Chapter Text
Ryujin always felt her pulse pick up on a bounty. Nothing else gets her heart racing, her blood pumping, her skin tingling. She keeps her cover and seamlessly manoeuvres through the crowded alley, keeping her eyes sharp and her senses alert.
Nothing comes close to making her feel alive, forever bound to live off the peaks and troughs of a thrill. This was what she lived for. With thousands of Woolongs on the line, she couldn't afford a careless mistake. She turns left into a quieter corridor and starts closing in.
It’s eerily quiet save for the faint static coming through her earpiece. She expected this area to be heavily guarded or at the very least well monitored. She even went out of her way to tune up her bionic, ensuring it wouldn’t malfunction under any expected encounter. Yeji hijacked and obscured the security cameras, so she knew her back was covered, but even so, it felt odd.
“Second building down your left.” Yeji says, almost too loud in the eerie silence. She tuts annoyed, followed by a string of frantic typing. “It’s too quiet, stay alert Ryu.”
Ryujin instinctively reaches for the pulse gun by her right hip, a metallic clank bounces off the empty walls. They poured days of work for this. She spent way too much time tailing possible suspects and compiling a list of details to exploit. Yeji stayed up for three days, stared at and dissected countless hours of camera footage.
After missing their last bounty, there was more riding on this one. All Ryujin had to do was to get in, knock a handful of people down, get out, and cash out. They would sit comfortably for a few weeks, upgrade the ship’s fuel cells to save energy between hyperspace travel, stock up on parts, and maybe even splurge and get intergalactic entertainment hooked to her quarters. So they can finally watch something other than taped reruns of Bridgerton and Breaking Bad.
Ryujin shakes her head to refocus, she needs to execute this flawlessly. None of her supposed plans matter if she messed this up now. She double-checks the location and braces herself, physically gearing up for anything that might happen, and shoves the door open.
Shit.
Yeji groans. “Fuck sakes.”
They were too late. Their bounty was gone, only traces of a fight left - some broken furniture, upturned desks, and a few broken beer bottles. She sighs before lowering her gun, there goes her plans.
//
“That’s the second time in a row.” Ryujin throws herself on the couch, trying to get ahead of the inevitable adrenaline crash that follows a hunt. Yeji joins her, “Twice in a row does feel rather mocking.”
Ryujin sighs, throwing her feet over the armrest and resting her head on Yeji’s lap. Bounty hunting wasn’t as big of a field as it had once been - a high barrier to entry with the combat experience it takes, the planning, and the strategies to guarantee tangible success, were usually enough to avert people away from it - despite the comfy pay each bounty provided. To have two snatched right under their noses feels insulting to their track record.
She picks away a stray strand of Byul’s fluff from Yeji’s shirt collar. She has no idea where her cat is but half suspects him to either be curled above the refrigerator or on her captain’s chair.
“I fed Byul earlier.” Yeji says, blowing away the strand of fluff Ryujin holds up. “He was on my lap earlier while we watched cams.”
That explains the cat hair but she can’t believe that she not only missed the bounty but also didn’t catch that adorable sight before she left.
Ryujin smooths down her collar, following the line down her neck and stops when she catches a reddish-purple mark peeking out past the cotton.
She knows the bounty would have been lost either way but when the opportunity to be a tease arises, she must capitalise. She brushes against the purpling mark and tuts disapprovingly, “We could have been there earlier if someone hadn’t distracted me this morning.”
Yeji chuckles, arching an eyebrow, “I don’t remember you complaining.” She hums thoughtfully, “What was it? Oh Yeji, Please-”
Ryujin rushes to cover her mouth with the palm of her hand, “You’re so annoying, did you know that?” Yeji shakes her head and returns a toothy grin once Ryujin lowers her hand, “Nope.”
She settles back down on her lap and reaches for the remote to continue where they left off for Breaking Bad like they always do to unwind. But Yeji gently places a hand over her forearm and stops her, thumb brushing a slow but steady pattern, taking on a more serious tone, “You know, I was thinking, neither of us really need the Woolongs, we could just take this as a sign for a break.”
The dark circles under Yeji’s eyes are more pronounced than she recalled, making an unsavoury pang of guilt hit her. Yeji shifts her eyes away first, refocusing on the pattern she’s tracing on Ryujin’s skin. She has a point, they don’t need the money that badly. They could take a break from the hustle and use it to recharge. It would be a nice change of pace for them, yet Ryujin can’t help but feel hesitant to.
