“Anything on that phone number?”

“No, it’s not listed. It’s just registered to the company. They must keep the list on paper, as a way to protect the numbers and identities of the employees. That number could belong to the driver, doorman, a stylist or some singer or actor. We don’t know, yet.”

“I hope you do find out.”

“Just like any agency, they’ll have some security.”

“Their security is design to handle crazy stalkers, fangirls, fanboys and anits... surely you can bypass that.”

“We will. Give it some time.”

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

“Thanks for the meal you guys,” Tiffany smiled.

“Yeah, don’t mention it,” Bora responded.

“In all honesty, try, really try to stay out of trouble this time okay,” Jessica added.

“You too,” Sunny replied. Jessica scoffed.

“We’re not on the wanted list. Anyways, I have an appointment so I will see you guys later,” Jessica said.

“What kind of an appointment?” Sunny inquired. Jessica raised her eyebrows and offered a small smirk and simply said in English, ‘Wouldn’t you like to know.’

“I don’t get it, or rather I don’t get her... What does she do for the agency again?” Bora asked.

“I could tell you, but obviously that would mean she’d kill you, and me as well.  Actually no, she would just punish me to death,” Tiffany answered finishing the last of her tea.

“What is the relationship between you two?” Bora asked.

“Yeah, I’m really curious. It was kind of surprising when you popped up in Mexico,” Sunny pointed out.

“Well.. Jessica and I... we’re complex. I first met her when I was straight out of the Farm (CIA basic training place), and I was stationed in what I thought was a dream assignment in Paris... that was short lived, I was moved to Munich after but not a big deal. Jessica worked in NCS as Operations but she had done a lot of work with POOs and SSOs. It was a pure accident that I met her really. I had no idea we were both born in the same hospital back in the states...Getting off track, anyways. Jessica was a top female operations officer so they were giving her a chance in a management and training role... and that’s how I had the unfortunate luck of having Jessica Jung in my life.”

“Why would she train you? You’re not operations, aren’t you an analyst?” Bora asked.

“Well it’s similar to how you guys are structured a bit, you’re an junior operations slash human intelligence officer right? But right now you always doing desk and clerk duty for the more senior people. Someone senior is probably tasked with training you advanced skills and stuff associated with all that, usually someone who has experienced. Well I was being tutored and trained in human intelligence by Jessica,” Tiffany continued, almost frowning after the last sentence.

***My beloved 707th used females for special situations and in special ways. American intelligence isn’t quite far off. Most of a CIA officer’s job is to recruit agents. A ‘CIA Agent’ is a citizen of another country who works for the CIA. So that would be like if the CIA recruited a British guy, that guy would be considered a CIA agent. Females have special ways of recruiting, and no not by ual misdeeds. often time is not the strongest motivator or tool. The operative said it best in Serenity, ‘If your quarry goes to ground, leave no ground to go to.’ For targets of intelligence officers, the support element they have can be broken up by a well trained female. If one crazy is driving you nuts, just imagine a trained crazy who knows what she’s doing, females in intelligence are expert home wreckers. Life wreckers. They can wreck anything.***

“So wait, Jessica tricked you into kissing her?” Bora said.

***Damnit, I wasn’t paying attention...who kissed who?***

“Yes. She tricked me, or rather she convinced me it was the right thing to do.”

“How is that possible?”

“Hah, well... you see she said it was a powerplay technique... but basically she said I was pretty and had my fair share of kissing boys, but she said kissing girls was different, something about corrupting a woman and making it memorable and getting her in the palm of  your hands... anyhow I proved that I was a true patriot and kissed her...”

“Like a peck... I mean what...” Bora asked in bewilderment.

“Well our lips were locked, and our tongues got to know each other...”

“What the hell kind of test, or training is that?” Sunny asked.

“You’d have to ask her... I was disappointed afterwards. She just shrugged her shoulders and said ‘not bad, but I’ve had better.’ I know I’m a good kisser...” Tiffany finished. “Really, I am...”

“You can tell us more on the way to the safe house,” Bora insisted.

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

“Good Girl Bad Girl, it was a catchy song. I really liked ‘Touch’.She is flexible, and her members are off playing China, this could be fun,” Jessica said out loud to herself going through some wardrobe pieces in her closet. The doorbell rang, it caught Jessica by surprise as looked at the clock. “Hmm, she’s really early...” Jessica pulled a robe to cover herself and walked to the door and looked at the screen. “Now what could they possibly want.” She opened the door.

“Ms Jessica Jung?” Taeyeon asked.

“How may I help you?” Jessica asked innocently and sweetly.

“Ms Jung, we’re from the NIS. We just have a few questions for you,” Hyoyeon answered.

“NIS... National Intelligence Service? Am I in trouble?” Jessica responded with an almost genuine face of concern.

“Not at all, we just have some questions. May we come in?” Taeyeon smiled already stepping through the door.

“Oh be my guest,” Jessica replied stepping aside to let them in. “Is there anything I can get for you two? Water? Tea?”

“Oh please, don’t trouble yourself, we won’t be too long,” Hyoyeon answered. Jessica showed them to the living room seats and prepared them some tea.

“So you said you had some questions for me?” Jessica said sipping her tea and taking a seat in front of the two agents.

“So you’re a consultant?” Hyoyeon asked.

“Yes, is there anything wrong with that?”

“Just curious of your previous clients, we are concern that they may have been wanted criminals. We didn’t want you involved in a matter of national security or innocently charged with any crimes.”

“My last clients? I have several, all of whom are different.”

“There are two females who used to work for us, but now they have been on the run for some suspected wrong doings.... and we heard that there was a Ford Mustang hitting up some questionable peoples of the streets.”

“And you think this person is me?” Jessica asked.

“Ms Jung, we know what you do, and we have a general idea of who you are. We just want to make sure you’re not helping Sunny and Bora, it would be hazardous to your health,” Hyoyeon promptly said.

“There are so many times hazardous to my health though,” Jessica responded in an almost sarcastic tone.

