SUNDAY – November 6th

4:45 PM

"Hana. What is this?"

"This," Hana says, casually gesturing to the arcade machine in front of them, "is Dance Dance Revolution!"

"I can see that," Angela intones wryly, nodding her head towards the title, spelled out in glowing letters, on the top of the machine. "But I've been told you wanted to see me. And that it was, I quote, urgent business."

"This is super urgent business actually," Hana enunciates, but Angela merely quirks a doubtful eyebrow in response, with her arms folded across her chest; she doesn't look convinced. Hana sighs, "Alright, here's the deal." She slams her hands on her hips, determined and ready to persuade. "I have some free time right now and I figured we could catch a break." She motions between the two of them. "You know, both of us. Together."

"A break?" Angela repeats, seemingly unsure what to make of it. "But—"

Hana is quick to cut her off before she can protest any further. "Doctor, listen. You've been cooped up in your lab for three days." She holds three fingers up to emphasize her point, giving Angela a 'be reasonable' look. "You need and could use a break, and besides—" She takes off her hoodie and throws it onto the sofa— "One small break can't do you more harm than good, don't you think? I mean, c'mon, you know I'm right."

Angela tilts her head to the side, touching a hand to her chin thoughtfully, actively considering. "You do have a point, I suppose," she ponders, letting out a small, defeated sigh – a sign of surrender. "How does this work?"

Hana's face lights up with a big enthusiastic smile, eyes gleaming. Yes! She shoots, she scores! The sweet, sweet taste of victory.

Hana grins and steps onto the game platform, cracking her knuckles. "Just watch me, alright? I'll demonstrate." She swiftly goes through the list of available songs on the display until she finds the one and she throws the doctor one quick wink over the shoulder before hitting play, "Then we both try, okay?"

"Okay," Angela nods and watches her carefully.

Hana can practically feel the doctor's eyes on her, patient and intent.

It makes her feel all restless and tingly and her heart begins to pound as the beat of the song pulls her in.

She moves with ease, methodically, rapidly adjusting her steps to the ever-growing upbeat rhythm, and she can't quite control the surge of adrenaline she gets as she begins to move faster, then faster and faster. Constantly increasing the pace, her heart flutters for every combo she hits right; the fluorescent glow of the on-screen arrows filling her up with utmost excitement and an electric kind of thrill. It's almost like she's accelerating as one with the speed of the entire world, racing against time itself, just sprinting ahead towards the unknown and only living for the adventure of it all. And she goes fast! Faster! Faster!

It's a perfect score!

CLEARED!

Hana ends the round with an air fist pump and a, "Boom shakalaka! She's on fire!" A bead of sweat trickles down her temple and she exhales whilst wiping it away. "Phew, Combo Queen right here," she quips as she turns around and smacks her almost forgotten bubblegum in her mouth to blow and pop a celebratory bubble. Angela is staring right at her, clapping absently, with sheer awe reflected in her eyes. She looks thoroughly and genuinely impressed, and Hana allows herself the numbered seconds of silence to bask in the attention and the quiet praise.

Angela lets out a breathy and anxious chuckle then, as though she can hardly believe it that she had agreed to indulge herself in doing something like this too. "This is not right for my age," she murmurs, timidly fixing the hems of her black polo shirt.

Their eyes meet and Hana offers her an encouraging smile. "C'mon, doc." She gives a nonchalant shrug. "There's no age restriction for fun."

"I suppose not," Angela chuckles; her features visibly beginning to relax a tad. She takes off her lab coat and places it neatly next to Hana's hoodie on the couch. "Well then," she says, after tucking her shirt into her pants with a remnant hint of nervousness. "Shall we?"

Hana's lips quirk up into a fierce grin. "This is going to be so much fun," she predicts as she grabs Angela's wrist to help her onto the platform.

With the next song all set and prepared on the screen and still riding off the energy of the previous round, Hana is feeling positively impatient to get it started. "Ready?" She asks. Angela brushes a strand of hair behind her ear and gives a stiff, final nod.

The music starts playing and they are haphazardly out of sync, with Hana moving fast and Angela missing almost all the steps.

The doctor looks so distressed and completely out of her element that Hana can't help but find it cute, somehow. The way Angela scans the moving arrows on the screen with her eyes focused in and brows creased like she's thinking too hard, trying to make some sense out of it, really, it's cute.

"You're doing fine, don't worry too much about it," Hana tells her, reassuringly, when the song accelerates a bit.

