----
 

The Cerberus blasted a deafening roar at them, along with strings of saliva.

 

“RUUUN FOR YO FREAKIN LIVES!!!” Sooyoung shouted.

 

All 9 girls dispersed as the Cerberus leaped towards them, causing the ground to shake greatly. It looked at all directions deciding which girl to eat first.

 

Casting its morbids eyes, it saw some girls hiding together, some trembling in fear, and the rest running like chickens with their heads chopped off.

 

The Cerberus knew which one to go for.

 

It made eye contact at the easy lunch. It lowered its head and its lips.

 

“HYUNNIE MOVE!!“ 

 

Yoona changed her course and ran into Seohyun. And just in the nick of time, Yoona pushed Seohyun and managed to dodge the heavy paw swipe. The two girls slid to the side with Yoona on top of her to cover from any danger. 

 

“Hyunnie!” Yoona panted looking down at Seohyun. “Why didn’t you run!?”

 

Seohyun stared right back at panic stricken eyes. Trembling underneath Yoona, she was too scared to utter a word. So, Yoona helped the scared Seohyun up.

 

“Seohyun! Yoona! “ Hyoyeon halted her random running and quickly approached them. She placed both hands on their backs. “Are you guys hurt?”

 

“I-I-I’m fine.” Seohyun timidly uttered.

 

“I’m ok,” Yoona checked herself. “Seohyun go hide with the Taeyeon and the rest.”

 

Seohyun was about to speak out and protest,  but Yoona unhesitatingly stopped her.

 

“Go now.” Yoona’s eyes became serious.

 

In spite of knowing her well, Seohyun acknowledged Yoona’s mood change, and based on past experience, she unwillingly gave in. Seohyun weakly wavered to the Taeyeon’s hiding spot. She looked back to her friend facing the Cerberus bravely and prayed nothing goes wrong. 

 

The Cerberus turned its line of objective back at Yoona and Hyoyeon. It snarled and prepared to leap again. Just when it was about to go, a bunch of rocks hit the back of its head and loped over in front of it. The Cerberus dangerously angled its head’s to the source.

 

“HEY PICK ON SOMEBODY YOUR OWN SIZE !!!” Tiffany threw another rock.

 

“UGLY FACE!!” Sooyoung shouted and threw two rocks with both arms.

 

It became extremely pissed off and growled at the girls.

 

Yuri swung a stick in one hand and tossed a rock in the air, batting it at the monster. “YO THERE, DOG !”

 

Throughout the commotion, the four girls hiding : Sunny, Jessica, Taeyeon, and Seohyun. Watched their gutsy, foolish friends.

 

“YAAAH!  WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?! YOU’LL MAKE IT MAD!!” Sunny shouted from behind a tree.

 

“It’s so stupid, it probably doesn’t even understand.” Jessica knelt quietly beside Sunny.

 

“Ok, we seriously need a plan,” Taeyeon reminded the girls. “ Running and hiding are useless.”

 

The Cerberus grew angry and barked at the noisy source.  It was ready to pounce, until more rocks hit it from behind again. It snapped back at its original prey to see a bright platinum blonde girl with a rock in its hand, and a tall skinny girl with a sling shot, both readying to fire. 

 

“STUPID DOG!!” Hyoyeon hurled the rock. “ YOU FORGOT ABOUT US?!”

 

“FIREEE!!”  Yoona released the sling.

 

This was unbelievable to the Cerberus. The fact that they could aggravate it to this extent; and by the looks of it,  they looked like little ants pathetically throwing things at a dog.

 

“Hey, where did Yoona get that slingshot?” Jessica nudged Seohyun.

 

“Yoona- unnie always carries one for her own purpose.”

 

Frustrated from the amount of pestering, the Cerberus flashed its vicious teeth at both sides and bent its knees. It lowered its body and did a full spin to use its tail to whip across the girls. However, it missed all the girls, just barely. The intensity of the wind it created, knocked all the girls off balance.

 

“Th-that was some strong wind.” Tiffany picked herself up from the ground.

 

“Oh, you think so?!” Sooyoung  mocked Tiffany.

 

“Your sarcasm isn’t welcomed right now. “ Tiffany chided at Sooyoung.

 

Then all the girl’s got up and looked at each other. It was obvious.

 

“We’re so screwed unnies!!” Yoona shouted a small distance away.

 

“Let’s run for it!” Hyoyeon abandoned her rocks.

 

The Cerberus lowered its body again to do another full spin.  Its tail whipped a bigger perimeter, but hits a boulder instead and smashed it to bits.

 

"Take cover!!"

