Rena was staring at the house at midnight. The lights were already off, only the moon made the house slightly visible. She sighed, approaching the house and opening the front door.
Click!
"Welcome home! Where were you? We're so worried!" Ara whispered in excitement as she hugged Rena tightly. She would scream, but she didn't want to wake the others. She was worried for a while already, her body felt much lighter when Rena came home.
Rena looked at the angel behind Ara. He didn't say or express anything. He probably forgot why he was here already. The elf smiled and apologized for worrying them. "Sometimes I had enough with you guys, so today I just ran away and rested in the forest by myself," she giggled and broke the hug to look at Ara and Ain. "Pack up, guys. We're leaving."
Ara's eyes widened in surprise. She was already liking the house, she wanted to stay. It's filled with so many precious memories too. "We were too loud, guys. The head of the neighborhood told us to leave tomorrow or they'll kick by force," Rena explained.
"Eeeh? That's not fun. I don't have much to pack, though…" Ara pouted in disappointment. "I swear it's because Lu and Ciel were molesting Chung in the backyard."
"H-Huh?! Molest?!" Rena freaked out and closed the front door immediately. She didn't even bother to keep her voice down anymore. But Ara left her at that; she didn't explain any further.
Click!
"Do any of you have a suitcase for all my stuff?"
They approached Add, who took a step out from his lab. Ain didn't care and went back to the boys room. Rena smiled slightly, then slowly turned into a smirk. "My suitcase is used for my girly collections… unless you want to wear it so I can have a space for your stuff."
"Fine, I'll wear it tomorrow. Thanks," Add thanked Rena with a straight face and went back to his lab. He didn't even hesitate with that plan.
Ara blinked her eyes several times. She took a glance at Add's lab. For a person that loved cleanliness, his lab was incredibly messy. In conclusion, the mess wasn't trash for him. She smiled and looked at Rena. "I'll wear one too. You have something for my size, right?"
Ara and Rena went back to the girls room and told them about it. They were all disappointed, but they didn't have any other choices. They might not get a new house with a big bedroom again. It was fun that they had been gossiping every night.
"Huh, really? Then I'll wear something too. Give me the stuff tomorrow, Rena!" Rose smiled in excitement, but not because she could wear fancy dress, but because she got to see Add crossdressing for once. She only wanted them for extra space in Rena's suitcase.
"We should use this opportunity for something normal with a less troublesome potion. You guys are confusing me," Eve said with a serious look. She hugged her pillow and looked at everyone. "I've been talking about it with Elsword. We need to know each other more. Nisha just came back and Noah might still be confused with everything."
Rose laughed nervously, recalling that Noah didn't trust anyone in the group. "I've been with Noah for 2 days and I still don't get him. Except he consumes everything."
"What can we do, though? Maybe we'd casually fight demons while finding a new house," Elesis muttered with a sad look. She had been chasing Elsword for too long, she didn't know what to do anymore. Maybe it would be a good chance for her to learn about the others.
Rena picked up a bright pink potion and winked. "This will be harmless. Trust me!"
Invincibility potion: You're invincible for today! Maybe mass jumping off a cliff would be a good and fast trip to somewhere else!
Rena, Ara, and Rose woke up early to wear Rena's collection. They were too noisy, so the others woke up as well.
Rose looked at herself in front of the mirror. She was wearing a black and white maid outfit. Rena was shorter, revealing more of Rose's thighs with her outfit. But she seemed comfortable with it.
Ara was wearing a frilly dress with a galaxy theme. She also wore a swimsuit under it just in case they got time to play with water. The dress almost looked like Aisha's magical transformation, making Aisha think of changing her transformation outfit. But Ara insisted that they looked different. "Do it right now, Aisha! It's different!"
Aisha sighed and transformed herself with what she called Magical Make-Up. Compared to Aisha's white and pink outfit, Ara's dress was dark purple with white glitters. "Look, yours is cuter. You have the ribbons!" Ara smiled and grabbed Aisha's arm to make them stand together in front of the mirror.
