"Hye Kyo..."

I can hear a voice calling me, growing fainter and fainter, echoing in the distance.

"Hye Kyo..."

The voice becomes more insistent, louder against my right ear. My breathing quickens. I try to call back but my body feels weak.

"No matter what happens, don't remove your necklace!"

What do you mean? Why would I remove my necklace?

"Don't let them take it!"

Take my what, again?





"THIS is probably the easiest 1 million Won I ever made, Jong," a squeaky voice says before laughing maniacally.

Smack. The laughing stops, followed by a groan of pain.

"Don't count your chicks before the eggs are hatched, you idiot!" another voice counters.

"Those youngsters thought that they can actually outrun us, didn't they Jeong Wung In?" I hear a wheezy voice brag. He laughs loudly before clicking his tongue.

Those words light the bulb in my head. People are talking behind me. People I don't know! I open my eyes and I find myself staring in a blank wall. Trying to make sense of what is happening, I roam my eyes around. I have enough consciousness in me to be careful not to move my head. Where am I? What happened to me? I try to move my hands slowly, but they are bound. Ugh. Again?

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? Call me Boss Wung! And keep your mouth shut! The only reason why I agreed to work with you is because the big boss is getting impatient and you're the only ones who agreed on 1 million Won."

"What do you mean?" the man I think is called Jong asks.

"It means that you're the cheapest morons I have found," Boss Wung announced without hesitation.

A growl.

"Why? Got a problem with that? Or would you rather go back to that dump you call headquarters?"

From the tone of his voice and the way he talks, I can tell that this Boss Wung is a jackass level 999. A sense of pity for his subordinates touches my heart.

"Keep your eyes always on this girl. Remove the cuff and give her food. We will move out as soon as big boss gives us the signal," Jackass Wung instructs.

I hear the door open and close. Locks click. I wait with bated breath, my heartbeat feels like I've been running for hours.

"Oy you! Wake up!" I can feel someone untying the ropes. Another pair of hands is shaking me awake. I act as if his shaking has woken me up. I blink several times before gasping, "Who are you?! Where am I?"

My eyes automatically scan their faces and then the door, which is on my left.

There are three of them. All look strong and well built. Their faces have a shadow of anger I think is attributed to their recent conflict with Boss Wung.

"Don't even think about escaping, young lady. Your two bodyguards are probably floating bloated in the river right now. What makes you think you stand a chance against us?"

My eyes widens. I cannot process what they just told me.

"W-what do you mean? Y-you k-killed them?" I force myself to ask. Impossible!

The guy is only too eager to tell me the story. "Oh yes! We sure did! They put up quite a fight, didn't they? Those stupid alarms had them running towards us like crazy they forgot to get their guns. Two bullets each and they were goners, right Sok?"

"Nah Bo. The other one took five more bullets, I think, before he fell to the river," the guy named Sok recounts, looking at his fingers.

I tremble from head to foot. Those two... Joong Ki and Rain. They're dead? I refuse to believe it! Joong Ki looked so brave and tough. Rain was calm and sharp.

"Enough of the story-telling, boys. Leave her the food and let her cry herself to sleep. Makes our job easier," Jong smirks and leaves. The other two put a tray of food at the side of the bed and follows their leader, locking the door behind them. Bolts of locks click into place before a ringing silence encompasses me.

I don't know why I'm so affected. I have only known those two for two days and yet I'm here, crying my heart out at the news that they are dead. And this entire situation feels so hopeless. The door is impossible to open and there's not a single chance that I will be able to get out of the window when it is sealed with steel bars. Even the tray of food, the glass of water, and the utensils are made of plastic. I don't even have anything I can stab them with.

What is going to happen to me now? I have been crying for what seems like hours. Even the sun is hiding behind a thick layer of dark clouds.

I'm so tired! I want an out! I curl up in fetal position on the bed.

If I can't kill them, maybe I should just kill myself? Maybe I should just hang myself? There's nothing to lose, is there?

I have no parents.

No boyfriend.

No friend.

No one else left to keep me fighting for this life.

I unconsciously feel my neck and I find the strap of my necklace. My heart skips a beat.

"Don't let them take it!"

Something flashes in my memory. My pulse quickens. I feel for the pendant of my necklace, tracing my fingers along the familiar circular shape.

"Hye Kyo! Hye Kyo! No matter what happens, don't remove your necklace!"

Whose voice was it? Now that I think about it, at that moment, it seemed like someone was whispering against my ear.

But why..?

 I cough up to relieve the tightness in my chest.

...why not?

Numb with hopelessness, I remove the necklace from around my neck just as the first droplets of rain beat the roof above me.

And as though watching a movie in fast forward, my eyes widen as flashes after flashes of blood, echoes of gunshot, screams of panic, and feelings of terror envelope me. I lay frozen in swirls of visions I don't know how to stop.

Make it stop! Make it stop!

I close my eyes but I can still hear the screams of people pleading for their lives, their cries of pain, very vivid as though they're real. Are they?

"Hye Kyo! Hye Kyo! No matter what happens, don't remove your necklace!" 

I hear that voice again. Louder now. It's Jong Ki's voice. I recognize it as Jong Ki's voice. With great effort, I put the necklace back around my neck and as abruptly as they started, the visions stop.

I lay paralyzed on the bed, beads of sweat are cold against my skin. My right hand is clutching the bed sheet so tightly that deep creases have formed.

The door opens and with blurry vision, I open my eyes. I cannot believe what I am seeing.

"R-Rain?"