࣪˖ ִ𐙚 𝐬haffa

“i can’t believe we’re going into our third year of high school soon,” you mused, leaning against the park bench. 

the music festival ended two hours ago, but you and jihye still hadn’t headed home yet. after your band finished packing up their instruments, the five of you had hung out around the food and game stalls before parting ways. jihye’s guitar was slung over her shoulders, tucked safely in its bag. you could still hear the faint melody of day6’s happy, the song your band had performed earlier in the day. 

the evening air blew gentle breezes your way, a soft caress after a hard working performance. 

at the mention of your last year of high school, jihye dropped onto the bench with a groan, setting her guitar to lean against the arm rest before dramatically falling onto your side, burying her face in your shoulder. “do not remind me of our approaching college entrance exam.” her voice came out muffled. “my mom’s already signed me up for csat lessons.” 

you chuckled at her words, shaking your head as your hand went to pat her head. “don’t worry, i’m dreading it, too. i don’t even know what colleges i want to apply to.”

“i thought you wanted to go to ewha womans university?” jihye looked up from her spot on your shoulder. 

“i do, but…” your gaze fell to your lap. “there’s gonna be hundreds of other girls trying to get in… i don’t think i’ll have any chance.”

jihye sat straight up, turning to face you. her eyes scan your dimmed figure, your fingers busy picking on your nails. taking one of your hands in hers, she brought your face back up with the soft touch of her other hand. “hey, you are the smartest girl i know. you’ve got more drive and ambition than half of the people in this school. you’re intuitive and know exactly how to deal with different situations. and, you know exactly what you want. people like you know how to play the cards in your favor. i have complete faith in you, y/nnie.”

you couldn’t help the smile that grew on your face, nor the warmth that spread throughout your chest despite the cool air. you threw your arms around her neck, burying your face in her chest. her thumb continued to stroke your hand, returning your embrace. “and besides complete faith, i have complete love and heart eyes for you.” jihye added as a gag. 

a snort of laughter came from you, your eyes turning into crescent moons at her awful attempt at flirting. though, you had to admit, it did take your mind off of the csat’s. 

“you’re a complete dork, you know?” you looked up at her. 

“as if me being part of a band wasn’t proof enough already.”

you softly shook your head before leaning in to kiss her jaw. 

her lips fell into a pout. “you missed.”

rolling your eyes at her words, you muttered, “needy girl,” as you went to press your lips against hers. letting out a small hum, jihye tilted her head as she returned the kiss. your hand lightly scratched the nape of her neck, tasting the left over soda on her lips. feeling jihye’s smile in the kiss, you pull away just to tease her, watching as she chased your lips with a coy smile. 

before she could start whining again, you kissed her lips one more time. the two of you sat there, staring at each other as you caught your breaths. 

“walk me home?” you asked softly. 

“of course.”

even though you were a few weeks shy of turning seventeen, the memory of high school felt like it had been decades ago. 

you thought it would be just another competition day, another one where you missed the last few periods of school to go attend the vocal competition your music teacher had recommended. it was supposed to be predictable; get to the venue, go on stage, wait until all the other contestants finished performing, hear the winners announcement, and then go home. 

but on your way home, the subway had turned into a bloodbath. a dokkaebi you had only ever seen in story books was suddenly floating in the air, telling you that in order to survive in this new world, you had to stain your hands. 

though, now that you were nearing the fifth scenario, perhaps your hands will always be covered in blood. 

the specks of crimson colored your face, clothes covered in dirt you hadn’t been able to remove for the past few days, and unkempt hair falling out of its braid. your eyes flicker over each face. the five men cornering you hardly looked like they were in better shape, since you had led them through quite a chase. each of them were holding various sorts of weapons, varying from all levels of sharpness and damage. though, compared to your abilities, their clubs and knives felt like child's play. 

when the man on your right lifted his wired club to strike, your hand shot out at him. 