Rena was wearing a kimono. It looked really weird to wear it randomly in the wrong place, but she made extra space for her suitcase. It would be troublesome if they met demons on their day, but Elesis convinced them everyone will be safe.
Eve showed her head to the girls room from the outside. "Rena, got any costume for Elsword?"
Rena nodded in excitement. She picked up a set and gave it to Eve. The Nasod smiled and brought it to her boyfriend. "It's female's bunny outfit," she said with a smile. Elsword grew up; it would be weird to see him in female clothes, but it would be fun.
"Here you go. Add can put some stuff," Rena faced Rose and gave her the suitcase along with the outfit for Add. Rose thanked her before she went to the lab.
A huge backpack was filled with Add's stuff. There was still more on the table, but he was sitting on the bed and waiting for Rena's suitcase. Thankfully the stuff fit into the suitcase, although it was a bit cramped.
Rose took a look at the outfit Rena gave her. It was a small pink nurse uniform. Rena possibly bought it for Elsword. "Not everyone is wearing Rena's stuff, right? My radar sensed demons, we might encounter them," Add said calmly as he closed the door and casually took off his clothes to change.
Rose's face turned bright red instantly. She wanted to scream, but she had to hold it for now. "Yeah, most people are free."
Ciel cooked a lot of food. He wouldn't let a single food be thrown away. The gang were gathering for breakfast before going out. "Let's have a picnic! We have so much food!" Lu announced with a proud smile—because her servant did it. Of course, Noah was the most excited among them all.
"Sounds useless and inefficient, but I'm following," Ain commented with a serious look. He wouldn't waste his time for a picnic, but he's already wasting a lot of time because of potions. As much as he wanted to oppose it, he couldn't do anything.
"Then I'll make it useful! Don't worry, I got you!" Ara shouted with a confident look. Ain was already worried because of what Ishmael told him about Ara and Eun.
While the others were discussing the picnic, Nisha poked Chung's arm with a curious look. "Aisha asked me if you wanted to talk with me. What was it?"
The night before, Aisha asked Chung if he had any plans. He answered yes, saying that he had to talk to Nisha about something. Aisha, feeling curious, asked Nisha about it. But of course, Nisha didn't give any answer. Chung sighed and faced Nisha. "I just wanted to know if you guys like the accessory or not."
Nisha touched the hairpin on her hair. She decided to wear it, since Laby loved it for some reason. "Laby loves it, so I love it too. What else?"
"How much did you see when you were in my body?"
Nisha giggled and narrowed her eyes with a smile. "Almost everything. The one that you remembered anyway."
Chung looked away from Nisha, but he looked more serious than usual. Nisha tilted her head in confusion, noticing the sudden change of expression. Was he mad because Nisha knew about his privacy? "Don't tell anyone about the board," he said with, unintentionally, a threatening tone.
Nisha looked at the ceilings. Board… There were a lot of boards. But there was only one special board: the hidden ouija board in the boys room. She giggled and nodded her head. "I won't, I promise. Let me join when you guys are playing it."
The tension between them had gone when Chung went back to his normal expression. Nisha took out another friendship bracelet and tied it on his left hand. It was, sadly, still not well made by Nisha. But Chung held it with his right hand tightly, smiling happily.
"Look who got distracted," Lu smirked and poked Aisha's cheeks. Aisha was definitely jealous of this. Even though she didn't know what Nisha and Chung were talking about, it was written on her face that she wasn't happy with it.
Rose came out of Add's lab. Both Add and Rose were having breakfast in the lab and didn't join the picnic conversation, so Lu told her about it. Rose laughed at the idea, looking behind as Add came out of his lab wearing a nurse outfit and dragging Rena's suitcase out. He sighed and closed his eyes. "Fine, as long as you're happy, Rose."
"Nice, we're blending in with people now," Rose smiled and grabbed Add by his neck.
They took a rest on a lakeside outside of Hamel, the city of water. Hamel was the place where the gang met Chung and Ara. It actually brought a nostalgic feeling to some people. Ciel took out the foods he prepared for lunch, making everyone drool after spending their time just walking without doing much but talking to each other.
