Darkness.

That’s the only thing her eyes could see inside that rotten cell. She was tied by the hands to the wall, surrounded by more steel bars than she could count, but with a smile on her face nonetheless.

She had helped Sohye escape and now she was paying the price for doing so. It’s been probably almost a day since they locked her up inside this cage. They had fed her once but she doesn’t exactly know how many hours went by since she had that meal.

Chungha’s belly grumbled as if a begging for another meal, anything that could satisfy it and ease the pain in the pit of her stomach. Although that was the least of her problems, she didn’t know what Yeonjung would do to her or how much time she’d keep her locked up.

A heavy metal door opened sluggishly as if answering Chungha’s thoughts. The incoming light blinded her completely and she tried to move her hand, futilely since she was chained up to the wall, to cover her eyes.

She was blinking madly, trying to adjust her eyes to the glaring light, when the sounds of footsteps reached her ears followed by the unpleasant scraping sound that her cell door produced when opened.

“I seriously don’t know what to think about you right now…”- It was low modulated voice that she recognized really well by now- “Are you with me or against me?”

Her words might be those of a confused individual, but her voice lacked any identifiable emotion at all.

“I wasn’t about to let you kill her just because…”- She mustered some strength to answer, which seemed to amuse Yeonjung.

Once her eyes adapted and the light did not hurt her anymore was when she saw who accompanied Yeonjung. Minkyeong was there, acting as a bodyguard, standing at Yeonjung’s side with her arms crossed over her chest.

“Kill her? Oh my”- Yeonjung lets out a chuckle before continuing – “I’m not going to kill her, she is a piece way too important to be killed, the queen of this chessboard so to speak”

“You must really like chess huh?”- Her carelessness earned her a fist to the gut by an angry looking Minkyeong.

“Utter another insolent answer and I’ll…”

“Relax Minkyeong”-Yeonjung chimed in before Minkyeong could finish- “And yes, to answer your question, I certainly do… and be glad I do, because you wouldn’t be standing here, alive, if I didn’t value my pieces”

Both Yeonjung and Minkyeong looked at Chungha, one expecting and answer and the other one probably expecting her to say something stupid so she could punch her again. She did neither of those things.

“I’m willing to offer you a second chance…you’ll be moving tomorrow and you’ll get to chase after Nayoung just like you wanted”- Chungha couldn’t help but look up to Yeonjung at the mention of her friend’s name – “But beware, betray me again and I’ll make sure you regret it for the rest of your short life”

Chungha nodded weakly, earning a smirk from Yeonjung.

“Then I guess we are done here, I’ll be taking my leave since I have to attend more pressing matters”- Yeonjung turned around after she bid her goodbyes, marching towards the door while the sound of her high heels was the only thing filling the room. They died slowly as she got farther and farther away from them, until Chungha couldn’t hear them anymore.

She tried to look at Minkyeong but averted her eyes once she saw the brown-haired girl glaring daggers at her. She didn’t’ say anything as she waited for her to leave, but Minkyeong never moved from her spot.

Instead, she started closing the short distance between them and Chungha could already feel another punch coming her way. She winced when Minkyeong raised her hand, anticipating the pain that never came. Instead, a “click” sound was amplified by the echo of the closed space as her right hand fell, freely, to her side.

The other one followed soon after and then she almost collapsed under her own weight. Fortunately for her, Minkyeong was fast enough to support Chungha using her own shoulder while she finished uncuffing her legs, before depositing her against the wall of the cell.

“Once you are able to move go outside, Kyla will be waiting to take you to your room”- Minkyeong didn’t sound angry at her anymore, or at least that’s the impression Chungha got from her voice.

Her behavior caught Chungha by surprise, she didn’t expect Minkyeong to be this caring towards her. She nodded, muttering a “thank you” that was barely audible but seemed to reach Minkyeong’s ears, who just grunted in response before getting out of the place swiftly and without looking back.

 It took her at least five minutes to be able to stand, and even then she couldn’t walk all the way without stopping for rest. Once she finally got out she met a worried looking Kyla, who rushed to her while waving her arms.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come get you!”- She bowed down, looking apologetic –“They wouldn’t let me… so I had to wait for you to come out”

“Its fine… just take me to my room… I could really use a meal and a few hours of sleep”- she muttered while trying to calm her labored breathing.

