Forty Four

Having the sound of her communicator ringing up a storm first thing in the morning was not how Ileana planned on getting up the next morning. It continued ringing nonstop and she figured it wasn’t going to stop until she actually got up and answered it. So, she grimaced and rolled around in her bed before she stumbled her way into the kitchen.

“Hello?” She mumbled out, eyes still closed.

“We’re holding a meeting at your place today.” Lay’s voice spoke through the speaker.

Ileana let out a yawn before replying, “Okay, fine with me. What time?”

“Now.” And then the dial tone started beeping. Ileana pulled back the communicator and squinted her eyes at the electronic. What did he mean by- The doorbell rang. Oh…

She lazily walked over to her entrance and opened the door to 12 men. They each greeted her as they passed and went over to the living room. She trudged after them and sat down by the coffee table in the middle of the room. She pulled the progress chart from under the table and laid it flat against the top of it.

“Okay.” She sighed, “Morning. Thanks for the early notice, Lay.” She half glared at Lay who shrugged his shoulders in a minimum fashion. She rolled her eyes and observed the progress chart. “So, if I look here, it seems that everything’s progressing quite well. We’ve got almost all of ministers with the exception of the ministers for the Defense and Justice, Women’s Quarter and Foreign Affairs-"

“I took care of the ministers for Foreign Affairs.” Chen cut in. Ileana glanced over and gave him a small smile.

“Awesome, that leaves only two sections then. Though, I think we have to tackle the Defense and Justice last, right?”

“Yeah. Because of their deep connections with the Senates, word would spread quickly about us forcefully overthrowing them and the current ministers would be at risk.” Suho explained and Ileana nodded in return.

“All right, so that means we have to hit the Defense and Justice ministers right before we take on the Senates?”

“Exactly.”

“Okay, but before we get into details about that, we still need to figure out about the Women’s Quarter. So Xiumin, what happened with the ministers again?” Ileana looked over to Xiumin who immediately frowned.

“Nothing happened! They refused to see me. They went so far to kick me out of the damn building because I was apparently disturbing the peace.” Xiumin crossed his arms with a look of pure annoyance on his face.

Kai whistled, “Wow, Xiumin the Great got shot down.”  Xiumin, who was standing next to him, promptly punched him in the arm. Kai didn’t even flinch. 

“Whatever.” Xiumin stated, rolling his eyes, “We don’t really need them anyways. We should just continue and start planning the takeover.”

Everyone paused and looked around, taking in Xiumin’s suggestion. Ileana, however, didn’t really feel pleased with it. “I don’t know Xiumin. I don’t really think it’d be a good idea to leave them out.”

“Why not?” Xiumin shot back.

Ileana tried to retort, but nothing came to her mind. From what she knew about the Women’s Quarter, it seemed like they had no power and were obviously the weakest link among the entire government.

Kris cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. “Ileana’s right. We can’t leave them out. If word got around that we left only the Women’s Quarter out during the takeover, the repercussions wouldn’t be good.”

“And what are these not so good repercussions you speak off?” Xiumin replied, daunting Kris a little.

Kris, catching Xiumin’s tone, sent a cold glare Xiumin’s way. “We need all the support we can get from the Sectors when the takeover’s done. Leaving out the Women’s Quarter could turn half the population against us.”

“Half the population?” Xiumin raised an eyebrow, looking confused.

“The women population, you idiot.” Kai elbowed Xiumin in the side, who swatted back at him.

“And whoever they manage to convince to go along with them. They’ll think we don’t take women seriously for not including them in our plans.” Kris continued.

 “Okay, I get your point, but easier said than done. Before we can get them on our side, we have to land a meeting with them first. So, any suggestions for that?” Xiumin looked around at everyone.

“Um, has no one noticed we have a secret weapon?” Chen piped in. Everyone directed their attention to him, looking for an answer. With a smirk on his face, Chen pointed directly to Ileana.

Ileana pointed to herself in return, “Me?”

