SuA was pinching her forehead, trying really hard not to give in the mental and physical exhaustion that was rushing through her body now that they were safe. As soon as the shoot-out had ended, she had led Siyeon to one of the best med-techs she knew in the area. Yuqi had accepted them immediately and put them in the hidden room at the back, the one she uses for illegal surgeries and other occasions like this one. The hunter let the techie assess the damage on the corporate’s arm and decided to wait outside to get some quiet time. However, her moment of peace was quickly ended by the echoes of an argument coming from the surgery room. She let out a heavy sigh and went back inside to see what this was about.

“I am paying you to do what you’re told.”

“No matter how many times you tell me that, this arm can’t be fixed. You need a new one.”

“I don’t want a new one.”

“Hey, hey, hey, what’s going on here?”

SuA had rushed in when she saw Siyeon’s eyes slowly turning to a brown-orange colour, no doubt the red wasn’t far behind. Yuqi turned to the new comer looking pretty unnerved as well.

“Your friend here refuses to be reasonable.”

“She’s the one refusing to comply to my demands.”

“All right, all right. Yuqi, just let me have a chat with her and see what we can do.” The med-tech brushed passed the solo to get to the door and SuA who was sensing her irritation whispered.  “Thank you for taking care of us.”

Yuqi huffed, but her smile felt genuine nonetheless. “It’s ok. Just talk some sense into her.”

The hunter averted her gaze to the corporate sitting on the surgical table. The young woman looked both upset and cute with that pout crossing her face.

“I am not a child who needs to be calmed down.”

“Then why are you throwing a tantrum?”

“I am not!” She genuinely felt offended by the accusation. “I just…want to keep that arm.”

The cyber-limb had been detached from her shoulder plate to stop the short-circuit from affecting her nerve connections. She now held it close against her chest like a treasure that she was defending. If SuA was ready to lash out at her before, now she couldn’t bring herself to be harsh. Whatever it was that made her want to keep that old cyber-arm, it was obviously something very important to her. The hunter calmed herself and sat next to Siyeon.

“Why?”

Siyeon paused before answering, scanning SuA’s features to see if she could trust her or not. She hated talking about anything from before she became a corporate. The more information she gave, the more weapons her enemies had against her. But the bounty-hunter was different. She always had been. Usually, Siyeon let her security deal with the assassins sent against her, but for SuA she always had to intervene herself. Through their endless chasing, a connection started to form, like some sort of understanding between each other. Despite the fact that they had never truly met until now, Siyeon was so used to anticipate her actions and try to think like her to stay one step ahead that she truly felt like SuA was the only person she could trust.

“The man who built it, it’s the only thing I have left of him.”

SuA was actually surprised to get an answer right away that felt genuine.

“I see. That man must have been very important to you then.”

“He was the closest thing I had to a family.”

That was right, in the year she spent hunting her, SuA never found anything on Siyeon’s family or past. The woman just appeared one day in the offices of Insomnia Corp. and climbed her way from there. Hearing about it now and seeing her so eager to keep that one thing she has left of her past, it really put her into a new light. However, there really was nothing she could do for her.

“I understand, truly I do. But I also trust Yuqi’s judgement. I’m afraid if she says she can’t repair it, then there’s nothing else to do.”

“Then let’s go somewhere else.”

“That’s not reasonable, you know that. I trust Yuqi, I don’t trust the others we may find.”

Siyeon’s eyes were starting to get back to black. She knew she was acting like a brat; she knew she was overly attached to that piece of metal which was only meant to be used as a tool. There was no logical explanation for her behaviour other than she was still in shock but refused to admit it. She thought she would be fine with losing everything she had, but this was too much. This arm was the only thing connecting her to her old life and she was afraid of what would happen if she let go of it.

SuA couldn’t understand everything that was going on inside the corporate’s mind, but there was one thing that she was certain of.

“If you want to get that girl back, you need to fix this arm as soon as possible and with the best cybernetics available.”

She was right. The only reason she got back into this mess instead of disappearing was to get the girl back, to fulfil the promise she made to herself when she met her. She was going to be ok, even if she had to start over, even if she had no ties to her past anymore, there was someone who needed her and for now it was enough.

“Go tell Yuqi we need to discuss the new arm’s functionalities.”

