July 6, 2264
Seoul, South Korea
Seoul National Park Subway Station
4: 44 PM

Ji Ae’s heart leapt into as her lungs froze.  Her feet felt like rocks as she screamed in her head for them to run.

Suddenly a loud snap broke the air in front of her face, and red cloth obscured her vision.

“Sunggyu, grab her!” The Lee Clansman shouted, gripping Ji ae’s upper arm; she couldn’t even manage a protest as she stared up at him. Beading sweat was visible on his brow from their proximity and she could feel his heated breath wash over her skin. Gritting her teeth, she tried to snarl at him, only for the strange box girl from the tram to be shoved into her as the goggles man joined them with the hysterical girl from the steps.

“Sungyeol, now!”

She peeked around his chest to see the one train seconds from slamming into the other. The other bodies were pushed against her, but the numbing feeling returned as she watched in mute horror while the accident unfolded and a flurry of events flashed before her eyes; tram against tram, screeching metal, flaring fires, pieces of steel flying through the air, her cheek sliced open by debris, half the train hurdling towards them-

then a crack, and her world turned black.


-v-v-v-v-


Struggling as fiercely as she could, Jinri twisted and shouted, glaring into the darkness of the void around her. The last thing she remembered was the train crash and the S4S16s grabbing her and suddenly she was in this hellish place. She couldn’t see, smell or hear anything, and a bitter cold was settling over her rapidly, but the firm grip on her side kept her sane; she wasn’t alone at least. With burning determination, she renewed her efforts, only for the unexpected to happen; everything went back to normal. Or as normal as it could.

Light flooded the girl’s vision and heat returned like a smothering blanket. The hand holding Jinri let go unexpectedly, and her legs, too weak to hold anything, folded under her weight easily. Coughing as the warmth leeched into the aching cold in , the girl squinted against the sudden light and tried to make out her surroundings.

They were in some sort of library, with a worn out emerald carpet and towering book shelves. A fire burned to her left, and a massive wooden table stood to her right. As her eyes were adjusting to the light, the smell of sick and the sound of someone vomiting had her twisting around. The strange girl who had shouted at them to leave was hunched over on her hands and knees, heaving weakly as the boy, Sungyeol, held her hair from her face, his expression ashen.

Suddenly it hit her; those two S4S16s-they took her! They kidnapped her! Fear clawed at her as a rush of warnings and stories hit her like a tidal wave. Mutants, creature, murders, death. Recoiling, Jinri scrambled away, slamming into the oaken table in shock, her eyes wide as she stared at the boy.

Another girl slowly sat up, groaning and ribbing her head. “Wah-where am I? What the hell just-“ She blinked and touched her cheek. Her fingertips came away spotted with fresh blood and her eyes narrowed in thought. 

The sound of footsteps had Jinri looking around warily at the newcomers, two boys.

“Sungyeol! Sunggyu!” A boy with wild blond hair ran for the pair, only to pause at the sight of the girls, “Hyu-hyung, who are they?” A stifled moan escaped the Lee clansman, who fell away from the girl he was attending and onto the thick carpet, flexing his hands as his eyes fluttered shut.

“It doesn’t matter,” Sunggyu snapped, standing up from behind the injured S4S16, and taking charge. “Dongwoo, you take care of her; Hoya, make sure Sungyeol stays with us; I have to get Sungjong, he’s badly injured.”

He disappeared through a doorway on the far wall, leaving Jinri pressed against the table, staring at the two boys warily.

-v-v-v-

Trying hard to fight further bile from escaping her stomach, Sanghee took deep breaths with closed eyes, clenching her fists to the point where her knuckles glowed white. Suddenly she felt a hand brush her hair away from her face and another rub her back. Without even realising it, she let out a sigh and leaned back, only to smell dew and fresh...earth? That wasn’t right. Her eyes snapped open, only to lock with a pair of dark brown eyes.  Inhaling sharply, she slapped a hand over and tried to move away only to feel the hand on her back prevent her from doing so. The blonde boy frowned, ‘Are you alright? Do you still feel sick? We have medicine; do you nee-‘

She was suddenly pulled from him, as the girl from the table dragged her away forcefully.

‘Watch out,’ the stranger growled, her glare flicking between the three boys in the room. ‘They’re all S4S16s.’

-v-v-v-

Ji Ae gently touched her face again, feeling the stinging sensation of a cut. But it wasn’t nearly big enough to have this much blood on her face. Pulling down her sleeve, she scrubbed at her face and looked around. The Lee Boy lay on his side, his side shaking with his heaving, choking breaths. Without giving the blond and brunette boys a second glance, she moved forward on her hands and knees to the clansman. Even as she watched, his robes began to turn a darker shade, blood spreading like ink in water across his back.