Noah was the first to grab the food. Elsword narrowed his eyes at Noah and smiled. "So you're planning to eat everything?" he asked as he grabbed the food as well. If Noah was planning to eat everything, he didn't have time to think on which one to eat first. The others quickly grabbed the food too, noticing that the two of them got excited.
Rena sighed heavily. Normally she would stop this kind of thing, but she reached the acceptance point. She didn't have a reason to stop them anymore, she just wanted to enjoy her life. Moreover, there was a lot of delicious food in front of her that was clearly more important. "Eh, so you can chill too, Rena. That's surprising," Ara commented as she looked at Rena enjoying her food.
The elf swallowed the food quickly and stared at Ara. "What does that mean? Of course I can!"
"This is where you stop people. We all know that too well," Ciel replied with a nervous laugh. There was an angel that would stop them, but since Elsword was in it, he probably decided to let it be. He didn't want to give a hint, but he already said it and regretted it.
"Sometimes it's better to make a mess," Ain replied with a straight face. It was an unexpected reaction for Rena and Ara, but not so much for Ciel. One time Ain forced the boys to stay awake to use the ouija board all night anyway.
But Ara noticed it. She looked at Ciel with a confused look. "You don't seem very surprised. Did Ain say weird stuff in the boys room?"
Chung laughed at the question. "Ask him then."
"Hey Ain, what do you do when we're asleep?" Ara asked and faced Ain. The angel kept silent, eating his food like the question was never asked. The silence kept going on until Ara remembered Ain had a very short memory and Ishmael possibly didn't tell him what to say. She pouted and glared at Chung, who was still laughing. "Chung! Why are you like this?!"
Meanwhile, the others were debating about tea. "You put sugar on a tea! Sweeter is better," Lu insisted with a serious look. She preferred it to be sweet and put sugar on almost everything. It was amazing that she didn't suffer from diabetes.
"Not all tea! Teas like Earl Grey are better without sugar. They already give a nice aroma, don't ruin it with sugar," Eve disagreed with a serious look. She loved it naturally. Sugar was just an extra and ruined the flavor.
Elesis scratched her head in confusion. She wanted to stop them, since the whole conversation was based on personal preferences and would be pointless to discuss any further. "How about milk tea?"
"You don't ruin milk with tea. Chocolate milk is tolerable," Add said with a monotone voice. He barely drank anything but water in the first place, but hot chocolate was always his favorite. It would be possible that he accepted a chocolate tea for drinks.
Raven shook his head. "It's good, though. Have you ever tried bubble milk tea?"
"Huh? You drink boba?!" Lu shouted in shock. Boba was another term for bubble tea, a tea with sweet bubbles. She never imagined Raven enjoying sweet stuff, it sounded impossible to her. Apparently Raven drank it once because Nisha was curious about bubble teas.
"What the heck is bubble milk tea? Did they make it when they were drunk?" Add folded his arms, feeling a bit annoyed. He was imagining a literal bubble and confused with it.
Eve laughed and smiled at Add. "It's trending, Add. Stop hibernating in your lab and go out for once."
Next to them were the rest of the group making a circle. Rose was always happy seeing Noah enjoying his food and she didn't even know why. Noah took a fishball with his chopstick and offered it to Rose. "Here. Say aaah!"
"Eh?" Rose blinked her eyes several times in confusion. She opened her mouth and let Noah feed the fishball to her. Noah did it because Rose was always smiling when he was eating. He simply wished to share his happiness with Rose.
"Just eat, Rose. It's not like you're gaining weight just by eating more food than usual," Aisha said with a sigh. It was a picnic, it would be better if everyone was eating.
"Wrong diet will give a horrible result," Nisha nodded, agreeing with Aisha. As much as she disliked the magician, she had to make herself like Aisha again. Laby was sad to see Nisha hating people.
Rose waved her hands, telling them that they got the wrong idea. "I'm full. I don't eat that much, but it was enough for me. Thank you, though."
"Weird. But it's nice," Elsword smiled and kept eating. As a knight, he ate more food than normal people because he needed more energy. But Rose ate a small portion and enough with it, truly a good save of time. It was a good advantage.