What if they hit a blip in hyperspace and overheat their engine, or chip their ship in a nasty dogfight, the hefty amount in repairs might as well set them back a few bounties.
She shakes away the anxiety creeping up her chest and tries for a smile, “It can’t hurt to have extra Woolongs lying around.”
Yeji frowns and the crinkle above her eyebrow deepens, “There’s no guarantee we ace the next either.”
Again she’s right but it doesn’t sit well with her to just relax and take time off right after losing two bounties. Her ego won’t allow it.
Ryujin tries a different route. If there’s anything she can comfortably rely on it’s Yeji’s competitive nature and perfectionist attitude, one that often rivals her own.
“How about we take five and carefully look through to choose one more bounty to end on a high note?”
They take a few days off until the next bounty posting airs and then decide from there. Ryujin’s ultimately right when Yeji gives her a nod begrudgingly. “Alright. One and we’re taking a break.”
Ryujin nods earnestly. Yeji returns a lopsided smile and takes the remote, shortly after the familiar loading sound fills the space.
She settles onto the couch, with a hand on Ryujin’s arm and the other on the backrest. Maybe it’s the way Yeji’s eyes settle into something more relaxed, how the sharp corner of her eyes round out and soften, that it highlights how dark her eye bags have gotten, how her blinks are a bit rougher, denser in frequency.
“Yeji?” She calls.
Whatever it is intensifies the guilt festering in her stomach. Even though Yeji agreed to one more bounty, she wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about it either. Yeji is her teammate, someone who’s not only become a reliable source of strength but a steady source of support. She’s her friend. She just needs to make sure.
“Are you sure about this?”
She won’t abuse Yeji’s kindness.
Ryujin sits up and lends out her pinky, nudging it against Yeji’s. “Yeah. One more, right?” She nods slowly and tilts her head in confusion. Ryujin hooks onto her pinky. “No matter the outcome, we take a break.”
If not for herself, then for Yeji’s sake. She’ll shove her anxieties down.
“We’ll head to Andromeda, you mentioned that you’ve never been before.”
Yeji smiles brighter this time, tightening their pinkies to seal the promise, and it’s only then that Ryujin feels lighter and more content to settle back down on Yeji’s lap and start their post-bounty relaxing routine of reruns and drinks.
It takes precisely two minutes before Yeji pulls out her portable console and starts typing away, unapologetically bored by the show now that they’re approaching their tenth rerun. Ryujin cracks open a soda and tries to focus on the show.
Maybe Yeji was also right about the taped reruns. Because she realises she hasn’t been listening or looking at the screen since it started playing either. Rather than slowly drifting away and letting her eyes flutter shut during a quieter scene. She’d been occupied between looking at Yeji and wondering what they should have for dinner.
It takes another five before Yeji sighs frustratedly, looking rather perplexed by the lines of coding on her tiny device. She ties her hair up into a messy bun and her lips set into a tiny pout.
It could be the sugar rush, but the need for the nap Ryujin anticipated quickly dissipates and instead, it’s slowly replaced by a growing want to have those focused eyes on her. She should really let Yeji work and finish up the code she’d been working so hard on, but it’s difficult when she’s arguably the most attractive in this state.
Seven minutes was all it took before Ryujin caves. The moment Yeji bites on her bottom lip. She gets up during a quieter scene and doesn’t miss the tiny protest Yeji lets out at losing the comfortable weight on her thigh.
“In the meantime,” She carefully sets Yeji’s console aside. There’s a confused hum from Yeji, but when Ryujin climbs onto her lap, it’s replaced by a dark throaty chuckle and a pair of sharp focused eyes that send the best kind of shiver down her spine.
It’s not all that surprising how ready Yeji is to reciprocate, there certainly are perks when you’re already sleeping with each other. What more reasoning do they really need aside from wanting to let loose and have some fun? Besides, Yeji made her forget her name before the day even began, it’s only fair she gets her revenge.
She hooks onto the buttons of her shirt, her other hand fanning across the base of Yeji’s neck, deliberately pushing down on one of the marks she left. Ryujin pulls them in closer, dipping her voice into a slower, more sultry tone. “What about a repeat of this morning?”
