs Thon, can I—"
She has yet to finish her words as Mrs Thon checks her watch, answering, "Yes. Go check on the boys and tell them to hurry up. Veronica, you go with her."
Nearing the boys' lodging, Astra heard cheers. The two girls look at each other and rush up the stairs. A boy lay spread like a starfish across the floor, huffing. Squatting right beside him is Taehyun, his hands up in a victory sign while the rest of the boys cheer.
"Who's next?" Taehyun grins, slamming his hands on his chest as if a victory cry.
"You're here." Huening Kai had, at some point in time, appeared beside Astra while she was trying to process the sight unfolding before her.
"That's Taehyun?" Astra asks in disbelief.
"No doubt." Huening Kai confirms. "Just a little too addicted to MMA. Still Taehyun."
"It's safe no worries. Olive is doing good." Huening Kai gestures to the boy on the floor. "Oh and." Huening Kai feels the need to add, "This is voluntary. From both sides."
Soon, Taehyun also notices the presence of the two girls, he stands up, asking. "Why are you two here?"
"Didn't you guys hear when Mrs Thon said to go down after you are done unpacking?" Veronica answers.
Taehyun's sharp eyes sweep through all the boys surrounding him, "Anybody heard?"
"No!" They replied in unison.
Taehyun grins. With a few brawls, Taehyun now stands at the very top of the hierarchy— the alpha male of class 1A.
...
From a distance, Mrs Thon can see the boys down. She checks her watch again, "Let's go first, the boys will catch up."
The class is eventually led to an open clearing, joined by all the other classes in year one. Teachers walk around, passing down packed lunches, along with plastic utencils and a small bottle of water.
"Please listen while you eat. We are going to brief you about what is going to happen for the three very exciting days you will be spending here." Mr Robert, the disciplinary head, says through a big yellow megaphone.
"The first day, are all class activities. To start your day off, all of you will be climbing the tallest hill on the island, approximately 300 meters above ground. Isn't it exciting?"
The students groan.
"After that, you all will be following designated hiking trails varying from class to class, exploring the island's native flora and fauna."
The students groan again.
"At 5pm, back to your lodgings, shower, change, and report back here by 6pm." Mr Robert flips through his notes. "Then it's dinner time! After dinner, help to clean up, at 7pm, take a night hike around the island—"
The students groan for the third time. Was orientation all about hiking?
Astra turns and whispers to Huening Kai beside her, "See? I told you our school is broke.
Huening Kai sighs.
"Shush." Mr Robert is merciless, dismissive to the cries of despair among the students. "After the night hike, all to report back for a campfire, have a light supper. Do your reflections and get to sleep." Mr Robert continues, rattling ahead, his words increasingly straightforward and monotone with every sigh from his audience.
"On day 2, all of you have to be up by 6am, wash, get ready and be here by 6.30am.Here, you will gather with students from the whole school and split into groups of 8 to 10 each. Mixed with your seniors."
"For the rest of day 2, you will move in your new groups to kayak, cook outdoors, camp, and play treasure hunting."
"Day 3, wake up, eat breakfast, then it's goodbye. You all will return to school while your seniors will remain here with us."
"Now." Mr Robert places a green box before him, "Please hand over all your phones. If you left your phone back in the lodgings, go back and take it."
"I expect everyone to hand in their phones."
Students groan again, and Mr Robert raises his brows, "Class teachers, please facilitate and ensure that all your students have handed in their phones."
Astra sighs, reaching into her pocket, she takes out her phone. Her fingers move to the power button, pressing to shut the phone down before handing it over.
Ding.
Before the screen shuts down, Astra sees a message from Yeonjun in their group chat,
"Be careful with the night hike."
What?
The screen darkens.
Chapter 16: Day 8
Chapter Text
The guide assigned for Class 1A is a tall and lean man. He's dressed in full black sportswear and a bucket hat. Just minutes ago, he instructed the class to bring their small bags for the climbing and hiking activities for day 1. He especially emphasised to them, "Pack light."
Now, all students of Class 1A crowd in an arc around him. It's a tiring and likely boring path ahead, but it's still the first trip of their school life, and inevitably, there's anticipation, as evidenced by their shiny eyes as they wait for him to speak.
"Astra and Daisy." The guide checks the two names marked on the paper in his hands. "Can you two raise your hands?"
Amongst the sea of heads, two equally pale hands shoot up. The guide crosses his arms, nodding silently to himself. It's what he expected to see, pale, thin, stick-like arms.
"Can you two step forward?" The guide points at the small space before him, to which two girls soon filled after squeezing their way through the crowd.
The guide nods at Daisy, "Did you bring your medication?"
"Yes."
The guide turns to Astra, and his gaze lingers on her bag for too long a time. His gaze shifts between Astra and her bag. In the end, he simply gives her a funny look and doesn't ask.
Following the guide's instructions, everyone had packed light, carrying only their essentials in compact, small bags. Astra's also carrying a small bag. It's just that her bag is bulging, expanded to almost twice the size it's originally meant to hold, now looking like a spikey ball, with questionable items jutting in and out through its cloth material.
If at this moment, Class 1A had a contest, one which ranked their bags in categories of biggest, ugliest, and heaviest, Astra would have undoubtedly topped all three categories.
Taehyun eyes Astra's bag. "What in the world did you bring?"
Astra slides her fingers across her bag, satisfied. "It's all useful things."
Huening Kai's laughter could be heard from the back. "Says the one who brought pots here."
Astra's eyes widened and she scuttles to Huening Kai, swinging the boy to face a corner and hisses to him, "I thought we agreed on keeping it on the down low?"
"We did?" Huening Kai looks at her, clearly confused.
Actually, there was no such agreement. But from now on, there would be.
"Yes!" Astra pulls the boy down lower so she can look him in the eye, "Your soft toys and my pots! Remember? We had a deal!"
At the mention of his soft toys, Huening Kai's eyes sharpened. "I remember."
No. He really didn't.
"Good." Astra lets go of Huening Kai, her brainwashing session has ended.
Freed from Astra's grasp, Huening Kai lifts his head, straightening up only to meet Taehyun's narrowed eyes. Huening Kai, taken by surprise at the boy who had suddenly appeared beside him, takes a few steps back.
When did Taehyun sneak up here?
Wordlessly, Huening Kai reaches towards Astra, tugging on her sleeves, directing her to turn to Taehyun, who had his lips parted in a wide, hanging smile.
"..."
"So your bag's so heavy because you brought pots, and Huening's so light because he brought soft toys?" Taehyun wears a bright smile, one so bright that it even overshadows the sun overhead.
Under the shadow Taehyun casts, Astra and Huening Kai stands with their hands behind their back, like they were being judged for their crimes. In front of Taehyun, no excuses nor lies would come into fruition, therefore, they wisely kept their lips sealed.
At the side, the three of them stood in a triangle formation, and it looked like Taehyun was cornering the other two. The guide points at them, "What are you three doing over there? We are setting off now!"
What the guide shouted as a warning is interpreted as an escape path for Huening Kai and Astra. The two exchange looks and, without hesitation, run to the very front of the line, cutting in front of Veronica and Dominic.
Astra, now standing at the front, glances back, no longer seeing Taehyun in sight. She exhales. Now, without Taehyun's presence, she seems to be able to think more clearly. She lowers her head, realising that she didn't do anything wrong. What's she feeling guilty for?
Astra rolls her shoulder backwards, turning back a second time, she immediately meets eyes with Taehyun. Instantly, her not-guilty verdict is forgotten, and Astra averts her eyes, urging Huening Kai, "let's go, let's go."
To the relief of the two, Taehyun didn't come to look for them. He stayed at the back of the class, easily blending with the group of boys at the back, their voices and laughter clear even to Astra and Huening Kai at the very front.
Soon, they stopped by a trail marked by wooden floorboards. The guide turns back to face the class. He takes a sip from his water bottle. "We are at the foot of the hill now."
The guide lifts his feet, stepping on a board, making creaking sounds. "The way up is floored by these wooden boards. Try to be careful and watch where you step. Some of these boards are well-used and might fall through." The guide presses his shoes on the boards, highlighting his point through the loud creaking sounds the boards produce with each trample.
"But," the guide claps his hands, "It's an easy climb and even though it's rather hot here, it'll get cooler as we trek up. I'm sure all of us will enjoy this hike."
.
.
Astra has a hat on her head, a small fan whirling in her hand. She huffs, watching the back of the guide getting further and further away whilst she grits her teeth, pushing past her heavy breathing to continue upwards. She checks the time, it has been an hour since they started climbing.
She places her hands by her hips, telling herself, "Just a few more steps, just a few more steps" to force herself forward and maintain her lead position on this climb. She's sweating heavily, and her bangs stick together at the side of her face. She's out of breath and tired as hell. Simply put, Astra thinks she's going to die if she needs to tell herself, "Just a few more steps" again.
Astra's exhaustion is mouting and she channels her resentment towards the guide, glaring at his back. Through this hike, she had asked a total of 3 times, the exact same question, "How long before we reach?"
And every single time, a little like how she's manipulating her body to move forward with empty promises of, "Just a few more steps", it seems like the guide's using the same tactic.
He would glance at the watch on his wrist and say, "Soon."
Soon.
Soon my ass.
They were still climbing. 30 minutes later, after "Soon", they are still climbing with no end in sight. Therefore, Astra asks again, "How long before we—"
"Soon." The guide answers without checking his watch this time. He doesn't even wait for her to finish asking her question, already having an idea of what she's asking. Astra's glare becomes increasingly menacing, almost digging a hole into the guide's back as he hops up the steps like he weighed nothing, like it hasn't been more than an hour since they started the hike.
Meanwhile, Astra's shaking legs, almost vibrating from the strain, serves as the perfect contrast against the guide's light and carefree steps,
Thankfully for Astra, she has her reliable friend, Huening Kai. He's holding Astra by her arm, supporting her climb upwards. Without Huening Kai, Astra estimates that she would have been finished 30 minutes ago.
Like a loop, like how Astra would periodically tell herself, "Just a few more steps", like how she would ask the guide the same question and receive the same reply, Huening Kai has formed his own pattern, periodically asking Astra, "You good?"
As per the rules of a loop, Astra would always give the same reply, "No. I want to give up."
Then, Huening Kai would give her a sheepish smile and continue to drag her forward.
Half-dragged by Huening Kai, she wonders if it's this bad during the orientation camp 6 years ago. How had she made it through?
Unlike her, Dominic and Taehyun, the two most athletic students in their class have already left their class behind. Astra can vaguely hear Huening Kai chirping in an excited voice beside her, broadcasting to her the race the two boys were having to see who would reach the top first.
"Taehyun! Dominic! Don't get too far away from the group!" The guide shouts towards the two black dots at the very top.
"Yess!" Taehyun's high-pitched voice echoes back towards them.
Through barely opened lids, Astra thinks her vision is getting a little blurry.
"I really can't." Astra leans over, her hands on her knees. Something's wrong, Astra had clearly realised, her vision is fuzzy. Astra pulls at her collar, finding it harder to breathe.
This familiar sensation. Astra suspected asthma.
Huening Kai reaches forward and holds her tighter by the shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"No. I'm not feeling well." Astra is firm this time, pulling on Huening Kai, she sits on the floor, her breath heaving up and down, gasping.
"Guide Orin!" Huening Kai shouts, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Astra is not feeling well!"
Hearing Huening Kai, the guide immediately rushes down the trails, his figure moving rapidly, making loud creaking sounds.
"What's wrong with her?" Orin kneels beside Astra, who despite her difficulty, is frantically digging into her bag.
Astra barely manages a reply, "...Asthma.."
"You—“ Orin's face darkens as he watches Astra's hands fumble inside her bag, and he takes in a deep breath, "Did you not bring your Inhaler?"
As Astra is slowly gathering her words, Huening Kai swoops down and turns her bag upside down. He shakes it and out tumbles all kinds of miscellaneous objects. There's the mini fan, plasters, tissue, wet tissue, water bottle, hand sanitiser, hair clip, plastic bags, a bottle of unknown liquid, umbrella, sun block, mosquito repellent— there were too many.
There's everything.
Everything she could possibly need.
Everything except her inhaler.
"Ahhhh!" Huening Kai yells, his lips drawn in a thin line as he looks at Astra in frustration, "Astra! What the hell are you doing?"
Huening Kai runs his hand through his hair, making a mess. And for the first time, the boy looks truly angry at her.
Astra had nothing to say. It's her mistake.
Huening Kai kicks towards Astra's belongings scattered on the steps, and they roll off the wooden boards, falling onto the grassy soil. "What's the use of all these things?"
Astra's too busy fighting for air to protest, but her fingers twitch as they reach towards the objects that rolled down the steps.
The third years are also climbing the mountain. Located at the midpoint of the hill is the Zip-line. A station part of their Day 1 itinerary.
"Isn’t it cause you are scared of heights?" A boy grins, lightly nudging Soobin.
"No? Who said I was?" Soobin turns away.
"Then let's go. Why are you finding excuses to take breaks every 5 minutes?"
"Because I don't want to take the Zip-line." Soobin replies.
"And you said you weren't afraid."
Soobin's rebuttal stops short when he hears a scream.
"You heard that?" Soobin's friend taps on his shoulder. "Did someone roll down the hill or something?"
That voice sounds familiar.
Soobin turns his body towards the voice. "I'm going to go check it out."
"But you aren't supposed to separate from your group! Hey! Choi Soobin!"
Soobin's already gone. To be honest, Soobin wanted to 'check it out', not simply because of his concern. It's mainly because he wanted to avoid the Zipline. He wouldn't say it's a fear of heights, but simply just human instincts. The instant he laid eyes on the thin cord stretching into the distance, he had made his decision. No way would he trust his life to one singular cord and send himself flying down the hill.
Following the sound, Soobin emerges from the vegetation and steps onto the wooden flooring. And it clicks in his head, who that scream earlier came from—Huening Kai.
Huening Kai had his hands on his hips, his face cold, and kicking things around. If Soobin had to describe it, it's like Huening Kai's throwing a fit.
Soobin walks over, Huening Kai's anger seems to be directed towards the girl on the floor. And as he approaches the group, he calls out, "Astra?"
Her breathing sounded very wrong. She clearly isn't well, and Huening Kai's not exactly helping her cause.
Beside Soobin, the guide is making a call, his voice tense, urgently calling for medical assistance.
Perhaps intrigued, students are crowding inwards, forming a tight circle around Astra and Huening Kai, crowding in towards them, whispering among themselves.
Soobin can hear Huening Kai shouting again, "Now what happens? We are almost 2 hours away from the ground. What are we to do?"
Soobin frowns, and he tries to wrestle his way into the crowd. From afar, he can see Astra's head lowering along with an increasingly frequency of breaths.
"Move!" Soobin finally screams after finding little to no progress in trying to squeeze his way through. The crowd finally parts, and Soobin runs towards Astra, shouting towards the crowd, "Please don't crowd around, give her some space."
His authoritative tone of voice and height might have carried some sort of power as the crowd backs away, clearing a space. Except Huening Kai, who stands before Astra, glowering at her.
Soobin grabs onto Huening Kai's collar, dragging him backwards. He hisses at him, "What are you doing?"
"You aren't helping at all!" Soobin points at Astra.
"Hah? Do you even know what happened?" Huening Kai points at Astra accusingly.
Astra's eyes shift between the two frowning boys talking in hushed tones. She chokes up, feeling a tightness in her chest, worsening the weakness she's already in.
Soobin notices. He pulls Huening Kai away and turns his back towards Astra, "Does that matter now?" Soobin is furious.
"She—"
Soobin places his finger on his lips and shushes him. "Look at her!"
Huening Kai stubbornly refuses to listen. Soobin clicks his tongue. "Not sure what kind of phase you are in now, but—" Soobin holds Huening Kai's head and forcefully turns it towards the mess that Huening Kai's now a part of,
"Just look." Soobin says firmly.
Just a few hours ago, Astra was thinking through the things she needed to bring, the objects carefully selected and squeezed into her bag are now scattered on the ground, rolling around like discarded trash.
The girl herself is not doing any better. She held fear in her eyes, maybe it's due to her asthma, or it's Huening Kai's anger towards her, it could also be the pessimistic situation she found herself in. Or perhaps, it's just everything combined.
Around them, students stand in a loose circle, talking in soft voices. Astra's not looking at them though, she's looking at Huening Kai. Her eyes, though glossy, crinkling in pain, weren't crying. She just continues to stare up at Huening Kai, her shoulders heaving up and down laboriously as she gasps for air.
And it all sinks in.
Right. What was he doing? He's only making things worse.
Huening Kai takes slow steps towards Astra, who stares back at him, unflinching.
"I'm sorry."
Hearing Huening Kai's apology, Astra closes her eyes in response, her head dropping downwards, and she stops looking at him. Huening Kai wonders if she's disappointed now. He wonders if they were no longer friends.
Huening Kai wants to cry.
The guide hurries over, "I'm calling my colleague. Astra, where is your inhaler?"
In her bag, 3 inhalers should be in the side pocket— is what Astra wants to convey. But just like in the past few times, her asthma hits strong, rapidly robbing her of her ability to talk.
Where saying even a single word seems to drain everything in her, it took a whole five painful minutes to force out these three words,
"Bag."
"Pocket."
"Side."
As an immediate effect of straining herself, Astra's wheezing worsens, she curls into herself, fingers digging deeper into the gaps of the wooden floorboards beneath her, like she's trying to hold herself down to this world.
It's painful to watch. Seeing her curled forward, her fingers gripping the floorboard so tightly as if hanging on for dear life. Soobin silently sits behind her, providing his back as support. Soobin feels Astra shift, her tight grip on the floorboards loosens, and the girl leans onto his back.
He's glad he could help relieve whatever she's struggling with right now.
"Does anyone know what her bag looks like and where she placed her bag?" Having Astra answer any more questions would worsen her condition, therefore the guide turns the question towards her classmates instead, turning his eyes towards the girls who are in the same lodging. "Anyone knows?" He repeats.
None of them knew. None of them cared enough. The only one who knew, Veronica, is currently up the hill with Dominic and Taehyun.
"It's beside Veronica's bag."
"Then where's Veronica's bag?" The guide asks impatiently.
Once again, no one knew.
Huening Kai looks anxiously at Astra before she says to the guide, who was now telling his colleague to, "Search all bags."
"I'll go up and look for Veronica."
The guide looks at Huening Kai, and after what felt like an eternity, the guide nods. "Hurry back."
"The rest of you." Guide Orin instructs the rest, pointing to another class who had caught up to theirs, "Follow behind class 1B and continue to the top."
"Alright. Students of Class 1A. I want two lines behind my class."
They form neat lines again, following behind another class to continue their hike up the mountain. Now all that's left is Soobin, Astra, and Guide Orin.
"You are?" Orin asks Soobin who's still acting as back support for Astra.
"Soobin, a third year, got separated from my group. "
Orin doesn't question Soobin, he just gives a simple nod, "Thanks for your help."
Soobin smiles. Sitting back-to-back with Astra, the boy can feel that whenever the girl breathes, it's like her airways are a highway severely affected by a traffic jam, clogged and hitching a few times before air could pass, creating the wheezing noises.
Soobin cannot even begin to fathom what Astra's feeling, but he wonders if it was like trying to breathe underwater, did it feel like suffocation, wanting to breathe but unable to get air in?
If that was it, then Soobin thinks that he can understand. He's scared of water, after all.
Huening Kai is running up the steps, two at a time, sometimes three. The boy huffs, hoping he can catch a glimpse of his classmates who went up ahead.
"Veronica!" Huening Kai shouts after every few flights of steps that he climbs.
It takes a few minutes before Huening Kai hears a much-needed reply, "Here!"
Huening Kai's head immediately snaps upwards. He sees Veronica waving her hands at him, a small figure in the distance.
"Can you come down? Astra had an asthma attack and she didn't bring her inhaler. They are asking if you knew where her bag is and what it looks like—" Huening Kai wants to quickly convey his meaning to Veronica and get her help. But they were too fall away and the long string of words break off into the distance, becoming nothing but incomprehensible ramblings when it reaches Veronica's ears.
"What?" Veronica shouts back at Huening Kai. "Can't!" Veronica shouts again, "Hear you!"
Huening Kai stomps his feet, frustrated, and he feels his rationality slipping out of his grasp. He's falling back into the phase he had been in earlier.
Finally, he clears his throat, shouting, "Just. Come. Down!"
Huening Kai breathes and shouts again, "Astra. Needs. Help!"
This time, Veronica hears him, loud and clear.
"Astra?" Veronica is quickly moving down the steps. Her movements caught the attention of Taehyun and Dominic.
"What happened?"
"He says that Astra needs help." Veronica continues to skip down the stairs.
"Astra? What's wrong with her?" Taehyun quickly follows.
Eventually, with Huening Kai trying hard to suppress his frustration and internally complaining about their slow speed, Taehyun, Veronica, and Dominic reach Huening Kai.
"What happened to Astra?" Taehyun asks.
"She had an asthma attack." Huening Kai answers as he turns to Veronica. "Do you know what Astra's bag looks like?"
"Eh?" Veronica was confused. "Don't you know? Her bag is just the biggest of the bunch."
Huening Kai's lips tremble. He feels really stupid right now. Of course. After all the teasing they had gotten regarding their bags, how could he have forgotten? They even had images of their bags on the group chat, courtesy of Beomgyu.
Taehyun's puzzled gaze makes Huening Kai feel even more ashamed. He jumps down the steps, he knew the answer all along, so why doesn't he remember? Why at the most crucial moment, he just—
"She didn't bring her inhaler? Even with that big bag?" Taehyun asks in disbelief.
Huening Kai is in no mood to answer. He just races down the steps, the other three in his trail.
"Astra's bag—" Huening Kai shouts when he sees the guide in the distance.
"Thanks!" The guide shouts back. "But we already found it!"
Huening Kai couldn't exactly hear the last few words the guide said, but he figured from the thumbs up he gave him. They already found the inhaler.
Huening Kai stops in his tracks, panting and sweating profusely. He steps down slowly, at a turtle pace, not daring to look in Astra's direction— He's really of no help today.
Unlike Huening Kai, who felt as if his shoes were made of lead, Taehyun quickly catches up, his steps light as he brushes past Huening Kai.
Taehyun stops in front of Astra, his eyes on Soobin. "How are you here?"
"I heard a scream and came running." Soobin replies. "Meanwhile, where have you been?
Astra still has her eyes closed. She's in the same state, trying her hardest to maintain steady breathing. Each hard breath though, pushes against her throat like scratches, and it's getting increasingly difficult for her.
"How." Astra is desperate as she huffs. A minute of hard breathing later, Astra opens her mouth again, "Long?"
Astra curls inwards again, her breathing harsh as her chest violently heaves up and down. In response, Soobin pushes up against Astra, giving her the support she needs, still unable to understand how saying a single word can be so taxing.
"You should just keep quiet. Why are you making things harder for yourself?" Soobin comments.
Astra stubbornly stares at the guide, hoping for an answer.
Guide Orin stares blankly at her.
Taehyun helps Orin translate, "She is asking how long before her inhaler comes."
Astra doesn't say anything, but the sparkle present in her eyes as she stares at Orin with higher intensity than before told everyone that Taehyun's translation is indeed accurate.
"Soon!" Orin immediately replies.
Externally, Astra's breathing just speeds up slightly as she closes her eyes, but internally, Astra is kicking up a storm. Earlier, when they were climbing this hill, 20 minutes into the climb, when Astra first asked how long before they would reach the top, the guide replied soon. 30 minutes into the climb, when Astra again asked how long before they would reach, the guide said soon. 90 minutes into the climb, when Astra once again asked how long before they would reach, the guide still said soon.
How soon is soon? She wants an exact timeframe, not an abstract word like "soon".
Especially since— Astra shoots a dirty glance at Orin— This guide's sense of time seems to be faulty.
It could be an illusion, but Astra thought her heart was starting to hurt.
Astra's eyes wander to Taehyun, and she keeps her eyes locked on him. Taehyun sighs, asking, "How long has it been since they found Astra's inhaler?"
"It was about 10 minutes ago."
Taehyun nods and replies to Astra, "An experienced guide should be able to climb up here within an hour."
Finally. Finally, a time that she could wrap her head around. But— Astra pulls in another ragged inhale of air—an hour later, she's sure the pain in her chest and throat would no longer be within her tolerance range.
"You are really hopeless." Taehyun suddenly insults her.
Astra does not even bother to look at Taehyun as he continues, "Out of everything you could have brought, you left out the most important one."
How Astra managed to get through all that waiting, she wasn't sure. It was just a blur of pain, battling for air.
But if there is one thing she's sure of, is that today, these past few hours, from the moment she started hiking this damn hill—felt like decades.
Astra sits atop the bed whilst drinking a cup of warm water. She's back in peak condition, or maybe not, because her legs start shaking the moment she lifts them up, her muscles all eagerly raising a protest from the physical exertion it has been forced through.
Astra's kept in for observation.
In a familiar whiteness of an infirmary, Astra soon notices her bag. It had regained its spikey appearance and is neatly placed on the counter beside her. Astra reaches over, pushing her arms through the straps of her bag. The bag slides quickly down her arms, clattering before it hits her stomach.
"Oof." Astra winces, rubbing her stomach.
Astra eyes her bag, she's sure that all her things are lying about somewhere on the hill after Huening Kai had kicked it around. Her fingers gingerly pull open the bag. A folded white paper falls out along with a bundle of hydrangea flowers, blooming in shades of blue and purple. The flowers fall out of her bag, petals fluttering onto her lap.
She freezes for a short moment, hands clutching the white paper along with a pale blue petal. Astra unfolds the paper, reading the two simple words scrawled across in a handwriting atrocious enough to rival Astra's,
I'm sorry.
It's from Huening Kai.
A smile blooms on Astra's face.
Chapter 17: Day 8 - 9
Chapter Text
The island is one almost untouched by urban development. Various flora and fauna, including all kinds of wild animals, thrive and are well-protected here, living in their most natural state. As the sun sets and night descends, the island is ushered into another phase.
The chirping of crickets rings in the environment, disturbed by the occasional hoot from an unknown bird species. Looking up, stars dot across the night sky, bright and unshadowed by city lights. Everything here is perfect, offering a truly detoxing experience. But— Astra clicks her tongue. She would rather miss it all and stay lying on the comfortable bed in the infirmary.
With her trusty inhaler, Astra's deemed fit for the night hike. This school is truly merciless in its practices, giving the green light for the student who was about to die just a few hours ago due to hiking to go hiking again.
Damn. They must think my inhaler is some sort of magical weapon.
Astra curses the school, rubbing her inhaler in her palm. But maybe it is.
Astra tucks her inhaler away, giving it a few loving pats before pulling out her mosquito repellent, giving herself a thorough spray. At night, especially on this island, is when mosquitoes are the most active. Therefore, going to hike in the dark unprepared would be equivalent to sacrificing oneself and treating the mosquitoes to a free buffet.
The first step out of the infirmary and she's stopped by Guide Orin, clearly traumatised from the happenings hours ago. "Inhaler?"
Astra reluctantly digs it out from her bag, "Here."
"Give it to me, I will keep it for you." Orin does not feel reassured leaving it in Astra's hands.
Glad to get rid of the responsibility, Astra quickly hands her inhaler over. She watches as Orin takes it, carefully zipping it inside a zip-lock bag before pushing it deep inside his bag.
"You were kind of lucky to have missed the afternoon hike." Veronica leans her head on Astra's shoulder, her face scrunching up in disgust as she complains, "It was hot as hell, and really, the flowers were nothing special. Even the hill we climbed in the morning offered better scenery."
"Then I am really lucky." Astra smiles
"Lucky? Right." Taehyun says sarcastically, jamming himself between Astra and Veronica while conveniently knocking Veronica off Astra's shoulders. "Oh, sorry." Taehyun apologises with barely opened eyes before he says to Astra, "You were about half-dead just now."
"I'm half-dead, not dead. So I am lucky." Astra concludes with a bright voice. Taehyun, expressionlessly, is then forced to watch as Astra and Veronica exchange high-fives in front of him.
"Where's Huening Kai?" Astra asks.
Taehyun straightens up, suddenly smiling. He shouts, "Huening Kai! Did you hear that? Astra is looking for you."
Huening Kai doesn't appear.
Taehyun points at a tree, exposing Huening Kai with zero hesitation, "Huening Kai's hiding behind that tree. He says he's too embarrassed to face you."
"Embarrassed?" Astra laughs, quickly running in the direction Taehyun pointed. Barely hidden by the tree is Huening Kai, looking at her with widened eyes. Seeing him, Astra jumps, delivering a high kick towards the boy's butt. "Thought you could get away?"
The kick lands, but Huening Kai just stares at her, guilt swirling in his eyes. "I'm sorry." He says.
Astra pauses, now feeling bad. Slowly, she walks up to Huening Kai. "It's alright." She begins in a soft voice, scratching her head. "You don't have to be sorry. You did nothing wrong, and I can see why you were frustrated. I was frustrated at myself too."
Huening Kai doesn't say a word. He lowers his head, his hands held in front of him, pulling at his fingers nervously.
"Kai, you are a very important friend to me." Astra grabs Huening Kai's hand in hers, giving it a hard shake, like on the first day, when they decided they were partners, allied in their mission to find the truth behind this world. "You were the first person to trust me and stand by my side."
Astra feels herself tear up at the memory. The trust Huening Kai gave to her on that day is something she never took for granted, for the kind boy is what lit her path forward. "And because of that, I will never, never ever be mad at you."
It must have been seeing Astra's tears, combined with the worry that's eating him up— that Astra might be disappointed in himself, that he wasn't a good enough friend. All these are now washed away by Huening Kai's own line of tears.
So he holds a very important position in Astra's heart, just as she does in his.
And Huening Kai is happy.
The two friends embrace tearfully, tears and snot flowing down freely as if they were the only two under the starry sky.
They weren't.
All of class 1A was watching them.
There is an awkward silence with the exception of the sobbing cries from Huening Kai and Astra. Guide Orin looks at Taehyun, his eyebrows curling up and down, signalling him to do something.
Taehyun sighs. He grabs the two of them by the collar, pulling them apart. The moment Taehyun loosens his grip, Huening Kai and Astra envelop him in a tight hug, squeezing him in.
"It's alright, Taehyun. You are our friend too." Huening Kai says, his tone in deep consolation.
"Right. There's really no need to be jealous." Astra adds.
"Get off." is what Taehyun says in reply. Yet contrary to his words, a slight tug pulls on both ends of his lips.
"Okay!" Orin claps his hands to get their attention. "No more drama, please." He stretches his arms in front of him. "One line in front of me, we need to set off now."
The night hike is purely just a night hike. Astra was extra wary because of Yeonjun's final message telling them to be careful of the night hike. Yet, nothing happened, and Astra had been worried for nothing. She sighs, crossing her legs, her eyes staring straight into the bright amber campfire burning in the middle of the field.
"Look up!" Huening Kai whispers, "There are so many stars today."
She saw. Throughout the night hike, all she did other than staying on alert was look at the night sky. Instead, it's the supposed highlight of the night hike— Orin's talk introducing the island's night life is the one she didn't bother to listen to.
Still, Astra lets her head fall back as she shifts to look up. Astra whispers, "This is almost what the starry sky in my dreams looks like."
"You said the stars will fall. It must be really pretty." Taehyun says, though his eyes weren't even on the stars, he's just staring at his shoes, his gaze blank.
Astra considers his words, nodding. Pretty they were, but just as much as they were pretty, they were equally horrifying.
"Will they look like shooting stars?" Huening Kai asks.
Shooting stars? That's a nice way to phrase it. But the falling stars that Astra sees look more like meteors, heavy, crashing, and deadly.
Finally, Taehyun looks up, another head joining the crowd of people peeking at the twinkling stars, flashing harmlessly at them from a place very high above. "Though when they fall, the world as we know will come to an end."
Astra's heart thumps, her head snapping towards Taehyun. Her thoughts turn, and a chilling question surfaces. In reality, when the stars fall, the world will come to an end. Then what will happen when the stars falls in her dreams?
Supper that night came and went, and Astra's thoughts remained dominated by the starry sky. And even till the moment she curls up into her sleeping bag, she's still thinking. She doesn't want to close her eyes. As she sleeps, will the stars fall closer?
If I don't sleep, would it mean that the stars will never fall?
Despite her concerns, Astra is not able to avoid falling asleep. As her eyes begin to close, she murmurs incomprehensibly, praying for a miracle, praying that the stars won't fall today.
At 06:00, a sharp whistling sound pierces through the darkness in the girls' lodgings. Guide Orin leans on the door, popping his whistle out of his mouth as he flicks on the light switch, flooding light into the room.
The girls groan, the auditory and visual stimulus highly effective in pulling them out of their sleep.
"All get ready and gather at the campfire area in 30 minutes." After saying so, Orin leaves without a look back.
Veronica rubs her eyes, her eyes opens a slit as she observes her surroundings. Astra's still asleep, having not moved an inch. It's quite amazing considering the powerful awakening Orin had delivered.
Veronica places her hand on Astra's stomach and shakes her. "It's time to wake up."
Astra didn't budge.
Veronica blinks. She isn't fully out of sleep either. She leans back, stretching her back, hands lifting toward the sky. Hearing the sounds of cracking bones, Veronica smiles contentedly, feeling more awake now.
She sits back up, placing both her hands on Astra's stomach, and gives her a hard shake. "Astra!" Veronica is much louder this time. "Wake up!"
Astra remains in deep sleep, with no signs of waking up.
Veronica is a little confused. "She's not waking up."
"Let me help." A girl who has been watching Veronica's attempt to wake Astra volunteers. "Looks like she's a deep sleeper, you will need to be rougher to wake her up."
The girl, Wendy, strides over and holds Astra's legs, swinging them from side to side.
Astra showed no reactions.
"Maybe we can let her sleep a while more. Let's go wash up first."
Veronica frowns. Finally, she leans towards Astra, placing her ear on her chest, listening. Good, she's breathing.
"Okay. Let's go." Veronica says.
When the two got back, Astra is still in the same position.
"Astra!" Veronica screams into her ear and pushes the girl off her sleeping bag. How is she in such a deep sleep? Even a deep sleeper should wake up by now—
Astra slips off her sleeping bag with a thud. Still no movements.
Veronica thinks something is very wrong.
"Wendy!" Veronica calls. "Get Astra on my back. We are bringing her to the guide. She's not waking up!"
"How is that possible?" Wendy thinks Veronica is overreacting. She walks over, hands on her hips. Wendy reaches out, prying Astra's eyelids open with her fingers. Astra's irises stare back at them, blank, still, and unreactive.
"Okay. Let's go." There really is something wrong.
Veronica carries Astra on her back, with Wendy supporting her from the back. The two girls stumble their way through, struggling to support Astra's weight by themselves.
On their way down, Veronica catches Taehyun chasing after another boy, his threatening laughter heard even metres away.
"Taehyun!" Veronica wipes her sweat as she screams his name. "Help carry Astra! She isn't waking up!"
"What?" Taehyun stops, turning towards Veronica's direction.
Before Veronica can answer, Taehyun's eyes shift to the girl lying motionlessly on Veronica's back. A second later, he sprints into action, running up.
Taehyun hits Astra's cheeks with the back of his hands. "What is wrong with her?"
"She isn't waking up." Veronica hurriedly says. "We are planning to bring her to Orin."
Taehyun reaches out his fingers, doing the exact same thing Wendy did— forcing open her eyelids.
"Wake up! Hey! Astra!" Taehyun's eyes gradually fill with panic when Astra shows no reaction even as his actions gain more force. Eventually, Taehyun holds Astra's head up, slapping her forehead repeatedly.
Red marks grow from the repeated slaps, but Astra remains still.
"Astra!" Taehyun yells her name as loudly as he can muster.
Yet, the girl remains locked in sleep, her head powerlessly falling on Veronica's neck the instant Taehyun let go.
"She isn't waking up." Taehyun repeats what Veronica has been telling him all along.
"Give her to me." Taehyun reaches out, pulling Astra from Veronica's back and into his arms.
"Astra? What's wrong with her?" Huening Kai comes running from the toilet nearby, a toothbrush still in his mouth.
"Is... Is she dead?" Huening Kai can't help but ask when he sees Taehyun's expression of doom.
"No." Taehyun answers firmly. Her heart is still beating. He can feel it. She will wake up.
And just as they wished, at 06:23, after many fruitless minutes trying to wake Astra, the girl's eyes opened on their own.
The first sentence Astra says as she wakes up is, "The stars are all falling towards me." Her words are laced with fear, her eyes jump with life, darting around, no longer containing the emptiness they saw just now. Astra hurriedly presses a hand to her chest, and sure enough, her heartbeat is accelerating, thumping towards a familiar routine.
"What?"
Astra grabs Taehyun's arm and says, "Inhaler in my sleeping bag."
The thumping of her heart wasn't just a crazy acceleration. It's also jumping with increasing force, so much so that Taehyun can feel it, each crushing beat of her heart.
Taehyun turns to Veronica and in a commanding tone, he says, "Bring her inhaler. It's in her sleeping bag."
"Right away." Veronica answers, running back to the lodgings with Wendy following behind her.
It's starting soon. Astra thinks and she pushes Taehyun, wanting to get on the ground.
"What are you doing?" Taehyun tightens his grip, confused.
"Let me down." Astra is calmer now. "Write—" is all she manages to say before a familiar pressure crushes her heart. When Taehyun refuses to let her down, she struggles, reaching one arm towards the ground, willing Taehyun to topple and let her free. When he doesn't, she looks pleadingly at Taehyun. She didn't say a word, but her eyes told him all that she wanted to say,
Let me down.
"Just let her down!" Huening Kai screams.
Taehyun gulps, his eyes wide in confusion and fear, battling against his instincts not to let go. But in the end, let go he did, bending over, he places her on the ground, as gently as he could. He wouldn't want the cause of her death to be because of him, after all.
Astra slumps on the sandy ground. She turns, quickly grabbing a stick, wrapping her fingers tightly around it. Her hands tremble as she digs the branch into the ground, leaving marks on the sand.
And as she draws, Taehyun and Huening Kai realises. So this is what she has to go through every single day. The two boys might not have thought much about it when Astra brought it up, but now, seeing their friend on the floor, desperately carving into the ground with a stick, their heart sinks.
"I'm sorry you have to go through this." Taehyun says and sits beside Astra. He places his fingers on Astra's wrist, feeling her pulse pulsing powerfully through her veins.
"But let me help you." Taehyun doesn't smile, but when he looks at Astra, his eyes are bright, big, and filled with his sincerity.
Before Astra can react, Huening Kai, looking silly with half a toothbrush hanging from his mouth and toothpaste smeared across his lips, pulls the stick out from Astra's hands and pushes it to Taehyun. Taehyun chuckles.
And for the first time since 8 days ago, Astra doesn't have to force herself to write despite the crushing pain. She's now perfectly content to close her eyes, curl into a ball, just leaving one arm outside for Taehyun to record her pulse.
Today. The pain isn't as bad as it was in the past.
Taehyun could tell immediately when the message from the stars came to an end. For when it ended, Astra's pulse became different. Her heart no longer thumps like it's hitting the drums, and the beat slows, softens, and gradually returns to normal.
It's finally over.
Taehyun drops the branch and looks at the sand.
.-- ./.... . .-.. .--.
"Wait for me here. I'll go get a pen and paper." Taehyun says to Huening Kai.
Huening Kai nods and squats beside Astra, who's still curled up in a ball. He looks at her attentively, his heart calm till he hears a wheezing sound.
Huening Kai is suddenly terrified, and warning bells ring in his head. He's still traumatised from yesterday's event. And as he freaks out, His toothbrush falls from his mouth. This must be why Astra had told them the location of her inhaler earlier.
This is the second phase. Asthma.
Huening Kai frantically looks around. Taehyun's figure is nowhere to be found. Huening Kai looks towards the girl's lodgings, but there's no sight of Veronica or Wendy either.
Astra smacks Huening Kai's arm, quickly drawing his attention, stopping his eyes from darting around like a headless fly.
"Need. Sit. Up." are the three words she says through gritted teeth, holding her hand out to Huening Kai.
Sit-ups?
But Huening Kai doesn't understand. His eyes widen, his lips opening and closing like a fish. If Taehyun's here instead—Huening Kai thinks. Then, Taehyun would have understood her immediately.
"What?"
Astra coughs, using her hand, she taps herself. "Me." She says. "Sit."
Huening Kai understands now. He quickly supports her back, helping her sit up against a tree. Completing that task, though, doesn't make him relieved in the slightest. Huening Kai stands up, speed-walking aimlessly in a circle as he considers whether he should run to the girl's lodgings and get her inhaler himself. And as the boy flusters, Astra's hand grabs his ankle. Huening Kai gulps, wondering if his comprehension skills would be up to par this time.
But Astra's just smiling at him. It's a small smile, but Huening Kai immediately drops to his knees, asking, "What's wrong?"
Astra's lips open and close, no sound comes out except her noisy breathing, but from the shape of her lips and her expression, Huening Kai can tell that Astra is telling him, "I'm okay."
Huening Kai feels a lump in his throat. He has cried a lot since young. His mother had once commented that his tears flowed really easily, as simple as how one turns the tap. He's like the tap, and when the tap turns, water gushes out, pouring.
Just like right now.
Astra's a little stunned when Huening Kai suddenly bursts into tears. She swears that she had only meant to comfort him. She stares stupidly at Huening Kai, watching as his tears flow and his lips tremble, yet it's like he's on mute. There's no sound. He turns his tear-stained face away, afraid of bothering Astra.
Even if he's not looking at her, he can hear her wheezing. Soon, he feels her head on his shoulders. He hesitantly turns to look at her, finding her eyes closed, and he's not sure exactly why, but suddenly his tears come out heavier now. It's like his tap is cracking, and from the cracks, everything is leaking out.
"Why are you crying?" Veronica's voice is like a bucket of cold water. One that magically freezes his tears in place. Veronica pushes the inhaler into Astra's hands.
"No." comes Huening Kai's soft denial as he watches Astra push the inhaler in her mouth with practiced motions.
With 3 puffs and a few minutes, Astra's back to normal. Huening Kai thinks the inhaler is truly a magical object, able to pull someone who looked a step away from death's door back to normal in just a few minutes.
Soon after, Taehyun is back too, armed with his pen and paper. "You are crying again?"
Huening Kai doesn't like the word "again" that Taehyun used. He roughly wipes his tears with his shirt. "I didn't."
"Yes. I believe you." Taehyun nods, a teasing smile on his face.
"Thank you, everyone. I am going to get ready now." Astra announces as she removes her inhaler from her lips. She stands up, brushing off the dust and sand on her clothes.
"Taehyun?" Astra cheerfully pats Taehyun's back, "I am going to leave the recording and translation to you."
As if afraid Taehyun would refuse, she quickly leaves. The trio left behind watches as Astra skips away, a light spring in her steps.
"She's okay now?" Veronica finds herself unable to adapt to the sudden change of mood. Just a few minutes ago, Astra's in life-threatening danger and everyone was panicking.
Now, the girl just rolling on the ground minutes ago is acting as if nothing big happened.
"She's good now." Taehyun says with a sigh, "This is like a daily routine for her."
Day 9:
.-- ./.... . .-.. .--.
Chapter 18: Day 9
Chapter Text
"5 minutes late." Orin taps on the glass covering his watch as his eyes follow a figure drawing closer and closer from a winding path further in the distance. Her steps seem hurried, her physical movements swing extensively, but the actual steps she takes are small, and there's not even a single second where both her feet are off the ground.
She's faking her run.
Orin folds his arms when Astra, with her dramatic 'run', arrives before him, panting too much for someone who never actually ran, "I—" Astra is about to speak.
"I heard you had a big shit?" Orin finishes for Astra. He's surprisingly unfiltered, quoting Taehyun's excuse word for word.
Astra's irises shake on hearing Odin, and soon a wave of chuckles ripples through the students.
"I—"
Her attention is soon caught by Taehyun abruptly clearing his throat while Huening Kai, somehow, had made his way behind Orin. He stands on his tip-toes behind the guide, his left eyelid opening and closing rapidly like a malfunctioning machine.
Astra could barely restrain the urge to roll her eyes. Fine, she gets it. All she can do now is swallow her shame and admit to the big shit that she didn't take. "... yes."
"Good that you are fast. Your friends told me you would take much longer. They must have cleared quickly huh?"
Astra's glare sharpens, trained on Taehyun and Huening Kai.
The two look away.
Astra's glad that they made an effort to come up with an excuse, but did it have to be, "Big shit"? Why couldn't it have been something more normal?
And ask she did. The moment Orin's attention is no longer on her, she grabs tightly on the two boys, her gaze bearing resentfully down upon them like she's a debt collector, demanding an explanation as if the two failed to fork out even a cent over a whole decade.
"Why?"
"How would we know you would manage so quickly? We thought you were going to take longer and needed a good reason." Huening Kai stands tall under her pressure, clearly finding his explanation reasonable.
"And that good reason is big shit? That's your idea?" Astra feels like she has to reconsider her perspective of Huening Kai. She thought that this guy was on her side, especially after all they went through together—Tsk. Unable to control her impulsive thoughts, her hands shoot up, wanting to smack Huening Kai.
It did not land. Taehyun blocks it. "Huening's right." He says. "Also, 'big shit' isn't something adults typically say to students. It's Orin." Taehyun is still holding Astra's arm as he nods, pushing the blame. "We didn't expect that he was that loose-lipped."
"Yeah!" Huening Kai pops his head from behind Taehyun. "Which guide talks about such a sensitive topic in front of a whole class of students—“
Taehyun sighs.
Huening Kai pauses abruptly, her eyes turning hesitantly back to Astra. He doesn't know why his friend is sighing, but he knows he messed up when he feels Astra's glare grow in intensity.
"Wh..hat?"
"So you do know it's a sensitive topic."
...
Taehyun releases Astra's arm, but instead of releasing a girl, he thought that the one he released was a wild beast instead, one that immediately pounces on Huening Kai.
"Heheh" Taehyun's small, innocent laugh mixes in with Huening Kai's sharp screams.
Either way, as far as Taehyun is concerned, he tried his best, and Huening Kai is beyond saving.
.
.
"You should strap the inhaler on yourself next time." Huening Kai grumbles, rubbing his cheeks.
"Right. Maybe I should do that." Astra nods her head, now in a good mood after successfully releasing steam.
"Everyone, silence!" Robert's booming voice interrupts them. The teacher stands on an elevated podium, speaking through a microphone as he looks at the hundreds of students still chattering away. The whole school is gathered here today, and even with his microphone, he can barely hear himself.
Robert walks to the edge of the podium, addressing the teachers, "Teachers. If you see any students talking, kindly pull them out and sit them aside. I would like to arrange a talk with them later." Robert doesn't speak louder to get their attention, he's confident they all heard him. Throughout, the beer-bellied teacher had never let his smile slip off his face, maintaining the image of an amiable teacher.
Yet, as if Robert had chanted a magical spell, the space quickly simmers into absolute silence.
Everyone had their eyes on him now.
Perfect.
"If you paid attention yesterday, you will know that today we are conducting activities with mixed-aged groups." Mr Robert pulls the microphone closer to him, "Today, we are going to split into a mixed group of seven to ten each." Robert taps at his phone, and the screen lights up, showing the date and time.
"I am going to going to give you 20 minutes to look for your own group members. If by the end of 20 minutes, you still haven't found your group, I will personally allocate you."
"Am I clear?" Robert shouts into the microphone, his booming voice echoes into the open field, scaring a flock of birds jumping around nearby to escape into the air.
In reply to Robert's passionate enthusiasm, soft replies of "yes" scatter in the crowd.
"Am I clear?!" Roberts yells again, louder, and a scratchy static sound cuts into the air. Robert raises his hand, showing three fingers. He folds one. Then one more. The moment his hands clenches into a fist, a loud, "YES!" booms from the crowd, particularly from the second, third, and fourth years, the perfect synchronisation and timing clearly pointing to a trained response.
"Good. Then your 20 minutes begin now." Robert puts the microphone down, leaving the podium. But seconds later, he turns back again, picking up his microphone. "Oh. One more thing. I want each group to have students of different years. That means a group must have at least one first-year, one second-year, one third-year, and one fourth-year student. If your group doesn't have that, it's okay. Just wait for me to personally allocate you all." Robert cracks his knuckles, drawing out his last sentence as he shifts his eyes slowly across the sea of students, as if daring them to make him allocate them personally.
"He's threatening us." Taehyun does not avoid Robert's gaze as he glances through the crowd. He places his hands on the shoulders of his two friends on his left and right, "It's alright. Don't have to worry, we'll get our group."
Astra and Huening Kai face Taehyun, silent but Taehyun understands. Just from their quirked brows and wide-rounded eyes staring up earnestly at him, Taehyun just knows they are asking where he got his confidence from.
Taehyun shrugs, replicating the action he saw of Robert cracking his knuckles. "Even if we don't manage to, we'll just have to sue him for student abuse."
"Heheh" Taehyun chuckles, eyes sparkling at his own words, clearly loving this thought.
Sue him? That's a bullshit idea.
Huening Kai laughs, yet his lips don't stretch out fully, sounding every bit forced from his throat.
"Sue? On what basis? Just based on him cracking his knuckles while he's speaking?" Unlike Huening Kai, Astra does not hesitate to speak against Taehyun, secretly relishing in this opportunity—to finally be the one shooting down Taehyun's idea instead of it being the other way around.
This hidden motive makes her words extra sharp.
"Eh? Taehyun. I thought you were smarter than this."
While Astra blabbers away, taking jabs at Taehyun, Huening Kai is looking out for changes in Taehyun's facial expressions. Taehyun's smile is growing into a sweeter and wider arc. She must not have noticed, Huening Kai thinks. Because if she did, she wouldn't still be prattling on, purposely trying to irritate him.
"Looks like your—" Before Astra can finish her sentence, before Taehyun reaches his tipping point, Huening Kai's better judgment acts, covering her mouth and shoving her back with his bigger frame.
Huening Kai lets out a small laugh, trying to drive Taehyun's attention back to their problem at hand, "We have three first years now."
"We need four more, minimum." Huening Kai
"Come with me." Taehyun holds Huening Kai's hand and swings another across Astra's neck, dragging her forward, as if they are children that he needs to keep tabs on.
"Hey!" Astra pulls at Taehyun's winding around her neck, trying to loosen them. "Too tight."
Taehyun's reply comes in soft laughter, her complaints falling on deaf ears.
The two are pulled in a direction Taehyun seemed to have thought through, heading straight into an area densely packed with students. Standing at the core of them all is Yeonjun. He's clearly earned his rank on the popularity list, his popularity among the peers clear to see. Everyone wanted to group with him. Currently, Yeonjun has identified four separate groups presenting themselves to him on a platter, using all kinds of flowery language to appeal their own group's value while occasionally taking shots at other groups to sabotage them.
It's like a joke, except they are all serious.
Yeonjun has always loved attention, acknowledgement, and flattery from others. But now, even he thinks this is all too much. Yeonjun doesn't think he has that much to offer. He's not a billionaire deciding which project to invest in, and he certainly doesn't have the gold they are looking for.
Yeonjun lowers his head. However much he portrays himself to be, deep down, he doesn't think he can meet their expectations.
Initially, he had planned to look for his crazy juniors the moment he heard that they were going to be in a mixed-age group. His plan though, is cut short when he finds himself trapped in a tight circle by his peers, one that he didn't think he could slip away from. Yeonjun lets out a soft sigh, his hands falling helplessly to his sides.
"Choi Yeonjun!" A scream.
As a respected senior in his fourth year, with the exception of teachers, Yeonjun hasn't heard anyone call him with his surname for a long time. Yeonjun's eyes narrow as he looks through the crowd, and almost instantaneously, his eyes find the culprit.
Big, dark eyes staring up at him. Taehyun.
Standing beside Taehyun, like a complimentary 1 + 1 + 1 package, is Huening Kai and Astra, held by Taehyun in each of his hands.
There they were, his crazy juniors. A soft laugh escapes Yeonjun's lips, and his eyes light up. They were looking for me!
"Sorry." Yeonjun flashes the students around him a cheeky grin, suddenly finding it easy to push past them and slip away. "I already have a group."
Yeonjun jogs, his steps light enough to look like he's bouncing towards them, an occasional happy laughter slipping out as he approaches them. He pushes his hair back, "Did you see that? I rejected invitations from four groups just for you guys."
"Oh." Taehyun's reaction is cold. "We were just asking you in the passing."
Yeonjun's smug expression falls off, and he wraps an arm around Taehyun. "Come on. You know you want me."
Taehyun shakes off Yeonjun's arm. "No."
"Or—" Yeonjun turns to Huening Kai, sending a wink his way. "Huening Kai! "
Huening Kai only laughs.
Devastated, the final edge of Yeonjun's smile slips. Yeonjun loops to Astra and hangs himself off her arm, pouting, "Whatever. You guys have to take responsibility. Anyways, I'm in this group now."
Pulling Yeonjun off her, Astra stands on her tip-toes, wanting to reach his eye-level. She smiles, "Thank you for choosing us."
Just these five simple words, but it's enough to pull Yeonjun's lips apart. He grins with his light, toothy smile, so easily appeased. Yeonjun straightens his back as he turns away, perhaps embarrassed, he uses his arm to cover the wide arc involuntarily pulling across his lips.
While he's basking in this warmth, this unexpected appreciation from his junior, said junior is flashing Huening Kai an insidious smile. She mouths to him, imparting to him what she thinks is a life lesson, "This is how you trick people to your side."
Huening Kai laughs. He whispers to Taehyun, "Yeonjun is dumb."
Taehyun is silent for a moment, staring at Huening Kai as he weighs his options, seriously considering if he should speak or keep to himself. Ultimately, he decides to spare Huening Kai from unnecessary unhappiness, so he simply offers a dry laugh.
That's also how you got tricked, idiot.
.
.
Beomgyu's smile is slipping off, twitching. He stands with his hands by his side, eyes half-lidded as he watches two girls argue before him.
"Can't you join their group? All your classmates are there!" Girl one has her hands on her hips as she jabs towards another group of four standing at the side.
"I came here first." Girl two, with her hair in a bun, replies.
For a whole five minutes, it's been like this. Back and forth, back and forth with no conclusion in sight. The core of their argument is simple. Their group had one too many members. The maximum is ten, therefore, they had to kick one out.
It's supposed to be a frustrating problem. A sensitive one filled with social complexities.
But it wasn't.
"I said—" Beomgyu tries again. "I said I can leave."
The two girls turn to him, their explosive anger instantly replaced by bright smiles, "No. It's okay! You must be in the group. We will settle this by ourselves. You don't have to worry."
...
It wasn't supposed to be a problem.
It wasn't because Beomgyu had volunteered. He volunteered to leave, and his leaving would easily resolve this funny issue they had been screaming at each other about.
Yet, again and again, his words are shut down. Beomgyu is gradually losing his temper as the voices of the girls grow increasingly aggressive, the two throwing around reasons and logic that don't really make sense to him.
The worst, Beomgyu thinks, are the other eight members. They are just standing around, watching as the arguments get from bad to worse, offering neither words nor actions.
Finally, Beomgyu decides he has had enough.
"Stop stop." Beomgyu raises both hands and cuts into the middle, now standing between the two girls.
"I'll go." Beomgyu says in a tone that fills with finality, his gaze shifts lazily among the people standing around him then back to the two girls. "Don't make this any more complicated than it really is." It's not like he wanted to be in the group, they had pulled him in and are now causing such a fuss because they had too many members.
What idiocy.
Girl two, whose bun has now been ruffled into a mess, grabs Beomgyu's arm, declaring with a arm on her hip, "Right! I'll go with you. I don't want to be here anyways."
Beomgyu silently looks at her. His jaw tightens, his lips part, his anger threatening to tip over. Though before it could, Beomgyu forces himself to turn away, shaking off her arm, he leaves without looking back.
She follows.
Beomgyu heads to the toilet, stopping right outside. "Why? Are you coming in with me too?"
Girl two brushes her hair backwards, blinking her eyes prettily, "You know I can't. I'll wait for you outside."
.
.
"Are we looking for Soobin and Beomgyu?" Huening Kai squints through the crowd, looking for more people to fill up their numbers. There's no way he wants to be in a group allocated by Robert.
"Beomgyu? He's in a group already. He's quite popular among the girls." Yeonjun had seen Beomgyu being pulled around by a few girls.
"Then we get Soobin." Taehyun waves his hand.
Unfortunately, Soobin is nowhere to be found. He's quite tall, so Taehyun thought he should be easy to spot, yet after going around the whole field, the four of them had returned empty-handed.
"Let's split up and search." Taehyun suggests. "There's not much time left."
Following Taehyun's words, the four split off quickly, going into different directions. From afar, Astra can hear Yeonjun and Huening Kai yelling Soobin's name.
This isn't working. Astra thinks. Going around yelling his name is not enough.
Astra weaves through the crowd, making a beeline towards the elevated podium Robert is lazily leaning on as he watches the students bustling below.
Astra stops before Robert, smiling sheepishly at the older man.
"Diarrhea girl?"
Astra gapes, her mouth hanging in disbelief. Is diarrhea the impression she left on him? The excuse that she made up?
It's like shit revolves around her life now.
She feels wronged.
"Mr Robert" Astra corrects, trying to maintain her composure despite her shaking lips, "I'm Astra."
"Sorry. My mistake. So why have you come looking for me?" Robert stops leaning on the podium and takes a step towards her.
"Can I borrow your microphone?"
Robert clears his throat, readily handing the microphone over, likely in an attempt to compensate her due to his guilt for calling her inappropriately. "Here."
With encouragement from Robert, Astra steps up the podium, the borrowed microphone in hand.
.
.
The person Astra is going through all this trouble for, Soobin, is seated under the shade of a big tree. He's blissfully nibbling into the bread he holds in his hands, bread crumbs lining the corners of his mouth as he chomps away.
This bread is given to him by one of the school staff after discovering his love for baked goods. Soobin was instructed to consume it without anyone knowing— therefore here he was.
With a contented smile, he continues to enjoy the treat.
"Choi Soobin."
When he first hears his name being called. It's a booming, echoing call, exactly like those transmitted with a microphone. Soobin freezes, his eyes immediately snapping to the podium.
Maybe it's because he's sitting down, but he couldn't see the person speaking on the podium.
"Sorry everyone. I am looking for a person. Choi Soobin. Choi Soobin." The voice continues to speak, repeating his name twice.
Soobin's fingers weaken, and his beloved bread falls to the grass, rolling twice before coming to a stop. Soobin gasps, and in a swift motion, with the 3-second rule in mind, he picks it back up, blowing on it before pushing the entirety of the round treat into his mouth, chewing rapidly.
Soobin chews with heavy force that he would usually not inflict on his food, he would have preferred to savour one nibble at a time. With every chomp, his anger seems to grow. Though he couldn't see, that voice sounded awfully like Astra.
Soobin pulls himself to a stand, peeking out from behind the tree. With his height, he's able to gain a clear view of the girl behind the podium.
Indeed. It's Astra.
"I am looking for Choi Soobin. Choi Soobin, where are you? Please raise your hand if you are Choi Soobin." And she's still calling for him.
Soobin, face now beet red, wills himself to chew quicker. He's itching to run out and strangle Astra, planning on sealing her lips for good.
From behind the tree, Soobin watches Astra's every move with pounding anxiety. He sees her lean towards Robert, whispering something into his ear.
"Mr Robert", Astra says. "I'm thinking that Soobin is either lost or has yet to wake up."
"Choi Soobin, you say?" Robert nods, "What year is he in?"
"Third year."
Robert nods and takes the microphone back from Astra. "As you all might have heard, this first-year student here is looking for a missing child, a third-year student, Choi Soobin. Classmates of Choi Soobin, please alert me if you know where he is."
Laughter erupts from the crowd. Soobin trembles, glaring at the two on the podium, no longer wanting to come out.
"Choi Soobin. Anyone—" Mr Robert continues.
Soobin takes a sharp inhale and steps out. At least he has to stop further damage, this much he understands. He raises his hand.
With his raised hand, Soobin immediately finds himself in the centre of attention, like Moses parting the Red Sea, Soobin's mere presence parts the sea of students.
Yeonjun is part of that crowd. He's one of those kneeling on the floor, laughing so hard that he could no longer stand straight. His laughter, akin to swords, stab painfully into Soobin.
Something snaps.
Soobin breaks into a run. He runs up the podium and grabs Astra, dragging her off the podium. Astra has no room to resist, he's much taller than her, and when he lifted her, her feet were no longer touching the floor.
Soobin huffs, his steps heavy with an almost maniacal smile crossing his face. Astra has reasons to believe her life is at stake. She frantically searches the crowd. In moments like this, there's only one person she’d be looking for. Soon, she locks eyes with Taehyun.
Waving her hand, Astra lifts her palm with only her thumb tucked in, then proceeds to fold her fingers repeatedly— the SOS hand signal.
Taehyun laughs silently, following behind them.
Pushed back by the crowd, Taehyun arrives a few steps late. In a corner, Soobin is holding Astra in a chokehold, and she's tapping on his arm, "Surrender. Hey hey, I surrender!"
"Surrender?" Soobin asks bitterly, tightening his grip. That wouldn't be fair, because his social life is already dead. "There is no surrendering in my book. Today, I will bury you here."
"That's illegal." Astra continues to struggle.
"There is no illegal in my book." Soobin counters.
"What book? Your book is a shit book, it doesn't have anything!"
Soobin pulls backwards, building further pressure on Astra. "You are right." Soobin's eyes glint with an unhinged light, "My book is empty now, it's clean. I have nothing now, only you exist in my book."
Soobin places his hands on her neck, his grin stretches wider, discarding the remaining traces of innocence and purity that soften his features, saying things that make him look like a demon—In Astra's eyes, at least.
"You are the only stain left. I should take you out."
Facing Soobin's increasing unhinged words, Astra spots Taehyun. In her agitation, her words spill from her mouth without prior processing. "Ah! My friend! What are you doing standing there like a dumbass?"
Taehyun smiles at Astra. Dumbass?
"I am here to watch a show. But don't worry, I'll save you right before he takes you out." Taehyun's eyes crinkle in amusement.
Astra coughs, pointing a finger at Taehyun, "What use—"
And she's interrupted.
"Hello? Mic-test, Mic-test one two three." It's a familiar cheeky voice. "Sorry guys, I just came out of the toilet and realised there's only 2 minutes left. I'm in a bit of a rush. Please just continue with whatever you are doing and ignore me."
That's Beomgyu. 100 percent.
Soobin and Astra look at one another, and colour drains from their face.
The speaker clears his throat, "Auntie!" Beomgyu shouts into the microphone, causing a static buzz.
"Ah. Sorry." Beomgyu lowers his voice before he continues, "Auntie! I want to join your group. Where art thou?" Beomgyu is relentless, speaking without pause.
"Astra! Class 1A! Astraaaaaaaa—" Beomgyu now calls in a sing-song voice, starting an Opera session as he stretches her name to hit increasingly higher notes. It's like a repeat of history. Except this time it's no longer about Soobin.
"Auntie!" Beomgyu screams again. "Astra, class 1C, unkempt black long hair in a ponytail, wears oversized uniforms, big glasses."
And now he's even reporting her features like he's setting up a wanted poster.
Astra’s head flops down limply on Soobin's arm. She's no longer struggling in Soobin's grip. She thinks she understands Soobin a little now. Her book is now empty too—just like Soobin's, all clean, all except a singular stain.
Soobin lets go of Astra, his flurry of emotions oddly released. He stands beside her, a breezy smile on his lips. It's like there's no longer a need to take her out, because now, they are of the same species.
As Soobin's junior, Astra is quick to enforce damage control, following in his footsteps— first raising her hand, second, parting the black sea. And lastly, grab the culprit off the podium. A quick and efficient three-step procedure.
Again, Yeonjun is in the crowd. This time, Huening Kai is beside him. The two boys are supporting each other as they laugh, tears in their eyes.
Dragging Beomgyu off the stage shouldn't have been easy for Astra. The boy's much stronger than she is, but it's because he knows he's in the wrong that he doesn’t resist, compliantly letting himself be dragged, he even pushes himself along, aiding in Astra’s efforts to move his bigger frame. Still, that didn't stop him from screaming, his mouth working furiously in attempts to reduce his sentence.
"Auntie—" Beomgyu slaps his lips immediately after calling her, realising his slip-up, "No. Astra, listen. I was desperate. I was out there, alone, scared, and without a group. Nobody wanted me, so I could only look for you."
Astra smiles menacingly, "I heard you were extremely popular among the girls."
Beomgyu quickly changes his narrative, lowering his head, he peeks at her through his long eyelashes, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Beomgyu speaks softly, painting the perfect image of a shy school boy in love, "But I don't want any other girls. I only want you."
…
Unfortunately, Astra's not one to fall for beauty traps. For the past few days, she’s been facing Taehyun and Huening Kai on a daily basis and has gained a certain immunity to handsome faces.
Astra drags Beomgyu and pushes him towards the floor. It's a push from Astra, someone who never exercised, and typically, this much force wouldn't even make Beomgyu bat an eye.
But that's that, and tactics are tactics. So Beomgyu, faithfully enacting the scenes in idol dramas, acts as if he's been pounced on by a lion, spinning and dramatically falling on the ground. Seeing Beomgyu groaning and squirming on the ground acting as if she had broken his ribs, Astra frowns.
"Taehyun! Huening Kai! Help take him out! I'll buy you guys a meal!"
This time, Taehyun's very happy to help.
"Take me out?" Beomgyu tilts his head with a confused expression, "You want to date me?"
"I know I'm very good-looking but you really have—"
A force hits Beomgyu's head from the back. Astra had smacked him, almost a replication of movements from how her own mother does. Astra learns from the best, after all.
Soobin watches, sliding down to a sit with support from the tree behind him. He crosses his legs, letting out a deep sigh as if he’s witnessing the passing of decades.
This hour, in a comical way for those not involved, had left all three, Beomgyu, Astra, and Soobin, as victims.
Taehyun settles himself beside Soobin,"I see it now."
Soobin turns to Taehyun, "See what?"
"How alike the two of them are." Taehyun leans his head back against the trunk, his eyes are up at the sky, yet sounds from the battlefield are still transmitted live into his ears.
"But you are an auntie! You said it yourself! 32 years old right?" Beomgyu yells.
Astra had nothing to say about the hole she dug for herself.
"Even so which auntie likes being called auntie?"
"You."
Astra feels it now. So this is what her mother felt when she angered her. She's reflecting now, raising her up till now, her parents had it real tough.
"I understand too." Huening Kai smiles. "What it means to live in two extremes."
"They are alike? Who said that?" Soobin asks.
"Ophelia." Huening Kai replies.
Astra and Beomgyu are still arguing, "And you copied me!"
"Hah? What? When did I?" Beomgyu yells back, matching Astra in her loudness.
"I borrowed the microphone from Robert to look for Soobin first." Astra says.
Beomgyu freezes, his eyes wide. "You did too? You called for Soobin in front of the whole school?"
"Yes." Astra looks at Beomgyu skeptically.
"The whole school?" Beomgyu asks again.
"Yes."
"Wow." Beomgyu gives Astra a thumbs up.
"I was busy escaping from the toilet window! I didn't hear it." Wanting to avoid girl two, Beomgyu spent quite a while in the toilet, experimenting with different ways to get out through the window. He truly missed Astra's "Searching for Soobin" operation.
"Also!" Beomgyu says, "I didn't borrow the microphone." Beomgyu grins, naming a difference, "I stole it."
...
.
.
The twenty minutes soon came to an end. The results are disappointing. More than half the students gathered failed to form a group according to his requirements.
Robert sighs. "Groups with less than 8 members, either split and join other groups or convince others to split and join you. You have 5 minutes before I allocate."
The five TXT members are popular indeed. They were invited left and right, yet the five of them all showed equal resistance in saying no. But is there a point? Astra thinks their group would eventually meet their inevitable fate of splitting up.
"Astra, join us." Dominic and Veronica's invitation comes as a surprise.
Astra grins, happy to receive her first invitation. She wants to say yes.
They were going to split anyways. Astra turns back and meet the glare of five boys, as if daring her to say yes.
They are expecting her to have the same iron will in rejecting others? But she didn't have their popularity! She has to grab whichever hand that reaches out to her. But—
Fine.
Eventually, Astra lowers her head and says to Veronica, "I'm sorry, but if we don't manage to find more students, can I still join you?"
"Wow." Soobin comments, "What strong loyalty you have."
"So you were planning to abandon us." Taehyun's voice sends chills down her spine.
Astra's eyes dart around. "Not abandon."
"Grab her." Taehyun says as he runs forward and grabs onto her arm. Huening Kai and Soobin join Taehyun, with Huening Kai on the other arm, and Soobin's hand on her neck.
...
They are treating her like a prisoner.
"Hey." Beomgyu calls out to Veronica, swaggering towards them with his hands in his pockets.
"Poaching our people? No way." The senior prefect held out three of his fingers to form a number three. "How about you join us instead? We can take up to 3."
Astra wriggles her arms, hitting Taehyun, "Okay I get it. Sorry. I'm really sorry. I won't do it again. Let me talk to them." Astra turns towards Veronica, wanting to participate in the negotiation.
Huening Kai grabs Astra's wriggling hand and forces it back down. "No." Huening Kai pulls everyone towards the back, "Let's bring her over there."
For the remaining time, Astra's forced to stand facing a tree, while negotiations is led by Beomgyu and Yeonjun.
When negotiations ended, the group of 6 turns to 9. They now met the requirements.
Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Taehyun, Astra, Veronica, Huening Kai, Dominic, and Felicia.
These 9 members now form Group 23.
Chapter 19: Day 9
Chapter Text
The first activity before the sun had the chance to rise over the horizon is supposedly, a briefing for their next kayaking activity. It's still dark out, the air thick with humidity, and the soft buzz from the flapping wings of countless mosquitoes flying rampantly. Who knew what Robert's thinking when he decided that the best place to hold his briefing was in this wide, open field, exposing all of them, poor students and staff alike, as breakfast for the thirsty mosquitoes.
Astra has already been bitten. She's busy scratching the bright red bump on her leg, something the mosquito must have left behind to perhaps mark that it has been here. But that wasn't all. On her legs, over the mosquito traces, long red lines run across her skin. Ones that Astra's fingers left behind.
"Don't scratch." Beomgyu's looking at her as he speaks. "It will only get worse."
"Easy for you to say." Astra replies, her fingers still working away to relieve the intense itch.
Beomgyu grabs Astra's wrist, stopping her. "I said don't." His finger points towards the gashes on her leg, where marks of broken skin can be seen. "It's going to bleed."
"You don't understand." Astra begins, her fingers twitching in Beomgyu's tight hold. "This itch is killing me."
"Hah?' Beomgyu scoffs. "I don't?" He reaches towards the hem of his long pants, fingers curling into the fabric. With a pull, his pants are pulled up to his knees.
Astra gapes at the sight. With a glance, countless red bumps, some looking more inflamed than her own, scatter across his pale skin. It's like he contracted chicken pox overnight.
"What happened to you?" Astra asks. Beomgyu had released her hand, but perhaps too shocked by what she saw, momentarily, she forgot that her bite, insignificant in the face of Beomgyu's own, existed.
Beomgyu pulls his pants back down, his voice low as he curtly recounts yesterday night that led to his current plight. "It's hot. I wore short pants and refused to use the blanket."
"They had a feast." Beomgyu concludes, pouting his lips, brushing his hands along the rustling cloth of his pants, as if he's soothing his poor legs.
They have truly suffered.
He then pushes his legs to Astra, swinging them across hers, his voice deep and vaguely sorrowful. "And you say I don't understand?"
It's a funny situation. But Astra couldn't bring herself to laugh, not when she can feel the weight of Beomgyu's leg on her own, not when the sight of the red polka dots lining his skin underneath the fabric of his pants is still fresh in her mind. And especially not when Beomgyu's saying it as if he's lost two legs instead of simply being bitten by mosquitoes.
After a moment’s pause, Astra grabs Beomgyu's leg, gingerly lifting it back to the boy, even folding it back to the position it originally was in.
"I won't scratch anymore." Astra says.
Throughout the briefing, Astra held it in, motivated by Beomgyu's sheer will and painful battle against his itch, evidenced by his frowning expression and occasionally twitching legs. He, throughout it all, had not once laid his fingers on his legs.
He hasn't. And so she won't too.
But the combination of this intensifying itch and the words Robert is spewing at the front is making Astra hate the day ahead.
Perhaps she should scratch her bite till it bled and use it as an excuse to skip kayaking.
"You all better go to the toilet and clear everything inside before we start." Robert is sitting on a wooden crate that's creaking under his weight, his smile growing wider as he continues, "You all will be out in the waters for roughly 2 to 3 hours. There will be no toilet stops."
There are a few gasps among the students, and the question everyone collectively had is eventually voiced, "Then what if we urgently need the toilet?"
"Where else?" Robert shrugs with a casual fling of his arms as if it's none of his business. "There won't be toilet stops, but isn't there a natural toilet right underneath?"
Robert crosses his legs, giving them an obvious solution that everyone is purposefully avoiding, "Just plop right in the water, complete your business, and come back up on the kayak."
"Just—" Robert continues, voice now a pitch higher after seeing the blank expressions of his students below. "If you really can't help it and need to do number two, try to swim further away from your friends when you do it. You don't want to give them a surprise if it's a floatie."
Robert laughs at his own words, though he stops after a few seconds, deterred by the fact that no other student is laughing with him—All of them wearing equally dreading expressions.
"What's a floatie?" Yeonjun asks.
Astra, having heard this exact question being asked in the past, is well-versed. "It's floating poop."
Yeonjun cringes, and so do all the members in their group.
"I'll die before I shit in the water." Beomgyu says.
"So here is the plan." Robert claps his hands to get the students' attention. "Now, you all will go and learn two things from your allocated instructors. First is how to get back on the kayak from the waters, and second, how to row and use the paddle."
"After that, we will be taking a 15 minute toilet break before we begin. Now just stay where you are, your instructors will look for you."
"Group 23?" A tall man wearing black shirt and tights walks up to them.
Soobin, seated at the very front, raises his hands and nods.
"Okay. Group 23. Please stand up and follow me."
The sun is peeking slightly over the horizon now, right above where the river stretches to an end. The instructor stands right at the perfect point where the sun is, creating around himself a curve of blinding glow. Beautiful, but one certainly not meant for the weak human eyes. "Gather in front of me."
Everyone had to squint their eyes to look at the instructor. They suspect he's doing this on purpose.
"I am Kenneth." The glowing figure, whose facial features are completely blacked out by the intense orange light behind him raises his arms. "I'll be your group's instructor for today."
"How many are there in this group?"
"Ten." Taehyun answers.
Instead of the original 9, their group had an additional member shoved in by Robert. It's exactly girl two, who had spent fruitless minutes waiting outside the toilet, unaware that she's been abandoned by Beomgyu—Elle.
"Perfect." Kenneth points to the Kayak piling up on the sand beside him. "Each kayak will sit 2 people. Now I want you all to split into pairs."
Yeonjun immediately reaches out to Taehyun, singling out the strongest in the group, "Team?"
Kenneth stops Yeonjun, "And I specifically want one boy and one girl in each pair." He says. "Boys at the back and girls at the front of a kayak."
"But we have 6 boys and 4 girls." Yeonjun still see hopes in his ideal combination.
"Right. 2 boys will be an exception." Kenneth points at Yeonjun and Soobin, "You two will be the exceptions. The rest, find your partner and grab your kayak."
Huening Kai and Astra immediately lock eyes. The two nod at one another, sealing their agreement to be partners. On the other end, Beomgyu is facing a crisis.
No way.
From the side of his eyes, Beomgyu can see Elle approaching him, pushing her hair behind her ears. The boy groans, his legs shift and the next second, he's creating distance between himself and Elle, running towards Astra. "Auntie. You are coming with me."
"No I—" Astra points towards Huening Kai.
Astra's rejection is ignored, and she's dragged away by Beomgyu.
Huening Kai stands in a daze, and when he recovers, Beomgyu is already yelling, pulling Astra with one hand and a kayak in another, "Reporting! We are paired!"
Realisation sinks in.
Huening Kai screams, "Ahhhhh Choi Beomgyu!"
"How about you come with me?"
Huening Kai looks up, and Veronica is smiling up at him. Here's another roadblock to his and Astra's friendship, Huening Kai mentally notes. As the saying goes, ‘Know thy enemy and know thyself—‘
Huening Kai and Veronica become partners.
