There was a moment of silence as the girls tried to grasp the fact that a year passed in a blink of an eye on Earth, the place that they once called "home". They weren't sure what to expect. It came into their realisation that they left without a word, leaving behind their friends and family without an answer. Perhaps on Earth, they were considered "missing" or "dead" because they just suddenly disappeared.

"Remember. You are there to find Choi Tae Joon. Do not make contact with anyone else, got it?" warned Hoya in which the girls nodded.

"Alright. Let's go." said Chorong as she led the girls back to the same, white room where they came from. As usual, they formed a circle and held each other's hands, their rings tightly wrapped around their fingers as they closed their eyes. The leader noticed the sudden change in their expressions, it was clear that they were nervous and anxious to return back to Earth. They weren't returning back as a "human" but as a "fairy".

"It's going to be okay. You have me with you." said Chorong with a comforting tone. Just by saying those words, it brought relief to the girls because they trusted and dependent on their leader.

Soon, their visions began to blur and they were into a white vorpal space which transported them back to Earth. It went by quickly within half a second and by the time they opened their eyes, they were back to where they started, inside Bomi and Eunji's run-down apartment. To their surprise, it was untouched for the whole year and was exactly the same. With all six safely back in Earth, they stood in the tiny space of the living room, breathing the nostalgic air that reminded them of home.

"Wait...this is our place...it's exactly the same" said Bomi as she looked around.

"Well, we were staying at an illegal residence anyway." said Eunji as she walked around, somehow missing the sight of what her "home" used to look like. Cup noodles scattered on the floor, towels and blankets covered in dust and pieces of mould that covered the wall, certainly a year has definitely passed by since they left for Heaven.

"I wonder how much has changed in a year." said Namjoo as she opened the small window, missing the view of the city.

"Girls, remember. We are here on a mission. Do not get distracted. Let's get started." said Chorong.

"We're supposed to find a guy named Choi Tae Joon right?" asked Naeun.

"If he is possessed by the evil spirit, surely there would be evidence of strange behavior right? I think the internet has a lot of answers. We can visit the internet cafe nearby and search his whereabouts starting from there." suggested Hayoung.

"As expected of our smart maknae" smiled Eunji as she gently patted her head.

"I-I'm not...." mumbled Hayoung shyly.

"Let's split into teams. Me and Bomi will search the neighbourhood, Namjoo will follow Hayoung to the internet cafe while the two of you can head for the school compounds." ordered Chorong.

"But why the high school compounds unnie?" asked Eunji.

"Devils are always filled with lust unnie. Where else would they satisfy that? High school girls. It's the same with all men, it's just like when Namjoo was attacked by those.....bastards...." cursed Hayoung as she clenched her fists.

"Don't curse." warned Chorong.

"It's okay Hayoung-ah. You saved me, that's all that matters." said Namjoo, trying to calm Hayoung down.

"Alright then leader-nim, we're split ourselves. We'll assemble back here by night-fall alright?" asked Eunji.

"And don't forget to wear your rings. Please, don't get spotted by anyone." said Chorong in worry.

"As long as I'm with you unnie, nothing will go wrong~" smiled Bomi.

"We'll get going now. Let's go Naeun-ah." said Eunji holding onto her hand tightly as they headed off first. Namjoo and Hayoung followed along and went their seperate ways to the path leading to the internet cafe, leaving Chorong and Bomi all alone. The older girl looked out of the window, staring at the city. She wondered where on earth could Taejoon be hiding. She had a sense of urgency and wanted to stop him before more harm was caused.

"Where do we start unnie? We don't even know how he looks like." said Bomi as she scratched her head.

"It's easy. Look into the eyes of a mortal. If the pupil is black and red in colour, it means that the mortal is being possessed." said Chorong.

"So, I look into their eyes like this." said Bomi as she suddenly grabbed Chorong's cheeks and pulled them closer towards her eyes so that she could properly check. They were so close to the point that their noses were touching and felt each other's breath.

"Your eyes look fine to me. Okay, I got it unnie." smiled Bomi as she pulled back only to notice the older girl's face all red and flushed.

