She doesn’t know how many hours have gone by. She had been disconnected from reality ever since she saw Heehyun leave. Last night she ate in silence, she bathed in silence and she slept in silence, somehow not fearing, for once, the recurring nightmares she had been getting regularly since long ago. Her brain seemingly giving her at least some time to adjust to the current situation.

Not that she was the only one, of course not, everyone had been silent, nobody wanting to even utter a word after what happened. Nayoung tried to sugarcoat it as much as possible but there was simply no way.

How do you sugarcoat the fact that their friend just died? Killed by another friend who betrayed them to let their prisoner escape?

The atmosphere was heavy no matter where she went, and she could only respect their silence. She had started packing the little things she had, preparing to leave. There was nothing here for her other than Jieqiong, and the Chinese girl was adamant on staying.

She was in the middle of finishing when she was interrupted by Eunchae, a young looking girl that apparently was the doctor of the group, offering Nayoung to stitch her wound before bandaging again. The ex-cop accepted gladly.

And there she was now, sitting on a hospital litter inside what Eunchae called “her private paradise”, which looked pretty much like a small office full of medical artifacts. In her hands was the knife that took a life just mere hours ago, the blood that covered its blade already dry, coagulated. She started twirling it slowly between her fingers, admiring the design of its serrated edge.

She got bored after a while, ultimately sheathing the knife again as her hand went to her jean’s right pocket, taking out her box of cigarettes along with the lighter. She took one out, bringing it to and letting it rest in between her lips as she raised the lighter with her right hand.

The lighter emitted a couple of “Chks” as the flint hit the steel before igniting. Nayoung brought it to with a sense of urgency, wanting to relieve some stress as she enjoyed a smoke. The flame was about to connect with the tobacco when a sharp, piercing pain assaulted her leg.

“Ooops, my bad, the sound of the lighter distracted me”- Eunchae made sure Nayoung recognized the sarcasm dripping from her voice, it seemed that the doctor did not enjoy her “private paradise” being tainted by cigarette smoke. She had pinched Nayoung’s leg with the same needle she was using to stitch her wound. - “I’m done with the stitches, just let me bandage it and you’ll be good to go”

Nayoung just nodded, letting the young woman do her job but keeping the unlit cigarette in . Eunchae looked down to Nayoung’s thigh again as she grabbed some dressings and started bandaging the zone tightly.

“That’s it, the cut isn’t very deep but be careful, the stitches may cut if you exert them too much”- Eunchae straightened herself, pushing her back with both her hands as she arched backwards, probably stretching after being the last twenty minutes in an uncomfortable position while stitching Nayoung’s wound.

Nayoung, taking advantage of a distracted Eunchae, quickly ignited her lighter and lit her cigarette. Snickering after she managed to do it without being stopped. The young doctor looked at her, displeased, as she grumbled, but before she could say anything, the door to her sanctuary opened and a dispirited looking Eunjin entered the room.

“Hey… Mind if I steal the doc away for a few seconds?”- Eunjin questioned Nayoung but didn’t wait for an answer as she turned to talk directly to Eunchae -“I wanted to check on Jenny”

“I was about to leave, don’t worry”- Using this chance to go back to her room and finish packing, Nayoung nodded to the girls in front of her as she made her way to the door – “Thanks for the kindness doctor”

“Wait, Nayoung, don’t leave just yet, I’ve got something to show everyone but you two will have to do for now, at least until…”- Eunchae grabbed hold of Nayoung’s hand before she could walk away, her voice faltered a little before she turned to answer Eunjin. -“Jenny is fine, she is resting in the next room, but you have to see this first”

Eunjin and Nayoung both look at each other quizzically before looking back at Eunchae once more.

