so bad : stayc

[40] trust

edited:

"Yoon," Isa took a deep breath, "did you set us up?"

"I didn't!" Yoon replied, eyes wide. "It was from the tip-off, the coordinates."

Yoon sunk into the seat. The five girls were back at the office and did not know what move to make next.

"It can't be. The whole Yeeun thing," Yoon said determinedly.

"But look at how we failed task after task," Sumin softly spoke. "Someone is setting us up, and we don't know who."

"No..." Yoon denied.

Two years ago. [tw: suicide attempt]

Yoon felt numb. She was tired and did not know what to do anymore.

She did not know how to help herself anymore.

Standing on the ledge of the tallest school building, she hung her hands on the railings and felt the cold wind blow on her face and hair. Dark clouds were forming all around Tokyo. She stood up and climbed over the railings.

One, two and-

"If i were you, i wouldn't jump when people are watching."

Yoon looked up at the person speaking. She was sitting on a water tank, clad in a leather jacket, with a lollipop in her mouth. She flipped her Galaxy Fold, embedded with gems and keychains, shut before looking at Yoon straight in the eyes.

"Now, get your ass behind the railings."

"You don't even know what i'm going through," Yoon grumbled, slipping back behind the railings.

"Come on, i'm your classmate. I know what i'm supposed to know. Money issues?" Yeeun pulled out her lollipop and waved it around. Yoon nodded.

"I don't even have time to chase my dreams since i'm always busy working at the diner."

"...what's your dream?"

"To be a car mechanic."

Yeeun sat in silence before doing a double take.

"Well, that's one interesting dream. You're the top scorer in our class, right?"

Yoon nodded, lots of questions running through her mind.

Yeeun paused, sucking on her lychee-flavoured lollipop.

"Tell you what. I'll teach you to fix cars, and in exchange, you tutor me for homework."

"What?! Well, that's my first time hearing 'Yeeun' and 'homework' in one sentence."

Yeeun raised her hands. "Hey, i wasn't always like this, unlike Keita. I'm trying to achieve a balance between work and earning money."

Yoon hesitated. "Okay, then..."

"What? Don't you trust me? Come on, ima get you fully booked, yeah? Let's go."

"Yeeun isn't like this. She's hiding something from us." Yoon got up almost immediately, making the other four flinch. She walked to the transparent whiteboard and looked at the documents hung on the board. A memory flashed in her mind.

A loud slamming sound was heard. Yoon, who was reading a novel, flinched at the sudden noise. Yeeun walked into the living room, her face showing signs of nervousness.

"Yeeun!"

Yeeun turned around and smiled. "What's up!"

"Oh, uh, nothing. You look kinda nervous. What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Yeeun dialled someone on her phone as she walked back into her room. "Hello, Aerichan? Long time no see! How are yo..."

Yoon felt something strange was going on. The phone Yeeun used to make that call was the phone she did not touch for a year.

Yoon snapped back to reality. "Her last call was to Giselle. She might know something."

The other four girls watched as Yoon rummaged through the cabinet before pulling out a phone they didn't see before. She clicked around the device before speed-dialling someone. Within a few rings, the call was picked up. Yoon set the call to speaker mode.

"Moshi-moshi?" 

"Aerichan, it's Jayoon. I'm calling from Yeeun's phone, the one she used to use for racing," Yoon spoke in Japanese.

"Ah, Jayoon-ah! I heard that you're a criminal now!" The speaker, swapping to rapid-fire Korean, cheerfully said.

"What? A criminal?" Yoon looked at the other four girls, who were as stunned as her.

"Yeah. You're on the wanted list."

Wanted list?!

"Do you know what's going on?" Yoon asked carefully.

"In fact, I do. I know someone who could help you," the speaker replied, changing her tone to a more serious one. "After this call, your group needs to go M.I.A for a while. Run. Whether you're in the office or your school, you have to run. Ditch all the phones you're currently using, but not this one and a safe phone. Yeeun re-coded it to have multiple layers of encryption. I'll send you the coordinates for the rendezvous soon."

"Got it." Yoon nodded.

"I'll see you sooner than you think, Jayoon-chan! Miss you lots, bye for now!" The speaker swapped to Japanese, and Yoon said goodbye before hanging up. Shortly, Yeeun's phone received a new message from an unknown, containing the coordinates for the rendezvous.

"Call Eunbi for another car. We have to go," Isa instructed, and Sieun ran out of the office to call the girl.