Hello all! Happy Apink Comeback Day (although I'm a bit late)! I'm streaming the MV as I'm writing this. I hope everyone's enjoying their new song as much as I am :)

Dumhdurum = SOTY

It was hopelessly cold and large grey clouds loomed in the sky. Bomi’s breaths came out in white puffs, and no matter how many times she rubbed her hands together and stuffed them into her pockets, they would not stay warm. She pulled up her scarf to cover her frigid cheeks. Well, it was Eunji’s scarf. Between getting hospitalized and preparing for the stakeout, she hadn’t had the time to return it to Eunji. She had also forgotten about it until she found it in her bags while looking for something warm to wear. She had decided that she would return the scarf when she could and had wrapped it around her neck before leaving. As the brisk wind blew at her, she didn’t regret her decision to grab the scarf.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Bomi said softly. “I brought you all your favorite flowers.”

She knelt and adjusted one of the bouquets, then stepped back and gazed at the four tombstones in front of her.

“Roses for Yongsun, lilies for Byul, tulips for Seulgi, and peonies for Yookyung. I hope I got them right.” Bomi knew that she had gotten them right. She could never forget them.

They had never found her teammates’ bodies, so they had no actual burial sites. They had still placed their tombstones in the same cemetery as all the other deceased royal family secret agents to honor their lives. To Bomi and all of her teammates’ loved ones, this was all they had.

Ever since Bomi left Seoul to pursue the One-Eyed Man on her own, she hadn’t had the chance to visit her companion’s graves. It was something that had always haunted her during her time away. Now that Bomi was back in Seoul, she had the chance to finally see her friends’ graves for the first time.

Seeing them opened up the feelings of anguish and remorse that Bomi had tried so hard to lock away. She sat down on the grass in front of the tombstones and forced herself to swallow back her tears, no matter how much it hurt.

“I’m sorry. I failed you guys,” her voice trembled as she spoke. “I miss you guys so much.”

Tears began to well up in her eyes, so she looked up at the sky and blinked them away. When she felt like she could continue, she returned her eyes to the stones. “I know I said that I’d swear off teams after what happened, but I somehow ended up back here.” Her hair swayed with the wind, and Bomi lowered her face into her scarf. “I promise that I’ll make this right. I swear it to you guys.”

Suddenly, Bomi heard shuffling and the sound of grass crushing behind her. She hadn’t told anyone where she would be, but she still didn’t have to turn around to know who it was.

“Eunji-ah,” she said, still looking at the graves in front of her, “is it time to go?”

The shuffling behind her continued until a pair of boots appeared next to her. She looked up to see Eunji, dressed in all black, looking solemnly at Yookyung’s grave. “Yes,” her friend replied, “it is.”

But Bomi didn’t move right away, and Eunji didn’t try to pull her away either. Instead, they just stayed still and allowed the weight of their emotions to hold them down. 

“That’s a nice scarf,” Eunji finally said.

Bomi jolted, suddenly remembering that she was wearing Eunji’s scarf. “Sorry, I meant to give it back, but it kept slipping my mind.”

She started taking off the scarf, but Eunji stopped her. “Don’t worry about it. Keep it. It looks better on you anyway.”

Bomi hesitated, but then she slowly wrapped the scarf back around her neck. “How did you know that I would be here?”

“You haven’t been in Seoul for over two years. You weren’t anywhere in the palace, and there was only one other place where you could have been.”

“It’s been two years,” Bomi murmured.

 Eunji placed a hand on Bomi’s shoulder. “I visited her as often as I could. I did my best to make sure that her tombstone, as well as your other teammates’ tombstones, remained spotless.”

“Thank you. It means a lot.”

“Of course,” said Eunji. “You know, Chorong-unnie came to me in the morning to tell me that you weren’t in your room. I could tell that she was scared that you had gone AWOL again, but I told her to have faith in you.”

“I don’t blame her. I don’t exactly have the best track record right now,” Bomi sighed and stood up. Chorong had asked Bomi if she could trust her to not abandon the team, and Bomi had said yes, but she didn’t expect Chorong to fully trust her just yet. Not when Bomi herself still had some doubts in her mind. 

Bomi turned to Eunji, but her attention immediately fell to the person who was standing off to the far side.

