Minju was exhausted when she finally reached home. After the chief had learned about her peculiar situation, she had been able to have a few days without an irregular schedule, which she both welcomed and now dreaded, Eunbi’s words now circling her head, never leaving her for a moment.

 

What if she was right?

 

What if engaging with Eunyoung had been a mistake?

 

No, it couldn’t be. They had known each other for a long time, and knew each other inside and out. They had been through everything together. Marriage was only natural, right?

 

But Eunyoung was a different person now.

 

How could they make it work a month before the wedding?

 

Trying not to torture herself any longer, she finally got out of the car and walked towards her house. Opening the door, she found her dad watching TV, the sound of gunshots ringing throughout the house. Smiling at the familiar sight, she sat next to her dad, hugging him immediately.

 

“Hi,” she greeted, getting comfortable on his shoulder.

 

“Hello,” he greeted mindlessly, his mind on the show he was watching. After that, Minju didn’t say anything, instead choosing to stay quiet and concentrate on the show to silence the thoughts in her head.

 

“Is there something on your mind?” his dad asked when the credits were rolling.

 

“Has Eunyoung come while I was gone?” she asked instead.

 

“No, haven’t seen her since she left in the morning,” he answered, turning to look at her. “Are you worried?”

 

“A lot,” she admitted, letting out a frustrated sigh. “I’m not sure what we’re going to do. She doesn’t want to go to the doctor, and she just... How are we gonna get married if she doesn’t even remember who she is?”

 

Her dad looked at her, sadly. “She’ll come around.”

 

“I wish I had as much faith as you do,” she whispered, hugging her dad tight before letting him go, standing up to leave for her room. “I’m going to my room.”

 

“Sweet dreams,” his dad said, his eyes filled with worry.

 

“Yeah, good night,” she said, walking to her room. She quietly, slowly, did her nighttime routine, hoping that Eunyoung would come while she was preparing herself for sleep. Her heart never stopped being filled with worry, not even when she was already under the covers.

 

“Maybe she already left for her parent’s house,” Minju whispered, and the thought filled her with disappointment. I mean, she probably knew she was being selfish, as her parents also deserved to spend time with their daughter, but she couldn’t help but want to know were Eunyoung was, even more so with the dangerous things she had been doing as of late.

 

“What can I even do for her?” she whispered to herself again, wracking her brains for the perfect idea to help Eunyoung recover her memories. And just like that, she had an idea. How good it was, she had no clue.

--

It was morning, and Chaewon had spent the entire night doing nothing but reading the papers she had printed at Eunyoung’s office. Eunyoung’s parents hadn’t disturbed her much, only to ask her if she has eaten (she hasn’t, but she said she had) and to ask her what she was doing (she lied about that, too). They didn’t seem to care, though. They seemed happy she had decided to spend some time there.

 

The papers contained very urgent information, which needed to be destroyed, as per Insun’s request. But before she could even do that, she needed to find the mole and make him wish he had never been born.

 

The thing is, this wasn’t even difficult. Given other clues she had found on the emailed papers, that person seemed to be hiding in a close city or town, probably with wide access to the gangs inner dealings and shell corporations’ records. This meant that either they had worked for the gang previously, and they are hiding, or they are currently working for the gang without being required to live close to them. She bet on the first option.

 

Either way, it wasn’t that difficult. She just needed to return to the newspaper, and look into this person and their previous exchanges.

 

Hopefully that meddling wasn’t there to tell her to go home.

 

The (her?) phone vibrated, signaling she had received a message.

 

‘When would you like to meet?’

 

Giving an almost imperceptible smirk, she wrote back.

 

‘Whenever you’re free’

 

‘Today? 6 pm?’

 

‘Sounds good’

 

Great, another thing to look forward.

 

Walking out of the house, but not before greeting Eunyoung’s parents (she needs, to... she is staying in their house, after all), she decides again to go walking to Eunyoung’s job to get what she needed.

 

“Oh, you’re here again?” a dude said when Chaewon crossed the door.

 

“Yeah, forgot something,” she said, walking towards the stairs.

