“It’s a security measure,” the younger looking of the two said with a friendly smile. “Well, our security measure,” he smiled apologetically, eyebrows casted upwards.

Kris looked at Tao, brows crooked in worry as he evidently seemed troubled. Tao looked away, biting his lower lip as he mulled over their current situation.

The group was standing in a waiting area with the field agents that escorted them to a facility somewhere in the outskirts of a city called Seoul –or at least that’s what Lay heard.

“I don’t agree,” Kris spoke up -purposely making his baritone voice graver, in an attempt to show confidence and authority.

The man with upturned brows looked up at the elder man cladded in black. The elder sighed as he finally took off his sunglasses. Lay’s eyes widened and his jaw slacked in surprise. The tough looking, ever confident man in black had the most adorable eyes that did not fit the sharp features of his face or the muscular build of his body. His expressions were strikingly clear amidst the dark color of his brown eyes. But there was a noticeable scar on the side of his right eye. Shaped as a 7, it cut diagonally, from the side of his eye to under it, stopping right at the top of his cheek.

The man smoothed his gelled hair backwards –grey hairs on the shaven sides contrasted his stark black colored hair.

“I’ll be frank with you kids,” he spoke with a lopsided smirk. “You see, all these men behind me,” he said as he jabbed a thumb backwards towards the field agents, “have absolutely no knowledge -no training whatsoever, that could ever stop you boys from escaping this place.”

“Chief,” the younger said startled, eyebrows rising higher than before.

The Chief lifted his hand to order silence and continued. “These boys…” he paused as he looked at the other agent. “These boys can easily outwit us. The only reason they’re here is because of mister sharp eyes,” he said indicating towards Tao.

The younger agent seemed to want to argue back, but he kept his thoughts to his own and nodded in agreement.

“I need you boys to trust me,” the Chief spoke with an empathetic tone. “The only reason we’re doing this is to help you out. I will ask you once more to proceed with the protocol –which we’re only implementing so everyone in this building feel like they actually have control over you; because we obviously don’t,” he lightly pointed out. “It’ll be for an hour tops. Just in the meantime that we prepare a conference room so we can all talk comfortably. Alright?”

Lay let out a slow breath as he observed the group. The general attention was towards Kris and Suho who were quietly deciding what they should do.

He could feel the anxiety as if it exuded from their pores. He wished he was capable of projecting his abilities to everyone as Luhan did with his telepathy. Maybe he could find a way to exude modified pheromones that could affect the other’s immune system response. But now was not the time for experimentation.

Lay noticed Baekhyun fidgeting with the tips of his fingers. He reached out to hold the other’s slim hands –adrenal hormones were rather high within the limits. Immediately he sent the correct signals to lower Baekhyun’s stress and stimulated a little release of endorphins, just to calm the nerves and make him feel better.

It took a few seconds before Baekhyun blinked in awareness and looked back at him, eyes wide finally realizing that the healer was holding his hand. The light boy smiled, eyes twinkling as he mouthed a quiet thank you.

“Luhan,” Suho called out as he gave the telepathic a knowing look.

Whether they exchanged a few thoughts, Lay didn’t know. All he saw of the short interaction was Luhan offering a curt nod.

“Alright,” Suho said, glancing at Tao one last time before looking straight at the baby-eyed Chief Agent. “We’ll trust you.”

“For now,” Kris added.

The Chief smiled content as he placed back his sunglasses, immediately changing his whole complexion to a much authoritative man. “Thank you.”

“Follow me,” said the younger agent as he lead them to the individual interrogating rooms in which they were meant to be separated while they waited.

Baekhyun was reluctant to let go of his hand –either because he wanted his company or feared his anxiety would shoot up if he ever let go. Lay forced an encouraging smile as he patted Baekhyun’s head, ignoring the other’s sad puppy eyes. The other gave out a small whine before reluctantly letting go and walking into a separate room.

Lay wanted to laugh at Baekhyun’s antics, but he couldn’t.

His feigned smile vanished as soon as Baekhyun disappeared from his sight. He breathed deep, just to make sure he was in fact breathing, before entering the small room. There wasn’t much to gaze at; just a metal table with two chairs set opposite of each other and a bright ceiling lamp. Four walls and a three-pieced undecorated furniture –nothing special at all. There were two cameras placed indiscreetly on the upper corners of the room, diagonally across from each other.

Lay ignored the presence of the camera’s and sat at the chair furthest from the door, that way he could look at the door when someone would come in to get him and not be surprised.

