When their surroundings finally cleared up and everything could be seen properly, Hyerin and the twelve others could only stare at the newcomer along with her guards.

The woman looked to be around her mid-twenties, fairly young yet had a mature and fierce ambience to her. She had flowing blonde hair that fell just above the middle of her waist, blood red lips that brought out her tan skin, perfect S-line that showed from the black slim tight dress, and an impeccable complexion anyone would be envious of. She was undeniably beautiful, and Hyerin thought she might be the fairest of all women in the world.

Behind this mystery woman were a few of what seemed to be her henchmen. They were men of varying ages dressed in worn-out bland colored suits, faces decorated with old Band-Aids and scars from previous brawls. They carried all kinds of knives, guns, nail-studded bats and other weapons that could be of use in a good fight.

Tao, who was beside Hyerin, took notice of one man's arm. There was a uniquely designed tattoo of half of a dragon's body looped around the muscled man's biceps. Although he could not see the rest of the dragon as the other half of it was hidden under his shirt, it did not take him long to figure out that these men were no ordinary henchmen.

Tao could recognize that tattoo anywhere; they were part of the Immitis Clan, one of the most notorious gangs in Seoul and his deceased father's former mob. He was about to lean in towards Hyerin to whisper this information to her when the woman spoke.

"I certainly did not expect such a sudden visit like this. At least, not today," she said in a chesty, alluring voice. She walked over to the young agents, her back up following closely behind. She eyed each and every one of them, running her tongue along her lower lip occasionally when her eyes found those she took interest in.

"I suppose I have quite the company today," she chuckled, cat-like eyes landing on Hyerin. Her dark orbs glinted strangely at the sight of the teenage girl and in return Hyerin glared daggers at her, hands lowering to her thighs to grab a hold of her pistol. The lady sensed Hyerin's hostility and laughed, bending down to the latter's level and placing a manicured finger under her chin.

Hyerin gulped but maintained the defiant look on her face, which only seemed to further amuse the blonde. The other agents looked on heatedly, ready to attack when the need arises.

"You're quite the feisty one aren't you?" the blonde said, running her fingertips along the side of Hyerin's cheek. The latter flinched from this, slightly shifting her eyes to the side as the older woman grinned.

"So you are the girl they were speaking of," she whispered obscurely, shifting Hyerin's face upwards to examine her face.

Hyerin looked back at the woman in bewilderment. What did she mean by that?

"Who are you?" Kris demanded, stepping beside Hyerin.

The woman let go of her face, but did not make a move to back away. She sent them an enticing smile before answering. "Luculenus. Lucy, for short."

"What business do you have in this town? What were those girls that attacked us, and why were they here?" Suho, having found a new sense of confidence, demanded. "Why are you here?"

Lucy's onyx pair slightly widened. "Is that what you came for? To gather information?" She clicked her tongue. "You shouldn't have gone through all that trouble if all you wanted was information! You could have just asked, and we would have gladly given it to you."

"Well it's over and done with, so just answer his question," Kyungsoo said warningly. "What business do you have here?"

Lucy gave him a serene smile and started pacing. "Is it not obvious enough? We pleasure people–those who are in need of much love, those who want a little bit of fun. Is there really anything more than that?"

"What about those girls?" Baekhyun asked.

"Ah, my precious little kittens? They are nothing more than servants. Workers. I apologize for their rash behavior. They are meant to act accordingly to how others treat them. In this case, they found you a threat," she answered. "Who wouldn't do the same when they encounter young men like you with extraordinary abilities?"

"So does that mean they found those women a threat, as well?" Chen surprisingly spoke up with much venom. Lucy turned her attention to the boy. "The two girls that were murdered. It was you, wasn't it?"

She chortled, pressing her fingers against her lips. "Oh, my. You know about that silly incident, don't you? I told my girls to always clean up after their mess. I guess they forgot about that one."

"'That one?' That wasn't the first time!?" Chanyeol exclaimed. Xiumin pressed a hand against the taller boy's chest to hold him back, a glare fixed on the blonde as well. "What kind of monster are you to do such a disgusting thing to those innocent people? You're a filthy woman!"

Lucy stiffened. Hyerin's brows furrowed and backed away slightly.

"What can I say?" Lucy's mouth formed a tight smile, her head turning stiffly towards Hyerin. "Disgusting acts fall upon disgusting people."

