Loud haunting footsteps reverberated across the long hallway of Woollim Building. It was the middle of the night, and the day shifters were just exchanging places with the night shifters to guard the building.

Two men clad in heavy black coats hurried their way to the main office, their face straight in dire urgency. They didn’t even bother knocking when they reached the wooden door at the end of the hall – its elegant, intricately-carved details mocking their serious business. The first man opened the door in a slam and stormed in, the other following from behind with a glum face.

There was a wooden desk right in the middle of the room, surrounded by piles of books and papers. One man sat behind it, busily writing and reading a few files while calmly drinking a cup of coffee. His brown cropped hair was neatly combed to one side, only disheveling when he gently shook his bangs away from his small yet alarmingly fierce eyes.

“You’re just in time, Myungsoo,” he said as he looked up at the man who stood in front of him. Myungsoo was a tall young lad who usually had those gentle eyes and calm expression, milky white skin contrasted by a sweptback brown hair. But now, he had been keeping a straight face that no one can read, since that faithful day of Defiance.

“It’s him,” Myungsoo said. His face was expressionless, but his voice almost cracked, giving out his deep concern over the matter. “I don’t have doubts, it’s him.”

“Myungsoo,” the man stood from his desk and sighed.  “I know it’s a hard time for you. But please—”

“It was fire, Sunggyu-hyung!” he shouted as he glared at his hyung with fury, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. “We know exactly who can burn down a damn mansion in a single flick of fire!”

The room temperature was rapidly dropping, and ice was threatening to form on the wall surfaces. Sunggyu glanced at the other man who came with Myungsoo, confusion obvious in his eyes, as if asking him what to do. The man, a husky young lad with tousled light brown hair and a pair of brown deep-set eyes, just remained in his position, his body lightly leaning on the door. He slightly shrugged before he looked away and sighed. He also had no idea.

Sunggyu gave up. “Please calm down,” he said as he looked back at Myungsoo. “We’re not sure about anything. I don’t want you to make hasty conclusions when—”

“He killed my father, hyung—!” Myungsoo clenched his fist too hard that his nails dug on his skin. His hands were white and were starting to freeze—

 “Stop it, Myungsoo,” the other man finally broke his silence as he grabbed Myungsoo’s hand, tightening his hold even as his own was starting to grow numb because of the sheet of ice covering Myungsoo’s arms. Myungsoo’s eyes grew wide as he saw the man’s hand turn blue, and finally snapped out and held his powers back. The air went back to normal in an instant, and the ice melted away like nothing happened.

The man, fondly named Hoya by his colleagues after a local flower plant, dropped his hold and sighed. His hand was still pale, but blood was slowly flowing back. He’d be safe.

“I’m so sorry…” Myungsoo whispered as he dropped to the sofa. He dug his face on his palms, trying to flush his frustrations away. “It’s just…”

“We understand,” Sunggyu finally said as he dropped on his own seat. “We didn’t expect any of this. Look, why don’t you go back to your room first? I’ll just talk about the matters with Hoya.”

Myungsoo looked up. “No, I’m fine—”

“No, Myungsoo,” Hoya said firmly as he walked to Myungsoo and tapped him on the shoulder. “Go rest. It’s been a long day.”

Myungsoo didn’t have any choice but to leave. He was hesitant to leave his job just like that, but he must admit he was terribly hurt by the morning news. He and Hoya were in their usual rounds that morning when they passed by a rundown store, a black and white television flashing from one corner… Myungsoo immediately stopped when he caught a flash of the Northwood mansion, or worse, what was left of it. He couldn’t move when he heard the anchor say in a grave tone, “No one inside survived.”

Hoya had to drag him back to Woollim before he threw a fit. “He may not be inside when it happened,” Hoya said, trying to look at the bright side. But there was also fear in him, knowing that Myungsoo’s father was still nowhere to be found, and he was gravely sick at that moment, stuck in his room. But he had to say something.

Myungsoo hadn’t seen his father since he was in his early teens, and now, he wouldn’t see him ever again. And he knew, he was sure that this wasn’t an accident…

“The situation is bad,” said Sunggyu as soon as Myungsoo shut the door close. He buried his face on his palms as he waited for Hoya to sit in front of him. “Of course it will be him, Hoya. Three mansions were burnt down in one single day! It’s too unlikely to be coincidence.”

Hoya sighed. “I guess this is it. The day we feared,” he said as he looked up at the ceiling, remaining droplets of water still falling from the little of what’s left of the previous surface of ice. “Pieta is on the move again.”

Sunggyu’s thoughts wandered at what could happen – absolutely, there will be war again, and seeing how things are, it will be worse. They are not those little students who they raised for entertainment anymore.

“What do we do now, hyung?” Hoya asked as he straightened on his seat and turned to Sunggyu with much seriousness, his usual sharp eyes hinting confusion and a tint of fear. “We can’t just stand here and wait for them to come and get us.”

“We wouldn’t,” Sunggyu said as he straightened up and went through the piles of paper on his desk, only stopping when he found a white folder and handed it to Hoya.

Hoya opened it. It was someone’s profile, a short background and a little list of credentials. It was like a resume, only that no one’s applying for a job. He went through the whole page, furrowing his brows when he found nothing special. Hoya turned to Sunggyu, quietly waiting for an explanation.

 “We found it, Hoya,” Sunggyu said as he looked straight at Hoya’s eyes. “We found our weapon. And they’ll bring it here, now.”