Elle turns her gaze to Taehyun and opens her mouth, but just as she did so, Taehyun opens his mouth first, and as the saying, ‘The early bird catches the worm’ goes, Taehyun rushes to speak first,
"Sorry. I am partnering with Felicia."
"Me?" Felicia could not contain the joy swirling in her eyes.
Taehyun smiles, nodding. "Would you?"
Taehyun and Felicia form the fourth pair. And by default, Dominic and Elle make up the fifth pair.
Elle's not happy.
It didn't take long for Group 23 to complete their basic kayaking training, and as soon as they did, all scrambled to the toilet. Each and every one of them united in their resolve not to solve anything in the waters for the next few hours.
When Astra comes out of the toilet, she sees Yeonjun and Soobin in the water. Even from a distance, she can hear Yeonjun screaming, "Don't splash water on me! Ahh! What the hell?"
Soobin ignores Yeonjun, he's sitting in the back. This is the perfect opportunity to take his revenge back from those days he was held hostage under Yeonjun. He wouldn't miss it.
"Hey! You are getting water inside the Kayak! Stop!" Yeonjun shouts amidst the water splashing down his hair and trickling down his clothes.
Soobin remains unfazed, his face in total concentration as he exerts his energy on his goal at hand, going more and more overboard, when soon enough, Yeonjun's rationality snaps.
So what if the kayak flips? I'll just have to drag him down with me.
Turning his paddle, he scoops up water and hurls it back towards Soobin. The water splashes in heavily, coming with rushing force, slamming straight on his face.
"Wait wait!" Soobin covers his face with his arms. "I'm sorry! I won't do it again."
In the face of Soobin's cries, Yeonjun is unfazed too, he's done with verbal negotiation. Now, he has decided to let physical communication do the talking.
"Wait wait! The water is coming onto the kayak. We will sink!" Soobin tries to grab Yeonjun's paddle.
Yeonjun lets out a low chuckle. "So it's only now that you realise?" He continues hurling water towards Soobin, venting all his bottled-up frustration from earlier.
"But it's too late now."
At the shore, Astra and Taehyun are the only two witnesses. The two shake their heads, eyes following as they watch the kayak go under.
What fools.
"Auntie! What are you doing? Aren't you coming up?"
At this point, Astra is used to Beomgyu's form of address. She climbs in from the front of the kayak, and it sways wildly the moment she steps down. Beomgyu clicks his tongue, offering a hand to stabilise her. "You're heavy."
For the sake of not ending up like Yeonjun and Soobin—now flailing around in attempts to rescue their capsized vessel— Astra pretends not to hear Beomgyu.
"Alright. Off we go!" Beomgyu grabs his paddle and pushes it hard against the edge of the riverbank. Their kayak lurches, jerking forward, catching Astra off guard. Her eyes widen, and in a decisive action to keep her balance, she lets go of her paddle to hold onto the side of the kayak.
The paddle, abandoned by Astra, sinks.
Just before it completely goes under, Beomgyu reaches out, fingers wrapping around the stick. His arm sticks out mid-air, holding Astra's paddle. Yet, he stops there, not pulling the paddle back inside.
He slowly turns to Astra, pressing his lips down in disapproval.
“My paddle—“
Beomgyu cuts her off with a wave of his arm.
...
"On this kayak." Beomgyu begins. "This paddle is our only means of transport."
"Transport? No it's not—"
Beomgyu narrows his eyes, two fingers loosening from Astra's paddle, letting its thin, bluish body dip slightly into the water.
Astra's lips slam shut against one another.
"This is our only lifeline in this vast sea!" Beomgyu exclaims, his voice rising with dramatic intonations as he swings his hands, his hostage of the paddle swinging precariously along with him.
Astra's eyes shift anxiously between Beomgyu and her paddle as she corrects him, "It's a river."
"Oh?" Beomgyu lifts his brows, leaning into the water, he dunks the paddle inside. Now, only the very tip of the paddle is visible over the surface.
Seeing her paddle in crisis, Astra's hands shoot up, rising in surrender as she echoes Beomgyu’s words, "It's a vast, wide, and majestic blue sea."
"Yes." Beomgyu nods his head, speaking in a commanding tone. "Even if you drop everything else, you must never let go of your paddle. Do you hear me?"
...
Astra does not want to answer.
In her silence, her paddle suffered. Now, even the tip of her paddle is no longer visible.
"Yes! I hear you!" Astra yells. She lowers her head, humbly pushing up two hands towards Beomgyu. "Your majesty, now can I please have my lifeline back?"
"Yes, for sure." Beomgyu lifts the dripping paddle out of the water, placing it in Astra's palms. "Now, give it the proper respect and handling it deserves."
Respect? Astra scoffs internally. If it even had any, it must have been long discarded after being repeatedly dunked in and out of the river like a teabag in Beomgyu's hands.
Right as Astra places her paddle securely across the kayak, Robert's voice— which seemed muffled earlier due to her lack of focus and the life and death struggle of her paddle—finally reaches her ears,
"—There will be instructors around the area to guide you, but the main rule of thumb is to ensure that you sail with the riverbank in sight. Do not sail further if there is no instructor nearby and you do not see the bank."
.
.
By now, the sun is high up in the sky. Astra and Beomgyu had a cloth wrapped around their heads, protecting their face and scalps from the sun.
The rest of their bodies though, are lost causes, exposed to the sun's full beam. 40 minutes in and the hot sun had siphoned off whatever enthusiasm Beomgyu initially had.
The two are now like turtles, curling themselves in as much as possible to avoid the sun as they row.
Astra's rowing mindlessly, already in sync with Beomgyu without the need for the "one, two, one, two" chant they had in the beginning. It remains uneventful like this, until water suddenly splashes up into her eyes. Astra gasps, instinctively shrinking backwards.
"You two are so slow now." Huening Kai laughs as he and Veronica's kayak passes theirs. Astra watches blankly as Huening Kai's laughter fades into the distance, along with the backs of her two friends.
Right, at first, fueled by intense enthusiasm originating from Beomgyu. He rowed aggressively, mocking all behind him. Those that their kayak passed were also given an extra healthy dose of Beomgyu-signatured mockery.
At that time, Astra, infected by Beomgyu's energy, made the effort to paddle, grinning along with Beomgyu when he mocked others.
Yet now, the two have fallen into bad straits, drifting right at the very back, holding the last line for their school.
"Huening Kai splashed water at us." Astra reports as she turns back, meeting Beomgyu's half-opened eyes, his head bobbing up and down, clearly in a half-asleep state.
Astra did not hesitate when she dipped her hand in water. In a swift motion, her hand, soaked in water, lifts up to wipe Beomgyu's face.
The boy's skin is smoother than she expected and Astra's hand easily glides across. It's a clean wipe that completely wakes Beomgyu. The boy leans back, eyes squeezed shut as he rubs the water she left on his face with his sleeves, "What are you doing?"
Astra chuckles, mirth in her eyes. "Waking you up."
She waves her hand towards all the kayaks in front of them, "Look. We are the last now. We have to buck up."
Beomgyu turns back, "What are you talking about, there are a lot of people behind—"
There's no one. They were dead last. Beomgyu grits his teeth.
A second of silence later, he turns his head to the sky and lets out an ear-piercing scream.
"Choi Beomgyu. Why are you screaming again?" That's Robert's voice. Astra suspects that the middle-aged man is sitting in one of the kayaks, though since the start of their kayaking journey, she has yet to catch a glimpse of him.
"Okay. I'm up. Let's go." Beomgyu taps on Astra's back, acting as if his name hasn't just been called.
Astra grips her paddles, smiling. "Let's go."
Effortlessly, the two paddles move in complete synchronisation, their kayak zooming ahead in a sudden burst of speed. It's only a matter of seconds before Astra sees Huening Kai. She turns back to Beomgyu, saying, "Wait. Slow down a little."
And as they slow down, Astra cups her two hands and pushes them into the water.
"Huening Kai!" Astra yells. The boy answers her call, turning back to look at her in confusion. But as he did, Astra delivers water, rushing straight to Huening Kai's face.
It must have been a big scoop, because there's a loud smacking sound. The four people on the two kayaks pause at the same time, eyes all on Huening Kai's bewildered expression.
Astra's the first to recover. She quickly taps Beomgyu's leg behind her, urging, "Let's go, hurry up hurry up."
Astra grabs her paddles and quickly rows while Beomgyu's laughter follows behind, growing louder when Huening Kai's screams are heard behind them.
"YAAAAAAAAA!"
"Group 23. Is that you guys again?" Robert's voice cackles again. He had Group 23 on his blacklist, their members had too healthy throats and their screams rang too loudly. It's always them. Either they were screaming, or the group causing the screams.
"Look!" Beomgyu points ahead.
In the calm river, there's an odd arch-shaped rock. And surrounding the rock is a layer of mist, it stands like a gate, perhaps a gate to another world, drawing Beomgyu's curiosity.
"Let's go take a look."
Astra's eyes widened. "No way we are going there. That rock is too far away. If we go there, we will be straying off the path!"
"Plus—" Astra adds, "That rock looks suspicious as hell."
"Astra. Please, Yolo. You only live once, let's just go take a look." Beomgyu's already paddling in that direction.
Yolo. Right. Especially in this wonky timeline she's in, what is there to lose?
Astra is convinced. She takes one last look at the riverbank before she follows Beomgyu, her paddle pushing into the calm waters, pulling them closer and closer.
The sun's still shining brightly, the heat undeniable, yet as they get closer to the arch-shaped rock, it feels like the mist has come alive, thickening and wrapping around them like shields, one where the sun could not penetrate, dimming their connection to the outside. It proliferates, bringing about an unnatural coolness.
It's cold, like they were in an air-conditioned room. For their sweating selves, it should have offered a much needed relief from the unforgiving heat outside.
But it feels wrong. Despite being the one who suggested it, Beomgyu's the one who stops paddling first, his paddle dragging against the waters, pulling a line of ripples.
Alarms are blaring inside his head as their kayak, naturally pulled by the currents, drifts closer and closer towards the arch. There, the boy sees, right in the middle of the arch-shaped rock, the mist swirling and pooling together, spinning slowly yet steadily picking up speed. Beomgyu holds his breath.
"Hey." Beomgyu lowers his voice to a whisper, "Let's get out of here."
.
.
"Astra! Beomgyu!" Huening Kai's shouting at the top of his lungs, "Wrong way!"
"Hey!" Veronica screams beside Huening Kai, hoping to catch their attention, "Come back!".
"Group 23. Group 23. Please keep it down." Robert's voice is now a regular for group 23. If he's calling, he must be addressing Group 23.
Huening Kai watches as Astra and Beomgyu's yellow kayak drifts further away. How was it that they didn't hear him and Veronica shouting when Robert, whom Huening Kai couldn't even see, did?
It's like the kayak Beomgyu and Astra are in is in a soundproof space, muted from the outside.
"Heyyyy!" Huening Kai screams again, no longer holding back, dragging his scream out till it turns into a long screech. His screams ring, echoing across the river. Many students stop, all turning back to see what's going on.
But the two don't stop. Slowly but surely, they are still paddling away.
"Where are they?" Yeonjun and Soobin are looking into the distance, following where Huening Kai is looking, straining their eyes to spot Astra and Beomgyu.
"I can't see them." Yeonjun says, leaning forward.
"There!" Huening Kai points at the now tiny kayak in the far distance.
"I don't see them." Soobin says.
Taehyun, who had been rowing on the far left turns, frowning, "What's wrong?"
Huening Kai paddles up towards them, his arms aching from the intense paddling. "They were rowing towards there." He points towards the open waters, concern in his eyes.
"That's far away from the bank. You sure you saw the two of them go there?" Yeonjun asks.
"I saw too. The two of them suddenly made a turn midway and changed routes." Veronica says.
"Wait!" Huening Kai grips his paddles, wanting to somehow teleport himself towards where he last saw Astra and Beomgyu. His eyes wander, shifting with intensifying panic, "I don't see them anymore." In his agitation, Huening Kai accidentally slams his paddle against his kayak as he shouts, "They are gone!"
.
.
"Yeah. My thoughts exactly." Astra says, and as they turn back, Astra takes one last look at the odd rock. Her eyes widen, and with a splash, one of her paddles plops into the river.
"Hey! You dropped your paddle!" Beomgyu exclaims, watching helplessly as her paddle sinks rapidly, soon swallowed by the river as if it weighed a ton. This time, he didn't even have a chance to catch it before the paddle's completely gone.
Beomgyu groans, turning back to Astra, he's about to scold her for her carelessness when he's met with another horrifying sight. Astra has lifted one of her legs up, like she's about to dive in.
"Hey! I was just joking earlier. Don't actually treat the paddle as your lifeline!"
He had a feeling that if she ever dives in, just like the paddle, she's going to be lost in mere seconds.
But she doesn't stop.
"Stop!" Beomgyu yells, "I swear if you are thinking of going down to retrieve that useless paddle in this god-forsaken place, I will just row away."
Now he's calling the paddle useless. Where was the respect he claimed it had?
"No." Astra is breathless. "Look." Her voice shakes, her eyes locked towards the direction of the weird stone, like she's seeing something she's never supposed to, "Isn't that you?"
What?
Me?
Beomgyu points to himself, feeling a chill run down his spine. He quickly turns his head, half-hoping that Astra would burst into laughter, telling him that he's a fool for being tricked.
But she's not joking. Beomgyu should have known, reflected through the orbs of her eyes, ones clearly caught in fear.
Between the walls of the arched-shaped rock, where the mist is swirling, stands a boy, wearing an odd but unusually grand looking uniform.
The boy's pointing at them, his mouth opening and closing, saying something that neither Astra nor Beomgyu could catch—Not even the slightest. It's like he's on mute.
That's me. Choi Beomgyu. His hair is soft and dry, fluttering in the mist, unlike his current own sweaty hair, clamped together, sticking on his forehead. Regardless, that was him, undeniably.
Me.
Beomgyu feels his blood run cold. Before he can further process what is going on, he sees a hand reaching out from the centre of the swirling mist. And the boy, the other Beomgyu, is pulled back in. Beomgyu blinks, and the boy's gone.
But he's even more certain now.
"We have to go." Despite the whirlwind of thoughts going on in his head, Beomgyu's voice holds a steady calm.
"No." Astra had different thoughts, like Beomgyu, she had caught everything too, she saw how the other Beomgyu disappeared into the mist. "I have to go and see."
It's a "I", Beomgyu notices. Astra did not say "We have to go" but, "I have to go".
Astra stands up, her shift in weight tilting the balance of the kayak. It shakes heavily, leaning dangerously towards the front.
Beomgyu quickly reaches forward and grabs on her waist, locking her down. "You're insane."
"Maybe." Astra answers firmly, her eyes fixated on that strange rock. "But I need to know what is going on."
"You don't need to!" Beomgyu sees that Astra's already made a decision, but he refuses to let go.
"No. No way" Beomgyu grabs Astra tighter. She's stubborn, but isn't he too? He made his decision too—in the split second the other him disappeared into the mist—We are leaving. Now. Right this instant.
"You can't go!"
"Bro." Astra says, "You should stop pulling me. The kayak's going to flip."
"Are you going down?" Beomgyu asks.
"No."
But Astra's gaze remains unfaltering.
She answered too fast. No way she actually changed her mind.
"I don't believe you." Beomgyu answers, his fingers reaching up higher on Astra's arms, securing a firmer grip.
Afraid he eventually couldn't stop her, he starts screaming, "Yeonjun! Soobin! Taehyun! Huening Kai! Robert! Help!"
"Helpppp"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh" Beomgyu fully exercised his vocal cords, channelling maximum vocal powers, "Helpppppppppppppppppppp!"
His cries, though, are answered with nothing but a complete, absolute silence. So silent that Beomgyu thinks he can now hear his own heartbeat.
"Don't you think it's weird that it's so quiet here?" Astra asks.
"I'm not listening. You are crazy." Beomgyu says.
"Who's the one who wanted to come here in the first place?" Astra rolls her eyes.
"Shit.” Beomgyu wants to slap himself, “It was me. I'm wrong. So, so wrong. So let's just go back, please. Can we go back?" Beomgyu pleads, he's never been so desperate.
"Don't you want to find out what is going on?"
"No." Beomgyu answers with zero hesitation. "Not when my life is at stake."
"But your life isn't at stake. I'm going, not you." Astra answers calmly, trying to reassure Beomgyu.
The kayak abruptly lurches. It's natural, seeing how both of them are leaning towards the front, especially with how Beomgyu had his upper body weighing down on the front, doing everything in his power to keep Astra down inside the kayak.
"Wait wait. The kayak is tilting too much, let's get back to our seats and we will discuss this like civilised people." Astra suggests.
Beomgyu looks at Astra skeptically, taking his time to reply as he considers whether the shift that Astra's suggesting is part of her escape plan.
"Okay.” He agrees. “But let me hold onto two of your arms, just in case you run away."
Ultimately, both agreed that the stability of the kayak is important. Therefore, Beomgyu and Astra sit facing each other, with Beomgyu holding her forearms tightly in both hands.
"Beomgyu." Astra begins and looks deeply into his eyes.
"Say it straight."
"Alright. We are all smart people here."
"I am." Beomgyu corrects.
Astra forces a smile and continues,"I am a time-traveller—“
"So?" Beomgyu couldn’t wait to cut her off.
"Please wait till I finish speaking." Astra wants to raise her hand to highlight her point, but her hand is immediately pushed down by Beomgyu.
Beomgyu nods again, as if saying, go on.
"I wanted to say that even if something goes wrong, I can go back in time again."
"Eh?" It's an confused reaction from Beomgyu.
Good.
Astra nods in all seriousness. "I have gone back six years in one go. If anything happens, going back a couple hours is really nothing."
"I'll just go and take a look. It will be really fast." Astra says, blinking her eyes earnestly at Beomgyu.
"No. You are lying." His face tenses, he grabs Astra, tighter than ever before. "You have no control over this."
"What if I have been lying to you all?"
"Astra." Beomgyu is serious too, he's calling her by name, raw burning desperation in his eyes. "Please don't do this. Let's just go back."
He stares into her eyes silently. Beomgyu's rarely serious, but now he is. And his sincerity reaches deep into Astra, like it's barrelling into her soul.
It's like a wake-up call, and as Astra stares at the 17-year-old boy, she seems to have realised something. "Okay." She smiles, "Let's go back."
"Really?"
"Really."
Beomgyu continues to stare at her for a long, silent moment before he concludes, "I don't believe you."
Astra is speechless. When she lied, he didn't believe her, and now that she's sincere, he still doesn't believe her.
Eventually, the two do sail away, and as they get further, Astra turns back once again.
There's nothing there. No arch-shaped rock, no mist. Nothing except the flowing river and the hot, blazing sun.
Everything vanished like it was never there.
Like exiting a void space, sounds they never realised were quietly erased flood their senses, the sound of the light breeze, clashing waves, birds, and—their names.
"Beomgyu!"
"Where are you guys?"
"Astra—"
"They are over there." Taehyun's the first to spot the pair.
Group 23 collectively sails towards the two sitting blankly on the kayak. The duo look a little pale, a little tired, but are otherwise unharmed.
"Where did you guys go?" Soobin, the closest, reaches them first. He places his hand on Beomgyu's arm, shaking him lightly when he still looks to be in a daze.
Soobin quickly retracts his arm, rubbing his fingers. "How... how is your skin so cold?"
Soobin stretches his arm out and slowly pokes Astra's cheeks. "You are cold too."
"What do you mean?" Yeonjun asks as he sneaks his arm to touch Beomgyu's neck.
"It feels like they just came out of the freezer."
Soobin glances towards the skies, the sun's still beating down, unyielding in its heat.
Taehyun touches Astra's forehead, feeling an icy chill permeate his skin. He frowns, saying to the two. "Why aren't you guys saying anything?"
"We saw a rock." Astra blinks. "It was in the shape of a bridge."
"And there was a lot of mist—" Astra looks up, everyone is staring at her in concern, noticing that along with the TXT members, Veronica, Dominic, Felicia, and even Robert, are also nearby, listening.
Astra wisely halts her words. She leans towards Taehyun, closest to her, and whispers, "I'll tell you later."
She then turns to Robert. He's standing atop a motorboat equipped with a shelter, which provides much more comfort and speed compared to their kayak.
So that's where he's been hiding.
Astra turns to Beomgyu. The boy's eyes are glazed over, he's still stuck in a daze.
Is this an aftereffect of leaving that space?
Astra sighs. She reaches her hand out towards Taehyun, "Could you first help me untie this?"
On Astra's forearm wraps a long string that connects all the way back to Beomgyu's wrist.
"What did you two tie your hands together?" Taehyun asks.
Astra rolls her eyes. "Ask Sir Beomgyu beside me please." She swings her hand, "This was his idea."
"This knot—" The knot is very securely tied. Too secure in fact, stacking across one another, knotting up till the ends of the string. Taehyun quickly gives up. "You can't untie it, not without scissors."
As Taehyun gives the knot one last pull, Beomgyu snaps from his trance. His eyes widen in paranoia, and he lunges forward all in a sudden motion. The boy wraps his arms around Astra's neck, asking in a quivering voice,
"Where are you going?"
Astra chokes at the sudden pressure and weight pressing on her neck. She falls over, tilting to the left. Unable to balance herself, she plunges, along with the weight stubbornly gripping her neck. Water rushes in, up her nose and down her throat.
Their kayak had capsized.
Taehyun's arm hangs emptily out in the air. At the last moment, he had reached out, but the flip happened too quickly that he didn't manage to grab either of the two, watching helplessly as both Beomgyu and Astra toppled off their kayaks, plunging straight into the river.
Yeonjun peers into the waters, trying to catch sight of the two. He frowns, "I'll go in and save them."
Taehyun stops him, "Astra can swim—"
Before he finishes his words, he hesitates, thinking of her recent high hit rate for problems, "Never mind. Let's go."
Taehyun nods at Yeonjun, and they both stand up, ready to dive in.
"What are you boys doing?" Robert frowns. "They are coming out."
Sure enough, there's bubbling in the water and two heads pop out from beneath the water surface.
"Argh! Choi Beomgyu, you are crazy!" Astra shouts right after she pulls in a breath of air.
Beomgyu still has his arms wrapped around Astra's neck. The boy smiles sheepishly at Astra, "Sorry. I don't know what came over me."
Beomgyu's face is right in front of her, so close she can even see the pores in his skin. "Can't you let go of me now?"
"Why?" Beomgyu pluckers his lips together. "I like it like this. Also—" He adds, "I think you are crazy too."
Astra curses as she lifts her hand. The girl explodes in a burst of energy, somehow managing to jump up and dunk Beomgyu back into the water.
Under the rounded eyes of everyone, the two submerge back in. They remained under for quite a while, obstructed by the murky waters, no one could see what was going on, but the rapidly surging bubbles and strong churns of water told enough of the violent struggles hidden underneath the surface.
Just before they decide to fish up the two troublemakers themselves, the two surfaces again, both staring at Robert.
Robert shivers, his eyes staring warily at the two who seemed to share the same brain cell. Beomgyu is well-known through the school's faculty for his shit-stirring tendencies, and it feels like the new year-one student is following in his footsteps.
Beomgyu coughs, and Astra does too. "Mr Robert." Beomgyu begins.
"We aren't feeling well."
There's another presence on Robert's motorboat. He's a senior, retired instructor, well-tanned with bulging muscles and a beard, extremely fit despite being in his seventies. He pushes Robert behind him, asking the two, "Do you feel dizzy?"
"Yes." Astra replies. "I have been feeling dizzy for quite a while."
"Me too. I'm feeling nauseous." Beomgyu pulls at his throat. "Thirsty too."
"Did you not bring your water bottles?" Robert asks.
"I forgot." Beomgyu replies. In fact, he did bring his water bottle, it's just that when their kayak capsized, his water bottle had probably left for the riverbed, doomed to remain for eternity.
"You?" Robert asks Astra.
"I didn't either."
"You two didn't drink water for the past hour or so?"
The two lower their heads, as if in shame. They keep silent.
"It must be heatstroke!" The bearded man concludes and eyes Astra and Beomgyu with worried eyes, he shakes his head, "Youngins these days sure are weak, back in my days—"
The older man goes on and on, his mouth in non-stop action as he casually hauls Beomgyu and Astra out of the waters and onto the motor boat with merely one hand. Stepping back on solid ground, the two are still dripping wet, with a disgusting feeling of stickiness on their skin. Yet despite it all, their eyes gleam with glee.
Mission accomplished.
In his sorry state, the two are well-taken cared of, wrapped in two layers of blankets, and are each holding a small fan. The two recline back on the cushioned seat of the motorboat, chatting animatedly with the senior instructor, with a soft breeze gently blowing against their faces while their classmates laboriously paddle under the scorching sun.
The senior instructor, by the name of Ace, quite liked the two. Both of them had wide, curious eyes and looked at him with admiration as they asked about his past days and achievements. Ace is more than happy to share, and soon, the three, though separated by a wide generation gap, made quick friends.
Like a third wheel, Robert sits quietly as he watches the farce unfold. He had a nagging suspicion that these two don't have heatstroke at all, but are just acting sick to rid themselves of further paddling. But as he sees Ace's wide smile, spurned by Beomgyu and Astra's combined efforts, he refrains from exposing them.
As the two lounge on the motorboat, two other eyes are watching them. Soobin stops paddling, tapping Yeonjun's shoulders,
"Should we flip our kayaks too?"
Chapter 20: Day 9
Chapter Text
Going to the toilet, or the nearest one, as directed by Robert, is like stepping into a literal forest. It's smack in the middle among various towering plants, making the modern facility feel quite out of place amongst the green lushness.
Their hours of kayaking under the hot sun have finally ended, and unsurprisingly, there is a snaking queue in front of the toilets, the girls' mainly. The boys couldn't compare, their queue is barely a fifth as long.
Behind the boys' restroom, beyond the queue, are four boys cornering another into a small corner right beside the dustbin. Four big backs block at the front, shielding their actions from curious eyes.
"So, Sir Beomgyu, what exactly happened just now?" Huening Kai asks, following the rest as they take a step forward, forcing Beomgyu to back up further against the wall and closer towards the dustbin.
Beomgyu holds his breath, glancing behind with distaste at the overfilled dustbin. He meekly raises his hand, "Could you let me use the toilet first? I have been holding it in for the past 3 hours."
"We are too." Taehyun says, and none of the four boys budged.
"You can only go after you tell us what happened. Now spill." Yeonjun waves his arms, gesturing for Beomgyu to speak.
"I saw a weird rock. Like Astra said, it was shaped like a bridge, and there was mist around it. It looked special so-"
"So you wanted to check it out." Taehyun finishes Beomgyu's sentence.
"Didn't Mr Robert say to keep the riverbanks in sight?" Huening Kai points out.
Beomgyu nods, "That's why Astra didn't want to go at first, but I managed to convince her."
"How?"
"I told her..." Beomgyu sneaks a look up at his friends from the corner of his eyes, hesitantly, and with guilt, he continues, "Yolo."
"Yolo?" Taehyun's head jerks back a little as he repeats, in disbelief.
"The you only live once—"
"Yeah, I know what it means." Taehyun just found it a little absurd that such a stupid reason managed to sway Astra, "So it's just because of that? She agreed?"
"Yes." Beomgyu confirms.
"Wow. So one dares to go and the other dares to follow." Soobin sneers, giving Beomgyu a thumbs up.
"These two cannot be left alone." Taehyun points an accusing finger at Beomgyu as he lays down his conclusion.
Beomgyu blinks innocently.
"Then what happens next?" Soobin nudges Beomgyu, who has fallen into silence to continue, reminding him, "Don't you want to go to the toilet?"
It's weird how his urge to go to the toilet has faded away, but the moment he's reminded of it, the urge comes back in full swing. Beomgyu groans, his feet twisting uncomfortably on the floor. He squints his eyes, hands urgently tracing the rough shape of the spinning mist, "Then I saw the mist turning in the middle of the rock. It was spinning into itself."
"It was weird. So I wanted to leave." Beomgyu's words come with increasing urgency, "We were leaving, but then Astra saw me."
"Huh?"
"I don't get it. Explain better." Yeonjun smacks Beomgyu's shoulders.
"Not this me." Beomgyu gestures to himself, brows furrowing in frustration. "She saw another me. At the weird rock, right at the spot where the mist was spinning."
Yeonjun tilts his head, "She saw wrong?"
"No!" Beomgyu yells, the need to go to the toilet pushing his irritation. "I saw it too. That other me was wearing a fancy uniform, like really, really fancy." Beomgyu remembers the elegant waves of patterns that decorated the uniform's collar, running all the way down to the boy's pants. “He’s more handsome than me!”
…
The only time when Beomgyu admits someone’s more handsome than him, was when that someone is himself.
That him wore a navy blue uniform with gold trims on its edges. And—
"There was a crest! A crest on his chest pocket!" Beomgyu claps his hands together, suddenly recalling this detail.
"Then he should be part of some organisation." Yeonjun says.
"Are you sure that it's you?" Taehyun asks, watching Beomgyu squirming left and right whilst talking somehow takes away his credibility, making Taehyun extra doubtful.
"It's me! He's exactly alike, just as handsome." Beomgyu insists.
"Then what happens next?" Soobin nudges Beomgyu to continue, unaware that he's now leaning his face excessively towards Beomgyu, his curiosity heavy through his unblinking eyes.
"He pointed at me, he said something I couldn't hear, then an arm reached out from the swirling mist, pulled him in—" Beomgyu abruptly snaps his fingers, turning his hands outwards, " Poof, he's gone."
...
The skeptical eyes of his friends bore down on Beomgyu. He clicks his tongue.
"And no." Beomgyu's hands raise in defense in front of Yeonjun, "Before you hit me, I'm not joking around."
"I was scared." Beomgyu admits, whether the fact that he saw a clone of himself, or the weird, unscientific swirling mist, "I wanted to leave, but Astra wanted to check it out. She even wanted to swim there."
Taehyun's eyes narrowed, "Did she actually?"
"No. I stopped her." Beomgyu still feels the chill from that moment, "Perhaps if she did, we wouldn't be back here right now."
"Looks like you at least have some sense." Soobin pats Beomgyu on the back.
Beomgyu rolls his eyes. "Of course! That auntie tried so hard to convince me to let her go."
"If it were you, you would have certainly been tricked." Beomgyu turns his eyes to Soobin and curls his lips.
"What did she say?" Taehyun cuts in.
"She said she can easily turn back time, and it's no problem even if something happens."
"That's a lie." Taehyun narrows his eyes. "She's a habitual liar."
Yeonjun watches his juniors discussing fervently. It's another day, another bout of watching his juniors go off the charts.
Once again, he understands what they are saying, but at the same time, not really.
Once again, Yeonjun doesn't interrupt and simply lets them talk. He's content just being part of it all.
"Can I go to the toilet now?" Beomgyu asks, trying to barrel between Huening Kai and Yeonjun to get out of the encirclement.
"Then what about the string? Why were you two tied together?" Soobin lifts his hands across, stopping Beomgyu.
"Astra said she would go back with me, but I didn't believe her. That's why I—" Beomgyu sighs. He looks at his shoes, wet and both without shoelaces, so loose that he's now wearing them like slippers, "tied us up together."
Taehyun gives Beomgyu a thumbs up, "Great move!"
"Please let me go to the toilet now." Beomgyu seriously thinks he couldn't hold it any longer than this.
Huening Kai slides away to give Beomgyu space, hands gracefully sweeping forward as if he's just rolled out a red carpet, "Please."
Beomgyu runs off, a loud slam of the restroom door soon heard behind him.
.
.
The important meeting held outside the toilet successfully made the boys the latest to arrive. The girls stand crowding around a green basket with Kenneth at the side, eyes trained on the boys, silently pressuring them to pick up the pace.
"You guys took 30 minutes in the toilet." Kenneth says, tapping on his digital watch. "What were five big guys doing in there for a whole half an hour ?"
"We took a dump." Beomgyu lies without the slightest change in expression.
"All 5 of you?"
"Yeah. It was backlog from holding it in for 3 hours." Taehyun continues.
Kenneth narrows his eyes at the other three boys smiling up at him, all nodding their heads as if confirming their friends' recounts. Seconds later, Kenneth looks away, giving up. He points to the green basket, "Anyways, back to what I mentioned to the girls, these are the ingredients you all have. Cooking ware and cutlery are also inside. Now you guys have an hour to settle your lunch."
Ten students stand frozen in their spots, their eyes all on Kenneth, waiting for further instructions.
"Don't just stare at me. You may begin." Kenneth chuckles, ushering the boys towards the basket.
"Is there no recipe?" Yeonjun raises his arm to ask.
"No." Kenneth places his palm on Yeonjun's shoulders. 'You all are on your own."
"Anyone knows how to cook?" Soobin turns hesitantly.
Outside of his expectations, two hands are raised, but when he sees the owners of these two hands, his smile drops instantly. Their unreliable pair, Astra and Beomgyu.
"I cook about everything." Astra says, trying to prove herself in the face of Soobin's skeptical glance. Her 22 years of experience really wasn't a joke— she cooks by throwing everything into a pot of water and letting it boil for as long as possible.
Soobin looks at Beomgyu, who answers quickly. "I cook instant food."
...
Following Beomgyu's words, the hands of the remaining seven quietly join the two up in the air.
"That I can cook too. I know how to fry eggs."
"I can make pancakes."
"I know how to steam rice."
"Okay stop." Soobin raises both arms, stopping further declarations of their shit culinary experiences, suddenly feeling bleak for their lunch ahead.
Soobin lightly taps twice on Astra's shoulder, "It's on you now."
Astra pulls up her sleeves. "No problem."
.
.
Astra's big plan, as quoted by her, is, "Throw everything into the pot."
"... Do you really know how to cook?" Taehyun asks.
"Yes. Tried and tested, taste is guaranteed."
That's what she said. What more could the other nine, whose experience mostly extended to instant food, say?
Their work is well-divided. Everyone has something to do, except a member who doesn't want to complete her tasks. Elle's assigned the simple task of cutting the hotdogs into 4 parts each. Though her face pulls into a scowl the moment her fingertips even slightly brushes against the cool hotdog. The girl claims it’s texture reminded her of a severed human finger, and refuses to touch it, what more cut it. So, she spends her time revolving around Beomgyu.
Beomgyu holds a peeler in his hand, his lips pressed tightly against one another as he shaves the carrot. Elle sits on a stool right beside him, her hands pushing against his occasionally, chattering endlessly.
"First. I don't care about the fight you and Dominic had." Beomgyu says, putting down his peeler, finally having enough. "And from what I'm hearing, you are in the wrong."
"Also. Can you please keep some distance? You are disturbing me." Beomgyu says it all with an expressionless face, hoping Elle would see that he's serious.
Elle chuckles. She lifts her palm and ruffles Beomgyu's hair, "You are so cute."
Beomgyu jerks his head away, taking quick steps back before he yells in his deep voice, "Someone please get this woman away from me. Please." Beomgyu's looking at Yeonjun especially. He knows the boy must have experience. "I can't peel my carrots with her buzzing around."
There's a silence for but a moment before Dominic's yell cuts through the tense silence, "I told you not to hold the can like that!"
Just like how Elle is sticking to Beomgyu, Dominic is sticking to Astra. That boy seemed to have a sort of awakening after he came back from the toilet and followed Astra around since then.
"See? You are bleeding now!" Dominic yells again.
Astra gives Dominic an odd glance before she pops her bleeding ring finger into her mouth. "This settles it."
"What are you doing?" Dominic pulls Astra's wrist, and her finger is slips right out. He tugs on her arm, "Let's go. I'll bring you to wash the wound."
Astra blinks, confused at the turn of events. As she's pulled away, she turns back to look at Veronica, her eyes dart between Dominic and herself as if asking, "What's wrong with him?"
Veronica hasn't had a clue.
When Dominic and Astra came back, Astra had a plaster on her finger, walking with an awkward gait.
And Felicia and Elle were arguing.
"You are disturbing everyone!" Felicia yells.
"Who said that?"
"Beomgyu. Is she disturbing you?"
Beomgyu did not hesitate, "Yes."
"Hear that? If you don't want to do work, fine! Then please just sit neatly at the side."
"You—! I am your senior!"
"Then—" Yeonjun finally steps forward, his brows tightened in frustration. The rank one has a certain charisma when he speaks, "As your senior, can I ask you to just stop bothering Beomgyu and everyone else?"
Elle couldn't get a word out in front of Yeonjun's narrowed gaze. She simply nods, walking back to her hotdogs and for the first time, picks up the plastic knife, working with the very ‘fingers’ she had kept her distance from.
Everyone looks at Yeonjun, blatant awe shining in their eyes.
Yeonjun sighs, trudging back to his potatoes.
"The broth's boiling." Astra says, pulling up the lid. "Is anyone done with their ingredients?"
"Me!" Huening Kai carefully hands his plate of cabbages to Astra. She takes the plate over and dumps the cabbages that Huening Kai painstakingly washed and cut into the pot under his worried eyes.
"They will be fine right?" The boy can't help asking.
"What do you mean? Of course they won't be fine." Astra looks at Huening Kai as if he's a fool.
"Huh?" Huening Kai gasps in horror, his hands twitching in a sudden urge to dip his hands into the boiling water to save his beloved cabbages that he has grown to cherish.
"Would you be fine if I boiled and ate you?"
...
Huening Kai's hands are twitching for a different reason now, eyes deadpan as he stares silently at Astra.
Before Astra had the chance to burst into laughter, she's hit on her head. Astra turns back in anger, seeing Taehyun smiling up at her, "Eheheh Sorry. I meant to pass you this."
Taehyun holds out his chicken slices.
Facing Taehyun's smiling face, Astra's anger fizzes away, her head dropping as she motions at the pot, "Just put it all in."
After Taehyun is done, the boy wraps his arm around Huening Kai and leaves with him. As Astra watches them go, she catches Huening Kai turn and grin at her.
Astra slouches, quietly, she turns back to her pot, picking up the ladle and stirring it.
"I'll stir it. You go and sit down." Dominic suddenly appears, stealing the ladle from Astra's hands. "It might splash on your cut."
Astra stares at Dominic, "...Do you need something from me?"
"No!" Lightly, Dominic pushes Astra away, "Just go do something else. Don't disturb me."
Astra walks away mumbling, "Who's disturbing who here."
"Can I have the four of you?" Kenneth suddenly appears behind Astra, pointing at the four boys standing closest to him. "To set up the tents that you all are going to sleep in tonight."
Yeonjun, Huening Kai, Beomgyu, and Taehyun leave their stand and follow Kenneth, skipping along the path, happy to leave their cooking duties behind. The rest of them had no choice but to take over their tasks, but with Astra's method of dumping all the ingredients into the broth allowed prep-work to be quickly completed.
They were all supposed to be done, the broth just had to do its job boiling over the fire, but Dominic's still standing before the blazing fire, dutifully stirring the broth.
"What is wrong with him?" Soobin asks.
"I told him he can stop and just let it boil, but he just wants to stir." Astra replies.
Soobin gestures towards Veronica and Felicia, "What's going on with your friend?"
As Veronica shrugs, Felicia kneels down in front of Astra, to which the girl gulps and looks at Soobin. This girl is another weird one.
"Dominic likes you." Felicia says in a hushed tone as if it were top secret.
"What?" Soobin had his mouth gaping open.
Astra had a delayed reaction, and even her finger pointed the wrong way, directed at Soobin, "Me?"
Soobin swats away Astra's finger, his face scrunching up.
"Dominic likes Astra." Veronica slaps her thighs. "I should have known! He was being so obvious."
Astra's eyes turn between Veronica and Felicia's flushed, overexcited faces. Her heart jumps, speeding up.
Veronica smiles at Astra. "You are our secret angel right?"
"No?" Astra answers with a straight face.
"It was Taehyun's handwriting. His essays are on display in the classroom, we could tell."
"Then, it's Taehyun."
"Dominic and I had the exact same one. Taehyun's only close to you and Huening Kai, so we figured it out."
Eh?
"I don't know what we did for you to say that. But thank you, I really like it." Veronica cuts Astra off with a smiling face.
"And I also think that's when he started liking you."
Was liking such an easy thing? With just a note?
Astra felt like there's glue on her lips, heavy with words she couldn't seem to express.
"He told you that he likes Astra?" Soobin asks, folding his arms.
"No. He didn't, we are just guessing."
Soobin pulls Astra to turn around, pulling her head down towards him, away from the two girls. He stares at Astra, who looks blankly back at him, "What about you? Do you like him?"
Astra doesn't know. She liked him before, and that was it. Yet now, she could feel her heart thumping in her chest, loud, fast, ringing in her ears.
But it only took a short moment for the haze in her eyes to clear. Her heart calms and she pulls a smile.
It doesn't matter. Whether I like him or not. It won't matter.
She's not supposed to be part of this timeline. The current her isn't the her 6 years ago. She doesn't belong here, and Dominic has never liked her for who she really was, not 6 years ago, not now. Astra lowers her eyes,
"I don't like him."
Soobin bursts into cackling laughter as the boy's big palms smack her back.
Dominic's attention is caught by Soobin's laughter, "What are you guys talking about?"
Soobin narrows his eyes, "Nothing."
.
.
Beomgyu's eyeing the pot. Inside wafted out a tangy tomato scent, a bright red soup with all sorts of ingredients bubbling up and down. The boy looks at the instant rice in his hand.
Firstly, he hates tomatoes with a passion.
"This combination..." Beomgyu begins, "is disgusting."
Before he could complain more, a spoon was shoved and jammed inside his mouth. When Beomgyu looks up, Astra's smiling at him, "Try it first."
Beomgyu's mouth slips open, and the red tomato soup that's force-fed to him trickles from his lips down onto the mat on the floor.
"Ahh! Choi Beomgyu? What the hell? It's getting on me!" Soobin, unfortunately sitting beside Beomgyu, screams.
Beomgyu ignores Soobin, immersed in the lingering taste from the broth in his mouth. It's enough for his taste buds to dance in joy.
Eh?
It doesn’t taste like tomatoes?
Beomgyu picks up his spoon, "It's actually pretty good."
And so, approved by their pickiest eater, lunch is easily cleared.
"One and a half hour to clean up, unpack, shower, then report back here." Taehyun reiterated what Kenneth said, knowing that at least half of them weren't listening when Kenneth gave instructions while they were eating.
With Taehyun's reminder, Group 23 moves to unpack their bags. Bags are a sensitive topic for Astra and Huening Kai, which explained why together, the two silently choose a quiet corner to unpack. But it's like the others were all waiting for this exact moment. This moment when Huening Kai pulls at the zipper on his bag, a loud thump eches beside him.
Huening Kai's hand paused, seeing Taehyun nodding at him after placing his bag beside his. Then another thump, and another, and another, soon, the two are surrounded. The quiet corner that the two designated became a hot spot.
Beomgyu pulled out his clothes from his bag, "Why? Aren't you two unpacking?"
...
And so, they are mocked. Again.
"They didn't even look at the list the school gave." Yeonjun says, looking at the things the duo are pulling out from their bags.
"Like you are any better?" While saying so, Soobin discreetly reaches his arm out towards Yeonjun's bag, grabbing an instant noodle packet out from the many lined in his bag.
Soobin shoves it in his own bag, yet as he zips it, he accidentally makes eye contact with Beomgyu.
Beomgyu grins.
Soobin grins.
And Yeonjun's stock of instant noodles suffers.
.
.
The boys in Group 23 finish early. With 30 minutes to spare, they made great effort to avoid Dominic and are huddled around in their usual spot. The corner right outside the toilet, right beside the foul dustbin.
"Why here again?" Beomgyu pinches his nose.
"About the decoding, I translated it while in the toilet." Taehyun chose to ignore Beomgyu, getting straight to the point.
"You memorised it?" Huening Kai asks, lips gaping open.
"Mostly." Taehyun nods, spelling it out letter by letter, "W. E. H. E. l. P."
"Don't doubt, we help?"
"So it's saying that they are on our side."
"That's what I am thinking too. But they are just empty words right now." Taehyun says, his voice pulled down to a whisper. "We cannot trust it."
The other four, even Yeonjun, unconsciously nod in the face of Taehyun's intense gaze.
"Alright." Huening Kai pulls his head out. "Then the meeting is adjourned. Anything else?"
"Earlier," Soobin begins, "Veronica and Felicia said that Dominic likes Astra."
"Who?" Beomgyu lifts a brow.
"Your auntie." Soobin replies.
"Really? No wonder he's been sticking to her." Yeonjun nods.
"Does that mean! That day on the bus, he purposely leaned his head on Astra's shoulders!" Huening Kai yells.
"Bro." Beomgyu covers Huening Kai's lips, "I understand you are excited, but don't be too loud, we don't want to be discovered." Beomgyu says.
"And they said something about secret angel." Soobin looks at Taehyun, "Veronica said it was your handwriting, and it was the writing on the notes that made Dominic like Astra."
The notes?
Taehyun softly repeats the words written on that note, word by word, each of them mysteriously seared in his mind, branded inside with a meaning that feels like it originates from the deepest corner of his heart, one that he has yet to understand,
"You might not know, but to me, you are like the starlight during my darkest nights. And I'll never forget the light that you shone on me."
"What was that?" Beomgyu blinks.
"That's what Astra wrote to Veronica and Dominic. She said she's really thankful to them."
"But at that time, wasn't it just the first week of school?" Huening Kai asks.
"It's from her past. I'm guessing she's really grateful about something they did for her."
"But why was it your handwriting?" Soobin points out, finding the whole thing absurd.
Taehyun scoffs. "Have you seen her handwriting? There is no uglier one."
...
"I feel like we should do something about this." Soobin looks at the other four.
"About Dominic?"
"Right. Even though Astra said she doesn't like him, she was acting really suspiciously. I think she might actually like that guy."
"Can I ask—" Yeonjun raises his hand, "Why would we do something about it? If they like each other, isn't it for the best?"
Yeonjun's ignored.
"Right. If Astra likes him and the two get together, then she wouldn't have much time for us." Huening Kai begins, liking the idea.
"It would also be hard for us to do our decoding secretly too." Beomgyu adds.
"To find out the truth about this world," Taehyun grins, leading the group to a conclusion. "We keep them apart."
"It's settled then." Soobin is satisfied and lifts his hands for a handshake. Yet as he looks at the four boys staring at his hand, "Oh too many hands. Then we do this instead."
Soobin puts his hand down in the middle. Taehyun quickly catches on and places his hand above Soobin. Beomgyu and Huening Kai quickly join.
Everyone looks at Yeonjun standing with his hands by his sides. He stares back wide-eyed. He doesn't want in on this evil operation.
"Ah hurry up." Beomgyu roughly grabs Yeonjun's hand and forces it atop their stack.
"To Astra's single life!" For their united, questionable declaration, their hands fly into the air.
Yeonjun silently retrieves his hand, scanning the fiery determination burning in the eyes of his juniors. And his perception towards this bunch starts to shift, perhaps not only are they crazy, they are also quite the evil bunch.
Their operation, therefore commences, starting today.
Chapter 21: Day 9
Chapter Text
The sun went down earlier than usual today. It isn't yet 6 pm, and the sun's already gone, replaced by a bright round moon. Under the dim glow the moon casts, Group 23 sits outside their tents in a circle, each holding a packed dinner in their hands, eating.
"Beomgyu." Kenneth calls out. "That's buttered prawn. It's really delicious, try it instead of dumping everything to Huening Kai."
"I don't like seafood." Beomgyu replies without looking up.
"Are you allergic?"
Beomgyu blinks, contemplating.
"So you are not." Kenneth answers for the boy before he holds out a finger, laying out an order. "You must eat one, minimum."
"Yeonjun, you are the oldest here. Watch him carefully for me. Make sure he swallows that prawn." Kenneth is determined to make Beomgyu eat the prawn.
"Yes!" Yeonjun smiles at Beomgyu, oddly excited about his new task.
Beomgyu rolls his eyes.
Later that night, while the rest are mostly focused on emptying their food, Yeonjun's busy juggling his two tasks, eating and reporting Beomgyu,
"Beomgyu spat it out!"
"He's stepping on the prawn."
"He threw it there!"
"He's giving it to Huening Kai!"
Kenneth watches speechlessly as Beomgyu hits Yeonjun's back, irritated at how his every attempt to discard that damn prawn is spoiled by Yeonjun. Yeonjun hits him right back, though, all the whilst complaining to Kenneth, "Ahhh! Instructor! He's hitting me!", despite the fact that currently, Yeonjun's the one dealing the blows.
Kenneth has a tray of buttered prawns on his lap. The instructor had no choice but to retrieve it from the pantry himself after all the lengths Beomgyu went to make his prawn inedible.
With Yeonjun keeping an eye on Beomgyu, the younger boy reluctantly chews on a buttered prawn, his expression twisting in all kinds of disgust before he swallows it. The boy chucks down a cup of water afterwards, sighing like he just walked out of a torture chamber.
But really, the true victims?
The buttered prawns. Who even in death, couldn't have peace.
And as dinner comes to an end, Kenneth briefs them about the last activity of the day— treasure hunting.
"This is the map." Kenneth begins. "I'll be bringing you to the starting point, and you guys will be going off by yourself. Follow the map and you shouldn't get lost."
Kenneth slides his finger down the path traced in the map, "There are set paths up and down the hill. Remember, even if you go down the wrong path, do not get off the path."
"What if we do?" Soobin asks.
"Then you will really be lost." Kenneth answers seriously. "The hill's quite big, if you bunch really got lost, we might need a day to locate you."
"Some treasures you will need to find are off-path, but all are placed within visual distance of the paths. So just get the treasure and immediately return back to the path."
"What is the prize?" Yeonjun feels that this question is the most important one.
"It's a secret."
And so it begins. The ten of them, each equipped with a flashlight and their individual small bags.
Kenneth passes the map to Yeonjun. "You are the oldest here. You take charge."
Yeonjun's happy to do so, almost snatching the map from Kenneth. "Okay!"
The others trudge behind Yeonjun, following his lead to enter the hill when Kenneth calls them from behind, his figure now tiny from where they are looking,
"Group 23!" He yells.
"No matter what happens, please stay on the path and don't get into more trouble!"
Soobin groans, jabbing Beomgyu. "It's all your fault. You made our group infamous."
Beomgyu takes bigger steps, trying to get away from Soobin, pointing at Astra, who quickly looks away, "Hey Astra too alright. Don't only blame me."
Taehyun frowns, tugging at Huening Kai and Astra as he turns his head, the instructor is standing at the same spot, watching them leave. "Something's wrong."
Nighttime on this hill is vastly different from the morning. The trees tower towards the sky, blocking the already pathetic moonlight shining through. It would have been completely dark if not for the red path lights lining the path.
The red lights shine a great contrast to its surroundings, lighting everything in bright red. They reminded Astra of emergency lights, a highly dreaded colour to see in this darkness.
Whose great idea was it to use these lights to light up walking paths?
With further steps in, they are now hearing soft, gentle music. It plays in a loop, over and over again, repeating. Any other time it would have been calming music, played now, in their current situation and environment, it's creepy music.
Astra glances around, "Is this some sort of horror special?"
Yeonjun slows his steps, letting himself fall behind, no longer feeling safe enough to lead the group at the forefront. He loops his arm through Huening Kai's and sticks tightly to him. "You guys had a night hike on day one right?"
"Right. It was just a night hike. Nothing special." Astra is suddenly reminded of the text Yeonjun sent before they got their phones confiscated, "Why did you ask us to be careful?"
Yeonjun stops in his tracks. Huening Kai, whom Yeonjun had linked his arms with, is forced to stop too. He turns to Yeonjun, staring at the older boy, his silent gaze demanding a good explanation for dragging him to a stop as well.
"In our school, all orientation camps would feature a night hike on the first day, which is actually a courage test designed by the school as a class bonding activity."
"I had it too." Soobin says, raising his hand.
"You guys didn't?" Beomgyu asks, eyes shifting amongst the first years.
"Oh. I guess they decided to move it for us to bond with our seniors instead." Huening Kai shrugs, yet a smile graces his lips, enjoying the reactions of his ‘seniors’.
Yeonjun and Soobin exchange horrified glances, finding plausibility in Huening Kai's answer. "Let's just go back." Soobin suggests, as memories of the courage test he experienced two years back come rushing back.
Soobin looks to the path Group 23 will be taking, the bright red, looming path surrounded by thick thickets of darkness is not one for his cowardly heart, one that barely survived the first one. One courage test is enough for him, he doesn't need one more to challenge his limits. "I refuse to do this again."
"But don't you want the prize?" Unlike Yeonjun and Soobin, Beomgyu has a wide smile on his face, pulled with bright anticipation. He wants to go on.
"What if it's like cash vouchers or digital devices?"
"That's impossible. You know our school is broke." is what Yeonjun said, but in reality, his fingers, driven by capitalism, slide across the map as he takes a second look, intrigued at the idea of a big prize.
"Wait, where are you going?" Yeonjun grabs Beomgyu's collar, pulling him back, "It's this way."
Beomgyu takes another look at the map in Yeonjun's hand, "No. It's this way!"
Yeonjun points at the map. "This is the route leading to the left. This route leads to the right."
Yeonjun points to the route on the right. "We are supposed to go down this way."
Then the two boys started arguing about left and right, each insisting on their own way whilst throwing around accusations of directional dyslexia.
Huening Kai's just a supporter at the side. Without a word, he holds the flashlight towards the map, lighting the map in a white, calming light against the sea of red, giving Yeonjun and Beomgyu clarity as they make aggressive gestures on the map, pointing left and right, wondering why the other simply can't understand such a simple thing.
"Huening Kai! Which way?" Yeonjun shakes Huening Kai's shoulders, needing a third opinion to break the stalemate.
Huening Kai looks at the map. A wrinkled brown parchment paper with black lines sketched through it's surface. The path they needed to take is highlighted in bright red.
It's almost foolproof. But perhaps because it was too fool-proof, it doesn't seem to make sense. Huening Kai narrows his eyes, pointing towards a path he thought made more sense, "This way."
"See!" Yeonjun exclaims, stomping his feet to the ground. "I'm right!"
"Here!" Yeonjun steps towards the right path. With the rush of smugness for being right, he takes the lead again, with Huening Kai in tow.
The path becomes narrower as they walk, following Yeonjun's steps. The trees are becoming increasingly dense, their branches growing in odd twirly directions that criss-cross one another.
"This place is creepy." Felicia comments, rubbing her arms as she hugs Veronica's arm.
And as things get weirder, the members of group 23 stick tighter together.
Beomgyu, Yeonjun, and Huening Kai led the march, still locked in a heated argument. To be exact, it's Beomgyu and Yeonjun. Huening Kai is just collateral damage who happened to be stuck between the two.
Flanking Taehyun's left and right are Soobin and Astra. The two had the same common belief that Taehyun was the most reliable one in situations like this. They stood barely a finger away from one another, ready to pounce on Taehyun when the situation called.
Dominic had failed to stand near Astra with the human barriers, specifically Soobin and Taehyun, blocking him. Therefore, the three childhood friends, Veronica, Dominic, and Felicia, backed the last row.
It's only the nine of them, walking down the narrowing path in sets of three.
But Group 23 had ten members.
The nine of them continued down the path, footsteps and leaves rustling in their wake. They were complete, in their own cliques.
Therefore, none of them noticed.
Elle's missing.
.
.
The more they walk, the more the trees seem to be encroaching on them. Even the tree roots sprawl on the paths, like the branches, the roots cross and entangle one another on both ends, like a dome made of intertwined fingers, they stretch through the crimson path, as if trying to devour the paths and people inside.
Huening Kai is the first to see the white cloth tied into long ribbons at the ends of a tree branch. The sighting of the first cloth is like a prelude to all the white cloths at the back. Just another minute in, a look up will reveal hundreds or even thousands of white cloths fluttering in the wind. They hang everywhere. It's almost like a warning. A signal that from here on, things will no longer be the same.
"The scale is insane.” Yeonjun blurts out. “This school of ours—" He buries his head on Huening Kai's shoulders, not wanting to look at the fluttering white cloth, "Really spent a lot to scare the shit out of us this time."
"I don't think we are walking down the correct way." Beomgyu couldn't help but say in the end.
"We are supposed to meet the fork in the path about here." Beomgyu points at the map. "But we have been walking for quite a long time and—"
Beomgyu stretches his hand forward, "There's no fork! It's like a never-ending path!"
Taehyun's eyes tremble, unaware that he's now leaving red marks on both his two companions after squeezing them too tight. There is a rustling sound, and suddenly his vision is covered in white. All he sees is white.
From Taehyun erupts a high-pitched scream. The boy instinctively grabs the two sources of warmth beside him, yanking them down.
Alarmed by Taehyun, Astra and Soobin curl towards him and the three huddle together, all dragging one another down till they crouch on the floor, eyes tightly shut as they await their fates— whatever it is.
Taehyun feels something lift from his face. He doesn't dare open his eyes, till he hears Huening Kai's laughter.
"It's just the cloth." Beomgyu is holding a white cloth between his fingers. "It fell on your head."
Astra and Soobin open their eyes. The three exchange silent glances. They have identified their own species, they were all cowards.
It's just, they couldn't have guessed Taehyun, who usually looks so reliable, is just like them. Still, cowards find solace in each other's company, shedding all pretences, they link their arms, squeezing tightly together.
Taehyun drags Astra and Soobin forward with him. "Let me take a look at the map."
Yeonjun lifts his arm, showing Taehyun the map in his hands. Taehyun stares at the map for a long time, his hands gripping at the map starting to tremble. It's widely known that Taehyun is smart, so the group waits, casted in a lasting silence, their eyes shifting between Taehyun and the map, trying to figure out what Taehyun is understanding.
"No way."
Taehyun lifts his fingers, tracing the lines on the map from their starting point, halfway through, he pauses, his face turning a shade paler against the bright red lights..
"What's wrong?" Soobin asks, pulling Taehyun's arm.
"It's upside down." Taehyun says, loosening his grip on the map, gaze shifting to the path lined with trees and white cloth, with no end in sight.
"What?"
"The map." Taehyun says with a despairing voice, wondering if they are on a path of no return. "It's upside down."
"That means this whole time, we have been going down the wrong paths?" Yeonjun cries.
"Yes."
Then, where are we now?
Beomgyu reaches out, fingertips gracing a cloth hanging off a low-lying branch, "Then, who hanged all these?" There's pure curiosity in his voice. Yet his innocent curiosity is like a bucket of cold water, sending shivers down their spines.
The white cloths aren't hung in a bundle, but separately, piece by piece, each tied with an intricate ribbon. Hundreds, if not thousands of them, tainted by the red path lights, fluttering against the cool wind.
"It's alright. Instructor Kenneth said that as long as we don't go off the path, we won't be lost." Felicia says.
"Let's quickly turn back!" Yeonjun tugs on Huening Kai, pulling him backwards.
"There—" Veronica begins, her voice a quiet whisper, "Is no way back."
The way forward is well lit by dense rows of red lights lining the path. But their way back isn't. At some point, the lights at the back must have gone out, but how did none of them notice?
Right now, from where she's standing, all Veronica can see is a big black hole, an endless darkness.
With trembling hands, Astra moves her flashlight, turning it backwards, shining the bright white beam towards their way back. Perhaps she expected to see a monster, one with a gigantic mouth with lines and lines of sharp teeth, for as she shone, she hid her face behind Taehyun's back. Taehyun hid his face behind Soobin, and Soobin covered his eyes with his palms. It's truly a pitiful chain of cowards.
The light beaming inwards is absorbed, swallowed by the pitch darkness without a trace. Soobin peeks through the gaps between his fingers, murmuring, "We're so screwed."
Group 23 is now stuck with no way back. Their only path is the one forward, into the embrace of the twisting trees that devoured their paths, that hung countless white cloths and seemed to lead them to a place they aren't supposed to step foot into.
But there's nowhere else to go.
And finally, someone asks, "Where's Elle?"
All their eyes dart around, guided by swinging flashlights, searching for Elle. But there's no sign of her. Perhaps she fell behind, perhaps she's swallowed by the pitch darkness.
All nine members of Group 23 descends into fear, the realisation that they have lost one member now made everything seem more threathening. Taehyun moves, pulling Soobin and Astra towards the three at the very front. The boy wraps his arms around his friends, held them tightly together, his eyes wide open in fear, darting around.
"Don't panic." Beomgyu's voice is calm, the rational voice the group very much needed. "We can get out of here."
"Yeonjun. Give me the map." Beomgyu says, his voice containing no trace of fear, nor the usual cheeky tone. A rare serious front from days of folly.
Yeonjun passes the map to Beomgyu.
"Taehyun, let go of me." Beomgyu wriggles his hands, which are stuck under Taehyun's. He couldn't take the map.
Taehyun frantically shakes his head in response, letting out soft squeaky sounds one would typically never hear him utter.
"Huening Kai." Beomgyu notices that in this group, the only other person who still has his mind in his head is Huening Kai. He’s the only one still actively looking around, observing their surroundings.
"Yes." Sure enough, Huening Kai answers readily.
"Help me take the map from Yeonjun." Beomgyu tilts his head towards the map.
Huening Kai reaches out, grabbing the slightly crumpled map from Yeonjun, and in the next second, the map is placed in front of Beomgyu's eyes. Beomgyu scans the map that he has been analysing with Yeonjun for a long time and now, he can see it too. Their map.
Damn. His eyes must have been half-closed then.
It's really upside down.
"Turn it back up—" Beomgyu wants to see the correct path they should have taken. He wants to pinpoint where exactly on the hill they are, right now. And if given a choice to walk towards the path of swaying cloth or back into the pitch darkness, Beomgyu would choose to trace their steps back.
Huening Kai turns the map.
Beomgyu takes a second look, but before he could, their world flickers.
The ground, the pitch darkness, the trees, the roots, branches, cloth— everything flickers, blinking like a faulty light bulb.
And everything is gone— like the arch-shaped rock in the morning. Everything abnormal is gone. The trees are no longer twisting, their branches and roots stay out of the paths, and there's no fluttering white cloth. It's just trees, the path still lined with red path lights, and the chirping sounds of crickets.
Somehow, someway, in a manner they couldn't comprehend, they seemed to have escaped from a place they didn’t even realise they entered.
Beomgyu smiles, "We are good now."
Taehyun's arm weakly falls to his side, and the boy flops to the floor. He lies weakly on the floor and takes in a deep breath.
Astra, Soobin, and Yeonjun all flop beside Taehyun, forming a line. They are breathing heavily, relieved to no longer see the fluttering white fabric.
"Hey cowards." Beomgyu kicks Yeonjun's leg, "Get up and don't be roadblocks here."
Yeonjun's too out of it to hit back. He continues to lie on the floor, his eyes trained towards the sky. Then he recalls, "Wait. What about Elle?"
The group falls out of their relieved silence. Elle. She isn't here with them.
As Yeonjun sits up, he spots a big white cloth floating down from a tall tree, long black strands attached to the top.
It isn't over. The boy thinks. They haven't left that place. They aren't safe yet.
And panic kicks in, his body now driven by survival instincts.
"Run!" Yeonjun screams as he pulls Astra next to him. Astra pulls Soobin, and Soobin pulls Taehyun. Just like that, the cowardly four ran out of frame.
Beomgyu, Huening Kai, Veronica, Dominic, and Felicia watch speechlessly as their backs quickly disappear into the long shadows cast by the trees.
"Wow. This is the best reaction we received today. These kids are so cute." A snicker.
"Hey. Keep your voice down. There are still five more—"
"We heard you." Beomgyu looks up, staring at the tree a leg is dangling down from.
Beomgyu sighs as the screams of those four rings in his ears, their noisy footsteps rustling through the paths.
Then suddenly, there's silence.
Their loud screams and footsteps, seemed to be abruptly vacuumed away.
And it's like Deja Vu.
Fuck.
Beomgyu and Huening Kai exchange looks, the same horror reflecting in their eyes. Without hesitation, the two take off, dashing in the direction the four ran towards, running after them as fast as their legs could carry.
"What the hell is wrong with you guys!" Beomgyu angrily screams, sweat drops forming on his temples. He vents his frustration towards those atop the trees.
"Damn it! If they go back there—" Beomgyu doesn't want to think about it. The four of them, all cowards whose brains don't seem to function in fear, cowards who only know to huddle together, the chances of them leaving that space again, whatever it was, feel slim.
They run, following the traces of their fading footprints, but see no sign of the four. They are gone.
"They aren't here?"
"No. I think they really went back." Beomgyu bites his lips as he says.
Huening Kai lets out a deep breath. "They will make it out. We came out once."
.
.
Indeed. It's a familiar scene that the four are seeing. The fluttering white cloth tied into beautiful ribbons, the twisting trees, and the pitch darkness.
"I knew we never left." Yeonjun's voice trembles.
"Where's the rest?" Soobin asks.
"They aren't here." Astra's grip on the two beside her is tight.
"No." Taehyun raises his voice slightly, his wide eyes scanning their surroundings that seem to be enveloped in an oppressive, heavy aura. "It's very different here. We left just now." He's certain that they have left. He buries his head into Soobin's arms, as if coming to terms with their dreadful situation, "And we came back.."
"And only just the four of us."
The four of them squat in a circle, exactly in the middle of the path. "Did anyone see what happened right before we left here previously?" Soobin asks.
"I saw. Huening Kai turned the map, he turned it upright, and right after, there's a sudden white light, then, everything's gone." Astra says.
"Then where's the map?" Soobin asks.
"I don't have the map." Yeonjun says immediately.
"Not me." Astra adds.
Taehyun looks at Soobin, "I don't have it either."
The four of them fall into silence. What now?
Soobin places his hand on his chest, trying to calm his excessively beating heart. "We can't keep staying here. We must do something."
Soobin stands up, with what is akin to 3 baby chicks by his feet. "Get up." The boy says. "Beomgyu and Huening Kai aren't here, we must find another way to leave by ourselves."
Astra's the first to respond. She forces her shaky legs to steady, hitting them a few times to get them to work. Soon Taehyun's up too, "What do we do?"
"Find another way out." Soobin tries to imitate Beomgyu's calm voice. With a click, a white beam pierces through the bright red and towards the path ahead.
The others, despite their fear, listen well. For at this moment, Soobin seems to hold the strongest conviction to lead them out.
Except Yeonjun.
Who still refuses to get up. Soobin blinks at him, merciless, "If you don't get up, we are going to leave you here."
Immediately, Yeonjun's up, whispering, "I will never come back to this island."
Their only way to move is forward. And every step they take forward, the red lights at the back flicker out, forcing them to keep going.
"Are we really supposed to move forward? I feel like we are getting further away." Yeonjun says.
"It's the only path we have right now." Soobin says, walking at the front. "We don't have a choice right now."
As they walk further in, the hanging white cloth remains roughly the same in number but instead takes on a red hue, starting from the bottom, where the red ink gradually spreads upwards.
Every step forward feels wrong, but what other choice do they have?
For Astra, every step seem to prompt some changes in her mindset. She grows bolder, walking at the front alongside Soobin.
"If we die here... do you think we could go back to the original timeline?" Astra asks softly.
Astra can feel Soobin stiffen. The girl smiles, "I think we could."
Taehyun and Soobin don't say anything, but Yeonjun does. He jumps up aggressively, by a sudden burst of courage, and smacks Astra's head. "I never understood what you guys are talking about—" Yeonjun shouts, "But what I know is that if we die here. There would be nothing left."
"Not you." He points. "Not me. And not us." He gestures.
Yeonjun looks Astra in the eye, "So I don't want to die and we aren't going to die."
"Do you understand?" Yeonjun tilts his head, bumping his forehead with Astra. "We are going to get out of here."
Not us.
Right.
Us.
Warmth fills her eyes, suddenly heavy with tears. Astra quickly turns away, wiping her tears with a sleeve. “Understood."
Hearing Astra's confirmation, Yeonjun's charismatic persona immediately shatters, as he ducks behind Soobin's back, "Good, let's go."
Soobin chuckles, agreeing. "Let's go."
Taehyun smiles, the first smile he's shown in this creepy space, and the boy silently tightens his grip on his friends.
And the four continue ahead, with slow but steady steps, watching the white fabric overhead gradually change in colour. It's about the point right before the white cloth hanging on the trees completely turns red, they are stopped by a hoarse voice.
From a girl wearing their school shirt, her hair pulled up in a familiar bun.
"Elle?"
Elle's standing off the path, sitting on the branches of the twisted mess called trees.
Her words ring in their ears as she repeats,
"You shouldn't go further."
Chapter 22: Day 9 - 10
Chapter Text
"It's been 30 minutes." Beomgyu says, his eyes red.
"Elle is not found either." Huening Kai leans against the tree trunk, drained.
"Maybe we should go back—" Huening Kai says, visibly perking up.
"Go back? You want to head down the hill?" Beomgyu asks, his brows furrowed.
"No. Not back there. But back there." Huening Kai points to nowhere in particular, but Beomgyu understands immediately.
There. Where the other four should be now.
"They can get back in. So can we." Huening Kai clutches the map, crinkling it in his hands.
Beomgyu looks at Huening Kai and says, "Are you sure about this? We could possibly be doing something really stupid and pointless."
"I know." Huening Kai grits his teeth, eyes desperately tracing the lines on the map for answers. "But we have to try."
Huening Kai and Beomgyu run around, holding the map upside down, through all the paths the missing four have or would have taken. The two boys had laboured breaths, sweating profusely, their clothes sticking to their skin. But no matter how they tried, it's like they didn't have the key to get back in.
It's the worst-case scenario. They couldn't go back, and the rest remain missing.
"How did you get up on the tree?" Yeonjun had his head tilted up, looking into the trees. On a thin tree branch that looks on the verge of snapping, hangs the weight of a 17-year-old girl. She holds the branch she's sitting on with both hands, eyes peering back at Yeonjun.
"That doesn't matter." Elle replies. Standing up, she pushes her feet against the branch, which surprisingly, doesn't snap, remaining unnaturally still. With a graceful movement akin to a cat's, she leaps off the tree, landing soundlessly beside Yeonjun.
"Where were you?" Soobin asks.
Elle walks slowly towards them, her steps quiet even against the crinkling leaves under her feet. She has her hands behind her back, ignoring Soobin's question. Instead, she asks one of her own, "Why did you guys come back?"
Elle kept walking, past the benches and leaves that covered the path to stand in front of Astra. At this distance, Elle's eyes seem like two black orbs, deep and dark. Astra finds herself inexplicably drawn into it and she can't help thinking that it's just like their path backwards, an endless pitch black hole of nothingness.
"We realized you went missing. So we were looking for you." Astra answers calmly, placing a hand on Elle's shoulders. It's like she's touching a piece of rounded glass, a little cold, a little hard, and feels a little empty.
A lie. They hadn't planned to come back here to look for Elle.
But Elle believed her. Her answer comes back soft, melodious even, "...Really?"
Astra nods. She clenches her fingers into a fist, hiding her shaking hands behind her back.
"I was tying my shoelace—" Elle says, clear tears brimming in her eyes. "I was tying, but it wasn't the pretty tie I wanted", Elle taps her feet on the ground.
"So I took it off and tied it again. But it still wasn't pretty enough. So again and again, I kept tying—" Elle lifts her feet off the floor, showing the intricate looking ribbon tied on her shoelace. The ribbon twirls and folds in two perfect curls— Taehyun's breath hitches in his throat— exactly like how those white cloths are tied on the tree.
"This is what I have now, isn't it really, really pretty?" Elle blinks her widened eyes up at them, smiling widely.
Taehyun grabs Astra's wrist, trembling badly. Sometimes being too observant isn't a good thing.
"It's pretty." comes Yeonjun's sincere answer. "It's really nice."
"Do you guys think Beomgyu will like it?" Elle asks again, pushing her face closer to them.
"Sure, but is that what matters now? We should get back." Soobin waves his hands after giving the ribbon a glance.
Elle's expression hardened. It's like her muscles are locked and stiffened, if one took a closer look, one could see the fine lines of facial muscles pressing against the surface of her skin.
Astra gulps, with a hard pull, she manages to get Soobin behind her, "What do you know, just get back."
"It's really really pretty. Beomgyu will like it." Astra says, a small smile on her lips. She has seen all kinds of small trinkets Beomgyu hangs on his bag, she thinks Beomgyu would have really liked it—if it wasn't for today. If it wasn't for that ribbon's eerie similarity to those exact ribbons on those twisted trees.
"Yes." Elle smiles again. "But it wasn't worth it." A line of tears traces her cheeks. "When I look up, all of you are gone."
Elle gingerly tugs at her shoelace, pulling at the ends. She tugs at it, again and again. With the last tug, she gives a hard pull, her upper body bending backwards in an attempt to unravel the ribbon.
But it doesn't come undone.
"So I was alone in the darkness." Elle continues to speak, her body now bent over at a weird angle.
"You.." Yeonjun finally senses that something isn't right with Elle, "Are you alright?"
But his concern is genuine. Yeonjun steps towards Elle, a soft smile on his face, "It's okay now. We are here."
"Now all we have to do is to go back together."
"Yeonjun—" Taehyun calls out to Yeonjun, who now has a hand on Elle's head, tapping her on the top of her head, comforting her.
Astra pulls Taehyun, shaking her head at him. Taehyun returns a soft nod, his eyes, though, stick to Yeonjun.
Elle smiles, "Alright. I'll show all of you the way back."
"You know the way back? Then why are you still here?" Yeonjun has a confused expression on, giving Elle a disapproving shake of his head.
Elle stares at Yeonjun for a long second, and what looks like a bittersweet smile graces her face. She doesn't answer, but instead, she walks out from the lines dictated by the paths, to a tree decorated with countless red ribbons.
"Elle! Don't get off the path!" Yeonjun shouts, reaching out towards her. But before he could reach her, Elle jumps.
In a jump, she's back sitting on a single branch, smiling and waving at Yeonjun's stunned figure below her.
Elle crosses her legs, reaching out to one of the many fluttering ribbons on the trees. She pulls at the ends of a ribbon, which easily comes loose under the tug of her fingers, unlike her shoelaces, which couldn't be undone; the ribbons on the trees easily unravel.
Elle holds the cloth with two hands, stretching it out. It's red almost all the way, with just a few blotches of white remaining at the very end. She flips it over.
It's like turning a sand clock, where the sand trickles down, slow but constant. The red ink trickles too, back down in the same manner, eventually evaporating from the edges of the cloth till not a speck of red is left.
If at this moment, the four humans present had looked up towards the skies, they would see the ribbons hanging on the tree had all turned back to how they originally were—a pure, striking white.
"Goodbye." Elle suddenly says, the white cloth limply held in her hands.
"Goodbye? Aren't you coming with us?" Yeonjun runs out of the path, standing beneath the tree Elle's sitting on, looking up at her.
Elle tilts her head, and tears of blood run down her cheeks. She turns the cloth. And their world, once again, flickers.
In that split second, Elle's voice is heard, no longer hoarse, no longer ringing or melodious but sounded closest to the tone Elle usually spoke with— a bratty, light-hearted tone.
"It's too late for me."
.
.
And they are back.
Back between normal bare trees devoid of hanging ribbons, where both ends of their paths are well-lit by red lights. At the front though, just a slight distance away, are two men. The two walk together, their voices, amongst the hushed whispers of the nightlife up on the hill are loud, every word bouncing with clarity.
"I knew this group 23 is problematic!" One complains, folding his arms on his waist. "I should have followed right behind!"
"In the morning, two went missing, at night, four went missing, I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up tomorrow and eight of them are missing." He continues, trailing off path and pushing through the vegetation. He takes a deep breath before yelling for the group with missing members, "Group 23!"
It's Robert. The four missing students in question look guiltily at one another.
"Don't joke around." They heard the other man, who had his hands held behind his back. "Missing students are a serious matter, we should think through what's lacking in our program."
That's Ace.
"But the missing students are all from group 23! Of the whole cohort, only they had problems..." Robert's voice grew softer at the end under Ace's silent pressure.
"...Yes. I'll look through it."
"He said 4." Taehyun had caught an important point. But there's supposed to be 5 missing. Not just the four of them. Elle is missing too. Elle was there with them.
"4 missing, then what about Elle?"
"Mr Robert." Taehyun calls softly, not wanting to give the older guy too much of a scare with regards to their sudden appearance.
Still, the middle-aged man jolts, jumping a few feet up in the air. His facial features stretches in fear as he turns back to face them. "Group 23..?"
"Yes." Yeonjun answers.
