A girl was suspiciously waiting outside of a training room, but when the girl she was looking for came into sight, “Jessica!”

Jessica was startled when an arm was thrown around her neck with a paper shoved in her face, “you passed!”

Jessica took hold of the paper, “Wow!”

“I might have stolen that early so Taeyeon doesn’t even know yet, but I wanted to give you a small gift along with this.”

The girl raised her brow in surprise, “Gift?”

“Just follow me!” Yuri stated as she started to drag Jessica down the hall towards the physical training rooms. Jessica wondered why they were going to this area since she had her physical training earlier, “Just follow behind me quietly okay?”

Jessica looked at the door before looking back at Yuri, “OK.”

Yuri was smiling from ear to ear as she slowly opened the door and peaked inside. She saw the training still going on so she reached back and snuck Jessica in. Jessica noticed that there were people from Taeyeon’s unit huddling around watching something but she couldn’t see. Yuri turned, “come on. We are going to go up front.”

It didn’t seem like Jessica had a choice since Yuri took her hand and squeezed them through all the males that happened to be watching. Once past all the spectators, Jessica could see that Taeyeon was in a practice match against Yunho.

“I just found out from a friend. Normally practice matches are for skill but Yunho wanted to do a full on fight.”

“Is he good?”

“I’d say the two are about equal in skill set…so yea…he is good.” Yuri was smiling although Jessica felt her stomach cringe in concern, “You said you wanted to watch Taeyeon fight…she will have to give it her all here.”

The two fighters bowed in respect before assuming a defensive stance. Taeyeon had her jacket off leaving her in a grey tank top and cargo pants with black boots. Since it was training, Taeyeon also sported finger cut-off black gloves to protect her hands. Meanwhile, Yunho chose to wear a tight fitting dark green tee with cargo pants and black boots with no gloves. Both were ready for a serious fight from the attire they were sporting.

“Start!”

It was Taeyeon who went on the attack first with a fast jab at Yunho’s face with her elbow but the boy was able to back away just in time with a counter attack into Taeyeon’s ribs. The crowd gasped at the painful impact Taeyeon received but the girl seemed unfazed as she ducked and tried to clear Yunho’s feet from under him but he jumped and slamed his fist down. This time Taeyeon was able to dodge the powerful blow before springing back up onto her feet. The two fighters started to exchange punches but both were dancing between attack and dodging each attempt.

Deciding to end their little dance Taeyeon uses both of her hands and pushes on Yunho’s chest hard, throwing the boy off balance for a second. Within that one second, Taeyeon ran at him and wrapped her leg’s around his neck. Using the torque in her hips and body weight, Taeyeon flipped the boy onto the ground into a powerful chokehold with her legs. With oxygen slowly leaving his lungs, Yunho had no choice but to tap out.

Taeyeon smiled in victory, “Winner is Taeyeon!”

The crowd cheered at the amazing display of tactic, flexibility and strength with a fight that only last a few minutes. Although Taeyeon was lost in a crowd of people congratulating her, the girl managed to spot another girl who was not part of her unit, “Jessica?”

Yuri pushed Jessica forward a bit so that she was in clear view, “Hey...”

Taeyeon smiled as she came face-to-face with her student, “Why are you here?”

“Yuri...” Jessica looked back to point at Yuri but the girl was gone, “I ah just wanted to watch a fight. You were amazing!”

Taeyeon blushed bashfully, “It was nothing...just takes some practice.”

“Yea...” Jessica fumbled around with the paper in her hand before handing it to Taeyeon, “I wanted to show you this too.”

Taeyeon took the crumpled paper from Jessica’s hand and started to read with a huge grin on her face, “You passed!”

Jessica smiled and nodded.

Taeyeon was filled with excitement that she went in to give Jessica a tight hug, “I knew you could do it.”

Jessica stood there frozen wondering if she should return the hug or not but as her mind was going haywire, the hug ended and Taeyeon gasped in pain from her side, “Are you ok?”

Taeyeon clenched her side, “I am just going to put some ice on this quick...then we can celebrate. Maybe do something you like to do?”

Jessica scrambled to Taeyeon’s side as the girl started to leave the training room, “let me help you.”

------------------------------

The two girls made it to the infirmary, “Oh Taeyeon? What are you doing here?”

Taeyeon smiled at the girl, “Seolhyun....I just need some ice.”

The girl led Taeyeon to a bed, “Just sit here. I will go get it.”

Taeyeon patted next to her, “Have a seat. Nurse Seolhyun will get the ice.”

Jessica looked around the room in concern. She could see that Taeyeon was familiar with this place. How many times has she been admitted before? “Here is the ice...do you need help applying?”

Taeyeon laughed at the nurse, “My side is hurt, not my arms. I can manage.”

The nurse laughed, “Well you can call me over if you need it okay?”

Taeyeon nodded, “Oh nurse Seolhyun?”

The nurse turned back, “I just wanted to introduce my student, Jessica here...Take care of her well in the future.”

The nurse gave Jessica a bright smile, “Nice to meet you Jessica. Please don’t see this as a scary place. All the doctors here are well trained and very friendly.”

Jessica only returned the smile until the nurse turned and walked away from their bed.

“Jessica can you help me a bit? Hold the ice for a moment.”

