JIYEON

It didn't come as a surprise that the moment he heard of my sister's last moments, Woohyun felt the need to rush to the bathroom. He had started hyper-ventilating and despite all the late grief resurfacing from him, his fury seemed to supress all other forms of feeling. It didn't take me less than a second to observe that upon seeing his expression, one-half of the room had frozen over. I looked at Yong Guk and pursed my lips, letting him know that at this stage, lying would not do anyone any good. He blinked and nodded in understanding, giving me a small smile before heading to chat with the leader of EXO, Kris. 

Kris was tall and to be frank, good-looking. But for some reason, he wasn't my type. I just didn't find him as attractive as any other girl would have and the fact that despite no magnetic pull towards him, my knowledge of his less-than-modest charm was proof of what he could do to a lot of girls. My gaze shifted towards the others and from bits and pieces of what I had heard, I mentally ran through all the people residing under our roof. 

I recognized Seohyun thanks to her relationship to Yonghwa. Pity overwhelmed me when I saw her quiet and demure figure, smiling at everyone and taking in all the change around her. Standing next to her was an EXO member called Luhan. I furrowed my eyebrows as I remembered how he had walked upto me and after exactly four seconds of staring, murmured, "Just what I thought," following which he proceeded to walk away. I later learned from Baekhyun that along with Sehun, Luhan was the most intuitive and observant of the twelve. 

I then looked at the guy named Lay. Kairi had been sticking with him for the first few minutes, until he was pulled into a warm hug by Kai and moved away from her. Lost in the crowd, Kairi had quietly stood next to the EXO called Xiumin, who looked extremely surprised at their proximity. However, before he could say anything, Ricky had began playing with her hair and seconds later, there was a yelp and a bang heard. Woohyun was being held back by Kairi and Sehun while Ricky was being guarded by L.Joe and a confused Jongup. 

Tao, I was told by Baekhyun, was the wushu guy. Along with Xiumin, he was well-trained in the special form of martial arts but 'looks can deceive.' Baekhyun's words had resorted to being a puzzling echo until I saw Tao fumble and run around wherever Kris went. It seemed like martial arts was no cure for social anxiety. 

The last person left was Chen. Chen looked awfully familiar to me and when he caught me staring at him, gave a wide smile and a nod. Embarrassed, I had looked away and then with an apologetic expression, returned his smile. He however had already caught the attention of another girl from Woohyun's group, a cheeky looking blonde who I later heard being called by the name Hyoyeon. 

Unknowingly, I had found myself standing next to Kairi. The whole phenomenon was overwhelming and speechless was unfortunately the only adjective I could think of. How else could I describe the feeling of coming face to face with myself in a different avatar? Kairi's eyes were startlingly green and I relented at the thought that she was eye-catching in every that I was not. She looked like she had worn a lot of eyeliner but upon close observation, I realized that she double eyelashes. A genetic defect, most would say. But added to her emerald gaze, her jet-black tresses and her cleopatra skin, it was equal to Aphrodite's blessing. Kairi, in conclusion, was a work of art. 

We stood next to each other in silence and with a comfortable understanding, agreed with not burdening each other with small talk. It would happen when it has to, we seemed to have said to each other. From time to time, someone would send us their hawk-eyed gaze, not surprisingly a little shocked at the little twist to the plot. Thanks to Dayoung, we were already aware that Kairi and I were identical. But the Hidden were still recovering and a few jugheads like Zelo continued staring at us with glazed eyes. 

Speaking of Dayoung....

                                                                                       TAO

Lay was fixing the dead girl's body, using his meticulous skills to stitch her body in a condition less horrifying. Her face was still drilled with holes and for a moment, as my eyes lingered on her face, I realized that the girl called Lauren had been a beauty. 

Tears stung the corner of my eyes but I grit my teeth and swallowed them in with a sigh. Kris looked at me and nodded and I replied back with a shrug. He was talking to Yong Guk, a laidback looking fellow who was already interested in creating the foundation of our plans. The sight of all of us in the same room took me back to when this vision had been just that -- a vision. It had now become a reality. Out of all of us, Kris had been ecstatic once the girl was laid down in a room and he was called out for introductions. He had been religiously pursuing this military collaboration and now that it had come to fruition, I wondered what the next step would be. A direct attack? Or a step-by-step breakdown of the system?

The spy from our team was Jay Park, a short but strong looking man with almost every part of him inked with images. His hair was shaved into a sharp, no-nonsense mohawk and for a moment, I had my defenses up when I misunderstood him as a street gangster. His toothy smile had broken the image. 

I heard a hiccup and a gasp and turned to find the dead girl's friend holding the corpse's hand. Dayoung, her name was. My stomach recoiled when she looked up and gazed directly into my eyes. Flustered by the eye contact, I looked away, then peeked at her again. She was still looking at me. 

"Never seen a girl cry before?" she bitterly remarked. I blinked at her, then gave a small smile. 

"Not one as pretty as you at least," I said. I don't know why I said that but at that moment, every bone in my body wanted to comfort her and let her know that everyone in the room had lost at least one person close to their heart. She had lost a dear friend and there were many around her who could effortlessly empathize with her. 

Dayoung seemed a little taken aback by my compliment, but her gaze still held, she stood up on her feet and stepped closer. Despite being only thirteen, she was nearly Baekhyun's height. She took hold of my hand and I shivered. 

"They said you're the fighter," she murmured, her voice raspy and wistful. I mutely nodded. She looked satisfied. 

"Don't kill them," she said. I widened my eyes and looked up. A few people had heard her too and were staring down at her head in confusion and curiosity. A dark haired man with scrutinizing eyes lingered over her like a spirit. 

"Don't you want revenge?" I murmured back as softly as her. 

Dayoung fervently nodded. "But that doesn't mean I want them to die. That'd be too easy. I want Paragon to be reinstated with the freedom we all want and then, I want them to live like hell in our Avalon."

Right as the last word was spoken, a figure rushed past me and grabbed the little girl by her shoulders. It was Woohyun and there was bloodthirsty hunger in his eyes.

"What do you know about Avalon?" he hissed. 

Dayoung didn't say anything and first, looked around. The guy who had been hovering around her suddenly seemed offended by their closeness and moved back a bit. Everyone else was equally shocked by this radical piece of information. 

Finally, Dayoung's eyes returned to Woohyun's. She opened and after her lips, said, "Everything no one knows."