Ongoing: Resonance [Ch.2]
Through lidded eyes, it was but pure darkness. However, even Jessica knew when morning emerged from the horizon, groaning as she draped her left arm over her eyes. Exhausted from their recent mission, she wanted nothing, but to lie in bed, and rest her poor muscles. A door opens, followed by footsteps, and then a weight magically conjures on top of her. Something told her she wasn’t going back to sleep.
“Jessi~~~ Time to wake up!” a soft voice coos, Jessica knowing well who the owner of it was.
Cracking one eye open, Jessica almost fully opens her eyes when she takes in the sight of Tiffany straddling her body, a slightly frustrated face staring at her. As casual as she could, she groaned in response, and pulled the pillow over her face, more of an action to hide her flushed face.
Jessica will never understand why she likes, or more likely, loves Tiffany Hwang. Three years they’ve been together. Was it the first time they met? Or was that mere infatuation? Was it the times they spent together, battling together, helping each other, saving each other? She doesn’t understand it at all. The only thing she really knew was that a three-year-long crush bottled up inside a person was certainly not healthy. Hiding it was the hardest part. They lived together and did everything together. She doesn’t know if Tiffany has caught on or not, but she knows that Tiffany never makes hiding her feelings easy at all.
“Come on Jessi! We don’t have all day!~” Tiffany whined as she simply took the pillow and threw it across the room. After 30 seconds of silence and little movement from the older girl, she sighed heavily. However, a smirk emerged when an idea suddenly struck her.
She walked her fingers over Jessica’s abdomen, the latter stiffening from the unexpected action. “Jessi~ Don’t make me have to kiss you~”
Jessica felt as if her mind had exploded, as she immediately sat up and stared at the girl in astonish. The latter merely blinked until she broke into a raucous laughter.
“Hey! That’s not funny!”
“HAHA-I-It is too!! Y-You should’ve seen your face!!!” Tiffany barely managed to reply as she rolled off the bed, and continued her laughter. After laughing to her heart’s content, she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, and patted down her blouse as she got up.
“Anyways, I’ve got a quick breakfast on the table, so hurry up!”
With that said, Tiffany closed the door behind her, leaving a flustered Jessica clutching at her shaking heart.
Don’t tease my feelings like that…
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
A yawn escaped Jessica’s lips as she grasped the doorframe of her room. Just as Tiffany had promised, her breakfast had been hurriedly set on the table: a lone loaf of bread on a plate, followed by a glass of milk. Walking up to the table, she picked up the loaf, and hungrily bit into the bread.
Jessica shifted her eyes to the couch, expecting Tiffany to be patiently waiting for her to finish her meal. However, what she did see caused her to almost swallow her food whole. Startled, Jessica jumped a foot back, wide-eyed at their guest.
“What’s up?” Yuri simply stated, stretching her arms over the back of the couch, legs crossed. She didn’t know why, but the way Yuri was seated irked Jessica.
“Who the hell let you in?” Jessica couldn’t help, but glance at her windows, wondering if the intruder had broken in.
“I did.” Tiffany answered as she emerged from the bathroom. “Yuri’s here to pick us up.”
“She could’ve waited outside…” Jessica placed the remains of her bread back onto the plate, picked up the glass of milk, and slightly tilted it around, nonchalantly watching the liquid slosh around.
“Jeez Sica, I know you aren’t a morning person, but have some consideration for your guest.” Yuri playfully claimed, her eyes wandering all over the apartment while doing so.
Yuri clucked her tongue when she found something eye-catching. Leaning over a bit, she took a frame that was placed on its front off from the coffee table beside the couch, and returned to her previous position. Lightly tapping the picture frame with her thumb, she amusingly scanned the photo.
There were four girls in the picture. All of them had their arms around each other shoulders. From what Yuri could tell, it appeared that the photo was taken in front of the K-P Organization, though she wasn’t clearly sure. She arched an eyebrow in interest when she spotted the slightly younger Tiffany and Jessica. Tiffany was the middle-right of the four girls, the biggest grin on her face. Next to her and at the right-end was Jessica. Yuri silently giggled at the awkward smile the older girl was giving. Then, her attention went over to the two mystery girls. She could tell they were Resonators, but she had never seen them before. Judging from the picture, they were friends with Jessica, and if they were friends with Jessica, she would have definitely known who they were.
“Hey Jessica. Tiffany.” Yuri called as she slightly raised the frame in her hand. “Who are these two other girls in this picture? I’ve never seen them be-“
Crash! Splash!
Yuri immediately stood up as she stared at Jessica in shock. The glass of milk in her hand was no longer there, its remains plastering the ground with glass shards, puddles of milk, and drips of blood.
“Oi Sica! What’s your problem?!”
“Jessi!”
Tiffany quickly ran to Jessica’s side, grasping the shaking and dripping fist. The blonde heavily sighed, uncurled her fists, and shrugged Tiffany’s grip off.
“Sorry…Fany, if you don’t mind, could you clean the mess up?”
Carefully cradling her injured hand, Jessica made her way into the bathroom; the door’s slam echoing in the apartment. Tiffany bent down near the mess, and one by one, picked up dripping glass shards, placing them into her hand.
“Jesus, what’s her problem? I asked a simple question, and she throws a fit…” Yuri complained as she sat back down on the couch again, staring at the picture with a new view.
Tiffany shuffled to the trashcan, dumping the shards in the bin. Then, she pulled out a rag from the sink, and began wiping the milk off the ground. “Sorry about that. Jessica is very… sensitive about people mentioning about that picture.”
“I just wanted to know who the two girls were. They look like friends of yours, but I’ve never seen them before.”
Throwing the damped towel into the sink, Tiffany turned the faucet on, watching the water engulf her hands. “You’re right about them being our friends. Do you see the short-haired girl?”
Yuri studied the mentioned girl; the girl was at the left-end with a smile that rivaled Tiffany’s, while she proudly held up a v-sign. “Yeah.”
“That’s Sooyoung. She was Jessica’s friend… Well I’m not exactly sure. I mean- Jessica had a relationship with her that is a lot like yours with her. She called Sooyoung an ‘idiot’ and a ‘glutton’ a lot, and they argued a lot, but I knew that Jessica really liked her.”
“Hmm… Then what about the other girl?”
Yuri changed her focus to the middle-left girl. She blinked in minor surprise as she noticed that the girl was deathly skinny, but not anorexic skinny. It might have been the fact that the girl seemed very petite. The girl had a face of a doll; Yuri wondered whether she was an actual human.
“That’s Hara. She was Sooyoung’s partner. Those two made a great team; they were K-P Organization’s best Noise trackers, and Sooyoung was excellent with melee weapons.”
“…Hey Tiffany… Why are you speaking in past tense anyway?”
The sound of rushing water halted as Tiffany turned the faucet off, gripping the edge of the sink with her hands.
“… It hadn’t even been 6 months since we became Resonators. We had just finished a mission, but then… we came across a Shadow Don along the way back. Shadow Dons are grouped with Noise, and I learned in the Organization’s library that Shadow Dons are pretty much a higher level of Noise. We were inexperienced, and knew nothing of how to fight one. Sooyoung forced us to run away. We managed to escape danger, but… we heard a scream,”
Tiffany shakily exhaled, as her knuckles turned white from the pressure in her hands, “Jessica ran back, and I followed her… and we didn’t expect to see Hara’s lifeless body. It was horrible… she had a gaping hole where her heart once was. As for Sooyoung… we didn’t even see a trace of her existence. We could only assume the worse…”
Yuri examined the distressed girl, and then turned her view to the ground, her eyes filled with guilt. However, this was short-lived, as the dark skinned girl stood up with a smile, and pumped her fists.
“OK, NO MORE MOPING!~”
She marched to the bathroom door, which was still locked, and banged it repeatedly.
“HEY SICA. HURRY UP AND DRESS YOUR WOUND. WE GOT A BUSY SCHEDULE AHEAD OF US.”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Hangulia City was literally a city on a giant hill, the buildings winding around the rocky surface, until it reached the peak of the humongous town, K-P Organization. A fence, separating civilization from the dense forest just outside the gates, surrounded the city. The buildings appeared to come straight out of the medieval ages, though were tweaked with some modern technology. The atmosphere was similar to medieval ages as well, the stone roads flooded with carts, vendors, and tons of people moving about.
Yuri was in the lead, proudly walking with her back straight, arms swinging, and in general a posture of confidence. Tiffany and Jessica followed suit, the former holding Jessica’s wrist, just above the bandaged wound. Tiffany couldn’t help, but stare at it, and Jessica noticed, as she looked the other direction, obviously uncomfortable at the younger girl’s tender nature.
“Jessi, does it hurt?” Tiffany asked, her fingers sliding down the blonde’s arm, the tips grazing against the coarse texture of the gauze.
“No…” Jessica removed her hand from the gentle caresses; they made it difficult to hide her blush.
Yuri smirked as she turned her attention back to in front of her. There was a hint of loneliness, though it quickly dissolved as she spotted a familiar figure. She stopped in her tracks, and waved her arm in the air.
“Hey Yoona!~ Over here!!!”
From across the crowd, the girl waved back, catching Jessica and Tiffany’s attention. Squeezing through the mass, Yoona ran straight into Yuri, who in turn wrapped her arms around the frail body. The two girls in the back were wide-eyed, staring at the duo, their eyes going even wider as Yoona placed a small peck on Yuri’s cheek.
As the two mostly separated, their hand intertwined, Yuri looked back to the older girls. “What are you guys waiting for? We’re not going to get to HQ in just three steps!”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
By now the group were only a couple of twists and turns from the top of the city, in which K-P Organization lied. Jessica watched as Tiffany and Yoona giggled and gossiped up ahead. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Yuri was doing the same. Slightly irritated at the sight that occurred in front of her several minutes ago, Jessica decided to speak up.
“So… you’re dating Yoona?”
“What? You didn’t know?” Yuri smugly smiled, locking her fingers behind her head, “We’ve been in a relationship for 3 months now.”
“Really? You two don’t seem like a couple…”
“That’s because we know what subtle is,” The black-haired girl faced Jessica, the smug grin replaced with a victorious one, “At least I’m better in one category than you.”
“What’s that suppose to mean?” Jessica felt the muscles in her eyebrow move, a frown on her face.
“Romance, obviously. Within a year’s span I already have a girl, and what about you? The world can tell that you have a thing for Tiffany, but what have you been doing for three years?”
“WHAT-“
Jessica instantly clamped her hand over her mouth, eyes checking to see if Tiffany had heard the blasphemy that Yuri blurted out.
“That’s none of your business,” Jessica hissed.
“So you do have something for Tiffany.”
“I didn’t say that-“
“But you didn’t deny it.”
A growl emitted from Jessica, staring right into Yuri’s overconfident eyes with her ice cold ones, their gaze never faltering.
“Why should you care about my personal life?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I just don’t understand why you can’t just tell her you love her.”
“You think it’s that simple? Is that exactly what you did for Yoona?”
“She confessed to me first. I’ve always thought she was attractive, so obviously I told her how I felt. It’s that easy.”
“Well I’m not like you. I can’t simply and bluntly tell her something like this.”
“Then let me tell her for you-“
“NO.”
Yuri flinched at the sudden serious tone. When she examined the older girl, the coldness from her eyes was replaced with a more desperate look. Jessica watched Tiffany up ahead, and sighed.
