If you saw the girl with her hair pulled into pigtails walk to school, you’d never suspect she was in a high school gang. Which was exactly the point. When Aemi spotted Yeon, she held back her hello, her hand already half up in the air to wave at her. But she couldn’t.

After Seong Yeon had finally woken up from the eight month coma she’d been in she had lost all of her memories. She didn’t remember Aemi. She didn’t remember FATE. She didn’t remember her friends. The only one she could remember was her brother, and he was the one who had decided it should stay that way. Or at least, that she shouldn’t get involved with FATE and gangs anymore.

Aemi couldn’t say she blamed him. After what FATE had put them through she couldn’t even object when he had said he wanted to leave. When he had said he wanted to keep Yeon safe. That’s what they all wanted. But she hadn’t yet told the others. After everything that happened, they had put their activities on a hold for a while, to give everyone a chance to process everything that had happened.

The new day of the semester would also be the first day they would all gather again. All of them without two vital members, that was. And just that thought wiped the smile of her face.

“What are you so gloomy about, noona?” the sudden voice of Yugyeom behind her startled her.

“You’re awfully jumpy today,” Bambam agreed.

“We’ll talk about it later… With everyone,” the girl said simply.

“You should be happy. Yeon’s finally back! We should all celebrate after school today!” Yugyeom exclaimed excitedly, and Bambam nodded.

Aemi bit her lip, then turned to them with newfound determination. They needed to know now.

“We have to get everyone together now. There’s some important stuff you need to know before school starts.”

She had already pulled her phone out, sending a quick message to the others to meet up by the school gate. Since she already spotted Yeon before, the girl should already be inside and they would not even meet her, before hearing about everything that had happened.

“Where are Yeon and Jinyoung?” Mark commented as the other members had all gathered.

“That’s what I wanted to talk about,” Aemi started. She tried to sound calm, but her brain was going round and round, trying to figure out what the best way of action was.

“Since Yeon’s finally woken up, we should at least wait till she gets here,” Youngjae commented.

“She’s not going to come, is she?” JB asked, surprising Aemi.

“How did you know?”

“She has been awake for a while. But she never contacted me. I doubt she contacted any of us, or has she?”

The other boys shook their heads.

“See? So what the hell is going on?” the frustration was clear in both his voice and his expression. He had hoped he’d be the first she’d call when she awoke. But she hadn’t. In fact he hadn’t heard from her at all.

“She’s finally back… But now she isn’t?” Bambam asked quietly.

“She got out of her coma. But she is no longer the person we know,” Aemi started.

“What the hell does that even mean?”

“It means, JB, that she doesn’t remember who we are. Or what happened to her. Or that she was ever in FATE. She has lost all her memories of the past few years.”

A look of devastation appeared on their faces and Aemi knew exactly how they felt. When Jinyoung had told her these same things before, it was as if her world fell apart. Her best friend gone. And her second-in-command leaving. She hadn’t even gotten to that part yet.

“So, we just have to make her remember us,” Mark commented and suddenly a few smiles could be seen.

“We can do that,” Yugyeom commented.

“How could she ever forget family? There’s no way we’d let that happen,” Jackson agreed.

“We can’t.” The boys stared at their leader in shock.

“Jinyoung and Yeon have officially left FATE. And he asked us to stay away from them. But mostly from her. So she doesn’t have to remember these things. So she won’t ever have to go through this again. So she can be safe.”

He understood, of course he understood, but this was too much. They had always had each other. When Yeon and Jinyoung had lost their mother three years before, the one who kept them together, the one who cried with them, was FATE.

Now it was like nothing mattered anymore. The bond they had was broken, and maybe irreparable.

JB slammed his fist into the wall with a curse.

“! WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN?!”

“JB.” Mark said gently, “It hurts all of us. You're not the only one in pain here. Because we no longer have Jinyoung and Yeon… we need to make our bonds stronger. For their sake.”

“Mark hyung's right.” Yugyeom said softly. “We can't fall apart over it… we have to fight twice as hard for both of them.”

Bambam of course agreed with his younger friend. “Whether they're in FATE or not, they're still a part of our family. We can't give up on them.”

 

---

Yeon yawned and stretched her arms over her head, wincing a little at the stiffness as she followed Jinyoung through the halls.

When she'd woken up from her coma, Jinyoung said her memories would be a little jumbled, she had just nodded, hiding how frustrated she was, that everything but Jinyoung were a blank slate to her. Jinyoung told her she went to this school, and yet she couldn't recognise even one familiar landmark, as if she hadn't been here for two years as Jinyoung had explained.