Yeji grins impishly, sliding under the strap of her tank, teasing the edge of it, “Thought you’d never ask.”
She greedily swallows down Ryujin’s delighted groan when her warm hands wrap around her waist and pull them flush.
Ryujin promptly forgets all about her restlessness and lets a burning red-hot desire coil in its place until she inevitably forgets about that too.
//
What happens when dreams get mixed with memories?
Ryujin isn’t sure what the actual inner workings of the brain might suggest, but she can say from lived experience alone, that it’s not - in any way, shape or form - a pleasant experience.
Each night she drifts closer and closer to the promise of serenity, hoping for a peaceful, restful night, instead of dreaming and letting her brain run wild. Anything but dreaming.
Maybe in hindsight, tamping down this essential part of sleep is why it always comes back to bite her tenfold.
Ryujin squints at the flash of harsh white fluorescent lights, her head feels heavy and muddy, floating black splotches fighting to consume her vision.
Not this again.
She snaps her eyes open at the harsh grip on her arm, and heaves in a desperate attempt to calm the sharp shooting pain that courses through her sides. The grip on her side tightens and she clenches her jaw when it sends another wave of pain.
She’s barely lucid enough to realise that she was being pulled to sit upright, held by her chin and forced to look up, a flashlight shining in her face like some deranged animal.
Every fibre of her dignity is screaming at her to fight, to at least snarl at the humiliation that threatens to take over.
She tries to fight it - every single time - despite knowing that it is futile, she knows what will come next, and has been through it so many times she’s lost count. When she grits past the pain and struggles against the brutal grip, the onslaught of pain that follows, always causes her vision to blur with unshed tears.
Through the pain, drowsiness and tears, she meets the calculating gaze of someone with a black mask.
“This one will do.”
It’s always the last thing she hears before there's a sharp sting on her thigh, followed by her head growing exponentially heavier and her vision blackening.
Her eyes snap open to the blank ceiling of her ship. She feels her heart pounding against her ribcage, hand shaking as she brings them up to her flushed and warm cheeks.
Goddamn it.
“Ryujin?”
She leaps away at the voice, drawing her hands up defensively. Trying to stay upright even though her head feels like a dense brick. She blinks through her fuzzy vision and shaky limbs, and makes out Yeji’s figure in the dark.
Yeji reaches a slow calm hand out, her voice still husky with sleep, “You’re on our ship, it’s just me, you’re okay.”
Ryujin breathes a sigh of relief and slowly lowers her hands, Yeji asks, “Same nightmare?”
She nods and settles back down, Yeji shuffles with the duvet cover but stays quiet. It’s far from the first time Ryujin’s had the same recurring dream. Yet every time it’s just as bad, if not worse, than the actual memory it’s based on. The nightmares don't happen as often when she’s spending the night with Yeji. It ends up an odd trade between experiencing them less and having stronger ones when she does. Ones that are worse, more volatile, more vivid. She just wishes that Yeji wasn’t such a light sleeper. Those concerned and startled eyes mean well, but only fill her with guilt.
The memories are her weight to carry. Alone if she must. Never wants to repeat the mistake of sharing them, the mistake of offloading the weight to someone else, the mistake of tainting what was once pure.
She quickly clasps her hands together, the cool metal acting as a healing salve and providing an immediate reprieve from the curious burn of Yeji’s gaze.
Ryujin waits until Yeji’s breathing slows and deepens, followed by her gentle snoring before she slips out of the room as quietly as possible.
Just to be greeted by the unique blend of cat paws and metal rattle padding across her ship, bringing another sense of familiarity to her the same way the cool metal had.
“Hey bud, why are you up so early?” She asks as Byul hops onto the counter and stretches himself out, yawning cutely as he lays down and stares at Ryujin, probably mirroring the same question when his head tilts.
She always starts off petting him with her normal arm, wanting to feel Byul’s soft fur and smooth metallic plates, and every time, Byul indulges her for a moment or two before he shakes it off and nudges for Ryujin to pet him with her bionic arm instead. It’s only then that she’s rewarded with Byul’s heartwarming purrs.
