The Black Swan

Prologue

Year 2016.

"Go, go, go! Run!" Karina pushes Yoonie forward, who was in the middle of tinkering with the lock - her being quite sure that she could pick the lock of a storage with a pair of chopsticks. From hearsay, they had intended to steal some coins from a wealthy merchant's storage and leave undetected. Alarmed by Karina's sudden forward thrust, Yoonie dropped her two bamboo sticks, legs buckling at the forward motion. Without another thought, she bolted away with Karina right behind - and a fierce but twig-thin man hurling an empty glass bottle at the two girls. The man tries to give chase. At a junction, the two girls split into two different directions, trying to throw the man off their path.

Yoonie runs into a dark alleyway, hiding behind a bunch of straw baskets as she waited for a sign.

There was no one. It seemed that the pursuer had lost her.

Yoonie comes out of the narrow alley, peeking to see that there was no one around but a few passers-by of the dusk - a few ordinary individuals and couples making their way to local breweries and taverns for a nighttime supper. She tried her best to regain her composure, walking down the other path where Karina took in search of her. It was getting late now, and the sisters of the orphanage were not going to be happy about this - especially the stringent and fearsome Sister Jihyo. The thought of feeling her wrath ran a shiver down Yoonie's spine, making her shake with a gust of chilly wind.

Time passed, and that slowly became close to 30 minutes. But Karina could not be found.

"Karina...? Karina! Where are you?" The walkways were dimly lit in this part of the town, causing Yoonie to panic over the whereabouts of her orphanage friend. What was a little agreement to steal from an unsuspecting merchant had become a nightmare when they were found out - and now, Karina was nowhere to be seen. Pacing up and down alleyways, Yoonie channelled all her energy in searching for the missing friend.

Eventually, Yoonie dropped to her knees, guilt-ridden tears trickling down her cheeks. She clasps her hands together, holding it above her head as she muttered a prayer to the skies, "Oh God, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... We just wanted to get some extra money for the orphanage. Please forgive me for my sins, and bring Karina back safely to me..."

"AHHHH!" A familiar loud, shrilly voice penetrated the evening serenity. Yoonie looked up from her prayer, immediately recognising it as the voice of Karina. She sprinted towards the source - her mind pleading that nothing bad will happen to her treasured friend.

Soon enough, she finds the exact alley in which Karina was located. The silhouette of a thin and scrawny guy draped over Karina's cowering body, as her back met with the roughness of brick wall. Yoonie was sure that this had been the affluent merchant whom they tried to steal from.

"You thieving scum, how dare you-" Just as the enraged merchant picked up Karina by the collar of her hoodie, her hood comes off, exposing her artfully messy and coal-black hair. "My, what's a girl like you doing, stealing from me?" Yoonie could feel his face bearing with a heavy grin, sinister with the words that soon trailed out of his mouth. "I bet you could fetch me a high price, for a face like yours."

In a futile attempt Karina tried to struggle out of the shady merchant's grasp. The man turned around, soon to walk off with the girl in his hand. However, he was soon met with Yoonie obscuring his path. One of his hands was used to smother Karina's mouth, effectively shutting her up from making a call for help.

"Let her go!" Yoonie garnered all her courage, shouting out to the merchant with hand over Karina. She charges at the merchant, readying a fist to strike at him. Albeit his skinny build and lack of muscle, the merchant was surprisingly dexterous - dodging out of Yoonie's path of attack. With a toss of Karina at Yoonie, he sends the two girls flying to the back of the alley, their backs smashing against the rock-hard brick wall. The two girls winced in pain, scrambling to their knees.