It was quiet trip for the most part as most of the girls were just trying to catch up on some sleep. They'd been underground all night and the exhaustion had finally caught up to most of them. In Eunbi's van, she was accompanied by Yena, Yuri, Hitomi, Nako and Hyewon. Yujin, Minjoo, and Sakura were in the other van accompanying the injured Wonyoung, Chaewon, and Chaeyeon.

"So, Nako, Hii-chan, now that we completed the mission, what're your plans?" Yena asks the two Japanese girls. After a few silent seconds, the two girls share a knowing look before responding.

"It's something we'll probably discuss with Saku-chan first." Hitomi says first. There's a look of uncertainty in her face, and before Yena could prod further, Yuri puts a hand on her shoulder- a signal to wait for them to open up more.

"How about you then Eunbi-unnie?" She asks to change the topic. "You're our leader after all. You're sticking around, right?"

"Yeah, there's still a lot more work to do. This is just the first step into letting the public know that mutants aren't dangerous, that we can live in harmony." The eldest responds. The past couple weeks had been tough, but worth it. She's seen the perspectives of so many new people, and she feels like she's gained a family with them.

"We'll be with you all the way, unnie!" Yuri cheers.

"Wherever you go, Yul, I'll be there with you." Yena says, causing the hamster to blush.

"Gross, get a room!" Nako jokes. All eyes now turn to Hyewon and what she was thinking. After all, Hyewon was also an undercover agent working for special forces here. The aforementioned girl thinks in silence for a while, never actually considering her next moves. She was originally planning to head back to her base, 8D, but now, after going through all of this with these girls, she's started to feel a change of heart. Her gaze turns to Eunbi, who's looking at her expectantly. Of all the people she's met, nobody's ever cared more for her than their leader. Eunbi would always check up on her and ask if she was okay despite her cold aura that normally pushed people away. For a normal human, Eunbi had a heart of gold.

"I guess someone's gotta help Eunbi-unnie keep the peace among you kids." She finally says, causing the girls to cheer. Eunbi smiles, reaching for the quiet girl's hand and holding it tightly.

~~~~

Over in the other van, it was a lot calmer for the moment. Wonyoung was laying on a stretcher at the back with Yujin watching over her. Chaeyeon and Chaewon were feeling good enough to sit straight up, but Sakura and Minjoo were still evidently concerned for them. This calmness was as shortlived as it was in the other van though as Chaewon speaks up.

"You can stop staring now, Min. I'm fine~" She teases without even looking, earning a snicker from Sakura.

"You too, Sakura, Hongki-sunbaenim already patched us up." Chaeyeon adds.

"Yah, we weren't staring!" Minjoo tries to defend herself.

"Sure you weren't~" Chaewon laughs as she points at the rearview mirror at the front of the van that was showing a red-faced Minjoo and Sakura, caught in the act. From the back, Yujin can only smile observing the situation. She was just glad that Wonyoung was safe. Of course she was worried when Hongki told her that Wonyoung would still need a couple days to get better, but it was the best possible outcome they could've gotten, at least, that's what she was convincing herself to think. As she looks at her now, she remembers just how pretty the younger girl was. Yujin was always in awe looking at Wonyoung, but right now, there was just this serenity and aura of calmness exuding from her sleeping face that took her breath away. Hopefully she'd wake up soon.

"Yah, Yujinnie, any closer and you might be the prince charming to her sleeping beauty." Chaeyeon now directs some jokes at her, noticing where the puppy's attention was, and making the others laugh together.

"Very funny, guys. As if you're all any different." She responds, a guilty expression appearing on everyone's faces, no one denying it. "Anyway, Sakura, what're you going to do with those downloaded files?" Yujin then asks to change the topic.

"That reminds me actually..." Sakura's expression suddenly becomes more serious before she continues. "There was one file that I found that was talking about...clones, but it was fairly incomplete. They must've been transferring them to another server because they knew we were coming. This file was likely more important than the others, but as it stands, they didn't manage to delete everything in time."

"What was left?" Chaeyeon asks.

"Other than the project title: clones, there were some initials for a name, A.J.Y. Anyone know who it could be?" The others can only shake their heads.

"Clones, huh? That sounds like another adventure~" Chaewon says enthusiastically.

"More like another tiring mission." Minjoo counters.

"Min, any mission with you is a fun adventure for me." The older girls responds nonchalantly. How can she be so good at flirting. Minjoo thinks to herself, clearly flustered.

"In any case, yes. It looks like something else we're going to have to investigate." Sakura interjects. "Other than that, I'm going to start making a report of everything else we encountered in that base, and try to publish it to the media. Hopefully it'll gain some traction, so people will see what this syndicate has been doing."

"That's great Saku-chan! We can help if you want, like giving personal interviews of our experiences down there in addition to the files you took." Chaeyeon adds. Sakura nods, takes out her laptop from her bag, and begins to type. Throughout the rest of the ride, the five of them brainstormed and relayed ideas to each other, hoping to at least have a draft to show Seunggi when they got back.