Kyla offered her shoulder to Chungha for support and she accepted gladly since, despite being several years younger than her, Kyla was taller. They both walked together to Chungha’s room and Kyla left her there to rest as she went to get her something to eat.

It didn’t take much time for her to come back with a tray of food but, by the time she did, Chungha was already peacefully sleeping, having not even bothered to undress before fatigue overcame her.

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Darkness.

That’s all Chungha sees when she wakes up, she fears for a moment, thinking that she might be back inside that cell and that everything was just a dream but the soft, silky feeling of the bed covers brings her back to reality before she has the time to panic.

She reaches for the nightstand, turning on the lamp while almost knocking over a tray of food that was resting on it. The sight of meat and a diverse quantity of appetizers call to her primal instincts as she feels her stomach growl once the smell of it reaches her nostrils.

She grabs the tray and puts in over her covered knees, wolfing down the food as fast as her hands would let her. It doesn’t take long for her to feel satisfied after having devoured the entire contents of the tray. That’s when she looks at the digital clock.

11:03 p.m.

She doesn’t exactly know when she fell asleep. She thinks about hitting the bed again but the though leaves her mind quickly. She is wide awake and being alone on a dimly-lit room is not something she’d call entertaining.

Then she remembered, there was a bar in the facilities, the same one she planned on going before she found Sohye and Mina plotting to escape the place.

She got up from the bed and grabbed her coat before going out of her room, she was in the mood for a couple of drinks.

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The place wasn’t that big, nor it was that impressive, but she wasn’t picky. It had a certain rustic charm to it, the bar and stools were all made of polished wood, while the entire place was lit by wood carved lamps of different shapes and sizes. It kind of felt like home to her.

There were many people there, although it wasn’t crowded, but there wasn’t much noise, bar the sound of chatter coming from the different tables. She marched to a stool and took a seat, waiting for the bartender to arrive.

“Didn’t expect to see you here of all places, although you did strike me as someone who knows how to drink”- a voice came from the stool on her right, making her turn her head to look at the source of it.

“Are you even allowed to drink?”- She was surprised to see Yebin, of all people, there.

“Yes I am, it’s just that I don’t do it often”- she let out a chuckle –“Sorry about the beatdown from yesterday, no hard feelings?

“None at all”

They remained in silence for a moment until the bartender came.

“What will you have ma’am?”

“A black-blood will do”

“Immediately”

“What did you ask for?”- A curious Yebin asked as she peered over Chungha’s shoulder, trying to look at what the bartender was mixing.

“A cocktail, made out of Jägermeister and a couple of other things”- Chungha lazily explained as she continued to admire the tapestry on the walls.

“I’m just going to pretend I understood what you said”- Yebin said, making Chungha laugh a little at the unexpected reply.

They were interrupted yet again when the bartender brought Chungha her drink, she quickly thanked their host and raised the glass with her left hand, using the other to tap Yebin’s shoulder.

“A toasts, to our success”

“Sure, why not?”

Their glasses touch each other producing a soft “clink” and Chungha proceeded to down her entire cocktail glass in one gulp. She could feel the liquid burning her entire throat as it went down, warming the pit of her stomach.

“Uff… this is really good, another one please?”- She signaled the bartender who answered back with a nod and filled her cup again entirely within seconds.

The silence returned for a couple of minutes, with Chungha drinking and asking for more every thirty seconds or so. It wasn’t until Yebin talked to her again that she broke the cycle.

“What do you think the value of a life is?”- The question itself was way too philosophic to ask in such a place, but Chungha paid no mind to that.

“I don’t know, I used to think that every life had the same value, but now I’m not too sure…”

“I wish I could think like that”- Yebin was currently looking at nowhere in particular, her gaze seemed lost -“I think you are the only one who can give value to those lives”

“Why exactly?”- Chungha asked as she raised her hand, the bartender appeared immediately next to her to fill her cup again and then rushed somewhere else.

“The value of the life of my friends and family are not remotely the same of those I’ve killed along my years of training”- Chungha gave that phrase some thought, or at least as much thought as a tipsy person could muster -“I’m the one who decides if those lives have value”

“You sound like an executioner driven mad by power”- it wasn’t exactly scary coming from Yebin, but Chungha knew the girl had probably seen her fair share of blood.

“Maybe I am, I don’t know that myself”- Yebin looked at her empty glass -“She is not a bad girl, you know? She’s just as lost in this world as we are”

“Who?”

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