Everyone had noticed the tense aura around Hyunseung, who looked like a bomb that could go off any minute. Even Paro was slightly tensed, as she waited for an outburst. Everyone had fallen dead silent as they either gazed at the enraged male in front of them or tried to avoid eye contact with him. No one expected the words he spoke to break the silence.

“Dinner is ready, let’s go.”

What surprised them more, was the small smile he flashed at them. For a moment the group stared at each other, bewildered, but followed after anyway, with hesitant steps. What had happened to Hyunseung? What they didn’t know however, was that there was a hurricane of anger in his mind that he was suppressing desperately, which only was expressed in his tight fists and whitened knuckles. What good would it do him or the others if he threw a tantrum at that moment? The best he could do was take care of them, of her.

A few noticed the signs of Hyunseung’s desperation in hiding his inner turmoil, including Chaima and the sharp leader Doojoon. They occasionally stole glances at him while he served dinner with Dongwoon and Baeri. Soon enough the table was filled with food and Paro was doing her best in showing interest and an appetite, despite lacking them. When she saw the others eat and laugh naturally, the girl joined in sincerely this time. That was the first time she wondered how she had ended up with people as great as them.

That evening, Baeri and Chaima decided to stay over for the night after Paro had convinced them, by eventually resorting to begging and some horrid aegyo. They couldn’t win against and even Hongjung was invited. Paro’s aegyo was on par with Yoseob’s and the poor spellcaster, who taught Paro these antics, was judged greatly by the two women after they had given in to Paro’s merciless attack. They decided to play games and watch a movie to entertain themselves. It was Paro’s first sleepover which made it all the more special to her.

The evening was filled with laughter and fun, despite the hidden mixed feelings each of them had at that moment. They decided to enjoy the moment, since no one knew how long this peace would last. After that day, every single one of them realised that Paro could be eliminated harshly when she posed a danger. The worst part was, that they had to do it, no one else but them.

* * * * *

The next day breakfast passed quite silently. The mixed feelings of the day before were slowly drifting to the surface, despite none of them really meaning to. There had been futile attempts in starting chatter among the group, but the tension was awkward and heavy enough to hear it cracking. At some point, the only words spoken were the occasional ‘pass me the … please’. Aside of that, the only audible sounds were the clattering of tableware and munching.

Soon enough, breakfast was over and while some busied themselves with cleaning up, others gathered in the living room. Paro was still too weak to walk without support, so she was usually carried by one of the guys or walking while her weight was also supported by someone else. She tended to apologise every few minutes, which worried them. The usual cheerful girl had grown quite silent, even more obedient and less problematic. Though not voicing it out, Paro considered herself a burden to them and the girls knew this while the males were oblivious of that fact.

Around 10 am they received a call to report at Cube immediately, all of them. Whether they brought Paro along was their own choice. Since she was in a weakened state were walking alone was almost impossible, they agreed on bringing her along. Whatever mission they would receive, some of them would stay behind to take care of the girl not wanting to leave her with strangers or people whom couldn’t be trusted if they left her with them.

About an hour later, the 10 of them arrived at the Cube headquarters parking lot. Dongwoon took Paro on his back, while the rest walked by themselves. Chaima still stole glances at the illusionist every now and then also noticing the clenched fist that would occasionally tighten or loosen. Minutes later they were in the main hall and noticed that it was quite lively. Usually there wouldn’t be many people in the mornings. Paro’s eyes scanned the main hall where people were walking back and forth, doors were opening and closing and some sitting while chatting.

“Look who we have here!”

The sudden shout startled the dark haired girl as she jolted on Dongwoon’s back. She unintentionally pushed herself back and lost her balance, surprising Dongwoon and Yoseob who was the victim of the girl’s weight on him. In a reflex both Doojoon and Gikwang caught Yoseob and Paro before they fell to the ground. Chaima’s eyes darted at the tall male in front of her as she eyed him with a pointed look that turned into a glare at his grin.

“Emre, you idiot, you scared Paro.” Chaima snarled at the man.

