[A/N: I am slowly, but surely losing my mind. I apologize for the delay in posting this chapter. I kept trying to fix it but... *sigh* Anyway, TRIGGER WARNING: Mild violence]

A desert storm brewed in the horizon. Dark clouds glowed from powerful, purple lightning, growling with the force of thunder. The wind blew cool, tangling her hair. Eun Mi stood still, reveling in the force of Mother Nature, of her homeland so far away.

The mountains grew smaller as the storm swallowed them. The land was still, silent before such a mighty display of power. It was beautiful, frightening and surreal.

Eun Mi spread out her arms, closed her eyes, the scent of the storm penetrating her nose, filling her with euphoria. She heard the rain meet the ground, a connection between the heavens and the earth. Eagerly, she awaited the moment the storm would take her, dousing her in its desert-like wonder.

But the rain never touched her. Instead, the forceful pain of her head snapping back made her open her eyes, inhaling a gasp of air. Another blow from behind made her head jerk back again.

“Hang on,” a voice said from beside her. “We’ll be okay.”

Disoriented, she looked around. She was in a car, cutting through the storm at a frightening speed.

“Slow down.”

“I have to speed up. You have your seatbelt on, right?”

“Slow down!”

A pair of headlights appeared just ahead, heading straight for them. It was an eighteen-wheeler.

“Watch out!”

The car swerved out of the path of the oncoming truck, but the vehicle behind them slammed into them again, and this time, the force of the impact sent them spinning out of control.

Eun Mi screamed, her head slammed against the window, the sound of bone and glass cracking making her ears ring.

A flash of headlights, a bolt of lightning, and suddenly they were rolling. Glass, dirt, and debris flew around. The sound of the crushing vehicle was drowned out by the storm.

After an impossibly long time, the car came to a stop. Gasping, crying, Eun Mi opened her eyes to find herself hanging upside down. Her heart hammered in her chest; she could smell the fear radiating off her. With great effort, she tried to free herself from the seatbelt’s grip.

She could feel blood on her forehead. Her hands and arms were cut and scraped; her head ached miserably.

“H-help!” She cried out. “S-someone! Anyone! Please, help!”

“Marisol.”

The voice was so softy and weak she almost didn’t hear it. Eun Mi turned and saw her father, bleeding and dying.

“¡Papá! Don’t worry, s-someone will help us soon.”

Her father reached for her hand. Eun Mi took it, kissing his bloody knuckles desperately. They tasted of blood, dirt, and her tears.

“My beautiful daughter,” he gasped, “I am…so proud of you.”

Eun Mi shook her head. “N-no, papa, you don’t get to go like this. You’re going to live and apologize to me properly! And then we’re going to keep arguing and apologizing for a long, long time!”

Her father smiled. Eun Mi sobbed, blinked. Her mother took her father’s place.

“Oh, mi niña,” she smiled tenderly, “still so afraid of the big, old world.”

“M-mamá.”

“Stop being so afraid. Make the world fear you instead.” She her cheek with a frail hand. “Be a desert storm.”

Eun Mi sobbed. “We’re going to be okay, mama. Hold on, okay?”

Eun Mi released her mother’s hand to fight against the seatbelt. She pulled and tugged until she finally reached for a long, sharp glass shard that sliced into her palm.

“Let go of that.”

Eun Mi snapped her head around to find a bloody Zico in the spot her mother her just occupied. His nose seemed to be broken, his forehead swollen; blood poured out of his wound and into his hair, caking it together in bright red lumps.

“Hyung is going to kill me.”

“J-Jiho,” Eun Mi struggled to remain sane. “We’re going to be okay.”

He gave a gruff laugh, turning to face her. His features shifted, morphing almost effortlessly into Taewoon’s right before her eyes.

“No. I don’t think we are.”

Eun Mi screamed, slashing through the seatbelt at last. She fell painfully, glass digging into her flesh.

“Woon-ah! Taewoon-ah!”

She reached for him, freeing him with a mighty struggle. Taewoon’s body fell, hard, nearly toppling above her.

“W-wake up.” She gave his cheek a soft pat, pushed his bloody hair away from his forehead. “Please wake up!”

“He won’t wake up,” a voice said.

Eun Mi held Taewoon closer. The owner of the voice stood just outside the broken window. The dark Victorian design on her black skirt made Eun Mi’s heart gallop with fear.

“Give him to me. “The voice took a on a wispy, feminine intonation. “I’ll take good care of him.”

“No!”

