"I-I can't," Kim Jonghun stammered. "I can't."

Saying no to the man he feared the most was quite brave for a cowardly sixty-year-old man like him. He would have said yes, he really would have, but circumstances just didn't allow him to do so. Although he was known to be a cunning man, he still knew his place.

The man had his back to him, one hand holding a tobacco and the other scotch. He was facing the window, and all Jonghun could make out of him was the back view of his expensive suit.

"Why not, Mr. Kim?" the man asked in an eerily quiet voice.

Jonghun gulped, shifting in his seat. "I-It's not right."

The mystery man chortled softly. "Since when did someone like you ever care about what's right or wrong?"

The sixty-year-old politician did not say nor do anything but bow his head.

"I promise you, Mr. Kim," the man started. "I won't hurt him if you give me what I want. Do know, Mr. Kim, that I do not break my promises so long as you do not break yours." He turned around to look at the older man dead in the eye. The latter shivered. "Trust me, Mr. Kim. I promise I won't break him."

Jonghun clenched his fists that were placed on top of his lap, not daring to look away. "I-I," he stuttered. "I'll think about it."

The man gave him an austere smile before turning to the window again. "Good," he took a swig, "Don't make me wait."

---

"Why do we have to do this again?" Kyungsoo groaned as he unwillingly slipped on the black blazer.

"I don't know. Ask her," Chen deadpanned, nodding over to Hyerin who was adjusting her fake glasses.

"We need to do this to see what the Noxius brothers are up to," she explained, fixing her suit.

It was Friday and the gang decided to go forth with Hyerin's plan. The idea was to break into Gangnam Academy's grounds to spy on the trio and see where they could possibly be going whenever they skipped classes. Lay, Suho, and Kris were left behind to cover for them back at Yeongnam.

 "This is so dumb!" Xiumin whined.

"I'm already mad just from wearing their stupid uniform," Kyungsoo complained, rolling up his sleeves.

"But you're always mad," Tao said.

"I don't wear black and navy blue!  I wear red and light blue! Why do I have to do this!?" Sehun scoffed.

"Quit with the whining, you little s!" Hyerin growled. "I'm this ing close to kicking your asses!"

"I don't mind." Kai shrugged. "You look hot as a teacher."

"I second that," Tao muttered, giving her a quick once-over. Chanyeol gave him a dirty look.

"Enough!" she hissed. "Stop getting distracted. Remember, go to your respective classes and don't act suspicious. If you see them, hide. Do not blow your cover. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright. See you in a bit."

With that, they parted ways. They fled with no more than three people in one group while Hyerin took off alone.

The search started off slow with Hyerin wandering around the hallways and the others jumping from classroom to classroom, impressively going unnoticed. The plan was escalating smoothly, until the bell rang, indicating that lunch had officially started. The hallways were swarmed with students and she couldn't get through without someone bumping into her. The heels weren't helping her situation either.

She was stuck in the middle of students desperate to go to the cafeteria when someone grabbed her hand. She turned around, and was relieve to see it was only Kai.

"You alright?" he asked, pulling her out of the soon-to-be stampede.

"Yeah. Did you find them?"

"No, unfortunately. But the others are in the field and they're having ideas of where the Noxius Brothers could be."

"Okay, let's go then."

They crossed the grassy field and walked towards the others who were standing under a big sycamore tree, trying to go by unnoticed.

"What's up?" Hyerin asked, pulling on the waistband of her black pencil skirt.

"No sign of them in class," Baekhyun informed her. "They could have already left and we were too late, but they could also be around the campus hiding somewhere."

"I presume it would be there." Chen pointed to Gangnam Academy's version of Yeongnam's school tower. It was almost the same height but with more gothic, intricate designs. Also, it looked old and abandoned, very different from Yeongnam's modern architecture.

"It looks like it's under construction," Kai said. "We should go check it out."

They headed over to the tower and thankfully, it was deserted. This part of the campus was under construction, giving them an easier opportunity to sneak in without being caught. As they walked in, they were met with a narrow spiral staircase that lead to the very top of the clock tower.

"It would be too many of us to go there at once. I'll go," Hyerin said. "And I'll take Sehun and Luhan with me."

Chen nodded. "Okay. We'll just be down here." 

The three climbed up the stairs as slowly and quietly as they could, cringing when an old stair slightly creeked under Sehun's feet.

