Day 281, 13:30.

  Seohwa walked to the training hall and saw Hawk being all serious, “You’re late, cadet 8-33!”

  Seohwa raised her brows at Hawk’s sudden seriousness and then saw Goldie hiding at the back, watching while clapping.

  Ah, he must want to show off…

  “Sorry, Sir Hawk.”

  “This is your second time, you know? And you know what that means.” Hawk huffed as he secretly winked at her.

  She smirked as she straightened her back, “Aerial training.”

  “Good. Now then, cadet 4-17 and cadet 5-03!”

  Taeseok and Hwayeon came towards them and replied, “Yes sir?”

  “Today, you’ll practise your aerial maneuvering.”

  Hwayeon raised her hand as Hawk nodded seriously, acting all cool because his wife was there, “Yes, 5-03?”

  Hwayeon shuddered, unused to his seriousness as she requested, “Is it a long flight? If it is, I will run out of stamina quickly. I can at most only use my fire boost to fly for a short period of time.”

  Hawk pondered, “Alright, fine, you’re excluded, 5-03.”

  Taeseok whispered in Seohwa’s ear, “Why does he seem so serious for a flight training?”

  “Ms Goldie is watching.”

  “Ah, I see.”

  Taeseok then faced Hwayeon, “Hwayeon-ah~, can I ask for a favour?”

  “Sure?”

  “Do you mind holding my snack collection?”

  “You have a what?” Hwayeon was flabbergasted.

  Taeseok then removed his large cadet jacket which had a ton of snacks taped in the inside.

  “…This… is serious dedication.” Hwayeon gulped as she was handed the snack jacket. She then noticed his thick muscles that were hidden underneath his jacket and realised he was quite muscularly lean.

  “You can have one as payment.” Taeseok patted her head.

  “Ah no, that’s quite alright.” Hwayeon held his jacket gently, being considerate of the fact, it’s something precious to him, even if it’s weird.

  Taeseok smiled warmly, noticing her gesture, “Just as I thought, you’re a good girl. Well, see ya~”

  Taeseok walked towards Hawk and Seohwa as they lifted themselves in the air.

  Hwayeon was left speechless as she hugged the snack jacket even more preciously. Her ears had turned red before she had realised it.

  Yerin, who was doing visualisation training, noticed this and teased, “Unnie~ you good?”

  “…Yeah… I am.” Hwayeon spoke softly as she touched her flushed cheeks to calm herself.

  In the air, Hawk had Seohwa and Taeseok flip through the air to dodge his feather attacks.

  Goldie who was watching this hummed. Minggu who was beside her asked, “Ms Goldie, for my plant healing ability, can I practise on your legs?”

  Goldie chuckled, “Go ahead. What better practice than a patient for a healer!”

  Minggu placed his hands to hover above her legs as vines slowly popped up and began to boost energy, improve blood circulation and increase stamina.

  Goldie could feel the change almost instantly as she smiled in contemplation, “You’ve improved. I’m guessing the mock battle helped you.”

  Minggu nodded, “I realised I did things inefficiently. I want to be able to support and heal my team when it comes down to it. Even if it’s just small buffs or boosts.”

  Goldie smiled warmly, “You remind me of me.”

  “You, Ms Goldie?”

  “Yes, back when I was younger… I was known as the Golden Healer. Back then, I was slow and I didn’t like the fact I could only heal one person at a time… I was ambitious. I practised so much, even started to relearn the basics like herbology and medicine to understand certain illnesses and how to treat them… Well, because of that, I was able to become the best healer in my cohort.” Goldie paused, “But, there is one desire of mine that I haven’t been able to achieve.”

  “What is it?” Minggu looked up curiously.

  “…Area Heal. I wanted to be able to Area Heal.” Goldie clenched the edge of her wheelchair, “So many lives were lost because there weren't enough healers and not enough time to attend to each critically wounded agent…”

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  “…Why are you saying this to me?” Minggu stopped healing as he stood up. Goldie began to shake her legs as she slowly stood up while Minggu supported her, “I want you to achieve it. I feel like you can.”

  “…”

  Goldie saw his hesitation and doubt as she spoke softly, “Being a healer is a tough road, especially since healers have to find their own path and answers. I know why you hesitate, you doubt yourself. That’s ok, I was like that too. But what matters most is you try your best. Can you do that for me?”

