Chapter 7 - CHAPTER 7

"Give me your best shot.", Jisoo went on a defensive mode as she watched Chaeng getting up after being thrown to the ground. They have been doing this for an hour now and Chaeng still can't land a perfect hit. Jisoo is not looking for a perfect one though, just something that will catch her off-guard. She smirked at the redhead as Chaeng glared at her and proceeded again in a fighting stance. 𝙄 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙄'𝙢 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙜𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙. It's not that she just wanted to, but she needs to. The liquor heist on Sunday would be very dangerous especially for Chaeyoung, who doesn't have any experience with regards to this kind of activity and she can't convince Lisa otherwise. She might just as well teach Chaeyoung how not to die.

"I'm getting tired.", Chaeng complained.

"You're not. You wanted this, right? You needed this to stay alive in this kind of life."

Chaeng groaned. She started her attack. She started taunting Jisoo by doing a jab cross accompanied by her footwork, a basic technique she learned before in Muay Thai. Jisoo clearly won't fall for a basic technique and seeing clearly that Jisoo had her defense up, it would be really hard to land a solid blow.

𝙃𝙢𝙢. 𝙈𝙪𝙖𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙞 𝙝𝙪𝙝? 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜. Jisoo was amused. They trained for this martial art when they were younger. It's also known as the "art of eight limbs'' as it is being executed and characterized by combined use of fists, elbows, knees and shins. Chaeng probably doesn't remember everything she learned when they were younger because she was never really meant to be involved in the dark side of their business and was just doing it because Jisoo's uncle Leon, Lisa and Chaeng's father, just wants Chaeng to learn it for self-defense purposes. Unlike Lisa, who practically spent most of her life training and preparing to succeed Leon as the Alpha when the right time comes. Shit happened and they never expected Lisa to take over the position at a very young age. It is a very huge and heavy responsibility to lead a huge group but Lisa needs to continue the legacy her family has started.

Jisoo was slightly zoning out as she remembers the past and just noticed that Chaeyoung practically stopped advancing forward. The red-head stopped attacking and is also now in a defense stance. Jisoo's eyebrows scrunched up.

This whole training thingy is really draining the hell out of Chaeyoung and she knows Jisoo won't let her go that easily. She needs to find a weak spot. She kept taunting Jisoo with jabs but Jisoo still had her wall up. How come she's all drenched in sweat but Jisoo still looked so fresh after an hour of training? Is she really that weak for Jisoo to not even break a sweat?

Then it hit her. She realized that she keeps on attacking Jisoo but the brunette is just always in defensive mode. All Jisoo does is counter or block her movements, search an opening and bring her down. That's the reason why she's feeling worn out. Jisoo is purposely wearing her down.

𝙊𝙝. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙪𝙝? Chaeyoung stopped advancing forward and proceeded on doing a defensive stance which made Jisoo's eyebrows scrunched up. 𝙔𝙚𝙨, 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙮 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣.

Jisoo realized what Chaeng was doing and let out a chuckle. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝘾𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧. "You think that would change anything?", she cockily said.

"Try me.", Chaeng made a beckoning gesture with her fingers which Jisoo found so strangely hot.

Who is she kidding though? Chaeyoung is always alluring. Even earlier when the redhead showed up here in the HQ's dojo with her workout shorts and a sports bra, Jisoo already doubted if she could focus well on this training or just spend the whole time gawking and crushing about Chaeyoung. The constant tackling on the ground is not helping either. She wonders what she did in her past life for her to suffer like this.

Jisoo started advancing forward. It's her turn now to taunt Chaeyoung with jabs to see where she could find an opening. She wants to get this over with so that they can both rest. They had a long day and she doesn't really want to drain Chaeyoung out. It's a school day tomorrow after all.

𝘼𝙡𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. 𝙇𝙚𝙩'𝙨 𝙙𝙤 𝙈𝙪𝙖𝙮 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙞. The brunette moved even closer to Chaeyoung and it's evident on the redhead's face that she's all in on whatever Jisoo may have up her sleeve. Jisoo tried doing a right uppercut straight to Chaeng's defenses just to check how sturdy the block was. And the redhead blocked it really well. Jisoo tried another uppercut, this time with a solid force by her left fist. But to her surprise, Chaeyoung countered it by slapping it hard down with her right fist. Since Jisoo's left arm is down because of Chaeng's counter attack, the redhead saw this as an opening and threw a solid left elbow hook straight to Jisoo's face and then a knee to Jisoo's right rib.

The next thing Chaeyoung saw is that Jisoo is on the ground, clasping her right side with a visible pain on her face, a tomato colored cheek and a busted lip.

"Oh my god. I'm sorry!", she rushed over to Jisoo's side. "I never meant to hurt you like that.", she kinda wanna help Jisoo out but she really doesn't know what to do.

"Holy shit. That was a solid blow.", Jisoo smiled despite the pain.

"I'm really sorry. Geez, your lips are bleeding."

"No. Don't be sorry. It was a good one from you.", Jisoo licked her lips and tasted the metallic taste of her own blood.

Chaeng quickly went to her duffle bag and grabbed a clean towel and went back to Jisoo. She started dabbing the towel on Jisoo's busted lips. Jisoo is actually smiling internally because Chaeng's worried face is so cute. Plus, it's the fact that Chaeyoung is worried about her.

"Mianhae."

"I told you, you don't have to be sorry. Seriously, this is nothing. You should be used to this because there's a lot of this in training and actual operations. You should be used to seeing blood all the time."

Chaeyoung let out a deep breath and slumped herself next to Jisoo. "I know. But I ruined your pretty face.", she said the 'pretty face' in a sarcastic manner and let out a tiny chuckle.

"It's fine. Really. But in all seriousness, your fighting stance is really good. A few openings can be found by your opponent but still, it's good given that you haven't been doing this for years. Just a few more training sessions and you can already defend yourself on Sunday. Of course that will not end on that. You still need to keep training. There's still a lot of things to learn."

Chaeyoung agreed to Jisoo. There are still a lot of things to learn. She realized that doing this job is truly no joke. You have to be the best of yourself all the time if you want to stay alive. Thinking Lisa has to put everything on her shoulders for the sake of the survival of their family's legacy kinda makes Chaeng's heart hurt for her little sister. Yes, she's older than Lisa by just a month.

