Early morning in the Shi Dae Organization’s main office, Taeyeon sat behind her table and was doing her usual rounds in the system as well as the organization's stock market. It was quiet, not a sound could be heard except the occasional typing sounds and clicking sounds.

“Unnie. Calm down.” Taeyeon raised her head from her work at that. She shook her head. Hyoyeon was probably upset again. She counted.

1, 2 … and the door opened.

“Taeyeon!” Hyoyeon came running in with a CD and some documents. Seohyun went in more politely, knocking and bowing before entering.

“Oh, Hyo, Seo. How did the interrogation went?”

“Well, the beginning was okay, but…”

“Let’s start. You have to answer things honestly. Any distribution of this information shall have you guilty of breaching the confidentiality agreement. That would give me authority to dispose of you. To put it simply, you don’t say anything, we don’t say anything, and you guys live. Are we clear?”

“Ne.”

“Good. Let’s begin. Where were you the other day at 10am?”

“You already know where we were. Why are you asking again?” Chanyeol asked.

“I want to get to the bottom of this as well, kid. But unfortunately, we have this thing called protocol that we have to follow. And it’s because of this that you are alive. If there was no such thing, I would kill you as soon as I see you.” Hyoyeon said with underlying anger. Chanyeol sat back but didn’t say anything. Kris placed a hand on his shoulder while Lay was just quiet.

“Now, where were you at 10 am?”

“We were following two Shi Dae Organization members as they exited this SaJinSul café.” With that, Hyoyeon wrote on her paper. After a while, she looked up and began again.

“Until where did you follow them?”

“We followed them until we reached the SAC.”

“Until? Did you stop?”

“One of them, Ms. Hwang, noticed that we were following. They immediately left and we went out ahead to secure a block.”

“Secure a block? For the fight?”

“That’s right.”

“We caught the fight on tape because of the street CCTVs. You don’t have to retell the story. I am interested on why you guys did what you did.”

“What we did? Which part of it did we actually do on our own free will?” Chanyeol asked. Hyoyeon threw her pen at Chanyeol. He was able to catch it but he was up against the wall.

“The fact that you harmed a Shi Dae Organization member is the subject. It doesn’t matter to me whether you were under control or under some kind of influence!” Hyoyeon shouted.

“Hyoyeon Unnie, calm down.” Seohyun said, standing from her seat, walking towards Hyoyeon and holding her hand. “Let him down, unnie.”

“Don’t be smart with me, kid. Just answer the questions and I’ll let you leave this room nothing worse than what you already have.” With that, Hyoyeon let him down on the ground as gently as she could with anger.

“I’ll question them for now, unnie. Just listen.” Seohyun said with a firm tone. Hyoyeon sat back and produced a pen from her pocket.

“Okay. Since you suggested that you didn’t have your free will at that time, let’s go back in time shall we? First, when do you remember being yourselves?” Seohyun asked. The three looked at each other.

“Early that morning, we went at the Gangseo Deohyeo facility. It was at 7:30 am. We usually did some pressure checks. It’s one of the jobs that we could do. It helps give the feeling of living normally. Ms. Hwang said that by doing those chores, we can slow ourselves. We can gain control of ourselves.”

“What happened after that?”

“While we were checking it, one of the pressures was too high. We fixed it but something exploded in the base.”

“Did the explosion have something to do with you losing control?”

“I don’t know but I guess we were fine before it exploded.”

“Were you wounded?”

“No. When we woke up, it was just this dark, thin layer of smoke that dissipated in no time. We checked each other and laughed because we were still alive and unharmed. Then, we felt weird. Something was compelling us to go to Seoul that day.”

“Then?”

“When we were on our way, we received two calls. One call was from our friend, Kai. He was calling us, reminding us to go back before it’s too late. I guess we didn’t listen at that time.”

“You said, ‘two calls.’ What was the other one?”

“I didn’t recognize the number or the voice. I couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman. But it asked us if we smell anything. Surely enough there was something sweet around. Then it told us to follow them.”

“Okay. May I see your phone?” Kris gave his phone. Seohyun copied the logs and gave it back.

“Thank you very much for your cooperation. If we do have any further questions that we might need you to answer, please report back as soon as you get the call.” With a bow, the three stood up and proceeded in leaving the room.