 

“Hey!” she heard a voice and grumbled in distaste when that same man from yesterday caught up to her. “Weren’t you supposed to be resting?”

 

“Yeah, I just forgot something.”

 

“Well, I’ll be here, counting the time you stay there,” he said pointing at the non-existent watch in his wrist.

 

“Uh-huh.” Chaewon continued walking towards Eunyoung’s office. It took a while for the computer to turn on, but she started looking for the emails as soon as she could. Opening notepad, she copied every email both had exchange for what seemed to be a couple of months, to the print the document. Again, saving the papers on her jacket, she turned the computer off, and walked out of the office.

 

On her way down the stairs, she was intercepted by some woman.

 

“Excuse me? Eunyoung?” Chaewon wasn’t still used to being called another name, so her response was slower.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Uhm,” she hummed shyly. “I need to make some updates on your computer, but you put a password in it so...”

 

“Is it life or death?” Chaewon asked.

 

“W-well, no...”

 

“Then leave it like that. I don’t want any fiddling on my computer,” she said resolutely. She didn’t want the gang information to spread to anyone.

 

The woman tripped on her words for a moment before nodding, giving her a ‘hope you get better’ before climbing up the stairs.

 

‘That was weird,’ Chaewon thought, turning her head to look up the stairs. She would keep her eyes open for any suspicious thing.

 

She was about to return to Eunyoung’s house, but, in the end, decided to do something she had already mulled about. She, then, walked towards a nearby hotel. The bills she had gotten from the hidden box at Handong were going to come in handy.

 

Entering into what seemed the cheapest hotel in the area, she walked towards the counter. The lady, who had been reading a magazine, had her expression turn sour when she looked at her.

 

“Well, well, if it isn’t one of you pesky reporters.”

 

“Who are you calling pesky?” Chaewon answered bitingly.

 

“You, obviously,” the woman said, exasperated. “Or you don’t remember your newspaper’s terrible review for this hotel.”

 

“I obviously don’t,” Chaewon grumbled. “Can I have a room or what?”

 

“If you apologize,” the woman said, a smug smile on her lips. Chaewon narrowed her eyes at the woman, feeling the irritation seep in. She didn’t know who this woman thought she was, but Chaewon wouldn’t apologize for , even less for she hadn’t even done.

 

“ off,” Chaewon said, walking towards the exit. She heard the woman gasp, scandalized at Chaewon’s insult, but Chaewon couldn’t care less. She would go to another hotel and that was that.

 

True enough, there was another cheap hotel close to that place. Still, Chaewon grumbled about the woman, even after she had already entered her room.

 

She sat down on the bed, and got the papers she had printed out from her jacket. Reading them intently, nodding at some parts, she lowered the papers when she finally got what she wanted.

 

A clue to his location.

 

Folding the papers and saving them on her jacket, she opened the door to her room. Suddenly, her phone started ringing. Taking it out, she saw a foreign number.

 

‘What the...?’

 

“Yeah?” she answered.

 

“Eunyoung?” a soft voice, which Chaewon recognized immediately, resounded.

 

“No, I’m not...” Chaewon heaved in exasperation. “Yeah, whatever. Minju?”

 

“It’s you,” the voice said with relief. “Your parents gave me your new number, if you don’t mind.” That’s right. In on of those times they had come into her room to ask her if there was something she needed, they had seen the new (for her) phone. They had immediately barraged her with questions, and Chaewon had done her best not to bite their heads off. Instead, she just gave them her number, and asked, as politely as she could, them to leave the room.

 

“Nah,” Chaewon denied, feeling a strange warmth at the thought of Minju trying to contact her. “What’s up?”

 

“I wanted to ask if you... if you wanted to meet with our friends at Jello’s.”

 

“Minju, I’ve already told you...”

 

“Please, this one time,” she pleaded, making Chaewon shut up. The woman thought for a moment, then let out a sigh.

 

“What time?” Minju cheered on the other side of the line, making Chaewon’s lips quirk slightly.

 

“At 5.”

 

“Uh, no can do.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“Already have something to do.”