“Don’t touch her!” A scuffling noise rattled the floor, and suddenly, “Watch out. They’re all S4S16s.”

Twisting around, she watched as the hostile women from the station protectively held the redhead against her, staring down the two boys. Just as the brunette, Hoya, opened his mouth to snap a retort, Ji Ae interrupted. 

“Guys, shutup! That’s not important! I-I think he’s dying!” She gestured at the Lee clansman, before she touched his neck for his pulse. Weak and failing. They needed to clean the wound; he was losing so much blood. She could just make out bits of shredded metal sparkling in the fire light. Swallowing a lump in , she could only too easily recall the trams collision, and the resulting shrapnel. Of course he had gotten hit; he had been standing between her and the explosion. How were they going to get it out?!

 Suddenly, Hoya was beside her, grabbing her hand roughly and tossing it away.

“Don’t touch him!” He growled, “You’ll just make it worse.”

“You’re right, because doing nothing is so much better,” Ji Ae retorted, moving around the man to access the injured clansmen.

She could see and hear the other boy, Dongwoo, moving around in the background, cleaning the vomit from the carpet, while offering a wet towel to the redhead. Hoya didn’t seem to notice, and seemed determined to force Ji Ae away.

“You do realise he’s an Infini-sorry, let me speak stupid; he’s an S4S16.” He snarled, his eyes dark, his shoulders tense. “You sure it’s safe to touch him? You might die instantly,” He mockingly said, as he moved a hand to check the boy’s pulse, before trying to peel off Sungyeol’s massive, hooded jacket. It was a more difficult than expected however, as the sticky blood glued each of his layers effectively to each other and his skin, tugging painfully, triggering another aggrieved groan from the boy.   

Sunggyu appeared in the far doorway, a group of boys behind him. Even as she registered their presence, Ji Ae replied, her voice steady though her mind was filled with doubts and hesitation, “It doesn’t matter if he’s a human or a monster; he still bleeds, and he’s going to die, so ing help him!”

-v-v-v-

Jinri stared at the girl having a verbal battle with Hoya. Moments ago, the redhead had wriggled from her grasp to accept a towel from the S4S16, Dongwoo, despite Jinri’s warning. She too was watching the pair carefully, her eyes flickering between them. Sunggyu suddenly appeared with a bunch of S4S16s, his chest heaving, before pausing, his eyes narrowing on the girl as she spoke. A boy brushed past him, his face feminine, and his stride graceful, before falling to his knees next to the injured, teleporting S4S16. He looked over at the girl, carefully asking for her name.

“Ji Ae. My name is Lim Ji Ae.”

“My name is Sungjong,” He replied softly, “and he’s Sungyeol.” He rested a hand on the blood stained shoulder. “You may want to step back for this.”

Suddenly Jinri was moving, scuttling further backwards from Ji Ae and the S4S16S. Sungjong’s eyes had suddenly gone completely golden, glowing brightly in the dusky room. His fingertips lightly brushed Sungyeol’s back, as an answering glimmer of light appeared from his crimson-streaked hands.

-v-v-v-

Ji Ae watched with fascination and horror as the S4S1-Sungyeol’s back began to repair itself. Bits of metal gently tumbled from his wound, as if his body was pushing them out. She could make out his skin through the pieces of cloth, and it gave her a clear view of his shredded flesh beginning to fold over itself, muscle stitching themselves back together. It was like a thousand invisible ants were moving about his form, cleaning and fixing as they went. She was mesmerized by what she saw, despite the uneasy rolling in her stomach and warning pangs in the back of her mind. Suddenly the light vanished, hiding his back in the shadow. Looking up, she noticed Sungjong’s glow had faded to nothing, his eyes back to normal, and his S4S16 friends had joined them, some a few feet away, others close enough to touch.

Having never witnessed something so strange and yet so wondrous, she sat back on her haunches, staring blankly at Sungyeol’s back. She nearly fell over when he suddenly took a deep breath, his back expanding and contracting with his breathing. Her jaw dropped as the man sat up, clutching his head in one hand and supporting his weight with the other.

“B-but he-he was just dy-dyin-“

“He was. Now he isn’t.” Sunggyu said a proud smile on his face as he went to help Sungyeol sit up slowly, as if it wasn’t unusual to pull a man back from the brink of death on a moment’s notice. He moved to give Ji Ae a hand up, whose mind was temporarily wiped clean of her previous prejudice against the S4S16s. As Sungyeol steadied himself as he attempted to cross his gangly legs on the ground before him,  Ji Ae lightly pulled her hand from Sunggyu to face the teleporter across from her.

