Contains swear words 

(Italic font text is memories.)

The balcony was a concrete ledge, square rough edges, and a shiny rail. It was truly an oasis when trying to get away from those haunted thoughts. The night breeze brushed my long hair in all directions, my dark eyes glancing down at the LED lights surrounding me. C21 was so virtually alive, yet so soulless. Thousands of people crossed, appearing like tiny ants in my peripheral vision yet they all seemed fake, a game of life made by C21. 

“Enmity told me I will find you here, guess he wasn’t lying.” A male voice sounded, interrupting my silence and peace. My ears picked up on the bustling and honking coming from the traffic. Fly-ships, a supersonic train passing by from one of the ‘civilian’ lines, my breath being taken away when I realize just how far I was leaning over the rail. One simple push would have sent me flying down into the ground. I was too deep in my thoughts.

“Should I be worried to see you appearing to be trying to jump out of the balcony Jinmi?” Proxy Ornate lightly hummed under his breath, his presence appearing beside me uninvited, and yet I could not force myself to hate it. I did feel lonely. Perhaps I was still suffering from the post effects of Proxies Euphoria’s aptitudes side effects. Perhaps it was something else.

“I’m disappointed, I thought you might be trying to climb up the balcony while saying one of the cheesy and unromantic poems that you use on every proxy,” I stated, my fingers brushing a few strands of my scarlet hair behind my ear. A burst of warm laughter echoed from Proxy Ornate.

“Are you sure you did not get me mixed up with Proxy Siren? He is the one who thinks it’s fun to mess around with both female and male proxies.” I slightly turned my head, my eyes finally seeing the bright orange hair that Ornate was styling. Before I could bite my tongue my words were rolling off.

“Did you and Siren lose a bet or something? What’s up with the pink and orange hair?” 

“Ugh don’t even ask, Yoongi is such a cheater. He was the one who was supposed to have pink with orange roots hair yet he made us both lose, and got money out of it too. Jimin seems to love his hair, I, on the other hand, can’t be bothered to change it.” I should not have cared, but it all seemed to be so damn funny that before I could stop myself I was laughing at him. Ornate joined in, both stupid young people laughing in the middle of the night over hair. It almost seemed normal. Until the reality of them all betraying me hit me like ton of bricks. 

My eyes turned back onto the landscape, C21 seemed to be back to the normal pattern. The attack was not visible what so over. The only difference that appeared was that my arrest notice no longer flashed as an announcement. Kim Jinmi or Proxy Ire was no longer under arrest. They all thought that they had me trapped and corned in D-93. I could not stop making my thoughts wander about Rose, was she alright?

“You know, for a moment there I thought we both are friends laughing. But you’re no longer our Jinmi, right?” His voice sounded so sad, bitter even and if I was naïve I might have felt cared about. But they all were advanced division proxies, captains of their special divisions, and manipulation was one of the basic skills learned. It was one of the skills that I wielded well. 

“What do you want Taehyung?” The light-hearted atmosphere that surrounded us moments ago was gone. Next to me stood a powerful proxy, aptitude for negation and absorption. He was the secret weapon, and him being sent here was not a coincidence. I was not stupid. 

“I thought you might have been feeling lonely, so I wanted to return the favour. Just like when I was lonely too and you approached me.” His words seemed so innocent, so honest yet I could not help but feel threatened. It was easy to get lost in the moment of playing the part of being Proxy Ire, a friend of them all. So I decided to play along. 

“Thanks, Tae, I needed this,” I felt a small smirk tug at the corner of my lips when I saw how surprised Proxy Ornate was after my words. His face quickly changed to a neutral facial expression but I managed to spot it. I rested my back against the rail, fully turning my attention on the handsome guy in front of me. The cold breeze picked up its assault as I felt a small shiver run down my spine. My thin white t-shirt barely kept me warm from the chilly night. 

“You should have asked Enmity to climb up the balcony and tell you those romantic poems.” Proxy Ornate cut back, it all appeared so superficial the whole conversation, and I simply chuckled. We all were at one point close, the ‘A-team’, yet we all ended up in a bitter war. 

