Chapter Text
Jeongyeon was ignoring the erratic beating of her heart as she followed the ivory form at a distance. Careful to keep in step on the red carpet of the large casino. The beating of her heart being the natural response to danger but Jeongyeon couldn’t help but use its rhythm to urge her onwards.
She closed the distance to where she was only a few steps behind the suited men following Mina. They all walked as if going through a maze, weaving between slot machines and gambling tables, patrons and other people in suits parting out of the way. Though keeping track of Mina in the crowd was easy with her sparkling white dress flowing behind.
Mina lead to a hallway that was dimly lit and throbbing with bass-heavy dance music that was muffled in the distance. They continued walking down the hall as it got darker and music got louder, fumbling patrons drunkenly making their way past them. Jeongyeon observed many patrons, one man with his arm slung around a woman who was equally and joyously intoxicated some yelling to one another though rendered inaudible by the now near deafening beats.
Mina and her security men in tow then turned and descended some stairs before arriving at a bouncer-guarded door. He bowed and waved them through to the source of the loud music, which seemed to be a dance club.
Jeongyeon found herself in sensorial overload, the strobing white lights filtering through the smoke filled room, the wet heat of the sweat and alcohol. She felt disoriented and lost in a crowd of dancing bodies and flashing lights.
Suddenly she felt her hand grasped by a firm grip but the hand was soft, which proceeded to pull her across the club. She was only getting glimpses of dark hair, the slight glittering white dress, and the thick lace going up the sleeve in the intermittent flashes as she stumbled forward.
She was then pulled into another smaller room and staggering toward the one of the seat there. She let out a breathe she didn’t realize she was holding as she sat down, relieved to find the lighting of the room to no longer be flashing and the music to be muffled out. She found herself in a room lit with neon red and the music was shut out through the door as it closed. Mina was leaning against the door smiling at her and Jeongyeon found her heart jump into her throat.
“Are you alright?”, Mina’s words sounded muffled as Jeongyeon’s hearing was only slowly coming back. Jeongyeon nodded, she shook out her head a little trying to clear her hearing and her disorientation a bit more.
“I’m sorry about that, I wanted to talk to you in a more...private space?” Mina’s voice was low and the last words dripping with what could be seduction or danger Jeongyeon’s quickening heart couldn’t figure out which.
“I hope you’ll indulge me in having this conversation away from prying eyes...and ears .” Mina said finally.
Jeongyeon swallowed, fully clearing the pressure in her ears, “...Yes, though you could've asked first.” She said opting for a slight nervous sounding laugh.
Mina moved to sit down in the seat across from her and bowed slightly, “Yes, I’m sorry once again.”
After a moment Mina continued playfully, “But you have to admit it was fun getting here?”
Jeongyeon leaned forward and quirked up an eyebrow, “You liked to be chased?”
“It’s not really a chase, when you merely follow.” Mina smirked and leaned back in her chair.
There was a pause.
“You’re right, though I can’t help but be curious.” Jeongyeon shifted more comfortably in her seat.
“Well, you know what they say about curiosity–” Mina leaned over to one of the square ottoman and lifted the lid finding two glasses and a tall frosted bottle of a clear liquid.
“Am I the cat in that scenario?” Jeongyeon playfully cut in.
“Something like that…” Mina poured out two glasses and placed one in front of Jeongyeon.
Jeongyeon picked up the drink but didn’t take a drink watching as Mina took a sip of hers.
“Yoo. Jeongyeon.” Mina dripped each syllable from her lips low and thickly.
Jeongyeon felt her back tense and straightened. But then moving to take a large swallow from her glass. Immediately regretting it as it was just ice cold water thus causing a momentary brain freeze.
Mina smiled wryly, “Why are you here Jeongyeon?”
“I wanted to gamble a little.” Jeongyeon shrugged.
“Not with that poker face.” Mina said amused.
Jeongyeon laughed before taking a smaller sip and setting the glass down, “You’re right.”
“I’ve heard a lot of things about this place..” Jeongyeon paused before saying directly, “And about you, of course.”
Mina raised her eyebrow at this before curtly responding, “Likewise.”
“I wanted to see things for myself.” Jeongyeon said straightening up her posture, Mina took another drink and leaned forward..
“Considering...historical circumstances—” Mina started.
“Historical circumstances.” Jeongyeon repeated back the professional word choice, amusingly.
“Yes, the way things are—” Mina attempted to start again.
“I get it, yes, I’m a cop but I’m not some spy, I would hope you would think I’m smart enough to not just to walk in...Here, of all places...” Jeongyeon trailed off as she gestured around.
