“Hey, Jungyoon?”

She let out a nonsensical noise to indicate that she was listening and looked towards her twin as she waited for him to finish with his thought.

“How come you never visited us during holidays?”

Jungyoon swung her legs in the water as she stared at the pool with a solemn look on her face. She knew he would ask her that eventually, but she doesn’t have a proper answer without it sounding like an excuse.

“I went back every year during holidays hoping to see you again. But you never came. You didn’t come for my debut stage either.” He continued with a frown.

“I know… I’m sorry.”

She could only apologize in response, and didn’t bother to give an explanation or a clarification.

“Please don’t hide anything from me, Jungyoon-ie.” He pleaded with his gaze looking at me. “I can handle whatever you have to tell me.”

“You’re doing well without me, Jungkook. I’m glad.” She smiled instead as she stood up from her spot, and dismissed his confused expression. “Come on, let’s join the others.”

In the end, she couldn’t tell him… she doesn’t want to devastate him with the news. In fact, she doesn’t know if she could tell him or anyone about the limited time she and her team had. It was something only those in Project Sigma knew… the power bestowed unwillingly upon them, and the limited life that came with it.

It was their burden to bear.

“I know you’re hiding something. I’ll find out one way or another.” Her brother declared in a determined tone.

She gave a dry chuckle, not knowing how to reply to that declaration. “Well see, Jungkook. We’ll see.”

“So, I want to know… is it true that you can handle a small army by yourself?” He asked instead with curiosity laced in his tone.

Instead of giving a response immediately, she raised a quizzical brow while she silently pondered where he heard about that. She realized that there had been many rumors and speculations surrounding Project Sigma and what it entails, but she never suspected that Jungkook would hear about it.

“Well… you’re not wrong about that.” She answered slowly, trying to how to word it properly without trying to make it sound like she was a godly person, which she was not. “I had enough training to be able to handle that if I needed to. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.”

She didn’t say anything as he hummed thoughtfully in reply. It was almost as if he was trying to figure what else to say. She would help, but it doesn’t help that she happened to be socially awkward if she wasn’t talking about her work or anything related to it.

“What do you do for fun?” He seemed to settle with that question instead. “For me, I like gaming and watching anime when I’m not on schedule. Have you played Overwatch?”

“I’m more into RPG, simulation, and racing games.” Jungyoon replied with a chuckle as she swung her legs a bit. “And yes, I do know Overwatch… One of my teammates is obsessed with that game, but I haven’t played it myself, however. I’m more amazed that you have time in your busy schedule to play games.”

“Taehyung and I somehow make time for it. Besides, we can’t be all work and no play. That’ll make life boring.”

“Hey! Are you two just going to sit there and not swim?”

She looked over to the direction of the voice, which belonged to Jimin, and blinked in surprised when she realized that other members were also present. She forgot about them during her conversation with Jungkook. It didn’t help that they were quiet, almost as if they were listening in on the conversation… not that she minded since it wasn’t a secret.

“Sorry, sorry.” She apologized with a grin and turned her head to her brother. “You know, I’m not going to keep you from having fun with them.”

“It’s not like you can’t join us, Jungyoon-ie. Why, are you scared? Or is it because you can’t swim?” He taunted with a teasing smirk. “Don’t worry if you can’t swim, we can teach you.”

“I didn’t say anything about being scared, and I do know how to swim.” She retaliated with a smirk of her own, and stood up from her spot. “Let’s go. I’ll beat you at whatever you choose.”

Jungkook somewhat regretted not voicing his opinion on the group’s participation on the end-of-the-year music show festivals on all three major networks. It was tiring, if he had to be honest, especially when they just finished overseas schedules and their concert tours. Yet, they couldn’t reject this offer – especially not when their popularity skyrocketed, and everyone now wanted a piece of BTS.

He looked at the audience section and saw his sister sitting with other idols and their managers, listening in on their rehearsals. He returned her proud smile with one of his own, and nearly jumped in startled when he felt an arm around his shoulders.

“Jungyoon-ie! Did you see us? Tell me we were dashingly cool!” Hoseok exclaimed while waving his arm like an excited boy.

“You guys were cool. No wonder you guys have a lot of fans.” She replied with a chuckle.

“So, do you have a favorite now?” Hoseok questioned with a grin, which only grew wider when his sister stammered her denial. “Aw, don’t be shy. Just tell us – and Jungkook-ie shouldn’t be an option since that’s a bias.”

“Hey! She’s allowed to like me as her bias. In fact, I should be her bias, right Jungyoon-ie?” Jungkook protested, but it seemed none of s were listening to him.

Jungyoon simply chuckled in response, and didn’t say anything – not even when a few idols sitting nearby prodded her for an answer. It seemed they wanted to know as well.  

He was curious if she had a bias within his group, considering she didn’t reply when they asked her at their first meeting. Now that she didn’t have a distraction, he wanted to know who she liked as her favorite. It had to be him, right?

“I won’t say anything. Personally, I like all of you – BTS won’t be the same if one of you is missing.” She replied with a soft smile.