“I’m just gonna get some chores done, go back to sleep for a bit.” She speaks softly, massaging over a spot behind Byul’s ears which he adores. Byul wags his tail in response, showing that he wants to stay awake to keep her company, but with how slowly his eyes are blinking at her, Ryujin knows he’ll fall back to sleep in another few minutes.
Byul nudges into the palm of her hand, rubbing the side of his face against it. Ryujin brushes his cheek gently and purrs gently, staying there until he’s satisfied, and he gets up and hops from the counter to perch himself on top of the fridge, tail wagging over the edge, and falling asleep soon after.
Ryujin’s glad neither him nor Yeji forced themselves to stay awake for her sake. Byul usually keeps her company these mornings, but she’s more than happy for him to curl up on top of the warm spot above the fridge and supervise her.
She tidies up her captain’s quarters, cleans Yeji’s workbench and reorganises the pantry. Getting halfway through making breakfast, (it’s taking longer than normal because of how often she has to tuck his tail above the fridge to grab ingredients) when the mechanical doors swoosh open and Yeji stumbles out. Byul is down in a flash and greets her happily, walking her to the kitchen before he hops onto the counter and joins Yeji in watching Ryujin add the finishing touches.
Yeji greets Byul good morning and he nestles into her hand, asking for pats. She chuckles softly but complies nonetheless. Yeji’s taken quite a liking to Byul despite being a self-proclaimed non-cat person. There was some tension and (protective) hostility from Byul, but as soon as Yeji started to help offer him food and pets, Ryujin’s role as ‘Byul’s favourite’ was up for debate.
Ryujin can’t find herself in any position to complain, not when Yeji holds her index out and Byul playfully bumps his nose against it.
//
Blasting 80s rock music while she meticulously wipes down and polishes her bionic is something she looks forward to every week. A self-care ritual, like her binge-watching habit, except this, on some levels, is more productive and one that particularly grounds her whenever she feels adrift.
Downtime between bounties is somewhat unpredictable, it’s either a rushed flurry of repairs and restocks before they’re busily tracking the next bounty. Or it’s mundane and simple like the past week had been.
They catch up on sleep, head out for essentials, grab pancakes from their favourite retro diner and a few drinks at a speakeasy. It’s been nice, and a well-needed break from the hustle, but she’s starting to feel the growing restlessness from aimlessly floating in the endless expanse of space.
The weekly round of bounty listings is going live today, so after they went out for coffee and cocoa (Yeji’s), they’re back lounging on the ship, catching up on a few more chores. Yeji’s running checks on their engine, and Ryujin’s taking the time to tune up her arm with Byul as company.
She jammed her pinky trying to grab a box of catnip from the top shelf of the store and ended up bumping it right into the metal shelf. It was mostly fine, if not a bit embarrassing, but her pinky had been losing strength after that, unfurling on its own accord.
Her running hypothesis had been that the artificial tendon snapped or lost its tautness. Which would have meant a huge but manageable pain of changing out and restructuring her entire fourth and fifth tendon.
Yet, that doesn’t seem like the case either, the tendon was completely normal under a deliberate stress test. After a bit more fiddling and testing, Ryujin huffs frustratedly. There was nothing glaringly wrong that might have caused it. Whatever that bump triggered, must not have been as simple as a component change or something she could fix alone.
A quiet bitter inner voice tells her that this wasn’t something she could fix on her own, not after she’d lost her guiding hand.
[Incoming: IBH]
The transmission comes to life with a familiar ping, dragging Ryujin out of her state. Byul gets startled by the sound and hops off the console, scurrying away to hide in his little cubby on the cat tower. She sets the hex key aside and waves her free hand to pull up the hologram panel before kicking her feet onto the console.
She scans the shortlist half-heartedly, every one in ten is worth pursuing and about every one in fifty is worth getting excited over. She swipes away one after the other, deeming them too trivial, not worth the fuel expense or time investment. Yeji promised her one last bounty, she needed this to count
Ex-SM Operative, 32. Alias: unknown. Last seen: Mars. Photo description and information attached
Getting ready to swipe this last hologram away too she catches sight of the reward. This might just be that promising one in fifty.
Reward: 250k
No, this is one in a hundred. She puts her feet down and rubs her eyes to make sure she isn’t hallucinating, swiping the panel over to the central panel and calling Yeji into the console room.
This might be it. This could be the perfect send-off.
