She might play with my bangs and giggle about how un-Yoona I look.

That small musing made a miniscule smile curled her lips.

The weather was really hearty this morning. Winter showed its merit by letting the warm of sun beam escaped cool white veil in the sky. Last night’s evidence of angry snow fall left as plush pristine blanket draped the pavement and bus stops. Yoona even spared few seconds scooping some snow from a bench, deliberately losing herself staring at the white mass of snow.

“Ack!” yelped Yoona.

Snow sloshed down her hair and few more hit her back. She turned around and another crumple of snow squashed her face. A boy stood few meters from her, grinning ear-to-ear with arsenal of crumpled snow on his feet. Yoona wiped the snow and chuckled, scooping some snow and launched a quick revenge of a snowball, hitting the boy’s face. They quickly exchanged few more snowball shots and laughter on the sidewalk. The pedestrians and commuters watched as they passed, some chuckling in amusement, some lightly scoffed at the doe-eyed woman’s childishness. A middle-aged woman draped in heavy longcoat suddenly came and pulled the boy by ear, apologizing to Yoona for her son’s mischief. She only laughed and ruffled the boy’s hair before the woman excused herself and her son.

Well, that was fun, Yoona smiled and waved to the boy and his mother. Ah, suddenly I want to play snowball war with Luhan.

Her phone vibrated on her jeans pocket. She slipped out the phone and frowned slightly when she saw the display; an incoming call from an unknown number.

A scenario clichéd enough in spy action movies and such, but in her career as auxiliary agent had taught her the truth behind it. Unknown caller indeed rarely brought good tidings.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Im Yoona. You had a soundless deep sleep, I assume?”

Deep voice she didn’t recognize filled Yoona with hostility almost instantly. “Who are you?”

“You know me well—Ah, I guess I’m quite forgotten among a huge number of people you know.”

“Don’t playing games with me—“

“—Ah you’re right! We’re right in the start of a small game I set for us. A war game.” The man on the other line chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m sure your lovely wife and cute son will enjoy the game too.”

“You! Hey—“ Yoona gritted her teeth as the line went dead suddenly. ”!” She quickly scrolled the contact list and hit her wife’s number.  

“What do you want, Yoona?”

Yoona couldn’t deny that she was hurt with bitterness in Seohyun‘s voice, but this was no time to feel such sentiment. “Where’s Luhan?” she asked in hurry.

“He’s at school—“

“Are you at work?”

“Yes and why—“  

“Just be safe!”

Keep calm. Inhale, exhale, and Yoona repeated it once again. He wants me to be panic. Yoona snug her phone to her pocket and power walked back to her apartment. Someone I know but I don’t know… Her doe eyes scanned the streets she passed and the passersby around her. Every pair of eyes flocked the city became suspicious for her, any corners and turns of the streets might hide beasts eager to tear her. Or there might be some vultures’ eyes stalking on heights of concrete trees, watching and waiting for any cracks of vulnerability on her march from the street to her apartment.

Who it could be? Her hand tingled from the cold door handle and adrenaline of cautiousness. First guesses that passed on her mind would be the accomplices of criminals arrested on her missions, seeking for revenge. But what lowlife bastards who dare to involve Seohyun and Luhan—

Bang!

“A gunshot!” Yoona gasped and ran inside the apartment building.

The landlord lied bloody on the lobby’s floor. She immediately rushed to his side, checking the pulse and gently tilted the landlord’s head. He was still breathing but his pulse getting weaker. The shot hit his upper shoulder. Her fingers gently probed the point where the bullet was lodged and found it didn’t hit too deep. He should be able to survive if he gets immediate care. “Call the ambulance!” she told some people that came in panic surrounding the landlord and ran leaving him to their care.

The assaulter should have been still near, but where would the culprit go? She noticed the number and upward arrow display above one of the lift. Someone was riding the lift upwards and she was sure it was the culprit. She sprinted through the flight of the emergency stairs and suddenly she remembered that she didn’t know which floor the culprit would stop.

Could it be…

Yoona took her chance and made her first blank guess. She rushed to the fourth floor and ran her way to her unit, only to find a man trying to break into her apartment whilst gun.

The one who shot the landlord was indeed after her, just like she guessed.

