The one thing that Yebin doesn’t love about her job is that she never gets to go home. Yes, she has a place to sleep, but that place to sleep is just a room on the Galactic Enforcer space station. She’s surrounded by her coworkers for every minute of her days. She has to eat meals watching a news ticker passing overhead, updating everyone on the latest bounties and criminal events. 

It’s exhausting.

But she has to admit—it’s what she signed up for. 

Now, she sits on the deck of the space station, watching the stars through the huge glass window, typing up the case report she had forgotten to do earlier. Her eyes are dry, and she’s tired. All day, she’s been trying not to cry.

She feels upset with herself.

She failed—and it’s not that Yebin hadn’t failed before, but she hadn’t failed so stupidly. 

“What are you doing still up?” Asks a voice above her.

Yebin looks up to see Seokmin looking down at her, his typical soft smile on his face.

“What are you?” she responds, folding her laptop closed. 

He seats himself in the armchair across from her. 

“Was gonna ask you how todays mission went.” He says. “I figured you’d be up.”

Seokmin is one of Yebin’s oldest friends. They had met at the GE training academy. They were both goofy and eager to learn. They both had something to prove.

Yebin sighs.

“You were right. I got too eager, and I forgot something.”

Seokmin had become a lieutenant a year and a half before Yebin, and she had initially been bitter—but she knew he deserved it. He knew things she didn’t. His advice was usually right in the end.

“It’s ok. happens.” He reaches into his bag and pulls out a Thermos. “I made you some of that soup you like.”

“Ugh, you. You’re always so good at knowing what I need. I’m starving.” 

“Taeyeon gave you another chance, because she believes in you. We all know you can do it. You’re one of the most knowledgeable people on Roa in the galaxy.” 

“You don’t need to comfort me. I’m fine.”

“I do need too. Because I know you.”

Yebin lets out a puff of breath between her lips, not answering, but Seokmin knows she means she appreciates it.

“How are your cases?” She asks, desperate to change the subject.

“They’re good.” Seokmin grins. “I got to arrest someone at a strip club today.” 

Yebin unscrews the cap of the thermos and gives Seokmin an overdramatic gasp, happy to talk about something else.

“Tell me more!”

 

+++

 

Tapping her fingers on the table, Yebin scans the restaurant another time. It’s one of her favorites—The Violum. It’s a little expensive, but it’s worth it, and its become one of her favorite meeting spots. The entire place is like a lush garden—overgrown with alien flora, and the whole restaurant is encompassed under a glass dome as it floats on a disk in the sky. Perhaps a little showy, but Yebin enjoys eating there and feeling fancy and rich for an hour. 

Finally, she spots what she’s been waiting for. A dark haired girl darts between tables, walking towards Yebin.

“Hey there.” She says, sliding into the seat across from her, gently pushing a large leaf out of her way. 

“Siyeon.” Yebin says. “I already got your order.” She studies Siyeon’s face, and realizes there’s something odd with her left eye—it’s a different color, and it looks shiny and fake. “What happened to your eye?”

Siyeon looks away, almost as if she’s embarrassed.

“Cybernetic replacement. I was in a pinch with a client. Didn’t deliver what they wanted. So they asked for something… something precious to me. Something hard to part with.”

Yebin’s pupils grow in surprise.
“T-they took your eye?”

“I gave it. Far better than losing my life.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “ Listen. Are we here to talk, or what? As much as I appreciate you taking me out to lunch, you don’t call on me to talk in person often.”

Swallowing the lump in , Yebin nervously adjusts the napkin in her lap and takes a sip of her wine—some fancy flavor made with berries from a planet that contained a cosmic anomaly, the waiter had said. 

“Yes, sorry. You know the plan I had? With Minkyung? The false heist.”

Siyeon opens to speak, but stops herself as a waiter walks over, placing a bowl of noodles in front of her.

“Thank you.” She grabs a pair of chopsticks, looking at the food like she hasn’t eaten in days, but manages to keep her attention on Yebin. “Yes, I do know. What about it.”

“Did you tell?”

“Tell what.”

“Tell Minkyung. The plan. She caught wind of it and got away.” 

“Me and Roa barely even talk.” 

“But you talk, do you not?”

Siyeon twists some noodles around her chopsticks.

“Listen, Yebin. If my friends in the… you know… ‘industry’ knew that I was getting paid under the table by the ing GE to spill on what they’re planning and doing, I wouldn’t have this either.” She says, using a chopstick to point at her right eye. “I can’t tell people , because they’d know I’m an informant. Ya get it?”

