"Don’t be sorry, you can abandon me spitefully and leave

If that’s what you want, yeah, good bye

But that doesn’t mean I have given up too."

INFINITE (인피니트), "The Chaser (추격자)", Infinitize, (2012)

Nari kept her hood over her face as she stalked the crowded, midday streets of Seoul. The smell of nearby food stalls wafted through the air, the sounds of people rushing about with their daily lives clouding the atmosphere as the chilly autumn air prickled Nari’s skin. But she pressed on, forcing her nerves away – she wouldn’t allow her inability to keep her cool ruin the task once more. She wouldn’t repeat that mistake.

No one could know of her task. No one had even noticed her slip out of the SM building and off of the grid. She wanted it to remain that way. This mission was personal, and she had no intention of letting things be disturbed – especially if it gave her chance to find Unnie. To find BoA.

So the war has finally begun…Your Unnie and I foresaw this a long time ago. It’s finally time for the truth to come to light. You’ll find your answers at midday tomorrow, Myeongdong.  

Nari stared down at the note in her hands, now crumpled from the countless times she’d screwed up the note and thrown it down out of frustration, only to pick it back up and attempt to decipher its meaning. She’d brushed the note off as a falsity; it was slid under her door at ridiculous o’clock in the morning, when she lay awake contemplating the well-being of the rest of her team.  

Only when she looked closely at the signature on at the bottom of the paper, she really became spooked.

Lee Ji Eun. Destroy this signature.

Nari the bottom of the note, the burned and frayed edges of the sheet testament to the faith Nari had in the lead. The name was a famous one to say the least – but Nari refused to believe anything until she saw this woman face to face.

She knew she wouldn’t get another opportunity like this – but more so, it was a personal mission that would hopefully distract her from the greater sense of guilt she felt over letting her team down. A good few weeks had passed since the accident, and Nari had managed to completely avoid the iKON boys as they all remained incognito following the brawl. But that didn’t stop the guilt from constantly plaguing her mind.

Stop thinking.

Nari weaved in and out through the seemingly endless crowds of people, appearing invisible in the midday shopping rush as she approached the small café at the edge of the main shopping district. In some ways she envied the blissful ignorance of the civilians around her; unlike Nari, they’d never known the cruelty of the world they all lived in, and unlike her, they never experienced how exactly cruel people could be to one another.

Quietly entering the small café, Nari quietly ordered an Americano for appearances’ sake.

“You can drink coffee black?” The friendly-looking barista asked her. ‘Linzy’ her name tag read.

Nari smiled softly, “I have a taste for strong beverages.”

Carrying her piping hot coffee and taking her place in the outside seating area, Nari gave herself a mere moment’s solace as the caffeine flooded her veins. She couldn’t wait for the moment the hype and rush kicked in, it was a kick vaguely similar to the adrenaline of a good fight. A day's productivity could be increased tenfold by a single cup of coffee, it was funny how that worked.

“You came after all,”

Her soft voice made Nari jump out of her chair, hand resting on the gun inside her jacket. The chair fell backwards and clattered on the ground. The woman who sat in front of Nari stared up at her with a curious amusement as she tilted her head. Nari’s mouth made an ‘O’ shape.

“You remind me so much of Boa-Unnie,” the woman smiled as she shook her head, “You may look harsh and cool on the outside, but you’re both just dorks.”

“Who- who are you?” Nari’s voice croaked. She already knew the answer.

The woman smiled at Nari, “I’m Lee Ji Eun. Most people know me as IU.”

~

“So you’ve really been undercover this whole time? We all thought you’d been killed!” Nari exclaimed after IU elaborated on her sudden disappearance. She couldn’t deny a sense of wonder at being in the woman’s presence; it was as if being sat in front of royalty. Nari wondered if this was the way other Rookies felt around her.

But a dark look fell over IU’s face, her hands nervously the edge of her coffee cup, “Given the mess all of us are in, I think death would have been a much kinder sentence.”

“What makes you say that?” Nari’s voice shook ever so slightly, panic prickling her emotions.

Push them away. Don’t let them in.

“My disappearance caused a crack in the Criminal Underworld. LOEN split after I disappeared. Half of my former Syndicate remained your allies, whilst the other half went into hiding. Groups like Girl’s Day, Sonamoo and History, all of those who come under LOEN’s overall jurisdiction, joined you.”

“Not that many of them survived the attack on the Mayor’s Ball…” Nari thought back to the total losses the enemies under JYP had caused that night. Dread began to overwhelm her.

“The other half, disaffected with the alliance with SM, went into hiding.”

“Let me guess, they’re with JYP now too?”

IU nodded, “But the situation is more complex than that,” her eyes became dark tunnels, her voice shaking as she peered around the deserted quarter nervously, “If I were you I’d disappear while you can, Song Nari. Before you’re dragged even deeper into this mess.”

“What’re you talking about? The Movement are already well aware of who I am and my resistance.”

“I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about the real people who made me leave. Your Unnie and I disappeared for the same reason.”

“Wha- What?”

Nari’s mind became flooded with all manner of questions, not all of them answerable, not all of them possible, but two stuck out in her mind.

Is she in hiding? Or is she actually away on business?

“I don’t have to time to explain it all but-“

“Where has she gone?!” Nari demanded, her impatience getting the better of her as her nerves grew by the second. She wouldn’t be able to keep everything pent up much longer – she was prepared to crack.

“If you just let me explain-“

“When will she back?”

“Song-“

“Is she coming back?”

