CHAPTER EIGHT: Unintended

Jessica broke away from the kiss first, and not because she wanted to. It was Taeyeon's fault.

Said idiot had gotten too excited and pushed Jessica into the wall of the rooftop stairwell, and not in a romantically-aggressive way, but in a overexcited- way. ". Are you OK?"

Jessica smacked Taeyeon on the arm and shoved her. "What the ?"

"I didn't mean to push you that hard."

"Well, you did," Jessica said. Taeyeon tried to rub her back, but she slapped Taeyeon's hand away and said, "I'm not in the mood anymore."

Taeyeon felt the window of unlimited secret make out sessions closing on her. "I'm sorry! Really, I'm sorry."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Taeyeon tried to stop Jessica from leaving by kissing her.

"Hey, no means no. Get a clue. And I don't get by , FYI."

Taeyeon wrung her hands. "I'm sorry."

Jessica shrugged, and winced at the movement. "Tomorrow's going to be a right , and unlike someone it's not going to heal overnight."

"I'm really sorry," Taeyeon repeated. She had to give a reason or she'd never get another chance. "I found out today that the Northerners have put a price on my head. Ten thousand. That's probably enough to feed three generations of a North family and its extended relatives. Every bastard and their brother's gonna want it. It's a ty reason but maybe that's why I got overexcited tonight."

Jessica's lip curled, and Taeyeon anticipated a cutting remark, but then she patted Taeyeon on the shoulder. Gently, not raging like she did earlier. She did, however, leave the rooftop without softening her expression. Taeyeon sighed, relieved that Jessica wasn't cutting it off. A break was fine. She had pushed too hard.

Two days later, Taeyeon was sitting opposite Tiffany in the Humvee, their knees almost touching, as they waited for the base gate to open. Tiffany passed her tablet to Taeyeon and said, "I remember you asked about my articles, so I thought you might want to see this."

Tiffany had preloaded an article on installed The New York Times app. There was a photo of Sooyoung, face streaked with grime and shaded by a helmet, holding her assault rifle. She was crouched behind a sandbag. The building behind her was pockmarked with bullet holes. The sign christening the building front as a barbecue restaurant with fresh Jeju black pork was cracked. Beside Sooyoung, Yoona was reloading her rifle and Taeyeon was looking through binoculars. Taeyeon didn't remember where this was.

The gate was fully open and the Humvee started rolling. Taeyeon handed the tablet back to Tiffany, who passed it to Sooyoung. Taeyeon couldn't understand the English words, not even the headline. "What's it say?"

"Roughly that there's a new kind of soldier in this Korean war. I'm introducing you guys by talking about what I've seen you do," Tiffany said.

"Like how we can run as fast as cars?" Yoona asked. They liked coming up with ridiculous similes during off time.

"And heal from devastating injuries like they're paper cuts," Tiffany replied.

Taeyeon broke into a huge smile, and Yoona clapped her on the back. Sooyoung, who was on her other side, was happy too. Taeyeon wanted to jump in the air, but one: this was an enclosed vehicle, and two: she didn't want Tiffany to think that she was fame-hungry like last time. So she just said, "Thanks for showing this to me. It is cool."

"Yeah, good work, Tiffany," Sooyoung said. "You don't know what this means to us."

Tiffany glanced at Jessica, who shrugged. They were clearly amused by these native Koreans' exaggerated gratitude. 

After their skirmish, Taeyeon had a moment in the medical tent alone with Jessica. Taeyeon was sweaty and disgusting, but she didn't care. This was the home stretch, and Taeyeon wanted a good luck kiss. "Are you still angry?"

Jessica continued giving Taeyeon the once over. "You look good to go. And yes, I am still pretty pissed off and have big bruises on my shoulder blades to remind me that you're an idiot, so hide that erted face because I'm not going to kiss you for a while."

", I'm sorry about your back." Taeyeon was genuinely remorseful now. She didn't realize how badly she had hurt Jessica yesterday. "Hope you heal up quickly. Let me know if I can do anything, like apply ointment." Jessica's face got dark. "W-wait, I didn't mean it like I wanted to take advantage of you." Taeyeon chuckled nervously. "I was j-just trying to think of how to help."

"Just get the hell out."

That night, when Taeyeon got back to base, she went straight to the admin office building. She recognized the staff behind the desk. "Hodong-oppa? Sorry, I meant Sergeant Kang. I didn't know you were in admin."

"Yep, I'm a training sergeant, after all," Hodong said. "I would love to be on the field, but I have bad knees."

"Ah I see. Yeah, I have a friend who wanted to join the army with me, but she had a bum knee too," Taeyeon said.

"What brings you to paperwork hell, Corporal Kim?"

"I wanted to obtain a release petition for Cheonan Prison. There's an American Navy Corpsman who was imprisoned since she unintentionally accessed classified information, but now it's been officially declassified. Her name's Jung Soojung," Taeyeon said.

"Hold up, Corporal. I don't have the authority to handle business like this. You're better off taking this up with your superiors."

"I see, thanks." She went to Sooyoung, who didn't have the authority either. They decided to see Major Lee.

"The article's been circulating internally," Major Lee said. "I read it today as well. We've been monitoring the international response, and it's been generally positive. It'll help us get more aid relief. Doesn't help the fight though. The Northerners have knowledge of Firefly already, as evidenced by the bounties."

