Well, this was honestly just a matter of time, Jihyo shouldn’t be feeling like this at all. But the heart is capricious and she really didn’t protect herself as she should have, now here we are. Maybe Jeongyeon was right and she should have kept herself far away from the streets, not even considered accepting dinner with that pretty woman saying she was interested in trading. Business was business, but the pleasure that followed should have raised a few red flags.

 

Regardless, it was too late now and Jihyo had to deal with the whole she allowed herself to fall into. Then again, Sana was easy to fall for, too easy to love and easier to forget she is a free soul. But I’m getting ahead of myself, let's get back a few months to when Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung burst into the warehouse she had rented and took out her team because those two bat-loving, cosplaying idiots didn’t check their information and decided it was a good idea to knock everyone out first and ask questions later. Needless to say, Jihyo was beyond pissed with them, once she woke up.

 

Park Jihyo was, likely, the one art negotiator who traded within the law in Gotham City. Whatever piece one wanted, she would negotiate and get it for you, given that one would be able to afford her fees, that is. She had accepted a few orders in Gotham and had just arrived with the delivery. Sure, the clients may have been Oswald Cobblepot, Ra’s al Ghul and Carmine Falcone, but she was trading completely legally. Jeongyeon just read the names of the buyers and decided it was reason enough to strike, the knobhead didn’t break anything, at least. Jihyo was pissed, slapped the duo with all the legal paperwork for the pieces and had them pay for her team’s bills.

 

After that, Jeongyeon decided she had too much money just laying around and started hiring Jihyo’s services. Chaeyoung couldn’t be happier, she let her inner art flourish and asked for the most absurd things. But Park Jihyo wouldn’t be Park Jihyo if she didn’t deliver, no matter how impossible the request seemed, she delivered. Her reputation depended on it and she wasn’t about to be caught slipping. Then, Jeongyeon thought to show everyone her new collection and threw a ball for anyone wealthy enough to be there, and some party crashers.

 

One of those crashers was Sana, she was enticing, later Jihyo learned it was pheromones, beautiful under the chandeliers and her green dress was sinful. That red hair glowing as she moved and her smile were Jihyo’s doom, she found herself powerless when the woman asked her to dinner. The next evening, Sana was picking her up in front of her hotel and after that one dinner, Jihyo found herself being stripped and pushed against a suspiciously big leaf at one of Gotham’s rooftops, she didn’t pay much attention. 

 

“You are very energetic.” Sana huffed, completely satisfied.

 

“I do try my best.” Jihyo shrugged happily. “But where are we?”

 

“I figured you wouldn’t pay much attention to that.” The taller woman giggled. “This is my home. Also known as Gotham’s garden.”

 

“Oh, this is a greenhouse, then?” The art dealer looks around. “And I’m guessing we’ve been ing on one of your kids?”

 

“You are taking this better than I thought you would. But you could say they are my kids, yes.”

 

“That is kind of weird. Regardless, I should get going.”

 

“Oh, I didn’t think you’d be the kind to dine and dash.”

 

“Don’t be crass. I have to be on a plane in three hours, I’ll be back in about five days to a week.” Jihyo chides as she finds her clothes. “I promise to treat you once I’m back.”

 

“I’ll hold you to that.” Sana hums, watching the other. “Any clues as to who your next client is?”

 

“Oh, you can tell Mina it’s the assyrian collection for Cobblepot.” Jihyo offers over her shoulder. “No need to look at me like that, her leather suit might fool your thugs, but I always place good cctv on my storage units.”

 

“I’ll tell her, then.”

 

“Make sure to mention that I don’t have a problem with her taking it from Cobblepot, just wait until it’s out of my hands.” Jihyo chuckled and kissed the other woman’s forehead.

 

“Don’t leave me waiting.”

 

“I would never dare.”

 

With that, Jihyo leaves. They meet whenever she is in town, if rich people are paying her to bring them old pieces, she doesn’t have a problem sticking around longer. Between dinners and escapades, it was hard for the art dealer to keep herself from getting attached. Sana was obviously not as committed, she was casual about everything and made herself clear that this was not a relationship. Still, Jihyo hoped, foolishly, that something could come out of it. Until an unassuming afternoon when the one Sana had been waiting for returned.

 

“Hey, love! I’ve come back to you!” A tall woman says as she enters the greenhouse.

 

“Nay! You look great!” Sana squealed and ran to the new arrival.

 

Jihyo was confused for a few seconds, but making a career of dealing with people, she learned to pick up on things fast. It was clear that they were together, Jihyo had her walls back up immediately, she put on her professional persona and sat back down looking completely poised. They had been discussing a piece Sana really wanted, and Jihyo said she could try and get it, but would have to check if it was available first. She busied herself with the papers they had been looking over while the other two went through their reunion.

 

“Oh, you have someone over.” The new arrival notices.

 

“Oh, that’s Jihyo.” Sana introduces cheerily. “Ji, this is Nayeon.”

