Back then, everything seemed like paradise.

"So! Look at that!" Jiyoung's voice rang sweetly as I glanced towards the direction she pointed. The sight of a mighty eagle soaring through the sky above us mesmerized the two of us. We looked at each other and as if we were talking with our eyes, we agreed on a mental message which was someday we were going to be like that bird high up in the sky, free. 

Skipping together towards the bark of our favourite tree, she sang happily. Her voice was always that sweet, pure and angelic that somehow raised a light cloud of jealousy over me. We laid down on the soft, green grass as she went on singing,"My love is like a red rose. It maybe beautiful now but my sharp thorns will hurt you.." 

Born with an irrational amount of grace, she was the softest among us three and that is why she played the role as the healer. Hers was an original. We adored her so much, Yongguk fell in love her.

Chuckling, I rested my head on my hand and elbowed the ground to look at her properly,"Unnie! What does that song mean?"

"What song?" She asked with an innocent face.

I arched an eyebrow,"The rose song. The one you always sing when we're together."

"Ohh...that one." The corner of lips twitched into a beautiful smile and said,"It's a love song, dummy!" She laughed and rolled to the other side, her back was facing my face. 

I shook her shoulders and retorted,"Unnie-yah!! Tell me who's it for?" 

She sat upright and I did the same. Rolling her hair around a finger she sand,"No one~"

"Ahhh.. unnie~ You know that's a lie!" I tugged her arm continuously with a pout.

She ruffled my short hair and chuckled,"Aisy jinjja.. this girl!"

I smiled and leaned against her comfortably,"So.. who's it for?"

"Who do you think?" She enquired.

"Yongguk oppa~" 

Then, she giggled. That smile meant a sure yes to me though. Deep down inside, happiness engulfed my heart as I knew Yongguk's love was requited at his age of 16 . I always knew though, because they suit each other too well. I didn't care if they indulge themselves in a more serious relationship in the future as I would be supporting them all the time. As long as they didn't forget about me.

"Ji !! So !!" He called from afar, running with all his might towards the two of us. Shooting a cheeky glance at Jiyoung, I shouted back,"Yongguk oppa!! Run faster!!" The tall boy stopped when he was in front of Jiyoung so suddenly that he fell on the ground next to her, not mentioning my action of purposely extending a leg to make him fall right where I targeted him to. Jiyoung only giggled at the so called 'accident' while Yongguk's ears reddened helplessly.

Despite the enraged look on his face, he shrugged off the fury and handed Jiyoung a red rose. 

"Look here, Ji. A red rose, just like your new song!" He grinned, showing off those pink gums of his.

I smirked at his affection towards Jiyoung but he managed to catch a glimpse of it. He furrowed his eyebrows, probably guessing my knowledge about his one and only crush. 

"Hey, look at Yongguk oppa!! There's grass in his teeth!!" I laughed hard, followed by Ji when Yongguk dug his face into his hands, so ashamed of himself. Although he was the most brutal killer we ever known, he was still the shyest among us. 

The three of us completed each other. Jiyoung's gracefulness, my aegyo and Yongguk's protectiveness. I actually believed we were going to stay like this forever and ever.

I woke up to realize that I was on my own bed, neatly tucked inside bedsheets. Then a memory from hours ago struck me, Daehyun.. I glanced at the clock hanging peacefully on the wall, it was already 5 in the morning but I couldn't get back to sleep, thinking of Ji unnie and Yongguk. Sweet memories from my bitter past.

Yongguk's POV

The atmosphere got serious and she was the only one I could put my trust on,"So-yah. You can't tell anyone else about this okay?" 

She stirred and gazed upon me,"What??"

I caught her pinkie and wrapped mine around it as a sign of promise,"Do not tell anyone about this!"

Sighing, she replied,"Yea.. okay,okay! Whatever... you're so troublesome, oppa"

"I...I---" I hesitated the truth I was planning to spill out.

Her gazed turned to the sky above and said with that mocking tone of hers,"You are madly in love with Ji unnie~ You made it look too obvious, oppa."

I had no idea why the sky appealed to her that much but she was my dongsaeng, our forever dongsaeng so watching her happy and calm makes my day. I couldn't deny how smart So was because at her age of 13, she had been crowned as one of Seoul's professional ninjas along with Ji and me. Her perfectly correct guess about what I was going to tell her was somehow expected.

Only that there was one thing that made me so jealous of her, her irrationally big heart. She never kills. She could beat a full grown man up until his life was at the weakest grasp but she'd stop. For someone who lost her parents when she was just a little toddler, the loss seemed to have no effect on the ever so carefree girl. 

Laying a slight punch on her shoulder, I said,"Aisy.. I can't hide anything from you, can I?"

A soft laugh escaped her lips,"You can't."

I nudged her arm,"There's one more thing though."

The one more thing interested her as she turned and focused on me,"What?"

"I'm gonna tell her.. tomorrow." I blurted out carelessly.

Her eyes widened as a smiled curved onto her chubby face,"Omo~ Really?? When?? Can I help you with anything??"

I chuckled at her exaggerating excitement,"I won't tell you!"

"Awwww~ Yongguk oppa! Come on, tell me!!" She urged me on but I ignored her rants.

The sun shone my whole room, disturbing my sleep. I turned the other side of bed so that the sun wouldn't get into my eyes when realization struck me, it was Ji's birthday and also the day my confession would be official. My lips itched so much I wanted to smile and shout to the whole world about what was going to happen today so that they won't be too shocked to see me as romantic as ever. Or so I thought...

A call came ringing from my cellphone so I snatched the wildly vibrating object and pressed the green 'accept call' button. The surprise was yet to come.

"Yongguk oppa.. We need you right now!" So whispered with a tone of awaiting danger.