When they reached the last step, Hyerin made way for Luhan to go ahead of her, as he was the one who was assigned to take pictures. The three of them crouched down when they heard faint voices within the room.

They spotted the Noxius brothers standing in the balcony. They stood in a circle, completely engrossed in their private conversation. Luhan took this as an advantage and took several pictures with his camera.

Hyerin took out a small device similar to that of an earpiece and placed it in her ear. She pressed a little button that activated the device. The faint voices became much louder to Hyerin with the device amplifying the sound for her. She moved closer as she silently listened to their conversation.

"Do you have it?" Myungsoo asked.

"Yes. It's already in the car," Key replied. "It would be stupid to bring it here."

"Good. He better be satisfied with that or I'd have to break his neck," Minho said in annoyed tone.

"I still cannot understand what he needs us for," Key sighed. "Unfortunately for him, things like that are not what we're here for."

"But if we wanted to, we would succeed," Myungsoo added.

"Yes, but we are not to be ordered around," Key replied sternly. He was about to say more when his phone rang.

"Yes, hello? Yes...yes...alright. Very well then, we'll be there." He ended the call before turning to the other two. "The car's here. Let's go so we can leave before the sun sets."

"Oh ," Hyerin hissed. "Go, go! They're coming!" she whispered, pushing Luhan and Sehun towards the stairs.

They climbed down hastily yet as quietly as they could in their current situation. When they reached the bottom, they motioned for the others who were left behind to run to the nearest exit. And so they did.

They ran through hallways and lobbies until they finally reached the back of the school where their SUV was parked. They jumped into the van except for Kai who stuck a tracker on the Rolls Royce they just passed at the last minute after realizing it was the Noxius Brothers' car. He entered their van before the three could see him escaping.

The trio entered their Rolls Royce, oblivious to the tracking device that was firmly attached under the car.

"The tracker's on," Kai said, taking off the school's blazer. "It should appear in the GPS."

Chanyeol, who was appointed to drive their car, the navigation. He pressed several buttons before it lit up and showed a green and red dot in the middle of the road. "I see 'em," he said, starting the ignition. "They're moving."

Hyerin looked out the window, taking off her glasses and heels. She could see the Rolls Royce driving ahead. "Don't tail them. Choose a different route to follow them since they might get suspicious. The navigation will guide you so it's fine."

"Got it," Chanyeol muttered, tinkering with the GPS before backing out of the parking space.

"So what did you get?" Chen asked.

"It wasn't completely clear to me, but it sounds like they're meeting up with someone," she said, loosening the bun on top of her head. "I think they're giving them something in return for another thing. I'm just not quite sure what it is."

"Well, we'll definitely find out what's up with them," Tao said, leaning back on his seat and loosening his tie.

"Alrighty. Luhan, let me look through your shots and Xiumin," Chen said, "call up Suho and the others back at school to inform them of our whereabouts."

"Got it," Xiumin said, fishing out his phone and dialing Suho's number.

It didn't take too long before the Rolls Royce pulled up on a secluded part of the city where all the notorious gangs hung out. It was one of the rougher areas of the city and no regular person would even dare think about going to such a place.

Chanyeol managed to find a different route to follow them and also spotted a good place to park where they wouldn't be noticed. They settled on a sidewalk parking that was fairly close to where the trio parked, but not too close that anyone would suspect them to have any business there.

Hyerin, Tao, Kyungsoo, Kai, Luhan, and Xiumin agreed to sneak into the area to see what the brothers were up to. With not much of a glance at the others, the six agents stepped out of the van and proceeded to rely on their own navigation to get to their destination.

This time, Kyungsoo led the way as they made their way through dirty alleyways and narrow streets to avoid attention.

They finally spotted at a run-down building heavily guarded by gangsters armed with attack rifles and a variety of deadly weapons. Kyungsoo signaled to the others to stay low as he crawled to a broken brick wall that looked to be used for shooting practice. The others trailed behind him.

In front of the building the Rolls-Royce was parked, but the three brothers were nowhere to be found. It was only when the building's doors opened that the trio stepped out of their car.

Coming from inside the old structure were three men clad in dirty suits, any exposed skin decorated in gold jewelry. The two behind the one in the middle seemed to be just guards assisting their leader.

