"Are you all in position?" Sakura asks her friends with her telepathy.

"Yes, Saku-chan." The three say, watching the older girl from a hidden angle as she walked towards the HKT building.

"For the record, I still think this is crazy though." Chaeyeon complains. While the group spent the whole day yesterday finding a place for Hitomi's parents to hideout, Sakura had thought of a plan to get into HKT again and relayed it to her teammates who weren't exactly enthused. Chaeyeon was especially worried, and opposed the plan from the beginning. In the end though, they couldn't come up with any better options, so she was forced to agree.

"Trust me, Chaeyeon-ah. This time will be different..." Sakura responds confidently. "...we have a friend on the inside this time."

"But what makes you think we can trust her? You haven't even told us who it is." Chaeyeon continues, not being convinced.

"Let's just say I cashed in a favor. Now, focus. She's coming. No matter what happens, don't help me. Just follow the plan." At that moment a brown-haired girl walks up to Sakura. She was wearing a checkered blazer over a white blouse and a brown skirt- the uniform for mutants who are stationed at HKT.

"Murashige?" Nako says aloud when she recognized the girl approaching Sakura. Since she also lived at HKT for a while, the short girl was aware of many of the other mutants in the facility. Anna Murashige, mostly referred to as Shige, was another veteran of HKT, but it was only now that Nako realized that she was acquainted with Sakura.

"You know that girl?" Chaeyeon asks.

"Yes, she must be Kkura-chan's inside help." As she says this though, Shige activates her ability, absorbing the material from the wooden bench next to her and whacks Sakura across the head, knocking her out and cutting off the team's mental link. Civilians all around now begin to scatter in fear at the mutant's attack.

"YAH! What kind of friend is that?!?" Chaeyeon shouts as she tries to rush over and help Sakura, but Hitomi uses the plants around her to hold the older girl back.

"No, unnie. We have to trust that this is part of Saku-chan's plan!" The peach-cheeked girl tries to reason.

"And what if it isn't? What if this was a trap?" Chaeyeon continues to bombard the two Japanese girls with questions as Murashige picks up Sakura and lugs her into the HKT building.

"Listen, Chaeyeon-unnie. If this was a trap, we can just go save Sakura ourselves, but personally, I'm going to trust Shige. We need to make sure Kkura-chan's distraction isn't in vain." Nako says, putting her foot down.

"...Fine, let's make it quick then." The older girl eventually says. Kkura, you better know what you're doing. She thinks.

~~~~

When Sakura wakes up, she's strapped to a chair in a holding cell. In front of her was a familiar woman with long black hair wearing a black lab coat, Dr. Koyama. Next to her was her friend, Shige. Sakura had contacted her last night, and the younger girl quickly agreed.

"Sure Kkura-chan. I'm tired of hanging around here anyway. Just tell me what I have to do." Shige had said.

So far, the plan had been going accordingly. Shige had knocked her out, to use her as a diversion for Chaeyeon and the others to get some funds to get back to Korea. Still, she and Shige did have another mission which was stealing data on the clone project.

"Welcome back again, Sakura. I'm surprised you let your guard down so easily after escaping. You're getting rusty." Dr. Koyama tuts. "Good work, Murashige. You're probably our most reliable operative left after Sakura and Jurina betrayed us." She then says, giving the aforementioned girl a pat on the shoulder.

"If she's your most reliable mutant, then this place is in a much worse position than I thought." Sakura quips, giving Shige a knowing look to signal something.

"Yah, we were friends, Kkura! How could you leave us like that? And for what? Some Korean rats?" Shige shouts back, trying to sound as exaggerated as possible to convey sincerity.

"I'll leave you two to hash out your differences then." The doctor says with a chuckle before starting to head out. "We're going to make you tell us everything, Sakura, and after that, we're going to kill all your friends too." And with that, she's gone.

"Damn, I swear, I couldn't keep that charade up longer if I tried." Shige says with a sigh of relief.

"You did well, Shige, but you can't just let me out yet. You remember what I told you yesterday?" Sakura asks.

"Yes, I've collected some info about those projects you asked me, but a lot of the important details like locations and contact people are encrypted. I need you for that." The younger girl responds, taking out a USB from her pocket.

"Okay, just turn off the power inhibitor in this cell and I can do it all remotely." After Shige does what's instructed, Sakura gets to work while the younger girl pretends to stand guard.

~~~~

Over in the opposite wing of the building complex, Chaeyeon and the others make their move towards the treasury.

"Don't worry, a lot of these funds were taken illegally anyway, so using it for something good would be fine." Sakura had told them. The trio made sure to be stealthier this time, knocking out some guards and taking their uniforms and credentials, which made walking through the place easier.

"This must be the place." Nako says, pointing to a pair of doors flanked by guards. Sakura had given them a brief run through on the correct path, but the shorter girl ended up taking the lead due to her experience there.

