Chapter Text
Dr Son, or Wendy as she was better known to her friends and colleagues, sighed as she flicked over the paperwork and glanced up at the handsome woman looking expectantly at her. Moonbyul, an ex-special forces soldier and now private security consultant and senior operator of RV Security Management, was waiting to be cleared by her for her next assignment.
Byul’s last one had ended with her getting shot twice protecting an idol the world knew as Solar and they knew as Kim Yongsun, who was now her girlfriend.
“Unnie, you know yourself that from your last set of bloods and scans, and from Gongchan’s fitness assessment as your rehab physio, you’re physically ready.” Wendy then pulled up a blank form within the folder in front of her and slid it across the desk to Byul. “But you and I both know you’ve avoided your sessions with Joy.”
Joy was their resident psychotherapist and a mandatory part of being cleared for active duty within RVSM. While she could be quite blunt at times with a wicked sense of humour, she was damned good at her job.
“I haven’t exactly avoided her…” The older girl replied as she ran a hand through her long dark silky locks. “I just didn’t find the time.”
“Solar-ssi managed to attend all her sessions whilst managing her brand new company with Wheein-ssi as well as preparing Hwasa-ssi for her debut.” Wendy snapped back with a quirk of a sculpted eyebrow.
Irene (the CEO of RVSM, their boss and their friend) had insisted that Solar received therapy at no extra cost with Joy, for what had been quite a traumatic few months (or years if one included all of her unfortunate dealings with one manipulative Eric Nam). Everyone, including Solar herself, had been relieved when Joy discharged her from her regular sessions but with the caveat that she was to contact her for interim sessions whenever she needed them.
“Look, it’s been almost two months since the shooting at the awards show and you know that I got called in for Donghae-oppa’s assignment since then… as well as a few of those consulting jobs that came through.” Byul replied calmly, looking at the resident doctor steadily.
Wendy knew full well that Byul had been sent out to assist Donghae before she was fully cleared, as she had been very displeased with her sheepish bosses when the ex-soldier had turned up to the debrief with her face split open and bruises all over her. She also knew that Byul (as always) had gone above and beyond even in her consulting cases, such as staying on shift with the Special Operations Unit for nearly 18 hours until the hostage situation had been resolved. Byul had barely been out of her sling for more than a week at the time and Wendy had to basically scold the older woman for almost a full 20 minutes for her to understand that working like that was not “resting” and that she was not giving her body a chance to fully recover.
But she also knew that Byul had been specifically requested for a counterterror assignment by a high ranking NIS (National Intelligence Service) agent because of her experience and they had made it clear to Irene that this was an urgent matter and one of national security.
The good doctor huffed out another sigh and reluctantly signed one of the pages before gathering the papers together and returning it back to its folder. The ex-soldier gave Wendy a grateful smile, one of her well-known roguishly lopsided ones, as she stood from her seat.
“Don’t think that you’re off the hook, Byulyi-unnie.” Wendy warned sternly. “I still expect you to book in with Joy as soon as you're back. Understood?”
“Understood.”
As her patient started making her way to the door, the younger girl could not help feeling like her concern was not being taken seriously.
“I mean it, unnie!”
Byul stopped with her hand on the handle and turned back.
She was in her usual fitted black suit with white shirt and, as always, looked ridiculously good in it.
Frankly, Wendy could admit it. Byul looked incredibly well for someone who had taken two bullets to the chest and shoulder, and her fitness was better than some of their younger agents who had never been injured before.
But it was not her physical health that she was really worried about.
And as if sensing her inner thoughts, Byul gently added in that smoothly low tone of hers, “I’ve been through plenty with the special forces and after it too, Wendy… I’ll be fine.”
Then she was gone with a swish of dark hair, the door closing quietly behind her.
Wendy stared at the place where Byul had been sitting.
‘But this is different, unnie…’
To be honest, she wasn’t sure exactly what was different and she wasn’t even sure why she kept pushing for Byul to see Joy when she hadn't been so insistent before. But something deep in her gut told her that Byul needed to address the scars of her past to be able to address her present and then her future.
She could only hope that Byul would listen.
***
“Master Sergeant Moon! Wait, it’s Sergeant Major Moon now, right?” An excited officer saluted enthusiastically as soon as Byul got out of her car with her ever present backpack.
“Neither, Second Lieutenant Lee. I’m retired.” She replied politely but returned the salute all the same.
“It’s First Lieutenant Lee now! I took Seulgi’s old job.” Lee Junghwan replied with a grin. “And please, I thought you lot from the 708th were all like ‘Once a Shadow, always a Shadow’, no?”
Byul returned a small lopsided smile at the mention of her old unit.
