2 Mythos

[Music Recommendation: "Forever Rain" by BTS - RM - instrumental-only version by Smyang Piano]

***

[Three years ago…]

The deafening sound of raindrops.

The green forest that stood as the only witness.

A dead young man lying in a pool of blood.

And my father, tugging his lifeless body.

"Ah, it's this dream again…."

Later on, the police officers would arrive, taking my father away.

The little me reached out to them with my tiny hands and asked…

"Where are you taking my dad? Please take me, too."

Then, a scene of my mother hugging and comforting me back at home, saying…

"My baby, my poor baby… sniff… I'm so sorry, but appa (father) won't be able to come home for a while."

The little me back then didn't fully understand the situation. And that the words "for a while" actually meant… I would "never" see him again.

Gasp!

I jolted up from bed with sweat slowly trickling down my forehead and the back of my neck. My body felt heavy, trembling uncontrollably. I couldn't breathe properly. Trying to get a hold of myself, I reached out my hand towards the bedside table and quickly opened the first drawer, where I kept countless darts inside.

Picking up three of them at the same time with my trembling hands, I violently threw them on the wall across me, where a huge corkboard could be found. All three landed on the large poster in the middle—one with a silhouette of an unknown man. Around it were numerous articles and leads I collected through the years about "that" incident, with strings connecting one from another, yet the whole picture was very much incomplete.

Seeing the darts on the man's head, my body started to calm down, and so did my breathing. I got up from bed and went straight to the shower to cool my head. Turning it on, I stood still, staring at nothingness, like how I stood in the rain back then.

Every time I come back home, I keep having that nightmare over and over. I know why. It was because I couldn't accept it. My father was innocent! I was there with him that day. We were just strolling around the forest when it suddenly rained, so we sought shelter. We just happened to see that dead body along the way. I even testified in court, but it all became useless. To heck with "they believe children's testimonies!" They didn't believe a single thing I said, and my father ended up… receiving the death penalty. Who in the world could accept that? I certainly couldn't. Not in a million years. Or a billion. Or forever.

Knock-knock-knock!

A sudden knock on the door to my room disturbed my thoughts. That slow pattern of knocking, it's probably my mother. I'm in no mood to talk to her right now, so I didn't answer. But then, I heard the sound of keys—of course, she had them. The door slowly opened, followed by her light footsteps drawing near.

"Ye-Ji'ya, breakfast is ready," she said. "Come down once you're done."

I knew it. It was indeed my mother. She entered my room again even if I told her so many times not to. What if she accidentally stumbles on the guns in my bag or other dangerous stuff in there? Ugh. So stubborn.

"Aigoo, you're still throwing darts here. Tsk-tsk-tsk. Did you have that nightmare again?"

Sighing, I covered myself with a towel and stepped out of the bathroom.

"Eomma (mother), I told you—"

"Yes, yes, I know. Just come down, and let's eat breakfast together. You rarely come home, and once you're home, all you do is coop yourself up in your room." Pointing at my corkboard, she continued, "I'm telling you, you should stop this."

She was about to start lecturing me for the nth time but seeing my arms crossed and my eyes looking at her uninterested, she just sighed and shook her head.

"Suit yourself. Don't tell me I didn't warn you."

Finally, she went out. As soon as she did, I locked the door—if only she didn't have hundreds of spare keys. Anyway, since I was done taking a bath, I decided to pack up. Day off was over. It's time to head back to the base.

***

My name is Kim Ye-Ji, a Korean citizen, 22 years old. Since my 16th birthday, I have worked as a secret agent for an international secret organization called "Mythos". For the first two years, I was in training—which usually takes four or five—but since I already had the fundamentals in martial arts and self-defense thanks to all the lessons I took before joining, it didn't take long for me to join the ranks of agents which was when I turned 18.

The only reason I applied to Mythos instead of going to a regular college and living a normal life like the rest of the world is that our agency has great connections to the government, military, police, investigation units, and other important sectors in almost all the countries around the world. And I need access to any information I can get about my father's case. That, plus the fact that they pay nice, gives us a decent amount of leaves like right now, I'm having a weekend day off at home. And most of all, we have the same goal of eradicating all kinds of evil in the whole world. In a way, we're kinda like heroes of the modern world. The only difference is that we mostly work out of everyone's prying eyes.

