“Baekhyun!”

The two men that were holding onto his now still figure stopped walking once they reached the middle of the cleared-out area. Baekhyun was looking right back at me and, now that he wasn’t moving, I could clearly notice the little cut on his lips and the bruises on his cheeks. He looked like he had a rough time defending himself and, well, the fact he was now here showed he had pretty much failed at it.

“You know him?” I heard Jia mumbled behind me and I turned back immediately, somehow having completely forgotten about my newly-found biological mother’s presence on the porch. Her expression had changed slightly. I could see her facial feature weren’t as smooth as before and her brows were slightly furrowed.

Hearing Baekhyun’s muffled curse in front of me made me look back to see he had been thrown rather carelessly on the dirt ground, the three men bowing their head in our direction, probably greeting Jia. Baekhyun scoffed and tried to stand back up but a kick on his back made him fall back down with a thud.

Seeing his face contorting in anger and embarrassment stopped all envy to laugh at his poor situation. It wasn’t hard to figure everyone around seemed not to appreciate his presence at all, but I still somehow pitied him. From what I had seen of him for the last week, he was one to despise being the weak one and that’s probably exactly what he felt like he was at that moment.

“He’s the one who was sent by William to bring Eunji here. That bastard knows how to defend himself, but without his brainwashed partner, he was much more of an easy prey.”

The man who spoke was the one I figured as leader back at the restaurant. If I didn’t particularly enjoy the way he spoke back then, I surely appreciated it even less at that moment. I felt Jia’s hand resting on my tensed shoulder.

“My daughter has not been brainwashed, she was ignorant of what was happening.”

“Daughter?!”

Baekhyun’s voice fit the surprised expression he was wearing, though he barely had time to finish his word he was receiving yet another kick, this time right in the stomach, by the same man who spoke before.

“Richard!”

Jia’s voice was direct and sharp when she spoke, making the said man look up immediately before stepping back. I heard the door from the house behind us open and I briefly looked in that direction to see the tall bald man come out again, probably checking on us after hearing my mother’s voice. When I looked back in front of me, Baekhyun’s body was bent in half and he was coughing. I bit my lip and looked away, not really appreciating the scene.

“He’s a man from the city, that’s all he deserves for spe-“

“You can dispose now, Richard.” Jia cut him off mid-sentence and the man narrowed his eyes before simply motioning the two men with him to follow him as he his heels and walked away, heading to another path in between two houses. My eyes followed their backs until they took a turn and disappeared and I heard Jia sigh behind me.

“I’m sorry for that.” She said, her smooth voice back. I turned my head to look at her, sending a look at the tall man standing behind her. His blue eyes were staring behind me, probably eyeing Baekhyun’s figure on the ground. “Richard has a deep hatred for the Superiors and their agents.” She added and I could only nod, not knowing what to say.

“What should we do with the boy? Drop him off in the woods?” The man behind Jia proposed and my eyes widened.

“No!” I almost screamed, shaking my head and facing their confused expression. I gulped and looked over my shoulder, seeing Baekhyun laying on his back with his eyes closed. “He’s not bad, I-“

“Eunji, if the Superiors sent him to get you, then he’s not on our side.” Jia spoke, resting a hand on my shoulder but I shook my head, stubborn.

“He’s not on their side, I swear!” I answered, frowning worriedly before looking at him again. This time, he was sitting on the ground and had his eyes right on mine. “He had no idea what he was getting into.” I explained, keeping my eyes locked on his as I spoke. “We both learned about… the government’s true intentions at the same time. He didn’t know about them either. He was there to keep me safe.”

I noticed something unusual in Baekhyun’s eyes when I stopped talking but I immediately looked back at Jia and the man, seeing they both had one of their brows raised. “He’s in danger too, just as much as I am. He’s been trying to keep me safe for a week now, I can’t simply let him get caught when he’s been fighting for me the whole time.”

