Chapter 2

            Way stood upon the fifth story of the rickety fire escape on the side of the SM Entertainment building.  The wind blew so wildly upon her that she was tempted to lower her helmet’s visor.  But she cautiously leaned away from the wind and towards the window where she saw eight worried girls crowding around Hyoyeon.  Seohyun was still applying the frozen peas to Hyoyeon’s face as she begged her unnie to visit the hospital.  Taeyeon demanded she see a doctor, finally claiming her title of leader willingly.

            “Is everything okay, Way?”  The worried heroine was startled by Gummi’s sudden appearance.  Gummi fixed her friend’s windblown hair and gently loosened her helmet strap.

            “There was an incident,” Way informed quietly.  “Hyoyeon was attack on her way home tonight.”

            “What?”  Gummi rushed to the window and peered in on the nine girls.  She gasped at the sight of Hyoyeon’s face, which was turning blacker and bluer every minute.  “Who did this?”

            “It was just a couple of thugs, I think,” Way sighed.  “I know I was supposed to save her only at the last resort, but I think I waited a little too long.”

            “No, don’t think that way,” Gummi grinned, taking Way’s cold hand and squeezing it lovingly.  “Way-ah, you did everything right.  This is the first time we’ve had to intervene.  Did she see you?”

            “Yes.”  Way threw her hands to her face.  “She asked who I was.  And I couldn’t lie to her.  We can’t lie to them, right?”

            “That’s okay, Way,” Gummi assured.  “That’s right; we can’t lie to them.”

            “And she asked more questions…”

            “What?”

            “I…I may have told her too much.”

            Gummi looked back at Hyoyeon and noticed her wide eyes.  They were filled with wonder and amazement. 

            “Um…okay.  Don’t worry, Way-ah.  It’s okay.  I’m going to call Loki and have him take over.  I’ll take you back to Headquarters.”

            With one swift swipe of her hand, Gummi lowered her visor.  After pressing a button on the side of her helmet, holographic words appeared on the inside of her visor. 

            “Loki?”

            “Noona?”  Loki’s voice was slow and groggy in Gummi’s ears.  “What is it?”

            “I know you’re supposed to rest right now, but it’s really important that one of you trades off with me tonight.”

            “What happened?”

            “Nothing too serious, Loki.  Don’t worry.  Just get down here or send someone quickly.”

            “Earman Kim is going to be really mad, isn’t he?” Way insisted nervously.  “What if I jeopardized the whole mission?”

            Gummi quickly shut off her helmet communication system and pulled Way into a tight hug.  “Way-ah, I told you to stop thinking that way.  Have any of the girls been injured beyond recuperation?”

            “…No.”

            “Have any of them been kidnapped by terrorists?”

            “No.”

            Gummi pulled away for a moment to examine Way.  “And are you hurt in any way?”

            With a small smile, Way shook her head.  “No.”

            “See?  Everything is completely fine.  Surely you didn’t tell her everything about our mission.  What does she know?”

            “I introduced myself, and I let her know I was chosen to protect them,” Way explained slowly.  “And I told her that they were more important than they thought.  I guess that’s all, really.”

            The metal beneath them started to shake, and they noticed Loki making his way up the fire escape.  When he reached them, he gently tapped Way’s helmet and gave a playful smirk.

            “What did I miss?”

            “The situation right now is not particularly normal,” Gummi informed.  “Hyoyeon was attacked by a couple of thugs on her way home.”

            “What?”  Loki stared intently into the window to analyze Hyoyeon’s injuries.  “She usually makes it hope from that nightclub without a scratch.”

            “Well, not this time.  Please, just watch over them, Loki.  Way and I have some business to do.”

*          *          *

            Way’s heart raced as she and Gummi walked into Chrome Headquarters.  She took off her helmet and held it tightly to her side.  Had she let Hyoyeon take too much damage?  Had she compromised the entire mission?  Did she put Girls’ Generation and the rest of the free world in grave danger?

            “Way-ah?”  Choa’s worried face poked out of a nearby hallway.  She quickly approached her sister and grabbed her arm.  “Are you okay?  Why do you look so scared?”

            “Everything’s fine, Choa,” Gummi grinned, taking Way’s hand and continuing into the main offices.

            Choa nodded at Gummi’s words, but she still followed both of them cautiously.  “How was everything tonight?”

            “It was…interesting,” Way sighed, tugging her older sister’s jacket to make her keep up with them.  “Oh, unnie…”

            As the three of them entered Earman Kim’s office, he stood up and stared at them in confusion.  “Gummi?  What are you doing here?  Weren’t you supposed to take Way’s place on guard duty tonight?”

            “I was, yes, but I got Loki to cover for me.  There’s something we need to talk to you about.”

            “What happened?”

            “Hyoyeon was attacked tonight on her way back from Got Seoul.”  Way’s voice was tense and hushed.  “She sustained minor injuries from her assailants, but she made it home safely otherwise.”

            “Attacked?” Kim questioned eagerly.  “Who attacked her?  Did they represent our enemies?”

