Nine

The day went smoothly and fast, and it ended with a 99% success of their mini cafe. The last hours were filled with outsiders and students that Siren didn't take a rest. She exhaustedly sits down on the chair with a heavy sigh in between.

'I'm glad this day is over; I can now finally rest in peace.'

"Siren, have some water. You probably haven't drunk all day." Hana approaches her, concern evident in her voice. "Do you want me to massage your feet?"

"Just shut up, Hana." She said in a weak voice. "... but thanks."

"They're so cruel, not letting you rest even for a minute!" Hana continued while shooting daggers at their classmates. "They got to rest while we are being swarmed by customers. How dare-"

"You took a ten-minute rest too." Lea interrupted.

"Still! At least five minutes will be enough."

"It's over, Hana. Stop it." Siren finally answers "At least now, they will finally stop nagging me about not helping."

One of their classmates approaches them holding a teddy bear with a black apron that says 'Class 2-7' on it. "Good job, Siren! Thank you for the help!"

Siren accepts it quietly and nods. Hana murmurs something but Lea stops her.

"We are planning to have a celebratory party at a restaurant. You guys should go, okay?"

"I'll pass-"

"Is it free?" - Hana

Their classmates smile cheerfully. "Of course! We all worked hard for it so our adviser will treat us to dinner, so you should definitely go, Alright?"

"I said, I'll pass-"

"See you there!"

Siren lets out a loud sigh when she got ignored. All she wanted right now is to go home and sleep. But from the looks of it, it might be impossible soon.

She glares at Hana who is still oblivious to her mood. She watches her go excited about eating dinner later.

"You can just go home after eating. This will be the last anyway." Lea advised, who is the only one who can read her mood.

Siren only sighs again, hoping that by doing that, her fatigue will go away.

-

The restaurant is filled with endless chatter and celebrations while Siren only watched them quietly eating her food. She was never really the social type and the type of person who likes to be alone more than to be with a crowd. She closes her eyes tightly when Hana suddenly laughs loudly beside her, making her head throb in pain.

'Just endure it, Siren. Don't be such a Killjoy.'

"Are you okay?"

She could only nod.

'Crap, I want to run away and go home.'

"Take a rest." A calm voice speaks once again and in an instant, she could feel her head leaning on someone's shoulders.

'Is this Lea? But she's sitting beside Hana...'

'Oh wait, this smell...'

She slowly opens her eyes and sees that she's leaning on Peach's right shoulder with her right hand slowly massaging her temple.

"What-"

"Just stay still for a moment." She whispered while not looking at her.

'Is this still part of her punishment?'

The relaxation slowly envelops her as Peach continues to massage her temple.

'It feels good... Maybe I'll just let her do it for a while. Damn, I must be exhausted to let her do this.'

Then it stopped.

'Huh?'

She glances at Peach who is still busy talking to their classmate. Her eyes widen as Peach's right hand slowly made its way to her neck, shoulder, and arm, and stopped at her waist. She can't leave her gaze on Peach while still processing what just happened.

"What are you-"

"Just rest." Peach looks at her and plants a small kiss on her forehead.

Siren could only stare at her in a daze, wondering if what she was experiencing is real or not. But she knows that it was real by how she could still feel Peach's warm lips on her forehead and her arm still encircling her waist.

'Am I really this tired that I'm just letting her do this to me?'

Hana's loud laugh seemed to have woken her up. She immediately stands up as if being splashed by cold water.

"I-I'm going home..."

"It's still early!" Hana protested, holding onto her arm.

"My head really aches; I want to take a rest."

"Let her go, Hana. She hasn't rested all day." Lea agrees as she pulls Hana away from Siren.

"I'll go with you." Peach volunteers but she gets interrupted as soon as she stands up.

"Our adviser wants to talk with you, Peach."

"But-"

"I'm fine. You don't have to do that." She hurriedly leaves the scene before any of them could react. The walk from home feels so painfully long that even when she ran away, it feels like she's still far away. She stops at the playground and hurries over to where Brownie is.

"Brownie... I must be going crazy." She sat down on the ground staring at Brownie sleeping. She takes a deep sigh as recalls what happened earlier. "Why... Just why did I let her do that? I really can't understand her. One moment she's mad, and moment she's..." She sighed once again. "I don't know... I don't know what's happening anymore."

Siren stands up and sneaks a look at Brownie once more before walking away.

"You know what's the worst part, Brownie? I... Liked it. I liked what she did to me."

-

The normal day resumes and now they are preparing for the quarterly exam. Still tired and hung over from the just-finished school festival, Siren, Lea, and Hana don't have the energy to focus on the exam at all.

"Why do they have to schedule the exam after the festival? How do they expect students to focus when they are still tired from the event? This is crazy." Hana whines as they walk toward the classroom.

"You're the only one who thinks that way." Lea answers

"Oh really? Aren't you too?"

"At least I still have my conscience to open and read my book."

"Okay, fine! I'm doomed! Happy?" Lea answers her with a grin to which Hana responded with a pout.

"You're so mean."

"Hmmm."

"Oh. Is that Yujin? Come to think of it, I haven't seen her since forever. Yujin!" Hana's voice echoes the hallway. Yujin flinches, looks their way, and to their surprise, she runs away.

"Huh?"