Robert gulps, pulling down his slightly crumpled shirt. Following Ace, he, too, holds his hands behind his back.
"Looks like we found them."
"No, it was them who found us." Ace corrects, shaking his head.
"Mr Robert, where is Elle?" Taehyun gets straight to the point.
"Elle? Oh, she's back in the tent with your remaining group members." Robert says, pointing his thumb through each and every one of them, "It's good that you are found. But you four had better give me a good explanation."
"When—" Yeonjun takes quick steps forward, now standing before Robert, his voice carrying a light quiver, "When... when was Elle found?"
"About 30 minutes ago? She was unconscious on the floor when we found her, I heard she's awake now. You all can go talk to her yourself." Robert takes a step back from Yeonjun's sudden approach.
"Okay thank you. We will get going now." Soobin pulls his friends away.
"Wait. You four, please go to the infirmary." Ace stops them.
The four of them look at one another, then Astra, with a furrowed eyebrow, asks, "... Is one of our friends in the infirmary?"
Ace sighs, gesturing at their kneecaps. "Look at yourself."
It's a bloody mess, to say the least. Taehyun has it worst, in a big oval shape in the middle of his kneecap, there is no good skin. Instead, there's a patchy, bloody mess stained with soil and dirt, bright red blood trickling down his ankles and staining both his white socks and shoes.
It must have been from their kneeling antics when the four pulled and shuffled together in that place. It wasn't a surprise that their knees ended up this badly. Perhaps under that intense fear, they subconsciously ignored the pain.
Robert looks up at the blank, confused expression of his four students and sincerely wonders if they have some sort of sensory disorder. "How are you four even walking with these nasty scrapes?"
Robert sighs, kneeling before Taehyun, "Boy, you get on my back."
Taehyun shakes his head, pulling back his legs, he points at Astra, "I'm fine. You can carry her instead."
"I'm not sure how you have been walking till now, but if you don't want your leg amputated, you better come up now."
It's a joke. But amputation is just the word needed for Taehyun to come scrambling up on Robert's back.
With the realisation of their injury, it's like their brains are finally connecting the dots, their pain receptors booting up again. Feeling the ache, they started to wobble down, taking slow and careful steps. But there's an exception—Astra. She's still walking as if her knees aren't scraped and bleeding.
After what feels like a decade of trudging at a snail's pace, they finally reach the foot of the hill.
Astra pauses, glancing at her knees, the blood has dried, and the slight burning sensation doesn't bother her anymore. "You guys go to the infirmary. I'll go back to check up on the rest."
"No!" Astra's plan is immediately rejected by Soobin.
"Come with us." From Robert's back, Taehyun turns his head, fixing his widened eyes on her.
"I need to check what's going—" Astra stops herself. The three boys, all staring at her, wore expressions of disapproval, clearly, they weren't convinced. "Alright. Let's go." Again, Astra gives in.
To the infirmary, that's another eternity of snail-paced trudging. Now that Astra has more time to observe her friends, she thought that Soobin and Yeonjun are like a pair of ducks, where instead of human feet, they had webbed duck feet, waddling with short steps that make them sway from side to side, looking absolutely stupid.
Yet the more she observes, the more her feet takes on the same steps, eventually, she's duck walking too, all the way to the front door of the infirmary.
Inside the infirmary, there are currently only two medically trained personnel on duty. Students who bled till the blood could almost form a puddle on their feet, namely Taehyun and Yeonjun, are prioritised.
The two staff shuffled around the infirmary, busy with treating not only their physical states but also the mental states of these troublesome kids. The first insists that she's fine, that it's no big deal, and has been subtly moving around with a light limp to avoid the nurse's attempts to wrap up her leg.
The second ooohs and ahhs every time the cotton swab as much as touches his skin, eyes tightly closed, and leg trembling like a massage chair on vibration mode. It's a highly controlled but intense shaking that turns the simple procedure of cleaning the wound into a high difficulty operation requiring precise hand-eye coordination and fine-motor control, just to remove the dirt and debris in the wound.
The third, despite being second in the priority list for treatment, has only been screaming, complaining of pain, and holding his leg like he's seeing it rot in real time, hurrying the only two nurses, who are both deployed in the second's operation to hold down his shaking leg.
Lastly, the fourth seems like the most obedient patient. Quietly sitting among the chaos, eyes wandering about, like a little innocent bunny amid a group of wild monkeys. They are mistaken.
Instead, he's like a kangaroo, with strong, powerful legs that involuntarily react to provocations. One of his sudden jerks missed one nurse by a hair. The nurse had heard the strong gust of wind as his sharp kick sliced through the air. Number four looks back at her, wide-eyed, shaking his head and mumbling apologies as if he didn't mean that.
It's then that the nurses realised that it's a battlefield here and every patient here is a landmine.
Minutes after it all ended, there are sudden loud pounding sounds.
The glass door rattles furiously under the punches and kicks from Beomgyu and Huening Kai. The 16 and 17 year olds had tears rolling down their cheeks, their cries and screams wrecking the eardrums of Robert, who's standing beside them. Robert is now regretting first informing them that their missing friends are found and in the infirmary.
Because right after, they just ran off. Without a word.
Robert huffs, hands on his knees, his inhales layered with exhaustion. It took a lot out of him to chase the duo. And now, before the infirmary door, they seem on the verge of breaking it down. Robert grits his teeth as he watches their hands and feet slamming against the shaking glass door, its once pristine surface now marked with greasy fingerprints.
The school's property is at stake.
Robert steps before the glass doors, protecting it behind his big build. "Would you two not be so dramatic? Please move so I can open the door." He jingles the keys in his hand.
Beomgyu snatches the keys, right through Robert's fingers.
In the infirmary, much to the nurses' relief, two out of the four landmines have fallen asleep on the spare beds, drained by today's events when the door slams open. Beomgyu and Huening Kai crash into the infirmary like cannonballs, propelling themselves inwards into an area that has only recently regained peace.
Astra's lying on the bed, a blanket covering her from above her knees up to her face.
Beomgyu and Huening Kai immediately had their eyes drawn to the only two bandaged legs visible, hanging out of the blanket.
They thought the owner of those legs was dead.
Huening Kai does a quick scan of the infirmary. Taehyun and Soobin are sitting up on their beds, looking at them with widened eyes.
Yeonjun's sleeping, turned to his side, snoring lightly.
Astra. The two boys scramble towards the bed. With a violent tug, the blanket flutters, pulled to the floor in a swift motion. The girl, pale with her eyes closed had two hands placed neatly on her stomach. Now, the two boys are even more certain.
She's dead.
And their tears come pouring. Beomgyu's cries are loud, shaking, while Huening Kai simply lies his head on her bed, reaching out for Astra's hands, clutching them tightly in his own.
Achoo.
A loud sneeze.
Beomgyu and Huening Kai froze.
"What's wrong with you two? Taking away my blanket and crying so loudly?" Astra snatches away her blanket that Beomgyu just used to wipe his tears. The girl turns and snuggles under her blanket again,
"You guys think I'm dead or something?"
The two boys beside Astra look at each other, both had red puffy eyes, wet cheeks and trembling lips. They turn to the other 3 boys in the infirmary— Yeonjun has woken up, disturbed by the noise.
"She's not dead. Don't worry." Taehyun says in a soft voice.
Soobin and Yeonjun burst out in loud laughter, earning them a glare from one of the nurses by the computer.
Soobin wipes his eyes, looking back towards the direction Beomgyu and Huening Kai once were. But they aren't there anymore. He turns to Taehyun, "Where did they go?"
Taehyun shrugs, "I don't know. They just upped and left."
Minutes later, the infirmary door rattles again, swinging open with a bang. Beomgyu and Huening Kai stand, their faces wiped clean of any traces of tears, looking fresh and jolly.
But there's Astra, who's startled by the sound and had kicked her leg the wrong way, slamming her wound into the metal bed support. Her scream echoes.
The two unlucky staff on duty sigh.
"The two of you, please bring Astra over here." One gestures to Beomgyu and Huening Kai.
Beomgyu and Huening Kai quickly shuffle over, not daring to meet Astra's glare.
Astra's wound has reopened from the impact. The once white bandages gradually deepen into a shade of red. The nurse sighs again. "Why did you go kicking around with your legs like that?"
Astra turns her gaze towards the two boys.
"Sorry." Huening Kai quickly says.
"I'm sorry too." Beomgyu follows.
.
.
The moment it's only them five left in the bright space of the infirmary, when the medical staff left for their break, Astra immediately turns to Beomgyu and Huening Kai, "Elle is back at our camp?"
"Yes." Huening Kai answers, "She's there with the rest."
"Did she say anything?" Soobin asks.
"Like how she got separated from us?" Beomgyu pushes Astra's leg to the side, sitting down on her bed.
"She said she lost us early on. She got distracted, and when she wanted to look for us, we were already gone. Then, she got frightened by the ghost actors and fainted." Beomgyu continues.
"Then did you ask if she was in the same place we were?"
"Yeah. I asked if she saw white ribbons hanging on the trees—" Beomgyu blinks, noticing that the four are staring at him oddly.
"She didn't even know what I was talking about."
"That's impossible." Soobin exclaims.
"The second time, we saw her in there." Yeonjun continues, "She's the one who led us out. And she said something—" Yeonjun scratches his head, grimacing. "She said—"
When Yeonjun paused, Taehyun continues, reciting what Elle said, word for word, "It's too late for me."
"Too late? Too late for what?"
"Too late to leave." Taehyun says. "That's what I'm thinking."
"What? But she's been here all along, she has never been there."
"Does that mean that the Elle we saw there wasn't her?"
"Likely." Taehyun lowers his eyes.
Soobin claps his hands, turning to Beomgyu, "You said you saw another you at the weird rock! Perhaps that Elle is the other her."
"Maybe. But that Elle has her memory. She recognises us and even asked about Beomgyu."
"She asked about me?" Beomgyu's mouth opens, "What did she say?"
"She tied a ribbon on her shoelaces and asked if you would like it." Astra replies.
Beomgyu gulps.
"That Beomgyu that day was dressed differently, and his hair was different too. But the Elle we saw there, she's exactly the same." Astra says.
"What exactly happened there?"
"Without her help, we would probably never make it out." Soobin presses his palms on his knees.
.
.
.
In the girls' tent, 3 girls crowd around Elle.
Elle's shivering under her sleeping bag. "I was so scared." The girl says, "All of you left me behind!"
Elle starts to get hysterical. "None of you remembered me! Nobody remembers, nobody came back to save me."
"I was alone on the hill! It was dark, so, so dark..."
Astra pulls Elle into a hug, silencing her cries. "It's alright. We remembered you, we went back to look for you, aren't we all here now?"
Veronica and Felicia follow in, hugging Elle close. That night, the four girls slept snuggled to one another, side by side, hand in hand.
.
.
Meanwhile, in the boys' tent, Dominic's getting eyed by the other five.
"What?" Dominic asks, now backed into a corner by the boys who sit in a semicircle surrounding him.
"Do you like Astra?" Taehyun asks, straightforward.
"... What..?" Dominic leans back in a defensive posture.
"So you do like her." Beomgyu continues, folding his arms. "We figured as much."
"How—" Dominic twiddles his fingers together, "Did you all know?"
"Just know that we know." Huening Kai smiles, albeit menacingly.
"And that we don't agree." Soobin places his hand on Dominic's shoulders.
Dominic found it funny. "Who are you to agree or disagree?"
Taehyun laughs lightly, his teeth looking sharper than usual, "We are her closest friends."
"What are you trying to say?"
Yeonjun leans in, suddenly finding this situation fun. His sharp features naturally gave him an evil aura, and as he narrows his eyes, he proves an intimidating sight, "We are saying you should stop trying to stick with Astra."
Dominic scoffs. "Why? You guys like her or something?"
"Yes." Taehyun smiles lightly, answering without hesitation.
"But not in the way you like her." Taehyun continues.
"She's an important friend."
"And perhaps you should know, she doesn't like you." Soobin adds on.
Dominic stands up, “I'll pretend this conversation never happened."
05:28
In the girls' tent, under the soft hum of the night and the small, Astra opens her eyes. Her eyes are bright, with no trace of sleepiness. Slowly, her eyes trail down to her neck, where Felicia had flopped an arm across her shoulders. Astra squirms, carefully removing the arm that has crossed into her space.
With the hand out of the way, Astra sits up, getting on her knees. Unlike their stuffy tent filled with the musty human scents and breath, the outside seen through a small opening in the tent, where a cool gentle breeze drifts in, accompanied by a beam of the moon, seems like paradise.
Astra gets on all fours, crawling through the tangles of limbs obstructing her way out of the small tent. Slowly, she pulls the zip down, greeted by a refreshing gust of wind that carries her hair flying behind her.
Pushing against the wind, Astra steps out, settling her gaze on the night sky, on the countless twinkling stars scattered across. it's like a routine now, every since she started having the dream of the falling stars, stars started to hold a very strange attraction to her. And she stares for a long time, her gaze jumping from star to star.
"It's beautiful." Astra mumbles as she picks up her bag. She opens it, rummaging through the contents. "All here."
Astra sets off. There's gazebo near their camp, fitted with leathers seats, a wooden flooring and a perfect view of the sky.
That's where Astra is heading. She climbs up the steps to the gazebo and places her bag down. She lies down on the leather seats, placing her bag underneath her head. Finally, she closes her eyes.
She sleeps again.
The stars are falling.
And she's lying on the soft grass, her head cushioned behind her arms, watching them fall.
Time seems to pass slowly as her eyes follow the stars, scattered throughout the inky black skies converging upon her. All the stars, their lights, cascading, falling, all down towards a single point.
But somehow, she's happy.
A feeling like everything's now falling back to its rightful place.
She smiles and, for the first time, through nine dreams, she closes her eyes, no longer staring at the stars.
Her heart thumps. She couldn't see the stars, but she could feel her heart thumping. She could feel the gentle caress from the blades of the swaying grass.
And she knows. She knows the stars are flickering overhead.
Then, she wakes up. Astra lifts her bag, pulling out pen and paper.
"Astra!" The girl could hear her name being called. Astra frowns and doesn't respond. Instead, she gets her pen, one hand on her heart, waiting for it to start—
That damned pain.
Chapter 23: Day 10
Chapter Text
Yeonjun had a dream. He's talking with his friends, their laughter loud. They are all smiling, and he is, too. Their steps fall together, walking at the same pace. But he wants to speed up. He wants to be at the forefront, leading the group, paving the way forward for them, and lighting their path. So he takes bigger, faster steps. But the faster he tries to walk, the more he thinks about wanting to go faster, the more a counterforce exists, it coils around his feet, pulling him back.
His friends overtake him, walking past all together at once, their steps in synchronisation, their peals of happiness ringing in his ears, leaving him behind. Together with their steps, light seems to leave with them, and Yeonjun finds himself plunged into a gradual darkness. He opens his mouth to speak, to ask his friends to wait for him.
But he can't. He lost his voice.
Yeonjun reaches out, desperately pulling at his feet, chained down to the floor.
Why aren't his legs working? Why can't he go forward?
He needs to catch up with them. He—
"Yeonjun!" He hears Taehyun.
Taehyun's calling him. A crack of a smile pulls on his downturned lips, and he stretches forward, falling to the ground, trying to grapple with whatever is holding him down. He touches his legs.
Ah.
Where are they?
"Yeonjun!" He hears Taehyun again.
But Yeonjun doesn't respond. His hands are searching up and down, looking for his legs.
Why can't I find it?
"Yeonjun!" Another call that Yeonjun doesn't respond to, now with tears tracing his cheeks.
"Yeonjun!"
A shake.
Yeonjun sits up, eyes wide open. Taehyun is kneeling before him, hands on his stomach, shaking him.
"I'm sorry." Yeonjun says, still immersed in his dream, "I couldn't—"
"What?" Taehyun cuts him off, frowning, "Astra is missing!" He says, his big eyes wide and worried. He's swinging his upper body back and forth as if he couldn't wait to dash off to find the girl in question.
"Huh?" Yeonjun blinks and reality rushes back to him, his fingers run forward, grasping his legs under the cover of the sleeping bag.
It's a dream.
He breathes out, wiping at the sweat that has formed on his forehead. "Astra's missing?" Yeonjun asks, eyes shifting through the tiny tent where six boys of Group 23 slept, still processing his reality. All of them are here, all except Huening Kai.
"Here's the thing." Taehyun begins, "When Astra has these dreams about the stars, it will hurt her a lot." Taehyun scratches his neck, "It usually happens around this time, I went to look for her." Taehyun's scratching faster, his neck starting to turn red, "But she's not in the tent, I can't find her—"
Beomgyu grabs Taehyun's wrist, stopping him from harrassing his neck. "So you want our help to find her?"
Taehyun's hands fall weakly, "Yes."
And so off Yeonjun goes, after ignoring Dominic's question of, "What the hell are you all talking about?"
The boys split in different directions, and Yeonjun is due south of their camp. He runs, checking every nook and cranny that a person could possibly hide. And when he approaches the gazebo, peeking in, he sees her. She's curled on the floor. It's no exaggeration to say she looks like a cooked shrimp. She's gritting his teeth, her frame trembling, and sweat clinging to every surface of her skin. Yeonjun had the urge to haul Astra up, carry him on his shoulders, and bang down the infirmary to get her checked up. And he does. Yeonjun runs up, yet as he gets closer to her, he pauses.
She's doodling something on paper. She doodles and pauses, doodles and pauses. Soon, strange lines and dots fill the paper, even through the ungodly handwriting, Yeonjun recognised it. It's what the group has been talking about—Morse code.
It will hurt her a lot. Taehyun's words came to mind. Yeonjun thinks he understands a little more now. He chews on his lips, kneeling beside Astra, fingers gently brushing away the hair sticking to her forehead.
So this was what they meant.
And suddenly their group chat, -Decoding the stars- feels less like his daily fortune telling session and instead, something much more meaningful. Yeonjun digs into his pocket, retrieving a packet of tissues. He pulls out a piece, folding his legs beside Astra. Quietly, he wipes away the sweat that forms on her face before it could drip on her paper.
The girl notices his presence— a little too late, Yeonjun notes. In the midst of all her pain, Yeonjun notices Astra give him a little nod, a grateful one, probably. And he starts to think back on all the information carelessly exposed to him by his juniors that he had never once thought to consider. About time-travelling, about them, about this world. Yeonjun takes a long look at Astra, staring at her eyes, bright and burning with an unwavering focus on the paper she clutches tightly in her fingers.
And for the first time, he believes that it wasn't his juniors that are crazy. It's this world. This world of hidden messages, where the stars fall, where timelines twist, and where pain like this exists.
It's the world that has gone mad.
Fuck.
Yeonjun, a boy with a tough exterior paired with a glass heart, starts to tear. The words they once spoke starts to rush back towards him. The idea of six years of memories that only Astra remembers— he thinks that she's a very lonely soul. He's too busy trying to silence himself as he wipes Astra's sweat through his tear-filled vision that he doesn't notice, but a tear drop escapes and lands on Astra's fingers. The teardrop is warm against the cold night, unmistakable even through all her pain.
Astra stiffens. And like she had Huening Kai the day before, she tries to reassure Yeonjun in the same way, "I'm okay."
The effect is shit. It backfires. Again.
The older boy bursts into loud cries, and he's starting to babble. Like his tears, his words rush out like a broken dam, "You aren't okay. Don't pretend to be okay. You are in a lot of pain right now. Yes you must be. How do you go through this every morning when you wake up? Why are you even hiding here? What are you trying to do? Do you know that everyone is up now? Everyone is looking for you—"
The rest is omitted.
Yeonjun cries, though, does attract attention, his friends start to gather around him, but Yeonjun doesn't care to maintain his reputation, crying loudly, pouring out all his raw emotions and words, mixing it with his tears to create a chain reaction of bubbling emotions among the listeners, yet before their tears had the chance to gather, all is interrupted by Dominic's loud, booming voice,
"Why aren't you guys bringing her to the infirmary instead of standing around like this?" The boy pushes away Taehyun and Beomgyu, who stood in his way. Before the rest could react, Dominic had his arms around Astra and had pulled her up. Her pen and paper fall out of her grasp. Her eyes widen in panic, shifting towards Taehyun, conveying a silent message.
She isn't done. She isn't done writing. Her heart's still thumping oddly, sending her important clues that she must decode. Ones that she must record.
She closes her eyes, trying to engrave the beats into memory through the squeezing pain.
"Huening Kai." Taehyun calls, and the younger immediately responds. Huening Kai wraps his arms around Dominic, his bigger frame enveloping him completely, rendering Dominic rather helpless. Taehyun quickly pulls Astra away, placing her gently back down on the leather seat, pushing the pen and paper gently back in her clenched fingers.
Feeling the pen against her skin, her fingers leap into action, scribbling across the thin paper just before her memory eludes her. Seconds pass, her fingers scurrying across the paper, her pen jolting like a race against time. Finally, she lifts her pen. She's done.
With practised motions, just before her asthma had a chance to knock on her door, she pushes her inhaler through her lips.
Puff
A few more minutes later, she's jumping around, passing to Taehyun a paper with one hand, "Here. It's your job now."
"I can't read your handwriting—" Taehyun stops himself. He blinks, taking another look at the piece of paper forcefully pushed into his palms. He blinks again.
Wow.
He understands.
His eyes must have gradually learnt to adapt to even Astra's standard of writing. Indeed, as expected of me.
Taehyun takes the paper. "Okay."
Astra grins, passing by Dominic, who had a bewildered expression on his face, "All is good." She says, flexing the non-existent muscles on her arms.
Today marks the last day for the first years in Sander's Island. When the time came to leave, many students lingered at the back, their eyes gleaming with fond memories of the island, regardless of all the bad experiences they had. The first years in Group 23 are the exceptions, among their peers strolling up to pick up their bags, they rush up front, racing amongst themselves.
As per Astra and Dominic's agreement to exchange bags, Dominic doesn't take his own bag sitting at the back of the line, instead, his eyes turn, searching for Astra's bag. But Huening Kai is a step faster. With big steps, he hurls up a chunky bag, unmistakably Astra's. "It's alright." He smiles sweetly at Dominic, "We will carry her bag."
Shamelessly, Huening Kai proceeds to walk to Taehyun, dumping her bag on him, offering a trade that sounded more like a demand, "Give me your bag."
"You want me to carry the heaviest bag?" Taehyun asks.
Huening Kai nods, pushing a thumbs-up. "You are the strongest."
"But I don't want to."
Huening Kai sulks, his shoulders hunching over as he retrieves Astra's bag, feebly tugging the strap over his shoulders. He struts towards Astra, who's still in line to get her phone.
Taehyun follows, a light smile on his lips as he pulls her bag back from Huening Kai's shoulders, throwing his own bag to Huening Kai.
Huening Kai catches it, a bright smile curving on his lips. He cradles his face in his hands, saying in a cutesy tone, "Oh! I knew Taehyun likes me the most!"
Taehyun holds the bag back to Huening Kai, "I'm regretting it now."
Huening Kai wraps his arms around Taehyun, his voice and posture back to normal. "Let's go."
.
.
"Astra, Year 1A" Astra reports her name the the lady rummaging through a big cardboard box of phones.
"A moment, please."
"You—" Astra spots Taehyun and Huening Kai.
Huening Kai swaggers over, throwing his bag to Astra. Instinctively, Astra catches it, her eyes wide, "Why—"
Then she sees her bag on Taehyun's shoulders. She gulps, her eyes shifting.
"Found it." The lady pulls out a phone from the cardboard box. Without waiting for her to pass it over, Astra reaches over, grabbing her phone from her hand, "Thank you!"
And she runs.
Huening Kai blinks, fingers following Astra's running figure, "Hey! Where are you going?"
Taehyun purses his lips, giving the bag on his back a loud smack, "She's running from her bag."
"Astra!" Huening Kai calls out after her, somewhat speechless, "Taehyun will carry your bag for you! Why the hell are you running?”
She stops. When she turns around, the two boys see a wide grin stretching across her face. She jogs back to Taehyun and Huening Kai, maintaining that silly smile, "Really?"
"Don't make me regret this." Taehyun narrows his eyes.
"No sir. Never sir. Please." Astra waves her hand dramatically, "Let's get onboard, sir."
Therefore, Taehyun walks at the front, while Taehyun's attendants, Huening Kai and Astra, humbly follow behind him.
"Get the window seats." The first step taken onboard the ship, Taehyun lifts his finger, directing his two attendants.
"Immediately, sir." Astra runs, grabbing Huening Kai by his wrists, pulling him with her. At the back, Taehyun watches in amusement as the two dash past rows of chairs, "Sir!" Huening Kai shouts, "Window seats secured!"
With both hands behind his back, Taehyun leisurely walks towards Huening Kai and Astra, who had their heads lowered, arms swept forward to clear the way for him, as if they have laid out a red carpet for him.
"..." This is the sight that Soobin and Yeonjun see when they step in, right by the entrance.
"What are you guys doing?"
"Pfttt."
The three first-years turn to look, all frowning. Huening Kai asks, "Why are you guys here?"
Soobin pulls up his pants, showing his knees, "Injury."
Yeonjun follows Soobin, also pulling up his long pants, "Injury."
Astra eyes the bandage revealed underneath their long pants. The exact same ones she had. Except the two are proudly showing it off like medals of honour, "You can skip camp with that minor, surface injury?"
"No no no no." Soobin shakes his index finger, "I called my mum and cried."
Astra turns to Yeonjun, eyes wide. Yeonjun lowers his head, his cheeks alit with a suspiciously red tint.
Soobin answers for Yeonjun, "He called his dad and cried."
"..." Yeonjun straightens his hand, quickly launching a neck slice towards Soobin, who shrinks away, "Why? What's wrong? It's a fact."
"Then what about Beomgyu?" Huening Kai asks.
Yeonjun's smile returns at the thought of Beomgyu, "Where else? He's stuck in there for another 2 days." He chuckles, recalling Beomgyu's annoyed screams when he wasn't given permission to skip camp. The boy had complained in front of Robert, Soobin, and Yeonjun, "I should have just scraped my knee too! Why the hell do I have to stay here when those two can leave?"
Robert had asked, with a raised brow, "Are you injured?"
Without hesitation, Beomgyu replied, "Yes."
And when asked where, Beomgyu touches his chest. "My heart is injured. It's not a visible wound."
And then, there was no more ‘and then’—Beomgyu was sent back to his group, set to finish his remaining stay in Sander's Island.
"Let's sit together." Soobin says, pushing past Huening Kai who's staring blankly at him, occupying the window seat he has specially reserved for Taehyun.
Huening Kai complains, "Sir! Beanpole has taken your seat!"
Soobin jolts. But soon, beanpole settles down, "Why? Jealous of my height?"
Huening Kai doesn't answer, he just looks at Taehyun.
"It's alright. Let beanpole have my seat." Taehyun nods.
"You jealous of my height too?" Soobin scoffs.
Taehyun's eyes turn to Soobin. A second of eye contact and a small nod later, Taehyun smiles. The next moment, under the collective teamwork of Taehyun and his two attendants, Soobin is forced out of the window seat.
He grumbles.
Following the ship ride is the long bus ride. The moment the bus pulls over, Huening Kai and Taehyun run to the front, cutting the queues of all 30 or so students in class 1A. A boy at the front raises his hand, wanting to complain about the mannerless behaviour of his two peers.
Taehyun turns, like he had eyes on the back of his head, with a smile, he raises his fist.
...
And therefore, the alpha male of class 1A once again reigns over the class with his iron fist. Led by Taehyun, the two boys blocked off all 5 back seats on the bus. Everyone stared, but no one dared to object to their barbaric behaviour.
"Astra! Over here!" Huening Kai waves his hand.
Astra turns her head away, not wanting to admit knowing these two fiends acting like mountain bandits.
Taehyun smiles, raising his hand, "Grab her!"
"Yes sir!" Huening Kai pulls her over, forcing her to take the seat at the back.
Soobin and Yeonjun, who had requested to take class 1A's bus to be with their juniors squeezed over, taking the other two seats at the back. And so the back row, perfectly controlled by Taehyun, sits Yeonjun, Soobin, Huening Kai, Taehyun, and Astra respectively.
20 minutes after the bus has driven into the expressway, Taehyun reaches into his side pocket, taking out the paper Astra handed him this morning, filled with cryptic scrawls of dots and lines. Other than Taehyun, the other four had their eyes closed, all catching up on their lost sleep.
Taehyun pulls out his notebook, tearing out a piece of paper and spreading it across his thighs. He begins deciphering the dots and lines, one at a time.
The bus shakes, and an added weight falls on Taehyun's left shoulder—Huening Kai's head. Taehyun blinks, patting Huening Kai's head, pushing his hair away before he gets back to his translating work.
It's another 10 minutes before he stops, the tip of his pen tracing the letters on his paper, "Star wakes." Right as he mumbles, another head drops on his right shoulder. Astra's.
Taehyun sighs. He now had no space to turn, his left blocked by Huening Kai and the right blocked by Astra, both lying on the crook of his neck, pinning him in the middle, stuck and used as a human pillow.
Taehyun contemplates whether he should push both of them off.
He doesn't.
Taehyun taps on his phone, opening up their -Decoding the Stars- group chat and sending all the translations that he has yet to send in. When that's done, Taehyun puts down his phone, shifting slightly to slide it into his pocket. With a soft yawn, Taehyun leans his head back, closing his eyes.
When he opens his eyes again, the first thing he sees are Astra's eyes. She had earpieces plugged into her ears, looking out the window, head tilted up to the sky.
Taehyun follows her gaze. Today, the sky lights up in a brilliant blue, softened by the fluffy white clouds filling the skies. The sun— Taehyun winces, rubbing his eyes—The sun is too bright today.
Astra pulls off her earpiece and looks at Taehyun, "You are awake."
It's now that Taehyun realises that his vision is tilted a little oddly, not in an upright position, he's lying on Astra's shoulders.
"Good sleep?" She asks.
Taehyun nods.
"Good." Astra grins, rubbing her shoulders, "Now you owe me bread."
"Then it's cancelled off." Taehyun says.
"Why?"
"Because you slept on my shoulders too." He turns his shoulders, still feeling a little sore.
Astra clicks her tongue while Taehyun turns to Huening Kai, whose fingers are swiping aggressively across the screen, eyes wide with concentration. Taehyun pokes his arm, "You owe me bread."
"Eh?" Huening Kai answers, his focus still locked on his game.
"I lent you my shoulders for sleeping just now."
"Fine."
When Huening Kai's match ended, he placed his phone down, staring ahead blankly for a few seconds. He turns to Taehyun, then back to himself, then to Soobin, who's sleeping on his shoulder. Huening Kai grins, holding up his phone, he exits his game screen and opens the camera, taking a selfie of Soobin sleeping on his shoulder, and by default, Yeonjun, who's sleeping on Soobin.
Huening Kai sends the picture into their group chat with the following text, "Unless I don't owe Taehyun for sleeping on his shoulder, Soobin owes me bread."
With his evidence up, Huening Kai resumes his game.
More minutes later, Soobin wakes up, sees Huening Kai's message, and hits copy. Without a change in his expression, he edits it before sending the fellowing message, "Unless I don't owe Huening Kai for sleeping on his shoulder, Yeonjun owes me bread."
Beomgyu is riding against the wind, his hair fluttering backwards as he paddles as hard as he could, pressured by the voice calling behind him.
Elle's voice.
"Beomgyu!"
Shit.
Elle is weird. She's still following him around, but now for different reasons. Elle would now ask him about Astra, Veronica, and Felicia. She would ask what they are like, how are they doing, how did you get to meet them, where do they live...
She has ticked off all the boxes in Beomgyu's 'How to identify a stalker checklist'.
Whenever Beomgyu ignores or tries to avoid Elle's question, her face would turn dark, and she would start mumbling to herself, with an intensity Beomgyu found chilling, "You are ignoring me, you are ignoring me, you are ignoring me—"
Beomgyu sighs. He stamps his feet on the floor, the bike skidding to a stop. Turning back, he watches as Elle's bike rushes towards him, but he doesn't flinch.
Her bike stops right before the tyres crush Beomgyu's feet. But he doesn't even blink now, already growing used to it.
"Where does—"
"Even if I knew, I can't tell you that. These are personal information." Beomgyu cuts her off.
Elle's reaction is a lot milder than Beomgyu had expected. He really should have done this from the beginning. "Oh. Is that so?" Elle turns her bike and cycles away, "Okay."
Beomgyu watches Elle leaving with her bike, and his eyes narrow.
Something is definitely wrong with her.
"Star wakes"
Thinking of stars reminds Astra of the countless flickering stars in her dream, hurtling down towards the ground— towards her.
Astra remembers the crippling fear that overcomes her when she wakes up to a realisation that the stars were inching closer to her. These stars, once tiny white dots in the sky, are now massive threats whittling towards her. As if from the very beginning, from the first day, the stars had aimed to crush her.
But why? Is it because she isn't supposed to be 6 years back in time? She's an abnormally that shouldn't exist?
Astra has been waking up before the stars hit the ground— but with each night, with each dream, the falling stars get closer. And one day, one day in the near future, the stars will crush her before she can wake up.
Perhaps when that day comes, this her, the Astra with 22 years worth of memories, would disappear.
It must be a countdown.
A countdown towards the time she has left here. This must be what the dream meant. The stars wakes, flickers, falls, and ends her time here.
With the disappearance of herself, the abnormality, everything will indeed return to normal, all back to its rightful place.
To how it should have been.
Astra closes her eyes. She just hopes she has enough time.
"Are you thinking about something?" Taehyun's voice snaps Astra out from her thoughts.
"I'm just thinking about how we could go back to our original timeline." Astra lies.
"Oh." Taehyun lowers his head.
"Have you ever thought—" Taehyun's doe eyes peer into hers, staring straight, as if he's searching, looking for something inside. "What if we don't want to go back?"
Don't want to go back? Why?
Why would they want to be stuck in a timeline that isn't theirs?
"You don't understand," Astra replies, waving her hands with exaggeration. "You all were global stars in the original timeline, with millions of fans!"
"You guys shouldn't be stuck here!" She exclaims.
If she's gone but the TXT members are somehow still stuck here, she hopes they will try to find a way to return to their original timeline.
For it's in their original timeline where they shone the brightest.
"Oh." Taehyun gives a curt reply, leaning backwards. He closes his eyes, shutting away the sorrow and disappointment swirling within.
.
.
.
"You don't update about your dreams anymore." Taehyun says the moment they got off the bus.
My dreams? Yeah getting worse for sure.
"Because nothing changes. It's still dumb me staring up at the falling stars." Astra shrugs as she walks ahead, grabbing Huening Kai's bag.
Taehyun places a hand on her shoulder, following after her, trying to match her pace, "What about the stars? I told you to see if it's falling closer."
"It isn't falling closer." Astra answers quickly. She pats Taehyun's shoulders, "Remember to take my bag!" and she walks up ahead, calling Veronica's name.
Taehyun's steps slow, coming to a gradual stop. He looks at his hands, and a feeling of helplessness overwhelms him. It feels like everything is slipping through his grasp, falling into a void he has no answers to.
Soobin steps off the bus, seeing Taehyun standing in place. He walks to him, following Taehyun's empty gaze to Astra, now walking beside Veronica in the distance.
"Something happened?"
"She's lying again." Taehyun says to Soobin beside him.
"Why?"
"She said it was very far away and that she couldn't tell the last time." Taehyun scratches his neck. "How can she be so certain that it isn't falling closer now?"
"She's always lying to me." Taehyun's voice cracks.
Soobin blinks. Is Taehyun one so easily shaken? He had thought this boy to be a tough nut in and out. It's only during times like this that Soobin can see that Taehyun's still 2 years younger than him.
"Are you upset?" When he asked this question, Soobin had really expected Taehyun to wipe his face, say no, and walk away. Yet it seems like people are all contradictory beings, ones that can never be understood from the surface.
"Yes." Taehyun truthfully answers. "She's hiding something again. I don't like it."
Huening Kai shuffles in his spot, looking at Yeonjun, who's also awkwardly standing by Taehyun and Soobin. Both of them felt like they had intruded in a moment they shouldn't.
Still, because he cared, Huening Kai had to ask, "What did Astra say?"
"She said she's thinking about going back to the original timeline." Taehyun answers plainly.
The three boys gulp. So that's why.
"I feel like—" Taehyun begins, "She doesn't see us as friends."
“She wants to go back to the original timeline?” Soobin asks. The word 'original' bounces off awkwardly on his tongue. He couldn't relate to it at all. To him, the 'original timeline' that Astra is always on about, their fancy lives that she talked about, is like a fairytale. A story far, far away.
“Yes.”
“Then do you want to go back?” Soobin asks softly, “To the timeline that she painted, "All five of us, rich, loved, and chasing our dreams.”
“No.” Taehyun doesn't hesitate, his eyes as clear as the blue skies overhead. “I don’t want to. I like it like this. I want things to remain as they are.”
“That’s also what I was thinking.” Soobin nods. He turns to Huening Kai and Yeonjun, he doesn’t say a word, just stares at them, waiting.
Huening Kai shakes his head, "I..." He begins, wrapping his arms around Taehyun, "I just want to stay with all of you."
Yeonjun grins, “I want to stay in the life that I know I built.”
“Then it's settled.” Soobin ruffles Taehyun’s hair, an evil grin cuts his lips. “She wants to go back but we don’t, what else can she do but to suck it up?”
Taehyun’s eyes light up, “but—”
“Don’t think too much.” Soobin cuts Taehyun off. “We just have to stick her by our side.”
A shout shatters their moment.
“Hey! The four of you at the back! Don’t want to go home?” On the bus, she had been desperately holding her business in, now that she's done with her toilet business, she skips across the floor, excited at the thought of going home. “Taehyun, you owe me bread!”
Soobin stretches his arms around the three boys as he watches Astra run towards them, whispering a soft promise, “Then we will still be together, every tomorrow, the six of us.”
Day 10:
... - .- .-. / .-- .- -.- . ...
Chapter 24: Day 10 (Extra)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
It's weird how youngsters think these days.
The woman at the snack store observes the five students before her. Instead of buying their own bread, they are having others buy for them and then immediately turning around to buy for another.
Usually, it would have been simple. Usually, she would ask, 'What are you getting?'
A student would say, 'Chocolate bread.'
And then she grabs the bread, puts it in a paper bag, money is paid, and the transaction is completed.
But today, with these five, it went a little weirdly.
“What are you getting?” She asks.
Then boy 1—Yeonjun would ask boy 2—Soobin, “Which one do you want?”
Boy 2 points at the custard bread. The lady retrieves the bread, puts it in a paper bag, money is paid, and the first transaction is completed.
Then boy 2 would move up the line, he would ask boy 3—Huening Kai, “What about you, what do you want?”
And this loops. The lady wonders why they are paying backwards in this troublesome manner instead of simply getting their own.
The lady watches as the five leave her stall behind, walking towards the school gates. They walk closely together, hands randomly looped against one another, their laughter light and cheery, like the first birdsong when day breaks.
“This is probably what youth means.” She mumbles, wrinkled eyes filling with nostalgia.
Notes:
This was originally supposed to be in the previous chapter, but I wanted to end the previous chapter with Soobin's quote, and since this content is filler anyway, I placed it here :)
Chapter 25: Day 11
Chapter Text
06:21
Once again, the same routine. Suffering. Writing. Suffering. Inhaler. Breathe.
...
How many more days left?
Astra gets up from her bed, wearily lifting her legs when her phone buzzes. She checks her phone, a message from their group chat, or more specifically, Yeonjun,
"Checking if Astra is alive. If you are, please reply in 20 minutes or I'll be calling the police."
Astra smiles weakly, typing,
"Alive and up."
The girl walks to the toilet, pulling out her toothbrush, and she starts brushing her teeth, starting from the bottom left, up down, up down—
Click.
The bathroom lights flash, lighting the dark space into a sudden whiteness. Astra flinches, her eyes squinting instinctively, struggling to adjust to the brightness.
"What are you standing in the toilet like a ghost? Turn on the lights!" It's her mother.
Astra groans, turning her gaze to the mirror. Her reflection in the mirror looks back at her, messy hair, heavy eye bags, and dead-fish eyes. The girl smiles.
"Me?" In her daze, Astra whispers, her toothbrush dropping from her mouth into the sink with a light clank. She doesn't mind it, instead, she reaches a hand towards the mirror. Do I look like this now? I look horrible.
She paused, noticing a long, bloody gash on her neck.
Cough.
Astra's eyes widen, even as they have yet to adapt to the light. The mirror ripples, and from the girl's lips pours out bright red blood. Her hands tremble, feeling something sticky and warm on them. Astra looks down in panic, her hands now stained by her— No. She corrects herself.
It's my blood.
Astra could smell it, the strong metallic smell of iron. She watches as the girl in the mirror opens her lips, her voice hoarse, gurgling, and eyes desperate, she wasn't just a reflection,
"Save yourself—"
Panic.
Confusion and horror at the current situation caused her to be seized by panic. She steps back, wanting to run, when she trips over a pail. Astra stumbles and falls, hitting her head on the edge of the door.
Bang!
A sharp pain burns through her head, throbbing along with her heartbeat, heavy, loud, and excruciatingly painful. Astra lies on the cold floor as her mother barges into the room, "What's wrong?"
"Astra!" Her mother runs forward and grabs her hands, horrified, "Why do you have so much blood on your hands? What happened?"
Astra's eyes shift towards her mother, her lips tremble as she sees her mother's face filled with concern, "Mum." She stutters out, wet tears falling from her eyes,
"I'm scared."
She closes her eyes.
The sun could be seen a little now, just barely peeking over the horizon, and Huening Kai is still waiting under the streetlights. The boy looks towards Astra's house every now and then, but he doesn't see anyone coming down. He has been waiting for 30 minutes, he's already late.
Huening Kai texts Astra, again.
"Hey! Where are you? I'm still waiting below your block."
Huening Kai waits another 5 minutes. Still no sign of Astra and no reply. With a last glance at the building behind him, he turns and immediately runs off to school. She must have ditched him here and went to school by herself. Huening Kai swears he will give her a big wallop when he sees her.
But.
She wasn't at school.
The seat beside Taehyun is empty. It has been roughly an hour since class started and there remains no news from Astra ever since the text around 6 in the morning.
Worried, Taehyun pulls out his phone and texts Astra, even daring to call her whilst class is still ongoing, though, a reply never came back.
Their group chat is raging. Even Beomgyu's online, somehow managing to convince Robert to return his phone.
"She's still not in class?" Yeonjun texts.
"Yes." Huening Kai answers. "I didn't see her come down today either."
"That means she could still be asleep." Soobin texts.
"But she replied in the morning!" Beomgyu forwards Astra's reply back into notice.
"Either she fell back asleep or something happened." Soobin reply came back fast.
"Let's skip school today." Taehyun suggests. "Then go knock down her door."
"Okay." Beomgyu replies.
"Aren't you still on that island?" Yeonjun questions.
"I'll skip the island."
"Right. I'll skip school, only I'll go, and then I'll update the rest of you." Soobin texts.
"I want to go too!" Huening Kai protests.
Taehyun types into the phone, "I want to go."
"If everyone goes, we’ll all get into big shit."
Taehyun frowns and he types, "I will go—" Before he could finish typing, his phone rings. It's Astra's number. He quickly swipes to answer, raising his hand.
"Yes. Taehyun."
"Can I go to the toilet? It's urgent."
Mrs Thon waves her hand, "Go."
Taehyun runs out of the classroom. And the moment he left he cautiously presses his phone to his ear, "Astra?"
"Yep. Sorry for missing your calls. Something happened. But I'm fine."
"What happened?"
"You won't believe me." Astra replies.
"I will. I might not in the past, but I will now." Taehyun says firmly. "Just tell me, or I'll tell everyone that you went to the hospital—"
"Eh?" Came Astra's shocked voice. "How do you know?"
There's a long silence from Taehyun's end.
"... You are really at the hospital?"
Damn.
"I—”
Astra's next words are cut off by Taehyun, "Which hospital?"
"State North Hospital." Astra quickly answers. "Anyways, tell Huening Kai I'm sorry for making him wait so long and tell the rest I am good now. Nothing big, it was just my mom making a fuss and making me stay here, I'll be back in school tomo—"
Astra's cut off again. "What happened?"
"Can't you let me finish what I want to—"
"No. So what happened?"
"This morning, I woke up. Then you know, the usual. Then, when I went to the toilet—"
Astra's chirpy voice falters and Taehyun could hear her deep breaths and the tremble her voice gained, like she's suppressing a heavy fear.
"It's okay." Taehyun’s sigh cuts her off. "Tell us when we get there."
"Huh?" Astra exclaimed, becoming lively again, "Why are you coming here? Don't you have school? I told you I'm—"
Beep.
The call has ended.
Astra looks blankly at her phone, now beeping, signalling the end of the call. Abruptly, she swings her fist on her pillow, screaming, "Kang Taehyun!" She pummels the pillow, "You—"
Knock knock.
Again, she's cut off.
Astra turns to the door, glaring.
"Is there something wrong?" It's the nurse, who came to check on her after hearing the commotion.
Astra bows her head. "I'm sorry. It's nothing."
The girl buries her face into the pillow when the nurse leaves. She closes her eyes.
.
.
"She's in State North Hospital." is the next text Taehyun sends into the group chat.
"Hospital? Auntie is in the hospital?" Somehow, Beomgyu, despite being on the island with poor internet connectivity, always manages to be one of the first to reply.
"Let's go." follows Soobin's text.
"Let's go." Huening Kai.
"Let's go." Yeonjun.
"Ahhhhhhh what the hell? But I can't go!" was Beomgyu's reply. He didn't manage to bypass Robert, in the end.
A few minutes later, Taehyun's reply came, infuriating Beomgyu, "Yep."
Four boys are gathered at the back of the school gates, using one excuse or another to sneak out of class.
"We have done this before." Taehyun says.
Soobin nods and he walks to the gate and takes position, "Quickly, before the guard comes back."
It's another 40 minutes or so before they manage to arrive at Astra's ward. Huening Kai is the first to step inside. Astra's asleep, her head wrapped in layers of white bandages. The girl looks rather stupid when she sleeps, with her head falling to the side and her mouth gaping wide open.
Soobin chuckles, and he takes out his phone, snapping a picture. With a few taps, the picture is now set as the profile for their group chat.
"She looks fine." Yeonjun comments.
Huening Kai cups his hand by Astra's ears, whispering, "Astra, wake up!"
Huening Kai’s breath that sharply pokes into her ear was an awakening that Astra did not welcome. Her eyes are wide as she stares at the four boys before her, all in school uniforms. "You all really came?"
Huening Kai nods his head proudly.
"Why?"
Yeonjun wants to smack Astra for asking a stupid question. Taehyun hurriedly reaches out, pulling on Yeonjun's forearms, "Not the head. Not the head."
Astra pats her bandaged head. "If I need to stay here one more day because of you, you shall be paying my medical fees."
Yeonjun rolls his eyes.
"So what happened? Say it now."
Astra sighs as she sinks back into her bed, lifting one hand out, "Get me water first."
The gaze of the boys turn to Taehyun, who sits closest to the water jar. "I'll get it."
Taehyun stands up and shuffles over to pour a cup of water, "Here."
Astra grabs the cup, "So. I went to the toilet this morning. I was brushing my teeth and I forgot to turn on the bathroom lights—"
"So you couldn't see, tripped, and fell?" Yeonjun asks, disdainful.
"Let me finish speaking."
"My mom noticed, she came over to turn on the lights," Astra blinks as the girl's face appears in her mind again. "I saw myself in the mirror."
"Who else would you see?" Yeonjun quips.
"I said let me finish." Astra points her finger at Yeonjun. "You keep quiet."
"She's me.”
”Obviously—” Yeonjun’s lips are clamped shut by Soobin.
”But not me. She looks a lot more tired, she looks like she's—" Astra tries to think of the perfect word to describe that version of her.
"Dying." Astra finishes.
"Continue." Soobin nods, his fingers still tight against Yeonjun’s mouth.
"She had wounds on her face, a little bloodied, and she could move like she was a separate living person."
"Through my mirror, she was coughing out blood… fresh blood." Astra recalls as she held her palms out, shaking imperceptibly. She could feel it again, the hot, sticky sensation.
"Her blood came out of my mirror and got on my hands. Then she told me," Astra puts her hand down. "She told me to save myself."
"Then," Astra's shoulders visibly relaxed and said the next few words like she's describing her daily routine, spreading her arms out as she explains, "I was scared, I tried to run, tripped over a pail, knocked my head on the door, and here I am."
"The you in the mirror told you to save yourself?" Soobin asks, trying to process and link everything together.
Astra nods. "It's funny now that I think back."
"Oh." Astra pulls open the drawer beside her bed and takes out a piece of paper. A mess of lines and dots. She passes it to Taehyun, grinning. "Here you go."
Soobin catches a glimpse of the paper, "Wow. How do you make something out of this mess?"
"My eyes adapted."
"There's a bloody handprint at the back!" Yeonjun quickly points out.
"That isn't mine." Astra takes a quick glance.
"Then whose blood is it?" Taehyun asks, eyes narrowed.
"It's...." Astra pauses, looking up at the ceiling. It was hers, but not hers, just like how the girl in the mirror was her, but not her. Just like how the girl in her dreams was her, but not her—
Damn.
So she says it, "It's mine but not mine."
The four boys gave her a look of concern, one that made Astra feel dumb.
"So it's yours."
"No! It's the me in the mirror. She coughed out blood, and it got on my hands." Her hands started shaking again, the feeling of the blood on her hands weighing down her thoughts.
And again, her last words resurface.
Save yourself.
Save me?
Why?
Am I going to die?
Soobin holds down Astra's trembling hands. "It's alright." He says. "Like you said, that girl isn't you. Don't think too much about it."
"Yep!" Yeonjun rubs her head. "Let's go now. I think you are good to be discharged."
"Eh?" Astra lifts her head, "My mum..."
"We met your mum downstairs, she's the one who led us up here." Huening Kai smiles.
Astra pushes herself into the bed, pulling the blanket over her head, "I don't want to go. You guys can go. I'll see you in school tomorrow!"
"Okay. Then we will stay here." Huening Kai smiles.
"What?"
"School's not over yet." Astra reminds them.
"I already called my mum. She's going to settle it."
Astra looks at the rest of the boys, who gave her a thumbs up. All have successfully relied on their parents to resolve the issue of them skipping school.
...
The hours till nightfall consisted of the boys causing a ruckus while Astra's trying to sleep.
Only Taehyun sat quietly on a wooden chair, writing out the last letter.
D. O. O. M. E. D. E. N. D
Taehyun is scratching his neck again. His eyes scan the words spelled out in front of him, over and over again. It's so clear, but his mind is spinning. His pen slips off his fingers, rolling off the edge of the table and dropping to the floor. He knows things have been wrong lately, first, Astra and Beomgyu missing at the cave. Group 23 walking into a scary version of the hill, or Astra seeing herself in the mirror.
Three. Three supernatural events happening in the span of 3 days, something that has never happened to Taehyun or the people around him through all the sixteen years he has been living.
Something has gone wrong. Taehyun has thought about it— It's either the world
Or it's them.
Now the boy stares at the words written by himself on the white paper. He's scared of many, many things. And he doesn't think he could ever be ready to face whatever that is to come.
Taehyun pulls out his phone and opens the _TXT_ group chat he created. This group is different because Astra isn't inside.
"Let's talk." Taehyun types.
Once again, Beomgyu is first to reply.
"Talk? With just us?"
Hours away from the others, at Sanders Island, at a corner right outside the boys' toilet, where the TXT boys used to have their past conversations away from prying eyes, is Beomgyu. The boy squats in the dark, alone. He had his phone in his hands, the light from his phone lighting up his face.
Really. Beomgyu could not wait to leave this place.
Beomgyu's phone vibrates as a reply from Taehyun comes in, "Yes."
"Video call, can you join?"
Beomgyu gulps as he inches deeper into the corner, his eyes shifting around. Okay. Coast clear.
"I can."
"Okay."
.
.
"Is she asleep?" Yeonjun asks Huening Kai who's seated by Astra's bedside.
Huening Kai peels the blanket off slightly, confirming that Astra is snoring, Huening Kai nods.
Taehyun calls in the _TXT_ group chat.
_Beomgyu had joined the call_
Beomgyu's soft voice came through, "Hey."
"How did you manage to call from the island?" Yeonjun is rather curious.
"I have my ways." Beomgyu answers.
"So what did you all want to talk about?"
With Beomgyu's question, three heads in the ward turn to Taehyun.
"First, I want to talk about the subject Astra is hiding from us." Taehyun begins.
"She dreams of this starry sky every day, and with each day, the stars fall closer to her." Taehyun had figured this out yesterday, during his conversation with Astra.
"Perhaps when the star falls, the stars will wake up." Taehyun continues, linking it to the translation from Decoding the Stars.
Yeonjun is confused, "What's the link between stars falling and waking up?"
"It's like when you sleep and you fall off the bed—" Huening Kai provides an explanation.
"You wake up." Huening Kai turns to Taehyun, "Is that what you meant?"
Taehyun gives Huening Kai a thumbs up.
"I just finished translating the most recent code, it says, Doomed End."
Silence sinks between the boys as they try to make sense of the ominous word.
“Doomed end?" Soobin whispers. "Doomed end suggests a terrible fate." Taehyun adds.
"So far," Taehyun tries to ignore the pulsing fear and scrolls through the _Decoding the Stars_ group chat, "We have, last chance, don't doubt, we help, Star wakes, doomed end."
"So this is our last chance, and when the stars in Astra's dream fall, we are going to be doomed?" Yeonjun asks, though he remains skeptical.
"It could be us. It could be her." Beomgyu speaks up. "The dreams are not addressed to us in the first place. We know nothing about it, we only know it through Astra." Beomgyu's voice becomes smaller as he continues. "It might mean, that it is Astra's last chance and when the stars in her dreams fall, she will die."
It would make sense. Since in Astra's dream, the girl mentions that she was the only one under the starry skies, alone under the falling stars. They had been thinking in the wrong direction. Perhaps all along, it has just been about Astra, not them. They had been deluded by the importance Astra had placed on their presence.
Beomgyu's words rang like a thunderclap. There are no gasps. It was just a collective, stifling silence.
"So she will die?" Huening Kai eventually breaks the silence, voice cracking.
The other four boys remain silent.
Maybe.
"But it's her last chance! The stars have yet to fall, and since it's her last chance, there must be something Astra is able to do!" Huening Kai nods to himself, walking in circles.
"We can help her!" Huening Kai says, his eyes hopeful, "Whatever that she has to do—"
"But Astra is not telling us anything, Kai." Taehyun says, placing his head in his hands, "And," The boy is pessimistic, "We don't have much time. Today is the eleventh day. It really feels like we have been friends for years but really, we have only known each other for 11 days. It's also exactly 11 days since Astra travelled over." Taehyun speaks faster and faster. "And in 11 days, from not being able to tell whether the stars are falling closer to being able to tell—" Taehyun stops, taking a deep inhale, "Shows that the stars are falling very quickly."
"We might not have much time left."
The atmosphere is depressing.
"No. It could have another meaning." Soobin speaks, sitting up.
"Remember last Friday?" Soobin claps his hands, standing up from the couch.
"Astra was trying to prove to us." Soobin peers at Beomgyu on the screen, "That our names aren't local, we searched up her name too, her name means—"
"Star." Beomgyu remembers. Astra's name is the only one that appeared out of the five of them. It was that day when Beomgyu questioned if he belonged here.
"That doesn't make sense." Taehyun says, catching onto Soobin's line of thought. "Astra wakes, doomed end?"
"Or it could just mean the stars in the sky." Huening Kai adds.
"It's not something we can know for sure right now." Yeonjun says.
"Then what can we do now?" Taehyun had a confused and fearful look on his face.
"We are running out of time."
"If any of us... meets a doomed end," Taehyun whispers, "I would rather not know all this. I should have ignored Astra when she told me all this crap, I know she's crazy, I shouldn't have listened." As he talks, tears fall from his eyes, drop by drop. Taehyun hurriedly wipes them away. He's crying, again.
They had nothing, they didn't know what to do, what was going to happen and had no power to change anything. They could only wait for an uncertain fate.
"Taehyun." Beomgyu's voice is clear amidst Taehyun's cries. "Keep it down. We don't want to wake Astra."
Soobin sighs, fighting back tears himself. The tall boy pulls Taehyun into a hug, patting his back.
"I don't regret this though." Soobin says, smiling. "No matter what happens next, I'm really glad to have known and met each of you."
"No matter how short of a time we spent together, you all have just become so important to me." Soobin pats Taehyun’s back with heavy thuds, "But I really won't regret this. These days are really precious to me. And I'll remember it for a long, long time." Soobin closes his eyes as he says so, suddenly recalling the time when he thought these 3 first-years were part of a sketchy organisation, yet today, here he was, together in their antics.
Huening Kai sits beside Taehyun, leaning his head on the boy, voice firm. "None of us will have a bad outcome."
Yeonjun nods furiously, a stream of tears down his cheeks. "You said we couldn't trust it." Yeonjun says between his tears. "You said we shouldn't trust those beings sending these messages."
"When did you become so reliant on them? It says doomed end doesn't mean anything for us!" Yeonjun exclaims. He didn't understand what Taehyun was saying back then, but the conviction Taehyun had in his eyes then left Yeonjun a deep impression.
"You were so sure just a few days ago! When did you become so weak!" Immersed in his emotions, the older boy is getting too excited in his speech.
"Yeonjun. We don't want to wake Astra." Beomgyu reminds them again.
Ignoring Beomgyu, Yeonjun stands up and locks eyes with each and every one of the boys staring back at him. Yeonjun grins despite his tears, his red eyes, nose and dripping snot.
"We shall take our own steps and will write our own ending!” The boy shouts, one hand in the air.
This time, Beomgyu did not ask Yeonjun to keep it down.
And underneath the white blanket, a girl turns her face towards the pillow, and the pillow turns wet, soaking up her tears.
Day 11:
-.. --- --- -- . -.. / . -. -..
Chapter 26: Day 11-12
Chapter Text
Night on the island not only comes faster, but is also much darker than it was in the city. Lit path lamps are few and far between. Robert needs to use the toilet, but the staff toilet has broken down, and the middle-aged man can only, whilst rubbing his belly, make his way to the second closest toilet.
Robert sees the toilet in the distance and he speeds up, wanting to quickly get this done with and return to the embrace of his pillow.
Three steps further and Robert sees a dark figure that reaches up to his knees in a deep corner, away from lamps, its face is deathly pale, lit by dark shadows.
Hell no.
Robert screams, swinging a punch forward. The thing tumbles backward upon impact, there's a thud, a crash, followed by a loud, loud cry.
Robert rubs his eyes. The figure that Robert thought only reached up to his knees spreads out, two hands and two legs. Robert realises.
"Beom- Choi Beomgyu?"
The 17-year-old boy is lying on the grass, letting out loud wails to the moonlit sky.
"I—" Robert is flustered. "Are you crying because I hit you? I am so sorry, I thought you were a ghost..." Robert consciously purses his lips.
Robert squeezes his legs together, rudely reminded of why he came all the way here in the middle of the night. With a quick turn, he says to Beomgyu, "Wait a minute. Let me go to the toilet first, I'll be back really soon."
Robert dashes to the toilet. When he's done, he hurries back, and Beomgyu is still on the grass patch, crying. His cries have mellowed out though, it's softer now.
Robert squats beside Beomgyu, eyes scanning him up and down, trying to check for any wounds that could be major enough to be causing the boy before him to cry like a newborn, "I'm sorry I hit you. Are you injured? Shall we go to the infirmary?"
Beomgyu shakes his head. He didn't want to go to the infirmary. He wanted to stay here, he wanted to stay here and watch the stars, no— curse the stars.
"It wasn't you." Beomgyu manages to choke out between crying and hiccups. "I'm not hurt, don't go infirmary."
"So you were crying before I hit you?" Robert looks at Beomgyu. The boy's still crying, his tears endless. "If you weren't hurt, why are you crying like the world is coming to an end?"
"What if—" Beomgyu asks, his cries stopping just for this question, "the world is really ending?"
Unfortunately, Robert doesn't answer his question, one he believes is a stupid one he has no answer to. Instead, he tries to prod Beomgyu, "Tell me where you are hurt."
Beomgyu clutches his chest, hitting it. "Here." He chokes out, "My heart hurts."
"What?" Robert rubs his chin, "So it's for real when you said you wanted to skip camp because your heart hurts?"
Robert holds back a sigh as he crosses his legs beside Beomgyu. He sits down, anticipating a long conversation with this troublesome student, "...Did you get dumped?"
Beomgyu's cries grew even louder, "No!"
"Then what happened?" Robert couldn't hold back his sigh this time.
"My friends—" Beomgyu hits his chest, "I think my friends are really sad."
Robert looks at Beomgyu, speechless. "What do you mean you think? If they are sad, they are sad. If they aren't sad, they aren't. It's like death, if they die, they die. If they don't, they don't. It is fate, it is what it is... em" Robert clears his throat.
"..."
What the hell has he just said in front of his 17-year-old student?
Robert slaps his mouth. He has failed to control it again. Guiltily, he peeks at Beomgyu.
Because of Robert, Beomgyu's cries could now reach the skies.
He cried for a long, long time after that, as if he was releasing all the emotions he kept bottled during the video call. This also effectively forces Robert to stay by Beomgyu's side for hours. Now, Robert suspects that Beomgyu's friend had actually died.
"Friends come and go." Robert had said in the end, "Some friends don't go. But there are some friends who aren't meant to stay—"
"And those, you must let go."
...
"Also—" Robert narrows his eyes.
"Why are you out with your phone at this hour?"
Astra did not want to go home, and she made it very clear. She clung to the edge of the bed, shaking her head at her mother, pleading,
"Just one more day."
One more day it was.
The night passes, ushering in the arrival of a new day. And so do her dreams.
Like always, the stars fall and she's still under the starlit skies. It's just that today, the stars don't flicker, as if giving Astra a respite from her past days of pain.
06:20
Astra wakes up. She stares up at the white ceiling for a silent second, reaching her hand to her heart, and she waits. Still, her heart doesn't squeeze, doesn't speed up, and jump as if wanting to escape from the cavity of her chest. She lay motionless for a few minutes, and her heart was still beating calmly, beat by beat.
Why isn't there a message today?
She loosens her hands, letting them fall to her side as she flops back onto her bed, one leg dangling off the bed. Her eyes shift, glancing towards the toilet.
She needs to go.
Astra sits up, turning her head to observe the flimsy plastic panel, patterned with faded sunflowers, both big and small. The door's closed all the way through, she had made sure of that before she went to sleep.
Astra exhales, closes her eyes, and turns down to her hands.
When she opens her eyes, her hands are trembling again. With a blink, there's bright red blood pooling, dripping off the edges of her hands and down her wrists.
Astra blinks, and she's again, staring at her still trembling, but now clean hands. She sighs.
"What are you doing?"
The sudden curious voice in a room where she thought she was the only occupant scares her enough to jump out of bed. In her rush, she stumbles, tripping over the sheets that draped onto the floor.
Right before she crashes to the floor, someone catches her.
Huening Kai.
In Astra's confusion, her mind still struggling to process the chain of events, she takes a step back. She needs to prove whether this boy before her is an actual entity, not just another hallucination like the blood in her hands.
She lifts her hand, smacking his forehead with a loud whack.
"Hey!" This voice, high in annoyance and paired with his souring expression.
Oh. He's real. "Huening Kai?"
"What? You can't recognise me now?"
Astra turns around, and her gaze scans the room. Taehyun and Yeonjun are on her left, Huening Kai on her right, and Soobin is asleep on the couch.
"When did you all get here?" Astra looks at them skeptically. From what she recalls, they should have all gone home.
"About 15 minutes ago? We wanted to check if you were in pain or if you had just left and ran away." Taehyun answers.
Taehyun chuckles, dodging a kick from Yeonjun.
"Why would you all come at six in the morning?" Astra tilts her head, her attention back to her hands.
"Because we are friends." Huening Kai answers.
Astra looks up from her hands, towards Huening Kai's soft eyes staring back at her. It made her recall yesterday, of their conversation she wasn't meant to hear. His words tug at her heartstrings, and she realises that she's getting attached to the five unlikely friends she made in a crazy world. Perhaps she already was, since a few days ago, since she got to know them, when their paths had crossed and tangled into a web.
In this mess, they are the only people who recognised and understood her for who she was, those who heard her truth in this world filled with cracks.
Her throat tightens, and she lowers her head, only two words managing to slip past the storm brewing in her head,
"Thank you."
That was that. Soon, Astra is forced into a cab, pushed to take the front seat, while the other four share the three-seater at the back, a lenient exception made by the driver.
"Why am I taking the front seat?" Astra grumbles. She hated taking the front seat of a cab, in her experience, especially with chatty drivers, the person taking the front seat has the heavy social responsibility to entertain and sustain small talk with the driver.
"Cause you are the odd one out." Yeonjun replies.
"Odd one out? How?"
"You are a girl!" Yeonjun points out.
"That's gender inequality!" Astra argues, and she hears a chuckle from the driver.
"Hah! Look at us!" Huening Kai shouts out, and Astra turns back. The four boys are squished against one another, there's pathetically little space for each of them. Huening Kai asks, shoulders squeezed up by Taehyun and Soobin at his side, "You want to trade?"
Taehyun opens his mouth like he's laughing, but really, there's no sound.
"You should be grateful we are giving you the front seat." Soobin adds.
Astra turns back, shifting deeper into her seat. Yes. Indeed. She's very thankful.
The driver laughs, not bothering to conceal his amusement. "You are a funny kid. Your friends are being considerate of you, so why are you complaining?"
She's ashamed.
.
.
.
Astra pulls out the chair, causing a loud scraping screech. She eyes down the rusty thing with disdain, and with a sigh, she sits down and pulls out her phone from her pocket. She taps the screen, wanting to check it one last time before the teacher returns.
A notification pulls up at the top of her screen. A message from Beomgyu in the _Grapes Supremacy_ group chat,
"I'm freeeeeeee from that goddamn island!"
The boy tags Yeonjun and Soobin, "The two who abandoned me, just wait till I get back."
A reply came from Soobin just a second later, "Oooohhh I'm so scared~"
Astra smiles as she taps into _Decoding the Stars_ and types,
"Day 12: None."
She keeps her phone under her desk.
"For the remaining 20 minutes," Mrs Thon comes back in, holding a stack of booklets in her arms. "Please look through these booklets that I will be passing down. The school clubs are recruiting, each of you must join at least one club. Please submit your applications by the end of this week."
Mrs Thon places a stack before Astra, signalling her to pass it down.
Taehyun flips through the booklet, leaning over to Astra, asking, "What club did you join in the past?"
...
Astra's hesitation raises Taehyun's suspicions. "You joined a shameful club?"
She narrows her eyes, "What shameful club? What school would allow a club like that?"
Taehyun answers with his signature laugh.
"I joined the music club." Astra answers.
"Music? I didn't know you had that in you."
Astra hasn't; that was why after four years in the club, in terms of skills, all her juniors managed to overtake her. Astra remembered being a constant source of fascination and headache for her instructor. Her instructor had once wondered out loud, after she had repeatedly failed to grasp her instructions, "How are you not improving after all these years?"
She hadn't joined due to interest in the first place. She had only joined the club after taking a liking to an advertisement poster by the club, depicting a girl sitting in an air-conditioned room, eyes half closed. She still remembered the girl was basking under the sun streaming in from the window, leisurely tugging at the strings from the guitar on her lap, and it made everything look so perfect.
She thought her time in the club would be one of peace and relaxation.
She had been scammed.
Who knew her talent would be so bad that she had to undergo personal training with her instructor? It had instead turned into 4 years of stress and regret.
"Are you going to join the music club again?"
"I'm not sure." is what Astra says, but in reality, she has firmly decided to spare both herself and her instructor from her skills this time.
"What about you?" Astra turns the question back to Taehyun, "Are there any clubs you are interested in?"
"Sports?" Astra suggests.
Football. Taehyun thinks, but he shakes her head. "I'll join whatever club you and Huening Kai are in."
Astra smiles softly, saying in a chiding tone, "Taehyun. Don't restrict your school life to us, go and join what you want to and have fun."
"You guys are my school life. I'll be wherever you all are." Taehyun answers straightforwardly, staring at her.
"What if Huening Kai and I want to go to different clubs?" Astra looks away, feeling slightly burdened by the importance Taehyun has started to place on them.
"Then I'll go for the one I think is more interesting." Taehyun frowns, as if that's an undesirable outcome.
"How about you join Beomgyu's club? He's in there with Yeonjun, it's a leadership club of sorts that will be good for your resume in the future—" She tries to make things logical.
"No. I'll stay with you guys." Taehyun is insistent.
Astra stops. A wide grin pulls across her lips. She wraps an arm around Taehyun, "Okay."
Astra turns and sees Huening Kai flipping through the booklet containing the list of all the clubs in school. "What club are you joining?" She asks. After Huening Kai had reported the "Isla" incident to the teacher, he had also requested to sit away from his seatmate, cheekily asking to sit near Taehyun and Astra. It could be out of pity for Huening Kai, but Mrs Thon agreed.
Now, Huening Kai sits right behind Taehyun.
"All these aren't interesting." Huening Kai snaps the booklet shut, and he smiles up at his two friends. "Let's create our own club!"
Astra's eyes light up, taking interest in that idea. "Like?"
"Astrology club." Huening Kai smiles, pointing a finger up to the ceiling. "We are decoding the stars now."
"That's just in Astra's dreams, and I doubt the school will approve of an astrology club." Taehyun's reply deflates Huening Kai, who slouches over.
"Board games club!" Astra suggests, she, despite her fear of scary things, had an arsenal of horror-themed board games back at home.
"There's not much educational value. It won't be approved."
"Who says?" Astra defends her games, "Different types of board games can teach you many things!"
Taehyun nods at her, though his lack of enthusiasm shows that he's not convinced, "You can try."
"Anyways, we only have three. To create a club, we need to start with 5 members."
"Veronica, Dominic, and Felicia." Astra points out the other 3 first years that she knew.
Taehyun and Huening Kai exchange glances, replying together, "Not them."
"But they are the ones we know better, and they are nice."
"Nope." Huening Kai crosses his arms. "I want an exclusive club, with just us."
Astra slams her arm on Huening Kai's table, "Why don't you just open a school instead? Then we can have a club with just 3 of us."
Huening Kai scoffs. "Then please sponsor me with the money I need to build a school."
"I'm broke." Astra replies without pause.
"I'm broke too." Huening Kai shoots back.
...
The three friends reach a stalemate.
Taehyun sighs, "Let's just ask Beomgyu and see what we can do."
"Ask him? What for? Won't we only get mocked?" Huening Kai still has lingering trauma from Beomgyu.
"Exactly." Astra agrees. She too, has lingering wounds.
"He's the senior prefect. Did you two forget?" Taehyun uses his palm to support his head, a little tired of his two stupid friends.
"Oh, right." Huening Kai slaps his thighs.
"Beomgyu doesn’t give the aura of a senior prefect at all! He’s more like a troublemaker. That must be why I have forgotten." Astra tries to defend her memory.
"I'll be telling Beomgyu that." Taehyun's already texting on his phone.
"Wait wait." Astra tries to stop Taehyun. "Let's—"
Taehyun grins at Astra, shoving his phone to her face, "Sent."
Astra slumps back into her chair, suddenly feeling tired.
Huening Kai starts laughing, "Do you remember that day Beomgyu led the assembly? He walked with the same hands and legs, so prim and proper that I thought I saw wrong."
Taehyun's phone vibrates, the boy looks at it, and he laughs, "Beomgyu says that if he's crazy 1, you are crazy 2."
"What?"
"He's saying you two are like peas in a pod."
"When did I say he's crazy?" Astra feels wronged, "And how am I like him?"
Taehyun and Huening Kai stare at Astra.
"How in the world am I like him?" Astra repeats, folding her arms.
"You two are alike in many ways. Sometimes, even the way the two of you think are the same." Taehyun says.
"Agreed."
Taehyun lifts his phone for Astra to take a closer look, "You didn't say he's crazy. I did. Heheh"
Astra groans. "Am I crazy?" She looks at Huening Kai and Taehyun.
"Yes."
"Yes."
There was no hesitation in their collective answer.
"Huh?", Astra pulls Taehyun's chair, forcefully turning him away to face the front. She smiles at Huening Kai, "I'm crazy?"
She points at herself, baffled by how this opinion has stuck onto her. Through her student years, she's a well-known nice girl with a sparkling clean record. Huening Kai hesitates as Astra's gaze drills into him.
Taehyun turns his chair back and pulls Astra back, grabbing her collar. "Which normal person needs to use intimidation tactics to have others tell them that they aren't crazy?"
With Taehyun backing him up, Huening Kai seems to gain confidence in his words as he answers, a smirk on his lips, "A crazy one."
Astra blinks. It sounded right. Only a crazy person would need others to tell them they aren't crazy.
Eh?
Astra smacks her head. She shouldn't be letting Taehyun brainwash her. She's a good child.
"Why don't you ask the rest?" Taehyun pulls out his phone. "Ask and you will know—"
Taehyun opens up their group chat, pointing at it, "Of what other people think of you."
Astra types aggressively in the chat, "I am normal."
It felt like the other three boys had set notifications from the group chat as important, for it only took a minute for all of them to reply, each of their answers a fatal blow to Astra's perception of herself.
"Nope." Yeonjun.
"Lol." Beomgyu.
"It's okay. We are friends no matter what you are." Soobin.
Taehyun smirks down at Astra, saying, "Which normal person tells others that they are normal? If you are bald, do you need to tell others that you are bald? You wouldn't need to because we all can see for ourselves."
Taehyun spreads his hands up, a gaping grin on his lips, as if he just presented a phenomenal chain of logic.
Their words made her head spin, coming together like a math equation, a subject Astra hates to the core. But she's convinced. Maybe coming back 6 years in time really drove her a little insane. While she slumps, thinking about what life has done to her, Huening Kai and Taehyun high-fived.
"There's five more minutes before lunch break, those who haven't written to their secret angel for this week are advised to do it now." Mrs Thon pulls her trolley towards her, keeping the textbooks she had taken out, stacking them neatly inside, "Those who are done are free to go."
A few in class 1A cheered, quickly leaving their seats to get out of the class. From those who remained behind, there is Astra. She takes out her treasured premium papers, hidden in a deep compartment of her bag, then pulls out her sparkly pen, thinking of what to write this time. As her thoughts drift, Felicia's and Veronica's words echo in her head,
‘Dominic likes you.’
Astra bites her lower lip. She likes him, as a friend or as a guy, she wasn't sure. But right now, those aren't important. She grips her pen, a wistful smile on her lips. But they were no longer a possibility.
I should end this.
She starts writing, the ink flowing smoothly on the paper, just like her thoughts, clear-cut and with no regrets.
-You are like an unreachable star, one far away and one I could not possibly hold onto. Even so, you shine the brightest far away, in your own light, and I'll work hard to shine here as well, happy enough to watch you from afar-
Like déjà vu, her note again slips from her fingers, pulled away by Taehyun.
Astra slinks back in her chair, she doesn't bother to get back her paper. She understands fully well that she's no match for Taehyun. Instead, she glares at Taehyun with a deadpan expression, watching his face crumple as he reads her note.
"What is this?"
Astra doesn't answer.
"Why are you writing in such a funny manner? It's a rejection letter right? Couldn't you just be straightforward and write, I don't like you, stay away?"
She still doesn't say a word.
Taehyun reaches over Astra, grabbing her bag and placing it on his lap. He unzips her bag, taking Astra's premium paper from it with ease— He had seen it when Astra retrieved it earlier.
"Here I'll write it for you." Taehyun snatches the pen that Astra's still holding.
Taehyun writes with big movements, two seconds later, he slaps it down on the table, showing it to Astra, with a proud grin, "Here. How about this?"
Astra gazes up, wearily,
In bold, large handwriting, were two big letters, written in cursive text,
-Fuck off-
...
Astra's speechlessness quickly turns into anger. The girl raises up and smacks Taehyun on the head, to which Taehyun chuckles. Immediately, Astra gets a warning from Mrs Thon, "Astra, I'm giving you free time to write notes, not for you to hit your friends."
Astra is quick to bow her head, "Yes. I'm sorry."
Taehyun chuckles.
"Taehyun, return Astra’s note to her." Mrs Thon pushes up her glasses.
