Chapter Seventeen
I read the name over and over again until it no longer looked real.
Yejun didn’t work for the descendants anymore, so it must have been someone else with the same name. Kim was a common name, after all.
I tensed at the sound of the elevator dinging at the end of the hallway. Hyebin could come back any moment, or worse—Hong Gildong. I dug my phone out of my pocket and snapped as many photos of the report as I could, then jammed the file into the middle of the stack and slapped my report on top.
The door swung open and Hyebin strode back in, hesitating at the sight of me by the desk.
“You’re still here?” she said. “What the hell are you doing? Get out.”
“Yes, Sunbaenim,” I said, bowing and hurrying around the desk. I’d almost reached the doorway when Hyebin called for me.
“Wait,” she said.
I froze, my hand an inch from the doorknob. There was no way Hyebin could tell that I’d read someone else’s report, right? Were there cameras in Hong Gildong’s office? I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry as Hyebin crossed the room and stood behind me.
“Here,” she said.
I turned around slowly. She was holding her hand out to me, something shiny clenched in her fist. I held out both hands and let her drop it into my palms.
I half expected it to be some kind of grenade, but when I opened my palm to examine it, I saw a key chain with a tiny gold ladybug charm.
“I bought it last week,” she said, stuffing her hands in her pockets and looking away. “Your graduation present. I can’t return it, so … congrats, I guess.”
It was cheap and silly looking and so very un-Hyebin-like that the thought of her buying it at the store actually made me smile. Then I felt ashamed all over again—she’d gotten me a present and I’d insulted her to her face. “Thank you, Sunbaenim,” I said, bowing probably too deeply.
“Go home,” she said, waving me off.
I wanted to say more, but I could tell I was no longer welcome. I trudged to the door and closed it behind me, clutching the ladybug in one hand. I held it close to my chest as I rode the elevator down.
Out on the street, I hurried against the flow of foot traffic.
I came to a stop on the bridge across the Bulgwang stream and gripped the railing with one hand.
The cold metal shocked life back into my palm, and I realized how badly I was shaking.
I pocketed the ladybug key chain and took out my phone.
Quarter Three Report: Kim Yejun, Associate Agent (1027C)
Supervisor: Hong Gildong [alias], Seoul Branch President (003)
QUARTERLY ASSIGNMENT
Primary Objective: Ascertain the loyalty of Agent-in-Training Yang Mina (Agent 1475C).
Determine:
The approximate level of Yang Mina’s power with regard to her dragon energy and ability to control it effectively
(Note: Yang Mina is flagged for extra review due to suspected genetic predisposition for enhanced powers—see file 1475B, “Yang Hana.”)
Yang Mina’s susceptibility to outside influence with regard to unauthorized timeline interference
Whether or not Yang Mina can be used as an asset to the descendants or poses too great a risk of disloyalty and must be eliminated (see Appendix A)
My findings:
Yang Mina strongly resisted my initial infiltration attempt, citing mistrust of my motivations and skepticism over the existence of an alternate timeline. As the operation was ineffective, I left the scene before she was able to contact another agent for backup.
Yang Mina continuously resisted my attempts to persuade her to help me rebel against the descendants, even when presented with photographic evidence.
She agreed to another conversation with me only when ambushed in the train station.
There, I capitalized on her desire to remain in the descendants’ good graces by passing her calculus class to support her current infiltration mission.
Power levels: Yang Mina possesses strong but uncultivated dragon energy. She was able to call it forth on the first attempt with limited instruction.
Loyalty: Yang Mina falls into category 4 of loyalty index (moderate susceptibility to outside forces).
Future usefulness: Yang Mina would be a useful asset to the Seoul branch team if powers were harnessed.
Conclusion:
I believe that Yang Mina is not a candidate for erasure as she does not meet the established criteria. Her decision to assist me was motivated by her desire to complete her infiltration mission and continue to work as a faithful descendant.
Out of the established protocols, I believe the best course of action is to proceed with Option C (see Appendix A).
Appendix A:
Option C: Determination of Loyalty
Proposal draft by: Hong Gildong [alias], Seoul Branch President (003)
Kim Yejun’s final examination will be to supervise Yang Mina on her final examination mission (874675) [assassination of politician Min Sungho] to ensure completion.
If Yang Mina completes the assignment successfully, Kim Yejun will:
Accompany Yang Mina to HQ for mission debrief, written warning for prior infractions, registration for corrective conduct classes.
If Yang Mina deviates from instructions in any way or otherwise fails to complete the assignment, Kim Yejun will:
Immediately apprehend Yang Mina and escort her to HQ.
If met with resistance:
Cleared for firearm usage
Cleared for termination
Cleared for termination.
I read the words again and again. At first, they meant nothing at all—like I was reading a novel about someone else’s life.
Then I reached the last page.
There was Yejun’s headshot, taken against the beige background of the costuming department.
His hair was black in the photo, but I recognized those dark eyes.
I had seen them sparkle with gold when he laughed and glow like amber when he was angry.
But in this photo, he only stared impassively ahead in a way that felt so starkly un-Yejun, as if I’d never met this person at all.
Because I haven’t, I realized, a strange coldness building in my feet and creeping up my body, like I was wading into a dark ocean. I’d met Kim Yejun the rogue agent who wanted to save the world, but that person didn’t exist.
I locked my phone and dropped my hands to my sides. The sea was rising higher and higher, filling my mouth.
No one is going to hurt you, he’d said.
No one except for him.
I sank to my knees, my legs shaking too much to hold me anymore.
