"chaehyun-unnie... are you sure this is the right path?" The uncertainty of the dark night was broken by the sound of footsteps trudging through the muddy footpath, echoing in response to youngeun's question.

chaeyun shook her head, shaking raindrops from her eyelashes as she did so. "yes." the older girl snapped back. "I mean I wouldn't know. let's just keep walking."

sensing the older girl's frustration as she panted, youngeun shut up immediately. seeing chaehyun frustrated was rare — there were few things in this world which were capable of making the usually calm and quiet chaehyun upset and, unsurprisingly, losing dayeon was one of them.

having traversed a bit further in stark silence, it was beginning to become obvious to youngeun that the two were walking a completely different path to which dayeon had embarked on. however, despite her best efforts, youngeun could not find a way to break the news to the other girl who marched on without even acknowledging the former.

"c-chae-unnie..." youngeun piped up timidly.

receiving no response, she tried again. "unnie..."

"unnie..." only after a third time did chaehyun respond, turning around with an undisguised look of exasperation painted across her face.

"yo-eun, you know I love you but we really need to focus on finding dayeon right now. im sorry but this is really taking up all of my energy."

youngeun fidgeted awkwardly, trying her best to find the right words. "well the thing is, unnie... we're definitely not going the right way."

chaehyun was speechless, raising her eyebrows as she calculated all the time and steps the duo had wasted, walking down the wrong path.

"im sorry?"

youngeun pointed ahead, spotting an array of lights in the near distance. "I'm certain we took the wrong turn — we're almost at the shops now..."

just as chaehyun felt like she was about to burst into tears, she was knocked over by a sudden force, causing her to fall promptly to the ground. youngeun rushed to the older girl's side, helping her up whilst simultaneously trying to hide behind her, startled by the sudden, potential threat they had run into.

"oh my god, I'm so sorry!" the 'thing' chaehyun had run into turned out not to be a 'thing', but instead another girl. she reached out her hand promptly, helping chaehyun up.

behind her, a younger looking girl stood with her arms crossed, clearly on guard around the duo. "unnie... I really don't think approaching strangers during the purge is the best thing to do if you want to stay alive."

"no, it was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was walking..." embarrassed, hiyyih ran her fingers through her hair, looking up at a bemused yeseo with puppy eyes.

"phew, you two sure walk fast..." just a moment after, another girl appeared behind the duo, struggling to catch her breath. looking up, she was visibly startled by the presence of new people. grabbing the younger looking girl behind her, she beckoned for the other girl to, too, get behind her and swiftly pulled out a rusty-looking pistol. "what are you doing with my friends?"

panicked, chaehyun held one hand in the air and another fixed around youngeun's wrist, holding the girl tightly behind her. "no, we didn't do anything!"

the silver haired girl stepped forward and placed a hand on the new girl whilst the other girl stared curiously at the pistol she held tightly. quickly, the silver haired girl explained, "unnie, it was my fault, they didn't do anything wrong. I wasn't looking where I was walking..." she scratched her head, embarressed.

"where'd you get that gun?" the other girl had other concerns on her mind.

obviously a little confused, the new girl acknowledged the silver haired girl before answering the other. "...I found it?"

behind her, chaehyun heard youngeun let out a little giggle and was quick to whack the kid, reminding her that these people were still just strangers to them.

hearing the commotion, the weapon-bearing girl turned to address them, introducing herself awkwardly. "ah hi... sorry about that..." she quickly put the gun aside. "I'm yujin, this is hiyyih and my younger sister yeseo," she said, beckoning to the silvered hair girl first then the other. "we were just going to the stores for food, we really don't want to pick any fights tonight."

yujin's explanation put chaehyun at ease as, much to the younger girl's relief, she released youngeun's wrist from her tight grasp. "chaehyun," she introduced, holding her hand out for a formal shake. "and this one here's youngeun."

"we're looking for the university." youngeun explained pointedly while the other three girls nodded, leading chaehyun to wonder why they were explaining their actions to three strangers. "our unnie ran off again."

"well it doesn't seem like you guys are heading in the right direction," yujin spoke. "considering these circumstances, I don't think it'll be safe for you girls to go off alone." chaehyun laughed a little at the statement. "why don't you come with us?"

speaking up for her sister, yeseo added, "unnie can seem a little creepy at times but we're just normal people, I promise." hiyyih nodded firmly in agreement while yujin turned around to jokingly threaten the duo.

glancing at chaehyun to confirm, youngeun agreed promptly, figuring yujin was right — running out of the house in a rush, neither of them had grabbed weapons, nor did they know where they were going. the duo had been more than lucky so far, but who knew when that luck would run out. "we'll come with you. perhaps we can find our way home from there."

"but dayeon-" chaehyun piped up, still worried about their friend.

nodding understandably, youngeun added, "I know, unnie. but she'd rather find us at home, alive, than in the streets, shot dead."

listening from the side, a rather hungry hiyyih called back to the group. "well then... if that's settled, let's go get food!"

───────────────────────────

"I hope the stores are still open this late at night..." hikaru couldn't help but ponder aloud. despite it being the most dangerous night in all of seoul, the only thing that occupied the youngest girl's mind was the idea of food.

used to her friend's shenanigans, mashiro smiled. "well if they aren't, we can always break in."

"hm that's true, that's true..."

quietly listening in on their conversation, xiaoting found herself laughing. living alone in this foreign country, xiaoting had never imagined ever acquainting herself with her neighbours, let alone taking a casual stroll with them through the streets of seoul amidst the annual purge. she couldn't help but feel quite nostalgic, as though suddenly missing a certain something or someone she had long lost...

"shh! I think I hear someone!"

mashiro's sudden, alarmed exclamation was enough to startle xiaoting out of her thoughts. as she stopped reminiscing, xiaoting immediately brought her guard back up, whipping out a well-prepared pistol. holding an arm out, she gestured for the other two girls to get behind her.

the trio advanced quietly, tip-toeing their way towards the source of the sound.

peeking out ahead, xiaoting caught sight of a young woman, likely around their age, standing confused in the middle of the road.

"who are you and what business do you hold?" xiaoting called out, a tight grip around her weapon. behind her, mashiro stood leaning against hikaru, eyebrows tightly knit together in nervous anticipation. the younger girl beside her seemed a bit more relaxed, almost excited by the unexpected encounter.

at the sound of unfamiliar voices, the girl jumped as she whipped around, trying her best to mask her anxiety with a fearless act. "that's none of your business." after pausing for a moment to think, she quickly added, "if you're thinking to ransack this place, think again — these grounds are mine."

deeming the girl to not be a threat, xiaoting lowered her gun, though she kept her fingers wrapped carefully around its handle. turning back to the girls behind her, she mentioned casually, "she's just a land-hoarder, quite the common criminal during times like these." hikaru's mouth dropped into an 'o' as she nodded whilst mashiro gave an unconvincing, reluctant smile.

"excuse me?" hearing xiaoting's words, the girl took great offence. "what did you just call me?"

noting both xiaoting and the strange girl's ready stances, mashiro stepped in, hoping the situation wouldn't escalate into a fight. "no, no, we're not looking to pick a fight," mashiro said, a polite smile pasted on her face, directing her statement at both xiaoting and the strange girl. "we just unfortunately happened to run out of groceries and we're heading to the stores now."

curious, hikaru piped up from behind her friend. "what are you doing?" her question earned a confused look from the stranger. "you seem like a nice person — what are you running off to do in the middle of the purge?"

though she persisted, insisting what she was doing was none of the trio's business, hikaru's nosy nature managed to break through the girl's rough shell. giving up, she confessed, "I was going after the gang situated in that school." with a pause, she continued with a heavy heart. "they... they stole something very, very important from me." hearing this confession, xiaoting relaxed, letting out a dry laugh. "hey what is that supposed to mean?"

shrugging, xiaoting replied, "nothing. just found it funny we got scared by such a pathetic reason."

"why you-" the girl lunged in towards xiaoting, leading mashiro to have to step in again.

"let's not fight now, shall we? I'm sure there are bigger fish to fry during times like these."

"fish?" the youngest girl perked up after quite a while of silence. "I want tuna onigiri! or smoked salmon. baked fish and potatoes..." the three older girls looked at the youngest, xiaoting and mashiro visibly amused whilst dayeon stared at her with an air of curiosity, probably wondering how someone could be thinking about food during a time like this. "hey don't look at me like that, I've already told you I was hungry."

hikaru's statement caused all three of the girls to laugh, the atmosphere instantly lightening. turning to dayeon, she added, "come with us."

"sorry-?"

mashiro nodded, backing up her roommate. "it's not safe." seeing dayeon's determined look, she continued, "I know this 'revenge' means a lot to you, but you're just a girl. that's a whole gang in there."

"I have nothing more to lose," dayeon insisted. "they took my best friend from me — there isn't anything I wouldn't do to make them pay."

mashiro stared at xiaoting, silently insisting she said something. despite her original disapproval, xiaoting sighed, uncrossing her arms and stepping towards dayeon insisted. "I get your determination- believe me, I was like that too. but someday you'll realise nothing you do can bring her back." listening to xiaoting, dayeon's gaze softened, her eyebrows furrowing in slight distress. "and, as much as it hurts to come to terms with that, think about all the people who would hate you for throwing yourself away like this."

jiayi glanced at her roommate, an impressed expression pasted across her face. never had she thought a mafia member could be so eloquent or persuasive. yanni just smiled at jiayi's childishness.

"fine then..." dayeon finally spoke. "I'll come with you." stopping to think for a moment, she quickly added "but where exactly are you going?"

"to buy food!" hikaru exclaimed, all her energy returning immediately. "come on, come on, come on..."

with that, she ran off, an exasperated mashing following tightly behind. just as she was about to follow, dayeon froze.

seeing the younger girl stop, xiaoting turned back, concerned. "what's wrong?"

a perplexed look fixed on her face, dayeon stopped to think hard for a moment. "ah well... I think I'm forgetting something..."

turning back to see xiaoting's raised eyebrows and the roommates disappearing in the horizon, she shook her head. "nevermind, I'm sure it's nothing."

"let's go then!"