“You bumbling fool!” The man lands with a loud thud, clutching his right cheek in pain.

“How is it that a bunch of thugs like you can’t even capture one – ONE – girl?!” The veins on his neck bulge at every single word, anger evident on his face. The men in question stood in shock as they saw their boss on the hardwood floor, scrambling to get up on his feet.

“I-It’s our fault, Sir! We underestimated the new captain put in charge of her.” One of the other guys stutters out.
 

“I know. I’ve seen everything.” He picks up the glass of brandy placed on top of the dark oak table behind him and takes a sip of the bitter liquid. “That one tiny, pesky captain was able to beat your dumb asses – you should be ashamed!”

A loud ringing interrupts the swing he was about to make towards the other guy and he immediately unclenched his fist and feels for his phone inside his coat pocket.

He quickly presses the answer button and listens intently.

“Yes… I understand.” He says after a whole minute of silence. He turns around, shaking his head in disbelief. “New plan! And perhaps this time, you won’t up as much.”

The rest of the group stands in attention, awaiting the new orders from their big boss.

“It’s plain and simple, and our man on the ground has everything laid out for all of you.” He finishes the contents of the glass he is holding.

“Capture the Minatozaki girl, and if anyone stands in your way,” he looks at the guy in front of him, a menacing smirk gracing his lips. “…kill them all.”

---

It was a quiet drive back from the Hirai residence for the four of them.

After the whole incident at the game, Dahyun found it was best to take the two girls somewhere safe. Sure, they were multi-million dollar heiresses that can afford the best security detail that money can buy and probably has their own fully reinforced safe house – but they weren’t her team.

And the captain felt it was best to keep the girls closer, along with the people she trusts the most if she was to put an end to this whole mess. 

Mrs. Minatozaki’s thank-yous and worries were never-ending during the call they made, after letting her know of what happened. It has only been a couple of days since the incident and every single one of them is on high alert.

It was decided that it is best that the mother and daughter be in separate locations, while the former continues to dig further into her own personal investigation of their businesses and assets – as much as she loves her late husband, she partly curses him for having his hand in so many things at once.

After a long conversation between the two, Dahyun had finally decided to head over to the Hirais.

She’d half-expected Momo’s parents to completely disagree when she told them about taking the two to a special safehouse, but was surprised when the family patriarch himself agreed wholeheartedly to the plan.

---

“She’s right, darling. I think our Momo would be safer with her.” Mr. Hirai says with a grim expression, his wife hugging Momo as if she was her lifeline.

“B-but-“ Mrs. Hirai begins, but Mr. Hirai just quietly reaches forward to envelop both women into a hug, resting his chin on top of Momo’s head. He murmurs ‘I love yous’ and ‘you take care’ to his daughter, her mother’s eyes watering from the thought of their little girl being in danger.

The captain looks on at the family saying their goodbyes to each other, before Mr. Hirai finally approaches her and heaves a sigh.

“You take care of my little girl, okay? I’ve already lost my best friend.” His eyes seem to tear up a bit. “I’m not letting the same thing happen to either of those two.” He says, motioning at Sana and Momo giving Mrs. Hirai one final hug.

Dahyun stands firmly, looking at Mr. Hirai with much determination.

“I will.”

--

The two girls were finally sound asleep at the back of the car, while Dahyun and Jeongyeon had sat up on the front, the latter insisting on taking the wheel due to the captain’s still on-going recovery from the explosion.

The two had been quiet; it has been an emotional day for them after all, and a hectic week at that. They’ve also been at the receiving end of Colonel Ok’s scolding over the phone when they had no choice but to report back to him after Sooyoung and Jinsol’s own commanding officer informed him of what had transpired at the Academy.

However, and with much convincing from the Captain’s part, the Colonel had allowed them to stay on the case. It did make sense that her team should be the one to continue it, given that the heiress could only ever trust Dahyun out of everyone they sent.

“It feels like forever since we’ve been here, huh?” Jeongyeon mutters, her eyes still trained on the road in front of her. The captain simply hums in agreement.

“Didn’t think I’d see the day the two twerps would argue like that.” Dahyun silently nods in agreement, not needing to ask who the older girl was even talking about. As of the moment, the two people in question are back at their shar ed apartment, and the captain can only hope that they haven’t killed each other.

Of course, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu have had their fair share of disagreements but it’s never reached as far as they have now.

The two youngest lieutenants have given each other the silent treatment ever since the incident at the game; a new record for them, and both finding absolutely anything else to do rather than speak to each other and fix things like they usually do.

Knowing Chaeyoung, she was never one to leave any issues with Tzuyu unresolved, and Tzuyu never liked wasting time over things they can easily communicate about either.

And so, Jeongyeon is definitely worried; Dahyun could tell. The captain is too, but it’s usually at a different level for the lieutenant.

After all, Jeongyeon was still the oldest and has taken pride in using her ‘unnie card’ whenever necessary and today was one of those days.

“I feel like you have something in mind.” Dahyun says, recognizing the look that the older girl is donning at the moment. “Well someone needs to deal with those two, and you’re certainly not in any shape to do anything but to focus on the mission at hand.”

The captain feels gratefulness swell in her chest. Frankly speaking, she was having quite a challenging time in recovering, at the same time thinking about this whole mess that they’re in. Any form of help is welcome, especially if it’s someone she trusts.

Which reminds her of the last thing Jihyo has said to her.

She knows things like that can happen; corruption is such a deep-rooted issue in anything that deals with power and money. But to think that anyone close to her would do such a thing – Dahyun couldn’t imagine.

“You’re staring.” Dahyun snaps out of her thoughts, not noticing that she was indeed staring at the older girl. “I know you’re worried about a lot of things at once, but just know that you don’t have to carry it all alone. Okay?”

She lets out a sigh, nodding quietly once more before turning her gaze to the two sleeping forms behind them. Dahyun stifles a giggle as she sees Momo with agape, her head lying comfortably on Sana’s left shoulder, and her limbs haphazardly strewn on her sides.

The captain’s eyes eventually land on the other girl; strands of her bright orange hair have covered half of her face, and Dahyun could feel the strong urge to reach forward and brush them away, but stops herself. 

The two had definitely gotten a lot closer over the course of time that they’ve spent together, despite the circumstances they are both put in. But in hindsight, had they met in a different way, Dahyun could never think of the possibility of the two of them having th