"Jiyong!!" A voice behind him called, "Hey Jiyong don't you dare ignore me!!"

Jiyong smirked as he turned around to see Youngbae, his best friend, sprinting down the street to try to catch up to him. 'Try' being the keyword.

"Well you're so slow Youngbae!" Jiyong answered laughing, as he skipped along the street to the highschool down the road. He really looked like a five year old girl going off to school for the first time, with a grin lighting up his childish face, the only difference was Jiyong didn't have enough hair for pigtails.

Youngbae chuckled as he watched his friend dance goofily on the edge of the pavement as if he was an acrobat from a circus.

"Hey careful you don't fall!" He warned but his eyes were soft when he saw how happy and excited his friend was. Youngbae still didn't understand how Jiyong managed to stay so happy and carefree all the time!! He knew he was such a worrier and got nervous over every little thing. Youngbae often got jealous of Jiyong when nothing seemed to affect him the way it always does to himself.

"Yah you worry too much," Jiyong teased, but jumped safely back on the pavement so he was beside Youngbae.

"I know I know. Come on let's get to school, we don't want to be late again!" Youngbae said, dragging a pouting Jiyong towards the school gates.

 Their school was gorgeous. It was a real, rustic mansion with vines creeping up the stone walls and towers tall enough to pierce the clouds above. There was a huge mahogany door framing the entrance and an intimidating portcullis ready to snap down on intruders if they dared to step foot on any one of the stone slabs underneath.

The two boys didn't notice this though, nor did they care since they have stepped through this door more times than they rememeber.

When they did so this morning however, there was a stern, middle-aged woman blocking their path. "I wondered what time I'd being seeing you two. Every morning you say to me that you'll be here on time but look at you!!"

Both boys dropped their eyes to the ground sheepishly, "Sorry Miss."

"Hmm well you'd better follow me. I'll you to your next lesson" She said through thin lips.

"Why? I know you don't like us miss, but despite what you think we can still manage to remember a time table, even though it did take Youngbae almost 2 months," Jiyong chuckled glancing at his friend, but was met with a glare clearly telling him to shut up unless he wanted detention.

Luckily the woman was in a good mood that morning, even though you really couldn't tell, so she just shook her head and motioned to them to follow her.

She led them down a maze of corridors (which is more confusing than trying to wrap your head around Inception) and ushered them into their lecture hall. 

They were met with 26 pairs of curious eyes and 1 pair of annoyed ones.

"Where have you been?!" Their professor Yangsuk yelled, "In fact don't answer that, I don't have time for exuses. Go sit in your seats" Clearly the professor was angry at being interrupted.

Jiyong, uncomfortable being the centre of attention, quickly scurried up the steps and took his seat at the back of the hall. Youngbae promptly followed.

Jiyong was suddenly glad he had Youngbae with him. He had been his best friend and support for as long as he could remember and without him, he honestly had no idea where he'd be today. Jiyong's eyes tightened thinking about his past, but he knew from experience that it did nothing to dwell on what cannot be changed.

He glanced over at Youngbae as he was settling in for another lecture, his lips tugging at a faint smile. Yes, he was incredibly grateful that they were still together and it was with that thought he got out his books somewhat happy, ready to face the day ahead.

Despite the positive start, as the lecture wore on Jiyong could feel his eyes droop; Yangsuk's voice was like a droning lullaby and he was finding it very difficult to stay awake. He took a quick peek at Youngbae and he was having the same problem, though his head was lying on his open book and Jiyong could swear he saw a bit of drool at the corner of his mouth.

Jiyong was about to copy his friend and slump on the desk, when a blinding pain suddenly shot through his skull as if he'd been shot. Jiyong was completely blown back and was groaning in his seat massaging his temples. Where the hell had that come from? Frazzled, he was about to settle down again, but then another shock ricocheted across his skull. 

"AHHH!!" Jiyong screamed outloud this time, scrunching his eyes and balling his fists to try and stop his head from exploding.

He felt a hand poking him and a faint voice asking if he was ok but that was in the background. In his head there was a war going on. He suddenly felt sharp stings in his palms and he gasped as he brought his hands to his face to check the damage through watery eyes. There were deep gashes sliced across his palms and Jiyong was horrified to see pointed, cruel-looking claws where his nails had been and blood surrounding his fingertips. 

His vision went blurry and he could barely feel Youngbae's arms helping him up out his seat. His whole body was going into spasms and he could barely stand. All he could feel was the raging pulse of pain in his head and all he could see was the bright red blood starting to pool out of the palms of his trembling hands.

What the was going on?!