Seulgi closed her eyes and sighed, leaning her head back to collide with the headrest. This was so unlike the last time she rode in the helicopter, where she was excited and ready for adventure. Now she was completely nervous, and definitely scared, as they made their way towards the secret base. 

But she had to go. She had to do it. There was no one left. No one left to save the doctor who had created a serum that would eventually save the world.

Grateful wouldn’t even begin to describe what Seulgi felt towards the other women in the helicopter with her.  There had been no question, no hesitation, everyone simply got onto the chopper.

Wendy looked nervous, as expected, but she also looked very determined, with a steely gaze. Yeri seemed bored, but then again, nothing ever really threw the youngest off her game. 

Joy was taking this surprisingly well. She didn’t seem at all put off by the sudden news that there was a secret terrorist base and they were making a beeline straight for it.

“Why are you here?” Joy asked Seulgi, as if she herself weren’t putting her life on the line for someone she met only weeks ago.

“What do you mean?” Seulgi deflected dumbly, delaying the inevitable answer she’d have to give.

“Why are you here?” she repeated. “I know why they’re here,” she motioned to Yeri and Wendy. “They should be here. It’s their job. But you don’t have to be here. You’re just a photographer.” Her eyes burned with such intensity that Seulgi knew she could see straight through her.

Rather than answer, the photographer deflected again. 

“What about you? What are you doing here? You’re the same as me.”

Joy didn’t flinch. 

“I’m here because of you.”

“What?”

“I’m here because of you,” she said again. She looked at the ceiling with a quirked eyebrow. "I know it's really loud cause we're in a helicopter, but you’re really thick today, Slowgi. I’m having to repeat myself a lot more than normal.”

“Because I don’t understand,” Seulgi sighed. “Why would you be here because of me?”

“As soon as you asked ‘where’ I already knew I was going to follow,” Joy explained. “You’re my best friend. How could I not come with you?”

Seulgi’s chest swelled. Joy was here, not because she was obligated, but solely because she was her friend, Seulgi’s best friend, and although she had to constantly remind Seulgi, she had her back. 

“Thanks,” Seulgi swallowed thickly.

“I came here for Wendy and Yeri too,” Joy shrugged, essentially ending the softness Seulgi was feeling towards the girl.

“Yah, Park Sooyoung!”

Seulgi shoved the girl, and making it a rare occasion she used Joy’s real name. “I don’t care why you’re here. Thanks.” She grinned softly. Joy returned the smile.

“I gotta say though,” the younger woman said as she folded her arms, “for someone that didn’t even want to buy her girlfriend flowers on Valentine’s Day, you sure do pull out all the stops for Dr. Bae.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Seulgi denied.

“Oh sure you do,” Joy countered, eyes flashing mischievously, and a twinge of panic settled in Seulgi's stomach. “You got on a helicopter in a thunderstorm to rescue her best friend. Then you followed her to a secret bioweapon base to help save the world. You brought her food everyday for a week. And not to mention,” Joy said cheekily, “that you’re currently on a helicopter again to rescue her from international terrorists.”

Seulgi dropped her gaze, refusing to meet Joy’s all-knowing smirk.

“You see, Kang Seulgi,” she continued, “though you’ve been denying it for years, you, my dear, are an absolute romantic sap. That’s why you’re here.” Joy finished it off with a bop to Seulgi's button nose.

Seulgi couldn’t offer up any sort of defense, choosing instead to remain silent. 

Joy was right. She was a sappy mess, and only when it came to a certain doctor.

Because meeting Dr. Irene Bae was both the best and worst thing that had ever happened to Kang Seulgi. 

They exited the helicopter much smoother than the two previous times Seulgi had descended. Once on the ground, she asked Wendy an important question.

“Aren’t we going to wear masks?” 

“No,” the doctor shook her head. “We can barely breathe with those things on, and I have a feeling we’ll need to move quickly. Plus, we’ve got an antidote." She fished something out of her coat.

“Here,” Wendy handed each of them small earpieces. “They’re tiny radios we can use to contact each other and Johnny. I’m not sure how well they’ll work once we get underground though.”