“And cause trouble.” Jeongyeon finished genuinely looking Mina in the eyes.
“I don’t think you’re here to cause trouble, but nothing is stopping it from following you.” Mina said finally with annoyance at being cut off.
They sat for a moment in silence as they shared a look before a sudden sharp and rapid knocking interrupted them.
Mina let out an annoyed huff as she got up and went to the door.
Opening it she was greeted by Momo who was naturally bouncing along with the music, though looking at Mina with some concern.
“Nayeon! Needs! You! Upstairs! ” Momo yelled over the music between beats and Mina nodded in understanding.
Momo looked over Mina’s shoulder and noticed Jeongyeon in the room and her eyes widened before looking back at Mina who just shook her head and gestured her to leave. Mina shut the door dismissing Momo.
“Prying eyes.” Mina said gesturing to the door.
Jeongyeon nodded, “I take it that would be be my cue to leave.”
“Yes…” Mina nodded and stopped and turn to Jeongyeon before opening the door again, “Though I appreciate your candor, and if you were really here to just look...I would also like to think you’re smart enough not to do so closely.” Mina said quietly, it was less of threat and more of a warning.
“You can’t understand something from afar.” Jeongyeon bowed before walking out of the room. Mina watched as Jeongyeon dissolve into the crowds of writhing bodies and flashing lights.
--
“What is it Nayeon?” Mina said as she marched into their office, a skybox overlooking the casino floor.
Nayeon with a lollipop in her mouth was idly turning back and forth in a leather office chair with her legs propped up on the desk, she popped the candy out of her mouth momentarily “Sana noticed some discrepancies in our security system, I figured you should know.”
“That’s it?” Mina’s voice was edged with annoyance.
“Yes that’s it… were you dealing with something important?” Nayeon said curiously her tone obviously feigning ignorance as she played with the candy in her hand.
“Yes, but I thought this was urgent.” Mina eyed Momo who was sitting on top of the desk with her own candy.
Nayeon returns the candy to her mouth, mumbling around it, “I mean it is, Sana’s system is basically unbreachable,”
Mina raises an eyebrow causing Nayeon to take the lollipop out again as she continued, “but suddenly we’ve got problems.”
Nayeon leans forward, “Probably because Yoo Jeongyeon just walked in here.”
“Coincidence perhaps, but I’ll check on how Sana’s handling it.” Mina says as she slightly tugs down at the lacey sleeves of her dress.
“You and I both know that coincidences don’t just happen.” Nayeon moves her feet off the table.
Mina turns to leave, “I understand your suspicion, and we’ll look at it.”
Nayeon puts the candy in her mouth again as she gets up and adjusts her suit and Momo pops up from the desk and adjusts her own similar outfit as they all head to see Sana.
“Where’s your security detail by the way?” Nayeon says again with a tone of fake concern as she was hooking arms with Momo.
Mina shrugs.
--
BLAM!
A shot rings out in the autumn air of a forest, the sharp crack of the rifle sent birds into the sky.
Nayeon lowers her gun.
“What are you even shooting at?” Mina annoyance blooming into her voice as she fixes her gloves. Besides the bright orange vests Nayeon and Mina were both dressed as if they stepped out of a Burberry ad with crisp, warm, delicately plaid clothes, as they were using their weekend away from school in the Swiss forest to hunt deer.
“It got away.” Nayeon deadpanned as she looked over her rifle.
“Probably scared off whatever it was.” Mina said simply as she was scanning up at the trees, the older girl rolled her eyes.
It was just the two of them, none of the other girls cared about the past time enough to come along, and besides that it was like a tradition for the two.
Mina walked over and crouched down pointing to a defined hoof print in the dirt, “Track looks pretty big, it’s an older buck, we wouldn’t be able to go after it anyways”
There were strict rules in place on what animals you could hunt, though Mina and Nayeon didn’t mind since it made the challenge engaging and the setting a little bit more familiar.
Nayeon went over to Mina and saw the tracks for herself before walking to a tree nearby and saw the remnants of velvet rubbed off from it’s antlers and grimaced, confirming that it was a more likely a mature buck.
They continued scouting through the trees observing the nature around them, barely making any noise except for the light crunch of their boots on the ground. They suddenly heard a distant crack of a rifle followed by fluttering of wings and frantic birds, the sound of another hunter reminding them they aren’t alone in the forest. The season was short so it brought out plenty of others.
They paused listening for a second shot or barking, any sign of a successful hit.
“Might be shooting at that buck you saw earlier.” Mina said breaking the silence between them.
“Probably.” Nayeon responded curtly as they continued walking trying to find a more ideal vantage point.
