Jackson lit up a cigarette and leaned against the bumper of one of the many vans stationed at the foot of the hill. Agents bustled around, giving out regular reports on the situation. The cops would certainly be called at some point and the mess would have to be dealt with promptly.

Bora had just entered the Tower’s staff lockers when Jackson had decided to step out of the van where Bambam was monitoring the security systems of the Tower. Being next to Nairin and witnessing her constant fidgeting in the cramped vehicle proved tiresome.

The sight of Bora pointing her gun to the poor maintenance boy remained imprinted in his brain. She was a natural. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t grown up around Division. Now that she had had a taste of the feeling of power that came with the manipulation of a lethal weapon, animal-like instincts took over. He knew what it felt like. It was like taking a shot of pure . A spirit of death seized your body and made you feel invincible, unstoppable. 

Jackson puffed out a cloud of smoke. He could feel the excitement of the few agents of Division who had joined them. Even though they were there on a mission, Jackson could feel how their eyes all strayed to the top of the Tower, hoping to get a glimpse of the two contestants. He noticed how they stepped just a little closer to the doors of Bambam’s little base of operations to try to get a grasp of what was going on inside the Tower.

A deep rumble erupted and Jackson’s eyes shot up to the Tower. Columns of smoke curled and escaped from the highest observation deck. He discarded the cigarette and pushed himself off the hood of the car as he tried to get an understanding of what was happening. A silhouette the size of an ant set itself apart from the clouds of gray.

The sound of a banging door and Jackson was joined by a frenzied Nairin. Eyes wide, she took in the chaos and spoke in an earpiece.

“He blew up the observation deck and is climbing to the roof.”

So, that was not the Golden Girl up there. 

Jackson let out a small laugh.

That was a big mess worthy of Mark.

“It’s not over yet,” Nairin hissed at him.

He shrugged but didn’t reply.

Bora was still nowhere to be seen and the longer the timespan that separated them got, the thinner her chances of winning became.

“Ha! There she is!” Nairin exclaimed after a few seconds and pointed to the tower. 

On the skydeck, another figure could be seen running to the base of the pole leading to the antenna.

Bora.

Jackson’s heartbeat picked up despite himself. They were both so close. Mark was before her by a hair’s breadth. The odds could tip in any of them’s favor in the blink of an eye.

Their ascension was slow and made harder by the blazing midday sun. They had probably scaled a third of the way when they both halted. 

“Why did they stop?” Nairin cried out and activated her mic. “Why did you stop?”

Jackson snatched a pair of binoculars from the hands of one agent. He directed the lens to the Tower. Bora had stopped. She looked up to the flag then down to the platform below her. 

He knitted his brow in confusion as she began rappelling back down to the base of the pole. She set foot on the platform and undid her harness. A look back up, Mark was still making his way up steadily.  

What the hell is she doing?

Bora raced to the edge of the platform, at the exact spot below which Mark had created a gaping hole in the glass panels of the observation decks. 

Now, Jackson saw it. 

Solar was dangling in the wind, her arms barely hanging onto the platform.

Except, one thing.

A rope was tied around her right leg and slithered below and inside the observation deck. A safety net.

Jackson let his hand fall. He didn’t even want to see the rest.

This was a test of loyalty. Loyalty to Division.

Mark had gotten to the top of the antenna and his escape route was all thought-out. 

Police was already there. Crinkling sounds came from speakers as police officers ordered Bora and Mark to surrender. 

Jackson ripped the earpiece off Nairin’s ear and secured it in place. 

“Game over, Princess. Police’s here. Let them take you in. We’ll have you out before they can get you into the precinct.”

No response.

“Do you copy?”

Again, nothing.

He brought the binoculars back to his eyes again and searched for Bora. 

She was on the platform… until she wasn’t.

She ran… and jumped.

The pair of binoculars Jackson was holding slipped right out of his hand. Nairin let out a throat-ripping scream.