“Best keep our fingers crossed then,” Joy said, moving along.

When they came upon the familiar compound, Yeri signaled them to crouch and stay silent. She peered through the foliage, looking left and right. Finally satisfied, she signaled Wendy and the others to join her at her vantage point. 

“It looks clear,” Yeri surmised, “no one has passed by in the past ten minutes. I don’t even see a crony for guard patrol.”

“You think maybe they’re moving bases?” Joy asked from behind the two.

“I think it’s more likely they’re consolidating their forces,” Yeri frowned. “That attack on our people was a power move; they’re saying that they’re ready to make a statement. They wouldn’t risk putting themselves out in the open like that if they weren’t sure they had a winning hand.”

“So you think they pulled all the guards back?” Wendy asked.

“Mmm,” Yeri nodded. “Either moved them inside or to another location. But that’s better for us, should make it easier to get Joohyun-unnie out.”

“I also brought something along that should make it easier for us to get her out as well,” Wendy said. She reached behind her back and produced a handgun. Everyone immediately recoiled.

“What is that?!” Yeri exclaimed in alarm.

“It’s a gun,” Wendy said timidly, pinching the pistol between two fingers so that it hung between them like a smelly sock.

“I know what it is,” Yeri hissed between clenched teeth, “but what are you doing with it?”

“I thought we might need it,” Wendy shrugged. “Since we’re going on a secret agent mission.”

“First of all,” Yeri growled, “this is not a secret agent mission. All of our superiors are incapacitated, so we’re techinically AWOL.” 

Wendy’s mouth formed an O.

“Second, your hand is still broken.” Yeri knocked on the plaster surrounding Wendy’s wrist.

“And third, where did you even get that?!”

“It was in one of the compartments in the helicopter,” the doctor replied casually, as if finding an armed weapon was a normal day's occurrence for her. “I took it while we were putting on our secret agent gear.”

“It’s called a harness,” the youngest deadpanned.

“Most importantly,” Yeri continued, “We’re not those kinds of agents!”

“What do you mean?” Seulgi asked, genuinely confused.

“I sit behind a desk all day and she talks to sick people!” Yeri sighed in exasperation while wildly motioning at herself and Wendy.

“Oh you’re underestimating us,” Wendy clicked disapprovingly.

“I am not! You know we both at shooting. The only one of us worth a damn is Joohyun-unnie.” She crossed her arms.

“Joohyun?”

“She wins the annual shooting competition at the KIS ,” Wendy beamed proudly.

"Yeah, remember that time she got our whole department chicken?" Yeri grinned.

“Oh yeah," Wendy nodded vigorously. "She probably could’ve been a sniper if she wasn’t so good at killing germs and didn’t like getting dirty.”

“And wasn’t so good looking,” Joy added casually, eyes fixed on Seulgi.

“Oh, that too,” Wendy agreed.

“Yeah, but she’s not here,” Yeri said, “and I’m not taking it. And you’re definitely not taking it.” She shot a look at Wendy.

“Oh I don’t want it,” Joy said disdainfully, looking at the gun dangling as if it were a rotten fish.

“I don’t want it either,” Seulgi said.

“Fine,” Yeri sighed, “I’ll hold onto it for now.”

They approached the familiar compound, eerily empty this time. There were no people wandering the yard, no strange men patrolling the grounds. The doors, however, were still locked.

Joy quickly strode forward and fiddled with the handle until it opened.

“Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing?”

They all whipped around at the sound of the voice. It belonged to a slim brown-haired man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties and seemed rather confused as he strode forward.

“Who are you?” he asked, holding a clipboard out in front of him. It was clearly a list of names. Picking up on that, Joy pounced into action.

“We’re visitors,” she said in a haughty voice, doing her best rich ahjumma impression. The man didn’t flinch.

“I understand, ma’am, but what are your names or your affiliated group?” He held the clipboard out expectantly.

“Uh--”

“Johnny’s Angels?” their invisible teammate supplied in their earpieces.

