The night sky has always complimented the scenery in Jeju. The stars littered across the dark sky hang over the city and provide a relaxing environment for those lucky enough to find themselves on such a beautiful island. The shores are constantly visited by the rather noisy yet peaceful waves and the water is lit up but the beaming light emitting from the moon. The land, although home to rather large plots of green farmlands, fields of grass, natural attractions, gardens and parks, is also host to a beaming city. The streets are filled with chatter, laughs, and the occasional drunken arguments. The restaurants are flooding the streets with the smells of the best Korean cuisine and the bars have the taps running seemingly nonstop as every customer downs topped off glasses of beer and alcohol with ease. Everyone seems to have a good time here in Jeju. At least, that’s how things usually were.

 

Now, the streets fall eerily silent with a very few amount of souls seen wandering in the usually bustling streets. It’s not like there’s much to do for them. Every building locked up and seemingly abandoned. The unusual sight of the “Sorry, We’re CLOSED” sign plastered onto every door and window in the city. Jeju, along with pretty much everywhere else in the world has been on quarantine for the past nine months and is just now beginning to open back up the streets to society. After a deadly virus caught humanity by surprise and infected a good majority of the global population, most of which through reckless people who disregarded the first stages of government lockdown. Many fell ill and hospitals around the world were soon filled with infected patients. Those who had a weak immune system began to die off from the disease and after the death toll reached an alarming 500,000 deaths worldwide, governments began enforcing the quarantine and the world found themselves bound to their homes, unable to carry on their lives as usual. Many people obliged after finally seeing the damage dealt onto the human species however occasionally you’d get someone who couldn’t stand the sight of their own home anymore and decided to take a stroll only to be hilariously tackled down by police and disease control agents who patrolled the streets. A cure was luckily found and began to be administered to patients and society let out a very large breath of relief.

 

The quarantine was finally over and after a grueling nine months society could carry on with their lives as usual.  Many however decided to wait it out for a week or two and let others “test the waters” to see if it was really safe to be outside. The driver of a Black Audi R8 however took this as a perfect opportunity to warm up the cold roads of the island. The slightly tinted windows set a rather dark atmosphere on the already out interior of the sports car. The car took dangerous turn after dangerous turn for what felt like an hour of high speed hell. 

 

“I just lived through the deadliest disease in my time and I refuse to die days after the cure was found BECAUSE OF YOU!”

 

A woman in a rather intense state of panic had a deathgrip on the handle attached to the roof as she rode in the passenger seat. Her eyes were only halfway closed because even though she was scared for her life, she would at least like to have the luxury of watching it end which seemed inevitable at this point.

 

Her short messy black hair just draped over her shoulders.  She wore dark blue jeans, a black pair of converse low-tops and a white T-Shirt with a small print of a rose on her chest. Over it she wore a black windbreaker with a prestigious logo just below her shoulder. A gold colored plate labeled “Jeju Police Department.” 

 

The car was then filled with the sound of a maniacal laughter as the driver took a hand off of the steering wheel and reached for the hand of her passenger. 

 

“Would you relax? I know what I’m doing. Plus if we get pulled over you could just tell them to go away, right?” The girl driving was much shorter than the other. Her youthful smile seemed to bright up the literal dark atmosphere. She wore light blue jeans with a red and white knitted long sleeve top with a pair of white vans. Her brown hair was put up in a rather messy bun. 

 

“I’m really not worried about getting pulled over right now. I’m worried that I’m about to DIE AT THE HANDS OF AN IDIOT!” 

 

The passenger increased her volume as the driver took a sharp turn and began to drive at high speeds down a rather curvy hill. 

 

“I SWEAR TO GOD YERIM IF YOU GET ME KILLED I’M DRAGGING YOU DOWN TO HELL WITH ME!” 

 

Yeri let out another laugh as she showed mercy for her passenger and began to ease off of the gas. 

 

“Fine then. Be a big baby.” She mockingly fired off at her passenger. “Just know that next time I get the opportunity to drive around like this, I’m not picking you up, Joy.” 

 

She rolled her eyes at her passenger who looked exactly like someone who just lived through two consecutive life threatening situations would. 

 

“You know what? That’s fine by me.” Joy let out between heavy breaths. “I’ll just make sure to be on duty that night so that I get to be the one who pulls you over and throws you in jail.” She gleefully remarks as a toothy smile creeps up onto her face at the thought of throwing her psychotic best friend into a cramped jail cell. 

 

The smile is short lived however as she now grimaces in pain after her shoulder is bombarded by somewhat harsh slaps from her younger friend. 

 

They both laugh how ridiculous they’re acting and the next hour of driving is set at a normal law-abiding pace. During the ride they discuss what they’re planning to do now that the quarantine is over and they can finally physically hang out with each other, and Yeri’s displeasure for having to get back to work, a statement that was met by a pair of rolling eyes.

 

Joy, being a part of the police force, never stopped working during the quarantine and still had the task of reporting to the police station to fill out and file paperwork for those being booked in for breaking the quarantine. 

 

It seemed like they had been driving around for an eternity so the two friends decided to call it in and began to make their way back to Joy’s apartment. 

 

They pulled into the parking lot which was located right off to the side of the 15 story building. 

 

“Thanks for picking me up tonight Yerim.” 

 

Joy was just about to flash her friend a bright smile to show her appreciation for Yeri’s time only to be met with a stern look plastered on the face of the younger girl, brow arched in confusion.

 

“It’s been nine months since I last got to hang out with my best friend. You’d be an idiot to think that I’m going to end it right here.” 

 

Yeri then reached for the keys still in the ignition and switched it off. She then reached into the back seat where she pulled up a backpack that was tucked off in the corner behind the driver’s seat containing everything she needed for a comfortable night’s stay. 

 

Joy sat in her seat quietly as the younger then grabbed her hand causing Joy to snap out of her confusion to meet the younger girl’s soft eyes. 

 

“You can get out of my car now, dummy.” 

 

Joy could only laugh at the smaller girl’s demands. 

 

“You know, there’s no shame in admitting that you miss me.” She said as she opened her car door and climbed out of the cramped space she had spent hours sitting in. “Honestly, I think I could go a couple more days without seeing you.” 

 

Joy said as she began stretching her arms up into the sky, slightly arching her back to get loose. Her vision blurred as a bright flash took her by surprise and she began tumbling backwards followed by a familiar and rather irritating laugh. Yeri had thrown her backpack at Joy and hit the older girl directly in the face.. 

 

“Let’s go up loser.” Yeri said as she locked arms with a dazed Sooyoung all while sporting a devilish smile on her face.

 

…

 

When they reached Joy’s apartment situated on the 12th story Joy made a B-line to her couch and collapsed in exhaustion while Yeri went to the bathroom to freshen up before she laid down to rest. 

 

She grabbed the remote and the T.V. and began scrolling through the channels. Late night television being what it is, she found herself scrolling through channels she didn’t even know she had and decided to settle for watching a rerun of the previous mornings news broadcast. The reporter read off a script detailing recent national events such as the hard work being done by those working in the medical field to distribute the cure to the masses. 

