Everyday was the same old, boring as ever. Many students in class were either hiding their phones as their teachers gave lectures about mathematical equations that not even mathletes would find interesting, or just whispering amongst themselves. The only noticeable thing was the unusual number of students missing in the classroom. Maybe they just skipped school entirely? It seemed like Mr. Lee just gave up trying to get everyone’s attention, his facade of happiness cracking under the weight of exhaustion. Those bags under his eyes made it obvious. Soeun sighed for the nth time, practically standing at the door to the world of dreams. Now more than ever she was glad that she sat near the windows. She frowned, noticing the wind had picked up today. Shrugging, Soeun merely brushed it off, assuming the weather was being its normal annoying self. 

However, she heard some kids gossiping about rumors spreading about the missing students. There was constant speculation about where they could be and what happened to them. They even brought up news coverage regarding this, which Soeun rarely ever watched. But since they were just rumors, she just ignored them. Another ten minutes passed by, still ignoring Mr.Lee and staring out the window. By this point, Soeun had noticed several police cars zoom by, as if they were heading towards something serious. She raised an eyebrow seeing not two, but around five police cars. Oddly enough, their sirens didn’t yell for the world to hear them, thus Soeun didn’t think much about it. This though, would be one night where Soeun made an effort to watch the news for once. Her boredom reached such a fever peak that she wished he would carry on with his lecture, if there was nothing else to focus on tuning out. 

Soeun almost pitied him since it looked like he just needed to go home and take a nap. Honestly, the same could be said for everyone else in the classroom. She looked at the board full of scribbles and math formulas that no one gave a rat’s about. Funny enough, Mr.Lee still tried anyway. Understandable if he still wanted to keep his job. Soeun shifted her attention from the white board to the back of the man’s head, narrowing her eyes. But…something felt weird. She frowned when a voice suddenly echoed in her mind and spoke in full, coherent sentences. So much was transpiring in her mind and as quick as it came, she was then met with a strange mental silence.

Huh?

“Huh?” Everyone in the room stared in confusion at the teacher when he halted all movements, standing straight and emptily looked forward.

What just happened?

“What just happened?” Is he…repeating after her thoughts? Soeun stared in shock while the rest of her classmates looked at each other, not knowing what to do until one spoke. 

“M-Mr.Lee? Are you alright?” 

Soeun merely imagined he’d turn around, which is exactly what he did.

No way…

“No way….” Once again, the teacher repeated after her. This very much freaked Soeun out when she quickly shut her eyes closed, which broke Mr.Lee out of his trance. He stumbled a bit before looking around, just as confused as the class. 

“Mr.Lee?” Another kid asked. 

“Huh…sorry, I must've spaced out for a bit there.” Soeun had to get out of here, thus she quickly raised her hand. 

“Yes, Soeun?” 

“Can I go to the bathroom?”

Sighing, the teacher knew she wasn’t going to stay and waved her off while rolling his eyes. “Fine…just, go.”

Quickly getting up, Soeun speedily exited the class and headed towards the bathroom like she had said. It was cold inside and the smell of artificial cherry soap lingered, in a way the familiarity of it was calming and peaceful. But Soeun still felt weird, terrified, unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. Then with a glance in the mirror, she still looked normal. To herself, at least. However, she couldn’t help but stare a bit longer…like her mind spoke for itself. Then, as if a stranger was looking back at her, Soeun’s eyes suddenly turned into a bright color. Before she could properly react, it left as quickly as it appeared. Soeun, still in the state of shock, frantically rubbed her eyes before using the sink. Any hope she had of a normal day was long gone, it was time to go. 

Her face was still slightly damp from washing it as she passed through the front gates and onto the sidewalk. Soeun distanced further, relieved to no longer have the school in her line of sight. She walked for around a mile or two, merely taking in the urban city. Almost as if to add on to the already bizarre day, there weren't many people roaming around. Soeun frowned while looking in all directions, seeing almost no one. Even many stores were closed, which were usually bustling with all kinds of customers. Still a bit wary about this, Soeun shrugged it off before turning a corner into an alleyway, where her friends who’d also skipped school were waiting for her.