“Red Velvet!” Seulgi yelled, thinking of Joohyun’s favorite cake. She knew she said the wrong thing, when she felt four sets of eyes on her, three of them very, very angry.

“What the hell, Slowgi? ” Yeri hissed, but by the grace of all things Irene, the guard seemed to buy it.

“Redubelbet,” he muttered, scanning the lists, clearly inexperienced with English. Wendy saw her opportunity and seized it.

“Red Velvet,” she said in flawless English, and eyeing the guard’s name tag added, “Mr. Leeteuk.”

“What was that again?”

“Red Velvet,” she repeated.

“Could you spell it?” 

She rattled off the letters in rapid succession.

“A little slower, please.” 

She slowed her pace by a half second. 

“One more time?”

“Ugh, right there,” Wendy pointed to some words in English that were very clearly not Red Velvet. Seulgi’s knowledge was fairly limited, but she was pretty sure the words said Super Junior.

“Oh okay,” he nodded. “Could I please have your accompanying password?”

“Password?” the blonde’s eyes grew wide. 

“Hold on,” Johnny’s voice said in their ears. “I have the list of passwords we’ve been gathering over the week...” 

Seulgi could hear him typing rapidly. Meanwhile, Wendy tried to buy time.

“Lovely weather, isn’t it?” she said with a fake smile.

Joy and Yeri stiffened in alarm at the interaction.

“Got it,” Johnny said after three very tense seconds. “Try Russian Roulette.”

“Seriously?” Joy couldn’t help her scoff.

“Russian Roulette,” Wendy said in another round of perfect English.

“What?” the guard asked again.

Wendy blew out an angry breath through her nose.

“Russhiahn Rurettu,” she said this time in Engrish .

“Could you spell this one too?” he asked, scanning his lists once more.

She spat out the letters quickly.

“Slowly please.”

“Oh for goodness sake,” Yeri sighed exasperatedly. “Enough of this.” She strode up behind the guard, who was still looking at his clipboard, and karate chopped him on the back of the neck. He quickly collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

“Kim Yerim!” Wendy gasped. “I thought you said we weren’t those kinds of secret agents?” 

“What can I say?” she shrugged. “This got me feeling kind of psycho.”

“Right,” Joy grimaced with an uneasy smile. “Psycho.”

They continued through the open door.

“Okay Johnny, we’re in,” Yeri said quietly.

“I’m here, Yeri,” Johnny’s voice crackled in Seulgi’s ear. “Irene-noona is on the lower level. Go down the corridor and take the second left.” The girls followed his directions, down two eerie concrete passages.

“Take a left, then left, then right.” He led them down using a dizzying set of instructions, and Seulgi barely followed along.

“Stop,” Johnny eventually said. “This is it, her heat signature is just beyond that door. But there's a problem guys.”

“What?”

“She’s not alone.”

“How many?”

“I can’t tell for sure, but it looks like there are at least one or two other people in the room with her.” 

“What should we do?” Wendy looked around.

“Easy,” Joy said confidently. “We break in, beat ‘em up, and rescue Dr. Bae.”

“With what?” Yeri asked. “Pretty sure I’m the only one who can beat anyone up here.”

“Use the gun?” Joy shrugged.

“Who?”

“I don’t want it,” Seulgi said, with a sense of deja vu.

“I don’t want it either,” Yeri added. 

“I can’t have it,” Wendy pouted.

“Rock-paper-scissors?” Joy suggested. The other three shrugged.

“Kaayee--baayeee--BO!” they shouted, throwing out their choice. She could've sworn she won, but somehow Seulgi wound up holding the pistol.

“Okay, so this is the safety,” Yeri showed her. “Just make sure you keep that thing facing away from us.”

“Point it at the bad guy,” Wendy nodded firmly.

“The bad guy, right,” Seulgi cocked the pistol and aimed it off in the distance.

Joy kneeled and had the door open in under a minute. They pushed it ajar slowly, praying that it didn’t squeak. 