“I finished my analysis over the syringe that the girl had the other night… there were some residues inside of it”- Eunchae’s eyes started getting bigger and brighter, as gave the back to the two girls and started to look through her desk busily -“You wouldn’t believe what I’ve found”

“What is it?”-Eunjin whispered to Nayoung-“I didn’t get to see that girl fight so I don’t understand all the hype she is building over this”

“I was half unconscious, but from what I remember, the girl went nuts and started fighting against both Chaeyeon and Jieqiong at the same time”- Nayoung whispered back, summarizing the whole story as best as she could.

“Whoa, really? That must have been so awesome to watch!”- Eunjin gasped, throwing the secrecy of their conversation away as she yelled, startling Nayoung in the process.

Eunchae then cleared , making herself the center of attention once again.

“This ‘thing’ is basically an adrenaline shot, but hear me out, it’s irradiated!”- Eunchae started waving papers full of numbers, graphics and measurements in front of Nayoung and Eunjin, neither of them understood a single word of what was written in them -“I’ve calculated the original amount based on the drops of substance I had, this thing should kill you within minutes of injecting yourself! Boom! Heart attack! You’re dead!”

“But… shouldn’t the other girl be dead then?”- Eunjin spoke as she handed the papers back to Eunchae.

“But there is even more! There were nanobots inside the syringe too!”- The young doctor was so caught up in her explanation that she didn’t even bother to answer Eunjin -“I infer that they are probably some sort of mechanism to prevent heart failure, I’m a doctor, not a nanoscientist, so I wouldn’t know for real…”

Eunchae then started mumbling to herself, turning back once again as she started grabbing papers from her desk, having apparently forgotten about her two comrades standing right behind her.

“Well… I’ll just go check on Jenny, we can tell Chaeyeon about this later.”- Eunjin quickly excused herself, hoping towards the door that led to the resting area of Eunchae’s sanctuary/little infirmary.

Eunchae didn’t even register what happened, absorbed with her own things. Nayoung had no reason to stay there more time than she should so she finally made her way to the door silently, planning on going to her room to finish packing her things as she closed the door behind her.

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Just as Nayoung exits Eunchae’s room, Jieqiong comes out of the room that was on the opposite side of the hall, the room where they met Chaeyeon and Eunice if Nayoung remembered correctly. Jieqiong hadn’t noticed Nayoung and was struggling to close the heavy submarine-like door.

“Do you need any help with that?”- The Chinese girl was startled as Nayoung offered her assistance.

“No, its fine, I’ve got it”- Jieqiong turned the vale one last time, a rather loud “clank” was heard.

Nayoung did not speak again, instead taking a puff of her cigarette, keeping her words to herself as she watched Jieqiong comb her hair with her fingers. The brunette looked at Nayoung after she finished tidying her hair, her gaze softening as she did so and a smile forming on her lips only to be erased just as fast when she noticed what Nayoung was holding.

“What did I tell you about smoking?”- Jieqiong was now glaring at Nayoung.

“That it is detrimental for my health and my training and all that stuff…”- Nayoung laughed a little, trying to joke around with Jieqiong as she went for another puff, only to see that Jieqiong’s frown was anything but gone. –“Fine, fine… I’ll put it out”

Nayoung flexed her knee and raised her right foot, using the sole of her shoe to put out the cigarette as she lamented not being able to enjoy it more than a few minutes. A bitter sigh came out of unwillingly. She scanned the room and found a small trashcan near the exit stairs, she then proceeded to aim and throw the crumpled cigarette, managing to land it inside.

“That’s better!”- Jieqiong now had a big, bright smile on her face, and Nayoung couldn’t stop herself from answering with a little grin of her own

Silence filled the room for a few seconds as they enjoyed each other’s company before Nayoung spoke again.

“How is she holding up?”- With a change of topic came a change of atmosphere, Jieqiong’s smile fell and was replaced with a sullen, troubled frown.

“She is devastated… she lost two friends in a matter of hours…”- Jieqiong spoke with sadness filling her voice, Nayoung wondered sometimes how a sensible girl like Jieqiong ended up killing people for a living.

