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“Tell me about Singapore.” A smaller, naiver, more vulnerable version of Megan asks one day at the dinner table as she sits next to her brother. The two practically glued together.
Her mother eyes her for a bit before answering. “Why do you want to know?”
“You’re from there right? I want to know why you left?”
“The same reason we left Hawaii, Meiyok, better jobs were offered in other places. It was a chance for a better life.”
“You call this better?” Megan can’t help but comment as she thinks of the long hours her parents work, and the mean words her landlord calls her brother, and the weird stares she gets from other children her age because she’s not their version of ‘normal’. “And my name is Megan.” She insists.
“Meiyok is a beautiful name.” Her mother tries.
“Not here.” Megan grumbles. “Maybe in Hawaii. Maybe in Singapore.”
“We wouldn’t even exist if mom stayed in Singapore.” Her brother sighs, and he’s right even if Megan doesn’t want to admit it. Because being right doesn’t change anything about their situation. It doesn’t automatically get rid of the girls who chase Megan around the neighborhood with malicious smilers and cruel laughter. It doesn’t lower their ever rising rent or raise their meager wages. But she doesn’t want to say the truth out loud so she opts to stick her tongue out at her brother and call it that.
“Enough you two.” their mother warned, voice raising slightly, silence filled the room once more and just as the poor woman’s blood pressure was starting to lower back to normal levels, Megan’s brother spoke once more.
“If she gets to go by Megan, can I go by Tyler?”
Their mother groaned, giving up.
~~~
Megan wakes up thinking of her mother for some reason, even though she actively tries to think about her as little as possible. She also wakes up with a headache that is worsened by the sound of Dani and Yoonchae bickering in the living room, which means she overslept because Yoonchae is always the last to wake up. Groaning, the seventeen year old stands up and gets ready for the day, trying to ignore the constant pounding in her head. Upon leaving her and Lara’s shared room she headed into the living room where Dani was complaining while tapping Yoonchae’s chest accusingly. The Joseon girl looked rather unbothered, amused even, as she rolled her eyes.
“Why are we yelling?” Megan yawned as she rubbed the last bit of sleep from her eyes.
“Look!” Dani exclaimed, gesturing towards Yoonchae. And honestly, Megan didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. It was still Yoonchae in all of her beauty, smiling back at Megan smugly like she knew something Megan didn't. Not that it bothered her, Yoonchae could harbor all the world's secrets and Megan would willingly play the fool.
Dani huffed, mumbling about Megan being a lovesick idiot, and tilted the girl's head so that she could see Yoonchae's eyes looking down at her and not just her lips. Huh.
“When you'd get so tall, Yoonchae?” Megan questioned, she could have sworn the girl was Dani’s height the other day.
“Do you see what I mean?!” Dani shrieked, waving her hands towards Yoonchae like she had personally offended the Latina. Which, the act of growing so tall seems to count as personally offending her.
Yoonchae chuckles, amused, and ruffles Dani’s hair with her newfound tallness. Calling the nineteen year old cute and Megan for a moment swore Dani’s gaze was so murderous that she actually pulled Yoonchae back a bit to create some distance.
“Are you done yelling?" asked Sophia as she entered the room, hugging Dani once she saw her pout.
“What have you been feeding her?” Dani asked, eyeing Yoonchae and her newfound tallness up and down.
Sophia looked up and physically recoiled from the shock of Yoonchae being the tallest.
“What the fuck?” She stated.
“See!? See! It’s freakish!” Dani hissed, happy that someone else shared her shock at the situation.
“You’re being too dramatic, and too loud.” Lara groaned, making her presence known in the room. Megan jumped, has she been here the entire time?
“I’m not being too loud!” Dani yelled back.
“Alright, alright, enough.” Manon sighed, walking in holding a wanted poster. “We have a potential job. An escape muder convict, wanted dead or alive. So let’s eat some breakfast and then go start our search.”
“Welp you heard her, girls. Go get ready, I’ll start breakfast.” Sophia ordered as she let go of Dani and headed into the kitchen.
Dani stuck her tongue out at Yoonchae as she headed to her room, Yoonchae chuckled before turning towards Megan.
“Can I borrow your clothes? I’m too tall for mine.” She asked and Megan nodded, leading the girl to her room.
“Liebe, the next time we go shopping, we need to buy Yoonchae bigger clothes.” She heard Manon call out to Sophia, who returned it with an “Yes mahal.”
