It has already been six days since Jihyo's decisive battle against Khera, and the settlement had been busy treating the injured in the past few days.
Hyungwon, Hangyeol, and Minji, despite being tired, went immediately back to work after the battle, supporting the settlement in any way they can.
Seojun, Ryujin, and Miyeon needed medical care as they sustained moderate injuries and had to rest for a full day or two at best.
Minhyuk, who was injured by Zheri by damaging his left lower ribcage, has been slowly recovering, too. He can still walk and oversee the settlement, but he was banned from doing extreme physical activities such as lifting, pushing, and pulling materials for the next four to six weeks.
Sana, fortunately, sustained no grave physical injuries, with dehydration being the only major issue to her health. She was recovering at the medbay for time being.
Jihyo was also confined at the medbay. Despite her being unconscious for nearly six days, she was fairing well. Her wounds have fully healed, and she is expected to wake anytime soon.
As for Zeke...
April 25, 2023, 7:33 am, Minhyuk's Settlement, Daegu, South Korea.
Zeke was sitting alone inside his makeshift apartment, stirring what seems to be a tall glass of orange juice. He had just fully recovered, and he wasn't planning on going out until afternoon came.
He liked the alone time he was having. It was, after all, his first time that he was completely idle after many weeks of training, battling, and planning. It was nice to be able to relax for a good while, content at what achievements he had done.
And what big achievements it was.
From saving Jihyo to meeting more friends, to fighting alongside them, to defeating multiple superpowered aliens... and now, saving Sana and a lot of survivors from the clutches of a mad general.
It was still hard to believe.
It all still felt like a fever dream...
Suddenly, a female voice followed by some knocking snaps Zeke off his thoughts.
KNOCK KNOCK!
"Hello? Zeke..? Are you home...?"
"Uh... yes, yes, I'm here. Who's there?"
"...it's Sana."
Zeke's eyes widen as he immediately stands up and goes for the door. As he opens it, he sees Sana looking at him with a faint smile. She was wearing a dark fur coat, a tight-fit white shirt that has a bouquet design on the middle, dark blue jeans, and a white pair of winter boots. She had a few bandages here and there.
She looked calm. Her face was gleaming with beauty, and her hair flowed as if it resonated with the cold wind.
"Oh, h... hi." Zeke blushes. "I'm guessing you've recovered..."
"Yes... Just needed to hydrate, patch up some of my troublesome wounds, and rest, that's all." Sana replied as she smiled.
"I... I see." Zeke said as he just looks at Sana.
For a moment, Zeke was stunned by Sana's beauty, and he was just in awe of how she looked in person. Her beauty was ethereal. How could someone look this beautiful? So charming? So cute?
"Hey... Hellooooo..." Sana waves her hand in front of him.
Zeke, realizing he's been looking at Sana for a while, soon shakes off his flustered stance and tries to compose himself, his mind frantically gathering the proper words to conjure a sensible response.
"Oh! Sorry for spacing out like that! It's just that... I'm trying to grasp the fact that you, TWICE's Sana, is in front of me right now." Zeke replied. "It feels surreal."
Sana giggles.
"But... you've been with Jihyo, Ryujin, and Miyeon for quite some time. Surely you must've been used to meeting people like us by now?" Sana asked in a curious tone.
"Hmm... sometimes, I still find it hard to believe that I am surrounded by Korean idols... It just feels... unbelievable every single time." Zeke chuckled as his rationality finally returns. "For a regular fan, that's just kind of a normal reaction, I think."
"I think so too," Sana giggles. "Can I come inside?"
"Yes yes! Please, come in and make yourself comfortable." Zeke offered as Sana nodded and went inside. She then sits in their small dining area as her eyes then scan the light-yellow colored makeshift apartment. Zeke sits down in front of her.
"So... what can I help you with?" Zeke asked. "I just kinda recovered, but if you need anything I'll try my best to provide."
"I'm supposed to say that same sentence... because you've done a lot for me and Jihyo as well. It's just right that I give you something in return... So..." Sana then tries to copy Zeke's voice. "I just kinda recovered, but if you need anything I'll try my best to provide."