“Couldn’t you just lie?”
“Criminals are good at spotting lies. It’s part of why we’re so good at the lying itself.” Her cybernetic eye flashes red. “Maybe your plan was just bad.”

Yebin feels a sting in her gut at those words. She shouldn’t expect a criminal not to hurt her feelings—that was a given. But the realization that the failure of the mission was entirely her own hubris—that was what hurt. Siyeon wouldn’t lie to her, she knew that. She might be a criminal, but she was Yebin’s best informant. She had openly agreed to take lie detector tests, and she had given Yebin some of the best information around. 

“Did you just call me here to accuse me?” Siyeon says, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had begun to settle. “You know I hate coming down to Raliese. Cops ing everywhere.”

“That’s why I make you come here. So you don’t turn on me.” Yebin says, feeling a sly confidence regain in her gut. “And, well—if you have any extra tidbits of information, I would appreciate it.”

“Am I getting paid for this?”

“I already queued 50,000 credits to be wired to your account.”

Siyeon gives her a wide, devilishly genuine smile. 

“Ok. Well, I don’t have much, but I heard she was going back to doing some basic heists. Working stealing items for black market dealers so she doesn’t have to deal with clients. Something to do with jewelry.” 

Yebin opens up her holo-watch and types a note. 

“Is that all?”

“Yeah. Sorry, not much.”
“It’s fine.” Yebin gives a small smile, and pulls something from her pocket. “Here. This is your new contact phone. I’d advise you dispose of the old one. Message me if you think of anything, and I might have some extra cash for you.”

Siyeon shoves the phone in her pocket. 

“Got it.”

“I’ve already paid for the food, and I’ve got to go, so I’ll be off. See you next time.”
“Next time.” Siyeon replies with a cocky smirk. 

 

+++

 

 

Three days after Minkyung fled the Galactic Enforcers, she finds herself among a crowd of them. She won’t lie—her nerves are sparking with fear. But it’s the fun kind. Not many know her face anyway, she makes herself hard to photograph—and she’s prone to making Jieqiong do some hacking to cover her tracks. She tries to hide a smile, thinking about how all the officers walking by don’t even know she’s a multi-million credit bounty. 

Raliese is a unique place. It’s not officially government-occupied, but right outside of its atmosphere, a huge network of Galactic Enforcer space stations have taken residency. Hundreds of officers flood down every day to have some time off and stretch their legs. It’s possibly one of the most dangerous places for a wanted criminal to be. 

The fact that not one person has noticed her just boosts Minkyung’s ego even more. 

She weaves between officers in their shiny uniforms, when she spots someone in the crowd that makes her eyes widen. 

She looks a little different than the last time she saw her—but it certainly is the girl she’s thinking of.

“Siyeon?” She shouts, and the girl looks up with a start. Minkyung jogs towards her, pushing aside a couple of bothered uniformed officers. “It’s been forever! What are you doing here?” 

“Scoping out a score. Nothing big.” Siyeon’s eyes flit around to make sure no one is closely listening to their conversation, and there seems to be a tinge of anxiety to her voice—like she’s afraid of something. 

“Me too.” Minkyung responds. Siyeon is an odd one—a very talented thief, but she has a knack for getting herself in trouble with shady characters. She supposes that’s why the girl has a brand new cybernetic eyeball and a few new scratches on her arms. “You doing ok, kid?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Listen, I have to go. Good to see you.” Siyeon turns around and starts weaving away through the crowd, leaving Minkyung standing there. 

 

+++

 

The targets name is Lord Chanyeol, Minkyung had learned. He’s a mogul in the fuel industry, but he has a special taste for the exquisite and opulent. The pendant he normally wore would be kept in his bedroom, within his traveling spaceship, docked outside of a trade center where he’d be conducting a meeting. His extensive collection of security guards, who were often highly trained retired military, would be tough to skirt around, but it was doable. She had this in the bag. 

So here she was—watching the man’s ship from a distance, standing around the corner of a nearby building.

It was absolutely ridiculous. The entire thing had been modeled to look like an old-timey cruise ship, like the ones in books Minkyung used to read about Earth. It was humungous, far too big for its function as what was essentially a chariot. The pure mass of the ship cast a huge shadow over the surrounding area, and plenty of locals and tourists were stopping to gawk at it. 

