Shadows: The Black Star

Chapter Twenty-five

"We will attack on the day that Joohyun will marry Mark Tuan, which is tomorrow. The rebel attack already paralysed their defenses." Umji said, as Seulgi sighed.

"Do you want to go to the wedding, Seul?" Seungwan asked, as Seulgi half heartedly nodded.

"We will have to put a maximum of six people to attend the wedding in person, to surprise the crowd and distract them that our target is only the wedding, not the syndicate itself." Chaeyoung said, as Seulgi nodded, Umji writing some names on a piece of paper.

"These people are chosen based on their ability to succeed in this mission, and we chose this based on skill and character. Yerin, Sojung, Eunha, Sinb, Seungwan and Seulgi." Umji said, as the girls who were called nodded, even Seulgi who was surprised when her name was called.

"Seulgi-ssi, I understand that the love of your life is the bride herself, but you must remain vigilant and eliminate people with discretion. Do not let your emotions get the best of you, or you will fail this mission, and worst, Joohyun may die. Same goes to all of you. The syndicate may have harmed all of us in a way that the others don't know, but we must not let the emotions get the best of us. Chaeyoung, Soyeon and I will monitor you near the border of Seoul, and obey our every order. I repeat, obey us strictly. Understood?" Umji said, as the others shouted in agreement.

" So here's the plan. Memorize everything, every detail, every move that you guys will make. We cannot afford to make even a single mistake. Arrasseo?"

★

Wedding Day

Seulgi stood at one of the seats in the public venue of the wedding, right in the middle of the square in Seoul.

Wendy: Relax, Seul.

Chaeyoung: We're watching you, Seul eonnie. Don't worry, you might be alone there, but we are with you.

"Yes, yes I know that. Do I look that tensed to you guys?"

Seulgi heard chuckles in the earphone she was wearing that made her smile, as she tried to get comfortable with the prosthetics on her face.

The earphone suddenly became silent, as Seulgi wondering what happened.

[" Seul, its me, Umji."]

"Why am I only hearing you in my feed?" Seulgi asked, as Umji chuckled at the answer.

["I've had Soyeon and Chaeyoung disable your tracker in the others' phones, so they will not be able to follow you to where you are going."]

"Why? Where am I  going?"

Seulgi heard a chuckle in the earphones she wore as the sealed doors in the main building opened, and her phone indicated a new path to follow.

"Where are you leading me, Kim Yewon?" Seulgi said under her breath, as she followed the path highlighted on her phone, the computer geek still not answering her question.

The main building of the syndicate was surprisingly empty, void of any men from the syndicate prowling the hallways that would shoot intruders in sight.

As she reached the floor of her new destination, she heard her earphone turn off, making her grow nervous as she slowly walked towards the room---

"Seul?"

The voice made her stop right where she stood, as she nervously spun around, wishing that it wasn't one of her longing dreams--

Bae Joohyun stood before her, wearing her white wedding gown that made her look very beautiful to Seulgi's eyes, the faded syndicate tattoo visible on her collarbone that the bear never let unnoticed.

"Seul, is that really you?" Joohyun said, her voice cracking in the end as tears began to fall, but Seulgi moved forward and wiped her tears before it ruined her makeup.

"You shouldn't ruin your makeup before your wedding, Irene." Seulgi said, the name feeling new on her lips as she smiled sadly at the girl, who tried hard not to cry.

"You know I don't love him, Seul. I love only you--"

["Seulgi, you have to get Joohyun eonnie out of there. Eric and his men will be coming up in half an hour."]  she heard Soyeon's voice in the earphone, reminding her that they were in a dangerous situation.

"W-We have to get out of here now, Hyun. Change into something more comfortable--"

Joohyun tore away the bottom half of her gown, revealing a dress that barely covered her lower underwear, making Seulgi stare as Joohyun chuckled.

"My eyes are up here, love. You said we should get out of here?" Joohyun said, teasing the younger as Seulgi cleared her throat and ignored the redness of her cheeks, and gave Joohyun a pistol.

"Let's go. Umji had already put out a path for us." Seulgi said, trying to calm her beating heart, the act noticed by Joohyun.

"Don't worry, we'll have a lot of time reminiscing later." Joohyun said, making Seulgi even more red.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

"Why am I with you?" Sinb whined, as Sowon chuckled at the younger and flicked her forehead, earning a glare from the younger.

"So you remember everything, huh?" Sowon said, making Sinb stiffen as she looked away.

"I caught you saying Eunha's real name. We didn't tell you that when you went back, and only our team knew about her name, and they said they didn't mention it to you. I figured it out when you made that accident." Sowon said, as Sinb sighed.

"I remember, okay." Sinb said, as Sowon only looked at her before asking again.

"Since when, hmm?"

"Three years ago, when I heard Yerin eonnie speaking on the phone with this Kim Yong Sun, and the memories began to flood my mind." Sinb said, being quiet as she gripped the pistol hard.

"And you pretended to still forget? Why?" Sowon asked, as she ignored her suspicions of why Seulgi's tracker went off.

"Because I saw that she was very happy as my... as my wife. Funny because I fell in love with her in the year that I forgot my memories. I couldn't bring myself to tell her that I remember everything, that I would break her act." Sinb said, as Sowon tilted her head in curiousness.

"Act? What act?"

"She made me believe that I was her wife. From what I see, those four years are the happiest times of her life, and I couldn't bring myself to end it. Besides, I already feel like I want her for me." Sinb said, as Sowon sighed.

"We'll deal with this later." Sowon finished, a strict look on her face as she put out her gun, turning really serious as she heard the instructions.

["Prepare to an all out defense. I repeat, prepare to shoot on sight. This is our only chance to capture or eliminate Eric Nam. He is in a meeting with Yong Sun, and we estimate that he will kill her if we don't outsmart him."]  Umji said, as they raced towards the main building.