“Weird.” Baeri muttered to herself.


She had zipped open the leather jacket to be able to heal the girl’s wounds. The girl, herself, wasn’t really interested in her physical condition, but rather in the side pigtail Baeri had. It dangled above the curious girl’s head and she pawed at it like a kitten. The boys who witnessed the scene couldn’t help but understand why Hyunseung was unable to kill her.


Soon enough the four men in the back, Hyunseung was seated beside Doojoon, came eye to eye with Baeri who sported a rather judging look. They immediately averted their eyes and occupied themselves with chatter. Chaima however was busy typing up a report and hadn’t noticed much of what happened in her surroundings.


“What’s weird?” She had asked absentmindedly as she heard her friend sigh.

“Well… I can tell she’s human. Her anatomic structure is exactly the same, but her cells are rather new. She can’t be older than two years old.” She spoke out her thoughts.

Now she had Chaima’s attention. “Well… yeah… she is an experiment after all. It should be … expected, I guess.” She responded hesitantly.

“Let’s just continue when we get back. I’ve finished healing her wounds.” Baeri sighed.


Just as Doojoon had told Rebecca, they arrived in 15 minutes in front of the headquarters. The black van stopped in front of the smiling blonde, who as requested had brought a wheelchair with her. She waved at the van when it came into her sight and greeted everyone with a smile when they got out. Chaima returned the smile and waited for the rest to get out.


When they did, the men except for Hyunseung and Doojoon walked over as they greeted as well. Hyunseung carried the girl to the wheelchair who was looking around her curiously and rather lost, while he was accompanied by Baeri who eyed the girl with a questioning and rather confused frown.

“I’ll be back when I’ve parked the van. Wait for me in the main hall.” He informed them.


Once dark haired girl was seated in the wheelchair, she was pushed by Gikwang who had handed her the necklace she was eyeing the whole time. She fumbled with it on her lap and was awestruck by the jade. Soon enough they arrived at the hall where they would wait for Doojoon. Carlo hadn’t arrived yet either.


With a tired groan Chaima plopped herself in a chair. The girl flinched with a soft yelp at the sound of the groan and almost dropped the pendant. In slight panic, her arms moved around wildly to try and catch it. When it fell on her bare legs, she exhaled deeply in relief. She picked it up again carefully and held it firmly in order not to drop it again. Gikwang couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.


“She kind of is adorable.” He said.

Baeri glanced at the girl with guilt building up in her. “As much as I hate to say this… Don’t get attached to her. She might not make the day.”

She felt all eyes boring into her, even Rebecca stared at her for a while.

“I guess you’re right.” She eventually heard the Beast Tamer agree. “It’s a shame though.”

“Well I’ll go get Carlo. You guys rest a bit. You’re probably tired.” Rebecca eventually said to break the silence that had fallen. With a small smile she left.


Moments later Carlo arrived with a big smile on his face. He had dark circles under his eyes though, which showed that he probably worked through the night, maybe even a couple of nights. He walked into the hall and saw the group lazily scattered among the chairs and couches. Most of them wore either a tired expression or a rather sad expression as they watched the newcomer in the wheelchair, who was playing with what Carlo recognised as Gikwang’s necklace.


“Welcome back everyone. Why the long faces?” He greeted them warm heartedly.


One by one everyone looked up and smiled at Carlo or greeted him. Chaima however was still slumped in her seat with a tablet in her lap, typing away furiously. The man walked up to them and stopped in front of the new figure.


“I guess this is the one Rebecca told me about?” He asked, not expecting an answer.


A frown found its way to his expression as he observed her. Her deep brown eyes were also looking back at the man. Bluntly she locked their gazes. He also saw what Hyunseung had seen. There was no emotion vividly recognisable in her eyes. They were blank, almost hollow. Carlo rubbed his chin as he kept looking at this girl. He was in thought. Seconds after, he smiled at her.

“Hello there.” He greeted her with a warm smile.


The response he got were a few blinks and the girl tilting her head to him as she continued to gaze. To everyone’s surprise a frown formed on her face after a while of silence and she looked down at her jacket. Her hands ran over the line of the zipper where she sought the slider. Once her thumb and index finger got a hold on it, she pulled it down.


A satisfactory smile graced her face when she heard the ripping sound she found interesting. The girl cast her eyes down on the leather jacket with the metal teeth attached to it. She had halted right above her chest, but it was barely covered. Chaima had heard the sound and immediately her gaze darted to the slender figure in the wheelchair. To her relief, she pulled the zipper up again and let out quite an adorable squeal in joy.


As if on cue, Doojoon returned right at that moment. He eyed the scene carefully and for the first time, he as well got to take a look at the girl. He just observed her as she played with the jacket.

“I’ll be right back. I need to discuss something with Hongjung.” Baeri informed before she left through the door.

* * * * *

Carlo had received the reports from the members and the items they had picked up. He asked Rebecca to store them in the laboratory so the team could take a look at it. Just as their talk was finished and Chaima had finished reading the written report, Baeri had returned with Hongjung. The dark haired smiled and greeted everyone. Hongjung was quite different from Baeri and Chaima who were quite loud and outgoing. The former was more a silent and introverted type that matched her grace.


The dark haired made her way to the girl in the wheelchair and placed a chair in front of her. She smiled at her and was met with the stare of the hollow brown eyes. At first Hongjung was taken quite by surprise. She reached out her hand towards the girls face, who didn’t make a move at all. She just gazed curiously at the woman in front of her. Once the hand was placed on her forehead, she looked up and blinked. Her eyes then fell on Hyunseung, who noticed her stare on him. His response was a small smile and a nod.


“Strange.” Hongjung muttered.

“What is?” She heard Hyunseung asking. He stepped a bit closer to the scene.

“Baeri’s hunch is right. She seems…” The female paused a moment, searching for the right word. “.. rather hollow I guess. Not necessarily incomplete…. but her soul definitely lacks something. And her mind… It seems … to me it looks as if she can’t think for herself. Just like us she feels emotions and she can observe things… but there is no reaction. Nothing at all. Except for genuine curiosity.”


The explanation somehow made sense to Baeri and Hyunseung who felt the same. Chaima just stared at the scene for a moment as well as the others. Yoseob seemed to have had a hunch, while Gikwang could also tell something was off. Junhyung, Dongwoon and Doojoon were as puzzled as Chaima.


“So… What do we do with her?” Doojoon finally broke the silence.


Everyone eyed Carlo whom seemed to make a decision. “I guess… She’s like a newborn. She’s innocent, but ignorant. She needs to learn things.” He started to explain. “But … she’s still a threat. One we don’t know anything off. I don’t want to risk--…"

“I’ll do it.” Hyunseung interrupted Carlo much to his own surprise. Carlo stared at him for a moment. “I’ll take responsibility for her.”

“What?” Chaima asked in Carlo’s stead. “Why?”

“I’m in as well.” Doojoon and Dongwoon agreed at the same time. They glanced at the other three males whom nodded in agreement.

“As much as I dislike the thought of bio weapons… she’s innocent. I’m not going to stand by and let an innocent being be killed or locked away.” Junhyung took the words right out of Hyunseung’s mind. The latter smiled in response.

“Rather than that… We’ll take responsibility for her and raise her. Learn her things and …. well yeah.” Yoseob chimed in.


Chaima’s mouth opened to say something, but closed again soon after. She had to agree with them. The girl was innocent and she as well didn’t like hurting someone without justice in the actions. She could learn how to live in their world and if she had any, she’d learn how to use her abilities for the good, instead of the bad, as cheesy as it sounds.


“I guess we can help out whenever you idiots have problems with her. She is a girl after all.” Chaima eventually said.

“Hongjung and I will be there too.” Baeri assured with a smile.

“That’s settled then.” Carlo finalised. “I’m proud. Don’t worry I’ll help out too. But she can’t live here though. You’ll have to move to a house in Shunkan.”

“We can use mine. My parents used to live there, but since they’re gone it’s under my name.” Doojoon spoke. “It has room for about 10 people.”


With that everything was settled. Though not everyone admitted it, they were happy that the girl didn’t have to be killed for something she hadn’t even done. While the girls took her away to get her some clothes, the boys discussed a very important matter.

“She doesn’t have a name, does she?” Dongwoon asked.

“Even if she does, a new name will give her a new starting point.” Doojoon responded.

“Well does anyone have ideas?” Gikwang asked.


A silence fell. Eventually everyone gazed hopefully at Hyunseung, whom seemed to be the best with these kind of things. He’d come up with an original name for sure. Hyunseung had ignored the stares and was deep in thought. After a moment he could feel the heated stares burning through his skull and let out a soft growl.


“I can’t concentra-.... “ He paused as he interupted himself. “What about Paro?”

“Paro?” The five of them chorused. Hyunseung nodded.

“The Pa from Pajong (seeding) and Ro….” He paused again to think this time. “Ro just sounds cute I guess.” He was met with a few arched eyebrows.

“What about the consonant Ro? Since it has an expanded meaning.” Gikwang spoke out his thoughts.

“I guess…. that it sounds quite okay. It’s original.” Yoseob voiced his opinion hesitantly.

“Paro then. What Paro though?” Junhyung questioned.

“Nun Paro.” Hyunseung responded. “Her eyes were the first thing that caught my attention.”

“It’s settled then. Nun Paro.”Doojoon agreed.

Author's note:

Triple update~ Yay~ Or more like... written up untill chapter three in one day OTL. Okay I'm tired, but it was worth it. 

An explanation of Paro's name and to make the conversation a bit more... uhh.. less confusing. I guess.

The Pa comes from Pajong which means seeding or growing. The Hanja character at least. The Ro is a consonant in Korean grammar. Here's an explanation from a reliable source.

(으)로 // (eu) ro connects a noun and a verb very closely and can have various functions. -(으)로 can mark the ingredients that an object is made of, the cause of a disease or something that happened, the direction in which someone is going, or the status or identity of a person that is doing something. ---talktomeinkorean.com Level 2 lesson 28.

The reason I picket this, is because I imagine Paro as a seedling who will find her way into the society, even though she was never meant to be born. I hope it makes sense somehow.

Okay our cameo list~ 

Current list:

- Rebecca: Done. 
- Esmee
- 
- 
-

I hope you liked the chapter and the story up until now. Please comment <3 I'd love to hear your opinions.

Lots of love,

Saenan