Hey everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter as the fourth one is currently in the works and coming soon uwu this will be a bit darker than the last chapters so:

TW// threats to k*lling and guns!

School had just ended when a group of friends sprinted down the streets, laughing amongst themselves during a round of racing. Rules were that the first person would get anything they wanted, and last place had to make it happen. After some heavy footsteps echoing in their empty neighborhood and some tripping along the way, they all crashed into a wall, bringing the game to a close. They all groaned and whined at how unfair it was, but rules were rules. That being said, ranks had already been determined with Jihan being first and Jaehee last. The rest were just glad they didn’t have to spend any money. Since the reward budget was quite limited, Jihan could only wish for something under ten dollars. Jaehee didn’t mind much since her best friend was never too harsh with this kind of punishment. Until now, that is.

“I want…that new large pine of mint chocolate ice cream we saw the other day!” Everyone was certainly unsurprised, except Jaehee.

“What—that’s all my wallet has! Ten dollars.”

Jihan, with a mischievous glint, giggled. “I know.”

“Traitor….”

IIf it makes you feel better, we can share it.”

“Hm…ok, deal.”

“YAY!”

“Alright, love birds.” Yujin teased them before making a suggestion. “So, tomorrow is Saturday. I say we go hang out at the arcade. I heard they bought cool new games.”

“Oh! Is it the new Taddle Quest one? We really need to try that.” Ruann looked at May thinking she was crazy. 

“No, we don’t.”

“Aw, come on! It’s not that scary. Besides, you haven’t even tried it yet.”

“I don’t need to play in order to know that. The box art was more than enough.” The two argued as Yujin rolled her eyes. 

“Let’s save this for when we get there please? And I was talking about the new version of Pump It Up that came out two days ago.”

Jihan gasped excitedly and held Jaehee’s hand. “Oh my god! I’ve been waiting for so long!” 

“I’m surprised you still like it even after you dislocated your ankle.” This made everyone laugh. 

“Hey! I just tripped.” 

“That’s because you didn’t tie your shoe...even after we told you about it.” Ruann said. That was a memory they’d never let Jihan live down. 

“Yeah, yeah whatever. I still managed to get the highest score anyways.” 

Yujin chuckled before teasing. “Y'all are crackheads, seriously.”

“Speaking of tomorrow, has Wonyoung messaged any of you guys back?” May asked, concern starting to mask their faces. 

“For me, no.” Jihan shook her head as she checked her phone.

“I’ve been spamming her with texts all day and nothing.” Jaehee pouted, knowing full well her friend wouldn’t just go M.I.A so suddenly. 

“Yeah, I know. It’s been an entire week now….” The tallest girl trailed off and sighed. “Maybe she’s just really busy right now?”

“I guess, but she’d always tell us.” Ruann did make a good point. This wasn’t like Wonyoung. “We can tell her about tomorrow and see if she comes?”

They all nodded along as Jaehee replied. “I think that’s a good idea, she does love playing games after all.”

“Alright, then it’s settled. We’ll meet there at around 10am. How does that sound?”

They agreed with Yujin cheerfully before going their separate ways. May, Yujin, and Ruann all walked away individually while Jihan and Jaehee stuck together since their houses were side by side. They’d known each other since what felt like the beginning of time. Thankfully enough, their parents were quite close as well, so you could almost argue it was destiny. All it took was one play date when the girls were just babies, crawling around and looking curiously at the other. Jihan was naturally playful and feisty, which resulted in her throwing a piece of block at Jaehee’s face. Oh the crazy times they had. Aside from that, their bond only grew stronger and stronger as years went by at a speed of light. Jihan and Jaehee were thankful they could always rely on each other. Upon reaching the older girl’s house, Jihan’s mother warmly welcomed them home.

“Hey you two! How was school?”

“Same as always.”

“Let me guess. Boring?” She teased.

The girls giggled. “You know the drill, mom.”

“Do you kids want any pudding? I got some from the grocery yesterday. Your dad’s favorite.”

“You’re only asking us because he begged you to buy a ton, huh.” 

“Four packs. Ugh, and someone has to help him finish that because he can’t eat them all by himself.” 

Jihan smiled before opening her fridge. Wow, her mother did not exaggerate. An entire side was completely filled with them. The girl stared in awe momentarily before grabbing a few for herself and Jaehee. “Three each?” She smiled nervously while trying to hold six. 

“Sure!” 

“Cool! Hey mom, can Jaehee and I go to the arcade tomorrow? We’ll be with Yujin, Ruann and May.”

“Of course, do you need me or dad to take you two?”

“I already messaged my mom on the way here. Thanks for the offer though.” Jaehee politely declined.

“We’re gonna be upstairs if you need anything.”

“Alright, honey!” She called while checking the kitchen cabinets.