"Holy ," Tao mumbled under his breath. "I know that guy."

"Who are they?" Kai asked while Luhan took pictures beside him.

"That's the head of the Immitis Clan. The same gang that worked for Lucy and the ones we attacked in that warehouse where she hid," he explained. "The same gang that my dad used to be a part of."

The Noxius Brothers and the head of the Immitis Clan met in the center. At this point, Hyerin took out the same hearing device she used earlier at Gangnam Academy to listen to their conversation.

Key turned to Myungsoo beside him who was carrying two black briefcases. Myungsoo nodded, handing the older boy the cases. Key took a step towards the gang leader and began to speak.

"I do hope this is enough." Key dropped the briefcases in front of him. "If I were to be completely honest, this is more than enough, actually."

The gang leader's eyes darted down to the briefcases. He signaled his two bodyguards to pick it up.

At once, they followed his orders and picked it up then opened it. Inside was crisp stacks of money filling the cases to the brim.

Kyungsoo quickly retrieved mini binoculars from his belt. "They're hundred dollar bills. I would estimate around three-hundred grand," he said. Xiumin let out a low whistle.

The leader nodded his head once before shunning away the two to bring the money inside the building. "I'll see what I can do," he said with a very thick accent.

"He's Japanese," Luhan pointed out effortlessly.

"Just as we agreed to, Mr. Yukihara." Key crossed his arms, looking at the leader with blatant hostility. "And please do leave him a message for me, yes?"

The other was silent, waiting for the boy continue.

"Tell him that this is a one-time thing. I do not plan to join his little army, as do my brothers. I will help him, but I will definitely not stay to do any more of his chores. That's not what we're here for," Key finished, his gaze on the older man not wavering even once.

"Is that all?" Yukihara asked after a deafening silence between them.

"That is all." Key nodded. "We will take our leave now. Please do not contact us unless we do so first. Good day to you," he said lastly, turning on his heels to go back to the car with the two following after him.

"Let's go," Kyungsoo said, moving away from their hiding spot and leading the others back to the van.

Once they returned to the car, Chanyeol immediately started driving while the others asked what they saw.

"They met up with the Immitis Clan and gave them a ton cash," Hyerin explained. "Key said that he hoped it was enough for 'him', although I don't know who 'him' is."

"We'll get into that later," Chen said. "Right now, what's important is that we know they have something to do with all of this mess."

"I told you so." Hyerin cocked a teasing brow at the lightning manipulator. In return, he lightly kicked her in the leg.

Hyerin stuck her tongue out at him when her phone began to ring. It was Kris.

She pressed her phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Everything alright there?" he asked. "How was it?"

"It went great. Suspicions about the Noxius brothers were correct, but we need more proof to solidify their involvement. Although I think them meeting up with the Immitis Clan is enough proof, if you ask me."

"True. I knew there was something off about those bastards," Kris sneered. "Anyway, school's going to be over in two hours so you don't need to come back here. No one pointed out your absence so it's fine."

"Great. Thanks, Kris. Tell the others we said hi."

"Sure."

"Alright. Catch you later." She was about to hang up when Kris called her name.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Be careful on your way back," he reminded.

She smiled. "Of course. I'll see 'ya."

"See you." Click.

"What did he say?" Baekhyun asked.

"Nothing much. He just told us not to go back to school anymo–"

"Guys?" Chanyeol cut in from the driver's seat.

"Yeah?"

"Uh," He scratched the back of his head, controlling the wheel with one hand, "for some reason, the target's car disappeared."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kyungsoo demanded.

"It means it disappeared," Chanyeol pressed. "It's gone from the GPS. Look."

Hyerin furrowed her eyebrows and leaned in the front of the car. "That's strange. How could this hap-"

Hyerin was not able to continue when their van violently jerked forward, sending the girl flying to the passenger seat with Luhan while the others were tossed around the back.

 "What the hell!?" Chanyeol screamed.

"What the was that!?" Kai exclaimed.

"I don't kno-" Again, their car jerked forward.

Chanyeol shouted profanities as he adjusted his mirrors. It was only then that he realized what was happening.

"," he hissed. "It's the Noxius Brothers! They're behind us!"

"," Kyungsoo hissed, looking out the window to see that it was indeed the trio's car that was violently crashing into them repeatedly.