Megan internally calculates how much that's going to cost the group. Knowing their leader, Sophia wasn’t going to make Yoonchae spend a single cent on such essential items like clothes. New shoes, socks, pants, and shirts. Yoonchae preferred those over dresses when they weren't performing even if it caused the citizens of LA to stare. A few vests for when they did mercenary work and maybe two jackets on the rare occasion of a cold night in California. It wouldn’t be cheap, Manon and Sophia always made sure to buy good material that would last long for the girls.
On top of that, Yoonchae was probably still growing. Just how long until she was too big for those clothes and Manon and Sophia would have to buy her even more?
The cost was already adding up to over $30 and she wasn't even finished. shed calculating. She turned to look at Yoonchae and saw the same face that Megan was probably making right now.
“Hey.” Megan said, snapping both her and Yoonchae out of their internal spirals. “It's going to be ok. We'll figure it out, we always do.” She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder in an attempt to be comforting.
Yoonchae looked at her hand before back at Megan and gave her a soft smile. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks Megan.”
“Of course Yoonchae, anything for you.” The older girl grinned, hoping her blush wasn't too obvious. “Now let's get you some clothes that fit better.”
~~~
“I can't believe we followed this man all the way to Texas in the middle of June.” Yoonchae groans as she pulls her cowboy hat lower to shield her eyes from the unforgiving sun.
“Money is money.” Sophia shrugged, though she was using her own hat as a fan for her flushed face.
“You guys would never survive Georgia’s harvesting season.” Manon commented with a chuckle when Yoonchae shot a glare at her. “Remember that Dani?”
The Latina nodded a smile growing on her face. “It was summer when you found me wasn’t it.” She reminisced.
“Mre like you found me, you literally ran into me and knocked yourself flat on your back.”
“Unnecessary details.” Dani said with a wave of her hand.
“We’re close to my family’s doctor’s office, do you think we could visit after this job?” Lara questioned looking in the direction of where the building would be.
“Your family lives here?” Yoonchae asked leaning a little bit so that she could look at Lara’s face even while sitting behind her on their shared horse. Lara nodded, a smile on her face.
“Yeah, my parents own a doctor’s office not too far from here. My older sister helps them run it, we send each other letters every chance we get. And I try to visit often.”
“I didn’t know your family lived close by.” Yoonchae mumbled, more in an observant tone than anything else. Lara tilted her head towards Megan.
“Megan’s family lives in Los Angeles too you know, on the other side of the city but still nearby.”
Yoonchae turns her head towards the girl and tilts her head.
“Really? You never told me that Megan.” Yoonchae comments.
Megan looks over at the ground to avoid Yoonchae’s gaze.
“We aren’t close.” Is all she mumbles before zoning out everything else, Yoonchae says nothing but gives her one last glance before talking to Lara about her family.
~~~
Megan storms out of the house, ignoring her mother’s calls to come back and that it’s getting late so it’s dangerous outside. They’ve been arguing again, they have been arguing almost every night since Megan’s father died in that railway accident nearly a month ago. Stupid it was all stupid. They should have stayed in Hawaii and never moved to this fucking country. Then maybe her father would have still been alive and Megan wouldn’t be fighting with her mother so much.
Megan looks up and finds herself completely lost, how long had she been zoning out while she walked? She was still in Los Angeles, that much she knew, everything else was unrecognizable though. The girl wandered around aimlessly for a few minutes before someone grabbed her arm pulling her close.
“You lost, girl?” A man so drunk he was barely able to stand, more so gripping Megan to help himself to stand more than stopping her from running.
“No, I’m fine.” Megan said, trying to pull her hand away, to which the man gripped it tighter, ignoring Megan’s wince of pain.
“Pretty girls like you shouldn’t be out here this late alone. I can keep you company.”
Megan opened her mouth to tell the man to let go of her when a shot rang out in the air silencing everyone on the street. Both Megan and the Man turned to see A woman standing right outside the entrance of a saloon, her gun still smoking from being fired while raised high in the air. The woman lowered the gun until it was aimed at the man.
“Let her go. She obviously doesn’t want your ‘help’.” She snarled.
The Man scowled and made no move to let Megan go, at least until two more woman left the saloon and joined their partner. Already pulling out their own guns. The man snarled and shoved Megan away before stumbling off to find, “Better mannered girls.”
