While the forest was loved by many, nothing within it could be a safe home for anyone. Sure, people could say they heard dark tales taking place there and kept their distance, but now, all of it was true. While on the road, news started getting around that bounty hunters were searching there, immediately turning in any kids they find and selling them as trophies to the military. Like leeches hungry for blood, except to fatten their pockets with money. There was nothing human about them anymore, but it was rather entertaining that they were stupid enough to report it on television as if kids didn’t have access as well. This therefore, worked in their favor. They did steer clear of forests, though not without leaving a little, violent surprise. And those were perks of stealing SWAT trucks. All kinds of gadgets remained, but one of their favorites had to be landmines. Some had been carefully placed and covered with leaves before kids waited for one of the bounty hunters to be the unfortunate er to step on one. Luckily, they’d only used a few, so there were plenty to go around. Loud engines echoed throughout the empty streets, speeding to reach home. The girls knew it wasn’t much further after entering the familiar desert again, therefore, only an hour and a half left to go. Everyone remained close behind, constantly checking their side and rear mirrors to be safe. Meanwhile, the trio looked at each other, quite excited to have their friends back in town meet the newcomers. Ruann seemed like someone they could trust since everyone she was leading looked up to her a lot. A while later, the three grew even more excited upon seeing the familiar stone wall again, chuckling when the newcomers all gaped and awed at it’s massive structure. Ruann gasped, before smiling, knowing this was something she would do.

“Hey that seems pretty study, did you guys create that?” 

“Our friends did! You guys can meet them soon.” Jiyoon enthusiastically responded as Monday shouted atop her lungs. 

“We’re home!” Soojin, Soeun, Jihan and Jaehee were in the laundromat when they heard her voice, then quickly ran towards the entrance, only to nearly pass out with the amount of vehicles following the trio. Needless to say, none of them expected this, much less an even larger truck carrying tons of rations. Soojin had to hold Soeun’s hand so as to not faint right then and there. Zoa, Monday and Jiyoon drove in looking all smug in front of them, then laughed. Then while everyone else was hopping out of their vehicles, they explained everything. 

“And then Jiyoon set off a whole inferno, unleashed hell, and I shot a few guys in their legs!” 

“I fried the leader to crisp!” Monday said that as if she was explaining a movie. “Then these guys showed up.” 

Soeun, Jihan and Jaehee looked behind them, before gasping loudly, immediately running towards their old school friends whom they haven’t seen in months. The other three squealed seeing their old friends again, returning the embraces. “I can’t believe you guys are here and safe!” Jihan exclaimed while grasping onto Ruann’s shoulders like the older girl was going to disappear the moment she let go. Soeun and Lucy exchanged high fives and hugs as well, smiling happily for once. 

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you two again!” 

“We missed you guys so much.” Jaehee wrapped her arms protectively around May’s waist. 

“Ruann and I actually looked everywhere for you two. But after a while, we thought,” she briefly paused, suddenly hesitant to continue but did so anyways, “we thought they got you….” 

“For good.” 

Jihan noticed their solemn looks and quickly figured out that they weren’t able to find the rest of their groups, aside from each other. “Hey, don’t worry.” 

“Yeah, now that we have more kids like us, we can definitely accomplish anything at this point.” Jaehee reassured, which calmed them both down more. 

“I agree.” Ruann smiled. “Now, you guys say you needed revamping for this whole place, right? Seems pretty old around here.”

“But good enough. It has everything we need, so we’ll make the use of it.”

Zoa then went on to explain what the town had, which immediately intrigued everyone. The girls then went on to show them around, giving them more hope to work together. With that said, they all went into the motels to make their own rooms, as well going to fix up several remaining houses and live together, with many others helping them. Thankfully, there was still enough time in the day for them to revamp that one garage Jiyoon had stumbled into, the supermarket to store all of their food, arcade, carnival and the school bus that they could take with them for future scouting. Monday had taken off some letters, making it say ‘cool bus’ instead. Zoa, May and all of the other Greens rewired classic arcade games from the 90s, even adding new mechanisms to make them more fun and interactive. Ruann had also stowed away some of the latest game consoles of this year, thus Zoa and May had the idea to make a huge projector in the arcade, allowing other kids to see each other play on the big screen, overall having a good time. There were only a few inside, but everyone else was having an absolute blast at the carnival and many rode the newly rebuilt roller coasters, merry-go-round, ferris wheel, log rides, etc. However, the best was arguably the skating rink with a whole stage for a band. Miraculously, guitars, keyboards and an entire drum set were still there, just laying around behind the curtains. Jiyoon, Monday and Zoa immediately shouted in joy upon seeing them, also wondering how in the hell they didn’t see these earlier. 

After deciding, Jiyoon grabbed a guitar, Monday deciding on the bass, and Zoa grabbing her drum sticks. Without wasting anymore time, tuned up their instruments and played like their life depended on it, attracting practically all of the kids inside. Soeun, Soojin, Jihan and Jaehee all stood in the front row and cheered their friends on as loud as possible. When the song, Into The New World by Girl’s Generation started playing, the audience immediately got hyped like no tomorrow as they’d recognize the melody by heart. When Jiyoon and Monday began singing the first line together while playing the guitar and bass, everyone did as well. The trio played a dozen more songs from hit groups until their sudden concert ended with a nice note, with Zoa telling them to come back again. Soojin and Soeun chuckled, before heading out together hand in hand.

