following the sounds of the gunshots, the two had assumed san's victim was light on their feet and therefore a very agile dodger.

they ended up running back in a circle, to the old mall where san first killed a man and introduced himself. so much for wasting our time, hyejoo thought.

"... so, any last words?" his familiar, cunning voice was heard from inside.

"don't- don't do it, please," a blonde-haired girl sobs, crouching and back pressed against a wall. her hand is holding onto her left shoulder, blood pouring and spreading through her shirt.

"you know what, i wish i could," san grins from ear to ear. "i was hoping for a dumb funny story or something along those lines."

"actually, okay! just give me a second-"

san yawns, unamused. "yeah, take your time." that bastard. he's toying with her, olivia frowns and looks jungeun in the eyes. jungeun's eyes say: "no" in large font. but being hyejoo, she ignores.

"didn't your parents teach you not to bully girls, asshole?" hyejoo shouts, standing right in the middle of the doorway. she catches jungeun facepalming at the corner of her eye.

"woah!" san laughs, visibly entertained by hyejoo's presence. "i knew i'd see you again, olivia."

"you're a fucking pain in the ass, you know that, san?"

"i'm aware," san says, loading his handgun. he then points it at the blonde, who's currently huddled in a corner and staring at hyejoo. "i know you're somewhere here too, jungeun. i'll shoot if you try any-"

jungeun had already rammed into san. hyejoo still can't figure out what she's trying to do. she loads her shotgun, pressing it right onto san's head. "your name, miss?"

the blonde shifts her gaze from hyejoo and looks at jungeun. "uh, huh?"

"your name."

"uhh, what? me? it's, uhh. chaewon," the blonde stutters.

"chaewon, i'm jungeun."

damn, she's kinda badass, hyejoo thinks at the back of her brain.

"we don't have much time, so let's make this quick," jungeun looks chaewon dead in the eyes. "do you allow me to shoot this annoying man with my gun?"

"what? uh, yeah."

"thank you for your answer." jungeun immediately pulls the trigger, but san had already moved away from the muzzle.

"woah, almost got myself killed there," san also holds his weapon up, shooting and just missing jungeun by her stomach.

chaewon screams.

"see, olivia? that's how normal people react to a gunshot."

did she just compare me to that girl? hyejoo rolls her eyes.

the two guns fire, as both of the armed people manage to dodge every bullet. either they're really good dodgers, or really bad shooters.

"see, this is exactly what i wanted, jungeun!" san shields himself with a broken sale sign he found outside a clothing store. "but i might be a little outgunned here. oh well, i guess that's all the action i'm gonna see today." he throws the sign at jungeun and rushes out of sight.

"well isn't he pathetic," jungeun scoffs, half to herself. "we should probably leave, too."

---

"god, i'm so glad you two decided to show up," chaewon says, still teary eyed and with a bloody piece of cloth wrapped around the wound on her shoulder. "i could've died back there."

"hmm," jungeun seemed to be in thought. what, is she still comparing me with chaewon?

"is there something else you want to say?" hyejoo scans jungeun's face as they walk.

"well, judging from me, you, and san, i'd thought that everyone here was used to violence. but chaewon's reaction tells me otherwise."

she was right, though. out of all the people hyejoo had met, chaewon was the only one who was afraid of all the guns and death.

"oh, and before i forget," chaewon says, reaching into her satchel bag. "olivia, jungeun, take these." she handed them an envelope each.

"what's this, some chain letter?" hyejoo flips it over and sees that both sides are blank.

"maybe you could stop talking to me like i'm a spammer," chaewon throws her a side glare. "i'm supposed to tell someone how i really feel inside. that's my task. i think i'm supposed to do it with these letters, but honestly i don't know how."

"so now you're just handing them out for everyone to see. that's literally the definition of spam," hyejoo smirks, feeling like she's tugging the nerves of this new toy of hers.

"wow. well if you put it that way, then yeah. i'm a spammer." chaewon rips her gaze off hyejoo's eyes. "what's your task, jungeun?"

"i- i'm afraid i can't tell you," jungeun nervously looks at hyejoo. is she asking me for help? with her eyes?