For a few seconds, Bora’s body seemed suspended in the air. Time resumed and she landed on the ladder hanging from the chopper, like a fly getting caught in a cobweb. 

Jackson locked his fingers behind his head, closed his eyes and let out a long breath. 

Nairin was panting on her knees, a hand over her chest. “I’m gonna throw up.”

The taste of fear lingered in Jackson’s mouth as he looked at the retreating chopper carrying Mark and Bora hanging on the ladder. 

He turned to his sister who was heaving loudly. He crouched down next to her and put a hand to her shoulder. He held her cheeks in the palm of his hands.

“You okay, Rin?” 

She looked at him and nodded reassuringly, her face more pale than the usual.  “I thought she was going to…”

“I know. Me too.”

A second too late and Bora would have plummeted and crashed three hundred meters down.

That girl had officially lost her mind.

Jackson called over two agents. 

“Find out where they’re heading. And get someone to handle the mess with the SCPD.”

***

Bora was holding on for her life. Literally. Jumping off the Tower was one thing. Managing to hold on was another thing entirely. The wind slapped her across the face, ruffled her hair so strongly that the elastic band that tied it all together flew away.

The more she focused on her fingers wrapped tightly around the rungs, the more a twisted part of her brain wanted to try to uncurl her fingers. Trying to scale the ladder was absolutely out of question. If she moved, she didn’t trust herself not to let go. She locked her body in a mad embrace against the ladder.

The chopper was flying at a low altitude, almost grazing the skyscrapers of Seoul. 

“Golden girl!”

Bora dared a glance upward. Solar was on her knees, peering down at her from the opening. A knife in one hand, she was actively working on severing the ropes holding the ladder tied to the machine. 

One side broke, and Bora’s body fell by a few inches, making her heart do somersaults. 

Bora clenched her teeth and held on tighter. 

Solar looked at her with a smile. She winked, “See you in hell!”

Her silver blade shimmered as it caught the sun and went for the second rope. 

Call it vanity but if Bora had to die it would certainly not be from Solar’s hand. Bora dared a glance downward. There was a building incoming, gravel littered its rooftop and there was no guarantee that when Solar finished cutting the rope she’d land on a higher surface. 

It was now or never. 

Bora let go.

For a few seconds, she was free-falling, then she hit the floor, hard. Her body hit the gravel feet first then tumbled over until it hit a concrete column on the roof. 

Her breath got knocked out of her. She found herself unable to move her limbs. An invisible force was keeping her pinned to the ground. When she tried to move, unbearable pain tore through her side and her head spun. 

The sound of the chopper was reduced to a faint, far-off noise until tt was only her and the pain.

When she opened her eyes again, she couldn’t tell how much time had passed. Her vision was blurred and, against it, a shadow stuck out. It seemed familiar. With glazed eyes she tried to focus on the figure.

It couldn’t be. 

“Mom?”

She extended a hand, trying to reach out, to grab her… She seemed so close.

“Mom.”

She was right there. She could reach her, but her body wasn’t cooperating. She was going to lose her again.

“Mom, mom…”

She couldn’t gather the strength to move her body, she felt weak. Tears escaped the corner of her eyes and she could only watch as the shadow faded away.

The feeling of helplessness reared its head, and despair seeped in.

“Mom, don’t go. Mom.”

Footsteps closed in on her, sending the gravel rolling away.

Bora’s heartbeat picked up. She was coming back!

“Mom.”

A pair of heavy boots appeared in her field of vision. “Not quite, Princess.”

A citrus scent wafted in the air before Jackson crouched down next to her. She forced her eyes to focus on his face.

“W—Wang…. it’s you.”

She bunched up his shirt in a fist as she tried to get her upper body upright. She grunted and willed power into her legs. An arm slid behind her back, helping her up. She hissed as pain spurred in her waist where she’d hit the column. She leaned into him with the little strength she had.

“That was a serious leap of faith,” he murmured in her ear. 