"Chanyeol, look for a way out! Now!" Hyerin ordered, lurching forward once again when the van got rear-ended again. She would have had her face to the glass if it weren't for Luhan who kept her in place. He wrapped his seatbelt around her to keep her from flying around the car.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"Anytime," he replied, rolling down his windows to take pictures of the car behind them despite their situation.

In a short span of time, the Noxius Brothers managed to catch up beside them with Minho at the passenger seat looking straight at them. He flung a dagger at Chanyeol with perfect aim that if everyone didn't warn him he would have been dead by now.

"Duck!" Xiumin screamed.

Chanyeol ducked, while Luhan managed to stop the dagger from hitting both him and Hyerin with his power. With a little sway of his hand, the weapon went flying back to the opposite car.

"Chanyeol, seriously man, get us the hell out of here!" Tao shouted, now seated on the ground.

"Okay, okay! I'm trying!" Chanyeol said through gritted teeth.

Both cars sped their way through the streets, ignoring stoplights and civilian cars that earned them countless of honking and shouted profanities. It was an endless chase, until Chanyeol spotted an entrance to the freeway.

Chanyeol aggressively turned the wheel to the left, bumping roughly against the Rolls Royce's side. When the latter swerved around clumsily, he made a sharp turn to the right, barely getting the chance to get into the freeway and crashing into the entrance sign in the process.

He drove to the freeway, skillfully speeding ahead while avoiding the other cars.

"Did we lose them?" Chen asked.

Chanyeol took a glimpse at the rearview mirror and saw their car a couple of feet away. "Not just yet," he muttered under his breath before merging into the right lane to exit the freeway. The van bumped with a few other cars, and at times like these, Chanyeol wished he were driving the Lamborghini instead. It was faster and smaller.

When they finally exited, the others went back to their seats.

Chanyeol took a moment to catch his breath before looking down at the GPS. "Wait, it's back. I can see where they are again."

"I threw another tracker," Kai said, tiredly leaning his head back against the headrest. "I thought it would miss but it stuck on the trunk."

"They went out the same exit we did." Hyerin squinted at the navigation. "And they're a mile and a half miles away from us."

"But wait," Luhan held his hand up. "They're closing in. They're coming this way."

", we have to get out of here!" Baekhyun hissed.

"No," Kyungsoo said sternly. "If they didn't want a fight, they would have fled and never chased us. But they did, so let's give them what they want."

"He's right." Tao nodded. "This would also be a good opportunity to see what they can do."

"If we're going to do something then let's get the hell out of here. Chanyeol, drive somewhere hidden."

Chanyeol nodded looked around. He spotted a dark spacious alley and parked the van there. One by one, they stepped out of the car.

Chen his watch that doubled as a GPS. He pressed a few buttons before the tracker appeared in the small screen. "They're 0.4 miles away now...but wait. They're not moving." His brows furrowed. "They're just staying still."

"Note that that's just the car, not them," Kai said, eyes scanning the road. "They could have stepped out and searched by foot."

"Whatever it is, everyone stay alert," Hyerin reminded, taking out her gun.

Everyone huddled in the center, backs facing each other as their eagle eyes searched for any sign of the Noxius brothers.

"Any minute now..." Chen mumbled, glancing at his watch.

"They're just going to pop up out of nowhere, aren't they?" Baekhyun asked.

"Yep."

And pop up out of nowhere they did as they came jumping down the alley from the rooftop.

Once they landed on the ground, Hyerin noticed that it was only Minho and Myungsoo, and that Key was nowhere to be found. She took out her pistol and did not waste time any more time to shoot them.

Reacting quickly, the duo split ways. Minho ran to the left while Myungsoo to the right.

Hyerin's eyed widened seeing how fast the two dodged the bullet, especially Myungsoo. He was running in an impossible speed that made him appear like a blur circling around them. She tried shooting him again, but her bullets were nothing against Myungsoo's speed.

Minho on the other hand faced the rest of the boys. The others stared in shock, as his rippling muscles grew bigger than it already was, veins looking as if it were going to pop any minute. He snarled, eyes turning into a bright yellow and teeth pointed and sharp.

"Holy ," Kai whispered in disbelief.

Without much of a warning, he lunged towards them.

