“Ow!” Yena yells as the doctor applies antiseptic on the wound on her arm, and the latter just ignores her, continuing her work diligently.

 

“Wendy-unnie, please be gentler.” Yena almost cries, trying not to pull her arm away as the doctor continues to dab the ball of cotton soaked with antiseptic on her wound.

 

“It’s done already.” Wendy rolls her eyes as she puts down the tweezers holding the cotton ball down and places a piece of gauze on Yena’s wound, before starting to roll a bandage around her arm. It’s funny really, how Yena doesn’t even flinch when she gets injured on a mission, but once you put antiseptic on her wounds, she turns into a kid who wouldn’t stop whining about the pain. Wendy puts tape to secure the bandage, and immediately slaps Yena on her other uninjured arm, causing her to yelp again.

 

“Stop getting into trouble already. This is your, what, 2^nd time here this month?”

 

Yena grins sheepishly. “I swear I was being very careful already. It’s just… things happen, you know.”

 

The first time really wasn’t her fault, they were busting a gang’s hideout where a full-on shootout occurred where a bullet grazed her shoulder. Today, they busted an illegal circus ring and okay maybe it was her fault but the tiger cub just looked so cute and harmless, she couldn’t help but play with it.

 

“Being careful, like playing with a tiger?”

 

Yena pouts, “Miryung is just a baby. And besides, I got hurt because I wasn’t paying attention, it’s not Miryung’s fault.”

 

Wendy sighs, knowing that whatever she says will be futile, waving her off. “Don’t you have stuff to do?”

 

Yena grins and salutes, not forgetting to take a handful of sweets from the jar on the table before dipping out the door. She sees Eunbi talking to Irene outside, the two leaders’ expression serious and she considers turning back into Wendy’s room until they are done talking because she really doesn’t want to walk in and join whatever serious conversation they are having. Also because she wasn’t expecting to be picked up by Eunbi, who would definitely have a stern word with her on getting hurt again because of her reckless behaviour. (In her defense, Miryung is really just a very cute tiger cub who meant no harm.)

 

But Eunbi sees her and waves her over, and her chance of escape is gone. She pops a sweet into as she makes her way over, readying herself for the scolding ahead.

 

“Yena, how are you feeling?” Irene asks, and it’s amazing how her tone is concerned, yet exasperated at the same time.

 

Yena gives a thumbs up. “It’s just a small cut.”

 

Irene nods. “Take care of yourself and change your dressing regularly. And Eunbi, think about it, yeah? It would be good for your team to get a medic too.”

 

Eunbi nods and that piqued Yena’s interest. She waits for them to be out of earshot before asking, “Are we getting a new member?”

 

Staying hidden is important in their job, which also means they can’t just waltz into a public hospital when they get hurt while on the job. That’s why on occasions (like today) where they need medical attention, they will ask for help from other vigilante groups who has a medic instead. They aren’t the only group doing vigilante stuff, but they might be the only group without a medic, and it’s amusing how they don’t have one when they already have nine members.

 

“Not really. Wendy-unnie’s hospital has a spot for a fully paid scholarship for a doctor, so Irene-unnie is asking if any of us would be interested. Would be good for us to finally get a medic too.”

 

Yena can’t imagine someone in their team being their medic instead, since everyone is doing so well in their own field now. Maybe Hitomi? She’s smart, taking a doctor’s degree would be a walk in the park for her.

 

“Do you want to go?” Eunbi asks, and Yena has to resist the urge to snort.

 

“Unnie, there’s a reason why I went to military school instead of university.” It’s a miracle she managed to graduate high school given that she falls asleep whenever a book is placed in front of her.

 

Eunbi hums as they get into the car, and Yena rests her head back against the headrest, closing her eyes and hoping that Eunbi wouldn’t nag at her for getting hurt again. Surprisingly, she doesn’t say anything about the injury.

 

“So, how is Yuri’s case going along?”

 

Yena clears her throats, shifting in her seat. “I’m working very hard on it.”

 

“Working hard, or hardly working?” Eunbi sees through her easily.

 

“I’m talking to Yujin!” It’s so easy to talk to the kid, they share the same interests and humour code, it’s like they are two peas in a pod who can just talk about anything under the sun. But it’s Yena’s feeble attempt to defend herself, and she knows it too. So what if she’s talking to Yujin, the one she’s supposed to talk to isn’t Yujin, but her older sister.

 

Eunbi sighs. “The boyfriend’s going to be released tonight, you should go see her just in case.”

 

--

 

The last customer finally stands up, preparing to leave the café, but not before staring at Yuri for a few seconds. She has gotten a few stares from other customers, probably because of the plaster on her forehead, but this customer’s eyes just doesn’t leave her, like she’s checking her out. Yuri doesn’t back down, recognizing the customer as one who just sat in the café for the whole day after ordering one cup of latte. It’s common sense that you should order more if you want to keep your table, but this customer only ordered one item and stayed the whole day, so Yuri is going to stare back at her as a small act of defiance.  