The mysterious man quickly took notice of her presence and fired a quick shot towards her. The fire missed her and Yoona didn’t take her chance for granted. She charged to him and wrangled out the gun from his grip, bashing her forehead forcefully to his. He groaned and the gun fell from his hand. Yoona would’ve ducked and grabbed the gun, but the man gripped her shoulder tightly, restraining her to move. Instinctively she kicked the gun away and mustered her strength to break free and took a step back.

The gun slid far from both of them, too far for either him or Yoona’s advantage. The man growled and dropped to boxing stance, tactfully back-stepping approaching where the gun was. I won’t let him take the gun. Let’s finish this with bare fists! She rushed forward and timely blocked his hooking punches, mauling her fist to his stomach. He whimpered and fumbled, giving Yoona an opening to grab his shoulder and kneed his navel with additional power from the rotation of her hips. Groaning he was thrown to the floor—completely distanced away for his gun—but he quickly stood up again and glared behind his raised fists.

She launched a quick right jab but the man parried it and side-kicked her calf in process. The pain on her leg staggered her stance but Yoona didn’t relent. She pulled him by his windbreaker’s collar and headbutted his face. Her skull ached from the collision, but she smiled as blood ran down his nostril.

“Who send you after me?” Yoona roared, shaking his battered frame in frenzy. “Tell me!”

Instead of getting an answer, an incoming punch crashed her unguarded left jaw. The unexpected attack made Yoona growled loudly and her grip on him loosened. He violently pushed Yoona and ran away.

“Damn, he escaped…” she grunted, barely recovered from her stagger. She would’ve chased him but he already far away and his kick packed quiet some damage to her shin.

She quietly picked up the gun and dusted it. Some fine genuine Sig Sauer P226, not a cheap China copy or other low quality models. The man might belong to quite an exquisite mob or criminal organization, but he was still a mere pawn. Nevertheless, never did she expect that mysterious man would move this soon. Or perhaps he already planned his moves all along, only that he declared his little war signal just now. Putting the gun to safe mode, she slipped it inside her coat and sighed. She was completely at dark, not knowing what would happen next on his scheme.  

Her eyes widened from a realization. Her son was the most vulnerable to his move at the moment.

From her phone on-screen clock, Luhan should’ve had her school hours finished already. She remembered the school badge sewn on Luhan’s uniform and fortunate she knew the adress of that school. But that school is quite far from here… Not tarrying any longer, she walked in to the lift, impatiently tapping her foot on her descending ride.

Right when the metallic door slid open with a ding, she dashed out of the building and hailed a taxi.

xxxxx

“Lulu! Come on run faster!”

“Yah… w-wait, Hayoungie!”

Tiffany laughed softly as she walked behind the children, watching them frolic around running across the school yard, skipping happily past the school gate. She didn’t worry if they would run too far from her; they were obedient and smart children. Especially Luhan. He really inherited his mother’s refined demeanor and intelligence, and his bright lovely eyes (which her daughter really jealous about) unmistakably after his father.

Luhan’s laugh, Seohyun once confessed, was the one who kept her sanity intact and kept moving on. Now, standing on the sidewalk listening to the kids’ banters of laugh, she understood why. His laughs were exact copy of Yoona’s.

Until now, Tiffany still didn’t understand why Yoona really had a heart to disappear and left her wife and infant son, and had a backbone to come back after five years. Luhan deserved a better father whom he can laugh together with, and Seohyun deserved a better spouse who always stayed by her side.  

She checked her phone and smiled when she found an incoming message from Seohyun.

From: Seohyun

Thank you for picking Luhan up, unnie.

Her long fingers rested on the edge of her phone, ready to type a reply. The touchscreen display barely made contact with her fingertips when someone rushed out from a taxi, shouting and running to her direction. Annoyed, Tiffany glanced at that unknown figure and rolled her eyes, mumbling something about how weird and noisy some people nowadays. Well, that woman is sure quite familiar…

“Auntie Fany!” Luhan tugged her skirt softly. “It’s Appa!”

Tiffany looked at the woman—which happened to be Yoona—with raised eyebrows. She had her hair cut out from her usual style (like the last time she saw the doe-eyed woman five years ago), no wonder she didn’t recognized the doe-eyed woman earlier. “Hi, it’s been five years,” she greeted with a pursed smile.

“Yeah it is,” Yoona smiled and bowed politely. “Thank you for picking Luhan up from school, Tifany unnie.”

