Jieun realized something about the trio that she didn't think she would ever find out if they weren't on a Mythos Hunt.

Jungkook was a lot more reserved and quiet about everything. At the Academy, it seemed like he was being cool and standoffish, but it turned out that he was genuine the quiet type and never really had much to say.

Yuna, as well, was cold and distant. Except now that they were out of the Academy, she seemed more wary of her surroundings. The smallest sound or breeze would cause her to wield out her weapon. She would point and strategize an attack at nearly everything—even a small butterfly.

As expected, the loudest of the three was Seokmin, but Seokmin seemed to be more fascinated about the Mythos rather than hunting for it. While Jungkook and Yuna were keeping their guards for any signs of Mythos, Seokmin was happily asking several questions about the Mythos of Kreo to Jieun. At first, Jieun answered them thoroughly, but answering his questions became tedious. It became to the point where she decided to have the group sit down on the ground one day to go over a "Mythos Review."

Seokmin was thrilled, but Yuna and Jungkook thought that this was a waste of time.

"Alright, let's get through this," Jieun said, trying to act enthusiastic.

"Why are we doing this?" Jungkook asked as he sat down, crossed legs, with the palm of his hands on the ground to support him leaning back.

"Because we might as well do this if Seokmin is asking all these questions," Jieun said.

"Can't you answer him one-by-one? Why do we have to get dragged into this?" Yuna complained.

"Because I'm your Instructor," she said. The two finally kept quiet, but frowned. "Okay! First question: What is Mythos?"

Seokmin's hand shot up in the air as the two rolled their eyes and scoffed. Jieun pointed to him with a stick she found on the ground.

"Mythos is a great power that defies the laws of the universe. The Mythos is said to be some sort of energy, but it has been more than a thousand year since the last time the Mythos was reportedly appeared. The Mythos can be summoned when the five objects—Luos, Mentis, Sleef, Kreo and Corolla—come together," Seokmin explained.

"Perfect! And who wants to explain each of the objects for me?" Jieun asked. Seokmin raised his hand with a stupid grin. "Why don't we all take one to talk about? Seokmin, do you want to talk about the Luos first?"

"The Mythos of Luos is the Spirit Mythos. It is said that the Keeper who created it believed that the human soul is immortal. The Keeper was somehow able to cross to the spirit world to create the Spirit Mythos. Since the Luos's creation is so abstract, its abilities are unclear to the modern world. In our readings, it said that the Luos is able to transfer souls, but even that is something that we can't quite comprehend," Seokmin said.

"Nice job on that!" Jieun turned to Yuna. "Yu—"

"Wait, I'm not done—"

"—na, why don't you go next? Talk about Mentis," Jieun said, cutting off Seokmin on purpose.

"Why don't you ask Seokmin? He knows these stuff more than me and Jungkook," Yuna said.

"But I'm asking you," Jieun responded.

Yuna glared and heaved a loud, annoyed sigh. "The Mythos of Mentis is the Mind Mythos. The Keeper who created Mentis believed that ideas and thoughts are immortal. It is rumored that the Keeper himself took a piece of his brain and implemented it with the Mythos. Of course, that's impossible because there's no way that he would be able to do that."

"The creation stories for the Mythos is a bit unbelievable," Jieun agreed, "but there are aspects of truth to it. Like, the Keeper of the Mentis believed in the immortality of thoughts and ideas, so he was hoping to unlock a potion of immortality by passing down memories and knowledge." She turned to Jungkook. "Jungkook, Sleef."

"The Mythos of Sleef," Jungkook said, rolling his eyes downwards, "is the Heart Mythos, also known as the Emotional Mythos. Similar to the Keeper of the Mentis, the Keeper of the Sleef believed that something abstract was immortal, and he chose human emotions as something that is immortal. The story of Sleef's creation states that the Keeper of the Sleef harbored pure emotions that allowed him to create the Mythos of Sleef."

"It's a touching story," Jieun remarked. "I can talk about the Kreo since I personally have it." She cleared . "The Mythos of Kreo is the Creature Mythos. Some people consider it to be the Creation Mythos because it is the only Mythos that can create new humanoid creatures from scratch. The Keeper of the Kreo wanted to create a medicine for immortality based on immortal creatures. While he succeeded in creating immortal creatures, he did not quite make a medicine for immortality. Yet, he hoped to unlock a creature that could grant immortality for humans. Little did he know, the Keeper of the Kreo created something that could contribute to granting immortality with the other four Mythos."

