The entire class arrived at the airport on time to head back to Seoul. After playing a Timepiece game, Jungkook, Eunbi and Mingyu were too worn out to be enthusiastic for the remainder of their trip. They often lazed around, trying to recover and adjust back to the real world. Dongmin and Yoobin remained in their own respective groups, but neither were having as much fun as they had anticipated. When the trip was over, they were glad to arrive at the airport to head back home.

"Yoobin, I'm hungry," Jisoo said.

Yoobin quickly tried to pull out a snack from her bag, but when she pulled it out, Jisoo flicked it away. She have Yoobin a tough glare.

"I said I'm hungry," Jisoo repeated. "Buy me something."

"W-What would you like?" Yoobin stuttered.

"I don't know. Give me something."

"I want something, too!" Yuri exclaimed.

"Give me something, too," Minkyung added.

"You'll pay for all of us, right?" Jisoo said with a fake smile.

Yoobin's heart sank. She nodded and got up from the floor. She excused herself from the group and went to fetch something for the girls. After wandering around for a few minutes, she arrived at a fast food chain and requested for three hamburgers and drinks. She stepped to the side, waiting for the food and glued her eyes to the receipt.

Suddenly, she felt someone reach to grab her. She instinctively jolted and whirled around, gasping and staring at the person with wide eyes. A small frown appeared on her face before confusion replaced her expression.

"You're the guy I saw before…right?" Yoobin said softly. "At the shrine?"

"Ah… Yeah," the boy said. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry. Did I scare you? I didn't mean to."

"No, I was just spacing out," Yoobin said. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"Our class is returning back to China today," the boy explained. "I didn't think I'd see you here, either."

Yoobin let out a small laugh. The boy's face lit up, but he didn't say anything. When Yoobin's order number was called out, she rushed over quickly to grab it. She was about to head back right away without saying goodbye until the boy grabbed her shoulder.

"Wait!" he exclaimed.

Yoobin jumped a little in her spot. She whirled around and stared at the boy.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. She gave him a gentle smile. "Bye! Hope you had fun in Japan!"

The boy blinked, then blushed. "U-Um, I don't think I got your name—"

"Yoobin!" 

The two looked up. They saw Dongmin approaching her. Dongmin gave the boy a quick glance before noticing that he had his hand on her shoulder. Seeing how Yoobin's hands were full with food, he stepped in between them and brushed away the boy's hand for her. Yoobin seemed a little confused, but the boy seemed to react quite coldly.

"We need to head back," Dongmin told her. "We're moving to a different area." He grabbed the snacks and drinks from her hand. "Let's go."

"O-Oh, but I can hold that!" Yoobin stuttered. She turned back to the boy. "I'm sorry. I really need to go. It was nice seeing you!"

"Ah, wai—"

Before the boy managed to finish his sentence, Yoobin was already running off, chasing after Dongmin and begging him to hand back the items to her. The boy watched the two disappearance in the crowded airport.

"Yoobin, huh," the boy whispered. Then, he turned away, walking in the opposite direction.

* * *

Mingyu had been staring at Eunbi for the past thirty minutes, but she seemed to be completely in daze. Jungkook had grown bored and went to talk to other people, and Yoobin and Dongmin were nowhere to be found. He was alone with Eunbi for quite some time, but Eunbi didn't seem to have noticed his presence. Annoyed how she was ignoring his presence, he leaned his body against hers, finally snapping her out of her thoughts.

Eunbi glared and pushed Mingyu back. "What the hell? Stop it, Mingyu!"

"You're finally alive," Mingyu retorted. He shifted his weight and looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Eunbi sighed. "Nothing."

"You don't sigh and say that nothing is wrong," Mingyu pointed out.

Eunbi grimaced. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"Come on. You've been like that for half an hour. I think I should know. I'm like your righthand man," he said.

She laughed. "Really? Is that what you think of yourself as?"

"Am I wrong?"

"Very," she said. Her smile slowly faltered. "Well, I've been thinking about what Mina said and about Yuju."

"Again?"

"It's… It's weird. Yuna and I were supposed to have cut ties with the game, but now she's investigating the game and chasing after something dangerous. It isn't like her to be like that unless it concerns someone she's close with."

"She's close with you. She's close with Yoobin."

"Yeah, but neither of us was with her when she came to Japan," Eunbi pointed out. "Something's not adding up. I'm not sure what I'm missing. It's not like I don't believe that she's chasing after something dangerous. It… I'm just trying to think of what happened. She never mentioned anyone important to her in the letters, too."

"Maybe it's someone you know. You know, like your previous team," Mingyu suggested.

Eunbi slightly paled. "The only person I can think of is…an old friend, but she lost her Rights to Existence already."

"What about the other crew? Park Kyung, IU, Sandeul, L, and Jin?"

"I doubt that it's Jin. Jin wasn't there when Yuna and I were with them. I'm no concerned about the four because they know how to take care of themselves," she explained. 

Mingyu only nodded. He continued to watch her trouble herself in her own thoughts. Then, he let out another loud sigh and purposefully leaned on her again. Eunbi scowled and pushed him away.

"Why do you keep doing that?" she snapped.

"I'm sleepy," he replied. He turned his body and rested his head on her lap. "I'm going to take a nap."

Eunbi glared down at him. "Get off."

"Good night."

"I swear, Mingyu—"

"Night!" he repeated. Eunbi tried to kick him off her lap, but he wouldn't budge. She finally groaned and gave in, letting him rest.

Besides, it was better having him docile and quiet rather than having him awake and disruptive.

