Kairos

00. Fresh meat

The crows always came on Mondays, but I still felt fear when one suddenly landed on my shoulder and took a bite of my cheap sandwich. The animal was hungry for human flesh and it almost attacked my arm next, but it got scared when Jaemin appeared by my side and started complaining. He and I had been going to the same sandwich vendor for months now, but somehow, the old man still kept getting his order wrong. I was beginning to think that he was doing it on purpose, just to laugh at Jaemin's funny reactions and disgusted faces whenever he found something that he didn't like between the two pieces of stale white bread that he called food and judging by the amused smirk on his lips - I was right. 

'' Why does he always do this? '' I mumbled and interrupted Jaemin's rant about the vendor's sorry excuse for pickles. At first, he thought that I was actually agreeing with him, but even though the sandwiches truly did taste like garbage, I was talking about a different scene that was unfolding in front of us.

It was Monday and crows weren't the only ones scouting the Landing strip for fresh meat. That was how we called the main square of Kairos. On most days, it was a maze of makeshift shops where you could buy anything from cooking spices to artificial body parts, but on Mondays, they always cleared it up for the aircraft that brought us new people who got exiled from the real world. Sometimes, it was just for a few months or years, if they survived that long anyway. Other times, like in my case, it was forever.

And if you were very unlucky on your first day in Kairos, you caught the attention of people like Lee Taeyong. I was one of those poor souls once, so I knew from experience that it was better to stay as far away from the temperamental redhead as possible. If our world wouldn't simply end on the outskirts of Kairos, I would've already moved to an entirely different city, just to make sure that I'd never see him again.

On most days, I didn't mind hanging out at the Landing strip. I liked the chaotic energy, the loud vendors and the intoxicating scent of cheap street food. It was a good place to look for work and sometimes, we'd even have parties or festivals. But Mondays were different. The arrival of newcomers was kind of like watching poor souls enter hell for the first time. The only reason why Jaemin and I were even here, was because we just finished a mission, he got hungry and I couldn't bring myself to say no to his pleading eyes.

'' Stop looking at Taeyong. You know what happens when you look at Taeyong for too long, '' Jaemin mumbled, distracted by the ketchup that somehow got on hit battered white combat boots. Taeyong and I in the same place was a disaster waiting to happen. We always clashed, one way or another, it was only a matter of time. '' He's just following orders and testing the newcomers, to see if there are any worthy recruits for his gang. Let's not get involved in his business just this once, please. I'd like to have a peaceful Monday. '' 

'' He could test them some other way. '' Taeyong set his eyes on a particularly scrawny looking newcomer and I wasn't sure why. What did he see in him? The skinny boy didn't seem worth much. He was already on the ground and squirming in pain from the punches that he received in his face. 

'' How? By asking them to solve a math problem? '' Jaemin snapped and rolled his eyes in frustration. Deep down I knew that he was right, I just didn't want to admit it. '' He's doing the new guy a favor. The sooner that he understands his new reality, the better are his chances of surviving. '' 

Taeyong threw a dagger at the newcomer, his scream echoed through the Landing strip and I immediately knew that I had heard his voice before. Blood splashed on the concrete, the boy collapsed and that was enough to make me leave the shadows.

I heard Jaemin calling my name and trying to stop me, but I ignored him. I should've stayed in the crowd that formed around Taeyong and the newbie, but it was almost like my body moved on it's own.