“I kinda expected Kang-chan to run after those chickens.”

Yena scratched her head, “Heh, well you’re not wrong, Sakura unnie. She does love food.” The duck got up from her sitting position and stretched her legs and then walked over to the edge of the clearing, looking over her shoulder, “Guess I should go help her out.” Yena winked at Yuri and said, “Yuri, dream of me, see ya!” before bolting headfirst into the dense growth.

A certain hamster muttered an annoyed, “Yeah, yeah,” but anyone could see the obviously pink cheeks that had appeared on her face. “Jeez, that phrase will never die down will it?”

Chaewon followed suit and briskly padded over to the spot Yena was just at, announced her departure, and then disappeared into the jungle without so much as a glance.

A series of claps erupted behind the young women, who were too busy gaping at the spot where their three other members entered the jungle. They turned around to look at their instructor, who was happy that some of them went after a chicken. However, they only went after a single chicken.

“You know,” Instructor M started as she opened the door, “I think another three of you should go after the other chicken.” She stepped out, “I would like to say that whatever you catch, you eat,” and closed the door.

Well .

The rest of the girls scrambled to get up like newborn foals. Nako was practically crawling on all fours to get to the end of the clearing, Chaeyeon got up first and ran after the short girl to the other side of where the first three members entered, and Minjoo was surprisingly fast at getting on her feet and kept hot on Chaeyeon’s tail. The main dancer looked back as she ran.

“Eunbi unnie! We’ll catch the other one! Don’t worry!”

Eunbi was up and ready to run after the other three, her right foot ready to propel her forward. Sakura didn’t even have time to raise one leg up, and then the next second a feather, a frog, and a short girl melted into the forest.

“So they aren’t even gonna let us decide who goes?” Yujin pouted.

Sakura let her partially raised leg down and frowned, “But Chaeyeon already carried a bunch of logs. So did the ugly duck.”

Yuri hummed in agreement, “Yeah, I wanted to run after her chicken cousins.”

Meanwhile…

“Holy ! You scared me, Chaewon!”

“Well, probably ‘cause you’re scared of normal people, and I’m the only normal person in the group.”

“And you’re saying that Hitomi isn’t normal?” Yena clicked her tongue.

Chaewon sighed, “...I retract my previous statement.”

“Thought so. Now, where did Kwangbae run off to?”

“We should- WHAT THE FU-”

Yena turned around to see a wild chicken flying into her donsaeng’s face, wings extended and beak ready to peck. Chaewon held her arms up to protect her face, being thankful that she was wearing long sleeves.

Hyewon launched out of the bushes that the chicken came out of with such power that even Instructor Kim and his troop of green people would be proud of her. She scanned the area, her eyes widening after finding her mark.

The chicken.

“Kwangbae!” Yena exclaimed, happy to see her best friend.

Hyewon had a few leaves and tiny sticks in her hair, either from her exit out of the bushes or from when she initially chased after the chicken like a hungry (literally) lion. Otherwise, she was perfectly fine and injury-free.

The visual ran to the radish girl and snatched the chicken, by the legs, away from the other woman’s face. The chicken flapped against her grip, trying to escape the tight hold that the girl had it in.

She motioned for Yena to check Chaewon for any scratches.

“Are you okay, Chaewon?” the duck examined the other’s arms, folding the long sleeves up.

The younger nodded, “Well your bird cousin just attacked me, unnie. But I think I’m fine.”

“Looks good on my end, too,” Yena said dropping Chaewon’s arms after unfolding the sleeves back down, “No scrapes.”

“You might wanna tell Hyewon unnie not to eat your cousin before we get back to the others.”

Hyewon’s stare at the chicken could cook it in less than a minute. Her face got closer and closer to the animal, her dry lips, her gaze was unwavering. You’d never think that someone with such a pretty face, that was usually blank most of the time, would look so scary.

“Yah, Kwangbae! Don’t eat my relatives yet, we need to show the others first and cook it.”

Hyewon snapped out of her gaze, her eyes still a little hazy, but there was a slight frown on her face. She forced herself to look away from the chicken and turned to Yena.

“Here,” Hyewon handed the other girl the animal, making sure that the legs were securely held, “You carry your cousin and show it to them.”

“Hey - wha- what! You can’t just hand me this animal!” she waved her free arm around with exasperation.

Hyewon shrugged, her blank face irking her best friend, ”Well, you didn’t do anything other than stand there while Chaewon got attacked by your feral cousin, and I chased and caught the chicken.”

“Bro, I checked her for injuries.”

“After I told you to.”

“I was gonna do it anyway without you telling me! And you didn’t even say anything, you just waved your hands at her!”

Chaewon coughed, “Look, can we just go? I bet the others got the second chicken already.”

The other two nodded, and all of them set out to meet the rest of the group at the clearing.

Why did that stupid wild chicken have to run so far?

Nako can barely keep up with Chaeyeon and Minjoo all because of her short legs. Chaeyeon had said that she followed the general direction that the bird went, and had even spotted it a few time