#filed: threads

She had always been a creative soul, choosing to draw and paint pictures when she was a little girl over making up stories for her dolls. The variety of colors and combinations they could make was always fascinating to her and her young eye for aesthetics. As she got older, she found that drawing was a good way for her to destress.

She was no Van Gogh by any means but she loved art and painting when she could and she could spend hours at an art museum admiring every piece of art. So, it was no surprise that she had befriended Sunny aka the local art teacher and fellow creative soul. It was Millie’s idea that they take a wine and painting class just for fun and maybe Sunny could help whisper some pointers.

It was a genius idea for La Louvre to offer some classes for additional funds.However, she was growing a little nervous as she sat down on one of the stools in front of an easel. She knew the class was meant to be fun but she always tended to put a lot of pressure on herself to strive for perfection. 

“Full disclosure, I just booked the first class I saw that was available for both of our schedules, so I have no idea if there might be nude models or not,” she joked, but that would be quiet the surprise.

eunchae is a bundle of nervous energy, a bottle of beer clutched in her hands and her phone in the other. the bar is filling up slowly but surely and she can feel the eyes of a few people on her, but eunchae ignores them and focuses on finishing up her drink while she waits for her ‘date’ to arrive. she’s so excited she can barely sit still. the bartender playfully remarks on her good mood when he brings her a refill, referring mainly to the smile that’s been plastered over her face since she got here. cheeking heating up at the observation, eunchae thanks him and tries to force herself to calm down. “i’m meeting an old friend,” she says after a while. “the last time we saw each other was—god, nine years ago? maybe ten?” 

leaving seoul at fifteen to live in a foreign country was tough, and one of the hardest things for eunchae to leave behind was her best friend. they promised to keep in touch even after she moved to california, but things happened. life happened, and by the time she started university, eunchae barely talked to him outside of wishing him a happy birthday on facebook. but his face was the first one that popped into her mind when she decided to come back to seoul, and eunchae immediately sought her old friend out in hopes he’d help get her reacquainted with the city. they’d texted back and forth for a while, but today was the first time they had the opportunity to meet face to face since she arrived. 

Tonight was a rarity for Millie as she couldn't recall the last time she had gone out for drinks just for fun. Probably after her final performance for the Nashville Ballet when all the girls went out for a farewell night of drinking, which was just shy of a month ago. It wasn't often they had time to go out with all the practices and performances but now it felt like she had unlimited time. Her dance classes schedule was set and she only had a couple of weekend classes, so she was trying to revel in her newfound freedom. 

That meant spending more time with her friends and Elsa was definitely in need of a girl’s night. She admired Elsa for juggling work and her two boys — one of which was only five months. The woman was practically a superhero in Millie’s opinion and often superheroes needed time to recoup, so she was happy to get her friend out of the house. She even dressed up for the occasion if you considered a floral, summer dress to be dressed up and boots that were comfortable enough to dance in. She wanted to make sure they’d both have a spot at the bar or wherever, so she waited for the blond to arrive.

She was notorious for arriving way too early, so she switched back and forth between scrolling on her phone and glancing up to look for her friend. It wasn't long before she saw her and made a beeline to meet her. “You are stunning!” She grinned as she complimented Elsa while simultaneously reaching out to pull her in for a quick hug before pulling back. “So, tell me do I need to be prepared for a hangover in the morning?”

Her hair was still wet and there was a slight scent of chlorine that lingered around her but the new clothes she had changed into weren’t soaked anymore at least. She was still trying to wrap her head around everything — how did the shadow have Heidi’s phone? Why did they want her to find Heather? She never cared much for being the center of attention and now the news was calling her a ‘Black Widow’ and a ‘hero’. She wasn’t a hero but just a pawn in the shadow’s game, which was never going to end if no one caught them. She picked up her phone and had half the mind to text the number, Heidi’s number. Would they answer? Could she convince whoever was behind this to play a game with her and leave everyone else alone? A sigh fell from her lips as she put her phone back down on the counter and took another sip of her second beer. She was still trying to process everything and she needed to alcohol to numb the adrenaline that still had her amped up. She hadn’t told the police about the text when they questioned her as it just didn’t feel right to tell them after they showcased their incompetence again and again, and she was trying to figure out some way she could use the text. What she needed was a hacker.