“Ohhh! Chen, looks like you’re more than just a pretty face after all.” Baekhyun laughed and patted Chen in the shoulder.

“Well, I try to keep my perfection well hidden. Don’t want to make too many people jealous.” Chen replied back with a crooked smile.

“Um, guys. What about me?” Ileana eyed everyone who were staring her down.

“Now, I get it. You’re one of them!” Xiumin pointed at her with a smile.

“What? A woman?”

“Yeah!”

“I …don’t see how being a woman will help get a meeting with the ministers. There must be more to it than that. I mean, what am I suppose to do? Just walk into their building and be all ‘oh hi, we're the same gender, can you take me to your leader?’. ”

“No, but you saying you’re interested in a job will.” Xiumin’s smirk made Ileana feel particularly cautious.

“By a job, you mean…”

“Yup, and you’re going to have to look the part too.”

Ileana stared at Xiumin in disbelief. She looked around the room, as if asking for help but everyone seemed quite taken with Xiumin’s idea. “Guys, seriously. You can’t think this is a good idea.”

“But it is, it’s the easiest way to gain an audience with the Women Quarter’s ministers.”  D.O popped in.

“Besides, I think you’d fit the role well.” Luhan winked at her. She glared and threw her marker at him as a response.

“Yeah, but what about me convincing them? What am I even supposed to say to them? I don’t feel like I can relate to them all that well.” Ileana pouted, hoping to get out of it.

“You’ll do fine.” Kris' voice cut through the air. “I know you can convince them.” The rest of them added their own encouraging words into the mix.

Ileana bit her lip and finally sighed. “Okay, I’ll do it. When should I go see them?”

“Today.” Lay cut in.

“T-today? Why today?!” Ileana blinked several times due to shock.

“All the Senate members are having a joint meeting tomorrow, which would be an ideal day for the takeover. So, you should convince the Women’s Quarter by the end of today.” Lay said blankly, seeming to be more interested in the ceiling.

“And you didn’t tell us this sooner because...?”

“I just found out this morning.” Lay shoved his hands in his pockets. “So, we need to have the plan completely organized by the end of today.”

The air went tense but Suho spoke up, “That’s fine. Kris and I can contact all the ministers and let them know. Also, I’m sure Tao and I can work out a plan for the Defense and Justice ministers before the day is done.”

Soon, everyone was chatting up a storm and planning out the invasion for the next day. Ileana looked between everyone and then down to her chart. She sighed and folded it up. She placed it under the coffee table when a hand tugged on her arm. She looked up and saw Baekhyun smiling down at her.

“Come on now, we have to get you ready.” Baekhyun cooed and continued trying to pull her up.

“R-ready?” Ileana stutters out. Baekhyun just smirked before dragging her out of her apartment, telling everyone they’d be back in a few as they exited.

“I’m in my pajamas.” She said as Baekhyun pushed her into the elevator.

“That’s okay. We’re only going to the 5^th floor.” He replied as he pushed the button with the number 5 on it.

“What’s on the 5^th floor?”

“You’ll see.” Baekhyun sang out and winked. Ileana eyed Baekhyun suspiciously. Before long, the elevator door's opened and Baekhyun dragged her out again by the hand. They walked down a few hallways before entering a large room with a stage. Baekhyun raced over to the stage and got behind the curtains. A little further in presented a backstage sort of area.

“What is this place?” Ileana asked, feeling a little amazed.

“A theatre group owes this floor and they don’t get here until after noon, which is actually very soon. So, we'll have to pick and go.” 

“Pick and go?”

“Your outfit dumbie…and maybe some makeup too, those eye bags aren’t the greatest.” Baekhyun leered in close, making Ileana pulled back. With a handsome smile, Baekhyun continued pulling her along. Eventually they found themselves in front of a huge selection of clothing. “Wait here, I’ll find you something. Trust me, I’ll find something both y and classy.” With one more wink, Baekhyun rummaged through the racks.