They eventually found a suitable area to set up and wait. The hours ticked by but it was not hard for the them to stay silent, it was a comfortable silence. They made it into a meditative time to be alone with their thoughts. It had only been a couple years since moving to the new country so getting to have their thoughts away from their school and definitely far away from Japan was helpful. However, the fresh smell of the forest, feeling the familiar weight of the rifle in her hands, and the presence of the girl beside her, Nayeon’s thoughts drifted. Mina’s stern tone echoing in her mind and transforming into the equally stern and level voice that dominated her childhood, that of her father. Her train of thought caused her to subconsciously shift her position, though the movement barely made a sound it snapped Mina out of her own trance.
“Tired?” Mina said quietly, her voice rough with the lack of use for the past hours. Nayeon shook her head. Mina barely moved and took a deep breath resuming her position before continuing to scan the area for any signs of movement.
Nayeon tried to bring her concentration back on their task but nothing had changed in the past hour so she observed Mina’s slowed, almost barely, breathing. The careful and still posture looking effortless though Nayeon knew it was anything but. Mina was truly the perfect student. Suddenly a pang of annoyance to shot through Nayeon, it manifested itself in a slight twitch in Nayeon’s eyebrow that Mina caught in her periphery.
“Are you alright?” Mina asked in a gentle tone with obvious care and concern in her voice.
“Yes, I think I’m just getting hungry.” Nayeon whispered, she suddenly felt a hint of guilt at being annoyed at the younger girl.
Mina finally shifted her position in what seemed like forever, “It has been a few hours since we last ate and there hasn’t been much movement so we can probably take a break to eat."
The older girl nodded and Mina stretched out relaxing some of the tension throughout her body.
They quietly ate their light snacks that they had packed and shared a canteen of water between them.
“It feels nice.” Mina said suddenly breaking the long stretch of silence once again, taking Nayeon slightly aback.
“What?”, Nayeon blinked.
“Being out here. Without him. It feels different—” Mina paused, the ‘him’ she was referring to being Nayeon’s father. Mr. Im was the one that always took them on hunting trips, when they were younger they thought it was just another hobby activity, they eventually realized a lot of the skills and lessons they learned were for bigger plans.
“But it’s nice... if you don’t me mind saying.” Mina clarified.
There was a long pause, causing Mina quickly to grow embarrassed thinking she might have disrespected her friend’s father, “I’m very grateful to him for everything he’s—”
“No...you’re right it is nicer.” Nayeon admitted as she smiled genuinely.
Suddenly they heard a sharp snap in the forest and and a panicked pattering of hooves on the soft dirt, the gruff snorts of an animal becoming louder. They looked out and saw a large buck trampling through the forest, it was bloodied with a couple of giant arrows sticking out of its side. The shots had missed the critical area by a wide margin. They heard no baying or barking of hunting dogs nor heard the hurried footsteps or yelling of people so it wasn’t being followed. Eventually the tired animal stumbled and collapsed on the ground letting out a terrible bawling noise.
The bawling of the deer between loud grunts echoed through the forest, Mina quickly climbed down and ran towards it, Nayeon following close behind but looking out for a possible hunter in pursuit. Mina looked around the area, quickly clearing it before nearing the injured animal, it had broken one of its foreleg in the fall.
The deer’s breathing was slowing to sporadic snorts and grunts and it had already lost a lot of blood. Mina could guess it had been running for a while and that’s why there was no one, at least close by, in pursuit because it had moved so quickly and the hunter was so incompetent to make two terrible shots.
“It’s hurt bad, and whoever shot it is probably pretty far off.” Mina said between breathes as she was winded from running and the sudden rush of adrenaline. Nayeon was catching her breath and nodded in agreement and she looked at the poor creature. The buck let out a loud cry and struggled its limbs causing more bleeding from the wounds.
“Shhhh…” Mina said trying to calm it, reaching out before Nayeon held her back.
“What are you doing, be careful.” Nayeon sternly warned, alarmed at Mina’s sudden and unusually reckless behavior.
“Right, sorry.” Mina said slightly dazed.
The animal’s struggling eased a bit but it let another loud cry.
Nayeon helped Mina stand up and they stepped back.
“It’s in a lot of pain and won’t be able to walk.” Nayeon said realizing the reality of the situation as her grip on Mina tensed up, the younger girl nodded.
The young girls shared a look between each other having a silent understanding of what needed to be done.
Nayeon released her hold of Mina who stands up. The older girl brings up her rifle taking careful aim to put the deer out of its misery. The animal lets out a couple grunts and a snort, she waits for the animal to take a final blink.
BLAM!
