After hours of crying, Yuqi finally pulled herself together, unable to ignore the ache in her stomach any longer. She knew she looked like a mess, but there was little she could do to fix that.

She pushed herself out of the bed, stumbling over to the door. It wasn’t locked this time, letting her into the rest of the house. Or maybe cabin. She wasn't really sure, based on the log wall. The style of it reminded her of those log cabins some people had on lakefronts, but she couldn't hear any water nearby. Maybe the walls were just soundproofed.

Yuqi found herself in a long hallway, with three other doors besides the one she just came out of. At the far end there was a bright light, so she followed it, hoping to find Soyeon. Despite her being the reason she was trapped, Yuqi was still thankful for it. There was still a chance, however slim, that she might be able to be free one day, and that wasn't a possibility if she was dead. Also, Soyeon had mentioned that she was ordered to kill Yuqi. That meant she had gone against direct order from someone Yuqi could only imagine was terrifying as hell, just so Yuqi didn't have to die. She wanted to thank the older girl.

Instead of Soyeon, Yuqi found a girl she had never seen before. She was a few inches taller than her, with lovely long brown hair. She was wearing a sleeveless dress with a high neckline that fell to her feet, managing to look both elegant and comfortable at the same time. Yuqi loved the soft blue color, reminding her of the blue whistling thrushes that she used to see when she was growing up. Yuqi wasn't sure what she was doing, but she was bent slightly over the counter in the surprisingly modern kitchen.

She turned at Yuqi's entrance, likely hearing her feet hitting the floor. She was gorgeous, even with the slight scowl on her face. Yuqi could see the cutting board she had been using, showing chopped mushrooms and carrots, and wondered what the girl was making.

"You must be Yuqi," she said, voice surprisingly soft. Yuqi nodded, shy as usual in front of someone new. "I'm just making stew, if you can wait a while."

Yuqi hurriedly reassured her, waving her hands awkwardly. "Oh, that's fine, I was just wondering if there was a bathroom I could use?"

The girl waved to the hallway Yuqi had just come out of. "At the very end, to the left of your room."

Taking that as a dismissal, Yuqi turned around, hurrying for the bathroom. She had noticed that the...house, cabin, whichever, was rather large, and had enough space for quite a few people. She hoped she could become friends with them, or at least a bit more friendly. Having to stay in the same house with strangers for who knows how long wouldn't be the greatest way to spend her imprisonment.

After relieving herself and cleaning herself up a bit, Yuqi went back to the main room, taking a seat at the long table. She glanced around, taking in the feel of the cabin. There wasn't any posters or paintings, leaving the walls mostly bare, but it still felt strangely homey. There was a little reading area at the other end of the table with a few recliners spaced around two bookshelves, and on the other side of that was two couches facing a flat screen television. In the corner of the room was a door. She wondered what was behind it.

A quiet thunk brought her attention back to the table. A bowl full of thick stew had been set in front of her, a small silver spoon next to it. She looked over to the girl that made it, who had sat down across from her and was already quietly eating.

"Thank you..." Yuqi murmured, trailing off when she remembered she didn't know the other girl's name.

The beauty glanced up, a small smirk on her lips. "Minnie Nicha Yontararak," she introduced. Yuqi hesitated, trying to wrap her head around the foreign sounds. "Just call me Minnie."

"Alright, Minnie-unnie, then. It's nice to meet you!"

"Yes, it's nice to meet you too. We've been wondering about the girl that managed to capture Soyeon's interest enough to halt her mission."

Yuqi cocked her head, pausing before she could take her next bite. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well..." Minnie took a sip of water from the glass Yuqi hadn't noticed, trying to figure out how to put it best. "Soyeon told you we're an assassination unit, correct? Her specialty is infiltration. She only started attending your University so she could find the best way to take out the headmaster. She could have gotten in and taken him out in a week, top, but she met you, and all progress just stopped. She was in there for months before the higher ups ordered her to finish it and take you out."

Yuqi was wide eyed. She had thought Soyeon was actually a student, but apparently it was all a lie. Still, to hear she had actually made her bosses mad just because of Yuqi made her feel something, she just wasn't sure what.

Deciding to put the matter to the back of her mind for the moment, she turned her attention back to her food, which was actually really good. Restaurant quality, even.

When they were finished, Yuqi took the bowls and washed them, letting Minnie clean up the kitchen. She left the pot on the stove, stopping Yuqi when she went to move it. "The others will come eat when they're hungry," she told her.

"Others?" Yuqi asked.

"Did you think it was just Soyeon and I?" Yuqi nodded timidly. "There's five of us in the assassination unit. Soyeon is the leader, an infiltration expert. I'm the poison expert. Miyeon's our sniper, Soojin deals with explosives, and Shuhua is our intelligence. She monitors the internet and scopes out our targets so we know where and when to find them."

Yuqi hummed, commiting what she had just learned to memory. She knew she'd eventually meet the others, and hoped they'd become friends. Then, a part of what Minnie said rushed to the front of her mind.

"Wait, poison?!"

Minnie laughed, patting Yuqi's back. "I ate the same food as you, didn't I? Besides, do you really think I'd risk my hide just to kill you? I've got nothing against you, girl, you're safer here than almost anywhere else."

"Risk your hide?"

"Yeah. Soyeon disobeyed no less than three direct orders just to keep you safe. You're the only person she's ever not killed when told to. Obviously you mean something to her, and I don't really want to find out which of us is more important."

Yuqi blushed a little, having not really thought about what it meant for Soyeon to keep her alive.

Minnie patted her shoulder, smiling mysteriously. "Whether or not she realizes it, you're important to her. Keep that in mind, alright?"

She nodded, wrapped up in her thoughts. There was more to Soyeon than met the eye, that was for sure. Despite that, she grinned. She'd have fun figuring the older girl out.

She was a reporter, after all.