Panicking, I quickly responded,"Where?"

"There's a secret tunnel at the foot of Hallasan. Please.... come quick, Jiyoung unnie---" The sound of a phone's drop ended our conversation as it was continued by sounds of So fighting someone carrying a dangerous threat. At last, So's painful groan was heard at the end of the line. For a second there I was numbed, completely clueless of what to do. So and Ji were both in danger.

At the foot of Hallasan mountain,

Once I found the secret tunnel leading to the mountain's underground lair that So mentioned, I barged in without even thinking of what was bound to happen. Alas, I was trapped in a glass cubicle where I could see So struggling free from someone I don't know. She moved so fiercely but the man held her tight and secure.

Hostage in another cubicle was soft and helpless Ji with a syringe wrapped tight within her fingers. The look on her face was a whole lot different than I had ever seen, her eyes filled with a mixture of love and determination. That look sent chills down my spine.

I turned my attention to So who was still stubbornly kicking her way out of the man's grasp as she was lead to a port, a dangerously looking port. A chance shone right in front of her threatened eyes so she bit the man's hand until he had to let go of her. I resisted the smile that was about to form on my lips as the man's hand shook with blood gushing out of the hideous wound. 

The short girl ran towards Ji's cubicle and hit the hardcore glass furiously, screaming, I suppose because I couldn't hear a thing. Cursing myself for not realizing what I could do sooner, I kicked the transparent glass but no damage was inflicted to the wretched cubicle. The next thing I knew, So was trapped with a sword poking at her back. Her body was still as a rock. It was my turn to scream and hit the cubicle as So's life hung on a piece of thread.

"Well, look here. The Amazing Three all rounded up, trapped I would say ." A deep, menacing voice boomed the whole lair, even into the soundproof cubicles. Despite the curses I directed to the person behind all these, I listened attentively. 

He went on,"Little Kwon So Hyun. You know exactly what I want, right? So surrender and move to the port where I'll extract the Sapphire Stone out of you."

I shot a confused look at her and saw her pursing her lips in hesitation. So, is there something you're not telling me? What the hell is a Sapphire Stone? She didn't budge, probably testing the man's patience.

"Or.. maybe I'll take one of your precious friends' life? One of you deserve to make the right choice. The options are there in your seperate cubicles." The voice sounded again. That explained the syringe in Jiyoung's hands and the ticking bomb being wrapped around my neck. I couldn't fight the robot arms which held me securely.

In the end, So let a heavy sigh escape her lips as she raised her arms up in defeat. I wasn't sure if defeat meant her life or not so I didn't object, nor agreed with her. I only watched, it was all I could do at the moment. Turning my attention towards Ji again, she was holding the previous syringe in the mouth as if she was ready to drink it. The purple liquid had to be poison and I knew what she was thinking. I screamed even if it was useless,"Ji !! Don't drink that !!". 

I wasn't there to stop her as she gulped in the purple liquid with her eyes closed. So didn't notice because she was already on her way to the port the voice mentioned. The next second, blood spurted out of and stained her glass cubicle as she collapse to the floor, unable to move. I screamed, kicked the glass I was trapped in with all my might but it was all a waste of energy. 

Coughing up more blood, she glanced and shot a smile at me. I didn't want her smile, I wanted her life! I wanted the girl I loved to be safe! Yelling, kicking, punching and last wailing, not one of my actions worked. I could only watch from afar, that was all I had done for her ever since I fell in love. I never had the guts to confess my love to her, I just watched her play with So, sing beautifully and oh, that smile. The smile that made me forget about general's scoldings. The smile that brightened my day. I couldn't protect that smile anymore.

I couldn't watch, I closed my eyes.

 I give up. I love you, Ji.

She died but So saved me and got us out of the lair.

When I opened my eyes, So's face drenched with tears greeted me. Yet, I didn't feel anything, nothing but hate, rage and fury all mixed up for the girl who killed Ji. It was all her fault. She never told a thing about the Sapphire Stone the voice wanted so bad. She struggled to save herself when she knew Ji was in greater trouble. She didn't surrender herself before Ji drank that poison. She killed Ji and I had every reason to pledge for revenge. 

Weeping, she sat cross-legged beside me but I pushed her away,"You killed her, Kwon Sohyun.."

Her voice came out pathetic sobs,"No! I didn't.. I tried.. but Ji..she---"

"You killed her!" I snapped, silencing the younger girl.

Clearly startled, she stammered,"W-what?"

"You killed Ji! You killed your own unnie Sohyun!! You're not my little sister anymore, we're not friends! You're my enemy and one day I'll kill you Sohyun.." I barked, accusing her for causing Ji's death. I broke our bond just like that. Before she could say anything, I ran into the woods and left her behind, alone. I ran and ran further into the thick dark forest with tears trickling down my cheeks.

One day, revenge will be mine.

Suddenly, my eyes bursted open to find my pillow wet with tears, did I cry? I reached under the pillow for my phone and turned it on just to have a look at the time. 6.37 in the morning, there was still time to cover for the sleep I lacked when So locked me inside that freakin walk-in closet. Despite the comfortable warmth within my bedsheets,  Himchan's snores blasted into my ears so I flipped the drenched pillow and dug my head into its dry side. Once I closed my eyes again, the dream, no, nightmare haunted me through the darkness. So.. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have blamed it all on you. 

Sorry for the late update. I'm kinda busy now with Eid and all but here it is! What Daehyun first wanted from Sohyun, her past with Gukkie in it (see chappie 5). Oh and I noticed that my viewers already reached 1000!! Yayyy~ *jumps around like a retard* I know it's nothing but it means a whole lot to me. Thank you to all my subscribers *bow* commentors *bows again* and to everyone who supported me all the way *bows for the last time* . Saranghae~^^