It was late, and Sowon trod softly as she eased the door open, slipping silently into the lower floor of their penthouse apartment.

Living in a more upscale part of town came with both advantages and disadvantages; on one hand, Sowon didn’t have to worry about getting mugged by some drekhead too high on stims to notice that she wasn’t an easy target, but on the other hand, she couldn’t get away with looking like a warrior for hire all the time if she didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb.

It was a difficult task, trying to lie low. For once, she had ditched her trademark longcoat, and with it her usual assault rifle that could remain concealed under it. She was still armed with heavy pistols though, the bomber jacket she wore as a compromise just enough to conceal them. Dark jeans and low boots completed the look, and she went for sunglasses instead of an eyepatch to hide her cyber eye. 

It would have been weird to keep the shades on when night fell, but she had wisely gone for the reflective visors that AR geeks were into as a disguise. Those folks were always connected and playing their own augmented reality games using special shades, and the average citizen wouldn’t think twice about seeing it. Sowon did know how to be discreet when she needed to be. She had not forgotten how recognizable she could be ever since that last run in with those punks at the bar. A little discretion wouldn’t hurt, especially when she was trying to rustle up information about certain contacts in the area.

The local runner community was fairly sedate, and while people came and went, the general feel of things hadn’t changed all that much in the last decade or so. Tristar still owned Incheon, and while there were other smaller enterprises to run jobs for, the big time runs either came from or were related to the megacorp dominating the area. Some people worked for them, though just as many worked for their competitors. It was just business, and the way things worked.

Information brokers and job handlers were the key to all these things running like clockwork. Ostensibly, these people were neutral, but anyone with any idea of how things worked knew that they too had their loyalties. The middlemen may be honor-bound to not reveal the identities of either side they liaised with, but at the end of the day they were still working for someone higher up. The code was not to mess with the status quo, and to never question who they worked for. Anonymity ran both ways, and it protected everyone involved.

Sowon was about all done with that, to be honest. She wasn’t lacking in cash with what the Spartans offered her following the death of the imugi, and she had invested wisely while active as a runner. Short of splurging on brand new bioware custom-tailored for her, she was set for life, however long that could be. 

And right now, she wanted answers. A more sensible part of her wanted to just leave things alone and retire in peace, but Sowon had spent too many years being kept in the dark. A little light shed on a few details wouldn’t hurt, and she wasn’t going to overturn any hornet’s nests while she was at it if she could help it. Just a bit of confirmation for her suspicions would be enough.

All things said, even if her suspicions were true, what would it change? Nothing. The dust had settled after Ulsan, the imugi was gone, and her debts to the dead were repaid. Did it really matter if her entire life after waking up into the new world had been guided and manipulated by her old comrade in arms? Maybe a little.

Seeing an old job contact fraternizing with the surgeon that had saved her life and given her first implant sparked a connection Sowon hadn’t considered before. Subsequent discreet inquiries and some data dives courtesy of Umji had only served to reinforce her suspicions. Sowon accepted that Bo-geun needed a weapon against the imugi, and her own grudges meant that she was willing to be that weapon. Their motives had coincided, and at least they were able to achieve their goals eventually. 

Still, it stung knowing that Bo-geun had treated her like a chess-piece to be moved in the correct direction. Her descent into the world of shadows had been far from inevitable, now that she thought about it. She could have been anything other than a warrior in this new life, but there was no taking back what was already done. In any case, it had reunited her with her old team, albeit in their new incarnations. Sowon could almost be grateful for the choices that had been made for her. 

As always, Sowon veered upstairs to Umji’s room, the indoor slippers she had changed into making little noise on the cold tile. It was late enough that Yuju and co had probably fallen asleep, though that was no guarantee that SinB would be in bed. The restless gunslinger was a night owl, and Sowon had honestly been surprised she hadn’t seen the girl lounging in front of the TV when she came back. 

Probably good for her to get some rest though, Sowon thought to herself, edging Umji’s door open to check in on the youngest of the team. A dim glow remained at the workstation, and Sowon shook her head quietly. She should have known Umji would still be up.