 

“Im Nayeon, pleasure to meet you.” She extends a hand.

 

“Park Jihyo. The pleasure is mine.” The shorter woman shakes the hand she was given. “I’ll leave you both to it, then. Sana, we can finish discussing your purchase whenever you are free. I’ll be in Gotham for a bit longer, so drop by the warehouse whenever.”

 

“Wait, you don’t have to leave on my account.” Nayeon argues.

 

“It’s alright, ms Im. I’m sure you both have much to catch up on, so I’ll go ahead and attend to other business.” Jihyo dismisses herself. “Excuse me.”

 

“I’ll talk to you later, then!” Sana sounds a bit disheartened, probably not. “Good luck.”

 

“Thank you, and I’ll text you when I’m leaving if you haven’t shown up yet.”

 

With that, Jihyo leaves. She was visibly hurt, but Nayeon didn’t understand why, and Sana didn’t want to acknowledge anything just yet. Say what you want, but Nayeon’s qualifications were still valid, she was a psychiatrist and a great one at that, the behavior displayed told her a lot. But she was just back in town and wanted to spend some time with her girlfriend, no matter how open their relationship was, they were still each other’s. This Jihyo woman will have to wait a bit longer.

 

Two days is the time that it took for Sana to show up. Jihyo made herself scarce, she knew when to leave and the moment dr Im showed up was when the deal was over. Not that the other woman tried any contact either, she didn’t expect any, but still a text would’ve been nice. Regardless, Sana and Nayeon walk into her warehouse in the middle of the afternoon, holding hands and trading kisses, giggling like high schoolers. Jihyo had been unboxing a few pieces, she was on her work overalls and those steampunk goggles she loved so much, adorable was the word that came to the couple at the scene.

 

“Sana, dr Im, this is a surprise.” Jihyo greeted, once they got close enough.

 

“Why is she Sana and I’m dr Im?”

 

“I thought it would be more respectful to call you by your title. And we haven’t even spoken yet, I’m not sure I’m qualified to be on a first name basis.” Jihyo shrugged.

 

“Well, you can call me by my name too!” Nayeon decides.

 

“Alright, then. How about you both head to my office and tell my assistant what you’d like to drink while I get out of these clothes?”

 

“Will do, don’t leave me waiting.” Sana winks, trying to get a favorable reaction.

 

“I won’t be long.” Jihyo says curtly. “I’ll be with you in less than ten minutes.”

 

As the smaller woman excuses herself and heads to the back of the warehouse, Sana looks a little saddened and Nayeon is intrigued. Maybe there was more to this than simply keeping each other warm while she was away. Alas, they head into the office, too fancy for a port warehouse, but if Jihyo was dealing with the rich, she would need the luxury. Nayeon looks around while they wait, Sana just took a seat, she’s been to this office many times. The taller woman finds a lot of information while roaming, she commits them all to memory, maybe she’d have a conversation with this girl later.

 

Jihyo indeed isn’t long. She looks like she was never in those dirty overalls, with her hair combed back, crisp white shirt and suit pants, she is putting on her watch as she enters and it looks too y for an ordinary action like that. Nayeon could see why Sana had been interested in this woman, maybe they could work something out soon, she too wanted a piece of that. Once the shortest one sits down behind the table, she pulls out a tablet and gestures for the other two to have a seat as well.

 

“Well, Sana, as we discussed, the pieces you are interested in might take a while to obtain.” Jihyo begins, turning on the tv on the other side of the office and projecting the images there.

 

“But you can do it, right?”

 

“I can try. But I can’t promise that the current owners will want to sell. That’s the main reason I take half the payment beforehand and half on delivery.” Jihyo explains calmly. “But I always try my best to make the transaction happen, and be fair to both parties.”

 

“That's all I can ask, honestly.” The red head agreed.

 

“How about you, dr Im? Anything you might want to purchase?”

 

“Oh, I don’t really buy anything.” Nayeon throws casually. “But you got a nice business going on here.”

 

“Well, there are some things that not even ms Myoui can get her hands on without getting caught. And there’s where I come in. Some items are just that difficult to acquire by any other means.”

 

“Mysterious!” The oldest gets excited. “Tell me, what exactly is it that you do? I know you get rare things but I didn’t understand when Sana tried to explain.”

 

“Mostly, I deal with art. Which is understandable because rich people love to show off pieces they have no understanding about. But I can get pretty much anything, no matter how rare it might be, I can find it and bring it to you.”

 

“Let’s say I want an item that stopped being produced twenty years ago and nobody who owns it is willing to sell.” Nayeon proposes.

 

“If the item exists somewhere in the world, I can find it and, most likely, get it for you.” Jihyo explained kindly. “Of course, it depends whether the item actually still exists. If it’s something that stopped being produced and was recalled and destroyed, not leaving a single unit behind, then I’m sorry, it simply doesn’t exist.”

 

“Understandable. And you sure you could get it?”

 

“So you do have something you want.” The trader smirked knowingly.

