A few hours ago...

"This must be it..." Chaewon says to herself as she approaches the entrance of Yujeonja Tech Solutions. Aside from its large logo, the building really stood out from the ones in the area given that it was the only structure painted black in the area. In addition, it was fairly isolated at the edge of the city with a forest to its left and right. The building was about four stories high, but Chaewon could tell it probably had an underground area as well; these bases almost always had those secret areas.

From her early observations, the place looked heavily guarded, so she didn't think she'd be able to waltz in like she'd hoped. She'd actually done some extra research while she was inside her hotel room, and Yujeonja had quite the reputation. As they had discussed before, Principal Ahn was the head of this genetics company which normally experimented on rodents and plants to create advanced medicines or healthier food, but now that they've kidnapped Minjoo, Chaewon could only assume they were up to something terrible.

After scouting the building a bit more, Chaewon sees a side door with only one guard that could be her ticket in. The short-haired girl now takes a deep breath to calm herself and focus. She'd realized the night before that she could conserve her energy more if she chose not think too much about her other clone's thoughts. She would still share its pain, but it wouldn't be felt as much.

~~~~

"Yah, who's there!" The guard shouts when he hears rustling from the bushes. When no response comes, he tentatively takes out his gun and aims at the foliage, but the noise just stops.

"Hmm, maybe I've been on duty for too long. It was probably a rodent..." He says, putting a hand on his forehead. Chaewon could only stifle a giggle as she made her move.

"That's not something you should call a lady~" She whispers to the guard before tripping him, and knocking him out with a well-timed punch. The combat-training they had back on campus was definitely coming in handy. Chaewon then drags the guard into the bushes before the rotating security camera could catch her. Afterwards, she takes his uniform and credentials before emerging again from the forest.

"Step one complete..." Chaewon says to herself. She takes another deep breath and makes her way in.

~~~~

It turned out that the building was way more complicated on the inside than it was from outside. Hallways s through the place connecting to different rooms all with different names. Finding Minjoo in here would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Even the maps located near the entrance she just walked through weren't really that helpful. After all, it's not like they would just print "secret lab for mutant testing" there for everyone to see.

"Maybe I was in over my own head..." She thinks. Before she could reconsider and maybe wait for the others, a lab scientist approaches her, or at least, Chaewon assumed she was a scientist judging by her white lab coat.

"Soldier, what do you think you're doing out of your post?" She asks.

"Uhm, I was told I would be reassigned somewhere else, ma'am" Chaewon replies, trying to lower her voice to not get recognized. This was definitely one of those times she wished she had Yuri's power of charmspeak, Minjoo's invisibility or even Chaeyeon's speed. Making clones was not exactly a power conducive to staying undercover. After a few agonizingly long seconds, the scientist finally gives a slow nod.