 

After listening for a bit she devoted her attention to the running text right below the headline bar which highlighted the economic collapse which was essentially guaranteed a long time ago, the riots and mayhem occuring in Seoul, and how the newly elected officials from the legislative election that took place earlier in the year are planning on dealing with everything.

 

Joy heard sounds coming from her left which signalled that the younger girl was done in the bathroom and was now raiding her kitchen for food that Sooyoung worked hard to pay for. She let the T.V. play in the background as she pulled out her phone and began to scroll through her unread text most of which being from a group chat of disgruntled co-workers complaining about the mandatory 0800 meeting scheduled in the morning. Joy let out a huff of frustration and sunk deep into her sofa after looking up at the top of the screen to see that the clock read 1:47 a.m. meaning that she would not be having a fun day at the office today. She was just about ready to shut her eyes to rest for a bit when Yeri violently plopped herself onto the couch while cramming chips that she had poured into a bowl into while her eyes were locked onto the television.

 

“Jesus Christ! Would you look at that?” The television now showed video footage of one of the riots in Seoul. 

 

Shown on screen were police officers wearing heavy suits of armor standing side by side holding clear shields in one hand and police batons in the other in attempts to keep the angry mob of people at bay. Standing on top of a squad car behind the wall of police officers was the Seoul chief of police demanding through a loudspeaker that the crowd disperse and emphasizing that any violent acts will not be tolerated and offenders will be apprehended. 

 

The camera then panned to show the seemingly endless crowd of people, some holding up signs calling for anarchy, some holding blunt objects and glass bottles, others just pumped their fist in unison while chanting. It was fairly obvious that the police were extremely outnumbered and even the chief of police was caught on tape with the most obvious look of fear on his face. 

 

Joy was told by some of her co-workers that the riots were due to the lack of trust people now had in their government following the virus outbreak. Before things got serious rumours spread that the government had prior knowledge of the outbreak and didn’t act on it besides the very little preparations that were made. Some claim that the virus was orchestrated by the recently elected officials to sway the population to keep them in office by making empty promises of “working hard to find the cure.” Other conspiracies range from the government having had the cure for a long period of time but ultimately deciding to keep it from the public to profit off of treating the ill, to the government just having no cure at all. The general consensus being that the people aren’t very happy with the way things are at the moment and nobody is really giving anyone any answers. 

 

“Hopefully things don’t end up like that over here.” Yeri said with a worried look on her face.

 

Joy scoffed. “Here in Jeju? Never. Those idiots in Seoul are a whole different breed of people. All of this is just a bunch of people who were dumb enough to believe those conspiracy theorists trying to prove something that doesn’t exist.” She reached into the bowl of chips and began munching away as she watched the broadcast now showing an interview with the same chief of police shown earlier hours later with a bandage plastered on his forehead insinuating that things didn’t necessarily go his way.

 

“These people are unbelievable. I mean, what happened to all of us having to work together to get through the hard times? Now that it's passed we all have to go back to hating each other and inflicting violence on the same people who were just trying to keep everyone safe?” Joy questioned.

 

Yeri remained silent letting the unexpectingly deep words from her usually bubbly best friend sink in. She then looked over and noticed the disgruntled look on her best friends face and tried to comfort her by resting her head on her shoulder. “We’re living in a confusing time right now.” Yeri then proceeded to reach for Joy’s hand and gently wrap her fingers around the older girl's soft hand. “With all the conspiracy crap flying around, everyone blurting out completely different answers to the same problem, the government seemingly clueless on how to deal with everything.” Yeri paused and thought her next words carefully. “Well, wouldn’t you just want to know the truth? Wouldn’t you want answers? I understand you’re a cop and everything but think like one of us. What’s so hard about giving the people the answers that they need? Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost and those who survived still need help. Help from someone they know for a fact that they can depend on.” 

 

It was Joy’s turn to sit quietly. She then turned her head slightly just enough to put the younger girl's face into her field of vision and sighed. “That is probably the stupidest thing I’ve heard you say in a very long time.” 

 

Yeri shot her head up and reached in the bowl and threw a handful of chips at Joy. Joy retaliated with a pillow however the younger girl lunged backwards to avoid being hit which resulted in the bowl of chips flying across the living room eventually spilling on the floor. Joy, infuriated since she knew that she was going to be the one cleaning the mess up later, lunged on top of Yeri and tried to hold a pillow over her face in an attempt to slightly suffocate her. Yeri struggled underneath until Joy finally climbed off while laughing victoriously. Yeri looked a mess as she glared over at Joy who was smiling so hard that her eyes were pretty much shut.

 

“How about we try not to kill each other on our first night back together?” Yeri said as she tried to pat her hair back in place.

 

“How about we never try to be deep with each other ever again? I almost vomited after what you said.” Joy then crawled onto the side of the couch Yeri was sitting on, placed a pillow on her lap and plopped her head down. 

 

“You’re literally the most annoying friend I have.” Yeri rolled her eyes and began running her fingers through Joy’s hair as she watched the older girl slowly close her eyes. She then sunk into the couch behind her still slightly exhausted from being a victim of assault. “But you’ll always be the best.” Yeri meant every word she said as she watched the corner of Joy’s mouth raise slightly. “Get up loser. I’m not going to spend the night sleeping while sitting up.” 

 

Joy groaned and complained as she had to force herself to stand up from her already comfortable position. The two made it to Joy’s bedroom and collapsed side by side onto the bed not even bothering to cover themselves with the blanket. 

 

“Goodnight, Yerim.” Joy said in a low raspy voice clearly worn out from the exciting day she spent with her best friend.

 

“Goodnight, Sooyoungie.” Yeri wrapped her hand over Joy’s stomach and pulled her slightly closer so that their foreheads were inches away from being connected as the two slowly drifted off and fell asleep.  

 

…

 

Early next morning Joy was awoken by the sound of her phone going off. She looked at the caller ID which read the name “Jaehyun.” Jaehyun and Joy graduated from the police academy together earlier on in the year and always found themselves working together however after Joy landed a spot in the intelligence division and Jaehyun in the homicide division they found themselves seeing a bit less of each other however the two never failed to check in on eachother every now and then. Joy gathered herself and cleared before answering the phone.

 

“Where the hell are you?” Jaehyun sounded frantic as Joy pursed her lips genuinely clueless to why he was acting this way. 

 

“At… Home?” She wasn’t entirely sure if that was the right answer.

 

“Joy you idiot! The commander has the entire force out here for a meeting. Did you not see the text I sent you last night?” Joy’s eyes grew wide as they nearly bulged out of their sockets. She then pulled her phone away from her ear to look at the time which read 7:33A.M. Joy only had 27 minutes to make herself look somewhat presentable and make her way 35 minutes downtown to the police station. 

