EunWoo winced as the poor girl had to be cleaned up for the second time. Her mind swirled with conflicting thoughts. HimChan gently dabbed her wound with a wet cloth, glancing up at her every now and then to check for any changes in reactions. Poor thing had become mute after all the recent turn of events.

“EunWoo?”

She jumped, almost forgetting that HimChan was there. He smiled at her kindly.

“I’m done cleaning your wound. You can come out when you’re ready,” he told her, patting her on the head before leaving her to mull over everything by herself.

~

A sigh echoed through the silent room.

He quietly entered, placing the cup of tea down gently next to her. She had fallen asleep by the keyboard again.

“JiEunnie,” YongGook whispered, shaking her gently. She grumbled a little, refusing to open her eyes. He chuckled, leaving to grab a blanket for her. When he came back, he draped the covers of her shoulder and kissed her gently on the forehead. He looked back down at the article she had been looking at.

Staring at the picture, he squinted his eyes, meticulously studying one of the faces in the picture. It was a child. But he looked familiar.

He looked…very…strangely familiar.

YongGook grabbed a seat next to JiEun and read through the article thoroughly, making sure he didn’t miss a single detail but not a single name in the article was familiar to him. But something…about this child…he couldn’t shake off the feeling that he’s seen him somewhere.

He jumped, so concentrated on figuring out the photograph, when his phone rang, effectively waking him and the sleepy JiEun up.

“Kim HimChan, this better be important,” growled YongGook, slightly irritated that he had broken him out of his train of thought. HimChan chuckled, asking him how things were going on over there as he took care of the “children.” He responded in monotone, completely uninterested in reporting back to the younger male, as he watched JiEun drowsily rub the sleep away from her eyes. When she offered him a smile, he smiled back, brushing the hair out of her face, only half paying attention to what HimChan was saying to him.

“Yah, YongGook-ah? Are you having with JiEun?”

The leader’s eyes widened at his statement, his hand immediately pulling away from JiEun’s hair, bright blush forming on his face quickly, as he yelled into the phone, “WHAT KIND OF-”

“Oh, good, so now that I’ve got your attention, maybe you’ll actually listen to what I’m saying,” HimChan chuckled evilly, practically dying just imagining the embarrassed and enraged look on YongGook’s face. He lost his smile as his face turned serious. “YongGook, what are we going to do with EunWoo and HoWon?”

YongGook sighed at the question. After that whole incident, they were afraid the two would try to run away, endangering their whole purpose. As YongGook thought about what to do, he stared down at the picture in the article that was bothering him.

Suddenly, his eyes widened.

He immediately picked up the article and stared at the photo before reading the article.

“YongGookie? What’s the matter?” JiEun asked, concerned with the shocked look on his face.

“Lee HoWon.”

“Neh?”

“YongGook? What’s going on?”

“JiEun, do a search on Lee HoWon and find out what his parents’ names are.”

“Okay.”

“YongGook! Answer me! Why are you searching Lee HoWon? I thought we already did a thorough background check on him,” HimChan demanded, dislike being ignored.

“And I thought we also agreed how suspicious it was that we couldn’t find anything. He’s rich, HimChan. There’s ALWAYS scandals when you’re rich regardless of how angelic and perfect you are or try to be,” YongGook reasoned, staring at the picture.

“Besides, I think I might have found the reason behind his mysteriously perfect background.”

~

HimChan hung up with a sigh, not really understanding what was going on over there, but figured YongGook would call him when things were clearer.

The door to the bathroom creaked open, revealing a tired looking EunWoo. He observed her as she walked towards him and lifted her head up.

“Why?”

HimChan stayed silent. His eyes darted to the stairs for a moment to see DaeHyun hiding behind them.

“Why what?” HimChan asked.

“Why…do you kill people…how…how can you kill people?” she said with a shaky voice. HimChan smiled sadly at the lack of accusation in her voice. Even now, she wasn’t accusing them. She stared at him with lost puppy eyes.

“Why would such kind people kill others…in cold blood?” she pleaded, hoping it was her just imagination that she witness the adorable magnae of B.A.P that was constantly calling her noona so affectionately kill someone in one shot and then act as if he had just successfully completed his homework.

He placed a comforting hand on her head and smiled a little brighter than before.

“To protect the ones we love.”

She cocked her head as if asking for him to elaborate.

“EunWoo…if JunHong didn’t shoot that man, he could have killed you,” he frowned at the thought. “We don’t like it. And we are far from comfortable in committing murder. But for us to come this far, there are unfortunate obstacles that we face and have no choice but to do unthinkable deeds.”

He chuckled bitterly, “For us…we all have lost a bit of our humanity. Every single one of us…we have dirtied our hands. But…is it too much to ask you to not consider us monster?”

 EunWoo shook her head.