"How do we get in?" Hitomi asks.

"Leave that to me." Chaeyeon says. "Most of the reinforcements will probably be moved to where Kkura-chan is, so taking these two out should be quick." And in the blink of an eye, both guards are on the ground, knocked unconscious by a speedy blur. Hitomi controls some of the plants to block out the cameras while Nako pulls the guards out of sight.

"Alright, now me and Nako-chan will stand guard here. Hii-chan, get in there and do your thing. We'll keep anyone from going in." Chaeyeon then advises.

~~~~

When Hitomi gets inside, she sees several accountants and other office workers immersed in their computers. On the surface, it looked like any normal treasury with lines of tables littered around, all with people working on them. Despite this, Hitomi knew there was more to it because Sakura had said there was a secret vault in the place.

"Hello, guard, how may I help you?" A short-haired woman asks Hitomi out of the blue.

"Oh, yes, uhm, Dr. Koyama instructed me to look if the vault was still fully stocked. Would you lead me to it?" The peach-cheeked girl asks.

"I see. Let me just confirm that with upper management first." The woman responds.

"Ah, that won't be necessary! Dr. Koyama told me to be really quick because the mutant friends of Miyawaki might use her as a distraction. She instructed me to keep this surveillance more discrete, just in case they hack our frequencies." Hitomi says quickly, hoping the receptionist would buy it, which she does, slowly nodding.

"Of course...vault is on the right side like it always is. Just use your credentials to get in, and it should be fine."

"Thank you!" She says cheerfully, moving until she reaches a bookshelf with an I.D scanner next to it. Hitomi takes out the card she had stolen off one of the guards and gets inside a large storage room filled with stacks gold bars and yen.

"Woah...that's a lot of cash. How the hell am I supposed to get all this out though?" As she contemplates this, she catches a glimpse of a ray of light peering into the room. A window... With this new idea in mind, Hitomi gets to work.

~~~~

"You think Hii-chan's up for it?" Chaeyeon asks Nako for some small talk.

"Of course. I trust her with my life." The short girl responds. "Maybe you should try that with a certain person." She then says with crossed arms.

"Yah, it's not that I don't think Sakura can do it. I'm just worried something might go wrong." Chaeyeon says with reddened cheeks.

"Did I even mention her name?" Nako laughs, much to the older girl's embarrassment. "You don't have to be ashamed. People act differently around the people they love."

"At least ask Hitomi out first before you criticize my relationship problems..." Chaeyeon grumbles.

"Excuse me, what?" Nako scoffs. "I-I d-don't know w-what you're talking about. We're just friends!" The tables have now turned the other way, and it was the younger girl in a flustered mess.

"Sure, that's what they all say at first." Chaeyeon finally says giving Nako a playful smack on the shoulder. "I'm just messing with you, Nako-chan, but I did mean that part about you asking Hii-chan out." Before Nako could retort, a couple new guards show up in front of them.

"Hello. We're here for the next shift." One of them says.

"We weren't aware there would be another one coming." Chaeyeon responds in her best Japanese.

"Wait a minute...I don't recognize you two. Can we see some identification?" The guard's partner says.

"Oh, that old thing? Haha, let me just check my pockets." Nako says, trying to act casual.

"Yeah, not buying it." The first guard says before radioing in a message to his walkie-talkie. "This is A-428, reporting two intrud-" Before he could finish his sentence, Chaeyeon swiftly punches him right in the face, knocking him out.

"W-wait, what?" The other guard asks aloud, not even registering Chaeyeon's lightning-fast movements.

"Ah, I think I found it!" Nako suddenly says. When she takes her hand out of her pocket though, it was just a curled fist which she uses to knock out the other guard as well.

"Nice one, unnie!" Nako says as she gives Chaeyeon a fist-bump. Unfortunately for them, the first guard's walkie-talkie never shut off, and red alarms now begin to sound throughout the hallway.

"Oh...great..." Chaeyeon says sarcastically. After a few seconds, the employees of the treasury rush out the doors to evacuate, not even noticing the two girls due to their stolen uniforms. When the room finally empties, Nako and Chaeyeon run in calling out to Hitomi.

"Hii-chan!" Hii-chan where are you?" Nako calls.

"I'm right here." A familiar voice replies as the bookshelf to their right opens to reveal Hitomi. "What kind of mess did you guys get into this time?" She asks sternly. Nako could only shrug with a small laugh.

"Where's the cash?" Chaeyeon interjects, cutting right to the chase.

"All out already. They're well-hidden though, don't worry." The peach-cheeked girl replies with a grin.

"Wait, really? How'd you get it all out in time?" Nako asks as she walks into the vault, clearly empty. Hitomi simply points at the open window placed high above on the wall and says, "Vines."

