9^th February 2017, 9.30AM

The sun was shining brightly in the azure sky. The weather was completely the opposite of what she was feeling. Her heart was feeling gloomy and due to the lack of sleep, she felt grumpy and cranky. She cursed Mirror silently for asking them to go to the amusement park last night just to release Kris from her clutches.

She wondered why there were no traces of bruises on Kris, though, but since she could not think of any possible answers, she just shrugged it off.

Yoona continued to drive, trying very hard to concentrate on the road instead of letting her thoughts fly around or her eyes end up close. She had called in sick to her work and she knew that her former colleague’s shift started at night so the older woman was still at home, most probably sleeping.

She hated how the sunlight entered her eyes, causing her to strain them in order to see properly. The light was too bright, in her opinion, but she had to it up because without the precious sun, she would not be able to see. Humans' visions were limited anyway.

She did not know how long it took for her to arrive at the front building of Sunny's home but after what seemed like endless of hours, she finally arrived. Taking her handbag, she went out of her car and went upstairs to the third floor.

When she got off the elevator, she realized that the corridor leading towards her former colleague’s home was eerily quiet. She did not like the silence at all. It was pressing down on her. Maybe it was because she had been living in the city where noises were a usual thing and she was not used to the sudden silence.

She approached Sunny’s apartment and knocked on the front door, remembering that Sunny had told her the bell did not work anymore. She did not always visit the older girl but when she did, it was usually for important reasons. She expected the older woman to open the door quite late but much to her surprise, the door swung open almost immediately after she knocked, almost like Sunny had been expecting her.

“Yoona,” Sunny acknowledged happily. She beamed at the younger woman and opened the door wider, inviting her in.

Yoona entered the apartment and looked around. It was neat, as usual, but it seemed more spacious since she noticed that Sunny had moved the sofa to the other side.

“What are you doing here?” her former colleague asked almost suspiciously.

“What? Can’t I visit you?” Yoona retorted back, almost snorting.

A small chuckle escaped Sunny’s pretty lips and Yoona raised her eyebrows questioningly, as if she was asking what was so funny about her retort. Sunny just put on a smile on her face and she pushed Yoona to the sofa so that she would sit down.

“No offence, Yoona-ah, but you only visited me when you needed something or when it was an emergency,” Sunny replied. Her words pierced through Yoona’s heart like a sharp knife but then, it was the truth after all.

Yoona could not say anything about it. She opened to explain why she was here when Sunny told her to wait for a little while she went to the kitchen to make her a drink. She came back a few minutes later with a glass of orange juice in her right hand and placed it on top of the table in front of the younger woman.

“So why are you here?” Sunny repeated her question as she sat next to her.

Yoona wrapped her fingers around the glass of orange juice and brought it to her lips. She took a sip of the orange juice and she liked the coldness of the drink. It managed to quench her thirst. Placing the glass on top of the table, she answered, “I need to ask you a very important question.”

“Shoot,” was all she said.

The younger woman hesitated for a moment. Yoona did not know where to start. Besides, she was afraid to ask the question. She needed to find out the truth about the night Kim Hyoyeon’s body went missing but she was afraid of the truth. She had a feeling that she would not like the answer at all. Not even a little bit.

“You were the one who discovered that Kim Hyoyeon’s body was missing from the mortuary, right, unnie?” she asked quietly, looking directly into Sunny’s eyes. She decided that there was no use to beat around the bush. In the end, the only way she was able to get the answer was to ask it.

When the question was inquired, Sunny’s shoulders immediately tensed. Her face paled visibly. She closed her eyes briefly before opening them again. A small sigh left her lips. “Yes,” she responded. Her lips were pressed into a straight line as if to say that she refused to say anything anymore.

“Can you please tell me what exactly happened that night?” Yoona asked gently. She spoke to Sunny like she was speaking to a small child who was throwing tantrums. But then, considering Sunny’s petite body compared to hers, maybe the older woman was actually like a small child.

“It’s not important, Yoona-ah,” Sunny snapped almost immediately. Her response sounded like it was rehearsed. It seemed like the older woman had already known the question that would be asked due to the face that the police kept on questioning her about it.

Yoona wondered what truly happened that made the older woman to be so discreet about it. Was it something dangerous? Her mind raced as she tried to think of the reasons why Sunny refused to tell the truth. If she were in Sunny’s shoes, she would not tell the truth when the truth seemed unbelievable.

Her eyes brightened immediately. Maybe that was it. “It’s important to me, unnie,” she interjected. “It could save my life and I’m not exaggerating here.” She let a small smile touched her lips. She placed her hand on top of Sunny’s hand. “I’ll believe you no matter how ridiculous the story sounds,” she assured.

A pause ensued after that. Yoona waited patiently as Sunny was lost in her deep thoughts. She hoped that the older woman would open up to her.

Maybe it was because she had been hiding it for too long. Or maybe it would make her go crazy if she did not tell someone about it. But well, she did tell someone and the person seemed to believe it…

Sunny let out a sigh. “Fine,” she gave in at last. Yoona’s face lit up noticeably and Sunny shook her head at the sight. “It was around eight forty-five at night when I entered the mortuary. I was very scared but then, I mustered up my courage to enter the creepy place. I found the bed that she was in and since Sungmin oppa told me to make sure that the body was in good condition I uncovered the sheets that were used to cover her body.”

Yoona listened keenly, taking note of every single detail in her mind. She did not want to miss out on any information. If she did, it could make a very big difference. “And then?” she prompted, trying very hard not to sound impatient.

The older woman let out a small sigh again. Her lips quivered as she remembered the incident of that night. That night was a total scare for her. She would never be able to forget it until the day she died. “As soon as I uncovered the sheets, the dead body suddenly sat up,” she continued hoarsely, the fear still remained inside of her.

Yoona was about to open to voice out her scepticism but Sunny beat her to it. “I know it sounds crazy but it’s the truth. Kim Hyoyeon, who supposedly was dead, sat up right after I uncovered her sheets and what was worse, she had a gaping hole right at where her heart was supposed to be,” her former colleague explained the event in a rushed way. Once she had started to describe what had happened, the details poured out of like water from an opened pipe.

Tears started to form in the nurse’s eyes and she blinked them away. “I was so petrified back then. So I let out a loud shriek, wanting to call for help,” she told her quietly. “But then, Hyoyeon suddenly stood up, still , and told me to hide her somewhere and give her a nurse uniform for her to wear. If not, I would end up just like her.”

Yoona’s eyes widened. She squeezed Sunny’s hand gently, trying to give her some comfort. She could not imagine the horror the older woman had gone through. To see a corpse suddenly alive but with a gaping cavity right at where her heart was supposed to be was bad enough. But to have that same corpse threatening her to do as she was told if not she would end up just like the corpse was worse.

Yoona wished that Sunny had not gone through that horror. Sunny was too innocent and naïve to face this. She was too delicate to handle such horrifying things. She wished that she was the one who had gone through that.

“Who else have you told about this, unnie?” she asked quietly.

Silence was emitted between them as Sunny pondered if she should tell the younger nurse or not. Minutes ticked by and at last, Sunny answered, “I told Officer Hwang Tiffany about it.”

“My leader, Tiffany, told me that the woman still refused to tell her the truth.”

Taeyeon’s words rang in her ears crystal clear. But if Sunny had told Tiffany what had happened, did this mean the policewoman did not believe Sunny?

Yoona let out a frustrated sigh. She felt like punching a wall as the thousands of questions that were running inside her head were annoying her.

Patience, Yoona, and you shall find the answer.

9^th February 2017, 11.00AM

Sooyoung cursed the sun for being scorching hot that day. She wished that she had brought her sunglasses with her. She was perspiring profusely for the past few minutes and she did not like the way her body felt sticky all over. “Damn you, Sun,” she mumbled to herself but it was loud enough for her companion to hear her.

“Why the hell are you cursing the sun?” Kai asked incredulously. The obvious distaste was evident in his tone.

“None of your business,” she snapped almost immediately.

If it was not obvious enough, Sooyoung and Kai did not get along well. Maybe it was because Sooyoung had practically threatened(well, she did not exactly threaten but Kai felt that she did) Kai to go to the amusement park just to save Kris. Kai blamed Sooyoung for dragging him back into the Mirror mess.

Not that it was Sooyoung’s fault, anyway. It was inevitable for him to be trapped in the Mirror mess. Karma was a after all.

That’s what you get when you mess with something forbidden, Kim Jongin. You’ll be trapped and there would be no way out.

The two graduates of Seoul Boarding School walked on the forest path while carrying their respective shovels. Their feet were taking them to the place where they had performed the curse ten years ago. Even though the sun was practically burning on her skin, Sooyoung felt that a chill had gone down her spine. To curse someone and bury her heart was one thing but to return and retrieve the heart was very… Sooyoung could not find the right word to describe it.

At last, they arrived at where they had buried the heart. She still remembered that they had carved some words using the knife that had been used to take Yuri’s heart out on the tree that was the nearest to the place where they had buried the vital organ. She placed the shovel on the ground and walked towards the tree that they had carved the words on.

She traced the words using her finger slowly.

Mirror, Mirror, save me from the curse.

I thought that we had said these words already? Why are we still targeted? Or did somebody forget to say it after we had performed the curse? She wondered.

“Are you going to keep staring at that stupid tree or are you going to help me dig?” Kai’s voice snapped her back to reality. Sooyoung glared at the younger man before taking her shovel and began to dig with Kai.

They worked in silence as they had nothing to say to the other anyway. Besides, what kind of conversation could they possibly have when they were digging out the box of heart that they had buried ten years ago? Were they supposed to ask how the other was doing? Well, they did not even know who the other was until a few days ago when the mess had begun.

But then, they still had something to talk about…

“What did Kwon Yuri hold over you?” Sooyoung asked, breaking the silence between them as she continued to dig.

If Kai was surprised by the sudden question, he did not show it. He kept quiet for a little while and Sooyoung thought that he refused to answer. “She found out that I cheated on a test,” he replied, not bothering to elaborate what kind of test he had cheated on and how the bully had found out about it. “You?”

Sooyoung’s lips let out a soft sigh that managed to reach Kai’s ears. “She and I had to work on a project together. It was supposed to be a collaboration between my batch and her batch and we were chosen to work together. She insisted on going to my house when we did the project and I agreed. I wish I hadn’t, though, because she found out that my father had been cheating on my mother behind her back through my diary,” she told him. “She threatened me to do things for her or else she would tell my mother about the affair through an anonymous letter.”

“I’m sorry,” Kai said awkwardly after a moment of silence.

Sooyoung wiped the sweat on her forehead using the back of her hand. “Well, it’s not your fault,” she replied. “But then, it doesn’t matter anymore. My mother found out six years ago and they got a divorce. A happy ending for them.” The bitterness in her voice did not escape Kai’s hearing.

“At least you were trying to protect your mother,” Kai murmured.

“What do you mean by that?” Sooyoung asked curiously.

“Not many people know this but Krystal and I are actually elementary friends. We were best friends even. Unbelievable, right?” Kai said, chuckling humorlessly to himself. “We wanted to enter Seoul Boarding School together so badly. We were so desperate that we decided to steal the answer key to the entrance test. We stole it at night. Krystal’s parents were too busy fussing over Jessica that they did not even realize their younger daughter had sneaked out and my parents were overseas for business and I was left in the care of my grandmother who slept so soundly that even if there was a fire alarm, she would not wake up.”

“We managed to steal the answer key but then, Yuri caught us stealing it. She told us to listen to her at all times and she would let us go with the answer key and we agreed,” Kai explained. “We never expected that the things she told us to do were very…” He trailed off. He shrugged. “We drifted apart after that.”

Sooyoung nodded empathizingly. She knew exactly what Kai had felt ten years ago. She, just like him, had felt that way countless of times too. She opened to give him some comfort words when her shovel suddenly hit something solid. She and Kai looked at each other and immediately started to dig even faster.

At last, the box of heart was visible when they looked inside the hole that they had dug. Kai used the shovel to carry it up. After that, they worked together to put the ground where it belonged. When they were finished, Sooyoung took the box of heart and opened it. A small gasp escaped her lips.

“What is it?” Kai asked cautiously.

Sooyoung handed the box to Kai and the younger man looked inside it. “Unbelievable,” he groaned. The box was empty.

It was empty.

After everything, the damned box was empty.

The box was empty except for a piece of paper. They read what was written on top of it.

Sorry, you guys, but I will always be a step ahead. -Mirror

Frustration began to boil inside Sooyoung’s veins. Oh God, when would things go their way?

9^th February 2017, 3.00PM

Da Vinci Café was closed that day.

Kris felt bad because he felt like he was imposing on his cousin. He did not want to be a disturbance to Victoria’s career. The older woman had told him countless of times that he was not a disturbance but the guilt that he felt still lingered in his heart.

He tried to ease the guilt by telling Victoria the truth about his condition – the fact that he was actually heartless literally but still breathing. Unfortunately for him, it just made the older woman more stubborn about closing the café just for that day in order to do some research about his current condition.

The information that Victoria had told him was very useful, though. She told him that The Heartless Curse was actually a very old curse. People rarely used that curse to attack someone because of the consequences that they would bear. It was said that most people who used the curse would usually end up being heartless literally too.

Look at him now.

How do you like the taste of your own medicine, Kris Wu?

Victoria said that in order to survive, he had to eat the heart of people who had the same blood type as him. It did not matter whether he knew what blood type people around him had or not. He would still be able to know just by smelling, according to the older woman. Kris shuddered at the thought of eating hearts. It was disgusting and inhumane.

Lucky for him, he just had to eat it once a month only.

The good news was, Victoria told him that he would be able to reverse the curse. He just had to find where his heart was hidden at and take it. After that, he was supposed to place it inside the hole of his chest and it needed the performing of a ritual to put it back to its original state.

He just needed to find his heart without the other nine of them knowing.

It would be that simple.

Or so he thought.