Chapter 25

            “And we don’t know where Soyul is?”

            In the meeting room of Chrome Headquarters, the Captain, Earman Kim, Wifi Jung, K-Much, and the four available members of Crayon Pop discussed the happenings of the past hour.  Gummi stared at the Captain, her frustrated eyes begging for answers.  Utter chaos had enveloped the entire Chrome team, and no one had any satisfying answers.

            “I personally checked the part of the route she was assigned to guard,” Loki informed anxiously.  “There was no sign of her or a struggle.”

            “I suppose there’s a chance the Daghanian terrorists kidnapped her as well,” the Captain suggested reluctantly.  “But if there was no sign of struggle, it’s very unlikely.  I know Soyul would have put up a fight.”

            “And you said you didn’t see her in the van when they took Seohyun,” Wifi Jung interrupted.  “That almost guarantees that they didn’t take her.  They wouldn’t have gone back in the route just to find her.”

            “Captain!”  An enthusiastic scientist dashed into the room and held up a complicated walkie-talkie.  “The communication system is back up!”

            The Captain snatched the walkie-talkie from the scientist.  “Did you get in touch with Soyul?”

            “That’s the thing,” the scientist sighed, shaking his head miserably.  “We’re not getting any signal at all from her helmet.  Even if she wasn’t using it, we would have picked up some sort of frequency from it.  The only way for this to happen is…if it’s broken or destroyed.”

            “Broken?” Gummi asked heatedly.  “Destroyed?  Are you suggesting that Soyul is dead?”

            “I never said she was dead,” the scientist quickly corrected.  “I’m only letting you know that her helmet is not working.  Something happened to it.”

            “Those helmets are nearly bulletproof,” Wifi Jung noted.  “What could have broken it?”

            Gummi leaned up against a wall and slid to the floor.  She couldn’t control her rapid breathing.  Chills moved all across her body as she imagined all the things that could destroy Soyul and her helmet.  The most terrible and violent images filled her head, and she began to cry.

            “Unnie, it’s okay,” Choa whispered gently, leaning down towards Gummi.  “We’ll find her.”

            “Wherever Soyul is right now, we have to focus on finding Seohyun,” the Captain insisted.

            “Seohyun?”  Gummi’s voice was cold and bitter.  “After all that Soyul has done for The Nine, you want to forget about her and search for Seohyun?”

            “We’re not forgetting about her,” the Captain replied angrily.  “According to the evidence, there’s a good chance Soyul is with Seohyun.  If that’s the case, we need to start searching right now before the terrorists can get Seohyun to Japan like they planned.”

            “If they want to transport her quickly, they’ll need a plane,” Choa proposed, softly holding Gummi’s hand.  “They would need a private jet.  Trying to get a flight at the Incheon Airport would be too risky.”

            “Choi, find the closest private airports in the area,” the Captain ordered, looking at the scientist.  “Report to us immediately.  Gummi, I know you’re having a hard time right now, but you’ll need to come with us.  Seohyun may need medical attention.  Now that a doctor’s here taking care of Jaejoong and the girls, I need you out on the field.”

            “What good can I do?” Gummi questioned hopelessly.  “This is all my fault.  Seohyun and Soyul are probably dead by now.”

            Without any warning, the Captain walked over to Gummi and forcefully pulled her up from the floor.  She stared at him in shock as his powerful grasp around her arms loosened.  “Gummi-ah, you’ve always been the invisible leader, always behind the scenes.  You’ve taken care of these girls for the past two and a half years.  I’m asking you to step into the fray and pull Soyul out of trouble with your very own hands.  It doesn’t matter whose fault this is.  Give it your all.”

            Gummi let the last of her tears fall down her cheeks as the Captain’s grave expression turned into a tender grin.  In his eyes, she could see the very same guilt and pain that she felt.  As the leader of their mission, he was feeling the most responsibility for everything that happened.

            “Gummi-ah…please,” he begged.  “We have to save them both.”

            “O…Okay.”  Gummi nodded her head and tried to appear more confident than she felt.  The terrifying images of a dead Soyul still remained in her mind.  Coming on each side of her, the twins took both her arms in their hands.  Ellin wrapped her arms around her stomach and placed her head on her shoulder.