“You’re Korean is good. Your accent is so natural,” Taeyeon noted. Jessica smiled and nodded. It was an off-beat comment but she knew they were fishing for something more. Jessica was also a trained professional, she knew a compliment or observational comment made off-topic usually was intended to catch the person off guard. They wanted to appeal to Jessica’s personally, and bring up something casual sense of comfort; this after all wasn’t an interrogation.

“My parents are from Seoul, they spoke Korean quite often at home.” The Kims nodded and responded with an ‘ah’. They commented that it was still impressive.  “Still, Ms Kim, and Ms Kim, you haven’t quite exactly told me why you’re here.”

“Oh that’s right. We just wanted to know about your whereabouts for these dates and times. If you don’t mind. We know it couldn’t have been you, but we want to be sure we can rule you out,,” Hyoyeon asked and showed some dates on a sheet of paper. Jessica took the paper and scanned at the dates and times. All the dates and times were linked to either Sunny or Bora. Night of the first shooting at Sunny’s, Sunny’s escape, the shooting at Bora’s, the shopping mall incident, the night when Jessica lost one of her motorcycles, Sunny’s crazy car chase that ruined the Lexus rental, the incident at the Jasmine controlled ‘house of love’.

“Well I couldn’t recall exactly, but I’m pretty sure I was with some clients during these times,” Jessica smiled and handed the paper back. The Kims asked again, wondering if she could go into detail or have someone to verify. “Well you see, my clients operate on a strict confidentially, letting you know who I was with would violate that. But I assure you, I wasn’t doing anything, nor would I ever do anything that would jeopardize Korean national security.”

“That’s reassuring. These clients of yours, would any of them be willing to step forward and confirm they were with you? I understand they want confidentiality, but you think maybe they would voluntarily come forward, in the interest of national security?” Hyoyeon asked.

“It’s not like we’re that interested in what businesses you are doing, they just need to say you were where you say you were,” Taeyeon pointed out. “I’m sure you can ask them nicely, a pretty girl like you I’m sure has plenty of charm with the guys.”

“All my clients are women actually,” Jessica smiled.

“What exactly do you consult them about?”

“Personal entertainment, stress management, fitness and relaxation. I keep my clients motivated with their work and make sure they do well in their respective arenas.”

“Someone could almost think you were an or a call girl,” Taeyeon said. Jessica smiled and laugh and the agents followed suit. “Though we know that’s not true.”

“No of course not! Me an ?! That’s so silly. That’s as outrageous as saying my clients are all idols. That would just be wild,” Jessica added. She intentionally made the idol comment to throw them a small bone, but she doubt they would pick up on it. The agents laughed at Jessica’s comment. “Though ladies, I do have an appointment later, is there anyway we could finish this another time?”

“Oh our apologies. We’re done here. We’re just concern that some wanted criminals may try to contact you or target you. We’re not sure why, but we hope things will be safe for you,” Taeyeon said getting up and walked towards the door. Jessica thanked them for their concern and accepted Taeyeon’s business card. “Please let us know if anything unusual happens.”

Jessica closed the door and sighed. The clock showed that it was showtime and she wasn’t anywhere near ready.

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

“What do you think?” Hyoyeon asked walking down the hallway.

“Oh, she knows something alright. She’s well trained.”

“We should have used something better than targeting her Korean.”

“Maybe... but it’s definitely good. Government training good. Did you see where she sat? She made sure she had position over us and visual of the door.”

“Her body language too, she wasn’t afraid of us. She was passive and receptive, but not defensive or nervous. She never showed aggressiveness, even with the list. Hey doesn’t that look like Miss A’s Min?” Hyoyeon said and spotted a female walking towards in the hallway.

“Kind of does, I wonder what she’s doing here, I bet that’s not even her,” Taeyeon answered.

“Excuse me. Ma’am, I couldn’t help but noticed that you look like someone,” Hyoyeon said loudly and politely as the woman came closer. The figure stopped and looked up with a questioned face. “Oh, yes. You are. You’re Min. Miss A’s Min.”

“Hello,” Min said shyly and awkwardly and bowed slightly. She was dressed a bit and covered up to hide herself. She wasn’t sure how she was spotted. Hyoyeon said they were fans and asked if they could trouble her for an autograph. Min smiled and nodded. She grabbed the pen and signed the blank sheet of paper on the padfolio Hyoyeon had, she couldn’t help but notice the NIS logo on it. “What do you two do?”

“We are police officers. Government police,” Hyoyeon said, generalizing their job since she didn’t want to flat out say ‘NIS agents’.

“Oh there wasn’t anything wrong here was there? Should I be worried about anything down that way?” Min asked.

“Oh no, not at all. We were just following up on a lead. You’re perfectly safe, I wouldn’t worry about anything. We look forward to your comeback!” Taeyeon replied with a smile.

“Thank you. Good luck with your work, and thank you for what you do,” Min said and parted ways from the agents. She arrived at the door and rang the bell. The door opened. Min smiled and said in English, “Sorry, I was running late.”

“It’s alright. I got held up a bit, so it’s alright. Sorry about my appearance. I had some unexpected visitors,” Jessica replied. “So, you ready for a great time?”

“Only if we can do it in English...” Min replied. Other than having G.Na, Min didn’t have much of anyone to talk to in English. She only heard about Jessica in passing and got the rare invitation to the apartment for her first meeting.

“You should know, this night is about you,” Jessica smiled.

“Well I don’t know about night, 5 hours at most. I don’t know how much I can stay away...”

“We don’t have a moment to spare then do we? Let’s get started,” Jessica said and grabbed Min’s hand and led her to the living room.

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

“Thanks for the ride, and thanks for helping us out Tiffany, it’s really nice of you,” Bora said to Tiffany after they arrived to the safe house. “It’s also really nice to have allies.”

“Well, I try. I can’t imagine this is easy for you guys,” Tiffany answered. “I do need to get going, stay out of trouble. I’m sure Jessica will contact you if anything new comes up.”

Sunny worked to grab another burner phone from the stash and worked to set it up. After she got what she needed put into the phone she excused herself to make a phone call.