Hyerin watched as the boys fought Minho, while Myungsoo disappeared off somewhere. There was no telling that these guys weren't normal teenagers and that they were right with their suspicions; they really had something to do with all the supernatural business they've been trying to figure out.

Kyungsoo heatedly charged towards Minho, tackling him to the ground. He gave him ground-shattering blows to the face that drew blood from Minho's mouth and nose. Nevertheless, the latter looked as if this did not bother him at all. He shoved Kyungsoo off him and stood up on his feet.

The others kept attacking him but the boy was simply too strong. Myungsoo also was a tough guy to defeat, acting as if he were merely playing hide and seek – only appearing to distract the others from using their powers and then disappearing after.

Hyerin made it her mission to find Myungsoo, but out of nowhere, he appeared again, now in the middle of a human barricade the boys made. This time, Minho was the one missing, and she had never been so dizzy in her entire life. How did they move so fast?

Hyerin was about to run out the alley to look for Minho, but he found her first. He tackled her from behind, wrapping his strong arms around her neck and choking her. Hyerin struggled under his grip but managed to elbow him in the stomach. She pried his arms off her and proceeded to attack.

He tripped from the force of her attacks, but regained his balance immediately. He swung his right arm to land a punch on her jaw to which she dodged. She stood up and grabbed his right arm. He gripped the hand on his arm and twisted it.

She screamed as she felt unbearable pain, the cracking of her bones being crushed resounding in the air. She collapsed to the ground with her limp arm, biting her lower lip as tears welled up in her eyes.

"!" she winced, laying uselessly on the floor.

She couldn't process anything, as all she could think about was her broken arm. The pain was so extreme and something even she couldn't handle.

"Hyerin!" She heard the others calling her.

Kai, Kyungsoo, and Baekhyun were the first to arrive beside her while the others watched in horror at what happened to her. Chanyeol was frozen on the spot, paling at the sight of the girl.

"What happened!?" Baekhyun demanded, but Hyerin continued to curl up into a ball.

"Minho, h-he..." Kyungsoo stuttered, afraid to touch her.

"! Where the hell is Lay when you need him!?" Kai exclaimed.

"Move," Chen growled, and the others backed away to make way for the boy. He went down on one knee as he inspected the girl's arm.

Chen cursed. "Her arm is broken." He glared at the Hyerin. "I told you, Hyerin. This was a bad idea! If you weren't being so goddamn stubborn-"

"Scold her later," Chanyeol said abruptly. "For now we need to get her to M-LX to give her medical attention while Lay isn't out of school yet. We need to go now," he said, marching over to her and carefully lifting her up. He winced as Hyerin cried out from the pain shooting up her arm.

Chanyeol gulped before nodding towards the van. "Let's go."

---

It was already late at night when Hyerin got back home, one arm in a cast until Lay can find the time to tend to it. She received an earful from Chen earlier, letting him scold her like there was no tomorrow for fear of all hell breaking loose if she dared talk back.

Although the pain was impossible to ignore, she tried to distract herself by spending hours in front of her laptop in the living room, researching about the Noxius Brothers using M-LX's classified database.

It was clear they had something to do with Lucy and Durus, but what she couldn't figure out was why. Were they planning abduction? Where will they do it and why? And of all times, why now? They could have done it a long time ago, especially since Lucy had been on Earth for decades, so why?

Hyerin was so immersed in her search for answers that she slightly jumped in surprise when the door clicked open.

Her head shot up. "Who's there?" she called out.

"Hey there, honey," From the shadows, her dad walked inside the house with a smile on his face. "How's everything?"

Hyerin's shoulders relaxed. "Hey," she sighed, turning back to the laptop. "Everything's good, I guess."

Myungjae turned to her. "Is that right? You don't sound so–Jesus!" he exclaimed. "What on earth happened to your arm?"

"Oh, this? Ha," she chuckled, standing up from the couch and heading towards the kitchen. "Stupid injury from a mission earlier. Don't worry, Lay's going to heal it soon."

"My god," he mumbled, shaking his head. "What have you been up to, young lady?"

"Oh, you know, exciting agent stuff. The usual." She shrugged, opening the fridge door and taking a carton of milk. She closed it before going to the cupboards to get a glass. "Nothing new."

"You should rest, Hyerin. You're straining yourself too much. I'm worried about you."