Their father was the previous leader of a chao pho or a Thai mafia. The group's name is The Black Parade, an organization founded by the Manoban family way back in the 1900's and has been the biggest one in Thailand. Everyone in the country fears their family and wouldn't even dare to lay hands on them. It has also a huge influence on Thailand's government, may it be legal or illegal activities. Even the government wouldn't want to meddle with BP's business. One can say that they are untouchable. As dark as it may sound, BP is not all blood and crimes anymore. The system drastically changed when their father became the head. BP started doing good deeds like building charities and such. And she knows that that is the part Lisa doesn't want to stop doing the most. At least that's the general information Chaeng knows so far.

So how did she and Lisa become sisters? Their father, Leon Manoban, an undeniably charming and warm man, was married to Clara Manoban, Lisa's mom. Just a few months after their wedding, Leon had to fly to Korea with his men for a major business operation and that's when Leon met Chaeyoung's mother, Chanyeong Park. Yes, though their father is a kind and respectable man, he also has his weaknesses. Chanyeong is one of the few women that BP has saved in a human-trafficking operation being controlled by a rival group. The two felt something for each other even though they just met and things happened. Chanyeong knew Leon was married and has a life in Thailand and even apologized for what had transpired between them. She knew from the start that they would never have a future together. And even though it pains her to see the kind man go, she still wished for Leon to live well.

After a month, Leon went back to Thailand with a heavy heart. Of course, he is well aware that what happened was wrong and guilt eventually took over him. He wanted to come clean to his wife and confessed to Clara that he made a mistake, something that he promised on his wedding vows he would never do. Yes, Lisa's mom was heartbroken but she couldn't do anything about it because she loves the man so much. Plus, she is already a week pregnant with their first child. She wanted the child to live well. Though she knew that it would never be as normal as any other kid, given that they belonged to a family which holds so much power and responsibility, she still wanted for their child to have a complete family and live happily. Leon was the happiest when he heard about having a child. He made it up to Clara and promised to be a better husband and the best father to their offspring.

A month later, Leon received a call from Chanyeong saying that she is 2 months pregnant with his child. She does not wish for financial support but just wants Leon to acknowledge the baby. Leon promised her that he would take care of everything and that she doesn't have to worry about finances. The Alpha man was ecstatic to know that he will be having two children but he still needs to discuss with Clara how things would go. Clara doesn't want the other child to grow up without a father and so she agreed that Leon could visit the woman and the child in South Korea every now and then.

Park Chaeyoung was born on February 11, 1997. Lisa Manoban came 6 weeks after and was born on March 27 of the same year.

"Earth to Chaeyoung!", Jisoo snapped her fingers in front of Chaeng's face.

Chaeng blinked a few times at the brunette's action. "What? What happened?"

"Uh. You kinda spaced out a bit. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just that... I'm the older sister. I should be the one protecting Lisa. I should be the one who carries more of the responsibility and…"

"Hey. Calm down.", Jisoo said. "Lisa was meant to be the successor of the Alpha position from the day that she was born. She's very much aware of all the things that come with the title and accepts it wholeheartedly. She wants what she's doing.", she tried reassuring the redhead but Chaeng seems not yet convinced.

"The best thing we could do is to support her and help her with all the best we can."

Chaeng seemed to agree on what Jisoo had said and relaxed a bit.

"Come on. Let's go get something to eat. I bet you're starving. I'm sure there's something in the mess hall.", Jisoo stood up, groaning in the process as her side where Chaeng kneed her still hurts a bit.

"We have a mess hall?", Chaeng asked, rather surprised. She almost forgot that this is the main hide-out and the building is extremely huge.

"Yes, we do.", letting out a cocky grin because it was her idea to put a mess hall in this place. "Ouch.", she forgot that her lips were busted and the grin made it sting.

"I'm sorry about that. We should have it checked. It's still bleeding."

"I said it's fine. I'll just stop by at the infirmary and have this cleaned. You go ahead and shower because I know you wouldn't want to roam around covered in sweat. I'll pick you up at your room and we'll go get something to eat at the mess hall.". 𝙄 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙄 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠?

Chaeng hummed in agreement. "Sounds like a plan. But wait, we have an infirmary too??"

"Yes, we do. You keep forgetting that you belonged to a very wealthy clan that runs an organized gang for a business. Might as well give you a house tour right after the mess hall so you can familiarize yourself here.", Jisoo chuckled as she wiped her face and neck with her gym towel.

"A house tour it is.", the redhead smiled. She can't wait to see the mess hall.

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"𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵?", 𝘢 19-𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘺, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭.

"𝘚𝘴𝘴𝘴𝘩𝘩𝘩, 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘶𝘴." 𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢, 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢'𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦. 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘫𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦.

"𝘔𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴.. 𝘔𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰.. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳.", 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘣𝘴.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘾𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙖.. 𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚.. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱.

𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦. "𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺. 𝘐 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥.", 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢'𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘣. "𝘞𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺?". 𝘏𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢'𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺.

𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢. "𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦." 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴."

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶.", 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯.", 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸. "𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯."

𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢. "𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦." 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴."

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶.", 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

"𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦?"

"𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦..", 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥. "𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺.", 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥. "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘰, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨.", 𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥. "𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦."

𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳! 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦!", 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥.

"𝘚𝘴𝘴𝘴𝘴𝘩, 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺.", 𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵.

"𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘸… 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴…", 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵.

𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨.

"𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.", 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘨. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."

𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.

"𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐, 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥."

𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺.

"𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢.", 𝘓𝘦𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. "𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮'𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺."

𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦𝘤𝘬, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳. "𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦.", 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴.

Lisa woke up and sat bolt upright in her bed. She was sweating and panting like crazy as if she had run a marathon. Her eyes were searching for her father but all she could see was darkness. Once her eyes adjusted to the dark, she then realized that she's in her room and her father is not there. She buried her face on her palms as she screamed in agony at the fact that she can still recall everything that happened. She was somehow thankful that it was cut off because the next scenes might cause her a major attack. Her hands are still even shaking and her ears are still ringing with gunshots and explosions from the dream. She tried to calm herself down by slowly breathing in and out. Once her breathing normalized, she carefully stood up and walked to her fridge and drank a bottle of water. She feels weak and she hates it every time she's in this state.