"There's more to it, right?" Seokmin asked.

"Yes. With the exception of the original Keeper of the Kreo, the rest of the Keepers of the Kreo are only able to make one creature that reflects off of themselves. This is because the original Keeper created a Kreo creature that prevents the next generations of Keeper from abusing its power. Also, even though the Keeper of the Kreo is able to summon multiple creatures, these creatures are their own being. They have their own wills, so if they do not want to help you, they do not need to help you. In order to get to the Kreo's ultimate power, all the creatures must be willing to allow the Keeper of the Kreo to summon the ultimate power," Jieun said.

"And are you trying to unlock that power?" Jungkook asked her.

"No. I am perfectly content with having Hanna by my side," said their Instructor.

"You sad that Hanna is your Kreo creature, right?" Seokmin asked. Jieun nodded. "Well, I don't see how she reflects off of you. She's a lot more…impolite and scary, not to mention that she is quite attractive."

"Ew, are you falling in love with a creature?" Yuna said, scrunching her nose.

"Well, she is, okay?" Seokmin said in his defense.

Jieun laughed. "Hanna definitely reflects off of me, especially when I first created her." She smiled bitterly. "You see, when I was kicked out of the Academy, I lived a rather harsh life. I was kidnapped and was beaten and sold several times. I've seen the worse in humans during those years." She glanced over and saw a white flower on the ground. She plucked it and caressed its petals. Her eyes grew cold. "People are so mean sometimes…" She crumbled the flower in her hands before letting it drop on the floor. The three stared at the broken flower for a few seconds before landing their eyes back on Jieun, who was smiling again. "Enough with the Kreo! Who wants to talk about the last one?"

Seokmin didn't raise his hand this time. "The Mythos of Corolla is the Nature Mythos. The Keeper of the Corolla believed that just like herbs and medicine, the ingredients for immortality would be found in nature itself. The Keeper of the Corolla spent days and nights searching for a special one-of-a-kind plant. Upon plucking it, the skies gave him a thunderous warning, almost as if the universe was placing a curse. It is known that the Corolla can control plants and communicate with nature. It is considered to be one of the most passive and harmless Mythos, yet it is known to be the rarest of the Mythos because the Keeper of the Corolla often lives in terrains that can shift plants to move, rendering maps useless."

"Seems like you guys know your Mythos stories pretty well," Jieun remarked.

"Of course. It's something that we grew up studying," Jungkook said. "It's the only thing we know. Nothing else matters."

Jieun gave him a fake smile. "Is that so? Well, I disagree."

Jungkook paused for a few seconds. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"You have a lot of expressions," he commented, "but a lot of them are fake."

Seokmin and Yuna looked at him. He noticed and stared back. They both gave him a strange expression, as if they didn't expect him to say that.

Jieun giggled. "Really? Do they look fake? Well, I hope you understand that I genuinely like you three, even though you're a bunch of haughty brats."

Yuna whirled and glared, offended. Jieun got up and dusted her clothes.

"I'm getting kind of hungry," she said. "Why don't we go and eat?"

Seokmin's stomach growled. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly while Yuna and Jungkook frowned at him.

"Sounds like someone else is hungry, too," Jieun said, laughing. "I know that there's a city near here. We can go over there and pick a restaurant to eat." She took out her money bag. "My treat."

* * *

"So I know Hanna said that she was going to eat our livers and hearts before, but that brings me to this question: Do all the Kreo creatures eat? If so, what do they eat? Do they eat hearts and livers of humans, too? Can they eat other hearts and livers, like pig hearts or fish livers? Also, when do they eat? Do they have meals like us, where we have breakfast, lunch and dinner, or do they eat like animals when they can?"

Seokmin went on and on, asking Jieun questions as the four quietly slurped their noodles. Seokmin would only eat when he was listening to Jieun explain, but most of the time, he was talking with his mouth wide open, asking questions after questions.

Jieun forced a smile. "Seokmin, why don't you eat? It's better for you to eat. Also, it's not a good idea to talk about the Mythos in public. We attract attention, and we don't want to do that."