The room before them was large, yet dimly lit. About the size of a basketball gym, it had sparse lighting and large boxes lining its walls. The girls shuffled behind the boxes and closed the door silently.

In the middle of the towers of boxes, Joohyun sat on a worn out chair, limbs tied down by rope. Seulgi couldn’t help thinking that everything about the room screamed “average kidnap thriller movie set.” The doctor had a single light over her head, while two figures circled around her. With their backs to the intruders, their faces were concealed.

“Let’s shoot them now,” Joy whispered. “They we can get the out of here.”

Seulgi looked at Joy worredly. She didn’t want to shoot anyone. She didn’t want to kill anyone. She just wanted to get Joohyun back. Wendy sensed her discomfort and placed a hand on her arm.

“Seulgi, can you do this?” she asked earnesty.

The photographer did some deep soul searching on the spot. While yes, she abhorred hurting anyone, she had already proven that she would do almost anything for the doctor. But all previous instances risked her own safety. She was always willing to give up her life, but not necessarily sacrifice someone else's.

“What if I just maim them?” she postulated.

Yeri shrugged. “Sounds good to me. Just take them out of commission. Remember, if they get back up though, they’ll kill us too.”

Seulgi considered the information. 

“I’ll go first then,” she decided. “You guys stay hidden until it’s all clear.”

“Go get your girl,” Wendy said encouragingly, two thumbs up. The three women stepped back to conceal themselves better.

Seulgi pulled the gun from the holster, holding it like she’d seen in TV shows. She crept out from behind the boxes slowly.

Her hands were clammy; this was unlike anything she’d ever done before. The prospect of having to use a lethal weapon was causing her heart to jackhammer in her chest.

The dim lighting concealed her presence almost entirely, and Seulgi continued to take quiet steps towards the lit figures. 

“Hey Seulgi,” Yeri’s voice crackled in her ear.

“Yea?”

“I prolly shoulda asked you this earlier, but you ever used a gun before?”

“Uh, nope,” she said in a soft whisper.

Seulgi thought she heard a smacking sound, and imagined it was Yeri slapping a hand to her forehead in a facepalm.

“Oh dear,” Wendy mumbled.

“I’ve done archery before,” Seulgi added as a consolation prize.

“And you were good at it?” Yeri sounded hopeful.

“Uh, nope.”

Another smack.

“Oh well, hwaiting!”  

The youngest gave a parting cheer. 

Seulgi shrugged and moved along. Once she got as close as she could without drawing attention to herself, she drew the gun up. Her palms were sweaty and her arms were quivering. Taking aim at one of the kidnappers legs, she pulled the trigger.

But it didn’t fire. She squeezed again. Nothing. 

“The safety!” Yeri hissed.

Oh right, the safety! 

Seulgi fiddled with the side of the pistol, trying to flick the switch that would allow the gun to work. With one quick snap, she did it, and also sent the gun tumbling out of her clammy hands. 

“Oh, my gun!” she gasped.

It clambered to the floor, accidentally discharging upon impact with a loud bang. Joohyun screamed, flinching from the loud noise. The two kidnappers initially ducked, then whipped around at the source of the ruckus.

When the smoke had cleared and her ears had stopped ringing, Seulgi looked up to find two incredibly beautiful women staring down at her. They weren’t quite as beautiful as Joohyun, but that could’ve just been Seulgi’s personal bias.

“And what do we have here?” one of the women purred. Her face reminded Seulgi of a fox, devious and playful, and she immediately set the photographer on edge. 

“Looks like another bumbling KIS agent,” the other woman shrugged. Unlike the first woman, this girl had a much friendlier face, a much more traditional beauty along the lines of the doctor.

“I’m not an agent,” Seulgi said warily.

“Oh?” the fox-face said casually, no hint of surprise in her features. “Then who are you?”

“Seulgi?!” Joohyun gasped from her bound position.

“Oh, now this is interesting,” the woman purred kitten-like. “You know Dr. Bae do you, Seulgi-ssi?”

Seulgi noted that the foxy woman was a very quick study, not missing a beat, picking up on her name in an instant. The photographer swallowed and nodded slowly.

