Yuri isn’t dumb.

 

No she isn’t.

 

She spotted the little-known inconsistencies and kinks; the out of the blue appearance and disappearances; the unbelievable dexterities and surprising wit constantly displayed during random circumstances.

 

Not to mention the woman’s enigmatic impression that kept Yuri wanting to know more but is too careful not to look too assertive.

 

All these strangeness yet Yuri stayed calm.

 

She had her intelligent guesses, yes. The internal battle of asking the girl how she ended up meeting her and opening up as to who she really is was Yuri’s everyday challenge.

 

But the cop herself personally knew that she doesn’t want to do it.

 

Open up.

 

Reveal everything.

 

Because besides being scared of trusting someone of her past, of trusting someone other than Taeyeon, there was this very tiny voice in her head telling her that Yoona isn’t someone she thinks she knows.

 

Isn’t someone she wants to think she knows.

 

Someone that her persistent instinct has been nagging her about. Has been telling her about.

 

Someone she can't trust.

 

But Yuri didn’t listen.

 

She ignored the incessant whispers inside her head and the devil-ish voices telling her things against one, certain Im Yoona.

 

She chose not to care about the girl's obvious, little slips and oddities that normally freaks her out.

 

She decided to be blind.

 

And all of this stubbornness boils down to the very slim hope she’s been holding into that maybe, just maybe, her instinct was wrong this time.

 

That her sixth sense had been malfunctioning and it is what has been hindering her of the true happiness all her life.

 

The true freedom someone has to get when someone just lets go of the past and start trusting people to build new memories in the present.

 

Start having faith in people’s good side and its innate morality once again.

 

Start a new life with Yoona.

 

Because Yuri thought that maybe the doe-eyed lady isn't someone who her intuition tells her that she is.

 

Someone other than what her trained mind thinks that she is..

 

But look at what happened?

 

For all the weeks she’d been with the certain doe-eyed lady, them sharing the most intimate moments, and her specifically investing the deepest emotions she could ever give to a person of her attraction, the truth is, Yuri doesn't know any single thing about Yoona at all.

 

And it’s the most painful part for her.

 

Not knowing the girl.

 

Not knowing Yoona at all but falling in love with her.

 

Falling in love with her despite the intuition that Yoona might be the one.

 

The one they’ve been looking for.

 

And yes, Yoona is the one they’ve been looking for.

 

Yuri’s intuition was right. It has always been.

 

Never once did it fail her.

 

But her heart always does.

 

It always did.

 

So here she is, mind wandering as to what kind of demonic curse she could have gotten for ending up broken and upset with every intimate relationship she had engaged into.

 

This must be a very sick joke, right?

 

This seemingly entire do-over of things.

 

Her, meeting someone she felt connection with.

 

Her, falling love.

 

Her, breaking her heart..

 

Her fragile trust being betrayed..

 

Her whole life ending up empty and purposeless.

 

Again..

 

And again and again Yuri would ask the air and the wall and the stars and her stupid self: is happiness really not her thing??

 

Like at all??

 

So much that when she tried starting anew with someone who gave her a shot in second chances, everything crumbles down back to the ruins that it used to be.

 

Like it has always been..

 

"Inspector Kwon.."

 

Snapping out of her trance, Yuri found herself inside a well-adorned living room. Her eyes darted to the source of the voice and soon to the other watchful eyes looking at her.

 

"Is there something wrong?? Are you alright??" Wendy Son, the human-sized hamster who took care of her wounds, was on the opposite side of her.

 

Sooyoung was on the other side of the room, leaning against a wall with Irene next to her. In Yuri's peripheral view, she could see a pair of eyes looking at her, the owner of it slumped on a couch adjacent to where she is seated.

 

"I'm fine." Yuri had to blink her gaze out, "You were saying?"

 

Wendy seemed not convince that she's fine at first. The petite lady had to eye her for a couple more seconds before eventually nodding her head in approval.

 

"Alright. Well, as I said, and I'm repeating that this is my personal decision and no one else has induced me to–"

 

"Cut the chase, will you? You’re rambling and I hate rambling..”

 

Yuri could feel her patience running out especially when she saw Wendy hesitate, not answering her question at the instant. The younger one had to search for the other's eyes, asking for something, and Yuri doesn't like the feeling of having to wait.

 

She always despised it when someone makes her anticipate, the feeling itself is enough to tick her short-lived temper.

 

She was just about to start yelling when Wendy turned her head back to her, saying the words she didn't see coming.

 

"I'd be representing Miss Im Yoona as her defense attorney."

 

The tanned cop's ears perked at the defense attorney part.

 

It was her heart that started racing when the name Im Yoona was mentioned out loud.

 

"As of now, Miss Im has no legal counsel to represent her in court and I want to take that place.. Out of interest of the case, of course."

 

Good thing it is that Yuri, somehow, still knows the thin line separating real business and personal feelings.