"Okay, okay, but one more question," Seokmin said, quickly eating a bite of his food. "What happens if you don't eat? You ate the Mythos of Kreo, so I'm assuming that it is affected by your hunger. Or maybe not? It could be that nothing affects you and you're just acting normal with the Mythos of Kreo in your blood…"

Jieun tapped on his bowl with her chopsticks. "Eat, Seokmin."

Seokmin was about to ask something else until Yuna raised her chopsticks and whipped it close to his face. He blinked and looked next to him.

"Eat," Yuna said in a dangerously low tone.

"Yes ma'am," Seokmin muttered, slurping his noodles. He became awfully quiet. Jieun let out a sigh of relief as Yuna continued to eat, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Jieun looked diagonally across from her and smiled at Yuna. The two girls locked eyes briefly. Yuna saw Jieun mouth "Thank you" to her, grateful that she managed to shut Seokmin up. Yuna casually looked away and continued to eat.

Jieun rolled her eyes to her side, watching Jungkook quietly eat. Even though she could see him eating, it was clear that his attention was focused elsewhere. She examined all her students quietly before slurping away.

Minutes later, she heard a few girls giggling. She looked over her shoulder and saw a group of young and attractive girls gushing over their table. Her eyes looked back at Jungkook, who continued to look down at his food.

"Are you going to keep looking at me like that?" Jungkook asked, clearly annoyed.

Jieun smiled embarrassingly. "Was I obvious?"

"Very," he replied in a stern voice.

"I was just thinking that you must be very popular and good-looking if girls who are outside of the Academy think you're cute," Jieun said. Yuna looked up at her, eyes wide when she heard Jieun flatter him. "Tell me, did you have a girlfriend?"

"That's not appropriate to ask," Yuna snapped, glaring at Jieun.

"What? I just wanted to ask an innocent question," Jieun said. She looked over Yuna's shoulder. A group of boys, too, had their eyes on Yuna. "It looks like you're quite popular yourself." She grinned and looked at Yuna and Jungkook. "Will love spark between you two?"

Yuna blinked. Seokmin glanced at her. On the surface, it clearly looked like Yuna was not amused, maybe even surprised about how blunt Jieun was with her last statement. However, he knew that Yuna was probably squealing inside, embarrassed and maybe even flustered. Her ears were completely red, burning as her heart raced against her chest, wondering if she was exposed.

Seokmin's expression softened and he continued to remain quiet as he ate. He looked at Jungkook, who was unaffected by Jieun's statement.

"It's not like that," Jungkook told Jieun, sighing. This wasn't the first time he heard people suspecting that he was dating Yuna. Frankly, it was getting annoying. "Yuna and I are just childhood friends. We were together since we arrived at the Academy. That's just it."

Jieun laughed. "I'm joking, okay? No need to be serious."

"Annoying," he muttered.

This brat, Jieun thought in her head, feeling her blood pressure rise. She turned to Seokmin. "He's no fun to mess around with, is he?"

"Jungkook was always like that, probably since he was born. Always strict and annoyed," Seokmin told her. Jieun nodded her head in understanding while Jungkook scowled at him. Seokmin grinned. "I know you best, Jungkook! Don't worry, I got you covered."

"What a great friend you are," Jungkook mumbled sarcastically.

"Love you, too," Seokmin said, chuckling.

Jieun giggled at their friendly interaction until she felt someone walk up to their table. She glanced to the side and saw the same group of girls who were whispering about Jungkook. One of the girls seemed rather flustered and embarrassed, while the other girls giggled excitedly.

"Can we help you, ladies?" Seokmin asked, giving them a flirtatious smile.

"A-Ah, um…" The shy girl cleared , but nothing came out. She whispered something to the rest of the friends, who kept pushing her to speak. She gathered her courage once more before biting her bottom lip. "W-Well, um… I-Is this, like, a double date?"

The four stared at the girl, a bit baffled at what she was saying. Then, Seokmin leaned back in his seat and wrapped his arm around Yuna's shoulder.

"Yes," he said almost immediately after placing his arm on her shoulder.

Yuna glared and coldly brushed off his arm from her shoulder. The atmosphere became awful in an instant. Yuna shot a cruel glare at the girls, who stopped acting flustered and felt intimidated.

