Beta read by someone.

There were corpses around her.

Everywhere she went, death was in the air.

And the worst part was that they were formerly her friends.

Mirae was horrified to see the bodies strewn around were those of her friends. As she looked around…a little girl named Ara, one of Mirae's friends, was just standing there. Mirae ran to catch up to her, but as she got closer, Ara began to change. Her body started to mutate as wings began to appear on her back and she began to look like a giant humanoid insect.

One that would haunt her…Syrphid. However, it was not over yet as another person appeared besides her.

A man named Soochi.

Instantly Soochi appeared in front of Mirae, shocking her before he began to speak a few words to her.

"See this? This is what your life is. Everyone that you cherish dies around you, and you are the only one that survives…"

Mirae was breathing heavily, slowly turning into hyperventilating as Soochi continued to taunt her. However, it was his last words that broke her.

"And you can't do anything about it. So watch…as the bodies of your friends pile up one by one…" he said before he began to laugh.

"A…AH…AHHHH…AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Mmm…mmm…gah!" Mirae moaned as she was tossing and turning on her bed before suddenly waking up in a cold sweat. As she did, she was breathing softly in rhythm, trying to calm herself down. "That nightmare again…it keeps appearing in my dreams…" she thought to herself as she looked at the night sky. As she did, various memories of her past soon came into her head, especially ones about her life on the island. "Everyone…"

Eventually, Mirae had enough of gazing and decided to go back to sleep. Before she could however, one last thought came to her mind.

"Seha…I wonder if he is sleeping okay…"

And just like that, Mirae went back to sleep…but to no avail.

(Hours later…)

Mirae let out a small groan and yawn as she was heading towards the dining room. "Mmmgh…that nightmare is back again…should I talk to Seha about it…no, this just happened last night. It should probably go away the next day…"

As Mirae came into the dining room, she saw Seha, who was in the kitchen. Meanwhile, Seha saw her and he was shocked at her appearance. Her hair was messy, her eyes were slightly red, and there were small bags under her eyes. "Mirae…are you alright?" he asked.

"Mmmh…oh, yeah. I'm fine Seha. It's just that…well, I had a rough night sleeping." she muttered as she was rubbing her eyes while taking a seat at the table. "How about you? Did you sleep well?"

"Uh…well…not quite. I couldn't get a good night's sleep last night."

"I see. You too huh?"

"Yes. I wasn't able to sleep for a while, and then I started to play on my video game console for a while. How about you?"

"Me? Well…it was the same for me as well. I was struggling to sleep as well.." Mirae said as she took a sip of her glass.

"Really? Is there something wrong?"

For a moment, Mirae was quiet before she answered his question. "Well, I just had a bad dream. That's all."

"I see. Let's hope that we'll be able to get some good sleep tonight." Seha said as he put breakfast on the table. "Anyways, breakfast is ready."

With the mention of breakfast, Mirae focused her attention on the meal Seha made and started to eat, her earlier troubles forgotten. Seha did the same and ate his breakfast.

And the two resumed their daily lives as usual…or so they thought…

Days have passed since then, and Mirae's sleep problem was still there. Her facial features got worse over time; to the point where her friends and superiors started to notice it.

Mirae groaned as he was struggling to sleep once more. To his dismay however, she wasn't able to. "Not again. This has gone a bit too far. A few days have passed, and I'm still struggling with sleep. What is wrong with me?" she thought to herself. After a while of lying on the bed, Mirae then got out of bed and went to the living room. As she was doing so, she stopped by Seha's room for a short moment. "Seha…"

Mirae then continued her walk to the living room. As she arrived, she then sat on the couch and seated herself by huddling with her hands wrapped around her knees. As she was sitting in nightly silence, images of her friends from both her time on the island and her time as a member of Rattus appeared in her head. "Everyone…" she thought to herself as she was about to tear up.

"Mirae?" Seha said softly, but loud enough for Mirae to hear him.

Upon hearing his voice, Mirae quickly turned around, surprised to see Seha. "Seha? You're here?" she asked, not knowing how much time had passed.

"Yeah. I felt thirsty, so I came down here to get some water." Seha replied as he turned on the kitchen lights. "Do you want a glass?"

"Yes..." she said in a sleepish tone of voice.

After a few minutes, Seha returned to the living room with two glasses of water in his hands. "Here." he said as he handed Mirae a glass of water.

"Thank you." she said before she took a small sip. Seha then did the same thing too. For a while, they did nothing as they looked at the night sky together in the comfort of the couch. As they were doing so, not a single word was said.

After a while, Seha decided to get off the couch. "Well then…I'll be going then…" However, before he could fully do so, Mirae suddenly tugged on his shirt. "Mirae?"

"Seha…don't leave…stay. Please." Mirae softly. To Seha's surprise, it sounded like she was begging him to not leave her alone.

Despite his earlier surprise, Seha sat back down on the couch. "So…is there something bothering you, Mirae?" he asked.

"N-No. I'm fine Seha." Mirae replied/lied, not wanting to trouble Seha with her troubles.