In Jihan’s bedroom, their activities consisted of: 60% playing video games, 20% going on social media, 10% eating pudding, 9.5% doing nothing and just sleeping, and 0.5% doing homework. They laughed and screamed together while playing some horror games, as well as watching others going through it. Jihan and Jaehee also enlisted Ruann and May to play with them. Yujin had messaged saying she wasn’t feeling well, which they understood and wished her to get better. The four teamed up for a battle royale that lasted way too many rounds to finally get first place, thanks to Ruann getting that last shot before the opponent could eliminate Jaehee. Then after this was a video call about help with crappy school assignments and mostly just planning.

“Since the arcade is in the mall, we can stop by the ice cream place.” The oldest girl suggested as May rolled her eyes. 

“You mean ‘Mr.Matcha’? All they serve there is green tea and matcha.”

“Hello? They have a limited edition this month. It’s a cherry blossom flavor.”

Jihan was immediately intrigued. “I’ve never tried any flower based ice cream before.”

“You guys can order that. I’ll just get the green tea one.”

“Basic as ever.” Ruann teased May.

“At least I’m not weird.”

“Hey!”

Jihan and Jaehee laughed at their friends’ funny dispute before deciding to call it a day. They prepared for a sleepover by building an entire blanket fortress on Jihan’s floor. During that process, however, a fun pillow fight erupted with laughter and maybe some slight concussions. The girls stayed up all night just whispering to each other and browsing social media, occasionally messaging their friends who also decided to stay up past their bedtime. While they were having a conversation about one thing, it changed when May shared a clip of the news showing a sudden power outage from a neighborhood near them. Jihan and Jaehee narrowed their eyes upon witnessing electrical waves spurting out from one of the houses and then everything went dark. They looked at each other, questioning but then shrugged, believing it might’ve been some accident. After a while, the girls were just about to fall asleep when Jaehee spoke up.

“Is it just me or was there a girl in the video?”

“A girl?” 

“Yeah, right before the outage. I thought I saw someone standing near some fuse box.”

“It’s probably just the bad quality.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” 

Jihan chuckled, closing her eyes. “Good night.”

“Night.”

Ruann was first to stroll up on the sidewalk while messaging her friends. Looking up, she noticed how weirdly empty the mall was, especially one that’s always packed with people. There were some adults roaming around and yet, rarely any kids. She was going to send their group chat a tweet about IAAN, but was too tired and slept first. Curious, Ruann searched some videos about it, only to be completely shocked. Articles and articles constantly documented these bizarre incidences. Practically every social media covered this, almost like a sick trend. Ruann didn’t know how spaced out she was when May placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, are you ok? I called your name like three times.”

“Sorry, I’m just—have you seen the news lately?” 

“About the disease, right?”

“Yeah…it’s really deadly, too.” 

“I heard some kids in school yesterday talking about it being linked to the missing people and stuff. has really gone downhill lately.”

“Clearly.” They both looked inside the mall, feeling nervous at how empty it looked. Shortly afterwards, Jihan and Jaehee finally arrive. 

“Hey guys! I see we’re not late since Yujinnie isn’t here yet.”

“Actually I’ve been texting her since I got here ten minutes ago.” Ruann said as May agreed. 

“Me, too. I messaged her before I left my house.”

“Oh….” Jihan looked at Jaehee. “Us as well. She hasn’t responded to anything.”

“Ugh really?? She did not just pull a Wonyoung.”

“Yujin was fine yesterday….” May frowned while reading the last text from Yujin to her. I’ll try and arrive earlier than 10. Goodnight. “You think she’s ok?”

“Let’s wait out here for her. She’s probably caught up with something and might be running a little late.”

Jaehee suggested, which they all quickly agreed and sat down on the sidewalk. The girls kept themselves busy talking about whatever topics came up in their mind. But then a couple minutes passed by, which stretched to a full hour. Ruann was the first to get back up and suggest they wait while playing some arcade games. At first Jihan was against that and thought they’d be playing without Yujin, though it would be a waste of time and planning if they didn’t play any games at all. The girls cashed in for some tokens before exploring everywhere to try out as many arcade consoles as possible. They would either team up for shooting games before battling on Street Fighters or Tekkin. There were rage quits at one point because they thought it’d be fun to attempt an arcade version of Flappy Bird, multiple times. Before the girls realized, it was already close to late afternoon as they were busy with accomplishing levels on Dead Escape. Many tries and jumpscares in, they could only make it halfway through then called it quits. 

The group finally went on their own to play other games while Jihan and Jaehee competed with pinball machines, with the older girl currently leading the score. Everyone once in a while, either of them would get a point or two ahead, though what made it for fun was how they always tried to distract each other. For example, Jihan not-so-subtly bumped her hips against Jaehee, causing her pinball pass through the flipper bats. In retaliation for that, she tickled Jihan’s side, thus they both lost in the end. This continued for half an hour until the games abruptly ceased function, its lights powering down and the music tuning down. Jihan and Jaehee looked at each other, then over their shoulders, noticing that other arcade consoles were still working just fine, even spotting Ruann and May doing their own thing.