SuA let the two alone again, guarding the door outside. This time she wasn’t disturbed by some bickering or shouts. When Siyeon got out, she didn’t have a new arm on, instead she was told to wait until the next day for the surgery. Since every element of the old arm was either too old or too damaged, the med-tech had to rebuild a new limbware interface and connect it to the neuronal system which required a delicate surgery. Then, she could install the new cyber-arm onto Siyeon’s shoulder. Yuqi had asked the corporate to come back early in the morning and prepare for a four-hours surgery, to which the corporate agreed.

Once outside, the two were once again left to decide what to do next.

“I hope you agree now that I should stay with you until the mission is complete.”

Siyeon repressed a laugh at SuA’s pragmatic thinking after everything that had happened.

“I’m glad you took your job seriously after all.” Her mind lingered for a while on what they should do. “So do we go to my place or yours?”

SuA blushed a little. She knew the other woman meant it in a purely pragmatic way, but it didn’t make the proposition less suggestive. Another idea popped into her head instead.

“Actually there’s somewhere else we need to go before that.”

 

***

 

Siyeon was looking at SuA’s reflection in the mirror of the hairdresser with a murdering intent.

“And why do you think this is necessary again?”

If SuA didn't know better, she would be on the floor laughing at the sight of Lee Siyeon looking like an angry child being forced to cut their hair for the first time. The best she could do was half smiling half looking straight in front of her to avoid eye-contact.

“Your blue hair catches too much attention. You at least need a new hair dye.”

The hairdresser was presenting a palette of potential colours at which Siyeon reluctantly looked at.

“I’ll go with platinum blond.”

While the hairdresser was preparing the dye and applying it, SuA felt the need to fill the silence.

“So about the questions that you owe me…”

“Just ask whatever you want, I’ll choose the ones I want to answer.”

The bounty-hunter was surprised to see her employer being so cooperative all of a sudden. Maybe she was starting to get used to her. Or maybe she was just tired and let her guard down. Any possibility was good.

“About the girl…”

“Gahyeon.”

“What?”

“Her name’s Gahyeon.”

The hunter had not realised until now that Siyeon never said her name before. At first it seemed weird, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She was trying to hide her, make sure the people involved wouldn’t find her so easily after she managed to get her back.

“So about Gahyeon. Was Han Dong right? Do you…have fun with her?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, she’s just a teenager!”

SuA felt a weight leaving her chest. Ever since Han Dong had mentioned that, she was worried Siyeon might be one of those corporate with very specific kinks and absolutely no morals or guilt. It made the next question easier to ask.

“So why do you want to get her back so badly?”     

Siyeon got lost in her thoughts. She remembered the first time she met the girl. It was during a meeting with Wang Zhang Wei, she was staying a few days at the Wang’s villa on the outskirts of the Financial District. It was well-known that the Wang family had connections with other Asian businesses and gangs, not just the Chinese mafia, and as a major figure of the corporate world, Lee Siyeon had more than once negotiated with him. She remembered after the end of one meeting, before she left to get back to her room, the gang leader had said with a smirk.

“You will find some accommodations set for you in your room, feel free to use them as you wish. Don’t worry, I have been informed of your preferences.”

When she opened the door she found a girl in a more than revealing outfit waiting shyly. So that was what he meant by preferences. She closed the door behind her and studied her “gift” carefully. No implant. She was given a very special treatment. The girl was starting to feel awkward.

“What can I do for you to –”

“Please don’t.” Her tone was sharper than what she had meant to. She went on with a softer voice. “I’ll just take your company, nothing else.”

She walked to the small suitcase that she had left at the corner of the room and took a pair of black formal trousers and a shirt that she gave to the girl.

“Here, you can wear those.”

The girl accepted the clothes and put them on as she was requested. They were a bit too large for her, but at least she was covered. However, her muscles were still trembling and Siyeon assumed it was not from the cold. Despite her fear, the girl followed the corporate on the little couch and sat next to her, waiting for another command. The CEO couldn’t hide her discomfort at the situation. Her heart ached at seeing this girl so terrified even though she did nothing to her so far.

“What’s your name?”

“Gahyeon.”

“Age?”

“Sixteen.”

Siyeon smiled sadly. Only sixteen.

“Nice to meet you Gahyeon, my name is Lee Siyeon. I am here for very shady reasons as you can easily guess, but I want you to know that nothing will happen to you tonight, nor any other night while I’m here. Ok?”

Gahyeon nodded, holding back tears of relief. Siyeon noticed them and instinctively took her hands and folded them between hers. She wanted her to know that she understood, perhaps more than anyone else, what she had been through.

