Chapter One

Aurales Headquarters

As soon as Tiffany alighted from the car, she stormed through the hallway immediately, ignoring the presences of the shikshin duo who waited for their return since half an hour ago.

“What happened?” The taller one of the duo asked in surprise. She was holding on to a piece of chip, about to throw it into .

Her partner shrugged and shook her head in confusion. She was as ignorance as her.

Just then, Yuri exited the garage and entered the main building. A warmth smile was spread across her tired face when she saw her friends sisters were waiting for her at the doorway.

“Yuri unnie!” One of them exclaimed when she noticed Yuri’s existence. She ran towards the older hunter and gave her a tight hug. “How’s everything? And what happen to Fany unnie?”

The taller of the two, who was back to the munching of her potato chips, followed behind her partner. She might be anxious, but not till the extent where she would hug Yuri and screamed with excitement.

That would ruin her image (if there was even one in the first place).

Yuri’s face darkened upon hearing Tiffany’s name. It reminded her of the incident which happened merely an hour ago, the reason Tiffany was in such a bad mood.

She let out a heavy sigh uncontrollably, “The situation was worse than what we heard initially.” She paused, glancing at her two friends who were looking at her anxiously. “We took down the whole town.”

The bag of potato chips fell from the taller girl’s hand as she gasped in shock.

“No survivors?” She asked.

Yuri shook her head regrettably. If only they reached earlier, those innocent citizens would not have become mutants.

“I… I’m going to check on Fany unnie.” The other girl stuttered, remembering how cold Tiffany looked when she walked past them earlier on.

It must be terrible for her.

“No Yoona,” Yuri stopped her friend before she could get away. “Leave her alone, she will be fine in the morning.” Yuri understood Tiffany too well. Her partner preferred to be alone whenever she is in a bad mood. If anyone ever tried to approach her within this period, they might have to go through a whole lot of sufferings. But in any case, Tiffany would eventually return to her usual self the next morning, there was nothing for them to worry.

“Sooyoung,” Yuri turned to her other friend. “Look after Yoona, don’t let her go near Tiffany. I’m going to report to the headmaster now and I am expecting to see both you and Yoona safe and sound when I come back. You got it?”

“Yeah, sure…” Sooyoung forced out a smile helplessly. Now she had to come out with a plan to stop Yoona from being such a kind and caring girl.

Yuri glanced at the bag of potato chips on the ground before averting her gaze back to Sooyoung again. “And you know the cleaner lady doesn’t like it when you leave those crumbs around… Better clean up the place before she finds anything.”

*

Ten minutes later, Yuri reached the headmaster’s office which is located on the top level.

“Come in,” A male voice called from behind the door. “The door is open.”

Yuri pushed open the door as instructed. Rows of bookshelves entered her vision as she stepped into the room. Yuri stood in front of the doorway and scanned the room. Books and pieces of papers were all over the place. On the table, chairs and the carpeted floor, yet the person she was looking for was nowhere to be seen.

“Mr. Headmaster?” She called softly, but received no reply.

And I thought I heard him asking me to come in just a minute ago. Yuri frowned. She raised her voice and called out again, “Oppa? Are you in here? Answer me.”

Still, not a single response.

“Oppa?” Yuri was losing her patience. “Kwon Hyuk-Jun!”

“Yah! How many times must I say it is rude for you to address me by my name!” A voice finally came out from behind the table. Yuri arched her eyebrows curiously as she carefully made her way through the stacks of papers and stopped in front of it.

“What are you doing down there, Mr. Kwon?” Yuri came to realize Hyuk-Jun wasn’t behind the table, but underneath it.

Hyuk-Jun popped up his head from below, “I dropped my pen. Could you grab it for me? The gap is too narrow for my hand.” He asked while settling himself down on the chair behind him.

“Tsk.” Yuri made a click sound with her tongue to show her discontentment, “Oppa, you sure know when to do things right.”

“Oh come on, it’s not my fault that my pen chose to drop at this time.” He stood up from his chair and grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the shelves behind. “So how is situation? And where is Tiffany?” He passed Yuri the bottle after she found his pen.

Putting the pen on the table, Yuri grabbed the bottle away from Hyuk-Jun. “No survivors, all of them were mutated before we got there. Tiffany isn’t quite happy about it. She is resting in her room right now.” Yuri took out a small transparent glass bottle from her pocket and showed it to Hyuk-Jun, “I dug this out from one of the victims. I hope the researchers are able to find a solution from it.”

“One of the reports came out right after you and Tiffany left.” Hyuk-Jun said. He took the small bottle away from Yuri and examined the dark rotten flesh within it. “They say magic may be the cause of the mutation.”

“Isn’t Wideon the only one who possessed such powers?” Yuri was surprised. Wideon was eliminated a century ago after they lost the war against Satron. Since then, all sorcerers and sorceresses had extinct and no one used magical powers anymore.

“My thoughts exactly.” He paused for a second, sorting out the information in his mind before continuing, “There might be a possibility that Satron discovered ways to control magic since they were the ones who led Wideon into destruction.”

“Oh gosh.” Yuri felt dizzy at that piece of information. If what Hyuk-Jun said was true, things would be harder to handle than what they initially expected.

