I wake up by the sound of two men talking somewhere near beside me. The aids, could it be? I remember talking to arrogant guy number 3 but I realize the voices I am hearing right now aren't any of those guys I met that night. My head starts to throb again. I flutter my eyes open and a white ceiling greets my vision.

"The bullet was already removed from her arm. CL's lost so much blood but she's fine. As of Dara's case... It's just a minor concussion. Though I still suggest she should stay for some few tests. "

"Thank you, hyung,"

"No... The aids did a good job in saving the girls. Even one of them donated blood to CL. Dara got a proper stitch and though they weren't able to remove the bullet off  of  CL's arm, Well, only Dr. Park can handle such cases I believe–"

"Hyung..."

"Seunghyun..."

Seunghyun and Dongwook pauses in an eyebattle and for a moment I want them to talk more. Who are they talking about? Who is Dr. Park?

"How many years has it been? Two? Almost three,  Seunghyun and she never sent a word to you other than that message. Accept it. She's found her home. She chose the lair. Deal with it."

"So easy for you to say that," 

"Forget about her," Dr. Choi insists and Seunghyun grabs his jacket, raising his hand in surrender.

"I'm going, let me know once Dara wakes up," he says and his brother follows after him before the door slams shut.

I try to sit up and look around and confirmation hits me. I'm in a hospital, not in the same cabin where I remember I slept in. The window is open and the sun outside is brightly shining...

... and I am in a hospital gown.

Hospital. How long have I been here? I swing my legs and with wobbly knees I drag myself off of my bed. I need to see CL. I need to make sure I wasn't just dreaming last night. But something catches my attention from the corner of my eye. I snap at the open window and the flowy curtain dances by the subtle breeze. Did I just see a shadow? I shake my head. Maybe it's because of the shock I got from falling from the third floor of a building. Fear creeps up through me. Who would've thought I'll end up still alive?

I decide to head towards the nearby window to close it but then the door suddenly creaks open revealing Daesung on his wheel chair, a nurse pushing him from behind. He grins at me.

"Dae!" my first instinct is to run to him and hug him but I feel the room suddenly revolves around me and the nurse quickly rushes to my side.

"Ms. Park, please be careful!" she settles me back to bed and I cradle my head. Daesung is already before me when I lift my gaze.

"Are you alright? You just woke up. What were you thinking, noona?" Daesung peers at me worriedly and I nod and force a smile.

"I'm fine. Just feeling a bit dizzy right now. Sorry," I try to ignore the feeling. "How about you?  How's your leg?"

"I'm fine. Good thing the bullet didn't hit any bone on my leg. The pain comes and goes. But that's part of it," he grins and his eyes disappears. It made me chuckle.

"Oh by the way, I saw chief and Dr. Choi earlier. They said you can already get discharged tomorrow when your results come out."

"Really?" I try to sound surprised as if I didn't hear about it earlier.

"Guess it's just gonna be me and CL here for a bit longer."

"Dae..." Curiosity hits me. H-h-ow did I end up being here? Perhaps he has an idea.

" How long have I been here?"

"A day? Chief Choi brought you here."

I bite my lip. Chief Choi? Maybe he coordinated with the aids.  Guy number three was so eager to kick me out, damn it. But something tells me there is so much more about the group to Chief. And Dongwook... He spoke of the lair. What is the lair?

 My eyes dart to the nurse who was checking out my IV and nervously, my hand flies to where my necklace is as if suddenly remembering my dream. Dad... And my necklace.

"!"

It wasn't there.

I start to panic. If they removed it from me then who has it now?

"Noona what's wrong?" Daesung asks but I face the confused nurse. 

"Miss...  Can you please check if Chief Choi is still in the building? I wish to have a word with him. Please. It's urgent." I tell the nurse and she quickly rushes towards the telephone on the wall.

"I'm sorry Ms. Park," she faces me and I know right there that she's about to give me some bad news. I pull the needle off of me and start to dash towards the door. "Ms. Park!"

"Noona!" I hear Daesung but I ignored him. I need my necklace!

"I need to find him. I need to get my necklace!"

"What necklace? You can't leave noona, " 

"You don't understand! I need my necklace! I need it back!"

"Miss Park, please calm down!" the nurse tries to pull me back but I am desperate. Maybe dad was warning me about something! I need my necklace back!

With all my remaining force, I pushed the nurse away and ran out of the door. I need to get out of here. 

I stagger by the end of the hallway but I don't stop. There are so many questions in my head right now and I feel like it's going to burst. If chief Choi doesn't have my necklace then where the hell is it?  And how did we end up getting here?

I sigh in relief when I see the hallway empty and I quickly make my way to the elevator but even before my fingers touch the button, the door parts and Dr. Choi emerges.

"I knew it," he squints his eyes at me and I back away.

"I need to see Chief,"

"He just left. I'm sorry,"

"Does he have my necklace?"

"I am not sure about that. Now come. Let's go back to your room."

"No!"

"You are still weak. You need some rest,"

"I'm going to talk to your brother and ask him about those ing stuff about the aids and how the hell I and CL ended up getting here and last but not the least, I am going to find my necklace! I am going out of here– aaaaah!!!" I flinch when he suddenly grabs my arms and pushes me to the wall. It's painful but Dr. Choi is trying to put up a poker face. And my head starts to ache once more.

"Pretend you don't know anything or you'll get a shot of it, "

"A... Shot... Of what?" I ask, terrified at his words.