“Did this thing run out of batteries or something??” Jihan scanned her pinball machine to see what was wrong while Jaehee kneeled down.

“Most likely. It looks old anyway.”

While Jihan continued pressing some buttons, Jaehee’s eyes trailed the console’s wires to an outlet. Curious, she got closer, only for her hands to feel a tingling sensation. It was so sudden, she flinched back out of shock. Jaehee froze and looked around to see what happened, though couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. Glancing back at the outlet, she reached out once more. In that moment, lines of electricity extended from her hand, striking some plugs as varying voltages traveled through wires. It all happened so fast, no one saw it coming. Soon, the whole arcade practically turned into a thunderstorm, bolts striking down at consoles, causing all of them to either spiral uncontrollably or short out of power. Ruann screamed and ducked down on the ground, her arms protectively over her head as she curled up into a ball. May was in the middle of playing a racing game and was very close to getting the highest score, until a popup unexpectedly alerted a malfunction. Her priceless expression reflected in the black screen.

“……………ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” She shouted, not even noticing the chaos around her.

Meanwhile, Jihan and Jaehee held each other in the corner while screeching for their lives, hoping for this to end soon. And thankfully, it did. The arcade was now dark with no light whatsoever. Ruann hesitantly got up from the floor, still looking absolutely shocked as May reamined absolutely confused. Jihan helped Jaehee to her feet and they cautiously approached out of their hiding spot. Everyone regrouped, relieved to see one another. They were initially planning to ask the cashier what happened, but he was already gone, probably scurried off to hide as well. Afterwards, the girls pulled out their phones for some light.

“You guys saw that?” Ruann asked, slightly panting due to fear. 

“Yeah…it was crazy.” Jihan replied back, but Jaehee didn’t know what to say. 

“Saw what?? What did I miss?”

“What—you didn’t see parts of the ceiling collapsing and the consoles getting electricuted??”

“No. I was too preoccupied.”

“That’s why the whole place is out of power now. Too much fuel, I guess.” 

“I, um….” Jaehee hesitantly spoke up as all of their attention was now on her. “I think that was because of me.” The girls were rightfully confused. 

“What do you mean?”

“I-I don’t know, I was checking to see why the pinball machines stopped working and then…my hands felt really weird.”

“Weird, how?” Ruann raised an eyebrow, not having a clue what the girl was hinting at.  

“I’m not sure how to explain. It just happened out of nowhere….” She embraced herself while Jihan hugged her friend, hoping to comfort Jaehee. 

“Hey, don’t worry about it. As long as none of us are hurt, it’s fine.” 

“Yeah.” Ruann agreed, placing her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps.” 

“By the way, do you guys want to go visit Yujin and see if she’s ok? I just realized she hasn’t arrived here this whole time.” Jihan suggested and they all perked up as May continued. 

“Wow. I guess I was so into my games, I didn’t even notice.” 

“Let’s go right now then, it’s only 6PM.”

“Sure.”

Everyone agreed with Ruann before leaving and didn’t look back as they walked further away. Little did the group know, they were reported by the frightened cashier who peeked slightly over the counter he’d been hiding behind. On the way to Yujin’s house, the girls decided to plan for another trip tomorrow, as it was still the weekend. Ruann had suggested they go shopping, while May wanted to go to a Korean barbeque restaurant again. This inevitably turned into yet another debate between them as Jihan and Jaehee laughed along, only deciding to go wherever they eventually agreed in their little dispute. After a while, with another corner turn, they soon reached Yujin’s street, only it was blocked off with SWAT trucks and tons of police cars. Nervous, the group hid behind other parked vehicles away from this crowd. Whatever was going right now had to be extremely serious for this many authorities present in one neighborhood.

“We have to find Yujinnie.” Jihan whispered her suggestion, but there had to be a plan first as May insinuated.

“How? There’s gotta be about dozens of cops here.” 

“I-I don’t know. Maybe the backdoor?” 

Ruann already had a plan before they even spoke. “Come on, follow me. I have a plan.”

“Wh—are you sure?? We can’t just go in there.” The taller girl tried to reason, which didn’t work. 

“Yujin is our friend. We’re not losing her, too.”

With that being said, everyone stealthily booked it towards the back and reached Yujin’s fence. They gave May a boost up to see over it, perks of her being the tallest. Once the coast was clear, Ruann signalled for them to get inside the lawn, before racing to hide away from pointing flashlights behind large objects. Immediately after it was dark again, she carefully and slid open the screen door as quietly as possible. They head upstairs right after entering the house, towards Yujin’s room. But when the girls looked inside, she was nowhere to be seen. Jihan peeked out the window, wary of the cops watching. And before her eyes, she witnessed Yujin getting dragged into one of the SWAT trucks before it drove away, her parents nowhere to be seen.

