"What! You ARE friends with that hot doctor?" asked Zee, her voice echoing in the headquarters’ canteen.

Conan, another short-haired woman who's sitting in front of Zee, gestured her hand, telling the latter to lower her voice. "We're close friends with her because we went to the same university together. Jane's best friend is also Cap's ex-girlfriend."

Zee still couldn’t hide the shock in her face. "But did you date her in the past, Conan?"

"Of course not. Just because I'm Kim's friend it doesn't mean I need to date her girlfriend's best friend too, right?"

"But you don't want to date her, do you?"

Conan laughed. "C'mon, Zee. I do have a girlfriend!"

"I'm just making sure. Your girlfriend lives far away. Who knows, maybe you want another one."

"Conan's not like you, Zee," said Kim, drinking from her water glass. "Her relationship with Hongyok is far better than any of the relationships we’ve had. NanHongyok already stood the test of distance."

"Does that mean that I can start making my move to woo the doctor?" asked Zee, looking more excited now.

"You can. But I wish you good luck. That woman is married to her work," said Kim.

"And she doesn't like people who just want to fool around," added Conan, pointing at Zee. "If you really want to date her, you've got to be damn serious about it."

"And before you make your move, you have to consider that we're going to be assigned in the south after our vacation leaves," said Kim before taking a bite of her sandwich. "The chances of seeing her after that is really slim."

Zee slumped back on her chair, dejected. "You're right. It's really hard to find a girlfriend if you're part of SAU. Conan is just so lucky to have a patient Hongyok always waiting for her."

"Maybe you should find a girlfriend in SAU instead," suggested Kim.

"Ugh. I want someone who's not involved in killing Evens," said Zee, scrunching up her face. "Maybe I should find one this vacation."

Conan shifted to her left to face Kim. "Speaking of vacation leaves, what are your plans? It's going to be a one-month break. Don't tell me you're going to spend it here in headquarters while waiting for our reassignment?"

"That's what I'm hoping for," said Kim.

"Kim, you can always come with me, you know that," said Conan. "You're more than welcome to stay at my house. My mom will love to have you again."

"I... I don't know, dude..."

Conan looked at Zee for help. "Aish. So stubborn. Zee, you convince this kid."

Zee obeyed right away. "Captain, Conan's right. You need to go out. It was the doctor's advice too, right? You need to have fun. Get laid."

"Oh, my gosh," said Kim, covering her face. "We're not going to talk about my life again, Zee."

"I'm just concerned about you," said Zee, not affected by Kim's embarrassment. "When was the last time you touched a girl? Are you satisfied with just touching yourself?"

Kim waved her hands in front of her due to embarrassment. "Oh, c'mon, Zee. Will you drop the topic now?"

"But Zee has a point, Kim," said Conan, shifting sideways to face her. "It's not just about though, you just need to go out, mingle, and who knows, maybe find a new girlfriend?"

"But there was a girl in your town, Conan. Remember the first and last time we convinced Kim to come with you? She hooked up with a girl, right?" asked Zee, making gestures with her hands.

"Hook up is such a strong word, Zee," said Kim, laughing. "I never did something like that."

"Was that Nam?" Conan asked Kim. "Yeah, I kind of remember you were sort of flirting that time..."

"That Nam is one of Hongyok's friend, right?" asked Zee, getting a nod from Conan. "Does she still live there?"

"Yes. In fact, I've heard from Hongyok that Nam likes Kim," said Conan, side-glancing Kim. "And that was the first time I've seen Kim really enjoy being around a pretty woman after her ex-girlfriend."

Zee snapped her fingers. "Okay. That's settled. Since that girl has the potential to be Kim's girlfriend, Captain Kim will spend the break with you, Nan."

"Agreed. And I'm gonna book your flight now, my friend." Conan took out her phone.

"I believe I'm the one who should be deciding on that matter," said Kim, trying to snatch away the phone from Conan's hand.

"No! No!" Conan is blocking Kim with her left arm. "You need this, buddy, trust me."

Before they could continue the fight, an announcement was aired through the entire headquarters.

"SAU Troop C, proceed to Control Room now. I repeat, SAU Troop C, proceed to Control Room now."

The three friends stared at each other, all surprised.

"Why are they calling us? Our vacation leave will start in like 48 hours, right?" asked Zee.

"I'm not sure. Maybe there's an emergency," said Kim.

"Goodness. I just hope this won't mean I that I would need to cancel my flight home next week," said Conan. After that, they stood up to leave the canteen.

---

"So, there's just five of you left in your troop?" asked the short woman in fatigue, her curly hair is tied up.

"Yes, Commander In," said Kim, straight-faced. "All the others have gone for their vacation leaves and will be back after a month."

"Who's got a scheduled flight today?" asked Commander In. She noticed one raising a hand. "Oh. Nerd. What time is your flight?"

"In six hours, Commander."

"Okay. Pack your bags now. You have my permission to leave the room. Have a safe flight, Nerd."

"Thank you, Commander." Nerd gave a salute and left the place right away.

"So, it's just the four of you now, huh?" said Commander In, thinking. "Kim... Conan... Zee... Yam..."

"Is there an emergency, Commander?" asked Yam.

"Yes, Yam. But it's not going to take long. It'll be a quick operation."