~~~~

"Home sweet home!" Yena shouts as she steps out of the van. She may have appeared to be overreacting, but for her, this was as close to a home as she's had for a while. It was around 6am when they all arrived back at the facility, and the sun was beginning to rise.

"Welcome back, everyone!" Seunggi made sure to welcome them all back personally despite it being early in the morning. He'd had to spend all night coordinating the transportation and responding to media after the group's exploits in Busan caught headlines. Some of the arrested Syndicate members had already begun to spin the story in a different light, and it was honestly a hassle to deal with. It was a relief that everyone managed to get back safely without any disruptions...or that's what he'd initially thought.

"Wait..." It looked like he had aged ten years in ten seconds as he realized what was wrong.

"What's wrong, sunbae?" Eunbi asks, thinking the stress was just getting to him. "We completed the mission and all got back safely."

"There's a van missing. There were originally five, but only four returned." That's when everyone turns and looks behind them. There were supposed to be three vans for the trainees, one for Hongki and the medical staff, and one more to hold Seoyoung, and it quickly became apparent which one was missing.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Yujin says. After all the effort to subdue her, she got away again?

"We'll have to address that in a while as there's nothing we can do right now. You twelve managed to rescue five of the six, so that alone deserves congratulations." Seunggi says, trying to keep some positivity.

"You're all welcome to rest in your dorms or get some breakfast. Just keep in mind that the mission debriefing will be held at 3pm. Later on after dinner, there will be a general assembly to inform everyone else. Thank you again for your efforts, IZ*ONE. You've done a great service." He concludes, and with that, everyone was dismissed.

"Never a dull day for us, huh?" Minjoo says with an exasperated sigh.

