** Double update. Pretty short tho. Sooooo pumped up for this. c;

"How was your day, honey?" my mom called out from the kitchen as I slammed the front door shut. After kicking off my shoes, I walked over to where she was sitting and kissed her on the cheek. Sighing to myself, I hung my keys on the keyrack before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and plopping down in the chair across from her.

Her eyes were fixated on her computer screen as her fingers tapped away maliciously on her keyboard. "Writing your newest recipe book?" I asked, taking a slow sip of the ice cold water. My mother nodded with a smile before pausing her work and staring back at me. "So did you have fun?" she asked me, resting her chin in her hands. I scoffed. "If you call almost getting killed fun, then yes," I say, my lips still on the mouth of the bottle.

My mother laughed, getting back to work. "Oh Yujin. You're so melodramatic." Not saying anything else, she hummed away to herself, completely shutting the outside world and becoming immersed in her recipe book. 

There was no use in bothering her once she was "in the zone." I got up from the dinner table and made my way to the steps leading upstairs. Before walking up, I hesitated before calling out, "Hey, mom?"

"Hm?" she responded, her eyes still glued to the screen.

"...do you know anything about gangs in this city?" I asked hesitantly. 

She glanced up at me with a smile. "I'm sorry, what was that hun?" 

I pursed my lips. "Nothing!" I called out, already half way up the steps.

Wake up. Eat. Go to school. Come straight home. Study. Eat. Shower. Bathroom. Sleep.

That's how it was supposed to be, but not today.

Because I couldn't sleep the previous night, I ended up not waking up on time. My mother barged into my room, violently ripping off the blankets and warning me that I was going to be late for school if I didn't start moving. I didn't have time for breakfast, which meant that I had to go pick up something from the convenience store before going to school. There was no way I was going to be able to run on an empty stomach. 

Also, because of my little detour, I was late to my first class. My teacher, clearly upset, let me off with a warning since I was an honor student and such a thing never happened before. However, next time I was sure to get detention. I took my usual seat in the front and tried to follow along with the lesson, only finding that I had left my textbook for that class at home this morning.

Even though I had only messed up one thing, it had disrupted my whole system. 

I wasn't very happy with myself.

However I couldn't bring myself to stop thinking about those six guys who saved the girl at the park two days ago. Especially that guy who talked to me. Why did I give him my name anyways? Heck, why didn't I run away from him as soon as he touched me? I'm such an idiot.

I was too busy scolding myself that I didn't notice my train had arrived. I shot up from the waiting bench and ran to the closing doors. "Hold the door!" a voice boomed, and the doors slid open once more.

I made it inside just before the doors slid closed again. Panting, I pushed my bangs out of my eyes and fixed my uniform that had shifted out of place. "Thanks," I said politely, after regaining my composure. I looked up to see a tall boy grinning at me. He had sharp eyes and striking features. He sure was gorgeous, though. I broke away from his eye contact, feeling like he was staring into my soul. "It's no problem," he finally replied.

Fifteen minutes later, the shuttle only became more crowded. The boy and I ended up getting squished against the door as students from a nearby all-girl's high school filed into the car. The silence from before was now replaced by giggling and gossip.

"Ne ne. Did you hear what happened at Hyochang Park the other day?" one girl said in a low tone.

I perked up, tuning into the conversation. 

"No," her friend replied. "What happened?"

"Okay, so apparently there was like this, gang fight or something. Well, not really. But like a gang took out these es who were trying to take away some college girl," the first one explained, making herself sound like she knew all about the situation.

"Oh my god, that's so crazy!" The other girls made sounds of agreement.

"They're all in jail now," she added. I gasped. So the six of them are...?!

"--the pedos I mean." I placed a hand on my chest, banging my head against the window.

"Maybe those guys are part of the gang named EXO," another voice chimed in.

The first girl said, "EXO? What's that?"

The third cleared before talking in a low whisper. "Well you see, there's a gang here in Seol. They call themselves EXO. Apparently it's made up of twelve guys who fight crime without the help of the police. No one actually knows who they are. And the police are on the hunt for them. Even though they're not actually bad, they're just as wanted as all of the other bad guys in this city."

All of them made 'ooo's and 'aaa's. 

"So they're not a gang?" the second one asked.

"More of like an opposite-gang. They're like rebels or something," the third one finished, sounding satisfied with herself. 

The first one gasped in delight. "Oh my god! That's like really cool and dangerous. Maybe they're good looking," she said, the other girls giggling at the idea.

Suddenly the train pulled to a stop. I looked up to see if the stranger was still there, only to see he was looking straight me. There was a little twinkle in his eye when I made contact with him. "Well I'll see you around..." he said with a smirk, stepping out of the car. 

Before the doors closed he turned around. 

"...Yujin."

I wanted to see him again so badly. I wanted to find out who they really were. Not to expose them, but to just....

I don't know.

What did I want from them anyway?

A normal person would have walked away from the situation. A normal person would've minded her own business. But now that I'd allowed my curiosity to get the better of me, I was involved. I wasn't normal anymore.

I had to find them. I had to.