The ocean roared in my ears, my mouth stinging with salt—maybe I’d bitten my tongue, or maybe I really was going to drown in the sea of my own mind.
Dragons were water creatures, but until this moment, I had never felt like I came from the cold and lightless depths of the ocean.
Now I only wanted dark waters to drag me home, to bury me in white sand.
Hana’s absence yawned wider, as it always did in moments she should have been here. I imagined her fingers combing my hair, her warm hand on my back, her soothing words in my ear.
What does this mean for Hana? I thought, my throat closing up.
If Yejun had made up Timeline Alpha to trick me, was there any hope of getting her back?
I’d thought I could peel back Hong Gildong’s offenses one by one until everything was undone and Hana came back to me, but how was I supposed to find her now?
The only person who had more information about her was Hong Gildong, and I couldn’t access his files.
Just this afternoon, I’d thought I was on the way to saving the world, and now I had nothing and no one at all, not even Hana. I had to start a war, or I would lose Hana forever, and Yejun would kill me if I ran.
I walked home, feeling like the cool autumn breeze was rushing straight through me, like I was made of silk.
My parents were already asleep since they were boarding a plane for Japan early tomorrow. I sat alone at the table, where the kitchen was mostly packed up in boxes that the movers would pick up tomorrow afternoon.
The door to my parents’ room clicked open and my mom stuck her head out.
“Mina?” she called.
“Go to bed, you have an early flight,” I said, not wanting her to see me upset.
“Do you want some cheese ramen?” she said, as if I hadn’t spoken.
“No,” I said, facing away as she entered the kitchen, pretending to be very interested in whatever was happening out the window. “I’m tired,” I added.
I waited for the sound of her footsteps returning to her room and the door closing, but she lingered a few feet away. “Are you okay, sweetie?” she said.
I swallowed, tasting the easy lie on the tip of my tongue. I’m fine, just stressed about school. But I was so tired of lying to everyone.
My mom frowned at my silence and stepped into the room, then sat beside me at the table. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” she said, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear.
I hugged my knees to my chest, wondering how much I could really tell her. Maybe my mom can fix everything for me, I thought, even though I was too old to believe it.
“My next mission,” I said at last. “The descendants want—”
“Wait, wait,” my mom said quickly, holding up a hand. “You know that’s classified, sweetie. You can’t tell me specifics. That’s between you and your mentor.”
My hands tightened around my shins. “I don’t care about that,” I said.
My mom sighed, patting down my hair. “I know it seems like there are a lot of rules, but they’re all in place to keep us safe.”
My hands tensed, fingernails biting into my legs. “They won’t keep me safe!” I said, pushing her hand away. “You asked me what was wrong but you don’t even want to hear about it?”
“Of course I want to, Mina,” my mom said, frowning. “But it’s not about what I want. What’s best for the timeline is what’s best for all of us. You have to trust.”
Would you say that if you knew the truth? I thought, turning away and crossing my arms so she wouldn’t see my tears. But I didn’t need to ask, because I knew the answer. They had already lost one daughter to the timeline, and they didn’t even miss her.
“I’m going to bed,” I said, pushing out my chair and snatching my bag off the floor.
“Okay, honey,” my mom said hesitantly. “I love you, Mina.”
You don’t know what love is, I wanted to say. If the descendants can take it away from you so easily, then it isn’t love.
“I love you too,” I said quietly, then shut my bedroom door.
My parents were leaving early in the morning, so that might be the last time I ever saw my mom.
I would never be able to kill someone knowing it would start a war, which meant Yejun would take me to headquarters to be erased or kill me on the spot—either way, I’d be gone from their lives.
Hong Gildong would probably do some selective mind wiping on my parents regardless, just to make sure they stayed obedient worker bees.
The idea of my parents not even missing me was so much worse than them mourning me.
I tore a sheet of paper out of my notebook and set it on my desk. Yejun had said paper materials didn’t reset as easily as phones during a timeline refresh, so maybe, somehow, this would survive.
I picked up a pen and wrote a letter to my parents.
My name is Mina. If you don’t know who I am, then the descendants have already taken me from you. Once, I was your daughter. I love you always, even if you forget me. The descendants can never change that.
I crept back into the hallway and tucked the note into my mom’s coin purse, where she probably wouldn’t notice it for a few days, until she was safely in Japan.
Maybe the timeline refresh would destroy it anyway and she would never read it.
But I knew now that erasing someone wasn’t a clean process, that there were always loose threads. I prayed that this was one of them.
I took out Hana’s note and clutched it to my chest as I lay down in bed.
You have to trust, my mom had said.
But I couldn’t trust the descendants, or Yejun, or even my parents.
The only person I could trust was someone I couldn’t even see.
I was somehow both trapped under Hong Gildong’s thumb yet still as isolated as a rogue agent.
I might as well have gone rogue at that point, for all the good my friends and family had done me.
Slowly, I pulled Hana’s note from my chest, letting the pale moonlight illuminate her words.
Hana had to have gone rogue in order to leave me this note.
That meant she had survived the timeline refresh.
And if she could, maybe I could too. It wasn’t a hundred percent chance, but I liked the odds of surviving the timeline refresh better than my odds of surviving Yejun’s gun to my head or Hong Gildong shoving my time magic down my throat.
All I had to do was get Yejun out of my way before he could tell on me.
I crushed Hana’s note close to my heart, feeling like she was here with me once more.
You’re smarter than them, she would tell me. Just like the ladybug, you can slip away when they least expect it.
They’d tested me because I was foreign, average, no one special. But underestimating me would be their last mistake.