Special shoutout to phamttvi and Sanas0808 for commenting on my last chapter! This chapter is dedicated for you guys.

Ma Ri POV

I'm weak. That's probably why my brother left me. He must've been tired of having to take care of my pathetic self. I thought I've changed over these four years, but I guess I was wrong. There is no difference between then and now. Just the thought of not changing after so much effort pains me to the point of tears, not that those tears would change anything anyways.

I really let you see my bad side, huh? I hope you won't judge me too much, but wow, my situation is not looking too good right now isn't it? Don't worry though, it'll all brighten up soon . . . or at least I hope so.

"6 hours. That's how long the serum will last before they wake up," I said quietly, "They will awake with no memories of their lives before this event as stated in the deal."

Chan ran up to me. "A-are you okay Yoonie?"

I glanced at him. I couldn't recognize him, but I could recognize his voice and the way he called my name. "N-now isn't the time Channie." I broke off Jisoo's hug and turned around to face Jungkook. I kneeled.

"Not this again!" he groaned, "Stand up! How many times must I remind you! You don't need to get on your knees, girl."

I ignored his words. "Prince Jungkook, I have completed my part of the deal, I expect you to do yours."

He sighed. "Of course, now please stand up. It's embarrassing!"

I rose to my feet and hugged him. "Please, take care of them. I beg this of you."

Jungkook was surprised by my skinship but returned my hug. "I will, don't worry."

I could feel tears brim my eyes. "Thank you . . . . . . . . thank you . . ."

That was the last thing I remembered before my world turned dark.

Jisoo POV

There was no jealousy when Yoonmi hugged Jungkook, just guilt. I couldn't protect the Astro guys who had been wronged in my own kingdom. I was powerless in this situation. My status as a prince meant nothing in this moment, and it made me feel so pathetic.

I could hear Yoonmi whisper thank you to Jungkook when she suddenly collapsed in his arms.

"YOONMI!" I grabbed her from Jungkook's arms and fell to my knees as I cradled her. She was burning up. "Minghao! Cheol! She needs medical attention immediately!"

"Should I call an ambulance?" asked Chan.

"No, we can't risk other people finding out about Astro," replied Jungkook. He turned to me. "Jisoo Hyung, I'll take them and go back to my kingdom. Thank you for your hospitality and it was a pleasure to meet you and your friends. I hope that the girl will recover soon. Tell that Yoonmi girl that I'll take care of them and that she is welcome to visit my kingdom anytime."

His guards came in and didn't pay us any attention. They simply walked in, picked up the guys, and left.

Seungcheol and Minghao pulled out some medical equipment. Cheol drew a little bit of her blood, and Minghao injected a little bit of medication in Yoonmi's arm. Cheol checked the blood he drew while Minghao wiped her forehead with a cold towel. 

"She has a fever, but I'm going to check her blood to see if that's it," said Seungcheol.

We all breathed a sigh of relief, but Seungcheol's face became confused.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Two things actually. One, Son Yoonmi isn't in the kingdom's blood database."

There was a moment of silence that everyone took to take in Seungcheol's words.

"H-How is that possible? Everyone in my kingdom should be in there."

Seungcheol scratched his head. "I don't know, but I won't enter her into the database yet. We'll ask her about it when she's back in action."

I nodded my head in agreement before looking back at Yoonmi. Her face showed signs of discomfort and uneasiness.
 
I picked her up bridal style and headed back to the van. The others followed my lead and got inside. No one said anything the whole trip. We returned the guests back to their families before going to our practice room. I laid her on the bed and wrapped a blanket around her. The other guys went to sleep, but I stayed by her side.

I just couldn't bring myself to leave her alone. 

I wanted to be there to comfort her. 

I wanted to be the first one she sees when she wakes up. 

Oh wait. Is this what they call love? 

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. It didn't really matter right now. We had time to think about it after all.

Yoonmi began to move around. Her face contorted in pain as if she was suffering from some kind of serious wound. 

It must've been a nightmare. "Yoonmi, it's okay. I'm here for you," I whispered.

