That night...

Before the squad made their action trip to Mount Elvis, Seolhyun spent the bulk of Sunday with her mom. They went to a late breakfast and she filled her in on all the made up movie party plan details for tonight. Mrs. Kim was misty-eyed when Seolhyun told her about Hyejeong over and over. And heck, she herself got her chest fluttered as she told her mom.

“Well, this Shin Hyejeong my daughter loves... What’s not to like?” Mrs. Kim started. “She has eyes too black.”

“Abs too perfect.”

She gasped, all wrinkly. “Have you touched them?”

Her daughter chuckled. “Your turn!”

“Will beat you at running.”

“And loves her family. Will protect those she loves with her life.”

“And looks at my daughter like she is the center of her universe even when they’re not together.”

“Mom!” Seolhyun blushed madly. “She actually hangs out around girl’s locker rooms in case she needs to beat up a jerk.”

“Is Jimin counted?”

“No, Mother.”

“Hyejeong is an actual puppy.”

“I love her.” Seolhyun giggled. “She will probably run out of shirts because she let me steal them all.”

“You’re in love,” Mrs. Kim walked to the door, getting ready for her night shift. “I can see it in your eyes.”

Red swept across Seolhyun’s cheeks. “Yeah, I am.”

She smiled motherly. “You grew up too fast, sweetie.”

Didn’t always feel that way, though, especially this morning when Seolhyun couldn’t find her other flip-flop.

“Love is something to be treated with awe, or should it be ‘aww’?” Placing a hand on Seolhyun’s cheek, Mrs. Kim’s voice lowered. “It doesn’t matter who you meet, or how many different dates you go on, she is there. In your mind. Constantly. There is always that one person. And I think, Hyejeong is the only one who could ever met my standards for you, honey. I’m happy it’s her.”

Oddly, Seolhyun wasn’t embarrassed by her mom’s fangirling in such conversation. Either way, she was glad that her mom asked, that she cared enough. Mrs. Kim might be busy working like most single parents, but she wasn’t on the absentee list.

“You have grown up,” she said, placing her hand over her daughter. “And I’m proud of you.”

Hearing that felt good, because on the whole parent side of things, Seolhyun wasn’t sure what she could feel proud of. Sure, she went to school, stayed out of trouble, mostly, and got good grades. But she’d failed on the college thing so far, and everything else that she struggled and dealt with, her mom didn’t know.

But she was still proud of her daughter, and Seolhyun didn’t want to do anything to let her down.

She stayed back, hovering around her mom like a small child as she got ready. Feeling exceptionally needy, Seolhyun even followed her outside and watched her back out of the driveway in her car.

“I love you, Mom! Very very much.” Whispering, she waved at her goodbyes.

Alone, her gaze went to the flowerbed skirting the porch. The faded mulch needed replacing and it could use a good weeding. Stepping off the porch, she went to the small rose bushes and started pulling off the dead petals. She’d heard once that it could help the flowers bloom again. Wasn’t sure if that was correct or not, but the monotony of carefully picking out the leaves eased her nerves.

She wasn’t fully human anymore. Her girlfriend was an alien. And there might become a point where, like Yuna and Youkyung, Hyejeong and her would have to disappear. Leaving her mom all alone.

“Well, only you would be out gardening right now.”

Seolhyun whipped around at the sound of Jimin’s voice. She leaned against Seolhyun’s car, dressed in all black, ready for tonight.

This was the first time since their confrontation that Jimin had come around her while she was alone, and the alien part of her responded. That roller-coaster feeling was swelling inside her. Static pricked along her skin.

Seolhyun held her ground. “What do you want?”

She laughed softly as her gaze fell to the ground. “We’re leaving soon, right? I’m just a little early.”

Brushing the dirt off her fingers, Seolhyun watched her wryly. “How did you get here?”

“Parked at the end of the road at the empty house.” Jimin gestured with her chin. “The last time I parked here, I’m pretty sure someone melted the paint on the hood of my tcar.”

Sounds like Mina and her microwave hands. Seolhyun crossed her arms. “Mina and Yonghwa are next door,” she felt the need to point out.

“I know. You worried about tonight?”

“Who wouldn’t be?”

“Smart girl,” Jimin said, and smiled a little. It was more of a grimace than anything. “No one that I know of has infiltrated one of their facilities before. No Felix or Hybrid, and we can’t be the first to attempt it. I bet there’re a dozen Nayoungs and Yunas.”

Muscles tightened in Seolhyun’s neck and shoulders. “If this is supposed to be a friendly talk, you completely fail at it.”

Jimin laughed. “I don’t mean it that way. Just that if we do this, we’re the strongest, you know. The best out of their Hybrids and out of the Felix. That’s what I’m counting on.”

Funny or maybe just ironic, Seolhyun thought, that what Icarus wanted so badly was the only ones who could go up against them.

“Then we’re just awesome, I guess.” Hyejeong said from out of nowhere, leaning against the wall. “Except one thing: how can we pass the Clio shields?”