 

It seems like she wins, because the rude customer breaks the eye contact first and slides out of the door. Yuri beams at the small win and locks the door before turning around to look at all the things to clean up. She looks at the mountain of dishes in the sink, the tables waiting to be cleaned, and the trash waiting to be thrown. Usually there will be at least two of them so the work is manageable, but her colleague called in sick, so she’s on her own today. Well, beggars cannot be choosers and she need this job now that they don’t have the financial support of her ty ex-boyfriend. Sighing, she heads to the sink first.

 

She breezes through it pretty quickly even though she’s working alone, and she hangs her apron before dragging the trash bag out of the backdoor. She heaves and throws it into the big trash bin, and is ready to head back into the café when the backdoor slams shut, and Sejun leans against it with his arms crossed.

 

“Hi Yuri.” He smiles at her, but there isn’t a hint of happiness in his eyes.

 

She attempts to run, but he grabs her by the ponytail, pulling her back. “Where do you think you are going?”

 

“Please let me go…” Yuri cries out while pulling at her hair, trying to soften Sejun’s grip.

 

“I’m just repaying what I received from the police to you. I was held in custody for three days, three freaking days because of you!” He tightens his grip, and Yuri whines in pain. He pulls her up by the hair, making eye contact with her. His eyes are filled with madness as he grins at her.

 

“Now, it’s payback time.”

 

He raises his hand high and Yuri closes her eyes as she flinches, knowing what is coming next. She is always on the receiving end of these hits, but it never gets easier.

 

But the siren of a police car goes off and he curses before throwing her against the wall and running off. Yuri just stays on the ground, tears beginning to fall. When will this nightmare finally end?

 

The sirens get closer, until it feels like they are ringing right in her ears. She looks up to see a figure towering over her and it’s not a police officer, but the leather jacket and baseball cap is very familiar. It’s the weird customer from before. She presses a button on her phone, and the sirens stop.

 

“This is the second time I’m saving you. We should really stop meeting like this.”

 

Second time? The weird customer holds out her hand, and Yuri takes it gingerly.

 

--

 

“Thank you for just now.” Yuri places a cup of water in front of her and Yena accepts it with a nod.

 

They are back in the café again, and frankly Yena is sick of sitting here again when she had been here the whole day on the lookout for the scumbag. She thought the coast was clear when he didn’t appear the whole day, even making sure to check on Yuri before she left (okay she only casted a long glance at Yuri, but in her books, it is considered as checking on her), but of course scums like him only strike in the dark where they think they can’t be caught. Luckily, she didn’t brush off the fancy car parked right outside the café when she left, deciding to err on the side of caution and stay behind, catching him right when he was about to attack.

 

“What do you mean by ‘second time’?” Yuri’s eyes are filled with curiosity, albeit mixed with tiredness from the long day she had.

 

Ah. She’s familiar with Yuri, but to Yuri, she’s just a stranger. “I saved you the other time at your house too.”

 

Yuri gasps, she only heard about their saviour from Yujin, and it’s the first time she’s meeting her today. (Well, at least while she’s conscious.) “Thank you for that time too.”

 

Yena nods, unable to form any coherent words. Usually none of her teammates can stop her from talking, but she doesn’t know why her brain is suddenly malfunctioning, it’s like the three brain cells up there all decided to take a vacation together. (No, it definitely has nothing to do with her breaking down in front of a pretty girl.) But she finally has the chance to talk to Yuri, to convince her to let them help, so she has to try. Come on, come up with something, anything!

 

“You look prettier without all the bandages.” Yena wants to slap herself, way to go at trying to gain her trust, she just sounds like a teenage boy trying to get into her pants instead.

 

There’s a blush on Yuri’s face as she murmurs a quick ‘thank you’, and Yena brings up the cup to her lips again, only to realize it’s empty. She puts it down again, clearing .

 

“Heard from Yujin that you will be going to court soon, I can help if you need.”

 

“It’s okay, I can handle it by myself.”

 

Yena frowns, knowing that defeated look on Yuri’s face, seeing it often on the faces of other victims, one that has lost all hope, only able to accept the cruel situation they are in without the ability to fight back. “Please don’t settle it out of court, you are just letting him go scot-free.”

 

If she had a choice, Yuri wouldn’t settle too. But this part time job is barely feeding her and Yujin, so how is she going to get the extra money to fight a lawsuit? To make things worse, the douchebag had pulled strings to get her removed from her scholarship program in school, so she’s on the verge of dropping out. Even if she can’t finish her degree, Yujin has to graduate from high school, so the only feasible way out is to settle and get the compensation money so that they can at the very least, survive.

 

And let’s say she really just throws everything in the fire to fight this lawsuit, how is she going to fight against the police, prosecutors, judges she meets on the way that has probably received money from the dirtbag and his family to silence this whole thing? She knows a lost battle when she sees one, and she wants to pull out before she suffers even more from it.

 

She sighs, “Do I have any other choice? Everything is against me, from money to the very system that is supposed to protect me.”

 

“That’s why I said I will help! Money definitely isn’t an issue, and I have connections to people in all ranks of the system, good people who wouldn’t be bought over by money who can help you sincerely.”

