It was a cold and windy night as she waited at an allyway outside a night club. Her brown hair was covered by a hood but the ends of her hair that stuck out flowed gently as wind passed through it. There was a small lamp above her head, it was dim but enough to see if someone walked by. It was winter, the one season that Jessica Jung disliked. In fact, she hated it. She hated the snow and everything about winter, it was cold and it only reminded her of her past. 

 

From the outside, she could still hear the loud thumping music. She exhales, letting out smoke. Was it because it was freezing cold or was it the cigarette between her index and middle finger at the moment?. She sighs at the useless question. It was obviously both. She breathes in the cold air into her lungs once more before exhaling and placing the cigarette between her lips, replacing the air in her lungs with smoke. She leans against the brick wall of the night club and exhales, letting the smoke come out of .  

 

She wasn't always like this. There was a time when she was herself, She wasn't a cold person and she was doing well in school but now she's only gaining money by hurting people. She wasn't a player, she used to believe that you should only love one person in life. She didn't smoke and hated the smell of it, even though she smokes now she still does hate the smell of it but smoking helped her lessen the pain in her. She never went to night clubs, she never drank alcohol, she hated loud music and she used to only love and listen to acoustic music. She was always herself until that day. It happened four years ago, when she was nineteen.

 

"What did I do wrong?" She asks herself that same question again but still, she doesn't have the right answer to it. She closes her eyes and then just like every night,  that memory plays in her mind.

 

*

 

She stared out the window of her room. Snow. It was snowing, that meant winter had finally arrived. She quickly ran downstairs and opened the front door ignoring the fact that she was only wearing a blouse and a pair of jeans. She extended her hand out, letting the cold and fresh snowflakes land on her bare hand.

 

"What are you doing Jessica?!" It was her mother.

 

"It's snowing!" a big smile plastered on her face as she replied in a shout. 

 

"Well close the door, you're letting cold air get into the house!" 

 

Jessica walked back into the house and closed the door with a sigh. She made her mother angry once again.  She walked to the couch where her mother was sitting. Her mother was watching some show on the televison. 

 

She was about to apologize but her mother was faster than her.

 

"Go and find something useful to do,will you?!" She glared at her daughter and shouted.

 

Jessica and her mother used to have a pretty good relationship but that all ended a year ago when her parents divorced. Her mother blames her, she says that Jessica was the reason he left but really Jessica had nothing to do with it. She had always been a good child, never did anything wrong in her life.

 

"Mom..." Jessica looked at the middle aged woman with sad eyes.

 

"What do you want?!"  

 

"I...I just.. I.." She tried to say it but was cut off .

 

"Stop stuttering and just say it!"

 

Jessica couldn't take it anymore. She needed answers. "..Why do you hate me mom?!" 

 

"When are you going to grow up Jung Sooyeon?!" 

 

Her mother called her by her korean name, She only does that when she's really mad or if Jessica was in trouble.

 

"What are you talking about?!" Jessica shouted back. Something she has never done to her mother.

 

"You're nineteen Sooyeon! You don't have a job..." 

 

Her mother sighed and looked into the eyes of her daughter. "..and you're not even in university."

 

Jessica became furious, the only reason why she didn't go to university was because her mother said they couldn't afford it yet. "B-But, you!... you said I couldn't go! Mom I wanted to go to university and become a doctor!" Just like her dad, a doctor.

 

"No! No Sooyeon! You will never become a doctor! Never!" Her mother hated that profession because it reminded her of Jessica's dad. 

 

"Why?!" Jessica screamed. She tried holding back her tears that were threatening to fall.

 

No answer. 

 

"Dad-"

 

"Don't you dare mention him in this house!" Her mother was enraged. Her eyebrows were almost touching as she pointed at Jessica angrily. 

 

A tear streamed down Jessica's face. "D-"

 

"Get out!" Her mother looked away from her and sighed. "Get out."

 

"DAD WOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY WITH MY CHOICES!" She shouted her last words to her mom before rushing out the door.

 

Jessica didn't even bother to grab a jacket as she rushed out the front door, slamming the door behind her. She ran and ran, not even caring where she ends up, she just wanted to get away from that house. It wasn't her home anymore. Her tears were flowing down her face more and more, she couldn't stop crying.

 

Snow, Snow everywhere. It was cold, freezing cold. It was dark now, it has been about three hours since Jessica left. She stared at the cafe across the street and decided that it was time to stop running, she needed to get away from the cold now. 