Not much else was said that night, after she told her story to Siyeon, the girl had fallen asleep, probably due to the stress relief. The corporate woman had brought her guest to the double-sized bed and slept next to her, being careful to leave her all the space she needed. When she woke up, Gahyeon had moved close to her, the young one was tucked under her chin with a hand placed over her waist. The CEO wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and drew her into a hug. When she saw her, so small and vulnerable, desperately looking for affection and protection, Siyeon decided to get Gahyeon away from that place. And she did. She asked what was her price, paid it immediately and took her back with her. At least this girl wouldn’t have to go through what she had been through.

 When she went back to the present. She stared at SuA through the mirror. The solo was patiently waiting for an answer.

“I told her nothing would happen to her. I want to keep that promise.”

“For someone who lives in a world where words don’t mean anything, you’re sure as hell putting a lot of weight behind these ones.” SuA chuckled.

Siyeon smiled at the witty remark. She simply did what she wished someone had done for her before it was too late, but she wasn’t going to say that. Another moment of silence passed. SuA’s eyes lingered on the empty sleeve that hanged on Siyeon’s left side.

“How did you lose that arm? The first time I mean.”

Now this was a sensitive subject. Siyeon wanted to give as few details as possible, but she couldn’t avoid the subject without being suspicious.

“It got stuck into a high level security gate and got completely crushed.”

SuA stared at the corporate woman with pensive eyes. She wasn’t dumb. There was no way her arm just happened to stay in the way of a heavy metal door that was about to close itself. She had to have left it in the way on purpose. Han Dong’s words came back to the solo’s mind: “So it is true that a wolf stuck in a jaw trap would gnaw at its own leg to escape.”. Now it made sense. But what trap was Siyeon trying to escape back then? She could try to ask, but she doubted the other woman would answer that question.

“That’s some very bad luck you got there.”

Siyeon remembered the pain, when the doors closed on her arm. She was being escorted back into the warehouse where all the other girls were being kept, the guards had left her inside and had already crossed the door which was slowly closing. She had run towards it at the last minute and had thrown her hand right before it closed. No one had been able to stop her. She wished she could have seen their faces when they realised what had happened, but the pain had been so great that she had fainted right away.

“Sometimes luck is a matter of perspective.”

The bounty hunter didn’t add anything. She stared pensively at the other woman in the mirror. What could be worse than losing your arm in such a painful way?

“Aaaaand, it’s all good. Do you like it?”

The hairdresser was showing Siyeon the back of her head through the mirror. The cut wasn’t too different from the previous one, maybe more waves and a little shorter at the front. Platinum blond definitely looked good on her, so this wasn’t a complete waste of time. She passed a hand in her hair to get them a little slick back.

“Thank you.” Siyeon said politely. Behind her, SuA was trying to hide her gay panicking. Poorly. “So, now that it’s done, your place or mine?”

The Wolf’s gaze was once again set on the bounty hunter. She scoffed to get her mind to focus on something else than Siyeon’s new look.

“Mine for tonight, then yours.”

“All right, let’s go back to Dami’s place then.”

***

 

SuA got on the motorbike and waited for Siyeon, to climb behind her. The corporate wasn’t used to this kind of locomotion; she didn’t like the idea of hanging onto someone for your only safety. She sat behind SuA, not sure what to do next until she felt two hands grabbing hers and putting it around the bounty-hunter’s waist. For once she was glad the smaller woman wasn’t looking at her, otherwise she would have seen her blush. This was new, why was she feeling flustered? She heard the now familiar voice resonating into the earpiece she gave her to be able to talk during the ride. “Just in case they were attacked again and needed to coordinate.” 

“Stay like that and try not to fall, I don’t want to stop to catch you.”

Bora kicked the starter and took the road back home. The night was covering the City, making it a carnival of neon flashes. Siyeon had never seen it like that, so raw, not through the glass of a car-window. All the emotion and stress of the day started to ware off and her mind got dull after watching all the spectacle of light and sound that presented before her. At some point during the ride, she rested her chin on SuA’s shoulder and slowly dozed off. Before falling asleep, and for a reason unknown to her, she felt like sharing.

“Thank you for saving my life today, SuA.”

“Bora, my real name is Kim Bora.”

“Isn’t it risky for you to share it?”

“You took a bullet for me, if I don’t trust you now I never will.”

“Well thank you, miss Kim.”

The corporate tried to fight the sleepiness for a bit but collapsed on the solo’s shoulder, relieved to have survived another day. Bora smiled under her helmet.

“No problem, miss Lee.”