Beneath the Surface // Moonsun

Chapter 18

Byulyi POV

Time is running out before some nosy son of a bitch pokes their nose out of the back door. We need to move quickly and carefully before this situation turns into an even bigger shitfest. And yet, Yongsun remains unconscious against the side of the building chest still heaving in and out like she's wide awake and panicking. Her hair sticks to her sweaty face and she's soaked in blood. Unfortunate for Wheein's dress.

She did the best she could, I remind myself. She has a thing with killing people. Understandable for someone not in her line of duty, but whatever. Everyone has their thing.

I examine Taliah underneath me, my knee pressed firmly onto her chest wound. The blood flow steadily slowing a sure sign of her incoming death.

I find I can't bring myself to feel pity about losing her more than one feels pity over losing a valuable asset. Maybe that makes me a monster. Sure as hell think Yongsun'd call me one. She calls me a lot of things and 'monster' wouldn't be the worst.

A pair of quick footsteps suddenly become audible over the crashing of the waves and I stiffen over Taliah's body. I cautiously rest my hand on the gun in my waistband until I see Wheein and Xavier, briskly walk around the corner of the building. I relax, seeing the medical bag in her hand.

Wheein heads straight towards me, stepping over the dead man's body like it's nothing but a misplaced log. Xavier gives me and Yongsun a brief observational glance before crouching down near the dead man.

"You didn't tell me Yongsun was injured." She mutters and takes my place as I move over.

"She passed out from the blood." Wheein frowns. "The sight of the blood."

"Remind me to laugh about that later," she begins to apply an occlusive dressing to Taliah's seeping wound, "when we don't have to move two unconscious bodies to the van."

"I suppose we can each carry our respective girlfriends."

Wheein does not seem amused by that. She seems to be the opposite of amused actually. The hardened set of the jaw, the flash of her dark eyes. Yes, highly unamused.

"Why did you bring her in the first place? She's a liability." It takes me a moment to realize she's probably talking about Taliah.

Because I wanted a buffer between me and Yongsun doesn't seem like a good enough excuse in this situation. It was completely stupid for me to bring Taliah into a recon assignment like this and hindsight has pointed that out to me quite plainly.

"Being around Yongsun makes me stupider." I answer simply.

"Your vagina makes you stupider you mean."

I open and shut my mouth. She's not wrong. "I'll carry her to the van now," I get up from my knees. "Got the situation handled?"

"Tell Hyejin to come here since Xavier's handling the body."

I glance over to where the dead man once lied and find both him and Xavier have vanished without a trace. Damn he works fast. I need to give that guy a raise.

Yongsun is still against the wall as unconscious as she was five minutes ago, unfortunately, which gives me the wonderful task of getting her limp body into the van. And, through some rare form of maneuvering that should one day be considered a style of martial arts, I wrestle her torso over my shoulder and slowly walk us to the van.

"If we got caught out here with a dead body and all this blood because I had to carry your heavy ass, Yongsun, I swear I will kill you."

Unsurprisingly, she doesn't respond to my death threat. There's just the rhythmic pattern of each of her slow breaths against my shoulder as I turn the corner of the brick building.