"No," Yuna snapped. "Also, don't you think it's impolite that you're asking such an inappropriate question to a group of strangers?" She pointed at Jieun. "Listen, this old woman—" Jieun wanted to say something, but didn't. "—is our teacher. We—" Yuna moved her chopsticks around, pointing at Jungkook, Seokmin, then herself. "—are her students." She glared at the girls. "Now, why don't you run along before you create more problems for our group?"

The girls nodded and turned around.

"What's her problem?" one of the girls whispered.

"She didn't have to be so mean about it. We just wanted to ask if the guy across from her was single," another girl muttered.

They left the restaurant, leaving the four alone. Yuna continued to calmly finish her food while Jieun gave her a stern stare.

"Really?" Jieun asked. "'Old lady?' I'm only, like, four years apart from you guys."

"I had to say it so that they would stop bothering us," Yuna said.

"Oh really?" Jieun said, skeptical.

"It's better to chase away any distractions," Jungkook commented. "Yuna did the right thing."

Yuna looked down at her food. A small shy smile appeared on her face, but she was hiding it with her hair. Jieun noticed, then stared at her students in amusement.

Oh, I see what this is, Jieun thought. It's a love triangle. A small smile appeared on her face as she finished her meal. I guess they really are just a bunch of kids in the end…

"What's next on our agenda?" Seokmin asked. "Is it more walking and exploring? Let me be honest, this isn't very efficient if we want to find the Mythos."

"Did you think that it would be easy to find the Mythos? There's a reason why it's been several years since the Mythos last got together," Jieun said. "Some people hide the Mythos for themselves. Others might not even know that they have the Mythos in their position."

"Like you when you ate yours?" Seokmin said.

"Sure, why not," Jieun said.

"What prompted you to eat it?" he asked.

Jieun stopped herself from eating the last bits of noodles in her bowl. She stared at her reflection in her soup for a few seconds, then slowly looked at Seokmin, who was genuinely curious. She stretched her lips into a smile.

"Hunger, I guess?" Jieun said. Jungkook noticed that she wasn't a hundred percent sure with her answer. It kind of sounded like she was doubting herself, as if she was trying to make up a story for a lie.

"Hunger?" Seokmin repeated, frowning. "Out of all the things you ate, you ate the Mythos of Kreo?"

"What can I say? I told you, I lived a very harsh life after I was kicked out of the Academy," Jieun said. "It's really hard for students who are kicked out from the Academy to fend for themselves outside of it. We are provided with nothing except for the clothes we wear. There's a high rate of students who don't live on when they get kicked out. If you want the statistics, 98% of students who are kicked out from the Academy end up dying in less than a year. The rest live only for a few more years. If they're lucky like me, they'll end up alive." She looked at her students. "You guys are lucky. Even if you weren't selected for the special courses, you still leave the Academy with some money and a place to stay outside. For those who are selected in the special courses like you three, you guys are allowed to stay within the Academy and live without a care."

"How many people do you think are alive when they left the Academy?" Seokmin asked.

"Maybe, like, five or ten, including myself?" Jieun said. "I don't know. I haven't met anyone who was kicked from the Academy since I was forced to leave."

"I see," Seokmin murmured. 

"Well, that's all in the past, now!" Jieun exclaimed. "If you guys are done eating, why don't we head out and hang around the area for a bit? It wouldn't hurt for us to play around, don't you think?"

"Do you think it's any time to be playing? We have no lead on anything," Jungkook pointed out.

"Oh, come on. You already know where one is," Jieun said, pointing at herself.

"Yeah, but you ate it, so you don't count," Yuna said.

"Boo-hoo. Too bad," Jieun said. "Come on, let's go have fun."

"But we want to find the Mythos," Jungkook told her.

Jieun frowned, realizing that there was no way to convince her students to relax a bit.

I guess they still have the Academy-student mindset, Jieun thought. It might be a while before I convince them that this is a long process and that they should enjoy themselves.

"Okay, fine. I'll go hang around the area by myself," Jieun said. She placed a bunch of coins on the table. "Waiter! We're done eating." She looked at her students, who couldn't believe that she was abandoning them. "I'll meet the three of you at sunset outside of this restaurant."

She turned and walked away, leaving the three alone at the table with their meals paid.

Yuna scoffed. "I can't believe her! She's impossible to deal with!"