Groaning again, he clutched his head, “Aish, Sungjong that was a close one. I swear I saw the pearly gates for a minu-“

He halted in his rambles momentarily, as he locked eyes with Ji Ae. “O-oh, h-hi.”

Without hesitation, the girl went into a formal bow, still kneeling beside him, her head touching her hands lightly. Bobbing back up to resume eye contact with the stunned S4S16 she quickly stated, “Thank you for saving my life at the station.”

Looking away, Sungyeol rubbed his neck sheepishly, any signs of his former bravo from the tramway gone as a light blush spread across his cheeks. “Y-yeah, no problem. Ju-just doing my job, heh.”

“Your job? Your job?!” Jinri finally spoke, livid. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but are you not S4S16s?!You guys kill people for fun! You kidnapped from the public tram station! How is that a ‘job’?!” She hissed, her shoulders tipped forward and ridged as she leaned towards them, silently challenging them to argue with her.

No one spoke, the air thick with tension as Jinri glared at them boldly. Ji Ae’s face was pale, her back ridged, her eyes placed firmly on the outspoken girl. But she didn’t say anything.

Suddenly someone coughed loudly, and a smooth voice began to move through the crowd of boys, “Excuse me, excuse me, sorry, Tukutz held me up in the lab, pardon me.” An older man, in his early 30’s, stepped out from the group of boys. He didn’t look very intimating with shaggy black hair and shadowed eyes, but he was the oldest, and from the looks the boys respectfully sent his way, he was obviously some sort of leader. Dressed in a forest green hoodie, a black t-shirt with some long forgotten rock band’s name printed on it in faded grey, ragged jeans, and a pair of worn converse, the man looked more like a poor university student who had one too many late nights.

Coughing once more, he glanced over at Sunggyu, “May I ask why there are several citizens in my library?” He didn’t sound angry, only mildly curious. The three girls watched him warily, as the atmosphere seemed to darken. Ji Ae could only assume he was an S4S16, as he had yet to show any Powers, but she somehow knew that he was the most powerful person in the room, and not someone to take lightly. Maybe it was the way he held himself, or how he moved so lightly on his feet; maybe it was because of how the others S4S16s were treating him, or maybe it was his eyes. She had made brief eye contact when he had first appeared, before looking away hurriedly and shivering. He was much older and experienced then he appeared.
 
 “I’m sorry. There were some complications at the station.” The boy murmured, looking away.

“Oh? Why don’t you elaborate on that? Hoya, could you please throw some more logs on the fire? It’s getting a bit dark in here.”   

 Jinri watched the boy as he moved to do as the man said. Even as he tossed a few more pieces of wood into the blaze, she could have sworn it was burning much more fiercely then before, and she didn’t think it was because of the additional logs. Feeling even more uncomfortable, she got to her feet, ready to run at the moment’s notice.
 
-v-v-v-

After cleaning herself up to the best of her advantage, Sanghee began to take a closer look around the room and its occupants. The boy who had helped her had moved away, giving her the space she needed without waiting for her to ask. The majority of the faces looked unfamiliar, but none of them seemed to be threatening. The girls she vaguely recognised from her dreams; they had only been fleeting faces in the panicked crowds during her nightmares, but she knew they had died. It felt so surreal to be in their presence, both breathing, both living. Aside from them, there was something about the boy with the goggles and maroon jacket. Sunggyu; that’s what they had been called. It took her a moment to realise but when it hit her, she recoiled in surprise.

He had been the ones who had bumped into her with the car a week prior, when her family had been visiting the ‘nicer’ section of Seoul. Why had he been driving around then? If the boy on the ground, Sungyeol, could teleport, why would they be using vehicles to get around? And why on earth was an S4S16 in the new and refined area of Seoul, where only the rich and blessed lived?

-v-v-v-

Tablo had the perfect timing, Ji Ae thought, as she glanced over at him and Sunggyu. If Jinri had picked a fight with the S4S16s, some of them may have not made it out alive, and whether she liked the girl or not, she would have to help fight them off, as a fellow non-S4S16.

“We were heading for the Seoul National Park station, and everything was going as it was supposed to. Sungyeol had taken the tram, and I waited at the station- you know, we spilt up to optimise the time we had. Sungyeol explored the train to make sure there weren’t any explosives, which meant it was in the break system, which we couldn’t do anything about. When we got there, I…” He glanced over at the girls warily, before continuing nonchalantly, “…I froze time, and Sungyeol used Tukutz’ batteries to start teleporting the people out. It didn’t take long; maybe 7 minutes.”

