YOUNGJAE

It took exactly three and a half hours before the transformation was announced to be complete. 

Seohyun stepped out of the room looking satisfied and presented the new faces of the team members being sent out. Daehyun's make-over was the most shocking, as he changed from a sullen looking introvert to a rich and cocky boy of languid morals. L.Joe had his wild ginger hair dyed blonde and the lazy look in his eyes raised no doubt against his image of a soft-spoken pianist. Sungjong's shoulder-length curls were tamed by Seohyun, who used a knife with 'fatal skills'. 

"I'm not kidding you," I heard Chen whisper to Suho. "She had this content look on her face and her hands were whizzing here and there, hair flying everywhere. I don't know whether to be in awe of her or be a little wary of our partnership."

Luna was joining Sungjong and they were to be an orphaned pair. They would be moving in a foster home as planned and before anyone could question about arrangements for all the different posts, Jiyong waved his hand and reassured them. 

"You're telling me," hissed Yoona, who was now dusky in complexion and blowing away her new bangs from her forehead, "that the man who conned my parents wants me to work at a nightclub? That is very--"

Yoona didn't have to say much though, since L had already grasped Psy by the collar. It took the collaborative effort of Hoya, Dongwoo, Sehun and Kris to tear him off the unamused man, who however could not erase the momentary fear in his eyes when L whispered something to him. 

"What did he say?" Dongwoo asked later. Hoya narrowed his eyes and shrugged. 

"Something along the lines of 'skinning' and 'hanging upside down'."

Taemin had neatly trimmed his hair and was now prepared to be the new medic at Central Hospital. Niel was going to be joining Yoona at the very same nightclub, though he was going to be playing the role of a pimp. L looked like he wanted to jump out again though a curt look from Yoona and a word of advice from Amber toned him down. He was still fuming and had looks been the death of someone, Psy would have been rotting underground. 

Dayoung finally woke up and since I was standing closest to the bunk bed, I was the first to greet her.

"You're up?" I smiled. "Woohyun's been waiting for you."

It was a wrong move though for moments later, Himchan had smacked my head and tried to cajole the scared girl while Jiyeon just clicked her tongue and shook her head. 

"And you're supposed to be the wise owl of the group," she said. I scowled at her and caught sight of Woohyun, who had seen the minor commotion. I gulped as he began walking towards us.

Thank God for Kairi Lee. The girl had a soft but sure-shot hold on his arm and a small turn of her lips was all it took for her to get Woohyun to relax. The madness in his eyes tumbled down a bottomless pit and he approached Dayoung with a sheepish look. 

"Hello Dayoung," he said. The courteous tone was rampantly awkward and even Kairi had stifled a laugh. Dayoung though fell for it and refused to accept his apology. 

"You're like an elder brother now," she said in her signature innocent but firm tone. "You have every right to be disappointed, I deserve to be punished.

Kairi was the only one among us who wasn't surprised and I saw her purse her lips. 

"What does that mean?" I asked her, not bothered by the fact that it was the first time I was talking to her. She was taken aback by the blunt question but after seconds of recollecting herself, she replied. 

"You guys have obviously been underground for too long," she started. Himchan was listening too and Jiyeon was quietly standing by, her hand lightly resting on Dayoung's head. 

"Paragon rules state that despite the age of a boy," she continued, "it is his responsibility to protect his female sibling. The female sibling does not have any right, nor any need to whatsoever, attempt to guard him, for fear of stripping him of his natural duty. Every year, the Promise String is tied by the sister to her brother, which signifies and concretizes the brother's duty of protecting his sister. Apart from protecting, he also has the right to punish her if she wanders off and misbehaves. The brother doesn't have to be related by blood. But tying the Promise String even once entails the shadow of security and restrictions that would forever loom over a girl."

Kairi shrugged after her disturbing explanation and handed over an oblivious expression to her boyfriend, who simply gritted his teeth and turned to face Dayoung.

"Paragon rules no more apply for you," he said with a voice that rang of well-intentioned warnings. "You're not part of this Paragon and the new Paragon will not have such rules."

"If the new Paragon ever comes," Dayoung murmured. 

"Of course it will," Woohyun said, sounding strangely confident. "You know about Avalon."

Here we go again. One would have thought this man was over the whole facade. No one could even break it to him that we needed to look at other options. It would have been as cruel as telling a kid that Santa Claus had long ago been impaled by the antlers of adulthood.

