“You’re never going to call me oppa, are you?”

A wry grin, almost boyish despite him being way older than she was, flashed across his face. Yerin found herself smirking back, almost unconsciously.

“You wouldn’t be used to it if I did. ”

It was disturbingly easy falling back into old rhythms. They had been friends once, despite the difference in ages. He had been her team’s handler, checking in on them and acting as the intermediary between them and their employers. Yerin liked him, trusted him even. He was like an older brother to them, and just as beholden to their employers as they were. They had some common ground, and he often cut them some slack when they started bending the rules.

This was why Yerin didn’t immediately make a run for it, though a part of her still wanted to, deep down. He wouldn’t betray her right away, at least not at the moment. But he still worked for them, and no matter how amiable he seemed, she was afraid that she wouldn’t have much of a headstart to start running. If he could find her, how soon before the rest did?

“Relax, Yerin. I’m alone.” The man took a sip from his own cup, cringing briefly at the heat burning his tongue. He put the drink down, eyeing her thoughtfully.

“So you are alive. I thought the orders from above were just a rumour.”

“Orders?” Yerin felt a sinking dread claw at her insides. He nodded.

“The trail had gone cold years ago. No one was going to bother looking for you. We all thought you got dragged into the crypts by the deep dwellers, the blood at the caves you know?”

Yerin did know. She had been wounded, almost to death, and managed to crawl her way from the scene for some way before Yuju finally came for her. If memory served, it had been very close to one of the openings into the irradiated zones, where monsters warped by magic and radiation lived. It was one of the reasons why Seoul had never been properly reclaimed and rebuilt. Something had gone terribly wrong during the nuclear strike in the Second Korean War, and a leyline had ruptured at the same time, turning the jewel of the Han River into no man’s land.

Some people had survived the fallout though, and the magical explosion that happened thereabouts. Someone always did. They were changed, however, and following the cordoning off of the contaminated areas, they had to evolve to survive their new surroundings when the rest of their countrymen abandoned them to their fate. Humans weren’t the only ones who survived though, and there were rumours of giant rats and other mutant beasties lurking in the dark. Some brave souls traded with the denizens within, but it was always risky. Too many things saw humans as food in there, and not all of those walked on four legs.

“You got careless, Yerin. Someone saw you on live footage somewhere. All active operatives have been informed to bring you in. They know for sure you’re alive now.”

Yerin gripped the fabric of her pants tightly, feeling a chill run through her at his words. She studied his calm face carefully, calculating her odds.

“And are you buying time for reinforcements now?” 

“No, idiot.” He sighed. “Why didn’t you run when you could? You could have left Korea entirely. There are places where we don’t have any reach in. You know where those are. You could have been free. ”

Yerin closed her eyes. She knew she could have, should have, but she had been with Yuju out in the wilds for the first year during her initial recovery, and it had been all too comfortable with just the two of them. By the time she had gotten better, she should have planned an escape, but she hadn’t wanted to leave Yuju behind. And it was a lot harder planning an exit for two, not to mention having to uproot herself entirely from everything she had ever known.

So she had compromised, hiding in plain sight right under the noses of her old employers, always watchful, always careful. But even she wasn’t perfect, and clearly the chickens were coming home to roost on that decision. 

“If you didn’t want to come back, you should have just vanished forever.” Her old friend sighed, taking another measured sip of his coffee. “Now you don’t have a choice.”

“I’m not going back, Heechul.” Yerin said in a low voice. “I can’t. ”

“You’re in Incheon, . What made you think you could just come in and then leave without consequences?” Heechul shook his head. “We own this place. You should have stayed out.”

“This is Songdo though…” Yerin joked weakly, feeling cold sweat gather in her palms. She was half expecting a strike team to bust in through the entrances and haul her back anytime now, despite Heechul’s assurances that he was alone. 

“Ah yes, independent Songdo…” Heechul drawled. He tapped on the side of his cup with a spoon. “Surely you can’t be that naive, Yerin. We have eyes everywhere here too. The only reason you haven’t been spotted yet is because everyone else who used to work with you is already dead.”

“Except you.” Yerin said glumly. Heechul nodded briskly.

“Except me.” He shoved his coffee aside, leaning forward. 

“Come back with me, Yerin. It’ll go much better for you if you walk back in willingly. I can protect you a little if you do that. If they have to catch you, you know what they’ll do.”