"Nurse Im," he says, his gaze never leaving mine but I sense a presence to my left and I widen my eyes in horror.

"N-n-o..." I shook my head. "No!!!" I begin to tremble. The nurse is holding a syringe and I don't have any idea what it is for. 

"Then go back to your room. Be cooperative. Trust me,"

Trust him? Does he think I am going to trust him after treating me like this? I try to wiggle free from him but he just gripped me tighter.

"Just try to cooperate. Seunghyun will tell you everything once you." he hisses and I find myself following his words.

***************

I lie awake but Dr. Choi's words are still haunting me. Pretend I don't know what? 

I sit up and fold my knees,  hugging myself as I wait for Choi Seunghyun. They said he's coming. They promised me he's coming but it's already 10 pm and not even a sign of him is seen. My mind started to wander again.

What if he doesn't have my necklace? What if...

What if the aids have it? 

I glance out of the window, somehow wondering what those three aids were doing... Where are they? How are they?

Surely they're of big help to the police. No one wants to join and study in the academy anymore. Most kids choose to go abroad and study. Most families have fled. I've never imagined Seoul to be this way. Ruthless killings, cases, drug trafficking and smuggling... The daily newspapers have all these.

Surely this is one of our darkest times.

I shake my head, trying to get rid of so much thoughts but then something catches my peripheral vision. I whip my head back towards the window and the leaves of the plants outside are waving at me.

Must be the wind, I thought. 

Just then the door slowly creaks open and when I turn to it, Choi Seunghyun's ever somber face greets me. I sit straight.

"I heard about your little misconduct," he starts and I watch him pull a stool and place it by my bed.

"Where's my necklace?" I ask, directly and impatiently.

"I don't have any idea,"

"You brought us here! You brought me here! You should know! How did I end up waking here? The last time I woke up, I was with some strangers and the next I'm already here and my necklace, the only thing my dad asked me to take good care of is missing!" I blabber nonstop only to find him watching me intently.

"W-w-hat?" I snap at him.

"I should've just asked hyung to give to a shot, "

"Y-y-ah..."

"That's to make you forget,"

"You wouldn't dare!" I am mad. Everything is so new to me. Everything that comes out of his mouth is a whole new revelation.

"Listen," he stands up and moves closer. He opens and closes his lips and he seems lost for a moment before he decides to sit down on the side of my bed. "Sandara, it's all an accident. There should never be any direct interaction between a regular officer and an aid. Only the chief of command can do that. In such cases as yours, you saw them. Talked to them... Spent over night with them. The aids are very particular about their demands. They trust us that we will comply with those,"

"What do you mean?"

"There's this agreement that we need to give you a shot of a medicine they've developed that can put someone to amnesia. Drug-induced amnesia...  And the shot, the dosage depends on the amount of information one wants to erase in ones mind. A shot erases memories over the past 12 hours. And so on..."

I hang my mouth open. This is sick! I am not hearing this!

"But in your case,  I couldn't take a risk. Hyung told me it will be too risky to give you the drug. You hit your head and the drug might worsen your case. And I just don't want that to happen–"

"So you want me to thank you?" I feign sarcasm.

"Dara..."

"Tell me, you did the arrangements with the aids to get me and CL. And I got exempted from getting a shot of that amnesia–inducing drug. CL didn't hit her head. So, how about her?" I don't have any idea I was already crying. "Answer me!"

"It's an agreement, I'm sorry," he slumps in defeat.

"You son of a b*tch!!!" 

"I had no choice!" he snaps at me and I still for a moment. Seunghyun runs his hand across his face and slumps his shoulders once more. "You have to pretend. You have to forget about that night you lived with them... Their face, their voice... Anything and everything about them..."

"How do you expect me to do that!"

"I do not expect you to do it. I am ordering you to do it. It is for your own safety,"

I purse my lips and close my eyes. There is no winning over Choi Seunghyun. Now my only question is where to find my necklace. 

No, something inside me tells me. That's not the only question in my head. And soon I am hearing myself voicing out my thoughts for I realized  there's  actually a way to get what I want too.

"Help me find my necklace. And... Tell me more... I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to know, right?"

"I can help you find what you want... But what do you really want to know?"

"Tell me about the lair," I spill without hesitation and on his face flashes a lot of different emotions. Pain,  sadness, anger, fear... 

"That's where the aids stay. That's it."

"No. You have to tell me everything. And I promise I won't spill a thing. I promise I'll forget all that I've seen, all of them,"

"Dara..."

********

"The commander general... It all started upon his order."

"Lee SooMan," I know the man so much more than being just the commander general. He is one of dad's comrades. I turn to Seunghyun and he looks away. We are sitting side by side and he keeps playing with his fingers. This is new, I thought. I have never seen him this nervous.

"Yes," he sighs. "Crimes rose up that time. You knew it. We were still in the academy that time."

"Yeah," I roll my eyes. "You weren't as grumpy back then,"

He shakes his head and smiles a bit. "I knew about the police's partnership with the aids when I was assigned here three years ago. I kept a blind eye and a deaf ear. But I never stopped observing. And the hardest part was when they tested me for this position."

"What happened?"

"You wouldn't wanna know,"

"I want to know," I insist and he scans my face for a moment before looking down at his fingers again.

"I... I had to give my best bud the drug,"

I clamp my mouth. He's not talking about Daesung, is h