I’m not sure neither Baekhyun or I expected that kind of words to come out of my mouth, especially after the altercation we had in the morning. My own kindness surprised me, but it seemed to do the trick as Jia’s frown transformed into a smile. “You’re right.” She nodded, tilting her head to be able to see Baekhyun behind me. “Come here.” She said to him and I heard him raise from the ground.

I didn’t really dare to look up at him when I heard him climb up the porch and stop beside me. Instead, I kept my eyes on Jia who seemed to be inspecting his face. “Let’s go inside, we have some talks to do.” She proposed and we all nodded. The man, who I still didn’t know the name of, turned and opened the door. We all entered the house one after another and, as I walked inside, my enhanced hearing seemed to capture three very very faint words coming from the last person to get inside behind me.

“Thank you, Eunji…”

***

We got inside the house and I let my eyes wander around, curious. From the outside, it looked like the typical wooden cottage and, from the inside, it looked exactly the same. Floor, walls, and ceiling were made of woods. Once inside, the living room was opened on the right, where the minimum was set. The room still looked welcoming with the multiple decorations around. There was no sight of television but a large fireplace. On the left was an arch leading to a dining room and, further back, a kitchen. The man continued onward in a narrow corridor, passing by a set of stairs that probably led to the bedrooms. He took a turn to the right at the end and entered a small room that resembled an office.

The four of us gathered in the small room and Jia asked the man to go get a medical kit. He ushered out and closed the door behind him, leaving her, Baekhyun and I in a complete silence.

Baekhyun and I took a seat on the two chairs in the middle of the room while Jia sat on the corner of the desk in front of us. I looked up at her, expecting to have her eyes on me but they were on Baekhyun instead, who simply looked at his thighs without any intention to look up.

I felt the tension rising and I took a deep breath before finally deciding to speak. “We… I think we should get started with the explanations.” I tempted, finally catching Jia’s attention. Her traits were a bit more tensed than before.

“First, I think it would be important for you to know your past.”

Jia’s eyes seemed to fill with a mix of guilt and regret when she spoke, which contrasted with the faint smile she gave me. My heart skipped a beat and I nodded, having a weird feeling inside with the idea of finally having the answers I’d been begging for. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Baekhyun raising his eyes to look at Jia and me, but I didn’t dare to look away from her and she didn’t divert her glare either.

“We surely didn’t expect such a turn in events, in all honesty. Your father believed in the Superiors, maybe a bit too much…” Jia started, frowning when she mentioned the government. “But what happened happened, and we can’t change it now. If we could go back, I’m still not sure what would have been done differently…”

My hands held onto my pants tighter, knuckles almost turning white. I didn’t know what kind of story to expect anymore. Jia’s eyes seemed lost somewhere in her memories but when she finally came back to our reality, her expression was serious all over again, though an ounce of fear swam in her eyes.

“All I’m asking you is to believe me, Eunji, and to forgive us for what happened. Your father had his reasons, please don’t hold anything against the decision we made.”

I gulped and nodded slowly, tons of mixed feeling making my stomach curl uncomfortably. I wasn’t sure if I could completely do what she asked and I knew by the way she looked at me that she wasn’t sure either. My mother closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, staying in her position for a bit before finally telling the story I wished to hear for years.

“Your father was a well-known doctor and scientist working for the government. He had been studying our species for years, he was almost an expert at everything that makes us different from the humans. A few concepts were still left unknown by everyone, though, and that’s mostly what he had been working on for the past years before your birth.

“He concentrated his effort on one concept in particular: the reason of our invisibility toward the human, and how we could trigger it only once we would reach puberty. This simple fact had captured his interest for a while and he was jumping in happiness when the First Superior gave him the chance to make his studies within the government’s labs.

“William had been assigned to take over his father not too long before that, he was in his early twenty by then and your father thought he would have more chances convincing the young leader than his father, the First Superior before him.

“The searching was going well, but what your fathe