However, Seha was not buying into Mirae's lie. "Are you sure, Mirae? Because it's clear that there is something wrong with you if you have been struggling with sleeping for the past few days. Trust me, this isn't the first time I've experienced something like this. So tell me, is there something bothering you?"

For a moment, Mirae was silent before letting out a weary sigh. "Sorry, Seha. I just didn't want to trouble you with my problems…you see, I've been having nightmares lately…"

"Nightmares? About what?"

"Well…about my life on the island before I met everyone else." she said sadly. "You see…I used to have friends on the island I used to live on."

"Used to? You mean…"

"Yes. They all died…right before me."

There was a moment of silence between the two as Seha realized he had just opened up a sad part of Mirae's life that she probably did not want to talk about. "Sorry. I didn't know that was a sensitive topic for you."

"It's fine, Seha. I think I should probably tell you eventually. Now would be a good time." Mirae replied as she took another sip from her glass. "As I mentioned earlier, they all died before me because of the poison that contaminated the island. As it turns out…the island that I was living on in the past was actually Abbadon's corpse."

Seha was surprised by Mirae's words. "Abbadon? You mean that giant dimensional monster we fought in Busan?"

"Yes."

"And you have been living there since your childhood?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

Mirae nodded. "As it turns out, I was the only one that survived because of my phase force, so I was able to outlive everyone…" she said sadly.

"I see. So your nightmare…involves that?"

"Yes. In that nightmare…I see the many corpses of my friends…and Ara…"

"Ara? Is she a friend of yours?"

"Yes, and the last one I made on the island…before she was forced to become Syrphid by Soochi."

At that moment, Seha was stunned at Mirae's words. "Syrphid?! That dimensional monster we met at Centum? She's Ara?" he asked, which Mirae nodded sadly. "Wow. This is unexpected…to think that one of your friends is her…I'm so sorry for you." he said in disbelief.

"Yes. I couldn't believe it myself when I saw her for the first time at the airport, when Soochi introduced her to me." Mirae said as she drank from her glass. "Anyways, those nightmares I keep having recently were like those, where I would be surrounded by corpses of my friends from the island, then Ara would appear in front of me and I would try to catch up to her, but…when I do so, she changes into Syrphid…"

"And what happens next?"

"And then Soochi appears beside her. He then taunts me, telling me how I was the only one that survived while everyone else around me dies. And his last words…he said that I wasn't able to protect anything and all that I can do is just watch my friends die one by one." she said as she began to tear up.

"Mirae…"

"Seha…honestly, I don't know what to do. Honestly, even though it was a nightmare, those words have haunted me for a long time, and it's actually true. Throughout my life, I've seen my friends die, and I'm the only one that survives…it hurts." she said with a sniffle. "In fact, there are some times where I feel like I should join them…"

At that moment, Seha placed his hand on Mirae's head and started to pat on it before gently rubbing it. "There, there. Everything is going to be fine, Mirae." he comforted her.

"Seha…but how so?"

"Because…not everyone that you know of is dead. You still have your friends and teammates from Rattus, remember?"

"Yeah, but…what if I fail to protect them?"

Seha was silent for a moment before he gave his answer. "Well…let me tell you this. I feel like your friends and teammates would not want you to feel like this. If anything, they want you to move on with your life and be happy. Including me."

"Really?"

"Yes. So don't think of yourself that way. Instead of reminding yourself of the past, move on to the future."

For a moment, Mirae was silent before taking a few breaths. After a short while, she let out a small smile. "Thank you, Seha. I feel much better now."

In turn, Seha let out a small smile too. "I'm glad to hear that Mirae." he said as he began to get off the couch. "Now then, I should probably go to bed right now…"

However, before Seha could fully get off the couch, he felt a tug from Mirae's hand. "Mirae?"

"Seha. If you don't mind…can you stay with me for tonight? For some reason…being with you calms me down…please?" Mirae pleaded.

For a moment, Seha was thinking about it before he gave his answer. "Sure. Give me a moment to grab the bed sheets."

Mirae nodded and let Seha go. He then left the living room for a few minutes only to return with a few bed sheets. Mirae then grabbed on and wrapped it all over herself. Meanwhile, Seha then sat down next to Mirae and did the same thing as her. As the two sat together in their bed sheets, Mirae slowly placed her hand onto Seha's hand, gently grasping it with a firm grip.

"Mirae?"

"Seha. Thank you for cheering me up." she said as she turned to see him with the smile from before.

For a moment, Seha slightly blushed upon seeing Mirae's face before continuing the conversation. "N-No problem." he said, showing that he was not used to this.

And then, the two continued to sit on the couch together. As the night went on, Mirae eventually got tired and slowly leaned on Seha's body; her shoulder was touching his and her head was touching the side of Seha's head. Seha was initially shocked at this, but realized that Mirae fell asleep upon seeing her sleeping face.

And for the first time in a while, she was sleeping peacefully, free from her nightmares.

Seha smiled softly again before he let out a small yawn and began to close his eyes.

And then, the two fell asleep together…

Author's note: And just like that, Seha knows a bit more about Syrphid earlier than in canon.