She seemed to hear my words and relaxed a bit. I let out a sigh of relief, but then tears began to brim her closed eyes. I began to panic. Why was she crying? Was she actually hurting somewhere?

"I'm sorry," she whimpered, "I'm sorry . . . . for everything . . . . so please . . . . don't  . . . . go."

Yoonmi was apologized over and over again, begging someone to not leave her. She was nothing like the Yoonmi I knew. She was desperate to a point where she seemed like a helpless child. Nonetheless, I wondered who she was referring to. For the person she was begging to, seemed to mean the world to her.

"I'm sorry . . . . Yoongi . . ."

Yoongi? That seems like a guy's name and is almost the same as Yoonmi. Were they related somehow?

"Yoongi . . . Oppa . . . I'm sorry."

Oppa? Yoonmi never calls anyone Oppa. The Yoongi guy definitely meant the world to Yoonmi if she called him Oppa. I would have to get Seungcheol to investigate that guy.

Ma Ri POV

When I opened my eyes, Prince Jisoo was sitting on a chair next to me. His hand held mine. It was awkward. His hand seemed so delicate. There were no scratches on it. How fitting of a prince. They showed no signs of hard work, and it annoyed me. Yet, it was so warm. If my situation was different, I would have wanted to always hold his hand. I shook my head at the thought. What a childish thought.

I gently removed it and covered him in my blanket. I got up and went over to the door before looking back and taking the scene in. A small apartment. Comfy furniture. Warm sunlight shining through the windows. And of course, a handsome guy sleeping ever so peacefully. I wanted so badly to stay here. To never return to my dreadful home where I would forever be tortured sounded like a faraway dream. Sadly, it was where I belonged. Such a peaceful home did not suit a murderer like me. So I opened the door and closed it gently, not wanting to awake Prince Jisoo. I looked forward and began walking home while thinking of Eunwoo and the others to take my mind off the comfy home I had just left.

Jisoo POV

Chan woke me up in a rush saying that Yoonmi was gone, and he was right. Yoonmi had left, but in her place was a simple letter.

           Dear Members of Seventeen,                                

  Thank you for your care. See you at school.

                               Love, Yoonmi

I sighed. That girl acted like nothing had happened to her last night. 

"I guess she's finally coming back to school. We should get ready, too. Wake up the others Chan." 

Sure enough, when we got to school, Yoonmi was there. It was hard to spot her, so I just checked her classes. She noticed me and simply waved with a small smile. I nodded back. We both knew that attracting attention here would not be good, so we waited till lunch. She sat down at our table, and Chan tried to act natural but couldn't suppress the wide grin on his face.

"Come over to our studio after school. We have quetions that you need to answer," I mumbled.

She nodded back in reply.

Yoonmi came over and we all sat down. She looked at us with a smirk as if she knew what we were going to ask.

Seungcheol cleared his throat. "So, we-"

"Wanted to know why my blood isn't in the database of the kingdom, right?" asked Yoonmi.

Ma Ri POV

  . . . . .

Give me a moment will you? I'm trying to think how I'm going to explain myself to them. Oh, you're asking me how I knew what Seungcheol Sunbae was gonna say? Easy. There was no way Prince Jisoo, who most likely felt responsible for my health, was not going to have one of his personal aides not check my body to see if something was wrong. YAH! Don't call me creepy! I've trained myself to think like that. I'm a spy afterall. While us spys may be able to tell lies without hesitation, our bodies can't. That's why we have to protect them at all costs. For me to fall ill in front of a busybody could only mean that I would get my blood checked, which means that they would find out that I'm not registered into the database. That was my fault. Now I has to deal with this if you'll excuse me~

"Uh, yeah," confirmed Seungcheol Sunbae uncertainly.

I stiffled a laugh and kept a poker face. "Hm, how should I say this?" I asked teasingly. I glanced at the 13 guys staring at me with complete interest. Okay 12 serious guys and 1 who just couldn't sit still. (Coughs *Channie* Coughs) "Oh I know!" The guys leaned in as I smirked, "It's because I'm not real."

Channie's jaw dropped. Then, he scuttled over to me and hugged me tightly. "But, you are real Yoonie!"

