JEOSWA
UNTOUCHABLE"This isn't looking good." Amber stopped in her tracks. Ahead of them are Evens walking around lazily.
Seulgi looked up at the sky and sighed. "Draw out your swords. But let's try to avoid contact as much as we can. Our objective is to get the kid and go to the nearest Sanctuary before it rains."
Sooyoung, Amber, and Krystal drew out their Retter swords. The troop continued walking as stealth as they can until they reached the first Sanctuary. Their faces fell.
"I-it's wrecked..." said Krystal.
Amber walked towards one of the broken Retter barriers and touched it. "Tsk. This tells us how messy the attack was."
Seulgi motioned to the radio on her suit. "Control Room, how far is the next Sanctuary?"
There were about five seconds of silence until a male voice responded, "About three kilometres, Captain."
"What is the nearest sanctuary near the target?"
"It's the fourth Sanctuary, Cap. Nine kilometres away from there."
"And the kid?"
"About seven hundred metres away from the fourth Sanctuary."
"Is the fourth Sanctuary still functional?"
"Yes, Captain, along with the other two remaining Sanctuaries."
Realising the situation, the troops looked at each other.
"This only means that once we got the kid, we'd have to run from the second Sanctuary to the exit of the village," said Sooyoung.
"That's going to be dangerous if it rains along the way. That's a long run," said Amber.
"That's why we brought Krystal. We'll handle the Evens while she makes sure the child is safe," said Seulgi.
"Maybe we can use one of the cars here from the second Sanctuary to the exit?" suggested Krystal.
"We could, but it might get messy," said Sooyoung. "They'll be able to track our movement and will surely target us."
Seulgi was about to say something, but there was a sudden movement on the ground. It lasted for about ten seconds.
"W-was that an earthquake?" asked Krystal.
"Control Room, what was that just now?" asked Seulgi.
"There's a movement underground, Cap. Probably Evens. It's not an earthquake."
"Thank you. Could you please instruct the mother of the kid to call her daughter and make sure she's staying in the car?"
"Will do, Cap."
"Thanks. Over and out." Seulgi looked at her team members. "We have better chances of defending ourselves outside than inside a car. After retrieving the kid, we'll stay in the Fourth Sanctuary until the sky is clear. From there, we'll run to the gates as fast as we could. Let's move now."
---
"Thank you. Could you please instruct the mother of the kid to call her daughter and make sure she's staying in the car?"
Joohyun stiffened upon hearing that. Seungwan looked at her.
"The mother of the kid." Seungwan shook her head. "I wonder if I'll be able to hear her say your name again."
Joohyun quickly glanced at Seungwan, then to the AEF personnel who approached her. "Her batteries are out. But I think she's still sleeping. I asked her to take a nap on our last call." She pointed at the big screen showing the car with Yerim in. "There's been no movement in the car for about thirty minutes now."
The AEF personnel said thank you and left them.
Joohyun moved closer to Seungwan and whispered, "Me too."
Seungwan smiled. "I talked to her this morning."
"Oh. And I thought she had not visited you yet?"
"This morning was the first time. Said she's having same dreams lately."
"Dreams? About what?"
"About the death of her dad. And she said it started since she came back here."
Joohyun squinted her eyes, thinking. "Do you think it has something to do with her depression?"
"Could be. But I can see she's trying to avoid it--avoid anything that could remind her of you."
"And why would she do that?"
"I dunno. Maybe she doesn't want to be reminded of the pain?"
"But that was already seven years ago. Is it possible for her to still remember everything?"
Seungwan smirked. "That's the thing about Seulgi; she never forgets. You know that."
Joohyun looked at the screen and sighed. "Do you think this mission is torture for her?"
"Can't say. But we all know how Seulgi's all about saving people. I think this mission will help her. She's got no choice but to face the past she'd been trying to run away from," said Seungwan, looking at Joohyun eagerly. "Facing it is the first step to acceptance."
Joohyun bit her lip and looked away. "Seven years. Is it possible for someone to not move on from something even with that long period?"
"People don't move on from something really special. They only learn to accept that some things will never happen again. Just like you."
Joohyun looked at her friend. "L-like me? What do you mean?"
"I know you two broke up a long time ago," said Seungwan, eyes on the troop. "But it just amazes me how you two still keep track of the time you've been apart now."
---
The wind is starting to pick up. There's moisture in the air. The rain might fall anytime now.
Seulgi felt lucky there's no encounter so far. The troop moved in with ease, past the second and third Sanctuaries.
"Approaching Sanctuary Four," announced Seulgi to the radio. "The Barriers seem to be intact. We could proceed to the initial plan of resting here during the rain."
There was a static line on the radio before someone spoke, "Roger, Captain. Can you see the car from there? It's at ten o'clock. Red compact car."
Seulgi squinted her eyes in the direction. "Target located. We'll proceed there now." She motioned to her troop, and they continued walking.
Every step leading to the car makes Seulgi feel like she's having a hard time breathing.
Every step leading to the car makes Seulgi feel like her chest is about to explode.
She's now rehearsing on her mind how she'll react if she sees the child--the child of her ex-girlfriend, whom she can't stop thinking about. The child of Joohyun from a man.
A man.
A man who is her husband.
A man who was able to touch Joohyun the way Seulgi had touched her before.
The man who was able to experience Joohyun in every way Seulgi had done before.
The man who stole the love of her life from her.
Seulgi started hearing voices in her head.
'I like him.'
The voice gets louder.
'I like him.'
She's now seeing Joohyun's image, sitting on the bed, her eyes on the floor.
'I like him.'
Everything is flashing back. The voices kept repeating on her head. Seulgi's heart ached.
"Captain, we're here."
Krystal's voice pulled her back to Earth. Seulgi felt exhausted for no reason at all.
"Captain, you alright?" asked Sooyoung.
"Y-yeah." Seulgi nodded. She motioned to Krystal. "Retrieve the target now. Sooyoung, Amber, and I will be on standby for any Evens."
"Roger, Cap."
Seulgi held her breath for a moment as Krystal opened the door, revealing to them the little person inside.
---
"Kids? You want to have kids?"
"Yes."
"And you don't want to adopt one. You want to get pregnant."
"With your baby, yes."
"Wow. That sounds like starting a real family."
"Of course! Don't tell me you're not planning to start a family with me!"
Seulgi caged Joohyun in her arms. "Of course I want to! It's just that I haven't thought about it yet..."
"Seulgi, we have been dating for over five years now, and you haven't thought of that with me?"
"Hyun, there's no one in the world I would want to spend the rest of my life with but you," said Seulgi sincerely. "But a lot is going on right now with the Evens. The last thing I wanted to do is to bring a child only to live in fear."
"That makes sense. How about if everything's over? Like if the Evens are finally extinct?"
"Then yes, I'd like to have one with you. But how are we gonna have kids?"
"Science has its ways now. I could carry your baby in my womb." Joohyun motioned to her tummy. "I would love to give birth to a healthy baby who looks just like you."
The idea made Seulgi smile. "What gender would you prefer?"
"Boy or girl, I don't care as long as it looks like you. What would we name it then?"
Seulgi looked up, a finger on her chin. "I want something related to the word beauty because you're beautiful." She looked at her girlfriend and smiled. "Hmm. If it's a boy, let's call him Hajoon."
"Sounds nice. And if it's a girl?"
Seulgi looked up again. formed 'o' shape when an idea hit her.
"Flower."
"Huh?"
"Yerim--it means pretty flower," said Seulgi, turning to Joohyun. "I want us to call her that."
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