 

Keyword: somehow.

 

It took a large part of strength in her to refrain herself from asking about the doe-eyed girl who’s been the subject matter of the conversation.

 

"You're a lawyer?"

 

"I am." Was Wendy's reply with a smile. "I am a lawyer in profession before entering the army and was a medical science student in my undergrad. That's why I had the balls to do surgery on you. Stitching people up used to be my favorite hobby."

 

"A doctor, a lawyer and a soldier. Dang. You got the whole package, Hyunnie. GOT. Past tense." Yuri saw the way Irene sent daggers through her eyes to the tallest Choi upon hearing the not-so-loud tease that was loud enough for everyone to hear.

 

"I've been telling her that, unnie. Thanks"

 

"I'm sorry but why are you telling me this again?"

 

Everyone's attention was brought back to Yuri, the light teasing immediately dissipating and the atmosphere falling back into the dead-serious one earlier.

 

"Are you trying to get my approval of any sort??"

 

"Oh no, no, no.." Wendy was quick to shake her head, "That would be very disrespectful of me to do that, considering what happened between you and my client.."

 

The human sized-hamster hesitated but eventually said her next words, albeit softly, "..unless you want it to consider as a kind of persuasion on your part.."

 

"Then what does this have to do with me?” the tanned cop had to cut Wendy off on that, “Why are we talking about this whole thing in the first place??"

 

"Because I'm hoping you could do something for me..and for Miss Im."

 

There goes Yuri's heart again, going crazy upon hearing the name.

 

"What makes you think I'll do what you want me to do?"

 

"I don't know. But I'm trying to convince you now, am I? Persuasion is a process and negotiating with a little chit chat are just among the few steps of it. And with the way you’ve been listening attentively, I am assuming you would want me to continue..??”

 

Yuri paused and pondered.

 

This Wendy girl is nothing but peculiar and the former is more than intrigued to hear such inviting proposition on the floor coming from a smarty pants.

 

And what about the fact that this conversation will lead to the inevitable mention of the name ‘Im Yoona’ in perhaps every possible chance? Nah. Yuri tried to ignore that gnawing and fluttering feeling inside of her at the idea.

 

"I'm all ears."

 

The person in Yuri's peripheral view answered her this time, "Yoona neither spoke of anything nor to anyone since we got her under police custody and the trial begins in a few days."

 

It was Taeyeon and she was staring straight at her that Yuri could clearly see her disheveled self on her bestfriend's tired eyes.

 

She is now starting to wonder what happened to her and Jessica..

 

"Wendy here is hoping that you could go and talk to Yoona and see if you could get something out of her to help her case.."

 

"What??" Sooyoung suddenly snapped, both astonishment and curiosity laced on her voice, "No."

 

The tall cop stood straight up and darted her eyes to the rest of them, especially to those of the Kim’s and the Son’s. "This isn’t part of what you told me. What’s with the sudden change of plans?”

 

She remembered spending the whole yesterday evening trying to argue with Taeyeon, Irene and Wendy to drop Im Yoona’s case off their hands and let some grey, old attorney handle it, instilling to them that the assassin wasn’t their responsibility. From the beginning, Sooyoung had always had a bad, gut feeling towards the girl but she cannot really point it out. After all the discoveries of the girl’s identity though, the Choi found herself not surprise but rather smirking to herself.

 

She never failed in her suspicions and this was initially the reason why she felt this high respect and connection with Yuri. The tanned cop’s precision was terrific and for as sixth-sensed-wise Sooyoung, that’s like finding her missing pair of socks in the middle of a horde of socks.

 

If anything, she was more than glad that things between Yuri and Yoona is ruined. Sooyoung had been silently hoping for it every single day.

 

"Inspector Kwon is the only shot to get Miss Im to talk. She's the closest thing that she had and maybe she's the only one she will open up to."

 

Had.

 

The mere utterance of it causing a surge of varying emotions to Yuri's hollow being.

 

"This could help Miss Im a lot if she could tell us personally who was the person instructing her to do all those alleged killings. Maybe not totally acquit her but at least to mitigate any possible, heavy punishment the Court could impose."

 

But the Choi was adamant in opposing.

 

"I don't care about her. All I care about is Yuri's well-being. You can't let her get near that bastard after all that happened. Who knows what she can do to her?"

 

Taeyeon doesn't agree on this though, "Yoona is not that kind of person, Sooyoung.”

 

Which basically enraged the tall cop, "Oh yeah? ‘Cause with all that bloody kills and innocent lives she took, she isn’t an assassin. BULL."

 

Things are escalating at every tick of the clock. Sooyoung’s stance was now all up for a joust.

 

"You and I both know that she's a bloody killer who had hundreds of lives lost under her hands. And now you're telling me she isn't that kind of person?? That she won't hurt us if she needs to??! ing hell she will Taeng!"