Mumbles of his assessments were heard as Ileana awkwardly watched him pick through numerous questionable outfits. She saw him eyeing a very revealing dress and prayed he found something better. Baekhyun stopped for a moment when he came across a black garment bag. ping it, he gasped. “Perfect!” And he pulled it off the rack. He quickly made his way back to her, “Okay, now just gotta grab a makeup case and we’ll head back to your place for preparations.”  Ileana could only comply to his wishes.

They ended back at her apartment with the others still very much into discussing plans. She quickly ate a meal before Baekhyun whisked her away to her room. She changed into the dress Baekhyun gave her, which wasn’t too bad. It was a short and tight black dress with long sleeves and it had a cut out of a triangle that allowed a glimpse of her collar bone. She had to agree with Baekhyun, it was y but classy.

Baekhyun then made her sit down and start poking and prodding at her face with different cosmetic products. When asked how he knew so much about them, he just smiled and then would ‘accidently’ poke her in the eye. With the addition of putting her hair up and some strappy black shoes, she was ready to go and she had to admit...she looked good.

Baekhyun led her out of her room and into the living room. As soon as she entered, the room went silent. Stares penetrated her from every angle. She let out an awkward laugh, “Baekhyun did a good job right?”

“A fantastic job.” Luhan gapped and Xiumin dumbly nodded along with his jaw hanging. Ileana tugged at the bottom of her dress.

“So, um. I guess I should be going…though I don’t really know where the ministers are...Um, anybody want to spare some time to show me?” The air became sharp as the boys all exchanged glances with each other.

“I’ll go.”

Everyone turned their heads in surprise to see Tao walking forward. With one cold gaze, anyone who planned to protest held back.

D.O sighed, “Tao should go. He’ll be able to protect her. You must all agree, with her looking like that, she’d need someone like Tao to fend others off.”

The tenseness in everyone’s expression relaxed when they realized D.O was indeed correct once again. Ileana, on the other hand, was not feeling so relaxed. Tao and her didn’t really have a good track record in terms of their relationship. For instance, the last time they interacted, she tore his magical energy resistant earring off and let the crystal do what it wanted. Yeah...they weren’t exactly chummy.

Either way, Tao and her were out the door in a minute’s time and were awkwardly sharing the sidewalk. Ileana snuck a few glances at Tao from the corner of her eye. She noticed that his sharp glare was directed to anyone who looked at her for too long. Well, at least he took his job seriously.

“Thanks.” She said, still looking ahead, “You know, for coming along.”

“You’re welcome.” Tao replied back, “Wouldn’t want you to get taken away by grubby hands before we get the revolution going.”

She hmmed back a response and crossed her arms across her chest, feeling passing eyes linger on it. An idea sparked in her head. “Hey, Tao…”

“What?”

“Could you lend me your arm?” She hesitantly gazed to him, studying his expression. An eyebrow rose from his straight face.

“Reason?”

“I’m hoping it’ll ward off the stares. I mean, do I really look that…y?”

Catching her drift, a smirk emerged on his lips as he offered his arm to her. His eyes gave her the answer to her question. She sighed and looped her arm with his, trying to be close enough to him that it looked like they were couple but not so close that it would make her uncomfortable. Tao thought otherwise. He pulled on her and ducked his head down to her ear, “You’re going to have to come closer if you want to make this believable.”

She bit her tongue to prevent a snappy comeback that would go against their current façade. So, she smiled a fake smile and squeezed his arm as hard as she could. Smirking, he leaned back and they continued to walk in silence.

They reached a large building and Tao stopped at the entrance. “You’ll have to continue alone from here.”

Ileana exchanged her glances between the door and Tao before nodding. They unlinked arms and stood there. “You’ll be here when I come out, right?”

“If you’re not out in a half hour, I’ll break into every door in that place to find you, so don’t worry about it.” Tao ruffled her hair, which surprised her. She blinked a few times before she snapped out of her shock and fixed her hair furiously, muttering curses toward Tao. When finished, she took one deep breath and nodded before turning and entering the building.

