Key couldn't escape the melody of the piano; it echoed in his head like a song stuck on repeat. Once, he had come to a complete stop in the middle of crossing the road, stunned to have realised he was humming the tune under his breath.

He ran the remaining distance to his destination as if he had convinced himself that he could outrun the music.

His destination was a long alleyway, created by the tall buildings on either side. He had passed it on his way the previous day; and he knew of the legendary psychic. Key meant to ask her to foretell his future, as knowledge is more powerful than a sword. (Although, Key admitted, that knowledge on how to use a sword is pretty effective too.)

A church bell rang low in the distance and the babble and industrial noise of the town reverberated into silence. The lolling bell toll also had the power to wipe away the piano song from Key's mind.

He pulled off his sunglasses and looked to his left and to his right. He noted the dozen people carrying out their everyday businesses. It was as if they were on mute because Key could not hear the words that he saw their mouths form.

Key looked back into the alleyway. The ground was paved with large flat cobbles; they were uneven in some places and he noted them as potential trip hazards. Shadowed doorways were lit by red lanterns and it cast an eerie pink glow along the alleyway. Signs proclaiming their business were painted on wooden planks and nailed onto the wall, next to the doors. Beneath each sign was a pot of incense; and combined with the ambient light created by the red lanterns, Key's vision became hazy and surreal.

His answers were somewhere in there, and so he stepped in to find them.

The church bell rang again and whispers formed within the heavy air. Key madly looked about him but saw no one. It was as if he was moving through invisible ghosts, who saw him and were commenting amongst themselves. The whispers were incessant.

Key picked up his pace and anxiously looked for the sign he was after; 'Minjung'. He found her name on the wall, near the end of the alleyway, and pushed through the beaded curtain that covered the doorway.

The inside of the building was a large room. It was so tall that its ceiling was invisible from the ground. Light was provided by wall sconces; and by some alchemist trick, the flames were shining green and blue. In the centre of the room was a bed, set upon an immense woven rug. Cushions were scattered about the floor - they substituted as the seats upon which Key was expected to sit upon. Minjung was hidden on the bed, framed by two embroidered curtains that hung from poles and were opened to receive her guests.

Key gave her a courteous bow before he settled onto a cushion. He waited for her to begin their session. A black lace veil, with red lotus patterns, covered most of her face. Only her strongly painted lips were uncovered; and her enigmatic smile was hypnotising.

"Are you my husband?" she asked in a deep and sultry voice.

"Ah... no," Key replied once his brain began to function again.

She gave a deflated sigh, "No one wants to marry me." She flopped onto her back, on the bed. Key dragged his eyes away from the long, pale leg that peeked through the slit of her dress.

He coughed and shifted uncomfortably. "You're not very good as a psychic if you're asking everyone if they're your husband," he commented.

She jolted back up and her lips were pressed into a thin line. "I cannot see my own future," she angrily told him.

"How unfortunate," he said dryly, gradually regaining his slick composure, "Should I leave then and go to another?"

"Why would you?" she asked in an airy voice and lay down again. She rolled over so her back was facing him. "I am the best there is - no other psychic can be better than me."

Key said nothing further. It was true that Minjung was one of the best in the Eastern Quarter of the country. He was sure she would charge him handsomely for her services too, but they were guaranteed to be worth the cost. Key had felt uneasy about losing possession of the item and even more troubled to be staying in town. He was being chased, and he was safest when he was moving. Now he needed to know that he was in no immediate danger whilst he tried to regain the item from Jonghyun.

And there was Onew...

"Sekai," Minjung interrupted his thoughts.

"I'm sorry?"

"Do you think it is real?"

"Sekai?" Key asked.

"Yes, the world," and she spun back around, "It means 'world', did you not know?" she explained and then fell silent again.

Key began to fidget; he twisted the threads of the rug through his fingers. Eventually, when there continued to be no movement from the psychic, he let out a great huff of breath. "When will you tell me my future?"

She looked up and studied him. Key sat still and resisted the hypnotic curves of her lips.

"You should give up," she finally said.

"What?"

Minjung flopped back onto her back and raised her arms in the air. She wriggled them. "This chase you’re on, it's awfully lonely, isn't it?" She turned her head towards him and he felt her stare pierce through her veil. "You do feel it, right?" She looked back up at her arms. "I don't even know why you're running in the first place," she mumbled. "You should give up."

Minjung peered at him from the corners of her eyes and then jolted up from her bed, "In fact! You do give up!" she crowed and giggled like a high school girl who discovered a secret. She then began to babble about the towns he had been and probably will go, and about the flowers on the side of the road.

Key sat aghast throughout the fore-telling. He had never expected it to be like this! He hid his face in his hands; "Please tell me I am not going to be paying for this. This is nothing useful," he grumbled under his breath, so that she would not hear him.

He then sensed a change in the atmosphere, as if an electric shock silently cracked in the air between them. Key could even smell the ozone. He took a cautious look up.

Minjung had stopped giggling; her muscles were locked up and rigid, as if she was almost a beautiful statue in a Japanese garden. Her chest rose and fell with her laboured breathing; was open, her jaw slack and hanging loose beneath the veil.