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

Hyomin’s phone buzzed with a number she didn’t recognized. She let it go to voicemail since she was with the members for a meal and ice cream. The company treated, they usually didn’t have it this nice. The members were all smiles enjoying the mini-break from their schedule. When they made it back to the company Hyomin took a look at the number again; she missed a call and a text from the unknown number. She remembered what Sunny said earlier about getting a new number. The text message said ‘It’s me!”. Hyomin quickly excused herself and called back.

“Hello? Sunny? Is this your new number?” Hyomin asked.

“Yes. Why didn’t you answer before?”

“They took us out or ice cream. It was really nice. Why did you have to get a new number again? Did you break your phone?”

“I’ll tell you later. Will you have free time today? I said I would make up for the other night,” Sunny replied

“We have a rehearsal practice and then I have my vocal coach. After that I should be free. Maybe,” Hyomin answered thinking about her schedule for the day.

“How long would all that take?” Sunny asked.

“I’ll give you a call when I’m done. Maybe two hours? It shouldn’t be too long. You can come get me at the building,” Hyomin replied. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Hyomin hung up and hurried up to the dance studio where the other members were warming up.

********

Sunny climbed out of the shower feeling refreshed and clean. She was rather anxious to go meet up with Hyomin. “Nothing will go wrong this time. Jasmine please take a break,” She told herself.

“You plan on going out, after today?” Bora asked.

“Yeah. I feel like it would be nice to stretch out and relax. I’ll be fine.”

“I wasn’t quite worried about you! What am I to do? I’m trying to figure out this whole Jasmine mess and you’re going out?” Bora proclaimed.

“It’ll be okay. We’re still piecing it together. We’re okay, I think we can afford a break after today. Don’t forget to clean your gun. Never store a dirty weapon,” Sunny said, reminding Bora.

“I’m not an idiot. Are you just gonna go out for a walk? Where are you going to go?”

“Into the city. I’m gonna see someone for a bit.”

“You’re going to do what? Hyomin? The T-ara member?! Don’t you think that’s a bit dangerous? Isn’t Jessica rubbing off bit too much on you? They said girl groups are like the treasure of Korea, and you're going to put one in danger?”

“Hardly. It’ll just be something short and safe. I wouldn’t put other people in danger,” Sunny heading on her way out. She thought of Bora, “Well not on purpose of course. I’ll be back, don’t wait up for me.”

Sunny stepped out and got on the next bus that would take her to the company building. She exchanged several messages between Hyomin before waiting outside her building. Sunny sat on a park bench waiting with two hot chocolates. She waited an additional 12 minutes before Hyomin came out and crossed the street to find Sunny. Hyomin was bundled up in winter clothing and came out in very modest clothing that all the camping fans easily mistaken for just another employee or trainee and left her alone.

“Did you wait long?” Hyomin asked.

“It wasn’t bad. But I think the hot chocolate is now just warm chocolate,” Sunny said handing her the cup.

“I’m thankful either way. I didn’t think you really come out, it’s quite sudden really. So what are you planning to do to make up for last time? No car? No one chasing us?” Hyomin asked with a light smile.

“I don’t plan on it. I can’t do much for you, but I’d thought maybe we could take a walk. It’s not glamorous but I hope you can find it enjoyable,” Sunny replied

“Wow this almost seems like a boyfriend/girlfriend kind of date,” Hyomin said getting onto the bus that would take them to the park. “You mustn’t get the wrong idea, I’m not the kind of girl that easily gets into relationships.”

“Oh no, I wouldn’t imagine so. Can’t I just take a nice walk with an idol on a cold night? No obligations whatsoever!”

“So it’s because I’m an idol?”

“It’s because I’m a fan. There are boys all over Korea who would be jealous of me right now. It’s a good feeling, I’ve never experienced this before,” Sunny cheerfully explained. They exited the bus to a park that was decorated in holiday lights.

“It’s pretty. I read about this on the internet, but I never had a chance to see it. It’ll be taken down in a few weeks, so it’s really nice that you thought of taking me here. How did you know? You didn’t have your American spy friend dig up information on me did you?” Hyomin asked.

“Hah no. She’s far too important for something that pity. I actually wanted to see this too. I missed the fireworks show on New Years and I had a bit of a rough day, so I thought a night stroll would be wonderful,” Sunny replied.

“Rough day? I know you told me about Jessica. I never learned about you. I was so shocked you told me that she was a spy. Why would you even?” Hyomin asked.

“Because I just knew I could trust you. And I figured you were very curious about her. I was told she was curious to meet her savior again and she offered you something you didn’t think was possible...I’m so horrible though. I give up information too easily to you. Oh idols must be my one weakness,” Sunny said.

“It would be only more impressive if I knew what I was making so weak... you’re smaller than me but definitely stronger and brave, but someone like me is your weakness? Tell me Sunny, who are those people after you?” Hyomin asked. Sunny gave a brief cliff-notes explanation of who Jasmine was. “Oh I see, but then again why are they after you?”

“That’s where it’s complicated. I don’t know. I survived something I wasn’t supposed to and I think I know something that they don’t want me to know. Because of that, they want me and my friend dead.”

“But who are you and your friend, tell me. Tell me. I won’t tell anyone, just tell me! I’m really curious! Tell me!” Hyomin prompted.

“Why are you so curious?” Sunny laughed.

“I don’t to think that I’m having such a great time with a stranger,” Hyomin answered, almost embarrassingly.

“My friend and I... We work for the government,” Sunny answered softly. Hyomin nodded and asked ‘Doing what exactly.’ Sunny took another deep breath and pulled Hyomin down onto a bench with her before answering. “The government. NIS. My friend Bora was a junior agent and I was a tactical operations member. I survived that explosion on TV that killed most of my team members.”

“The illegal fireworks place, the news said no one was killed in that,” Hyomin replied remembering seeing a small report about it on the news at her company. “What are you talking about?”

