Seohyun sat down on a park bench with a cup of hot coffee. It was almost December and the weather was cold so Seohyun wore her thickest jacket.
White fog came out of her mouth every time she exhaled and every time, she smiled. She loved to play with her breath.
"Hyunnie."
Seohyun turned around and found her sister, Jessica, was standing with behind her, smiling. Seohyun jumped up, the coffee cup fell from hand, and she
hugged Jessica.
"Unnie!"
"Hi, Hyunnie," Jessica smiled.
They took a stroll around the busy shopping district. Seohyun linked her arm on Jessica's all the way.
"How have you been?" Jessica asked her sister.
"Great. Mother had bought a small house not far from where we live so I can always check up on her and the children," Seohyun grinned.
"How's your parents?"
"Also great. They bought me a piano," they stopped when a group of noisy teenagers walked in front of them, "I'm going to college."
Jessica butted her head to Seohyun's, gently, "you're growing up."
Seohyun chuckled, "yeah. Come by at the house, Unnie. I'll teach you to play piano."
Jessica fell silent. She played a piano once, a grand piano on an old stage of a rundown theatre hall.
"I can play a song," Jessica said.
"Really? What song?"
Jessica felt her heart stopped for a second, "I? don't know the title."
Seohyun just nodded, "play for me then. I want to hear it. Where did you learn the song anyway, Unnie?"
"I?," Jessica smiled, a painful one, "someone taught me the song."
Seohyun let out a soft laugh.
"What?" Jessica smirked.
"No, it's just you're not the type to learn musical instrument. You're better at singing. So that someone must be really someone then, or you were forced
to learn the song."
Jessica laughed with Seohyun, "I guess. I'll play the song for you. I think I'm pretty good at it."
"Play for me then, Unnie."
"Okay." They stopped at a chocolate and candies store, "want to go in?"
Seohyun nodded and pulled Jessica into the store. Jessica walked behind Seohyun who were lusting for sweets.
"How's Yoona? Is she teaching at the new orphanage?" asked Jessica.
Seohyun turned to her and suddenly went teary.
"What?"
Seohyun sobbed, "I miss her."
"What do you mean you miss her?"
"The last time we were in contact was about a week ago. She said she will be busy with something so I won't be able to reach her for a while."
"Just leave her. I don't like that girl."
"Waee?" Seohyun pouted.
Because she wants you. I will not make it easy for her.
"At least you're back, Unnie. Where do you live now?"
Jessica picked out some chocolate candy for her as well, "still there, still with the people who took me from the orphanage."
"Yuri's?"
Jessica picked another candy, "her house, yes."
Hearing the name still made her heart stop.
Seohyun suddenly stopped talking and looked inside Jessica's eyes.
"Unnie?"
"Yeah?"
"If you can meet me now then it means? it means you can come home, right?"
"No, not yet, Hyunnie. But it means you can relax. Now, I think I can take whatever is coming to me, to you and the orphanage," in fact I don't know
if will be able to come home or not.
"When will you come home?"
"I don't know, Hyunnie. I don't know."
Seohyun could tell the difference between the old Jessica with the one she was looking at. She knew something was wrong
"Unnie," Seohyun hugged her unnie from behind, "you always there when I cry. You always there to take the blame for me, and I'm glad that you do all
of that. You always be the strong one. But I don't want you to feel that you have to look strong in front of me."
Jessica's breath rushed a bit.
"I know you can't tell me what is going on, and maybe I will never understand but, Unnie," Seohyun closed her eyes, "you can cry on my shoulder too."
Jessica smiled, a sad smile that made Seohyun heart ached.
"I'm fine, Hyunnie," Jessica patted the younger but taller girl.
**
Sunny drove her car out of the headquarters, passed through the city street. Sooyoung, Hyoyeon and Yoona were inside the car too, talking.
"Vacation!" Sooyoung shouted.
"It's been a while, huh? Where do you guys want to go?" asked Hyoyeon.
"Let's go skiing! It's winter!" Sunny cheered.
"It hasn't even snow yet."
"Let's just go to a buffet and have a feast," Sooyoung smiled.
"Aren't that what you always do every Sunday?"
"Yes, but never on a work holiday," Sooyoung looked to the passenger seat, "yo, Princess."
Yoona snapped out from her daydreaming, "yeah?"
