- Let me do this alone.

- What? No! - Taeyeon responded to the younger detective in front of her. 

- Please! I’ve something new I’ve been preparing for this case. Please, let me do this.

 

Ever since Yu Jimin’s first day at the Korean National Police Agency, for over one year now, Taeyeon had been her guide in every aspect imaginable of their job, but especially when it came to the interrogation part of it, which was her specialty. She was famous in the agency for being, well, let’s say intense when it came to her interrogation sessions.   

 

If she was being honest, Jimin had been an exceptional partner for her, even tho she was so young she was one of those people that just seemed born to do this job. Taeyeon had complete trust in her pupil, but letting her do this interrogation all by herself felt like dropping her daughter for the first day of school.

 

- Okay, okay, I guess you’re ready.

 

A huge smile appeared on Jimin’s face.

 

- I won’t let you down.

- You better not. - as the young detective made her way towards the interrogation room, Taeyeon noticed something on her hands, or better, the lack of something on her hands. - Hey! You forgot the evidence folder!

- I don’t need it. Trust me. I have a plan. - she showed a pair of thumbs up to Taeyeon before continuing her walk.  

 

The sound of the door in the small room opening brought Minjeong out of her trance. She had been sitting there, handcuffed, doing absolutely nothing for the past 40 minutes or so, while waiting for the next procedure, which she had been theorizing would be her interrogation. 

 

She was right.

 

- Hi, sorry for the delay. - Jimin spoke as she sat down on the chair in front of Minjeong.

- An officer saying sorry for something? Wow, that’s new. - the detective smiled. - I see… you’re the good cop, right? Where’s the bad cop?

- Just me today. - Minjeong’s grin quickly disappeared from her face. - C’mon Kim Minjeong, you’re a hacker, not a serial killer, there’s no need for such a thing, plus, we got every possible evidence on you, so believe me when I say, I’m just here to have a chat with you and get to know you better.

- And where’s that evidence that you’re talking about?

- Oh, I didn’t feel the need to bring it, it would be a boring chat if I did that.

 

And Minjeong’s grin was back.

 

- You don’t have any evidence, do you?

- Oh no, we do, a lot actually.

- Lier.

- You want me to go get it? - Minjeong stayed silent. - Ok, I’ll go get it, but trust me, it won’t be as pleasant of a chat.

 

Jimin got up and headed towards the door before Minjeong’s voice stop her.

 

- You guys got my notebook, right?

- Oh yes, our IT team is already checking everything on it.

- . Ok, I believe it.

 

The detective was back at smiling.

 

- Great. - she sat once again in front of the hacker. - Ok, let’s start with the basics then. Hi, my name is Yu Jimin, I’m 21 years old, but I’ll be 22 very soon, and I’ve been working on your case since my very first day here. Your turn now.

- Really? You already know everything about me.

- Yes, but as I said, we’re here just chatting. C’mon.

 

Minjeong sighed.

 

- My name is Kim Minjeong, I’m 21 years old, just turned 21 this month actually, and I’ve been a member of the hacker group Aespa since its inception on… I think it was at the beginning of 2020? I don’t remember exactly. 

- Your guys’ first known attack was on April 11 with the Black Mamba malware.

- April 11? Oh, so I joined them, like, two months before that.

- It took you guys only two months to create the Black Mamba? Our IT team said you should take at least a full year to make something of that complexity.

- What can I say? We’re really good at what we do.

- You keep talking in the plural. How many people are in Aespa? Because, look, I’m gonna be honest with you, we only know about three people and that includes you.

 

Minjeong’s face turned blank.

 

- I thought you only knew about me.

- Oh, sorry, bad wording. - Jimin hit herself on the head playfully. - We know there are three people involved, @rmamenteR, which is you, EDHacker, and xeneGlossy, but the last two we only know their internet identity. Yet. If could help us with that, their real names and stuff, maybe we could get you a deal to--

- No, thanks. 

- Are you sure? We are pretty good at making--

- No. 

 

The younger girl repeated in a harsher tone.

 

- Okay then. So, there were four attacks in total, correct? Black Mamba, 4Ever, NeXt Level, and Savage.

- Yes, that’s correct.