“It was really a bust, or a raid. And it went horrible wrong. It was a set up, we were all meant to die there but some of us survived. But they were all killed later that night except for me. I barely escaped and then before you know it I went back to the NIS for help and they arrested me for conspiracy and treason. I escaped and went on the run, dragged Bora into it and we’re listed as wanted fugitives among the intelligence world now. Sounds crazy huh?”

“Wow, this is more insane than IRIS or Athena. If you went back to NIS for help and they arrested you and made you a criminal, that must mean there is a traitor inside NIS!” Hyomin proclaimed.

“HAHA! You’re taking this better than I thought. You just believed everything I said? You must watch a lot of dramas and spy movies don’t you?” Sunny laughed.

“It’s crazy to believe I must admit. But now thinking about how two of the times you saved my life, they were really after you, it becomes more believable. It almost makes my life a little bit more exciting. I’m like a Bond girl now!” Hyomin reasoned.

“Hardly. Don’t get too excited. I’m sorry to bring you such troubles. You have enough to deal with without having to think about a giant crazy conspiracy. It’s very dangerous for you.”

“There is something about danger that gets a girl going,” Hyomin teased and stood back up. “There’s still more of the park to see. Come on!”

“You’re really a simple girl deep down aren’t you?” Sunny laughed.

“What?! I’m having a great time. Thank you. And I’m rather complicated, but right now it’s really easier to be simple,” Hyomin replied.

“I’m glad.”

*********

“Sir, Chung-Li is requesting for some extra people to her location.”

“Where is she? Why is she asking for help?” Siwon asked.

“She was following that cellphone number registered to CCM. She said the number didn’t belong to an idol since it wasn’t near any of the dorm locations owned by the company or near any music studios.”

“What about the others?”

“Ryu says the phone he followed is just an old man at home with his family. Lin is with some girl at Han River with her friends. Ken is in a nightclub. The list goes on and on sir.”

“So why is Chung-Li asking? What does she report?”

“She reports a female with another female matching descriptions of Lee. She isn’t sure so she wanted back up just in case she was right.”

“Lee? Sunkyu eh? Fine send 2 teams to her location. Tell Seunghyun to go too.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Seunghyun said walking in.

“Because I’m tired of having you here. It’s cramping my style.”

“Your style isn’t well in the first place.”

“Just go, just in case it’s her. I trust you won’t fail where these others have done so many times before.”

“Careful, you don’t want to sound like respect me.”

“Just go.”

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

“You’re taking this far better than I thought,” Sunny commented walking with Hyomin.

“I’m still trying to figure it out myself. I’m an idol you know, and I did learn how to act. So I can show that I’m taking it very well, but that doesn’t mean I’m still all crazy inside my head. Most girls don’t watch this spy and action stuff, I just happened to watch it. And yes, on TV it can get crazy but never would I’d imagine in real life something like that. Like can you tell me something crazy someone with your skills could do?”

“Um... well, like what?” Sunny replied.

“Could you like, tell me how far from the bench we are without looking? Is that something spies can do?” Hyomin asked.

“The bench we were just sitting at? About 20-24 meters, give or take.”

“Is that like a guess? How would you know?” Hyomin further asked.

“In the military we were trained to scale our steps. For me, I’m short, short legs and medium travel stride; it takes me 160 steps to make 100 meters. So...”

“Wait, so this whole time, walking with me from there to here, you counted the steps? What else have you been doing all this time?”

“Nothing! I just count steps to make reminders in distance, I scan the area to count how many people are in the area. Stuff like that, it’s not biggie,” Sunny said.

“So, I am curious, if you’re in all this trouble and have people after you. Why would you choose to come and see me? Doesn’t it seem counter-productive?”

“Heh, well I’m not really sure either. I’m a big fan.”

“Is that all there really is to it? You’re putting me in danger too aren’t you?” Hyomin asked.

“I know that... I’m sorry. Maybe, Like being a fan is one thing, but then just meeting you in person, having that date with you. It was really nice, well you know except for the whole car chase part. It was nice to have something to talk to, and see something wonderful. It’s a break from the ‘on the run’ stuff. It’s nice. I wish I could say more,” Sunny answered.

“I get what you mean, sometimes it’s nice to be ‘normal’. Idol life is pretty hectic. Although I’m not sure if getting shot at in a high speed car chase counts as normal. But I guess it is nice to have something different. Even if it’s a little bad?” Hyomin replied running her hands slightly through the snow covered handrails. She understood a bit of the thoughts about Sunny liking the slight ‘change’. “It can be fun. Getting away is nice. I mean, even with Jessica, and her...”

“Jessica? Her what?” Sunny interrupted.

“Oh nothing, I had a date with Jessica, and as you can imagine from there it led to you. It can be nice that way.”

“Let’s agree that we enjoy spending time together then?” Sunny suggested.

“Yes. Let’s agree to that then!” Hyomin smiled.

**********

“Chung Li, where are you?”

“I’m watching them, about 100 meters away. I have a coffee in my hand, you should see the steam. Do you have my visual?”

“Oh that outfit, you look like a normal woman almost. I have your visual. I have visual on your subjects too,” Seunghyun responded.

“What’s wrong with my outfit TOP?”

“Nothing, I sometimes forget that you’re a woman. Can you confirm it’s Soonkyu?” Seunghyun said over the phone. TOP was his code name, simply because in Jasmine he was simply at the top, or damn near top of everything possible.

“I can’t confirm it, other than height. I can’t provide solid ID, can you from your position?” Chung Li said through her bluetooth headset. “I don’t know who the other one is, but the other one is the one who works at CCM. Could be nothing, but I doubt it. Can you pull in a confirmation?”

“I have something in mind,” he replied. He sent a male and female down the trail to intercept them. “Stand by, action is in motion.”

The couple put on a great act of being happy together in the makeshift winter wonderland. They approached Sunny and Hyomin in minutes time and politely stopped them to ask for a photo. Sunny and Hyomin smiled politely and Sunny took the camera to take the picture, in efforts to continue to hide Hyomin’s identity. The couple thanked them for the photo and moved on. The couple continued on the path and passed up Chung-Li and gave a slight nod. It was confirmed the shorter female was Soonkyu.