She slumped herself on the floor and gazed at the digital clock sitting on her bedside table. The blonde felt drained as fuck. It's just 09:15 in the evening. She remembered getting here in the HQ straight from the university to rest because the soccer match tired her out. She must've fallen asleep as soon as she laid her back on the bed. Once she felt that she had enough strength, she stood up. She decided to go and have a drink in the mini bar to ease the tension she's feeling. The blonde walked into her closet, pulled out a black robe and put it over her white shirt and gray sweatpants. Changing into a different clothing would be a hassle and would consume more of her energy. Her people wouldn't mind anyways if they see her walking around in her comfy clothes.

There are a few people in the main receiving room. Some are watching a movie on the gigantic TV screen, some are goofing around, playing random games with each other and some are just chilling with alcohol in their hands. This is totally fine with Lisa. She wants every member to feel like this is their actual home where they can be free as long as their jobs and the tasks assigned to them are being done and properly handled. Most of these youths are either homeless or were abandoned by their family, street kids who are starving and wouldn't have a chance of survival outside, people who just want to protect a loved one and some are the children of her late father's henchmen who chose to follow the new Alpha. Her head hurt at the thought of her dream again.

As she stood there observing everyone, she saw Junghwan sprinting towards her. The boy plastered the biggest smile and he looked nothing like the hungry kid they saved from the streets the other night.

"Alpha!", he beamed once he was in front of the blonde.

Everyone in the area heard the name Junghwan declared and it's enough for them to stop what they were doing and bow their heads in respect.

A guy with a pointed nose and edgy look in his eyes named San Choi quickly caught up to Junghwan and gave the boy a little nudge. "Show some respect.'' he said. "I'm sorry about that, Alpha.", he apologized to Lisa and bowed.

"It's fine.", the leader answered. She gestured for everybody to raise their heads. Everybody went back to their businesses. "Junghwan. How was your stay here?", she asked the boy in front of her.

"It's great! I'm learning a lot. Unnies and hyungs here are kind and they are teaching me a lot of things. And.. and the food is always great.", he said the last sentence shyly, scratching his cheeks.

"That's good.", Lisa said. She's not really good at making conversation but she's genuinely glad that they saw this poor boy and gave him a shelter. He doesn't have to roam the streets anymore with his starving stomach and he gets to wear warm clothes too.

"And I'm also training basic self defense, right hyung?", Junghwan looked at San with twinkling eyes.

"Uh, right. That's true, boss. He is actually doing great and a fast learner.", San confirmed.

"I see. Just keep doing your thing.", she doesn't know what to say anymore.

San knows that the Alpha is not a chatty person and he doesn't really want to stand there longer under the gaze of their boss either. He also realized that they might be taking up the blonde's private time, so he excused himself and Junghwan. "We'll get going, Alpha. Apologies for bothering you."

Lisa nodded and the guy gestured for Junghwan to come with him. Once the duo was gone, the Alpha let out a heavy sigh. She walked towards the open mini bar adjacent to the humongous receiving area that they have and sat on a vacant high stool. There were a couple of guys having a drink in the mini bar as well but when they noticed Lisa, they respectfully bowed and ditched the place. The lady behind the bar counter gave her a welcoming smile. She is tall, around the same height as Lisa and has dark locks and full lips. "They are probably just scared of you.", she muttered as she cleans newly washed glasses. Not that she's not afraid of Lisa herself but she knows the boss wouldn't just snapped out randomly at anyone without a solid reason. "The heavy aura around you is giving you away. Rough night?", she asked as she placed a liquor glass half-filled with ice in front of the blonde.

"Pour me the usual, please.", the blonde said, not answering the question.

The lady slightly nodded and turned her back. She pulled out an Elijah Craig 23-Year Old Single Barrel from the glass cabinet and poured it to the blonde's glass. Lisa's all time favorite, bourbon on the rocks.

Lisa gave the glass a little swirl before bringing it to her nose to have a little sniff. Once her smelling senses were overwhelmed with the nice and rich scent of the aged liquor, she drank the content, savouring the bitter-sweet taste in her mouth.

The lady, knowing that Lisa would not be satisfied with just a glass, poured her another one. "I'll just put this here.", she placed the bottle of bourbon next to the Alpha as she knew that the blonde would just keep asking for more.

They really do not have a professional bartender hired inside the hideout. The original plan was just to put a mini bar so that if someone would like to have a booze, they could just come here and get it or mix a beverage themselves. It is more like a self-service bar. Until this girl behind the counter, Jeon Somi, or Somi, as what everyone calls her, came up with the idea to maintain the area because she does have a passion for bartending. Somi is doing a good job on satisfying everyone's alcohol cravings and Lisa is an avid frequenter. The Alpha would always come to the mini bar whenever she's feeling bothered, upset, stressed or just wants to take her mind off of things. Somi, however, offers the Alpha other services aside from serving the boss her usual liquor needs.

"So, do you wanna talk about it?", she started, leaning a little closer on the counter towards the blonde, her voice in a low tone and a little bit husky. Lisa doesn't talk about what's inside her mind or what her feelings are to just anyone. Sometimes, Somi wonders if Lisa does feel things at all. She always has this emotionless face on and even on their sensual nights, the blonde hardly gives anything away. No, they are not in an intimate relationship. What they have is just for satisfying each other's lust and that's just it. She knows Lisa is just using her body but it's fine because technically, for her, the Alpha boss indeed owns her. Apart from the fact that she was bound to serve Lisa as she owes the Alpha a lot of things. And who is she to complain anyways? A lot of girls here want to experience the blonde in bed. A lot of girls want to be in her position and with that being said, Somi is practically winning.

Lisa knows what Somi wants. Somi could make a good distraction for Lisa right now. The blonde had thought of it earlier when she decided to have a drink here in the mini bar, however, she has no energy to do it tonight. She almost had an attack after the nightmare she had and engaging in a tiring sex with the hot girl in front of her may took a toll on her entire well-being and she doesn't want that.

"No, I don't want to talk about it.", she finally replied.

Somi let out a sigh with a disappointed face. "You're the boss.", she said.

"Where is Jisoo?", Lisa asked.

"I saw her with your sister in the mess hall upstairs a while ago. She was touring your sister around the building."

Lisa just nodded to this. "And Seulgi?"

"Doing business outside I think. She's with her unit."

And then the main door beeped, indicating that a person on the other side passed security.

