[Dorm Building]

I walked down the hallway with Johnny by my side. He was quiet and he didn’t say much but I didn’t expect him to. I wasn’t anxious, I just felt awkward. Johnny wasn’t Yuta and the silence wasn’t comfortable like how I liked it. It was tense and I kept sneaking glances at him just to see him minding his own business. I let out a sigh and saw that the day had passed by so fast. The sun was beginning to set and the air was getting cold.

Johnny stopped in front of the room and pushed open the door. Inside, I saw one bed and four cameras on the ceiling. It had an inside bathroom and cupboards where I could put my stuff. I followed him in, Johnny removing his jacket. He flinched when the material rubbed against his injured bicep and he grunted softly from the pain. He walked to the closet and hung up his jacket, rolling his sleeves up. I frowned, scanning the room before asking him a question.

“Where are your things?” I asked him and he jerked his head to the closet. Beside it was a duffle bag and he pulled out a chair and told me to sit down. He was all business, wasn’t he?

“You brought the files?” he asked and I nodded.

“I thought it was supposed to be for an on-field mission after we pass this immersive trial,” I told him and he nodded.

“It is, but there are character traits in it too for the trial,” he told me and I passed him the file. He opened it up, scanning it before giving out momentary hums of ‘Mhmm.”. I sat in the chair in front of him, frozen. Johnny did not necessarily scare me, but his demeanor was often off-putting and it made me uncomfortable.

He flickered his eyes over to me before placing the file onto the table.

“Read it,” he told me before standing up and I nodded, gingerly picking up the papers and staring at it. There were images of a woman and a man. There were bullet points of her basic information. I read it out loud, trying to wrap my head around how to play the character.

“Female: 37. Works a corporate job.” I read to myself. “Catholic.”

The sound of a cork popping rang through the room and I jumped to see Johnny with a bottle of wine. He had taken it out of his duffle bag and I raised an eyebrow at him. He returned to the table, placing a glass in front of me and one in front of him before sitting down and leaning back.

“You drink?” he asked, and I nodded. “Good. We need to get acquainted with each other and it’s best we quickly get comfortable.”

He probably does it with all his forgers. I watched him pour the wine in my glass. I was a light drinker and have never been to clubs or bars because of my parents and my antisocial personality. I had an occasional wine glass on formal dinners but that was that. Johnny took a sip of the wine, moving the glass in a circular motion as he watched the liquid slosh around.

I bet Jennie would have loved to be where I was, I thought to myself. The atmosphere went silent and I was beginning to get anxious with the lack of communication so I grabbed the glass and downed it. Clearing my throat; my lips pursing at the sour taste, I shook my head before going back to reading.

“Male. 42. Business owner. Travels often. Married for ten years,” the bullet points said and Johnny began to speak.

“They gave us the basic points and we will have to build the character,” he told me, leaning forward and pouring more wine into my glass. I nodded. “We’ll have to improvise as we go. Whatever you do, you’ll have to have a reason for it. Why does your character act the way she does? Is there a reason? Backstory? We’ll have to build to it. I take it D.O told you that you’ll be monitored?”

“Yes,” I said, taking another sip of the wine. It helped and I felt more relaxed.

Maybe a little bit too relaxed.

“Look over there,” Johnny instructed. “That board. You see it?”

I looked to the side to see the board against the wall. There was Johnny’s name and mine beside each other. There were stickers by the board in the shape of stars and at the sight of them—I began to feel competitive.

I was competitive by nature, always wanting to win. Knowing that I would be accumulating stars to show my achievements had ignited a fire in me and Johnny began to explain.

“We’ll start with 15 stars. Every time you make a mistake, I’ll remove one.”

“You too?” I asked, making a circle with my hand and peering through it. “It says Johnny there.”

Johnny nodded. “Me too. It won’t be fair if it’s just you.” He finished his first glass and I followed suit, draining the glass of its contents.

It was beginning to hit and I guess it was because I hadn’t eaten the whole day and was drinking it like it was water. But alcohol was good and I found my face heating up. Johnny pushed the file to me and opened another page where the images were shown. They were of people I didn’t know and Johnny told me to analyze the characters.

“What can you analyze from the photos?” he asked me and I blinked, trying to look closely but they were overlapping.

“I don’t know,” I said and Johnny sighed, pointing at the finger of the female.