The 708th was a specialist counterterror unit within the South Korean Special Forces and one that lived up to its deadly sounding codename “Shadow”. It was with the 708th that she went on many (still) classified missions, gaining valuable experience, and it was through this unit that she protected the President alongside the Secret Services, met Dahee and lost Dahee before embarking on a mission that saved countless lives but ended her own military career.
“Well, I’m so glad that Agent Lee recommended you. I convinced all the guys in Bravo Team that you were the best candidate to help us with this.” Junghwan continued as he walked Byul to the command tent where they would have their briefing. “I know that the 707th and 708th have had their rivalries but I’m sure they’ll be grateful to have you around.”
Junghwan was a military colleague of Seulgi’s, having shown the same talents in technology as Byul’s close friend and they had met a few times as he had ended up being one of the resident techs for the 707th when Seulgi left the military after she proposed to Irene and they worked on setting up RVSM together. As he had said, the 707th Special Mission Group was a rival of the esteemed 708th as another special forces specialist unit but it was well known that whilst 707th were the first choice for most missions, the 708th tended to take on the more high risk, complex and black ops missions; so they usually handpicked the elite of the elite for their unit.
“And here we are!” Junghwan pushed aside the flap to allow Byul to enter and he followed in behind her.
It was a familiar sight that greeted Byul; a tent full of military personnel moving around a centre table, surrounded by boards mounted with pictures, maps and other data, alongside a computer with multiple screens that was most likely Junghwan’s station. She studied what was on the walls, mentally comparing it to the very limited briefing she had been sent, whilst she waited silently and patiently for Junghwan to announce her presence to the Bravo Team leader, Captain Seo Eunkwang.
“Ah yes, I’ve heard all about you, Moonbyul-ssi. Your penchant for disregarding authority and SOPs is well known throughout the special forces.”
An awkward silence descended into the tent at the icy greeting and all eyes and ears were fixed at the head of the table.
“Captain, you are aware that Sergeant Major Moon was recommended by our handler because she has the most experience fighting the Chollima forces?” Junghwan tried to rescue the situation, whilst looking as confused as everyone else was at the immediate hostility.
“Oh, you mean when she went on a little rampage for her dead girlfriend?” He sneered as he turned to Byul again, “And what did you learn about them except what their insides looked like?”
Byul chose not to rise to the bait, subtly gritting her teeth at his deliberate insult, and instead held his burning gaze steadily and silently.
“Captain, this Chollima terror cell we’re after was trained alongside the cell that the Sergeant Major took down pretty much single-handedly three years ago.” Junghwan tentatively tried again, “And we’ve all heard about her experience as both a military and private security operator… Agent Lee would not have recommended her otherwise.”
Agent Lee Minhyuk was a high ranking NIS agent, who was the handler for the 707th and 708th. Byul and Minhyuk first met when he was heading up the Secret Services (in particular the Presidential security detail) and had recruited the 708th after they caught wind of an assassination plot. He was impressed by her quick-thinking that saved the President and his team and later worked more closely with her when he was transferred to the NIS to replace the previous special units’ handler. He continued to keep in contact with whom he called “a talented soldier”, even when she left the military and joined RVSM, calling on her expertise and deadly skills a number of times; especially against the Chollima.
Chollima, a symbolic mythical winged horse, was also the name of a secret unit made up of North Korea’s toughest, most vicious and most devoted soldiers. They were specially trained in espionage, sabotage and infiltration alongside gruelling special forces training, to perform acts of terror against South Korea and her Western allies. And like their namesake, they were trained to strike hard and fast then disperse just as quickly as they had appeared.
It was the 708th who first exposed this previously unknown group and it was Byul who had taken down their most elite cell 3 years ago.
But they soon found out that there were more Chollima soldiers, ready to swiftly replace them.
“Yes well, I don’t really know what Agent Lee was thinking but I’ve been leading the investigation on this cell, I think I know them a little better than your little experience three years ago.” Eunkwang scoffed at Byul, even though it was Junghwan who had spoken. “Besides, weren’t you discharged from the military for your conduct? So stop flaunting your non-existent rank and let the professionals do their job.”
He then turned to his team and barked at them to focus so that they could start their briefing. Byul gave Junghwan a squeeze on his shoulder to thank him for trying to defend her and he sadly nodded, slightly embarrassed by their team leader’s behaviour, and went to his computer. Meanwhile, Byul moved to stand with the men around the table, a number of whom gave a friendly nod or equally apologetic looks.
This particular terror cell had entered South Korea individually, via different means and had spread out over the last few years. Most of them had concerningly managed to live completely undetected in various parts of the country, until a few weeks ago when their presence was made known by a sudden purchase of an abandoned warehouse in cash along with enough weapons being bought on the black market to arm a platoon and all of them congregating there. The large amount of cash used and the large amount of weapons exchanging hands had alerted the authorities, but it was not until the NIS picked up chatter through informants that this cell had openly declared who they were as they bought up the weapons, warning gangs off their territory.
