In this world..there is nothing,but the intoxicating air..and its people.

 

It all started 2 years ago when drugs that replaced human emotions were being distributed to people. Evil devoured the light, darkness cloaked the sky, and the earth only knew of night. In the daytime, clouds of pollution covered the blue sky and the main source of light. You can say that the every day was dull and grey. Mornings were foggy and nights were in utter darkness.

 

That only happened in one city though. The capital of the entire country,Seoul. The large city was enough for the government to test and the human race. Factories were built and the practice of slaves slowly came back. Although slavery was illegal, it found a way to thrive,under the city of Seoul, away from the patrol officers. Citizens had became aware of their situation and how things were falling apart. Though they never figured out that it was because of the colored solution in a small bottle. Chemicals filled the air,resulting to an atmosphere dyed copper, like a photograph set in a sepia tone.

 

Things had gotten worse. The economy has fallen dramatically than before,many homes and towns were abandoned. The grounds became unsafe to even walk on as deserted land became the place for the government to test nuclear weapons.

 

People attempted to live their life like before, but in the end, they were being beaten down by life. The high authorities weren’t doing such a good job either. Going against their rules, they abused their position and hurt the rights of citizens and humans. The higher class lived in royalty,but oddly enough, still faced the same problems.

 

Is it over for us?

 

Taeri thought the same question every day. She looked at the smoke rising from her city as she stood on a hill just outskirts of the area. Her chocolate hair moving slightly from the wind coming from the west. Her clear complexion that never once darkened,making her hazelnut eyes stand out. The brunette’s black, long coat swayed back and forth, along with a red ribbon tied to her right wrist. Her worn out high top sneakers that she got a while back dug into the dirt as she left the site,returning to the gaseous city.

 

The sky was grey,like always. The sound of people groaning and yelling out words like “help me” was beginning to get on the girl’s nerves as she walked down the all familiar road, dodging people walking past her. Usually the streets were empty and vast, but today was Friday, when the corruption was being restocked in the markets. Citizens were covered in dirt, just like she was. Same goes for all the other towns and cities; it was normal. She cut through an empty alley to reach to her destination. Obviously, people would avoid those places at all cost,scared to encounter gangs and certain dangers. The girl was not worried about those threats,only because she was one of those.

 

Turning the corner, she saw a blinking LED sign hanging from the side of a building, that had lighted an outline of an arrow pointing up. The door was a dark grey,kind of matching the stones from the structure. Taeri quickly glanced at either sides of her, making sure no one followed her. She knocked on the door once, hearing two knocks responding back. She knocked three times and the door opened up to reveal a tall man. He had short,dark brown hair. His eyes twinkled under the light and a large smile crept up once he notice the girl standing in front of him. He had a red cloth stuffed in his left pocket,but still had a bit of it to show.

 

“Taeri! Welcome back,” he said, his voice surprisingly deep,gesturing for the brunette to walk in.

 

“Hey Chanyeol, how are things?” Taeri greeted as her eyes fell on the crowded bar. The room was dark,but many more LED signs made up for the lack of light. The bar was full of regulars as they had came here many times to get drunk or escape the world’s abnormalities.  Pool tables were set up near the wall, dartboards to the left,  TVs hung high for everyone to see, and a bar full of all sorts of drinks were being made.

 

“Things are going well. We’ve been waiting for your return,” Chanyeol smiled cheekily, rubbing the back of his neck, “They’re all waiting downstairs.”

 

“Alright, I’ll be there in a sec,” Taeri dismissed Chanyeol away as she headed towards the bar. The bartender chatted happily towards the guests as they all clinked their glasses and cheered. He had brown hair that was spiked up.The man wore a black vest with a white semi on the inside and topped it all off with a red bow; though it was crooked.

 

“Suho, how’s the bar going?” Taeri asked the man behind the counter as she propped her elbows on the counter in front and smiled. Suho looked at her and chuckled.

 

“Welcome back commander. Pub’s doing well. Racking in a lot of cash,” He answered as he crossed his arms,grinning like a child who had won a small toy.

 

“That’s good. Meeting downstairs,by the way,” Taeri tapped the bar counter and walked further inside the pub as she heard Suho say,”Sorry boys, closing up the bar for tonight” in the distance.

 

Entering the a passcode, the door opened with a beep and had revealed stairs. The female cautiously descended as she was told of how many people had actually slipped and fell. She heard the talking growing louder and louder in every step. Once her foot landed at the bottom, she looked up to see a small group people in the room. All of them with a familiar red band.