As he continued to talk, Ji Ae had to bite back her disbelief and wonder; the man before her could freeze time. Just like that. The things people could do with that Power without getting caught! Robbing banks and murder to name a few. And yet, as she looked around the room and at the S4S16’s clothing, they didn’t look rich or like killers. Well, Sungyeol was a clansman, but not all of the clanspeople were wealthy; even then, his attire was worn down. On a side note, she couldn’t help but raise a brow at his lack of care for the massive bloodstain and holes that had seriously devalued his clothing.

“We cleared everyone out only moments before the accident so no one accidentally wandered downstairs after we left, and before it would happened. But, I-I got another vision.”

The girl who had previously been vomiting and had remained quiet, seemed to stiffen out of the corner of Ji Ae’s eye: her eyes had narrowed and her lips stretched into a grim, thin line. Something had offset her about Sunggyu’s remark about his vision; it couldn’t have been that he had a vision too. It was a well-known fact that S4S16s could have multiple Powers that connected together in a theme; but only if they were very powerful. She couldn’t quite put her finger on Sunggyu’s theme, but she couldn’t help but feel a tinge of respect and fear that the man could use both his Powers within moments of each other. It was a wonder he hadn’t been driven insane by the amount of Power he had.

“Those two,” He gestured towards Jinri and her, “were the only ones in the station, and they were killed because of it. So we found them and we were about to leave, we were cutting it pretty close to the time of the accident, when I got another vision. She,” he pointed at the red-brown haired girl, exasperation clearly showing on his features, “showed up!”

The man made a noise, turning to look at the girl, “And you had unfrozen time?”

“Yeah, but she wasn’t in my vision any of the other times; she was just showed up, out of no where! That has never happened before.”

Moving closer to the girl, but still giving her space, the man looked her up and down. “And what’s your name, miss?”

The girl snorted, unexpectantly, glaring back at him. “Why should I give you my name, when you haven’t even given me yours, huh?” She evidentially had some spark hidden within her.

Blinking, he seemed stunned, before chuckling warmly. “Of course, where are my manners. My name is Daniel. I own this house, where all these guys live at the moment,” He nodded back towards the boys.

Jutting out her jaw, the girl thought for a few moments before deeming it real information. “I suppose you could call yourself that, if you want. My name is Shin Sanghee.”

Hoya made a move to go at the girl, muttering something about her ‘attitude’ and ‘rudeness’. Daniel stilled him with his arm, arching an eyebrow at the girl.

“Why would you say that? It’s my name, of course I’m going to call myself that.”

Sanghee sat back, crossing her arms across her chest and rolling her eyes. “Legally, in Korea, it’s not your name. Or at least, it’s not in the papers here. You have a few names across the world.”

He stilled. All of the boys seemed to stop breathing. Jinri and Ji Ae were both watching her very carefully, curious about the sudden pressure in the room.

Pulling out of her slight slouch to sit up straight, she raised a brow. “You’re the one the world has been looking for since the outbreak years ago. Tablo.”


V_V_V_V_V_V_V_V_V_V_V_V

A/N
Oh hey, look! I’m still writing this story! Sorry guys, I’ve been dealing with quite a few serious personal issues. I haven’t been able to focus on any of my stories due to these problems. I’m happy to say that I believe I have managed to overcome this hurdle and I’m back on track (mostly). I have planned out about 90% of the story, so I know where I’m going and I think it will be much more tied together then the original.

Speaking of which, in case any readers did not get my update for Black Hole Sun: I will be putting that story on hiatus for now. I sadly have lost interest in it, which is my own fault; I kept bringing in characters, and making plot holes and it ended up getting messed up and diluted with too many people and ideas. There are millions of things wrong with it, and I don’t know about my readers, but I’ve become fairly confused with what I was doing. I know there are only a few chapters away from the ending, but I will be taking a break from that confusing mess to work on its remake, aka, this story. I know my BHS readers will be upset, and I apologize for treating everyone horribly with me vanishing for very long periods of time. I believe I have found my solution and I will work with it. Hopefully one day I will finish it.

To my EoD readers, thank you for waiting patiently for me to return. I promise it will be displaying more awesome futuristic and sci-fi themed ideas soon; this was more of a chapter with lots of details. I promise I will try my best to get out another chapter sometime next week.

Thank you to all my readers, subscribers and commenters; speaking of which, please comment, let me know what you thought, or your reaction, positive things you noticed and negative things as well. I look forward to everything you have to say!

Love, 

WhosThere13