The Gang In High Heels | BLACKPINK AU

22: Flaws and Strengths

Jisoo dove to the ground again and scrambled behind a low piece of cover. Somewhere behind her, she heard the crash of metal as Seulgi's weapon missed its mark. In the darkness, her hearing was critical to staying alive. She mentally made a note of where the knives had landed.

"Are we playing hide and seek or fighting?" Seulgi's voice floated down from above Jisoo.

"Let me get a little closer and I'll show you." Jisoo called back through gritted teeth. She leaned back against her cover and began to use her most powerful asset. Her mind. The training grounds had been extremely well designed to provide both advantages and disadvantages to all forms of fighting.

Seulgi was clearly a long range specialist and the restricted ground visibility along with multiple levels of height strengthened her abilities from above and allowed her to maintain her distance. However, the abundance of strong cover and the training ground lights from above the arena meant that it was easier to see Seulgi when she stood up on the platforms. This gave Jisoo time to take cover and, hopefully, to get within range to take her out.

It's just a matter of getting to her before she sticks me like a pincushion. Jisoo blinked, only a moment had passed, and shifted her weight silently as she peeked out of her cover. But maybe...

The platform that Seulgi had taunted her from was empty.

Jisoo took a calculated risk and dashed into the open. Her goal was the opening just beyond the abandoned platform. The next set of cover was a long passage of metal tubing that would provide her with far more routes of escape and angles of attack.

There was a subtle vibration as Seulgi stood up and revealed herself on a nearby scaffold. It appeared that she had taken that exact scenario into account to lure Jisoo into the open. Seulgi leaped forward and loosed a quick burst of three knives towards Jisoo's exposed back.

At the last possible moment, Jisoo reacted to the whistling wind being cut by the blades and twisted her body towards Seulgi. Instead of piercing into her spine, two of the blades embedded themselves into her upper arm with the third narrowly missing her chest. It clattered against the tunnel entrance.

Stifling her gasps of pain, Jisoo staggered into the mouth of the tunnel. She dragged herself further into the darkness before falling to her knees.

A pale shadow approached the tunnel and Jisoo fell silent.

"Going for the tunnel was the smartest option left to you," Seulgi admitted as she bent to pick up her knife. "But only because that's what I wanted you to do. There is no shame in losing to a better opponent." She stepped into the darkness of the tunnel.

Seulgi froze as a knife appeared at her throat. Jisoo draped a bloody arm over her shoulder. "Yes. I quite agree with that statement."

Seulgi raised her arms up in surrender, letting the knife fall to the ground. She gave a wry smile that Jisoo felt more than saw. "You knew I'd run out of knives eventually. That I'd have to approach to retrieve one, especially if they got stuck inside of you."

Jisoo maintained a tight grip on Seulgi and forced her to step into the open in view of YG.

"There! Have I passed your test yet, Madame?" Jisoo called out, derision covering her words.

Behind her, Jisoo could hear the members of Red Velvet murmuring in surprise. Jisoo also felt Seulgi stiffen slightly and she spoke under her breath, so only Jisoo could hear, "You of all people should know that things are far more complex than that Jisoo..."

Jisoo didn't let her hesitation loosen her grip on the knife. "What do you mean?" She muttered.

YG gave a scornful grin and raised a hand to quiet Red Velvet. At that moment, in the complete silence, the transmitter at Ophelia's side crackled. The voice on the other end was faint but even as distant as she was, Jisoo could make out a few words.