Jieun had just put on her jeans when there was a knock on the door, so she quickly put on a top before opening the door for Ken who smiled and said; “a smoothie for the lady”. She chuckled and said “thanks, can you put it on the nightstand?” He put it down, but then turned to her and said; “Eun-ah. There’s, uh, there’s someone here who’d like to talk to you.” She looked at him and could see the anger that he tried to hide, and said timidly; “oppa? What, what’s the matter?” but he only sighed and said; “they’re waiting in samchon’s office.” before he left.

When Jieun reached Dr. Lee’s office, she instantly recognized the scents from the day before and instinctively became defensive, so when one of them got up, she growled; “what are you doing here?” He took a surprised step back while Hongbin lay a hand on her shoulder, so she took a deep breath and gave him a grateful smile. Another one stepped forward and his body posture screamed Alpha, so Jieun took an unconscious step back and pressed against Hongbin’s chest. The Alpha sent one of the others a short, knowing look before he looked at Jieun and said; “my name’s Im Jaebum. I would like to apologize on the behalf of my littermates, they didn’t want to hurt you, they only tried to protect our yearlings.” Jieun bowed slightly and said; “your apology is accepted, Jaebum-sii” and turned to escape to N in the kitchen, but one of the others exclaimed; “wait!” and grabbed her arm. Ravi quickly stood so that he partially hid her and said; “I suggest you let go of her!” The male looked at Ravi and neutrally said; “are you to a couple?” Ravi’s aura screamed ‘murder!’ when he took a step forward and snarled; “no, but I don’t like people who harasses my dongsaeng!” Jieun placed her free hand on his arm and said gently; “oppa” but then looked coldly at the stranger and said; “what is it that you want?” He quickly retracted his hand and suddenly sounded nervous when he said; “I just, I just wanted to know if you’re mixed blood.”

Her cup slipped out of her hand, but before it hit the floor, he had already caught it and said; “don’t worry. I mean you no harm, I’m –” he closed his eyes with a sigh and one of the others only managed to exclaim; “Mark!” before he opened his eyes and said; “I’m a hybrid myself.” Jieun gasped, and had it not been for Ravi’s arm, then her legs would have given away under her, for his eyes were now glowing red.

There was quiet for a while before Jieun whispered; “get out.” Mark frowned and said “what?” so she looked directly at him and growled; “get out!” Her eyes flashed red for a brief moment, so he gave her a small nod and said “we’ll leave.” before he left the office. N, who had entered the office in that moment, hurried after them and said; “please, don’t hate her.” The seven wolves look at him, surprised, so he said; “Jieun-ie haven’t had it easy, so please, do not hate her.” Mark smiled and said; “ah, I don’t hate her. I know the feeling of being alone and different. I’m just giving her some time before I’ll try again.”

Jieun had just finished her breakfast the next morning when Dr. Lee came and said; “it’s okay if you want to borrow my office, but you have to remember to clean up after you.” The seven looked blankly at him, so he sighed and said; “I found this at my desk.” and threw a beanie on the table. It hit the table right in front of Jieun and sent a wave of the owner’s scent upwards. She closed her eyes for a moment, but then growled; “damn it!”, grabbed the beanie and her wallet, and left the house. Dr. Lee looked at the door and said stunned; “what’s with her?” but instead of answering him, Hyuk said “doesn’t it belong to one of the boys from yesterday?” so N quickly grabbed a pair of car keys and hurried after her.

When they got to the clearing where she first encountered the litter, she gave N an apologetic smile and said; “I’ll probably end up at their Den, so I’ll just go on my own from here.” N was quiet for a while, but then nodded while saying “okay, but promise me that you’ll call if anything happens.” Jieun smiled brightly and said: “of course, oppa. I promise.” He gave her a small smile and left. She soon got the wolves’ scents after, and followed their trail.

