Girls' Generation, (소녀시대/少女時代), Catch Me If You Can (Single) 2015 

"Say 'goodbye sweetheart',"

"Goodbye sweetheart." Nari mocked as she quickly kicked the knife out of the masked woman's hand and fired two bullets into her chest.

She didn't let the punch to her jaw hold her back, and continued following the trail of the black-clad men and women who rained hell (and bullets) down on the party. "Bastards are everywhere..." Nari cursed as she fumbled with the handle of her gun, a habit of her's when she was set to kill. 

Leaving her team inside may not have been the best thing to do, but Nari was so used to working alone at this point that she knew things would fall into place. After quietly taking out three of the fiends inside the hall, Nari had followed her instincts and followed the killers from where they came from. She trusted the girls to take care of the injured Joy and Jimin, and J-Hope sprinting outside mid-attack to assist his friends up in the buildings surrounding the hall, TaeTiSeo probably taking charge of the SM groups, and all the other Syndicate-members inside that building -- Nari knew from experience that things inside would settle down. 

Edging further and further away from City Hall, however, the trail got colder. She’d shut off the line with the rest of the team, leaving Irene in charge so she could focus on tailing the killers – but now Nari was worried she’d lost them.

“Years chasing shadows in Japan and I can’t even catch a bunch of disorganised killers…” Nari mumbled ruefully as she trailed down the back alley of a building where her latest kill had emerged from.

Not regretting her choice to wear flats tonight, Nari was able to stick to the darkness, primed and prepared to fight if necessary. But her mind continuously replayed her encounter with the guy from earlier. She hadn’t had the breath knocked out of her like that for a long time. Sure it was unprofessional that she allowed him to live with the knowledge of her attempt to kill Song Mino, but she couldn’t deny the thrill in allowing him to hunt her down.

Guess it’s kinda’ refreshing having the shoe on the other foot for once.

But the click of a gun barrel in front of Nari viciously drew her from her treacherous thoughts. Not only was she annoyed for not being the one to grab the gun first, but more so for letting a guy cloud her judgement.

“Now, isn’t this a treat. Song Nari! The Golden Girl of SM. Even with that masquerade mask you’re not what I expected,” the man, his voice deep and menacing behind the black swat-team-style mask that covered his head, “To kill or to kill slowly?”

Kick to the groin, flicked of the wrist, bullet through the heart. Easy. But he could shoot any second. .

Nari didn’t think about what she’d do when the inevitable day of her death came – but she didn’t even have to do it now.

“Neither,” Another voice echoed from behind Nari before three bullets whizzed past her head, flying rapidly enough to move the stray hairs that had fallen from her ponytail.

Nari realised a heavy sigh of relief, her shoulders no longer as tense as the prospect of death became distant once more. But it was only after the re-clicking of the gun from behind her that Nari spun in an instant, her own gun pointed at the very guy who’d crossed her mind at the moment of her near-death.

He no longer wore his mask from earlier. The guy, his gun inches from her face, slowly removed her masquerade mask, throwing it to the ground before stepping backwards a few paces.

“So that’s who you’re with,” He scoffed, a mix of anger and disappointment written across his handsome face, “No wonder you were in such a hurry to get out of there before shooting my friends.”

Nari scoffed at the guy’s obvious ignorance, “What’re you talking about? You have no idea what’s going on!”

“And you do?” He demanded, pointing his gun at her more aggressively this time.

Silver-edged gun with carbon plating. He’s a YG Rookie. Shame, he looked better than that.

Nari scoffed, biting her lip at the twisted irony in it all, “The longer you stand here, demanding answers that I have no obligation to give, the further away those suited bastards who shot my friends too are going to get.” She took a step closer to the guy, and when he didn’t shoot her as soon as she moved, she edged closer and closer to him, the strange magnetism she’d felt before resurfacing, “Either you kill me and let whoever orchestrated that massacre continue doing whatever they planned – or, you lend me your gun, yourself and help me find the rest of them.”

The guy was clearly conflicted at Nari’s ultimatum, so she took the liberty of clarifying his options, “Either way, you’ll need a reason for me not to shoot you.”

The guy grunted and lowered his gun from Nari’s head, point blank. He looked over his shoulder from where he’d emerged from, police cars and sirens sounding closer and closer by the second as they stood there bickering, “You sure they went this way?”

The two, working in tandem, stalked their way through the deserted streets of the city centre. At this time of night, criminal life would be bustling; for it to be as quiet as it was, was beyond haunting for Nari, the eeriness unnatural and unsettling.

Nari was well aware of her heightened nerves with this guy’s presence, but what was more irritating was his lack of subtlety as they traversed the streets, block by block increasing the distance from the bloodbath they’d both left behind. He’d cough, breathe and tread foot too loudly for Nari’s own sense of comfort (as much comfort as someone could get in a two-way manhunt).

But catching sight of another suited-person with a gun, Nari pressed a hand to the guy’s chest, halting him as they took cover behind the corner of an apartment block.

Nari eyed the target, who appeared to be watching, almost waiting for someone. Patiently awaiting the emergence of an accomplice, Nari attached the suppressor to her gun. She felt the guy’s eyes watch her tactful nature annoyingly, but pushed on, ignoring him and his heavy breathing.

Taking aim at the target, Nari didn’t hesitate in letting the bullet fly. The target collapsed. The guy tried to lurch forward and into plain sight, but again, Nari held onto him, explaining their pause just in case an ally of them appeared.

When no one came, they both ran to the body to drag it out of sight. The guy’s body was heavy, even for the two of them to carry together at a decent speed. Nari suspected that it must’ve been the various guns he was carrying – but as she tried to consider what his purpose was, she was put off by something.

“Will you cut that out?” Nari demanded as they dragged the corpse towards a dumpster.

“What?” The guy asked innocently, raising an eyebrow at Nari’s evident irritation.

“That heavy breathing. If they don’t see us they’re sure as hell going to hear us for crying out loud.”

“How about you tell me exactly who ‘they’ are?”

When they dropped the body next to the dumpster, Nari groaned and looked around, conscious at the tone their voices were escalating to, “That’s what we’re trying to find out.”

“Right,” the guy nodded before getting down on one knee and searching through the guy’s clothes.

Nari was disgusted, “I don’t know how things work with you YG kids, but looting a dead body isn’t exactly civilised now, is it?”

“And dumping him here like this is?” The guy scoffed, sending a nerve-wracking smirk in Nari’s direction – she saw his point, but that didn’t make anything less tense between them. She was irritated over the fact that he referred to the body as ‘him’ – it was dead, nothing more or less, “I’m checking to see if he has anything on him that can help us find where he came from.”

“And I suppose it’s just going to conveniently have a wallet on him?”

“Nope. But he’s got a tag on him.”

“What?”

The guy stood up with an army-style dog tag in his clutches, the metal glinting slightly in the pale moonlight, “Apparently he’s from some place called ‘TS’. Any idea what that means?” Nari asked the guy as she squinted at the tag in his hand.

He scoffed, apparently unimpressed at Nari’s lack of answer, “You never heard of TS-Group?”

Nari raised an eyebrow at him incredulously, “I’ve been busy the past three years.”

“So it seems,” he chuckled, “TS went bankrupt a couple years back, they lost their flagship group – I think they were called BAP. I guess whatever role they played in this was just a way of getting back what they lost.”

Nari couldn’t help but feel angry at her lack of knowledge about current events – she’d been kept out of the loop far too long, and now she wanted nothing more than to stop feeling like a an outsider in the world she once knew inside out.

“How’d you know I’m from YG?” The guy looked at Nari with an intense gaze, one with both challenge and slight fear registered in them – a look similar he gave her to when they were dancing earlier.

“What’s your name?”

“Bobby.”

“Your real name.”

“That’s not important.”

“Okay then, Bobby,” Nari scoffed at his stubbornness, “Your slouch, your too easy-going attitude, your lack of forethought, not to mention your freaking gun is all the evidence I’d need to tell where you came from.”

“Don’t act like you know me,” ‘Bobby’ snapped at her – but this only added fuel to Nari’s fire.

“I wouldn’t plan on wanting to, especially if you come from YG.”

Something flickered in Bobby’s bright eyes, “Well if you’re so high and mighty with all your SM customs, how come I was the only one able to tell where this guy came from?” He demanded, pointing at the corpse they’d left on the floor.

“That still doesn’t surpass the fact that you’re just a rookie!” Nari bit back, her frustration with this guy surmounting by the second. Now it was more than just the natural animosities between their Families – it was getting personal.

“And who says I haven’t worked just as hard as a Veteran? Huh? Who says I haven’t given up as much? What’s to say I don’t deserve the respect just as much?!”

“Well until I see some skill from you that’s actually worth taking note of, I don’t think you do deserve all that?”

“Oh, and you do? Sweetie, I just saved your life for crying out loud!” Bobby shouted, throwing his hands in the air out of frustration.

“I had it covered!” Nari shoved his shoulder slightly, when in reality she wanted to punch the incompetent guy, “What’s to say that next time you won’t just run away and leave me dead like all you guys in the world do?!”

“I don’t know what your problem is, but running isn’t in my nature!”

A series of bullets whizzed past the two arguing gangsters, forcing them to immediately retreat behind the very dumpster that they were trying to dump the corpse in. Nari cursed her luck as she prepared herself to fire back, pushi