Missing Koreans in SCV? Oh no!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Criminals

A sharp breath. Mina shot an annoyed look at the fiery-haired young boy crouching next to her. Judging from his composure, it was like he almost wanted to be caught. He wasn't fully prepared; she could tell. Experience told her how to notice these things with boys. She shook her head and told herself to focus on her mission at hand. All of her preparation would be for nothing if they were stopped here. They were on a hill not too far away from the dojo. It was a common meeting place for her and her father's students. He was, after all, not the first she had lured in to doing this with her.

"Just a few more minutes," she muttered.

"We can't keep doing this," the boy whispered back. "We're going to get caught."

"Yun-seong, what have I told you? Be a man for once and take some action! We'll be fine. It's not like it's our first time. Once you taste it, you'll realize it was all worth it."

"I'm pretty sure he knows something is up by now," Yun-seong said anxiously.

"My father?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe…" Mina said after thinking for a second. "He did catch me and Hwang that one time…"

"What did he do?"

"What do you think? Just some extra chores. And an angry lecture about how I wasn't supposed to do things like that with his students. I can't imagine what he'd do if he found out this time after that warning though."

"Man, I'm getting kind of nervous now," Yun-seong said, scratching his head.

"Are you scared? Hwang did it a million times!" Mina said with a finger in his face, trying to provoke him. "You think you can do better than him? He was the best at this!"

"Scared? Don't make me laugh." he said, with a cocky grin. "I'm going in. Just watch me and I'll show you!"

Mina smirked. "That's more like it."

Their mission was simple. Seong Han Myeong made the best damn bread out of anyone in the town, maybe even in all of Korea. And Mina planned on getting her hands on some before anybody else. The first batch was always the best. Her father only baked on very specific days based on how the moon had looked the night before and the end product was limited. He usually had the batches he baked delivered to needy families in different parts of the town which meant that there was usually none left for his poor starving daughter by the end. Mina almost swooned at the injustice.

They approached the dojo and quickly navigated through the different rooms by following the irresistible smell. She had timed their entrance just as basic training was ending to blend in and reduce suspicion. The other students of the dojo were all on the way out, relieved to take a break from their hellish training. Mina licked her lips in anticipation. She could almost taste the bread in her mouth as she dodged and weaved through the swarm of sweaty bodies. Yun-seong was right behind her, managing to bump into every single one of his peers as he followed.

In no time at all, they were standing in front of the most beautiful basket they had ever seen. There was a sign reading, "Do Not Touch" viciously sitting next to it.

"Damn I'm good. Who's hungry?" Yun-seong said as he reached for his prize.

Mina slapped his hand away.

"Hey!"

"Not so fast," she scolded as she looked around. "It could be a trap."

He shot her a disbelieving look. "Are you serious? It's just bread. Who would care that much about-"

He was then interrupted as two bookshelves suddenly decided to collapse.

"Watch out!"

They both hurt their hands swatting away thick books with titles such as How to Trick Your Teenage Daughter Into Doing What You Want Her Do By Making Her Think She Wants It, Extreme Hellish Training For Your Personal Dojo Vol. XXI and 499 Ways to Attack Your Rebellious Daughter As She Comes Home From Her Journey, and skillfully dodged the giant bookcases as they fell to the floor with a thud, all which happened in a matter of seconds.

Mina inspected the bookcases. "String," she remarked. Her instincts had been right. They had been rigged to fall on whoever went even near the bread. Never mind if that made sense or not.

"…I think your father is crazy," Yun-seong remarked.

"No, he just knows the bread's true value," Mina said darkly. "It's dangerous stuff. I've seen it destroy men's lives…"

"What the hell are you-hey, you're cut…" he suddenly said, pointing to her shoulder.

"Huh?"

She glanced down and saw a small wound. She couldn't believe he even noticed it. It didn't hurt but she decided to fall down anyway.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Yun-seong said, falling on his knees next to her.

"I'm…dying…" she whispered, certainly NOT dying.

"Hold on! I'll go and get someone!" he said, scrambling to his feet and about to head out.

"Wait! It'll be okay if you just…be my slave…"

Yun-seong stopped and looked at her with an annoyed look at the realization that she was playing around. "That's not funny."

"Aww, were you worried about me?" she teased, immediately bouncing back from her temporary, nonexistent grave.

"We have to get out of here," he said, ignoring the question. "Someone had to have heard all that."

"Tell you what," Mina said, sitting with her legs stretched on the floor. "Carry me out and we'll split the bread 60-40 in your favor."

"I refuse! That's degrading!"

"It's not the worst thing you've done," she pouted. "Besides, you've tasted it before. You know it's worth it. I'm not asking for much."

She saw him thinking. "Fine," he said with some reluctance.

