7^th February 2017, 12.00PM

The young woman stood in front of her boss’s office, fiddling with her fingers. She hesitated. Should she just knock on the door? Or should she just walk away and eat lunch by herself? Don’t get her wrong. She was not trying to seduce her boss but she just wanted to know the man better. After all, they did attend the same boarding school before.

Before she could make a decision, the door swung open, revealing a tall young man with handsome features who was wearing a suit. A look of surprise flashed through his face but he immediately put his poker face back on.

“Sooyoung-sshi, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to go for lunch already?” Kris asked, raising his eyebrow curiously.

Sooyoung just gave him a shaky smile. “You see, I wanted to ask you if you’d like to have lunch with me. I want to get to know you better as we attended the same boarding school before,” she explained her intention.

A smile made its way to his lips as soon as he heard her explanation. “Well, we already did have lunch last Sunday at my cousin’s café, didn’t we? But I guess another lunch won’t hurt,” he said, smiling slightly. Hope shone on the secretary’s face. “Unfortunately I already made an appointment with someone. I’m sorry, Sooyoung-sshi. Maybe, we could have lunch next time?”

A wave of disappointment washed over her but she just shrugged it off. It was not like she and Kris had any relationship to begin with. She smiled despite the disappointment she was feeling. “Sure,” she said, trying to make her voice sound cheerful. She winced when she heard how fake her cheerfulness was. “See you later.”

With that, she walked away. Stupid, she thought to herself. Do you think you’d be able to be friends with Kris? Of course he’s not interested in being your friend. Both of you only have a boss-employee relationship. That’s all. To think that you even have the hope that you’d be able to be friends with him.

Sooyoung scoffed at her own stupidity. She immediately left the building of Wu Company. Other than disappointment, she felt embarrassed. She felt embarrassed for having the guts to think that she could be friends with the young heir of Wu Company. Gritting her teeth, she walked towards the restaurant nearby the office.

Arriving at the restaurant, she spotted her co-workers. She made her way to them and flashed them a smile. “Hey, do you mind if I join you guys for lunch?” she asked.

The four of them looked at one another and shrugged. “We don’t mind Sooyoung-ah. Take a seat,” Changmin said, smiling.

The young woman nodded gratefully. Soon, they placed their orders and waited for their respective orders to be served. “Sooyoung-ah, why didn’t you have lunch with Kris?” Yeonhee, one of her co-workers asked inquisitively.

The secretary shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “He already made an appointment with someone else,” she explained. Her disappointment was evident in her tone as she explained causing Yunho, another one of her co-workers, raised his eyebrow.

“Are you jealous?” Yunho asked, leaning forward as their orders at last came. The waitress placed the plates of food on the table and Ara, another one of Sooyoung’s co-workers, passed around the plates.

Sooyoung glared at the older man and huffed. “I’m not jealous, Yunho oppa,” she denied it. “I’m just disappointed and a little bit hurt. You see, I just found out that he used to be in the same batch as me in Seoul Boarding School. I thought that we could be friends through that but I thought wrong.”

“It takes time to be someone’s friend, Sooyoung-ah,” Ara said reassuringly. “Soon enough, the two of you will be great friends who look out for each other.” Sooyoung shot her a grateful look for trying to comfort her.

Suddenly, Changmin leaned closer to Sooyoung. “Wait, you said that he already had an appointment with someone else. Is it a girl? Is it a date?” he asked excitedly.

The young woman just laughed in amusement at his enthusiasm to dig up gossips about the young heir of the company they worked for. “He didn’t tell me and it’s not like it’s my business to know,” she replied, shrugging as she began to eat.

“Kris is too mysterious,” Yeonhee stated as she took a bite of her hamburger. She chewed thoughtfully and made sure that it had been broken down enough before swallowing it. “Sure, it makes him all the more attractive but isn’t he too arrogant?”

“He’s not arrogant, Yeonhee-ah,” Yunho retorted, laughing. “He just doesn’t like to be around people. He has always been an anti-social ever since the incident with you-know.”

“Who is you-know?” four people asked at the same time.

The man just laughed. “Oh, don’t you guys hear stories? Well, I heard that he had gotten into a fight with his ex-best friend, Luhan, and they are not on talking terms since. Ever since the fight, Kris simply refuses to get close with anyone else,” he told them.

