"We're here." Irina nudged Aika, causing her to stir in her sleep. Aika sat up straight and rubbed her eyes open.

They arrived in Changsha the capital city of Hunan, China, which was hours and hours away from Beijing. They had taken two buses and a train to get to the city. It was already 3am the day after they left Beijing. Aika and Irina grabbed their bags and got out of the bus. They stretched their arms and looked around the bus terminal to see if there were any nearby restaurants. 

They spotted a small foodstand selling local favorites, Aika gave the vendor a few bills and in return, they got a decent amount of food. They stood there for a while, filling their stomachs with rich food and then thanked the man and went their way. 

"Where do we go now?" Irina asked. 

"I read that there was a nearby hotel. We could stay there for a while until I find a more permanent place." 

"Permanent." Irina nodded her head, repeating the word.  

Nothing was ever permanent in her life anymore. Except for the horrible fact that he was gone. 

After a few minutes of walking, they reached a two-story hotel. They entered the lobby and was greeted by a pale male. 

"Hello!" He said in Chinese. 

The two greeted back and asked for a small room for the night. The male gave them their key and they paid for the room. 

"Wait, I'll get these for you." The man left his desk and grabbed their bags. He then guided them to their room and placed their bags on the floor of the room. 

"If you guys need anything else, just ask for me. My name is Yixing." The two thanked him and he closed the door as he left. 

The room was fairly plain; the walls were painted a pale green, a single flower painting hung on the wall, a brown clock, two windows on each wall, a brown wooden desk with a matching chair on one corner, two small beds and a doorway to the bathroom. 

Irina walked towards the nearest bed and immediately sunk down on the somewhat soft mattress. Aika walked to the bathroom and closed the door softly. Irina spun her body around so that she was facing the ceiling instead of the bed and mindlessly stared up at the white chipping paint. 

"Am I going to keep running like this?" She thought. 

-- 

Byunghee left the house and drove to the city to stay at a hotel for the night. He couldn't bring himself to stay inside the house. He entered a five star hotel and immediately rented a luxurious room with everything extravagant inside. 

He entered the room and went straight for the mini bar to fetch himself a drink. He grabbed a medium sized bottle of whiskey and took a swig directly fromt he bottle. 

The bitter taste caused him to let out a displeased sound but he took another swig, despite the taste. He wanted to forget, even though drinking would cause him to be reminded. 

Just maybe, this one time, I'll forget. 

-- 

"Where is she?" Byunghee asked. 

"She's dead too." Seunghyun's expression grew cold. 

"W-what?" 

"When she found out she lost her child, she ran away with Aika. The hotel they stayed in- i-it burned down. No one survived." Cheolyong finished for him. 

"No ... No en' way she's dead. NO!" Byunghee yelled. 

"She's dead and we can't do about it. I told you the truth, even when she told me to keep this from you, I told you. When she was at the hospital she made me promise to never speak of her to you ever again, but now that she's gone, I can't bring myself to carry on the promise. You deserve to know." Seunghyun looked at me with pleading eyes. 

Byunghee's expression softened. He ... he understood. Seunghyun's pain was worse than everyones. He had lost his sister, his lover, and his future niece/nephew all in one go. Byunghee let go of his fist and took a deep breath. 

"T-thank you for telling me ..." Even though I'd rather be oblivious and pretend she's still alive and with him. 

--

Irina sat up from the bed and sighed. She looked to her right side and saw Aika sleeping peacefully on her bed. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 10:24am. Irina quietly got up and walked slowly towards the door, making sure she didn't make any noise. She slowly turned the door knob and walked out of the door, closing the door quietly. 

She knew it was wrong of her to leave but the quietness was driving her insane.

She walked down the stairs and saw Yixing standing sitting down, reading a magazine. He noticed her walk down the stairs. He placed down the magazine and greeted her. 

She greeted him back, giving him a smile though the enthusiasm never reached her eyes. 

"I recon you're bored." He stated.

She nodded. 

"Yeah, sorry about that. We had to take out all of the televisions from the rooms. We're replacing them. They'll be here in a couple of weeks." 

"I see." She nodded once again, Yixing battled the urge to frown. 

From the moment the two arrived, Yixing was taken away by the female in front of him. Her medium-length hair barely hanging above her shoulders framing her lightly tanned face, her hazel eyes hypotized him in such a way that if he had a chance, he would stare into them for hours to no end. Her copper blonde hair surprised him; normally asians would look weird and unnatural with the hair color but with her, it matched. 

"You're not from here are you?" He asked suddenly. 

"W-what do you mean?" She spoke shakily. 

"You have a strange accent. I take it you're not Chinese?" His head tilted to the side. 

"Uhm ... no." She bit her lower lip. 

Yixing nodded, not wanting to invade her privacy any longer. 

"Oh, uhm." She spoke softly. 

"Do you need anything?" 

"I-I was wondering if there were any nearby shops I could go to?" 

-- 

Blood. 

It wasn't what she wanted to see. Hell, who the would want to see blood everywhere?

Of course she ran inside, not caring about the shattered glass shards scattered all over the living room, not caring if she stepped on the pieces, she just ran. The foul stench of blood reeked in the hallway leading to Dongwoon's bedroom. That's where the trail of blood began. She could feel herself weaken, her head growing dizzy. 