“That was pretty fun! I can’t believe we stayed for a whole hour of their performance.” The older girl complimented. 

“They’re pretty good at what they do. Although I wish I hadn’t stood in the front, the speaker was really loud.” Soeun massaged the side of her head. 

“Oh, did it hurt you too much?” Soojin turned around looking concerned. 

“Yeah, no worries. I’ll be fine.” 

“Maybe we should ask Zoa about it later, just to be safe.”

Soeun blushed slightly seeing the older girl so caring for her. “Ahem, wanna go on the ferris wheel?” 

“Sure!” 

“But first, I need to use the restroom.” 

Soojin playfully rolled her eyes and lightly shoved her. “Jeez, hurry up then.”

“Don’t miss me too much.” She chuckled as the older girl called out in the distance. 

“You’re so cheesy!” 

“But you like it!” Soeun didn’t lie there, which made Soojin’s smile grow before waiting patiently on a bench. To pass time, she decided to scroll through her phone and go on YouTube. However, what she didn’t notice was a group of boys approaching, obnoxiously chatting until one of them saw her, then pointed out. The ‘leader’ almost immediately grew infatuated, then had the nerves to walk up to the oblivious girl. 

“Hey there.” Soojin was nonetheless startled by this stranger, nervously greeting him back. 

“Um…hi?” 

“What are you doing out here all alone?” 

“N-no, I’m just waiting for a friend.” 

“I see. You seem too cute to be alone though. My name is Bang Yedam, nice to meet ya.” He offered a handshake, obviously Soojin didn’t bother taking it. 

“Right…I’m gonna go.” She quickly stood up to leave, further away from the bench until he quickly stopped her. 

“Wait! What’s your name?” Yedam asked with what seemed like curiosity. 

“Soojin. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to find my friend.” 

“Well don’t worry, we’re friends now, so you can hang out with me and the boys.” They all walked behind him, which seemed a bit intimidating since Soojin had no idea what kind of powers each of them. Something in her gut told her this was planned, which seemed a little too paranoid. But the way they were not-so-subtly creeping closer justified her flight response. Miraculously, Soeun reappeared just in time, protectively wrapping an arm around Soojin and pulling her in gently. But the younger girl’s dark glare was the exact opposite of that gesture. 

“Can we help you guys?” She stood a bit taller than Yedam, making him back away a little. 

“Who are you?” 

“I’m Soeun. We have to go now. Good day.”

Then with that, the two girls easily brushed past them without another word, leaving the group astonished by what just happened. Soojin wrapped both arms around her waist, hoping it would calm down Soeun’s irritation a little. The shoulders grew less tense when they finally reached the ferris wheel, Soojin lightly dragging her inside. Once seated, it immediately started, progressively going up higher and higher. The older girl sighed while gazing at the view, still holding her hand. She could feel how she remained tense, unsure of what had been on her mind. On the other hand, Soeun didn’t know why, but she grew incredibly jealous and angry that a random boy could just approach Soojin, then talk to her like it was the easiest thing in the world to do. Something about that didn’t really sit right with either of them, but the older girl just wanted to forget about it, thus, gently squeezing her hand to get her attention.

“Hey, are you alright?” 

Soeun slightly pouted, which nearly made Soojin chuckle a little. “Yes.” She responded begrudgingly. 

“Thinking about earlier?” 

Sighing, Soeun nodded. “I don’t like him.”

“Neither do I. He and his friends seemed weird.”

“I wanted to punch them. They just ganged up on you like that.” 

“Aw, thank you…when you appeared by my side, I was so relieved.” 

Soeun grew red, but hid it with a cough. “You’re welcome. I just…t-thought that was the right thing to do.” She cursed at herself for stuttering, but it only made Soojin’s heart flutter even more as she giggled. 

“And I appreciate that very much.”

“Yeah, uh…” Soeun realized they’d unknowingly leaned a bit closer to each other, “no problem.” 

“Also, after this, do you wanna go on the merry-go-round next?” 

“Sure, whatever you want.”

Soojin didn’t know her feelings could grow even more than it already did, but Soeun somehow made it possible. The last few minutes of the ferris wheel ride, they discussed what to do tomorrow, their plans with the girls, which other areas they should revamp, etc. Pretty soon, their ride stopped and Soojin excitedly dragged Soeun along with her before the line to the merry-go-round closed. Luckily, they arrived just in time to get one of the two-person seats together, still holding hands. And well, well, what do you know? The rest of the girls just so happened to be around them and they didn’t even notice. Monday and Jiyoon were right in front, both sitting on horses as they turned around teasingly did flirty whistles at them, making Zoa, Jihan and Jaehee giggle like dorks from behind. They both learned to tune their friends out for the whole ride, merely focusing on each other while having fun. Soojin clung onto Soeun’s arm, resting her head on her shoulder while the younger girl returned the contact. They relished the mutual, comfortable feeling, wanting it to stay forever. Soeun had no idea what to think as it was all so different and foreign, but one important thing she knew for sure: she had a crush on Soojin.