A gust of wind, a high pitched hysterical laugh, and suddenly, Death was there with her, a white skeleton dressed in a pitch-black Victorian dress. Eun Mi stared into the vacant eye sockets, her heart in .

“He’s mine!” Death screamed in her face. “And I’ll come for you too, my dear, but today, this one is mine.”

Taewoon disappeared, stolen from her. Death had taken him in a whirlwind of high pitched, hysterical laughter.

Eun Mi screamed.

Zico woke up to the sound of Eun Mi’s raw screams. He fell off the sofa, landing hard on the ground. Greatly startled and disoriented, he looked around.

Eun Mi lay curled in a tight ball at the other end of the sofa. The stillness of her body contradicted the force of her screams. To his untrained ear, Eun Mi merely shouted in absolute terror; he did not realize that she was desperately begging for someone’s life in Spanish.

“Hey, Song Eun Mi!”

He pushed himself up, darting towards her in alarm. As he reached for her, Eun Mi’s scream intensified, her limbs flailing. Zico fell back, shocked and scared for her. He didn’t notice how Gyuri and Chorong had rushed downstairs, or how Jonghoon had emerged from somewhere within HQ.

“What’s going on?”

Gyuri had to raise her voice to be heard over Eun Mi’s screams.

“. .” Jonghoon rubbed his face with both hands. “Where’s Tae Jun?!”

“H-he went out for a schedule,” said Chorong.

“Should we wake her?” asked Gyuri.

Jonghoon walked over to where Zico and Eun Mi were. “No, leave her. You’re not supposed to wake them up.”

Zico gawked. “So then what do we do?”

Jonghoon helped Zico stand. “We wait for her to come to her senses.”

“What? Hyung, that makes no sense! Look at how frightened she is!”

Zico tried to get around Jonghoon, calling out Eun Mi’s name. Jonghoon pushed him back, blocking his path.

“If you approach her now, it won’t make any difference! She’s not aware of herself or others! Night terrors aren’t something you can soothe away!”

“Are we supposed to just watch? Hyung!”

Jonghoon fought Zico back. “Give it a rest, Jiho!”

“Both of you give it a rest!” Gyuri roared as she pushed them both apart. “Neither of you is helping!”

Jonghoon and Zico glared at each other from over Gyuri’s head, their chests rising and falling with shallow, angry breaths. It took them all a moment to realize that Gyuri’s voice had seemed abnormally loud because Eun Mi had stopped screaming. They turned to look at her; she sat upright, eyes wide, hands on her lap.

“Eun Mi?” Chorong whispered. “Honey, are you okay?”

Wordlessly, she stood after a few minutes. Gyuri stepped away, saying something about calling over some of the production crew or medical help.

“Chorong, do you know where she keeps her medicine? She does have some here at HQ, right?”

Chorong nodded rapidly. “Yes! It’s in the room, I’ll go grab it!”

“I’ll go with you.” Jonghoon headed up the stairs with Chorong.

Zico could hear the leaders moving, but he did not register anything they said. Something about Eun Mi’s posture made him nervous. The distant look in her eyes made him wonder if she was really awake. He gulped.

Suddenly, Eun Mi bolted. Zico jumped aside, startled, and then, after a moment of brief hesitation, ran after her.

“Hey! Song Ma Ri!”

Zico caught up to her in time to see her slip through the front door. Cursing, he shoved his feet into his shoes.

“How the hell is she so fast?!”

He ran out after her, cursing yet again as the cold wind slammed into him. Eun Mi raced ahead of him, her hair flying behind her. Zico had the horrifying feeling that if he did not catch up to her soon, something terrible could happen.

He picked up his pace, catching up to her just before she reached the main road. Gripping her by the arm tightly, he spun her around to face him.

“Hey! Are you insane?!”

Eun Mi struggled against him, shouting her protest in what Zico concluded to be Spanish. She pushed against him, struggling to free herself. Zico understood that if she had been in her right mind, Eun Mi would have most definitely beaten and escaped him in a second. With Eun Mi this irrational, Zico ended up taking her by the shoulders, shaking her hard enough to daze her.

“Song Ma Ri! Get a grip!”

Eun Mi stopped moving, her head hanging limply. Suddenly aware of the scene they must be making, Zico glanced around in desperate fear. As if by some miracle, no one had been around to witness their insane misadventure. Nonetheless, Zico guided Eun Mi into an alley, keeping her steady.

It wasn’t until she stumbled that he realized she had been running barefoot.

“Honestly,” he sighed.