She entered the room and gasped loudly. 

"NO!" She yelled, immediately running over the limp, beaten up body of her best friend. 

She shook his body, but nothing. 

"DONGWOON!" She yelled again, tears streaming down her face. 

She picked up the body fromthe floor, not caring if his blood got all over her clothes. She placed him onto his bed. It was wrong if he was lying on the floor, right? He deserved to be on the bed. 

"W-woon-ah ..." No response. 

She pressed her ear to his chest. 

Nothing. 

She heard nothing. 

"NO!" She cried again, clutching Dongwoon, rocking him back and forth.

"I'm sorry ... I'm so, so ing sorry okay! I-I didn't keep my promise ... I'm so sorry Woon ..." She sobbed. 

Aika jolted up from her bed, she wiped the cold sweat that accumulated on her forehead. She took deep breaths to calm her body, she closed her eyes and tried to think of anything besides that night. 

"Iri-" Aika's eyes grew wide. 

Where is she?!

She quickly jumped up from the bed and out of the door in a flash. She ran down the stairs, almost tripping down. 

"Hey, where are you going?!" Yixing stood up from his chair, surprised. 

"I-I-did you see where she went?!" Aika asked the male frantically, her palms sweaty, her body shaking from terror. 

"Y-your friend? Oh, she wanted to browse the shops so I told her there were a few a couple of blocks away." He walked towards her, concerned. 

"W-when did she leave-Did she say when she'll be back? I-I what time did she go? Where is i-" 

"Aika?" Irina entered the lobby with a surprised look on her face. 

Aika ran into her, hugging her tightly. Tears quickly fell down Aika's face as she held onto her tightly. Irina looked down at the younger female and held her tightly in her arms, feeling incredibly guilty. 

"I-I thought- Y-you weren't-I-" Irina shook her head and patted the top of her head.

"It was my fault, I didn't tell you. I'm sorry." 

-- 

From exhaustion, Aika fainted in Irina's arms. She carried the girl back into the room and tucked her inside the covers of her bed. She placed a kiss on her forehead and tried to form a smile upon her lips. She failed. 

She looked up at the clock and saw that it was 5:42pm. She knew once Aika would wake up, she'd be hungry. 

She got up from the bed and grabbed a couple of bills from her bag. She quietly closed the door and walked out of the room. As she descended down the stairs, she saw Yixing pacing back and forth. 

He saw her walk down the stairs and immediately bombarded her with questions about Aika. 

"She's fine. She was just tired. Sorry you had to witness that." She scratched her head. 

"No, don't worry about it. I didn't really understand what you guys said. I-It was Korean, right?"

She nodded her head. 

"You're Korean?" 

"Half." 

"Oh, that explains it. Your eyes look different from other asians." He replied. 

She nodded her head once again, unsure how to reply. He cleared his throat and asked where she was headed. 

"I was going to ask if there was a place to get food. Do you know any nearby?" 

He nodded his head. 

"Yeah, well, it's not really a restaurant. I was just about to go to my friends' house for dinner." He said. 

"Oh, no, th-that's fine-" 

"No! I insist! He makes the best dishes! He's been annoyed how he has to throw away his food cause he makes too much, he'll be thrilled if he saw you." 

I guess it wouldn't hurt.

-- 

Aika woke up to the declicious scent of kimchi fried rice and moo goo gai pan. She sat up from her bed and rubbed her eyes open. Irina saw her wake up and finished setting up the table for her. 

"Hey, you're awake. You must be hungry." Aika nodded her head, getting out of the bed. 

"I already ate while you slept but there is a ton of food left! You should eat before it gets cold." 

"Where did you get it?" 

"Oh, uh, Yixing brought me to his friends place and he gave us food. His friend is obsessed with Korean culture, thats why there's some kimchi rice." 

"Yixing?" 

"The guy up front?" Aika remembered the male telling him their name when they first came. She sat down on the wooden chair in front of the table. She grabbed the chopsticks placed on the plate and took some rice out.

"Mhm." 

"You know that-" 

"-Yes, I am well aware." Irina cut her words. 

Aika bit her lip, nodded her head and began to eat. 

They had to be careful. No one can ever find out that they are still alive. It's better if they were out of the picture, at least Irina thought it would have been better if she left. But she knew she couldn't survive being alone, especially now. 

Irina hated staying inside a room all by herself. She couldn't stand the thought of loneliness, it frightened her. 

"It's tonight." Aika interrupted her thoughts. 

"Hmm?" 

Aika took out a small bottle of pills from her pocket. Irina immediately recognized them. 

"Your look more worn out than usual." Irina grabbed the bottle from Aika's hand and twisted the cap open. She took out two pills and swallowed them with difficulty. 

"You could have drank water." 

"It's fine." 

Irina walked to her bed and laid down, staring at the ceiling. 

"Do you think taking two more would be bad?" Irina asked. 

She could feel Aika glaring at her so she mumbled that she was kidding. 

As she stared at the ceiling, drowsiness took over. Her eyelids were weighing down, her body was relaxing. She closed her eyes and in an instant, she fell asleep. 

-- 

Bold means they're talking in Korean, but only in that one scene, though the scenes where Irina and Aika are alone talking, they're speaking in Korean as well. I just had to show that they spoke in a different language in front of Yixing.