Yerin’s throat went dry, and she gripped her mug to prevent her hands from shaking visibly. Solitary, re-education, a very thorough debriefing of whatever happened to her in the past three years. And that was the bare minimum of what she had to expect. She was the only one to break free of the classic conditioning they put all their operatives through, and she wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted to pick her brain on how that happened to prevent future accidents. Disobedience was not tolerated. She wouldn’t ever be the same again if they got their hands on her.

Heechul patted her on the arm, gripping it comfortingly for a second before letting go. He saw Yerin’s tension, knew the weight of her indecision. It wouldn’t be easy for her even if she came willingly. He was already considering the kind of stories he would have to spin if it came down to that. She would have to go through the program again, no doubt, but he would spare her the harsher interrogations if he could. They had lost too many good people over the years. Every veteran was a valued asset at this point. Surely the higher-ups could see that. They would want her alive and intact enough to serve again.

“I know you need to think about it, Yennie. I can buy you a little time, but my influence only goes so far.” Heechul spread his hands. “Their search has been centered in this region, and Incheon has always been under the tightest surveillance. You can try to run, but I doubt you’ll make it.”

Yerin glared at him, but she also heard the truth in his words. The organization had taught her everything she knew, and while she had used it so far to escape and evade any possible searchers, she was not arrogant enough to believe that there wouldn’t be other operatives smart enough to attempt reverse psychology to try and bait her into a trap. This was their home ground, and they held all the cards here. She was already caught in their web, and it was tightening like an unseen noose around her neck.

The former assassin swallowed her now lukewarm coffee, feeling it slide down like tasteless sludge. She wanted to struggle against the odds, but a smaller part of her, the part that wanted to live, was whispering at her to just give in. It would be so much easier to go back, to be a good little soldier again. Her knuckles grew white as she clenched her fists, fighting her residual programming. She didn’t want to be a pawn again, not when she already found somewhere else where she wanted to belong. 

Heechul pushed himself up, rounding the table and clapping a friendly hand to her shoulder, facing forward nonchalantly as he scanned the surroundings with a lazy but professional eye.

“I can’t stay long. You know how to find me. Don’t take too long, and be careful. ”

He left then, and Yerin stared into her empty mug, feeling like she wanted to puke. It was her worst nightmare come to life. She didn’t ever want to go back. She couldn’t live that life again. Not when she knew what it was like to be free. Never again.

But what choice did she have? Either die free, or live on as cowardly, traitorous scum. And oh god they would find out about Yuju, if they ever got their hands on her. She couldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t be the reason Yuju got captured. She knew too much. They would break her, if they caught her. 

Yerin wasn’t a brave soul, and even the bravest person would shatter with enough time and pressure applied. She had no illusions about that. She knew their methods.

The assassin squeezed her eyes shut. She had to find a way. There had to be a way out. She couldn’t just roll over and accept her fate. It was more than just her own life at stake now. Every single person on the team was in danger from her, with what she knew of them. She didn’t want to be a traitor, even if it was against her own will. 

Yerin breathed in deeply, centering herself. She wasn’t going to give up. Not just yet. They hadn’t managed to catch her after all this time, and if she had anything to say about it, they never would.

She was Jung Yerin, and she was going to survive this. Catch me if you can, ers.

Yuju drifted off into sleep even as Eunha finished singing to her, holding the younger girl's hand until the shaman relaxed enough to rest properly. Despite Yuju sleeping a great deal, she wasn't resting well, and it showed. Dark circles were heavy under her eyes, and Eunha traced the gaunt outlines of Yuju's face with her free hand, worry for the younger reflected on her face. 

"I don't think I've ever heard you sing before." 

Eunha froze, twitching a little guiltily. SinB was leaning against the doorframe, arms folded as she watched her best friend tend to the sleeping Yuju. The gunslinger still had her suspicions about the shaman, but as Yuju's condition visibly deteriorated over the last few months, SinB had shifted from outright hostility to some form of sympathetic concern. Yuju was still her friend, and even if what she could do was scary, it seemed so far that Eunha had been right: Yuju had never seemed inclined to harm them, and if anything, it seemed like she was hurting herself instead. It was something the shaman would do, but none of them had any idea how to help. It wasn't like they had much of a reference for blood mages beyond how dangerous they were. 

And of course, Eunha had been avoiding having a certain conversation with SinB for the past few days, and SinB had finally decided to take matters into her own hands. She didn't want to corner her best friend, but SinB couldn't stand the fact that Eunha appeared to be hiding some huge secret from her, a secret that Sowon apparently knew about. 