He sat there, on the hard cold chair, with his back straight aligning all the vertebras, shoulders back, down, relaxed and apart from each other, head raised to look at the front, neck relaxed –perfect posture. Hands settled on his thighs as he breathed rhythmically. Hormonal levels in check. Beta-endorphin and dynorphin levels high, but that was okay because he wanted it to be that way.

Relaxed -so relaxed that he didn’t really feel anything at all. He was aware, but he didn’t feel any emotion. The analgesic effect of the endogenous opioids had him so soothed he was like floating without feeling the pull of gravity –he was just there.

‘I’m trying, I’m trying,’ he heard Luhan think. ‘Well it’s not easy to channel everyone on the same wavelength frequency, give me a minute.’

‘Are you trying to make us all telepathic?’ Jongdae’s voice could be heard in his head.

‘How are you doing this?’ Kai asked astounded.

‘Double projection,’ Luhan said. ‘I can’t connect Baekhyun, he’s thinking too much.’

‘Tell him to shut up,’ Tao suggested.

‘How does double projecting work?’ Kai asked.

‘Shut up!’

Lay jumped from the boisterous shout.

‘Geez, sorry I asked,’ Kai said annoyed.

‘It was meant for Baekhyun,’ Luhan explained.

‘What did I do?’

‘You wouldn’t shut up,’ Jongdae cheerfully explained.

‘Wow! Wait, what? How’s this happening?’ Baekhyun sounded very surprised.

‘Double projection,’ Xiumin responded.

‘What’s that?’ Baekhyun asked.

‘Don’t know,’ Kai said bitterly.

‘I just project my thoughts and project what I read at the same time, okay,’ Luhan sounded rather annoyed.

‘Do you project everyone’s thoughts?’ Suho asked.

‘No, there’s too many of you guys. I just send out the one’s I catch,’ he briefly explained. ‘Now let’s get to the point ‘cause this is tiring.’

‘Sorry,’ Sehun apologized on behalf of the rest.

‘So what did you get?’ Kris asked.

‘These guys are honest,’ Luhan said. ‘They know we have, I quote, super powers, unquote, but they don’t know the extent of our abilities or why we have them. They know about Mama being a, I’ll quote again, mad scientist. They’ve been investigating her and whatever the company has been doing. It’s like they’ve picked up a trace and had been trying to find out what’s been going on.’

‘So they really want to help us?’ Chanyeol asked.

‘I think they want us to help them. They need our help to understand what has been going on under their noses for all this time.’

‘But what will they do to us?’ Kris asked.

‘Just ask questions and talk, I suppose,’ Luhan replied.

‘That’s not what I meant,’ Kris deadpanned.

‘Oh… They’re not sure what to do with us,’ he replied.

‘We can always leave though,’ Kai assured. ‘As the Chief said, they’ve got nothing against us. I can just whip us out of here. So, if we ever feel threaten, we’ll just escape again.’

‘We’ll keep that in mind,’ Suho said.

‘It’d be our third escape,’ Xiumin noted.

‘Then it’d be easy peasy,’ Chanyeol joked. ‘We’ve got plenty of practice.’

‘Yeah, right,’ Sehun mumbled.

‘Easy peasy,’ Jongdae giggled.

‘It rhymes,’ Chanyeol said.

‘Tao, have you seen them before?’ Sehun asked.

‘Well, I did reverse time,’ Tao said rather sarcastically.

‘Tao,’ Sehun stressed.

He meant visions, Lay finally thought as clear as possible for Luhan to catch.

‘I know what he meant,’ Tao said in a way that Lay was sure he was sighing. ‘I’ve seen them many times.’

‘And?’ D.O asked.

‘You know I don’t like spoiling the fun.’

‘Tao just tell us,’ Suho sounded angered.

‘I don’t want you guys messing up what’s supposed to happen by telling you what’s going to happen. If you know then you might act up against it,’ Tao explained. ‘Why the hell do you think I’ve been so secretive about this all this time? Huh?’

‘Geez, what a er attitude.’

‘I heard that Chanyeol.’

‘You were meant to,’ Luhan quipped.

‘Tao, I understand your point. But I need you to tell me if we can trust these guys and if we should tell them what we know,’ Suho tried to reason.

‘Please tell us,’ Sehun asked.

‘We can trust them,’ Tao curtly said.

‘Thanks,’ Xiumin thought.

‘It kind of makes sense though,’ Baekhyun thought out.

