Lu Han sat there, stilled with fear. He is pretty sure that the girl’s eye colour is half red and gold. Red. That is the colour of reaper’s eyes. Lu Han, now what you are going to do? You have no powers or skill to deal with a reaper…You should just mind your own business! He mentally scolded himself. He froze as he saw the cute girl, lying in front of him stir awake…

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She opened her eyes. Different colours flooded into view. The lush green beech trees, dotted with brown and yellow leaves, swayed against the gentle breeze. She could hear the chirping of birds and the flowing of water nearby. A leaf float down gently as she lay there. “It is so pretty.” She reaches her hand towards the leaf and stopped mid-way. Blood. There is blood on my hand. That’s right! The battle… Her eyes widened as she remembers the encounter with the Death Vine’s wall. She lost control of her body and have no idea what is going on. “Am I alive?” She sat up suddenly and checks her hand, arms and body. “Not a single scratch..? Is that a dream?” she thought to herself.

 “Oh lord…” she heard a soft mumble.

“Who is that?’ she turned to her left, looking at the source of the voice.

It is a guy. He held on to a small cross necklace with his trembling hands, mumbling something in a language which Byul Ri couldn’t understand. What’s up with him? She wondered.

“Excuse me…Sir?” She said aloud.

“Blessed be the lord. The lord is my strength, and my shield. Thou shall perish!” Words frantically spilled out of his trembling lips and his chants got louder and louder.

“Lord…” he continued. “Hey! Stop!” she touched his trembling hands to get his attention.

“It doesn’t work?” he mumbled, stopping in mid-sentence and looked up. This is Byul Ri’s first time seeing his face. His bangs are swept to one side of his small face, revealing his soft features. He has doe-like eyes and a honey brown hair colour that complements his eye colour.

“You are so cute…” she mumbled.

 “Sorry? I am…What?” he asked in a quivering voice.

“Ummm… Nothing!” A faint blush crept up to her face when she realised she said it out aloud.

“Wait, a minute. Your eye colour? Impossible!” he inched towards her slowly, observing her with his large, pretty eyes.

“Umm…” Byul Ri squirmed uncomfortably. He is too close! She could feel his steady breathing on her skin. If she moved a little closer, their lips would touch.

“Yes?” He looked at her distractedly. Her face is as red as the setting sun, just as he is about to question “why”. He soon found out. His eyes trailed down and he finally realised how wrong their position are. His body is hovering over her petite frame, because of how it is, he look like he caged her to the ground.

“Eh, I am really sorry! I didn’t mean to!” He quickly moved away from her and stood up with his back facing her. An awkward silence quickly enveloped both of them. Byul Ri struggled to start speaking, what should I say? How about name? I mean, I don’t know his name right?

 “Hmm…W-what’s your name?” Byul Ri asked in a timid manner.

He didn’t answer. After a long pause, he said, “Lu Han.” He rubbed his nape subconsciously, he is really bad at handling situations like this. But, he has to say something at least.  “…and what’s yours?” He turned, looking at her in the eye.

“My name? I don’t really know…” she cast her eyes downwards. That is the truth. One moment she is in the black cage, another moment she is here with him. It is really confusing.

“How is that possible? You have lost your memory?” He asked in concern, looking up the tree where she fell. It is possible, since she fell down from that height of the tree. He wasn’t surprised if she took some damage to her body. It will be…weird, if she didn’t anyway.

“Maybe? But, you can call me Byul Ri.” She said. “That is the only name that surfaced in my mind when you asked me for my name.” she smile bitterly. It is pathetic not knowing your own name.

“Byul Ri? It is unique, but, beautiful name.” He looked away, there is a weird stirring in his heart. For some reason, he feel as though he have heard this name before.

“Is there anything wrong?” She stood up and tried to take a step forward. A piercing sound shot through her eardrums, her vision darkens. A hooded image sat in front of her. An illusion? She is beginning to feel fear seeping into her heart.

“Byul Ri, I will kill you if you fail this mission.” A smile crept up at the sides of his mouth. Once he said that, the illusion dissipated.

“Byul Ri? Byul Ri! Can you hear me?” Lu Han shook her shoulders vigurously to snap her out of it.

“W..What?” She looked up, traces of red in the eye quickly ebbed away.

“Don't "what" me! All of a sudden, you knelt down to the ground. You look like you are in a trance or something. I don’t know how to explain. But, your eyes are staring blankly ahead and you have trouble breathing.” Despite his annoyed voice, there is still hints of genuine concern in it.

“I think…I just had a flashback.” She shivered uncontrollably when she thought back of the unpleasant chill she felt when the hooded figure spoke to her. He reeks of death.

“Are you able to stand?” She lean against him for support while standing up. His body warmth feels so good and inviting, it would be nice if they can stay like that a little longer. Her face redden slightly, as she mentally chided herself for having such a thought.

“Wait, can I ask you a question? You said something about my eye colour earlier on…” She begin to ask.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I think I have seen it wrongly. I thought your eye colour is red. So, I suspected you to be a reaper. But you are not, because you are…you are warm.” He shrugged, gazing at the other side of the forest to hide his embarrassment.

“Reaper? What is that?” Her eyes flickered in curiosity.

“You mean, you don’t know?” His eyes widen at the new found fact. “Yes, I don’t. I don’t even know where I am. Care to explain?” She voiced her annoyance at the question.

“Alright, it is going to take some time. Let’s go before we are late for school,” He said, checking his watch. This is taking way more time than he expected. He just wanted to live life normally at Celestial Elements High. Now, he needs to help a girl who has lost her memory. What kind of luck do he have?

“Sch…School?” She looked bewildered. She don’t remember being enrolled to a school.

“Yeah, aren’t you a Celestial Elements High student?” He pointed to her bloodied uniform.

“I…?” She trailed off. “Please, don’t tell me. You can’t remember a thing about it.” He sighed, pushing his bangs away from his face.

“I will explain. But, what are you going to do about your uniform? I have checked, but, you do not have any wounds…” Before he could finish his sentence, she swing her hands across his face. “You ert! What do you mean you have checked?! First, you tried to violate me and now this?” she covered herself with her arms defensively.

“That hurts, you know… I might have saved your precious life. This is what you do to your life saviour? You owe me one big time!” He spat out the last words in her face. It is really hard to play as a nice guy. Instead of saving her, he could have enjoyed a longer nap beside his favourite lake.

“I am sorry. I just feel so confuse and…” She bit down on her lips. She shouldn’t have done that, ert or not. He probably did save her life.

“Fine. Let’s get going, can we?” He swung his bag over his shoulders and moved forward.

“Give me a minute.” She channelled her powers into her palm. A white glow surrounded her hand while she ran it over the blood patches in her uniform. In a seemingly impossible manner, the blood patches on the fabric evaporated as blood droplets. It floats towards Byul Ri’s palm as though a magnetic force is attracting the droplets to her hand. Within a few minutes, her uniform became clean and not a single blood patch seen.

“Did you just reabsorbed your own blood?”