Ex-SM operatives are rare, they’re known to either be discharged with honours or die on the force. An early-thirties ex-operative mean that they fucked up, real bad, which in her terms, equals high-risk high reward. Mars is a horrendously vague last known location, home to the busiest hub on this side of the galaxy, with hundreds of smaller colonies revolving around it.
The challenge, the risk, the payoff, it’s all there. It has to be it.
A call lights up her screen and she already knows what this will inevitably be about. She waves at the duo through the hologram when it patches through.
“Hey, did you see the bounty?” Jimin asks barely a second after it connects, busily packing away and undoing the copious amount of gear she has on. Ryujin hums, “Mm-hm. Two fifty on the line, hard not to.”
She catches Minjeong meticulously wiping down the scope of her sniper on the table behind and asks, “Just came back from something?”
“Yeah, Aeri needed backup so we rushed over.” Jimin sighs, turning off her visor and scrutinising the screen.
Yeji walks into the control centre and throws a friendly wave through the screen. She hums in curiosity and a hint of excitement, “New bounty?”
Jimin nods in acknowledgement, and Minjeong throws in a two-fingered salute, chiming in from the back, “There’s not much known about the contract, they went off the radar two weeks ago, but overhead is pressuring all acting SM hunters to chase them down.”
She leans against the side of Jimin’s captain chair, adding quietly, “Honestly, I was surprised it went public at all.”
Jimin shrugs, “They’re offering an additional bonus to SM ops. If you two are going for it too. We should team up, split the Woolongs.”
Ryujin raises her eyebrows in surprise, she knows Jimin doesn’t offer this lightly, especially with external hunters like her and Yeji, despite how close they are outside of bounty hunting, it’s not standard practice. They’ve done it under the table in the past, nothing as official as this.
“How much is the bonus?” She asks. Minjeong checks something to the side before whistling slowly, “Another hundred fifty thousand.”
It isn’t exactly news to her that organisations slip some money under the table to expedite the speed of an order. It’s the reason Jimin and so many others joined them in the first place, but this was way more than normal.
Yeji tilts her head, “Why do you need us?” She asks, “Every hunter is gonna want a piece, especially you SM hunters.”
Jimin nods animatedly, “Exactly, all eyes are on this, the quicker we find them the better.”
Ryujin was sold the moment she saw that excited glint in Jimin’s eyes. She knew this would be a fun one to end on, even without the insane amount of Woolongs.
Yeji asks again, not convinced in the slightest, “We don’t even have a photo?”
“I’m calling in a favour that might be able to help.” Jimin responds easily, looking more so at Yeji than at her, knowing that Ryujin was on board the moment she suggested it - she’s right of course, but Ryujin doesn’t need to tell her that.
Minjeong tries another push, “Come on Yeji, it’s a hundred thousand each if we make it.” Adding a smile to sweeten the deal, “Surely you want to relax for a few weeks?”
Yeji turns to her and shrugs, “Your call.”
Ryujin nods and Jimin cracks a smile, “Great, Mars Station 2. Ping us when you get here.”
Ryujin puts in the coordinates on the console and charts a course. Throws a quick smile at Jimin before the transmission cuts.
“It sounds too good to be true.” Yeji sighs, crossing her arms sceptically. Ryujin shrugs, there’s no denying that it sounds a little too good, that one in a hundred odds, “But I've known Jimin long enough to know that she wouldn’t scam us.”
Yeji shakes her head, “It’s not Jimin I'm worried about.” She points to the hologram with the bounty details, “Ex-SM, early thirties, unknown history and a sudden shift from internal to public bounty?” She winces and frowns, “Feels like we’re missing a major caveat here.”
Ryujin understands her reluctance, on any other bounty, solo or not, it would sound insane to pursue, but all her bounties with Jimin have been some of her best memories and not only does she get to experience that again herself, but Yeji will be able to as well.
They’ll do the same thing as they’ve always done - even quicker now that they have two extra sets of hands - get in, get out, cash out.
She puts on her best charming smile, hoping it works on Yeji just enough to keep her worries at bay. Yeji stares blankly at her smile before she relents with a shoulder shrug, throwing her hands up in mock surrender, already retreating into her quarters, “You owe me that break after this is over.”
“I promise!” Ryujin shouts back.