Kai was very skillful when it came to walking on shadows. He was already a few feet ahead of me, while I still tried to get the hang of it. I don’t know what time it was, only that it was morning…or afternoon?… Nah, it was morning; I could tell by the direction the Sun was raising and the dimension of the shadows… I guess the Kris dude was right, I should rely more on nature than on electronics…I have to admit, science class finally came in handy for something. I carefully continued as I walked on the small portion of shadows that covered the road; jumping here and there to cross between them. I just wish there were more buildings, trees, and objects around to produce more shadows, that way we could just walk in a straight line instead of zigzagging.

JongIn stopped and looked back; he waited for me to catch up with him. He even offered a hand for me to hold on to, but I told him I was fine. I should use these moments to know more about him. As we continued to walk side-by-side, I interrogated him.

MJ: So Kai, how long have you been here? It seems you’re a pro at knowing these places.

He raised 3 fingers; his expression suddenly became sad.

MJ: I hope you mean 3 months…right?

He shook his head and mouthed the word “years”.

MJ: OMO!!! THREE YEARS!! In here!?! That’s horrible!! Does that mean…you lost the game?...

He slowly nodded, as his face got sulkier. Now I got worried: if a guy like Kai, and I mean physically and mentally talented, couldn’t win, what are the chances of me surviving? I tried to stay positive and block those thoughts out of my mind.

MJ:.. I’m sorry to hear that… I’m guessing you’re the descendant of one of Lee SooMan’s assistants, right? Otherwise you wouldn’t be here…

JongIn did a “so-so” gesture, stopped walking and faced me. He was frustrated, I could tell. Somehow this topic made him sad; maybe he remembered something ugly… Kai took my arm and once again began to write in it. After writing it a few times I made out the word “younger sister”.

MJ: Younger sister? Did you play for your baby sister? Was she kidnapped?

Kai looked at the ground for a few seconds, before nodding to every question. He wasn’t looking at me, but I thought I saw his eyes somewhat shiny… I knew something bad had happened to him or his sister… I put a hand in his shoulders and squeezed it tightly…

MJ: I…I didn’t mean to make you like this…I didn’t know…I’m sorry… I just hope we can save your sister too… I’ll help you (I tenderly smiled)

Kai breathed hard and finally looked at me. He shook his head, and with a trembling hand raised it to his neck and did a cutting movement… My heart sank…

MJ: No…Kai, you can’t be serious…she…your sister…died?...

The boy shook his head and touched the Cyanide pod glued to his right upper arm through his sleeve.

MJ: She got killed…by the Cyanide?...she was a prisoner and she talked…

He bent his head once again while nodding. I couldn’t believe it... I didn’t want to believe it. This poor boy had suffered so much and maybe I would be going through the same if I didn’t put my act together. If you align all the information I knew about him you could get a complete explanation: Kai’s sister got kidnapped just like LuHan, so Kai played the game to save her, just like I’m doing now. But he lost the game and the New Exotics took both of them as prisoners; during one of the games she talked and… I couldn’t even bring myself to think how strong this boy has been, after all, this all  began for him when he was just a middle schooler; my motherly instincts kicked in…I brought him close to me and embraced him in a sincere hug. He just stood there without moving; maybe I caught him of guard. Then, slowly, he lifted his arms and hugged me back. After some time I let go and looked at his face…

MJ: …Kai…JongIn-ah…. I promise….. I promise you I will get you out of here. And we will avenge your little sister… together… Trust me... just like I trust you…

JongIn looked at me with a poker face, until he managed to smile and nod like a little boy. He then pointed at the almost-near temple and started walking towards it… He acts so tough, but I know he’s suffering…I remained still for a moment and looked at his beautifully shaped back… it reminded me of LuHan… Lulu, wait for me… I’m coming, and with this chingu I’ll be there in no time… trust me…

Kai saw me still deely-dallying and waved me to follow him, and so I did. After a few minutes jumping from shadow to shadow, we finally arrived at the temple. It was big, and open, so we had to depend on shadows once we were inside. Kai signaled me to keep an eye out; he walked in first and I followed. The building had no roof and nothing inside, besides columns at the sides and broken walls; the central area was totally exposed to the sun, so we had to walk on the side corridors of the structure.

