Chapter 4.

“I’d thought you find a more permanent solution by now for your housing. It’s been like three nights now. Sunny the longer you do this, more likely I’m going to get caught. What’s worst is now you ask to come over and sleep even later now. What happened with the address, I thought she was the help?” Bora asked.

“It’s been like four days right? If they suspected you had anything to do with it, they would have made a move by now. So I think you’re in the clear,” Sunny said, trying to sound smart.

“I was questioned, no I take that back. I was interrogated the other day about my relationship to you. By the two agents from central. Kim and Kim, they’re experts you know!” Bora said with some emphasis on the ‘experts’ part.

“What did you say?”

“The truth. I don’t know much about you, we work out together. You know, it’s not like I tell them that you decide to sleep at my house even when I wish you wouldn’t. I’m trying my best to be helpful to you but you make things difficult, and what’s more you decided to help some random stranger take down a corrupt loan shark? A little rash don’t you think? Not something you should be doing you know!”

It was quite true. Sunny had enough of her own problems and now she was butting in to help someone else’s. She spent the two nights learning and working in the ‘gentleman’s club’. It’s very silly, but Sunny had made her way to study security and the layout of the club. Becky had helped her get a clue on the hours the man was in and out on his rounds. He was a businessman and a natural ert. He had no trouble looking at dancers in the dressing room.

Jessica still had not given Sunny anything on the people after her, but Jessica’s did allow Sunny to borrow mirco-spycameras for her special mission. She never told Jessica the details of the mission but knew she would need them. She had already installed a camera in the hall leading to the office of the man. She needed to figure the guy out.

**Going after someone takes patience. One of the best ways to attack someone you can do is attack what they stand for, what they care about rather than the actual person themselves. This method is often applied to those with status, and often times you hear about the silly public scandals. Destroying a reputation often does the damage you need, but that does require a bit of work. Physical pain can work too, but often times the body heals faster than a reputation.**

Sunny needed to know the man’s business and what made him tick; the only difference is, with this undercover work she had days to learn what most agents/spies spent months and years doing. Scouting a location is a basic element of reconnaissance training, something that a former 707th Special Forces girl can easily do. She wanted to make a move quick, she was still a wanted person and the more time she spent around here, the greater her chances of getting caught.

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“Jung, you’re back on duty?” Someone asked walking by her. For being a government agency that deals with national secrets, there just never seems to be enough secrets, it was almost everyone knew she was on the inactive roster.

“Just need a few Americans in my life you know. Sadly you guys are the only ones I can stand.” Jessica added with a quick wit and moved to Tiffany’s desk and cubicle.

“What are you doing here again?!” Tiffany asked seeing Jessica.

“What? I can’t come say hello?”

“We both know that’s not why you’re here. What do you want this time? I’m busy too you know.” Tiffany said with a bit of annoyance. She shared a brief history with Jessica, and it wasn’t great or anything but it allowed Jessica to get anything she needed from Tiffany with relative ease.

“Oh yeah, the thing over at NIS. How is that going? I heard a little five-foot girl is giving the Koreans a hard time right now.”

“She’s 5’1, and yes she seems to be eluding her former colleagues pretty well right now... wait, what did you want? You didn’t come here to talk about some low-level tactical operative who’s wanted for murder and conspiracy,” Tiffany pointed at Jessica.

“I am very interested. It sounds exciting, and I heard she’s quite a looker. I mean could a little squirrel of a gal really do what they said she did?” Jessica asked.

“I don’t know. You should know somewhat, I checked. You were in Iraq the same time she was. It doesn’t say if you ever met her though. Your trip to the sandbox was rather out.”

“I would remember a hottie that could kick a little . So, I need something. How soon you think you can get it?” Jessica asked the latter in a whisper directly into Tiffany’s ear.

“I knew you wanted something. What is it? You couldn’t do it over the phone or a text?”

“You would just blow me off and tell me I have a problem and not help.” Jessica answered, the expression on Tiffany’s face proved that she was right. Jessica wrote something down on a notepad for Tiffany. “How soon?”

