The moon bathed the rooftop greenhouse in silver light. It was quiet—too quiet. The kind of silence that screamed beneath your skin. Taerim sat cross-legged on the cool stone floor, surrounded by vines that responded to her pulse, curling and uncurling with every breath.
She stared at the box again.
The pendant marked S001 glinted faintly in her palm.
She'd been wearing it around her neck since she was five—before the fire, before everything fell apart. But now, it pulsed. Faintly. Like something… waiting.
Her fingers brushed the child's drawing again: seven stick figures—three tall, four shorter. A name was scribbled in messy handwriting under each one.
But the ink had bled over the years.
Only one was still readable.
"Taerim."
The rest were smudged. Faded. Gone.
She pressed her palm to her forehead, trying to force the headache away.
Who were they?
Why does this photo make my chest hurt?
---
Downstairs, Juwon leaned against the railing of the boys' dorm balcony. Hajoon tossed him a can of soda.
"You've been quiet since the mission."
"I'm always quiet."
"Quieter than usual."
Juwon cracked open the soda but didn't drink it.
"I think she's starting to remember."
Hajoon nodded slowly. "Siyoon thinks the same. He said her eyes followed the photo like she recognized it."
"She kept the pendant."
"Yeah."
A pause.
"You scared?" Hajoon asked.
Juwon didn't answer.
But his fingers gripped the can tighter.
"I'm not scared of her remembering."
"Then what?"
"I'm scared of how she'll look at me when she does."
---
In the school courtyard the next day, everything seemed normal.
Students bustled around with books and chatter, completely unaware that their student council president was a masked Guild hero at night. Taerim walked silently past them, eyes half-lidded from lack of sleep.
The pendant around her neck burned faintly against her chest.
A voice called out.
"President Joon!"
She turned. Harin and Yulseung jogged toward her.
"You left early this morning," Harin said. "Didn't even touch your breakfast again."
"I wasn't hungry."
Yulseung raised a brow. "You never eat, Taerim. You'll pass out again."
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not." Harin placed her hands on her hips. "You look like a ghost."
Taerim gave a rare, small smirk. "Fitting, isn't it?"
Both friends blinked. That was… a joke?
Before they could respond, a loud commotion came from the front gates.
A black car rolled up.
Three men in full Guild uniform stepped out.
Every student stopped to stare.
"Are those—"
"—the Commanders?"
"No way!"
Harin's eyes widened. "The three Commanders of the Obsidian Guild? What are they doing here?!"
Taerim froze in place.
Her breath caught.
A strange rhythm beat in her ears.
She recognized the way one of them walked. The subtle dip in the second's shoulders. The calm, calculating gaze of the third.
Her headache returned, stronger than ever.
Why… do they feel so familiar?
---
Joonbyul, Joonseok, and Joonhyuk scanned the students.
Their gazes locked on her instantly.
"She's here," Joonbyul whispered.
"She looks thinner," Joonhyuk muttered, eyes narrowing. "She's not eating again."
Joonseok's jaw clenched. "That needs to stop."
A teacher stepped forward to greet them, but the Commanders barely responded. Their eyes remained locked on Taerim.
She turned and walked away quickly.
---
That night, she returned to the greenhouse.
The pendant pulsed in waves now.
She dropped to her knees.
The vines around her twisted and trembled.
Her vision blurred.
And then—she remembered.
Fire.
Screams.
A boy yelling her name.
Three hands grabbing hers, pushing her forward while the building collapsed behind them.
"Run, Taerim!"
"I won't leave without you!"
"We'll find you—no matter what."
She gasped, eyes wide, tears streaking down her cheeks.
Joonbyul. Joonseok. Joonhyuk.
Her brothers.
And Juwon.
He was there. He always protected me.
Her knees gave out.
She clutched the pendant like it was a lifeline.
"I remember," she whispered.
"I remember all of you."
---
But just as the memory returned, a shadow stirred in the garden's corner.
Siyoon stepped forward, clapping softly.
"You remember them," he said, voice cool. "Good. But what about me?"
Taerim looked up, startled.
"Siyoon?"
He stepped closer, smile calm—but not warm.
"I waited for you too, Taerim. You promised me, remember?"
Her heart pounded.
"I…"
"You said you'd protect me. That you'd stay with me. But you forgot me the fastest."
His voice cracked slightly at the end.
"Siyoon…"
"Tell me," he said softly, "am I just another failed experiment to you?"
She stood slowly.
"No. You were never a failure."
Tears trembled in his eyes.
For a second, they were just kids again—scared, broken, holding hands in the dark of a lab cell.
"I missed you," he whispered.
Taerim took a step forward.
But before she could reach him, the sky lit up red.
A danger alarm.
The school's barrier flared.
Something had entered the sector.
Something not human.
"Return to base," a voice crackled in her earpiece.
Commander Vex's voice.
Her brother.
But this time—she recognized it.
"On my way," she said, her voice steady.
She looked at Siyoon.
"Come with me."
He stared at her for a long second… then nodded.
Together, they ran into the fire once again.
---