None of them expected Paro’s reaction like that. The moment Paro had ran towards the two who just returned had stunned Yoseob, Hongjung and Baeri as well. Aside of Paro’s soft call of the illusionist’s name, the room had become dead silent. After falling to her knees in front of Hyunseung and Chaima the silence was broken by soft sobs moments after the girl’s tears started to show.

Baeri was already walking towards the three, when she first heard the sobs. She had noticed the perplexed expressions of the two who faced the sobbing girl. She looked so fragile at that moment, so broken. It was as if she watched her whole world shattered, just by knowing that someone was in pain. It made her realise how innocent and gentle the girl actually was. How the her soul was like a white canvas that only had a few streaks of paint, since the day she met the Cube agents.

Hyunseung and Chaima’s felt their hearts soften at the scene of the crying girl. Before Hyunseung even had the chance, Chaima moved towards the dark haired, who now wore a soft lime green long sweater that showed her bare shoulders with white leggings, as she rubbed the tears away the tears with her fists. Her shoulders were shaking but she kept her eyes on the wounded male in front of her, afraid something would happen to him if she lost sight of him for even a split second.

Chaima wrapped her arms around Paro’s shoulders as she pulled the girl closer. Her left hand the back of the girl’s head, soothingly and softly, while her right arm had a firm hold on her. She didn’t resist at all as she felt herself being pulled in Chaima’s embrace. The warmth spread throughout her, which was an unfamiliar sensation at first, but she decided she liked it seconds later.

Baeri had knelt next to Hyunseung and watched Paro cry as she saw his sorry state. Normally she would have punched him for being reckless before healing the guy, but seeing Paro’s emotional outburst, she decided to leave the punishment for later. She smiled at the girl, but realised that she probably didn’t even paid attention to her, nor would notice her. After having made that conclusion she decided to help the wounded, whom she called an idiot in mind.

“Don’t move, I’m going to have to rip your clothing.” She announced.

Without waiting for approval, Baeri opened the buttons and ripped the sleeves from the shoulders, knowing that it would be too hard to have him pull the short off normally. His muscles were strained and unnecessary movements would result in unnecessary damage she’d have to heal as well. Once Hyunseung’s upper body was unclothed, the rest of the spectators, Yoseob and Hongjung, joined the group as well.

Baeri was had started healing the wound on Hyunseung’s back first as he kept watching Paro in Chaima’s arms. The girl had stopped sobbing, but was still in tears, just silently now. She watched intently as Baeri worked on the wounds, while Chaima had moved behind her, still with her arms around the girl and still her hair.

“Welcome back, Hyung. Chaima too.” He heard Yoseob say.

When he looked up, the boy was smiling like always, trying not to show his concern. Hyunseung knew better though, he knew Yoseob was on the verge of spilling out a huge lecture and probably planned a beating as well. Even then, he always smiled, in an attempt to comfort another. It was the talent a lot of people lacked. The elder male returned a small smile to the spellcaster.

“Thanks,” was his simple response.

Meanwhile Baeri had moved to the wound on his arm. The frown she had on her face went unnoticed. She was a healer, but the deep wound on his arm and the one on his back she already treated, made her wonder what had attacked them. It was quite a strange place to attack.

The wound was a bite wound in a muscle that would have disabled the usage of his arm. Whatever it was, they knew how to take out a human. It wasn’t a thoughtless attack. The question burned in her mind, but for the moment healing him was more important. They would report to Carlo in a moment and she would surely join them.  The wounds bothered her. Even the attack on his back was directly aimed at his spine. He had probably evaded it, since it was an attack that was supposed to put the spine on a pressure that would surely paralyse him temporarily.

“I’m done.” She eventually noted.

Without many words she retreated and sighed. Hyunseung had noticed Baeri’s rather strange behaviour. Normally she would have thrown a tantrum on always having to heal them because they were too stupid to be careful. The usual fake anger that somehow enlightened the mood. Something was deeply bothering her and the others, excluding Paro, had noticed it as well. They decided not to question it, since the girl in Chaima’s back hug was still crying.

“Thanks, Banolim.” He thanked the short girl, whom in response just frowned shortly after showed a small smile.

Hyunseung moved from his position and got on his feet again, he didn’t stand though, he crouched in front of Chaima and Paro The girl stared at the brunette who didn’t show any signs of pain anymore. Her tears were still flowing, but mainly because the surge of emotions was too great for her to handle. She didn’t know how to stop. The more she struggled the more suffocating the feeling became. Even with Chaima’s arms around her she was still restless. Not as much as before, but the anxiety remained.

Once Chaima saw Hyunseung back on his feet, she released Paro and simply sat behind her. She felt the girl’s shoulders tense when her grip on her loosened and felt bad. When her arms were retreated Paro’s hands moved down from her face and landed in her lap. She stared up at Hyunseung who was sitting in front of her, with a smile.

“Why’re you crying, Paro?” He asked her. “I’m all right. See?”

The girl however frowned at the male, even though she slowly felt the lump in disappearing. When she looked into his eyes she understood that he spoke the truth. There was no pain in them anymore. She couldn’t recognise the other emotions that reflected, but the pain was gone. Another feeling rushed through her. While she had felt heavy and suffocating moments ago, she felt light at the moment and slowly the anxiety disappeared. Others would have recognised it as relief, but Paro didn’t know this.

She felt the familiar feeling of Hyunseung’s hand on her head, patting it gently. Her tense muscles finally relaxed.. Paro’s frown remained. There was this feeling that made her refuse to smile and accept this reality of Hyunseung being hurt badly. There was this fire ignited inside her a hot feeling in her chest that wanted to explode, another feeling she didn’t recognise. But weirdly enough she thought she knew a way to release and express it.

