With chilly temperatures and cloudy, but dry weather the three walked until they reached a bridge where a small fire in a box illuminated the faces of a few strangers.
"I'm going to ask them for directions." Jisoo said.
"Are you crazy?" Jennie frowned. "They are so going to kill you."
"Either we ask them or raise our arms and wait for a driver to take us with them."
"I will not enter the vehicle of a stranger again." Jennie said adamantly. "Fine, ask them but be careful."
"Acho!" Jisu sneezed.
"Are you cold?" Jennie squeezed her hand.
Jisu shook her head. While the elders were busy talking she played with the bobblehead.
"Hey," One of the tramps whistled. "Come here, the fire is warm."
"No thank you, we are good." Jennie claimed.
"Do you want to buy some oranges?" Another one with a grey beanie showed up next to them, holding a bag full of fruits.
"No."
"They are really good." He wiggled his eyebrows and cut Jennie off.
"Do you have green oranges?" Jisoo asked, facing the man unlike Jennie who would rather run.
"Aren't oranges orange?" The man asked. "I can paint them for you." He suggested.
"Don't mind her. She's weirdly obsessed with those." Jennie dismissed.
Jisu sneezed again.
"You can take my jacket." Jisoo offered.
"I'm good." Jisu shook her head. "Plus it's too big for me."
Jennie sighed and took Jisu's hand to walk to the fire.
"It's getting dark." Jisoo whispered in her ear, trailing behind them.
"I can see." Jennie rolled her eyes.
"You don't seem poor. Are you lost?" A white haired man questioned.
"No." Jennie lied. "It's just that my phone's battery is empty."
"If you want to make a call, there is a callbox over there." The main pointed to the left. It wasn't visible at first sight due to the dark.
Jennie's eyes lit up.
"Thank you." She said and moved towards it.
"Do you even have money?" Jisoo asked.
"Of course. I might have forgotten my purse but there is still money in my pants pocket." Jennie said and used a coin to make a call.
Her fingers reached for the numbers but then she stopped.
"...."
"What's wrong?" Jisoo furrowed eyebrows.
"You need to press mommy." Jisu explained.
"...I don't remember a call number." Jennie admitted, her head hanging low.
"Oh, well that's..."
"Sad, I know." Jennie finished Jisoo's sentence. "You call someone."
"Leave it to me."
...
"Nyong--" Jisoo started after her call was accepted but was interrupted.
"I don't want to do a survey. Sorry." Her friend hung up.
"...." Jisoo still held the receiver against her ear, being surprised that the call already ended.
Stupid Lisa!
"Do you have more coins?" Jisoo turned her face, asking the lawyer for another try.
Jennie crossed her arms.
"I do but please do your part correctly this time." She put another coin inside the crack.
...
"Yeji sweetie," Seulgi tucked her to bed. "Please sleep and when your mom asks you tomorrow, tell her I did a great job looking after you."
Yeji shrugged.
"What do you want?" Seulgi sighed.
"I want to see monkeys." Yeji grinned.
"I can get my notebook--"
"No. In reality. I also want to be allowed to bring a friend along." Yeji demanded.
"...I guess we can go to a zoo."
"Perfect!" Yeji smiled.
Seulgi ruffled her hair before she turned the lights off and left her room.
Joohyun was already sleeping in their bed after an exhausting day at work.
Seulgi was about to happily join her when the phone rang.
She contemplated accepting it but in the end the urge to cuddle with her wife was bigger.
...
Jisoo looked apologetically at Jennie.
"One more time...?" The elder rubbed the back of her neck.
Jennie glared at her.
...
"Hi! This is no survey! Please listen!" She rambled down before the other end could end the call.
"Hi no survey! Do I know you?" A cheerful voice responded.
"That sounds like the most suspicious thing... End it!" A more hostile voice demanded.
"No! It's me Jisoo!"
Jisoo called Dahyun but apparently Sana was with her.
"How do we know you are the real Jisoo and not a survey?" Dahyun asked half serious and half joking.