It wasn't like Sowon was going to tell her though, so SinB decided to pester Eunha about it. No secrets, they had promised each other as children. They had depended on each other ever since they were left orphaned and alone in the world, and they always had each other's backs. That trust was not so easily shaken, and even if their priorities shifted with growing up, SinB still held on to that simple childhood promise. She was a lot more sentimental than the image she projected, though she'd probably beat your face in if you ever suggested it to her. 

"Not in this lifetime, no." Eunha ran her thumb over the back of Yuju's hand, reluctant to let go, but she knew they couldn't have this conversation here where it might wake the poor girl. She planted an affectionate kiss on Yuju's forehead before carefully extricating her hand from the shaman's grasp. It was surprisingly difficult, because Yuju was holding on rather tightly despite being asleep. SinB made a grumpy little noise, waiting until Eunha finally managed to extract herself before the pair exited the room quietly. 

"Honestly, I don't know why you're still doing all that," SinB commented acidly, firing an annoyed glance at the closed door. "She's basically already sleeping with Yerin at night and then she's also being clingy with you…I thought better of her." 

"Yuju's not like that." Eunha defended the shaman instinctively. The mage paused, trying to find the right words. "She's having a really hard time right now, I just want to help her through it." 

SinB grumbled derisively. "Yeah sure, and you're still obsessed with her anyway." SinB eyed Eunha speculatively.

"So, 'not in this lifetime'? I think you still owe me an explanation." 

Eunha's eyes darted around evasively, then she sighed and motioned SinB over to her room. They sat down on the bed, well, more like SinB flopped onto the bed while Eunha sat on the edge. 

"Honestly, you've been acting weird ever since the whole ritual thing Yuju did to bring you back." SinB turned her head to look at Eunha, who looked pensive. 

"Did she mess with you somehow? Because if she did I'm going to kick her , blood mage or no."

Eunha laughed softly despite herself. SinB was such a softie sometimes, and she appreciated the sentiment. Taking care of each other was something they always did, and it was nice being reminded that she always had that support in this lifetime.

"She nearly died trying to bring me back, SinB. She would have died, if she didn't have that magical protection on her at the time. I owe her more than you think." Eunha prodded at SinB to make her point, and the younger girl squirmed away with an annoyed expression. 

"Yeah that part I really didn't get. You and Sowon were yelling about some kind of pact with the imugi, and then everything got really hectic and I didn't get to ask about it." SinB stared at the ceiling, recalling. Everything had happened so quickly, with things going wrong so fast that she barely had time to process the entire incident until months after the fact. She had so many questions, but didn't know how to bring them up, or even where to start asking. It didn't help that the whole thing with Yuju being a potential safety risk was also sufficiently distracting that she didn't really start thinking about it until she was recently reminded of the oddities that had surrounded Eunha ever since her little out of body experience. 

Eunha exhaled slowly, gathering her thoughts as she wondered how best to tell SinB what had happened. The past life was a difficult subject, especially since there was so much to unpack about it. She wasn't sure how much she could safely reveal without also exposing the complication of Sowon's history with SinB's past self as well. That wasn't her story to tell. 

But she also suspected that the current stagnation between Sowon and SinB's relationship was in part due to Sowon's multiple hangups from the past life, and SinB could not possibly break through that if she had no idea what she was even trying to deal with. As SinB's best friend in this life, Eunha felt obliged to help her out the best she could, though she was also loyal to Sowon as both her old commander and current leader and friend. It was a difficult place to be, but it had to be dealt with eventually. 

“It’s complicated,” Eunha began, pulling her knees close to her body as she settled further in on the bed. SinB rolled over to pay attention, propping herself up with her elbows as she rested her chin on her hands. Eunha smiled wanly.

“Do you believe in reincarnation, SinB?”

The gunslinger snorted. “Huh, don’t tell me you had some kind of vision or something.”

Eunha leaned forward, resting her head on her knees as she hugged them close to herself. Her eyes were downcast, remembering. SinB grew quiet at the look on her best friend’s face.

“Wait, you’re serious.”

Eunha chuckled softly. “I know it sounds crazy, but when I touched the orb, it brought me back to the past. I saw myself living an entirely different life there. It was me, but not me at the same time.” Eunha shook her head slowly. “Sometimes I can’t tell the difference all that much.”

SinB sat up, putting a hand on Eunha’s shoulder, gripping it comfortingly. Eunha took a moment to compose herself, before she sat up straight again, turning to face SinB.

“Sowon knows because she was there. She lived that past with me. Past me, I mean.”

SinB blinked once, and then again to process the information. Eunha waited patiently for her best friend to recalibrate.

“Wait, how long ago was this?” SinB blurted out, and Eunha laughed despite herself.

