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"when all the details fit in perfectly,
something is probably wrong with the story."

— Charles Baxter —

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[ 3RD PERSONS VIEW。]

"Take this," Chenle grabs her cold hands, placing the heat pack on them. "to warm you up," he said simply and retracted his hands.

The girl's eyes flickered, staring at the heat pack in her grasp. She thought that this was absurd. No stranger has ever paid attention to her this much. Quick glances, a few talks, that's mainly it. But right now, Chenle was acknowledging her whole presence.

Chenle, on the other hand, was bewildered as to why her body felt cold. He didn't want to doubt himself more, he had to believe that she was real– he felt like she is. He scanned the room, noticing the air conditioning at the corner. The room certainly felt cold too, maybe that's why her temperature was cold.

Unexpectedly, the door opens wide, revealing a certain teenager who had eyes gouging from his sockets. "Chenle!" he called out, trotting towards the younger boy as he yanked him back, the purple-dyed tips of his hair bouncing as he ran.

"Hyung–"

"What are you doing here alone?"

Chenle's body stiffened, eyes glancing to the side to see the girl squeezing her lips into a thin line before making eye contact with him.

"What do you mean, Donghyuck? I'm not alone," he assured, motioning towards the girl seated by the piano.

Donghyuck scowled, avoiding the presence of the other, "I don't see anyone."

Chenle gritted his teeth, prying Donghyuck's grip off him as he stood back, "What do you mean–"

Donghyuck found his hand back onto Chenle's shoulder as he gripped on it tightly, eyes glimmering with fright as his tone hardened, "I don't see anyone."

"Hey, did you find Chenle— oh." by the door, Renjun stood there, shoulders slumped forward as he wandered his eyes around the music room. Gulping harshly, he started playing with the seams of his blazer.

Donghyuck pursed his lips, stepping away from Chenle, "Let's go." he murmured and walked out of the music room, not sparing any glances to anyone.

Renjun sighed and approached Chenle, completely aware of the girl in the room. "Chenle..."

"Hyung, you can see her, right?"

"Chenle... I-I don't—"

"Don't lie. You saw her before. She's not dead!"

The tension between them rose. Renjun shook his head and smiled sadly at Chenle, "Who are you talking about?"

"Her–" Chenle turns to the girl, seeing her back facing them. "isn't she what you were telling us about? Choi Haruka? That's her right?"

Renjun scrunched his nose, grabbing Chenle and started forcing him out of the music room, just by the entrance he started talking in a low, hushed voice, "Chenle, Haruka doesn't exist–"

"She does!"

"She's dead!"

Dead...?

Chenle's heartbeat accelerated as he averted his gaze onto the girl and slowly, musical tunes started radiating from the piano. An eerie feeling rushed into their veins as Renjun bit his lip down.

"N-No... she's alive– Haruka is alive." Chenle urged, brows furrowing as he irked.

Albeit, everyone was insisting that this girl playing right now inside the music room wasn't real, he still believed that she was, for he said that he would be the no one that would believe her.

"What's going on here?" the two boys flinched at the familiar voice. They craned their heads towards the voice, seeing Mark with a concerned expression. "Who's playing the piano?" he asked again, approaching them.

He peered over them, seeing the back figure of someone he had met earlier. "Choi Haruka."

Hope sparked inside of Chenle, eyes lightening as he shot a look towards the senior, "You can see her?"

Mark hummed, slowly nodding, "Yes... wait– why?"

"Hyung, she doesn't exist."

The volume of the piano grew louder. Haruka had her eye closed, her fingers gently yet firmly pressed onto the piano keys.

Mark felt goosebumps run down his spine, a bit freaked out. "S-She doesn't?"

Chenle groaned, lightly shoving Renjun back, "She does."

"She doesn't."

"She does!"

"She doesn't!"

"She does."

"If she does? Then why does her own family treat her like she's nonexistent?"

She came to an abrupt stop. The melody ending in an awful note as her fingers dropped onto the keys, creating a messy sound of different notes combined.

The boys, who were just outside the room, flinched at the sudden indirect outburst. Haruka stood up, taking her to leave immediately.

As she passed them, Mark quickly got a hold of her wrist, sending her trudging back. "Wait!"

Haruka stood still, "Do I really need to prove myself to make you believe I exist?"

"Huh?"

"I am living this horrid life– isn't that enough to prove that I'm alive? If you don't want to believe, then don't. I'm not forcing you." she said in a tedious yet harsh voice, "But as you can see, my own family ignores me. Might as well ignore me too." after that, she left without another word.

In the next few hours, Chenle kept staring at the once-again vacant seat next to him. Haruka had left school earlier, not that anyone cared at all, she seemed absent anyways.

After school, Donghyuck dragged Chenle and Renjun with him to the graveyard. Both of their objections didn't really stop the boy.

"What are we doing here?" Chenle grunted and put his hood on.

Donghyuck hissed as they approached Haruki's grave. He then pointed at the grave beside her, "Look at the engraved name."

The two boys hunched down, eyes narrowing at the name.

"Haru...ka..." Renjun read slowly and felt something inside him click. Feeling sick, he just wanted to throw up right now and then.

However, Chenle was doubting it. To him, it seemed ridiculous. Shaking his head, he crossed his arms, unconvinced, "That doesn't belong to her."

Donghyuck was taken aback, "Wha–"

"That doesn't belong to Haruka."

Donghyuck glared at the boy, "Why the fuck are you so convinced that the girl is alive?!"

"Because she is! I feel it!" Chenle fired back, sharing the same electrifying gaze, "There must be a reason why she's treated like this! Just because Haruki is gone and we find out she has a hidden twin sister doesn't mean we should suspect that her sister is nonexistent!"

"Do you like her?" Renjun gaped.

Chenle was tongue-tied, he scrunched his nose, "No. Not like that, at least."

"Then why are you defending her?"

"Because! She's Haruki's sister for fuck's sake– if Haruki finds out we've been treating her sister like this would she be happy?" Chenle exclaimed, anger residing inside him.

Donghyuck scoffed at his friend, "Even Haruki ignores her own sister's existence."

"What if she was forced?"

Renjun's comment caught them off guard. The boy shut his eyes tightly at his own thought. "I mean," he looks at them, "Mrs. Choi has been acting weird lately... don't you think...?" he trailed off.

"What are you even saying?" Donghyuck ridiculed.

Renjun rolled his eyes, "I'm saying– Haruka can be our step to finding out what happened to Haruki. It's impossible for Mrs. Choi to be the one who sent the letters– then she would've asked us by now."

"Wait, you got letters too?" Donghyuck gasped.

Chenle nodded, "I got a letter. Renjun?"

Renjun nodded as well, "I... did too... actually."

"What did your morse code say?" Renjun asked, "Mine said 'Choi' that's why I've been suspecting..."

Donghyuck gulped, eyeing both of them nervously, "Mine said 'Haruka'."

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