𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 - 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮

⇛ 𝐂𝐇. 𝟓𝟏

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝟒

by morning, jihyun was gone.

jeno was first to wake up and notice this. within seconds, he was shaking the others to get up, yelling that someone had taken jihyun and that she was in danger. they were all panicking, planning what to do. they were sure they hadn't heard a canon fire because that would have woken them up, so they knew she was alive. they just had to figure out where she was.

as the minutes passed, renjun had time to gather his thoughts and understand the situation. he knew that jihyun wouldn't be taken without having alerted them in some way. she had to have left something behind. he stood over the area where jihyun and chenle had been last night and there, he found a white and brown feather buried under some leaves. he sighed as he picked it up.

a white feather was used as a propaganda symbol, representing cowardice, but to jihyun it wasn't. she and renjun had a long conversation about the meaning of certain objects. feathers were one of the topics that came up and jihyun had expressed that to her a white feather symbolised peace and a brown feather for clouded judgement. renjun took this as meaning jihyun was safe but her mind was driving her insane and she had to leave.

"what do you mean stay put?! we have to find her!" haechan yelled at mark who had suggested some of them stay in the same place in case she found her way back. knowing her, if she had been taken by someone, she'd be able to escape.

"i'm just saying that we should think for a moment."

"we don't have time for that." jisung added. "we have to do something."

"i'm going." haechan scoffed.

"i'm coming with." jeno added, his jaw clenched. the thought of someone taking jihyun had made him furious. they were all blinded by rage and mark was trying to calm everyone so that they could think logically and cultivate a well thought through plan.

"wait! guys, you can't—"

"watch me!" haechan exclaimed. "i will—"

"guys!" renjun yelled, interrupting everyone that was arguing. they all turned to look at him and at the feathers in his hands. "everyone shut up! jihyun wasn't taken."

"what do you mean?" jaemin asked.

"she left on her own." he said and held the feathers up. "these were left behind and the meaning being that she's going on her own path and she's safe."

"why? why would she do that?" chenle asked.

"because aya died for her. she blames herself and she's scared that the next person to die will be one of us and it'll be her fault. she's not in the right mindset at the moment and thinks she's a danger to us and that we're better off without her. that's why she's gone."

"but she's wrong... it's not her fault." jisung mumbled.

"jihyun doesn't get that. she needs time to clear her head."

"are you suggesting we don't go looking for her...?" haechan asked and renjun nodded. "that's absurd! remember what aya said about us needing to stay safe and that something will happen soon."

"listen, i don't like it either, but she needs time. we give her a bit and we'll find her."

"what if we can't find her?" chenle asked.

"we will. we always find each other." mark said.

♆

jihyun hadn't wandered too far from her friends but far enough that they wouldn't randomly bump into each other during the day. she had also made sure she wasn't near the sections that would experience anything for an hour. she had left most the food with her friends and only took enough to last her the day and then she'd go hunting.