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"i'm going to die whatever you do,
but i'm not afraid."

— Erin Hunter —

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[ 3RD PERSONS VIEW。]

The girl gulped harshly, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat. She looked at the date; October 22, 2018.

"I hope I still have time," she mumbled and jotted down the words on a clean sheet of paper. Pouring her heart into every letter, she smiled at the results.

She grabbed some pink envelopes, folding the pieces of paper neatly before shoving them into each envelope, locking them with a pink heart sticker.

She grabbed a metal box, piling the rest of the letters in before shutting it close. She prepared exactly seven extra letters, however, the dates on them weren't the same. Feeling exhausted yesterday from all the writing, she decided to continue it the next day.

Taking a deep breath, she stood up and left her room, knowing very well that she should not let her mother know she was awake.

Seeing as her mother wasn't home yet, she took this chance to enter her mother's room, searching for the key to her twin sister's room.

"Aha!" she yelled out in satisfaction, hastily making her way through and stood in front of the light blue door.

"This better work." she huffed and jiggled the key into the keyhole, twisting it as she heard the lock click, indicating that the door has opened. Smiling, she bursts into the room, looking around for a safe place to store her box.

She looked across the room, her eyes darting onto the little cabinet beside Haruka's piano. She pursed her lips, approaching the table and opened it, seeing all of Haruka's old music notebooks.

"This is so cute!" she squealed, seeing Haruka's old pieces she used to write when she was alone. Humming to a familiar melody, she stored the box amongst the notebooks before closing the cabinet.

She stood up, looking at the full body mirror Haruka had in her room.

You're going to die sooner or later, Haruki.

Biting her lip, the skin tearing a bit as she bit down hard.

"I-I... I'm going to– die." she choked on a sob, tears flowing from her eyes as she stared at her reflection.

Soon, the sound of the front door opening startled her. She quickly wiped her tears away, locking Haruka's room before sprinting off to her mother's room to return the key.

"Haruki!"

"Haruki?"

"Yes, mom?" she made it just in time, suppressing the urge to cry as she feigned a smile towards her mother.

Hyosun sighed in relief, "Thought you were gone."

"No mom, just– um, cleaning my room." she excused with an awkward laugh.

Hyosun hummed and went into the kitchen, "I'm going to heat us some tea, get down in a few minutes, okay?"

Haruki nodded, despite her mother not seeing her, she trudged her way back into her room, let out an exasperated sigh, falling back onto her bed.

"I hope my instincts are true."

— • • • —

Weeks passed, today's date was November 15, 2018; Thursday. Eight teens have resided in Mark's house for the night as they have agreed to talk about the matter that has been left in their hands by Haruki.

Everyone was there, well, not exactly. Six boys and the two girls, a boy missing, clearly Lee Jeno. The heartthrob who was famous for his eye-smiles has been avoiding them for the past few days. Even Mark, whom he trusts with his whole heart.

Of course, they didn't want to pressure him into joining them, so they let him be, making sure that he still was being informed about the topics they've been talking about.

"What took you so long." Chenle pouted and snatched the drink bottle Jisung bought for him.

Jisung smiled awkwardly at them, reaching up to rub his nape, "I met Haruka at the convenience store."

Donghyuck grimaced, "Not her again."

"Can't you be nice to her, she's Haruki's sister!" Chenle retorted making the latter roll his eyes at him.

"Look, we're not sure whether she's alive or not–"

"She's alive!"

"Then why does the arranged morse code seem otherwise!?"

Jisung froze, looking at them with wide eyes, "What do you mean arranged morse code?"

Renjun sighed and gestured towards the coffee table as each of their letters were arranged, with Jeno's letter being the only one missing, however, even without his letter, they still managed to create a sentence.

Upon analyzing and reading each letter, they figured that the numbers before their names indicated the arrangement of each morse code. Starting with number 03 which was the blank one that belonged to Chenle. Followed by Jeno's which Mark had already seen, number 04, his morse code revealed the word 'Please'.

Then followed by Mark's letter– number 05 that stated 'Be', proceeded by Jisung's, then Jaemin, and the last two; Renjun and Donghyuck.

All together it created: Please Be Careful With Choi Haruka.

"What the–" Jisung cupped his mouth, falling back onto the couch as he looked at each letter, staring at them in horror as anxiety ran through his whole body. "What does it mean..."

Jaemin comforted the frightened boy, rubbing circles on his back as Hanmi tried to explain. "Well, Choi Haruka might be hiding something from us and we have to find out what."

"Not just Choi Haruka," Renjun shook his head, fiddling with the hem of his jacket, "even Choi Hyosun."

"Their mom?"

Jisung frowned, "But Mrs. Choi is the sweetest mother to Haruki."

"To Haruki, with Haruka– she's more... different. Right, Jaemin?"

Jaemin nodded, agreeing with Renjun's words. "He's right. Something was just unsettling when we visited her. She even told Haruka to 'Be nice'." he stated, scrunching his face.

"Wait, but Chenle's letter– what if there's more?" Jisung stood up abruptly, grabbing Chenle's letter, eyeing it closely.

"Stop! Jisung! There is nothing!"

"There is! Haruki is really good at hiding things, this... what if she used invisible ink? Wasn't she fawning over invisible ink pens before the short autumn school break?" Jisung urged and looked around, "We need a UV light ray."

"Jisung–"

"Just trust me, please!" he exclaimed, arms dangling by his side, looking at his friends with hope.

Donghyuck sighed, nudging Mark's shoulder, "Get that kid a UV light ray or whatever he wants."

Lihua pursed her lips, "I think I may have one!"

They looked at her weirdly and she shrugged, "What? Haruki suggested them and they are cool!" later on, she gasps as the realization hits her, "What if she even planned this?" she questioned, pulling the invisible ink pen that comes with the UV light flash on the other end.

Jisung smiles at her before pressing the flash. Chenle switched the light closed and his friend ran the light onto the free space, seeing the distinct hidden writing.

"Oh my God– Jisung! You're a genius!" Mark yelled and shook the boy in excitement.

"What does it say?!"

Renjun narrowed his eyes, "I'm not saying you should avoid her– she doesn't do harm, just don't get caught getting close to her by my mother..."

They all looked at each other, grinning widely as they have found out something new.

Though, one felt a bit uneasy about it. Yes, they were all alone in Mark's house– but something felt wrong. Hanmi gulped nervously, looking around cautiously.

Why does it feel like we're being observed?

— • • • —

oH? 👀