The girl who fired the warning shot approached Megan gently, holding her bruising arm in her hands.
“Fucking bastard, are you alright?” She asked, looking up at Megan.
Megan dumbly nodded before remembering that she knew how to speak.
“Um yeah, thank you for helping me.” She trailed off awaiting for the woman to introduce herself.
“Daniela, call me Dani.” She filled in.
“Dani, thank you Dani. I’m Megan.”
“You’re welcome Megan, this is Sophia and Manon.”
It clicked suddenly.
“You guys are bounty hunters right? Who call themselves Katseye.”
“We’re more so mercenaries than bounty hunters. Pay well and we’ll do just about any job.” Manon corrected. “But yes, we’re Katseye.”
“Wow, I’ve heard about you on the other side of Los Angeles, you guys are even more wonderful up close!” Megan exclaimed.
Sophia chuckled. “It seems like we have a fan. That’s new, we mostly just make enemies.”
“What are you guys doing in a saloon?” Megan asked.
“Sometimes when mercenary work is slow, we’ll perform. We sing and dance to make extra money.”
“Really? What kind of dances do you do?”
“Just about everything, why can you dance?” Dani asked and Megan nodded. “Wanna come back to our home and show us? It’s a little too late for us to take you back to the other side of town but we have a phone at our house and if your family is looking for you we can call the sheriff's building near your home.”
Megan nodded and followed the three, smiling when Dani wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulder.
~~~
“There he is.” Lara said, nodding up ahead to a man on a horse that was galloping full speed.
“Let’s go get him then.” Sophia said as she urged her horse to go faster, Dani, Lara, and Manon quickly did the same.
Their escaped convict turned around to see the four horses that filled his own and cursed before snapping his reins. But Katseye caught up anyway, surrounding the man. Lara and Dani rode up ahead and Megan tossed Yoonchae one side of a rope. The man collided with it and fell off of his horse, the animal not slowing down at all leaving him stranded.
“Let’s make this easy now.” Sophia warned as she jumped off her own horse and approached the man with caution. The man completely ignored it and swung at her which she quickly dodged. She brought a swift kick to his side which was followed by Manon catching him by surprise with a left hook to his jaw. The man stumbled but didn’t fall over, instead he ran to give himself some distance while Katseye dismounted and followed. The man pulled out his pistol and fired at the six girls blindly as he ran.
“Why the hell do they always fire blindly, what sense does that make?” Dani scoffed as the girls slowed down to pull out their own firearms and aimed it at him.
~~~
“Where are you going, Meiyok?” Her mother asked.
Megan stopped by the open doorframe, turning her head slightly to look at her mother.
“I’m going to go visit Dani and her mothers.” Megan answered. “And my name is Megan.”
Her mother sighed, clutching the sides of her head. Perhaps at the fact that Megan kept insisting on her English name over her Chinese name. Perhaps at the fact that Megan was going to go visit Katseye again.
“I don’t like you seeing them.” Her mother said, tone clipped.
“Why not?” Megan asked, unbothered on how her tone sounded.
“You know why, Meiyok.”
“Love is love, Sophia and Manon aren’t disgusting and you shouldn’t be judging them for their relationship.”
“What? No, I don’t care about what Sophia and Manon are to each other.” Her mom said, exacerbated, and Megan didn’t know why er chest felt lighter when her mother said that. “They’re bounty hunters Meiyok.”
“Mercenaries.” Megan corrected.
“The point is, they’re killers.”
“They only kill criminals.”
“Criminals or not, they’ve killed people and they’ll keep on killing people. I don’t want you to be involved in that Meiyok, people like them make enemies and that is dangerous.” Her mother lectured. “I don’t want you to end up hurt or worse.”
“Right, because dad’s job was so much safer.” Megan scoffed.
There was an uncomfortable moment of silence, and Megan swallowed the feeling of guilt that was rising in her throat.
“That’s not fair Meiyok.” Her mother said softly.
“Welcome to the real world. I’ll be back before sundown.” Megan replied, leaving.
~~~
“Is this man stupid or just a bad shot?” Lara joked, nudging Megan, grinning when the younger girl chuckled.