Hana knows the steps to this song by heart. It's a low-difficulty one compared to the no-bar double expert challenge she did on her solo try. Because this time around, she doesn't want to show off. And she doesn't want Angela to feel pressured.

All she wants is for them to do this together and have some fun. Simple as that.

She wants to see the doctor smile.

"Just follow my lead." Hana takes Angela's hand and deliberately falls a few steps back to match Angela's tempo and so they succeed in synchronizing their movements at last. Angela loosens up too and picks up the pace. Her eyes crinkle with a tinge of happiness and Hana can tell now that she is starting to enjoy this as much as Hana hoped she would. It sends a thrill of absolute gleeful excitement coursing through her veins.

This is it!

They manage to balance each other out in a coordinated effort to perfectly mirror the pattern of steps appearing on screen and the air around them crackles with electricity, then a giddy anticipation as the song nears its end. Hana's heart thumps loudly in her chest, her pulse in her throat; a silly thought crosses her mind for a second or two, in-between the resonance of the final sounds, she wonders if it's possible for two hearts to beat in unison too.

A perfect harmony of heartbeats, she imagines. And Angela gives her hand a tiny squeeze when it ends.

CLEARED!

"Whoa! That was awesome!" Hana exhales in a deep shuddering breath, feeling laughter bubbling up in her throat. "And not bad at all for a noob, doctor!" She pokes Angela in the side, watching in amusement as she squirms then giggles a little in her attempts to regulate her own breathing too, "Should I take that as a compliment?" Angela asks.

Hana sinks down onto the sofa. "You should definitely take that as a compliment," she snickers, leaning her head against the back of the couch.

Angela takes a seat next to her and they end up laughing together, in raggedy breaths – a shared moment of pure elation as the rush of energy wears off.

After a quick glance at her holo-watch, Hana realizes it's past 6PM already and quietly swallows down her disappointment. Time sure went by fast…

She has a scheduled stream to do in about an hour and she needs a shower, but right now she wants nothing more than to remain in Angela's company. It occurs to her that a few hours a day don't feel enough anymore; she can't help but crave for more.

"Are you up for one more game? A quick one?" She asks Angela, selfishly hoping the doctor would stick around for just a little while longer. A vague sense of guilt floods through her at the unwelcome thought that she may be too brash and taking advantage of the doctor's kind-hearted nature to sate her own greed, but Hana tries to take comfort in the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the doctor isn't too eager to flee the scene either.

"I suppose we could spare a few more minutes for a quick game," Angela smiles, and it's the look in her eyes – affectionate and sincere – and the way she says 'we' – that puts Hana's mind at ease and makes her feel better at once. She turns the big screen on and hands Angela a controller.

"So. Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat? Your choice."

"They both sound quite barbaric," Angela replies. "Street… Fighter? It sounds less fatal."

Hana snorts. "You have no idea. Alright then, Street Fighter it is!"

Chun-Li VS Ibuki

Round 1

Fight!

"Which one am I?"

"The one on the left. C'mon doc, you literally just picked her yourself seconds ago."

She hears Angela chuckle, in a somewhat sheepish tone. "I see. And which button do I press to heal you?"

"Wha— There's no healing button. You have to knock me out. Hit me until my HP drops to zero," Hana tells her, holding back on a giggle. "Here." She scoots closer to go over the control basics, slowly and patiently, making sure Angela is following all of her explanations.

"Now try punching me or kicking me or something."

And Angela tries. She starts with holding and pressing the same button, repeatedly, then another, and a couple more jumps and aimless kicks later, she manages to move her character towards Hana's, enough to corner her.

1-HIT-2HIT 1HIT 1HIT 1HIT-2HIT

"I get the feeling you are going easy on me," Angela comments, throwing Hana a few sidelong glances in-between on-screen kicks and punches, and Hana gives her shoulder a playful nudge in return.

"I'm only letting you get used to the controls," Hana says. "I'm not this nice to all casuals, you know."

"My, I feel honored." Angela rolls her eyes fondly, her lip curling in an amused half-smile, "I take it you don't see me as a worthy adversary?"

"Fine, look, I'm jumping too. Try kicking me now."

"And here I thought you played to win, Miss Number One."

"Oh, I do," Hana smirks and lowers Angela's HP a little just to prove her point.