“Tae can you imagine that? Yoongi would only climb the balcony to kill somebody. Get rid of the romantic part.” 

“Yoongi would do it for you Jinmi, you know he would.” There was an awkward silence after his words, my arms encircling my frame as I try to keep some of my body heat in. Ornate ped his jacket before passing it over to me, yet I never took it. This conversation was getting too personal too quickly and I needed to end it. 

“Yoongi would not hesitate to pull another trigger. Right in the middle of my skull where he knows that I would die in an instant. He would enjoy watching the life drain my eyes, so cut the crap Proxy Ornate.” And just like that the conversation ended, my feet pulling me away from his presence. My heart felt heavy all of a sudden. This was a mistake, allowing Ornate to sneak his way into my dark thoughts so easily. Enmity surely sent him to get information out, which he succeeded in doing so. 

One point for him.

X

The dynamics of our somewhat relationship changed. Ever since we both got placed into isolation by Proxy Lore, it has all become different. It was no longer only I who would try to steal some glances of him, Min Yoongi’s eyes also wandered onto me, his gaze reformed. It was no longer disappointment he appeared to be curious. It was causing something in the pit of my stomach glow, was it pride? Who knew, but it was making me feel confident. I have managed to catch his attention, one way or another. 

We never spoke to one another, it was always indirect. Scorching eye contact, no matter who was in the room it was as if my eyes went onto him as if he was a magnet of some sort, and his eyes would be there to receive my stare. Min Yoongi was fascinating. 

“Good luck.” I stumbled over my own feet when I heard his low voice brush against my ear. My clumsy fingers dropped the rifle, however before it could reach the floor Yoongi skilfully caught it. I snapped my head in the direction of his voice, my breath getting stuck in my throat as my heart was thumping against my rib cage, my pupils without any doubt were double the normal size as I viewed his relaxed figure. My tongue shamelessly formed a mealy reply of a “What?” before the reality of the situation finally sank in. Was he talking with me?

“The shooting test, don’t miss or you will be a disappointment.” Yoongi casually stated, his back resting against the wall, his arm still outstretched with my rifle in his grasp. My fingers shakily took my rifle back from his grasp, the pad of my fingers quickly brushing against his surprisingly soft skin. I felt so damn stupid. Min Yoongi seemed to have made me appear incompetent quite frequently. His words not showing any malicious intent, and before I could comprehend what would be the most appropriate reply to such an unexpected situation, my sharp tongue beat me to it.

“Easy for you to say, you never miss.” 

I saw his tongue slowly brushing his bottom lip, a low chuckle announcing itself. It was quiet but I heard it well. His dark eyes seemed to have come alive with my unexpected reply. It only brought something from within, my heart no longer racing. I no longer felt like some stupid girl in front of her crush, I felt powerful. It was as if his presence alone made me confident.

“Relax, you seem to get tense before you even feel the kick from your rifle. Forget about everything and focus on your task.” It made sense, his words made sense but for a moment my mind froze. This was an unexpected event, not only was Yoongi talking to me, he was giving me some advice. 

“Should I feel worried that you sound like a stalker? Or flattered to hear that you have observed me so much?” I was testing my waters, however, Yoongi seemed to have found my words amusing to my relief. I pulled my dark hair into a messy ponytail, flashing Yoongi a teasing smirk when I caught his eyes trailing my frame.

“You are making a lot of assumptions, slow down darling.” His teasing words dominated. With a single sentence, he had the mysterious game that we both were playing under his wraps.  

‘Kim Jinmi, please make your way down to the training room 12 for your shooting test.’ An announcement broke our staring contest, nerves slightly kicking in as I took a deep breath. I could do it, I could pass the test and be a step closer to becoming a rookie proxy. 

“Oh just a heads up darling, Proxy Lore is there.” Just like that all my resolute broke, my nervousness controlling my body as a gasp left my lips. If I was standing alone, I might have been shaking like a leaf, however, I could not appear too weak in front of Yoongi. His eyes seemed to examine my frame again, his eyes flashing a disproving look. He knew I was terrified and he disliked it. 

