Chapter 9

Author's note: Changed "extractors" to "soul hunters"

Desired to be born eternally, huh? I guess at the core of every human is that wish to never have to face death, and it just happened to manifest itself strong enough in these people.

"So the Moirae have never been caught or stopped?" I asked.

Everyone's face turned sour. "No," Ji-Hyun paused, "Everyone that has gone after them has vanished, not even their bodies were found. Even the strongest soul hunters. Every time someone gets close enough to figure out their location, they are taken out, and the Moirae change meeting places."

As I looked around at everyone's faces, I felt a sudden surge of anger that came out from no where. Like my mom, a number of people died and left behind their life in order to try stopping this group of mad people.

Ju-In took a sip of water. "Dae-Mi, I know it may be hard to hold back from it, but you can't let your feelings control you and go blindly after the Moirae. They are dangerous, and although you have the highest threshold of soul energy I've ever seen, you have to remember that even the most experienced and powerful soul hunter's were taken."

Everyone was silent, waiting for me to respond.

I laughed to try to lighten the atmosphere. "Don't worry, I'm not that foolish. If I ever were to try to go after them, I would make sure I was prepared to take them on and have a chance at living."

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After our chat, Ju-In left to go sleep some more—something about her skin looking lacklustre. Ji-Hyun and Soo-In left, saying they had some work to do for the yoga studio. Jae-Hyun remained sitting and scrolling through his phone.

As Min-Joon was about to leave, I tugged on his sleeve lightly. He turned around and I said shyly, "Min-Joon, I know you exercise a lot, and uh, if you don't mind, do you think you could help me get stronger?"

Never once in my life did I have take this much initiative. Depressing, I know, but I wasn't that ambitious at all. All my ambitions towards becoming a police officer like my mom died when she never came home. But now, I had renewed motivation to do something.

Min-Joon smiled, "Yeah sure, no problem. I'm actually headed to the gym right now, do you want to join?"

I nodded and got up from my seat.

It was then that Jae-Hyun looked up from his phone and spoke.

"Min-Joon, you letting your emotions run again, huh?"

I stared at Min-Joon with a confused look. Prior to this moment, Jae-Hyun had never spoken with such disdain in his tone. But now that I realize, the room's atmosphere was completely different from when everyone was here. It was tense and heavy in the room with just the three of us.

I glanced back at Jae-Hyun. His expression was bitter, mouth closed firmly and eyes that had no warmth to them.

Min-Joon clenched his jaw and grabbed my hand and we left the room.

As soon as we stepped out, the tension that was present dispersed. From Min-Joon's face, I could tell that whatever was between him and Jae-Hyun wasn't something I wanted to get between. I quickly made an excuse about having to call my grandmother and left before he could really reply.

Although we were close as in we had to have some trust between us out there in life or death situations, but I don't think it was enough to get us opening up about things buried deep down. Maybe if we ever get there, but I wasn't about to pressure him about it.

I left him alone and returned to the room I was assigned on the second floor.

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The rooms we were assigned was based on seniority; the senior members got rooms closer to the bathroom, while the younger members—Ju-In, Min-Joon, and me—were assigned the farther ones. The door creaked as I pushed it open and I took my first actual look at the room.

It resembled any school dorm, a single bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. But it was the first time I had a space that was completely my own. The room I had at my grandma's house was my mom's when she was younger, and so it never had felt wholly mine, rather a space that already had an owner.

I decided right then and there that this room was gonna be my space for a long time—I was going to stay a soul hunter and train, train until I could stand on my own two feet, and do what my mom couldn't.

In that dull and empty room, I silently made a vow with myself. It almost felt like I had been rejuvenated, the new sense of motivation was exhilarating. This feeling of striving to be the best and to be strong made me feel powerful—even though I was as weak as a middle schooler presently—but that didn't matter cause I knew I would improve.

Immediately, I moved the furniture into a setting that I liked. The bed now beside the wall instead of being under the window at the far wall. The wardrobe got moved to the side and the desk beside the bed.

I decided I would take a trip back to my grandma's house and grab some needed clothes and memorabilia I had later that day. For now, I was content with how my room looked.

The changes that had come into my life these past few days were crazy, unexpected, and out of this world. But they were in a way positive changes to my life. Having the goal to go head on with the Moirae, I had one path ahead of me: to become the strongest soul hunter ever.