"Yes. I'm sorry." Taehyun is also quick to admit his mistakes.
Astra snickers, making sure to do it when Taehyun turns to her.
"What about you then, what did you write?" Astra has decided that no matter what Taehyun writes, she's going to find something to nitpick on.
"Here." Taehyun pushes his note over.
-Today is a bright and sunny day. I am happy, I hope you are too.-
...
"What is this?" It feels like there was nothing to nitpick on, but at the same time, everything about it feels wrong. It's like an AI weather forecast trying to give emotional support.
Damn.
"Did you even think about it?"
"I did. Unlike someone's, I wanted mine to be clear-cut and straightforward."
"How long?"
Taehyun grins, holding out one finger.
"A minute?"
"No. A second."
...
Astra looks down at her note that she spent a long while pondering, each word with her sincere expression.
"Honestly," Taehyun takes Astra's note again. "I think Dominic will misunderstand if you write in such a roundabout manner."
Astra reads her note again, "Will he?"
Sighing, Taehyun nods. Taking another of Astra's premium paper, he writes,
-I hope we will remain friends for a very long time-
Taehyun hands it over to Astra, "How about this?"
"Okay." Astra smiles, satisfied. With a turn, she stands up, grabs the paper, and heads straight to the back of the classroom.
Once again, the piece of note she penned with her heartfelt words is left forgotten. The wind catches it, lifting it off the table, like a petal, it flutters, falling towards the ground. Seconds before it lands, Taehyun catches it. He takes a glance before keeping it in his pocket, again.
Unaware that her note is pocketed again, Astra's at the back of the class. She lifts the thin paper flap, dropping her note inside Dominic's mail. When she's done, she turns, pausing when she catches Huening Kai's big frame crouched behind the doors of the classroom.
Astra walks to the door Huening Kai is hiding behind, knocking on it, "Why are you hiding here?"
Huening Kai's shoulder visibly jumps, a reaction too suspicious for Astra to overlook. She presses down on his shoulders, peering over to see what he's trying to do.
Clutched in Huening Kai's hands, there was pen and paper he didn't have time to hide, too startled by Astra's sudden appearance.
"Let me see!" Astra grins, reaching out.
"No!" Huening Kai turns his body, curling himself further into the corner, protecting the paper in his hands with his body.
Astra's hand has failed to breach Huening Kai's defense, pausing in mid-air, "Fine."
As Huening Kai hears her footsteps getting further away, he loosens up, sighing in relief. Yet before he knows it, Astra is jumping up in the air, trying to snatch Huening Kai's note just as Taehyun did hers.
All Huening Kai had to do was stand up. He stands, with his hand holding the paper high up towards the ceiling. The height difference between the two is something Astra can never cover without tools.
Huening Kai bursts into laughter, now more relaxed, as he swings the paper between his fingers, "Just give it up."
Day 12:
NILL
Chapter 27: Day 12
Chapter Text
Again, the bus jolts, rumbling through rugged roads. Beomgyu furrows his brows, pushing himself back up against his seat. Each rough motion of the bus causes his head to hurl sideways, hitting the glass panel. Each knock a painful strike to his skull, he rubs his eyes, clearly heavy with sleep, yet with all the rattling and knocking, he hasn't managed to catch even a wink of sleep.
As Boomgyu rubs his eyes, irritated, a hand taps on his shoulders, "You aren't coming to the arcade after this?"
"No." He stirs, adjusting his position, he has not given up on trying to sleep despite the small red bump developing at the top of his head.
"But you said you are coming, that's why so many others wanted to tag along."
Exactly. That's exactly why he doesn't want to go. Not when he feels like he's being used by his friends to attract a bigger crowd.
"I said—" Beomgyu lifts his head, glaring at his friend through the hair covering his eyes. "I'm not going."
"Fine, fine." Beomgyu could see him raise his hands, as if in surrender. Beomgyu turns away, burying his head deeper into his hands. He closes his eyes, vaguely hearing his friend mumble, about him, about how he went back on his word—
Beomgyu doesn't want to listen. He hates this.
When was it when he decided he didn't really like to hang with a large crowd? He wasn't sure when, but he knows he wants to spend time with his small, tight-knit group of friends. It doesn't matter what they do, it's just the sense of comfort he cherishes, of being around people he knows, and who know him well in return. A warm space where he feels free to truly express himself.
Yet every time they hang out, his friends would bring along lots of other people.
In the past, Beomgyu would just go along with a the more the merrier mindset. Then a sense of discomfort builds, and he starts to doubt. He starts to feel like his friends weren't wanting to hang out with him for him, for the comfort or fun his presence brings. But instead, he's just being used for his popularity.
Another jolt, and Beomgyu's head hits the glass window again. With a soft wince, he lifts his hand to rub at his head in circular motions, trying to soothe the pain. Just when the pain starts to subside, he feels a vibration in his pocket, a familiar three-buzz pattern he had specially customised for this one chat.
His outwardly fatigued demeanour falls away as he sits up from his slumped position, pulling out his phone in a swift motion, bright anticipation lighting his features.
In their group chat, Taehyun had texted, "Beomgyu, when are you coming back?"
A smile pulls across Beomgyu's lips, "Ms Jaze!" He shouts towards the front of the bus. A tall, slim figure at the front responds, with a hand on the headrest, she stands up from her seat, "What is it?"
"How long before we reach school?"
Ms Jaze leans down, talking to the bus driver, saying something Beomgyu could not hear, but soon, he gets the answer he needs, "Roughly half an hour."
"Okay! Thank you."
Beomgyu types into his phone, "Probably another 30 minutes, why?"
It took a full, gruelling minute before a reply popped into the chat, from Astra, "That's roughly our lunch time. Can we meet? We want to talk to you."
Beomgyu breaks into a big, wide grin. Without hesitation, both his thumbs jump across his screen as he types out his reply, "Okay. I'll see you guys at the computer lab."
.
.
This damn bus. Beomgyu curses, lightly kicking the seat that has housed him for the past few hours as he grabs his bag. The bus not only took him on a bumpy ride, it also encountered a traffic jam, and they were slowed for fifteen minutes. Logically, he knew that it was not the bus's fault, but he couldn't help it, nor did he have anyone else to blame.
"Hey, Beomgyu! Where are you going?"
As Beomgyu jumps off the steps of the bus, he hears his friends call out to him. But his steps don't stop, nor does he think there's a need to reply, he just runs away, his steps carrying him straight to the lab.
The abandoned computer lab is located at the farthest edge of the school, an inconvenient area no one would pass, one that doesn't lead anywhere. Therefore, other than the school's guard passing by during closing hours for final checks, no one else would be here.
Even its landscape reflects its desolation, crowded with only wilted trees and thriving weeds, highlighting its status of abandonment, which works great for the three first-years hiding behind the computer lap, sitting around bags filled with takeaway rice soup.
They were particularly hungry today, having ordered a total of seven servings, two for each of them and one for Beomgyu.
Grandma also included free side dishes like eggs, slices of fried chicken cutlet, and dumplings.
The three first-years stare, barely containing their drool. "Should we wait for Beomgyu?" Huening Kai asks.
"No need, he's late—" Astra says before she is cut off by Taehyun.
"Let's wait for him."
And so, the three of them wait.
They sit still, all looking in the direction they know Beomgyu would come from, wondering just when would he arrive.
Beomgyu's nowhere in sight when they first heard him, his deep, enthusiastic voice loud in the silence born from suppressed hunger in their seemingly endless wait for Beomgyu. "I'm hereee!" Beomgyu drags his words out, still sprinting towards the computer lab.
The three first-years sigh. With how Beomgyu's acting, they are sure that one day, this computer lab will no longer be a hidden spot.
Beomgyu's hair flops up and down as he skips over, attracted by the smell of food, "What is all this?"
Huening Kai pushes a bag towards Beomgyu, "This is yours." The boy gestures at the side dishes they had taken out, "And feel free to eat these too."
Beomgyu pushes his lips inwards, touched by their gesture. "Really?"
The three nod together.
Beomgyu takes the disposable spoon Astra hands over and pulls at the plastic container. When it's opened, he reels back slightly, seeing the rice soup, a little disappointed. He has always avoided that stall. Its visuals had just never appealed to him.
Still, Beomgyu forces a mouthful into his mouth, his friends brought this for him, he should at least eat half—
He chews.
He chews again.
Eh?
Beomgyu pulls in another mouthful.
No. I can finish this. Beomgyu eyes the many containers of food across the floor. He licks his lips, he could eat two servings.
Beomgyu pulls a thumbs up, "This is really really good."
Astra smiles, proud of her recommendation. She was, after all, the one who got Taehyun and Huening Kai into the rice soup craze. She plops her spoon into her mouth—
And spews it right back out. Astra chokes, coughing as rice splutters out, staining her uniform. Without looking at the mess she caused, nor the disgusted expressions her friends are sending her way, she points ahead.
At a boy who has half his head peeking out from behind the wall.
"Soobin?" Astra calls out.
Taehyun pats her back, "Don't talk while you eat."
"No!" She exclaims, "Look behind you, Soobin is there!"
Knowing that he's been discovered, Soobin strolls out from behind the wall, his hands in his pockets, walking over naturally as if he was meant to be here in the first place. He takes a seat beside Astra, smiling at her, "Happy to see me?"
Astra's eyes turn towards the other boys before shifting back to Soobin. Hesitantly, she answers, "...Yes?"
"Wanting to freeload on our food?" Beomgyu accuses Soobin, pulling his food closer to himself, "Dream on!"
Soobin scoffs, picking up a spoon and scooping up a dumpling, "Aren't you a freeloader here too?"
"I—" Beomgyu looks at the three first years who nod at him, as if in encouragement. "I am! But they asked me to come, they didn't ask you!"
"Oh. Soobin is supposed to meet me here." A familiar voice and another boy walk out, squatting beside Beomgyu. He pushes Beomgyu inward to create space for himself before he sits down, satisfied.
Soobin blinks at Yeonjun, his widened eyes and overly parted lips told another story—that he didn't expect Yeonjun's presence. But a second later, Soobin grins. "Right. I was to meet Yeonjun here."
Soobin laughs, "And oh!" He tilts his head, "What a coincidence? All of you are here!"
"What the hell?" Beomgyu screeches, standing up. "They asked in our group chat, so you guys would have known! You two came uninvited!" Despite Beomgyu's loud accusation, Soobin and Yeonjun ignores him, already helping themselves to the side dishes.
"You guys are shameless!" Beomgyu continues.
"Is that so?" Soobin replies lightly, not even looking up. It's like he's just saying that to placate a kid who's throwing a tantrum. Next to him, Yeonjun is the same, he doesn't say anything, too busy stuffing his mouth.
Beomgyu turns to the three first-year students, "Hey! They are eating your food!"
Astra stands up too, as if realising something, she looks towards Taehyun, "Right! They are stealing our food!"
Taehyun wearily looks at the duo and sighs, "Just let them have at it. There's a lot anyways."
Huening Kai chuckles.
With Taehyun's words though, the two oldest became bolder in their actions, dipping their spoons into Beomgyu and Astra's portions.
"Hey!"
"Damn it!"
.
.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Beomgyu asks, chewing on half an egg.
"We wanted to start a school club." Taehyun says.
"A school club? Like what?"
"Astrology club!" Huening Kai suggests.
"Board games club!" Astra throws in.
"Basically—" Taehyun concludes for the two of them, "We want a club that is exclusive to us."
"That's not possible." Beomgyu quickly shuts it down, pulling out one finger. "If you want to start a school club, first you need five founding members."
"Next, you have to show the school board how the club can serve educational or community purposes." Beomgyu lifts his second finger
"And finally, you have to find a teacher to be in charge of the club." Beomgyu scoops up another egg. "So basically, there is no such thing as an exclusive club for you three."
"But," Beomgyu adds, pushing the egg into his mouth. "I heard in the music club, they have a subgroup that allows students to choose their members and come together to form a band, creating their own music."
Astra looks up with a frown, "But wasn't music club all about playing instruments?"
"That's under the instrumental sub-group. The music club has 3 different sub-groups." Beomgyu shakes his head.
So six years ago, when Astra joined the Music club, she wasn't even given the choice and was just slotted into the instrumental sub-group?
"So if we join the music club, we get to form our own groups and do our own things?" Huening Kai asks, rubbing his hands together.
"Technically, yes. But you still have to meet certain expectations and complete performances."
"That's great!" Huening Kai holds Taehyun and Astra's hands. "Let's join the music club!"
Taehyun nods, smiling at the idea.
Astra raises her hand, "Is there no other alternative?"
She has just decided not to return to the music club. She had enough of being reminded about her severe lack of musical skills.
"No." Beomgyu smiles, swinging an arm around Taehyun. "I'll quit my current club and join you guys too."
"I'll join too!" Yeonjun pushes himself closer towards the rest.
The boys turn to Soobin, expecting his declaration. Soobin has his head lowered, silent, only his hands are moving, shovelling food through his lips. A few seconds later, highly aware that everyone is staring at him, he puts down the spoon in his hand, "I won't join. I like my club as it is."
"What club are you even in?" Yeonjun asks.
"Reading club." Beomgyu answers for Soobin. "This guy is just doing it for show. He's actually going there to sleep."
"Hey!" Soobin shouts, "I go there to read too!"
"Right, right. When I first met you, your bookmark was on page 67 of The Smallest Lights in the Universe. And just recently, I passed by the library and I saw you sleeping beside that very same book."
Beomgyu smirks, exposing Soobin, "You were still on page 67."
Soobin has nothing to say, knowing well his bookmark has been clipped to the same page for weeks now. It took a while before he spoke, raising his voice, "I am on page 68 now."
Contrary to the expressions of disdain and mockery the others are shooting Soobin, Astra's eyes light up, sparkling. In a quick motion, she runs to Soobin, latching onto the taller boy who now has his arms crossed, staring back defiantly at his friends. "Bro—" She calls, "I'll join your club too. Can I?"
This is it.
This reading club is the paradise she has been looking for. Her ideal, dream club. Laid back, relaxing, seated in an air-conditioned room. Yes. She must join this club. Her eyes must have been blind for choosing Music Club over Reading club these six years ago.
Soobin looks at Astra for a silent moment, clearly not expecting her response. Soon, with a smug grin, he nods. "Sure. Why not? I'll take care of you there."
The two smile at each other, linking hands, having already settled their decisions about this matter of school clubs.
"You guys, please continue to discuss what clubs you are joining." Astra grins, unable to hold back her excitement. "I'll go back and fill up my application form."
Yet as she stands up, she's immediately held down by Taehyun, who locks an arm around her shoulders, pressing her down.
The three boys glare at Soobin.
Astra struggles, trying to rationalise her reason for not choosing the music club. "No. Listen. You are all members of TXT, an idol group—"
"Were." Taehyun corrects.
"Plus, we don't even have a memory of it." Beomgyu adds.
"Fine. You were members of an idol group, and you all have exceptional musical talent."
"That I agree." Huening Kai nods, pushing his hair back.
"But me?" Astra gestures towards herself, "I don't! I have nothing to put on the table!"
"6 years back, I was also in the music club and in my fourth year, all the freshly joined first-years bested me!"
"You can ask Taehyun and Huening Kai, those two heard me sing Spring Day some days ago." She turns to them, taking a deep breath, "How was I?"
Taehyun's lips open and close, he wants to nod and say that it's great, yet he really couldn't bring himself to say it.
Huening Kai stays silent.
"So?" Beomgyu asks. "You know some TXT songs. We will recreate it. You are the composer."
Composer?
Composer my ass. More like a plagiarist.
So the 6 person friend group divides for the first time. One side wishes to join the music club, starting a band together, while the other wishes for a life of leisure in the reader's club.
The ringing of the bell breaks their stalemate, a summon for all students to get back to class. The six of them stand up, heading in different directions to return to their respective classes.
The three first-years are walking together, heading back to the same classroom. And Astra peeks at Taehyun. She's especially wary of him. The one person in this school that she feels holds the most influence over her is precisely this boy. He smiles the most, yet Astra also feels like he's the scariest of the bunch.
His image in her head cracked a little when they were trapped on the hill with white ribbons, but regardless, his quiet presence is now like a heavy mountain, looming over her.
So Astra starts by convincing him. When the trio takes their first steps up the stairs, she begins, "Taehyun, look, we don't all have to be in the same club. We can go with our interests."
"Interest?" Huening Kai laughs. "You just want to go there with Soobin to slack!"
Astra spins around and she pulls Huening Kai away, bringing him to a corner, yet before she could say a word, Huening Kai cuts her off, as if he knows what she's about to say.
"No. I won't be brainwashed by you. I'd prefer if you join the music club with the rest of us."
...
Huening Kai has upgraded.
"Then, how about you join the reader's club with me?"
"No."
"Why?" Astra is confused. "That's the dream club!"
"I don't want to stay and read for two hours. It's boring."
Huening Kai is officially out of her control. No longer the boy she could easily sway and deceive.
In class, Astra is looking at her phone, her screen shows a chat with Soobin.
"Our club is located in the school's library. We have a room in the library allocated just for us."
"For club days, just grab a book, sign your attendance, and read. There are days when there will be book presentations, but you can just not go to that day."
"You can do whatever you want in there as long as you don't make a ruckus. The teacher-in-charge doesn't care."
The more she reads, the more she understands reader's club, the more determined she grows to root herself in as a member. Dreaming of her future leisurely days spent in the club, she's unable to control the upward curl of her lips.
Taehyun notices. "Don't think about it."
Astra pretends not to hear Taehyun. Just as he's not open to her persuasion, she won't listen to him either.
When the teacher lets them off for a five-minute break between classes, Astra rises from her seat, a piece of paper in hand. She runs out of the classroom, determined to make full use of the time to get to the application boxes on the third floor and submit her club application form. The boxes are located at the very end of the hallway, away from student and staff traffic.
With classes still ongoing, there's a complete lack of people here. Astra grips the application in her hand and turns into a long and narrow corridor. The red application box stands at the very end.
Astra breaks into a run, her eyes locked on the box. Yet with each step forward, she feels her heart speeding up, an inexplicably uneasy feeling bubbling in her chest. She frowns, crumbling the thin sheet of paper in her hands.
Quickly.
She thinks, running faster. Quickly finish this, and she can get back to class.
She drops her form in the box and immediately turns, running back the way she came.
Perhaps because she's at the far end, a corner isolated by four walls, her steps thump louder now, bouncing off the walls, ringing beside her ears.
At the halfway point, the ceiling lights started to flicker. But it's noon now, when the sun is at its brightest, covering the small flickering of overhead lights to pass unnoticed.
But if Astra had looked up, she might have seen it flickering slowly, beat by beat. She could have noticed too, if she looked for a bit longer, that they are flickering erratically, in long and short beats, just like the stars in her dreams.
A message, perhaps. Forever lost by the girl running through the hallways.
On the sixth flicker, the ceiling light surges back on, so intense that it blanketed the sun, a blinding radiance that covered everything in white.
Her steps fumble, turning wayward as she covers her eyes, trailing to a stop. Her heart is hammering in her chest, quicker and quicker, before a familiar tightness takes hold of her heart. She rubs her eyes, trying to remain calm as she waits for her eyes to adjust.
Astra reaches into her pocket, pulling her phone out, wanting to call for help.
No signal.
How was it possible? This is the city area, why—
Then she notices. A minute ago, she was running through sunlit corridors. Now she freezes, eyes blankly fixed on the skies outside, no longer blue, no longer lit.
It's dark, the only trace of light comes from a half-faded moon, pale and thin, one that oddly looks like a slice of lemon, bright on the edges, but with a filmsy core, like it's gradually dissolving into the inky darkness.
When did the sky turn dark?
Night has fallen instantly.
She's not in school anymore. Or maybe she is, just not the school she knows. Her chest heaves, rising and falling with her every deep breath she takes. She turns, walking backwards, pushing herself against the wall. She raises her palms to cover her eyes, sliding down, trying to curl in, making herself as small as possible.
Astra trembles, her breathing heavier with each passing second. Through the gaps between her fingers, she peeks through, eyes passing traces of blood on the floor, the walls, and the ceilings. She pushes her knees to herself, wrapping her hands around them, observing the wall right in front of her.
There's a long gash. A gash that looks like it was created by human nails.
But what kind of nails could make a gash that deep on the cement wall?
In the space dug by the gash, there are signs of blood, a dried blood trail that trails to the floor. Perhaps just a few hours ago, this blood was fresh, dripping.
In this hellscape, where the girl desperately wishes to reduce her presence, her windpipes tighten. It's becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. She can't help but open her mouth, taking deeper breaths, wheezing sounds escaping her throat.
In the absolute silence of the corridors, her wheezes sound just as loud as a siren.
Soon, she catches the sounds of approaching footsteps.
With both her hands, Astra covers her mouth, her eyes teary and wide in fear. Yet like a joke, her desperate attempts to silence her breathing make her louder, each wheeze clawing out her throat, driven by an insuppressible bodily instinct to breathe.
Fear and panic grow with each passing moment, creating a dreadful cycle until she's left hunched on the floor, her breathing loud and clear.
Instead, she's praying that the footsteps would stop. That it would leave her.
The footsteps did not stop. Instead, it grows louder, closer and closer. She squeezes her eyes shut, too afraid to look.
When it did stop, they stopped right before her, so close that even with her eyes closed, she could feel their presence.
She forgets to breathe, her breath hitching in her throat, stuck like her intensifying fear.
But what she expected never came, instead, something warm gently touches her head, calling her name.
"Astra."
Her eyes fly open, widening as she looks up towards the familiar voice.
A boy is smiling sadly at her.
An ironic combination of expressions. Astra blinks.
He is no longer neat and tidy, with an easy smile on his face. His hair no longer soft and fluffy but matted with splotches of dark red, clumping together. His uniform is dirty, ripped, and bloodied. Even over his exposed skin are scratches and bruises, smeared with blood and dirt.
Only the hand that patted her head is clean.
Astra pushes herself up, kneeling in front of him. She wants to say something, yet her chest heaves, and she is unable to get a word out of her throat.
Soobin.
She wants to ask. What happened to you?
Why are you here?
The boy combs his fingers through her hair, tenderly pushing up her bangs to the side. "You aren't the her who belongs here."
"I think in the end," Soobin chuckles wistfully, closing and opening his palms to reveal a vibrant blue bloom with a deep blue centre. The boy pushes the delicate flower into her hands, "I'll still say the same thing."
With his big hands, he cups her face, enveloping her in his warm hands, forcing her to look him in the eye. And through all the ruin he's in, beneath the wounds and dirt, she sees the same unwavering steadiness burning in his eyes.
"Please." His voice quivers. "Please just save yourself."
Astra drops the flower from her hands, reaching out towards Soobin, wheezing loudly. She grabs onto his hands, holding them tightly in hers. Soobin presses his forehead against hers and closes his eyes, "Save yourself," He whispers softly, "And that's how you will save us."
"Just remember this." Soobin continues, his light voice carrying a firmness contrasting to this crazy place.
Astra takes a deep breath, wanting to call out to him, the boy who looks like he went through hell, "Soo—"
The light flickers again. A bright light sweeps over everything, including the boy in front of her. And Astra could feel him disappear, his presence slipping away cleanly, like he's never here.
A blink.
Once again, she's alone, by the sunlit corridors.
Chapter 28: Day 12 - 13 - 14 - 15
Chapter Text
By the sunlit corridors, squatting against the wall is a girl with tears and snot down her face. She cries, tilting her body forward, pulling out her phone with shaky breaths, her fingers anxiously tapping away.
She presses her phone to her ear.
"Hello?" It's Soobin's deep voice, with none of the melancholy the boy earlier had. "Why did you call me? I'm in class! If it's about the reader's club, I'll talk to you—"
Soobin hears a shaky breath, and he stops. A deep inhale and exhale before he hears his name being called, though it sounds like it's pronounced with much difficulty, with gasps and coughs caught in between.
Then there's a clatter.
Beep
It disconnects.
"Hello?" Soobin speaks into the phone, louder this time. "Astra?"
Soobin glances around, hunching over in his seat to hide his phone. With a tap, he quickly calls Astra back. It rings.
It rings for a long time, but it's not picked up.
"Ms!" Soobin stands up, "I need to go." He declares, and without waiting for permission, he dashes out of the classroom, running through hallways and blocks of buildings.
A few times, he's been called by a teacher or two, or maybe three, shouting at him to stop, questioning why he's running down the corridors when classes are still ongoing. But Soobin doesn't even pretend to hear them.
1A. He only has one thought.
He bursts through a classroom door, drawing gasps and startled cries from the students inside.
"Soobin?" A boy rises from his seat, staring at Soobin, who barged into his class. It's Huening Kai.
"Student? Which class are you from? Don't you know how to knock before you come in?" Mrs Thon walks up to Soobin, displeased.
Soobin glances through the students in class, row by row, as Mrs Thon's voice fades into the background.
Astra's not here.
"Where is Astra?" Soobin turns to Taehyun. "Doesn't she sit beside you?"
"Excuse me. Can I ask why you are looking for my student in such a hurry?" Mrs Thon asks again, folding her arms.
Taehyun answers quickly, standing up from his seat, pushed by the palpable urgency Soobin is showing, "Astra went to submit her club application form."
"Why? Did something happen?" Huening Kai asks anxiously from behind.
"She called me." Soobin says, "It sounded like she's having an asthma attack again."
Soobin turns, ready to leave, "Where is the application box again?"
"3rd floor, turn right all the way to the end." Mrs Thon answers helpfully, understanding that something isn't right.
"Please go check on her. Thank you." She adds.
Soobin nods and runs out of the classroom.
Taehyun and Huening Kai leaves their seats, wanting to follow after Soobin.
"One person is enough." Mrs Thon stops both of them,"You two remain here."
"Then," Taehyun asks, scratching his arms, "Can I go to the toilet?"
"No." Mrs Thon is firm. While Taehyun and Mrs Thon remain in a deadlock, Huening Kai reaches up and grabs Astra's inhaler from her bag.
She must have forgotten this.
Huening Kai runs out, shouting at Soobin, "Soobin! Wait! Bring the inhaler with you!"
Soobin hears Huening Kai. The boy turns back, running to take the inhaler.
"Thanks." Huening Kai hears Soobin mumble before the inhaler is taken away from his hands, without a look back, Soobin runs forward, further and further away. Huening Kai takes a step after him, wanting to follow. But eventually, he lowers his head, staring at the ground for a few seconds before he turns back to class.
.
.
Soobin first sees the girl curled up against the wall, her mouth open wide, her breaths loud and heavy.
"Astra!" Soobin shouts and runs up to her. He kneels beside her and holds her shoulders, "You—" Soobin sees the tear stains on Astra's cheeks, "You are crying? Is it very painful?"
Soobin looks Astra up and down, and he notices a blood stain on her forehead. His eyes widen, "You are bleeding!"
Astra's hand reaches up to her forehead, she rubs at it. She huffs rapidly as she looks at the bright red stain on her fingers— Soobin's blood, from when he tapped his forehead on hers.
But this Soobin before her is uninjured, clean, and staring at her in worry.
What is going on?
Soobin holds out Astra's inhaler in his palm. "Here. Your inhaler."
Astra does not reach out to take the inhaler. Instead, she stares wide-eyed at him, as if taking in all of the Soobin now. Clean face, soft fluffy hair, healthy looking. This is the Soobin she knows.
Tears gush down her cheeks, covering the tear marks that had dried over.
Soobin is stunned, unsure of what to do. "Does it hurt a lot?" He pats Astra's back, trying to calm her down.
The girl chokes and there is a scraping sound as she takes a breath, "Soo-"
Soobin winces in frustration, "Please stop talking." The boy pushes the inhaler to Astra, "Yes yes Soobin is here. Soo bin Soo bin, I'm here alright?"
Soobin forcefully unwraps Astra's hand and places the inhaler inside. "It's okay now."
"-Bin." Astra is speaking again, right after, she breaks out in a series of horrifying coughs that sounded like animal roars.
"Stop, please!" He winces, begging now. "You can say what you want later, alright. Take your inhaler!"
But it feels like Astra could not hear him.
"Are—" The girl breaths again before spiralling down into a downward trend of worsening coughs.
Soobin grabs his hair in frustration. "Yes! Yes! Just take the inhaler! Why aren't you taking the inhaler? How the hell do I even use this thing?"
"—you okay?" Astra doesn't seem to be able to hear Soobin's outburst, speaking again, this time, her face turns red as she coughs towards the ground, her body shaking with each heavy cough.
"Am I okay? Are you asking me that when you are like this right now?" Soobin is flabbergasted.
"Are you really crazy—"
Soobin sees Astra's lips move again, and he immediately leans closer to her, shaking her shoulders. "Yes." He says sincerely, hoping his truthful answer would finally silence her. "I'm okay. I'm fine. I'm good. I have freeloaded you guys for lunch, and I'm full and happy."
Astra blinks, and another round of tears fills her eyes, leaving Soobin at a loss. "It's okay. Don't cry." Distressed, Soobin tries his best to comfort her, feeling like he was dealing with a stubborn child who refuses to eat their medicine, "Can you take your inhaler—"
Astra wraps her arms around Soobin and pulls him into a hug.
Strangely, the severely unwell girl reminds Soobin of a space in his childhood playground. There was a round space deep in the playground facility that he liked to crawl into, staying there for minutes, for hours, for as long as he could till his parents came along, dragging him back home. A safe haven where he retreats to whenever he wants to be alone.
The boy's lips curl gently as he pats her back. "It's okay. I'm okay, and you are going to be okay too."
Soobin holds out the inhaler again, finally deciding that he has to do it himself.
Soobin has seen it happen a few times, though he still wasn't exactly sure how it works, but that's fine. He'll figure it out.
He pushes the inhaler into her mouth, pushing it down with his thumb.
Puff.
Soobin's eyes light up, staring tentatively at her. Did it work?
Minutes pass, and her wheezes and hard breaths fade, gradually replaced by quiet silence. Soobin ruffles the girl's hair. "It's alright now."
It's weird how earlier, Astra was fighting so hard to speak and had to go through hell to get a word out, but now when her breathing regulates and returns to normal, she doesn't speak anymore.
"You don't need to tell me anything?"
Astra shakes her head.
"Do you want to go to the infirmary?"
Astra nods her head, then points at Soobin, then towards herself.
"You want me to go with you?"
Astra nods again.
Soobin sighs. She really doesn't talk anymore.
When they arrive at the infirmary, Ophelia welcomes them with open arms, "Astra, my regular customer!" The lady says in an enthusiastic tone, but with not a sign of a smile on her face. "So, what's wrong this time?"
"She had a bad asthma attack, and I think she's in a little shock right now." Soobin explains for Astra.
"Is that so?" Ophelia walks up to Astra, pressing two fingers on her wrists to check her pulse. "It's almost back to normal now."
"Could there be any reason why she's not talking?" Soobin raises a concern.
Ophelia narrows her eyes at Astra. "She's just choosing not to. Give her some time and I'm sure she will be back to normal."
Ophelia smiles, "Alright. I'll let her rest here. You can go back to your class. Thank you for today."
Soobin though, was not able to leave. Astra has grabbed his wrist tightly.
"Astra. Soobin has to return to class. I'll be here with you." Ophelia says, "Let go of him."
Astra lets go, but as Soobin leaves, she stares at him with big, sad eyes, as if Soobin has just abandoned her. Ophelia waves her hands at him, as if asking him to leave quickly.
Soobin steps out, taking out his phone which has been buzzing every now and then from inside his pocket. He turns, taking one last look at Astra, who's still staring at him. He purses his lips, stopping in his tracks, almost not wanting to go.
For the umpteenth time, Soobin sighs, typing into his phone, "She's fine now." He updates, pondering on Astra's behaviour today and adds, "It's just a little weird, she cried a lot, is suddenly attached to me, and she's not even talking now."
.
.
.
When classes ended, Huening Kai and Taehyun grabbed their bags and rushed down the stairs, straight towards the infirmary.
The door jingles, and there was Astra, drinking tea with Ophelia.
Astra smiles when she sees the two boys walk in, waving at them.
"Are you okay?" is the first question that Huening Kai asks when he walks in.
Ophelia scoffs as she holds up the cup of steaming tea in her hands, swirling it gently, "Of course she's fine. She is drinking one of my treasured collections of tea."
Ophelia eyes the still-full cup Astra has in front of her and adds, "You better hurry up and finish it or I might just change my mind and take it back."
Astra wraps her arms around the tea protectively and brings the cup to her mouth, gulping the tea down in mere seconds.
"Good. Now go home with your friends." Ophelia chases Astra away. This girl has been a source of headache for the hours she spent here today, even after all that she tried, she still could not manage to get Astra to speak.
"And if she's still not talking next Monday, don't bring her back to me. Instead, bring her straight to the hospital." Ophelia sips her tea. "But she's listening well, so try your best." Ophelia looks at Astra, currently attempting to clean up every drop of tea in the cup, "Try everything, actually." Ophelia adds. "Make her talk, somehow."
Huening Kai and Taehyun look at one another in dismay— she's not talking?
Astra smiles sheepishly as she walks over to them, landing a heavy smack on their backs. She parts her lips again, wanting to say something, anything, and it wasn't like she couldn't.
The air rushes up her throat, and her lips move, but it's the instant before her words take shape. And it feels like it's too much of an effort, like a high wall has built itself around her vocal cords. She falls silent.
Her silence brings about a morbid ambience in the room. Taehyun slowly turns to her, "What happened to you?"
Exactly. What happened?
She doesn't understand either.
The rest of that day, they talked to her, tried to make her laugh, and even attempted to scare her. She responds to all of it, just like she usually would, but no longer with her words.
Like Soobin had mentioned, she's attached to him. The moment Soobin arrives, her attention is completely pulled by him. She sticks herself beside the taller boy, eyes never leaving him for a second.
Soobin doesn't mind, rather, he indulges her, letting her hold his arm, smiling gently as he tries to get her to speak.
"Could this be..." Beomgyu asks, trailing behind with Yeonjun. When Yeonjun turns to him, Beomgyu continues, "Love?"
"Your ass." Yeonjun smacks him. "Don't joke around."
Nothing worked. Even after they part ways. Even through the farewell scene enacted by Soobin and Astra, as if an ending scene where best friends are leaving one another for good, even as Soobin, her beloved for the day, asks, "You aren't even going to say goodbye?", she doesn't speak.
When only Huening Kai and Astra are left, the two walk home in silence. That evening, standing before the road that leads to their separate apartment blocks, Huening Kai opens his arms, initiating a hug. Astra smiles, walking into his arms, patting his back. Huening Kai pats her back too. He feels her warmth in her arms and sees the quiet, peaceful smile on her lips.
And he thinks that she will get over this soon. Maybe by tomorrow, Astra will be able to tell them what exactly happened today.
So he lets her go, watching as she ambles towards her block, a towering building that casts a long shadow down on the ground. Astra walks, gradually getting swallowed into the shadow, and there's an inexplicably anxiousness. He runs towards her, he's not sure what he wants to do— but he knows he has to do something, anything.
Yet he stops. He stands blankly in the middle of the road, watching as Astra turns back towards him, giving him a bright grin along with a thumbs up.
Huening Kai returns the gesture, pulling a wide grin too, and he feels relieved again, convinced that she will get through this.
There's a loud honk, and car lights beam straight onto Huening Kai. The boy quickly gets off the road, bowing to the honking driver. He turns back to Astra again, but she's gone.
Huening Kai paces around the sidewalk, and the same sense of unease hits him again.
.
.
And he was right.
Even as Saturday comes by and the boys invite Astra to hang out, the girl refuses, citing her laziness.
And as Sunday comes, when Huening Kai knocks on the door with Taehyun, no one answers. The two boys, soon joined by three others, waited by the door for a long time, but they saw no one coming in or out.
There wasn't anyone at home.
All updates they had on her were on their group chat. She still texts every day, saying that she's okay, alive and well, jokingly telling them that there is no need to call the police.
Yet there are two concerning updates on _Decoding the Stars_
Astra sends them codes every morning. A simple picture of her diary, of the satanic dots and lines that Taehyun is now able to understand with a glance.
It took Taehyun 20 minutes each day to decode and translate Astra's handwriting that Taehyun later updates into the group chat.
Saturday:
S. A. V. E
Sunday:
Y. O. U. R. S. E. L. F
These were the exact same words Astra said the 'her' in the mirror told her.
Save her.
Save her from what?
The group chat with all 6 of them was silent, but in the separate group chat with the five boys, it was bustling with activity. There was an air of morbid uncertainty as the boy discussed what "Save yourself" could possibly mean.
It felt like something was going to happen. Something so threatening it would require her to save herself.
It is a horrifying idea to think about.
Monday.
And Huening Kai thinks that really, he shouldn't have just let her go that Friday.
She's absent.
It is also on that day when the boys received no updates from her.
Calls and texts went unanswered, and the house remains empty. There's nothing.
And Huening Kai finally gathers the courage to ask the other four during lunch, "Did she leave us and run away?"
Day 13:
... .- ...- .
Day 14:
-.-- --- ..- .-. ... . .-.. ..-.
Chapter 29: Day 16
Chapter Text
Tuesday, Huening Kai is still waiting under the streetlight. He gazes towards the residential blocks standing side by side, and with every passing minute, he prays with all his heart that he will see her come down, smiling just like she did the previous Friday.
His wishes must have been heard. For the girl does appear, her steps excruciatingly slow and head lowered. But Huening Kai sees her right away. He lifts his feet, dashing out from under the glow of the streetlight, running towards her, his legs leaping across the stairs, two at a time.
"Astra!" Huening Kai is overjoyed when he greets her, wanting to berate her for disappearing without notice the previous day and to tell her how much he has missed her, even though it has been just three days.
But.
But she's just staring at him, her eyes vacant and empty, the stars that always seem to light up her eyes are gone. Huening Kai has a lot to say, but looking at her staring blankly back at him, he swallows his words.
He really shouldn't have let her go that Friday.
Last Friday, Astra lost her voice but kept her cheerful demeanour. Three days later, she seems to have lost everything, leaving behind only an empty shell.
"Astra." Huening Kai calls out to her and slips his hands into hers, pulling her forward, on their path to school. "Let's go."
Huening Kai peeks at Astra, finding the silence suffocating. This walk is marked by happy memories, filled with chatter and laughter between the two 16-year-olds who walk down this same road together five out of seven days in a week. Huening Kai grabs Astra tighter as he uses his hand to pull out his phone.
He types in their group chat,
"She's here."
And the boy leaves his phone back inside his pocket. He feels it buzzing non-stop against his thighs, but he takes no notice, too focused on the road ahead, on Astra, and on holding onto her.
"Astra!" There comes Yeonjun's loud exclamation as he comes speeding towards her.
Yeonjun gives Astra a heavy smack on her bag, and the girl jolts, "How could you just go MIA on us like that?" And Huening Kai watches, observing her as she blinks, catching the light clarity returning into her eyes.
Astra sees Yeonjun grinning at her and Huening Kai looking at her apprehensively from the side. A wave of intense guilt suddenly crushes her. She shakes off Huening Kai's hand, lowering her head, without a word or even a glance back, she walks away, leaving them behind.
"She—" Yeonjun gapes. "She ignored us?"
Huening Kai grits his teeth and hits Yeonjun, "What's wrong with you?"
"You..." Yeonjun feels wronged. "Shouted at me?"
"Couldn't you tell something is up with her?"
"I have been trying my best," Huening Kai says with frustration till he catches Yeonjun's blank face. The younger boy throws his hands in the air, walking away, "Whatever."
Yeonjun froze on the spot, watching the two youngest turn their backs on him.
Yeonjun doesn't understand what is wrong, and he wonders if it is him, but then again, what did he do?
His confusion quickly builds into anger. He frowns, his fingers curling inwards to form a fist. With a stamp on the floor, he turns away.
.
.
It starts to rain. The rain pours heavily and it patters loudly against the window.
"Astra." Taehyun is calling her for the fifth time since they have taken their seats in the classroom. Taehyun feels a bubbling warmth in his throat as he forces out his question, "Why aren't you talking to us?"
It wasn't just them. Astra has not been able to find her voice since Friday. But she's now blatantly ignoring them, like they aren't here, like they aren't trying to talk to her.
He's never one to be affected, nor does he wear his emotions on his sleeves. But this is Astra, she's his friend, a friend that he really likes. Taehyun reaches out and taps her on her shoulder, to which the girl cooly shrugs off, silent.
Her cold rejection feels like a stab in his heart.
And perhaps it is retribution. Taehyun thinks. Just like how he ignored her when she was trying to prove her identity as a time-traveller.
Taehyun crosses his arms on the table, lowering his head. And he thinks that back then, he should have been nicer, because right now, there's a growing ache in his chest, one that urges him to sneak constant peeks at her expressionless face. This biting feeling of fear and loss.
Taehyun doesn't want to lose this friend he has come to cherish. He likes her for who she is, her quirkiness, her crazy antics, her shamelessness, or the rare care or genuineness that she sometimes shows, or even days where she would seem mysterious, with stars dancing in her eyes.
She's a friend that he never wants to let go. He wants to hold on, but it looks like she doesn't want to.
It feels like he's not as important to her as she is to him.
Taehyun lowers his eyes, his tears falling on the worksheet that their teacher has freshly printed out.
What exactly went wrong? What happened that Friday?
Why isn't she telling them anything?
The wet puddles grow on Taehyun's worksheet, and Astra raises her head, her fingers reaching out. Her lips part, moving, but only hot air comes out.
So she turns away, again, picking up her pen, pressing it on her paper. She subtly turns her body away, trying hard to ignore the boy beside her.
When it was lunch break, Huening Kai stood from his seat, walking forward, he blocks Astra's way, just like on the first day, where she had once stopped Taehyun.
"What is wrong with you?" Huening Kai asks, voice more aggressive than he'd liked it to be. "You said we were meant to be." He recalls the handshake they exchanged under their houses. "You said you were never going to be mad at me."
Unlike what one might expect, Huening Kai doesn't cry, asking with a serious face, "Was it all bullshit?"
"Were you just tricking me?"
Astra doesn't look up. She keeps her eyes towards the ground, seeing Huening Kai's white shoes sliding anxiously on the floor.
Yeonjun is angry, Taehyun is crying, and Huening Kai is hurt.
Maybe this is for the best.
Astra nods. And Huening Kai's expression hardens. "Are you for real?"
Unlike Huening Kai's calm tone, his lips are trembling.
Astra steps to the side, ignoring Huening Kai's words, she dashes off. Hurriedly, she runs down a few flights of stairs, trying to get as far as possible, wanting to find a quiet spot. But she bumps into Beomgyu and Soobin, walking side by side, climbing up the stairs.
"Hey! Auntie!" Beomgyu immediately calls out. Astra turns her feet, wanting to run back upwards, leaving in the opposite direction.
Soobin reaches out, his arm grabs onto Astra before she slips away, "Don't run, it's raining heavily today. You might fall."
They grab her each by an arm, pulling her to sit by the stairs, "Why didn't you come to school yesterday?"
Astra looks at them blankly, tuning out their voices, instead focusing on the occasional thundering, the harsh flashes of white streaking across the skies, or the loud, rapid pour of the rain.
The rain is getting heavier.
Her eyes are cold, and her lips are firmly shut.
"Astra. I heard from Yeonjun." Soobin begins, sighing. "But you can't just ignore and run away from everything."
"I don't know what happened and don't know what you are thinking right now, but you won't solve anything by running away."
"Don't keep everything to yourself, tell us what is going on, so we can understand. We are in this together, aren't we?" Soobin tries to smile. "Don't forget," Soobin pauses, "You were the one who looked and gathered us together in the first place."
"Right. Are we even friends? You are ignoring us after going through all the effort to convince us that we aren't supposed to exist here?" Beomgyu adds.
We are. Astra thinks. We are friends. But perhaps we were never supposed to.
So she chose to run again.
"If you still consider us friends—" Beomgyu's eyes are cold as he screams after Astra, giving her an ultimatum. "Then don't run!"
"Astra!" Beomgyu's screams chase her down the corridors, and she picks up speed.
Astra doesn't stop.
Is this the end? Now all she has to do is wait till the stars fall.
Astra's eyes glint. She hopes that when the stars fall, she will no longer be here. But till then, she will do her best to help the members of TXT return to the timeline they truly belong in.
Astra walks back to the classroom. The classroom is packed with empty tables and chairs, and all the other students have already left for lunch. Quietly, with nowhere else to go, she walks back to her seat, laying her head on the table. She sniffs, on days like these, the misty smell of rain soothes her, and gently, with the rain as her private soundtrack, she closes her eyes.
"Astra?" Mrs Thon walks into class to retrieve the markers she left behind, "Why are you here?"
The teacher checks her watch, "It's good to see you." Mrs Thon smiles, "Do you have anything on? If not, I would like to speak to you."
Astra nods slowly, standing up and following behind Mrs Thon.
"How have you been doing in school lately?" The teacher asks.
Astra inhales, and her lips open and close. She couldn't speak. Mrs Thon pats the girl's back, saying in a mellow tone, "It's alright. I heard from your mother, you don't have to speak, just listen, alright?"
Astra nods.
"This school advocates to nurture ladies and gentlemen—" Mrs Thon begins, "That's the school motto, do you recall?"
The girl bobs her head, wondering why Mrs Thon would bring up this topic.
"We encourage independent learners and therefore will try not to meddle in students' affairs." The teacher stops at the staffroom and keys in a set of 4-digit numbers into the digital pad. There is a click, and the glass doors pull open. "Come in." She beckons to Astra.
"However, the school will always have your back." Mrs Thon leads Astra to her table and pulls out a cushioned chair with a backrest, having her sit comfortably while the teacher herself sits on a hard wooden stool. "To encourage positive growth and independence, it is the school's responsibility to create a conducive, safe, and healthy environment for all of you."
Astra tilts her head, confused at why she is listening to all these.
"I have received a report from Huening Kai."
Huening Kai? Astra reacts to the boy's name, her body unconsciously leaning towards Mrs Thon.
The elderly teacher takes Astra's hand in hers. "That boy wrote to me through mail."
"It is a long, long mail." The teacher chuckles. "He very humbly told me that he wanted to protect his friend and asked for my help."
"Astra." The teacher calls softly, "You." She lowers her voice, "The friend that he wanted to protect."
Mrs Thon's eyes are kind as she gazes into Astra, who blinks back at her, feeling her nose become tingly.
"He told me about the incident of you and Isla in the bathroom." Mrs Thon continues, "There are also many things Isla said and did behind your back that Huening Kai has stopped and reported."
"The boy told me not to tell you." Mrs Thon pats Astra's hand, smiling sheepishly. "But I decided to break that trust he gave me."
"I'm in the dark to the reason you lost your speech—" Mrs Thon says. "But I heard it happened in school."
Astra flinches.
"It's alright even if you don't tell us why." Mrs Thon reassures her.
"But I am saying all this is to remind you that the school and your friends are here to support you, unconditionally."
"And there is one more thing—" Mrs Thon leans forward, smiling cheekily. Astra widens her eyes, flinching backward at the sudden change of expression from the elderly teacher.
"Why don't you take a guess at who your secret angel is?"
It clicks.
Her secret angel, the question he asked in the letter, the familiar tone—
Huening Kai.
There is a long silence. And as Astra sits with a conflicted expression, one locked between realisation and pain, her eyes staring past her teacher to somewhere beyond this room, perhaps to the pouring rain outside. Mrs Thon doesn't follow her gaze, instead, she stays silent, just giving her hands a tight squeeze.
A tremor runs through, and there is a short gurgling sound in her throat.
She speaks, for the first time in three days.
"I'm—" Astra smiles softly, one that looked a little broken. "...okay now."
Mrs Thon gasps, almost a little too dramatically, before pulling Astra into a hug. She pats her head. "I'm glad."
Before Mrs Thon can lead Astra out, she's running out by herself. She's running again. Still, this time, she is no longer running away. Her steps pound urgently, kicking up against small puddles of rain that have slipped inside the building. She breaks into her classroom. The doors slam open, and a quiet, empty classroom greets her.
She stops, taking another look around the classroom. Slowly, she takes a deep inhale, inching towards the rows of paper envelopes pinned up against the wooden board.
Her envelope, with her name scribbled across, hangs at the highest row. She had to tiptoe and stretch her arms out fully to barely reach it. It's oddly bulging today. And as she turns, she thought she could see Huening Kai's figure awkwardly squatting behind the door, a paper and pen in his hands.
Astra chuckles. She reaches forward, sliding her hands through the paper folds and tugging lightly.
Maybe she hasn't pulled as lightly as she thought, or the paper envelope is already teetering on breaking point, and with a rip, the paper tears. Paper notes of varying sizes come spilling out. They fall, fluttering as if they had a life of it's own, one swivels, heading straight towards her face, hitting her nose harshly before it plummets downwards.
But she sees it, the word 'secret angel' with an uglily drawn smiley emoji among the rows of black ink.
And just before the paper hits the ground, Astra drops to her knees, grasping the paper tightly in her fingers.
Chapter 30: Huening Kai's letter
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
-Hi! I am your secret angel! Heheheheheh!
Thank you for your previous advice. Getting your perspective allowed me to better understand how to protect my friend. I don't open up easily to others, and it was amazing how quickly I opened up to my friend.
To introduce my friend, she's a really kind-hearted and warm person. She thinks a lot about us and therefore carries a lot of burden and worries by herself. So, I would like to tell her that we are all here for her, no matter what. Well, even if they aren't, I'll be here, I promise I'll always be by her side, even if the whole world is against her, just like how I believe she will do the same for me.
She's really, really important to me, she takes a big chunk of my heart!
And as your secret angel, I would like to say the same to you ;) -
Notes:
This isn't an actual chapter, but more like an extra ehe. The following four chapters will also be short, in the form of letters.
Chapter 31: Soobin's letter
Chapter Text
-Dear Astra,
Hey, this is Soobin.
First, a disclaimer.
Huening Kai is the one who suggested this. He made all of us each write a letter to you in the crack of dawn during our weekends where I usually sleep till the sun shines up to my ass.
What do I want to say to you? Astra, you are kind of like Beomgyu. Both of you can be serious crackheads when you want to be. But I think there is a difference between you two, you are a crackhead without knowing you are one while Beomgyu is a crackhead with intentionality (?—I don't exactly understand what I am saying either)
Beomgyu might seem crazy or silly at times, but really, he's not. He has a great sense of calm and judgement when the situation requires, and he can act calmly to make the best decisions.
But you are just.
Crazy.
When things actually matter, your judgment fails and you become easily directed by your emotions and goals.
So you make me worried. You are an important part of the group, if you didn't know that yet. But I feel like one day, you will be killed by your own stupid decisions.
I'm not sure if you have noticed, but your fellow first-year friends, Taehyun and Huening Kai are really attached to you. So wherever you go, those two will follow. And where the three of you go, I think we will all follow too.
I'm not sure why I am so attached to you all. It's honestly unscientific how it feels like you guys have become my entire world in just a few days. For now, I have rationalised it with the whatever bond you have mentioned that supposedly existed in our past lives.
Eh. But nothing's scientific these days. It has been an insane week.
So, what I'm trying to say is if you go off and jump the cliff, I think we will all be jumping off too.
So even if not for yourself, but for us, please re-think your choices. Sorry if I sound harsh here but it's literally the crack of dawn, and my head isn't exactly spinning right now. But that's good as it would mean this letter is from my heart.-
Chapter 32: Yeonjun's letter
Chapter Text
-Astra! My junior! Hey, Yeonjun here! Honestly, I'm really glad to have met you all. You guys really make my days brighter. Initially, I thought you guys were crazy fools with overactive imaginations under some kind of cult, still I followed along blindly because that's how much I like you guys. Though now, I know that the real fool has been me all along.
I have an odd feeling these days when I look at you.
I have this feeling that you regret us. Regretting the time we spent and are trying to find ways to get us back.
But I wanna say that I don't want to go back. I believe this is where I am now, through the accumulation of my own steps I have taken and the precious friends I have made.
I want to try my best to keep this. I want to be here, with all of you guys. And because I want to, you can't run either.
I'll keep you tight here with us. To me, there is no space to regret, there is no space backwards and we can only charge ahead, all six of us, together.
I mean it. -
Chapter 33: Taehyun's letter
Chapter Text
-To my deskmate.
I have been a curious child since young and I have had a lot of interests. You are the weirdest and most interesting deskmate I've had, with stories of your past, our future in another timeline that you painted, and your dreams are all part of it. And that weirdness made me curious.
Like an enigma. Someone filled with a lot of mysteries that I must uncover, driven by that curiosity, I became your friend.
Actually, I was just really entertained by your antics. It was fun watching and being a participant in all that insanity. So you became my new interest.
But I think, at some point, your weirdness became unique.
And as I get to know you, I think you have since upgraded. Unlike my interests, which come and ebb away like waves, I don't think you will ebb. I have started to see you as a really important friend. And when I think about the future, I see the six of us on a big grassy plains, stargazing up into the skies.
And I can picture you.
You are there with me.
You said you were not sure what Tomorrow X Together meant, but I think I do now. Because that's what I want. I want you to be with me, together for every tomorrow.
I hope you will stay by my side, with me, in our future.
Who said I can't write long letters?
-Your friend, Taehyun -
Chapter 34: Beomgyu's letter
Chapter Text
-Dear my beloved auntie,
First. I'm sorry I crashed your class's secret angel thing. But there's no harm.
Honestly, the reason why I keep calling you auntie is to remind myself that you are in your thirties. I can't see you that way otherwise. Everything you do tells me you are our age, sometimes your actions do not give me the mature and stable feels a middle-aged lady does.
I have this impression of you, you are like someone flickering in and out. And at times, you scare me with your stubbornness. It makes me feel like you will disappear without a trace one day. And I'm scared of that day.
If you do disappear, things will never be the same. Your presence is what brought the five of us together. Do not forget that, without you, our group might just lose its meaning and might just wander the world in search of you.
So there's a question I would like to ask you,
You keep telling us about the 'original timeline' and the bright future we will have as 'TXT'. But what if we don't want to go back?
This is our life here. We are all content with who we are here. What you tell us about our lives in another timeline is something we cannot see. All of us exist here, our memories, our lives, our present, past and future.
This is also the truth that I want to believe in. No matter how beautifully you paint our supposed original lives, I prefer now. I prefer us. Six instead of five.
In here, in now, I am happy.
So the question I wanted to ask: what about you? Do you really want to go back to your 'original timeline'- Where our paths will never cross?
:'(
-Beomgyu-
Chapter 35: Day 15 - 16
Chapter Text
The hospital is a much colder plan than the infirmary at school. Courtesy of Ophelia, a tea-lover, the infirmary smelled a little like nature, infused with a light, earthy scent of tea leaves. However, Astra thought hospitals smelled like death, metal, and a much more concentrated smell of disinfectant, as if it were trying to cover up all the lives that had passed here.
When did she start disliking it here?
It must have been from yesterday, when the doctors started to get increasingly personal with their questions.
How did a perfectly fine girl go completely mute after a few hours in school?
At first, it was fine. The doctors and nurses are friendly, they talked to her with warm, caring tones, and she was comfortable.
Astra surprised even herself with how comfortable she became with the staff. Unguarded and fully trusting, she simply spilled the truth, telling them what she saw and heard in school. They acted as if they believed her. They went along, smiled, and played it by ear.
One of the doctors, the one whose smile seemed to never run dry, one that seemed etched permanently in his features, had profound knowledge about time— chronophysics, as he calls it. He was her attending doctor, yet their interactions went beyond routine checks. She would write on a whiteboard, and he would sit on a chair by her bedside, listening attentively. Astra recalls one such instance, where he answered her theories, his finger rubbing his chin in deep contemplation, "It could be another dimension or timeline. Since you mentioned you time-traveled, then according to the Many-Worlds hypothesis, an alternate timeline or universe might have branched off the original one. The timelines might have converged and aligned, allowing you to travel from your current timeline to another and speak to your friend there."
"Or you could be in a time loop."
"How does that occur?" Astra remembered writing.
"There must have been a point of resonance!" He exclaimed, gesturing widely with his fingers. "A resonance strong enough to trigger a breach in the laws of our world."
At that moment, seeing the wide smile and hearing the impassioned speech, she fell into a daze, momentarily forgetting her purpose, and couldn't help but ask a foolish question she wished she hadn't.
"Why did you choose to become a doctor?" She had written on the board.
The doctor's smile never slipped, answering with a second thought, "Because I didn't want to be a fiction writer. I only want to read."
Fiction.
Then she knew. The light sparkle in her eyes dimmed. He had never believed her words.
The days stretched, words spread, and what they thought was harmless curiosity and reassurance grew into insistence. It was so stupid, she should never have been affected, she could have easily brushed it off. But the days pass, and when she looks at the faces passing by, they blur, gradually covered by lines of black layered atop one another.
The hospital became a scary place.
Words played on repeat, routinely, trying to convince her that her experience could just be a prank. It's neither an alternate timeline nor a loop.
Just a prank.
But it's not.
The blood on her forehead is real, the blood on her hands is real. The injured boy with a dimpled smile, who had pushed a beautiful blue flower into her hands, is a reality somewhere.
Her reality, the scenes smeared with blood and pain, represent her past, future, or an alternate timeline or universe.
All sounded equally horrifying. Her thoughts pound, as she holds onto them, playing them over and over again.
And as she thinks, the door slides open, and her mother walks in. "Astra." She calls, rubbing her eyes, at the heavy eye bags underneath. "We are getting you discharged."
She nods.
Astra's mother looks at her daughter, silently shuffling out of bed. Her condition has worsened during her stay here. The doctor has said clearly that it wasn't that she couldn't speak, but it was because she doesn't want to. The lady rubbed at the few name cards in her hands, of various psychologists, and the final shake of his head along with a recommendation, "You should send your daughter back to school."
.
.
.
Present_
She's running so much today. When had she ever ran this much? It must have been when she was in her third-year, of her previous life, when she was too nice to say no and was selected as a participant for a relay race. Not wanting to drag down her fellow participants, she went all out, running for roughly two hours in the evenings to train her stamina and speed.
But today, Astra has taken running to another level. She's running in the rain. It's a dumb move, especially considering that the school has, with much consideration and heartache, despite their tight budget, fitted all paths with sheltered walkways. It ensured that wherever she needed to go, there was no need to get wet.
Now, a mix of the heavy rain and her tears soaks through her clothes. She cuts through the field, running straight ahead.
Miraculously, despite the weather conditions that paved way for a slippery floor, her shoes must have been providing great friction, for she doesn't slip even as she charges recklessly ahead. Astra stops outside the old computer lab, blinking her eyes to clear all the liquid clouding her vision. She rubs at them, forcing them open to look through the window.
She sees them. Sure enough, they were all here. Five boys sprawled across the lab.
It's just a singular door separating them, yet now it feels like the hill Astra has failed to climb that day on that accursed island.
Astra places her hand on the door handle, stopping there. She looks down at her hands and, for a moment, she thinks she sees a tattered string connecting her wrist to the boys inside the room.
Minutes ago, she was the one who equipped herself with a pair of scissors, stabbing at the string, snipping away despite their attempts.
Oh.
She had been ruthless.
Astra's eyes spin, her irises shaking wildly. Another look at the string and it looks like it will snap any moment now, so thin, so dirty—
Maybe it is too late.
She turns, her hands falling weakly from the door.
Clack.
And the door opens, for how can getting rid of them ever be that easy?
It's Yeonjun who opened the door. The same boy who claims in his letter that he would not let her run away and keep her tight with them.
It was an inexplicable feeling. A sudden urge to open the door, Yeonjun doesn't know why, but he just thought that he had to do it.
So he does. And when he does, he sees a girl, drenched wet from head to toe. She's facing the opposite direction, as if about to leave, again.
Yeonjun frowns and without hesitation, he lunges forward to grab her collar, stopping her.
"Astra." Yeonjun calls her name. He was angry. He is so sure he was. The boy thought that when he saw her again, he would lash out at her till she held tears in her eyes, then he would turn, turn and leave just like how she did this morning.
Yet when Yeonjun faces her, his anger has grinded itself into dust, scattering away into the wind. Yeonjun stares speechlessly, noticing the wet glasses that have fallen to the ends of her nose bridge. She's soaked through, her lips pouting, and water tracing her cheek, her tears mixed with the rain.
Despite himself, despite his supposed intense anger, it all dissolves into a faint smile. Quietly, Yeonjun reaches out, slowly removing her glasses, wiping its wet and foggy lens against the fabric of his uniform before gently sliding them back on her face.
Even the first question he asked wasn't about their conflict, her behaviour this morning, or demanding answers about what happened. Instead, with a gentle voice, he asks, "Were you running in the rain?"
Astra hasn't had time to answer when she's pulled in, greeted warmly by the others, all acting as if whatever happened earlier had just been a weightless past.
All except Beomgyu. Only Beomgyu still remained in his corner, his head turned away.
The first step inside the lab, she drops to her knees, bowing her head, uttering a soft apology.
And as she kneels down, letters of different colours slip out from under her uniform, those that she had desperately shielded under the heavy rain. Even now, she's reaching out for them, not allowing them to fall onto the floor.
Huening Kai recognised the letters she held in her hands, and finally, he smiled.
"You are talking!" Soobin is the one most excited about Astra's recovered speech. If her last words were those asking if he's okay, Soobin thinks that he would feel responsible for the rest of his life.
"I'm sorry." Astra repeats, voice hoarse from days of silence.
"It's alright." Soobin kneels before her, she's horribly wet, rainwater dripping from her clothes and hair, but he doesn't hesitate, wrapping his arms around her trembling shoulders, hugging her tight.
The fact that she came back, was all that mattered.
One by one, the other boys pile on top, crowding around Astra and Soobin, surrounding them in their embrace. Again, except Beomgyu.
"Astra." Taehyun chokes out, "I'm sorry too."
Taehyun had been crouched in the corner beside Huening Kai all this while, as if his world were crumbling apart. Contrastingly, it was Huening Kai who kept a stoic face throughout; he honestly looked like he would irreversibly transform into a demon if allowed to fester. With their state and Yeonjun still boiling in his anger, it was only under Beomgyu and Soobin's collective effort that they managed to gather here.
Earlier, it was Taehyun, Huening Kai, and Yeonjun, who looked like they had gone past irreversible points in their lives, with Beomgyu seeming to be the most level-headed one. Yet right now, with her apology, there has been a flip, the three had brightened up, gone was their time of gloominess. Instead, it's Beomgyu who looks disconnected now, unresponsively curled at the side.
There's a loud sneeze.
Astra rubs her nose, and Soobin, her main victim, the one who voluntarily pulled her close into his arms— recoils backwards, "Ahh!" He shouts, "You got it on me!"
Soobin quickly scrambles up, walking to Beomgyu and conveniently smears it on the sleeve of his shirt.
Beomgyu blinks, his head taking its sweet time to process the situation while he stares at the gooey trail of snot left behind. Soon his face contorts, horrified, "What the hell?"
Beomgyu grabs the ends of his shoes, pulling them off his feet. Arming himself with his shoe, he launches himself towards Soobin with a vengeful yell.
He's quickly stopped by a whisper.
"I want to stay here." Voices at that volume is supposed to be lost amid Soobin's laughter, his yells, and the loud pounding of his soles against the floor as he runs. But somehow, he hears her. Even the next whisper, even softer than before, calling his name.
Beomgyu turns, looking at the sheets of paper piled at her feet. A few seconds of silence later, he walks to Astra, squatting beside her, finally acknowledging her presence. He asks with a soft smile, "Is this your answer?"
Astra looks back up at him, "Yes."
"No take-backs?"
"No."
"Good." Beomgyu drapes a towel he took from an unknown corner around Astra. "Then we are friends again."
Astra allows the towel to hang on her head. "Thank you."
"Alright. Don't stick so close." Soobin grabs Taehyun and Huening Kai, pulling them backwards and away from Astra. "She's wet. Let's bring her to Ophelia." Soobin says.
Beomgyu nods. "Yes. Ophelia will deal with her."
"I'll stay there with her." Huening Kai says, sticking to Astra again. The boy recalls last Friday, when they bid farewell with smiles, and he lets her go. Yet, three days later, she changed.
He wasn't going to let it happen again. Today is a day he never wants to relive.
"Kai." Astra places her wet hand on his shoulders, "You don't have to. I'm really okay now."
"...Are you seriously drying your hands on my uniform?" Huening Kai eyes the hands rubbing up and down his sleeves, feeling the dampness through his uniform.
Now, with dry hands, she gingerly picks up the letters piled on her lap. "I just have something I want to ask too."
"Ask." Beomgyu folds his arms.
"Are all of you..." She begins, looking up at the five boys staring back at her. This time it wasn't just Taehyun. Under the dim lights of the computer lab, they see multiple colours swirling in Astra's pupils, like they are forming galaxies with millions of sparkles, like flickering stars.
"Really friends who will stand with me?"
...
That's cringey. Taehyun swallows back his thoughts, forcing himself to answer,
"Yes." Their voices chorused, coming together in a collective answer.
Astra pushes herself up from the ground, standing up and brushing the wet strands of hair that are sticking onto her face, "Then that's good enough."
She flashes them a smile before she runs out, her back turned towards them, "I'll go to the infirmary myself."
"Astra!" Huening Kai shouts, clear panic in his actions, already picking himself up to chase after her.
"It's fine. I'll see you all after school."
There is a short pause, covered by the sounds of pattering raindrops as she runs back under the dense, pouring rain. It falls on her, soaking into her clothes. Instead of walking under the sheltered walkways, she had chosen to take the shortcut again. It was a rational choice; she's already drenched, and it no longer mattered.
But Astra's still hearing them calling out to her, their voices drawing closer. She turns, and through the streaks of rain, she quickly catches the blurry figures of her five friends, all running towards her, shouting at her to get under the shelter. She stops, lifting her arms.
"Don't come!" She shouts. "You'll all get wet too!"
Astra can barely open her eyes from the rain battering down at her eyelids, but perhaps this is what she needed, the pressure and sensation of rain on her skin is what is keeping her grounded, in what helps her remember that this world, this moment, is very real.
Under the cold, relentless downpour, the five boys stepping into the rain seemed to glow, lighting up what she thought was a bleak path ahead. Like her umbrellas, her friends who promised to always shade her.
Accompanied by the falling rain, Astra comes to a standstill. Her eyes, though stinging with the rapid battering of raindrops, are wide open, fixed on this very scene before her.
Even if this world isn't real, as long as they are here, this world will be my reality.
"When I see you guys later," Astra begins, eyes on the five boys standing before her, all under the rain.
What a dumb thing to do.
Taehyun raises his arm, quietly shielding her eyes from the rain. Astra presses her lips together, trying to control its trembling, not from the cold, but from a warm corner of her heart. She looks at them, her vision much clearer this time, "I'll tell you all everything."
It was good that the computer lab is situated at an isolated location that no one visits, because if they had, they would see six students standing foolishly under the rain.
All six would have certainly been sent to Robert's office then.
.
.
Again, Astra's drinking tea with Ophelia. The two sit across one another on a round table, each cradling a porcelain cup of steaming hot tea in their hands. The two drink quietly, with each sip, a sigh of satisfaction leaves their lips.
Beomgyu bursts in. With a quick swipe, the delicate cup in Astra's hand is snatched away. The tea swishes in his hands, leaking a rich, earthly, and mellow scent. It's a cup Astra has been treasuring, savouring it by small sips. It is really expensive tea, after all.
Yet to her horror, Beomgyu is now chugging her tea down his throat.
Yeonjun strolls in after Beomgyu, hands in his pockets, "Is it good?"
Beomgyu nods, licking his lips. "Has a pretty unique flavor, definitely premium tea."
Yeonjun unscrupulously grabs the teapot Ophelia has placed in the middle and pours into the cup Beomgyu is holding. He pulls Beomgyu's wrist, bringing the cup to his lips
The boy's expression blanks, with an almost unnoticeable twitch in his expression, he grabs the cup off Beomgyu's hand and passes it to Huening Kai, "Want to try?"
Huening Kai suspiciously looks at the still full cup, Yeonjun has barely drunk anything. He inches his head backwards, "I don't know about this—"
"Just try it." Yeonjun pushes it up Huening Kai's lips.
Huening Kai tentatively takes a taste. He blinks, pushing his lips in and out as if savouring the taste. He nods, passing the same cup to his same-aged friend, "It's actually really good. You try it too."
Taehyun takes the cup without hesitation, taking a big gulp. He pulls the cup from his lips, eyes shaking. Finally, he turns to Huening Kai, letting out a soft giggle before his eyes land on Soobin. "It's good. premium tea. Soobin, you try it."
Soobin knew something was wrong. The cup is passed across three people, but the light brownish tea remains above the halfway mark. Still, he's curious.
How bad could it be?
So he accepts the cup from Taehyun.
Very bad.
The treasured drops of premium tea spill from his lips, dripping down to the floor.
"Ew. Disgusting!" Beomgyu quickly jumps away.
Ophelia watches speechlessly, "Soobin. You will have to wipe that before you leave."
"Tsk." Astra clicks his tongue and snatches her cup back from Soobin, taking another small, graceful sip.
As soon as Astra places the cup back on the table, Beomgyu takes it away, taking another gulp.
The other four boys watch on in disbelief, finally revealing what they thought about that trashy tea.
"How do you guys drink it?" Yeonjun asks.
"It tastes like damp soil." Soobin sticks out his tongue.
"I thought you guys were all acting." Huening Kai says, glancing between Astra and Beomgyu.
"They have odd taste buds."
Astra and Beomgyu genuinely enjoyed the tea. Beomgyu likes the tea, its balanced taste and flavor reminded him of a flower field he visited with his family when he was twelve.
Meanwhile, for Astra, tea isn't about the flavour. It's about the price. So, regardless of how it tastes, the girl is happy to drink it.
For the two of them, one is savouring nostalgia while the other is sipping value. The rest wouldn't have understood. Their confusion showed as the two started to quarrel over a cup of tea, needing to be dragged out with a combined effort from Huening Kai and Yeonjun after prying the precious porcelain cup from both their hands.
"Time for the explanation." Taehyun smiles as they leave the infirmary, leaving Soobin behind, forced to clean up his spillage.
At the computer lab, the curtains are drawn. With a final check turn of the handle, checking if the door is locked, Beomgyu turns to sit on a chair, joining the circle of five in the middle.
"I need to leave in thirty minutes." Astra begins, "My mum is waiting for me."
"Then you hurry up and talk!" Beomgyu says.
"First, these." Astra tears out two separate papers from her bag, passing them to Taehyun. It is her recording of the messages. Taehyun takes it, unfurling the papers in his hand.
"You remember that day we got stuck in an odd version of the hill in Sanders Island?"
"Yeah? What about it?" Taehyun asks.
"When we entered or left that space, it felt like the world was flickering—" Astra turns her fingers towards the ceiling lights, "That day, it was just like that, except the lights were the ones flickering."
"There is a very bright flicker, and I couldn't see." Astra keeps her hands to herself, "It wasn't raining that day. It was bright and sunny, yet when I could see again, the world outside had turned dark and the school was different."
"You were on the third floor, right? Just to hand in your application form? Did you do anything else?" Beomgyu asks.
"No." Astra shakes her head. "I wanted to quickly submit it and get back to class. I ran, slot in the form, and while I was running back—"
A deep inhale. "Everything has changed."
"The school looked like it had aged a few years; the walls were yellow, and there was a lot of blood. Dried blood, fresh blood. Both." Astra squeezes her eyes, recalling that scene, "Blood everywhere."
"The weirdest thing..." Astra pulls her hand across the air, drawing a long line roughly the length of the gash, "—was a deep and smooth gash on the wall. Our school is fitted with cement walls, what could dig through it like that?"
"Not a human. Certainly." Yeonjun says.
"Then I heard footsteps." Astra looks at Soobin, pausing for a long while. Soobin, though confused, returns a reassuring smile, patting her back.
"That was you."
"Soobin." Astra calls the boy, who has his mouth agape now. "That boy who approached me in that bloody space is you."
Soobin points at himself, "Me?"
"But I had been in class! I only went to you after you called me!"
Astra shakes her head. "There is a doctor I met at the hospital."
"You went to the hospital? When?" Taehyun shifts, scratching his arm.
"On Friday." Astra smiles sheepishly. "My mother became worried because I couldn't talk."
"And you didn't tell us?"
"I was overwhelmed and I didn't want to worry you all."
"Is that so? Or did you simply feel that there is no point telling us?" Beomgyu's words are sharp.
Astra blinks before she quickly lowers her head, "I'm sorry."
"Will you continue to keep things to yourself in the future?"
"No."
"You promise?"
"Promise."
...
"Back to topic." Soobin pulls Beomgyu back and pulls up towards Astra, "So? What after?"
"The doctor said it could be an alternate timeline or dimension that is created due to my time travel, and the you I saw there could be from that alternate timeline or dimension, separate from ours."
"How did you get into the separate timeline then?"
"I don't know. The doctor mentioned that there must have been points of resonance." Astra is equally clueless, and with what the doctor said, she felt as if things became more complicated. "It just happened."
"Resonance?" Taehyun mutters under his breath, locking the word into memory.
"Or—" Astra continues, "The doctor also mentioned that it could be a time loop, and the Soobin I saw was a future you."
"A future me?" Soobin's lips tremble, "What am I doing there?"
"You." Astra holds Soobin's hand. "You are injured over there. You had a really sad face, you looked dirty, worn out, and had a lot of blood on you."
Soobin shivers at Astra's description, his mind whirling and he's not sure of what to say.
"You knew I wasn't the Astra that belonged there." She continues.
"How? What did I say?" Soobin presses on.
"You said..." Astra lowers her eyes, unable to bring herself to look back at Soobin. "In the end, I'll still say the same thing." She repeats it word for word, as if right now, she's seeing that injured boy, who combed his fingers through her hair, uttering words that she couldn't understand.
"Please just save yourself. Save yourself, and that's how you will save us." She continues.
"You told me that that's all I need to remember."
...
Astra's sigh breaks the silence. "I..." Her voice wavers, "I'm not sure what I have gotten myself into." She looks up at them, who looked equally confused. A closer look, and she could see the shaking fear in their eyes. She pauses, a thought suddenly dawning on her.
She wonders if it's too much.
Too much to expect from friends of barely two weeks.
"I know it's scary." She begins. "I don't want to drag all of you down into it. I don't want that future, or alternate timeline to repeat."
"It's alright, so how about we... keep our distance?" Astra asks softly, staring at her hands. Saying took much more out of her than she thought, because it meant that she would be walking into this hell alone.
"We are still friends!" Astra added when none of the five boys said anything.
"But if you don't want to anymore, that's fine too." Her voice grows softer as the silence stretches on. "I won't blame you guys, you all have already helped me a lot."
Just like years ago, when Dominic said he would always be on her side. He did. Till the very last moment, until one day, he left all the same.
Who in their right mind would follow her into the depths of the unknown?
"I think I didn't regret it." Soobin suddenly says, breaking Astra's train of thought.
"The me over there said so much to you." Soobin smiles, patting her head. "I think I was determined to save you, regardless."
"So—" Soobin was about to continue before Taehyun cut in.
"No." He is still holding a pen, translating the code, and he doesn't lift his head, but his voice is firm, "I don't want it. I'll stick with you, no matter what you say."
"Me too!" Huening Kai regains his cheerful grin, "Like I said," Huening Kai pulls her into a hug, "Even if the whole world is against you, I'll still be with you."
"I thought you already understood." Yeonjun says, crossing his arms. "You are the one stuck with us. Not the other way around."
"Wait. One more thing, then what about your asthma?" Not wanting to be interrupted, Soobin clamps his hand over Beomgyu's mouth, stopping his attempt to speak.
Beomgyu mumbles indignantly, biting hard at the hand that dared to obstruct its way. But it's like Soobin doesn't feel it, "When I found you last Friday, you were doing pretty badly. If in that space all that happened was you meeting me, then why did you have an asthma attack?"
Astra frowns, finding it equally confusing, "I don't know, maybe an allergen."
A clatter interrupts them.
Taehyun dropped his pen, looking pensive as he checked his phone, then turned back to his notes, murmuring. "It says, end is— "
Day 15:
. -. -..
Day 16:
.. ...
Chapter 36: Day 16 - 17
Chapter Text
It was nothing short of a miracle.
"I'm home!"
Astra’s call. Her voice she hasn’t heard in days felt like years to the middle-aged lady.
Her daughter losing her voice is something even the doctors at the hospital couldn't do anything about. So when she spoke again, when she called, 'mum', she froze. Even when Astra cheekily called her by her full name, she didn't scold her. Not when she's barely holding back her tears.