“Unnie?” The light creak of the door opening was enough to make Umji turn, but Sowon had little doubt that her baby girl had known that she was back the moment she stepped into the apartment. Umji rarely went to bed before Sowon came home, wherever home was. It was a habit leftover from when Sowon still ran jobs mostly alone, leaving Umji behind to wait for her until she returned safely. The years had gradually cleared Umji of the insecurity that still plagued her from time to time, but some old habits were hard to break.

“It’s late.” Sowon chided gently, coming into the room and rubbing Umji on the head like one would with a puppy. The hacker squinted up at her sleepily.

“You’re late.” There was an unspoken rebuke in there as well. Sowon inclined her head, accepting it. She had left a message earlier saying she would be home late, but it had run much later than she herself had anticipated. 

“You should have gone to bed first.” Sowon ruffled Umji’s hair affectionately. Umji pouted.

“Can’t, Eunha-unnie gave me homework. ” There was a slight indignance in her tone, provoking a chuckle from Sowon.

“She did, did she?” Sowon seemed amused, and also somewhat relieved. Eunha took her responsibilities seriously as always, and it was interesting to know that she remembered enough of her training as Jung Eunbi even if her body wasn’t honed to the same degree.

“It’s fun though,” Umji admitted with a yawn. Sowon tapped her on the forehead.

“Even if you do have homework, I’m pretty sure Eunha didn’t force you to stay up to finish. Now go sleep, don’t make me carry you there.”

Umji yawned again, rubbing at her eyes before holding out both arms to Sowon anyway, revealing the uselessness of the threat Sowon had just used. Not that it was really a threat to begin with, since the leader was happy to take care of her baby girl as always. She lifted Umji easily, the small hacker snuggling into her mother figure trustingly as Sowon carried her to bed.

And she wonders why I treat her like a child. Sowon thought to herself as she tucked a sleepy Umji in. At least Umji could finally sleep on her own these days. In the early years after her rescue, a much younger Umji would often crawl into bed with Sowon for comfort, and even without her memories of the past back then, Sowon would indulge her. 

Umji wasn’t quite snoring when Sowon finally left her room, but there was definitely snuffling and some under blanket shifting into a more comfy position. Sowon didn’t even notice the vaguely maternal smile on her face as she stepped quietly out, closing the door gently behind her.

“You’ve been hard to find lately.” A voice came out of the darkness to her right, startling Sowon into backhanding the shadowy figure there. Fortunately, SinB ducked almost instinctively, and the only victims of this little aside were the wallpaper and Sowon’s knuckles.

“Walk more quietly, why don’t you.” Sowon grumped, shaking her bruised hand gingerly. SinB snickered, slouching into full view with her hands stuffed in her pockets.

“Not my fault you decided to swing so hard.” SinB snarked back, removing her hands from her pockets and grabbing Sowon’s bruised hand to inspect it. “At least you didn’t break anything.”

Sowon was glad the darkness hid the light pink flush that gathered at her cheeks, and if anything, the dim red glow from her cyber eye would just mask it even better in any case. She wasn’t quite used to this version of SinB, having grown to expect a more combative and sarcastic model who bickered with her over the smallest things. 

It wasn’t like Sowon wasn’t aware that SinB had a softer side, but it just rarely showed up with how they antagonized each other on a regular basis. Granted, Sowon wasn’t trying to pick a fight, but her cool attitude seemed to rub SinB the wrong way at times, leading to the younger girl ribbing at her to get some sort of reaction. Sowon knew this, but couldn’t help rising to the bait at times. No matter which lifetime it was, she just couldn’t help reacting to this insufferable little brat. It was her greatest weakness, and she knew it.

“You should be sleeping.” Sowon hid her awkwardness with a gruff tone, trying to pull her hand away from SinB’s grasp. However, SinB didn’t let go, and it became a mini tug-of-war in the corridor as they tried not to make any noise that would wake the rest of the house up. 

“Let go, ” Sowon hissed under her breath. SinB scoffed.

“Why should I? You keep running.” The gunslinger stepped closer, making Sowon back up, until she was trapped against the wall with nowhere to go. Technically, Sowon could escape, if she were willing to come to blows with SinB, but the ex-soldier wasn’t about to hurt the other girl for no good reason. SinB seemed to sense this, and was not shy about taking advantage. The younger girl had since realized that the only way to get Sowon to talk was to make sure she didn’t get to avoid the conversation. SinB was never the most patient person, and confrontation suited her just fine. Better to get things over and done with than tiptoe around the issue forever.