Her brown eyes glanced over as her peripheral vision caught someone sitting beside her at the bar. “Please, for the love of god — just don’t thank me or call me a hero or offer to buy me a drink. I was just doing what anyone would.” Okay, maybe not everyone would run first into what could’ve been a trap or jump into a pool where there was always a chance she could’ve drowned too for a girl she didn’t know that well. Was that what the shadow wanted to test? Her morals? “I can’t believe this is happening and why? What does the shadow want?”

remember: you’re doing this for money.

natsume clings onto the thought as he gets off the train. glancing down at his maps app, he adjusts the straps of his backpack before setting off to follow the purple line to his destination. to say he is nervous would be an understatement; for all he knows, natsume could be on his way to get mugged or kidnapped or all sorts of bad things some crime show could end up basing an episode off a couple of years from now. he’s only been doing this odd jobs thing for a couple of weeks, and during that time, only three of the jobs he was propositioned for were legitimate. the rest… natsume would rather not talk about.

but he needs the money. his parents send over a small sum every month to help pay for living expenses, but it barely covers the necessities and doesn’t leave a lot for extras. maybe he’s just really bad with managing his funds, but whatever the case, natsume needs to earn more. his part-time job doesn’t cover enough, so he’s willing to put himself out there as a man-for-hire, doing whatever necessary to get a little extra cash to finance his spending habits and his nightly pc bang visits. it’s definitely risky, but natsume feels like it could be a good thing too.

he finally arrives at his destination—but it doesn’t really look like the picture of the address saved on his phone. he might’ve ended up at the wrong place. travelling around seoul is still a struggle sometimes, so to double-check, he shoots out a couple of quick messages to his client.

his parents promised natsume that the move to korea would be a good thing. that it would be fun and exciting, a brand new adventure! you’ll love it! but his older sister told him not to trust anything they said; “parents lie to you all the time,” ayaka stated bluntly as they left the airport. “this is going to suck.” it’s been three days since then, and natsume thinks she might be right.

there’s nothing exciting about starting at a new school in the middle of the year. june, of all months. natsume kind of wishes his parents had just gone ahead and kept him home till the end of summer break, but they felt it was important for natsume to have a routine in korea as soon as possible. they just wanted things to be normal for him. but it’s hard for things to feel normal when he has no idea what’s going on at any given point of the day. natsume spends most of his time looking around wide eyed and and bewildered.

the problem? korean. all the korean. natsume’s vocabulary is limited to “hi, my name is —” and “where is the bathroom?” and “can i have a bite of that?” the constant bombardment of a language he doesn’t understand leaves confused and wanting to go home to watch anime. natsume barely pays attention in class (mostly because he can’t) and counts the seconds till he’s free from all this korean. the minute lunch break begins, natsume clutching his bento box to his chest and books it out of the classroom.

The moment she heard that Heather had woken up, it felt like she could finally breathe a sigh of relief and stop holding her breath. She didn’t know if she had made it in time or if Heather would live with the condition she had found her in at the pools. The girl’s lips had looked so blue and she didn’t really stop to check for a pulse before launching into CPR. She was so happy to hear that Heather had survived though and that she wasn’t plagued by death once more because she was starting to feel like maybe she brought a curse with her when she came back into town.

Millie wanted to come check on Heather and see how she was doing overall, and she was sure that Heather might have some questions for her too. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t curious what Heather might remember but that wasn’t her sole purpose for heading over to the hospital with an assortment of flowers and get well balloons. It might be cheesy but she didn’t want to show up empty handed. She knocked on the door frame, smiling softly as she spotted Heather in the bed. “Hey, I’m Millie. The one that found you,” she explained since Heather probably wouldn’t recognize her considering the two hadn’t been close prior. “How are you doing?”

While Danny was at the top of her list of people she was concerned about currently, her list was also growing to include Ronnie and now Maisie too. The blonde had also been a bridesmaid and close to Heidi and while Millie hadn’t known Maisie prior, it felt like the two had struck up a small friendship at the wedding. Millie was certainly still happy to show Maisie a few eyeliner tricks, but she was more concerned about checking in and seeing how Maisie was doing overall. It was a hard loss to swallow and she still couldn’t believe Heidi was gone, and now there were two girls missing and one had just been found. 

She had been running more than usual all over town, trying to help the town with the search for Sofia and Heather while also hoping get rid of her restless energy and trying to exhaust herself into sleeping. It didn’t always work and that’s why she found herself out later than she should normally be and walking into Cadillac Lounge. In the back of her mind, she wondered if it was even safe to be out like this and she was worried for Maisie too. Did Maisie have someone to at least walk her to her car or home after closing up for the night? She saw the blonde behind the bar so she walked up and sat down on one of the barstools. “Please tell me you’re not working alone,” she says as she manages a small smile. She didn’t see a bartender but they might just be in the back.