 

“Well, yeah. Everyone wants something.” Nayeon tries to look innocent.

 

“Tell me what you need and I’ll see if it’s possible to get it for you, dr Im.”

 

“Tell Jihyo what you are thinking about, love. I’m sure she can look for it, at least.” Sana encourages.

 

“I’ll think about it” 

 

“Whenever you are ready, dr Im.” The shortest woman nodded. “Now, if you both don’t mind, I should return to my tasks. Mr Savage will be arriving soon and I must get his pieces ready.”

 

“We’ll leave you to it, then.” Sana gets up and pulls the other with her.

 

Jihyo cordially accompanies them to the door, then quickly makes her way to the dressing room to get back into her overalls and finish going over the pieces. She knew that whatever was going on with Sana wouldn’t go anywhere, but it still leaves a sour taste in to actually see how little she meant in the end. Alas, she didn’t need to be here, she had been needlessly extending her stays but now she wouldn’t keep lingering around like an idiot as she has been. There wasn’t much time to keep wallowing in self pity, mr Savage was due to arrive in less than two hours and she still had three pieces to encase before that.

 

Nayeon showed up alone two days later, she looked a bit sheepish but her eyes said she had made a decision. Jihyo was, once again, putting some pieces in their assigned glass casings, but noticed the new arrival almost immediately. The trader did the best she could to dust herself a bit before greeting the other woman, but she had been handling a few items from Egypt and it’s very true when people say that sand gets EVERYWHERE. 

 

“Good afternoon, dr Im. Could you wait for me at the office? I’ll just get out of these overalls and come to you.”

 

“No problem, I’m not in a hurry.” Nayeon agreed and headed to the office.

 

Jihyo indeed didn’t take long, she reappeared looking like she was never covered in sand at all, in merely minutes. 

 

“Thank you for waiting, dr Im. What can I help you with?”

 

“You said that if the thing exists, you can get it, right?”

 

“I said that if the thing exists I can try to get it. I can’t make promises about things that might depend on the good will of others.” Jihyo explained as she took a seat.

 

“Well, I want my former uniform and mallet.” Nayeon blurted out. “They should be in possession of the Arkham Asylum or the police, I don’t really know where they kept them.”

 

“I can give it a try.” Jihyo noted down a few things. “Again, no promises, but I’ll do my best to locate and retrieve them.”

 

“And will you be in town for long?”

 

“I don’t know, dr Im. Maybe a couple of days to finish my deals here and find your items.”

 

“You should take Sana for dinner.” Nayeon suggested casually.

 

“I don’t think I should, dr Im.” Jihyo clearly set another boundary right then. “It’s not appropriate for us to meet outside business, and all discussions are already over. I’ll retrieve her items and inform her of when to get them.”

 

“She likes you, you know.”

 

“I try to be on my clients’ good sides.”

 

“And you like her too.” Nayeon isn’t deterred. “Just go out with her?”

 

“That isn’t a possibility, dr Im.”

 

“You can stop calling me dr Im too. It’s alright that you both have whatever you two have, you know.”

 

“There is nothing to be had, doc. Don’t worry.”

 

“I’m not worried, you are.” Nayeon looks pensive. “And Sana is getting worried too about how you are behaving.”

 

“How would I be behaving for her to be worried about anything? She placed an order and I'll do my best to deliver. Then I’ll move to the next client and life goes on.”

 

“Is this because you are insecure? Or maybe because you got intimidated when I arrived?”

 

“I assure you it’s nothing of the sort, doc.” Jihyo dismisses it honestly. “There simply wasn’t anything there and the time for it to end came.”

 

“You know as well as I do that that is bull.” The older woman gets annoyed.

 

“Is it? From where I’m standing, we had a bit of fun and that was that. Honestly, she was clear from the beginning that whatever that was, there would be no strings attached.”

 

“Was she? And she never gave you any indications that things might have changed?” Nayeon doesn’t really believe it.

 

“Nayeon, look.” Jihyo sighs. “We went out, we ed and there could have been something. But I’m not a mind reader and she was clear that there was no deeper connection there. I was told from the beginning that nothing would come out of it and I accepted it.”

 

“And now I’m back, you got out and that is that?” Nayeon seems to understand.

 

“Now you are back, I’m certain this arrangement I had with her isn’t going anywhere anymore and I’ll be leaving you both alone.”

 

“Fine, be like that.” The doctor huffs. “Just go to a last dinner with her and talk, then!”

 

“There is no need for any lasts.” Jihyo stands her ground, making it clear she won’t give in. “It is what it is and it’s pointless to insist on something that was never there.”

 

“This isn’t over.” Nayeon declares, jumping from her seat and leaving.

 

Jihyo can only put it out of her mind, she goes back to her work and makes a few calls to locate Nayeon’s items, turns out, they had already been put up for auction and she knew the one responsible for it. A few calls and Jihyo was scheduling a meeting with the auctioneer to discuss purchasing the items before they went to auction and, as most times, she just had to say the right price and they were hers as soon as the transfer went through. Now Jihyo would have to deal with Nayeon again…. Good times.

