She’s definitely not in love or anything, but she sure likes to have Seungwan’s undivided attention. It’s weird because she doesn’t know her at all. Maybe it’s just how Seungwan is, or maybe it's the situation they are in. Yet, she doesn’t grasp why Seungwan is being so nice to her without needing to. The girl saved her not once, not twice but multiple times in a few hours, so it’s not like she owes Joohyun anything. However, Joohyun isn’t complaining.

 

“So, I don’t know how to say this…” Joohyun starts, but Seungwan raises her hand.

 

“Then, don’t. You don’t need to thank me.”

 

“I have to.”

 

“No, you don’t. I mean it, Joohyun.”

 

Joohyun nods, her lips forming a thin line.

 

“Don’t you want to come with us? It’ll be safer.” Joohyun says instead, rubbing her arms while shrinking. She looks smaller than she already is, and Seungwan finds that cute.

 

Seungwan seems hesitant like she wants to say yes.

 

“I…”

 

“Wen, we are going now.” Joy interrupts, fasting a jacket around her.

 

Seungwan redirects her gaze to Joohyun, smiling apologetically.

 

“I just… can’t. I have this thing to do. I’m sorry.”

 

“It’s okay. You do you. I’ll… leave you to it now. I’m glad we met.”

 

She slowly walks away, feeling the urge to turn around and look at her savior one last time. She doesn’t. She can’t. However, Seungwan startles her, almost hugging her from behind.

 

“Hey, I forgot you didn’t have a sweater. I found you this one.”

 

Joohyun lets Seungwan put the sweater above her arms, sliding them inside. Once in place, Seungwan looks away, audible breathing filling the silence between them. Seungwan lingers her hand on Joohyun’s shoulder, and, for Joohyun, that’s more than enough. They part ways almost as they don’t want to, which Joohyun thinks it’s nonsensical and she’s imagining it.

 

This time, she turns around only after Seungwan disappears behind a curtain.

 

A blonde girl walks past her and towards her parents, talking to Jongin and Seulgi. She looks oddly familiar to Joohyun, so she tries to remember where she has seen her. Taeyeon, she remembers. It’s the activist girl that opposes The Purge too. She was on the news not long ago. She doesn’t think it’s just a coincidence they ended up there, it looks more like destiny the more she thinks about it.

 

Taeyeon is already speaking to her parents when she gets there, and she waits in silence for them to finish. She listens with a sense of urgency.

 

“I hope you know I don’t approve of what you do outside,” Siwon says, still in senator’s mode.

 

“You don’t need to. We do what we need to survive.”

 

She sounds firm for a young girl, with emphasis on the young. She looks around her age, and watching her talking to her dad like they are of the same age is uncanny.

 

They keep talking about things she doesn’t fully understand, but they soon hear something. It sounds like footsteps but louder. Then, nothing.

 

Taeyeon runs towards the basement principal entrance, only to cover herself behind a wall when the roller shutter door starts to look like a piece of swiss cheese. Taeyeon’s armed forces, including Jongin and Seulgi, shoot back, taking cover behind whatever they find. She can’t find Seungwan, but she watches as Chen risks his life to put the wounded in a safe place.

 

“Common, Joohyun, we have to leave.” Her mother says, getting her out of her stupor and dragging her for the back door Taeyeon showed them a few minutes back. Tiffany goes at the front with Siwon right behind him, looking around to make sure no one’s at the back exit.

 

They roll on the floor to pass through the metallic door without making a noise. Once outside, Tiffany scoots the area again, signaling for them to keep going. There are three ambulances outside and two cars obstructing the way, but they walk amongst them, holding their breath. Tiffany almost hits her head when one of the ambulances’ doors opens in a sudden move.

 

Seungwan’s head peeps, looking at them.

 

“We are going back to the store,” she explains, not knowing why she needs to tell them anything.

 

Joy’s on the copilot seat, looking at the back door. Chen rolls out of it too, followed by Seulgi and Jongin. The tallest one is bleeding, limping towards them with Seulgi’s help.