“Nice to meet you,” she drawled, clearly not meaning any of it. “I’m Jennie, and this is Jisoo.” She pointed to the other woman.

“Should we be telling her our names?” the woman named Jisoo questioned. The fox-faced woman named Jennie gave a lazy shrug.

“It’s not like she’s going anywhere.”

“Well, then I’m going to tell her my real name.”

“That is your real name,” the fox-faced Jennie said with a quirked eyebrow. 

“No, my real name is Jisoo TurtleRabbit Kim.”

Jennie chuckled at first, earning a death stare from Jisoo.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Uh cause that’s not your name.”

“Yes it is,” Jisoo huffed. “TurtleRabbit is my middle name. Or you can just call me Turtle for short.”

“You can’t just give yourself that kind of middle name,” Jennie sighed.

“Yes I can!” Jisoo argued back, prompting a round of bickering between the two.

While they were distracted, Seulgi quickly looked to Joohyun. The woman’s hair was matted, and she was sporting a bloody lip. One of her eyes had a fresh bruise around it.

“Are you alright?” she mouthed silently.

The doctor gave a tired smile and nodded.

“I’ll do you all night,” Joohyun mouthed back. Or she could’ve been mouthing, “I’m doing alright.” Seulgi really, really had to get better at lip reading.

“These two ladies are North Korean agents!” Johnny announced over their earpieces. “They’re part of the YG family.”

“Family?” the other three women echoed in her ear.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “They follow their leader a bit more obsessively than other groups. They refer to their group as a family.”

“Sounds like a cult,” Joy surmised.

“Correct,” Johnny agreed. “These ladies are from the Blackpink subsidiary.”

“Blackpink?” 

The two women turned to Seulgi, and it was then she realized she said the same out loud.

“Ah, so you know who we are,” Jennie smirked.

“You’re from the YG Family,” Seulgi growled. “What do you want with Dr. Bae?”

Bringing their attention back to the doctor, Jennie sauntered over.

“Hmm,” Jennie purred, dragging a finger along Joohyun’s chin, “I was just talking to this gorgeous woman here.” 

Seulgi seethed, hands balled up into fists. She needed an opening.

“Let me ask you something, Irene.” The doctor gave no response as the other woman grabbed her chin, directing her until they were eye to eye. “Do you know who is more beautiful than you?” 

Joohyun only glared back wordlessly. Jennie wasn’t deterred.

“Do you?” she asked again, shaking the doctor’s defiant chin. After a few tense seconds, Joohyun gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head.

“Hah,” Jennie laughed. “Correct. No one is more beautiful than you.”

“Hey!”

Jisoo and Seulgi shouted at the same time.

“You used that line on me before!” Jisoo pouted.

“I’m supposed to say that to her!” Seulgi also pouted.

“That’s my level of greasiness there,” Wendy said through the earpiece. "Also, Yeri is throwing up."

“We’ve been watching you for a long time, Dr. Bae,” Jennie continued, ignoring the whining of the other two women. “We know you’ve been researching RBB. And apparently cured it.”

“What do you want?” Joohyun growled.

“Easy,” Jennie said smugly. “You’re going to make us an unbeatable virus. Like your unbeatable face.”

“Hey!” Seulgi protested again. “Stop stealing my lines!”

“Are you still here?” Jennie said with a bored eye roll. “Get rid of her, Jisoo.”

“Me?” The other girl looked surprised. “How?”

“Hit her,” she said simply.

“Oh!” Jisoo said excitedly. “With that Ddu-Du Ddu-Du , right?”

“Yes,” Jennie sighed. “Hurry up and kill this love--” she coughed, “that lovely woman there.”

The cat-eyed woman turned to Seulgi and added, “I’m sorry, you really are quite pretty, just not my type, so you’ll have to go.”

Jisoo raised a gun towards Seulgi, frowning apologetically. 

“I’m also sorry, I don’t really like to shoot anyone honestly. And you’re kinda cute.”

