The ride was pretty uneventful but the tension could be cut through with a knife. Chaeyoung rode shotgun while Yeri sat in the back behind her.

Lisa's sidekick, Kook, had Chaeyoung's spear gun poised in his hand and lazily aimed in their general direction while Lisa drove. He didn't seem particularly intimidating, though Chaeyoung was worried for inadvertently dragging Yeri into this mess.

Nobody spoke.

Chaeyoung did her level best to ignore Lisa but at the same time she couldn't help but wonder why the other woman had come for her and specifically, what did Lisa want with her?

Was this because she had spoken with her and Lisa now wanted to cover her tracks and get rid of any potential liability? Was Lisa ashamed that she hadn't killed her on sight so she had come back to do it properly this time round?

Was Lisa going to take her back to her secret lair and torture her to divulge state secrets?

Would she hurt Yeri too? Could she maybe persuade Lisa to let Yeri go?

What if she took a chance and jumped out of the moving car? She didn't remember seeing either Kook or Lisa lock the doors. And how come they hadn't even been blindfolded? 

Was Lisa being careless or was she really going to kill them, ergo it wouldn't matter if she did blindfold them?

The fresh breeze wafting in through the window frustrated Chaeyoung further because it kept tossing her hair about her face, adding to her vexation.

Lisa glanced at her but didn't say anything.

"Did you go to Dalton?" Kook spoke for the first time, addressing Yeri.

Chaeyoung watched Yeri's eyes go round as saucers in the overhead mirror.

"Yeah. How d'you know?"

"Just a hunch. You seem the type," he replied casually. Chaeyoung had to admit that beneath his greasy exterior, Kook actually seemed like a sharp and bright guy, able to read Lisa and intuit what she needed without a word spoken between them.

She had observed him when Lisa herded them to the car—although he did briefly raise his eyebrows, he simply took the spear gun without a word and immediately settled in the backseat, on guard.

Chaeyoung aggressively zipped up her jacket right under her chin and sat stiff as a statue in her seat, tense and alert for any sudden movement on Lisa's part. The wind rushing into the car as they sped on made Chaeyoung shiver, even as she desperately tried to stifle her body's reaction to the cold.

Out of nowhere, the window on Chaeyoung's side started rising up, startling her, and she swivelled around in her seat, her chest tightening with panic.

Was Lisa planning to suffocate them and throw their bodies out?

"Easy, easy," Lisa reassured, lifting her finger from the console in front of her, "you just looked like the wind was bothering you. Kook fitted this baby with all the nifty modern comforts. Pretty neat huh?"

Chaeyoung didn't reply but the hard knot in her chest softened at Lisa's attentiveness, once again confusing her about the woman sitting next to her.

Who was Lisa Diamond, really?

Ruthless, killer mobster who single-handedly kidnapped people in the middle of the night or...what?

She had glimpsed tantalising clues pointing at possible answers, hinting at another version of Lisa, and she'd be lying to herself if she wasn't curious to find out more.

The moment of reflection on Lisa's duality didn't last long—they soon entered a deserted tunnel and instead of slowing down, the car sped up as they zoomed on towards their mystery destination.

Chaeyoung glimpsed Lisa throw a smirk her way before she stepped on the gas, as though she was enjoying seeing her hostage squirm.

"Where are you taking us?" Chaeyoung yelled above the wind and the engine's roar.

"Where do you wanna go?" Lisa asked in return.

"Home!" Yeri said.

Lisa gave Yeri a side glance and shook her head wryly before swerving into a secondary tunnel that branched off the main road.

It was blocked by orange cones and DO NOT ENTER signs indicating ongoing maintenance works within but to Chaeyoung's horror, Lisa ignored them and careened through, headlights blazing.

"What are you doing?" Chaeyoung demanded, heart in her throat. "Didn't you see the sign?"

Lisa's smirk widened but she kept her eyes glued ahead, ignoring further warning signs hanging from the ceiling in plain view.

Chaeyoung held on to her seat, anxiety levels shooting through the roof.

The tunnel changed the deeper they went, the bedrock rough and unhewn and the roof held up by wooden planks to keep it from collapsing, reminding Chaeyoung of mining tunnels. Dim miner lanterns lit up the path, their faint glow swallowed up by the hungry darkness as harsh shadows threatened to consume them whole.

Chaeyoung tried not to think about the whole tunnel collapsing on their heads and burying them alive.

"Turn back!" Chaeyoung shouted, her breath hitching. "This place is unsafe!"

But Lisa never replied. She coaxed the car on even as a wall of graffiti with skulls and crossbones appeared up ahead, bathed in spotlights. They were headed straight towards it, no slowing down.

Yeri was screaming behind her and Chaeyoung was regretting ever talking to Lisa in the first place back at the storeroom.

She had secretly wanted to see Lisa again but this was definitely not how she envisioned things to go: the girl behind the wheel had a death wish and she was taking Chaeyoung and Yeri with her. Kook seemed surprisingly chill with dying too. 