“Second Korean War, so about fifty years, give or take?” Eunha grinned a little mischievously, nudging SinB with an elbow. “How does it feel like to be crushing on a grandma?”

SinB went red and smacked Eunha with the nearest pillow, the mage squeaking and dodging to avoid a direct hit to the face. SinB waved said pillow threateningly, though Eunha just giggled and stuck her tongue out tauntingly. There might have been a brief pillow fight afterwards, and the room became quite the mess before they finally stopped, flopping backwards onto the bed side by side to stare at the ceiling.

“She’s really that old huh.” SinB commented after a moment of silence. Eunha made a small sound of assent. SinB sighed.

“Maybe that’s why she doesn’t like me. I must seem like a kid to her.” 

Eunha tilted her face to the side to look over at SinB. 

“You’re wrong about that, you know. I knew her from back then, and I can tell she does like you.” Eunha shrugged. “She’s stubborn and hung up about the age thing, most likely. She probably thinks she’s too old for you, knowing her.” Eunha paused.

“Are you bothered though?”

SinB shook her head almost immediately. Yerin’s chat with her that one time had gotten her over that particular hump. The didn’t matter, and at the risk of sounding shallow, Sowon was entirely her type when it came to looks. Plus it was oddly reassuring to have an older woman to rely on, not that she would ever say that out loud.

“Cool.” Eunha decided she should probably leave out the complication of Sowon’s history with SinB’s past incarnation as well. If anything, Sowon should be the one telling SinB about it.

As an outsider, Eunha didn’t know that much about the relationship between Hwang Eunbi and Sojung in the past, other than the fact that she actually caught them making out several times after the squad went out for drinks. It hadn’t bothered her back then, since her past self was already dating Yuna at the time, and was rather happy to see more people like her around. Though nothing concrete ever seemed to come out of it, since those two stuck to a strictly professional relationship when they were not drunk, so Eunha couldn’t be sure how far it went.

“Enough about that giraffe.” SinB grumbled, forcing her awkwardness away. She eyed Eunha speculatively.

“Let me guess, your current obsession with Yuju has something to do with your little time travelling experience?”

“I’m not obsessed. ” Eunha protested, and SinB snorted.

“Right, so your need to spend almost every waking hour with her is just you being nice.” Eunha huffed defensively at that.

“Okay fine, part of it is that she’s important to me because we were dating in the past. I was in love with her…” Eunha drifted a little, and SinB waved a hand in front of her face.

“Earth to Eunha, we’re in the present right now. Don’t get confused again.”

Eunha pushed her hand out of the way. “I know, SinB. Sowon talked to me about it too.” The mage sighed quietly. “It’s just hard, I already had feelings for her before the whole past life thing hit me, and this just makes it more difficult to keep them apart.” Eunha faced the ceiling again, wistful.

“I remember when Yuna loved me. She died to protect me back then, you know?”

“Yuju isn’t this Yuna.” SinB reminded her bluntly. Eunha smiled sadly.

“I know that. They look alike, but I can tell the difference. Yuna’s a sweetheart and an open book, but Yuju...Yuju’s more guarded. They’re not the same.”

“But you’re still going all in on Yuju.” SinB noted, scowling a little. “If you know they’re not the same, why do this? She already has Yerin.”

Eunha shook her head. “Yuju might not be Yuna but...I can’t keep myself away from her.” She smiled wryly. “The more I get to know her, the more I want to be close to her. There’s still so much I don’t know about her right now, but I want to try.” She trailed off for a second.

“And she needs me now. I can’t leave her alone. She’s hurting right now, and I can’t just watch her suffer.” Eunha paused, looking SinB in the eye.

“Not just because she looks like my old girlfriend, but because she’s Yuju. ”

SinB huffed grumpily, but didn’t say anything snarky for once. She couldn’t realistically do that when she had her own romantic hangups to deal with at the moment. Attraction was never quite rational, and Eunha could fall in love with whoever the hell she wanted. SinB worried because that was what best friends did, and if anything went wrong, she would have Eunha’s back no matter what. SinB didn’t think it was going to end well, all things considered, but Eunha was obviously set on this. She could only be there to catch her best friend if things didn’t work out.

“Relax, SinB. I’m a big girl now. I can handle myself.” Eunha assured her obviously concerned bestie. SinB looked her up and down.

“Big? Really.”

“Yah! I’m still older than you!” And then things went downhill after that, if downhill involved more pillow destruction and attempted blanket warfare. There may have been scorch marks, but at least no accidental bullet holes. They were just playing, after all.