Both Jennie and Joohyun frowned deeply at her last words. Jisoo gave a heavy sigh.

“But Jennie says so, so take a deep breath, as if it’s your last.” The gun cocked.

“Come on, Jisoo,” Jennie said, tapping her foot, “I’m getting impatient. Time is ticking.”

“Ahh, please,” Seulgi pleaded, hands up in surrender, “won’t you set me free? I haven’t done anything.”

Jisoo hesitated, her hand adjusting and regripping the gun.

“Stop thinking,” Jennie said irritatedly, walking over, “what’s so hard about this? Do you need me to do it?” She redirected her pistol towards Seulgi and the photographer saw her life flash before her eyes.

It started rewinding backwards, every kiss with Irene, getting on a plane here, her first out of country shoot. Before she got any further, a loud voice interrupted them.

“Shine on me! Let it shine on me!” 

All four heads turned towards the intrusion.

Wendy was running out into the open, hands to the heavens, singing her lungs out. 

“In my embrace, let it shine!”

She was killing it too, Seulgi didn’t fail to notice.

“What the hell is she doing?” Irene muttered.

As if they could hear her, the maknaes stammered out apologies.

“Sorry!” Yeri said, “She just jumped up and was all, ‘Power up! I got this!’ We couldn't stop her!”

“Shine on me! Let it shine on me!”

Wendy was still slaying the notes.

“She’s gonna get herself killed,” Joy whimpered.

“What are you guys doing, Slowgi?” Yeri hissed. “She’s doing this as a distraction!”

And it was working. The other agents stood stock still, transfixed by Wendy’s high note and sudden bizarre appearance (her stance looked a little odd as well, but whatever). Seulgi quickly ran to Irene and began cutting the ropes restricting her hands. 

Jennie and Jisoo were slowly coming to.

“Shut her up before Mr. E hears her!” Jennie ordered.

Mr. E? 

Seulgi didn’t have time to think too hard about it. She was furiously sawing at the thick hemp around the doctor’s wrists.

As soon as Joohyun was free of her bonds, she quickly strode over and retrieved the pistol Seulgi had dropped earlier. 

Jennie and Jisoo were confronting Wendy now, though to her credit, the blonde wasn’t wavering. Her gaze was set in stony determination as she continued to distract them. Seulgi heard a faint “Booyah!” 

Joohyun and Seulgi started running towards her. 

The next moments happened so quickly. The other agents heard their footsteps, and with lightning quickness, Jisoo had shielded herself behind Wendy, an arm around her neck and a pistol at her temple.

Wendy’s small gasp of surprise nearly echoed as everything fell silent in that warehouse.

Jennie tried to turn her gun to Joohyun’s chest, but the doctor had already beat the other agent at her game, as her pistol was cocked and loaded towards the fox-faced woman.

“Let her go,” Joohyun said. Her voice wasn’t a growl or a hiss, it wasn’t even angry. It was ice. Ice so cold it could burn you. So cold it carried the promise that if you didn’t do as it commanded, it was your demise.

“I don’t think so,” Jennie sneered. “You look a little out-gunned.” Behind her, Wendy whimpered, struggling slightly in Jisoo’s hold.

“Trust me when I say that I can put you in the ground before you even think about squeezing the trigger,” Joohyun’s eyes flashed dangerously.

“Hmm, you’re probably right,” Jennie smirked. She instead directed her pistol away from Joohyun to Seulgi’s chest.

“Oh,” was all Seulgi could utter when she saw it.

“So, you could shoot me,” Jennie drawled, “but I’m pretty sure my finger will twitch on the way down and shoot your pretty little plaything.” 

Joohyun frowned deeper. It would’ve been possibly the most adorable angry pout in the world if Seulgi didn’t currently have the barrel of a gun pointed at her.

“Now you’re going to let us go,” Jennie grinned, cat eyes shining. “Stay here like good little kitties.” She began walking backwards. Jisoo copied her, dragging a reluctant Wendy with her.

“I’m sorry, Seungwan-ah,” Joohyun whispered. Her gun stayed trained on Jisoo, hoping to get an opening. The two women disappeared behind a side door.