Once inside, she noticed something. Well, more like she noticed something missing. Men. There was only female workers in sight. And boy, were they ever giving her an eyeful. She straightened her posture, rised her head and continued to the secretary desk.

The secretary watched as she approached. She leaned on the desk coyly, flashing the secretary a smile. “’Hi there.  I was hoping to sign up for a job.”

The secretary eyed her up and down before nodding her head, “Which Sector are you interested in working in?”

“Both. Diversity doesn’t hurt, now does it?” Before she knew it, she felt completely encompassed by her vixen alter ego. With one more examining stare from the secretary, the secretary picked up a communicator and punched in a few numbers.

“We have a new recruit for both Sectors…Yes, I do believe you both will like her…Yes mam, I will send her up.” And the secretary hung up the communicator and pointed to the elevator to the left of the desk. “To the top floor, they’ll be expecting you.”

With a nod and lazy smile, she swung her hips and walked inside the elevator. A few seconds later, she greeted the top floor secretary  whot gave her the okay to go in the office. Upon entering, she noticed two women behind two different desks. With one golden name plate with the name Minister Kim and the other with Minister Zhang, Ileana knew she was standing in front of the Women’s Quarter ministers.

“Why, what a pretty girl you are.” One of them stood and made their way to her, studying her as if she was a prized cattle.

Since she had gotten this far, she didn’t feel the need to wear her vixen mask anymore. So, she slouched and crossed her arms. “Thanks, but I actually came here with a proposition for the both of you.”

Both women raised their eyebrows, “Oh?” The woman who was sitting voiced out, “And what is this proposition of yours?”

“To join myself, a group of my close confidants and the other ministers to overthrow the current Senates.”

Ileana swore she heard crickets within the room. The woman standing, otherwise Minister Kim, laughed primly. “Oh dear, what an imagination you have.”

“I’m entirely serious Minister Kim and Minister Zhang. The current Senates have corrupted the Sectors long enough. All the other ministers have already agreed to our cause.” Ileana then straightened her posture and made her tone firm.

“And what if you fail?” Minister Zhang asked, her tone harsh, “What will happen to us?”

“Nothing because we won’t fail.” Ileana shot back.

“There are no guarantees with your words, girl. Therefore, we cannot risk it.” Minister Kim gave her a piercing gaze.

“Other ministers-“

“We are not other ministers. We have much more to risk than any of them. One slip and it’s the end for the Women’s Quarter and all the safety and rights that the women of the Sectors deserve.”

Ileana let the gears in her head click. Obviously these women were some tough cookies. “Is that how you want to continue? Like you’re walking on glass due to a couple of measly and selfish groups of men?”

A bang rang out in the room as Minister Zhang slammed her hand onto her desk. “How dare you act like you understand what we go through in order to maintain our and other women’s security.”

“What good is a woman’s security if it’s confided? It’s only going to get worse, you know. You may think you have some control over your Quarter, but it’s really the Senates' strings that have this place running.” Ileana raised her voice to match the minister’s. “Wouldn’t you do the women of the Sectors a greater service by joining our force and help crush the source of all your repression?”

The women remained silent. They exchanged cold glances to each other. “I believe you’ve over done your stay, Miss. We ask you to please leave before we call security.” Minister Kim turned and walked back behind her desk.

Ileana gritted her teeth and marched over to Minister Kim’s desk in a fury. She heard a buzzing mix in with both Ministers' gasps as she approached them. She grabbed a stray notepad off the desk and tore a blank page off aggressively. The buzzing from Minister Zhang pushing a button consistently ringing in her ears was starting to irritate her. She took a pen from a pen holder and bit off the cap with her teeth. She quickly wrote down Kris’s and Suho’s communicator numbers onto the paper. Once done, she spat out the lid of the pen, letting it roll across the desk. She slammed both the pen and the piece of paper down.