I laughed as I hugged Channie back. "That's not what I meant, Channie."

"Then what do you mean?" asked Jisoo Sunbae concerned.

I pet Chan's head as I thought about it. Because it's true. I'm not real, but I'm not exactly fake either.

"What if I told you that this year of highschool is my first year of actually going to school?"

"Wouldn't that just mean that you were homeschooled?"

Wrong

"How many siblings do I have?"

"Zero."

Wrong

"What am I going to be in the future?"

"Aren't you taking over your parents' job as scientists?"

Wrong

"How does this relate to your blood exactly?" asked Seungcheol annoyed.

I smirked at him. "I was just getting to that so let me finish." I turned to Prince Jisoo and frowned. "Out of those three questions, you didn't get a single one right."

I could tell that he was shocked. I wasn't surprised. It's just like if you were allowed to use the textbook for your test, copied the answer word for word, and the teacher told you that you got it wrong. I sighed. "Let's try something easier. Channie," he looked up at the mention of his name, "What's my name?"

"Son Yoonmi!" Chan said excited that you finally noticed him.

I smiled at his excitement. He was still a loyal puppy just like when you first met him.

"Wrong."

"What?" 

I smiled. "My. Name. Is. Not. Son. Yoon. Mi."

Chan sat up with a frightened expression. "Then who are you?"

"Wrong question. You should be asking yourselves, What am I?"

Seungcheol stared me down. 

I shrugged. "Well, don't worry. I'm no danger to you guys since this one," I hugged Chan, "opened up my heart."

Chan blushed and hugged me back shyly.

"So what's your whole story?" asked Jihoon Sunbae.

I looked down at my feet and pondered. Then, I looked up with a serious expression. "Are you sure you want to know? My life is a long story, even if it has been shorter than yours."

They gulped, but leaned in.

I tried to hold back a laugh but failed. They were just too cute with the way that they all just leaned in. I smiled. "I do have a shortened verison guys."

"Oh." That was what everyone said as they blushed from the embarrassment.

"Well don't let us stop you," said Jihoon Sunbae.

I nodded and thought about it. "Okay. First, let me tell you the correct answers to the questions I asked you. One, I'm self-taught for the most part. Two, I do have one sibling, an older brother. And three, is . . . . . . . three is . . . . um . . ." What was I going to be in the future? Either a test subject or spy, . . . . . right?

"What are you going to be in the future?" asked Chan.

I looked at him and pet his head with a smile. "I'm going to dead within 4 years."

"What?" Chan asked with a concerned look as if asking why.

"So young? Do you have some sort of illness?" wondered Seungcheol who was shocked with my reply.

I shook my head. "Ugh, I guess I really couldn't make a shortened version. My life is a bit complicated. I guess I should go from the beginning." I took off my necklace and placed it in the middle for them all to see. "I was born with a weak heart and frail body." I laughed at the nostalgia. "I couldn't even run, much less go to school. I was so pathetic."

Jun Sunbae raised a brow. "But didn't you get into our school on a scholarship for your athletics?"

I smiled and nodded. "However, like I stated previously, I had an older brother. He was the best Oppa ever. He, unlike myself, went to school. He would teach me whatever his teacher taught him word for word. My Oppa was a genius. He could do anything he set his mind to, but for some reason, he could never get our parents to let me attend school." I smiled fondly at the memory.

"At the time, I didn't understand why, but my brother was terrified of that fact. So he built a treehouse for me to live in. I was two years younger and admired my brother like how Chan admires me. To me, he was a hero . . . . . . but I hated that. He was too perfect. Oppa had done so much for me, and while I knew that he had done it out of love and wasn't expecting anything back, I felt indebted to him."

I looked at Jihoon Sunbae and pain tugged at my heart. I gently removed myself from Chan's grip. I stood up and all eyes were on me. I sat down in front of the famous composer. I hugged him tight and gently touched the side of his face. He flinched under my touch but didn't move. "You are so much like him. From your appearance, to your love for writing music."

