“Omo…”

 

Jeongyeon poked the girl’s cheek a few times, trying to find out if she’s still alive or not. The leader was rubbing her forehead in exasperation. Bringing back the schoolgirl was not in the plan.

 

“Momo, what is this?”

 

“What is what?”

 

“This!” She pointed at the passed out girl, her eyes wider than Thomas the train.

 

“A.. girl?” She dumbly scratched her head.

 

“I can see that, Momo!”

 

“Because you have Thomas’s eyes, right?” The others snickered among themselves, only to receive a glare from their leader.

 

“A lame joke as always, Jeongyeon.”

 

“But, Jihyo... she’s cute.” The bunny-teeth girl played with the red hair, admiring the nice color.

 

“She is..?” The leader took another look at the fainted girl, agreeing with Nayeon. “Omo! You’re right! You got good taste, Momo.”

 

“Hey, hey… can we keep her?” The tallest of them all put an arm around Jihyo’s shoulder.

 

“Yah, are you for real?” Nayeon glared at her, “I saw her first, mind you.”

 

She quickly turned to Jihyo with her big round eyes, both hands under her chin. “So can we, Leader-nim~?”

 

Jihyo blinked her eyes a few times with the request. She looked at her two subordinates and the peaceful-looking schoolgirl in contemplation when suddenly she felt hands separating the three of them.

 

“Yah, yah, yah! She’s a human!” Momo reprimanded the others as she stood crossed-arms in between her teammates and the still sleeping girl. “We’re not keeping her. That’s a crime.”

 

“Kidnapping is a crime too, Momo.” Jeongyeon mirrored the blonde’s stance, intimidating the agent with her height, not that Momo cared.

 

“She fainted. I can’t leave her like that.”

 

“Still a crime~” Nayeon sing-sang, gaining a glare from the latter.

 

“Alright, alright. We’re not keeping her, guys. Though it’s a pity…” JIhyo whispered the last part which didn’t go unnoticed from the others. Sensing eyes on her, she cleared . “So now what should we do with her, Momo?”

 

“Well, that…” The blonde scratched her head, “I actually don’t know? Hehee.”

 

Jeongyeon smacked her in the head while the others let out a sigh. She rubbed the sore spot, the other hand rubbing her growling stomach. “Sorry. I’m so hungry, I can’t really think straight.”

 

“AIgooo, our Moguri is hungry~” The eldest pat Momo’s head a couple of times, “It’s okay, Momo. We’ll think of what to do. In the meantime, who’s-”

 

“JEOKBALLLLLL!!!! Let’s go, Momo!” Jeongyeon screamed at the top of her lungs, already pulling Momo with her out of the room.

 

“These two…” Nayeon shook her head at the shikshins, picking up her things to follow them. “You’re not coming, Jihyo?”

 

“And what? Let the girl wake up and blow this place up? No way!”

 

“She’s not a savage, Leader-nim. You want anything?”

 

“Just a take-away will be fine.”

 

“Arasso, arasso.” Nayeon nodded her head, taking a step out of the door when she abruptly stopped.

 

“Wait. You’re not coming because you don’t want to use your money-”

 

BAM!

 

The door slammed shut in front of a shocked Nayeon with a snickering Jihyo behind it.

 

---------------

 

The leader is currently hunched on the work table, her eyes flickering from one monitor to the other with her fingers typing on the keyboard like they own it. The agent had not just brought back an innocent human of a school girl, she also salvaged another item from the scene; the target’s phone.

 

Nayeon just managed to cracked the password earlier. Now, she is left with a single message inside the phone.

 

To: Unknown Number

Red got Lip Balm.

 

It was a simple message, but the simplicity was what made Jihyo frustrated. Not to mention, the suitcase he carried was actually empty; they don’t know who took the content inside. This is the first time her team is assigned with a mission that involves retrieving information, and Jihyo didn’t like it at all. Usually a kill or rescue is given to them, and to agree with this one was actually a hassle for her because it means they’ll be working for the client in an interminable period.