"A warning for you," her voice was at a lower pitch and caused shivers to run down Key's back. "Be wary of the angel trapped in his cage. The angel wants to be freed and that will happen with your death."

Key heard the church bell toll again; its clang echoed down the cobbled street. The whispers that had followed him rose in volume again, as if they were crowded on the other side of the beaded curtain.

"Have a good day," Minjung said in the same eerie voice. She smiled and her teeth shone with an ugly brightness between her painted lips.

Key examined the hairdresser's work in the mirror's reflection. He tilted his head to the left and then to the right, and swivelled around so he might be able to look at the back of his head. He gave the hair colour change a nod of satisfaction and paid the girl for her labour.

Minjung's future-telling stayed in his mind as he made his way back to the inn. The late afternoon light was quickly disappearing. Young girls and boys were running down the sidewalks to light the lamps, which will guide home the last of the town's workers.

Angels.

Key gave a heavy sigh. He was being chased by a demon and now he had to worry about angels. He gave a quick thought about Minjung's fascination with 'sekai' but dismissed it as one of her random musings.

Like the other night, Key heard the music before he saw the inn. He resignedly opened its doors and allowed his senses to immerse in bright lights; heavy scents of homemade food and brews; in the warmth generated by the crowded room; and in sweetest and soul-calming melody made by the piano. 

Like the other night, he stayed just within the doorway and allowed himself to watch the man behind the piano. He wore the same suit and squishy bow tie. Taemin's voice, identifying the pianist as 'Onew', echoed in Key's mind. A fond smile played on Key's thin lips as he revelled in knowing the man's name.

His reverie was broken by someone pushing past him.

"Watch yer doing, blocking the doorway like that?" Jonghyun's brusque voice wrenched Key back to his present surroundings. He looked down his nose at the stocky man. Key pushed aside thoughts about how the cook could possibly have developed such firm muscles from making pies, and confronted him about returning his item.

"Who, yer?" Jonghyun asked and squinted at Key's face.

"Key."

The cook's eyes grew round and fixed themselves upon Key's hair. "What on earth did yer do to yer hair?"

"Never mind that, it's not your business. Return me my item now," Key demanded.

Just then, a general round of applause followed the end of Onew's song. Jonghyun's eyes slyly shifted to the centre of the room and the grand piano.

"Can't do that, mister," Jonghyun shrugged and gave an exagerrated sigh. He then turned Key around towards the piano and gave him a small push. "Why not yer mingle with the crowd, heh? Unless you want a pie?"

Key scowled at Jonghyun over his shoulder but nevertheless stepped into the crowd. They were settling themselves in their seats or groups. Onew was sipping his drink, using both hands to cradle the cup. A broad smile of pure bliss had transformed the musician's face; his eyes were crescents below his thick eyebrows. Key almost tripped on his own feet.

Somehow he found himself standing in front of the piano. He shuffled his feet from a sudden and unusual shyness. Onew cocked his head to the side and silently stared at him. His smile still played on his lips and Key noted the dimples in his cheeks. Key resisted the happy sigh that built within him. Instead, it filled him and made him seem to float a little, in front of the quiet pianist.

"Say something will yer, stupid?" Jonghyun's loudly whispered hiss somehow carried over to Key.

"Uh, what are you drinking?" Key managed to ask.

Onew looked down and swirled the remaining liquid in the cup. "Water," he answered in a deep and syrupy voice; it was a bit grainy, like wood.

"You seem so happy drinking it," Key observed.

"That's because I am drinking it with my hands."

Onew took another sip of his water. Silence fell between them again.

"Can I have some?" The words ungracefully blurted out of Key and he felt his cheeks flame red.

Onew looked up at him through his long eyelashes and Key could cry at how sweet and angelic he looked.

"Does it have to be from mine?" He asked Key in a small voice, almost as if he loathed giving up his cup. The pleading look Onew gave Key also told him that the pianist would share his cup if he insisted on it, because Onew was that kind of person.

And so Key hastily retracted his request. He felt horror at denying the man his happy drink.

"Can I touch your hair?" Onew suddenly asked him. This time it was Key's turn to look at the other, but with wide and unbelieving eyes. Onew shifted across his stool and patted the spot where he indicated for him to sit. Key numbly obeyed and lowered his head so that the pianist could run his small fingers through his hair.

"I like it," he said.

"So do I," Key breathed, more aware of the other's warm touch.

"It's like a rainbow?"

"Yes."

Key had instructed the hairdresser to colour his hair in pink, purple, blue and green. There were also streaks of other colours. Paradoxically, the outrageous hair colour served as his disguise - he was not recognisable, especially when he affected a different posture.

And maybe, his weak knees in front of Onew could do the trick too.

Shadow moved in the corner of Key's eyes. Something was moving in the entrance of the inn. It was a streak of blackness, but it resolved itself into a familiar outline. Key froze.

"What is it?" Onew asked, aware of the other's sudden tension.

"I cannot stay," Key answered in a soft and apologetic voice.

"Why? Can't you stay?"

"No, not when demons are chasing me."

A/N: What do you think? I don't know what I'm doing! hahahahahaha!! orz ;___; #cries