Angela is teasing her, Hana can tell. Angela is teasing her and that thought alone is somehow enough to send her heart into a frenzy. It's endearing, really, and Hana figures it's because it's Angela; were it anyone else, it would most likely irk her, bruise her pride a bit, maybe. She knows it would, in fact. She tends to be impulsive, headstrong, easily ticked off and quick to react during a game, more so when they get too intense. It's a nasty habit of hers, she'll admit to that. And while she's never liked giving other players the satisfaction of getting under her skin, she can rarely help it – it just comes with the territory, she thinks. But Angela is not just anyone and this… this is different.

"Say doctor, do you think I'd look good as a video game character?" Hana blurts out; just a random, silly thought that happens to cross her mind at times. Angela hums, pondering. Is she seriously thinking about this?

"Well, you are an attractive young woman—"

"You think I'm attractive?" Hana interrupts her a little too eagerly, almost dropping her controller in the process but Angela doesn't look at her.

Angela keeps her eyes keenly focused on the big screen, with an expression hard to decipher, then finally, she clears her throat, gingerly, and says, "Objectively speaking, of course."

"Of course," Hana echoes, with a small smile of satisfaction, easing back into her seat. "Wait, did you just pull two 3-Hit Combos on me while I was not paying attention?!"

"Did I? My fingers must have slipped," Angela says. And there's a twitch at the corner of her mouth, amusement glinting in her eyes.

Hana smirks, "They sure did." Looks like even the goody-two-shoes doctor can play the devil sometimes. Duly noted. "Guess it's time to get serious!"

1-HIT-2HIT-3HIT-4HIT-5HIT-6HIT

K.O.

Hana puffs her chest proudly and makes a victory sign. Angela smiles and pinches her arm playfully.

Then an abrupt hush spreads over them as the lights and power suddenly go out, taking them by surprise.

The room turns pitch dark and it's Hana who speaks up first, in an irritated hiss, "Aish! Not this shit again?! C'mon!"

A temporary system lockdown right now?! You've got to be kidding me!

"Does this happen often?" Angela inquires, in a much calmer tone.

Hana sighs. "It happens sometimes," she says. "It's because of all the tests that go underground. Building prototypes, MEKA units and whatnot… They consume a ridiculous amount of energy." She waits a beat then adds, "Don't worry, though. It won't last long."

A minute passes. Then another. And the power comes back on.

"See? Told you," Hana smiles, reassuringly, and reluctantly sets her controller aside. "I guess it kind of killed the mood, huh?"

"Well." Angela leans forward a tad to give Hana's knee a consoling pat before getting up. "It might have been our cue to get back to work," she says, slipping back into her lab coat. Hana follows suit and stands up to walk her to the door. "Though I have to admit, this unexpected break did turn out to be a good idea after all," Angela confesses; her lips quirking upwards when she turns to look at Hana one more time, before she goes, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, definitely," Hana grins. "See you tomorrow, doctor."

TUESDAY – November 8th

9:12 AM

Angela had just finished watching Hana's live stream of a large-scale simulation – an offensive attack on an army of omnics gone rogue – meant to test several prototypes of new weapon models and at the same time serving as an initiation exam for two rookie MEKA pilots; allowing them a taste of what real-life battlefield looks and feels like, and what it means to be working alongside more experienced pilots under harsh conditions.

It went relatively smoothly, as far as Angela can tell. It ended on high spirits with the team currently conducting a short Q&A session, together with a couple of the higher-ups that have joined in. However, the one thing they seem to be reluctant to give details about concerns one of the rookie pilots' apparent mishap which happened halfway through the simulation. They wave the issue off, charismatically, ending the session without explicitly addressing the nature and cause of said "minor injury", as they called it. And the fact that they remain so secretive about it makes Angela have her doubts.

The audience, on the other hand, looks appeased.

Hana is in the middle of an autograph session now, with cheery pop music playing in the background, and Angela watches the screen attentively as a young man takes his turn in line and approaches Hana. He stammers the second he starts talking, laughing nervously and wiping a bead of sweat off of his forehead after handing Hana a wrapped present. She accepts it gratefully, all while shaking his hand and thanking him.

One by one, Hana patiently caters to the enthusiastic crowd of fans as though it might as well be the most natural thing in the world for her to do.

"Here you go. Love, !" Hana winks at an older girl – older, Angela assumes, based solely on appearances – after handing her back the signed poster and the girl blushes a bright red when Hana gets up and pulls her in just a little closer for a picture. Angela purses her lips, an awkward feeling of discomfort rising in her stomach.

She can't help but notice the appreciative looks Hana is getting from both men and women alike and quite frankly, and Angela is firmly convinced they are not only and simply star-struck by Hana, no. They are clearly ogling her. That is over-the-top inappropriate behavior.