“I want to tell her, but only when I’m ready…”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
As the group climbed the huge flight of stairs, they found themselves at the entrance to K-P Organization; iron gates wide open, showing the massive building before them. They made their way across the huge courtyard, until they passed the towering pillars standing on each side of the entrance to the building.
Yoona and Tiffany quickly ran ahead, the remaining girls curious as to what they were doing, until they saw them run up to two people standing near the main building’s bulletin board.
“Sunny! Hyoyeon!” Yoona and Tiffany yelled simultaneously, catching the attention of the girls.
“Hey you two!~” The shorter of the two, Sunny, replied.
Yuri and Jessica joined the group, as Yuri and Hyoyeon knuckle touched. “What’s up Hyo?”
“Nothing much.” Hyoyeon retracted her hand back into her hoodie’s pocket.
As the group chatted, Jessica couldn't help, but stare at the bulletin board. A huge, extravagant poster took up most of the space of the board; its designs, fonts, and pictures standing out from all the written up stuff normally posted on there.
K-P Organization's Anniversary Party, huh? Jessica thought. This party is the biggest event each year; the celebration of K-P Organization’s founding and creation. The whole city celebrated, but only Resonators attended the party, which was held in the Grand Hall of the organization.
“Hey you guys!”
The group turned to find their seniors, Daesung and Seunghyun, headed their direction. “Taeyeon wants to see all of you guys.”
“Eh?! What for?” Sunny questioned.
“Mission.” Seunghyun bluntly and quietly stated.
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Kim Taeyeon’s office was on the very top floor of K-P Organization, giving the office an entire view of Hangulia City. Most Resonators go to a job list to get missions; taking a request off the board, fulfilling the request, and then accepting their reward. However, only elite Resonators chosen by Taeyeon herself came to her office, being assigned the most difficult missions there were.
The group of girls stood in a line, watching as the office chair behind the large desk rotated, revealing their leader.
“Welcome ladies. I’m assuming you all know why you’re here, right?”
Everyone nodded, which resulted for Taeyeon to simply smile. “Good. Seohyun, hit the lights.”
A tall figure, but possibly youngest out of them all, bowed before retreating to a corner and flipping a switch, causing the entire office to fall into darkness.
A projection hit one side of the office wall, a picture of a map appearing on screen. All eyes were on the screen, as Taeyeon explained. “This is the map of the area around Hangulia City. As you can see Hangulia City is right here,” A red dot circled around a point, which was marked ‘Hangulia City’, “your objective is to go to Sonus, which is just outside our forest and across a plain, and obtain a package for us. You are to then bring it back, and make sure nothing happens to it.”
“WAIT THAT’S IT?!” Yuri exclaimed. She held in a yelp when she felt Jessica’s elbow dig into her side.
Taeyeon slightly chuckled, her fingers repeatedly tapping her desk. “Yuri. Do you have a problem with your mission?”
“Just a simple delivery mission? That’s it?! How can this be called an elite mission?!”
“Kwon Yuri, I understand that being only 1 year experienced as a Resonator and recently being appointed as an elite Resonator a week ago allows you to think that way, but do not underestimate the missions I assign personally myself. This package was stolen from the Noises. If possible they might ambush you, and kill you to get that package back. Do you understand?”
The dark-skinned girl flinched, before lowering her gaze to the floor. “Yes ma’am.”
“Good.”
The lights flickered on, causing everyone to blink in slight shock. Taeyeon stood up, her eyes never leaving the group. “Get going! You leave now!”
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Ugh, this chapter is honestly my least favorite, because nothing happens. That's why it took forever to write and I rushed the ending lol. Just be patient guys, I promise everything gets more epic in the next chapter(s)~ :D ALSO, I'm hoping to update more faster, because 1) I got past my least fav chapter lol and 2) School's ending in TWO WEEKS. But I gotta to Jamaica like three days after we're out.
OT: I'm gonna enter the SSF JeTi Tidal Wave Fanfic contest. Good luck to everyone!~ ^^