Pusan, South Korea. A tiny little town on the coast.

   Rumours fly in Pusan, and even to towns nearby. Rumours of a girl known as the Red Lion.

   She appeared in her first year of middle school, beating up punks years older and twice her height, leaving them crying on the ground like babies. The most notable feature of her was her hair, bright apple-red, flying around her head like a giant fireball. She was called the Red Lion because of her unique and self-taught fighting style, which perfectly resembled a lion attacking its prey.

   She became a legend in Pusan. But after sophomore graduation, the Red Lion vanished from Pusan.

   Some say it was just rumours. The Red Lion became nothing more than a myth.

   But the Red Lion hasn't disappeared from this world. She's just hiding somewhere, biding her time, until the chance for her to attack appears.

    Or she just moved.

   Her real name is Saja Ringo. Yes, it was a dumb name, although most people who made fun of it only laughed once. Just once.

   Saja means "lion" in Korean, and Ringo means "apple" in Japanese. Her father was a Korean man who met her mother in Japan and they had an instant connection.

   When her father got a new job in Seoul, they immediately decided to move there. They all hated Pusan.

   Ringo had grown since she first made her debut as an -kicking, skull-cracking, badass fighting machine in her first year of middle school. She was a lot taller, and looked rather American (her distant relatives were Americans, so it made sense). She had paler skin than most, and a small face that accentuated her mossy green eyes, long dark eyelashes, and her long wavy hair that fell almost to her waist and was bright, flaming apple-red. Her arms and legs were long and toned and skinny, although it showed the barest hint of her rock-hard muscle beneath.

   Frowning, Ringo was watching the movers take furniture and place them inside their new, much bigger house.

   She caught sight of a young, burly man carrying a desk--her new desk she was going to use for her junior year at the local SM high in Seoul. He was struggling with the weight and the awkward shape. He slipped, and the table fell out of his arms.

   Someone caught it just before it hit the ground.

   "You babo!" Ringo yelled in fury at the young man, who found her attractive but intimidating. "You wanna wreck this table before I even use it? This costs money, you know!"

   "S-sorry, miss," the young man mumbled.

   "Fine! I'll carry it myself," Ringo snorted, and lifted the desk up in her arms as though it was a baby and carried it easily into the house. The young man stared at her back in awe.

   Ringo placed the desk in her new room right next to her bed. Suddenly, there was a flash of movement and her youngest brother, Saja Leo, danced around her, his flaming red hair flapping around.

   "Ringo nuna, play with me!" He sang.

   "No, go away!"

   "Come on, sing with me! You know the words! Skip around the room, skip around the room..."

   "I'm not skipping!" Ringo said angrily. "Leave me alone, you're so annoying!"

   "Skip around the room, I won't shut up until you skip around the room..."

   "Go away, Leo, I'm serious!"

   "I won't shut up..."

   "MOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ringo roared, flinging herself out of her bedroom and onto the railing so she could look down to the first floor.

   Her mother waltzed in, laughing gaily. "Oh, relax, Ringo-chan. You could use some fun!"

   She twirled around the spacious new house. "Isn't this great? It's so much better than the cramped hovel we were forced to live in before in Pusan! How I love Seoul! There's even a big shopping mall down the block, Ringo, let's go shop til we drop!"

   "MOM YOU ARE SO FREAKIN' EMBARASSING!" Ringo yelled down in fury. Her mom waved her away. "Come downstairs, Leo, I'll play with you!"

   Leo squealed with delight and bounced down the stairs.

   Ringo groaned.

   "Why is everyone in my family crazy!" Ringo fumed, moving back into her bedroom and slamming the door.

   Saja Ringo used to be called the Red Lion. She taught herself the fighting basics, then created her own style. She was in her element. She felt powerful, controlled, incredible....

   But she was going to be a junior in high school. She had to become more of a girl now. She needed to start caring about clothes and grades, making friends and finding a boyfriend. Crush on guys, learn from teachers.....fighting won't get you anywhere in life.

   Saja Ringo was going to change.

   The first day of school, Ringo arrived and tried to ignore everyone's stares as she walked into her first class.

   "Miss Saja Ringo, it's nice to meet you." Her homeroom teacher said, smiling but eyeing her red hair warily. What she's learnt was that if you had a funny hair color, teachers immediately think of you as a problem child and a punk. Although they're usually right, it's still a little stereotypical.

   "Class, this is the new student, Saja Ringo. She's just moved to Seoul only a few days ago, so I hope at least one of you could give her a tour of the city sometime soon. Now, would anyone like to fill her in on the basics of SM high school life?"

   Several hands came up in the air. Ringo smiled at them shyly.

   The teacher scanned the row of hands. When she came across one of the hands, her smile lit up. "Ah, he's perfect. Kim Jonghyun, I'll give you the pleasure of mentoring Saja Ringo."

   "Yes, ma'am." Jonghyun said, standing up and smiling at Ringo. Ringo felt her heart skip a beat. Wow.  Guys in Pusan weren't THIS hot. This guy was tall, but lean, and only her sharp eyes could see he had muscle strength. He was so handsome, and gentle-looking, and sweet, and the way he smiled at her---

   The teacher gave him permission to show her around during the lunch break, and gave Ringo the empty seat next to him. She smiled at him and said a quiet "hi".

   "Nice to meet you, Saja Ringo." Jonghyun said. "I like your name. It's so unique."

   Ringo blushed and a strand of her red hair. "Too unique, if you ask me. I used to get laughed at a lot in my old hometown for having red hair."

   "Well, I like it. It's really pretty." Ringo blushed darker. "And don't worry," Jonghyun added. "People in Seoul aren't going to laugh, although they will be curious. Strange hair colours are actually pretty common around here."

   Ringo laughed. "Really?"

   "It's true," a voice said behind her. She turned around, and her heart skipped another beat. This guy was also super-good-looking! "I'm Choi Minho," he said, offering his hand. Ringo shook it.

   "Jonghyun, where's Doo Joon?" Minho asked. "He's skipped for some reason. Do you think they got him somehow?"

   Ringo stiffened, the tiny red hairs on the back of her neck tingling. She heard the accent on "they" that Minho said. When she heard gangs talking to each other back in Pusan, if one of their kind was missing and they assumed another enemy gang had gotten him somehow, they said "they" in the exact same accent.

   "Who's Doo Joon?" She asked instead. No point bringing up her past.

   "Yoon Doo Joon. He's in our class, and is kind of our friend." Jonghyun explained. "We don't hang out or anything, but we're on friendly terms with him and his...er, friends."

   Ringo was more suspicious than ever, but said nothing. She knew it would all be explained later.