It was a windy night at the little town just on the outskirts of Seoul. Dark clouds hung over the deserted place which is usually busy even at this hour of the night. The entire area seemed to be gobbled up by the darkness. The sudden drizzle made it seem like a scene straight out of a horror movie, waiting for the rain to start pouring down. Not even the peaceful light of the moon was to be seen.

A little further away from the town was a container yard hiding in the night's darkness. Containers, large and small, lay haphazard the gigantic field making it seem almost like a labyrinth. The drizzle had made the ground muddy.

Through the confusing wet dark paths of the giant container-yard-labyrithn was a man running so fast, almost unseen.

He looked tall, was with a limping foot and a very pale face. His hair was drenched by the drizzle, almost as if he's been running for sometime now. Drops of water mixed with sweat trickled down his back. His panting getting louder by the minute, sounding out of breath.

Something seemed wrong; out of place. He was constantly looking back as if someone was following him, hunting him. He occasionally grabbed his head so tightly, gritting his teeth. He was feeling something piercing his brain from within his head.

Indeed someone was following him; his hunter. And indeed something was hurting him so severely that he was wishing that he'd be dead rather than suffer like that.

He suddenly stopped on his heels.
"Arghhhh...", he let out a scream and immediately covered his mouth so sure that his hunter heard him.

He paused for maybe a millisecond and immediately continued running. He didn't seem to want to give up.

As much as he had the will to escape from his hunter, his legs suddenly gave in making him fall on to the ground. A sharp pain in his brain made him crouch down pulling his head towards his knees.

"Stop! Just stop! Please...," he begged. "...No! Don't! Don't let it take over...", he whispered to himself letting his eyes shut tight and feel the tears of pain run down his cheeks.

He could feel that he was loosing control; he was loosing control over his body, over his mind.

The memory of how the hunters' pack dragged him inside the blue room and tide him on to a metal chair while he yelled, started playing in his mind. The way one punch from one of the masked hunters made him taste blood and blackout, made him shake in anger, followed by disappointment for when he woke back up it was too late. They had already poisoned him. The poison was running all over his body. He remembered how it started stinging his brain; just like how it was making him weak now. But this was over two hours ago and he has been on the run since then.

"...no..no no..", he kept chanting, sfotly this time, "...think..think of a way...heal."

He opened his eyes as he uttered the last word. He slowly sat on the ground crossing his feet as if he realized something he should have thought ages ago. Yet he narrowed his eyes doubting whether it will work.

The word 'heal' meant the world to him, for he was a healer. He healed everyone and everything around him. He was one of the creatures with pure energy flowing through his body. However, it was only a handful of healers who could heal themselves.

Calm yourself...meditate...for when you are calm is when you can focus your energy and explore your gifts..

The voice of his mentor who trained him back when he was in his own world, echoed through his mind. Taking the words to heart, he closed his eyes breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth.

He stayed there for sometime, not paying attention to the poison that was taking over his brain. He listened to the rain drops falling onto the ground all around him. It was like the rain was singing him a song; a beautiful song. His mind traveled back to the days of his childhood when he first discovered that he was a healer like his father. He remembered how his father eagerly taught him how to use his powers, how he ended up deciding to join the training program and ended up working as an assistant for his mentor. Those were lovely memories.

With the sudden realization that he couldn't feel the throbbing anymore he fluttered his eyes open looking much better with a very satisfied look. It seemed like he had done it. He had stopped the poison from attacking his brain. However, it didn't seem like he was rejoicing, rather he was more aware that the poison was still in his body, running through his veins, and he didn't want it to start taking over him again.

Suddenly, a shuffle just across the isle made him alert. His heart started beating faster realizing that he had forgotten about his hunter. He feared that if he were to get caught for the second time he'd never be able to escape again.

He heard light footsteps in front of him, but did not see anyone. He didn't dare move and waited there seated on the ground.

He listened to the footsteps halt and watched a ball of light appear.

It was a floating sphere of light energy, and following it was a man dressed in black looking terrified as ever.

"Baekhyun!", the one who was seated immediately sprung up startling the other.

"Lay hyung!!", Baekhyun, a rather small figure, drenched from head to toe, cried out realizing the other was not the threat he was hoping not to run into.

Lay sighed in relief seeing that it was someone who was very dear to him. Both were ready to run and embrace each other, but suddenly a grim look took over their faces. Both stood about a good five feet apart and stared at each other not knowing what to do.

"You are not Lay hyung", Baekhyun broke the short silence.