“Aww come on I didn’t mean to.” He cooed. “Or maybe I did?”

He really shouldn’t have smirked after that comment. It would have spared him the humiliation he would be facing. Without a warning, Chaima’s eyes flashed a deep ruby colour for a split second. Baeri placed her hand on the girl’s arm to stop her from whatever she was planning. It was too late though, the next thing Emre felt was the heat on his behind. As the realisation hit him, his eyes widened.

“Holy…, Emre your is on fire man!” Another male shouted.

A shout was heard and all eyes turned to the newcomer as he hung upside down in mere seconds by a black rope that had emerged from the shadow of the Chandelier on the ceiling.. Confusion was spread across the hall as the silence fell. Slowly the silence broke as whispers started among the people present in the hall. From the shadow of a plant, a figure emerged. She brushed her hair back while her arm rested on her hip. A glare was sent to the group.

“How many times have I told you not to run and be quiet in the hallways.?” The banshee asked as her voice expressed the irritation she felt.

Jaeli felt a figure running towards her, but didn’t move from her spot. Baeli ran past her a few seconds later and with her small body, easily made a high leap. She twisted her body in mid air sending a kick into the direction of the assaulting newcomer. Her kick connected with his chest, but her leg was grabbed in the process. Her eyes squinted slightly, as she turned again with a jerk, this time aiming for the red haired male’s jaw. He avoided the kick by pushing her away from him. Baeri flipped in midair and landed on her knees and hands, while the red haired stumbled backwards a few steps.

“Almost had ya, Jiawei.” The girl smirked as she got up to her feet.

The male grinned in return. “In your dreams, midget.” was his response.

He spread his arms and Baeri hugged the guy with a smile. What she didn’t see was Gikwang’s narrowed eyes in her direction, with a slight scowl emerging on his expression as he helped Paro back on Dongwoon’s back. He watched the two chat for a moment as a bitter taste tingled his taste buds. A slap on the back of his head from Yoseob, dragged him out of his thoughts and the scowl disappeared immediately.

“You’re being too obvious.” He whispered with a mocking grin as Hongjung suppressed a laugh resulting in a giggle.

Gikwang rolled his eyes before making his way towards Baeri. “What’s up Jiawei. Haven’t seen you in a while.” It was a desperate attempt to join the conversation, but hey at least he tried.

Meanwhile Chaima was laughing at Emre’s attempts to get rid of Chaima’s fire on his clothing. It was in vain though, since the girl’s flames wouldn’t even go out if you threw water over it. It was a life flame after all, not easy to get rid of. Eventually she got bored of Emre’s desperate pleas and shouts, so she put it out. Just in time, because Carlo arrived to witness the ruckus coming to a halt. He rubbed his temples with a sigh before speaking up.

“My office. Now.” He told the group and eyed Jiawei, Emre and Daniel who was abruptly released in midair to fall to the floor. “Not you three though. You’re dismissed.

* * * * *

The 10 of them were in Carlo’s office and despite the room being quite large, it was cramped with this many people, twelve in total if you include Jaeli and Carlo himself. Paro was seated, while the rest was standing. Carlo was starting to feel claustrophobic in his office and let out a sigh and pressed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb.

“Let’s go to the laboratory. The results of the tests are out.” He suggested.

Without another word he left and the group silently followed, with Paro back in her wheelchair. Once they had arrived in the laboratory, Junhyung noticed Paro’s muscles tense and her hands curl into fists in her lap. He bend down slightly to take on of her hands in his own as Doojoon pushed the wheelchair.

As they continued walking, he slowly opened her tight fist finger by finger. With confusion in her complexion she glanced up at the chocolate haired who returned a small smile, making the girl unconsciously smile as well and slightly relax. Jaeli started to turn on the screen and soon, their attention turned to it immediately as she started talking.

“Let’s start with the experiment we did yesterday.” She started and eyed Hyunseung for a moment. “I expect you all to listen well, because I won’t be repeating this. Questions can be asked at the end, so do not interrupt me.” She waited for a response and received several nods.

