A/N: you ready?

“Boa?” Namjoo echoed, perplexed. “That’s your name?”

“No,” the lady answered. “My people call me Boa.”

My people. That made Namjoo gulp in fear.

“But your people call me Chorong.”

An unsettling feeling swirled inside Namjoo’s stomach. Chorong - Boa’s - words made the hair on her arms tingle with panic.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Blame your cousin for spying on me,” Chorong said sharply.

“I thought you love her." A crease ran between Namjoo's eyes. "I thought you’re working for the police.”

Chorong let out a dry laugh. “What makes you think I love her more than I love my dad? Blood is thicker than water, remember?”

“You’re playing her all along aren’t you?”

“She started this game." Chorong's mouth was set in a grim line. "I’m playing along.”

“You’re not going to get out of this alive,” Namjoo stated bravely, even though her insides were quivering.

Another maniacal laugh escaped Chorong’s lips. “I think you’re the one who’s not going to get out of this alive.” She narrowed her eyes, and the corner of her lips tugged up. “How do you think Hayoung will feel if she loses another person she dearly loves again? We should make her nightmare come true, don’t you think so?”

“She doesn’t deserve that,” the doctor fired back, the aggression in her tone powered by bravado.

“She only has herself to blame for switching sides,” Chorong snapped in annoyance. “Kihyun, shut her up. We need to get to our destination in peace.”

“I KNEW I COULD NEVER TRUST HER WITH YOU!” Bomi roared as she grabbed onto Hayoung’s shirt. “You know you’re going to cause her danger by being with her! Why did you have to be so selfish?”

“I couldn’t help it,” Hayoung mumbled, her expression still neutral despite Bomi's force.

“Bull,” Bomi spat.

The paralegal looked at Bomi in the eye. “I love her.” That made fiery gaze in Bomi’s eyes soften. She loosened her grip on Hayoung’s shirt. “We should be saving her now, shouldn’t we?” Hayoung softly added.

The brunette peeled her eyes away from the paralegal and spun around. “I’ve alerted the team. They’re trying to track down Namjoo’s whereabouts. We should be getting a call from them soon.”

“Is Naeun with them?”

“No. I’ve been trying to get to her but her phone’s dead.”

“Shouldn’t we be worried?”

Bomi turned to peer at Hayoung. She cocked a brow. “You’re saying she’s in danger?”

“There’s a possibility.”

“It’s 4 in the morning.” Bomi remembered how she had helped the two hopeless fools get back together earlier on, and assumed that both Naeun and Eunji were probably sleeping after going at it for the past few hours. “She’s dead asleep as always.”

“Have you contacted Chorong?”

Bomi bit her bottom lip. “I couldn’t get to her either.”

“Do you think-”

The brunette shook her head fiercely. “No, she’s working with us.”

“Then why can’t you get to her?”

“Maybe-”

The vibration in Bomi’s pocket interrupted her speech. She fished out her phone and saw Chorong’s name on the caller ID. She swiped the screen and the loudspeaker so that Hayoung could hear the conversation as well.

“Bbom-ah,” Chorong said, voice trembling, which instantly made Bomi’s heart lurch reflexively. “N-namjoo. M-my d-dad. Y-you n-need to be h-here.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m at the depot. Where all the shipping containers are. Please, come here quick.” There was desperation in her voice, which convinced Bomi that Chorong would never betray her.

The call ended in a haste. “We need to save Chorong and Namjoo.”

Wary etched on Hayoung’s face. “What if it’s a trap?”

“It’s not.”

“I have a feeling she’s setting us up, Bomi.”

“If you don’t trust her, then you should at least trust my decision,” Bomi ended.

“Why didn’t you inform the team?” Hayoung whispered to Bomi once they had reached the depot. The two were combing the area, looking for signs of Chorong or any member from the organization.

“We’ll settle this ourselves first. Then we’ll call for back up when we’re outnumbered.”

Hayoung shot Bomi an incredulous look. “We are outnumbered. There are only two of us, Bomi.”

“There’s Chorong,” the brunette shrugged.

All of a sudden, Hayoung felt even more at unease. Something was not right at all. She was starting to question Bomi’s decisions. As she quietly trailed behind Bomi in stealthy steps, her eyes would flicker everywhere, to detect any hint of Krait’s men around. Then horror hoofed in her heart when a sudden realization struck her. Her gaze flew to Bomi’s back. “When did you?” Hayoung spoke, causing Bomi to stop in her tracks.

The brunette turned to Hayoung, a faint strain forming around her eyes. “When did I what?”

“Switch sides,” Hayoung said gravely.

“Switch sides?” Bomi scoffed. “The person who switched sides is you, Hayoung.”

“You didn’t call the team, did you? You’re working for them. You’re working for Krait. You’ve been setting us up.” At this point, Hayoung didn’t know what else to do. She was alone now, Krait’s men would be getting her. And possibly kill her. Scratch that, Bomi was one ing hell of a betrayer that the paralegal was sure the brunette would be the one dragging her to Krait.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bomi stated dismissively. She spun round but Hayoung held her harshly.

“I’m calling the team now.”

Bomi gritted her teeth. Her hands were fisted at her side as her anger flared. “Don’t you ing dare call them if you don’t want to things up,” she seethed.

“Then tell me why you’re so adamant on not informing the team. We couldn’t get to Naeun either. Don’t you think something is fishy?”

“Nothing is fishy,” Bomi replied curtly. “Just ing trust me, Hayoung.”

The paralegal was not satisfied. But she decided to let Bomi off the hook. Maybe she was just being unnecessarily paranoid and suspicious. “Fine.”

Bomi turned back around. As she walked to the shipping yard, a sly smile crept over her lips.

“So, you’ve been ing around with me, haven’t you?”

Naeun watched her assaulter’s smile curl into a sneer, like a piece of paper burning on a bonfire. A brain-numbing punch smashed into her temple and she swore it felt like the entire world had exploded into flames.

“Don’t do that to her!” shrieked the other horrified victim who was hung suspended in mid-air, upside down.

Seulgi barked a laugh. “You should be worrying about your own death, Jung Eunji. With all the blood going to your head, don’t you think your time’s ticking?”

Naeun’s eyes flashed to Eunji. And she saw Eunji looking at her helplessly. The blonde felt utterly powerless. She was bounded to the chair. No matter how much she had writhed and thrashed in her seat, it was all in vain. “Let Eunji go.”

“Huh? Can’t hear you,” Seulgi said in a sing-song manner.

If only she had god-like invincibility and could free herself of the ropes that had tied her so tightly to the chair, Naeun would have ing killed Seulgi for using Eunji as a bait. “What the are you trying to do here? Let Eunji off and you can settle whatever unhappiness you have with me.”

Seulgi snorted. “You think it’s going to be that easy? If it was that easy, I wouldn’t go to this length of making you suffer.”

“So what do you want?” Naeun growled.

“I want to watch you see the person you love die in front of you in the most painful way. Then I’ll kill you in such a slow but tormenting manner you’ll beg me to shoot you in the head to end the agony.”

“ you.”

“Oh yes, thanks for all the times we’ve ed. All the more you should die agonizingly slowly seeing how disgusting of a you are,” Seulgi spat, then giving the blonde a hard slap across the face.

Another scream pierced the air. Seulgi’s head swung to Eunji, and she narrowed her eyes at the latter. “One more scream and I’ll ing cut off the rope,” she barked at the brunette