“Jinyoung.” She sighed, “What class did you say I was in again.” She looked down embarrassed, “I'm sorry I forgot what you told me.” … this was frustrating.

Jinyoung swallowed the lump in his throat and gave a small smile, “You were unconscious for eight months so you need to repeat Junior year again, you'll be in class 1 - B. I talked to the teacher and she said she'd assign someone to help you out.”

This made the girl anxious. She didn't want to be seen as an invalid, to have people pitying her, just because her memories were a little hazy.

Jinyoung acknowledged her discomfort.

“It'll be okay Yeon, I promise.”

He frowned a little, Bambam and Yugyeom were also starting here this year, so they would be first years as well. He didn't know if they'd be in the same class, but it still had him on edge. He knew Aemi had promised she would relay the news to everyone and that she'd ensure no one even uttered the word ‘FATE’ in her presence but he was still worried, and felt guilty. Yugyeom, Bambam and Yeon were like the three musketeers together. They never left each other's sides.

He didn't want their presence to trigger something painful for his sister, but at the same time… he didn't want to leave her alone with no one as her friend.

He sighed, and Yeon looked up creasing her eyebrows, “Jinyoung?”

“It's nothing Yeon, we're here anyway. I'll see you later okay?”

“Yeah, thanks.” She gave a weak smile and entered the classroom.

---

“We should head to class. We have to keep up appearances, no matter how much it hurts,” Aemi said softly, the pain clear in her voice. But she had to be strong, it was her job as a leader. And with her next words, her voice had returned to normal as she spoke to Bambam and Yugyeom.

“If Yeon’s in your class… We can’t let her find out… I promised Jinyoung we wouldn’t get in the way… But she remembers nothing and must be having a tough time. So if she does come to you… As long as you say nothing about FATE everything should be okay.”

“We could still be friends?” Yugyeom whispered softly.

“We’ll take care of her, even if she doesn’t remember us,” Bambam agreed.

“All right, let’s go then!” the two boys seemed to feel a bit better at the prospect of possibly being friends with Yeon again. Maybe they wouldn’t have to miss her after all.

Just as they turned to walk to their classrooms, Aemi noticed someone familiar from the corner of her eyes. Her eyes widened and she turned towards the door. It hadn’t been a trick of her mind. It really was INFINITE’s leader, Sunggyu, coming to their school, wearing their school uniform no less.

“Why is he here…”

It were her soft words that made the others look, and none of them had been prepared for what they saw next. Suddenly, their rivals, their enemies, were walking towards their school. And it wasn’t just Sunggyu, but all of s too.

“What they hell are they doing here?” Jackson exclaimed.

“There’s no ing way they get to walk around in our school after what they done!” JB said, anger clear in his voice. First, they took Yeon away and now they were here to bother them even more?

“We shouldn’t make a scene at school, though…” Aemi commented. As much as she hated those seven guys… they couldn’t blow their covers. No one at school was supposed to know they were in a gang. And she could only hope the same was true for INFINITE. That didn’t mean they would let this happen without a fight. They had come to their turf, and they would pay for that. But not right now. There were more important things to do.

And as if Mark had read her mind, he exclaimed: “Yeon! They must be here for her!”

“We have to warn her,” Jackson added.

“If she doesn’t remember us, I sure hope she also forgot them,” JB muttered.

“We have to let Jinyoung know,” Youngjae said and he haven’t even finished his sentence when JB and Aemi sprinted off, closely followed by the others.

---

 

Jinyoung was about to walk into his classroom when he was almost knocked over by JB, the rest of FATE on his heels. He wasn’t sure what to say to them now. Even now, he still considered them his best friends, he still loved them more than anything. No, that wasn’t true. He loved Yeon more. And that was why he had to do this. Even though it hurt him so much to act like he no longer cared about them.

“What!?” he tried to keep his voice devoid of emotion, but only succeeded partially.

“Where’s Yeon?” JB demanded to know.

“None of your business.”

“If she’s not with you, she’s in class. Bambam, Yugyeom, go! Now!” Aemi ordered. The boys had instantly dashed off, and by now Jinyoung did not look happy.

“You promised.”

“INFINITE is here, Jinyoung. We don’t know why, but they were wearing our school’s uniforms and heading this way. We have to keep Yeon safe,” Aemi said softly.

Jinyoung’s shoulders dropped.

God damn it…. God ing damn it! No matter what they tried to do, they could never escape INFINITE.