Luhan beamed and hugged Yoona’s waist, clinging while pouting cutely to his doe-eyed father. “Appa, I miss you!”

The doe-eyed woman laughed softly and leaned down to kiss her son’s forehead. “I miss you too, baby deer!” she grinned and took the boy’s little hand to her hold. “Let’s go home with Yoona appa?”

“Not so fast. Where are you taking him, Im Yoona?” Tiffany asked with a frown.

“I’m taking Luhan home,“ said Yoona, her smile unfaltering despite Tiffany’s obvious distaste to her presence. “I’m his father, I won’t let any harm touches my son. So please don’t give me that look, Tiffany Kim?”

She parted her lips, about to voice her rebuke, only to press them to a thin line of silence. Perhaps when she saw how happy Luhan was with Yoona, any reasons of her not to let the doe-eyed boy with his father became invalid. Or maybe it was when she saw such determination that lighted Yoona’s eyes; a father’s will to protect her son. Nonetheless, she let Yoona and Luhan went just like that, without any resistance aside from distrusting gaze that followed Yoona and her son stepping into a bus.

“Who was that woman, umma?” Hayoung asked. “Why she takes Lulu away?”

Tiffany bit her lips, looking hesitant to answer. “She’s… Luhan’s father.”

“Lulu’s daddy?” the little girl blinked. “I thought Uncle Kris is Lulu’s daddy?”

One innocent question from her daughter struck Tiffany speechless. Seohyun and she was close enough to disclose their current unnerving household problems, with a silent mutual understanding not to comment on each other’s life too much. With Seohyun spoke nothing regarding Nichkhun and her upcoming divorce with Taeyeon, she felt obliged to repay the favor by not sounding any comments about the younger’s Chinese lover. However, she would say Kris would’ve made a better father and spouse than Yoona indeed, but again it wasn’t for her to decide.

She let her daughter’s question unanswered and praised the God when Hayoung seemed not that interested to find the answer when she started counting red cars that passed them.

“Dear God, please don’t make me regret letting Yoona takes Luhan home…” Tiffany murmured as she typed a text for Seohyun.

To: Seohyun

Yoona’s taking Luhan home. Please make sure she really takes him home.

Xxxxx

“Okay, class is dismissed.”

The school bell rang merrily in between small cheers and happy hubbubs. Seohyun would’ve joined the jovial mass greeting the end of the tiring school hours, but the unexpected short call from Yoona put her at unease.

Behind that very short call, she could sense panic on Yoona’s voice, and it quickly affected her too like a strong dreadful contagion.

Her heels clacked with disciplined tempo of soldier’s march as she made her way through whilst the music teacher smiling kindly to students that wished her good afternoon. Seohyun was well-known as a warm teacher that was strict to rules and never lost her calm. Abiding the school’s rule—no running in hallway—and erected up her usual calm demeanor, she masked the flurry inside her that demanded her to rush through throngs of noisy students.

The acute senses and perceiving she’d honed in her years of intelligence service seemed backfired at her. The worry, in a count of minutes, morphed into thick apprehension that ate her through to the core. Being a former sniper she was, she was quite confidence of her capability on defending herself. But Luhan? He was just an innocent, vulnerable elementary schoolboy. It was her duty to protect him anytime in any cost, but the fact that she couldn’t be by his side literally anytime was inevitable.

What if someone attacked him in the way home? If he had reached home, what if someone break into their home and kidnapped Luhan?

Few fellow teachers greeted her in the teacher’s room, almost startled Seohyun who had her head in deep thoughts. Pulling a smile as genuine as it possibly looked, she greeted back and made her way to her desk, sparing littlest time possible to collect her belongings.  

She glanced to the clock on the wall. At this time, Luhan should’ve had his school hours ended thirty minutes ago. He should’ve been home, or maybe he was still on the way with Tiffany and Hayoung. She picked her phone and typed a quick message.   

To: Fany Unnie

Thank you for picking Luhan up, unnie.

She didn’t wait for the reply and put her phone inside her handbag. After thanking the fellow teachers for the hard work, she walked along the corridor in calm haste. Every rooms, turns and doors she passed never missed her sharp eyes’ assessment as she made her way out the school building.

Reaching her car in the parking lot, her hand automatically d inside her coat. Her hand didn’t sop searching even when she’d found her car key on her pocket; her hand was aching for a feeling of a gun handle filling her palm.