"Well, great job, Hii-chan! I guess we should make our getaway now. C'mon, let's go!" Nako cheers.

"What about Sakura?" Chaeyeon asks worriedly.

"If she's not out in ten minutes, we'll go back for her." Hitomi replies, and with that, the three bolt out, trying to blend in with the other guards.

~~~~

When Sakura opens her eyes, she hears alarms ringing around her while Shige was shouting her name. The encryption she had to go through this time was even more difficult before because she wanted to make sure she wouldn't be caught. In the end, the information she found made the effort worth it. The orders on the projects about cloning and weapons were both linked to a lab on Jeju island. In addition, there were faint traces of that same information coming from a company based in Daegu. The group would have to check out both. All of this was being reviewed in Sakura's head within the span of a second as the chaos was unfolding outside. 70% chance it's Chaeyeon and the others.

"Kkura-chan! Kkura-chan!" Shige shouts. "We gotta get out now!"

"Yes, yes." She responds calmly as she puts her hand on the cell door and hacks it open. "Let's move. There's a 99 percent chance they connect whatever happened outside to us." Right on cue though, a set of guards opens the door. Shige, thinking quickly, grabs Sakura and commands the guards.

"Yah, I'm moving Miyawaki to another cell under Dr. Koyama's instructions. You all go address the breach!"

"But Dr. Koyama ordered us to do that just a bit ago." One guard says.

"Well, you have new orders that came in just now! Move it! Do you want those intruders to get away?" Shige's bravado was definitely convincing as the guards simply nod and run off.

"Nice acting as always, Shige." Sakura says with a chuckle.

"What can I say? I'm an artist." The younger girl jokes back. "Now how are we gonna get out undetected?"

"I know a secret spot. Besides, they're probably going to have a new problem to deal with soon." Sakura says, and the two begin making their escape.

~~~~

"Damn, Hii-chan, when people said money doesn't grow on trees, they must've never met you." Nako says as the trio approach where Hitomi had hid the money they'd taken, a park situated next to the HKT building. The money was scattered around in the trees while the gold was buried in the ground. Hitomi really knew how to control plant life.

"Let's gather up as much as we can and head to the rendezvous point." Chaeyeon advises, looking behind her back towards the HKT building where employees were running out.

On the other side of the plaza, Sakura and Shige had finally managed to make their way out using the secret pathways.

"That was a bit too easy, Kkura-chan. What'd you even do to slow them down?" Shige asks. Sakura looks back at her and smirks.

~~~~

"Ma'am, the files are getting deleted too fast!" One scientist says as a video message began playing on all of their laptop screens.

"Hello, Dr. Koyama. It's me, Miyawaki Sakura. It's a shame to see how lax your security has become without me and Jurina around." The mini-avatar says. "Anyways, it'd be rude of me not to leave a parting gift before I escaped, so here it is!" And with that, file names in their database began to be deleted one by one.

"How about the backups?!? Aren't we supposed to have those?" Dr. Koyama panics. The scientist sadly shakes his head.

"I just checked and they were compromised as well. We're trying to save as many as we can right now."

"Miyawaki!!!" The doctor shrieks, shaking her fist at the sky.

~~~~

"There you are!" Chaeyeon says with relief as she runs up to Sakura and hugs her, flustering the older girl. "Next time, you should tell us if you're planning to do something crazy like that." The group had managed to find shelter in another abandoned building near the HKT building. Sakura was very good at locating them by scanning through land documents.

"W-well, actually, Chaeyeon, there was only a 45% chance that plan would fail." Sakura tries to say, still wrapped in a bear hug by the younger girl. Nako, Hitomi and Murashige could only look on with wide eyes.

"Does this happen often..." Shige asks the two.

"They've been oblivious for a while." Nako says with a chuckle.

"They're not the only oblivious ones..." Hitomi mumbles back.

"Wait, what?" The short girl responds.

"Okay, guys!" Shige says loudly to get everyone's attention. "I will not be the fifth wheel on this mission!" All four girls look at her with shocked expressions.

"What???" They all exclaim at once.

"Let's just use this money to head back to Korea and help your friends. We have no time to lose." Shige moves on, ignoring them.

"Wait, she's going with us?" Chaeyeon asks, still wary of the girl who she saw knock Sakura out.

"Yes, Shige's always wanted to get away from here and go to Korea. Besides, we owe the mission's success to her." Sakura replies.