"Are you okay now?" She hugs Astra, patting her head. "How did it happen?"
Astra turns her head, closing her eyes in contentment, realising that she has been receiving quite a lot of hugs today.
"My teachers and friends talked to me." She says. "And I think I just figured it out."
Surprisingly, her mother doesn't question any further and simply continues to pat her head, "That's good."
That night, the mother-daughter pair had a long talk. Astra tried to be as truthful as she could, but there remains things that cannot be said. With slow steps and a heavy feeling, she returns to her room, slumping back on her chair. She tilts her head back, staring up at the ceiling, her mind drawing a complete blank.
These days, she found that she enjoyed moments when it is just her, alone in a quiet place, where she can hear her heart thump in a steady beat beside her ear, where there is no pain and no thoughts. It is moments like these that she feels normal, alive, and desiring to live—not for others but just for herself, for her body that works tirelessly just to keep her alive.
These moments are also what Astra holds onto when she curls into herself every morning after she wakes up.
Astra stays like that for quite a long while, eyes wide open and staring at nothing in particular, just cherishing these precious minutes of normalcy when her phone vibrates—a message from Taehyun in their group chat, "Kai, Astra, did you two reach home in one piece?"
"Yes." Astra types. Usually, she would be joking around, biting back at Taehyun about how she's supposed to reach home in two pieces, perhaps. But this time, she doesn't; something in now makes her feel an unprecedented serenity. With a light smile on her lips, she continues to type, "Safe and sound."
"Yes. I too reached home in a piece." Yeonjun texts. From his message, the boy seems sulky at how Taehyun only asked his fellow same-age peers.
"Yes. I'm in a piece too." Soobin.
"Why didn't you ask about us? Are we not as important?" Beomgyu.
"Heheh" comes Taehyun's reply.
Astra is about to turn off her phone when a message comes in from an unsaved number.
Spam?
Astra clicks into it, wanting to block the number when her eyes catches a familiar name.
It's Elle.
"Hello! Is this Astra? I'm Elle, the girl in group 23. I have extra tickets for a movie screening at 7:30 after school tomorrow! I have asked Veronica and Felicia too, and they are coming! Do you think you could come too?"
It's a long and oddly enthusiastic message, especially one coming from Elle.
Astra asks, "Is it free?"
Elle's reply comes barely a second later, as if she had been staring at the chat all along, "Yes."
"Okay!" Astra's reply is also instantaneous. Free things are falling from the skies, she'd be a fool if she didn't grab onto it.
06:15
How many days left?
Astra is sitting at the edge of her bed, one palm over her chest, while her other hand clutches her inhaler. She is sweating more than usual today. In her sky, the stars aren't unreachable anymore. The girl closes her eyes and a mirage of the starry skies appears in within, with its distance towards her—,
About a week. The stars will hit her in about a week.
Astra lowers her head, staring at her hands lying powerlessly by her sides.
Do I even have a choice?
The girl opens and closes her fist, not feeling as panicked as before. Then she goes about her daily routine.
"You woke up even earlier today." Astra's mother says as she picks up her watch from the table. "It's still early, you know you can sleep a little longer."
Astra's fingers trace the walls of her house, her eyes shifting in an uneasy manner, "I know. I just don't like to sleep so much anymore."
Her mother chuckles, adjusting her watch on her wrist, "You used to sleep as long as you could."
"I changed." Astra says, donning a proud smile that drops the moment her mother turns away to pick up her bag.
"Alright. Then I'll head off to work earlier too. See you later."
"Yeah." Astra waves goodbye to her mother, though the older woman doesn't turn back to look. After Astra locks the door, she walks down the same road through the dimly lit streetlights lined equidistant from one another. Huening Kai isn't here yet.
I'm getting up earlier and earlier.
Astra places her bag by the streetlight and sits down, leaning her back against her bag. She rubs at her eyes, feeling it getting heavier.
And she fell asleep.
It is what Huening Kai sees when he walks over. Initially, when Huening Kai looked from afar, she looked like an abandoned bag underneath the streetlight. Yet as he walks closer, the boy realises that's his friend. The girl sleeps soundly beneath the gentle amber glow of the streetlight, the orange radiance casting shadows across her face, wrapping her in a warm embrace against the dark, and for a moment, the girl feels like an illusion, one where if he blinks, she would disappear.
Huening Kai squats beside her, his gaze up at the bulbs of the streetlight, then down back to his sleeping friend. He lifts his index finger and pushes it into her cheeks. "Hey, wake up."
Wake up she did. Astra quickly stands up, picking up her bag, "You're here."
She places half her arm over Huening Kai's shoulders, nudging him forward, "Let's go."
"Why were you sleeping here?" Huening Kai turns and sees that Astra has her eyes closed as she walks.
"It just felt like the right place to sleep." Astra answers, eyes still closed.
Huening Kai sighs, giving in to his fate as he holds her arm, trying to dispel thoughts that right now, he's like a guide dog for the girl trailing a step behind him.
Now standing before the school gates, after an embarrassing journey of trying to ignore curious stares of passing pedestrians, Huening Kai turns, resentfully pushing Astra's forehead with his fingers.
Finally, she opens her eyes, "We reached?"
"Yes, madam." Huening Kai teases, "We have indeed reached our destination, it's been pleasant being your driver, how did you enjoy the service?"
Astra takes a glance at him, "... Great."
"Thank you! That will be twenty." Huening Kai reaches out his hand, blatantly asking for payment.
Astra slaps his hand, "Here's the payment, kind sir. Please keep the change." and she walks ahead, leaving her driver behind.
Huening Kai looks down at his hand; empty, all he earned is a red mark from her slap. "Hey! That's dine and dash!"
"Didn't dine, didn't dash." Astra answers leisurely from up ahead.
.
.
"You dined and dashed?" Taehyun has his whole body turned to Astra, his eyes the widest it has ever been.
"You'd believe what he says?" Astra shoots back.
"Any day." Taehyun confirms, "I would believe his words over yours any day."
Huening Kai laughs, wrapping his arms around Taehyun.
Am I that untrustworthy? Astra is doubting herself.
"I didn't dine and dash—"
"She did, I drove her to school and she's not paying up!" Huening Kai insists.
"You..." Taehyun takes his time to clarify, unsure if he heard wrongly, "Drove her to school?"
"Yes—" Huening Kai can barely finish his words when Astra stuffs her hands into the side pocket of Taehyun's bag, easily pulling out a handful of caramel candy.
"Here." Astra pats Huening Kai's back and passes the candy to him, "Payment."
"Good?" Astra tilts her head.
"Not good." Huening Kai answers.
Taehyun watches silently as his bag is ransacked again. Another handful of his stash is handed to Huening Kai.
As if sensing Taehyun's stare, Astra says to him, justifying her shameless behaviour, "Too many sweets aren't good for your teeth. To keep your pretty teeth, you have to stay away from sweets." All while she picks up the three pieces of candy that have fallen on the floor during the transfer, pushing them to Huening Kai.
Then she grins at Huening Kai, "Good?"
"Good." And the two are now satisfied.
But Taehyun isn't.
The next moment, the two of their heads are pushed down towards the floor, "Taking my things without asking? I must have been too nice lately."
Astra and Huening Kai share a glance, suddenly terrified. "Give and take." Taehyun says. "You two took my candy, so what's in it for me?"
Huening Kai's fingers shift among the dozens of candies held in his palms, picking out five with the ugliest wrappers and pushing them back to Taehyun.
"Declined." Taehyun eyes the crumpled wrappers with disdain.
Huening Kai sighs, pouting. He takes one last look at the candies rolling in his palms. They are wrapped in warm golden foil, ones that seem to shine, each promising minutes of tasty heaven.
Still, ultimately, his life is more important. Huening Kai reluctantly lets down all the candies in his hands, pushing them back to Taehyun, who smiles and says as he shifts himself closer to Huening Kai, "Declined."
Eh?
"I— Astra and I will play football with you after school."
Taehyun has been going on and off about football these days, not as much to Astra, but he talks about it to Huening Kai a lot. The boy figures that this will be a done deal.
Taehyun smiles and pushes the candies back to Huening Kai. "Accepted."
"I." Astra raises her hand. "I decline."
Under Taehyun's intense stare, Astra speaks humbly, "With all due respect, sir, I have a prior arrangement."
"You do?" Huening Kai is shocked.
"With?" Taehyun asks.
"My friends."
"Friends? Beomgyu, Soobin or Yeonjun?"
"Not them."
"You have other friends other than us?" Huening Kai feels a little betrayed, to be honest.
"Who." Taehyun is skeptical.
"Elle, Veronica and Felicia."
Taehyun frowns. "How did you and the three of them decide to go out?"
"Elle had free movie tickets and she asked me." Astra shrugs.
"And you said yes."
"Of course. It's free."
Taehyun presses his wrist to his forehead, feeling a throbbing stress.
"Didn't you hear from Beomgyu?" Huening Kai lowers his voice, "Elle has been weird ever since we came down from that hill."
"She can be." Astra defends Elle, "It's crazy what we saw on the hill."
"But it doesn't make sense!" Taehyun grits his teeth. "She said she has never seen anything weird on that hill, but she's also the one who helped us escape that hill the second time round, remember?"
"What if—" Taehyun's eyes shake at a theory that he has considered but kept to himself for a long time, "What if Elle has never left the hill?"
"Crazy." Huening Kai comments.
"Insane." Astra adds.
But Taehyun is serious, eyes carrying a pleading glow. "Don't go."
"But the other girls are going." Astra shakes her head.
"And if there is something wrong, all the more I should go." Astra adds, nodding to herself. "I have to protect them."
"How." Taehyun looks blankly at her. "You doing the protecting?"
She's a hopeless case.
"No." Huening Kai grabs Astra. "You are coming with us for football today."
Astra doesn't answer and lets herself be grabbed, changing the topic. "Taehyun, the message recorded today is in my front pocket." She says.
"Oh!" Taehyun quickly retrieves the crumpled paper from her bag, but before he gets to decoding, he says to Astra, "You can't go."
"Yes, yes." Astra waves her hand, "I got it."
.
.
By the time Taehyun finished his work alongside Astra’s scratch of lines and dots, the bell had rang for lunch
At lunchtime, like an unspoken agreement, everyone had gathered at the computer lab.
"What does it say?" Soobin asks as he chews on his food.
"C. O. M. I. N. G." Taehyun reads the letters, one by one. "It says coming. Combining it with the end from yesterday, it says—"
Taehyun stares at Astra, "End is coming."
The End is coming. Honestly, Astra has anticipated that. It just adds a note of finality.
Still in front of her friends, she wears a mask of confusion, "What does that mean?"
"Depending on what 'end' is referring to, it could mean a lot of things." Taehyun answers.
Their conversation regarding that topic stops there. None of them wants to discuss what "End" could possibly be referring to— it's all just speculation, anyways. The topic therefore shifts to Astra.
"With Elle?" Beomgyu screeches. He grabs Astra's shoulders and shakes her, "Don't go. Elle's been really weird these days."
All the more I have to go.
"She's like a completely different person now. She looks for me every single day!" Beomgyu exclaims.
"That's not a surprise, she likes to cling to you even in camp." Yeonjun says.
"No!" Beomgyu shakes his hands, "That's not the main point, she looks for me to ask about Astra."
Astra points to herself, "Me? Why?"
"How the hell would I know?" Beomgyu has been slowly driven insane by Elle bothering him every single day. The boy is just glad they aren't in the same class.
"Anyways." Beomgyu shakes his finger at Astra, "Listen to me and don't go."
"Okay." Astra nods her head obediently.
Beomgyu points her out immediately, turning to Taehyun and Huening Kai, "She's gonna go. You two have to keep your eyes on her."
Astra groans. "Please. I'm twenty-two. You think I can't take care of myself?"
There's a silence shared between Beomgyu, Yeonjun, and Soobin.
Taehyun and Huening Kai glance between Astra and the other three boys. The truth has finally slipped— not by them, but by the liar herself.
Wow.
"Twenty-two?" Yeonjun asks, still wearing a light smile on his face.
But it's like Astra doesn't realise her own slip-up, casually folding her legs together, "Did you forget? I travelled six years back?"
"So you are twenty-two." Yeonjun furrows his brows, confirming again.
"So? In actual fact, I'm the oldest here." She grins, challenging Yeonjun's status as the eldest.
"You told us thirty-two." Soobin says. His words are like a bucket of ice thrown over her head. Astra's irritated expression freezes on her face. She blinks a few times, her facial features creaking unnaturally, "I did..?"
A liar who fails to keep track of even her own lies is one who will eventually dig herself into deeper pits.
Astra has just successfully slipped another foot in.
Yeonjun launches into action immediately, flying over and landing a drop kick on Astra.
"Wait a minute. Even so, I'm a girl! You have to treat the fairer kind with kindness!"
"I thought you wanted gender equality?" Soobin scoffs.
"Still—" Astra protests, collapsing sideways, "Twenty-two or Thirty-two, I'm still older than you guys!"
"Right, and how many years did you travel back?" Beomgyu laughs.
"Six." Taehyun answers for Astra.
"Yeah. I think your brain functions have receded by six years too."
"We respected you so much, and it turns out you are the same age as Taehyun and Huening Kai?" Soobin laughs.
"Who said I'm the same age?” Astra slams her hands on the table. “I'm twenty-two!"
"That's six years in the future."
"Even so, when did you three ever show me respect?"
"I called you auntie." Beomgyu shouts.
"That's disrespect." Taehyun says.
Astra jumps on his point, pointing at Beomgyu, "Right! Disrespect! Did you hear?"
Yeonjun pulls Beomgyu away, delivering a quick smack to the back of Astra's head, "It doesn't matter, we settle the score first."
Soobin runs over with a white blanket, an item stored in the lab by Beomgyu, who treated the lab as his second home. The blanket covers Astra, and the three boys rain down a flurry of kicks.
"Wait!" Taehyun's voice rises above the chaos, noticing something wrong. "She's not moving?"
The three didn't kick hard. At most, it would have felt like being hit by soft rubber balls. But at Taehyun's words, Soobin quickly kneels over, pulling down the blanket.
"Are you—"
The white sheet flutters, sliding across the floor. Underneath the blanket, there's nothing.
She's gone.
The five boys stare blankly.
How? She was just here.
A chilling silence later, they scramble off in opposite directions, flipping through the lab to find the girl. They checked every cabinet, every table, every chair, and pushed past all the curtains.
How could a human just disappear into thin air?
"Astra!" Beomgyu shouts loudly, his voice echoing even through the vicinity of the computer lab.
There's no reply.
"I'm going to call her." Soobin says, pulling out his phone, He has saved her number on his speed dial, knowing how prone that dumb girl was to accidents. He places it by his ear, expecting to hear it ring.
"Sorry. But the number you have dialed is not in service." The answer comes in the form of a robotic voice.
Soobin frowns.
"I'll try." Yeonjun says, tapping on his phone.
The call didn't go through. No matter who dialed, the results are the same. Her number is no longer in service. Even in their group chat, her name has vanished, replaced by a grey label,
-Deleted contact-
...
"Do you think," Taehyun asks, "She went back to that place?"
That place.
All of them know where he's referring to.
The dark skies, old and bloodied walls. The long, deep gash across the concrete, the one they concluded couldn't have been left by a human.
Last time she left with mental trauma, what about this time?
Would she even be able to leave?
Crackle.
A bright flash of light rips across the sky, spreading like webs, as if threatening to crack the sky into pieces.
Following the flash of lightning, like a prelude to an unfortunate truth, a torrential rain comes pouring. It doesn't start from a light sprinkle, instead, it pours without warning, streaking across the skies mercilessly, like how she suddenly disappeared, it abruptly pours. The rain soaks the boys standing under it thoroughly, through their thin uniforms, and clings to their skin.
It's cold.
But none of them minded.
Their frantic shouts, though half drowned by the rain and occasional bursts of thunder, don't stop. They run aimlessly, calling her name, hoping that somehow, she's still here. and that they would hear an answer.
From afar, the five boys look like they are dancing in the rain, inevitably drawing an audience. Soon, Robert, holding a bright yellow umbrella, approaches. He reaches out, grabbing Beomgyu by his arm, his voice terribly sarcastic, "My dear senior prefect Beomgyu, would you tell me why you and your friends are running around, shouting under a thunderstorm?"
Beomgyu turns, grasping at the man like he's his lifeline, "Our friend, Astra is missing."
Robert frowns.
Did they have such a student?
Under the heavy pouring rain, the yellow umbrella seemed incomparably small, barely sheltering Beomgyu and Robert under its shade. Robert narrows his eyes, skeptical and confused.
"Astra?" He asks, seeing Beomgyu’s face turn a shade paler, "Who?"
Day 17:
-.-. --- -- .. -. --.
Chapter 37: Day 17
Chapter Text
Everyone has forgotten.
It's as if, from the very beginning, she has never existed here. Her name cleared off student records, her existence unwritten.
She's the one who said they weren't supposed to exist here, as people who had barged into her time. Yet now, so ironically, she's the one who vanished.
It's been three hours.
The thunderstorm had stopped an hour ago, but the skies showed no signs of clearing up, blanketed in a cover of dense grey clouds.
At this moment, the school bell rings for the last time of the day, signalling dismissal.
Mrs Thon is tidying up her desk, packing her textbooks together. She places the thick stack of books in her trolley when Taehyun walks up to her.
"Mrs Thon." He calls, a heavy tone of weariness in his voice. The teacher had noticed that he's been out of it throughout her class, his eyes constantly drifting to the seat beside him.
"Yes?" Mrs Thon sighs, turning to Taehyun, "Do you have any questions—" She paused, placing further emphasis on her following words, "about the lesson?"
"My seatmate—"
Mrs Thon glances at the table beside Taehyun, interrupting him, "Why are you asking this again?"
Taehyun doesn't answer, he just stares up at his teacher, as if he wouldn't budge till she answered.
"This will be the fifth and last time I'm telling you." Mrs Thon sighs, placing one hand on his table, a concerned look on her face as she answers, "You never had a seatmate. You are also the one who requested to sit alone, which is why I left the seat beside you empty."
"No." Taehyun says firmly, his eyes growing red now. "I have a seatmate."
"Taehyun." Mrs Thon holds the boy's shoulders, "Is something going on? Do you need me to call your parents?"
"I have a seatmate." Taehyun is insisting again. Over and over, repeating like a broken record. "Her name is Astra."
"Taehyun." Mrs Thon presses down on his shoulder as if doing so could anchor him down and help him open his eyes to the current reality. "Like I said, there is no such student in our class." Mrs Thon tries to persuade him, "Would you listen to me? Go home first, and tomorrow—"
The teacher smiles, "It will be okay again."
Will it?
Will it be okay again tomorrow?
Taehyun sure hopes so.
"It can't be!" Huening Kai stands up from his chair, stomping up to the front of the class. He has been oddly silent through the hours Taehyun is causing a ruckus, insisting that 'Astra' is a student of class 1A, his seatmate that no one seems to remember.
"Her bag is right here!" Huening Kai snatches up her bag leaning against the table stand.
Mrs Thon rubs her temples, voice ringing like a warning. "Huening Kai."
"Where is the bag?" Veronica takes slow steps towards Huening Kai, puzzlingly squeezing her eyes in his direction.
"Here!" Huening Kai lifts his hand, the boy has his fingers hooked up in the air, as if he's really holding a bag, but... there's nothing.
"You aren't holding anything." Dominic answers for Veronica, tapping on her shoulders, "We have to go now. Felicia's waiting for us."
Huening Kai's face scrunches, taking a second look at the bag he's holding.
They can't see the bag? But how can it be? He can clearly feel its weight weighing down on his fingers— the weight of all the miscellaneous things Astra brings to school. He knew she liked to bring all kinds of things she deemed useful, though she would never actually use them, and on the one off day she did, she would brag about it for the whole day.
Now they are saying that they can’t see this heavy, bulging bag? How—
The bag flickers.
In and out, in and out, and with each flicker, it seems to gradually fade out. Huening Kai turns to Taehyun, seeing the same wide panic in his eyes.
He sees it too.
Taehyun runs up and shakes Astra's bag upside down, the contents inside fall out, the heaviest things— her water bottle and books slip out first, yet before any of them touches the floor, they flicker for one last time, before it vanishes.
Then, a cascade of glittery paper, her treasured stack, she pocketed from Mrs Thon. Each falling sheet flickers in sync, its shimmer creating an illusion of drizzling magical dust.
Taehyun's eyes widen, reaching out his hands, he catches a few sheets in his palms, watching as they flicker precariously in his hands.
It takes slightly longer, but it's all in a matter of seconds before Astra's bag, her papers, pencil case, portable charger—everything that belonged to her flickers out of existence.
The last thing that remained, before everything disappears, was a coral blue paper. The one he held in his palms. The same coral blue of the note she has written for Dominic.
While Huening Kai stands foolishly, looking down at his empty hands, Taehyun lifts his bag and reaches into a compartment hidden deep inside. Two sheets of paper unfold in his hands, both handwritten notes by Astra, meant for others, than thrown away by the owner herself in favour of Taehyun's better-written ones.
These are all that remains now.
Looking at the familiar handwriting on the paper, his eyes fill with despair.
Why?
"Let's go." Huening Kai pulls on Taehyun's wrist.
"Where?" Taehyun whispers, voice cracking, "Where do we go?"
Taehyun is showing a fragility Huening Kai is not used to. He wants to smile, perhaps to reassure him, but Huening Kai couldn't bring himself to do so.
So he simply grabs Taehyun's face, pushing his palms on his cheeks, "I don't know what to do either, but let's find the others. We will work things out together."
Taehyun uses his sleeves to wipe at his eyes. He exhales, and he seems to have collected himself a little, looking more composed now, "Let's go."
Without a look back, they easily left their class behind, their steps echoing down the corridors, under the dumbfounded gaze of Mrs Thon, who thought it would take much more to convince them.
The path stretches on, and they run, rounding the corner, turning for the lab. Standing just outside are Yeonjun and Soobin, engaged in a heated discussion.
"You are going to try it?" Huening Kai hears Yeonjun ask.
"We look around the school first, then if we still can't find her, I'll try it."
"I'll try it too." Yeonjun immediately adds. He bends over, smoothly picking up a thick wooden branch broken off from its tree, lying along a path that just catches Yeonjun's eye.
As he straightens up, he sees Taehyun and Huening Kai, Yeonjun freezes.
"Try what?" Taehyun asks.
"He wants to try what happened before Astra disappears." Yeonjun points at Soobin.
Right this moment, Beomgyu's voice booms through their ears, "Attention all students. This is Beomgyu. I have received a case of a missing student, her name is Astra. If anyone knows her, please call me or leave a note on the school bulletin."
.
.
In the audio room, Robert is standing beside Beomgyu. "Boy. I'm going to be very serious here." He smacks Beomgyu's head. "You insisted on making this announcement before you go home, but even if that girl... what's her name again?"
Beomgyu answers in a low voice, "Astra."
"Even if someone really sees this Astra that you are talking about, it's after-school hours now, everyone wants to go home. They wouldn't care about your—"
"You are wrong." Beomgyu says, running out of the audio room, "I'm popular."
Robert watches Beomgyu running away, again. He calls after him, "Hey, you promised you'd go home!"
The only reply is the sound of Beomgyu's fading footsteps.
Robert sighs and he takes the mic again, "All students and staff, this is your disciplinary head. As you all might tell, student Beomgyu here is desperate. If any of you do know anything about Astra, please try to contact him as quickly as you can."
Robert sinks into the chair, feeling the silence of the room without Beomgyu present. He thinks back to the five boys standing in a line before him, each of them wet from head to toe, yet every time their lips part, they are talking about a girl named Astra, persistently painting a vivid picture, as if she is someone who truly existed in class 1A.
Robert knocks his knuckles on his head, mumbling, "Did I forget?"
.
.
They had combed through the whole school, through the classrooms, the library, office, infirmary— everywhere she could possibly go. And now, they regroup, back before the lab.
None of them managed to find anything.
And perhaps they expected this.
"Let's try it." A voice breaks the silence, and all four had their eyes on Soobin.
"If it even works—" Beomgyu lifts his head, "None of you can go." He glances through Soobin, Yeonjun, and Taehyun, "I can remain calm in scary situations, and that's only me, you guys are cowards." Beomgyu declares.
"I'm not! I want—" Yeonjun's words are interrupted.
"That day we were stuck on that hill, Soobin, Taehyun, and you are barely even able to keep your eyes open. If that place is like what Astra mentioned, what are you going to do?"
Beomgyu isn't wrong.
"Huening Kai." Beomgyu calls to the boy who has been silent all along, carrying a blank expression. "Do you want to come with me?"
Huening Kai is the only one here, besides him, who is able to hold his own.
Huening Kai's gaze shifts to meet Beomgyu's. The boy has a weak smile on his lips, which has taken on a pale pink colour, "Yes."
"It might not even work." Beomgyu says as he and Huening Kai are wrapped in the blanket. He closed his eyes, willing himself to somehow get to where Astra is.
So that he could save her.
A quarter of an hour later, they are still in the lab. It's like a joke. Four boys trying something really stupid to make the impossible, possible.
Maybe because it's so stupid, it doesn't work.
"Let's go to her house." Yeonjun suggests, looking at Huening Kai. "You lead us. Let's all go together."
"Maybe, she just went home." He continues, citing a plausible explanation.
The road home is not long. It's never long with Astra around, she is always able to make time seem shorter than it really is, with her teasing, jokes, and random thoughts and ideas. Sometimes Huening Kai wished that their houses were a little further away from school, just so he could walk beside her a little longer.
Clearly, he's running through the same streets, the same familiar route back home, but today, the path feels endless.
When he finally reaches the familiar building, he runs up the stairs. He doesn't suggest taking the lift, nor did anyone else mention the signboard clearly pointing towards the lift just a few more steps away.
They all trail behind Huening Kai, passing by units after units of homes, until they stop. They reached the other end, just to stand in front of a blank, white wall.
A deathly silence settles over the boys, their eyes all fixed on that wall. Until Taehyun's whisper brings them back into reality, his words confirming the reality they are all seeing, "It's gone."
Soobin steps forward, his hands touching the concrete wall. The boy knocks his hands on the wall, a light tap which echoes back, not the dull thud you’d expect from a solid surface, but a hollow thunk.
He knocks again, more insistently this time. The sound is the same — a deep, empty thunk resonating like a distant drumbeat. He presses his ear against the wall. Nothing. Just the soft, haunting thrum of the silence on the other side. It's as if the wall is hastily plastered over, made to hide something that didn't belong.
"Oh, that's a construction fault."
Beomgyu is already knocking on a neighbor's door. The neighbor steps out barefoot. "When this building was just constructed, there used to be a unit there." The elderly neighbour holds a watering can. "But I think there is a problem with the pipes, and they just sealed it off."
The elderly man shakes his head, tilting the can over the pots of cactuses by his door, water spills, pouring into the soil, overwatering the plant, "Such a waste, isn't it?"
"What are you five students doing here anyway? Conducting a survey?"
"No." Yeonjun answers, pointing towards the wall, "We are looking for a friend. She lives here."
The elderly man stops watering, sparing the cactuses from drowning in the sheer amount of water he's pouring in. With his watering habits, it's a wonder how these plants accustomed to dry conditions have managed to live thus far.
He puts down the watering can, taking a good look at the five boys, "That's impossible. This wall was sealed up decades ago."
He turns his fingers at the five boys, "You all were probably not born yet when this wall was sealed."
The man takes his watering can and quickly retreats back into his house, no longer wanting to engage with them.
"How about we break it down?" Huening Kai suggests, seeing Soobin still knocking on the wall. "There must be something inside."
"Okay, my dad has plenty of demolition—" Beomgyu is already planning on how to get the wall out of the way, his eyes moving across the surface of the wall. But Yeonjun's steps forward, his voice assertive, "No."
Breaking down the wall would make things much more complicated, leading to potential legal troubles. Initially, when he thought the group was crazy in the head, he had gone along with the thought to stop them when things got out of hand.
And Yeonjun thinks that this is the moment. When he had to draw a line.
Yet he could not deny the desperation expressed by his friends, the desire to find their friend who had disappeared. "In three days." Yeonjun says. "If we don't find her after three days, we will break down the wall."
"Then what should we do now?" Huening Kai is lost.
"Movie." Taehyun abruptly reminded. "Astra had a movie date with Elle."
The boy turns to Beomgyu, who already has his phone out, searching for Elle's contact. Elle has forced Beomgyu to save her contact a few days ago, with the promise not to look for him for the week. That day, though he grumbled and was highly reluctant to, he's now glad that he saved her number.
"What is it." Elle's curt voice came through the moment she picked it up.
"The movie date—" Beomgyu begins.
"Why? Can your friend not make it anymore?" Elle's voice turns scratchy towards the end, like it's pulling, dragging out into a drawl. But Beomgyu doesn't seem to hear the odd turn her voice now carries, instead he became excited, "My friend! You!" Beomgyu's hands are shaking, "You remember Astra?"
The line rings a clear silence with the exception of soft whirling sounds on Elle's end. Beomgyu holds the phone close to his ears, awaiting Elle's reply.
Elle's voice returns to normal. "Veronica. Is she not coming anymore?"
"When has Veronica been my friend?" Frustrated, Beomgyu pulls the phone off his ear, missing the last line from Elle.
A light chuckle,
"Since today."
Beomgyu hangs up the phone.
The five boys are left with one another— the only ones who remember what everyone else has forgotten.
The five of them sit on a wide bench at a nearby neighbourhood park. The park stretches between Huening Kai and Astra's apartment blocks. A shared park for all the residents in this area.
"Why are we the only ones who remember?" Taehyun asks, his hands deep in his pockets. fingers curled around the sheets of paper, the only pieces left of her in this world—her notes. He thought he could feel his heart cracking into pieces at the realisation that he would rather forget.
"Maybe because we are anomalies." Beomgyu answers. Maybe one day, just like the anomaly, Astra, they would disappear too, one by one, erased like they were never here.
"Anomalies? Because we aren't supposed to be here?" Soobin's voice is sharp. He has never accepted that his whole life here is a lie.
"What if—" Huening Kai asks, "Tomorrow, when we wake up, we will forget her too?"
"Then we no longer have to demolish the wall." Soobin chuckles bitterly.
That would have been a release. Taehyun thinks. To forget. That's probably for the best.
"We can't." Beomgyu's voice contradicts Taehyun's unspoken words, with a soft chuckle. "Imagine if she comes back one day and none of us remembers her."
"Then we would truly be nothing." Beomgyu lowers himself, lying flat on the wooden bench. The park is well-maintained, trees swaying in the breeze, flowers blooming on both ends, hiding some of the stars sparkling in the night.
"Is this the sky she sees in her dreams?" Beomgyu mumbles.
"No." Soobin answers. "She said there are millions of stars in her sky, we don't have a million here."
"How does she know that there is a million?" Yeonjun points his finger towards the sky, counting.
She doesn't. Taehyun chimes silently to himself.
"Let's write it down." Yeonjun suggests, "On a paper, on the wall, on the door, everywhere. Leave traces so that even if we forget one day, we will still be able to find her."
And so they did. Back at home, they sink into a scribbling spree.
That night, Taehyun stares blankly at the long string of numbers on his bed frame, written conspicuously in a space he would see the moment he wakes up.
Her uncontactable number.
.
.
Perhaps the saddest thing in the world is trying to remember someone that the whole world is trying to erase.
Chapter 38: Day 17
Chapter Text
'If she doesn't come back before the last of her disappears, she will be erased from here forever'
What?
Beomgyu stands from his chair, his fingers tapping on the profile of the contact that texted him in the middle of the night.
000 0000000 000
_Unsaved contact_
The number was a line of zeros. Beomgyu sucks in a deep breath, tapping on the number, he attempts a call, hearing his heart jumping loudly in his chest as it rings.
It rings for a minute before a long beep sounds.
No answer. Beomgyu frowns, unhesitatingly, he calls again.
Still no answer.
Again.
On the fourth try, there is no longer a ringing sound. The call immediately disconnects with no indication—clearly, he's been blocked.
The boy silently stares at his screen for a few seconds, and gradually, the creases on his forehead smooth out. Beomgyu's eyes light up.
Someone knows.
Someone out there knows what is happening. Beomgyu walks in circles around his room. That person must have heard his announcement at school and texted him.
Click.
Beomgyu screenshots the text, quickly sending it into their group chat with a few swipes. He sits on his chair, his face slightly flushed as he types away on his screen.
Beomgyu didn't have to wait long before the first reply came,
"It's not good news, Beomgyu."
Then the second,
"She's going to erased?"
The third,
"What does it mean by 'the last of her'?"
And fourth,
"The last of her, must refer to her last traces in this time."
The replies pour in as if everyone had their phones on standby, each one of them awaiting some sort of news.
"Then she's gone? Everything she has left here is gone!"
"No." Taehyun types. He gingerly pulls out two sheets of pretty paper from his pocket. He spreads it out neatly against his bed. They are still here, but they flicker, almost feebly, already semi-transparent. Still, Astra's signature handwriting, crooked and tilted in all the ugliest ways, can still be seen.
Taehyun takes a picture of them and sends it up to the group chat.
"I can't see anything." Beomgyu sends.
"Except the white background, there is nothing." Soobin agrees.
Taehyun winces. He stares at the flickering sheets that are still faintly visible in his eyes. It's disappointing, but considering how her home has vanished, it wasn't all that surprising.
"What is it?" Yeonjun asks.
"A note Astra wrote for our secret angel activity. She said she wrote it with her heart." Taehyun replies.
"What did she write?" Huening Kai asks.
Taehyun took a long time to respond. He continues to stare at the words for a long while, as if trying to carve every word in his mind before it disappears. Then, he types,
"Hello. I am your secret angel.
You might not know, but to me, you are like the starlight during my darkest nights. And I'll never forget the light that you shone on me."
"You are like an unreachable star, one far away and one I could not possibly hold onto. Even so, you shine the brightest far away, in your own light, and I'll work hard to shine here as well, happy enough to watch you from afar."
Astra might not have a way with her handwriting, but Taehyun thought she had a gift with words, expressing her sincerity in her unique way that somehow seems to resonate with him.
Strangely, it feels like he's heard this before.
"Wow. One more?”
"She wrote this for you?"
"No." Taehyun types. "It's for Veronica and Dominic, she said they helped her in her past."
"What about us? We are the ones helping her now." Beomgyu complains.
"So that's the last of her?" Soobin asks.
Taehyun is cupping the papers in his hands, as if doing so will stop them from fading away. He presses the record button, sending a voice recording, his voice shaking, "It could be. But the papers are translucent now."
A pause.
"If this is really the last of her... then maybe her time is almost up."
It is like she descended into a void of silence. When Astra peeks out of the blanket, the lab is dark, with but a faint dirty yellow light shining in through the window, barely enough to cut through the suffocating darkness of the room. It's weak, casting long shadows across the walls. The light pools on the floor, a pale, fragile presence that didn’t dare to push too far into the dark, leaving much of the room lost in shadow, including her.
Astra pulls the blanket back over her eyes. Her eyes are shut in fear as she clutches her heart, expecting a shortage of breath, expecting her asthma to attack, just like it did previously.
Her asthma, perhaps sparing her, doesn't come. But instead, there is a wary voice.
"Who's there?"
His voice, Astra could recognise it everywhere. She pulls the blanket off her head, and before her is a boy in a dirty, bloody uniform, just like Soobin.
The Soobin of that day.
But unlike Soobin, who didn't have any major injuries, this boy has a bloody cloth covering his eyes. He pulls at the cloth, trying to unravel it and perhaps glimpse at the intruder hiding in this room. As the cloth slips, his eyes covered behind the cloth reveal themselves. His eyes are closed and severely swollen, with a long bloody gash cutting through diagonally from the top of his right eye to his left cheek, still fresh and bleeding.
Taehyun.
Why are you here, too?
"It's me." Astra walks to Taehyun, tears already pooling as she gently pulls the bloody bandage back in place, wrapping it back around his eyes. The bandage has a scruffy texture, even at the edges, where she pinched, there's a sticky, moist sensation that sticks to her skin.
Soaked through with blood.
"—Astra?" Taehyun's voice cracks as he calls her name. The boy stands frozen, and for a moment, he can't seem to process what he's hearing.
"Wait here." Astra knows where Beomgyu keeps his things in this lab, there should a scissors she could use— if the Beomgyu here keeps his things in the same place.
"Wait! Don't go! Is that you? You..." Taehyun stammers, "Are you alive?" Taehyun's words are like a desperate plea, his footsteps pad quickly up to her, hands flailing around.
...
Am I not alive?
So, in here, I'm dead?
This reality of her supposed death 'here' didn't stir the anxiety or fear Astra anticipated. She simply purses her lips, smiling helplessly. Astra grabs Taehyun's hands, squeezing them to reassure him. "Wait here, alright? I'll get you a new blindfold."
"No." Taehyun holds her tightly. "I—" He grows breathless, his words slurring, "I must be dreaming."
Pale red liquid starts leaking out from the bandage, tracing his cheeks.
Ah.
He's crying.
Astra quickly unwraps the bandage; more dampness from the mix of blood and tears would not be helpful for the healing process. It could lead to infections. "You're not dreaming. It's okay, don't cry."
Astra pulls on the boy clinging to her, patting his back, "Come with me then."
Opening the cupboard, Astra prays that it has what she needs. Thankfully, though no longer a familiar layout, Beomgyu still stored his things in the same place.
Astra reaches inside, grabbing a pair of scissors, along with a small stash of cotton gauze laid neatly out at the front. With things now in hand, she looks towards the boy, silently clutching at her hand with a grip that Astra thought would eventually press a dent into her bones.
She pulls at Taehyun's fingers, trying to free herself. "Don't hold my hand, I need to use them."
"Okay." He said that, but he's still holding on, the difference being shifting his hold down to her wrist. Now, without the bandages covering his eyes, he's squinting at her, as if telling her that's the maximum concession he's going to make. Astra sighs. At least with this, her hand now partially regained free will.
She holds back another sigh, looking at the materials in her hand, definitely not enough to make a 'new blindfold'.
I need more cloth.
Astra looks down at her oversized uniform, finally all this extra cloth can be put to good use. Her uniform isn't exactly the cleanest, but it's still the best they have right now. She grabs the scissors, quickly snipping away, cutting off the extra cloth from the sleeves of her shirt.
Astra reaches into her pocket. She always carries tissues with her, wet tissues, dry tissues, you name it, she has it.
All she doesn't have on her, really, is her inhaler. It's always the most important thing that somehow, she manages to forget.
Astra pulls out the wet tissue, using it to gently dab at Taehyun's eyes, cleaning away the blood. In this dark space that reeked of danger, dipped in a sickening silence, Astra takes another look at the boy, flinching at every wipe by his eyes.
"Where—" She couldn't help the tremble in her voice, asking hesitantly, "—are the rest?"
"The rest!" Taehyun's body tenses, his eyes widening, pushing through the obvious tears on his eyelids, "Everything is trying to kill us. Everyone wants us dead!"
Astra gulps, suppressing the rising terror at his words. "Everyone?" She keeps her voice soft, mimicking the tone of those psychologists she met at the hospital— those exact ones who didn't believe her.
"Everyone!" Taehyun confirms.
"Soobin, Beomgyu, Huening Kai, and Yeonjun are outside. They are all—" Taehyun pauses, he feels her silent presence, listening intently. He stops.
I shouldn't tell her that.
"They told me to stay here—" Taehyun sucks in a deep breath amidst his bloody tears. It was an unfamiliar sight, Astra had never seen Taehyun reduced to this state. He was always the assertive voice in their group. Seeing him like this, his usual confidence in crumbles, it gnaws at her, a deep sorrow and pain at how she couldn't fix what has gone wrong.
"I'm scared. Everyone is out risking their lives while I'm stuck here, like a coward." He continues, his voice growing softer and softer.
"I— don't want to be a coward. I want to help, but I'm scared. I can't... step outside."
"I think everyone is going to die." Taehyun's voice is now as light as a feather, barely a whisper as he speaks of their bleak future. "You also think I'm a loser, don't you?"
Astra continues wiping his blood-streaked tears off his face. "You aren't. You can be a coward. Everyone is a coward at some point in their lives."
She places the gauze over Taehyun's injury and wraps a cloth strip over it, securing it in place, "But Taehyun, you were never a loser."
Astra tries to keep her voice steady, smiling through her tears that he couldn't see. "You're Kang Taehyun. My friend, who has chosen to stay by my side."
Astra wraps up the bandage, wrapping it up as best as she can. "Here. I'm done."
"Thank you."
"It's really good that you are back. Everyone will be really happy when they know." Taehyun continues.
Astra's heart thumps. She's not. She doesn't belong here.
"Taehyun." She begins, "I'm not—"
"Stop." She hears his voice crack as he cuts her off. He pulls up a finger, perhaps intending to bring it to her lips to shush her, but he couldn't see, and instead, his finger presses against her nose.
"Don't say it." He continues.
"I know."
Astra could see the cloth around his eyes, turning a slight shade darker. She presses her hands on his shoulders, "Don't cry. Or the blindfold will be wet again."
She is not sure what to do with this version of her friend, "What do you know?"
Taehyun has known. The moment she suddenly appeared here, even if his eyes weren't working well, his nose worked perfectly fine. She smells clean, not of dirt or the repulsive, rusty smell of blood that belonged here. He had simply allowed himself to fall into his delusions, because he didn't want to admit that everything here is falling apart.
Taehyun's head drops lightly as he takes a deep breath. When he looks up again, a soft smile graces his lips.
With a steady voice, he says, "I'm not crying."
"Just promise me something." Taehyun lowers his head, even though his eyes are covered and he can't see her, he wanted to lower his eyes to meet hers.
"What?"
"Promise me you will change this," Taehyun grabs her forearm, "And save yourself."
Save yourself.
The third time, everyone is telling her to save herself.
Why?
How can she save herself from the falling stars?
How can she save herself when it feels like she's just being pulled around like a ragdoll, where nothing is in her control?
"It's about time." Pressing onto the cloth wrapped around his eyes, Taehyun tilts his head towards the window, as if he's seeing through the overlapping layers of fabric. "You have to go back now."
As if on cue, Astra sees the world flickering, where even the faint light in the room begins to dim, pulsing in and out like a final beat. The girl grows anxious, and she grabs at Taehyun, determined, "I'll change things!" She says, "But in return, you'll promise me something too."
The thought came from seeing the dense clutters of unspoken despair she felt from him, as if he thought there was nothing good left in the future.
"I'll try my best and you'll try your best too." She empties her pockets, all the candies she stole from Taehyun, her tissues, all the things she hoarded, all her miscellaneous baggage, and it all tumbles out, clattering on the floor.
At the last moment, before all fades to black, Astra reaches out towards him,
"Don't lose hope."
She sees Taehyun nod.
She's back.
The sky is dark now, and the lights in the lab are closed. Right beside her is a neatly folded blanket, where a handheld flashlight sits atop and a conspicuous piece of paper note. It's light cuts through the darkness, pointing at the door.
Astra picks up the paper.
-Astra. If you read this, call me immediately-
Astra looks at the number, recognising it as Soobin's.
Astra sits unmoving for a while, thoughts turning in her head.
Eventually, she comes to a conclusion.
Looks like I'll be dying soon.
The girl lowers her head. So it's really the end for her when the stars fall. Astra pulls out her phone, the only thing she hasn't left in the other timeline. She checks the time— 18:38. And she dials a number.
It connects.
Not Soobin. Instead, she calls Elle.
"Hello? Astra?" It's a voice of joyful surprise.
"It's me." Astra presses her phone closer to her ear. "Where are we meeting?"
"You came back." There's a light chuckle from the other end.
What? Astra narrows her eyes.
Astra stands up and leaves the lab, an odd glint in her eyes.
"Meet me at the school gate." As Elle speaks, Astra can hear Veronica's and Felicia's voices, calling Elle from a distance.
"Oh. You guys are here too?" Astra hears the amusement in Elle's voice. There's something weird about her tone, as if she didn't expect them to be here.
But didn't she invite all of them?
"Everyone else is already here, hurry on."
The call hangs up.
"You are here!" Astra is hugged by Elle the moment she arrives. Elle's long hair, which she always used to tie in a bun, is tied in a long ponytail today, secured by a white ribbon.
There is a movie theatre just fifteen minutes away from school, but the tickets that Elle has brings them to a theatre an hour away.
They take a cab driven by a man who looks to be in his late fifties. He has a kind smile, playing music from the previous century, an old, wordless. The inside of the cab is rather cluttered, trinkets of various colours and shapes dangle from every possible anchor. The most eye-catching trinket is the big emerald green jade hanging from the rearview mirror, swinging from side to side as the cab moves.
Astra eyes it curiously. That jade must be fake; otherwise, with such a valuable possession, why would the driver still be driving people around for money?
When the girls boarded the cab, it just so happened that Astra sat in the middle, with Veronica and Elle on her left and right. Seated between them, cramped between their warm figures, she shouldn't be feeling this cold. Yet as the minutes pass, her head starts to throb and the interior of the cab grows colder. She shivers, barely stopping her teeth from chattering.
"Are you okay?" Veronica asks, tapping Astra's shoulders.
"Yeah. Just feeling a little cold."
"Mister." Elle asks, "Could you please turn down the air-conditioning?"
The driver adjusted the control, but it didn't help at all. Instead, she feels colder. At some point, she feels a queasy feeling twisting her stomach, a sharp ache pounding against her temples. Eventually, her sight starts to spin out of focus. The jade charm swaying from the mirror whirls with her faulty vision, like it's stuck in a whirlpool of sorts.
The cab turns a corner, and it feels like her world has flipped over. Her head falls, landing on Elle's shoulders.
"It's alright." Elle says, patting Astra's head, "We are reaching soon."
Right when the cab comes to a stop, Astra's nausea spikes. She stumbles out of the cab, and the food she has consumed today rushes up her throat, spilling on the grassy sidewalk.
Another uncontrollable urge, and she retches again, holding onto a nearby pole to stabilise herself as the world spins around her. She forces her head up, vaguely making out a standalone movie theatre, located in the middle of nowhere, with neither buildings nor pedestrians nearby.
Veronica presses her palm against Astra's forehead, "Oh my gosh!" She cries, "You're burning up!"
"I'm calling your friends." Veronica says.
Friends?
"No." Astra stops Veronica, mustering a strained smile at Elle, who has been oddly quiet. "Don't call them. I promised Elle I would watch a movie with her. Let's watch the movie first."
...
"Astra," Felicia gently places her hands on Astra's head, "You are smiling in the wrong direction." She turns her head the other way, "Elle is here."
Astra nods, mumbling a short thanks, then, like a drunkard, she stumbles in the direction Felicia had adjusted her towards. She wraps Elle in a hug, "Let's go. I keep my promises."
Elle's eyes dim, she lowers her eyes, looking down at Astra smiling at her deliriously. Finally, she speaks, "We can go next time. You are sick."
Elle pulls out her phone, calling Beomgyu.
The call isn't answered. Elle frowns, takes another look at Astra, still smiling like a dumb fool, she dials another number.
Within three rings, the call is answered, "Hello?"
"This is Elle. Your friend is with me now, she's very sick, can you come and pick her up?"
Yeonjun's breath hitches, "My friend?"
A sharp inhale.
"Astra?"
"You..." A tremble. "Remember her?"
Elle's eyes roll back. "Yes."
"She's with you? Where is she!" Yeonjun is making clanging sounds as he shouts into the phone.
Elle rattles off a line of address, ending it off with a, "Okay, bye—"
"Wait!" Yeonjun screams, "Don't hang up, how's Astra doing? Can you let me talk to her?"
Elle glances sideways. Astra has her head lowered now, bobbing up and down. Veronica stands beside her, offering support. "She's become stupid." Elle says, "Don't bother."
Beep. It hangs up.
A giddy smile lights up Yeonjun's face as he hurries to leave.
She's back.
The second Yeonjun gets into a cab, he sends a text to their group chat, "Huening Kai. Can you go down to Astra's house and check if it's still a wall?"
Huening Kai hasn't replied, but the other three did; their messages ping in rapidly. They don't even give Yeonjun a chance to reply before his phone starts ringing.
Yeonjun sighs, his finger swiping across his screen. The screen darkens, and three faces, divided into grids, appear.
Beomgyu's eyes take up half his grid. "You have news of Astra?"
"Yes. She's with Elle."
"Elle? How? What happened?" Beomgyu presses his face closer to the screen.
"I don't know." Yeonjun says. "Elle says she's sick. I am going to her now."
"Sick? Where is she?" Taehyun asks.
"How long before we reach?" Yeonjun asks the driver.
"Roughly 40 more minutes."
Yeonjun scratches his head, "It's so far?"
"The neighbourhood you are going to is located in a rather deserted area. I'll need to make quite a few turns to get there."
"Ask what is there." Beomgyu says. "It's suspicious how Elle is calling you to pick Astra up."
"Can I ask if you know what is there?"
"There's a movie theatre there." The driver answers, thoughtfully tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, "It's still running, but it's on its last legs, barely anyone goes there."
"Astra slipped out under our noses and went with Elle for her movie date?" The screen loads, and the already packed grids on his tiny screen become smaller as a new face joins them. Huening Kai joins the call.
"No." Taehyun says. "Everyone truly forgot about Astra. She really disappeared for a few hours before she came back—"
"And she went to look for Elle." Yeonjun scoffs. "I'll give her a good smackdown when I see her."
"You do that." Soobin nods. "Huening Kai, did you go see Astra's house? Is her house back now?"
Huening Kai turns on his camera, and the screen blinks to show the boy exiting his house, hastily pushing his feet into his slippers, "I'm on my way."
.
.
Ding.
The lift rings and the doors rumble open. Huening Kai walks down the corridors towards Astra's house.
The camera shifts as Huening Kai points his phone up, "It's still not here.", the boy says, "But something is wrong with this wall." The wall is still there. But it's no longer the pure white, flat wall from yesterday. It's warped towards the left and the texture is odd, with patches that look stretched, spots of black marring its otherwise clean surface.
"A glitch." Beomgyu mutters. "Like an in-game wall glitch."
"What should I do now?" Huening Kai inches closer towards the wall, bringing his phone closer and closer.
"Don't get near it." Soobin says.
Huening Kai immediately stops. A few seconds of silence later, he asks, voice shaking, "But what about her family?" Still holding his camera to the wall, he stares at the wall with a forlorn gaze, "Astra is very attached to her mum."
The camera moves forward as Huening Kai steps closer to the wall, his head spinning with thoughts about her family potentially being trapped behind it.
"Don't get closer!" Soobin screams.
Though Yeonjun had turned down the volume as much as possible, Soobin's scream alerts the driver, who turns back, frowning, "You kids doing something dangerous?"
"No." Yeonjun forces a smile, "I'm just watching a movie with my friends."
The driver looks up at the rearview mirror, adjusting it to reflect Yeonjun's figure, holding a phone. Using that one phone, he's calling his friends and watching a movie?
Students nowadays are indeed different.
"Huening Kai." Beomgyu speaks up, "Try picking up something heavy and throwing it at the wall."
The camera stops again, and as it turns, it points at one of the decorative rocks from the neighbour's potted cactus. "This?"
"Yes." Beomgyu says. "That should work, throw it really hard."
The camera shakes, and Yeonjun could briefly see Huening Kai's side profile, gritting his teeth as he hurls the rock towards the wall.
It ends with but a light, muffled thud. The rock rolls back towards Huening Kai.
The boy picks it up and hurls it towards the door again.
The sound. Something is odd with the sound it makes. It's not the echo of rock against concrete, instead, it's like hitting styrofoam. The sound is too soft, as if it's absorbed inside.
Huening Kai begins to try throwing different things, his bag, his wallet, the neighbour's shoes, his shoes— all of them made the same sound. As a final experiment, Huening Kai illegally harvested mini tomatoes a neighbour two units away grew, mumbling a soft, insincere apology, placing a bill on the soil as compensation.
Now armed with tomatoes in hand, Huening Kai starts throwing them towards the wall. As the tomato hits the wall, you'd expect it to rupture and splatter upon contact, but it doesn't. Instead, it bounces off the wall, then hurls itself towards the ground.
Phat—
The camera turns, showing the bright red flesh and juice of a smashed tomato on the floor.
"Student." The driver calls to Yeonjun, "We have reached."
Yeonjun jolts, snapping his eyes away from his screen. "Thank you."
As Yeonjun exits the vehicle, he pauses, "Sir, do you mind waiting for me for a while? I'll get my friend and come back."
Yeonjun, seeing the hesitation in the driver's eyes, adds, "I'll pay you double." and that was all it took, a done deal.
"I'm here." Yeonjun taps on his phone, unmuting himself.
"Turn on your camera." Soobin reminds Yeonjun.
Yeonjun does as told.
But with his camera, the others could barely see anything, only blurry shadows and a vague outline of Yeonjun's profile. The walkways here are faintly lit, still, he knows where to go, trudging in a straight line towards the flicker of light spilling from a distant lamp-post.
Yeonjun's voice echoes in the darkness, "I see her."
Illuminated under the lamp-post are two girls sitting on a bench. Astra's face and lips are unusually red, as if she is drunk. Her head lies limply on Elle's shoulders, her brows furrowed as sweat dots her forehead.
"What's wrong with her?" Yeonjun asks as he runs over.
"You are finally here." Elle clicks her tongue. "She's sick. High fever."
"Fever?" Yeonjun sticks his palm on Astra's forehead. The heat he feels on his palms makes his eyes widen in alarm.
"Take her away." With two fingers, Elle pushes Astra's head away, a look of distaste on her face.
Yeonjun eyes her weirdly, "Weren't you the one who wanted her out for a movie date?"
"Movie?" Elle's voice is eerily monotone. "As if." She says in a distant voice, like it had echoed from far away.
"We didn't watch any movie. Look at her." With a last shake of her shoulder, Elle stands up and Astra's head tilts, falling off.
Yeonjun reaches forward, supporting Astra's head with his hands
"I'm going." Elle says. "Veronica and Felicia went to get fever medicine for her, either you wait for them to come back, or not."
And she walks off, just like that, her figure blending and twisting into the darkness, and she walks further and further away.
"What now?" Yeonjun asks.
"She's weird. She's been weird from the very beginning." Beomgyu comments, "But she's weirder now."
"Wait five minutes." Taehyun says. "If the two still don't come back, just go."
"Okay." Yeonjun sits on the bench and gently places Astra's head on his shoulders. With his hands now free, he picks up his phone again, aiming it towards her face, "She's sweating a lot."
"It's a symptom." Taehyun explains. "It could mean her body is regulating her body temperature, and she's getting better. But it can also mean her body is struggling to bring her temperature down."
"Seeing how she is." Taehyun pauses, observing the girl through the screen. She looks like she just dunked her head out of a pool. "I would say it's the second case."
"Yeonjun." Taehyun says, urgency sharpening his tone. "Don't wait five minutes. One more minute, and if they don't come, bring her straight to the hospital."
"Okay." Yeonjun looks at Astra, she's still frowning, her hair sticking to her forehead. Yeonjun reaches out, pulling her hair back, "Astra, can you hear me?"
Her wrist twitches.
She heard me.
"Astra!" Yeonjun's voice takes on a cheery tone, hoping that she would open her eyes next, "How are you feeling?"
The girl pushes her burning forehead against Yeonjun's neck, her lips trembling as she calls out, "Taehyun."
"Taehyun?" Yeonjun feels a little hurt. "Taehyun's not here. It's Yeonjun who drove an hour to find you."
Technically, he didn't drive. Technically, he didn't sit in that cab for one hour, but no one bothered to rebuke him right now.
"I'm here." Taehyun's soft voice can be heard through Yeonjun's phone.
"I'm sorry." Astra says, grabbing onto Yeonjun's fingers.
"What? Why's she saying sorry?" Beomgyu asks.
"Cause she abandoned us for Elle?" Soobin suggests.
"She abandoned us." Beomgyu emphasises 'us' with a big bob of his head, "So why would she only apologise to Taehyun?"
Yeonjun looks down at Astra. A tear drop slides out from the corner of her eyes. And he whispers, "She's crying."
As her tears flow, under the spell of her fever, she repeats again,
"Taehyun, I'm sorry."
Chapter 39: Extra: The boy that was left behind
Chapter Text
Taehyun reaches out, his hands swiping across empty air, no longer feeling Astra beside him. His finger traces his new blindfold. He can still smell the detergent in the cloth, it smelt cleanly washed, it smelled of flowers and warmth.
This ripped cloth as a makeshift bandage. Taehyun lets out a low chuckle. It's something he once did for her too. Though it's with Huening Kai's shirt. How long ago was that?
Taehyun tilts his head, catching faint crackling sounds pattering into the lab, it sounds like a tiny man wearing paper shoes, walking towards the blindfolded boy.
Accurately, Taehyun lowers his head towards the paperman animatedly jumping up and down on the cold floor.
"Hey. Why don't you tell me—" Taehyun asks wearily, one finger poking at the flimsy paper, causing it to fall backwards, "Do you think we can get out of this hellhole?"
The paperman jumps, and with an agile flip, it stands upright again, landing back on the ground with a crisp crumple. It continues to jump enthusiastically, folding its legs into crumpled angles, but however alive it looks, and despite all the sounds it's making, it doesn't answer Taehyun's question.
Just like him, the paperman is empty inside.
It jumps in place, up and down, up and down.
Taehyun places his arm on the ground, lowering it beside the jumping paperman, as if willing it to climb up his arms. But instead, it turns away, paddling its tiny, paper feet. It's only a few seconds later when Taehyun feels it roll a circular, hard object up on fingers, gradually pushing it up his palms.
"What's this?" Taehyun asks. He rolls it between his fingers, hearing the sound of crinkling plastic. He brings it up to his nose, giving the object a sniff.
It smells like burnt vanilla.
His eyes, if they were open at this moment, would surely have lit up. Moving with familiar movements, his fingers turn to unravel the wrapper, popping the hard candy hidden inside through his lips.
A sweet caramel flavour spreads— It's his favourite candy. The boy spreads his fingers towards the ground, blindly fumbling around the items Astra had dumped on the ground before she left.
And it's only now that Taehyun has figured out a long-standing mystery of why, in the past, his precious candy stock has depleted without rhyme or reason.
It has been her all along.
The candy thief.
In the darkness of this room, in the pitch darkness of this world, where everything seems to be against him, Taehyun manages a bright smile.
"I'll try my best."
Chapter 40: Day 17 - 18
Chapter Text
"Where should I bring her?" Yeonjun's whisper cuts through the silence at night. The problem has dawned on him. She no longer has a 'home'.
Where can she go now?
A tattered plastic bag hangs off Yeonjun's wrists. A bag containing the leftover medical supplies bought back by Felicia and Veronica, who had somehow managed to come back within the timeframe shortened by Taehyun. The three had huddled around the unconscious girl, clumsily forcing newly-bought medication down her throat. In the process, quite a bit of medicine was wasted, serving instead to rehydrate the surrounding grass. Still, the amateurs did their best to ensure that she got her dose.
With a rustle, Yeonjun sets the plastic bag down, his palm brushing against the slightly oily leather seats of the cab. He curls his fingers; they must not have been cleaned for a while. He gingerly holds up Astra's head, placing it on his lap.
"Boy?" The driver calls again, tapping his fingers impatiently on the wheels. "Destination?"
Yeonjun can't possibly bring Astra home. His mother would kill him.
Under the silent gaze of the driver, right as Yeonjun was about to stake it all and bring her back to his home anyway, his phone buzzes.
Beomgyu had sent his address into their group chat, "Bring her to my house. My parents are never home."
Never home? Yeonjun thinks back to how Beomgyu likes to spend his nights in the computer lab.
So that's why, since there is no one back at home.
Does he live in a troubled household?
Yeonjun is already picturing a young boy curled up to his knees in the corner of a dark, empty house.
"Hello?" The driver twists in his seat, staring straight at Yeonjun, with growing irritation, wondering if this young customer is going to treat his tiny vehicle as a hotel.
But Yeonjun still sits in silence, eyes unfocused. Right when the driver is about to boot this cumbersome customer off his cab, a warm voice from the customer's phone recites an address.
"Sir, that's the destination. Please bring my friends home safely." Beomgyu answers for Yeonjun, a tired sigh escaping his lips. "Thank you."
Beomgyu could hear the driver utter a hum of acknowledgement, and vaguely, of the car starting to run. Yet, Yeonjun is still silent.
"Hey." Beomgyu calls. "Yeonjun."
Hearing his name, Yeonjun blinks, his mind finally pulled back to the present, "Y-yeah?"
"Are you alright?"
"Yes!" Yeonjun answered too enthusiastically. It was suspicious, but Beomgyu choose to ignore it. "I'll see you soon then."
"Okay."
And there is a long silence between the two boys on the phone. Yeonjun gulps, unsure of what to say.
"Let's hang up." Beomgyu suggests.
The call ends. Yeonjun slumps back into the seat, his thoughts lingering on Beomgyu. An air of gloom settles over Yeonjun as he sighs. He tilts his head down, where a girl, lost in sleep rests peacefully on his legs. He sighs again, taking off his sweater, he drapes it over her shoulders.
With that done, Yeonjun places his hands by his stomach, the third sigh escaping his lips. He feels like a babysitter.
With one last glance at the driver, he closes his eyes, drifting to sleep.
"What a cute pair." The driver chuckles at the front.
.
.
"Wake up."
Yeonjun stirs from his sleep, and he sits up, eyes still closed.
"Hey! Careful, your girlfriend—"
Yeonjun's eyes open immediately, feeling something roll down his thighs.
It takes a second for Yeonjun to register what is happening. "She's not my girlfriend." He corrects, turning back around to adjust her head securely in place. Yeonjun places his palm on Astra's forehead, checking her temperature.
The medication must have taken effect, her forehead feels much cooler now. Yeonjun smiles.
"And you still say she isn't." The driver mumbles as the cab rounds a corner, coming to a eventual stop. "We are here."
Yeonjun nods, with a click, he opens the cab door.
"Yeonjun!" Beomgyu waves his arms, his limbs slightly numb from the fifteen minutes he waited by the roadside. Seeing Beomgyu walk over, Yeonjun's shoulders, weighed down by the thought of having to carry Astra out of the car himself, lifts.
As Beomgyu approaches, the driver watches Yeonjun's demeanour shift from obvious fatigue to bright joy.
"You came at a good time!" Yeonjun points at Astra, who's still completely knocked out, "Help me get her out."
Beomgyu groans. "Should have came later."
The two work together, pushing and pulling from both ends to move her out. When Astra is successfully hurled out of the car, she still looks to be in a deep sleep.
Yeonjun grins, pushing Astra into Beomgyu's arm before he could say a word of objection, "There you go."
"I'm off now." In a suspiciously swift movement, Yeonjun happily leaps back into the cab.
Yeonjun nods at the driver and reports his own address. He was halfway through when he caught the driver's lack of response. Yeonjun pauses.
He continues with a deadpan expression, "I'll pay triple."
The engines ignite, and the cab drives off, right away.
And Beomgyu is left in the dust, his eyes wide, following behind the back of the car speeding off into the distance.
He's leaving? Just like that?
Beomgyu turns his gaze down at the girl abandoned in his arms. Yeonjun could have at least placed her on his back instead of his arms. Beomgyu groans, already feeling his arms tremble from her weight. He had to hold on tight to prevent her from slipping down to the floor.
Damn. She's heavy.
Beomgyu stares at the asphalt ground, briefly considering whether he should let her down for a moment to rest his arms. But the black asphalt looks prickly, and with bits of rubbish strewn around, it doesn't look clean either. He takes another glance at the girl sleeping in his arms, eyes tightly closed, and it feels like he's carrying a heat pack.
She's still sick.
Beomgyu blinks, eyes softening. With the aid of that irresponsible runaway, he's left alone, and with no other choice.
Beomgyu grits his teeth, turning back to look at the apartment block he resides in, mentally mapping up the path he has to take while hauling the girl more than half his weight home. These few simple steps are now a big challenge that he certainly hasn't signed up for.
Beomgyu takes a deep breath.
Okay. Let's go.
.
.
Finally.
When Beomgyu arrives at his doorstep, his arms feel like lead, further weighed by the girl in his arms. He's sweating profusely, breathing loudly with heavy huffs. With another grunt, he shifts her weight as he fumbles into his pockets, trying to dig out his keys.
With a clutter, the keys slip out of his fingers, falling onto the ground, and the boy pauses, staring lifelessly at the keys now out of his reach.
Shit.
Once again, Beomgyu takes another assessment of the ground. The corridors are laid with smooth tiles, both safer and cleaner than the black asphalt ground downstairs.
Okay.
Beomgyu quickly puts her down onto the floor, adjusting her head to lean against a corner between the walls. He doesn't pick up the keys immediately; instead, he sits down beside her, swinging his sore arms. Foolishly, Beomgyu stays still for an entire minute, spending that time glaring at the keys strewn a few metres away. The useless keys that failed to do the one simple job of staying in his grip.
He's too tired to even move his fingers.
Right now, he honestly wouldn't have minded sleeping here for the night.
But he can't have her here too, can he?
He huffs. With an exaggerated groan that no one but him hears, Beomgyu gets up, picking up the keys before he unlocks the door. He walks back to Astra, scooping her back into his arms. With a kick, the door swings open, and he swaggers in, walking straight into his room.
Beomgyu hears her light snores, her eyes peacefully closed, unlike what he saw in the video, tightly squeezed together as if enduring unbearable pain. He purses his lips and places her down on the bed before leaving the room.
Beomgyu returns minutes later with a cooling patch. He pushes her hair backwards before sticking the patch on Astra's forehead. Then he leaves again.
A few minutes later, Beomgyu returns with a cup of water, setting it on the bedside table. The boy glances at Astra, sighs, and steps out of the room.
An hour later, Beomgyu returns again, this time with a big blanket. With a turn of his hand, the blanket covers Astra completely. He tucks her in, making sure even the tips of her toes are covered.
This time, the boy finally leaves for good, satisfied.
The stars fall closer, and the girl standing underneath the breathtaking sight of it all could feel a growing warmth. One that grew more and more intense. It was three days ago when she first noticed felt heat in this cool space, steadily building up.
Astra looks towards her feet, where the warmth lights faint embers on the grassy fields. The plants simmer, burning strangely. Yet the embers remain as embers, kissing just the very tip of the grass, never devouring downwards.
She squats down, fingers poking at the tiny ember. The spark sways under her touch, warm but not scalding. Her lips curl gently as she traces her finger along the lines of the bright orange spark, her eyes twinkling in delight.
Her gaze lifts towards the distance, and she stands up. For the first time, what she sees isn't an endless stretch of darkness. Instead, it looks like a field of fireflies, flickering atop every blade of grass, glowing, pulsing just like the falling stars moving her heart.
Beautiful.
She smiles.
I want to stay in here forever.
.
.
Astra's eyes open, awakened from her dream. Immediately, she reaches out, wanting to grab her pen and paper. But her desk isn't there, nor are her pen and paper. Her eyes widen as she looks around, a soft gasp escaping her throat. The ceiling was unfamiliar, the bed, the walls—
She fumbles around, hands wandering everywhere in search of a clue that might tell her where she was. But in this darkness, she couldn't see well, coupled with her frantic actions, her hands hit a glass of water, knocking it off the table.
The glass falls and shatters into pieces, the loud noise immediately gaining the attention of the boy sitting quietly on a chair by her bedside, the boy who eventually returned, guarding her through the night.
"What's wrong?" Beomgyu hurries over, turning on the lamp by the table. Under the glow of the warm orange lamp, he sees Astra, drenched in sweat from head to toe. He quickly gets up from his chair, walking towards Astra. Beomgyu grabs her wrists.
"Oh." Astra visibly calms down on seeing Beomgyu.
"Is your fever back?" Beomgyu hurries out of the room to get medication when Astra stops him, grabbing his sleeves. "Paper." Astra tells him what she needs, "Pen."
She can already feel her heart speeding up, jumping to synchronise with the flickers of the falling stars.
Finally, the girl breathes out, her eyes desperate, "Inhaler."
Fuck. Beomgyu has forgotten. How could he forget when he knew she would need it?
Beomgyu runs out of his room, bursting into his father's study room, tearing off a sheet from his dad's treasured notebook and yanking a pen from behind a glass display adorned with luxurious patterns of gold.
Beomgyu brings the pen and paper to Astra, and as he watches her condition deteriorate, as she curls into herself while clutching her chest, his heart races, almost matching the speed Astra's heart is racing at.
Inhaler. He couldn't leave her by herself to buy an inhaler.
Soobin. Beomgyu thinks. Soobin lives close by. Beomgyu dials Soobin's number, forcing himself to stay calm.
Soobin doesn't pick up on the first call, and Beomgyu curses, calling Soobin again. By the fourth ring, Soobin picks up, his eyes half-open, clear annoyance dripping from his tone, "What?"
"Do you know what time it is—"
Beomgyu cuts him off, "It's urgent. I don't have an inhaler right now. Can you go to the nearest drugstore to get it and come over?"
...
The short silence is followed by a clear, "Okay."
Soobin doesn't ask more, he jumps out of bed, not even bothering for a change of clothes as he grabs his phone and wallet, rushing out of his house with his bike.
After Soobin hangs up, Beomgyu places his phone on the desk, sitting himself beside Astra. With her eyes tightly squeezed together, she clutches at his father's beloved pen from a collection that Beomgyu has neither appreciated nor understood.
Everything about her is shaking, her breaths, her shoulders, down to her toes—from pain, Beomgyu guesses. But only her grip on the pen did not. He remembers his father twirling around with the pen, praising it to the high heavens after rattling off a disgustingly long and pretentious-sounding name.
Beomgyu hopes that, at least, even though he doesn't remember a single word of what his father said about that pen, he hopes that his words are all true and that the stupidly expensive pen would provide her some comfort.
Beomgyu watches as she writes, drawing lines and dots on the paper, somehow wishing he could share even a fraction of her pain. He asks, "Is it very painful?"
Astra doesn't answer, already having too much on her hands with the pain and need to record these messages.
Beomgyu hasn't expected a response either. But he continues yapping, trying to comfort her, in his own way, "I think you are really brave. If I were in your shoes, I think I would have opted for diving down from a twenty-storey building."
"I'm actually really afraid of pain. " Beomgyu says, "In the past, I used to cry from every little thing, when I fell, or because a few strands of my hair were pulled out."
"My uncle made fun of me, he said that crying is showing weakness, and called me the biggest crybaby in the family."
Beomgyu folds his arms, putting on a brave front, smirking a little, "I never listened to him. That day was no different." He leans forward, patting her head. "Anyways, my damn uncle is wrong."
"So I want to tell you that it's okay to cry. Crying is never about showing weakness."
...
Astra is cursing inside. Initially puzzled about why Beomgyu's suddenly talking about crying, and even his uncle, but now she understands.
He thinks she's holding it in.
He's wrong.
She had never thought to cry. She's used to it. It's like a routine, and she knows this would soon brew over, she just has to get through this.
It isn't like that.
It isn't like that, so why, as she listens to the boy's slow and deep voice, as he acts like her therapist, treating her like a patient who is in deep, repressed suffering, why, inexplicably, does she feel wronged?
Warm, hot tears trace her cheeks as she bites her lips. Through her tears, she thinks to herself— she's going to smack him when this is over.
Beomgyu pats her back, as if he's proud of this outcome, "There, there, isn't this better now?"
It's not.
Astra stops her pen, and her eyes turn to Beomgyu. She doesn't say a word, but the boy knows what she is asking for.
Even though Beomgyu has no idea when Soobin will come, the boy forces down his anxiety and tells her with a light voice, "Soobin is coming over soon, do you think you can wait?"
Soon.
Beomgyu is like the guide back at the camp. Astra asks when they would reach, and the guide says soon. But soon never came, and Astra never managed to reach the top of the hill.
Just like that day, soon never comes.
Soobin never comes.
Beomgyu's fingers press on his phone, and he dials the same number for the fifth time.
"The person you are calling is unavailable. Please leave a message after the tone."
Beomgyu throws his phone down; it's the same message again. Why isn't he picking up?
Without the inhaler and with no clue where Soobin is, her situation grows from bad to worse. He watches with a pained expression, hearing her wheezes growing louder and louder. Finally, Beomgyu decides that if he waits any longer, she might just drop dead.
So Beomgyu picks up his phone again, no longer calling Soobin. This time, he calls for the ambulance. He no longer bothers to put on his calm facade, shouting at the receiver that his friend is going to die, pleading for them to come over as soon as possible, making them swear they will come in under ten minutes before he is willing to hang up.
All this while, he's been lying to her that everything is okay. But it's not. With the prolonged lack of oxygen circulating her brain, Astra now sees things that aren't here.
She's crying— full-blown cries that make her get on her knees, despite her severe lack of oxygen. She's grabbing onto Beomgyu as if afraid he might disappear, her lips part, and through her tears, through her ragged breaths, he could vaguely hear her.
She's saying, "I'm sorry."
"I'll change this."
"I'll save all of you."
"I promised."
All these actions, words spoken, just worsen her already unoptimistic condition. But Beomgyu couldn't stop her.
He tells her to calm down, repeating it over and over.
But she couldn't hear him. She's still on her knees, repeating the same few words, word by word, forcing it out of her throat, fighting her body for the same oxygen.
This can't continue.
Beomgyu wraps his arms around her, pinning her arms to her side as he rests his head on her shaking shoulders. "Astra." He says, "I know."
"I know you will save us." Beomgyu's eyes are red, he too, feels like crying now. He doesn't know what to do, unsure of what more he could do to save her from whatever is wrecking her inside out.
"But before you can save us—" Beomgyu shouts into her ears, hoping his loud voice will wake her out from whatever she is seeing.
"Shouldn't you save yourself first?"
This time, she hears him.
Save yourself.
Save yourself.
Save yourself.
Save yourself. Save yourself.
…
Save myself.
Her unfocused eyes clear, and Beomgyu can see the haze fading away. She meets his eyes, and he sees that it's only now that she's really seeing him. Beomgyu smiles, finally understanding what Taehyun meant when he said Astra hides stars in her eyes.
Just when Beomgyu relaxes his shoulders, thinking that everything is getting better, he hears her last, heavy wheeze.
Astra whispers to him, as if a desperate plea for help, as if she's drowning in deep waters and she's reaching her hand out to him,
"What—"
A light whisper, a question that she has never dared to ask out loud.
"... Can I do to save myself?"
She collapses, her body falling down like a paper doll, but even so, her fingers wrap tightly around the thin sheet of paper Beomgyu had torn out from his father's book.
Day 18:
. .-.. .-.. . / .. ...
Chapter 41: Day 18
Chapter Text
Beomgyu's pale face is lit up in shades of blue and red, loud sirens from the ambulance blaring in his ears. They flash, and the symphony of sensory inputs overstimulates his vision, causing blotches of fading colours to bloom in his vision.
The lights flash harshly into his eyes, but Beomgyu does not blink. His eyes remain wide as he watches Astra being wheeled in by four paramedics, an oxygen mask strapped to her face. Her eyes are closed, and Beomgyu couldn't see her lips, but just before the mask covered them, he saw them turn blue.
The boy suddenly rushes forward, right as the doors of the vehicle swing shut, Beomgyu slams his fists on the door, screaming, "Hey! Let me get in too!"
A voice drifts in from the vehicle, questioning Beomgyu, "Are you her family member?"
Beomgyu flinches, suddenly reminded of Astra's house, where a white wall literally patched it away. She doesn't have family now.
"Is that what matters now?" Beomgyu continues shouting as he forces the ambulance doors open, squeezing himself in.
All eyes are on him, narrowed and watching his every move, as if prepared for the scenario where he would jump and pull life support off Astra.
Beomgyu holds his hands together, moving himself towards the edge of the vehicle, saying, "I'll just sit here!"
Beomgyu looks around anxiously, noting their gazes that continued to be fixed on him. He knows he can't do much to help, nor is he sure of what the point of his presence here is. He gulps, now afraid that his being here might be a burden instead.
"I'm her very close friend!" He says. "Please—" The boy pleads, his unshed tears finally pooling out all at once as he pleads for his friend, "Please save my friend."
Beomgyu shuffles back, curling himself to a corner, not wanting to disturb the medical staff, "I'll really just sit here."
"You'd better behave yourself." With a soft sigh from one of the men dressed in blue garbs, he pounds on the divider separating them from the driver, and the ambulance drives onto the road.
