Contains swear words  

I stared at the ceiling, my palm gently resting against my forehead as a few sun rays crept through the blinds. My eyes felt itchy, most likely appearing red from the lack of sleep. My bruised and injured arm throbbed in pain, yet I felt a completely different pain. My head was overloaded with thoughts, massive migraine forming. We got ambushed and I barely got myself and Jimin out of alive, if it was not for the combat team. I would have been buried for real this time. 

Yet it made no sense, just how did the rebels know we were coming? My mind only came up with the conclusion that Commander Heinous purposely send us into a death trap, yet why would he want to get rid of his ‘A team’? Jungkook’s words from last night of it not being only ‘Black and white’ crossed my thoughts. This surely was a lot more complicated than I anticipated, and it shamed me to admit it. 

I groaned softly as I tried to sit my tense body up. My whole body felt hot, it was so uncomfortable for me to move. I was most likely coming down with a cold, but I tried again, my throat felt very dry as I try to sit again, this time succeeding through pain and discomfort. I quickly grabbed the glass of water resting on my nightstand and downed it whole. The room appeared spinning, my eyes shutting close when the feeling of nausea crept up. 

I rested my back against the bed’s frame, using my fingers to try and ease my migraine with a gentle massage. This . I hated feeling like this, not only was my mind a mess now my body was too. Enmity is going to be satisfied to see that I indeed managed to catch a cold by not listening to him. 

It was so still and silent, my mind slowly beginning to drift off to much-needed rest. My eyes snapped open when I heard some ringing coming through the communication system. My fingers quickly fiddled with the virtual control system before managing to answer the call without much look.

 
“Speak.” I hissed out, my voice sounding scratchy and low, no doubt the damage from being choked coming into play. 

“Proxy Ire you have been ordered to present yourself at the trial room by noon today.” A female voice came over the system, my eyes snapping to the virtual hologram of a short female sporting a violet pixie haircut. Her white lab coat was neatly placed over her shoulders as her green eyes stared straight at me. I felt a snort sounding from my lips due to her words. Her eyebrows frowning in confusion. 

“Can’t they let me rest for one freaking day? It’s constant questioning and trials.” I susurrated in slight anger, the room appearing to spin again, only causing the nauseous feeling to come back in full swing.

 
“My deepest apologies Proxy Ire but you have been ordered by my senior. Please arrive promptly -” Her call got cut off short by me. I placed my head into my palms, whining under my breath about it all being one huge mess. So my so-called protection team has already sent me for a trial? So much for trusting me. 

X

“You look like .” Proxy Enmity commented as soon as he spotted my figure. My eyes fell onto him that looked just as terrible as I did. (Maybe a little better.) Instead of the image that I saw last night, a better put-together senior proxy stood in front of me. Enmities' dark hair was styled in his usual preferred way, his surprisingly white shirt fitting his figure well as his leather jacket rested on his shoulders. He looked attractive, apart from those still apparent dark circles under his eyes. 

“Says the one who looks as if he was one foot in his grave,” I answered back, tugging my causal sweats hood over my tied-up hair. A denim jacket was thrown hastily over my grey hoodie. I was cold, miserable, and about to be questioned by some annoying people. I was so close to hitting the next person who appeared to stop me.

I had the plan to appear in the courtroom by wearing only my nightgown but decided at the last minute to maybe try and dress a little bit up (only because I was cold). 
I saw Enmities eyes examine my outfit, a small smirk plastering on his lips as he stopped at my black ankle strap high heels. I wanted to bite back at him about the need to appear at least somewhat fashionable but the reality of it sounding stupid acted in my mind quicker than my tongue worked. I just felt terrible and those high heels would most likely be used to stab an annoying protector. 

“You seem overdressed for the occasion?” Enmity questioned in a light tone, only earning a glare from me as I walked past him, not without bumping my shoulder against his harshly, which only caused me to wobble slightly. I felt hot and sticky, the bed seemed such a better option now. 

“You used to dress up like this for our date nights too so – ” Enmity carried on, seeing the effect he had on me. 

