Chapter One

I am so late, oh my god. She thought to herself as she desperately ran down the street in a miserable attempt at trying to catch her train in time. She knew she wasn't going to make it, hell, everyone knew. She muttered meaningless apologies as she occasionally rubbed shoulders with strangers on their daily commutes. Her pulse echoing in her ears she as she struggled with her bags and holding an umbrella at the same time. She was amazed at her lack of stamina, to think she used to be on the track team and do gymnastics every week in high school. Although, everybody changes when they leave high school.

Yeji glanced at her reflection as she passed various store windows, her hair in disarray and her cheeks heavily flushed against her pale and cool skin. She used to be quite a looker, but beauty is temporary, knowledge is forever. That's what her mother used to constantly tell her, back when she was a angsty, frustrated teen who would cry when she was bloated or when her shoes didn't match her dress. Life was trivial as a teenager. She had since changed, having enrolled at college studying literature and exceeding with high honours. She grew dull since school; her style bland and out of season, her hair constantly stuffed into a bun, failing to stay up so would suffocate her scalp with hairspray and various products. Her make-up would remain minimal, barely able to afford the cheapest of cosmetics.

Yeji grew a smirk on her face as she could see the station down the street, people ushering into head to their nine-to-five jobs, sleepless and most likely miserable, but money made the world go round. Yeji knew all to well about those jobs. Her father was a lawyer, and he hated every single bit of it. He didn't even want to be a lawyer, he would've pursued a career as a chef had he the chance, however with Asian parents, that wasn't always seen as a likely option. Her mother, on the other hand, was a surgeon. Her mother would always claim she would never change her job for anything in the world, albeit selfishly, Yeji always wished she would. After her father had died, Yeji never saw her mother. Her councillor claimed it was her method in grieving, which meant Yeji raised herself.

The pale young woman slammed her travel card onto the ticket reader, bursting through the barriers at the station and dashing hastily towards her platform as she saw her train pulling in. She leapt up the stairs, pulling down her umbrella and attempting to rearrange her bags. Not that she benefitted much as she almost dropped everything on the floor once she made it to her platform. She left out a breath of relief as she made her way onto her train, taking a seat and resting back and looking at the ceiling of the train carriage. She allowed herself to indulge in a meaningless train of thought as she continued to stare at the ceiling and occasionally at the passengers, averting her gaze when she was caught. She wondered if any of her fellow commuters worked with her in her new internship.

She was currently washed over with nerves and enthusiasm at the thought of her new job. It was only a small company, aiming to support freelance reporters and journalists get good enough scoops to be included in a bigshot newspaper and hopefully find better employment. She had been told by her new employer, she was going to be partnered with one of their best employees who works on criminal cases, interviewing and delving into the minds of the sick and twisted. She was trying to figure out who it was, but there was so many reporters in San Francisco she lost count.

Yeji clutched tightly onto her the strap of her handbag as she stood up when her train pulled into her destination. With a quick glance at her watch, she knew she was going to be at least ten minutes late but she hoped her new employer would understand she isn't used to the scenery yet, so she did accidentally take the wrong route on her way to the station. Her nerves caused her stomach to tighten as she left the station and began to head towards the large complex that loomed over her a couple streets away. She breathed heavily and tried to reassure herself. She had been through so much, and this was only the beginning. She knew that as the days passed, the nerves would pass.

Her heels clicked against the cool marble floor whilst she pushed the large glass door, making her way to the front desk, where a lady with thick red hair stood, her nails slamming into her keyboard and a pen between her teeth.

"Um, excuse me," Yeji said shyly, not wanting to bother the lady with the troubled expression. The receptionist dropped her pen and looked up at the short girl, watching Yeji uncomfortably shuffle under her gaze.

"Yes?" she grinned, her impossibly white teeth dazzling in the artificial lighting.

"Hi, my name is Yeji Roberts, I'm meant to be starting my internship today," she said softly. She began to convince herself she was in the world place, or it wasn't the right date or just something simple which made her panic as the receptionist began to type into her computer, assumingly trying to find her on the system.

The receptionist took what seemingly felt like forever, adding to Yeji's amalgamation of nerves. "There you are," she said with a shrill voice, grinning up at the young adult who was trying to find her wild hair. "You have been partnered with Edward. Don't worry, he's an absolute darl', and every girls dream boy," the lady swooned.

Yeji smiled awkwardly, not sure how to respond. She listened intently to the lady's directions and took the elevator until she made it to the top floor. She hummed to the radio playing in the background and she quickly checked her phone, a message from her friend on her lock screen.

