All day they walked through endless sand dunes. Their hard hats were good protection from the relentless sun, but sweat had quickly begun to pool at their hairlines. Hyoyeon undid the straps and made a futile effort at wiping the perspiration from her forehead. They had been walking for hours now, led by her old-fashioned compass through the shifting sands. An abandoned army base lay about forty kilometres east on the far edge of Buhangin land and she hoped they could establish some kind of home there.

            "Hey guys." She turned to see Amber crouched, pawing at the sand. "There's a thing here. Some kind of carving." She picked it up and dusted it off. Hyoyeon moved forward to take a look. It was small and carved from smooth stone. A simple shape, like the hollow outline of a flame, flattened and polished by some unknown artist.

            "It's probably left over from whatever civilisation used to live here." Kyungsoo peered at it interestedly.

            "I'm going to keep it. We probably won't get much of an opportunity for pretty things from now on."

            "Come on everyone, let's keep moving. If we keep going we can make it to the base by tomorrow afternoon. I'd rather not spend more nights in the desert than we really have to." Hyoyeon readjusted her pack and fell into stride with Sungmin. He looked back at the privates affectionately.

            "Sometimes I feel like a parent."

            "I know what you mean." She tried her best to be supportive of him in his new, more familiar role, but it was still awkward. She knew he was in love with her. Hyoyeon hoped they'd be able to maintain their friendship through the long and otherwise lonely years and he knew that nothing would ever come of it. She smiled at him.

            As the sun began to throw long shadows, Kyungsoo had found another stone and was comparing it to Amber's. His was wider, more circular, but still appeared two dimensional and had its center carved out. They were pleased to discover that this made them perfect for hanging on a chain around their necks.

 

When the sun had made its way to roughly the middle of the sky, Hyoyeon called for a lunch break.

            "Here." Kyungsoo was handing out small wedges of bread and dried fruit to everybody. Hyoyeon noticed a couple of her privates wrinkle their noses sadly at the rations.

            "This only has to last us until tomorrow evening, the base we're heading to is self-sufficient."

            Jongin looked highly relieved.

            "Hey, you remember when we were stationed in Tibet..."

            "Oh yeah, and those damn monkeys came and took our food during the night." Amber laughed.

            "That was my first outpost. Wasn't exactly an encouraging experience." At 28, Jongin was the baby of the group and the others felt somewhat responsible for him even though he was strong and hard and good at his job. Kyungsoo especially seemed to have taken him under his wing and was now looking at Jongin affectionately.

            "If I have to spend the rest of my life with someone, I'm glad it's you... guys. Uh you guys. All of you." He cleared his throat awkwardly and grinned at Hyoyeon.

            "We should probably leave soon." Sungmin said shortly, standing up and dusting himself off.

            "Uh, yeah. Is everyone done eating?" Hyoyeon looked around at everyone. They seemed to be adjusting well to the change from strictly organised troupe to what could almost be considered a family unit felt a surge of affection for them. Kyungsoo was caring and practical, Amber was one of the most loyal soldiers she'd ever had, and Jongin could be a pain in the arse sometimes, but his heart was in the right place. Sungmin had been a close friend of hers for years now and in that moment she agreed with Kyungsoo. Under the circumstances, she considered herself lucky.

            Once everyone was organised, she turned back in the direction they were headed and began to walk, knowing they would follow. Sungmin hurried to catch up with her. She took one glance at his sour expression and sighed.

            "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, the answer's no."

            "And how would you know what I'm thinking?"

            Hyoyeon laughed. She cherished moments like this when the put-together lieutenant mask dropped a little and Sungmin's childish side emerged.

            "Is that a pout I see?" She teased. "And I suppose I shouldn't assume you were under the impression that Kyungsoo has feelings for me." He looked surprised.

            "Uh..."

            "And he doesn't by the way."

            "How would you know?"

            "Just take my word for it. He's... he just doesn't."

            "Okay."          

            "I'm serious, I know what I'm talking about. Just trust me."

            "Okay." He seemed a little more cheerful this time. Hyoyeon gave him a pat on the arm.

            "Are you guys coming or am I going to have to leave your sorry arses behind?" She called over her shoulder.

 

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A/N

Hey everyone, sorry it took so long. I know I said I was going to be good with this one but it seems I really have a problem meeting not-actually-deadlines. And it's just this one doc that spell-check isn't working so... apologies for that still. 

Also, sorry to bother you, but if anyone's interested I'm currently making a webseries with a couple of my friends who are wicked talented. It's a modern adaption of Shakespeare's 'Taming of the Shrew'. Please check us out at fatgoatproductions.tumblr.com (but don't say where you came from because my aff account is 100% separate from anything I do irl. I'm trusting you guys <3). So yeah, thanks everyone! And leave a comment if you liked this chapter :D