“She has been married to him for ten years,” he pointed out and I saw that her finger had no ring. “But she’s not wearing a ring and her finger does not have a tan line. While he—he wears his ring.” He pointed at the man in another photo and I pointed at Johnny, Johnny nodding. “Yes, that’s me. I wear a ring.”

“And I don’t wear a ring,” I said.

“So, what can you analyze from that?” Johnny asked and I leaned forward to fill up my own glass without asking him for permission. If I had to work, at least I was drunk while doing so. Johnny didn’t say anything and I shrugged, taking another gulp.

“I don’t know,” I said back and he sighed.

“If she doesn’t have a tan line on her ring finger, it might mean she takes off her ring. If she does that but her husband doesn’t, it’s probably because there are problems with their relationship but heavier on her side than her husbands,” Johnny began.

“So, we’re fighting?” I asked him.

“Yes, we may be fighting,” Johnny concluded. “and since she—I mean, you,” He changed the pronoun so I would be more comfortable in getting immersed in the character. “work a corporate job for long hours as a secretary. So, it probably means you’re having an affair.”

“With who?” I asked, confused. The alcohol was making me loopy and I had no idea what he was talking about. Finishing the glass, I put it down and stared at the photo, my body swaying from side to side. Johnny snapped his fingers in front of my face and I jolted up, straightening my back.

“I don’t know. Maybe your boss? You have to make it up as you go—”

“I’m dating Director Kyungsooooo?” I asked suddenly as the idea flitted through my brain. “Oh my god.”

Johnny looked stricken at my statement, shaking his head from side to side. “What? No! Did you conclude that from all I said?”

“Well, am I wrong?” I asked. I thought he said we had to make up our own story and if I was dating my boss, I would be dating Kyungsoo—wouldn’t I? Even Johnny looked confused and I saw his eyes land on my empty glass. He moved the glass away a little from me before continuing.

“You’re not wrong,” he told me. “Technically, you’re not. But that’s disturbing.”

I didn’t even focus on what he was saying, images of me dating Kyungsoo dancing to the beat of hiphop music in my mind and I couldn’t help but laugh. My body shook and I giggled, doubling over in fits of laughter while Johnny looked weirded out.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It’s funny!” I gasped, fanning myself. “It’s funny that I’m dating D.O. Is my character suicidal? Because I would probably be suicidal… What a downgrade.”

Okay, dating Kyungsoo wasn’t that much of a downgrade. I wiped my eyes when tears formed from all the laughing. I had no filter when I drank alcohol. Heck, I had no filter when I wasn’t drunk. Another reason why I hardly had friends and went out. I knew I was judgemental and I accepted it. I saw Johnny look at me so I looked back at him when his eyes traveled to the cameras.

“Is this muted?” I managed to ask and he brought his gaze back to me, shaking his head. “Oh, .”

“You’re Catholic. You don’t curse,” he reminded me and I paused.

“Oh, amen.”

“That’s a very bad save,” Johnny told me and I laughed again, my stomach clenching. “Focus, Oh Dana.”

“Sorry…. Sorry,” I mumbled, pressing my lips together and trying to focus.

“You might as well be someone who acts different outside and inside the house.” Johnny continued and I asked him how. “That’s up for you to decide and figure out. But once you decide on a character trait, commit to it and keep going. You have to be consistent and I’ll have to retaliate on each situation accordingly.”

If I was cheating on him with Kyungsoo, there would be only one reason liable for that and that was that Johnny at being a husband. So, I told him that.

“You .” I said suddenly and Johnny looked at me, surprised.

“Sorry?”

“I’m committing to my character.”

“You’re the one who’s cheating on me,” he added, and I could feel him shift into character almost immediately so I tried to do the same.

“I’m suppressed! I work every night…” I snuck a look at him and he didn’t seem impressed so I added. “… for the children—”

“We have children?” Johnny asked, surprised.

“I’m pregnant!” I exclaimed.

“I’m infertile,” Johnny countered.

“—With Kyungsoo’s child!” I took a factual U-turn and Johnny stared at me.

Silence.

“This is fun,” I whispered to him. “This is like make believe. So, what do we fight about tomorrow?”

“This is honestly the most I’ve heard you laugh,” Johnny told me and I giggled. Damn, the alcohol. I took another swig, letting out a cough when it hit my throat. “Take it easy. Though I’m glad you are going with the flow with such… comfortability.”

I didn’t say anything, Johnny looking back at the file.