“What? Argh... Seriously Jessica? I can get it to you later today, say four or five. I’ll want a nice smoothie for this.” Tiffany answered, not even putting up any fight to Jessica’s request.

“Perfect, I have a lunch date today. I’ll see you after.” Jessica said and blew a kiss to Tiffany. She got up and walked back out the hallway and left the building.

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Her schedule had finished, and she took it upon herself to go out and enjoy a walk. She didn’t usually have so much free time, she was after all currently promoting with her group. She built up quite popularity since her debut, but they did have a minor setback with a horrible scandal. She covered up and bundled herself in warm clothes, the January weather helped her dressed under layers without looking like someone hiding their face. She walked outside the doors and lingered herself into the crowds of pedestrians.

Snow had been neatly plowed and pushed away and the sidewalks were salted for the added safety but only a girl like her could manage to get herself caught slipping in the middle of an intersection.  A bus roared its horn at her, she was still in the road and had missed the signal change. She moved her legs to get to the extra two yards she would need for safety but slipped and fell to ground. The bus’ brakes squealed but the tires slid across the icy road and the bus and all its mass darted towards her.

This was it she thought. What will the headlines say? What will happen to the group? Sales would increase huh? She closed her eyes hoping for the worst and never to see daylight again. “I love you mommy” was her very last thought. She felt a force moved her from her spot. She thought the bus had hit her and she had died, but it felt more like a person had grabbed her out of the road. She opened her eyes to find a petite figure of a girl holding her and looking into her eyes.

“Are you okay? Hey... Are you okay? Are you hurt? Answer me? You’re alive! Come on now.” The girl said, lightly shaking and tapping at her.

“I’m alive?... You saved my life... thank you...” She said, with some noticeable shock. “Wait, I am still alive right? This isn’t heaven or anything?”

“You’re alive, are you sure you’re okay? Did you hit your head?”

“No, I’m okay. Thank you. Thank you so much. I don’t even know how to begin to express my gratitude...Miss...”

“Sunny, you can just call me Sunny. It was nothing. I’m sure anyone else would have done it too. I was just quicker.” Sunny answered the young lady and helped her to her feet. “Do you need help with anything? I don’t think anything serious happened so I guess you’re okay. Just be more careful okay? Well have a nice day.”

Sunny started to walk away and noticed two gentlemen further down the sidewalk. They had sunglasses on and dressed in winter clothing. They looked normal but Sunny could spot a subtle difference in them, they were professionals out for her. She confirmed this when she made a step in the opposite direction and looked back casually to notice the men had quicken their pace.

The girl she just saved was still standing there but had now came up to give Sunny a surprise hug. The girl was still so very thankful, it was sweet and touching but the hug presented a rather new set of problems for Sunny. If the men had witnessed Sunny’s heroic events, then she must have caught their attention, but even if they didn’t, they spotted her now and would think the girl she saved was with her.

“You’re welcome. I told you it’s nothing... but you know what? I think we should get something warm to drink. I’m not sure if you’re okay and I would feel awful and I had injured you while saving you,” Sunny said in a trailing voice, noticing the men were even closer. She grabbed the girl’s hand and dragged her with them. She could have left the girl, and maybe the men would have left the poor girl alone, but what if they had picked her up to ask her things she obviously didn’t have answers to? Professionals don’t usually leave survivors if they made a mistake.

**I always say that a foot chase isn’t hard, it requires a bit of patience and quick thinking but however if you have to drag someone with you, it gets harder. It’s even more of a challenge when they’re not trained in evasion. Special forces can evade as a team because they all trained together and understand what will happen next given certain conditions; they’re ready to react and know what you’ll do and what they will do. Bringing a civilian with you because you’re trying to save her and your life? Too many factors hinder what you can do. Her endurance, her strength, her efforts, etc. You think having another person doubles your risk of getting caught; in reality it’s rather exponentially related. You’re chances of getting caught keep increasing until you can ditch the extra weight.**

“Oh, but I think I’m okay... Okay hold on, not so fast...” The girl let out. Sunny had to start with the first basic technique she could use, ‘getting lost in a crowd’. Sunny dragged the girl into a crowd of people on purpose and continued to hold tight and pull the girl for what seem like blocks. “Where are we going? If it’s so far why didn’t we just get a taxi or ride the bus?”

