"You sure this is going to work, Chae?" Minjoo asks through her in-ear communication device. It was another tool Seunggi advised each of the members to have now that they were more split up. After all, Sakura wouldn't always be around to form a mental link.

"Yah, I thought you said you trusted me." Chaewon replies. "If we want to catch this clone, we have to think like me, and there's no bigger weakness I have than you."

"I can't believe you just said that so casually..." Minjoo says in a flustered tone. Chaewon could only shrug from the foliage she was hiding behind. The plan was simple; Minjoo would text her clone to meet her at a park near her acting agency where she would find out her motive for doing everything she's done. It obviously looked like a trap, but Chaewon was banking on her clone being so infatuated with Minjoo that she'd show up anyway. If things went bad, Chaewon would burst from the bushes and ambush her.

"Well the moonlight does make you look stunning right now." Chaewon teases. Minjoo rolls her eyes and decides to focus on looking across the pond next to her. After a couple minutes of silence, the younger girl gets a text notification from the clone saying she was almost there.

"I think I see her coming!" Minjoo comms when she eventually spots a familiar figure walking towards her. It was starting to get dark out, but she could recognize that silhouette anywhere. Chaewon watches cautiously from her hiding spot, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

"Minjoo! Did you see my press conference earlier? I still can't believe I was accepted by HYVE, you know?" The clone says before running up to hug Minjoo. Chaewon grits her teeth, but holds back her irritation. Meanwhile, Minjoo felt very conflicted because this warmth felt so much like her Chaewon even though she knew it wasn't.

"It's good to see you too... Chaewon." She says slowly before stepping back to create more space between them. At this, the clone's smile drops, her expression shifting to a more serious one.

"She's somewhere here, right?" The clone asks while looking around the surrounding area.

"What do you really want?" Minjoo counters, ignoring the original question.

"I just want what's rightfully mine, Min. Isn't it unfair that I'm the one who saved you from Daegu, and yet you hang out with her instead? Isn't it unfair that I'm the one who stays with mom while she gets to do what she wants? I've been more of a Kim Chaewon than that phony!" She shouts angrily.

"Yah, don't talk about her like that! She's just as much of a Chaewon as every one of the clones she splits into." Minjoo replies.

"If we're all the same then why do you always stick by her specifically? What makes her so special!" The clone says while taking a step forward. "Think about it carefully, who's the one who had to face my mom? Me! Then later on, she meets her with less apprehension. When I saved you from Daegu, the first person you ever kissed wasn't her. It was me..." Minjoo felt the confusion now looking back at her memories of Daegu. Were they really two different people by that time?

Meanwhile, in the bushes, Chaewon was seething. The pain and memories of one of her copies was always shared with the rest, and she never imagined thinking one of them was better than the others. Seeing this copy stepping closer and closer to Minjoo finally makes her snap. She had just decided to jump out and attack when a pair of arms grab her from behind and pin her to the ground.

"Chaewon?" Minjoo asks when she hears the commotion in the direction where she was. The clone clicks her tongue and shakes her head as two more Chaewon clones come out from the darkness with what Minjoo assumes is the original Chaewon struggling in between.

"See? She's not so special after all!" The clone says before taking out the hammer Chaewon had seen in her nightmares.

"Let her go!" Minjoo pleads.

"Listen to the Angel before I make you regret it." Chaewon orders the clones holding her, but they wouldn't respond. Usually her clones would be able to split on their own, but they would always answer to the original's thoughts.

"These copies only listen to me, Chae. Once I take you out of the picture, nobody will even remember you. I'm sure Minjoo will come around too when she sees how much better I am."

"Is this what it was all about? Proving you were the superior version of me? I don't think blowing up a bus and hurting innocent civilians makes you better than me. I'm sorry, but the sequels have never been better than the originals." Chaewon taunts.

"Yah, if you'd just died quietly yesterday, everything would be perfect. I see that I've underestimated you too much." The clone responds.

"See, that was your first mistake...not remembering who you're dealing with" Chaewon says before making a whistling noise. In only a few seconds, five copies of herself jump out from their hiding spots in the foliage and even the pond to surround the enemy. "I knew you were expecting the trap, so I fit another one on top of it." The clone sneers before splitting herself into four copies to even the playing field.

"Minjoo, take cover!" Chaewon says before throwing an elbow into her captor's side to squeeze free. At this point, all hell breaks loose as the Chaewon clones attack each other. Given that they were copies of each other though, it was a dead-even matchup. Everyone knew each other's next moves and continued trading punches and blocks, neither side giving up any ground.

"What happened to you, Chae? I thought we were supposed to trust each other!" Chaewon says mid-fight, referencing the discussion they had back in Busan after her nightmare.

"That was before I realized you were just a coward! I have been living the life we were meant to have for months while you were cooped up and wasting your time at PD Campus. You aren't fit to be the original Chaewon anymore." The clone responds before throwing a er punch that catches Chaewon off guard.

