CHAPTER SEVEN: Anthill

As soon as they got back to Seongnam Base, Major Lee had a mission waiting for them. They were to help establish a major outpost in Kaesong, one of the southernmost provinces of North Korea. It would be the start of the South Korean advancement into the North. So far, the South Koreans had been on the defensive, but now the general wanted to launch an offensive strategy that targeted the North Korean commanders. The North Korean soldiers were just grunts, and Pyeongyang was the nerve center. Take out the head, and the rest of the body will be useless. It was an attack that the North Koreans could never launch against them because the South Koreans had commanders in Seongnam, Incheon, Uijeongbu, Daegu, Gyeongju and Busan.

Major Lee agreed to let Jessica become their field medic since Tiffany was still following the Fireflies. When Sooyoung asked for Jessica's permission, she readily agreed because she would get to stay with Tiffany.

They flew by dual-rotor helicopter, a CH-47 Chinook, to Munsan train station, which ran from South Korea to North Korea by the Freedom bridge. The North Korean stop was Dorasan station. Construction workers had dug an underground tunnel to just outside the basement of Dorasan station. As soon as the South Koreans were ready to take over the train station, they would punch through the last one metre of dirt and concrete and flush the enemy out like ants out of their anthill. Dorasan station, in Kaesong, would be their first outpost in North Korea.

Team Charlie was waiting for them. The drill, as per usual, was to clear out as many enemy soldiers, and then step away to let Team Charlie finish up the mission.

The North Koreans used the Freedom Bridge to drive trucks of supplies and soldiers into the South. Intelligence said that they used Dorasan as a stopping point. Team Firefly would storm the station, and takeover Freedom Bridge. Team Charlie, a platoon of forty-four men, would split into two groups. The larger group would follow Team Firefly to the train station. The smaller group would cut off anyone fleeing into South Korea by the Freedom Bridge. Once the outpost was successfully established, more platoons and ammunition would be transported to secure Dorasan station.

Munsan train station was musty with the smell of construction and man sweat. Taeyeon and Yoona were waiting outside as Sooyoung as confirmed the strategy with the construction head and Team Charlie's captain. While Yoona looked excited rocking on the balls of her feet, Taeyeon was feeling nervous about going into enemy territory.

Tiffany and Jessica were sitting on the doorway of the empty Chinook. They were talking in low voices, and when Taeyeon approached them, Jessica stopped speaking. Tiffany flashed a fast smile. "Hey, Taeyeon. Is it time to go?"

"Not yet. I have a question for you," Taeyeon said.

"Sure."

"What kind of stories will you be writing?"

"I'm really glad that they suggested I follow Firefly," Tiffany said. "I want to write a series of articles about you guys. After that maybe I'll either stay with some civilians and report on that aspect of the war, or at a hospital. But you guys are really interesting. The closest soldiers I've seen are the ones in China, but they're more like doped athletes instead of supersoldiers."

"Oh, that's nice," Taeyeon said. She had tuned out after Tiffany said 'series of articles' because this journalist was very talkative. It sounded really good though. "When's your first article going to be published?"

Tiffany laughed. "Are you excited to see your name in the papers?"

Taeyeon shrugged, embarrassed that Tiffany thought she was so shallow. "Was just curious about what you do since you're going to be with us for a while."

Tiffany's smile faltered. "I hope I'm not being a bother. I don't want you guys to think I'm getting in the way. Just let me know if I can do better with that."

"Oh, not at all," Taeyeon said, hoping she wasn't being rude. "Don't... don't worry, we're not easily offended, and we'll definitely let you know if you're in the way. It concerns our lives, after all."

"That's good then. I completely understand. Just let me know," Tiffany said. "I'll be emailing my first article to my editor when I can get an Internet connection."

Telecommunications were down all across Korea. The military had set up a private, encrypted network, and Tiffany probably would get guest access at Seongnam Base, so Taeyeon could only wait until they were at base for a significant amount of time. She hoped that Tiffany was writing her article and not just gathering information when with that.

"Cool," Taeyeon said. "Um. I'm going to pee."

She turned to go to the train station. Jessica hopped off the Chinook. "I need to go too."

They walked in silence. Taeyeon wondered if Jessica really wanted to use the restroom. They did nothing but make out briefly in the same shower stall the first thing after getting to base from Anyang. Jessica had caught Taeyeon copping a look while she was taking off her clothes, and Taeyeon had slipped through Jessica's shower curtains. Jessica hadn't kicked her out. 

When they got to the train station restroom, it smelled bad, not at all a conducive place to get intimate. Jessica waited outside. She hadn't needed a toilet after all. Taeyeon finished her business quickly and led Jessica to one of the further exits, behind a corner.

"What if somebody sees us?" Jessica whispered.

" would hit the fan," Taeyeon said. "We just have to be careful."

"Let's do this another time."

"Shh... don't worry, please? I gotta burn my nerves before we go in."

"You're like a teenager," Jessica said. When Taeyeon grinned at her, she said, "Is this what you do for pre-skirmish jitters? Who did you use before me?"

"No one," Taeyeon said, not liking what Jessica was insinuating about her. "Hey, I haven't kissed anyone since I got deployed."

Jessica lightly pushed Taeyeon away. "Alright then. Good. I know we're doing this casually, but don't talk about other people while we have this going on. Or this is over."

"No problem. I only seem to have the hots for you."

They shared a hurried kiss. Jessica ed a low button on Taeyeon's uniform and slipped her hand in to feel Taeyeon's tight abs. It made Taeyeon feel y and she wanted Jessica to keep touching her. Then Taeyeon's radio squawked. "Taeng, where are you?"

"I'm in the station. Coming out now."

"Okay, hurry up."