"What? Did I do something unnie?" asked Bomi innocently as she tilted her head.

"D-Don't just suddenly put your face so close to mine!" stuttered Chorong, flustered as she quickly walked out of the apartment building. Her heart was beating so fast, she had no idea what was happening to her.

"Hey, wait for me unnie! Aren't we doing this together??' said Bomi as she chased after the girl, unsure what she did wrong.

~X~

Meanwhile, the maknae team arrived in front of the usual internet cafe that Hayoung frequented. It was in the broad daylight and was the perfect time to sneak in and use the computers as it would be empty during that hour. The two sneaked in, finding it fun and interesting that the cashier at the front didn't even realise that the girls were staring at him. It felt like they were ghosts, thanks to the rings. There, Hayoung walked to the computer desk at the farthest end and switched it on. Anyone who walked by would think that the computer switched on by itself and that a ghost was present. Swiftly, Hayoung's fingers danced on the keyboard as the former gamer was at work. She searched several sites on the internet, wondering if there were any recent "ghost" sightings or strange behavior happening recently so that they could pinpoint their target's location. But, one particular news caught their attention.

[The mysterious disapperance of five high school girls: A suicide? An abduction? One year later, still not found]

"So, it really did happen...." said Namjoo as she pulled a chair over as the two maknaes scanned through the article. They had never imagined that it was such a big situation while they were gone. For the past year, police investigations underwent as the parents of Eunji, Bomi, Naeun and Hayoung demanded an answer to their children's disapperence but it was to no avail. There was no starting point because the girls left without a trace. In the end, many rumours scattered across the internet  saying that they were either abducted, suicide and many other theories that were meaningless. Reading these news, Hayoung stared blankly at the screen and paused.

"Hayoung-ah...we shouldn't be reading this. We're supposed to find that guy's whereabouts." said Namjoo, worried. She could tell that Hayoung's eyes changed immediately upon reading it. Aware of Hayoung's sour relationship with her parents, the older girl was cautious and kept an eye on the girl.

"Did they really care for me? Weren't they just doing that for the sake of showing fake parental concern for their child?" mumbled Hayoung in frustration and anger.

"Hayoung-ah....don't think about that. Let's just do our job. We aren't here for this." said Namjoo as she held onto her hand.

"No. I have to confirm it myself unnie." said Hayoung as she stood up from the desk, walking out of the internet cafe.

"Hayoung-ah." said Namjoo as she chased after her and tried to stop the girl. Grabbing hold of her hand again, she pulled her and stopped her tracks.

"Where do you think you're going?! Don't even try of doing anything reckless! Remember Hayoung-ah, we're not humans anymore. In their eyes, we are dead!" persuaded Namjoo but it was hopeless.

"I'm sorry unnie. But I need to confirm it with my eyes."

"What do you mean?"

"I need to see whether my parents really cared about me when I was gone. I want to see whether or not they are still humane enough to care about their daughter who is already dead in their eyes." said Hayoung as she walked off.

"H-Hayoung-ah!" said Namjoo, having no choice but to follow the girl behind.

Soon, the two girls arrived at a bungalow house located in Gangnam, where the rich usually stay. It was clearly obvious that Hayoung's parents were well-off and had the money to nurture Hayoung with everything she needed. At the door, Hayoung took a deep breath as she looked at the house she used to stay for over 16 years of her life. It only brought her back dark memories of her parents hitting her, kicking her and doing all sorts that she called as "child abuse". She had avoided coming back to this house because of the scars but here she is, standing strong at the doorstep. 

The young girl held onto Namjoo's hand tightly as she carefully opened the door with silence, in hopes that her parents wouldn't suspect a single thing. As they crept inside the house, they were greeted with a grand living room with luxurious furniture and decorations all over.

"Woah...it's so big-" before Namjoo could continue her sentence, she quickly stopped as Hayoung placed a finger over her lips. 

Hayoung brought Namjoo to sit down at a sofa as she stared at her parents who seemed to have a peaceful lunch at the large dining hall. As usual, her father would sip onto a cup of imported black coffee while reading the newspaper as her mother would be busy doing work using her laptop. Hayoung observed them in silence. Namjoo took a glance in worry, wondering how the girl felt seeing her parents again.

