The murmurs along the hallway were getting louder and louder as Hana walked her way to her classroom. She looked at the students but as they met her gaze, they quickly look away. Something’s going on and it was very weird. She had her head down as she opened the door of their room. “HANA!~” Woohyun’s loud and as usual-cheerful voice made her lift her head. Woohyun hugged her tightly that she felt like she can’t breathe.

She looked at Sehun and L who were sitting on their own seats and were looking at her. Sehun was the first to look away. “So it’s official then?” Woohyun suddenly asked, making Hana’s brows furrow. He let go of her and looked at her with a teasing smile. “What’s official?” she asked, clueless.

“You and Kai. Everyone’s talking about it. Well, last night, some people saw the two of you…and…” he trailed off. “W-What?” her eyes were wide open in horror and shock. Some, no, maybe more, saw them.

“Hana?” Woohyun’s voice sounded so distant. Her cheeks flushed bright red. He touched her cheeks only to feel how warm they were. Someone grabbed Woohyun’s shirt from the back, making him slightly stumble backwards, and letting go of her face. “Kai” he muttered, snapping her to reality.

“Where do you think are you putting those hands?” Kai asked while raising a brow. Woohyun chuckled nervously as he held his hands high. “Hey, calm down. I’m not doing anything to her”.

She stared at Kai who was still bickering with Woohyun. He looked back at her. “What are you doing?” he asked with no expression at all. “N-Nothing” she stuttered, shaking her head in embarrassment.

He smirked, making her heart skip a bit. He leaned closer to say something. “I’m not going to grab your hand and show you tour seat, you know. They’re all watching” he whispered, making her more self-conscious. He’s right. All eyes were on them. She cleared , pushing him slightly with her index finger.

“Aigoo” Kyungsoo sighed with a teasing smile, bringing a shy pout on her face. Her eyes met Minah’s judging glare. She’s sure that Minah hates her to the core. She made her way to her seat, trying to avoid anyone’s stares.  

Upon sitting, she pulled her books which were placed under her desk. The sound coming from the door made her look up, meeting Jaehyun’s gaze. He slightly smiled at her before quickly looking away. Kai’s been pushing him away but she just thinks that Jaehyun’s a little weird but not dangerous.

She stared back at her books, clasping her hands together. Almost 10 minutes passed but TOP was still not showing himself to the class. The door finally opened and all eyes were on the person who just entered. Sunny had this worried look on her face. She looked at Hana before sighing. Hana felt her hands go cold. She sensed something bad.

“Your classes under teacher TOP will be cancelled. You can use your time for other subjects” she paused, looking at all the students who were talking to each other. “Hana, I need to talk to you” she added, gesturing for Hana to step outside the classroom.

Something’s really not right.

Hana felt a lump form inside as she walked closer to where her uncle was lying. She her dry, chapped lips before taking another step. She noticed dark bruise like spots on the right side of his jaws which were almost reaching his right cheek. He was just lying there, his breathing slow but looked like it was so calm.

As she lifted her face, she met Taeyeon’s worried and sympathetic gaze. Just beside the bed, TOP was standing, looking down at his friend while running his fingers through his hair. He looked like he hasn’t had a time to sleep. Her gaze returned to her uncle’s face which looked paler than before. She felt her knees wobble. Reaching for something near her to support her weight, she made a clattering sound as she pulled a chair.

TOP quickly walked towards her, helping her to stand up. “W-What happened to him? Yesterday, he looked fine. Is he going to be okay? Is he going to wake up? Why is he-”

“Hana” TOP hushed her down, patting her back. “He’s just unconscious” he tried to smile at her at the most convincing way as possible but his smile was wiped off immediately, turning into a slight frown. He lowered his head before looking at Jaejoong. “We still don’t know when he’ll wake up”.

“But he’ll wake up, right?” she asked, hoping for something positive. TOP pulled his arms from her shoulders, somewhat giving her the answer that she never wanted to hear. “Let’s just…” he paused as another deep sigh escaped his mouth. “be ready for the worst…”.

Hana felt her cheeks burn upon hearing that. Be ready for the worst. It hasn’t been a full 24 hours when she met a blood related relative and now she’s told to be ready for the worst. What a great way to celebrate a family reunion. She felt tears forming on the corner of her eyes.

She sniffed, brushing roughly with the back of her hand a tear which trickled down her cheek. How will you protect me when you’re lying on that bed in that condition? You promised that you’ll protect me. She told Jaejoong inside her mind as she recalled his stories about the Council and Mino.

The sound coming from the door which flew open snapped her to reality. A familiar person came in. His hands were rested on his knees as he tried to catch up with his breathe. “Bad news” he managed to utter between rough breathe-taking.

Hana’s eyes narrowed as she observed TOP’s jaws tighten. Jiyong stood, wiping the sweat which formed on his forehead. “The chairman of the Council is here”.

Her hands felt so cold as if all the blood retreated and stopped circulating.

TOP placed his hands on Hana’s stiff shoulders, giving her a little assuring grip. “Relax” he whispered as he pulled her behind his back, making himself her shield. How the hell should she relax in that situation? Her heart couldn’t even coordinate with her. She could hear her own heart beating rapidly and roughly against her rib cage.