If the men were good, they would try to make a positive ID of her and ask for more help. Professionals usually knew when to throw away pride and bring in backup, so the two following her could easily turn into 4,6,8 or even 10 men. Staying public enabled Sunny a small sense of security; the masses of people were all potential witnesses. Sunny brought the girl into a shopping center and hoped for the best.

“Oh, let me buy you a cupcake! It’s the least I can do. Please! I really want one too,” The girl pleaded. Sunny look a look and figured they had a little time. She did feel bad for dragging the girl and not telling her what was going on. If Sunny didn’t stop sooner or later, the girl would have most likely figured something was wrong and think Sunny was a creepy kidnapper. “I haven’t had these in so long! At work they really make us watch what we eat. So I am really happy for this. I hope you enjoy it.”

They took the break to enjoy cupcakes and juice when the two men appear again. They were not pleased to have been dragged this far and approached with their pistols drawn. Sunny grabbed the girl and pulled her out of the seat and pulled her to a run. The girl noticed the men and shouted something that Sunny couldn’t quite make out. Sunny kicked a chair towards one of them and the other aligned the sights of his pistol to fire. The loud muzzle sound of the pistol rocked through the shopping center and sent people screaming and running.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. They’re out to kill me. I’m going to die... omo... what to do...” The girl panicked. Sunny was still wasn’t armed and had to resort to throwing random things she could grab in attempts to slow down the gunmen.

“You? Why would they want to kill you?” Sunny asked, thinking to herself how silly this girl was.

“Well in my line of work, sometimes people get crazy and hate me. There was this incident, and people got really mad. I mean it makes sense right? Why else would they be shooting.... I don’t wanna die....” Her answer slowly turned into cries.

“I really doubt it’s you they’re after, and you’re not going to die. Trust me,” Sunny said pulling them behind a counter of a coffee shop. Sunny began to take off her most outer layers of clothing. The scarf, the thick jacket, and beanie; she started to do the same to the girl but the girl tried to stop her. “We need to get rid of our jackets and outer clothes, they recognize those now. Trust me.” Sunny pulled off the hat and the scarf and the multiple jackets the girl had on and then stopped and stunned when she saw the girl’s face. It had light make-up and showed hints of makeup removal but the face was recognizable to Sunny. “You’re... you’re Hyomin... of T-ara...”

“Shh..... yes I am... that’s why they’re trying to kill us. Crazy antis have gone to far...I’m gonna die behind a coffee counter....” Hyomin again went into panic mode as the men came closer. Hyomin peeked over the counter a bit and found bullets traveling down towards her direction sending the debris all over in her direction. Sunny grabbed Hyomin and pulled her down, forcefully keeping her down and scolding Hyomin to keep down. “I’m just so scared right now...I’m so young... almost got hit by a bus and now men with guns... Why me? Why?!”

Sunny pulled Hyomin close and gave her a small slap on the cheek and told her to focus; Sunny promised Hyomin that she would not die. Sunny reached up to grab at the steamed milk, remembering that the milk was heated to about 158 degrees Fahrenheit, nowhere near boiling but still hot. She waited for one of the men to step closer around the counter and splashed his face with the milk. He screamed from the hot liquid and lost orientation. It gave Sunny enough time to disarm him, take his weapon and take quick shots at the other man.