 

“Ah, JYP-nim is such a headache.”

 

“Hello…?”

 

Jihyo whipped her head around, meeting eyes with the girl Momo kidnapped, or rescued, as she claimed.

 

“Oh, you’re already up?”

 

The leader silently reached for her gun on the table, holding it behind her in case the girl decided to do something… silly.

 

“Where… am I?” She asked in a whisper, her eyes of confusion and fear.

 

Jihyo let out a sigh; she’s a schoolgirl after all. There’s no need for her to put her guard up around the innocent girl. She slid the gun back on its holster, pulling a wheeled-chair in the process.

 

“Here, have a seat.”

 

Jihyo patted the empty chair beside her but the girl was only staring back, probably still wary of her.

 

“Oh, don’t worry. I don’t kill people like you.”

 

“W-What?”

 

Damn it. The leader mentally face-palmed for the slip of tongue. She quickly stood up, pushing the still baffled girl to sit and walked away to their small pantry room.

 

“Are you hungry? Thirsty? Want anything?”

 

“Just water..”

 

“Here.”

 

She took a sip to wet her dry lips, her eyes observing the place and the lady with the big, round pair of eyes in front of her. Everything was blurry; she couldn’t remember how exactly did she got here.

 

“How are you feeling?”

 

She shrugged, “Fuzzy?”

 

Jihyo let out a small laugh, “That is to be expected from someone who just fainted in the middle of an alleyway.”

 

“W-What? I did?!”

 

“Yeah, you did. Thankfully my friend saw you and brought you here. God knows what would happen to you in that dark place.”

 

It wasn’t entirely a lie, but Jihyo managed to came up with a believable story to keep them and the girl from harm’s way. They are undercover agents, after all.

 

“Thank you! I really can’t remember what happened, but thank you for taking care of me.” The girl thankfully bowed a few times.

 

“A-Ah! No need to..! Really, you don’t have to. It was my friend, she’s always like that, ahahaha!”

 

“Well, may I know where your friend is?”

 

“Oh, she went out to have a late dinner. But I think they should call it breakfast by now.”

 

“Is that so…” The girl nodded before her eyes widen, “Wait, how long have I been passed out?”

 

“The sun is about to rise, so I’d say… the whole night?”

 

“I need to go.”

 

“Huh?”

 

The girl quickly got up and pick up her things. Jihyo could merely followed her from behind, still unsure if the girl is in a good condition to go. She still need to ask a few more questions related to last night.

 

“Are you sure? You just got up and-”

 

“I’m really thankful for your hospitality. Could you please send my thanks to that friend of yours?”

 

“Ah, umm… S-Sure.”

 

“Well, then. I’m taking my leave. Thank you again.” The girl bowed, the leader responded with a nod.

 

“Yeah, I’ll see you-”

 

BAM!

 

And Jihyo actually understood the feeling of having the door slammed to your face.

 

--------------------

 

“Yah, Jihyo! Why didn’t you stop her from leaving?”

 

“Why should I?“ Jihyo slurped the jajangmyeon they bought for her, ignoring the killing stare of the bunny pouting on her squeaky chair. She poured water into a cup, handing it to the blonde sitting in front of her while sharing the noodles together.

 

“Didn’t you just ate, Momo?”

 

“That was jeokbal, not jajangmyeon.”

 

Jihyo nodded, not really care what it meant. Jeongyeon came into the room with some leftover food she salvaged from their rotting fridge, taking a seat in between the girls and reaching for a chopstick.

 

“I just got a call from our source.” The tall girl slurped a mouthful of the black noodles, “Guess what?”

 

“What?”

 

“The thing that we’re trying to steal? It’s a lip balm.”

 

“Eh?” The leader scrunched her forehead, the noodles hanging midair from . “Didn’t the client said something about a secret bio-weapon information? What’s a lip balm gotta do with that?”