"If you wanna take that title, you're going to have to work for it..." Chaewon wipes some blood off her lips and charges again.

While this was all happening, Minjoo was panicking on what to do while invisible. She figured that if this fight drew out for too long, they would both just collapse from exhaustion which meant she had to be the one to tip the balance. The younger girl takes a deep breath before approaching the battle. Luckily for her, the copies of Chaewon and the clone that were fighting did have obvious differences like the hair length and outfit they were currently wearing. When she was close enough to one pair of copies, Minjoo sneaks in a jab on the enemy which gives Chaewon's clone just enough time to knock her out with a left hook.

"Ugh, what was that..." The main enemy clone mutters when she suddenly winces.

"Don't you remember? The pain of one is the pain of all." Chaewon says before hitting her with a roundhouse kick. All the other clones seemed to feel that hit and begin to collapse as well.

"It's over." Chaewon walks towards her fallen copy and extends her arm to try and merge back, but Minjoo reappears and intervenes.

"Yah, are you sure you want to do that? You don't know what'll happen if you merge. What if she takes over your brain or something?" She warns.

"Hmm, you have a point, Min, but she's still me, or at least a part of me." Chaewon replies with an empathetic look towards her clone. Even if she did try to kill her just now, the short-haired girl couldn't help but think about the points she made. Chaewon knew deep down that staying on campus was an excuse to delay her life choices, but in the end, she still decided she wanted to become an idol, albeit later than her clone did.

"I think we should just contact Eunbi-unnie and plan accordingly." Minjoo suggests before taking out her phone. She was also trying to shake her thoughts after hearing the words of that clone. The memory of her first kiss with Chaewon flashed back in her head, but she pushed it away. The real Chaewon she knew would never try to hurt innocent people, much less try and kill somebody.

"Okay, fine." Chaewon says with a nod while observing her clone and thinking.

"By the way, can we have a code name for her too? It got a bit confusing communicating with my clones to attack other clones of myself." She says suddenly.

"What did you have in mind?" Minjoo asks after finishing her call with Eunbi. The leader had said they had a transport on the way for them and the clone.

"How about... Michelle?" Chaewon suggests.

"That's so random, what made you think of that?" Minjoo replies with a small laugh.

"I don't know. Maybe it's the hair. Don't you think I'd look like a 'Michelle' if I had long hair?" Unbeknownst to her though, the clone had managed to regain consciousness and was putting on an act. Just when Chaewon chose to turn her back, the clone grabbed her and flipped her into the water behind her.

"Michelle? I like it, but Kim Chaewon has a better ring to it, right?" She says with a sarcastic tone. Before Minjoo can react, the clone grabs her and puts the back of her hammer against the younger girl's neck.

"Yah, you're going to get it now!" Chaewon says after pulling herself out of the pond, spitting out some water.

"I wouldn't take another step if I were you, Chae." The clone replies, pushing the hammer's edge closer to Minjoo.

"You wouldn't dare..." Chaewon says, her eyes staring at her clone like daggers..

"I'm not like you anymore!" The clone shouts which left the two at a standstill with Minjoo in the middle. The younger girl gives her girlfriend a knowing look though, as if signaling to wait for her move.

"I guess you're right. The real me wouldn't ever try to hurt Minjoo." Chaewon says to distract the clone.

"Don't try to lay the blame on me! It only went this far because of you!" Michelle responds, not noticing Minjoo giving a quick wink to Chaewon.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I guess I'm going to have to finish it then." At that moment, Minjoo turns invisible and kicks Michelle in the knee. The clone tries to swing the hammer, but Minjoo manages to break free from her grip and dodge it. Chaewon takes this opportunity to leap in and throw a punch at her adversary in the confusion.

As the two grapple with each other, their minds seem to connect. Chaewon was trying hard to absorb her clone back into herself, but Michelle was refusing to do so.

"I will not be a part of you anymore!" She screams. The longer the two fought, the more they both tired, but neither side was willing to back down. Chaewon was beginning to realize something as time went on though, and when she saw her opening, she gave one last taunt.

"So be it. I hope you enjoy your time behind bars then!" She says before ducking a punch and using a sweeping kick to knock Michelle's legs from under her and following it up by hammering down a closed fist at her chest. Chaewon then jumps on her and pins her to the ground. Minjoo runs in after with some handcuffs from their bag and helps restrain her.

"My time at PD wasn't a waste of time. It gave me the time to train that you didn't." Chaewon says, remembering the days she would go out with Eunbi to teach the trainees. That move she just pulled was one the leader had taught her.

"Everyone moves at their own pace, Michelle. You said I was too afraid to follow our dreams, but in reality, I just took a bit longer to decide." She added. This didn't stop the clone from struggling though.