"It's okay, girls! Let's just focus on the present; we completed the mission and saved Gaeun-unnie and the others. We did a good job!" Eunbi says, noticing the mood dropping with the recent revelation. "Let's head to the cafeteria, I'll convince them to make whatever foods you want!" That seemed to raise the spirits a bit, as the members shared a laugh. She could always count on food to make things better.

~~~~

Later at 3pm...

"As you all know, Seoyoung's van was hijacked and taken away. It must've happened at one of the gas station stops. We've been trying to track it down, but haven't had much luck. They've gone off the grid." Seunggi begins after the members of IZ*ONE, sans Wonyoung, who's still in the infirmary, as well some of the trainers settle into his office. Also in attendance was Gaeun, who was invited by the group as a representative for those who were kidnapped. With all the people inside, it was starting to feel a little cramped, but it was necessary for the information being exchanged to remain confidential for the time being.

"For now, it's up for debate on if she escaped on her own or was recaptured by the syndicate. We'll probably send a group of trainees to go look for her, but not right now."

"What do you mean, 'another group of trainees'?" Chaeyeon asks.

"Yes, of course. That leads me to the next news I'll share in more detail later at the general assembly. The facilities around the country made for 'mutant containment and rehabilitation' will now be reorganized into a schools of some sort for mutants, rather than simply serving as a training ground. Seeing the growth of you twelve convinced me to lobby to members of the government to change the system into one that is more friendly to mutants. Instead of treating those rehabilitation facilities you all came from as places to keep you all under control, the new system will focus on growth and education. It will be similar to the system that we have here currently but will also draw from the place that you were from before, Chaeyeon, JYP's school for mutants." Chaeyeon considers this for a moment, remembering her days there. Her current facility, WM, was actually better than most places after hearing stories from other trainees, but she would've still preferred to stay. It was a pleasant surprise to her for sure, and she was glad her friends would now be able to experience something similar. Maybe this would open the doors for her to meet her sister again too.

"Once again, we will be offering a choice to our trainees, or now, students. You may choose to stay here in the Produce facility or go back to your old facilities that will be reorganized into schools. As it stands, it appears that there will be some changes on the horizon everywhere." Seunggi says.

"No way Yunjin and I are going back to Pledis..." Gaeun mumbles. Sakura, overhearing this, could only wonder how different each facility here in Korea treated the mutants who stayed with them. At least back in Japan, it was all consistent, albeit, a bit stricter.

"I think that's a great idea!" Eunbi responds cheerfully before changing her tone to ask questions. "Won't there be a lot of logistics to cover though? Hiring teachers, buying school supplies, etcetera. I'm not sure the public will be completely on board with their taxes funding mutants. No offense to any of you."

"None taken, unnie. I agree too. How exactly are you guys planning to present this?" Yena interjects.

"I understand the concern, but I think the public sentiment is starting to change, especially with the piece that Sakura released online a couple hours ago. People are beginning to see that mutants aren't entirely bad, and it's some groups of people who are responsible for some of the chaos happening." The aforementioned girl nods in agreement. Sakura had used her abilities to access some of the most used search engines and social media sites to post an article she'd made with some help from the girls detailing the experiments done by the syndicate and their plans to take over the country.

"From what I can see, most people that were neutral on mutants are now starting to side with us." She says after taking a glance at her laptop.

"But isn't that just because they think we're useful? Most people will still probably turn their back on us if the opportunity presents itself." Hyewon responds skeptically.

"While that may be true, this is still a process. We're not going to convince people to be okay with mutants overnight. After all, it is human nature to be afraid of people who are different." Eunbi says, the others nodding in agreement.

"Thank you again for your efforts so far, everyone." Seunggi says. "This change wouldn't be possible without you twelve, and it's only the beginning. There is...one more announcement though, but I think it'd be better for them to tell you all themselves." At this, Seunggi glances at Sakura, who steps forward, Nako and Hitomi by her side.

"I'm sorry to announce this so suddenly, but we're going to be leaving for a while..." Sakura says to the shock of everyone else in the room, other than Seunggi.

"What?!?" The other 8 members shout.

~~~~

A few hours ago...

It was around noon, and most trainees were already having lunch. For the members of IZ*ONE, some chose to get more sleep, some went to walk around the facility, and some went to eat. Sakura, Nako and Hitomi were in the latter group. The three Japanese members were sitting at a lunch table in deep discussion. Though they'd been practicing Korean ever since they arrived, it was always nice for them to be able to speak in full Japanese. It allowed them to express themselves a bit better.

"So, Saku-chan, what's your plan going forward?" Nako asks. Being her senior, she normally followed Sakura's lead when it came to big decisions.

"I...need to go and find Jurina. There's something I need to find out from her." She responds, the other two girls taken aback by the suddenness.

"Sounds dangerous, but I'm in." The short girl eventually cheers, until realizing the connotations of what Sakura had said. "Wait, how about the others? Won't they come too?"

"It really depends. If my sources are correct, Jurina might be on her way back to Japan. I know we're a team, but it might be dangerous to travel in a big group. There might be something else to handle here too. I don't think we've heard the last of the syndicate. Besides, I'm sure we'll come back here afterwards. Whatever information Jurina gives will be useful back here."

"We better come back, or else Chaeyeon- chan will miss you too much~" Nako teases. At this point, Sakura couldn't even deny it.

"How about you, Hii-chan? You in?" Sakura asks.

"Aren't there still rules between AKB and HKT?" She responds

"Well, we're technically IZ*ONE, so those rules don't exactly apply anymore."

"Oh, and if you go with us, we can help you look for your parents too!" Nako adds. Hitomi seems to consider this for a while before finally nodding.

"Yes. Let's do this." She says with conviction.

"Try not to mention this to any of the others until the meeting later though. I'll have a talk with Seunggi-san about it." Sakura says. "I'm afraid they might convince us to stay if they find out."

"You mean Chaeyeon-chan might convince you to stay?" Nako interjects. Sakura just nods.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll understand." Hitomi tries to reassure the older girl.

"Alright, girls. I'll go talk to Seunggi-san now. I know this is a difficult decision, but I know it'll be worth it and we'll be back here." Sakura says.