[body manipulation, level 2 has been activated.]

the man froze in his spot, his chest slowly heaving as you gradually blocked his air ways. you focused your skill until the man crumpled on the spot. the other four goons were rooted in their place, their expression a mix of anger and fear as they stared at their choking ally. one of them managed to snap out of their stupor and lunged at you, which caused the other men to follow in suit. 

you jumped back before a blade could hit you, slipping through the side so you were no longer cornered. another man threw various punches, keeping you alert as you dodged and backed away. 

one man seemed to have thought it a good idea to pull your braid, dragging you for a moment as you stumbled over your steps. the pull on your roots caused you to wince, the flare of pain catching you off guard. you reached for the hand in your hair, turning around in his hold to spit on his face. when he let go of your hair in shock, you kicked the man right where it hurts and backed off.

you knew the fight wasn’t over yet, but your muscles had started to ache, even with your high stats. the four men already regrouped in front of you. you needed this fight to be over soon. 

raising both of your hands. you sensed for their windpipes, your powers making you aware of their ever expanding lungs. when you saw their movement to attack, you balled your hands into a fist, holding their lungs to a stop. you saw their faces contort with panic, every attempt they try to make for air only making their pain worse. one by one, the men fell unconscious, their weapons clattering on the pavement. once you had held their lungs back for thirty seconds, you unclenched your fists, freeing their organs from your restraint. 

heaving for air, you stumbled away from the scene, far enough so that when they eventually regained consciousness, you would be hidden from their line of sight. when you finally found a secluded street, you pressed your back against the wall and slid down, too exhausted to even bother to find your way back to your station group. not like they were any good either. 

you assumed you had traveled up north from where you had started in the first scenario. perhaps here was where you would finally see her. it’s been over a month since you last saw jihye and no matter how far you looked, you couldn’t find any signs of her. it’s like she had just disappeared when the world turned into hell. 

your eyes screwed shut at the thought of her. 

no, no, you couldn’t afford to think about her. not when you were exhausted and had used up much of your mana. not when you were unsafe in the middle of nowhere. you should probably— 

“what is your name?”

your eyes shot open as you tilted your chin up. a woman with brown hair was staring down at you. she wore a brown trench coat and looked to be in her forties. although you should’ve been thrilled seeing a woman after being chased down by a group  of men, all the warning signs went off in your head. 

your hand shot out, ready to activate your ability when her hand caught yours before you could do anything. 

“don’t. i don’t need you to close off my lungs too.” her grip was firm and you couldn’t read her, so you held your breath. then her words registered in your head. 

your eyes widened, pulling your hand away from her. “what? you saw me—”

“yes.” the woman cut you off. then, to your surprise, she leaned down and rested her weight on one knee. her eyes scanned you as if you were a front page of a newspaper, taking in your disheveled state. “are you alone?” she asked. 

letting out a ragged breath, you nodded your head tentatively. 

the barest glimpse of a smile graced her face. “i’m lee sookyung.”

well shit, if she was willing to give her name, then you’d have to give yours. 

at your brief introduction, she held out her hand to you. “come with us, then. a girl with as much grit as you will find a rightful place in our group.”

jihye never allowed herself a moment of distraction. especially when intruders kept clambering onto the island in search of a useless boon. she swung her katana against a man’s arm, slicing the limb clean off. cries of terror echoed through the vast island as the men scrambled away, leaving behind a rustle of leaves. 

letting out a small huff, she placed her free hand in her pocket and said, “why don’t you come out now?” 

turning to look back at kim dokja’s poor attempt at hiding, her brows raised at the red skull over his head. “what’s the use of hiding when you have the target mark on you.”

dokja flinched at the reminder, eventually turning around with his arms up in surrender. “are you going to kill me too?” he asked with a nervous smirk.