Then the audio was cut.

“What happened?” Taeyeon asked, looking at Seohyun and Hyoyeon questioningly.

“Hyoyeon tried landing a punch on their faces. I had to hold her so the three could report back to Sooyoung unnie.”

“Hyo?!”

“I’m not sorry. That’s what they get for hurting Jessica.” Hyoyeon said firmly. Taeyeon sighed but didn’t object. ‘I would have done something like that… I think I need Sunny to stop me…’ With that, she just took the CD and the documents.

“Thank you for your hard work.” With that, Seohyun and Hyoyeon made their way to the door. But it suddenly opened.

“Guys, did you see Yoona?” Yuri asked with a panicked expression.

“She’s not yet here. Why? Did something happen?”

“Yoona didn’t come home last night. I got worried.”

“Did you call her?” Yuri nodded.

“Yeah. But she didn’t answer any of them.” Before anyone could say anything else, a knock on the door caught their attention.

“Annyeonghaseyo, Unnies.” Yoona walked in. Yuri rushed to her side and hugged her.

“Oh, Yul, what’s wrong?”

“You didn’t answer any of my calls and you didn’t come home yesterday. I was very worried that something happened.” Yuri said, looking at Yoona.

“Well, some things did happen last night. I kind of broke my phone. It dropped and the screen cracked. I tried turning it on again but it just didn’t work. I took my Sim and memory card just in case.” She explained, showing her broken phone and a thin plastic case with her cards.

“Why didn’t you go home last night?” Yuri asked.

“… I met with Daniel last night.”

“Oh, what did you guys talk about?”

“Unnies… Yul… he’s dead.”

“What?! What happened?” Taeyeon asked.

“You know in the news, there was this killer who was going around draining people? Well, it was him.”

“Did you kill him?”

“… No. I didn’t. Someone else did. But I didn’t see their faces.”

“Are they familiar?”

“Something about that person last night was familiar but I couldn’t come to a conclusion since they vanished in seconds.”

“Well, what did Daniel say?”

“He said-” The door opened.

“Good morning, guys. Hyo, I heard you gave one of them a 10 degree punch.”

“Almost. Seo just held me back.”

“So I’m ready to send them back to the facility. Here are their papers.” Sooyoung said as she handed a folder. “Anything else?”

“Sooyoung, Daniel just died.”

“What?!”

“Exactly my reaction.” Taeyeon said.

“Why?” Sooyoung asked.

“Someone killed him to stop all the killings around.” Sooyoung didn’t say anything. It was quiet for a bit.

“He seemed better though… Where did this happen? What happened to him?”

“It was at the alley about two blocks from here. He said that the chemical from the explosion was changing him.”

“What chemicals? There are none on the scans and the tests. They all came out negative.”

“I don’t know what chemicals. I don’t think he knew what they were either. But he was so sure that it was from the explosion. He said that the only reason it didn’t affect him right away was because of Tiffany’s diploma.”

“Ah, the special ones the Deohyeo get when they graduate to society.”

“I don’t know exactly what it is but I think it’s synthesized blood.”

“The ones we use when we fight?”

“Yeah. I think the composition should be about right.”

“Sooyoung, when you take those three, I’m sure Tiffany will be placing them under monitor. When you see Sunny or Tiffany, ask about the diploma.” Sooyoung nodded. She turned towards the door and stopped.

“… Yoong. Where are his ashes?”

“Hm? Oh, it was windy last night. It’s gone.” Yoona explained.

“Ah… okay. I’ll see you guys when I get back.” Sooyoung left the room. Taeyeon sat back on her seat and leaned back.

“Well, I’ll go to the training room now. Someone has to train the recruits.” Hyoyeon said before leaving as well.

“I’ll be off as well, unnie. I just came to check in. I’m working at the café today.”

“Sunny won’t be there. Will you be okay alone?”

“Yeah. I’ve done it before.” Yoona said as she left the room.

“You have other work, right Seo? You can go as well.”

 “Okay. See you later unnie.” With that, only Taeyeon and Yuri were left in the room. Yuri stayed standing there for a while, looking at the closed door. Taeyeon noticed her.

“Is there something you need, Yuri?”

“… When I collapsed before, I didn’t get to tell you what happened to me right?”

