CHAPTER TWENTY Instincts

YG headquarters used to be an office building, until eight years ago. Before that, they were in a shophouse, and even before that, they were in a garage. The smuggling briefing was in a conference room, with a white oval table surrounded by black swivel chairs. There was a whiteboard and a disused projector. The room was tidy, kept clean by low-level subordinates even in this time of war. The first few seconds of being closed in a room full of men, she went through all the scenarios of retaliation. She was stronger and faster than them. She wasn't worried.

Daesung introduced her to the crew. Jiyong and Youngbae needed no introduction. One was a skinny cat and the other was a stout cat. There was also Choi Seunghyun and Lee Seungri, both of whom were more filled out than Jiyong and taller than Youngbae. Seeing the five of them, Taeyeon supposed that all gangsters looked like gangsters. They greeted her briefly before deferring to the leader of the pack. 

"This time," Jiyong said, "we're moving eight families from Mangwon il-dong to Nonsan, just south of Daejeon." 

Taeyeon knew Nonsan. She had to pass by it to get to Jeonju.

"That's thirty-two people in total. Last time we did forty, and we're taking more or less the same route, so it's not going to be any harder or easier. What that means is, there's no excuse to up, so don't."

He pointed at the map on the table. Red marker outlined a route. He looked specifically at Taeyeon as he spoke. "We gather everyone here at Seongsan Bridge, cross Han River on foot. We've got two trucks waiting for us at Guro-gu. Hot spots are the bridge, of course, since it's out in the open. There's the area all around Incheon airport, like a thick belt that stretches all the way from west to east of Seoul. Getting through that is the most dangerous. Then, at Guro-gu, we drive pretty much straight to Nonsan. Two drivers, and two others on lookout duty with guns. Got that?"

Everyone murmured in assent.

"Last time, we nearly screwed up on the drive because we're like ing bears lumbering across an open field. So Sunny got Binhan to acquire a sedan for us. Kia Forte, full tank. One driver, one shooter. You'll get lots of guns and even a damn rocket launcher."

There was a moment of silence while Jiyong listed their inventory on the whiteboard. Everyone soaked in the information. 

"This is what we have, and how I want to split it. Hyung and Seungri, you get truck one. Youngbae and Daesung get truck two. Me and Taeyeon get the car. The trucks each get one K11 and a box of ammo. The car gets one K11 and three bullpups, with one box of ammo for the 11 and a bag for the bullpups. We got them off Northerners and in total it's about one and a half boxes. Then there's the rocket launcher, but Sunny only gave us one rocket, so it's a last resort."

"Why do I gotta be with Seunghyun-hyung this time?" Seungri asked.

"Cos you and Daesung at driving, hyung doesn't want to drive with anyone new, and between Youngbae and me, I'd rather be in the car."

Taeyeon didn't know why she had to be in the car, then. Because it was most likely to get shot to bits? She wondered if Jiyong was gay for Youngbae or just a really hands-on type of leader.

"Taeyeon's in the car because she supposedly has the best marksmanship out of the lot of us. And if you don't then why the are you in the army.”

"Chill. I'm pretty sure I'm better, too," Taeyeon said. It's your driving that's gonna us in the . But she kept shut.

"Prove it when we're actually out there. Daesung, bring her to the firing range later so that she can get used to the guns."

"Yes, hyung."

"Are there any breaks?" Youngbae asked.

Jiyong shook his head. "Not this time. We decided not to since it's not a long drive. The longer we're out there, the more dangerous."

Taeyeon folded her arms. "What's the 'walking' part of the route like?"

"The families get split into single-file pockets, we cover them throughout, with two in front to clear the path. The breakdown was like this. Youngbae and Seungri took the head, I took the back, hyung and Daesung took the middle. None of the areas are any more or less dangerous than the other. Where do you want to be?"

Which meant that it didn't matter if she was front, back or center. What that meant was that they had found that this was a good arrangement and they weren't shorthanded on this front. Taeyeon didn't believe in lugging extra fat around. "Long-distance. Got any rifles?"

Jiyong nodded approvingly at her lack of tactical incompetence. "Check one out from Sunny. Warm up at the firing range with that too."

"Okay."

Since Taeyeon didn't know her way around, Daesung, yet again, offered to help get in touch with Sunny and direct her to the firing range. Sunny was on another floor, in a meeting with two other men. 

“Hey, Sunny," Daesung said. "Taeyeon needs an K11, one bullpup, and one rifle, plus bullets for all three. She's gotta go to the practice range."

"What about the rocket launcher?" Sunny asked.

"We can't practice with those, can we?" Daesung said.

"Not firing them, but she should still get used to the assembly. What's the rifle for?"

"I'll be monitoring the Seoul part of the route from long range," Taeyeon said.

“Nice idea, go ahead then."

"Thanks, Sunny." Daesung turned to Taeyeon. "Let's go."

They were about to go down the stairs, when Sunny called to them from behind. "Wait!"

Sunny wheeled towards them, her gray cushion chair buzzing. "Taeyeon, could we talk privately?"