"You would think that an Academy Instructor would be more responsible, but I guess that isn't the case for Jieun," Seokmin said. "Maybe it's because she's not an alumni of the Academy? It's probably a side-effect from being kicked out of the Academy." He looked at Jungkook. "By the way, what are we going to do about the Kreo? If she really ate it, then it'll be difficult for us to explain this to the Head Master."

Jungkook frowned. "She definitely has the Mythos of Kreo. She clearly showed us how she summoned the Gumiho in front of us, but I don't know if I entirely believe that she ate it."

"Right? Just who would eat a gem?" Seokmin agreed.

"But she's an idiot, so it's plausible," Yuna murmured.

"Well, we know she has it. As long as she's around us, maybe we'll see it used more," Jungkook said. "For now, I'd say that we should keep an eye on her, but focus on finding the other Mythos."

"Ah…! I really want to know what the other Kreo creatures look like!" Seokmin whined. He ruffled his hair. "It's so unfair! Why did she have to eat it? Do you know how long I've been wanting to see the Mythos of Kreo in person? If I had it physically in my hand, I would study it all day!" 

"Don't say anything so freakishly nerdy," Yuna told him. She got up. "I'm going to go to the restroom."

"Are you going number two?" Seokmin asked.

Yuna smacked him with her hand, causing Seokmin to hiss in pain. He rubbed his sore shoulder and watched Yuna dangerously glare at him. 

Don't embarrass me in front of Jungkook, was clearly written in her eyes. Seokmin meekly nodded and watched her walk out of the restaurant and head to the back for the bathroom. The group of guys who had admired Yuna from afar whispered something to each other and walked out of the restaurant.

Seokmin quickly took notice. "They're definitely going to hit on Yuna."

"So what? Yuna can defend herself," Jungkook said.

"Shouldn't you go in and save her? You know that she has an awful mouth. She'll probably say something offensive and the guys will want to punch her. Then you can run in and grab the guy's hand and cooly say, 'What are you doing to my girlfriend?'" Seokmin recited. His eyes glowered in a romantic gesture while Jungkook couldn't help but snicker.

"I told you many times: there's nothing between me and Yuna," Jungkook said. "We're just friends." He smiled at his friend. "Why don't you go and do that instead? You seem like you're a better fit for the job."

"Me? No, no, no. Me doing it will never work," Seokmin said, laughing. He stared at his finished bowl with a pitiful smile. I mean, it'll only work for Yuna if it's with the guy she likes.

* * *

"Sir, this is so good!" Jieun cried out, eating freshly-made mochi. She squealed as the warm red bean oozed out in . "I definitely made the right decision getting dessert here!"

The old grandpa laughed. "I'm grateful to hear that! Since I like you, I'll give you another one on the house."

Jieun's eyes shimmered. "Really? Thank you so much! You're the best!"

"No, thank you! You're eating my mochi so deliciously, people have been looking at my shop and they're coming over to try it," the grandpa said. "Do you have a job? If not, I'd love to offer you a position at my store. I'm always looking for people who have your kind of passion."

Jieun laughed lightly. "Thank you, but I am already a teacher. I love my work, even though it hasn't been long since I've been working."

"Being a teacher is a good job. I'm sure that you are a wonderful teacher. The world needs more of that—you know, good teachers," the grandpa told her. "Seeing how you act, you're not around from here, are you?"

"No, sir. I am actually on a little field trip with my students. We are exploring the area. It's a different style of homeschooling," Jieun explained.

"A field trip, eh?" The grandpa looked at the sky. "Are any of your students female?"

"Yes. Why?" Jieun asked.

"You shouldn't stay out too long. I don't know about where you came from, but crime rates at night have been quite high for the past few weeks here. Girls are often kidnapped. Since there aren't a lot of females out at night anymore, the kidnappers are getting reckless and they're kidnapping girls during the day," the grandpa warned her.

Jieun paused. "Well, I don't think it'll be too troubling."

"Is it because she knows how to fight?" the grandpa asked. Jieun nodded. "That doesn't work with these men. These men have been doing everything they can to kidnap girls. I've heard that they're starting to drug the girls so that they don't fight."

Jieun kept quiet for a few minutes. Then, she finished the last bite of her first mochi and placed the second mochi in her bag for safekeeping. She smiled generously at the grandpa.

"Thank you, sir, for letting me know, but I think she'll be fine. She has two other male students with her, and they're excellent in fighting," Jieun told him.