 

“Are you doing something dumb again?” Chaewon huffed.

 

“No.”

 

“Then what are you doing then?”

 

“It’s nothing.”

 

“It IS something. Or... you just don’t want to go?” Minju’s voice sounded so vulnerable, it made Chaewon sigh in resignation.

 

“I’ll be there. One hour. That’s it. I have an appointment, for real,” Chaewon said, smiling more openly when Minju thanked her cutely. She swore aegyo was the dumbest thing, but Minju made it sound... acceptable.

 

Hanging up, she left for the nearest bus station, hoping she could get a bus close to where she had in mind.

--

Finally getting off on the smallest town in that county, she walked to the inside of the bus station, hoping to see someone there. When she saw no one, she huffed, walking outside.

 

The town was truly small, having no chain supermarkets nor anything that was conglomerate owned. Instead, the businesses that surrounded Chaewon were family-owned, so they were, most likely, a bigger source for help.

 

There was a small diner that Chaewon could see in the distance, so she walked towards it, hoping it was open.

 

Fortunately, it was open, so she entered gingerly, stepping careful so as to appear as innocent as possible. She knew that without her real body, she had a disadvantage, but she was sure she could still make it work.

 

Sitting on a booth, a woman quickly came to attend her.

 

“Oh, welcome, dearie! You seem to not be around here!”

 

“No, I’m not,” Chaewon smiled at the woman. “I’m actually looking for someone.”

 

“Oh, who is it?” Chaewon was about to answer, but the woman interrupted again. “Oh, were are my manners, you’re probably hungry. What do you want to eat?”

 

“Oh, you are right. I am hungry,” Chaewon said, laughing charmingly. “Could you bring me the biggest steak with fries?”

 

“Would you even be able to finish it?” the woman asked, appraising her petite form.

 

“With the hunger I have right now, I’d be surprised if I didn’t.”

 

“Alright, I’ll be back with some grub for you.” Chaewon nodded, waiting for the food (and, most importantly, the woman), to come. It took a while until the woman came back.

 

“Here you go,” the woman said kindly. “So, please tell me. I’d like to help you find this friend.”

 

“Well...” Chaewon acted as if she was hesitating. “I don’t know if I can call a friend someone who I love so much.”

 

The woman hummed, know putting her complete attention on Chaewon.

 

“I thought he loved me, too, but...” Chaewon sniffed, as if she was trying to contain her tears. “But he abandoned me when he knew I was pregnant.” The old woman gasped.

 

“That horrible man!” the woman said, putting a hand on top of Chaewon, who had to resist snatching her hand away as much as she could. “Could you describe him to me? Maybe I know him?”

 

‘Crap,’ Chaewon thought. ‘What do I do?’

“I... I just...” Chaewon faked sobbed, placing her head on the table. Trying to cry as convincingly as she could.

 

“Oh, no, dear,” the woman said sadly, patting her hand several times. “I think I know a young man who moved a few months ago here. Maybe he is the one you are looking for?”

 

Chaewon raised her head. “Where does he live?”

 

“I can take you to him,” the old woman offered.

 

“I don’t want to be a burden,” Chaewon said, lowering her head.

 

“Nonsense. I want you to find that man and knock some sense into him.” Chaewon smiled slightly. “Now, eat, eat. Please grab some strength for later.”

 

Chaewon bowed her head slightly in appreciation, chowing on the plate of food that was quickly getting cold. Chaewon secretly enjoyed the food, sniffing now and then to show her “sadness”. The woman just stayed with her, as if trying to comfort her.

 

“How much would it be?” Chaewon asked.

 

“No, leave it to me, dearie,” the woman said, smiling at Chaewon.

 

“I don’t...”

 

“No, no more saying nonsense. Let’s get you to that good-for-nothing.”

 

“Thank you,” Chaewon forced herself to say.

 

They got out of the restaurant, but not before the woman yelled loudly, “Joon! I’m leaving!”. The continued walking, the woman silently grabbing Chaewon’s hand, as if trying to wordlessly comfort her. Chaewon, on the other hand, was thinking about ways to get the man to speak.