Dayoung however wasn't as cynical as many of us, who had exchanged glances of discomfort. She gave Woohyun a look that spelt how impressed she was and after a sigh, said, "Alright then. I'll tell you about Avalon."

Woohyun's eyes widened. "So it's real?"

Suddenly the murmurs of conversations died down and there was pin drop silence. The sentence that followed next sliced the silence, but not enough for the realization to bleed through. 

"Of course it is," Dayoung said, completely unaware of the consequences of her words. "It's as real as you and me."

                                                                                          KAI

Dayoung had just dropped an atom bomb and the mushroom of smoke was now rising up, the level of tension at a notch higher. 

I stepped forward, crossing my arms and giving a slight nod towards Sehun, who was seated next to the anaemic girl.

"The first time I heard about Avalon," Dayoung started, "was at the Institution. I was only six years old, but that means seven years ago, when slipping out information was a flaw one could easily commit, though with fatal consequences.

"Our kindergarden teacher was a pretty lady with a bucketload of charms and sharp intellect. She was always aware of what was going on and though she never tried to bring it up in its form, she often used to subtly hint at what our world was transforming into. It was worse for a lot of teenagers who were witnesses to the rapid change and being a kindergarden teacher, it was an important duty to be the vehicle carrying the first Paragon generation.

"Teacher Kim was beautiful and young and we all were very fond of her. Even today, she looks the same and her attitude has not changed at all. The only time I saw her out of place was that day when she mentioned Avalon."

Dayoung paused and Nicole, the doctor among the Hidden, rushed to the kitchen and got a glass of water for her. While the girl sipped on it, Nicole slowly patted her head and cooed at her, telling her to take it slow. 

"It's okay Jongin-ah. Your mother is here."

The sharpshooting ache made me gasp and Xiumin turned to give me a curious look. I shook my head and blinked frequently, hoping that the fluttering of the present images would filter away the dust of memories. 

"Her again?" Luhan whispered. I narrowed my eyes at him, ready to say something mean. Instead I sighed and nodded. Leave it to doe-eyed boy to break down the walls. No point in hiding from the town psychic. 

Luhan simply stared at me and turned away to look at Dayoung. He was standing next to Yonghwa's widow, the docile looking Sweeney Todd who had scared the wits out of the non-Hidden members. 

"Teacher Kim reached late for class that day," Dayoung said, narrowing her eyes, as if trying to recognize something from afar. "She was never late, never tardy. But that day, her hair was not in place and her shirt was sticking out of her skirt like a tail. Most importantly, her eyes -- she had been crying.

"All of us were scared. It was the first time we had seen someone like that. Crying was not something we were familiar with and here was our favorite teacher, looking like someone straight out of a wanted poster. Nevertheless we were loyal to her and after she rambled about 'cutting too many onions' that morning for breakfast, we believed her and moved on. Like every morning, we switched on the radio to listen to the daily news and the 'rule of the day'."

"What's that?" Sehun asked. 

"It's an exercise all kindergarteners go through," Dayoung answered. "Six days of the week, on a special radio channel, there is a special news segment for children and a 'rule of the day'. It's the most simple way to teach a kid what he or she is not to do in Paragon. Unfortunately, Teacher Kim was so disheveled, she didn't realize how far she had turned the dial of the radio."

Dayoung took a deep breath and for a fleeting second, she looked at Suho. He was taken aback by the sudden attention, then gave her an encouraging nod and smile. She simply sighed. 

"The radio didn't have the playful music playing in the background," she started. "Nor was it the happy tone of the man and woman who would greet us every morning. The man on the radio had a monotonous voice, the signal crackling like crumpled toffee wrapper and the content was definitely not for kids. 

"Teacher Kim stared at the radio for a while and was about to switch it off when she heard a particular name."

Dayoung looked at Suho. "It was talking about you."

Suho widened his eyes. "Wait, what---"

"The radio was talking about how the temple had been burned," Dayoung said. "And how the last remnants of the corrupting EXO had been disseminated. The second person who spoke though was a little more cheeky and jovial and made sarcastic jokes on the news. Teacher Kim eventually collected herself together and broke the radio. 'I dropped it,' she said. We all nodded and decided to create the truth in our minds. It was all an accident. We hadn't seen Teacher Kim mourn. We hadn't seen her break down."