Hyerin wasted no time to pull out her gun and aim it at Lucy. But as she fired the first shot, her two henchmen were already upon her, tackling her to the ground before the bullet came into contact with the woman. The sound of a gun firing prompted more of her henchmen who were waiting outside to swarm into the lobby, keeping all the agents occupied.

Hyerin wrestled the two men off her, kicking one on the ribs and bashing the other's head with the gun. Once both collapsed on the ground, Hyerin whipped around and watched as Lucy's hair turned into an ashy gray, her nails growing at least three more inches and the whites of her eyes  turning into a solid black. Hyerin aimed to shoot her again but Lucy lunged at her so fast she didn't even get to pull the trigger.

They went flying to the other side of the room. Hyerin's back collided with the wall as Lucy wrung her fingers around the agent's neck.

"Snooping around can lead to unpleasant things, little girl," Lucy snarled, her voice laced with an unidentifiable accent she never had a few moments ago. "Didn't your mother teach you that?"

Hyerin shoved Lucy's face away with one hand, trying to reach the knife tucked inside her belt. It was difficult to reach it when she was strangling her. Hyerin tried to not think of the ugly monster in front of her and focused on the knife, gasping once she had grabbed a hold of it.

She plunged the dagger into Lucy's backside, hitting her right in the shoulder. She screeched out in agony as she let go of Hyerin from pain. She brought her fingers to her damaged shoulders and seeing that there was blood in her hands, she turned back to the young girl and screamed angrily before running towards her.

Before she could make it to Hyerin, Kyungsoo came just in time and tackled Lucy to the ground.

They rolled on the floor as Kyungsoo threw punches at her face. She, in return, clawed at his.

"You should learn to mind your business, boy!" she screeched, slamming her head against his.

Kyungsoo's hold loosened as he groaned in pain, giving Lucy the advantage to pull out a vial filled with a mysterious milky liquid in it, the lid topped off with a three-inch needle.

"This will keep you distracted," she hissed before stabbing him in the arm with the strange apparatus. Kyungsoo cursed in pain as she retrieved the object and escaped the scene.

Kyungsoo mumbled profanities as he clutched his numbed arm, curling up on the floor in cold sweat. His vision swam with black spots as the noise in his surrounding him tuned out.

"..Soo...yungsoo...Do Kyungsoo!"

Hyerin rushed to the boy's side as soon as she saw his body lying motionless on the ground. She called his name a couple of times, shaking him into reality, but the boy just blankly stared into nothingness.

"D.O.! Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" she asked frantically as she searched his body for wounds. "C'mon, D.O. What's gotten into you?" She pulled him up into a sitting position and slapped his cheek.

After what seemed like forever, Kyungsoo finally shifted his eyes from the ground to Hyerin.

"Good god, I thought I lost you! We have to go-" Hyerin stopped herself from saying any more, noticing something off about the boy. The blank stare had turned into something she could not really point out what, but it gave her an unsettling feeling. It did not help that she noticed how his eyes briefly switched from chocolate brown to dark red, giving her further suspicions that the boy was definitely not alright. "D.O?"

"Hyerin! D.O.!" From the main lobby, Kai and Sehun appeared.

"We need to get out of here. Now," Kai said, panting heavily.

"We took care of the guards but apparently, Tao knows these guys. He says there are more coming. Let's get a move on," Sehun added.

Hyerin nodded, taking a dazed Kyungsoo by the wrist before running out.

---

The young agents successfully escaped the premises and headed straight to M-LX to sort out all the information they gathered. It was already five in the morning, and in three hours, school was about to start. On any given day they would have all been asleep by now, but there was no time to sleep when there was a case that was yet to be solved.

The agents—minus Chen and Luhan who were typing an impromptu report about the night's events in the next room—were seated around a long table, dirty and worn out from the fight while Lay worked his magic on their wounds. Hyerin watched him closely and thought about getting a first aid kit later to treat Lay's own injuries.

"We really need to find out what that woman is up to," Tao said, frustratingly running a hand through his dark tresses.

Baekhyun nodded his head, lifting his glasses to rub his eyes. "We've gotten close to nothing from today's mission. We need a better strategy."

"The thing is, though, they would be expecting us to come back. They know that we would be attacking anytime. They would be prepared," Xiumin added, trying to keep himself awake by joining the conversation.

