Chapter Text
Sayeon didn’t think she’d ever set foot back home again.
She picked that fate the day she left to join the Aberrant Corps. Not a decision she regretted, anyway. The time for mourning over the life her non-aberrant self could have had was long over, and now she didn’t even have a family to return to. Not anymore, ever since Samin opened the fracture in their relationship eight years ago.
Still blaming others for your own shortcomings, Sayeon?
No, that wasn’t entirely fair. Sure, she might have been careless… but she was also just a ten years-old kid, and Samin shouldn’t have-
Shouldn’t have protected you? Do you truly still believe there was a better choice? Who is all this resentment really for, Sayeon?
It didn’t matter anymore. Maybe it was for the best, the way things turned out with her sister. She wasn’t sure she’d fit in the criminal Underworld. The rules were much clearer in the Corps, she knew exactly what strings to pull to get the results she wanted. She had new goals to work towards, now.
She had people to kill here.
Therefore, Sayeon wasn’t really expecting Juni to tell her cell they were supposed to go home for the Christmas holidays.
“-And why can’t we just choose to stay here?”
“The HQs aren’t a free vacation resort, Sayeon.” Juni rolled her eyes, still not looking up from the videogame she was playing on the PC of the Security Office.
“It says on file that you still got a residence under your name, and some distant relative money to live off. Until you’re a proper, red-tie officer you’re not granted a permanent stay at the building, in this case. New budget cuts or something- ah motherfucker!” A GAME-OVER screen appeared, having Juni finally break eye-contact from her monitor.
“So, Min and I have to stay?” Ryujin asked, her tone bored.
“Yep, can’t exactly send you back to prison- or… the streets, I guess?” Juni added, looking awkwardly at Min, who remained impassible as ever.
“Welp!” she clasped her hands. “On the bright side, you get to slack off. I heard they’ll even hold a bingo game for you stray trainees in the cafeteria!”
Noone of the two strays in question seemed excited about that. Iseul looked at them with a sympathetic smile.
“Fine. Spend these days moping, then. Catch up on sleep, roam around… whatever, I don’t care. Some of us officers actually have to work on Christmas, can you believe it? Insanity, I know. So, anyway, I won’t be here to babysit you guys. I trust you know how to behave, right?” As cheerfully as Juni asked that question, you could still feel a threatening edge to it.
“Are you sure there’s no way we can volunteer to help out?” Sayeon cut in, she had to find a way out of this. “I… don’t mind working on Christmas.”
Ryujin shot her an exasperated glare; Iseul didn’t look too keen on the idea either.
Juni sighed. “No Sayeon, you can’t. You’ve done enough work these past weeks already, don’t you think? God, why did I have to get the worst workaholic trainee in this HQ? I swear this is karma laughing at me.”
She paused a few seconds, contemplating Sayeon’s nervous aura that she was probably leaking all over the air. “…Unless you got a specific reason why you don’t wanna go back home, huh? You need me to schedule you a meeting with instructor Sang so you can try explaining it to her?”
Sayeon’s heart dropped to her stomach. She could feel the suspicious stares from the others in the room.
Alright then, no way out but through. Now, maybe there was still chance to backtrack.
“It’s not that I have a reason not to go back, but rather like there’s no reason for me to. I don’t have a family.”
This seemed to convince everyone, even Ryujin looked like she had resigned to pity. Good, so no need to rewind.
Juni shrugged. “Well, there is no reason for you to stay here either. Just chill out for a bit, girl. It’s only gonna be few days anyway.”
“Yeah Sayeon, don’t worry. We’re all going to be back together in no time.” Iseul gave her a reassuring thumbs-up.
Sure, if I don’t end up getting kidnapped by my sister and her criminal gang.
“Thanks, Iseul. I guess I’ll see you guys after the holidays, then.”
***
It was already dark outside when Sayeon reached her home.