* * *

Mina opened her eyes, returning to the real world. She let out a small sigh of relief and checked her points. Losing the dating simulation game had hurt her score a bit, but not as severely as the other games. She looked up and saw a familiar shadowy figure standing in front of her, hiding in the darkness.

"I met her," Mina said in Japanese.

"Met who?" the man asked in the same language. He seemed fluent in the language, but he was clearly a Korean. His thin dark eyes gazed at her dangerously. 

"Yuju's friend."

The man remained awfully silent. "Eunha?"

"Yes. She came to Japan for a school field trip and got caught in the game," Mina explained. "So tell Yuju that I've repaid my debt. I will finish the game soon and I won't get involved anymore."

The man kept quiet for a few more minutes. Then, he nodded.

"Got it. I'll let her know," the boy said. He turned around.

"Oh, wait. Hoshi," Mina called him. Hoshi turned around. "Stay safe."

Hoshi shrugged. "I'm just here to protect Yuju."

"I did tell Eunha about you and the rest a little bit. I only mentioned that Yuju is in a new group with you guys. I didn't specify who else was in the group. I pretended that I didn't know too much like Yuju asked me to," Mina added.

"Eunha doesn't need to know," Hoshi responded. "Our goal is to get Eunha out of the game as soon as possible. Those were Yuju's instructions."

"Has Yuju come out of the game yet?" Mina asked.

"She did when you were in the dating simulation game. Yuju was just sent back with the others. We were told that if we're not in the next game, we should wait for you until you get back."

"I see…"

Mina nodded. She place headphones over her ears and walked away without bidding him a goodbye. Hoshi returned the silence with a small nod of acknowledgement and jumped over the fence, disappearing into the dark alley.

* * *

Sandeul was sitting alone in his room, darkness surrounding him. His fingers rapidly glided against the keyboard, pressing every button with swiftness and ease. His eyes barely blinked and only reflected the codes on the screen. He had a coffee-flavored lollipop stuck in his mouth, but he barely the candy and let his saliva do all the work.

A moment later, an "ERROR" appeared on the screen. Sandeul snapped out his focus and let out an exasperated sigh. He took out the lollipop from his mouth and ran his other hand through his hair, gripping a couple before he angrily glared at the screen.

"I hate this," he muttered under his breath. He checked his phone, noticing that there was a message from the Timepiece app. He stared at his phone for a while, then noticed that the corner of the app was glitching. Feeling a surge of rush, Sandeul flipped down the phone and stared at the screen again.

"Okay," he whispered to himself. Let's try this again.

Once again, his fingers returned to its rapid pace. His eyes followed every letter displayed, his fingers typed at the same pace his mind thought. There was not a single moment of hesitation on what he was doing. It was clear that he had a motive—a very strong one.

His doorbell rang, but he ignored it. 

Almost…

The door rang again.

I'm almost…

Afterwards, an annoying and repeatedly ringing echoed in the house. Sandeul let out a distasteful grunt and whirled his head to the door.

"This better be ing good," he snapped.

He threw away the lollipop into a small trash can and stormed out of his room. He finally opened the door to the entrance.

"What the hell do you—" Sandeul stopped when he saw Park Kyung standing in front of him. "Kyung…"

"I figured you were probably coding, but I thought it'd be better for me to check up on you," Park Kyung said. He raised a bag full of food in his hands. "Hungry?"

"No. I ate one of Jieun's candy just now and got full from that," Sandeul said. He let out a sigh. "Do you want to come in?"

"I just want to use your bathroom. Is that okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Sandeul murmured. He stepped aside, letting Park Kyung inside. As Park Kyung took off his shoes, he eyed at Sandeul.

"By the way, what were you coding?" Park Kyung asked.

"Nothing much. I'm still trying to solve the code. I'll get back to you on it in a few days," Sandeul told him. He took the bag and placed it on the kitchen table. "Mind if I eat something?"

"Go ahead. I'm just going to use your bathroom and leave right away," Park Kyung said, smiling. 

Sandeul nodded. He opened the bag and rummaged through it, checking to see what he had both. Most were just microwavable food, but there were some baked goods in the bag. He took out a plastic-wrapped bread and proceeded to open it before wolfing it down.

After Sandeul heard the toilet flush, he turned and saw Park Kyung walked back. Park Kyung observed him, and Sandeul did the same.

"Whaf?" Sandeul asked with his mouth full.

Park Kyung chuckled. "Don't wear yourself out, Junghwan. It's not a big deal if you can't solve the code. Don't forget, I'm pretty much as smart as you. I can help."

Sandeul shook his head. He swallowed and continued to shake his head.

"No. Forget it. I'm the best on the team when it comes to this stuff. I'll get things solved," Sandeul said. "Don't worry about me, okay?"

Park Kyung stared at him skeptically. Then, he only sighed and nodded.

"Okay, sure. I'm going to leave now, okay? I promised that I'd meet Jieun and Myungsoo at the movie theaters." Park Kyung paused. "You sure you don't want to join us?"

"Definitely no."

"Alright then. Bye!" Park Kyung waved, wore his shoes, then headed out of the house. Sandeul let out a loud sigh and returned to the room with the bag of food that Park Kyung had brought. 

The second he entered his room, he noticed that the code he had inputted earlier was deleted. He grabbed his phone and turned it over. 

There was now two message from Timepiece.

Sandeul slammed his fist against his desk and grunted, rubbing his eyes as he dreadfully stared at his lost work.

"God damn it…"