“We can plan tomorrow because it’s your first day and I want you to get the gist of it,” Johnny said but I was already in another world, humming to myself as I listened to him carelessly. “Our options to fight about would be…”

Johnny paused and I could see him try to form a scenario of why our characters would fight. “Option one: Why aren’t you sleeping with me?”

“You’re bad in bed,” I shot at him and I knew he heard my comment but chose to ignore it.

“Option two: Why aren’t you wearing your wedding ring?”

“I gained weight and it doesn’t fit,” I told him, showing him a ringless hand.

“Option three: I want a divorce.”

“Who wants a divorce?” I asked, frowning. “Me?”

“Or me,” Johnny said, calmly. “You can choose!”

“Well… do you want a divorce?” I asked him back when it dawned to me that I had a kid to take care of. “Oh my god, what will happen to Kyungsoo’s baby?”

“Okay…” Johnny murmured, standing up to take my glass away from me because he thought I had enough alcohol in my system. I grabbed his hand when he walked past me and glowered at him.

“Put it back, Johnny Suh. Mama needs her alcohol.”

I heard Johnny gently shake me off, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. “You’re so immersed. Good, good.”

He put the wine glasses away and I sat there, patting my make-believe pregnant stomach when he came to me to grab me by the shoulders and push me towards the bed.

“When is the baby going to hatch?” I asked him, falling down onto the bed on my back and he crossed his arms before answering patiently.

“It’s not a bird, Oh Dana. Let’s head to bed, you will be dead tired tomorrow.”

“How do you know? I want a penguin.” I told him and when I tried to sit up, he pushed me back down onto the bed.

“I need to shower,” I told him, trying to stand up but the world was spinning and I quickly gave up. “I can’t sleep with you, you know. You’re not Kyungsoo.”

“I would tell you to shut up right now or you won’t be able to face the Director of Operations tomorrow,” he told me and I rolled to my side, Johnny taking the blanket out to drape it over me.

“I won’t remember, anyway.”

He didn’t respond and I closed my eyes, hearing him walk back and forth. I wondered what took him so long for him to come to bed, but when he came back—he smelled of soap and shampoo. Johnny slid under the covers and I felt something soft against my arm and when I looked to the side, I saw that he had put a pillow between us.

We were plunged into darkness and my drunk mind was still reeling so I asked him again.

“What are we fighting about tomorrow?”

“Option one,” he said and I struggled to remember what option one was.

“What’s that?”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow; you won’t remember anyway,” Johnny replied and I made a face.

It was silent again and I itched to talk so I hummed into the darkness before asking him a very important question.

“Have you watched Happy Feet? There was one penguin—”

“Oh Dana,” Johnny said warningly and I frowned at his tone of voice.

“You know what, Johnny?” I said to him.

“What?”

“This is why I want a divorce.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Assassin class]

My alarm went off and when I cracked open an eye, I saw that it was seven-fifty. I had classes every day at eight thirty in the morning so my alarm would ring every morning. I turned and felt the pillow beside me before letting out a sigh. My head felt heavy and I had no doubt that it was from the wine last night.

Johnny was deep asleep and didn’t seem like he would be waking up anytime soon. I sat up slowly to not wake him up and grabbed my uniform and clothes before walking to the bathroom. I took a hot shower to wash away the tiredness and when I looked at the mirror while I brushed my teeth, I saw that my face was puffy.

Spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing my mouth, I exited the bathroom to prepare for the whole day. I needed only my dagger today and I heard my personalized chain would be given to me the next day so I was waiting for that. I slipped my dagger into my belt and turned to the door when I heard Johnny clear his throat loudly.

I froze.

Right. As long as I was in the room, I had to act—I looked at him and I could see him blinking at me sleepily. What do married couples do? Then again, I wasn’t married or 37 or catholic… or cheating on my husband with my boss. That was all I remembered from last night.

Thinking quickly, I headed over to him and he looked pointedly at me.

Married couples kiss each other every morning… right? I never saw my parents do it, my parents weren’t ones for affection. But if I was cheating on him with my boss, I wouldn’t want to seem weird. I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his cheek as a morning kiss.

Johnny nodded, “Good enough.”

I paused, reminding myself that my character was Catholic. “May God be with you,” I added and Johnny turned over to continue sleeping.

“That’s enough. Go to class. Don’t be late,” he mumbled against the pillow sounding like an absolute dad instead of a husband and I quickly scurried away to class.