“How you like that!” Jennie yelled before the door shut completely. It echoed down the corridor as they disappeared, "Da-da-da-dat..."

“!” Joohyun spat, anger emanating off her in waves. Seulgi had never seen the doctor so upset. Yeri and Joy appeared at their side, coming out of hiding.

“So what’s the plan?” Yeri asked.

“We’re gonna go after them right?”Joy asked impatiently. “We’ve gotta get Wendy back.”

“Of course we’re going to go after them,” Joohyun answered, eyebrows furrowed. “But we need a plan.”

Seulgi stood by silently. Reminiscent of when the doctor was hard at work in the hospital, she could see the cogs turning in Joohyun’s head, and wouldn’t dare interrupt her. Suddenly, Joohyun to Yeri. 

“Yeri-ah, you’re in contact with Johnny?”

“Yeah, we’ve all got tiny in ear communicators.”

“Someone give me an earpiece.”

Joy quickly offered hers up. “It’s not like I was doing anything anyway,” she shrugged. 

“Johnny,” Jooyhyun spoke after putting the device in her ear.

“Noona!” he gasped excitedly.

“Johnny, please tell me you’ve mapped the ventilation system.”

“Of course.”

“Perfect. Where’s the nearest access point?”

“Well there’s one in the southwest corner of the room you’re in.”

They looked up. The ceiling was twenty feet tall. Joohyun on her best day was five foot two. If Seulgi tried to jump she could possibly reach seven feet. Even with Joy they’d never reach it.

“Negative. Too high. Alternate?”

“Well, there’s one in a closet a few corridors away. Ceiling should be low there.”

“Right,” Irene nodded. “Have you followed Wendy’s heat signature? We’re going to need you to find a path for use to get there.”

“Already working on it, noona,” Johnny affirmed. “But I wonder if they haven’t found her earpiece yet…” 

A scream, followed by a whimper answered their question. 

“I...I don’t know,” Wendy’s voice gasped over the radio, “Dr. Bae knew the exact formula. I just assisted.”

"Ugh," Jisoo's voice crackled in the earpiece. She must've still been holding onto Wendy tightly for the mic to pick up her voice. "We should've taken the other girl," she pouted.

There was a small pause, during which Seulgi assumed Jennie was asking something inaudible, like "Why?"

"Because Seulgi was cuter!" Jisoo whined. "Did you see her cute monolids? She looked like a teddy bear! And her ! Mmmm..."

Seulgi's ears were aflame. An uncomfortable pause hung in the air, and Seulgi could feel everyone looking at her, but Irene's stare was especially uncomfortable. The woman was glaring at her like she had committed some wildly inappropriate offense, except she wasn't sure what she did wrong.

Thankfully, Joy coughed to break the awkward silence, and reset the group's priorities.

"Um, so we should get Wendy back, right guys?"

"Oh yeah," Yeri affirmed, "and we should also make sure Teddy Bear doesn't get kidnapped." She jerked a thumb towards Seulgi. That earned a small chuckle from everyone, except Irene. The woman was still visibly miffed, but no one was going to prod her and get their head snapped off.

Then, their earpieces crackled, and stole their attention once more.

A loud thump, coupled with a groan, and Seulgi could imagine the punch they put into Wendy’s abdomen, and the young doctor doubling over in pain. Beside her, Seulgi could see Joohyun’s white knuckled fists quivering, and grasped one of them gently, trying to give her some reassurance.

“I really don’t know much of anything,” Wendy panted in between pained breaths. “I don’t know why you would bring me to this twenty by twenty foot room with two doors and minimal lighting and four ventilation ducts. Or why you think you needed to get two more of your cronies in here for back up.”

“Smart girl,” Irene grinned, the fists at her side loosening a little. “She’s telling us about the people who took her.”

Jennie and Jisoo must’ve figured it out as well, because the next noises sounded like Wendy resisting, a lot of scuffling, and then the line went dead.

“They must’ve destroyed her earpiece,” Yeri said. The others agreed.

