"Come with me. I know somewhere we can go,"

Looking back, I think that was the biggest mistake I have ever told her. Remembering it would always make me wish I could turn back time.

The kind sir found out Dara and I were still seeing each other but he never knew about the life in her womb. He asked me to go home to Area 1 and never to show my face ever to him again. He was mad, but he did not do anything to me.

And it was the first time I saw him weep. I have defeated a strong man. I have put him down. But instead of feeling proud, there was guilt because the man has been so good to me and though my intentions towards his daughter were pure, the fact that I have broken his trust would forever make my conscience nag at me for it. And he does not know I have stained her daughter's innocence.

He told me to leave. No, he asked me, almost begged me to leave before everything could get worse.

But how could I when I already knew her daughter was carrying our child?

An innocent child. I was young. We both are. And we had a child.

I offered her something that she quickly agreed to. 

And after my conversation with her father we met again to plan our escape.

She sought help from her godfather, Lee Soo Man, her father's subordinate then.

And little did I know I have made the biggest mistake of my life. And she did.

It made me realize one thing.

In this world, the only person you can trust is yourself.

But that day taught me one more.

I should not trust my own decisions.

****************

The history of the Lair. Area 1. How the government abandoned the plan in an instant after receiving a threat from the North. How the seniors have lived. How many lives they had lost and how they stood up and made a pact with a government to be hired gunmen to survive.

"All of which none was told about my father," Dara murmured to herself as she sat there hearing the lecture. She looked around and wondered why she couldn't find the same man earlier when she was quite sure she saw him fall in line along with the other trainees.

"There are six exit and entrance points in the Lair..."

She heaved a sigh. She couldn't even process anything the man was blabbering about. She was wondering if there was anything that could speed up her level in the training ground. She could not wait until she could stand by Jiyong's side and see the world in his perspective.

It would be hard, she knows. But she also knows there was no other way to be with Jiyong but to live the life of an aid.

Who is she to choose anyway? She was like a collateral for the damage. Who is she to deny Seunghyun and Chaerin their freedom.

She took a deep breath and rubbed her temples when she started to feel the familiar kind of brewing headache. She could only think about Jiyong and though she does not want to trouble the man, she kept wondering when he is coming back. She looked out of the window only to see the vast gray skies greeting her.

"Is there any problem, 154?"

Dara lifted her head up only to see everyone's eyes on her. She wondered for a moment until she felt Mino kick her chair from behind. 

"Y-ah..." she scowled at Mino but the latter directed his eyes to the lecturer in front. Dara followed Mino's gaze and her eyes widened when she saw the man in all black started to pace towards her.

"154,"

"Sorry?"

"The patch on your clothes ain't there for no reason,"

Dara looked down on her jumpsuit and she shut her eyes close upon noticing the patch on either side of her arm and in the pocket on  her chest.

"I'm sorry,"

"Is that all you know how to say? Sorry? Stand up when I'm talking to you!"

Dara quickly shot up from her seat and looked around the room. The kids were looking back at her with their usual blank expression and it made her curious what's going on inside their head. She narrowed her gaze when she chanced upon a boy in the cornermost part of the room whose eyes looked somehow lifeless and she let out a gasp when she noticed some few bruises on his face. She took a better look at the others and realized most had the same bruises on different parts, some were fading and some were covered with band aids. 

Her head spun with confusion. If children as young as these were only subject for lectures, why do they have bruises on their innocent faces? She wanted to ask but a voice snapped her back to reality.

"There are six point of exit and entry in Area 1, unsurrounded by sensor bombs. Tell me, Miss 154. Which among those is the easiest route for escape?"

Dara lowered her head and shut her eyes close. "I... I don't know, sir."

"It seems you are still quite distracted." The lecturer who was about in his late forties walked lazily her way once more and stopped a few arms away making her uneasy.

"Should I suggest a one on one session?"

"I'm sorry about this, sir. I will take care of this!" Mino stood up from behind and bowed apologetically at the man, earning himself a scowl.

"You better be!" The man snapped at Mino before turning to Dara once more.

