“If you will sir, I’d rather forget those times.” Doojoon responded and made a face.

“In other news, I’ve gathered information on those thugs who chased Miss Son and her friend the other day…”

“And?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.” His secretary firmly repeated.

Mr. Son furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean ‘nothing’? What gang are they? Who hired them?”

Doojoon nervously shifted from leg to leg “That’s the thing. I’ve scanned all data possible – they weren’t part of any gang or underground gathering we know of. It’s as if they were all just a bunch of people who ‘happened’ to gather together. But that’s not all…” Doojoon offered Mr. Son profiles of the people and the latter briskly flipped through.

“Blank…blank…blank…salary man…salary man…blank…what is this half-baked work Doojoon?!” He exclaimed.

“I wish I could give you more, sir, but this is all I could find.” Doojoon meekly lowered his voice as Mr. Son looked at him in disbelief. “Obviously we couldn’t get to most of the assaulters after they fled, but from the ones we caught I’ve noticed one thing: none of the men had any gang or underground involvement record prior to the attack. Heck, none of them even have a violence record– the most I could find was a few parking tickets, and that’s it! Some of them are just regular people with bad jobs, which leads me conclude they agreed to the job for the good money. But others – the majority – have no trace of even existing in Korea before the attack.”

“But that’s impossible!…Are you implying that all these people were imported just to target Naeun?”

“I was shocked as much as you are, but it seems so. I briefly contacted the Banshee back in China to see if his men know anything. I haven’t found much, but apparently one of the men was a convicted prisoner who was believed to be long dead…”

Mr. Son sunk down into an armchair and silently sat for some time.

Unable to stand still for that long, Doojoon finally interrupted his boss’s train of thought.

“Should I order some bodyguards for the Miss? I realize she loathes anyone breathing down her neck 24/7, but in this situation…”

“No. Don’t.” Mr. Son flatly ordered. “And don’t tell her any of this either. She’s busy enough.”

“But–”

“Doojoon, ‘imported people’ are by definition highly talented assassins who are paid enormous amounts of money to do difficult tasks that involve utmost security of identity. These people? Some of them may be ' imported' but they are none of that – untrained, clumsy and probably paid some weak amount of cash. Moreover, imported workers would never in their life work in such clumsy mobs.”

“But then why on earth would someone organize something so stupid?” Doojoon scratched his head.

“I don't know. Still,” Mr. Son handed back the papers and hectically walked around the room while shaking his head “instead of guarding Naeun, we need to track down the mastermind attacker before he moves again. Study all underground activity closely Doojoon – anything unusual, no matter how small, needs to be considered and recorded.”

“That’s a hell of a lot to ask for!” Doojoon mumbled but nodded and bowed.

But before he exited, Doojoon took the risk of asking something that was in the back of his mind for quite some time now.

“Sir, what will you do about Naeun’s partner for the Hunt?”

Although he was a little surprised, Mr. Son just casually shrugged, leaving his secretary unsatisfied.

“Sir, we’re running out of time! There’s less than a month left! The last partner is still in the hospital, and I highly doubt there will be a recovery…”

“Then would you like to play the part?” Mr. Son asked in a dead tone, all previous amusenet gone from his eyes. His right-hand secretary said nothing. “No? Well I’ll just have to continue on searching.”

With this Doojoon left the office, leaving his boss with a foul taste in his mouth.

---

Much later that night Naeun sat at a table in the university’s library, lazily flipping through the textbook’s pages in search of stuff she didn’t know. It wasn’t her fault she transferred late, and yet her teachers still pushed her to stay later so she could finish this project, that paper, those worksheets, and so on and so forth; work just kept piling up until she realized it was already 7pm. By then she was determined to finish all of her actual homework as well, in order to have the rest of the week free. Now it was already way past 9, and the librarian threatened to close the building. Bored and sleepy, Naeun felt a soft buzz come from her pocket.

*I know! How about we make Sungjong follow us during a fake date and then we accidentally bump them into each other!*

Naeun rolled her eyes.