 

“Oh, Christ. I’ll be there in a bit.” Joy hung up and threw her phone off to the side, the loud grunting noise indicating that she might have accidentally hit a sleeping Yeri however she looked way too comfortable to retaliate. She whispered a sorry as she got up and went into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. She threw on a different pair of jeans she had folded in her closet and put on her Jeju Police windbreaker over the same T-shirt from the night before along with a baseball cap with the same Jeju Police logo on the front. 

 

Even though she was in a rush she still took the time to write onto a sticky note instructing Yeri to text her as soon as she woke up and help herself to anything in the kitchen, not that she needed permission. She stuck the note onto the younger girls phone and before Joy left the room she placed a gentle kiss onto the sleeping girl’s forehead. 

 

On her way out she grabbed her wallet and latched her badge onto one of the loops on her pants however when she went to the kitchen counter to pick up her car keys she paused and stared down at the two different sets of keys and opted for the more logical choice.

 

On her way down to the parking lot she texted Yeri a quick “P.S I borrowed your car because I’m an idiot and going to be late for a meeting.” 

 

***

 

Joy arrived at the station 4 minutes late and made her way inside of the police station. Luckily, there were a couple of other officers running a bit late as well so if counted for anything, at least she wasn’t alone. 

 

The assembly hall which was usually used for graduating officers of the academy was filled with active duty officers as high ranking officials and squad leaders of each subdivision of the station sat side by side on the stage towards the front of the room. 

 

Joy found a seat a couple rows in from the back and sat down next to Sunny, a veteran on the police force. Her face didn’t exactly scream “I’m about to break your arm and possibly both of your legs for fun if you don’t let me arrest you” but she was one of the more respected and feared officers at Jeju. 

 

She led an investigation which resulted in the arrest of a top tier celebrity who had been using the Jeju ports to smuggle some hardcore drugs into mainland Korea around the time Joy was graduating from high school. Unfortunately, as of current, she’s been riding the desk. Apparently during an interrogation when the person who you’ve yet to prove guilty waives his right to remain silent and request to be appointed a lawyer you’re actually NOT supposed to pull your firearm out as an act of intimidation. But I mean, hey, at least we all know now, right? Not that anyone necessarily asked or… wasn’t already aware of that.

 

Before Joy could register the right words to start a conversation with the decorated senior officer, the chief of police had already made his way to the podium on stage. The entire room stood and bowed to the Chief. He only slightly bowed back and signaled for everyone to take their seats. He then proceeded to verbally greet everyone with a rather bland “Good morning officers of the force.” 

 

Joy watched tentatively as the chief scanned the room and continued to speak. 

 

“I’ll try and keep this short and sweet so that we can get back to work. As I’m sure all of you are aware, the situation in Seoul has become severely out of control. So much so that the President has called for a State of Emergency within the city. Now, it doesn’t take a genius to see that things aren’t as bad here as they are over there.” He sighed. “Yesterday afternoon after much discussion with Chiefs all across the country, high ranking political, military officials and President Moon himself, we’ve come to the decision that stations from all across the country will place a small number of their forces and place them on assignment to Seoul to assist in containing the riots, halting the increasing rate of crime, and restoring peace within the city.” He paused before continuing. “Now, I’m aware that the situation in Seoul is an intense one and I realize that by sending you there I’m throwing my own officers into the fire. However, I do this with great confidence that my officers will represent the Jeju Police Force with great honor and pride. You have all shown many times in the past that you’re capable of executing your assignments with the utmost precision and grace seen no where else. You all have set the standards for police stations all across the country. Understand that one of our fellow cities is in danger from collapsing on itself and they’re calling out to us for our help. The Jeju Police Force never lets its allies down. Not now. Not ever.” The room was silent as the chief of police once again looked down onto his forces, his face slightly brighter as he forced a smile. “We have two days to mobolize. I’ll be taking volunteers at first and should we need to, fill in the rest of the spots based on recommendations from division leaders. Thank you all for your time. You are all dismissed.”

 

Officers sitting near the stage began to rise from their seats and make their way to the exits located at the back of the room while the officers in the back remained seated until there was more room in the isles to comfortably clear out. 

 

Joy looked over at Sunny who had a rather displeased look on her face. Now that the lights in the auditorium were on it was a lot more obvious that Sunny didn’t get much sleep the night prior. Joy thought carefully whether it would be right to start a conversation with the clearly disgruntled veteran but luckily for her her senior took the reins and began to whine. 

 

“Did this seriously call for an 8 A.M. meeting just to have a 5 minute speech? Old bastard couldn’t figure out how to fit that into an e-mail or a text?” 

 

Joy could only chuckle at the older woman’s comment. “I’m sure he had his reasons, Sunbaenim. He’s just trying to do a good job.” 

 

The older woman snapped her neck towards Joy with slightly opened and an eyebrow arched. Joy suddenly realized that this was the first time she actually talked to her infamously blunt senior. 

 

“If his reasons were to piss just about everyone in the room off and make them hate him more than they already do then yes, rookie, I think he did a great job.” 

 

Joy slightly pouted her lips as she watched the smaller girl sink into her seat and cross her arms. “I’m not a rookie you know. I’ve been working here for almost a year now. I’m on intelligence.” Joy enumerated. “Plus the topic seems like something you should probably talk about in pers—” 

 

Before Joy could finish her sentence the veteran shot up and shoved her hand over Joy’s mouth to stop her from talking while using the opposite hand to ram a finger into Joy’s chest. 

 

“I never asked who you were. If you actually knew what you were doing you would know not to talk back to your senior officers.” She removed her hand from Joy’s mouth and went back to crossing her arms. 

 

Joy sat silently letting her seniors' words weigh down her thoughts. Sunny glanced over at her junior to find her with a hurt look on her face. She rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh. 

 

“Okay listen kid. You said intelligence, right?” Joy hesitated before lightly nodding. “Okay, from what I can see you’re not going to last a month on that team if you keep acting like a softie. If you wanna keep on hanging out around here I recommend you tough it up or else you'll be back writing parking tickets before you even know it.”

 

Joy sat silently letting the harsh reality of her words settle in. Now that she thinks about it, she only managed to land a spot on intelligence after being a fill in for a suspended detective who walked out shortly after and although technically she’s been on intelligence for quite some time Joy has yet to see much action. 

 

When the pandemic hit, Joy was barely getting started out on intelligence. She only managed to be a ride along for her one and only mission and was told not to leave the car while the rest of her team went on to apprehend the suspect without her. 

 

She started questioning her legitimacy as a police officer when she was suddenly kicked in her shin. The shorter older woman was standing and motioning to Joy to stand up as the row in front of them was just about empty and it was their turn to exit the auditorium. 

 

***

 

After exiting the auditorium Joy began to make her way through the department to the third floor where her desk along with the rest of her unit were situated. Joy was still deep in thought when she heard a familiar voice calling her name from behind. 

 

Jaehyun was jogging towards Joy with a small brown paper bag swaying back and forth with every step in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. 

 

“Sorry. Everything is kinda cold now but maybe this won’t be a problem in the future if you work on bettering your time management.” Jaehyun said derisively with a smug look on his face as he pushed the items forward. 