“Shut up Min Yoongi, I tried to look decent for our date nights. How dare you say that?” I jeered at him, his feet stepping into my line of rhythm as we walked past the corridors. Few individuals quickly stepped out of our site as soon as we neared them, my annoyed mood was causing fear. I had to stop myself from approaching a small group of rookie proxies who were loudly whispering about the surprising sight of my fashion choice and Enmity as my arm accessory. The corner of Enmities eyes flashed at the group who quickly disputed with the sudden attention that they have caused to themselves. 

“Can’t tell Jinmi – ”

“I’m going to punch you in your face after I will make sure that you see stars and your future of being childless.” I angrily barked out, Enmity chortling at my words without any fear. We should not feel so comfortable with each other, but it was like we were back in the past. Coming back from some stupid mission where we both managed to kick and annoy each other. We used to often get in trouble with our rash decisions. His reaction only caused me to get even angrier, so I stopped suddenly in my track and pulled him by his shirt’s collar. His face twisted into a self-assured grin, my grip only tightening as our nose tips were almost brushing. 

“Don’t test me Min Yoongi.” I hissed, Enmity simply snaking his hands over my wrists before tugging me away from him. His smirk vanished in an instant as slight anger swept his facial expression. 

“Don’t test me Kim Jinmi.” He fired back, the sudden atmosphere shifting into coldness. My head pounding with pain as my blocked nose and dry throat were making it difficult for me. At that very moment, I wanted to wrap myself with blankets and hide away from everything. Enmity’s anger vanished when he seemed to have picked up on my condition. There was no worry, nor satisfaction in his expression. But there was something that I could not intercept. 

“Excuse me Captain Enmity and Ire, We’re waiting for you at the trial.” My thoughts got interrupted by a timed young boy, wearing the usual trial attire of suit covered in geometric shapes, virtual oracle glasses resting on the bridge of his nose as he was transmitting the visual signals to the trial room. 

I scoffed at him and my mysterious audience before walking straight towards the glass double doors. I prayed not to get stuck with some trainee rookies and protectors on my side. 

X

“Thank you, prosecutor, does anyone from the defence side have anything to say?” Proxy Heinous two asked, my eyeballs rolling in their sockets for the seventh time that day. I was so close to losing it all. I glanced at my defence side that considered two trainee rookies that I have never seen in my whole life, and one protector named Ichiro (who again I have never seen in my life). It was hysterical to see that those three individuals were supposed to be on my side, defending me after the accusations of teaming up with the rebels to try and eliminate D-93, Alpha Arcadia, and most importantly Proxy Siren, who has refused to make a statement due to being in an unfit condition. 

“Defence admits that the accusations are correct,” Ichiro said, his eyes only briefly scanning through the virtual information that our team was provided. Laughter sounded from my lips after I could no longer hold it in. There was no reason to even have anyone on my side because those three idiots did absolutely nothing during the trial, Ichiro only said three sentences in two hours. Each one agrees with the other side. The two trainee rookies were too busy either gawking at me or gawking at the alpha arcadia team who were sitting in the audience stands. 

“Excuse me Proxy Ire, do you think this situation is funny?” Proxy Heinous asked, her sharp nails tapping against the wooden tabletop. 

“Yes Lilith, I think this situation is a comedy like, please tell me that you have another stupid rookie throw another accusation of seeing me talking with a rebel,” I stated casually, sitting myself down onto the tabletop where my defence team was sitting at. I had enough of standing and hearing fairy tales. It was obvious they wanted to convict me, but it would have been more believable if they arrested me on the spot straight away, instead, we spent two hours of wild rumours, cheating accusations (yes apparently I slept with a rebel’s brother thus it becoming a big factor of why I wanted to destroy D-93. I snorted as soon as somebody said that but continued to listen). 

“You are in a dangerous situation, we have enough evidence to arrest you and put you in jail.” Proxy Heinous intercepted, her frame leaning over so she could look at me better. 

