The Girly Watch Remade

Chapter 7 A Snow Covered Neon Moon

Hana trudged into her "office", the thick carpet muffling her footsteps. She plopped a plastic bag brimming with snacks and drinks onto her desk with a crinkly rustle. Sinking into the plush chair, she plucked off her baseball cap, tossing it haphazardly onto the desk before giving her mouse a few impatient swishes across the pad to wake her computer from sleep mode.

As the monitor flickered to life, she queued up a new episode of her favorite show. The opening theme song had barely started when her phone dinged, the notification sound cutting through the stillness of the room. She snatched up the device, her thumb instinctively swiping to reveal the new text.

A groan slipped past her lips as she scanned the influx of theories and wild guesses about why her stream had abruptly ended – everything from medical emergencies to supposed FBI raids. Eyes rolling, she dragged a hand through her tousled hair as she opened screenshots from her team of moderators, brows furrowed.

Craving a caffeine jolt, she reached for an energy drink in the bag, nudging it with her knuckles. But the slim can teetered precariously before toppling over the desk's edge with a dull thud onto the carpet below.

"Ssibal!" The Korean curse tore from her lips as she snatched the dented can off the floor. Warily, she pulled the tab, tilting it forward with bated breath as she said a silent prayer it wouldn't explode into a fizzy, sticky mess of food coloring and caffeine.

The sickly green liquid glowed under the warm light, and a vivid flashback jolted through Hana's mind – the searing emerald glow of a dragonblade slicing towards her chest. She choked on her own saliva, lungs constricting as her heart stuttered and pounded against her ribcage in a frantic drumbeat. Her eyes squeezed shut as her ears began to ring. "물처럼 흐르다. 물처럼 흐르다" she repeated. The vision slowly fading from memory.

The final tune of the credits began to roll, and Hana uncrossed her legs, sinking back into the plush chair. She exhaled slowly, attempting to push thoughts of the last few tumultuous days from her mind. "Nothing's going on," she reminded herself under her breath.

Her hand drifted to the pocket of her oversized hoodie, fingers wrapping around her phone. She tugged it free and began mindlessly scrolling through social media, glazing over the usual controversies and petty internet beefs between people she didn't care about.

Then a photo on the Instagram page for a local coffee shop caught her eye. It looked quaint and cozy. Her thumb hovered over the screen, about to take a screenshot, when a flash of bright orange made her pause.

There, seated at one of the rustic wooden tables, was the unmistakable coco brown hair and beaming smile of Lena Oxton. "Lena?" Hana mumbled, leaning in closer as if that could somehow clarify what she was seeing.

Sure enough, there was the pilot hero herself, casually sipping what looked like a steaming mug of coffee. But she wasn't alone. Across the table, a vaguely familiar boy made animated conversation, hands gesturing emphatically.

Hana's eyes widened as the realization struck her. "Wait..." She said the word aloud, her phone now raised up to her face as she studied the boy's features more intently. There was no mistaking those blue, the messy blonde hair. "The boy from the convenience store?"

"What the actual...?" She sputtered, at a loss for words as the image of Angela Ziegler caressing the face of the boy at the store came across her feed.

Hana nearly jumped out of her chair as her phone blasted to life, the ringtone shattering the stillness of her bedroom. Her heart stuttered as she glanced at the caller ID - Mercy.

With shaky hands, she swiped to answer, trying to steady her breathing. "Y-Yo, what's up?" She winced at how unconvincingly nonchalant she sounded.

"Hana, are you free tomorrow?" Angela's gentle voice held an urgency that brooked no argument.