Think fast, act quick.

"There you are..."

*

"Criminally underrated, Red Velvet are. Especially their maknae Yeri, oh gosh she's adorable!"

"You only say that because she looks like you and happens to have the same name."

"We're the same person."

Wendy rolled her eyes. A fun chat between her sister and herself about their favourite genre of music helped slow things down a little for her. After going at full throttle over the last few days, Katy was her pit stop, helping change her tyres and give her a tiny break. But like any pit stop, once those tyres were changed, she would have to start racing again.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Wendy took it out, wiping leftover ice cream of Katy's face with her other hand subconsciously. There was a message.

"Sooyoung found nothing.

Report back soon. Debrief. 15 minutes."

Wendy's shoulders drooped a little. She knew Sooyoung wouldn't find anything, but there was a glimmer of hope, seeing the confidence her new subordinate showed, that gleeful, almost naive joy. 

Joy. 

That seemed to fit her.

"I think I'll call her Joy from now on."

"Who, your girlfriend?"

Wendy flicked her little sister's forehead, the small one pouting as a response. 

"Let's get you home shall we?"

*

"Don't open the door for anybody! No! One!" 

"Yes sis!"

With that, Wendy left her apartment with her pride and happiness behind. Back to reality.

"How long do I have?"

10 minutes had passed since she got the message.

"." She headed to the taxi stand, waiting for one of those yellow cars to stop in front of her. But New York traffic was New York traffic. 

"I should let Kang know..."

After shooting a quick text, Wendy felt a strong, but pleasant smell waft into her nostrils. She turned her head, and saw, what she had to admit, an extremely attractive lady standing by her left. 

Short in stature, stiletto heels could not hide that. Contrasting that was midnight black hair that sailed down to the middle of her back, perfectly matching the black leather jacket she donned. She had an aura, definitely. Wendy didn't know if she liked it. But she knew she was pretty.

The lady did not seem to have noticed Wendy peeking at her, which Wendy appreciated. She lit a cigarette, still waiting for the bumblebee on wheels to drive by.

"You should solve the murders soon you know."

A puff of smoke filled the air.

"I'm trying."

The lady smirked. It was one of confidence, as if she was better than Wendy. 

"If you ever need help." She took out a card and rested it atop the cigarette Wendy was smoking.

"Grab it, or let it burn. Your choice."

With that, the lady walked away. 

Wendy looked. The fire was inching ever close to that little square of paper. 

The white was soon turning to ash.

"Fine."

Wendy grabbed it.

"Bae Irene."

Below that was her number, and that was it.

Wendy flipped the card around. Blank again.

"Tch. She underestimates me."

Wendy took out a UV light from her bag, which she carried just in case of things like this.

She turned it on above the blank space behind the card.

"Bingo."

A whole paragraph of words appeared.

"I want to help you solve the case. It looks like the police don't know what they are doing so far, and let's be honest, you need all the help you can get. This murderer running around puts everyone in danger, including me, yourself, and your sister. Help me help you, Son Wendy. Call me. I'm sure you'll want to know how I know you too."

Wendy was speechless.

This Irene, knew who she was, knew about Yerim.

"Ma'am, would you like to go anywhere?"

Wendy looked at the cab in front of her, and back at the card. No address on it.

"New York Police Station please."

"Hop on in."

*

A sulking Sooyoung was the first thing to greet Wendy when she arrived at the building. Eating a piece of bread and kicking at the floor beneath her. Cute.

"Told you, you wouldn't get jack ."

"Thanks for rubbing it in."

"Today's lesson is humility."

Sooyoung groaned, trudging up the steps of the police station behind Wendy, her shoulders slumped and an obvious pout forming.

"I don't who this person is and what they're doing, but there was literally no trace of them. They're like a phantom. Smart of them to use alleyways that have no cameras. You should really get them to install cameras in alleyways. If there had been a camera then I definitely would have-"

Wendy put a finger on Sooyoung's lip. 

"Can it, Joy."

Sooyoung squinted an eye.

"Joy?"

"I'm calling you that from now on. Your youthful stupidity and ignorance really cheers me up, and that's not a bad thing."

Sooyoung, or now Joy, appeared shocked. Then, a smile. A smile so wide, so genuine, that Wendy felt her heart twitch a tiny bit.

"I like it. Thank you."

Wendy didn't understand why Sooyoung, or now Joy, was so happy over a nickname, but she was glad she could finally see a genuine smile on the face of her underling for the first time.

"You're pretty when you smile. Smile now while you can, it'll get difficult to smile once we get to Seulgi's office."

*

And difficult to smile it was.

Seulgi was a mess.Even more of a mess then she was just yesterday. She resembled an escaped mental patient Wendy had arrested a few years back, just with a smidge more makeup. Not a very pretty sight.

"We've tried everything. Our trail is officially dead." Seulgi tossed her phone in the air, letting it tumble above the hundreds of papers on the floor. 

"They want to close the case. And send you back to Vice, Wendy."

Wendy flinched. 

"No way in hell am I going back there."

"That or you'll be wearing a neon vest between a junction. Traffic or Vice? I've been sticking my neck out for you here, but you aren't giving me anything. Sooyoung will take over your spot when you're gone."

Wendy gritted her teeth. Tension rose between Seulgi and Wendy.

"I need results."

"One more month."

"We don't have that much time."

"2 weeks."

Seulgi leaned back in her chair, folding her arms and scoffing. 

"I'll do all I can to assist Wendy in the investigation as well."

Joy and Wendy stood firm. Seulgi gave them a look, before nodding and picking up her phone from the floor.

"That's all I can give you. Two weeks, or it's back to drugs and es, Son Wendy."

Joy noticed a shiver in Wendy's shoulders.