Taeyeon buttoned up her shirt and smoothed it down. She felt pumped up to kill some Northerners now. Jessica's normally tight ponytail had loosened. Taeyeon tucked a strand of hair behind Jessica's ear, and then they went back to the Chinook to meet Sooyoung and the others.

The construction workers blew a hole through the last metre of concrete with dynamite, and Team Firefly rushed in. Sooyoung took the lead, with Taeyeon and Yoona right behind her. The enemy had heard the explosion and were rushing down to the basement. Taeyeon shot at the men running through the doorway. 

Finally, they smartened up and stopped rushing in through the bottleneck, throwing in a grenade instead. Taeyeon took cover behind a pillar as it exploded. Her bones shook, but she wasn't hurt. Yoona pulled out her own grenade and flung it through the doorway like a softballer's pitch so that it ricocheted up the stairs. They heard screams when it exploded. Sooyoung threw a smoke bomb, and Taeyeon and Yoona rushed into the smoke, hurrying up the steps.

The first man that Taeyeon saw in the fumes was holding a submachine gun. Taeyeon shot him in the head until his skull fragmented.

They continued running and killing, storming through all three levels of the train station quickly. Any survivors that they left would be picked up by the backup. Once they had covered every square inch of Dorasan train station, Sooyoung called Team Charlie-1 in, and told Team Charlie-2 to get ready on their end of Freedom Bridge.

"Taeng, Yoong, are you okay?" Sooyoung asked.

"I'm good," Taeyeon said.

Yoona lifted her arm to show a bleeding cut along her forearm, and then spoke into her radio. "Jessica, could you come up?"

"Yep." One of the Team Charlie-1 guys would Jessica up directly.

Jessica appeared minutes later. She quickly sterilized Yoona's wound and washed away the blood before bandaging it tightly.

"Charlie-two," Sooyoung spoke into her walkie talkie, "we're going now."

"Hurry up, Firefly. The enemy has already started crossing the bridge. We need back up."

"Got it. Over and out," Sooyoung said. She holstered her walkie talkie, and Firefly ran towards Freedom Bridge, gunning down any soldiers along the way. By the time Firefly got to the bridge, there were only a few enemies lingering, trying to blow up their end of the bridge with dynamite. Sooyoung, Yoona and Taeyeon pumped lead into their bodies until they were no longer breathing.

Leaving Team Charlie to secure the area, Team Firefly, Jessica and Tiffany got onto the Chinook and flew back to Seongnam. Major Lee assigned them a short skirmish in Apgujeong, and they were back at base for dinner. Tiffany wanted to write her report, so she and Jessica didn't join Team Firefly for dinner.

"I want to discuss the ambush at Geumto-dong," Sooyoung said between mouthfuls of rice. "Wasn't it fishy how the Northerners were just waiting for us like that?"

"Oh, right," Taeyeon said. Geumto-dong felt like a long time ago. "I remember thinking that there has to be a spy in this base. They were too well-positioned to have been following us. They knew where we were gonna be and waited there."

"Who knows about our mission details?" Yoona asked Sooyoung.

"Major Lee, the General, and other higher ups. We can rule them out," Sooyoung said. "There's adminstrative staff and other officers who handle the scheduling and paperwork. I'll start an inquiry into them. Then, of course, there's the people here that the Americans might have talked to."

"Have you told Major Lee?" Taeyeon asked.

"I mentioned it briefly when we first got back to Anyang. I'll find him again later after this."

They continued plowing through their mound of tofu, spicy chicken, spinach and rice. Then Team Charlie's captain, Woo Jiho, came up to them with a tray of food. "Hey, Firefly. Could I join you?"

"Sure."

When he sat down, he took out a folded paper out of his pocket and flattened it out on the table. "We found this off the enemies we killed today."

The paper had potrait sketches that vaguely resembled Sooyoung, Taeyeon and Yoona's faces.

"You're on their blacklist, it seems," Jiho said. "They've put a bounty on your heads. Ten million KPW's for each of you. So watch out, okay?"

Yoona grinned. "I was wondering when they were going to take us seriously."

"Be careful, yeah?" Jiho said. "I'm not just saying this for your sakes. You guys have become a really significant part of the whole army. Your success is tied with the everyone's morale."

"Thanks, Captain Woo," Sooyoung said. "We'll take more care from now on."

"That's good," Jiho said, enjoying his spicy chicken. "I wish they had more people in the program you're in. Breaching Kaesong today was so much easier and faster."

"If you're here, who's at Dorasan station now?" Yoona asked.

"Lieutenant Colonel Jeon and two platoons," Jiho replied. "We're going back there at the end of the week. They're going to secure more outposts around Kaesong and flush any Northerners out."

After dinner, Taeyeon went to the rooms that the American medical officers were assigned. Jessica was sharing a room with two white women and one black woman. Taeyeon bowed awkwardly while they smiled and introduced themselves loudly. Taeyeon brought Jessica up to the rooftop. The door that Sooyoung had kicked down months ago had been replaced by a brand new one. The knob turned without creaking, and Taeyeon closed the door behind her. They were alone in the darkness here. There was a soft breeze. 

Jessica brushed a hand over Taeyeon's cheek. Taeyeon had sustained a laceration during their mission in Apgujeong, and Jessica had patched it up. Now it was just a scar. Jessica pressed her lips against it, and Taeyeon turned her head to capture Jessica's mouth in her own. They tasted and kissed each other hurriedly. Jessica bit on Taeyeon's lower lip and hard on it. Taeyeon could feel her desperation, and wondered again what she was trying to numb. Taeyeon's thoughts went to Hyoyeon and Soojung, and her own actions became rougher. The faster she went with Jessica, the better she felt.

A/N: Thanks for the response last chapter:) Let me know how the story's going!