“Listen to me!” IU snapped, slamming her fist on the table, “The real enemy is a lot closer than you think, and if I were you, I’d listen up. You’ve been lied to this entire time, the real enemy is-“

But the bullet bursting through IU’s forehead stopped her from revealing the dreadful secret after all. Nari felt bile rise in as the woman’s warm blood splattered across her face. She threw herself to the ground, immediately drawing her gun from her hoodie, Nari scanned the perimeter until she spotted her target; Linzy, the smiley barista from earlier on.

Nari immediately fired a shot at the girl, shattering the window and causing complete chaos inside the shop – but it gave her enough time to sprint through the gardens and back alleys that surrounded the shop before emerging onto the main street. She sprinted through and around the crowded bustles of Myeongdong, ungraciously forcing her way past each and every cluster of civilians that got in her way. She didn’t dare look back at how many people were now pursuing her – but the sound of gunfire told her she needed to get out of here. Fast.

As the crowds of people filtered out of the streets with panicked haste, Nari took the opportunity to divert the fire away from the people. She couldn’t have any more innocent blood on her hands. She climbed over the edge of a footbridge, leading to an underground car park, which was near-enough deserted save for the cars dotted about. Nari made use of the ample cover, sprinting and weaving in and out of each parked vehicle.

Nari ducked down behind a van and prepared to shoot back at the enemies who were pursuing her; she made a hit with her first shot.

Five girls, including ‘Linzy’ from the coffee shop. Potential members of the Movement? Or IU’s own enemies?

Nari began to fire back relentlessly at the girls, but she knew her fight wouldn’t last forever; she could supress them all she wanted, but sooner or later the girls would advance. And dare she think it, she may run out of bullets.

Her qualms were answered by the arrival of a black 4x4. Nari immediately backed up against the van she took refuge by, instinctively aiming her gun at the vehicle. What she didn’t expect was to come face to face with one of the members of WINNER that she was supposed to kill. Kang Seungyoon.

“Get in,” he ordered as he held a standard YG gun up at her face.

Nari pursed her lips, “Why should I?”

“Because the enemy of your enemy is your friend. And I think you could do with those right now,”

Nari gripped onto her gun tighter as she stared at the kind eyes of Kang Seungyoon, his face stern although earnest as he lowered his own gun. Nari sighed and did the same, before reluctantly stepping into their vehicle. She was immediately thrown back as they sped forwards and (presumably) out of the car park. Nari managed to steady herself against the side of the vehicle, her cheeks burning red at the sounds of males laughing.

“So this is the great Song Nari?”

Now firmly on the chair, Nari looked up at the smirking (yet fiendishly handsome) face of Kim Jinwoo. He cleaned his gun out casually as he leaned back in his chair, apparently unaffected by the cohort of cars chasing them down. Nari peered out the back of the window, an anxious habit that she’d grown into recently. She wished her nerves would ease slightly, but the adrenaline threw her stability out the window.

“I didn’t think she’d be so…nervous.” Nam Taehyun titled his head as he observed Nari, almost lamenting on her appearance. His presence emanated a mysteriousness that made Nari slightly nervous for some reason.

“I didn’t think she’d be cornered by a low-key group like Fiestar,” Mino scoffed, staring Nari down with absolute contempt, eyes darkened by hatred, “I just wanna’ know why our targets are more interested in a girl who looks like she belongs in an asylum.”

Nari narrowed her eyes at the guys around her, disgusted with their attitude and behaviour – typical YG attitude no doubt. They didn’t even look the part of a major hit squad – they seemed more like an underground thug group with their ‘washed up rock star’ look, what with the leather jackets and bleached hair [think Exit Movement teasers lol] Nari told herself she’d soon have her revenge on them for treating her this way, but once more, Kang Seungyoon’s words played the voice of reason.

“Stop it,” he groaned as the car swerved harshly around a corner, “We can make use of her. They must want her for some reason, and I bet you they had something to do with the attack on iKON.”

Nari’s stomach dropped at the mention of the accident. Her heart thudded at the reminder of Bobby’s lifeless form in her arms. She immediately began to load and reload her gun carefully, anything to calm her anxieties.

“She’s our bait,” Kim Jinwoo scoffed at her.

Nari ignored him and stared at her handiwork intensely.

“I think you might be right Seungyoon,” Mino started as he leaned over Nari, his voice tight with suspicion. She shuddered at his proximity, “That’s the same gun Bobby had the night he almost died.”

Nari slowly looked up at him, her eyes watering when she wished they wouldn’t. Her hand shook around her gun, her finger nervously hovering over the trigger as Mino smirked down at her, a dark flicker of angered challenge in his eyes. Something in the dark recesses of her mind taunted Nari for not killing him when she got the chance. His voice was deep, hoarse and full of contempt as he said,

“You did this to him, didn’t you?”

Nari didn’t hesitate in lunging at Song Mino, her hands wrangled around his neck as rage and all manner of emotions swept over her being. Her eyes burned with the fire of a hundred suns as she the life out of Mino.

“You don’t know anything!”

She couldn’t believe that he’d had the audacity to accuse her of harming Bobby! Only she was allowed to blame herself for that… but still, he pushed his luck, and she couldn’t deny the satisfaction in seeing the colour slowly drain from his face.

Yet before Nari could inflict any proper damage, several strong pairs of hands hauled her off of the red-faced guy, who somehow barely managed to keep himself from fighting back against pre-emptive attack on his life – and dignity.

“Enough of it, both of you!”

Nari glared up at Jinwoo and Seungyoon as they held her down by the shoulders, writhing slightly under their grasp before completely shrugging them off of her. Nari watched Taehyun whispering to his Hyung soothingly, the Maknae evidently having