just a few days went by of the group spending their time walking, hiding, and eating whatever food had left. everything was going smoothly in the short time, yangyang and shotaro making sure to tell them everything they needed to know about their new world.

"so, you remember how i told you we're techinally called the unfound—oh my god," yangyangs sentence was cut short, his eyes lighting up as he spotted a grocery store not too far ahead. his walk got quicker as the others followed.

"i swear if we make one more stop, i might lose it," donghyuck scoffed, brushing his hair away from his face with his hand.

"we've never been outside before," shotaro mumbled, scratching the back of his head apologetically, "sorry."

nari eyed and nudged donghyuck lightly, grabbing his attention. "lighten up."

he shrugged her off as they walked through the doors of the store that looked as if it'd been shut down for years. the two boys they'd met quickly got lost in the aisles as the others took their time.

renjun and nari had found each other while ending up in the same aisle, renjun flashing a slight smile to her before speaking up. "this isn't how you expected hanging out with us would be like, is it?"

nari moved her eyes to him, chuckling lightly before reverting them back to whatever she'd found on the shelves. "not at all. as scary as it is, at least we have each other. i don't know."

"no, i agree. i can't imagine doing anything without those clowns."

the girl chuckled again, just a bit louder than the first time. they stood in silence for a moment before renjun opened his mouth to speak again.

"nari," he called, hesitant. he'd hardly gotten a chance to really get to know this girl, and they definitely did not know each other for long. "how come you didn't wish your mom back?"

she felt her stomach drop at the question. throughout the few days they'd been stuck detached from their own reality, she didn't once think about her mom. "uh, well, she wasn't great. like, at all. i mentioned that briefly but it's way worse than that. she was never, and i mean never, there for me. i was completely invisible to her my entire life. i never had real friends because i didn't know how to create relationships, and bonds, and i didn't know how to love."

"i was never religious, but i remember a kid at school told me he knew i didn't have parents and said i should pray for someone to love me. thinking about it now, that was really fucked up, we were like 7, i think? after he said that, every single night i would sit at my bed and pray to god my mom would wake up one day and just magically love me."

renjun tilted his head slightly, his eyebrows creasing with a soft look as he listened to nari speak.

"it didn't work, clearly," she laughed, "maybe because there was constantly this voice in the back of my head telling me there was a reason she didn't love me, and it's because i was unlovable."

she pursed her lips and reverted her eyes from the ground to renjuns, where he'd been looking at her as if she were fragile, and she hated that.

"don't.. look at me like that. i just—i never open up, and i don't know why, but i felt like i needed to just now. don't feel bad, or anything, i'm over it now. i don't care anymore. i just wish i could tell younger me that it's okay to be open and want to be loved."

renjun nodded, still searching for the right words to say. he felt grateful she was able to vulnerable to him, even if just for a moment, and didn't want to say anything wrong.

"i don't need to tell you, that you aren't unlovable, right?"

"nah. i mean i still have trouble believing it, but it's honestly all thanks to you guys. i was almost starting to believe i was never gonna have real friends. i was scared at first, not gonna lie, but i'm glad i didn't start to push you away." she admitted.

renjun could tell everything she was saying was coming straight from her heart. his first impression of her was that she was cold, and quiet, which she was, but he now knew it wasn't because she chose to be like that. she simply just couldn't find it in her to be an open person. he wrapped his arms around nari. not sure why, just felt like he needed to.

"oh," she gasped, "okay. we're hugging."

she wrapped her arms back around his torso, patting lightly when a cough was heard just a few feet away. the two unraveled themselves and turned to see jeno standing there, awkwardly holding random stuff he found around the place.

"sorry, am i interrupting something?" he joked, fighting back a smile.

renjun rolled his eyes, "are you done?"

"yes, actually. are you?"

realizing she hadn't picked up a single item the entire time they were there, nari began to stuff random things off of the shelves into her bag to ensure she at least had something. then, after making sure everyone had what they needed, they left.

yangyang and shotaro were practically skipping through the streets, shoving handfuls of what had to be stale potato chips into their mouths. the five of them couldn't believe how happy the two were to be outside in such abandoned and isolated streets, especially since they themselves were internally freaking out, thinking they'd never get back home.

"the suns setting," donghyuck pointed out, looking up at the sky, "we should find somewhere to settle down tonight."

the rest agreed with him and they found little house to break into. they immediately got comfortable as the sun began to fully set, and they closed the curtains to ensure they wouldn't be seen through any windows.

"fuck. yes." donghyucks voice was heard from the kitchen, him walking back to the main room holding cans of beer. "fridge full of beer. i'm living."

sighs of relief were heard from the other boys, a slight grin forming onto naris face as she watched them hurry into the kitchen. hyuck plopped down next to nari, a devious smirk across his face as he cracked open the can. he took one sip as his face then twisted into slight disgust.

"that tastes worse than usual."

nari laughed, "imagine how long thats been sitting there, hyuck."

"i honestly don't even care. i needed this." he sighed, as if a weight had been released from his shoulders. he then looked at her, realizing she wasn't quick whatsoever to grab herself a beer. "i noticed you don't drink."

the girl shook her head, "never have. probably never will."

"why not?"

she knew he hadn't purposefully been pushing the question, the tone in his voice indicating pure curiosity. he figured it may have been her just not liking the smell, or was afraid of how she'd act if she was drunk, he didn't know it was way deeper than that.

all she could do was purse her lips. "it's personal."

the boy came to a realization, shutting his eyes and palming his forehead in embarrassment. "damn i am genuinely stupid as fuck, i'm sorry, i didn't mean to push it."

"no, no, it's alright." she reassured.

the others started to walk back inside, laughing together with their cans but donghyuck was quick to stop them. "nuh uh, if you're gonna drink, stay in the kitchen."

nari was almost positive he had said that so they weren't drinking around her, and she wanted to protest, but he himself followed them into the kitchen before she could. there was nothing left to do other than smile at such consideration from him.