‘What do you mean?’ D.O asked.

‘If we condition terms to cooperating with them, then we can make them help us,’ he explained.

‘Like striking a deal?’ Jongdae asked.

‘Exactly. They need our help, so if we do so they must agree to help us in return,’ Baekhyun reasoned. ‘Luhan said that they’re not sure of what to do with us, so we’ll tell them what to do.’

‘And that’d be getting the hell away from here, far away from Mama and the company,’ Chanyeol suggested.

‘Exactly! We cooperate if they give us security. If they provide us safety someplace else,’ Baekhyun concluded.

‘Adapt and have a normal life,’ Tao thought out.

‘Someplace else,’ D.O repeated.

‘That sounds great,’ Kris opined.

‘So we’re cool with helping these dudes then?’ Chanyeol asked for confirmation.

‘Yes,’ Suho and Xiumin thought out.

‘Great. Can we call this meeting over?’ Luhan sounded tired.

‘Sure.’

‘Yeah.’

‘We’re done.’

Silence.

Lay sighed at the great difference between hearing his friends’ voices to the emptiness of the solitary room.

Even though he was curious of what the agents knew and what they might ask them, he knew that worrying wouldn’t do him much good. Instead, Lay decided to recalibrate and dull out. No worries, no expectations. Just be there and wait patiently.

And as he had time to use to his favor, he began to find ways, codes, to create the right signals that could form a new pheromone. One that could affect the biological response of emotions, or in simpler words, a pheromone that could make others feel the way he wanted them to feel. Project his abilities.

Since he was feeling relaxed, he tried his best to exude the sedative feeling out of his body. Up until now: no significant results.

Over twenty minutes passed when Luhan communicated with him again. Some of the guys and him had been visited by an agent and given a snack to eat. No one has eaten it yet, they were waiting for him.

It took a few minutes before someone opened the door to his room. A young slim looking fella with a lighter tone of brown hair and red framed glasses entered the room.

“I’ve brought you a snack,” he kindly offered and bun wrapped in a transparent plastic bag and a small drink.

Lay looked up at him with a blank stare, teasing the man’s patience with his unresponsiveness.

“Okay then,” the guy said awkwardly as he set the snack on the table.

He gave a curt nod and was about to leave but Lay extended his hand forward, gesturing for the other to take the seat before him. The man looked back at him confused. He stared at Lay as if he was trying to figure out his intentions.

‘What are you doing?’ Luhan asked.

Just an experiment, he quickly replied.

Lay focused his stare on the man’s clear hazel eyes, making sure to imagine himself projecting his energy with every breath he took. As if he had fallen hypnotized by Lay’s effects, the agent took the seat opposite and kept his focus on Lay, though now he seemed much more relaxed and not as confounded.

They did not speak for a minute or two. The agent glanced up at the cameras a few times, so Lay kept focusing on making the ambient feel calm, pacifying the man and making him feel relaxed within his presence.

The man smiled calmly behind his thick red glasses. “Are you doing this?” he asked with curiosity. “How?”

Lay gave a small smile in response. And, instead of explaining, he pointed at the snack settled on the table –he tilted his head to the side in a silent questioning manner.

“I thought you guys would like something sweet to calm the nerves,” he said with a relaxed tone as he looked down at the food. “Banana milk is quite popular these days, but none of you seem to have the appetite for it,” he said with a slight pout.

Lay looked down at the jar shaped bottle. He could read the green colored words as banana flavored milk. They haven’t tried those before. They haven’t been the most diversified when it came to alimentation; ramen was just so easy to make.

He reached forward and examined the dark green plastic film that covered the top as lid. Lay glanced at the Agent, who was curiously staring at what his hands were doing.

‘Are you going to try it?’ Luhan sounded impatient.

I don’t know how to open it.

Lay stared back at the plastic film lid and tried to peel the cover off, but it was stuck tight.

“Oh no, not like that,” the man in red glasses intervened and reached for a little plastic straw that had been placed next to the bottle. “No wonder you guys wouldn’t drink it,” he mused as he unwrapped the straw and motioned Lay to hand him the bottle. “You’re supposed to stick the straw through the film and drink from there. That way you avoid spillage,” he explained as he stuck the straw through the plastic lid and handed it back to Lay.

“Thank you,” he politely said, while respectfully lowering his head and placing his left hand under his right elbow in support –just the way Mrs. Kim taught him to.

He noticed the surprise that cross through the Agent’s eyes as he did that.

