Mornings at Yeongnam High were always bright and sunny and full of noisy teenagers. Today was no exception, and Hyerin was not exactly about that life.

Even just for a day, she would want some peace and quiet when she walks in through the humongous school gates of her school. Every day, there were rushing students, teens who shamelessly gossip about other teens, and jocks with their obnoxious laughter. She always wondered if there ever will be an end to this routine and get their butts to class quietly, but this was, in a way, the essence of high school.

Then there were those who just try to cope. The quiet ones that don’t really want to get involved with anything, but are definitely not loners – the ones who have a couple of friends and average grades but didn’t exceed any further. Basically the normal ones.

Hyerin wanted to believe she was one of those people, but the problem is, she was anything but normal.

Hyerin was beyond that. She exceeded in anything physical, at least two or three steps ahead of the average person. The rush of adrenaline gets to her as if she can take down anyone and anything. She can pick up sports easily and in a few practices, she could actually play decently. She was taught several fighting styles throughout the years, and she had little trouble with that, too. She knew she could hurt anyone badly, and deep within her she knew the grim reality that if it ever came down to it, she could probably kill someone.

She was not at all planning to flaunt this strange thing of hers to the whole world. She had been keeping a low profile for years and she was satisfied with that. No attention meant no one bugging her, and the least she wanted was other people in her business.

As she walked through the swarm of students littering the campus, something dark caught her eye. She turned to her right where she thought she saw it, but was met with nothing. 

She shook her head and continued walking to her building when it passed again, now on her left. She turned and completely faced the opposite direction, eyes widening.

Looking past the people who were walking by, there on the other side of the fence was what appeared to be a man clad in all-black with a strange looking device in hand. He was easy to spot, standing out from a pool of baby blue blazers.

Even with the black sunglasses he had on, Hyerin knew he was staring right at her.

For some reason, anger bubbled up inside her. What was this man's deal? Without any hesitation, she stomped her way towards to the fence, not caring about the students who were getting annoyed by her walking the opposite direction.

A boy harshly bumped into her. “Hey, watch where you're go-”

“Sorry,” she said distractedly. Hyerin turned back to where she was headed but was surprised when she saw that the man was gone.

“What the-” She looked around, scanning the place for any trace of him but he was nowhere to be found.

Just then, the bell rang and it was time for the students to head to their first class. Furrowing her eyebrows suspiciously, Hyerin tightly clutched her backpack and moved on to her first period.

- - - - -

Hyerin's ex-best friend, Jung Soojung, once asked her why she preferred walking home when she could easily have had her dad’s personal driver pick her up from school. Soojung would always scold her about how she wouldn't take advantage of the privilege of not walking, but soon shut when Hyerin told her that she wanted to spend more time with her every time they left school.

Only now, she was alone, but Hyerin continued to walk anyway, for the sake of her pathetic pride and also as a routine. She wouldn't have to do all this though, if only Soojung stuck around and didn't abandon her for a rowdier, friendly crowd.

It was almost seven in the evening and the sky was already dark. She was used to going home at this time because of after-school activities, but sometimes she skipped those and just headed home when she felt like it was going to be too dark to walk alone. She wasn’t scared—just avoiding trouble.

Hyerin ran a hand through her long straight locks, her mind drifting off to that incident with the man earlier. It was the only thing she could think about the whole day as if he was purposely corrupting her mind, itching for her to find out who he was and most importantly, what he wanted from her.

A cold rush of wind snapped her out of her thoughts, making her more aware of her surroundings. She noticed that she had walked far and was nearing the almost deserted part of the streets.

Moving on, Hyerin wrapped her blazer securely around her, looking down on her feet as she tried to block out the cool, strong breeze that would result to having a cold later on. She should have brought a jacket with her.

She didn’t know if it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but the walk felt so much longer, the air heavier. Hyerin's senses sharpened as she carefully scanned her surroundings.

At that exact moment, a motorcycle drove through the street beside the sidewalk she was walking on. Her head snapped up as it zoomed past her in full speed. It disappeared when it made a turn at the end of the block.