It was nice hanging out with SinB again, just like old times. Eunha hadn’t realized how much time she had been devoting to Yuju for the last couple of months, to the point where SinB had been feeling a little neglected. It made the fire mage feel bad. SinB was still her best friend, and she hadn’t been a very good friend lately. At least SinB didn’t hold grudges, at least not after getting in a few good thwacks to Eunha’s face with her chosen pillow. 

They were still catching up with each other an hour later, Eunha filling SinB in on the more harmless details from the past life, and just generally gossiping like any pair of normal best friends would do. Eunha found herself relaxing, something she hadn’t really been allowing herself to do for a while, and it was a relief. She had needed this more than she thought.

It didn’t last though. Peace rarely did.

“Eunha, is Yuju with you?” Yerin pushed the door open after a perfunctory knock, barely pausing in her stride as tension flowed in her wake. Eunha rolled around to sit back up, turning to her in confusion.

“Wasn’t she sleeping in her own room earlier?”

Yerin took a deep breath, her fist clenching and unclenching before she finally composed herself enough to reply. 

“No, she wasn’t there when I came back. And yes, I checked under the blankets.” Yerin stated before Eunha could interrupt. The fire mage went still, considering the implications, even as SinB also joined the conversation.

“Did you check the rest of the rooms?”

“ Yes. ” Yerin hissed in frustration, gritting her teeth together. “I had Umji check the door access too. Other than Sowon leaving earlier, no one besides me used the exit in the last few hours.”

“But she was still there an hour ago…” Eunha bit her lip, a flash of guilt appearing on her face. “I shouldn’t have left her alone.”

“We’re thirty floors up, she can’t possibly have vanished into thin air.” SinB argued. She turned to Eunha. 

“And it’s not your fault either, this isn’t a war zone, you don’t have to keep an eye on her 24/7.”

Yerin ground her teeth together, knowing that it really wasn’t Eunha’s fault in this case, but still wanting to find someone to blame. She was already having a stressful enough day, and this wasn’t helping one bit. She looked over at Eunha.

“Can you try and sense her? Maybe find a trace or something.”

Eunha nodded, hopping off the bed as her eyes went distant. The trio made it out of Eunha’s room, moving across into Yuju’s room directly opposite, allowing the fire mage to pace it slowly in an effort to scan for any telltale traces.

Meanwhile, Yerin combed the room again, trying to figure out just how Yuju had left without any of the external cameras Umji left all over their apartments catching sight of her leaving the room. SinB drifted to one side, letting the two older girls do their thing. The room wasn’t all that large, and Eunha eventually snapped back to reality, a distressed look on her face.

“Her most recent trace was on the bed, and then....nothing. I can’t find her.”

“Say, didn’t she do that funky thing before when she totally vanished from sight, and you couldn’t sense her either?” SinB reminded the tense older pair before they started panicking. The gunslinger was the least affected of them, and thus still had most of her wits around her. Yuju not being exactly where they expected her to be was of mild concern, but then again, the shaman used to wander out on her own back when they still lived in the Underground. As someone who was equally, if not more restless, SinB understood the urge to explore. 

Then again, having a full fledged blood mage go MIA was probably dangerous to everyone else, though SinB had cautiously determined by now that Yuju most likely wasn’t going to hurt them. But the fact that a potential loose cannon was out there without supervision was still a problem. Yuju needed to be found, and quickly. Too many things could go wrong in her current state. Eunha had shared some of it with her earlier, and even SinB was somewhat concerned that Yuju didn’t seem to be completely in her right mind.

“She did…” Yerin trailed off. “So she could still be around, but we just can’t find her?”

“Assuming she didn’t leave the place when either you or Sowon opened the door earlier.” SinB shrugged, leaning against the window. Her elbow brushed the frame, and she turned to look at it.

“Hey guys, do you tend to leave the window unlocked?”

“No.” Eunha and Yerin said at the same time, and then both of them moved towards the window. SinB had turned by then, and was working the window open. It slid upward without any resistance, a sign of frequent use.

The three of them looked at each other, and then SinB peered out of the window.

“We’re thirty floors up.” The traffic on the roads below looked almost like toy cars in the distance, they were that high up. A stiff wind howled outside, messing with SinB’s hair before she withdrew her head.

“Yuju’s afraid of heights.” Eunha muttered, and Yerin nodded with her.

“But she’s still missing, and her room door never opened after you two left.”

They stared at each other again, then looked back out of the window in unison.

“Remember that time when she did that thing to save us from falling to our deaths?” SinB said suddenly, still transfixed by the window and everything it implied. Yerin winced.