“Hey! There she is!” Soeun heard Yeojin as the smaller girl pointed at her. She raised an eyebrow before greeting back. 

“Sup. Sorry I’m late.” 

“Actually you’re early. We just got here.” Lucy chuckled before putting her arm around Soeun as they both walked towards the others. 

“Wait. Where’s Chaerin and Bada?” 

Natty shrugged, looking as worried as they were. “Who knows? We’ve been texting them all day, but nothing.” 

“They haven’t even read any of my messages either.” Yeojin frowned as she scrolled through her phone. 

“Hm. Maybe they’re both just busy with some things.”

“What? They actually have lives now?” Lucy chuckled and teased, lightening their moods up a bit. 

“Let’s just chill here and see if they make it.” Soeun suggested and that’s exactly what they do.

All four friends discussed whatever topics came up in their minds, ranging from school issues to future jobs. Yeojin came in clutch and had a backpack filled with food and drinks, thus they kept themselves busy for the whole day. The alleyway they were in had a brick wall at the end and the girls used Lucy’s soccer ball to play a few rounds of handball. Soeun was the ace at this game while her friends hilariously struggled to even hit the ball. She couldn’t help but chuckle at their struggle. Before they knew it, hours melded together as morning blended into afternoon. They were playing their last round of handball, with Yeojin and Natty battling against each other. Soeun sat with Lucy behind the dumpster to avoid the ball, watching their friends' match go down. 

She gazed at them carefully, her eyes focusing on theirs. Before Soeun knew it, she kept her attention on Yeojin's eyes, thinking it wouldn't be so bad to maybe…experiment a little. Within seconds, the younger girl stilled eyes staring blankly at the ground and slightly agape. Natty hit the soccer ball, which bounced off the wall and hit Yeojin in the head, who didn't react whatsoever. Lucy and Natty frowned, before checking to see if she's alright. Soeun didn't move from her spot out of shock.

"Uh…….Yeojin??" Natty waved her hand to get the younger girl's attention, to no avail. 

Lucy furrowed her eyes even more at the lack of response, placing her hand on Yeojin's shoulder. "Hey, are you ok?"

This is insane……

"This is insane……." 

"Huh???" Their two friends looked at each other, then back at Yeojin.

"Was there something in your food, Yeo?" Natty shook her by the shoulder.

Soeun did the same thing as before, shutting her eyes closed to break her friend out of the unintentional trance. Yeojin quickly snapped out of it, her eyes wide and blinking as she had no idea what just happened. Lucy and Natty filled her in, to which she argued back about not remembering anything. The two shook their heads as Soeun hesitantly got up, pretending like everything was normal. Yeojin was left confused, before dismissing it entirely and assumed she really did space out. Now they were resting, munching on the last bit of snacks and playing games on their phones. This day went by quicker than Soeun expected but she wasn’t complaining. Truth be told she was glad her friends brought some normalcy to this wacky day. Then, numerous police cars and SWAT trucks zoomed by. All four girls watched in shock at how many there were, instinctively hiding behind the dumpster.

“Woah…what the hell is going on?” Yeojin asked her friends, but none of them knew how to respond. 

“You guys!” Natty alerted them. “Take a look at this.” They gathered around to watch live reporting news on her phone. 

This mysterious, but deadly disease has been mainly targeting adolescent youths and young children alike. Over 90% of kids around the world are now deceased. However, the remaining survivors have been linked to numerous cases of reported “accidents,” such as sudden causes of fires, electrical power surges, and levitating vehicles. Doctors have no clue as to how this disease started or where it came from, but strict measures are being made. The military and police force are dispatched, by the President’s orders, to gather every single remaining child they see.

“Holy ….” Lucy whispered out of utter astonishment. “There’s no way this is happening right now.” 

“All of those police cars…you think they’re after us?” The answer seemed pretty obvious as they were already aware of what might happen to them. And Soeun wasn’t going to stick around much longer to find out. 

“We need to get out of here.”  