It was Chorong. Like Eunji, she was dressed in all black. She was staring at the graves with a somber and almost sad look, like she personally knew everyone who had been buried there. Back in the academy, Chorong’s large eyes had always been bright and eager. She’d always ask their instructors questions and would take each lesson with genuine interest. Now, that light in her beautiful eyes had dimmed, and she looked so much older and sterner. As Bomi continued to study Chorong, she couldn’t help but wonder what Chorong had gone through to lose that spark of innocence in her eyes.

None of us here are the same women that we were when we graduated from the academy, Chorong had said a few days ago.

Looking at Chorong, Bomi saw the truth in those words.

She just hoped that in Chorong’s case, that change had been a blessing.

“We have movement on the northern end of the warehouse,” Namjoo’s voice buzzed in through Bomi’s earpiece. “A van just pulled up. A group of four...no, five men are exiting the van.”

Chorong immediately slid over to the computer screens in their cramped van. Her fingers began flying across the keyboard, and an image of the men popped up on one of the screens. Bomi, Eunji, and Hayoung leaned in close to get a better look.

“I tapped into a nearby surveillance camera. I have eyes on the men,” Chorong reported back. “We’ll wait for more men to show up before we move.”

“Yes, Unnie,” said Namjoo. Then she added, “I hope they come soon, because I’m freezing my a*s off out here.”

Chorong huffed, which Bomi suspected to be her stifling a laugh. “Hang in tight. It won’t be much longer.” She turned to the others in the van. “Alright, do all of you remember your roles for tonight?”

Eunji shifted in her seat, rechecking her weapons and equipment. “Hayoungie and I will take the perimeters and find the best way to infiltrate the meeting.”

“Chorong-unnie and I will stay in the van and have eyes on you guys,” Bomi said.

“Namjoo will stay on sniper duty,” Namjoo added. Through her earpiece, Bomi could practically hear Namjoo’s teeth rattling. “In case anyone had forgotten.”

“No one forgot, Unnie,” Hayoung laughed. “Don’t worry, I promise I’ll treat you out to a warm meal after this.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

“Can you two stop flirting in front of me?” Eunji pretended to gag. “Not in front of my salad.”

“You don’t have a salad, Eunji-ah,” Chorong said seriously. Through their earpieces, Namjoo made a sound that sounded like a stifled choke. 

“Really, Unnie?” Eunji said incredulously. “It’s a meme.” 

“I haven’t heard it before.”

“She’s too old to understand us young folk,” Hayoung lamented. 

“Hayoung-ah, I’m this close to sending you to replace Namjoo on sniper duty,” Chorong muttered, pinching two fingers together and lifting them in front of Hayoung’s face. 

“Your order is my command, Unnie,” Hayoung shrugged. “My shot’s not as good as Namjoo-unnie’s, though. Not from a distance, at least.”

“You should have accepted it,” Namjoo mumbled. “For my sake.”

As the women continued to playfully bicker, Bomi gave a small smile and returned to watching the screens. 

The night was fresh, having just followed the setting sun no more than an hour ago. With it came a blistering cold that managed to slip through under the doors and vents of the van. Bomi shivered and rubbed her arms, trying to salvage whatever warmth she had. She couldn’t complain though, because Namjoo was stationed on the roof of a nearby building, completely vulnerable to the cold. Bomi at least had the safety of the van.

The building that the Shadow Clan had chosen to meet at turned out to be an abandoned store that had gone out of business long ago. The area around it was also relatively empty; in fact, it was rare to see any visitors passing by. If Bomi had to guess, she would say that the other few stores around the building would go out of business soon. Most of them had already closed for the night, making it an ideal time for the Shadow Clan to meet. The van was parked in a small lot located a block behind the building, where they were least likely to be discovered. They’d been camped outside in the van for three days, and Bomi’s limbs were aching to get out.

“Two cars just pulled up,” Namjoo announced. “Each with four people. Our count is thirteen now; eight men and five women.”

“Got it, Namjoo-ah,” Chorong said, studying the screens before her. “I see them. Another car just arrived, with two women and one man.”

“I think they’re getting ready to go in,” Namjoo said. 

Bomi squinted at the screen. The Shadow Clan members seemed to still be lingering around, but some had begun to move toward the building. “Do you think one of them could be the leader?” 

“There’s only one way to find out,” Eunji said. Next to her, Hayoung was readying her twin pistols. “Are they armed?”

“I can’t tell from here,” replied Chorong. “Namjoo?” 

“Eleven of them are carrying guns. I can’t tell if they have anything under their clothing, though.”