The shot rings out in the autumn air in a forest in Switzerland followed by the rustling of trees with birds taking flight.
Nayeon lowers her gun and looks to Mina, shocked as the younger girl’s rifle is wafting with smoke as the she lowers her weapon.
--
They met up with Jihyo and the girls sat around the computer monitor as Sana brings up various windows involving lots of code and other information no one can really make sense of other than Sana.
“So what you’re saying is—” Momo started trying to articulate all the technical information Sana just briefed them on.
“What I’m saying is, it was really a minor blip probably stemming from my own system or really an accident by some low level hacker messing around, nothing state or government run.” Sana explained as plainly as she could while adjusting her thick square glasses, a little habit she developed whenever she could lord her knowledgeability over others.
“Since nothing was lost or accessed, I’ll just have to step up our game security-wise, I’ll let you all know when I have an update ready. I think we should call and see if the Triads are having any similar problems.”
They all nodded.
“So the cops have nothing to do with it?” Nayeon pressed.
“If you’re asking if Yoo Jeongyeon is behind this, then no I don’t think she or any of the police have any involvement, unless they were really want to see their own financial corruption.”
Under Mr. Park’s leadership, he had struck a lot of deals with various members of law enforcement at all levels. Their organization was no longer the violent Yakuza of the past but had become more involved with white collars.While the girls were away he had expanded their efforts ranging from money laundering, insider investment, and even simple bribery. Essentially opening their encrypted black book would be like opening Pandora’s box to corruption of all those serving in all branches from the top down in Japan.
“However, I think if you want to ask anyone about Jeongyeon it’s not me.” Sana looked pointedly at Mina before bringing up a camera of security camera footage Jeongyeon following close behind Mina from earlier in the evening.
The youngest of their group straightened up her posture even more than it already was, “Don’t act like that it’s some secret I met with her, you all saw me with her. You all knew what I was doing.”
“Each of us only saw you with her in pieces, we don’t really know what happened.” Nayeon said crossing her arms sternly.
“You even ditched your security detail.” Momo added.
“I was getting information, she needed to think it was a private conversation to trust me” Mina defended.
“Trust!? You realize her father is Yoo Changjoon” Nayeon scoffed incredulously.
“I’m aware and our fathers are in prison because of him, now do you think his daughter would just walk in here freely without wanting something?” Mina countered
“Yeah, she wants evidence to wipe us out completely.” Nayeon retorts.
“Probably thinks she’s invincible.” Nayeon grumbles.
“It didn’t seem that way.” Mina simply said.
“Did you get that before or after you made out with her?” Jihyo said teasingly as she leaned back in her chair.
Sana stifled a laugh and Momo gaped at her while Nayeon could only twist her expression is disgust.
“No...I—we just talked.” Mina stammered slightly her face gaining a deep shade of red.
“You were in the VIP room at the club, no one “just talks” there.” Momo air-quoted.
“Bring up the security footage, I can assure you nothing happened.” Mina quickly defended looking to Sana.
“Wait, there are cameras?” Nayeon looked to Momo as they both blushed.
Sana whistled a tune casually as she made a few clicks and typed through several accesses before bring up the feed of Mina and Jeongyeon sitting across from each other talking.
“See, I knew what I was doing.” Mina said satisfied and comfortably sitting back as they all watched the footage.
They watch until the end where Jeongyeon leaves.
“You still shouldn’t have done that alone.” Nayeon said defensively.
Mina quietly scoffed, “I think I can handle myself.”
The two girls stare each other down.
“Anyways, what do we do now? Why is she really here?” Jihyo cuts through the tension.
“She said she’s here to check things out and look around.” Mina explained.
Nayeon scoffs and rolls her eyes, “And we’re just going to sit by and let her?”
“No.” Mina said sternly, causing them all to sit up suddenly alert.
“We’re gonna keep a close eye on her, just because I believe her doesn’t mean I trust her.” Mina asserted.
“We will operate as usual, so we’ll keep this a relatively small operation.” Mina continued.
“Sana, I want you to pull all the records you can and keep a track of her movement.” The young girl nodded to her causing Sana to turn to her monitor and pull up various CCTV screens, various ones showing Jeongyeon leaving the casino.
“Nayeon, Momo I want eyes on the ground, gather a few of our lieutenants that we can spare.” Mina moved to stand.
“Jihyo, I want to know any associates here or abroad, dig as deep as possible.” Jihyo nodded.
Despite Mina being the youngest among them and she held command, they teased and bickered like any family but Mina was still at the head of it
As she turned to leave Nayeon caught a look in Mina’s eye, a look she has only seen before. When she was on a hunt .