*They’re not stupid. Besides who knows what hell will break loose if they meet now. Seriously go to sleep already, you’ve been complaining all damn day…*

Naeun began to pack up as she waited for that idiot to respond. Or maybe she was just making sure he went to sleep? He looked really exhausted today…

Nononono she was not worried about him!

She was just waiting for a text because of boredom.

Wait…she’s waiting?

Absurd. Absolutely absurd Naeun thought as she shook her head.

But it’s not like it meant anything. She was bored. Really, that was it. It wasn’t him, it was her. And it’s been going on for the whole day since they parted after the deal, so she eventually got used to the idea of interacting with him.

At first when he texted her Naeun didn’t reply. Heck, she refused to even look at those messages, treating them as if they were contaminated. She never forgot that just this morning she busted him as a liar; and this afternoon he lied to the whole school about their relationship, for the “fun of it.” Naeun told herself enough was enough.

But after a few buzzes her curiosity got the better of her. In spite of her grudgeful self she checked her phone, and was rewarded with several HD shots of Myungsoo’s…sandwich? Cheese sandwich, specifically. And not just the sandwich itself. In each picture Myungsoo would peel away the sandwich layer by layer, eventually leaving the bread and the slice of cheese separate on his plate. And there were no comments to go along with this nonsense!

Despite knowing any reply would encourage him to annoy her further, Naeun replied asking

*what are you doing.*

What followed was rather unexpected. Of course at first Myungsoo spazzed at her reply and proceeded to send her a bunch of cheesy ‘girlfriend’ jokes (probably to piss her off.) But before she could turn off her phone altogether, he asked her to *sit back and watch*

He began working on the slice of cheese by t the edges with a sharp crafts knife, sending Naeun about 6-7 pictures every minute to demonstrate the process. After asking for her favorite animal, he took pictures of him lightly tracing a contour of a sitting cat. He then proceeded to carve out a detailed background, filling it with tall trees, long grass, and a sky showered with hundreds of poked through dots in indication of stars. The cat itself was left as a solid piece of cheese, but nevertheless Naeun’s eyes remained superglued to Myungsoo’s lunch for the rest of her class period. By the time he texted her his “lunch” was finished Naeun really remained speechless at his work of art.

*…do you always take so long to eat your lunch?*

*hahaha No I just hate cheese~*

Naeun snorted. Sure Myungsoo may have a screw or two loose in his head.

But who knew anyone could make a slice of cheese so beautiful?

----

Naeun exited the library at around 10, and swiftly made her way to the bus stop. The nearest lamp post was recently broken by some alley kids, and the limited light came only from sources much further away. The street was obviously deserted at this time of the night. The wind calmed down by now, and despite the cold it was nice and quiet.

Yet Naeun couldn’t help but feel something was off. You know that feeling when you wear heeled shoes and every time you take a step you falsely think you heard a noise elsewhere? Naeun had that very feeling.

She stopped a few times and closely listened to anything suspicious, but heard nothing. And yet every time she continued on walking she could swear someone was softly matching their steps to hers. How strange.

“Excuse me?” Naeun finally called out with annoyance, but there was no answer.

I’m overreacting.

As she dismissed all concern from her head, she suddenly saw a bus rush by; although she didn’t see the number, she was pretty confident it was hers. She immediately began running after it, but by the time she reached the bus stop she realized it really was the wrong bus.

Darn it. What a waste of energy!

Her train of thought was then swallowed by a realization that made the hairs on her neck stand up.

Unless these 10 years of training failed to properly sharpen her senses, just now she did not run alone.

Heavier steps sprinted after her and stopped the very second she stopped.

And unless the upcoming Hunt was driving her paranoid, only a skilled stalker like this one could conceal his movement so perfectly while running.

Naeun hurried to hide in the bus stop shelter.

At first she wanted to dial Doojoon but she felt she was already depending on him too much.

On the other hand, her bus wouldn’t arrive in another 10 minutes, so what was she supposed to do until then?

She heard the set of steps slowly approach the bus stop. The sound was hardly noticeable, but the sound of a few broken twigs marked the movement.

They must’ve figured out I’m alone.

Naeun carefully backed into a corner so her silhouette wouldn’t shine through the thin wall, and patiently waited for the stalker to come first.