"Did you really have to copy me...?" Zeke chuckles.
"Sorry... a force of habit, hehe. So yeah, anything~ Except money, of course. I don't have any of those right now..." Sana added.
"I have none in mind... I'm not actually expecting anything in return for what we did..." Zeke thought. "The sight of you being reunited with Jihyo is good enough for me."
"Aww..." Sana cooed. "That's sweet and all, but come on~ There's gotta be something I could do for you in return..." Sana said in a cute tone. "Do I have to beg?"
"Oh! N-no, that's not necessary Sa---"
Sana then scoots herself closer to the table. She then shows her begging face: a cute pout and a puppy-eyed stare.
Sana's cute face.
Her aegyo.
"Please?" She said as she blinks cutely.
"I..." Zeke blushed at her sudden begging.
Sana then immediately stops, and her face soon displays what seems to be absolute cringe.
"Ugh, okay, maybe this whole aegyo thing isn't working for me in general these days..." Sana chuckles. "It's been quite a long while since I did so, it feels foreign now. Sorry."
"I... No, no! Don't say sorry about it, its okay. Like I said, you didn't even need to do aegyo. I was honestly going to say what I want, anyway." Zeke replied.
"Really? Oh yeah!" Sana cheered victoriously as she shakes her fists in delight. "So, what will it be?"
"I don't honestly know how can I say this properly, but... when I went here to South Korea for a vacation, my sister sent me these TWICE merchandises. Albums, photocards... yes, lots of them, so that you girls could sign them. Sadly, when the apocalypse happened, I wasn't at my hotel, so I assumed all those TWICE merch got destroyed..." Zeke sighs. "So..."
"Oh! I can arrange that somehow. If you find an intact music store with our albums on it, I'd gladly sign them so you can give them to your sister!" Sana replied. "Oh, you can get as many albums as you want. I'll sign them all!"
"Wha... As many as I can?!" Zeke said in a surprised tone. "Wouldn't that hurt your sales or something?"
Sana gives out a confused smile.
"Really, Zeke? Talking about sales in an apocalypse?" She giggled. "You're a funny guy."
"Ehe..." Zeke scratches his head in embarrassment.
"Okay, so I got that wish granted! Anything else?" Sana continued.
"Uh, this one might be a little bit far, but... The second thing I want is that I want to be friends with you." Zeke said in a shy tone. "Not in a parasocial type of way, but you know. A personal friend."
Sana just stares at him for a good while. Zeke tries to avoid her mesmerizing gaze.
"...Okay then!" Sana said as she smiled. "We are friends now!"
"Wait... Really?" Zeke asked.
"Yeah! As a matter of fact, I was planning on asking you to be my friend. I've heard a lot about you from Hangyeol and Minji. They talk about you occasionally. Your personality, worldview, even regards to your... what do you call it? Ah, Manifest! You know, stuff like that. I just thought you'd be an interesting, fun person to be with, not to mention really strong, so..." Sana smiled. "Zeke, from now on, we are good friends!"
Zeke looked surprised and in disbelief.
While he was getting used to meeting idols by now, he didn't expect that Sana---the Sana Minatozaki--- wanted to be friends with him almost immediately. She hasn't even got to know him properly. It was all too quick for him. No proper introductions, no getting to know, just straight to the point.
Then again, Sana was known by the world to be extremely friendly and trustworthy of people. If given a chance, she'd probably befriend all the people in this settlement. It wasn't just a possibility---it was the truth.
"You spaced out again, Mr. Zekeeee?~" Sana said. "Hello!~"
"Ah!" Zeke jolts back to reality. "Damn, I should really stop getting lost in thought..."
"You're something else..." Sana just giggles.
Suddenly, there was a loud knocking on the door again.
"Zeke-nim? Sana-ssi? You have to go to the medbay quickly! Jihyo-ssi is awake, she's now okay!" A male voice spoke.
Sana immediately stands up recklessly, causing her foot to slam the leg of the table as Zeke's orange juice spills.
