ᴍʏ ɴᴇᴡ ᴍɪꜱꜱɪᴏɴ . ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ʜᴏᴍᴇ ² ᵃⁿᵈ ³

V. ᴄʜɪʟᴅ

Ji-ji held up the locket, making Sung-hyo and Hyun-su's eyes light up.

"I have a suspicion that those researchers believed that certain items and people could help monsters remember their human lives," Ji-ji suggested. "And I think compassion might have something to do with it too. Sung-hyo, I think you potentially saved Hyun-su because of how much you loved him."

"What?" Sung-hyo replied as Hyun-su took the locket from Ji-ji, thanking him. "You're saying compassion could be a kind of cure?"

"Maybe," Ji-ji shrgged. "We have evidence, kind of. That's enough to possibly back it up."

"There was a scientist," Hyun-su revealed. "He said they'd already developed a vaccine."

"They had?" Ji-ji asked. "How come they still needed you, then?"

"And why hadn't they given it to everyone yet?" Sung-hyo questioned. "It would've caused less panic."

"Unless there's a limited amount," Ji-ji pointed out, as he turned on the jeep's engine and started to drive down the remainder of the road. "Limited vaccines to a virus like this could make the world panic even more and make everything worse than it already is."

"He said it was gone," Hyun-su nodded. "If anyone else found out about that, people would stop trusting them. They'd be shunned."

"And they'd get attacked too," Sung-hyo sighed. "We got attacked for having a soldier and survivors. Imagine how many would attack them if they discovered the vaccine had been made?"

Ji-ji nodded, "You're right. The world would lose their mind... and more monsters could develop because of that, due to the desire of being vaccinated and ending this nightmare."

Sung-hyo knew everyone in the jeep was wondering the same question she uttered, "So what do we do? Do we go to a safe camp? Stay away from them?"

"We are our camp, Sung-hyo," Ji-ji replied. "The fewer people to protect and worry about, the more we will be able to look after ourselves."

"Is there anywhere we can go?" Hyun-su asked. "Green Home is destroyed, from what I remember."

"Seems we need a new home," Ji-ji sighed.

ᶠYͧoͨᵏu

The group made a pit stop at the first convenience store they found. Anything that was still (relatively) in date, they took and placed in the back of the jeep. 

The lake, now frozen, overlooked them. The facility sat on the small island next to the lake, still burning and sending smoke into the sky.

None of the group had any idea where they could go now, as they'd agreed to avoid the military and live on their own. Ji-ji had suggested they travel to another city or the countryside, but with the unknown knowledge of what was outside this city, they couldn't risk leaving the only place they actually knew a little about.

Sung-hyo found a pair of binoculars on the floor nearby to the convenience store. Her curiosity peaked, she picked them up and started fiddling with them, looking at the burning facility through the binoculars.

They had a good range; she'd be keeping these handy. 

But then Sung-hyo caught sight of something, making her speak up. "I think I can see someone on the ice."

Ji-ji, who had been putting a box of bottled water into the jeep, walked over to where his sister stood, taking the binoculars from her. He began looking through them in the area Sung-hyo had been looking, quickly spotting the person.

"Is that Yi-kyung?" Ji-ji let out, catching Hyun-su's attention. "It doesn't look like she's doing too well... and it looks like she's moving towards something small. We're too far away for me to figure it out, and going on the ice could be risky... I don't know how thick or thin that ice is."

"I'll go see if she's alright," Hyun-su decided. "I'll come back once I find out what's happened."

Sung-hyo nodded, "Be careful."

The siblings watched Hyun-su begin walking towards where Yi-kyung still lay on the ice. Sung-hyo began watching through the binoculars once he was about halfway there. She saw Yi-kyung slowly moving towards the small... whatever it was.

It was only when Yi-kyung slowly reached out to touch it that Sung-hyo saw the thing's face.

"It's a baby..." Sung-hyo let out, lowering the binoculars.

"What?" Ji-ji replied.

"The thing with Yi-kyung on the ice," SUng-hyo explained. "It's a baby... covered in black goo, by the looks of it."

Sure enough, when Hyun-su began making his way back to the pair, he held a baby in his arms, crying and covered in black goo. Ji-ji was watching Yi-kyung as she walked across the ice, going the opposite way from them.

"It's her daughter," Hyun-su revealed.

Sung-hyo's eyebrows furrowed, "She had a kid? How come they weren't with us at the apartments?"

"I think... I think Yi-kyung was pregnant during our time there..." Hyun-su tried to explain in a way that would make some sense.

Ji-ji figured it out first, "You're saying the baby is..."

Hyun-su nodded. 

Sung-hyo then realised, her eyes widening. "Is that why Yi-kyung is abandoning her? Because she gave birth to a supposed monster...?" Everyone stayed silent, making the girl let out a sigh of defeat. She walked over to the jeep, pulling out a blanket and heading over to Hyun-su, where she wrapped the baby in the blanket.

"I don't blame her..." Ji-ji admitted. "The last few hours must've scared her so much."

"I don't blame her either, but it looks like we're now getting unpaid childcare," Sung-hyo replied, wiping some of the goo off the baby's face. "Well, what shall we name you, hmm?"

Everyone was still thinking of a name as they drove through the abandoned city, searching for somewhere to stay for the night. Ji-ji drove, Hyun-su sitting next to him while Sung-hyo sat in the back with the baby, who had now fallen asleep.

"Ah-yi..." Sung-hyo whispered. "I feel she deserves a name like her mother's. What do you think?"

Ji-ji nodded, humming in approval, "I think it suits her well."

Hyun-su nodded too, though that was all he could really muster. He was exhausted still from the last few days.

"Well, welcome to our little team, Ah-yi," Sung-hyo smiled at the sleeping baby in her arms. "Hopefully things will get a little better from now."

______

Mills says!

This was a little rushed... I'll admit.

Also, I'm aware the girl's name is never mentioned in the series. Certain sites are saying her name is Ah-yi, so I'm using it. The name also literally means "child", so I'm not too wrong lol

Anywho, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter... even tho it's slightly rushed...