And Bravo Team’s plan was simple: burst in on full offensive and surprise the terror cell before they were fully prepared and capture the lot, dead or alive.
But Byul felt something was off.
She knew that the soldiers of the Chollima were trained to operate as ghosts and create mayhem from the shadows; for them to start an op so blatantly and meet up in the open like this was completely out of character.
Which meant one thing and one thing only.
This was a trap.
“Now, is there anything else before we go over the assault?” Eunkwang asked his team after Junghwan had gone through the briefing with them.
The majority of them stayed silent or shook their heads.
It was now or never.
Byul cleared her throat.
“Captain-”
“I don’t believe I gave you permission to talk, Moonbyul-ssi.”
“This might be a trap.” Byul replied without batting an eyelid at his comment. “This is not their MO. It’s all wrong.”
“I never asked for your opinion…” The Captain growled back.
“They’re trained to be ghosts. This is un-”
“Pipe down, Moonbyul-ssi!”
“I was asked to advi-”
“ I never asked for you to be here!” Eunkwang finally screamed over her. “I don’t know what spell you have over our handler but I really don’t need some cocky civilian giving me advice on how to run my mission! So, shut up and stay out of my way, Moonbyul-ssi… And don't worry, I’ll make sure you get your paycheck at the end.”
Byul frowned and stared back at him incredulously, along with the rest of his team, in the heavy silence that followed before he turned to Junghwan to ask for the screen to switch to a schematic of the warehouse.
She wasn’t sure what to make of the situation - never had she been shot down so quickly and so rudely. And her concern was not necessarily for herself but more for the safety of the others going into this op.
This only worsened as she realised that the plan was essentially to burst through all available doors and windows from the the front of the warehouse with all guns blazing and improvise once inside… which was all fine if they were going in to arrest one unsuspecting perp but they were going in on a highly trained terror cell who had bought enough weapons for them to arm a platoon to the teeth. They had no real information about the layout of the warehouse, whether there were any guards posted or even if they had any cameras focused on their planned entry points.
They were basically going in blind.
“I want flashbangs and smokes at all points of entry, and I want zero hesitation going in. Understood?” Eunkwang looked around the table at the nodding heads. “Any questions?”
His face darkened immediately when it was Byul who resolutely raised her hand.
“I thought I had made myself clear earlier. I’m not interested in your opinion.”
“I just want to help.” The ex-soldier replied coolly. “There are CCTV cameras from the street and the carpark across the road. Shouldn’t we try to at least get a glimpse of the inside before we head in?”
The Captain scoffed but caught sight of a few members of his team hesitantly nodding to this. He looked over to Junghwan, to find the tech already hacking his way into one of the cameras and then another. His eyes snapped back towards this upstart Moonbyul and for some reason, the patience in her deep dark eyes made his blood boil. He pushed some of his own team members out of the way as he stormed over towards her.
And she stood her ground, unflinching.
“You know what?” Eunkwang was now almost nose-to-nose with Byul despite towering over her as he invaded her personal space. “I’m done. I’m fucking done!”
He suddenly shoved her back a few paces and a stoic Byul let him, looking out for any signs of impending violence but not willing to actively start a fight.
The rest of the tent watched uncomfortably with bated breath.
He shoved her one more time, forcing her down onto a nearby chair and keeping his hands on her shoulders barked at one of his men, “Hyunsik! Handcuff her.”
“Wh-What?”
“Sergeant Im, did I stutter?” Eunkwang’s head snapped towards the stunned soldier. “Handcuff her, right now!”
Hyunsik stumbled forward and obediently but reluctantly handcuffed Byul’s hands behind her and behind the back of the chair. Byul said nothing and did not resist as she looked up calmly at Eunkwang practically snarling at her, wondering what on earth she had said that was so bad that it deserved this treatment.
“Not so cocky now, eh? Just sit here and don’t move.” He stepped back as Hyunsik did but added snidely, “And when I get back, I’ll make sure to let our superiors know what a pest you were during our mission.”
Byul subtly tested the cuffs and found them locked tight behind her. She decided that it was now out of her hands and sat silently as the slightly shellshocked team rallied themselves around their Captain as he finished the brief and sent them off to get their loaded chest plates, battle belts and helmets on, and pick up their rifles.
As soon as Eunkwang left the tent to pick up his own gear, Junghwan hurried over to Byul.
“I’m so sorry… I… I honestly don’t know what’s gotten into him. The Captain isn’t normally like this.” He brought out a spare key, “Let me get you out of these and out of here.”
