“Sohyun-ah.”  Haeyoung caught her in the hallway right when she was about to enter her bedroom.  He approached her, his expression still holding on to the scene of the dinner table, at the same time trying to smile.  “I meant to tell you.  The forbidden zone we went into a few days ago—something incredible happened!”

“Really?” Sohyun finally looked interested in what her brother had to say.  Not because it was him but maybe she could get more answers about the ring she found.  “Like what?”

“Anything outside the safety zones are pretty much dead; you saw how there was hardly anything living in the forest.  But now, there is green grass, blossoming flowers, trees with leaves, it’s beautiful I heard.”

“…really.” She spoke more seriously, and descended into her room ending the conversation her older brother started.  Sohyun took her small cell phone from her pocket and dialed quickly.  Ilhoon picked up.

“Hello?”
“Yah, where are you?”

“Yah? Sohyun, how many times do I have to keep telling you to stop speaking to your sunbae so impolitely?”
“Yah, you were born in October, I was born in August.”
“Really?”
“Yah, something important came up.”
Ilhoon held back and refrained from straining his voice too much so Sohyun wouldn’t detect how annoyed he became over  the lack of formalities they had with each other.
“What came up?”

Sohyun was rummaging through her drawers, scoping out an item while she explained to Ilhoon what happened and what they planned to do.

“You want to sneak out of the Safety zone?” Ilhoon asked.  “That’s a bit difficult, Sohyun.”
“Found it!”  She snatched out a flashlight with a cartoon character design.  “Ilhoon, we need to go tonight.”

It’d been two days since their run in with the bird creature.  Sohyun kept her distance from Ilhoon because she knew the two were liabilities toward each other in their own ways, but they kept in contact through phone calls and text messages.  The reception was getting worse over time; it would be soon that the network for connection died all over Asia.  Everyone had to use their resources quickly and carefully.

“Sohyun…” Ilhoon’s voice was calm over the receiver.  Had he been having the conversation face to face with Sohyun she would see the disdained look on his face.  “Government officials are the only people who have access outside the Safety zone.  How do you plan on even getting past the gate?”

Sohyun smiled, and Ilhoon could imagine the expression on her face that gave him bad precognitions.  “My brother~ Get your bike and meet me at the school.  Hurry.”