Chapter Text
“You’re up earlier than usual…”
Baihua doesn’t look up from her desk, her voice barely loud enough to carry through the pop music blaring from a speaker. The music from the bathroom was enough of an indication that her roommate was already starting her day— that and the insistent noise of a blow dryer— a surprise as she would usually sleep til the afternoon if her schedule permits it.
“Well~”
She finally looks up from her studying.
Her roommate wore a frilly bathrobe, half of her hair already in curls, the other wrapped around a curling iron, bright pink, though her black roots were already showing, she would have to dye it soon. She yanks the iron off her hair, fluffing it out, disappearing back into the bathroom to place it down somewhere, the warning of pulling the plug on the tip of Baihua’s tongue already.
“Today is a very special day after all, Flower, dear!!”
She reappears, curls bouncing with each of her steps, going over to the right— pinker and very crowded side of their shared room.
“It’s another party you’re invited to, isn’t it?”
The girl turns around, her hair slapping her face. She gasps, a bit mockingly, her hand on her chest, making the sparkle of her stiletto nails blind Baihua for a brief moment.
“You think that lowly of me, dear?”
“Erianthe—”
“Although it is a party, you are correct about that.”
She quickly settles on her vanity… that also doubles as a desk that she does her work in, the drawers were filled more with makeup and accessories than anything study related.
Baihua watched her grab various products from different drawers, opening and closing it with her hands, or even her foot, placing it all on top.
“I need to be awake super early for this one to get ready, you know how slow I am to get ready.”
“Very well aware, yes.”
Baihua turns back towards her work, tightening the messy bun she did hours ago… maybe she should just redo it?
“Well, aren’t you also getting ready?”
Getting ready…?
“For what?”
There was a moment of silence.
“Did you seriously forget, Flower?”
She twirls her pencil between her fingers… forget…? Forget what? What could she have possibly—
“Oh…”
She can hear Erianthe giggle.
“There you go~”
Erianthe twirls her chair around to watch Baihua dig the heels of her palms against her eyes, feeling guilty to have forgotten.
“I should—”
She fumbles, cringing at the creak of her chair as she stands, collecting her flashcards and notes into a much neater pile, in her rush she spills some of her pens, sent a few cards flying from the desk, misplaced her pencil somewhere—
“No need, dear, the shower’s free, I already picked out a perfect outfit from your fugly wardrobe, and Inigo is going to pick us up by the time I’ve done your make up~!”
Baihua pauses…
“You planned this didn’t you—”
“I am not letting you go out how you usually dress, okay, it’s criminal!”
She rolls her eyes, “Fine, whatever, it’s useless to argue with you.”
She grabs herself a towel.
“Oh, by the way, have you played the latest update yet?” Erianthe shouts after her just as she closes the door, “I filtered my social media for spoilers but I haven't even finished episode 12!!”
Huh… Baihua herself has forgotten where she was already in Beast-Yeast… she got quite busy with her schoolworks, oftentimes just opening the app to check up on her kingdom and pull on the gacha whenever a new update came… she hardly ever remembers where the story is heading anyway, she was more into the management of the kingdom part of the game and completing it than she were about its story, though Erianthe seemed to love Beast-Yeast so far.
“I haven’t, no,” her voice echoes with the tiles, eventually muffled by the hiss of the shower opening, “It’s supposed to be the end of Beast-Yeast, right?”
“Yes!” she can hear Erianthe wail, “Oh my Hollyberry Cookie!! There won’t be much new content about her!”
“... truly devastating.”
“VERY DEVASTATING!”
She huffs from her nose, a soft laugh to those who know her.
She and her friends were currently fond of this mobile game they have been seeing around, it was actually the thing that made them all click in the first place. Considering how different all of them were, it was the glue that held them together, although to be completely honest, Inigo was the only reason she remembered the game in the first place, it having grown cobwebs in her phone for months before their first year of college. Inigo was also the one who managed to convince the last of them to move from Ovenbreak to Kingdom.
That person being the star of the show for today, the youngest of them finally allowed to legally drink: Sage.
It was his birthday today, how could she possibly forget? She was scatterbrained lately, that is no excuse of course.
