“Uh, maybe we should’ve asked her to specify where in the park Sohye would be.” Chaewon says when she and Eunbi arrive at Hyochang park. There were many stone paths snaking through the greenery and different types of trees towering over them. At first glance, it didn’t look like it’d be easy finding their target here.

“Nayoung said that Sohye lived here, so we should be looking for structures or trailers..” Eunbi replies.

“Sure, you want me to split up? I can cover more ground that way.” The younger girl proposes.

“I don’t know. She’s well-trained, and we don’t know what’ll happen if she wipes the mind of one of your clones.” Eunbi says worriedly.

“It’ll be fine, unnie. I’ll just make sure not to look into her eyes. I promise to report back if I find anything.” Chaewon then splits herself into four copies and runs off before Eunbi could rebut.

“Ugh, that girl, always running off towards trouble.” Eunbi sighs and goes off on another path.

~~~~

After trekking for a few minutes, a thought at the back of Eunbi’s mind begins to surface.

“What if Nayoung didn’t tell you the truth to protect her friend?”

Eunbi tries to shake the worry off. Nayoung said she understood what was at stake. She even asked her to bring Sohye back to them. Why would she give her the wrong place?

“Would you have done the same if one of IZ*ONE did the same thing?” Another voice in her head whispers which causes her to stop in her tracks. Eunbi couldn’t imagine any of her friends turning on them, but wouldn’t Nayoung have felt the same about I.O.I?

The doubts in her mind only began to grow as she wandered off the stone path and into the forest. Sakura’s natural inclination for logic led her to create the mutant database they were trying to recover. Eunbi’s initial plan after retrieving it was to delete all the data, but now she wasn’t so sure.

“No…what are you thinking, Eunbi? Pull yourself together.” She thinks back to herself. Just before her doubts could creep back though, Eunbi hears an unusual sound from her feet. So far, it's just been her shoes crunching on the occasional autumn leaves, but all of a sudden, those were replaced by a different surface. Eunbi looks down and sees a sheet of metal protruding slightly through the ground.

“Not another one…” She groans, realizing that Sohye’s little abode was likely underground. The metal below her feet must’ve been exposed due to rain washing away the soil. Eunbi looked around the grove that she’d entered for a lever or button, but couldn’t see anything.

“This would’ve been a good time to have Tomi.” She mutters, thinking about how the younger girl would be able to detect any disturbances in the plant life. Eunbi then considers contacting Chaewon if she’d found anything on her end while leaning on a random tree. To her surprise though, one of the branches she rested her arm on moves downwards, revealing a hole in the ground with stairs leading down.

“Thanks, Hii-chan.” Eunbi says with a smile as she looks up at the sky. Somewhere in Japan, the peach-cheeked girl sneezes. Is someone talking about me? She thinks before going back to buying bread.

Eunbi now reaches for her phone to call Chaewon only to realize that the area she was in had no signal.

“Great…” The leader takes a deep breath, looking back behind her one more time before going underground herself.

~~~~

After a couple steps down the narrow staircase, Eunbi notices a door to her right. It looked like the kind you’d find attached to an RV trailer. As she looked down, she realized the stairs kept on going down further into the darkness, not even the light of her phone being able to illuminate the bottom. Because of this, Eunbi decides to check out what was behind the door she’d seen first..

It appeared her deduction was correct as the inside of the room did look like a RV trailer, the space being cramped and a steering wheel at the very front. Luckily for her, it appeared it had been connected to an electrical source which gave the room light. Looking at the roof, Eunbi then realizes that must’ve been the metal that was sticking out from the ground.

“How long did it take Sohye to bury this thing here?” She wonders as she takes a look around. On one of the tables, Eunbi notices a framed photo similar to the one she’d seen at Nayoung’s place which all but confirmed that this was, in fact, Sohye’s place.

When Eunbi reaches the back of the RV, she sees a small desk. She quietly sifts through it until she sees another photo that was older than the others. It was a younger version of Sohye, and next to her was a familiar face- Hyewon.

“Didn’t anyone tell you it’s rude to look through people’s things?” A voice suddenly says which raises the hairs all over Eunbi’s body. She had to fight back the instinctive urge to turn and look at who she knew it was.

“Didn’t anyone tell you it’s rude to mess with people’s memories, Sohye?” The older girl asks back, still not turning around.

“I see you’ve gotten smarter. It’s going to be tough to fight though without looking at me, right?” Eunbi scans the desk for anything useful until her eyes land on a mirror. That’s when she thought of a theory. It was a risky one, but given the situation, she didn’t have many options. It was all based on something Nayoung had mentioned while they were eating earlier.

“Sohye always wore shades, even at our picture takings, because she just couldn’t look at people directly.”

