Project IZ*ONE III

Chapter 7- Square One

When Eunbi wakes up, she finds herself in one of the campus' clinic beds. As she rubbed her eyes, there was a part of her that was desperate to believe that what happened at the KYB Science and Research building was just a nightmare, but from the look Hongki had given her once he noticed she'd woken up, she knew it wasn't the case.

"I'll let Hyewon know you're up. She's been busy this morning with the other mishaps from last night..." The head doctor says in a sad tone.

"The other mishaps?" Eunbi thinks before taking a look around her and seeing other trainees in bad shape. Next to her bed was Rei from IVE who was eating some breakfast. The Japanese girl had a wrap around her right shoulder while her face and arms were covered in bandages.

"Rei, what happened with your mission?" The older girl asks. The question seems to trigger something within Rei as she immediately puts her chopsticks down, a tear falling down her cheek.

"There was a big explosion... Yujin-unnie. S-She sacrificed herself to save us." Rei manages to get out, and Eunbi's whole world turns upside down. She didn't believe she'd heard that correctly. Yujin... there was no way she was just gone.

And, like the nightmare had come to life, the punches just keep on coming as Hyewon finally arrives with Chaewon. She'd normally feel relieved to see the two, but there was something about Chaewon in particular that didn't feel right.

"Hi, unnie..." The short-haired girl greets with a bow. Chaewon hadn't greeted her that politely in years.

"Uhm, apparently, my memories from the past two years were wiped away by someone named Sohye. You're the only person I recognize here." Chaewon says in an awkward manner when the older girl doesn't respond.

That felt like the last straw for Eunbi as she immediately doubled over and vomited whatever was left in her stomach into the trash can next to her bed. Hyewon tries to help her, but Eunbi throws a hand forward to stop her.

"Oh god... Chaewon... I-" The older girl coughs before pulling her dongsaeng in for a hug and bursting into tears.

Chaewon couldn't recall what had happened the past two years, but clearly her relationship with Eunbi had deepened over that time. The last thing she could remember was the older girl asking her to join the PD program. From there, it was all blanks.

She felt bad because it looked like she'd made a lot of good friends in that time too. She apparently even had a girlfriend in the dark-haired girl she met last night, Kim Minjoo. Chaewon had no idea how she managed to get with such a beautiful woman which made want to find her memories even more.

Meanwhile, Hyewon stood and watched her partner crying, knowing that there was even more bad news to break. Yujin was gone. Chaewon lost her memories. There was a spy lens implanted in the older girl's eyes that had been monitoring their plans the past few months. And now, she was supposed to tell her about the missing members and escaped fugitives. How much more could the leader take?

"Hey, Eunbi... there's a bit- or well, a lot more news that we're gonna have to discuss in a bit. If it's too much, you can-"

"No, Hyewon. I have to help. We don't have the luxury to sit people on the bench right now." The older girl says, wiping away her tears. "May I make a request though?"

"Sure, anything."

~~~~

"Okay, everyone. I'm going to need a report on what happened last night. I know it's... difficult, but if we're going to stop KYB, we need to start over with whatever we have. I'll go first." Eunbi says. The others looked to their leader in confusion as she was wearing a blindfold right now, but it all started to make sense when she began explaining.