"Yah, so are you just going to steal my life away? You better hope I don't get out of here because I'm going to get my revenge!" Michelle shouts.

"You can certainly try because I'll be waiting." Chaewon says with finality as she hears their transport arrive.

"Hyewon-unnie!" Minjoo greets when she sees their friend.

"When I got the call from Eunbi-unnie, I was already in the area so I came as quickly as I could." Hyewon says before assessing the situation and seeing Chaewon holding down what looked like a clone of herself.

"It's a long story, unnie." The short-haired girl says when Hyewon raises an eyebrow. The older girl simply nods before freezing another set of chains on Michelle's legs.

~~~~

The next day...

"So, the clone, or I mean, Michelle will be locked up for questioning for the time being." Eunbi announces when she, Chaewon, Minjoo, and Hyewon had gathered at the lunch hall.

"I still hope she can agree to merge again some day, you know? She definitely went about things wrong, but she did pass the HYVE auditions fair and square." Chaewon says.

"I don't know, Chae. I'm still a bit worried about you doing that. She's unpredictable and dangerous with what she knows and the lengths she's gone to kill you." Minjoo says. The group nods at that point as well. If Eunbi hadn't stepped in, who knows what Michelle would've said at the press conference yesterday.

"Speaking of HYVE, Chaewon, I heard from Eunbi-unnie that you get to just take Michelle's slot to not cause any trouble with the media. You gonna take it?" Hyewon asks.

"No, I already informed them that I want to try-out again to make it official. It wouldn't be fair to Michelle to not do that." Chaewon replies, already quietly anxious for how it's going to go.

"That's really admirable of you, Chae! Good luck then!" Eunbi cheers, the others joining in.

~~~~

One week later...

"Ugh, oh my god, the anticipation is killing me!" Chaewon says while repeatedly refreshing her email. She just had her tryout yesterday afternoon and was told to wait until tomorrow morning for the result, but she just hated the wait.

"C'mon, Chae. You were amazing at the audition! It was a great touch to sing a cover of Yuri's song, 'Someday', and you blew everyone away with that Catallena dance! I can't stop thinking about it!" Minjoo says with a laugh remembering her girlfriend's dance moves. The beginning where she split herself into three for the iconic intro was just amazing.

"Yah, don't remind me!!" Chaewon whines, thinking she could've done better, and at that moment, she hears a 'ding' from her computer, a new email. Chaewon was too anxious at that point, prompting Minjoo to open it for her.

"You got in!!! I knew you could do it, Chae!" Minjoo cheers before giving her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek. For Chaewon, all the pent up emotion finally left her system, allowing her to melt into Minjoo's arms.

"What do you want to do to celebrate? I just think another restaurant dinner would be a bit too repetitive for me." The younger girl quips.

"Oh, I actually planned with my mom to have a dinner party over at her place because I wanted to see her. You girls are all invited!" Chaewon says. Ever since the incident, she'd talked with her mother that she couldn't just keep leaving a clone with her every day. Michelle may have been a special case, but Chaewon had decided that she only wanted to meet her mother as herself.

"Alright, I'll go tell the others later. I'm so excited for you, Chae! I can't wait for your first album!" Minjoo says cheerfully.

"And I can't wait for your first drama appearance. I won't allow you to join any that have a kissing scene though, okay?" Chaewon replies in a cold tone.

"Yah, it's just acting. You know that I only like you, right?"

"Of course, Min. I was just teasing!" The older girl says with a laugh seeing how easily her girlfriend fell for it.

"Heh, maybe you should be the actor between us then." Minjoo teases before heading out to inform their friends about the party.

Once Chaewon was left alone in her room, she went and laid on her bed until a voice spoke in her head.

"You just got lucky this time, Kim. I hope your first album flops and doesn't even chart!" Michelle shouts.

"Ugh, just give me a break. Be lucky I'm giving you a front row seat to these things while you're in prison." Chaewon thinks back, causing the voice to die down.

"Just another wonderful day..." She sighs before getting up to freshen up for later.

A/N: Hello, and I hope you enjoyed the first short story of this series! It was honestly really fun to write, and over the past couple days, it's made me binge a bunch of old izone content to remind myself of the vibes back then. Chaewon was always one of my favorite characters to write in the old stories which is why i wanted to start off with her. Moving forward, the next story will likely be centered around Yuri since she's my bias (stream taxi!)

I'll say this in advance though that I can't promise that each member will have their own 3 chapter story. It really depends on the plot, but this type of flow is probably what they'll look like for the most part, secret mission files that last around 2-5 chapters. 

Anyways, i still have to plan the Yuri story since it's still in the idea phase, so i apologize that the next chapter might not be out until next week at the earliest. 

To close, thank you again to all the readers who showed support in my return to writing! Thank you as well to the new people who see this story and get curious enough to read the first twos. Thanks for all the likes and comments, and I'll see y'all again soon!