“God damn it Sungkyu,” CL gritted her teeth, staring out the kitchen window. She gripped her mug so hard that a little crack appeared in the porcelain. “You’re such a ing idiot.” It hadn’t been hard to find the source of Sungkyu’s agitation; he had left all the files under his bed. CL’s heart had sunk when she first came across Key’s picture, but at that time she didn’t say a word to Jepp or Min. She thought it would be better for them not to know.

“And I thought we were done with the secrets,” she sighed to her reflection. She turned away with a wry smile and leant against the counter, clutching her tea to herself. “I bet the idiot’s gone to Aboveground himself.”

Loud, quick footsteps echoed on the creaky floorboards, and the door was thrown open.

“Jepp,” CL started, deciding that it was now or never. “I know why Sungkyu -.” Her eyes travelled from Jepp’s grim face to the dark braid of hair he clenched in his right hand. “What…”

“Min’s gone,” Jepp said.

CL dropped the mug.

-

It had been a long time since Sungkyu walked through the streets of Aboveground. On his last visit he had made his way through the back streets as quickly as possible before reaching the government building, making sure to meet no one. Now however, he needed to be among people to keep himself in check.

Even after so long, Aboveground city was still a world far removed from the Precinct.

Colourful, extravagant, orderly – those were the words that Sungkyu thought perfectly described the place. As he made his way through the market with his hands in his pockets, he thought about how ignorant everyone was to the burgeoning threat from Deepground. No child here would be taken away. No one here would die. No one here would be forced to kill their friends.

The jealousy rose so fast that Sungkyu had to curl his fists in his pockets to keep from screaming.

He was walking past a café with his eyes trained on the ground when perfectly red apple rolled towards him and hit his shoe. He bent to pick it up. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” said a voice, and Sungkyu froze. High heels appeared in his field of vision, and then the girl crouched down in front of him.

“It was my fault, I’m such a klutz,” she said, and Sungkyu heard the smile in her voice. He placed the apple in her outstretched hand and raised his head. “Thank you, I -,” the sentence died on her lips when their eyes met. Still staring at each other, they rose slowly to their feet. “Sungkyu?” she whispered. She was clutching a large brown paper bag to her chest, several apples peeking over the top.

He swallowed, feeling as breathless as the first time he met her. “Soyu.”

-

“What are you doing?” BoA scowled, appearing beside Yuri with her arms crossed across her chest. “No one here believes a word she says.”

“I know,” Yuri said, without looking at her. “But I do.”

BoA made a sound that sounded like a scoff. “You would, wouldn’t you?”

Yuri smiled and turned to her. “Of course I would,” her gaze pierced through the Head Hunter’s. “I would believe any of you. You are all my children and what kind of mother would I be if I didn’t believe the words of my own children?” BoA stared back, but said nothing. “If Min says that she has realized her mistake, then so be it. After all, she’s the first one to actually return.”

“She sure as hell didn’t want to come back when I went for her,” BoA muttered, looking away.

“Perhaps,” Yuri looked through the glass into the large circular room, its tall white walls gleaming and bright. Beneath them the other Hunters milled around, checking on missions and getting refreshments from the vending machines that lined the walls. Yuri kept her eyes trained on a certain figure, following them around the room. “She’s fitting in quite well, isn’t she?”

“You know why she’s really here, don’t you?” BoA narrowed her eyes. “Are you just going to stand by and let it happen?”

“Oh dear,” Yuri sighed slightly, and turned away, putting her hands on BoA’s shoulders from behind and leaning in. “Are you questioning my decision, child?” she whispered, and BoA detected the dangerous edge beneath the sweet tone.

“I would never do that,” she replied, looking back out through the viewing window.

“Good girl,” Yuri smiled, and drew away. “You’ll see,” she called out as she walked off. “She may not be what you expect.”

-

“Hey!” someone stood in front of Min, blocking her way. Min raised her eyes from the tray of food in her hands to the tall girl standing in front of her. She was flanked by another girl and a young man, both with their arms crossed in front of them. “You’re that traitor aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Min answered stoically. No point in denying it.