“i want to but i can't since that might make master sad.” she said with a shrug. “how have you been? not that i even need to ask.”

dokja started walking towards her. “i thought you went back to taepung girls’ high. what are you doing here?” 

“master came to get me a while back. i have no idea how he found me, though.”

“hmm…” dokja then fell into silence, seemingly thinking things over in his head. jihye watched him with waiting eyes. everyone had been separated at the end of the fourth scenario, sent to face their own personal trials thanks to the man in front of her. but facing her past unprovoked had been an unneeded revisit 

 “are you here with junghyeok?” dokja eventually asked. 

jihye blinked once, her jaw falling open. “huh? didn’t you come here knowing all that?”

“find him! he’s around here somewhere!” the voice of a man boomed, loud enough to carry over to the island. up ahead, two boats were nearing the island, presumably to hunt down dokja now that he had a bounty on his head. 

“but why did you bring those deadweights with you?” she asked, nodding at the boats. 

“to hunt down the catastrophe, of course,” dokja answered as if it were obvious. 

jihye’s brows shot up. “why? you don’t have to do that.”

“what?”

“you don’t have to fight the catastrophe. that’s what master said.”

dokja snapped his neck to turn toward her, eyes wide as if she had dunked his head in cold water and sprouted a dragon head from the back of her neck. 

without even bothering to reply to her, dokja dashed away in a sprint. 

jihye could only tilt her head as she watched his figure disappear. does he even know where master is…?

she looked away and shook her head. that would be his problem. her eyes then trailed back to the approaching boats. they would bring another wave of stupid people on their island, another boring fight she’d have to deal with. sighing to herself, she decided to have a short walk around this side of the island, just while she waited. 

it’s not like plants and greenery had ever piqued her interest, so she didn’t really know why she had chosen to do such a menial task. a small dot of red in the midst of the green did catch her eye, though. squatting down, she watched as a little lady bug made its way from leaf to leaf. 

you would have loved staring at the lady bug for hours, jihye thought. then her head shot up, eyes widening at her own thought. 

no, no, no! 

she repeatedly knocked the side of her head, closing her eyes in hopes of getting rid of that thought. now was not the time for jihye to be thinking about you. because if she did, she would be thinking about you all night, and tonight wasn’t one jihye can afford being distracted in. 

jihye felt herself slouching on the ground, staring at the bushes again. the lady bug was gone, just like you. 

no, jihye! she scolded herself. there was no guarantee that you were dead. but there was also no confirmation of your survival. after weeks of unsuccessful searching, all jihye had been able to do was miss you. oh how she desperately wanted to hope. but hope will only hurt her in the end, whether it was by reality or by time, that hope will be her achilles heel. 

and so she let herself sit in the worry for just a moment. just a moment for her to allow herself to think of you. 

with a sharp breath, she pushed herself to stand, awaiting the adversary boats that had just docked on their island. 

now, the sixth scenario awaits them on the other side of the horizon. jihye watched with a bored expression as the three kings fought in front of her. it was no fun when you could already predict who would win, so she simply let her mind wander from the scene. 

and as always, she always wandered back to you. 

her hands tensed at the thought. her eyes scanned the room. 

well, it’s not like she was going to be fighting any time soon, so she supposed thinking about you just for a few moments wouldn’t hurt. 

were you at yongsan station just like everyone else? you had to be. but there were just too many people for her to hope for the chance of catching you, of finding you in the crowd. 

maybe you weren’t even part of the scenarios. maybe you were stuck with horrible allies, confused and weak and unable to fight through the scenarios—

stop, stop! jihye scolded herself. she needed to assume that you were alive. she wouldn’t know how to live if you were dead. 

as dokja’s fight with the other kings wrapped up, the man approached their group. “you guys go ahead. i have some business to take care of.”

heewon nodded at his words. “all right. come on, guys.”

jihye, being the closest to the flap of the tent, turned around and went to open it, when another figure pushed the fabric aside and bumped into her.