"Yes, sir," Sooyoung said. "Actually, sir, we came here for a related issue. As you know, the U.S. medical officer, Jung Soojung, was detained in Cheonan because of Chimera confidentiality issues, but the agreement was that once the confidentiality class expired, she wouldn't have to be anymore."

"Yes, I am aware of her, of course. You've been asking me about her every week," Major Lee said. "I'm afraid she cannot be released."

"Why?" Taeyeon asked.

"She's dead, Corporal."

"What?"

"Captain Park got rid of her since you shirked your duty. We told the US that she was shot by a wild patient who committed suicide soon after. There was actually an infantryman who died that night. He was fleeing when he got compromised by the enemy, so he was at the right place at the right time."

... since you shirked your duty. Taeyeon didn't understand. She had no problem shooting enemies, but she wasn't some executioner.

"Incarceration would only exacerbate the problem. The US would demand to know why we jailed one of their own, withdraw their support, and talk to the corpsman, invariably finding out about Chimera before we wanted them to. Captain Park wanted to demote you, but I rescinded his decision as the issue was resolved easily."

Major Lee seemed to be using very big words to explain coldblooded covering.

"Make a mistake like this again, Corporal, and I will demote you a rank. The same goes for you, Second Lieutenant. Keep your soldiers in line."

"Sir," Sooyoung said. "Captain Park promised my soldier that he would just put the American in jail. And for weeks we've been hearing from Cheonan and you that she has been alive. With all due respect, why were we lied to?"

"Your performance is our top priority. When we realized that you would risk national security for personal reasons, we decided to give you time to reflect while preserving Team Firefly's morale."

Sooyoung said, "Our morale now-"

"It will recover quickly, Lieutenant. We've given you ample time to calibrate your emotions. Hopefully after these weeks of work, you see that you have a bigger responsibility to the nation and your fellow soldiers."

"Yes, sir," Sooyoung said, noticing Taeyeon's trembling fists. They were dismissed and she followed Taeyeon out of the door. 

Taeyeon said, "Did you know?"

"Weren't you with me just now?" Sooyoung said. "Of course I didn't."

Taeyeon grabbed Sooyoung by the lapels. "Why the did you suggest to put her in jail?"

"You agreed with me! You thought it was a good idea as well," Sooyoung said. "I didn't know the captain would... murder her."

Taeyeon released Sooyoung. If Taeyeon hadn't been so set on saving her own , she would have thought about Sooyoung's proposal more thoroughly. Her boots pounded the road as she sprinted out of the building. She didn't hear Sooyoung following her. Taeyeon felt all her anger and fear well up in her, and she ran faster. She circled the perimeter of the base before stopping. She panted hard, sweat dripping onto the ground. 

This wasn't her fault. They had tricked her. She hadn't pulled the trigger. Don't give excuses, Kim Taeyeon. If you hadn't pussied out, Jung Soojung would still be alive.

"," she muttered. She ran her fingers through her hair and pulled hard, squeezing tears out of her eyes. "!"

Soojung was someone's daughter. Maybe the precious youngest daughter, the responsible eldest, or somewhere in between. Even worse, what if she was her parent's only child? Her family didn't even know the real reason why she had died. They didn't know that she had been murdered, not killed accidentally. They didn't know that she needn't have died just because she found out some secret that the whole world now knows about in the papers. 

Taeyeon didn't want to admit it, but she had to own this. Just shut the up because you doomed her the moment you decided not to let her go. So you... stop being a weak .

Another thought hit her. Taeyeon's eyes sprang wide. What if they had killed Hyoyeon too? In the screwed up logic of the higher ups, Hyoyeon was dead weight and was indicative of Project Chimera's existence. What if she wasn't actually in Daejeon?

Taeyeon ran again, even though she didn't have any more energy after all that sprinting. Her lungs were burning. She pushed up the steps of the barracks and got to the dorm room, flinging the door open.

Sooyoung and Yoona looked at her. Yoona looked as if she had heard the news from Sooyoung, because her face was grim as well.

"I am going to Daejeon tonight, and I'll be back in a few hours," Taeyeon said. "I need to see that Hyo is still alive. Don't stop me."

They were stunned. Then Sooyoung sighed. "Alright. But Yoong will go with you. And you can't leave base without an official reason, so put on your uniform and bring your gear. I'll go with you to the carpark and you can get a ride. I'll be able to give you permission to leave base as well. Just make sure you get back ASAP, latest by dawn. If we get a mission and you're not here, will hit the fan."

Taeyeon looked at Yoona, who looked willing to go. Taeyeon tore off her clothes and threw on her uniform, doing the buttons in record time. She assembled her dismantled guns and harnessed them to her assault pack. Yoona was getting ready, but she wasn't as fast as Taeyeon. Taeyeon didn't have the heart to get irritated at the maknae though.

Sooyoung got them a dark blue SUV and escorted them to the gate. Before she hopped off when they cleared security, Sooyoung said, "Be careful, okay? And say hi to Hyoyeon for me."

Taeyeon swallowed. "I hope I can."

Sooyoung squeezed her shoulder, and got out of the car. Yoona climbed into the front passenger seat, and Taeyeon drove through the gates. They hit the highway, and she stepped on the accelerator. It was an hour's drive to Daejeon if she gunned it without touching the brakes. Yoona stared out the window, handgun under her right thigh and assault rifle propped on the floor between her knees.

A/N: Thanks for the comments/upvotes/subs last chapter! Let me know what you thought of this:)