‘He’s impressed that you’ve got manners,’ Luhan bemused.

Ha.

‘Take a sip already.’

Intrepidly Lay took a sip of the beverage. Soft sweetened milk with banana hints. It was delicious in a soothing kind of way. Lay his lips, savoring the remaining taste in his mouth.

“Mmm,” he hummed with a smile.

“You like it?” the Agent smiled as well.

‘Is it spiked?’

“Sweet,” Lay replied and took another sip of the savory milk.

‘Is it good?’

Yeah.

‘What about the bread?’ Luhan asked impatiently.

Why the hurry? You hungry? Lay questioningly frowned as he kept enjoying his drink.

‘... Yeah.’

Lay pointed at the bread with an innocent gaze. The agent reached for it and opened the package but the left the wrapper on. He handed it over to Lay.

“It’s bread filled with sweet red bean paste,” he explained. “It’s very traditional here.”

Lay nodded as he broke the bread in two halves. He handed back the half that was still covered with the wrapper to the agent.

“No, no. It’s yours,” he tried to refuse.

“Have some,” Lay insisted.

“But-”

“I don’t need much food to survive,” Lay bluntly pointed out.

“Um,” the man blinked a few times.

‘You creeped him out,’ Luhan giggled.

“It’s fine. Take it,” Lay calmly said as he insisted.

“Okay then,” the agent said as he accepted the other half. “Thank you.”

Lay smiled in return.

‘Ugh, you’re such a saint.’

Lay promptly ignored Luhan’s comment and took a bite of the sweet bread. It was, for lack of better words, sweet. The soft fluffy bread was lightly sugared as for the sticky red bean paste was very sweet and tasteful.

“Mmm,” Lay hummed pleasantly as he savored the treat.

‘It’s good?’

It’s really good, Lay nodded even though Luhan couldn’t see him, which made the agent nod back out of confused courtesy.

‘No poison or drugs?’ Luhan sounded very impatient.

Nope. You can eat it, Lay confirmed.

‘Took you long enough,’ he grumbled and disappeared from his thoughts.

Lay wanted to move on with his little experiment and see if by having control over the man’s biological response, within the distance between them, then maybe he could get the guy to react the way he wanted.

“What do you do here?” Lay asked after taking a sip of his banana milk.

“Here at the agency?” the man asked back.

“Yeah. Whatever this place is,” Lay said as he exuded more pheromones with relaxing factors.

“Oh, this place is the NIS. National Intelligence Service,” he replied and took a bite of bread.

Lay raised his eyebrows in silent questioning. The man blinked a few times, realizing that Lay had no idea what the NIS was.

“We make sure the country is safe of national or international threats,” he promptly explained as he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

Lay nodded. “So, what kind of work do you do?”

The man looked up to the side. He was checking the camera before looking back at Lay. “I’m not supposed to talk to you about these things,” he said apologetically.

Lay tilted his head to the side as he casted innocence through his eyes. He sent a few pheromones that would activate a small stress response that would make the autonomic nervous system tug a few of the agent’s heart strings. He wanted to evoke the feeling of guilt.

A dash of disconcertedness flashed through the agent’s clear hazel eyes. He bit his bottom lip as he looked down at the half eaten bread in his hand and then back up at Lay.

“Well, I suppose you guys are going to be here for a while so… It wouldn’t be a problem I guess,” he scratched the underside of his jaw. “I’m an analyst. I study information we receive and investigate their authenticity, the source and where the information leads us to,” he ended with a nod. “It’s primarily investigation work,” he shrugged.

“Have you investigated about us?” Lay asked.

“Yes, but I won’t say anything about what,” he chuckled. “That, you’ll find out later with the Chief.”

“Hmm,” Lay nodded as he ate some more bread. He squinted his eyes as he pondered which signals he should send to try to force the guy to speak.

“Don’t you try any funny business,” he warned after munching off the last of his bread. “No matter how many chest aches you make me feel, I can’t tell you anything.”

Lay let out a dimpled laugh. “Okay I won’t.” He let out a sigh, “I guess I’ll just have to wait.”

“Yeah,” the agent agreed as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “How do you do it?”

Lay crooked an eyebrow in a questioning way.

“I mean. How did you make me feel those things,” he asked with genuine curiosity.

Lay formed a mischievous smile upon his lips. “I just fiddled with your amygdala.”

The agent scratched his head as he laughed. “Amazing,” he admired. “So you can, somehow, manipulate my body?”

