Project IZ*ONE II

Chapter 7- Scars

"Let me get this straight, there was an infiltration last night and classified data was stolen?" Principal Ahn states, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Team IZ*ONE had been asked to gather in the principal's office after what had transpired last night, but the atmosphere was different. The room didn't feel as welcoming as it used to be when Seunggi was there. One thing they'd taken note of was that the pictures of team IOI and Wannaone had been taken down.

"Yes, sir. They stole our training files and abducted one of our team members as well. We need to dispatch a team to rescue her as soon as possible." Eunbi says. She was still kicking herself for last night. She'd been duped by a shapeshifter, and now Minjoo was gone. The leader wanted to rescue her as soon as possible.

"I agree, but I'm afraid you seven are not fit for the job." The principal replies, shocking the team.

"But, sir, we've done this type of mission before! We can get her back! We have to..." Chaewon argues. She still had a lot of bruises from the ambush, but she was willing to risk her life to rescue Minjoo.

"As you mentioned in your report, that team of mutants outwitted yours. Maybe if you were twelve, I'd think differently, but as seven, I don't think you're capable of the task." Ahn says flatly. "I would rather rely on the authorities to handle this matter than investing resources into a possible failure."

"That's not fair! It isn't even our job to patrol the perimeter!" The tiger shouts back. The others had never seen Chaewon this upset, and they could understand why. She didn't explain fully what went down in the forest, but they could tell that she felt very responsible for it.

"Do not raise your tone at me, young lady. Don't forget that you're on probation and dish duty already." The principal scolds, forcing Chaewon to hold herself back. "You're all dismissed. I better not catch any of you causing trouble." And with that, the group was escorted out by the guards.

~~~~

"I still can't believe that guy." Yena groans as she takes a bite of her food. The group had decided to make their way to the cafeteria for lunch to regroup. "He just always gets on my nerves."

"Yeah, doesn't he know who we are? How can he trust the authorities to do a better job than us?" Yujin complains as well. "He even rejected our request to investigate his companies that were raided by these same people. He must be hiding something." The others nod in agreement. It didn't take a genius to figure out that something fishy was going on behind the scenes.

"So, Eunbi-unnie, when are we going to sneak out?" Chaewon asks suddenly, the leader choking up on her food in surprise.

"W-wait a minute. Let's not get too hasty, Chaewon. Maybe Principal Ahn has a plan." Eunbi tries to reason, but the younger girl shuts her down.

"Yeah, I don't care what plan that weasel has. I'm going to go save Minjoo, whether you're coming or not." Chaewon says with conviction.

"Do you even have any idea where she was even taken? You have to calm down first, Chae. You sound exactly like Yena when she wanted to go save Yuri, and look how that ended up!" Eunbi rebuts, putting her foot down. Chaewon could only reluctantly agree.

"Yah, don't drag me into this!" The duck says, not missing how Yuri giggled at the jab.

"In fairness, unnie. You did act like that." Yujin buts in, causing Yena to quiet down, grumbling to herself about how she still managed to save them in the end anyway.

"Listen, I'm all for sneaking out, but we really have to make a plan, especially this time because we're undermanned." The leader says.

"Let's start with who exactly we're dealing with. All the powers that Yena mentioned from the first attack match up with what was reported yesterday, and those line up with the research Wonyoung's been doing. If we find out where they're from, maybe that can lead us to Minjoo."