“You…you aren’t monsters…none of you are monsters…but…I just…can’t understand why you would…there is so much you all could do! You’re all such amazing and caring people!” she cried out, tears shimmering, threatening to fall just at frustration, not able to understand why they put themselves through such torment. “You…all could do so much with yourselves…why…”

Thud.

The two of them looked over at the sight of a furious DaeHee. HimChan stood in front of EunWoo protectively.

“MiMi…”

“Don’t,” she growled, glaring heatedly at EunWoo. “You have no right to judge us. You, who knows nothing about where we come from and what we’ve been through, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT US!”

EunWoo stiffened, backing away defensively, despite how far DaeHee was from her.

“Jung DaeHee, that’s enough!” HimChan commanded, but he knew the girl wouldn’t listen. She was far too immersed in her anger.

“Why do you like DaeHyun?!” she screamed in fury.

EunWoo’s eyes widened at the question. She stayed silent.

“Why does it have to be someone like you that likes DaeHyun?! Can you answer that question, Go EunWoo-sshi?!” she hissed viciously. “How can you like someone that has killed others for a living?!”

EunWoo bit her lip, fists shaking at being verbally attacked.

“Jung DaeHee!” HimChan tried once more.

“Do you still like him?” DaeHee chuckled maliciously, her voice sounding more distant than usual. HimChan eyes her warily. “Can you still like someone who has committed murder? Trained to murder?!”

“I j-j-just…don’t understand why…” EunWoo whimpered, thoroughly frightened of the fuming female.

“Because we have a past, Go EunWoo-sshi, and it is far from a beautiful, loving childhood. We have been shaped by the events of our lives and we cannot change what has happened to us. Why? Tell me, Go EunWoo-sshi. If we’re such amazing and caring people, why did we have to suffer so much?!” DaeHee screamed, tears falling from her eyes. “Why was everything taken from us?! Why…do we only have each other left…”

EunWoo stared sympathetically at the girl she feared. For the first time, she saw the broken girl that had been hiding behind the façade of the cold DaeHee.

YoungJae sighed, walking in with a sad smile, ruffling DaeHee’s hair as she cried.

“You sure cry a lot when YongGook-hyung isn’t around, huh?” he chuckled lightly as she turned and cried into his chest.

JongUp and JunHong came out to check on DaeHee.

“…JunHongie…” EunWoo called out quietly.

He flinched noticeably, eyes darting back and forth on the ground, unable to meet her eyes. She felt a horrible guilt when she realized he was scared to face her. With someone unstable steps, still shaken from what was happening, she approached the two magnaes and grabbed JunHong’s and JongUp’s hands.

She smiled a little when the two youngest stiffened and whispered, “Still the same JunHongie…and JongUppie.”

JongUp offered a thankful smile while JunHong finally looked up apprehensively at her. She smiled back brightly at the frightened teen.

“Noona…doesn’t…hate me?” he wondered fearfully. She closed her eyes, replaying the scene of the man that died before her eyes, but opened them again to see the frightened child before her.

“I could never hate you, JunHong,” she told him with reassuring eyes. “I…still need time…I don’t like the idea of killing people…but…I could never hate you…or JongUp…or anyone else.”

She smiled brightly, cocking her head, “Besides, JunHongie was very brave, saving Noona’s life like that.”

“Noona!” JunHong cried out, flinging himself into her arms, whimpering a little. “I was scared…Noona didn’t like me anymore…”

DaeHee glanced back at the furtive DaeHyun. The twins had a conversation with just their eyes for awhile before DaeHyun took a deep breath and finally walked out from his hiding place.

When JunHong heard footsteps from behind him, he pulled away from EunWoo. She stared up at DaeHyun, who had an apathetic facial expression. Blinking, she stood before him, slightly taller than DaeHyun remembered as if her sudden boost of confidence affected her physical appearance.

“…have you…been…afraid this whole time, too?” EunWoo blatantly asked, offering him a kind smile. All the things he had been cruel to her…all the things he had been kind to her…all the mixed signals she was getting…she felt she finally understood them and possibly…just a little bit more about him.

At her question, his emotionless mask finally broken away as he avoided her gaze and bit his lip. He was still trying to think things through. He didn’t know what to do…

…until a hand pushed him forward, forcing him just the tiniest bit closer to EunWoo. He looked back to find a smirking YoungJae, waving him forward, and a defeated smile from DaeHee.

With one big inhale, he opened his mouth.

“…yes.”

At his confession, she grabbed his hand and gave it a supportive squeeze.

“I’m not afraid anymore,” EunWoo told him. “And I won’t run away…because…DaeHyun-sshi is important to me.”

She gasped in surprise when DaeHyun blushed at her statement, quickly taking his hand out of her and awkwardly rubbing it. He reminded her of a bashful teenage boy…it was the first time DaeHyun started to respond to her…so…timidly. She chuckled lightly, finding it all too cute.