 

Yoona covered herself from the debris. “This isn’t looking too good !”

 

“HEY HYOYEON!” Yuri shouted as she covered herself from dust. “YOU PULLIN’ OUT ALREADY? ”

 

“CAN YOU THINK OF ANYTHING BETTER?” Exclaimed Hyoyeon.

 

“I HAVE AN IDEA!” Yuri announced.

 

“JUST SAY IT DAMN IT!” Tiffany lost her patience.

 

Yuri pondered and smirked. “FIRST ONE TO BEAT ITS HEAD, WINS!”

 

“IS THIS A CHALLENGE?” Hyoyeon saw Yuri’s smug look.

 

“COUNT ME IN! “ Yoona waved her arm.

 

“DON’T FORGET ME! “ A random Sooyoung bellowed beside Tiffany.

 

“ALRIGHT ! ONE HEAD EACH ! “ Yuri readied by herself.

 

“SOOYOUNG!” Tiffany yelled out to her tag team partner.

 

“READY YOONA?” Hyoyeon glanced at Yoona reloading her slingshot.

 

“This is gonna be fun.” Yuri nervously grinned.

 

….

The girls picked heads ; Sooyoung and Tiffany had the head on the far right’s attention.

 

Hyoyeon and Yoona had the middle head, while Yuri got the left head.

 

“YA’LL READY??!”  Yoona whooped.

 

Sooyoung and Tiffany nodded their heads. Hyoyeon snickered nervously with a hint of excitement beside. Yuri made a funny face and used her hand to express that they were going down.

 

Hyoyeon did the same action back to Yuri, and to Sooyoung and Tiffany.

 

“LET’S ROCK !” Hyoyeon cheered.

 

All 5 of the girls immediately scattered and left the Cerberus in confusion.


….


Behind the tree where the girls were hiding, they could hear loud hollering and constant flying rocks being thrown by them. 

 

“Are those idiots seriously going to challenge that monster?!” Jessica asked in complete shock.

 

“They think they can take it down?!” Sunny doubted them.

 

Seohyun crouched down, “Taeyeon- unnie, what do you think?”

 

“I’m not sure…” Taeyeon sighed. “Jessica and Sunny are right. They’re complete idiots and their plan is tactless.”

 

“Sunny,” Taeyeon glanced at Sunny watching their friends. “You’ve played against these types of monsters in games before, haven’t you?”

 

“Occasionally, yes...” Sunny responded. “But, those were fake, digital monsters. Not real at all…”

 

“Besides that, how did you kill it?”

 

“Hm… Let me think.” Sunny tried to remember the last time she battled one.

 

“You know this isn’t a game, they could die!” Jessica couldn’t believe they might possible risk their lives based on a game. 

 

“Jessica, we can’t hide and run forever, we need to take it down.” Taeyeon indicated, looking directly at her.

 

“Did you forget we’re ONLY HUMANS?” Jessica looked at Taeyeon to clearly clarify. “It’s not like we have super powers.”

 

“You have a super power.” Taeyeon mentioned.

 

“No, I don’t?” 

 

“Yes , you do.”

 

“What is it then?” Jessica glared directly at Taeyeon, waiting for her remark.

 

Taeyeon made eye contact with Jessica and felt her eyes bore right through her. It made her have goosebumps. 

 

“You’re doing it right now.” 

 

“Doing what?”

 

“Your face.”

 

“My face?”

 

Taeyeon rubbed her arms to try and ward off the chills.

 

“Yeah, it’s so scary. You should go out there and show that cold demeanor of yours.” Taeyeon chuckled. “I bet the monster will cower when it sees you.”

 

Jessica wore an unamused, blank facial expression. “Did you just insult me?”

 

Her icily stare intensified.  Taeyeon started to think that maybe saying that wasn’t a good idea.

 

Taeyeon raised both her hands as withdrawal. “Ha ha ha ~ just joking~  “ She let out a very, uneasy ahjumma laugh.

 

“Kim Tae – “

 

“I got it!” Sunny interrupted the two. 

 

“Based on experience, a way to defeat it is to have it compete against each other.”

 

“Like assembling a situation where the three heads end up beating itself up?” Seohyun inquired.

 

“Exactly that.” Concluded a confident Sunny.

 

Taeyeon cleared and gave a teasing smile to Jessica before turning to Sunny and Seohyun. 

 

Jessica returned with a disturbed, confused face. Weirdo.

 

“I have an idea,” Taeyeon proposed with a hint of doubt. “But, ...”

 

*RUMBLE*

 

The girl’s stopped their strategy when the ground underneath them pounded strongly. They had to hold onto something to support themselves from falling over.  