 

Joy happily grabbed the bag from her colleague and asked him to hold onto the coffee for her. Even though it was no longer warm, free food is free food so she didn’t feel the need to complain. 

 

She opened the bag to find a croissant from the department cafeteria and began to munch away as the two continued to make their way through the station. 

 

Jaehyun watched somewhat with disgust as Joy nonchalantly tore large pieces off of the bread and shove them into the corners of .

 

“Why do I have a feeling you had no idea about the meeting and were planning on sleeping in until your shift started?” he asked 

 

Joy reached for the cup of coffee Jaehyun was holding onto and took a long swig to moisten the mouthful of bread she was having a hard time chewing on and swallowed. 

 

“Well I did read the group chat but I got sidetracked. I spent all day with a friend yesterday and she ended up crashing at my place.” Joy took the last bite of her croissant and took another chug from her cold coffee. “And for the record, I was totally up when you called and would have showed up earlier but I couldn’t find my badge.” Joy added rather unconvincingly. 

 

“Yeah the phone call sounded absolutely nothing like that. But maybe if you work on your time management you’ll also have more time to work on becoming a better liar.” Joy crumpled up the brown paper bag into a ball and threw it at her colleagues face from point blank. “Hey it's just a friendly suggestion.” he added with a chuckle however Joy remained stone faced. 

 

Jaehyun raised an eyebrow at the sight and held Joy in place to stop her from walking. “Is everything okay Sooyoung?” 

 

Joy was taken aback by the sudden movement of her peer. She broke the awkward eye contact. “Everything is fine. Why are you even asking?” She said bluntly while looking off down the hall a group of officers walking into their respective offices. 

 

Jaehyun scoffed. “Again. Time management. More time. Lying skills. Work on it. Now we’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s bothering you.” 

 

Joy let out a loud whine and tried to walk past her co-worker however her steps were matched and she managed to get her path blocked every single time. “Can you please let me go to work?” She frustratingly asked after letting out a loud groan. 

 

“Not until you tell me what’s up.” Jaehyun crossed his arms as he looked down onto Joy who was trying her absolute best to avoid the conversation. “Sooyoung. We might not work in the same subdivision but we’re still on the same team. You’re supposed to trust me.” 

 

Joy stood still and looked down as suddenly the tile floor beneath was the most interesting thing in the world to her. 

 

“Hello? I’m not talking to myself here am I?” Jaehyun asked while waving a hand in Joy’s face.

 

Joy rolled her eyes at the ridiculous statement. At this point they were the only two idiots standing in the hallway. “Its just...” She paused to take a deep breath before finishing her sentence in a much quieter and softer voice. “I’m just questioning my position on the force.” 

 

Jaehyun slightly pouted his lips. “But you just got it. We haven’t even been here for a full year and now, what? You’re having second thoughts about being a cop?” His voice sounded rough however not angry or accusing. “Why would you even start to think about that Joy? You’ve never even been out on the field.” 

 

Joy looked up to her colleague and was met with a pair of worried beady eyes. “I don’t know. I just.. haven’t gotten the opportunity to prove anything.” Joy enumerated as she pouted her lips and looked down at the ground again. 

 

“Oh, Sooyoung.” Jaehyun pulled herin for a reassuring hug. “You don’t have to prove it to anyone. You don’t owe anybody anything.” He patted the back of Joy’s head before letting her go. “Just work hard and focus on yourself like you always do and I guarantee you that you’ll prove to everyone on the force that you belong here.” 

 

“And if it’s not enough? What if I come up short or I’m just not capable of holding my position?” Joy shot back as Jaehyun flattened his lips. 

 

“Stop overthinking it. You’re not being fair to yourself by putting others on a pedestal. Sure we just got here but we’re not as far behind from the rest as you think. You can do just as much if not more than any other officer here.” 

 

Joy smiled at the kind words and suddenly things were seeming to brighten up. “I guess you’re right.” 

 

“When am I ever not?” Jaehyun arrogantly remarked. 

 

“You can kindly shut the hell up now.” Joy chuckled as she shoved Jaehyun and continued to make their way through the building. 

 

…

 

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Since everyone was still a bit on edge about wandering around outside there was pretty much nothing worthwhile to deploy special units out into the field.

 

Joy took her free time to organize her desk, read her unread emails, and chat with her partner whose desk was lined up right across from hers. 

 

Detective Tiffany Young has been on intelligence for the past 8 years. Out of all the members on intelligence, she was the most trusted member by intelligence squad leader Sergeant Chanyeol. She graduated with Sunny however unlike her, Tiffany is a lot calmer and more patient with her juniors. 

 

After Joy was brought up to intelligence Tiffany took Joy under her wing. She helped Joy settle in her first month on the team and was her driver the day of Joy’s previously alluded to first mission. 

 

Tiffany spent the majority of the day telling Joy stories of her craziest encounters with criminals and the amazing people she’s gotten to work with over her years and the conversation continued as they began to gather their belongings to finally end their shifts. 

 

“I’m telling you kid, you keep working hard and maybe one day, just maybe! You can be like, ten percent as cool as I am.” Tiffany jokingly bragged to a laughing Sooyoung. 

 

“Oh okay hot shot. Kai already told me about the time you fell asleep on a stakeout only to wake up and find your suspect missing and a parking ticket on your windshield.” Joy fired back while rolling her eyes.

 

“What’s that? I’m sorry I can’t hear you over the sound of all my medals and ribbons that neither you OR Kai have.” Tiffany stuck her tongue out at Joy as they began to make their way out of the building. 

 

“That’s not even fair of you to bring up medals. I just got here.” Joy stuck her lower lip out in a pout. 

 

“It’ll all come to you one day kiddo. Don’t even worry about it.” Tiffany gave Joy a reassuring smile as she placed an arm around Joy and squeezed her arm. 

 

“How long did it take for you?” Joy asked curiously.

 

Tiffany pressed her lips together and rolled her eyes up in heavy thought. “Hmm.. I was about two weeks in when I snagged my first big bust. Oh my gosh I was incredible. It was a dark snowy night when we got a emergency call from an officer whose partner was just execu-“ 

 

“OK OK OK OKAY. I just asked when. Not how.” Joy frantically waved her hands and shook her head as she cut off her senior. A sad expression took over Joy’s face. She spun around to look at Tiffany who stopped walking and held open in disbelief. 

 

“Fine then. The story was probably too badass for you anyways.” Luckily for Joy, Tiffany never minded informal behavior from others and would never lash out on anyone if the need wasn't urgent. “Why do you ask though?” 

 

Joy sighed. She felt comfortable enough around her senior and didn’t mind opening up about her problems. “Well I talked to Sunny earlier and she told me I wouldn’t last as a police officer because I’m too soft.” Joy looked down as she spoke. She put her windbreaker on, threw her hood up and pulled the zipper all the way to the top. The two opened the front doors to the office and walked towards the parking lot together. 

 

“I know it's Sunny and ‘brutally honest’ is pretty much built into her system but I really put a lot of thought into what she said and I was thinking she might be ri-“ Before she could finish her sentence Tiffany stopped Joy in her tracks by standing in front of her. The older woman placed both hands on Joy’s shoulders. 