 

As she entered the small cafe, the few customers stared at her in shock but turned away quickly after. 

 

"Hell- Oh my goodness!"  The waitress started to greet Jessica but then gasped after seeing her. "....M-Miss, a-are you okay?"

 

Jessica stared blankly at the short haired blonde, not knowing how to answer. Her whole body was shaking from the cold. The shorter girl didn't need an answer, she quickly went to the back of the cafe and grabbed a blanket, bringing it back for Jessica.

 

"Please sit down.." The girl smiled brightly and escorted Jessica to an empty seat. Jessica sat down and smiled thankfully at the girl. 

 

"It's not a good idea to stay outside in the cold for a long time, especially with what you're wearing.." The girl said as she scanned Jessica's outfit. A plain white blouse and jeans.  

 

"How long have you been out?" 

 

Jessica glanced at her watch. "T-Th-Three, Three h-hours." She was still shaking from the cold. 

 

"W-What?! Why?" The girl looked at her in disbelief and sat down opposite of Jessica. Her facial expression was like a child that was ready for storytime. 

 

 Jessica frowned. "I.. I was kicked out of my house."

 

"I'm guessing you don't have anywhere to go now..."  The girl sighed, she tapped her chin with her index finger as she pondered about something. "..I'll be right back." 

 

A few minutes later the girl came back with a cup in her hand and a strange man following behind her, his hair was blonde as well but a bit blonder than Sunny. They both sat down opposite of Jessica. The girl placed the hot chocolate infront of Jessica. 

 

"By the way, my name's Sunny. haha! totally forgot to introduce myself. What's your name?"

 

"I'm Jessica, Jessica Jung." She smiled at Sunny then looked over at the strange man with dark shades on, covering his eyes completely. 

 

"..O-Oh right, and this is the owner of the cafe, Kwon Jiyong."

 

Jiyong did not smile nor did he make any move. "Sunny, I asked you to help me and you bring me a kid? I'm not taking in a kid." He said bluntly. 

 

Jessica was offended by the word Jiyong had referred to her as. "I'm not a kid." She stated coldly, sending a glare to Jiyong's eyes behind his frames. 

 

Sunny pouted. "She stayed out in the cold for three hours and she needs somewhere to stay. It's been two weeks, just take her in Jiyong. I can't find anyone better, Everyone that enters this place seems too friendly."

 

"Friendly?" Jiyong scoffed. He lowered his voice. "You just don't want to ruin their perfect lives."

 

Sunny sighed in frustration. "I didn't even want to help you in the first place! I'm only helping you because you're my brother, you know that."

 

"You're not even helping me right now." 

 

"Just give her a chance."

 

Jiyong glanced at Jessica then back to Sunny. "You want me to help this innocent girl by turning her into a monster? You know I don't take in girls." He whispered to Sunny.

 

"Taeyeon is a girl." She whispered back with sadness in her eyes.

 

"Taeyeon had no family, she had no where to go. Seeing her sleep on the streets every night wasn't a pleasant sight."

 

"I don't think seeing Jessica sleep on the streets every night is a pleasant sight either. She got kicked out of her house."

 

Jessica stared at the blonde siblings with a puzzled look as they whispered back and forth to each other. She shrugged and took a sip of the hot chocolate Sunny brought her.

 

"Why'd you get kicked out?" Jiyong questioned Jessica. 

 

Jessica thought about it for a second, she didn't really know how to answer. "...My mother hates me."

 

"What about your father?" 

 

"He's gone, I don't know where he is or what he's doing."

 

Jiyong sighed at the poor girl's life. "So you have no where to go?" Jessica nodded her head in reply, a frown on her face.

 

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to give you a chance..."

 

Sunny clapped her hands together and grinned like a kid that just recieved a whole bucket full of candy. "Thank you Jiyong! Finally you're making some right choices." Sunny joked. 

 

"Don't be so happy yet." Jiyong warned his sister. "I need to know her answer before I can let her in."

 

"Let me in what?" Jessica spoke up. 

 

Jiyong went through his jacket pocket and took out a small folded piece of paper. He slid the paper towards Jessica. "Take your time and talk to her when you're done deciding." He said without any emotions. "Does this guy even have any facial expressions?" Jessica thought to herself as he took his leave to the back of the cafe.

 

"Take my time with what...?" She questioned as she took the piece of paper into her hands. Sunny reached into her apron pocket and took out a pencil. She placed the pencil on the table.  "You'll need this." 

