The heavy footsteps of the young lady dragging her suitcase after picking up her rather extra large luggage from the airport went unheard because of the numerous passengers running around, going through security checks and what not.

Song Qian finally squeezed out of the crowd that was packing in front of the gates and came outside of the airport to finally breathe in fresh air.

"No, mama. I have something important to do, that's why I came back. Of course! I will go back to China after I'm done. Don't worry!"

Song Qian, who left the country a few days back, found herself coming back in a hurry. She couldn't take it no more and she just wanted to come down the instant she saw the horrifying news.

After she was done explaining to her mother her false reason as to why she left her grandmother's to fly back to Korea, she found a taxi and got onto it hurriedly asking the driver to take her to her place.

She didn't even spare a moment, after telling the address to the taxi driver, to pull out her phone once more and look closely at the article that had mentioned about a burnt down house and it having no victims whatsoever.

The title of the article read ' Creepy house sets itself on fire'. This didn't scare Song Qian in the sense of some paranormal activity going on. She very well knew it wasn't a creepy house, but because she knew who lived there, and the photographs of the house with half of it burned to ashes, she began to worry wondering whether any of the ones she knew were even able to survive this tragedy. The very first time she saw this article she knew she just had to go back and look for them. Although, she may not be of that much help, she wanted to do everything in her power to help find them with the belief they somehow managed to escape in one piece.

It took a while for her to go back home. As soon as she got back, she threw her suitcase into her quite expensive yet charming house, and got to her car that was parked at the side of the road. 

She strapped up the seat belt and quickly pulled the car into the road dialing up the one number she was having that had any connection to the residents of the burned down house. 

"Pick up, Yixing!" Song Qian blurted out having her eyes on the road.

She was worried. The last time she saw Lay was when he came to help her in cleaning up her animal clinic. She never imagined she'd be back so soon. All along she could only see that smiling face of his waving her goodbye as he left her that night after she locked up her clinic.

Song Qian did have a hunch as to where he could be. The whole thing came to them unexpectedly. And remembering how, once sometime ago, Lay sent some of the others to her clinic when he wasn't around, she wondered whether he ever crashed into her clinic. On the other hand, Song Qian knew that Lay and the others were planning on leaving the house, although Lay never told her anything about it. So, she wondered if they did leave to where ever they were planning to go to. But she just couldn't come to even fathom whether they ever escaped in the first place.

Having her guesses at the back of her head, the first place Song Qian wanted to go to despite that place having no one of the ones she was looking for was Xiumin's wrecked house.

She drove up to the high way and sped up to go to Seulgi's old hometown.

It was maybe late afternoon when she drove up to the familiar lane. She had to stop halfway seeing quite a bit of a crowd down that area.

Parking her car at a side, she got off to pull up her hair in a pony tail and make her dress. The deep red heels she was wearing strut down the lane till she saw that the crowd on the lane were all reporters from various places and a few site seers who may have come to see the mysterious house. She squeezed through some of the people and got herself to the front.

Seeing the horrible sight of half of the house burnt down and having the other half being investigated by people who were walking inside wearing blue plastic overalls, she knit her brows. Song Qian at once stepped forward wanting to jump over the yellow police tapes. But a security guard put out his hand and stopped her saying that she wasn't allowed to enter.

"Shame. Would you want to cross the police tapes and run in with me? I was looking for an accomplice."

The sudden voice slightly startled Song Qian. She turned to look at a tall figure, with his hands plunged into the pockets of his dark trench coat, standing next to her. She smirked.

"I'm not a reporter."

"Oh! Really? Me neither. So, why are you here then?" the deep voice of the stranger asked her once more.

"Just came to see what all this hoo-ha is about. Nothing interesting here," Song Qian felt herself stutter but she kept a straight face.

"Hmm...So, you must be living around here then. But your attire is definitely not from around here so I presume that you had all the time in the world to make a trip down here...all the way from the city, that is."

Song Qian smirked listening to him but only grew suspicious of the person for he was getting way too detailed.

"You must be a reporter," Song Qian turned around the subject.

He only chuckled to reply, "No no, just a part of the audience...like you."

Song Qian nodded to look ahead at the house once more. However, he let out his hand and suddenly introduced himself,

"Huang Zitao."

But Song Qian only looked at his hand to simply look up at him and smile before she spoke saying,

"I'm sorry I have to leave. Nice meeting you."

She immediately squeezed back out of the crowd that was hovering by the area. Song Qian kept her head straight and walked straight up to her car without taking a look back despite her mind wanting to turn back to see whether that stranger was still having his eyes on her. 

Song Qian got to her car and turned around to unlock the door. She opened the door and suddenly saw that stranger still looking at her from the place she previously talked to him. She acted as of she didn't see him and got in to the car.

She immediately drove off and away from the place. 