"Yeah, I don't know about you two, but Eunbi-chan and the others have been like family to me since I first met them. I trust them with my life, so one way or another, I know we'll find a way back." Nako says.

~~~~

"No way...no way..." Chaeyeon mutters after hearing the news, staggering back.

"Chaeyeon, listen. It's complicated. Let us explain-" Sakura tries to reason, but it was too late. The younger girl ran. Before Sakura can follow, she feels a hand on her shoulder hold her back.

"You know you're not going to catch her..." Yena says. "Let her calm down first and talk to her later. For now, you gotta explain to the rest of us."

"Y-yes...of course." Sakura responds, suddenly missing the courage she had earlier when she talked with Nako and Hitomi. She looks at them both again for reassurance before beginning.

"So, I was looking over some files that we downloaded from the base, and one of them caught my eye. It was about a secret project the syndicate had. They managed to transfer most of it out which leads me to believe it was one of their more important ones. I need to find Jurina for information, and I'm sure she's on her way back to Japan." The room goes silent for a few moments while everyone tries to unpack what Sakura had just announced.

"Wait, why do you three have to go alone though?" Yujin eventually asks.

"It'd be too dangerous to bring so many of us over there when you don't really know the language that much. Also, there might be something else you might need to look into here."

"When will you be back then?" Yuri asks.

"I can't say for sure. All I can promise is that we'll be back." That last statement spreads some sense of relief within the other girls. Their friends would return.

"Alright, Kkura. We trust you." Eunbi says seeing Hitomi and Nako's determined gazes as well. Seunggi, seeing everything was settled, decides to end the meeting.

"I'll see you all at the general assembly tonight. Thank you again for your service..." Seunggi stops for a second, gazing at open doorway where Chaeyeon had run out. "I hope you can all rest well. This may not be the last time we hear from the Syndicate." With that, he bows before beginning to fix up his documents while the others make their way out.

"You gonna look for her?" Hyewon asks Sakura when they get into the hallway.

"I have to. I need to explain to her..." The older girl responds.

"I have a feeling you're going to work something out. You two have that kind of connection, you know?." Hyewon says as she walks away.

"Wait, what do you mean by...that?" By the time she asked, Hyewon had already turned a corner, leaving Sakura to ponder the quiet girl's statement. I need to find Chaeyeon.

~~~~

The sun was just beginning to set when the Japanese girl had finally found Chaeyeon. She'd scoured all over the campus with little success before climbing up to the roof of their dorm building. Sakura found Chaeyeon leaning back against a wall, contemplating while keeping her gaze on the sunset.

"Chaeyeon?" Sakura calls over. When the girl in question turns and sees Sakura, she simply pats the ground next to her, inviting the Japanese girl to sit.

"I'm...sorry, Chaeyeon." Sakura begins.

"No, don't be. I was just...really taken aback. I didn't expect you to have to leave so soon..." Chaeyeon responds.

"It'd be too dangerous to bring us all along. I...just want you all to be safe..."

"You can run all the simulations you want in your head, Saku-chan, but you still have to let us decide what we can or can't do. We're your friends. Why would we sit back and let you three walk into danger without backup?" The younger girl made a good point. Sakura was always so obsessed with what the numbers said about everything. She didn't like taking any risks, yet, the one thing she realized she could never really quantify is the bond she shares with her friends.

"You're right. But, this mission we're going to embark on...there's another reason why we need the rest of you stay here. I didn't mention this to everyone yet...but I think there's a mole somewhere on campus. I'm not sure who, but we need to stay vigilant here as much as in Japan. We can't just send all our forces to one place like we did last time." Sakura explains.

"Then take me with you." Chaeyeon says determinedly before continuing. "If you're chasing Jurina, I'm perfect for the job, plus, I can speak Japanese too, remember? Also, it'd be much safer to have four people instead of three, so you could split up better." Sakura was taken aback by everything she was hearing. She never actually took into consideration what the younger girl had said. Now that she thought of it, having Chaeyeon would be extremely helpful.

"Are you sure you can leave this place behind for a while?" Sakura asks.

"Yes. You already kept me out of the fight once. You're not getting rid of me a second time." Chaeyeon says with a grin.

"Alright then. I'm going to have to get the approval of Seunggi-sunbaenim first, then talk with Nako and Hitomi." Though Sakura tried to hide it, she was very glad that Chaeyeon wanted to accompany them. It gave her a bit more confidence that her mission would succeed.

"The assembly is going to start soon. We should go." Sakura says while getting up, but the younger girl grabs her hand and pulls her back.

