“How’s it looking, Kkura?” Chaeyeon asks as she watches a beaker filled with Jirisan Spring Water being heated up in front of her.

“I haven’t found anything unusual yet. It just looks like nutrient infused water.” Sakura replies while looking at some charts on her computer.

“How is this supposed to be the key to the androids' new powers…” The younger girl wonders out loud. They had to figure out as much as they could by tomorrow but were no closer than they were when they started.

“I asked Chaewon if she saw anything in Michelle’s memories that could be useful, but she said Michelle was only contacted via phone. She never met up with KYB physically.” Sakura says back, referring to how Chaewon had finally combined back with her evil clone and fully became herself again. Sakura and Eunbi had been hoping she’d gain some big information, but no luck.

“The only thing we know right now is that Yujin can’t control the water. There has to be something in it that’s preventing her from manipulating it.”

“Hmm, Yujin did say she managed to control oil before just because she sensed water in it. Maybe the drink has something that hides the water molecules? Chaeyeon guesses. “Actually, sorry, that sounds a bit silly.”

“No, all hypotheses must be considered when handling something we don’t understand. Who knows, I might have tunnel vision again.” Sakura replies with a sarcastic laugh.

“Yah, Kkura. It’s okay. No one’s mad at you for what you did anymore.” Chaeyeon says, sensing her girlfriend’s mood dropping.

“Are you sure about that? I’d still be upset with me if I were you girls. They might just be good at pretending.” Of course, Sakura believed that some people like Chaeyeon and Hyewon had forgiven her, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to her either if some of the others were only staying on good terms with her because they had a common enemy. Sakura had betrayed the group’s trust not once, but twice. She’d then let her curiosity in the androids lead her to creating blueprints for her own that were also stolen. Now, she was on Le Sserafim as well, and it was only a matter of time before she disappointed-

“Sakura. Hello? Sakura, snap out of it!” Chaeyeon says while snapping her own fingers in front of her face. It was like the tech-girl had gotten too lost in thought.

“Oh, s-sorry, Chaeyeon.” Sakura replies, trying to regain composure.

“Listen, we’ve all been through a lot with each other. It’s going to take a lot more to break our bond as a team, as a family.” Chaeyeon says in a serious tone. “I can tell you’ve been trying your best to make up for your mistakes, and that’s all that matters to me.”

“But you’re my girlfriend. Of course, you’d be biased.” Sakura comments.

“I promise that everyone still loves you, Kkura. You’ll see. Life isn’t just black and white, or ones and zeroes. You have to learn to forgive yourself.” Chaeyeon replies before leaning in and hugging the Japanese girl. “I know it’s hard, but you gotta trust me. We’re more than just teammates.”

“Thanks for the reassurance, Chaeyeon. I’ll try my best.” Sakura says, trying for a smile. On the inside though, doubts still whispered in her mind.

You think that after this is over, they’ll still want to hang around you? One voice says.

You don’t even know how to stop those androids when you helped program them! Says another.

You’ll always be an outsider…

“There’s the smile I love.” Chaeyeon chuckles, not noticing the way Sakura’s expression goes back to neutral once she turns around to go back to work.