"Oof! Oh, I'm sorry! Your juice!" Sana gasped.
"It's alright. I'll clean it up later. Are you okay?" Zeke asked.
"Yeah... just a little slip... Clumsy moment, hehe... Let's go to Jihyo now!"
April 25, 2023, 8:08 am, Minhyuk's Settlement, Daegu, South Korea.
Sana barges into the medbay first, with Zeke following close behind. She then sees Hyungwon, Seojun, Minji, Ryujin, and Miyeon all surrounding Jihyo, who was now sitting on the edge of her hospital bed.
"JIHYOOOOO! AAAAAAAAA!" Sana shouts as she marches cutely towards Jihyo in delight.
"SANA! AAAAAAAHAHAHA!" Jihyo shouts back as she lets out her arms. Sana then lunges towards Jihyo and gave her a mighty, loving hug.
"How are you?" Jihyo smiled.
"Perfectly fine. This place you have is amazing... Plus your friends are awesome too!" Sana remarked.
"That's wonderful," Jihyo replied.
"I'm so glad you're okay now!" Sana squeals in delight. "Wait, are you really okay now?"
"Yes! I am now okay. They told me I was asleep for six days? That's a really long beauty sleep, am I right?! Am I even beautiful now?" Jihyo jokes as everyone laughs.
"....Why is no one answering! Hey! Come on, stop laughing!" Jihyo laughs as well.
She then sets her eyes on Zeke, who was behind them all. Jihyo smiled.
"Oh, Sana... I'm guessing you met Mister Zeke here, too?"
"Mhm. We are now actually friends! As we both requested, heehee~" Sana cooed.
"Is that so...? Well, you won't be disappointed." Jihyo smiled. "He's a great friend."
Zeke smiles and blushes.
"And oh, you can tease him as much as you like. He wouldn't complain. Right, Clum-Zeke?~"
"Ugh." Zeke then frowns and groans as everyone chuckles.
"Hey, since almost everyone is already well, who wants some nice early lunch? My treat~" Minji suddenly said.
"You can't "treat" us, Minji. Everything here in this settlement is free." Her brother, Hyungwon, replied.
"You're always a killjoy, aren't you?" Minji said as she does an eye roll.
"Alright, you two. You're both just hungry. Miss Minji, I'd love to be a recipient of your treat." Seojun smiled.
"Yey! So, y'all, let's go?" Minji asks everyone.
"Uhm... Could you please give us a moment, Minji? Just a moment, and we'll follow shortly." Jihyo asked.
"O...oh, yes, Jihyo-ssi. Take your time, we'll go ahead! See you at the food stalls!" Minji said as everyone nods, and slowly, one by one, they leave the medbay area.
As the doors gently close, Jihyo then catches Sana sweetly staring at her as she snuggles in her arms. Jihyo then combs Sana's hair ever so gently.
"I missed you," Sana mutters. "I'll never stop saying that I missed you, Jihyo..."
"I could go all day telling you that as well... it's just been 4 months, but it felt like it was more than that, don't you think?" Jihyo replied.
"Yeah," Sana replied as they remained silent for a couple of minutes.
"...I'm also grateful to you and your friends for saving my life... Hehe..."Sana suddenly spoke. "It's funny. I was supposed to find you here, but then found me first, and you went into lots of trouble just to rescue me..." Sana then looks down. "I'm honestly guilty because of that. If I didn't get caught then none of this would've happened."
"You don't have to blame yourself for it. The enemies are strong in their own right... even I would have a bad time, had it not been for my Manifest... And besides. I would do anything just to keep you safe. You're my best friend, we've come a long way."
Sana smiles as she takes a deep breath and looks at the ceiling.
"There has been a lot of changes in our life now... but I'm happy that you never changed despite all of it. Although... I guess you having powers? I think it'll take a while for me to absorb that idea..." Sana giggles.