Hyerin smiled slightly as she poured the milk into the glass. She briefly glanced at her dad who was leaning languidly against the counter. She really did miss him a lot.

"No, I'm okay. This is what we do, you know? We break all our limbs just to solve one case," she said, looking through the pantry.

"Mm. Maybe you should take a break."

"Please. You're the last guy on Earth who would ever say that."

"No, really. Take a break and stop minding other people's business."

Hyeri's eyebrows knitted together. "What?"

"I said stop snooping around in other people's business, ," he sneered, grabbing the back of Hyerin's head and slamming it against the fridge. Hyerin cursed and collapsed on the ground, taking her head into her hands before whipping around to face him. Her dad was looking at her with pure resentment, a look that he had never used on her.

"Dad? What the–What is this!?" she exclaimed, dodging a kick in the groin.

Myungjae did not answer her and instead, landed a punch on her jaw. Her back collided with the counter, and as much as she didn't want to hurt her dad, she kicked him as hard as she could, sending him flying towards the sink. She shot up from the ground and punched him in the stomach.

He groaned from her blows before taking her by the neck and throwing her to the side. She crashed into the cabinets. Myungjae made his way toward her and pulled her up by her broken arm. She cried out of pain.

"Dad, why!?"

"For being a ty daughter."

"Wha-"

Hyerin forgot her words as Myungjae began to shorten in height and become lankier in built. His features began to morph and his hair lightened into a blonde color.

Myungjae transformed into Key.

Hyerin's jaw dropped at the sudden realization. It was Key all along, not her dad. He was able to pretend to be Myungjae because he was a shape-shifter.

"Hello, Hyerin." He smirked, making Hyerin's blood boil. "Nice seeing you again."

She clenched her jaw. "Are you going to kill me?"

He shook his head. "No. At least, not yet. I'd like some quality time with you first before I kill you. You're too precious to be shunned from this world so quickly."

"Is that so?" she asked, shaking his grip from her arm.

"Yes! Oh, but please Hyerin, you have to get rid of this very troublesome trait of yours."

"And what is that?"

"You see, you're a very sneaky girl," His hold on her arm tightened, "and I don't like sneaky girls. Nobody does. So if you could try to be a good girl for once, that will be appreciated. Now," He leaned in closer, "where are the pictures?"

Pictures? Right. Luhan took pictures of them during their meet-up with the Immitis Clan. "What pictures?"

Key gave her a tight smile before looking away from her, chuckling. He sighed as he turned to her again, eyes darkening. He slammed her face down on the surface of the counter forcefully. ", stop acting dumb with me. I know you have it," he growled next to her ear. "Where are they?"

Hyerin's eyes focused down on the ground as she ignored the pain. "I'm not so sure," she droned sarcastically. "But I promise to shove it up your once I find them," she spat as she lifted up her foot, hitting Key right in between the legs. He cried out and backed away. He fell to the floor, giving Hyerin the opportunity to run out of the kitchen.

She stormed inside her bedroom and grabbed her phone from the study table, dialing the number of the person who would get to her the fastest.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Kai, get here ASAP," she said. "I'm in trouble, there's not much time."

"Wha–Hyerin!? What's ha-" She hung up.

"You sly little ," Key scoffed, standing in her doorway.

"Thanks," she retorted.

He growled, lunging at her. They landed on the bed with Hyerin pinned under him.

"You know, you should be happy I haven't killed you at this point." His breath tickled the side of her face as she glowered at him. The moonlight seeping through her bedroom window casted a sinister glow on his face, making him look even more wicked.

"Why not kill me now? Afraid you're gonna miss me?"

"They want you alive and breathing." He shrugged, closing the distance between them. "Such a shame."

Hyerin tried to get out of his hold but to no avail. Key laughed at her attempt.

"Why are you doing this?" she questioned in a low voice. "What are you planning to do?"

"I don't know, hun, and I don't care," he answered. "All I know is you should have run away when you had the chance because if you think your little organization M-LX is gonna fix any of this for you, you're wrong. So don't celebrate if you manage to escape me because if I don't kill you there are others who will." He grinned. "You really have no way out of this, Hyerin."

Hyerin already knew what she was going to say back and was ready to give him a piece of her mind when Key was suddenly pulled off her from behind.

She shot up from her bed and saw Kai taking the boy by his collar.