            “We’ll find her, unnie,” Ellin whimpered.  “We have to find her.”

*          *          *

            On the dark, chilly mountainside, surrounded by trees and snow, Seohyun lay on the ground with Soyul on her stomach.  When they had landed, Seohyun’s ankle had twisted rather fiercely, and she was almost sure it had broken.  She had angled herself to land on her back so Soyul wouldn’t be crushed underneath her.  The little Crayon Pop maknae felt like a light doll on top of her.  Carefully sitting up and placing Soyul on the snow beside her, Seohyun unbuckled the safety straps and removed the parachute from her back.

            “Soyul-ssi?” she called gently, examining her wound.  “Soyul-ssi, please wake up.  It’s not good for you to be unconscious.”

            With a violent shiver, Soyul opened her weary eyes.  “Did we land alright?”

            “Yes,” Seohyun assured.  She pulled the open parachute over and draped it over Soyul.  “Ah, I wish it wasn’t snowing.  You shouldn’t be cold in this state.”

            “Do you have my bag?”

            Seohyun scanned their surroundings.  Though she had lost her grip of the bag during the landing, she spotted its bright yellow color only a few feet away.  “I’ll be right back.”

            When she tried to stand up, her ankle shot an unbearable pain throughout her body.  She finally leaned forward and began to painfully crawl towards the bag.  It took a few minutes for her to retrieve it through the heavy layer of snow on the ground.  The falling snow all around nearly made her lose sight of it.  When she finally returned, Soyul looked at her anxiously.

            “Seohyun-ssi, are you hurt?”

            “My ankle is just a bit twisted,” Seohyun grinned, opening the bag.  “Are there medical supplies in here?”

            “There’s only a neurotoxin antidote and Jessica’s iron pills.”

            “Jessica’s iron pills?” Seohyun took a small bottle out of the bag.  “Why do you have these?”

            “In case…she…”  Soyul let out a few weak coughs and grimaced in pain.

            “It’s okay, it’s okay,” Seohyun stated quickly.  She wrapped the parachute tightly around Soyul.  “Is there anything in here that can help you?”

            “I don’t think so,” Soyul replied feebly.  “Take out the light.”         

            Seohyun pulled a large, red siren light out of the bag and stared at it curiously.  “Isn’t this from your Hero promotions?”

            “Yes.  But it emits a special frequency of light that they can find us with.  There’s a switch at the bottom.  Turn…Turn it on.”

            Obeying Soyul’s orders, Seohyun looked under the light and flipped a small switch.  It began to shine brightly in the cold night.  She placed it by Soyul and moved some of the parachute away from her wound.

            “You’re not bleeding as much.”  She took Soyul’s hand and felt her wrist.  “But your pulse is so…light.  Soyul-ssi, please stay with me.”

            “I’ll try,” Soyul promised halfheartedly.  “Seohyun-ssi, I know you have a lot of questions-”

            “Shh, Soyul-ssi,” Seohyun interrupted.  “It’s okay.  I’m very confused about why you and Gummi helped rescue us from those strange men, but you need to save your energy.”

            “My unnies can explain once they find you.” 

            “I’ll wait till you can explain yourself,” Seohyun smiled confidently. 

            Tears filled Soyul’s eyes, and she winced in pain.  “Seohyun-ssi, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it that long.”

            “Just stop talking, Soyul-ssi.” 

            Seohyun trembled as the cold air overwhelmed her.  She shook the snow from her hair and folded her arms, but she couldn’t find warmth.  The faint glow of orange could be seen on the horizon as the sun began to rise.  Seohyun stared at the faded sunlight pensively, wishing the sun’s warmth could help her now.

            “Please, Seohyun-ssi, take the parachute,” Soyul begged.  “You need to stay warm.”

            “I…Hmm.”

            As gently as she could, Seohyun lifted the parachute and nestled herself closely beside Soyul.  Their body heat accommodated one another, and the parachute provided a somewhat effective shelter from the storm. 

