“So, who is this Jessica that you want us to meet?”  Taeyeon looked at Ralph as she looked around the trashed music store.

“She’s a part time waitress at a café down the street.  If she isn’t there, we can check the apartment… remains… right across the street, where she lives.”

“Yeah, but why is finding her so important?”

“Like I said, she’s our ear on the inside.  Gil trusts her.”

“Sorry, when you said ear on the inside, I wasn’t sure if you mean within Gil’s crew or Boss’s crew.”

“Does it matter?  We’re up against both of them.  The only ally we have is probably Mr. Hwang.  Since I’m on your side now, I can find out information from Boss.  Jessica can tell us things about Gil.  Tiffany’s dad will surely help us since she’s his daughter.  This is the only choice we have, really.”

“This is so confusing!”  Tiffany shouted.

“It is.  The only simple thing about this is the fact that somebody’s trying to kill us.”

“Me.  Someone’s trying to kill me.”  Tiffany shivered.  “I…  I don’t want to die.”

“How do you know Jessica?”  Taeyeon changed the subject while putting her arm around Tiffany’s waist to comfort her.

“We were childhood friends.  Time went on and drama got between us.”  Ralph sighed.

“…  I thought you dated Sooyoung.”

“I did.  Jessica had a little crush on me but at the time, but I was with Sooyoung.  I just didn’t know until one day, I realized that we stopped talking.  I tried making friends with her again, but it just never worked.  Then, frustrated, I yelled out at her and blamed her for whatever was happening between us.  She didn’t say anything back.  She just turned and walked away, crying.”

“Wait, you never cheated on me, right?”  Sooyoung peeked up over the aisle.

“No, I never cheated on you.  Anyway, that day that I was arrested and you broke up with me…  Jessica was there too.  The cops stopped me in front of her before they put me in the police car.”

“What happened?”  Taeyeon turned slightly to look at Ralph.

“She told me that the reason why she could never smile around me was because she liked me.  And when I was with Sooyoung, she couldn’t bring herself to tell me.  Then she… she apologized.”  Ralph looked at the floor with a sad expression on his face.  “I just felt so bad.  While in jail, I did a lot of thinking.  I thought about everything she’d ever done for me and all the times she had my back.  Now…  I… I think I like her.”

“Uh…  Is it such a good idea to say that in front of Sooyoung…?”  Taeyeon said quietly while ducking her head slightly.

“Don’t worry about it.  It’s probably better for the both of us if we moved on from what we had.”  Sooyoung forced a smile.

“I miss a lot of people.”  Ralph sighed.  “I hope my parents are okay.”

“Same here.”  Sooyoung frowned.

“My mom died when I was still a kid.”  Tiffany looked up.  “My dad, well, you know who he is.  I just wish I knew my mom more.”

“What about you, Taeyeon?”  Ralph looked over to Taeyeon who suddenly became oddly quiet.

“I…  I wish I knew my mom less.”

“What?  Why?”  Tiffany looked at her, shocked.

“You always say that I have trouble showing my emotions for people.  Well…  She’s the reason why.  I don’t think she knew how to raise a kid.  She yelled at me to shut up when I cried, she forced extra education on me to the point where I passed out, she doesn’t even know how old I am, she doesn’t know anything about my interests or personality, but somehow she always thinks she knows what’s best for me.  So I learned how to keep my emotions to myself and trusting people became a lot harder.”

“But you still love her, right?”

“It depends what you mean by ‘love’.”

“Do you care for her and obey to make her happy?  That’s what a priest told me, once.  We love someone when we do kind acts for them to make them happy.”

“Then, no.  In that case… no I don’t.  I obeyed her so she’d stop talking to me.”

“How did you deal with all that?”  Ralph looked at her almost apologetically.

“I had someone else that I put my time and effort into.”  Taeyeon smiled at Tiffany who smiled back, brightly.

“Wait… you don’t seem like you would’ve had these kinds of conflict.  I mean, you turned out okay.  You’re really nice, actually.”  Ralph shrugged.

 “What happened?  Did you fall in love or something?”  Tiffany jokingly pushed Taeyeon.

“…”  Taeyeon immediately blushed.

“Ah, so it’s true.  You DO like someone!  Who?  Tell me!”  Tiffany shook Taeyeon by the shoulders.

“I can’t.  Not this time.”

“Why not?”

“It could change a few things for the worse…”

“What, do you like me or some-”

Tiffany was interrupted by the sound of loud music being blasted through the entire store.

“Ralph!  Turn it off!”  Tiffany complained.

“Okay, okay!  Sorry.”

“What are we even doing here in the first place?”  Tiffany crossed her arms.

“Would it hurt to grab a guitar so we’re not always bored?”  Taeyeon began walking towards the rack of guitars.

“It’s probably good to take our minds off things.  Sure, grab one.”  Ralph nodded in agreement, deciding to look at guitars too.  He leaned in closer to whisper in Taeyeon’s ear.  “Close call, huh?”

Wait… How does he know?

Tiffany followed along and walked up to the metal locker beside the guitar rack.

“I wonder what’s in here.”  She grabbed the handle and turned it.  “Ugh, it’s stuck.  Tae, can you give me a hand with- AAHHH!”  She stumbled back as the locker door burst open.

____

“Sorry for scaring you guys like that.  Heh…  Nice seeing you again, Ralphie.”

“Ahah, you too, Jessie.  Nice entrance, by the way.”

“Seohyun and I will talk to Jessica about our whole situation.  The rest of you guys… Look around outside or something?”  Sooyoung pointed to the door.

“Sure.  Just call us back when you’re done.”  Taeyeon left with Ralph following behind.  Tiffany remained inside.