For Sakura, the only way to redeem herself was still to fix this mess.

~~~~

Later that night…

“There you are! Yena and Yuri-unnie were wondering where you went off to.” Wonyoung says when she sees Yujin sitting at the edge of the swimming pool the campus had added a couple months ago.

“Oh, sorry for worrying you, Wonnie.” The older girl says with that puppy smile that always gave Wonyoung butterflies. With the way the moonlight reflected off the water to Yujin’s face, she somehow looked even prettier than usual.

“What’re you doing out here?” Wonyoung ends up asking. Instead of replying right away though, Yujin pats the ground next to her, inviting her to take a seat. The younger girl smiles and follows along, letting her feet dip into the pool, eliciting a laugh from the puppy when she reacts to the coldness.

“I was just thinking about the water.” Yujin eventually says.

“The water? Isn’t that your specialty? What’s there to think about?” Wonyoung wonders.

“Remember back on Jeju Island when we had to fight the Yunjin clone? Some of us ended up seeing some bad nightmares, and I was unlucky enough to be one of them.” Yujin chuckles.

Wonyoung stays quiet, allowing Yujin to go on, which she does.

“It was supposed to show our greatest fears, and mine… was drowning, not being able to control the water.” She says, lifting her hand up and creating a liquid ball that she spins on her finger.

“When I was stuck in Jirisan, I thought it was happening. I was frozen in some jello mixture that I couldn’t control. I felt completely out of my element, and I was pretty afraid. Now, with this water product, I can’t seem to sense anything about it either. It’s clearly liquid, but I can’t make it float around or move in the air like I usually can.”

“I guess… I’m just worried now if my powers will end up failing me when I really need them.”

“I mean, you still obviously have some control.” Wonyoung replies, pointing at the water ball in Yujin’s hands.

“Still, it feels like they’ve developed some type of liquid that I can’t manipulate, and that’s worrying. Sure, I’ve practiced my hand-to-hand combat, but a lot of people still count on my abilities when things get tough.” The puppy says, throwing the sphere back into the pool.

“Hmm, maybe once Kkura-unnie finds out what’s different with the Jirisan water, you’ll understand how to gain control? Or, maybe we’ll find something when we go to KYB tomorrow. If you can control oil, I’m sure you can figure out a water bottle.” Wonyoung says back.

“In the meantime, if ever your powers do fail, just trust us to have your back. You’re not the only one on this team with slick moves.” Wonyoung giggles before getting up and offers Yujin her hand.

“Alright, but I’m not letting you take the lead on the number of times we’ve saved each other.” Yujin jokes after getting pulled up.

“Yah, you may have saved us at the mechanic place, but I’m pretty sure I’ve still saved your more.” The bunny argues.

“Well, shouldn’t my sacrifice count as more than one?” The puppy bickers back playfully before running ahead.

“Now, come on! We gotta head to sleep before Yena-unnie starts snoring!” She yells.

“You’re the reason we’re out here in the first place.” Wonyoung mutters with a smile as she begins chasing after Yujin.

~~~~

The next night…

“Ugh, I really wanted to wear that extra dress my company didn’t let me use during award season.” Yuri says while looking down at the KYB entrance where limousines were pulling up and letting out people with fancy suits and gowns. Meanwhile, she and the other girls were dressed in full black camouflage.

“You can just wear it for the next one, Yul. You’re probably going to win another award this year anyway.” Yena replies from next to her.

“Stay focused, girls. We have to look out for Hayoung’s signal. We can’t attract too much attention.” Sakura interjects. From her research, the event today was a special surprise for investors and partners of a new KYB invention. What that surprise was though remained unknown to her.

“It’ll be fine, Kkura. We still have about 5 minutes anyway. The others are still trying to get in position.” Chaeyeon says, staring down towards a thin alleyway between KYB and the neighboring building they were in.

Chaeyeon’s group was assigned to infiltrate the main surveillance system which was located on the 10th floor. As such, the four girls had headed up the floors of the adjacent building to wait for a signal that Eunbi said would come from Song Hayoung.

“Wait, how do we even get across?” Yena suddenly asks, realizing the gap was just a bit too far to jump safely. Sakura simply points upwards to a gondola platform hanging above them.

“I'll bring it down. Give me a bit.” She says before going up another few floors.