Kim smiled after hearing Conan whisper, "Yes!"

Commander In pointed at one of the big screens in front of them. "Do you know where this is?"

"That's in Jeoswa village, Commander," said Zee, looking at the screen. "We have a scheduled Cleansing there this afternoon."

Commander In nodded and pointed at the other screens in front of them. "AEF handled the Migration earlier with SAU Troop A. Like what your troop experienced last week, there was an attack during the Migration. But this one is harder because it rained. And as we all know, Evens use waves to function. Whenever it rains, it causes them to go berserk because of too many waves they are receiving."

"Any casualties, Commander?" asked Conan.

"Eight people," answered Commander In sadly. "Two captured, four civilians, one from AEF, and one from SAU."

There was a chorus of, "...", "My gosh...", "Uuugh..." from the people inside the room.

"Were the remaining people migrated successfully, Commander?" asked Kim.

"They are in the base camp now, however, not all of them." Commander In shifted the camera angle to show them the outskirts part of the town.

"It looks empty," said Yam.

"Look closely guys," said Commander In, zooming the camera into a car.

It took them few more seconds before realizing what the commander is trying to point out.

"Is that a kid inside the car?" asked Yam, surprised.

"! It's a kid!" Zee exclaimed.

"H-how did they miss this one, Commander?" asked Kim.

"The kid is with her paternal grandma during the Migration," explained Commander In, showing them the footage in another screen. "This one shows that granny is carrying the sleeping girl. But when the attack happened, she ran back to their house instead of going to one of the nearest Sanctuaries. There... she put her granddaughter inside the car…"

"She's opening the windows a bit to give air inside," said Conan, looking at the footage. "Good thing the kid didn't wake up. Wait, where is the granny going?"

The video revealed an Even from afar, approaching the car. The granny runs to the opposite direction and made gestures as if calling the attention of the Even. This worked because the Even approached her and webbed her right away.

Yam is already sniffing, crying because of the footage.

"She's one of the two who were captured," said Commander In. "Knowing that the Even will go away after capturing a food, she sacrificed herself for her granddaughter. The parents of the little girl were on duty in the headquarters' hospital when the Migration happened. We already contacted them, informing them of the situation. The dad is a surgeon and is currently in the middle of an operation procedure. It was the kid's mom we were able to contact. We asked her to call the kid to give instructions. Troop A's already been deployed to another site along with the others. Troops E, H, and R will arrive here in 5 hours, which means that you're the only SAU members left here in headquarters now."

"So, our mission is to retrieve the kid," said Kim, still looking at the monitor, remembering how it was so alike with what happened to her before.

"Yes, Captain Kim. We'll do the Cleansing once you get out of the village. By the way, the granny was wise enough to leave a phone with the kid. We've recorded the incoming call we got from the mother fifteen minutes ago." Commander In pressed the play button and adjusted the volume. "Please pardon the mother's voice. She's really nervous when she found out."

Ring... Ring...

"H-heyow...?"

"Hi, Katie, sweetheart! Where are you?"

"I'm... I'm in car, mommy..."

"Okay... good… are you seeing any monsters around?"

"Hmm. No..."

"Okay, good."

"W-when you going home, mommy?"

"We're going to see each other in a bit, sweetie. Just… just stay in the car for now. SAU will come to get you there."

"SAU? The... the fighters...?"

"Yes, sweetie. They are your heroes, right?" the mother's voice sounds like she's already crying. Her sniffs are audible.

"Uh-uh."

"Okay. They will come and pick you up there. You just must be a good girl and stay inside the car. Could you promise mommy that?"

"I... pwomise..."

"Okay. Good girl. Now, I'm gonna hang up for now before your battery runs out. I'm gonna give you a call again, got that?"

"Yes, mommy..."

"Okay... in the car, baby... okay...?"

"I'm... I'm... waiting here for... SAU..."

"Yes, yes. SAU will come to get you. I... I have to go baby. Mommy needs to talk to SAU. I'll call you back in a bit."

"Okay, mommy. Yabyu!"

"Oh, I love you more, Katie."

After that, the call dropped.

"W-was that --" Conan couldn't continue her sentence. She looked at Kim who looked as equally as shocked as her.

"You know the mother?" asked Zee.

"I... I think so..." answered Conan, still hasn't recovered from the shock. "Was that Pie Mindara, Commander?"

Commander In looked at the paper on the table. "It says here, Pie Denman. Oh. Yes, you're right. Pie Mindara is her maiden name. She's married to a surgeon, Peter Denman."

Conan looked at Kim, her eyes still in shock.

Unknown to everyone in the room, Kim's mind has already teleported her somewhere else.

---

"Hey, baby..."

"Kiiim!!! Oh, my gosh. I missed hearing your voice!"

"I missed hearing your voice too. How are you?"

"Doing great because my baby is going home next week."

"Haha. Me too! I can't wait to see you."

"You have no idea how much I'm missing you now, Kim."

"Awe. I'm sorry if I was busy lately."

"Totally cool. I understand that my girlfriend's got a world to save."

"But I promise that next week, until the rest of my vacation, it'll be just you and me."

"Awe... I love you! I love you! I loooove you!!!"

"Haha! Oh, I love you more, Pie."