“Jesus, Sehun, can you move your huge ?! I can’t see!”

Sehun let out an extremely offended gasp. “How dare you Chen, my is not huge at all!”

Krystal rolled her eyes. She exchanged a look with Luna, who seemed equal parts amused and ashamed by the interaction unfolding in front of her.

Sehun, Chen, Kai, and Chanyeol were on all fours, trying to look under Amber’s massive bed and her other furniture.

They had established that it was of utmost importance to analyse the contents of the counter-serum, and Kai remembered that he had brought the dart together with him when he teleported Amber away from the fight.

“This is all your fault, Kai,” Sehun grumbled. “Why did you have to toss the dart away? You could’ve just placed it on the table like a civilised human being!”

“I was in a rush!” Kai huffed out.

Suho heaved a sigh. Him, Yixing, and Amber were in another corner of the room, trying to see if the dart had rolled away somewhere. “Kai, are you sure you brought the dart with you? It’s not on the field somewhere?”

“No, I definitely threw it in Amber’s room. I just need to find out where…”

Baekhyun pushed himself off the wall then. He crouched down beside Amber’s bed, where the boys were trying to peer into the dust. He raised a hand.

Krystal’s eyes almost bulged out of her head when a freaking beam of light just emerged from his palm.

“What the hell!” Chanyeol all but screamed. “You could’ve done that sooner?!”

Baekhyun smirked. “It was pretty funny watching you guys crawl around though.”

He received a punch in the arm from Chanyeol for his words, but they quickly resumed their search.

“Found it!”

With Baekhyun’s light, Kai quickly spotted the dart lying amongst the dust bunnies. He pulled it out and raised it triumphantly. Lay took the dart from him, careful not to touch the needle. They all gathered and stood around him as he inspected it.

A smile came onto the healer’s face. “There’s some residue serum left. I can analyse it.”

They all had matching grins of relief and glee. If Lay could figure out what was in it, they might be able to do something to prevent its effects.

“Ah!” Krystal suddenly called out, causing everyone to turn to her. Her expression was one of pure panic. They seemed to collectively hold their breaths. “I forgot to take a picture of you guys on the floor!”

Chen groaned loudly, while Kai released the breath he was holding in a rush.

Luna bit her lip. She bumped Krystal’s arm lightly, raising her phone slowly. “...I did.”

“Really?” Krystal’s face lit up immediately and she took out her own phone. “You’re the best, Luna. Here, send it to me!”

“Seriously?!” Chen threw his hands up in the air. “Since when did you guys become so close, anyway?”

“Yeah, aren’t you supposed to still be mad at her for the illusion?” Sehun muttered, disgruntled.

Krystal shot them both a glare, then wrapped an arm around Luna. “We’ve sorted things out. We’re friends now.”

Luna had sought her and Kai out to make amends. Kai was a little suspicious, but Krystal was willing to listen, so Luna talked. She had explained what her powers were and how they worked, and offered to help them fix the nightmares—by giving them happy endings.

(When Krystal walked into the flames that engulfed Kai, she realised they were not meant to hurt. Chanyeol was a friend, and the flames were meant to protect. The flames weren’t a blistering heat. They were the warmth of a friend.

When Kai thought it was over as he held Krystal’s body in his arms, Lay came to the rescue. Just in time, too. The darkness cleared and he could see his friends fighting faceless men who’d put Krystal in that state, and winning. She jolted awake in his arms, alive. They were safe now. Safe, because they had their friends, and they had each other.)

Luna could feel happiness bubble within her—a feeling she hadn’t had in a long time. She had spent years in the Arena, keeping her emotions tight under lock and key, trusting no one.

Friends. It had been a while since she last heard that word.

“Us girls have to bond together,” Krystal declared. Pulling both Amber and Luna closer to her, she narrowed her eyes at the boys. “We are severely outnumbered.”

“This is blasphemy! A revolution!” Chen cried dramatically, throwing his hands in the air. “This is how you repay your gods?! The people who saved your lives?!”

Luna couldn’t help the giggle that slipped through her lips. Everyone seemed to turn to her at the same time, causing her eyes to widen. Chen tilted his head at her, letting his arms drop. She could feel herself begin to blush.

“Aww, you’re so cute, Luna!” Amber squealed, reaching to pat the younger girl on the head. “You should smile more often.”

“I—uh, I’ll work on it…?”

“I think there’s something wrong with your sister, Yeol,” Baekhyun had a serious and worried look on his face. “She’s finding Chen’s jokes funny.”

“Excuse me, there’s nothing wrong with my jokes, you—”

“Back to business,” Suho clapped his hands twice, pulling the attention of the room to him. “Lay, now that we have the serum, how are you going to analyse it?”

Lay frowned and turned to Amber. “Do you have a lab?”

“Not that I know of… My family probably has one from when my grandfather was doing the research?”

Suho shook his head. “Let’s not get your families involved, yet. There’s no need to put them on the NIS or the Facility’s radar. Could we maybe rent a lab somewhere?”

“We probably need to offer some sort of reason as to why we’re using the lab to rent it. They may even need licenses or something,” Amber pursed her lips.

“The university!” Krystal suggested to Lay. “You’re doing a Pharmaceutical Science degree. Surely you have access to a lab?”

“Isn’t the uni on break now though?” Suho asked.

“There are always people doing Summer semesters,” Lay replied, the gears already turning in his head. His eyes were shining when he looked at the group again. “And I know just the person.” <