Megan loaded her gun and stood up, aiming at the convict’s leg, about to pull the trigger…
Sophia likes to think that Katseye is invincible sometimes, that she and her group of mercenaries can’t be harmed as they make their names known all throughout California and the west itself. Then the odds don't end in their favor, the shot rings her ears, it hits flesh. Flesh that isn’t hers but it belongs to someone she loves. There’s screams, multiple, her vision is filled with blood, and Sophia is reminded just how human her and her girls are.
Megan stumbles back a few steps, clutching her side before falling to the ground with a pitiful wheeze, gasping for air. Each breath more painful than the last.
“Megan!” Yoonchae screams rushing to the bleeding girl. The others quickly follow, giving the convict the opportunity needed to relocate his horse and ride off.
They’re all shouting, at each other, at Megan, at nothing. Megan coughs up blood and the panic, while still very much there, settles enough for Sophia to be a leader again instead of a scared mother.
“Lara you said your family’s doctor’s office is nearby?” She says, shaking the girl out of her shocked state. Lara blinks and nods rapidly, quickly wrapping up a gauze and placing it in Megan’s hand, making her apply pressure to her own wound. “Lead the way then. Yoonchae help me pick her up. Now! Let’s go!”
The two of them pick up one end of Megan who groans at suddenly being moved, pain shooting up her side and spreading to her entire body with every step. Yoonchae says an apology that Megan doesn't fully register. Once off the floor Sophia shifts Megan so that she’s completely in her arms bridal style. The five of them running towards their horses.
It hurts. Everything hurts. Especially her side, Megan keeps a hand on her wound, feeling it become sticky as her blood keeps through the gauze.
“Lara! Show us the way!” Sophia yells frantically as helps Megan climb the horse, climbing on behind her. “We need to get there now!”
Megan’s eyes flutter, the yelling around her becomes muffled. She thinks she can hear Yoonchae’s voice directed at her. She's saying something but Megan can't understand it. Her last thought before everything goes black rings in her head.
I want my mother.
~~~
Megan hits the target for the fourth time in a row. Dani thumps her back with her fist, an approving smile on her face.
“I swear, you are best shot out of all of us.” She praised and Megan couldn't help the wide smile that grew on her face.
Manon walked outside and towards their makeshift shooting range and whistled.
“Did you clear those targets Megan?” She asked.
Megan nodded and handed Dani’s gun back to her. Manon ruffled her hair and grinned.
“Look at you, out performing us.” She teased. “Hey, we have to go on a job. Do you want to stay in our home till we get back? Or I can take you back home if you want?”
“What kind of job?” Megan asked.
“We’re just escorting some rich man and his wife to San Francisco, he wants some extra protection in case bandits try and rob him.”
Megan perked up. “Can I come?” She asked.
Manon tilted her head, humming. “I don't know Meimei.” She said, using the nickname Sophia came up with whenever Megan’s mother got tired of hearing people call her Megan.”San Francisco is a 24 hour trip by train so to and back would be two days. Would your mother be ok with that?”
Absolutely not, Megan’s mother would probably rather go work for the same company that killed her father than watch Megan work with a group of mercenaries. But her mother wasn’t here at the moment right?
“I’ll leave her a note.” Megan reassured, waving her hand. “Besides, four people is better than three right?”
“I suppose it is, come, let’s write the note and I’ll have someone deliver it to your home.” Manon ordered, leading the two girls to where their horses stayed. “Sophia! Megan’s joining us!”
Sophia raised an eyebrow at both Manon and Megan but made no protests, instead she pulled a knife out from its sheath and handed it to Megan.
“You’ll need this then, you’ll ride with Dani.” Sophia affirmed, lifting the girl up onto the horse with relative ease despite Megan being taller than her.
~~~
“Rhea!” Lara shouted, jumping off of her still moving horse and running towards her family’s office where Rhea was cleaning the front porch. “Rhea we need help!”
Rhea perked up and ran towards Lara, meeting her halfway. “What’s wrong?”
Sophia quickly caught up, a slumped Megan in her arms. Rhea noticed her and grabbed the bleeding girl from Sophia, her and Lara holding her up as they made their way to the building.
“What happened?!” Rhea exclaimed as she kicked the door open, her and Lara placing Megan on the table.
“She was shot in a gun fight, where’s mom and dad?” Lara questioned.
On cue her parents rushed down the stairs, their pace quickening at the sight of the seventeen year old on their operating table.
Sri and Kavita quickly got to work, ordering Rhea and Lara to help anyway they could by grabbing clean water, fresh bandages, and their surgical tools.