"I still can't believe it myself, too. Never in my life, I expected to be like this. We are idols, after all... this is really REALLY way off from what we're supposed to be doing... But I guess I was given this opportunity for a reason. It'll be a waste if I didn't use it to do good things while I'm at it." Jihyo remarkably said.
Sana smiles at her friend's newfound determination.
"You know what else would be a waste?" Sana said.
"What?" Jihyo asked as she looks at Sana.
"The free lunch that Minji was talking about," Sana replied as she giggled cutely.
"Oh, why yes~," Jihyo said as she lightly hits Sana's stomach. "Alright. Shall we?" Jihyo smiled as Sana hugged her tight one last time before they both stood up, left the medbay, and took a hearty lunch with the settlement team.
Sana had a blast in the settlement over the day after lunch passed. She spent most of her time getting to know the settlement as a whole, together with Jihyo, Miyeon, and Ryujin, much like a girl's day off.
She met a lot of people and was surprised that all of them were polite and respectful towards her. She didn't have to conceal her identity, as she quickly realized she can be herself here without any judgment ---all thanks to Minhyuk's strict idol privacy rule.
As such, she was able to be the energetic TWICE member that she was always known for, making people smile and spreading good vibes all around the settlement.
Sana has gotten to know Ryujin more too, and the ITZY member was delighted that she was becoming a close friend to her senior---something she has wanted to be for so many years.
Jihyo also introduced her to Glendale, who was curious about Sana way before the rescue mission even began. Sana was able to draw out Glendale's talkative side, much to Jihyo's surprise--- and they both talked for hours and hours at end.
The day goes by so quickly, and soon, it was nighttime.
Miyeon and Ryujin bid goodbye to them and hit the hay fairly quickly, tired from all the fun they had over the day, leaving Sana and Jihyo on their own.
April 25, 2023, 10:23 pm, Minhyuk's Settlement, Daegu, South Korea.
Sana and Jihyo were sitting on the curb just outside their makeshift apartment together with Zeke, talking about how the day transpired.
The two TWICE members were eating some light chips, and Zeke was sipping on a freshly stirred glass of orange juice.
"...and then the generators went out for a while, so naturally, the lights were out too! I was taking a lower-body bath at that time, and I couldn't see anything." Jihyo froze as she continued narrating. "And then I had this crazy idea: what if I just used my Manifest as a light source? So I taped the whole thing to the ceiling, and that did the trick. Tada! Free lightbulb."
Sana gasped in awe. "Woah, lucky you! You got yourself a sword with a built-in free lightbulb."
"The funny part here is that she forgot to untape it." Zeke suddenly added. "So there was this one time where she was frantically looking for it when we were training. She went around for quite some time going to and fro wondering where she left it, and when she took a bathroom break, that's when she finally realized she taped it on the ceiling the night before." Zeke laughed.
"You knew all along, yet you never even bothered to tell me!" Jihyo pouted. "You're mean. I had to train a little longer because of that."
"Well, perhaps, next time, try taping it to the wall so you can actually see it..." Zeke added.
The three of them laugh.
Sana then soon yawns.
"You're sleepy, Sana?" Zeke asked.
"Mhm..." Sana replies as she looks at the two with misty eyes. "Perhaps I enjoyed way too much today..."
"I guess you did..." Jihyo smiles. "You should rest now."
"Yeah... Goodnight!~" Sana replied sleepily as she hugs Jihyo before standing up. She glances at Zeke and smiles as she goes inside their makeshift apartment.
A few minutes of silence had passed, as the two just sat there and contemplated over things.
Suddenly, they hear someone greeting them.
"Hello, good evening, Jihyo-ssi, Zeke-nim, I hope I'm not disturbing, I have something to say."
They all look and see Hyungwon approaching them. He was wearing a regular blue polo t-shirt, a thin black jacket, and black slacks.
"Oh, Hyungwon, goodeve!" Jihyo smiled. "No, you aren't disturbing us at all. What is it that you want to say?"
"Well, Minhyuk-nim said that the Koul'in soldier Vanta is ready to talk," Hyungwon answered. "He's willing to tell us all about their race, and their possible motives. This information may help you."