Eunbi hears footsteps slowly approaching, keeping her eye on the mirror the whole time. The second she sees Sohye’s reflection, she drops low and trips her with a sweeping kick. The older girl then grabs a plate from the sink and tosses it up towards the ceiling, shattering the lights.

“Yah, I just installed those bulbs!” Sohye shouts while getting up off the ground. The RV was now pitch black. Eunbi runs out, wanting to head back up only to realize the hatch was now shut.

“You’re not getting out of here unscathed, Eunbi.” Sohye’s voice echoes through the tunnel. The older girl remains quiet, closing her eyes waiting for the perfect moment.

Eunbi had had some training drills like this before back at campus. In an effort to keep their other senses as sharp as their vision, Bae Yoon-jeong made them do some combat training in the dark. It was tough at first, but it was Eunbi who ended up being the best at it. Now, she was hoping the work would translate.

“Kwon Eunbi…you’re just a regular human. Do you really think you can beat me?” Sohye says. Eunbi locks in on that voice, waiting for the slightest sound of movement.

“I see you didn’t come here with Hyewon either. Did that memory drive a wedge in your relationship?” Eunbi wanted to talk back so badly, but didn't.

“You know what the funny thing is though? She didn’t kill your brother…I did, and you’ll never be able to make up with her.” That’s when she senses it. Eunbi could hear the sound of Sohye swinging her arm just in time to lean back and dodge it. The younger girl was now off-balance which allowed Eunbi to charge forward right into Sohye’s chest with a defiant yell, sending both of them tumbling down the staircase.

~~~~

“Chaewon! We’re here!” Yena shouts when she and Hyewon spot the short-haired girl in front of them. She appeared to be really flustered about something.

“Thank god you’re here. We have a problem. I can’t find or contact Eunbi-unnie.” Chaewon says in a panic. After sending her clones to search the park to no avail, she’d wanted to meet back up and wait for reinforcements, but the older girl was suddenly unresponsive.

“Wait, you split up and didn’t leave a clone with her?” Hyewon asks confusedly.

“I’m sorry, unnie. We were in a rush. Let’s just go and find her.” The younger girl replies, feeling guilty for being the one to suggest splitting up.

“Wait, I sense something!” Yena suddenly says.

“Sense what?”

“Shh! Quiet! I’m trying to focus.” The duck closed her eyes, sure that she felt an electrical current just pop. All of the lampposts were still turned off, so it had to be something else.

“Follow me!” She says before running off.

~~~~

Eventually, the trio reach an empty clearing. It didn’t look like there was anything there, but Yena was sure this was the place.

“Underground…” The duck says as she places her hands on the ground, sending out an electric pulse. After a couple seconds, Chaewon lets out a yelp as a hatch opens right below one of her feet. Hyewon just managed to catch her before she fell through.

“It looks like a staircase.” Hyewon says. She stares down into the darkness until a sudden light a couple steps down catches her attention. Eunbi’s phone.

“Yah, we have to get down there quickly!” She says before blasting ice down the tunnel and creating a slide.

“Uh…do we know how far that goes?” Yena asks, but Hyewon doesn’t wait, jumping straight down. The duck then looks at Chaewon nervously.

“Unnies first.” The younger girl says with a nervous expression.

“You really had to pull that card, huh?” Yena takes a deep breath and jumps down the slide, resisting the urge to yell the whole way. Before Chaewon follows, she sends one more text for backup.

“We’re coming, Eunbi-unnie!” She shouts as she slides down.

~~~~

Given she had full control on ice, Hyewon managed to slow herself down when she got to the bottom. Unfortunately for the others, that was not the case. Yena and Chaewon would’ve splatted into the metal door at the base of the steps if Hyewon hadn’t caught them.

“She must be inside. Remember girls, do not look Sohye in the eyes if she isn’t wearing her shades.” Hyewon says before signaling Yena to short-circuit the door. What greeted them on the other side though were armed soldiers with guns aimed right at them.

“Hands in the air!” One of the men says.

“I don’t have time for this. Where’s Eunbi?” Hyewon asks in an annoyed tone, her hands charging with white frost.

“You have three seconds! Surrender!” The soldier replies.

“Funny, I was about to say the same thing.” Hyewon then launches an ice attack that freezes the whole platoon.

“Woah…” Chaewon mutters. She hadn’t seen Hyewon this upset ever and was suddenly glad that the older girl was on their side.

“Come on, she couldn’t have gotten far.” Hyewon says before leading them down the hall.

~~~~

The next few minutes followed the same script; The trio would run into some soldiers, Chaewon would ask them where Eunbi was, and when they would refuse to answer, Hyewon and Yena would incapacitate them. As they kept searching the place though, the older girl began noticing something.