 

"Hot chocolate will help too." She whispered. "I've got to get back to work."  She said and gave a quick smile to Jessica before getting up from her seat and returning to her job. 

 

Jessica carefully unfolded the white paper, making sure there was no one watching her. It confused her at first but then she realized it was a puzzle. On the paper was a empty box drawn with numbers 1-20 along the top edge and same for the left edge of the box. There were nine math equations under the box as well, Jessica had no problem solving the equations because she was good at math. After gaining the answers to the equations, she realized what it was for. Nine questions meant there were nine words she needed to look for. 

 

35, The answer to the first equation.  She placed her finger on the left side of the box where the number three was written, with her other finger she pointed at the number five on the top edge of the box. She dragged her finger along the paper until they connected. "Hot chocolate will help too." Sunny's advice popped up in her head. She kept a finger at the spot and grabbed a napkin to dip into her hot chocolate. With the hot chocolate tip of the napkin she painted a across until it revealed a word. 

 

'Grant.' She wrote down the first word and continued to find the other eight words. Once she found them all, the secret message was readable. 

 

"Grant death to those who anger The Dragons." She read the message in her head. After reading it a few times, she furrowed her eyebrows. "Who are The Dragons?"

 

Jessica called the short blonde to come to her. Sunny walked over and there was a bit of worry in her voice. "..What do you need?" 

 

"I don't get it." Jessica said. 

 

Sunny stared at the hot chocolate stained paper and smiled. "That's what they all say. The cafe is closing soon, You have about half an hour to make your choice." 

 

"What choice? This sentence isn't even a question..." 

 

Sunny lowered the volume of her voice and looked around before talking. "Then I'll give you a question." The smile on her face disappeared. Jessica raised a brow at her. 

 

"Do you want to live?" Sunny asked, her voice was almost a whisper. 

 

"I.... I want to live." 

 

Sunny's lips curved into a smile once again. "A lot of people want to live as well but not all of them do."

 

Jessica gasped. "A-Am I going to d-die?" She asked in shock.

 

"No silly! Not any time soon that's for sure." Sunny giggled. "Don't worry, I'll take you to Jiyong after I close the cafe. He'll explain it all to you."

 

Jessica watched quietly as people exited the cafe. When the cafe was empty, Sunny went over to lock the doors and close the blinds. Jessica decided to help Sunny since the girl basically saved her life.  After finishing everythin, Sunny told Jessica to follow her. 

 

They went into the back of the cafe, a storage room full of huge bags of coffee beans and cups. Jessica was confused until Sunny moved a few bags of coffee beans to reveal a secret door that went underground. There was a passcode lock on the door, Sunny typed it in quickly and opened the door. "Follow me." 

 

Jessica did as told and followed Sunny. After walking down a very long flight of stairs they were greeted by another door. The door had a dragon carved in it, it was quite beautiful. Sunny knocked on the door. Jessica noticed there was a pattern when Sunny knocked on the door. 'Knock, Knock Knock, Knock.'

 

The door was opened by a blue haired man dressed in a black suit. "Who's she?" Was the first thing he asked. His deep voice sent chills down Jessica's spine, it was scary, he was scary. Sunny ignored his question. They stepped through the door and walked by him. Jessica examined her surroundings, the place looked like the inside of a house, hardwood floors and plain white walls except there were no windows, it wasn't needed since they were underground. There was a large kitchen to the left of her. "What is this....An orphanage?"

 

"Where's Jiyong?" Sunny asked. 

 

"Boss is in his office." The man replied. 

 

Sunny took Jessica upstairs to Jiyong's office, the place had three floors, no wonder the stairs down to the place was so long. The stairs up to Jiyong's office was long as well, his office was on the third floor. Sunny entered the room without knocking, Jiyong looked up from the book he was reading and raised a brow at Sunny. He didn't look as intimidating to Jessica as he did in the cafe because his sunglasses were off. "What are you doing in here?" He closed his book with both hands and stood up from his seat to put the book back into the empty gap in the bookshelf.

 

Sunny took out the hot chocolate stained paper out of her pants pocket and showed it to Jiyong. He smiled, for the first time infront of Jessica. "So, you're smart?" 

 

Jessica shrugged. "I guess? I excelled in school." 

 

"How old are you?"

 

"Nineteen, my birthday is in a month." 

 

"Sunny, you really do know how to find people." He smirked. "I needed someone smart."

 

"Of course." She smiled. "You've told me a million times."

