- past; 2006 -

The song of crickets humming and hooting owls filled the air, typical music for a restful evening in Hyosung’s neighborhood. Splashes of scarlet colored the cerulean sky while white, fluffy clouds floated lazily along the vast space. Her mother told her that this was a sign of upcoming bad weather or possibly an omen of something horrible about to happen – either way, they were both depressing outcomes for a dazzling picture.

A warm breeze tickled Hyosung’s cheeks, tinting them a light pink.

“Hyosung-ah!” Zinger skipped over to her childhood friend. She held a yellow carnation in one of her hands which she held out to Hyosung. “Here! It matches your sundress.”

“Thank you!” With a bright eye-smile, Hyosung slipped the stem of the flower behind her ear. “How does it look?”

Zinger gave her two thumbs up. “It’s very pretty!”

Smiling, Hyosung sat down on a bench, tugging at Zinger’s hand to join her. Throughout her fifteen years of living, Hyosung has never felt a stronger bond than she has with Zinger. Well, there was one other person who could easily become number one, but he was going through puberty at the moment and encouraged her to spend more time with girls. The idiot.

“Kitty!” Zinger pointed across the bare street to the other side where a calico cat sat staring at them. “It’s so adorable.”

“Meow, meow!” Hyosung let out a giggle. At the time, she was too absorbed in the cuteness of the feline creature to notice the glint in its eyes. If she had noticed it, she would have dubbed the cat too scary to approach, but she didn’t.

Zinger jumped up. “I’m going to go get it. I’ll be back!”

Checking both sides of the road for any cars, Zinger jogged across the street to the cat. Once she was halfway across, the cat stood up and walked towards her, urging her to pet it. Zinger bent down to pick it up. At that same moment, Hyosung saw a swerving car speeding towards them.

“Zinger!!” cried out Hyosung. Her friend glanced over her shoulder to her and noticed the car, but before she could move, the bumper of the blue SUV had already made a connection with Zinger’s forehead, knocking her back. Like a forgotten road bump, Zinger was run over, her bones cracking at the heavy pressure.

The car sped away as Hyosung ran over to the crumpled body that was her dear companion. With tears in her eyes, she glared at the departing car, memorizing the license plate for a moment. She repeated it over and over in her mind as she dialed the emergency number, tears spilling over her reddened cheeks.

Her father had always lectured her on situations like these and she usually pushed them to the back of her mind even while he spoke. However, now, she was grateful for her quick thinking she inherited from him.

While the ambulance and police arrived at the scene, Hyosung couldn’t hold back her sobs and cried openly. She held onto Zinger’s hand which no longer resembled a hand because it was limp and she could feel the small broken bones. But it was still warm, faintly so though.

Everything soon passed by in a heartbreaking blur.

- x -

author's note: wheee~ prologue is out! ^^ sorry it's short and for any grammatical mistakes and the like xP anyway, hope you guys liked it! I am diligently working on the first chapter =] annyeong~~

PS: BIGdreamerFANATIC - thank you for being my first subscriber! ♥