“TOP, it’s her. What do you want to do?” Chung Li called to report.

“Nothing, let them come to us. No guns, we can’t risk the scandal of a shooting with someone employed at CCM. The entertainment world can be powerful, even for us. Give them five minutes and we’ll jump them. We’re in position.”

“No guns, where is the fun in that?” Chung-Li asked.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, we’re set so don’t worry about it, I don’t think you’ll even have worry. Hang back."

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

“Have you ever had a boyfriend?” Hyomin asked Sunny, after seeing the other couple the question popped into her mind.

“Um, well not really. I mean throughout school, we were still always curious and talked about boys, but only a few us had boyfriends. The boys would always talk and stuff... I never really had one.”

“What does never really had one mean?”

“I’ve dated, but never had a boyfriend. And then when I went into the army the whole dating and boyfriend thing just disappeared. The army may be co-ed but I was too focused on my career I guess. Well not so much of my career, but just living with the moment and trying to really learn my trade,” Sunny started. “When I made the switch to infantry, it was quite a boy’s club, and it took a bit of work to get into the group, and once I got in there they saw me as one of the guys. I saw them all as brothers and friends. And then when I went to Special Forces and the 707, anything remotely related to a love life or normal living disappeared. I trained. Free time was spent recovering or with family when I could, otherwise all I did was train. Prepare for the worst. Got deployed twice and then come home to train. When my service ended I was recruited by NIS. Months later here I am with you, so no boyfriend,” Sunny told her tale. It was a lot more Hyomin had expected to get but still it was a pleasing story for her.

“I see. So you never did anything like meeting (group blind dating) or sogeting (blind date)?” Hyomin asked.

“No, not even remotely close. Have you?”

“Well Eunjung did set me up on a date with Jessica, and there were a few attempted meetings with some other male idols. Nothing ever fell through, obviously,” Hyomin smirked. “How come there is no one else here now, it seems too quiet even at this time. Seoul isn’t a town that really sleeps.”

“It is also a weekday, most people don’t have erratic schedules like an idol does. We saw that couple a moment ago and there is that lady drinking her coffee...” Sunny trailed off looking back at the female figure wondering carelessly behind them. She hadn’t really paid attention to her before but then it hit her.

***On cold days, people typically buy hot drinks, hot coffee, hot chocolate, etc. Understanding physics, and Newton’s Law of Cooling, you know heat transfers to objects of cooler temperatures. In other words you know that coffee will cool down while outside.  Typically in about 18-22 minutes at room temperature, coffee cools to about room temperature if untouched. It can occur even faster if you’ve been drinking it, since you decrease volume, you also decrease the heat. So if someone is walking outside in the winter for nearly 25 to half an hour already and there is still steady steam coming off the cup, they must not have been drinking too much of that coffee. The question that comes to mind, is why have something hot and not drink out of it while being in the cold? Again, this is where paranoia comes in from all the stuff you learn in the intelligence world.***

“What’s wrong? Sunny?”

“That lady, she hasn’t drank her coffee, there’s still steam coming out of it. She’s been in the park as long as we have been. Why hasn’t she drank her coffee? There shouldn’t be any steam coming out of that by now,” Sunny answered.

“It’s probably nothing. Maybe she was just waiting for it to cool down, and just liked to use it to keep her hands warm. That could be an option,” Hyomin offered.

“It could be, maybe... insulated containers can hold heat.. let’s keep walking I don’t trust her right now,” Sunny said. Sunny quicken her pace and Hyomin matched the steps.

“Sunny, do you trust those guys?” Hyomin said to break Sunny’s attention to some men approaching their front. They were all dressed differently and individually they wouldn’t seem like much, but the way they moved together was a bit frightening, they had a clear purpose. “I’m scared, are they gangsters?”

“If we’re to be so lucky. Maybe it’s nothing, we’ll walk by them,” Sunny said and held out her hand which Hyomin grabbed tightly. They started to make their way of the least resistance but the group of men fanned out to block the path. They tried the other direction and again were being denied. “Hyomin, don’t panic but be ready to run, okay?”

They turned around and started going back on the path only to have the men quicken their pace, Sunny and Hyomin stopped when the lonely lady in the back dropped her coffee to open her coat to reveal some knives and a handgun stashed in a holster. “That’s bad right?” Hyomin whispered. Sunny answered with a simple “No.”

“Hard way, or the easy way Lee. It’s your choice,” the female proclaimed.

“You have the wrong person, please. Let us go, we don’t have any money so please, you’re making a mistake,” Sunny said softly but with a stern tone. The woman just scoffed and slightly nodded. Sunny pried Hyomin’s hand off of hers and whispered, “Hyomin, stay close to me, but when I tell you to run, pick a direct and go as fast as you can, okay?”

“What about you?” Hyomin asked, worried filled her eyes. Maybe the whole spy and agent stuff was going to be a bit too much.

“I’ll be alright, just get out of here safely and go to your dorm, okay?”

“I won’t leave you!”

“You’re not going to have much of a choice,” Sunny replied. She turned them around to take a look at the men about to attack them. She knew the Chinese woman at her back wouldn’t attack; she had clear superiority over the goons.

****It’s important to remain calm when going against multiple assailants. Even though they outnumber you, they won’t all attack you at once. It’s impossible for all of them to attack you without hitting each other. At most two or three will attack you at once, but it will nearly always be from the same sides. Just like in a sport like football, group tackles typically come from the same direction; when hits come from opposite directions you get teammates running into one another and hitting each other. Don’t get me wrong, they still have the advantage in their numbers. It’s like in a Marvel vs Capcom video game where you’re down to one character and other still has all three. You have to take them out fast or incapacitate them quickly and move on to the next. Ideally you’ll want to run away if possible. That’s of course if we lived in an ideal world.****

“Can’t you just shoot them?” Hyomin whispered.

“Well they could just shoot us too, and that’s not favorable for you and I,” Sunny replied. The first of the goons came up and calmly said ‘just give up and make it easier for all of us’. Sunny kept her act on, “You’re making a mistake, I’m promising you.” His expression changed and gave off a ‘don’t make me hurt you vibe’.

