“What’s wrong, Hyewon? You’ve looked a bit troubled since we left the station.” Eunbi asks as the couple sits outside the tech-store they were staking out. They had a couple more guesses on where the next target would be, but Officer Hwang was sure it would be this place because it was one of the bigger ones left. It was now 8pm, and the store was already closed, but that only made it more vulnerable. All around the building and its perimeter, police were milling around dressed as civilians. Officer Hwang had stationed Eunbi and Hyewon right on a bench right in front of the place and told them to act naturally, something that wasn’t exactly difficult for the two girls.

“Why did you tell Officer Hwang about Seoyoung? If what’s wiping people’s memories is a mutant, they could be connected to her, which means they’re connected to Kkura’s laptop.” Eunbi takes a couple seconds to think before responding. Hyewon knew that Eunbi always had a reason for the things she did, so it wasn’t an accident that she elected not to give that information.

“He’s already upset with Kkura and Chaewon about the stunt they pulled at the station. Besides, I want to see if this is really a mutant we’re dealing with before reporting anything. It could still be a new gadget or invention we don’t know about, and I don’t want the police getting involved unless we really need their help.” The older girl replies.

“Hmm, alright then. I’m still worried though. We have no data from Kkura about any mutant with these abilities. I’m not sure how we can prepare for someone who can wipe our minds in an instant.” Eunbi nods at her girlfriend’s concern. She’d be naive if she wasn’t also slightly worried about losing her memories.

“That’s not all though.” Hyewon continues to speak. “Ever since this talk about memories has started, I’ve gotten this weird feeling…”

“What do you mean?” Eunbi asks.

“There’s something in the back of my head- some information that’s on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t quite grasp it.” Hyewon usually had a good memory, which made the fact that she couldn’t recall what she was feeling frustrating.

“Eunbi-ssi, Hyewon-ssi. We see movement. Get ready.” The voice of Officer Hwang suddenly speaks into their ears. They were both so deep in conversation that they’d forgotten about the comm devices the police had given them.

Eunbi turns back to the store and sees a hooded figure walking slowly towards the tech-store. He wasn’t alone though. She could spot a couple figures on the rooftop of the neighboring building and a trio of masked passersby walking from the other direction. Hyewon begins charging up her ice within her pocket, but the older girl stops her, urging her to tiptoe to the bushes next to them..

“Wait, we need to see what they’re looking for just in case they get their minds wiped and can’t tell us.” In the previous raids, owners had reported stolen USBs and hard drives. The store they were at today though was different from the others. It also doubled as a cybersecurity firm. If these people are connected with Seoyoung, it might mean they’re still trying to unlock Sakura’s laptop. Everyone watches the building intently as the first man casually walks up to the door, inserts a pin in the lock, and opens it.

“These are professional burglars for sure.” Hyewon whispers. The other suspicious figures take a quick look around before nodding towards the lockpicker, a signal to make their entrance.

“Officer Hwang, send some people up to the roof of the adjacent building. They have scouts watching.” Eunbi comms over. There were only two exits to store, meaning that they’d see if the thieves were about to make their escape.

“Yah, who’s that?” Hyewon asks when she sees a female figure wearing dark shades walk into their field of vision. At first, they thought she may have just been a random person passing by, but that idea immediately quickly flew out the window once she stopped in front of the tech-store.

“She might be the mutant. We have to be careful.” The older girl warns as the aforementioned figure enters the store.

“Eunbi-ssi, we have control of the roof. Make your move now.” Officer Hwang suddenly says in her ear.