“No.”
Junghwan froze, “No?”
Byul nodded. “It’s probably best to leave me as is right now. Who knows how he’ll react if he sees that I’m gone and if he realises you let me go. Don’t distract him before the op starts.”
The resident tech sighed but saw the sense in her words and after whispering another apology, made his way back to his seat and pulled on his comms headset.
Just in time too, since the Captain returned to pick up his own comms device attached to an earpiece and throat mic and the rest of his team followed suit. After confirming what channel they would all be on, Eunkwang gave the order to move out.
The command tent had been set up in a construction site next to the abandoned warehouse and the workers had been cleared out to prevent unnecessary civilian casualties. The construction site was also helpful in shielding them from prying eyes and providing a perfect cover story if necessary.
It would also only take Bravo Team 3 minutes on foot from tent to warehouse door.
The comms chatter was mostly silent until they neared their target and then was taken up by quiet commands and affirmative responses that everyone was in position.
Then there were the sounds of far away explosions, gunfire, shouts… then radio silence.
“Bravo Team! Do you copy?” Junghwan frantically opened all channels to try and get an answer, “I said, Bravo Team, do you copy? Damn it! Someone answer me!”
He whipped his head towards Byul, “Byul-ssi, what do I-”
He stopped short when he realised that he was talking to an empty chair with a pair of handcuffs on the ground beside it.
‘Shit .’
***
Handcuffs were not a problem for Byul - it was one of the first things they learnt to get out of in the 708th; with or without tools. So, as soon as Bravo Team had left the tent to start their op and Junghwan’s attention was fully on his screens, she got to work.
She was out of them within 20 seconds.
All thanks to a paperclip she had snagged off the table and hidden between her fingers just as Eunkwang had started getting into her personal space.
Something in her gut told her it might be useful.
And her gut never failed her.
The next thing she did was to see what equipment she could borrow and found that there was a spare battle belt with a standard issue military medic pack and empty holsters with no weapons or magazines. She snuck out of the tent with this and started jogging towards the warehouse, making sure to stay out of sight behind all of the machinery and piles of dirt left behind by the construction company. She transferred her own Glock 19 and spare magazines from her inside-the-belt concealed holsters onto the battle belt and then put that on over her clothes as she moved, happy that it was one that was broad and padded like the ones she preferred, making sure to tighten it until it was secure. She managed to catch up with Bravo Team as they got themselves into position to mount an aggressive assault on the warehouse, and after climbing through the hole they had cut in the chain-link fence, she crouched down behind a stack of rusty old oil barrels to watch and wait.
Just as Bravo Team burst in simultaneously as planned, Byul had to avert her eyes and block her ears, although a split second too late, as it seemed that the doors and windows were wired with flashbangs and smoke grenades that were triggered the moment the team were through. And coupled with gunfire, it was completely disorientating for them all, making it easy for the terror cell to move in and quickly disarm them to take them prisoner before dragging them deeper into the warehouse. Byul pulled out her phone, grateful that for once she still had it on her as she had not had time to organise herself after the debacle with Captain Seo, and texted Junghwan, hoping he would see it. She then dared to peek around the barrels to see what she was dealing with. There was now an armed guard posted at the main doors, standing over a pair of injured Bravo Team members but doing nothing to help them, seemingly planning to allow them to bleed out as he guarded the door. When one of them shouted something and he turned to silence him, Byul took the chance and sprinted out from behind cover. She stopped just by the now slightly deformed main entrance with the doors blown off, and quickly glanced inside to make sure this guard was alone.
He was.
“Fucking help him!” A Bravo Team member Byul knew as Second Lieutenant Cha Sunwoo was clutching his own bleeding leg and shouting at the bored North Korean Chollima soldier now standing over him. “He’ll bleed out otherwise!”
“That’s the point.” The soldier coldly replied as he raised the barrel of his rifle to Sunwoo’s face. “But I’ll let you go first for being so fuc-”
He never finished his sentence.
Sunwoo watched with morbid curiosity as the man’s head was yanked back and a knife slid across his exposed throat before he dropped to his knees spraying blood. Even before the dying man’s body had sagged to the ground, a person he recognised as Moonbyul was already at his fallen comrade’s side after tossing him a tourniquet.
“Sitrep.” She said curtly as she swiftly and expertly cut through the fabric of Corporal Yook Sungjae’s plate carrier and shirt to expose a bullet wound on his chest (that had managed to miss his chest plates by entering between them), using the same bloodied knife.
“We were ambushed. You were right, it was a trap.” Sunwoo reported as he applied the tourniquet to his thigh above the bleeding hole in his leg. “They took everyone else inside, saying they wanted to torture information out of them before our backup arrived.”