 

"Can I know what this place is now?" Jessica asked as she was curious and impatient. 

 

"This is the house of The Dragons." He answered simply. 

 

"...." Jessica waited for him to continue. He took a sip of coffee from his cup before continuing. "The Dragons are a secret organization of assassi-"

 

"A-Assassins?!" Jessica shouted and jumped back a little almost bumping into the closed door.

 

"Were kinda like a mafia." Sunny added. "But not really." 

 

Jiyong continued his sentence that was interrupted "Assassins. When we kill, we make sure there's no blood involved." 

 

"Remember that." Sunny told the still in shock Jessica. 

 

"I-I can't kill people..."

 

"Then we'll teach you to." Jiyong said with a smirk. "You can't back out of this now, I already told you everything. If you want to live, you stay with us. Simple as that." 

 

Jessica thought about it for a few minutes then she sighed in defeat. "This better be fun."

 

"I like your thinking." Jiyong grinned. "Sunny, find an empty room for her." 

 

Sunny nodded and told Jessica to follow her again. As they walked down to the second floor, Jiyong's voice boomed out of a speaker that was installed into the huge place. "Meeting in an hour, if you're in the building make sure you're there."

 

The second floor was where members of The Dragons would stay. It had probably around fifty rooms, It was like a hotel almost except each door had a name on it instead of a number.

 

"How many people live here?" Jessica decided to ask.

 

Sunny laughed. "There are currently thirty four members, including you." 

 

They went through rows and rows of doors before finding doors without a name on it. 

 

Sunny opened up the door and went in, Jessica glaced at the name on the door that was beside hers. 'Choi Sooyoung' At least she had a neighbor, maybe they'll get along. Jessica walked into her room. 

 

"This will be your room from now on." Sunny announced. 

 

The room was what Jessica expected it to be, like a hotel room.  It had a simple bed and a bathroom. 

 

"Your name will be on the door tomorrow."

 

Sunny patted Jessica's back. "Don't worry, living here will be easier than you think it is."  

 

Jessica can only nod her head in reply. This was the beginning of her new life. 

 

*

 

"...Jessica, Jessica, Jessica!" A slap fell on her shoulder snapping her out of her memories. 

 

"What?" She answered coldly and threw her cigarette on the floor, squishing it down with her boots.

 

"Are you okay? I called your name like ten times.." 

 

"I'm fine, Sooyoung." Sooyoung was one of Jessica's best friend. Living beside each other in the underground house brought them closer.  

 

"What took you so long? I was freezing out here... You know I hate the cold." 

 

"Sorry." She chuckled. "I had to deal with some problems on my way here. Let's go in now." 

 

They both made their way into the night club. Scenes of people dancing and drinking were seen. They kept their eyes opened for their targets, Jessica's target was a girl this time. Of course Jiyong would leave Jessica with the harder target. Jessica's targets were always men so this was a change for her.

 

"Could you not leave me alone tonight?!" Sooyoung shouted into Jessica's ear.

 

"Can't promise it!" Jessica shouted back with a smirk and then they both split ways. 

 

It was impossible to see any faces clearly on the dance floor of the night club. The only thing that lighted up the dance floor was the frequent strobe light flashes and the green spot lights. Jessica pushed through the crowd of people dancing and towards the bar, where the lighting was normal. It was dim but you could actually see faces. She sat down on the bar stool and sighed. "How am I going to find this girl?" All she knew about the girl was her name and her hair color. 

 

"Hey, can I get you a drink?" The bartender asked. Jessica looked at the girl with a smile. "Any drink will do, Just don't poison it." She chuckled, the girl smiled and brought out a glass cup and filled it with beer. 

 

"Thanks...." She paused and glanced over at the girl's nametag. "Hyuna."

 

"You remind me of this pretty girl that was here like a few minutes ago, She didn't want her drink to be poisoned either." Hyuna laughed. 

Jessica brought the glass cup to her lips and gulped down the drink. She smirked as she placed the empty cup down. "She must think somebody's gonna kill her."

 

"Yeah, really. She was telling me her life story or something, I wasn't really listening but she kept repeating that she didn't want to die." Hyuna shrugged. "She said she'd be back.. I hope she's oka-" She stopped. Her expression changed to a shocked and worried one. 

 

Jessica felt a presence appear on the seat beside her, from the corner of her eyes she could tell it was a girl. 

 

"Give... me.. another..." From the dragging of her words, Jessica could tell that the girl was already drunk. 