“Hmm,” the boy peered at her. He had dark prominent rings under his eyes, and he looked more sleepy than dangerous. “You don’t look like you have much in you to take out a whole batch on your own.”

“Small doesn’t always mean weak, Seungri,” the other girl scowled. She was about the same height as Min, and her blonde hair was cropped short.

“I thought you didn’t like to be referred to as small, Sunny.”

“Shut up you two,” the taller girl snapped. “What I want to know is why a traitor decided to come back after so long?” She began circling Min, her gaze never leaving her. Min stared ahead, keeping her expression blank. “Nobody comes back here after running away. Not alive, anyway. So why did you?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Min said.

The girl scoffed, drawing back. “I guess they didn’t teach your batch anything about respect, did they? Who were you with? L?” Min didn’t reply, but her eyes flickered slightly. “Hmm. Should’ve guessed. He always was a dark little bastard. I heard BoA killed him on a mission because he ran. Is that true?” She studied Min carefully.

“How should I know?” Min asked, keeping her tone as deadened as possible even as the rage rose within her. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to eat my food.”

“You’re not even an official Hunter,” the girl stepped back in front of her. “No one ever said you could be in this room with us. Don’t you know where you are?”

Out of the corner of her eye Min saw Junhyung push himself away from his table. She said nothing.

“Come on Nana, you’re better off talking to a wall,” Seungri smirked, uncrossing his arms and shooting Min a disdained glance. “Let’s go, I’m hungry.”

“I heard you were Yuri’s favourite,” Nana narrowed her eyes. “And that’s why she let you back in. But you should know that even if you did manage to eliminate your whole batch like everyone claims you did, you’re still inferior to everyone in this room. We’re the elite of the elite. Make one wrong move and you’re dead. Just like L.”

Min kept her silence, stepping around Nana to get to a table.

“Yuri made a mistake in letting you stay,” Nana called out. “We all know what you’re really here for.”

Min paused, then tossed her tray in the air, whirling around. In a flash, she drew the katana from her belt and pointed it at Nana, where it stopped inches from her nose, the point quavering. Min held out her other hand and caught the tray, the food dropping soundly back on to it, plastic wrappers loud in the sudden silence.

“Are you questioning mother’s authority?” Min asked in a low voice, her eyes trained on the girl.

Nana stared back, dumbfounded. Seungri’s mouth hung open slightly, and Sunny’s eyes were wide. “You…” Nana started.

“Break it up,” said a voice behind Min, and Junhyung stepped forward and pushed her blade down. “You know better than that,” he looked at Nana, and she hastily looked away. “Don’t go causing trouble when you just got here,” he told Min. A can of coke was held in his right hand. “Didn’t Nana just tell you that you’re in a room full of trained killers?”

Min sheathed the sword deftly, holding her tray in two hands once again. “I’m not afraid.”

“No one told you to be,” Junhyung crumpled the can in his hand. “It was just a warning.” He placed the crumpled can on Min’s tray and walked away. Min looked around and caught sight of a girl with indigo black hair looking curiously at her. Seeing Min’s eyes on her she looked away, but Min felt the strange aura emanating from the stranger.

She looked up at the viewing box, and spotted BoA watching over them, her arms crossed over her chest. Their gazes met, and then BoA turned and walked away. Min sat down at a table and unwrapped her first package.

Jiyoon watched the exchange with interest. “What are you thinking?” G.O. raised an eyebrow at her.

“Things are about to get very interesting around here,” she replied, still staring at the empty space that BoA had left behind.

“You know what would be more interesting?”

“What?”

“You going on a hot date with me.”

“Urgh, just give it up already,” Jiyoon threw her hands up in the air and grabbed her bottle off the table. Passing by Min’s table, she caught the girl’s eye. Her eyes were deadened and blank, but Jiyoon sensed the power behind them. She smirked as she continued walking. Things were about to get very interesting indeed.

-

“The question right now is who should go get who?” Jepp paced around the kitchen as CL clutched her hand to her head and swayed back and forth on the kitchen counter.

