Watching her own reflection in a floor lined with black tiling wasn't really eighteen-year-old Lee Miyeon's favorite pastime. But when her father was talking to her, she just automatically looked for something to distract herself, despite how disrespectful it was. She was jolted back to reality by an aged man, no younger than his mid-fifties, turning around the black leather chair he was seated in to face her. He brought his hands together and rested his elbows on his redwood desk, creasing his just-ironed suit. The pale girl tried not to wrinkle her nose at the biting smell of overpriced cologne, resorting to squeezing her fisted hands to relieve her tension.

"Miyeon dear, I've found a place that'll take you in." Her father said, eyeing his daughter. "I expect you to be on your best behavior. If you get kicked out of class for stirring up trouble, don't expect me to go searching for another school."

She nodded, her dark brown hair shaking as she did. "Yes, dad."

The man grinned, and Miyeon tried not to squint when his whitened teeth caught the light. "Good. Now run along, father has work to do."

Getting out of her seat, she managed a quick bow to her dad before she scurried out of the room like a scrawny mouse. As she turned the corner leading to the hall near her room, she heard the maids gossiping again.

"A girl her age should be eating happily and playing with her friends!"

"True, true... but does she have any? She's moved from country to country, even whole continents at a time!"

Miyeon pretended that they weren't talking about her as she skittered past them, the only thing on her mind at the moment being getting to her room and then getting a good night's rest. Although she never really went anywhere, being stuck in this mansion all the time was exhausting, since she always had to either avoid her father or fake smiles if she didn't want to hear him shouting. If she wasn't tired, she was stressed, and right now she was a mix of both.

Opening the humongous white doors, she flopped down heavily on her ultra-soft feather bed, staring at the fancy wallpaper while picking at the silk sheets. The evening light danced down from her giant window, filtering through the rosy curtains. Her room was extravagant, overly decorated with elegant furniture and a few statues. Miyeon struggled a little as she realized she was literally sinking into her bed, before lying on her stomach and turning her head.

School? The brown-haired girl wondered to herself as she absentmindedly stared at the view of the cityscape. Ever since she started traveling with her father for business affairs, she'd been learning via online courses, which was actually extremely time consuming. Miyeon had spent the better part of her days sitting around in front of a computer, either jotting down notes, working on projects, or taking tests. She figured public school was about the same, but classes were seperated into a solid schedule and she had to learn along with other students. Miyeon rolled onto her side. What she was most worried about was having to be around who knows how many other people her age. It was stupid and cliche, but she hadn't been to public schooling since her elementary years, and even her memories from back then weren't too fond. Miyeon cringed. Those were some embarrassing times she didn't want to get back to.

The pale girl let out a small sigh, ceasing to fiddle with her blanket. She was going to go to a highschool in the midst of a little town not far from here. It was actually her catchment school before they moved. They had an old mansion there but they left because her father's office was relocated and also the danger of gangs. Her dad feared that gangsters would try to vandalize the house and rob them, which then led to their "worldwide adventure". She had heard the stories of the thieves and scoundrels and criminals that came out to fight as soon as the sky dimmed, dousing the streets with darkness. It also wasn't very safe there, as the maids said... but sometimes the maids were wrong, Miyeon reassured herself.

She rolled over and glanced at the view outside her balcony with her deep umber-colored eyes, and dimly wondered if the bad people were still there. Would she get beat up? She hoped not. As long as she stayed out of their way she should be fine. It wasn't too much different than dealing with her father.

A maid peeked into Miyeon's room. "Miss, you'd better pack up. We'll be moving you in tomorrow. You're going to be by yourself so don't expect your dad to care for you, not that he does anyway..."

Miyeon smiled sadly back and slowly started to get up, making her way towards her closet.

"I know." she said softly.

The middle-aged woman started to help, her fast, skilled hands working much better than Miyeon's clumsy ones.

She chattered as she packed. "I really hate that devil of a father of yours. He should love you more, rather than dropping you off at a crude daycare and leaving you to cope for yourself."

The girl exhaled gently. "Yes, but what can I do about it? I'd be homeless without him. And you're coming with me, Aunt Cha, so it'll be fine."

Aunt Cha stuffed her jackets into a faded blue suitcase. "He's still a horrible man."

Miyeon giggled. "I know, I know..."