"Is that so? Then I'll take your portion," Noah smiled happily. Of course, Elsword wouldn't let him enjoy the food alone.
A few hours after lunch, they went to the waterfall in Hamel. They tried to find a new house because Hamel was a nice city, but there weren't any big houses around.
"We're invincible today, right?" Lu smirked and spread her wings. She grabbed Ciel from the back and flew up high. "I'm going to drop you! Hahahaha!"
"But why?! And your evil side is showing!" Ciel shouted and tried to free himself. But then he stopped, letting Lu do whatever she wanted. He found the evil side of Lu as cute, he wouldn't regret anything.
When they were looking up at Lu and Ciel, Ara, folding her galaxy outfit neatly on the ground and already wearing a swimsuit, ran in full speed from behind to kick Ain's back. She could stay on the ground, but she used her body to prevent Ain from dashing away from the river.
Splash!
The others glanced at the river immediately. Ara and Ain showed their heads to the surface. Ara was laughing happily while Ain glared at her, asking for an explanation. "Hm? How does it feel to be bullied?" she narrowed her eyes with a smile. She raised her hands to drown Ain for fun.
But Ain jumped out of the river. It wasn't surprising since he could jump in the air, but sadly he forgot that Ara was able to do the same thing. She jumped toward him and caught him with her hands.
Splash!
"I want to join," Elsword frowned and looked at the bunny outfit he was wearing. As much as he wanted to jump into the river, he didn't want to ruin Rena's collection.
"Does the heal work if we're invincible? I need to know," Add said as he stared at Noah.
Noah had a difficulty taking Add seriously with his nurse uniform, so he tilted his head instead. "You want me to hurt myself?"
Add raised his one eyebrow, as if Noah was asking an obvious thing. He sighed and folded his arms. "Do it before I hurt you."
Noah smiled and raised the sickle in his right hand. "Alright then!"
The others look away from Add and Noah. "We're invincible, we're invincible… We're fine…" Rena took a deep breath and released it slowly, convincing herself that everything will be fine.
"Ah, Elsword, we can see the view from up there," Eve grabbed Elsword's hand and pointed at the higher ground to change the atmosphere. Both of them walked together and held each other's hands.
Seeing them being happy made Aisha feel a bit jealous. She glanced at Chung, who was looking at the town and not talking to Nisha at all. Maybe this was the opportunity she was waiting for. "Chung—"
"Chuuung! You gotta help meee!" Elesis whined and approached Chung immediately, startling him from the back. They never heard her whining before, it was out of her character. Chung was very confused with her, but he was willing to listen.
"You tried, you tried," Rena smiled slightly and patted Aisha's back. Aisha sighed, feeling sad that she failed. If she was faster, maybe she could get his attention.
Nisha slapped Aisha's cheek and glared at her. Nisha's friends—the creatures—were already standing behind her, looking at Aisha. Her mirror was in front of Aisha, floating up and down to tell Nisha something. "It's fine, Laby. We're invincible today," Nisha said, trying to look calm but still feeling upset. The mirror floated away from Aisha and moved toward Nisha. "Chung is very bad at expressing his feelings, so I'll do it in his place."
Aisha glared back at Nisha and summoned her staff. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Why do you care about him that much anyway?"
"I didn't until yesterday," Nisha answered with an annoyed look, touching the bowknot hairpin on her hair. She didn't want another talk; she immediately got close to Aisha and tried to kill her.
"Sometimes you just have to fight physically. Let them be," Raven said calmly as he looked at the two girls fighting each other.
Rose sighed and laughed nervously. "Girls don't normally do that, Raven. But I'm not sure if I should stop them," she replied and prepared her gun. Just in case things go really wrong, she was ready to stop the girls.
A sound of something dropping was heard. Apparently it was Ciel, dropped from the sky while Lu was laughing at him.
After an hour of a mess, they finally continued their journey to find a new house. Noah was healing Aisha and Nisha as they walked, even though nothing happened to them. "You should've told me. I'd support you," Noah said with a smile.