“I’m not supposed to tell you these things,” Lay teased as he bantered up the agent’s previous reply.

The guy let out an incredulous laugh, “You prankster.”

Lay smirked.

The agent shook his head defeated. “I guess I’ll find out later as well.”

Lay shrugged his shoulders in response.

The agent took out his phone to check it. “Ups, I was supposed to be someplace else half an hour ago.” He gave an accusatory look a Lay.

Lay scratched his head as he gave a cheeky smile. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” he said as he stood up. “I’m Max, by the way,” he said as he extended his hand forward.

“Lay,” he answered as he shook Max’s hand.

“Lay?” Agent Max repeated surprise, as if he was expecting a different answer. Lay nodded in response. “Alright then, Lay. I’ll see you later,” he bid as he made his way out of the room.

Lay stayed seated as he finished off his snack and enjoyed the last of his banana milk in silence –well, at least for a minute or two.

‘So you made a new friend?’ Luhan asked teasingly.

Possibly.

 

It didn’t take much longer for them to be escorted out to a, as they put it, intermediary room. It was a bigger version of an interrogation room, with long fluorescent lights illuminating the grey room and a camera set on each corner. There was a big wooden table in the middle, five men sat at the right. There were many files scattered on the table in front of them, as if they were reading them just minutes ago. Lay recognized the Chief sitting in the middle, with the younger agent sitting at his right side.

They all stood up as the group entered the room and gave a bow of courtesy. The boys replicated the custom and settled themselves on the two rows of chairs placed on the opposite side on the table. They agreed for the taller ones to sit on the back row, Chanyeol, Tao, Kris, Luhan, Sehun and Kai. In the front row sat Baekhyun, Xiumin, Suho, Lay, D.O and Jongdae.

“Alright,” spoke the Chief, now dressed in a suit instead of his operative uniform –but still conserving his sunglasses. “Let’s start out with proper introductions. I’m Chief Special Agent Park. This is my right hand man, Agent Choi,” he pointed at the younger looking one who was setting put a laptop to use. “To his right we have Agent Kim, representing the office of North Korea Affairs. To my left we have Agent Lee, representing the office of Domestic Affairs, and Agent Bang, office of International Affairs.” Chief Park noticed the confusion amongst the group. “These men are here in an attempt to tie up all the loose ends of this… overly convoluted case.” He swiped his hand over his neatly gelled hair. “Honestly kids, we’re trying to make sense of the inexplicable. And we’re hoping that you’ll help us out.”

“What do we get in return?” Kris asked.

“Well, first our plan is to dismantle everything about the company you were under,” he replied. “Those people are up to no good and it’s in our best interest to get rid of them. I’m sure you share the same view.”

Lay looked at Suho and Kris, they both nodded.

“Good,” Chief Park said. “Second, we need to evaluate and comprehend the total extent of what you boys are capable of. That way we can figure out what’s the best option that will keep the majority safe.”

“You actually meant if we’re dangerous to the public,” Luhan revealed, earning a surprised look from the Chief.

“Of course we have priority towards the civilians,” Agent Lee said.

“Yeah well, we don’t care,” Luhan retorted. “We’re not going to let you guys lock us up for the rest of our lives.”

Now all the agents looked baffled. Agent Choi quickly searched for something on his laptop and showed the screen to the Chief.

“Oh right,” Chief Park said, “he’s the telepathic one.”

“This, this is real then,” Agent Kim said as he finally came to believe the truth.

“I told you these kids were special,” Agent Park said to him. Agent Kim just stared back dumbfounded.

“We know you guys don’t know what to do with us, so we came up with decision first,” Suho spoke up. “It is clear that helping you guys against the company and dismantling it benefits us, because we don’t ever want to get involved with them again. We will try to help you with what we know, and in return we want guaranteed freedom and security. We’re not going to be locked up ever again. And we need security to make sure they will never catch us. Agreed?”

Agent Lee frowned, as he looked at Chief Park. The man in sunglasses sported a confident smirk.

“They’ve got guts,” he commented with a nod.

“We can’t just let them tell us what to do,” Agent Lee argued.

“Oh, come on. They’re right and you know it,” Agent Choi retorted.

“You’re just bothered that we’re taking the lead,” Luhan smirked, causing Agent Lee to redden in embarrassment.

“I like these kids,” Chief Park commented to Agent Choi.

“We can’t just promise them that they can live amongst innocent civilians if we don’t know how dangerous they are,” Agent Lee reaffirmed himself.