Why is such inappropriate behavior allowed on live television?

Angela hardens her grip on the steaming cup of coffee between her hands and tries to maintain her composure.

She reckons, from an objective point of view, that it's a perfectly normal reaction to want to stare. She said it so herself, after all. Hana is a very attractive young woman. And it's in the way she sits there and beams at them, smiling with her whole self. It's in the way she tucks her hair behind her ear when she leans over the table or poses for a picture and, well, admittedly, Angela cannot fully blame those people. It's impossible not to stare.

And yet, still… the fact that they do, it continues to bother Angela. For reasons unknown.

"Let's all keep doing our best!" Hana does an air fist pump with her left hand and shouts, "Fighting!"

Her energetic words resonate with the fired up audience.

It instantly reminds Angela of the sticky note Hana had left in her lab, stuck to the glass of the jellyfish aquarium. It has the same encouraging word on it – Fighting! – next to a cute bunny drawing. Their little exchange from the day before drifts through Angela's mind and it doesn't cease to bring a smile on her face. She vividly recalls Hana telling her, "It's a Korean thing. Basically, it's like saying: fight on, do your best and don't give up! Know what I mean?" And Angela thinks that perhaps it can be considered the Korean, more passionate, "keep calm and carry on".

The autograph session seems to have ended at last, with Hana now being escorted by bodyguards towards the exit. She waves to the crowd with both hands and for the briefest of seconds she winces. Or at the very least Angela thinks she does – the expression on Hana's face is gone so quickly that Angela might as well have only imagined it. Did she simply imagine it?

Hana keeps on smiling as the camera zooms out on her, but Angela can't quite rid herself of the nagging worry that begins to gnaw at her insides.

She slides her fingers across the tangible user interface incorporated into the transparent desk and asks, "Assistant Kang?"

The response is immediate, with the woman on the other end of the line enquiring, in a perfectly polite tone, "Is there anything I can do for you, Doctor Ziegler?"

"Would you please tell Miss Song to come see me as soon as she gets back? I'll be in the laboratory."

"Yes, of course. Do you have any other requests, Doctor Ziegler?"

"No, that would be all. Thank you." Angela sits back in her chair, takes a sip of her coffee and waits.

She barely notices the coffee had long grown cold, not to mention that she is unable to properly concentrate on her work which is painfully obvious, seeing how she retyped the same sentence incorrectly for the third time now. She sighs, drumming her fingers against the desk. She has no idea what could be keeping Hana so long. Then again, Hana could be doing a hundred things of which Angela is not entitled to know about, of course. That is true. Still, Angela worries.

And as if that peculiar seed of worry weren't enough on its own, her thoughts seem to insist on making the wait significantly more aggravating as they won't stop gravitating around silly little scenarios of Hana spending time alone with one of her "star-struck" fans.

She sighs, again. Of course no such thing is happening. Mein Gott, what is with all these nonsensical thoughts?

She hears the mechanical sound at the door which signals a request for permission to enter and she grants it straight away.

Hana steps inside as soon as the door slides open. "Doctor? I was told you wanted to see me—"

"Hana." Angela jolts out of her seat and rushes to the girl's side, carefully regarding her from head to toe for a beat or two. "Let me see your right hand," she requests, genuine concern dripping from her tone. Hana hesitates at first but eventually obliges. She winces in pain when Angela takes her hand and it's just as she's suspected. "You have a dislocated finger," Angela states it like an observation. "Take a seat."

Hana does as she's told, shifting in the chair as if she's preparing herself for a scolding.

"Well, are you going to kiss it better or what?" Hana chirps, without a shred of embarrassment, but Angela shuts her attempt at being light-hearted with a serious reply, "You should've seeked medical care immediately." She wrenches open a cabinet and takes out her Caduceus Staff, putting it together, with Hana silently watching each and every one of her movements.

"I was just about to go to the infirmary, I swear," Hana tries to tell her. "But I had to go through that Q&A session and—"

Angela gives her an incredulous look. "That is no excuse," she says, sharply. She doesn't mean to raise her voice but she does, just barely, and it comes out far more accusatory than she'd originally intended. She sighs, softly, and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Delaying a visit to the doctor for a finger dislocation can make final treatment more difficult and it can even lead to permanent disability," she informs Hana in a clipped tone.

The girl lets out a sigh and goes quiet as Angela heals her hand up.

Does this happen often? Angela wants to ask. Because she can't help but wonder. Does Hana often conceal her pain and injuries in front of the cameras? Does she always delay paying the infirmary a visit to get treatment done? Fortunately, it's within the scope of Angela's ability to heal her injury in no time now but what happens when she won't be here anymore? What happens then?