"Is that so? Well, that's reassuring," the grandpa said. He smiled and waved. "Come back anytime! I'd be happy to serve you again."

"Thank you! If I come back here next time, I will definitely make a stop!" 

Jieun bowed and walked away. She thought carefully about what the grandpa had said while she continued to explore the area.

* * *

Annoying.

Once Yuna started washing her hands after using the restroom, she was stuck in the bathroom when three guys walked inside. Two of them approached Yuna while one stood at the entrance, blocking it. The two men circled around her, staring at her from head to toe.

"How much do you think she'll sell for?" one of the men asked.

"Quite a lot. She's quite attractive," the second man said. He reached over to grab a strand of her hair. She slapped it away and glared. The man stared at her for a few minutes, then broke into a smile. "Oh? We got ourselves a little lady with a little attitude problem."

Yuna tilted her head to one side and moved only her eyes. What the hell do these bastards want? Did they think that they can sell me just because I'm pretty?

"Maybe an Academy student?" the first guy suggested. "A lot of girls like her are from there."

"Are you an Academy student, sweetheart?" the second man asked.

Yuna didn't say anything. Gross. 

"She's not much of a talker," the second man commented.

"Will you guys hurry? We don't have all the time before her friends come," said the third guy, who was guarding the door.

"Okay, okay." The second man looked at her. "Why don't you come with us? We'll show you what's fun around here. Judging from your clothing, you're a traveler, right?"

Yuna gave him a sharp look. "Fun? I'm not here for fun."

"Oh, she's definitely an Academy student," the first man said. He smiled at her. "She's going to be a tough one."

Yuna casually took out her fan from her cloak and covered half her face with it. "Can you guys leave me alone? Your breath smells."

The man stopped smiling. "You're a rude , aren't you?"

He reached to grab her, but she swiftly dodged to the side. Then, pulling out a knife behind her fan, she reached to stab his arm until the second man grabbed ahold of the weapon from behind. Yuna turned her head slightly and lifted her leg to kick him, but the first man struck her head with something heavy. Feeling dizzy, Yuna narrowed her eyes and tried to regain her balance, realizing that he had hit her head with a heavy pipe. She was about to throw a knife at the man's chest, but the second man, who was still grabbing ahold of her, brought something wet and damp on her face. Yuna, startled, wrestled a bit before she started to inhale a toxic smell from the wet towel.

What the hell? she thought. The item was removed from her face. The two men stepped back. Seeing this as an opportunity to strike, Yuna turned and tried to throw her knives from her fan. However, when she focused to attack, her visions began to blur. The intoxicated smell started to fill her head. …!

Before she knew it, her breath slowed and she found herself falling on the floor. Her eyes were still open, but everything she saw was a blur.

"That was a close one," she heard the second man say. His voice echoed in her head. "As expected of an Academy student. She's still not entirely unconscious."

"It's fine. As long as she's immobilized, that's okay," the third man said. "They brought the carriage. Let's move her."

She found herself picked up from the ground like a luggage. She groaned softly and tried to stay awake for most of the ride, but once she was thrown into a rough bag, she could barely think. Dizzy with a headache, her eyes instinctively closed and she dozed off into a sleep.

* * *

Back at the restaurant, Seokmin and Jungkook had been waiting for fifteen minutes. Seokmin checked the time.

"It's been ten minutes. Should we wait for her outside?" Seokmin asked.

"Yeah, why not," Jungkook said, getting up.

The two boys walked outside. Upon walking out, they saw the group of guys riding off in a carriage with a large potato sack. They seemed quite happy and proud of themselves. The two boys stared off at them skeptically, but didn't say much.

After another ten minutes, Seokmin checked his watch again. He frowned.

"Do you think she's going number two?" Seokmin asked.

"Maybe she's not feeling well," Jungkook said.

"It'd be nice if Jieun was here. Then she could go in the bathroom and check on Yuna," Seokmin said. The two saw a random girl exiting the restaurant and heading to the bathroom in the back. "Oh, um, excuse me!"

Seokmin caught up with the stranger and explained how the two boys had a friend in the restroom, but she wasn't coming out. He asked the girl if she could go in and check to see if their friend was okay. Nodding, the girl went inside to do her own business and to check Yuna's condition.

When she came out, she had a look of concern.

"I'm sorry, but there wasn't anyone in the bathroom," the girl told him.

Seokmin and Jungkook blinked their eyes.

