"Hey. Wake up."

I open my eyes and find myself in a hotel. The modern design looks sleek and intimidating. The aura is stifling. I turn to my right and see Rain and Song Joong Ki playing a game of chess.

The room is a hue of black, gray, and white. A widescreen television is placed strategically overhead. A window with white, flimsy curtain is on my left. I catch a scent of bacon and eggs and my stomach answers in a growl.

The slanting ray of the sun passing through the open window tells me that it's nearly dusk.

"Checkmate," I hear Song Joong Ki mutter.

Rain makes a dismayed sound. Song Joong Ki smirks then turns to my direction.

"You're awake. About time," he says. He stands up and walks toward the door. Rain follows.

"Get up and eat. You can take a bath later."

Without much of a debate with my conscience, I follow suit. The moment I reach the door, I realize that this isn't a hotel room. It's a house. I roam my eyes. An elegant house. A modern, well-furnished, gorgeous house. It looks like it has been shipped from the future.

Black, white, and gray colors fill my eyes. Stairs that look like glass lead to the second floor. Crystal chandeliers hang in the very center of the spacious living room. Ornamental plants are in every corner. The kitchen doesn't look like one at all. All the appliances look like they are part of the white wall. Only a single green plant breaks the monochromatic vibe in the dining room.

I look at my dirty clothes and faded jeans and feel utterly out of place. I feel like a taint in a white canvass.

"Hey, food's getting cold," Rain says. He moves toward me and ushers me to a seat beside him, facing Song Joong Ki.

I cannot look at my kidnapper in the eyes. I feel self conscious.

"This is your favorite, isn't it?" Rain says.

I nod. Exactly how they know about it, I don't care anymore. It seems like they know me personally without even asking information about me. Perhaps they're agents?

I eat three helpings of my food in silence. I am extremely hungry I can eat a cow. When I finally feel full, I excuse myself and head to the room I was in earlier. I need to take a bath. I feel sticky and filthy and disgusting!

I enter the bathroom and try not to look too impressed. But I can't help it. The bathroom alone is the size of my entire apartment. There's a bathtub in the corner. Shower heads are in the middle. A stack of towels are neatly piled in a cabinet near the door. Bottles of perfumes and soaps are neatly arranged in the sink, where a huge circular mirror is placed above it.

I strip, intending to take a long, warm shower. I'm not ready to use the bathtub just yet. I need to wash myself clean first.

I gasp. There's something red and swollen in my right foot. I never noticed it until now. I guess the broken door in the hotel room did this to me. I squat down and rub the wound clean.

Same time yesterday, I was walking to the gasoline station with Hyun Bin for our usual shift. It feels like a lifetime ago. Now, I don't even know where Hyun Bin is.

I let the warm water relax my tensed muscles. I need to think. I cannot think properly. I need an escape plan.

After what seems like an hour in the shower, I feel so much better already. I walk toward the stack of towels and start to wipe myself dry. And then it hit me. I have no spare clothes! My eyes widen in horror as I look at my filthy clothes. It will take some time for them to dry. I can't walk around this house in a towel. I'm alone with two guys for goodness' sake! I need to lock the door!

I reach for the door handle when it swings open. What the hell?

"Oh my God you pervert! What are you doing here? Get the hell out!" I shout at the intruder. Song Joong Ki stares at me. My right hand automatically swings forward, ready to slap him but he catches it and twists it in my back. I cry out in pain. He lets go of my hand and wraps his arms around my waist, pressing me close to him.

"Three things, brat. First, I'm not a pervert. Second, you didn't lock the door. Third, you're not my type so stop assuming," he whispers in my ear. I shiver.

He lets go of me. He pushes the clothes to my chest and says, "When you're done, go to the living room. We need to talk."

He strides out of the bathroom, not even bothering to close the door.

Fuming, I close the door with a bang and change into my new clothes as fast as I can. That pervert! I swear he gave me a light kiss in my neck before he let me go. Oh I really want to knock all of his perfect front teeth. Let's see if he can still flash his annoying smirk at me.

I walk to the living room wearing the knee-length dress that Song Joong Ki has given me. I find him and Rain sitting in front of each other. I choose to sit in a separate couch. Crossing my arms in front of me, I shoot them an annoyed, inquiring look.

"Go ahead," Song Joong Ki tells Rain. He leans back in his chair and drinks from a cup of what appears like coffee.

Rain raises his eyebrows at him and then turns to me, "Sorry about him. He doesn't know how to act properly around pretty girls."

I narrow my eyes at him. This one's a charmer. I have had enough encounters with a mirror to know that I'm nowhere near pretty.

"We are in a safe house. He owns several safe houses throughout the country," Rain says, gesturing his thumb toward a bored-looking Song Joong Ki. Now that I look at them, they don't look like they're related at all. They do have the same muscly body but one has fairer looks that the other.

Now, I don't want to drift that far. Shut up, brain!

"Joong Ki and I are cousins," he says. "These all started with our great, great grandfather. He wrote books that became real people. Our parents discovered about it when he died. It wasn't a big deal, until after we read about you." He takes a deep breath. He glimpses at Song Joong Ki before continuing.

"The thing is, our family decided to burn the books. Either burn the books or kill the living counterpart. Of all the stories he wrote, you are his only attempt at something supernatural. You have an ability to... to see. To see future events," Rain says.

Fine, let's say this is true and let's say that these two are not insane.

"What happened when they burned the books?" I ask.

"When they burned the entire book, the living counterpart dies."

"Why do they do that? Why can't they just let them live?"

So they are a family of killers. I must run for my life!

"Well, Hye Kyo, let's just say that it's to prevent another Hitler from rising to power.

"How many books did he write? And where are they now?"

"He wrote five books. Four of them were burned to ashes. Yours, is the only one left."

"They let me live?" I mutter. I dunno what to feel about that. Should I be thankful?

Rain hesitates, then looks at Song Joong Ki.

"They didn't." Song Joong Ki says.

I look at him.

"When I was a kid, I saw them burning the books. I didn't understand it then. I got curious and grabbed one. They didn't know that you survived."

"But why do they want to kill me? I'm not going to turn into a Hitler or something, right?" I ask them. That's ridiculous! Me? A dictator. That's mad!

Song Joong Ki leans toward me.

"The ones hunting your this morning are not my family. They want to capture your alive. They also found out about you and decided that they can use you for their own interests."

"And your family?"

"You were a threat to them. I'm here to help you survive," he says.

He smiles at me, his eyes twinkling, "Like what I said, I'm your savior."