1 Chapter 1: Welcome to Anjong, Korea.

Life is nothing but a dark hole sucking you into a web of lies in disguise. Nothing and no-one could be trusted. If it wasn't a lie, it wasn't the full truth either. All that was necessary in the triumph of evil was that good people did nothing. In fact, there were the bad guys, then the real villains: The oblivious. The ignorant people that turn a blind eye to the biggest mystery in centuries. Words twisted, minds tricked. 6 people. Infinite problems. One solution. Welcome to Anjong, Korea.

Sunday 12:00 pm, September 6th 2021. Aleumdaun, Anjong, Korea

Hana's POV:

'Hey dad, I miss you, when will we see each other again?', I say leaving a voicemail, then putting my phone away. My dad found a job in Seoul, so he only visits during the holidays. 'Yumi what are you doing?'

'Hana! They're playing 'How you like that' by BLACKPINK. Ugh, I love them so much!', Yumi squeals as she washes the dishes, singing and dancing along.

'Yumi! Focus, you might break a dish if you dance at the same time. We're here to earn money, not pay them back for breaking their things.' I explain to her. She's full of optimism and tends to get excited over the smallest things, but I love her either way.

'Aw, okay Hana, I'll st-, OMG! I love this song!' Yumi exclaims, smiling happily.

'Yumi... ', I sigh, shaking my forehead, I no longer can be bothered to try and make her stop.

'What? It's BTS, how can you not sing along?! I mean look at Jungkook, he's so amazing!', she sighs, 'I hope my music can make it out there, like theirs do one day.'

'I'm sure it will be Yumi, your music is amazing, and from tomorrow…'

'First day at Anjong University!', we cheer, doing our secret handshake.

'Girls! We have a customer waiting, your excitement can wait.', Our boss states sternly.

'What a buzz-kill..', Yumi murmurs under her breath.

'Yumi! Are you trying to get us fired? Starting tomorrow we need this job more than ever, tuition fees, uniform, stationary, the requirement for more money starts very soon.' I stress, anxiously. 'We have to impress the boss as much as we can to get promoted, or a tiny raise in wages at the very least'

'Erm… excuse me c-can I have a-'

'Milk Tea Boba, we know.' Yumi replies bluntly.

'Come on Yumi, be nice, we need the tips', I whisper quietly.

'Sorry Silh-eo, it's just, you order the same thing every day, why not try something new?'

'Yumi, let the boy order what he wants, it's his money not yours', Mr. Drimane demands.

'Okay, I'm sorry. Milk Tea Boba coming up, can I interest you in any mochi?', Yumi asks.

'I thought this café was Korean, why do you sell Mochi?', Silh-eo says in confusion, lifting his glasses up his nose.

'Just because we serve in Korea, doesn't mean all the food is Korean Silh-eo, there's literally a McDonalds across the road, they don't serve Korean food.' I explain calmly, in need for tips.

'I wish they did, the food in McDonald's is full of fat and grease, I hate that, it makes me sick, and my skin breaks out - ew', Yumi says. 'I'll slip in a pack of mango ice cream mochi too, as a Boba person myself, I know you'll love it'

'O-ok, I'll just go and wait for my order at the table', he replies, taking the receipt and lifting his heavy bag of books.

'Yumi, go prepare the mochi, I'll make the Boba', I instruct, getting out a cup and writing 'Silh-eo' on the back. As I heat three cups of water on the stove, I say 'Medium as usual?'

He silently nods at the table, then opens a book to read.

'Yumi, can you put the syrup on the counter?', I ask, reaching for the milk in the fridge.

I grab the Milk tea Boba as well as the bag of mango ice cream mochi and walk towards the table Silh-eo is sitting at.

'Wait, Hana! I just mopped the floor!', Yumi shrieks as I slip over, the drink and mochi falling all over my apron and the floor.

'Yumi! Why didn't you put the slip hazard sign up? You're lucky it was me and not a customer that slipped, my apron is stained!', I complain in irritation.

'Sorry Hana, I forgot…' , she sighs 'Please don't be mad'.

'It's okay Yumi, I know you didn't mean to do it on purpose', I sigh, picking up the mochi.

'Are you okay?', Silh-eo asks running out of his seat, picking up the spilt cup

'Yes, I'm fine thank you', I reply, grabbing the cup from his hands. 'Sorry about your drink, Yumi will make you another one, 'on the house' this time', I say, looking at her.

He helps me up, and says: 'It's okay, I'm a klutz myself, always dropping and spilling things'.

'Thank you for being so patient with me and my friend here', I say rolling my eyes at Yumi, 'If our boss saw this he'd-'

'Miss Kireina, what on earth happened here?!', Mr. Drimane shouts.

'I spilt my drink, she was just helping me clean it up…', Silh-eo murmurs quietly.

'Oh, I see. Thank you Hana for cleaning it up. You know Yumi it wouldn't hurt to clean the place too once in a while, learn from Hana', my boss suggests.

'I literally just mopped-', Yumi starts before I cover her mouth with my hand. 'Fine, I'll 'be like Hana', she says, walking towards the counter.