He had known that, and yet he had wished… that they would somehow back off after the incident. He had been naive to think so…

“Alright…” He said softly, pain laced in his voice. “Protect her, but for God sake… don't let her remember.” He looked at Aemi, “Protect Yeon”  He his lips, “I can do the rest from behind the scenes.”

Was he really going to do this? Was he going to bring INFINITE to their knees, alone no less…

It was the only way. There was no doubt in his mind that when INFINITE and FATE met in one hallway, and if Yeon was there… it would only be a matter of time before flecks of her memories appeared again. He couldn't let that happen. He'd die before that happened.

“I can't keep my eyes on her all the time while we're here. I can only trust you guys to be my eyes when I am not. She mustn't know Aemi!”

Aemi nodded, she understood, of course she did.

“You can trust us Jinyoung, you know that. Leave everything to us, you can't expect to go through this alone. I and everyone else understand you and Yeon are no longer members of FATE but it doesn't mean our bond and loyalty are broken. We’ll protect her and keep her from remembering the past.”

Oh God, how it hurt her to say those words…

She'd pretty much promised they would keep her oblivious to who she had been before. But at least… some of them could offer support in a different way, even if they couldn’t all. A part of FATE would be her friends, normal friends like everyone else's.

“I need to head to class, I'll text you if there's any problem.”

Jinyoung gave a weak smile, “Thank you Aemi…”

And he meant every word.

---

Once Yeon had entered the classroom, anxiety peaked in her chest making her vision a little blurry and she was breathing hard.

She was standing at the top of a classroom with many eyes staring at her. Sweat crept down her neck and she did her best to take deep breaths.

“Go ahead Seong Yeon,” the teacher said gently. “Give your self introduction.”

Yeon her lips and fisted her hands by her side.

She was just about to speak when she was interrupted by two young boys rushing through the door. They stopped and bowed apologetically.

“Sorry teacher, we didn't mean to be late.” one spoke, bowing again.

The teacher gave an amused smile, the two that had entered, were good students and quite coincidentally were chosen to show the new student around.

“Bambam and I were -” his voice trailed off and he looked up wide eyed at the new student that stood at the top of the classroom.

“Ye -” Bambam began only to be nudged in the ribs by Yugyeom.

“Bambam, Yugyeom, this is Park Seong Yeon ssi, if you remember, she's Park Jinyoung ssi’s sister.” She turned to face the class, “Due to being ill for a while, Seong Yeon has to repeat her first year, so I hope you'll all welcome her. Bambam and Yugyeom, I'd ask you, since you know Jinyoung well, to take care of his sister.”

“Yes teacher.” Bambam answered in a shaky voice. It hurt so much, seeing their closest friend looking at them with a confused expression on her face. She didn't recognise them at all.

“After Seong Yeon finishes her introduction, you will sit next to Bambam and Yugyeom, okay?”

Yeon nodded and gave a polite smile to the two.

“My name is Park Seong Yeon, but everyone calls me Yeon.” She began her voice shaking a bit, “I'm sixteen - no um, I'm s - seventeen years old… Yeah seventeen years old.” She paused, getting a headache from just trying to remember that one simple fact. “I uh… I had my birthday while I was in the hospital.” She trailed off. “I have to repeat first year and I may have forgotten some things, s - so please take care of me. I’ll try not to be a burden” She finished bowing.

She made it seem like she was in control, albeit a little nervous, but in reality she was frustrated, she almost forgot how old she was for God’s sake!

She looked down and made her way to the back of the classroom to where the two boys - Bambam and Yugyeom was it? - were sitting, taking a seat between the two.

Her breathing was still a little laboured but she looked down at the table and took a few deep breaths to calm down, her hands gripping the edge of the desk so hard her knuckles were white.

She felt like crying. A soft nudge broke her thoughts and she looked up to the culprit.

“You’ll be fine,” Bambam whispered.

“We’ll help you out wherever you need,” Yugyeom agreed.

“So don’t worry too much, although I’m sure that’s too much to ask,” the first boy concluded.

Yeon gave a weak smile, “Thank you… I’m sorry, this is probably a bother to you. I annoy myself.” She joked weakly.

Bambam shook his head, “No you’re not, we’ll just take it in baby steps, by the end of the month you’ll be top of the class.”

Yeon gave a soft laugh.

“Okay…” She sighed, and took her hands away from the edge of the desk, resting them in her lap.

“Bambam and Yu - Yugyeom, right?”

The two nodded, “Yeah, think of us as your friends here!” Bambam said brightly, but inside his heart was aching.

Yugyeom said nothing for a moment. It really hurt to see her like this.

“We’re lucky, we have Free Period next” He said finally, “What do you want to do?”