“I was busy,” Sowon retorted, which while true, was also a deflection. She wasn’t purposefully avoiding SinB, but she wasn’t actively seeking out her company either. The moments they shared over the last few months when they had both been trapped at home to recuperate from their injuries had sparked a return of feelings Sowon wasn’t fully prepared to deal with. SinB was always quieter at night, when her sleeplessness drove her to wander the apartments with no obvious aim in mind, and it was during those nights where Sowon occasionally ran into her when she got up from her own nightmares. Despite their tendency to bicker in the day, they called a silent truce under moonlight, often sharing a beer while staring out at the city below, sometimes talking, but mostly just relaxing in each other’s company.

It was comfortable hanging out with SinB, Sowon had to admit. The other girl was always straightforward and hid nothing. The directness was refreshing, and even if it sometimes led to them squabbling over minor things, nothing was really left to fester. Sowon could appreciate that. There were too many secrets hidden in the shadows, and it was a breath of fresh air to be with someone who would tell you exactly what she thought with no reservations. 

It was such a change compared to dealing with Hwang Eunbi from the past, and despite SinB looking almost the same as her previous incarnation, the two were fundamentally different. Hwang was angrier somehow, guarded and prickly and likely to claw you in retaliation if you pushed her too closely about certain things. SinB had a similar temperament in some ways, but was less closed off in comparison. Sowon thought it had something to do with the fact that Eunha and SinB had grown up together in this lifetime, while Hwang...from what little she had managed to pry out from the little spitfire before, the girl had gone through a lot of crap on her own before finally joining the army. Environment shaped personality, and even if they had the same soul, they were different people with different experiences.

“Eunha told me about the past.” SinB dropped that particular bomb without any warning, knocking Sowon off-balance with the sudden info. The ex-soldier froze, teeth grinding together as her breathing slowed, staring evenly at SinB, who shifted a little nervously under her gaze.

“So you’re old. Big ing deal.” SinB raised her chin defiantly, still holding Sowon’s hand in her own. Their gazes met, and SinB held her ground. Sowon stared into her eyes, eerily familiar yet totally different, and was abruptly reminded of the time when she had to chase Hwang down after the girl had gotten into yet another fight at base. Hwang had stared at her like that too, but it had been more defensive and defiant in a different sense, much like a hedgehog flaring out its spikes to prevent anyone from hurting it. SinB was looking at her the same way now, but it wasn’t with anger or hurt. On the contrary, it was more curious than anything else, as if just waiting on her to respond.

Sowon closed her eyes, breaking off the gaze first. It was so much easier with SinB, and it made her feel guilty, somehow. She had spent so much time breaking through the walls Hwang Eunbi had built up in order to develop the trust they needed as a team, and somewhere along the way she had grown fond of the angry young woman who was hurt on the inside. Hwang was always so difficult though, and would never admit that she had a soft spot for the team leader. But Sowon had always been patient in the past, and was willing to give her time to come around.

Did it hurt when Hwang used to leave her hanging for an answer, or those times when she would just leave her alone in bed after one of their impulsive moments? It did, and if Sowon had to think about it, their relationship back then had been almost unhealthy when they didn’t keep it professional. Hwang wanted comfort, but didn’t want to commit; was almost afraid to, it seemed. And she had allowed it to happen, giving ground time and again and letting herself be used.

Sowon had gotten no closure over that even after fifty years. Gyeongju happened, and then the rest of them died, while she ended up in a magical coma and was effectively amnesiac for a good twenty years when she finally did wake up. She never got to wait for the end of the war, where Hwang had promised to give her an answer. That war was now over, and the girl she waited for was dead. She would never know for sure.

Sowon’s prolonged silence was making SinB nervous, and she wasn’t sure if she should back off or not. It just felt weird that Sowon wasn’t fighting back or anything, and it put SinB on uncertain ground. It wasn’t like she had a lot of experience with this whole relationship business. SinB was only really sure of a couple of things, one of which was that she was attracted to Sowon, and wanted to explore that. She wasn’t sure if it was going to work out, but wasn’t figuring that out part of the process? 