"Speaking of the devil.", Somi gestured to the hi-tech door as it revealed Seulgi with a few more individuals behind her.

Seulgi and her unit spotted Lisa sitting at the mini bar and bowed to acknowledge her presence. The eye-patched girl then dismissed her team and sat beside her friend.

"Just a bottle of beer for me please.", she gestured "one" with her fingers.

"Yes, ma'm.", Somi said as she playfully winked at Seulgi. She walked over to the fridge and got the beer Seulgi requested. She opened it with a bottle opener and handed it to the eye-patched girl.

"Where have you been?", Lisa asked Seulgi.

"Collecting debts. Making sure people give your money back."

"How's it going?"

"I have no trouble with most of the small groups but this Kang Daniel is giving me headaches. He kept delaying the payments and kept making excuses whenever I visited."

"Wanna One's leader?"

"Yeah. We have no problems with the former one. What's his name again? Jisung? Yeah, that Jisung guy. After he was killed by a cop and was replaced with this Daniel guy, it has been difficult making smooth transactions with their group."

"Maybe it's time for me to make a personal visit then. I'll handle him tomorrow."

"Let me come with you so that I could watch him plead before you."

Lisa smirked at her friend's comment.

"Look who we have here. Is this a reunion? I barely get to see you three in one room these days.", Somi smiled at the new-comers approaching the mini bar.

"Somi.", Jisoo greeted back as she proceeded behind the counter and gave Somi a social cheek kiss. "We are just busy with other stuff and you miss us already? Come on.", Jisoo jokes.

"Same old Kim Jisoo and her antics.", the bartender smiled. "What do you want for tonight?"

"I do not want anything to do with you, Somi. Lisa will kill me.", she nervously answered as she quickly gave Chaeyoung a glance. The redhead settled on the seat next to Lisa and is giving her a weird look. A look that says "You're such a flirt" and Jisoo honestly doesn't want to give her a wrong idea about her and Somi.

"Lisa doesn't care about me though. She wouldn't mind.", Somi continued the flirting joke. Jisoo is normally cool with these kinds of teases but Somi knew something was up with the brunette as she watched the girl avoid eye contact, giving a certain redhead in front of them quick glances. She decided to stop the teasing for the sake of whatever reason Kim Jisoo has for acting weird. She is certain though that it has something to do with Lisa's sister and she can't deny the fact that Jisoo is quite amusing being nervous and all. Kim Jisoo is usually the one making people nervous. "I'm just kidding. What I meant is what do you want to drink? I'll fix something for you.", she said when Jisoo didn't respond.

"Oh no. I'm not having a drink tonight. By the way, this is Chaeyoung, Lisa's sister. Chaeng, this is Somi. She is the one taking care of this area.", Jisoo introduced the two ladies to each other and is thankful that Somi did not continue with her teases.

"Hi. I have heard a lot about you.", Somi offered a hand which Chaeyoung gladly took.

"Hi. I hope that it's all good things."

"It is. Don't worry. Do you want me to fix you a drink?"

"No. I'm fine. I'll just hang out with these guys for a bit and will head to my room to rest."

Somi nodded to Chaeyoung. "Well, if you need anything, just ask me or you can touch anything here by yourself."

"Sure. Thanks."

Somi proceeded on doing inventories for their alcohol supplies, leaving Jisoo, Chaeyoung, Seulgi and Lisa at the counter. Jisoo sat on the stool beside Chaeyoung.

"What the fuck happened to your lips?", Seulgi asked from the other side as she leaned her head to get a better look at Jisoo's face.

"Asked this woman what happened to my lips.", she gestured her head to Chaeyoung's direction.

"Chaeyoung got rough on you? Damn. That was hot.", Seulgi grinned at her friend. Her remarks made Lisa throw a questioning look to a blushing Jisoo.

"Fuck you, Seulgi. It was nothing like that.", the brunette quickly countered though she wished it was really something like that.

"I unintentionally busted it during training. I kept apologizing about it but she kept saying it's fine.", Chaeng spoke.

"Oh, she's fine. Don't feel bad about it. You should've done it intentionally though. When you are defending yourself in a fight, make sure your attacks are intentional. Don't hold back.", Seulgi advised.

"I'll take note of that and maybe break some of Jisoo's bones next time."

"I like that."

"Really, Seulgi? Who's your friend here?", Jisoo said, irritated that her friend and Chaeyoung are ganging up on her.

"Shut your dramatic ass up. I'm now friends with Chaeng too. Right, Chaeng?"

"Yes, ma'am.", the redhead plastered a smile.

Jisoo was about to make snide remarks about this whole Chaeng and Seulgi team up when Ryujin, Seulgi's second in command and one of BP's most skilled and trusted members came up to them.

"Alpha.", she bowed and greeted her leader. "Dos. Tres.", she also showed respect to Jisoo and Seulgi.

"What is it, Ryujin?", Seulgi asked, taking a sip from her bottle of beer.

"It's about the spy.", she answered, raising her head once again.

If Lisa isn't paying much attention to her friends and their childish bickering a while ago, Ryujin's concern caught her full attention. She almost forgot that they have a spy to deal with and she mentally cursed at herself for being distracted. She can't afford letting this intruder live and just be useless. Though she knows Seulgi is doing everything she can to get something from the intruder, whatever method the eye-patched girl may be using to draw some information, it is clearly not working. This intruder should be dealt with right here, right now.

"Details.", she said, commanding Ryujin to spiel whatever details she got.

Ryujin sighed before speaking. Delivering bad news to the leaders, especially to the Alpha is the worst task ever. She really doesn't want to be the bearer of bad news but she knows it cannot be avoided as she is being trusted. She just doesn't want the Alpha to snap because it would be a mess. A real mess. It sometimes ends up with one being wounded, beaten up or worse, dead.

"We did as Tres instructed us to do. We starved the captive, didn't give her water to drink but her mouth is still tightly shut. We can't get anything from her. We even tried to threaten her and beat her up. Still nothing."

"Where is she?", Lisa asked rather calmly, much to Ryujin's surprise. But instead of feeling relieved that the Alpha is calm about everything she just spilled, Ryujin felt more anxious. Nothing good will come out of the Alpha being so damn calm about an information she should be mad about.

"She's in one of our cells.", she answered.

"Bring her here.", Lisa demanded, loud and clear.