Frightened, Jihan informed everyone else right after. “Guys, we have to get out of here. They’re taking her somewhere.” 

“What?! What do you mean? Did you see her?” Ruann was about to take a look at the window as well, but the younger girl stopped her.

“No! Look, it’s not safe, we need to leave right now.”

Low and behold, Jihan was right. The girls heard cops picking up sounds of them talking and were heading upstairs at the moment. But luckily, Ruann was fast enough to lead them all into the master bedroom where they could jump out of the window. Jaehee frantically locked the door while May placed a chair under the knob, thus preventing any entry. The oldest girl pried open a window facing the backyard, thus insinuating for them to jump. Before her friends could call her insane, she’d already fearlessly leaped out. Everyone rushed forward to see if she was alright, only to witness Ruann safely landing. And call them crazy, but they swore she almost levitated on the way down. There wasn’t any time to question it so Ruann told them to hurry.

“Just jump down, I’ll help you!” 

“A-are you—”

“Yes, I’m sure May!”

“If my legs break like pretzels, it’s your fault!”

“That’s basically saying they’re weak as , now hurry!” May shut her eyes tightly and screamed her lungs out before taking the leap of fate. And just like Ruann promised, she was now safe on the ground. May’s eyes grew wide in surprise and amazement at once, giggling the whole way down. 

“Holy crap! I was flying! Did you see that??”

“No, idiot. I brought you down.” 

When the younger girl looked at her, she gasped immediately. “Woah…why are your eyes blue?” 

“Tell you later, now get out of here!” Nodding, May sprinted off back to her house, not looking back while silently hoping her friends made it out alive.

After that were both Jihan and Jaehee who jumped out of the window together. Right after Ruann helped them land safely, they, too, booked for it, scrambling out of the area and far away from the crowd of police officers. Just as they sprinted, the SWAT team had finally busted down the door and were too late to reach the window that the girls escaped from. Thankfully, they barely saw them leaving, thus gave up searching shortly. On the other hand, the group dashed as if their lives depended on it. For all they knew, it did. Ruann hastily bid her friends goodbye before taking a separate path, leaving just Jihan and Jaehee as they held hands. The younger girl took the lead ahead and directed towards their houses. After quickly saying goodnight to each other, Jaehee burst through her front door, startling her parents a little while they were on the couch watching TV.

“You’re in a hurry.” Her father teased amusedly. “I see it’s a bit early, too. We were just about to get up for dinner.”

“O-oh, yeah, uh….” She hesitated on what to say, but eventually came up with an excuse. “Jihan and I were racing again.”  

“How was your time at the arcade?”

“It was fun, actually.” And crazy.

At night time, the family helped cook dinner together, each of them having their own tasks to assist one another. Jaehee had fun with her parents, constantly making jokes so funny they nearly left some beef and onions burning on the pan. She was thankful this calmed her down after that whole escape an hour ago. Fearing her parents will act irrationally if Jaehee told them about today, she decided to keep quiet for the whole night, being very careful with touching certain items. Jaehee let her parents handle cooking with the stove while she tasked herself by mixing some vegetables to make a salad dish. It didn't take long for them to finish cooking at last and they finally settled at the dinner table. The family chatted amongst themselves, going idly on about their day. , going idly on about their day. When it was Jaehee’s time to talk, she kept it as vague as possible and responded with short answers, which they thankfully didn’t press on further. Soon enough, it was time to sleep, but being the kid she was, Jaehee stayed up to chat with her friends.

Afterwards, Jaehee turned off her phone and drew her blanket over, but didn’t close her eyes just yet. What had happened in the arcade today had been on her mind ever since they left. She never wanted all of that to happen, it was only an accident. Jaehee had a feeling she couldn’t control her... powers. Ruann had revealed her ability to use telekinesis, therefore, should she do the same thing? But to be fair, she’d only just realized she had something similar as well, which meant she, too, had the disease. One that killed thousands of kids like her already and she survived. Jaehee quickly shook her head to rid those thoughts, it scared the girl a bit. Within seconds of fighting an urge, she gave up and grabbed her phone again to message Jihan about the arcade.

“Seriously?? That was u? That’s so cool!”

“Kajksdjk thx ig”

Needless to say, the other girl was shocked, but in a good way. They went on and on about Jaehee's powers for about an hour. Soon enough, it was last 1AM in the morning and they were still texting back and forth. At some point, Jihan said they should sleep now but that somehow led to another hour. The two often did this as best friends, therefore, despite them being tired, they still stayed up for each other in case one of them wanted to say anything else. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to finally say goodnight and both girls fell asleep at last.

The sunlight illuminated Jaehee’s dark room as morning was beginning to reach its peak. She was woken up by poking on her shoulder and forehead. Familiar giggling allowed her to know who it was, so she wasn’t surprised to see a beaming Jihan staring back. Jaehee playfully tossed a teddy bear at her best friend before freshening up. Afterwards, they hung out for a bit in the room until Ruann finally sent the meet up location. They both responded before heading there immediately after, though not before making an excuse that they were going to hang out at their friend’s house. Luckily, Jaehee’s parents trusted the girls enough to let them leave without further questioning. Using Jihan’s phone for GPS, they raced towards the beach where Ruann had already arrived. But while on the way, the two girls sensed something was off and stopped when they approached a red light. To their horror, May wasn’t responding instantly like usual.

“No…no no no no….not her, too.” Jaehee frowned deeply, frantically messaging her friend. 

“Goddammit! It must’ve been because of last night. They probably saw us somehow and got May.” 

“But they couldn’t have! She left first before any of us did.”

“Ok, then…she could be busy—”

“Assumed that with Wonyoung, then Yujin. We know them just as much as we know May, so…….” It seemed obvious at this point, thus, Jaehee didn’t want to say it. 

Jihan realized they couldn’t stay any longer when the light turned green. She sighed before getting ready to pedal once more. “Come on, let’s just hurry. I’m sure Ruann already knows.”

Reluctantly, they continued on while feeling self conscious about being exposed in the open, especially after the night previously. It was their first time ever making a serious escape from police officers. The girls couldn’t imagine what would happen if they’d been caught for staying in that room for too long. Needless, it would be traumatic. Though aside from that, they wondered what their parents were thinking about this disease constantly being reported on the news. After about another mile, Jihan and Jaehee finally saw the beach ahead. Taking another turn, the girls rode the entrance, before casually riding down some stairs. They parked the bikes and gazed around to find Ruann, which she quickly beat them to. Two cans of Cola floated towards the girls as they caught it midair. When Jihan and Jaehee looked up, she stood before them, smiling.

“Might as well have a drink first, yeah?”

“Thanks…and l-listen, May’s—”

“Taken. I know. Been trying to get a hold of her since six in the morning and nothing.”

“That’s when she’s usually awake….” Jaehee slumped. 

“Let’s go sit down and discuss this.” Nodding, they both followed her to a table, then went straight to the point. “The police and military are taking kids somewhere, as Jihan had witnessed last night.”

“So what are we going to do?”

Ruann shook her head. “I don’t know. But I’m skipping school tomorrow.” 

“Are you going somewhere?” Jihan inquired. 

“Maybe. I’m gonna try and find some place where I can stay safe and far away from here. The military is heavily patrolling this city.”

“Oh, that makes sense. So, are you gonna leave?” The older girl nodded. 

“Yeah. But, I’ll try to find the others as much as possible.”

“How??” 

“Following those SWAT trucks is my best shot.”

“But they’ll see you though.” Jaehee had a good point, which Ruann had an answer to refute with. 

“They’re dumb enough to keep those unsupervised on the road. So I can follow them right behind and they won’t even notice anything.”

“I-I wouldn’t be so sure about that….” 

“No worries. I’ve got it all under control! Now, for the real reason we’re here, I want to see what kind of powers you guys have.”

“P-p-powers?? I’m not even sure I have one.” Jihan raised an eyebrow. 

“I already know mine.” The other girl raised her hand.

“Oh yeah! She told me last night.”

“Really? What is it?” 

“I think it’s manifesting electricity.” Jaehee momentarily looked for something to demonstrate it with, then she saw her empty soda can before grabbing it. But nothing happened. “Huh? That’s weird….”

“What are you trying to do?” Ruann asked.

“Well, since it’s metal, I thought I could shock it or something.”

“Or maybe you need an outlet, right? Because that’s what happened in the arcade yesterday.” 

“Oh! So you really did cause that. It surprised me a lot.”

“Haha yeah, sorry. I don’t think I can control it.”

“Hm…well, when I use telekinesis, I just think about it, like use my mind. Maybe you can try imagining yourself utilizing your powers? That could work.”

Jaehee understood, nodding then looked down at the soda can once more. And just like Ruann suggested, electricity suddenly shot out from Jaehee’s hand and her pupils turned bright yellow. The other two immediately ducked for cover as the can heated up, forcing her to drop on the sand. “Woah….” 

“Holy . You did that!” Jihan exclaimed gleefully while applauding with Ruann. 

“Yeah…yeah, I did.” She chuckled at herself. 

“Alright, now it’s your turn.” 

“Wh—what am I supposed to do??” 

“I don’t know. Try the same thing Jaehee did. You might have that ability, too.” 

“But—it seems dangerous!”

“You won’t know until you try, dork.”

She rolled her eyes at Ruann’s teasing before grabbing her own Cola can and standing up. Jihan narrowed her eyes at it, attempting to imagine electrical statics. But after a minute, nothing happened. “I don’t think this is working.”

“Hm, maybe you have something else then.” The older girl said, then held her hand out, levitating another can off the table. Jihan looked at Ruann’s gaze and was mesmerized by her bright blue eyes. The piece of metal floated above her hand momentarily, until she crushed it midair. “Try that.”

The younger girl squinted at her can again. To her amazement, it was hovering. She gasped loudly before it fell back into her hand. “I have telekinesis!!”

“You do, you do!” Jaehee mirrored the excitement while hopping along with her. 

“First you’ll be moving soda cans, then you’ll move on to this!” Next thing they knew, Ruann took a gallon of ocean water and playfully splashed it on them. Now Jihan and Jaehee were soaking wet, gasping at how freezing cold it was. 

“What was that for?!” 

“We have to go home after this!”

“You’ll be fine, it’ll dry out eventually.”

The two looked at each other, mischievous glints in their eyes as they both nodded. As a revenge, Jihan did the same thing at Ruann, causing her to yelp at the temperature. For the next hour, the three girls splashed each other while playing in the ocean, but not so much the fun when Jaehee ‘accidentally’ zapped them a little. This lasted for about an hour, until they decided to sit back and let themselves dry up before going home, which was luckily a speedy process given that it was quite windy today. Afterwards, the group rode their bicycles back home at last. They decided to make a quick stop by Ruann’s house, since she was going to leave tomorrow.

“I guess we’ll be apart for a while.” The older girl said. “I hope we can see each other soon. Be careful with the police and stuff.” 

“By the way, I realized something. What about your parents? Are you gonna tell them about this?” 

“Nah. They’re always at work anyways. I doubt they’ll even notice if I’m gone.” 

“Aw, Ruann. I’m sure that’s not true.” Jihan pouted, hoping the older girl would stay because she didn’t want any more of her friends gone. 

“Yeah….”

“Hey, don’t worry about me. I’ll contact you guys, alright? I’m leaving by tomorrow morning.” 

“Can we at least get a hug before you go?” 

She laughed a bit before nodding. They stayed in the embrace for a minute before separating. “Bye, guys.”

Ruann entered her empty house and took one last solemn look at her friends, before shutting the door. Jihan and Jaehee sadly sighed before biking the rest of their way home. During the ride, they agreed to have a sleepover at Jaehee’s this time. The two layed in bed together while going on their phones, either simply browsing through social media or rage quitting on difficult arcade games. Thankfully, Ruann was still texting them on Twitter and was active until she had to sleep. They were reluctant to let her get offline by annoying the poor girl with memes to no end, but she knew they meant it in good fun. A little past midnight, Jaehee was looking up the news while Jihan was busy with good ole’ Candy Crush, and doing terribly at it. She scrolled through numerous articles about the IAAN, as well as watching some videos. Apparently, it was also some strange phenomenon and according to doctors, 'kids weren’t themselves anymore.'

“‘Weren’t themselves anymore’…? But…I’m still me.”

Perhaps they were directing this lack of normalcy towards her powers. Shutting her phone off, she frowned while thinking; maybe it was best they skip school tomorrow as well. Jaehee turned around to tell Jihan this, who also agreed. They were sure their parents would understand, therefore, it was needless to worry much. The girls bid each other goodnight before finally sleeping. However, the thought of possibly being taken away from their home was still in mind.

Just like any morning, the sunlight was cruelly bright and wind certainly picked up today. Jihan groaned when she felt some weight, eyes opening to see Jaehee’s head peacefully resting her shoulder. Jihan sighed, figuring they should both rest a little longer before actually getting up. To block the light, she drew her arm over her eyes, then slept for another half an hour until Jaehee’s mother called them down to eat breakfast. Soon, everyone sat at the kitchen table while chatting amongst themselves. Just like the girls had hoped, her parents had spoken with Jihan’s and allowed them to skip school today because of the disease. They were glad, needless to say, then spent the whole day at the older girl’s house, doing whatever to satisfy their boredom. Mother and father were discussing something upstairs, leaving the girls to play games on Jaehee’s PlayStation.

“On your left! On your left!” Jihan frantically alerted before the enemy was finally shot down. 

“Ha! Got them!” 

“You should really heal up, by the way.” Jaehee was about to do so, until their map alerted them of more incoming. 

“Oh crap! Cover me!” 

“But we’re surrounded!” 

“Ugh! Where the hell are our teammates when we need them??”

“Let’s get out of here.”

“Right behind you.” She assumed they were safe until her character was sniped so hard, he glitched into the side of the mountain. It happened so quickly that they both cracked up. “Whoa!”

Jihan burst into laughter. “OMG. Did you get that??” 

“No, why would I be screen recording?”

“Because of moments like these.” The younger girl was so busy cackling at Jaehee’s hilarious misfortune that she eventually got sniped as well. Jihan took this time to breath and calm down. “That was so funny.” 

“Come on, let’s start another round.”

“Yeah, I wanna see that again.” She said while giggling as Jaehee rolled her eyes.

But just when they were about to begin, the TV abruptly switched channels to an urgent news report. Confused, she grabbed her remote to go back to their game, but they immediately halted seeing the live footage of soldiers forcing a child and their parents apart, before dragging them into a truck. Just like Yujin. They gasped at the horrible sight as the news reporter continued on with their script. But before they could finish, the soldiers threatened them with guns and told them to stop recording before smashing the camera’s monitor. Then it was offline as they resumed back to the news station where a female reporter was visibly stuttering after witnessing that.

“U-um…so, moving on now. This mysterious, but deadly disease has been mainly targeting adolescent youths and young children alike. Over 90% of kids around the world are now deceased. However, the remaining survivors have been linked to numerous cases of reported “accidents,” such as sudden causes of fires, electrical power surges, and levitating vehicles. Doctors have no clue as to how this disease started or where it came from, but strict measures are being made. The military and police force are dispatched, by the President’s orders, to gather every single remaining child they see.”

They were shocked beyond belief, unable to process anything that was announced just now. This nightmare was only getting more real. It seemed like Jaehee’s parents had also seen the same broadcast as well when they rushed downstairs to see if the girls were alright. Shortly afterwards, there was frantic knocking on the door, which luckily turned out to just be Jihan’s parents who wanted to come inside. The adults gathered at the dinner table to discuss how they were going to keep their kids safe upon hearing this news and where they should escape to. Jihan and Jaehee were locked up in her bedroom, holding each other for comfort. All of this was so sudden that it was too difficult to think up a good plan.

“I’m scared….” The younger girl’s expression remained distressed as she pouted. Moments ago, she was having fun, but now things seemed to be getting completely out of their control. 

“Me, too. I don’t want them to take us away from our family.”

“Why are they even kidnapping us anyways? We can control our powers. We’re not bad, are we?”

“No, of course not.” Jaehee sighed, hugging her arm around Jihan’s shoulder a little tighter. 

“Whatever happens, I’ll keep you safe.” They both softly smiled at that. 

“Thanks. The feeling’s mutual.”

Back downstairs, the adults’ discussion came to a sudden halt when knocking interrupted them. It was so loud enough for Jihan and Jaehee to hear from above, thus, they pressed their ears against the bedroom door. A guttural voice shouted for anyone inside to let the military enter immediately for inspection and if they didn’t comply, force would be used. And true to the man’s words, the front door was broken down when Jihan’s father told them to piss off. Even though he was already angry, it was a big mistake. Everyone was handcuffed and forced to kneel on the ground. The captain casually strutted up to them, before getting down on their level. This time, his tone hinted at a threat.

“I’ll ask you all this once and one time only. Where are your kids?” 

“Like I said, they’re not here.” Jihan’s father mocked him, which only earned a punch to the face. His wife cried out. 

“Please! Stop! None of you have to do this!”

“Search for them.”

Orders were followed instantly and they searched every single room. The kitchen was absolutely ransacked, the living room trashed, and bathrooms destroyed. Unnecessary, of course. But abuse of power was abuse of power. Soon enough, they reached the bedrooms. It didn’t take long for one of them to find Jaehee’s that was locked. They demanded for the door to open, but none of them responded back, which forced the soldiers to break it down as well. However, the last thing they expected was for Jihan to send them flying into the wall, hard enough to slip into unconsciousness. Jaehee rushed out with the younger behind, but they stopped immediately upon seeing two more soldiers. Just before they could blast their ultrasonic guns, she pressed her hand on an outlet, causing electrical sparks to spurt out from ceiling lights everywhere, even striking some soldiers and knocked them out. 

The captain took over while the girls’ parents frantically scooted under a table. Jihan and Jaehee booked for it downstairs, holding each others’ hands. They were so close to escaping until the ultrasonic ringing blared out. Jihan was instantly immobilized and fell to the ground, completely unmoving and Jaehee harshly shoved to the ground by another soldier guarding the entrance. She immediately covered her ear and screamed for it to stop. Jihan’s parents yelled on the top of their lungs as well. The captain rolled his eyes before taking his finger off the trigger, though the younger girl still couldn’t move. Jaehee quickly crawled to Jihan and shook her.

“Hey, hey, are you ok?” Voice cracking slightly as she immediately thought of the worst case scenario until Jihan groaned. Jaehee sighed in relief. “Oh, thank god….”

He chuckled at the sight. “This baby right here works very effectively on blues. So you must have that telekinesis power, huh?” 

“If I say yes, will you shut your up?” Jaehee glared menacingly, causing him to laugh. 

“You got a big mouth, don’t you? I’d think before saying anything to someone who could easily put a bullet right through your head.” He threatened while pulling a gun from his waistband and aimed directly at Jaehee’s forehead, who didn't flinch whatsoever. “But, that would tarnish my name. So you and your little girlfriend best get in the back before things get ugly, yeah?” She narrowed her eyes at that statement while Jihan let out a small, confused groan. “Take them.”

They were both forcibly dragged out of the house while their parents screamed for their names, encouraging them to power through to wherever they were going to be taken. It would be the last time the girls would ever hear from them again when the SWAT truck’s doors closed. When it was far away enough and out of sight, gunshots sounded in Jaehee’s house. In the vehicle, there were a few other kids sitting inside, just as nervous and scared as they were. Jihan still couldn’t move as the ringing was stuck in her mind. Jaehee had no idea what to do, other than stay close by and comfort her. Thankfully, someone else in the van had a solution.

“Shock her. It works.” A very straightforward advice.  

“What?” 

“Shock. Her. You know, zap? You have that ability, don’t you?” 

“Y-yeah, but…wouldn’t that hurt her?” 

“So? It’ll help.”

“Um…ok, if you say so….” Jaehee reluctantly did so by putting her hand on Jihan’s shoulder. And true to her words, she could move again. 

“Ow! God, that hurt so bad.” Jihan groaned as the other girl apologized profusely. 

“See? Told ya.” Jaehee helped Jihan onto the bench carefully as possible since the truck was still moving. 

“Thanks for the tip. What’s your name?” 

“Gowon.” 

“Do you perhaps know where they’re taking us?” 

“To the camps. They took all of my friends and I happen to be the last one.”

“Oh...” Jihan spoke up. “Us too.” 

“Lovely. If you fight through the struggles, you’ll be completely fine.” 

“Thanks, I guess. Wait, how do you know they’re taking us there?” 

“A little birdie told me.”

The two friends looked at each other confused, but decided to not ask any further. Everyone remained silent for the next mile, simply listening to the driver and passenger occasionally arguing about something stupid. Before they knew it, the truck stopped in front of Jihan and Jaehee’s school. They peeked through the little window and saw the familiar gates, confused as to why some kids still went to school today. As the girls pondered more, the doors suddenly opened and two more were dragged inside. Jihan and Jaehee recognized them. They were on the road again, this time crossing into Seoul.

“Um, Soojin unnie?” Jaehee whispered out, quickly catching her attention and she gasped. 

“Jaehee? Jihan?? You guys are here, too?” 

“Y-yeah. They got us while we were at home.” Jihan informed, then Zoa revealed their side of the story. 

“We were talking in the bathroom about the news and IAAN. I’m sure you guys know.” They both nodded as she continued, whispering. “They’re taking us to quarantine. And I think…once there, we’ll stay forever.” 

“What? N-no, that can’t be….” 

“It’s horrible, I know. But,” Zoa leaned in for only them to hear. “I’m about three steps ahead of them.”

She implied something, but it sounded like good news. Jihan and Jaehee smiled briefly before remaining quiet for the rest of the ride. They leaned on each other for comfort, patiently waiting for them to reach the camp. Minutes passed, as well as a wild goose chase that earned the truck a new member. Jihan didn’t say anything as Soeun sat next to her, but felt bad seeing her nose bleed. Luckily, Zoa had taken care of that. Then another half an hour and everything finally stopped moving. Jihan and Jaehee separated to get their assigned colored suits and “dorm” as they called it. The two of them didn’t bother getting lunch in the cafeteria, too distraught to be out in the open when they’d just been taken away from their lives. When the coast was clear and no guards were patrolling the hallways, Jihan easily snuck her way to an upper floor where golds were staying and found Jaehee’s room. Soon, they were on the older girl’s bed, simply in each other’s embrace.

“I want to leave this place already…not even a full day and they’re already making me do ty work for them.”

Jaehee softly groaned, the same was said for her. “Yeah…they're making me work with this other girl to power some machine. I couldn't care enough to see what they were doing.”

“Why can't they do it themselves…?”

“Because cops and the military are lazy bastards.”

Jihan lightly giggled. “I just hope my parents are ok.”

“We'll get out of here and visit them. I'm sure of it.”

“Should we talk with Zoa and Soojin unnie later?”

“Mhm. Tomorrow?”

The younger girl nodded before closing her eyes, hoping for a quick nap. Jaehee allowed it, keeping her arm around the tired girl's shoulder. A few months pass by and no luck of getting out soon. All they could do was rely on each other, as well as some friends. All they could do was power through, no matter what. Over time, the soldiers grew stricter with other kids pulling stupid stunts like mocking authorities, talking crap, and other things far worse. But even with the world gone down the drain, there was still hope. A hope so little, but powerful enough.