"Can't we afford to skip it just this once?" Chaeyeon asks which surprises the Japanese girl.

"How come?"

"We already heard most of it anyway a while ago. Besides, the sunset looks really beautiful right now." Sakura looks where Chaeyeon had pointed, and she was compelled to agree. Sitting there on the rooftops overlooking the facility gave her a really calm feeling, something she hadn't felt in a while given the non-stop missions they'd had to go on.

"I guess we can..." She finally says, leaning her head on Chaeyeon's shoulder. Sakura didn't realize how fatigued she'd become until this moment, slowly drifting away into sleep next to her favorite person.

~~~~

A few hours later...

The general assembly had just ended, and the trainees were in the middle of heading out of the auditorium. Seunggi's news appeared to be taken rather positively by everyone present. The only thing noticeably wrong with the assembly was the absence of Lee Chaeyeon and Miyawaki Sakura. Eunbi and the others simply joked among themselves, assuming the two were just fooling around. Trainer Yoon-jeong would probably give them an earful later.

As the moon begins to shine in the sky, Yuri and Yena can be seen walking around the campus edge, taking in the view. It was the same route Yuri had taken before to get away from Yena. So much had happened between then and now.

"The night sky sure looks beautiful..." Yuri says out loud.

"Yeah...you sure are..." Yena responds back absentmindedly.

"Yah, you really have a way with words, don't you." The younger girl responds jokingly. In the beginning, Yena's quips and flirts would normally fluster Yuri, but right now, she was just glad to be with a comforting presence. Tentatively, she reaches out for Yena's hand, attempting to hold on to it. This backfired almost immediately as she recoils her arm with a yelp after getting hit with a bit of static shock. The older girl turns in surprise, apologetic over the unintentional discharge.

"Oh my god, Yuri, I'm so sorry. I was just caught off guard! Are you okay?" Yena keeps saying apologies until she realizes that Yuri was simply laughing. "Wait, what's so funny?" She asks.

"It's nothing; just a bit of a tingle, that's all." Yuri says before continuing. "When they said in the movies that sparks fly when you're looking at the person you like, I didn't think they meant it literally." A silence engulfed the two for a couple seconds as what Yuri had said began to sink in.

"Wait...did you just say-" Yena is quickly cut off by the younger girl stealing a quick kiss on the lips. It was shocking, and she honestly felt like she was in some kind of fever dream right now.

"Yes, silly~ "

"I like you. I like you a lot." Yuri confesses. She didn't know where she got the spontaneous boost in confidence from, but she just couldn't help herself anymore. Now she was just anxious on if she was a bit too sudden, but that feeling evaporated when she saw the duck grin. Yena leans in and then pulls Yuri in for another kiss.

Luckily for the two of them, there weren't many people around, but Yena knew what their friends' reactions would be if they were. She pushes those thoughts away now though as she only wants to focus on the girl in front of her. She'd known from the very second their eyes first met that Yuri was special, but she didn't imagine how they would've gone through so much together in just a few months. Eventually, the two separate to catch their breaths, both blushing like crazy.

"Wow..." Both say at the same time.

Before they can go for another session, they hear a loud bell ring, signaling curfew time. Yena smiles, offering Yuri her hand. The younger girl takes it tentatively before being pulled along as the two begin running back together to the dorms, side-by-side, hand-in-hand.

~~~~

"Those two love birds..." Chaewon says from the balcony of her room. She'd just gotten back from dinner and was about to close the windows when she noticed a couple in the distance, acting a bit too intimate with each other. It didn't take much guessing for her to realize who they were.

"Hmm? What're you talking about, unnie?" Minjoo asks, walking up next to Chaewon. The older girl simply points in Yena and Yuri's general direction and waits for her response.

"Oh...oh my..." Minjoo's eyes widen when she finally sees what the fuss was about.

"Those two were bound to get together eventually." Chaewon says to which Minjoo nods in agreement.

"I'm happy for them~" Minjoo says cheerfully.

"Who do you think confessed first? My bet's on Yena-unnie." Chaewon asks.

"I guess that means I'm betting on Yuri. I don't think Yena-unnie would've confessed first though. You see how flustered she gets all the time." The younger jokes.

"Well, don't complain when you end up being wrong~"

"What're we betting with anyway?" Minjoo asks curiously.