**A lot of time in combat, your shots won’t always hit the target, sometimes it’s on purpose. This type of discipline shooting is meant to keep the hostile at bay. Allowing yourself time to reposition for better engagement, and more importantly take control of the firefight.**

When the man made another charge she opened fire and struck the man twice in the chest and once in the head. She wiped at the gun and dropped it on the unconscious man with the burnt face. She grabbed Hyomin and began to run out again. Hyomin asked if they could wear their thick clothes again but Sunny said no. There may be others so they had to ditch the jackets; it was tough to do because it was cold outside. Sunny did her best to protect Hyomin’s identity by grabbing a hat and gave it to Hyomin to wear. The police were storming into the shopping center by the time Sunny and Hyomin got lost into the crowd outside.

“I’m so cold...” Hyomin said while walking with Sunny.

“I know, just stick with it just a little more, we’ll be warm very soon,” Sunny reassured. Hyomin shivered from time to time. Sunny grabbed Hyomin into a tight bearhug to spread bodyheat to keep Hyomin warm. Sunny had trained through conditions of hypothermia, she learned a lot about mind over matter and secrets to keeping her body heat high. Navy Seals were trained to maintain body temperature in freezing water for almost an hour, she was nowhere that level but she knew the basics that were trained to her. “Just stick it a little more.”

Hyomin felt herself getting warmer, nowhere near perfect protection but there was a noticeable difference. Sunny looked around and couldn’t spot any one suspicious; it must because of the police activity. She flagged down a taxi and let Hyomin get in first and told the driver to drive into the neighborhood of the T-ara dorm.

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“Taeyeon! There was a shooting just now. One dead and one burned. I think it’s related to our case,” Hyoyeon said. Taeyeon was skeptical, indicating that illegal firearms could be obtain but asked why Hyoyeon thought such a thing. “Well the pistols found on the guys, aren’t Korean made, high end Heckler and Koch USP pistols. Those things aren’t cheap anywhere they carried cash and had repeated cellphone calls to an untraceable number. Oh, here’s the super kicker, one of them had a sheet on Sunny, photo and height, hair color, all of that.”

“Hmm... it sounds like serious pros. A $900 pistol isn’t a joke, but I don’t get why they would have a photo of Lee. Most pros don’t carry evidence of their target or hit on them. It’s almost too easy. How was the dead one killed?”

“Initial report says 3 gunshot wounds. Two to the chest and one to the head. I have a feeling the medical examiner won’t have anything special to give us.“

“Two and one? Not even all NIS employees can do that. That sounds systematic, training and muscle memory. A military shooter for sure, so Lee could have been the shooter then eh? That’s the type of shooting they’re drilled with right?” Taeyeon reviewed out-loud with Hyoyeon.

“I believe so. That’s military style shooting for sure. Shoot with intent and follow up. I’d say we have our girl. We’re pulling surveillance videos now, and we’ll have them within the hour. See if we can pull anything out of it. If it’s her, we’ll know.”

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“Yes, it was sloppy. No they weren’t my men. They were our men, the outstanding order was to kill her, they got carried away. The police have the other one. No, he will be handled before he can say anything. No he’s useful; we don’t need to kill him just yet. Okay. Understood.”

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“Hello. Becky, yes tonight I will be there. Oh we’ll be making a move. You’ll see. Trust me, after tonight you won’t have to worry anymore. I’ll see you later tonight,” She hung up the phone and moved to break back into Jessica’s apartment where she had her stuff stored. She gathered what she needed for her mission walked out. Jessica must have suspected something by now but had no real concerns.

**South Korea uses Special Forces female soldiers primarily for undercover work and protection details. Terrorists don’t expect much out of a girl, and that’s why there are female operatives out there in other countries. The little ice cream lady, that flight attendant, that journalist, whatever. A bad guy doesn’t expect her to be a soldier who went through the same intense training as her male counterparts. Working under a cover is tricky, even with training; there are so many variables to consider and too many things out of your control. Of course when you ask someone with no training to put on a show as well, it gets even trickier.**

“Okay, I’m ready to do this. I can do this Sunny. I know it.” Becky said, well assured of her actions in the plan. She was given a set of instructions to do; Becky was to work as normal but at a certain moment she needed to create a scene.

