Enigma

Distinct connections

Minji sat facing Hanni, who was equally poised, leaning delicately against the table.

"This is why I was against her going, Hanni," Minji declared, her gaze fixed on a two-paragraph report before her. The words were vague, and insufficient in conveying any significant information.

Hanni, her demeanor more relaxed, offered a rational perspective. "Perhaps there was nothing remarkable to report."

Minji's eyes bore into the report. "A lab not operating significantly, despite existing for a couple of years, is already remarkable to me. It could be a front for laundering, or something more insidious. This half-ass report leaves us blind. This is why I insist on people who follow protocol. She should have consulted us before leaving this mission."

Hanni gently pushed back a loose strand of hair. "I allowed her to leave the site."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, that's even more reckless than it should be," Minji's frustration flared, her voice reflecting her exasperation.

Hanni held firm. "We have to trust her judgment. She's a trained agent, capable of identifying any anomalies. If she feels there's none then we run by that."

Minji's patience dwindled, and her voice grew sharp. "That's not how our operations work, Hanni. We make decisions based on objective information, on facts, not feelings. And did you see her condition when she reported back? She looked debilitated. Who's to say she wasn't injected with something while at that lab?"

"Hey," Hanni sought to calm the storm brewing within Minji, her fingers brushing intimately against the Chief's cheek. The subtle touch seemed to soothe Minji, and she leaned in, her anger waning.

Hanni's voice was just above a whisper . "I asked her about everything that happened, and there seemed to be nothing concrete. If the need comes we will have to use alternative methods because infiltrating a seemingly inactive lab makes her conspicuous."

Minji's skepticism remained, and she cast doubt on the lab's social gathering. "And the people they invited. Hyein mentioned a party. What was that all about?"

"A casting role, that's what Haerin reported."

Minji scoffed and shook her head. 

*****

The pain was an all-consuming agony that had transformed Haerin into a picture of suffering. Her usually composed demeanor had shattered, replaced by signs of physical torment. She winced with every breath, her face contorted in a grimace of anguish. Beads of sweat had formed on her furrowed brow, her pallor was a ghostly shade of pallid, and her lips trembled as if to suppress cries of pain.

She had pushed herself through the morning, attempting to conceal the depths of her suffering as she handed the report to Minji, her chief, whose concerned gaze saw through the façade.

"You are not okay. Take some time off," her instructor implored later. Haerin, who typically resisted such suggestions, found herself with no strength to protest. She was utterly drained, her body felt as though she had endured a marathon of a thousand miles.

In the solitude of her car, she rested her head on the steering wheel, her breaths coming in slow, labored intervals. The mark on her chest was like a malignant growth that gnawed at her slowly, the pain seeping into every fiber of her being. Kind of made the pain she endured with the creatures at the island a pleasure.

Haerin's thoughts raced as she contemplated her next steps. "What have you done to me, Dani?" she whispered, the name laden with both accusation and desperation.

She knew that she could not endure this agony any longer. And there was only one place she was sure to find the culprit.

*****