Not long after, they were finished (Miyeon didn't have many possessions, unlike her father), and she was off to bed. The suitcase still lay not far off from her bed since she needed to stuff the pajamas she was wearing now into it in the morning. The pale girl, however tired she was, was still nervous, curling onto her side as she sank into her bed once more, and a light sprinkling of butterflies feebly whirled around in her stomach, tickling her from the inside. Although she needed it, she couldn't fall asleep and settled with watching the city outside and trying to find the little town they'd be moving into.

Eventually, Miyeon fell asleep to the glow of a single light on in one of the apartment buildings nearby, a dark blue sky, and a slight sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach where the butterflies had died.

She cracked open her eyes the next morning to a loud blaring alarm at four in the morning. Miyeon was about to question who set an alarm so early when she remembered. Her first day of school was today. She was going to be in grade twelve. The groggy girl blinked, trying to clear her head, before sighing and going to get dressed.

After struggling into the school uniform that had been draped over her chair, Miyeon twirled her dark brown hair as she nervously looked up and down her figure in the mirror. She barely noticed the fact that the chocolate strands were now tangling around her finger as she fretted over the fact that the uniform was, well, something she wasn't used to wearing. A black jacket embroidered with the school logo, a white collared shirt underneath, along with a deep red plaid skirt and tie to top it all off. She could pick what shoes and sock to wear, but nothing she had matched the dark uniform. Her wardrobe was mostly blues and grays, which couldn't clash more with the reds and blacks that she was donned with now.

Miyeon freed her knotted hair from her hand as she spotted a pair of dark grey tights that would go with her navy blue, almost black Mary Janes. After breathing a sigh of relief, Aunt Cha hurried into the room and fussed over her hair, complaining that if she twirled her hair any more it'd be so tangled that they'd just have to chop it off. The maid combed it out before putting a hairband in it to neaten it up a bit before ushering her and her suitcase off to the car. The pale girl froze in stricken horror when she realized it was a very attention-grabbing black limo before Aunt Cha gave her a rough shove, snapping her out of it.

"We'll be moving your things into the old mansion while you're in class," She explained, taking her suitcase from Miyeon. "Now hurry along, the chauffeur will drive you there."

The brown-haired girl looked at the limo in panic. She couldn't go there in a flashy vehicle like that! What would everyone think of her? Miyeon felt colder and colder by the second. She didn't want to seem like a show off, especially on the first day. From what she remembered, the town was filled with middle class and poor people who didn't particularly favor the rich.

In the end, she had no choice but to give in. No one else was coming to drop her off, and Aunt Cha needed the ride as well.

While they drove to the town, Miyeon leaned back in her seat and looked out the window. Although they were being served warm coffee and toast in the car, she couldn't shake off this chill running down her spine. The sky seemed to get greyer and greyer the further they went. Rain started to fall onto the windshield, and the grass looked as if it was dying off as they went down the road. The air seemed to get thicker, as if it were filled with some kind of tension.

She ended up dozing off for about an hour or two, Miyeon didn't know, since she lost track. When she opened her eyes again it had stopped raining but the sky was filled with thick, wet, and grey clouds. She looked down the street, as the car was slowing. There was a half-rotted sign that was supposed to say 'Welcome To...' but the place name was scrawled out and was graffitied, replacing the words with 'Bangtan's Turf'. She shivered, looking at the walls of graffiti behind it. This place had grown much more menacing since she last was here.

Aunt Cha was equally as amused as she was. "What is this place? It's been infested by little rascals!"

"M-Maybe there's none left?" Miyeon squeaked, trying to be optimistic.

She tsked, looking out the window at the graffiti-littered buildings. "I don't think so."

The dark-eyed girl gulped, shrinking down in her seat. Her father had really, actually sent her to a horrid place where she was in danger and could be kidnapped, beat up, or murdered! She wrapped her arms around her legs and tried not to think about any of this. Surely the teachers would defend her, right? That's what they were supposed to do, teach, and protect the kids!

Miyeon was jerked out of her string of panic by the car parking at the school. Almost everyone was staring at their luxury brand, custom-made car, and eyeing the maid and high-class driver in the front. She wanted to sink down into the leather seat and vanish forever.

The maid turned around. "Come on, Miyeon dear. You have to go now."

The pale girl, who was even paler right at this moment, slowly grabbed her dark navy bookbag and exited the car, hanging her head as the students shot holes through her with their burning glares. Miyeon used her dark bangs to cover her face as she hurried into the school, face burning in embarrassment. This was one of the times where she wished that she'd just have forsaken the limo a