Five days later.

With how great things were looking for everything, the town was busier than ever. It’d become normal to see many crowding the streets as many hung out with friends, while others continued doing their individual tasks. Crops were flourishing with lots of vegetables and fruits to use. Of course, most of them were transferred to the supermarket where lots would line up for some, but it seemed like corn and broccoli were the most popular. Additionally, the motor garage had great business as more modified vehicles were created. Can’t forget about the auto shop and police station either; the machine guns that were taken from the last mission were enhanced to a deadly degree. Aside from that, there was still training for Greens, Blues and Golds, which greatly helped everyone attain better mastery over their powers. The athletes exercised to no end, constantly jogging around town and lifting weight at the ‘public gym’, once being a playground to the elementary school. Moreover, artists and painters had gone around to paint even more murals on roads, buildings, anything they could get their hands on, except houses of course. The whole town was soon bathed in portraits displaying here and there, almost like a museum, but for teenagers and kids. And truth be told, they’d grown very creative these past few months. At home, Soeun was woken up by the sound of a sink turning on in the bathroom, immediately knowing it was Soojin, who’d woken up earlier. When the older girl walked out, she smiled seeing Soeun trying to fall asleep again.

“Wake up, grumpy~” Soojin teased while gently shaking her shoulder as she groaned. 

“I’m not grumpy, you dork.” 

“Wanna help me make some more omelettes for the girls then?” 

“Hm…ok, five more minutes?” 

“They might wake up earlier than that.” 

“Oh please, Monday and Jiyoon could sleep through an avalanche.” 

“But they can’t sleep through the scent of eggs and bacon frying on a pan. They’re quite the crackheads.” 

Soeun chuckled. “True. I’ll meet you downstairs, yeah?” 

“Don’t take too long, grumpy.” This made her jokingly roll her eyes. 

“Are you ever going to let me live it down?” 

“Nope!” Soojin called from outside the room while walking downstairs giggling.

Like promised, the younger girl arrives into the kitchen a few minutes later all freshened up and ready to make breakfast. As said earlier, Monday and Jiyoon were the first ones to get out of bed, eagerly waiting in the kitchen after helping set plates and silverware. Shortly after, the kids woke from their slumber, joining their friends at the dining table. When the omelettes finished cooking, the girls ate comfortably in silence, occasionally bringing up the news, though nothing else in the media seemed new. After finishing breakfast, they split up to do their individual activities once again. Monday, Jiyoon, Jihan and Jaehee all headed towards the motor garage to try out new motorcycles and hopefully not crash again. Zoa met up with May to hang out at the arcade, both agreeing to team up and beat some zombie games. Surprisingly, Lucy decided to visit their house so she could finally hang out with Soeun. Though she obviously couldn’t forget to bring her game console over. After inviting Soojin to play, the trio worked side by side during a difficult boss fight, which ended up taking hours to defeat. Soeun delivered the final blow, ultimately killing it and giving them their hard fought victory. Lucy huffed in relief, high fiving her after their victory.

“That was some nice strategy there. You should help me with some of the other games because those bosses are such pains in the to fight.” 

Soeun chuckled. “How about tomorrow?” 

“Sure! That sounds good.” 

“I’m gonna take a break in the garden and check on my roses. If you guys need anything, let me know!” Then with that, Soojin left through the back door, leaving just the two in the living room. 

“I see you being all heart eyes for her. And to make matters more obvious, you sacrificed yourself in the game to save her multiple times.” Lucy smirked as Soeun playfully punched her shoulder. 

“And what about it?” 

“Y’all dating or what?” 

“W-well—no. Not officially, at least.” 

“Really?? How long have you known each other?” 

“Several months.” 

“And you’re still not officially girlfriends?” 

Soeun’s eyes grew slightly wide as she blushed hearing that word. “It’s complicated, ok?”

“You like her, don’t you?” 

“I—y-yes….”

“And what does she feel?” 

“Uh…I think she likes me, too? At least that’s what I’m getting.”

“Then what the heck are you two waiting for?” 

“I guess we’re both fine with taking it slow for now, until we’re ready.” 

“Well…alright then. Don’t wait too long, Soeun.”

They both played games for the whole afternoon, until Lucy had to leave for some business. Shortly after, all of the girls returned home, where they gathered in the living room for yet another movie marathon. During a certain part, however, a playful debate between them sparked after a protagonist had lost to some villain and Monday said it was rightfully deserved, though Jaehee begged to differ. The girls went back and forth, but this led to a pillow fight between them. At one point, Jihan had the soul smacked out of her, Jiyoon wrestled with Soeun as if they were professional wrestlers, and finally Soojin made Monday and Jaehee surrender with telekinesis. Soon enough, their little brawl was put to a stop when the speakers outside came to life, announcing another dance competition. Anyone was able to participate, so the girls were intrigued and wanted to participate. Just as last time, it was being held in the roller skating rink again, thus everyone went there to check things out. Ruann, May and Lucy signed up for fun, and to no one’s surprise, Yedam joined as well. The first few rounds were sort of nerve wracking, but that quickly changed after Jihan went up against Jaehee. Everyone gave an encore to motivate the two, which was why Jihan danced first. Afterwards, it practically became a ridiculous, but fun battle with Jaehee winning in the end. Then the second round was Monday versus Jiyoon, and boy was that the most chaotic battle anyone had ever seen. It really got everyone laughing, so neither of them minded. A while later into the competition, the last battle was between the lovebirds: Soojin and Soeun. 