I was still trying to take in all the information I had just received. I don’t think a fake prisoner would have put up such a good act; I believe Kai really is a needy prisoner, and I just compromised myself on helping him, and I will. God brought me into this World to help others, and that’s what I’ll do…well, I’ve been doing it for a few years now, so I’ll just continue with my “Motherly” assistance as long as there is someone in need…

I got distracted with my thinking and without noticing… I stepped on a non-shadowed space… I yelped and quickly brought my foot back, trying to foot it into a shadow but failed; Kai turned around and stared at my actions… His eyes widened when he understood what had just happened. To my shock, he ran at full speed back towards me, ignoring the shadows in the ground and footing himself where he landed. He was a few feet away from me when he jumped and pushed me down while covering my body with his; at that very moment I saw a few knives land on the ground right next to us… I didn’t even have time to think because Kai quickly got on his feet and fiercely pulled me up and began to run back to the shadows, but before we could reach them he pushed me to the side as another set of daggers flew past us. I began to scream, finally noticing that I was in actual danger; I looked everywhere to see where the projectiles were coming from and saw about 4 or 5 black hooded men appearing behind the columns inside the temple.

Kai saw me frozen in the middle of the arena and charged towards me, when a third army, this time of star-shaped knives, flew right next to me and slightly cut my right shoulder. I grunted and covered it with my hand; Kai picked the shuriken that lay at my feet and without mercy threw them at the Exotics. He then took me by the wrist and pulled me into the shadows. When I looked at the men, they were all hurt either on the arms, legs or waist; Kai had hit them all without fail. Even though they were hurt, they did not leave their positions. Kai looked at my face and then at the newly made cut. He understood it wasn’t something deadly and motioned me to keep walking along the shadows. As I walked, I watched the men hide once again behind the columns and disappear….No, they didn’t disappear, they were still there; they just merged with the shadows…

After 10 minutes or so we finally reached the other end of the temple. Kai helped me go down the steps and when we looked back, the temple was once again in silence and with no sign of the men. Kai then looked at me seriously; he took my right arm and rolled my uniform sleeve up. He began to observe my wound, which was now dry. JongIn took the rim of his sweatshirt and pulled a trim of it; he dampened one of the ends with his tongue and swabbed it over my injury.

MJ:… I’m sorry I got distracted…and I got you into this mess…It’s my first time encountering them in the game…….

Kai made no sound; he silently kept cleaning and inspecting the wound.

MJ:… It won’t happen again…and…… thanks for saving me... again…. And for doing this now… I really appreciate it…I’ll pay you back.

He looked at me and smirked, and continued to finish his “doctor skills”; he tied the trim around the already-closed wound. Finally, he smiled and patted me on the head.

MJ: does that mean you forgive me?

He chuckled and signaled me to follow him.  He began to walk down the path… the path that would lead us to the next stage…and soon I would set LuHan free. I had just experienced the most frightening event of my life, I knew I couldn’t keep being the scardy-cat I was behaving like; I had to become a real player, even if it meant losing my dignity and moral… If I had to kill someone, I’d just have to do it… or either they’d end up killing me… I bow to protect myself, but above that, protect the ones I love…

I began to walk with Kai, being extra careful of everything, and keeping a sharp eye and ear out for any weird actions. Kai saw my keen senses and cockily laughed at my sudden change of perspective. I made a derpy face at him just to build some confidence with him… we ended laughing like seacows… It was the first time I heard Kai laugh; he had a very masculine feel…

MJ: I like your voice! It compliments your appearance. I’ll look forward to chatting with you after the game (I smiled at him)

Kai mouthed a “Kamsamnida~” and nodded. Once again I perked my senses and continued our way…