PART II - (1/2)

Leipzig, Saxony, GER (1944)

The second time she sees her is not quite as she expected. Honestly, Wheein thought she would never see Hyejin again after waking up alone on that cold morning in what now feels like ages ago. Hyejin left with no warning, note nor goodbye, and Wheein felt like she got ghosted.

After a couple of days of complaining and moping around, Wheein finally decided to go to Joseph's pub again and casually tried to bring up Hyejin. Joseph said he hadn’t heard a word from her since that night, which meant Wheein had failed the deal they made. “She must have signed with someone else”, he supposed, “it’s okay, it's her loss”. But was it? Was it really? Wheein drank too much that night hoping to drown her sorrows, but unfortunately, it wasn’t on the house that time.

Not satisfied with the total lack of news, Wheein even went to the places where Joseph said Hyejin had sung before. She asked around and seeked for more information but no one seemed to know anything about her more than her name. She had no friends, no agent nor contacts, absolutely nothing. It was as if Hyejin had completely disappeared off the face of the earth.

Wheein had even mobilized Moonbyul and Yongsun in her search, which wasn’t very helpful since neither of them had seen Hyejin before. Moonbyul kept saying that "the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on" wasn’t a good enough description and Yongsun, despite pretending, didn’t really want to find Hyejin. She was mad at a woman she didn't even meet for leaving Wheein like that. Wheein overheard Yongsun telling Moonbyul that she shouldn't care so much about someone that didn't care enough to say goodbye, but Yong never said that directly to her, just supported her instead. Wheein agreed and felt pathetic for caring so much but she couldn't help it, she didn't know how.

After a few weeks without any response Wheein decided that it had to stop. If Hyejin didn't want to be found then she wouldn't be looking. It was the right thing to do. And over the following months Wheein forced herself to forget. She moved on. She had other things to do, other places to go and other goals to achieve. Now, fifthteen years later, for example, her newest job is the best she’s ever had. Not that she considers killing Nazis a job, she could do it just for fun, of course, but the money is definitely a bonus. 

But how does a liquor dealer become a soldier, you might ask. Well, with enough hatred for the injustices of the world and the advantage of not having to worry about her life, it wasn’t a very difficult decision to be made. Wheein, Moonbyul and Yongsun willingly joined the Allies in 1940 after being recruited by an acquaintance during a visit to the UK. Despite being immortals they’re only an army of three, so there is only so much they can do. They know that there are others like them but it’s not like they have a book club or something like that, and they aren’t looking for it either. All the other immortals they’ve come to know since they can remember were extremely unpleasant. Anyway, after months of exhausting training, they began to take on special and selected services guided by their handler, Williams, to fulfill missions that only they could do in order to weaken the Third Reich.

"The Colditz Castle." Williams says as he places a folder full of papers in front of each one of them while they’re sitting side by side in front of a large conference table. “Or Oflag IV, if you prefer. It's your next stop.”

“A prison? Really?" Moonbyul complains before even opening the folder. "When are you going to send us to a cooler place, I don't know, maybe outdoors?"

“A beach would be nice, for a change.” Yongsun says as she opens the folder in front of her. "Isn't that the prison that the Germans keep bragging about that no one ever managed to escape during the First War?" She asks as she goes through the papers and looks at the pictures. Wheein is still reading the information on the first sheet quietly.

"Exactly." Williams replies as he sits in an armchair on the other side of the table, finally facing them. "There's a first time for everything."

"Great. And who do we have to set free?” Yongsun questions.

"Everyone." It takes all of them by surprise, making the three women turn their attention back to him.

"Everyone? Like in… all of them? You're kidding, right?” Yongsun answers with a disbelieving tone in her voice.

"I wish I was." Williams responds naturally.

"Oflag IV is the only prison that has more guards than prisoners, how do you expect us to get all of the inmates out of there?" Moonbyul asks as she analyzes the papers with more attention.

"I didn't say you have to get everyone out, I just said you have to let them go."

"I'm not following." Yongsun replies.

“The Colditz Castle maintains an unusual standard of vigilance over it’s captives. It’s a very high security prison with one guard per prisoner, daily searches and three defensive perimeters around the prison.” Moonbyul reads aloud.

“The prison is dedicated to both men and women who are considered the greatest enemies of the Third Reich. Once they’re here, the only way out is death.” Yongsun also reads an old newspaper sheet attached to the files, with a picture of the castle highlighted. “Words from Marshal Hermann Göring, the prison’s director. Sounds like a nice guy, huh?”

