CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Clean slate

"Staff Sergeant Kim, welcome back. Corporal Kim. As soon as this video message is over, please initiate a call with me. This is of utmost priority to the nation's efforts. Go to a secure location as there will be some highly sensitive information discussed." And the playback ended.

Taeyeon blinked. She supposed if it hadn't been a personal message from the General himself, she wouldn't have taken it seriously.

Dr. Seo and Jessica left the ward. Hyoyeon made the call. The General picked up in three rings.

“Staff Sergeant. Corporal.”

“General,” Hyoyeon said.

“General,” Taeyeon echoed.

“The first thing we will address is your status, Corporal,” General Choi said. “Ordinarily, soldiers like you are executed and discharged dishonorably. Are you aware of that?”

“Yes, sir. That’s why I haven’t gotten caught yet.”

“Is that sass, soldier?”

“No, sir.”

“If Captain Choi generally allows her soldiers to be as undisciplined as you, then it is no wonder she is still only Captain.”

Sooyoung was already making new ranks as fast as they came. Taeyeon always knew that her father was a hard . “Don’t worry, sir. My parents always said that I’m uniquely incorrigible.”

Hyoyeon nudged her.

“Speaking of your family, I believe you have two siblings. One older brother who is not enlisted in our nation’s time of need, and one younger sister still in middle school.”

“My brother sustained a back injury after his national service, sir. He wouldn’t have been enlisted even if he tried, so he didn’t.”

“There are times when you should shut up, soldier.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now, I want you to think very carefully, about what will happen to you, and what might happen to your family, unless you accept our terms,” the General said. 

Taeyeon listened, wondering what kind of person she was that people of authority always felt they had to threaten her to get her to do anything.

“A helicopter will be going to Daejeon Hospital tonight at oh-one-hundred hours. Staff Sergeant Kim and you, if you agree to, will get on it and go to the North to join Team Firefly for the duration of this assignment. One assignment. In exchange, we will wipe the slate clean with your counts of indecency, second-degree murder and battery. You will be discharged honorably with immediate effect. The rest of the military will be fed a story about an independent assignment and the blame for your actions cast on someone else. The guards that you injured have agreed to forget you since the MPs did a thorough investigation on your stay in solitary.”

Taeyeon stood still.

“What is your decision, Corporal?”

“I’ll go to the North tonight, sir.”

“Good.” He turned his head. “Staff Sergeant Kim, do you have any objections?”

“No, sir,” Hyoyeon said.

“We have reached a crossroads, I’m afraid,” the General said. “The North is pressuring us with their large batch of genetically enhanced soldiers, while we have advanced to the vicinity of Pyongyang. The North military outnumbers us four to one. If we don’t act quickly, we might lose the war. We will concentrate our forces on dealing with the enhanced soldiers, both in the country and in our North outposts. Team Firefly’s mission is to assassinate the North’s leader and the highest ranked military personnel.

“As you know,” he continued, “beneath their Supreme Leader and Great Successor are four marshals, the Grand Marshal, the Nation Marshal, the Defense Marshal and the Vice Marshal. Eliminating all of them will crush the brain of the North military. Killing the Supreme Leader and the Great Successor will destroy their heart.”

“Is there a dossier on these targets? What support will we be getting?” Hyoyeon asked.

“You will get the information from Kaesong OP tonight. The bulk of our relevant interrogations were conducted there,” the General said. “This is a stealth mission, so the team will be allowed only minimal support at Captain Choi’s discretion. Any more questions?”

“No, sir.”

“No, sir,” Taeyeon echoed.

The video call ended. Taeyeon turned to Hyoyeon. “Team Firefly had a dedicated medic when I was there. It made the team safer. Could we bring Jessica along?”

“If that’s the case then I believe we would already have a designated medic. Shouldn’t she rejoin the Navy now?”

“Please, Hyo. It’s not just about my feelings for her.”

Hyoyeon stared at her for a long moment. “Fine. If Sooyoung is fine with it then so am I.”

“Thanks,” Taeyeon said. She went out of the ward and motioned for Jessica to follow her. The hospital staff passed by her, clearly recognized her face, but said nothing. The General was powerful. They found another private ward further down the corridor.

Jessica shut the door behind her. “What’s going on?”

“I’ve been given another chance,” Taeyeon said. “I’ll rejoin Firefly tonight for a last mission. We’re going to assassinate all of the top dogs, or we’ll lose.”

“That’s great- the second chance, I mean.”

“It’s not without its issues,” Taeyeon said. “But I wanted to ask you if you could come be our field medic again. Just for this job, instead of going back to the Corpsmen for the rest of the war.”

“This is a big job.”

“That’s why I’m asking you. If you’re going to stay in Korea, yet you want to make a meaningful impact, isn’t this it?” Plus, I can make sure you’re safe.

“Logical argument, nice,” Jessica said. “Or just admit that you’d miss my company.”

“I admit that’s a small part of the reason.” Taeyeon smiled.

“Just a small part?”

“Fine. I’d really, really prefer it.”

