I quickened my pace as I made my way through the dark neighbourhood at half past three. The night was cold and unforgiving - strong gust of winds blew through the streets, creating an eerie whistle as it passed through window slits and fences.

Burrowing myself further into my coat, I turned into an alleyway as I waited for her. I leaned against the wall, going through every miniscule detail of the evening. The same five guys were at the club, two new faces were with them - a male and a female. They were laughing like a pack of hyenas when I entered the scene. Though they were drunk enough to spill the beans on their operation with slight persuasion, they weren't high enough up the ladder to give me the information I wanted. 

"What a waste of time.." Almost thirty minutes had passed before I heard the familiar hum of a car engine nearing. She's here. 

"Did you get what I wanted?" She asked the moment her car stopped infront of me. Her windows were down, her shades were on (who the wears shades at three in the morning) and soft classical music was playing from the stereo. 

"They weren't important enough to have the information you wanted. You sent me on a wasted trip." 

"You're a waste of space." And with that, she was gone. Classical music and all. For such a demure woman, she had a filthy mouth. I sighed. Maybe I should have just told her that there were two new faces in the crowd, maybe then she wouldn't have left me out on the streets and at least gave me a ride home. 

My watch beeped, indicating that an hour had passed and it was currently four in the morning. For 's sake, school started at eight. I took out my phone and speed-dialed my uncle's number. He answered on the second ring. 

"Jae? I suppose you're in Aunt Mi Kyung's car?" 

"She left. Wasn't happy that there was nothing left to dig within those five idiots." I snorted. "She hasn't got any new leads and she's always sending me on cold trails. The trick is getting old." Aunt Mi Kyung was always finding ways and means to make me run around Seoul doing her dirty work for her - which usually meant undercover work with the occasional abduction. 

"I'm sending someone over. Wait there. Also, I've left a little something on your bed. I won't be here when you get back, got some business to deal with in Busan and I wanted to get an early start. I've also told Mi Kyung to not activate you for tomorrow, you'll need the rest after tonight. Have a great first day of school, okay? You can tell me all about it when I get back." 

"Sure.. Thanks. I'll see you, unk." 

Unk was the only one in the family that acknowledged my importance in their little 'association'. Aunt Mi Kyung, his younger sister, couldn't be bothered with my existence after my parents passed away - my father was her brother, the youngest son to the Yoo family. With that, my Unk took up the role as my dad.

When my parents passed, I was old enough to feel the pain of loss, the grief and regret of not spending more time with them when they were alive. But my Unk took me under his wing and brought up a bratty teenager the best way he knew how, and I'll be eternally grateful for his unconditional love for his only niece. 

I only got home at five after one of Unk's right-hand men dropped me off. "You take care, Jae. I'll see you soon." I pressed my lips together in a pathetic attempt of a smile and waved. 

As Unk said, there was a little 'something' on my bed - a precariously stacked tower of textbooks. There was a little note on the top. 

I know you wanted to get them yourselves but I'd like to pamper my niece once in awhile. -Unk 

Smiling to myself, I removed the books from the bed and put them on the desk. There wasn't any time to get a good night's rest so I decided to go without it. I shimmied out of my skin-tight pants and top and dropped them on the floor before heading to the shower. I'd like to get to school early so I could go look around the place - it was my first day of school after all. 

-  -  -  -  -  -

There were barely any cars in sight at seven in the morning. A few old sedans littered the empty lots - my electric silver Volvo stood out. I h