“It looks like they’re trying to evacuate the place.” Hyewon mumbles. The soldiers they’d been running into were all in the middle of carrying boxes and computers.

“Wait…Sohye was involved with Seoyoung, and Seoyoung stole Kkura’s laptop…” Chaewon says, a sudden realization dawning on her. “This might be where it is!”

“So close. This is where it was.” A voice interjects. Chaewon and Yena were about to turn and look, but Hyewon creates a wall of ice just in time to block their vision.

“Yah, Kim Sohye! What did you do to Eunbi!?” The older girl shouts.

“If you want to find out, maybe lower this wall.” Sohye responds while tapping the ice.

“Hyewon-ah! Don’t listen to her! The laptop’s still here, I’m sure of it!” The voice of Eunbi suddenly says followed by a shriek of pain.

“Who said you could talk? One more word and I’ll force your eyes open!” Sohye shouts. Hyewon now found herself in a tough spot. The laptop with all their data was apparently still on its way out of this base, but on the other side of this ice wall, her girlfriend’s life was at risk.

“Kwangbae, you and Chaewon can stay. I’ll go after the laptop with a Chae-clone.” Yena whispers.

“Alright…good luck. Meet back at the entrance right after.” Hyewon replies.

“So what’s it going to be, Hyewon? The girl or your mission? I know you could never make the hard decisions!” Sohye taunts.

“You’re right…” Hyewon says, lowering the ice wall. “Luckily, I don’t have to choose anymore.”

Hyewon’s eyes were closed, but she still managed to launch an ice attack right at where Sohye’s voice had come from. Unfortunately, her target managed to dodge it just in time.

“Do you realize how silly you all look right now? You can’t win a fight like that.” Sohye taunts again at the two girls in front of her who had their eyes shut. This distraction though gave Eunbi the opening she needed to elbow Sohye in the ribs.

“Mirrors, Hyewon! Mirrors!” Eunbi shouts before yelping in pain again. Chaewon was confused at the random exclamation, but Hyewon understood. She opens her eyes for the first time in this fight to see Sohye standing over her girlfriend and stepping on her foot. The fall from earlier had sprained Eunbi’s foot really badly which allowed Sohye, who had broken her fall by crashing onto the older girl, to restrain her easily.

“Get away from her!” Hyewon shouts before launching pillars of ice all around the hall they were in.

“You missed!” Sohye says in an unimpressed tone.

“Did I?” The older girl replies before sneaking up on her and hitting her with a er punch.

“Yah, what was that?” Sohye scans her surroundings, seeing the reflections of Hyewon and Chaewon on the ice pillars. A second later, it’s one of the short-haired girl’s clones that pulls a fast one on Sohye, connecting on a jab to her back.

“What’s wrong, Sohye? Seeing double?” Hyewon says, staring directly at her.

“It can’t be…you shouldn’t be able to look at me…” She mumbles as an ice ray freezes her foot to the ground.

“Yah! You can’t do this to me! I’ll make you pay!” Sohye then turns to hurt Eunbi again, but the older girl is gone, one of Chaewon’s clones managing to drag her away in the confusion. Sohye then feels a presence behind her. When she looks at one of the pillars’ reflections, she sees her former partner smirking, her hand encased in ice.

“You’re the one who’s going to pay for what you did to us…” Hyewon says before landing an ice punch right to the back of Sohye’s head and knocking her out. For good measure, Hyewon also rips a part of her shirt off to blindfold her before ice-cuffing her hands together.

“Sorry for worrying you, Hyewon.” Eunbi says with a cough, still leaning on Chaewon for support. Hyewon turns to look at her girlfriend with teary eyes. She rarely cried, but the fact that Eunbi had almost been killed finally broke her.

“Hey, so, reinforcements have arrived. I’m going with Kkura and my team to sweep the rest of the area. I’ll leave you two lovebirds to catch up.” Chaewon says with a chuckle, handing the leader over to Hyewon before heading off.

“I thought I was gonna lose you…” The younger girl says with a shaky voice.

“I’m sorry…for worrying you.” Eunbi replies, giving Hyewon a big hug.

“I got the rest of my memory back by the way…I know it won’t make it better, but-”

“I know. Sohye manipulated our memories. I know you didn’t kill my brother.” Eunbi says, cutting her girlfriend off. “I’m the one who should be apologizing for giving you the cold shoulder. I should’ve trusted you.”

“No, don’t be like that, unnie. I should’ve stopped Sohye sooner. You don’t have to apologize.” Hyewon replies.

