A/N: Hey y'all! Thanks for so much great feedback on my last chapter. Here's the new one. Finally, things are getting set in place. Enjoy! xoxo

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You jerk your hand away fast.

He glances up at you. “Is there something wrong?”

Breath shaky, you retract your wrist, other hand coming over to cover the bracelet. Keep it hidden. You aren't allowed to take it off. You swear you can't.

“Whatever it is that's going through your head, you need to stop it,” Jin demands.

“W-What?”

Jin sighs. You can sense that he's running out of patience with you. Though he doesn't particularly show his frustration, you can tell from the way his skin seems to simmer—almost to a boil, but not quite.

“Stop it. You need to take the bracelet off. I can't help you otherwise.”

His voice is so dead, everything that he says so grim and flat. It makes you wilt on the inside. Who is he to boss you around? You didn't sign up for any of this, and now you were being pushed around side to side. First, Jin was trying to kill you. Now, he wanted to help you, but apparently he didn't know the difference between commanding and suggesting.

Or maybe he did. Maybe he was just giving you a hard time on purpose.

“Why do I need to take it off?” you huff. His temper is affecting you, and you know it. You stare up at his blue-brown eyes and frown. “You're not even telling me anything! Where are we going? What are you going to do to me? How can I trust you? Why should I take off my bracelet, huh? Listen to you?”

You grow from a normal indoor voice to a shout. You're so tired. You never wanted any part of this. No—not at all. All you want is food and water and to curl up on this bed and fall asleep for the rest of forever.

In no other words, you're exhausted.

You slump against the wall and put your hands in your lap, fumbling with the moonstone bracelet. After your outburst, you're too tired to fight anymore.

“I told you the truth,” you say softly. You brush some stray strands of hair out of your face. “I want you to tell me the truth now, too.”

Jin's quiet for a minute, contemplating. But he quickly comes to a decision, and he stands up firmly.

Walking over to the door, it creaks open. Jin pops his head into the other room, says something.

“Y'all get in here real quick, yeah? We need to update her on what's going on.”

The other boys shuffle in. Now that you have somewhat more energy, you can fully process every man in the room. There's six of them. You recognize Jimin and Tae, as well as another Earth Kind who's tall and his hair combed back almost completely neat. There's another Water Kind with dark hair that looks like he could murder you with the lift of his finger. And then there's another man, the last one to enter into the room.

He's skinny, all skin and bones. His lips are chapped and his hair like straw, nose upturned in a perfect point. On his bony frame, he wears a grey shirt and black cargo pants, shirt tucked in.

His eyes linger on you, but when you make eye contact, he lifts up something in his hands. He's so much happier than the rest of the boys, it seems.

There's a platter of food in his hands, and you sit up straight immediately. Your stomach rumbles and your hands are more than grabby. The minute the Air Kind seats himself next to you on the bed, you're reaching for the bed, drinking spoonfuls of warm soup. There's no sauce and there's barely any salt in the broth, but it's good. It's so good.

You moan contentedly, and the rest of the boys chuckle with laughter.

An embarrassed flush fills your face, but it's not enough to make you stop eating.

The man next to laughs lightly, voice gentle and pleasant. “Make sure to pace yourself, yeah?”

You nod, wiping some stray soup off your chin with a section of bread.

When you're finally done, you sigh. “Thank you.”

You don't notice the boys waiting for you to be done eating, so you sit there quietly, fumbling with some bread. All of sudden, this Air Kind seems a bit different.

Up close, he seems almost… familiar.

You find it harder to swallow. What is with these boys? Why do they all remind you of other people? They're obviously not the same characters from your past.

You stare at Jin's backside as if you're trying to burn holes into it.

No, you tell yourself.

It's not.

Jimin and Tae sit on the ground next to your feet, smiling up at you with looks so angelic that you can barely believe that they were the ones to capture you. Jin takes a seat next to you on the cot, while the other three boys seat themselves around the rest of the room.