"Here? What do you mean here?", Jisoo asked, rather confused as to why the blonde leader wants to take a prisoner out of the cell. That may compromise their security.

"Yes, here. Put a blindfold on her. Tie her hands up. I want her here."

Ryujin nodded to the Alpha, understanding the instructions and left with the two guys she's with earlier.

Once Ryujin was gone, Lisa stood up with her glass of bourbon and made her way to her Lay-Z-Boy recliner located in the living area adjacent to the mini bar. Everyone seated on the sofa immediately dispersed when the Alpha comfortably seated on her favorite chair. One guy even quickly managed to turn the television off.

Chaeng followed her sister and sat on the sofa at Lisa's right. She has no idea what Lisa's plans are but reading the mood around the room, things might get ugly. Jisoo stood by Lisa. Seulgi barked at some guys to remove the center table somewhere else and asked for a chair that can be used by the prisoner to sit on once she arrives. The chair was quickly placed in front of the Alpha.

A few minutes later, Ryujin came back, dragging the captive with her left hand and pointing a gun at the captive's side with her right. There are two other guys behind her in case the captive might attempt to escape. But everyone doubts that because the rope that is tied to the captive's wrists are so tight that one can already see blood and blisters on it, indicating that the rope has been there for quite some time. Ryujin also gagged the captive and put a blindfold on her as instructed by the boss. No one wants to compromise the security of the building so Ryujin made sure to do as told.

"So here's our visitor.", Lisa said, sitting so casually at her throne like it's just another Wednesday evening for her. She watched as Ryujin forced the girl to sit, earning grunts from the captive.

The room that once had a festive atmosphere with just everyone hanging around, having a good time became an eerie scene. Everyone stood guarded and alert in case this captive became uncontrollable but they also knew very much that the boss can handle the bitch single handedly.

Lisa gestured for Jisoo to start the interrogation. She might really be pissed right now but she still wants to give this girl one final chance. She hopes that this could still be done in a nice talk and she knew Jisoo has the charms for that. Otherwise, this bitch would have a piece of her tonight.

Jisoo walked over to the captive and bent forward so that they could be at a face to face level and then she removed the girl's blindfold. The captive's eyes were still shut close. Jisoo gently lifted the girl's chin. "Hey, baby girl. Wake up.", she almost whispered in her low, raspy voice.

The girl slowly opened her tired eyes to see the owner of the voice. Eyes squinting to adjust to the room's light, she saw Jisoo. And then she looked around her surroundings and saw a lot of other people in the area. The moment she realized she was surrounded by a whole lot of enemies, her tired eyes widened in fear.

"Yes. Yes. I'm gorgeous. I know.", Jisoo nodded and said it as if it is the most well-known fact in the world. "I'm gonna remove your gag now. Don't scream, okay? Honestly, I normally got turned on by screamers in bed but--"

"What the fuck, Jisoo? You're gross.", Seulgi cut her off.

Jisoo rolled her eyes on Seulgi, then gave her attention back to the captive, who is now glaring at her. The girl said something but it came out as a muffled sound because of the gag. She probably just cursed at Jisoo. The brunette gently untied the piece of cloth from the girl's mouth. She sympathetically sighed before speaking. "Look. I'm sorry about all of this. This isn't really how I like to do things. Uhm. Do you need anything? Water maybe?".

The captive just glared at Jisoo more and clenched her jaw.

Jisoo sighed again. She figured out that this interrogation will be lengthy and difficult if the girl won't say even a single word. "Well, you know why we are here. We have some questions. And we definitely won't take no or nothing for answers. Just answer us honestly and we will let you go."

Of course that was a lie. Lisa won't ever let this poor girl go. Jisoo was sure of it.

The brunette can hear the boss tapping her foot on the floor impatiently. The captive remains silent.

"Okay. I get it. You are afraid, am I right? You are afraid of your safety. Your boss won't be happy finding out you spilled information to us, that is for sure. But we can also make sure that nobody can harm you. Just cooperate and maybe we can make a deal or something.", Jisoo tried to reassure the girl. She just wanted the girl to talk already. She's playing a good cop now but she's afraid the bad cop would lose her patience anytime soon and eventually decide to just cut the girl's throat already.

Much to Jisoo and everyone's surprise, the captive let out a maniacal laugh.

"You? Protect me?", she laughed as if what Jisoo had said was the funniest thing she had heard her entire life. "You cannot protect me. You have no idea who you are up against.", the girl continued, her facial expression darkening.

Jisoo was taken aback by the sudden audacity of this bitch to talk back. Looking at her appearance, she looks weak. Her lips are chapped because of dehydration. Her cheeks are hollow because she was deprived of food. Her eyes are sunken due to lack of proper sleep. She has bruises on most of the parts of her body. Her hands and feet have blisters because she was tied with a rope for too long. All of these are results of Seulgi's torture. This girl's current physical state looks like she's about to collapse any minute now but here she is, putting up a brave front.

It's true though that they do not know who sent this person to spy on them but that is why they are doing this.

"Who are you working for?", Jisoo asked calmly.

"You are totally clueless.", the girl laughed without humor. "You can do whatever you want with me but I won't give you anything."

Jisoo just looked at her sympathetically. This girl is just making it more difficult for herself. She breathed a heavy sigh before speaking. "Believe me, if I were you, I'd just talk. That would make everything simpler for all of us. I'm gonna ask you very nicely one last time and when I say one last time, it is the last one. I'm hoping you'd make the right decision.", the brunette leaned closer, right in front of the captive's face. "Who are you working for?".

Still, the captive said nothing.

Instead, she also leaned a little closer to Jisoo and spat at the brunette's face.

Jisoo didn't even flinch. Chaeyoung did. "Hey!", she barked and was about to get up but Jisoo raised her hand to stop her. The concerned redhead remained seated. Someone ran to Jisoo with a hankie. The brunette wasted no time to wipe her face, eyes not leaving the captive who has a gun now pointed at her temples. Ryujin's reflexes instantly had the gun pointed to the girl's head when the bitch spat at Jisoo.

"Just say the word, Dos, and I will blow her head off.", Ryujin said through gritted teeth.

"Put it down.", the brunette commanded. Ryujin nodded and did what was told.