“I think the logic was more convincing, but yeah, I’ll come,” Jessica said, smiling at her, and she felt all fuzzy inside.

She closed the distance between them, and Jessica met her kiss  as she was moving in.

“We have a bunch of hours until the chopper,” Taeyeon said.

“Are we talking missionary?”

Taeyeon smirked and leaned around Jessica to flick the wall switch. The ward dipped into soothing darkness. Jessica locked the door behind her.

“I was talking real sleep, actually,” Taeyeon said.

“That sounds good too. I have a feeling we won’t be getting much of that as soon as we get on that helicopter.”

They kicked off their shoes, climbed onto the adjacent ward beds, tucking under the sheets and resting their heads on the thick, fluffy pillows.

“Good night,” Jessica said.

Taeyeon scoffed. Such manners. “Night.”

She hadn’t wanted to make out. She had wanted to lie down straight and stare at the empty ceiling in the dim, cool room. But now that she was doing just that, she couldn’t keep still. Her feet were cold. She moved her legs under the sheets and pretended to be a a windscreen wiper. 

“Taeyeon?”

She stopped fidgeting. “Yeah?”

“If you’re not going to sleep, then I want to eat your face out.”

“Okay.”

She heard Jessica’s bed springs creak and kicked off the sheets as Jessica climbed on. She placed her hands on Jessica’s waist to support her as they kissed each other. Jessica tugged off her pants and she quivered when Jessica rubbed on the nib in her . She remembered how good Jessica used to make her feel when she was stressed. She could do with one of those right now. 

Meanwhile, what was Jessica getting out of this? She hesitated for half a second, then Jessica yanked off her underwear and she lost her mind.

Jessica curled up against her arm. They had been sweating and panting. Now they were cool and dry. “Are you happy, that you’re going back?”

The ceiling was as blank as it ever was. “No.”

“Then don’t go back. Why go back after what they did to you? Let’s leave.”

“I can’t.”

“I’m sure Hyoyeon will understand.”

Taeyeon kept quiet while Jessica tugged on the short ends of her hair. “They threatened my family. I don’t doubt they’ll make good on it.”

Jessica stopped playing with her hair. “You know, I appreciate being Korean and all, but thank god I wasn’t born in this ing country.”

“Is yours so perfect?”

“It has it’s flaws, but it’s the USA. You should come visit. They have pretty authentic Korean food where I live,” Jessica said. “That said, maybe it’s just cultural differences. You’re holding up well. Maybe, if you come, you’ll think America is a rat-infested toilet too.”

“Eww. Ugh. I just saw forty rats drowning in a choked up bowl.”

“Patchy rats with chipped teeth.”

“And red eyes.”

“Rats don’t have red eyes. You’re talking about mice.”

“What are you, a zoologist?”

“I spent a summer in New York. The subways had rats. My apartment had mice.”

“What the ?”

“I know, right? The rent was affordable.”

Taeyeon listened as Jessica talked about her one summer in Brooklyn. Jaunts to Greenwich, trips up the Upper East Side, and jogs down Hudson River. She talked about the top three most memorable emergency room incidents during the internship, and Taeyeon guffawed and grimaced at how strangely ed up each one was.

They picked up the discarded clothes on the floor and took turns at the shower. Private wards were convenient. Taeyeon had time to come to her senses when they were in separate rooms. She had gone one whole hour without reflecting on how ty she was. “What the , what the !”

First order of business when she got out of the bathroom, was, “Hey, I need to tell you something.”

Jessica looked at her, open to whatever she had to say. “What is it?”

“I,” she said. And then she didn’t want to. “Just, it’s cool that you’re coming. I really appreciate it.”

“Sure.”

Taeyeon smiled, and then she rambled about some half-baked excuse and left the ward.

The helicopter arrived at one a.m., on the dot. They bid farewell to Dr. Seo and piled into the Chinook. Even with the headphones on, it was hard to hear each other, so Taeyeon folded her arms and fell asleep. They crossed the border and reached Kaesong at three a.m. A private greeted them and led them to their bunks, where they slept until eight in the morning. The private returned to bring them to a meeting room, where Sooyoung, Yoona and Lee Seunggi were waiting.

Yoona ran up to Taeyeon and lifted her up bodily in a tight hug.

“It’s good to have you two back,” Sooyoung said to Taeyeon and Hyoyeon. “And you, of course, Jessica. We’ll really be needing your help on this.”

“Thanks,” Jessica said. “Didn’t you have another field medic after me?”

“Yeah, but she got injured and hasn’t been with us for a few days now, so you’re just in time.”

“What happened to her?”

“Stepped on a land mine,” Yoona said. 

“Oh, ,” Taeyeon said.

“Yeah.”

“Seunggi here will also be accompanying us,” Sooyoung said. “Since coming to Kaesong, he’s overseen all the paperwork on intelligence and interrogations. He’ll get us to where we need to go.”