“Hey.”  Taeyeon nudged Ralph with her elbow.  “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“Would you mind covering for me in case she asks again?”

“On one condition.  You have to be honest with her and tell her soon.”

“Deal.  And what about you and Jessica?”

“I don’t know.  I feel like it might create tension between Sooyoung and me.”

“Why would that happen?”

“I don’t know if I’m over her yet.”

“Wait, wait, wait…  Who do you like?  Sooyoung or Jessica?”

“Jessica is like that perfect, dream girl, ideal type for me.  But…  I care a lot for Sooyoung.  She’s not perfect, but she’s… her.”

“Ahhh…  I get it.”

“So how’s Tiffany holding up with all this?”

“I feel like she’s hiding what she’s feeling.  When she talks, she sounds fine but her eyes tell a different story.  I feel really bad about that.”

“Why?  It’s not your fault.”

“I know, but she used to smile so much.  She would smile so big that it would reach her eyes.  Now she doesn’t do that as much.  It’s a little sad.”

“Well, I guess you know what you have to do now.”  Ralph nudged Taeyeon with his elbow.

“Tell her a joke?”

“You’re new to this, aren’t you…?”

“Yeah, kinda.  Mind giving me some tips?”

“Sorry, this is something you should learn on your own.  That way it’s sincere.”

“How did you know about… you know… me and Tiffany?”

“It’s kind of obvious, don’t you think?  We’re quite similar, Taeyeon.  I can read your actions well.”

“In what way are we similar at all?  I like Tiffany.  You tried to kill her…  Twice.”

“If you didn’t know me and if killing me would end all of your problems and keep Tiffany safe, would you do it?”

“Uhm…  Yeah.”

“Exactly.  Boss wants Tiffany dead and he needs Sooyoung to gain Gil’s trust.  Killing her would satisfy him for a while and keep Sooyoung safe.  Although, now I kind of doubt that it would’ve changed much…  I think I was a little desperate.”

“What about Jessica?”

“I’m not as worried about what Gil’s crew can do.  I mean… I survived the attack along with almost all of my crewmates.  They’re not the brightest of the bunch, either.  So if they can handle his idiot bandits, I’m sure Jessica could run circles around them.”

“You talk about her like she’s a ninja.”

“That’s because she kind of is a ninja.  She has a black belt in martial arts and her uncle… well.  He’s weird but he’s smart.  So basically, she’s more physically and mentally fit than all of us here.”

“Whoa…  So you know a lot about her, huh?”

“I know a lot about everyone.  I worked for Boss and he had profiles on basically anyone.  If you had a name, he’d have their address, phone number, height, job history and more.  I know a lot about Jessica, Tiffany, Sooyoung… I know a lot about you too.”

“That worries me.  We have an enemy who knows everything about u- AH.”  Taeyeon suddenly felt her body being violently yanked back from her arm.  “Tiffany?  What are you doing?”  Taeyeon asked as Tiffany dragged her back inside.

“You have no time to be flirting with him while we’re on some psychotic man’s hit list.”

“Flirting with him?  What?”

“Alright, guys, sit down for a while.  I have to explain a few things to you.”  Jessica stood up from the counter and gestured for Ralph to join.

When everyone settled down in the room, Jessica began.

“Alright, so first, I think I should tell you the proper identification for our… targets.  First off, Gil’s crewmen are called Raptors.  Their logo is a tooth to fit the name, even though their name really just means ‘thief’ in Latin.  Ralph, mind explaining Boss’ side?”

“Sure.  Boss’ crewmen are called Vigils and the logo is… well, this.”  He held out the handkerchief and showed the logo.  “They’re eyes.”

“What does that even represent?”  Taeyeon shrugged.

“Vigil means ‘guard’ in Latin.  The eyes mean that they’re always watching.  That’s kind of ironic, though.”

“Basically, Gil’s just after the technology treasure.  He really just wants to make money but at the same time, he’s hoping to get an edge on Boss, who on the other hand, wants power.  On top of that, he’s trying to get Tiffany killed.”  Jessica pointed at Tiffany.

Suddenly, Ralph’s pocket beeped at the same time as Jessica’s.

“Huh.  It’s an update from Boss.”  He looked at the message on his watch.  “He’s relocating to Hideout 3F.  That’s not far from here…  He also said he’s assigning me to spy duty.  Well…  I guess I can just help you guys out for now.”

“For now?  How can we trust that you aren’t going to kill us when we’re sleeping or something?”  Taeyeon shot him a suspicious look.

“I’ve decided to leave the Vigils.  Honestly, he has knucklehead crewmen and I’m kind of bored of working for him with high ranks.  Besides, I think we have a better fighting chance, outnumbered or not.  We’ve got a good group here.”

“Alright… well what about you, Jessica?”

“I worked for him for the extra money but I hated the tasks he gave me.  Also, it’s like Ralph said, it’s boring at high ranks.  You just tell people what to do and you don’t get to have any fun.  But now, the money doesn’t even matter does it?  The world is kind of in ruins after the Raptor attack.  As for the update, I’ve been put on spy duty as well…”

“Wait, this is weird.  You both got an update at the exact same time with the exact same mission.  I don’t like this.”

Another beep was heard.

“Oh crap.”  Ralph and Jessica gasped at the same time.

“What?”  Taeyeon practically shoved Sooyoung out of the way.

“They formed an alliance.”  He looked up from his watch.  “And they’re declaring opposition against…”

“Who?”

“Mr. Hwang.”

It's about time I updated this one...  I hope someone still bothers to read this.  :I  <3

It introduces a bit of relationship history and gives a more detailed view on the situation.

And OH NO.

A twist.  Hahaha.

Happy reading! ♥