Outside of the building stood the other four. Sophia paced around nervously while Dani and Manon anxiously watched her. Yoonchae sat on one of the steps of the porch, staring off at nothing. Her clothes, along with Sophia’s, were stained red from Megan’s blood. The sight of blood had almost lost its effect on Sophia after years of being a mercenary and even before then years of her harsh life under Spanish rule. But, knowing that the blood that covered her clothes and hands was Megan’s chilled her straight to the bone. She needed it off of her, she needed it off now. She needed Megan to be ok, to not have a bullet lodged in the side of her ribs, to not be choking on her blood before passing out. Sophia turned her head over to look at Yoonchae. Her eyes were wide, face pale, shaking. Their eyes locked for a moment and she looked up to the woman, her leader, the girl she trusted the most and asked. “Is Megan going to be ok?”
Sophia wished she had a definitive answer, wished that in two seconds Megan would walk out the door and make some stupid joke at the situation. And be 100% ok, and things would return to normal for their group. But she didn’t know. She didn’t even know if Megan would survive.
“I don’t know, Yoonchae.” She whispered. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know.”
Yoonchae’s face crumpled at her answer before she hid it in her hands, Dani walks over to the girl and pulls her into a hug, mumbling what Sophia thinks are soothing words to Yoonchae. A hand slowly wraps around her own and she turns to see Manon by her side. The older woman pulls Sophia into a tight hug, Sophia tries to pull away, to which Manon responds by holding her tighter.
“Mahal, I’m covered in blood.” Sophia tried to protest. Megan’s blood. “I’ll ruin your clothes.”
“I don’t care, are you alright?” Manon asked.
“I’m not the one who got shot.”
“But you’re the one I’m asking, liebe.”
Sophia hesitates before shaking her head, burying her face in Manon’s shoulder, soft sobs wrecking her body.
“No, I’m not alright. I’m so scared for Megan, Manon.” Sophia admits, feeling as Manon rubs circles on her back.
“I know dear, me too. Let it out.” Manon whispers.
And Sophia does, she stays buried in Manon, crying until the ache in her heart has lessened.
~~~
“You went on a job with them?!” Her mother yells, Megan looks over at the wall while she does so. She can feel her brother’s eyes on her as well, she tries her best to ignore it.
“What were you thinking?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”
“Nothing happened! I tagged along with them, we escorted a rich couple to San Francisco, got paid and came back!” Megan exclaims, holding up the wad of cash she was given. More money than she’s ever seen in a lifetime. “Look, we don’t have to worry about rent or food for a few weeks now!”
“You could have died!” Her mother repeats.
“Nothing happened!” Megan shot back.
“Something could have happened! If not this time then the next! I am done, Meiyok! I don’t want you seeing Sophia, Manon, and Daniela anymore!” Her mother declared.
Megan froze, dread flooding her chest. What? She couldn’t see Sophia, Manon, and Dani anymore? No. That wasn’t fair.
“No, you can’t do that.” She pleaded.
“Yes I can Meiyok, I am your mother.”
“Please! Please don’t stop me from seeing them!” Megan begged.
“Why Meiyok? Why is it so important that you must see those three girls?!”
“Because look at where we are at mom!” Megan yelled. “We’re surrounded by people who don’t look like us at all. And they hate us for it! They call Tyler names, they pay you lower wages, they give me looks. But those three? Dani never looks at me weird! Manon has always treated me with kindness! And Sophia understands because she’s in the same boat! They understand me more than anyone else does. And they love me despite it.”
“I love you Meiyok.” Her mother says after a moment of silence.
“My name is Megan.” The girl laughs bitterly, tears stinging her eyes. “You can’t even get that right.”
The three of them stood in uncomfortable silence. Words left unsaid building up in between them, finally Megan couldn’t take it anymore and wiped her tears, face becoming serious.
“I’m leaving.” She declared.
“What?” Tyler and her mother said at the same time.
“I’m leaving, I can’t stand it here anymore. I’m going to go live with them, work with them. I'll be a part of Katseye now. And if you try to stop me, I’ll disappear. For good. At least with them you’ll know where I am.”
She ignored her brother’s protest as she grabbed her essentials, ignored the distraught look on her mother’s face when she finished. She opened the door, and left with the last word.
“Don’t follow me.”