“We don’t have much time,” Johnny radioed. “They’ll likely try to move her again, so we’ve got to get there as soon as possible. Or…”

“Or?” Seulgi questioned, confused by his sudden pause. She looked at Irene for answers, and found a pair of angry brown eyes looking back.

“Or they might just kill her, knowing she’s no longer of any use,” the doctor growled. 

“Oh,” Seulgi gasped softly. 

“Yeri, get Joy out of here. Without an earpiece, she’s the most at risk,” Irene said sternly. The doctor was clearly all business, quiet rage and cold emanating off her in waves. Seulgi was strangely drawn to it.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I stayed with you, unnie?” Yeri asked. “Seulgi can lead Joy out and I can back you up.”

“Seulgi stays with me,” Irene growled with finality.

The three remaining girls gulped and nodded silently. 

“I’ll come back after I get Joy somewhere safe,” Yeri promised, before disappearing down the corridor with the taller girl.

“Let’s go, Seulgi,” Irene turned, hair whipping around as she pivoted. Seulgi had to jog to catch up.

Johnny directed them down the corridors, to a side broom closet. 

“Okay it looks like the compound is largely abandoned,” his voice crackled through their receivers. “Once you get up into the vent system it’s going to get a little tricky.”

“Right,” Irene responded. With the silent precision and poise, she took apart the cover to the ventilation shaft, simultaneously disabling the alarm system wired to it. Just as the doctor was about to hoist herself into the ceiling, Seulgi quickly grabbed the woman’s hand. Irene looked down at her, irritation and confusion painting her face.

“What is it?”

“Wendy will be okay, I know it.”

“How can you say that?” the doctor retorted angrily. “You don’t know anything about them.”

“But I know you,” Seulgi responded calmly, trying not to suffocate in the tense atmosphere that was all around them. “They need you. They may not need Wendy, but they need you, and the way to get you is through her. So they can’t harm her.”

Irene’s eyes widened, the fist in Seulgi’s grasp relaxing as she realized what the photographer was trying to explain to her.

“To get to you,” Seulgi continued, “they had to take what was most important to you.”

Their gazes locked, and Seulgi held her ground, showing Irene she wasn’t afraid of whatever they would be facing, because they would face it together. She squeezed the hand in her grip a little tighter. The doctor’s eyes softened for a second, before hardening back to ice.

“Well they were wrong,” Irene contemptuously huffed. She wrenched her hand out of Seulgi’s grip and pulled herself into the ceiling without another word. 

Seulgi followed silently, crawling behind Irene in the cramped ducts. Of course she would be having an internal crisis on the status of her romantic life while the health of the entire world hung in the balance. But she was just that kind of person she supposed. She could see the forest from the trees, yet still notice each leaf in the forest. And right now, Joohyun gave her butterflies in her stomach and a traffic jam in her brain.

It’s not fair, Seulgi wanted to shout. How can this one woman make her feel like she was riding a roller coaster all the time? Why does she give more mixed signals than a dyslexic traffic controller? 

The more she dwelled on it, silently following Joohyun down the dark shafts, the more the frustration built within her. She was so distracted, she didn’t notice that the woman in front of her had stopped, giving herself a faceful of Joohyun’s well-endowed nether region. 

Luckily, Seulgi didn’t let out a squeak of surprise from face-planting into Joohyun’s (which was nicely firm, btw). However, the next surprise the universe had in store was a thing for the storybooks, and Seulgi certainly couldn’t keep shut.

Because through the leggings that Joohyun has been kidnapped in, Seulgi could see the outline of a blue thong, its presence screaming at her in the deathly quiet ventilation duct.

“Eep.”

I'm back, apologies for the long hiatus. Regularly scheduled programming should resume, as I don't foresee anything else that should hold up the story. 

This summer has been SO full of RV content that I'm going to rewrite some parts to fit in some of the newer Kpop developments. Stay safe!

P.S. That moment that Seulgi drops her gun is supposed to be a reference to her Hot Pack moment, but I could not find the clip.