WOOHYUN

The car started moving and I looked behind me. Kairi was looking down, her shoulders sagging, her hair falling in front of her face. I scoffed at her helpless expression. Guess the brat finally understood the meaning of betrayal. But a part of me opposed that thought. She wasn't a brat, no brat would bravely tell anyone to shoot her, that too because her pride was at stake. I fought with that small sphere of my heart and reinstated the fact that she belonged to the other side, that our enemy's blood was running through her veins. I felt rejuvenated thinking of the General's reaction when he would wake up without his daughter by his side.

Though I was looking out the window, I was aware of the fleeting glances that Hoya was throwing at the girl. He looked irritated and I wondered if the 'brother' of the group was the one most offended by my act. Surprised at this possibility, I sighed and said, "She's not going to be any trouble, at least not for you."

Hoya's gaze shifted to me and he shook his head, his lips tightly shut. "There's no guarantee. You've made this mission more difficult than before, the General's daughter is with us."

"So?"

"So? So there are going to be SWAT teams, FBI and every single government man with a gun in his hand looking for us! You might be adventurous with your own life but think about ours!"

By 'ours' I knew Hoya meant our family back home, the family we had created when our biological ones had disowned us. The Hidden, government files called us, a rebel group that had stayed underground planning a way to alert the state of our strength, without letting them know of our motive. They couldn't know we knew about Avalon, THAT would make things more difficult.

For them we were rebels, but that was too naive a judgement to make. We were humans fighting for our rights, how bad could that be?

The words in my head made me laugh and L gave me a look that threatened me from taking away the position of the weird team member. I ignored his stare and turned to look at Sungyeol. The poor guy was still fumbling at the sight of Kairi. To overcome his stupid fear, I decided to change the atmosphere. Maybe a little conversation would help.

"Was that biker boy your boyfriend?" I asked. Dongwoo widened his eyes, unable to comprehend my attempt to interact. Kairi didn't move. Seconds later, she lifted her head and took a good look at us. I did the same and could not help but agree with SungGyu's expression from the rear-view mirror. The girl was good-looking for sure. She had lightly tanned skin, giving off a gold sheen. Her hair was dark but the curls at the end had hints of a natural brown. Her eyes were stunningly green, almost as if they had been painted so and behind those eyes, was a fire that still hadn't died out.

But as I looked closely, her head staring at Hoya's profile, I could see hope's remnants drifting away. Being given away by the love of her life was surely as bad as dying a dog's death. The shock still hadn't worn off and as she looked at me, my coldness returned and sympathy was replaced with my smirk.

"Guess I was right. Couldn't find a real man for yourself? The world become that bad?"

"Where are you taking me?"

Her voice was sharp but with husky tones. She sounded like someone who mostly stayed away from conversation, only to make a witty observation that would shine the spotlight on her. I thought of our mission and looked forward to all the dodging answers I would ahve to listen to through that voice.

"You're going to be with us for long, so don't worry, you'll find out soon."

                                                                                                             KAIRI

Joon hadn't fought, not even once. I remembered the figure of my abductor walk towards him, removing his mask with confidence and talking to my boyfriend in a way that made the latter nod fervently and stay paralyzed. I could feel a wave of depression flow over me. Maybe the masked man had shown him a gun. Maybe Joon knew I was being held captive by other guys and didn't want to act out of concern that they would do something to me. The positive possiblities made me feel worse. They weren't stemming from confidence of knowledge. They were stemming from doubt, a load of it.

"Was that biker boy your boyfriend?"

My mind staggered at the question. My abductor was certainly worse than the rest. I didn't know much about them, but I knew that I hadn't been part of the plan. The man named Hoya was giving me looks from time to time and though I had thought of them as unwelcome glances, I soon recognized them as concern. The masked man obviously hadn't seen that.

Ignoring his question, I slowly looked up. The guy holding me down to my right was tall, the man named Sungyeol. He looked away when our eyes met and I remembered him as being the most complaining one. To my left was a man with scary looks, though his whining had been as bad as Sungyeol's. On the left side of the backseat, ahead of the three of us, was a quiet character called L. I had hardly heard him say a word and I tagged him as nothing but aloof. On a seat opposite him, facing us, was Hoya. He knew I was watching him, but he let me stare at him as he looked out of the window with worry creases on his forehead. Unconsciously, my heart hoped. From whatever I had heard of their conversation, he seemed like the nicest one, the one with clear thoughts. I barely looked at the driver, but I knew he was the eldest. Finally, I shifted my gaze to HIM.

I forgot his name but I knew it was something Hyun. Do Hyun? Yong Hyun? I couldn't care less and burned my eyes onto his face. If I hadn't been taken away by him, I would have estimated him as the guy-next-door, the neighbourhood aunts' beloved son. But upon looking closely, anybody would have recognized the coldness I had seen in my mansion, the coldness that seemed to conceal him more than the black masks they had been wearing. 

"Guess I was right. Couldn't find a real man for yourself? The world become that bad?"

"Where are you taking me?"

My mouth opened instantly, not bothered for an argument. I didn't want to quarrel for Joon, no matter how many reasons there might be existing for his actions, or the lack of them.

Hyun guy narrowed his eyes and I felt momentary fear. 

"You're going to be with us for long so don't worry, you'll find out soon."

Right then and there, the van stopped. I looked out and shook my head, trying to clear my vision. We were in the middle of nowhere, a long stretch of nothing but sand.

A desert.