Wonyoung laughed at the Japanese girl’s threat, “Hitomi, I know you’re a fraud but you’re not a murderer.”

There was a short silence followed by a series of whimpers and groans. Finally, Hitomi spoke again, “Do you really think so? Look at the video feed I sent you.”

Wonyoung’s smile disappeared when she saw the live feed. It was Yuri in a dark room, gagged and bound to a chair. A knife could be seen on the right edge of the video. Wonyoung could infer from the video that Hitomi was filming the whole thing with her phone and a knife in her right hand.

“Lookie lookie here… Our Yuri. Uri Yuri…” said Hitomi in a singsong voice. The camera zoomed in to Yuri’s expression: her eyes were closed and her body was tense, as if she was trying to avoid the danger that was looming. The danger was indeed near, with Hitomi randomly slashing the knife near the singer.

She stopped walking as soon as she was behind Yuri, who was shaking in fear. Hitomi then continued, “Do you know what they called me before I joined this crew?” Wonyoung shook her head in response.

“I was known as Crazy Cheeks, master of torture.”

“Honestly Wonyoung, I don’t really want to do this. It’s just that you have my fiancée Chaewon there with you,”said Hitomi mockingly as she circled Yuri, “and of course Heose. Or Yena. Whatever.”

Hitomi turned the camera toward her, showing a smile like that of the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. Her chubby cheeks rose up and her toothy grin was like a mask that conveyed no emotion other than insanity. “I also know that you don’t have anything to show for your guests tomorrow since you don’t have the real IZ*crystal with you, so why don’t we strike a deal?”

Wonyoung’s face was all serious when she heard the Japanese girl’s question. She stayed silent for a short time and whispered something to Yujin. When Yujin nodded as a sign of affirmation, Wonyoung confidently replied, “What have you got in mind?”

“I’ll give you the IZ* crystal for Yena and Chaewon. No bull, we’ll give you the real thing.”

Wonyoung asked, “What about Yuri then? I need her more than the IZ* crystal.”

Hitomi kept her smile and replied, “Of course. I’ll let Yuri go, but you should let me play with her at least. I imagine you had someone play with my Chaewon too…”

“Be my guest,” Wonyoung carelessly replied. “I don’t really care if you hurt her, I just need her alive.”

“Maybe… I should give her fingers a slight zing! Or just cut some of them off---”

Wonyoung suddenly shouted, “NO! NO! Don’t do that. Just give her to me safe and complete.” It was uncharacteristic of Wonyoung to lose her cool like that, which Hitomi noticed. She knew she had to pounce on this opportunity. She had already confirmed what Wonyoung wanted with Yuri.

“Show me Yena and Chaewon.”

The camera hurriedly panned out and the video feed showed that the holder was passing through a long dark hallway until they saw a solid metal door at the end. Wonyoung opened the door and the camera showed Yena and Chaewon, barely conscious but alive. Yena kept trying to look up, as if she was withstanding pain on her body, while Chaewon’s head was down but moving so slightly like she was crying.

“See? They’re alive. Any words, Hitomi?” Wonyoung asked before adding, “Heose, look at what your crew member is doing to your girlfriend.”

Yena winced while trying to look at the screen. When she saw Hitomi holding a knife near Yuri’s neck, her eyes opened wide in anger.

“Ya, Tomi! What the are you doing?”

Hitomi let out an eerie laugh and said, “Come on Heose, you can always get a new girl toy. You’re not a ing hillbilly that puts ranch dressing in everything.”

Yena struggled in her seat again but was constrained by the metal chains around her. She looked at the video with fiery eyes that conveyed every single bit of her anger. “ you, Hitomi! If I get out of here, I’m going to mince you and turn you into a burger patty!”

Wonyoung was slightly confused about the heated exchange between the con artists, so she turned the camera towards her and said, “Let’s meet tomorrow. Bring Yuri and the IZ* crystal, and I will give you the location of your beloved crew members after Yuri gives me the crystal. Is that a deal?”

