"Ugh, my aching back," Jimin groaned as he sat up, looking around with a pained expression. 

The girls all turned towards him, glad that the guys were all waking up, but we knew where our priorities were. We rushed over to Hongbin who seemed to still be in a bit of a daze, laying on the foliage and blinking as he looked around. 

"Honbin, are you okay?" I asked, putting my palm to his chest to check for any irregular heartbeat.

"Binnie, you aren't hurt are you?" Hyeri asked worriedly.

"I've got the aspirin," Dasom chimed in.

"Hey, what about us?" Taehyung groaned, holding his chest as he sat up.

"Yeah, we're hurt, too," JHope winced at the ache in his body. 

"You're big boys. You can handle yourself," Hyeri retorted, helping Hongbin sit up and offering him her water bottle. "Quit whining and start celebrating instead."

"Why?" Hongbin said wearily, looking up at Hyeri as he took a sip.

Hyeri smiled widely and nodded towards Dasom. "Miss Dasom over there just got claimed by the goddess Demeter herself. How about showing a fellow demigoddess a little love?"

Dasom blushed lightly, feeling a bit embarrassed the attention was being turned over to her. "I-It's nothing really. I'm just happy I've been claimed..."

"Congrats, Dasom!" Jimin cheered, tackling her with a big hug.

The others began chiming in and congratulating her as well. I smiled and suddenly remembered that the kids were still in the barrier. Deciding not to bother Dasom right now, I grabbed Jimin's sword and headed over to the pile of thorns.

"Cover your heads, kids," I shouted before I began hacking away at the dried thorns. It began to slowly chipping away, but the barrier only replenished itself after I harmed it. I sighed. I may need Dasom after all. "Hold on, kids. I'll be right back." I lightly batted one of the branches from the barrier and it bursted into flames turning into ashes in an instant. The kids stared at me, blinking with their mouths slightly agape. I smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"That," Yoogeun began speaking. "Was so cool! Do it again!"

"Again! Again!" Ilayda cheered, clapping her hands.

I sighed with relief that they weren't judging me and chuckled. "I don't think I can. I don't know how I even did it in the first place. Now, let's get you two back to the group."

"Race you there!" Yoogeun laughed and bolted.

"Hey, wait up!" Ilayda whined, beginning to take after him.

"Oh, wait. Ilayda, here's your bracelet back," I said as I shook the whip, turning it back to its former bracelet form. 

Ilayda stared at it and pursed her lips. "Mm, you keep it."

"Wh-what? Why?" I asked.

She smiled and looked up at me. "Because you need it more than I do. I don't really know how to use it yet, but I think I can learn just by watching you like I did a while ago. You can give it back to me after exams, though."

"Are you sure?" I asked, brows cinching together.

She nodded her head confidently. "I've never been so sure," she giggled before taking off after Yoogeun, tackling him down as she reached the group.

I smiled as I watched her small back disappear into the group of college students. For a child, she spoke like a wise, old woman. I put the bracelet on my wrist and shook Jimin's sword, reverting it back to its red pen form before walking back to the ground. Everyone was repacking their belongings, reviewing plans and preparing to move on. I patted Jimin's shoulder, catching his attention before dropping the pen into his hand. He squeaked softly, his face twisting in horror as he looked up at me. 

"What did you do to Cupid?" He asked, examining every bit of it before clicking it and turning it back into a sword, gasping even louder at the sight of it. "Why are there so many dings? What did you do to my baby?"

"Chill, Jimin," Hyeri said, patting his shoulder as she whispered teasingly. "We put Cupid to good use. Let's get going, guys."

Jimin sighed in despair, his shoulders slumping in defeat as he pouted and continued babying his sword before eventually turning it back into a pen and shoving it in his pockets. I felt a bit bad, but Cupid did help out a lot. Dasom returned the gun to Yoogeun who patted her back again in congratulations, causing her to lurch forward, wincing at the stinging pain his pat left on her back. Meanwhile I fell in step with my two favorite guys in the school, Taehyung and JHope. I teased them for the lack of skills in dodging, which JHope agreed to while Taehyung disagreed. The two began to bicker about it while I stood in between, chuckling at their argument. Meanwhile, Hyeri and Jimin walked ahead of the group, leading the way. The two were quiet until Hyeri cleared and spoke up. 

