I could now feel my own breathing as the noise died down inside the room. My heart raced as my worry amplifies, for the only thing I see is the floor in front of me, and the only thing I hear is sangjanim’s footsteps.

Then it suddenly stopped, so sudden that my heart beat wildly against my chest. There was three seconds of silence until his foot started tapping again, as if he was singing, dancing or--!

He was talking in Morse code!

After I count to three, you all take down these guards. He said and paused tapping for three seconds. One. Two. Three!

We all quickly sprang up from the floor and kicked the nearest guard in their face. The others charged at us, courageously and we fought them as well, kicking them in their faces and even, in their groins. Sangjanim joined us and pressed the fallen guards’ foreheads, incanting something under his breath. His fingers glowed where they touched the guards’ forehead.

I was heaving every breath after we have all taken down all of the ten. “What is that?” I asked, roughly wiping the sheen of seat on my forehead using the back of my hand.

“It’s my ancestral power. The power of changing. I can change other people’s memory of something. It’s either to make them feel fear or joy towards those memories.” He answered, placing his hand back in his black glove. “I’ll transport them back to Terribilis Locus. Stay safe, boys.”

Sangjanim placed another tobacco in his mouth and as he spoke, there was smoke puffing out of his cavern. “I don’t know what’s happening but the government wants you interrogated. I made Psy alter their minds to make them forget about your interrogation but nonetheless, I want you to look after yourself. YG is the only agency in danger.”

“Why?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. It has been ever since your father’s time. I don’t particularly listen to the government and they let me be after the negotiation. This time, they want the whole agency under their power. In exchange of our freedom, I had let them manufacture the agency’s Esurients. Now, they want my kids!” Sangjanim growled and glared at nothing in particular. “I don’t want that.”

“Why would they particularly want to manufacture our Esurients?” Top asked.

Sangjanim growled again. “How would I know? At least for now, they have forgotten momentarily what they’re going to do with you. But after a few months, they would surely remember what they would do.”

“What about Dara?” I asked, panicking. “What about her?”

“Keep her safe in here. If she wants to go outside, don’t let her.” He ordered, pointing towards the town of mundane. “I’m going back to YG and get these guards back to their posts there.”

Sangjanim ordered us to tie all of the guards together using the rope he had given us and we did as he ordered, tying all of them together. After that, Sangjanim grabbed the end of the rope, and after one smirk at us, disappeared, leaving the smell of tobacco in his disposal.

I cringed at the sight of blood on the floor and snapped my fingers. Mops came from all the sides of the house abruptly and it was so abrupt, they all knocked us down. I groaned as my face yet again contacted with the floor, and it was a good thing we regenerate, or my broken nose would take time to recover.

The door flew open and I heard a high-pitch scream, “GD!”

I groaned and raised my hands in surrender. “I’m fine! Just got knocked out by the mop.”

There were footsteps, and Dara helped me up to my feet. I brush off the dust from my clothes and body as Dara helped the others back up to their feet. After we all were standing and I was nursing my nose, I realized the change in Dara’s clothes. She was wearing a black Victorian dress—round neck and with laces, and a ribbon by the middle of the neckline.

I quickly closed my mouth before Seungri reprimands me of it and said, “Y-you look good in your dress.”

She was so worried for us that her face was plump and red, and her breathing was heavy. Dara straightened herself, took a deep breath and sighed. “Thanks,” She murmured and crossed her arms, arching a brow. “What happened here? Why are the doors forcedly opened?”

I shrugged. “Sangjanim came. He’s like that when he gets in.”

She somehow accepted the explanation but her interrogation doesn’t stop there. “Are you all alright? No unusual happenings?”

“There is.” Top was the one who answered, and he took a seat from the lounge. Seungri followed him, relaxing his tensed body. Top continued, “There was a Pax sighting at Gyeonggi-do and Chanyeol was found wounded and unconscious in EXO’s bathroom. The government is currently investigating about it.”

“P-Pax?” Dara repeated, stammering.

Top nodded. “Yeah. They’re creatures who hate monsters. The monsters also hate them. It’s a mutual understanding.”