 

From a fair distance, they can actually see the ground ripple out from the powerful force the Cerberus created. 

 

They peeped over to check on their friends if they were still running around causing chaos, but they were all found on the ground.

 

“GUYS, ARE YOU OKAY??” Taeyeon shouted with concern.

 

The girls took their view off the Cerberus and quickly looked at Taeyeon.

 

“YEAH! IT GOT LUCKY! “ Yoona yelled back to Taeyeon.

 

Taeyeon relaxed for a little bit before all of a sudden, Jessica shoved Taeyeon’s head to the side and stuck her head out.

 

“IDIOTS! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING!?” Jessica bursted out.

 

“OH YENNO ! JUST HAVIN’ A PICNIC !! CAN’T YOU SEE??” Yuri hollered sarcastically back at Jessica.

 

“YAH STUPID, ARE YOU SERIOUSLY USING THAT TONE WITH ME RIGHT NOW!?” Jessica flared at the fallen Yuri.

 

Throughout the loud bickering, the Cerberus caught its eye to a struggling Tiffany; who’s foot got stuck in between the cracks. Tiffany felt  eyes on her and saw the Cerberus stare right at her, ready to charge.

 

Tiffany was frantically pulling on her foot, she was sitting duck right now.  

 

“Oh my god oh my god oh my god! “ Tiffany continued to wiggle more aggressively, but it caused some cuts to her ankle.

 

The Cerberus was delighted at this treat; stuck and helpless. It crept closer to Tiffany its lips at her. 

 

Taeyeon noticed the sudden change in the Cerberus, as it calmed its way to a direction to its prey: Tiffany. She squinted and wondered why Tiffany didn’t move.

 

“Tippany!  “ Taeyeon left her hiding spot and ran towards Tiffany. 

 

All the girls reacted to Taeyeon’s exclamation.

 

“Crap!” Sunny cried out. “Why isn’t she moving?!”

 

“Her foot!! “ Yuri yelled.

 

Taeyeon sprinted harder. The Cerberus inched  closer at the defenseless Tiffany. She could only glare back at the monster and hope for the best. The Cerberus opened all three of its mouth and went for a dive. 

 

“TIPPANY!”

 

“TAEYEON!” 

 

Taeyeon ran into Tiffany and pushed her out of the way, they both went flying off to the side. The Cerberus’s faces smacked right into the ground, causing a huge crater. 

 

Awaiting for the blur of dust to disappear , the rest of the girl’s held their breath at the fearful scene. 

 

Anxious and tense, their friends prayed. “Please, please, don’t die guys...” 

 

Then, the air began to clear up , and they searched for the two girls helplessly. They began to feel uneasy, until Sunny’s voice broke out.

 

“There!” 

 

Relieved would be an understatement on seeing their two friends alive. The two girls were laying on the ground a few meters apart. From a distance, they were alive, however, there were no movements.

 

Tiffany was in a daze, she slowly opened her eyes to find herself lying sideways. She was breathing heavily and held onto  her chest. She remembered almost being eaten by the monster.

 

The monster.

 

It was only a few distance away with its head stuck in the ground. She also remembered a girl saving her.

 

“Taeyeon!” Just ahead of her, Tiffany became worried stiff.  Taeyeon was lying face down, motionless.  

Tiffany frantically crawled her way to Taeyeon. 

 

“Taeyeon! Taeyeon!” Tiffany tapped and shook her. “Wake up! Please!” 

 

Tiffany felt Taeyeon’s body twitch.

 

Taeyeon heard her name echo in her mind. She furrowed her eyebrows and peeked an eye open to see Tiffany's concerned eyes.

 

“Ti..ppany?..” Taeyeon breathed out and carefully sat up.

 

Tiffany wrapped her arms around Taeyeon tightly.

 

“Don’t scare me like that!” Tiffany let go of the hug and faced Taeyeon, inches apart.

 

Taeyeon was taken aback at having Tiffany so close to her face.

 

“Are y-you okay?” Taeyeon looked away from Tiffany’s eyes and inspected her.

 

The warmth of Taeyeon’s hands touching Tiffany’s body, flustered her. “ I-I should be a-asking you that!” 

 

“But, that thing almost ate you!” 

 

“It almost ate US!”

 

Tiffany and Taeyeon glanced back at the Cerberus, still with its head stuck to the ground. They both helped each other up and made a mad struggling run to the girl’s hiding.

 

All the girl’s embraced the two girls. They couldn’t believe it, they were all overwhelmed with shock. This was too much to witness and handle all so suddenly. 

