“I’m home!”

The girl closed her eyes, nodding softly to the silence that radiated her house. She opened slightly, allowing the air to comfortably enter and leave before snapping her eyes open and slamming her bag on the nearby table.

Everyone was probably still asleep, while the girl had other things to do. Like hunting for game and placing herself ready for the presence of death – of course, that just meant she had to put her name into the ball for leftovers from sector one. Ah, yes. Sector one, what a loathsome group, just the thought made the girl grow with unbearable rage.

An elder woman walked into the hallway, her head down and her shoulders slightly hunched over. Without hesitation the girl called, “hello mother.” And bowed slightly.

She looked at her daughter – a face of disgust wrapped itself around her features. And she quickly ran towards her room, slamming the door behind her and locking it.

All the girl could do was stare at the wooden plank in shock – though it was no surprise. Her mother had always treated her that way. As an outsider, a nobody, a complete incompetent daughter with no real future.

“… Whatever.” She growled and made her way to the kitchen, pulling off her hat revealed her long blonde hair and deep blood red ends.

“Minjung…! Minjung!” Called a man in the yard.

Trailing her fingers along the freshly cleaned dishes, she peered out her window – well, what was left of her windows – and saw a young man with a three swords in hand and a big smile on his face.

Minjung laughed softly to herself and made her way towards the door, only to be stopped by her older brother.

“Jojo, where do you think you’re going?” He perched an eyebrow at her.

She raised a hand to her chin – fawning innocence and acting as if it took her a few minutes to realize what she was about to do. “… Hunt for some game?” Minjung tried to walk around him, but her raised an arm about chest level – stopping her trail.

“I do not think so.” He snarled.

As her hands brushed through her tangled hair, she breathed a sigh of annoyance. “Look, I always hunt for game. What’s the difference now…?”

“The difference is the reaping coming up, and we have to stay put under Mizushima’s orders.”

“And where is older brother right now? Exactly. Busy with his ing stupid wife and their ing stupid ‘future’. One that sector eight will never have.” Minjung clicked her tongue. “Whatever, I’m going with Donghae. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Oh Jocaste!” He called in anger.

She ignored him.

“Oh Jocaste…!” He shouted once more.

This time she turned around to face him - roling her eyes, while still stepping backwards. “Reita, I’ll be back. Don’t think I’m stupid enough to get myself killed by a wolf or stupid enough to die from an illness. Just go take care of mothe-.” She immediately stopped herself. Reita had the same treatment as Minjung, therefore the only people they had, were each other. “R-Reita… I promise you I won’t run away this time. Just trust me.” Was all she sad before running off with Donghae into the forest.

∞

“Now, Minjung. Close your eyes and picture it. Can you see it?”

She nodded, her eyes shut tightly as she was told to.

“Feel it’s presence, sense it’s movements.”

Her arms raised with a bow in hand, and a sword tucked under her arm just for reassurance.

“Perfect. Can you feel the direction in which it moves? The speed in its run, and the wind as it flies.”

Minjung smiled to herself and nodded softly, making sure not to alarm the animal.

“Alright, now all you need to do now is… aim and release.”

It wasn’t too long before she swung her body and shot – her eyes slowly opened and she witnessed a bird fall to the ground below them.

“Perfect. You’re almost better than me.”

She looked up to see his grin. It was almost mesmerizing, although something seemed a bit different. The feeling changed from when they were children. Minjung bit her lip slightly and turned to face the forest – she was aware of his feelings towards her, but she could never respond to them properly. At least not in the way he wanted her to – expected her to.

“S-So… the reaping’s tomorrow.” She breathed, reaching down to grab her sword.

Donghae’s expression quickly changed and he gave her a look, “how many times did you enter your name this time…?” He clenched his teeth in obvious stress.

Her hand reached to rub her sleepy eyes, “thirty? Forty? Around that many.” She shrugged. “Besides, if I get picked this year, it won’t really make a difference. Just another Oh family sacrifice, isn’t it? I mean… That’s why my mom won’t dare look me or Reita in the eyes. She knows one of us is going to die.” Minjung shoved her sword through her belt hook.

Suddenly in the distance you could hear a slap, scaring the birds making them all take off. Minjung raised her eyebrow, holding tightly to the stinging feeling on her right cheek. “Are you crazy, Fishy?” She dropped her jaw in shock.

“No Minjo. You’re the crazy one.” He shook his head. “Your…” He paused for a breath. “Your mother is scared of losing you. And you and I both know that’s the only reason why she won’t look at you properly or dare speak a word to you.”

His words shook her. Tears built slowly and she shrunk to her knees. “I-I know she is, Fishy. It… It hurts though. Having to greet her every day and only getting that look of disgust like… I’m not even her child.” Donghae looked down at Minjung realizing he said something he shouldn’t have – mentioning her mother was just asking for trouble. “She never even mentioned to me that Mizushima was getting married, or maybe the fact that my sister is trying to get into university. Why am I always kept in the shadow about these things?!” She waited a bit for herself to calm down. “M-Maybe… I’m someone my mom doesn’t need.”

Donghae could hear a little snap in his mind, and before he managed to scold Minjung for being so stupid, a horn sounded through the area.

They both looked at each other and took in deep breaths. He helped pull her to her feet and before they made their way back, Minjung pulled him back and kissed him lightly on the forehead. “Fishy, I’m sorry."

I'm sorry, I found it really annoying to read this in Georgia, so I chose Lucida. LOL
I know Tevin's chapter is better. Shhh. $:
I wrote this... really late, so my grammar may or may not make much sense. aha.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it!

Awaiting your applications...!