Yeon shrugged, “I dunno.” She mumbled. She was feeling frustrated again.

The doctor had told her after her last check up that she would have sudden unexplainable outbursts as a result of the trauma, he had said he would prescribe medication for it, but she had refused.

Just because she lost her memories, she wasn’t an unstable freak.

Though all she wanted was to remember, something, anything!

She couldn’t give a statement when she was questioned by the police soon after her discharge, she wished she could get the answers.

She hadn’t told Jinyoung yet, but she had sudden flashes every now and then, nothing that made sense, just flashes of colour.

She was so deep in her thoughts that when the bell rang, she jumped, her heart pounding fast.

…

She leaned back in her seat trying to calm her racing heart.

“Yeon?” Yugyeom called cautiously, resting a hand on her arm, “Are you alright?”

She pulled her arm away roughly, “Go away! Who are you anyway, don’t touch me!” She cried, hyperventilating slightly, and leaning as far back from the boys as she possibly could.

“Yeon, what’s the matter?!” Bambam asked trying to keep as calm as possible seeing the trauma the girl was clearly experiencing.

She looked up, with fierce eyes, such fierce eyes that Bambam and Yugyeom were quite taken aback. They looked like the eyes of their ‘Fire’ fierce and penetrating.

“Y - Yeon?”

“I - I need to use the bathroom.”

“Let us take you, you don’t remember the way -”

“I’m going alone.”

“But -”

She sprang from her chair and ran out the door, leaving the boys looking at each other, unsure of what to do.

“We can’t let her go alone,” Bambam argued.

“I know. But she’ll think were stalkers or something. She doesn’t know we’re friends. Were friends.. Whatever.”

“We are her friends. She just doesn’t remember yet. And no matter what she thinks of us… We promised to look after her and keep her safe.”

“You’re right. Let’s go.”

But even though they had decided fairly quickly, Yeon had been quicker, and they could not see her when they had reached the hallway.

“!”

---

After about twenty minutes, Yeon found herself slowly coming down from her episode. She leaned against the wall, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Calm down Yeon, calm down.” She told herself.

Once she’d gained some control over herself she opened her eyes and almost panicked again. She didn’t know where she was. The corridor was unfamiliar to her and no matter where she looked, she couldn’t find one place familiar to her.

“… … where am I? How did I get here?” She was terrified, she’d stupidly left her phone back in the classroom so she couldn’t even contact Jinyoung.

She began to shake uncontrollably, pressing her back to the wall, as she tried to make her stupid brain work. Only succeeding in giving a small scream of frustration and sliding down the wall onto the floor, her hands cupping her ears.

 

“Well, well, well. Look what we have here… a stray little kitten we never drowned.”

Yeon’s head shot up at the voice that had spoken, looking confused.

“Who the hell are you?” She demanded, pretending she wasn’t a little unnerved by the cruel small eyes that were staring down at her as if she were a piece of meat.

The newcomer gave a mocking laugh, and smirked down at her.

“It’s too bad isn’t it, little ‘Fire’ you got in the way, and even when you were on your deathbed, you somehow made it out alive… pity…”

“W - what the hell are you talking about, who are you?!” She was shaking now, her whole body trembling, panic overtaking her, she was finding it difficult to breathe.

Out of the hall to her left another male appeared, shorter, but holding the same sick smirk they guy standing over her wore.

“Aish, really Park Seong Yeon, you’re frustrating me, I hardly think you’ve forgotten the name Kim Sunggyu, right? Because the few who forget that name, usually end up dead…”

What the was going on?!

“I DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE! GO AWAY!” She cried, only for the shorter male who’d approached her, to cover with his hand, before kneeling next to her, his lips close to her ear, where he began to sing a dark little rhyme right in her ear.

“Yeonnie, Yeonnie, painted in red, so unlucky she should be dead,”

Her vision was dimming as panic overtook her senses. She couldn’t fight, she couldn’t breathe, and the two male’s continued to leer down at her. Tears filled her eyes and slid down her cheeks.

“Why are you still alive hm?” The guy who had covered smirked, and she shifted her gaze down to his nametag on his blazer. Nam Woohyun

She gasped as a sudden image flashed through her mind, and one line of speech, from her lips it seemed,

“Well Nam, gotta work out more.”

Nothing else made sense to her, not even the words she herself must have spoken.

As her vision continued to dim, she whispered behind his hand, “Someone… help me please…”

---

BOOM! CHAPTER ONE! How didn you like it? Please do let u know if you liked it ^^ We'll see you next chapter ^^

-BehindtheLense