  “…Yes, Ms Goldie.” Minggu nodded.

  After he said that, Hawk came down stupefied seeing his wife standing up with her own two legs. Goldie slowly let go of Minggu after regaining her balance as she advised, “Remember, it’s ok to take one small step at a time.” She took a step forward and another and another before stopping, “And, it’s ok to stop and have a break.” She glanced up and smiled at Hawk, “That way, you can cherish the ones around you.”

  “Love,” Hawk said softly, “Look at you go.”

  “Yeah, I’m meeting you halfway, love.” Goldie held his cheek before glancing at Minggu to see his reply.

  “…I’ll do my best.” Minggu straightened his back.

  18:30 - Dinner Time.

  Rhino came to the cafeteria as he sighed, rubbing his neck. Seohwa who got her tray of food saw Rhino and rushed to him, “How did it go, sir?”

  “…” Rhino saw her expectant gaze and groaned before honestly confessing, “To be frank, your request to meet 8-32 is difficult since he is a special case.”

  Seohwa, who was half-expectant, lowered her head. Rhino felt extremely guilty seeing her down as he then said, “All I can do is give you updates on how he is doing through an informant on the inside, remember Stretch?”

  Seohwa looked up and nodded, “Thank you for trying, sir.”

  “…Sorry, this is all I can do.” Rhino paused, “Since this didn’t fulfil your favour, I’ll let you make another one.”

  Seohwa shook her head, “That wouldn’t be fair to 8-10 and 5-03. I am grateful you’re giving me updates instead.”

  Rhino smiled to console her as he looked around and secretly gave Seohwa a chocolate, “Don’t tell Hawk I gave you this. He might steal my stash again.”

  Seohwa giggled, “I won’t.” She gripped the chocolate and smiled, “Thank you, sir.”

  20:34 - In the Cadet Dorm D6-06.

  “UGH!” Jiho stood up abruptly, throwing his group of cards in the middle, frustrated, “Why do I keep getting the joker?!!!”

  Yerin chuckled, fanning her own group of cards, “You’re just easy to read.”

  Minggu, who was studying the herbology books he got from Goldie, glared at Jiho, “Can you be quiet? I’m studying.”

  “…Sorry, Minggu-hyung.” Jiho sheepishly sat back down.

  Hwayeong chuckled as she began to shuffle the deck of cards, “How about a different game than Old Maid then?”

  “Like what?” Jiho pouted.

  “Well, how about 21?” Yerin suggested, “At least that way, the buffoon here can practise basic math.”

  “YA PICKIN’ A FIGHT?” Jiho huffed as his hand sparked with lightning.

  “Hoh?” Yerin’s began to gather frost, “Are you ready for a beating?”

  Taeseok yawned loudly as he munched his snacks next to Hwayeon, “You know, it’s in the middle of the night, right? If we make a commotion, Rhino will have us running double the drills.”

  At the word, ‘double’, both Jiho and Yerin calmed themselves as they obediently sat down.

  Hwayeon, who was glancing at Taeseok's nonchalance, asked, “Now that I think about it, after the squad match, we didn’t decide the squad leader, did we?”

  Taeseok murmured, his mouth full, “Isn’t it Seohwa since she won the squad match?”

  Yerin nodded, “I thought so too?”

  Hwayeon explained, “Well, we didn’t actually confirm it or officiate it so I was wondering about it.”

  “Actually, now that you said it, I was too tired this morning to think about it.” Yerin affirmed.

  “Me too.” Minggu groaned as he rubbed his legs, “I can still feel how sore my legs are.”

  Jiho then turned to Seohwa, “So? Will you be Squad Leader?”

  Seohwa pondered before she glanced at Taeseok.

  Taeseok noticed her gaze and frowned, “No.”

  “I thought you said you didn’t mind who the squad leader was?” Seohwa rebutted.

  “Yeah, but after the squad match, I don’t want it anymore.”

  “I think you’re a good fit for it.” Seohwa encouraged him.

  “But you won.”

  “Only because I used Hwayeon as bait. You know how to use everyone effectively without harming them and everyone listens to you.”

  “Yerin doesn’t.”

  “Only because I refuse your munchies, but I do listen to you, oppa.” Yerin corrected.

  Taeseok observed every single one of them and saw how they were determined to make him leader as he pouted, “Fine, but I’m assigning Hwayeon as Vice Leader.”