Chaeyoung glowered at Lisa, debating if it would be worth strangling her before she died.

Just why hadn't she captured Lisa? She would be sleeping in bed right now knowing she had accomplished the impossible and captured the criminal mastermind, but instead, she was hurtling towards her death, the worst possible end she could imagine: smashed to a pulp.

And she hadn't even had the chance to fall in love yet.

Chaeyoung closed her eyes as the car rammed into the wall...

and emerged through the other side unscathed.

"It's a disguised hologram wall?" Yeri said in astonishment.

"Bingo," Kook chuckled. "Glad you ladies got tight bladders, you looked on the verge of peeing yourselves."

Chaeyoung knew that Lisa's eyes were laughing at her so instead she looked around, her pounding heart calming down as terror gave way to curiosity.

They must have emerged from underground because she could see the night sky and stars again, with distant skyscrapers of the city looming over the skyline.

She couldn't tell what neighbourhood they were in, though. They must have been in a deserted sector, well below road level where nobody would be bothered by the loud thumping music that reverberated in the air—it emanated from a squat dull green building built into the side, with bulbous round lanterns at the front lighting up the facade. It was covered in graffiti.

Chaeyoung suspected that it was some sort of club, with the main hall being underground. People in all sorts of outlandish outfits and punk hairstyles milled about chatting and drinking against custom-fitted cars, or in groups.

She glanced back at Yeri to meet her gaze, mirroring her bewilderment.

Did Lisa really bring them to some underground secret club?

"Welcome to the Junk Pit," Lisa announced, grinning. "This is where the cool kids hang out."

"Cool kids like me and Lisa," Kook piped up, "I don't think many people see you D.E.B.S as cool people. No offence."

"None taken," Chaeyoung gritted.

"You're not dressed like them," Yeri pointed out hesitantly, warily eyeing the nearest punk who had neon orange spiky hair sticking up in all directions and chains hanging from his ripped black shirt.

"Clothes don't make you cool," Kook shrugged, "besides, we're not looking to stand out and make a statement here."

Lisa guided the car through a spacious and dusty parking lot, slotting the car into an empty spot marked with a reserved sign with a skull and crossbones.

"Exclusive spot reserved for me," Lisa explained, seeing the question in Chaeyoung's eyes.

"Like VIP?" Yeri blurted.

"Something like that, yeah."

"And people know that?"

"They better." Lisa killed the engine and looked at Chaeyoung. "Come on." She tilted her head at the club.

When Chaeyoung didn't reply, move or even look at her, Lisa tried changing tack and rested her arm on her seat.

"Look, these tunnels go on for miles, so you guys could be lost in there for days, even weeks. You really wanna try your luck out there?"

Yeri didn't move or say anything either.

After their harrowing brush with death earlier (well it had felt like a near death experience to Chaeyoung), the gravity of the situation was catching up once more.

What was Lisa intending to do with the both of them? Pimp them out? Traffic them? Maybe she was going to dabble in that kind of gross trade starting now.

Chaeyoung felt slightly sick.

"Okay. Suit yourselves," Lisa shrugged, surprising Chaeyoung.

Lisa climbed out of the car and Kook followed, playfully nudging her shoulder and skipping ahead of her as they strolled across the parking lot to the club, relaxed as two kids out for a fun night.

Lisa walked with her hands in her pockets, pants slung low enough round her hips to see a strip of the skin of her back.  Chaeyoung berated herself for even looking.

Silence hung in the car between the two girls that remained behind. Chaeyoung wasn't even sure if she should say something or suggest they make a run for it. They were in this mess primarily because of herself, but she wasn't about to reveal that to Yeri.

To make matter worse, she didn't even have her communicator watch with her to contact Jennie and Jisoo—another oversight on her part. She suspected Yeri didn't either—the girl was ditzy enough to lose her gun on the daily, let alone her watch.

The night just kept reminding what a poor fit for an agent she actually was, no matter the supposed perfect score she got on that stupid secret test. Even after four years, Jennie had always nagged her to keep her communicator watch on her person at all times and she stupidly didn't care to listen.

"I have to pee," Yeri announced.

Chaeyoung swivelled to look at her in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

"Well excuse you, but my bladder's bursting," Yeri retorted.

"Well can't you hold it in?"

"For what, days? I might have to check back on that," Yeri snipped.

Chaeyoung bit back a curse and slumped in her seat again as Yeri stepped out of the car and marched purposefully towards the club, her twin plaits swinging.

She turned back around, her face pleading with Chaeyoung to accompany her.

After one long agonising moment, Chaeyoung made up her mind and got out of the car to join her, to Yeri's relief.

They both had no idea what the inside was like and they needed to stick together. And since they were all the way out here with Lisa herself, might as well keep going and see what she could glean from the girl. 

It might be useful for her thesis, Chaeyoung decided as she set her jaw and walked into the club.