Byun Baekhyun, day eighty four 22:03

I’m worried. We haven’t heard anything from Yixing and Jongdae since we left them. They should’ve joined us by now. We’ve made too much progress, I’m afraid they won’t be able to catch up. I don’t know how far we’ve gotten but it really is too far. Jongdae was immobile, they might be hurt or maybe even dead. I don’t want to think about that possibility.

We arrived at a town today. A cluster of houses and the first sign of civilization since we escaped. It was almost like a sigh of relief passed through all of us. But it was soon obvious that this wasn’t Seoul. Junmyeon thought it would be best to ask for directions but to blend in we decided it would be best if only a few of us entered town. A group of 7 men in dirty, white, matching ensembles stumbling into a small community where news travels fast. We were bound to attract unwanted attention.

Junmyeon chose a small shop, it had white walls and circular, wooden tables. It was reminiscent of a coffee shop I used to go to. I think it was with a friend, it’s all a blur right now.

The shop was run by an old lady who looked us up and down quickly. She looked like she didn’t know what to do with us and I couldn’t blame her. She smiled, nonetheless, and approached us carefully. Junmyeon was the only one responsive enough to smile back.

“Can I help you boys?” She asked, her voice trembled slightly but I don’t know if it was because of age or because she was apprehensive.

“Yes, we got lost somewhere several miles from here when our car was stolen,” Junmyeon made up, “and we’re frankly not sure where we are. How far is Seoul from here?” The lie was easy, simple enough. It explained everything about our appearance and demeanor.

“Oh you poor things,” her look had changed to one of sympathy, “is there anything I can help with? Do you need to contact the police?” I don’t know about the others but my eyes widened.

“No, it’s alright. I think it’s better to get everything sorted in Seoul.” Junmyeon was certainly a quick thinker. She nodded, seemingly convinced that Junmyeon was telling the truth.

“Yes, that would make sense.” Her eyes darted between the three of us. “Do you boys need a change of clothes? Seoul isn’t too far away by car but you don’t have one, I don’t know how far it is by foot.”

“We’re okay, you’ve already helped us with everything we need.” Chanyeol stepped up. His blinding smile seemed to convince her enough.

“Well, you can leave the town by the big, blue house and continue on that road. Follow the markers and you should get to Seoul.” Junmyeon smiled, bowed, and thanked her sincerely. Chanyeol and I could only manage a smile before she was waving us off.

Walking out of the town, I felt like we were revitalized. We had a road to walk and a destination to arrive to. Even the judging looks couldn’t seem to dampen our moods, not mine at least.

When we arrived to the others, they had been getting antsy. Sehun told me later in the day that neither Jongin nor Kyungsoo had said a word and Minseok had talked but to himself. It had been a stressful 25 minutes or so.

When we told them where we had to go, they obviously livened up. Kyungsoo jumped up, in fact, and started off as soon as he knew the path. It took some time for the rest of us to pick up after him but he hadn’t made it too far. Perks of having shorter legs, maybe.

No matter why, we were once again following him. It was, after all, thanks to him that we had both been going in the right direction and had stumbled upon a town with people willing to help. At that moment, we owed a lot to him. It didn’t matter that we had been apprehensive at the start, Kyungsoo had earned our trust and that was what we would show him. We were in this together, after all.

We walked for some time, Minseok slightly hobbling along. His leg hadn’t fully healed despite Yixing’s efforts and it somewhat slowed us down. Each step looked like it brought him immense pain. He powered through, for our sakes, but night hadn’t even fallen when Junmyeon demanded we rest. The others seemed understanding but Minseok practically let out a sigh of relief.

Again, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were the ones who set up camp but Junmyeon helped as well. I assume it was because he wanted to keep busy, I couldn’t blame him at all. There was little to do except sit and wait so that was exactly what we did. I decided to somehow sit between Minseok and Sehun with Jongin to Sehun’s right. There was no conversation, just the quiet watching of or travel mates setting up.

Many times, I felt like Minseok, or maybe it was Sehun, wanted to say something. Eventually, it was Jongin who spoke up. He asked how the rest of us were doing but his voice was rough and quiet from lack of use. He had only spoken hushed words to Sehun since we left the facility but had said nothing after we left Jongdae and Yixing.

“My leg hurts like Hell but otherwise I can’t complain, everyone’s doing their best.” Minseok said when neither Sehun nor I answered. Jongin let out a dry chuckle.

“Yeah, I have to agree. Not about the leg but my back’s been killing me ever since I got Jongdae out.” His lips tightened and Sehun tensed.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Minseok began, “what happened? You were gone for so long.”

“I got stuck.” Jongin said and it didn’t sound like he would add anything but, after a whispered exchange of words, Sehun continued.

“He was stuck in between.” The sentence in itself made no sense. I was confused though I don’t know how Minseok received it.

“What do you mean?” I asked eventually.

“Like in between space and time.” Sehun said, he obviously was only telling it like how he had understood it.

“Something malfunctioned.” Jongin provided. “I was neither here nor there and at the same time I was everywhere. I could see where I should go but something was also trying to pull me back but it doesn’t matter. It’s done and Jongdae got out.” And that was the end of it.

Shortly after that our camp was all set and I offered to take the first watch. The rest, excluding Kyungsoo, are resting. I hope we can reach Seoul soon. I don’t know what’s waiting for us but I feel unsafe out here in the open.