*Rina POV*

There was silence between me and Anya as she stared at my reflection. Her hands were clasped over her mouth in pure shock and my eyes were wide with disbelief.

Blue. My hair was completely blue. 

"Anya, what the fu-"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry!" She cowered away from me covering her face. "I told the woman a slight blue ombre, I swear it!!" She couldn't even look me in the eyes. Hell, I could barely look at myself.

As if getting my nails done, a tattoo on the back of my neck, eyelash extensions and somehow Anya forced me to get a full body wax which was the most painful thing I had ever experienced was bad enough….I still ended up….with blue hair. Not just normal blue, this was some fucked up electric blue, I looked like I belonged in an energy drink bottle.

"Make it stop."  I turned to her, my now straightened waist-length blue hair swaying with every movement.

"But you look so good…" She backed up even more, looking sheepishly at the bright locks attached to my head.

"I don't care, I can't show up to school looking like this….I...I look like a damn highlighter!!" I gripped the edge of the chair, the other customers in the hairdresser growing quiet at our rowdy conversation.

"Excuse me, miss. I ask that you please refrain from raising your voice in our shop. Also…" The lady who ruined my hair walked up, running her hands through it like she owned it. "I think it looks very good on you, but if you want me to change it we'll have to wait a few weeks for your hair to recover from the bleach damage." She spoke so slowly it was pissing me off more than I could imagine.

"No thanks, I think we'll be going somewhere else." I grabbed my leather jacket which Anya had bought for me and stormed out of the shop. People stared at me without shame as I walked along the street. Fuck, I probably look like a kpop idol...eughhh.

"Rina, wait for me!" Anya ran up and grabbed my arm. She stuffed her wallet in her jeans pocket and caught her breath.

"I am really sorry, I didn't mean for it to be completely coloured." She stared at me with an earnest look in her eyes and I knew staying mad at her was just childish.

"It's alright...not your fault. Let's drive back, I don't like Kyung-hee being alone for so long." We started walking to the parking lot and I kept grabbing my hair and looking at it. I can't believe this.

"Brrr..it's getting colder, I'm so excited." Anya smiled brightly as we jumped back in the warm car. She rubbed her hands together to create heat and I looked at her curiously. How can she like the cold? Me and Kyung-hee could never afford proper winter clothes. That's why we both loved summer.

"You know the lake outside the school, the one with the tree growing from the little island in the centre?" She turned to me with excitement sparkling in her eyes.

"Yuh…" I mumbled back, vaguely remembering that odd tree that at the right angle it appeared to grow out of the water.

"Well, the colder it gets the lake will start to freeze, it's already started but it's barely thick right now. When it's strong enough to stand on, us kids walk to the tree, decorate it with lights and have small campfires there at night, surrounded by silence and the enchanting moan of ice…" She trailed off, closing her eyes as she thought of obvious memories at that tree. I wonder what nice things happened-

"I lost my virginity under that tree." She laughed in a reminiscent tone and my face went blank. Of course.

"And we still don't know who to, there were several men and women there that night, it could've been anyon-"

"Okay, we get it. Just drive." I turned towards the window, and to my surprise saw snow falling. It was only a tiny bit but my god it was glorious. Of course, in the city it's a little colder that's why it's already snowing here.

"Wait, before we leave, can we go somewhere?" I turned to Anya, feeling my heart pulsate with pain that I had actually forgotten my mother for so long. 

"Of course, tell me where." She quickly took off once I told her where to go and soon enough we were there. I got out of the car and was relieved that she didn't follow. I think she knew it was best to stay back for now. The freezing wind blew my hair as I walked among the graves. Finally the small, stone headstone came into view and my heart was just about pounding with pain. 

I knew I wasn't supposed to cry with my fresh lash extensions but I couldn't help it. Mom was buried here...her body was only a few feet away from me and yet she was further than anything.

"I'm sorry, ma. You told me to stay away from boys and I ran stupidly to the first one who made me feel special. I won't let Kyung-hee make the same mistake." I kneeled on the ground, my tears falling to the ground and mixing with the damp soil.

"But I won't do it the way you did it….you didn't tell me why, you just told me not to. That doesn't work. I now have to be there for her...cause no one will ever be there for us the way you were back then. And it's worse cause we're grown up now, I think even you wouldn't know what to do with us…" I sniffled as the tightening in my throat increased. It was so hard holding my cries in. 

"I'm sorry you left so painfully….if we're ever alive again together...I'll make sure no one ever hurts you. I'll be the body that comes in-between you and violence for once...not the other way around." I shakily rose to my feet only to crumple and fall back down. A pair of slender arms wrapped around me and I felt Anya hugging me. It felt like how Namjoon hugged me the day that dad said all those horrible feelings. How did it feel as real as it does now with Anya, when that time it was all an act. Namjoon just faked it.

"I'm sorry you've been through so much pain." Anya whispered with sorrow seeping through her elegant voice. We stayed like that for a few minutes and for some reason I didn't want it to end. How long had it been since another woman embraced me with such love and care? It felt like mom. I closed my eyes and imagined that it was her. 

I turned around and smiled at Anya. "Thank you." She returned the smile, nodding supportively. I stood up, knowing if we stayed here any longer we'd both freeze out here in the open. "Let's go." We both walked back to the car in silence. For some odd reason I felt so much more comfortable with Anya. Maybe we understood each other, maybe in some ways we really weren't that different. She clearly has lost or doesn't see her parents anymore, she is equally troubled and just as lost as I am.

"Hey, scientists say that if you think too hard, your brain is technically having an orgasm of information." She broke the thoughtful silence and I chuckled. I guess we're not similar in all aspects. 

The trip back was actually very enjoyable. She played a lot of foreign artists, names like Duke Dumont, Regard and ZHU flashed on the music player often and oh my goodness their music was blissful. The duration of the drive definitely helped me calm down. Even though I nearly looked like a different person, today had been very insightful and relaxing. 

"Oh look, there's a few kids already gathered at the lake. Idiots are too heavy to make it across though." She shook her head and slowed down as the afternoon sun baked the world with warmth. I squinted my eyes and felt my heart speeding up when I saw someone had actually made it across the thin ice to the tree.

"Stop the car." I unbuckled my seatbelt and tried opening the door. 

"Woah, relax, I'll pull over." Anya brought the car to a quick stop, concern written all over her face as she looked at me. I jumped out and started jogging towards the waterbank. My stomach started to drop when I saw a girl in the tree, a large spool of rope messily tied to one of the branches as she began tangling the other end around her neck.

"No….." My chest began to heave with fear and pain when her familiar soft, brown hair and small frame became clear. It was Kyung-hee….

She was going to kill herself.