It was no good. Once again, the kidnappers had made contact with them and once again, Nicole was able to get a more specific lockdown on their location. Nicole just wasn’t fast enough. They needed Hyoyeon.

Boa paced up and down the length of her office back at NSI HQ. She had to make a decision fast. She had to decide before the next call came. She came to a decision after contemplating the options for five minutes. It was a clear choice. Hyoyeon was the best they had.

‘Hyoyeon, we need you to help us locate the kidnappers who captured our PM’s daughter.’

Hyoyeon’s back straighten in surprise. ‘Would they let me back in?’

‘We’re talking about the PM’s daughter here. I’m sure they can be persuaded.’

‘If they let me back in, I would be glad to help.’

‘Good. How confident are you in pinpointing their location in less than nine seconds?’

‘That’s all the time I’ve got?’ Hyoyeon cocked an eyebrow, feeling pressured.

‘Nine seconds is the longest they’ve held communications with us. Two out of three of their calls lasted only seven seconds.’

Hyoyeon pursed her lips thoughtfully. ‘It can be done, but I would need certain hardware to help me out.’

‘Hardware isn’t an issue. We can get it for you.’

‘If seven seconds is all I’ve got, I will need this.’ Hyoyeon scribbles the name and model number of the hardware she needs. ‘And it doesn’t come cheap.’

Boa narrowed her eyes into slits as soon as she saw what Hyoyeon wrote. ‘Hyo, this isn’t even legal.’

Hyoyeon shrugged. ‘It’s the PM’s daughter. All you have is seven seconds. I’m telling you, only this processor can process my applications fast enough.’

Boa sighed heavily. ‘Fine. I will try my best to get it for you. No promises though.’

‘I have sources.’ Hyoyeon adds suddenly. ‘I could get it within a few hours.’

Boa shook her head and groaned. ‘I should have known. Just get it then. I’ll let this slide for once.’

Hyoyeon’s good ol’ sunny, cheeky grin made a comeback. ‘Yes, Boa!’

+++

Sunny lay in her bed, resting. She was given the day off as they did not expect to receive any more calls from the kidnappers for the day. She hugged Sunny bunny close to her heart, feeling it pinch and twist painfully inside her chest. She couldn’t just lie there and wait. She had to do something.

But what?

+++

It was a sleazy joint. Men leered at her as she walked through the main hall but there was something about her that stopped them from approaching her. Well, a rather visible something – a bulge in the pocket of her jacket in the distinct shape of a gun.

She bust the door open and sure enough, she found the man she wanted. She marched up to him wordlessly as he backed away from her and grabbed him by his collar.

‘How’s life treating you?’ Her breath was warm on his cheeks but it felt like winter to him.

‘Q-Quite w-well…’

She grinned but it’s anything but assuring to see. The man gulped and a trickle of sweat rolled down his temple as she whispered an unveiled threat in his ear.

‘If you don’t want to spend the rest of your days behind bars, getting worked over by the big boys, I’d suggest you tell me everything you know about BLACK.’

The man gasped and shuddered in fear. ‘No…’ He breathed.

+++

He groaned and doubled over as her knee found his guts once again.

‘Stop… please… I’ll talk…’

She released her grip on him and he slumped onto the ground below him. She tugged on the bill of her cap, pulling it lower to hide her eyes from view.

‘Talk.’

‘I thought you quit being a cop.’

‘I did.’ And became an agent instead.

‘Why are you doing this then?’

‘Is it any business of yours?’

‘BLACK is not to be trifled with.’

‘I’m not trifling with them. I just want to know what they’re up to.’

‘They’re planning something big.’

‘What kind of big?’

‘BIG big.’

‘Do you know what they’ve been up to lately?’

He shook his head. ‘They been very secretive lately. Lying low and all. They got rid of one of their leaders and the other leader has taken over everything. He’s a tough one that guy.’

‘Who’s the leader taking over?’

‘Yunho.’

She allowed her eyebrows to raise a fraction of an inch. She had crossed paths with him before and it was anything but pleasant. He was a tough fighter and made it as tough as hell for her to complete her mission to say the least. It seemed as though he had risen through the ranks in BLACK and made it to the top. Knowing how tough he was, it wasn’t a total surprise.

She took out a thick wad of bills and slapped his face with it.

‘This is payment for your information – albeit, rather lacking – and a little extra to sooth your wounds with.’

He took the thick wad of bills eagerly and sniffed it. It was the real deal alright. He grinned at her.

‘Why didn’t you show me this earlier? You wouldn’t have had to beat me up.’ He winced as he touched his bruised face.

‘But I wanted to.’

She grinned devilishly as she patted his face before turning to leave.

‘Don’t breathe a word if you don’t wish to die.’

‘Aww… you won’t kill me. You love me too much to do that.’ He finally found enough courage to joke.

She laughed out loud and shook her head amusedly as she left the sleazy joint, parading her gun’s bulge to deter the disgusting, sleazeballs who were prowling about for prey.

+++

Sunny pulled off the cap that hid her face from view as soon as she got into her car. She didn’t enjoyed doing what she just did but there was no other choice. She had to revisit characters like him. She kept her list of characters that she had gotten to know back when she was still a cop. Out of all the contacts that she kept, that man was her least favourite one. He always made her nervous and that made her more aggressive in return. Her agreessiveness kept her in control of him but even then, there was no telling what he could do – any moment, any time. He had nothing to lose.

+++

‘Heard of any big jobs lately?’

‘How big are we talking?’

‘BIG big.’

‘Someone’s been talking to you huh?’

‘Let’s just say you’re not the only one I’m talking to.’