 

Yena’s words sound nice, but Yuri finds it hard to trust anyone after what she’s been through. “I can’t even trust the people working in the legal institution in the country, why should I trust you?”

 

“Exactly because you can’t trust them, why not put your trust in me? It’s not like you can get help anywhere else anymore, when the legal institution in the country that is supposed to protect the citizens don’t.”

 

Yuri is still not convinced, sitting back with her arms crossed. “Look, I don’t know why Yujin trusts you so much, but I don’t, and you are not giving me enough reasons to.”

 

“You are the one who trusted and dated a scumbag, while Yujin was the one who found me and asked for my help, so I would say you should trust your younger sister’s instinct more instead.” That was a low blow and Yena knows it too, but it comes out before she can stop herself.

 

Yuri scoffs, “For someone offering help, you sure are cocky.”

 

Instead of convincing her, Yena has gone ahead and offended her. Great work, Choi Yena. It’s better to withdraw for today, and try again another time when Yuri has calmed down. She pulls out a name card that only has a logo of an incomplete circle with a star and a diamond in the middle, and a string of numbers on the flip side. “This is my number, call me if you change your mind, or if you need anything at all. I’m here to help you, even if it may not seem so now.”

 

--

 

Yena pulls off her helmet, and removes the memory card of the camera on her helmet deftly, placing it on Sakura’s table as she walks by. “Send the video to Chaewon, it will be useful.”

 

Sakura hums, inserting the small memory card into her laptop immediately before she loses it, but her eyes never leave the screen. “LOL?”

 

“Nah, not in the mood today.” Yena waves her off and heads back to her room. She can’t wait to just flop into bed and sleep, washing up be damned.

 

“So, how was it?” But Eunbi’s voice catches her off guard, causing her to jump. She turns around and sees Eunbi leaning against the frame of her own door and she knows sleep has to wait for now.

 

Yena sighs and relays everything that happened, ending off with a, “I don’t think I can do it, Unnie. I just say the wrong things every time I open my mouth.”

 

“Well, at least you approached her already. I would say it’s a good start, but you have to pick up the pace because we can’t have her settling and dropping the case.”

 

“But how?! She literally hates me.” Yena grumbles, and Eunbi gives a knowing smile.

 

“Just be sincere. We won you over with sincerity too, didn’t we?”

 

Yena stutters, “That was different.”

 

Eunbi holds up one finger, “We were complete strangers,”, and then another, “and we both have to get the other person to trust us despite the hostility. If I can convince you, who is possibly the most stubborn person ever alive, you can do it too. Just keep reaching out, you will get through to her.”

 

Eunbi steps closer, patting her on the back. “I believe in you.”

 

--

 

Bonus

Yena salutes the soldier at the guard house as she leaves camp, the pistol in her bag weighing her down more than its actual weight. But she doesn’t care anymore, not when living feels like hell. She should just end everything and go down to the real one, but not without bringing him along.

 

She gets into the Uber she called, hugging the backpack in front of her tightly. It all ends today. Umma, just wait a while more.

 

“Kid, is it really worth doing it?” The driver speaks up, making eye contact with her from the rear-view mirror. “Is this really what your mother wants?”

 

Yena’s gaze turns cold. Why is this stranger talking like she knows her, like she knows what she has gone through? “What do you know?”

 

“For a start, I know she wouldn’t want you to do this. If you want revenge, do it properly. Make him pay for his crimes with the law, don’t dirty your hands.”

 

Yena doesn’t question how this stranger seems to know everything but scoffs at her overly simplified words. If only things could be so beautiful and easy in reality. “If the law actually works, he wouldn’t be freely roaming the streets now while someone else sits behind bars for him.”

 

“The law works, we just need to make sure to remove all the barriers his money has bought him so they can catch him. And I, or rather, my team can do that.”

 

Yena scrutinizes the driver through the mirror. She couldn’t be more than a few years older than herself, young for an Uber driver, but she exudes a form of confidence and aura years beyond her age, one that makes you want to trust her unconditionally. But Yena is jaded, angry with the world, she’s not going to trust anyone, no, there’s no one she can trust anymore. “Why should I trust you?”

 

“Because I was once in your situation. I understand how hopeless it is, how it feels like they can never be touched behind the walls they built with their money. That’s why I have sworn to tear down every one of those walls to catch them, so that they will get their just deserts.”

 

The driver finishes her speech and Yena is thrown into a spiral of deep thoughts. It all just sounds too good to be true, but she really desperately wishes for it to be. The car rolls to a stop, and Yena looks out the window to see that they are at the entrance of her camp again.

 

“Go back in, put that gun back where it’s supposed to be.” The driver slides a name card over the centre console, one with a logo of an incomplete circle with a star and a diamond in the middle, and a string of numbers on the flip side. “We can tear down those walls, and get him through the proper channels. Together.”   

 

--

a/n: setting the story here so nothing much is happening here but things are going to pick up from here. also, a little sneak peek of yena's past heh