“Your mission is to break out with two people, only two, but you won’t be able to get out without creating a distraction. The plan is to release everyone inside, letting chaos takeover is the only way to get out of there and complete your goal.” Williams finally says.

“A rebellion.” Yongsun says. “Makes sense. We can't get everyone out but at least we give them all a chance to get away.”

"Okay, but how do we get in?" Moonbyul asks again.

“The castle was built on a volcanic rock mass. There is no way to get it from below, it has no underground passages. From above it’s also impossible, any type of suspicious activity would be shot down immediately. We only have one entry option...” Wheein intervenes in the conversation for the first time after reading all the information on the files. She already understood the plan.

"The front door." Yongsun and Moonbyul answer in unison.

"Exactly." Williams nods. “In the last report we got from our undercover agent he let us know that the castle has now 188 prisoners, including our guys. When you arrive, it will be 191.”

“And what crime are we possibly going to commit in order to be taken there? Only the most wanted ‘war criminals’ are sent there.” Moonbyul air quotes war criminals. “Nobody knows us. Discretion is part of our job.” She looks concerned. 

"They already took care of that." Wheein says, removing a sheet from the folder with her face stamped on it. The last sheet of each folder contains a wanted poster with a photo and false names for each one of them. 

“They even choose a nice photo. Look!” Yongsun says, flipping through her own folder until she finds hers and shows it to her friends. “Yeah, I have to admit it, you guys are good."

"The best.” Williams agrees. “The posters have already been distributed in the Leipzing district. Everyone there knows who you know. Our informer at the Saxony Nazi base has corroborated the false information we sent. Once you set foot in the city of Colditz you will be the most wanted woman there.”

"Can’t wait." Moonbyul says, looking more excited than she should.

"And who do we actually have to get out of there?" Wheein finally questions.

"I'm glad you asked." Williams places two wanted posters similar to theirs on the table.

WANTED

KNOWN AS

HWASA

✦ DEAD OR ALIVE ✦

ℛℳ 50.000

CASH REWARD

WANTED

KNOWN AS

IRENE

✦ DEAD OR ALIVE ✦

ℛℳ 50.000

CASH REWARD

Wheein feels like all the air has been out of her lungs but she does her best not to let it show. The photo isn’t really good but Wheein would recognize that face anywhere. It’s her. Hyejin. Or Hwasa, now? What? But fifteen years later... how does she...

"These are their aliases but their real names are Ahn Hyejin and Bae Joohyun. They are immortals, just like you guys." Williams continues the explanation not giving Wheein much time to think. "They’re part of another unit that works undercover, but something went wrong on their last mission, someone made a mistake and we lost one of them..."

"How do you lose an immortal?" Wheein shoots. 

“Ahn and Bae are immortals, yes, but there were complications... that's why you shouldn't mix.” Williams says with rage in his voice, as if there’s something else he couldn't say. “In their attempt to save their partner they failed and got captured. It was twelve days ago and we haven’t been able to contact them ever since. As undercover agents they have to complete a long-term mission in two months in Italy, that’s why we need to get them out of there as soon as possible.”

It all made sense now. The connection she felt with the other woman, the weave of heat that went through Wheein’s body when Hyejin touched her hand, all of it. It’s because she’s immortal, right? It had to be. Although she didn't feel it when she met Yongsun or Moonbyul. Or did she? It's been a long time, there's no way she can remember. But she still remembers everything she felt with Hyejin.

Wheein’s always wanted to see her again, since the version of Hyejin who haunts her dreams can’t give Wheein the answers she’s looking for. Before today she just wanted to know why she had left without saying goodbye. She deserved at least that, didn't she? But now she has a whole new set of questions. How did a singer become an agent of the Allies? Did she going MIA in 1929 have anything to do with it? Was she ever really a singer or was she just playing Wheein since she’s an undercover agent? Was Wheein herself just a part of some ed up mission? , she has so many questions. That’s why she decides not to say anything about knowing one of the women they’re going to rescue. After all, she didn't really know her, she had only met her once before, by coincidence. She can’t put the opportunity to see Hyejin again at stake. Yongsun and Moonbyul don't seem to have associated the name with the mysterious woman in Wheein's past since neither of them says anything about it, so she pulls herself together and decides to let it be. 

"When do we leave?" Wheein sounds anxious.

"Immediately." Williams gets up and walks towards the door that leads to his local office. "A vehicle will be waiting for you outside." He says gesturing to the other exit. They gather their files and prepare to leave. "Oh, and girls..." They’re about to walk out the door when Williams catches their attention again. “I hate to be the one to say it but you are the rescue team. And there is no rescue team for rescue team, okay? Good luck." He