 

The good part of being an international dealer was the international part. Jeongyeon had given in and finally made her request, the one Jihyo had been trying to coax out of her ever since the vigilante invaded her warehouse. So now, Jihyo would be heading to Vietnam to see if she could find the trail. Before that, she would be dealing with Nayeon, her items had already been retrieved and there was no reason for Jihyo to keep stalling with this deal. Of course, Sana came along, but this time the trader was ready, she had been waiting for them to arrive, looking as flawless as she always did when working. Nayeon immediately looked disapproving and Sana was visibly disheartened by all the professionalism. The couple sat down after asking for their drinks regardless, and Jihyo also asked her assistant to tell the boys to bring in the chest with Nayeon’s things.

 

“Well, I was able to recover everything.” Jihyo announced happily. “You will find that there is more than you listed, but the chest and the entire contents were listed under your belongings, and I opted to re-purchase them all.”

 

“Oh, that’s good news!” Nayeon sounds excited. “How much will that cost me?”

 

“Not as much as you might think. Here are the papers from the auction house.” Jihyo passed over a small folder. “And my fees aren’t that high. You’ll find them on the last page, along with the total.”

 

“Five hundred grand is actually reasonable. Let me just take a look at everything you got.” The oldest gets up to inspect the box that had been just dropped.

 

“Feel free to look through everything.” Jihyo offers cordially. “Just keep in mind that they aren’t yours right now, so I’ll ask you to refrain from damaging anything. You can do as you wish after we sign the papers and you transfer the money.”

 

“Don’t worry, I just want to check on my extras.” Nayeon was already distracted.

 

“You haven’t texted at all.” Sana says softly.

 

“I figured you’d be busy. Also, was there a real reason for contact? I told you that it would take a while to locate your items, and hers just happened to be in Gotham.”

 

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” The taller woman is frustrated. “We used to talk all day long. You would send me silly selfies and complain about your clients. I would answer with sillier ones and talk about my babies.”

 

“Now you have Nayeon for that. You both live together, I’m sure talking in person is much more enjoyable. Also, you saw me just the other day.” Jihyo remains unavailable.

 

“I see you are still stubborn about it.” Nayeon comments distractedly. “Just go out like you used to, what’s the problem?”

 

“Like I said, doc, you are here now and I’m sure you and Sana are doing just fine with each other.” Jihyo rubbed her temples.

 

“You got all the items I thought I’d never see again, so I’ll happily pay whatever you want.” Nayeon announces, closing the chest. “But you should really talk to Sana.”

 

“All I want to know is why you suddenly disappeared.” The mentioned woman begged.

 

“I didn’t disappear at all.” The trader states simply. “You were completely clear when whatever this was started. There would be nothing but the physical part.”

 

“Why are you so stubborn about everything!” Sana is frustrated.

 

“I’m not stubborn about anything. I’m merely following your rules. You said, and I quote, that ‘we are just having fun for now, don’t think too much and just enjoy while it lasts’.”

 

“Oh, wow.” Nayeon exclaims as she takes a seat. “There was a lot I didn’t know about all this.”

 

“Want me to tell you all about it, doc?” 

 

“If that means you’ll talk about it, then yes. I’m all ears.”

 

“You see, doc, your girl approached me during a dinner party when little Yoo was showing off the pieces she got for her girl. We went out to dinner, we ed, then I had to leave for a few days. When I got back, she hit me up and we started going out and ing whenever I was in town.” Jihyo is very blunt and still unavailable. “That afternoon you arrived, we had been talking about what she wanted. The moment she laid eyes on you I understood that our little fun on the side would be over. Then I simply walked away and now we are here.”

 

“Fair enough.” Nayeon sighed. “So that’s how you see everything?”

 

“It’s how things are, doc.” Jihyo cut in, not allowing any objections. “I did as I was told and respected her own wishes, why are you both so insistent on this?”

 

“Because I came to like you, you idiot!” Sana blows up. “I want to keep what we had, I want to still be with you.”

 

“Well, that ship has sailed, hasn’t it?” The trader chuckled. “Had you communicated better, maybe told me you were already in a relationship. Hell, if you had even said you were rethinking what you first said when things started, maybe then I would be willing to be more understanding.”

 

“Now, aren’t you getting a little out of line?” Nayeon gets angry. “I’m sure you were hurt or whatever, but I won’t be allowing this attitude.”

 

Nayeon makes a launch at Jihyo, she was never the best at being reasonable and controlling herself. What nobody expected was for the trader to be skillful as she was, Jihyo saw the movement and responded immediately. The smaller one got out of her chair, appearing behind Nayeon, holding a gun to the woman’s temple and looking as put together and unbothered as always, like the whole thing hadn’t been a great effort on her part. Surprising, but not unexpected, seeing that she dealt with a lot of dangerous people.

