Irene sat back against the uncomfortable seat of the helicopter. A headset muffled the deafening whirring of the wings. They were flying to where the jet was waiting to take them home. Seulgi was sitting beside her, Lee was directly across from them. The proud look on his face had been there since they’d gotten on the aircraft.

It was a successful mission. They had Frost and his men in their custody, and miraculously, no one on the team had received any injuries. Frost and his men were in the two other helicopters flying along with them. Having them on the ground would be risky. Up in the air, there was nothing they could possibly do.

Irene recounted the events of the mission. As soon as she’d realized that something was wrong, she had privately contacted Wendy via cellphone. She had told her to shut down the district and the major area around them. That way, Frost would be forced to expose himself. After that, she had had Wendy contact Lee. Whom she knew had flown over a few hours before at her request. Then, she had simply kept Frost talking while he felt that he was at a complete advantage. In order to do that, she had had to have the rest of the team, excluding Seulgi, believe they were actually trapped. Therefore, she had told Wendy to cut off their communication. It had been a simple, yet intricate plan. Risky and volatile, but it had been worth it.

“We will be landing in two minutes,” the pilot said.

Seulgi jolted up. She had been sleeping. It was approximately four in the morning, and they hadn’t had any time to rest, so it was understandable. Irene felt the familiar drop in her stomach as the helicopter descended. Then a slight jolt, and the deafening whirr quieted to a hum. Irene took off the headset. Put it down on her seat. She slid the door open. The now familiar frigid wind met her as she climbed out and dropped onto concrete.

They were on a runway. There were bright, sparking flares running down along its sides. It was cleared and not too far from the helicopter, a massive jet stood proudly in the middle. The cargo hold was opened and a vaguely familiar person stood at the entrance.

“Lee, I bet you twenty bucks she doesn’t remember his name.”

“No need. I know she doesn’t.”

Irene turned to Seulgi and Lee behind her. They were laughing. She shook her head. Turned away again and walked towards the jet. The rumble of engines sounded to the right side of the runway. An agency van pulled up and the rest of the team climbed out.

Amber spotted her. She made her way over and stood quietly beside her.

“You have a great team here, Irene.”

Irene nodded. “I know.”

Wendy wasn’t sure what to feel. She remembered hearing Frost’s confession of murdering her brother over the tiny device in her ear. Ah, Jacob Son, he had said, I do remember him. He was a great mind.

Wendy remembered feeling nothing. Not grief, not blinding rage, nothing. A blank slate and his words ringing over and over in her ears. Even now, she felt nothing. It seemed like something from a faraway past. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because it had happened so long ago. Maybe her emotions had burned through after all of those years until it disappeared. But she knew that it couldn’t be that simple. Most likely, everything was buried deep inside of her. Just waiting for it’s moment to explode.

Wendy could wait. And she knew. When that moment came, it would be something terrifying.

Barely a week later, Joy was running to the interrogation room. She could hear sharp screams and a lot of thumps and crashes and yells. She burst into the room and saw a sight she’d never imagined she would ever see.

Wendy was on top of Frost. Beating the living hell out of the man. The two guards stood by silently. They didn’t move. Joy could understand their position. But she knew if someone didn’t stop Wendy soon, Frost could possibly be dead before the interrogation started. No matter how weak Wendy seemed, she was still an agent of SM. Joy snapped out of it and ran over to Wendy and grabbed her by the stomach and heaved her off of the albino. She was screaming and kicking and punching in the air. Joy dragged her out of the room.

Wendy somehow fought out of Joy’s hold and lunged back towards the open door. Joy grabbed her by the back of her shirt, yelled for the guards to close and lock the door, and spun Wendy around and pushed her against the wall.

“Let go of me! I’m going to kill that bastard! I’m going to ing kill him!”

Wendy’s eyes were crazed. Joy could tell she was seeing nothing. Hearing nothing. There was only one thing to do. She slapped her across the face.

“Get a hold of yourself, Son Wendy!”

Wendy immediately stopped struggling. Her shoulders rose and fell along with her heaving breaths. It was silent. Wendy’s hair covered her face and hid her expression away from Joy’s view. Joy almost apologized. Wendy lifted her head.

“Thanks. I needed that.”

Wendy’s eyes were clear. Any trace of anger was gone. As if it had never been there. Joy grinned and let go of her. Stepped back and nodded.

“Which part? The slap or beating the out of Frost?”

Wendy watched her quietly. Almost to the point that Joy wanted to look away. Then, she smiled and said, “Both. That was a good slap, by the way.”

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