As the door opened, she quickly held on the hem of TOP’s shirt. An old man who was wearing spectacles entered the room. Hana felt her stomach churn as she recalled how Jaejoong described the chairman of the Council. Behind him was a younger man, about her uncle’s age, who was wearing a black mask suiting for a masquerade party. His bangs covered his forehead, covering a little of his eyes. Her gaze went back to the old man who was in return looking at her.

She quickly lowered her head, stepping a little to the left to cover herself with TOP who was standing in front of her. She heard the squeaking sound of the couch as he obviously took his seat. She turned her head to her left and saw GD standing straight. He looked like he was holding his breath.

The chairman leaned on his back as he comfortably crossed his legs in front of them. Hana felt TOP’s body move in anger. He was pissed off. “I did not expect to see you here Jiyong. Everything going well in the Middle School Department? I haven’t talked with you since a long time ago” the old man said, removing his glasses and wiping them off with his handkerchief.

“I heard that you’re coming so I came to see you. I have been busy with school stuff” Jiyong replied. It was a big fat lie. Who would want to see the chairman of the Council anyway? The old man chuckled then scanned the rest of the room. His eyes topped on Hana who was hiding behind TOP.

“Who’s that girl? I never knew you fancy young girls, Seunghyun” he commented, making TOP tense up. Hana felt her knees go jelly. “She’s just a student who happened to be here” he replied, turning to Hana and giving her a nod. “Go now to your class. We’re going to talk about your project in a while” he lied as he nodded once again as if telling her to go out immediately and not look back.

“Y-Yes sir” she stuttered, nodding back. She had her head down as she walked towards the door. Just few more steps and she’s out of that room when the old man called for her. “Haksaeng” his voice sent cold bolts to her spine, making her stop and turn to face him.

“Y-Yes?”

The old man looked at her from head to feet, a little wicked smile formed on his face. “Fascinating” he murmured to himself, loud enough for the people inside the room to hear. He nodded then smiled. “That’s nothing. You just remind me of someone. You can go now”.

Hana shuddered. She knew what he was talking about. He was either talking about her father or mother. Whatever it is, it’s not good and it’s not a good idea to be talking to that old man. She bolted towards the hallway, making a sharp turn to the right.

Her head felt so light as she bumped something…someone. Her eyes were shut and she was breathing shallower and quicker. “Hana?”

She looked up and saw Jaehyun looking back at her, his eyes full of worry. “Are you okay?” he asked, still not letting her go, his eyes still on her. It took her some time for Jaehyun’s words to register inside her mind. “Y-Yeah” she meekly replied, pushing him lightly. He let go of her.

“You don’t look like you’re okay at all. Do you want to drink something to make you calm down?” he asked, brushing some hair covering her eyes.

Stay away from him. Kai’s words echoed inside her mind, making her step back. She saw how Jaehyun flinched, possibly taken aback by her actions. He forced a chuckle as he shoved his hands in his pockets. “Sorry. That was a rude thing to do” he apologized. She noticed Jaehyun’s sad eyes, probably hurt that she’s pushing him off. “I know that you’re going out with Kai and…I’m sorry” he said again, lowering his head.

“Jaehyun, it’s okay. I was just- I just need to go” she shook her head before forcing a smile, thinking that it would come off as a friendly one but it turned out to be an obvious forced smile. He nodded quickly, stepping aside as she walked pass him. He looked at her as she disappeared on the next corner.

He sighed, pushing his hair back with his hands. He bit his lip as he leaned on the cold wall. “What the hell did I just do? Jaehyun, pull yourself together. This is not going to be good if you go on with that kind of mind…” he scolded himself.

After some time of contemplating, he brushed his uniform and was about to walk away when he came to a stop, looking at the masked guy in front of him. He felt his hands go cold. He bowed his head slightly then looked at him. The masked guy nodded in return. “Is everything alright?” Zero asked calmly, making Jaehyun flinch at the thought of him knowing what just happened.

Jaehyun swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. “Yes, everything’s going well”. He couldn’t tell if Zero believes him. It’s hard to know that since he could barely see his eyes with the mask he was wearing. “The chairman is here. Stay close to the girl” Zero informed him with his as usual monotone voice. “Yes” he quickly responded before seeing Zero disappeared on his own shadow.

Jaehyun felt like he’s going to puke. He shook his head, obviously telling himself to snap out of it.

“If this goes on, you’re going to die Jaehyun” he reminded himself.

On the other hand, inside the room, TOP and GD sat on the couch facing the chairman, tensed like hell. “I think you already know why I’m here. I heard about what happened to Jaejoong and as the head of the Council, I’m going to take over for the mean time that he’s still unconscious” he said, eyeing the two for their reactions.

The two forced themselves to not show that they were against it. They need a plan first before going to a fight. With their leader physically not able to lead them, they’re still stuck under the chairman’s orders. “First of all, I need all the students’ profiles which includes their abilities, their Alices’ levels and…” he paused, looking at TOP with the oh-so-serious look. “…their physical capacities. You know what I mean, right? Seunghyunie?”

TOP shivered down his spine. He knew very well what that meant. He’s going to start weeding out students who will not pass his standards; those who will be a possible threat, those who are weak and those with Draining Alices. The old man’s philosophy is really twisted. He always say that it’s