“Why do they keep doing this?!” she demanded. She made an exasperated noise. “I’m sick of running after people and cleaning up their mess. Am I the only one around here who doesn’t want to keep running away from everything? Yeesh!”  She threw her hands forward, throwing her hair over her face.

There was a pause where Jepp stopped pacing and CL huffed and blew her hair out of her face.

Then, “You could just leave them if you don’t want to run after them anymore,” Jepp said into the silence. “I thought you wanted to protect them.” His gaze was hard.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” CL said quickly. “Of course I want to protect them. I’m sorry Jepp. I just… I’m just really tired of having to keep fighting like this, you know? There isn’t a moment where we get to be normal for once. We’re always on our toes, just waiting to be killed. I’m sick of it.”

Jepp laughed slightly, displaying sharp canines. “I have a gun for an arm, CL,” he tapped his arm. “And you have bunny ears. No matter what we do we’re never gonna be normal. Even Sungkyu and Min, who actually look like human beings, are never gonna have normal lives. We’re all messed up beyond the point of normal, and the only way we’re gonna survive is if we stick together.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s what I’ve been saying the whole time,” CL blinked.

“I know,” he smiled. “I was just reminding you, that’s all.”

CL sat quietly on the kitchen counter, seemingly lost in thought, and Jepp walked over to lean against it beside her. “I do admit that it’s really annoying how we’re still keeping secrets from each other, though,” he remarked.

“Aren’t you mad about Sungkyu being told to kill you?” CL looked at him, and he shrugged. As soon as the news that Min was gone had sunk in, she had shown the files to Jepp. He looked at them, laughed at his picture, and gave them back to her almost immediately.

“Do you think she found this and went after him?” CL had asked him. “Nah,” he replied. He gestured at the papers. “This isn’t Min’s war. Min’s war is with the other end of the spectrum.”

“I still don’t think revenge is something Min would go after,” CL frowned.

“The Min we know isn’t the Min that’s out there right now,” Jepp looked at his hands. “And if we don’t do something, we may never get her back.”

“Here,” CL reached past him and dragged out her sweet jar. She popped the lid and held it out to him. “Mints really clear your head.”

“You’re eating fewer sweets these days,” Jepp remarked, pulling out a peppermint twist.

“We’re going to start fighting soon,” CL said. “I’m going to have to start stocking up my reserves again.” She sighed and popped a peppermint into .

“That didn’t answer the question.”

“It was an answer to the question you didn’t ask.”

Jepp scoffed, then fell silent. CL stared at the jar in her hands, turning it round and round in her hands. “Hey Jepp,” she said quietly.

“Hmm?” he turned to look at her.

“What happens if I don’t manage to find Gyu in time? What if… by the time I bring him down there it’ll be… too late?” she asked in a small voice. “I mean, it’s not that we’ll fail but what… what if in the end it just happens to be… just you and me? What would we do?”

Jepp’s gaze roved around the floor, never staying on one point as he searched for an answer.

“Sorry,” CL coughed slightly, and popped another gummy into . “That was depressing. We’re not going to fail. We’re superheroes. We can do anything.”

Jepp didn’t respond. He played with the badges on his jacket, then looked at her. “I… I don’t want her to die, CL,” he said in a hoarse voice. “If I have to put her in the ground just like I did with L…” his voice broke and he cleared his throat. He looked away. “We’re not going to fail. You just need more sugar.”

CL put down the jar and scooted closer to him, winding her arms around his neck and resting her chin on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry Jepp,” she said, her breath tickling his cheek. “We’ll bring her back. I swear to you.” Her body pressed against his for a second as she gave him a gentle squeeze, and then she was gone. “Maybe if I stabbed Gyu somewhere he might be more willing to follow me,” she mused, hand already searching through the jar.

Jepp exhaled as softly as he could, trying hard to calm the hammering of his heart against his ribcage.

-

“How have you been? You… you look tired,” Soyu broke the silence in a soft voice. Neither of them had spoken since seating themselves opposite each other in a café filled with natural light. Her apples sat in the empty chair, and Sungkyu stared at them to keep himself from looking at her. His hands were pressed tightly between his knees, acutely aware of the two guns strapped to his sides.