"Hmm...loser has to confess first?" Chaewon responds nonchalantly.

"W-wait, what did you just say???" Instead of a response, Chaewon just walks over to the bathroom.

"If you could excuse me, Min, I have first dibs on showers tonight. Talk to you later~" She teases, leaving Minjoo to be her own flustered mess.

~~~~

"You girls sure you're going to be ready to head out there?" A worried Eunbi asks Nako and Hitomi as the they settle into their room with Hyewon.

"Of course, unnie! We trained with you after all. We'll be fine!" Nako responds.

"Yeah, Eunbi. They're not kids, you know. I'm sure they'll be able to handle it." Hyewon says.

"What exactly is the plan anyway? Sakura didn't really expound on that yet." The eldest continues to ask. Though she said that she trusted them earlier, Eunbi just couldn't help but want to offer some kind of help.

"Well, I guess the one thing we didn't mention to Seunggi-sunbaenim was that we're going to take a detour and look for my parents while we're there too." Hitomi says. They were all aware by that point about Hitomi's experiences as a child.

"Isn't that just more of a reason for us to come along?"

"No, unnie. This is something personal. There are other problems the team is going to have to deal with here that are more important." Hitomi may have been the youngest of the four in the room, but Eunbi was taken aback by her conviction and determination. Somehow, that gave the eldest more reassurance that they really had grown in their time together with the group.

"Okay, Hii-chan. Just know that you three can call us whenever you need something." Eunbi says, finally relenting.

"Actually...it's going to be four of us. I don't think she's said it yet, but Chaeyeon-unnie is coming along." Nako interjects, catching Eunbi off guard more so than Hyewon.

"Wait, really???"

"Yeah. I guess, Chaeyeon-unnie was really convincing to Saku-chan earlier." Nako explains. Hyewon sighs in relief, recalling what she'd told Sakura a while ago. I guess things did work out after all.

"That's good to hear." Knowing Chaeyeon was accompanying them lifted Eunbi's worries away just a bit more. After all, besides her, Chaeyeon was normally who the girls deferred to when Eunbi wasn't around.

"Moving on, you said that we'd have other problems here of our own. What did you mean by that?" Eunbi asks to change to the topic.

"Remember when Saku-chan talked about that clone project that the syndicate had? She wants to get more information from Jurina. On the Korean side, she thinks that there might be a mole on the inside here. She doesn't want to divvy up our forces too much." Hitomi says.

"Any idea who it could be?" Hyewon questions. The Japanese girls shook their heads.

"No idea. Sakura just said it was a hunch after all. Just try to keep your eyes open while we're gone." Nako says.

"Understood. I'll contact my sources back in 8D to see if they can look into it." Hyewon responds.

"Thanks, Hyewon. I'm really glad you're choosing to stay here with us." Eunbi says.

"Well, I thought that I'd just be sent on more missions if I went back, but here I am, going through another mission anyway." The quiet girl jokes.

"When're you girls leaving, by the way?" Eunbi asks.

"Probably in a couple days? We can't afford for Jurina to get more of a head start than she already does."

"Good luck to all of us then. I think we should all get some rest now. I want us all to hang out at least once before you have to leave, you know." Eunbi says cheerfully. The others nod in agreement, fixing their beds and turning off the lights. Eventually, they begin to close their eyes to rest one by one, waiting for the next day.

~~~~

"Can you just wake up already, Wonnie?" Yujin asks to her still unconscious friend. Though the curfew bell had already rang, she had insisted to stay next to Wonyoung. The only times she left her side were to eat or for the assemblies. This was because Yujin really wanted to be there when the youngest girl in the facility opened her eyes again.

"Just be patient, Yujin. She'll be alright; trust what Hongki-sunbaenim said." The familiar voice of Yunjin spoke up from a bed across from her.

"I know...but I'm still really worried. I'm not as chill about it as I tried to look." Yujin admits. On the inside, the young girl was panicking hard. She was still very much anxious of Wonyoung's condition.

"Take it from someone who's been stuck here a while. She'll get better. Everyone who's entered here has gotten out eventually, well, except me." Yunjin says that last bit with a laugh. She'd been stuck in the clinic for a while now, but she had heard that she was scheduled to get out soon which excited her.

"What's your plan with Gaeun-unnie after this? I heard she wasn't too fond of where you were staying previously." Yujin asks to change the topic.