"Yay!" she cheered. He walked over to her side and knelt down, offering his back.

"Aren't you a little too old for this?" he grumbled.

"Ow!" he said as she gave him a slap on the head.

"Oh be quiet you," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. She let herself relax, rested her head on his and closed her eyes. The warmth of his body gave her a cozy feeling as he stood, lifting them both up. The air shifted only slightly as they moved but she gave him a quick squeeze to shut up the irrational part of her mind that thought she would fall. He was way stronger than he looked. She smiled, glad that he couldn't see her thinking such things.

"Don't forget what we came for," she remembered, opening her eyes. Yun-seong moved closer to allow her to grab the bread basket lying on the table. She snatched it and stuffed the handle into Yun-seong's mouth. "Onward!"

He mumbled something that sounded suspiciously insulting so Mina gave him another slap on the head. "Don't you dare drop it!" she warned. He ran out as fast as he could, undetected, both of them clinging to one another.

Back at the hill, Yun-seong bent down, setting the basket down on the grass as he unclenched his teeth. He lost his balance and tumbled backwards, falling on Mina as she let out an unexpected shriek.

"Hey! Get off me you dummy!"

"Sorry!" He got a slap on the head.

Mina stood up and brushed the grass off her arm. As she stretched, a big smile was on her face as she looked once more upon the glorious basket they had successfully acquired.

Yun-seong reached for the loaf of bread once more. "Hey!" Mina said, stopping him.

"What now?" he groaned.

"I get first loaf."

"Were you always this bossy?" Slap on the head.

"You can stop doing that by the way. It got old the first few times and I think I'm getting stupider." Slap on the head.

She ripped the first loaf out of its home and bit into it, letting her mouth slowly absorb every piece. It was still warm and tasted better than she remembered.

"Here," she said, offering the half-eaten loaf to Yun-seong.

"Why would I want the one you just ate?"

"It's symbolic! And this is the first loaf! It tastes the best. Why do you think I do all this to get the first loaf?"

He surprisingly grabbed the piece without any more words and took a bite.

He sighed with satisfaction. "I almost forgot how good it was."

Mina fell on the grass laughing. "Come on, get down here. Relax. We did it!"

Yun-seong sat down next to her and brought the basket closer.

She stared at his head. She was happier without knowing where the sudden influx of joy had come from and it wasn't just the food. "Come here," she said grabbing it.

"Hey!" he said. But he didn't resist. She kissed the top of his head and fell back with it in her hands, guiding it to the resting place on her exposed stomach. She lazily ran her fingers through his hair while they looked up at the clearest sky they had ever seen.

"You know, stolen food does taste better," Yun-seong remarked, taking and eating another piece of bread.

"Don't you go and be some dirty pirate now, making a habit out of it."

"Maybe I will if it's fun."

"Stupid kid…doing the exact opposite of what I just said." They laid on the grass in silence for a while, letting the breeze caress them. It felt nice, just the two of them together, she thought.

"We'll have to go back soon," she said, spying a cloud that looked remarkably like the boy she was with.

"Of course we do, there's a war going on," she heard his voice say.

"You did well today."

"Was I better than Hwang?"

"I don't know, we'll have to see after a few more times," she said. No need to make him overconfident. She wanted to keep him under control after all.

"Heh. I already know I am."

"Cocky bastard," she said quietly with a small smile she knew he couldn't see.

"I'll save our country too. Watch me. I'll go out and get Soul Edge or whatever else we need to protect our homeland."

"You do that soon. This war's not going to last forever. Pretty soon we'll all be old and there won't be any need to go after Soul Edge or whatever."

"Ahem."

Intruder. Mina lurched up, tossing Yun-seong to the side. She looked behind them to find her father with his arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

"Damn." She had gotten too caught up with thinking about things to even notice that he had sneaked up on them. Too caught up on…him.

"I'll take this," her father said, walking over and snatching up the basket they had worked so hard for. "Don't you know there's a war going on? Shouldn't you be out looking for some kind of way to help the nation's cause?"

"We were going get right on that!" Mina said.

"You chose food over ultimate power in the universe? Kids these days…" he muttered.

"She's kind of old to still be a kid anymore," Yun-seong spoke up, adding nothing necessary to the situation. She shoved him.

"Whose bright idea was this?" Mina's father asked.

The two criminals both pointed to the other, not wanting to face the divine baker's wrath.

Seong Han Myeong looked at them with mild amusement. He then gave his daughter a disapproving look.

"At your age still doing this?"

Her face burned. Why was everyone so obsessed with her age? She would make Yun-seong pay for bringing it up later.

She dreamed of ways to get back at him by dragging him into more of her schemes, not listening to a word of her father's angry lecture.

I'll teach that little boy to keep his mouth shut about me, she thought with a mischievous grin.