Hana, you can't treat it all like a game, Angela means to tell her but bites her lip instead.

A stilted silence passes between them until Hana speaks up. "I know what you're thinking," she says. "You think I'm being reckless or stubborn or whatever. And I am, but it's more than that." Hana pinches her lips together and looks sideways, fingers tapping repeatedly on the edge of her knees. "I'm different from the other MEKA pilots because I'm more than just that. And being all that I am, being a public figure, being means that there's a certain image I have to maintain. When those people out there look my way, I am more than just me. I have to be strong for them and more than that, I have to be a distraction too." Her breath catches for a moment, stuck on those last words like she'd like to rephrase her sentence, but she doesn't.

Angela doesn't press her. She sets the Caduceus Staff aside and watches Hana flex her arm.

Hana sighs and slumps her shoulders. "I don't know if you get what I'm trying to say, doctor, but it's like this. If they ask me, 'Song-Hana, how are you feeling today? Is everything okay? Weren't you scared?' Am I scared?" Hana pauses for a moment, staring at her hand; she seems unable to decide whether to go on or not but she continues, "Of course I'm scared. I have no idea how things will turn out for us in the long run."

Hana keeps her eyes downcast as she goes on, "But that's not what they need to hear. Not from me and not when they also live in fear, counting on me to give them hope and make things at least seem better and brighter than they really are, you know? So I clench my fists at my sides, and it hurts as hell, but I smile and I tell them, 'It's a piece of cake! I am number one, after all!' So yeah, my smile may be a beautiful lie at times, and my words may one day turn into empty promises, who knows, everything is so uncertain…"

Her words fade away in a sordid silence for a moment, and she looks tired; the kind of tired that sleep can't fix. "But people believe what they can see, don't they? So I'll play the game and be whatever they need me to be."

And it's in moments like this, Angela notices, when Hana appears to be far ahead of her age, beyond her years, and Angela feels a great deal of sympathy for the way Hana always seems to be carrying her burdens so lightly in spite of everything. That thought comes with a pang of guilt too – a sudden necessity to atone – for underestimating the girl's ability to recognize the gravity of things.

"Hana…" Angela catches herself murmur, at a loss of words.

"It's… not that big of a deal, really. It's just how things have to be in my life for now," Hana says it like it's a deeply ingrained fact; something she's already grown used to and there's no room for her to complain. Angela senses no regrets in Hana's words but a firm acceptance, bravery at its core, and Angela can only regard that with tender admiration. "I'm sorry, doctor, I didn't mean to worry or upset you," Hana utters, apologetically, rubbing the heel of her hands into her eyes, with a look more vulnerable than Angela has ever seen her.

"You don't have to apologize, Hana," Angela tells her, resting a hand on the girl's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I understand now." And she does. She does understand where Hana is coming from, her motive, the point she's trying to make. And while Angela can't say she fully approves of such recklessness and the consequences it can breed in time… she is capable of keeping things into perspective, and she understands.

It's often that she asks herself, must violence always be the solution? But in this world there is no absolute good or absolute evil, and Angela knows that much. Sometimes one has to slip in-between the black and white even when fighting for the right cause.

Sometimes compromises need to be made. Sometimes little white lies need to be told.

And truthfully, Angela might have over reacted. After all, she knew she could treat Hana's injury in the blink of an eye. There was hardly any need for her to make such a big fuss out of it. But the incessant, bottled-up worry mixed with… other concerns… got the worst out of her, apparently.

"However," Angela trails off, letting her hand slide down from Hana's shoulder to her forearm, rubbing soothing circles with her thumb on the inside of the girl's wrist. "I would like for you to be more careful and think about yourself more. Just you and your well-being."

Hana keeps her gaze down, as though she can't quite work up the nerve to look Angela in the eye just yet so Angela brings her hand to gently lift the girl's chin up, trying to catch a glimpse of her face. "It would mean a lot to me if you could do that because I—" She falters for a second or two, stroking Hana's chin with her thumb, without thinking twice on the gesture, and the moment Hana finally glances up at her, eyes glistening with unshed tears, waiting, expecting… a bloom of warmth ignites in Angela's chest and it shakes her to the very core.

She breathes in and takes half a moment before she lets the rest of it out, "I care about you, Hana."

The words roll off of her tongue and over her lips, earnest and heartfelt, resonant with meaning; lingering in the air between them, as though they could mean more but for now, they ought to be enough.