“Agent Lee, with all due respect,” Agent Bang finally spoke. “Do these kids seem irrational to you?”

“What do you mean?” the other asked.

“I mean, do they look like they can’t behave and control themselves?”

Agent Lee rolled his eyes. “Of course they don’t. I understand that they are… human, just different. But there can still be accidents that in the end we will have to be responsible for,” he pointed out.

“I understand your point but that’s why we’ll do the evaluation so we can provide them the correct and sufficient help and avoid any accidents,” Agent Bang replied.

“Look, these kids have gone through more than enough. In fact nobody should’ve gone through what they’ve lived,” Chief Park said. “I am sure, they would never want to harm a human being and put them in peril the way they must have been. Right? Would you guys purposely hurt someone?”

“No,” the group chorused a little too quickly and a little too loud, startling Lay who wasn’t quite as fast as the rest.

“There you have it,” the Chief smirked triumphantly while Agent Lee let out a sigh, but nodded in agreement. “Besides, their plan is what I’ve been suggesting all this time.”

“It’s what she said,” Agent Choi mumbled. Lay had a strange feeling about his tone.

“They should be,” Chief Park continued ignoring the interruption, “no- must be put under the best witness protection we can provide. And we can provide it,” he remarked. “We’ll help you guys to adapt and have a normal life,” Chief Park said. “But we need your full cooperation.”

“We understand,” Suho said.

“Then let’s begin,” he smiled and looked down at the files. He gave out a sigh after skimming through some pages. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

Agent Choi squinted his eyes at the Chief, silently judging his superior. “How about we start with, what they did there?” he suggested. “Or better yet, their names, so we can properly address them.”

“Oh right,” Chief Park realized his mistake. “Please briefly introduce yourselves.”

“Uh,” Suho mumbled as he looked towards his right.

Everyone did the same and stared at Jongdae who was the first one of the row. His eyes widened as he realized everyone was expecting him to speak first. He pointed at himself in a form of confirmation.

“I’m Chen or Jongdae. Lately mostly Jongdae, but both are fine,” he quickly greeted with a nod –his voice raised an octave higher out of nervousness.

Agent Choi nodded as he looked at his laptop screen.

“D.O,” the next said with a solemn look. His deep voice sounded drastically different from Jongdae’s.

Agent Choi looked up confused as the rest nodded.

“Lay,” he calmly greeted with a seated bow.

Agent Choi looked surprised as he looked back at his laptop, giving a similar look as Agent Max did; which made Lay suspicious of why they reacted that way towards their names.

“My name is Suho,” he said serious.

“Xiumin,” he spoke softly.

“I’m Baekhyun,” he sounded confident.

“Chanyeol,” his deep raspy voice contrasted Baekhyun’s silky one.

“I’m Tao,” he said with a serious tone.

“Kris,” he curtly said.

“Luhan,” he spoke forcedly.

“Sehun,” he said in a soft tone.

“I’m Kai,” said the last.

“Very well,” Chief Park said with a slight frown as he gave a look towards Agent Choi. The younger agent shrugged his shoulders and pointed at the screen. “Are those names your nicknames?” he asked.

“No, they are our names,” Suho answered.

“Oh, right then,” Chief Park nodded.

“But the-”

“We’ll get to that later, with Agent Maxwell,” Chief Park interrupted. “Alright, let’s start with what you boys remember from being down there. What they made you do and if you know any reasons behind the, the… what did she call it?”

“Trials, Sir,” Agent Choi replied. “The EXO Trials.”

“Oh right,” he nodded. “Just speak comfortably and start with what you want.”

Lay looked at Suho who scratched his head while he gave a lost look at Xiumin. Where should they start?

“Umm,” Baekhyun said getting everyone’s attention. “What do you guys know?”

Agent Choi raised his brows impressed that Baekhyun turned the question around. “Well, we know that there’s this mad scientist who worked for a mad company to create weird monsters. And then the mad scientist genetically mutated humans, causing them to gain special abilities.”

“You mean us,” Tao crooked a brow.

“Yeah,” the agent replied.

“You guys are the ones who investigated the dome right?” Luhan asked.

“Yes, that was us,” Chief Park replied.

“Found any Amur leopards?” Luhan said sarcastically.

Chief Park held in a chuckle while Agent Choi looked down embarrassed.

“That was just a cover up, right?” D.O said.

“Yes, that was our doing as well,” the Chief confirmed.