Minkyung cracks her knuckles, an old habit for getting her in the right headspace. She doesn’t have her fancy goggles or most of her other special gadgets besides her trusted multitool (but it seems that everyone carries a multitool these days), because she needs to make her disguise work, and she doesn’t mind getting down to the essentials either. She clears , adjusting her blazer and making sure her feet are steady—she’s in heels. Just ten minutes ago, she had quickly gone on a shopping spree at a small boutique located underneath a huge floating restaurant, and purchased some new clothes to make sure her new identity was convincing enough. She pushes her shoulders back and with confident, yet careful steps, walks in the direction of the ship. There’s a mock walkway, like a wooden loading dock, let down, leading to a door to the ship’s interior. Minkyung can spot a couple guards wavering in and out, and a couple flashy-looking business men accompanied by finely dressed women enter and exit. A small crowd has gathered nearby, just to gaze up at the majesty of the ship itself. Two guards are flanking the walkway, both exhaustively denying curious passerby entry. 

Minkyung walks their way, reaching into the interior pocket of her blazer and pulling out an ID badge, flashing her best “innocent pretty girl” smile. 

“Hello. My name is Krystal Jung. I’m a reporter with the Stargaze Revue. I have an interview scheduled with Lord Chanyeol in an hour and he said I could board the ship beforehand to get everything settled?”

 

+++

 

Yebin is just trying to enjoy her bone juice.
That’s what the tentacled alien man working at the refreshment stand had told her it was, and that’s what she’s going with. It’s a strange, milky liquid, but it mostly just tastes like coffee. 

It’s fine—but Yebin is never saying “surprise me” when ordering a drink again. 

She lets out a sigh, slightly slumping in her seat. She’s currently resting on a bench, watching as people nearby ogle one of the huge visiting spaceships that has taken residency on Railese. 

Two girls pass Yebin by, loudly chattering about the mysterious owner of the ship.

“I heard it belongs to a fuel mogul! He’s got enough money to buy this whole planet up if he wanted.” 

“That guy has a huge expensive jewelry collection.”

The word ‘jewelry’ only reminds Yebin the stupid thing she was trying to forget, and her earlier conversation with Siyeon—the elusive Minkyung, and Yebin’s own failure to catch her.

The meeting with Siyeon hadn’t been as successful as she had hoped it would be. In her mind, it would either culminate in an explosive confession, or in a leak of info that would change the course of the entire case. Instead, it was a sad fizzle of mostly nothing. To add to the hurt—she now was fifty thousand credit short. She had told Siyeon that the ones paying her were the GE, but that was a bald faced lie. The GE would never pay criminals. They got their informants by force, a nasty fact Yebin liked to forget. She, however, was too nice for her own good. Once she had established contact with Siyeon, she had to find a way to keep her in but still hold an air of legitimacy and power. She wonders what her teammates would think if they knew most of her paycheck went towards taking a criminal out to lunch once a month.

God. She might be really bad at her job. 

A message buzzes on her watch. 

Meeting in 15. - NY

She groans and takes another sip of her… bone juice, looking out over the crowd. Down by the ship, she spots someone. A tall, skinny figure in a black suit. Yebin isn’t really paying attention, half her brain busy trying to conjure up what the hell they were going to talk about at the meeting anyway, but she watches the suited figure—a woman with hair dyed a silvery blue—talk with the guards outside the ship. She seems professional, and put together, even though Yebin can only see her back. She seems like she has her together. Yebin wishes that was something she could say about herself. 

The guards step aside, letting the woman through. As she makes strides up the walkway, she turns around to look behind her, revealing her face.

That’s when Yebin drops her drink.

Most people couldn’t recognize Kim Minkyung. Sure, her exploits were well known, but it was hard to find pictures of her that weren’t corrupted data files or blurry camera footage. 

But Yebin knew.
Yebin had sat right across from Minkyung. 

In retrospect, she supposed she could’ve arrested Minkyung then, in the restaurant. But she couldn’t have proof it was her until she attempted the job, and Minkyung would probably get away free or shipped off to a an easily escapable prison for a few years. 

But right now, in this particular moment, pants and shirt sopping wet, that meeting in the diner is coming very in handy. 

She knows that nose, those fox-like eyes. Minkyung is the woman in the suit.

But by the time she’s processed this, Minkyung is already inside the ship. 

the meeting, Yebin thinks. 

She tosses her cup to the ground, not conscious enough to not litter, and fishes her ID badge out of her jacket pocket, running towards the ship.