 

“Wrong.” Tiffany looked the younger girl down before continuing to speak. “She’s wrong and you’re going to make her eat those words.” Tiffany smirked before continuing. “Joy, you have an empty book to write YOUR story. No one else will write it for you. All you have to do is pick up the pen and start writing. Don’t let someone else stop you from writing it.” Tiffany placed an arm around Joy as the two continued walking.

 

Joy had her gaze fixed down at the ground thinking hard about the words she was just told. Two different opinions of Joy from two different seniors, arguably equal in achievement were conflicting with each other. 

 

Joy hesitated before slowly looking up to the reassuring crescent shaped orbs looking back at her. “Umm. Thank you, Tiffany. That’s very kind of you to say and I’ll definitely keep that in mind.” 

 

The older woman shot her a light grin as she understood that she might have just overwhelmed her junior with a sudden barrage of kind words. 

 

“Anytime kiddo.” She gave Joy a bright smile and flashed a thumbs up her way. “Oh, and just to clear things up. Sunny was definitely in the car with me on that stakeout. She fell asleep too. So, you know. Her fault we lost that guy.” Joy let out a loud laugh.

 

“Drive safe, Joy. I’ll see you back here tomorrow.” She gave her junior one last hug before she took off to find her parking spot.

 

Joy let out a sigh of relief as she climbed into the car and was still grinning as she pulled out of the parking lot and made her way back home. 

 

...

 

Joy safely arrived back at her apartment complex and took the elevator up to the 12th floor. When she opened her door she was shocked to find that her apartment was filled with smoke and the smell of something burning immediately violated her senses. 

 

Joy burst into her apartment and looked into the kitchen to the horrifying sight of a small girl holding a baking sheet with what looked like ignited chunks of coal. Joy reacted quickly as she ran into the kitchen and took the still blazing hot baking sheet from the girl and dumped the contents into the sink and in one swift motion reached under her sink for her fire extinguisher and emptied it’s contents to put out the flame.

 

She dropped her extinguisher as she felt a sharp pain coming from both of her palms. She looked down to see two red blisters beginning to form on her hands, most likely from her great decision to grab the obviously hot baking sheet without any protection. She then fixed her gaze on the other presence in the kitchen with her. 

 

The shorter woman was still in her pajamas and wore a pair of oven mitts. The younger girl stood frozen like a deer in headlights as she locked eyes with the owner of the apartment she nearly burned down. They stood silent for a bit before the younger girl regained her composure and she began to speak.

 

“So. You finally decided to bring my car back.” The younger girl stood up straight and crossed her arms which probably wasn’t a good idea as she now left her neck completely exposed for Joy to grip with both of her hands as she was pushed back into her kitchen counter. 

 

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR ING MIND?” Joy screamed furiously as she slowly choked the life out of Yeri. 

 

“I.. Got… HUNGRY!” Yeri managed to squeak out as she desperately struggled to get air into her lungs. 

 

Joy let go as the sharp pain in her palms returned and her face grimaced in pain. She walked to the sink and ran cold water over her hands to relieve the pain. As she watched water pour into the now bursted blisters she heard Yeri behind her coughing.

 

The younger girl pulled herself together and watched as her best friend clenched her jaw in pain. “I’ll go grab the first aid kit.” 

 

She took off in full speed to the bathroom and opened a mirror cabinet and grabbed a small pouch containing the proper supplies to dress a wound and a bar of soap. 

 

When she returned to the kitchen Joy was still running cold water over her hands.

 

“Let me take a look at it.” The older girl pulled her hands away from the running water. Yeri properly cleaned out the wound with soap and water and gently dried her hands immediately afterwards Yeri then reached for Joy’s wrist and guided her to sit on the sofa. She opened the first aid kit and pulled out a small packet containing a sterile cloth. She used the small cloth to once again sterilize the area around the wound then proceeded to dress the afflicted area with bandages. 

 

When she was finished she looked up to find Joy staring rather blankly at her now bandaged hands. “I’m so sorry I got you hurt Sooyoungie.” Yeri expressed in her most sincere tone. “I know you're mad at me right now but I promise I’ll make it up to you. I really didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I’m so sorry Sooyoungie.” Yeri started to choke up after realizing that her reckless behavior got her best friendhurt. “I’m-I’m sorry Joy. I promise I won’t hurt you ever again.” 

 

Joy broke her cold stare and looked up at Yeri who had tears running down the sides of her cheeks. Even though she was furious with her, she couldn’t stand the sight of Yeri crying. 

 

She let out a heavy sigh and scooted next to the crying girl and wrapped her arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to her allowing the younger girl to place her head on her chest. “What the hell were you thinking?” Joy asked in a whisper. 

 

“Well.. You were gone all day and I got hungry so.. I tried to bake something.. and I got distracted and didn’t notice that the food was burning.” Yeri managed to get out in between sniffles. 

 

Joy let out another sigh. “I refuse to believe that you’re that incompetent.” Yeri burrowed her head further into Joy’s chest as she wrapped both arms around Joy’s waist to pull her in even closer than they already were. The rage that was flowing through Joy was beginning to wear off at the sight of the starving innocent girl invading her space. 

 

“I’m sorry Sooyoungie. It was an accident I swear.” A sudden burst of relief surged through Yeri as she felt a small set of lips peck her crown. 

 

“I can’t be mad at you Yerim. I forgive you.” The younger girl’s head slowly lifted up and revealed a puffy set of eyes. “How about we just get something delivered to us instead?” The younger girl nodded as she wiped away the remaining tears and collapsed back into Joy’s embrace. 

 

…

 

Neither of the two were feeling hungry for anything fancy so they decided to keep it simple and order a pizza. Even though Yeri had already been granted Joy’s forgiveness she still felt bad and decided to cover the cost of dinner and go the extra mile by demanding that she would feed Joy to “avoid getting her bandages dirty.” Joy reluctantly agreed seeing that no matter how many times she reminds Yeri that not only is she a grown woman who’s OLDER than her and can take care of herself, Yeri would always get her way. 

 

The two sat on the living room floor and began to dig in. “So. How was work today?” Yeri asked to break the silence between the two. 

 

Joy just shrugged her shoulders as she pressed her lips together into a fine line. “It was okay I guess.” She looked up to meet the younger girl’s concerned eyes. She knew she was about to be thoroughly interrogated so she decided to look down at the box of pizza below them before continuing. “Just another boring day at the office.” She added with a weak chuckle. 

 

“Okay then.” Yeri said as she raised a slice of pizza to Joy’s mouth. Joy was still trying her best to avoid eye contact while remaining uncomfortably quiet. “You wanna.. I don’t know. Elaborate?” 

 

Joy swallowed and let out another weak laugh while shaking her head. “You want me to elaborate on a boring regular day at work?” 

 

Yeri sighed. “I mean there has to be something you can tell me about.” Yeri immersed herself in deep thought looking for anything to keep this dying conversation alive. “Like, the meeting! What was it about?” Yeri asked with an excited tone of voice. 