“Well, it’s not as if I expect you to get close to my score that would be a miracle. At least try to get into the top ten.” Yoongi stated, his voice sounded light, almost teasing like and I felt my tense muscles relax slightly. It was scary to see what an effect he had over me, this guy was dangerous but yet it only intrigued me more.

“Yoongi?” It was almost hypnotising to hear his name come out from my mouth, Yoongi pulled himself away from the wall. His frame towered over me nicely.

“What?”

“You are so full of , I can beat your score with my eyes closed.”

I expected him to appear disproved but to my surprise, his pink lips formed a cocky smirk, his soft fingers tapping against my head before he turned away from me, a loud challenging “Prove it.” left his lips before he disappeared. 

X

To say that I was nervous was the biggest understatement of the century. I was completely terrified, it was a surprise to see myself standing still because I felt as if I could double over at any minute, especially when Proxy Lore flashed me one of his nice smiles. Beside him stood an older guy with navy coloured hair. His hands grasped a virtual table that most likely had statistics about me. At the back, a beautiful woman sat, her skin shining like midnight sky and I had to mentally force myself to stop staring at how beautiful she was, her dark long wavy hair placed over her shoulder, while her yellow eyes shined. She was scanning me.

“Lovely to see you Jinmi, I wanted to introduce you to a very important and amazing lady.” Proxy Lore stated, few goosebumps formed onto my skin when their eyes stared straight at me. 

“This is Professor Fervour, she is in charge of all the training of rookies and junior division proxies, and she has been getting some statistics of you and another certain individual.”

The room turned silent after the introduction, his words where clear. For some reason Proxy Lore found me fascinating together with Yoongi, there was no other reason why Professor Fervour would be looking at us, after all, we are only trainees. She never said anything, neither did the gentleman but the silence was overpowering. So I turned my back to them and sat my rifle up. 

I did not wait for them to give me any instructions, there was no reason to waste time so I took a deep breath, following Yoongi’s advice. I needed to empty my hesitations, I needed to focus on my target, which was the moving target. I adjusted the grip of my rifle before pulling the trigger at the target, watching the bullet pierce through the middle of the skull. 

The sound was loud, I could feel the pressure in my ears as if they popped. However, I continued. I needed to beat Min Yoongi’s score.

X

“Okay I must admit, you are damn scary,” Now sober Mark stated as soon as I stepped inside the conference room, having no shame when I threw him an irritated glare. I snapped my fingers at him, Mark staring at me in confusion as I pointed at the empty floating chair. Proxy Exultant snorted with laughter when realization seemed to flash across Mark’s face.

“Do you have a God complex or something Ire?” Mark questioned, however, he was still bringing the chair over to my frame. I simply rolled my eyes at him before making myself comfortable. The room appeared stuffy and uncomfortable as the Alpha Arcadia team, minus Proxy Ornate and for some reason, Mark occupied it. 

“No. However Enmity over here certainly has.” I hissed childishly, earning a glare from Enmity who was strategically placed furthest away from me. I could feel Proxy Euphoria sifting uncomfortably as he was sitting next to me.  

“Funny, how mature of you Jinmi.” Enmity fired back, making Proxy Euphoria grip onto my shoulder, forcing me to turn my attention to him. Certainly worried about having another fight on his hand. Enmity was still quite unsteady it was clear, the way his dark eyes at times flashed red, how ragged he looked where all tiny signs. It was so tempting to try my luck and poke him more. 

However before Euphoria could do anything, I elbowed him not so gently into his stomach, watching him cough aggressively. Proxy Lore’s palm slapped against the table's top in the middle, forcing everyone to turn their attention to him. To everyone’s surprise, he appeared completely calm, sitting at the head of the table. 

“Enough, I will not have another fight between you two. Do whatever you two have to do to become civilized before the mission. I don’t care, what. Just sort it out.” His calm barely above whisper voice was quite terrifying, at least for Mark. I saw him shiver slightly when Proxy Lore’s eyes flashed purple at him. It was a mystery to see what was Mark even doing between the big ‘dogs’. 