Stop it, Seohyun, she sighed. Those days were long gone, when she always made sure her silenced pistol was on her purse or inside the inner linings of her coat, gripping tight on it whenever she felt in danger. Her days as a sniper, an auxiliary intelligence agent, was no more.

She made her ride home as fast as she could—even almost exceeded the speed limit and earned few angry horn honking from others. In other days, she would give a mind on it but now she only wanted to dash to her home as soon as possible.

Minutes flowed very slowly for her inside the lift and her heartbeat intensifies every last meters she strode through. A stir on her gut was felt as she pushed her apartment unit’s door slowly.. Once she went behind the door, would she find her son home?

Seohyun gave her son the spare keycard of their unit so he could get inside if she wasn’t home before him. Was Luhan already home? There were Luhan’s shoes on the shoe rack; he’d been home already. She threaded lightly to the living room but found no one there. Was her son really home?

“Luhan? You’re home?”

“Umma!”

A wave of relief washed her and her pacing heart relaxed in such instant. She scooped he boy into a tight hug and kissed him lovingly. A figure emerged from the kitchen and she knew who it was. “Fany unnie, thank you—“

“Hi.”

Brown-haired with straight-cut bangs, clad in jeans and fur-lined parka, a woman with tired milky face and chocolate wide eyes smiled at her. The woman that appeared before her wasn’t Tiffany. Seohyun frowned at her—the presence of an individual she never expected to dare stepping her feet into her house.

“What are you doing here, Yoona?”

“Is it wrong for a father to take her son home?” Yoona said softly, brushing off the younger woman’s obvious resentment to her. “No, please just… listen. I’m here not for an argument but to warn you. You and Luhan aren’t safe.”

“Is this another nonsense you made up?”

Yoona couldn’t help but flinched at Seohyun’s indifferent tone. The voice that usually called her in sweet melody, now lashed her cold.

“Why are you like this to me… Seohyun?”

“Ask yourself what you did to me these past five years.”

A question that hit right on Yoona’s blind side. What she would tell as her defense, when she even didn’t know any single thing happened on those five years?

“Appa! You’re here for dinner too, right?”

A boyish and jolly voice piped in, breaking a small weak smile from the doe-eyed woman.

“I’m sorry, baby deer, I have… jobs tonight.” Yoona ruffled her son’s hair, voice heavy with apology. ”Let’s have dinner together some other day?”

“Promise me?”

A soft nod or a smile should’ve been easy and enough to please the boy. But Yoona was just there staring wordlessly, doing neither of them. Luhan still stared up at her with hopeful look, waiting his father to say ‘I promise’—when he didn’t know that his father’s tongue were too tied to say so.

“Luhan, change your uniform first.”

Luhan smiled at his mother and chirped “Okay Umma!” before scurrying to his room, unaware of his father’s doe eyes trailing his figure until it disappeared behind the door and walls.

“Never promise what you can’t do, right, Yoona?”

Within each of her foot’s soft tap to the floor, Seohyun waited for Yoona to answer, or say something else—an excuse, defense, justification, whatever. The only reciprocation she got was silence and lingering stare from Yoona, and Seohyun was too tired and fed up for trying to translate messages behind those doe-eyes.  

“When Luhan and I are supposed to be in a danger, I wonder why you don’t want to stay to make sure we are safe throughout the dinner.”

“Will Kris Wu be here for dinner?”

Seohyun quirked her eyebrow and almost instantly crossed her arms, putting up her defense. “Is there any problem with it?” she questioned back, her voice raised slightly at the end.

“I know your heart will feel in more danger if he and I are at the same place and time in front of you.”

“…What?” Seohyun muttered, her eyes widened.

“Never mind that.” Yoona shook her head softly. “Don’t worry, I’ll be around nearby. Just call me if something happen, okay?”

No reply came from Seohyun. It was neither yes or no whether she’d call Yoona, should she ever need to, but still a cue for the latter to leave. The doe-eyed tipped her head slightly with a soft spoken “good afternoon” before opening the door and retreated behind it.

Once the door was closed with a soft click, a long heavy sigh swiftly stormed out from Seohyun’s lips.

Kris…Yoona…and my heart in danger?  Why did Yoona say that?

As Seohyun tried to delve and grasp the meaning, her phone didn’t spare any more time with a ring of an incoming call.