 

Taeyeon is now on her feet as well, ticked off by the tallest cop's sudden outrage. "But we're all still alive until now, aren't we?? Yuri, to say the least. If it was her purpose to hurt her, she could've done that a long time ago!"

 

"SHE DID, YOU IDIOT!"

 

The Choi almost pounced on the Kim if not of Irene's fast reflex to grab her. "Yuri is now in all sorts of pain because of her!!"

 

"Knock it off"

 

Yuri and her mind-blowing calmness seethes in the air once again.

 

"What are you? Three-year-olds? Arguing over spilled chocolate like snotty, little kids?"

 

Taeyeon and Sooyoung stopped yelling but both remained glaring at each other, letting the heat cool off their noses.

 

Irene and Wendy, on the other hand, could only watch the scene in amusement, still wondering how Yuri can make an on-the-edge-to-killing-each-other colloquy completely gone.

 

Like how the hell does she do that??

 

"I'll do it. I'll talk to her.."

 

"Whaat?! NOOO!!"

 

"Sooyoung please.." Yuri gave her a look, "I get to tell me what to do with my life. Not you or anyone else for that matter. The best thing you can do right now is to just shut your big mouth and step aside. Yeah?"

 

The Choi was taken aback at the sudden words. All of them, in fact. Yuri could even see the slight look of tension and astonishment in their faces.

 

But she isn't regretting.

 

Not even the slightest hint of guilt peppers her mind.

 

It's the right time they know that she has the last say on things.

 

Like she has always been.

 

Especially if it involves her and her fragile feelings.

 

"I'll talk to her. If she does something, it's up to me to deal with it."

 

No one answers back. Not even an attempt to retaliate.

 

And it's a good thing for Yuri.

 

It means lesser mean words she has to throw away and more time to prepare herself from meeting the woman who'd been gracing her dreams for the past couple of nights.

 

It's time to face her fear.

 

Her fear of landing her eyes on Yoona's empty doe ones that used to be Yuri's greatest escape from the world around.

 

Her fear of losing what is left of her sanity if she sees the same, pained face on Yoona the last time she saw her.

 

Her fear of facing the reality in Yoona's eyes altogether..

 

Yuri erupted from her seat. Minimal whimpers and scrunches on her face displayed when the stitches on her lower abdomen rolled a jab of pain. She almost forgot she got sews to be careful about.

 

Nevertheless, she was able to get to her feet alone.

 

She looked up and saw that all eyes are on her, owners looking like a bunch of idiots waiting for a miracle to occur.

 

And good god, it ain't happening.

 

"Do I need to drag your asses out? What are you waiting for?? Let's go!"

 

 

***

 

 

"Prosecutor Park Sooyoung. But I also go by the name Joy.."

 

The reserved yet knowing aura of the petite woman who was extending her hand to Yuri was enough to imply that the lady really means business. The Kwon also noted how young the lawyer looked like.

 

"Save the lame introductions, Park Sooyoung."

 

The prosecutor whipped her head to the source of the voice, "Well, hello there too, Son Seungwan."

 

Irene narrowed her eyes upon hearing the name–Wendy's Korean name–coming from the taller woman.

 

As far as she knows, Wendy's Korean name was a top secret between the two of them.

 

Was.

 

"Babe. That name is exclusive for and screaming purposes only. Other than that, call me Wendy Son"

 

Wendy's smug smirk and the implication of her statement itself gained both amazed and awkward stares among the cops.

 

And don't get me started about Irene's reaction.

 

"Oooohhh~ Feisty, dirty words. Just the way I wanted.." Joy's crooked smile added the growing discomfort of the unlaid people around, "Do you still have my number, Son?"

 

"I never deleted it.."

 

"OKAY!" Irene cannot take any more outright flirting and talks. "One, annoying Sooyoung is enough–"

 

"Hey!" the Choi knows she's talking about her.

 

"–let's do our jobs, shall we? It being the main reason why we're all here. Can we do that??"

 

Wendy smirked at the grandma's outburst.

 

Taeyeon and Sooyoung gave each other a knowing look, with the latter snorting at the way her hoobae described her.

 

Yuri didn't give a damn.

 

And Joy could only shrug, "Well my job here is done. I got everything I need.."

 

This statement caught Taeyeon's attention. "What do you mean by that? Did Im Yoona—"

 

"Nah. She still hasn't spoken a thing. But I figured out I don't need her statement to win this case." Park Sooyoung smiled, "I'll have my own ways to prove her guilt"

 

Wendy doesn't like the sound of it, "You miserable, little ."

 

"You want to hear my plan, Son?"

 

Yuri was sure her attention was nowhere the conversation. She'd rather bear holes at the invisible stain on the prosecutor's coat.

 

But when the next words were dropped by the young lawyer, she can't help but open her ears wider.

 

"I'm pleaing death penalty for Im Yoona."

 

She can't even stop herself from clenching her hand into a fist, eyes subtly widening at the sudden information.

