(What is the Truth?)

The members of After School stare at Nana with shocked expressions after she finishes recalling what happened in the morning. Nana's eyes never leave the ground as she tells her members everything she saw. Lizzy keeps a hand on Nana's hand as she remain silent.

"Jooyeon with a gun... Jooyeon pointing a gun at you, Nana..." Kahi mutters. "I just can't... It can't be."

"Maybe you were mistaken, Nana," Uee says slowly, although with lack of confidence in her own words.

Nana stands up to glares at Uee. "I know what I saw, Uee unnie!" Nana snaps. When she sees Uee's reaction, Nana softens. "I don't want to believe it either... It definitely was Jooyeon unnie. She said my name. I hugged her. She was there..."

Nana pauses, shutting her eyes and rests a hand on her stomach. 

"She punched me unconscious. She hurt me."

Everyone becomes quiet. E-Young, who was leaning against the wall, speaks up. "I know we're all in disbelief about Jooyeon unnie's actions...but for me, I'm just thankful she is alive." The maknae smiles sadly yet gently at her unnies.

"E-Young has a point..." Raina agrees. "I'm just as shocked as everyone... but I'm so relieved that our Jooyeon unnie is okay. Weren't we all worried if she was even alive just yesterday?"

Nana stares at E-Young and Raina, realizing she forgot that fact. Jungah stands next to Nana and rests a hand on her shoulder. "They're right. I know what happened between you and Jooyeon hurt you, Nana. We all know Jooyeon though; she wouldn't do these things without a reason." Jungah looks into Nana's eyes. "I'm sure Jooyeon didn't want to hurt you but she probably didn't have a choice."


Jooyeon takes a step closer to Nana, wrapping her left arm around the blonde's neck, giving her a one-armed hug. Nana feels Jooyeon shaking.

"Jooyeon unnie?" She asks softly.

"I'm sorry Nana."


Nana looks down at the hand with Jooyeon's ring.


The older girl smiles at the blonde. "Wear my ring for awhile and take care of it okay?"


"There must be something keeping Jooyeon unnie from coming back... That's what you're getting at right Jungah unnie?" Bekah asks. Jungah turns to her and nods.

"For now, there's nothing we can do about Jooyeon..." Kahi says. A smile forms on her face. "It's enough knowing she's alive though..."

Nana smiles to herself. She is glad Jooyeon is alive.

Lizzy looks at Kahi. "Are we going to tell the managers what Nana saw?"

"We'll keep this information to ourselves. Since Nana saw Jooyeon near our dorm, then she must be around the area. There may be a chance that we may get to see Jooyeon as well. Until we actually get a chance to talk to her and ask her what's going on, I don't think we should talk to the managers about this," Kahi says.

Everyone nods in agreement.

--------------------

It's been over a day since Joonwook and the other Hunters with him brought back one of Jisoon's men. She demanded Haesuk that'd she would take over the interrogation. Jooyeon knew Haesuk was wary about that proposal; she didn't blame him. In the past, if she interrogated anyone related to Jisoon and they didn't give her any information, she would beat them until they did... or until they died. Most of the time, it was the latter. She was only fifteen at the time. It scared her that's what she used to be.

In the interrogation room, Jooyeon throws another punch at the henchman. Tied to a chair, his face is bruised and swollen. There is blood coming out from both corners of his mouth and his nose is broken. Jooyeon heaves multiple times; she's becoming frustrated. "I'll ask again... Where is Jisoon?" she hisses.

The man lets out wheezy laugh. "When will you learn? None of us will betray Jisoon. I know you've killed a lot of us in the past because you couldn't get any information, why should my situation be any different?"

Jooyeon narrows her eyes at him. "Did he promise you riches? Luxuries? Power?"

The man grins crookedly, the swelling making his grin look deformed. "If he did, looks like I won't be getting it in my position."

Jooyeon tightens a fist, getting ready to punch him again. The beast inside her, the beast called "hatred", growls in her head, attempting to convince her to kill the man. She inwardly struggles against the beast, pushing away the blood lust; she tells herself she has changed. Instead, she unties the man from the chair and handcuffs him.