Click.

Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise when HimChan raised his gun at HoWon, who had just entered the room.

“…HimChan-oppa…what are you doing…” DaeHee asked, voice shaking, not understanding why the usual friendly (and even stupid looking) face of their second oldest had twisted with such inexplicit fiery anger.

“Lee HoWon…what is your father’s name?” HimChan demanded with a lower than normal voice. It brought shivers up DaeHee’s back.

“H…HimChan-oppa…stop…” DaeHee called out, trying to lower HimChan’s arm from pointing the gun at HoWon. She missed the brief moment that HoWon’s eyes enlarged ever so slightly at the question, caught by surprise. But HimChan didn’t.

“More importantly…”

HimChan growled, “Who does your father know…that you had to go and erase your whole background from file?”

HoWon stayed silent, regaining his composure in an instant, staring back at HimChan with an indecipherable expression.

“To think…this whole time…you were right under our nose…to think…I almost trusted you with MiMi…” HimChan ranted to himself, getting angrier and angrier by the second, further causing DaeHee to become uneasy.

“What relationship…do you have with Arcane?”

DaeHee’s hand froze at the name.

She whipped in HoWon’s direction with a look of disbelief.

“You…know…Arcane?”

~

Bark, bark, bark, bark, bark!

“SungKyu-hyung, I think we found it!”

=====================================================================

CLIFFHANGER!

AND MINI HIATUS!

So I have……next week…and I need to really buckle down and study for it. =.=

I really am not suppose to update…but Corny has been down recently so I’m updating to hopefully cheer her up. :)

UNTIL NEXT WEEK!

~Kira :3

P.S. I AM EXCITED FOR SIGNED B.A.P ALBUMS AND WEEKLY IDOL NEXT WEEK! /must survive this week for this/

P.S.S. Link for the preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOTOwaxAMQg

Oh my gosh, they’re such trolls. Yes, thank you, Weekly Idol. You never fail to make me lolz.

=====================================================================

-boundless: Err…/scratches neck awkwardly/ Does this chapter answer your question? ^ ^;; It’s okay. :) You don’t have to ship DaeWoo, but I can’t promise they won’t end up together. XD /especially with how things are going now/ Nuuuuuu, no dying~ /revives with phoenix down/

mysteriousshadow: I ENJOY CRUSHING PEOPLE’S HOPES AND DREAMS BECAUSE I’M A SADISTIC CRAAAAAZY ! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Hehe, yesh, the triplets! They shall be reunited soon! …kind of…

hiikyoung: /dodges table/ You are so punny. I forgot to laugh. Besides, I made things better in this chapter so don’t get your in a knot. Yes, this seems to be the general pattern of things. XD I.e. above. HEY, HEY. YOU. STOP THAT. NO HIMWOO. NO JAEHEE. NO, NO, NO, NO MERCY.

NazSamz: DaeHyun…was hiding. Because he’s a wimp. :3…
Just kidding, he’s not a wimp. XD But they were all hiding so the intruder didn’t suspect Zelo’s position so he could snipe him.

MaeilYogurt: She didn’t know exactly. She had some idea…in terms of what they have been through, but the magnae line did not tell her exactly what it is they were doing and she had never witnessed B.A.P kill someone until the last chapter. Oh my gosh, your comment just made my day when I read it. /gives you a truckload of chocolate/ Your love for this story makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside…though that may be just because it’s hot…DongWoo is forever an adorable dino that giggles at everything and loves animals lots. :3 /FEEDS YOUR FEELS/

Cheoneunnie: She kind of knew but at the same time she didn’t! She never actually seen them necessarily kill and to have it happen before her eyes is a little traumatizing. THERE SHALL BE SOME INFINITE B.A.P ACTION SOON.

Yixicorn: Yes, DaeHyun is trying to sink his own ship. :P You put that EunWoo hates cooking, so I had her try and fail. XD Because…I feel it makes her endearing. Kekekeke…and because I like to pick on her. :3 I agree! EunWoo is an adorable little squish. And she’s not…really THAT naïve…she’s just very optimistic. ^ ^ HoHee…is taking a sharp turn in the opposite direction. XDDDD Nope~ B.A.P doesn’t blame EunWoo and yes, they do give her free reign to the apartment. The two of them are just on very close watch (and B.A.P specialize in hunting people down…so…). Bi is umma’s brave boy! :D YOU AND HIIKYOUNG. STOP WITH THE WEIRD SHIPS. THEY LOOK FUNNY AND WILL SINK IN TWO SECONDS.

mimi96: /stares at HoWon/
HoWon: /stares back at me with a raised brow/ …you’re about to make my life miserable, aren’t you?
…HWAITING!