Come here!

While Naeun couldn’t brag about her fighting abilities aside from a 5^th level black belt in Aikido, she felt confident she could do as much as knock the man unconscious. Still, as the man approached further her heart beat a little faster.

Then suddenly there was no more sound of activity.

Did he stop?

Naeun waited for what felt like hours but nothing happened.

Did he leave?

Nothing.

Just as she was about to peek out and scout the area, a soft bang came across the back wall of the shelter causing Naeun to jump up. Then, bit by bit, she saw part of his large, dark shadow appear above.

He’s on the roof!

The man moved smoothly it was inhuman. He must’ve flattened himself out because no passing by car noticed him. It was just him, Naeun and the bus stop shelter that prevented them from a fatal meeting. It seemed at any second he would wrap his hands around the ledge and she would see his ghastly claws, peeling of once-human rotten flesh, appear and tear her from…

“Son Naeun? It’s you, right?” A friendly voice called out and Naeun snapped out of her trance. She saw two men cross the street to approach her.

“See, it is her, and you told me I was wrong!” Sunggyu, was it? He looked like he had a drink prior, but he wasn’t drunk enough to lose his mind. As for Woohyun, Naeun dared not to look him in the eye to see his condition.

“You’re taking the same bus as us, what a coincidence! What are you doing out so late?”

The question flew past Naeun’s ears. She glanced back at the shadow but the man disappeared. Disturbed, she even ran outside to look at the roof herself, but still – nothing.

“Something wrong?” Sunggyu curiously tried searching where the girl was so blankly staring. Woohyun seemed disinterested, but even he gave Naeun a prying look.

“Nothing…just…” I must be so tired I’m hallucinating. “…there was a bird…that’s all…”

------

Author's Notes: WHEW.yes, yes, I realize I haven't updated this for what, 2 WEEKS (?!) I sincerily appologize. I wanted to tell you I might not update, but I didn't actually know when I would be back on. Once again sorry, a lot happened - family problems, extended family problems, brother's new girlfriend problmes, school exams, AP Lit essays, college application panicking (did I tell you? I think I did. They nearly lost both my transcript AND my SAT scores  =_=) Then I've been learning Japanese (I am determined to pass the JLPT5), watching dramas, making warabe ningyo (origami dolls~) for my grandmother, cray-craying over the fact that my mom will leave us for a month and that I wil probably die of stress and hunger with just my dad around, and ,well, just generally practicing the ancient art of teenager procrastination. I'm pretty sure I had more to tell, but this were my two weeks of non-updating. Oh! And exciting news - just yesterday i got a letter of acceptance from the college I wanted~ I wasn't really expecting to fail since I'm well rounded, but I was really surprised they sent the letter March 1st when they promised all lette no sooner than mid/late March. I dunno, I feel like a special snowflake ^_^

I actually started writing again this Friday, but I had a hard time putting things together. In case you don't know, I'm writing this story on a whim (many of you siad it's a little unpredictable - now you know why.) I mean I already know which characters will die or live and what the ending will be, but for the most part I know as much of the story as you do...Sometimes the way I end my last chapter leaves me roaylly screwed for the next >.> Well, I've bs'ed my way decently up till now, don't you think ^^

In other news, while I was busy not fulfilling my duties as a writer, I hit 100 subscribers!!! WHOOT-WHOOT!! I also saw some nice comments about this fic on tumblr, one of them listing The Witch Hunt as one of the top Pinkfinite fanfics (yeah, I was ottally not blushing like mad pffff) They also listen that DongwooxBomi fic as well, though i admit as an authot I'm definitely neglecting that baby T_T I need to sit my down and finish writing my other stories. It's ridiculous.

Special thanks to those who left really touching comments while I was gone T_T Like gawd guise. You are too sweet. You make me want to flip my desk and hug the air out of you. You have no clue how lucky I feel to have not only a good amount of subscribers, but also subscribers who say such encouraging, kind things to me TT_TT I wouldn't trade you guys for gold. Thank you so so SO much.

With that said, I'll try to catch up with my schedule. It's not a promise though, I at keeping my promises...