Noctura

twelve

She gives me a small smile. "Seunghoon, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Come on, please?" I ask. "Just give me a chance. One lunch date."

She sighs, shaking her head. "Fine. One lunch, but it's not a date."

"Right, right, not a date." I wink at her. "Meet me at the front of the building tomorrow around noon. We'll go wherever you want to go."

"I'll have some places in mind."

I smile at her. "Have a good night, Teagan."

She smiles back. "You too, Seunghoon."

I leave the building in a bit of a better mood.

That meeting was pretty intense. And now I have to complete fifty hours of this new training every three months. But I don't think it's a bad thing.

What happened at the clock tower square was awful. Absolutely terrible. We can't have something like that happen again. We can't lose so many people.

The Cobras need to be stopped. And the Malums.

And this new group... the Alliance.

I've been doing a little bit of my own research on the Alliance, as much as I can. I haven't found a whole lot about it, but they seem to have been around for a while, now. Their symbol has been found on buildings up to three years ago. I'm not sure how much they do for Nocturas, but it doesn't matter. They still need to be stopped.

Some of the riots they've had have put AAN members in the hospital, or even killed them. They're evil just like the rest of these gangs.

I walk through the streets, heading toward my house.

I wonder what Minho's up to. I haven't seen him for a while. I dropped by his house that one night and we had some wine, but we haven't hung out for a while. Maybe I should ask him to go bowling or to a bar or something.

Once I get home, I head into my house and move up the stairs. I go into my bedroom and change into a new, more casual shirt. I check myself in the mirror and see my black hair is somewhat messily falling over my forehead, but it doesn't look bad. At least, I don't think so.

I go back downstairs and head out the door, crossing the lawn over onto Minho's property.

I walk up to the door and knock three times.

A few moments later, Minho hasn't answered. I'm about to try knocking again when the door suddenly opens.

Minho stands there, the door halfway open.

"Seunghoon," he greets.

"Hey, Minho," I say with a smile. "What's up, man?"

"Oh, nothing much," he returns my smile. "You?"

"Same old," I tell him. "I was actually wondering if you were doing anything and if you wanted to hang out. They've got that bowling place open, or we could head out to a bar."

"Oh, actually, I'm kind of busy right now," he tells me. "I've got this, thing, you know."

I give him a confused look and then let out a small laugh. "A thing? Are you alright, Minho?"

"Yeah, yeah," he smiles coolly. "I'm fine."

"Okay," I say, a little unsure. "You wanna take a rain check?"

"Yeah," he answers. "I'll take a rain check."

"Alright," I say. "I'll see you around, then?"

He nods. "Yeah, see you around, Seunghoon."