Hyerin frowned. There were few cars and even fewer motorcycles that passed this route as it was too narrow and dark.

She walked faster, not wanting to deal with anything unwanted when all of a sudden, the sound of an engine roaring to life resounded a few feet behind her, coming closer to where she was walking. Hyerin whipped around and saw that the black motorcycle was back, zooming not towards the block but towards her.

Her instinct was to run so she did, but there was really no point since the driver got a hold of her before she could even start sprinting. It was a man, she knew, and with a horrifying realization, the one who was stalking her this morning.

Now locked under his arm, she was dragged beside the motorcycle, the heels of her shoes harshly grating against the cemented ground as the driver attempted to put her in front of him on the seat. She struggled, but the man's hold only became firmer. Without hesitation, she bit his forearm and slammed the back of her head hard against his head. The driver immediately released her and she took this as an opportunity to escape.

Hyerin rolled on the rough pavement but quickly got up, adrenaline rushing intensely through her veins. She watched the motorcycle drive further away as the man did a back flip from the bike, landing right in front of her.

She didn't wait any longer and landed a punch on his face. He stumbled a little, but then got his stance back once again and attacked by returning the punch. It hit her right cheek, making her hiss in pain. He took this as an advantage and grabbed her by the shoulders, pushing her against the brick wall so hard that every muscle in her body felt like it broke.

She struggled and kneed him in his groin hard, making him back away in pain. When he had his back to the post lamp, she did a roundhouse kick, successfully sending him flying couple of feet away from her. Hyerin launched herself at him and pinned him to the ground.

She threw another punch. The man was about to grab the front of her shirt when she successfully blocked his hand with her forearm. She took his arms and pinned it above his head with one hand.

“Who the hell are you!?” she demanded.

When he didn't answer and kept on struggling, she threw a fist across his cheek and took off his glasses.

She was surprised to see a young man, probably in his mid-twenties, staring right back at her. He looked perfectly normal, aside from his eyes that were a ridiculous bright shade of blue.

It was a mistake to stare too long. She felt something lock between them, and before she knew it she couldn’t take her eyes off of his, and it wasn't because she didn't want to—she just couldn't.

The man rolled off his back, and it was his turn to pin her to the ground. She cursed once she finally regained her senses, angry and shocked as to how she was controlled so easily just by staring at him in the eye.

His arm was placed firmly against her chest while his left leg held her underneath, giving her no freedom to move. The man took something from behind him and there, glistening under the moonlight, was a knife. Hyerin had no time to react as the sharp tip of the knife slashed the skin on the lower part of her jaw, drawing blood. The blade traveled down her neck, making her whimper in pain.

He stopped at the middle of her neck. She didn't want to die like this. She wanted to die putting up a fight, but he was holding her down, preventing her from doing anything.

He raised his armed hand. Hyerin watched as the knife came down, but just when he was about to slash , someone from behind pried him off her. She crawled backwards out of relief.

The kidnapper and her savior were fighting each other now, but it was obvious that the new guy was dominating the fight. He sent an easy roundhouse kick to the other's face, successfully making him fall to the floor. He lunged toward him unhesitatingly, his hand making its way to the other's jaw, squeezing hard. Hyerin wasn't sure, but when he did that, some kind of jagged speck of light—almost like lightning—ran through his arm and into the man. Under him, her kidnapper quivered as if electrocuted, and then fell into immediate unconsciousness.

Her savior was breathing heavily, back turned to her as he looked down at the man's body. Hyerin stood up to approach him, confused but amazed at what he did. At the same time, he turned around.

Hyerin was met with a guy with sharp, distinct features highlighted under the light of the lamppost, his black hair styled in a neat fashion. He was looking straight at her as well, and that was when she realized she knew this guy. It was the secretary of the student council.

“Chen?” she called quietly just in case it was a mistake. The boy was taken aback, eyes widening. He didn't expect her to recognize him, let alone know his name. No one ever did.

Chen's expression neutralized, standing up and stepping closer to her. “Are you alright?” he asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

Hyerin nodded warily. “I'm fine. Are you?”

“Yeah, I’m alright. What's up with tha—Jesus, you're bleeding!” His eyes widened when he noticed the long parallel cut from her jaw to her neck, blood oozing out and dripping on her school blazer. Hyerin completely forgot about it and reached to touch her neck, but Chen immediately prevented her from doing so.

“D-Don't touch it! Oh god, did it cut a vein or something?” He was pale and panicking, looking around as if waiting for someone to come and help. Suddenly, he seemed to be usual self again.

He took her by the arm and dragged her toward the walkway. “We need to get you to a hospital. Are you feeling dizzy? If you are, just tell me and I'll carry you and bring you to the nearest-”

Chen was cut off by the sound of three black cars speeding their way towards them. They halted in their steps and this time, Hyerin was the one who held his arm firmly, pushing him behind her just in case it was another attack. He didn’t seem to mind.

The cars circled around them, easily blocking their way to escape. At least a minute passed by with no one moving.

Slowly and unsurely, Hyerin took one step back, and just with that small movement, the people inside the vehicles stepped out all at the same time.

Every single one of the men and women that came out wore black suits and black sunglasses with black earpieces. They were all identical, almost creepily so. Nothing set them apart from each other.

They were fast in motion and Hyerin was prepared to pounce on anyone who tried something on them.

They stopped several feet away from them, while some went over to the unmoving body of her kidnapper, handcuffing and carrying him into one of the cars. Hyerin's brows furrowed in confusion.

The passenger door of the third car opened, and a man with gray-streaked hair and cold, steely eyes approached Hyerin and Chen. The suited people stepped back and gave way to the older man.

Hyerin sized him up. He was tall and most likely in his fifties. There was no doubt he was a man of power and authority. She could tell with just the way he stood and looked at her. He made her feel like a little mouse, but she was not about to show him that she was intimidated.

“Are you the FBI?” she questioned, annoyed at how small and unsure her voice came out. Nevertheless, she glared at him unwaveringly.

“Negative. We have much more importance than the FBI,” he said, amused with the look she gave him. “I am Agent Zero.” He nodded once, his mouth set in a firm line. “There’s no need to worry. We mean no harm.”

“Of course you don't,” she snarled, hit by a sudden wave of bravery. “Who are you people?”

“I believe you have been followed and ambushed by an anonymous attacker, yes?”

“Isn't that obvious enough already? Now tell me who you are or else,” she spat, advancing towards the man when his guards readily took out their guns, pointing it directly at her and Chen.

The boy looked horrified. “What the hell are you doing!? Back off or we'll be dead!” he hissed, grabbing her arm.

Hyerin shoved his hand away and scoffed. “Mean no harm, huh?”

“Put those down,” Agent Zero ordered sternly. At once, they lowered their weapons.

“We shall talk about this matter formally in a civil manner. This is not the place to do so,” he said in a calm voice. “I must ask you to come with me to our headquarters to discuss this.”

“No.”

“I don’t think you are aware of how serious this situation is. You are in danger.”

“Of course I know this is serious. I was attacked for no reason! That guy wanted me dead. And then you people come along meddling in.”

“We're here to help.”

“You say that, when your men were about to shoot me,” she growled. “What makes you think I can trust you?”

Agent Zero's eyes locked with hers, and as much as she hated to admit it, it sent shivers down her spine. “You have to understand that being trained by your mother for ten years is not enough for you to survive this predicament you are in.”

Hyerin's breath hitched; no one knew about that except for her brother. “In fact, this does not only revolve around you, but also your family, your friends, and as impossible as it sounds, the whole nation. We did not come here just to get that kidnapper's body. We came here for you. You need us,” he stepped closer to her, “and we need you.”

Hyerin gaped at him, absolutely speechless.

“What do you want from me?” she asked after a long pause.

“Your help.”