Nanami did what she said she would,
She woke up early the next day and went back to the campsite.
Fortunately for her, the campsite was still there when she got there.
Which meant, if she waited a while,
She'd see who this tasty smelling ant was.
And soon enough,
'?!'
She did.
'Isn't that the boy from the raid we did on the ant facility a little over a month ago? I thought… I thought he was dead!'
Nanami was shocked, but at the same time,
'W-Why didn't I notice…?'
She felt guilty.
She didn't know he was alive, she was sure the life in his eyes faded right in front of her.
But here he was, alive and breathing, he looked practically one to one except his hair and the odd tattoo down the back of his neck.
She couldn't move, a pit in her stomach paralysed her.
'How…?'
For a while she absentmindedly stared at him.
The smell he gave off was no longer of importance.
But she snapped out of it quickly and composed herself, this wasn't her first rodeo.
'A Nest jersey?'
She finally spotted what he was wearing, a blue and white college jersey, with the word Nest on the back.
'...maybe Nest came to check out the scene and found him alive?'
But that didn't make sense, the building was completely burned down by the time that nest found the facility.
Then, how did he get out?
Nanami was more curious than she'd ever been, she never thought she'd find someone so unique on a casual stroll.
'I was right to come back…'
Then Do-Hyeok had finished packing and began to walk again,
To which Nanami tailed him.
After a while Nanami made a decision.
She'd lure him to their base!
Why? Well for one, he seems harmless enough.
But Nanami also wanted to know more, which was a little out of character for her.
So, when Do-Hyeok started to stray away from the direction of the stray dogs HQ, Nanami would give subtle hints and sounds to make him go the right way.
It worked a little too well.
RUSTLE-!
"...Hell no."
And he would walk in the opposite direction.
As much as Do-Hyeok loved the peace out in the mountains, he wasn't risking a bear fight.
It continued like this,
Do-Hyeok blissfully unaware of Nanami,
And Nanami silently tailing this oblivious ant.
Until they reached the dirt path straight to the abandoned schoolhouse.
"Hahaha! Finally!"
Do-Hyeok was overjoyed, the sudden laugh slightly startling Nanami who was hidden nearby.
'Why's he so happy?'
Nanami couldn't understand.
And then Do-Hyeok moved down the path over to the schoolhouse entrance.
—
Walking into the schoolhouse, it was surprisingly empty.
Do-Hyeok was expecting to run into feed trained specimens or pet shop.
Instead it was as ordinary as it was on the outside.
Except a few things of course.
For whatever reason, some of the rooms were locked, and it's not like he could see through the dirty windows.
Near the cafeteria there were pots and cupboards filled with bugs and jars of them.
"Ew."
And finally, the most important aspect,
There was a dump truck outside the schoolhouse, and clearly it was operational, not only that but there were tracks from the dirt path coming from the truck.
With all of this evidence, Do-Hyeok came to one conclusion,
"someone's been here. That or there are people living here."
Despite the truck being a dead giveaway, the fact those bugs were still somehow alive in that jar even after seeing how old this place was, meant someone was keeping them.
And all the locked doors led him to make a hypothesis,
'Are they still here?!'
That feeling he had in the mountains persisted, now he knew it wasn't just a feeling.
Someone was watching him.
But who?
And why?
Well, he made a few guesses.
It was most likely the person who was living here, it made the most sense.
As for why…
Either they were gauging him or were simply curious.
So with that in mind, Do-Hyeok thought,
'Let's try something stupid.'
"Hey, I know you're watching me."
—
'???'
How did he know?
Nanami was shook, a little shocked he caught on so fast.
"Do you mind coming out? Talking to air is awkward."
"..."
After contemplating a little, Nanami gave in and stepped out into the open.
RUSTLE-!
"...!"
"Seems I've been caught~"
It was just her, she didn't bring her guards with her.
And surprisingly, she wasn't as nervous as she thought she would be.
Like she thought, he seemed harmless enough.
"You're the girl from the facility!"
"Oh? Do you remember me? I'm flattered~."
Do-Hyeok was more than a little confused,
Why was she here?
What did she want with him?
Why was she watching him?
So many questions, and little to no answers.
So he opted to simply ask, he wasn't smart enough to deduct everything. He's not Sherlock Holmes…
"Well, seeing as you haven't done anything to me yet I can only assume you're not a bad person. Well, that or you don't wanna hurt me just yet."
