Moonbyul sneakily peered through the glass panel on the door; darting her eyes around to watch for Solar or Seung-Ho. About half an hour had passed since she ran away from them. She had been on a constant lookout to avoid another confrontation. Although that also worked against what she had set out to do in the first place, which was investigating the relationship between Solar and Seung-Ho.

She hadn’t noticed but the room she was hiding in was filled with children. All curious as to what she was looking so intently at. Four boys lined up by the window next to her, moving their heads left and right as though they could find treasure if they looked hard enough. The tiniest of the bunch could barely see past the frame, even though he was standing on the tip of his toes. His snots dripped onto the wall.

A little girl came up behind them, hands on her hip, shaking her head as she sighed. She tapped on two of the boys’ shoulders and questioned, “What are you doing?”

They turned around and giggled amongst themselves, “something important,” they pumped up their chests as they boasted.

She raised an eyebrow. “What?” she asked sarcastically.

They whispered as if they were having an emergency meeting before answering, making what they had called a ‘fighting pose’ as they do.

“Looking For!” the first boy said, raising both hands to the left, and one foot up.

“Evil!” the rightmost boy continued, raising both hands to the right, also one foot up. Although, he was having a difficult time keeping his balance.

“To!” The third boy took a squat position with one arm stretched out in front, palm facing forward, while the other rested beside his hip in a fist.

“Evaditate!” The youngest said in a slur, getting on one knee and stretching out his arms as if he was flying.

“Eradicate!” The other three stood up straight and said in unison. “You always say it wrong.”

“It’s hard!” He protested, wiping the snots with the back of his hand. “My nose is runny.” He pouted, smearing the snots on his shirt.

“Why?” The girl asked another question.

“She’s doing it,” they all pointed to Moonbyul, still oblivious of her surroundings. “She’s a superhero! It looks exactly like the one on TV!” They pointed to the badge hanging by her waist. “She must be watching bad guys.”

“No, she’s not!”

“Yes, she is!” The boys were adamant.

“How do you know?”

They stammered for a second before they replied, “We-we just do!”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, we do!”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, we do!” The boys huffed.

“Prove it.”

“Fine!”

They slowly approached Moonbyul, excited and scared. They nudged each other, passing the task of asking questions back and forth. Stopping halfway, they huddled together and played rock paper scissors to see who would become the chosen one. The oldest lost and the other three cheered. They scattered and hid, while the oldest prepared. He took a few deep breaths and swallowed his spit before he tucked Moonbyul’s shirt to get her attention.

“Miss superhero, what are you doing?”

Moonbyul turned around and finally noticed her surroundings. The boy holding onto her shirt barely stood past her waist. His eyes sparkled as if he’d met his hero. He had the biggest grin but his hands were trembling. The rest of the children were staring at her from a distance; some hiding behind the bed's curtain and a few under the beds. All giggling happily.

“Are you looking for bad guys?” he asked again.

“Bad guys?” Moonbyul tilted her head in confusion.

He nodded fervently. “Yea, bad guys to eradicate!” he said excitedly.

“Eradicate? Where did you learn that?”

“From ‘Miss Zero Smashes Evil!’” he said proudly.

“Miss Zero Smashes Evil?”

“Yea, she fights bad guys!” He beamed with excitement. “You have a badge like hers.” He pointed to Moonbyul’s waist. “Do you fight bad guys too?”

“Sometime.”

“Cool!” More children gathered around Moonbyul.

“Were you looking for bad guys just now?”

“Just now…that…” she smiled nervously.

“Were you!? Were you!?”

I can’t admit I was hiding. Maybe I can distract them. “How about we play a game?”

“What? What?” They all said excitedly, forgetting the question they were asking mere moments before.

Alright, it’s working. But what to play…Oh, I know. An idea came to her while she was rubbing her badge. “We can play Miss…Miss….” What was the name again?

“Miss Zero Smashes Evil!” They screamed in unison.

“Yes, that.”

The kids huddled and whispered amongst themselves before they responded. “Okay! You’ll be Miss Zero and we are bad guys!”

“Don’t you guys want to be Miss Zero?” Moonbyul raised an eyebrow.

They shook their heads and pointed to her badge. “You are Miss Zero.”

“Okay…” Moonbyul smiled and accepted her role happily. “So how do we play?”

“ATTACK!!!”

The children screamed without warning and swarmed Moonbyul, piling themselves atop of her like a little mountain. When they explained that she had to ‘blast’ them off and send them flying like in the show, all she could do was sigh. This feels more like Evil flattens Miss Zero. What have I gotten myself into?

“You can do it Miss Zero!”

“Thanks…I’m trying…my best…here…” Moonbyul was struggling to say a sentence smoothly, let alone sit up. This is impossible! She groaned as she failed to move her body more than a few inches off the ground.

“You did it all the time on TV!”

“That…wasn’t…me…” This is not working. “Can I…give…up?”

“Of course not!”

“How…silly…of me…to ask…” C’mon!! Budge, damn it! She stopped to catch her breath. I can’t do it. I give up.

“Guys! Guys! Doctor Solar is coming!” The girl on lookout warned. “Back to bed, hurry!” They all ran back to their respective beds, leaving Moonbyul lying on the floor.