“Yes, and you, by the way. If you wanted to die so badly, you didn’t have to drag me with you.”

“It worked out fine anyway, and I’d like to see you come up with something better.” SinB waved a hand dismissively. They had gotten cornered on the 30th floor by a whole security squad, cut off from the rest of the team. The rest could never have gotten to them in time, and SinB took the only possible way out -- through the window, after noticing that Yuju was in the opposite building and watching them with a certain amount of horror as they smashed through the glass.

SinB didn’t even know why she had that much confidence in the shaman that time, but that confidence had paid off. Yuju managed to call on local spirits of air to slow their descent, and the entire experience felt a lot like skydiving, except with a magical parachute instead of a physical one. Yerin had been a wreck after that, and even Yuju had been mildly annoyed with her for several weeks until Yerin recovered. SinB regretted nothing though. It had worked, and it was kind of fun, but she could never convince Yuju to let her try it again.

“You think she did that again?” Eunha didn’t seem convinced. Yerin wrinkled her nose.

“Heights make her nervous, but there’s literally no other way to leave the room without the door ever opening.”

They fell silent at that, and Yerin ran a hand through her hair, teeth clenched.

“She could be anywhere by now.”

“We’ll find her.” Eunha started, but even she sounded somewhat unconvinced. SinB shoved her hands into her pockets, eyeing the worried pair in front of her.

“What?” Yerin snapped. SinB shrugged.

“What if this isn’t the first time?” The other two hesitated, and SinB continued.

“There’s no rust on the hinges, and it opened way too easily. Even I don’t open my window to keep the dust out, and it’d squeak if I tried it now…” SinB trailed off, looking meaningfully at the older pair.

“One of us is always with her though…” Eunha began, then looked over at Yerin, who was also pondering SinB’s words.

“Yes, but even you have to sleep sometime.” SinB jerked her head at Yerin, who tensed.

“I would have known if she left…” Yerin whispered, though her face paled a few degrees. SinB cocked her head, driving her point in with ruthless efficiency.

“And she’s a mage. If she wants to make sure you stay asleep, it’s not that hard.”

Yerin bit her lip. SinB was right. Little details fell into place in her head, details she had chosen to overlook over the past couple of weeks, all because she didn’t want to question her puppy. Yuju had been acting oddly for far too long, and she had been giving her the benefit of the doubt all this time. On hindsight, perhaps she should have pushed a little harder. Something was deeply wrong, but they had no idea what it was.

“So what do we do now?” Eunha worried aloud, and SinB spread her hands with another shrug.

“Wait, I guess. If this has happened before, she has always come back before anyone noticed.” SinB pulled the window shut again. Yerin scowled.

“She could be in danger out there.”

SinB snorted derisively. “Please, everyone else is in more danger from her than she is from them. You two have been practically glued to her for months, ever thought she might need a little space?”

Eunha and Yerin exchanged an awkward glance, then turned away from each other. Yerin paced like a caged lion, fingers tapping on her thigh nervously, even as Eunha retreated to the bed, smoothing out the sheets distractedly. SinB put her hands on her hips, shaking her head in disgust at her two unnies.

“Well, do whatever you want. I’m gonna grab something to eat.” The gunslinger glanced over at Eunha. “You coming?”

“In a bit.” Eunha replied after a moment. SinB gave her a long look, then left, closing the door almost gently behind her. Eunha turned to regard Yerin quietly for a while, before finally breaking the tense silence.

“Are you alright?”

Yerin stopped by the window, her back facing Eunha. She didn’t reply for a long moment, and Eunha almost thought she never would, but Yerin did respond eventually.

“Were we wrong?” There was a heavy, dejected tone in Yerin’s voice, and Eunha lowered her head to study her hands.

“We just want the best for her.” Eunha said softly, pushing herself off the bed and coming to stand shoulder to shoulder with Yerin. Yerin heaved out a long sigh.

“There’s so much going on in this city right now, I just want to hide her away from the rest of the world so they can’t hurt her.” The former assassin’s shoulders drooped a little, and Eunha reached out to pat her on the arm comfortingly. 

“She’s stronger than we think, we just have to trust her a little more I guess.” 

“Do you think she’ll come back?” Yerin asked suddenly, and Eunha hesitated for a second, before nodding firmly.

“She will. We’re her family. She’ll come back for us.”

A crooked smile tugged at Yerin’s lips. “Family, huh?” She glanced over at Eunha.

“Thanks. But I think I need to be alone for a while now.”

Eunha looked at her for a moment, then nodded in understanding, backing off. Yerin’s back view looked almost lonely as she retreated from the room, pulling the door shut behind her. Eunha sighed again, turning only to see SinB leaning against the wall right next to the door.