“You heard him, Hyewon. Let’s go.”

~~~~

When the couple entered the building, there was no sign of the robbers or the mysterious woman. Eunbi tiptoes towards the cash register and finds that it was untouched. Money wasn’t the reason they were there.

“They must be on the second floor. That’s where their cybersecurity solutions are stored.” Hyewon whispers, pointing towards the elevator which was flashing the said floor. Eunbi nods, turning back towards their police backup and telling them to secure the perimeter while they use the stairs.

After about a minute of tiptoeing up the steps, the duo arrive at their destination. Eunbi slowly creaks open the door to peek inside and finally gets a good look at the thieves.

“Is this what we’re looking for, boss?” One of the men asks while pointing at some computer code. At this, the woman from earlier steps into frame and takes a look at the screen.

“No, that’s an encryption code, not a decryption code.” She says back, smacking the guy in the back of the head.

“Maybe he just forgot.” One of the minions mumble, but the woman manages to hear it.

“You think you’re funny? We’re not paying you to stand around!” She says before taking off her shades and staring right at the guy, the other men averting her gaze. The woman was facing away from Eunbi and Hyewon, so they didn’t see what exactly happened. The result though was clear as the man’s eyes loll back into his head. After a couple seconds, he shakes his head and looks around in confusion.

“Who are you people? Where am I?” He asks, but the response he gets was a quick punch to the face that knocks him out.

“The rest of you, go back to finding the decryption code!” She orders, prompting everyone to run to the nearest computer and dig through files.

“Okay, from the looks of it, she can wipe memories with a direct stare…” Eunbi notes after carefully shutting the door.

“She also appears to have a bad temper.” Hyewon quips. On the inside though, as she processed what happened, there was something about it that felt oddly familiar.

“Here’s the plan, Officer Hwang’s forces will use the elevator as a distraction for us to attack from this side. When you use your ice though, try not to freeze the computers.” The older girl says quietly before communicating the same plan towards their backup downstairs.

A couple moments pass before she hears the rumbling of the elevator moving upwards. On the inside of the room, the voices die down, probably noticing noise as well.

Eventually, a ding signals the police had arrived. The sound of yelling and punching quickly fills the room which prompts Eunbi and Hyewon to make their entrance. The older girl opens the side door and rushes straight towards the mystery woman while Hyewon blasts rays of ice towards the thieves.

“You have the right to remain silent!” Eunbi says after tackling her target to the ground. Inexplicably though, the woman lets out a laugh.

“I was expecting one of you IZ*ONE members to show up eventually, but you and Hyewon? That’s just perfect.” She replies.

“How do you know who we are?” Eunbi then asks, pressing the woman harder onto the floor.

“How could I not? The pride of the Produce program. What’s ironic though is how a normal human like you is hanging out with the ice princess.” She scoffs back.

“Yah, watch what you say! I’m trying to fight for mutant rights. It doesn’t matter to me if Hyewon is one or not.” The older girl was starting to get upset, but what the mystery woman says next completely shocks her.

“Oh, I didn’t mean because she was a mutant. I meant I was surprised how you hung out with a murderer.” Feeling the pressure lighten, the woman shifts her momentum and flips Eunbi to the ground.

“Unnie!” Hyewon shouts from across the room. She had just finished icing the last robber when she saw her girlfriend being flipped over.

“Don’t take another step or I’ll scramble her memories!” The woman says with her arm wrapped around Eunbi’s neck.

“You won’t be able to do that with a frozen head...” Hyewon murmurs, white frost charging in her hands.

“Ah-ah-ah. Is that anyway to speak to your former colleague, Hyewon-ah?”

“Excuse me? I think I would remember if I met someone like you before…wait-” The gears in Hyewon’s head start to turn as she realizes what she just said. She’d worked in 8D as an agent before joining Produce. She only remembered working as an independent agent, but if this person had memory wiping powers…

“It seems you’re starting to get it now. I’m not surprised you don’t remember me though considering what happened in our last mission together.”

“Hyewon! Take her out! Don’t worry about me!” Eunbi orders while struggling to escape this woman’s grasp. Whoever this is was clearly well trained to be able to hold her in check.

“Actually, maybe I shouldn’t wipe your girlfriend’s memory. Making her remember would be much more entertaining. She was there after all. The day you became a murderer.” She says with a sinister smile.

“What do you mean? I haven’t killed anyone…” Hyewon replies shakily, suddenly unsure of herself.

“Hmm, I guess you both need a little push.” With these words, the woman shoves Eunbi towards Hyewon’s direction. The younger girl manages to catch her girlfriend, but by the time they both looked back at their target, her shades were off, dark brown eyes staring right into their souls. Voices then began to speak to both of them as they black out

~~~~

5 years ago…

“You’re not going to school, oppa?” Eunbi curiously asks her brother who was eating breakfast next to her.

“Nope, I’m just going to stay home and study. I got some assignments to catch up on.” Eunsang replies.

“Alright then. See you later, oppa!” The younger girl says as she exits the door. Instead of going to school though, she hides at the side of their house. She didn’t believe for one second that Eunsang had any work to catch up on. He was a model student and never missed deadlines.

A couple minutes go by, and Eunbi’s suspicions are eventually confirmed when her brother slowly opens the front door, looking around before walking away. The younger girl sneakily follows until they reach an abandoned warehouse at the edge of town.

“What is he doing here?” Eunbi thinks to herself as Eunsang enters the building.