"Oh," Jihyo replied. "But how do we know if he's telling the truth? For all we know, he might be lying."
"If he lies, he's going to be dead," Zeke said. "From what I've heard, he wants to be on the land of the living. If he didn't, he shouldn't have given us the information about those hair pods back on the amusement park, right?"
"Still, we have to take it with a grain of salt," Hyungwon added. "We can't afford any misinformation... we can't afford to lose time."
Zeke and Jihyo nodded.
"So... when are we talking to him? Is it now?" Jihyo asked.
"Oh, no, no. We'll talk to him tomorrow afternoon so that you have ample time to rest, Jihyo-ssi." Hyungwon answered.
"I appreciate that." Jihyo replied."Thank you for notifying us, Hyungwon."
"Now... I should be off, Jihyo-ssi. Zeke-nim. I need some rest too. See you tomorrow." Hyungwon said calmly as he bows, and they soon bid him goodnight as he left.
"...Here we go again, huh," Jihyo said as she breathes an audible sigh. "I'm sure after we get intel from that Koul'in soldier, we're going to be back out there again, risking our lives."
"It's not like we have any other choice," Zeke replied. "We know the enemies won't listen to reason, and they'll most likely remain headstrong for their own ambitious goals, just like Khera and her subordinates."
Jihyo chuckles.
"It's a lot of pressure, isn't it?" Jihyo mutters. "We just got into this whole apocalypse, then this with a lot of lives on the line we have to save using these..."
Jihyo then pulls out her Manifest from behind her, and she observes it intently.
"I wonder if our little team will be enough for what's to come..." Jihyo said as she looks down.
Zeke sits next to Jihyo.
"Jihyo, I'm pretty sure we aren't the only ones fighting against the Koul'in. I mean... there's still a lot of people across the country that might've survived and are doing a lot of effort just to fend them off and save their loved ones, much like we do."
Jihyo looks at him.
"We'll most likely meet a lot of them along the way. There's a possibility that some of them are Manifest wielders. Or Korean idols. Or both. And perhaps... they'll help us reach our goal. Or vice versa."
"So... like a collaboration stage or an unlikely alliance, huh?" Jihyo chuckles.
"You could call it that. For me though... I think I'd like to call it a fan meet. The most dangerous fan meet to ever exist, if I may add. It kinda fits that idea, hmm?" Zeke said as he looks back at Jihyo and smiles.
"Guess so." Jihyo smiles back.
Suddenly, Zeke's stomach begins rumbling like a muffled, bellowing monster.
"You're hungry again? We just ate an hour ago!" Jihyo said as she begins to laugh.
"Well, can't I be hungry a second time?" Zeke frowns.
"That's because you ate so little earlier. You gotta do it like me! I eat until I feel full. Now, there is no way in hell I'd still be hungry at this hour." Jihyo scoffed as she crossed her arms and looks away.
As if by coincidence, Jihyo's stomach also growled, and the TWICE member blushes as she pouts, still trying to keep her pose.
Zeke smirks and closes his eyes.
"So... Miss Park Jihyo of TWICE... I guess your traitorous stomach says otherwise." Zeke teased.
Jihyo just pouts cutely, still not looking at him. Zeke places down his empty glass on the table outside their makeshift apartment and begins to walk away from Jihyo.
"H..hey. Where are you going?" Jihyo asked as she slowly looks at Zeke.
"Me? I gotta answer to the needs of my stomach, so I'm off to the food stalls to have a nice, warm plate of pork belly. Are you coming? I know you want one too~" Zeke said in a teasing manner.
Jihyo just stares at Zeke, and with a defeated sigh, finally lets down her arms and walks towards him.
"Hmph... Okay. But I call dibs on the good parts of the pork belly, got it?" Jihyo scoffed.
"As you wish, mi'lady." Zeke teased.
Zeke and Jihyo then walked side by side towards the food stalls, with nothing but the light from the lamp posts and the faint glimmer of the waxing crescent moon above guiding them towards their late-night food escapade.
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TO BE CONTINUED...
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