"That sounds so wrong, but thank you," Nisha thanked him with a confused look. She knew he could be weird sometimes, but not to this point. Maybe it was time to accept that everyone had their own weird side.
Aisha was clearly not happy with it. Nisha had no reason to attack if she didn't have any feelings for Chung. Nisha's reason was very questionable too. What did she mean by expressing feelings in Chung's place? Did he plan to murder her or what? The tension between them was awkward enough to make the others didn't talk that much. The fact that Chung didn't even know he was involved and talked to Elesis like nothing happened made everything worse. At least Ara and Ain were having a cheerful conversation, although Ain didn't look happy with his straight face.
They visited a hotel to stay for the night. It was too late for them and camping wasn't an option. They booked 7 rooms because Ain said he didn't have to sleep and would wander around at night. With the 7 keys in Rena's hand, people are starting to pick their roommates. A couple was prohibited for the sake of whoever stayed in the room next to them.
Elesis and Chung didn't seem to care about it and walked away to the hotel indoor park to talk. Nisha approached Chung to tell him something real quick before going back with the group. Lu already grabbed a key, holding Ciel's hand as they walked away to their room. Ara was already clinging to Rena, which meant that both of them would stay in the same room. Add dragged Noah away as he took a key from Rena's hand. Rose giggled at the sight, asking Eve if she wanted to be her roommate. Eve agreed to it, looking at her boyfriend who was going to stay with Raven for the night.
"Alright then, I guess you have to settle your stuff," Rena smiled and gave a key to Aisha with Nisha standing next to her. The elf walked to the indoor park with Ara and left them.
Aisha sighed in anger. She would ask Elesis to stay with her, but Nisha already approached her with an angry look and insisted on going to their room.
The room was small. Only a king size bed and a bathroom. Of course, it had a TV on the wall as well. Once Nisha locked the room from the inside, Aisha uttered the question she kept since they fought. "Why did you do that?"
"I told you; I'm merely expressing Chung's feelings for you," Nisha answered calmly, but her expression showed disgust toward Aisha. She simply stared at Aisha, looking down on her even though nobody won the fight.
"I don't get it! Are you saying he wants me to die?!" Aisha shouted in frustration. She didn't care about disturbing the others anymore. She wanted to scream since they fought. She grabbed a pillow and threw it at Nisha.
Nisha moved her body to dodge the pillow and closed her eyes. "Yes, he wants you to die. You're a piece of sh-t, playing with his feelings. He hates you that much," she said with a mocking tone, slowly opening her eyes and grinning at Aisha. "What are you planning now, making him love you again? Don't make me laugh, magician. He won't get toyed for the second time."
"What the hell?!" Aisha glared at Nisha, approaching her with a quick pace. She pushed Nisha to the wall, holding both of her shoulders with anger. The mirror was trying to stop both of them, but it couldn't do anything. "He TOYED with my feelings as well! Don't play victim!"
Nisha laughed and sneered at Aisha. "So? Who's on your side now? Everyone is on his side! You're the bad guy, playgirl."
Aisha gritted her teeth. Her body started shuddering, mixed with feelings of sadness and anger. Even though both of them played with each other's feelings, nobody felt bad for Aisha. Everyone sympathized with Chung. They even talked bad about Aisha, but never about Chung. Her eyes felt watery, tears rolling down to her cheeks. "I hate you. I hate both of you! You guys are the worst!" she shouted with a trembling voice.
But Nisha was smiling. It wasn't a mocking smile, it was a genuine happy smile. "Good enough. Keep that feeling."
Aisha's eyes widened in surprise. She backed away, looking at Nisha in confusion. "I'm taking a shower. Don't mind me," Nisha said as she grabbed her clothes and entered the bathroom. Aisha just stood in her place doing nothing.
It was almost midnight. The hotel lounge bar was crowded, filled with people drinking and laughing. The lights were dim, only lighting the bar area, giving a soothing atmosphere for the drinkers along with the music played in the room. Nisha, who physically looked like a child, made the people stare at her for entering the place. The bartender hesitated, but eventually he gave her the whiskey she ordered. According to the identity card, it was already legal for her to drink anyway.