“Took you long enough.” The younger girl straightened, firing a glance at the closed door. “You do know that’s your rival right? Why are you being nice to her?”

“Yerin’s not a bad person.” Eunha said a little defensively. The fire mage ran a hand through her short hair, collecting her thoughts.

“We might be competing for Yuju’s attention right now, but under different circumstances, I think we might even be friends.” Eunha smiled wanly. “At least we were once, in the past.”

SinB shook her head. “You’re ing weird, you know that?” There was genuine affection in her tone underneath the apparent irritation, and SinB threw an arm around the smaller girl’s shoulders.

“Come on, I wasn’t kidding about being hungry. Can’t have you starve before your precious pup comes home either.”

Despite herself, Eunha chuckled. It was good having friends. She cast another glance at the closed door. Yerin was just too used to shutting the rest of them out, and it probably wasn’t healthy for her either. She had meant everything she said to SinB earlier. 

After all this time spent in close proximity to each other, even if it was because of Yuju, Eunha felt that she and Yerin could have been friends. She did want to help the other girl, but first Yerin had to allow that to happen. Yerin’s aura had been colored in stress the entire time she had her magical sight on earlier, and it was clear that something else was also bothering her beyond Yuju’s sudden disappearance. 

But Yerin also clearly didn’t want to talk about it, and they had bigger things to worry about. Eunha worried at her lip. It wasn’t like Yuju’s sense of direction was very reliable to begin with, but if SinB’s suspicions were right, the shaman had likely been wandering out somehow and returning before anyone was the wiser. It would explain why she was so tired in the day if that were the case, but Eunha still felt like she was missing something in the equation.

Then her stomach growled, and Eunha flushed as SinB laughed somewhat obnoxiously, earning her a kick from the tiny mage. Everything could wait until she got something to eat.

The sun was low on the horizon, signalling the coming of evening and the approaching night beyond. Eunha sent out a prayer on silent wings, for Yuju to find her way home. 

It was going to be a long night.

Somewhere along the way Yerin fell asleep, leaning against the wall next to the window, so she wound up sliding down and making herself a tiny ball at that corner, but still she didn’t wake immediately despite the awkward position. 

It had been a long day for her, with every sense stretched to its limits when she was making her way back to base. Every person, every leaping shadow in the corner of her eye, felt like a potential threat and an enemy to be faced. She was already teetering on the edge when she finally made it back safely, and Yuju’s disappearance only served to push her over the breaking point.

She would have cried, but the others had been around, and Yerin had stopped crying in front of other people since she was about eight years old. Tears didn’t get rewarded with comfort, only punishment. She had learned quickly to shut off those emotions of vulnerability, replacing them with action. Only action delivered results, and results kept her safe. She had lived by that all her life, and only Yuju had managed to crack those walls for Yerin to feel safe enough to be vulnerable in her presence.

But Yuju was gone, and now Yerin didn’t feel safe anywhere. Especially not after Heechul had found her. Even in her sleep she was curled up defensively, leaving none of her weak points exposed to direct attack. She was exhausted, but still on hair trigger for action. Old instincts came back to the fore when she was stressed and under threat, and she had been one of the best graduates of the program.

It was little more than a scuffed step in her direction, but Yerin reacted instantly, shifting from unconsciousness to attack in a microsecond. Her knife was in her hand in a practiced twist, and she almost drove it right into the eye of the person next to her, only to be stopped by a heavy grip that wouldn’t budge despite her panic-fueled strength.

The fog of unquiet sleep cleared as the adrenaline caught up with her, and Yerin’s eyes widened as blood dripped from the bare hand gripping the business end of her knife. The point was barely an inch away from the tightly contracted iris of Yuju’s eye, and Yerin could almost swear she saw a fading red glow vanish into its depths.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Yerin let go of the knife, scrambling onto her knees even as Yuju tossed the knife aside, heedless of her bleeding hand, or even the fact that Yerin had just attempted to stab her not two seconds ago. Yerin was suddenly swept into an immense hug, her face buried into Yuju’s shoulder as her puppy gathered her close, shielding her from the world.

“You’re safe.” 

And that was all it took for the tension to drain from Yerin’s shoulders. The assassin sagged into her puppy’s arms, the weight of the entire day smashing open like a breaking wave against the safe harbor of Yuju’s embrace. Broken sobs punctuated the silence, and Yuju murmured comfortingly into Yerin’s ear, her back with her unhurt hand. 