  “Me? All of a sudden?” Hwayeon pointed to herself.

  Taeseok nodded, “You understand me best and you’re loved by everyone. I need a bridge. You make the perfect fit.”

  “Seohwa fits that as well.” Hwayeon softly rebutted.

  Seohwa shook her head, “I can’t be Vice Leader. I don’t understand Taeseok-oppa as well as you, unnie. And I’m also a support all-rounder. Depending on the situation, I might have to fulfil different roles. I’ll be too busy to lead. I'll trust Taeseok-oppa’s judgement in what role I play. Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t have my own awareness of the situation but I will most likely follow whatever Taeseok-oppa orders.”

  Hwayeon sighed, “Alright. I’ll be the Vice Leader then.”

  Jiho raised his hands and cheerfully suggested, “Now that we have our leaders, let’s have a team name!”

  Yerin scoffed, “You’re still a kid.”

  “So are you.” Jiho crossed his arms

  “Yeah but I’m a year older.”

  Taeseok pondered, “How about Chippets?”

  Everyone glanced down to the chip packet he was eating and it was labelled, ‘Chippets’.

  Yerin rubbed her temples, “Oppa, we really need to talk about improving your naming sense.”

  Minggu nodded, “I agree with Yerin-ah.”

  Jiho gasped, “Right, you guys were named the Munchies weren’t you? Hahaha, how lame…” Jiho soon closed his mouth when he saw the deathly glares of the traumatised Yerin and Minggu from the name.

  Yerin sighed, “At least you guys had a decent name, ‘The Musketeers’.”

  “Now that I think about it… why did you choose the Musketeers for our group name, Seohwa?” Hwayeon asked curiously.

  “…” Seohwa hummed, “Seoyong-oppa liked the Three Musketeers before we came here. And since there were three of us, that was the first thing I thought of…”

  “Who’s ‘Seoyong-oppa’?” Minggu perked up curiously.

  Seohwa tilted her head, “I didn’t tell you?”

  Jiho replied, “Only me and Yerin do.”

  “How do you know I know?” Yerin raised her brows, “…No way! Were you eavesdropping on us the day I first arrived?”

  “… No comment.” Jiho turned away. Yerin threw a pillow at him as he threw it back at her.

  Despite the two fighting, Seohwa calmly answered, “Seoyong-oppa is my twin.”

  Everyone stopped.

  “You have a twin?” Minggu stopped studying as he sat down closer.

  Seohwa began to recount what had happened so far. How Seohwa and Seoyong entered the LAB together, their escape plan, Seoyong’s extraction to Dr Oh’s WOW-LAB, how her friend Jisoo and her failed to escape, how Jisoo passed away from Dr 8’s punishment, how she first came here in solitary confinement and how she met Jiho and then everyone else.

  After she finished, everyone went somber as she smiled, “Guys, it’s fine… when I told you this, I realised how far I’ve come without Seoyong-oppa… his words to ‘endure and survive’ so that we can see each other again have been my guiding light since we separated. I think… he would be proud at how far I’ve come… but I wouldn’t be here without you all.”

  Jiho held Seohwa’s faintly trembling hand, being the closest person to her. Yerin turned away as she dabbed her cheeks. Minggu looked down in empathy while Taeseok held his shoulder to comfort him. Hwayeon wiped the tears that trickled down her cheeks, “Seohwa, really, thank you for surviving until now… and, we’ll escape together and save your oppa.”

  Seohwa flinched as her eyes turned blurry. She sniffled as she looked up not wanting to cry, “What the… don’t say that…” She paused, “That makes me…” She closed her eyes as a tear fell. Hwayeon stood up and embraced her firmly.

  “Really, thank you.” Hwayeon spoke softly.

  Yerin came up and nudged Jiho away. Jiho reluctantly pulled away as Yerin also hugged her.

  The boys merely watched the exchange as they let the girls have their moment. Taeseok yawned but there was a slight faint trembling in his voice that was different from his usual nonchalance, “It’s late. Everyone should head to sleep… good night, everyone.”

  Taeseok stood up, rubbing the back of his head as Seohwa chuckled at how shy he was at showing empathy.

  They all began to slow down and headed to bed.

  Seohwa lay in her bed and closed her eyes once she saw the lights turned off.

  Thank you, everyone…