 

“Now, let’s not allow our temper to get the best of us, doc.” Jihyo says, even more calmly than before. “You see, you might not enjoy what I say, but you will keep your calm and talk respectfully as I’ve been doing with you.”

 

“Jihyo, why don’t you put the gun away?” Sana tries to negotiate, seeing that her girlfriend was still stunned. “Let’s sit  back down and talk this out, alright?”

 

“You see, Sana, I was trying to talk it out. But your girl here seems incapable of being civil. You both can disagree and get angry about what I say, but you sit down and talk like adults, not lounge at me and try to do things by force.”

 

Seeing the doctor isn’t responding yet, Jihyo her gun and presses it a bit harder against Nayeon’s temple. That seems to do the trick and wake her up, but the older woman started rambling, trying to save her life.

 

“Are you going to be good and not try anything again?” Jihyo asked once she grew tired of the rambling.

 

“Yes, I’ll be good and just talk.”

 

“Good.” Jihyo says and puts the gun back into the holder, going back to her seat. “Now, I do advise against trying anything with this warehouse. It’s heavily guarded, there are three different security systems that will definitely catch you in the act, and they are programmed to send an image of you to all the buyers whose pieces are stored here at the moment.”

 

“You are very cautious, aren’t you.” Nayeon chuckled lifelessly.

 

“I’ve been in this business for quite some time, doc. One thing I learned was that, with the clients I have, they don’t fear me as much as they fear each other, so I decided I would immediately notify the others if their gods got damaged at any point. Then I’m exempted from their vendetta and they will take care of each other.”

 

“That makes a lot of sense, actually.” Sana says pensively. “Still, can we go back to you and I?”

 

“There IS no you and I, Sana.” Jihyo rubs her temples tiredly. “We had a few dates and we ed, that was that. You said so yourself.”

 

“Stop saying it like that, please.” The botanist whined. “We made love, Jihyo. I don’t understand why you just put up this huge wall the moment you laid eyes on Nayeon!”

 

“I know this might be weird for you, but it’s alright that you both were going out.” Nayeon adds gently. “I’m sorry I let my anger get the best of me. But you must have felt something for Sana, you wouldn’t be like this if you didn’t.”

 

“It doesn’t really matter what I felt, does it?! What we had is over now.”

 

“C’mon, Jihyo! Stop being like this! What is it? Was it because Nayeon got back? You wanted something more formal? Is that it?”

 

“It was because you clearly lost your interest, Sana.” Jihyo explains. “I’m french, we invented the concept of free love. I would have understood if you told me up front that you had someone. But you chose to ‘live in the moment and enjoy what was happening’, as you put it. I’m alright with that, and I’m removing myself from a situation I wasn’t feeling comfortable with. You chose the path we took, now walk in it.”

 

“Jihyo, can you please just stop shutting us out and give this another chance?”

 

“I’ll consider it.” Is the best compromise the trader could offer. “Do you need delivery, doc?”

 

“Fine.” Nayeon huffs. “I do need the trunk to be delivered, yes. I’ve already made the transfer.”

 

“Great, I see it.” Jihyo checked her phone and saw the notification “Just sign on the green marked areas and we are done.”

 

Nayeon signed everything, Jihyo gave her one copy and put the other on her file. The couple left, but the trader was just tired after the whole ordeal. Sana wasn’t very hopeful after the conversation, Nayeon was still a bit shook about Jihyo’s skill and how she sounded completely nonchalant about the possibility of killing someone in her office, like it was just another thursday. An excited chill ran through the doctor’s spine, that detached voice, the cold metal against her head, the movements so fast she didn’t even see the other woman, everything got Nayeon soaking for Jihyo.

 

The trader was gone that very evening, her plane had gotten permission to take off on an earlier spot and Jihyo really just wanted to be done with everything pending on that damned city. It was a surprise, meeting Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung in Singapore, the vigilante and her right hand weren’t supposed to know she would be making a stop there and Jihyo would need to review her security detail if those two happened to know more than just this stop. With that in mind, Jihyo invited them for dinner to get more information.

 

“You are way too paranoid.” Chaeyoung chuckled once they were alone.

 

“I believe I’m just the right amount of cautious, actually.” Jihyo argues.

 

“Nah, you’re paranoid, alright.” Jeongyeon laughs. “The trouble I went through to find this one stop on your route was unbelievable.”

 

“Did it ever occur to you that that was the point? Why are you two here anyway?”

 

“Well, you made your job sound exciting, so we decided to track down something ourselves.” The smallest offers.

 

“Swallow first, you brute!” The trader chided. “Now tell me the truth. Why are you both here?”

 

“Fine, Nayeon busted one of our operations, Savage managed to get away and we were pissed.”

 

“I’m taking a wild guess and saying she was telling you both to talk me into going on a dinner with Sana?”

 

“Actually, I don’t know what you did to her, but now Nayeon wants you too.” Chaeyoung says between bites.

