REWIND.
rottenfrvit:
you can never really be too safe in this oddly specific scenario, bomi finds. sure, they weren’t poisoned in the last two loops’ morning plus the morning of the original july 6th, but they also don’t have the exact rules of this weird game figured out. who’s to say the killer can’t switch things up unexpectedly?
she greets chaerin and jiyong with a crooked smile, skipping the last step before taking a seat beside chaerin, just as how she did previously. “g’morning.” she only drinks the juice when she sees jiyong pour some for himself and drink without convulsing then dropping dead. someone starts a little small talk as chaerin goes out of her way to serve them the vegetable omelettes and tofu soup. rinse and repeat.
jihoon joins them and as she had expected, someone makes a fuss out of it, jiyong wolf-whistling that earns an eye roll from both bomi and chaerin, followed by the older girl snapping at jiyong to pipe down. jiyong’s snide remark that follows doesn’t even get a rise out of her. “if you have something to say, yong, then spit it out.” she takes a sip from her juice, he backs down — for now. no changes here.
“anyways, chae cooked the usual.” the hidden inside joke in that isn’t lost on her. she picks at her food until jiyong and chaerin dig in, deeming it safe a minute in before taking a tentative bite of the omelette. she glances at jihoon from across the table. they’re good. for now.
jiyong and chaerin exchange the same words he’s heard twice now ( and hopefully for the last time ), the girls easily handling the situation. he gives chaerin a grateful smile and takes a seat next to her, across from the other two. their resident mum friend has got the servings all portioned out, and the rest are already digging in – if bomi’s eating it, it should be safe, he supposes. though they also haven’t died from breakfast, so he’s pretty sure this’ll be fine. but it’s only the second time they’ve looped, and he’d rather stay on his toes.
“the usual, huh,” he replies, the irony of her words painfully obvious to him. “thanks, chae!” he grins, and it grows wider when he sees her reflect it back to him, even though this is the third time he sees it. his appetite is gone, though, and he eats small bites of the omelette and gets half a bowl of soup down before giving up. he knows he needs the energy, but he can snack later; he’s too nervous and worried to stomach much, so he pushes his plate away from him and stands. “sorry, chae. i’ll help clean up?”
“if you’re not hungry there’s cereal at the other cabin i can go with you,” jiyong says, barely any modulation in between, and it startles jihoon because this is the first time he’s said it. he blinks, dumb, then, “what?”
then – oh.
but literally nothing is going to tempt him away from bomi this time – two is better than one, and jiyong’s definitely not inviting bomi along to the other cabin too. so he shakes his head and is met with a furious glare for a fleeting second. “uh... nah, it’s okay. i ate some of that,” he gestures to his half-done plate, “i’m good. maybe later,” he adds, in a sort of placating way. jiyong’s expression shutters down into distance, and suddenly jihoon’s heart is racing, in a cold sweat, deer in the headlights irrational fear.
( it’s not jiyong, it can’t be him – but that’s what they thought the last time too. )
he turns too quick and bangs his leg, swears, then says, “i’m going for a quick walk. anyone wanna come?”