 

Joy let out another shrug before letting out another weak sentence in response. “Nothing really of concern to me.” 

 

Yeri scoffed and left agape while dramatically throwing the slice of pizza back into the box. “If you say one more stupid short response answer I’m going to slam your face into this pizza.” She said as she tilted the box of pizza slightly upwards to emphasize her point. “I really just want to hear about your day.” 

 

Joy sat up straight and began to wave her bandaged hands at Yeri. “Haven’t you abused me enough? Plus, why do you care?” 

 

The younger girl crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know? Maybe it’s because it’s my job as your only best friend to care?” 

 

Joy sighed as she slouched her back forwards from her upright position and buried her cheek onto her fist. “Who says you're my only best friend?” Joy mumbled just loud enough under her breath for Yeri to hear.

 

Yeri rolled her eyes again at the older woman’s response. “Don’t try and avoid my question, Joy.” Joy still refused to make eye contact so Yeri decided to reach for Joy’s chin to raise it just enough to force their eyes to become leveled. “Is everything okay? It looked like there was something bothering you earlier?” Yeri asked with a concerned tone of voice. “Someone perhaps?” 

 

“Yeah. Some psychopath almost burned down my apartment a while ago.” Joy fired back however the younger girl didn’t laugh at the witty remark and instead remained silent with a stern look on her face. 

 

“Other than that, Joy. You knew what I meant.” Yeri let out before reaching for to clutch the older girl’s fingertips. “What’s going on?” She asked although she was met with silence. “If there’s something on your mind you can tell me.” Yeri said as she gently ran her hands over the bandages. “I’m right here for you.” Yeri added. 

 

Joy watched as Yeri’s hands gently wrapped around hers and raised her eyes to meet Yeri’s concerned yet comforting gaze. “It’s nothing- well it’s something but..” Joy couldn’t bear to maintain eye contact for long as she felt as if she were about to have a mental breakdown from all the emotions that were threatening to pour out of her. “It’s stupid. I shouldn’t even be worried about it.” 

 

A soft smile appeared on Yeri’s face as she watched the girl in front of her stumbling over her words and darting her eyes violently in every direction. “It can’t be that stupid since it’s clearly bothering the hell out of you. Tell me what it is.” Yeri demanded.

 

Joy submitted to the pressure being applied by her concerned friend and let out a heavy sigh. She brought her legs into her chest and rested her chin onto her knees and slowly brought her eyes up to Yeri who sat patiently waiting for an answer. 

 

“Alright fine you win.” Joy lifted her head up and gave Yeri a full recap of everything that happened today starting from the details of the meeting, to her encounter with Sunny, then to her reassuring talks with Jaehyun and Tiffany. “And that’s pretty much everything you missed.” Joy said in an exhausted tone. 

 

Yeri listened closely to everything Joy had just said yet she wore a confused expression. “I’m sorry, but I still don’t think we’re on the same page here.” 

 

Joy shot up and stared Yeri down in confusion. “What do you mean? Were you not listening to anything I said?” She said as the younger girl began to shake her head. 

 

“No don’t worry I was listening. It’s just, if you already talked about it with Jaehyun and Tiffany then why are you still stressing out about it?” She asked.

 

Joy grunted before beginning to speak again. “Well think about it! What if my moment never comes? I mean, there's been virtually no crime since the outbreak and there isn’t likely to be any for a while. What if my moment comes too late? What if my team decides I’m not built for intelligence before I even get the chance to prove myself!” Joy frantically listed off her concerns before she fell back as an extreme headache set in as a result of the many thoughts swirling around her head. “I’m starting to think that becoming a cop was the stupidest decision I’ve ever made.” Joy let out as she brought both of her hands up to hide her face. 

 

Yeri frowned heavily at the sight of her best friend beating herself up over something so ridiculous. “You wanna know what I think?” Yeri said as she pushed the box of pizza off to create a clear path to Joy. “I think that you're thinking too much.” Yeri said as she laid down next down to Joy. 

 

“That sounded stupid.” Joy said as she turned her head to shoot Yeri with a disgusted face. 

 

Yeri rolled her eyes and perched herself up onto her elbow. “You wana know what’s stupid? The fact that you haven’t realized that that ‘moment’ you've been looking for is right in front of you.” Yeri shot back.

 

“Come on, Joy. I know you’re not the sharpest person out there but you can’t be that oblivious.” She added in an effort to push her friend to find the answer herself. “Tiffany said it herself. You have to be the one to write your story and you have a perfect starting point in front of you.” She continued however Joy laid silently with her sights locked onto the ceiling hanging above them. Yeri let out a heavy sigh. “Why don’t you volunteer to go to Seoul?” Yeri gave up trying to push her friend to the answer and decided to drop it onto her. 

 

Joy remained silent as Yeri went on.

 

“There’s a ton of action going on over there, you’ll be working with cops from all over the country, tons of bad guys who need to be stopped, you’ll be on the frontline of the biggest domestic conflict we’ve seen in a while. Plus it will look good on your resume, the list goes on. I really don’t see why you haven’t thought about this yet. I really think it will help you out.”

 

Yeri looked down to see Joy in the same exact position she had been, still painfully quiet. She scanned the older woman’s face only to realize that her eyes were shining brighter than usual, no not figuratively, quite literally. Joy had shallow pools of tears threatening to gush over the corners of her eyes. “Joy? Are you okay?” Yeri turned Joy’s face towards her causing the already formed tears to slip out on Joy’s cheeks. “What is it? Why are you crying?” 

 

Joy couldn’t think straight as she began hyperventilating and tears began to pour out. Joy brought her hands up to hide her face as all of her pent up emotions began to overwhelm her. The world around Joy began to spin and all she wanted to do was get away from it all. There was an uneasy feeling in her stomach and it felt as if her heart were about to burst out of her chest. Beads of sweat began to run down the sides of her forehead as everything seemed dark. Joy felt as if she were surrounded on all sides by her negative thoughts. 

 

She began to shiver uncontrollably while the inaudible sounds of Yeri screaming were playing in the background. She gathered up all of her strength and pushed herself up onto her feet and made a break for the confines of her room, slamming the door shut behind her when inside. 

 

Joy slid her back down against the frame of the door and slowly began to pull herself together. The room was filled with a rather peaceful silence, apart from her sniffles and deep sighs she would let out occasionally, however the silence was soon broken when a light knock came from the door.