"huh? why not?" chaewon urges on with her questions. "i told you mine." jungeun's eyes had widened two times larger by now.

"jungeun and i have agreed that we try and avoid for sensitive questions," hyejoo says. "am i right?" jungeun nods rigorously, mouthing "nice save."

"oh, so you've already established an agreement between the two of you," chaewon seems to be completely oblivious of the signals they were sending each other. "sorry, i had no idea."

"haha, that's totally fine," hyejoo smiles widely and jungeun coughs.

"by the way jungeun," chaewon adds. "are you sure you two aren't related in some way?"

"related?" jungeun coughs again. "what do you mean?"

"i know it's weird to assume, but there's just something about you two," chaewon jabbers on. "i get this feeling about the two of you, like you have some special relationsh-"

"like you have a feeling we were a couple?" hyejoo interrupts and starts laughing. jungeun is visibly unsettled.

"what! no, definitely not in that way," chaewon looks a little taken aback herself. "i don't believe in that."

"in homosexuality? you're aware that it's a real life thing that's happening right at this very second, right?"

"i'd throw a bible at your stupid face if i had one." chaewon pouts.

"what, are you christian, butterfly?" hyejoo had no idea where the nickname came from. she cringes and brushes it off like nothing happened.

"and so what if i am?"

"it's like believing in a fairytale," hyejoo scoffs.

"well you'll still have to face the truth that god was the one who created everything we know of."

"do you believe in little red riding hood too? ooh watch out, i'm the big bad wolf and i like eating cute girls." even jungeun had asked herself, did she really just say that?

"i don't think you're bad," chaewon says, sounding as if she were an innocent child. "just a little mean."

hyejoo's teasing expression twisted into a confused one. because god damn it, even satan would admit that it's kind of adorable, was what she was thinking. "i have no idea where you're getting these ideas from, chaewon." jungeun says, saving her ass from a potentially awkward situation.

"really? i'm pretty sure anyone would think that." chaewon looks surprised. "it's just that i get the feeling you two are sisters or something. although you look nothing like each other."

"i see," jungeun mutters. she seems to be in a bad mood all of a sudden.

hyejoo notices and tries to change the topic. "are you homophobic, chaewon?"

"no, i just-" chaewon thought for a few seconds. "i think i used to be in a christian family, and i just didn't think it was a real thing. i mean, if my friend was gay or something i wouldn't hate them."

"what do we do with san?" chaewon skips to another topic. "we all know he's gonna come and attack us again.

"there's a reason why we're working together, you know," hyejoo says as she spots an old house in the distance. "we have to help each other out and shit."

"finally! there's someone on my side," chaewon's eyes light up.

"i'm- i mean, we're looking forward to you being part of, uh-" jungeun looks at hyejoo expectantly. "uhm, our team."

chaewon grins cutely.

"so, maybe we should like, head over to that house and see what we can find?"

the three enter the building, and it seems cozy enough. at least it was better than sleeping on the concrete.

"hey olivia, a word?" jungeun says immediately after placing her shotgun down on a table. she pulls hyejoo to a separate room. "don't take it the wrong way, but i find people like chaewon hard to deal with."

"well yeah, not everyone's as great as me," hyejoo flips her hair shamelessly.

"i will not deny that or argue with you," jungeun whispers, looking over hyejoo's shoulder to check if chaewon was listening in. "anyway, the more people i have on my side, the better. but it's difficult for me to handle people."

"well there's the problem, jungeun," hyejoo holds onto the shorter girl's shoulder. "you think people need to be managed, but they don't."

"you seem to understand where i'm getting at," jungeun smiles. "i'm glad you're the first person i joined forces with."

"why are you suddenly getting soft on me, dude?" hyejoo gives her shoulder a little pat. "but me too, jungeun, me too."

"it's times like this i wish i had a different task." jungeun continues. "...nevermind. anyway, it's about time we fell asleep."

the two returned to the living room, where a confused chaewon sat on the worn-out couch. "oh, there you are," she said. "you two weren't- doing anything in there, were you?"

jungeun laughed. "i wouldn't dream of it."