Jisoo turned her attention back to the girl in front of her. "I wish you didn't do that.", she said calmly but a bit of anger was evident in her voice. Her kind eyes became dark as she spoke. "I think it's time for a different approach. Don't you think, Alpha?"

And Lisa knew the good cop act was over.

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Lisa stood from her seat. The girl's eyes widened as Lisa started walking over to her.

"A-Alpha?", the girl muttered, not believing that the infamous leader of the Black Parade is the one sitting in front of her all this time. She had heard a lot about this Alpha everywhere but she never thought that it would be this young and it would be a girl. "You are the Alpha?"

Lisa rolled her eyes. She turned around, her back facing the captive. She lifted her white shirt up, revealing a huge wolf tattoo on her lower back. A symbol of her clan's Alpha.

*𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝗮'𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀*

The girl's eyes widened even more upon seeing the tattoo.

Lisa was not having it. She really doesn't wanna waste much of her time and effort for this show but this bitch won't even talk. She's not gonna lie though that she somehow enjoys this. Seeing Jisoo's pissed face earlier was amusing. Her friend is not really a fan of violence and wants to settle everything with a peace talk as much as she can but Lisa could tell that her friend was trying so hard not to punch the bitch when it spat at her. Seulgi would've just shot the girl in the head.

The blonde leader wasted no time slapping the girl hard that the girl's head jerked violently sideways. It was not that even surprising for most of the people there because it's the Alpha. Chaeyoung was of course taken aback by her sister's action but she felt a gentle pat on the back from Seulgi, letting her know that it's just a normal thing to do here.

Lisa roughly held the captive's chin and brought it back to face her. "I am not wasting my time on you. Let's get this over with."

"You might be the scariest person in this room but I am not telling you----"

Slap. The girl's growling told Lisa that the slap hurt.

"You can hurt me---"

Another slap.

"Fuck yo----"

And another slap. Each slap was stronger than the other. Blood started to come out of the girl's now busted lips and her cheek feels like it's burning.

"I can do this all night until your head falls off. I can end this now by slitting your throat. Or you can spare me my time and effort by talking."

Lisa's threats were answered by silence.

"Seulgi. Give me a knife."

Seulgi didn't even make a second thought of handing Lisa her Combat Troodon. It is one of the best self-defense knives she had and it thrills her that Lisa would be using it to slice a neck.

Lisa examined the person in front of her. The captive is not wearing much clothing because Seulgi had her outerwear removed when she was caught, leaving her with just cycling shorts and a sports bra. Her fair skin covered in dirt and bruises is fully exposed and Lisa is eyeing the girl like it's a prey.

The Alpha started cutting a deep, long vertical line on her legs and the captive wailed in pain. Blood instantly gushed out of the flesh.

"I'm not even gonna ask your name. You just have to answer one question and that's it.", She pointed the sharp edge of the knife to the captive's other leg. "Who are you working for?", Lisa asked in a calm tone.

"I'm not telling you anything.", the captive said through gritted teeth.

Lisa made another slice on her flesh and the girl screamed in agony. Both of her legs now are bleeding out. "Still a no?"

"I'm gonna kill you. I'm gonna kill every last one of you!"

Lisa chuckled. It's odd to hear the Alpha laugh without humor. "That's quite impossible given the situation you are currently in right now, don't you think?". She sliced a long cut from the captive's shoulder down to the tip of her middle finger and the girl let out a desperate cry.

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

The scene is becoming so bloody that Chaeyoung was not sure if she's gonna throw up. "This is sick.", she muttered to herself.

"Lisa is good at doing her job. That is why she is the Alpha. Plus, she deserves it. She spat at me.", Jisoo, who is standing near her, answered in a whisper.

"She's a human. And Lisa is nearly dissecting her like some kind of animal."

"They are animals, Chaeyoung. In this survival game, we all are. It just goes down to what kind of animal we are. Are we predators? Or are we the prey? And obviously, the Alpha refuses to be known as the latter.", Seulgi said.

Chaeyoung frowned at Seulgi.

"Oh come on. This is what you have signed up for. You may get used to this but you'll eventually see that it is not always like this here. I may sometimes not be a fan of how Lisa manages things but there is a reason why we are all still at the top of our game, alive. Treat tonight as your initiation night. This marks the beginning of your journey with us.", Jisoo said.

Chaeyoung sighed and remained seated, hoping this so-called initiation night would end soon.

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"Stand up.", Lisa ordered the bleeding captive. She still refuses to answer one single question and Lisa is losing all the patience she has tonight. The girl refused to move.

Lisa gestured to Ryujin to force the girl to stand up and Ryujin forcely grabbed the girl by the arm and dragged her up. The captive is now standing with her weak feet, with Ryujin supporting her from not falling.

Lisa grabbed her neck and tightened her grip, depriving the girl of any air inside the room. "The next time this blade touches your body, it will be inside your stomach. Let's try again. Who are you working for?", Lisa said in a dark tone, the cold tip of the blade grazing over the girl's lower torso, ready to penetrate if needed.

Again, her question was not answered.

Without second thought, Lisa penetrated the blade into the captive's body, earning a gasp from the girl.

"I am not hitting any internal organs yet but I could go deeper. This is your last chance."

"P-please no. I'm.. It's.. It's… EXO..", the girl frantically said, not wanting Lisa to continue what she was doing.

"EXO?"

"Yes.. The Guardian… EXO..", the girl falters.

As soon as Lisa heard the alias, her mind instantly went to places. Memories with her father like the dream she had earlier came rushing through her head. She's near. That bastard is near. She could finally avenge her family.

"I see. The Guardian.", She deepend the blade inside the girl's stomach which took the girl by surprise as to why the Alpha is still continuing the torture when she already answered the question.

"The Guardian is the reason why I am the Alpha right now. It should've been still my father. You're a disgrace to your comrades. A traitor. Acting tough and faithful to your group but when faced with death, eventually you go around dropping names. I do not tolerate that kind of behavior here.", Lisa twisted the knife inside the girl's body. Blood came gushing out of the captive's mouth as Lisa pulled out the blade, the girl's body dropping to the floor, dead.

"This is to remind everyone what would happen if you break our number one rule: Death to the traitors. You go around and go behind my back, you're dead. Learn from this bitch."

Everyone nodded to their leader.

"Go back to your jobs!", she barked. "Seulgi", Lisa called her friend. "You know what to do. Get this piece of garbage out of my sight.", she said as she eyed the girl's lifeless body.