"Oh look honey, the news posted another article about our missing daughter again." said Hayoung's father as he took a sip of his coffee.

"I told you not to mention her again." said the mother coldly.

"I've already called the journalists to stop writing articles like these and yet, they really don't stop. How much money must I offer them this time?" sighed the man.

"She was a waste of our money. No matter how much we spent on her tuition, her training and skills, she just disappeared like that. I don't have a daughter like that"

"Don't worry honey, I'll work hard to make even more cash. It's just the two of us now, I'll shower you with everything you want in the world now that we don't have her to worry about."

Hearing the words of her parents, Hayoung's heart fell to the ground. In the end, they really were't parents at all. It felt like she had lost everything in the world, she had lost the trust and hope that a small sense of humanity still remained in them, but it looks like they were insane since the beginning. With fury and anger boiling inside, Hayoung wanted to shout straight at their face that she hated being their daughter, that she wished that they would just die instead and wished that she was never their child. As she held tightly onto her ring, she wanted to remove it and appear in their eyes all of the sudden, as if a ghost that haunted their lives. These dark thoughts began to shroud the young maknae's head as revenge only blinded her vision. Her emotions had bottled up to the point where her powers were unconciously activating by itself as table beside them began to levitate by itself. She was about to remove her ring but suddenly, something warm touched her hand. As she looked up, it was the face of the girl who gave her the meaning of "family". It was because of her, she stopped. It was because of her, she resisted herself.

"This is not what you want, Hayoung-ah. Stop looking back to the past and instead, look towards the future. Forget everything you know about them, they are not your family. I am your family. Chorong unnie, Bomi unnie, Eunji unnie, Naeun unnie and me, we are your family now." said Namjoo as she looked deeply into her eyes. Just by her words, everything had calmed down. Her powers stopped, her visions were clear and the thought of "killing" someone had disappeared. Instead, tears rolled down the young girl's cheeks as a wave of emotions splashed through her heart. She was confused who to trust, who to believe because she was always betrayed by others for no reason.

"Look at what you've gotten into yourself, you silly" sighed Namjoo with a smile as she pulled her into an embrace and patting the maknae's back. Although she may look tough and strong from the outside, in the end, she was just a 16-year old who just wanted to feel loved. For a while, the two girls were in a long embrace as they remained invisible to Hayoung's parents who seemed to live life normally as usual.

"Come on, let's get out of this place and forget about everything. From now on, only look at me. I'll be your mom, your sister, whatever you want. But what's important now is our mission. Remember, Chorong unnie said we shouldn't delve into personal stuff."

"Then, can I call you a grandmother instead?" joked Hayoung in the middle as she wiped off her own tears.

"Wow, you're still in a state to be joking around?" said Namjoo as she opened out wide.

"Stop it, you're going to make me laugh. Let's get out of here." said Hayoung as she held in her laugh and grabbed her hand. Together, they left the house and continued to do what they were supposed to do, find their target.

~X~

Back at the neighbourhood, Chorong and Bomi strolled along the streets as looked out for anything suspicious. Checking through small spaces along the alleyway, the girls were pretty convinced that they wouldn't find anything in the broad daylight. After watching several movies in her entire life, Bomi believed that villians always came out at night. She thought that it was fruitless for them to be walking around but it didn't matter because she was able to spent quality time with the girl she missed.

"I hope the others are doing their jobs properly.." sighed Chorong in worry, hoping that the others didn't get distracted or possibly revealed themselves to the mortals.

"You know unnie, sighing will only make wrinkles grow on your face." said Bomi bluntly.

"It doesn't matter, I'm already over a thousand years old."

"Then it's only right that I call you a grandma." grinned Bomi.

"Hey, you wanna die?" joked Chorong with an evilish grin as she proceeded to place her hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"I was just joking unnie! Really! You look like a baby instead!" said Bomi with a nervous laughter.

"You know, that's even worse." sighed Chorong.