I went back to my original position before continuing. "My brother loved to write songs, but almost never had the time to since he was too busy making worksheets for me. So I forced myself to learn everything written in his textbooks while he was in school. It was hard at first, but it was worth it. Soon enough, I was breezing through everything. Oppa finally had time to write songs, and I felt like I finally slowly repaying my debt to him. But I was obsessed with how to repay my brother. So I began staying up late, and I found out something. My brother was being bullied."

I paused to let the all the information sink in.

"But Yoonmi, didn't you say that your brother was perfect?" asked Hansol.

I laughed emotionlessly. "That's what I thought. When I saw all those cuts and bruises, that perfect image of my brother that I always held so dear just broke. I wanted desperately to help him, but then I thought, what would change? If you think about it, it would olny burden him even more. That's when I began acting. Acting like a innocent sister who was oblivious to everything around her. I studied harder than ever, learning new languages like English and Mandarin, even learning how to code and hack into even the most difficult of places."

I looked around at the 13 guys and smirked. "What do you think I am?" I asked looking at Seungcheol.

"You're a spy."

"Congratulations! You guys are finally understanding what I am," I joked, "but that was the wrong answer. Correct answer is weak. You see, my birthday is December 24, and on that day, my brother surprised me by buying me a present for my tenth birthday. That present was this necklace. When he gave it to me, he promised me something. He told me that he would take me away from home, protect me from everything, that we would always be together. He said that the necklace was proof of our promise."

Chan tugged at my sleeve and looked at me with puppy dog eyes filled with sadness. "Did he keep that promise?"

I smiled and hugged him. "Nope. It was complete bull."

Everyone's head shot up.

"Didn't he treasure you?" asked Jihoon.

Seungkwan, Seokmin, Jisoo, Chan, Soonyoung, and Mingyu were speechless, while Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Jun, and Minghao seemed to have so many questions that they couldn't figure out which to ask first. Wonwoo and Hansol seemed to be trying to figure out the answer to the formers' questions.

I sighed. "I woke up the next day in a hospital, and my brother was gone. In his place were my so-called parents. We put on an act to fool the workers, and after I was discharged, my parents wiped everyone's memory of me. When we got back home, they told me that he took my place as their test subject."

All 13 guys stared at me in horror.

"You mean human experimenting?" quietly asked Wonwoo.

I nodded.

"Hey, Jisoo Hyung," called Chan, "wasn't human experimentation banned in this kingdom?" 

Jisoo nodded with a distressed expression. "My parents banned that 15 years ago. How is this possible?"

I looked at him with a grim expression. "It is banned, but my parents are absolutely insane. They love science so much that they only had as a way to see it first hand for observations. So when the king and queen banned it, my parents, as the kingdom's leading scientists, were extremely disappointed. They tried to convince your parents to let them do it, but they refused. Their test subjects became extremely limited and their actions were heavily watched in their labs. However, they continued writing hypothesises, waiting for me to be old enough to withstand their testings. I suppose my brother already knew this, which explains why he was terrified when my parents didn't allow me to attend school. My parents were going to start experimenting on me the night of my birthday, but my brother took my place. He managed to convince my parents and became their test subject before they got to me."

I let them take in my long explanation. My heart pained at the mere memory of it all. How kind my brother was, how much he wanted to protect me, all the good times we had together.

"W-What happened to your brother?" asked Seungkwan who seemed to be treating my life story as a ghost story. (In short, he was scared sh*tless.)

I took off my shirt.

Okay CHILL. I was wearing a sports bra-like undergarment underneath so it wasn't very embarrassing. You dirty minded people.

And, well, you can guess the guys' reactions. They looked away immediately and covered their eyes.

I sighed. "Don't look away. Let me show you my reality."

They all slowly turned to look at me. They stared in shock.

"I took his place. I revealed to my parents what I had been doing over the years. I told them that I knew about their financial problem and made a deal with them. In return for my brother's freedom, I would become their dog. They accepted it and my hell began." I looked at my scars and bruises. "They were ruthless with their testings and commands as you can see."

"Y-Your parents did this to you?" asked Chan as he stared.

I nodded. "Oh and I hope this won't disturb you too much, but I've killed 99 people already. My parents' orders."