I exited the room and began to jog to one of the classrooms where Mr. Min would be teaching. He had told us a few days before that he would be focusing on lectures because the school board said he was a bit too “free” with the students. He seemed sad about it and we all had to tell him that we loved his teaching and he brightened up automatically after that.

When I reached the room, I greeted my classmates, sliding into a seat beside Lalisa. She was a very beautiful girl and she was sweet. Lisa, however, was also very determined and she was often out on the field. As nice as she was with me, she also seemed distant and was close to Jennie, the vice of Medics and Labs whose name was Rose, and some hacker called Jisoo. I later found out that they were their own unit called BlackPink.

I saw Ten and Hendery deep in conversation when Mr. Min checked his watch, frowning.

“Where’s Jeno?” he asked and I raised an eyebrow. Jeno was hardly late. He was student services and a role model to all of us. Doyoung said he didn’t know and Mr. Min was about to teach when running footsteps could be heard from the hall.

I saw Jeno speeding towards the door with a flash of pink hair running after him, Jeno skidding into the room and slamming the door behind him as he locked it. Sweat glistened on his forehead and he leaned against the door, a hand over his heart.

“JENO!” Jaemin’s voice yelled out, his fist slamming against the door. Jeno closed his eyes and he looked exhausted. “JENO! How can we play hide and seek if the door is closed?”

“We’ve been playing ‘Hide and Seek’ since yesterday,” Jeno whispered to us, making sure the door was locked. He looked warily around him and began to move to his chair. “He’s obsessed with me.”

Hendery chuckled. “Na Jaemin is crazy. I spent two hours with him yesterday—”

A clang sounded and the door shook, Jeno running to the corner of the room, his pupils shaking. Suddenly, there was a lot of thudding from the ceiling and Jeno’s eyes swept over it, following the noise when a tile was removed and Jaemin’s pink head popped up from above.

[Jaemin taking a pic of Jeno's hand because it's y]

He looked around the room, a smile traveling up his face when he saw Jeno by the corner of the room.

“Oh! There you are,” he said, his smile widening. “I would love to finish ‘Hide and Seek’ but I have class. Don’t miss me too much, Jeno. I’ll be right back here once it’s over and—Hey, Donkey!” he bellowed to Hendery, a dagger coming out from nowhere—the blade embedding against Hendery’s table.

“You forgot your dagger yesterday!” Jaemin told him and I wondered what Jaemin and Hendery were doing, spending time together.

“I didn’t know I lost it,” Hendery said, feeling his belt where his dagger should have been.

“Of course, you didn’t. I stole it from you,” Jaemin said, winking at Jeno. “Thanks for showing me the vents yesterday!”

And with that, Jaemin’s head disappeared from the ceiling and I could hear him crawling. We all looked at Hendery who looked back at us.

“What? He threatened me! Had to show him where the vents were and whatnot—”

“Why did you do that?!” Jeno asked, exasperated. “Now he will be able to go anywhere!”

“Do you want me to get murdered?” Hendery shot back, Jeno faltering.

"You're an assassin, Donkey."

"Hang out with him then, Ten," Hendery said back to Ten who quickly shook his head. 

“I'll pass."

"Exactly."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Johnny's lighthouse]

The lunch bell rang and I went to Jaehyun to get my bandages changed from my injured hand and thumbs. I have been doing it for a while now the past week and it was healing without any problem. I was still a bit angry at Jaehyun but he always made up for it with his stupid jokes. When I was done, I made my way to the cafeteria to be greeted by the bustling sound of everyone screaming and yelling. The forgers were loud as usual, Haechan and Jungwoo always having the spotlight with the younger trainees. I saw Jeno with Hendery and Ten, his tray in front of him while he sipped his juice. He saw me and waved for me to come over and sit with him but I shook my head.

They talked a lot and I was battling a pounding headache. Going to sit on my own, I placed my tray on the table and sat down when I heard running. Looking up, I saw that Jaemin was heading straight for Jeno—the pink-haired male slamming down the tray in front of the assassin. I saw Hendery and Ten exchange looks and before I knew it, Jeno was asking them where they were going and they headed towards me.

“Jaemin scares me,” Ten said, chewing on his food. So much for a peaceful lunch, I thought. I looked towards the table outside the cafeteria where Yuta usually sat and wondered if I should go see him, Hendery beginning to talk. When I found him, I saw that he was sitting right where he usually sat, except that there was Mark beside him and Jennie and Johnny acros