 

"Geez. Can't really keep a secret from you, huh Son? But anyway, at least you can start praying now. Death is looming around your client especially that most evidence are pointing at her.. Not to mention an absence of proper alibi on her part."

 

If not of Taeyeon's soft hands subtly reaching for hers and enveloping it, Yuri was sure her trembling fist was for everyone else to see.

 

"Right. Like I'll make that happen."

 

"You won't. But I will, Son." Joy was sure. "And I can't wait for that day to come; finally seeing you lose a case for the first time.."

 

Wendy found herself snickering, " please. I never lose"

 

"But now you will."

 

However, the prosecutor's taunt and dominating confidence made her falter.

 

"And when Im Yoona dies, I'll make sure that I'll be there to see you cry a river."

 

So much that Son Seungwan's smirking demeanor was replaced with this serious, straight face everyone finds new.

 

Bar Irene who knows that kind of look–including the things Wendy can do when she is donning that look.

 

"See you in court, my friend."

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Everything happened so fast.

 

It was just her Jessica unnie checking on her handsome unnie's whereabouts when the Jung realized she cannot anymore track her. They started to panic when their calls were all redirected to voice mails and it has been hours since Yoona left.

 

It was only an hour later when they stumbled upon a breaking news, announcing the capture of a wanted lawbreaker the government had been on the run for years.

 

Seulgi could still remember the look on her Jessica unnie's face, blood drained out of her when she confirmed that it was Yoona the police have seized, finally getting a glimpse of the Im inside the police station who's been squeezed inside a chaos that is the media and reporters.

 

The news highlights Seoul Police Department.

 

And the surprises never seemed to stop when the names Kwon Yuri and Kim Taeyeon were among the highly-praised figures the news anchor thanked, the heroes who successfully caught Korea's most notorious killer.

 

The next thing Seulgi knows, Jessica was packing their things, too rushed and frenzied to even answer Seulgi's buzzing questions.

 

Half an hour later Seulgi found them pulling over a parking lot of a huge, hospital building and pacing towards it rather hurried. Jessica had lead her into a tiny room where she saw a sickly, lanky fellow absorbed by the bed.

 

The girl looked someone her age but Seulgi did not miss to notice the tiredness and pain evident in the girl's eyes, interestingly similar to that of her handsome unnie's, the misery in those brown orbs making her look older than she actually is.

 

It was not until Jessica started grabbing the girl's IV bag off the hook and helping her to a wheelchair next to her bed that things started dawning on Seulgi.

 

"W-what's happening, Sica unnie??"

 

"We have to get you out of here, Hanna. The cops had caught Yoona and you're no longer safe here.."

 

"Y-Yoona unnie?? Sh-she's..."

 

She and her unnie had to stealthily get Hanna, who turns out to be Yoona's beloved sister, out of the building while expertly dodging incoming nurses and doctors lingering along the hallways.

 

Everything happened so fast. Really.

 

And before Seulgi could even try to initiate a conversation with her handsome unnie's sister inside their moving car, tell her that everything's gonna be alright, a loud crashing sound coupled with earsplitting screeching of tires and breaking of glasses all happened.

 

Everything went black.

 

And Seulgi later woke up with a heavy feeling in her head—so much that her environment was spinning and things were too blur for her to take cognizance of what gives.

 

It was until she tried shaking her head out of the dizziness and found an empty seat beside her, the seat where Hanna was supposed to be situated, that Seulgi became alarmed.

 

This feeling immediately escalated into panic when she finally noticed the unconscious figure of her Sica unnie on the driver's seat, head against the steering wheel, abundantly dripping of what Seulgi feared to be blood.

 

And indeed it was: a good amount of that thick liquid was flowing thickly down Jessica’s face the younger one feared it to be enough to last a lifetime.

 

Jessica's lifetime to be exact.

 

The bear could still remember how her stomach fell at the sight of her cousin– life and breath flowing out of her. She could still feel the scorching feeling of her tears that trickled down her bloody cheeks and the way her lungs suffocated her with the minimal amount of air she's taking in.

 

But she needed to get out. Needed to save her cousin.

 

With a hazy mind and choking gasps, Seulgi tried waking her unnie up. She nudged her a couple of times and called her name. But the Jung never stirred.

 

The rational side of her moved her body to look for her unnie's phone inside her pocket. She found it after a second of blind-searching and scrolled up for a name she knows..

 

It didn't help that there was no other contact registered in her Jessica unnie's phone but her Yoona unnie's number. Seulgi tried the recently dialed section and there she saw another unfamiliar digits. With this she took the risk and dialed it.

 

The dizzy bear was on the edge of cussing when she had to call the number for a couple more times, with no one answering her from the other line.

 

And just when she was about to hang up, a miracle happened.

 

Someone answered and it was a soft voice she somehow recognized who talked.

