Shadows: The Black Star

Chapter Twenty

"So how is the four years, Jen?" Seulgi asked, as Jennie chuckled.

"Living with a Thai baby is hard, mainly because she doesn't know how to cook. But then, since I love her, I don't mind." Jennie said, as she saw Lisa and a new girl talking to each other.

"The girl she's talking with is Cho Miyeon, a girl brought here by Soyeon, a former agent." Jihyo said, giving Jennie a cup of coffee.

"Soyeon? Is she the one from the stories in the trainings back then? The one who was rumored to be dead?" Jennie said in a whisper, as Seungwan nodded, Seulgi moving towards them.

"She was our favorite maknae, aside from Yewon and Yerim. She was a special one, mastering fighting and shooting skills in only a month both, thrice faster than the other trainees, including us. She was a planning machine, providing our agency with foolproof plans and strategies that made us win." Seulgi said, as Jennie nodded.

"But I didn't foresee that she would fail on her own mission. It was her first field work, and she was the one who chose her own team, Song Yuqi and Jung Seo Jin--"

"No way. Jung Seo Jin?" Yewon said, as she stopped what she was doing and fiddled with her phone, Soyeon also moving towards them.

"Is this Jung Seo Jin, Soyeon-ssi?" Yewon asked, as Soyeon nodded.

"Why? Is there a problem, Yewon-ah?" Seulgi asked, as Yewon pulled up a footage inside the base.

"While you are away fetching them, this woman came in, bruised and not in the right state of mind. She was uttering two names, and was hurting herself so I ordered some of the men here and had her tied up in the basement. The names she was uttering is Jeon Soyeon and Jung Seo Jin. I tried to ID her in the database, but all that came up is a deceased record of an agent named Song Yuqi. " Yewon said, as Soyeon froze.

"No... She died that day. I saw her and Seo Jin die that day, when i was tortured--"

"Soyeonie... Soyeonie, help me..."

The voice stopped Soyeon from saying anything, as she stared at the video feed for a long time, unable to say anything.

"Soyeonie... Seo Jin's gonna come and kill me... Kill you... Please, save him..." Yuqi, said, as Soyeon's tears fell.

"Elaine-ssi... Stay here. I need to see her." Soyeon said, as she left, leaving the others puzzled.

"Who's Elaine? Last time I checked Cho Miyeon, Minnie Nicha Yontararak, Yeh Shuhua and Seo Soojin are the only girls she brought here--"

Umji stopped speaking as she saw Minnie aim a gun on her, the three other girls doing the same as Seulgi and the others also put up defense.

"What are you doing? Stop this!" Seulgi said, as Minnie glared at Yewon.

"Don't you dare say the truth to Soyeon, Umji-ssi. She suffers from schizophrenia because of the trauma brought on her by the torture she experienced." Minnie said, as Seulgi sighed and pulled Minnie's gun down.

"We will keep this a secret, I promise."

★

"Elaine, I told you not to come with me." Soyeon said, as Elaine sighed and looked at Soyeon deep in the eye.

"You have to let me go with you, Soyeon eonnie. I have to protect you." Elaine said, as Soyeon glared at her.

"No. Go up and stay there. I need to see her--!"

Elaine suddenly disappeared, and Soyeon widened her eyes as she didn't find the girl anywhere in the long hallway of the basement.

Shaking her fears aside, she turned the doorknob open, finally seeing the girl she thought was dead---

"Elaine?" Soyeon said, as she stared at the tied up woman who was unconscious, and widened her eyes.

"But this is Yuqi... So Elaine wasn't real all this time?"

At her voice Yuqi opened her eyes, a moment of happiness passing her eyes as she tried to reach for Soyeon despite the binds that kept her to the seat.

"E-Eonnie... Don't listen to her. She's not real!" Yuqi said, as Soyeon moved closer---

"She's the one who isn't real, Soyeonie. Kill her, she will lead enemies to us!" Elaine said behind Soyeon, as the short haired girl sank down to her knees, covering her ears with both hand as she refused to listen to the chaos--

Someone hugged her tight, the chaos subsiding as her illusion of Elaine Lee slowly and finally disappeared, leaving silence as she hugged Song Yuqi tight.

"Are you okay now, eonnie?" Yuqi said, as Soyeon nodded, wiling her tears to stop.

"It's time for us to move on, okay? Forget Elaine Lee. She isn't real. What's real is us, the people upstairs, they're real and they will do anything to help us."

"We're... real?" Soyeon said, blushing, making Yuqi laugh.

"Yes, eonnie. I didn't love Seo Jin, it's you who I love." Yuqi said, kissing Soyeon's forehead, making the short haired girl blush.

"Now let's go up, shall we?"

★

Seulgi stared at the new couple in the room, Soyeon and Yuqi, and the more she felt her longing for Joohyun.

Yuqi was brought upstairs as soon as possible, her wounds and bruises treated after she explained what happened.

Now they know that the syndicate is planning to divide them, to conquer the weak before bringing them down.

They needed to get to Chaeyoung fast.

Only Seulgi and Umji knew that there was a child in Chaeyoung's place, the daughter of Nayeon and Jeongyeon, and Seulgi wanted to get them to safety as soon as possible.

Oh, how she wanted Joohyun to be here. In her mind, Joohyun knew everything. Joohyun knew what to do in every situation.

But Joohyun isn't here, so she needed to plan faster.

And Jeon Soyeon was exactly who she needed.

"Soyeon-ssi, can we enlist your help in planning how to rescue our other people?" Seulgi said, as Soyeon nodded, moving towards Seulgi.

"Where are they located?" Soyeon asked, as Seulgi spread a map on the table.

"Their location is approximately 2 miles from here, farther than Sinb and Yerin's location. Their location were the hardest to pinpoint, because Chaeyoung is there, who knew how Umji locates everything." Seulgi said, as she marked their positions on the map.

"Okay... So here's what we need to do."