“I’m… good,” he paused, then summoned the courage to raise his eyes from the apple bag. She was looking intently at him, her cheeks flushed slightly. Her hair was wavy now, but it was still as perfect as it had been when it was straight. Sungkyu swallowed. “How… how are you?”

“I’ve been doing well,” Soyu nodded. “I’m… I’m baking now.” She cracked a small smile. “It’s not much, but it seems like people actually like my apple pies.”

“I’m not surprised,” Sungkyu said, resting his hands on the table. “Your apple pies were great.”

The smile faded from Soyu’s face as she looked at his hands. “You’re not still…” she trailed off, looking uncomfortable, and his throat constricted slightly. “Sungkyu,” she sighed. “I really did mean it when I said that we could get back together if you stopped… doing what you… do.” She flushed even more, and he noticed her hands shaking. “So… have you… stopped?”

“I… I quit three years ago,” Sungkyu said quietly. He played with the handle of the coffee cup sittng before him, its contents quickly growing cold before him. He stiffened when Soyu’s delicate white hand laid itself over his.

“Oh, Gyu,” she breathed. He looked up. She was smiling, a smile flooded with relief. “That’s great news. I’m… I’m glad for you. What are… what are you doing now? Where are you staying? Are you still in Aboveground?”

I’m hunting down sword-wielding teenagers and psycho scientists and living in a slum with a rabbit-eared girl who leaves her fur everywhere, a bleach blonde guy with a gun in his arm and a bipolar girl who carries a massive scythe. I only came back to Aboveground because I’m trying not to die, Sungkyu thought. But all he did was clear his throat. “Soyu… I… I don’t think we’re going to get back together.”

She stared at him and slowly retracted her hand. “I know what I did to you was harsh,” she said quietly. “But I did love you. And I’ve missed you so much. I thought that if I left then everything would be alright, but all it did was make me worry more about you. I… I can’t explain how happy I am to see that you’re still alive, Gyu.”

“I fell in love with someone else,” Sungkyu blurted out before he could stop himself. Soyu’s face fell. “I was such a mess after you left me I had mental breakdowns every minute.” He half-laughed. “I was a train wreck. And she… she helped me get it together. She wasn’t like you – hell, no one can ever be like you, Soyu – but she was good for me, you know?”

“I… I see,” Soyu said. She smiled slightly. “It’s good to know that you found someone good for you, Gyu.” She took a sip of her coffee. “She’s lucky to have someone like you.”

She’s dead, Sungkyu thought. Or at least, she used to be. But all he did was nod.

“I have to go now,” Soyu said, setting down her cup. Sungkyu immediately got to his feet.

“I’ll pay,” he insisted. She smiled.

“It was good seeing you,” she said when they were standing outside the café. “You look good. I like the whole rugged look you have going on. It’s very you.”

For the first time that afternoon, Sungkyu allowed himself one small smile.

“This meeting was good for both of us,” she continued softly. “It’s good to have closure. It was funny for me to think that we could get back together when we’ve been walking down separate paths for so long.” She shook her head with a light laugh. “Silly. I shouldn’t have worried about you. You’ve always been able to take care of things on your own.”

“I’m sorry, Soyu,” Sungkyu said in a low voice. “I thought you’d moved on.”

“I can now,” Soyu smiled. “Don’t worry about me.” Without warning, she moved closer and stretched upwards slightly to peck him lightly on the cheek, pressing something into his hand. “Goodbye, Gyu.” She turned and walked away without looking back, and Sungkyu realized that she seemed to have a new spring to her step. He smiled again, looking down at the apple in his hand. She was right; this had been good for both of them.

That was when he heard a scream from the nearby lane, and the sound of a garbage can being knocked over. Instincts kicking in, he turned and ran towards the sound, arriving just in time to catch sight of the black stripes running through the dirty golden hair of the girl disappearing over the rooftops.

You gotta be kidding me.