"The huskiness does sound like Jisoo."
"But it doesn't look like Jisoo."
"We can't even see her??"
"You can't because you are only using your eyes! Anyways, no survey, if you really are Jisoo send me a picture of Jisoo doing a handstand."
"I don't have my phone--"
The call ended.
Stupid Dahyun!
"Um Jen," She started sheepishly.
"Kim Jisoo. I only have two won left."
Jisoo nodded. "This will be the last, I promise. It was my mistake to call my dumbest friends first. I will just call Eunwoo and Soojo--"
"Unacceptable!" Jennie hit Jisoo's shoulder. The sudden outburst of Jennie made Jisoo flinch.
"But why??"
"Call a dumb one!!"
Jisoo sighed in defeat.
...
"So you didn't find the culprit?" Nayeon asked.
Jeongyeon shook her head disappointed with herself.
"A green truck full of drugs, and we couldn't find a trace.."
"I'm sure you will find out what's that all about." Nayeon patted her shoulder before her phone vibrated. "Sorry." She apologised and took the call.
"It's me Jisoo! Kim Jisoo! The real one! You know, your friend! The one who witnessed you, Im Nayeon, organising a pee strike in primary school and causing all of our classmates to pee their pants because the break time was too short for your liking!"
A short silence was Nayeon's response before she rubbed her temples and muttered, "Jisoo... You are not supposed to do drugs."
Nayeon's remark earned an alarmed gaze from Jeongyeon.
"Yes! That's right! I'm Kim Jisoo! Do you believe me!?"
"...Should I not? This quirkiness is distinctive."
"Thank you!" The raven haired girl sighed relieved.
"Was that all?"
"I need you to pick me up."
"Where are you?"
"I don't know. Somewhere where there are trees and where there is a cloudy sky."
"That's a very helpful description and totally doesn't apply almost everywhere in the world."
"I can ask Eunwoo to track the call down." Jeongyeon stated, listening along to the call.
"You don't have to." Nayeon told her. "I'm sure Jisoo is simply being silly again."
"I heard that and I'm not being silly! Jennie can confirm that, she is with me!"
"Wait what?" Nayeon muffled her laughter with her hand. "First you get the poor woman stuck in a tiny box and now you got her lost?" Nayeon clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Tsk, you need to up your game."
"It's not my fault we have a useless landlord and were offered a ride by a drug dealer." She exclaimed.
"Hold on!" Jeongyeon snatched the phone away from Nayeon. "Elaborate the drug situation."
"A strange guy in a panda truck had some weird pills piled up in boxes and claimed it was a food truck to support his idols, so we escaped." Jisoo said nonchalantly.
"A panda truck..." Jeongyeon's eyes widened. "That guy! I knew men in suits are suspicious..."
The police officer concluded he must have painted those ugly pandas on the truck and removed his license plate number after he noticed that he lost boxes to hide his identity.
"Stay where you are I'm coming!"
...
"Were you able to reach your friends?" The white haired man asked. All of them were standing by the fire.
"Yeah." Jisoo answered. "They will be here soon." She turned to Jennie and whispered, "You are not mad I told Jeongyeon right?"
Jennie shook her head. "In that situation I was simply too scared to act because Julia was in the front seat but now I don't mind going against that man."
"And you also believe those were drugs?" Jisoo wanted to make sure not to give Jeongyeon a false clue.
"The pills already looked familiar to me when we had a close look but I could not point out where I saw them." She recalled and scrunched up her nose. "Now I do."
"So?" Jisoo asked impatiently.
"It was Adderall. I assume they sell them very expensive to people who suffer from narcolepsy or an attention deficit."
"And those things are illegal?" Jisoo frowned.
"Any amphetamine is designated as an illegal substance in South Korea." Jennie nodded. "No doctor prescribes it and pharmacies don't stock it."
"Oh." Jisoo gasped. "So it really was medicine like you thought."