“Alright,” Jin starts. The room is quiet. “I’m sure you all are aware of the fact that she's going to be a new member of our group, so she needs to be up to date with what's happening. Namjoon, do you wanna start off?”

The Earth Kind with the perfect hair nods, stands up. He doesn't quite smile at you, but gives you something of the sort. His eyes twinkle while he explains the plan of action.

Finally, you begin to think.

Namjoon takes something from his back pocket and lays it out on the ground for everybody to see. It's something you recognize, a familiar object.

Fingers deft and quick, Namjoon taps on the glass tablet and it immediately glows to life. The blue light illuminates his face as he pulls up what appears to be some sort of map of a landscape.

“I'm going to go ahead and review this one last time before we start on our journey, yeah?”

Around the room, the boys all nod quietly. You get the feeling that it's almost never this silent, ever.

Namjoon speaks firmly.

“You all know that the Earth is deteriorating. There's no safe place for us to stay on this planet anymore.”

The thought sends chills running down your spine.

“The Royal families knew of this problem, and so when it first arose, they immediately had scientists begin working on a path to another planet in a different galaxy. This is where most of the Royals have evacuated to, and it's where we're going, too.”

Namjoon points to different spots on the map, which have been highlighted with red dots.

“This is a map of the surrounding land area. In order to get to the New Planet, we have to take the Portals. To my knowledge, there are only eight Portals in somewhat safe traveling distance from this bunker. It's gonna be a trek, but they're the closest ones.

“The Portals have already been tested in the past by other Royals, but secretly. The only thing is—”

His voice catches. There's a quick pause, and then Namjoon regains his composure, his air of tranquility even though the situation is anything but.

“The thing is, we don't know which ones still work. So basically—”

“We have to go through every portal until we find one that's still working?” you blurt.

Namjoon’s dark eyes sear into yours. A strand of silver hair falls in front of his face, and you almost feel scared for a second.

But he's not glaring at you. No, it's more of a… More of a peering. As if asking you some silent question, only you have no idea what he's asking you.

“Yes,” he responds, crypt. Ignoring the shared looks in between the rest of the boys, that same silent question being passed around from Tae to Jimin to Yoongi and so on and so on. Next to you, you feel Jin stiffen.

“The first one isn't too far from here. I've already distributed tablets to the rest of y'all with the map downloaded and ready to go, as well as a private messaging system for all of us to communicate with one another in case anything happens and we get separated.”

You shudder.

The room is quiet after Namjoon’s done. He looks down at the map in his hands, studies it intently. There's a glazed look over his eyes, something that you can't quite place. It all just looks sad and hopeful but also grim at the same time.

Tentatively, you ask, “W-Why this New Planet? How do we even know that this is real? What about the uh… the New World?”

The bunker immediately chills.

Nobody offers to answer, and so Jin does instead. He speaks slowly, but everything that he says is so rigid and so tense that you almost regret asking.

“The New World is not an option. Getting there would be too complicated, and there's not even a chance that we would be let in. Everything is regulated by the Others.”

“Not even if we tried to sneak in?”

“Trust me, it's not safe.”

“But still,” you protest. “This whole Portal thing—we're not even Royals! If we can't even get into the New World, how do you expect for us to make it to the New Planet, of all places?”

“You seem to be acting like a little know it all,” Jin snaps. “Do you know how long we would last in the New World? Two seconds. Any people that the Others don't want, they get rid of.”

“But shouldn't we at least try—”

“Try?” Jin snarls, standing up. “Try? There's nothing to try. That place is wretched, and we are not going there! And that's final.”

Jin crosses his arms over his chest and sets his jaw, fuming.

You gulp. Something… something isn't quite right. Why does Jin sound so crude, so horrified by your idea?