Beomgyu nods. His presence reduced to almost nothing amid the flurry of hurried actions in the tight space. In his own way, he's trying to glimpse whatever he can of Astra's current condition. Through the red and blue spots clouding his vision, he sees vague figures moving around, listening intently to the string of medical jargon slipping from their lips.
The large patches of colours obstructing his vision didn't allow him to see Astra's face, and the uncertainty of her condition made him panic. Beomgyu's lips quiver, desperately wanting to ask if she's alright.
But he doesn't. Beomgyu holds it all back, bottled within him. The boy sits obediently, as he had promised to the staff inside the ambulance, as if he willed himself invisible.
Yet the moment he's out of the four walls of the white vehicle, Beomgyu explodes. The moment Astra is wheeled into the emergency room, surrounded by doctors and nurses alike, Beomgyu bolts for the receptionist, slamming his hands on the desk, bombarding the lady sitting behind, as if she would know all the answers to the condition of his friend. He screams at her, his face bright red in anxiety.
Eventually, with no answers, Beomgyu slumps into a corner seat, eyes fixed on the glowing red 'OCCUPIED' sign above the emergency room she's been wheeled into, knowing better to barge in just like he did with the ambulance.
Like a permanent fixture, Beomgyu's fixed on the hard plastic chair, seeming as if he'd wait there an eternity if he had to. With barely any movements until the red glowing sign flashed, turning green.
Beomgyu shoots up from his chair as the door swings open. The leading doctor meets his wide eyes, pauses, and smiles at him, murmuring, "She's fine."
"Go home first." The doctor pulls off his mask. "You'll be able to see her when her condition stabailises."
"Thank you." Beomgyu whispers, watching as the doctor walks away.
.
.
He didn't go home.
Beomgyu walks down the white corridors of the hospital, holding a cup of water in his hands, his cheeks sunken, and his eyebags heavy. He looks like a mess with his ruffled home wear that he hasn't had time to change out of, and his bird nest of a hair that he has yet to comb. Beomgyu has never been out in public looking like this, but at least in this moment, he doesn't care, taking slow, steady steps down the corridors, with his eyes blank, as if he's lost half his soul.
Bang!
The loud slam of the doors jolts Beomgyu up from his daze. He turns his head, eyes further widening upon hearing a familiar scream.
A boy is held down by two muscular nurses in white, working together to rein him down, their veins popping out across the monstrous bulge of muscles rippling across their forearms as the boy struggles like a crazed, caged beast.
Beomgyu watches, stunned.
"Let go!" He hears the boy roar. "My friend needs help!"
There he is.
Choi Soobin, who had gone missing in action during the most critical moment, whom Beomgyu had left almost a hundred missed calls on, whom Beomgyu had relied on just moments ago, praying he could quickly ring his doorbell, with an inhaler in hand.
Soobin never came. And for a moment, at the height of his anxiety, Beomgyu entertained the thought that Soobin had abandoned them.
Beomgyu could feel the paper cup slip from his hand, dropping to the floor with a light thud. The water inside sloshes, splashing out, wetting Beomgyu's odd combination of footwear—mismatched socks and a pair of light blue slippers printed with the hospital logo, ones kindly provided by the nurses who took pity on his feet.
So all along, the reason why Soobin didn't come, why Soobin never picked up his calls, was because he's here.
"Soo—" Beomgyu calls out to the older boy, but the last syllable never leaves his lips before Soobin comes rushing towards him. As he draws closer, Beomgyu's vision, now free from the coloured patches, can see the line of red across his bottom lip, his bandaged legs, and half a bloody gash running down his pale arms, one yet to be properly bandaged. And as Soobin runs, a long strip of gauze flutters behind him.
The female doctor attending to Soobin stands up as the last of the trail of bandage slips past her fingers, she sighs, following Soobin and the two muscular nurses out.
Beomgyu wonders how Soobin is running like that in the first place, with all his wounds. When Beomgyu comes to his senses, Soobin's face is but inches away.
"Why are you here?" Soobin's voice is hoarse, likely from all the minutes he left his human self behind, roaring like a beast.
"Why are you here?" Beomgyu repeats the question back at Soobin.
"Where's Astra?" Soobin asks again, his voice hitches, thick with fear.
"...Is she here, too?" Soobin's voice grows softer, and there's a shaky timbre. He's asking as if he's kneeling on a carpet of thorns, pleading for leniency.
There's guilt. Intense, shaking guilt.
Soobin has failed to arrive, and his hands are still empty. He hasn't even managed to get the inhaler before his bike went crashing into the drain. A blink and he's sent flying off his bike, and the next thing Soobin knew—he's here.
Beomgyu's gaze shifted to the long line of gauze hanging from Soobin's arm, dragged across the dirty floor.
"Student! Please don't make trouble. Your wounds are opening up again." The muscular nurse managed to grab Soobin again, sneaking up on him while his attention was on Beomgyu.
Beomgyu's gaze shifts, and indeed, the once white bandage is soaked red again. Soobin tries to wrench his arm out of the nurse's grip, his eyes still locked on Beomgyu, waiting for his answer.
The thought of lying has crossed Beomgyu's mind. Perhaps he would tease Soobin a little, tell him Astra's not doing well now, a little payback for all the turmoil Beomgyu went through alone as he waited fruitlessly for the Soobin who would never come.
But the Soobin reflected in his eyes looked so haggard, barely held together by the bandages.
"She's alright." Beomgyu says to Soobin, a reassuring smile on his face.
The nurses tug forcefully, trying to drag him back. Soobin no longer struggles. The boy lets himself be dragged off, but his eyes remains on Beomgyu, a final whisper leaving his lips,
"I'm sorry."
.
.
.
It's only a few hours later when Astra wakes up. The doctors had predicted a one-week recovery period. Yet the girl is up and jumping now, ripping off her oxygen mask, her IV needle, and bolts out of bed. The sun is completely out, casting a warm beam through the glass windows, lighting up the white corridors she runs across. With every step, her heart jumps in her throat, thoughts whirling in her head.
I want to leave. Want to leave. Leave.
Her time is too precious to waste here.
But the corridors stretch on with no end in sight, everywhere she turns, she's greeted by the monotonous white cement walls. Astra passes corridors, twisting and turning through passages, the hospital trapping her in like a maze.
Abruptly, she stops.
Astra clenches her fists, eyes warily scanning around the area, trying to make sense of her surroundings.
There's no sign of people here. There are no windows here, the passage she is running through now purely lit by dim, artificial light.
With a sharp inhale, she breathes a chilling breath of air down her throat.
Where am I?
Astra backs up against the wall, slumping down.
Did I step into another space again?
"Astra."
Again.
Astra shivers, recognising Yeonjun's voice. She knows, but she doesn't want to look up. She doesn't want to see the state he's in, the blood, the wounds, nor the bruises that she pictured marring every inch of his skin, all a bleak echo of their future.
"What are you doing here?" Yeonjun squats beside her.
Astra squeezes her eyes shut, and all she manages is a word of apology, "Sorry. I'll fix this."
"I'll fix it all." She repeats again, as if trying to convince herself, burying herself deeper into her arms.
Yeonjun pulls back her bangs, leaving his hand on her head, "What do you want to fix?"
"I'll fix it with you." He adds in a cheery, light tone, an almost innocent ease. One too bright, too different—
Astra snaps her head up. This is just Yeonjun.
Yeonjun's tilting her head, giving her a refreshing smile, one that reminded Astra of being by the ocean on a bright sunny day, warm and so full of life.
Ah.
It hits her all at once. The stark difference in the way they look and speak, their voices 'there' are so laced with thick despair and sorrow that she's able to immediately tell them apart.
This realisation sinks her heart, painfully forcing a lump up her throat.
What exactly happened for 'them' to end up in that state?
"We have all been looking for you." Yeonjun says.
Astra cracks a smile at Yeonjun, standing up.
"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" Astra tries to keep a light-hearted tone.
"School? How can I go to school when two of my friends are in the hospital—"
"Two?" Astra's eyes widen, her voice rising to a shrill. She pulls on Yeonjun's sleeve, "Why two? Who's the other one?" She speaks faster, her words tripping over one another as she pulls Yeonjun, urging him to lead the way.
"It's Soobin. He fell off the bike while he rode to school this morning." It's a lie that Yeonjun felt compelled to say. A white lie.
"He—" Astra pauses, then looks up at Yeonjun, who's suddenly avoiding eye contact. She knows he's lying. She knew Soobin was supposed to come with her inhaler. She's the one who waited desperately for him, after all.
"Let's go look for him then." Astra says with a light smile, not poking through his lie.
Yeonjun types into his phone, and as his phone buzzes, he turns to Astra, "Soobin's in the park right now."
"He's just sprained one of his legs and had a concussion. But he's fine now. Just needs to walk with a crutch for a few days." Yeonjun reassures her.
Astra simply follows Yeonjun's back, his light steps easily guiding her back towards the light, out of this never-ending stretch that Astra could not seem to get out of.
In the afternoon, stepping out of the hospital doors feels like falling into a boiling pot. Along with the sun rays, the hot air hits like a scorching wave. Usually, Astra would frown in distaste, curl into herself, and quickly backtracking to look for a sheltered area. But today, Astra enjoys this feeling. Silently, the girl spreads out her arms, letting the bright golden rays hit her skin, feeling a tingly warmth envelope her.
This is what it means to feel alive.
And as she looks towards the sun with a soft grin, a boy in a wheelchair catches her eye. A lonely back figure gazing in the same direction as her, at the round ball of light hanging in the sky.
As if he's admiring the sun too, as if he's also counting down the days he has left beneath the warm, golden orb.
That thought chills her down to her bones.
Astra grabs Yeonjun's wrist, her tone mixed with fear, "Is that Soobin?"
Her breath quickens, "Why is he in a wheelchair? I thought you said he's in a crutch? Did something happen to his leg—"
"Soobin!" Before Astra could say more, Yeonjun's shout interrupts her.
Hearing his name, Soobin turns over. He's still a black figure, Astra never saw him clearly, only his outline, glowing with a harsh backdrop of the blinding sun. Still, she knows it's Soobin, clearly recognisable from his tall stature and frame.
The boy inches towards them, the wheels of his wheelchair roll over the grass. Slowly, Soobin appears before Astra, close enough that he's no longer a black figure outshone by the sun behind him. Astra can now see his smile, with two dimples creasing into his cheeks.
"I'm sorry." He begins. "I—" he gestures at his leg, finding the words to explain himself, when, without warning, Astra's face crumples and she bursts into tears.
Yeonjun blinks, surprised at her cries, so loud and heartbreaking that if she said that the world's burning down to ashes tomorrow, he might have believed her. Yeonjun looks towards Soobin as if to seek an answer, but he finds Soobin looking back at him with the same look, eyes shaking in panic. The two boys fall into silence.
"Are you disabled now?" Astra's words could barely be made out through her loud sobs, but Soobin hears her loud and clear. It's about his legs, after all.
Soobin turns a sharp glare to Yeonjun, wondering if the older boy fed her the wrong information.
Yeonjun, now highly aware, raises his palm to give Astra a solid smack on her back. "His legs are good. He's just too lazy to walk and stole one of the extra wheelchairs."
...
It's a little funny at this point. And Astra's heartbreaking cries seem to have pulled on its brakes. The abrupt change makes everything feel so absurd.
There's a chilly silence.
She turns around, facing a tree, and under the wary gazes of the two older boys, she lifts her arms, one swipe from the left, one swipe to the right. When she turns back to face them, there are no longer signs of her earlier breakdown on her face, with the exception of the lingering redness in her eyes.
"Is that so." Astra clears her throat.
Yeonjun's eyes shift to her forearms, still wet with traces of tears and snot.
Astra quickly hides her hands behind her.
Soobin and Yeonjun exchange looks, and perhaps that's the final push, the same, exact look they gave one another—the two crumple too, but not into tears, but into loud, unrestrained laughter.
Their laughter echoes, breaking a crack on Astra's stoic face. A small smile germinates like a tiny seedling, a real, genuine smile, not at all like the ones she forced herself to pull these past few days. Her smile pushes through the crack, like a blossoming flower.
This is how things should be. Under the blazing afternoon sun, three youths—barely entering the second decade of their lives, it... It should have really just been like this.
"I wish—" Astra begins loudly, and it's supposed to be loud enough for Soobin and Yeonjun to catch, but their laughter drowns it all, even if it's her desperate plea to the heavens, to the skies, to the stars, and everything beyond.
Astra crosses her fingers.
"I wish that you all will be happy like this, for eternity, for—" her breath hitches in her throat as if even this tiny wish was too much for her,
"Forever."
Chapter 42: Day 18
Chapter Text
Grandma called. Her voice, though aged, did so like fine wine, like the autumn wind—soft, calm, and nostalgic.
She had already died. The elderly lady passed in 2022 at the age of seventy. Yet Astra had forgotten. It's 2018 now, and her grandmother... is still with her.
How could I have forgotten that?
"Yes. I know. I'm alright." Astra's words flow steadily, as if everything is alright, like every other conversation between a granddaughter and a grandmother, where the elder goes on and on while the younger one answers with empty promises and acknowledgments.
But the truth couldn't be more different.
The moment Astra saw the familiar contact name popping across her screen, her eyes started to turn red. Her fingers moved quickly, as if afraid that at the next second, all of this would just be her illusion, desperately wishing she could extend this time infinitely.
Beside Astra, sat Yeonjun, he watched as she held her phone with both her hands, both trembling, he had no desire to peek into their conversation, understanding how valuable this moment was for Astra. That was until he saw her face twist. Her expression reminded the boy of his favourite fruit, where sometimes, when he takes a bite into a banana, the cross-section of the light yellow flesh splits to reveal a weeping expression. It would make him pause, momentarily overwhelmed by a sense of guilt that stopped his second bite. But it's just for a second.
Because.
Fruits aren't supposed to feel.
So, he continued to eat with relish.
But he would turn his eyes away. Yeonjun's not sure whether by doing so, he's sparing himself or the banana, but it's almost like a habit now. And he no longer looks at the banana when he chomps into it.
Just like now. When he first caught sight of that expression, he barely held back the urge to look away, having to remind himself that he's not dealing with a banana here, but instead, a living, breathing person.
Yeonjun notices the sharp contrast between what she's trying to show her grandmother and her real self. Where despite the 'weeping' look she had on, her voice is bright and chirpy. Driven by a surging unease, he leans forward, now actively trying to catch their conversation.
"What do you mean Mum's overseas?"
The mention of her mother made his blood run cold. Her house, sealed behind a glitching wall, was a truth that none of them dared to break to her yet.
Soobin chews on his bottom lip, his eyes darting around, soon catching Taehyun looking up at him, as if asking him if they should tell her.
"What are you saying? Mum's with me!" Astra's voice rises a pitch, "We have been living together since—"
There's a pause.
And the 'banana face', as Yeonjun had termed, falls, replaced by a frighteningly blank expression.
Beomgyu, alongside Yeonjun and the other three, anxiously watched everything unfold. He feels his heart pound. He could already see it, his friend spiralling down into a deep abyss, one that he might not ever be able to pull her out of.
Beomgyu knows Astra has been trying hard to maintain her normality. He had pictured her sanity to be like a shattered glass figurine. With a multitude of large and small cracks splitting her right down to her very foundation. The cracks are hidden, patched closed with strong adhesive tape, perhaps in the forms of the people around her.
They must have been what was holding her together, yet if she lost her family, surely, she would shatter again, this time, into more pieces.
Astra stands up from the bed, moving towards the door, sparing them neither a word nor a glance. He turns his head, noticing the equally lost expressions they wore on their face.
Beomgyu touches his face. Do I look like that too?
What can they even do? It feels like they were just glue from the dollar store.
Still, they followed. With silent moves, they got up, slowly trailing behind Astra.
With her, the hospital was about to rid itself of its three most troublesome visitors. The first, who barged into the ambulance and created a scene. The second, who fought tooth and nail against treatment and could barely be pinned down by their strongest nurses. And the last has once attempted an escape right the moment she woke up, even with her IV still attached.
So they were all of the same circle. Must have been friends who met at a mental institution, the staff gossiped.
It was about one more step.
One more step before they leave the hospital, Astra turns to face her friends, a practiced smile on her face.
"It's alright." She begins. "I'm just going back to take a look. I know my family is safe overseas."
Safe overseas?
Beomgyu's eyes flicker. He looks at Astra, it seems like that's the truth. But there's something about her that unsettles him, something about her expression, her voice, the way she talks to them—everything.
"Can't we just come along?" Huening Kai asks softly.
"Don't." Astra shakes her head without hesitation. There's a pleading light in her eyes, as if she's telling them not to come. At her gaze, the words Beomgyu wants to say are swallowed back down.
"I'll just go take a look. I will see you guys at school later, I promised my grandmother too." Astra continues.
Beomgyu lowers his head, not wanting anyone to see how her actions hurt him. So in the end, they were really just glue from the dollar store.
When it truly mattered, they were never needed.
.
.
.
Astra was slamming her fists into her door.
Or maybe it wasn't even a door anymore. It's a wall. Her door's gone, except for the bits of black paint that showed it was once there, barely peeking from the wall, where everything else looked to have been swallowed in.
A minute later, she backs away. Astra retreated a few feet away before she paused, her eyes moving to catch the bare remains of where her home used to be. She watches it silently from afar.
Another minute later, she takes out her phone and takes a picture. Astra adjusts her brightness, and the screen lights up, glowing brighter as she pulls the screen closer to her eyes. Yet, on the picture taken, she sees nothing but a pure white wall—no signs of the black blotches of paint that looked to be desperately fighting against being erased.
And Astra leaves again, no longer sparing even one glance back at where her house once was. She doesn't take the route back to school, but instead, she walks around the park.
Usually, on weekdays, the park only gets crowded near the time when people get off work, around 17:00 to 19:00. Right now, the day is still young, and the park is devoid of even a single person, except Astra.
She walks to a bench, sitting down underneath the shade of a small tree, its thin foliage barely shielding her from the sun. In summer, the weather is unbearably hot, yet watching her, you'd think she's alone in autumn. With gentle, quiet movements that didn't belong to this season, she gently takes off her shoes, placing them beside the legs of the bench.
Astra stands up. Walking barefoot across the burning stone tiles, across the prickly grass, running like a madman, up and down the playground structures made for those twelve and under. The heat must have scorched through at least a few layers of skin from her soles, but, like a madman, she's savouring the pain. Everything in now, the way her fingers and toes move, the texture of the ground beneath her feet, the way her heart pumps, all the steps she takes. She makes her rounds around the park, happily retracing steps from her memory, ignoring the wails from her feet.
The park was never a place intended for barefoot walks. Though it was regularly cared for, the occasional sharp objects remained, a few pieces managing to break her skin. When Astra finally stops, her feet are bright red, swollen in some areas, and bleeding at others. But pain, for Astra, is a way of letting go.
She wants to carve every moment left into herself. Every detail. Her family, neighbourhood, school, ...her friends.
They were never just glue from the dollar store. They were much more important than she had even realised, like her lifeline dangling from a cliff.
So before she leaves, she wants to do everything in her power to help them.
This.
was also what she had promised.
.
.
Like she promised, Astra went back to school, just in time for the first art lesson of their school term.
The art room is one personally decorated by her art teacher, who's a big fan of vintage spaces. The wall is painted in a dusty rose colour, and the ceiling ledges are a mix of brown and gold. An old classic chandelier hangs from the ceiling, though Astra knows that fixture has stopped working since a few years back and now hangs purely as a decorative.
Behind the chandelier, there was a huge wooden board covering almost the entirety of the walls, hanging numerous artworks completed by their senior students, framed in gold, it made the whole space look like an ancient art gallery.
Contrary to what Ophelia thought, Astra has never thought of the infirmary to be her second home. All along, for all her four years in school, this space has always been the one—her second home.
Astra's gaze shifts down, meeting the stares of Taehyun and Huening Kai, both sitting before a large canvas atop an easel. Both boys had turned back, staring at her, a quiet, hopeful gaze in their eyes.
They had taken the seats at the very back, right next to the door. If only she hadn't been consumed by the nostalgic decor of the art room, the two boys would have been the first sights she saw when she first stepped in.
In between the two boys was a seat currently occupied by Huening Kai's bag.
"I'm back." Astra says as she strides over. In a quick motion, she robs Huening Kai's bag off its seat and tosses the bag back to him, who catches it instinctively.
"Are you Astra?" A tiny lady who looks like she just popped off an anime walks to Astra, her giant loop earrings almost half the size of her face. She has wide, gigantic eyes, cherry-like lips, and pencil-thin eyebrows, paired with the cute long skirt she's wearing, she doesn't look more than 20, but really, she's already lived half her life.
This is her art teacher—the one whose mere presence made this place Astra's second home.
"Yes." Astra manages to hold back the tremble in her voice. "I'm sorry, I—"
"I know." She cuts Astra off. "I heard from your friends." She glances at the two boys sitting at the back of her class. "To introduce myself again, I'm Claire, your art teacher, please just call me—"
"Claire." Astra calls readily, she knows she doesn't like to be called with honourifics. She had once claimed they made her feel old.
Claire pauses, her eyes deepening when she looks at Astra again. "Good. You have joined us just in time." Claire walks back to the front of her class. "Today's your first art lesson. So we won't be learning anything today." She raises her voice a little louder, her eyes scanning through the thirty or so students in the class.
"Instead, I want you all to paint. Paint anything. You can think of it as therapy. Paint the skies, paint your classmates, a memory, whatever you'd like."
Claire raises a finger, "But what you paint must be important to the 'you' right now, something that makes you happy."
Claire sits back down by her desk. "That's the topic for today. You may all start."
With that, Claire no longer looks at her students, instead, she picks up a mini paintbrush, sliding it across a canvas facing away from the class, engaged in her own painting.
Then, the students move. Paintbrushes clatter, water buckets are filled, and tubes of paint are squeezed onto white palettes. The class scurry off into their own worlds, excited at the unexpected freedom given to them by Claire.
All except the three friends at the back of the class.
"Are you really okay now?" Taehyun asks, turning his gaze towards Astra, his voice uncharacteristically cautious.
Astra chuckles, almost in resignation.
But this time, I'm really okay.
"I'm fine, just needed some time to collect my thoughts." Astra answers, meeting Taehyun's piercing stare. A few seconds of silence later, Astra points at Taehyun's blank canvas, asking, "What are you planning to paint?"
A smile graces Taehyun's lips, and his eyes curve into beautiful crescents. He nods silently and stares back at his canvas.
Eh?
Astra turns to Huening Kai, her finger pointing at Taehyun's smiling side profile, her voice thick with accusation, "He ignored me."
Huening Kai breaks into a smile as he stumbles towards Astra, grabbing her hand, "I hope you will be okay for a long time."
Astra laughs, her eyes bright as she nods.
When Huening Kai returns to his seat, Astra closes her eyes. In the darkness, her vision starts to light up with bright white spots, beginning with the rain of stars, then down to the endless stretch of grass lit up by warm orange embers.
She smiles, lowering her head, her eyes twinkling like the falling stars.
Her hands move, pulling her brush through her white canvas, dyeing it in the colours of the starry skies she sees behind her eyes.
She's painting her dreams; her prettiest dream. For the first time, she feels just like the girl in her dreams. There's no rejection, no fear, but instead an unprecedented serenity, like everything is simply falling back into place.
The colours mix and come together, layer by layer, and the scene in her dreams starts to come alive, every stroke adding a touch of intricacy, pulling her dreamscape closer towards reality.
Perhaps when god created her, to compensate for her handwriting, which has gone down to shit, god had compensated her loss of writing skills into other forms of expression.
Astra had at least, possessed talent in art. That's why Claire had taken special care of her. Claire had once said Astra's style was messy. Her chaotic, unrestrained strokes slide without hesitation, where even in its inherent messiness, as it all layers together, it resembles the very imperfections that make the world real.
And times like this, when she holds the wooden art tools in her hand, she would fall into a trance, where the sounds from the outside world would fade. When the light in her eyes only reflects the canvas before her, of the world she had painted alive, of the shower of falling stars, tiny fireflies flickering above the grass.
With a soft smile on her lips, she muses,
Maybe dying isn't so bad after all.
When Astra sets down her paintbrush, Claire's standing behind her, the art teacher has been there for a whole hour, locked from the moment she caught the first glimpse of her canvas.
"What's this?" Claire asks, pointing at a bigger star uncharacteristically nestled in the midst of the grassy fields, dimmer than the bright rain of stars pouring from her sky.
"It's me." Astra answers softly.
"It's a sky I see every night." She continues.
"And does it make you happy?" Claire asks.
There's a long silence. And Astra seems to freeze into place. Finally, she answers with a smile.
"Yes." Gentle truth flows from her words, dipped in a peace she's somehow certain of, "Happy."
"Good." A glint flashes through Claire's eyes, one from having found a genius child. "And what would you name this work?"
Astra tilts her head. She ponders, and finally, she answers, "My Starry Sky."
Claire claps her hands, drawing the attention of all students in class. "This work that you all have painted, I would like all of you to explain why what you have painted is important to you, and why it makes you happy. 200 words. Send your answers to my email."
Claire writes her email on the board. "By tomorrow " She adds a deadline.
"Is that—" Taehyun's gaze has never left Astra's canvas since he finished his painting. For a long while, his gaze has been like Claire's, fixated on her 'sky', "Is that the one in your dreams?"
"Yes." Astra nods. "It looks something like this."
"It's beautiful." Huening Kai is in awe, reaching his hands out, his moves towards the lone star on the grass. Before Taehyun can stop him, Huening Kai's finger touches the wet paint, rubbing a smudge that cuts into the core of the glowing star.
The wetness Huening Kai feels on his fingers prompts him to gasp, he quickly pulls back his hand, falling into panic as he looks between Astra and the smudged paint.
"It's alright." Astra says, her voice serene. "I think it looks better like this."
The smudge Huening Kai pulls has given the star a new shape, from a sleeping star, it now resembles a fallen star that broke off from the night.
"Let's go." Taehyun takes one last glance at Astra's work. "Class is over."
Happy?
Astra's conversation with Claire plays in his head. She's happy?
Taehyun has an uneasy feeling. It feels like she is truly okay now, but it also feels like something changed. That it wasn't that she's fine, but it's just that she has fallen into a deeper, more beautiful layer of hell.
.
.
"Since your house is gone—" Beomgyu says hesitantly, careful on how he breeches the topic, "You can stay with me. My parents are never home, I—"
"Okay!" Astra agrees, a little too readily, as she cuts Beomgyu off. "Thank you."
"But before that," Astra continues, "I'm meeting with Elle today."
"Elle?" Beomgyu's expression tightens. "When were you guys so close?"
"That doesn't matter. We are just going to shop."
"Shop?" Yeonjun chimes in from the side, showing interest. "I want to go!"
"Astra! Over here!" A voice interrupts, drawing Astra's attention. She turns to see three girls, with their arms linked together, standing just a few feet away. Elle and Veronica waved at her, "Let's go!"
Beomgyu narrows his eyes, watching Astra pivot and walk towards Elle as if drawn by a tune only she hears, following without a look back.
Yeonjun rushes forward, forcefully sticking himself with the girls, his excited yell breaking Beomgyu out from his thoughts, "I'll be going with them!"
"Fool."
"Fool."
Beomgyu and Taehyun lock eyes, a little surprised at how their thoughts had aligned.
"Then me too." Huening Kai looks between Taehyun and Beomgyu, "I'm a fool. I want to go with them."
Huening Kai leans towards the direction they have left in, just lifting his leg when Beomgyu clicks his tongue, pulling him back. "No."
.
.
.
They went to watch a movie, went shopping, before having dinner. It was all the typical things friends do when they go out together.
Yeonjun had blended in with them seamlessly. Yeonjun chattered on with Veronica and Felicia, their conversations flowing like they had been best friends for years.
Elle and Astra silently follow behind them. It wasn't known if it's because their social skills fell short, or because they have deliberately distanced themselves, but currently, the two lurk at the back like ugly ducklings left at the edge of their group.
Astra finally breaks the silence, looking up at Elle, who stared ahead with a blank look on her face.
"Thank you." Astra begins. "For taking care of me while I was sick."
"Oh!" Elle smiles softly. "Don't worry about that. Friends should help one another."
"Honestly, there's one more thing." Astra begins as she pulls Elle and slows her steps, further widening the distance between them and the rest of the group.
Astra hesitates, hearing Yeonjun, Veronica, and Felicia's footsteps growing fainter, gradually swallowed into a distance she could no longer reach.
When she speaks again, her words tumble out in a rush, as if they have been weighing on her for far too long. "That day, on that island, when we went back into that scary place, it wasn't because we went looking for you."
Elle stops, her two feet coming to a standstill. She stiffens, an almost creaky smile cracking across her face, ".... it wasn't?"
Her voice sounds eerily strained, like she's pulling it out from decaying chords.
"The others talked about looking for you, but I..." Astra gulps, "I didn't want to. I was tired." Astra continues, a relaxed smile on her lips as she walks, pulling on Elle's arm.
"I forced them back with me—" Astra continues, seemingly oblivious of the unnatural, minute spasms pulling across Elle's facial muscles.
"But we got lost." Astra gestures with her hands. "And we somehow got back into that scary place."
"......"
"Then, we saw you." Astra turns to Elle, who now stares back at her with dead-fish eyes. "I lied to you then."
"I guess I was feeling guilty." Astra lowers her head.
"I told you that we were looking for you." There's a tremble in Astra's fingers as she digs into her pockets, her every word seeming to plunge her deeper into an ice cellar. "I lied. I'm sorry."
"But you... led all of us out." Astra peeks at Elle through her bangs. "So, I'm really, really thankful to have you as a friend."
There's a violent shiver that runs through Elle. It ripples through her body, starting from her head down to the very end of her toes, as if something inside her had come alive. Elle's posture buckles, her shoulders curling inwards, just slightly.
"Why—" Her voice creaks like broken boards that can never be repaired.
Then her tone shifts, back into their usual friendliness, "Why are you telling me this now?"
Astra couldn't see Elle's expression; she had her head tilted downward, her face covered by the shadows casting down her face.
"Because I see you as my friend now." Astra answers without hesitation. "And I don't want to hide anything from you."
"Friend?"
Elle lets out a chuckle, which instead sounds like pieces of cracked wood scraping against one another.
Elle reaches up, her hand tugging on the velvety white ribbon she used to hold up her long hair. With a light pull, her hair is released, strands of black spilling across her shoulders. She gingerly holds the white strip of cloth in both of her hands, looking up at Astra. "It's alright." Elle says.
"At least now..."
"I know."
Elle smiles, the ends of her lips stretching into a warm curl.
"Friends." Elle reaches forward, her hands pushing past the few strands of unchecked hair, brushing past the tips of Astra's ears, towards the simple black hair tie on her ponytail. With a gentle tug, she pulls on the hair-tie. "What a heavy term isn't it?"
Astra nods, her hands limp by her side, letting Elle do as she wishes. "My friends are what brought me here today."
The black hair-tie is pulled off, discarded on the floor like waste. Elle's finger brushes up Astra's scalp, sending an odd, tingly chill that feels somehow, comfortable. Elle combs her hair, pulling it up higher. She pulls on the white ribbon draping on her wrists, coiling it around Astra's hair.
"And I hope—" There is a warm glimmer in Astra's eyes that catches the light, sparkling, like her name, like stars.
"That I can help you too."
Astra says, her words locking like a promise, "Because you are my friend now."
Elle pauses, her fingers in her hair stopping for a second, "Then—" Elle pulls the smooth white cloth into a bow. "Then, as your friend, I have a request."
"Sure! What is it?" Astra touches the bow in her hair, agreeing instantly.
"I really like how this ribbon looks on you." Elle says sweetly, brushing her ponytail, "Don't take it out. Wear it till tomorrow."
Astra smiles, lowering her head towards Elle. "Then you might have to tie it tighter. Or it won't last the whole day."
Elle laughs softly as she leans in,
"It might have been better—" Elle tilts her head, her voice lowered down to a creaking whisper that Astra couldn't catch. Elle reaches over, pulling at the ends of the ribbon, tightening it around Astra's hair. The bow cinches with a tight snap of the fabric.
"If you had just died there... "
Elle tilts her head up, wearing a beaming smile, she looks Astra straight in her eyes, "My dear friend."
.
"Astra!" A yell interrupts their moment. Astra looks up, seeing a tall boy running towards her, his hair ruffled into a mess, yet a light, almost relieved smile pulls on his lips.
Yeonjun forcefully squeezes himself between Astra and Elle. He smiles at Elle, "Shall we all go home?"
Chapter 43: Day 18 - 19
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
22:17
The clock ticks. The clock's hands turn, clocking in every second, that clocks in every minute, that clocks in every hour—
Time passes, and two boys find their eyes on it at the same time. It's almost 11 now, and yet there's still no news from Yeonjun and Astra.
Beomgyu holds a hot cup in his hands, taking a slow sip while Soobin's legs bounce up and down under the table, shaking the long chair the two shared.
"Stop shaking." Beomgyu says, trying to take another sip. "I can't drink my tea in peace."
Instead, Soobin shakes his legs with more purpose. If he was doing it unconsciously earlier, right now, he must be doing it on purpose. This time, the shaking has started to affect the table.
"Hey!" Beomgyu quickly lifts Soobin's cup off the table, afraid that it will tip over.
"You are in the mood to drink now?" Soobin sends a kick Beomgyu's way. "I think something must have gone wrong. They aren't answering our calls."
"Maybe their phones died. Maybe they are just having too much fun."
"But they are with Elle! You said there's something wrong with her!" Soobin snaps his head at Beomgyu, his anxiety apparent.
"But Elle's fine. She helped out that day when Astra fell sick." Beomgyu answers, still trying to drink his tea despite all the shaking. If he didn't know Soobin was the culprit, he would have suspected an impending earthquake.
The quaking stopped. Soobin turns his upper body, facing Beomgyu. "What's wrong with you?"
"What's wrong?" Beomgyu stares puzzingly at Soobin. "Nothing is wrong."
"You aren't worried at all?"
Beomgyu exhales, putting down the cup. "But so what?"
"Even if we care, so what? She doesn't care." Beomgyu continues, a light, weary grin on his lips. "She never listens, never tells us anything, and she lies—"
"..."
Beomgyu breathes, his words rushing out comes to a quick stop, as if he was forcing himself to shut up.
"It's like we aren't that important to her." Beomgyu shrugs.
Soobin lifts his hand, sending a smack down on Beomgyu's head. Beomgyu turns his head and dodges the hit. Soobin's patterns are obvious to him now—Soobin's hand turns, readjusting course—
Smack.
It still hits. All the same.
Argh.
"It doesn't matter. We are friends, regardless." Soobin says. "And you know she's..." He sighs. "I'm sure you know that the best out of any of us."
Of course, Beomgyu knows. He thought he was the one who understood Astra best. Since young, he's always been the one feeling. He's been highly perceptive, on feelings, on understanding, on connecting with people.
Not Astra, though. He thought he could, but as Astra's actions become increasingly unexplainable, the choices she makes, and all the words she doesn't say—Beomgyu feels a growing sense of frustration and helplessness.
Beomgyu's afraid that one day, Astra will step off the deep end he didn't even know existed, one that she will never be able to come back from.
"Beomgyu." Soobin calls his name. He wasn't smiling, wasn't scolding him, but instead looked at him with serious eyes. "We can never understand someone completely, especially when it's Astra."
Soobin places his hands on Beomgyu's shoulders, looking at the younger boy in the eyes. "This." Soobin says. "Us. Everything. It's all a mess."
"And at the core of this mess, the one bearing the brunt of all this madness, is Astra."
Soobin slips his arm across Beomgyu's shoulders, saying slowly, "How can we then, hope to understand—"
"Because she isn't telling us!" Beomgyu shouts, shaking Soobin's hand off, interrupting him. "She's not letting us understand!"
"And wanting to understand could be rude too." Soobin cuts him off. "Some experiences can never be understood."
Soobin points a finger at Beomgyu's face, asking, "Have you time-travelled?"
"Do you know BTS?"
"Have your family and home been erased?"
"Have you seen what she saw?"
"..." Beomgyu stays silent, staring blankly at the swirls of hot steam rising from his cup.
"She lost her reality." Soobin says softly, feeling a lump in his throat as he concludes. It's sad, honestly. Soobin thinks that if it were him, he would already have half his mind dipped in insanity.
Soobin blinks. Or perhaps, Astra already had.
"Let's just help, however much she allows us to."
Beomgyu clicks his tongue. "Boomer."
Soobin is about to rebuke when the doorbell rings.
Soobin pushes Beomgyu. His legs swinging across the chair, "She's back."
Beomgyu, at the edge of the chair, beats Soobin to it. He opens the door.
Outside stands a girl with a high ponytail tied up with a white ribbon. She grins and jumps at Beomgyu, hugging his shoulders tightly.
Beomgyu stiffly turns to Soobin, his eyes frantically moving, as if asking Soobin what to do now.
"I really, really like all of you." The girl begins, burying her head into Beomgyu's shoulders.
Beomgyu froze.
And as Beomgyu goes into panic mode, his eyes desperately send SOS calls to Soobin, who isn't even looking at him. Soobin kept his eyes on Astra, a soft light in his eyes.
Beomgyu finds himself relaxing. His bewildered expression pulling down to a smile. He places his arm behind Astra's back.
"I only accept friendship." Beomgyu's sharp words contradict his gentle demeanour as he pats Astra's back.
Astra immediately pulls herself out, and Beomgyu takes a step back, anticipating Astra's counterattack or perhaps something sarcastic like, "As if I wanted anything more?"
But she doesn't. Instead, there is a peaceful expression on her face. She wasn't smiling, but it's like a light breeze has just swept through, and she's calm, happy.
"Friends." Astra nods to Beomgyu as if a silent pact.
And for a moment, Beomgyu sees Astra's figure fading, turning translucent—turning deep red, the colour of blood. Beomgyu rubs his eyes.
When Beomgyu's vision comes back into focus, Astra has thrown herself at Soobin. "I really like you too."
Beomgyu keeps rubbing his eyes, feeling a growing restlessness. Must have been an illusion.
Beomgyu forces a laugh, "Aiming for Soobin now?"
"Yes. All my friends." Astra readily replies.
Beomgyu feels his phone buzz in his pants. He reaches into his pockets, pulling it out. The screen lights up the dim living room in an inorganic blue glow.
Two words seem to plunge Beomgyu deep into icy waters.
Beomgyu's eyes shift towards Astra, who had shoved her way into Soobin's arms. His eyes continue to shift upwards, running up her long black hair, tied up in a high ponytail— secured by a familiar white ribbon.
White ribbons.
Yeonjun could not push away the image of the white ribbon affixed on Astra's head.
There was something disturbing about the white ribbon. It looked eerily like those that hung on the barren trees, with long twisting branches, swaying with the wind. He had wanted to yank them out the first second he saw them on Astra's hair, but had been stopped by Astra herself.
"What are you doing?" Astra had asked him, turning her head
Yeonjun had not realised it then, but he was sweating profusely, his words coming out in a rush, tripping over one another, "Ribbon. Why—why is the ribbon with you?"
"This white ribbon?" Astra had answered nonchalantly, grinning. It made Yeonjun suspect if she had forgotten what happened on Sander's island, on the never-ending path of twisting trees.
Yeonjun nodded, about to rattle off, wanting to knock some sense into the girl, but was interrupted.
"These are what I wanted." Astra swats away Yeonjun's hand. "Elle got it for me at an accessory store."
"She bought it?" Yeonjun narrowed her eyes.
Astra pointed towards a store at the far end, "From there. They sell lots of pretty hair accessories there."
Yeonjun looked at Astra as if she were crazy. "Don't you remember—"
"I remember." Astra cuts Yeonjun off again. "That's why I wanted it."
At that time, Yeonjun thought that he should respect Astra's personal taste.
It doesn't mean anything. But even till now, even when he was back at home, he couldn't shake off a bubbling ill feeling, nor the scenery of fluttering white ribbons that constantly loops in his head.
Yeonjun decides to text Beomgyu.
"White ribbon."
"On Astra's hair." He types. "Looks similar to the ones at Sander's island. Be careful."
Yeonjun sees that Beomgyu is online, and he types again, faster this time, as if a warning,
"White ribbon."
The ends of the ribbon, lifted by the wind blowing in from the window, flutter like it has a life of its own.
That's when Beomgyu realizes.
It's not a look-alike. From the way it is tied, the pureness of the white colour, size, there is no doubt.
It's a replica.
It's the exact same.
Beomgyu feels a chill spreading from the very tips of his fingers up to his head, clearing his head like a wake-up call. Beomgyu takes silent steps forward and reaches out towards the ribbon, wanting to unravel it, throw it far away.
But he's stopped. Astra turns, her hands protectively wrapping around the very ribbon Beomgyu's scared of, his fingers barely brushed through its smooth surface, a cold satin feel lingering on his fingertips.
"You are wearing that to sleep?" Beomgyu had lost all trace of his earlier cheekiness.
"Yes. It's a ribbon we bought today! From a legitimate store." Astra looks exasperated, "I know what you are thinking, but it's really not, it's not from there."
"But..." Beomgyu's eyes have never left the ribbon.
"And I was the one who wanted it." Astra continues. The wind surges again, stronger, pushing in through the narrow gaps of the window. It sends the long ends of the ribbon fluttering wildly, reaching past Astra's eyes.
"It's like a reminder." Astra says, pulling at them.
What?
Astra places her palm of Beomgyu's head, to which the boy looks up at her in response, his eyes narrowed.
Astra chuckles, "You are just overthinking."
"Reminder to what?" Soobin asks.
Astra takes her time to answer, her voice cracking slightly in the process. "To everything. To that day, to her, to me, to you."
"To us." Astra smiles.
"What do you mean?"
Astra waves her arm and turns back into the guest room Beomgyu had cleared for her. "It's the dead of the night." Astra points up at the clock, "Don't ask too many questions."
"Let me sleep."
And the door closes before Beomgyu and Soobin.
"Am I overthinking?" Beomgyu asks Soobin.
"You are." Soobin pulls Beomgyu away, pulling him back to his room.
In front of his own door, Beomgyu stops and pulls Soobin's collar, stopping him from stepping into his room, "Wait. Where are you going?"
"Sleep."
"But that's my room."
"So? I'll be sleeping there today."
"Who said that?" Beomgyu rushes to his door, blocking Soobin.
"Me." Soobin grins and pushes his way forward. Soobin, despite his lack of exercise, is blessed with a big build and can physically overpower Beomgyu anytime, "I'm sleeping with you today."
"No!"
Beomgyu's rejection is invalid.
.
.
Half an hour later, the door creaks open, revealing a narrow gap. Soobin and Beomgyu peek inside Astra's room, their heads popping in one at a time.
The lights are already out. The room is dark, and all that can be heard is the soft rhythm of her breathing.
"She's sleeping."
After their impromptu inspection, the door clicks behind the two boys as they leave the room. In the darkness, Astra's eyes fly open, and she looks up at the vague outline of the ceiling. She mumbles, smiling bitterly to herself, lost in thought.
"This is harder than I thought."
____________________________
It's another night. And—
The stars fall.
The stars flicker.
They fall, fall, and fall.
The stars burn.
They light up the fields in orange embers.
And she wakes up. The first thing she checks is the time.
06:13
Astra lowers her head, hurriedly sitting up, her hand reaching out to the paper and pen she remembers she placed on the table.
Astra grabs it and hurriedly gets into a position she's found most conducive to her writing through trial and error. An inhale, and quickly, she feels her heart speed up.
Astra pulls her legs up to her chest, hugging them tight.
Tap.
She feels something hitting her abdomen. Astra quickly sits up, reaching over to her abdomen.
Eh?
It's a pouch. An ugly red pouch with stitches going in and out in an uneven direction. It hangs from a landyard looped around her neck. Astra's fingers quickly dig inside the pouch, pulling out a hard 'L' shaped object.
Her inhaler.
For a moment, her mind goes blank and she forgets what she's supposed to do.
At least till the pain flares.
.
.
"Are you okay?" Soobin has been consistently knocking on the door for ten minutes straight.
"I said I'm changing!" Astra's voice comes from within the room.
"You aren't." Soobin is sure now. Soobin grabs the door handle, pulling it back and forth, but the door doesn't open. It's locked. "Astra. Open the door."
"No?"
Soobin pounds on the door, creating intense rattling sounds. "Astra!" His voice is authoritative, hinting at his rising anger and anxiety as he calls her name.
"Don't break the door!" Beomgyu runs over, the key jingling in his hands as he runs over. "I said I have the keys! Why are you trying to brute-force your way in?"
Soobin ignores Beomgyu's protests and snatches the keys from Beomgyu's hand, quickly pushing them inside the keyhole.
Click.
Soobin pushes the door wide open and rushes in, his face pale, his eyes frantically looking for Astra.
"She's there." Beomgyu points out.
Astra's still on the bed. Her hands are pulled behind her head as she watches Soobin, flashing him a smile.
Soobin certainly didn't expect this. He thought he would see something she doesn't want him to. Perhaps a mess, perhaps blood, perhaps a girl who has fainted on the floor. Anything but the serenity and calm Astra's displaying now.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to get back to sleep." Astra replies, turning away from Soobin.
"I was worried. Why didn't you open the door?"
"I said I don't want to."
Soobin steps forward aggressively, "You—"
He's pulled back by Beomgyu, who shakes his head at him. He mouths to Soobin, almost in a morbid, sarcastic way,
"It doesn't matter. We are friends." It's the exact same words Soobin said to Beomgyu earlier. That they could never hope to understand Astra, that nothing matters as long as they are friends.
Soobin stops. He clenches his fists, turning to Beomgyu, his mind clouds with inexplicable anger, yet when his eyes meet Beomgyu's, seeing the depreciating smile on his face, his anger subsides.
And Soobin thinks he understands now.
Beomgyu shrugs and pulls Soobin out of the room, "Let's go."
And as the two leave and the door closes behind them, Astra turns back around, staring at the door.
You guys are the ones I can't let go of.
Astra squeezes her eyes shut, staying curled in the bed for a few more seconds. When she gets up, she's smiling again.
.
.
Soobin's knocking on the door again. The taps knock rhythmically against the door. How long has he been knocking? Certainly long enough for the person inside to respond.
Soobin turns his fingers to the door handle, turning it.
The door wasn't locked, sliding open.
"She left." Beomgyu said, his fingers spreading across the surface of a tissue held under a flower vase. The surface is scribbled with ugly black lines, barely readable.
The room is empty. Blankets neatly folded, pillows neatly arranged.
"She wrote something here." Beomgyu picks up the tissue.
_I'll be going ahead first! I have something to do_
"Oh." Beomgyu pulls the tissue out of the flower vase, realising that there is more behind.
_Soobin, sorry_
The hall is rather empty. A few sporadic students are scattered here and there. That must be why he immediately spots Astra when he arrives. She's crouched over something, her head tilting slightly, immersed in her world of whatever she's doing.
Taehyun walks over, trying to be as silent as he can. He barely made a sound, his shoes cushioned enough to support his quick, muffled steps against the boarded floors.
Yet Astra notices him somehow. Her shoulders turn, and her head whips over in his direction.
"Morning!" Astra calls out to him, waving the book in her hands at him.
Taehyun blinks, surprised by the unexpected greeting. One he certainly hasn't expected from Astra.
So she's reading a book.
As Taehyun sits beside her, his eyes scan the cover of the book she's holding. One with a disgustingly long title.
Our Seventh life together: I love him, him, him, and him, but our paths can never cross
...
Taehyun's eyes round as he reads the title again, his confusion palpable. What's this atrocity of a book he's seeing?
Unconsciously, his mind has already pieced together the premise of the book, purely inferred from the title— a love pentagon filled with painful melodrama and angst.
Why would anyone read a book like that?
Taehyun's face contorts.
"Really?"
Astra pulls the book close to her chest, "You don't understand."
"I really don't—" Taehyun stops, stopping himself from completing his sentence.
Taehyun turns his gaze away. "Never mind. It's your preference. You can read, I won't say anything."
Astra looks at the sparkly book in her hand, coloured in a passionate shade of red, then back at Taehyun. She almost couldn't believe her ears.
Astra laughs. In the hall, her laughter echoes, vibrant and excessively loud.
Taehyun turns to glare at her. "Why are you laughing?"
You have changed, too.
The arches of her smile fall, and she stares at Taehyun, her stare drilling into his.
"Thank you." She says and puts the book back into her bag.
Before where Class 1A sat is the stage. The stage curtains are drawn back and tied neatly at the side, as if a conclusion already reached.
When the show ends, the curtains close, and when all the audience exits the theatre, the curtains are tied neatly at the side.
It's when everything is over, when the day has come to an end, and the story has arrived at its conclusion.
"Today." Astra's gaze lingers on the curtains. "Just for today, don't bother me."
The look Taehyun returns is scary. Still, Astra can't help but notice how big his eyes actually are, not so much to feel unnatural, but rounded, beautifully curved eyes that feel like they were meant to carry many things, his curiosity, questions... and meanings.
Taehyun doesn't say a word, but even through the silence, she sees that he's waiting for her explanation.
Astra pats her bag and grins at Taehyun. "I'm going to read that book. I'll probably be done by today, so..."
Astra turns to face Taehyun, "It's just for today."
Throughout this process, Astra has never met his eyes. Taehyun sees it. He lets out an exhale, "Really?"
"Really."
Taehyun turns away, pulling out a book of his own from his bag. Boxing: The art of attacking.
Oh. Looks like he has since upgraded.
.
.
True to her words, when lunch comes, Astra disappears from the classroom.
She wasn't alone though. Two boys stood on the floor above Astra, who thought she hid well in the school's garden.
The two boys watch from up above as Astra opens the red book.
Taehyun narrows his eyes.
"What is she reading?"
Taehyun turns to Huening Kai, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "You want to know?"
Huening Kai nods.
Taehyun pulls out his phone and turns on the camera function, zooming into the sparkly red book that Astra's holding.
Huening Kai leans in, his guilt from peeking into Astra's privacy won over by his curiosity.
Yet.
As the camera zooms into the book, they see familiar satanic strokes.
It wasn't a storybook.
It's her dairy. Her dairy that's hidden under the cover of a storybook
Astra pulls out a pen from her bag, her gaze switching between her phone and the open book on her lap
Taehyun grits his teeth, feeling anger rushing to his head.
She's secretly trying to decipher the codes by herself.
Taehyun's grip on his phone tightens. Without another word, he runs down the stairs.
"Wait!" Huening Kai runs after Taehyun. "She—"
Huening Kai stops himself. Taehyun is clearly not listening to him.
When Astra looks up, the book is already out of her hands. Taehyun stands before her, holding her book in one hand, its pages roughly crumpled in Taehyun's grip.
Again. She has lied.
"Why?" Astra hears Taehyun asking softly, sounding more like an exhale.
Astra purses her lips.
And Taehyun's eyes turn cold. He stops asking, stopping the questions churning inside his head, of the whats and whys—
Taehyun turns away, leaving behind only two words for the taller boy standing blankly beside him, "Let's go."
Huening Kai feels like he's caught in between. Between the leaving Taehyun, and Astra, who's now looking at him with wide eyes, her lips opening and closing.
And Huening Kai's about to say something to comfort Astra, and perhaps bridge the stillness that seems to have grown between them.
But he sees her lowering her head, avoiding his gaze.
And Huening Kai drops his head too. He takes a hesitant step backwards, feeling a quiet sense of deja vu.
Like Taehyun, he walks away without a word.
Now Astra is left behind with nothing but her half-zipped bag and a pen. She's silent for a moment before she buries her head in her arms.
.
.
.
Taehyun has Astra's dairy open before him. His eyes in silts as he peers at it. Why is it that whenever he thought he had a grasp of how Astra's handwriting works, her handwriting seems to evolve and slip out of his sphere of understanding?
Just like her.
A friend whom he thought he understood a little.
Yet, he has never truly understood anything, has he?
The table shakes, and Taehyun's hand is pushed. Her diary slips out of his grasp and falls to the floor, the pages splaying out in a mess.
Again.
Taehyun takes a deep inhale, his chest rising to signify the intense effort he's taking to keep his anger under wraps.
Taehyun has been blatantly decoding when classes begin. Or at least, he has been trying to. But Astra's been doing everything she can to interrupt him. Be it shaking the table or alerting the teacher that he's not paying attention in class.
Taehyun has never been this annoyed. His fists tremble, and he sends Astra a heavy glare, his intense fury conveyed through his dark eyes. Yet again, he receives a sheepish smile.
And he knows his anger has crashed into a cloud.
Astra's not deterred and would persistently disturb his efforts. There's a lot Taehyun can do to remove Astra's disturbance, but he's constrained by social settings, by his environment, that he's still in class, and by the fact that he's a good student.
But the more she tries to stop him from finding out, all the more Taehyun has to.
At a certain point in time, Astra stops disturbing him. And Taehyun has his peace. With the peace, even Astra's handwriting seems easier to the eyes. Just when he's almost done, his shoulder is pushed.
Taehyun doesn't budge. He has learnt to ignore Astra when he disturbs him, she won't—
"Taehyun."
Taehyun jolts, his head whirling towards the seat beside him, where Astra was supposed to be.
That's not Astra. That's Huening Kai's voice.
"Huening Kai, did I say the class is over? Who permitted you to switch seats?" The teacher asks.
The teacher is pointing at him, yet Huening Kai nods apologetically and says to the teacher, "But Astra is gone for twenty minutes now."
Taehyun's eyes widen.
When?
Why hasn't he realised that she left?
"Right." Ms Del checks the clock, sighing. "It's almost time for dismissal. I'll dismiss you all."
"Someone go check on Astra, she's been in the toilet for way too long."
Ms Del packs her things on the table. "I have a meeting to attend, so I head off first. If there is anything wrong with Astra, remember to call your form teacher."
"I'll go check up on Astra!" Veronica volunteers, dashing out of the class.
.
.
Soobin's phone has been ringing. Huening Kai's text has been flooding their group chat. He's been mentioning Taehyun, calling him.
But Taehyun's not replying.
Soobin is getting increasingly worried. The most recent text from Huening Kai says, "20 minutes now."
Soobin is outside his class, crutches in his hands as he takes strenuous steps forward. Till he spots a girl walking by herself towards the school field, her steps unhurried and slow.
"Astra!" Soobin shouts.
Astra heard him. He's sure she did. Not just because Soobin heard his scream cut through the humid afternoon air, loud enough for even the students on the top floor to hear him—
But also because he caught her stiffening for a second.
Yet, Astra doesn't stop. Instead, she picks up speed, her feet lifting up into a near-run.
Soobin curses, and he runs after her. But how fast could he go, especially with his leg in a cast?
But Soobin's desperate, alarm bells are ringing in his head.
He sees it.
A horrifying hint of red.
The white ribbon tied into her hair. The ribbon that Astra has managed to convince them that it's just one bought with legitimate means.
It wasn't purely white anymore.
It has taken a shade of red.
The ribbon's turning red, starting from the very bottom to the top. Just like those ribbons on the trees in Sander's Island.
Like it's soaked in blood.
Within the mess of his thoughts, his vaguely pulsing leg from over-exertion, and his eyes locked on Astra's silhouette getting further and further away, Soobin trips.
There's a loud slam as his crutches give way, and he crashes hard down on the ground.
Soobin feels a searing pain, traveling up from his leg to his shoulders. He grits his teeth, but doesn't yell. There's not even a groan of pain. Yet, somehow, Astra seems to hear him now.
She stops, turns back to face him, and stares for a full second. Soobin lifts his head from the ground, his expression curled in pain, eyes conveying a desperate plea.
Soobin sees her lift her legs, no longer running away, but instead, towards him.
Soobin beams despite the pain. His lips curl into a wide, happy smile. He's glad he fell.
Astra helps Soobin up, supporting him by his arm, helping him to stand up.
"Why did you leave class early?" Soobin asks, unceremoniously leaning his weight on her.
Astra doesn't reply as she continues walking Soobin to a nearby bench.
"Did you know Huening Kai went crazy tagging you and Taehyun in the group chat? He's really worried."
Finally, Astra helps Soobin sit on the bench, placing his crutches at the side as she replies, smiling bitterly. "I know."
"Do you need help?" Soobin asks. "Is there anything I can do?" Soobin asks.
"No." Astra answers immediately. "You can't help me."
And Soobin is reminded of what he said to Beomgyu yesterday.
"We will just help her, however much she allows us to."
"But I want to." As much as she allows us to? That won't work.
It's no longer enough.
In a swift motion, Soobin reaches out, doing something he should have done yesterday. Soobin grabs the ribbon in his fingers, holding it tightly. He sees it clearly now, the redness tainting the white, spreading up like living webs.
Soobin pulls.
The ribbon held between his fingers melts away, slipping from his grasp. They melt into red, almost dust-like drops only to weave themselves back into Astra's hair.
Soobin looks at his hands, his eyes wide in shock.
"It can't be taken off."
Soobin hears Astra say. She's clearly standing so close to him, but at this moment, she feels so distant—
Like a stranger.
How is she so sure?
Soobin feels like everything is slipping out of his control, it all came so fast, quickly spiralling to the point of no return, where there's no longer anything he can do.
It's just like what he wrote in his letter.
He's always had this feeling. That one day, Astra will make the wrong decision and choose to jump off a cliff.
"Thank you." Astra says, taking Soobin's crutches with her. "And sorry."
She runs away.
She's jumping off a cliff now. Soobin is sure.
Day 19:
-.. . .- -..
Notes:
Hello! First, I would like to thank every reader who has been with me and this story till this chapter, it really means alot!
Heheh I would like to share that my long term break is going to end in a few weeks, and unfortunately, I would have to spend my days rushing through assignments n cracking my head open again.
That would also mean that I might not be able to keep up with a regular 2 chapter per week update. My updates after that might become erratic depending on the workload my uni decides to hurl at me🫨🫨
Still! I would really try to keep at least one chapter per week. Through all these chapters that I have written, and all the lovely comments I have read, I have developed a strange attachment towards this fic. Therefore! I am confident enough to give you my solemn promise that I will definitely write this story till it's ending! (ofc disclaimer; unless I end up in the hospital or smthg—which touch wood)
So, to every reader here, I hope you'd stay with us! (Though I'm not sure if u would regret reading this ehe)
Then, a word to everyone who are studying their asses off too, I wish us all the best. :')
Finally, please love and support TXT's comeback!! (I love love LOVE 'Song of the Stars', it's like looping through my earpiece even right now)
Thank you for reading this long message. I hope I hadn't managed to bore you.
Chapter 44: Day 19
Chapter Text
Rooftops.
An undeniable cliche plot device that even this story cannot avoid.
This rooftop is like a watered-down version, without that much of a thrill, since there isn't even a second floor under their feet. Two girls stand parallel to one another on this concrete structure that barely qualifies as a rooftop used in those plots. With their steps and eyes aligned, the two smile brightly under the open sky.
One of the girls moves, breaking the parallel distance between them.
Clank.
Elle pulls the metal door, closing the only exit from this tight square space.
"You didn't try to take out the ribbon." With a key in hand, along with a twist of her wrist, Elle locks the door. The dainty girl turns to face Astra with coy steps, her skirt fluttering softly with her twirls. Elle lifts her hand, dangling the key in front of Astra like she's showing off something valuable.
But Astra's eyes had never left Elle's face, never once had they trailed towards the bronze keys Elle held out like bait.
Elle's smile widens, lips parting as she pulls the key closer to her mouth, and drops it. The key catches the light, falling straight on Elle's outstretched tongue. Her tongue rolls, folding inwards, the only exit gone with a simple gulp.
So she's trapped here now. But Astra still doesn't budge, still wearing a light smile. She stands in the same spot, feeling a strange, quiet calm, "I didn't." Astra answers.
"You told me to keep it on till today. So I did."
"Why?"
"Because we are friends." Astra answers as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Friends?" It's a small giggle at first, but Elle's giggles that chime melodiously soon spiral, growing louder, morphing into loud shrieks that shake her whole body.
"Are we friends?"
Astra nods readily, her posture and gaze still, staring unblinkingly at Elle, "We are."
Elle's laughter cuts to an abrupt stop, "Since we are friends..." She takes a step closer to Astra, narrowing the distance between them to just a finger's width apart.
"Then there's a truth I want to tell you." Elle whispers ominously, her breath close enough to be felt, cold breath brushing up against her skin with every word, every exhale.
Elle reaches backwards, her hands dipping down towards the back of her head.
"Astra!"
There's a loud roar, the deep and raspy tone unmistakable. Beomgyu.
Elle pauses, without a single change in posture, only her iris moved, turning to look towards the distance, at the voice interrupting her perfect moment.
"Listen to me." Beomgyu yells. "You have to come down."
"Right now." There's a sharp, urgent pressure in his plea, like there's an invisible countdown, where every second spent on the rooftop would mean losing her deeper into a quagmire.
Yet neither of the two girls looked worried nor surprised. They don't move, as if they had met an irrelevant party, their expressions remained basked in a light calmness, still in their own world that they know won't be interrupted.
Beomgyu narrows his eyes, looking at Astra.
It's like she already knows.
"Then." Elle points her finger forward. "What about them?"
Astra turns, from the rooftop, the world below feels small, like little figures in a world she has chosen to leave behind. Her eyes turn towards the distance, spotting Taehyun and Yeonjun running towards her, their untucked shirt flapping behind them, desperately chasing their anxious footsteps.
Every step seems to tap in her heart, each a sharp reminder of what she'll soon lose.
Astra's gaze turns to the lone figure at the very forefront. She blinks, and for the first time since Beomgyu has shouted towards her, she meets his eyes, replying to Elle, "...They are my friends too."
"Astra!" Beomgyu yells, his voice ripping through the air, loud enough to ensure that Astra could no longer ignore him. She nods towards him, "Yes?"
Beomgyu grabs at the back of his neck, feeling his veins straining. The cheek of her to ask so nonchalantly when they were like ants dancing atop the lid of a boiling pot. He feels a rising frustration, knowing well that if they were on the lid, then she should be inside the pot, swimming in boiling water, yet acting like it's but a warm bath.
Fuck.
"Elle is dead!" A scream from behind him froze Beomgyu in place. His eyes turn, wide panic twisting his eyes as he hears Taehyun continue, uttering a truth that he could no longer hold back, "That's not Elle! She never returned from that place!"
Beomgyu reaches out, using his palms to cover Taehyun's lips, silencing him.
But it was too late.
The revelation doesn't have the bombshell effect Beomgyu imagined.
Instead, Elle simply turns to Astra, a soft smile pulling on her face. She watches Astra silently, as if waiting for something.
Astra's response, equally simple, comes in the form of a light nod and two simple words that came to Beomgyu much louder than it has actually been, "I know."
"You know?" Elle tilts her head. "When?"
"From the beginning." Astra answers, pulling a strand of stray hair behind her ears, "I had suspected."
"Isn't that the truth you wanted to tell me?" Astra smiles at Elle. "That you aren't Elle."
"Yes!" Elle's voice turns excited, delight contorting her features.
From the moment Beomgyu had made his presence known, Elle's posture had been affixed, two arms bent backwards like an arch, elbows jutting towards the sky, hands locked at the back of her head, holding something. At this moment, she moves.
With a slow pull, something stretches out.
Elle's skin starts to peel. It peels like how bark is stripped from dying trees, with hard, jagged edges. Layer upon layer, each peel removes Elle's mask, stripping her features one after another. It starts with her left eye, then her right, to her brows, her nose, her lips, ears, hair—until all that is left is a fleshy, empty face.
"This is who I really am." That thing says. Her lips are gone, but her voice echoes. No longer from her mouth. But from the air, reverberating from her surroundings.
"Underneath everything." Elle continues. With a quick twist of her fingers, it jabs straight into her fleshy face, piercing through with a sickening squelch. She digs her fingers inwards, and blood splutters out like a leaking tap. With the tiny distance between the two girls, the drops of blood were shared, reaching Astra, crimson red drops landing on her skin, seeping into her uniform.
"This is the real me!" She exclaims.
The blood is the trigger. One that shatters the barrier of calm resignation Astra had built around herself.
Fear floods into her eyes.
Astra takes a step back, her heart pounds rapidly, slamming against her chest, as if urging her to run. She holds her hands together, trying to control the trembling strong enough to shake her core.
Clearly, she knows there's no way back.
The ripped, uneven edges of the bloody hole Elle dug through her face move, pulling, opening, and closing like the lips she had peeled away, it mimics human speech, her voice sounding more tangible than before.
She asks, "Like this, are we still friends?"
"You told me the truth that day." She says, her voice is soft, gently worded like floating clouds, as if she's still the cute, dainty girl with big, round eyes. As if she hadn't just ripped away her skin and flesh.
"So I want to tell you the truth too."
Elle pushes her face closer towards Astra, forcing her to notice the swaying chunks of flesh barely connected to the bloody hole by an unidentified red, glistening thread.
"Like this—" Her voice looms, and cackles, gurgling.
Suddenly, the rooftop is gone.
Astra's surroundings feel dark, and it's like the world has left her behind.
The shouts and screams from her friends fade, all she sees and hears now is just one.
That thing wearing Elle's face.
"ARE WE STILL FRIENDS?"
Her voice was no longer just a sound, but a screaming, crashing mess that threatens to carve straight into her very being.
Astra trembles. Her fear clouding over the reasons that drove her here today.
"I HATE PEOPLE LIKE YOU."
Elle's voice boils with fury. Pure, rough hatred directed straight towards Astra.
"PEOPLE WHO ABANDON AND FORGET THEIR FRIENDS."
"THEY WHO TRAPPED ME IN ETERNAL NIGHT."
Astra's stance falters, she steps back, yet with every step backwards, Elle presses forward, forcing her further back. Astra's shoes tap on something concrete. A smooth metal railing pressed into her legs as if in warning. She has hit the edge.
Astra could feel the draft of cool wind blowing up from behind her feet, a looming emptiness behind her.
She no longer has more steps to take.
With nowhere else to look, Astra faces Elle. All she sees is blood. Blood trails down Elle's face, down her neck, and soaks the white uniform. With each move of her 'lips', with each word spoken, blood spurts onto her.
Cold, sticky blood.
Elle.
A sudden guilt engulfs her.
Did Elle die because I abandoned her?
"YOU WHO FORGOT YOUR FRIEND."
Elle raises her hands to the sky.
"I DOOM YOU TO THE SAME FATE."
Elle raises her hands, her voice splitting the skies.
A deep blue hue descends, like drops of pure ink, it ripples, bleeding rapidly outwards, dying the world.
At the back of Astra's head, the red colour that was initially inching slowly up her ribbon surges like a flood, pushing up against the white. Perhaps in a few more seconds, her ribbon would take a complete shade of deep red.
"Astra!" Beomgyu roars for the umpteenth time today. His cracked voice tearing through the darkness Astra has locked herself in. Beomgyu huffs, voice wrecked and exhausted from all the times he called her name, trying to reach her.
"Jump down! Now!" Yeonjun shouts beside Beomgyu, stretching his hands towards her, eyes bright as if he's really anticipating her to jump. "We will catch you!"
Astra stops. Her heart, that has been jumping rapidly, stills to a calm. She turns her head to look behind her.
All five of them, standing underneath, their faces sweaty and eyes wide in worry and fear, their lips open and closed, each of them saying something that Astra chooses not to hear.
She had remembered. What she's supposed to do here. She takes a sharp inhale, and with her trembling hand, Astra uses a relatively clean area of her uniform to wipe Elle's blood off her face, leaving a long, bloody smear.
"You are still my friend." Astra finally speaks, replying to the question she hasn't been able to answer.
...
"Really?" Elle's voice loses its monstrous edge as she tilts her head. "Then I'll give you your final chance to live."
"A reward for wearing the ribbon till today." Everything about Elle starts to reverse, starting with her voice. To her torn flesh. To the layers of her skin.
Elle's face is quickly reconstructed back to perfection, flawless except for the blood still staining her face and uniform, striking reminders of the truth underneath the layers of human skin.
"Pull the ribbon. Only the wearer can pull it off." Elle smiles.
"When the ribbon turns fully red, you will be forever trapped in the same world that trapped me."
"The world that trapped Elle. You were supposed to take my place." She continues.
Astra lowers her head, silently mulling over Elle's words when a Huening Kai's shout breaks her peace, "Hurry up! Pull it out! It's turning red really fast!"
Perhaps because Astra couldn't see the flood of red tied into her hair, she doesn't feel the urgency. Calmly, Astra turns to Elle, asking, "If I take your place there. Could you do me a favour?"
Elle blinks, genuinely confused. Still, she decides to hear her out, "What do you want?"
Astra looks to the skies. It scatters a soft blue twilight glow. Blue hour, a short period of time that takes place just after sunset. A beautiful moment paused between day and night. Astra smiles, staring straight at the fading light.
Maybe it isn't all that bad.
"Save my friends." She says.
There are a few seconds of silence before Huening Kai shatters it. His horrified scream refusing her sincere request, "What the hell are you saying? Just pull that ribbon! We don't need you to save us!"
"Save them from their fates." Astra ignores Huening Kai, not even turning down to look at him, her eyes only reflecting the deep blue hues of the sky.
"In exchange, you want me to save them?"
"Yes." Astra smiles, turning to her. "Could you promise that?"
Elle stares back at Astra, her fingers sliding across her chin, in deep contemplation.
"...I can indeed save them." Elle gives a light nod.
"But are your friends really that important?"
Elle's lips curl up in a cruel twitch. "Do you truly understand eternal damnation?"
"It doesn't matter." Astra shakes her head. "I promised to save them."
"A promise?" Elle frowns. "Just for a promise?"
"Not just a promise." Astra adds. "It's also my will. It's what I want."
"Then." Elle holds Astra's ribbon in her fingers. The ribbon is almost all red now, the final specks of white almost washed away.
"Promise me something too."
"Sure." Astra agrees easily.
"Promise that you will never forget me."
The light smile on Astra's face cracks a little wider, "I would never forget you." She pauses, "Even if I wanted to."
"Promise." Elle repeats.
"Sure." Astra doesn't hesitate, "I promise."
"I will never, ever, forget you."
The simple, verbal promise locks Elle into place. Her eyes widen, and she stands blankly, if not for all the blood that stained her, she would have looked like any other girl, lost, and left behind.
"Then..." Elle says softly, her whisper like a promise, "I'll save you." Elle reaches out, her fingers pulling at the ends of the ribbon. With a light pull, it easily comes undone. The red ribbon with but a singular speck of white unravels, dropping lifelessly across Elle's fingers.
Keugh—
A cough. And from Elle's lips, trickles thick, black blood.
Without the ribbon holding her hair together, Astra's hair tumbles down, dropping by her shoulders, brushing past her widened eyes glued on Elle, the girl who remained unflinching despite the blood stains on her mouth. Elle lifts her hand, and the ribbon in her hand starts to break apart, fragment by fragment, till it scatters in the wind, disappearing into thin air.
Astra reaches out towards Elle, about to touch her lips, darkened from the blood.
But Elle takes a step back, avoiding Astra's fingers, "Stay back".
Elle clenches her hand, and with a quick movement, she drives her fist into her stomach, merciless and without warning.
Astra hears another cough. Louder, more bloody.
"Here."
A gravelly voice breaks Astra out of her stupor, and she looks up at the outstretched palm pushed towards her eyes. In the center of her hand lies a bronze key, covered with dark blood and pieces of torn flesh.
Astra doesn't move. She stares at Elle, stunned and still trying to process what was going on.
Elle grabs Astra's arm, forcefully pulling it. She shoves the bloody key into Astra's hands.
"Don't forget your promise." Elle says, and with a last look, she turns away, her figure fading like her body was blending into the deep blueness of the sky behind her.
"Just remember." Elle's voice thinning like her vanishing presence. "Some friends aren't worth saving."
Clank.
The key slips out of Astra's grasp and clatters to the floor. "Wait!" She reaches out, shouting after Elle. "What about your promise to me—"
Elle's answer comes in the form of a harsh insult,
"Stupid."
Astra's hands grab empty air, as even the faintest outline of Elle's presence melts away. Her hand drops to her side, suddenly feeling lost. She stands, wearing a foolish expression on her face, her eyes staring blankly into the darkening skies. The short minutes of blue hour have come to pass, yet within its fading light, Astra's still searching for a glimpse of Elle's trace.
"Fuck."
A curse rings loudly, followed by loud banging noises on the door. "Open the door!"
Astra's eyes fall to the door, its metal frame shaking from all the pounding it's being subjected to. Then, her eyes drop further, to herself, the blood stains on her uniform, hands, and even the very ground she's standing upon. Her shoulders slumps.
"Astra!" Another frantic shout tears into her eardrums. She turns her head back, unaware of the minute trembling in her fingers as she looks at the bloodstained key a few steps away.
Blood.
Blood everywhere.
Astra walks over, picking up the key. Her heart thumps. This is it. Her exit. Her way out. She lived.
The girl presses a palm over her chest.
So why don't I feel—
"Astra please! Open the door!" Another shout breaks her sluggish train of thought. With a wry smile, she no longer hesitates. Astra walks straight to the door, pushing in the key.
With a soft click, the door swings open.
Outside the door, Taehyun stands still. With his face a picture of pain and sorrow, his lips part, spilling a truth he had realised but had never wanted to say.
"You had never planned to stay with us in the first place."
Taehyun's eyes are locked on hers. They seem to see past her, and the lies she used to so easily utter lodges in her throat.
The two of them stand by the two ends of the wide-open door. Yet, the two seem to be separated by an invincible boundary they had drawn in their heads, as if, at this moment, this door between them— had never opened.
"What the hell are you thinking?" With a yell, Huening Kai runs. His feet taps across the floor, so easily stepping past Taehyun, past the door, and towards Astra.
Huening Kai wraps his arms around Astra's shoulders, pushing his head into her shoulders.
"Never." He breathes. "Don't do this again."
Huening Kai's hair brushes against her cheeks, obstructing almost all of her view. Still, she could hear approaching footsteps that sounded stacked against one another—all running, like Huening Kai had been earlier. She blinks, and suddenly, arms are thrown over her, surrounding her in a circle of warm, sweaty teenagers. She stands in the sweltering heat, feeling like she's wearing layers upon layers of wool jacket in summer, which would have, in any other circumstances, been unbearable.
But Astra lowers her head, keeping still, her lips pursed.
Because Taehyun's right.
Even till now.
She has never planned to.
Chapter 45: Day 20 - 21 -22
Chapter Text
Again, she wakes up. Her eyes flick open, and her thoughts clear.
The time.
Check the time.
06:12
And as her heart sinks, waves of heart-wrenching pain come pounding in.
6:12 in the morning.
It's always a minute earlier.
It's no longer just a coincidence.
A minute by a minute, a minute by one more minute, until all her time is eaten up.
Today is another day. Another struggle.
It has become part of her daily routine now. A regular step she takes before she brushes her teeth. But even that—even this pain is going to end soon.
She isn't really reluctant to bid goodbye. She had nothing here anyway.
But before anything, before everything ends, this short time of 20 days— unbearably painful, yet was ironically one where she made her happiest memories, there was still somewhere she had to go, something she had to do.
Astra pulls herself out of bed. She gets down on her feet and reaches under the bed frame, pulling out a big blue bag that contains all her belongings.
She has to go, the stars are so close now.
My time is running out.
Astra pushes the heavy bag across the floor, inwardly satisfied at how it barely made a sound.
Outside the room are Soobin and Beomgyu. The two have been outside Astra's door since half an hour ago. The two boys sat like two door guardians, their ears pressed against the door, eyes half-open from trying their best to stay awake.
Whatever happened yesterday kept them awake all night. They haven't verbally agreed on it, but here they are, equally driven by unease and fear, standing guard outside her room.
There's a shuffling sound, and before the two could react and ponder whether they should at least pretend not to be so blatantly trying to listen in, the door swings open.
Inside the room, Astra is on all fours, exerting all her strength to push a big blue bag across the floor. Three pairs of eyes meet, and they freeze in stupefied silence.
Shit.
In the next second, Astra's eyes turn from the two boys, following their gaze to the bag being pushed by her hands.
Shit.
Astra swings her hand, and the door slams shut.
"Let's steal that bag." Beomgyu says, eyes still on the door that closed in their faces.
Soobin takes too long a time to reply, and Beomgyu follows up, "What? You're going to say that we are going to help her as much as she wants us to?"
No.
Not anymore.
"We grab that bag." Soobin affirms.