“We’re not ready to tell the public what we’re dealing with,” Agent Lee defended.

Luhan crossed his arms over his chest. “You guys know more than what you're leading us to believe,” he stated.

Agent Choi looked worried as the Chief scratched his head.

“Let’s say, we found something that shows us a bit about what happened, and possibly why. But we don’t know if we can believe the source. So that’s why we need to hear your version so we can see how much coincides,” he explained. “We will tell you about it later, I promise. We will discuss everything there is to discuss. But now let’s start with what you boys lived through. Alright?”

“Okay,” Suho agreed. “We’ve gone through many experimental stages,” he explained with a delegate tone, “and most of our tests have been about survival. About fighting against those monsters we call boggers and survive.”

Agent Choi silently nodded. The others seemed as disturbed as he did. Lay could sense the shift in the emotional atmosphere. His friends weren’t as nervous but they weren’t comfortable having to talk about the trials. So he decided to emanate soothing feelings with his modified pheromones.

“You boys were meant to kill these boggers?” Chief Park asked cautiously.

“We didn’t really have a choice,” Xiumin said. “It was forced upon us.”

“It was either the boggers or us,” Kris simply said, though his words implied much more meaning.

The Chief nodded, but then shook his head. “I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like.”

No one had anything to say towards that.

“What other trials did you do?” Agent Bang asked after the brief silence.

“We all went through individual trials to gain more control over our abilities,” Suho responded. “Mainly we did various tests that were aimed to study and train different aspects of our abilities. So they were different for each of us.”

“We all had to go through the first part of the trials, which is like the early stage of the trials,” Chanyeol said.

“It focused on studying and training our abilities until we had enough control to advance to the second part, which consisted of group trials against boggers and individual trials,” Suho explained.

“Okay, but what were those trials like?” Agent Choi asked curious.

Suho scratched his head as he looked at the rest. “Anyone wants to share?”

“You should be asking, who’s willing to scare them off,” Tao joked.

“Group trials consist of combining our abilities and teamwork to kill boggers in order to survive,” D.O bluntly said. “We killed many of them.”

Agent Kim gave a cautious look towards Agent Choi.

“Alright, it’s clear that you boys were forced to fight and defend yourselves. We’re not going to judge that,” Chief Park said.

“What we’re curious about is how you boys acquired your abilities and how you use them,” Agent Bang said.

Suho looked at Lay, silently asking him to explain.

“Uh, well,” Lay wetted his lips. “It’s not that easy to explain. We all have mutations that come from different sources and developed into something new.” He blinked as he tried to explain himself. “Our genes have affinity towards different elements of nature. And we use this affinity to project our abilities. Some are more physical, others are metaphysical or just intangible,” he said looking at Kai.

“Could you explain each of your abilities?” Agent Lee asked.

Suho took the lead again. “I have affinity towards water –well, almost anything fluid or in liquid state,” he revealed. “I remember my earliest tests to be of breathing under water,” he said earning surprised gazes from the agents. “I can manipulate water to my will and to the extent of my imagination.”

“How can you breathe underwater?” Agent Kim asked curious.

“He has many adaptations,” Lay replied, feeling he was best suited to explaining Suho’s physiology. “He’s half human half fish.”

“A merman?” Agent Choi said surprised.

“No,” Xiumin squinted his eyes disapprovingly; Agent Choi bit his lower lip and looked down embarrassed.

“Under water the external layer of his alveoli spring out into lamellas, just like fish gills. That increases the surface area to compensate the absorption of oxygen, since it’s harder to grasp in water. Sea creatures with gills have to constantly move water, they absorb oxygen from the layer of water touching the skin of the gill, so once the oxygen is absorbed, the water must be renewed to keep the animal oxygenated,” Lay thoroughly explained. “Water is much denser than air, so he has a pretty strong and developed diaphragm to move all the water around.” Lay took a moment as he looked at Suho. “He has this specific gene mutated from a salmon that permits him to adapt to different concentration levels of solutes. That way he adapts from fresh to salted water while conserving correct levels of osmoregulation and homeostasis of the body.” He continued, ignoring how confused or admired the agents were, “His bones can withstand the pressure of deep sea diving, I’m not sure how deep he can go though. He’s got two swimming bladders near his kidneys to help him float and regulate the deepness of his submergence. And he also has lateral lines, along his body. They are these sensitive cells on his epidermis that provides spatial awareness towards changes of pressure, currents, temperature and other swimming creatures near him.”