"That's enough play time for you, you son of a ," Kai growled, throwing him to the doorstep. Kyungsoo appeared out of nowhere with a scary glint in his eyes before beating the life out of Key.

Kyungsoo only managed to give him minor bruises before Key transformed into a white cat, slipping away from his hold. He climbed to the window and jumped out into the night.

Kai ran to the girl on the bed. "Oh my god, are you alright?" he asked, brows furrowing in concern. He cupped her cheek and tilted her head a little to look at the cut on her cheekbone.

"I-I'm fine," she stammered, turning to look at the open window. "He escaped."

"It's fine, we'll get him later. What matters right now is you," Kai said, brushing her hair away from her face. "What did he do to you?"

"Key's a shape-shifter. He morphed into my dad and broke into the house. I didn't realize until he attacked me," she explained.

Her eyes darted up and met with Kyungsoo's gaze. She was slightly taken aback to see the boy looking extremely worried. His eyebrows were curved up and his lips were slightly pursed, arms folded in on himself and knuckles white.

But it disappeared as quickly as it came. His face neutralized as he cleared his throat. "I'll go call the others and Lay to fix that arm once and for all," he announced, stepping out of the room.

Hyerin dismissed it and turned back to Kai. He was in the corner of the room, taking her first aid kit and then kneeling in front of her after.

"Kai, you don't have to. Lay will be here any mi-"

"No," he cut off, taking out the necessary stuff. "You've been hurt too much in one day. Really, when will you get out of trouble for once, Hyerin?"

But it wasn't her fault. She wasn't the one who was looking for trouble; trouble was the one looking for her. At this point, Lucy's words were permanently stuck inside Kai's head. As much as he didn't want to believe it, the things she said were slowly coming true.

And he's just there doing nothing as it was happening.

"Sorry," she mumbled as he cleaned her cuts.

Kai sighed. He held both her hands and looked up at her. "What did I tell you about being careful?"

"I know, I know. It's just that-" she ran a hand through her hair, "It's just that things are happening so fast that I don't have time to think about that anymore and, the thing is, I think all this has something to do with me. Blue, Lucy, Key and everyone keep saying I have something that they want. I don't know what it is but-" her eyes flickered with discomfort, and for a moment, she looked scared, "but I just...I'm just wondering what that could be, I-I just, what's wrong with me?"

Kai wished he could give her an answer, but unfortunately, he knew nothing that she didn't know already. If he could get that confused look on her face to disappear, he will. He'd do anything. It's just that he didn't know how.

"Nothing is wrong with you," he assured, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles and not looking away from her even once. "Everything's going to be alright." But he knew full well that it was not.

The loud bang of the door being opened distracted the two as they turned to see who it was.

Baekhyun stood in the doorway, staring at them with labored breathing and crooked eyeglasses. As he met gazes with Hyerin, a sense of comfort washed over him, making his shoulders relax and his face to soften.

"Jesus," he huffed, leaning against the doorway. "Thank God you're okay."

Behind him, Chanyeol appeared from the dark hallway and entered the bedroom. He looked sullen and troubled as he stared at her.

"Chanyeol," Hyerin said, not sure what to say to the boy.

As if her words were a go signal, Chanyeol stormed towards her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He firmly held the back of her head as he whispered in her ear, "I promised to look after you but here you are all battered up," he sighed, pain decorating his handsome face. "I'm so sorry. I said I'd protect you but I'm doing such a horrible job at it."

Hyerin couldn't blame the boy. After what happened at the formal ball, he needed time to recover. And besides, it was not like she asked him to protect her. On the other hand though, she was happy that he was talking to her again.

The corner of tugged upwards as she hugged him back, comforted by the familiar warmth only Chanyeol was able to emit. "I don't care about that, Yeol. What matters is I'm still alive and breathing."

After a few, the other boys arrived just as worried about her. Lay proceeded to heal her wounds—which in return, drained most of his energy—while Kyungsoo explained the whole story of what happened.

"We should really be careful from now on." Suho shook his head. "Although it is most likely that they will wait for us to attack first rather than them, we should still be very cautious. We are becoming targets, as well."

The others nodded in agreement before turning their attention to Hyerin and Chen who were silently talking on the bed. Chen looked extremely angry while Hyerin listened as Lay worked on her arm.