Generally speaking, the last thing anyone wants at a gentleman’s club is a scene, but Sunny wanted a distraction that would pull the guards and Mr. Mean Guy out to access the problem. Now a police raid is a distraction but ineffective, Becky had to create a disastrous customer service scene. Yes, it was poor game for Sunny to ask Becky to put her neck on the line but extreme measures often produce extreme results.

Sunny worked normally and watched the hours ticked by; the commotion had to be done at a certain time. Late enough for where the guards were restless yet early enough to be packed and thriving. Sunny gave her tiny signal to Becky. Becky had to put on her best acting efforts. She had been deviously flirtatious with a few patrons, and now all she had to do was instigate either a fight between the patrons or her and the patrons. Clueless how to start it, she simply tripped and fell into the patron spilling some drinks. In anger the man began to yell at Becky, another patron quickly came to her defense; the plan was working far too well. The first man was an angry drunk and began pushing around and even slapped at Becky. That was the moment Sunny needed.

**Strip clubs and bars have a general rule; if you hit the girl then there will be problems. Do as much as you want, harass them, touch them, whatever, but the minute an assault comes, the house guards will usually respond. It’s like watching casino employees close in on the suspected cheater.**

She by-passed through to the upstairs level and broke into Mr. Mean Guy’s office. In the heat of the moment, he had forgotten to lock the file cabinets or lock his computer. It was easy for Sunny to scan through the files and look for information. It was difficult since she didn’t have anything to look for in particular and was limited on time. It was a timed scavenger hunt without knowing what to find. Using forensic software that the NIS used (she had been given a copy prior to being blacklisted) she was able to download the contents of the man’s hard drive and recent online transactions to a portable storage medium, in this case a portable hard drive. It would take a few minutes for that, she went through the files looking for financial documents. The download finished and she crept back to the main scene.

The two patrons were settled and Becky was brought to the dressing room where Sunny met up with her.

“Did you find anything?! Tell me I didn’t get slapped for nothing, you have something right?” Becky asked. Sunny smiled.

“I have everything on his computer. We just have to find it. Don’t worry, we got this. We’re gonna get this bastard,” Sunny cheered. They finished off the night and Sunny returned to Jessica’s apartment to change out of her work clothes. She went to the door and was met by Jessica.

“Here are some clothes and your backpack, you can’t come in. I’m sorry. I’ll see you tomorrow. Or I’ll call you.” Jessica said, in a noticeable rush.

“What the hell? You won’t let me sleep here still?! Jessica, that isn’t cool. Why can’t I stay here?”

“I have someone over... so I mean no, you can’t stay here. Sorry maybe some other time. Okay?”

“Who do you have over? Gayoon? Again? Can’t I meet her?”

“No and no. Please leave. Now!” Jessica demanded.

“You’re cheating on Gayoon!? What is wrong with you?”

“I’m not cheating on Gayoon, okay? One, she’s not by girlfriend. We’re not dating, so it’s not cheating. Two, you can’t ask what’s wrong with me, I’m helping you out. You’re on the wanted list. Three, leave and get out!”

“Fine. I’m going. It is someone I can get an autograph from? Is it? It is huh? Think you can get me one too?”

“Get your out of here! Now, or I’m turning you in.” Jessica said.

Sunny headed back to Bora’s apartment as it was the only place she could go to comfortably spend the night and look at the hard drive. She reached the complex and was met with a minor annoyance from the young junior agent but she let Sunny in.

“Unnie, I thought you have a place to stay by now. I mean seriously? What is this, the fourth or fifth night now?”

“Hey, you don’t mind, and besides it’s not like you have any serious case or workload to be bothered by so it’s okay. Right?” Sunny stated. She removed her coat and made to her usual spot in the living room and set up her laptop and began to look over the contents of the drive.

“What is it that you’re working on, and what on Earth are you wearing?” Bora asked noticing the outfit Sunny had on.

