"Whenever there is darkness, there will also be light"

Chapter 1

It seemed so peaceful, just laying on the rooftop of the high school building, watching blue skies float endlessly to nowhere. At a time where students should be in their classes paying attention to their teachers and working hard, a girl was here, looking up with an expressionless face. With bandages over her wrists, plaster over her cheek and her disheveled long, hair that dragged down her dirty uniform, anyone could tell that she was a delinquent. It would be more common for a boy to be a delinquent, but a girl? Highly unlikely. But it does happen and this girl, didn't care a thing about education.

Humming to the melody of a children's song, she would daydream of many things and be deep in her own thoughts. Just by doing that, time passes by quickly and by the moment she hears the ring of the school bell, that's when she can finally head downstairs. She didn't like going to high school. But she had no choice either, otherwise the caretaker mistress at her orphanage would come running for her. That's right, she's an orphan. She has no parents, no siblings, she's all alone by herself in the world. She does question her existence at times and wondered where would life take her on this road that seemed to bear no future.

"Hayoung-ah! I knew you'd be here!" said a voice that broke the silence.

Turning around, the delinquent smiled upon seeing her friend.

"The teachers were angry again to find you missing in class." she continued.

"There's no point going anyway. You have a future Yerin-ah, unlike me." said Hayoung as she looked at her wrist covered in bandage.

"There you go again, saying words like that." she frowned. "That reminds me, we have two new transfer students in our class today!" 

"Not that I care."

"Are you going to fight with them too?" 

"Well, are they guys?"

"They're girls."

"Lucky for them, I don't fight girls." responded Hayoung coldly, clearly uninterested with her new classmates.

"Come on, it wouldn't hurt for you to meet them. They seem pretty nice and friendly! You need new friends for once!"

"Having just you is enough."

"No, it's not. Come on!" said Yerin, forcing her friend on her legs and dragged her back into the high school, pulling her across the corridors. Immediately upon the appearence of Hayoung, there were whispers from the other students echoing loudly. They even tried their best to not make eye contact with her. Just as the girl was about to enter the classroom, she stopped Yerin's movements.

"Sorry Yerin-ah. I can't. I'm going." said Hayoung as she left with quick steps not even stepping one foot inside, disappering quickly like the wind.

"Gosh, there she goes again." sighed Yerin. "Sorry, she's a bit shy you see." said Yerin to the two girls who were sitting all the way at the back. They were the new transfer students that she wanted to introduce to her earlier.

"It's okay. I'm sure she will come back soon." smiled one girl. She had a rather unique eyesmile and a gentle voice that would sound good if sung in a tone. On her uniform nametag, it was printed as "Jung Eunji".

"I would like to know more about your friend of yours, Hayoung." said the other girl, who had a baby-like face yet had the attitude of a mature 27-year old. On her uniform nametag, it was printed as "Park Chorong."

"Sorry, Hayoung doesn't talk to just anyone. Even teachers have a hard time talking to her." said Yerin.

"It's okay Yerin-ah, we'll handle this." smiled Eunji as she stood up from her desk.

"Handle? As in how?" she asked confused.

"You don't need to know. Let's go Eunji-ya." said Chorong as she gently patted Yerin's shoulder as the two girls headed out. For some reason, there was a sense of aura from the two of them. It felt as if they weren't high schoolers at all.

Just, who were they?

~X~

It felt so suffocating to be in the classroom, indeed the only place where she could relax and breathe in ease was the school's rooftop. She had made quite a name for herself in her school for being the famous troublemaker, picking fights with boys and skipping classes. It's no wonder everyone would distance themselves and isolating the girl. Sure, it was uncomfortable but she was better off being alone than being with a group of fake friends.

There had been many times where Hayoung had wondered about, looking from below as she thought about many things. Life just wasn't going the way she had wanted, everything would've been complete if she had just jumped down. That's right, even if she did die, no one would care. In fact, they would be happy because their one and only enemy in school is gone.

Walking in a path of darkness, Hayoung once again, climbed towards the edge of the rooftop while holding onto the pole.

"Honestly, what's the point of living?" the girl mumbled to herself.

She was tired, exhausted, upset and confused. She had no one to talk to, no mother, no father, no siblings whom she could rely on and certainly, she had trust-issues too. Sure, she had Yerin. The girl has always been around her for three years, she considered her a friend. But a "friend" is just a "friend".

Nothing more, nothing less.

With the tip of her toes halfway off the edge, the girl smiled. Perhaps, it was the sudden fear or adrenaline rush through her veins. The escalating height right before her eyes and the thought of just letting her body fall, letting gravity handle everything else, it went wild in her mind.

"Everything will be over if I just jump now. No one would care. No one would know." mumbled Hayoung as she wanted to take the jump. But for some reason, she froze. Why couldn't she do it? Why?

It was at that moment, she heard the door opening with a loud thud. Wind started gushing through, her hair blocking her vision as she was unable to see who it was. There was no way anyone could come up here, unless they had the key. Obviously, the girl had stolen it from the staff office but who else would be able to do so? Who would dare to interrupt her moment of suicide?

"Don't. Even. Dare. Of. Jumping." said a voice. It belonged to a girl.

"Let's calm down and talk it out okay?" said another voice that seemed more high pitch.

How did not one, but two girls come up here? The girl was more than confused as she turned her head around. She had never seen them before. They must've been the new transfer students Yerin must've been talking about.

"Who the hell are you?!" she cursed out loud.

"How dare you talk informally to-" before Chorong could even continue her sentence, Eunji cut her in halfway.

"We're here to help you Hayoung-ah!" she said out loud, with a shout as the wind was blowing strongly.

"How do you even know my name?!"

"I'll tell you everything if you step down right now!" said Eunji as she walked closer.

"Come any closer and I'll really jump!" threatened Hayoung as she placed one of her feet out in the air.

"We're agents hired to help you out!" shouted Chorong.

"Huh?"

"We will tell you everything if you could just get down from there!" said Eunji.

The two girls were completely taken aback by the situation. They had no idea that they would meet Hayoung standing at the top of the roof, ready to jump and commit a suicide. Their plans had taken a drastic turn. Their cover has been blown. 

They had no choice, but to reveal their true identity.

~X~

A sigh broke in the midst of the silent office floor, drenched with the scent of morning coffee and the warm sunlight that shone through the window blinds. Papers scattered messily over the wooden desk, red markings and small stick-it-notes pasted on the bulletin board at the opposite side, it didn't seem like a normal office. In fact, it looked similar to a detective's. But this isn't a place where police or sherlock holmes would reside, neither is it an area where clerks and secretaries would stay. This office, is an agency that is operated under the government to help out young, troubled teenagers whose talents and skills can provide a huge benefit to the society.

No, this is not a place where superheroes are found. Nor is it a shelter for the homeless. But as long as you understand their motives, there's no need to be so suspicious right? Well, that's what agents Chorong and Eunji had always thought about while they were working here for over five years now. They weren't given much info or history about the nature of their work, but the pay was high so there was no worry.

"Unnie, have you finished writing the report?" a young girl asked, while casually walking in with an oversized sweater and cap. There was no uniform code to follow.

"Almost. Why? Did the boss send us yet another mission to complete?" the other girl responded, looking slightly older yet had a baby-like face.

"It's a special request apparently."

"Special request?"

"Apprarently, 14 other agents turned down this mission as well and knowing that we are the most experienced here, the boss tossed the job to us."

"It hasn't even been one day since we completed the previous missions and we're already taking so many at a time." she sighed.

"Well, life just goes on like that unnie."

"Hold on, let me finish emailing the report and then we'll take a look at the contents."

"Roger that Chorong unnie." smiled the girl as she bowed politely and stood in front of her desk, waiting patiently. From afar, it looked like a dog and its master.

Both her and Chorong had been partners for many cases in which they were tasked to rescue many troubled teenagers from suicide, commiting into crimes like drugs, murder and other things. At times, they do wonder if they were a special type of police force. The pair worked well together, skilled in martial arts and had great teamwork.

"Alright, let's take a look at what we have here." said Chorong as Eunji handed her the document file. 

"Oh Hayoung....18 years old...." mumbled the older girl to herself as she scanned it.

"She's not a normal teenager it seems." said Eunji.

"As in what? Does she have a disability? A family history?" asked Chorong, trying to figure out everything from her five years of experience. She had been working for such a long time, she was able to understand the character and behaviour of a person just by looking at their eyes.

"Well, the thing is, this girl is an orphan."

"Okay, and?"

"She has an IQ of 160."

"If you look here in the records, she has been the top in her class since junior high but suddenly, in her high school year, she keeps dropping and even made it to the last in her class. Teachers have stated that she's always missing in classes, picks fights with students and even steals."

"And it's our job to find out why right?" 

"That's one of the tasks." nodded Eunji.

"What is the other?"

"Apparently, we have to adopt her."

"What?!"

"That's what our boss said. If we're okay with these conditions, we're ready to take the mission."

"It's not like we can reject this mission can we?" she sighed, thinking at the sudden situation.

"We get 500 million won in return from the government. It's a good price unnie."

"What? Why are they offering us such a high payment for this girl?"

"Actually unnie, I've heard them talking. She's a very intelligent girl and they obviously don't want her talents to go to waste. She will need an actual family who can support her while she undergos training at the centre but I'm not sure what they're training her to become though."

"You know, you're going to get killed one day for eavesdropping at the office." 

"Well, not when I'm with you" said Eunji teasingly with a wink.

"But adoption...." the older girl said reluctantly as she looked worriedly at the document, obviously ignoring the younger girl's cheesy words.

"It's going to be fine. It's just a temporary adoption anyway.  I'll be the dad and you'll be the mom."

"And why am I the mom?"

"Because you're good at cooking, cleaning, dealing with children-"

"Okay, stop." said Chorong as she covered Eunji's mouth as her face blushed.

"So, are we taking the job? If it's a yes, we'll have to head straight to the conference room for a briefing like, right now." snickered Eunji, finding it entertaining to play around her unnie's feelings.

"Let's go. We're the only ones who can take up the job." 

"I knew you'd say that unnie. So, do I start by calling you honey now?" she continued with her round of teasing.

"S-Shut up" 

Soon, the two agents headed up to the highest floor of the building, where they had announced their agreement to the mission. They were then, given a briefing by government officials about the plan.

Initially, the target, Oh Hayoung was labeled as a child prodigy whose intelligence level proved to be much help to the society. Chorong and Eunji are first tasked to scout the girl as high schoolers, of course with a fake identity. There wasn't much restrictions really, all they needed was to get close and friendly with Hayoung. Acting as "her friends" to help out with her troubles and making sure that she would graduate high school was the first phase of the plan. The second phase on the other, was to finally reveal their true identities and temporarily "adopt" her into the family where she would have a home to live in until she is fully trained to work under the government.

Just by reviewing the entire contract that would last for about 3 years, it's no wonder that the duo was offered a huge sum of money in return. Indeed, the course of this mission is quite difficult. Many unexpected things can occur and the duo have to be ready to face whatever consequences. Well, there was only one thing that Chorong and Eunji had to avoid, otherwise this mission would fail completely.

It was simple. Don't get her killed.

~X~

Well, guess their plan had completely failed because they've been discovered. But it was alright, they still had Plan B to save them.

"I don't know what kind of nonsense you're talking about!" said Hayoung, who had enough of everything. She had enough of the world, enough of living. Everything is all a lie, there is no help waiting for her. It's all fake. There's no one to trust. 

"That's right. It's all just a dream. All of this would end, once I jump. And then only, I will sleep peacefully for once." thought the girl as she covered her ears and closed her eyes tightly, allowing gravity to slowly pull her body towards the ground.

"Hayoung-ah!!" shouted Eunji as she ran as fast as she could. Her job was always about risks, even if it means to risk her own life. Jumping out into the open air as she dived in, she tried to grab Hayoung before she could even reach the bottom.

"Eunji-ya!" screamed Chorong in a dolphin-like tone, immediately reaching the edge of the roof as she looked down, hoping that her worst nightmare would not befall. Instead, she breathed a sigh of relief. 

Eunji had managed to grab onto a small corner of the building wall about 2 feet away while her other arm, grabbed tightly onto Hayoung's wrist. Within a second, her partner pulled both her and the other girl back onto the surface.

"Let me go!" shouted Hayoung as she tried to escape from Eunji's embrace, but the older girl was stronger. It felt uncomfortable and weird to feel a sudden warmth that seemed motherly, something she had never felt before. It was strange and she wanted to run away from such feelings.

"Wow, this girl sure is a cranky one. We have to teach her real good." said Eunji while gritting her teeth, refusing to remove her arms from the girl.

"Listen Hayoung-ah, you may not know us and I may not know us either, but we are not going to let anyone die today. That includes you." said Chorong as she moved nearer to the two, kneeled down and gently placed her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"We're here to help you. It may sound weird to understand what's happening but it's going to be okay now. All you have to do is listen to us, got that?" she smiled but Hayoung refused to maintain eye contact and stayed silent. But surprisingly, the high schooler had stopped resisting Eunji and instead, calmed down in her embrace.

"We will tell you all the details later. But right now, you'll have to follow us to the car and get your stuff back at your home." said Eunji in a calm manner as she examined the girl. Already, by looking at the bandages wrapped around her body, her heart ached a little. Although the agent had seen many things like these before based on her previous experiences, but this made her felt more sorry. For once, Eunji wanted to become a good role-mother for Hayoung and made sure that she was brought into the right path. She wanted to become her light to guide her from the darkness.

"That place isn't my home. I have no family anyway." answered the high schooler coldly.

"We are your new family. You will have your own home now." said Eunji.

"What?"

"You'll know later. First things first, you have to follow us." continued Eunji as she stood up and tried to hold the younger girl's hand. But instead, she refused.

"I-I can walk by myself." she stuttered quietly.

"I guess she needs more time to open her heart to us" Chorong thought as she watched the two.

Walking back down to the classrooms, everyone was surprised to see Hayoung and the new transfer students with her. Gossips had already begun, some believing that Hayoung had threatened them to be her new henchmen and take over the school while others speculated that the transfer students were going to bring her to the president's room to end it once and for all. No one could really know. But the high schooler was uncomfortable, she wanted to stop all these whisperings that echoed endlessly in her head. She wanted to punch all of them in the face so that they would keep silent.

"Don't listen to them. It's going to be okay." whispered Eunji as she tried to hold her hands again, but alas she failed. She frowned a little at the sudden rejection but it gave her more motivation to force the girl to open her heart to her.

Hayoung's reflexes were quick enough to move her hand away, obviously not trusting and believing anyone. But she doesn't have much choice. Would she choose to stay in this high school forever, shrouded by isolation or would she choose to follow these strange ladies who have insisted that they would help her? Of course, she would choose the latter.

But the girl had to keep her guard up. She could trust no one. Or rather, she never had anyone to trust with since the beginning.

~X~

"Get in." said Chorong as she opened the door. The high schooler glanced at her and then to Eunji, reluctant to enter.

"Well, if you don't, we can just send you back to the classroom." said Eunji with her arms crossed. She wanted to try a different method towards Hayoung, fully aware that she was still keeping her shield up. She wanted to break that cold ice surrounding her heart and look inside, who she really is. The child who has consumed so much darkness at such a young age and needs help, before it's too late.

Without a word, Hayoung got into the car as the door closed behind. For a moment, Chorong and Eunji went around the car to the front.

"She's a pretty difficult child unnie." whispered Eunji in those few seconds.

"Keep an eye on her." whispered Chorong as the younger girl nodded in response, before entering the car. With the older girl at the wheel, they drove off, far and away from the high school that they were supposed to be "transfer students". Obviously by now, it was all a disguise for them to break in and get their target, Oh Hayoung.

There was only silence in the car as Eunji constantly glanced at Hayoung through the car mirror, frowning upon checking her expression that seemed so gloomy. Children at her age are supposed to bright, adventurous and full of life. But here, this girl was none of the above. Chorong too, was aware of the high schooler. Already, she was surprised by the first impression upon seeing her at the edge of the rooftop. Only those who had emotional unstability would be in their right mind to suicide but it was strange, Hayoung didn't look like she was suffering from any mental problems.

While thinking of many things to help the girl out, Chorong also had to focus on her driving. Despite the long silence in the car that seemed so deafening, they finally arrived at the orphanage where Hayoung resided. According to normal policies, those who reach the age of 20 would be kicked out to find their own home and life. The 18-year old had only two years life before turning into an adult. Was she not ready? Was she overwhelmed by the responsibilities which lead to her thought of suicide? Being well-known for getting too immersed with her deep thinking, her partner had to make sure that she wasn't drifiting away from reality.

"Unnie, unlock the door." said Eunji as she gently tapped her arm.

"Ah, right. Sorry." said Chorong, flustered as she pressed the button.

"There you go again. It's dangerous if you keep doing that." Eunji whispered. "Especially when we're doing a mission right now."

"I know. It's just..." The girl sighed. "Never mind. Hayoung-ah, we'll wait for you here. Please get your stuff and when I mean that, only valuable things okay? Like your passport, identification card, things like that and also-" before Chorong could even continue rambling, Hayoung shut the door on her.

"Wow, we need to teach that girl some manners too." sighed Chorong as she looked the high schooler walking up the stairs from the car window.

"That child kinda reminds me a little about myself. I was like that too, back in high school and undergoing puberty. As her parents, we'll have to raise her well." said Eunji as she looked on.

"Eunji-ya, if you keep saying parents it's a little...."

"What? We agreed on this mission to help this child and be her parents."

"I know but..."

"Oh? Is it because it feels as if we're married now?" she smiled cheekily, knowing that it would get the girl nervous.

"S-Shut up! It's all temporary anyway! Once she's ready to face the world, we're going to break up" stuttered Chorong by her statement.

"Right~" the girl laughed off. But somehow, it made her a little sad inside even though she knew that it was a joke.

For about 10 minutes, the two agents waited in the car, wanting to put their trust in Hayoung that she was doing what they said. But for some reason, they felt insecure.

"Eunji-ya, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Chorong as she looked at her partner with worry eyes.

"Oh no unnie, don't."

"In all of our experiences in this field, this happened before. And it can happen again." said Chorong.

For awhile, the younger girl looked in her eyes. She was serious.

"Alright. You stay here. I'll head upstairs." said Eunji as she got out of her seat, closed the car door and ran upstairs to the orphanage. Bursting into the place as she showed her identity card to the caretaker, clearly indicating that she works with the government, she was allowed in. There was no time to waste.

~X~

She remembered a mission she worked with Chorong before. They had to take a child back to the centre but he wanted a toilet break in the middle. As he was a male, there was no way the girls could follow him inside the toilet. So with trust, they waited for him in the car. And guess what? That child escaped. He ran away. It was a mission failure the two of them could never forget. They had to pay great costs for such a simple mistake and surely, they didn't want that to happen again.

Running around the orphanage as she frantically looked through each rooms, often apologizing for intruding before scanning briefly with her eagle eyes, there was no sight of the girl.

"Excuse me, have you perhaps seen Hayoung around?" she asked to the caretaker.

"Well, she would be locked up in her room as usual doing up to no good. Her room is on the far end of the left side at the fourth floor."

"What?! Fourth floor? Alright, thank you!" said Eunji as she looked up at the staircase that never seemed to end.

"It's good exercise after all. Here we go." she mumbled to herself while running up in a constant momentum. Within 30 seconds, she arrived with a heavy breath. On the fourth floor, it seemed more run-down with the wooden floor slowly breaking apart. Along the corridor that appeared to be covered with dust and stained with whatnot, anyone could tell that this was a floor where things were abandoned. Just like a child who seemed to proved no use, just like an object that is thrown away aside, Oh Hayoung.

Eunji's heart ached, seeing the condition of how the girl must've lived everyday. She wanted to come up with various theories of what kind of things she must've been suffering from. Was she bullied by her own mates at the orphanage? Was she scolded and abused often by the mistress? Or was she simply a kid who didn't follow orders? There was no time to think because she had to find her quick. She walked towards the end, turned to the room on the left side with a broken signage pinned on the wooden door, "Oh Hayoung". There's no mistake.

Quickly, she turned the knob and opened herself to a rather, empty room where there was not a bed, but just a plain mattress on the floor. Nothing else.

"Goddammit." cursed Eunji as she looked around only to see the window open out wide.

"She's gone." muttered the girl to herself.

[END OF CHAPTER 1]

A/N: And that wraps the first chapter of "Don't Tell Mom"! Do share your thoughts of the story so far and stay tuned for the next update~Thank you for reading and subscribing! :)