It wasn't after a couple of minutes did Song Qian finally breathe in. Her heart was beating fast and her mind was going mental. She was wondering why he was slightly familiar before. And just as he introduced himself it hit her that she had seen his face from one of Lay's photographs. The name then gave her another blow. She remembered them mentioning the name 'Tao' several times and she had a hunch that it was probably him. But something just made Song Qian believe that he wasn't the innocent person she's heard he was. She felt danger just looking into his eyes.

 And that was probably why she decided to drive back to her parents' house and not her clinic she was planning on visiting next. Song Qian wanted to be cautious, so she decided not to go with her previous plan just incase he follows her there and something even more unexpected happens.

***

Seulgi took in a deep breadth trying to calm the fire that was igniting within herself. She walked up the stairs and turned to the door that she's been planning on visiting since the morning.

"Just give it to her and leave. Who knows, maybe eomonim might be home and I can tell her to give it to her good-for-nothing daughter. That right!"

Seulgi curled her fingers and knocked on the door. There was no answer. Seulgi knocked again....and again. 

"There's a door bell, you know."

A voice sound out making Seulgi jump. But recognizing that voice, the fire she put out a few seconds ago, started flaming up again.

"What do you want?" Wendy's voice asked once more.

Seulgi looked up at the closed door and held up a tiny opaque bag next to her face.

"Is that a bomb?" Wendy asked again making Seulgi clench her fist.

"Open the door and take it! Or else, I'm just going to throw it into the bins on my way home."

"Fine. Throw it away."

"Fine!"

Seulgi turned around to go but the door immediately flung open revealing Wendy, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. Seulgi smirked and turned back around to look at Wendy.

"What is it?"

Seulgi only held the bag up at Wendy. She wanted desperately to blurted out the harsh words that were running through her mind but Seulgi just knew it wasn't the right time. After all, she wanted to just deliver the bag and go away as soon as possible. So, she just waited without a word till Wendy grabbed the bag from Seulgi's hand.

"Oh! My phone..." Wendy smiled looking into the bag.

Seulgi turned around immediately and was about to go away and disappear, but Wendy's next words made her halt.

"What's this? Bribing me to keep my mouth shut?"

Seulgi turned around once more to see Wendy holding up an envelope and wearing a disgusted smile across her face. 

"Bribing?"

"Yeah, to keep quiet about your new friends' secrets. You remember?"

Seulgi suddenly smirked sort of surprising Wendy of Seulgi's unseen guts. 

"I'm pretty sure it was the money you bargained, just like how you do with everything else. The parcel was given to me to be delivered to you. I'm pretty sure you have an idea of why your phone was with someone else. Stop pretending as if you are all innocent."

"And you are? You are nothing innocent either."

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time to argue with you all day."

"Yeah, you've got secrets to cover up. Don't worry, though, I will keep my mouth sealed. I mean, I still have to wait for my boss to give me the cue to bring in the info about the mutated humans running around town. After the higher Lords approve it I'll be making my move. Better tell your friends to stay alert, I'll be visiting them in sometime... Oh! And I heard they burned down their house. It's all over on the news. Tsk--"

"You know nothing, Seungwan. Go and have your fortune told by that woman and she'll tell you how messed up your future is going to be."

Seulgi turned around immediately trying not to punch Wendy in the face. The fact that Wendy had plans of her own and was boasting to Seulgi about them, had Seulgi become so mad at who her old best friend had become. Seulgi knew she couldn't change Wendy. Seungwan was already far into her new person.

However, Seulgi halt once more seeing the envelope that Wendy was holding come sliding down next to her feet.

"And take your money with you too. I'll be making loads off of your friends in some weeks to come so don't worry!"

Seulgi listened to Wendy shout out and shut the door with a bang. Seulgi picked up the money and looked around to see the corridor empty once more.

She sighed to whisper to herself, "But it's not my money."

Although, Seulgi was mad at Wendy she was sad about this whole situation. All those years of waiting to meet her only best friend that helped her along those days they played together as children, seemed to have been a waste. Everything turning out to be quite the opposite of everything she had ever imagined was hard to hold in by herself. But she did it nevertheless. Her entire life was full of unexpected things. But the fact that the only face that would flash up on her mind whenever the word 'friend' came up was no longer even wanting to see her, was a very draining and difficult thing to behold.

Seulgi's spirit was down by the time she got back to the road leading to her apartment complex. Her mother had called her saying that she won't be home tonight and to make sure Seulgi locks the bed room door and sleep early (Just simple things followed when there are four males in the house). She walked most lethargically remembering that although the next day was going to be a Saturday, she had to catch up with her studies.

Her phone vibrated and Seulgi took it up to suddenly halt seeing something very unexpected. It even made her freeze for a millisecond making her rethink whether she was dreaming or not.