Incoming call

Kris

A call from him usually put a smile on Seohyun’s face, but not this time. Reluctantly she picked the call and muttered, “Hello, Kris?”

“Hyun, I’m on the way to your place and I’m going to cook the dinner at your place. What do you want for dinner?“

I want nothing. “Anything will do.”

Xxxxx

Blackish ominous deep purple, the dreaded night sky, was the only vision her eyes allowed to interpret. The dark sky looked so heavy that it might crumble down and buried her under bleak goo of purple. The thick sole of her combat boots made non-rhythmical, unrelenting successions of dull thumps against the shapeless ground she was running on. Seohyun breathed in series of shallow burdensome gasps, while the combat attire she was wearing steamed her with scorching sweat.

There was a long clump of mass her two hand held so dear. What was that? The familiar twitches, flexes, and motions of her hands, palms, and fingertips gave it away; a sniper rifle.

Clad and armed for battle, she was running away desperately for her life; for an escape.

From what?

Spectral, anguish bellows echoed from far behind her. Flat and ghastly, like howling ghosts on a funeral. She snapped her head over her shoulder and her blood churned with the nightmare she’d just seen. Six rotten, distorted figures waddled approaching her. Their jaw slacked open, bellowing a haunting chorus behind her.

“Im Joohyun! Im Joohyun! IM JOOHYUN!”

“Killer! Killer! KILLER!”

Her jaw muscles contracted, oral cavity gaped wide and a shrill scream reverberated out. She aimed her sniper rifle and shot them wildly; one bullet for one body. One bullet for one kill. Six of ten clip of the magazine for the six of them and the last four she randomly shot. Yet the remaining four were more like blank bullets; shooting out nothing but the air of her desperation.

Slow their pace were, not a worthy comparison to Seohyun’s frantic run. However, the distance between her and them—as if driven by a diabolic force—became shorter and shorter, as if the space contracted around her. When Seohyun looked over her shoulder, the gap separating them was no more than an arm’s reach. A withered hand clawed forward and grasped her face, tearing a shriek from . She slammed the heavy stock of her rifle bashing the walking dreads away from her, fighting her way forward and away from them.

However, her resistance came in vain. More and more hands held her, pulling her hand, hair, legs, shoulders, everything. Screaming and thrashing like trapped beast, she fought to break free. Slowly, the last of her strength was sapped out, giving in her body to overwhelming withered arms and hands, pulling her towards infinity of darkness.

 

“Umma!”

Seohyun groaned softly, feeling her head like being hammered furiously on an anvil. Through her hazy vision, she saw her son sat on the bed, his big eyes stared worriedly at her. “Luhan?”

”Do you have a nightmare, Umma?” the doe-eyed boy chimed, reaching his mother’s damp cheeks. ”You’re crying…”

“I… did, but it’s fine.” Seohyun haphazardly wiped her wet eyes, gently clasped her hands around the boy’s smaller ones and smiled. ”Hyun umma is too strong for nightmares!”

Luhan laughed and hugged her. “It’s Saturday and I’ve done all my homework! So can we visit Appa?”

“You want to… visit Yoona appa?”

It brought her a dilemma when the doe-eyed boy nodded happily. She didn’t want to meet Yoona, but she couldn’t just say straight ‘no’ to her soon. Seohyun found it hard whenever she had to face the doe-eyed woman, but the boy missed her father too much, it was understandable if he really wanted to meet her anytime possible.

She made up her mind. A little unease on her being was more than worth for her doe-eyed son’s happiness.

“Okay. Go have a shower and prepare yourself, alright? I’ll tell Yoona appa a little deer wants to meet her.”

“Yay! Hyun umma is the best!”

Luhan gave a little peck to his umma’s lips and left smiles both on his and Seohyun’s face.

The smile lingered and vanished as soon as Luhan left her room. She took her phone, scrolled her contact list and cringed slightly at the contact name she had for Yoona. She didn’t remember why she never bothered to change it; probably because she was very sure she would never have that contact flashed on her notification again.

“Just let this get over with…” she sighed and typed.

To: Deer Yoongie

Luhan wants to meet you today. Meet us at the usual park, 8 o’clock.

After sending the text, she nonchalantly dumped her phone inside her bag and took a set of fresh before going inside the bathroom.

Right when the showerhead doused her with water, her phone rang, indicating a new incoming message.