She wouldn’t admit it neither to herself nor to Jieqiong, but ever since the beginning, ever since they escaped Seoul, Nayoung’s heart would hurt everytime she saw Jieqiong sad, it was something she developed along their travels after watching Jieqiong cry countless of times after they fought people she knew and, most probably, were her friends.

More often than not, she’d just let Jieqiong mourn her friends alone in silence accompanied only by her tears, but this time it felt different, and her body acted on that impulse.

“You know… I know Chaeyeon isn’t having a good time, but if… if you are sad too…”- What made Nayoung decision even weirder was that this wasn’t Jieqiong’s own pain, but Chaeyeon’s.

“What?”- Jieqiong looked at her questioningly, her eyes opening slightly more as the frown disappeared from her face, replaced by mild confusion.

“I mean… if you need comfort… you know, you can always… I can…”- Nayoung was starting to stutter every couple of words, but Jieqiong waited patiently for her to finish.

“Yes?”

“Ummm… I can… give you a hug?”- Nayoung finished that sentence hesitantly and she mentally face palmed at her own ineptitude. Her face scrunched from the embarrassment as Jieqiong let out a giddy laugh seconds after Nayoung finished talking.

She closed her eyes as she started formulating an excuse to get out of the room in her head when she felt an unexpected weight on her right arm, startling Nayoung as the older girl opened her eyes just to see Jieqiong latched to her arm, burying her face in her jacket.

“Cute!”- A muffled giggle came from Jieqiong before she continued talking. –“I already feel better… thanks”

Nayoung didn’t answer, she was sure her voice would crack if she did and she didn’t want to add to her embarrassment, instead, she just limited herself to watch Jieqiong. Taking in every detail of the girl’s features with her eyes, admiring them wholeheartedly.

They spent at least a minute in comfortable silence before Jieqiong broke it in a hurry.

“Oh! I forgot to tell you that Chaeyeon wanted to talk to you!”

“Me?”- Nayoung wondered what exactly would Chaeyeon want to talk to her about, but she had a few ideas in mind –“Wouldn’t it have been better if you didn’t close this huge metal door then?”

“Now that you mention it… heh”- Jieqiong offered Nayoung a sheepish grin as her excuse, Nayoung just sighed and started turning the valve to open the door.- “I’ll see you later, then?”

“Sure”- Nayoung lied with a straight face as the metal door opened before her and she entered without looking back.

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The room looked nothing like it was when Nayoung entered for the first time. The computers and other devices that were there were completely destroyed, shards of metal were scattered along the floor implying in some sort of way that nobody had had the intention of cleaning the whole mess up.

And in the middle of the room, sitting in an old looking armchair, was Jung Chaeyeon. Nayoung clears , intending to make her presence known, but Chaeyeon remained silent.

“Did you call for me?”- Nayoung said straightforwardly.

“Do you know how I met Eunice?”- Chaeyeon question was, to say the least, unexpected.

“No, I don’t, why?”- Nayoung couldn’t foresee where the conversation would lead, but she took the bait nonetheless.

“She was one of the first true friends I’ve ever had, I really looked up to her”- Surprisingly, Chaeyeon’s eyes were fixed on Nayoung -“She had the charisma and the willingness to guide and teach of a true leader… and now she’s gone…”

“I’m… I’m really sorry about your loss”- Nayoung couldn’t imagine what’s like to lose a really close friend from one day to another, but she could at least try to sympathize with the blind girl in front of her.

“That’s what I called you for Nayoung”-The fugitive cop did not like the turn the conversation took -“You are a natural born leader, I’ve known ever since you stepped into this very room the first time”

“I…”- Nayoung tried to interrupt Chaeyeon to prevent her from getting her hopes up, she was about to leave after all. However, Chaeyeon continued talking.

“I need you here, I can’t lead them alone”

“Why? Why me?”- Nayoung croaked, unsure of what Chaeyeon wanted exactly.

