when the sun sleeps // loona

forever in your arms

Sooyoung woke to an alarm blaring, the same as she had all her life. She didn't even groan anymore, having lost the ability to pretend that anything about her life was even remotely normal. The electronic handcuffs that shackled her right wrist to the bed helped ground her in reality.

She heard the rustling of the other girls in the room getting up and began to do so herself. If they weren't up and dressed by the time the alarm stopped, they'd face the consequences. And those were never fun.

The handcuffs clicked off with hardly a noise and Sooyoung stood up, only sparing a moment to rub her wrist before pulling on the plain black jumpsuit that all of the members of the Eden Project wore. Ha, members. As if any of them had any choice in being born and raised as weapons, made into expert killing machines for the use of their esteemed Headmistress.

They had all committed atrocities for the program, the Headmistress's prized pupils especially. And within that group, the star. Ha Sooyoung, codename Yves.

She learned to kill at the same time that she learned hangul.

Looking at the other girls that had already instinctively put themselves into a perfectly straight line for inspection, her mouth curved into a bittersweet smile.

At least she had them to keep her relatively sane.

Especially her girlfriend.

Viian.

Sure, she was friends with Chaewon, Hyejoo, and Jiwoo, but Vivi was the only one who really got her, the only one who was just as jaded about the program as she was, who plotted with her to leave the place entirely and never come back.

Settle down. Have a family together.

The others had never really been out of the compound, not outside of missions and battles in which they were heavily supervised and punished if their eyes strayed from their target or assignment.

But Sooyoung and Viian had.

They snuck out at night, Vivi hacking the handcuffs and the cameras, and ran away. Wandering for hours, exploring the bright and shining buildings, the filthy alleyways, trying new food and doing all the things that they could in the wee hours of the night that they could sneak away.

At one point, they found a small rollerskating rink that was open 24 hours.

That night was the first time that Vivi told her she loved her.

They went back as often as they could, but still made time to explore and do other things that didn't require dipping into the small pile of cash they had saved up from missions and things.

Sooyoung was almost lost in her reminiscing when the inspector barged in. She steeled her gaze and looked down subserviently. That was what was expected.

The inspector walked down the row slowly, plucking at sleeves, forcing open mouths, and checking shoes. They were nearly done when all of a sudden, the only good part of Sooyoung's life was ruined.

They had been careless the night before, too caught up in each other and too cocky to remember to properly wipe their shoes down. Sooyoung's had passed a cursory inspection, but Viian had missed something important.

A tiny but brightly colored spot of gum had stuck to her sole, something that couldn't be found anywhere on the grounds of the compound.

They dragged Viian away, thrashing and screaming, but Sooyoung couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't save the only thing in her life that made it worthwhile.

They made an example of her.

This is what happens to those who try to leave.

Killed her in a program-wide assembly and dumped the body in some undisclosed location.