I don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me
I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams

Nara hates it that the shower hot water tap is broken again. She hates it so much she cries on the floor of the bathroom.

Her tears are minimal but the hurt is paralyzing. She tries to bring her cry out but what comes out is an ugly choking sound.

She looks at the shower head. Cursing silently of it. If her power can affect inanimate objects she might just conjure the worst nightmare on it.

“What the hell am I thinking now,” Nara chides herself. Her mind is so full right now that a broken shower tap made her breakdown.

She just decides to not shower. “You think I need you so much? Watch me not showering,” she tells the shower head.

When Nara passes the mirror she can surely tell her craziness is apparent in her face.

She stops to see the woman in the mirror, who is now looks more haunted than usual. The woman who barely scrapes by every single days. The woman who just try to live her life in peace.

Nara laughs at that. Peace. Like the world has ever stop at warring. Especially for people like her.

People like her.

The sadness replaces the anger she just poured out. So she moves away from the mirror. She sees her duffel bag on the sofa in her living room. She pull it out from under her bed just after she entered her apartment, panting because she ran there.

It contains everything she needs. Cloths, little food, load of cash. That’s about it.

Nara looks over her bare apartment. She doesn’t see herself there. No photos, minimal utensils, small TV and DVD collection, mostly animation, no horror or action because Nara doesn’t want to dream about that.

Nara wraps herself in a hug. Her body curled so small like a ball leaning to her sofa. She debate internally of when she will leave the apartment.

She doesn’t want to think about it. But she has to. Her home and identity as a Lee Jung Ah can’t be used no more.

That weird doctor knows who she is, that two men she just fought likely know where she lives.

Nara hopes all of this is just a dream. Unfortunately with her power, she knows exactly she is not.

--

Younghyun wakes up with a start. His hand reaching for his gun instinctively. He shakes his head when he realizes that he’s just in his apartment, his fancy but bare room.

He stands up from the bed to the desk full of papers. All the documents bear something in common, the name of Lee Nara. The online search bore minimal fruit. The woman have a good identity clearance, he thought when he researched about her. Yet, the most dangerous one usually is.

The online search is just complementary though, since Younghyun’s boss dropped him hell of documents about this woman. Hence, the clutter of papers describing Lee Nara power, possible criminal cases related to her and possible whereabouts cover his desk.

Younghyun picks one paper out. The woman looks ordinary save for her pensive stares that makes her look older than she is. But of course since she is powered, her ordinary looks shouldn’t fool Younghyun to be less careful.

Just under her-one of many-official ID picture is a list of names. Younghyun keeps in mind all of the names. He has to be careful as to not adding his own name on the list.

Younghyun picks another stack of document and brings it with him to the bed. He looks at a POWER ANALYSIS OF SUBJECT 3112 with his hand behind his head on the pillow.

“Mind manipulation,” Younghyun muses. His mind is heavy with that since he received these documents. He never deals with this kind of powered people. Most says they aren’t really exist. The ones usually make a mess is the physically powered, the one who is easily seen. These mind people, really messes with something vital yet invisible. So Younghyun has to be cautious, he knows his mind is really what made him went through his ordeal alive.

“Bla, bla, bla, has inflicted temporary and permanent psychological and brain function disorder, such like hallucination, amnesia, impaired identity perception-what the hell,” Younghyun drops the documents beside him, the documents went on and on about many other implications but they just told him that nobody really know what exactly this woman really do.

Younghyun swipes his face with his hands. What he can do is to see her in person and deal with it afterward. He’s not looking forward to it. Well, he’s not looking forward for any job, really. But it’s just his life, so he might just roll with it.

He just has to see what this woman can do.

--

Nara sits on the bus stop. The one she sits on from time to time if she’s not waking up late.

She’s not late this time, because she isn’t coming to work. Her resignation letter, along with files of her finished work load, would be received by Mrs. Kim this afternoon if she set her email correctly.

Nara sighs, gaze falling down to the duffel bag she holds on her lap. She has to leave her DVD collection behind. That’s kind of sad.

She just waits there. The sun is not fully up yet but the early morning bus comes to a stop in front of her. She contemplates of getting on, before she sees the ad on the side of the bus.

SAFETY FOR THE ONE WHO NEEDS IT.

The big words and ugly messages makes her sit still and avert her gaze to somewhere else. She won’t board the bus carrying such a vile message. She is petty like that, she thinks.

As per usual political campaign, the words are played in a certain way so it would not be blatantly politically incorrect, but means one anyway. So she rather be petty.

“What a nuisance,” Nara hears someone utters. Nara looks to her right and sees a man with a leather jacket sit beside her. Not too close but also near enough for her to see his judging stare on the ad.

The bus go along but he still sit there, opening his phone and leans back. Looks like he’s waiting for the next bus.

Nara wonders if he is also a powered. Since the ad, while clearly not mentioning powered people, is insinuating that there should be extra measures need to be hold upon the powered for the sake of the non-powered safety.

As if the non powered has not been doing crime and unable to kill people long before the existence of powered people is known.

She opens to ask, but closes it immediately. This is not the time to be conversing with a stranger, let alone asking them if they are powered like some brusque ill-mannered person.

So she waits in silence.

When the next bus comes the man stands up the same time as she is. He boards the bus first and she follows. The bus is empty and the man sits in the front. She chooses a window seat few rows on the back. Her duffel bag still clutched safely in her lap.

She leans her head on the window, seeing the streets and the people going to work goes by. Nara averts her eyes at that. She doesn’t need any more reminder of her now directionless life. Her gaze falls on the man from the bus stop, who is now checking his appearance by his phone’s front camera.

She sighs, of course the stranger knows where he will go. She doesn’t even know where she will get off. Probably the station, or airport. She shakes her head. No, not the airport.

Nara still hasn’t decide. The bus getting crowded of people from every stops. The bus stop man has given his seat to an elderly. His silver hair amongst the darker hairs make him easy to find in the pack of people standing in the middle of the bus.

Nara fixes his gaze at the man. Still wondering if he is indeed a powered. They aren’t that rare, even though they still makes up a minority of people, according to the government. Nara doesn’t really care, she only wants to have a normal life.

She sees the man still busying himself with his phone. He once looks around and finds her eyes. But he just sees right back to his phone.

Nara wonders who goes to work wearing a leather jacket. But then, he could be a tourist.

Nara eyes shift back to her lap, but on the way she realizes something. She looks back cautiously to the man, to his hips in particular.

Gun.

Nara holds her breath. Her back tightens. She had came across weapons far more often than average 24 years old women around. She can make out the outline formed by it even when concealed.

She tries to look at it again discreetly, trying to find a police badge or something alike. When she finds none she presses the red button on the bus wall. She had to get off the bus.

If the man follows her, then it is confirmed that he is indeed come for her. Nara prays that he is not, since he didn’t do anything back in the deserted bus stop. And because she is too damn tired for another fight.

She stands up hurriedly when the bus slows down to the bus stop. Nara weaves through the dense sea of people, putting a distance as far as she can from the Silver Hair. Although due to the crowd she cannot help but passes by him.

She tries to put a neutral face. Eyes fixed to the way out. She does peek a little when she passes him. And sees that he still using his phone, but she keeps moving.

When she steps on the ground, she keeps still and waits. The bus is going again and she braces herself to turn around to see if the man is getting off too.

Her shoulders drop in relief when she sees the Silver Hair still in the bus. She turns around and walks.

She apparently gets off on a touristic morning market scene. People swarming the area and food smell embracing the air. Nara’s stomach growl in response.

Nara walks aimlessly to the market, seeing stalls that piques her interest. It is quite a crowded market, due to holiday season approaching. She has to find a secluded spot to eat her ssundae peacefully.

It is delicious and warm. And familiar. She’s reminiscing the times when her and her father would brave the rain to buy ssundae in the small food stall near their house. Quite a long time ago.

Nara stares at her ssundae with fondness. But then that stare turns sad. She blinks off the waters formed in her eyes. She casts her eyes to the sea of people to distract her. In her current position, sitting on a step of short stairs leading to a closed shop’s door, she can see the crowd clearly.

Her gaze turns whimsical. Nara wonders what dreams those people has in their sleep. She wants to know if those people carry those dreams too in their waking hours. Or if they ever wanted to stay in their dream rather than waking up.

Silver Hair.

In the midst of her wondering eyes she catches the glint of silver hair among the people. Her senses become alert again. He looks not suspicious enough if you don’t know who to look for.

He is still on his phone, but he weave through the busy street smoothly. Nara follows his fluid movement strolling through the crowd. She sees him avoids people at the right moment, bumping people shoulders minimally, bend down so he won’t be stuck to the stalls’ low roof. All he does with his eyes rarely leaving his phone.

But Nara has learn a lot of lessons of observing people, especially the ones who are trained to catch other people. Because most of times, they are trained to catch her. Or people like her.

Nara sees Silver Hair decidedly going somewhere. He’s not seeing the stalls, or even glancing at them. When he’s not seeing his phone, he looks ahead and rushes or slows.

He is following someone, Nara realizes. It make sense. Gun, no badge, his sharp eyes and trained gait while nonchalantly following som