By this point, Byul had already applied a chest seal onto the sucking chest wound on the Corporal and administered IM Adrenaline and Morphine. Sungjae gave her a grateful thumbs up as she fully relieved him of his heavy chest plate and other items weighing him down. Byul then half-helped half-dragged Sunwoo over to Sungjae and after applying a second tourniquet above his, took his comms device from him. She checked her phone for a reply from Junghwan and feeling at least some relief at his response, she changed the channel on the handset to the one he suggested before clipping it into her belt.
This way the enemy wouldn't hear their chatter using their captured comms handsets.
“Mike Bravo to Command.” She used her usual call-sign as she secured the throat mic and earpiece.
“Command receiving.” Junghwan’s voice came through her earpiece. “Thank fuck, Moonbyul-ssi. I was about to call it in.”
“Do it and ask for a Medevac.” Byul replied as she picked up Sungjae’s AR-15 platform carbine and holstered his spare mags. “I have 2 soldiers down, one with a sucking chest wound and the other with a potential vessel injury to his leg. Both by the main entrance.”
“Have you got eyes on the others?”
“No, that’s where you come in.” Byul handed Sunwoo his rifle and helped him inject his own Adrenaline and Morphine into his uninjured leg. “Use the CCTVs.”
Whilst waiting for Junghwan to get in, the ex-soldier asked Sunwoo to protect himself and Sungjae until Medevac arrived. Sunwoo saluted Byul and Sungjae gave another thumbs up as she started moving deeper into the warehouse.
Despite being abandoned, it still carried the look it once had as a wholesale furniture company, having set the place up as a showroom to display various pieces of their product in mock-up kitchens or dining rooms. In doing so, they had built walls to separate what would have been an open space into separate rooms with a large storage locker at the back. According to Junghwan, who had managed to get some sort of visual via the ‘borrowed’ CCTVs, the seven men that were taken prisoner had been separated into various rooms. Three were in a sample study just up ahead guarded by four soldiers and another two further up in a faux dining room a few rooms down on the right, guarded by at least two. The last two were likely in the large storage locker with an unknown number of hostiles at the back of the warehouse but Junghwan had no means of looking in there.
She crept in soundlessly but efficiently, clearing rooms with the ease of someone with experience, and then stopped to crouch down behind what looked like a kitchen counter as she heard approaching footsteps.
“There’s radio silence from the front. I’ll go check it out.” The unsuspecting Chollima soldier said to his colleagues as he stepped out of the sample study.
Byul timed his footsteps and just as a booted foot appeared beside her, she slammed her knife into it, through the laces, avoiding the reinforced toe protector. When he bent over in utter pain and shock, she grabbed the sling of his rifle to wrap around his neck and jumping up onto the counter, she dug her own boots into his back to provide leverage and tugged hard .
He had no chance of escaping.
There were a few long seconds of scrabbling at his own throat, a gurgle, and then silence again.
Byul gingerly lowered him to the ground so that he wouldn’t make too much noise on his way down before hopping off the counter and grabbing a flashbang grenade off of his belt, she made her way to the sample study.
The door was closed and so she knocked on it urgently.
The moment it cracked open enough, she pulled the pin on the flashbang grenade in her hand and rolled it in.
“What th-”
Whoever opened the door never finished his sentence as the flashbang did exactly as advertised and let off a flash of blinding light and a loud bang, completely disorientating everyone in the room for a few seconds.
Seconds was all Byul needed to shoot one through the flimsy wooden door, before kicking it open and rapidly shooting down the other two before they could even raise the barrel of their rifles towards her. She quickly turned to make sure that the first soldier at the door was definitely no longer a threat before she moved towards the three Bravo Team members, who were blindfolded and on their knees. She pulled out her backup knife and flicking it open, she cut them free of the zip-tie restraints. The trio pulled down their blindfolds and looked relieved and grateful as Byul handed their rifles and sidearms back to them. They immediately switched their comms channels as instructed and then listened without complaint when she swiftly gave out orders.
Two of them were to come with her as a tight unit to head towards the faux dining room whilst one, a staff sergeant who was their lead combat medic, she sent back to their injured colleagues, to treat and protect until the Medevac arrived.
Byul took the lead with the two NCOs, First Sergeant Lee Changsub and Master Sergeant Jung Jinyoung, protecting her flank and rear, and they were impressed at her efficiency and calm as she shot down the enemy accurately and without hesitation, as a few more spilled out of other rooms at the sound of battle.
It seemed that there definitely had been more than the two guarding their colleagues in the faux dining room.