"Yeah, you can trust me. Saku-chan has told me a lot about you girls." Shige adds. The other three girls nod, and the group then begins setting up camp before planning out their return.

~~~~

Later at night in Korea...

"Minjoo~" A voice coos towards the empty forest. "I know you're there. Listen, I'm sorryyy. I was too mean. Can we just talk?" Chaewon had been searching for the brunette all day and afternoon after capture-the-flag, but couldn't find her anywhere. The older girl really felt like an idiot for pulling that cheap move to catch her off guard. After dinner, she decided to check the forest one more time, walking down the path she and Minjoo always loved to walk down in their free time. Several agonizingly long minutes passed before Chaewon decided to play her last card.

"I like you!" She shouts. "I've liked you for a long time, Minjoo!" When Yena had told her that it was Yuri who actually confessed first, she was shocked, remembering the nonchalant bet she made with Minjoo. She'd been planning to confess in a more romantic way, but as it stood, it was now or never.

Eventually, Chaewon hears the crunch of a pile of leaves before a quiet voice responds. "How...do I know you're not lying?" Minjoo asks. "How do I know you're not playing with my feelings again?" The younger girl finally steps forward, revealing herself. Chaewon could see the hurt in her eyes. What have I done? She asks herself.

"Yena told me it was really Yuri who confessed first, so you won our little bet." Chaewon tries to explain to keep things light, but Minjoo's disposition wasn't changing.

"You've played these pranks on me before, Chae. I-I can't even tell if you mean it." Chaewon then takes a step closer towards the girl, putting her hands on Minjoo's shoulders.

"Trust me..." At this, the older girl begins to lean in, Minjoo holding back a tear as she closes her eyes, but before their lips could connect, the sound of a broken branch, disrupts them.

"Wait...we're not alone here..." Chaewon whispers, taking a step back. Minjoo opens her eyes and stares at the older girl.

"Come on, unnie. No more games. I've been out here for a while and no one's showed- AGHH!" Minjoo is cut off by a hand that grabs a hold of her suddenly and pulls her back into the forest, her screams echoing throughout the campus grounds.

"Minjoo!" Chaewon yells, but before she could follow, four hooded figures appear in front of her, blocking her way.

"Get out of my way!" The short-haired girl shouts as she clones herself into four and charges. It was a fruitless effort though as one figure alone defeats them all in the blink of an eye.

"You...can't...take...her." Chaewon mumbles, still in shock from the abrupt attack. The last thing she sees is the face of the figure who had beaten her, now without her hood. Chaeyeon...? The woman smirks, and knocks her out.

~~~~

"What was that?" Eunbi asks aloud, hearing a faint scream from the forest.

"Yeah, I heard it too..." Hyewon responds, getting out of her bed. "It's almost curfew though. We gotta check it fast." When the two exit their room, a familiar voice calls out to them.

"Unnie! Unnie! Someone broke in and attacked me and Chaewon by the forest!" It was Minjoo, panting from the effort running over to the dorms. Eunbi's eyes widen as her parental instincts for her dongsaeng activate.

"Let's get the others to alert the security first, then find her!" Hyewon advises, the two girls nodding. Eunbi now looks back at Minjoo with an urgent expression.

"C'mon then! Lead us to her!" And with that the three make a run for the forest.

~~~~

Meanwhile, on the other end of the campus, something else was happening. Guards were littered on the ground everywhere as three figures walked up to a locked door labeled "Data Center". It was where trainees went to review footage of their trainings and get advice from trainers on how to utilize their powers better or communicate with their team. One of the figures, presumably the leader, lights a flame in her hand and melts the lock.

"Phase 2 is complete." She says through an ear-piece. "Commence phase 3 and get ready for extraction." The second figure now walks into the room with a USB drive and begins downloads all the files on the database while the others stand guard. When the download is completed, the three join hands and disappear into thin air.

~~~~

"There she is!" Minjoo yells, pointing at Chaewon who was collapsed on the ground.

"Who did this to her?" Eunbi asks angrily as she and Hyewon run up to check on her.

"I-I don't know...it was so fast." The younger girl replies from behind.

"M-Min...come back...I'll save you..." Chaewon mumbles to herself.

"Wait...what?" Hyewon asks aloud, but before she could turn, a stone smacks her on the head, knocking her out. Standing over her was Minjoo, who had the most uncharacteristic grin on her face.

"Hyewon!" Eunbi shouts. "Minjoo? What? Why?" The older girl stammers.

"Thanks for the distraction...unnie." Minjoo says the last word distastefully as her body begins to shift and morph until she looks like a short-haired blonde girl wearing a black hood over her camouflage clothes. The new girl now turns and runs away into the forest. Eunbi wanted to follow, but the groans of her two friends held her back.

"What the hell just happened...?" Eunbi asks herself before she tries to pick up Hyewon and Chaewon and carry them back to the infirmary on her own, sirens now beginning to ring throughout campus.

~~~~

"The mission is complete, sir." The voice of a woman speaks into a communication device. The infiltrators were now in a car driving down the mountain hill with an incapacitated Kim Minjoo at the back. "We even managed to catch one of their members."

"Well done." The voice of an older man replies. "Keep up the good work...ITZY."