Seohyun carefully wrapped her arms around Soyul.  “It’s important that you stay warm too, Soyul-ssi.  This will keep us both warm.”

            “Thank you, Seohyun-ssi.”

            A steady heat built up under the parachute, and soon the outside cold was hardly noticeable.  When Soyul continued to shiver, Seohyun held her closer.  It occurred to her after a while that her shaking was more due to her wounds than the frigid air.

            “Try to calm down, Soyul-ssi,” Seohyun pleaded as Soyul shook powerfully.  “You’ll be okay.”

            “Seohyun-ssi, you have to tell my unnies something for me.”

            “Soyul-”

            “Tell them that I love them.”  Soyul’s voice quivered terribly, but she spoke with confidence.  “Tell the Captain that I’m grateful for all that he did for me.  I wouldn’t have met my unnies if he hadn’t recruited me.”

            “This is ridiculous, Soyul.”  Seohyun couldn’t bring herself to continue speaking with honorifics.  “You’re going to be fine!”

            “And tell Loki…”  Soyul gave a fragile chuckle.  “Tell him that he’s a jerk.  I was willing to love him all this time, but he just had to fall for you.”

            “What?” Seohyun exclaimed.  “Who is Loki?  Why did he fall for me?”

            “Loki is the fool I’m in love with,” Soyul sighed.  “And he’s in love with you.”

            “In love with me?”  Seohyun laughed quietly and shook her head.  “Well, unfortunately for him, I’m already taken.”

            “Taken?”  Soyul turned her head and stared at Seohyun in astonishment.  “You’re seeing someone?  That’s impossible.  We would have known about it.”

            “I’m not actually seeing someone,” Seohyun admitted.  “We love each other and plan to get married in the future.  We even live in the same villa.  But we don’t actually meet with one another.  We talk on the phone often, though.  We’re just waiting for the right time to reunite.”

            “Ah, poor Loki,” Soyul grinned.  “You’ll have to tell him that when you get back.”

            “You can tell him for me when we get back.”

            “I’m sure my unnies will know to tell my family that I love them,” Soyul continued.

            “Please stop it, Soyul.”

            “You’ve been really good to me, Seohyun-ssi.”  A single tear fell from Soyul’s tired eyes.  “Thank you for taking care of me.  I’m glad I could save you.”

            Suddenly Soyul coughed loudly and began to convulse in Seohyun’s arms.  Seohyun quickly sat up and tried to hold Soyul still.

            “Soyul!  No!  Stay with me!”

            “Seohyun…”  Soyul lay still for a moment as more tears poured from her eyes.  “The Ahjussi may have scared you…But you have to promise me something.  Please…”

            “What?  I’ll promise you anything!  Soyul!”

            “Keep making music,” Soyul murmured.  “You have to.  You have to…”

            “Soyul!”

            Seohyun stopped breathing as Soyul’s body went limp in her arms.  She stared into her lifeless eyes and began to scream.

            “Soyul!  No!  You can’t die!  You can’t!”

            The snow around them began to swirl faster and faster as a deafening sound filled the air.  Seohyun looked up to see a helicopter slowly descending towards them.  She wanted to call out to it or wave to get its attention, but Soyul’s body in her arms left her motionless.  A rope ladder fell down from the helicopter, and a man and a woman jumped down.

            “Soyul-ah!” Gummi cried, kneeling down next to Soyul.  “Captain, she’s been shot!  We need the adrenaline syringe!”

            The second person handed Gummi a bag of medical supplies and suddenly grabbed Seohyun.  She held onto Soyul tightly as the man tried to drag her away.

            “No!” she shrieked.  “No!  Soyul!”

            “Seohyun!” Gummi called frantically.  “Let go of her!  I need to take care of her!”

            The man finally pulled Seohyun away from Soyul and brought her to the rope ladder.  He held onto her tightly as he began to climb up with her.  She reached down towards Soyul and watched in horror as Gummi stabbed a long syringe into Soyul’s chest.  Her whole body felt weak as she watched Gummi madly work to save Soyul’s life.  The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes was Gummi helplessly pulling Soyul’s unresponsive body into her arms.