By the time they were in the room opposite, Byul had taken down four in the corridor and the two with her had shot down one each when they cleared the rooms as they passed. She rapidly changed magazines in the carbine she had borrowed as they made a plan on how to rescue the prisoners, since the element of surprise was lost and they were likely going to be used as hostages instead.
Byul’s plan was simple and quickly agreed upon.
She sent the pair into the room next door to climb out of the windows and move outside towards the windows of the faux dining room whilst she would draw all the attention on herself by bursting through the door.
Timing was essential, so they communicated via their new channel and Junghwan helped using what view he had with the CCTV.
It went as anticipated.
Byul burst through the door and dropped down onto one knee, keeping her rifle barrel up, as the two guards stood behind the two captive Bravo Team members and held pistols to their temples.
“Drop your weapons!” One yelled out to her.
Then two shots rang out alongside the sound of breaking glass.
The two hostages flinched and then froze at the sound of bodies hitting the ground.
They found themselves being freed and ripped off their blindfolds to see Byul giving an "Okay" sign to their colleagues, who were standing outside on the other side of the window behind them, having shot through the glass panes to save their lives. Whilst they quickly picked up their confiscated weapons again and changed the comms channel too, they overheard Byul instructing the pair outside to circle round to the back and see if they could look into the storage locker so that they had some intel before going in.
“Command to Mike Bravo.” Junghwan’s voice came through their earpieces.
“Go ahead.” Byul replied quickly.
“Medevac have retrieved the wounded and we have Alpha Team on standby, how should we proceed?”
“Keep Alpha Team on standby.”
“Understood.”
“And Command, did Staff Sergeant Park go with the Medevac?”
“Negative, he’s headed back to you.”
“Understood.” Byul paused and took a breath before calling for the staff sergeant over the comms to guide him to their location.
It wasn’t long for Staff Sergeant Park to join them in the faux dining room and he handed over a spare chest plate carrier from the Medevac to a grateful Byul, who had essentially thrown herself into battle for their sakes without any armour. The scouting pair also climbed through the window shortly afterwards to report. Using a Sharpie, Changsub drew (on the surface of a nearby broken table) a crude layout of the storage space with potential entry points and positions of friendlies and enemies, with some help from Jinyoung.
Byul took command again with no complaints from Bravo Team and they got to work.
Once various team members had radioed in their position, Byul pulled the pin on an HE grenade and after rolling it towards the locked doors of the storage locker, she quickly hid around the corner and counted down the few seconds of silence.
Then with an almighty bang, the doors were blown off its hinges.
She immediately threw in flashbang and smoke grenades (taken from the Bravo Team members who never got the chance to use them, as they were caught by surprise at the start of their assault) in rapid succession to create complete chaos and made it seem like there was more than one person attacking.
Due to the smoke, initially she had little visibility and fired back when she saw muzzle flashes from the bewildered enemy forces, until she heard the sound of glass breaking. Now knowing that the others had launched their flanking ambush via the windows from both sides and that the occupants of the storage locker were likely distracted, she quickly moved out from behind the wall and pushed in through the doors, shooting down anyone who raised a weapon at her.
Within minutes, the terror cell was now reduced to three members, with their leader amongst those who were forced to surrender and hand over their weapons. They were quickly restrained using the zip-ties they had used on Bravo Team and made to sit quietly whilst they checked on their last two colleagues to be rescued.
One Bravo Team soldier was shaken but unharmed, glad to be freed from his restraints, whilst Captain Seo Eunkwang looked like he had been in the middle of taking a beating from his captors but aside from a black eye and busted lip, he looked otherwise pretty unscathed too. As his colleagues helped him up, he saw Byul approaching him and for a moment, everyone else (except their North Korean prisoners) tensed, expecting some sort of showdown.
But instead, Byul pulled off the earpiece and throat mic before unclipping the comms handset from her belt and handed it to Eunkwang.
“We’re on channel 8, Captain. The warehouse is secure.” She reported calmly as the Captain hesitantly took the comms device from her and put it on.
“Th-Thank you…” He replied quietly, not quite able to maintain eye contact, and then cleared his throat to speak into the throat mic. “Bravo Team Leader to Command.”
“Command receiving. Captain, are you okay?” Junghwan’s relieved voice travelled through.
“Affirmative. I need secure transport for 3 prisoners and a clean up crew for the rest.”
“Roger that, Captain.”
After that, they were all busy handing over the prisoners to the Military Police for secure transfer and helping the clean up crew. Eunkwang could not help but notice how much his team clearly respected Byul, and who wouldn’t really, when the woman had pretty much single-handedly saved the team and the whole operation, despite the terrible way he had treated her. And during their debrief, it became startlingly apparent that had she not used her expertise and experience to mount a counterstrike, Bravo Team and their backup Alpha Team could have taken huge losses; given that the terror cell’s plan was to ambush Bravo Team, take them prisoner, torture their leader for intel until Alpha Team arrived to rescue them and then completely wipe out both teams.