Hitomi’s smile suddenly turned into a glare that could pierce someone’s soul. “If you pull some crazy on me, I’ll kill you and Yuri. For real.”

“For sure. I don’t want to piss you off more, Hitomi-chan,” Wonyoung said with a slight chuckle, “or should I say Hito-michin?” The random quip was left unnoticed by the Japanese girl, who still maintained her glare through the camera.

With a sigh, Wonyoung continued, “Let’s meet at the Jang building tomorrow at 4 PM. Just Yuri and you.”

“Deal. Don’t be late.” Hitomi hung up.

As soon as she did, Hitomi’s facial expression softened like she was on the verge of tears. She ran towards Yuri and hugged her. Suddenly, all the lights were revealing the rest of the crew running towards Yuri as well.

“Yuri, I’m so sorry. Did I go too far? Did I hurt you in any way?” asked Hitomi as she hugged the singer while her hair. Contrary to her behavior a few seconds ago, Hitomi was back to her usual soft self. Her eyes had calmed down, her voice back to the normal high-pitched sound that was music to Yuri’s ears. She repeatedly apologized to Yuri while hugging her. She had also dropped the knife and kicked it away because she did not need it anymore.

“Were you hurt? Did you get hurt by Hiichan’s knife?” asked Nako, who was standing by Yuri checking if the girl had injuries based on the ordeal. Sakura and Chaeyeon were busy trying to cut the ropes that tied Yuri to the chair, while Hyewon came into the room holding a glass of water and a bag of chips, which she offered to Yuri. Yuri accepted the food from the quiet fighter girl and took a small sip of the water to calm herself down.

“Hitomi---everyone--, I’m okay. T-thank you.” Needless to say, Yuri was overwhelmed with what was going on. She knew she had agreed to this, but she did not expect how convincing Hitomi’s act was. The phone call, the ropes, the knife; everything was part of their plan. They needed to show that Yuri was not part of the crew, nor was she looked favorably on by the crew, to know more about what Wonyoung needed from her in the first place. After Hitomi’s short explanation of the plan, she was told that this could enlighten her about some of the aspects of her father’s death. Although she was warned that it wouldn’t be pretty, she was still taken aback by Hitomi’s convincing crazy acting.

“So Yuri, did you hear that bit about Wonyoung being okay with us torturing you and then did a 180 when we said something about cutting your fingers off?” asked Hitomi, who had already broke away from the hug and was looking at Yuri’s eyes while standing in front of her.

Yuri silently nodded, “Yes, I thought that was weird.”

Hitomi nodded and said, “I guess this is the perfect time to tell you the story about your father.”

FLASHBACK

It was a slow day for Yena that day. The crew was so busy with their own roles for this con, and they were so close to completing the job. The mark was Jang Taeho, one of the dirtiest corporate CEOs in Korea. With the crew being able to infiltrate his house and workplace, it was easy to know how the old man thinks and thus fall into their trap.

Yena was sitting down in their headquarters, looking at the video feeds of Nako, Sakura, Chaeyeon, and Hitomi. Nako was walking the dogs, two of which were taller than her. Although Nako enjoyed being with pets, Yena knew that Nako was afraid of the giant pets let alone giant dogs. Nako once begged Yena to change her assignment, but that was the only opening that they had in the Jang household at that time. With Sakura being a cat person and a tech nerd, Hitomi being a psychiatrist, and Chaeyeon being the best dancer, Nako was the only one who can take on the job.

“Yena-unnie. Why do I even need to be a dog walker? I’d rather scrub toilets and clean the attic than walk a dog that’s a foot taller than me!” Nako complained when Yena told her about her job description.

“Nako-ya, dogs are the best surveillance agents. They roam around the house freely without being suspected. If we put trackers and transmitters on them, it would be the same as having multiple beacons running around the different rooms of the house. With Jang Taeho’s love for his dogs, I’m pretty sure one of them would stay in his office.”

The short Japanese girl struggled for the first few days, but quickly got the hang of it when she got acquainted better with th