The door's of the office opened with bang as two bulky women came rushing in. Ileana felt arms loops onto each of hers forcefully. She glared at each of the women that were starting to pull her away. She turned toward the ministers, “Those are the COMM numbers of my group’s leaders! We’re going to complete of  this mission, with or without your agreement!” She yelled as she flailed within the tight embrace of the women dragging her out of the room. “Think about it! Which side do you want to be when we steal the Senates power right under their sniveling noses!” She yelled louder and thrashed violently just before the door’s the office closed behind her.

The big women kept pulling at her and she grew limp in their arms, “You can let me go now.” She murmured out in irritation, “I swear I’m going to leave peacefully.” The women exchange glances before hesitantly letting Ileana go. Ileana straightened out her hair and outfit, as well as her back from all the whiplash she gave herself.

She went down the elevator, still feeling flushed and definitely still feeling angry.  She stomped off and out of the building to Tao who was casually leaning against a wall. She latched onto his arm and dragged him down the sidewalk.

“Didn’t go well?”

“Shut up.”

“That aside-"

“Shut up I said.”

“You’re going the wrong way.”

Ileana’s nostrils flared as she panted out her anger and forcefully turned Tao and herself in the opposite direction. With the 20 minutes walk back to Lay’s building, Ileana did calm down to a certain degree. She was surprised and thankful that Tao didn’t try to ask questions and push her buttons.

Tao dropped her off at her door as they bid their casual farewells. She slammed her door shut and kicked her heels off. She pulled at her hair and rubbed at her eyes. She paced in the kitchen, thinking she might just burn a circle in the floor. She glanced over to her COMM and saw a flashing light indicating that there was a message. She walked over to it and pushed onto the voicemail button.  She ignored the automated voice message until the first actual message started playing.

“Ileana…This is Kris. I don’t know what you said…but the ministers for the Women’s Quarter just called me. They’re both in. The invasion is in full throttle now. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning, so be ready.”

She stared at the COMM in shock. She did it. She really did it. She convinced those stupid ministers. She somehow got through their thick skulls. Although a wave of relief washed over her, another wave of nausea hit her.

The invasion is in full throttle. So, be ready.

---

 

Gahhh, stuff's about to go DOWNNN yo. Who's excited? 

Sorry for the long wait guys! I've been working nonstop (going on 6 out of 9 days in a row) and inbetween work, my social life was calling. I kid you not, I was in the middle of writing this chapter yesterday and my buds were like "We haven't chilled in a while? Let's party?" And since I worked this morning, I ended up being the DD last night. ... cause I"m too easy...and a people pleaser. Lesobs. 

Part of this chapter goes out to Tao biased people <3 He's y when he wants to be :)))

Also, a small Baekhyun part. I honestly tried to avoid making him a diva, but it just kind of happened :(


Nawww, cutieee. Lemme love you <3

Also, this chapter is like 1,000-1,500 words longer than usual and...I REACHED OVER 100,000 WORDS TOTAL (I also reached 200 pages a while back too). HOLY MOTHA JSUIGUISHUDFHSUDH!! PARTY TIMEE 

God, this is a long fic....I never thought I would write 100,000 words of....anything. Gosh. 

Okie dokie. Imma answer comment replies now. :)

 

 

@yeollikeabuffalo - LOL, no. I can't. I might die /lefaints. XP

@Lullycream - OO' Sounds like you went through some emotional whirlwind with the last chapter. Either way, I'm glad it ended with a smile? :)? I'm glad you like th fluffiness of it weeee. <3 YES, yes working for Lay would be the bestttttt. Well, if you're Ileana...he's kind of scary to everyone else. 

