“SM Entertainment.” She said.

A beep sound was instantly heard after detecting her voice. The screen displayed the routes to the company with arrows pointing towards the destination.

After what seem's like hours from her origin, she finally managed to reach the destination and stopped in front of the building across the street.

She noticed a group of fans were preparing their gifts, eagerly to meet their respective idols. Seeing the scene in front of her, the thought of blending into the group of fans to get to her prey occurred to her but she immediately changed her mind when she felt a sense of revulsion for pretending to fangirl over someone, reminding herself that hints and witnesses were not allowed to be left behind. Thus, she decided to just stay inside her car and observed the situation before she acted on it.

Noises and screams were what she heard later on. Three guys walked out from the building, followed by the other three of them. Looking ahead, she assumed they were members from the newly debuted group after considering their age and look. Once they stepped out from the building, the fans started to swarm them, asking for signatures and taking pictures of them.

A few seconds later, a petite girl walked out with her manager, this time the shrieks immediately got even louder. Another group of fans started to follow them, handing their gifts to her. Smiling, she waved at her fans and gladly thank them for the gifts. She then headed towards her Mercedes SLK and parted her goodbye with her manager and her fans before entering the car.

Taking out the photos, she observed her prey in them and the petite girl in front of her. After realizing the similarity, the corner of curved into a smirk. She immediately followed the silver car, making sure to keep a specific distance away from the target.

After numerous turns, the silver car eventually stopped at a nearby restaurant.

From there, she continued observing her next move. She noticed her getting down from the car with her head hung low all the time while passing through the alley before entering the restaurant.

Through her hand gestures and body languages, she was able to predict the length of the conversation between her prey and the owner of the restaurant. It seem’s that she was there to have a brief order and she will be leaving the restaurant soon for about minutes later.

The presence of an alley right before the restaurant caught her eyes. Sensing that it was probably a last chance for her to end this quickly and slickly, she immediately turned off the engine and ran towards the alley, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Minutes past, there's still no sign of her. But when she was about to give up and decided to go for a killing spree instead, she finally passed through the alley.

With one forceful grip, she pulled her to the deeper part of the alley and violently pushed her onto the wall, making her back slammed onto it harshly.

Fear instantly took over the other. She felt the tip of the cold dagger on , a pressure, almost penetrated through her skin. With a faltered voice, she faced the dark alley, “What… what do you want…?”

“Your death” A cold and husky voice replied. It was brief and straightforward, giving out her blunt intention where foul plays were certainly not the case in this situation.

The voice was clear enough for Taeyeon to identify the meaning of the message which somehow sent a chill down her spine, making her slightly trembled. But she would not give up. Not just like that. She had to accomplish her dreams and to fulfill the expectations of others. Because of that, she will not back down easily despite knowing there will be zero chances of living. Clutching her fist, she summoned the remaining courage in her, she braced herself and replied, “Spare me…”

She tilted her head and laughed, “Why should I do that huh? Do you know that I can just easily slit your throat right now?” She proceeded pressing her dagger dangerously into her skin, tearing her skin apart but not deep enough to end her life.

Blood oozing out and an excruciating pain experienced by her. Gritting her teeth, she closed her eyes tightly, trying to bear the affliction while vigorously pressing her back against the wall, away from her source of affliction, “Don’t do this to me.”

Enjoying the sight of her suffer, she changed her mind and decided to play along with her. She slid the dagger which was now covered with her victim’s blood by smoothly running along her jaw line and her soft cheeks, mocking her, smearing her face with blood in the process while whispering to her ears closely, “Sorry Taeyeon, I don’t take request.”

At the mention of her own name, her eyes instantly flew open. Her terror grew.

“Postponing death is not my principle” She continued whispering, “But something about you make me feel entertained.”

The close proximity between them made her heart thumped furiously but the moment didn't last long as an another girl's voice interrupted them. 

 “Taeyeon?” A familiar voice was heard.

Sensing the presence of an incoming intruder, she quickly shifted their position where Taeyeon’s back was now facing towards her. She pointed the dagger towards Taeyeon’s back, contacted onto her skin while whispered, “Don’t try anything stupid.”

