Lisa was the first one to walk into the church, thirty minutes earlier than the time she was given.  She looked at the casket in which lied her body, a photo of her on its side. She gulped as she looked at it. She tugged uncomfortably at the black, pleated, too-short Gap skirt she'd found in the back of her closet as she gave a sad smile. 

"Lisa"

She turned back to finally see Hoseok, in all black as well. After 2 years, he finally called her out and they finally were meeting, face to face. "Hobi" she mouthed as she was trying her best to control her tears 

"You guys are here"

They both turned to see Namjoon and Yoongi standing at the doorway. As they both walked towards them. The 4 just looked into each other's eyes and then at the casket. 

"It feels so unreal," Jisoo said walking up to them too as they all looked at her. "Oh, you all are here," Jin said joining them in.  Everyone was wanting to say a lot but they didn't know what. 

As the 6 united inside, Jennie was still leaning on her car and crying silently. "Jen" she opened her eyes as she looked to her side, Taehyung was standing there, looking at her, she can see the sadness in his eyes too. "Stop crying," he said lightly, "but you are crying too" Jennie replied back. "Let's go inside," he said as she nodded and followed him

Jimin stood near the church window, looking down at everyone who was entering and was standing outside. "Was she a friend of yours?" he turned to see Soojin standing there. He nodded as he spoke up "she was one of my best friends" he said breaking eye contact. "I am so sorry" she whispered, "thank you", he muttered. "I will see you later, if you don't mind, right now I am a bit, you know," Jimin said, not able to find the right words. "I understand, see you later," she said before leaving. Not much late, Jimin also went inside and saw the 8 friends inside. 

As 9 were already inside, Rose stood behind the church as she cried. She was the most sensitive one. Suddenly, she felt another presence behind her as she turned, to see Jungkook, looking at her. "Chae" he whispered, almost inaudible. She walked to him, still crying. He wiped her tears gently, as she couldn't hold it anymore. She pulled him in a hug which she was needing for a long time. He was taken back, to be honest, but then he hugged her back. That felt better. "Let's go inside Chae, the others maybe already there," he said pulling back before intertwining their hands and walking inside. 

Rose and Jungkook were the last ones to walk in. By that time, almost everyone was there. Mrs. Ennik stood in the doorway, clad in a cowl-neck black dress, heels, and tiny freshwater pearls. She walked up to Rose and Jungkook and engulfed them in a hug.

"Oh, Rose and Jungkook" Mrs. Ennik sobbed.

"I'm so sorry," Rose whispered back, her own eyes watering. Mrs. Ennik still wore the same perfume—Coco Chanel. It instantly brought back all kinds of memories: A million rides to and from the mall in Mrs. Ennik's Infiniti, sneaking into their countryside villa and breaking the vases and so much more

Other kids from SNHS streamed around them, trying to find seats in the high-backed wooden pews. Jungkook hadn't known what to expect at Somi's memorial service. The abbey smelled like incense and wood. Simple cylinder-shaped lamps hung from the ceiling, and the altar was covered with a billion white tulips. Tulips were Somi's favorite flower. Both Rose & Jungkook remembered Somi helped her mom plant rows of them in their front yard every year.

Somi's mom finally stood back and wiped her eyes. "I want you to sit up in the front, with all of Somi's and your friends. Is that okay?

Both Jungkook and Rose nodded as they spoke up "Of course"

They both listened to every click of Ennik's heels as they walked down the aisle. Suddenly it hit them why they were here again. Somi was dead.

"Here, come" They both turned to see Jisoo moving a bit for both of them to sit down

They looked up. Next to her were the rest,  Jin, Namjoon, Yoongi, Jimin, Taehyung, Jennie, Lisa, and Hoseok. After 2 years, the 11 were finally meeting again

"Hey, guys," Lisa said to all of them, in that buttery voice all of them had missed. 

"So, we meet again," Jimin said, smiling.

Silence. It took over. They all were either looking straight, fiddling with their rings or purses or stealing small glances

"Poor Somi," Jin murmured.

Jennie's shoulders started to shake and she squeezed her eyes shut. Namjoon felt his own throat choking up. He had never actually seen Jennie cry.

Yoongi put his hand on Jennie's shoulder. "It's okay," he said.

"Sorry," Jennie said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "I just..." She glanced around at all of them and then started crying even harder.

Taehyung hugged her. It felt a little awkward, but by the way, Jennie squeezed his hand, Taehyung could tell she appreciated it.

When they sat back, Lisa pulled a tiny silver flask out of her bag and reached over Hoseok to pass it to Jennie. "Here," she whispered.

Without even smelling it or asking what it was, Jennie took a huge swallow. She winced but said, "Thanks."

She passed the flask back to Lisa who drank and handed it to Hoseok. Hoseok took a sip, which burned in his chest, then passed it to Taehyung who passed it to Jimin, who then passed it to Yoongi. Yoongi passing it to Namjoon and Namjoon passing it to Jin. Jin passing it to Jisoo, and Jisoo passing it to Jungkook and Rose. They all took a sip and that made them feel better for sure.

They all snickered. Suddenly, Hoseok's cell phone buzzed. He reached into his pocket and looked at the phone's screen.

"What?" Hoseok looked up, realizing they were all staring at him.

Rose fiddled with her charm bracelet. "Did you, um, just get a text message?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Who was it?" Yoongi asked

"It was my mom," Hoseok answered slowly. "Why?"

Low pipe organ music began to lilt through the church. Behind them, more kids shuffled in quietly. Lisa glanced nervously at Jimin. Jimin's heart started to pound.