"You should be rolling down the hill then up by now. I don't tolerate trainees who wastes my time. If you think you know too much not to pay attention, then forget about this place. You and your kind aren't welcome here anyway,"

Dara kept her head low and she stiffened immediately when she felt the presence of the man near her.

"Are you, by any chance, curious about the answer to my question?"

Dara uneasily lifted her gaze only to find the man smirking at her.

"The answer is none." The man said before averting his gaze and turning his back on her.

"The moment you were born here. The moment you stepped into this island, there is no way out. THERE IS NO ESCAPE!"

*******************

"She's fine. Can you not tell?" Tablo leaned back to his seat and showed the screen to Jiyong. "Well I have received an earlier report that she seemed still adjusting to the daily life there but, she's not doing bad. At least she's being cooperative. And Song Mino is doing a good job."

Jiyong was about to protest but the moment his gaze landed on the tiny form of a woman in grayish overalls, his eyes was glued to the screen. He had to ball his fists to prevent himself from reaching out to her through the device for it never lessened the worry he was feeling.

In fact it worsened it.

He could see how pale she was. How weak she looked. How dark the skin around her eyes were. She walked around like a zombie, following the children in her batch like a lost one she would just stare blankly ahead even if the assigned trainor would stop and say something.

"That's it! I'm getting one of the choppers! I'm going!"

"Kwon Jiyong!" Tablo slammed his palm on his desk but Jiyong was not fazed.

"Is that what you call fine? If you think she's fine that way then don't stop me! But I'm sorry uncle, I think otherwise. So just let me go!"

"You think your father won't stop you?"

"I don't care anymore. I don't care about what you have to say or whatever my father has to say! I don't care about the associates and the other members of the Lair! Why would I? You don't even care about me!"

"We're doing this because we care about you—"

"Really now? If you do, you would not have messed up with her and her friends. I'd gladly take the punishment, uncle. You should have talked to me rather than drag them here. Look at me. Do you think I could eat? You think I could sleep when she's out there living people that might attack her once they know her father's one of the people behind the project?"

"Jiyong..." Tablo stood up upon seeing the determination on his nephew's face.

"I'm sorry uncle. I just told you about it just to pay some respect. I can't let her go through this alone!"

*********************

Walking down the dark narrow hallways, Dara started to clutch her chest as she felt her heart pounding, her blood in a loud rushing sound deafening her ears. Such tight spaces chokes her and knowing there was no escape in this place made it harder for her to breathe. She opened the first two buttons of her jumpsuit and patted her chest.

"Where are we going now?"

"We're going to the arsenal, a part of the armaments department. If you pass the next level, this is where you will be going. Your skills will be evaluated here.

Dara just nodded but when she blinked, a flash of the children's faces appeared before her eyes. Are they allowed to hold guns too at such age?

"Those children... are they trained this young to hold guns too?"

"Depends."

"What do you mean?"

"Training with weapon is in five is to one ratio. You think we've got a lot of trainers here? No. Because most are out for assignments. After the hands on training, if one passes, he gets to be called an apprentice. Meaning, any current aid could take him to an actual assignment but he still cannot accept a task directly. He'll act as an accomplice."

"So they do not train by a whole batch. How do I get to the next level?"

"One has find a buddy then take the challenge to pass the brawl to level up,"

"Brawl?"

"Every other week, usually Friday, a brawl is being held on the training ground. There could only be one pair among the group who gets picked. Who ever comes out of the cage safely gets to accelerate to the next training level. It's a cage fight,"

"Holy !" Dara clamped when she realized she's cursed a bit louder than she intended to. But she could not help it especially when it suddenly all fell together. So maybe, that's why the kids got some fading bruises. What day was it today? She turned to Mino and met the young man's watchful eyes on her.

"You've got to learn to control that mouth, Miss Park."

"That's insane!" Dara stopped on her track to face Mino. "This system is sick! How could you plant violence in those kids' minds???"

"I've been there. They did not plant violence in my head, rather, they made me aware of how dangerous the life outside Area 1 could be."

Dara could just hang in disbelief. It seems this place has never ending shocking revelations in store for her. She