 “Taeyeon? What are you do—“

Without waiting for her to finish her sentence, Taeyeon abruptly warned, “Sunny! Don’t come near me!”

Finding her suspicious, she slightly jerked Taeyeon, sending a warning to her.

“What is happening?” Confused, Sunny continued heading forward to get rid of the blind corner where she was standing at. Apparently, she didn’t notice the presence of another stranger who was coincidentally hidden by the angle of the building.

Noticing the distance between her and her best friend was decreasing, she immediately warned again, “I SAID DON’T COME NEAR ME!”

Sunny stopped at her track and faced the weird-looking position Taeyeon was standing right now. “This is not funny. Seriously, what are you doing there?”

“I am… am just posing…” She lied and immediately placed her arm on top of her head as a pose to further convince her best friend.

Squinting her eyes, Sunny continued asking, “What the heck is that red colour thing on your face and your neck?”

“Oh, that’s my… my…“ Taeyeon wrecked her brain to create a lie in a last minute. “My… my make up!”

With an unsatisfied look, Sunny replied, “Going for a zombie look? How I wish you know how terrible your make up skill is…”

Taeyeon gulped at the comment. Although she couldn’t see the person behind her, she could sensed a burning wrath from her when her friend was commenting that particular sentence.

Another jerked from her, “Ask your petty friend to leave before I will include her to the death list.”

Without hesitation, Taeyeon immediately ordered, “Sunny, can you leave now? I need some space to take a picture of myself…”

“Geez, you and your narcissism again.” She continued headed forward, "Seriously Taeng, if you want someone to take a picture of you, you could just ask you know."

"SUNNY STOP!" Realizing she had raised her voice too loud, she quickly toned it down, "Look, Sunny. I know you are trying to be considerate and all but could you leave me alone, please?" She sounded like begging a little, but she didn't care anymore, all she want was to make sure sunny's security. 

"You really are ridiculous" She sighed and stopped at her tracks. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am."

"Alright, if that's what you want..."

Knowing about her friend’s personality, challenging her ego was the last thing she wanted to do. She shook her head and walked away without suspect, finding her friend’s egoistic throughout all these years were amusing.

After the sounds of the footsteps had faded away, she harshly pushed Taeyeon back against the wall. This time, the impact from the force applied almost dislocated her spine, making her shrieks even louder. She contacted the knife onto her previous wound on her neck, “What are you trying to do huh? Giving hints about your death?”

Screaming in pain, Taeyeon shook her head furiously, she tried to use her mental power to withstand the affliction. With all her might, she finally fought the affliction as hard as she could and finally answered, “I… was… was… “

“Was what huh?” She pushed the dagger deeper, earning another scream from her. She then pulled it out, “Speak now!”

Her eyes were now filled with tears from the pain, “… trying… to hide… you…”

With that, she pulled the dagger away. Looking at her with confusion, she couldn’t understand the meaning behind them. For her, she had seen enough bodies and heard enough screams to be able to identify their cries for help. But something about this person, standing in front of her confused her. The fact that she never encountered such ridiculous prey was a bewilderment to her.

She shook her head and glared at her, “Lies!”  She continued tighten her grip onto her neck, almost suffocated her and yelled, “Answer me! What is your true purpose for doing that?”

Opening , Taeyeon tried to answer but the lost of blood and the lack of supplied of oxygen started to make her dizzied. The ground underneath her was spinning, causing her head to swirl even more. She looked at her for the last time,

"Protecting... you..." She whispered.

That was what she wanted to tell her, the two words before everything in front of her blackout, collapsing onto the ground.

Called it stupidity or idiocy but at that particular moment when she saw the cuts on her arms and her sad orbs for the first time, there is this unexplained connection to her to evoke the urge of protection towards her. Her eyes conveyed something that Taeyeon couldn’t really understand very well. Despite of her brutal drives in her, her eyes displayed a different soul. Looking into them, she was able to feel an empty of loneliness and grief through those eyes. There was a presence of contradiction between her sane mind and her heart, facing the death situation, Taeyeon could just fight back or easily planned an escape route, but the only thought she had was guarding her for now.