“I gave myself a mission. It’s part of my undercover work. I’m taking down a loan shark. Well kind of,” Sunny stated in a nonchalant manner, as if it was normal for her to be working.

“Really? Don’t you have more important things to do? I don’t know, like hiding from the authorities and the people trying to kill you?!”

“This is nothing, it won’t take me any effort. I am bored; this is the most fun I’ve had in a while. Some people did try to kill me, but I took care of them.”

“Oh my god, so it was you, in the mall. Who is the poor civilian you took hostage?”

“Oh!!! I wanted to tell someone!” Sunny stopped what she was doing and turned to Bora as if she had the biggest news to give. “I saved Hyomin’s life today! You know T-ara’s Hyomin? Bo peep bo peep bo peep bo peep owhhhhh. Yeah, I saved her life. She fell in the street and I saved her from a bus, but then I saved her again when the two guys chased us and were shooting at us. It was pretty neat. Oh man, I should have asked for a photo or an autograph. Dangit.”

“Unnie, Sunny. I love you and all but I think you’re going way out of your way to have a little fun. Besides you can’t put someone’s life in danger and then call it saving their life. That defeats the purpose. Why did you drag her along with you? She’s an idol. What were you thinking?”

“Um... I was thinking of her life... If I had left her, they might have grabbed her to interrogate her. She would have known nothing and they would have killed her because she was a loose end. So yeah, I did save her life. If I hadn’t saved her life the first time, then I would not have put her life in danger but by doing so I saved her life like twice, maybe even three times today.” Sunny said, feeling proud of herself.

“WHAT?!?! Does that even make sense? You’re older than me, you’re supposed to be wise and smart, but all you do is confuse me. What the hell Sunny? Fine, I’m glad you saved Hyomin and I’m glad you have a little project on the side, finish it up and focus on getting your life back on track,” Bora finally said accepting the thought that she wouldn’t understand Sunny.

Sunny went back to the computer and found photos and addresses, read emails and documents. She began going backwards to trace financial trails to see if she could pinch Mr. Mean Guy where he would hurt the most; his wallet. She could see his monthly statements, the payments for utilities, large cash withdrawals that were most likely used to pay wages of the guards. She went through both business and personal accounts looking for anything to use against him. She found a constant some of money transferred nearly monthly to external account.

“Where are you going? Every month... what is your secret?” Sunny asked herself. She had connected the dots to many of the transactions except that one. She moved to looking through the personal files and she found an answer. She had been working four hours over her laptop and finally found a perfect weapon to use against Mr. Mean Guy; he had a child. It must have been some illegitimate child, because when she followed him home the other night, she didn’t notice any children, or maybe it was his actual child and he pays support, school tution or something for.

She spent the next two hours trying to figure out what the money was used for. Sunny had built a little folder of documents to use in blackmail against Mr. Mean Guy, but this child would be the icing to her cake. She fell asleep on the floor under the table before finding any answers to her questions.

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

“Hmm.. that’s pretty good shooting. So that’s the girl? She’s the NIS officer on the run?” Tiffany asked the next day at her office. The man nodded yes to her. “How did we get a copy of this?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“I’m sure I don’t. So this little gal is the one who went and out caused a little havoc inside the mall? Who did she kill?”

“We don’t know. We think it’s a gun for hire. Pretty much a floater in the system. Coroner reports the name on the ID is legit, but the person otherwise is clean. Like I said, just floats in the system.”

“She can shoot, but she’s constantly on the run. I don’t see how NIS hasn’t caught her yes. If this was our problem, our case, it’d be over by now.” Tiffany stated.

“Well it’s not ours. It’s a Korean matter, we don’t need to get involved.”

“What a pity. She looks like she’d be a fun target too. Oh well. What is the report from the Pacific Command? Anything news worthy?” Tiffany asked, switching the subject away from Sunny and onto her daily intelligence work at the office.  

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Thanks for reading. I hope I can keep this going. Enjoy guys.