Beomgyu tilts his head at Soobin, to which the taller boy places his hand on Beomgyu's shoulders, reiterating. "Steal it."
On that Saturday, a bright, chirpy morning, right at the break of dawn, when the morning sun starts peeking through the horizon, everyone else, except some overly-passionate individuals who wake up at the crack of dawn on a weekend morning, are asleep.
The rays would have lit their sleeping face. It was supposed to. Neither were Astra, Beomgyu, and Soobin the overly-passionate individuals as mentioned above. But it's this moment, when the rays of warm orange light filter in through Beomgyu's floor-to-ceiling window, lighting up the three figures in the living room.
"Where are you going?" Soobin breaks the terse silence.
"Staycation."
Astra adjusts the backpack on her shoulders, resembling the size of the one Astra brought to Sander's island. This damn bag of hers, really limited her scope of lies. After all, where else could she go with a bag of this size?
"Aren't we friends?" Soobin says, placing heavy emphasis on 'friends' as if trying to remind Astra of a concept seemingly lost to her. "We will go too." He announces, and with a simple tug, Astra's bag is pulled off her shoulders and onto Soobin's arm.
"Let's go."
...
Astra looks at her bag now securely held by Soobin. She reaches her hands into her pockets, pulling out her phone. She places her phone next to her ear. "Hello?"
"Ah?" Astra tilts her head.
"Huh?" Astra gasps in shock.
Astra looks at Soobin and Beomgyu, mouthing the next words with exaggerated flair despite her expressionless face. "Ah! Is that so? The staycation is cancelled?"
...
The two boys quietly watch her one-man show, not saying a word.
Her bag has been taken hostage. Her plan has failed.
Her first escape attempt sabotaged in the name of friendship.
A few hours later, Astra's eyes shift suspiciously across the house. She's sitting on a wooden chair by the dining table, her eyes unwittingly moving towards the cabinet that almost touches the ceiling. There her bag is, without the accompaniment of its owner, stranded atop the dusty cabinet courtesy of the two boys who abused their height advantage.
Just below the cabinet, the culprits sit side by side, each gripping a game controller, their expressions tense, both on the edge of their seats, with their eyes fixed on the television screen.
On the screen, their stupid little characters bounce up and down, flashing strikes at one another. Astra's frustration heightens, and her gaze turns to the black plug fuelling all the power to their intense match.
Oh!
.
.
.
As if on cue, just as Astra lets out a loud sigh, the door clicks and swings open.
"Hey." Yeonjun greets, quickly stepping into the house. Then he stops, his feet pausing awkwardly mid-air. Underneath his feet is a cracked piece of chip.
Yeonjun looks up. The living room floor is a mess, with scattered potato chips, strange rolls of unidentified materials, and finally, the two boys who seem unfazed by it all, playing away on their consoles.
Yeonjun walks towards them, about to hit some awareness into their heads about the landmines of garbage they have planted, until he catches sight of the girl sitting by the wooden chair, her hands tied to one another.
"You tied her up?" Huening Kai beats Yeonjun to it, rushing to Astra.
"We had no choice." Soobin answers, his attention still fully on the screen.
Aatra rolls her eyes. So what if she had accidentally tripped over the cable a few times and pulled the plug supporting Soobin and Beomgyu's deathmatch out of its socket?
Astra never did get back her bag that day. Her phone vibrates, and the girl looks at it, her expression turning serious when she sees it's a notification from school. As she read the texts, her expression turned into one of confusion.
_Hello, Astra
We are pleased to inform you that your application for membership has been successfully processed. You have been admitted to both the [Reading Club] and the [Music Club] for the upcoming academic term.
Please expect additional communication regarding the schedule for the initial meetings and any further instructions related to club activities. We trust that you will find both clubs enriching and look forward to your contributions.
*This is a computer-generated message*_
When did I apply to the Music Club?
Just as she was thinking, wondering if the school had made a mistake, she heard Soobin let out an angry shriek. Astra turns, looking at the boy who has his eyes fixed on his phone after letting Yeonjun take over his game.
Soobin steps across the room in large steps, standing behind Astra. He sees the very same text message that Astra has been eying with her head tilted.
"It's them." Soobin says to Astra, pointing at the four boys all avoiding eye contact. He's sure now.
"Whose idea was it to submit applications to the music club with our names?"
Astra silently watches as Soobin confronts the other four boys who turned a deaf ear to his words. As Soobin rampages, the loud noises seem to gather, shaking and mixing into a whirl, turning into static, white noise.
Did it matter now?
However many clubs she had, it no longer mattered.
What mattered now...
Astra's gaze sharpens, her eyes flicking towards the door, then back to the boys.
For them.
She believes.
"For you all, I think I have done my all."
Astra places the pen gently on the table, a serene smile gracing her lips. Atop the glass table are pieces of tissue paper, each piece of white filled to the brim with barely legible words. The sheets flutter, lifting lightly from the table, yet before it could get carried away by the wind, Astra grabs the nearby flower vase and pins the fluttering pieces under its weight.
She heads to the door with but a plastic bag from a nearby grocery store, having given up on retrieving her bag.
With a final turn, she mutters, "Goodbye."
And as the door closes, the room falls back into dim silence.
The skies are still dark outside, the streets are silent with but the rare sound of passing vehicles. She stands by the road, eventually flagging down a taxi.
"Where to?"
"Yillew Road, 56th street."
And the taxi, carrying the girl who already had her eyes closed, speeds off.
Astra's grandparents lived amongst a long line of old terrace houses that spread out in winding rows. These lanes of houses are thought to be impractical constructs that did not align with modern aesthetics, and multiple big plans for these houses to be demolished in favour of high-rise buildings had been on the agenda.
But Astra's grandparents are sentimental. Not only sentimental, but also openly greedy, believing that their plot of land could sell for a much higher price than offered.
Astra's parents were initially worried about their stubbornness in refusing to sell the house, afraid that as the developers warned, when construction commenced, their cozy home which received plenty of sunlight will be an odd one out with high-rise surrounding it on all fronts, making it almost akin to a stranded island, like a sunlight-deprived little seedling growing in the midst of a towering, lush forest.
They thought too much.
Sentimentality and greed, were not just in the mindsets of her grandparents but were instead the collective mindset of almost everyone in the neighbourhood. Therefore, the grand plans for a "futuristic neighbourhood" had been thwarted before it even began.
And so, the neighbourhood, due to its stubborn residents, had remained the same since many decades back, old and consumed by heaps of potted plants.
Supported by their owners, the plants grew widely outside the rows of houses. At this point, it might have as well been developed into a heritage site, supported by its unchanging history and pure greenness contrasting with the cityscape.
As Astra got out of the car, she immediately spots a mango tree. A big mango tree as old as the long years her grandparents had spent in marriage. She walks towards the tree, soon stepping onto a four-seater swing shaded beneath the tree.
Rusty? Yes.
Creaking? Yes.
But Astra has no qualms.
This shall be her bed.
Astra's grandmother, Leonelle, was, as her name might have hinted, one with a personality resembling the king of the jungle. In her prime, this lady had firmly had her husband and children living in absolute obedience under her mighty fist.
Time did not serve to soften her edges. She's still the head of the house, with a big temper that only softens in the presence of her grandchildren.
Too excessively, in fact.
And that is also how Astra feels confident enough to curl herself up right outside her grandmother's house, atop her favourite swing.
Astra closed her eyes. She didn't feel like she slept, but she must have because there is now a sudden rhythmic pat on her shoulders, along with a soft murmuring voice. When Astra's eyes open, she finds her head resting on her grandmother's lap while her grandfather sits on the other end, his legs lightly pushing against the ground, rocking the swing back and forth.
"Star." It's Astra's nickname, one lovingly given by Leonelle. The old lady smiles as she gently tucks Astra's stray hair behind her ears. "Good morning."
Astra wants to cry. Tears pool in her eyes, and she chokes through her tears. "Good morning."
Weekends, Astra was Leonelle's little follower, trailing her wherever she went. Leonelle didn't ask what she was doing here, but simply welcomed her with open arms.
Astra had no complaints except the fact that her grandmother is a serial talker.
Everyone.
Literally every single person in the neighbourhood is her friend. A simple 15-minute walk home from dinner, they would stop 3 times. At each stop, Leonelle and friends would pull into a heated conversation lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours.
Right now, it's 2 hours and counting.
Was the record about to be broken?
Astra glances at her grandfather leisurely lounging beside her with his umbrella, swallowing the urge to ask if she could head home first.
Astra leans her head back against the wall. She looks up towards the sky, her lips move as if asking the stars a question,
"Am I wasting time here?"
The stars didn't answer. Quite obviously, since the sky is still washed in daylight, and not even a speck of stars could be seen. Astra leans her head on her grandfather's shoulders, letting out a breath.
Yet there's no other place she'd rather be.
.
.
.
"I miss mum." That's all Astra says to her Leonelle. Tears stream down her cheeks, her eyes red.
"Your mum's not in the country!" Leonelle argues. "My dear, listen to me alright?" Her wrinkled hands brush Astra's stray hair sticking across her face. "Go to school tomorrow."
"Then after school, you can come back."
"No. I won't go. Not till I see mum."
"What's Rachel got to do with you skipping school?" Grandfather asks, shaking his head.
"Your mum's good and safe! She will come back soon! You can't skip school because of that!"
"Then get her to video call me."
Astra is stubborn. She remembers facing the wall where her house once was.
Her mum? Won't be coming back, at least she's certain that in this timeline, she would never see her again. So, right now, she just wants to spend her last days with her grandparents.
She just wants to stay.
"Just this week." Astra insists, blinking up at her grandmother. "Just let me skip and stay over for this week. Next week, I'll go back to school."
Astra places her hand on Leonelle's shoulder, holding up a pinky finger, snot leaking from her nostrils as she says, "Promise."
Grandfather frowns. "You can't give in! She's just making excuses to skip school!"
"Astra. If you want to skip for a week, tell us the real reason. I expect a valid one." He narrows his eyes.
Leonelle is silent. The old lady pushes her husband away. She looks into Astra's eyes, unblinkingly, she asks, "One week?"
"Leonelle!"
Astra grins. "Just one." She knows her grandmother would give in.
"Alright." Leonelle ignores her husband, hooking Astra's pinky, a cheery smile on her lips.
"Promise."
____________________________
_Huening Kai, Taehyun, Soobin, Beomgyu and Yeonjun. TXT. Friends I was never supposed to have. Our paths were never supposed to cross. Everything is wrong. Everything is a mess. All jumbled, tangled in ways little us can never hope to make sense of.
Why me? I asked. Why am I the lucky one given the honour to meet global superstars? Out of the billions of people out there, why am I the one pulled into this?
Initially, I thought it was fate. Red string of fate, as I liked to believe, friendships so deep that they span across lifetimes. And me being part of it? Is the happiest, most joyous thing I can ever hope for.
Believe it or not, you five mean the world to me.
But hey sad to say, I figured everything out now.
It's a mistake. They told me. I decided to go back to my own timeline. And you all might return to your own too, soon enough, hopefully. After me.
Sorry for ditching you bunch, but you have much brighter futures waiting for you. Certainly, not in this glitchy, faulty timeline.
Where, you will all be much, much happier.
Honestly. I wish I never met you all.
Because you changed so much of me in ways I'll never be able to forget.
.
You are all stars destined to light up even the darkest nights.
However brief, you lit up mine.
So, thank you.
And
Goodbye.
P.S. I swear. By the time you read this. I'm like in another timeline already. Don't look for me.
Astra_
Her solemn, last, final farewell letter. So absurdly penned on pieces of tissue paper stapled together under the flower vase. It's so like her, yet all Soobin can manage is a soft, depreciating laugh. He plops down in the wooden chair, eyes blank.
"Ah." He sighs. "What else did I expect?"
"I wish I never met you too." Soobin whispers and gets up, picking up the stapled pieces. He walks to the trash, not even bothering to pick up his crutch. He swings his arm, yet at the last moment, Soobin pulls back, his fingers gripping the tissue stack are trembling, yet the boy holds it ever so gently in his hands, cradling it in his palm.
Soobin's eyes blur. Tear drops, clear and fat, fall from his eyes. One by one.
She didn't even give us a chance.
Till the end... Shit.
Soobin aggressively wipes his eyes.
Holding his tears back, though, feels impossible.
Soobin has never cried this hard since he could remember.
Click.
The lights in the room flicker once before lighting up the living room. Yeonjun stands by the light switch, looking blankly at Soobin.
"Why?" Yeonjun could only ask this single word, a word so insensitive, but also the only one he could find himself asking in sight of Soobin's tears and a rising panic from his chest.
"Why why?" Yeonjun's voice grows louder as he takes slow steps forward, as if afraid of what he's going to find out. But regardless, his steps are firm. "What happened?"
Today, all the doors in the house remain wide open. Without the sound isolation a simple door would provide, Yeonjun's 'Why's easily wakes up the others sleeping haphazardly in different spots of the house.
Taehyun walks over, reaching out to take the thin stack of tissues held in Soobin's hands.
"Are you okay?" Beomgyu asks, his voice thick with concern.
"Wait! Where's Astra?" Huening Kai asks as he shifts in position, turning to look through the rooms. "Astra!" He shouts.
"She's not here anymore." Soobin says. "Just read the letter."
"Letter?" Yeonjun, who has been patting Soobin's back asks. "That letter?" He points to the stack of crumpled tissues Taehyun is holding.
"How's that a letter?" Beomgyu sighs as he trudges over. It's like he expected this. He rubs his eyes, already feeling tired.
It really would have been much faster if one of them had read it aloud instead of passing the stack of tissues from one hand to another. But none volunteered to read it aloud.
When the tissues reach Huening Kai's hands, the last to read the letter, the room is already silent.
"So she returned to her own timeline." Beomgyu says. "Well, good for her!" He stands from the sofa, his head lowered.
Huening Kai adds, "We should be happy for her. That's what she always wanted. From the very beginning." He knows the best, after all, he still remembers day 1, when Astra and him shook hands, stars in their eyes.
He... doesn't want to blame that bright conviction he saw.
Huening Kai plops himself beside Taehyun, who had remained quiet.
"But!" Huening Kai adds, wanting to lighten up the atmosphere, "We are still friends, aren't we?"
"She went back, but we still have one another." Huening Kai grins as he leans his head on Taehyun's shoulders. "It's alright." He says to Taehyun, whose expression seems to sour with every passing second. "Since she found a way to go back, maybe she will come back and say hello every now and then."
"Come back?" A scoff.
"Are you listening to what you are saying?" comes Beomgyu's voice. "She didn't even tell us. All she left are these scraps of tissue, coming back?" Beomgyu's voice cracks. "You really think that's possible? Why the hell would she want to come back? She probably doesn't even care now."
"Then?" Huening Kai explodes, shouting. "You think I don't know that?"
"Why are you getting angry at me?" Beomgyu yells back, his face red. "I'm just saying the truth—"
"Stop it." Yeonjun covers Beomgyu's mouth and tugs at Huening Kai. With tears smearing his face, Yeonjun's voice, though shaky, carried a firm weight. "Let's just stay quiet for another 30 minutes."
"She left. But I'm sure she has a good reason. Or maybe not. Whatever." Yeonjun continues. "Just give time."
"Let me look at that letter again." Taehyun interrupts Yeonjun.
When no one moved, Taehyun repeats, "Where's the tissues?"
"Here." Huening Kai passes it to Taehyun.
Taehyun holds the tissues. His eyes slide back and forth, from the start to the end, then again, again and again.
Again.
Right as Yeonjun sighs, Taehyun mumbles,
"She's lying. Again."
"Lying? What do you mean?" Huening Kai grabs Taehyun's arm, as if grasping a life-saving straw.
"She's still here. There's no way she found a way to leave. And even if she did, she would never." Taehyun looks up, "Think about it."
"That day on the rooftop. She wanted to exchange her life for ours." Taehyun continues, "With what happened that day, how could you all believe that she will just ditch us and go?"
"Right." Beomgyu knocks his knuckles on his head. "Right! She wouldn't."
"At some point, she stopped saying a lot of things." Taehyun continues. "She must have discovered something that she felt would be better for us not to find out."
"When the star falls," Taehyun whispers. "Remember? Doomed end, when the stars fall, maybe she thinks she's going to die soon."
Taehyun grips the tissues. "It feels like she's afraid."
"Scared of this world. Scared of us looking for her."
"She doesn't want to drag us down with her?" Beomgyu adds uncertainly, reading the words on the tissue again, perhaps trying to search for a different meaning.
Yeonjun stares at Beomgyu and Taehyun, the two of them, building theories from one another as they speak. He just wants them to get to the point, "So she's in danger now?"
"Yes." Taehyun nods. "With how she's acting these days, I get the feeling that she doesn't see a way out. Like a terminal patient."
"Terminal patient? You are saying that she's dying?" Huening Kai's voice is sharp. "Why?"
"Don't know. And it's just a guess."
"So we have to find her." Soobin concludes, washing his face at the sink. "Find her, and save her."
Monday morning. Right now, she's supposed to prepare for school. But Astra didn't have to go. She has left the house in preparation for the incoming morning attack, not wanting to alarm her grandparents. Now, she's breathing heavily, drenched in sweat, and weakly holding an inhaler, a pen, and a sheet of paper all together in her right hand.
With the worst over, she just has to sneak back home, take a shower, and greet her grandparents as if she had always been an early riser.
Yet the moment she steps into the house, she sees her grandfather, who raises his brows at her, "Where did you go at this hour?"
"I.." Astra quickly hides her inhaler behind her back. She forces a confident smile, pulling at her sweaty clothes. "I went for a morning jog."
"In your pajamas?"
For sure. Yes.
She's an avid morning runner who likes to run in her pajamas.
...
"I'm lazy to change out."
"When did you start to exercise?" Grandfather continues to eye her suspiciously.
"A few weeks back. My friends brought me for my first run and I really liked it."
"Especially in the early mornings." Astra says, adding explanations to her lies to better convince her grandfather. "When the sun is not out and the wind is cool."
Grandfather pats Astra on the back. "That's a good habit. Keep it up."
"I'm going for my morning bike ride, want to join me?"
"I don't know how to ride a bike."
"Really? Your mum and dad didn't teach you?"
"No."
"What a disgrace." Grandfather clicks his tongue. "I'll teach you next time."
Next time? Astra doesn't have a next time. "Later." Astra corrects. "Teach me later. I really want to learn."
Grandfather laughs. "Okay."
.
.
.
"Mrs Thon." Taehyun is in the staff's room. With his hands folded behind his back, he perfectly embodies the image of an obedient student sincerely seeking advice. It would have truly seemed so, if not for Beomgyu, barely a few feet away, squatting behind the potted plant. Taehyun nods at Beomgyu, who returns it.
"I wanted to talk to you about the matter of skipping grades."
Taehyun's words trigger some sort of switch in the elderly teacher as she swirls from her chair, standing up cheerily and grabbing Taehyun's hands, "Really?"
Taehyun feels his hands being held tightly in the teacher's palms. His eyes trail down to meet Mrs Thon's hopeful eyes, almost sparkling, almost like the stars he had once seen in Astra's eyes. Taehyun blinks, feeling guilty.
At the beginning, you were like this too.
When was it?
Taehyun wonders.
From when did I stop seeing the stars in your eyes?
Day 20:
...--
Day 21:
..---
Day 22:
.----
Chapter 46: Day 22 - 23 - 24
Chapter Text
Beomgyu left 30 minutes ago, but Taehyun finds himself stuck here. Trapped under Mrs Thon's expectant gaze, bright with expectations. Now, he couldn't find it within himself to half-heartedly talk his way out, nor could he give a straightforward rejection he would usually have found no problem doing.
It's another 10 minutes before Mrs Thon sighs. "Taehyun." She says. "I know you still don't want to switch grades."
Mrs Thon lets go of Taehyun's hands, leaning back in her chair. "So why exactly have you come to me this time?"
"I—"
—just wanted to hear the options I have if I skip a grade.
Is what he wants to say. Yet his lips wouldn't open.
"You aren't ready to talk?" Mrs Thon asks.
Taehyun looks straight into Mrs Thon's eyes, like a deer caught in headlights, why can't he say anything?
"It's fine if you are not ready to tell me." Mrs Thon smiles, pushing up her glasses. "Just know I'll always be here for my students."
Astra is staring into a mirror. The mirror, despite the obvious yellowed stains at its edges, did not fail to reflect the mess the girl is currently in.
"Three." She whispers, breathing heavily, her face smeared with tear marks. "Two, one."
"Today is my last." She rubs her eyes, wiping her tears away. "It's okay." she whispers to herself. "Whatever happens, it's okay." She's wiping, wiping, and wiping, yet her tears refuse to be wiped away; against her wishes, they flow continuously like a never-ending stream. "I anticipated this." She says to herself. "I accepted it."
Astra glares at the girl in the mirror. Her two hands soon come up to her chest, criss-crossed atop one another. She pats herself, "It's okay. It's okay."
But her cracking, unwilling voice betrays her resolve.
"Today is my... last day?" She asks a question this time. Her knees weaken as the words sink inside her. She thought she was prepared, but how can anyone prepare themselves for an ending?
Astra kneels on the bathroom tiles, a murmur, devoid of her usual forced courage echoes in the closed room, "Unfair."
When all her previous attempts to comfort herself failed, this singular word from the very bottom of her heart stopped her tears. She places her hands on the tiles, fingers pulling up against the lines between each tile, "This is so unfair."
With every word, her heart seems to calm. "This world must hate me."
"It must be trying to get rid of me." Astra chuckles, as if there is really a presence beside her, listening. "Why? Because I'm an anomaly? Because I am a time-traveller?"
There's silence, there's no one here to answer her. Yet she continues to talk, her voice deep in despair, "But I didn't want this."
"It's all against my will! So why am I the one suffering when it's not my fault?"
"Hey." Astra hits her fists atop her heart. "You. I am talking to you. This shit driving me insane every morning." Her voice is but a whisper, yet contained all her truth. "What do you want from me?"
...
It's a small bathroom, and like an insane person, she crosses her legs, sitting with the toilet bowl merely inches away from her face. Still, she persistently talks to herself. "You didn't give me a choice. How do I save myself?"
"So unfair."
"Then—" She cries, her voice cracking, "What is the point of all these?"
Astra unfurls her fingers, revealing a slip of paper clenched tightly in her fists. It records the three words, in her own handwriting that looked even uglier this time, "Three", "Two", "One."
She lets out a breath, followed by an inhale, then an exhale.
"Whatever is happening. Whoever you are, if you are listening to me, after I'm out of the picture, please let everything return to how it should be."
...
"Hey." She's calling out again. "At least give me some sort of acknowledgment."
...
"If you don't agree, turn off the lights at the count of three." Astra lifts her head, staring straight at the LED-powered light panel attached to the bathroom ceiling. "If it's still on, then I'll assume that you have agreed."
"One."
"Two."
"Three!"
...
The lights in the toilet remain lit, however overshadowed it was by the natural sunlight shining in through the window. But for Astra, they may as well have been the only star in the night. Her lips part, about to continue conversation with this potentially imaginary being she can neither see nor touch when there is a knock on the door.
"Astra? You have been in there for quite a while, are you alright?" It's Leonelle's voice. "Why are you... counting in the toilet?"
Astra's smile drops a little.
Right. What about her grandparents? What is going to happen to them after she's out of the picture? Will they be gone like her mother, simply snapped out of existence?
But maybe... that would be for the best.
"It's constipation. I'm encouraging it to come out by giving it a deadline." Astra replies. She isn't bullshitting, she has done this before.
Leonelle laughs. "Is it working then?"
Astra stands up. She lifts her shirt, wiping all traces of tear stains from her face. "It's working. It's all out now."
Astra hears Leonelle's laughter growing louder outside. "Share this tip with your grandfather, he's always stuck in the toilet for a very long time."
Astra smiles as she turns on the tap, washing her hands and face as she answers, "That's cause grandpa is not eating enough fibre."
Giving herself a few final looks in the mirror to ensure that she does not look like she had just broken down in the toilet, talking to someone or something that may or may not exist, she unlocks the door.
Astra's step pauses on the ledge of the door. She shifts her feet, turning back to face the toilet. Absurdly, she locks eyes with the toilet bowl, whispering, "You promised."
"Grandmother!" The next moment, she's sprinting out from the toilet, shouting for Leonelle.
The elderly lady is outside watering the plants. With a bright blue watering can in hand, she tends to a potted sunflower, gently patting its bright yellow petals, "Yes?"
"Mum called." Astra says. "She's picking me up from the airport."
Leonelle spins around, her eyes wide, "What?"
Astra doesn't say a word in explanation. She simply stands, her eyes wandering the skies above her head, waiting for some sort of change.
Leonelle puts down her watering can down on a rack, reaching out towards Astra, "How could that be possi—"
Her words pause. And Astra feels the world shake. And she catches it, just so briefly, but it's as if the skies above her went through a cycle of night and day in a second.
"Right. I heard." Leonelle's voice returns. She looks at her grandmother, bent over slightly, smiling at a sunflower, patting its petals, with the watering can held in her other arm.
As if nothing had changed.
"Your parents told me. They are picking you up from the airport. When is it again?" Leonelle asks.
Astra smiles wryly, a look of defeat quickly flashing past.
So it's really trying to get rid of me.
She grins at her grandmother, who still has her full attention on her beloved sunflower.
But perhaps then, you'll be safe.
"It's tomorrow."
"It's not there." Beomgyu says. "All student particulars, emergency contact, everything related, they are all uploaded on a government-protected portal. There's no physical copies."
Beomgyu sighs, burying his head into his knees, "There's no way we can get a hold of that."
"How are you so sure?" Taehyun asks.
"After I couldn't find any related documents in your teacher's cabinet, I suspected they might be in the staff's resource room, and asked the head prefect." Beomgyu answers. "That's what he told me."
"What do we do now? We can't even find her."
"I..." Taehyun pales, having no answers to give. "I don't know."
"How about we kidnap one of the teachers and force them to give us the information?" Yeonjun's suggestion is something he would have never envisioned coming from him, especially not after his silent vow to stop his problematic juniors when things get out of whack.
But right now, this crazy solution seems to be their only ray of hope to save a life.
"Let's do that."
"Good idea."
"Okay."
"Which teacher do we kidnap?" Huening Kai asks.
"Mrs Thon." Soobin answers. "She's your class's form teacher, isn't she? She would likely have direct access to Astra's student records."
"No." Taehyun refuses. "Not Mrs Thon."
"Then who do you suggest?" Soobin asks.
"Mr Robert. He's the disciplinary head, he likely has access to every student's records.
"Robert?" Yeonjun looks at Taehyun skeptically. "You think we would be able to kidnap that big guy?"
"Aren't you just waiting to get your ass whooped?"
"I'm strong." Taehyun argues, pulling at his arms.
"Taehyun." Yeonjun calls his name, eyes narrowed. "You know your teacher is our best bet right now."
Taehyun lowers his head. "...I know."
Yeonjun folds his arms, waiting for Taehyun to explain.
"But—"
Ringgg—
The ringing from a phone interrupts them. Beomgyu raises his arm, looking at his screen. His eyes widen, "Elle is calling me."
Beomgyu quickly answers the call.
"Elle?" Yeonjun screeches. "That Elle? Why's she calling us?"
Before Yeonjun can do anything more, his arms are grabbed from both sides by Soobin and Taehyun, their expression coloured with fear. That day on the rooftop, from the moment Elle revealed her true nature, the sight of her skin splitting apart like a tree bark, the raw redness underneath, that inhuman voice— has changed everything.
They won't ever forget.
Elle was no longer the same. The mark she left in their minds could no longer be erased.
"Which is why I am answering to find out." Beomgyu covers the audio receiver, clicking his tongue before he switches to speaker mode.
"Is Astra with you guys?" Elle asks without even giving Beomgyu a chance to say hello. Her casual voice now heard loudly amongst the five of them causes varying degrees of flinches, especially from the trio of cowards.
Beomgyu swallows. Thoughts swirling inside his head.
Why is she asking this?
"She must know something." Taehyun whispers, with one hand still grabbing onto Yeonjun's arm, he steps forward, pulling them towards Beomgyu. "We must find out what she knows."
"Why are you looking for Astra?" Beomgyu asks.
"She left me a letter in my locker."
"Letter? What does it say?" Beomgyu's tone grows hurried, pulling the phone closer to his face.
A short silence.
"Elle!" Beomgyu urges. "What did she tell you?"
"Are you questioning me?" Elle's tone grows noticeably stiff.
"No." Beomgyu quickly answers, biting his lips. "I won't dare to."
"Please." Huening Kai cuts in, pleading, "She's gone and we don't know where she is! If you know anything, please tell us!"
"And why should I?" They hear Elle scoff. "You guys think I'm your ally or something?"
"You are Astra's friend. You admitted it that day!" Beomgyu yells. "Friends should help one another!"
"No." Elle replies coldly.
Beomgyu exchanges glances with his friends, his face scrunched up.
"Let me talk to her." Yeonjun grabs Beomgyu's wrist.
"Okay." Beomgyu allows his arm to be pulled, his phone now held near Yeonjun's lips.
Yeonjun figured that since Elle took the initiative to call, then maybe... she's concerned.
Though he highly doubted a being like Elle could be worried, what else can they trust here?
"You made a promise with her. She promised not to forget you." Yeonjun says to Elle. "We think she's going to die. And if that happens, she won't be able to keep her promise."
Elle laughs. "Even in death, she will be able to keep her promise." Her voice drops deeper, "You guys have no idea about—" there's a sudden, long buzz from the phone, a ringing, ear-piercing distortion that covers Elle's voice for the next tens of seconds.
"Bbbzzztt—just like the idiom I learnt today! Like frogs at the bottom of the well, the sky you see is only that tiny."
"What? What did you say?" Beomgyu runs his fingers through his hair, jabbing at his screen in frustration. "The connection is bad here."
"Oh."
"Right." Elle's chuckle sprouts a root of anger within Beomgyu. "You all can't hear."
"Hehe. It's not the connection, you guys are just bbbbbzztttttt— this world is—bbbbbzzttt—" the audio keeps getting cut into pieces, broken apart by static.
"We can't hear you!" Who knew where Yeonjun got his courage to shout at Elle from, but he did, his brows pinched against one another.
"Of course you can't. Too bad." Elle mocks.
"Anyways, I hate it when people try to play mind games with me." Elle continues, her voice taking a hint of that odd tone from that day.
"There won't be a next time." Her voice stretches out like an echo, sending a chill down their spines.
"But!" Elle's voice returned to one of a young girl. "Since I would like to keep Astra alive as long as possible, I'll tell you dumb fools."
"Thank you."
"She sent me a letter practically begging me to keep my promise to protect you five the best I can. She's probably dying soon."
"We already said that." Beomgyu says.
"Well then. I confirmed it for you."
'Don't you have more information?" Beomgyu's jaws tightened, trying to keep a light tone.
"Other information?" There is another laugh. "Ask again when you can actually hear it."
"Also, if you do manage to find her, tell her that I'm not planning to keep that stupid promise. What, me? A young sixteen-year-old cutie protecting five big guys? What does she take me for? Lol."
Lol?
Who the hell needs her protection anyways?
Beomgyu, fuming, couldn't help his next words, sarcasm lacing his tone, "Oh. You forgot. Elle's in her second year, like me. Not sixteen, seventeen."
"How could you forget your own age?"
"..."
Beomgyu is pushed by Yeonjun. He snatches away the phone from Beomgyu's hand, turning in another direction. Despite his phone being taken away, Beomgyu stays in place, meeting eyes with Soobin, who mouths towards him, 'Why would you say that?'
Beomgyu lowers his head, not answering.
"To correct you. I am not Astra's friend. She's my friend." Elle says to Yeonjun.
"What is the difference—"
Beep.
The call hangs up.
Yeonjun grits his teeth. He raises his hand, with a big swinging motion, he hurls— no.
He stops himself, phone trembling in his grip. A few seconds later, he turns to his friends, "What do we do now?"
"Kidnap Mrs Thon." Taehyun no longer has any hesitation.
A sudden loud screech and bang cuts through the soft chatter in class. With another noisy clatter, Taehyun's chair topples towards the empty chair beside him.
As Taehyun winces, he turns his head, locking eyes with a boy seated diagonally across from himself.
"Let's go."
His voice, aided by the sharp scrape from the rusty chair, pulls not just the attention of the boy in question, but also all the other students in class. Huening Kai calmly places his hands on his desk, pushing himself to a stand. He walks over, eyes turning to his friend, who stood motionlessly, his eyes drooping downwards as he stared at the two chairs toppled against one another.
Huening Kai bends over, he slowly holds up the two chairs, pushing them back under the desks, where the chairs are supposed to be.
"Let's go." Huening Kai repeats, he grabs Taehyun's wrist, quickly pulling Taehyun out of class.
The two break into a run, chasing after the footsteps of their teacher, her padded black shoes pitter-pattering down the hallways.
"Boys?" Mrs Thon, pushing her trolley filled with textbooks trails to a stop, having heard the ruckus the two were making as they chased after her.
"We would like to make a request." Taehyun begins, and Huening Kai nods at his side, pulling a weak smile while his fingers fiddle with the edges of his uniform.
Mrs Thon raises her brows. "Alright. Please tell me."
"Astra is missing." Huening Kai says in a whisper.
"Missing?" Mrs Thon raises her brows. She shakes her head. "Don't worry about her. Her grandparents called and took leave for her."
Taehyun and Huening Kai kept quiet, but their feelings could still be told from how their faces lit up at her answer.
"Did you two not know?"
"We... we had a little conflict." Taehyun replies.
"Conflict?" Mrs Thon sighs. She steps forward, pulling the two boys to the side. "Her grandmother called to tell the school that she's transferring out and moving with her parents overseas."
"Is it because of you two?" Mrs Thon says quietly, looking up at the two boys, peering over her circular glasses, observing them.
The light in their eyes quickly dimmed. The two boys who had looked anxious throughout class this morning looked paler now.
Mrs Thon pauses, her palms rubbing against the soft rubbery surface of her trolley handle. Right as she hesitates, the two have inched closer, with unblinking, pleading eyes, they ask, "Could you tell us where she is now?"
"I cannot divulge students' personal information."
Taehyun and Huening Kai look at one another, their original plan of kidnapping booting up again.
"But." Mrs Thon smiles, stretching up her hands to pat Taehyun and Huening Kai on their shoulders, unfortunately unaware of the plots brewing in their heads. "I know you two are good kids."
"I'll send Taehyun her grandparents' address later. Go talk to her before she leaves."
Mrs Thon pulls her trolley, ready to leave. "I hope you two can somehow convince Astra to stay." Saying so, her back, along with her creaking, old trolley pulls away.
Taehyun and Huening Kai don't wait for Mrs Thon to completely disappear from their sight. Not even exchanging a glance, they turn, running in the opposite direction.
.
.
Soobin is already there. Before the abandoned computer lab, one that they had branded as their spot even without prior permission. "You got her address?" Soobin asks, watching the two rounding down from the stairs, huffing.
"Yes." Taehyun smiled faintly. "So the kidnapping is cancelled." He continues, his breath lightening, glad to be relieved of something he would hate to do.
"So, where is she?" Out of habit, Soobin's legs shake, his eyes fixed on Taehyun.
"Mrs Thon said she'll send us her address later."
"Later? What if she doesn't?" Yeonjun walks out from behind them.
"Then there's plan A."
"There's no need." Taehyun holds his phone, looking intently at the string of letters across his screen. "I got the address."
Yillew Road.
Taehyun checks the online map. About 40 minutes away from school.
"First thing after school. Meet at the front gate." Taehyun says, shoving his phone back into his pocket. "Where's Beomgyu?"
"Call his phone."
Huening Kai immediately clicks on Beomgyu's contact. The phone rings.
It rings for a long time.
Beomgyu doesn't pick up.
Minutes later, the boys, now four, split up to look for him. They searched from the classrooms to every corner Beomgyu might be. But he's nowhere to be found.
"Beomgyu? I last saw him sleeping in class." A boy from Beomgyu's class answers, scratching his head. "He told me to wake him up when class is over."
He shrugs, continuing with a low chuckle. "But when I wanted to call him up, he's suddenly gone. He probably left earlier. It's just amazing how he managed to sneak out under Mr Philes's eyes."
Yeonjun nods. "Okay, thank you."
"No worries." The boy waved.
Yeonjun rubs his head, looking into the distance, as the school stretches out in front of him, sprawled with different buildings and blocks. It's big, but not big enough for one to be lost in.
Where the hell did you go?
Taehyun runs up to Yeonjun. He stops in front of him, his hands on his knees, face pale and eyes wide in fear. Everything that happened these past few days has taken no small toll on Taehyun. The boy shakes his head, his breathing uneven. "I couldn't find him."
"I swear, if he's fooling around, I'll end him." Yeonjun grits his teeth.
Taehyun notices Yeonjun's clenched fists. He tries to stand up straighter as he wipes the sweat from his forehead. Beomgyu's disappearance, as if he had suddenly vanished, made him feel a sense of déjà vu.
A dreaded feeling of horror, and abruptly, he feels a little like crying.
Perhaps it would have been better if you were just fooling around.
At least then, we would be able to find you.
Day 23:
..-. .- .-.. .-..
Day 24:
..... ---... ..... ...--
Chapter 47: Day 24
Chapter Text
Beomgyu has his eyes lifted to the sky. Above, flashes of light streak past his eyes. These clusters of stars have lit up the entire darkness. The only sources of light, they were supposed to be so infinitely bright that it should have been impossible to gleam past it's light.
Yet somehow, Beomgyu could see. With every blink, he seems to see it in more detail. Their individual streaks that leave trails of shimmering powder as they draw arcs across the skies, shooting, cascading like a rain shower, rapidly drawing closer towards him.
"Falling stars." Beomgyu whispers, finally uncovering the hidden night sky that only Astra saw and knew.
He's in a dark space. Like the one she had described. A space where stars littered the sky. Where the stars would fall, closer and closer, until they reach him.
But he doesn't feel anything.
It's like he's standing in a forest during a cool autumn night. Where the occasional breezy chill would brush against his skin. He couldn't feel the heat from the stars as it drew closer. Nor could he feel the pain when the stars hit him.
Beomgyu presses his palm to his shoulder, where a star has barrelled through, too fast to dodge. It tore through the air, striking him. Yet, when his fingers rub against his skin, it's still intact, with no gaping holes. It's still smooth, with no traces left behind.
Confused, Beomgyu continues to rub his shoulders. He lifts his eyes in a daze, watching as countless streaks of light come hurtling towards him, blazing through the air, each one of them phasing through his body like he's not here.
He raises his hands, watching as the streaks of light zoom past his skin.
Then he realises.
In here, I'm merely an observer.
And perhaps with this realisation, he has lost the qualification to remain. The ground underneath his feet begins to shake. As Beomgyu looks down, he sees the ground splitting apart. Then he falls, plummeting down into an endless tunnel of darkness, where no shine from the stars can ever reach.
A jolt.
Beomgyu opens his eyes. The warm light of the sun shining in from the window hits his face as he squints against it. He lifts his head from the desk, eyes shifting around, looking for someone. But the classroom is empty.
A dream?
He turns to the clock. It's supposed to be lunch break.
Why didn't anyone wake me up?
Beomgyu bites his lip, reaching underneath his desk, he pulls out his phone.
A swipe shows tons of missed calls and messages.
"What's going on?" Beomgyu murmurs, quickly calling back.
The call barely rang once before it was picked up. It was as if Yeonjun had been waiting for his call all along.
"Where did you go?" is the first thing Yeonjun asks.
"What do you mean, where did I go? I'm still in class." Beomgyu answers, standing up.
"In class?" Yeonjun's tone shifts, snapping at him sharply, "Are you kidding me right now?"
Beomgyu frowns, picking up on Yeonjun's irritation. He takes a deep breath, "Did something happen? Where are you guys? I'll go over."
Yeonjun doesn't answer Beomgyu. Instead, he asks, "Have you always been in your class?"
"Yes." Beomgyu walks out of his class. "Now please tell me where you guys are."
"Lunch break is almost over anyway." Yeonjun's tone cooled off, sounding more composed now, "There's no point for you to come down now."
Beomgyu stops, he opens his mouth, about to protest, when Yeonjun's voice cuts in.
"But you know—" Yeonjun drawls, now believing that Beomgyu was telling the truth.
"You disappeared." In his signature husky voice, Yeonjun continues as if telling a tale, "We looked for you. Been to your class, asked your classmates, friends, acquaintances. Everyone."
"No one saw you."
"What?" Beomgyu tilts his head, pressing the phone closer to his ears.
"You disappeared." Yeonjun repeats.
"Just like Astra on that day." Yeonjun lowers his voice. "Just like how Astra suddenly disappeared. You did too. You weren't always in class."
On the phone, Beomgyu can hear Taehyun whispering something on Yeonjun's end.
"It's possible that there's a period of time, when you didn't exist here."
"Did..." Beomgyu is hesitant to ask, a tight fear creeping up.
"Did everyone forget me too?"
"No." Yeonjun answers quickly. "That's the difference. Everyone still remembers you. They just didn't know where you were."
Beomgyu's brows loosened. "Could have just been a mistake. Maybe you all missed me. My seat is all the way in the corner after all."
"No!" Yeonjun shouts, growing agitated. "We looked everywhere. We stepped into your class! We looked through every seat. You weren't there!"
"Calm down. Maybe you entered the wrong class?" Beomgyu says, still considering the situation Yeonjun laid out unlikely.
"Anyways." Beomgyu hurries to continue, not wanting to listen to Yeonjun any further. "There's something I want to say, there's a weird dream I had earlier, I dreamt of falling stars, like Astra—"
His words trail off, and abruptly, his eyes widens.
It's like his words were drawing lines, linking together unconnected points to form a completed diagram. Beomgyu froze, his fingers trembled and his voice becomes urgent. "Wait."
Like Astra.
"You said I disappeared. Are you sure that the class you checked was mine?"
There's a short silence before Yeonjun answers, "Yes."
Beomgyu closes his eyes, trying to tap into his vision of the night sky filled with falling stars.
Was I not just an observer there?
"I dreamt." Beomgyu begins slowly. "That might be why I disappeared."
"I had a dream, one just like what Astra described."
"...Of the falling stars?"
"Yes." Beomgyu's eyes roll around underneath his eyelids, as if he's searching for something in the darkness of his mind, trying to find an answer. "Millions of falling stars—"
Breathless, Taehyun, who has been listening to their conversation from the side, suddenly spoke, his lips parting to echo a reply he had once given to Astra, "You can’t count to millions... especially not in a dream."
"Anyways. I saw it." Beomgyu feels his breath quicken, as if desperately trying to catch onto some sort of answer that is quickly slipping away.
"What could it mean?"
.
.
Clack clack—
At the front of the classroom, a male teacher attired immaculately from head to toe is tapping away on the whiteboard with his pointer stick, towards the meticulous illustrations he poured his heart and soul into drawing.
His eyes turn, making eye contact with his students. Reflecting his efforts, all of them had their upper bodies leaning towards the board, eyes stuck to every drop of ink he left on the board.
Good.
"Now class, please look here, in the year 1954—"
His eyes further shift towards the back row, and he pauses. A quick glance at the clock on the wall shows it's 15 minutes before dismissal time. The teacher then turns back towards the boy packing his bag. Soobin is hurriedly stuffing his textbooks inside his bag even whilst the teacher has yet to finish.
"Soobin." He calls, "What are you doing?"
Soobin's hands, despite being called out by the teacher, don't stop. He shoves his stationery in next, eyes innocently wide, large and round, as if he's truly confused at why he's being called.
The teacher is confused too. He can hardly believe his eyes. It's Soobin—his favourite student, who listens well and always looks at his diagrams with sparkly eyes.
Yet, here he was, his Soobin, zipping up his bag as if he couldn't wait to leave his class.
"I have not dismissed you." The teacher tries to keep his cool. "You are not showing me respect by packing your bag while I'm still teaching."
Soobin holds his bag closer to his chest, silent.
"Unpack your bag. Now." With a flick of his hand, the teacher turns his pointer stick at Soobin.
Soobin pouts in response, but his grip on his bag remains tight. He still doesn't budge. The teacher frowns, and he walks up to Soobin, tapping his stick on his table as if a final warning. "Now."
Very unwillingly, with eyes resentfully staring at the pointer stick on his table, Soobin unpacks his bag, pulling out the textbooks he had just placed in seconds ago, each slow movement a show of his silent defiance.
The teacher decides he isn't done yet, making sure to reinforce his point, asking, "When can you pack your bag?"
"After you have dismissed us." Soobin lowers his head.
"Good." Satisfied, the teacher turns back. The clacking sounds ring again as he passionately taps his stick on the board, resuming his explanations.
The next 10 minutes or so, Soobin embodied the visual, literal representation of 'living life on the edge'. His butt sits on the very edge of the chair, his feet facing outward, his hands gripping the table, just waiting for two magical words.
"Class dismissed."
Soobin bolts, abandoning the crutch that he's practically leaving for decoration now. Accompanying his crutch, is his bag. With the thought that spending that extra few seconds to pack and take his bag with him is a waste, Soobin has heartlessly left his bag behind, his chair clattering to the ground behind him.
But he doesn't care now. Under the astonished eyes of the teacher and his peers, Soobin runs as if his life depended on it, dashing past them and out of class.
Soobin rushes down the stairs, jumping down the steps two at a time. His block is the furthest away from the school gate, which means he needs more time to get there, so he has to be faster.
Even the lucky few students who are released for early dismissal are quickly overtaken, unable to compete with Soobin's extreme motivation to leave. Instead, they leisurely go about their own ways, only catching a glimpse of Soobin's uniform as it swooshes past them.
When Soobin reaches the school gate, there's no one there.
No one, except the security guard. The middle-aged man watches in amusement as a huffing, exhausted student looks around the area.
"What's wrong? Are you looking for someone?"
Soobin laughs weakly in response. Maybe he didn't have to sacrifice his bag like that. Perhaps he could have taken a few more seconds to at least take his bag with him. He barely had time to regret before his friends came running into view, each of their steps pounding with the same urgency Soobin had.
"Soobin!" Yeonjun yells at him from afar. "Look out for our cab! It's here!"
Soobin nods.
The five boys sat quietly in the cab. The trip is silent. The driver didn't like to talk, and they weren't in the mood either.
They could have passed the whole trip like this, until Taehyun leaned his body towards the boy beside him, giving him a nudge. His voice, however soft, still disturbed the atmosphere of calm stillness in the cab. He whispers, "Are you okay?"
Beomgyu, who has been gripping his fingers tightly together, blinks. His head snaps up, clearly startled, "What?"
Taehyun had a serious expression on, and repeated, "Are you okay?"
Beomgyu lowers his head back towards his hands, "I'm fine. It's just that everything..." He pauses, trying to find a word to best conclude the thoughts in his head, yet in the end, he could only finish with, "Is so weird."
"Oh!" Huening Kai exclaims abruptly. He reaches into his bag, rummaging through its contents. With a rustle, he pulls out a plastic bag.
He smiles, stretching out his hands to show them what's inside, "Because none of us have eaten, I bought bread during lunchtime earlier."
"There are six different ones—" Huening Kai looks into the bag, fingers jabbing across the air, counting, "You can each take one."
"Six?" Yeonjun asks, "For Astra too?"
Huening Kai nods. "Her too. She might be hungry."
Yeonjun pats Huening Kai's shoulder. "So kind of you."
Hopefully, the bread will be able to reach her.
"Here." Huening Kai passes the bag to Soobin sitting beside him.
Soobin pushes the bag back to Huening Kai, saying softly, "You take yours first."
A cough interrupts them.
"Excuse me, students." For the first time in 20 minutes, the driver speaks, his finger pointing towards a sign stuck on a conspicuous spot near his steering wheel.
No food and drinks.
...
And so, the remaining time on board the cab is filled with silence.
"We reached."
The door opens, and one by one, the boys step out of the cab. Taehyun steps out first, looking at his phone, before he glances back up again, "Follow me."
They walk through the lanes of houses, quietly following behind Taehyun, until finally, he stops, turning towards a house painted in green and white. "This is the one." Taehyun says, looking around for a doorbell. He paces around, pushing through the overgrown plants that curled against the wall.
But there's no doorbell.
"Is it this?" Huening Kai reaches out, and with a swing, a clear, melodious chime echoes from a small bell hanging from the gate by a twisted string.
Huening Kai swings the tail hanging from the dull bronze bell, and again, another loud chime sounds.
"Coming!"
There were sharp click-clack sounds, and all their eyes turned towards the door beyond the gates. Unconsciously, they held their breaths, hearts racing.
An elderly lady in short, neatly combed hair slips into her slippers and looks at them curiously. "What are you five looking for?"
"Hello! We..." Beomgyu's cheery greeting and bright smile failing to hide his nervousness, "We are looking for Astra. Is she here?"
"My granddaughter? She didn't tell me she's this popular. Leonelle takes a step back, her eyes jumping from each face warily, "Why are you five handsome boys looking for her?"
Leonelle continues hesitantly. "Did she... do something wrong to you all, perhaps?"
Huening Kai waves his hands. "No! She didn't! We are just her friends from school."
"We came because we were worried. She just left a goodbye letter and disappeared." Beomgyu explains honestly. "We just... want to talk to her."
"Is that so?" Leonelle smiles with a hint of amusement in her eyes.
"Please." Leonelle opens the door. "Come in."
"Who's here?" A tall, striking man walks out. Despite the lines, silver hair, and telltales of age etched deeply into him, and the unseemly combo of flowery shirt and pants he's wearing, it failed to diminish the distinguished air he naturally gives off. As he narrowed his eyes at the five boys who had entered his house, they collectively took a step back, intimidated.
Leonelle smacks her husband on his arm, turning away from the boys, she lowers her voice to whisper into the elderly man's ear. For a few seconds, the elderly couple exchanged whispers too hushed for them to hear.
Taehyun lets loose an awkward laugh, jolting Leonelle back towards them.
"Yes!" Leonelle smiles. "Please take a seat."
The instant they sat down, they spent the next hour trying to deflect Leonelle's prying attempts towards the wild stories she cooked up surrounding her granddaughter and the five boys sitting before her. As she chattered, it led Taehyun to think of the book Astra showed him that day. Taehyun's eyes shift as he tries to recall the title.
Right then, his eyes catch a familiar sparkly red book by a bookshelf beside the television. His breath catches as he reads the words.
Our Seventh life together: I love him, him—
Taehyun winces. He quickly turns his eyes away, unwilling to look further.
So this is where she got the cover from.
And after that, Taehyun could no longer look at Leonelle the same way.
In that same hour, Leonelle has also managed to stuff each one of them with food, ranging from homemade to store-bought. So they chewed, full, and somehow, feeling a kind warmth from Leonelle's almost forced hospitality, listening and trying their best to answer her questions.
Finally, it was Soobin.
Soobin's attempt out of the countless tries to bring Leonelle back to the important question that succeeds.
"You boys came too late." Leonelle answers, setting down her thermal bottle filled with steaming, sugar-free tea. "She left early this morning. She's moving with her parents overseas."
So she was here.
"I'll let her know that you five came to look for her." Leonelle smiles kindly at them. "But she's not here anymore. If you would leave a number, I can contact you the next time she comes to visit." Leonelle hands them a pen and paper.
"She's really not here anymore?" Taehyun asks softly. And as he lowered his head, shoulders hunched, big eyes drooping with a profound sadness as he watched Soobin scribble his number on the yellowed paper. In Leonelle's eyes, Taehyun looked just like a cat abandoned in a dirty box on a cold, rainy night.
Star. What did you do?
Leonelle takes in a deep breath, reaching her hands towards another box of cookies, feeling guilty as she answers him, "...Yes."
"Did she make you sad?" Leonelle quickly adds as she leans forward, offering Taehyun the cookie she took out. "I'll scold her for you the next time I see her." Leonelle rolls up her sleeves, swinging her fists, "I'll give her a big smack."
.
.
Stuffed full and after refusing multiple attempts to stay for dinner, they leave the house, feeling at a loss. Their steps fall slowly, as if they had no idea what to do now, or where to go.
From the doorway, the elderly man was shaking his head as he watched them leave. He chides his wife, "Why did you say so much rubbish? Couldn't you see how anxious they were?"
"Janeth." Leonelle sighs, "Don't be stupid. Who knew what kind of people they were? What if they were up to no good? I have to test them first."
"Why?" Janeth scoffs, "Because Star's situation reminded you of the past?"
"What?"
Leonelle's eyes darkened, "You dare bring that up again?"
Janeth turns away, his back stiff, his usual dignified presence now crumbling away.
...
Then, he breaks the long silence with a soft voice, sounding almost like an apology,
"No."
.
.
"Let's eat the bread." Soobin suggests, taking the bag from Huening Kai. He strides forward, first asking which one they wanted. Most of them just looked at him silently, a refusal unsaid.
Soobin didn't accept refusals, so he would forcefully push the bread into their arms. One for each of them, when he's done, Soobin looks back into the bag, finding that there are two left.
One's for him.
And the other—
Shall be for him too.
Soobin takes out one, plastic rustling at his rough movements. He bites through the chewy crust, his teeth sinking in.
Delicious.
Soobin turns to his friends. All of them just held the bread in their hands, the plastic surrounding the bread still unopened. Taehyun had even gone as far as to fold the edges of the plastic into mini triangles whilst leaving the bread untouched—for reasons Soobin doesn't understand.
Soobin takes another bite, saying. "Don't let the bread Huening bought go to waste. All of you better finish it."
"Where do we go now?" Taehyun asks, looking up to face Soobin.
"Home." Soobin replies. "Where else?"
"What about Astra?" Taehyun presses on.
"She's in a better place now." Soobin answers unhesitantly, pulling aside the plastic packaging, taking another big bite.
"You know that's not true." Taehyun says softly as tears start falling from his eyes. He grimaces, but lets his tears fall, he yells this time, repeating, "You know that's not true!"
"She's in a better place now." Soobin calmly insists, not backing away. Instead, he takes steps forward, pushing Taehyun's head into his arms. "Listen." Soobin begins, patting his head, "We tried our best. Now all we can do, is believe that she's in a better place."
"After finishing the bread, let's all go home—" Soobin pauses, taking a moment to steady himself, "Alright?"
"I don't want to." Huening Kai answers almost immediately. He reaches out, pulling Taehyun out from Soobin's arms.
"Taehyun." Huening Kai calls out to his same-aged friend. "Let's go, we'll look for her."
Huening Kai smiles, digging into his pocket to offer Taehyun a packet of tissues, "We'll keep on looking till the very end."
Perhaps, among the five of them here, Taehyun is the one who is most acutely aware of the futility of 'looking till the very end'. How empty it was when they didn't even know where to begin, yet at this moment, as he listens to Huening Kai, Taehyun's eyes light up. He takes the tissues and grabs tightly onto Huening Kai, like he's now something he has to hold onto.
"Okay." Taehyun nods, and without hesitation, he follows beside Huening Kai.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Yeonjun shouts towards the two younger boys. He doesn't even bother to wipe his face, one that drowned in tears, choosing instead to chase in their footsteps like they were fireflies glowing dimly in the dark, guiding his path when everything else feels lost.
Soobin frowns, catching Beomgyu looking at him with a light smile just before he turns away, silently following the backs of the other three. It's like he's telling Soobin that he won't give up, too.
That like the other three who can't get their minds straight, he will also keep looking.
But for what?
Why are they chasing something that's already out of their reach?
Aren't they just a bunch of dumb fools?
Soobin watches them move forward. Clearly, they had no clear direction, yet as he watches how their steps align, and fall into place— it doesn't feel aimless at all.
It's like they know where to go.
And even him thinking that, it's just, all so absurd.
"Ahhh!"
Soobin lets out a long, piercing scream that rips through the sky, his voice heavy with resentment.
Then, he takes a deep inhale.
"Fine." He mutters, as if he's giving in.
Then he sprints forward, leaving behind his rationality, breaking free from the safety chains that bound him to place, whispering that it was better to let go.
"Wait for me!"
Because he too, is a dumb fool.
Chapter 48: Day 24
Notes:
This is a pretty short chapter! And no. This story still has a really long way to go. I swear I hadn't planned to write this much. Now, I seriously have no idea when I'm going to finish this ( ´ཀ` )
Chapter Text
Near sunset, five boys in school uniform walk in line, wandering aimlessly around the neighbourhood, their steps stupidly determined to find a certain someone that is no longer within their reach.
Their steps take them up a grassy hill. They climb up, step by step, grass crunching underneath their shoes, rustling along with the wind. And it's like they were meeting the sun, as it sinks lower in the sky. The grass crunches underneath their shoes, rustling along with the wind.
Near the top of the hill, they spot a girl in an oversized t-shirt and flowery shorts, stopping just below her knees. Long, untied black hair spreads out on the grass behind her, and she lies in the distance, eyes closed.
She looks just like her.
"Astra?" Beomgyu is the first to notice and call out. He breaks off from the rest and runs up to the girl basking in the fading light of the sun. She just lies there, without a care in the world, unbothered by all the dirt rubbing against her skin, or the creepy-crawlies that made the grass beneath her their home.
Beomgyu doubts his eyes. He stands before her, casting a shadow over her face, blocking out the light. Briefly, he sees her eyebrows twitch, and her eyelids seem to clamp down with more force now. But it only made Beomgyu more certain.
That it's Astra, and she's again, trying to avoid them.
But.
How can she be here?
Maybe miracles do favour the desperate. Or maybe it's Astra's red string theory that she had long scrapped or—
It could be just a plain, dumb coincidence.
Because—
"It's Astra!" Huening Kai screams, running forward. "She's holding the pouch we gave her! Look!"
Clutched tightly in her right hand, peeks out a corner of a badly sewn red pouch, attached to a long black string tangled around her arm. It's the pouch they decided to sew on a random evening. It's for Astra to hold her inhaler, ensuring that she never forgets to bring it wherever she goes.
Thank god the cloth they chose was red, because only god knows exactly how many times they poked their fingers in the process. This pouch, for all its ugliness, crooked stitches, and uneven gaps, is one truly crafted with their blood, sweat, and tears.
They could recognise it in a heartbeat.
Huening Kai reaches out his fingers to pull at her eyelids, forcing them open. "Don't pretend anymore." He chokes out, unable to make sense of, or measure the intense relief that's pushing him forward right now. "I know it's you."
"Here." Huening Kai hurriedly reaches into the plastic bag dangling from Soobin's arm, forcing the bread he bought into her arms. "For you."
"I'm sorry." She says. "But who are you guys?"
Soon, a body comes tumbling, crashing into her. She blinks, looking at Yeonjun and Taehyun, who had burrowed their way into her arms, tightly clinging onto her.
"I thought you died." Yeonjun says.
"Who are—" Before she can continue, she's stopped when she meets Taehyun's eyes, reddened with tears, his lips parting in a box shape as he grits his teeth, crying loudly. He looks so vulnerable, as if she had just pushed him over the edge of a fifty-story building, and now, bruised and battered, he has returned, not to seek revenge but just to show her his bruises.
Astra could no longer pretend.
"Hey." A soft greeting spills from her lips.
The next moment, she's hit hard on the head. Beomgyu had smacked her.
"I—" Astra couldn't finish her sentence before she got hit again. Harder this time. Her head jerks to the side from the impact, bumping into Yeonjun's forehead due to how tightly he's holding onto her.
Astra gulps, looking up at Beomgyu and Soobin, who had inched so close to her, staring at her silently, suffocating in the pressure they emit, "Why... why are you guys here?"
The two remained silent, gaze sharpening in response.
Astra swallows, lowering her head. "I'm sorry."
She blinks, suddenly feeling more weight on her body. One by one, she's surrounded again, engulfed in a group hug.
"Don't disappear like that." Beomgyu says.
Astra strains a smile. "Okay."
Taehyun frowns, "You are lying."
"I'm sorry." All she can offer now are these two words, empty promises, excuses, false hopes, and wishes. Astra checks the toy watch strapped to her wrist. It's one she took from her old toy box in her grandparents' storeroom. Even after a decade, it still ticks, its long and short hands accurately displaying the time.
5:52
They really came at a bad time.
"Please live happily." Astra whispers, wrapping her arms tightly around them. "I hope you all live your best lives."
"What the hell are you talking about? Are you going to die or something?"
Astra doesn't avoid it this time. It now feels so close that it seems inevitable, "Maybe." She says.
"Oh hey. Look." Like in a trance, Astra points towards the sky. The skies, once a fading dim orange, flicker, and abruptly, a soft blue curtain is pulled over the skies. The colours change, in but an impossible instance.
"Trying to distract us?" Yeonjun says, keeping his eyes on Astra. "Not a chance."
But then Yeonjun sees it.
As Astra's finger pointed up at the sky, her eyes swirled, the shiny black in her eyes reflecting the skies that only she sees. It's a rainbow of colours, twirling around streaks of lights, whooshing across the skies, like her dreams, or as she has once described, 'Millions of stars falling from the sky'.
Through her eyes, they all see it.
The sky alight with streaks of flashing lights, hurling closer and closer towards them. They see her hair fluttering behind her, as if this was some sort of fantasy anime, as if she was the girl controlling the stars.
"It's real this time." They hear her whisper. Her form begins to shimmer, colours softening, blending into the sunset. Pale, iridescent hues glow, jumping across her skin, and to their horror, it feels like her frame is gradually fading into the world behind her, turning translucent.
"It's so beautiful." Astra mutters, as if she's unaware that she's turning into a human disco ball, her gaze still fixed skyward.
The five boys follow her gaze, desperate to see what she saw, the deep blue skies and the falling lights.
But there's nothing. Only the deep blue skies remain, stretching endlessly. But there are no falling stars. No streaks of light. And as their eyes search the skies, a soft, fading voice speaks from behind them.
"I want to save myself too."
They turn back to her, reaching out almost instinctively.
But again, there's nothing.
She's gone. In her place, the bread that Huening Kai forces her to take drops on the ground.
The red pouch she clutched is on the ground, too.
And again.
They have lost her.
Chapter 49: Day 24
Chapter Text
When the stars gathered and rained down on her, they didn't crush her with a bang, tearing her apart. Instead, at the final millisecond right before the stars touches her skin, its ferocious energy wane and scatter into tiny fragments of light. They seep gently into her body, like a warm current entering her veins.
And in that moment, she dared to think that maybe it was a false alarm.
Maybe, she's going to live.
But then she flickers.
And the wild joy blooming in her chest collapses. Her heart fell, as if she's suddenly dragged into the depths of an icy ocean. Her gaze shifts, and she turns to her friends, the five of them, who had, again, found their way to her.
Friends.
Astra smiles, yet her brows curved in a downward crescent. The five of them had their backs turned, eyes looking into the distant sky.
Are they seeing what I'm seeing too?
If only we had met in another world.
But then, I don't think we would have been friends.
Astra lowers her head, watching the edges of her hands shimmer, fading, turning translucent.
"I want to save myself too."
One more flicker. In and out.
.
.
Am I dead?
Astra's no longer standing under the deep blue skies. Instead, it's this familiar space she finds herself in every morning before the sun rises. It's just—Astra looks down at herself, every inch of her skin emitting a bright glow. "I'm... like a 150-watt light bulb."
She covers her mouth, her eyes wide in shock. "I can talk?"
Astra raises her legs. She's not locked in place either. Her gaze wanders to the skies. There are no longer stars in the skies. It's like they have all fallen into her, all their light ingested in her stomach to light herself from within.
Now, it's like she's the only star in this space. The only light in this pitch darkness.
A grin pulls across her lips as she stretches her fingers, brushing them across the tall grass reaching her knees. Each blade of grass slips through her hands like a gentle caress, its texture akin to satin silk.
A laugh bubbles out, and her feet kick off the soil, as she breaks into a run. She's never been able to do anything here, just helplessly, foolishly watching as the stars fall, over and over, in a repeating cycle.
Now, being able to move makes her, inexplicably, so, so happy.
How long she ran in this space with nothing but grass, she doesn't know. There's no way to keep track of time when there's no sign of time here, no clocks, no heartbeat-counting instinct as do some of those genius characters in those books that she read, no, she didn't even feel the need to keep time.
Astra loosens her body, allowing herself to collapse backward onto the grass, where a strong, earthy scent engulfs her. She takes a deep sniff. She likes it. This scent.
Is this what death smells like?
Astra rolls around, crushing grass beneath her body with every turn of her shoulders. She rolls, feeling each blade of grass prickling, then folding beneath her weight. Finally, she sits up, supporting her head with one hand. But— she thinks. But if she's stuck here for an extended time, with nothing but grass as her companion, she might just go crazy.
Astra tilts her head. Or maybe she's already not in her right mind.
She stands up, brushing aside the blades of grass off her clothes before her eyes shift up, glazing over the empty skies. It was starless, moonless, stripped bare of the lights that accompanied the night sky—but without the stars, maybe it was no longer a sky.
Astra places her hands on her hips as she shouts towards the inky darkness spreading out above her. She cups her mouth to better project her voice. "Hey!"
"You! Whoever trying to talk to me in Morse code." She screams, her voice turning shrill towards the end. "Explain this whole thing to me!"
...
"What's happening?"
Like that day in the bathroom, Astra is again screaming without an answer.
"What about TXT?"
...
"What about my family?"
...
"What about my original world? BTS?"
...
"You ***** ****! **** **** ****** ************!"
There's still no reply.
Astra huffs, her question echoes in a weak whisper, lacking all the enthusiasm she had when she cursed earlier, "What do I do now?"
Astra looks at her arms, turning them over. The bright glow she radiated feels weaker now. The light she's emitting from her body is dimming. She couldn't tell by staring at herself, but the world told her. The stretch of grass in the distance that she illuminates grows smaller with each thump that beats in her chest. In this world without stars, when her light completely fades—
Astra shivers, forcing herself to stop thinking.
Then, she would rather not see it happening.
Astra buries herself in the grass, amongst the green blades tickling and rustling by her ear, as if they were whispering to her, keeping her company in this starless world. With one last look into the skies, one last shift across what her current vision has to offer, she closes her eyes, willing them not to open again.
Her world sinks into premature darkness, and almost unconsciously, she repeats what Elle said to her, word by word.
"I was trapped in eternal night." She whispers, her voice quickly fading into the vastness of this space.
Is this what eternal night is?
Astra's irises roll under her lids, but she doesn't open her eyes, scared to be met with nothing but complete darkness. However meaningless, she would still prefer to cling to the belief that the world around her is still lit, even if darkness has already consumed her whole.
Elle must have had it tough, living in a place like this. It's no wonder she's gone a little bonkers.
Astra imagines herself in Elle's shoes, going after people who abandoned their friends, causing her to be stuck in this place—eh. No, that's not it. Her friends didn't abandon her.
That's not her story.
In a way, it's like she's the one who left them behind.
...
A short chuckle escapes her lips. Astra smiles, moving her arms to cushion her head. Slowly, uneventfully, her mind grows still, and in this space that she had given up on understanding, where it feels like nothing was left behind, sleep approaches.
With its only living, conscious inhabitant asleep, the world falls into deep silence with but the sounds of rustling grass. The light she radiates dims steadily, now barely casting a small circle of light around her body.
And even that small circle is shrinking. Darkness gradually encroaches her, eating into her light. As she sleeps, her light recedes, bit by bit weakened into a soft glow barely clinging to the surface of her skin.
The darkness pushes in, and the world continues to darken, and the only star has fallen asleep, its light swaying precariously like a drawn-out wick from a candle that met the end of its time. Eventually, this world will lose its last source of light.
Then, just before the last spark of light fades, it erupts.
From her core, a blinding flash of light explodes outwards, creating radiant rings that ripple into even the darkest corners, flashing again and again. The entire expanse that Astra thought endless, became completely illuminated, and at least in this moment, her small curled-up self became the sun, forcibly dragging the night into daylight.
The bright flashes continue in odd bursts, long and short, short and long, with pauses, going on for a long, long time.
But Astra had missed it all. She's blissfully unaware even as the light flashes almost desperately, like a final burst of energy before it flickers out.
Then it stops.
The fierce pulses of light dies unheard.
Now, Astra's truly stranded in eternal night.
Yet, even this state doesn't last. If there still remained even a flicker of light in this pitch darkness, if there were any other eyes in this darkness, they would see that the girl stranded in the night, like her extinguished light, is also fading away, her form dissolving and finally, scattering into tiny pieces of nothingness.
Now, truly, nothing remained here.
.
.
The hill by the 53rd Street of Yillew Road is a secret spot known only among long-time residents as one of the best places to stargaze. Yillew Road, due to its stubborn residents, never managed to urbanise itself, and remains a spread of low-rise, spaced-out buildings. Yet, having resisted urban development for decades, it managed to preserve its night sky. With little light blocking the sky, it offered the very top of the hill a perfect, unobstructed view of the night.
There, after a recommendation by the boy's grandparents, a young couple climbed the hill, hoping to deepen their affection under the gaze of the blinking stars.
Yet, their plans are quickly scrapped.
Now, they descend the hill, carrying their unused rolled-up mat and untouched basket of food, sharing hushed whispers.
"Did you see what they were doing?"
"I didn't see it clearly." The boy answers. He recalls the five boys sitting silently on the top of the hill, under the shine of the moonlight, they seemed to glow, looking hauntingly beautiful, like statues hand-crafted by ancient gods. They were all pale, expressionless, and just staring at the same spot.
"They didn't look human." The boy concludes, sharing his deductions. "Their eyes are exactly like the ones my grandmother told me about.
"Soulless eyes." He continues.
"What?" The girl hisses, "That grandmother from a line of shamans?"
"Yes." The boy nods solemnly.
"They were worshipping something wrapped in plastic." He adds, covering his mouth as he says so, as if it's taboo.
"Did... you see what's inside?" The girl was hesitant to ask.
He shakes his head. "I didn't. But based on the colour, I think it's a piece of flesh." He pauses for good measure. "Human flesh."
"What?" She couldn't help but let out an exclamation, horrified.
The boy quickly covers her mouth, sending her a disapproving glance.
"Shouldn't we call the police then?" She lowers her voice, leaning towards her boyfriend as she glances back up, now carrying this suspicion that the five boys were standing right behind her.
"No." He answers firmly, with so much certainty as he drags her back into the car. "There's no point."
Soon, they drive off, perhaps never to return to this accursed neighbourhood ever again.
Back on the top of the hill, the five inhuman beings they talked about, who almost had the police on their tails and are said to be worshipping human flesh, remained exactly where they were.
Beneath the silver shine of the moon, they sat in a circle, not staring at human flesh, but it's simply the bread Huening Kai had bought for Astra, dropped where she last disappeared. None of them said a word, just silently staring at the same spot, as if doing so could make them disappear too, to wherever Astra went.
"Let's go home." It's been a long time, and Soobin sighs, deciding to end this. "It's late now, let's all go home and come back tomorrow—" Soobin's words stop short when he sees a multicoloured, almost sparkling light fly past his vision. One becomes two, two becomes three, three becomes four, and soon, hundreds and thousands of such sparkling dust swirl around them, gathering around the very area with the bread as the centre.
"I think I need to get my eyes checked." Taehyun mutters.
Soobin snaps out of his daze, blinking his eyes rapidly. He gets on his knees, "No." He says. "I see it too."
"What... what in the world is going on?" Yeonjun asks.
The five boys get on their feet, their eyes wide as they watch the particles float towards one another, like stardust glittering under the moonlight. More and more gather, sticking to one another, gradually forming an enclosed case.
A cocoon.
It pulses. Just once before it splits open, bursting, scattering powder that dissolves completely into the air, making them doubt if what they saw earlier was but an illusion.
The shock has robbed them of their speech, all staring in horror where the cocoon once was.
Yeonjun's next words aptly describes the situation, "This is insane."
Where the cocoon once was, there is a girl. She's lying with her hands folded behind her head, both eyes closed in serenity, as if she had been here all along.
Yeonjun leans in, his hands trembling as he places two fingers under her nose. He feels a soft puff of warm air on his skin, his eyes widen, and he flinches backwards.
"She's alive." Yeonjun murmurs, quickly recovering from his stupor. He reaches out, grabs her wrist, enforcing the first rule of the unspoken guidebook the five boys had created in lieu of Asta's regular disappearing acts.
When she or the world flickers—
Grab her.
And don't let go.
.
.
When Astra first opened her eyes, she regretted it. Then the second thought that came to her was,
I can see.
It's nighttime, clearly. But the world isn't the complete darkness she expected. There are lamp posts, small lights lit from the windows of residential buildings. She blinks, her gaze focusing on the five figures surrounding her in a circle. They were all looking at her with wide, unblinking eyes
"Did..." Astra hears herself saying, "Did you all die too?"
"You..." Taehyun stammers when Beomgyu interrupts him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Yes." Beomgyu answers carelessly. "The stars fell, the world ended. We all died."
"Oh." Astra answers softly. "I'm sorry." She looks at Beomgyu. Tears shimmering in her eyes.
"What are you sorry for?" Beomgyu crosses his legs and sits in front of her, staring.
"I think I caused this." Astra lowers her head, avoiding Beomgyu's stare.
Beomgyu inhales sharply at her answer.
"You dumb—" Beomgyu curses, about to knock some sense into Astra before her head bounces forward, bumping into Beomgyu's forehead.
Yeonjun had beaten him to it.
...
"Ouch!" Beomgyu shouts, rubbing his forehead.
"I'm sorry." Astra repeats. "In the end, I couldn't save anyone."
"I didn't manage to keep my promise." Astra chokes. She covers her eyes, yet her tears still spill from the cracks between her fingers. She recalls the Soobin and Taehyun she met from another timeline, both of them bloodied and battered, with sad, despairing eyes that promise—
Wait.
Astra tilts her head, and her hands fall to her lap, and her thoughts turn, her mind gains clarity.
Wait no.
No.
They were still alive. Even if she's dead over there, that Taehyun and Soobin, even with their bodies stained with grime and blood, were still alive!
They didn't die.
Astra hurriedly sticks her hands on Beomgyu's neck. He stiffens, shifting back from her sudden move, but as he realises what she was doing, he drops his eyes, letting her place her hands against his neck.
Where they were, on top of a hill on a moonlit night, the skin on Beomgyu's neck burns like a heat pack.
"You're warm."
Astra turns and grabs Taehyun next, slapping her palms against his throat.
He's warm too.
Taehyun coughs, hit too hard by her frantic movements.
"It's a misconception." Taehyun says later, without a change in expression. "Not all dead people are cold."
But clarity fills her eyes. She turns around, pushing past Yeonjun, conveniently wiping her face into his sleeves, leaving behind a trail of tears and snot on his shirt.
Yeonjun groans.
Astra doesn't stop. She looks into the distance, far beyond her friends, to what she saw when she first opened her eyes.
The lit residential buildings. The lamp posts. The slope of this familiar hill.
Yillew Road.
And she realises.
I have been fooled.
"I'm alive." She murmurs, rubbing her hands together, feeling the warmth on her skin.
"Why?" She asks.
"This damn girl." Soobin clicks his tongue. "Hey." He calls, grabbing her arm. "You better explain everything clearly."
Astra's eyes meet Soobin's.
"Soobin." She begins, her eyes filling with horror, as if it's only now that her world has come crashing down upon her. "Our clubs."
...
Soobin blinks back at her, confused at what she's getting at.
"We have to attend two clubs." Astra continues.
"...That's what you are worried about?" Soobin frowns.
"So you knew from back then. No wonder you didn't have much of a reaction." Taehyun narrows his eyes.
Astra forces a tight smile, her instincts ringing warning bells at the sight of their darkening expressions."Hey..." She stammers.
Huneing Kai, who hasn't spoken all this while, walks to Astra, placing his hand heavily on her shoulder. "You better explain everything properly."
"Isn't it just great we are all actually alive and well?" Astra laughs nervously as she raises her hands, backing away.
"Get her." Yeonjun snarls through gritted teeth.
.
.
Coming back alive came like a surprise that Astra wasn't prepared for.
Because if she's not going to die, then what did those messages mean?
She feels like she's been tossed back to the starting line, just as clueless as when she first arrived.
"I really thought that when the stars fall—" Astra pauses. She's seated on the couch. Her left and right flanked by Taehyun and Huening Kai. In front of her, sitting with their legs crossed and with unchanging expressions, are Beomgyu, Yeonjun, and Soobin.
In this manner, despite being in the comfort of her childhood home, Astra feels like she's here to give her final defence; her final stand before a panel of judges. "I was going to die."
"Everyone told me to save myself." Astra gulps. "Everybody told me the same thing."
"Who?"
"Everyone from future timelines. And that being."