'Good luck gorgeous! New York will never be the same without you," she whispered with a gentle voice as she smiled warmly before quickly adjusting herself as she heard the doors begin to open. She scanned the room and watched at all the employees, clad in various styles and designs, typing their hard labour onto their small laptops. The majority of the room was silent, excluding the older man who traced the room with a cup of coffee in his hand, looking up and noticing the nervous intern.

"You must be Yeji?" He said, he donned a thick German accent, his large hand extending to meet hers. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person. I was just reading you work on treatment of those in juvenile prison. You really know to entice a reader!" he exclaimed

Out of habit Yeji bashly bowed her head before shaking his head. "Thank you so much! It is such an honour to be here, Mr-?"

"Just call me Claude," the man smiled, running his fingers through his greying hair. "I will take you Eddie. I hope you like him, he's one the best I've seen. He used to have a show too!" Yeji listened intently, enjoying the glee in her boss's eyes as he showered Eddie with admiration and respect.

She followed the suit clad man into an office, not far behind him as he knocked on the door and was greeted with a 'come in'.

"Eddie, this is your intern. I'll allow you both to introduce yourself," Claude said before exiting the room and leaving nothing but an awkward silence.

Yeji stood awkwardly by the door, staring at the back of Eddie's chair until he slowly started to turn. "So you're new?" he said, looking down at a small file. Yeji furrowed her brows, staring intently at his face. He looked oddly familiar, which was very strange considering she didn't know anyone from San Francisco, or not that she could recall. She could almost envision the person she thought he was, his name hazy and his face missing certain details.

"Yes," she said, her voice trailing off as she tried her to best to remember if she had truly met him before. He continued to flick through the papers until he suddenly looked up, "Eddie!" She gasped.

He raised his brow, his blue eyes examining the intern before him. "Yes?"

"You don't remember me?" Her shoulders sunk as she quickly tried to find a memory they shared. "You used to always steal toys just to give them back!" she grinned, watching as Eddie leaned forward, snapping her fingers as she continued to delve deeper into her memories. "You were in a grade above me and you were really good friend with my brother."

Eddie stayed silent, biting his lip as he too tried to uncover secrets he had long ago stored away. "Was it, Jae?" his voice laced with uncertainty. The girl quickly nodded, a grin on her face. She couldn't believe this. She did know someone from San Francisco. She was delighted to see a familiar face, although admittedly she once crushed on him in high school, much to her brother's dismay. "Well isn't this funny."

"It sure is," Yeji grinned. "Who would've thought?" Eddie agreed, before deciding to start his job and begin to give her a tour of the office. Although she tried her best to pay attention, she couldn't help but notice how much Eddie had changed. He used to be such a scrawny and short boy, and now he was a man. He donned muscle through his dark skirt, his legs much longer than she recalled and light stubble on his skin. He really was a dream boy now. Her sixteen year old self would probably be crushing very hard.

"Yeji?" Eddie waved his hand in front of her face.

The girl flinched, "uh, yes? Sorry I was just lost in thought."

"I was asking if you wanted to grab a coffee after your shift, to, ya know, catch up?" Yeji almost had to smack herself. Was Eddie already trying to make a move? She highly doubted it, she assumed it was a childlike imagination taking advantage of her. She quickly agreed.

After her tour, Eddie began to give her some tasks to carry out, such as assessing articles and finding improvements. He left the office and went to go grab some coffee, and probably some chocolate as a certain someone in his head claimed he was 'wasting away'. Eddie turned on the kettle and watched as his black alien companion slid out from his arm, reaching towards the small bowl of chocolate biscuits that had been left.

"That woman, you know her?" his companion, Venom, asked whilst biting down on his nourishment, licking up the crumbs that felt onto the counter.

"Yeah, we kinda grew up together."

"Why kinda?" Venom quizzed, raiding the cabinets for more food, discovering a half-eaten bag of skittles.

"Her parents died before I graduated, so her family pretty much shipped her off to Korea to live with some cousins or something. I lost contact with her, and her brother became an asshole so I didn't even bother trying to stay in touch," Eddie replied, taking a spoonful of instant coffee and adding some sugar into his mug. "It was a shame, she used to be really lively and excited, but then she just lost all motivation. Most girls her age would've been dating, going to parties, but she didn't even go to school or want to see her friends."

"Was she, grieving, as you call it?" Venom asked, returning to his hosts body as Eddie finished making his coffee and grabbing himself a biscuit for himself.

"I guess," Eddie responded quietly, making his way back to this office. He watched intently on his lost friend, she too seemed different.

You wish you were there for her. You feel sad, Eddie. Venom rumbled in Eddie's head, who respectively ignored the alien for the sake of seeming sane.