"Sure."

They went to one of the empty rooms. Taeyeon opened the door for Sunny, and closed the door behind them.

"What's up?"

Sunny buzzed to the inner side of the wall before swiveling around. "I've been thinking about it, and I also talked to Jessica to find out more from her. I know this magic serum of yours doesn't just do regeneration, but also gives your heightened physical abilities like strength and speed, right?"

Taeyeon frowned. She had thought that Jessica would keep quiet about Chimera. She tried calming down. She didn't know how much Jessica told her. But, seriously, what the ? She knew that Jessica had a good impression of the YG people, because of the clinic and saving people thing, but hadn't she just warned Taeyeon not to trust them too much?

"So," Sunny said, "I don't think it's not worth the risk. The upside is so much higher than the downside of it. You made it seem really bad, but you played down the good parts of it way too much. It's worth it, Taeyeon. We could be so much more effective... we'd have a higher chance of getting out of this war alive."

Taeyeon said nothing.

"Could you please reconsider it? Let me try the serums first."

"I'm sorry, I can't."

"Think about it rationally! There are always risks involved. Look, decisions are made like this. You look at the risk, but you also have to consider the outcome. You’re shortchanging the outcome here. Don't let your feelings about it get in the way."

"It's not just that I lost people because of it, Sunny."

"Please, just give it to us, and we'll decide what to do with it. It's our decision to make."

That argument nearly swayed her. Then she remembered where listening to supposed reason got her with Soojung and solitary. Taeyeon shook her head, and left the room.

After spending the rest of the day at the firing range, which turned out to be an indoor basketball court, Taeyeon went back to Yuri's apartment. Her hearing was still muted from firing the guns so close to her head, and she could still feel her finger on the trigger, her other hand supporting the firearm, and the jerk of the recoil. She hated the bullpups. They spit bullets like grandfathers ridding phlegm. The good thing was, the enemy would be using them, too. The fancy K11’s were from Japan. Daesung told her YG made occasional shipments from its Yakuza friends.  

Jessica was home, her long brown hair still wet from a shower. She was sitting at the dining table with Yuri. She was laughing uncontrollably, doubled over in her chair. Yuri was giggling.

Jessica looked too connected and happy with Yuri. Taeyeon forced a short smile at them, picked out clothes from the table beside the sofa bed, and went to wash up. She fumed as hot water pelted her from the showerhead above. She told herself that she was mostly mad because Jessica had told Sunny things she didn't have a right to tell. She stood under the water for only a brief moment more, to be conservative, and took a long while toweling off. The strong feelings dulled.

When she got out of the bathroom, she decided to join Yuri and Jessica at the table. She had the urge to be less exclusive. They talked for a while. Taeyeon didn't find their conversation too banal. Yuri was a pretty funny person. 

After a while, Yuri looked at the wall clock, and stood up. "Gosh, where's Sunny? I thought she'd be home earlier than me."

She picked up the house phone and dialed a number. Sunny didn't answer.

"Should we look for her?" Jessica asked.

"Nah, I'll just go to HQ and remind her to come home and eat and sleep."

"It's dark out, though."

"It’s my neighborhood. I’ll be fine." Yuri grabbed her keys and left the house.

Taeyeon looked at Jessica, when they were finally alone. She sighed and rubbed her hand through her hair once. 

"Jessica, could I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What did you tell Sunny about Chimera?" Taeyeon asked. "Because she seemed to know more than what we agreed to tell them."

"Oh, yeah. It was the other day, when you were out finding food. She was planning the smuggling job you guys have, and wanted to know your skills. I told her that you can run and fight better than normal people."

Taeyeon relaxed almost immediately. "I guess that's necessary information."

"I thought so... was it a bad idea?"

"No, it's fine." She had been angry about nothing. This time, smiling came easily. 

"I talked to Yuri about me leaving," Jessica said. "She was fine with it. Are you going to come back after Japan?"

Taeyeon shook her head. "I don't... belong here. I'll make my own way, or I'll go home too. Although, I don't think my parents will like that very much."

"Why not?"

"One time, I skipped out of base for a few hours to visit. My mom tripped out cos' she thought I was being a terrible Korean."

“You, a bad Korean? I’m sure she was relieved to see you, deep down."

"I don't doubt it, but she's real strict."

"Mothers."

"Yeah." Taeyeon shifted in her seat. "The endpoint for this job's in Nonsan, which is just past Daejeon. Daejeon's the limit of where the war is. So I thought about you coming along, and we make our way to East Korea from there directly. It'll be clear all the way."

"Sounds like a plan, but it's sooner than I expected."

"Yeah, and, I, uh, think that maybe I shouldn't. I owe the guys one, so I should make sure that they return safely. I just wanted to be transparent... let you know it was an option, but we’re not going to take it, you know?”

"No worries, I appreciate it. It’s only going to be a few more days anyway,” Jessica said. She was so empathetic, so understanding, that Taeyeon felt a rush of warmth.

