“If nothing changed, this should be exactly how it looks,” Daein announced as he pulled off his glasses and leaned back in his seat, signalling that his work was done. They were currently back at the penthouse to draft out a suitable escape plan for Eunha. While Daein was drawing out the detailed blueprint of the house by hand, Sojung had dispatched Yewon and Eunbi to head down to Geumcheon.

“That’s… not as big as I thought it was.” Yuna commented thoughtfully as she looked at the drawing from behind Daein.

“The actual house will surprise you.” He said as the girls sat around the mahogany table to get a closer look at the rough layout.

There were 3 levels to the mansion. In the basement sat the parking area, the security and electrical room and a shooting range. The main entrance on the ground floor was huge with the spiral stairs gently curving around what was probably an accent table. 4 huge rooms flanked the sides of the mansion on the first floor – the main office, a bar area, a display room filled with artefacts and a common area with a fireplace. The bedrooms were located on the second floor with a long veranda on each side of the building as well as a balcony overlooking the front entrance below.

“Is this all?” Sojung asked.

“Yep. The mansion itself has been around for a long time. It’s quite a sight because of the architecture that looks more Victorian than Korean. The main hall has a high ceiling that stretches up to the second floor so it’s kind of like a huge open area in the middle.” Daein explained.

“Are there security cameras around the house?” Yerin asked to which the man furrowed his eyebrows.

“Unfortunately, yes. They’re not in bedrooms though.” He clarified and the girls instantly looked more relieved.

“That’s still creepy.”

“Yeah… They just want to make sure that their old guns on display are safe as well as those old urns. Not ash urns, just to be clear. Normal urns.” He said when he noticed the tension in their gaze.

“I swear that whole place is like some nightmare mansion rather than a home,” Yuna sighed.

“It truly is. But about the cameras,  once the guard in the room is down, you have one less thing to worry about. The panic button is also in the room. If you press that button, metal shutters will barricade every window and gates will barricade every doorway. It’ll essentially be a full lockdown. There’s a way to bypass the system but there’s a ton of firewalls to breach.” He said and looked at Sojung who smiled.

“For a house that’s centuries old, they sure have pretty advanced security.” Yerin scratched her head. “How about guards?”

“Regular guards are only out around the perimeter. Their personal bodyguards are the only ones that are allowed in the house. That’s how secretive they are.”

“We’ll make a trip there at dusk to scout the place and set up surveillance,” Sojung said and the girls nodded. Yewon caught Yerin’s gaze and the latter gave her a knowing smile to which Yewon returned. Their leader was back.

Eunha pulled her glasses off and dropped them on the desk as she leaned back in her chair. She had been sorting out paperwork for the past couple hours and her eyes were starting to glaze over. She stretched her neck and a heard a satisfying pop from her tense joints. Finance was never her favourite but here she was pouring over the financial and inventory records of the company trying to make sure they tally.

“Hey,” Sally said as she entered the study with a mug. She settled it down in an empty spot on the desk that wasn’t covered by the mess of papers and stood behind Eunha, resting her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “Take a break, you’ve been at it all morning.”

“There’s not much left, I should just finish it so I can rest in peace.” Eunha sighed and closed her eyes as she felt the older girl’s hand squeeze her shoulders, rubbing the tension and knots out of her muscles.

“I hope you don’t mean it in a way that you’re going to die after finishing this.” Sally mused and Eunha scoffed lightly under her breath.

“Fortunately or unfortunately not. I can’t rest in peace if I died now.” She said and Sally pressed her lips together.

“Do you have a plan?”

“To kill myself?” Eunha raised an eyebrow without opening her eyes. She felt Sally’s grip on her shoulder tighten and she chuckled. “If you mean getting out of here then no, I don’t.”

“Why not?” Sally asked, genuine curiosity evident in her voice.

“To protect my friends,” Eunha said as if it was the simplest and most obvious thing in the world. It was then that Sally fully grasped how much these friends me