Dayoung furrowed her eyebrows. "But I was always a curious little kid. So was Lauren. When classes ended, we decided to sneak up to the General Office of the Institution, where the 'adult news' used to play all the time, in rotation. We were kids and Paragon wasn't as strict as it is today. We reached the General Office and that's where we heard it."

At this point, I decided to turn around and look at everyone. Woohyun had his fists clenched, making sure that all his thoughts were held together with care. Kairi was next to him, looking as restless with curiosity. Kris had his uber-calm face in a contortion of sharp focus and Suho looked weary and grieved. The whole house was quiet, in waiting. 

"They said 'it had reached', " Dayoung continued, her voice in a low murmur. "We heard the people in the office talk too and they said the same thing. 'The General should just destroy it', they said. 'He can't though', another one said. 'That's the reason why it's holding Paragon together'."

Dayoung closed her eyes, then opened them. "Basically, Avalon is some sort of a paradox. It doesn't consist of one thing, but a tandem and it's tautly related to the General. Avalon is not a document that you can sign and then happily celebrate your freedom with. What is Paragon's strength? It's boundaries. It's exclusivity. The fact that there is an ideal of a rule follower in the General. Well, what if all that had never been? Many of us don't remember, but America is still powerful militarily and because Paragon has become so controlling, it has collaborated with the Middle East and the Africas to strengthen their armies and keep civilians safe. Avalon is a concept which if shown to the outside world, can give them the leverage they need to break down the General. Avalon is the General's weakness."

There was pin-drop silence. 

"But we already know that Dayoung," Donghae said, sounding apologetic. Woohyun was stiff no more and had collapsed on the ground. Kairi was biting her lip and shaking her head while Jiyeon had closed her eyes, trying to keep her breathing intact. 

Dayoung let out a growl, a growl that spelt frustration. "Will you just listen to me?"

"Let her speak," Daehyun said, but a whole lot of people had already began talking. 

"THE GENERAL SIGNED A BOND."

Everyone hushed. 

"The General signed a bond with the International Court." Dayoung looked at the sudden grasp of attention her words had caught and smiled in relief. "Thank you. Alright. Now listen. The General signed a bond with the International Court which said that if by any chance, they find that there were four counts out of the main commandments being broken, without any consequences for the rule breakers, then within twenty four hours of alert there would be a breakthrough by the International Investigative Agency into Paragon land. Which is why the rules and laws are such that no one can break them. If committing suicide was a crime, many would have done that long ago. But no, if a person commits suicide, his family has to pay. If a family commits suicide, then their community has to pay. Likewise, the rest of the rules."

The girl might as well have sung out an entire opera. Everyone was now looking excited and forming groups, thinking of the rules of Paragon they remembered and what they could do with it. 

"But it'll be tough to find it," Baekho said, shaking his head. "There is no rule that says opposition groups are not legal. So even if we step up to the public plate, we're just gonna head to the gallows for nothing."

"Kairi eloped," Jiyoon called out. "Isn't that a crime?"

"It is," Luhan said. "But it's not a 'commandment'. Plus she's already been outcasted so a consequence has occurred. We need a godawful law-breaking, four different laws per say, and find the people who have not had to face the consequences. Not only will it make people question Paragon's strength but it will also make them realize that the rules have no meaning."

The room was buzzing now. People were discussing. There was definitely an Avalon out there. Somewhere, maybe a little far, but it existed under the same sky as us. 

"I'll find her mother," the kid cried. "I'll find her."

"They don't know you Jongin-ah," the frail woman cried. "They'll punish you when they see you."

"Then I'll make myself strong."

I looked at all the flushed faces of hope that had suddenly heated up the room and a memory of a wristwatch pumped my veins. 

My father had messed with the wrong woman. The same way that the General had messed with the wrong people.

"Now that you know what to look for," Jiyong called out, looking at the clowns who were to be sent out, "how about a goodbye kiss?"

                                                                                           KAIRI

My dad had created a monster. This was his Frankenstein. 

As I watched the spies leaving the headquarters, excited as well as nervous, I knew that it was going to get right back at him. I'm not yours, it was saying. We, are not yours. 

I felt Woohyun's arms give me a tight squeeze and when I looked up at his tightened jaw loosening up into a grin, I knew that it had begun.