"Then it started counting down. So I figured my time was coming to an end?" Astra continues hesitantly.
"And you didn't tell us." Soobin says.
"I thought we were in this together." Huening Kai adds, his eyes downcast.
"Because there is no point." Astra says, still rubbing at her fingers. "So what if I said anything?"
"Regardless, there is nothing we can change." Astra looks at her five friends, feeling helpless.
"No." Taehyun's head drops on her shoulders, and he lets go of Astra's arm, his hands falling to his side. "Things would have been different."
"Yes." Beomgyu grins. With a bold swing, one of his feet is now on the table. "I agree with Taehyun."
Astra eyes Beomgyu's leg on the table. She mumbles, "That's my grandmother's beloved coffee table that my dad bought for her on Mother's Day three years back from a famous antique store."
...
Everyone turns to look at Beomgyu's feet proudly atop the shiny, well-polished surface of the table.
Beomgyu blinks. He looks at Astra.
That was an unnecessarily long description.
Beomgyu clears his throat, gingerly removing his feet from that piece of treasured antique. He moves with care, even going the extra step to wipe where he stepped with the hem of his white shirt.
Beomgyu lets out a sigh of relief when he sees no visible stain left behind on its glossy glass surface.
"You never told us." Soobin says, his words drawing back everyone's attention. "You should have told us."
"No matter what." He says.
"Just tell us."
"Right. They are right." Yeonjun nods along, having long lost his cold aura from earlier. Minutes ago, when Yeonjun had looked at her, Astra had to admit that she had this small suspicion that Yeonjun might just murder her in cold blood. But now, Yeonjun is busy stuffing himself with her grandmother's handmade sugar cookies. In this short amount of time, with Huening Kai as support, they have already cleared a whole container.
Astra silently eyes the white crumbs that have fallen on the table, covering the surface in a fine layer of white sugar.
"This table—", Her lips part, about to enlighten Yeonjun with more in-depth history of her grandmother's beloved table again.
Yeonjun blinks. His hand, holding a cookie, stops right before his lips the moment he hears Astra mentioning the table. His eyes shift towards the table. Yeonjun raises a palm in front of Astra, as if saying, 'Stop. I got it.'
He first sets the cookie aside, down on Beomgyu's open palm.
Then, in a swift motion, worried that Astra would start rambling about the table, he quickly wipes the table off with a few sheets of wet tissues.
Now, it's sparkly again.
Satisfied, Yeonjun turns back to Beomgyu, about to retrieve the cookie he had left in his care.
But the cookie is gone.
"Where's my cookie?" Yeonjun asks, his lips that craved the buttery sweetness of the cookies parting in loss.
Beomgyu grins, "Oh! I thought you gave it to me."
He rubs his stomach, "It's in here now."
...
Yeonjun pounces at Beomgyu, all the while Astra watches in amusement.
Soobin snaps his fingers, subtly shifting away from Beomgyu and Yeonjun next to him. "Astra. I'm talking to you."
Huening Kai gives her a nudge.
"Oh, oh." Astra reluctantly shifts her eyes from the duo parodying the MMA, turning back to Soobin.
"Promise us." Soobin says.
"What?"
"Promise." Taehyun grabs Astra's arm and forcefully pries apart her fingers. Then, he wraps his fingers around her pinky, holding it tight.
Soobin follows, sticking out his pinky finger. "That no matter what, you will tell us everything."
...
"You don't agree?" Yeonjun. who now had Beomgyu in a headlock, narrowed his eyes at Astra, his voice low. It's just that, he would have looked more convincing if it weren't for the cookie crumbs dotting his cheek.
"I don't agree." Astra confirms.
"Heh." Taehyun chuckles. He nods at Huening Kai, and both of them, against Astra's will, forced her pinky towards Soobin.
Soobin hooks her pinky that's served to him with graceful ease. He shakes it, a wide, kind smile spreading on his face.
"This settles things." He concludes. "If you break your promise," Soobin pulls back his pinky, pulling it across his neck, "I'll break your neck."
Astra looks at Soobin in horror. Today is the day she has officially identified Choi Soobin as the one she's the most afraid of among the five boys.
So this is how he became the leader of TXT, hiding an arsenal of sharp teeth under that innocent-looking facade.
Ding Dong~
A mechanical sound of a doorbell rings. Its crisp sound bright in the still night.
Astra frowns, "Why would someone come this late at night?"
It's nearing 11 pm. Her grandparents went to sleep 30 minutes ago.
"Can you guys let me go now? I'll need to get the door." Astra looks towards Huening Kai and Taehyun, the two still holding her pinky hostage.
"I'll get the door." Yeonjun says and stands up, grabbing an umbrella on his way.
"Why are you taking the umbrella?" Astra eyes the emerald umbrella in Yeonjun's hands, like the coffee table, that umbrella is her grandmother's favourite possession.
"I suspect it's a prank." Yeonjun smirks, twirling the umbrella across his shoulders, as if he's holding a sword. "If it is, I'll give this a swing—"
"No." Beomgyu says before Astra could. He stands up abruptly, his face pale. As if he's just thought of something. He cuts through to Yeonjun with quick strides, grabbing his arm.
"What—" Yeonjun's voice is immediately cut off by a hand clamping over his mouth. Beomgyu pulls an index finger to his lips, demanding silence with an expression that made Yeonjun listen, deciding to hear what Beomgyu has to say first.
Ding DOng~
Another mechanical ring, and Beomgyu's eyes snap to Astra.
He shakes his head, the ringing sound playing over in his head.
Wrong.
It's wrong.
"Your grandparents' house."
He whispers,
"Don't have electronic doorbells."
Beomgyu pauses, uncertain,
"Right?"
Day ???:
..-. .. ...- . / ... --- ..- .-.. ... / - --- / ... .- ...- . / -.-- --- ..- / --- -. / - .... . / ..-. .. -. .- .-.. / -. .. --. .... - / .-- .... . -. / - .... . / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. / -... ..- .-. -. ...
Chapter 50: Day 24
Notes:
Strong horror ahead, strong horror ahead(?), Viewer discretion is advised ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
Chapter Text
Fuck.
Beomgyu's right. They had a bell hanging by the door. But it's a bell hanging from a string, an old-fashioned one that will never ring in dings and dongs.
Even her own house, back when it still existed, she never recalls hearing the doorbell ring. Even before she was born, the doorbell in her house was already broken.
How did I miss that?
Astra takes a deep breath.
Her eyes passed Yeonjun, who had lowered the umbrella, eyes wide and cowering behind Beomgyu.
Without a doorbell, where did such sounds come from?
Ding Dong~
Ding Dong~
Ding Dong~
The rings come faster now, increasing in frequency, clearly, whoever ringing that mysterious bell is getting impatient.
"Maybe it's for your neighbour." Huening Kai says as he walks to the window, wanting to peer outside and see who it is.
"It's not." Astra says, certain. "This is an old neighbourhood. None of our neighbours have installed electronic doorbells."
Ding Ding Ding Ding Dong~
Ding Ding Ding Ding Dong~
Ding Ding Ding Ding Dong~
Taehyun runs to Astra and covers his ears, grimacing. It rings loudly, as if a 3D-surround speaker is broadcasting them from within the walls of the house.
"It's getting louder." Taehyun tugs on Astra's sleeves.
As they stand in a deadlock, unsure of what to do, Huening Kai has already made his way to the window. He reaches out towards the curtains, ready to pull them aside.
"No!" Astra hisses, pulling along Taehyun, who's now attached to her like a koala.
She yanks Huening Kai backwards.
Her lips are trembling, face drained of colour. "I have a bad feeling." She whispers. "Remember that night we were trapped on that hill in Sander's Island? Or the bloody version of our school I told you I was trapped in?"
Astra warily eyes her surroundings, rubbing her hands together, "It's this exact same feeling."
"This..." Astra breathes shakily, struggling to piece her words together in the face of rising, overwhelming fear,
"—Is no longer our world."
Behind her, the bell continues relentlessly, each ring sending her heart into a pounding spree. Yet with each pound, her mind seems to gain clarity.
"Taehyun." Astra calls gently to the boy using her hands as his blindfolds and earmuffs. He's shaking badly, and she's suddenly reminded of the boy she saw in the school lab that day, with his dirty blindfold and bloodied eyes. As their images begin to overlap, she feels her fear dispate.
"It's alright." She says, leading him to Beomgyu. "Everything will be fine."
"I'll need to check on my grandparents." Astra pulls Taehyun off her, guiding his hands towards Beomgyu. "I'll be back." She nods at Beomgyu and Huening Kai, the only two still clear-headed enough to listen.
"No—" Huening Kai hasn't had time to speak before a loud ring cuts his voice short.
"DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG"
It sounded like the bell is screaming. A stretched wail that drowns the sounds of her footsteps running across the floor.
The door to her grandmother's room creaks open after a click. The bedsheets, lined with prints of waddling ducklings, are still neatly arranged, blankets folded with not a person in sight.
Thank god.
They aren't here.
Only her. Astra thinks. Only her and the five TXT members.
Back in the living room, Soobin has both his fingers plugged deep inside his ears, blocking out the bell ringing like a siren. His eyes, though, are open, staring at the room Astra entered. His eyes shift, glancing from Beomgyu to Huening Kai, who stood tense, at the alert, then to Yeonjun, Taehyun, who had curled themselves in a hunched position.
As Soobin's eyes shift, he catches a glimpse of himself through the reflection of a glass cabinet.
He's just like them, hunched over, knees almost touching the floor.
A pathetic sight.
Soobin takes a few deep inhale, digging his fingers into his palms. The pain forces his mind, clouded with fear to veer back on track. Slowly, he unplugs his ears. The ring, which had consistently risen in volume, smashes into his eardrums. Soobin grabs onto Beomgyu's arm, using the younger boy as support to stand up straight, just in time to see Astra stepping out of the room.
The moment she did, the ringing came to an abrupt stop.
Soobin flinches back, his barely straightened posture hunching back over, his hands quickly reaching out to plug into his ears.
It wasn't just the sound he's scared of. Soobin realises.
He's also afraid of changes. Of unpredictability.
The second the silence stretches out long enough to fill like a reprieve,
"I'm home!" A chirpy voice calls from the door.
The six look at each other in stunned, horrified silence.
Home?
That thing outside is either trying to convince them to let it in or genuinely believes this place is its home.
Huening Kai leaves the group. He walks forward, insistent. "I'll go check it out." He says. There's an urge chewing at him, he needed to know what it was.
Who stood outside the window, ringing a doorbell that didn't exist?
Huening Kai doesn't stop despite hearing shuffling feet behind him. Clearly, his friends don't agree. But Huening Kai is one step faster. Whatever it is they are facing, he has to know what it is first.
Maybe they were just scaring themselves. Perhaps it's all just an overboard prank.
Huening Kai planned to pull the curtains aside, just slightly. Opening a small, almost unnoticeable gap just enough for him to peek through and get a glimpse.
But he no longer has to.
Beside him, a buzz crackles.
Out of nowhere, a tiny screen right beside the door plays.
The image initially shakes unsteadily, buzzing as flashes of black and white static obstruct the screen, but gradually, it clears, showing live footage of what Huening Kai desperately wanted to see.
On the screen is a figure holding a tattered, bright yellow umbrella. Countless gaping holes, big or small, poke all through the thin umbrella, its plastic material was falling apart, fluttering uselessly. Held tightly in its hand, the umbrella was so tattered that it provided cover from neither the sun, the wind, nor the rain.
Yet, however tattered it was, it still managed to cover the features of that figure standing under it, shielding it under the dark shadows cast from the filmsy plastic.
Was that why the umbrella is still being used? To cover its face?
Huening Kai continues to monitor the screen, he stares into it unflinchingly, seemingly undeterred.
Then, Huening Kai begins to notice the features of the rectangular screen. It sticks to the painted, slightly peeling paint of the house. But it doesn't just stick. Instead, it feels like it's stapled to the wall, with red tubes criss-crossing over it, embedding it into the wall.
The problem comes with the red tubes. Huening Kai leans in closer, observing the tubes layered across one another like a web, thin, bright red, and... pulsing.
The tubes are alive.
They aren't just red tubes. Instead, its veiny texture hinted that they are blood vessels, pushing blood into the screen.
Huening Kai turns his head back. He looks towards Astra, who had stopped a few steps behind him. His mouth barely parts before she answers, shaking her head desperately at him.
Neither of them said a word. But everything that is not said is understood. He's asking if this house has such a live feed.
But how could they? Her grandparents didn't even have an electronic doorbell, let alone a security system.
Everything in this neighbourhood still belonged to a time that remained still for decades.
There was no way.
So she shook her head.
No.
Never.
As Huening Kai's expression hardens, the voice returns, more aged this time, slow and mellow, a little like her grandmother's.
"I said I'm home."
The screen flickers. The figure shown begins to move. The umbrella turns, lowering slightly, as the figure totters forward, inching closer and closer to the camera.
Finally, the screen reveals the figure under the umbrella. A wrinkled elderly lady with clusters of mushrooms for eyes, nose, ears, and lips. She reaches out her hands, pulling the umbrella close and putting it at her side, allowing all who dared to look at the screen a clear view of herself.
There was no single patch of skin below her neck. Instead, all they see is raw, bloody flesh where layers of colourful flowers, fungi, and mould bloom in abundance, thriving in her raw bed of flesh.
A symbiosis, perhaps.
A mutually beneficial relationship where they protect her through spreading out across her body like a layer of skin, and in return, she feeds them with her blood.
"I know you are all home!" Her voice calls out again. This time tinged with sadness.
"My dear children." She cries, "Open the door for me, please. I'm sorry. Let me back home."
Soobin feels his breath quicken. In the face of this unpredictable, unknown entity that nothing he knew could explain, a looming sense of urgency and danger weighs down on him. If there is even a chance of escape, they had to do it now. At least while she's still unable to enter the house.
"Does this house have another exit? If she somehow manages to come in—" Soobin doesn't want to imagine such a scenario, but the thought of getting trapped inside this house with that thing— he would rather die.
"There is." Astra tries to ignore the wailing sounds coming from the front, answering almost instantaneously. "I'll go get the keys."
Astra takes quick steps, spinning towards the dining area.
"I'll go with you." Soobin runs after her. He grabs Astra's arm tightly. Sending Astra alone to look for things in a place that's clearly different is something he cannot allow. Even if he's deathly afraid, even though he doesn't want to admit that between Astra and himself, he might be the one in more fear—
Still, he thinks he will be braver. He will be the one quicker on his feet. And he will protect his friends.
Hopefully.
Soobin steadies himself, trying to calm his heart against the intensifying wailings.
"I'm home!" It screeches, before a loud banging sound shakes the door. It's slamming her head against it, making a metallic clanging sound, as if its head is made of steel.
BANG!
BANG
BANG BANG!
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
The elderly woman swings her head, slamming it onto the door, sending blood spluttering in wild arcs across the walls and plants nearby. Accompanying each smash is a sickening, wet squelch, and chunks of bloody flesh are torn, pulled out, sticking to the doorknob.
Her head is now half caved in, sinking oddly inward.
But she doesn't stop swinging.
The four boys in the living room watch in silence, wincing with every splutter of red across the screen, their faces terribly pale.
Yeonjun and Taehyun are on the floor, excessive fear has made their knees buckle, and with each loud bang and tremble, their knees seem to sink deeper and deeper into the ground beneath them, unable to do anything but cover their eyes and ears, pretending that the threat outside didn't exist.
Beomgyu narrows his eyes, he squeezes Yeonjun and Taehyun's hands, hissing through clenched jaws, "Get a grip."
Fear was natural.
An emotion that helped humans survive through long centuries.
Beomgyu looks at Taehyun and Yeonjun's trembling frames, yet that same fear had now crippled his friends.
This much fear wouldn't save lives.
It would reap them.
"You two sure were confident earlier. You guys said that if she told us everything, we could have changed the ending."
Beomgyu leans down, pulling Taehyun up by his shoulders. He prys Taehyun's fingers away from his face and forces his teary eyes to look into his own.
"Taehyun." Beomgyu calls out in a deep voice, his gentle tone like a silver lining amongst all the insanity, "I know you're very scared now. But this doesn't change anything. If you cover your eyes and ears, you aren't even running away."
Beomgyu's voice sharpens as he continues ruthlessly, "You are just waiting to die."
"Taehyun." Beomgyu grips his fingers tightly. "You're the smartest here. "
"You understand, don't you? If you are so scared now, I see why Astra said there is no point."
Beomgyu presses his forehead to Taehyun, cupping his cheeks as he repeats, "Get a grip."
Taehyun closes his eyes.
"Get a grip." Beomgyu repeats.
In this mess of ungodly slamming and rapid screeches of, "I'm home!", "OPeN tHE DooR!", Taehyun's soft, "Okay." can barely be heard, but it contained a will that seems to drown everything else out.
Beomgyu smiles.
.
.
At the back of her grandparent's house is a mid-sized altar carved from deep-red wood. On the two ends of the dusty surface stand two battery-powered candles, its artificial flame gleaming stiffly through hard plastic, like a red flashlight. In the centre of the altar is a deity figurine her grandparents prayed to, seeking blessings, happiness and safety.
Standing before the altar, even in this world she knows is not hers, Astra clasps her palms tightly together, feeling the uneven beat of her heart gradually come to a calm. Her eyelids flutter shut, squeezed together in a desperate prayer.
Help.
Just this one word surfaces in her mind, like it's highlighted in the same deep red the altar glows in. It's also her one desperate wish, as a helpless, feeble mortal with little knowledge of the madness fate had pulled her into.
Her mind spirals, she stands before the altar, and the same red glow bleeds across her face. She sincerely prays, her thoughts uniting her mind and heart.
Help
HElp
HELp
HELP
PLEASE HELP US
HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP US HELP USHELPUSHELPUSHELPUSHELPUS.
The words scramble through her head, too fast, too strong, and too many, until there is a sudden silence—
HOW?
...
OPEN THE DOOR.
LET GRANDMA BACK HOME.
GRANDMA WILL SAVE US ALL.
Astra's lips move, they push against one another, opening and closing in incomprehensible, rapid chants.
"What..." Soobin had his hand on Astra's arm, alarmed, he gripped her arms tighter, pushing his fingers into her skin. "Are you doing?"
She doesn't respond. The girl has her chin lowered to her chest, hands clasped tight against one another, her chants rising into a screeching sound.
"Stop!" Soobin hisses, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. His eyes fixed on her hands, her fingers, and palms locked together in a prayer.
He's not sure what is happening. But—Soobin grips both of Astra's wrists, forcefully prying them apart.
Whatever is going on, he just knows he has to stop this.
Astra's hands fall to her side.
Her body lurches forward, like something has been ripped out. Her eyes snap open, wide, and she's staring blankly back at the shiny figure her grandparents had worshipped so faithfully.
Before her is no longer the benevolent, smiling deity. But a blood red figure with a wide, distorted grin that stretches far beyond its face. It's two beady eyes staring straight at her.
Before she can comprehend her fear, a shrill scream erupts from her throat. Soobin grabs Astra and reaches out, wanting to use his hands to wrap around her mouth, stifling her cries.
Yet before he could do so, her screams had already been silenced. Astra's covering her own lips, fingers criss-crossed against one another, tight, like a seal. Her eyes, the only features visible on her face, are dilated, wide in extreme fear.
But even that.
Even that is too late.
Outside, the poundings have stopped, for but a mere second before it rings with cries of a different tune.
"I heard you."
"I heard you!"
"You're home."
"Let me in!"
"You're home! Let me in!"
It's like she's slamming her head on the doorbell this time, with each pound comes the sharp, melodious ring, a too-perfect ding-dong that isn't supposed to be heard.
"Fuck." Soobin can't help but curse. He turns back to Astra, his head already wrapping around the plan of hiding inside a room, locking the door, and simply praying for the best.
He sees her pulling out a cabinet right underneath the altar. The cabinet slides open and bunches of keys scatter across. This is where all the keys are kept in the house, the work of her grandfather, who likes to keep the house organised and clearly segregated.
Astra digs her hand deep into the cabinet, sending it rattling as her hands roughly push from left to right.
The deity figure wobbles, shaken by the rough force Astra uses. It eventually tilts towards the side, knocking into one of the candles. Together, they tumble, rolling off the altar and falling to the tiled floor with a loud clang.
The figurine hits the floor first, followed by the candle, with a crack, its thin plastic bulb shatters, and with a flicker, the red glow it emits fizzles out.
Neither Astra nor Soobin flinches. Either they were too engaged in their cabinet search to notice or simply refusing to even glance at the toppled deity likely grinning up at them. They didn't react.
The cabinet Astra has shoved her arm in is old, fixed with protruding silver screws. The paint covering its wooden surface is peeling off, revealing sharp splintering wood underneath.
Thrashing her hand around in such a space must have been painful. But Astra's expression has never changed. She doesn't even bother to lower her eyes to look into the cabinet, helping her hand navigate against treacherous terrains. Instead, she blindly fumbles, her movements rushed, pushed by the pressure originating from behind the rumbling front door.
The wood splinters. The protruding nails. They rip through her flesh, drawing blood across her fingers, palm, and wrist. But perhaps numbed by fear and pumping adrenaline, she doesn't feel it. Her hands continue to thrash around, with the singular goal of clearing out all the keys here, such that even if that thing outside manages to break open the front door, with no keys, it wouldn't have the tools to open anything else.
Without another word, Astra uses her uninjured hand to tug at Soobin's baggy pocket at the side of his pants. She shoves the keys mixed with small amounts of her blood inside.
Soobin takes a sharp inhale, eyes paused on her bleeding hand. But in the end, he doesn't say anything, silently, he joins her, taking the keys and pushing it into his pocket. He's trying his best, but his head hurts. It's spinning.
Soobin blinks, looking away from the bloodied keys. He asks Astra, trying to keep his calm, "Which key is for the other exit?"
Astra raises her hand and unclenches her fists. Sitting amidst lines of broken skin and blood is a brass barrel key. "This." She whispers. "Is the key to the back door."
Soobin gulps, willing his vision to focus as he takes the key from Astra's palm, careful to avoid her wounds. "Where's the door?"
Astra turns, pointing to a big door a few steps away. "Just there. The green door."
Soobin takes big steps over, his eyes searching the surface of the mint green door for the keyhole, his gaze slides up and down, left and right...
He stiffens.
His heart thumps, speeding up as a horrifying thought dawns upon him. Soobin becomes more frantic, his eyes wildly searching. He paces around the door, hands frantically pushing against the door.
The door, Soobin notices, was unlike every other surface in the old house. The door was smooth, not peeled, not jagged, not rusting at the edges. Just an unusually smooth and perfect surface, without a single blemish, as if mocking the key he grips tightly in his hand.
There's no keyhole.
The door is like a flat, thick board. No keyholes, padlocks, bolts, or locks of any kind. There's not even a doorknob or handle. It's just a flat, green board.
Finally, Soobin asks, "Where's the keyhole?"
"What?" Astra grabs the key now hanging from the ends of Soobin's fingers. She twirls the key in her hand, with big steps forward, she pushes the key forward in a movement purely based on muscle memory.
"Here."
But the key doesn't go in.
It hits a flat surface.
Astra does a double-take, pushing the key again into where it had been supposed to fit.
Another hollow thunk.
This door, which she had personally unlocked with this very same key yesterday, now had its keyhole missing.
"No way." Astra chuckles nervously as she pushes her palms to the door, leaving behind bloody handprints on its once-perfect surface. "No way." She repeats.
"This." The imagery of the grinning deity suddenly appears in her mind, her hands thump against the door, sharp pain shooting through with every hit. A queasy feeling rises up her throat as she continues. "Is not our house."
Tears fall, soundlessly trickling down her cheeks. The feeling of being trapped in a place so alike her warm childhood home makes her feel an unprecedented fear.
It smells like home, looks like home, there's an uncanny similarity, but at the same time, there's a clear dissonance present at all the wrong places, throwing her head into disarray.
Soobin pulls Astra back from the door, hooking his forearm around her waist as he forcefully pulls her back, stopping her from hitting the door with her bloody hand.
"You already said." Soobin tries to remind her. He uses his hand to roughly wipe at her face. With his big hands, all it takes is a single wipe for her tears to smear across her cheeks. In another movement, Soobin uses his sleeves to dry them.
"That this is a different world." Soobin says.
He pulls her to the sink in the kitchen. With a turn of the tap, Soobin half expected to see grotesque coloured water to rush down, perhaps red like blood, or black like sludge.
But the water runs clear.
Soobin releases the breath he didn't realise he's been holding.
Soobin pulls Astra's palm under the running water, and the water carries away her blood, turning itself bright red. "You must have been very scared." Soobin speaks.
"Your grandparents are still fine." He reassures her. "Your home is not like this."
"Now. All we have to do is get back there. I don't know how, but we will eventually figure it out." Soobin says. He is scared too. His hands are shaking, trembling like it's on its strongest vibration mode. Yet, as he held her hands, even through the cool running water, all she felt was his warmth.
Soobin turns off the tap, wanting to pull her away, but she stands still in a daze, watching the red water swirl down the drain.
THUD
The mint green door, or what once used to be a door, trembles.
The first knock.
The second.
THUD.
Followed by the third, the fourth, the fifth...
THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD
"I hearrrrrr yooooooouuuuuuuu" It whistles. " Won't you open the door?"
"Wouldddnnnn't youuuuuu?" It calls sweetly, except it's still smashing against the door, shaking it down with loud slams.
Soobin stares into her empty eyes. He resists the overwhelming urge to just run into a corner and crouch there, to simply allow fate to run its course.
He can't let her die here.
He can't let them die here.
"Astra." He squeezes his eyes shut, calling her name steadily despite the intense clattering of his teeth. He covers her ears as he pulls her head into her arms. "Just listen to me, alright?"
"Whether this is your house or not, you're the one most familiar with this place." Soobin whispers, eyes still shut, shoulders jumping up with every slam.
"Even if everything here is not real..." Soobin pats her head.
"You are real. And so am I."
"So please." Soobin continues, pushing the girl tighter in his arms.
"Save us." He whispers.
"Alright?" Soobin opens his eyes a slit to look at Astra, jolting a little when he realises she has been staring at him.
...
"Okay." She says.
Astra tries to push Soobin's arm away. But he holds on tighter, not allowing himself to be pushed away. He just stares at her, eyes widened and hands weighing her down.
"I said okay." Astra tries to pull herself out of Soobin again. "You can let go of me now."
"You're okay now?" He asks, now easing his hold.
"You're the one who's not okay."
"You—" Soobin's finger stops halfway.
He sharply turns to the door, realising that at some point, it has stopped shaking.
The pounding has stopped.
The house has now fallen into silence.
.
"So painful. My face! It's so painful!" It shouts abruptly, breaking the silence.
"Naughty, naughty children."
"You are all home."
"So why won't you all open the door for me?"
...
"It's okay."
The door, or what it was supposed to be, must have been rather thin, as clear sounds of jingling metal keys can be heard.
"I'll open the door myself."
Click.
Click.
Clunk.
...
Creakkkkkkkk
"I'm home~" It sings, stepping inside.
The door, one supposedly without a keyhole, is now opened with a key.
Chapter 51: Day 24
Notes:
Horror is still ahead, Viewer discretion is advised ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
Chapter Text
A golden deity figure lies horizontally against the dirty tiled floor. It wore an exaggerated smile, yet a line of black tears traced a line down its face. The tears seep into a crack that splits from the crown of its head and down to its rounded shoulders, mixing with the thick, obsidian liquid oozing from the crack.
Like it's bleeding.
In this house, stranded in a world that does not belong, the deity figure rests beside a shattered candle.
Soon, soft footsteps can be heard, they run past the broken deity. One by one, yet none of them even spared it a look.
Until a pair of feet pause beside it.
Slender fingers wrap around its cracks, bringing it up to his eye level. The boy turns the figurine over, scruntinising its deformed features even as the thick black substance oozing from the deity smears across his fingers, staining them.
"Kai!" Beomgyu pokes his head out from inside a room. With brows furrowed, he calls to the boy in a frustrated hiss, waving his hands, "Hurry!"
Huening Kai glances at the figure he's cradling in his hands. It unsettles him, this cracked malicious malicious-looking figurine that cries and smiles at the same time. It looked so twisted, yet he's not sure why he's drawn to it, or why he decided to pick it up when they are supposed to be running for their lives.
But he did.
And since he did, he might as well bring it with him.
Huening Kai's gaze sharpens, his grip around the figurine tightening. If worst comes to the worst, he'll just use it as a weapon.
"I'm home!" An aged voice shouts in obvious jubilation, followed by sounds of tapping and wet, squelch, squelch sounds.
Huening runs off, figurine in his arms, into the room.
"What were you doing?" Beomgyu asks in a hushed question, hitting Huening Kai lightly on his shoulders. "Don't do things on your own." He continues. "You might get us all screwed."
"I—" Huening Kai's about to bring up the figurine he picked up when a faint creaking sound interrupts them, followed by Astra's whisper.
"It's open."
Astra is standing on top of a ladder, her head mere inches away from the ceiling. Above her head, a hatch has opened up. She climbs higher, half her body disappearing into the narrow opening.
Astra lifts one leg up, but is soon flailing, her limbs moving in absolute incoordination in attempts to get herself up.
But she's stuck, her poor physical skills dictated that she cannot get into the hidden storage room that her grandfather can easily access under the same conditions.
"I'll help." Taehyun steps up the ladder, placing a hand on her back. With a push, Astra is boosted upwards, both hands and feet finally scrambling atop the floorboards of the attic. She huffs and turns back to offer a hand to Taehyun—But he's already beside her, kneeling beside the opening of the hatch, an arm reaching out through the opening, fingers wrapped around Soobin's forearm, pulling him inward.
I should start exercising.
Astra shuffles over to give Soobin space. Looking down, she sees Yeonjun and Beomgyu following closely behind Soobin, leaving only Huening Kai standing by himself near the door.
Huening Kai is listening. Outside, the distant noises are growing louder, the wet footsteps, the rumble and crash of overturned furniture, and the occasional sounds of shattering materials and dragged screeches echo.
Each sound was a sign of her approaching presence and the trail of destruction she had left.
Huening Kai frowns, placing a hand by the door, planning to close and lock it.
"No." Huening Kai is stopped by Taehyun, who's now pulling Yeonjun in.
"Don't close the door." Taehyun continues with gritted teeth as he hauls Yeonjun up.
"If the door is locked, she'll know we are in here."
Astra holds the end of the ladder, calling out to Huening Kai, "Come over! She's going to be here soon!"
Huening Kai nods, gripping the ladder, he climbs up as fast as he could. The ladder shakes under his weight, shifting unsteadily with his every movement, but he doesn't pause, trusting all the hands securing the ladder in place.
"Get him in."
Three pairs of hands reach towards him, grabbing his arms, pulling him up.
The last person has entered the attic.
Yeonjun was looking uneasily at the ladder, "Is there really no way to bring the ladder up?"
"No." Taehyun answers. "You saw it. It's a heavy wooden ladder. Even if we had the strength, there's no way we can manage to fit it inside this small space."
The space they are in looks like a storage room. Half the room is packed with large plastic bags piled against one another. The air that smelt of plastic and dust is heavy, stuffy, and none the six of them could stand upright while in this space. The ceiling slopes down in an incline, forcing everyone to move around in a crouch or a hunched position.
It's not a space meant for humans to live in, yet oddly enough, in the middle of the room, right beside the hatch, is a bed. And a small, electric fan.
"Yeonjun." Soobin calls out. "Help me close the hatch."
Yeonjun steps over the bed, bending over, he holds the other end of the hatch, pulling it up inch by inch,
Puff.
The hatch finally closes with a soft, barely audible puff.
All eyes turn to Astra, watching as she fumbles with the ring of keys with her wounded hands, looking for the key to lock the hatch, and in the process, has gotten the keys stained in blood.
"What happened to your hands?" Beomgyu knows it's not the right time to ask such a question, but he couldn't help it.
"I'll do it." Taehyun takes the keys away from her hands. He puts the bundle down in his lap, quickly sorting through the right key from the bundle.
"It's that one!" Astra points at a dull silver key that has fallen off Taehyun's palm.
Taehyun grabs the key in his finger, pushing it into the keyhole. With a twist, the lock clicks into place.
"For now—" Taehyun looks at his friends sitting in a circle around him, his voice now a little louder. "We are safe."
"Great." Beomgyu nods as he pulls Astra's wrist. "Now explain what happened to this."
Astra shrugs, spreading her hands out like it's no big deal, "It just happened."
Following her words, all of them now turn to Soobin, eyes questioning silently as if asking, 'You caused it?'
Eh?
"No." Soobin sighs. "She thrashed her hand around in an old cabinet while trying to get all the keys into my pocket."
"When her hands came out." Soobin points to Astra's palm. "That's what it became."
"You're a mess." Yeonjun remarks.
"It's fine." Astra says. "It stopped bleeding after I washed my hands. Might have split open when I climbed the ladder earlier."
"Do you have a bandage here?" Soobin asks as he looks around, particularly at the huge bags of plastic.
"No." Astra shakes her head, a small smile growing on her face. "All that are inside these bags are my old toys. All that my grandparents have bought for me."
"I was their favourite." She continues as she slides her fingers against the crinkling plastic, pressing her fingers in to sink into a soft pastel thing underneath. "All that I wanted was given to me."
"But as I grow older, nobody uses them anymore." Astra wraps her arms around the plastic, resting her cheek on it, "My grandparents can't bear to throw it away. So here they are."
"All here." A bright smile lights up her sweaty and bloody self, seeming so out of place.
The five boys kept silent. None of them interrupted Astra as she reminisced about her childhood spent under the loving care of her grandparents, boasting how treasured she was, practically raised like a glass flower. It must have been because they had never seen her eyes light up with so much joy and sincerity as she recounted a time she could never return to. It was also a glimpse into her past. One she usually kept under wraps.
When her story ended, the first comment crashed down, ruining the atmosphere.
"You must have been a tough brat to raise." Yeonjun says.
"I was." Surprisingly, Astra doesn't deny it.
"But my mum managed to whack it out of me." Astra lowers her eyes, rubbing her nose, about to go into another storytelling session again. "My mother—"
She paused.
"Mum..." Her voice begins to waver, like a word she hasn't dared to utter for a long time.
A fragile silence falls, and the five boys exchange glances, each of them tense.
Ripppp—
The sudden sound draws Astra's attention. She looks over to see Huening Kai holding out his oversized t-shirt while Taehyun uses his bare hands to tear a strip off.
Taehyun hands it to Astra, "You can stop talking now. Here, bandage from Huening Kai."
Astra stares blankly at the fabric in her hands, rugged and uneven, absorbed by a sense of déjà vu.
A memory of a boy in a blindfold, of someone trapped in darkness.
Looking up again, she sees Taehyun's wide eyes blinking up at her.
It's unknown what overcame her when she engulfed Taehyun in a tight hug, clutching Huening Kai's ripped shirt tightly in her hands. She presses his warm forehead against hers, as if she wanted to stamp this moment inside her head, of his quiet heartbeat, and the bright, confused, and unscarred eyes looking down at her.
"I'll save us." She whispers.
"I really will." Astra pauses, wrapping her hands tighter around him.
"I must."
...
Taehyun's eyes shift around, and he sticks his tongue out slightly, signalling his friends to 'please save me' because she's hugging a little too tightly.
He's now finding it a little too difficult to breathe.
"Astra." Beomgyu begins.
"I get that you must really like Taehyun here, but—" Beomgyu points out the bloody prints on Taehyun's shirt. "You are getting your blood all over him."
Astra pretends not to have heard, closing her eyes. She wants to save this moment, shut off all the ungodly sounds from beneath them. Even now, stuck in a stuffy and hot storage room, it feels like it's all she ever wanted.
Taehyun wriggles his arms out, patting her back. "Me too." He says softly, lips tugged upwards in a soft line.
"I like you a lot too." Taehyun sinks her head down to tap on her shoulders.
"But first, let's get your hands wrapped up."
"Okay." Astra finally lets go. She turns to the side, wrapping the strip of cloth around her injured hand, pulling a knot with the help of her teeth, all completed in one swift motion.
"You could have asked us to help." Yeonjun says.
"It's fine." Astra waves her hands before she scoots closer towards them, "What now?"
"We give it time." Taehyun says. "Maybe—" he continues, unable to imagine how they will get out otherwise. "After a certain amount of time, we'll be returned back to the world we are supposed to be."
"Like you did." Taehyun turns to Astra, "When you said you saw Soobin in that weird school."
"What if we don't?" There's neither food nor water here. They wouldn't be able to last long.
"Let's give it 8 hours." Beomgyu suggests.
"Let's take turns to sleep and rest up. If 8 hours later, and we are all still here, we will leave and find another way."
In the absence of answers and a path to escape, it was the best plan they had.
Sleep was the first step in their meagre agenda, but the only bed in the room is a single mattress.
Astra reaches over, taking the sole pillow on the mattress, and pushes the mattress towards them. "You guys use this."
"Why is there a mattress here in the first place? It's like someone's here." Soobin rubs his arms, staring warily at the mattress.
"That's my grandfather's. He sleeps here."
"Eh?"
"He doesn't sleep with your grandmother?"
"Is their relationship not good?"
"No." Astra shrugs. "He just loves sleeping here. Not even my grandmother knows why, let alone me."
.
It's weird.
Soobin's the one up for look-out duty this time, and he's been spending it kneeling by the hatch, pressing his ears against the wood, brows furrowed deeply, listening intently to what that thing is saying below.
For the past hour, it's been circling the area right below them, knocking and slamming against the furniture in the room while repeating the same few words over and over,
"They are here. They are here."
"Where are they hiding?"
"They are here!"
It's like she's so sure this is where they were, but couldn't find them.
But if she couldn't find them, how could she be so sure?
Soobin bites his lips. And he couldn't help but wonder if somehow, she could feel their location.
At this rate—
He shifts his body, lifting his ear up from the hatch. He rubs his sore back as he turns to his friends.
All of them are asleep.
The four boys had managed to share a mattress, hands and legs piled up against one another, tangled together, yet somehow managed to fall into deep sleep. Beside them, Astra curls to the side, a pillow hugged tightly in her arms. The five of them sleep close together despite the stifling heat, their hair clumped together, shirts sticking to their skin, and clear sweat droplets on their faces, all sweating heavily.
Soobin sighs, looking at the whirling mini fan across them, its blades spin feebly, blowing air across the enclosed space.
Looks like this thing's not helping much.
Soobin hears a whimper. He turns, eyes stopping on Taehyun, who, even in sleep, had his brows locked in a furrow, his lips jutting in and out. Among all of them, Taehyun is sweating the most, half his shirt completely damp, and it's like he just came out of the shower.
A nightmare?
Soobin sighs. He reaches over with his sleeves, unknowingly using the same sleeve that wiped the tears off Astra's face hours ago, to dap at Taehyun's forehead.
Soobin then turns back to glance at the hatch.
—At this rate, Soobin fears that it will soon discover the ladder.
.
.
The house is partially destroyed.
Entire sections of the living room and the dressing room could have been said to be levelled. There's no standing furniture left untouched; all of them have been forcefully pulled down to the floor. The old grandfather clock shattered in a corner, and the tall shelves lining the walls, now smashed into pieces. Even the altar was not spared, with multiple palm-sized holes poking through its solid material. Without exception, everything lay in ruins of dust and debris.
A hunched figure strolls past, her umbrella gripped in her hand like a weapon.
"Are you here?"
With a swing, the tattered umbrella easily pierces through a toppled shelf, skewering through its multiple layers of hardwood through the umbrella like it's candied fruit. The wood cracks and falls apart as she twists the umbrella in her palm, jabbing it in and out through the wood. She continues pushing her umbrella into the wood, each strike stronger than the last, until all that is left are merely pieces of wood splinters on the floor.
She steps across the wreckage in dirty yellow boots, leaving footprints of what looks like mud across the floor. Her footprints trail in circles, around and around the same area, over and over, covering every inch of the floor with mud that doesn't seem to run out.
Squelch.
She stops. She raises her umbrella and for the first time, doesn't use it as a skewer, but instead, she lightly taps the sharp tip of the umbrella on a wooden furniture that stands in a dim corner of the room, almost camouflaged into the darkness, and had escaped her sight all this while.
It's the ladder.
"Ah!"
The sound from her lips sounds like a joyful cheer.
The mushrooms substituting as her lips widen, cracking into a smile, revealing a dark hole of a mouth. In her rounded eyes, the numerous thin films spreading from the centre like the gills at the back of a mushroom spore cap tremble, following the ladder up to the hatch.
"Ah."
Again, she exclaims. A delightful discovery.
She pulls her umbrella back, positioning it in front of her. With a light push on the handle, the umbrella poofs open, the bright yellow cap covering her face in dark shadows. With a swing of her arm, she brutally stabs the hook-shaped handle in the nape of her neck.
Puchi—
The rounded handle easily digs past her skin and into her flesh, melding perfectly into her spine, like all along, it's been part of her.
Her yellow boots push hard against the ground as she leaps into the air. The tattered yellow umbrella flutters, catching the wind, carrying her up.
But not far. The countless holes in the umbrella meant it would never work well, whether for sheltering someone or magically catching the wind and flying up like a hot air balloon.
Before she falls back to the ground, she grabs the fourth rung of the ladder, securing a foothold.
"I'll need more." She mumbles, lovingly caressing the holes of the opened umbrella atop her head, brushing the patches of torn fabric that dangle like human skin. "It's alright." She whispers. "I can fix you up soon."
With that, she quickens her pace, hands and legs moving in unison, her every step up shakes the ladder, she moves hurriedly. She's heavy, despite seeming to be half-fungi, she's not by any means considered normal-sized. Her feet thump and the ladder shakes in loud rattles and creaks as it climbs up, reaching higher and higher.
.
.
Astra is woken by a push from her side. She stretches her limbs, eyes blinking wearily,
"What time is—"
A palm presses against her lips, muffling her voice. Her eyes widen, seeing Yeonjun shaking his head at her, she realises.
She's still here. In this damned space.
It's not over yet.
BANG!
A loud slam sends the floor underneath her shaking. Astra flinches, sitting up, she turns to Soobin, her lips slowly forming the words, "She found us?"
Taehyun nods.
"Wake the others." comes his reply, his face tense with fear as he stacks bags atop the shaking hatch. The hatch rattles violently as her cries echo from underneath them,
"You are all here!"
"I know!"
"You are all here!"
"Don't hide! I found you!"
Astra grits her teeth, hurrying to her friends. But she doesn't need to wake them up. Their eyes are already wide open, jolted awake, all looking towards the hatch.
But Astra's attention is on something else. About the size of her arm, placed beside Huening Kai, hidden under a shadow by the corner, is a smiling deity, its expression twisted in malice.
Fuck.
Astra's fingers tremble, forgetting the unspoken need for silence, her voice rises with every word.
"Why is that thing here?"
Chapter 52: Day 24
Chapter Text
"I brought it up with me." Huening Kai answers, he reaches towards the figurine and shows it to Astra. "It looked special, so—"
"No." Astra pales, with a panicked swing of her hand, the figurine is struck off his hands. The deity flies across the room, slamming into the wall on the other end with a sharp, echoing clang. It rebounds from the wall, tumbling back down towards the floor, rolling.
Until it trails to a stop, landing upright just a few feet away from Astra.
The deity faces her with its wide grin, along with a newly formed crack chipping off the edge of its head. From the fracture, a thick black liquid pools out, forming a tiny puddle on the floor that is guided through the lines between the floorboard, reaching towards her.
Astra finds her frantic thoughts driven by fear slowing down, churning sluggishly as if mixed with sludge. A sacred, quiet serenity fills her head, her eyes fixed on the deity's cracked and smiling head, and as she blinks, she sees the benevolent deity again, glowing bright golden, smiling at her with seemingly endless kindness.
Help us. She pleads again.
HElp
HELp
HELP—
Fwoosh.
A thick flop of mattress sails overhead, dropping straight on the figurine with a heavy puff that snaps her back to clarity. Soobin runs up from behind her, with urgent motions, he rolls that thing into the mattress, covering it completely.
"This thing is dangerous." He mutters, huffing.
Soobin turns to Huening Kai, a look of helplessness on his face. In the end, the older boy just sighs, and without a word, he turns away.
Off to the side, Yeonjun is grabbing the brooms and mops hanging off the hooks on the walls. He throws a mop towards Beomgyu, who quickly catches it, "The hatch isn't going to stand." He says, chewing on his lips as he watches the hatch tremble violently, a crack visible on its surface. "I say, we should strike first."
"At the count of three." Yeonjun says. "We open the hatch and push the ladder off."
"But if the ladder is gone, how would we get down?"
"But there's no other way," Yeonjun answers without pause, having already considered this point. "I'd rather jump down without a ladder, than be stuck here with that thing."
"Still." Beomgyu says. "Let's try to secure the ladder. If that doesn't work, then we push the ladder off."
And the plan was passed unanimously.
Huening Kai shrinks back. He peeks at his five friends, all standing near the hatch, tense. He fiddles with his fingers, unsure of what to do now.
Was it because of him? Of the deity he brought up, that it was able to find them so easily?
A heavy guilt overwhelms him. He feels like anything he does now will only make things worse.
"Huening Kai!" Taehyun calls.
"What are you doing? Quickly bring that thing. When the hatch is opened, hurl it down at her." Soobin continues, mumbling to himself. "If this fails. We are all screwed."
"Can I say my last words?" Astra raises her hand, her gaze stuck to the floor. It's like she has prepared herself to say something sentimental, a message from the bottom of her heart, to her friends who—
"No." Yeonjun answers. And without giving Astra time to respond, he starts the countdown,
"Three."
They all straighten up, either tightening their grips on their weapons, namely the broom and the mop, and shift closer towards the hatch, their hands at the ready to grab onto the ladder.
"Two."
Yeonjun gives his friends a glance before he turns the key.
Click.
The hatch shakes with another loud thump.
"One!"
Yeonjun yanks the hatch open.
A gust of cool air rushes in, cleansing the stuffy attic. But it wasn't welcome, the air smelt like dampness and rot, all originating from the being clutching the ladder. The broom and mop are thrust downwards through the opening, jabbing blindly at the figure neither Beomgyu nor Yeonjun had seen clearly.
Taehyun lies in the middle of the two of them. He's gritting his teeth, ignoring the fear that made his chest tighten suffocatingly. He reaches out, pulling himself forward, closer to the edge of the hatch. An overpowering scent of rotting mushrooms and blood hits him. And Taehyun could already see himself running away, to the furthest corner—
No.
Taehyun wraps his arms around the ladder. He had to hold this tight, he thinks.
This is their lifeline, after all.
Then, he hears her voice.
"How cruel." It remarks, tutting.
It reaches out its fleshy arms, grabbing the ends of the tools, pushing against her flesh. With mushrooms covering every inch of her fingers, they curl around the broom and mop. It pulls lightly, yet Beomgyu and Yeonjun are yanked forward, their weapons so easily ripped away from them.
Snap.
The metallic pole of the mop crinkles like thin foil, and the wooden broomstick snaps into two halves, like thin twigs.
"Dear children." It cooes.
"This isn't how you should welcome me."
Amidst the despairing faces of his friends, Huening Kai steps forward. He pulls his hand back, the heavy figurine held carelessly in his arms.
The deity figurine, dug out of the mattress, is now pinched between Huening Kai's fingers. He stretches out his arms, turning towards the thing up on the ladder, ready to swing it forward. He tenses, mind seething with an intense, almost unexplained ill will. He's already picturing both the deity figurine and the mushroom monster breaking apart, shattered into tiny pieces.
But Taehyun pulls himself before Huening Kai, his task of securing the ladder momentarily forgotten. His hands wrap around Huening Kai's arms with the same tightness he once held the ladder with, as if he had found a new lifeline.
"Stop." Taehyun whispers.
"They—" Taehyun starts, eyes shifting from the figurine to the thing on top of the ladder. "Are the same."
Huening Kai's gaze follows Taehyun's fingers, "Same." He mumbles.
Same?
Then he realises.
The figurine and the grandmother cloaked with fungal skin, mirror one another.
The same lines, and black, gooey liquid leaking from them.
The same, splitting cracks starting from the top of the head tearing down to its shoulder. The fracture mirroring the deity figurine is unmistakable, slicing through the bed of mushrooms growing on its skin.
The fractures are lined with split or decomposing mushrooms, their caps dotted with dark grey spots, curling and shrivelling onto themselves, withering, standing in stark contrast to the vibrant mushrooms blooming everywhere else.
"Look." Taehyun says. "The top of her head."
At the very edge, at the same area of the figurine's head that has been broken by Astra, her fungal skin is peeling off, layer by layer, it detaches from itself, visible chunks falling to the ground.
It screams. It's once gleeful expression twisting into anger. Its gaze shifts, snapping straight towards Huening Kai, and at the figurine he holds in his hand.
"Give her back to me!" It lunges forward, anchoring its fleshy fingers on the edge of the hatch. Its fingers leave deep lines on the floorboards, dragging it across the boards to claw itself up.
Then, a white shoe ruthlessly stomps down on its fingers, his shoes pressing down on its hand, "Let go!" Soobin shouts, pushing his full weight downwards, wanting to loosen its grip.
It doesn't flinch even as its hand is being crushed underfoot. Instead, a small, thin smile pulls across its sagging flesh. There's a twitch starting from the base of her arm, then, abruptly, the tiny clusters of mushrooms lining her skin rupture, and like a chain reaction, it explodes like waves, pushing through.
The blast bursts forward violently.
"Move!" Astra was the first to react. She yells, lunging towards Soobin, slamming into his chest with her elbows. She's just in time, and Soobin tumbles backwards, landing with a hard thud on his back.
Yet even so, even if the exploding mushrooms and his feet never made contact, he feels a pulling force on his feet. A violent, unnatural gravitational force that instantaneously rips into the rubber soles of the indoor slippers Leonelle made them wear, then into the fabric of his socks, then to the bare soles of his feet.
A burning, searing sensation that claws into his skin, but then, perhaps dissipated by the double-layered protection of his slippers and socks, it stops.
"Don't get close!" Soobin screams, immediately getting back up and rushing back towards his friends, all standing dangerously close to her. He sees his five friends, faces bearing traces of youth, their brightest years marred with deep fear, most of them shaking, cold sweat tracing their faces as they stand before the monstrosity that Soobin is still struggling to understand.
And Soobin can't help but wonder if they had a chance.
Will we all die here?
"Smash it!" Taehyun's bright voice breaks through the haze of depressing thoughts. Soobin sees Taehyun rushing towards Huening Kai, holding the very container that Astra had claimed her grandfather uses as his personal toilet whenever he spends the night here, the toilet downstairs too troublesome to access.
Earlier, they laughed, joking about taking turns to use this 'toilet' if they became trapped here for the foreseeable future.
The container— Soobin looked— was empty, but still, why would Taehyun take it?
Huening Kai harbours the same curiosity, but he doesn't stop to think why. He only catches the brilliant clarity and intent in Taehyun's eyes, and Huening Kai had understood before his mind could fully catch up.
Taehyun raises the container high, arms tensing, then he sends it crashing down towards the deity figure he threw on the floor.
BANG
The plastic container deforms from the violent impact, but Taehyun doesn't flinch. He continues, lifting it again, and again, and again, he slams the container downwards, each louder than the last, trying his best to beat the shit out of the grinning figurine lying cracked at his feet.
Huening Kai looks around the area. Quickly, he reaches out, grabbing a charger head lying carelessly beside the mattress. He turns towards Taehyun, eyes fixed on the cracked piece oozing black liquid, and he swings.
Huening Kai would admit. That he had something against the face of the figurine. It must have been its smile, one that felt so disgustingly malicious. He hated it, so while Taehyun aimed for area impact with his container, Huening Kai swung for sharp, precise impacts concentrated only at its face.
They smash in turn, relentlessly, desperately, yet despite their ferocious actions, their faces depict an eerie focus of calm.
BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.
Loud banging sounds echo in a rhythmic order. And with every slam, it grows increasingly desperate to hurl itself through the hatch, hands clawing towards Huening Kai and Taehyun, screeching.
"Give her back to me!"
Offhandedly, a thought so out of place that it almost made him falter flashed through Taehyun's mind—so it's a her.
Taehyun quickly pushes that stray thought aside. He twists off the cap of the container, finding its sturdiness, compact size, and hard edges more effective for smashing that figurine in. Taehyun moves, his force heavy and fast, each almost mechanically aimed at the crack on the very edge of the figurine. With each swing, he carves deeper and deeper in with the cap. Along with loud pounding noises, they gradually chip into the figurine.
Taehyun barely stops, his movements urgent as inhuman screams rings around them. But when he does stop to catch his breath, Huening Kai returns with increased ferocity. With the sharp metal prongs that poke out of the charger, he uses it to tear into the figurine, dragging it through the cracks Taehyun opened, sawing it down.
Courtesy of Taehyun and Huening Kai, the figurine's breakdown isn't gradual, but a rapid, brutal progression. The moment the figurine snaps into two, each half is quickly seized by Taehyun and Huening Kai, each taking one half, pounding at the remains with renewed focus.
"What the—" Beomgyu mumbles as he watches pieces of flesh and mushrooms dropping off from its body, sizzling into black smoke before it could touch the ground.
"It hurts!" It wails as more and more of itself peels apart, her form gradually unravelling. In a desperate frenzy, it scrambles, catching the peeling pieces of flesh and mushrooms and pressing them back into place. But when its fingers touch those falling pieces, it was like they no longer belonged to it. They sizzle, burning into its flesh before vanishing into puffs of steam.
It shrieks, a sorrowful, almost painful cry escapes its throat.
Then, Soobin charges forward, towards Huening Kai and Taehyun, with a small hammer he retrieved from who knows where in his hand.
"Move!"
Seeing the hammer, the two of them lean backwards, watching as Soobin jumps through the air, smashing down at the pieces of the figurine with a loud thump.
Crrack
It shattered.
In a single, effective blow by the hammer, the top half, the grinning face of the deity shatters into pieces. Shards fly, and black gooey liquid leaks out from every split surface. Soobin grabs the other half, not minding the black stains that smeared his palms, and with a toss, he adds it to his strike area.
Crraacck
Soobin swings, again and again, entering the state Taehyun and Huening Kai had been in, frenzied even as the pieces of the figurine disintegrate, each fragment becoming thumb-sized, then nail-sized, smaller and smaller.
At some point, there's no longer screaming; everything had returned to a silent calm except his pounding, but Soobin doesn't stop. Perhaps afraid it might return, he grits his teeth, dimples on either side of his cheeks carved in deeply, all telling of his heavy effort, giving his all into every strike.
Like this, he goes on and on, eyes glued on the pieces now crushed into powder and sludge, fingers turning white from gripping the hammer so tightly, every strike now hits beyond its remains and into the floorboards underneath, carving dents that dig deeper and deeper.
"You can stop now." Taehyun says, his big eyes reflecting Soobin's state of savage mania as he slams his hammer down, crashing deep into the floorboard.
Soobin doesn't stop.
Something's obviously wrong with him.
"Soobin." Astra calls, wrapping her arms around his shoulders just as he did hours ago when she was trapped in a chanting spree.
"Stop!" She yells into his ears, trying to wrench the hammer from his grip. But he's resisting her, fingers tight with a surprising strength, refusing to let go.
"It's gone!" Astra yells again.
Soobin doesn't even look at her.
"Choi Soobin!" Comes Beomgyu's loud scream. He stands at the side, staring down at Soobin, who's swinging the hammer crazily. "You're breaking the house!"
Astra looks at the deep curvature on the floor, the wooden boards have long been smashed through to reveal the cracked cement underneath.
"It's the antique brazillion redwood flooring my grandfather laid himself!" Astra blurts.
It's not.
Her grandfather didn't have that capability. He had neither the money nor the skills.
But it works.
Soobin blinks, his eyelashes fluttering in slow motion. His eyes finally taking in the sight of the destruction he had caused. The hammer slides powerlessly from his hand with a thud, landing a final strike on the 'brazillion redwood' flooring, the claw of the hammer pierces halfway through the floor, stuck.
Soobin stares at the hole.
...
It's seconds later that he reacts with a sharp gasp, his big hands rushing to cover the hole as he turns to face Astra with a sheepish smile of someone caught red-handed.
"...Oops."
Astra smiles, a warm stretch pulling her lips. She kneels before him, tears abruptly falling from her eyes, as she pulls him into a hug, smoothing out his disheveled hair, "It's alright."
The exact words Soobin said to her earlier when she was the one breaking apart, she remembered it all. Her lips part, repeating them back to Soobin,
"This is a different world, my home is not like this."
And the world flickers.
The remains of the figurines that are smashed into the floor begin to glow. The sludge hisses, sizzling into a puff of smoke, while the powdered remains light up in a golden-orange shimmer that gently ascends to the sky.
Then, there was a soft echo of an ethereal whisper.
"Thank you."
"What?" Yeonjun jolts, his head whips frantically around to identify the source of that unfamiliar voice.
The voice comes again, bidding its final farewell,
"Thank you, children."
Everything flickers. One last time.
Chapter 53: Day 24 - 25
Chapter Text
"I totally saved your asses ummuff—" Huening Kai's exclamation is cut short by a palm clamping over his lips.
"Shhh!" Astra hisses, eyes fixed towards her grandfather, curled towards one end of the thin mattress. Loud snores pushed through his lips, sounding alongside the weak, rattling breeze of a small fan blowing past the white strands of hair near his forehead.
"Let's get out of here first." Astra whispers, gently stepping across the floorboards towards the hatch.
The five boys hold their breath, their eyes warily eyeing the elderly man, ensuring his eyelids remain closed with each creaky step they take across the wooden floorboards.
Else, what could explain what the hell they are doing here?
One by one, they make their way down the ladder, out of the storage room, and back towards the living room. The living room remains brightly lit, snack boxes still open, and small crumbs of food scatter across the table. It's exactly how they left it.
"..."
Huening Kai turns to Astra, fingers twiddling with the ends of his shirt, eyes staring up into hers.
"... yes. You can talk now."
"I was saying i totally saved the five of you!" Huening Kai exclaims, grinning as he paces around them. "That figurine! If I didn't bring it up—"
"Thank you." Beomgyu says. "We might have all just died there."
Soobin walks over, his lips deathly pale as he engulfs Huening Kai in a tight hug, catching him off-guard.
"That was some scary shit." Soobin mumbles. His voice then rises to a chuckle, "You saved us. Got it." He paused. "Thanks."
Huening Kai grins, a smug look on his face. He lifts his hands, about to pat Soobin's back, when Yeonjun comes barreling towards him, "Huening!" He yells.
Yeonjun rubs his sweaty forehead on Huening Kai's, "Thank god." Yeonjun closes his eyes, "Thank god." He repeats.
Huening Kai pulls a disgusted face as he pulls his forehead away from Yeonjun, and as he looks up, his eyes find Astra and Taehyun, both staring back at him, a light, relieved smile on their faces.
They don't say it out loud, but their lips part, mouthing a silent word of thanks.
Huening Kai smiles, even as he is squished between Soobin and Yeonjun, stuck in a hug so tight he thought his poor, fragile bones are going to break.
"Let's go." Soobin sends his hand ruffling though Huening Kai's hair, messing it up with a fond smile.
As Huening Kai groans, pulling his head away, Soobin looks up, at the slightly rusting standing clock at the far corner, it's ticking sound a constant reminder of the time they spent trapped inside that horrifying space.
"Let's go home." Soobin says.
"I thought we were staying over?" Beomgyu had already lain down flat on the sofa, pointing at the spare mattress Leonelle had pulled out for the five boys in the living room.
"You are insane." Soobin scrunches up his face. He grabs Beomgyu's wrist, and with a forceful tug, Beomgyu is pulled off the sofa to stand upright. "You want to stay over? Especially after what happened?"
Regardless of whether it's the same space or not, wherever they were earlier and this place they are in now, are essentially replicas. At the end of the living room, stands the same redwood altar, with the same deity figure, except it's smiling normally now, a light smile with gently curved, closed eyelids.
Even if everything looked normal now, Soobin couldn't forget the deity with a twisted smile.
Sleeping in the same space as that figurine is not something Soobin can accept with his sanity intact. His eyes shift through the interior of the old house, the aged furniture, the sweet scent of herbal tea and cookies, the bookshelves lined with children's books and framed family photos, and finally, the kindness they received from the elderly couple living here.
Once, the house felt like a warm haven.
But now, it's a house he might never want to set foot in again.
Therefore, all of them. All of them aren't allowed to stay the night.
Yet—
"Yes." Beomgyu answers Soobin as he leans towards Astra, wearing a lazy smile whilst hanging an arm off her shoulder, "I don't mind. I want to stay over."
Soobin grits his teeth, confused at how Beomgyu was able to say it so easily, as if they hadn't just barely escaped with their lives.
"Okay." Huening Kai nods, skipping to Astra and sliding his arm into hers, "I'll be staying over too."
"Then I—" Taehyun's eyes shake wildly, mentally weighing his fear against his desire to stay with his friends.
"No." Soobin pulls Taehyun's arm, taking big steps towards the trio. "Nobody is allowed to stay over." Soobin says firmly.
"Oh." Astra nods, then a smile, as she waves her hands gently, "That's fine! I'll see you all tomorrow."
Astra pulls out her phone, "Should I call a taxi for you guys?" At this hour, the buses and trains are no longer running.
"No." Soobin says again, his hands wrapping around Astra's shoulders, "You are coming with us."
"Eh?" Beomgyu lets out a confused sound, stupefied by Soobin's unreasonable demand.
Astra asks right after. "Why would I? This is my house."
She frowns, stepping backwards to loosen Soobin's grip on her. She asks, her voice lower now, a timbre of pain faintly shaking her question, "Where would I even go?"
"You can stay over at Beomgyu's house." Soobin says quickly, hands sliding down to grab at her forearm, refusing to let go. "You can't stay here."
Hearing his house being offered up, Beomgyu points at himself, eyes widened as he looks between Astra and Soobin.
"Let's go." Soobin strides towards the altar with bated breath, towards the very cabinet Astra had pulled out bunches of keys from.
"Which is the key for the front door?"
Astra lifts her hand, "I'll take it."
"With that hand?" Yeonjun scoffs, carefully reaching his arm in, "Just tell me which key."
"It's the one with the silver keychain." Astra says.
"This?" Yeonjun holds out a silver key hooked through his pinky finger.
She nods, turning her attention back to Soobin. "I'll stay here. You five should get going now. It's really late."
"No!" Soobin's voice rose sharply, the skin on his neck reddened, as if he's trying hard to stop himself from shouting, to avoid waking the elderly couple asleep in the house.
Soobin's eyes widened pleadingly, and he stepped forward, pulling her towards the door. "No way. You can't stay here."
"Let's go." Soobin declares. "We are all leaving."
"No?" Astra says incredulously, as if she can't believe how persistent Soobin was in getting her to leave her own house. Astra shakes her hand harshly, trying to rid herself of Soobin's grip.
Soobin's eyes turn red, holding on tight, stubborn.
"I won't go." Astra says, pushing Soobin back. "I'm staying here! With my grandparents!"
"This is my home!"
Then—
"Soobin."
A soft call cuts into the tension building between them. Beomgyu had his eyes on the floor, following a trail of blood that leads to Soobin's left foot.
"You're bleeding."
"What?" Soobin looks down, staring blankly at the small puddle of blood formed beneath his feet. Briefly, he goes into a daze. He wriggles his toes, then takes another look at the deity sitting on the altar. His gaze hardens, now more determined to leave.
"See?" Soobin slides his feet out from the slippers and lifts his feet up in a swift motion, holding it up in the air before Astra. "This is why we have to go. It's dangerous here."
Astra's breath hitches. Her wide eyes stare at the soles of his feet, lips trembling.
"You.." Astra begins, then abruptly grabs onto his ankle, pulling off the darkened, damp sock still sticking on his skin. Her face darkens, "We have to go to the hospital now."
"What?" Soobin recoils, clutching at his feet. "It's not even painful."
Before Soobin can say another word, he is forced down by Beomgyu and Yeonjun, the two boys pushed him onto a chair. Soobin raises his arms, about to protest when he sees Astra already calling for a taxi.
"Hey!" Soobin slams his palm on the armrest, wanting to stand back up, "You're going back with us! When the taxi comes, all of us are leaving."
Astra holds Soobin down, a resigned expression on her face. "Okay."
"Also. My leg is fine." Soobin nods, relieved that Astra is finally listening to him. He eyes his feet, shifting them across the floor, still feeling no pain. "No need for the hospital. Just get me some bandages."
"It's not fine." Huening Kai says. "Take a look for yourself."
Realising something wrong, Soobin frowns, bending over to check the condition of his feet.
It's bad.
A wide patch of skin is peeled off from the center of his sole, raw red flesh exposed beneath the skin. The edges of his wound, had blackened, looking like they were shrivelling up. It reminded Soobin of that thing's skin.
Soobin swallows, clamping his lips shut. Now all he can do is hope that from his open wound, no mushrooms will grow.
Soobin closes his eyes, reluctant to look any further.
"Don't you feel pain?" Yeonjun gimaces at the horrifying wound.
"No."
"Right. We have to bring him to the hospital now." Yeonjun stares ominously at Soobin, "Something's definitely wrong with him."
.
.
.
A tall man in a long white coat, with a stethoscope hanging by his neck, is turning from side to side on his swirly chair, elbows propped against the table, one hand holding up his chin, in deep thought.
The doctor's looking at him weirdly.
Sitting before him, Soobin shuffles in his chair, giving an awkward chuckle. The doctor folds his arm, leaning closer towards Soobin, who's now regretting not insisting on having pulled one of his friends in with him.
"How exactly did you get that wound?" The doctor narrows his eyes, eyeing him like he's a criminal who smuggled in contraband items.
And indeed. The doctor suspects dangerous contraband items at play here. Without precise equipment, how else would he get a wound that precisely peels off the fine layer of skin in perfect, even depth?
Soobin responds with his dimpled smile, eyes lowering to glance at his nametag, -Dr. A. Watcher-
Soobin's mind turn, and the corner of his lips twitches.
Alert watcher?
Damn.
"I would like to keep that private, sir." Soobin folds his fingers together nervously, unconsciously shifting how he addresses this 'A. Watcher' whose gaze never left him, instinctively switching from 'doctor' to 'sir' as Soobin shrinks deeper into his seat.
It's not like he could say a explosion from a elderly lady growing mushrooms on her skin caused this.
Who would believe him?
"Student." The doctor eyes the uniform Soobin is wearing. "Are you perhaps involved in—" The doctor lets his words drag out, not completing his sentence, instead, he looks at Soobin, as if waiting for him to fill in the blanks.
As if he would.
Soobin knew what he was referring to. Probably illegal societies and organisations. But Soobin is determined to act innocent, blinking, "What?"
Watcher's brow furrows, adjusting his glasses to sit at the highest end of his nose bridge, a sharp glint in his eyes. "Like gangs, cults, secret societies, things like that—"
Watcher gestures to the wound on Soobin's feet, hinting, "That caused your injury."
Soobin hurriedly shakes his head, suddenly reminded of his own question a few weeks back, when he asked the three first-years if they were part of any suspicious groups. The look of wary concern he must have worn back then, must be the same as the one he's seeing on Watcher right now.
Is this retribution?
"No!" Holding back his sigh, Soobin yells. He wouldn't stand for absurd, false charges placed on his head, "It isn't like that."
"Soobin." The doctor glances at Soobin's medical profile that flashed on his computer screen, calling his name for the first time since he stepped in. "Your treatment is done." Watcher stands up from his swirly chair, walking towards Soobin.
"Though it must have hurt quite a bit, thankfully, it's just surface layer damage and would heal completely in at most, a few weeks." He continues, standing over Soobin.
"But that equipment." The doctor rasps his knuckles on the metal table, "Or whatever that has caused your injury, is a high-precision, highly dangerous, and potentially life-threatening... tool." The doctor reluctantly finishes off, giving a final warning, "You'd better stay away from it."
Soobin swallows bitterly.
I know.
That's why he's been so desperate to get everyone out of that house. He seriously doubts he will return back there.
"I understand." Soobin nods.
The doctor pushes up his glasses again, eyes again resting on Soobin, as if he's waiting for some kind of response.
"Sir." Soobin begins.
Watcher's eyes light up, he nods his head, leaning forward, and speaks reassuringly. "Please, I'm listening."
Soobin hesitates, feeling uneasy under the doctor's excessively bright stare, "...Can I go now?"
...
The doctor visually deflates. With a wave of his arm, he dismisses Soobin, but not before stuffing his namecard into his hands and leaving him with a, "If something's up, don't hesitate to call me."
Soobin takes bigger steps, eager to leave and take his hands off the burdensome namecard in his hands.
"He should have just been a detective instead." Soobin complains under his breath. "Why's he a doctor?"
Finally out of that overly prying doctor's room, though well-ventilated, the air outside just seemed so much fresher. He steps forward, wanting to quickly find his friends and leave this place.
"Soobin." A soft whisper.
He turns, seeing Yeonjun waving at him.
Beside Yeonjun, two others occupied his space, Huening Kai's head leaning back on his shoulders, and Taehyun's head on his lap. Beomgyu's leaning sideways on Taehyun's back, and Astra had her head on Beomgyu's shoulders.
All in deep sleep.
Without hesitation, Soobin walks over, gently tapping on the cheeks of each of his friends. "Wake up." He calls.
"I'm done. Let's go."
They stir, one by one, their eyes open.
"What did the doctor say?" Taehyun asks, rubbing his eyes.
"He suspected I was involved in illegal things." Soobin blurts out the one thing that stood out most for him with this trip to the doctor's.
"Eh?"
Soobin blinks, pointing at his feet, "It's fine. Just surface-level injury, will recover in a few weeks."
"The doctor suspected you? Why—" Before Taehyun could ask more, a loud shriek is heard from Beomgyu, who's now pulling at the sleeve of his shirt, a disgusted expression on his face, "You drooled!" He points his finger at Astra.
Astra smiles apologetically. "Sorry."
Next, she quickly pulls out a hand sanitiser she always has in her bag, squirting a dollop on the drool area.
Beomgyu reaches out, horrified as he watches her chain of actions, yet before he could stop her, the coin-sized liquid drops on his shoulders, seeping into his shirt, and Beomgyu could now clearly feel a cool dampness on his skin.
"You!" Beomgyu grabs his sleeve, looking back up at Astra, who's still holding up her small bottle of hand sanitiser, as if asking if he wanted more. She even pointed at the text printed in large, capitalised font across the front of the bottle, 'KILLS 99.99% OF ALL BACTERIA AND GERMS!'
FInally, Beomgyu sighs, weakly turning back to look at Soobin, "Let's just go home."
.
.
With a click, the door opens, and Beomgyu steps inside his house, flicking all the light switches with a swift turn of his hand. "What are you waiting for?" Beomgyu clicks his tongue, placing his bag down on the table.
There's still no sound behind him, "Hey" Beomgyu turns back, "Do you need me to lay out a red carpet or some—"
Beomgyu pauses, his face suddenly draining of colour. By his doorway, it's empty. There's no one standing there.
Shit.
Beomgyu's heart jumps, and dread settles in. He runs out of his door, forgetting to even wear his shoes,
"Astra!"
Right by the corridors, leaning out against the metal railings is the girl, hair flying wildly behind her as she tilts her head back, looking towards the dark sky.
She's here.
Beomgyu pauses, taking a second to calm his heart. Slowly, he walks towards her, his bare feet stepping softly against the dusty floor.
"What the hell are you doing? For a second, I thought you teleported to some weird space again."
Beomgyu stops beside her, looking up at the same skies she's looking at, wondering what's so interesting about their everyday night sky that could hold her gaze like that, that she had to stop here without a word.
"I was just thinking," Astra begins, now turning to face Beomgyu, her eyes a swirl of confusion and uncertainty.
"What?" Beomgyu asks, ties rubbing uneasily against one another.
"What now?" Astra says.
"Huh?"
"What happens now?" Astra presses her head on the railing, and the wind sweeps across her hair, blowing them towards her face, covering her features. "What do I, or we, what are we supposed to do now?"
"The stars fell, yet—" Astra closes her eyes. "I am still here."
Beomgyu feels it again. Like she's flickering in and out, like she's going to disappear without a trace.
He grabs her arm tightly, squeezing her wrist, feeling the tangibility of her existence.
"What now?" Beomgyu scoffs as if she just asked an absurd question. "We just have to live our best lives, and you, just have to stay by our side."
"We are friends." Beomgyu continues, looking down at Astra, eyes determined. "Whatever happens, we will stick with you."
Beomgyu takes a deep breath, as if it's taking him lots of courage to say it aloud, "So stick with us too."
"Don't run away."
Beomgyu waits for a few seconds, and the silence stretches, but Astra remains motionless, eyes closed and lips shut. Beomgyu lowers his eyes, sighing, "Don't sleep here." He pulls her towards his house, leading the way forward.
"There's a proper bed inside."
"Okay." A soft voice answers from behind him. Astra opens her eyes. "I'll try."
Beomgyu stops. And in the middle of the night, the two of them, one bare-footed and one with shoes, lock eyes.
Astra smiles. She walks forward, this time grabbing Beomgyu by his arm. "Time to sleep."
"I heard that." Beomgyu grins, his steps lighter now, "You'd better remember what you said."
"Also." Beomgyu says seriously, his next sentence making Astra regret her words. "Can we sleep together?"
Astra gives him a look, one that asks if his brain has finally short-circuited and broke into two halves.
"No, I mean just in the same room, I'll sleep on the floor!"
Astra scrunches her face, "And why would you do that?"
"Because I'm scared you will disappear." Beomgyu admits readily. He purses his lips, also knowing it's a stupid request that he's asking, "I'm just afraid of being left alone. My parents—"
Astra straightens up. Ever since she knew his parents were never home, she had long suspected that Beomgyu came from a fractured family.
So that's why he's so paranoid. He must have been feeling really lonely, "Fine."
"But I'll take the bed." She grins.
Later, when the light clicks off, and the room stills to a dark quiet, Beomgyu's voice could be heard echoing softly, "Good night."
"Good night."
Casual_FANatic on Chapter 6 Mon 14 Jul 2025 02:23AM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 6 Mon 14 Jul 2025 02:58AM UTC
Comment Actions
Casual_FANatic on Chapter 6 Sun 20 Jul 2025 08:39PM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 6 Tue 29 Jul 2025 05:44AM UTC
Comment Actions
Casual_FANatic on Chapter 12 Mon 14 Jul 2025 08:05AM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 12 Mon 14 Jul 2025 09:08AM UTC
Comment Actions
Casual_FANatic on Chapter 12 Sun 20 Jul 2025 08:51PM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 12 Mon 21 Jul 2025 05:31AM UTC
Comment Actions
Casual_FANatic on Chapter 13 Mon 14 Jul 2025 08:47AM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 13 Mon 14 Jul 2025 09:17AM UTC
Comment Actions
Casual_FANatic on Chapter 20 Mon 14 Jul 2025 10:38AM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 20 Mon 14 Jul 2025 02:41PM UTC
Comment Actions
flowers_between_our_broken_souls on Chapter 24 Tue 27 May 2025 08:31AM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 24 Tue 27 May 2025 09:08AM UTC
Comment Actions
flowers_between_our_broken_souls on Chapter 24 Wed 28 May 2025 07:33PM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 24 Thu 29 May 2025 06:53AM UTC
Comment Actions
flowers_between_our_broken_souls on Chapter 25 Wed 28 May 2025 07:43PM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 25 Thu 29 May 2025 07:06AM UTC
Comment Actions
flowers_between_our_broken_souls on Chapter 26 Fri 30 May 2025 01:19PM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 26 Sat 31 May 2025 04:10AM UTC
Comment Actions
aesthetic_klaroline10 on Chapter 35 Thu 03 Jul 2025 03:14PM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 35 Fri 04 Jul 2025 02:50AM UTC
Comment Actions
Casual_FANatic on Chapter 40 Thu 17 Jul 2025 04:13AM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 40 Thu 17 Jul 2025 09:54AM UTC
Comment Actions
Casual_FANatic on Chapter 41 Sun 20 Jul 2025 09:07PM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 41 Tue 29 Jul 2025 05:41AM UTC
Comment Actions
Casual_FANatic on Chapter 42 Mon 21 Jul 2025 06:52PM UTC
Comment Actions
YelloWheels on Chapter 42 Mon 21 Jul 2025 07:16PM UTC
Comment Actions