‘What’s it worth to you?’

She smirked. ‘You know that I love to drive a hard bargain.’

He snickered. ‘That’s half the fun of selling you information.’

‘Half of whatever you were planning to ask for.’

‘Eighty.’

‘Sixty.’

‘Seventy. Rock bottom.’

‘Sixty-five. You know you love this.’

He grinned. ‘Deal.’

She pulls out a thick wad of bills again and sets it on the table.

‘Let’s hear it.’

+++

Sunny had gotten what she needed. There was nothing like trudging in mud itself to get the dirt on the various groups of organized crime. Now that she knew which group was most likely to be responsible for kidnapping Taeyeon, it was time to do some planning with Boa.

+++

Boa narrowed her eyes into slits as Sunny related what she had learnt to her. She was not pleased to know that Sunny was going about her business on her own.

‘And no one knew that you were going to do this. What if the people you spoke to start talking?’

‘They won’t. I know them well.’

‘You know that I don’t approve. You know that I can take you off this case at any point in time.’

Sunny clenched her jaw and her expression hardened. ‘You know that I can’t be stopped.’

‘Yes, you can.’

‘You won’t go that far.’

‘You’re assuming that I will be soft-hearted.’

‘I’m assuming that you are smart and know me well.’

Boa let out a heavy sigh. There was just no stopping Sunny.

‘We’ll investigate. We have a few sources that are already looking into this but what you just gave me is useful. I’ll admit that much.’

Sunny grinned slyly. ‘Locating Taeyeon is something that we all want to do. Let’s help each other out.’

‘But not in that way.’

Sunny shrugged. ‘Just pretend that you don’t know about what I’m doing.’

Boa rolled her eyes. ‘I gave you an inch but now you’re asking for a yard. Know your limits Sunny.’

Sunny’s shoulders heaved as she looked down, averting her eyes from Boa’s. ‘You know that I’m not like that. It’s just… Taeyeon…’

‘I know and that’s why I’m worried for you this time.’

‘Don’t worry. I won’t lose my head.’ Sunny assured Boa.

‘You better not or I’ll have your head.’

‘You can’t when I’ve already lost it.’ Sunny grinned cheekily.

All Boa could do was shake her head in resignation.

+++

Sooyoung couldn’t keep her smile off her face as she ran towards Hyoyeon to give her the biggest hug of her life.

‘Hyo! Good to have you back.’

‘Thanks Sooyoung. I’m too ashamed to face you guys though.’ Hyoyeon looked extremely guilty.

Yoona and Yuri patted her back comfortingly. ‘We know why you did it. We understand you Hyo. ‘Yuri smiled warmly. ‘Although it hurts to know that you would choose a guy over us.’ Yoona added jokingly. ‘Ow! Ya! I was just kidding!’ Yoon winced as Sooyoung elbowed her in the ribs.

Hyoyeon smiled. Thank goodness for good friends. ‘Where’s Sunny?’

‘She’s backup.’

‘Backup? Hmm, what’s up with Sunny? She keeps popping up and then disappearing. Is she some special agent?’ Hyoyeon wondered out loud.

The other three girls shrugged. ‘They wouldn’t let us know. If it’s meant to be classified information, we wouldn’t know.’ Yuri reasoned.

Their conversation was cut short when the phone rang.

‘Hyo!’ Minho called her urgently.

Hyoyeon made her way to the processor that had been brought in at her request. She nodded at Nicole who was ready for action. She cracked her knuckles – a habit of hers before doing anything important – and sat down.

Mr. Kim got the signal and he picked up the receiver nervously.

‘Have you got what we want?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good. Send one person with him and the money to meet us. 11pm tomorrow at the south harbour. Pier 9.’

‘One person can’t handle both the man and money. We will send two people.’

‘Fine.’

And the line went dead.

‘Hyo, how close did you get?’

‘Close enough for us to sweep the area within a day.’

The Choi siblings, YoonYul and JeTi let out a whoop of exhilaration. Boa nodded briskly.

‘Alright. I need all hands on the deck. Survey the area and evaluate if we want to do an extraction before or during the transaction.’

‘Yes, Madam!’ Chorused the team of agents.

‘YoonYul, get ready. The two of you will be delivering the goods.’

+++

Taeyeon drifted in and out of consciousness as day turned to night and night turned to day. The only time she knew that it was night was when her kidnappers would place her on a bed, keeping her arms bound together and fastened to the rails. She was immensely relieved when she was allowed to lie flat. It was most uncomfortable being kept on a chair all day and unable to stretch her legs.

She wriggled her legs, getting more and more feeling back into them. They had gone completely numb and she had felt the strangest sensations coursing through her legs; way weirder than pins and needles as she moved her legs cautiously. In a bid to hasten the recovery of her legs, she tried lifting them up and began circling them as though she were riding a bicycle. And that was the position the kidnapper was greeted with when he opened the door to check on her.

‘HAHAHAH –‘

The kidnapper clamped his hands over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. They didn’t want Taeyeon to hear any of their voices but he had been caught by surprise by her funny act.

Taeyeon stopped cycling immediately when she heard the laugh. It was a deep voice. Definitely a male. After trying to get her kidnappers to talk several times, she had gotten the message that they weren’t going to answer any of her questions so this laugh was definitely a surprise to her. She committed it to her memory. One never knew when something like that was going to come in handy one day.

She heard the door closing and being locked again.

Sigh.

She missed Sunny terribly. She wanted Sunny to hug her and tell her that everything was going to be okay. She wanted Sunny to kiss her and make her forget about the danger that she was in.

Sunny…