            “They were mere thugs, Kim-ssi,” Gummi assured.

            “Initially, they wanted to mug her,” Way continued.  “But, upon realizing who she was, they planned to kidnap her and hold her as a ransom to get money from Lee Soo-Man.  That’s when I-”

            “That’s when we intervened,” Gummi suddenly announced.

            “Their current status?”

            Way gave Gummi a confused look before she continued her debrief.  “Their coordinates are being tracked by a device as we speak.”

            “How bad were Hyoyeon’s injuries?”

            “From what I can tell,” Gummi interrupted, noticing Way’s sudden loss of enthusiasm, “she sustained a noticeable injury to her face.  But, otherwise, she seems mostly shaken up about it.  We’ll know for sure when she visits a doctor.”

            “Let’s hope there’s nothing more to worry about,” Kim said sternly, taking a seat in his office chair again.

            “There is…one thing,” Way began, pulling her sister closer.  “I…I-”

            “Hyoyeon has learned of our existence,” Gummi admitted.  Way felt Gummi’s hand squeeze tighter around hers, and she stared at her curiously.

            “That is to be expected,” Kim assumed calmly.  “Surely she couldn’t have missed your presence when you intervened.”

            “Well, she began asking questions about our mission,” Way mumbled timidly.

            “What did you tell her?  Everything?”

            “By this time, Way-ah was long gone.”  Gummi’s voice was loud and triumphant through the thick tension in the room.  “She left to follow the thugs and place a tracking device on them.”

            “You talked to her, Gummi?”  Earman Kim’s voice was becoming an uncomfortable roar.  Way looked back and noticed Ellin and Soyul poking their heads into the doorway.

            “We did talk-”

            “You’re supposed to leave the scene of intervention as soon as possible!  How could there have been any time to talk?  Didn’t you follow protocol at all?”

            Gummi looked shamefully down at the floor as Way stared at her helplessly.  What was she doing?

            Earman Kim ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back in his chair.  “I suppose this was the first time you had to intervene.  Surely there were things we couldn’t have accurately predicted.  What did you tell her?”

            “She only knows that we exist and that we’re chosen to protect them.”  Way shivered at hearing her own words through Gummi’s mouth.  “As far as we know, she hasn’t told the other girls yet.  We’ll monitor the situation to see if the information spreads.”

            “I’ll see that they are monitored closely,” Kim confirmed.  He took his phone from his pocket and held it tightly in his hand.  “I am very disappointed in you, Gummi.  Who knows how this will jeopardize our mission?  If anything happens to those girls, or even the entire world, you are to blame.”

            “I…I understand,” Gummi replied shakily.

            “As for the rest of you,” he continued angrily.  “As Bar Bar Bar promotions are ending, our Lonely Christmas release is even more important.  Its success is the only way for us to afford a sufficient security for The Nine.  Because you were scheduled for tonight, Gummi, I was going to make practice tomorrow afternoon.  But you have abandoned your position and any protocol you were taught, so practice will be in five hours at 6AM.  Gummi, you will arrive an hour early to practice by yourself.  Maybe you’ll be able to evaluate your mistakes on your own.”

            Everyone stared at Earman Kim in shock.  Even Ellin and Soyul, who were dead tired a few moments ago, appeared wide awake and quite amazed by the representative’s words.  Choa took hold of her sister’s arm and pulled her and Gummi out of the office.  All five girls rushed to the empty dance room to discuss what had happened.

            “Unnie, why did you do that?” Way asked heatedly, her eyes filling with tears.

            “Did all of that really happen tonight, unnie?” Soyul questioned coyly, tugging on Gummi’s arm.

            “It didn’t happen that way at all!” Way cried helplessly, rubbing her tired eyes.

            “Way-ah, shhh!” Gummi exclaimed.  “Don’t be so loud.”

            “I was the one who told Hyoyeon about us,” Way told tearfully, still holding onto her sister’s sleeve.  “Gummi unnie wasn’t even there when it happened!”

            “Why did you tell him those things, unnie?”  Choa pulled her sister into a hug as she stared up at Gummi curiously.

            “Way-ah, please don’t cry,” Gummi smiled, running her fingers through Way’s hair.  “I didn’t want to upset you.  I just wanted to protect you.”

            “But, what he said in there,” Way began, pulling her face out of Choa’s shoulder and facing the leader she loved so much.  “If anything happens, he will blame you.  And what if the world finds out about us?  They’ll hear that any terrible thing that happens because of us will be your fault.  And who knows what will happen to you?”

            “This is just a little thing,” Gummi promised, placing her hands on Way’s tearstained cheeks.  “I don’t care about what happens to me.  I’ll do anything to protect you.  All of you mean so much to me.”

            “I’m so sorry, unnie,” Way sobbed, wrapping her arms around Gummi and burying her face into her shoulder.  “I hope nothing becomes of this.  I don’t want you to get in trouble.  I wish you hadn’t taken the blame.”

            “It’s okay, Way-ah,” Gummi whispered.  “It’s okay.  I’m going to take care of you.  All of you.  We’re a team.  We’re going to save the world together.”