 

“It’s inside the pen drive in disguise, a.k.a the Lip Balm.”

 

“For real? Ahhh… so that’s the Lip Balm in the message.”

 

“But who’s Red?”

 

“Is it Blackie?” Jihyo said, her eyes observing the two girls stealing her food uninvited.

 

“Jihyo-yah, are you color blind? Black and red are two different colours.”

 

“I know that!” The leader slapped the smirking Jeongyeon, “Maybe her name is Red or something.”

 

“It did seemed like she’s after the same thing as us.”

 

“No, it’s not her.” Momo cut in, still chewing food when the others looked at her demanding for answers. “Blackie was with me all the time, remember?”

 

“Except for the time she killed Mousey.”

 

“But Momo was with Mousey by then. She would have seen the masked attacker came in contact with him.”

 

They all kept silent, only the sound of slurping could be heard. They were deep in thoughts when Jihyo voiced out, “The school girl’s hair.”

 

“What of it?” Momo watched silently as the two interact, still eating the leftovers on the table.

 

“It’s red, right...?”

 

“Not really red. It was like a dark copper colour and it was really silky. It feels really good, too. Soft and smooth...” Jeongyeon rubbed her fingers as if reigniting the feeling of touching the girl’s hair.

 

“But that is still considered as red, right?”

 

“From a normal guy’s point of view, I suppose?” Jeongyeon shrugged, only to have the gear in her head working. Finally.

 

“The schoolgirl!”

 

They both exclaimed, getting a surprise choke from Momo and a slap in the forehead from Nayeon.

 

“That’s why I’m telling you we need to keep her! Aishh…”

 

“Oh, shut up, Nayeon.” The sniper rolled her eyes, “You only wanted to keep her cause you are the “alleged” playgirl.”

 

“It’s a playgirl’s hunch. And I’m not a playgirl, okay?”

 

“Pffft… and I’m called Girl Crush because I’m gay. Yeah, right.”

 

“So the only trouble we got now is to search for this red-haired girl.”

 

“That’s not gonna be a problem.” Jihyo grinned in a sly way as she reached for the remote control on the table. She pushed a button and the black screen monitor was suddenly filled with a town map and a blinking red spot moving slowly.

 

“You put a bug on her?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“That’s our Leader-nim!” Nayeon cheered, “But how long will that bug last?”

 

They all looked expectantly at Jihyo, fully knowing their current state-of-art devices and gadgets were all mostly rejected goods or prototypes. Not that they are complaining about it. Yet.

 

“Uhhh, actually I put it inside her drink.”

 

“You what?”

 

“She swallowed it? Is it clean, sterile even? Did you use gloves?”

 

“Does this bug has a cam?”

 

“A cam…? What for?”

 

“Her insides must have been well taken care of for her outer appearance to be as beautiful as that.”

 

Everyone nodded at Nayeon’s logic, only to received a smack by the leader.

 

“You ert! Of course that thing doesn’t have a cam!” Jihyo wanted to roll her eyes but prevent so because she would look like Thomas and others will take whatever opportunities they can get to make fun of her.

 

“The thing is, whatever we eat will go out one way or the other, right?”

 

“She’ll poop it out. We get it, Jihyo.”

 

“Thank you, Jeongyeon.” She glared at the taller girl, “Therefore, we only have for about three days before that happen or we’ll lose her forever.”

 

“You’re saying we need to get her in three days, is all. What happens next?”

 

“That’s another trouble.”

 

“Oooh, double the trouble.” Everyone gives the 'don't start' look to Jeongyeon the pokemon enthusiast.

 

“We’ll set up surveillance on her home and observe her daily routines. From there, we’ll sort out a plan on how to get the lip balm.”

 

“Sounds like a pretty cool idea.” Nayeon voiced out. “So who’s going after her now?”

 

“The one with stealth, of course.”