“Sweetheart, I heard about enough. I’m surprised that nobody said an accusation that I had a child with a rebel while I was gone for a year. Lilith, you disappointed me.” I said, smiling when I noticed Lilith’s eyes flashing at me dangerously. My defence team whispered to each other about how much trouble they will be in if they did not stop me. 

“You wanted a defence statement right? Well here is one for you; I saved all your assess when your father and Proxy Lore decided to fly out of D-93, leaving C21 defenceless in face of the rebels. Now tell me why would I have even bothered to save you all if I wanted you all dead?” I stated, the room turning quiet with the mention of my achievement. There was no surprise to see confused and blank faces from the other proxies who had no idea who was behind the closed doors of the communication centre during the attack. 

“It was all part of your plan!” Proxy Heinous two shouted, completely losing her cool with the sudden shift in the air. Her words caused more murmurs coming from the spectators. 

“Was it? I certainly did not plan for your useless self to come and beg me to help you all.”

“How dare you? Guards take her away!”

“Oh don’t make me laugh Lilith, why haven’t you shown the virtual footage that Mark has managed to retrieve during mine and Proxy Siren’s secret mission? Is it because you do not want everyone to see that the rebels knew of your father giving us the mission and setting us up?” I hummed in delight, simply holding my wrists up for handcuffs. The room turned into absolute chaos after my revelation, the prosecutor team pointing fingers at my defence team. The audience talking over each other, more shouting before protectors were kicking into action, trying to control the audience. My eyes zoomed onto Enmity who had his arms crossed over his chest, a mischievous smirk present on his lips. He was enjoying the commotion.

“Enough, Proxy Heinous two this is unnecessary. Proxy Ire is innocent and it has been proven.”  Proxy Lore interrupted, getting himself between the prosecutor and the defence team arguing over each other. My high heels clicked in satisfaction as I marched over to the raised Bench where Proxy Heinous was sitting at. I took the gavel away from her fingers before swinging it down to get everyone’s attention. Eyes turned towards my direction as I discarded the gavel, feeling heavy murderous glare coming from Proxy Heinous, after all, she failed to get me arrested while her father was out of the town. What a failure. I chuckled in a humourous manner before leaving the trial room, without any handcuffs and a happy smile. 

They were all bunch of idiots. 

X

“You’re insane.” Mark commended me as soon as he entered my room. I sighed under my breath, a warm blanket resting nicely over my frame as I snuggled closer to the warmth. I hissed out a tired ‘Get out’ directed at him, however, Mark only seemed to have made himself comfortable onto the end of my bed. 

“You’re already on Commander Heinous blacklist, did you have to embarrass his daughter like that?” I hummed an incoherent swear word at him, throwing my duvet over my face. Before kicking Mark off my bed when I felt him tugging onto my duvet. I hear a loud hiss coming from him after he tumbled out of my bed. 

“It’s not my problem she decided to play judge and get everyone there to see what a failure she was? I mean did she think she will just suction me, without any legitimate proof? I fear anyone who is under her leadership.” I tiredly mumbled, snuggling my right side of the face against my pillow, my eyelids feeling heavy. I felt so groggy, the duvet and blankets doing barely anything to keep me warm. Yet I was sweating so badly under my clothes. I whined childishly when Mark pulled my duvet off my head.

“You’re going to get yourself killed if you continue to play such dangerous games. You should be getting on Commander Heinous's good side, otherwise, he will kill you himself.” 

“Mark, I could slave myself away for Commander Heinous and he would still want me dead, yet no matter what, he would never get his hands dirty. It would be improper.” 

I opened my eyes when I felt the sudden shift in weight distribution on my bed, glaring at Mark who was grinning at me like a true idiot he was, his buttocks placed at the side of my bed while he was staring at me. 

“You just love drama don’t you?” Mark whispered, my eyes squinting at him. His fingers brushed a few strands of my hair away from my wet forehead, his smile immediately disappearing as concern seem to appear. “, you’re hot.” 

I snorted at his choice of words. “I know.”

“I didn’t mean it in that way, God do you want me to get killed by Enmity? I barely survived being in the same subunit as him.” Mark quickly stated, his face turning into a bright shade of red as he was stumbling over his words. Our attention is taken away by a loud slam coming from the direction of where my room’s door was located. 