“Sunny I’m scared,” Hyomin said as the man stood still ready to make a move. He reached to grab Sunny’s wrist and started to tugged. Sunny reacted quickly and broke his hold and proceeded to get in a shin kick. Just as the man sinks down a bit in reaction to the nerves stinging in his shins, Sunny sent a hit to his throat. He collapsed to his knees and was on the ground in a near instant. “There’s still more coming!”

“Just stay behind me okay,” Sunny said softly back to Hyomin as they slowly backed away from the body on the ground. Sunny wasn’t looking to kill but she doubt she could simply just incapacitate all these guys and get away. There was going to have to be some blood. It wasn’t a video game; she didn’t have endless energy and she definitely couldn’t take too many direct hits from any of them, if any at all. The next attacker came; she used her size and quickly to escape his attack and get him at the ribs with quick strikes and eventually the head. After he had enough two more came quickly.

Sunny didn’t have her ideal time to react so she quickly moved to attack the men between the legs and it effectively neutralized them. The next attackers faced the same treatment. The next attackers were smarter and avoid Sunny’s attack and pressed on. Sunny had handled six guys at most now, but there were still another five left and she needed a way to end it faster. She was knocked to the ground and immediately got back up but wasn’t quite fast enough as she back on the ground again.

****Statistically, it’s said most real-world fights end up or go to the ground. So the likes of MMA and various mount techniques and ground-fighting have become increasingly popular. There is however the issue of my size and why I do not favor ground fighting. I lose my advantage as my male attacker will have nearly 50 pounds or more on me. In organized fights, there are reasons why you have weight classes. In the real-world usually the bigger guy on the ground has the upper-hand. Once they obtain position, they can just unleash on you. It becomes life and death, and thankfully enough I’ve gone through several of that before. When your life is on the line, you gotta do what you can, even if it seems a bit dirty.****     

The attacker had position on Sunny, he was on top of her in a full mount with his fists coming down in steady fashion onto her. Sunny could only get her arms up to guard herself. It would only take a clean hit or two and the man would win. “Stop that!” Hyomin had said and with her might slap that man’s head. Of course all of her might wasn’t quite up the task other than just annoying him; he simply used one hand and pushed Hyomin away.

This however gave Sunny a window to attack. She yanked at the knife the man had on his belt and stabbed him in the shoulder, quickly stabbed him in the thigh and then pushed him off. None of his wounds were fatal but he was preoccupied to stop bleeding.

“Should we run yet?” Hyomin asked. Sunny turned and grabbed Hyomin’s hand and started to run in the opposite direction they only made a few meters before coming to a stop.

“No need to leave Lee, the party is just getting started,” the woman said. The last four men came up behind them but she held her hand up to stop them. “I’ve been nice thus far, come with us, we’ll let your friend go and everything will be alright.... Or we can keep doing it your way.”

“And just who are you? Should I be worried?” Sunny asked with a bit of sass.

“Someone you don’t want to mess with,” she answered.

“Well you got the wrong idea and the wrong person, so if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be leaving,” Sunny replied. Sunny pulled on Hyomin and tried to walk around the girl but was met with a kick to the chest that knocked her off her feet. Sunny quickly got up and dodged a second attack. “What the hell!” She stood up and tried to keep Hyomin behind her. The attacker was fast, swift and precise as she continued her attacks. Sunny was constantly on the defensive. There was no way she could defend both her and Hyomin. Sunny grabbed Hyomin’s hand and try to run but stopped at the wall made by a tall man and other men, obviously all of the same group of aggressors.  

“Where do you think you’re going?! You have nowhere to go, like I said. Just come with us, and this will all be over.”

“I don’t know who you are, or who your friends are, but you really got the wrong idea. We’ll be on our way,” Sunny stated and tried to change directions once again. She wasn’t allowed to escape. The woman again attacked. She launched a series of lightning kicks that all seemed to connect. If it was a Hong Kong action film, Sunny would be coughing up blood. Sunny was on her knees and struggling to regain her strength. “Run, run, i’ll hold them off!” She whispered loudly to Hyomin, but Hyomin wouldn’t bulge.

“I won’t leave you, let’s call the police!” She said reaching for her phone. The woman reacted quickly and attacked Hyomin and the phone. “Leave us alone!”

Sunny doubled her efforts and reached for a knife on lady’s belt and used it to attack her. She was quick and delivered a swift kick to Sunny’s chest knocking her to the ground. “You shouldn’t play with knives you know, you just might get hurt.” She said and drew out another knife and quickly pounced on Sunny and pushed the knife down onto Sunny’s flesh. “Oh quit your whining. You’ll live!” She informed Sunny pushed the knife further into Sunny’s left shoulder. It was in a non-vital position; just above the bone and painful enough to get Sunny to scream. Often you would see police shoot suspects in the same way to get them to drop their weapon.

Sunny quickly gathered herself and slashed, making contact and forced the lady off of her. Sunny got back up on her feet and started an offensive attack. However all of her blade contacts were superficial and seemed to have just slide off of forearm protectors she had underneath her jacket.

*****Bladed fighting is a skill. It takes a lot of work and practice to become good at it, and I was sorely out of practice. I’ve had my share of knife combat but it wasn’t something I used often, especially knife-to-knife. In combat training, you learn that a stab is far more effective than any slash. Slashes are used to get to the point you can get a stab. It’s hard to do when your opponent is quicker than you, and more skilled with a knife.*******

Sunny was trying to inflict as much damage as she could the woman was too strong. Only once did she get her to drop to her knees but she recovered so quickly that she gave Sunny a few quick cuts on her legs and arms. Sunny’s stamina was long gone, the other bad guys just stood and watch and the woman began to toy with Sunny. She attacked with the blunt end of the knife and applied hard pressure point hits and purposely kept Sunny on her feet to receive more attacks. Sunny wasn’t quick enough to block everything. She already lost the knife and Hyomin tried more than once to help but Sunny pushed her back.

