Aki couldn’t contain the panic in her chest when she felt Jaemin’s temperature, but it became one of the many reasons that made her determined to go to Gold sector and meet with Do Kyungsoo.

She left her siblings in Taeyong’s watch and did all they can to gather money for Jaemin’s medicine. They managed to buy a day’s worth, but what about for the next days? And what about Yuki’s food? These were the questions that ran inside Aki’s head and questions she asked Taeyong outside the building, that Yuki accidentally heard.

Aki massaged her temple in attempt to calm down. “Jaemin has medicine for today but medication needs to be consistent or else it won’t have any effects. I don’t have any extra money for them because I need to save it for Yuki’s food.”

Before Taeyong could even say anything, he already saw Yuki coming out from behind the wall. He appeared beside Aki with a determined look on his face. 

“I can live with water and just a piece of bread. Don’t worry about me, Aki. Use your money to buy Jaemin his meds.”

Aki didn’t say anything and just stared at her brother. She knew it was no use to argue with him further, but she couldn’t just completely agree with what he said. She could not neglect Yuki like that. She knew how horrible it was to run on just water and bread, even if it was your only choice. 

But this is one of the situations where she had no choice. Aki had to let Yuki act and think on his own. 

Aki tries to add some few minutes to her four hours of sleep while being lullabied by the truck they were in. Beside her is Jinyoung on some red lollipop. It is twelve noon, and the smell of leafy vegetables is starting to stick on her black jacket. The cap on her head feels heavy, together with the black mask in her pocket, the daggers in her shoes, and the organized rope in her waist. Her hair feels clammy but the color blue stays. She deeply hopes there will be something good out of this. The feeling of being a burden to Taeyong and Jinyoung is starting to bother her.

They lean against the head of the truck, far from its opening to avoid being seen. They purposely sat behind three huge baskets of cabbages. Jinyoung focuses his eyes outside; they’re nearing the end of Silver sector which means they’ll be entering the short frontier leading to Gold sector.

“Are you sure about this?” Jinyoung asks. 

Aki can’t really sleep. Her hooded eyes stare blankly onto the moving road ahead of them. “No, but I’ve got no choice.”

There is a pause, then Jinyoung speaks again. “This ‘job’, huh...” he scoffs, “it’s never going to be enough.”

“If it’s not enough, then maybe it isn’t a job.”

“No.” He scoots closer to her to hide his body, as he sees they were nearing the Gold sector. “No, it isn’t.”

They got to board the vegetable delivery truck because of Jinyoung’s connections. He’s also one of the guys who knows about Do Kyungsoo’s whereabouts in Gold sector. According to him and his networks, no one picked up on Kyungsoo’s intel after knowing who the owner of the house is. Robbing a house in Gold sector is one thing, but its owner is another. Kim Taejoon is one figure to not be crossed with.

After a few minutes, the truck comes to a stop and the two move even closer to each other, trying not to get caught. It’s not really illegal for someone from Bronze sector to go to Gold, but there should be a legal transportation and a valid reason. Getting into the highest sector through a vegetable truck isn’t really a legal way, but then again, they hardly ever obey the rules.

The guards are already convinced seeing that the truck is full of greens. Even the border guards seem nonchalant about their job. Soon, they were moving again.

Aki forces herself to open her eyes, and it doesn’t take too much of an effort to do so because Gold sector is nothing like she has ever seen before. The small buildings near the frontier line are nothing, but as the truck regains its normal speed, she can slowly see the sector unfolding. Tall, glass buildings are everywhere, and the roads look in a very good condition, unlike in Bronze where it has holes. The cars look different and shiny, the smell and noises around the city are also different, far from the sea and quiet place of lowest sector. And the people! Everyone is wearing their best, like it’s a daily basis thing. She thinks if these are their daily outfits, what more if they attended events? 

Especially, their faces. 

Silver sector is the normal standard of a town. People are earning and consuming. As for their looks, they do not stray far away from Bronzes’–a thing that they apparently don’t want to hear often. Again, in a pyramid society like theirs, you’re not anything unless you are at the top. Unless you are Gold.

Gold sector is no joke. Aki tries to gulp the building anxiety in . Their faces, they don’t have that expression. That expression of uncertainty from the Bronze, and that expression of trying hard to go for the top like Silver. They are all at ease. They do not worry for their food tomorrow, or for their shelter when there are storms or just unbearable heat. They do not think about their future too much, for this is already their future. 

Gold isn’t welcoming. It isn’t warm. But there isn’t any sector that is welcoming to its outsiders. Or any place, for that matter. You don’t feel comfortable in an unknown turf or an enemy territory. 

No one told Aki that this is a war, but if it isn’t, then why is she fighting? 

“Any closer and someone will see you. Seeing a person inside a vegetable truck isn’t an issue, but there are already two carriers beside the driver behind us so I’m pretty sure the police won’t be convinced if we tell them we’re working with them.” Jinyoung deadpans, harshly chewing on the hard candy inside his mouth. “I mean, who needs four people to carry a bunch of leaves?”

Aki quickly snaps out and crawls back inside. She juts her chin towards to their left. “Well, there are potatoes.”

“Yeah, like, two baskets. Really heavy.”

She rolls her eyes and tightens the cap on her head. “Gold sector deserves its name, huh.”

“We’re not even in Platinum.” The truck turns a right, and the two instantly hides as the back of the truck is exposed to an intersection. “We’re going to the supermarket. This place has a lot of alleys so we’ll take that route, but we should be careful because there are lots of roaming police, too.”

Aki nods but what Jinyoung first said caught her attention. “What platinum?”

He shrugs, tugging on his shoes laces. “They say Platinum sector is at the very heart of Gold, but kind of like an unspoken thing. I don’t know much about it. It’s basically just a gossip, maybe.”

“But, officially, Gold sector is the highest sector, right?”

“Yes. Like I said, it’s like a gossip. An urban myth. But who knows? Maybe there is something higher than the little punks here in Gold.”

It sounds impossible, but Aki decides to let go of the topic. She has too much inside her head today and she can’t let a mere gossip distract her from what needs to be done. 

The truck comes to a stop and the two swiftly hops out. Aki looks around and it seems like they stopped at a secluded area, and when she turns around, she sees a warehouse full with goods and workers walking around. Jinyoung nods at the driver and puts a hand on her shoulder.

“Let’s go.” He says as he leads her to an alley on their left. Aki follows.

There are police presence in every street, their black shiny cars parked on their designated places. They pass by the alleys without getting suspicions by using the environment they were in–a busy city. Aki takes note that the air here feels completely different from her home. After all, this place is far away from the sticky sea breeze. Here, it feels lighter, but not calming. Her mind unconsciously looks for the sound of waves and the low laughter of the elders from afar. Here, all she hears are the rumbling of the cars, busy restaurants and the clacking of shoe heels.

How come they are so at ease yet so busy? 

“Did you know that Seoul, apparently, wasn’t originally located here?” Jinyoung randomly opens the topic as they continue to walk. 

Aki briskly dodges the woman who almost bumped into her, but that caused her to collide shoulders with her companion. “What is it now? Did you go to a school?”

Jinyoung rolls his eyes, “Hey, I’m your senior in this industry. I know many things that you don’t.” He scrunches his nose. “As I w