"I'm sorry. I love you unnie~" smiled Bomi as she placed her hands over her head and formed a heart.

"W-What's with you seriously..." stuttered Chorong as her heart started to pounce once again.

"What, it's normal to tell someone that you love them. I love you and everyone else!" smiled Bomi. Hearing the word "and" somehow made Chorong disappointed. She was confused why her heart wanted her to say "only her". Deep inside, it wanted Bomi to look at her only. With that in thought, Chorong shrugged off such ideas and scolded Bomi for no reason at all. It was at that moment, they heard a weird sound coming from the direction of an alleyway tucked in between two buildings. It seemed like the sound of someone struggling to breathe. With haste, the two girls ran over only to see a man in a long coat attempting to strangle another man as he held tightly onto his neck and stared into his eyes that were red in colour. 

"Stop right there!" shouted Bomi as she struck a small thunderbolt towards the man, pushing him to the side as the victim finally caught his breath.

"That power....!" said the man as he revealed himself to the girls. With dark red eyes glowing within, it was clear that he was Choi Tae Joon.

"It's him Bom-ah!" said Chorong as she got ready, but the man started to run off as he jumped and climbed over a fence.

"He's a coward for running away!" said Bomi as she broke the fence open with a thunder blast and ran through the hole, following the man.

"Wait for me Bom-ah!" said Chorong as she tried to catch up the fiesty girl. As Bomi was an athletic girl, she caught up quickly and immediately made use of what she learnt during training. She raised her hands up and made use of the nearby light poles to create a small spark, causing it to fall down and block the path of the man.

"You can't run away anymore Choi Tae Joon." said Bomi as she caught her breath.

"So you must be that reincarnated version of that Thunder guy. I knew him. He was a pretty funny guy but not strong enough. Are you able to defeat me?" smirked Taejoon as suddenly a black pool of liquid shot upwards as snake-like tentacles appeared, catching hold of Bomi's hands and feet that restricted her movement.

"Goddamn it!" cursed Bomi as she tried to break free but failed. It was then, a fire suddenly creaked open as the tentacles melted. The Fire Fairy had finally caught up.

"Ah, so you're still alive after all Fire Fairy?" said Taejoon as he crossed his arms.

"You're a fool for trying to escape." said Chorong as she formed her hands as fire bolts started to shoot past but Taejoon dodged it with ease.

"You're like an annoying rat!" said Bomi with frustration as she struck a thunder ray across but he avoided it again. It looks like this was going to be a tough enemy to fight.

"I'm surprised you're still alive. I thought you would''ve lost the whole world with him gone. But guess you wouldn't since he's already reincarnated into that girl." 

"Stop talking nonsense. We're in a battle." said Chorong.

"Oh right, Heaven doesn't like it when their henchmen are in love. You probably don't even have memories of him anymore. That is indeed a sad story. How about I make it happy again by killing you so that you'll reunite with him? Sounds like a good idea." smirked the man as suddenly, he summoned two dark swords onto his hands and began to it towards the Fire Fairy.

"Unnie, watch out!" shouted Bomi as she stepped forward.

~X~

Meanwhile, Eunji and Naeun had arrived at their high school. It was strange being at the place where many dark memories were made. Although now, they may have disappeared from everyone's lives but the girls were still curious how life was going without them around. Did it got better or worse? As they helped each other to cross over the high school gate, it was during a time where it was break and high school students crowded the canteen, queuing up for food while some stayed at their classrooms and just chatted. With their rings, they were invisible and walked past their friends who couldn't see them. It had been one year and their classmates would've move up a grade. As they went past the hallway, they could see various papers posted onto the bulletin board. One paper in particular, caught their attention.

[Memorial service for students Yoon Bomi, Jung Eunji and Son Naeun] Do not forget!

"What the crap? So, we're dead huh?" said Eunji with a laugh, finding it weird.

"Let's go visit my classroom unnie." suggested Naeun.

"You sure? You're gonna see those es again..."

"Unnie, don't curse."

"Wow, you're becoming like Chorong unnie now."