"I'm not entirely sure whether you are the Baekhyun I know of either", Lay retorted.

"I saw them take you away. I saw them take you, to poison you..."

"You were next in line after me and chances are they poisoned you too.. I mean you couldn't have escaped from them anyway."

Baekhyun froze for a bit, slightly offended by Lay's comment, and then let out a frustrated sigh, "Seriously? You don't believe that I could have escaped them? I did in fact escape from them without anyones help! I'm Byun Baek Hyun for crying out loud! I'm perfectly capable of saving myself!..."

Lay watched Baekhyun ramble on about how he did in fact escape on his own. Baekhyun's annoyed voice with the usual snorts and gestures made Lay smirk while listening to him. Lay was more than sure it was the silly Baekhyun he knew of without a doubt right away seeing the way he spoke.

"So you escaped before they took you to the blue room?" Lay interrupted Baekhyun making him fall silent.

"I heard that you broke out of the place. I didn't believe it at first. Thought it was a trick the guards were pulling on me. But then again I sneaked out of where I was while the guards were busy chit chatting about it...Did...did they really get you? Did they poison you?" Baekhyun asked earnestly.

Lay could see that Baekhyun was scared and confused but he didn't want to hide anything from him.

"Yes, they did."

Lay's words made Baekhyun take a step back. He shook his head to Lay's answer and mumbled.

"No...I've seen the ones who have gotten poisoned. You won't be standing still like this if they've injected you just two hours ago. You should be running off like a mad man, trying to kill yourself... Why aren't you doing that?..."

"I don't know. But I think I've healed myself..at least for now," Lay whispered.

Baekhyun fell silent. He watched Lay carefully for a few minutes.

"I know. It's hard to believe. No healer can do that unless they go through years of training..." Lay broke the silence deciding to talk it through with Baekhyun, for he thought Baekhyun was still doubting him.

"No, hyung...", Baekhyun spoke with a smile crossing his face, "... I believe you. I've known you for so long. If any healer were to heal himself that would be you. But wait...this means we have a cure. We can save them all!"

Lay gave a nod, glad to hear those words from his friend, his brother.

A flash of lightning followed by a loud crack of thunder interrupt the two. In a matter of seconds, both of them were caught up listening attentively to their surrounding. There was no sound except for the rain hitting the earth. However, they seemed to have sensed something. They seemed to have sensed something very dangerous.

"The hunters..." Lay whispered listening to nothing but silence.

With just one exchange of looks, Baekhyun put out the light sphere that was floating in air next to him, and both of them were back on the run again in complete darkness, but this time together.

The night was awfully long to the two companions who were running for their lives.

They weren't the only ones who were wishing the night would pass through quickly.

A young girl looked out the window of her room to see the colorful city lights of Seoul which were quite a distance away from where she lived. She was holding a book and seemed to have been working on some of her homework awhile ago.

"Seulgi, why haven't you finished your dinner?" her mother barged into her room questioning her.

She stayed unfaced not even bothering to give a reaction to her mother.

"Seulgi, I asked you a question!," her mother said strongly.

The girl stayed silent focusing on how the wind from outside danced with her straight black locks.

Her mother took in a deep breath and asked a bit softly again, "Is everything okay? Did anything happen between you and your friends?"

"How many times do I have to tell you this? I have no friends," the girl finally answered sternly.

"Then try making some. This is your last year at school. I know you have no plans in going to college so might as well start socializing because you cannot be hiding forever," her mother let out a shout, frustrated at her daughter.

"Stop pretending as if you care. Why don't you go and continue crying over that man who left you when I was not even born. It's true that I don't have friends but I'll survive somehow. Just go away!"

Seulgi's final shout made her mother stop interrogating her. Seulgi knew how to get rid of her mother from bothering her. Just bring up her unknown father and her mother would wither away to her corner. 

The silence of the night took over as her mother left her to continue staring out the window.

Although spat out those harsh words before she felt sorry for dismissing her mother like that. Her mother was right and Seulgi's heart was longing to experience the bond of friendship. Seulgi was a lonely creature just like her mother. Both the mother and the daughter, although not the best at conversing with each other, were lonely together.

***

"So cold...," Seulgi pushed her hands into her pockets while observing the misty air leave early in the morning.
 

The sun was barely out and here she was delivering milk to half of her neighborhood. This was her only part time job that actually lasted for over nine months. The other jobs she went to would either make her quit or fire her because of her cold attitude and hostility towards the customers.
 

She gently pulled the small cart, that had only two more milk cartons left in it to