Minutes in, they were just playfully competing while laughing along as the older girl was actually pretty skilled in dancing. But when freestyle started and salsa music was cued up, Soojin had no idea how to even begin. Thankfully, Soeun grabbed her hand and spun her around, quickly leading them both to dance together. With this catchy beat and combined with everyone’s awe, the two felt like they were on top of the world. It didn’t even feel like a competition anymore since both of them worked well together. Their friends constantly screamed and cheered for the two, absolutely amazed by their chemistry. For the finale, Soojin was lifted into the air by her hips, thanks to Soeun’s surprising strength, before being caught in both of her arms. Soojin wrapped hers around the younger girl’s shoulder and happily smiled after the dance, that being the most fun she’d had in a long time. They both then directed their attention at the girls, just as Jiyoon was getting ready to toss a rose. Soeun astonishingly caught it with , causing Soojin to crack up before taking the flower and waving it around, the audience cheering even louder than ever. Minutes later, after a difficult decision, the winner was eventually Soeun, which Soojin didn’t mind at all and was rather happy for her. She gently squeezed Soeun’s hand, silently wishing good luck before rejoining the rest of their friends. After brief introductions, the announcer finally named her opponent, and boy was she going to have fun with this. Yedam smirked evilly while walking onto the platform, ready to ruin her spotlight, vice versa.

“Will Bang Yedam defeat Soeun or will she continue to keep the champion title? Let the match begin!!” 

Without having to decide, he busted out the first move with popping and locking, executing it well enough to gain people’s attention. Even then, Soeun still managed to do much better without exerting as much energy as Yedam had to. She was well known for doing acrobatics, so she did it once again, earning lots of cheering. The girls were especially the loudest while holding up a large banner with her name plastered on it, thanks to Jiyoon’s idea. Monday and Zoa carried it as the others waved glowsticks in support. This encouraged Soeun more while dancing to along with the music. She and Yedam continued trading impressive moves to lure the crowd that gradually grew louder. Eventually, it started becoming clear who was going to win this match. Yedam began to grow fatigued while dancing, but Soeun didn’t falter even one bit and was able to continue further. Meanwhile, Jisung stood in the audience to watch, though just close enough for only Yedam to see him. The younger boy smirked after spotting him, knowing that Jisung was waiting for the cue. They worked all night to get the supplies and plan for this sabotage. It’d been almost half an hour into the competition and Yedam was getting a little too tired to continue. When he finished, it was now Soeun’s turn to perform next, but this was the cue. Jisung clicked a button on the remote and looked above, where an enormous bucket of what was believed to be paint tipped over. Its sound was heard by Soeun as she peered up to see, only to be shocked herself. Unfortunately, she couldn’t dodge in time, thus stood there with arms covering her face. The audience collectively gasped in shock while the girls stood there utterly horrified. And no, this was not paint at all, it was hair dye. The strong scent made everyone back away, but Soeun’s friends quickly helped her out of the mess while covering their noses. By then, everyone’s eyes were on Yedam, who stood there not even hiding his amusement. 

“You have anything to say for yourself?” Ruann demanded for an answer while glaring. 

“What are you talking about??” He played dumb. “I didn’t do anything.” 

“Oh yeah? Then why was there a bucket hanging up there?” Zoa interrogated.

“How would I know? I didn’t put it there.”

“You may be one of us, but you’re not just going to cause trouble around here and easily get away with it.” Ruann reasoned, which made him cower instantly. 

“Yeah, don’t try to save yourself, we know you did it. You wouldn’t be laughing right now either.” 

“I-I…ok, so what if I did?? She deserves it for embarrassing my friend.” Yedam thought that would lead everyone’s attention off of him, which made Jisung freeze in his spot with eyes growing wide in fear. Thankfully, Soeun quickly refuted Yedam's argument.

“What? You’re just gonna throw your ‘friend’ under the bus like that?” 

“Wh—n-no, that’s not what I—”

“Save it, . Unless you want to be the first example and end up in the cell, you better think about what you did tonight. This is your last chance.”