Thank god. Now, I can breathe. She took in a big gulp of air. They said Solar was coming. Moonbyul smiled happily at the thought. It took her a second before it hit her. Did they say Solar!? She’s coming!? Here!!? She quickly glanced around and the children were all happily waiting for their checkup; behaving as though they never left their beds. In a panic, Moonbyul rolled under the bed nearest to her.

Solar was deep in a conversation when she came in with a nurse, so they didn’t notice Moonbyul’s shoes slightly sticking out from the edge of the bed frame. The first thing Solar did was open the window. The fresh air was carried into the room by a gentle breeze. Fortunately for Moonbyul, they also began checking on the children from the opposite end first. She watched their movement carefully as she planned her escape.

“Have you guys been good?” Solar asked with a gentle smile.

“Yes!” They answer in unison.

“Didn’t squish anyone else, did you?

“No!” One of the boys replied and they all giggled.

What!? It’s not their first time!? These little devils! Moonbyul protested in silence.

“Poor fool, wonder if they’re okay.” The nurse sighed, it was all too apparent what the children had done.

Fool? Moonbyul’s image was shattering in her mind. Am I really a fool?

Solar laughed as the thought entered her mind. “I’m sure they’re fine. They probably ran off.”

“You think so?”

“Who knows,” she shrugged.

As they were busy checking on the children, Moonbyul rolled out from under the bed and behind the nearby curtain. Her body brushed the bottom of the curtain and it made a rustling noise, which caught the nurse’s attention.

“What was that?”

“Probably the wind,” Solar replied without glancing away from the child she was attending.

That was close. I thought I was a goner.

Moonbyul felt relief, but the child sitting across the room from her was laughing hysterically at her facial expression. She placed a finger on her lips and begged in silence for the child to quiet down, but that only fueled the laughter. The nurse came over to check and it almost gave Moonbyul a heart attack. Luckily, the nurse never turned around or she would have spotted Moonbyul creeping behind the curtain.

Finally, Moonbyul tiptoed to the door and managed to slip out of the room. She carefully closed the door, to avoid making noise. Unfortunately, it creek right before she could fully close it. Crap! She let go of the doorknob and ran as fast as she could; taking the first turn and got out of sight.

“You heard that right?” The nurse jumped.

“It’s probably the wind,” Solar replied.

“That can’t be the wind,” she protested.

“Sounds like the wind to me,” she shrugged.

“That’s it. I’m going to check it out.”

“I’m telling you it’s the wind.” Solar smiled and winked at the child next to her.

The child gasped and grinned widely. “You know!” she whispered.

“It’ll be our little secret,” Solar replied.

The nurse checked the corridor but couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. “Was it really the wind?” she mumbled, still unconvinced that such a soft breeze could move the door. She sighed, knowing whether she discovered the truth or not, she couldn’t waste anymore time speculating. She took another glance before returning to Solar’s side.

It was a while before they completed the children’s check-up. Once they were done, they bid farewell and went to their next assigned duty. I wonder what they’re doing? Solar glanced around as she walked to see if she could spot Moonbyul or Seung-Ho. As she turned the corner, not paying attention to what was in front of her, she bumped into Seung-Ho.

Taking by surprise, it didn’t take much to knock the already injured man off-balance. Thinking it would help, Solar grabbed his white lab coat and pulled him towards her. However, all she managed to do was yanked off a button. He used the wall next to him to stop his fall, but could not save one of his crutches from hitting the floor.

“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” Solar picked up his crutch and handed it to him.

“Thank you. I’m alright.” He smiled.

“Also, sorry about that…” She pointed to his coat and showed him the button.

He looked down, not realizing that his button was ripped off until now. “It’s alright. Shouldn’t be hard to fix.”

“Let me fix it for you.”

“It’s okay. I can do it.”

“I ripped it. Let me make it right.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course!” She nodded happily.

“In that case. Thank you.” He smiled sweetly.

“It’s my pleasure.” While helping him take off his coat, she sneakily brought up the subject she had been curious about. “So this morning…”

“Oh, um…” He looked at his watch. “Sorry, I have to go. Let’s talk later,” he spoke quickly and rushed off.

“I just wanted to ask how your first kiss was…” she sighed before taking his coat to her next duty area.

Moonbyul was walking down the hallway when she heard their voices. She immediately hid in the nearby corner, which was within earshot to catch the last portion of their conversation. She used the camera on her phone to watch them without being seen. What are they doing? Why is she taking off his coat? She gripped her phone tighter and accidentally hit the power button. Damn it! Not now!

She quickly tried to turn it back on and almost dropped it when she heard Solar mention the words first kiss. F-first kiss!? It’s his first kiss!? I stole his first kiss!? What? How? I… What should I do? I already can’t look him in the eyes. She sighed and tapped the back of her head against the wall. It can’t get any worse.

Just then, Solar walked past the hallway she was standing in. She covered in shock and held her breath; turning away she prayed. Please, don’t turn this way. Please, don’t turn this way. Please, don’t turn this way. As she was groaning to herself, she felt a hand grabbing her shoulder. It sent chills down her spine. It-it can’t be.