 

“Hey, she’s back!”

 

“Welcome, back Taeri!

 

“How was the small trip, leader?”

 

Taeri smiled at the group and laughed softly. “ Yup, I’m home.”

 

“The others aren’t here right now, but we’ll call them and let them know you arrived safely,” one redhead female said; Taeri nodding in response

 

She made her way towards the couch that was nestled against the wall. A large table was out in front of her. It had a map of the entire district with a glass screen sitting on top of it. Sitting on the couch, Taeri let out a long sigh.

 

“Why the long sigh?”A man, around the same height as Chanyeol appeared and sat beside her. He had yellow, sunny colored hair and a grey semi shirt which sleeves stopped at his forearm. Underneath was a white v-neck shirt-which was tarnished by the mud and soil;dangling from his neck was a fang-shaped pendant. Who said anything about clean clothing in this world? “What took you so long? This time it’s longer than usual.”

 

Taeri threw him a look of disbelief. “ Kris, it was only one day longer than usual. I can’t be punctual all the time, you know. Hell, I might not be even here. This is a hologram you’re talking to,”  

 

Kris smirked and waved his hand, “ Just glad you’re safe and sound, chief. We all did our best as you were gone.”

 

Taeri rolled her eyes and gave him a light punch to the shoulder before she headed off into a hallway that had led her to bedroom. “And I appreciate that,”

 

Taeri opened the door to her room, seeing everything in place like how she left it one week ago. She had lived in the headquarters since the day she had “awaken”. Not scared of any of the guys that also lived here since she was, how you say, very scary to the others.

 

Taeri kicked off her dirty sneakers and flopped onto her bed, indulging herself into the comfort. “Oh, how I miss you bed. Don’t worry, I‘ll never leave you again~”

 

“Talking to yourself again, chief?” a familiar voice echoed through the wooden oak door. Her head jolted up, lips frowning. It took longer than necessary for Taeri to drag herself out of the bed. Leaving the comfort of her bed was one of her biggest challenges.

 

She opened the door to reveal a boy with ash black hair. Wearing a casual grey t-shirt with a black hoodie, his skin tanned,but with a sun-kissed glow to it.

 

“Kai,” Taeri walked out the room and closed the door behind her,” if you’re back, then that means the others have returned also,” she smiled stretching from ear to ear.

 

“Yeah, about that...” Kai diverted his gaze to the ceiling, “the group, plus someone else...”

 

Taeri narrowed her eyes at the boy in confusion, “What did you do this time?”

 

“It wasn’t me this time, just sayin’,” He put his arms in the air in defense.

 

As they came closer to the main room, the voices of people became increasingly louder. The girl arrived at the scene to see a full room full of familiar people. They all stared in silence at the newly arrival leader before bursting in out in a small cheer.

 

“Taeri!” A girl about the same age as the said brunette ran up to her and beamed at her. She had golden locks that fell to the middle of her chest with bangs that almost covered one of her eyes. The girl wore a navy blue jacket with a plain black tank on the inside and completed the outfit with black fingerless gloves; a red bow tied to her left wrist.

 

“CL! It’s been awhile,” Taeri beamed at her best friend, “ How did it all go?”

 

“It’s was better than we both expected,” CL led the latter to the couch,” The boys surprisingly behaved, and the girls were really helpful,”  

 

Taeri laughed, “Really? Ah, that really eases me~” She brought her hands to her chest.

 

“Hey, what do you mean surprisingly? CL, you make it sound like we, guys, are just like the dead corpses in this city,” A man with dirty blonde ruffled hair appeared out of the crowd and raised his eyebrows. CL stuck her tongue at the latter in annoyance.

 

“Oh, Yongguk. Looking tired as ever,” Taeri jested while she looked at the said man as his lips curved upwards.

 

“So..word on the street is..” Yongguk crossed his arms, “that when the entire country has fallen,

the government is going to abandon everyone to make a ‘castle in the sky’. Sounds far fetched, I know, but with the current state of society ,and how the government is taking our money for no reason. The idea’s not that crazy.”

 

Taeri was perplexed for a moment with the sudden information,” Wait, what? Where did you hear that?”

 

“Well..”

 

Everyone,including Yongguk, stepped aside to reveal a new face in the back. His eyes widen at the sudden attention and looked rather puzzled and lost.

 

“Who’re you?”