Episode III. Beginning.
Aegis
It's been two weeks since Taeyeon was inserted into the mansion for an Aegis assignment. And for these two weeks, her life has been pretty much the same. She cooked for them and went out with them as their bodyguard/shopping bag carrier and kept the house as clean as possible. Since nothing much has really ever happened since, it became a form of working vacation for her. But still, all the housework and keeping the girls in check is still quite a handful. Seriously, they should be paying me more for this job, Taeyeon thought as she breathed deeply, filling her lungs and letting the air flow to every cell in her body.
It's been her routine to practice her martial arts every morning. And so she made it a habit to wake up a few hours before the girls so she wouldn't be disturbed while she practiced. Unlike other agents who are armed with guns or other weapons, Taeyeon usually carries nothing unless absolutely necessary or is forced by Sooyoung. Her training emphasized resourcefulness and as such, one has to be physically and mentally prepared to use anything within reach as a weapon: paper cups, credit cards, magazines, et cetera, but most importantly, your body. This being the case, she doesn't usually need weapons. However, to assuage her chief's worries, she usually carries bladed brass knuckles which she rarely even gets to use.
She maximized the expansive space of a room she found in the mansion which, it seemed to her, was supposed to be some form of practice room with its large mirrors and bars. Taeyeon closed her eyes and imagined opponents coming at her. She practiced her shuto strikes and form sequences, moving around the room while repeating each sequence a number of times to perfection. With only her sense to guide her, she ran to the nearest bar and using it as leverage, executed a flying axe kick. She was about to perform another set of forms when a sound -- a voice made her eyes fly open.
"Yaaaah! UNNIE! THAT'S AMAZING~!"
It was Sunny. She had the other Subjects behind her and they were, apparently, all watching her in awe. Even Jessica was reacting eagerly.
"What are you guys doing here?", Taeyeon asked as she steadied her breathing, hands on her waist. She was covered in sweat and she now regret not bringing a towel.
"Well, we were planning to help you make breakfast since you always made all that stuff for us. But then we couldn't find you in the kitchen.", Yuri answered.
"So we searched all over the house and --"
"I found you here!", Sunny cut Jessica off. Too enthusiastically, Taeyeon thought and chuckled.
"I got it. Scoot off now. I'll go fix myself and follow you to the kitchen." Taeyeon was about to head out for a towel when she noticed Tiffany wasn't moving a muscle. She just stood there, staring at her. For what seemed like an eternity, Taeyeon broke the silence.
"Miss Tiffany, you can go follow the others now. I know my way around the house fairly well already.", she said with a small smile.
Tiffany began to take a step forward towards her without saying a word. She stopped just inches from Taeyeon and spoke. "The moment you were introduced to us, I somehow knew you're a great person.", she said, looking steadily, deeply into Taeyeon's eyes. She reached out her hand and handed over a towel. "Here."
"Thank you, Miss Tiffany.", the latter answered as she started to wipe herself dry. Before she can even finish, Tiffany grabbed her right hand and looked at her palm. Taeyeon failed to suppress a flinch. Amongst the girls, Tiffany was the one she communicated to the least. The girl always seemed like she's somewhere far-off and thinking that she couldn't make herself disturb her. And now, with her standing so close and touching her like this, it seemed too surreal and ephemeral that Taeyeon was caught off guard.
"This mark on your palm. It's beautiful. Very intricate.", Tiffany said quietly as she looked at the circle on the other girl's palm and traced it with a finger.
Taeyeon gathered her wits and forced an answer. "You noticed it."
The other girl smiled and answered. "Of course. I notice everything about you, Taeyeon-ah." She let go of Taeyeon's hand and walked away as quietly as she had come to her. Looking at the departing girl's back, Sooyoung's words began to echo in Taeyeon's head. Who knows? It may turn out to be something good.
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Okay, I just noticed now that this episode is just one, continuous long-ish scene. I suddenly felt like I owe you guys another chapter. OTL On a side note, do you guys take note of the titles? They're helpful in giving you an idea of what the episode's going to be about. ^^
As always, feel free to leave comments or if you want to tell me that I'm being such a troll.
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