 

"Hello? This is Inspector Kim Taeyeon's phone but she's not here. She accidentally left it in my apartment. But I can tell her that you—"

 

"H-help.."

 

"...I'm sorry?"

 

"Y-you're Waanddyy, right?? It'ss mee Ssseulgii..."

 

"...why are you calling?? And what's going on?? You don't sound right."

 

" Hongdae hhhavenuee, 5th street, near P-Pyeojul busss sta-station..Mee and Ssic-sicaa unnie.. a-accident.. P-pleasssee hurryyy.."

 

Everything that came after was still a fog to Seulgi. But she did remember Irene's worried sick face, her soft hands applying pressure on Seulgi's bleeding head and Wendy's incessant blabbers to keep her awake.

 

Nevertheless, she had fallen asleep sometime on the way.

 

And days after, maybe even a week (Seulgi's not sure; she thinks she'd been sleeping that long with how heavy her head weighed), Seulgi wakes up with a soft conversation happening around her, though she refused to open her eyes and just listen.

 

 

"Sooyoung unnie just texted me. She's on her way to your apartment. We have to hurry before she come knocking at your door with Yuri unnie answering.."

 

"Oohh I'd love to see another catfight with her and Inspector Kim. They both seem to disagree alot"

 

"That's because Sooyoung unnie's an asshat and Taeyeon unnie's only being reasonable.."

 

"Reasonable enough to bring her present and past girlfriends together in her apartment? Wow, what a Casanova. But man is she lucky. Did you see how smoking hot both Jessica and Tiffany are? Mamma mia!"

 

"You do know they are just in the other room, right? So stop talking. And oh, if only your panic attack didn't go in the way, Taeyeon unnie wouldn't have called an actual doctor to do your freaking job.."

 

"It wasn't my job in the first place. I am not a doctor! Aspiring, yes. But it ends there. And besides, you saw how bloody Jessica and Seulgi were. Who wouldn't have a panic attack on that??"

 

 

Seulgi would have opened her eyes to stop the two, whose voices she somehow recognized were Irene and Wendy's respectively, from bickering any further, when the bear heard another set of presence entering the room she's in, halting her plan on the very last minute.

 

 

"We gotta go. Sooyoung just called and she said she's stuck in traffic but she's on her way. Yuri must be awake by now, too.."

 

"How about Seulgi and Jessica-ssi? Will they be fine here alone?"

 

"I asked Tiffany here to look out for them while we're away. You don't have to worry about them Wendy.."

 

"That's right. But I have to go check a few of my patients first. After that I'll be here all day. I promise it won't be that long."

 

"And I have cameras installed all around my apartment, too. You can watch over Seulgi from the station through this phone if you want."

 

"I'll have it. Wendy here will be a bit occupied later today and we don't want to bother her. I can do that.."

 

"No you can't. Give it to me–"

 

"No. I'll have this–"

 

"Inspector Kim gave it to me, Joohyun. So give me tha–"

 

"But I got it first, Wendy. So I'll have i–"

 

"No! I–"

 

"Give me that."

 

"NO! Taeyeon unnie–"

 

"Inspector Kim–"

 

"Zip it. Geez, you two. We're leaving. And no one gets this phone. Come on"

 

Seulgi heard a couple of grunts and fading footsteps away from where she is. At first she thought the coast was clear enough to open her eyes, sensing nothing of a presence and breathing around her other than hers. But the bear immediately shut them half-way when light steps came rushing all of a sudden–the noise getting nearer and nearer her direction at every tick of the clock.

 

Sweet, gracious son of Merlin, before her senses could even come up with a concrete idea of what is happening, a hot breath on her ear sent chills all throughout Seulgi's body, enough to make her body tense and palms sweaty.

 

"I'll be back as soon as I can..Until then, take care of yourself here okay? Be better, Pringles. I'm waiting.."

 

It was Irene and her oh, so sweet fragrance.

 

Seulgi started to think that maybe it was all just both a bad and good dream.

 

Everything that happened.

 

It started like a nightmare with all those bloody encounters and ended with this zoo-ish feeling in her stomach that her crush gave her.

 

But when she fluttered her eyes open, painfully got herself up to look for her cousin and finally found her inside a room adjacent to where she came from, Seulgi knows it wasn't a dream nor a nightmare.

 

Everything was a disaster.

 

And with how badly bruised and swelled and limped and lifeless her Jessica unnie looks like, with only a monitor of vitals telling everybody that she's somehow alive, Seulgi cannot stop her stomach from falling, a horrible feeling inside of her makes her knees jelly and head spinning.

 

Especially not when she saw a piece of note, pasted on the bedside table, with a neat handwriting that carved the words:

 

"I'll be damned if I lose you. Please wake up.. -Ginger"

 

Ginger..

 

Seulgi thinks she heard it before. The name Ginger, that is.

 

If she remembered it right, it was the name the younger version of her cousin had been obsessing, telling her that Ginger is that, Ginger is this. Of who it was, the fetus Seulgi didn't know.