Jooyeon turns her head towards a Hunter stationed at the door. "Take him back to his cell and report to Haesuk that I got nothing out of him. Let Haesuk determine his fate."

"Yes Hunter Jooyeon," the Hunter salutes. He escorts the henchman out of the interrogation room.

Jooyeon sighs and rubs her temples. She looks down at her knuckles which are covered in some blood. She quickly goes to the bathroom to clean herself up and makes her way towards the hacker's room to see if Catch has discovered any new movement from Jisoon's forces. Normally she would be with Joonwook, but at the moment he is on a hunt with other Hunters that is unrelated to Jisoon by Haesuk's request. Entering the hacker's room, she blinks as she notices that Catch isn't observing the monitors.

"I guess even hackers need their breaks every once in awhile. Must be tiring to always be looking at all these monitors and hacking into different cameras when necessary," Jooyeon says outloud. In Catch's place, Jooyeon carefully observes each monitor, looking for anything suspicious. She is surprised that it's dark outside now. She didn't realize she was interrogating the henchman that long. Out of the corner of her eye, Jooyeon spots movement on one of the monitors. She turns her attention to the monitor and her eyes widen in horror. Her heart rate increases as she clearly sees the woman on the monitor.

(Eunli)

"Eunli... You really are alive..." Jooyeon seethes. Her breath hitches in as she realizes something. She knows enough about the computer to check which sector the camera is monitoring.

Sector 3.

Jooyeon suddenly feels sick to the stomach. "No... No.... No no no no..... NOOOOOO!!!" Jooyeon rushes out of the room. She grabs extra ammo for her gun, a five inch pocket knife, and puts on her red contacts. Using all her stamina, she exits the basement and leaves the mansion, heading for Sector 3. She grabs her cell phone from her pocket and speed-dials Joonwook as she runs. The phone rings three times and Jooyeon curses. "Damn it Joonwook pick up!"

"Hello? Noona?"

"Joonwook! I saw her! I saw Eunli in one of Catch's monitors!" Jooyeon pants into her cell.

"What?! Don't tell me you're planning on taking her alone are you?!"

"I don't have time to gather up Hunters for this, Joonwook! I don't have time to-"

"Wait what's going on? Why do you sound so scared?!"

"She's.... I saw Eunli enter Sector 3 a few minutes ago...!"

She hears Joonwook gasp on the other end. "But that's the sector where...!"

"THAT'S WHERE AFTER SCHOOL'S DORM IS!!!" Jooyeon screams. "Call Haesuk and tell him what's going on and then meet me at the dorm! I know that's where she's going!!"

"W-Wait! Joo-"

Jooyeon ends the call and runs even faster than before, using all her energy for her legs. She should have known they would go after After School in order to bring her out of hiding. She should have known from the beginning. She shouldn't have been so careless, so stupid. Jooyeon pushes her body to the limit as she sprints to Sector 3.

Minutes later, Jooyeon arrives at the border of Sector 3 and Sector 7. She leans against a brick wall to catch her breath, clutching her chest. She begins to violently cough and her chest is burning. 

"I suggest you save your energy... Hunter Lee Jooyeon."

Jooyeon immediately looks ahead of her. A slender woman emerges from the shadows, her feet tapping against the concrete road and gaze unwavering at Jooyeon.

Jooyeon grits her teeth.

"Eunli," the Hunter growls. Jooyeon pulls out her gun and points it at the assassin.

Eunli narrows her eyes and frowns. "Hasty as ever I see. Other than your more mature appearance, you haven't changed much these past ten years."

"I can say the same about you... You're still working for that Jisoon b*stard!"

"He saved my life... It's only fair that I owe him," Eunlie replies, crossing her arms. "It looks like even though your body as aged, it seems that your mind is still in the past."

Jooyeon tightens her grip on the gun. She glares at the other woman. "Right now, I'm more concerned to know why you're here and alone at that."