Jimin was became very still. Tension filled the air. “Hong warned you that there may be things we are unaware of,” she said. “Even I don’t know everything about Icarus. But I think Hong is on the right track. He is right about everything being encased in that shiny blackish-red material. Perhaps we did build a tolerance so we were not affected by the Clio shields.”

“And what if that’s not it?” Seolhyun asked, hating the icy feeling slushing through her veins.

“What if it’s not? I have a feeling that’s not going to stop you from trying again. It’s a risk and everything has risks.”

“You’re right,” Hyejeong said. “We’re still going to try.”

Jimin tucked back a strand of brown hair, her doll-like, angelic face impassive. “Life is not fair, babe.”

Hyejeong stiffened. “Why do I have a feeling there’s a lot you’re not telling us?”

Jimin’s lips formed a half smile. “See this bracelet?” She flicked a finger along the stone. “It’s a black Calyx, so rare that only a few mines can even unearth these babies. And it’s only these kinds.”

“The ones that look like they have fire in them?” Seolhyun asked, leaning forward to get a better look. It really did look like a black orb with a flame inside.

“There’s something in the composition of a black Calyx that’s like a power booster. You know, like Mario gets when he hits a mushroom. Imagine that sound. That’s what a black Calyx does.”

“What kind of composition?” Hyejeong asked, eyes sharp with interest.

Jimin unhooked the bracelet and held it up in the moonlight. “Calyxs have this remarkable ability to refract and reflect specific wavelengths of light.”

“No way,” Hyejeong breathed, and apparently that was super cool. Seolhyun was still lost on the whole stone and light thing.

“Yes.” Jimin smiled at the stone. “I don’t know who discovered it. Someone in Icarus, I’m sure. Once they figured out what it could do, they kept it away from the Felix and ones like us.”

“Why?” Seolhyun felt stupid for asking, mainly because both of them looked at her. “What? I don’t have a degree in alien mineralogy. Jeez.”

“It’s okay,” Hyejeong bumped her shoulder. “Refracting and reflecting wavelengths of lights affects us, like the Culpa affects Kloom and Clio affects us.”

“Okay...” Seolhyun said slowly.

Jimin’s hazel eyes glimmered. “Refracting light changes the direction and speed. Let me explain it this way: let’s say their DNA is light. And let’s say that once a human is mutated, their DNA is now encased in wavelengths of light.”

“And Clio disrupts those wavelengths of light, right? Kind of makes them bounce around and go crazy.”

Jimin nodded. “Calyx’s ability to refract allows a Felix or a Hybrid to be more powerful. It enhances our ability to refract light.”

“And the reflection part– wow.” Awed, Hyejeong grinned.

Overwhelmed, Seolhyun shot forward. “Do you think the Calyx can, like, counteract the Clio?”

“It’s possible, but I don’t know. Haven’t hugged any Clio recently.”

Seolhyun ignored the sarcastic tone. “Where can we get some of the Calyx?”

Jimin laughed and Seolhyun wanted to kick her legs. “I’m not giving you mine, but Hong is. We’re stocked up tonight.”

***

They were all dressed like a badass group of ninjas. Seolhyun’s skin sweated under the long-sleeved black thermal. The idea was that the less skin exposed, the less the Clio impacted them. The Calyx Hong had prepared for each of the whole crew was burning a hole in Seolhyun’s pocket.

Chaeyeon was getting into the passenger seat of Jonghyun’s vehicle. She was decked out in all black. Black tights, black sneakers, and a skintight black turtleneck. She looked like a prolly ninja. Next to her, Mina was in pink. Well, Mina had gotten the memo about staying in the vehicle. Unless she planned to blend in with the seat cushions, Seolhyun wasn’t sure why she was dressed that way.

Youkyung and Jimin were riding with them, the rest with Jonghyun. As they pulled out of the driveway, Seolhyun’s eyes were glued to her house until it faded out of sight. The few hours she had spent with her mom had been great... really great.

The first thirty minutes of the trip wasn’t bad. Jimin stayed quiet, but when she started talking, things went downhill from there. A few times Seolhyun thought Hyejeong was going to stop the vehicle and throttle her.

Youkyung shifted, dropping her head into her hand. “Do you ever stop talking?”

“When I’m sleeping,” Jimin replied.

“And when you’re dead,” Hyejeong threw back. “You’ll stop talking when you’re dead.”

Jimin’s lips thinned. “Point taken.”

“Good.” Hyejeong focused on the road. “Try shutting up for a while.”

Seolhyun hid her smile as she twisted around. “What are you going to do when you see Yuna?”

Awe crept across Youkyung’s features, and she shook her head slowly. “Oh, I don’t know. Breathe? I’ll finally be able to breathe.”

Moved to tears, Seolhyun gave her a watery smile. “I’m sure she’ll feel the same way.” At least, she hoped so. The last time she had seen Yuna, she wasn’t all there in the head. in a soft breath, she focused on Jimin. The side of Jimin’s head was against the window as she stared out into the dark night. “What about you?”

