“What the hell happened here?!?”, Soobin yelled as he avoided walking his crutches over the broken pieces of glass and cement on the floor. He turned his head from side to side, counting the number of people in the room, and he realised that Jungeun wasn’t the only one missing.

“Why are you two here?!? G-Get out of here!”, Jungkook cried out as he turned around with wide, teary eyes. He was the first to break out of the bafflement, while the others continued staring at the destroyed wall and the splintered window. He was always quick with his reflexes, and he knew that he needed to get everyone out of here.

He nodded towards the policeman, before pulling the others out of their daze. “We need to get out of here!”, he yelled as he dragged Kai and Beomgyu by their arms, pushing them towards the door that was being held open by the police officer; Taehyun and Hoseok followed just after them. He then reached out and grabbed Jisung’s shoulders, turning him around immediately and gesturing him to leave, which caused Seungmin and Changbin to follow.

“No! No, let me go! We need to save her! We need to rescue her!”, Haseul screamed as she struggled to stand by the window, her eyes wide and shaking. She glanced to her side and saw Yuqi and Soyeon following after Yeosang, Wooyoung and San. She tried to shake off Jungkook’s hands off, leaning towards the window, her eyes never leaving the monstrous slime.

Eventually, Haseul was pushed out of the house, thanks to the nurses’ help. The others were still stunned and startled by what happened so early in the morning; they hunched forward, their knees struggling to stay still from the frightening sight. On the other hand, Soobin and Felix were already out of the building, ignoring the policeman’s loud calls, chasing after Yeonjun who had run away through a hole in the wall of the living room.

“Soobin, you don’t have to come! I’ll go and get him!”, Felix advised as he noticed how the other hissed and flinched with every step.

“No!” Soobin forced himself to keep heading straight, trying not to stumble over the uneven road. He widened his eyes as he spotted the machine at the circumference of the barrier, which meant that it would rotate and head back to the right side. He looked back in front of him, frowning in pain and sorrow at the sight of Yeonjun running helplessly towards the river and the slime. “Yeonjun-hyung!”, he yelled at the top of his lungs, feeling exhausted and frightened all at once. As he made eye contact with Yeonjun who finally turned around for a second, he yelled again, “Hyung, please come back!”

Soobin suddenly felt a tug on his shirt; he looked behind his back and saw the policeman dragging Felix back to where the others were assembled, equally as distressed as anyone. He knew he was next – the officer would pull him back too, but Soobin couldn’t go back, not without Yeonjun. He began to sprint forward despite his crutches slowing him down, keeping his gaze fixed on his best friend who stopped in his tracks.

“Soobin, don’t follow me!”, Yeonjun screamed with his fists closed at his sides. He stepped backward, flinching as he heard the enormous slime’s flexible limbs swish around, the claws clanging together and eliciting harsh sounds. He was about to turn and continue chasing the nearest limb, wanting to be swallowed – it was a risk, it was a dreadful thought, but he knew that he would need to be within the body of the slime in order to rescue Jungeun. He in a deep breath, ready to repeat his words to Soobin, when he felt his heart skip a beat out of fear.

Soobin tripped over a slab of cement, falling with his face to the ground, his body shaking vigorously in pain as he struggled to push himself up, his crutches out of his reach. He winced at the stinging, aching pain that surged throughout his body. He lifted his head up and looked at Yeonjun desperately, wishing for him to return.

That desperate look was more than enough.

Yeonjun abandoned all of his thoughts; he raced back, jumping over bricks and accompanying bushes, his legs and his arms moving swiftly as he tried to regain his breath. “Soobin!”, he screamed as he approached the other in a few seconds.

Crouching down, he hesitated for a moment, unsure of where to hold Soobin, but gradually got his best friend on his back. He began jogging back to where the others continued standing helplessly, the policeman carrying Soobin’s fallen crutches.

“Yeonjun-hyung, you can’t j-just leave us, leave me like that!”, Soobin uttered out in between uneven breaths, hiding his bruised face. He didn’t have to touch his face or look at a mirror to know that he had blood, cuts and wounds all over his forehead and his cheeks, yet he couldn’t compare the pain of his heavy heart to his injured face.

They stopped near the building, panting heavily, beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads and their necks. The nurses began to count the people, letting out sighs of relief as they managed to have everyone together – everyone but Jungeun.

“I’ll go and get her.”, the policeman said as he tightened his hold against the rifle he carried with him. He began to march forward, his steps wide and stable on the ground. He looked at the slime carefully, searching for a weak point – but he was clueless.

“Wait! I’m coming too!”, Kai volunteered as he ran after the officer. He looked behind him and reassured the others that he would be fine, just with a simple look in his eyes. He turned around and followed the policeman towards the river. He in a deep breath as he scanned his surroundings; the debris from the destructed part of the building lay on the empty ground, but the damaged remains of the row of stores were no longer visible to the eye due to the liquid dissolving away all that was left, leaving behind nothing but eroded roads. He looked over his shoulder; the machine was almost done with its journey to the left, almost at the circumference.

Soon enough, Kai and the officer slowed their movements; they didn’t want to get too close to the river, both of them equally fearful of the chances of death, or worse, the feeling of death while being trapped within a bizarre creature.

Kai cleared his throat and screamed at the top of his lungs: “Jungeun-noona! Grab anything sharp near you! A rod, a rod will do! Poke the gland! Poke the gland until you see a slit! Jungeun-noona, can you hear me?!?” He felt the fire within him spark rapidly, and he looked at his tattoo with a frown; if only he could control it and rescue Jungeun.

The latter was as still as a log, stuck within the gooey bulk of the monstrous slime. The awful stench made her dizzy, and the lack of air suffocated her tremendously. She couldn’t move her body, and only her eyes moved around to spot a sharp object among several pieces of concrete and cement as well as clustered dirt and wooden branches. She could hear Kai’s muffled voice, but it was enough, more than enough to remind her that she was alive. She couldn’t help the sudden rush of adrenaline as she reached out with difficulty, feeling her fingers slightly touch the tip of a glass shard. She tried again, pushing and stretching out her arm, trying to at least pinch the shard.

Suddenly, she felt a throbbing pain in her head, before she began to see spots of black and grey all around her. She was going to see the same darkness that Kai experienced and mentioned in the live video. Hesitantly, she inched her body closer to the shard – she finally grabbed hold of it.

As soon as her fingers wrapped around the pointed shard, her limbs felt freer and relaxed. She whipped her head to the side, seeing the gland just a few inches away from her. She tried not to throw up at the disgusting