After leaving Carlo’s office, Doojoon and Hyunseung headed back to the main hall, where the rest would be waiting. Doojoon glanced at the other male as they silently walked. It wasn’t like Hyunseung to use an ability he couldn’t control on a mission. Even when he trained it would be in an isolated room, where he knew he wouldn’t pose any harm to anything or anyone. He figured that something had happened or something was bothering him. With a sigh he placed a hand on the guy’s shoulder.

“Hyunseung-ah. If you want to talk, just let me know.” Doojoon told him.

Hyunseung just side glanced at the male beside him in silence for a while. He was glad that Doojoon wasn’t the type to force anything out of him, but did offer a shoulder for support. Hyunseung didn’t speak a response to the male though. He nodded at him, as Doojoon removed his hand from his shoulder. Doojoon accepted the response like that and they continued walking to the group.

* * * * *

A week had passed rather quickly with the change in the lives of the Cube agents. The six males were living in the house with Paro. The girls decided that they did not want to live with the chaos of the men and remained in their apartment. Their apartment was only three blocks away from the house, so they could visit regularly. There had been three missions that week and nothing weird like the appearance of those creatures happened. It was rather peaceful, much to everyone’s relief.

The day had started quite lively for the six men and Paro. Although everything went well in the morning, lunch was a battlefield at the table and in the kitchen. While Hyunseung was the one cooking, Doojoon tried to keep everyone tamed as they set the table only to give up after realising it was no use anyway and eventually kicked them out of the kitchen, while Hyunseung had to go on an errand to the convenience store

“HYUNG!” Doojoon heard a female voice yell.

Soon after he heard quick steps of at least two people. They got louder and louder as seconds ticked away until a dark haired girl stormed into the kitchen running passed him and hiding her smaller body conveniently behind him. He glanced over his shoulder in confusion to see the girl press her index finger against her lip as she looked back at him, but heard the next person storming in as well.

“Yah! Nun Paro! Do you think you can get away just like that?” He heard Junhyung shout, obviously angry about something the girl behind him had done.

When he turned back he faced the angry male whom looked around the kitchen to find the girl.

“What’s going on?” The eldest of them asked the fuming male.

“Have you seen Paro?” Junhyung asked ignoring the question.

“Answer my question.”

A sigh escaped the male as he ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair.

“This.”

Doojoon arched an eyebrow as he watched Junhyung hold up a piece of ripped and burnt fabric, that he figured was a t-shirt originally.

“And this is not the only one that turned out like this.” He added.

Doojoon stepped aside to glance at the girl behind him. She looked up innocently at him as she received a glance that asked for an explanation. Paro swallowed as she took a few steps backwards, but was stopped when the dinner table hit her back. She fidgeted with her fingers as she stared at her feet, not wanting to meet their eyes. Junhyung crossed his arms over his chest as he tapped with his foot, impatiently, while Doojoon shot him a glance telling him to calm down.

“What happened, Paro?” He asked her.

The girl glanced up at the taller male through her eyelashes for a second or two and dropped it to her fidgeting hands afterwards. Her fingers were curled as the backs touched each other, while the tips of her index fingers were tapping against each other. It was a habit she had whenever she was sulking, scolded or dealing with emotions she couldn’t understand. Doojoon let out a sigh as he approached the girl carefully.

“Come on. I promise I won’t be mad.” He assured the girl.

He saw the girl glance at Junhyung before she laid her eyes on Doojoon to meet his.

“Junhyung won’t be mad either.” He added before he turned his head to send the other a warning glance. “Right?”

The other male sighed and nodded in defeat before he grumpily mumbled. “Promise.”

A moment of silence fell while Paro still fidgeted with her fingers, but at least she was looking at Doojoon and that was all he wanted for now, her attention. Though Doojoon felt a bit bad about pressuring her this way, it was important to teach her what was wrong and what was right, especially since she learned unimaginably fast. If they didn’t pay close attention to what the girl learnt, they were afraid she wouldn’t be able to develop well. The bad was easier to learn than the good after all.

“I… I-I….” The girl started to stutter nervously and when she noticed that the two were waiting patiently she continued. “I tried to iron the clothes. I saw Junhyung-hyung do it and I wanted to try... but… “

She couldn’t continue because she heard laughter. It wasn’t Doojoon’s nor Junhyung’s. There was a new figure who had entered the kitchen and laughed at the scene. With irritation written all over his expression, Junhyung glared at the newcomer. Doojoon just glanced at the male who had a half eaten banana in his hand before he glanced back at Paro.

“I can’t believe you guys are angry at her for wanting to help.” Dongwoon said after he stopped laughing.

The girl looked up at the male as he took another bite of his banana. She gazed at him in confusion for a while before glancing at Doojoon and Junhyung.

“Come on Paro. I’ll teach you how to do it properly.” Dongwoon told her and held out his hand motioning for her to come over.

“Wait.” She heard Junhyung. Before she even had the chance to walk, he was already in front of her and bend down to match their eye levels. He didn’t look angry anymore, not at all. After hearing her side of the story, he couldn’t be angry with her. He also knew that Paro was by no means a spoilt brat, who would do things for selfish reasons. When she wanted to learn something it was either because it looked fun to her, or because she wanted to help them out. He let out a sigh when he saw Paro tense.

“Did you get hurt?” He asked her. “Did you burn yourself?”