"I honestly think you really don't listen to me. At all, Hyerin. At all. I told you that this was a very bad idea yet you and your stubborn ways just get on with it anyway! What would you do if something worse happens to you? What if they kidnap you? Where would we look for you, huh?" His eyes rounded in anger. "Where?"

"Okay, that's enough scolding for today, Chen," Suho said.

"No!" He frustratingly ran a hand through his face. "This girl will never learn. She just has to wait for something bad to happen before finally realizing that being impulsive is not an option. We can't take risks!"

"I have to agree." Kris folded his arms in front of his chest. "Unnecessary missions will definitely lead us to trouble."

"No, guys, listen." Hyerin held up her hands to keep them quiet. "If we just wait for the trouble to come, it would do more damage than intended. If we were a couple of steps ahead of them, then we would know their agendas and hidden connections. We would defeat them like this," She snapped her fingers to prove her point. "You guys may think it's risky, but what can we do? We have to stop whatever the hell this is before it even happens!"

"You're luring more enemies our way by doing that," Chen retorted.

"Then if you think that's the case at least let me fix this." She held him by the shoulder. "I start this, I finish it. I don't stir up and then run away once it gets ed over. That's not how I work. Just please, please," she turned to look at the others, "just let me take the lead on this one."

The others looked to one another silently.

At the corner of the room, Kyungsoo was leaning back against the wall, his arms folded against his chest as he stared at Hyerin. He on a tooth before saying, "Let the girl do it."

He met gazes with her as he continued. "She knows what she's doing. Let her do it," he said with finality.

It was quiet for a while before Suho nodded, eyes trained on the ground as if he realized Kyungsoo was right. "My family is holding one of their parties at our home next week," he announced. "Kai's family and a whole bunch of politicians including the mayor will be there. It's a formal event and since the Noxius Brothers are pretty well-off themselves, they're most likely to be there," he continued. "If you guys want, you could go and check it out. You know, for further investigation on the case."

"Yeah, that would be okay." Sehun nodded while the others followed suit.

Kris nodded his head, giving in as well. "Very well, then. We just have to be very, very cautious," He looked at the boy beside Hyerin and raised brow. "It's your call, Chen."

Chen gave Hyerin a hard look for a good five seconds before sighing dejectedly. "Fine."

Hyerin grinned.

"But!" He held up a finger, "No more impulsive missions or actions that will lead any of us into a critical position, you understand?"

She nodded.

"Good."

"So what do you think, Hyerin?" Suho asked, smiling at the girl. "The party next week. Is it a good enough plan?"

Hyerin smiled. "It's the perfect plan."

---

Hyerin was quietly watching the city below from the balcony when she felt something bump gently against her temple. She turned her head only to be met with her Keroro plushie's fake plastic eyes.

From behind the stuffed toy, Baekhyun peeked. "Hey."

Hyerin's brows furrowed. "Hey," She straightened up from leaning forward against the railing. "Uh, what's up?" It slightly embarrassed her that he was holding something of her possession, especially since it was a toy.

He looked quite bashful judging from his reddening cheeks. He adjusted his glasses. "I thought you would need a little dose of Keroro to keep your mind off of things." He lightly hit her forehead with the plushie. "Here."

With raised eyebrows, she took it. "Thanks?"

"Are your wounds fixed up?" he asked, trying to change the topic.

"Mhm," she hummed, lifting her arms up to check. "I'm good as new."

"That's good." He nodded, going over to the railing and folding his arms on top of its surface. Hyerin followed suit, eyes trained on the city below them.

Baekhyun turned to look at her. "You're a good listener, Hyerin."

She glanced up at him questioningly.

"You always listen to what I have to say, especially with those stupid paintings even though they're really not that interesting," he continued, propping his chin on top of his knuckles. "The thing is, you don't have to be the only one listening."

Hyerin waited for him to continue. "You can tell me whatever's on your mind, too, and I'll just sit here and take it all in like you do. I mean, I don't ask as much questions and stuff but," he shifted his gaze back to her, long pretty fingers slightly covering the small charming smile on his face, "a good listener needs a good listener, too."

Hyerin couldn't tear her eyes away from his as she bit the insides of her cheek. She found herself feeling nice and comfortable for the first time that day, and she wondered what this feeling in her chest was.

It was nice.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said.

Baekhyun smiled, affectionately patting her head.