She grabbed her glass and walked to the balcony. A familiar blonde boy was drinking his orange juice while looking at the view; a town at night with several lights on. The stars were filling the night blue sky. If the moon was full tonight, maybe it would be better. "Glad you made it, Chung. Are you carrying a fake ID?" she asked and approached him.
"Of course not. I sneaked my way here," Chung answered without looking at Nisha. His mind was currently thinking of something, but he didn't share it with her.
"I don't care how you sneaked with an orange juice, but I said it to her," Nisha informed and looked at the view as well. "Are you sure this is your best choice? I don't think she wants to talk to you anymore."
Chung smiled slightly. "It's fine. You were too extreme, but thank you."
Nisha sighed and looked at Chung's face. Her friend was clearly not fine with it. "I don't understand. Can't you guys just… go back? It doesn't have to be this way."
Chung chuckled and closed his eyes, recalling his memories with her until she tried going out with other guys. "Her actions made it worse, but I played with her feelings too. The guys can't take her seriously anymore. How about the girls?"
"We're not taking her seriously either," Nisha answered with a disappointed look. As much as she wanted to feel bad for Aisha, she couldn't, especially when Aisha had boyfriends just for fun. But Aisha's current love seemed real to her, she didn't know how to feel about her anymore. "But for some reason they feel bad for you. I don't really know why, though."
Chung sighed and drank all the orange juice. "Well? What do you think would happen if we go back?"
The mirror was caressing itself in Chung's arm, but Nisha didn't stop her mirror. She was thinking deeply. They might doubt each other's feelings. The boys will definitely try to stop Chung. They might even go as far as letting Raven make a fake confession for Aisha just for that. As for the girls… judging by what she had seen every night, they might support her. But at the same time, they might have a lot of doubts. They would watch over them whenever they were separated, especially Lu. Even if they actually loved each other this time, the rest of the gang would doubt them.
But instead of answering, Nisha came up with a question. "You can make her hate you. Why did you never do it?"
"Because Aisha is smart. She wouldn't accept a sudden change without questioning it," Chung answered and turned his face around. "Stop hiding."
Nisha's eyes widened in surprise and turned around. Her roommate showed herself and walked toward them. Aisha was about to cry, but she held it. "You still love me? I don't care what the others think about me. I love you, Chung! Why are you trying to make me hate you?!"
Chung smiled sadly, as if he knew his plan wouldn't work in the first place. "I'm sorry. You deserve someone better. Don't bother me, I'm a loser," he said as he walked away and left them.
"Chung, wait—"
Nisha grabbed Aisha's hand tightly. "Sorry I lied to you, but I wasn't lying about him moving on. He doesn't love you anymore, Aisha!"
"But why?!" Aisha shouted and finally cried. She let out all the tears she was holding when she eavesdropped the conversation. Her heart hurt so much hearing everything. Why did he have to reject her like that? What did he mean by she doesn't deserve him? She loved him as he was, so what was wrong with that?
Nisha hugged Aisha tightly, even her mirror tried to comfort her roommate. She wouldn't understand Aisha's feelings, but Laby was crying to see Aisha cry. Chung never planned on what to do after this, so her mind went blank. She had to make Aisha feel better somehow. "See, he even made you cry. Just let him go," she said, hoping that Aisha would immediately move on.
Aisha was still crying, but she felt the warmth in Nisha's hug. She started feeling better, but her mind was still filled with Chung's words of rejection. "I don't understand, Nisha. Did he feel guilty? That's why he thinks we can't go back together because he's a bad person? He seems like that kind of guy…"
"He did, Aisha. He still does," Nisha smiled slightly and broke the hug. She offered the whiskey in her glass. There was only one solution she could think of. "It's time. Drink away your problems."
Special thanks to Strgazr and LucasTheCookie for the ideas!
Yo yo if you read this
I ship Chung with someone else now AHAHAHAH [swear word] itcouldbeagoodending
But we'll see
Thanks for reading!