He let out a twitch when he heard her safe answer. As much as he loved that she cared enough not to hurt their feelings, her answer still left them inquisitive about her choice… for the second time. It doesn’t help that she had that mischievous smirk etched on her expression, almost as if she was teasing and taunting them with her response.

“Aw, come on, Yoon-ie. Just choose one.” Taehyung whined with a pout.

Jungkook looked over to the older male when he heard the new nickname for his sister. It doesn’t surprise him that Taehyung was the first to come up with a new nickname, and it wouldn’t surprise him if the rest of his group members call his baby sister with this new nickname either.

“No way. You can’t make me.” She replied with the same teasing grin that garnered amused chuckles from the idols nearby. Her playful expression immediately morphed into a serious one as she stood up from her seat, and shouted, “Everyone, get down, NOW!” while she shoved the idols sitting nearby to the ground. 

He heard various echoes of confusion before someone shoved him to the ground. He doesn’t know who pushed him, but his blood froze when the sounds of bullets boomed through the venue. He didn’t dare to move when the sounds of shots fired from a machine gun continuously resonated around him.

“A submachine gun?”

Jungkook peeked up from his spot when he heard his sister’s contemplative murmur from above. He heard multiple clangs of metal hitting against metal and items dropping on the ground before he saw that she was wielding a sword in her left hand, and those items on the ground were bullets.

“Based on its rate of fire, range, muzzle velocity, and cartridge, this looks like an Uzi.”

He doesn’t know how she managed to come up with that conclusion within seconds, or where she got that sword in her hand. In fact, he wanted to know how she was standing before them when she was in the audience a second ago. He didn’t even see her move in his frenzy; but all the sudden, she was standing there deflecting bullets with her sword like it was nothing.

More importantly, why would someone attack them? Where were the security personnel?

“An Uzi? What the hell is that?”

He heard Yoongi’s inquiry from his left, but another round of gun fires interrupted whatever Jungyoon was going to say. He involuntarily gulped when he saw her swing her sword, blocking the bullets as if she could see them, and blinked in startled when he noticed that she was holding a pistol in her right hand.

When…? How…?

He hesitantly looked up at Jungyoon’s expression, and whatever he wanted to say died at the tips of his tongue when he saw an apathetic cold yet calculating expression. It was as if she was a different person from whom he knew before. The person standing before him wasn’t Jungyoon, his baby sister, but Jungyoon, an armed detective.

He looked around in confusion when he heard small noises of explosion from the second floor. By the time he looked back at his sister, she had already put away her weapons since she wasn’t holding them anymore. It baffled him that she could hide those weaponries on her person since he doesn’t know where she put them, especially in that couple of seconds.

“Seemed like someone was controlling it remotely.” Jungyoon commented contemplatively.

Jungkook got up from his position and brushed off the invisible dusts on his clothes, quietly watched his sister examined one of fallen bullets. He noticed that his group members got up from their crouched positions, and other idols and staff members in the audience section got up from hiding almost tentatively.

“Did you just blocked those bullets like you could see them?” Hoseok questioned with a gaping expression.

That was what he wanted to know as well.

Instead of giving a verbal response, Jungyoon simply let out a noise to indicate that she heard him while she typed something on her cellphone. The unapproachable aura she had encompassing her stopped him from approaching her with various questions he had. The cold smile she displayed sent chills down his spine, and he suddenly didn’t want to know what she was thinking.

“Yes, I did, oppa. Anyone in my rank could do the same.” Jungyoon’s calm tone made him think that she was back to normal, but the dangerous glint in her eyes reminded him otherwise. “Is everyone alright?”

Even though she asked that question, Jungkook noticed that she was busy texting someone and a small frown etched on the corner of betrayed the calmness she displayed earlier. So, when his group members and others in the room voiced various words of assurance, she merely hummed in understanding to indicate that she was listening.

“Are you alright, Jungyoon-ie?” He couldn’t help but ask.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. This kind of scuffle is nothing for me.” His sister answered and clicked her tongue in annoyance when she read something on her phone. She silently clenched the device and shoved it in her pocket with a huff before she excused herself from the scene.

It didn’t look like she was fine at all.

“Wait, Jungyoon-ie.” He called out, and immediately rushed after her before anyone could utter a word.

.

.

Jungyoon didn’t know what to feel after the whole encounter.

She never felt this afraid when she first heard that quiet noise of a gun with her sensitive hearing. It didn’t help that there were so many idols and staff members in the venue that she needed to protect. It would be on her shoulders if anything happened to them. 

The heaviness and wild thumps in her heart were unsettling – more so when she read the text her teammate sent her after the ‘fight’. At first, she thought the target was one of the idols in the venue from an anti or someone of that sort, but she realized how untrue it was after she and her teammate analyzed the whole situation.

The target was her. She had put these idols in unnecessary and needless danger.

She exhaled deeply in attempt to calm herself as she leaned against the wall with her eyes closed.

“So, you want to destroy your creation, huh?” She murmured grimly to thin air and let out a bitter smile. “Why? We’re going to die in a few years anyways.”

“Jungyoon? What do you mean by that?”