Eunli slowly chuckles, causing Jooyeon to put her finger on the trigger. "Would you like to find out, Hunter Lee Jooyeon?" Red, piercing eyes glare into her own. "You're going to have to follow me to find out."

Eunli throws a smoke bomb onto the floor, enveloping both in a dark, smokey cloud.

"Damn it! I can't see!" Jooyeon curses. She coughs as she inhales the smoke. Jooyeon slightly opens her eyes and manages to see the other woman's silhouette through the cloud of smoke and hears footsteps slowly becoming distant. Using her ears, Jooyeon pinpoints which direction Eunli is running.

"EUNLI!!!" Jooyeon angrily cries, running after the assassin.

---------------------

After School is driving back to the dorm in a van they usually ride in for their schedules. Naturally, Kahi is the driver with Jungah in the passenger seat. The girls finally were given an opportunity to leave the dorm and they all decided to eat out for dinner. Everyone's expressions appeared to be slightly brighter than they have been these past two weeks, but the ride back home everyone is quiet. Everyone is in their own world of thoughts except Kahi who is focusing on her driving.

"Hey Kahi unnie..." Jungah whispers, loud enough only for the leader to hear.

"Yes Jungah?" Kahi replies with the same volume. Although she couldn't see Jungah's face, Kahi could tell the younger woman is struggling to say something.

"Do you wonder if Jooyeon is all alone... wherever she is?" Kahi's eyes cloud with emotion and she nods in response. Jungah continues. "I hope she has someone with her... Back when we debuted, the two of us were the ones caring for our Jupal..."

"Yeah... I hope so too..." The oldest members become silent.

Kahi's eyes squint when she suddenly notices someone running across the dark street so fast it seemed like a blur. "Jungah did you see that?!"

"I did, Unnie!" Jungah gasps.

Kahi and Jungah's eyes widen with alarm when another person appears in front of the moving van.

The van collides with the person. The person is pushed several feet forward due to the impact.

Jungah lets out a scream

"SH*T!!" Kahi steps on the breaks and stops the van

The other girls snap out of their thoughts and scream after feeling the impact.

"Kahi unnie what was that?!" Uee asks with a quivering voice.

"I... I just hit someone!" Kahi panics. 

Kahi and Jungah are the firsts to unbuckle their seat belts and rush outside. They spot the body lying on the road nearby. Kahi's face turns pale. She runs over to the person. "Oh my God... Oh God... Please be okay..." Kahi turns the body face up and holds the person in her arms. "H-Hey are you..."

Kahi forgets how to breathe momentarily as she looks at the person.

"Kahi unnie, what's wrong?!" Jungah asks, running to her and standing behind the leader. Jungah gasps as she recognizes the person, her eyes widening in shock. "JOOYEON!!!"

"J-Jooyeon..." Kahi whispers. She starts to tremble as she holds her in her arms. Jooyeon groans and blood is trailing down her head. "Jooyeon! Everyone, help me get Jooyeon inside the van!"

Inside the van, Nana hears Jooyeon's name and quickly gets out of the vehicle. "Jooyeon..." Nana breathes out with worry. She rushes over to Kahi and Jungah's side. "Jooyeon!"

"She's okay.." Jungah says a little more calmly, examining Jooyeon. "I think her injuries are minor... Quick let's get her in the van!"



From atop of a house, Eunli watches at the members of After School carry Jooyeon into the van. She takes out her cell phone and calls Jisoon.

"What's wrong Eunli?"

"It seems the plan has gone wrong. I did not expect a vehicle to hit Jooyeon during the chase," Eunli replies. "Coincidentally, the people who hit her are After School."

Eunli hears Jisoon laughing darkly on the other end.

"This even better than the original plan. Eunli, I'm sure you know what I am thinking... aren't you?"

Eunli watches as After School's van drives away towards their dorm.

"Yes. I'll handle it."

------------------

A/N: Is it starting to get interesting for you guys? I hope it is ^^ Next chapter will involve Jooyeon confronting the other members of After School after so long. Silent reader or not, I just want to say thank you to those who are reading my story! :D