 

But now that she reads the note, Seulgi can't fight this inkling that something is off. Like she had forgotten something really massive and significant it can change lives forever.

 

Something akin to the piece of note she just read.

 

Something the bear thinks is relatively connected with the unexpected car crash that happened to her and her cousin.

 

And just when Seulgi was about to rack her mind of what it is that was bothering her, pictures of that fateful night of the car accident came flashing before her.

 

The way her heart fell when she saw the empty seat beside her and the carelessly opened car door which implied the severity of what occurred. All the more of the constricting feeling in her chest upon seeing a small piece of paper carelessly placed on the empty seat just when she was about to call for Hanna who was surprisingly nowhere to be found.

 

Seulgi cannot be wrong.

 

She saw it. She had read it.

 

But everything was still a blur to her. Every detail of the accident seemed like a hazy hash of frightening memories. She may or may have not brought the paper with her.

 

She cannot freaking remember.

 

All Seulgi knows though is the fact that her handsome unnie needs to see the note herself.

 

Especially since it was specifically addressed to her.

 

The only question is: how?

 

 

 

***

 

 

"I want to talk to Yuri.." Taeyeon announced, shutting the door behind her before giving each one of the living people inside the room a look, "..alone"

 

She saw Yuri furrow a brow but nonetheless never said a thing. This made her look expectantly at the other women standing inside the room with them.

 

Taeyeon specifically eyed Sooyoung who surprisingly shrugged and started heading for the door with an indifferent gesture the short cop wasn't used in witnessing.

 

Remembering the sudden outburst of Yuri awhile ago, the short cop felt sorry for her lanky colleague. To hear your bestfriend yell at you to "shut your big mouth up" will be really depressing on Taeyeon's part had it been her the one at the receiving end of the anymore less unpleasant words.

 

Especially since Yuri is not the type to lash out on people close to her heart. Or at least to someone who had been sticking up with her.

 

Sooyoung had been one of that few persons: amongst those hard-headed fellas who stayed to be with the cold Inspector Kwon in the midst of all the dilemmas crashing through.

 

But Taeyeon knows she is not in the place to judge, considering Yuri's own miserable history of trusting people and the Kim herself being emotionally involved with a felon as well.

 

It must be unbearable for Yuri. Even that word might not be enough to describe how her bestfriend really felt about the whole Yoona thing. Taeyeon decided to give the Kwon a little more space and time to think after the Im's arrest and her closest pal's own breakdown afterwards. She never pried nor asked Yuri about it. Though she made sure to be near as much as possible in case Yuri will ever think about opening up.

 

She never did.

 

Days passed but Yuri kept mum. She enclosed all of her emotions out of everyone's eyes and started shunning the world around her again.

 

Before Taeyeon could even do something about it, Yuri was back to the cold, indifferent person that she was. Back to the hazelnut eyes blinking nothing but hollowness and morbid.

 

Back to square one.

 

Hearing the door shut behind her, Taeyeon looked up to see the collected but observing body language of Yuri. Something in the way she boldly stared at her made Taeyeon feel that Yuri might have an idea.

 

She does.

 

"How long?” the tanned cop said, sounding more like a statement than a question in Taeyeon’s ears, “How long had Jessica and the kid Seulgi been in your care?"

 

Yuri isn't dumb.

 

No she isn't.

 

Her accurate reckoning and bat crazy intuition are both her glory and downfall (if you know what I mean). She never misses a thing especially if it involved clandestine measures and cracking up codes. It sure helps in sensing lawbreakers and their equally unique tricks.

 

But recently, Yuri wished she could have been dumb to avoid all the conflicting feelings she had to live to.

 

No words can describe how ed up her mind has been.

 

The short-lived surprise in Taeyeon's face was all Yuri needed to confirm her once groundless, but realistically believable, speculations.

 

The Kwon saw the hesitation in her bestfriend's eyes. Though something in Taeyeon's gaze told Yuri that it was the same subject matter she wanted to discuss personally.

 

“Just..just a couple of days..” Taeyeon timidly replied. She carefully searched for anything on Yuri’s indifferent gaze, anything that will show her a kind of response, but she found none. Yuri looks far from saying anything so Taeyeon cautiously continued.

 

"Did Irene tell you? Or Wendy?"

 

"No..” Finally a reply from the Kwon. Although the reply’s tone wasn’t anything the short-legged cop would have wanted, but still, she elicited a response. “No one told me. It seems like it’s the only thing people know nowadays: keeping me unaware of things happening around.."

 

Taeyeon felt the meaning behind her friend's words and she stopped herself before she could even answer back.

 

She feels like it's a bad idea to talk back right now especially since Taeyeon finds guilt in Yuri's words. She knows she must not have kept the little fact that she’s been housing two of the must-be accomplices of Yoona. It's like breaking the number one bestfriend oath of all time.