~~~
Megan woke up to the feeling of something leaning on the left side of her body, she turned her head to see Yoonchae curled up next to her in a fitful slumber. Megan slowly brought her hand up to stroke the girl’s hair. Yoonchae sighed and held Megan a bit tighter in her sleep.
“Hey Meimei.” someone said softly.
Megan turned her head to see Sophia sitting in a chair right next to her cot. Eyes red and sunken like she had been crying. Sophia leaned over and kissed Megan’s forehead.
“Scared us all to death there for a second.” She chuckled, it sounded wet, like Sophia was ready to cry again at any moment. “Luckily your bones are as thick as your skull.” Megan rolled her eyes before frowning.
“I’m sorry.” Megan whispered and Sophia shook her head. “Don’t be.” She reassured the girl. “Just focus on getting better. That’s all that matters.”
Megan nodded and looked over at the sleeping girl next to her.
“She was the most worried, wouldn’t stop asking Kavita and Sri questions as soon as they had stabilized you and let us in. I was worried they’d kick her out with how much she was pestering them.”
“Kavita and Sri wouldn’t do that to Yoonchae, they’re literally the nicest people in the world.” Megan chuckled, ignoring the stab of pain that came with it. Lara was lucky to have parents like them.
Megan’s own mother came to mind, more importantly, how their last words were three years ago and were an argument. Sure, Megan sent them money all the time, and pretended that she didn’t oversee Sophia giving her updates via letters. But other than that, she didn’t communicate with her mother and Tyler at all. And she missed them, oh how she missed them. Megan’s not sure why it took almost dying for her to realize that.
“Sophia?” Megan asked.
“Yes mahal?”
“I want my mother.” Sophia nodded.
“I figured, I called her already on Sri’s bell telephone. She’ll be here by tomorrow.”
Upon reassurance that her mother was coming, Megan nodded and fell back asleep, shifting so that Yoonchae and her were in a more comfortable cuddling position. Sophia left another kiss on both girls’ heads before heading out of the room and upstairs where Lara’s family lived. She entered their small kitchen where everyone was sitting, Rhea brewing tea for the others.
“She woke up, we talked for a little bit then she went back to sleep.” Sophia reported. “She didn’t seem to have a fever.”
“Good, we’ll keep monitoring her for another day or two then I think she’ll be good to go back home. No jobs for her for a few months.” Sri stated.
Sophia nodded.
“That other girl who stays by her side all the time.” Kavita commented. “She’s new.”
“That’s Yoonchae.” Lara answered. “She’s a girl from the Joseon kingdom, we took her in after rescuing her last year.”
“She’s young.” Rhea hummed and Sophia couldn’t help but silently agree with her. She was young, so was Megan, Lara, and Dani.
“Yes, but she’s strong. And smart.” Dani butted in. “And resilient, her age doesn’t affect her ability to survive out here at all.”
“Where’s all this praise coming from?” Manon snorted. “From what I remember, you don’t like the girl.”
“Of course I like her, Yoonchae’s my little sister.” Dani said with an eye roll. “Don’t tell her I said that.”
“Your secret is safe with me.” Manon promised.
The group giggled before turning their heads towards Sophia.
“What’s the plan now boss?” Lara asked.
“The plan is, you and Dani will stay with Yoonchae, Megan, and the Rajs. While me and Manon go find that convict.”
Dani and Lara started to protest which was quickly stopped by a look from both Sophia and Lara’s parents.
“How long do you think it’ll take you guys?” Rhea questioned.
Manon looked at the dark look that had taken over Sophia’s face and grinned.
“Knowing Miss. Laforteza over here, not long.” She replied.
“You’re sure the poster said wanted dead or alive?” Sophia asked as they mounted their horses.
“Absolutley positive, even went to the jail house itself. The sheriff said he’d prefer dead over alive, as long as we brought him back in one piece.” Manon confirmed.
“Good. The sun’s setting low, let’s make this quick” Sophia hissed, urging her horse forward, Manon following close by.
Megan stirred to the sound of voices talking in a hushed manner near her, she slowly opened her eyes.
“And where are you from dear?” Said a soothing voice that she hadn’t heard in three years, her mother.
“Hanseong.” Said a soft voice, coming from the most wonderful girl Megan’s ever met, Yoonchae.
“Hanseong? You’re a long way from home aren’t you?”
Yoonchae nodded, turning her gaze towards Megan, noticing that she was awake. “Megan.” She breathed out, taking the girl’s hand into her own.
