Blue. No pink. The walls are blue. The bedsheet is blue. Thank God. It was all a dream right? A weird dream. A nightmare even. But just a dream. I sit up slowly. Sweep my hair out of my eyes. Wait. What is this faint mark on my wrist? And my other wrist? My stomach sinks as I spot the same evidence on my ankles where the straps had been. The pink straps. In the pink room. Ms Pink.

A groan escapes me as everything comes rushing back. The invitation. High Society. The exclusive corridor. The woman against the wall. The blur. The pink. The blood. Her eyes. The vision of brilliant flashing pink halts all thoughts. Where have I seen it before? Déjà vu.

The door bursts open. “Taeyeon! You’re up!” Sunny bounces in and plops on my bed, her eyes looking at me, expecting something exciting. “How was your night out with the Tiffany Pink?”

My mouth is open and all ready to spill the beans on Ms Pink when my memory bank throws up a very important flashback.

“If you tell anyone about anything you’ve seen or heard, your heart will cease to beat.”

Just in time, I shut my mouth and shrug instead.

Sunny pouts. “You’re not holding out on your best friend, are you.”

“There’s really nothing much to say. We talked some, then she sent me back home.”

“You’re seriously expecting me to believe that the Tiffany Pink spent all nighttalking to you?” Sunny pushes my hair away from my neck and peers left and right. She sticks her nose in my face and examines me inch by inch.

I push her nose away and dodge her nosy eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Searching for clues.” Sunny sticks her nose back in my face and sniffs. “Aha!”

I push her away again, annoyed. “What?”

“I smell something. PINK!” Sunny’s eyes narrow, her cheeky features rearranging themselves to express speculation. “Are you sure you aren’t lying to me?”

“I’m sticking to my statement. All we did was talk. She did show me her car collection. But that was it.”

“She showed you her car collection? That means she’s interested in you!”

“No, it means she’s a show off who enjoys intimidating people with her richness.”

Sunny sits back. “You don’t like her.”

Now that’s the understatement of the century. “I’m not a fan of the industrious Ms Pink.”

“But why?”

Because she’s a blood-stealing fiend who practically kidnapped me and strapped me and stripped me and threatened me with an inhumane NDC. All I can do is shrug. “Bad vibes, I suppose.”

“It’s not like you to dislike someone so much.”

“I wouldn’t say I dislike her. I just think I’m better off staying away from her.”

“Alright. If that’s the way you feel.”

“That’s the way I feel.”

“Okay. Respecting the way you feel.”

“Good.”

“I’m off to school then. See you when I see you?”

Sunny always makes me smile. “See you when I see you.”

X

It isn’t until I’m walking out of class when I realize that I had forgotten to ask Sunny about her night with the towering woman. I mean, if the towering woman has access to Ms Pink’s secret lair in High Society, could she be a vampire too? And given Sunny’s tendency to act like her name all the time, she very could be keeping her trouble to herself. Or worse still, could she have signed the same NDC like I did? Oh no.

I duck into an empty classroom and shut the door before making the call.

“Tae, what’s up?”

“I have a question and I need you to answer me very honestly.”

“Sure. Fire away.”

“What did you do with the tall, tall woman last night?”

Sunny’s laughter bubbles over the phone. “Do you really have to ask?”

“I’m serious here. Did she…did she do anything to you?”

Sunny giggles. “Maybe the question you should be asking is what I did to her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you know how much I’m into tall ladies, right?”

“Oh my God. Please don’t tell me you…jumped her?”

“Quite literally,”—more giggles—“yes.”

I groan into the phone and all I get is Sunny’s giggles. “So…nothing out of the ordinary…?”

“In a good way or bad way? ‘Cos what I’m feeling is a little out of the ordinary. I mean, it’s crazy but I really like her.”

“Who is she to Ms Pink?”

“She’s her sister.”

“Her what?!”

“She’s Tiffany Pink’s sister. Summer Choi. Didn’t Ms Pink tell you during