Jisoo explained to him just as he had told the group earlier. Plane crash, everyone dead except him, and having woken up with the nibra beneath him. There was no way to prove if the nibra did protect him, but the fact that he was alive and telling this story could be a testament to that fact.

“Anyways, it was freezing cold, but luckily, I found, um, spare jackets around, so I managed to keep myself somewhat shielded from the wind.” Jisoo wasn’t about to tell them the he had to pry the jackets off several dead and burned bodies. He shuddered at the thought, the smell of burning flesh and rubber etched in his mind.

“The creature, er, nibra as you call it, it didn’t move from its spot. I think it broke something, like its legs? But, um, can I ask one thing?”

“Go ahead,” Jay gently encouraged.

“Are nibras and humans somehow related?”

They were slightly stunned at the question. Even though nibras had human features, it was common for someone to see them anything except for a monster.

“Smart boy,” Jo Kwon praised. “Yes, they are. Nibras were once originally human. But they are no means human anymore when they become nibras. What made you come to that conclusion?”

He made a face. “It’s because I think I recognized it. I mean back in its human form.”

They looked at him in confusion. Mark, who was furiously scribbling down shorthand, had also looked up in surprise.

“She,” he started.

“It,” Jo Kwon corrected.

“It. Right. It had a locket,” he explained, pointing at his chest. “When she, um, it, was human, she showed it to me. I sat next to her on the airplane. Apparently, I looked similar to her son. Her dead son. He had passed away from a car accident, and she had just come from his funeral. She regretted not being there for him and in the locket was a picture of him. She was kinda odd though. A lot of this misty black stuff was all over her.”

Jisoo paused. He could see that the man in the black lab coat wanted him to get to the point. Jay, on the other hand, looked completely engrossed in every detail.

“Well, did he?”

“What?” he asked.

She gave him a pointed look as if her question was obvious. “Did her son look like you?”

“Not important,” the man interrupted.

She shot him a look. “It is to me.”

“He didn’t. Not really. For one, he had a crew cut and was a lot more muscular than me,” Jisoo answered.

The man scowled.

“Anyways,” Jisoo quickly continued, “She, um, it, didn’t do anything except shriek like a bird or something. And sometimes, it would shoot fire. I didn’t know what to do. But I knew I had to look for help or at least stay alive. And I, er, um, brought the nibra with me.”

“You did what?” both the man and Jay exclaimed.

Jisoo winced a little at their outburst. Even Mark looked shocked, eyes wide with surprise.

Seungcheol merely frowned, and Jay looked deep in thought.

“It didn’t attack you or anything?” Jay asked.

Jisoo shook his head. “Except for the fire spitting, it really didn’t do anything. It was the only alive thing there and the fire was sorta useful, so I thought… well, it would help.” He let out a half laugh though he could tell his audience was not amused.

“So, what then?” Jay prompted, smiling at him with encouragement.

“Well, after that, we came up to the caves.”

“Wait,” Mark interrupted.

They all looked at him.

“How did you bring the nibra with you? Its legs were obviously broken for a while. There is no way it could have moved in those circumstances.

Jisoo shrugged. “I made a makeshift sled and forced it sit on it. It wasn’t easy, but it worked.”

“It didn’t resist or anything? Didn’t try and hurt you?” Jo Kwon mused.

Jisoo shook his head. “No, it just… shrieked.” He paused and continued. “So, we came up the caves. There was one that was shielded from most of the snow. Wind still got in of course, but it wasn’t that bad as being outside. We were in there for a few days. I was exhausted and tired, so I ended up sleeping for...I don’t even know how long.”

“You didn’t freeze to death,” Mark pointed out.

“The nibra, it would spit fire occasionally. I ended up building fires. It provided the warmth.”

“Hmm. That is right. There were remnants of ash and burned wood when we found you,” Mark softly said.

“When I woke, I knew I had to get water. Or food. Maybe a few blankets. Supplies. I was thinking about going back to the plane crash. But either I couldn’t find it, or it was cleaned up and gone. With that option being out, I tried to see if there were any animals I could catch. Maybe get lucky and cook it for food. But I ended up coming across a shed. It wasn’t big, but it was unlocked. And it had everything I needed. Extra blankets, food water, and a flashlight.”

He paused as he took a drink of water. “But then I realized. If there were supplies here, it would mean that there was human civilization. So, I waited in the shed for a few days. But in the end, no one came. So, I went back. I made sure to count my footsteps from the shed to the caves just in case I needed to go back. I ended up staying in the caves for most of the time. I only had to go back to shed once.”

“What about the nibra?” Jo Kwon asked.

“What about it?” Jisoo returned.

“Did it do anything? Anything at all?”  

Jisoo shook his head. “Like I heard, it just shrieked a little and helped me make fires. I tried feeding her, it. But it only liked meat. Raw meat. I got the chance to catch snow rabbits, but that was it.” He looked away. “I know you guys don’t like nibras for whatever reason, but I like to think she, it, was looking out for me.”