If Sowon knew what SinB was thinking, she would have sighed and shaken her head at the fearlessness of youth. Only those so young and inexperienced would be willing to dive headfirst into things without any concern about possibly getting hurt. Sowon was no longer the same impetuous youth of her twenties, willing to dive into a relationship with someone clearly not ready for it. How the tables had turned, and now SinB was the one chasing after her instead. Sowon would laugh, but the irony was just too much.

“What, you scared or something?” As always, SinB resorted to bravado to try and provoke a response from Sowon. The ex-soldier opened her eyes, her one biological eye dark with an unreadable emotion. It gave SinB pause, but the gunslinger only gripped Sowon’s hand more tightly in order to steady herself. If Eunha was right, she wasn’t going to let Sowon avoid the issue any longer. Action suited them, not uncertainty. SinB hated not knowing, and if she was going to get rejected, she rather it be sooner than later.

“I’m not, but you should be.” Sowon’s voice was low, almost dangerous, and SinB took a half step back almost instinctively, though she never let go of Sowon’s hand. The leader didn’t stop there though, pushing aggressively forward until SinB was the one trapped against the other wall, with the much taller Sowon towering over her with a dark expression on her face.

“You don’t understand anything. I don’t know what Eunha told you, but don’t even think about it. I’m not good for you.” You deserve better, she did not say. SinB was a good kid. She deserved someone a little less damaged, and certainly, not as old as she was. Sowon had no illusions about herself. She had emotional baggage stretching back half a century that she hadn’t even begun to unpack, what with all the life and death events that forced her to put those on a backseat while she made sure everyone survived. Sowon was a good leader and a responsible friend, but her last relationship had ended in shambles and left her with some serious trust issues to boot, and she wasn’t ready to play house with some kid who could all too easily break her heart again. 

“You don’t get to decide what’s good for me or not, dear leader.” SinB snorted, despite being cornered. As long as Sowon was responding, that was fine. It was better than silence, and it gave SinB something to work with. The gunslinger pulled herself up to her full height, which was still smaller than Sowon, but the gesture gave her more confidence, which was exactly what she needed, and she poked accusingly at Sowon’s chest.

“What is wrong with you anyway? I don’t even care how old you are, and what makes you think you get to decide how I should or shouldn’t feel just because you’re the older one here? If you don’t like me, just say it. I’m a big girl, I can deal with it.”

SinB raised her head in challenge, eyes flaring with a cocky defiance that Sowon found incredibly attractive, not that the older woman was going to admit it any time soon. There were definite similarities between SinB and her past self, and those exact qualities were part of what had drawn Sowon to them. But where she had to try and crack the shell Hwang had around her back then, SinB simply laid herself open and vulnerable to whatever Sowon’s response would be. It almost hurt Sowon to see it. SinB really was a good girl. Too good for someone like her.

“I’m not the right person for you, SinB. I just don’t want you to waste your time on me.” Sowon couldn’t find it in herself to say something cruel to the other girl, and tried to be gentle instead. It didn’t work. Of course it wouldn’t. She should have known. Past or present, neither Hwang Eunbi or SinB had ever tolerated anyone making their decisions for them. 

“ that noise. If you don’t dislike me, what’s stopping you from giving me a chance, huh?” SinB grabbed at the front of Sowon’s shirt, agitated. “And don’t give me that crap about being too old or . We could all die tomorrow, and then where would that leave us?” 

SinB’s voice softened after that, her eyes serious as she locked gazes with a suddenly stricken Sowon.

“I just don’t want to have any regrets, and we’re here now. The past doesn’t matter, and I can’t promise anything about the future. Either you tell me you hate me and I leave, or you don’t hate me, and we can figure things out from here. I just need to know... please? ”

SinB let go of Sowon’s shirt, backing off to give the obviously stunned Sowon just enough space to think and breathe, though the younger girl was also evidently tense, her shoulders and face tight with reined in emotion. She had meant every word she said, and it felt like such a relief to finally get them off her chest. She only hoped Sowon would at least consider what she had to say. She wasn’t sure if she had the gumption to do this a second time.

