Listen to Tick Tack by U-KISS : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4dO_-Cj-Ss

"Lauren."

The girl turned around and smiled. She stood up and bowed to her Mentor.

"Congratulations Joon saem," she chirped. "I saw your initiation on television yesterday."

"Are you sure that's what you saw?" Joon playfully remarked. "What about those weird BTOB boys all of you are crazy about?"

Lauren pouted. "Don't tease me, saem."

Joon laughed and glanced at the book on her table. His eyes oversaw the room and he smiled in satisfaction. Like always, in order. The kids were sitting with their respective Mentors or working on assignments given by the latter. His gaze landed on a figure crouched in the corner, giving her book a blank gaze.

"What's with her, Lauren?" 

Lauren looked up and followed her Mentor's gaze, causing her smile to drop. "That's... Dayoung. Forget her, she's always quiet."

"Are you sure?" Joon asked. He stood up, only to be pulled back down.

"Don't!" 

Joon widened his eyes, Lauren's exclamation catching everyone's attention. Lauren cleared and smiled. 

"You've been away for long Joon saem, " she said. "Spend some time with me please."

Joon's heart warmed and he nodded. After spending the next half an hour with her, he pat her head and exited the room. The other Mentors left, leaving no one but the kids. Lauren closed her eyes in relief, then slid next to her friend.

"You didn't have to lie." Dayoung's eyes were still on the book, the same page as the one she had opened to three hours ago. Lauren placed a hand on Dayoung's shoulder and pasted a smile on her face for the cameras above.

"Stop coming to the institution Dayoung," she muttered through her teeth. 

"They'll notice," Dayoung said, pasting a smile on her own face too, pretending to share the book with interest. 

"You know what they'll do when they find out who your Mentor was." Lauren gaped at the book and muttered an incoherent praise. Dayoung nodded enthusiastically, then breathed, "I know she'll return."

"Either way, you're in trouble. Dayoung, I'm scared for you. Please don't wait for her. You can always..."

The bell rang. The kids stood up and exited the building, coming out onto the quadrangle. Lauren and Dayoung held hands and walked out, looking towards the sound of familiar laughter. Joon was standing in the middle of a crowd, other Mentors patting his back and congratulating him. 

"Your future is set now," Dayoung said with a sad smile. "Kairi is no more a part of Paragon and is no more Joon's Partner. You're beautiful and smart and when you turn sixteen, everyone will envy you for having Joon as your Partner."

Lauren bit her lower lip. It was a fact she already knew of. At the age of sixteen, boys and girls had to choose one Partner for life and within three years, marry them. If any one half or both of the Partners married off to someone else or were in secret relations with anyone else, incarceration for life was the punishment. Since Joon's Disciple was of the opposite , his next option was none other than Lauren herself. 

"He's already making a move," Dayoung wryfully teased. Joon was waving at her, signalling her to join him. Lauren was already tall and slim, her face devoid of the baby fat prevalent in thirteen year olds. 

"No one will care about the age difference," Dayoung chuckled when Lauren opened to argue. "Plus, he has a good status now."

Dayoung let go of Lauren's hand and gave her a slight shove towards the boys. "I'm leaving now."

"Not again Dayoung," Lauren begged. "The streets aren't safe. Stop looking for her."

Dayoung pursed her lips. "No one is safe here, Lauren."

                                                                                                     ***********************************************

"DAYOUNG!"

Kairi woke up, drenched in sweat. The light switched on and Yoona jumped from her bed, approaching Kairi with a worried expression. "What happened? Nightmare?"

Dawn came and Yoona was standing infront of the family with a dark expression.

"What happened Yoona?" Woohyun groaned, rubbing his eyes. He noticed Kairi's absence and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Kairi has a Disciple in Paragon. Her name is Dayoung and she's thirteen years old."

Apart from Sungjong and Hyosung, everyone gasped.

"She wants someone to go to Paragon to receive her," Yoona sighed. "Or else she said she would go with someone."

Glances were exchanged. 

"What does that mean?" Hyosung asked innocently.

"The Mentor-Discipline system was created by Paragon to limit family ties," Hoya growled. "If any Mentor was caught teaching his Disciple anything outside the context of Paragon rules, then both would be executed. The parents would be exempted from any punishment since in Paragon, parents are not responsible for education so they would not be blamed for nurturing a potential outlaw."

Sungjong gasped. "They wouldn't."

Woohyun gritted his teeth. "Trust me. They would."