'Thank you Silh-eo, I don't know why you took the blame but, thank you', I say, as my boss walks away.

'I heard you needed the money, you whisper loudly. Anyways, I wouldn't have wanted to be the reason you couldn't afford to stay at Anjong University, plus it would be nice to have a familiar face', he shrugs going back to his seat.

'Familiar face? You're going to Anjong University too?', I ask in curiosity.

'Yep, Can you make my food now…?' he asks, staring at me.

'Y-yeah, sorry I'm chatting too much…', I say, quite flustered trying to walk away.

'What was that?!' Yumi questions, as I re-create the Milk Tea Boba.

'What was what…?' I ask, pouring the fresh milk into a new cup and re-mark 'Silh-eo'.

'Silh-eo has been coming to this café for months now, and you've never been flustered before. Why start now?' she says, putting new mochi into a bag.

'I-I'm not flustered, I have no idea what you're on about, besides he's Akito's friend so I would never', I exclaim, bright red.

'Mhm, okay I'll serve it this time, wouldn't want to slip on your amazing cleaning', Yumi jokes.

'Whatever Yumi, you're lucky he took the blame.' I say, rolling my eyes.

'Here you go Silh-eo, Milk tea Boba made with love', Yumi emphasizes.

'Yumi! Shut. up.' I mouth at her aggressively.

Sunday 5:00 pm, Aleumdaun.

'Silh-eo, it's Sunday so we close a little earlier, you're going to have to leave. Besides, I'm worried you've had too much Boba', I say picking up all of the empty cups.

'Sorry… I didn't keep track of the time, this book is just so-', he says, as I stare at him impatiently. 'Sorry, I'll go now. You must need to clean up, it's getting dark now so I'll head out'

'Eh, not really. Usually you're the only one who eats in, everything else is to-go, so less cleaning for me and Yumi'. I say, sitting next to him. 'So what's it about?'

'W-what?'

'The book, you've been reading it for 5 hours straight, it must be good, what's it about?' I say looking at the book.

'Mysterious Murders', he murmurs under his breath. I'm used to hearing his quiet voice now.

'Wow, that's so cool. I'd totally be hooked too', I reply. 'You said you'll start studying at Anjong University from tomorrow, what are you majoring in?

'Forensic Science…', he mumbles, lifting his glasses up his nose.

'What a coincidence, I am too. Maybe we'll be in the same class!', I announce, looking outside, nothing but rain pouring down, dripping along all the windows. 'For once Yumi, comes in handy, she can drive me home at least'

'Uh, Hana? Yumi left ages ago…', Silh-eo mutters. 'She left with some guy with a guitar'

'Ugh, seriously?', I say picking up my phone, opening messages to leave a very nice text to her.

'Have fun ;)' her message says, 'Sorry I drove off without you, maybe you could get another ride home' she says, sending smirk emojis.

'Guess I'm walking it…', I sigh, grabbing my jacket from the back.

'Akito's sister right?' he asks, picking up his books. 'I can drop you off, I know the route, don't worry'.

'R-really, thank you so much, means a lot to me', I stutter, as I close all of the blinds. 'Time to lock up', I say jingling the keys.

'Where's your car?', I say shivering from the cold rain. It's getting darker now, I'm glad I don't have to go alone.

'Other side of the road.', he says, grabbing my hand to follow him. All of a sudden, rain pours down, drenching everything from my hair to my socks. 'Oh no! I'm so sorry for not pulling it out earlier', Silh-eo apologizes, pulling out a black umbrella.

'Y-you had an umbrella, this whole time…?', I ask, trying not to burst. He holds the umbrella above us both.

'Sorry Hana, you're going to get a cold now thanks to me.', he says, staring at me. It's as if he could see right through me. This wall I built up in front of me, his eyes look past that.

'It's fine, without you I'd probably get a cold anyways - a worse one - so don't blame yourself', I say, putting my hand on his shoulder reassuringly. We finally made it to the car, wow that walk felt like miles, yet went by so quick. As he opens the door for me, I thank him and head inside.

'I'll put heating on, it's a little cold since my car has been out here for hours', he says, flicking the radiator on.

'Thank you so much Silh-eo, you've been such a great help, how could I ever repay you?', I sigh, looking out of the window.

'The sky's beautiful at night isn't it?', he sighs

'Yeah, it's full of twilight colors and bright stars', I say, gazing at the sky.

A few minutes later, we arrive. I wish the journey were a little longer, it's nice having new company besides Yumi, it was a lot more peaceful than blasting K-Pop whilst driving. I love our karaoke sessions, but I don't think the cars around us enjoy it as much…

Yumi claims they're beeping along, because who wouldn't? I think that's just her that does that…

'See you around, Hana!' he says waving me goodbye.

'Wait! You left your umbrella…', I shout out.

'Keep it, I've got plenty. It was fun talking to you today Hana, we should do it again another time', he says walking away. I grab his hand, softly pulling him back.