"Leave it to me. Go ahead and rest. Let's just talk in the morning."

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"Captain, I'm in the position.", Jennie said.

"Okay. Stand by, Agent Kim.", the response from Irene resonated through Jennie's earpiece. "Remember, do not engage. Unless we are unable to handle them inside.", her captain reminded.

"Copy that."

It's 9 in the evening on a Wednesday and the streets of Jung District are still packed with people. However, this particular area that's in the report seems unfrequented. She, Irene, and their colleague Yook Sungjae are in another part of the said district, waiting for a group of youths that are allegedly members of street gangs reported to conduct a robbery tonight at this convenience store in front of Jennie's designated position. Fortunately, the store doesn't have many customers inside. Only a couple of teenagers eating a few snacks plus Irene and Sungjae, disguised as normal people, enjoying their cups of ramyeon. Jennie is at a cafe across the street, serving as a backup for Irene and Sungjae in case the operation inside went south.

"Seems like Agent Yook is very much enjoying the ramyeon, yes?", Jennie chuckled as she heard another hearty slurp through her earpiece. She can actually see every move of her colleague but it amuses her how the sound travels through the technology in her ear. She is pretending to read a magazine and has a cup of warm Oolong tea sitting on her table. It would've been a nice Wednesday evening in a cafe with her comfort drink if this is not an actual operation to apprehend some young criminals. If she had to choose between the two, the university president would still choose to do the latter.

"Please cut me some slack. I haven't eaten dinner yet.", Sungjae whined on the other line. "Cap, are they still coming? I want another cup of ramyeon.", the guy said. Jennie saw Sungjae turn to Irene.

"I'm sure they will. Chief's information is always accurate.", the young captain responded in a serious tone. "Go ahead and get another cup. Just be quick. I have a feeling that they'll be here any minute now."

Jennie saw Sungjae frantically nodding and headed to the noodle aisle.

Just when Sungjae was gone from Jennie's sight, 2 individuals entered the peaceful store. They already looked suspicious with hoods covering their heads. One of them is a guy sporting a black face mask and the other one is a girl wearing a navy blue baseball cap.

"Agent Kim, are you seeing this?", Jennie heard Irene speak through the earphones.

"Yes, Captain.", she responded immediately.

"There are just two targets. I expected them to be more than 3 or something.", Jennie heard Irene sighed. She knows the captain was a bit disappointed. She would never deny the fact that she expected the same thing as Irene though.

"Well, beggars can't be choosers, right?", she tried to keep Irene's mood light. She saw Irene roll her eyes.

"Right. You have a point. Agent Yook, be careful. We have to do this smoothly. We do not want to make any fuss. We have 2 teeagers within the area. Do not engage unless they do something out of the ordinary."

"Copy that, Cap."

The two individuals roamed the store as if looking for something to buy. Sungjae proceeded to put water in his ramyeon cup, whistling in the process like everything is normal. Irene pretended to be busy with her own cup while keeping her senses very much active. After a few moments of roaming around the store, the girl went outside.

She stood right in front of Jennie's line of sight. Although Jennie's position is from across the street, she can clearly see the almost unnoticeable bump inside the girl's shirt. A gun. It's probably tucked in her waistbands. The girl's action makes her more suspicious as she keeps looking from left to right as if she's searching for something outside the street. Jennie is convinced that the girl serves as the look out.

"Cap, the girl went outside.", she said.

"A look-out. Yes. Keep an eye on her."

"Copy that."

The guy went to get 2 cans of beer from the fridge and proceeded to the counter to "pay". Jennie saw him hand the cashier man a bill which the guy happily took. The cashier opened the cash register and pulled out a few coins for a change. And then he froze. A gun is pointed to his head.

"G-give me the money.", the masked guy spoke. "I said give me the money or I'll shoot you.", he said through gritted teeth, trying not to raise the volume of his voice. The cashier nodded nervously as he tried to collect the money inside the cash register. "Fucking hurry.", the masked guy demanded.

"Do not move."

The masked guy heard a click behind his ears as Irene cocked her revolver, pointing to the back of the masked guy's head. He did not move as instructed.

"Captain, is everything alright?", Jennie asked through the earpiece.

"I got this, Jennie. Agent Yook, secure the two teenagers and bring them to the farthest corner. Agent Kim, the look-out hasn't noticed what's happening yet. Slowly approach her and apprehend her once within proximity. This guy is not going anywhere.", Irene commanded.

Jennie and Sungjae answered the order in unison. Jennie does not need to be told. She's already standing up, on her way to approach the girl across the street. She just wishes the girl doesn't turn around and see her partner held at gunpoint otherwise there are two possible outcomes that might happen. One, the girl might go back in the store, help her partner and everything's going to be messier considering there are 3 civilians inside. Two, the girl would ditch her partner and run for her life. Jennie is not liking either of the two. Scenario number one is risky because there are 3 civilians but there's a high chance they could contain the two in a close space. It would be 3 vs 2. For scenario number two, Jennie would need to go after the girl and they may reach an area where the streets are busy with people. That would be more challenging and more civilians are at risk.

Saving her advanced thinking for later, Jennie chose to deal with the matter at hand. Walking calmly as she started crossing the street, Jennie tried to act as normal. Her head was down, holding her phone with her hand as she pretended to use it. But when the university president looked up to take a glance if the girl had started moving, her dark eyes met Jennie's blue ones, and that's when the girl threw her a skeptical look. The girl turned around and saw what was going on inside.

The girl muttered an annoyed "Fuck" and took off running without second hesitation.

"The target is running away, Captain. I'm pursuing it now.", she announced.

"Damn it. Copy. Agent Yook, bring this person to the agency. I will go after Agent Kim.", Irene responded on the other line. "Jennie, be careful.", she added, sincerity and worry in her voice is evident.

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

The girl kept running very fast until they reached a street filled with people. People that are on the road to get to their graveyard shifts, people that are going home from a day of work, people who run quick errands for their family, people who are outside to have some fun. Technically, people from all walks of life. And the girl is skillfully dodging these waves of people just to get out of Jennie's sight.

"Agent Kim, do you still have eyes on the target?", Irene's voice blared through the earpiece.