The Chollima were truly ruthless.
It was little wonder then that his team had naturally followed her lead and successfully rescued everyone.
They were all also relieved to know that Byul’s initial treatment had effectively saved both Sunwoo and Sungjae's lives, and the pair were in a stable condition.
After the debrief, Byul politely bowed or returned salutes to the Bravo Team members crowding around her to thank her or to express their awe of her skills, humbly saying that it had been a team effort. And Eunkwang wondered why he had been such an asshole to her initially. It was not beneath him to admit when he was wrong, however, and with that in mind, he raised his voice above the chatter.
“Moonbyul-ssi?” The tent fell silent. “A word?”
Byul nodded and giving the suddenly concerned Bravo Team members a small version of her trademark lopsided grin to reassure them, followed him out of the command tent. They walked away from the tent and away from the military personnel still milling about until they were standing in the midst of construction machinery and in relative privacy.
“M-Moonbyul-ssi… I um…” Eunkwang let out a frustrated sigh at his own stuttering before he tried again whilst looking down at his shuffling feet. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry… really and truly sorry for the way I treated you when you arrived and for what I said about your… um… late wife.”
The ex-soldier merely tilted her head to one side and after a moment, gently replied, “Well… it was a great idea to use me as your hidden Plan B, wasn’t it?”
His eyes snapped up to meet deep dark ones and couldn’t help but smile to match the cheeky smirk on her face. He realised that in that one sentence, she had indicated that he was forgiven and that there were no hard feelings.
“So hidden that even my own team didn’t know about it?”
“Exactly.”
Eunkwang chuckled and shook his head. He realised now that he had met quite a rare individual and mentally promised to report back to anyone who would listen, that Byul was an invaluable asset. He looked over Byul’s shoulder and saw Junghwan politely waiting a few metres away and decided to say his goodbye.
“Thank you for today. And for what it’s worth, it would be an honour to work with you again in the future, Sergeant Major Moon.”
He then gave her a salute, which a slightly surprised Byul returned, before he made his way back to the tent, giving Junghwan a pat on the shoulder as he passed.
“Come on, Sergeant Major, I’ll walk you to your car.” Junghwan said as he walked towards her. “I’m assuming the Captain apologised?”
“I’m retired, First Lieutenant.” Byul grumbled as they started slowly making their way to the company car she had borrowed for the day. There was no way she was driving her precious Mercedes GLC to an op. “And yes, he did.”
“Well, that’s the rank you left at and that’s how I want to address you. You really saved our asses out there.” He replied simply with an easy smile but then changed the topic quickly when Byul looked like she was about to protest. “By the way, I figured out why the Captain reacted so badly to you when you first turned up.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, it was your smile.”
Byul blinked, unsure whether she was meant to be offended. “What’s so bad about my smile?”
Junghwan cracked up laughing when he realised what he had implied and accepted it when she shoved him a few paces to the side.
“I meant that I realised when you smiled earlier.” He explained once he had calmed down. “You look like Agent Lee.”
“I… I do?” Byul frowned as she tried to recall the agent she had worked with a number of times before and whether anyone had ever said that they looked alike.
“A little.” He suddenly moved closer and spoke more quietly. “You see, Agent Lee and the Captain have a history.”
Byul’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Oh…”
“Yeah, they had a bad breakup over a year ago because our Cap’s still in the closet and Minhyuk-ssi wasn’t happy to stay in it with him forever.” Junghwan shrugged. “And I guess you triggered him without realising.”
“I see…”
By this point they had reached her car and he turned to her to add, “But you look a lot more like one of the guys from that idol group EXO… What was his name again?”
“Yah!”
***
Byul parked her car in an empty space in the restaurant’s carpark. She had driven to RVSM after the op, showered and thrown on a black t-shirt tucked into black slacks before driving out to the restaurant in her own car, hoping that she wouldn’t be too late. As soon as she stepped out of the car, she pulled out her phone and called the person who had occupied her mind the moment the op was over.
“I’m outside.” Was all she needed to say when that person picked up.
Within seconds, Kim Yongsun aka Solar flew out of the restaurant and jumped into her arms.
They hugged each other tight and as Solar buried her face into her neck, Byul buried hers into her hair - inhaling the familiar and comforting scent.
“Are you okay? Are you injured?” Solar asked as she ran her hands all over Byul but as soon as the latter shook her head, she cupped her face and drew her into a desperate kiss.
They were lucky that it was late evening and that they were in a carpark exclusively for this restaurant, which had been rented out for Wheein’s birthday party.