She turned her head to his and forced herself to focus on his features. She was surprised to find something akin to worry etched all over them. 

She let out a laugh, a little out of breath. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more happy to see you.”

It meant she’d survived. She had survived the most crazy to have ever happened to her. 

An amused, relieved glimmer danced in Jackson’s eyes. “Me neither.”

Her smile froze on her lips and she knitted her brows together. “To what do I owe this honor?”

For a moment, he didn’t speak, his eyes merely scanning her face in search of something. 

“You made it out alive.” He finally breathed out. 

Bang. A door slammed open. Bora mechanically pushed Jackson away. She hadn’t realized how close they’d gotten until then. 

Her eyes snapped to the source of the noise. Nairin stood at the door frame, her eyes frantically searching for something. When they found Bora and Jackson, she sprinted in their direction.

“Bora! Oh my God!”

She launched herself at Bora and she hissed as the pain in her side surged again. 

Jackson pulled his sister back. “Easy, Rin!”

“Sorry!” She bit her lip and frowned worriedly. “But you’re fine, right?”

Bora nodded weakly and they set off.

To avoid cameras they were forced to use the emergency stairwell down the forty floors of the building. Bora managed to limp down the first flight of stairs before Jackson swiped her off her feet and descended the rest. She didn’t complain. She knew she could never have made it down without passing out. 

He slid her in the backseat of a van they had parked near the back entrance of the building. Woobin was waiting there. She gave him a few words of reassurement before leaning her head against his shoulder, fatigue setting in her system. 

Nairin sat front with her brother. She didn’t even blabber on and on about Bora’s failure on their way back to Busan. It somewhat made it worse.

“Come on, Nairin, you’re really not gonna say anything?”

Her voice was weak. Jackson’s eyes scanned her face in the rearview mirror before focusing back on the road ahead. 

Nairin craned her neck to look at Bora. “What should I say? This was the most badass I’ve ever seen, you crazy !” 

Bora glanced at her like she’d grown two heads. “Nairin. I lost.”

Nairin pouted her lips, and seemed to ponder over Bora’s words. Then, she shook her head. “No, you didn’t!” She exclaimed, and there was an almost angry edge to her voice.  “There are two Trials left. Plus,” she waved her phone between two fingers, “Wendy just texted me. Your jump from the Tower was aired on the news, everyone at the Cliff saw what you did. Believe me when I tell you there are worse ways to be defeated.”

Bora gaped at her words. She doubted anything could scrape at her optimism. She crossed Jackson’s eyes in the rearview mirror. Bora could tell he was suppressing a smile. She bit down on her lip to refrain a smile of her own.

When they arrived at the Cliff, she was taken straight to the infirmary. The pain in her side had dulled to a light throbbing but Woobin insisted she did a check-up. 

Mrs. Wang welcomed her, concern written all over her face. Needless to say she was well aware of what had gone down in Seoul. 

She forced her down on a medical bed and fussed all over her. She swiped the curtains all around her bed, closing them off from the others. 

“If your mother was here—” she grumbled under her breath then stopped herself. 

She shook her head then proceeded to disinfect and bandage her waist. 

Bora’s just stared vacantly over the woman’s shoulders. 

She had monumentally failed the first Trial. She hadn’t shown undefictible loyalty to Division because she couldn’t wrap her head around it. She didn’t have what it took. Jackson had been right.

Just like she hadn’t been able to pull the trigger, she hadn’t been able to choose victory over another person’s life. The sacrifices that would be required for her to take the leadership of Division were beyond what she could fathom. 

She’d have to trade her soul.

Was it all worth it? 

Just as she was putting her shirt back on, the curtains pulled open with a metallic sound. Solar in all her glory, stood there, an eternal smirk etched on her features. 

Bora smoothed her expression into boredom, as she put her t-shirt back on, suppressing the sizzling anger that threatened to spill out of her.

Solar crossed her arms over her chest and examined Bora inquisitively. 

“You didn’t fare too bad.” she exclaimed.

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