 

“Joy? Are you okay?” Yeri asked softly. She leaned her ear up against the door however no sounds came from the opposite side. “Can you please open the door?” Again she was met with silence. “Or at least say something so I know that you’re okay?” Yeri waited for a moment for a response to no avail. Yeri slowly brought herself down to both knees in front of the wooden door blocking the path to her best friend. “Sooyoungie I’m really worried about you right now. I just wanna talk.” Yeri frowned as the silence coming from the room was unbearable. She clasped her hands together and wrapped her fingers around each other as she looked down at the ground. She sat quietly for a moment and thought carefully about everything that just transpired. She parted her lips slightly thinking if she should address the situation again or to give Joy some time to think. She couldn’t stand the thought of her best friend in pain, so much so that it physically hurt her. Just then she heard a light sniffle coming from the other side of the door. Whether Joy was listening or not, the best thing to do was to be there for her friend. She parted her lips again and closed her eyes before continuing. “So I’m guessing you’re as oblivious as I thought.” She paused before lightly pressing her forehead against the door. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, Sooyoung. It’s completely voluntary and the chances that you get randomly picked are pretty slim.” She began to whisper. “I know it’s scary over there but..” She paused again. “But I know you can do it. You’re more than capable and I know for a fact that when the dust settles you’ll still be standing tall. The only reason why I’m pushing you is because I want you to become the best person you can be. All I honestly want is for you to show the world how great you can truly be. I want them to know the same Park Sooyoung that I know. The same Park Sooyoung that I love.” The room remained silent for a moment when the sounds of the lock on the door separating the two friends rang loudly through Yeri’s ears. 

 

Yeri was inches away from falling face first onto the floor but she managed to catch herself just in time. The taller woman smiled slightly at the sight as she offered a hand to help the smaller girl up. Joy held onto her hand as she guided Yeri to her bed, pulling her in as she collapsed from mental exhaustion. 

 

The two lay face to face with arms wrapped tightly around each other. Joy inhaled to pleasant scent of jasmine coming from the perfume that Yeri always wore.

 

Yeri pushed the soft strands of Joy’s black hair that curtained over her puffy eyes. Joy had been broken down emotionally yet still managed to maintain her beauty. The subtle lighting from Joy’s bedside lamp casted over the taller woman’s face and allowed Yeri to take in Joy’s perfect facial structure. 

 

Joy’s breaths slowly become more steady as she slowly begins to feel the drowsiness take over. She takes one last peak through squinted eyelids at Yeri who seemed just as relaxed as she was despite everything that just happened over the last 15 minutes. 

 

“It’s not that I’m scared of going over there.” Joy let out with a raspy tone, her eyes still closed. “What if something happens to you while I’m gone? What if you get caught and I’m not there to bail you out? Or if something happens to me? What if I never come back?” 

 

The smaller girl hummed and rolled her eyes up as if she were deep in thought. “You can’t think like that, Joy.” She said. “How about this. If you promise me you’ll come back to me then I promise you I won’t get into any trouble while you’re gone?” 

 

“How lightly should I be taking this promise?” Joy said letting out a light chuckle opening her eyes just to roll them. 

 

“You can take this one seriously. I promise.” Yeri winked and lightly slapped Joy on the arm for reassurance. 

 

“You know what? Now that I think about it, why wouldn’t I trust the same girl who… you know… almost burned down my apartment an hour and a half ago?” Yeri only laughed at Joy’s blunt realization.

 

“Get some rest unnie. You look exhausted and exhaustion isn’t exactly an attractive look on you.” Yeri stood up and tugged the wool blanket from underneath Joy just to drape it over her. Yeri leaned down and placed a light kiss on Joy’s crown. “I’ll try and come back before you leave for work tomorrow morning.” 

 

“Wait, where are you going?” Joy shot up and asked.

 

“Well I feel like you have a lot to think about. I thought I’d give you some space to do so.” Yeri gave her a light smile before turning towards the door.

 

“No, stay!” In world record speed Joy had sprung from one side of the bed to the other to reach out and grab the younger girl’s wrist before she could slip too far from reach. “Stay here with me. Please.” 

 

Yeri didn’t need much convincing after seeing the desperation in Joy’s eyes and only nodded before climbing in between the sheets with Joy. Joy wrapped her hands tightly around Yeri’s waist and pulled her in tightly. 

 

“Because I have no idea when’s the next time I’ll be able to hold you like this.” 

 

…

 

The next morning when Joy arrived at the police station things were seemingly more hectic than they usually were. She made her way past reception and went straight to the Intelligence Team room only smiling and nodding slightly at the greetings from her fellow team members. She peered towards the area where her desk was situated and noticed Tiffany sitting at her desk sipping from a coffee mug, her eyes locked onto her beneath the rim of the mug as Joy finally made her way to where she originally intended. Infront of her a wooden door with a blurred glass window that made out most of the upper half of the door. The letters that printed in black bold letters spelt out “SARGENT PARK, CHANYEOL” plastered dead center.

 

Joy let in a deep breath before taking one last look back towards Tiffany who still had her gaze fixed on her. Her senior only nodded and put up a fist mouthing “fighting” before shooting her a bright smile. Joy smiled back and turned her attention back towards the door. She had gone over what she would say a thousand times before she fell asleep last night however it all seemed to slip her mind the second she knocked on the door. 

 

“Come in!” A voice said from the other side of the door. 

 

When Joy opened the door her Sargent had his gaze fixed onto the computer monitor on his desk. Joy entered the office and stood in front of the desk opposite of her team leader. 

 

Chanyeol broke his attention from his computer for a second to identify who had entered into his office before returning his focus to the monitor, typing away at what seemed to be paperwork from the week prior. 

 

“Are you just here to waste my time, Sooyoung?” Joy froze at the harsh wording of her superior’s question struggling to find the correct words to respond. “If you have something to say, say it because I guarantee you that you can be equally, if not even more useless outside of my office.” 

 

Joy resetted her thoughts before finally formulating a response. “Sargent, I came here to ask you a question.” Joy mentally face palmed. She came up with a response, yes, however it was a pretty weak start to this conversation. She began to stumble on her thoughts, having trouble formulating what she wanted to say. “Umm.. I uh.. wanted to know about everything that’s been going on and you know, well-“ 

 

“Get to the point, Park.” Chanyeol demanded, still showing more interest in the digital document opposed to the babbling squad member. 

 

Joy closed her eyes and resetted herself one more time. Second time's a charm, right? Or was it the third time.. or— nevermind all of that. All she needed to do was tell him what she wanted. She opened her eyes only to be met with a cold stare from her superior that sent a sharp chill down her spine. 

 

“Well?” 

 

“Sargent.” Joy could feel her heart slowly begin to beat faster. This was it. Last chance to turn back is now. Joy mustered up her courage before finally letting the words come out. “I want to be assigned to assist in the capitol.” 

 

Chanyeol leaned back in his chair and stared at Joy in amusement. “You do know that out of all of my squad members you’re the least qualified, right?” 

 

“Well, yeah I AM aware of that but—“ 

 

“But what? Why would I throw the least experienced member I have out to the wolves?” The Sargent let out a light chuckle before continuing. “What’s going on over there is a whole different ball game. Imagine how bad it would look we sent you over there just to screw everything they have going up?”

 

“I won’t. I know I can do it.” Joy responded.

 

“You might think that but it won’t take them long to find out just how inexperienced you are. We’ll be getting internal complaints for sending them a cop that they have to constantly babysit.” 