“Hm? Ah, that’s right. So what happened?”

“I’m sure you are already aware that there might be a spy in the company so it’s no use looking for it now.”

“What’s ‘it’?”

“I was in the file room earlier that day. I was looking through the Incident case files because I can’t settle the bad feeling in my stomach. I found this plastic bag with a cloth.”

“Okay.”

“Then, I opened it and the scent… it was overwhelming.”

“It caused you to collapse?” Yuri nodded.

“Only for a little while. I regained consciousness after that and I made my way to the café. But after that, I felt sick and I collapsed again.”

“… Are you suggesting that the cloth had that chemical that made the Deohyeo go mad?”

“Well, mad isn’t the term that I would use but we’re on the same page.”

“Thanks for sharing this. It doesn’t lead us somewhere or make sense but surely we can connect things somehow.”

“Okay. I’ll get going around the building. Then I’ll go home later.”

“Yeah. Stay safe.”

Later that morning, Sunny was going around the facility. She started from the top room so she can just make her way down to the gate. As she went around the rooms, a van pulling up the front caught her attention. She ran down to see who it was, skipping steps on the stairs and landing on the ground with ease.

Her red amber eyes changed to prepare for a possible fight. As she reached the ground floor, she stopped before the front doors. She produced a short blade and silently waited. She slightly moved the door, letting in air. A scent came through and she recognized it. She hid her blade and stepped out with a smile.

“Sunny! Hey, how’s the facility?”

“Sooyoung. What a nice surprise. It’s not bad. It’s like college you know. Only less high-tech and stuff.”

“Oh, it’s like a dorm?”

“Yeah. Kind of.”

“Nice. Well, just came to drop these three off.” Sooyoung pointed to the three Deohyeos coming out of the van and stretching. “I also brought some news. Here are some documents about the latest news.” She handed Sunny a folder.

“Oh, yeah. Can I ask something?”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“What is the diploma that the graduates receive?”

“Hm? Diploma… I don’t really know. Let’s go to Tiffany then.”

Tiffany was sleeping soundly in her room. The curtains rustled as the window let in the sunlight and the breeze. Her clock read ‘6:08.’ She turned over in her bed to get more comfortable. She had a frown on her face.

“Jes…ssi… Jessi…” She called out in her sleep. The curtains stilled and the window closed. Tiffany opened her eyes and looked at the window. There was no one there. Suddenly, the room was engulfed in darkness.

“… Who’s there?” She said in the darkness. There was no sound. Tiffany looked around but she couldn’t see anything. Then, a familiar scent entered the room. She turned to her back and found a pair of blue eyes staring back at her.

“Je…ssi?” She asked. She felt a hand on her cheek. The familiarity caused her to tear up.

“Jessi… Is this really you?” She touched the hand and brought it to her lips with a kiss.

“Jessica…” She felt arms go and engulf her in a warm embrace.

“Tiffany…” Tiffany buried herself in the embrace.

“Do you remember?”

“I remember everything… But I have to deal with them first…”

“… Them?” She asked, while searching for blue eyes in the darkness. She took in the familiar scent and the warmth around her. “Jessi-”

She was silenced by a kiss, every part of which was full of memories. She felt them move away and to her neck.

“I’m sorry, Tiff…” Tiffany gasps at the sensation on her neck…

…

Tiffany opened her eyes. She looked around and noticed the bright light in her room. The window was open letting in the breeze and the light. She turned but she didn’t see anyone there.

“Tiffany? Are you awake yet?” She heard Sunny’s voice. She frowned as she looked at the time. It read 6:38 am. The door opened and she saw Sunny with Sooyoung.

“Morning, Tiffany. How was your sleep?”

“I had a nice dream.” She said with a sad smile.

A/N: Hey guys. Here’s chapter 12. I hope you guys enjoy it. It’s a little short no? But a little less mystery, right?

Thanks for the story’s subscribers and the comments. I really appreciate the comments, guys. It made me very happy. I’m sorry I haven’t been replying. It’s just I’ve been busy and all. Oh, the upvote. Thanks, Saisairee, my buddy~ ^^

More things to unfold and to come. Don’t hate me when the revelation is at hand. Aigoo~ well, see you guys around, on the next update. ^-^v