She woke up the next day too early for her liking, and then remembered it was a Monday and it was time for school and almost cried. That was the absolute last things she needed right now. 

She didn’t even really bother getting ready, just changed quickly into her uniform and tied her hair up. She got back into bed and decided she would just sleep until she had to leave for school when the doorbell rang. She really had been through too much recently. She took care of her dead best friends niece, got hurt in a fight alongside her dead best friends cousin, possibly blew her cover with Baekhyun, and she might have stumbled across something strange about the company. And that was only a part of it; she didn’t even feel like thinking about her other issues. She felt like she needed to sleep for an entire week. 

The doorbell rang, and she sighed in frustration. After throwing a small fit and the resisting the urge to scream, she slowly made her way down the stairs. 

“Hey.” Baekhyun said cheerily. She suddenly had a headache as she remembered some of her other issues. 

“What do you want?” She spat out, and he stared at her surprised.

“Are you-“ 

“What do you want?” She repeated, louder this time. He paused and frowned. 

“I thought we should... rehearse. Our breakup.” He said, somewhat quietly. Jin stared at him. 

“Sounds stupid.” She said after a while, and he pursed his lips together. 

“Yea, but I thought it could be kinda... fun.” He said tentatively. She forgot they were really going to do this. It had been his brilliant idea to break up dramatically and in public. In her shocked and overwhelmed state, she simply agreed. 

“Let’s just wing it.” She suggested, not really up for this plan, but she was up for a good fight. 

“Oh, okay.” He said, sounding disappointed. Any other time she would have been sorry. This time, she rushed him out the door and into her car, and she drove them to school without a word.

•••••

After driving back home to get her backpack which she had conveniently forgotten, they barely had time to make it to class, let alone have this dramatic breakup. Or at least that’s what Jin thought. 

“Okay, it’s now or never.” He whispered to her as he walked her to class. 

“Seriously? Right now.” She whispered back. He continued. 

“I can’t believe you right now!” He exclaimed, and she jumped back in surprise. She barely had time to recover. 

“What are you talking about?” She said, tiredly. 

“Don’t give me that. You lied to me again.” He said. Again, she wasn’t expecting that either. That seemed a little too personal, but she continued anyway. 

“I never lied to you.” She said, sighing dramatically for the added effect. 

“Oh my god. Are you ing kidding me? You lie to me about everything!” He yelled. She looked around, feeling a bit uncomfortable now. 

“I never lied to you!” She reiterated, not really knowing what else to say. 

“Please,” he scoffed, “You lied about yourself. You lied about your feelings for me. You lied about your feelings for Taehyung.” He spat out, and now she knew he wasn’t pretending. This was how he really felt about her. 

“I never lied about any of that. I- I- it’s just you, okay?” She stuttered, not feeling comfortable about this whole situation. She reached out for him to try and calm him down, or let him know she was being sincere, but he shoved her hands away. 

“We’re done.” He started to walk away, but something in her snapped. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back roughly. He stumbled back. 

“Well, what about you?” She yelled right back, and now it was his turn to look surprised, “it’s always been Taeyeon for you hasn’t it? You’ve just been using me this whole time. You never gave a sh*t about me. So why does it suddenly matter how I feel?” 

“I’m- we’re done.” He shook his head, still looking surprised, but he hurried out before she could stop him again. She stood in the hallway for a few minutes, looking to her sides and seeing only a few people standing around. While they were staring at them, she figured she could handle this since it was only a few people. But then she turned around to see her entire class staring at her. She made her way to her desk, feeling embarrassed and numb. 

••••• 

“Hey that was pretty good!” Baekhyun said to her after class, when everyone had gone. She stared at him in disbelief. 

“ off.” She grabbed her things and walked around him.

“Woah, wait, what’s wrong?” He said, grabbing onto her hands. 

“What the is wrong with you? That was not a fake fight.” She hissed, trying to pull away, but he kept a pretty strong grip. 

“C’mon, I didn’t mean it-“ he started, but she wasn’t having it. She’s had enough. 

“I don’t get it. I thought you liked me.” She blurted out, then realized what she had just said out loud. But she stayed her ground and watched him instead. 

“I- it wasn’t- what?” He said, staring at her. 

“The other day, we- and then you said...” she didn’t know how to put it in words. 

“I know, but... I don’t know, I was just thinking... you didn’t look ready at all... and then I thought about Taeyeon-“ 

“Oh, my god!” She walked out of the classroom. She ignored him calling after her. She had more important things to worry about right now. 

••••••• 

As soon as school ended she ran to her car. She needed to get away from this place as soon as possible. She got in her car and sighed, resting her forehead against the steering wheel while she carefully massaged her temples. Without even noticing, one of her hands made it to the back of her head, where it came in contact with her scar. She left her hand there for a bit, then sighed again and shook her head. She just needed some sleep. 

Just as she was about to turn on her car, someone knocked on her window. She jumped and looked up at the person responsible: Junmyeon, Luhan and Minseok stood behind him, staring at her intently. Junmyeon waved and gestured for her to get out. Jin got out warily. 