“hey! watch where—”

“oh, i’m so sorry, i—”

jihye backed away at the familiar voice. blinking to clear her vision, she widened her eyes as it registered in her mind that she was standing face to face with… you. 

her voice came out uncertain. “y/n?”

your lips parted at the realization. “jihye…”

you looked different from when she last saw you. a red scarf was wrapped around your neck, the fabric softening your features from afar. your eyes appeared heavy, drooping when you would often wear a bright appearance, your cheeriness usually conveyed through your crescent moon eyes as you smiled. but now even your lips were downturned, dried and flaking, a small scar present on your chin. 

jihye felt like the world had turned into a fishbowl. everything around her seemed so muffled, she thought her eyes must be deceiving her. the you in front of her had to be a mirage, right? 

then an older female voice broke through the silence. “do we already have a response, y/n?”

that seemed to snap the both of you out of your trances. you blinked three times after you had heard your name, regaining your bearings as you stumbled aside from jihye. 

“ah, yes, we do,” you straightened up, walking over to the king of the wanderers with poise. “they said they couldn’t afford to spare any with the upcoming scenario, but…”

jihye almost didn’t want to leave. not without you. she wanted to grab your hand and drag you away. she needed to hug you, to hold you and make sure you were real. because she really, really didn’t want this to be a dream. 

but the rest of the group were staring at her, and she didn’t want to start a scene. so she took in a small breath before stepping across the entrance. white sunlight greeted her, but it only made her feel cold. she had just seen you again, yet she she was already walking away from you.

her ears heard hyeonseong say something, but the words couldn’t take shape in her mind. all she can think of was you. 

“jihye?” heewon’s worried voice managed to break through her stupor. 

the girl looked up and realized the rest of the group was already ahead. she gave a glance back to the tent mulling things over in her head. “i think… you guys should go ahead first. i’ll find you later, i promise.”

heewon nodded at her words, giving a small rub on her shoulder before continuing her steps. 

jihye stood there in front of the tent, waiting with bated breath for you to walk out. you couldn’t be in there for too long, not with dokja with his own agenda standing in the tent. 

soon, the tent flap rustled, and then you stepped out into the sun, the light bathing you in a soft glow. when you had finally noticed her staring, you stopped in the middle of your tracks, taking her in. 

then in a blur, you had tackled her into a hug. your arms clung around her waist as you buried your face in her shoulder, where it always was whenever the two of you had hugged. 

jihye returned the embrace just as fiercely, wrapping her arms around your shoulder as she pulled you in closer, if that was even possible. 

“you’re real, right?” she found herself whispering. 

a small chuckle escaped your lips. “of course i’m real, you dork.”

the two of you pulled away sooner than she would have liked. half of her still thinks that this was a dream, so she cupped your face in her hands, letting her thumb brush over the soft skin of your cheeks, the scar on your chin, and the edge of your lips. 

“i thought… i thought you might have died.” her voice came out smaller than she’d expected. 

your lips pressed into a small pout as you tilted your head. “did you have such little faith in me?”

jihye looked down with the huff of a laugh, shaking her head at your teasing. “i couldn’t find you for weeks. i searched everywhere i could but you were never there.”

“you were gone, too.”

“yeah,” she sighed, shifting her gaze to look at you again. “but i’m glad i found you now.”

your lips curled into a smile, one she so dearly missed. 

feeling a warmth creep up into her cheeks, she returned the smile sheepishly, a small request on the tip of her tongue. “can—can i kiss you?”

this time, you truly laughed at her. “do you even have to ask?”

a/n: i know the synopsis made it really dramatic bc they literally reunite before the 6th scenario so ig it's not thatt long since they've seen eo but yk it's basically been a million years since jihye and reader saw each other. this is like my longest fic yet on tumblr wkwkwk. idk how well this will do since jihye isn't very popular over on orv tumblr, but i hope the five jihye fans enjoyed it lol.