“I don’t see how it’s my problem? I have nothing to do with D-93 after I was killed.” I simply stated, Lore, turning his attention to me. If I was Kim Jinmi in the past I would be frightened of him but I was not, so I simply crossed my arms over my chest, flashing him a flirty smile that seemed to have made Enmity next to him freeze in his place. Perhaps it was my actions or my words but Enmity was a slow ticking bomb, we all knew it. 

“Sorry to break it to you sweetheart, but Commander Heinous has given us all orders, a mission which involves you.” Proxy Exultant interrupted, as Proxy Ornate sneaked back in, getting himself comfortable in between Proxy Siren and Proxy Clout.

 
“Does it involve babysitting Mark or Enmity killing me again? Because either way, I am not interested. Pass, goodbye.” I examined my long nails, completely ignoring Proxy Exultant’s dropped smile. I heard Mark try to intercept with a ‘hey’ which was shot down by a glare coming from his captain.  

“What is Mark even doing here?” I irritably questioned, it made no sense why would Proxy Forte even be in this picture. Alpha Arcadia, plus a dead girl with a junior proxy?

 
“Well for your information - ” Mark again got shot down by Proxy Siren gasping in an overdramatic excited manner, Proxy Clout gazing up at him in confusion. 

“Ire your birthday is coming up!” Proxy Siren stated, his eyes lighting up with thrill, only earning an annoyed groan from both Enmity and Euphoria. This conversation was going downhill at supersonic speed as usual.

“Siren, how is this relevant?” Proxy Euphoria questioned softly, as if not to hurt Siren’s feelings. I had to agree with Euphoria on the relevant bit.

“We missed her birthday last year so we need to celebrate in a double fashion.” Siren happily assumed, my eyes trailing back onto Proxy Lore who was doing absolutely nothing to stop random chit-chat from happening. 

“This is perfect, see Proxy Lore this could a perfect opportunity to bond again – ”

“You’re celebrating a year where I survived after you all happily accepted Enmity attempting to assassinate me?” I interrupted Siren’s talk, with slight anger present as I stared at him. I watched a smile disappear from his face as the realisation finally seemed to have sunk in. My words bringing tension up to a notch as they all seemed to avoid my eyesight, expect Enmity who was sitting there with the smuggest smile on his face. I had to physically stop myself from crawling over the table and punching the living hell out of him.

Proxy Lore cleared his throat, bringing everyone’s attention back onto him once more. “So, Commander Heinous has given us a special mission, which includes Mark in the line-up. He seems to be very surprised and pleased with the performance that we all showed during the attack.” 

“How’s Mark have any relevance in this? He did nothing, apart from stopping my body from hitting the ground after mine and Siren’s aptitudes merged.” I fired back without much thought, only realising what I said too late when I saw slight hurt flash past Mark’s pupils. I self-consciously chewed onto my inner cheek, of course, I was stupid as usual. 

“Proxy Ire is right, I did nothing,” Mark concluded, making guilt evade my heart. I should not feel a thing but I could not help it. 

“Not true, Proxy Forte you are one of my advanced proxies and I am very proud of how you handled the situation.” Proxy Exultant quickly interrupted, not without giving a disproving look aimed at me. This made no sense, why was Commander Heinous changing his plans so quickly? Why was I back into the Alpha Arcadia lineup, together with Mark who was not qualified to be part of the team just yet?

“Is Mark part of the Alpha Arcadia then?” I questioned out loud, not expecting any reply. 

“No, Proxy Forte is joining Alpha Arcadia as a special guest for this mission.” Proxy Lore stated, making Mark smile at the mention that he is joining the ‘all-star’ team for the special mission, It could only mean one thing, Commander Heinous had something planned, and I hated feeling trapped. 

“Well, congratulations Mark, next time you might be able to join Alpha Arcadia as a permanent member.” Proxy Clout said, not realizing the way his words could be taken. Or appearing not to realize his sarcasm. 

“Thanks, Jungkook I will try my best to protect your from being kicked.” Mark smartly replied, earning another round of arguments across the table.