 

But since it involved people related to a particular Im and a certain Jung herself being a partner to all the perfectly-planned kills made by the assassin, Taeyeon felt like it was safer to just keep things away from the light of the world.

 

To a particular Kwon, that is.

 

"Are you mad that I didn't tell you?" Taeyeon carefully inquired again.

 

"What do you think??" Yuri shot back almost immediately. "My bestfriend, you, the person who I trust the most, didn't even bother telling me the truth why Jessica and Seulgi are staying in your apartment?? Let alone tell me how they even ended up with you! You even dragged Irene and Wendy in your little hiding but not me. Like what's that supposed to mean??"

 

"Yuri it's not what you think it is—"

 

"Then what is??” Taeyeon tried opening to say something but nothing came out. Zilch. Zero.

 

This only pushed the Kwon even more. “What does it mean?? You tell me right now Taeyeon or I'll start believing that you’ve known about Yoona's job all these time."

 

That was something Taeyeon didn't see coming. Squinting her eyes to the most confused and bewildered expression, the cop stared at her friend like she had grown another head.

 

"What??? That's absurd!"

 

"Is it?? Because the way you've been defending her from Sooyoung tells me otherwise. Not to mention that you've been smitten about Jessica and she turned out to be Yoona's sidekick for god's sake. Everything makes sense why you will hide it from me."

 

"Do you even hear yourself??" It was now Taeyeon snapping at Yuri almost immediately. She cannot believe the Kwon would even think of her that way. "Do you really think I can do that to you??! Betray you of any sort???"

 

Taeyeon heard her voice to be a little notch higher than it usually is, a mixture of frustration and astonishment flashing all over her face.

 

She has been patient about this whole damn thing, tried to be the more composed one above all. If someone has to have an open-minded approach in dealing with this kind of situation, it is her.

 

Kim Taeyeon: the calm one.

 

But it doesn’t mean that she cannot feel. It doesn’t mean she is deprived to feel overwhelmed, restless—angry at the universe for being a victim of these unfortunate mishaps.

 

She ain’t no stone. She feels.

 

And she is bombarded with all these various, huge and conflicting emotions just as much as Yuri is.

 

“I don’t know..” Yuri breathed, a defeated sigh through a trembling lips and eyes closed. She shook her head and ran a hand through her hair, “I don’t know what to believe anymore..”

 

With that, Taeyeon’s face softened at her bestfriend’s distorted self, “Yuri—“

 

“Can you blame me though??” the Kwon immediately cut her off, however. The latter’s eyes are glistening and Taeyeon could practically see the walls her friend carelessly built crumbling down right infront of her.

 

“I mean, things were all good y’know? I was happy. The nightmares were gone. I was actually starting to feel a whole lot better these days because of her and she was just sooo amazing. Her smile made my day. Her eyes got its way to calm my nerves. Her stares made me believe that not all things are bad. Everything was perfect..” Yuri weakly gestured a hand as a lone tear rolled down her cheek, “…she was perfect”

 

Taeyeon painfully watched as her bestfriend took in a sharp breathe of air and exhaled it loudly, eyes pooling out tears she had been keeping.

 

“But then she wasn’t…” Yuri choked, “Yoona is not the person I supposed she was and once again I was left with this empty gap inside of me that she used to fill in and I just..”

 

The trail at the end of the sentence and the sudden strangling noise coming out of the tanned girl prompted the teary-eyed Kim to immediately pull her bestfriend for a bone crushing hug. In no time, Yuri was a sobbing mess under Taeyeon’s embrace.

 

It has been a good amount of time since the short cop had seen Yuri in this unkempt state and if it was any indication, Im Yoona must mean something much more than a temporary crush for her to cause all of these in her bestfriend.

 

“I trusted her, Taeng..” Yuri wept, “I ing trusted her..”

 

“I know, Yuri..sshhh.. I know..” It broke Taeyeon’s heart to see her like this.

 

It really does.

 

But despite everything that happened, she still cannot get herself to feel livid towards a certain doe-eyed woman who shattered her bestfriend’s already delicate heart. Yes, Sooyoung was right. The Im was not innocent. And if all those verified reports they’ve been secretly investigating were any indication, Yoona is not your ordinary hired killer.

 

She must be, right? Just as much, or even more, furious with all the identity-keeping thing? She is Yuri’s bestfriend and bestfriends always stick together.

 

However, the recent discovery of who Im Yoona really is (and Jessica Jung, too) was only one side of the coin. A dark side, to be exact. And Taeyeon, being the logical one that she is, had always believed that no matter how bad things were, they always have a reason for it, regardless of its nature.

 

The very paper that has been hiding inside her coat is enough reason for her to believe that Yoona is just as much a victim of her circumstance as Yuri is to her inevitable feelings towards the woman.

 

And Taeyeon feels obligated to instill to Yuri that the Im is not the bad person per se.