"Of course, I was the one coming to get you actually. I wasn't aware you had already been told. I needed extra guards to accompany me to the lower levels. Come along now." She orders causing Chaewon to let out a sigh of relief at that of luck.

~~~~

As they walk through the facility, Chaewon tries to create a mental map of the place just in case she needed a getaway route, but the longer they moved, the harder it was to remember. Streams of people in lab attire would cross paths with them heading to who knows where, and to think, this was just the ground floor.

"What are you looking around for, soldier? Keep up the pace." The scientist says.

"Yes, ma'am." The short-haired girl responds and keeps moving.

Eventually, the two reach an elevator at the end of a hall. The scientist, who she found out was named Dr. Jeong from her ID, scans said ID card on the elevator causing it to open up. Great...I'm gonna need one of those then. Chaewon thinks.

It was a long descent from there. As she had expected, there was an underground area below the building. When the doors open up, Dr. Jeong leads through more hallways, but these rooms they were passing by certainly didn't fit the brochure of the company. On the upper floors, she'd seen greenrooms with experimented plants, and other rooms with medicine vials. Down here though, it was different. There was one room they passed by with what looked like pigs with two heads fighting each other, and another with what appeared to be a parrot that was breathing fire, all with scientists taking notes and observing. This is nuts... Chaewon thought.

"Alright, we've arrived." Dr. Jeong announces as she stops in front of a door labeled for authorized personnel only. "Let me just buzz us in..." While the scientist has a short conversation with someone through a comm-link, Chaewon realizes that this might be her only shot to make a move. The short-haired girl clones herself quickly and hides her copy in a nearby closet before anyone could notice.

When the coast was clear, Chaewon steps out, and begins marching around as naturally as possible. She tried to appear to be patrolling the area until she found the surveillance room where she promptly knocked out the guards inside and took their credentials.

Meanwhile, on the inside, her other clone was led to an observation deck looking down onto a test table, and Chaewon's heart stopped when she saw who was on it...Minjoo. She wanted nothing more than to break into that room and save her, but she had to remain patient while her clone searched for a good exit route.

"Dr. Jeong, glad that you could finally show up." A middle-aged man, Dr. Yang, greets.

"Any new observations from the subject?" The woman asks.

"Nothing new thus far. Her vitals are good, but her form still fluctuates depending on the probing we've been doing."

"Well, we better find something more useful before Dr. Park shows up again." At the mention of that name, Chaewon has pauses. That sounds familiar... She thinks. Before she could give it much thought though, an alert catches the room's attention.

"What's wrong?" Dr. Jeong asks as she sees the computer monitors light up.

"It seems a big release of energy is building down below. I think the trauma is causing a big reaction!" Dr. Yang says suddenly as the room below begins to pulsate and shake. Chaewon watches in horror as the observation room flickers. Not only was Minjoo shifting from visibility to invisibility, but so were the objects around her. The tables, microscopes, lights and a lot more were also disappearing and reappearing randomly.

"Soldier, get down there get her under control!" Dr. Jeong orders to Chaewon who was still frozen trying to process what was happening.

"What're you waiting for? Go!" Dr. Yang yells, causing the short-haired girl to snap out of her shock and rush down to the lab room.

"Yah, Minjoo-yah! Calm down, I'm here! I'll get you out of here! Just give me some time!" Chaewon shouts when she arrives at the table. The situation down there was on another level up close compared to up in the observation room. Chaewon felt like her cells were being rewritten with every pulsating release of energy. She wanted to rescue her right then and there, but with how unstable Minjoo was, she couldn't risk it. Instead, she tries her best to strap her onto the table tighter despite how much she didn't want to while whispering calming thoughts into the younger girl's ear.

Eventually, Chaewon manages to get Minjoo under control, and was called back up to the observation room. The short-haired girl could only glance back at her friend in pain, wanting to free her as soon as possible.

"Great work down there, soldier." Dr. Jeong commends. "We would've lost our specimen if it weren't for you."

Specimen...That word really angered Chaewon. It's as if all they saw in Minjoo was another lab rat to experiment on.

"Well, it looks like we got the new data we were looking for." Dr. Yang interjects before Chaewon could respond.

"It appears we can channel her energy into making common objects invisible as well." He observes. "The ramifications of this are enormous. Imagine being able to cloak entire squadrons of soldiers as well as their weapons. If we can harness that energy, who knows what the limits will be!"

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Yang. We still need to report this to Dr. Park. It's still up to her what our next steps will be. Soldier, stand guard here while we head over to Dr. Park's office. Don't let anyone in without proper authorization." Dr. Jeong orders before taking Dr. Yang with her outside. When Chaewon was sure they were out of earshot, she lets out a long sigh. Her clone on the outside had already managed to cut off the camera feeds to the room she was in, but it wouldn't last long.

"Alright, Chae. This is your chance..."

~~~~

"...Minjoo-yah!...just give some time...Min..." The familiar voice of Chaewon stirs Minjoo's mind once again. Whereas before, the younger girl was relieved to hear her unnie's voice, now, she was hesitant. Her mind was in shambles, and she didn't know what was real or not. Some of the voices she'd hear from time to time sounded like her friends and family, but other times, she'd hear unfamiliar ones discussing tests and experiments. Every time she thought she'd woken up, she would end up losing consciousness again. The only thing she knew for sure was real was the pain in her head.

"This really isn't the time for the whole sleeping beauty gig, Min...please wake up..." Chaewon's voice tried to pierce through again.

"No...you're not real..." She weakly responds. The darkness surrounding her since she had been abducted was taking its toll. Minjoo wanted so badly to believe it was actually her knight in shining armor, but she just couldn't bring herself to. She was so afraid to open her eyes in fear of going through another past memory.

From Chaewon's perspective, things weren't looking that good either. Trying to shake and free Minjoo seemed to have retriggered the unstable energy waves from earlier. She could see her own hands disappearing in front of her every time she tried to touch the younger girl. It would only be a matter of time before the scientists came back.

"Damnit, Min..." Chaewon decides to step away from the table now and work on shutting down all the machines Minjoo was hooked up to.