 

“I put a gun against her head and was about to pull the trigger. I should have known she would like that more than get my message.” Jihyo sighed tiredly.

 

“Yeah, that should do it.” The tallest chuckled. “But we don’t want her busting our operations again, so here we are.”

 

“You can just take a photo with me and show her. Tell her the message has been passed and that I will return when I return.” 

 

“We would, if that meant she would stop. But we all know she will stop at nothing to get into your pants and I really can’t afford her getting in my way again.”

 

“What do you plan to do then, Jeong?” The trader was already feeling the headache forming.

 

“I’ll just call her and you can pass on the message yourself, that way she’ll know for a fact that we did what she asked and we can go back to our lives.”

 

Jeongyeon doesn’t wait for an answer, immediately pulling out her phone and starting the video call. She knew Jihyo would vehemently refuse, given the chance, so she just did it. Chaeyoung stopped stuffing her face for five minutes to go around the table and waited for the call to connect. Nayeon answers loudly, as expected, and Sana is there too, also as expected.

 

“Shut up, you two !” Jeongyeon barks. “Look, I just called to tell you I’ve passed on your message.”

 

The tallest one turns the phone to Jihyo, who had been gulping down her drink, fully intending on ordering another three if she wanted to get through this.

 

“Oh! It’s Jihyo!” Sana chirps.

 

“So, I’ll take it that Jeongyeon already told you I want the three of us to get together!” Nayeon says, way too loudly.

 

“She did, and I told her to just say she did what she was asked to and leave it at that. But knowing you both, you’d keep pestering her so she decided to call and get herself out of this mess.” Jihyo grumbled, slightly slurred.

 

“Oh, when are you going to come back so the three of us can go on a date, then?” Sana asked.

 

“There will be no going on dates, as I’ve been telling you both. I’ll be in contact once Sana’s items have been acquired. Goodbye.”

 

Jihyo instantly hangs up, not having the patience to have this conversation again. Jeongyeon was honestly surprised, it wasn’t usual for anyone to be able to detach themselves from Sana like that, with the pheromones and all, especially when Nayeon joined in, the doctor could be very creative during and most people would be too overjoyed about the whole thing. Jihyo was certainly very clear headed, did not show any symptom of being affected by Sana’s long lasting pheromones, and even showed clear displeasure towards the idea of getting together with those two. This kid just got a whole lot more interesting.

 

“You can ask, you know.” Jihyo offers tiredly after her drinks are delivered, promptly downing one.

 

“First off, calm down with those.” Chaeyoung stopped the second glass the older woman was obviously about to chug on.

 

“Second, there are a lot of questions.” Jeongyeon adds.

 

“Well, let’s head to a place I trust and we’ll talk there, then.” Jihyo says, downs her other two drinks and stands up like she had just had some water.

 

The vigilante duo was careful, the drinks in that restaurant were strong, and Jihyo had chugged down four in a span of minutes. Sure, she was walking fine, didn’t even slur, and seemed to know where she was going. They followed in silence, arriving at one of those old buildings, Jihyo stepped up to the door, knocked on a pattern that neither could pick up under the street noise. A window opened, the trader had a full conversation in Tamil, which impressed both her companions, then passed some sort of card to the person inside and the window was closed. 

 

Chaeyoung drew in a breath to speak, which one look from Jihyo made her release instantly. They waited for a few more minutes and the door opened, four burly men and a beautiful woman were standing on the other side. The woman was also speaking in Tamil, which the vigilantes only recognised but didn’t understand a single word of, and Jihyo talked to her for a while before all reverted to english to talk to the other two.

 

“Welcome to the traders guild.” The beautiful woman gestures them inside.

 

“Don’t touch anything, don’t look anyone in the eyes and keep your mouths shut!” Jihyo warns under her breath as they follow the woman inside.

 

The armed men flank them on both sides, just a reminder for the unknown women to keep in line lest they want to be shot down where they stood. It seemed that everyone inside knew each other, Jihyo had been greeting everyone they passed, still in Tamil, and even made quick conversation here and there as she passed. It was clear that she was on friendly terms with pretty much everyone there. Jeongyeon was only making sure Chaeyoung would keep her head down and mouth shut for now, she really didn’t want the men accompanying them to have a single reason to use their guns.

 

After a quick stop at what looked like the reception, the three are guided to a room, three floors down, Jihyo constantly throwing them sharp looks that would remind both to be on their best behavior. The beautiful woman, whom Jeongyeon just realized she didn’t know the name of, opened a door, handed Jihyo the keycard and waited for them to get inside before leaving with her scouts. The trader made sure to lock the door, there was an electronic lock on the inside. It was probably what the print scanner Jeongyeon saw from the outside was for. Only then the trader seemed to relax.

 

“Alright, speak up.” Jihyo offered as she made her way to the minibar.

 

“Before anything, this place is just amazing!” Chaeyoung muses, starstruck.

