Chapter 6

Tonight.

I let that sink in. In a couple of hours, we would have to prevent a murder. Only yesterday was I watching Mission Impossible and thinking that something like that would never happen to me. But now something like that was happening. Even though it wasn't the world that was in danger, a real human being could lose their life.

"Right now, we still have a couple of hours before the sun sets. Once the sun begins to go down, we have to already be there. There's no knowing precisely when the outlier will show up," Soo-In said.

The others nodded, all of them wearing a serious expression.

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When Soo-In finished talking, she suggested that all of us take a nap to make up for our lack of sleep from last night. With all of us visibly looking exhausted—even Min-Joon, who was the source of energy for the team, was appearing weary—we silently obeyed and went to sleep. All four of them slept in their rooms above the yoga studio while I slept on a couch in one of the vacant rooms.

Whenever I tried to settle down and fall asleep, my body would not relax. Although I could feel how tired I was, I couldn't stop the adrenaline that had been surging within my body ever since that outlier broke into my house. I turned and tossed, but eventually I gave up and sat up. With nothing to do, I got up and decided to walk around the building. Monday through Saturday, the yoga studios downstairs would be packed with customers attending classes, but Sundays were the only day no classes ran.

I walked through the hallway and past everyone else's room. It was weird to think that the others were of different walks of life and ages, yet they all lived together in one building and spent the majority of their time together.

Down the stairs was the first floor where all the studios were. As I walked, I came across the studio that we were just in. Pil-Sung, Ji-Hyun's nephew, was still tapping away at his keyboard. His face was stern and his eyes were focused on the screen, probably in deep focus. As I was about to step through the doorway, someone placed their hand on my shoulder.

"It's probably best not to disturb him when he's typing so aggressively," Soo-In chuckled behind me.

"It's like his eyes are glued to the screen. Literally," I observed.

"Whenever there's a new case, he tends to go into overdrive. Surprisingly, for someone so young, he has a big sense of responsibility," Ji-Hyun said.

Surprised to hear her voice, I turned to my other side and saw her standing. She smiled, her dark eye circles becoming obvious.

"I see you couldn't sleep either Dae-Mi," Ji-Hyun paused, "How about since we are all awake, let's go to the new cafe that opened down the street! I've been wanting to go for a while and we still have time before we need to start preparing."

The three of us agreed and headed outside towards the cafe Ji-Hyun mentioned. Soo-In chose a table for us to sit beside the window.

"Dae-Mi, have you thought about becoming an extractor and joining us? Your ability is most certainly a beneficial one. And it wouldn't hurt to have more members," Soo-In said.

"I don't think I've given it much thought yet. Everything happened really fast and right now I think my mind is just too occupied with what we have to do tonight." I took a sip out of my iced americano.

"That's okay, we should take one step at a time," Ji-Hyun put down her cup. "For tonight, you are just going to stay in the car while the four of us go to extract the outlier. We would've had you not come at all, but since you saw the outlier you can identify them to us."

I nodded. The other four were experienced and could defend themselves and their team members. If I insisted on going with them, that would be a selfish decision. All I would be is a burden.

Soo-In sat down after ordering a piece of cake to pair with her expresso. "I remember when I first became an extractor. The first time I had to extract an outlier, I was so nervous that I couldn't even shake, I was just frozen. My partner had to calm me down, and even after that I was still a nervous wreck."

"Me too," Ji-Hyun replied, "the first time is always the scariest. But for me, I think when I was extracted as an outlier was the scariest. At first, I didn't even realize someone that wasn't me was talking to me. To think of the awful things I would have done if I hadn't happened to go to a yoga class at the studio."

Ji-Hyun's experience as an outlier reminded me of the fact that I was not an outlier yet had excessive soul energy and an ability. If there was a voice in my head, I would have already noticed, right? The panic began to grow in the back of my mind.

"If everyone was an outlier before becoming an extractor, how is it that I am one but not an outlier?"

Even Soo-In looked puzzled at my question. "That, I am not sure about either. Dae-mi, to be honest, I don't know how you have as much soul energy as you do or how someone else knew about it."

"If you had been an outlier, you would've known. You have such a large amount of soul energy that the outlier within you would be able to exert a decent amount of influence. You would've recognized pretty soon that someone else was talking to you."

I reflected on Ji-Hyun's words. Maybe there was just no explanation. After all, in a world where there is soul energy and coming back from the dead, nothing obeyed logic. I couldn't expect a well researched answer for every question I had, could I?

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Ju-In sat in the driver's seat as she drove the five of us towards the convenience store in my area. The sun was still high in the sky when we left the studio, but now it was nearing its end for the day.

Before we left I called my grandmother. Rarely do I ever call her, but I wanted to be absolutely sure that she and my father would be safe.

"Grandma, do not leave the house tonight, okay? No matter what, stay inside and don't open the door, not even to people you know," I warned her.

Although she was surprised and wanted to know why, in the end she agreed to follow what I told her. With my family's safety off my mind a bit, I could put all my focus towards extracting the outlier. I pictured the blood stained store that I had witnessed in my vision and felt the hairs rise on my arm.

Tonight there would be no second chances. And I was prepared to do everything I could to guarantee that nobody would have any regrets tomorrow.