—-----

“Can you remind me again why we’re on this mission again, Sohye?” Hyewon asks her partner as they sit quietly in a dark and abandoned warehouse. The girl who was wearing dark shades shakes her head before replying.

“This is why you should listen to the mission briefs. 8D was notified of a mutant with tier-three abilities. He hasn’t done anything dangerous yet, but we’re here to contain him before he does. Just let me do all the talking.” As if on queue, the duo hear the sound of a door creaking open across from them.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” A male voice asks. At this, Sohye turns on the lights to reveal themselves.

“Kwon Eunsang?” She asks.

“Uh, yeah. Wait, how old are you two?” He asked confusedly, noticing he was definitely older than the two girls standing in front of him.

“Is that important? Because we can just leave and look for your family to prove we’re serious.” Sohye says with a chuckle.

“Wait, please don’t hurt my family. I’ll do anything you want!” Eunsang replies, holding his hands up in surrender.

“That’s more like it. Now, you have two options: come with us or die here.” At this, Hyewon does a double take.

“Weren’t our orders just to contain him?” She thinks.

“What? Isn’t that a little extreme? I haven’t done anything wrong!” Eunsang tries to argue.

“It’s not about what you’ve done, but what you might do if left unsupervised. So, what’s it going to be?” Sohye asks, taking out a metal bat from her bag. Out of nowhere though, a new voice interjects.

“Yah, leave my brother alone!” A college-aged student runs up in front of Eunsang and blocks him.

“Eunbi??? You have to get out of here, it’s dangerous!” Eunsang says, trying to get back in front of her before an ice spike lands right next to them. Eunbi looks at where it came from and makes eye contact with the other girl who had been quiet the entire time.

“You’re mutants too…” Eunbi realizes.

“Yes, and unfortunately for you, you’ve seen too much.” Sohye says without an ounce of empathy as she gives a nod to Hyewon.

“Wait, we aren’t supposed to hurt civilians.” The brunette says, giving her partner another confused look. Something was wrong.

“Fine, I’ll just brain blast her then.” Sohye sighs, but when she turns back towards where their targets were, they’re gone.

“Yah, come on! They’re getting away!” She yells exasperatedly before giving chase.

—-------

“You have to run, Eunbi. I’ll hold them off.” Eunsang says when they manage to exit the warehouse.

“No! I’m not leaving you!” At this though, another ice spike punctures the concrete wall right next to them.

“Please don’t make this harder for us than it already is.” Hyewon tries to speak politely, but Eunsang shakes his head.

“You aren’t hurting my sister!” He says as he raises his arms and harnesses the sunlight above into a beam before firing it right towards Hyewon who barely manages to dodge the attack. Eunsang redirects the beam to follow her, which prompted the brunette to blast an ice ray to counter. The two streams of energy seemed to be evenly matched until Eunsang felt a hard metal strike him from behind. This causes him to lose his control, allowing Hyewon’s ice to power through and freeze him on the spot.

“Oppa!!!” Eunbi shrieks, witnessing this all happen. Her eyes then meet Sohye’s which were exposed now that she’d taken off her shades. The older girl’s vision immediately begins to swirl until it goes completely dark.

~~~~

Present day…

“Ugh…my head…” Eunbi mutters. It was then that she remembered where she was and who was next to her. Her memories…had been fabricated this whole time.

“Eunbi-unnie…I’m sorry…” Hyewon whispers, reaching for her girlfriend, but the older girl recoils.

“Everything I knew…was a lie…” Eunbi says shakily. She couldn’t look Hyewon in the eyes.

“Eunbi-ssi, Hyewon-ssi, are you two alright? We tried to follow after that woman, but she got away.” Officer Hwang suddenly interjects, sounding very out of breath from the fruitless chase.

“I-I have to go. Please excuse me.” Eunbi replies, getting up and making her way out.

“What happened to you two?” The officer asks to Hyewon who was still sitting on the ground motionless, one thought running through her mind,

“What have I done?” 

A/N: What's up everyone! Welcome to another chapter! Firstly, apologies for the slight cliffhanger, I hope the ending here wasn't too jarring. 

So, Eunbi and Hyewon actually met before the events of book 1, but had their memories wiped by Sohye. Now, the two are gonna have to find a way to reconcile and find her. Y'all can look forward to future chapters to see how that unfolds!

Thanks again for the support for this story! The likes and comments mean a lot <3

Have a good day/night and I'll see y'all in the next one!