'You were always this quiet kid, nose in books, why change all of a sudden? Not that it's a bad thing, I like the new you. I mean- I prefer it over your shy self', I stutter.

'Well, once I get to know someone, the confidence comes in, I can't talk to all strangers the way I talk to you, I guess we aren't really strangers anymore. Friends?', he asks, smiling at me.

'I'd be okay with that', I say, waving goodbye as he drove off home, 'Friends' that felt nice. I ring on the doorbell, my fingers shaking from the cold weather. Oh no, Mum's going to kill me if she sees me drenched, let's hope she doesn't see me.

'Hana, who were you with outside? Never mind that, why are you drenched, you look like Bella when we leave her in the rain by accident' Akito, my big brother, says, opening the door.

'Seriously, it's pouring outside and you ask me that?! I thought you were meant to be the smart one here', I groan heading inside.

'Alright I'm sorry, you look like you've had a rough day, let me guess Yumi was on shift with you', he laughs, locking the door behind me.

'It's like the girl eats sugar for breakfast, she's got too much energy, luckily Silh-eo drove me-'

'Silh-eo, why were you in his car for? If I've told you once, I've told you a billion times: You can't hang out with my friends, especially Silh-eo!', he warns, taking the umbrella from me.

'But why, why are you so against the idea of us having the same friends?!', I huff, snatching the umbrella back.

'You'll hurt him and he'll never want to see me either, there are plenty of people out there, why become friends with my best friend? How would you feel if I buddied up to Yumi?', he replies in an annoyed tone.

'I wouldn't care one bit. Me and Silh-eo being friends isn't going to threaten anything, besides it's just a title, I've been serving Boba to him all this time, there was never an issue then, so why should there be now Akito?' I say. 'Besides, we're both studying forensic science as first years, so I'm still going to speak to him whether you like it or not'

'Hana… just hear me out', he sighs.

'No. Do you not realize how stupid you sound? I'm trying to get to know a potential classmate and you think I'm going to manipulate him into forgetting all about you!', I scream, running up the stairs to my room.

'Hana! Wait I'm sorry!', he says as I slam my door shut.

'Ugh! What a clingy guy, why can't he just be normal like everyone else? Why do I have to know such weird people?', I say opening my luggage ready to pack. All of a sudden, there's a knock at my door. 'It's open'

Akito enters my room silently, sitting on my bed. 'You know why I'm so serious about this?'

'No, but you're acting like a complete-'

'Let me finish Hana.' he says staring at me. 'Remember Aria?'

'Mhm', I say, nodding quietly.

'Well, I let one of my old friends become friends with her because why not? A month later, I found out they were secretly dating behind my back, couldn't trust this whole sharing friends thing after that…' he sighs sadly.

'Why didn't you ever tell me? You said you broke up with her, I was so upset for days, missing her, angry at you for ending it.'

'I knew you loved her and trusted her, just as much as I did, I didn't want you to lose trust in people, just like I did after that day', he replies, heading to the door. 'I hope that cleared up why I don't want you hanging out with Silh-eo'

'It didn't Akito.'

'What? I thought you'd be a little more considerate, I thought you'd understand Hana.', he sighs, his head held low.

'What doesn't make sense is... ', I say. 'Well I'm meant to be your sister? Surely you trust me more than one of your old friends, we live together, I'd never want to hurt you Akito, you know I'd never hurt you, besides Silh-eo would never hurt you either.

'I'm sorry, I didn't want any of us to get hurt, I guess I'm just stressed about your first day as a first year. Will you be okay, you're going to be away from home for a while… You know what I'll just drive you back and forth every day, yeah that's what I'll do'

'Akito, I'll be fine. I have Yumi with me as my roommate, we'll be okay', I say, reassuring my brother.

'Because that definitely makes me feel better…' he says sarcastically as I glare at him. 'Please, that girl is as crazy as her pet parrot Kiwi'

'Yumi may be absolutely nuts sometimes, but she's always there for me, besides I'll be back every weekend since I have full day weekend shifts at Aleumdaun.'

'How will I see you if you're working the majority of the time you're back home?' ,he questions.

'Thank you for worrying Akito, but it'll be fine. I'll be fine.', I say

'It's not that, I just don't think I'll be fine without you, both you and Silh-eo aren't going to be here anymore, I guess I'll have to get used to it. Ugh, I wish I didn't pick the online graphic course for second year, I could have been with you guys.'

'Akito, you made the right decision, if I had the choice to do forensic science online I'd do it too, I had to work 5 times a week for months, and I still owe the landlord another 1k for the apartment we're renting out'. 'Sometimes, it's more important to do the right option, than the better option, and right now our main priority is saving money.'

'Thank you, Hana. Make sure to sleep early tonight, you don't want to be a train wreck on your first day on campus, trust me I've been in that same position, it's all about first impressions sis'

'Thank you Akito, what would I do without you?', I say as he walks out. 'Good night!'

'Night Hana', he says, switching the lights off.

Tomorrow was my first day at Anjong University, I couldn't wait to see what was in store, and so this was the day my new purpose in life began…