"This is getting ridiculous. We need to think of other ways to get to them as smoothly as possible. We need a plan that would work perfectly," Hyerin said, rubbing her forehead. "We should stop with all the impulsive attacks."

As this was going on, Kyungsoo sat silently on his chair, paying no attention to the discussion. Instead, he was forced into his own little world by a drug that was quickly flowing through his veins and slowly taking over his mind. It was strange how he could suddenly feel so much emotion at once, and even stranger when amidst the raging tremor inside of him, he could only think of Hyerin.

Kyungsoo was not in control of his own when he stood up from his seat and walked towards the girl. The others did not notice his sudden movement, busy discussing their mission.

Hyerin. Hyerin. Hyerin. That was all he could think of, like a repetitive song stuck in his head, name ringing in his mind and all. It was the only thing he could hear as it was whispered into his ear - into his heart.

A sudden jolt of giddiness struck Kyungsoo out of nowhere, and he was happy. His head felt light, his whole body did, and giggles escaped his mouth before he could stop them.

The others halted in their discussion, turning to the boy. They stared at him in shock–Kyungsoo would never laugh at a time like this.

"D.O?" Suho called, worried.

"Hyerinnie!" he squeaked, rushing towards the girl. He wrapped his arms around hers and nestled his head on her shoulder. "Can I sit with you!? I want to sit with Hyerinnie!"

She stared at him as if he just grew another head. "D.O.?"

He shook her arm, smiling like he had never smiled before. "Hyerinnie, I want to stay with you!" 

Kris stood up from his chair. "What the ?" 

"D.O., what the hell is wrong with you?" Kai asked bemusedly.

"What's wrong is I'm not alone with Hyerinnie! I want alone time with Hyerinnie, so back off!" he exclaimed in a high-pitched, non-Kyungsoo-like way. He wrapped his arms around her before puckering his lips much to Hyerin's dismay.

Seeing what was about to happen, Chanyeol bristled and stood up furiously, arms blazing with flames and eyes turning into crimson. His body emitted smoke that reached the ceiling which set off the fire alarm.

They, once again, created their own chaos. Kris, Kai and Baekhyun tried to pry Kyungsoo off the girl while Lay and Xiumin took care of the fire alarm that was about to give them migraines. Suho and Sehun scolded Chanyeol for his impulsiveness.

The other two, Chen and Luhan, finally arrived upon witnessing this from outside. Wuhan successfully tamed Kyungsoo with his telekinesis while Chen turned off the alarm.

"What the happened here?" Luhan asked, irritated. He didn't need this at five in the morning.

"Freaking D.O. just threw himself at Hyerin! Seriously, bro, what the hell?" Kai exclaimed, glaring at the boy. The latter merely gave him a glance before going back to cradling Hyerin's arm.

"What?" Suho squeezed the bridge of his nose before turning to Suho. "Explain."

Suho shook his head in bemusement and defeat. "He was just suddenly all over Hyerin and kept saying that he wanted to be by her side and that he wanted alone time with her." He shrugged. "That's all I got."

"This doesn't make any sense. D.O.'s practically allergic to her," Tao said.

Chen rubbed his chin and stared at the ground, trying to make sense out of the situation. It went on for a while of silence, and Hyerin was getting very impatient. 

"Well?" she demanded with a raised eyebrow.

As if on cue, Chen's eyes widened. "Oh crap." He turned to Luhan for the printed files they worked on together and flipped through its pages. Once he finally found what he was looking for, he looked back and forth from Kyungsoo to the paper with a bewildered expression.

He ripped off a page from the folder and rushed towards Kyungsoo, hastily lifting up his short sleeve while the boy looked on innocently.

Chen paled once he saw a small red blemish on Kyungsoo's arm, looking a lot like a birthmark.

"What is that?" Baekhyun asked perplexedly.

Chen gulped. "He was drugged by Lucy," he started. "And from our research, it isn't any ordinary drug. This liquid substance once injected in a person will be doomed to acquire strong feelings of affection towards the first person he or she sees. In this case, it's Hyerin."

Kris shook his head in bewilderment. "This is just pure madness. You mean to say he's been turned into a love sick puppy?"

"Yes. A love sick puppy for Hyerin, apparently."