"You should be happy too, why the long face?" Sooyoung said.
Yoona smiled, "no, nothing. I was thinking of something."
"Who's up for a drink? I know a good place," Sunny raised her hand.
"Okay!" Sooyoung cheered.
"Let's go," Hyoyeon agreed.
"I think I'm going home," said Yoona.
"Aww, come on, you're no fun," Sunny pouted.
"I want to take a bath," Yoona chuckled.
"Ah, let her be. Kids can't drink anyway," Sooyoung patted Yoona's head.
Yoona laughed.
Hyoyeon stopped her car in front of huge apartment. Yoona stepped down from the car.
"Hey, Princess," Sunny smiled, "glad you're back on the right track now."
Yoona nodded.
"Listen," Sunny rubbed the back of her head, "I know that the facility is a mystery to us too. But we got to believe, right?"
Yoona smiled, "yes, Unnie."
Sunny raised her thumb and she drove away.
Hyoyeon looked at the rear mirror, watched Yoona turned small and then disappeared.
"The facility, huh?" Hyoyeon muttered.
"So hey," Sunny cleared her throat, "I investigated about the facility."
"You did?" Sooyoung leaned her body forward.
"I'm a bit curious and Princess kept talking about it for quite a while, so I took a stroll around the important files section and the locked ones."
Hyoyeon nodded, "what did you find?"
"Not much. Apparently, we keep so little information about the facility. What an organization, huh?"
"What are we hiding?" Sooyoung sighed.
"But I found Junsu's files along the line, surprise surprise."
"Junsu?" Hyoyeon straightened up her sitting position.
"He was originally stationed at the facility but then he transferred to the central."
"To Seoul?"
"Yep, and guess what, his personal files is locked with level 5 access," Sunny scoffed, "even Seunghyun-oppa couldn't reach that high."
"Level 5? But he's an agent, right? Like us?" Sooyoung asked.
"He has this, privilege, or so people say. He has a higher status though he's no different than you, rank-wise," Sunny explained. "I can easily hack it
but."
"Hey!" Hyoyeon cut Sunny, "no hacking."
"I know."
Hyoyeon crossed her arms and looked out to the window.
"There's something he doesn't want to show people, huh? Interesting."
**
Yoona walked inside her apartment building, took the elevator up three floors and stepped out. She stood in front of her apartment door and searched
her pocket for her keys.
A neighbour walk passed her and bowed a bit as a polite greeting. Yoona bowed back.
She found her keys, put the small silver key into the keyhole and clicked it open. The apartment was still dark, the same condition when she left it in the
morning.
Yoona threw her thick jacket on a sofa and checked the kitchen. Her kitchen appliances neatly lined up on the kitchen shelves and the golden embed pot
on the stove she used to make a hot porridge was untouched.
Yoona went to the living room. On the table, there was a bowl of cold porridge, showing that no one had even touched the bowl. Yoona sighed.
She walked to her room and then opened the door slowly. Inside, there was a girl, lying down under the blanket, not moving but Yoona could see her
stomach rising and falling by her breath.
"Are you awake?" she asked.
The girl didn't answer.
"You didn't eat the porridge? I'm telling you, I cook really well," Yoona came closer to the bed.
Black hair covered the sleeping girl's face.
"Look, you need to eat or you'll starve to death," Yoona crossed her arms, "and I can't have that."
The girl moved a little.
"My head is ringing again," she said.
"Again? It's been a whole week," Yoona took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"It has but the pain keeps coming back. Her lightning was different."
"You were fighting against someone way over your head. Good thing I saved you."
"I'm not gonna say thanks," the girl replied.
"No need. I brought you here for a reason."
"A reason?"
"I need you to take me to the Blood Facility."
The girl chuckled, "you still don't know."
"Don't mock me. You owe me your life."
"I don't owe you anything."
"Either way, you're in my house now. My world," Yoona retorted.
The girl sighed. "Fine. I guess you and me are on the same side now?"
Yoona shook her head, "no. Only until I find out what is the Blood Facility is."
"You won't like what you see. You will want to destroy it," the girl laughed again.
"I'll decide what to do when I see it, Kwon Yuri."
"Ah, don't go calling around my family name. Yuri would be fine."
Yoona smiled, "you can call me Yoona then."
"Yoona and Yul. It's like a cursed combination."
"Hm? YoonYul, I like that name actually."