Sowon glanced at the two people in front of her, who were pointedly looking everywhere but at her. She wondered if it was because they didn’t really trust her, although Kris had just told the whole history to her.

“Do you know who sent me that note from Joonmyeon?” Sowon asked, breaking the awkward silence.

Sehun raised his hand stiffly. “I did. Joonmyeon said that it was for an acquaintance of his, but I had no clue it was for a childhood friend. I just thought the task was a simple mission. As Kris said, we didn’t know about the Yin tracking down you and your sister. I guess Joonmyeon wanted to keep us a secret or something.”

Sowon nodded, and then the table lapsed back into silence. Why did Joonmyeon want to keep him living with other people a secret? She needed to ask Joonmyeon several questions when she saw him again. “Does anyone mind telling me what you guys do and how you guys met Kris?”

Sehun spoke up first, although his gaze was wary. “We do missions.” His reply was as evasive as Kris’s parting statement. “But how I met Kris…” His eyes had a faraway look. “Four years ago, when I was thirteen and Kris sixteen, I chanced upon him nearby in the woods. I was wandering, for I could do nothing but walk around and steal for my bread. I was an orphan at that time. He asked me if I needed a place to stay and took me in the cabin we are in now. He cared for me like a big brother – I ended up trusting him and we lived together, just the two of us, for several years until Joonmyeon joined us.” His voice was curiously soft.

Sowon did some quick calculations. So Sehun was her age, as expected, and Kris was three years older.

“Did you know from the start that you were a Metal Yang?” Sowon asked. Sehun nodded.

“I met Kris two years ago, when I was sixteen,” Chanyeol piped up. “He wasn’t so trusting from the start, but Joonmyeon brought me in when I told them I was a Water Yang.” He kept glancing around, as if searching for something with his eyes, but Sowon couldn’t tell what exactly he was looking for.

“Then Joonmyeon must’ve met Kris between two and four years ago,” Sowon concluded. She furrowed her brows. “But why won’t you guys tell me about the missions? Is it top secret?”

The two of them exchanged glances. Sowon was surprised – it seemed to be the first time they weren’t glaring at or annoying each other, at least in front of her anyways.

Sehun turned his full attention to Sowon. “You better swear that you’ll never breathe a word of this to anyone outside our Team. We’ve let you stay here due to being Joonmyeon’s childhood friend and the possibility of you being a Wood Yang and wanting to join us. However, you could easily end up betraying us without the Tattoo.”

“The Tattoo?” Sowon asked in a bemused tone.

Sehun lifted the sleeve of his blue shirt, exposing his muscular upper right arm. There was a white mark on it, shaped like the sun. “Members of the Team are Tattooed into loyalty. It’s something the Yin also does. Certain sacred words are spoken over a Brand and the Brand is burned into your skin. Once you have a Tattoo, you cannot betray your Team, for it means a certain punishment, maybe death. No one really knows the true consequences of betraying a Tattoo; it’s forbidden to do so.”

Sowon swallowed hard, the words "burned into your skin" wandering around uneasily in her head. “So are you going to give me a Tattoo?”

Sehun frowned. “Not yet.” He turned to glare at Chanyeol. “We don’t force people who join us to get Branded. He, for one, refused to have a Tattoo. Sadly, Joonmyeon supported his decision.”

“Hey, I’m not that keen in torturing my skin. I heard from Joomyeon that it hurts like hell,” Chanyeol said. He defensively raised his arms.

Sowon felt sick in her stomach. “When did you get Branded?”

“I’ve had this Tattoo since I was little. It was probably Branded into me when I was a baby,” Sehun stated. Sowon winced.

“I guess if Joonmyeon trusts you enough to bring you here as soon as you were in trouble, we could trust you too. Without Branding you, I mean. Also, you don’t seem the type to go back-stabbing others, especially friends. And Joonmyeon seems to be really close to you – he obviously cares about you a lot.” Sowon didn’t know what to say to that, but she was extremely relieved that she didn’t have to go through the ordeal of getting a Tattoo.

“You’re right – I’m not that kind of person.” ‘Although your choice of words kind of stung,’ Sowon added in her head. “I promise I won’t ever betray you,” she stated aloud, firmly.

Sehun nodded. “Well, we complete missions in the Real World – missions needed to throw Xiumin off his throne.” Sehun’s eyes were dark with determination. “He’s caused unbelievable chaos in the Other World, and if he decides to harm the normal humans living here also, it’ll be way over disastrous. We need to stop his tyranny as soon as possible. Therefore, we do little, maybe dangerous, tasks that can help the rebels in the Other World. We may not have direct contact with them, but we know that they’re stirring. Currently, we’re content with being here, but one day, when we hear that the rebellion is in full force, we’ll go join them in the fight.”

“What little tasks?” Sowon spoke out.

“Usually, Kris assigns us the tasks according to Joonmyeon’s information. We eliminate the Yin spies here or go break into libraries or banks to steal information that can help us learn more about our enemies.”

Sowon shuddered. Eliminate? Steal? Just what was she getting herself into? What had Joonmyeon done these past years while she and Chaewon had been struggling just to survive?

“It’s all totally based on Joonmyeon’s research and tidbits he gets from the portals, though,” Chanyeol added. “Sometimes there’re false alarms, although there aren’t a lot.”

“What made you all unite for such a cause?” Sowon’s voice slightly trembled.

“We all have our own reasons. In my case, I want to get back at the Yin.” Sehun’s expression was grim. “Since they’re the reason I was orphaned in the first place.”

Sowon was about to ask why, but Sehun interrupted her. “So, will you join us in our main mission?” His almond-shaped, dark-brown eyes seemed to pierce Sowon.

The girl shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m not even sure how I got into all this; it’s confusing and overwhelming. Even if I do turn out to be the Wood Yang… I don’t know. Right now, my goal is to save Chaewon. Afterwards, I plan to find us a new home, one that is safe. I’m not sure I’m up for all this.”

Sehun narrowed his eyes, like an irritated cat. “You can’t just walk out of this if you do end up being the Wood Yang. Don’t you get it? You’ll never be safe wherever you are until we bring Xiumin down.”

“And I don’t get how a bunch of teenagers can help,” Sowon burst out.

“Every little thing counts right now. We’re doing the best we can on this side of the world. We’re pretty sure some of the Yang who hid after the Great Battle are getting together to stage a rebellion in the Other World. Once we’re finished in the Real World, we’ll probably go over to that world. To be truthful, I bet your sister is there right now, held captive in the Yin Castle.” Sehun’s voice was as sharp as his eyes.

Sowon was silent for a moment. Her sister could be in the Other World?

Just then, a male voice interrupted them. “I’m back.”