"Um, thanks for helping me back there," she said softly, rubbing the nape of her neck.

"I'm sorry what?" Jimin asked, his ears perking up at the phrase.

"I'm not repeating what I said," Hyeri growled, her brow twitching in irritation.

"Did you just say," a grin grew across his face. "Thank you to me?"

"La, la, la, I can't hear you!" Hyeri shouted, covering her ears and speeding ahead.

Jimin grinned goofily and caught up to her, circling around her as he tried to make eye contact even though she avoided it every time. "Come on, say it again! It's not that hard. Just say, 'thank you, Jiminnie for saving my life. I love you!' Come on!" Jimin teased, bouncing around.

"Screw off, Park," Hyeri retorted, stepping the other way to avoid him. "I shouldn't even have to thank you." She mumbled softly under her breath. "You had me worried sick."

Jimin's grin slowly softened into a heartfelt smile as he walked normally by her side again. He glanced at Hyeri who was now looking the other way to avoid eye contact. He quietly slipped his hand into hers and to his surprise, she didn't pull away. While everyone was distracted with each other, talking and playing around as we journeyed, Jimin brought her hand to his lips, pressing a soft and lingering kiss on it before letting their intertwined hands fall to his side again. 

As high noon set in, we were soon deep into the woods. Everyone was tired out and just a bit bored, but our spirits were high. We were making progress, and we hadn't met a monster for a while now. Suddenly, Jimin stepped on a wired and immediately flew into the air, tumbling head over heels as a net wrapped around him.

"Oh, what the fu-" He shouted.

"Jimin, the kids!" Hyeri scolded.

"Fudge nuggets," he finished his sentence, looking down at her. "Happy?" Hyeri nodded in reply.

"Where did this come from?" Dasom asked as she slowly put Ilayda, who had been riding on her shoulders, down.

"Dasom?" A masculine voice perked up. The culprits behind the trap soon revealed themselves, bringing a smile to everyone's faces.

"Suga! Rapmon!" Dasom cheered, running towards them and hugging both of them tightly. Her cheerful manner soon turned to tears as she cried. "I thought I lost you! I mean, I did, but- I would've died in the desert if Hyeri didn't find me."

Rapmon petted her head and nodded before turning to us. "Thanks for taking care of her. I don't know what my sister would've done if I lost her."

"Hey, not to intrude on this sweet moment and all, but my blood is rushing to my head," Jimin complained, waving his arms about.

"Good, you need it," Hyeri teased. "It'll finally help get some brain activity going in there."

"Hey! Rude," Jimin pouted as Rapmon went to cut him down, yelping in surprise before hitting the ground with a loud thud. 

Meanwhile, Suga held Dasom by her shoulders as he checked her over worriedly. "You're not hurt right? Did you eat okay? Drink enough water?" He asked, looking for any signs of wounds.

Dasom shook her head lightly with a sweet smile. "Nope. Actually, something really cool happened while I was gone."

"What happened?"

She beamed proudly, clasping her hands together as she cheered. "I got claimed by Demeter!"

"What? Really?" Suga asked, his confused expression soon changing to one of cheerfulness as he smiled widely, patting Dasom's shoulder in congratulations. "Congratulations, Dasom! That's great."

Dasom cheered, bouncing slightly as she hugged Suga. "Thank you," she said, still bouncing excitedly. Suga's smile fades as his jaw dropped. Dasom had let go by now, but Suga still stood there, awestruck. As she walked away to tell to Rapmon, who had already heard and began congratulating her, Suga cleared his throat and fixed the beanie sitting on his head before straightening up, reverting back to his usual self. 

