“Take her and go! Hurry! They are after her.”

The hooded figure quickly took the bundle and peered inside, a smile forming slightly. The sleeping baby girl was sleeping peacefully unaware of the terrible danger she was in, if her two guardians didn’t act fast.

The man who gave the bundle saw the look on the hooded figure and smiled sadly “Please, take good care of her for me will you? This is my final assigned task for you. I trust you won’t fail me.”

“I won’t Sun Bae Nim, I promise to protect her with my life.”

The older male placed a hand on the young man shoulder, gripping it as if to reassure the boy “I know you will, good luck.”

The younger figure nodded and quickly hugged him, being careful with the bundle he was entrusted with. He prepared to go through the secret door before the older man cried out “Wait!” He quickly took a small package out from his pocket and placed it in the bundle. “Here, this is my gift for her, to remember me by.” The younger male couldn’t help but feel sadness and sympathy as the other man was preparing to fight to keep his daughter safe…at the cost of his own life. “Now, go.”

They heard a loud bang, as if someone had knocked down the door. The younger male quickly slipped inside, glancing back at his teacher, his friend, his mentor. The older male smiled sadly “Go, GO!” he mouth. He quickly shut the door and the younger male ran, ran as fast as he could, holding the child carefully as he made his way through the cold underground maze.

The younger male kept running, as he had memorised the path which lead to the outside. He turned left or right occasionally, his thudding footsteps echoed through the tunnel, his feet lightly hitting the dirt as he ran, his breath forming fogs as it was freezing. He stopped running after 15 minutes, slightly panting and checked on the child. The baby girl was still asleep, her innocent face showed she was in Dreamland. Her steady breathing somewhat calmed her guardian. As he watched her sleep, he heard something, it was fainted but his fox senses were switched on, he heard a scream, a scream that sounded liked…

“Sun Bae Nim” the young man whimpered, tears starting to form in his eyes. He let out a quiet sob and tried to breath in, letting the information sink into his mind. He forced himself to calm down. “I have to hurry!”

And that’s when he hear another noise, one that made his heart almost stop. The group, the people who was responsible for his teacher death had found the hidden door and now were running towards their target and perhaps their new victim.

He quickly closed his eyes and began to concentrate, he breathed in 1,2,3,4,5 breath out 1,2,3,4,5…

 

Soon he was running as fast as the wind, trying to outrun the people who were chasing him. He didn’t look back he just going straight ahead. Faintly from a distance he could the see the moon-lit sky, and the forest. It was the exit. “I’m almost there, I’m going to make it…”
 

-^^-
 

Mi Rae woke up with a start. She was panting and shivering.  It was extremely warm in her room, her plants that were on her window still were slightly shivered, as if it couldn’t take the heat. Everything in her room looked soft, as if the heat had melted them. Mi Rae look at her clock. 6:30. She sighed and slowly got out of bed and went towards her window, pulling the curtains apart. She could see the sun slowly arising, the soft orange colour was illuminating her suburb and she could faintly head the morning birds singing their songs.

She sat up on her desk which was next to her window still and hugged her knees together. “It’s really beautiful.” She thought, complimenting the sunrise. As she was enjoying the scenery , her mind trailed back to the dream she had. “It seemed so real” she thought as she played with the leaves on one of her plants. Who were those two people? Why were they running and more importantly, who was after them? She then thought about the bundle, the baby girl. “That baby, could it be me?”

Mi Rae quickly shook her head and got off her desk, heading towards her closet. “It was only a dream, it was only a dream.” She tried to convince herself that as she changed into her school uniform. Tying the bow around her neck, she headed off to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Looking at her reflection, she began to tie her long, black hair into a bun. It was simple, but neat, nothing that would stand out in a crowd. She sighed again, the dream was still bothering her and it wasn’t the first. Her previous dreams weren’t like the one she just had though. There were just fragments of events and she was getting the feeling that they were all related…

Most of the dreams she had forgotten now, but she remember one particularly dream when she saw a women, who seem to be fighting an unseen force. When she woke up, she was sweating and shivering as she gravely guessed what happen to her, but it was only a dream right?

She walked into the kitchen and smiled at the sight of her mom cooking breakfast. She was wearing her usual pink apron and was humming along to a tune that was playing on the radio, it was a peaceful sight.

“Good morning Umma.”

The women turned around and gave her a radiant smile, “Good morning Mi Rae.”

“Do you need any help?”

“Aniyo, I’m almost done.”

They sat down and ate silently, both in their own thoughts.

“Mi Rae?”

“Yes?”

“You woke up early today right? I heard you moving around in your room”
 

“Neh.”

“Something happen, was it a bad dream?”

“Aniyo…I just woke up and wanted to see the sunrise.” Mi Rae gave a half- reassuring smile, she didn’t want to worry her about some silly dreams she’s been having.
 

“Arasso, but if there is anything, you can always tell me ok?”

“Neh.” Mi Rae couldn’t help but feel relieved that her mom didn’t questioned any further.

“Ok, I’m off to school. Bye Umma.” Mi Rae kissed her mum on the cheek.

“Ok, I see you at home later, have a good day. I love you.”

