I lie in my bed with my arm on my forehead as I replay that whole scene in my head over and over again. “...daughter… You’ll see” then someone came knocking on my door and I sit up.

“Come in.” I invited. Then Kiseop came in.

“Are you okay?” he asked with the most gentle eyes I’ve ever seen, as if he was really worried about me. I felt myself blush.

“Y-yeah. I’m fine.” I say to him. “I just couldn’t believe that-”

“You’re Hae-seong’s daughter?” he finishes.

“I was going to say ‘claimed to be his daughter’ but you seem to be sure of it.” I say looking at him curiously.

“What do you remember?” he asked.

“What do you mean what do I remember?” I asked him back.

“Shadows were born with a really good memory. If you were to ask a random Shadow, ‘what did you see when you were still in your mother’s womb?’ they can pretty much tell you every single little detail there is.” he explained. “What do you remember?”

“I don’t know. Hae-seong claimed that I have left for 15 years which means I was only 2 at the time. But everything was just a black blur in my memory. I only remember things that have happened since I was about 3.”

“You sure you don’t remember anything else?” he eyed me suspiciously.

“No I don’t! And even if I did, you suddenly asking me a question like that would’ve caused me to forget what I did remember!” Then he came up to me and pointed at my shirt.

“You’ve got a stain on your shirt.” he says laughing. Angrily, thinking that I actually have a stain there, I look down to it just to have my head be tilted back up and meet his eyes. Then he starts laughing and I slap him hard in the arm.

“You tricked me you jerk!” I say teasingly.

“It’s good to know that even you’re puzzled, confused, sad; you can still laugh and been happy again. Don’t worry so much about it okay? But if you do remember something by any chance, let me know.” He smiles at me before letting his hand down and walking out of my room, closing the door behind him.

Smiling, I lie on my back and place my forearm over my eyes and tried to concentrate. Memories. Memories. Where are you? I think as hard as I can, but I can’t think of anything. The first memories that I ever remembered was learning how to walk, then falling over, then walking again. Those were my first memories. I don’t remember anything else. But trying to think this hard is starting to hurt my head. So I get up, switch the lights off, and drift asleep. That night, I remember smelling smoke. I’m crying and I’m complaining. I look down to see the floor but I think I was only a couple of inches off the ground. I see a shadow and a pair legs, running as fast as they could. Where am I? I need to stop crying. I tell myself; but I couldn’t stop. Howling fills the burning air as cities crumble and grounds shake. I hear a faint sound of heavy breathing and look on top of me. I couldn’t see the face, but I could see the silhouette of a boy. About 6 years older than me. Not long after that, we were hidden in the shadows next to a dumpster. Gradually being rocked back and forth, the comfort causes me to stop crying and I look up.

“That’s a good girl.” I heard the boy say. This time, I can see his face now. He has blood red eyes and hair that went in all sorts of directions. His face was pale but covered in dirt. The most calming feature was his smile. It was warm and welcoming. It felt so nice and safe to be in his arms. Soon, I drift off to sleep. Panting, I spring up from my mattress and come back from reality.

“Those red eyes….” I tell myself. Is it? But it couldn’t be. When-? How-? What-? “Please don’t tell me it’s-” Kiseop. But it can’t be. How?

Next morning, I go for breakfast but with a pale and puzzle face. My head is too wrapped up around last night’s dream. As I grabbed a tray of food that Eli has prepared for everyone, I didn’t even notice that my head was drifting off while I was taking my seat until I realized that Kiseop has been next to my ear, calling my name over and over again, clapping his hands.

“Yo, Yuri! Are you okay?” I finally hear him asking. He waved his hand in my face to get my attention.

“Oh, yeah! Yeah. I-I’m fine.” I lied startled. He gave me a suspicious look.

“You’re lying.” he finally said. I jerk back giving him a “you’re being ridiculous” face and reply,

“I am not.”

“Yuri. You and I use the same powers and I’ve been your mentor long enough to tell whenever you’re lying.” He says eyeing me suspiciously. I hesitate for a moment before putting down my tray of food and dragged him out of the eating area. I drag him all the way to the weapon room and shut the door behind me.

“You know me.” I finally said after taking in numerous deep breaths in.

“Ummm… Yeah. Of course I know you you little .” He says teasingly, flicking my head with his finger. Then I angrily swipe it off.

“No. I mean even before that. You know me. You knew me. You saved me from that fire. 15 years ago.” I stared at his face. His eyes. “I recognize those eyes Kiseop. You can’t keep this lie away from me forever you know. I’m going to find out eventually.” He hesitated for a couple of seconds before answering.

“I was afraid you were going to remember. How’d you-?”

“A dream. I didn’t know thoroughly or any details of what happened that night. But that dream, I have been dreaming all my life. At first, I thought it was just some stupid dream until you kept poking at me last night, trying to get me to remember. I remember you were the one that saved me. That’s why I’m alive today. That’s why I didn’t recognize my father. Why did you lie to me?”

“I didn’t exactly lie to you Yuri.” He protested, but before he can say anymore, I cut him off.

“You lied to me. You can do most of the stuff that I could. You awakened my powers but every time I asked you why, you would always go ‘I don’t know’ but the truth is, you do know. And you’ve been trying to keep the truth away from me. I want to know why Kiseop. Why did you do this to me?” Tears are rolling down my cheeks and I can feel my heart shattering.

“Look Yuri. I was only trying to protect you. Yes. I knew you 15 years ago. I lurked in the shadows, watching over you and got Eli and Sunny to look after you in times where I can’t. Yuri, this isn’t what this looks like.”

“Is it Kiseop? Is it?! You lied to me. You kept one of the most important things away from me. And that was my identity. Now that my dad has popped out of nowhere, who knows what he’ll do next?”

“That’s what all this training was preparing you for.”

“I don’t want to know why you were training me. Why didn’t you tell me this sooner? I hate being lied to. You know that.”

“I know. My fault okay? I’m sorry.” he came closer, his hands reaching up to touch my face but I swipe them away. I’m craving for some kind of comfort. But not from him. Never from him.

“Sorry? Sorry!? Is that all you can say?! Sorry?!?! Sorry doesn’t do crap Kiseop. That doesn’t change anything. That doesn’t change the past. I’m being hunted down by my own father and put through danger, all because of you!!!” Then I push him back so hard that his back bangs against the cold hard wall, causing some ammo packs to fall onto the ground from the shelves. “I hate you. I will never forgive you. Curse you Kiseop. Curse you!” I yelled until my throat hurts then bursted through the room and into mine, running past the crew members. They’ve been eavesdropping. But I don’t care anymore. They deserved to know as much as I do. Or, as much as I did at least.