"All right. All right. Enough with the reuniting and cheering. There's something we need to get straight," Taehyung chimed in, quirking a brow. "How are we going to get out of this stupid exam?"

"I think that's what we all want to know," Rapmon replied as he stepped up to the middle of the group. "I say we group up and move along. Maybe if we explore the rest of the map, we'll get somewhere. Plus, with more of us, we'll have an advantage over the monsterous obstacles ahead." 

Taehyung nodded along and soon everyone began whispering and agreeing. JHope smiled and held out a thumbs up. "We're counting on you to lead the way then, Pres!"

"M-me?" Rapmon looked a bit taken back by the selection. "Are you sure?" We all nodded in reply and a grin grew across Rapmon's face. He shrugged. "W-well, if you say so, I guess. Follow me then." He chuckled and turned, leading the way as he gestured for us to follow along.

The boys led the way with Rapmon, hacking away at foliage that got in the way. Meanwhile the girls stayed behind and chattered, watching over the two kids who were busy playing around and messing with each other. While everyone seemed to be content and happy with our search for the exit, something stood out to me. Rapmon's expressions were sending me mixed signals. He would look one way and then the other with a confused expression before pointing one way and grinning confidently. Was he okay? 

As the hours dragged on, everyone became quiet, exhausted from their travels. Rapmon was still leading the way, and I soon became too bothered to keep quiet. "Rapmon, I don't mean to question where your leading us, but... where are you leading us?" I furrowed my brows, looking around. It felt as if we had gone around in a big circle. I sighed and frustratingly smacked a leaf that was protruding from a large plant and poking at me. 

Rapmon chuckled nervously and turned around to face the group, a guilty expression on his face. "W-we've been traveling west, right?"

We all stood there, blinking quietly in confusion. No one really knew how to react, but looking over to Suga, I could tell his temper was being tested. "You," Suga grumbled. "Hercules, I knew something was off when we let Rapmon lead the way." He tapped his foot angrily and rubbed his face with his hand. "Rapmon has a terrible sense of direction. A louse could've led the way better. Why did we let him lead?"

Rapmon shrugged and continued grinning. "Sorry, guys. Didn't mean to mislead you. I just thought I should prove myself as class president, but this probably wasn't the greatest time."

Everyone began to grumble and complain. Though the children and I kept quiet. Something felt a bit off. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. "Guys," I said softly. "Guys!" I spoke a little louder to make sure I could be heard of all the arguing. Everyone went quiet and turned their attention towards me. "Look, Rapmon. You don't have to prove anything. You're a great class president. Look at you. You've spent so much time doing your presidential duty, you've barely had time to spend with your friends, let alone train yourself and your sense of direction. So lets all lay off of him, all right? Now that that's cleared up." I looked around suspiciously. "Does something feel off to you guys?"

Most of the others shook their heads, looking at me as if I were crazy. Suga, Rapmon, and Dasom, however, seemed to have the same idea as I did. Rapmon's instincts and abilities began to show through as the soft crackle of static could be heard all around. Suga's eyes became pitch black as he melted into the shadows for a split second before coming back, a pissed expression on his face. Dasom rubbed her arms as goosebumps appeared on her skin, and before long, her fearful expression changed to one of worry.

"There's someone else here," she gasped, looking around before backing up. 

The boys gathered around the girls protectively, looking around for potential enemies. Soon there were darts raining down around them. The children were screaming in a panic while everyone else held their ground, hands on their weapons and prepared to attack at anything time. 

"Who's there?" Taehyung growled. "Show yourself!"

"Peekaboo!" A feminie voice perked up as the darts stopped raining. A girl's torso and head soon swung down from the branches above us as she peaked out under the tree leaves, a grin on her face. She had a sweet and lovely face but the glint in her eye reminded me of the ever-so-mischievous Jeongguk. 

"Who... Who are you?" Dasom questioned.

JHope squinted at the girl before clicking his tongue and shaking his head. "Hayi. It's Hayi. She lives in the Hermes dorm because she's been unclaimed since she arrived years ago."