"Yes, Captain.", Jennie huffed as she spoke. This girl is very fast but Jennie couldn't take action yet. There's a lot of civilians. No in front of all these people. "She's still on the run."

"Careful. I can see your location through the GPS. I'll try to find a route where we can corner her."

Jennie did not respond. She just focused on running and chasing after the girl. She can't let this girl get away. It's been a while since they had something about these youth gangs and this whole operation boils her blood and makes her furious to no extent. In the university, she's always seen as calm and collected, always has this aura that when you look at her, you know she's the one in charge. Always has a plan, always has everything under control. But not tonight. Right now, she couldn't control the fire inside her. Jennie will never let this girl escape and who knows what she could do once she gets a hold of her.

They've been running down this street for a good 7 minutes already when the girl suddenly turned into an alley. Jennie ran faster to follow the girl, knocking people in the process. She would like to apologize for such recklessness but there is no time for that. Once she entered the alley, Jennie pulled out her gun tucked in her waistband and held onto it firmly. The girl is nowhere to be seen. Jennie saw another corner and carefully entered it with her gun pointed in front of her. It's a dead end. The girl backed herself to the wire net fence behind her with a gun pointing straight at Jennie.

It's a stalemate. Jennie's aim is firm and steady while the enemy in front of her is also standing her ground. No one wants to back out. However, it didn't go unnoticed from Jennie's blue feline eyes that the girl's hands were shaking. Fear. Nervousness. Stressed. Those are the feelings the girl is emitting as of the moment.

"Agent Kim!", Jennie winced as Irene's voice blared through the earpiece when the captain hadn't heard anything from the agent for quite a while.

"I got this, Captain.", Jennie answered. She turned her full attention back to the person in front of her. "Surrender yourself and I'll spare your life.", she said calmly, just enough to make a threat. A small voice in her head wants to end the girl's life but a big part of her knows that she needs to be reasonable. She will stay calm and will try to talk to get something informative, will convince the girl to surrender for her own good and will take this girl to custody. That is the process.

Beads of sweat trickled down the girl's forehead as she caught her breath before speaking. "It's my fault I didn't listen to what everyone else is saying about joining this group.", she laughed at herself. "Guess this is the price for it."

"What are you saying?", Jennie questioned.

"What? You're here to kill me right?", the girl said looking so confused.

"I'm here to put you behind bars.", Jennie answered, her own eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. The mission is just to apprehend the suspects but why is this girl so certain that Jennie and the other agents were sent to get them killed?

"What is she saying, Agent Kim?", Irene's voice was heard through Jennie's earpiece.

"I'm not sure, Captain. She's talking about a price for joining a group and---"

A loud static sound blared through the earpiece, cutting Jennie's sentence. It sounded like Irene's line was being disrupted by another line.

"Agent Kim, this is The Chief. New order. Kill the target.", a man's voice boomed on the other line.

Jennie herself is more confused now. "Chief. Why is this so sudden?", the agent asked, keeping her eye on the girl in front of her. They are still pointing guns at each other. Thankfully, the girl hasn't decided to pull the trigger yet. One thing that Jennie noticed as well is that the girl doesn't seem to know how to handle an encounter like this. Her grip on the gun seems sloppy, her body language seems distressed and her eyes are unfocused. Jennie could take her down right here, right now without any difficulty but this unusual order that came so suddenly disturbs the hell out of Jennie's way of thinking.

"We have received information that these two targets are exceptionally dangerous. Their past record shows numerous criminal activities. You already know what those are. Murders, robberies and I could go on but it will take forever. Just carry out the order, Agent Kim.", the chief on the other line answered in a tone that seems like he's losing his patience.

Jennie couldn't answer.

"Is that your boss? Are you also confused now?", the girl said. "Oh I get it. You were just here to capture me but now, someone's telling you to do a different thing. Am I correct?", she laughed humorlessly.

"Shut up!", Jennie yelled as she recomposed herself.

"What are you waiting for? Kill the target, Agent Kim! That's an order!", the chief barked on the other line.

"Listen, I don't know what they have told you, but you and I and many other people are just a pawn in this chess game. The organization you're in, you can't trust the---"

"Agent Kim!", the chief yelled.

The girl dropped dead to the ground. Jennie pulled the trigger. There must be a reason for it. The girl's nonsense rambling is just trying to manipulate her judgement and maybe buy some time to think of something for an escape but no, Jennie would not allow that to happen. Looking into the girl's lifeless body, Jennie told herself that the mission is a success. Once again, she had helped remove a stain from the society.

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

Captain Irene Bae appeared behind Jennie with her gun raised cautiously. "What the hell, Jennie? We are not supposed to kill them.", lowering her gun and tapping her earpiece off.

"It was an order from The Chief. And that bitch is trying to brainwash me.", Jennie said, the word 'bitch' felt so foreign coming out from her mouth. She is not really a fan of cursing but this situation is forcing her to.

"So that's why my line was interrupted. What did she say?"

"Pure nonsense."

"Well, if that's a kill order from the boss, that means these are big fishes. I had Sungjae handle the other guy at the convenience store when I ran after you but he said there are other 3 backup agents who came and took the guy from him. They said it's an order from the higher ups as well and that they will take over from there."

"They must have been ordered to kill the other guy as well.", Jennie sighed. "Do you think The Chief will reprimand me for my actions?"

"What? Why?"

"When he ordered me to kill the girl, I hesitated. I was taken aback."

"Well, I would be too but the guy is also looking out for us. If he knows that these thugs are that dangerous, he is just saving your ass from getting hurt. I'm sure he would understand.", Irene reassured Jennie.

Jennie nodded and decided to believe her captain's words.

"Are you okay? You seemed out of breath."

"Must be because of all the running but I'm fine."

Irene nodded but her eyes were still worried. "I instructed Sungjae to get the service. We will drop you off at your house. I still have to go to the office to report to the chief. Don't worry about him, I will explain what happened."

"Thank you bae. I appreciate it."

"That's actually my job as your captain but yeah, no problem.", Irene sheepishly grinned. "Just go home and take a rest because tomorrow is a school day and you are practically running a whole university too."

Jennie let out a chuckle despite the exhaustion she's feeling after tonight's event. She doesn't know why but when her captain mentioned the word 'school', a certain blonde crossed her mind, hoping that seeing her tomorrow would make up for everything awful she experienced tonight.

𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟳