MIN SEO 

Min Seo could sense the tension between Ricky and Jae. She was unhappy with her twin brother for his selfish request back at the base and hadn't been speaking to him much but it didn't mean she wasn't aware of what had been happening with him. He seemed to be fidgety, almost restless and every time she looked at him, she noticed that Jae would be looking at Ricky.

Half of her wanted to ask him, break the silence between them at last, to find out what was going on between him and Ricky. But the other part of her didn't want to step into the mess that was brewing. When Jae had volunteered to find water with Ricky, cutting Uncle Mike off, she knew whatever thin string of patience he had had snapped. She sighed under her breath, keeping her eye on Jae who had come back to the camping site with two bottles full of water.

"You found some," Uncle Mike said.

Ricky nodded, a small box in his hands. He went to the bags he had placed on the ground and crouched down, shoving the box into one of them. Min Seo noticed Ricky's rigid posture and frowned, glancing at Jae who seemed to be in a similar condition.

She opened her mouth before she thought otherwise.

"Let's get some rest," Uncle Mike said, moving to grab one of the bottles from Jae's hands. "Elly."

Elly hesitated briefly before she took the canister of water, drinking out of it a little. She wiped her lips with the back of her hands before she looked at Min Seo.

"No, it's fine," Min Seo said.

"Dehydration isn't fun," Elly said with a smile, walking to her and handing it over.

Min Seo found herself unable to argue but she felt uneasy drinking the water. It wasn't that she didn't know that someone could die from the dehydration. It was just that the thought of taking something that wasn't hers — when it should always be the team first before her — had her stopping herself from actually drinking it.

"Seo," Jae said, catching her attention. "Drink it."

"Jae," she said, her voice low.

"Seo," he said, raising his eyebrows.

Min Seo bit her bottom lip, dropping her gaze to the drink in her hand. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, tipping her head back as she forced herself to drink a little of the water. After one gulp, she pulled the canister away from her mouth, opening her eyes before giving it to Jae.

Her brother didn't hesitate to take it and drink as well. Min Seo frowned at how he seemed to not hesitate in his movements, swallowing the rest of the water that was in his mouth. Once everyone had their fill, the canisters were placed on the ground next to the bags.

"Come on, let's go to sleep," Uncle Mike said. "I'll keep first watch."

"You sure?" Ricky asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure. Get some rest, Ricky."

Ricky looked at him for a few seconds before nodding. "Wake me up if you need to switch with me."

"Will do."

Uncle Mike then proceeded to grab his bag and head to one of the trees closest to them, sitting on the ground, his back against the bark. He also ruffled through the sack and grabbed his tablet. The screen lit up briefly before he fiddled with it and the light disappeared.

Min Seo guessed whatever that Uncle Mike did, it would help keep himself awake and them safe.

"Seo," Jae said, catching her attention. "We should sleep."

Min Seo nodded, deciding to sit on the grass. She was about to lie down when she stopped, realising that Jae was settling next to her. He glanced at her before he looked away, continuing to lie flat on the ground, both hands underneath his head as he looked at the sky. Min Seo smiled a little before she rolled her eyes, laying down next to him.

"Hey," Min Seo said.

Jae turned his head to look at her, eyebrows raised.

"What happened back there?" she whispered. "Between you and Ricky."

She saw a flash of something in her brother's eyes before a blank mask covered his face.

"Nothing," Jae said. "Go to sleep. I'm tired."

Min Seo wanted to be persistent but she also knew that this wasn't the right time. She just hoped that whatever it was that had happened between them, it would blow over. The last thing anyone needed was a rocky relationship. She huffed a breath, closing her eyes.

Whatever that Jae had done to irritate Ricky, she hoped he had stopped now.

***

Just like they had planned, everyone was awake and ready to leave by dawn. Min Seo would be lying if she said she wasn't hungry but she managed to work past that hunger, knowing that if they passed by some edible fruits in the forest, they could grab it on the way. For now, there were no signs of them and she couldn't really stop the entire group just because she wanted some food.

Jae was walking beside her, occasionally tossing glances at her. When she caught his eyes, she noticed the familiar look of worry on his face.

"I'll be fine, Jae," Min Seo mumbled, hoping her brother wouldn't waste his energy worrying about something that they couldn't do anything to fix.

It was another two more minutes before she heard Jae grabbing one of the bags he was carrying and rummaging through its items. She looked at him, eyebrows furrowed.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Hold on," Jae said. It was only after he pulled out what seemed like a protein bar that he made eye-contact with her. "Here. It's one of the emergency food supplies this bag has."

"I can't take this," Min Seo hissed, shoving the bar into his hands.

But Jae was notorious for being stubborn. He didn't relent to her glare and grabbed her hand, shoving the bar into her palm.

"Take it, there's more in here," Jae said.

She opened her mouth to argue but was stopped when Uncle Mike spoke up. "You should eat it, Min Seo. It's fine."

"But Uncle Mike," Min Seo began. "I can't just take this! I can still go on."

"You have anaemia, Min Seo," Ricky said, tossing the words over his shoulders. "Just eat it."

"Plus, if you faint, we can't really carry you now, can we?" Jae said even though Min Seo knew that his words were concealing his true thoughts.

She sighed in defeat, tightening her grip on the bar. "Fine, but you're eating this as well. Or did you forget you're anaemic too?"

She bit her bottom lip from smiling when she saw the soured look on Jae's face. Min Seo snapped the protein bar into two, giving one half of it to her twin brother. She watched Jae eat it before she did the same with he portion, feeling her heart warm at how much they cared for her. For a brief second, there was a wash of sadness when the face of her father flashed in her mind.

If he was here, he would have done the same and forced her to eat too.

She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and ate the protein bar.

"Do you think they're at the base right now?" Jae asked, breaking the silence.

"Definitely," Elly said. "They must be rifling through our stuff now."

"Learned our lesson the first time around," Uncle Mike mused. "Now everything is backed up in my tablet."

Min Seo nodded, knowing that Appa had worked with Uncle Mike in implementing a tablet that would solely carry everything that had been established, created, and discovered. Every other copy would be destroyed. The less copies of something available, the less likely the government would find out about their next move.

"I just hope we can find a way to get across the border before they find our final base," Min Seo said, fear striking a cord in her chest at that very thought.

"We will," Ricky said. "We have to."

No one said anything for a while, the only sound that resounded into the air was their feet stepping on the dried leaves or twigs. Time passed by with occasional glances around them and sometimes stopping to take a bathroom break or to make sure that they were on the right track.

It was most likely a couple of hours since they continued on their journey when Uncle Mike stopped walking. Everyone else followed him the second Min Seo realised that he was not in the group, stagnating a few steps away.

"What is it?" Elly asked, her voice low as she stood straighter.

"I heard something but," Uncle Mike said, whispering.

Min Seo immediately kept an ear out for something amiss, her hands itching to touch her bag and find the gun that she carried with her.

It was then a sound of a twig snapping resounded into the air.

Min Seo immediately took down her bag from her shoulder and pushed her hand into it, fingers wrapping around the handle of her gun. She pulled it out and raised the gun at the direction where the sound came from, her shoulders straight and her posture tense. Her mind blanked out as she focused on the danger looming on them.

Vaguely, she was aware that everyone else had taken out their guns as well, prepared to protect themselves and each other in the face of a threat.

They stared straight ahead with bated breaths.

The sound of footsteps, slow and steady, started to echo into the forest air.

That was when Min Seo saw a flash of someone, wearing dark clothing. What tipped her off that this group was about to be in danger was the government insignia on the man's shirt. She backed away, dropping her hand to her sides.

"It's them. We have to leave," she whispered.

Uncle Mike nodded. "Keep to the shadows and keep close. They haven't spotted us yet."

Min Seo's heart picked up speed and she was feeling uneasy. She didn't think they would be roaming around here this far from the base. Yet again, they had only been on the road less than forty-eight hours. It was likely that they weren't that far off from the base after all. She nodded, pulling every strand of courage she had within her.

This was the time to test how strong and brave she could be.