You glance around the room. At Jimin and Tae by your feet, at Hoseok and Namjoon and the others. They're all sitting pin board straight, with not a single drop of empathy in their eyes. It's eerie. These boys—all in what seems to be their early to mid twenties. Boys like these in the modern world, in the past—these boys would be college students. Maybe some party animals, maybe some dedicated students.

These boys would have dreams and they would have jobs, be happy and content. Laughing, smiling, guffawing with laughter.

And yet looking around the room, they just all seem to be… dead.

“Have you all…”

Your voice grows so quiet, horrified. You can’t believe that you’re about to voice what you’re thinking. But the thought is growing, a grotesque monster in the back of your mind, that you can’t ignore it.

You can’t.

“Have you all been to the New World already?” you whisper.

Nobody answers—

But nobody has to.

You turn away from Jin and look down at your hands, finding them slightly shaking. Everything is slightly shaking. Your vision is blurred around the edges, and all of a sudden you find that you want to vomit up the bread and soup that you just ate.  

They’ve been to the New World. They were actually the ones that were chosen to go, and yet…

They’re still here, on Earth?

A realization overcomes you, and it registers that this is really your last hope. These Portals, this New Planet. The New World isn’t an option.

There is only path for you to continue you on, and it’s one that is muddled and thick with thorny branches and there’s not even a sign that there’s a way out.

And this New Planet and the Portals: nobody even knows if they are even still working. Nobody knows what’ll happen after this, do they?

This is the last chance that you have for survival.

“Is it really that awful?” you ask. You can’t believe it. Your head hurts so much: after all this time, wishing that you could just be one of the people to be chosen, taken away from this dying Earth—

All six of these boys thought that they would rather come back.

And they did.

A different man speaks up—not Jin this time, no. It’s the one sitting on the left wall, his legs folded up at the knees. Dressed in faded blue attire, you can only assume that he is the only Water Kind of the group.

“It’s more awful than you can even think of.”

His words cut deep, slice sharp and quick. You actually flinch from the intensity of what he just said. He spits out of his words like they’re poison in his mouth, eyes burning with a silent sort of hatred that is in no way humane. His hands clench into tight fists, and you can only imagine the deep creases that his nails cut into his skin.

You take a deep breath. There’s a bout of fresh air, and you find that you can think a little bit clearer now. The blurred edges around your vision come into focus, and you can actually process your thoughts. For some reason, you’re not freaking out. You’re so calm that you wonder if something is wrong with you. Maybe it was something that Hoseok put into the food, but you find yourself almost a bit floaty.

“Okay,” you say. It comes out ragged, so you clear your throat and start over again. “Okay, let’s do it.”

Next to you, Jin’s shoulders soften. His anger is so quick: arrives fast, leaves in a whirlwind.

“I’m sorry,” he apologizes. “I don’t mean to be so harsh on you.”

Tae and Jimin exchange glances between each other, but you can’t quite read what’s on their minds.

“We’re not lying to you,” Jin continues on. “Namjoon is incredibly smart, and he used to… work with the Royal families. He knows these things.”

“And the rest of you?” You take another look at the room yet again. All six of these boys. All six of them escaped from the New World and have managed to live to tell the tale. “Why did you all get taken?”

For the first time since they came back in, Jimin speaks. He pats your leg softly. “We would all appreciate it if you didn’t ask that. Sorry, but…”

“You can’t just give your identity to a total stranger, right?”

Jimin falters.

“It’s personal,” he says weakly.

“That’s okay,” you say. “It’s fair.”

The ridiculousness of what you’re saying clicks. Running your hands through your hair, you sigh loudly. Gulping in huge bouts of oxygen, and then spitting them back out from your nose.

“Am I crazy?” you ask. “Working with six strangers to find Portals, to get to this ‘New Planet’? I shouldn’t be so calm, should I?”

The man who spoke before actually cracks a half smile. His eyes seem to deepen underneath his black hair.

“There are worse things in the world, girlie.”

You don’t doubt that he’s lying for a second.

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