Once again I'm on the road. The story of my life. Lucky me I'm not in that soon to be crammed SUV in the front. Instead someone else was nice enough to give me a ride in a separate car. Hwanhee. At first I thought I was going to be stuck in silence with Himchan as the driver once more but he made it clear that it won't be happening no time soon. That's when the guy on my left, Hwanhee, decided to be the man of action and said that I could tag along with him. Just when I thought I would see nothing but clouds all day, the sun finally gave way.

Just like the last couple of car rides I was in I stared out the window, watching as the scenery changed second by second. There are a lot more buildings compare to where I lived. People were walking and talking on the sidewalks, enjoying life. For a moment I thought everything would have been alright if I was ignorant to it all. I would be one of those fools outside without a thought or a care to what's hiding right in front of our faces. It makes me wonder if I ever came across an Abnormal and didn't know it.

"So... are we just going to ride in silence the entire drive?", Hwanhee asked, detaching me from my endless stream of thoughts.

"I don't know. I gotten pretty used to not speaking when the driver obviously doesn't want me to speak, except for Grace."

"Not in this car. That's how an accident can occur. I would hate to be bored to death, literally", he chuckled.

"Then don't get stuck in the car with Himchan, the Porcelain Doll of Silence. It was- It was... Wow it was so bad that words can't describe how I felt."

"You don't have to tell me. I think all of us has encountered Himchan in that moment, especially if he's driving. But we should count ourselves lucky. Himchan and Ji Hoon will probably make the entire drive awkward or they could be going at each others throats right now. It can get pretty bad."

"To be honest it's not hard to see that those two clearly dislike one another. Is it bad that I prefer Ji Hoon though?"

"If that is your preference then who am I to tell you otherwise. You haven't known Himchan as long as we did. His personality is something we all got use to now", he sighed out the last word.

"Now? He wasn't always a stuck up jerk ?", I asked completely shocked.

"A stuck up what? I love how you come up with some of the strangest names. To answer your question, no. Himchan use to be the youngest out of the team. He's very talented and he used to joke around all the time. But..."

"There's always a but to every story."

"One day I noticed he was slightly different than what I normally see from him. Then as more days passed he became distant. Now he stays mostly to himself unless there is a mission or Sandara needs him for something."

"I wonder what happen for him to just suddenly change?" I thought it was odd that Himchan would all of a sudden have a different personality. May be something happened that changed him like that.

"Me too. But enough about that, how are you enjoying your new dorm?"

"Tell me the truth. Dara's loaded with cash isn't she. There is no way in hell anyone could afford anything that's on that property unless they had millions and billions of dollars. A moving walkway? Seriously?"

"I can tell you that it took her a lot of years to get to the status she's at today. RISE wasn't always like it was. Actually it was halfway done when I started so all of the new stuff surprised me. I can tell you that there was no such thing as a moving anything. A lot of the buildings you see are design by members and students here. They come up with an idea and run it by Sandara. If she likes it then it's constructed. You haven't seen the rest of Headquarters or the other buildings yet. They're spectacular."

"Well if you ask me that walkway is for the insane, the lazy and of course the rich, like Princess aka your boss."

"I may have heard that she isn't your favorite person, although I don't know the whole story since I came in last to the meeting."

"I'm sure you must have heard rumors floating around about me. Grace said I'm popular amongst whoever the executive members, in a bad way I will add."

"See rumors are just what they are, rumors. It's hard to root out the real one from the pile of fakes, but I know an easy way for it to get sorted."

"How?"

"Tell me yourself what happen and then I'll come up with my own conclusion about you."

I can't believe this guy. I don't know if he's the normal one out of the bunch or he's truly abnormal. The few conversations I shared with Grace doesn't compare with the one I'm having now. He almost make me think that not all the people at that place are snobs. May be talking to him from time to time won't be so bad, but I will have my guard up. I still need to protect myself in an environment I know nothing of.

I opened mouth to tell him what happened yesterday but a loud voice interrupted the flow of our conversation.

"Do anyone know how to work anything in that car. We had it for a year and people still don't know who to work certain things?", Himchan say to no one particular, or so I believed.

"Sorry Hwanhee! Our overly happy team member Jackson was eager to know how you were back there", Grace said out of thin air.

"Where is her voice coming from?", I asked as I looked to see if there was a speaker near me.

"It's on top. An intercom system was installed in our car when we have missions that requires groups of us. There's a button on my side to allow me to talk to whatever car I want to that is hooked up to the system. Watch. Tell Jackson if it's not important stop pushing the button. I thought Nick was driving?"

"That old drunkard! I wouldn't let him drive a remote control car."

"I am driving and who the hell is an old drunkard shrimp!", I heard Nick snap back.

"He.Heard.Me?", I mouthed back in embarrassment.

Hwanhee laughed which made put my head down to hide the fact that my face was starting to get red. Then I realized that I shouldn't be embarrassed especially when it comes to Pork Chops.

"Push the button", I calmly said to Hwanhee.

"Huh?"

"Just push the button."

"Okay. I.Pushed.It", he mouthed to me.

"Hey Pork Chops", I called out to Nick. "You know I'm talking to you. Are you still salty because your boss found out you might have a drinking problem?"

"Get off the damn intercom!", he barked.

"You have a drinking problem?", asked the one name Jackson. "You know RISE has everything except rehab right?"

I heard a roar of laughter from the intercom which made Hwanhee and I bust out in laughter as well. "I think that was enough embarrassment for one day for poor Nick", Hwanhee said as he took his finger off the button. "I would hate to be him when the mission is over. Did he really drink while driving?"

"Not while we were on the road but once he made a stop in the bathroom."

"He had alcohol in the bathroom?! There are some shadier places to have a drink but the bathroom?"

"I guess he thought why should dirty bathrooms be reserve for drug addicts, killings and ual acts. Now he added drinking as one of them."

"I'm sure Grace scolded him for it. She wouldn't let him be that naive while on a job."

"See, while Nick is just a fat fool, Grace on the other hand..."

"What about her?"

"Do you really want my honest opinion because there are some that turn red from it? Just warning you."

"Say it."

"Grace is naive. I bet there were plenty of times Nick could have gotten fired but somehow Grace covered it up. Oh and I'm letting you know I will say the same thing in front of her if you decide to be a snitch."

"I'm not snitching so don't worry about it. So you're telling me that Grace has been keeping Nick's drinking problems in the dark? How would you know that?"

"I'm not saying that it's just that one topic she may be hiding. For how I can tell I just can. Plus she might have said something to him that alerted me that Grace is... too damn nice."

"Yeah she is but covering for Nick will cost her position as well. I hope you're wrong about this. I would hate for them to get rewarded with the red slip."

"Not the pink one?"

"There it's a red bright piece of paper. I've seen a few people get that color. It hurts your eyes as much as it hurts the person who received it."

The city behind us started to look like a picturesque background of a computer screen as we continued on the road to find this person who is destroying buildings. It was still very early in the morning and nevertheless Sunday so there weren't a lot of cars. On a day like this I would usually be snuggled tight in my blanket with the curtains blocking as much sun as possible. The call of either mom or dad would have woke me up to have breakfast and- I would have lived a so called normal life without knowing the truth.

Here comes the emotional struggle. I need to think of something else or look at something to keep my mind from going in that direction, I thought. Just as I was looking out the windshield, I noticed a a few trees that were down and they were pretty big trees. The only way a tree that size could get down is it was a strong gust of wind, machine or... man made.

"You see it too. We would have to get closer to see if it was done by him or not. But something is telling me it's our boy", Hwanhee said as he observe the fallen trees.

"Make this exit on the left. I'm sure you saw the trees too", said Ji Hoon over the intercom.

"Got it."

The SUV in the front took the left exit and we followed. Knowing that we were getting closer to an Abnormal I started to feel a little anxious. Excluding the two from yesterday this one felt different, like somehow I needed to tag along to see for myself. There's no way anything can be sugar coated when seeing the real deal. I'm curious as to what this one looks like it. The guy that absorbed metal didn't look any different from any other person I see walking on the street. Me and any of other person would've thought nothing of him if we walked passed him. I think that's the scary part.

"Heads up", Hwanhee said. I saw more and more trees as we turned into a dirt road. "I know we haven't met very long but I can pretty much tell that you have a mind of your own."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Can you at least promise me that you won't do anything that would put all of us in danger. I'm talking about with our boss Sandara. You might not care for her but we all get paid and I'm not boasting or anything, but we're respectable amongst people who know of us."

"Are you trying to say that I'll ruin your rep at RISE?" I actually am stun that he would even think something like that. I never followed trouble. It found me and is trying to kill me.

"Hwanhee is it? Look, I've never gotten bad grades in school or even got detention. Hell I never even picked fights with people unless they started so I end it, under the radar. I can promise that as long I don't feel like whoever this person is a threat to me, we're cool."

"I'll take what you can give me. Ji Hoon and Himchan on the other hand won't tolerate if anything goes wrong with the mission. I would be careful around those two", he warned.

"I thought Himchan wasn't in charge."

"In the tactical part of it he's not. Himchan is good with coming up with plans when we are dealing with multiple enemies. This one in particular need Ji Hoon and my expertise because we're mostly in the front lines. If this guy likes to destroy buildings and trees that means he's strong."

"What about what's his name?... Jackson. Why bring him along?"

"He can handle his own but for just in case purposes I asked him to tag along. We're here."

Nick slowed down in front us, pulled up to the side of the dirt road and Hwanhee did the same. Left and right was nothing but trees. It wasn't as thick as I thought it would be but wondering around could get you lost. Ji Hoon got out of the back and motioned Hwanhee to get out of the car. He hesitated for a moment but nodded his head and stepped out. I thought that he wanted to strategize with him before the mission.

After a couple of minutes Hwanhee came back with the same expression he had when he left so I couldn't read his face. He open the door and said "Let's go before he make it to the city."  Himchan's face was the first I saw when I stepped out of the car and he obviously ignored me when our eyes met. Bastard.

"Min!", Grace yelled then jogged over to me. "How was the car ride?"

My eyes flew to where Hwanhee was standing as he held a conversation with Jackson. I felt like I was staring so I quickly looked back at Grace. "It was alright. Anything beats sitting in car with Himchan. I rather listen to organ music for five hours straight then be stuck with him again."

"I'm just glad that the weather is on our side. The sun feels so good on my skin." She grinned ear to ear as she placed both her hands on her cheek so she could touch the sun warmth.

"It feels like I met the sun after so many years. It's been so freaking cold lately", she continued. It was nice to feel the sun right above me. I almost forgotten what it feels like myself. The area that I lived in before was so desolated and I use to wonder why we lived so far apart from the rest of town. Now I know why.

"Okay people gather up so I can go over the plan!", Ji Hoon yelled. The ones that are apart of the team flocked to him in an instance. I stood next to the SUV and decided to hear from the sidelines. It wasn't like I was officially a student yet.

"I shouldn't have to tell you what we are dealing with here. I'm not completely sure if he's out of control or is he using his ability to harm others. So until we make contact and understand the situation, do not take any drastic measures. Hopefully this guy is willingly to listen to us so instead of resorting to violence. Any questions?"

No one said anything so Ji Hoon ordered everyone to fall out and stay close. Before Ji Hoon turned to walk in the forest he glanced at me for a few seconds. It looked like his eyes were trying to tell me something. I thought it would best not to think anymore of it so I strolled behind the rest.

The trees were still green and the air was refreshing. Every so often I would hear birds somewhere on the branches chirping to one another which made me think that spring was really here. My favorite season is spring. It's not freezing like winter and not blistering hot like summer. It's just right. Hearing the birds sing and looking at how the grass was trying to go from brown to green made me feel calm. The night air is the best during that time. I get to look at the stars without a coat and scarf or annoying bugs flying all over the place.

The deeper we walked into the forest, the more I noticed that there were more twigs covering the grass. Normally one would think that the weather caused this, but they seemed to have fallen by something else. From the twigs it became the branches and in my gut I had a feeling that something wasn't right. The ends of the branches were cut unusual. Usually when I get that butterfly feeling it means I need to keep both my eyes peeled.

"What do you feel Hwanhee?", asked Himchan.

"He's not too far from us. You may be able to pick him up with your eyes Ji Hoon", he responded.

What did Himchan mean by what does he feel? And how can tell when all I see is trees in every direction? Whatever that meant now I know that I was right. He's lurking somewhere nearby.

"Trees trees and more trees is all I can see. I know he's around here because the marking on these branches don't look natural. He caused them to break when he ran pass here", said Ji Hoon to Hwanhee. "Everyone just keep your eyes open, especially you back there."