 

After a while, they finally got to an apartment that was a little far from the rest of the town, which kinda made sense for someone hiding from a very powerful gang. Chaewon managed to see the surveillance camera that was on the front door, making her think that maybe it was a good idea for the woman to come with her.

 

“Jungwoo! Open up!” the woman screamed, slamming her fist against the door. The strength with which she hit the door impressed Chaewon

 

‘Maybe in another life this woman could have been a fighter’

 

It took a moment before a mousy man, dressed in sweatpants and a greasy t-shirt, opened up.

 

“What’s going on, Mrs Park?”

 

“What’s going on?! You rascal!” Chaewon put a hand on the woman’s arm, as if to stop her.

 

“I-I’ll talk to him alone,” she said, sighing as she again turned to look at the man who looked more confused by the second.

 

“Are you sure?” the woman looked worriedly at her.

 

“What’s happening?” the man asked again.

 

“You shut up,” the old woman growled. “And listen to her from now, Jung Jungwoo!”

 

“Can I speak to you in private,” Chaewon said, rubbing her arm coyly.

 

“Uh,” the man looked at the old woman and then at Chaewon as if he was cornered. “Yes, of course.” He opened the door so Chaewon could enter.

 

“You better treat her right,” the old woman muttered before the man closed the door. Jungwoo turned to look at Chaewon, confusion spread in his features.

 

“Eunyoung? W-what do you want to talk about?” the man asked.

 

1

 

2

 

3

 

“You’re not going to say anything?”

 

4

 

5

 

Chaewon lunged at the man, slamming him against the door. The man huffed, having his breath cut off.

 

“Do you even know what the you are doing?” Chaewon spat, shedding any pretense of meekness. The man tried prying her fingers from his throat, but Chaewon just tightened her hold on him. “Answer, before I lose my patience.”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he choked out, trying more urgently to get out of Chaewon’s grip.

 

“Does The Pit sound familiar to you?” he looked at her in confusion.

 

“You told me to send you the files.”

 

“Where did you get this?”

 

“I... I am not sure.” The man looked scared, as if he was coming to a realization.

 

“No?” Chaewon said before punching him in the face. “Maybe I can refresh your memory.”

 

“No! I don’t know anything!”

 

“Stop lying you little ,” Chaewon snarled as she punched him again. “WHERE.DID.YOU.GET.THIS” The man stayed silent for a moment, which made Chaewon’s temper flare, making her punch him again.

 

“How the did you get the finances from Motor Roar?”

 

“I don’t know.” Chaewon punched him again.

 

“You know, if you’re fleeing from them, you shouldn’t have tried to rat them out to a ty newspaper,” she said, her voice more serene, but her hold on his neck became tighter. “There are people coming for your head, and, interestingly, I am not your biggest worry now.” The man’s eyes widened before he could school his expression into something neutral.

 

“I... I don’t know what you are talking about.”

 

“Do you even know who you are ing with?” Chaewon said, her free hand grabbing a pen close by. “Oh, well. I guess you’ll never know.” The man’s eyes when Chaewon made a motion to stab his neck with the pen.

 

“No! No! Please!”

 

“I gave you already three chances, Jungwoo,” Chaewon said with a sing-song voice. “It’s too late.”

 

With the biggest amount of strength she could muster, she swung her arm around. But before she could even get to do any scratch on him, she felt an unbearable pain below her . Chaewon shrieked, clutching her chest in pain. The man took the chance to push her away, trying to get out the door.

 

Trying to wrestle against the strange pain, she threw herself on the man, making both of them fall onto the floor.

 

“Where do you think you’re going?” she wheezed out. What was happening to her? She turned to look at the man, who now laid unconscious, his head having hit a plastic box while falling.

 

“,” she cursed, rolling to the side to grasp her chest. “What the .” Her eyes started getting cloudy and her ears roared. “Oh, . ”

 

It took moments before the pain subsided, and even after it finally did, it took Chaewon a while to finally be able to get on her feet.