“I have no allies Nayoung, I can’t just go out there and recruit people, you, along with Pinky, are the first to ever help us out”-Chaeyeon got up from her seat, her voice adopting a desperate tone that made Nayoung flinch -“I know more of them will come and I know you think it’s something akin to a death wish, but please…”

“I…”- And Nayoung was interrupted for a second time before she could speak.

“If not for me, then do it for her”

This made Nayoung hesitate before giving an answer, Chaeyeon had played her, making her feel unsure about her decision once again.

“I…”- She tried to force herself to reject Chaeyeon’s offer but the words would not come out -“I’ll think about it…”

She sighed as she finished her sentence, kicking a piece of metal that laid at her feet to vent her frustrations.

“I hope you don’t think I’m using Jieqiong to manipulate you…”- Nayoung rolled her eyes at Chaeyeon’s comment -“She told me about you, quite a lot”

“What exactly did she tell you?”- Nayoung spoke slowly, trying to control her voice.

“Oh don’t worry, nothing personal, just the general story”-Chaeyeon reassured Nayoung -“Do you know how we met?”

“No, and I think I don’t want to know either”- But Chaeyeon continued speaking.

“I was sixteen when I was assigned to work at her branch, she was just starting there…”- Nayoung’s jaw started quivering as Nayoung applied force to clench her teeth. -“Let’s just say we… became friends pretty quickly after a couple of incidents…”

Nayoung controlled herself, she wouldn’t lie and say she didn’t want to turn back and exit the room right now.

“Eventually I had to return to my own branch to keep training but she kept coming to visit, day after day, everytime she could… naturally, we…”- Chaeyeon didn’t get to finish her sentence.

“I told you I don’t want to know about it, I don’t care about what the two of you shared”- Nayoung spoke in a low, raspy voice, causing Chaeyeon to rise from her seat in a hurried manner.

“Nayoung! After JYP destroyed the whole branch and killed everyone he told everybody the people were replaced “strategically” and many were just offered a job abroad… she spent the last five years thinking I left her without telling anything and yet she was able to let me explain”-Chaeyeon answered Nayoung’s outburst with one of her own, however, she took a few seconds before she resumed talking, this time more calmly. -“Don’t get angry at her for being indecisive please, she need time to think, underneath her apparent confidence and charisma there is a scared little girl… I would know”

That’s when Nayoung realized that she practically knew almost nothing of Jieqiong’s past life, save for her parents demise… and it made jealousy start to creep into her.

“She’ll choose when she feels ready”-Chaeyeon started walking to the door. -“Now… there is one last thing I need to ask to you, where did you leave “her” body?”

“The body is behind the mansion… I’ve left a blanket over her after I dragged her there… Until we decide what to do”- Chaeyeon started opening the door to exit the room and Nayoung was unsure of what was going through the girl’s mind -“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going outside…”-Chaeyeon simply answered, before adding something that was more meaningful -“I’m going to bury her… along with my sorrows.”

And she just left, leaving Nayoung standing in the middle of the messy room.

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By the time Nayoung came out of the room Chaeyeon was nowhere to be seen, however, people were still waiting for her in the hall. Eunjin was leaning against a wall, talking to Jieqiong and a girl Nayoung did not wholly recognize.

The “slam” the heavy door produced once Nayoung closed it made Eunjin notice her presence before she walked over to her.

“Nayoung, I was waiting for you”-Eunjin started talking the moment she approached Nayoung-“I need your help with something.”

“What is it exactly?”

“We need to set a perimeter”- The girl whose name Nayoung did not know took over the conversation -“Hi, I don’t think we’ve been introduced yet, I’m Yebin”

Yebin extended her hand and Nayoung answered with a shake and a nod at the girl.

“You see Nayoung, Yebin here is in charge of repairing our security system as soon as possible, she is an electronic engineer”- Eunjin quickly started explaining, introducing Yebin to her -“After… what happened, we are kind of short on m