 

“Well, it’s not like you two would be able to enter again. And I happen to trust this place fully, so it’s easier to bring you both here so we can air out everything than following you to your hotel room.”

 

“What do you mean?” The shorter one looks confused.

 

“Doesn’t matter, just say whatever you have to say and I’ll call reception so you both can be escorted out again.”

 

“Is it really needed?” Jeongyeon whined a bit.

 

“Of course.” Jihyo says simply. “Regardless, you two said there were many questions, now is when you ask them.”

 

“Alright, first off, why did you come to Gotham to begin with?”

 

“Impatient as always, Chae.” The trader chuckled. “Well, despite my reputation, I do enjoy a challenge here and there. Mr Savage requested a very interesting item, very rare and very hard to change ownership of.”

 

“What was it?” The tallest couldn’t help herself.

 

“Well, now. Ms Yoo, a lady doesn’t trade and tell.” Jihyo waggles her finger. “It’s part of the business to be discreet, and I do have quite the reputation to uphold.”

 

“Fine!” Jeongyeon huffs and crosses her arms petulantly.

 

“Also, why did you go out with Sana?” Chaeyoung cuts in. “I mean, she’s beautiful, but she isn’t one of the nice ones.”

 

“Well, I’m not a nice girl myself.” She shrugs. “I mean, I do all my deals legally, but it’s not like all those deals happened in pristine settings.”

 

“Sure, but Sana screams danger.” The smaller one insists.

 

“Yeah, but it had been too long, and like I said, she’s beautiful.”

 

“Alright, and why did you stop when Nayeon came back.”

 

“Well, I do have a rule that I will never again be a third party, no matter what that might mean. I didn’t know about Nayeon until the very moment she showed up and Sana jumped on her and started saying how much she missed her.”

 

“And how did that rule come to exist?” Jeongyeon got interested.

 

“It’s a personal rule and I’ll be damned to break it for them. It was alright while I didn’t know Sana had someone. After all, I didn’t know.” Jihyo goes over to the bar to get herself some more liquor. “But the moment I saw that she was attached, I was out. It’s non negotiable, so I stepped away and put my professional wall back up.”

 

“Fair enough. But how are you not subject to her pheromones?” The older woman was very curious, having experienced those first hand.

 

“Oh, I don’t have a sense of smell.” The trader sits back down with a glass and a bottle. “Her pheromones are activated through scent, and I don’t smell anything.”

 

“What?” Chaeyoung is very surprised.

 

“Well, I lost it after a bizarre accident that chemically burned my nose receptors, or something to that effect. It’s been years, though.”

 

“Can you tell us more about that, then? I mean, you always smell so good!” The younger one insists.

 

“I can, but I shouldn’t. And I had my sense of smell at some point, so I just rely on the smells I’m already familiar with to choose my perfumes and try to take, at least, two showers a day. Whenever possible, I mean.”

 

“So, you’re telling me that all those different and alluring scents are all committed to memory?”

 

“I don’t know what else to tell you.” Jihyo shrugged noncommittally.

 

“Alright. I guess there isn’t much more to ask.” Jeongyeon groans as she stands from the sofa. “The other questions I had became useless once you revealed you can’t smell.”

 

“Alright, we should go. Maybe we can get to Istanbul today.” Chaeyoung gets to her feet as well.

 

“I’ll call reception to you two out. Also, I’d appreciate it if you two kept this conversion to yourselves. I don’t need nor want more people knowing of the personal information you just discovered, nor about this place.”

 

“Our lips are sealed.” Jeongyeon promises with an easy smile as they leave.

 

Jihyo had to go up to reception and return the key card she had been given, those were only for guests, to monitored rooms where they could talk. Members would just scan their prints and if the door opened, that meant they were allowed in. The access level each member was given depended on many conditions that would be fulfilled along their journey with the guild. Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung leave quickly, both looking incredibly uncomfortable about the armed men.The beautiful woman who had been guiding them turns to Jihyo with a smile as soon as they are back at the reception.

 

“Those two are interesting.” The woman says in Tamil.

 

“They are annoying, that’s what they are.”

 

“C’mon, Hyo. They came all the way here to talk and that’s how you talk about them? Your friends should get a bit more love from you.”

 

“They are not my friends, they are meddling clients.” Jihyo says roughly. “You should be perfectly aware that I don’t do friends, Lalisa. I brought them here because your eyes had been following them from the airport and it would be faster to just allow you to have them on your ground.”

 

“Don’t be like that, you know it’s not like that.” Lisa drops her smile.

 

“There is nothing that would make me think otherwise. Regardless, I’ll retire to my room. I should be out sometime through the night.” Jihyo responds curtly and walks off. 

 

Lisa watches her go with a sad smile. They had history, a heavy history, and from what she watched happening in that room today, Jihyo was still deeply hurt by it all. It’s not a simple thing, nor is it easy to fix, the Jihyo they knew had been broken beyond repair and none of them could even get close enough to try and fix her anymore. They had been the reason for Jihyo’s sense of smell to be gone, the reason for her to abstain from any relationship at all, and especially with more than one person. But now it seems to be too late.