 

“,” she wheezed, looking at the still unconscious man and the rest of the diminutive house. What had just happened? Was that supposed to be a heart attack or something? Was Eunyoung ill with something she wasn’t informed about?

 

The accident. Her pain may have to do with the accident. She may need to take some tests, after all.

 

“Oh, .” She grabbed the man’s body, dragging with across the floor towards the desk chair that was in front of a high-end computer. Although she knew the guy was getting hit with everything that was scattered on the floor (boxes, electronic parts, and papers), she didn’t give a .

 

Trying to get him onto the chair was a more difficult affair that she cared to admit. Maybe Eunyoung didn’t exercise in the slightest. Opening each drawer of every piece of furniture, she finally found some zip ties, which she used to bind his hands and feet. Pushing the chair to the side, she tried fiddling with the computer, only to find that it had a password.

 

“Idiot,” she muttered as she moved to inspect the papers that were all around the house. None was useful. She turned to look in the bookshelf for something that could help her know about this. She ended grabbing each book, throwing onto the floor those that were useless.

 

She finally found a binder that had many financial accounts from a shell corporation she recognized.

 

“This dude had ties with the Motor Roars, alright.” A grunt made her snap her head towards the man, who seemed to finally be gaining consciousness. He seemed lost for a moment, until he finally laid his eyes on her.

 

“W-what...” he tried moving his hands and feet, but at the feeling of the zip ties, he panicked.

 

“Please, don’t hurt me.” And Chaewon understood the petition.

 

“I’m not like the Motor Roars. I don’t torture people for info,” Chaewon announced stepping towards the man, who recoiled from her as much as he could. “I just want to have a little chat.”

 

“Yes, whatever you need...” Chaewon smirked.

 

“That’s more like it. Why were you being so difficult, Jungwoo?”

 

“Try being choked and threatened by a person you thought you could trust.”

 

“I’m not Eunyoung, you waste of space. I know, I know. I look exactly like her. But I’m not her.”

 

“Are you her twin?” he asked, his eyes wide.

 

“No.” Chaewon snorted. “I am nowhere related to that goody two shoes.”

 

“Then how...?”

 

“Questions over. I want answers. Though,” she looked at the binder in her hand. “I already have some answers to the questions I had.” Upon seeing what was in her hand, Jungwoo lowered his head in defeat.

 

“Yes, I was an accountant for the Motor Roars for a while.”

 

“How much is a while?”

 

“Two years.”

 

“Wow,” Chaewon whistled. “That was a long time. Why did you get out?”

 

“I didn’t know what they were doing.”

 

“You didn’t know a shell corp is doing criminal ? How convincing,” Chaewon deadpanned.

 

“Shell corporations are used by big conglomerates, too. I thought...”

 

“That it was just a front for another legal company, huh...”

 

“Do you believe me?” he asked, looking at her with fear in his eyes.

 

“I don't know,” she said, mocking his earlier words. “And? Are you running away?”

 

“I tried to, but you found me...”

 

“And you’re lucky I’m the first. If it had been anyone else, well...” she started walking in circles.

 

“Y-you said there are people coming for my head... What does that mean?”

 

“It means exactly that. You think you worked for the Motor Roars?” The man nodded. “No, you don’t work for the Motor Roars. You work for the gang the Motor Roars are a part of.”

 

“What gang?” his eyes widened.

 

“The Ravens. Don’t let the name fool you. They are one of the most powerful in this country. Gangs like the Motor Roars are just their henchman. But if they believe someone is dangerous enough, they might take care of it themselves...”

 

“Were you sent by them?”

 

Chaewon laughed with mirth. “No, and that’s the worst part of it all. I was sent here by one of the small fighting rings that exist in the zone. If they know, and they are after your head, then The Ravens most definitely know where you are.”

 

“W-will they c-come for me?” he trembled. Chaewon felt a pang of sympathy for the man. ‘What the . Minju’s niceness is rubbing off on me.’

 

“No, for now. They are counting on people like me to do the job.”

 

“Are you going to kill me?” Chaewon stood quiet for a moment.

 

“No, if you are willing to make a deal with me.”