When she had walked for some time, she happened to meet a couple of young kids, so she kneeled down and said; “hi kids. Do you know Im Jaebum?” The little girl nodded, so Jieun smiled and said; “really? Do you to know where I can find him?” but before they could answer, a woman growled; “get away from them!” Jieun got up with a smile and said; “hello, my name is Jieun and I’m –” but the woman interrupted her by growling; “I don’t care who you are. I told you to get away from the kids!” Jieun instinctively took a step back, but just then, someone behind her said; “what’s going on?” so the woman exclaimed; “JB?!” while the kids shouted; “oppa/hyung!” Jieun quickly turned and came face to face with JB, so she sighed in relief and said; “Jaebum-sii” His eyes widen when he said; “Jieun-sii? What, how?” She looked down and mumbled; “I didn’t want to intrude, I…” her voice died, so JB put his hands in his pockets and said; “you’re here to see Mark, aren’t you?” She quickly looked up, so he smiled and said; “though so, come on”

While they walked, he asked; “how did you find where we’re living?” Jieun quietly said; “I tracked you.” He looked taken aback when he said; “you track- but we took the car” Jieun shook her head and said; “no, not from the house. N oppa drove me to the woods, and then I tracked you from there.” He stopped and said; “from the woods? But, that’s days ago.” She nodded and said warily; “I used this to catch the scent.” and showed him the beanie. JB took it and said; “ah, like that. I’ll return it for you.”

It didn’t take long before they reached an apartment, and just as he was about to open the door, JB said; “oh, remember that we are only boys.” Jieun frowned slightly, what did he mean? But before she could ask, he opened the door and revealed the chaos that was the other six members of his litter. He sighed and said; “hey, kids!” but he didn’t get any reaction. He was about to raise his voice, but Jieun was quicker and whistled through her fingers. All of the boys stopped from the high sound, so JB smiled and mumbled; “heol. I’ll remember that next time.” before he looked at Mark and said; “you’ve got a visitor.”

Mark quickly got up and said; “ah, Jieun-sii. What brings you her?” Jieun bowed slightly and said; “hello, I, I came to, I wanted to –” she stopped, closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths before she looked directly at him and said; “am I really not a freak?” They all noticed the hurt and unsure tone in her voice, so Mark quickly said; “no, off cause not.” while he guided her to the couches and JB ushered the others out of the living room.

When they had sat down, he gently asked; “how long have you known that you’re a hybrid?” She gave him a sad smile and said; “a little more than a week.” He was about to say something, but she sighed and continued; “but I have always known that I was different than the others.” Just then, one of the others came in with a tray with tea and cookies while he smiled and said; “Here you go, please, do feel at home.” She smiled at him while Mark said; “thanks Junior”. Jieun raised an eyebrow and said questioningly; “Junior?” so the boys laughed and Junior said; “ah, my name is Park Jinyoung, just like an alpha we got about five years ago, so it quickly became my nickname. Jieun nodded slowly while saying; “ah, that way” but then looked back up and said; “like Jaebum-sii is called JB?!” causing the boys to laugh and Mark said; “yeah, like JB”.

After Junior had left, Mark asked how old she was, and when she answered that she was 18, he gave her a big smile and said; “Ah, I’m 22, so you’re my dongsaeng.”

Jieun enjoyed talking to Mark, who too had lost his parents at an early age, and it felt like they had always known each other, and they quickly forgot the time, especially after the rest of the boys joined them. Suddenly, Sooyoung called and said; “do you wanna have lunch?” Jieun looked at Mark with a small frown while she said “lunch?” Mark shrugged at the same time as Sooyoung sighed dramatically and said; “yeah, you know. The meal you eat in the middle of the day.” Jieun whined “unnie~” so Sooyoung chuckled and said; “I know, I know. Minhee and I managed to get some of your things, so we wanted to come by with it, if you’re home.” Jieun got so happy that she exclaimed; “off cause. See you in a moment!” and it was only when she had hung up that she realized what she had said. Mark smiled at her shocked expression, having heard what she said, and when Mark explained the situation to the others, JB was quick to say; “I’ll take you home.”