With gentle hands, he guided her onto the ground until she sat with her back pressed against the wall. He regarded her for a moment. Her limp head, her hair tangled and messy, inappropriately dressed and with dirty feet made Zico think of a used up ragged doll. He hated the thought so passionately that he nearly punched the wall behind him.

He paced, agitated and downright scared. The memories of Jihoon’s schizophrenia came crashing down on him, turning his mind and stomach.

Zico suddenly, ardently, hated the world around him. Hated the concept of fame, of publicity. He hated his own need to be recognized and his desire to make music that made others admire him. He hated having to see those around him lose, crumble, under the careless, cruel words and actions of people that hid under the cloak of anonymity.

They would not be as brave or as cruel if they were forced to confront them in person. Zico wanted to fight all of them, to scream in their faces. He prayed that they would be punished for their cruelty, their lack of humanity.

Zico hated them all.

A strangled cry ripped through his throat as he punched the wall. He pounded his fist into the solid brick a couple more times before Eun Mi’s mumbling voice broke through his own insanity.

“Ma Ri.” He went to her, kneeling before her. He brushed her hair back, cupping her face in his hands, tilting it up to look at her. Eun Mi’s eyes had closed, but her lips moved quickly, soft, fervent words slipping through in whispered Spanish.

After taking a deep breath to regain his composure, Zico removed his shoes and socks. With clumsy hands, he slipped his socks on Eun Mi’s feet. He stood barefooted as he removed his hoodie, maneuvering it around Eun Mi with some difficulty. He tucked her hair inside, pulling down on the hood until it covered her troubled, sleeping face.

Slipping into his shoes, Zico forced Eun Mi to stand. He crouched low, threw her arms over his shoulders, and heaved her onto his back. She was lighter than what he’d expected her to be, but heavy enough to assure him that she was safely secured on his back.

Eun Mi rested her head against his shoulder, her whispers chilling him as he started the trek back to HQ.

The world seemed to have turned upside down in the last twelve hours. What unnerved him the most was finding out that Song Eun Mi, the woman he’d considered a hurricane, was nothing more than a small, frail human that could break just as much as he, if not more.  

Up until now, Song Eun Mi had been nothing more than an outstanding artist. Her talents seem to know no limit. In fact, Zico had been thoroughly annoyed by how talented she seemed to be. In his mind—and doubtless in everyone else’s—, Eun Mi was good and perfect at everything. She had no trouble doing anything that she set her mind to it.

He hated himself for being so foolish.

While Song Eun Mi was indeed nearly perfect, the girl behind the glamour, Song Ma Ri, had a lot to shoulder. Zico had never once considered why she tried so hard in everything, nor why she had to make sure that she was good at it. The ocean that was Song Ma Ri continued to deepen. Zico wasn’t sure he could stay afloat for much longer, not when such depth compelled him to drown.

Zico realized that he would never be able to do it. He would never be able to understand Song Ma Ri. Even now, he hardly understood who Song Eun Mi was. It frightened him. She frightened him.

As he climbed the hill with Eun Mi on his back and the mystery of her complex existence in his mind, Zico found himself yearning for his older brother. He willed him, with the force of his desire alone, to materialize before him, to take Eun Mi from him and reassure him that everything would be alright.

Zico found himself needing his brother. He needed Taewoon again.

His eyes stung with the knowledge of his inherent need for him. He felt small and weak, stubborn and lonely at the thought of it. For a brief moment, Zico was ten years old again, cornered by upperclassmen that wanted to beat him up because his eyes looked mean. Only this time, Taewoon was not coming to his rescue.

Eun Mi’s sobbed masked his own. He felt her hot tears seeping through his shirt, her voice whispering the name he wanted to call out.

“Taewoon-ah….Taewoon-ah…”

Jeon Nari squinted as she stepped out of B.Star Entertainment’s building. She felt as if she hadn’t seen or felt the sunlight in years. Spreading her arms wide, Nari inhaled a deep breath of fresh air.

“Sunlight!”

Her fellow trainees laughed, each taking a moment to bask in the early autumn sun. Nari stretched her numb limbs, groaning loudly, happily. She had spent the better part of the month in a practice room, singing and singing and singing. With the monthly evaluation behind her, she could relax and enjoy a late lunch with her friends.

“Who wants spicy rice cakes?”

A hoot of approval went up in the air, followed by a chorus of booing when someone said they would have to burn off the calories later. They were halfway down the street when Nari realized she had left her purse back in the trainee locker rooms.

“You guys go on ahead,” she shouted over her shoulder, “I’ll be right there!”