"Hmm~ you could say that. I have a few questions for you little ant."
"So do I." Do-Hyeok responded.
Nanami looked at him,"well, I'll let you go first since I did kinda stalk you…"
"...how kind of you." Do-Hyeok was still a little skeptical of the girl but he didn't really pay it any mind.
"Well, first off, do you live here?" Do-Hyeok said, pointing at the schoolhouse.
Nanami smiled and answered,"yup! This is my home. Well, not just me. If I tell you any more, you might report back to the nest and then I'd have to kill you."
"That and the captain wouldn't be very happy…"
Nanami then turned to Do-Hyeok and said with a bright expression, "my turn! How are you alive? I could've sworn you were dead."
'I was dead?'
"News to me… I thought I was just unconscious. When I woke up the glass box I was in was shattered, I looked like this and the building was burning down." Do-Hyeok responded truthfully.
"I see… welp! You can ask me another question, im in a good mood today~"
"...right." Do-Hyeok felt there was something a little off about this girl but she seemed like a good person.
"Who exactly are you? I feel like that's what I should have asked first."
Nanami looked at him with a smug look, "my name is Nami Na, but everyone calls me Nanami, a member of stray dogs, a third faction of insect humans. Oh! But don't worry~ we're not evil like those pet shop bastards."
"I see… Do-Hyeok. Nice to meet you Nanami."
"The feeling is very mutual Do-Hyeok." Nanami responded with an oddly warm smile.
'She's really friendly…'
"Alright! Time for my last question. What are you doing all the way out here? I see you have a Nest jacket on so it would seem you're in good hands…" Nanami asked expectantly.
"Oh that? Well…" And then Do-Hyeok explained his group assignment and how he was on his own.
"Oho~ I see, I see… so you're looking for jungle juice? I might be able to help with that."
'?!'
"Arent you guys like a secret faction, why are you helping me?" Do-Hyeok asked cautiously.
"Hmm~ if I had to say… because it's the right thing to do? Plus, you've piqued my interest Do-Hyeok."
"However, it won't be that easy… I might be friendly, but the rest of my friends might not be so willing to help. Wanna meet them? If anyone understands it would probably be the captain."
"Are they even here?"
"Not currently no, they're all at 'the site' right now, but the captain should be in his office, one of those locked rooms you couldn't get into. Luckily I messaged him about you so he didn't kill you as soon as you got near."
'Kill…?' Do-Hyeok felt a cold sweat run down her back.
—-
In the end, Do-Hyeok agreed to meet this 'captain' although he had no idea what to expect he at least hoped he wasn't some scary looking guy.
Him and Nanami walked through the halls and stopped in front of the door at the end of one.
"Here we are." Nanami mused.
KNOCK-! KNOCK-!
"Captain! I brought the ant boy."
Silence
Then,
"Come in."
Upon entering, the office was surprisingly neat for an abandoned schoolhouse,
At the far end of the room sitting behind a desk was Carly Davidson A.K.A. Captain, who looked rather soft spoken for someone who could kill Do-Hyeok in an instant.
"Ah, you must be the ant from the facility incident, glad to see your alive, Nanmi told be about you, called you a 'surprisingly handsome dead body.'"
Carly spoke with a light smile, he really seemed like a kind person.
But looks can be deceiving and they just met, same went for Nanami, Do-Hyeok couldn't trust two people he just met it's only natural.
"Whats your name?" Carly asked.
"Do-Hyeok. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
"Captain, do you think we could help him out with something?"
Nanami spoke up from the side,
"Oh? And what would that be?"
Then Nanami began to tell him about their earlier interaction.
"I see… so you need to find a can of jungle juice in a week for your group assignment. And this will be put into research for mass producing cinderella?"
"Yes sir."
"...That's easy enough, us stray dogs can help you with that, however…"
"However?"
"Whether they want to help you is up to them, I could order them myself but in all honesty I can't be sure if you deserve it either."
"...I understand."
"If you'd like, you can wait in this schoolhouse until they get back and we can talk more about it later when they're here."
"Then I'll take you up on that offer, Captain Carl."
Then Do-Hyeok followed Nanami into an empty classroom where he could put down all the supplies he brought with him.
After he put down his camping supplies, he sat and waited for the arrival of these stray dogs.
—
END OF CHAPTER
A/N: sorry for the late drop I was asleep fr.
I also don't know if this was written very well, characters like Nanami are hard to write…