"What? Really?" Seokmin asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. All the stalls were open," the girl said. She looked up at the sky. "Ah, it's almost setting." The boys looked up. Sure enough, the sky turned to a beautiful shade of red and orange as the sun started to set. "She might have went into the wrong bathroom. The worse situation is that she could've been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?" Jungkook repeated.

"Yes. This area is quite infamous for its recent kidnapping. Girls are taught to fight and defend themselves in school, but somehow, it seems like the kidnappers have their way of kidnapping innocent girls," the girl informed them. "I should get back home, too. My parents will start worrying."

Seokmin and Jungkook exchanged looks for a brief second.

"Let us take you home," Seokmin said. "We're new to the area and we would hate it if something happened to you."

"Thank you, but I'll be fine. My home isn't too far from here," the woman told them. "Good luck on finding your friend! I hope she's safe!"

"She'll be fine," Seokmin said with a gentle smile. The girl excused herself and began to walk away.

"Now that she mentions it, there aren't a lot of girls out here right now," Jungkook murmured.

"She'll be fine, right?" Seokmin asked.

"Yeah. The girl said that her house isn't far—" Jungkook looked at Seokmin. "Oh. You mean Yuna."

"I'm sure she's fine," Seokmin said. "Yuna's strong. She'll find a way."

"Yeah, but if she was taken away this easily, then that's a bit concerning," Jungkook murmured.

"…I want to go find her," Seokmin told Jungkook.

"We can check around. We still have some time before we need to meet Jieun, anyway," Jungkook said. 

Seokmin nodded. The two boys began to search the entire village, but Yuna was nowhere to be found. They returned to the noodle restaurant after realizing that it was sunset. Seokmin anxiously waited for Jieun, but she didn't return at sunset.

"Maybe something happened to our Instructor, too?" Seokmin said. 

"I doubt it. I mean, she has the Mythos—"

"Jungkook, maybe we should start looking for Yuna and Jieun," Seokmin said. "It's sunset and they're both not there."

"Relax, Seokmin. It just became sunset—"

"But Jungkook, what if something happened?" Seokmin asked. He looked at Jungkook worriedly. "I seriously can't forgive myself for just standing and waiting for Jieun to come!"

Jungkook scowled. His group was supposed to be on a Mythos Hunt, but here he was, saving his teammate and his Instructor from a measly little kidnapping event. He heaved a heavy sigh.

"Since you're my friend," Jungkook murmured bitterly, "let's go find Yuna."

Seokmin beamed. "You're the best!"

Jungkook sighed. "Now, if I think about it, when Yuna left, those guys were following after her. When we saw them in the carriage, they were carrying a bag that we never saw before."

"You're right!" Seokmin exclaimed. "It's impossible for them to be have bought the potato from that alley and we definitely saw them ride the carriage after leaving that alley." He looked at the direction where he saw the carriage leave. "So we need to head over there, huh…"

"Let's be careful," Jungkook told me.

"Of course. Definitely," Seokmin said, nodding. The two boys began to run in the direction where they had last seen the carriage.

As they ran, they didn't notice that Jieun had been eavesdropping their conversation from her hiding spot. She appeared from behind a pillar and crossed her arms with a white scarf on her neck.

"Those idiots," Jieun murmured, annoyed. "How dare they go off without alerting me?" She extended her arm. "Keeper of the Kreo, summoning: Gumiho!"

The scarf slid out and spun in the air, transforming into Hanna. Hanna respectfully bowed in front of Jieun with her nine fluffy tails swiping the ground.

"How may I serve you today?" Hanna asked.

"Go into your fox form and follow them," Jieun said. "Be careful of being noticed by anyone else."

"And what about you?" Hanna asked uneasily.

"I'll follow behind, but I need you to watch over those boys and maybe Yuna, if you happen to see her," Jieun said.

Hanna seemed hesitant. "I do not think that it is a good idea for me to leave your side like this…"

"I'll get another Kreo creature to help me," Jieun said.

Hanna paused, then nodded her head a little. She bowed and used her nine tails to cover her body like a budding rose. The tails peeled outwards, revealing a significantly smaller creature with more of a fox-like present. The white fox with nine tails looked up at Jieun for a few seconds before turning away, running to follow the boys.

Jieun took a deep breath, hoping that nothing bad would happen.