Natty frowned and looked at Soeun. “And go where? They’ll find us the moment we leave this alleyway.” 

“You have a better idea?! I’m not gonna stay behind a damn dumpster for the rest of my life.” 

“Better than wherever the hell they’re keeping everyone else!” Natty exclaimed.

“You’re wrong thinking we’re just gonna give up and turn ourselves in like that.” 

“And like I said, you wouldn’t have to since they’ll easily catch you.” Natty said.

“If any of you guys want to stay, then fine. But I’m going home.” 

Lucy quickly added on before they all moved out. “They probably caught Chaerin and Bada already.” 

“Or…they’re gone.”

“How can you say that??” Yeojin hit her shoulder, causing Soeun to hiss in pain. 

“Didn’t you hear?? ‘90% of kids around the world dead’? I don’t know about you, but that seems like a ton of people to me.”  

“But they could still be safe somewhere. Let’s just get out of here and try finding—”

“I SEE KIDS!! GET THEM!!!” A blaring command interrupted Lucy from speaking further, causing all of them to direct their attention towards it. To their horror, an entire SWAT team was in front of them. Soeun quickly broke the suspenseful silence.

“Run!!”

Then all four of them took off sprinting, the police hot on their trail. They booked it for their lives, entering an empty, isolated neighborhood. And unfortunately, this was where they had to part ways. Soeun looked back when she heard Yeojin and Natty screaming, witnessing how they were tackled to the ground and apprehended. She wished there was something she could do to help them, but with three cops on her tail, Soeun had to keep going. Lucy was last seen dashing into a park with two or more chasing after her and Soeun could only wish her the best of luck. Now all she heard were commands ordering her to stop running. Like hell she would. Soeun wasn’t going to give up so easily before ending up back in the urban streets of the city. Heavily panting, the girl persisted on and continued sprinting to get away from the police, then rounded a corner into a tennis court. Soeun hopped over the net faster than one of her pursuers did, causing him to get tangled between some strings before toppling over, taking his partner down with him.  

However, that still left the third cop as he quickly chased after Soeun. She began running away once more, heading towards another area of the tennis area. And right as she turned a corner, it was a complete dead end after ending up in a racquetball court. Soeun groaned, feeling a mix of shock and frustration, right before being pushed to the ground on her stomach as she was being detained.

“Let go of me, s!!”

She squirmed around to resist arrest, which only resulted with a punch to the face. Soeun immediately felt dizzy and her nose bleeding only made it worse. The officers yanked the girl up to her feet before escorting her towards their SWAT truck. Soeun limped on the whole way, struggling to keep up until she was shoved into the back and sat where many other teenagers were captured. Soon, the vehicle ignited and moved. For almost the entire ride, Soeun’s nose continued dripping blood, staining her sweater with crimson. Thankfully, one of the kids wasn't handcuffed, for whatever reason, and offered to help her by offering a handkerchief. The girl suggested the cloth stay in for about twenty minutes before taking it out, which Soeun was grateful for. Turning to look at her, all she saw was abnormally bright green eyes.

“Woah!” Soeun flinched back, frowning in confusion. “What’s wrong with your…?” 

“O-oh, it’s actually just—”

The truck came to a complete stop, causing everyone to jerk forward. They began murmuring amongst themselves, until the door swung open as all of them ducked away from the sudden blare of sunlight. One by one, the kids were pulled out of the truck and before them was an entire campground. Rounding them up in single file lines, soldiers led them away into corridors. There, Soeun saw everything: various kids wearing different colored suits, mostly green, while many others were either blue or yellow. She raised an eyebrow, wanting to ask what this was but didn’t dare to speak. It’s not like that possible without being told to keep quiet anyways. Moving on, Soeun was finally released from her handcuffs before being roughly dragged by her arm towards a door, its sign reading “examination room”. The soldier yanked the entrance open before shoving her in and locking it behind her. Right when Soeun was about to cuss him out, a voice interrupted.

“Greetings.” She whirled around, facing an elderly doctor's back. 

“U-uh…hey?”

“Please take a seat. Your examination won’t take long.” 

“What examination? I’m not sick.” 