“But I ended up succumbing to the cold, it wouldn’t, or I think it couldn't make fire anymore. Or at least not like it used to. I think it was growing weaker. And seeing how it was my source of warmth, I pretty much succumbed my fate to death. But then you guys found me. The end,” he finished rather blandly.

Their expressions were mixed. Mark simply finished writing down the last of his words. The man in the black lab coat was murmuring to himself. Seungcheol was looking away, a grim expression on his lips. And Jay was looking at him. She slowly grabbed his hands and covered it with hers.

“I’m glad you didn’t die. I’m glad you survived, persevered, and didn’t give up. You got guts, and not a lot of people around your age have that. Hell, people older than you don’t have that. You did well. I know we just met and all, but I’m proud of you.”

Jisoo didn’t say anything, but he could feel his emotions balling up and wanting to project itself to the outside world. He tried his best to keep it all together. He didn’t want to cry, not in front of so many people.

“Jay, can we talk?”

She looked up at the man and nodded. She patted his hand softly before getting up. She followed him out, but they didn’t go very far; their voices ringing clear to the rest.

“Well?” the male said first, not even a few meters away from the room.

Jay glanced back, wondering if it was ok to be within earshot. “Well, what?” she countered.

He made a sound of annoyance. “The nibra, Jay! It almost sounded like the nibra had emotions. Human emotions! And we know that nibras, much less fully transitioned nibras, don’t have feelings!”

“So? What are we going to do? Accuse Jisoo of lying?” she calmly but roughly said.

“No, I did not say that. But think about it, if all that boy says is true,” he trailed off. “Then what have we’ve been doing all these years?”

“Isn’t this what you want? To know that there’s a chance?”

“But not like this! I wanted to find a way to stop it from happening! To stop the transition! Like your other boy! No, this, this is different. This would mean that we killed nibras that somehow were still human. I don’t want to think…”

He fell silent, looking away.

She gritted her teeth, knowing exactly to what Jo Kwon was referencing to. “Look at me, Jo Kwon.” He didn’t say anything. “I said look at me!” she said again, angrily, grabbing his face roughly so that they were looking at each other.

“We had no proof of any other nibra acting the same way as Jisoo’s. We cannot assume that the nibras we killed were the same. If we left them alone, they could have killed others. You are in no way in the wrong. We were in no way in the wrong.”

She quieted down. “And there was no way you could have known if it was the same with her,” she said in a murmur.

Jo Kwon’s eyes flickered with emotion and he growled. He pushed her off with a shove.

“Don’t bring her into this,” he hissed.

“Sorry. That was rude of me. But think about this. The nibra may have or have not had the intention to help Jisoo, but it doesn’t change the fact it was probably the cause of the plane crash. Why would a nibra kill the pilot and ten more people and then do nothing to Jisoo?”

Jo Kwon blinked at her. It was obvious that he didn’t think of that.

“If she was sitting next to him during the flight, he would be one of the first victims.”

They looked at the curtain to where Jisoo was.

“What?” they could hear him ask, as if the boys in the room with him was also looking at him.

“I don’t know what they’re talking about. But if it was about the woman, she wasn’t there when the plane went down. She left her seat to go to the restroom,” Jisoo explained.

Jay and Jo Kwon looked at each other.

“If that’s true,” Jay continued, “Then it would mean she transformed when she near the restroom. Makes sense if she killed those people first.”

“Then what about the boy? Why did it save the boy?”

Jay sighed. “I don’t know. Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to have all the hypotheses?”

“Jay, we both know you feel more strongly about nibras having human feelings. We would never give you the time of the day. But now I am, so spill it.”

She looked away. “What if, just, what if, when they were falling, she saw him.”

“Him?”

“Jisoo. He said it himself. She thought he looked like her son. She regretted not being there when he died. So, what if she saw her son in him? What if some kind of last maternal instinct was brought forth? Despite being a monster, she, sorry, it, subconsciously wanted to save him?”

Jo Kwon sighed. “I would say you were crazy.”

She looked down, biting her lip. She had thought that too, but there were was something about that nibra that made her think otherwise.  

“But now I’m not so sure anymore,” he finished.

She looked up, eyes scrunched up. “You don’t mean that,” she muttered.

He rolled his eyes. “When have I ever been dishonest with you?”

She glared at him. “What about the time I asked who ate the last of the ice cream? And you said it wasn’t you, when in fact it was you!”

“I didn’t know it was yours!” he shouted back.

“It was my freaking house!” she countered.

“You- Jay- we promised we would never speak of this again!”

He stared at her angrily as a smile crept up on her face.

“Jay,” he started, but he was cut off when she gave a quick hug. So quickly, that if he had blinked, he would have missed it.

“Thanks,” she murmured so softly that only the two of them could hear. “And I’m sorry about bringing up bad memories.”

“No,” he muttered back. “We both know who was being rude first.”

They were quiet before Jay giggled. “I like this. Bonding.”

“Well, I hate it.”