obfuscate | b.bh

FIVE

CHAPTER FIVE
initiation

Warm air rose up in the room, mixing with the cool currents circulating from the vents. A trace of sea breeze could be breathed in, a fresh scent which tasted delightful on one's tongue, but the distasteful stench of sweat easily overpowered this fragile aroma. A hot stickiness coated the girl, drenching her clothes and pasting it onto her skin, almost uncomfortably so. Little sound could be heard. Other than the repetitive thuds of punches being thrown at a punch bag, and the heavy breathing of the tiring girl, only the faint sound of music from her earphones could be heard in the empty gym.

Time continued on like this, with the sea breeze slowly fading away and the humid air becoming hotter and hotter. Punches became faster and faster, with each throw containing even more power than before, forcing the punch bag to fly backwards. However, eventually, the girl tired out and the punch bag slowly swung to a stand still as she walked away to the side.

Sun Hee sighed to herself as she pulled off the gloves, dropping them onto the bench before taking several gulps out of her water bottle. Taking one of the small towels, she gently began to wipe away the sweat gathering on her forehead before doing the same on the nape of her neck, relieved to get rid off the sticky mess. Instinctively, she rose a hand to comb her hair, an old habit of hers, but quickly brought it back down as she remembered that her hair was now short.

With aching muscles and heavy breaths, Sun Hee gathered all her stuff and headed for the shower room.

Three months had passed since her inspiring encounter with that elusive man (who's name she had now forgetten) and her signing up with the Voice after being fired, yet again, from her job. During these three months much had been planned, going over every possible scenario and drafting plans so that even if things went sour, there was another option. As well as this, Sun Hee had to go through rigorous training, covering the basics of both combat and self defence, although this was done to a bare minimum due to the time constraints. Junmyeon would've hoped for far more time to prepare but due to external factors, that Sun Hee was not allowed to know, they were left with not just over three months.

Over the past few months, Sun Hee liked to believe she hadn't change much, that she was still the same as before: the young and hopeful aspiring-journalist with the belief she could achieve anything. However, this was not true at all. Even Chanyeol and Jia, who she had not seen as often, noticed this change with concern.

At the core, she was still the same - ambitious, confident and persistent - but this was controlled, she took everything in steps she could manage, she never overworked herself too strenuously nor put her own health at risk. Now, she was reckless, uncaring of her well being and solely focused on her investigation. Perhaps a fatal flaw, Junmyeon had rose as a concern, that could put their whole mission at risk, but Sun Hee assured him it was fine.

By now, Sun Hee had finished her shower, only spending minimal time under the scalding hot water. Quickly, she changed into fresh clothes, feeling comfortable in the oversized pale blue sweater she had just pulled on. Afterwards, she popped in a pair of blue eye contacts, given to her by Junmyeon, who had said she would need to change her entire look for their undercover research. She glanced down at the skirt around her legs, patting it down to lay flat almost self-consciously. Recently, she had little chance to dress herself up, having spent much of her time in physical training or in front of a computer keeping up-to-date with the latest news and looking into different gangs and figures. But today she was meeting with Chanyeol and, despite having told herself she would get over him, she was still in love with him.

Although she had to give herself credit, she found herself thinking about him less and less over the past weeks having been caught up in so much work, but when Chanyeol phoned her last week asking to meet up tonight it all came rushing back. All of a sudden, she was missing Chanyeol again with a painful longing and wishing for that perfect relationship she constantly dreamed of.