"You're lucky I really like you because I'm risking my life right now..." Minjoo hears Chaewon's voice mumble. Hearing this made it so tempting for the younger girl to listen that she finally forces her fear down to focus in on her friend's voice. When she finally opens her eyes, she finds herself back in the hallways of the dorm on campus. Another memory...

~~~~

"Oh no..." She thinks to herself, remembering the last memory sequence she went through, but this one felt noticeably different. She didn't feel like she had control over body this time as she walked towards one of the rooms and knocked on the door...her room. This memory didn't feel familiar, and it quickly became apparent why when she heard herself speak.

"Min? You okay in there?" The voice of Chaewon asks from her body.

"Yeah, you can come in." Her own voice responds from inside the room. Minjoo realizes then that this wasn't her memory...but Chaewon's. This was only confirmed when she opened the door and saw herself lying on a bed.

"That's a relief. I was worried after the doctor sent you back here that you were still hurt. Seunggi-sunbaenim organized a meeting later, but you don't have to go if you're still tired." Chaewon says. This must've been during the aftermath of the first breach a couple months ago when that syndicate group kidnapped Gaeun and the others. She remembered that day very vividly. She had gotten separated from Chaewon while looking for the others and got knocked out when they used that anti-mutant whistle over the intercom. Minjoo was still wondering why she was seeing these memories from Chaewon's perspective though. This hadn't happened before.

"I'm fine with going. If it's a big mission, I'm sure he'll want us all in attendance anyway. Just give me a bit more time to rest up." Minjoo, or well, that version of Minjoo, replies quietly.

"Alright, I'll leave you be then. Just ask for me if you need anything, okay? I'm just here." Chaewon says.

"You've said that every time you've come to check up on me. I'll be okay, Chaewon." Past-Minjoo replies with a smile.

"Ah, yes, of course, sorry for sounding like a broken record." Even though it wasn't Minjoo's body, she could still feel her cheeks reddening. Is this how Chaewon actually felt? Minjoo thinks as Chaewon closes the door and turns right into Chaeyeon which startles the short-haired girl.

"Yah, don't scare me like that." Chaewon says.

"Hey, don't forget that room belongs to me and Sakura too." Chaeyeon responds with a laugh. "So...your precious fox doing okay?" She continues, teasing.

"She's not my...yeah, she's doing fine. I know Hongki-sunbaenim said she would be fine, but I can't help it." The short-haired girl responds. Minjoo now felt very flustered, feeling she was overhearing something very personal. She still wasn't even sure what was going on.

"Then drop the tsundere attitude and let yourself go all out...you won't get anywhere by pretending." The feather girl chides. Before Chaewon could respond, the older girl walks into their room and the scene dissolves around them. Different memories of Chaewon now began to fly around Minjoo who was now back in her own body.

"She knows I like her too, right?...right?" She hears Chaewon ask to a confused Hitomi.

"Okayyy, I do. I like Min a lot. Happy?" Another memory says to Yuri and Yena.

"Minjoo...I'm coming to save you." One more says.

"This can't be real..." Minjoo thinks she might have finally lost it. She just witnessed a lot of what she thought were Chaewon's memories, a lot involving her, and now she was back in the empty dark room she started in. She wanted to process everything, but before she could, the older girl's voice cuts through again. This voice didn't feel like a memory though; it sounded much clearer compared to the others.

"Min...if you don't wake up soon, I might actually have to carry you out...please snap out of it." Chaewon says. It felt as if she was right in front of her. Minjoo then tries reaching out into darkness, and surprisingly manages to hold onto something solid causing her to grip harder. She was putting all her faith right now into believing it was Chaewon, and allowed herself to be pulled forward, a door of light appearing in front of her.

~~~~

"Chae...Chaewon?" Minjoo asks aloud when she opens her eyes. She saw lab equipment and computer screens around her, but her gaze ended up locking on to the blurry figure that was holding her shoulders.

"Minjoo? Are you awake?" The figure asks. After a couple seconds, Minjoo's eyes finally manage to focus and see Chaewon in front of her. It wasn't a mirage; it was actually the short-haired, fairy-faced girl that she'd fallen in love with.

"Yes...it's you, right?" Instead of responding, Chaewon gives her a big hug, and for a moment, time froze. That moment wouldn't last though as alarms started to blare around them.

"Min, I know you have a lot of questions right now, but we need to get out of here. Just take my hand and don't let go." Chaewon says as the two run out of the lab room.

In truth, the older girl didn't think she would get that far. She didn't have much of a plan other than running and hoping they weren't caught. The two were now making their way through the maze of hallways. Chaewon couldn't exactly use her clones to distract this time because if just one got caught, it would be bad news. It was already a risk that she sent one of them to sabotage the surveillance, but she'd managed to combine herself with it again.

"Unnie, you know I can just turn us invisible again, right?" Minjoo suggests when the two finally reach the elevator leading up.