Her gaze slid to Seolhyun’s. For several seconds, she didn’t answer. “We’ll leave here. And the first thing we’re going to do is get on an earliest flight to China. Finger crossed.”

Somehow, Jimin’s words lingered in Seolhyun’s head, ‘That’s what I’m counting on’. She was probably being paranoid, but they settled like sour milk. Of course Jimin was counting on them to pull off the near impossible. She had just as much as them to gain.

And then Seolhyun thought of Hong’s warning: never trust those who have anything to gain or lose. But that meant they couldn’t trust either her or their own friends. All of them had something to gain or lose.

None of them spoke after that, and at first, the mood was somber and heavy with memories and probably a thousand what ifs and a dozen scenarios of what tonight would be like for Youkyung and Jimin, but as they passed the state and crossed over the river and could see the darker shades of the Bukhansan Mountain up ahead, the mood shifted.

Antsy and ready to just do this, Seolhyun glanced at the time. Twenty till nine.

“How much longer?” Youkyung asked.

“We’ve got time.”

Jjujju slipped into a lower gear as they started up the mountain. Behind them, Jonghyun followed closely. He knew the directions. The access road was supposedly about a half a mile before the main entrance. Hyejeong had typed it into her GPS, but it pretty much spewed the request back out.

A phone dinged and Jimin pulled out hers. “It’s from Hong. He wants to make sure we’re on schedule.”

“We are,” Hyejeong answered.

Her sister popped between the front seats. “Are we sure?”

Hyejeong rolled her eyes. “Yes, sis. I’m sure.”

“Just checking,” Youkyung grumbled, sitting back.

Now Jimin was between the seats. “All right, Hong is ready to do this. He wanted to remind us we’ve only got fifteen minutes. Anything goes wrong, we get out and try again later.”

“I don’t want to try again later,” Youkyung protested. “Once we get in, we’ve got to keep going.”

Jimin frowned. “I want to get them out just as badly as you, girl, but we have a limited gap of time. That’s all.”

“We stick to the plan.” Hyejeong’s gaze met her sister’s in the window. “That’s it, Youkyung. I’m not losing you again.”

“Nothing’s going to go wrong, anyway,” Seolhyun interjected before it turned into alien war in the car. “Everything will go as planned.”

Then she focused on the road. The highway was four lanes and heavy trees crowded the roads on the south and north lanes. It was a blur of shadows. She had no idea how Hyejeong would find this road, but she started to slow down and merged into the left lane.

Pressure settled on her chest as Hyejeong to a barely visible road. There were no markings, nothing signaling that there was even a road there. Two headlights followed them up the narrow opening that was more dirt and gravel than pavement. About two hundred feet in, under the pale moonlight, an old farmhouse sat to the right. Half the roof was missing. Weeds choked the front and sides.

“Creepy,” Seolhyun murmured. “I bet your ghost buddies from TV would say this place is haunted.”

Youkyung chuckled. “They say every place is haunted. That’s why I love them.”

“Well, Masterchef is a better program for me,” Hyejeong said as they parked and Jonghyun pulled in beside them.

Both cars killed the lights and engines and with no other source of light, it was all black. Seolhyun’s stomach pitched. Five till nine. There was no backing out now.

Jimin’s phone went off again. “He’s just making sure we’re ready.”

“God, he’s an annoying little kid,” Hyejeong muttered, facing where Jonghyun parked. “We’re getting ready to do this. Yonghwa?”

He slipped out, murmuring something to Mina and his sister. Then he turned, throwing up what Seolhyun would swear were gang signals. “I’m ready steady. I’ll be their guardian angel.”

“Okay, we stick to the plan. At no time do any of us,” Hyejeong directed this at her rebel sister, “deviate from the plan. All of us are coming back tonight.”

There were murmurs of agreement. With Seolhyun’s pulse racing into cardiac arrest territory, she opened the door.

Hyejeong placed her hand on her arm. “Stick close to me.”

Seolhyun nodded. Then the four of them were out of the car, breathing in the chilled mountain air. Everything was dark, with slices of moonlight cutting across the access road. Seolhyun was probably standing next to a bear and had no idea.

She moved around the front of the vehicle and stood next to Hyejeong. Another moved beside her and she realized it was Jimin.

“Time?” Hyejeong said.

There was a quick flash of phone light, and Jimin said, “One minute.”

Seolhyun drew in a shallow gasp, but it got stuck. She could feel her heartbeat in every part of her body. Out of the darkness, Hyejeong found her hand and squeezed. “We can do this, baby.”

“Thirty seconds,” Jimin said.

I can do this. I will do this. Seolhyun worked on her mantra, because she remembered reading something about the laws of the universe and believing in something will make it happen.

“Ten seconds.”

Hyejeong gave one more squeeze, and Seolhyun realized she wasn’t going to let go. She would slow her down, but there was no time to protest it.