♫ Alex Chu - 그대라면 (If It’s You)

“I have so much that I want to say to you, but I can’t say a word.”

- Michelle Burns

Chaeyeon’s eyes widen as she realized what she saw.

“Take cover!” Chaeyeon shouted as she grabbed Cherry and quickly hid behind the couch while Eunbi went into a hallway, out of sight of the large window.

Just as they got out of sight, the room was filled with a loud whizzing sound accompanied by shattering glass. The curtains now being blown about by the wind coming from the outside.

“Crap! They’re attacking a lot sooner than I anticipated!” Eunbi yelled from the hallway opposite to the couch.

“We need to get to the car and get out of here fast. Otherwise, we’ll be trapped up here with no way out!” Chaeyeon said.

They couldn’t leave from their spots easily though. Eunbi, fearing that the sniper could get them if they moved from their positions, had to think of something to test if the sniper was still watching them. She quickly ran into one of the rooms down the hallway and grabbed a pillow. She returned to the wall, stood as close to the edge as she could, and tossed the pillow into the living room. As she had suspected, the sniper was still there as the pillow’s contents exploded and fell to the ground with a bullet hole through it.

“I think I have a plan Agent Feather!” Eunbi yelled at Chaeyeon, who was still covering Cherry behind the couch.

“What’s your plan?!” Chaeyeon replied.

“I’m going to grab more pillows from the rooms down the hall and toss it into the open space. As soon as they are in the air and the sniper starts shooting them, you guys bolt to the door!”

“What about you then? How are you going to get out after we leave?”

“I’ll figure something out. Our main objective is to protect the girl no matter what.”

“No! I’m not leaving you alone here Agent Rabbit!” Chaeyeon strongly disapproved of the plan. She was not going to leave her partner behind to possibly get killed, even if their objective was to protect at any cost. If she can help it, she wants everyone to get out together.

“Well then, do you have a better plan? We don’t have many options at the moment” Eunbi replied.

“I have a plan.” A small yet surprisingly calm voice whispered from under Chaeyeon’s arm.

Cherry lifted her head up slightly and pulled Chaeyeon’s face closer to her to whisper in her ear. Even though Chaeyeon was initially slightly flustered by the action, she listened to Cherry’s words carefully. She believed that Cherry’s plan was the best route to ensure the safety of all 3 of them.

“Agent Rabbit. Go grab some pillows from those rooms.” Chaeyeon instructed.

“Are we going with my plan then?” Eunbi replied.

“No, but I don’t have time to explain in full detail. Just grab them, and when I give the signal, toss them into the air like you did earlier.”

Eunbi quickly rushed to the rooms and grabbed as many pillows as she could carry with her. She returned and waited for the signal. Chaeyeon made eye contact with Eunbi, signaling her to toss the pillows into the air. As the shots went off one by one, Eunbi saw Chaeyeon move from behind the couch. Chaeyeon moved as swiftly as she possibly could as bullets began heading towards her way and managed to reach the bookshelf.

The curtains then suddenly began to close as Chaeyeon pressed the remote controller that was sitting on the bookshelf. Shots were going off again, however less accurate and more erratic this time. Chaeyeon waited until the curtains fully closed and the bullets to stop before she made her move. This was their only chance to escape now. She dashed to the couch, grabbed Cherry, and signaled Eunbi to run towards the door.

As they exited the apartment, they spotted a group of men down the hallway, running towards them. They quickly ran in the opposite direction and towards the emergency staircase with Cherry’s navigation. They made it halfway down the stairs when another group of men came towards them from the lower levels. At the same time, the men from the upper levels were descending towards them. The girls had no choice but to run into their current floor, looking for another escape route. As they frantically tried to find a solution, Cherry remembered something.

“There’s a garbage disposal room on this floor, and a shoot in that room that should lead directly to the back alley behind the apartment complex.” Cherry said, breathing heavily trying to catch her breath.

Chaeyeon and Eunbi both gave each other a look and nodded in agreement, and allowed Cherry to lead them to the said room. After arriving, the girls slightly hesitated at the sight and smell of the shoot.

“I know we agreed that this is our only way, but.....” Eunbi said with a look of disgust while plugging her nose.

“We have no choice. This is our safest bet right now. We need to hurry before those guys figure out where we are and catch up.” Chaeyeon replied.

Eunbi let out a deep breath and proceed down the shoot first. Cherry was next but she didn’t move from her spot. Chaeyeon could tell that she was still hesitant. Chaeyeon grabbed her shoulders and turned her around to face her.

“You’ll be fine. Agent Rabbit is down there to catch you. I’ll be right behind you. I’ll protect you no matter what, I promise.” Chaeyeon said calmly while smiling brightly at Cherry.

Cherry slightly smiled back after being reassured and quickly slid down into the shoot. As Chaeyeon got ready for her turn, the doors flung open and the men came rushing in.

•~•

As Cherry reached the bottom of the shoot, she lost her footing and was heading towards the ground. Before face planting however, Eunbi quickly caught her in her embrace and helped Cherry up. Cherry thanked Eunbi, but also noticed a few unconscious guys on the ground. She must’ve encountered them when she came down, but Cherry was surprised they were all knocked out by the time she came down.

Yikes. I definitely shouldn’t piss her off.

Cherry thought. As she was wiping off the nasty things that got caught on her robe, she realized something was off. She looked at Eunbi, who was giving her the same worried look.

“Where’s Agent Feather?” Eunbi questioned.

“I-I don’t know. She said she would be right behind me. She must’ve ran into trouble right as I left her.” Cherry said, her voice trembling from the panic that was setting in.

Before Eunbi could say anything to calm Cherry down, a few more men appeared down the alley.

“We need to leave now!” Eunbi said as she grabbed Cherry’s hand and dragged her away.

“But what about Agent Feather? We can’t leave her behind. What if she needs our help?!” Cherry said as she slightly fought back. Her efforts were useless however as Eunbi easily overpowered her with her strength.

“She’ll be fine. She’s not called Feather for nothing. If we get caught now, her efforts will be in vain. She’ll make it back for sure.” Eunbi reassured the girl.

The two girls quickly ran to the car. Luckily, their car was not tampered with, otherwise they would’ve been in bigger trouble. Eunbi quickly climbed into the driver side while Cherry got in the back. Eunbi stuck the key into the ignition to turn the engine on as fast as she could. She shifted the gear into drive, but before stepping on the gas pedal, one of the backseat doors opened and a familiar figure jumped in. It was Chaeyeon, who was looking quite roughed up.

“Step on it!” Chaeyeon commanded.