She had turned down Juni’s offer for a lift, not wanting to alert Samin by bringing a Corps car close by their place. It had taken a while to walk all the way back, but Sayeon didn’t mind. She needed to think about how to deal with this situation.
Could she just ignore Samin like usual? Her sister had more-or-less always respected her need for distance, but that was before she joined the suits. Would she pry now? Would she try again to get Sayeon to join her? Would they end up fighting fighting?
Although she still resented Samin – hah, despised her, even – Sayeon wasn’t going to report her to the Corps. Firstly, it would probably only earn her more distrust than favours… but it was also deeper than that. Something along the lines of paying your debts that Ryujin spoke about. Her sister had provided everything for her since their mother’s death: from food, to clothes, to nice schools… everything, never once complaining. They might officially be on different teams now, but Sayeon still wouldn’t turn her in, that much she owed her.
That didn’t mean she wouldn’t stand her ground should they cross paths again… and at this moment, it looked like she was walking right into a confrontation.
She shook her head, resining to cross that bridge when she’d come to it. Hopefully she could use her gift to prevent things from escalating too far.
She paused on the doorstep. Sayeon wasn’t a detector, but if she focused, she could likely sense whether there was another aberrant right inside the house.
…No aura traces. It wouldn’t be the first night Samin spent outside, hopefully her instincts were correct.
She slid her key in and opened the door.
Empty. “…Samin?”
No response. Sayeon’s shoulders sagged with relief.
As she stepped inside, it occurred to her that her sister might not even live here anymore. She surely had other hideouts, what was the point of staying in their old place?
She checked the fridge- fresh food was still inside. Samin hadn’t left, then.
Was she expecting me to come back?
She sighed. There was no use dwelling on it now. At least the confrontation was probably off the table until morning, and honestly – with most of the tension having left her body – Sayeon felt too exhausted to deal with it at the moment. The fight with Juni that morning must have drained her, or maybe it had been the three-hours walk back to her place, or the reeling thoughts about immediate doom that she had for the whole way.
She went to her room, opting to get some sleep- then paused. On a second thought, she walked to her desk, opened the drawer (everything was just as she left it), picked up a post-it, and scribbled a note.
“I’m just back for the holidays. Don’t get weird ideas. I don’t want to talk.”
Sayeon put it up outside of her door, then closed it, and collapsed on her bed. She was asleep before she even had the chance to overthink it.
***
That night, she dreamt about Samin.
“Do you hate me, Sayeon?”
She flinched. It wasn’t usually her on the receiving end of that question.
Her sister stared at her, frozen in place, darkness engulfing them both. Some gentle smile still plastered on her face. A mask.
“Do you hate me?”
A sharp pain in her chest. Guilt. A familiar feeling, but this wasn’t her usual nightmare. Sayeon’s mind enjoyed torturing her with the sight of her victims, the people who’d be better off had she never stepped into their life. Why was Samin here?
“Do you hate me?”
Samin wasn’t a victim. She was guilty, at least as much as Sayeon. An answer.
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
Her sister’s smile fell.
“Sayeon,”
Ah, there it is. The mask had slipped, at last.
“Look down.”
Wait, something was wrong. This wasn’t her memory-
“Look down at what you did.”
Samin’s lifeless body laid below in a pool of blood.
No. Sayeon’s head snapped back up where her sister had been standing. Gone.
NO. She kneeled down, helplessly trying to shake Samin awake.
“No, no, no. Please-” Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.
“Not you too…” She chocked on a sob. “Why-”
Because of you.
Sayeon jolted up, backing away.
Because you think the world is filled with people like you.
“I’m sorry-”
Because you’re no good to anybody.
She covered her ears, but there was no use. It was coming from inside her head.
Because all you’ve ever done is hurt people-
“Stop!”
The voice fell quiet.
No, her personal feelings didn’t matter. Sayeon knew better now, she had the power to prevent this. Samin wouldn’t get in danger because of her again, at least that much she owed her.
She looked at her bloodied hands; they had stopped trembling. A spark of hope.
*Snap*