"Medicine that is classified as narcotics by the Korean Food and Drug Administration and the mere consumption of narcotics is a crime." She argued. "A bottle of that can land you in jail. Additionally he smuggled it and very likely trafficks with it. Who knows what else he trafficks with. We only opened one box, after all."
"How do you even know what it looks like if it's not stocked over here?" Jisoo cocked a brow.
"When I lived overseas I used to take them." Jennie muttered. "I always had sleep disorders and was overwhelmed with sudden drowsiness. My mother told me I was born with low energy. There is something wrong with my immune system."
Jisoo's felt a shudder. She remembered that Jennie fainted before too.
"Hey," Jisu tugged on their jackets weakly. "What do you keep whispering about? Include me!"
It seemed like the younger was feeling sleepy. She kept rubbing her small eyes. The rain drops and darkness added to the sleepy atmosphere.
Was it already midnight? It's very likely that it's Jisu's birthday by now.
"I was just saying that I promise your next birthday to be better," Jennie said sadly.
"We are together, so it's good." She smiled. "Besides the day is only just beginning."
Jennie was about to lean down and hug her when one of the men nudged her shoulder.
"Is that your friend?"
The lawyer looked at the distanced person. She couldn't recognise their face but they were kicking the pebbles on the ground. A flame was next to their head. Was it a torch?
"That's not Jeongyeon." Jisoo exclaimed.
Jennie stared longer at the person and the person seemed to be staring back.
Suddenly the figure moved towards them, very slowly so.
"What the..." Jennie mumbled. "Maybe it's a homeless,"
"Or not." Jisoo was skeptical.
"He might just be cold." Jisu had a sympathetic gaze, yet had to squint her eyes in order not to fall asleep.
Car headlights turned on. He moved in the same pace as the car trailed next to him.
"Okay now it's getting creepy..." Jennie bent down to pick up Jisu and wrap her up in her arms before she leaned her body in Jisoo's side.
The headlights turned off and on. Three times they were shortly turned on, then three times long and three times short again.
"That means S.O.S." Jisoo snaked her hand up Jennie's waist to pull her even closer. "Either they need help or are going to abduct us."
"I'm going to take a look." The white haired man said.
"Wait," Jennie tried. "It could be dangerous."
"I'll be quick." He said as he was already on his was to the person with the torch.
Jennie thought this was a bad idea. Her gut feeling told her it was.
When the man was close to the torch person, he stopped walking and so did the car stop. They seemed to be talking?
But then--
"OH MY GOD!" Jennie shrieked and turned Jisu around so her head was buried in her chest.
"What, what's going on!?" Jisu mumbled, not being able to see.
The white haired person started to glow. He was burning. The person with the torch lit him on fire.
Everyone around her started to run randomly in the dark until only the three were left.
"Let's go." Jisoo grabbed her hand with pursed lips. She was clearly trying to hide what she felt.
They started to run too and got soaked wet but couldn't care less in this moment. Jisoo peeked back to see the person with the torch enter the car.
"Damn..." She mumbled with a sour grin as she bit her bottom lip. "I'll carry her." She told Jennie and gathered Jisu in her arms because Jennie's stamina was a little less than Jisoo's.
When the car was about to drive towards them a beeping sound caught their attention and the headlights of a Ferrari shined upon them. The light made the quick rain drops visible.
"Who...!?"
"That's Jeongyeon's car! Thank god!" Jisoo didn't wait any longer and pushed Jennie to run towards it while she was close behind her.
They practically ripped the door open and jumped inside.
"I know it's raining but what's the rush--" Jeongyeon was interrupted by Jennie and Jisoo screaming at the same time.
"DRIVE!"
"What's wr--"
"NOW!!"
Jeongyeon hit the gas pedal and drove ahead.
"I want to know what's going on too!" Jisu said after finally being able to see again as she sat on Jisoo's lap.
Jennie and Jisoo gave each other a look before Jisoo placed the kid in Jennie's lap and climbed to the passenger seat.