 

“Seungwan, I need help.”

 

In the distance, they think the encounter ended, because the fire suddenly stops.

 

“Get him in the back,” Seungwan instructs.

 

A shot resounds through the place. A group is nearing them, and Seungwan’s friends jump inside the ambulance.

 

“What are you waiting for?” She then yells to Joohyun and her parents. “Get inside now!”

 

It takes Tiffany a second to push them all inside the ambulance, but Joohyun is out of his range. She’s going to get her, but Seungwan accelerates, leaving Joohyun behind unintentionally. Siwon tries to jump when he notices, but Tiffany tackles him, closing one of the doors.

 

Joohyun stays in place, covering herself behind another ambulance. It takes her a second to realize her mistake. A knife cuts from the back to her abdomen, and she thinks she’s dying. The man takes the knife out to strike again, but a bullet perforates his forehead before he has the opportunity. He drops the knife and collapses backward.

 

“Hey, hey, look at me!” Joohyun recognizes Seungwan’s voice immediately, but her vision is stained by black specks. It reminds her of pointillism.

 

It’s possible the knife cut through something important because Joohyun can’t think of anything that hurts that much. Blood pours out, tarnishing Joohyun’s new sweater. The white shirt she’s using below is not any better.

 

“, you’re bleeding so much.”

 

Joohyun might be dying, but she hears a trace of panic in the girl’s voice, which makes her panic in return. It’s Seungwan now who takes her blue long sleeve shirt off, applying pressure with it to the wound. The EMT stands with only her top in front of her, but she doesn’t seem to care. Maybe, in another situation, Joohyun would have been nervous, but the urgency of the situation erases anything that could have been hot.

 

“You’re going to be okay,” the girl reassures her, crossing her arms below Joohyun’s head and knees. Joohyun whimpers, and the tears wet Seungwan’s torso. It’s a chilly night, so Seungwan shivers, but she doesn’t care as long as she manages to save Joohyun. “Hold this.”

 

Joohyun does as she’s told, but her strength is diminished by now.

 

Jongin has already killed the rest of the purgers when she gets back to the ambulance. Siwon and Yoona are waiting, helping her to get Joohyun in the back of the ambulance. She gets in too, and Seulgi replaces her as the driver. Tiffany pulls the door down and goes to hover over the front of the vehicle, assessing the streets.

 

“Chen, hand me the gauze over. And some water, anything you can find to clean this thing.”

 

She looks terrified, because, deep down, she feels it’s her fault Joohyun is in that state.

 

“Is she going to be okay?” Yoona’s voice trembles.

 

Seungwan rinses the wound with water, looking at the extent of the wound. It doesn’t look that deep, and it doesn’t seem like the knife cut through an organ. However, it is not enough for her to feel relief.

 

“I… don’t know. I just,” she’s out of breath like she has been running a marathon or worse. “I can’t let her die.”

 

If it sounds weird, Yoona doesn’t say anything. However, Joy doesn’t miss the edge of her words. Seungwan works relentlessly, under the Baes’ watch. The bleeding has stopped now, but Joohyun doesn’t seem to be waking up anytime soon. It’s a bad signal, but she doesn’t have time to dwell on that because the shooting starts again. Everyone quickly throws themselves to the floor, except for Seulgi and Jongin who are in the front, trying to cover themselves. Seungwan pulls Joohyun’s body to the floor too, hiding her under the stretcher when she realizes the shooting is coming from above. The double layer of metal they used to reinforce the ambulance diverts some of the bullets, but not all. Yoona is half under the scratcher and half out, and one of the bullets catches her leg. A car appears out of nowhere, hitting them sideways. The ambulance doesn’t fall over, but it’s enough to send them against a row of shattered cars. The impact deforms the side of the vehicle, stopping them altogether.

 

There’s so much noise and Seungwan’s is disoriented. Her gun fell somewhere inside the ambulance, but she can’t seem to find it. The doors open, and a group of mercenaries (she knows because of the type of weapons they are using) drags the senator by his leg. The senator screams, scratching the metallic floor with his nai