 

“They won’t need to!” Joy raised her voice before realizing how much of a mistake it was. No turning back now I guess. “I graduated at the very top of my class in the academy. My dad has been a cop since before I was born. I’ve worked my entire life to be a part of the police force and I’ve worked too damn hard to be doing the bare minimum!” 

 

Chanyeol sat with his mouth slightly agape. Joy figured he was contemplating different ways of having Joy killed for raising her voice to him. Chanyeol let out a slight laugh while shaking his head. 

 

“You seriously want this, kid?” He asked.

 

“There isn’t anything I want more than to do th—“ before she could finish her response Chanyeol lunged towards Joy and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. 

 

He gritted his teeth as a dark haze clouded over his eyes. “No you listen here, Park. What’s going on over there isn’t a ing game. I don’t care who the hell you think you are or give a damn about your sob story about how hard you’ve worked to get where you are. You will be torn to shreds out there. Your coworkers are going to hate you after finding out how useless to them you are, those criminals will take advantage of you, you’ll be left stabbed and bleeding out in an alleyway before anyone could even think to look for you. You’ll have a bullet in the head before you even hear the gunshot or see the muzzle flash. You’ll have the life slowly strangled out of you while the rest of your squad lay dead because you weren’t good enough.” Chanyeol roughly pushed Joy back into her chair before circling around the desk. “So when I ing ask you I want you to tell me with absolutely no doubt in your mind. Completely aware of what’s at risk. You understand me? I want a no B.S. assessment.” The Sargent leaned down to bring his eyes to level with Joy. “Is this seriously, without  ANY doubt in our mind, what you want.” 

 

Joy’s face was just as expressionless as the Sargent who mirrored her. The cruel ways of dying still relaying again and again in her mind.

 

“Sargent.” Joy leaned back in her chair and readjusted her collar. “I want to be assigned to assist in the capitol.” Joy demanded. “And I would prefer not to say it again.” Joy added for good measure.

 

Chanyeol let out a sigh and stared Joy down for a couple seconds before standing back up straight and making his way back to sit behind his desk. He eyed the computer screen once again finding where he left off at before beginning to type away yet again. The room was only filled with the sounds of keys being pressed by the squad leader for a bit. Joy never broke her stare from her superior.

 

“I’ll put a word in.” Chanyeol said without taking his eyes off of his work. 

 

Joy grinned victorious as she stood up and bowed to her superior not forgetting to thank him for his consideration. Chanyeol waved a hand to signal Joy to get out of his office. Just before Joy could exit the room Chanyeol called out to her once more. 

 

“For the record. This is of your own accord. You better not be laying in a casket the next time we meet.” 

 

“I won’t let you down, Sargent.” 

 

“You better not, Park. It’s an order.” 

 

***

 

Joy exited the office and made her way back to her desk staring blankly at the neatly stacked papers that was left on her desk to be filed before her shift was over. She replayed the moment again and again in her head. Was this a mistake? Did she seriously just agree to a suicide mission? Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud sound of somebody violently rolling wheels. Joy looked up to see Tiffany hilariously rolling her chair over to her. She had a large grin on her face and wiggled her eyebrows the entire way over. 

 

“Soo? Did you just do what I think you did?” Tiffany said while nudging her elbow at Joy’s arm.

 

“First off, please, for the love of god don’t ever do that with your face ever again.” Joy joked. “And to answer your question, yes. I seriously just agreed to get myself killed.” 

 

“Joy! Don’t think like that! Only losers think like that!” Tiffany said as she slapped Joy on the arm. “Plus you won’t have to worry, I’m going with you!” 

 

“Seriously!” Joy yelped excitedly.

 

“Haha absolutely not. I lied. Why would I do that to myself.” Tiffany said sarcastically only to be bombarded by punches from her junior. 

 

“You know for someone who likes to call other people losers you seem to be the biggest one here.” Joy said, disappointment still settling in. 

 

“Don’t worry you big baby. I have a good feeling that you’ll do great when you get there.” Tiffany was still rubbing the pain in her arm away after being viciously attacked by the younger woman. “Who knows? If you’re lucky you might get assigned a new partner who’s maybe half as cool as I am?” Joy simply rolled her eyes at the comment. 

 

“Or maybe I’ll get assigned to someone who’s just as big a dork.” Joy said only to earn a chuckle from the same person she meant to insult.

 

The two carried out their daily morning task and when it came time for lunch Tiffany argued that she should be allowed to take her partner out for lunch one last time before they were to be seperated for only god knows how long. The two had always enjoyed each other's company and as much as Joy would hate to admit, leaving Tiffany behind would be just as hard as leaving her actual family behind. Tiffany had come to be somewhat of an older sister to her but the gears were already turning and that same story that Tiffany had told Joy to start writing was now entering its first phase. 

 

The two later returned to the office and sat through another long grueling afternoon of no action. Shortly before the shift ended one of Joy’s peers, Kai, dropped an empty cardboard box on her desk for Joy to place her belongings in. After spending the remainder of her time doing so she said her final farewells to her team and was the first to leave the department that night. 

 

Upon returning home she found that her apartment was quieter than it had been the past couple of days. The apartment seemed to have been cleaned from top to bottom, every piece of furnishing properly set as if it were a brand new apartment that has yet to have anyone occupy. 

 

Joy set the box of her belongings down on the counter and made her way to her room. Upon entering, there lay on her bed a large basket overflowing with different candies, lotions, perfumes, and a bottle of seemingly expensive wine. Joy approached and inspected the basket further to find an envelope tucked neatly behind a small bag of candies. She opened it to find a letter inside.

 

“Congratulations on making the team Sooyoungie! I’m so proud of you and I know in my heart that you’ll go on to make a name for yourself. I wish I could be there with you for your last night in Jeju however business calls and my bank account is looking a little light after buying this basket. Good luck, Sooyoung! I’ll be supporting you every step of the way! 

 

XOXO” 

 

Joy grinned after reading the letter. The bottom was signed, “YR” however Joy was fully aware of who it’s sender was long before she even opened the envelope. Also inside the envelope was a picture of the two however the smaller girl standing next to Joy had a thick black line marked over her eyes making it hard to identify who was in the picture with Joy. Joy flipped it around to find a message written on the back. 

 

“Try not to miss me too much ;)” 

 

Joy rolled her eyes at the note and placed the picture inside of her wallet for safekeeping. She spent the next few hours working on emptying the basket of its edibles and deciding what outfits to pack for her flight the next day. She’ll admit that she would be a lot happier if she didn’t have to spend her last night alone however it’s not like she had much of a say in the matter. 

 

The reality hadn’t entirely set in with Joy and she wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. More than likely the scenarios that Chanyeol told Joy were nothing more than an exaggeration. 

 

Unless.. they weren’t and that’s how things seriously went down in Seoul. I mean, it does make sense and all but.. she shouldn’t worry about that. No, she should listen to what Tiffany had told her. Unless she was just trying to be nice and ease her mind? 

 

Joy took deep breaths to slow herself down before climbing into her bed to rest for the big day ahead of her. She’ll just have to find out for herself within the next couple of days.