She whispered what happened in Jeongyeon's ear whose eyes widened but she stayed quiet because of the child.
Meanwhile Jennie was singing Jisu a lullaby and swinging her around in her arms until she fell asleep. It didn't take long because she was already very sleepy, the mother assumed.
A grin plastered on Jeongyeon's face. She looked at the rear-view mirror and turned on a blue LED light before she opened the window to place it on top of the Ferrari.
"Oh they are so arrested!" Jeongyeon took out her two-way radio and called for backup.
As soon as those people noticed the sirens they drove in the opposite direction with Jeongyeon close behind them.
"Write their license plate number down Jisoo." Jeongyeon commanded. "There are binoculars in my bag."
Jisoo opened the bag which lied in front of her feet and opened the window to take a good look.
"There is no license plate!" Jisoo informed the police officer.
Jeongyeon reported the scene to her co-workers while describing the car and telling them where they were driving.
"They are opening their window!" Jisoo said.
Jeongyeon furrowed her eyebrows and hit the brakes before she tried to turn around as quick as possible.
"Get your head inside Jisoo! Everyone bend down quick!"
PANG!
The bullet hit the front window in the middle and the glass shattered around.
"Ahhh!" Jennie squealed. Of course it woke Jisu up who had an alarmed, yet very confused face.
"Is everyone okay!?"
"Get us out of here!" Jennie whined.
"I'm on it! Hang on!"
Jeongyeon drove in a weird pattern as to not be an easy aim for them while all of them had stooping bodies.
Jennie held her daughter tightly, wondering why everything always seems to turn out chaotic when she is with Jisoo.
"Just my luck!" Jennie cried out.
PANG! PANG!
It missed them this time.
"I think I have glass in my forehead..." Jisoo chuckled as the blood rolled down slightly.
"And what's funny about that!?" Jennie scolded.
"Nothing. I just felt like laughing." The raven gave her a reassuring smile.
"This is not the time!" Jennie kicked her seat, annoyed at how angelic and calming she thinks her smiling face is. "Here..!" She stretched her arm out to give her a handkerchief to stop the bleeding.
"Um...." Jisu cleared her throat. "I still don't understand what's going but can we like go somewhere quiet? I wanna sleep." She yawned, squishing the bobblehead in her pocket.
Jeongyeon's Ferrari was way faster than the other car. If she was by herself she would have been more offensive. She would have surpassed them, shot their tires and arrested them if possible.
But with three civilians - one of them being her friend and the other two a single mother and daughter she wouldn't dare to endanger their lives.
"Damn it...!" The short haired police officer sighed. She has no choice but to hope her co-workers catch them. So she gave up and quickly left the scene.
Ultimately Jeongyeon dropped them off at a hotel near Lotte World. She tended to their wounds before she left.
Jennie already had made reservations for them before they picked Jisu up from kindergarten.
They actually had two rooms but none of them had the energy to go to the other room at the end of the hall, so as soon as they reached the room close to the stairs they fell asleep on the first best thing they saw which was the couch.
...
Loud laughter echoed in the truck as a car was granted entry to the cargo area.
"Pft! So you scared them a little huh?" Seungri grunted like a pig. "I told you to get to know them and find out if they saw something though."
"We did. That's why we tried to kill them and everyone who might have listened to their conversation." A thin young man with a charming face stated. "We used a remote listening device. They saw the pills and figured out what they were. They even told the police."
Seungri gritted his teeth. "In other words I have to disappear for a while. You know what that means, you have the commando. They still have no physical proof against our business and we better keep it that way. Either way it's good they only saw the pills."
"How?" The guy with spiky hair asked.
"I think what would be a good idea is to make sure there are no witnesses against us, don't you think so too?" Seungri gave him a pointed look.
"Y-Yes, I think so too." The man swallowed.
"Great, now get the fuck out. I still have something to deliver."
Seungri pretty much kicked the boys out of the back of his truck which was full of unconscious women.