***

After having breakfast with my mother, I dropped my things inside my customized Ferrari and drove out. I turned on the stereo to listen to some news on the way—another case of theft, kidnapping, drugs, and such. There's just no end to evil.

"Haah. You're being pessimistic again. Stop it," I reprimanded myself.

Shaking things off my mind, I sped up my driving to the fastest I could without causing accidents to others, and soon enough, I reached our base located in the heart of a forest, far from the public's eyes. Usually, it would take about four hours to drive from my home to the base, but thanks to my diplomatic immunity, it only took me an hour since I could speed up way beyond the average speed allowed. It's another perk of being at Mythos, though, of course, that's only because we work as secret agents, and chasing criminals was one heck of a job—especially when they have super-fast cars.

A huge gate stood in front of me, with many surveillance cameras around. Two tall posts appeared underground on both sides of my car and scanned it from top to bottom, including me. It was a safety measure to ensure only Mythos agents could come inside. They had everything about us in data, and once they did, it became inaccessible information to the public, which was good for our security.

"Welcome back, Agent Selene," an AI voice greeted me.

The huge and thick gate then opened up, allowing me to pass. From beyond was a long road towards a tall glass building that could be seen from the horizon. A series of maple trees in full bloom led towards the building, along with light posts and another bunch of unhackable security cameras.

On my way, I passed by a group of new recruits jogging on the field and an officer leading them. They reminded me of the time I was still in training. Compared to those already out of breath just from running a couple of laps, I had great endurance.

Speeding up, I soon arrived at the common parking lot where agents park our personal cars. Then, I went straight towards the main building with the logo of the words "Mythos" at the very top—huge, simple, and white in color.

"Welcome back, Agent Selene," everyone I passed saluted and greeted me, except for those wearing navy blue, red, or white uniforms since they're our superiors which you rarely find in the lobby—supposedly. But there's a lot of them coming in and out. I wonder what's up? Oh well, whatever it is, it's none of my business.

A robot soon approached me, helping me with my luggage. It followed me as I walked past everyone. I went straight to the west elevator and to my quarters to quickly drop my things and change into my uniform, which was another thing I liked in Mythos.

The agent's uniform was rather fancy but still very comfortable to wear even when moving around so much—and the boots were especially perfect. For women, we wore tight black pants that were as comfortable as wearing sports pants, just with different materials making them more durable. For our tops, we wore white fitted collared shirts of the same fabric matched with a brooch that was actually a device that helped us in a lot of things. On top of the shirt was a black blazer with intricately designed silver metallic prints at the corners of the collar, sleeves, and hems. And it's not just any prints—it's a sensor that could detect all of our body conditions like heart rate, temperature, even our internal organs conditions to the point that it could tell if we were poisoned or have any abnormalities in our body. It's connected to the brooch as well, and the brooch was connected to our Intelligence Office that helps us whenever we're out on a mission.

Another thing to note in our uniform was the star pins that could be seen on our left lapel. Mine had five stars pinned on it, signifying my rank as an agent. No star for new recruits and those still in training; one for those who completed E-rank missions which were the easiest; two stars for those who completed D-rank missions; three for C-rank; four for B-rank; and five for A-rank missions, which were the hardest.

There were also S-rank missions which were ten times harder than A-rank ones, though they rarely come. But anyone who manages to complete at least one S-rank mission would have a sun pinned on them instead of stars. So far, only the Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chief, and a few Captains had them, along with the many other exemplary badges they had on.

As I looked at myself in the mirror, I tried to smile, but it looked awkward since I rarely smile. Even my brooch, which I named "Fae," could tell.

"Agent Selene, your smile is fake. Real smiles cause the eyes to move. It is fake if the rest of the person's face stays still while they are smiling, which you are doing right now."

"Ha-ha," I laughed sarcastically. "Way to point that out, Fae."

As I rolled my eyes listening to her remark, my eyes fell on the wall clock pointing to 10 a.m.

"Ah. It's time."