Meanwhile Sowon was shaken, all the way down to the core. What SinB said had hurt, but in all the right ways. She had waited too long with Hwang in the past, and completely missed the chance to get any closure out of it. She had enough regret in which to swim in for years, and SinB’s words were like a baseball bat to the head. She was here now, and the past was over. The future had yet to come, and she was still here to live in it. Everything was a possibility now, a fresh start with a clean slate, if she so chose. She even had a replica of her ex-maybe-girlfriend standing right before her, giving her a chance to try again.

And suddenly, Sowon felt a certain kinship with poor Eunha. How much harder it must have been for her, since Yuna and Jung Eunbi had actuallybeen a couple in the past, but now only Eunha remembered that relationship while Yuju had already restarted on a fresh slate. The temptation to cling on to the shadows of the past was so great, and it could so easily blur her sight of the present. A darker side of Sowon remembered the pain Hwang had given her in the past, and SinB was right here for her to repay those hurts if she so chose.

That sudden urge shamed her, and Sowon turned her face away, guilt nibbling at her insides. They were not the same person, and it was wrong to link them that way. But it was also impossible to separate the complicated feelings she had for both Hwang Eunbi of the past and SinB who stood before her now. How could she possibly be fair to SinB like this? It wasn’t right to do this to her.

A sudden hug brought Sowon out of the dark spiral of her thoughts, and she felt SinB’s hot breath against her neck as the younger girl buried her face there, tightening the embrace.

“I know I must seem like a kid to you, but I really do like you.” SinB’s voice was somewhat muffled, but Sowon could hear her well enough. The sudden confession softened her resolve, and for a moment all she could feel was the warmth of SinB’s body against her own, and the rapid pace of their heartbeats mirrored to each other.

“I…” Sowon in a deep breath, one arm curving around SinB’s waist to hold her close. It was warm, and Sowon hadn’t felt that in a long time. It wasn’t the same with Umji, with whom she had a more mother/daughter relationship. There, she had to be the strong one, the one who could be relied on. She had been that figure for far too long. Was it too much to ask to just be able to let go of things? She was just so tired of being strong. The weight of her many years was heavy, and Sowon just wanted to rest for once.

SinB could feel Sowon relaxing into her hug, and it gave her some hope. Eunha had been right after all, and Sowon really did have a soft spot for her. There were butterflies dancing in her stomach, and SinB felt nervous all over again. She didn’t actually have a plan for all this, and had just gone with her gut instinct for what to do. Managing to get this far had been quite a surprise, and now she wasn’t sure what to do next. Everything was new and confusing, but SinB was excited about it in any case. Sowon didn’t reject her, which was a great start, all things considered. She might not be sure what came next, but she was willing to learn.

“You know, I know you’re old and all, but do you really have to take this much time to make up your damn mind?” As always, SinB couldn’t help but run off at what was probably the worst possible time, but she was nervous and talking crap made her feel better. Surprisingly though, Sowon only laughed at it, slapping playfully at SinB’s , eliciting a surprised yelp from the younger girl as they separated.

“You’re such a brat.” Sowon’s tone was almost fond, and she reached out to mess with SinB’s hair with a wry smile. “But I don’t hate you. I never have.”

SinB mock-scowled at the offending hand messing up her hair, smacking lightly at Sowon’s arm but never really making a move to step away. The answering grin on her face was bright as she looked up at Sowon.

“So does that mean it’s a yes?” Her tone was hopeful, and Sowon smirked, moving her hand down to cup the side of SinB’s face, making the younger girl blush. The reaction pleased Sowon, who hummed low in while her thumb traced an idle circle on SinB’s flushed cheeks.

“If you can beat me in the ring for once, I might just consider it.” Sowon patted her lightly on the cheek, then her heel to walk downstairs, leaving a somewhat flustered SinB standing at the top with an expression somewhere between confusion and elation.

“That wasn’t a no, but it’s not really a yes, but it’s kind of a yes?” SinB muttered to herself, rubbing at her still burning cheeks. The smile on her face could probably power a whole city for a day, and it only grew brighter when she heard Sowon call out to her from below.

“If you’re not getting any sleep just yet, I’ll see you at the practice room in five!”