“This is getting sad, it’s over. Now you and your friend will have to suffer,” She said standing over Sunny. She lunged forward for her final blow but a voice yelled ‘Chung-Li no. Not yet.’ Chung-Li relaxed and backed off. “Lucky.”

Sunny could see everyone getting closer, and knew they were going to captured them. Chung-Li gave Sunny another kick to bring her to the ground. There were more strikes before Chung-Li backed off and gave Hyomin a warning to not try anything. “Sunny, are you okay?” Hyomin got down to to try and help Sunny up. “What are they going to us?” Sunny struggled to her feet but whispered to Hyomin, “If we’re lucky, nothing today, close your eyes and hold onto me, and be ready to run.”

Sunny drew out her pistol quickly, and aimed at the vest of one of the goons where he had stun grenades and smoke grenades. She shot the flash grenade and the area erupted in bright lights and a loud ringing. Sunny used that time to yank on Hyomin’s hand and drag her out of the park and back onto the streets. Some of the bad guys weren’t fully affected by the bang and gave chase, to by time Sunny aimed into the street and shot a car’s tire to cause an accident which would bring far too much unwanted attention for them to chase them.

Sunny’s energy was draining, Hyomin knew that running forever was impossible and flagged down a taxi. The driver wasn’t overly curious or talkative so they didn’t have to worry about him. Hyomin ordered the cab driver to head towards her dorm; Sunny quickly said no, letting Hyomin know that was too dangerous. They instead head towards the shadier side of town to get a room at a love motel.

“Why here?” Hyomin asked stepping into the room. It was the first time she ever ventured into one. Sunny sat down on the bed and let out a long groan before answering.

“It’s cheap, we don’t have to be here the whole night and it was fast. People here all keep to themselves, because they don’t know if there are any private investigators lurking around looking to make blackmail. There was a store down stairs around the corner. I need you to go really fast, no stops or detours, and get some supplies from there. It’s open because they are one of the few places around at night that carries contraceptives. There will be a lot of male traffic, so be fast and don’t get caught. You don’t want this kind of scandal.”

Sunny handed Hyomin some cash and Hyomin just nodded and bolted out the door as per Sunny’s instructions. This was something Hyomin never would have thought she’d be doing, or what she got caught up in. Everything was just as Sunny had mentioned too; the bandages she was looking for were in the second aisle. Sunny must have already known the area Hyomin figured. Hyomin quickly returned to the room to find Sunny hunched over looking very sleepy. “Sunny, sunny! Are you okay!? Don’t die!”

“Not yet,” Sunny replied weakly. She had Hyomin help her removed her jacket and pulled off her shirt to review several stab and cuts on her upper body as well as her legs. Chung-Li did quite a number on Sunny in a very little short time. “I think there is something in my back, can you look for me?” Sunny said and Hyomin gasped when she saw; Sunny had some tiny daggers, more like darts lugged in her; no doubt the handy work of Chung-Li while they were running away. “Can you pull it out?” Sunny asked Hyomin hesitated; it was too shocking to see such a sight let alone be asked to treat it.

Hyomin’s hand shook as it made its way to a dart; she gave it a gentle tug but the metal wouldn’t separate from the flesh. “No, I can’t, it’s really stuck in there.” Hyomin answered nervously, her fear only allowed her to give partial effort, with full strength she could most likely yank the dart out. Sunny nodded and then instruct Hyomin to prepare the bandages around the darts; she rolled up gauze and bandages and cushioned the blades in her back.

“We need to go to my safe house and then I need to get you back to the dorm, they’ll be worried about you, and that will draw more attention than we can afford.” Sunny and Hyomin proceeded to call a taxi to get to a pre-chosen destination so that they could get to the bus stop. Hyomin questioned why so complicated, Sunny simply explained it was for safety reasons. Getting off the bus was anonymous; no one thinks twice who gets on or off. A taxi driver sees his/her fare.

*****

They had been debating theories and leads most of the night, Tiffany and Bora had gone through information over and over again and had bulletin boards posted with various notes all trying to make sense of the situation. Multiple angles were being worked, and the hardest part was trying to compile information on Jasmine, and their organizational structure. They were so secret it was hard to figure out how to combat them.

“You hear that? Someone’s outside,  sounds like someone is trying to get in,” Bora said, interrupting their work. Tiffany stopped and listened. She grabbed the Glock pistol from her purse and followed Bora downstairs. “Check the monitors. Who is it?”

“It’s Sunny, she’s with someone. She looks hurt,” Tiffany answered. Bora looked at the screen and nodded in agreement. Using hand signals, Bora moved to the door ready to open it while Tiffany had her weapon trained at the doorway.

“Who’s there with you?” Bora asked. Sunny answered ‘Jessica knows her really well’. Bora looked at Tiffany and just shrugged; Jessica was upstairs in the shower. Bora opened the door and let them in. “Sunny, oh my god what happened?”

“Holy crap you look like hell!” Tiffany said.

Jessica walked down the stairs wrapped in a towel still drying her hair. “What is all this yelling going on?... Oh damn Lee, you don’t look good. Are you okay?”

“No. Not at all. Not very okay,” Sunny answered pointedly. She tried to give a light smile. “She this face, this is my ‘not okay’ face.”

Bora holstered her pistol and helped Hyomin carry Sunny to the table. Hyomin warned them about Sunny’s back. They removed Sunny’s jacket again and could see blades. Tiffany hurried upstairs to grab extra towels and water. She returned with soju and some aspirin as well.  Jessica; still wrapped in her towel worked to treat Sunny. First Bora and Jessica helped Sunny get her pants off and next Jessica used shears to cut the shirt away, leaving Sunny semi- on the table, for the second time. Jessica took charge of the treatment since among everyone besides Sunny, she had the most experience in treating wounds. While Jessica and Bora pulled on medical gloves, Tiffany handed Sunny the aspirin and a double shot of soju. “Will this help?” She asked.

