The first thing a brethren must do is to say a prayer. 

To thank and ask. Gratitude. Guidance. Faith. Protection.

Dahyun kneels by her bedside. 

It's a chance at forgiveness. Fear. Confusion. Cowardice. Vulnerability.

Dahyun knows, but don't feel. 

...

Just as she gets up, her alarm rang. Time to prep. 10 minutes for making coffee, 30 minutes to wash, 15 minutes to dress up, 5 minutes to double check if she forgot anything. 

And it's time to go. 

The Index is a 7-minute walk from her apartment. A bookstore ran by her family and Dahyun's first taste at responsibility. Founded by her late grandpa, passed to her dad and now, to her. Jackson greets her as he pushes the shutter door up. Dahyun invites him for breakfast, there's still time to eat. 

08:00 am came. Dahyun walks up to the door, and flips the sign. Marking another day of rearranging books by genre and smiling at strangers.

It's a struggle, she admits. To manage a store while you're on your second year of college isn't easy, especially if you're short-staffed. But ends must meet, so she works on her book report as she sits behind the cashier's counter. Waiting for her customers to pick. A little game that gives her a little idea about what they are. 

"Here.", like this guy fighting against his deadlines, for example. He quicky grab his book and leaves, his change forgotten. Maybe next time. He always drop by every five days, and Dahyun can give it to him by then.

Time flies. A good book makes us feel like that –and so does school work. Dahyun checks her phone. 03:35 pm and some texts. Same old. 

"Boss, you in tomorrow?", Jackson asked. 

Dahyun smiles, he knows why he's asking. Things are peaceful when she's here. 

"I'm afraid not. I gotta submit these papers in. Tzuyu will cover for me instead.", she answered. And the guy frowned. 

"Though I might come by before we close. I can help with the cleaning.", she added. 

"Yeah, that'll be cool. It will be a war tomorrow, I can already tell."

Conversations end. And she haven't eaten anything yet. See? Same old. 

A few more hours left. 

...

It's 05:15 pm and the shutter door drops. 

A sigh leaves her as she said her goodbyes. She checks her phone for a list. She's out of food, some toiletries, and meds. A little detour won't hurt. The weather is nice after all. So seven becomes thirty five. 

The walk is nice, the weight of the bags she's carrying isn't. But adults don't complain. They just do what they must. And Dahyun is an adult, in more ways than one. How long has it been again? Two years. Started when she moved out of her parents' house, and her parents moving to different parts of the world every month to spread the word of God to the unfortunate ones, a service to save the damned. And Myung Soo, her older brother, is currently in the military. So she was the wisest choice, and the only one. Plus her parents trust her, after all she's the gold standard of what a daughter should be —pretty, polite, smart and obedient. And she's not gonna disappoint. 

Not so far. Not that they can tell. 

The wind is kind, blowing softly, just enough to dry the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She continues the pleasant stroll back to her concrete sanctuary. Admiring the beauty of the urban jungle before her, busy cars, hustling figures, students going home with their clique. The smell of street food and their luring arrangement across a metal table. Dahyun walks alone in an ocean of belongingness. Everyone seems to have someone. Why doesn't she? What if all she needs to do is to be bold. She shakes away the thought. She can't. She's not like that. She's proper. And to be proper is to not be hasty, to behave accordingly at all times, whether you're being watched or not. 

The sky started has lose its light. And Dahyun walks faster. She is not afraid of the dark, but of the things that can happen while the world is surrounded by it. There's no consolation found in the night, only you and your demons staring at back each other. With eyes fixed straight, she paced through the crowd and turned left, to the third building from the corner. She pus