 

“We thought we lost you guys!” Sunny eyes were watery.

 

“Unnies…” Seohyun sniffed.

All their eyes were watery and some were on the verge of crying.  They all huddled around each other.

 

“Tiff .. “ Jessica held Tiffany’s rattled head.  Tiffany acknowledged her with her smile and crescent eyes.

 

Jessica then swayed to Taeyeon. “Did you get hurt?”

 

Taeyeon shook her head.

 

Jessica’s eyes softened at Taeyeon, grabbing hold of her attention. Taeyeon made an informative eye contact with Jessica and Jessica nodded at her. 

 

Taeyeon brought their attention to herself.  “Girls, we can’t run or hide from that anymore.“

 

“I have an idea to take it down,” Taeyeon sighed nervously. “ ...But it’s a bit risky.“

 

Sooyoung shrugged.  “We’ve been lucky thus far, why not!” 

 

“Lay it out, let’s hear it!” Hyoyeon blurted out.

 

“You girls aren’t scared?” Taeyeon felt astounded.

 

“ Eeeehh, not really. ” Yuri brushed off Taeyeon’s surprised reaction. “So, what’s the plan?”

 

Taeyeon was unknowingly reassured by the girls honest replies. 

 

“We need to have the three heads fight each other.” 

 

“Ok, how do we do that?” Asked Yoona.

 

“Listen carefully,” Taeyeon said firmly. 

 

“Hyoyeon, I need you to run around and act as bait.”

 

“Sooyoung and Tiffany, you two will distract it with your loud voices.”

 

“Yoona, do whatever you can to piss it off. Seohyun, you’ll assist her.”

 

The five girl’s nodded and high fived each other, riling themselves up.

 

“And that leaves just us 4,“ Taeyeon gathered the other three girls. 

 

“Does this mean…” Sunny croaked.

 

“We’re gonna…” Jessica raised her eyebrows slanting upwards.

 

“Yes, we’re going head to head with that monster.” Confirmed Taeyeon. “Yuri, do you think you can do it with me?”

 

Yuri became giddy and excited. “Hell yeah, this sounds fun.” 

 

“How about you two?” Taeyeon saw the worry in their eyes.

 

“I.. I.. “

 

“Uhm..”

 

“It’s fine,” Taeyeon gave them a soothing smile. “You two keep watch and make sure everyone else stays safe. Got it?” 

 

Sunny thankfully did an okay sign with her finger and thumb at Taeyeon.

 

Jessica faced the ground with a defeated posture. 

 

Taeyeon approached Jessica and placed her two hands on her shoulders. “Don’t worry, Jessica.” 

 

Yuri went up to the two girls and stood beside Jessica.

 

“Hey look up,” Yuri softly lifted Jessica’s chin to her direction.

Jessica didn’t resist the soft touch. She took her distressed eyes off the ground to meet a pair of comforting, brown orbs, staring right at her. 

 

“Good, because this might be the very last time we see each other.” Yuri wore a warm smile as she patted Jessica’s head. A rush of feeling consumed her, as though she’s seen that warm smile before.

 

"Don't say something like that!" Jessica said with a fragile voice. How could this girl easily accept her fate like that?

 

Yuri simply shrugged and ran her hand through her hair.

 

“B-Be careful .. “ Jessica whispered to them.

 

“What was that?” Taeyeon tilted her head.

 

“I said be careful.. “ Jessica avoided eye contact with both girls.  Taeyeon reached out her hand and ruffled her hair. 

 

“Aww, you actually care about us!” Taeyeon giggled childishly.

 

Jessica ignored the midget and looked at Yuri. “You better come back.” 

 

Yuri grinned and playfully wrapped her arm around Jessica’s neck, giving her a side hug.

 

“I dunno... I think I’ll like it better inside the monsters belly. I'll have nothing to worry about anymore!" Yuri giggled along with Taeyeon. 

 

Jessica paused and stared at Yuri with questionable eyes. She crossed her arms and pouted. 

 

“Alright, fine fine. Turn that frown upside down! We’ll be safe, only for my Jessica." Jessica avoided Yuri’s face and looked away. Yuri was unaware of Jessica’s hint of rosy cheeks.

 

Then Yuri turned her attention to Taeyeon.

 

“Ready?” Yuri brought up a fist.

 

Taeyeon took a deep breath.

 

“Let’s do this.” She lifted her fist and pounded it with Yuri.

 

Jessica stood near the area where they were originally hiding and laid her eyes on the two girls scurrying off. Her gaze specifically at a certain someone : Kwon Yuri.

 

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