Hana stays unusually quiet and Angela worries she might have overstepped some sort of boundary there.

"I bet I have a stupid look on my face right now, don't I?" Hana sniffs in, wipes her eyes, and lets out an airy laugh – it's unexpected but it relieves the tension. "I can't promise you anything, doctor, but I'll try," she says, resolutely, lips revealing a crooked little smile that just pulls at Angela's heartstrings at once. "Though I can at the very least assure you that I'm usually way more careful and not that clumsy, but today… well, you could tell, couldn't you?" Hana sighs and gives a little shrug. "Things didn't go so well." She slaps her thighs and stands up.

Angela can't help but ask, "What happened exactly? During the simulation?"

Hana frowns. "I got distracted when one of the newbies freaked out halfway through and did something… something that we are strictly forbidden to do right now," she tells Angela, hesitantly and cautious, almost in a whisper, "It's got to do with the adrenaline serum, doctor. That's why you were brought here, right?" Hana recounts the title of the project from the top of her head: C9H13NO3. "They want you to make it better, don't they? More efficient and safer to use."

Angela nods. There's no need to deny it, confidential or not, she can be open and honest with Hana.

The project itself is kept under wraps in fear of causing unnecessary commotion among people, that's what she's been told. It does sound reasonable and she understands now why they avoided addressing that particular issue during the Q&A. Granted that Angela succeeds in polishing it, the serum can be an asset to the MEKA pilots. Quicker reflexes, heightened senses, pain reduction, an overall improved performance – a perfect last resort. But the way it is now… it's too dangerous to use. Damaging to the health of the host, both physically and mentally.

"I really hope you can fix it, doctor," Hana utters. "Because I've seen what happens when it doesn't work. Not just today."

Her words are tinged with an undertone of sadness and Angela feels hesitant in asking this, but she can't quench the urge to know.

"Hana. Have you ever…?"

"No. And I don't plan to," Hana smirks and gives Angela a wink, "No hacks required!" And there it is. That dauntless look in her eyes, that vital flame – the sizzling desire to strive and never give up – still burning as brightly as ever. It makes Angela's heart swell up with affection.

"I was reminded of something just now," Angela says, humming to herself.

Hana tilts her head to the side, brows furrowed and Angela catches the unspoken question on the girl's face.

"Of the day I first saw you..." Angela smiles fondly, reminiscing. "It was the day your military induction ceremony was broadcasted live on TV."

"You watched my induction ceremony?" Hana asks, with a hint of amusement, as though it's a difficult thing to believe in.

"I did," Angela tells her. "Well, it was a montage that included footage from said ceremony, to be more precise. And it was purely by chance, in fact, that the news headline had caught my eye then. A new generation of heroes, a new hope, it said." She closes her eyes for a moment, seeking the details of that memory. "You were wearing a military uniform with a beret and your hair tied up in a bun, keeping an upright posture, and you looked…" Pretty. And brave. Fierce. And young, still so young… Angela thinks and something inside of her twists and pulls painfully.

And yet… the way Hana stood so tall among veterans, above it all… "You looked ready."

"Ready?" Hana snickers. "Ready for what?"

"For everything, I suppose," Angela chuckles. "Ready to leave your mark on the world and prove your worth."

"Sir, yes, sir!" Hana quips and straightens up her posture in a military salute. "Dan-Gyeol!"

"Ah, yes," Angela smiles. "I remember that, too. What does it stand for?"

"Power of unity," Hana grins and Angela finds it harder and harder, with each passing day, to take her eyes off this girl.

It's not that Angela would like to completely monopolize all of Hana's free time but she certainly wouldn't mind having more of the girl's presence all to herself, were it possible…

Hana seems about to say something else when her holo-watch starts blinking, insistently. "Oh, oh. Call of duty," she says. "I have to get going now." She takes a few hesitant steps towards the door then turns back to face Angela once more, both of them lingering on the threshold, at a standstill. "Thanks for using your magic on me, doc."

"I'll send you my consultation fee," Angela jests, with a good-natured laughter under the surface of her voice, and Hana snorts, with a disbelieving shake of the head, out the door and then she's gone.

*I'll just add the names of the DDR songs here because apparently ff dot net can't into hyperlinks

1. TAG underground – POSSESSION

2. SySF. feat. Anna – Look to the Sky

And in case anyone needs some visual aid to imagine what a no-bar double expert DDR challenge looks like, here you go: (youtube)/watch?v=kWI9E4_clJc