Nari did not even make it into the building. She caught sight of a skulking, dark figure attempting to hide behind the light post across the street from the company. In the weeks since B.Star had released the new regulations regarding the loitering of fans outside the company, Nari had not seen a single fan break the rules. In fact, fans had not even gathered outside the company to protest the relationship between Ryouta and DAEE.

As a member of the company, Nari felt compelled to inform this loitering fan of the rules. Without a second thought, she jogged across the street, coming dangerously close to the woman.

“Excuse me?” When the woman showed no signs of having heard her, Nari cleared loudly. “Excuse me, but you can’t be here.”

Blood Rose turned to face her, her eyes much too wide, mouth twitching. “Where is Song Eun Mi?”

She brought her thumbnail to her teeth, biting down on it. Nari watched her in shock as Blood Rose bit her nail until it bled. The saliva mixed with the blood created a sheen red coat over her yellow teeth. Nari took a step back.

“You’re not allowed near the property. Company rules.”

Blood Rose laughed, taking a couple of quick steps closer to Nari. “Don’t play games with me, girl! I’m not here to worship the ground that walks on!”

Nari’s heart hammered in her chest. She hated herself for being afraid, but she refused to stand down. Blood Rose had just insulted her role model—Jeon Nari would not have it.

“Take that back.” Blood Rose stared at her stupidly until she clarified. “Take back what you said about Song Eun Mi sunbaenim.”

Blood Rose blinked a couple of times before she released a shrill peal of laughter. “You want me to apologize?!”

With a move that was both clumsy and quick, Blood Rose had Nari by the hair. She pulled so hard, Nari went down on one knee. A whimper almost escaped Nari’s lips; she swallowed it. She refused to give this psycho the benefit of seeing her in pain. She looked directly into Blood Rose’s eyes, inhaling the stench of her breath while thinking fiercely of how to break free.

“Listen here, little , I have a bone to pick with Song Eun Mi. That is the bane of my existence and she’s ruined my relationship. She came between me and my man. I want her dead. Very dead.”

Blood Rose laughed in Nari’s face, her hot, rotten breath making her eyes water. Her insane words made her stomach churn. With a war cry, Nari pushed herself off the ground, slamming her shoulder into Blood Rose’s chest. She released Nari’s hair, the wind knocked out of her. Nari kept pushing against her until she pinned her against the light post.

“You’re ing crazy!” Nari yelled. “You’re ing insane! Get lost before I call the cops!”

Blood Rose coughed, clutching her chest. Something slipped out of her hoodie, clattering onto the ground. Nari stared at it, a long, slender object wrapped in newspaper. She suddenly recognized what it was.

Her threats had not been empty after all.

They simultaneously realized that the other knew of the weapon. Blood Rose made a dive for it, but Nari was quicker, kicking it across the street with all her strength. Blood Rose screamed, lunging at Nari. She took the full force of the tackle, losing her balance, landing hard on her back.

Blood Rose straddled her, but she missed pinning her arms down. Nari blocked most of her blows, mind racing. Blood Rose continued to pound down on her relentlessly. She s her hands through Nari’s defenses, aiming for her neck.

Nari saw her chance and took it, jamming her thumb into Blood Rose’s eye. She grabbed the side of her face and pushed hard, throwing her off her. Unlike Blood Rose, Nari managed to pin her arms down with her knees. She punched her several times with everything she had until someone pulled her off her.

“Let go!” she screamed. She gave Blood Rose a kick on the side as she was dragged away. “Let go!”

“Jeon Nari!” A male voice hissed into her ear. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

Nari was spun around. She found herself staring up at Kim Su Jong. His electric blue hair surrounded him like a hazy halo. His black lip ring gleamed, a stark contrast against his pale skin.

“K-Kim Su Jong sunbae,” Nari gasped.

“What the do you think you’re doing?! Getting in a fight just outside the company?! Are you ing begging them to kick you out?!”

“N-no! Sunbae! This woman was threatening Song Eun Mi sunbaenim!”

Su Jong’s face went stone cold. Nari shivered.

“What?”

“She kept saying that Eun Mi sunbaenim had ruined her relationship and that she would kill her! She had a knife with her!” Nari pointed to where the knife still lay across the street. “See?”

Su Jong moved her aside, seeking Blood Rose, a murderous glare in his eyes. But Blood Rose was gone. She had slipped away while they argued, leaving behind nothing but a cracked tooth on the gravel.

Su Jong glared at the evidence of Blood Rose’s existence then turned to Nari.

“Next time, call security.”