 

Jihyo returns to her room and gets yet another drink, it was how she shut her mind off to sleep. The trader wasn’t normally a heavy drinker, or a drinker at all, but sometimes she needed the release and drugs weren’t her thing, after the accident she swore to never rely on chemicals again. While Jihyo sleeps and dreamless and restless sleep, two people meet right outside her door. The good thing about the guild was that each member’s room would only open for it’s owner while in use, so for anyone other than Jihyo to enter her room while she was at said base, they’d need her. 

 

“How is she?”

 

“As well as we could hope, Chae.” Lisa sighs.

 

“And did she talk to you at all?” Chaeyoung asks hopefully.

 

“She talked about her guests, and they looked like they wanted to be friends to her.” There’s a grieving pause. “But we both know how she feels about relationships, be them what they may.”

 

“I just want her to be alright again.”

 

“That’s what we all do.” Lisa wipes away a tear. “I just hope she will find the right people to hold her hand on the way.”

 

“It should be us, we held her heart and shattered it so badly that she still can’t be human with anyone.” Chaeyoung lets herself cry freely.

 

“Yeah, we held her heart. But nobody could have guessed how things would turn out. There was a lot out of our hands.” Lisa tries to bargain.

 

“Maybe there was, but that doesn’t mean we made the wrong choices and what she is now is entirely our doing. We messed up the most beautiful soul I’ve ever met and I’ll carry that burden for the rest of my life.”

 

Lisa doesn’t say anything else, just hugs her wife tightly and walks them to their room. It was always like this whenever they discussed Jihyo, just sadness and regret all around. The young girl with bright eyes, hopeful dreams and the biggest heart died because their group went about everything the wrongest of ways. The four of them killed that young girl, damaged their good friend irreparably, and brought forward this almost mechanical Jihyo, who denies herself feeling, refuses to allow any type of human connection fearing she would be used as they did again. It’s heartbreaking, but there was nothing they could do unless Jihyo allowed them.

 

Jihyo knew that if Lalisa was the one coordinating this branch, her wife would also be here. In an effort to avoid meeting the one she really didn’t want to see, Jihyo managed to get her next transportation to leave at the crack of dawn. She made her way out in the middle of the night, only a few sleepy stragglers roaming around the lounge mindlessly. She made sure to inform the front desk that she would like the housekeepers to tidy her room and left specific instructions for a few things about the task. Not long after, the trader slipped out the side door, finding the bicycle she was meant to grab and started pedaling towards the docs.

 

No, Jihyo wasn’t taking a boat, but she needed to be seen boarding one. The yacht would take her to a blind spot, where she would board another boat that would take her to another pick up blind spot and, finally, she would take the car that should be waiting for her and head out. The way to Balongan would take a while, Jakarta’s blind spot was also tricky to get to, so Jihyo made herself comfortable and rested a bit. She would need all the energy she could get if she was to drive the eight hours to Surabaya without stopping to sleep.

 

Her life had been ‘normal’ at some point. Jihyo was a newly grad archeologist, with innocent dreams and a bright future planned, until she met the first traders she ever met, that is. Two couples, working as a group, to trade rare items all around the world to bored rich people. The innocent young adult was charmed by the numbers and didn’t really think to look into much else. That would be the mistake she would regret for the rest of her life. A lot happened, more things didn’t, Jihyo found herself in an undefined relationship with one of the couples.

 

Park Chaeyoung and Lalisa Manoban were easy to fall for, but both should have set boundaries and never crossed them with their protegé. A deal gone wrong had Jihyo irreversibly broken, both physically and emotionally. The younger woman woke up three weeks after everything happened, her left tibia replaced by a titanium prosthetic, right hand immobilized after five surgeries, no sense of smell, half chemically burned right lung and completely emotionally dead. It took almost a year of intensive treatment for Jihyo to get back to socially acceptable.

 

Now, eight years later, they still have the soulless ghoul that came out of that one day when everything went to . Jihyo, on the other hand, was avoiding allowing herself to open up on purpose. She knew she had worked through everything and got over what happened all those years before. She never forgave her former mentors, no they would have to carry that burden to their graves, but she learned how to be her new self, how to live with what she had now and move forward. But the aftermath of those events forced her to set clear and unshakable guidelines to prevent anything close to that ever happening again.

 

It’s a pity, really. Nayeon seemed like a fun woman, and Sana surely had a lot of love to give. Still, Jihyo can never allow herself to get tangled with another couple again, she will take this long drive to mourn whatever that could have been, allow herself to externalize all the emotion she had kept so tightly locked inside and be back to her rational and efficient self the moment she arrives at the next checkpoint. The Mayan sculpture Jeongyeon clearly got her style from would be something difficult to find, she would need a couple of weeks at the very least, and that meant enough time away from those two to be perfectly unbothered when she met them again.