“What do you think we’ll really find in there?” Yuri wonders.

~~~~

“I really hate this waiting around. There’s twelve of us this time. No way they could stop us if they wanted.” Nako whines while sitting in a van with Hitomi, Minjoo, and Chaewon.

“Aren’t you glad that we got the most important job?” Hitomi replies, her eyes still glued to the KYB entrance. Their team was assigned to be the ones who’d go look for data on the androids and water while everyone was busy in the ballroom. For now, they had to wait for Sakura’s signal that her group had taken over the surveillance room.

“Still, we’re going to be invisible most of the time!” Nako says with a huff.

“I’d argue that’s a good thing. I want to test a new trick too if that’s alright.” Minjoo chuckles, thinking about Sana’s advice from yesterday.

“By the way, Chaewon-unnie. Usually, you have a clone with every group. Is there a reason you’re sticking with us tonight?” Hitomi ends up asking the older girl who was staring up at the building where Yuri and the others were.

“Eunbi’s orders. Even though my clones feel normal again, it would hurt the mission if something goes wrong with one of them while I’m not around.” Chaewon replies, absentmindedly twirling a strand of her hair in one finger. She was still honestly getting used to the new style. After all, it had been a while since her hair had been this long.

“Wait, I think Eunbi and Hyewon-unnie are arriving.” Minjoo notices when she sees one of the cars from the campus garage pulling up. It was a used black Mercedes Benz, and although it wasn’t as fancy as the other vehicles showing up, it seemed to be able to pass for the first level of security.

“Woah, they look really good.” Chaewon says as soon as her eyes catch Hyewon stepping out of the vehicle, handing the keys to a chauffeur, and opening the passenger seat to take Eunbi out.

The older girl was wearing a flowing purple dress and makeup that accentuated her features perfectly as well as some light jewelry. Meanwhile, Hyewon was in a more unorthodox attire- a coral colored suit with a matching tie and fedora.

“Yah, they just wanted to show off, didn’t they?” Nako jokes as they watch the two show some identification to the guard at the door and go in.

“Focus, Nako-chan. Our turn’s coming up.” Hitomi replies while pointing up to where Sakura’s group seemed to be making their move. The four girls were slowly making their way across a cleaning gondola into a window opposite to the building they were hiding in.

“Time for the fun to begin…” Minjoo mutters sarcastically.

~~~~

“Okay… walking in heels is as annoying as it used to be.” Eunbi whispers to Hyewon as they walk inside KYB. Though it was a bit stressful when the entrance guard looked at the IDs that Sakura had made for them, they managed to enter without raising much suspicion. For now, they were board members of a manufacturing company in Busan.

KYB aren’t the only ones who can create paper companies… Sakura had said while developing a website and attaching a very high company evaluation. She was scary-good at these kinds of things.

“Should’ve opted for the suit like I did then.” Hyewon replies with a smirk before adding. “You still look beautiful though.”

“You look pretty good too.” Eunbi says back, trying to hide her reddening cheeks. In truth, the older girl had never had the chance to dress up like this with Hyewon for any of their usual dates. It felt like a nice change of pace until she remembered the reason they were here.

“Hey, I see Saerom over there.” She says to change the topic when she notices their contact standing by the ballroom’s entrance checking guests’ bags.

“Saerom-ssii, it’s us.” Eunbi whispers to get her attention, causing the girl’s eyes to widen when she recognizes them.

“Ah, finally. I was starting to get worried you weren’t let in. We should talk, but not out here.” She says quietly before calling the attention of the other guard with her.

“Jiwon-ah, can you get Nagyung to cover for me? I need to handle something first.”

“Sure, captain! Just don’t take too long. Nagyung will end up whining about it.” She says with a laugh.

~~~~

“So, I’ve been checking through people’s items just like you said, and a lot of these guests are involved in some pretty shady stuff, even the politicians.” Saerom says when the three of them arrive at the one place without any cameras- the ladies restroom.

“Sounds like a whole other can of worms to deal with. Anything about KYB though? You said he’d be here.” Hyewon replies.

“He’s here, but he has his own personal security, so I couldn’t just grab his bag to see his past. Are your other friends in position? I let Hayoung be assigned to patrol the upper floors to meet them, but I can’t directly contact her through my comm device because Hwang might be listening.” At this, Eunbi activates her comm device and asks for an update.

“Yeah, they just got in. They’re on their way to the surveillance room as we speak.” Eunbi says after a quick chat.

“Okay, good. Everything’s going as planned so far. Let’s head back now before anyone gets suspicious.” Saerom replies just as a couple other women walk into the restroom to do their makeup. The three quickly act naturally before making their way out one by one.

“Oh, you have other members located on this floor too, right? Did they get in without any trouble?” Saerom asks as they walk back.

“I think so. I checked in on them while we were on the way here. They said they were already in the kitchen area.”

“Are you sure they’ll be able to handle themselves?” It wasn’t really that Saerom doubted them. She was just a bit worried when she’d heard the two youngest members of Eunbi’s team would be in there on their own.

“Of course. Yujin and Wonyoung are very capable.” Eunbi says confidently, and with that, she and Hyewon enter the ballroom, leaving Saerom with her two team members at the front door.

