Sera comes home that night to an empty cabin. She searches for Yuri but there are no signs of her coming home. She then calls her and it immediately goes to voicemail.
She stands in the middle of the living room, feeling uneasy because an hour ago, Yuri was updating her location—10 miles from the cabin.
Yuri had wanted to check a spot noted in Professor Jun's notes that was left in his inbox.
She checks her location and it was turned off.
"Yuri, don't do this," she tries to call her again and to no avail.
Sera thinks to herself before dialing Namjoon's number and he answers it on the first ring.
"Namjoon, did Yuri call you?"
"No, why?" he senses the worry in Sera's voice. "Is she back from her research?"
"No. And her location is off. The research is located near the border, the seaside," Sera gears up as she talks to Namjoon. "I am going to check on her."
"No, wait. I will come with you. Wait at the cabin."
Ten minutes later, Namjoon arrives, all geared up as well. "I informed the Alpha and his Beta about this."
Sera looks surprised. "And?"
"Jimin is already out there searching. The Alpha is making some calls."
Sera nods and moves to the door. "We need to move fast. I don't think Yuri is doing this on purpose."
Namjoon nods and immediately follows her. "We can get there faster through another route."
Sera halts her steps because her phone just vibrated. A text message from Yuri just came in and it only says:
... --- ...
Sera's heart stops beating for a second, and then as Namjoon comes to her side, she shows the text to him.
Namjoon's eyes go wide, and he looks at Sera. "SOS. We better move faster."
The journey to the said location feels too far and too long and it makes Sera think of all the possibilities that might have happened. With the sky getting darker as they move further into the forest, she relies on her sense of hearing to be cautious of her surroundings.
Namjoon is moving behind her, keeping guard while she walks at the front. Half an hour later, they find themselves looking at a clearing with Yuri's yellow file on the ground and her bag beside it.
"That's Yuri's," Sera breathes nervously as she scans her surroundings, her trained eyes searching for anything that leads her to her friend.
Namjoon moves in formation, checking their surroundings for any signs of struggle or any hint Yuri might have left that could lead them to her.
"Found her phone," Sera says as she rummages through Yuri's backpack. She checks for anything that is taken and then she realizes the research paper Yuri has been working on is missing from the yellow file.
Before she could tell Namjoon, a mercenary appears from behind the tree—a tall, slumpy man in his forties, with a cloth tied around his lower face to hide his features.
"Well well well, the trap works," he says sinisterly. He aims a weird looking gun towards Namjoon.
Namjoon moves to stand in front of Sera, using his body as a shield.
"Identify yourself."
The mercenary only barks a laugh as he hovers near the big tree, looking completely unbothered that he is outnumbered.