@skuxasianchick - :D Thank you! That's so good to hear/read. Cause, well the end is near and I feel...like I'm rushing? I dunno. lmfaoooo, I'm glad you liked the kiss. LOL, yeah, rejection, well...kind of. Bahaha, I love you tooo and I hope you'll like the alternate endings when they come out :)

@Roseclear - Ahaha, got you all excited only to bring you back down...bad author aren't I >:D Annnd Kris stuff, gonna happen soonish :)

@parktaemi - lmfaooo, amigo. You bring the balloons and I'll bring the party hats, it'll be a good time when I get to those alternate endings. OMG, BAHAHA Hunhan shipper! Me gusta. ;) 

@SapphireSeptember - Lol, it's true. So hard, hence ALTERNATE ENDING :D Ohh, how authors can do what they please.

@toffeelove - Bahhhhhaaa, wow. You want krisxileana to sink? Well, maybe they will and maybe they won't, who knows (I know XP). Uhhh, yeah. I could have made it steamier...but I wanted Sehun to be an understanding guy instead of his usual moody self. Ohh well, there's my Sehun oneshot for steam. ;) OH, don't worry. I completely understand, being a reader and commenter myself! Some chapters are just hard to comment on. No worries, comment when you like :)

@kashika - Hmm, for some reason...I think you might be Kris biased? But a Sehun shipper? Am I right? XP Anyways, ship away what you like! Annyeonggg <3

@Serene - :) Awesome, that's what I'm aiming for. Annd, hopefully you like the alternate endings when they're out :)

@Mokonazuna - WAR YOU SAY!? Man the battle stations! Load the guns, there is...well, there might be war. Better prepare, you know. Just in case. Or, it could be like the Cold War. ....Where am I going with this? I'm not sure. Either way, the future of the S.S KrisxIleana is a secret! Nawww, glad you like my replies lol :D

@Neesanessa - Naw, glad you're happy with it ^^

@OkJ00125 - But...torturing hearts is what I like to do in my spare time *puppy dog eyes*. jkjk. Um...glad you liked the last update :D?

@lilenur - :) Thank you. Ahaha, you sail that ship!

@chuliefei - Uhh, I'm like doing to seperate endings for them :) Not like an ending with both of them, gosh I'm not sure how I could incorporate that in the fic (though I sure as hell wish I could, I mean, both kris AND sehun.../ledies) Lol, If I had extra Sehun's to giveaway, I would give you one of him. 

@ricecakes70 - My god, what a comment...lemme cuddle with it a little *squeezes laptop* You're welcome and THANK YOU for being such a nice reader and commenting :') Brings tears to these eyes of mine. Lol, a whole day woooooow. (Although, I do realize its hella long...100,000w approx.), either way STAY HEALTHY. I swear my story will be here the next day! And and and, my writing does that to you, letearsup. I'm happy. I never knew I really did that with my writing. :') AHAHA, I'm happy you like my author noteees. I try to give further fanservice in them :) And for the story: Yess, that seems to be the new general consensus as the story progresses. The amount of Sehun shippers have like sky rocketed. Lolll, yeahh Baekhyun and Luhan get a little story time. I heart them dearly <3....Wait....what? Really? WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE MINE?! Goodness, thanks for reading. fkdfhsdofhos, honour , such an honour fkjdsfhsdofhds,gbsdofdkgjfgdkjdgfkj *keyboard smashing ensues*. MUCH LOVE OKAY?!?!? <3

@xXBubblizXx - :D yayy, welcome back <3 LOL, on a bus and screaming. I can almost see it now. ;) Oh dear...well, looks like I didn't update much when you were unavailable /leguilty. OMG! Your BIRTHDAY! HAPPY FRICKING BIRTHDAY!! (Belated now, I suppose) Anyways, stay healthy and I hope to see your comments sometime in the future...but no pressure :) <3 much love annyeong <3



Comments done! Yeahhh :)

So, giveaway of the day! 
*throws puppies*
Cause they're the closest goshdarn things to Sehun's. NO LIES


Buh byeee now <3

ps: I GOT TWITTER. Want fic updates? Follow me @PurpleandPluto, kay? Let's be friends. I also got a tumblr, I haven't fully set it up yet, but it's the same name PurpleandPluto. Kayyy byeee. <3