“What’s up?” She said cautiously, crossing her arms. 

“You’re a part of the company aren’t you?” Junmyeon blurted out, almost excitedly. Jin stared at him in shook, then tried to play it off. 

“The what?” She said, laughing a bit.

“Don’t bother, we’ve gone through your files.” Minseok said, clearly amused. 

“Sorry about your family, by the way.” Luhan said, offering her a small smile. 

“Uh, thanks,” She said, still trying to process everything, “How did you- How do you- How’d you find out?” She choked out, feeling her face grow hot and her palms getting sweaty. 

“Well, we had our suspicious from the beginning. Everything about your arrival was weird. You were very quick and persistent in getting close to all of us. And you excel at everything. Almost like you were trained to. And although you were our friend, you were still too cautious around us. If it was just you, I would’ve let it go. But you and your friends were all the same. Then we searched all of your files and found we were right.” Junmyeon said, sounding proud of his achievement and observations. Jin continued to stare at him. 

“So what now?” She swallowed thickly, not knowing exactly where he was headed. 

“Oh, don’t worry. We won’t say anything. We’re in the company too.” Luhan said, noticing her expression. She tried to force a smile but was still confused. 

“So you were just curious about us?” She tilted her head. 

“Well, yes and no,” Minseok took over this time, “I mean, we’re always excited to find friends in the same company. But we have our... issues with the company. And some worries” 

“Worries?” She was still trying to process the fact that she actually blew her cover. She failed her mission. Was she that bad, or were they that good? Had they all been getting trained as well? 

“We think there’s people after us. Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether it’s rivaling companies or our own.” Luhan said, frowning and shaking his head. Jin was more confused than ever. 

“What?” She said, uncrossing her arms and placing her hands on her hips. 

“We still haven’t confirmed that,” Junmyeon intervened, waving his hand dismissively, “The main issue is... well, the others,” he sighed, and seemed to be thinking of what to say. 

“Don’t know?” She guessed, raising an eyebrow. 

“Definitely not,” He continued, “and while we can defend ourselves, they can’t. That’s what we’re here to talk about.” 

“I know I have to protect them,” she raised a hand to stop him, “that’s literally our mission.” 

“Yes, well, things have been a bit more complicated recently, haven’t they?” He said suggestively, and she instantly knew he was talking about Baekhyun. She averted her gaze elsewhere. 

“We understand that you guys have your...  issues right now,” Minseok started off carefully, “but that shouldn’t get in the way of your job.” She knew he didn’t mean to hurt her, but that comment stung a bit. He had a point, though. She briefly thought, well I am a teenager, but grimaced at the excuse and shook her head. 

“I know,” she muttered, “I won’t let it distract me from my mission.” She said stoically, pursing her lips together, knowing this truth all along, but feeling more angry at herself now that she was hearing it out loud. 

“Hey, we get it. I mean it is high school, right?” Junmyeon said lightly, looking concerned at her sudden change. 

“For others, I suppose.” She bit the inside of her cheek and thought about how she should make amends. 

“We’re not getting you in trouble,” Luhan said, coming forward and placing a hand on her shoulder, “We just want to make sure they’re safe.” He bent down to meet her eye level. 

“I know.” She said, forcing a smile and nodding. She felt incredibly stupid. 

“Sorry for unloading all that information in you so suddenly,” Junmyeon said, “see you tomorrow.” He and the others waved and walked away. 

She leaned against her car heavily and started thinking about everything they said. It only made her feel more worn out and confused. They knew about the company. About her and her partners. They couldn’t trust the company. She rubbed her forehead tiredly. She wondered if she should find Baekhyun now or wait a day. Then she decided to push her embarrassment aside and go find him right away. 

Luckily, when she looked up, he was already walking in her direction. She initially panicked, not expecting to find him so soon. She took a breath to calm herself down, then approached him. Before he could say anything, she blurted out: “I’m sorry.” 

“No,” He said immediately, “I’m-“ 

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” She interrupted him quickly, “I wasn’t having a good day and snapped. Whether you want to be with Taeyeon or not is completely up to you and none of my business. I’m happy for you, actually. But I was tired and angry and found the whole thing just... stupid.” She rushed, trying to find the right words without upsetting him. She groaned and placed her face in her hands. 

“Jin, it’s fine, if anything-“ he started again, but she interrupted him once more. 

“We’re still friends, right?” She said quickly, facing him again. She had to put her feelings aside. Keeping him safe was more important, and to do that she had to be close. 

“Of course.” He said, smiling. 

“Good.” She said, smiling back. They stayed quiet for a minute, both looking down. He looked up suddenly.

“What you said this morning-“ he started, but someone distracted him. 

“Baek!” Taeyeon yelled from across the parking lot, smiling brightly and waving him over. He looked back and waved, then back at Jin. 

“I’ll talk to you later, yeah?” He waved at her and walked towards Taeyeon. 

Jin turned around and got in her car, sitting down and sighing once again. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed him turn back to look at her, his gaze lingering. Ignoring it, she her car and drove out of the parking lot.