A tall boy walked in, carrying a large sack. The trio stared at him from their positions, not daring to make a sound.

They watched as he proceeded to dump the sack on to the ground near the horses, and gave each one an apple from the confines of his pocket. The boy then looked around furtively, before grabbing a broom from the corner of one of the horses’ stall.

What was he going to do? They wondered.

The trio watched as the boy began to whirl the broomstick around slowly, while suddenly going into a stance. Was he practicing Ninjitsu? Kibum wanted to get a closer look, but restrained himself from giving away their position. He watched the boy’s moves, as he went back and forth with the broom. He shows potential, Kibum thought. But where did he learn the basic moves?

Ha Young watched the boy, not daring to move. Suddenly, she felt something furry running over her hand. She slowly turned her head. A rat! “Eeek!” she blurted out. The boy immediately stopped and turned around, looking for the source of the noise. He turned and looked up at the rafters.

Kibum suddenly jumped down and covered the boy’s mouth. The boy panicked and struggled against Kibum. Ha Young jumped down from her hiding place and told the boy, “Please don’t yell! We’re good people, we won’t hurt you.”

He started to struggle less. Once Kibum was sure he wasn’t going to run or yell, he let go of the boy. The boy looked at the two strangers, and said “Who are you? And how many of you are hiding here?” He started to look around, before seeing a hand sticking out from behind a hay bale. He went up to it nervously.

“Unnie! It’s ok, you can come out.” Ha Young whispered. The boy looked around the hay bale. Hiding behind it was an incredibly pretty girl, and for a moment he had to stop and stare at her.

“I can’t move out. When I rolled behind, I think I hit my leg on the beam. It really hurts now.” She said, indicating to a beam that was holding up the rafters. The boy looked to see her leg. It was bandaged badly, wet, and he could see the bloodstains around it. He bent forward to help the stranger.

“Who are you people?” he said softly.

Kibum answered behind him. “We are… people. On a mission. I’m Kibum.”

The boy didn’t turn around, and tried to push the bales of hay away from Ra Hyo to get her out. Just then, he noticed the blue insignia necklace Ra Hyo was wearing. It was a sign of Yin, and of Ninjitsu.

“You know Ninjitsu?” He asked, indicating to the necklace.

Ra Hyo stowed it away, and the boy suddenly blushed. Did he say too much? “I’m sorry. But you can trust me, really. I’m Taemin.” He said, offering a hand to Kibum.

Kibum shook it firmly, before replying, “Well Taemin, you’re sharp. And it seems you happen to know some of the ways of Ninjitsu.  So…” he looked at Ha Young and Ra Hyo, “I guess we could trust you. We are student ninjas, and we’re on a high-profile mission. You CAN’T give us away.” He said, staring down Taemin.

Taemin nodded, “Don’t worry. I won’t.” he said.

Ha Young stepped forward. “Well, now that you know what we do, I am Ha Young.” She said, offering her hand. Taemin shook it with a smile, before turning back to the injured girl.

“And you are?” he said softly, staring into her eyes.

“Ra Hyo,” she replied curtly and tried to get up. Taemin could see she was in pain, and tried to bring her to sit on one of the bales. But she refused his help, and slowly sat up by herself. Taemin drew back. She was kind of scary. Pretty, but scary all the same.  He turned to Kibum, wanting to ask more questions.

“Slave! Where is that useless wretch?” They heard a noise coming from outside the barn. Kibum could see Taemin shudder a bit, before turning to Kibum and saying, “I’m sorry. I’ll be back later.” He then ran out to where the person was calling him.

The trio stood in surprise, wondering about the encounter they just had. After a while, Ha Young was the first to speak.

“He seems nice,” she whispered aloud.

“And he has basic knowledge of Ninjitsu.” Kibum said.

Ra Hyo sat there in silence. Ha Young turned to her. “Unnie, you know, he wouldn’t stop looking at you. He barely said two words to me.” She said, half-joking.

Ra Hyo agreed. She had seen how he kept looking back at her. It was weird. Ra Hyo never had people look at her like that. It felt unnerving. Ra Hyo shook her head, and kept silent. The three agreed to wait for the return of Taemin. Somehow, Kibum thought, he would be a good ally.