Ruann threatened him before turning around to help Soeun walk back to the girls’ house. It wasn’t that far of a walk but the hair dye started burning so they ran home instead. Once arriving at the bathtub, Zoa realized the chemical had already changed Soeun’s hair orange, therefore, to make things slightly better, they had to apply extra dye to the rest of her scalp before washing it off. Soojin and Monday took the liberty to help wash it off with shampoo, making Soeun groan at the stinging pain. The girls spent a full hour helping her clean up, before showing the final result. She was insecure about the new color, but when Soojin was enamored by the change, it didn’t seem so bad afterwards. Additionally, the other girls loved it as well, all of them taking group selfies to make light of the situation. Soeun had almost forgotten this was meant as a sabotage, until there was knocking on their door. Zoa opened it, only to be surprised to see Jisung standing there, looking rather…guilty. She welcomed him inside, but he quickly stopped her and requested something else. 

“S-sorry to come here without notice, but um…can you tell Soeun to meet me at the beach? I’d to—talk to her, i-if she doesn’t mind.” 

“Oh, sure. I’ll tell her right now.”

“Thank you.” He then hastily hopped onto his skateboard and rode away into the distance.

Zoa raised an eyebrow, before turning around to inform her. Soeun frowned at the sudden request, simply shrugging and promised the girls she’d be back soon. Shortly afterwards, Soeun walked down the steps onto the sand as Jisung’s back faced her in the distance. He sat on a long bench, simply staring out into the distance as wind softly swayed his hair to the side. Soeun cleared , which made him turn around and stand up. “Um…hey.” He felt even guiltier seeing the new hair color, much similar to his. 

“Hi? What do you want?” 

“Uh—I, uh…just need to tell y-you something.” 

“Like what?” 

“Come sit down.” Jisung kindly offered, confusing her even more, but she did as told, taking a seat furthest away from him. “Orange looks…good on you.” He cringed at himself. 

“Why the hell are you being nice to me all of the sudden?” Soeun decided to get straight to the point. 

“L-look, I—I just…i-it was also my idea….” 

“…what?” She frowned, her anger slowly boiling up. 

“But I-I didn’t know he would switch up to hair dye, I swear!” 

“You still conspired a scheme with him, of all people, to ruin my rep?! What the hell have I ever done to you?!!” The girl seethed in rage while shouting. 

“You made me trip last year during the international dance competition!”

“You never let me explain my side of the story!”

“Did you or did you not tell me, right before my performance, that you hoped I failed? What was I supposed to think??”

“Cut the crap, Jisung!” He immediately froze. “I told you that was a ing accident and I never did it on purpose. You just let your own selfish insecurities get to you! Even then, this is nothing compared to what happened to you. You’re just a petty like that Yedam guy.” Jisung didn’t even know how to respond, still feeling shocked. All it took was for a few simple sentences to clear up the misunderstandings and he never felt so stupid for not realizing them. Soeun noticed his silence, slumping while shaking her head. “If you have nothing else to say…then I’m leaving.” 

Jisung took a few seconds to snap out of it. “W-wait!” Soeun stopped to turn around, still glaring. “I’m sorry…I really am.” Her eyes slowly softened as she sighed before sitting back down. “I screwed up bad. I just always thought that it was your fault I slipped. But you’re right, I totally let it go over my head….” 

Jisung looked down at his hands while saying it, too nervous to raise his head. Soeun briefly stared at her cousin, then gazed at the ocean. “What…so you just met up with him and planned revenge?” 

“Y-yeah, well—he was the one who approached me first.”

“What did he say?” 

“Uh….” Jisung frowned, trying to remember. “Something along the lines that you had someone he wanted?” 

“Ugh, that piece of .” Soeun immediately knew who he talked about. 

“Who is it?” 

“My friend, Soojin.” 

“Oh, I see…he was a weird guy, obsessed about accomplishing that goal. I swear I wanted to back down at first, but he convinced me.” 

“Not so much of a Green, are you?” 

Jisung lightly chuckled. “Yeah, I guess not.” The two cousins merely sat there, the silence feeling peaceful after a while. “Listen, um…” Soeun turned to face him, “…you’re the only family I have left.” He said with full honesty. “I don’t know where my parents are, I barely know any other relatives. But, even though we may be rivals, I’m glad I met you again.” 

She sighed, finding herself agreeing. “Me, too. I’m not sure if anyone else is alive either. I was actually quite relieved seeing you when I saw you at that camp. When we argued, it felt like…I don’t know, I was living a normal life again, that none of this was real. I-it’s great, but…in times like this, family is what I needed.” 

“Yeah.” Jisung nodded once more. “And if there’s any way I can make it up to you after this mess, I’ll do anything.” 

“Well, it’s just an unplanned hair dye, but if you insist, I need a way to let that Yedam guy know that Soojin wouldn’t like to be with him.”

“Uuuh, like—to prove something?”

“Mhm.”

Jisung smiled, already having a plan. “I got an idea.”