Returning her attention back on Taeyeon, Jessica nearly suffered a massive heart attack with the view of Taeyeon slowly pealing up her tank top to show the purple and yellow discoloration on her pale skin.

“Do you mind holding the ice on the area here?”

Jessica slowly willed her arms up to place the bag of ice on Taeyeon’s skin. The older girl shivered from the sudden coldness but soon adjusted to the numbing feeling the ice gave her. “Does it hurt?”

Taeyeon gave a weak chuckle, “A bit. Yunho isn’t exactly weak and he got me good this time.”

“Do you always beat him?”

“Mmmm?” Taeyeon thought, “I think he got me once or twice before.”

Jessica saw Taeyeon wiggling around in discomfort so she took a spare pillow, “Lift up, I am going to put a pillow behind you to support your back.”

Taeyeon smiled as a thanks for the girl’s thoughtfulness so she turned more onto her side to let Jessica put the pillow in place. As she turned, Jessica noted a streak of burn scars protruding from her back. She couldn’t tell if the scars covered Taeyeon’s whole back but she could see some of the scaring from where the tank top rode up. Not wanting to see the sight, Jessica closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

“Jessica?”

Jessica shook away thoughts of who or what could have done that to Taeyeon’s back, “Yea?”

“What did you want to do today? You know to celebrate your exam?”

“Shouldn’t you stay at home to rest?”

“Did you have something strenuous in mind?”

“No...just you got injured today.”

“I am tougher than that. Tell me what you want to do.”

Jessica thought about it a bit, “I don’t know...I haven’t really thought about it.”

Taeyeon adjusted a bit so she could look at Jessica, “Oh come on, there must be something. Something that you have thought about since coming here.”

“You might think it is stupid...”

“I would never think that. Tell me your heart’s desire and I will fulfill it.”

“I want to go by the bakery.”

“The bakery? You want some sweets?”

“Not the one in the Resistance...the one I lived at before coming here. I want to see if Mr. Ok is doing well.”

“So you want to go above ground?”

“I told you it was stupid.”

Taeyeon sat up suddenly making the ice fall off, “Let’s go. We can go there near dusk so no one sees us.”

Jessica picked up the ice, “No no...it is risky and you are hurt...”

Taeyeon quickly pulled down her tank top and slid off the bed, “Don’t worry about it. Come on, we should change into some civilian clothes first.”

------------------------------

Jessica’s palms were sweaty from the rush of nerves, “Taeyeon...we should go back.”

Taeyeon stopped and turned behind her, “I told you it is fine.”

The two girls continued to walk down the hallway until they reached the door and Taeyeon knocked. With the door opening, “Mission?”

Taeyeon shook her head, “Just a stroll.”

The officer at the door laughed, “Taeyeon you are crazy.”

Taeyeon patted the boy on the shoulder, “Keep an eye out for us. We will be back in a few hours.”

Jessica followed Taeyeon through the open door and exited the secret passage. Taeyeon stopped and scouted around the area before opening the door to the warehouse so they could exit.

“Just act natural.”

Jessica tried walking normally but she felt like everyone was glancing at her like an outcast.

Taeyeon saw Jessica acting funny, “Jessica. If you want to be one of us, you have to come up and down a lot. Just imagine your days as a Party member.”

Jessica closed her eyes and thought of the times she would walk to and from the bakery with Taecyeon. Those were the happiest times she had as part of the Party.

Seeing Jessica relax, Taeyeon started to walk again with Jessica beside her, “This is nice.”

Jessica looked back at Taeyeon who was smiling happily, “What is?”

“Being up here without a reason for work. Almost like I am living a normal life.”

Jessica looked around and saw most of her surroundings haven’t changed one bit since she was gone, “Have you imagined what life would be like if there was no war?”

Taeyeon nodded, “Almost every day of my life.”

“What do you want the most in that life?”

“My parents.”

Jessica nodded, “Me too.”

Taeyeon sighed, “I was too young to remember my real parents before their death but I have an idea in my head what they could look like...what we could do together...the pains we didn’t have to endure.”

“What do you want to do most with your parents?”

Taeyeon gave a sad smile, “Yuri said her parents would coddle her to sleep while reading a book...that sounds nice. To feel the warmth of someone you love holding you tight and giving you the safety of their arms...I wanted to feel that from my parents.”

Jessica remembered the times she had with her sister and parents in a similar manner, “It is nice...”

Just as the conversation turned depressing, the girls arrived at the bakery, “Did you want to get closer?”

Jessica looked around for potential customers that could identify her but she thought it might be okay to get a better look, “We can go closer.”

Taeyeon looked around to see the best route so that they wouldn’t be noticed by the crowd near the bakery, “Come on. I think we can look into that side window.”

Jessica took Taeyeon’s hand as the older girl took careful steps to get closer. The two went behind the house and peaked in. Jessica noticed the same boys from last time helping the old man out as they worked hard to produce enough bread for the day, “It seems he is doing well.”

Taeyeon decided to take a quick look before walking away, “we should go back before someone spots us.”

Jessica was reluctant to pull her eyes away from the window but she quickly stumbled backwards when a door opened next to her, “Jessica? W-why are you here?”

Jessica gulped, “Taecyeon....”

Author's Note

Now now...I think I was beeing too nice to you readers. How about a bit suspense this time?

Happy readings!