​As I rushed down the stairs into the subway station, I groaned and pressed a hand to my temple as Minho turned towards me with a frown. “Onew? What’s the matter?” he asked.

​“It’s just crowded in here,” I replied, but I knew it was more than that. The pearl in my jacket pocket was burning into my leg and I could feel something moving around in my head. It was like fire, ripping through my mind and burning through my thoughts. I grimaced as I felt the heat flare up before it retracted suddenly. ​

"Something wrong?” asked Key as we crowded together near a trash can, trying not to get run over or stepped on by the mob surging down the stairs. Apparently, the sudden storm had rattled everyone’s nerves and I had to agree, for once. ​

There was something almost…supernatural about it. ​

"This weather ,” Taemin complained, throwing his hood back and shaking his hair, showering us with tiny drops of rain. “It’s like freezing outside! How can it be raining?”

​“It can’t be,” I agreed slowly. “Because then it wouldn’t be rain. It would be sleet. But this water…” I brushed the drops from Taemin’s hair off my face and rubbed them between my fingers before bringing my hand to my nose. “It’s warm. This is a fresh summer storm.” ​

“Now you’re getting weird,” Jonghyun laughed. “Really? You can smell the difference between summer rain and winter rain?” ​

"Can’t you?” I retorted. “After a summer rain shower, the air is heavy with the smell of wet earth. But when it rains in the winter, it smells like-” ​

"What’s your point, Onew?” Key cut in.

​“I don’t know. It’s just strange,” I replied. ​

"Something is messing with us,” Minho cut in. “Because of that.” He gestured to my pocket. “Chinese New Year is a sacred night. The Chinese set off fireworks to scare away evil spirits and they make offerings to honor the spirits of their ancestors.” ​

"Those are myths!” Key burst out in exasperation. “Fairytales! We all know that none of that is true!”

​“You would think that,” Minho replied. “But on this night, anything can come true.”

​“Guys,” Taemin whispered, before Key could retort. “Don’t look now, but I think someone is watching us from the sewers.” ​

We all glanced down at the same time and Taemin rolled his eyes. “I said, ‘Don’t look’.” ​

Sure enough, a pair of eyes gleamed up at us through the drain. “Pretend you don’t notice it,” I whispered. “And make your way towards the subway doors.” ​

It took a lot of pushing and shoving and I had to glare at Taemin more than once to make sure he didn’t lift any wallets, but we started making our way through the crowd. ​

Of course, about halfway there, things got weird. ​

With a clang of cymbals and the rolling of drums, sea creatures dressed in armor came pouring into the subway system, waving their weapons overhead. The crowd screamed and began to scatter and I had to dive down and roll to the side to avoid being trampled. I hit the glass subway door a split second after Jonghyun did. ​

"What the ?” he panted. ​

"I’m wondering that myself,” I replied. ​

One of the…shrimp…let out a growl and pointed his spear straight at us, as the mob of seafood charged forward. “Come on, come on!” Jonghyun hissed, pounding on the door. “Open!” ​

"Those have…a special mechanism,” Minho panted. “They only open when the subways come.” ​

"Not anymore,” Key retorted, pulling out his SmartPhone and tapping at it for a few seconds. The doors flew open, Taemin and I tumbled backwards onto the tracks as the others hopped in after us. Key typed frantically, managing to slam the doors shut again just as the creatures reached us. The growled, pounding their very human fists against the glass and glared down at us. ​

"You still believe those are all lousy myths?” Minho asked. ​

“What the hell are they?” Jonghyun asked, staring up at them in fascination and horror.

​“The Four Dragon Kings rule over the underwater world,” my hitman replied. “Those things are part of their army.” ​

"And you know this because…” ​

"I liked those stories as a kid,” he shrugged. ​

“Who cares? Let’s get out of here,” Taemin snapped, hopping to his feet. The track began to rumble the moment he stood up and within seconds, a bright pair of headlights came into view. The subway train. Of course it would choose to start coming on time now.  ​

"Get on top!” I yelled. Instantly, Minho and Taemin ran to opposite sides of the track and began scaling up the wall. Taemin planted his feet on two dents in the concrete, one hand holding onto a pipe on the ceiling while he held his other hand out to me. Across from him, Minho was precariously seated on the edge of the door, Key and Jonghyun standing beneath him.

​The train zoomed down the track and I jumped, grabbing Taemin’s hand at the same time as he swung himself forward. We hit the top of the train with a thump and immediately reached for anything we could hold onto. Behind us, three more metallic thumps told me that the others had made it.

​“I’ve always wanted to ride this thing!” Taemin yelled, his voice drowned out by the thundering of the train tracks. “This is better, though! Too bad it’s not the high-speed!” ​

I had bigger things to worry about, though. Someone was after us, someone with the ability to command ancient myths. And whoever it was knew that we were trapped in the subway tunnels like rats in a maze. ​

From our seat on top of the train, I knew that no one in the subway stations could see us, but I could see them just fine. Perched at every door were several armored fish or crabs or whatever, acting exactly like bodyguards, waiting for us to come out. “This is the weirdest dream I’ve ever had,” Jonghyun whispered. ​

"We’re reaching the end of the line,” Minho called. He didn’t say it, but I knew what he meant- sooner or later, we’d have to come out and face those creatures.