He watched Paro blink for a while and noticed from the corner of his eye that she pulled the right sleeve of her sweater down. Without warning he grabbed her hand and pulled it upwards again, only to confirm his suspicion. He was a streak of a fresh burn from iron about two inches tall on her lower arm right above her wrist. He also felt the girl tense up again and looked at her. She didn’t avoid his gaze and looked straight back slightly afraid.

“Pabo.” Junhyung scolded her. “Didn’t you get mad at Hyunseung for hurting himself? Now you’re the one who’s doing it.”

He patted the girl’s head before opening one of the cupboards in the kitchen where he took the first aid kit from. He rummaged through the white box for a while before finding what he wanted. It was a white tube with some things written on it and Paro could only recognise a few letters she saw. Junhyung screwed the hood and squeezed a drop on his finger. He walked back to the girl to smear the ointment on the burn wound. Paro flinched at the contact of her sensitive skin with the cold white substance, but kept quiet.

“There.” Junhyung noted. “Don’t touch it.”

The girl smiled gratefully at the male. “Thank you, Junhyung-hyung. I’m sorry… for ruining the clothes.”

Junhyung knew that her apology was sincere. Paro didn’t know how to lie and never did. She considered lying a crime, something no one should do. He didn’t even have time to finish the thought nor respond to the girl, because a shout from another room interrupted them rudely. The three males glanced at each other before rushing out of the room. Junhyung made sure to link hands with Paro and keep the girl close to him.

* * * * *

In the living room Yoseob and Gikwang were watching a movie while the scene in the kitchen, they had no idea of, took place. They had heard Paro yelling and fleeing and Junhyung following her while shouting, but decided that it was better for them to keep out of it, since Doojoon would probably fix it. Dongwoon had been watching with them as well and headed to the kitchen while it became too silent there. He wanted to know what happened.

Minutes after Dongwoon disappeared, Yoseob suddenly felt a presence next to him out of nowhere. There were two couches in the living room. The one across the television and one other to the right of it making a corner with the first couch. Yoseob was sitting on the former couch, while Gikwang was laying on the other. The presence that appeared out of nowhere, emitted a dark, but familiar sensation. And because it came rather unexpected, the poor spellcaster had the scare of his life when he suddenly saw the figure beside him, so he yelled all the air out of his lungs.

Gikwang jolted up at the shout and came eye to eye with a dark haired familiar female, who sat on the couch nonchalantly as if it was the most normal thing in the world, to suddenly emerge from the shadows. He couldn’t help but laugh at Yoseob’s reaction though. He looked horrified and both Gikwang and the female seemed amused, while the victim himself was quite upset at it. Right at this time the group from the kitchen walked in and even Hyunseung came walking in through the front door.

“Nice job Jaeli.” Gikwang complimented the girl and leaned in for a high five.

“Yeah. Awesome.” Yoseob mumbled sarcastically.

“Jaeli, it’s been awhile since last time we’ve seen you.” Doojoon greeted the Banshee with a smile. “Came to report, I assume?”

The smile instantly disappeared as a dark expression took its place. Even Jaeli looked serious. Only Hyunseung and Doojoon knew that she’d come for the report, while the four others had no idea. Hyunseung dropped the bag with groceries on the saloon table as he took a seat on the couch next to Gikwang. At the new presence, Paro had taken hold on the back of Junhyung’s shirt with her free hand, while she gazed at the dazzling girl on the couch beside Yoseob who finally managed to calm down.

“Yeah. I am actually. Take a seat.” Jaeli responded.

Dongwoon and Junhyung glanced at each other, but shrugged as they as found a place to sit. Junhyung decided to take place on the floor, so Paro could sit with him, as she looked afraid or rather shy in front of their guest. The chocolate haired gave her hand a squeeze and allowed her to hug his arm after sitting down.

Once everyone was seated, Jaeli’s eyes fell on the girl whom was immediately intimidated by her gaze. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, but once she saw Jaeli smile gently at her, she relaxed slowly to her own surprise. Jaeli dazzled her for some reason, even though she still intimidated her. Maybe it was because of Yoseob’s reaction to her.

“Give me a moment.” She said and a short moment of silence fell as she glanced at the group with a smile. Her eyes then fell on the door. “5, 4, 3, 2, …”

With a loud bang, the front door was opened and two familiar figures rushed into the house. The door closed with a sound as loud as the first slam and they walked into the living room, frustrated and pretty angry it seemed. Once they spotted the figure they were looking for Chaima pointed at the girl on the couch.

“Ya! Park Jaeli, one of these days I’ll make sure to beat the living daylights out of you.” She shouted in mainly frustration.

“Right on time. Nice job.” She responded, ignoring the pyrokinetics tantrums who managed to receive a growl in response. “Well let’s get to the report.”

With that Chaima and Baeri as well grew serious. The rest of the group was slightly bewildered for a moment, but knowing Jaeli, they decided to shake it off, as she was quite famous for her unpredictable moves.

“I’ll get straight to the point.” Jaeli announced as she locked her gaze on Paro, who stared back curiously.

“This girl here,” she paused for a moment allowing everyone to look at the girl. “... is targeted. Her life’s in danger.”

Author's note

A wild Jaeli appeared~! Yay~! I love her character, even if I say so myself. Hahaha~ I left you guys with another cliffhanger. Sorry for that~ But I actually enjoy doing that. :3 ~ Jeffsu will make an appearance soon! Stay tuned for that.

Don't forget to comment ~

Oh right~ In a later chapter there will be an explanation as to why Paro calls everyone "hyung" and not "oppa"~ 

Lots of love,

Saenan