“Eh, not really but you think it will though,” Tiffany answered with a smile. Sunny took the pills and chased them down with the alcohol. She gave short thanks. Tiffany held up a rolled hand towel, “Bite down.”

Sunny leaned over and Bora splashed her back with alcohol. Sunny groan in pain. “Bora, not like!” Jessica scolded Bora without minding Sunny. “You just said put the alcohol on,” Bora replied now using cotton balls. “Although that did look fun,” Jessica added. “You and Tiffany hold her down.”  They position Sunny to lay flat on the table. “Okay Sunny, I’ll count to three, get ready okay,” Jessica said, Sunny nodded. “One… Three!” Jessica said and yanked the first blade out. Sunny screamed in pain through the towel.

Hyomin stood by and watched, but had to turn away, it wasn’t like in a movie; seeing it in person somehow made it all different. Finally after all four blades were pulled out, she could hear Sunny talk again, but clearly unhappy. “Jessica, you punk!” Sunny said letting the towel fall out of . “That wasn’t gentle at all.” Jessica just shrugged her shoulders and calmly told Sunny to hold still while she snitched her up.

“Bora did you want to try?” Jessica asked starting the first pull through. Bora expressively said ‘no’, and continued to clean the wounds. “You’re going to need to learn this eventually. Oranges aren’t like the real thing. You still doing okay there Sunny?” Sunny let out a soft yeah.  “So tell us McClain, what the hell happened?”

“McClain?” Hyomin asked. Tiffany whispered to Hyomin, “It’s a joke. John McClain from the Die Hard movies.  He always gets hurt and always get into trouble.”  

“Ahh, I get it now,” Hyomin nodded. “There were lots of them, lots of people. The Chinese lady who was good at martial arts.”

Jessica looked at Hyomin, replied with a ‘hmm’, and returned to the stitches. “So Sunny, you ran into some of Jasmine’s people, and once again put the lovely T-ara’s Hyomin in danger. Who’s the lady that kicked your ?”

“Her name was Chung-Li, but she had someone else there ranked above her. And she didn’t kick my , she was just very lucky, I could have taken her,” Sunny answered.  Jessica looked at Hyomin, expecting an answer or confirmation. Hyomin replied with the ‘maybe’ gestured with her hands; nonverbally disagreeing with Sunny’s confidence. “We were out-matched,” Hyomin added.  Jessica let out another ‘hmmm’. Sunny added a comment to Hyomin’s remark, “Oh you traitor.”

Jessica finished the back and let Bora handled the cuts on Sunny’s legs and arms; they were superficial and didn’t require stitches. Jessica calmly walked back upstairs and got dressed. Sunny was helped upstairs to her bed by both Tiffany and Bora and Hyomin followed not quite sure what to do. Sunny sank onto the mattress and let out a yawn.

“Thanks Jessica, I really appreciated it. You think you can get Hyomin back to her dorm?” Hyomin protest and said she wanted to stay but Sunny remained firm.  “Hyomin,  you’ve done all you can today. Thanks for getting me this far, and I’m sorry for another crazy night. But now you need to get back before someone starts to worry. Sorry about your phone, but you did a good job in holding on to it. The bad guys would have loved to get their hands on that, if they found out who you are, who knows what they’ll do.”

Hyomin agreed and followed Jessica to the car.

******

“She’ll be fine. Sunny’s pretty tough. I’ve met plenty of other gals from the 707, Sunny’s definitely up there,” Jessica reassured while zooming through the city roads. “Are you going to be okay? You’re not to shakened by this or anything? It’s completely normal if you are.”

“I’m fine. Just worried. How is she able to keep going after being beaten or when she knew she couldn’t win?” Hyomin asked.

“Those people, people like her. Those that serve there have a different way of thinking. Their mental strength is large in comparison to their physical abilities and strengths. Adrenaline pushes you as far as you can go, but for everything else. It’s on you. Confidence, cocky, call it whatever you want, but people like Sunny have something in them when they are in combat. They don’t say no and they don’t stop. That’s what makes them special. It’s just not special weapons, special skills and training, but special mentality.”

“But I guess there are others more powerful than her?”

“Being special doesn’t always mean you’re the best. There are plenty of normal folks who are stronger and faster than people like her. Sunny has been out of practice for a while. She’s very tough and actually quite special. Her unit and some SOF guys did a joint operation for us in the Middle East.”

“We had Korean soldiers in Iraq?” Hyomin asked shocked not knowing such things happened.

“Oh it wasn’t broadcast as much. Mostly Korean forces did humanitarian missions. Being an allied to the US, and the help that the US gave Korea in the past, the Koreans felf obligated to help with the war effort on the War on Terrorism. Korea did humanitarian stuff in relatively safe and non-combat zones of Iraq. Your government had it’s special forces operating with American forces and intelligence to get real world experience. Sunny has been to Iraq and Afghanistan fighting bad guys, but no one knows about it, since it was mostly CIA lead missions. But back on topic, Sunny’s good. Whoever fought Sunny must be very good. You’re lucky to be alive then. I hope you stay out of trouble more often,  you are an idol after all.”

“I’ll do my best. Thanks for the ride. Please take care of Sunny,” Hyomin said and gave a polite bow to Jessica before heading into to her building. Jessica was going to call it a night and sink back to her apartment and rest, she had a few ‘clients’ after all in the morning but she was curious. She wanted to see the scene and check out the park.

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

Hey guys - Thanks for reading and I hope you still enjoy things. I combined my last two chapters to put out this update. So good news (for some, long update), but the bad news, it means there are no more updates that I have sitting in my drive, so the next update has to be written and typed up so that will take some time. So releases will be a bit slower and fewer in between. Please be patient and stick with it. Upvote, subscribe, comment. Etc. 

FYI - Yes, if you played Street Fighter before, that's the Chung-Li I used in this chapter. I don't own that character, but that's who my character was inspired from. Who better to be a badass - -kicking evil chick than her?

I'm a big sunshiner, so any nice fics you want to recommend, just let me know. I like subyung and sunsica too as you guys can tell from my other work. Hope to hear from you guys soon, and hope the next update keeps you guys into it.