"Can I kiss you?" Taeyeon blurted.

"What?" Jessica laughed sharply, once.

Idiot! You're not supposed to be kissing anyone with that ty mouth of yours. "N-nothing."

"Okay then." Jessica looked at her in a way she couldn't read, yet she didn't feel uncomfortable. ”Oh, right, have you eaten dinner yet?"

"I ate!” Taeyeon had to keep talking, or she would do something stupid. It was driving her crazy how nice Jessica was being. “Finished more than half of Daesung's kimbaps! He said it was fine! So I ate his food! He has an in with Jiyong, so he’s always as full as he wants to be. Although, this is Daesung we’re talking about, so he’s never too full. For some reason Kwon Jiyong has everyone at YG in the palm of his hand."

"You don't like him.”

"We're kind of... mutually wary of each other," Taeyeon said. "I like you though."

"What?" Jessica laughed outright. “What the hell?"

Taeyeon was torn between slapping herself and smiling. "Oh, it." 

She pulled Jessica in and kissed her on the mouth. It felt so good to taste that sharp sweetness once again. Jessica melted into her before pulling away.

“Are you sure?”

Taeyeon paused, and looked at Jessica. They never needed such gay- questions before, so she knew that Jessica knew. “If you’re okay with it, if not I underst-“

Jessica kissed her, but gently. They proceeded, knowing exactly what the other person wanted but not going too hard. Taeyeon felt like they were one person, but she knew Jessica didn’t feel the same way. Jessica wanted to leave Korea, after all. And Taeyeon actually found it liberating. She hadn’t wanted to love Sunmi because their forever could be destroyed in a blink of an eye. Now she had someone she could feel for without that sort of baggage.

Finally, naturally, they pulled apart. Jessica looked her in the eye, and said, “I don’t want you to think that I’m just using you anymore. We’ve been through too much together to be like that.”

“I think so too,” she said. “Look, Jessica, it’s okay if we’re not on the same page, emotionally. You care about me, and that’s enough for me. It really is.”

“But we don’t have much time left, it’s not fair to you.”

“Time is not a factor. This just feels right.” She needed to go with her instincts, the one reliable shred of her old life.

Jessica kissed her goodbye. They did it in secret, pretending to enjoy the sunset on the balcony for no good reason, out of sight from Yuri and Sunny. Then Taeyeon went to the meeting point. She collected a black duffel bag, which contained a marksman rifle and its bullets, one K11 and its box of shells, and three bullpups with their ammo. Daesung tried to insist on carrying the rocket launcher for her, but she just pulled it out of his hands like it was a bolster. He backed off in awe, and that was that. 

She met the eight families briefly, trying to commit faces as many to memory, trying to access their physical ability from brief observation, before meeting again with Jiyong.

“Tell me the walking route we’re taking, the street we’re meeting on, and driving directions,” Jiyong said.

Taeyeon told him.

“Good. See you in three hours.”

And she disappeared, monitoring them through the rifle scope, no more than five hundred meters away, because she was a good shot but not a sniper. Once they were moving out of range, she changed positions. She pinged the radio twice so that Jiyong, Daesung, Youngbae, Seunghyun and Seungri would know that they were uncovered, then pinged thrice when she was in position.

It was easy work. She spotted enemy soldiers and picked eleven of eleven off before any of them registered to the people on the ground as a threat. All they heard were loud cracks and eerie silence. They soon got used to it, and trekked faster. 

They met at Hwahyeong street. The families piled into the trucks, which drove off. Jiyong and Taeyeon pulled off the canvas tarp covering the Kia Forte. Dust plumes rolled away. He got into the driver’s seat and she got into the passenger’s seat. Her first weapon of choice was the K11.

The Forte hung behind the trucks by a block. Taeyeon had her seat back down so that she could look back easily. She scanned the streets, left, right and back. The coast was clear. She twisted back to the front. “All clear.”

“It’s too easy. I don’t like it,” Jiyong said. “It’s usually not so quiet.”

“Maybe every Northerner that was gonna do something about us got picked off already. You’ve never had a sniper on lookout.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Give me a break. I’m just stating the facts.”

“Keep your eyes peeled.”

She turned back and resumed her watch. Up ahead, the trucks hit the freeway, where the roads were wider and it was clear all around. Jiyong sped up slightly. “We’ll do a small detour to clear this part of the neighborhood for sure.”

“Sure.”

The Forte rolled across a junction. The traffic lights were off. Left, right and back were abandoned cars and cracked concrete. Trash scattered with the wind. Taeyeon thought of detaching the marksman rifle scope and using it to get a better view of the windows all around. They were potential ambush spots.

A loud bang. It clanged clearly even through the confines of the Forte. A manhole popped out of the road, pitched high out of their sight. Taeyeon cocked her gun as one man leapt out of the drain. He sprinted, faster than she’d seen enemy soldiers, or anybody else other than the Fireflies, run. He skidded to the front of the Forte, and flipped it into the air.

A/N: Party~ Thanks for the feedback last chapter! How was this one?