“Hey Yoonchip.” Megan said with a smile as she tightened her grip around Yoonchae’s hand. Her head turned towards her mother. “Hi mom.” She said apprehensively.
“Hi Megan.” Her mom said stroking her bangs out of her face. “I’m glad to see you.”
“Me too.” Megan said, ignoring the tears that slipped out, her mother wiped them away anyways.
Yoonchae gave them some needed space and the two talked for a long while, about everything that had happened the last few years that they had drifted apart.
“Tyler’s getting married this year.” Her mother said.
“Really? To who?”
“A woman named Amy, I think you’d like her.”
“Maybe.” Megan said with a shrug.
“Perhaps.” Her mother trailed off and Megan stared at her. “Perhaps you could come back home for a day and visit, to meet her and catch up with Tyler.”
Megan hummed before nodding. “I’d like that.”
The two sat in a comfortable moment of silence before the sound of Yoonchae’s voice was heard from upstairs as she helped Lara, Kavita, and Rhea prepare lunch.
“That girl, Yoonchae, what’s a girl from Joseon doing all the way in America?” Her mother asked.
“She was kidnapped last year, brought to California, then she ran away from her kidnapper. We were hired to find her and bring her back.”
“I’m guessing you stopped at the finding part.” Megan nodded.
“She can't go back, we have no way of getting her back to Joseon, so she stayed.”
“You two seem close.”
Megan shrugged.
“I would never judge you for who you loved Megan, as long as it was someone good for you. And Yoonchae seems very good for you.”
Megan sniffled at such words, relief washing over her.
“Thank you mom.” She whispered and her mom pulled her into a hug.
“Of course Megan.”
~~~
The sheriff jolts as the dark bag is thrown onto his desk, he looks up to see Manon and Sophia looking down at him, a few scuff marks on their face but other than that, relatively unharmed.
“What’s this?” He asked, poking the bag with a pen, it didn’t stir.
“That would be Marcus, your runaway convict. Dead or alive.” Manon explained. “You got a cigarette?”
The sheriff pulled out his pack holding it out to her, Manon took one. “Thank you.” She said, pulling out her own lighter.
The sheriff opened up the bag before closing it with a ‘Jesus Christ’.
“You too are terrifying, you know that?” He commented.
“We know. Our pay?” Sophia asked, holding out her hand.
~~~
Yoonchae watched Megan as she ate her lunch, eyes never leaving her.
“I’m not going to disappear Yoonchae, it’s ok.” Megan joked.
Yoonchae stayed silent and Megan’s smile fell off her face.
“Yoonchae it’s-”
“I thought you died.” Yoonchae says suddenly and Megan has no rebuttal for her. “When you fell to the ground, I thought you died right there. I thought I lost you.”
Megan set down her plate and took Yoonchae’s hand in hers, intertwinning their fingers.
“Could a dead person hold your hand?” She asked and Yoonchae stared before shaking her head. “Didn’t think so, I’m still here. Still alive, still next to you.”
“Stay next to me?” Yoonchae asked.
“Of course.” Megan promised.
“Hey, lovebirds.” Both girls snapped their heads up to see Lara grinning at them. “Manon and Sophia are back.”
“How’s she doing?” Sophia asked Sri as soon as she and Manon entered the office.
“Good, she can go home whenever you guys are ready. Light work only for the next few months.” He answered.
“Yes sir, how much do we owe you?”
“Nothing.” Sri answered.
“But-” He held up a hand to stop her. “Lara looks good, well fed, healthy, strong, that’s payment enough.”
Sophia opened and closed her mouth a few times before accepting his words with a nod. She then turned her attention over towards Megan’s mother. “Hello Mrs. Skiendiel.”
“Hello Sophia, I see you’ve been keeping my daughter mostly out of trouble.” She laughed.
“Mostly.” Sophia agreed with a weak laugh.
“Yeah well, Meiyok was always one to be reckless, I’m actually impressed she’s just now getting hurt. Must be because of your leadership skills.” Sophia wiped the tears forming at her praise, it didn’t feel deserved but it was nice to hear.
“Sophia! Manon!” Megan called out, using Yoonchae to help stabilize her as she walked towards the group. “Dani says you caught the convict while I was resting, tell me about it?”
Manon nodded, helping Megan to a chair.
“Of course Megan, we’ll tell you about it. Let me pull up a chair.”