“Mark, have you already picked your resting place? Because I think Enmity just saw you.” I teasingly said, watching Mark stumble, hitting his knee against my nightstand in the process, his lips sounding a hiss and a sort of cry as he almost tripped over his feet while trying to go after Enmity. I chuckled in amusement as I watch his figure running out of my room. 

My room began to spin again, my eyelids shutting as I fall into a comfy silence and darkness. I needed rest before I could begin to come up with a counter-plan.

X

I have been stuck in the same spiral glass staircase again, no matter how many times I went to go upstairs or downstairs I kept coming back to the same spot. My eyes gazed out onto the LED-light city. It was the only source of light in this whole damn place. I decided to run up the stairs, turning my head slightly so I could check to see if I was being chased but it was empty as usual, my feet taking me back to the same spot. 

The window shows the same damned billboard sign; ‘Missing; Proxy Enmity, also known as Min Yoongi. Day 200.’ I hissed in anger before running down the stairs, my diaphragm expanding and contracting quicker as I was breathing heavier. My eyes again looked at the sign; ‘Missing; Proxy Enmity, also known as Min Yoongi. Day 201.’

After another twenty attempts I was left feeling breathless and with the information of Yoongi being missing for 221 days. The sign turned off, the whole city going into complete darkness, leaving me in a horrifying place of worry. Yoongi was missing?

What was going on?

X

I gripped onto someone’s arm as soon as I felt an unfamiliar presence, my eyes snapping open to stare at a shadowy figure. My heart beating against my chest hurriedly, my eyes quickly gazing out of the window to see the night sky. No billboard with the damned message. I felt a few tears begin to build up, my eyes appearing glossy as my heart continued to beat drastically. What was that dream of trying to tell me? Yoongi will go missing?

“Relax, I was just leaving you some medications and a glass of water.” My body relaxed obediently once his voice fixed in my brain. However my heart continued to race, this situation was strange. Was it a dream? I could not tell anymore, so when my teary eyes felt on his frame, I felt the relieving rush through my veins, the back of my head telling me to stop. I needed to stop caring.

“Min Yoongi?” I questioned stupidly, my free hand fiddling with the virtual control panel before my room was baking in the light. My eyes quickly squinting, trying to adjust to the sudden light, Yoongi doing the same before we both were staring at each other. Yoongi was wearing his workout clothes, as his hair was damp with sweat. His dark circles appearing deeper and prominent, yet his pale complexion continued to compliment his appearance. It was clear that Yoongi was losing sleep over something, and I wanted to know what was bothering the 'grim reaper', it wasn't only the overuse of his aptitude. 

The silence continued, our eyes never leaving one another. It was as if time stopped, my sickly appearance reflecting in his jet-black eyes. My soft fingers gently moved up his arm, his eyes following my movement if he was surprised he did not show it. Soon I found my fingers resting against his cheek, my eyebrows frowning at myself. What was I doing? He felt surprisingly warm yet nice under my skin, a lot cooler than I was that very movement. I felt almost delirious to be close to him again. So by ignoring all the warning bells ringing in my head, I continued to stare at him.

“Did you just come out of the shooting range?” I questioned again, my voice sounding low and starchy as my tachycardic heart finally seemed to have slowed down. My fingers finally listened to the impulses to leave him. My head pounding, as the cool air from the air conditioner, did nothing to stop my body from overheating. I blamed all my actions on the damn cold. The previous conversation with Mark seemed to sweep me off as words quickly tumbled out of my mouth before I had time to process them.

“You didn’t shoot Mark, did you?” I had to quickly shut my eyes with the realisation of how stupid I sounded, my tired whine leaving my lips as I tugged onto my bottom dry lip at my stupidity. My wet back rested against the backrest of the bed. I needed a cold shower and yet I needed more blankets. I felt so unwell.