​I chose later. “Taemin, slip inside and pull the emergency brake,” I ordered. “Everyone else, hold on.” ​

We slid down the side of the train the moment it stopped and began running away, Taemin jumping out the door to meet up with us a few seconds later. “Minho, does this subway tunnel lead to the bridge under the river?” ​

"Yes,” he replied. “There’s a secret passage connecting them. I found it the last time I was here.” ​

“I don’t remember coming here before,” Jonghyun protested. ​

"He means before he was with us,” I said quickly, saving Minho from having to explain that I’d recruited him from the Triads. ​

"Do you really think an angry dragon is after us?” Taemin asked, jogging a few steps to catch up to me. I the pearl in my pocket. ​

After seeing a turtle in a steel metal plate wielding a halberd, I suppose anything was possible, but I wasn't about to admit it. No matter what, I was still the leader and I needed to stay calm and rational no matter how strange things got. “Minho, what else do you know about Chinese New Year?” ​I asked.

“There are lots of stories,” Minho replied. “But I’ve heard that spirits of the zodiac are supposed to be able to come down to earth. Like any other spirit-” ​

"‘Like any other spirit’?” Key repeated incredulously. “How many spirits have you met?” ​

"They’re immortal, but a mortal wound in the real world will send them back to the spirit world to recuperate,” the hitman continued, ignoring Key. “On Chinese New Year, though, they should all be up there, feasting with the Jade Emperor. There’s only one zodiac animal who might be daring enough to flaunt tradition on an important night like this. The one we’ve offended.” ​

"The dragon,” Taemin whispered, eyes wide as my hand again went to the pearl in my pocket. I curled my fist around it, feeling the energy pulsing through it like a steady heartbeat. ​

Jonghyun laughed abruptly, ruining the moment. “Yeah, nice bedtime story. Now let’s come up with a real plan, one that doesn’t involve stupid myths.” ​

Minho whirled around abruptly, eyes blazing as he glowered at Jonghyun. The grifter took a step back as Minho towered over him, fists clenched and biceps rippling. “Are you blind or stupid?” he hollered and even I flinched- Minho never lost his temper. “Did you not see the sea creature-human hybrids with weapons? This is something straight out of a myth! This is like nothing we've ever dealt with before!" 

So that’s what was bothering him. As the hitman of the group, Minho also doubled as our bodyguard, protecting us all from danger. He was afraid that he couldn’t fulfill his role, that whoever our enemy was, it was too powerful for human means. ​

"Hey,” I said softly, moving towards him. “It’ll be okay. We’ve survived some crazy , okay? Remember that time Taemin got kidnapped by the Russian mob?”

Taemin giggled while Key groaned and smacked his forehead. ​“Only it turned out they were actually ex-Rangers who had been bribed to become mercenaries?” the hacker continued.

Minho smiled slightly as I patted him on the shoulder. “And you took out twenty of them with a broken curtain rod so he could escape.” 

"We should do that again!" Jonghyun grinned. "That was so much fun!" 

"Are you forgetting the part where they had a gun to his forehead?" Key retorted. 

"But they wouldn't have shot me until they got the bribe they wanted," Taemin chirped. "And besides, Key, you managed to steal the mob's own money for that, so-" 

As the three of them continued to fight, the hitter moved closer to me and lowered his voice so the others couldn't hear him. "I know you’re trying to make me feel better, Onew,” Minho murmured. “But I’m really not sure how much use I’ll be." 

"Stop being so hard on yourself," I snapped. "I-" 

"No. Shut up and let me finish." His hand was moving around in his jacket pocket and finally, he drew out a small handgun, the one I'd never seen him use even though I know he always kept it with him. "Take this.” He held it out towards me. 

"What?" 

"I want you to have it. Just in case." 

"In case of what, Minho?" 

"Just take it, okay?" He pressed it into my back pocket and clapped me on the back. "I'd feel better if you had it."

"What are you talking about? We-” I frowned as a drop of water landed on the back of my hand. Sure, it wasn’t unusual for tunnels to drip water, but this smelled like- ​

The walls imploded inwards as seawater smashed through the concrete. The torrent tore Minho away from me and I went under the waves, tumbling head over heels as I crashed downwards. ​

Damn it, which way was up? I could feel my body being pulled in one direction from the force of the wave and struggled against it, forcing my lead arms and legs to move. The pearl in my pocket was weighing me down, trying to drag me to the bottom. I fought against it, thrashing my legs and arms. ​

Something, no, someone was watching me. I could feel its gaze as I clawed my way through the water. For a moment, I thought I caught a glimpse of glowing dark eyes, but they vanished as quickly as they’d come. One hand brushed cold air and I surged towards the top. ​

My head broke the surface and I gasped for air. A few feet away, I spotted Jonghyun treading water, and Taemin hanging onto a floating piece of wood, coughing. Not too far from me, Key struggled to stay afloat while checking the damage to his laptop. ​

"Where’s Minho?” Jonghyun called out. ​

I could feel myself freezing, and it wasn’t because of the water. ​

Minho was gone.