“We’ll just assume that they’re all armed and proceed accordingly,” Chorong concluded. “We’ll wait five more minutes, then I’ll send Hayoung and Eunji out.”

“One more car just came. One woman and two men, each with a gun holstered to their belts,” Namjoo said. “They’re all heading in now.”

“Alright, everyone switch the frequency of your radios,” Chorong ordered. “Only use it when you need to talk. We can’t risk them discovering our frequency.”

Bomi and the others did as they were told and adjusted their earpieces. With a click, she no longer heard the constant static of the radio. They couldn’t hear Namjoo’s shivering or snarky comments anymore, but Chorong was quick to tap into a surveillance camera near the roof that Namjoo was stationed on. It didn’t take long before one of the screens showed Namjoo, stealthily perched on the roof and peering through the scope of her rifle.

“Hayoung-ah, Eunji-ah, are you ready?” Chorong asked.

The two women tied their hair back and slid black hats over their eyes. Eunji cocked her gun and gave a thumbs-up. Hayoung already had a hand on the door handle.

“Good luck, you two. Stay safe.” Chorong pressed her earpiece and said to Namjoo, “I’m sending Hayoung and Eunji out.”

“Good luck. Don’t do anything stupid,” Bomi said, directing the last part mostly to Eunji.

“Don’t lose your sword.” Chorong gestured to one of the two swords strapped to Eunji’s back. One was her own and the other was the extra one that Chorong had requested for Eunji. Back in the academy, Bomi had always excelled in knife-throwing, Yookyung excelled in shooting, and Eunji excelled in swordfighting. Bomi was glad that Eunji still practiced that skill.

“I learned my lesson the first time, Unnie,” Eunji replied. “We’ll see you two soon.” Then she looked at Hayoung, who nodded and opened the door. In less than a second, they slipped out of the van and into the darkness of the night.

Immediately, Chorong returned to the screen and began tapping into multiple surveillance cameras to get a good cover on the two women.

When they reached the back of the building, Bomi warned, “Don’t move yet. A woman just came back out to her car.” Bomi watched as the woman retrieved something in her car, then went back into the building. “You’re clear now.”

Moving cautiously, Eunji peered over the side of the building, Hayoung guarding her back. When she determined that it was clear, the two women rounded the corner and quickly made their way down the side, stopping by a door. With Hayoung still watching her back, Eunji gently tried turning the door handle, but it didn’t budge. Eunji shook her head and motioned Hayoung to continue.

“Bomi-ah, can you find a surveillance camera that captures the upper corner of the building’s left side?” Chorong asked. “I can’t seem to find one.”

“I’ve been trying to, but I can’t find one either,” Bomi answered.

Chorong cursed under her breath, much to Bomi’s surprise. “We’ll have a blindspot, then.”

“Namjoo-ah has eyes on that side of the building. She can see what we can’t,” Bomi reassured.

“You’re right.” Chorong pressed her earpiece. “Eunji-ah and Hayoung-ah. We can’t see the upper left corner of the building. Be careful when you reach there. Namjoo-ah, can you see the entire left side of the building?”

“Yes, I can,” Namjoo responded. “I’ll be extra vigilant when they get there.”

“Understood,” said Hayoung, “No secure entries so far. We’ll keep going.”

Chorong nodded and took her finger off of her earpiece. Bomi watched her as she scanned all of the screens for any potential threats, her face as focused as it was beautiful. Ever since that night in the gym, Bomi hadn’t had the chance to talk to Chorong alone. It wasn’t that Bomi had been aching to talk to Chorong, but she was definitely curious about Chorong’s drastic change and wanted to ask her some questions.

“You know,” Bomi said, looking back at the screens, “I never thought that I’d ever live to hear Park Chorong curse.” 

“Get used to it. I curse a lot now.” Chorong didn’t move her eyes from the screens as she spoke. “This job is strenuous.”

“Understandable. So, how exactly did Play M Training Academy’s all-star student end up working for the princess?”

“What is there to know? The princess requested my relocation from my previous team to this new team. It is my duty to serve the royal family, and so it was my duty to accept the princess’s request.”

Bomi had been expecting this sort of answer, but she had to admit that she was hoping for a more exciting story. “Still as dutiful as ever, aren’t you?”

“Of course.”

“What happened to your previous team? They must have suffered a great loss when you and Eunji left.”

“Princess Naeun took that into consideration before requesting our relocation. She already had replacements ready.” Chorong leaned in closer to one of the screens and said to Eunji and Hayoung, “You two are clear. Keep going.”