“Over him flirting with you earlier? No, but he is getting on my nerves.” I peeked my eyes open at him, Yoongi made himself comfortable onto the side of my bed, pulling some of the duvet and blanket over his sweaty clothes. I had to stop myself from growling at him to stop messing my bed up, but I was even more sweaty than him. Yoongi must have spent his whole afternoon at the shooting range, practicing even when he was the best sniper there ever was. Yet why was he here in my bedroom in the middle of the night? My body automatically shifted further away, his eyes scanning my messy appearance as I quickly shift my eyes away from his questioning gaze. We could not go back to the past. I muttered in my own conscious like a mantra to stop being Jinmi. I needed to be Hana, revenge Hana. 

“See Euphoria later if you don’t get better.” 

“Why? It’s only a stupid cold Yoongi. Nothing that will kill me, unfortunately.” I bitterly said, swallowing my saliva nervously when I felt his fingers curling around my soft locks. My questioning eyes turned to see him chuckling. 

“Shame would have made my life so much easier.” Enmity hummed in delight, my mouth slightly parting in slight shock to hear him so high-hearted, my fingers quickly poking his ribs through his tight shirt, his fingers leaving my hair to quickly grip onto my fingers gently before he was commanding my attention with a simple groan.

“Listen, I shouldn’t be telling you this but just this once, Proxy Lore has overheard Proxy Heinous two talking with Commander Heinous about rebels. Something about joining forces with somebody to deal with a certain group.” He mumbled quietly, my body shivering slightly due to the sudden coldness. Yoongi was gone, instead of him was Proxy Enmity, his eyes cold and calculating as he was staring at me. He was doubting me, deciding if he can trust me again, yet he still told me important information? It was head-messing to see him in his sudden cold persona, just seconds ago he was Yoongi, pulling me closer, making me question everything. I needed to keep my head straight, so after taking a deep breath I was returning his hard gaze with my own.

“Do you think he was talking about Alpha Arcadia?”

“We’re not sure, however, one thing is clear; this is no longer about only getting rid of you. If what you said in the trial was true, if the rebels knew about our secret mission because he told them, we’re in danger.” Enmity identified, his grip only tightening absentmindedly, his eyes searching my ones for the answer. Answers that he knew I could not give. I should have been happy to see him so concerned and confused, but I was not. I needed them for my plan, but if they were gone…

“Maybe Siren and Exultant should be sent to snoop around?”

“Lore said that, but Siren is in no condition to do that and we can’t be too obvious about knowing something. Someone would tell him that those two weren't around for a while. I say we need to distract him.” Enmity said, his fingers finally letting my ones free. My fingers appeared slightly pale from all the compression. Whatever was happening was troubling them all. Commander Heinous was blocking his thoughts, they couldn't read him, nor could get past his shield. Alpha Arcadia was worried, that only made me wonder for how long have things been going south? flashback of Jungkook's words evaded my mind once again; "Jinmi things have never been so clear, so black and white like you think they have. I – never mind," it was slowly making sense.

“Distract him how? By going after the rebels on your own accord? You know this could be classified as a betrayal?” I asked, Enmity running his fingers through his messy damp hair. Sighing under his breath as silence felt again. Did he suggest for them to go off and investigate on their own?

“Well we already have you on our team so what difference does it make?” I had to stop myself from saying anything sharp. His words sounded like an underlying sarcastic remark but I knew better. Alpha Arcadia was waiting for their moment to make a move, using me as their cover-up story would have been beneficial for them. I was pretty much their shield, and it was my call to make. If I decided to escape, they would say they went after me. Their help would be beneficial too, but was it right? We would both betray one another to make a finishing move in the end.

“Drink some water and rest for tonight, Lore wants us all to meet up tomorrow. If you accept to meet us at the train station by seven in the morning.” 

I was left in my thought and now darkness as Yoongi turned the lights off. They were planning something big, it was no coincidence that Enmity told me that information, I could have acted stupid and said that he did it by accident, but he was a good strategist. I was stuck no matter what, if I left on my own they would go after me. If I decided to tell somebody about their plan nobody would believe me, so it only left me with one decision. We were all leaches in this society, after all, feeding off one another.

Alpha Arcadia was complete again.