"Let's go." sighed Naeun, ignoring Eunji as she grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the classroom. There, she could see the same girls who once bullied her gathered around a desk as they chatted like how normal high school girls were. They carefully stood at the back like ghosts and listened to their conversation.

"Hey, we have to attend that memorial thing tommorow. It because it's compulsory." said a girl with a sigh.

"God, why do we even need to remember those girls who wanted to take our oppas away?" said another.

"Well at least we don't need to worry about dying with that tomboy Eunji around."

"Hey, don't you think that tomboy is actually a lesbian?"

"What makes you think so?"

"Heck, she's always hanging around with Naeun and protecting her like a guy. Don't you think that's something up wth her? Why would a girl want to protect another girl?"

"Now that you think about it.....they're always together......wow no way"

"Don't even talk to me about lesbians, they make me uncomfortable"

"Yeah, change the topic. Let's talk about Taemin oppa"

"Oh my god, yes!"

Upon hearing their conversation, Eunji was so close to going up to those girls and giving them a punch across but Naeun held onto her hand, preventing her from causing trouble. The younger girl couldn't believe what she had heard. It was strange yet her heart skipped her beat.

"Goddammit, they're speaking actual nonsense. Heck if I was alive, I'm so gonna...." said Eunji as she just stared at them.

"Unnie....." said Naeun carefully but the girl didn't listen to her. Instead, she was focused on planning revenge against them. Eunji smirked as she suddenly lifted one of the chairs up and threw it against the floor, frightening the girls thinking that there was a ghost around. Watching them scream and squirm while running out of the classroom saying that the classroom was haunted, Eunji laughed non-stop. But the younger girl didn't laugh, instead she was concerned with what she had heard. She wasn't sure why she had felt that way but yet, she wasn't the type to straight-forwardly ask something that she was uncomfortable with. Indeed, having a personality like that was difficult for the Ice Fairy to express herself.

"Sorry Naeun-ah, it was just so fun to see them like that. You were saying?" said Eunji as she managed to catch her breath.

"It's nothing." smiled Naeun.

"You sure?" asked Eunji. She knew the girl far too well, even whenever she said that nothing was wrong, something was definitely wrong.

"Come." said Eunji as she grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her to a corner of the school compound where there wasn't any students around. With Naeun's back faced against the wall, Eunji's face turned serious as she mingled with her hands out of nervousness.

"I said it's nothing unnie."

"You've lied to me way too many times for me to know."

"Indeed, you're not called Eunji unnie for nothing."

"Be honest. What is on your mind? I know it's difficult to express it because we both have different personalities but, we need to understand each other."

Naeun glanced at a corner, trying to avoid eye contact as her heart beat faster the more she looked into her eyes.

"Look at me and no one else." said Eunji as she gently grabbed her face and made it face directly at hers."

"Its...about that...."

"About what?"

"What they were saying about you...."

"Ah...that? It's just nonsense. Don't believe in them." said Eunji but her heart seemed to respond differently. The girl was afraid of being rejected, she was afraid that their relationship would go down if she made the wrong move. She wanted to play it safe and not make her feelings obvious. Yet, her heart kept telling her to confess, to speak, to look into her eyes and kiss her. It was a battle between the brain and the heart.

"So...it's not true?" asked Naeun calmly.

"It's just love Naeun-ah. It's the same kind of love I have with Chorong unnie, Bomi, Hayoung, I love everyone that's why I want to protect them. It's the same with you." said Eunji, smoothly avoiding the disaster before her tongue slipped.

"But unnie...." said Naeun as she paused for awhile, her eyes glancing around and took a deep breath.

"Tell me everything you have on your mind Naeun-ah." said Eunji, ready to face anything that the girl asks her.

"Do you....like girls?" asked Naeun with an innocent face.

[END OF CHAPTER 9]

A/N: Eunji has been cornered! Will she finally confess or keep running around the bush? What did Bomi do with the culprit in front of their eyes? Looks like things are starting to get interesting! There's a few chomi, 2eun and hajoo moments in this chapter as love is starting to make a move~ Thank you for reading and subscribing! I will update soon! :)