"Yeah, but you were also strapped to a lab table for two days. I don't want you to tucker yourself out unless we really need it." Chaewon responds as she takes out the ID card she stole and scans it on the panel.

"There they are!" A guard yells from the end of the hall before charging at them.

"Minjoo, get in!" Chaewon yells as she blocks the guard's attack and kicks him down. She could already see the reinforcements coming in. The short-haired girl then turns to get into the elevator as well when she feels a hand grab at her head. Another guard had snuck up on her and yanked on her hair, pulling her down.

"Chaewon!" Minjoo shrieks, but the older girl managed to recover quickly and elbow the man in the groin, causing him to let go. She then jumps into elevator with the doors closing just in time to shut off the other guards who had arrived.

"They're gonna be waiting for us when we get up top..." Chaewon says, feeling the back of her head, a tuft of hair now missing. She'd normally be happy being in a room alone with the younger girl, but she had just realized how bleak the situation was.

"I don't think there's any way around this. I have to use my powers again." Minjoo says.

"Are you sure you're up for it? Chaewon asks worriedly.

"I have to be. You came all this way to save me...I have to do the same." Minjoo had so many questions- Why was Chaewon here alone? What was with those strange dreams? What did those scientists do to her? – but they could all wait. Right now, they had approximately thirty seconds before the doors opened, and they needed a plan.

"Alright...I trust you." The older girl says, gripping onto Minjoo's hand.

After a while, the elevator dings, signaling their arrival on the ground floor. The doors slowly open to reveal four armed guards all aiming towards them. Don't. Make. A. Sound. Minjoo had said.

"Wait, didn't the commander say the mutants were on this elevator?" One of the guards asks. Chaewon and Minjoo were, in fact, in front of them, but the invisibility seemed to be working. One guard then steps into the elevator, and the two have to crouch in the corner to avoid accidentally bumping into him. Every second that passed by was agonizingly long. They just needed an opening.

"Maybe they were wrong? It could be the other one. It's actually coming up right now." Another guard says. With that, the soldiers step away from the first elevator and go to the one across the room. Now. Chaewon signals by squeezing Minjoo's hand tighter, and the two then slowly walk out towards the hallway. They were almost at the end when the elevators ding behind them and they hear a commotion behind them.

"Yah, you idiots! The lab rat can turn invisible, remember? They were probably right in front of you!" The commander yells. This shout startled the two of them, and causes Minjoo's invisibility to falter for just one second...one second for them to be seen.

"There they are!" One guard notices them, and now the whole army was after them. Minjoo tries to cloak them again, but the energy she was expending on running was causing them to flicker in and out of visibility.

"Come on, Minjoo. Focus...Focus..." The younger girl keeps telling herself, and just when they turn a corner, Minjoo uses all of her remaining energy to fully cloak them again. This allows them to lose their pursuers just long enough for Chaewon to find the exit where she initially entered from. The two girls didn't stop running until they reached the hotel that Chaewon had stayed in.