Jisoo got up and stood right front of me. I closed my eyes and waited for some kind of slap or punch since I did kill his citizens, but it never came. Instead, warm arms wrapped around me. 

"You've done well to survive."

It was only five simple words, but it made me burst into tears. 

Maybe it was because I was able to survive this long.

Or maybe it was because it finally shined light on my harsh reality.

After crying in his arms for a while, I wiped away my tears and put my shirt back on.

"So what did you mean when you said that you weren't real?" asked Seungcheol. "And you still haven't answered the question of why your blood isn't in the database."

I sighed. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"

He stared at me with a confused expression.

"15 years ago, human experimentation was banned. My parents were upset and the king and queen limited their resources. 14 years ago, I was born. Get it yet?"

He shook his head. 

Seungcheol Sunbae was a genuine idiot. I could not believe that he couldn't put two and two together. It just made me snap.

I let out a frustrated sigh and grabbed him by the collar. "I didn't want to say it straight out because it is quite depressing, but it seems that you are too much of an idoit to understand my situtation. I WAS BORN FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF MY PARENTS' EXPERIMENTS! Did you honestly think that my parents were dumb enough to let the kingdom know of my existence when I was only meant to be their test subject and that its illegal?"

Chan and Jisoo pulled me back.

"Calm down Yoonie!" ordered Chan.

"Yoonie? I already told you that that wasn't my name!"

"Then what is it?!"

"Min Ma Ri!"

And with that, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off my chest. I relaxed, content with this moment. I looked around and bowed deeply.

"Annyeonghaseyo. My name is Min Ma Ri. It's a pleasure to meet you," I greeted with a big smile.

Chan, Jisoo, and Jihoon seemed to see what I was doing and followed suit. They bowed and introduced themselves. One by one, the others followed their example.

Junhui walked up to me. 

"Yes, Junhui Sunbae?"

"You said that your brother disappeared. I assume that you haven't seen him since he gave you that necklace. I might be able to find him if you give me his name."

I shook my head and smiled sadly, "I'm a spy. I've already hacked into the kingdom's database and looked for my brother, but it just says that he's dead. My parents claimed his death to avoid any unnecessary attention that might expose me, but if you insist, his name is Min Yoongi."

Jisoo POV
 

Where do I even start? Yoo -  I mean Ma Ri's life was so sad. She was alone all those years and endured everything for her brother. She says that she's weak, but I think she's so much stronger than I could ever be. Oh and I finally figured out who Yoongi was. It turned out to be her older brother who always took care of her, but he has disappeared. Ma Ri hasn't seen him since her tenth birthday. But enough about that, illegal actions are taking place in my kingdom right under my parents' noses.

"Um, Ma Ri?"

She turned around with a beautiful smile. It complimented her so much I wish I could have taken a picture to capture the moment. 

"Yes?"

"This may sound rude, but I was wondering if you could show us what your parents do to you? If you don't want to, I understand."

Her smile faltered a bit. "Prince Jisoo, I wouldn't mind, but are you sure you can handle it? What my parents do is not very pleasant nor is my reaction. Granted, I have gotten used to it, but it may disturb you."

Was it really that bad? But I had to see what was happening in my kingdom.

"I can handle it."

She sighed and turned to Seungcheol.

"Get me some rope, a lot of it because I know that you're going to come to."

He nodded and came back with said item.

Ma Ri headed towards the door and looked at us. "We'll have to move fast. It's almost time for me to be home."

And with that, she ran out the door with us tailing behind her.

Hey guys, Moozie here~

Thank you for your patience and taking the time to read this chapter. I tried to make it extra longer to make up for not updating in a month. I'm not going to make any more empty promises so this story won't be updated on a schedule. Please comment down below whose POV you want in the next chapter and I'll do my best to incorporate them. Also, for those who want to know what happened to yoongi or want Ma Ri and Yoongi to have a reunion, that will be coming in 2-3 chapters! After this author's note, is a one-shot I made for class. You don't have to read, but it's for whose who do. It doesn't have anything to do with K-pop, it's just a short story.