“Let’s not get too worried about it first, shall we? If Satron is capable in using those magic, I believe the situation won’t be this simple. This may be an experiment for them, but the researchers are the ones who need to figure that out. Your task now is to get a rest, refresh yourself and be ready for any unexpected mission.”

“You make me sound like a slave.”

“Well, you’re not the only one, all of us are. Until this battle is over, no one is going to live in peace. You should get going before your girlfriend gets worried.”

“Wha––What?” Yuri exclaimed. She was utterly surprised at her brother’s comment. “Girlfriend? Since when do I have a girlfriend?” Cool, did someone spread any weird rumors when she was away?

“Yuri, I saw everything.” Smirk crept onto Hyuk-Jun’s face as he continued, “The both of you, Tiffany and you, you guys were kissing two nights ago and…” He stopped, knowing that without further elaboration, Yuri would still understand what he was referring to.

“You peeped on us?!” The only thing Yuri had in mind now was to bang her head against a wall.

To think that her one and only family member witnessed that kind of scene… This is truly worse than nightmares!

Hyuk-Jun shook his head, “I wasn’t. I was merely looking for Sooyoung and Yoona that night when I just so happened to see the both of you kissing passionately outside your room. You know, you should always get inside your room before doing anything like this. Not everyone is open-minded like your brother.”

“Oppa, things aren’t what you think they are––”

“Oh come on, I’ve already told you I’m open-minded. I’m not going to oppose this relationship. Besides, Tiffany is a nice girl, although she may be harsh sometimes…”

“Oppa, we are not couple, trust me.”

“Well then, explain the kiss.” Right now in his mind, Tiffany had already become the perfect bride for his little sister. He would not believe Yuri unless she was able to come out with a good explanation.

Uh huh… explain huh?

Yuri chewed on her lower lip, allowing her gaze wandered around the room while her brain processed wildly like the processors in the computers in search of an explanation. There was a certain reason she went on bed with Tiffany, but she was unsure if it was appropriate for her to reveal the truth to her brother.

“Yuri, if you can’t give me an answer, bring Tiffany to me. I’m more than happy and willing to have her as my sister-in-law.”

“No oppa––Alright! Listen to me. Tiffany and I, we are both adults now, there are times when we need it, you get what I’m saying?” Dang! And there she goes… Yuri could totally foresee her future if Tiffany found out she told her brother their hidden activities.

Hyuk-Jun was stunned upon hearing Yuri’s honest explanation and “Wow” was the only word he could pronounced after several moments.

It seemed to be only yesterday when Yuri was born and now, she was old enough to experience these things. The little girl who liked to snuggle in his embrace had disappeared before he knew it, and the person who stood before him was a grown-up, mature young lady.

Time really flies fast.

“Still…” Hyuk-Jun’s voice finally found its way back. “You can always ask her out! I mean she is perfect, everyone loves her. And since you’re the closest with her now, you should make use of your advantages and go for her. Do you even know how many people envy you?”

“Oppa, some things are not under my control.” As much as she wanted to love Tiffany––which she actually did when she found out she was paired with this beautiful and attractive lady. But Tiffany came to her suddenly, as if aware of her thoughts, and warned her not to have any weird thoughts on her. She was also saying something like she could not love anyone and would love no one.

“So you’re saying Tiffany is the problem now?”

Yuri pressed her lips tightly together, drawing it into a straight line.

She had revealed too much.

“No oppa, what I meant is I can’t force myself to love someone who I see as a friend, a sister and a partner. I love Tiffany nonetheless, just not in the way you want me to.” She might have though, if Hyuk-Jun said these to her years ago. But now, she saw Tiffany as her family member. It would be too awkward to imagine herself in a romantic relationship with Tiffany.

… Or maybe not?

“So you’re saying you rather have an intimate contact with your friend than loving her?”

“Oppa!” Geez! He is driving her crazy! “Let’s not talk about the things you saw that night. You don’t want anybody to hear about it and one of them is Tiffany definitely. You know she will kill us if she finds out you know our secrets.”

Uh… that’s true. Tiffany is so popular nowadays that even the newcomers are aware of how scary she is.

“Alright, I shall stop here then. Go take a rest now, you look restless. There won’t be any missions for you and Tiffany unless something pops up.” Hyuk-Jun kept the small bottle in his pocket. This is important to the findings for the cure of the mutation.

“Yeah, okay.” Yuri replied, her eyes were following the movement of Hyuk-Jun’s hand. “Oppa, you need rest early too okay?” She looked at Hyuk-Jun worriedly. “I don’t want you to fall sick.” Although Yuri treats almost everyone in the clan like her family, Hyuk-Jun is still her one and only blood-related family. She cares for him more than she cares for anyone, including herself.

“Silly girl!” Hyuk-Jun chuckled and patted the top of his sister’s head. “Your oppa is old enough to take care of himself. You should worry for yourself before worrying for me!” He smiled when he saw his sister scrunching her nose in displeasure. “I promise I will return to my room as soon as I take this sample to the professor, alright? Now, go back to your dormitory and take a good rest!”