~~~~

“Yah! All the appetizers were supposed to be out by now! Why are there still plates left here?” The kitchen supervisor yells.

“I think the newbies forgot them.” One of the chefs replies, causing the supervisor to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“It’s not enough that two of my waiters called in sick today. The two replacements just had to be incompetent too.” He mutters before calling the names of the last-second additions.

“Ahn Eugene! Jang Won-il! Where are you two?” At those words, the clattering of kitchen utensils on the floor suddenly rings through the room before two tall girls hurry to the front. Aside from creating fake identities for Eunbi and Hyewon, Sakura had also managed to get Yujin and Wonyoung on the staff for tonight’s event.

“Yes, boss?” Yujin asks sheepishly. Their role was similar to Eunbi’s but focused more on the kitchen area and the unloading station near it. With all the high-profile people in attendance, they wanted to check if there was anything suspicious going on with the food for the night. It didn’t hurt to watch out if any trucks pulled in to drop off supplies unrelated to the event as well. Thus far though, the duo hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary.

“I’m not even going to ask where you two were. Just get those plates and drinks out there this instant!” The supervisor orders before going to check on the main course that was cooking.

“Whoops, I think we got carried away searching for clues.” Wonyoung says while adjusting the name tag on her waitress uniform. Both girls were wearing white long-sleeved polo shirts to go with black bow ties and slacks.

“Hmm, something will probably pop up the longer we wait. Let’s just get these plates out.” Yujin replies before picking up two and heading out.

When Wonyoung exits the kitchen, she notices that the event has finally begun. Standing on stage was Kim Yong-bum himself in a pinstripe suit.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! I’m grateful that you’ve all spared time from your busy schedules to attend today’s event. I promise you will not be disappointed!” He greets the crowd that politely claps in response.

Wonyoung scans the room for Yujin, but she is already out of sight. Before she could use her comm device though, a guest called her attention.

“Waiter? Those must be our appetizers. We're starving here.” The man says, gesturing to the rest of his table.

“Oh, apologies for the delay, sir. Here you-” As soon as Wonyoung’s eyes landed on who was speaking, she froze.

“Problem, miss?” He asks. Part of Wonyoung’s disguise was wearing a blonde wig that hid her long black hair. That in addition to a different style of makeup to make her features appear more masculine, seemed to hide her identity just enough.

“No! No problem at all. Here’s your food.” Wonyoung replies quickly before turning and walking away.

“Eunbi-unnie. We have a problem. Hunter Geun is here.” She whispers into her hidden mic.

If he’s here, so might the others… Wonyoung thinks as she tries harder to find Yujin.

~~~~

Meanwhile, back on campus…

Rei had been pacing the halls, just as anxious as everyone else left behind about how the mission would go. As she passes by Sakura’s lab though, she gets a tingling feeling.

“Hmm? What’s this?” She asks herself as she enters to see a beaker over a bunsen burner. Sakura had probably left it on by accident.

When she gets closer to shut it off, the tingling feeling gets stronger. It’s only then that she notices small bits of black material in the beaker.

“Metal…?”

 

A/N: Hii! Welcome back to another chapter!

Here, we see that everyone's a bit jittery and anxious to get this mission started. Kkura's afraid of letting everyone down, and Yujin's scared of her water bending failing. 

As we move on, everyone starts getting in position for the infiltration, and Wonyoung just learned that Geun was here, meaning a few other adversaries could be waiting for them. In the next chapter, we'll see it all unfold.

Thank you once again for all the support, likes and comments! I appreciate every single one of them! Don't forget, I have twt tag for the story. You can also direct questions to my CC linked on my profile.

Have a nice day, and I'll see y'all next time!