Because Solar deepened the kiss, raking her fingers through Byul’s dark silky locks, making Byul tighten her arms around her waist and pull her infinitely closer.
When they finally parted to breathe, Solar kept her face against Byul’s for a long moment, stroking her face intimately.
“Byul-ah… I missed you.” She whispered.
“I missed you too, Yong.” Byul replied and moved to press a tender kiss against her temple.
Solar had seen her just the evening before but she had been so worried about Byul going straight back onto missions, barely two months after getting shot to protect her, and had gotten so used to having her near her at all times. But she also understood that this was the ex-soldier’s job and she tried not to let her own fears and wants get in Byul’s way.
“Wheein’s going to be so happy you managed to come.” She said instead to change the topic.
“Did she like our present?” Byul asked as she took Solar’s hand and the couple walked into the restaurant together. They had bought Wheein a Polaroid camera together after the younger girl had mentioned a few times that she had been wanting to start a scrapbook of candid snapshots that she could later sketch from on a whim.
“Oh, she loved it. She’s taken so many of Hyejin already.”
The pair chuckled warmly at the thought but were interrupted by a loud gasp from a certain resident-puppy.
“Omo, Byulyi-unnie!” Wheein squealed as she leapt into the ex-soldier’s arms. “You made it! Thank you!”
Byul’s famous nose wrinkle appeared as she playfully spun the petite girl in her arms before lowering her back to the ground, “Wouldn’t miss it for the world, Wheein-ah.”
Wheein blushed prettily on top of her tipsy glow and Hwasa came over to push Byul away from her girlfriend.
“As much as I love you, please step away from my woman you greasy hamster.”
“Hyejin-ah!” Byul immediately switched targets and bundled the model into a hug.
Hwasa let out a husky shout but laughed as she accepted the hug from her closest friend.
“You okay?” She quietly asked into Byul’s ear.
Byul nodded and Hwasa smiled, relieved that the former had returned from her first mission since the shooting unscathed, and briefly pressed her forehead against hers in their usual unspoken act of support and care before pulling away.
Well, she had to since pretty much the whole of Rainbow Inc. descended upon the ex-bodyguard to greet her.
Solar watched from a distance as she started plating food for Byul from the buffet, luckily the food was served in heated trays so it was still warm, because she knew that her girlfriend had likely not eaten the whole day. She also knew that they had surprisingly very similar tastes and that Byul would be happy with whatever she would normally be happy with.
The ex-soldier was currently being pulled into a hug by Hyunwoo, whose pink hair had been dyed back into his natural black - allegedly in solidarity with Solar, who had dyed her blonde back to her natural black about a month into Byul’s recovery. He then introduced her to his boyfriend, Jungmo, who was the main stylist at a hair salon that they had set up together whilst Hyunwoo joined Solar’s entourage and later her company. Jungmo stopped Byul from bowing politely to give her a hug too, saying that he had heard a lot about her and it was a pleasure to finally meet Hyunwoo’s girl crush. Before the poor girl could recover, however, she was fussed over by the quirky stylist Jihyun, who was not very subtly drooling over her outfit choice alongside Sook, the self-proclaimed “mature” makeup artist.
It was at this point that Solar decided to rescue Byul, since the tipsy pair had started getting a little… handsy.
“Okay guys, can I have Byulyi-ssi back so that she can eat?” She asked as she took a grateful Byul’s hand and gently tugged her away from the crowd.
“Ooh, so possessive.” Jihyun cooed. “Who remembers when Yongsunnie was in complete denial that she had the hots for this handsome little devil?”
They all laughed at the blush that appeared on both Solar and Byul’s faces
“Don’t mind her guys, she’s too single to think straight.” Sook jumped in teasingly.
“Excuse me, grandma, don’t you have children to get home to?” The stylist clapped back.
“The kids are being watched by my husband so this mama can paaartaaay!”
“Oh, no.” Jungmo muttered.
“Dear God, no.” Hyunwoo added.
“Someone stop her please.” Jihyun appealed dramatically to the rest of the room.
Byul chuckled at their antics and sat at a nearby table, with a loaded plate and Solar immediately sat close to her, feeding her mouthfuls when she felt like the younger girl wasn’t eating enough. She asked about the op but Byul merely mentioned that there were some minor complications but was an overall success, without going into much detail. They were soon joined by their ‘kids’ and the conversation moved onto other topics anyway.
And it wasn’t brought up again when they went back to Solar’s and spent the weekend together, although admittedly they spent a fair amount of it taking each other’s clothes off. Solar assumed that Byul couldn’t really talk about it much because of client privacy and did not push for details, willing to wait until she was allowed to and/or wanted to talk about her cases with her.
But for now, they just wanted to be lost in their moment.