Mi Rae smiled as she headed out of the door, she was extremely happy to have such a caring and understanding mom, even though she wasn’t her real mom. Her umma doesn’t know that Mi Rae figure it out however, she found out late one night when her mom was talking with someone in the living room. Mi Rae couldn’t sleep because she had one of her strange dreams. Mi Rae was shocked, she didn’t show that to her umma, well her guardian, and kept a brave face while on the inside she was crying. Eventually she managed to accept it, and embraced the fact that while she wasn’t her biological mother, she was still her mum and she loved her all the same. Mi Rae was planning to ask about this to her umma on her 16^th birthday which was coming soon.  

As she was walking to school, Mi Rae had a sudden thought, when did she started having those strange dreams? She thought of the night when she found out the painful truth and tried to think back if she had the strange dreams before that. “No, I didn’t.” she thought and stopped walking. “Who was Umma talking to that night? Is it someone I know?” She tried to remember the scene in her head, she remember it was a man talking, and he seem to be wearing a hooded clothing…

Mi Rae shook her head, “Wow, I’m thinking a lot today.” Suddenly she felt arms around her and heard a giggle. Mi Rae jumped and turned around. Seeing it was her best friend, she smiled  “Yah, don’t scare me like that!”

Her friend laughed “Aigoo, were you spacing out again? You got to stop doing that, you have been spacing out a lot lately.”
 

“It’s not like you don’t Hyo Rin, you barely concentrated in class and who the one who gives the notes that you don’t bothered to write down.”

“I only pay attention to things that interest me, school is not one of them” she pouted

Mi Rae laughed and placed her arm around her shoulder, “Aigoo what to do with you?”

Hyo Rin smiled and returned her friend’s gesture with a slight pinch at her cheek. “But, seriously are you ok? You have been a little quiet these days.”

*Sigh* “Yeah I’m alright, I just have been having these weird dreams that’s all but I shouldn’t dwell about that right? We got more important things to worry about. Like our exams.”

“ARGGHH, I totally forgot about that. I’m soo screwed Mi Rae, please help?” She gave her puppy dog eyes.

“If I help, will you promise to pay more attention in class?”

“Yes…” Hyo Rin had a cheeky grin on her face though.
 

“Yah! Chae Hyo Rin, when will you ever learn?”
 

“I don’t, because I have the smartest girl in our class as my best friend.” Hyo Rin laughed.

Mi Rae sighed, but still smiled all the same. Her best friend was always like that, being cheeky, never pay attention in class, always wanted to have fun. But she was wise in many other ways and she was always there to listen to Mi Rae, despite her constant teasing. The two of them would always tell each other everything. Hyo Rin knew about Mi Rae mother and in turn Mi Rae knew about Hyo Rin family situation, her parents was constantly away on business trips. Hyo Rin wished her parents were home more often because she was often the only one at home. Her older brother was killed in a car accident when she was 5 years old. Hyo Rin said she has faint memories of her brother and it made her sad that she couldn’t remember him well. However despite that, Hyo Rin was one of the hyperactive and cheerful girl she knew and she loved her for that. Since both didn’t have any sibilings, they spend most of their time together.

The two of them laughed and talked while they went through the school gates, occasionally greeting their classmates. Mi Rae was the shy one of the duo but she had enough confidence to give a smile and a greeting. She felt comfortable to do this when she was with Hyo Rin.

The cheerful girl was telling Mi Rae about her weekend, how her parents dragged her to one of their business dinner and forced to listen to the boring conversations.

“Aigoo, I wish you were there, it was soooooo boring. I swear rich business people don’t have a life, all they have is work because all they ever talk about is how the stocks are going, who is the best company to invest in…But it was nice to spend some time with my parents” Hyo Rin softly added, Mi Rae gave her friend one of her rare smiles and squeezed her hand.

“But still, I rather we went someone where that wasn’t work related…somewhere to relax because then they wou- Mi Rae? Yah, Shin Mi Rae are you listening to me?

She was, till they were walking past the front office. There was a large window that overlooked the waiting room, which consist of three green chairs. Students or parents would sit there to wait for an appointment with the principles. It was like showing the whole school you were in trouble. That or perhaps you were a guest or a new student. Mi Rae looked at the person that was sitting, quietly listening to music from his I-pod as he waited patiently.

She looked at him as they walked past and couldn’t help but see how beautiful he looked. He looked up and saw Mi Rae. The two of them locked eyes for a moment before Mi Rae looked down, embarrassed.

“Mi Rae, what’s wron- Oh! He’s cute.” She said with a wink.
 

Mi Rae didn’t say anything, still blushing from what happened.

“Awww, someone has a crush.”

“Yah! It’s not like that.” Mi Rae pouted.

Hyo Rin only smiled mischievously, as they headed towards their class room and took their seats. She sat to the right of Mi Rae while the left side was still empty.

Their teacher came in and greeted everyone before make a surprising announcement, “Everyone we have a new student today, please make him feel welcome.” She smiled warmly, “You can come in now.”

Everyone then turned their attention towards the door and watched as the boy walked in and stood in front of the class. Mi Rae gasped, it was the same boy she saw in the front office not too long ago.

“Please introduce yourself.”

“Annyounghaseyo everyone, my name is Woo Sunghyun but please call me Kevin.” He said quietly, before bowing.

 

-^^-

Mi Rae’s umma was cleaning the house after her daughter left, in her own thoughts when she heard a knock at the door. The sight when she open the door left her shocked.

“Wha-What are you doing here?”