“They’re back!”, Wooyoung exclaimed as he spotted a red car driving towards them. He leaned forward, furrowing his brows and squinting his eyes. “Yup, I see them!”, he added as he stepped aside, pushing the others a little behind him to make way for the vehicle.

The car skidded to a stop just a few metres away from them with Hoseok being sure to keep some distance from the route of the machine that was now making its way from the left side to the right side of the barrier, almost at the edge. He looked with pity at the state of the region around him; the line of stores, the gym, and a few buildings next to the gym and just behind the stores, were all nowhere to be seen, completely melted and dissolved into nothingness by the machine’s disastrous liquid.

While Hoseok turned off the car, Yeosang fled out from his seat, sick of the awful smell of the fresh blood. He slammed the door shut and coughed into the cavity of his folded arm, frowning in disgust. He suppressed the urge to throw up as Wooyoung pulled him into a hug – the smell of blood, along with the smell of that reeking creature and the grim river was just too much for him.

Suddenly, all eyes turned back to the car as the door to the backseat swung open, revealing a familiar head of hair. The figure tilted his neck from side to side, shaking off the nerves from having to sit in a car stained with blood. Breathing out heavily, he turned around and flashed a soft smile to the others. “Hey.”

“Minho-hyung, what the hell are you doing here?”, Changbin asked immediately, not at all worried about why they seemed so distressed getting out of the car.

“I’m here to beat your , you pathetic-” Minho paused midway through his thought, letting his eyes trail over each person standing on the other side of the car. He dismissed the feeling of concern as he saw Soobin with his crutches and Jungeun upset in her place, as well as the policeman with the rifle. Finally, he let his gaze linger on a certain someone – Han Jisung.

“You!”, he yelled with pure rage and a hint of affection. He rushed over to the younger, forcing a hug as he kissed the top of Jisung’s head. “I swear I will kill you if you leave me like that, Jisung!”

There was clearly some terrible reasoning between the partners in relationships, desperately wanting to kill their lover in case of betrayal.

“Hyung, s-sorry! I just didn’t want to cause you any trouble!”, Jisung was quick to apologise, snuggling closer to the other, relishing in the warmth of the cardigan despite the sunlight shining on them. He wished he didn’t have to shift his head to look at the policeman, but he couldn’t help it, yet he was relieved to not see any expression of disgust or annoyance.

“Cause me any trouble, my ! I will haunt every single one of you if any of you were to die in fighting against this mess.” Minho certainly had a strange way of showing his care towards the others. He cleared his throat as he pulled away from the hug, ruffling Jisung’s hair one last time, before turning his full attention towards the others.

Hoseok was out of the car too, but he had an aura of anxiousness around him as he peeked through the windows, still at unease from the sight.

“Oh my God, there’s blood!”

Hoseok flinched at Jungkook’s surprisingly loud voice; he nodded slowly and began to explain what might have happened that led to this, constantly looking at Yeosang and Minho for any signs of discomfort. He felt responsible for having put any of them in anguish.

“Oh, .” Taehyun finally spoke up. He reluctantly walked out of Beomgyu’s hold, making his way towards the car. He observed the interior for a moment, then proceeded to look at the position of the machine and the enclosed area of the barrier. He saw the machine creeping towards the right, demolishing a row of buildings as it kept moving. He looked over his shoulder and saw the empty plot of land where the gym used to be.

“Taehyun? Is everything alright?”, Yeonjun asked as he tried to read the suspicious look on the other’s face. He knew that Taehyun was taking far too much on his shoulders, and he wished he could somehow help calm him down.

“Give me a rough estimate of the number of people who are in the two buildings.”

At that, Soobin and Minho began to discuss amongst themselves, nodding once in a while as they began to calculate an approximate number.

“Well, including me, there’s twenty-four of us here. As for the buildings, perhaps a little over hundred?”, Minho started off, looking at the others for confirmation. He turned towards Soobin, who was still lost in his own thoughts. “I mean, this started yesterday afternoon, and most people were at school or at work, so most of the flats were empty, except for a few… I suppose all of them did evacuate into the two buildings at the far end, or at least that’s what the securities told me.”

“Right.” Taehyun cleared his throat, once again letting his eyes linger on the towering buildings next to the gym and the faintly visible top of the tall edifice closest to the edge of the barrier; he prayed that the desperate survivors weren’t already moving into that off-white apartment building. He breathed out in frustration, looking at the others with serious eyes.

“Whatever happened with the car must’ve happened with those who were still in the buildings and offices, those who weren’t able to enter the barrier. T-They must’ve been pressed back too, and of course, most of them must have escaped the buildings as the barrier approached them. But… , someone needs to check and make sure that no one goes into the building just by the barrier. There’s definitely going to be blood, and people are going to panic and it’ll just be a big mess. , this is not happening, this is not-”

“Tae!”, Beomgyu yelled to interrupt the other’s dangerous thoughts. “Stop. We get it. Even though the sun’s still out, try and calm down, okay?”

Soyeon stepped forward, her arms crossed and her voice calm and controlled as she spoke: “Okay, let’s split up temporarily. Yuqi and I will go and make sure that everyone skips that off-white building and waits until the barrier encloses more buildings. We’ll make sure that the people outside the barrier move away too, s-somehow…”

“Fair enough. Jungkook-hyung and I will go and make sure that the buildings by the gym are clear too. Meanwhile, I suppose Kai can start to train his power, but keep distance from the river and the machine. Just try burning up a towel or something…”, Yeonjun said as he let go of Soobin’s hand. He looked at Kai with a soft smile, before noticing Jungeun still shaking with terror. “Wait… Jungeun-noona, c-could you your sleeves?”

At that, Jungeun lifted her head with suspicious eyes. “Excuse me?”

“Oh,