“Why…” Gary stuttered out, but didn’t manage to continue his question.

“I don’t know…” Jihyo replied, genuinely confused as well. “I am as new to this as you are.”

Gary frowned as he tried to rub off the orange colour on his red pendant, but it doesn’t seem to work. Jihyo tapped him lightly on his arm. “It’s okay, maybe we can ask the next person. There would be someone who will know,” she said, reverting back to her optimistic mode. He nodded and continued their journey.

“Hey,” Jihyo suddenly asked. “Do you want me to call you Hee Gun, or Gary?”

Gary shook his head. “Up to you,” he said. It suddenly occurred to him that he never asked for her name. So he asked. “I don't know your name yet. What’s your name?”

“Jihyo,” she said. “Song Ji Hyo. I’ll call you Gary oppa, then.”

“Okay... Up to you.”

“It’s this village,” Jihyo said, as they stepped into the next village.

Gary nodded. “Do you feel the tugging sensation?” he asked.

Jihyo held up her pendant and looked at it closely. “No, it’s not even glowing yet. Maybe we’re not close enough.”

“Let’s just ask around, then,” Gary suggested.

They went to the nearest shop and asked. “Do you know who is Lee Kwang Soo?” Gary asked.

The shop keeper shook her head, although the name seems to ring a bell. As they were about to leave, a man from inside called out, “Ah, do you mean that tall boy?”

Jihyo and Gary exchanged glances. They didn’t know if he was tall.

The man walked out and turned to the lady, “You know that trouble maker? He and his gang?”

The lady nodded. “Ah yes, yes! I think his name is Kwang Soo. His aunt used to chase him down the streets with her feather duster and screaming his name. That boy never listens,” she complained.

“Do you know where can we find him?” Jihyo asked, excited. This was easier than she thought. Gary on the other hand, was worried. How likely was it for a troublemaker to be willing to save the world? He sighed.

The lady scoffed. “He and his gang are always running about extorting money from the shop keepers, if you hang around you'd be able to find him.”

Jihyo frowned. “Why don’t the police here do something?”

It was the man’s turn to scoff. “They aren’t even afraid of the police! Their petty crimes is only sufficient to throw them into jail, which they don’t even seem to mind.”

The shop keeper next door joined in the conversation excitedly. “That little orphan.. you can't blame him. He only has his aunt, maybe that explains why he is so horrid.”

“Do you know where his aunt stays?” Jihyo asked.

“He doesn’t even go home,” the other man from the first shop said. “Why do you want to know so much about him, anyway?” he suddenly asked.

“Oh, we want to ask him…” Jihyo started, wanting to explain about fighting the Dark Side, but Gary cut her off, as usual.

“We work for the court. We’ve heard many complains about this child so we’re here to verify. If things go well, we can come up with a suitable punishment for him,” he lied.

“Oh finally!” that man exclaimed in delight, forgetting all his suspicions. He gladly provided the directions to Kwang Soo’s aunt’s house.

When they were out of earshot from the shopkeepers, Jihyo asked him, “Why did you lie!”

Gary frowned. “You’ve lived away from civilisation to understand how sceptical people are, Jihyo.”

“Martial Arts House is not ‘away from civilisation’,” she said, slightly offended.

“People there have nothing to worry about. You are all well taken care of… which is the reason why you are so unrealistically optimistic. People here are not just concerned about saving the world and making the world a better place, you know? They have many other things to worry about. If we told them the truth, they would just scoff at us for being ridiculous and we won’t get the answer we want.”

Jihyo remained silent, not knowing how to answer back. She knew he was right, but his tone was as if he was belittling her and it made her slightly annoyed.

Their little argument was disrupted by sniggers across the street. They looked across and saw a group of teenagers taunting a stall holder for money. Their leader was obvious- the tallest guy with messy hair. Kwang Soo.

“Yah!” Jihyo called out, running over to stop them. Gary sighed and followed close behind.

“Stop,” she yelled, standing right in front of their victim.

“Get lost,” Kwang Soo said, with an evil glint in his eyes.

“No, you get lost,” Jihyo calmly told him, obviously unafraid.

Another teenager, one of Kwang Soo’s gang mates, walked up to her. “We don’t usually beat up ladies, but maybe you’d be the first,” he taunted.

Jihyo ignored them and turned to Kwang Soo. “You, come with me,” she said, grabbing his wrist.

Kwang Soo rolled his eyes. “Did my aunt send you for me?”

“No. But we need you to come with us,” Jihyo said. Kwang Soo tried to wriggle free out of her grasp. Her grip tightened instead. Kwang Soo’s free hand reached out to punch her, but Gary stopped it. Another of his friends came up to fight Gary, but he swiftly darted out of his way. Gary forced Jihyo to release Kwang Soo and she looked at him in shock, unable to hide the her looks of feeling betrayed. 

“If you want to fight, we fight fair and square,” Gary said, getting ready his stance. Five teenagers vs two skilled adults. They could win.

The boys were angered. They grabbed their weapons and got ready to fight. Gary ushered Jihyo behind him. Jihyo knew he wanted to keep her safe, but she felt annoyed. She was skilled too, and she was capable of protecting herself. She didn’t like it that Gary always treat her like a child.

“I can defend myself, oppa,” she said to him, sounding a little annoyed.

“I know you’re from the Martial Arts House and you’re well versed in martial arts, but they have weapons,” he said a little loudly.

That triggered off whisperings in the boys. They staggered backwords a little, and one of them managed to stammer out, “You… you are really from there? Martial Arts House?”

Jihyo nodded. She took out her badge from the House. The boys’ eyes rounded in awe and fear.

“I’m not here to fight, I’m here to look for Kwang Soo,” she began, but boys already stopped listening and ran away, leaving only Kwang Soo behind.

“Yah!” Kwang Soo growled and turned to run, but Gary grabbed him.

“Let’s talk, kid,” he smirked.

Kwang Soo tried to fight back. He was strong, but he couldn’t over power Gary. Gary held him while Jihyo spoke. She explained to him about Mukk and his Dream snatc