Sunny groaned. It had been several days since the teams had split up, and they were pretty much back to doing nothing again. And this time, there was no secret drug to hinder their efforts, so Sunny knew it was just everyone having little to no energy.

When the gangs had chased their team, Siwon had to unfortunately speed around town, driving and at the same time looking for a safe place. Jessica made some calls, and they were staying with a friend named Go Ara, a struggling model who was currently gone while doing some shoots for various clothing companies. Although her income was a bit low, her house was big, so there weren’t any problems in that area.

But still. Sunny was bored.

She grabbed Yoona and decided to walk around for a bit, after all, it wasn’t like anything exciting was going to happen. They had absolutely no leads whatsoever, and they had to wait while the other team was investigating the office of Han Dong Woo and his apartment. Over in Oregon. Where they were actually doing stuff. Sunny wanted to be there so bad; she was willing to do anything, even trade spots with another team member to be over in Oregon.

So, in order to get the adrenaline rush she so desperately craved, she was going to find some action herself. It didn’t matter if she had to put herself in danger to get it. It didn’t matter if she made no progress on the case at hand. As long as she got the adrenaline. She was sure the other members wouldn’t mind, after all, they all, in various ways, dependant on the adrenaline that that fueled their system so often.

She took off from the house, in a dead sprint as soon as she started. This running, although hard on her short legs, wasn’t as challenging as she thought it would be. She ran, and while it was freeing, it wasn’t enough. She motioned to Yoona, also running alongside her, and they moved into the forest near them. It happened to be close to Ara’s house, and coincidentally was where Han Dong Woo killed himself. He shot himself with a Glock, and that was where the officials found him. Although it was an interesting place for a suicide, no one thought much of it. Han Dong Woo was always slightly eccentric, and the forest was beautiful. Besides, there was absolutely nothing that suggested a murder. While a brilliant lawyer, he never made any threatening enemies and every criminal he accused managed to go behind bars. A suicide always meant someone wasn’t doing well at home, so even though people hounded his family, nothing was out of the ordinary.

Sunny and Yoona, however, were here to change that opinion.

They knew it had been several years since the incident happened, but the most important clues, the ones that they needed, could possibly be there still. It wasn’t likely, but it was possible. The forest, they noted, was pristine. It was untouched, except by them as they leaped through the green shrubbery that could hold a clue into a cruel murder of an incredible lawyer.

Sadly, they didn’t think it through. Two girls weren’t enough to stop an attack from the hidden killer as he stood watching silently nearby. He was always there, when they were peering though the leaves, he watched right back through them. And when they tried to run, he ran after them. He was glad they didn’t scream, through. His respect for them grew from nothing into a tiny bead of something. He hated chasing down girls who made noise. No, these girls were as silent as the night they were running in. And they were faster than he thought they’d be. He’d have to step up his game. He just might have to let them go, just this once.

He slowed down to a jog. They had almost left the forest, and if he tried, he might be able to catch up with them, but by then, they would be close enough to their temporary home to yell for help and that hulking mass of muscle they called Siwon would undoubtedly come to aid his comrades. And the damsels in distress included that doe eyed girl Siwon seemed to hold a soft spot for, the one with the two beautiful sisters, the one they called Yoona. She was extraordinarily eye catching. More than she gave herself credit for. He would enjoy her. Even though she was much cleverer than she might seem, her physical strength was next to nothing in comparison to a grown man, much less someone like him. She would be easy once he got a hold of her.

The other would be a challenge, however. The short one who was the newest to the group. From what he had seen, she wasn’t a force to be taken lightly. She had managed to befriend everyone on the team, and even fixed that airplane malfunction he tried so hard to get going. She was also strong. He had seen the records of it; when she slapped her ex boyfriend so hard that it broke his jawbone, and when she took on three grown men at once that insulted one of her friends. Both incidents she was 15. Now, at 18 years of age, she would be even stronger, and she wasn’t a fool either. Everyone had their weaknesses, however, and hers seemed to be the tall lean one, Kyuhyun.

While Kyuhyun wasn’t weak, in fact, there were reports of him taking on seven average men after he heard them call him a weakling. He won. But no one would argue the fact that his greatest asset was his mind. Equal to those of NASA scientists, Kyuhyun could outthink anyone. Except the one studying him so intently. Or so he hoped.

The girls arrived, panting, at the house, and banged on the door until Jessica came to open it for them.

“It could be picked easily, you know. Just take that bobby pin that’s in your hair and-”

“There’s no time for that!” screamed Sunny, still panting occasionally and rubbing the back of Yoona who was completely exhausted from the run. “Someone was in the forest, and he was right next to where we would have looked for clues about Han Dong Woo!”

At that, everybody visibly stiffened. Taeyeon looked up. “Can you be sure that he wasn’t just another tourist around this part of Seattle?”

Yoona regained her strength and looked up. “No, otherwise he wouldn’t have chased us like that. And Taeyeon. He was no joke. He was fast. I know I’m not the strongest physically and Sunny has short legs, but we run fast. Faster than the average human male. And this was in no way average. I don’t think Eunhyuk could take him in a race.”

Siwon furrowed his brow. “Well, maybe his stamina isn’t that great. Couldn’t it be that he just couldn’t keep up the pace and run as long as you did?”

Sunny shook her head. “No. I think by the way we could hear him laughing, he was letting us go on purpose. His laughter had absolutely no trace of exhaustion whatsoever. He wasn’t panting, he wasn’t bending over, and it was like . . . he wanted us to get away so we would tell you about him. And his face. God, I tell you, it was so weird. His smile was deranged, but in a sad way, you could tell he had been handsome. And his eyes. They had this weird light about them, like he would jump on you in a second and just slice your throat.”

Yoona nodded, and the rest of the team shuddered. This was a twist none of them expected.

“And I think he knew-” Yoona started, when there was a crackling sound and they looked up to the window breaking and a tall man jumping through it. He rolled on the ground, apparently unhurt, and right away tackled Siwon.

In shock, Siwon managed to push him away with purely his reflexes, and everyone looked at the man in shock.

“Hankyung?” Kyuhyun muttered and the man straightened and faced them all.

“Oh yes. I’m back, Kyuhyun. And what a wonderful surprise it is seeing you here. I thought you would be back at the Academy, learning useless crap, but I guess not. It turns out you’re here, putting that useless crap to what you think is use out here, in the real world. What’s wrong? A bit too real for you? Well, too bad. This is how it works out here.”

Only the girls seemed to be confused as the men gave knowing glances amongst themselves.

Hankyung, or known among his current comrades as Hangeng, was a Chinese exchange student that went to the Academy for a few years. Although he showed promise, due to his extreme homesickness, he left and according to the rumors, started his own Academy in Beijing. The boys knew him well, the girls were yet to join the Academy, and everyone including the teachers missed him when he left. Why he was here like this was a mystery to everyone, especially, as Sunny and Yoona noted, because he wasn’t the man from the forest, not even close.

I know that I made Hangeng's leave from SM seem fine and rosy in this chapter, and I know it wasn't, but it's just for the story, please. I know that Hangeng didn't leave because of homesickness, and his role in the story to come will explain everything.