“Heh, how about we both just be sorry to each other and go home.” Eunbi says with a smile. Hyewon nods, walking her girlfriend back to the exit while pulling Sohye’s unconscious body in an ice sled behind her.

~~~~

Later that night…

“Alright, Kkura, all that trouble better have been worth it.” Yena quips as she takes a seat in the war room at PD campus. While Hyewon had been fighting Sohye, the duck had managed to track down the laptop they’d been looking for. She’d seen a soldier put it in a special case compared to the boxes they were lugging around and knew immediately that it was the one. She and the Le Sserafim members continued to comb through the base for a couple more hours after just in case, but ultimately didn’t find anything else. Whoever Sohye was working for was already gone.

“Well, the very fact that it’s still intact means they didn’t extract any data. Otherwise, it would’ve exploded.” Sakura replies, plugging a charger into the laptop. After a couple seconds, the screen lights up, allowing the tech-girl to log in. What greeted her though definitely didn’t appear good.

“Uh oh…” The older girl suddenly says.

“Uh oh? What do you mean ‘uh oh’?” Yena asks when Sakura’s facial expression shifts to one of complete focus, rapidly typing something in.

“It was a trap. They couldn’t access anything without my fingerprint, so they installed a code prompt. Some of the files are being remotely downloaded!”

“Wait what?!? Just shut it down!”

“I can’t! We don’t know if that’ll stop it. I have to shut down this code.” Sakura then stops typing, closes her eyes and places both hands on the keyboard. After a couple seconds of silence, the screen goes black again.

“Alright…I stopped it, but they managed some data.” The tech-girl says tiredly.

“Do you know which?” The duck asks.

“Yeah, I’ll write up a report in a bit.” Sakura replies, clearly frustrated about being tricked.

“Looks like another threat’s on the horizon…” Yena mumbles before leaving to inform the others.

~~~~

The next day…

“Yah, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Shouldn’t you be resting in the infirmary?” Hyewon says when she opens an office door to see a familiar figure hunched over and typing something into a computer.

“As long as the villains are around, there isn’t time to rest, Hyewon-ah.” Eunbi replies, her eyes not leaving the screen.

“Still, you can at least leave this to Kkura or someone else. Hongki-sunbae said even with his healing powers, you needed to stay in your bed for at least a week more.” The younger girl nags.

“I will. Just give me a second. I’m almost done.” The leader says as she titles the file and transfers it to the secret files folder. Operation: Memories Lost.

“Did you at least get any information from Sohye?” Hyewon asks, but Eunbi simply shakes her head.

“No, she refused to talk unless we took off her blindfold, and you know we weren’t doing that. She also refused to bring back Seoyoung’s memory. We’ll try again in a few days when Yuri returns from her trip, but I have a feeling Sohye has strong mental resistance.”

“Where is she now?”

“Still in a holding cell. Nayoung will be visiting soon too to try and convince her to talk.” Eunbi replies. The reason she was rushing right now was because of a call she’d gotten from Officer Hwang that morning. They apparently had a week before Sohye was required to be handed over to the police for their own set of questioning on the recent break-ins. This and finding out Sakura’s laptop had been compromised only made her head ache more. “Another day…another migraine.” She mutters.

“We’ll get through this together, Eunbi. And I mean together. We have more help than we’ve had before. You don’t have to try and do everything yourself.” Hyewon replies, leaning in to give Eunbi a kiss on the cheek.

“Heh, you’re right about that…” The older girl says with a chuckle. Did the events of the past couple weeks give her doubts? Sure. At the end of the day though, distrust only breeds conflict. As a team, everyone has a responsibility to trust one another and that starts with her.

With a sigh, Eunbi gets up and limps over to the window with Hyewon’s help. Looking at all the students going about their days, she felt a feeling of dread rise up in her; something else was coming. This community was something they built, and it was now a future they had to protect.

“Whoever you are…we’ll be ready.”

A/N: Aaand that will do it for the Secret Files mini-series! It was such a joy to write, and I'm glad it's gotten some good reception. I had a lot of fun coming back to the kpop community in general recently, and I'm glad IZ*ONE's presence has lived on. Though at times, it was difficult, it was really refreshing to add in IVE and Le Sserafim as well.

Now, as y'all can tell by the open-ending, there are still more threats to deal with in this AU. This will all lead into the final book for this series which I'll start writing soon, so please look forward to that. I won't promise a specific date yet though because my job work load is expected to pick up soon.  Again, if you want updates and stuff, my twt is @TofuBeagle22.

Anyways, a big thank you once again for everyone who's liked, commented, and read this story so far! I've also noticed that along the way, new people have found the series too and I hope y'all enjoyed going through the first two books.

I hope everyone has a great day, and as always, I'll see y'all in the next one!