The Wielder's Winter (The Manifests Series #1)

[18] Black Swan, Lost

[FLASHBACK]

January 3, 2023, 9:01pm, Daegu, South Korea.

Approximately 9 hours before the apocalypse.

"I'm going to sleep now, you dummy ONCEs! Hope this New Year be well for you, I'll see you real soon, I promise! goodnight kekekeke~!"

Jihyo presses send on the Bubble chat and closes the application.

She then scrolls around her phone until she sees the name "TWICE Nayeon", and video calls her.

Nayeon answers quite quickly.

"Hey! Nayeon-ah!" Jihyo waved at her.

"Jihyo-ya!" Nayeon replied as she waves back and shows her bunny teethed smile. Her dark brown hair was tied to a bun, and she was wearing light make-up to complete her simple, yet beautiful look.

"How was your road trip with Jeongyeon-ah?" Jihyo said as she was facing her phone, looking at Nayeon who seemed to be walking around a grocery store.

"Oh, we're just currently on a stopover, doing extra groceries for our trip to Gwangju tomorrow. We're going to sleep in the car after this, then continue the trip when we wake early."

Nayeon then fell silent for a short while.

"....you alright?" Jihyo asked. "Or is my phone lagging.."

"No, no, its just that I'm just being alert right now." She replied as Jihyo saw Nayeon looking from left to right. "Jeongyeon has been surprising me with jumpscares lately. She already got me three times, Jihyo-ya. THREE freaking times. I'm not going to fall for it again."

Jihyo chuckled. "Well, now I know you both are having fun."

"How about you, Jihyo? How's Daegu?" Nayeon asked.

"The trip was a long one. So long that Mina had to take a rest when she got to the hotel, telling me that we should just travel around tomorrow.. I can't blame her." Jihyo replied.

She then moved the phone to where Mina was as Nayeon looked. She was sleeping peacefully, all snuggled up on the bed with a comforter, hugging her teddy bear, Tim, by her side.

"Aww.. she still looks beautiful even while asleep.." Nayeon cooed as Jihyo saw her grab some chips from an aisle.

Jihyo points the phone at her face once more, then takes a deep breath.

"You're still confused, are you?" Nayeon asked Jihyo. "About our decision to take a break."

"Well... I just wish there was another way." Jihyo replied. "I don't want ONCEs to be upset, but I don't want us to get drained completely, either.. I want to keep performing on stage. It's something we love doing, but..."

"The times are really tough, Jihyo." Nayeon replied. "We've been working hard since 2020, and we haven't had a full rest since. I mean, we do, on several occassions, yes, but it feels... lacking. I believe some of us have already spiraled down into Exhaustion Avenue and we didn't even know. It's good that you voiced out your concern of resting to the higher-ups..." Nayeon stuffs a bag of candies on her grocery basket.

"...and good thing they listened.." She silently muttered under her breath.

"I've never felt this... torn before. We've been doing this for nearly a decade now. Can you believe it? We have released alot of songs, performed in alot of stages and concerts, and made wondrous memories... for almost a decade! And now I feel like needing quite the long break, but... our ONCEs... I..."