"Never mind," Jisoo said. "That was nosy."

Hoseok bit his lips. "Wait. Seriously. Why?"

Namjoon's adam's apple rose with a nervous swallow. "I...I just thought maybe strange things had been happening to you, too."

Hoseok's mouth fell open. "Strange is an understatement."

Rose and Jennie clutched their arms around themselves.

"Wait. You guys, too?" Jisoo whispered.

Jungkook nodded. "Texts?"

"About...where Somi's body lies in the party" Taehyung whispered.

"Are you guys serious?" Yoongi squeaked.

The friends stared at each other. But before anyone could say anything else, the somber-sounding pipe organ filled the room.

Lisa turned around. A bunch of people were walking slowly up the center aisle. It was Somi's mom and dad, her brother, her grandparents, and some others who must've been relatives. Two redheaded boys were the last to come down the aisle; Lisa recognized them as Sam and Russell, Somi's cousins. They used to visit Somi's family every summer. Lisa hadn't seen them in years and wondered if they were still as gullible as they used to be.

The family members slid into the front row and waited for the music to stop.

As Jisoo stared at them, she noticed movement. One of the pimply, redheaded cousins was staring at them. Jisoo was pretty sure it was the one named Sam—he'd been the geekier of the two. He stared at all the girls and then slowly and flirtatiously raised an eyebrow. Jisoo quickly looked away.

She felt Namjoon jab her in the ribs. "UCT," Namjoon whispered to the others
Jisoo looked at him, puzzled, but then Namjoon motioned with her eyes to the two gangly cousins.

All the others caught on at the same time. "UCT," the eleven said at the same time

They all giggled. But then Yoongi paused, considering what "UCT" really meant. He had never thought about it before, but it was kind of mean. When he looked around, he noticed his friends had stopped laughing too. They all exchanged a look.

"I guess it was funnier back then," Rose said quietly.

Jennie sat back. Maybe Somi didn't know everything. Yes, this might have been the worst day of her life, and she was horribly devastated about Somi, and completely freaked about that creepy text message. But for a moment, she felt okay. Sitting here with her old friends seemed like the tiny beginning of something.

The organ started up again with its dreary music, and Somi's brother and the others filed out of the church. Jin, tipsy from a few slugs of whiskey, noticed that his ten old friends had stood up and been filing out of the pew, and he figured he should go, too.

Everyone from SNHS hung out at the back of the church, from the lacrosse boys to the video game–obsessed geeks who Somi no doubt would have teased back in ninth. Old Mr. Yew—the one in charge of the SNHS charity drive—stood in the corner, talking quietly to Mr. Kaplan, who taught art. Even Somi's older JV field hockey friends had returned from their respective colleges; they stood in a teary huddle near the door. Jimin scanned the familiar faces, remembering all the people he used to know and didn't anymore.

Jimin squinted in the sunlight of the brilliant, perfectly blue sky. It was one of those lovely early-spring days with no humidity, where you were dying to skip school, lie in a field, and not think about your responsibilities. Why was it always on days like this that something horrible happened?

Someone suddenly touched Jin's shoulder as he jumped. It was a blond burly cop. He motioned for the others to go on without him.

"Are you Kim Seokjin?" he asked.

He nodded dumbly.

The cop wrung his enormous hands together. "I'm very sorry for your loss," he said. "You were good friends with Ms.Jeon Ennik, right?"

"Thanks. Yeah, I was."

"I'm going to need to talk with you." The cop reached into his pocket. "Here's my card. We're reopening the case. Since you were friends, you might be able to help us. Is it okay if I come by in a couple of days?"

"Um, sure," Jin stammered. "Whatever I can do."

Zombielike, he caught up with his old friends, who'd gathered under a weeping willow. "What did he want?" Jisoo asked.

"They want to talk to me, too," Jungkook said quickly. "It's not a big deal though, is it?"

"I'm sure it's the same old stuff," Lisa said.

They all glanced at each other worriedly.

"Of course" Yoongi finally said.

Taehyung looked around at everyone talking quietly on the lawn. 

"This has been the worst week of my life," Rose said suddenly.

"Mine too." Hoseok nodded.

"I guess we can look on the bright side," Lisa said, her voice high-pitched and jittery. "It can't get any worse than this."

As they followed the procession out to the gravel parking lot, Lisa stopped. Her old friends stopped too. Lisa wanted to say something to them—not about Somi or that creepy text message or the police, but instead, more than anything, she wanted to tell them that she'd missed them all these years.

But before she could say it, Jennie's phone rang.

"Hang on...," Jennie muttered, rooting around in her bag for her phone. "It's probably my dad"

Then, Hoseok's iPhone vibrated. And rang. And chirped. It wasn't just his phone, but his friends' phones too. The sudden, high-pitched noises sounded even louder against the sober, silent funeral procession. The other mourners shot them dirty looks. Jisoo held hers up to silence it; Yoongi struggled to operate his Samsung. Namjoon wrenched his phone out of his pant's pocket.

Jungkook read his screen. "I have one new message."

"I do too," Rose whispered.

"Same," Jennie echoed.

"I guess we all do," Jimin said licking off his dry lips as he stared at his phone's screen

Jin saw he did, too. Everyone hit READ. A moment of stunned silence passed.

"Oh my God," Yoongi whispered.

"It's from...," Jisoo squeaked.

Taehyung murmured, "I can't believe it"

Namjoon swallowed hard. In tandem, the ten read their texts out loud. Each said the exact same thing:

The game has just begun my dear friends, let's see how you all play ;)

XOXO