The Assassin | Dreamcatcher

Chapter 5

"Hey, Siyeon!" JiU hugs her from behind as she finishes a stamina workout, sweating from every orifice. "How was your workout?"

"Good." She takes a swig from her water bottle and eyes JiU's workout clothing. "You exercising now?"

"Yeah. I like to do it late in the evening. Hey, speaking of late training, I saw your trainee in Shooting Range One."

Siyeon's eyebrows raise. "She is?"

"Have you started training her with ranged weapons then?" JiU crosses her arms and furrows her brows.

"No. We're three weeks into self-defence and the test for it is in a week. What's she doing there?" Anger starts to work its way through her. "What kind of priorities does that girl have?"

"Don't be too mad at her, she deserves a chance." JiU attempts to give advice to the smouldering girl.

"She'd deserve more of a chance if she wasn't so uptight with me all the time. You should've seen her face when Dami first told her that I was training her."

"You two seem to have got off to a rocky start, but it's not too late to fix your relationship."

"How do I fix it then?" Siyeon asks with disinterest.

"For a start, don't insult her with every sentence you speak. Don't argue, I've heard you when you train her. And...come on, listen to me, Siyeon!" JiU finally snaps and jabs her arm.

"Alright, alright." Siyeon rolls her eyes, but stands to attention as her free hand pinches her ear in a spike of nervousness.

"Constant insulting can really beat someone down even if they don't show it, like SuA. Try and initiate conversation. Talk about meaningless things. The weather, how nice her clothes look, what you did today, the last film you saw. Can you at least try that for me?"

"Yeah, I guess. I'll go down there now." She heads with reluctance towards the exit as JiU calls encouragement in her wake.

***

Down on the basement floor, Siyeon comes to a stop outside of the soundproof door of Shooting Range One.

Carefully, so as not to disturb anyone inside, she opens the metal door and slips inside, shutting it quietly again.

The lights are on low, so much of the room is shrouded in gloom. Only over the targets are strips of lighting.

Over at the far end of the strip of flooring, Siyeon sees the lower half of SuA's body leaning out from behind a divider.

A shot rings out, followed by the sound of the target tearing and the sharp clink of an empty shell.

With slow steps, Siyeon walks towards the girl, careful to stay out of her line of sight. She wants to observe the girl before she notices her.

In the many sessions over the few weeks, Siyeon has trained SuA in self-defence and combat. The girl had always kept her head down and focused, the feud between them only resurfacing when they went home together.

It makes her feel ashamed somehow, because of the unreasonable grudge she always seems to bear against SuA.

Siyeon recalls JiU's advice and comes to a stop two metres behind SuA. She fires another round and it tears through the head. Already in the target are messy holes in the chest, shoulder and ear.

"How many rounds does it take for you to eliminate a target?"

SuA flinches and turns, scowling once she sees Siyeon. "Why?"

"I'm genuinely curious." She replies and steps closer. This was her idea of casual conversation.

"Three or under."