"You have my word."

The duo left the room with a thud, Wendy immediately slumping down at the chairs in front of the office. 

"2 weeks... what the hell am I going to get in 2 weeks?"

Joy put her hand on Wendy's shoulder. "We need a miracle. Someone, something."

Wendy's ears perked up.

"Someone..."

She dug into her pocket and yanked 'it' out.

"What's that?"

Wendy looked at Joy.

"Maybe, just maybe, this could be our 'someone.'

Wendy took one look at it.

"Bae Irene... let's see who you really are."

Wendy punched in the number, and just one ring later, the call was answered.

"Feel free to bring Park Sooyoung. Meet me at Lady's Room, tell the counter you want to meet Miss Bae. They'll lead you to me."

Wendy left the call feeling more in disbelief. Now she even knew about Joy? Who was this lady?

Joy tapped Wendy's shoulder, spinning her car key on her index finger. 

"Lady's Room it is? I don't know who this lady is and why she knows me, but I want to know. By the way, lower your speaker volume, I heard everything, obviously."

Wendy grimaced. She didn't like this feeling that this Irene gave off.

"Let's go."

*

The ride there was silent. Both parties were tense, wondering who this lady was, and what she wanted, why she was offering to help them. 

"We're here."

They parked outside a building. They were in a relatively busy part of New York. Well, everywhere was busy. But it was a cafe, a legitimate one. A giant red high heel was the sign, with 'Lady's Room' boldly displayed on it.

"Looks like she has a thing for heels..." Wendy added that to her mental notebook.

"Well this place doesn't look too shady. Large, open windows, decent amount of customers. Seems reputable." 

Wendy agreed with Joy's brief observation.

"Let's head in."

A soft bell rang when they entered the cafe, and a bright "Welcome to the Lady's Room!" rang from the counter.

They turned to look. It was another young lady, Kim Taeyeon was her name, according to her nametag. Short in stature, stiletto heels couldn't hide that. Another theme. 

"Short."

The two officers approached Taeyeon, who had this very bright, semi-genuine smile on her face. Seems she enjoyed her job a little bit.

"Yes, how may I help you?"

"I'm looking for Miss Bae."

Taeyeon's smile instantly faded, and reduced itself to a mere smirk. A smirk very much like Irene gave Wendy earlier.

"Follow me..."

Following Taeyeon's lead, Wendy and Joy found themselves in the kitchen, right at the very back, where no chefs were, and two old sinks laid.

"Stand directly in front of these two taps please."

Wendy did as she said. But Joy, puzzled, didn't.

"This is bull. What the hell are you making us do? Wendy, you sure this is the right place?"

Taeyeon spoke up before Wendy even opened .

"Park Sooyoung. Age 21. Father and Mother, dead. Left school because she was constantly bullied, was almost killed by-"

"SHUT UP!"

Soyoung grabbed Taeyeon by the neck, pulling her gun out and pressing it against Taeyeon's forehead.

"One more word, and I blow your ing brains out."

"Joy!" Wendy pulled her underling away from Taeyeon, who cleared and very quickly regained her composure. 

"Turn the tap 4 times to the left, and 5 times to the right. Stand directly in front of it, make sure your legs are no more than 5cm away. Goodbye."

The sound of heels clacking grew faint, and soon it was just the two of them.

"Sooyoung, I didn't know..."

"Please, don't talk about it..."

Wendy wrapped Joy in a hug, patting her head gently three times. 

"I promise you, we'll settle down and have a nice, long talk and rest at my place after this. But for now, please, I need you to be with me on this and meet this Bae Irene. Please."

Wendy was straightforward. Joy appreciated this. 

"Yes ma'am." Joy took a deep breath and forced a smile on her face. 

"Thank you."

They turned the taps as Taeyeon said, and they stood.

Nothing.

"The ?"

Seconds later, the floor below them began sinking to the ground. The tiles split apart and beneath was an elevator. 

"Hop in."

A voice that Wendy knew belonged to Irene came from a speaker. 

Joy gave Wendy one last look.

"You sure?"

Wendy nodded.

"We have to try."

They hopped in. And soon, the elevator descended.

"I think this is bull. Get ready Wendy." Joy pulled out her gun, turning the safety off and aiming at the door.

"As soon as that opens, I'm going to-"

"I would prefer to not have any firearms in my cafe Miss Park."

The door opened.

It was pitch black.

*

"Told you." Joy looked down the sights of her Glock-17, ready to open fire at any moment. 

Wendy stopped. She had a hand on her holster, but wanted to analyse the situation before she did anything rash.

She looked around her, Joy and Wendy stepping into the darkness that engulfed them.

Wendy felt something beneath her foot. She kneeled down and tried to grab it, and she did. Rubber... 

Wendy scoffed.

"Enough playing around. Turn on the damn lights."

A bright chuckle erupted, and light suddenly flooded the two new pairs of eyes that had entered.

When their eyes adjusted, they were blown away.

Rows of cupboards, all filled with files upon files sorted into categories. A long hallway with dozens of doors was before that, and right at the very end of that hallway, stood one person.

*Clack*

Stiletto heels and a leather jacket became more and more obvious as the clacks of heels got louder.

"There you are."

Irene stood in front of Wendy and Joy, smiling and sticking her hand out.

"I'm Bae Irene. Welcome to my DataHouse."

Author Notes:

I need to explain myself. 

I'm so sorry for the late update. But... a bout of stress and depression hit me like a truck this past month. My father passed away and I've just been out of it. But I'm much better now so don't worry :) this story will see an end, I love it and I'm finally back.

So, Irene is finally here. Please let me know what you all think of this chapter.

Upvotes, comments(!!) and subscribers would be greatly appreciated :) 

See you all soon!