Her hardworking friend… Sage has been so busy lately, just like Baihua with her studies. Though for his case, he’s been balancing classes and part time jobs upon part time jobs to support himself and help his mother. She has so much respect for her, as Baihua was also studying to be a nurse.
She can distantly see the future laid down in front of her…
But alas, today is a day of relaxation, she has to take a break for Sage’s sake, lest he himself don’t do it.
They made a separate group chat just to make sure this day would be fun for him.
Shiv already contacted the place Sage he was working at, they were kind and considerate to even get involved in the nonsense that dolt was planning. Inigo, usually the voice of reason, agreed to it. That’s how bad it was that they needed to get the birthday boy away from working.
₊˚ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ ₊˚
“OPEN THE DOOR!” “SHIV, YOU LITTLE GAH—!”
This is why the kids sit in the back.
Baihua looked at the rearview mirror, the squabbling at the back was a blur of colors. Erianthe, who sat behind her, was pressed against the car door, her hands protecting her hair, her soft voice going shrill with the wrestling— though it looked more like restraining— of the people next to her.
Sage, still in his work uniform, had managed to squirm himself upside down, his glasses smooshed into the bridge of his nose, collecting fog as his shoe was pressed against Shiv’s cheek, who currently has his hands grabbing on his clothes to keep him from falling.
All the while Inigo simply drove them to their destination smoothly.
Ah… she was wise for fighting over the front seat.
“Let go of him, Shiv, he’s gonna get an attack,” Inigo says, voice a bit muffled by his cloth facemask, “And get your foot off his face, Sage, it’s dirty.”
Finally, things managed to settle down at the back, the smaller two occupants were more pressed at the doors due to Shiv’s wide shoulders, though it’s something they’re already relatively used to.
Baihua can finally silently admire the disheveled appearances of her friends.
Shiv had his hair down today, some of it sticking to the sweat on his forehead, bouncing as he laughed at Sage’s expression. Sage grumbled in his seat, cleaning his round wire frame glasses with his work vest, eyes of blue and brown darkened with a promise of revenge in his near future.
“Where are you even taking me!” Sage dramatically bangs the side of his head against the window, “I am not prepared! I am ugly, I say! Truly and utter—”
Baihua hands him a large sefora shopping bag (courtesy of Eri’s shopping habits and her own tendency to hord bags) containing a change of clothes. They watched him blink down at it as Shiv helped place it on his lap.
“... how’d you—?”
“Your dorm room was wide open,” was Shiv’s answer.
“What?! Ethan didn’t lock the—?!” Sage takes a deep breath “Urgh whatever, he’s leaving anyway… he’s getting kicked out… I don’t have to see his ugly mug next week…”
“Oh don’t you worry your silly little head about your roomie for now, dear~” Erianthe rests her elbows on Shiv’s thigh (he doesn’t even react), her chin on her hand as she flutters her eyelashes, “This day is all about you!!”
“And the fact you can finally drink beer with me and Inigo!!” Shiv cheers
“I have drank beer with you and Inigo.”
“Legally!!”
“Shiv bought an entire pack of bud lights for the picnic,” Inigo tattled.
“Ew, bud light, really?”
Baihua huffs through her nose again.
She closes her eyes, she doesn’t really like car rides, it makes a bit dizzy, but it was fine, she can take a short nap before they could get to their destination, and Inigo’s driving felt like a rocking cradle anyways, no one can fault her for resting her eyes.
She lets herself relax to the sounds of her friends' voices…
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“SHIT, INIGO WATCH—”
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BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
KSHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!
…
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“... found… thrown from… female…”
Oh…
How long was she…
“... pupil response… get the—”
… asleep for…?
Red and blue… it hurts her eyes… her… did she open her eyes?
Everything feels so cold… so… so cold.
“... truck… violent crash… red light… bastard…”
… from a distance… she sees…
That car… it’s Inigo’s car… it’s…
Too many people, too many lights, too many noises, too many, too many—
There’s pink hair sprawled under white cloth.
Oh…
“We’re gonna get you out of here, okay? Hang on tight…”
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Crraaack…