"Pledis was...rough, to say the least. They didn't really give a damn about us. A lot of the people there just cared about being paid to keep us out of trouble, so I was relieved when they sent us over here." Yunjin explains. Yujin could understand the sentiment. Starship wasn't much different, always making sure the kids followed their schedules, but never cared enough to step in whenever they got into arguments or fights with each other.

"Yeah, I feel you. I was always the one who had to take care of Wonyoung whenever the other kids would make fun of her." Yujin says, glancing at the aforementioned girl.

"You really care about her, don't you?"

"W-what do you mean?" Yujin responds, taken aback.

"You can't fool me with that, Yujin." Yunjin says with a laugh. "I've had a front row seat to a couple romantic moments already. Yuri and Yena, Minjoo and Chaewon, I'm basically a pro at this already. If I'm not a bridesmaid at any of your weddings, I'll be upset." She ends jokingly.

"I guess...you have a point." The younger girl finally admits.

"If your love story goes the way the other two have, then I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Aish, don't jinx it, unnie!" Yujin says, giving Yunjin a playful smack on the shoulder. "I just need a good moment to tell her..." Yujin thinks back and remembers that moment at the cafeteria before the syndicate had attacked. Wonyoung was about to tell her something important. Was that going to be her confession? She thinks to herself.

"What's with that look on your face?" The older girl asks, seeing Yujin's change in expression.

"Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. Anyway...is there anything else you want to ask about?"

"Hmm, well...care to fill me in on all the details of your mission? Gaeun-unnie was being pretty vague, still treats me like a kid when I'm older than you." Yunjin says with a huff.

"Sure, it's going to be a long story though..." Yujin responds with a smile before going on about her experiences. She became so engrossed in it, that she might've just missed the way Wonyoung smiled when she heard Yujin talk about her.

~~~~

One week later...

"Good luck over there!" Yena cheers to the four girls about to get into a van. Sakura, Chaeyeon, Hitomi and Nako had spent the week training hard and preparing knowing they would basically be on their own back in Japan. Seunggi had made sure to wire them some funds for a place to stay, but they had to manage from there. All of their friends had made sure to wake up early to see them off. Even Wonyoung, who'd woken up from her mini-coma some time ago was in attendance, though still needing to lean on Yujin for support.

Things had been settling back down around the campus while the new changes were being made. Some trainees had gone back to their home facilities while new ones were just arriving. It was the beginning of a lot of work, but Eunbi had already made sure to coordinate with Seunggi to make the transition smoother.

"Thanks, Yena! We'll make sure to bring you back some souvenirs!" Nako says half-jokingly.

"Make sure to keep out of trouble, you two..." Hyewon teases Sakura and Chaeyeon, causing them to blush as the others share a good laugh.

"I hope you end up finding who you're looking for, Hii-chan!" Yuri says with a wink knowing Seunggi hadn't exactly authorized that part. The peach-cheeked girl gives a thumbs-up in return.

"Yeah, Hii-chan, you better get your cute face back to us in one piece!" Chaewon cuts in, earning a not-so-subtle glare from Minjoo.

"Well, I guess it's time to go." Sakura eventually says. She was glad Chaeyeon was coming, but a part of her was still feeling sad having to leave this group of people, this family, that she's become close to, even if she knew they were going to be back. You wouldn't have been able to tell from that scene that these girls had met each other for the first time just a couple months ago. She gives one last look at the campus buildings, then her friends, before getting into the van with the others..

When the drive begins, Sakura keeps her gaze forward, trying not to look behind her. We will be back. We will be back. She chanted to herself. Chaeyeon puts a hand on the older girl's shoulder for support, feeling the same way.

Back on campus, the trainees and members begin to head back in, a few at a time, either to go back to sleep, eat breakfast or train. Eventually, the only one left was Eunbi. Of course, she was still worried about Chaeyeon and the others. She was also still worried about whatever problems they'd have to deal with back here, but inside, she was hopeful. From everything IZ*ONE had gone through in such a short amount of time, Eunbi was hopeful because she knew it was just the beginning.

A/N: Hello, and thank you if you've read through this story and enjoyed! I started this story on wattpad in 2020 and moved it here on aff to maybe reach people who don't use that platform. If you're one of those people, I'm extremely greatful. I'm currently writing book 2, Project IZ*ONE 2, but updates are kind of slow right now, so please be patient. Thank you again for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed!