Month six, week three, day seven. Check.

All the typing from keyboards, the roar of the machines, and computers constantly beeping were not a pleasant combination. The whole room was crowded with scientists scurrying around, files in their arms while also worrying about taking calls. Needless to say, it was oddly busy at this time. Still, the kids didn’t pay them too much attention. It’d been months now and the military weren’t going to let them leave any time soon, but thankfully Golds didn’t have to do much. The extent of their work was powering up some machines. At this point, they almost envied Blues and Greens for getting to do actual work and moving around more. It got so boring, especially just sitting for hours on end. Jaehee sighed as she leaned back in the chair, her hand exuding energy into wires that connected to various machinery. She was very tempted to just click on some buttons on the panels for fun and see what happens, but the glares of soldiers watching her and other kids said otherwise. 

The girl sitting next to her was named Jimin, but went by the unique nickname, Monday. Jaehee saw her sinking further and further into depression as weeks went by, no sign of her getting better anytime soon. She felt bad seeing Monday in such a state and wanted to comfort the older girl. Jaehee had told Jihan about this, who also suggested the same thing. Therefore, maybe after work would be the right time. It didn’t help that soldiers didn’t even bat an eye at kids’ mental state, completely disregarding it as being ‘overly dramatic’. Jaehee could only hope they didn’t keep this energy towards their own family. Aside from that, a lot was on her mind lately. Zoa had told her and Jihan that she was currently devising a plan with Soojin, one that would surely guarantee escape. She was determined to hold onto that hope for a while, eager to leave sooner or later. Soon enough, lunch began like usual as she searched around for Jihan in the crowd. After bumping and shoving in the sea of kids, they finally spotted each other, holding hands in relief.

“Hey! How are you feeling?” Jaehee smiled asking, which eased her stress a bit. 

Jihan returned the kind gesture before answering. “Little better than yesterday, I suppose.” 

“That’s nice. I still can’t do anything else other than sit in a chair all day.”

“I honestly feel like it’s better that way.”

“Hm, I know.” She pouted, growing tired of being bored at work and doing nothing most of the time. “Anyways, do you want to go get lunch and meet up with the others again?” 

To her surprise, Jihan shook her head. “I’m too tired. All they serve is gruel.” 

“Ugh yeah, then do you wanna hang out in your room?” 

“You can come along if you want. I just want to take a nap, so we might not be able to talk much.” 

Jaehee chuckled and understood completely. “I’ll meet you there after I grab some apple juices?” 

“Sure.” 

They temporarily parted ways as the older girl headed into the cafeteria with only one thing to do. After some bumping into more kids, she grabbed two cartons, then turned around to see Soojin. “Oh, hey unnie.”

“Hi. Wanna come hang out at the table with us?”

“Not today, sorry. Jihan and I are feeling too tired from work, so we’re gonna take lunch time to nap for now.”

“Yeah no of course, that’s fine. Are you feeling alright? I know the job is pretty boring.”

“It’s cool, I can manage.”

“By the way, have you seen Monday anywhere?” 

“Oh, no? I thought she was with you.”

“That’s odd. She’s been looking terrible for weeks.”

“I’ll see if I can go talk to her maybe? Monday unnie might need some company.”

“Y-yeah, I wish I could but Zoa and I still need to make the escape plan….” 

“Don’t worry too much. Do what you need to do.”

Jaehee patted Soojin’s shoulder before walking out and taking the elevator up to the Gold territory. Her room was conveniently across from Monday’s, therefore, they always stuck with each other when heading to the control panel room. Taking a deep breath, Jaehee approached closer and frowned when she noticed the entrance to Monday’s dorm was still open. She cautiously peeked inside out of fear of looking as though she was snooping around. But all of that worry was instantly thrown away when Jaehee saw the older girl sobbing. Without any hesitation, she rushed forward and immediately questioned what was wrong. But to no one's surprise, Monday didn’t really want to say anything, understandably so. Jaehee didn’t think further, instead just silently embraced the older girl to comfort. She thought back to when they introduced themselves for the first time while working at the control panels, Monday’s exact words rewinding again. 

That type of traumatic pain was simply unimaginable, much worse with her own parents’ betrayal. It seemed like they acted without hesitation, how could that even be possible? Due to this, Jaehee’s heart broke every time Monday was scolded by soldiers for, by their accusation, ‘slacking off’. She’d wanted to step up for the older girl, but was too scared of getting punished. Monday seemingly understood and at one point gestured for Jaehee to stay put. Despite it being quite admirable, the pain still hurt like hell. Adult figures these days were practically nonexistent and pretty soon, kids only had to rely on each other and themselves. The two stayed like that for a while, just hugging and letting all of the pain out. Monday leaned on Jaehee’s shoulder, closing her eyes.

“Thanks for this…I needed it.” 

“Of course. It’s what friends do, so no problem at all.” 

“……I just don’t know what I did for this to happen….”

“Hey…you didn’t do anything wrong.” Then she sighed with nothing else to comment. They didn’t realize how long they'd sat there until Jihan was searching around and stumbled in, visibly tired. But soon enough, she read the room. 

“Are you guys alright?” 

“Yeah. Just having a bad day.”

Jaehee simply answered as Jihan also kneeled down to embrace Monday, petting her head. All of them resorted to talking about other things for a distraction, which thankfully helped. They shared their own school stories and such, surprised about not knowing each other before now. Even more so when Jihan and Monday had Mr. Minseo for psychology. This went on for a while and soon, Soojin and Zoa found them fifteen minutes before lunch ended. The friend group went on and on about their own lives, meeting one another, etc. At some point, they had a short debate about the best ice cream flavor, game, social media apps, and more. Just casual things that brought some type of pleasing familiarity for once, and they wouldn’t want it any other way.

Week four, day one. 

Night fell with soldiers rounding up kids for bed. There were lots of unnecessary shoving and pushing them forward, just to show off the ‘power’ they had over them. Clearly insecure about just having big guns to play with while everyone else literally manifested superpowers. Oh the irony. Friends from different territories wished each other goodnight before getting ragdolled away and into their dorms. On the other hand, Soeun simply walked past the crowd and without the soldiers laying their disgusting, bacteria infested hands on her. She reached the dorm and locked it behind before taking a quick shower. Afterwards, Soeun sat at the desk, momentarily thinking to herself. The risks of escaping were endless, so saying it was nerve wracking is an understatement. Compared to the hell they all dealt with here though? Not a chance. Minutes in, Soeun figured it’d be best for them to work together. Tearing out a small piece of tissue paper, she carefully wrote with a stolen pen. Then, with one small peek outside, the coast was clear. Soeun hastily navigated around before finding Zoa’s room at last and knocking, then slipped the note under, wasting no time to hurry back. 

Meanwhile, Zoa had just finished skimming pages filled with notes, scribbles, and drawings, being sure to bookmark any important finds while staying here. Pretty soon, she’d mapped out the entire layout of the camp, distinguishing between each location, thus making it easier to navigate around. Now Zoa just needed to lead the way through and then they’re outside where the electric fences were. Thankfully, Monday and Jaehee could easily disable them. After that they just needed to climb over, making the plan a success. She nodded and smiled after having everything planned. Now, she just had to wait for Soeun’s answer. Not even a minute later there was soft knocking at her door, and she turned around, noticing a small piece of paper sliding into the room. Surprised, Zoa grabbed it and read the message, then chuckled, feeling excited.

I’m in.

P.S. sorry about the other day.

Before anyone could see her, Soeun quickly slipped back into her room, locking it once more. She sighed in relief, taking a deep breath to calm down. Sleep was certainly needed now. Therefore, Soeun took off her slippers to crash in bed, wasting no more time in closing her eyes. Until ten minutes later, someone rudely banged on the door. Why did this have to happen every single time? Groaning, Soeun stomped forward, yanking it open and was about to make the person regret it, only for her to suddenly be shoved aside into the wall. She grew even angrier.

“Hey! The are you do—”

“Please, just let me stay here! I’m in danger.”

“Cool story, now get the hell out of my room!”

“Please, please! Don’t turn me in, let me stay!” 

“I would get in trouble too asshat! Leave already!”

“Sir! I hear something over there.”

Oh, for the love of god. Soeun didn’t have the chance to continue cussing this random girl out when she hid herself in her closet and was forced to deal with some ugly soldiers. Luckily, Soeun beat them to the door, not allowing them entry. “What do you two want?” 

“You have a minute to let us inside? A rogue escapee was last seen in this area so we’re obliged to search around.” 

“Well shoot, you’re not getting that privilege. Ever.” She didn’t let them continue before swiftly gripping their wrists and controlled their minds. “You saw nothing. ”

They both immediately repeated. “We saw nothing….” 

“You’re gonna walk away like nothing happened.” Shortly after, the soldiers complied, leaving just Soeun standing there. Within seconds, she opened the closet and yanked the girl’s arm, causing her to fall onto the ground, groaning in pain as Soeun glared menacingly. “I won’t ask again.”