“I wouldn’t know for sure until I’ve examined you. We just need to determine what kind of color you are.” The man wasn’t looking at Soeun as he was busy typing away on his monitor. 

“‘Color’? What the hell does that mean?” 

“Hm. Some attitude, I see. If you look here on the chart,” he pointed to one on the wall next to him, “greens are super intelligent and safe to approach, thus the least harmful one. Next is blue, simply telekinesis, might still want to be careful around them. Then golds, harnessing electrical powers and endure high levels of voltage with ease, so cautionary measures are more encouraged. After that is red, but this spot was debatable. Reds, in particular, have pyrokinetic abilities and are highly, highly dangerous. And finally, the most lethal of them all, oranges. The power of mind control and telepathy.” 

As the doctor explained everything, Soeun unconsciously approached the chart closer, her eyes narrowing at it. Was that why that girl she saw earlier had green eyes? And…could it mean…? “So, what happens to reds and oranges?” 

“I think I’ve told you enough already, young lady. You don’t have to worry too much about it though. Greens, blues and golds are the most common, so you’ll most likely be one of them. Now, have a seat, sit back and relax.”

She sighed before doing so. “Alright….” 

He carefully entered some information into the computer and finally noticed her. “What happened to your nose?”

“Got socked in the face by those pigs.”

“Oh….” Unsure of what else to comment. “That must've been painful.”  

“Mhm.” 

“Um, anyways. Tell me about yourself.”

“Uh…like what?” 

“How do you do in school?” The doctor questioned, still not looking at her as he aimed the brain scanner so it’s directly above her head. Soeun had a bad feeling about this. 

“It’s boring.” 

“Hm. Anything else?” Her examination was activated. 

“Nope.”

“Well then, let’s see.” Then, with a simple click of a button…

Park Soeun: Orange (Eliminate) 

Without a word, the doctor stood back in shock. He had been expecting to meet one like Soeun, but with the amount of green, blue and gold encounters, he doubted he'd ever see an orange. Until now. “Alright, um…just stay where you are and we’ll be over this quickly.”

She raised an eyebrow and was about to ask what her color was, only to see him grabbing a syringe. Then it became obvious what was coming. Right before the doctor could poison her, Soeun instinctively grabbed his other wrist and instantly switched places. The doctor couldn’t react fast enough and groaned upon being slammed on the chair. She tightly gripped his wrist, easily getting into the old man’s mind. He then suddenly stilled, staring blankly at Soeun who glared menacingly back at him. This sad excuse of a doctor didn’t deserve to have any mercy from her as she eyed the syringe. Without any hesitation, he motioned it closer to his shoulder before injecting it into himself. Soeun stood back, releasing her grip and watched the doctor’s eyes screamed a silent death as he slumped on the chair, no movement whatsoever. Her gaze reflected back, having no regrets. 

Sighing, Soeun looked to her side to see the monitor, its screen still presenting her result. Afterwards, she quickly changed the information and put herself as green instead. Soeun then walked to the door, opening it to see two heavily armed guards keeping watch. They were about to ask her questions regarding the doctor, but she beat them to it and grabbed their wrists, smirking evilly. 

“Get rid of that scumbag’s body and burn it to ashes. Then destroy any evidence of this. Understand?” 

The two soldiers robotically answered back. “Yes…we understand.”

And they did exactly as told. Secretly carrying the doctor’s corpse away from the examination room and into an incinerator area, immediately extinguishing his body. After that, the two soldiers easily deleted all CCTV footage without any trouble, thankfully. Soeun walked down the corridor when she finished giving her command, while having much to think about. When her results were transferred, she was given the green suit like the other kids she’d seen while entering this hole. It was afternoon when the military had everyone rounded up and walking with their colored groups. Constant unnecessary shouting and demanding towards young, vulnerable kids as they all quickly lined up towards their designated workplace. For the next few months, Soeun concealed her real identity with the green suit, making sure no one questioned anything. Although, a part of her felt that she could’ve handled her situation better in the examination room. But mostly…it just felt too damn good to be this powerful.