“What’s the fight about, Yunho oppa?” Sooyoung asked curiously.

The older man just laughed before shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know, honestly. I think it’s because of a mirror?” He laughed even harder. “Well, if it’s truly because of a mirror that would be a very stupid thing to fight about.”

As soon as she heard his answer, a chill went down her spine. It’s not a mirror, she thought to herself. It’s because of the Mirror.

17^th July 2007, 8.30AM

As usual, Seoul Boarding School started its lesson at nine in the morning. But for a good student like Sooyoung who always liked to be early, she arrived thirty minutes earlier before the class would start. She walked down the corridor, holding her head high. Even though she slept quite late last night, she felt very energetic.

Her tormentor would be dead very soon, anyway.

She arrived at the front door of her classroom. She was about to turn the doorknob when she heard hushed voices, whispering at each other. Sooyoung did not mean to eavesdrop but she could not help the curiosity that took over her. She pressed her ear against the classroom door.

“Do you think everything would be okay after last night?” a deep voice asked, sounding worried.

Another voice that was not as deep replied, “Of course, it would be okay. We’ll finally be free. I can date Yoona freely without that threatening to tell the teachers about my relationship with Yoona. You know that Seoul Boarding School doesn’t allow us to be in a relationship so that we would be able to focus on our studies.”

“I thought you and Yoona broke up already, Luhan-ah?” Deep Voice asked, sounding horrified. “What do you mean that you can date her freely now?”

Ah… So it’s Luhan who’s in here. He’s most probably with Kris, right now, since the both of them are best friends who are always with each other, Sooyoung thought to herself. She also almost gasped in shock when she heard that Luhan and Yoona were in a relationship. The two of them were goody-two shoes students. She did not expect them to break one of the important rules in the school.

“I broke up with her to get away from Yuri’s clutches, remember? We’re sick of being controlled by that little so we decided to break up. Apparently, the girl had a picture of us kissing so even though we already broke up, she could still send the picture to the teachers and get us in trouble,” Luhan explained patiently. “By cursing her with Mirror’s methods, we’ll finally be free. Besides, you want to be free from Yuri, too, don’t you?”

“I do,” Kris answered without hesitating. “But Mirror said that there would be a price to pay. I’m scared, Luhan-ah. I don’t want to get into trouble.”

This time, a small gasp escaped Sooyoung’s lips. She did not expect Luhan and Kris to be one of the twelve people in cloaks, too, last night. Just like them, she had wanted to escape from Yuri’s threats and bullying.

“We won’t get into trouble, Kris-ah,” the former guy assured. “We’ll not talk about this anymore. Once that Kwon Yuri is dead, we’ll finally be free and what happens after that will happen. There’s no turning back. But remember, Kris, if you tell a single soul about what we did last night, I’m going to stop being your friend. I can’t risk ruining my future because of this pretty little secret.”

“Then, you’d better not tell a single soul, too,” Kris growled at his best friend.

7^th February 2017, 12.15PM

As usual, at this time of the day, Da Vinci Café was packed with customers. And as usual, the pretty owner of the café went downstairs to help the two young men. Sulli took note of all of it and tapped her foot impatiently.

She was not waiting for Victoria to finish her work, though. She was waiting for someone else to show up at the café. Earlier in the morning, Krystal had called her and they had made plans to have lunch together. Sulli had chosen this café because she wanted Victoria to see who else was there when the night of her dream happened.

After a few minutes, Krystal finally arrived and approached Sulli’s table. Sulli stood up and the two young women embraced each other for a short while before sitting down across each other.

“I missed you so much, Sulli-ah!” Krystal exclaimed almost dramatically. Sulli knew that the lady was sincere with her words, though. “It’s been years since I had last seen you! How have you been? What are you working as? Where is your workplace? Are you doing fine? Do you have a boyfriend?” Krystal bombarded her friend with unnecessary questions.

However, Sulli just chortled, feeling amused by her friend’s antics. She was not annoyed unlike usual. Well, it had been a long time since they had last seen each other after all. She kind of missed her friend’s antics. “I’ve been great, thank you for asking,” she replied, acting like everything was fine. “What about you?”

Krystal unintentionally pouted slightly. “You didn’t answer my questions, you evil girl,” she whined almost childishly. “Come on, Sulli-ah, I want to know every single detail about your life and I will tell you mine.”

Sulli shook her head at her friend’s reaction. “At least tell me how you’ve been first, Krystal-ah,” she chided gently.

Krystal immediately beamed at Sulli. “Well, I’m awesome as always!” she said cheerfully. Then, she rolled her eyes playfully. “Well, you already know that, don’t you?”

Sulli burst into laughter at her friend’s never-changing sassiness. “You’re sassy as always,” she pointed out, smiling fondly as the memories that she remembered she had with Krystal began to play in her head. She really did miss her friend so much. Krystal was the closest thing she had to being her friend.

Krystal just flipped her hair. “I’d prefer the term confident, Sulli-ah,” she corrected jokingly.

Just as Sulli was about to open to say something, Kai went over to them with a slight scowl etched into his features. He was holding a notebook and a pen. “May I take your orders, please?” he asked, sounding annoyed.

“Hey, you’re Kai, right?” Krystal asked, smiling at him. “We met at Seoul Amusement Park, remember? I didn’t know that you work here.”

Kai just let out a sigh and shrugged. “I’m here to take your orders and not to start a conversation with either of you,” he snapped.

Sulli noticed the flash of hurt in her friend’s eyes before it went away quickly. “I’d like to order blueberry waffles and Ice Americano, please,” Sulli requested politely.

Kai scribbled into his notebook as Krystal said airily, “Strawberry cheesecake and Ice Americano for me.”

As soon as the waiter was gone, Krystal scrunched up her nose and made a face. “What a grumpy guy,” she commented. “Well, he’s always been like that since we’re in Seoul Boarding School, anyway. Oh, hey, your story. Tell me what has happened to you for the past few years since we last saw each other.”

Sulli smiled slightly. “Well, basically I took a teaching course. I’m now teaching at Seoul Kindergarten as I’m waiting for a university to accept me so that I’d be able to get my master degree. And nope, I don’t have a boyfriend. The male teachers are mostly s or too old for me or too unattractive,” she described her life briefly. “It’s your turn now.”

Krystal huffed. She crossed her arms over her chest and made a face. “Nothing interesting happened to you? Like, I don’t know, getting kidnapped? Or meeting a guy at a club?” she asked, obviously dissatisfied with her friend’s answer.

Sulli shrugged nonchalantly. “Nah, my life is pretty boring. Well, I did get into an accident a few years ago and had amnesia. I’ve remembered some things but the most important one that I really want to remember, I can’t remember,” she replied casually.

Krystal gasped slightly. “Oh my God, Sulli-ah, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know that!” she blurted out, upset.

Sulli just smiled softly at the young lady opposite her. “Well, the past is the past. None of it matters anymore,” she responded. “Now, it’s your turn, Krystal-ah.”

“Well, I learned psychology with Baekhyun oppa and we’re working as social workers together at Seoul Orphanage,” Krystal told her friend. “The kids there are cute but quite a handful. It’s hard to deal with kids especially when you’ve always been withdrawn from others and not used to shower someone with love.”

She took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. A wistful smile made its way to her lips. “I really want to show the kids how much I love them but I just don’t have the space in my heart to love them wholeheartedly,” she continued. “Baekhyun oppa is amazing. He has a way with kids. All of the kids absolutely love him and he loves them, too. He’s caring and he will never let harm get to any of the orphans.”

“If I didn’t know you better, I’d have thought you’re in love with Baekhyun oppa,” Sulli remarked carelessly as their orders were served by Sehun. She immediately took a sip of her Ice Americano before starting to dig in.

Krystal knew that Sulli’s remark was meant to be harmless and just a joke but she could not help the seriousness that took over her. She gazed at her friend and sighed. “I am in love with him,” she said quietly but it was loud enough for Sulli to hear.

“Good for you,” the kindergarten teacher replied as she took another bite out of her blueberry waffles. Then, she raised her eyebrow as soon as she saw Krystal’s dejected expression. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked, concerned.

Krystal’s shoulders sagged. “Promise me you’ll never tell anybody about this,” she said strictly. Sulli nodded, giving her word. Krystal opened her handbag and searched for something inside. Then, she took out two photographs and passed it to the young woman opposite of her.

Sulli took the photographs from her friend and immediately let out a gasp of disbelief as soon as she saw what the pictures contained. She looked directly at Krystal’s eyes and she could see that her friend was distressed about this. She flipped the photos and her gasp was louder this time. She read the words that were scrawled on the back of one of the photographs.

Date Byun Baekhyun and either you or he will suffer the same fate as them. –Mirror

“Who is this Mirror person?” Sulli asked, feigning ignorance as she observed Krystal closely to see if there was any recognition in her eyes.

Krystal just shrugged and did not avert her gaze elsewhere. “I don’t know,” she answered and Sulli knew it was the truth. Nobody truly knew who Mirror was, anyway. “That’s why I decided to take a leave today as I want to make a police report on this.”

Sulli leaned closer to her friend and peered closely at her. “Have you ever heard of this Mirror person before?” she asked, choosing her words carefully.

Krystal shrugged again. “I don’t think I’ve heard of this Mirror person,” she answered.

Sulli wanted to press further but she decided to let it drop for the time being.

Oh, Jung Krystal, what a good actress you are.

7^th February 2017, 4.30PM

Sooyoung’s heart pounded loudly against her chest as she continued to type away on her laptop. She could feel that something was terribly wrong but she did not know what. It was her intuition that told her that something was very wrong. She had been telling herself for the past few hours that she was just being stupid but the nagging feeling that something was seriously wrong did not disappear.

In fact, it grew stronger with each passing moment.

Sooyoung looked at her cell phone that she had placed far away on the table as she did not want it to serve as a distraction when she was doing her job. Her phone had beeped just now and she was itching to open the text message but she held herself back.

She stared at her cell phone for a moment before going back to work. As she continued to type away, the office telephone rang loudly causing her to jump out of her seat literally. Her pounding heart did not slow down. Instead, the rate of her heart increased.

“Hello?” she greeted politely, her voice shaking slightly.

“Sooyoung-sshi, please call Kris to my office. I need to discuss something with him,” the person on the other line said briefly before hanging up on her before she could even say that she would obey his order.

Sooyoung shook her head. Kris’s father had always been a cold man. Like father, like son. Both of them did not interact with others that much except for business purposes. Well, it was not as if it was her business, anyway. She was a mere employee, not part of the Wu family.

Shrugging off, she knocked on the door to Kris’s office. Kris's office was located just beside hers so that she would be able to inform the other about things quite easily.

When Sooyoung did not hear Kris’s voice saying ‘come in’, she became more uneasy. She fidgeted. Her fingers were scratching the hem of her dress and she knew that she could get her dress ruined if she continued to scratch it.

She waited for a few minutes and knocked on the door again and there was still no answer.

, , , she thought to herself. Damn, damn, damn.

She did not realize how stupid she was. She had been ignoring the feeling of something being terribly wrong when the answer was right there in front of her eyes. She knew that she did not see Kris after having lunch with Changmin, Yeonhee, Ara and Yunho but she had assumed that her boss had returned earlier than her as the door to his office was closed.

Sooyoung hesitated. She wanted to open the door but she was afraid of what she would find. Did Kris come back to the office? She placed her hand on the doorknob before turning it slowly. She dreaded to find out what was inside the office and so she closed her eyes as soon as she had opened the door.

She wanted to hear Kris’s chuckle at her silliness for closing her eyes. She wanted to hear Kris’s cynical statement about her being a baby for being afraid to enter his office. She badly wanted to hear his annoyed voice asking what she wanted.

But she did not hear any of that. There was only silence in the office. She opened her eyes slowly and she found out that she was right. Kris was not in the office.

The office was empty.

There was nobody sitting on the chair.

But that did not mean Sooyoung did not panic.

Sooyoung immediately rushed to her office and grabbed her cell phone hastily from the table. She quickly unlocked it and a new text message notification was shown on the screen. She considered ignoring it but her intuition told her that she should open it.

Slowly, she pressed the open button. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw what was written in the message. A chill went down her spine and she wanted to curl up in a corner and cry.

Her old friend was back.

Her old friend was back but now her old friend was her enemy now.

You want to see Kris still breathing? Gather at Seoul Amusement Park tomorrow at eleven at night with the other eight who received the exclusive invitation to go there a few days ago. Don’t forget to bring the invitation card. –Mirror