 

“Jessica and Seulgi got into a car accident..” the Kim started, hands still rubbing the back of the tanned cop who somehow calmed at the gentle gesture, “It was on the night Yoona was arrested and I don’t know how but the kid Seulgi was able to call my phone which I left at Wendy’s, explaining why I got her and Irene to keep this a little secret between the three of us.”

 

Taeyeon stopped her rubbing and it was replaced with a stationary but slightly trembling hands resting on Yuri’s back. The memories of Jessica’s bloody and limped figure a perennial nightmare she had to live in.

 

Yuri noticed the sudden change in her bestfriend’s demeanor and pulled back from the hug, anxiety filling her brain as she caught sight of Taeyeon in a daze.

 

“H-How are they??”

 

The unsure question broke Taeyeon’s stupor and she looked up to see Yuri’s concerned expression all over her face.

 

“Seulgi’s fine but she hasn’t woken up since the accident..”

 

“And Jessica?”

 

Taeyeon looked away and Yuri’s heart almost dropped.

 

“Sh-she’s in…she’s in a coma..”

 

“Oh my god.”

 

Before she could protest, the short cop has been pulled into an embrace, Yuri bringing out all the warmth she could produce to give Taeyeon a sense of comfort.

 

It did. But it resulted for a few streak of tears to roll down her cheeks despite the Kim’s strong willpower not to shed any of them.

 

“I’m so sorry to hear that, Taeng. I didn’t kno—“

 

“No, Yul..” the Kim was quick to pull back and oppose, nose a little stuffed from all the crying. She shook her head with a little sniff that furthered the confused look on Yuri.

 

“This isn’t about me or my feelings right now..” Taeyeon wiped her eyes and sniffed for the last time before composing herself, knowing very much the severity of the situation she is yet to tell.

 

“What do you mean? What are you talking about?”

 

She reached out for the inside of her coat and fished out the paper hidden behind it. Taeyeon can just spill the tea right in the moment but she knows all too well that Yuri must see the content of the note for herself.

 

Confused but eager, the Kwon accepted it and looked up, silently asking Taeyeon what the paper is all about.

 

“Open it.”

 

Yuri did. And boy did her heart drop upon reading what was inside.

 

“Yoona’s sister was with them. She was with Jessica and Seulgi at the night of the accident, Yul. But Irene and Wendy were pretty much sure there was no other person besides Sica and the kid when they got to the place of the crash..” Taeyeon asserted, tone firm and heavy.

 

The Kwon read the note over and over again just to make sure she isn’t reading things wrong.

 

She isn’t.

 

And with the way her head pounded coupled with the sick feeling in her stomach, Yuri realized that this is a serious situation involving Hanna, the last family Yoona has; the person which the Im eagerly wanted Yuri to meet;

 

The very reason why Yoona ended up tainting her hands with bloods she never wanted to shed.

 

“He did this: the accident and this. With Yoona being captured, Kim Young Min will do everything to get things his way and clear his name before Yoona can tip him out to the authorities..” Taeyeon unconsciously clenched her jaw and balled her hands into a fist, rage immediately taking over her senses, “..even at the expense of people’s lives..”

 

And Yuri, once being at the receiving end of this horrific idea—of losing a beloved sister—is not going to stay idle and do nothing when she can definitely do something to save Yoona, at the very least, from the terrible pain of suffering a loss.

 

With shaky hands but unwavering tenacity, she looked up to search for her bestfriend’s eyes, grasping the very reason why Taeyeon decided to talk to her in person in the first place.

 

This is Yuri’s call after all.

 

“We need to do something.”

 

 

                       “Your sister is with me. Pay her a visit before it’s too late. You know where to go.”

 

________________

A/N: Did you miss me? (DON’T SAY NO!!) Sorry, Seohyun must’ve rubbed it on me LMAO

 

While my tedious, personal life is still the reason for my long hiatus (which is a given), your author here somehow got herself into a small trouble (if hitting immature fellas on their faces and ending up breaking my knuckles qualify as small, then yes) which painfully put my precious hands on a much needed rest. It was pretty awful I can’t even move a finger. Literally. So yeah. I couldn’t type with useless and paralyzed fingers for a few weeks, causing the longer delay for an update. Forgive me? :(

 

I hope this update was enough to entertain you or something though. I don’t even know if I still have readers on this with all the waiting I’ve put you through :(

 

Write me something guys. In the comment box or PM, anyway you like it. Just tell me how this chapter was or better yet, how have you guys been with your lives. Let’s talk and be friends :)

 

PS: Have you watched “Innocent Defendant” yet? Our mom Yuri needs our support, I heard she’s being bashed by some haters because of it. How can they when Yul lawyer-nim is hotter than the melting temperature of the sun?! Hehehehe. Let’s send her love by cheering her on IG babies. Fighting!

 

PPS: Congrats Ms. France as the newly crowned Miss Universe! HAHAHA! This is me being extra ok bye