The girl giggled and winked at him. "Bingo! And poo, you caught us."

"Us?" Jimin quirked a brow.

"Us!" Jeongguk added as he swung down from the branches as well, hanging like a monkey as he laughed. "You guys should've seen your faces! You were all scared and Jimin looked like he was about to pee in his pants."

"H-Hey now-" Jimin replied, blushing lightly. "Let's not."

Everyone sighed and slumped down on the ground, looking up at the two jokesters with a unamused expressions. We were all exhausted and tired from wandering all day, the last thing we wanted to deal with was teenagers who had too much time on their hands. Rapmon, however, looked the most pissed out of all of us. 

"Jeongguk, why are you and Hi not with your group?" Rapmon asked in a serious tone. "You know you'll get in trouble if they catch you two fooling around."

"Chill out, Rapmon," Hayi said with a smile, flipping as she jumped out of the branches and onto the ground. "We finished a long time ago."

"You finished?" We all asked in unison, stupified. 

"Yuppers! We finished two days after exams started. We just came back because the academy is boring and we wanted to play around some more on the maps," Jeongguk nodded as if it were reasonable explanation. He jumped over the branches and rolled along the ground before standing up and brushing himself off. 

"How the hell did you guys get out in two days?" Suga asked. "I'm amazed your team even knew where to start. They have you two on the team afterall."

"Offense taken," Hayi said sassily, putting a hand up and scoffing. She grinned and stood up straight, confident. "I knew the way out.

"How?" Taehyung spoke up.

"The day before the exam, someone had slipped a weird note into my locker. I was kind of iffy about it but I took it with me anyway. Our leader kind of gave up on the first day when he found out Jeongguk and I were on his team," she giggled playfully, remembering how her leader had fallen apart before exams even started. He couldn't believe the two jesters of the school were on his team. 

"We showed him the note that had the map to the exit on it, and he was so desperate, he gave it a shot," Jeongguk continued. 

"And it worked!" Hayi snapped her fingers, laughing softly. "You end the exam by getting to a temple for Nike. It was really hard to find even though we knew the way."

Jeongguk scrunched his nose and nodded in agreement. "There were a ton of monsters guarding it and the entire temple was covered in vines and other plants."

Taehyung pressed his tongue to his cheek, listening intently before and interrupted the two's story telling. "Where exactly is the temple?"

Hayi began to laugh and so did Jeongguk. The two laughed boisterously for a few minutes while we all continued to stare at them, unsure of what was so funny. 

"Hayi," Taehyung said in a more serious tone as he stood up, taking her by the shoulders. "Where. Is. The. Temple?"

Hayi placed a fist to her lips to surpress her laughter as she pointed behind him. "In the opposite jungle. The temple's hidden in the jungle."

Taehyung froze. Our hearts all dropped at her words. We had been heading the wrong way this entire time. Now we had to go back to where we started. I wasn't sure if my sanity could stand another trip back through all those maps we passed. The kids soon began crying and clinging to Dasom as they sobbed. 

"I want to go home!" Ilayda whined, crying into Dasom's shirt.

"I hate exams," Yoogeun cried, rubbing his eyes with his fists.

Dasom got busy comforting Ilayda as Suga quietly petted Yoogeun's head, hoping he would shut up and stop crying. Meanwhile, we all looked around, unsure of how much more we could handle after all we've already had to go through. 

"Are you serious?" I asked, looking up the two wearily. Hayi nodded, taking out a crumpled piece of paper and handing it to me, showing me the map to the end. I sighed and stood up, continuing to stare at the map. Everyone looked up at me, and I scanned over everyone's expressions. There were mixed emotions. Some were just plain tired. Some were angry. Others looked like they wanted to cry along with the kids. I tried to lighten the mood and smile. "Well, what are we waiting for? At least we know there's a way out now. We can't lose hope. The sun's still out for another good three hours. We've already made it this far. Minus well finish off strong."