“TELL ME THAT YOU’RE AWAKE. TELL ME.”

A sudden pound on Min’s body thumped her back into her reality. Above her, the blurry figures of Solji and Youngjae looked like they were floating above her but then she remembered that Bom was the only one who could actually float. With that in mind her consciousness rose up again and her eyes adjusted to Paradise.

“Your breath stinks,” Min breathed at last. “Stop eating so many coffee lollies! They’re not healthy for you, unnie.” She cautiously put her hand over her face and shooed her older sister from coming any closer. 

Solji's eyes glimmered at her reunion with Min and tackled her to the concrete ground. "My beloved sister, you're alive!"

Min squirmed in her clutch and squeaked. "My beloved sister, please let go of me before I die under your sweaty armpits." Solji released her and scratched her neck nervously, remembering that Youngjae was right there with them and that they did pass a fiery haze in their journey to Paradise together.

Bom hovered towards them in a fashionable manner and caressed her hood with a bony finger. Her jaw parted open and then shut again. If she had eyebrows, they would have knitted together by now in frustration and confusion. "I'm parched, Sunggyu, get me some water please," she clicked her bones together and Solji and Min shuddered at the disturbing noise it made. 

"Uh Bom, you can't exactly swallow water, remember?" Sunggyu squinted at Bom with a confused face too. She returned his gaze and they both stared at each other in utter confusion. They were trying to stall time because untimely, Myungsoo had brought Solji to Paradise a bit earlier than she wanted him to, a bit too early, and in that time, she was supposed to give Min an individual task to carry out before Solji, Myungsoo or the new guy- Youngjae arrived back in Paradise.

The piercing howl of a pack resounded from the walls of Paradise.  

“Uh-oh, I let the hell dogs out," whispered Bom into Sunggyu's ear. Sunggyu put his hand to his face and sighed. "I can't afford for two other humans to die in the process! Min wasn't even supposed to die either! What the do I do?" she harshly asked. 

Bom was about to step forward and save the three humans but Sunggyu held her back and peered at her with a concerned look. “Let family do their job. I already prepared three set of clothes for them anyway, they can complete the task together, no one will die because all three have learned how to shoot with a bow and arrow, which means you won't be responsible for the death of the three humans that are about to be chased by hell dogs.”

"Yeah, at boards. Not at freaking humongous flesh eating dogs!" she hissed back but stopped fighting Sunggyu's dead solid arm and crossed her arms with watchful eyes.

Bom crossed out Myungsoo's name from the task with a sharp finger nail, minus the finger. Then she gave it to Solji with the simple instructions that read: 

Final Task

Wear the clothes given, it will provide you with the neccessary armour needed for this task.

Defeat the hell dogs and you will be granted a lift out of Paradise by someone other than Myungsoo.  

"We need to get dressed and then kick some ." Solji instructed authoritatively. She gestured for Min and Youngjae to follow her into the dark cave area and they hastily ran after her. She halted them and they stopped abruptly, she then mouthed for them to get changed in the caves before the hell dogs found their way to them.

Min came out first. She wore a black and dark green bonnet that she transferred into a bandana that kept her fringe off of her eyes; a puffy layered green and black outlined dress, hitched up at the leg area when she got out her bow and arrow that was safely stuck to her thigh suspenders; her hair was messily tied back into her bandana, with parts sticking out; army boots that reached her knees and her face was moist, muddy and pink.

"Whose idea was it to put mud on our faces?" Min grumbled at Youngjae who just got changed into cargo shorts, a plain white t-shirt and army boots. 

"I think it was Solji noona's," he replied. 

"I'm going to shoot my first arrow at her." Min fixed her eyes on Solji's cave and unclasped her bow from her suspenders with one hand and for an arrow in her barrel with the other.

"You need to save those for the hell dogs. You have to live." Youngjae persuaded. Min stopped and smiled, she didn't look back but she appreciated that her life was considered by a stranger. 

Despite being the first to get changed, Solji was the last to finish up. She came out in a pink version of the same outfit Min was wearing.

“How do I look?” she twirled around and pretended she was a super model on the runaway. She even her cheeks in to fake defined cheek bones and a jaw line.

“Almost matches your hair colour and really brings out your deep brown eyes.” Youngjae added mockingly.

“Oh shut up Youngjae.”

Youngjae pressed his lips together to stop him from chuckling at her defensiveness. 

 “We look like the revamped grown-up versions of the Power-puff girls, minus Bubbles.” Solji coughed. “Youngjae-ah, why didn’t you get the blue one?”

“Hey why do you get the pink one?” grumbled Min again.

“Ok we’ll swap goddamnit!” Solji stomped over to Min and helped her the top bit of her dress and then she stopped midway. "Some privacy please, Youngjae." Her eyes drifted to a mortified Youngjae whose eyes drifted to the wall immediately and all he could hear was the nitty gritty between the two sisters.

“Why is this so goddamn loose you fat !” He heard Solji complain loudly.

“That’s because my s are bigger than your s, -, and therefore my s can actually fill up my bra unlike your A-cup s, wipe,” reprimanded Min.

“The amount of two body parts mentioned in that one sentence is overwhelming; but can we move on now please, ladies?” Youngjae's eyes were squeezed together although he was already facing away from them.

"NO," shouted Solji quickly, "don't turn around. Not yet." And Youngjae remained blind and oblivious to the two females changing freely behind him. A common man would turn around for a peek of the beautifully carved bodies of the female species behind him, but this man was not going to let the temptation bite; he was taught way differently than that.   

“I’ve forgotten how good it could be to feel alive.” Youngjae heard Bom say after witnessing the sisterly affection. It felt like he could listen closely to everyone's conversation now that one of his senses was temporarily dormant. Although he knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, he could not really block his ears without looking like a fool.  

“Are you forcing yourself to cry?” Sunggyu asked Bom.

“Listen Sunggyu, do you really want to die?”

“We're already deceased, Bommie.”

“If you weren’t so freaking adorable I would throw a brick at you!” she blurted out. "Oh fu- I did not just say that."

Sunggyu sniggered, “You know it won’t hurt me anyway, right?”

“I will make it hurt you. I AM DEATH.”

“Correction, you are Death’s heiress.”

Bom let out a frustrated groan and bit into her corn flavoured ice-cream. 

Another piercing howl ensued; this time it sounded closer to the three humans. 

"What was that?" Youngjae asked under his breath. He stepped closer to Solji's side and saw that she was grinning from ear to ear. He admired Solji's lopsided grin but it also mentally frustrated him; she mentally frustrated him; she always felt superior. 

"That's the sound of our death if we let those demons get to us." It was true, Youngjae thought to himself, this noona mentally frustrated him; she always felt superior. 

"Well that's reassuring, unnie; so reassuring that I think I might pee my pants right here right now," insinuated Min. "But in other not-so-greater news, there's a massive three-headed dog drooling directly above you." She pointed above Solji's head and Solji looked up with a grimace.

"Ah ," she said as she lowered her bow and arrow.

Author's ramble: I've decided to go with AnStHa's interpretation of 'Paradise' and have included Greek mythology in this. :)