“I’ll do my best,” Seunggi said. There was a map of Pyongyang taped to the wall. He picked up a stack of profiles and tacked them to different parts of the city. “These are the last known locations of the Supreme Leader, the Great Successor and the four Marshals. The main command center is the Palace, of course. The Leader and Successor should be there.

“We know that each Marshal has two Chimeras as bodyguards. The Supreme Leader has eight and the Great Successor has four. The four Marshals are each stationed at a government building. The Grand Marshal is here in the North, the Nation Marshal is at the Center, and the Defense and Vice Marshals are close together on the East. At each station, we believe that there are at least twenty to one hundred soldiers present at any time. Most of the North soldiers are clustered in their bases, around our outposts, or in Seoul.”

“Where is our closest outpost?” Hyoyeon asked.

“Our north-most OP is Yangdok. Forty kilometers east of Pyongyang,” Sooyoung said. “They’re on alert but they think we’re forgoing Pyongyang until we have conquered the surrounding areas. They think we’ll wait until we box them in. Which was in fact the initial plan until they came up with their Chimeras.”

“I suppose we are close enough. So you think the element of surprise will be enough?”

“That and the fact that our team will be very small. It’s a stealth mission.”

Team Firefly had not conducted stealth missions before. Taeyeon asked, “Why can’t they send a black ops team?”

“The higher ups know we’re the best,” Yoona said.

“Flippant, but true," Sooyoung said. "The possibility of failure is high and we have just one shot. After that, they will surely ramp up security and make another attempt impossible. While we work, the rest of our troops will concentrate on staving off the Chimeras.”

“If there’s no room for error, we need a lot of practice,” Hyoyeon said. “You have a building we can do that in?”

“Kaesong has plenty of those. I was thinking that we do run-throughs for a week, before heading up to Yangdok, then we trek west into Pyongyang and commence with the mission.”

After the briefing, Yoona gave Taeyeon another tight hug, and said, “Let’s eat breakfast together.”

“Sure.”

“Oppa,” Yoona said to Seunggi. “Let’s go eat.”

Taeyeon looked between them and grinned. “You two?”

Yoona blushed and nodded, fiddling with her hands. For the first time since Taeyeon had known her, she looked shy. “You look like such a girl right now.”

“No, I don’t!” Yoona said. And then she smirked. “You can bring your girlfriend and it’ll be a double date.”

If she was hoping to fluster Taeyeon, she didn’t succeed. Taeyeon simply called out to Jessica, who was going over the map with Sooyoung. “Breakfast?”

“Yeah, I’m famished.” Jessica looked at Sooyoung.

“Hyoyeon and I have something to discuss,” Sooyoung said, “so we won’t be joining you guys.”

The mess hall was serving porridge, minced chicken and pickled vegetables. Basic fare, but after two months of kimbap and kimchi fried rice, and four days of bland hospital food, this was pure heaven. Taeyeon filled five bowls on a tray and took it to a table. 

She waited for the other three to come, and began to notice the faces turning towards her. Fear, anger, disgust. She stared back impassively. Then Yoona sat down across the table, and she broke into a smile. Yoona was her first, only, favorite hoobae, forever and ever.

“How has it been since I left?” she asked.

“We managed, but it wasn’t the same. We always had to work with another platoon. The casualty rate was high and everyone dreaded working with us. Nobody wants to get picked, but they still appreciate Firefly, somewhat.”

“I heard there were rumors.”

Yoona’s face hardened. “Yeah, don’t listen to that. None of them know the full story. They shouldn’t talk .”

“Did they give you guys a hard time?”

“Yeah, but being a Firefly made it a damn lot easier. After a while Sooyoung had to tell me to rein it in.”

“Thanks.”

“It was kind of boring with just Sooyoung, but we got closer and found out a lot more about each other. I’m glad that Dr. Seo found a cure for Hyoyeon though. That’s just great. I can’t wait to work with her.”

“Yeah. I’m worried about her stamina, though. It’s not going to be pretty.”

“Let’s just hope that a week is enough.”

Seunggi and Jessica arrived with their bowls, and everyone tucked in.

“So,” Taeyeon said with full. “Am I getting a wedding invitation after this is all over?”

Yoona kicked her under the table. Taeyeon coughed, and Jessica handed her a tissue.

“Hey, if my dongsaeng’s getting married, I gotta do what I gotta do.” And since Yoona didn’t have a real family, “We’re going to be the in-laws, so watch out, Seunggi-ssi.”

“You’d do that?” Yoona asked.

“Of course. After this all ends, you’re coming back to Jeonju with me so we can have a tight little family reunion dinner, and then you can go to Jeju to get proposed to or whatever. But reunion dinner comes first.”

“That... would be awesome,” Yoona said. “But for your information, marriage is not in the books.”

Seunggi cleared his throat. “I’m taking this seriously, don’t get me wrong, but we’ve only been dating a few weeks. And work has been busy. We should take it slow. But I swear, I’m really serious about this relationship.”

Taeyeon grinned. This was fun.

A/N: Thanks for the upvotes/comments last chapter. It's always cool to read what you think. Let me know what you thought of this one!