Chaewon then proceeded to get in touch with the others and calling Chaeyeon to come pick them up. The speedster had told them that it'd take a few minutes for her to get there, so the short-haired girl invited Minjoo inside the hotel to freshen up.

~~~~

"How'd you afford staying in a place like this?" Minjoo asks in wonder when they step into the fully furnished 5-star hotel room.

"I told you about my mom, right? Well, I had to meet her again to get a ride to get here. I didn't ask, but she booked this room for me. Cool place, huh?" Chaewon responds sheepishly.

"Wait, I thought you weren't on good terms with her. Didn't you say you ran away from home?" The brunette asks curiously.

"Yeah, I wasn't, but I forced myself to meet her because she was my only option. Principal Ahn didn't want to let us leave, and Eunbi-unnie wanted to make a plan first. I kind of didn't have time to wait because I was so worried about you..." Minjoo didn't expect this level of honesty from the older girl. The words of Chaeyeon from one of Chaewon's memories come back to her, "Drop the tsundere attitude and let yourself go all out."

"I'm glad you managed to reconcile with your mother, but shouldn't you have waited for Eunbi-unnie's plan? They're probably worried sick about you."

"Yah, is that any way to treat your knight in shining armor? Besides, I still have a clone with them, so it's not like they noticed I was gone." The short-haired girl says back, causing Minjoo to let out a laugh.

"Anyway, you should go take a shower first. You haven't had one since you were abducted, so you definitely need one." Chaewon continues to tease. Minjoo nods and begins walking to the bathroom, but turns back to the older girl before going in.

"What is it?" Chaewon asks.

"Back before I was taken...in the forest...do you remember what you said?" Minjoo asks.

"Yeah...I meant every word, Min. I like you a lot. I've liked you for the longest time. I know you questioned my sincerity because of my pranks and stupid antics, but I mean it. I like you, Minjoo." Chaewon says with a smile as she walks towards the younger girl.

"I-I actually saw something when I was unconscious. I normally had bad dreams...reliving past memories. It was probably because of the machines they attached to me." Chaewon nods, urging her to continue.

"While you were saving me, I don't know how, but I think I saw your memories..." Minjoo finally says. At this, Chaewon's cheeks begin to redden.

"And...what were they?" She asks.

"Well...there were a lot, so I couldn't keep track of them all. What I can say is that I'm sorry for not believing you before. You've cared about me for a long time, and...I really like you too." It was quiet for a moment. Minjoo wondered if she should've kept that knowledge to herself, but before she could overthink it, Chaewon closes the distance between them and kisses her.

It felt like another dream for the younger girl. Minjoo simply melted in the older girl's arms, not wanting to wake up, but it was all real. As for Chaewon, she'd had a few flings before while she was on her own, but this kiss felt different. There was so much pent-up emotion being released, but the two eventually separated to catch their breaths.

"Wow..." Was all Minjoo could say as she touched her lips.

"Yah, was that your first kiss?" Chaewon asks with a giggle.

"Yeah...was it-" Before Minjoo could finish her sentence, the short-haired girl cuts her off.

"Yes, you're a natural~" Chaewon says with a grin as she pulls Minjoo in for another kiss. The two might've gone at it for much longer, but a knock on the door interrupts them.

"Who-Who is it?" Chaewon asks out loud after clearing , slightly embarrassed.

"Chaewon-ah? That you?" A familiar voice asks. Chaewon runs up to the door and opens it to reveal Chaeyeon waiting for them. You wouldn't have known from looking at her that she'd run all the way from Seoul to Daegu because she didn't have a drop of sweat on her.

"Minjoo! I'm glad this idiot managed to save you." Chaeyeon greets the younger girl before turning to Chaewon.

"Eunbi-unnie's still really upset that you went here on your own by the way." She teases. "Anyway, what's with you two? It looks like you're the ones who ran all the way here instead of me." She continues with a laugh.

"I didn't think your super speed would apply to how fast you talk as well..." Is all Chaewon could say in response.

"I-I should go freshen up first. You can take Chaewon back while I'm in the shower." Minjoo says, still feeling a bit flustered.

"Sure, the trip shouldn't take that long." Chaeyeon says, stretching her joints to get loose again.

"You sure you'll be fine here without us? You don't want to go first?" Chaewon asks. Minjoo normally would've agreed quietly, but after everything that's happened, she felt like changing it up for once.

"Yah, I was alone for two days. I can handle being alone for thirty more minutes. Your fox can handle herself." The brunette says jokingly before walking into the bathroom to take a shower. Chaewon and Chaeyeon could only look at each other in shock.

"'Your fox'?" Chaeyeon asks with a questioning look. Chaewon was confused too until she remembers what Minjoo said about seeing a few of her memories.

"It's...a long story." The short-haired girl says with red cheeks.

"Well, you can tell it on the way back." Chaeyeon says with a laugh before continuing.

"You have the barf bag I asked you to get, right? You're gonna need it."

~~~~

Back at the lab...

"Why would the boss tell us to stop following them?" Dr. Yang asks.

"He said we had what we needed. We shouldn't question him." Dr. Jeong responds.

"And what exactly did we get? We lost the specimen and the machines down there were broken, meaning we need to have them restored."

"We got this." The voice of a woman cuts in as she places a container on the table in front of them.

"Dr. Park, is this what I think it is?" Dr. Yang asks when he sees the brown hair sample.

"Yes, start studying this sample immediately, and please do not question the director again." Dr. Park responds. The experiments down in Busan were a failure, but she was determined to make things work this time around.

I'm gonna get my revenge on you mutants....

A/N: Welcome to another new chapter, everyone! This is actually the first chapter I've written since transferring this story to aff. It's also still on wattpad if you want to see it there too. I'm was on break and managed to find time to write since I was in quarantine for a couple weeks. 

I wasn't planning on making this chapter exclusively 2kim, but as I wrote it, I felt like it would be better to have this chapter stand alone without another event happening. I hope the perspective changes, especially in the dream sequence weren't that confusing.  In truth, this was probably one of my favorite chapters. Sorry about the ominous ending though, I still needed to progress the plot lol.

Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed. Likes, Comments and Questions are always appreciated. See you in the next chapter!