 

Hyuna brought out a glass but Jessica pushed it back. "Don't give her anymore."

 

"I'm just doing my job." Hyuna gave Jessica an apologetic smile. 

 

Jessica stared at the drunken girl. "Not again." She'd have to watch over another girl tonight instead of finding her target. Jessica sighed. She hated seeing pretty girls getting drunk and waking up to a random man in the morning. 

 

Before the girl could even take a sip from the glass she passed out on the bar counter. 

 

"Hey, wake up.." Hyuna poked the girl in the head.

 

Jessica sighed. "She's out."

 

Hyuna sighed as well. "What am I supposed to do now?"

 

"Don't worry about it, I'll take her home." 

 

Hyuna smirked and gave Jessica a nod. "Have fun."

 

Jessica pushed open the hotel door with her free arm. She was holding the girl with her other arm, surprisingly the girl wasn't as heavy as Jessica thought she'd be. She walked in and carried the girl over to the bed, placing her down carefully. Jessica searched the girl's jacket for a phone or maybe a wallet but there was nothing. 

 

"Jiyong is going to kill me." She sighed and laid down beside the girl. Jiyong was aware of Jessica's habit of helping poor drunken girls, he told Jessica to stop as it distracted her from her job but words weren't going to stop Jessica. The girl was much more prettier here than she looked at the bar. She closed her eyes, slowly falling asleep.

 

Jessica woke up in the morning to an annoying ringtone. She groaned and cursed the girl who did it to her cellphone. "I'm so going to kill Sooyoung." 

 

"What do you want?!" Jessica picked up and shouted into her cell. 

 

"I see somebody didn't get their beauty sleep." The girl on the other line joked. 

 

"Sorry Taeyeon, you know I don't like waking up in the morning to a call...so why are you calling me?" 

 

"Boss wants to see you in his office today, don't ask me why because I have no idea." 

 

Jessica sighed. "Bye." she hung up on the girl.  

 

She placed her phone on the night stand and turned to face a girl that was staring at her blankly. "Oh." She had almost forgotten about the girl.

 

"Good morning." Jessica gave the girl a smile. 

 

"Who are you?" The girl glared at Jessica and said.

 

"Jessica Jung, you?"

 

"You don't need to know my name, I don't plan on becoming friends with you."

 

"You shouldn't be so rude to people who helped you." Jessica smirked. 

 

"Helped me?"

 

"I didn't think you would have liked waking up to a jerk, so I helped you." 

 

"Jerk? You're talking about yourself right?"

 

Jessica glared coldly at the girl. Out of all the girls Jessica has been with, this one had got to be the worst but for some reason Jessica felt strangely attracted to this girl.  "What did you call me?"

 

"A jerk, a really pretty one."

 

Jessica raised her eyebrows with open in shock and confusion. "How am I a jerk?" 

 

"I'm just kidding." She laughed. "You're cute, I like you."

 

"Don't expect me to like you back, cause I don't." 

 

"Liar, If you didn't like me you wouldn't have 'helped' me last night." 

 

"What are you trying to say?"

 

The girl sighed. "I'm saying that I like you, thank you for helping me."

 

Jessica stared at the girl blankly, was this girl playing around with her or what. "..I guess I like you too." she replied quietly, was this what people called love? she had never felt anything for the girls she had been with before but this girl was different, Jessica felt loved for the first time.

 

"My name's Tiffany Hwang since you wanted to know."

 

Tiffany Hwang, the name shot Jessica like a bullet. The enemy, her target was right there beside her. Jessica couldn't bring herself to kill the girl though, her heart just kept telling her not to do it. 

 

Jiyong slammed his hand on his desk in anger. "Why'd you let her go?!"

 

Jessica was on her knees, begging for forgiveness. 

 

"She was right there! It was an easy task Jessica." 

 

"I'm sorry."

 

"Stop saying you're sorry and get up."

 

Jessica did as told. "I don't think I can hurt-"

 

"Why?!"

 

"I'm in love with her." Jessica confessed. 

 

Jiyong ruffled his hair in frustration and pondered. "...Fine, I'll let this one go."

 

Jessica brightened up. "Really?!"

 

"If she can help you stop having a new girlfriend every day then I guess she's worth it."

 

Tiffany really did help Jessica though. 

 

When she's with Tiffany she felt loved again. 

 

She was happy when she was with Tiffany.

She loved Tiffany and Tiffany loved her.

 

She felt warmth from the coldness she had been facing all those years.

 

She was finally warm again.