“Pabo.” She said flatly.

For a moment Hyunseung was completely dumbfounded, wondering if he imagined the word coming from . When he heard Yoseob laughing, he realised his imagination wasn’t playing tricks on him. Soon Baeri and Chaima joined the laughter whereas Hongjung just giggled. He blinked as he stared at her, still at loss of words. Paro gladly repeated the word.

“Pabo!” She repeated, this time with a more steady and louder voice.

Right on time, the four others returned from their errands. They watched the exchanged in amusement as they soundlessly approached the scene of Hyunseung being reprimanded by the girl who until a few hours ago had no voice. Paro could feel the fire grow upon seeing the words and decided that it was a good way for her to release the hot feeling inside her.

“Pabo. Pabo. Pabo. Pabo. Hyunseung, Pabo.” She eventually exploded as she jumped right at the victim of her words.

Hyunseung didn’t expect the sudden movement, but still managed to catch the girl as he fell backwards. A groan escaped him as his head hit the marble floor. He pried himself up on his elbows and glanced at the girl who laid on top of him, her chin on his chest as she stared, no, glared at him. It wasn’t a glare with hate though, it was filled with concern and anger.

“Paro?” He asked as he still couldn’t find any other words to sprout.

The response he received was the continued glare from her and laughter from Doojoon, Junhyung, Gikwang and Dongwoon who just arrived.

“What did you do, Hyunseung?” Junhyung asked eventually.

Hyunseung looked up to meet the eyes of the dark haired who was standing right beside his head and shrugged. “I don’t kn-...”

“Paro saw him in the sorry state of having his beat during a mission. She cried because he was in pain.” Chaima interrupted him with a smirk and shrugged off the daggers the glare in his eyes sent to her.

“Paro, you’re a sweet girl aren’t you?” Doojoon told her as he also knelt and patted her head with a smile.

The girl stared at him for a while in confusion for a while. About ten seconds later, she blinked as usually and smiled. Hyunseung finally managed to sit again with Paro still in his lap. In this position he looked down at her and was still trying to process the scene that happened. Was he just scolded by her? The thought alone brought a smile to his lips and he her head again. Paro’s reaction was her angered frown that made him chuckle.

“I’m sorry, Paro. I’ll be careful next time.” He assured her.

“Come on Paro, this Hyung needs a punishment. Don’t talk to him.” Dongwoon suddenly said.

He placed his hands on the girls waist as he lifted her to her feet. Paro looked over her shoulder up at the taller male and nodded after a moment of staring. Once on her feet she wrapped her arms around Dongwoon’s arm, as she still wasn’t completely stable on her feet. Hyunseung looked up at the taller male with an arched eyebrow before glancing at Yoseob.

“Who taught her that word?” He asked, with a slightly threatening tone.

Yoseob swallowed a lump of saliva before responding. “Well… She heard it during a conversation… I guess?”

He retreated a step, afraid of what his friend was planning to do. To his relief Hyunseung just sighed and got on his feet shortly after Doojoon. He thanked Junhyung when he handed him a button up shirt and finally covered his upper body. Gikwang had glanced at Baeri and noticed her silence. This was usually a moment where Baeri and Chaima would throw in sarcastic remarks, resulting in a verbal fight. Nothing of the sort happened, which slightly worried him. Chaima had noticed her friend’s behaviour as well.

“What’s on your mind?” Baeri heard Gikwang ask and she felt his elbow nudging her side.

The girl was in thought and didn’t really pay attention to the scene that happened. She hadn’t even noticed that he and the others had returned. His voice made her snap out of her thoughts, but also startled her. She had completely spaced out, which was quite rare for her. She looked up at her friend who was looking at her with a concerned gaze. She didn’t want to worry him for now, not until she knew more about the mission Chaima and Hyunseung had returned from.

“Making a plan on how to make you treat me to chicken.” She smirked at him.

Gikwang didn’t buy it, but decided to play along for now. “By defeating me? In your dreams, Banolim.” He mocked.

“Just watch me Lee Gigong. One of these days I’ll give you a beating that will bring you on your knees.” She returned.

* * * * *

“And. What do you think about this?” Baeri asked the man behind the desk.

He rubbed his chin as he stared at the four agents in his office. The marble Chaima and Hyunseung had brought with them from their mission was in a glass cube box on his desk. The five could feel the pressure from the power the little orb carried with it. The report he received from the two and the healer’s observation of Hyunseung’s wounds bothered him. He locked eyes with the four agents in his office.

“For now… I can’t say much. But taking your observation into consideration, Baeri, I think Jae’s on the move.” He started and leaned back in his chair.

“I saved Hyunseung’s illusion of a replica of the beasts. I’ll have Jaeli look into it. For now you’re dismissed.”

“Jaeli’s back?” Chaima asked without even bothering to hide the excitement in her voice.

“She’ll be back tomorrow, if I’m right.” Carlo responded. “I’ll have her report to you in person.”

He could almost see the two girls bounce through the room, but they contained their excitement. After greeting Carlo the two girls left the office. Before Doojoon and Hyunseung left however, he held them back to speak with them for a moment.

“Hyunseung-ah. You’ve used your solid illusions.”

Carlo’s voice was cold and strict, almost threatening. It sent shivers down Doojoon’s spine, while Hyunseung just gazed at their boss. After a moment he nodded.

“Don’t make me seal that power of yours. You could have brought Chaima in danger as well. Now go.”

Author's note

Update~ Yay~ 

I promise that the next chapters will be more dynamic ~ Sorry for the slow progress. I've added two new characters in the Introduction chapter. The Prince and Princess of Cube~

Don't forget to comment guys~ I need some cameo's so if you want to jump in, just post 8D

Lots of love,

Saenan