“I hurt you.” Yerin whispered after a moment, her voice ragged and hoarse as she pulled Yuju’s bleeding hand up between them. The blood seared her eyes, and Yerin squeezed them shut for a second as images of death flashed into her mind. It wasn’t the first time she had hurt someone close to her. She couldn’t be trusted. How could she have hurt her?

“You were scared.” Yuju murmured, pressing her lips to Yerin’s hand holding hers. The shaman smoothed away the blood, showing Yerin the rapidly fading scar that all too quickly vanished into freshly regrown skin. “I’m fine, see?”

Yerin shook her head. “I still hurt you.” Yerin turned her face away. “I could have killed you.”

“But you didn’t.” Yuju’s voice was still soothing, but firm. The pup nuzzled at Yerin’s cheek.

“I’m sorry I took so long to find you.”

Yerin paused, the events of the day coming back to her even as her guilt continued preying on her. She turned confused eyes to Yuju.

“You were looking for me? Is that why you were gone?”

“You were scared.” Yuju repeated, pressing her forehead against Yerin’s. “And you were out there, alone.” She tapped on Yerin’s chest, where the carved talisman Yuju had given her months before still rested against her skin behind the shirt. “You were afraid, and you were calling out to me. I had to come.”

Yerin stared quietly at Yuju, speechless. She hadn’t even been consciously calling out for Yuju, but apparently her fear was enough to trigger the talisman, enough for her puppy to wander out in search of her. It was still not very exact though, because the girl hadn’t been able to come directly to her, but the fact that it worked that way at all was amazing enough. 

“It’s been hours, puppy. You were looking all this time?” Yerin swallowed, glancing out of the currently open window, where the moon had risen. The window. That they had closed earlier. A deeper unease crawled up her spine, sending cold fingers of dread running up her back.

“How did you leave? And when did you come back?” Yerin whispered, cupping Yuju’s face with one hand. Yuju leaned into her touch, purring deep in as she considered. The low hum of satisfaction tapered off into an uneasy rumble, as confusion crept into Yuju’s doe-like eyes.

“I... I don’t remember… ” Yuju clutched at the side of her head, jaw tightening as her teeth ground together. Yerin reversed the hug then, pulling Yuju’s head into her chest, rubbing soothingly at her back.

“It’s okay...take your time…” Yuju shuddered in her grasp.

“I woke up...you weren’t there...and then…?” Her voice was shaking. “I don’t know...it wasn’t me...I don’t remember…” Yuju jerked away from Yerin, pulling herself into a tight ball as she buried her face into her knees, trembling in terror from the unknown.

“Puppy? Don’t push me away, I’m here. I’m here.” Yerin’s own fears melted away in the face of Yuju’s breakdown, the assassin pulling herself together on sheer will to try and comfort her terrified pup. They were broken, the both of them, and all they had were each other in this world.

Yerin knew this. She had always known this. It was what had drawn her to Yuju in the first place, sensing a deeper pain in those faraway eyes. It had called to her, like a moth to a flame, and everything else had just fallen into place after that. That Yuju was kind and a complete darling made it impossible for her to not fall in love. No matter what Yuju did, Yerin would accept it, simply because it was her. 

“Yerin…?” Yuju whimpered, allowing herself to fall back into Yerin’s arms, hiding her face in the older girl’s stomach. “I’m scared...something is happening to me, but I don’t know what…”

“Shh, it’s gonna be okay…” Yerin soothed gently, even though she couldn’t be sure of it herself. The memory blackouts were not a good sign, and it struck a familiar chord with her. The last time something like this had happened to her, people died. At least Yuju hadn’t killed anyone...or had she?

It didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered, as long as Yuju was safe. 

“We’ll figure this out.” Yerin promised, kissing Yuju on the forehead. “You’re not alone. I’m with you. I’ll always be with you.”

“Promise?” Yuju’s voice was very small. Yerin laced her fingers with Yuju’s, gripping it tightly. With the organization on her back, it was a promise she couldn’t reasonably make. But it was a promise she wanted to keep. For Yuju’s sake, and for her own.

“For as long as I can, puppy. No one will separate us. I won’t let them.”

They held onto each other, drowning sailors in a stormy sea, huddling close for warmth and comfort. There was precious little to say after that, though they did manage to migrate over into bed, after cleaning off the worst of the blood and tears that had stained them both.

It was always darkest before dawn. They just had to grit their teeth and hang on until the storm passed them over. Yerin closed her eyes, willing sleep to come. She had to make it through. Not only for herself, but because Yuju needed her. For her puppy, she would do anything.

And nothing was going to stop her.