In Another Life

Is She Back?

Not one of the siblings made a comment on her appearance. Mingyue tried covering it up with makeup, but eventually gave up with that because it looked terrible either way.

Arriving at school was much more of a scene than she's used to. Kangdae was really popular now, he had fangirls and everything. Haneul didn't seem so bothered as if it were just another normal day.

Mingyue felt nothing, it would take her a few days to get back in touch with her emotions and Haneul knew this. Her best friend knew this routine all too well; that is why Haneul doesn't mind babbling on about meaningless stuff just so Mingyue isn't completely consumed by her thoughts.

Haneul likes to talk about things that don't require a response from Mingyue whenever this happens. Haneul and Kangdae understand that she won't be able to have a proper conversation until she adjusts to everything again.

"Is Mingyue alright? She didn't even smile today?"

"She will be alright..." Kangdae sighed, watching as his little sisters walked down the hall with Sunoo to their classroom.

Even during lunch, she sat with Enhypen, yet her mind was stuck in that house. The glass shattered on the floor, Mingyue could imagine her mother barging into her room and smashing a picture frame. She was thinking about what happened to her mom this time to go crazy again.

"Mingyue, you should eat." Haneul spoke softly, pushing her lunch tray to Mingyue.

The girl shook her head. Kangdae sighed, who knew when the last time she had a proper meal was? Everyone at the table looked over at her, curious for what would happen next... or more nervous because they had never seen Kangdae so calmly-annoyed.

"You need to eat." Kangdae said sternly. Mingyue's tired eyes met his frustrated ones. He could see the dullness, the lack of life, he saw that she physically couldn't take care of herself without a little aid.

Her shaky hands picked up the spoon as she tried eating a bite of rice. The moment she ate it she knew that her stomach couldn't handle it right now. For Kangdae to stop worrying, she kept taking little bites, but the more she ate the drowsier she got.

Her eyes could barely stay open, the next second her body gave out and she was knocked unconscious.

Jungwon had been the one to catch her before she had completely fallen. He looked over to Kangdae who seemed both mad and sad.

"Should I bring her to the nurse?" He asked, supporting her up still.

"I'll help you," Ni-ki said, both of the makes wrapped her arms around each of their necks as they brought the girl to the nurses office.

"What are we going to do?" Kangdae whispered to his sister.

"There's nothing we can do except be here for her. You know how much she struggles with changes." Haneul scope softly. Although she was right, he didn't want to watch Mingyue fall apart again.

The week had went by excruciatingly slow, Mingyue had yet to return to her normal self. Everyone was worrying about her well being, she had visibly thinned out and her bones had become more prominent than before.

She was one of the last to leave the classroom, she was quite slow moving; sleep and lack of food defiantly played an important role in that. Haneul was going to wait, but Mingyue let her go to the vending machine because she could tell that her best friend was very hungry.

"Let's do something this weekend?" Sunoo asked Mingyue. He helped her organize her papers and placed them in her bag.

"I don't know about that Sunoo, rain check?"

"Please Mingyue? It can just be you, me, and Haneul. Or if you wanted, it could be a whole group thing. I just want to make sure that you're okay."

"You really are a ray of sunshine, you know that?"

"Is that a yes?"

"Only for you, Sunshine."

The two kids joined Haneul at the vending machine, she was smiling to herself as she munched on chips.

"So, I thought that we could have a girls weekend! We can do each others makeup and face masks afterwards; we can pain each others nails and style hair?"

"What if it's girls and Sunoo weekend? He asked if the three of us could hang out?"

Haneul turned to Sunoo, "You can style our hair! This is perfect," She squealed.

"Let's get going before Kangdae gets worried," Mingyue said, pulling her two friends along.

Kangdae went out with the others in Enhypen, leaving Sunoo with his two sisters. They had everything perfectly planned out. They wanted to watch Pretty Little Liars while they were doing their makeup. Haneul had rewatched this show a thousand times, but it was Mingyue and Sunoo's first time seeing it.

"Wait! Oh my gosh! Ezra's her English teacher?!" Sunoo practically screamed.

"Shitttt. She's so fucked." Mingyue comments, she was blowing on her fingernails so they could dry faster. Haneul wanted to put more layers, but she was very impatient when it came to letting the first coat set.

"What foul language," Kangdae spoke loudly, the three shrieked at his sudden entrance. The other six followed after him.

"Kangdae, do you feel like being the best brother ever?" Haneul asked, smiling the most adorable she could.

"No."

"I haven't even asked you what it is?"

"I don't need to see the future to know that you want me to buy food."

"Ugh. You're mean. I just wanted pizza and ice cream?"

"I got it, don't worry Haneul." Mingyue stood up going to get her purse. "Do you want to call in for pizza? I'll go to the convince store to get some snacks?"

"Sounds good, do you want company?"

"I'm good, it's just down the street anyways. I'll be back in twenty."

Although it was dark outside, the streetlights illuminated the night. She had a clear and safe path, Mingyue really wasn't worried about anything.

"Mingyue! Wait up, I'll join you."

"Heeseung? If you want me to pick something up you could've asked Kangdae or Haneul to text me?"

"That's alright, let's go it's getting cold."