 

All eyes turned to Momo who’s on the last bit of sugar on her finger. “Yes?”

 

“You sure are busy this time, Moguri.”

 

-------------------------

 

“Help me…”

 

A girl was hunching down in between the rubbles of fallen stones and wood inside her room, her eyes teary with frequent coughing as she tried to protect herself from the unbearable heat with a single layer of a worn out blanket. She was locked inside her room but the smoke had filled in from the small slit under the door, her view blurred by the grey clouds.

 

“Mama… Where are you..”

 

A loud bang from the hallway made her startled. She could hear footsteps booming on the hallway, inching closely towards the room she’s hiding in. Her eyes widen as she sees shadow of a person from between the slit of the door.

 

“Grrrr…”

 

The door was banged a few times but the girl ignored them, screwing her eyes shut as she whimpered closely to the confine of her bedroom wall. She prayed silently for whatever it is out there to disappear and leave her alone.

 

But her prayers were never heard. The door soon was broke into pieces, a fuzzy silhouette of a huge shadow stood in front of her. She didn’t know what it was, but it was not human. The height was almost reaching to the ceiling, and the body was weird to some extent. The only sound coming from the creature was long hums of growls and loud breath, resembling a snarling dog.

 

The creature took a step closer, its fangs wide open. The girl was trembling in fear with small pants, the whiff of rotten meat filled the room as it suffocated her together with the thick smoke.

 

She shut her eyes when the huge thing raised its hand of long, sharp claws. Only to hear a shout of her name from outside.

 

“Minari!”

 

She snapped her head to the direction, meeting eyes with her savior of a fool.

 

“Don’t you dare hurt my friend, you monster!”

 

A loud thud filled the room as her friend swung a large wood over the creature’s head. She kept on giving more blows until the thing stopped moving.

 

“Minari! Are you alright?” She quickly came to her friend’s side, giving the latter a deep hug. “I’m sorry for not coming earlier.”

 

She shook her head, “At least I get to see your hair first.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“It’s the same color as that night’s moon. It looks nice..”

 

Her friend let out a small chuckle, “Really, Minari? You can even talk about my hair right now? Oy, did you hit your head somewhere?”

 

“I guess your idiocy seems to rubbed off on me.” She shrugged, still holding her friend tightly while admiring the bright hair.

 

“Come on, we need to go.”

 

“But, mama…”

 

“We’ll look for her together.”

 

She nodded, slowly getting on her feet. However, they didn’t realized the creature had woken up, snatching one of the girls just as they were about to leave the room.

 

“KYAAAH!!!”

 

“Minari! No!”

 

“Help me! Don’t leave me, please!”

 

“Mina!!!”

 

“Please…!”

 

“Min-..”

 

Huh? Where… am I?

 

“...ina…”

 

Urgh… my head hurts.

 

“Mina…?”

 

What’s that noise… That beeping sound…

 

“Mina?”

 

Is that..?

 

“MINA!”

 

“Dr. Kim..?”

 

“Oh, Mina! Thank God, you’re fine!”

 

Dumbfounded, Mina could only blinked her eyes. She looked to her left, seeing Dr. Kim’s face of worry and relief as tears filled his eyes. She scanned the room of white walls filled with loud beeping noise. After a few seconds then she came to realised she’s in the familiar treatment room.

 

“W-What happened?”

 

“You don’t remember anything?”

 

She was about to mention the realistic dream she just had, but refrained so since her mind was still in a jumble. Mina only shook her head, but regretted when she felt dizziness begin to hit her.

 

“You fainted outside your school this morning!”

 

“School…?”

 

“It’s okay, Mina. You just rest for now. I’ll take care of everything.”

 

“Alright.”

 

Mina heaved a deep sigh as Dr. Kim went out of the room. She could see from the window the argument between her father and his assistant. It’s probably related to her, as always. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember how she got there in the first place when a certain head of a person flashes in her mind.

 

“Yellow.”