Well, she never got any sleep this early anyway, and even if she had any inclination in that direction, it all flew away with that invitation. SinB pumped her fist in the air in silent victory. She was so ready to kick Sowon’s right now. She had just been given excellent motivation, and to be honest, they were always so much better at communicating when they were trying to beat each other up. SinB didn’t know what that meant for them, but why mess with something that worked?

“Man, we are so ed up.” SinB muttered, but the smile never left her face even as she flew down the stairs to where Sowon would be waiting for her. She was going to enjoy this.

“Coming!”

Yuju was beautiful even in her sleep, and Yerin traced the outline of her face in the looming dark, carving the memory of it into her heart by feel alone.

She had always been a light sleeper, and the tiny ruckus down the corridor outside had startled her out of her rest. It was about time those two stubborn fools finally got round to actually dealing with the tension between them, and Yerin was happy for them. It was almost painful watching SinB pine like a lovestruck idiot, and Sowon really needed to get that stick out of her and chill. They would be good for each other, and then maybe they would finally stop using her as an intermediary punching bag when they wanted to avoid the other person. Not that Yerin minded the practice, but it could get to be a little too much at times.

Yuju stirred quietly, mumbling incoherently in her sleep, and Yerin pulled her hand back to avoid accidentally waking her. Both of them had had a hard day, and she wanted her puppy to get some rest. Watching her now, Yuju seemed so innocent in her sleep, and it was difficult for Yerin to imagine the girl ever slipping out behind her back. 

But it was clear that something was going on with her puppy, and Yerin ran all the possibilities she could think of through her head. Possession came to mind, but it would have to be some seriously insidious stuff if it could evade even Eunha’s daily scanning. It seemed too unlikely, but the other more likely possibility made Yerin feel distinctly uncomfortable.

She couldn’t quite shake off what SinB had said before. Did Yuju really need more space from them? She trusted her puppy implicitly, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but watch her constantly. Was Eunha right to say that she didn’t trust Yuju enough? Yerin couldn’t honestly answer that, even to herself.

Trust wasn’t something she had grown up with. She was raised as a spy and an assassin, a black ops agent specializing in anti-mage operations and other counterintelligence efforts. They were effectively the Inquisition in a force that actively recruited mages for their day to day work. It wasn’t the sort of environment where trust came by freely, when one might have to hunt down a colleague the next day if they were proven to have gone rogue or otherwise out of control.

Yerin knew she loved Yuju, but watching her closely came as second nature, especially after the shaman’s true capabilities had come to light. She tried to convince herself it was for Yuju’s own safety, but how much of that was true? Would she never be able to shed the remnants of her old training? If she couldn’t even trust the girl she loved, where would that leave her?

I’m the worst…  

Yerin leaned down, planting a light trail of kisses leading from Yuju’s temple down to her chin, and the shaman didn’t even stir this time. If anything, the younger girl just rolled over to cuddle more snugly into Yerin, muttering something nonsensical in her sleep. The gesture made Yerin smile, and she rested her head on Yuju’s chest, wanting to hear and feel the reassuring sound of Yuju’s steady heartbeat.

At the end of the day, a leopard could never change its spots. She would never be able to run from her past, no matter how hard she tried. It was who she was, and now it was coming back to haunt her in more ways than one.

Yerin closed her eyes. She had so little time left to make a decision on how to handle things. None of her options were great, though she had the initial outlines of a possible plan forming in the back of her mind. She couldn’t drag the rest into this, not when they could easily stay out of the way so long as they were still loosely affiliated with the Spartans. The protection of that faction still meant something around here, and she needed to leverage every advantage she could find to protect that which was important to her.

If she couldn’t escape them, she would just have to out-maneuver them. This was exactly what she was trained for, and Yerin was nothing if not one of the best they had ever produced. They had made her, and it was only right for her to repay the lessons learnt from a lifetime of deceit. 

There were hard decisions to be made, but she would do whatever it takes to protect what was hers. They had already taken her childhood and her innocence. She would give them nothing further.

Jung Yerin wasn’t here to play. There was work to be done, and she wasn’t going to back down. It was time to get her hands dirty, if only she could come home to be with Yuju once more.

Forgive me the things I have to do, puppy. I love you so much it hurts.

Forgiveness was always easier to seek than permission. She would do what had to be done, and nothing was going to stop her. Not even Yuju.

And there really wasn’t much else to say after that, was there?