Dara looked at me for my opinion and I just shrugged, remaining tight-lipped. I’ve never believed in Paxes ever since I was a kid but my father’s friends told me my father was fond of them before he died. If ever they were the reason of his death then I’ll surely take revenge for him. But there weren’t evidences how my father died, so if they don’t kill one of us, then I won’t kill one of them.

“So,” CR suddenly said, clapping her hand to get all of our attention. “Can we both go upstairs to have a girl talk?”

“You’ve been together for a day.” I reminded her, giving her my glare. “And you’re going to talk again?”

Seungri sighed. “Come on, Hyung. You’re so stingy. You’re like Dara’s boyfriend.”

My face became flustered from the comment and I just stammered a, “W-What?”

The redness of my face won’t come off, so instead, I turned to the opposite side.

Seungri laughed.

After a few hours, I decided to go to the kitchen and cook for dinner, since I was the one assigned to cook for today. Because if we don’t have schedules, we would be eating Taeyang’s kimchi fried rice every day since he volunteers and cooks earlier than we do.

I was opening the container for the meat when Dara entered the kitchen and sat on the counter a few inches away from me. She always keep us company when we cook, so her presence doesn’t startle me anymore, unlike the first two times. You see, every time I see her, I always remember the fortune her mother told me when she read my palm. She said I would marry Dara someday. At first, it sounded surreal because first, she was in the mundane world and that the town hardly ever offers women as VIPs. Then one thing happened to another and Dara’s here beside me now. Sometimes, I think the fortune would come true with the course of events, but whenever I see myself through the mirror, I am reminded of the horrible truth: I am a monster.

So for now, I’m going to stick into secretly loving her.

I the fire and waited for the pan to heat up. “So, what did you do?” I asked, starting the conversation.

There was the familiar sound of Crunch! And I immediately knew she was eating apple again. She giggled and answered, “I went to a lot of places with CR! And I learned a lot of things.”

“Like?” I prompted, now grilling the meat.

She shrugged. “You are Kwon Henry’s son, which is cool.” Dara paused for a moment. “What about we make up a name for you?”

I laughed, tossing the meat using my chopsticks. “Like?”

She contemplated for a second before suggesting, “What about, The Ugly-Addict? Since you always want to be ugly.”

I shook my head, a soft smile plastered on my face. “That’s applicable to everyone.”

“The Eyeliner? Hombre Misterioso?” She suggested, then laughed. “I know! Carnes a la Brasa!”

“Yah!” I shouted, laughing and I moved the pan, tossing the meat on it. “Doesn’t mean I only cook grilled meat you can already give me that title.”

I transferred the meat on the plate and set it aside. Then, I wiped my hands from the towel on the towel rack and went towards Dara. I trapped her between my arms, and raised a brow at her. She just laughed at my face and pinched my cheeks. “You’re so cute!” Dara exclaimed, gritting her teeth.

We tickled each other and laughed. Everything happened at once and after a few seconds, we found our faces at close proximity. I gulped. I was still caging her between my arms and Dara was now holding my shoulders.

I subconsciously moved forward to her, my lips ready to capture hers in a few seconds.

I closed my eyes and—

“Hyung!”

Seungri had shouted from the dining area and I was stopped midway. We were frozen in our spot, as if God paused our movements using his remote control. I could feel Dara’s small hands on my shoulders and my arms were already numb and red against the edge of the counter.

Seungri shouted again, “Hyung! Ahjumma’s here for her visit!”

I was the first one to withdraw and turned my body immediately to go towards the dining area to greet Dara’s mother, leaving her behind. I ran but quickly stopped when I was in front of the doors leading to the dining area.

I clamped my hand over my mouth as my face turns deep red and my eyebrows scrunch on my forehead. The events replays inside my head and I shriek against my hand. We almost kissed. If Seungri didn’t call me out, I could’ve kissed her and it won’t be good. I have no sense of control and I could get her pregnant. I could get her hurt.

With no intention of fixing my disoriented self, I removed my hand from my mouth and pushed open the doors.