-

According to the woman with the rough voice, who tells them that her name is Chorong, the definition of a tour is a quick walk past whatever is in view before being sat down and questioned.

The time travelers’ military camp in 1998 sits in the middle of a desolate field with dying grass and dry, sandy winds. Everything is such a quick blur to Kai, from clumps of buildings that look like sleeping dormitories of sorts, to more isolated buildings that look armed and hostile. But there are people who look cheery. They sit on recliners outside in their tattered combat clothes, guns lying on their stomachs, chatting. Kai doesn’t know what to make out of it all.  

Upon closer inspection, Chorong is a beautiful woman with soft-rimmed eyes and a girlish voice. But her harsh spitfire of words and the large guns attached to her waist overshadow that impression. “What year are you guys coming from?” She barks at Kai, Taemin, and Krystal, who sit at a table in a large room with wide windows.

“Uhh… 2013,” Taemin mutters in response.

“Did you start off with just the three of you?” The woman continues.

They don’t answer. Kai glances at Krystal, who stares into space. “I see,” Chorong nods.

The door to the room swings open and a small guy with wide eyes brings in a tray of bowls. “Dinner is served,” the guy says. He places steaming bowls of soup in front of each of them. The smell of the food hits Kai so hard, he wants to drink the soup down right there and then.

“Don’t mind her, she’s just a little hardheaded sometimes,” the man adds lightly. “I’m Kyungsoo, by the way. Dig in, and I’ll lead you guys to the showers once you’re done.”

The comment makes Kai pause his spoon in midair. “Shower..?” Krystal utters. The man named Kyungsoo chuckles and nods.

“If you’ll excuse me, Kyungsoo,” Chorong states, putting her hands on the table and pushing Kyungsoo out of the way. “The time travel pattern changes a little from our point here in 1998. One of our guys will accompany you to your time jump location in the morning, but make sure to rearm and stock up before you go,” she states.

None of them say anything for a bit, absorbed in the hot food. But Krystal raises her question after taking care of half of her bowl. “What are you guys doing here, exactly?” she asks.

Chorongs her eyebrows at Krystal. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re a resistance group. Those hunters kill us, so we kill them. We’re the reason you’re still alive.”

“Stop it Chorong,” Kyungsoo warns.

Kai looks up from his bowl as Krystal shakes her head. “But I don’t understand. What about the time machine? Why is there such a big resistance force here if we’re all traveling back to the time machine?”

Chorong and Kyungsoo exchange glances. “Eventually… eventually we’ll hope to get as many people back to 1983 as we can,” Kyungsoo fumbles.

“It’s not that simple,” Chorong cuts in. “This time traveler hunting is not going to end just by all of us running off into the future. There’s more to it than that. The reason 2030 will become safe for time travelers is because the hunters have been held back. The resistance force has to take up that responsibility. Not every single time traveler will choose to go back in time, as you’ve seen with some of the people you’ve met. Some of us need to stay and fight back.”

Krystal purses her lips. Her face indicates she wants to know more, but Kyungsoo butts in. “If you’re done with dinner, I’m sure you’re craving for a shower,” he offers, and the idea of a shower lulls even Krystal temporarily.

-

Being fed and showered feels too surreal to Kai. He runs his hand through his wet hair and weaves through the camp. A thin guy with small eyes greets him with a smile. “I think your friends are in the weaponry,” he says, pointing.

Kai enters what he figures to be the weaponry. It’s not a huge space, and in one sweep he takes in Taemin a few different types of pistols and Krystal standing uncomfortably over some rifles.

Taemin looks up and acknowledges Kai. He shows Kai a long range pistol in his hand and goes out into a firing range, set up in view just outside the building. The sharp buzz of a gunshot follows soon after, and Kai hates the reality of it, his friend practicing shooting.

Krystal halfheartedly grabs at some odd-looking guns, while Kai just sits down on a wooden bench. Taemin returns and sets the long range pistol down before turning to Krystal. “Kai can teach you how to shoot,” Taemin blurts, and both Kai and Krystal look up at him.

“You should learn from Kai. I learned watching him, too,” Taemin adds on. Krystal turns in Kai’s direction expectantly. With a scratch of his head, Kai shrugs and gets up.

They walk out into the shooting range, leaving Taemin behind inside. That’s when Kai notices Krystal’s jacket. The same one with Jessica’s blood stains on it. He grimaces a little at the brown spots, but Krystal doesn’t notice. She goes and stands in the firing zone, the semi-automatic from 2013 in her hand.

Kai sighs and stands behind her. Her hair is wet from the shower. He puts one hand on her shoulder while his other hand guides her shooting arm up. He adjusts her grip on the gun and trigger, and feels like her fingers are too light and thin for the gun. Still, he holds the gun with her, their arms lined parallel.

“The force of the gunshot is going to rebound on your arm,” Kai says, and he notices how close their faces are. “You really have to brace your whole body, and fight back against that backlash.”

Kai puts pressure on the trigger by pushing his finger down on Krystal’s finger. She tenses in front of him. “Breathe out,” he suggests, “And we’re going to fire in one, two, three…”

The bullet flies across air and slams into a flimsy wooden target. Krystal’s body pushes back into Kai’s but he holds her there. Both of their arms flail slightly, but the first attempt is pretty good.

Kai feels Krystal’s muscles relax. “I wanna try by myself,” Krystal says, and Kai agrees.

He watches her standing there, arm raised and gun pointed. She seems steady and in control, and when she fires, the shot find its place in the wooden target. Other than a small wavering of the firing arm, Krystal seems fine.

“Good job,” Kai remarks.

It takes two tries with the both of them together before Krystal feels ready to use the submachine gun by herself. Sure enough, the torque of the continuous machine rounds pushes Krystal backward into Kai much more forcefully than a single shot pistol. But once she’s used to it, she practices enough to render the flimsy wooden target pretty much useless.

“Thanks,” Krystal mutters as they head back into the weaponry.

Kai barely mumbles a “You’re welcome” under his breath when the guy with the small eyes he saw earlier pokes his head in the building. “Ready to follow me to the sleeping quarters?” the guy says.

The guy introduces himself as Baekhyun. He drops Krystal off in the females section and she disappears into her room without a word to Kai and Taemin. “She must be tired,” Baekhyun remarks. He leads them to a room Kai and Taemin will share.

Kai plops down on his single-sized bed and feels his body relax in bliss. “You know,” he mentions to Taemin, who climbs into his own bed, “You could have taught her to shoot just as easily.”

Taemin lets out a grunt. “I can’t even talk to her straight without wanting to strangle myself,” Taemin grumbles back, turning to his side and covering his face from Kai’s view. “Do me a favor Kai. If any of us ever gets killed again, really, do both of us a favor and don’t let it be you.”

Kai’s expression hardens. He feels his hands ball up into fists. “I don’t know what you mean, but I’d rather not talk about that kind of thing,” he retorts.

“We have to,” Taemin grumbles. “Because I can’t ever hold her hand if we have to time travel just the two of us. When I look at Krystal all I can think of is her sister’s death. She acts like she’s okay, but you know she’s not. She won’t be able to hold it in if she’s left with just me. She might be able to, if she’s left with you. Keep that in mind Kai.”

Kai shuts out the lights and leans himself back into the soft mattress. But his muscles don’t loosen. He’s not sure if Taemin is right. But he doesn’t really want to prove him either right or wrong.

-

Thank you everyone for reading and commenting~

If you guys haven't noticed, I sort of have a thing for cameos ^^

Saw this picture on Tumblr today...