Weeks passed, and it was the middle of October. Yuri couldn't go anywhere without seeing Halloween decorations everywhere. Afia had been introduced to all the boys in various ways, though she hadn't interacted with them much.
Yuri supposed that this was the best way to let her get used to them. She couldn't expect change quickly, no matter how much she wanted it. She'd just have to wait, and she was fine with waiting, at least she told herself that. In all honesty, she was very nervous about Afia's behavior, but she couldn't do anything about it.
She wasn't going to try to push it either. The girl acted as if the monsters didn't exist whenever the two were together, and Yuri couldn't blame her. It was something that would be very hard to get used to. Yuri tried her best to not mention them either. It was hard, but this was her best friend. She had to make it work.
Per usual, Yuri sat with Jun in class, back to his same energetic self, except much louder. He loved holidays with a passion. Yuri recalled Jun, Seungkwan, Seokmin and Soonyoung having the time of their life on April Fools and during Easter. The excitement the boy radiated was jarring.
It gave her a headache. The noise paired with the small amount of sleep she had gotten the previous night was overwhelming. She couldn't wait until she could get out of that class and go somewhere quiet.
It probably wasn't a good idea to binge-watch anime at 3 am, but it was one of the few things that got her mind off things. Yuri spent much of her time outside of the apartment, walking the streets in silence. She just wanted to be alone, or with her brother, or somewhere far away. Sometimes she wished that this was just a dream she would wake from soon, but that would mean losing everything, and she couldn't take that.
Some days Jihoon would walk with her, or Wonwoo, sometimes Joshua would too, though very rarely. She had a feeling that he was still guilty from her relapse a few months ago, and she wanted to tell him that she no longer held it against him, but she didn't know how. He barely stayed in the same room as her for more than five minutes, unless there was someone else there.
Yuri's absolute favorite spot was the pier. Jeonghan often swam near her or floated near the edge of the dock and listened to her rant. The pink-haired boy didn't have a lot of good advice in her opinion, mostly recommending drowning people, until she gently chided him about the fact that murder was never the answer.
Her classes got harder, essays got longer, and Yuri found herself pulling overnighters every week, until one day she could no longer take it.
There was a place on top of a hill where she could overlook the entire city. It was calming and humbling at the same time, being up so high. She often felt like she was flying, and also falling, either way, she wanted to tumble through the air and forget her life. Both felt like good options at the time, though she had promised to limit her negative thoughts.
That particular night, Yuri felt a rush of wind behind her.
"I thought you'd left the city."
Yuri half smiled. "Why would I do that Hao?"
He sat down next to her, moving his wings so that they wouldn't hit her. "To get away?" He turned to her. "Isn't that what you want?"
Yuri thought about it. She did want to leave. But not now. "Not yet. Now's not the time. I'll leave when I'm absolutely certain that there's no other option."
"And we'll come with you?"
"I wouldn't ever leave you guys behind unless it was with someone I trusted." He nodded, and they sat in silence for a long time.
"Are you ok?" He finally broke it with the question, and Yuri didn't know how to react.
"In all honesty, I don't know how I'm feeling."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, I'm not sure. Afia is pretending like everything's fine, when I know she's still shaken up by your guys' presence. And if it comes down to choosing between you, I wouldn't know what to do. You're just as much of a part of my life as she is, but I've known her longer."
"Well, maybe you won't have to choose."
"I sure hope so."
He laughed, reaching over and ruffling her hair. "I have an idea, what if you come over and help the others put up the decorations they've been buying?"
Yuri looked up. "You let them buy decorations?"
"Yeah? Was that a bad idea?"
Yuri smiled. "No, no it wasn't, let's go."
Yuri had never gotten used to the feeling of flying, but she loved it. Minghao set her down behind a couple of bushes and swooped in through one of the open upstairs windows. Yuri laughed to herself, dusting off her clothes and walking up to the front door. Time to create a distraction.
The boys were surprised to see her, this time Yuri made Joshua drop his drink in surprise as she walked through the door. Jeonghan laughed at him and nearly fell off the couch.
"So. You want to put up Halloween decorations?"
Jun screamed and tackled Yuri in a hug. "Yes! Let's split up into teams!"
Yuri was teamed up with Joshua, something that she suspected was Minghao's doing. The boy always seemed to know what she was thinking, and she wasn't sure if he was a mind reader, or if he just knew her that well.
Joshua was skittish. Her refused to look her in the eyes sometimes, and he put things up in a hurry.
"Joshua?" He flinched. "Hey, hey, don't do that."
"Do what." His voice was monotone.
"Act as if I'm gonna hurt you."
"Oh."
"I'm not mad at you Josh, it wasn't your fault."
"But it was."
"Hey." Yuri put down her decorations. "Don't blame yourself. I'm not mad at you, ok? You're still important. That was on me."
He slowly met her eyes. "You sure?"
"Positive."
"I'm still sorry."
"I know. It doesn't matter anymore."
He nodded. "Ok."
Yuri smiled. "Let's get back to work."
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