- I’m not gonna sit here and ask you the motivations behind all those attacks, because it’s pretty obvious the reason behind it. It was, basically, a case of a digital Robin Hood, right? Taking from the rich and giving to the poor. 

 - Correct again, Ms. Yu.

- Except for the 4Ever attack. Why go through so much trouble just to do something… silly like that?

 

Minjeong laughed.

 

- We just wanted to celebrate Christmas with the people who had spent the most time with us that year, our dear friends here at the KNPA.

 

-----

 

December 24, 2020

Christmas Eve

11:30 PM

 

Jimin knew that the career she had chosen wasn’t one with many opportunities for a rest, especially now that she was deeply involved in the Aespa case, but she didn’t thought she was going to have to spend her whole Christmas Eve night looking for clues in her computer at the office beside Taeyeon (who was the opposite of happy for having to be there that night instead of at home with Tiffany).

 

Her tired eyes were suddenly surprised when an image popped out of nowhere on the screen in front of her.

 

Our dear friends at the KNPA,

we know that it must have been tiring to have to spend almost a full year with us,

but know that we greatly appreciate all the attention you guys give to us on a daily basis.

 

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

We have great things prepared for next year and we can’t wait

to share them with you guys!! Till there, let’s be happy :)

 

XOXO, your friends at Aespa. 

 

Just as she was finishing reading the letter, Jimin heard a loud thud on the cubicle beside hers.

 

- These motherers! God!

 

She got out of her own cubicle just to see Taeyeon standing in front of a now broken computer monitor.

 

- Hey… are you okay?

- You know what? this . It’s Christmas Eve, for God’s sake. Let’s go home, Jimin. - Taeyeon grabbed her coat and turned down the computer with the help of the little pixels that were left on the monitor.

- But what about our superior?

- I’ll deal with that tomorrow. Actually, no, I’ll deal with that on the 26, it’s Christmas, you don’t need to come tomorrow.

- Really? Wow, thanks.

- Merry Christmas, Jimin. See you on the 26.

- Merry Christmas.

 

After Taeyeon was gone, Jimin sat down in her chair, staring silently at the image that was still on her screen. She couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle.

 

- Merry Christmas, Aespa. - she toasted her water bottle with the monitor before turning the computer off.

 

-----

 

Minjeong started laughing.

 

- OH MY GOD. Did she actually break the computer monitor?

- Yes, she did. She punched a hole in it.

- God, I’m sorry.

- Well, at least you gave me a day off work. So, thank you for that.

- You’re very welcome.

- And, in theory, we’ve even spent a Christmas Eve together already.

- Wow, what a deep relationship we have, huh? Well, sorry to shatter your dreams, but I spent that Christmas Eve night watching The Office with my girlfriend on Discord.

 

Jimin put her hands over her chest.

 

- Ouch. An arrow straight through my heart, Kim Minjeong. I didn’t tough you had a girlfriend.

- Why? I am not pretty enough to have a girlfriend?

- No, quite the opposite, actually.

 

Minjeong eyes widened, but Jimin was quick on changing the subject.

 

- Now, back to Aespa, how did you end up joining them? They were your friends already, colleagues or what?

- Actually, I met them online.

- Online?

- Yeah, in my teenage days I used to do… you know… online trolling, but my differential was that I used to do that with the help of my hacking knowledge and thanks to that, I had a bit of fame, if you can call that, on that niche, so they reached out to me.

- And why did you accept it?

- They said something about, like, fighting the major companies of the world, redistributing wealth and stuff like that, and it seemed like something cool to do, so I accept it.

- Wow, Karl Minjeong. Or do you prefer Kim Marx?

 

Minjeong laughed. How was that a Korean National Police Agency interrogation? It seemed genuinely more like a conversation between two friends.

 

- Shut up.

- And how many times have you met them in person? It’s something you guys do regularly, or it’s just before the operations and such?

- We… never met each other in person?

- Wait… for real?

- Actually, I don’t even know their real names or how they look, just their online persona and nicknames we came up with.

- Can you tell me those nicknames? - Minjeong gave her a look, deeply contemplating if she should do that. - Ok, how about just your nickname then?

- My nickname is… Winter.

- Winter, huh?

- Yeah, because I’m as cold as the winter.

- Shut up.

- Nah, I’m just kidding. I just liked the sound of it.

- N