“Those who were present when the experiment took place, also saw Paro’s reaction when the light crawled over her chest area, right?” This time she didn’t wait for responses. “Well we found out why that is. But I’ll start from the beginning. I’m sure you all remember the orb Hyunseung and Chaima brought with them from their mission and how we explained that Carlo’s suspicion was it being the Core for the artificial life forms.

Well that hunch was right. It is indeed the core of the artificial soul of the life form, but in an immature form. The orb matures into a delicate system within the physical body of the artificially created organism. With the scans on Paro’s body, we found out how the orb evolves once it is matured and completely developed.” Jaeli pressed a key on the device on front of her and th screen changed. There was a systematic picture of a standard humanoid body with a green glow in between the second ribs.

“This green dot here represents the core of the soul, meaning the little marble. Only in this state it isn’t a marble anymore.” Another key was pressed and the picture changed slightly. There were threads of green spread throughout the body like the blood circulatory system. It no longer is a solid marble, but it developed itself into an organ system within the physical body. This is the biggest difference between an artificial life form and a biological one.“

“So… what do we need this information for?” Yoseob asked after a silence had fallen.

Jaeli gave him a stern look, but was interrupted by Baeri’s answer to the question. “We now know how to kill them.”

Everyone eyed the short girl who was intensely gazing at the screen with her eyebrows curled into a frown. “The core is the most important organ to them. It connects their soul with their body. We can easily kill them if we destroy it.”

Despite her momentary astonishment Jaeli continued. “Right. The core is located behind the sternum at the angulus sterni at the height of the second rib. I suspect most of them to have some kind of barrier to protect this vulnerable spot, but we should be able to break through.”

The group had fallen silent to take in the flood of information they had gotten. Paro whose hand was still linked with Junhyung’s had tightened her grip on it. Although she couldn’t understand most of the things that were said, she did understand one thing clearly. They knew how to kill her and the others that were created like she was. It slightly relieved her that they now knew how to eliminate her if she ever posed a danger to them. She refused to be more of a burden to them than she already was.

* * * * *

The second part of the reason they had to report at Cube immediately, was of course a mission. The 6 men and the Baeri-Chaima team had already arrived at their destination for their mission. What’s more, they already encountered a problem right at the moment of arrival. They had fallen right into the trap set up by their enemy and it frustrated most of them quite a lot.

As they were standing in a group together, backs to each other in a circle, they were encircled by the creatures that quite resembled the ones Chaima and Hyunseung had encountered. They had expected their arrival, but could never guess that they would attack in a group of hundreds at the same time. During their fight most of the members got injured, because of their let down guard. Baeri was still taking turns on at least making the bleeding stop.

While Doojoon had a broken arm, Hyunseung had bite wounds in his leg, Gikwang had scratches on his back and arms, Yoseob had a nasty bruise and cut on his face, Junhyung had a bleeding temple and a cut across his calf, Baeri herself had ripped clothing and a sickening cut across her abdomen. Only Chaima and Dongwoon were the only ones remained untouched. The situation didn’t look all to well, since the numbers of the creatures seemed to increase, despite taking out more than half of the ones that had come for them at first.

Doojoon cursed out loud as a sinister laughter echoed through the building, accompanied by the horribly harmonising growls and screeches of the creatures around them.

“We’re pretty screwed, aren’t we?” Yoseob voiced out his thoughts.

“Shut up. I won’t let any of you idiots die, just watch me.” The pyrokinetic snarled as her irises and pupils flashed a dangerous ruby colour and her body temperature increased.

“Well said, firefly.” Hyunseung smirked and received a growl from Chaima.

“I won’t be giving up easily either.” Gikwang announced as he rubbed the dirt from his mouth with the back of his hand.

Author's note

Update! Yay! Next chapter will be Rated M due to violence and language again~ 

We have a cameo of my dear friends~ In this story they're a unit as well. I'll have them cameo in some scenes from time to time to lighten up the mood a bit :3

Stay tuned for the next chapter! Comments and upvotes make me very happy. Thank you for reading <3

Lots of Love,

Saenan