“I’m surprised you and Eunji-ah work so well together. It seems like you two are quite close now,” Bomi said out of genuine curiosity.

“Why are you surprised?”

“You were always someone that Eunji and I would talk about.” Chorong rose her brows, and Bomi hastily went on, “In a way that a commoner would talk about a celebrity. You were like a celebrity to the whole academy. I never would have thought that one of us would end up working with you, never mind getting close to you.”

“That’s what happens when you’ve spent the past four years working together.” Chorong was still looking at the screens, but out of the corner of her eye, Bomi could see Chorong’s lips curve up into a grin. “What, are you jealous?”

“Why in the world would I be jealous?”

“Do you feel like I stole your best friend?” If Chorong hadn’t been smirking, Bomi wouldn’t have been able to tell that she was joking.

“I wouldn’t get jealous over that,” Bomi said. “You can have her.”

“I’ll pass,” Chorong replied so quickly that it made Bomi chuckle. “Eunji often spoke very highly of you. She did it in such a way that it seemed like she had feelings for you.”

“We get that a lot, actually. We’re just good friends, though. We’ve had to establish that several times before.” Nearly everyone who had met Bomi and Eunji had once inferred that they had romantic feelings for each other, and each time, Bomi and Eunji would have to explain that they were just friends. They would understand why people would get confused, though. They had known each other since childhood, and had developed a friendship that was more like sisterhood. They would openly be touchy, tease each other, and practically do everything together. That is, until they were assigned to different teams. After that, they would still keep in close contact, but after Yookyung’s death, Bomi completely severed contact with Eunji. 

“Eunji was very excited to hear that Princess Naeun wanted you on our team,” Chorong said. “She didn’t explicitly say it, but I could tell.” Hearing that sent a pang of guilt to Bomi’s heart. Eunji’s friendship had been one of the things that Bomi had missed the most during that time, and now she knew that it was the same for Eunji. She hadn’t thought about it before, but she had probably unintentionally hurt Eunji by disappearing from everyone’s lives. It hurt her just thinking about it. It also scared her, the fact that it hurt her.

“I’ve missed her too,” Bomi said softly. “I didn’t explicitly tell her, but I have.”

Chorong was silent for a moment before saying, “You should tell her that.”

“I should.” Bomi watched Hayoung and Eunji circle around the back of the building to avoid the front entrance. She touched her earpiece and told them, “You two are nearing the blindspot now. Namjoo-ah, do you have eyes on them?” 

“I do. You guys are clear,” Namjoo replied. Bomi watched with unsettling apprehension as Hayoung and Eunji disappeared from the screens.

“Can I ask you a question?” Chorong asked.

“What is it?”

This time, Chorong actually did look away from the screens. “Why did you keep refusing to join our team?”

“I didn’t want to. It’s as simple as that.”

Chorong wasn’t convinced, and frankly, Bomi wouldn’t have been convinced by that answer either. “That night in the gym, you said that something was bothering you and you were trying to run it off. You said that it’s been bothering you for two years and that it’s always going to bother you.” When Bomi didn’t reply right away, Chorong continued, “I know what happened to your team. I know what happened to Yookyung.”

Bomi froze by the mention of her deceased friend’s name. “What do you mean?”

“I know what you went through. The heartbreak, the loss of motivation, the numbness that follows―I know.”

Bomi stared at Chorong, the beautiful woman who was staring back at her with eyes full of sadness, understanding, and mystery. “How?”

“I―,” Chorong started, but was abruptly interrupted by Namjoo’s frantic voice and a silenced gunshot.

Bomi tore her eyes away from Chorong’s to look at the screens, but she saw nothing. “What happened?”

“He snuck up from the shadows. I couldn’t see him,” Namjoo cursed.

“Namjoo-unnie got him.” Hayoung swore, and Bomi could hear her heavy breathing. “Eunji-unnie is hurt, though.”

Bomi’s heart dropped, and she felt that fear that she had spent so long trying to run away from resurface. “Eunji-ah, answer me. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Eunji said, but Bomi could hear her labored breathing. “Just a little scratch. On the bright side, we found a way in.”

“Stay there,” Chorong commanded as she rummaged around in the van, searching for something. “We’re coming.”

“Well,” Bomi said, her hand on the door handle, “I guess we’ll continue this talk later.”

Chorong slipped her gun out of its holster and nodded. Bomi opened the door, and together they ran into the night, the moon above them lighting their way through the darkness.