“I don’t think I could’ve said it better,” Suho said with a proud smiled.

“Uhh,” Agent Bang looked at the Chief.

“How do you know so much?” Agent Lee asked with honest amazement.

“We don’t just have abilities,” Suho said. “We had to study hours and hours, to understand the science behind what we can do.”

“We don’t just conjure up control over our affinities,” Xiumin said. “We know what we’re doing.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “My affinity is towards ice and frosting different substances. But it’s not that I just imagine an icicle pop out of nowhere, I slow down the intermolecular kinetic energy. I make the molecules' structures stop moving to lose heat and stay frozen.”

“I do the opposite,” Chanyeol said. “I increase the temperature of bodies by speeding up the kinetic energy. I heat things up until they reach their combustion point and bam,” he forcefully extended his long fingers while a small flame quickly expanded between his hands -dying out just as fast as it appeared, causing a gasp of surprise from the agents.

“He also has dermal glands that secrete inflammable oil to throw fire,” Lay added.

“Yep,” Chanyeol said proudly.

“And both Xiumin’s and Chanyeol’s proteins and biomolecules are able to withstand extreme temperatures,” Lay said. “Even Kris’, Suho, Sehun, Baekhyun and Jongdae have better resistance towards temperature change to some extent. Be it cold from wind currents and high elevation, or heat from light and friction.”

“I’m amazed,” the Chief said. “Is it bad that I find this cool?” he asked out loud. “I hate that these kids have been experimented on, but at the same time it sounds so cool,” he commented to Agent Bang.

“I think you should keep you impression to yourself,” Agent Lee said sternly. “Human experimentation should never happen like this.”

“I apologize,” the Chief said to them as he lowered his head respectfully.

Honestly, Lay didn’t mind. He was glad that someone cared about them and wasn’t freaked out about how different they were.

“Even though I’m intrigued to hear more about this, it would take a substantial amount of our time,” Agent Kim spoke up.

“We should continue learning about their abilities and physiological adaptations with the specialized medical team,” Agent Choi suggested.

“Very well,” the Chief agreed. “So we know that you boys look human but have these amazing mutations and abilities beyond my imagination. You were trained… as fighters,” he said a little confused of his own word choice. “Somehow I imagine you boys fighting like mythical warriors against the boggers.”

“That’s not far from accurate,” Tao commented.

“Okay, so the trials were meant for your development and training,” the Chief concluded.

“Do you know why?” Kai asked. “Why the trials were created?”

“We have a theory,” Agent Choi replied. “But tell us if you know anything about that first. Maybe we’ll figure out the truth together.”

“Well, we’re a bit confused about that,” Kris admitted. “They've lied to us many times, so we’re not so sure anymore.”

“We’ve been told that the genesis of the trials was because Mama, I mean, Lu Mei, she experimented on a boy who ended up with incredible abilities,” Kai explained. “Do you know who she is?”

“Yes,” Agent Choi replied. “She’s the mad scientist. Lu Mei, previously known as Xiao Lingmei, born in Beijing, China 1964.”

“She’s actually wanted by the Chinese government for unethical experimentation on animals and humans,” Agent Bang said. “We don’t know how or since when she’s been in South Korea.”

“We found out that she’s affiliated with EX’ACT, the company you were under,” Chief Park informed.

“EX’ACT?” Sehun asked sharing a look of confusion with Kai.

“No, the company is called NAMU,” Kai said.

“NAMU?” Chief Park repeated.

Agent Choi quickly typed into his computer. “Ah, NAMU is a unit of EX’ACT,” he explained. “The acronym stands for Neo Anthropomorphic Mutations Unit, which makes sense if you think of it. It’s basically mutating humanlike beings.”

“We are human,” Luhan frowned.

“Yes, I didn’t mean any offense by that,” Agent Choi apologized. “But the Boogey Men were created under that unit as well. They do have human like features, despite being monsters.”

Lay’s eyes widened in surprise. He was right; the boggers always had an uncanny feeling that they looked similar to a human. It all made sense now.

“What does EX’ACT stand for?” Sehun asked.

“Evolutionary Cross-genetics: Advanced Cloning Technology,” Agent Choi read out.

Lay’s body immediately brushed off the feeling but he was aware the rest of the group felt what he should have. A deep hole in the gut as sudden realization sunk in and you finally understood a harsh truth. They recently learned they were cloned and now knowing the main area of expertise of the company Mama worked at made everything much more plausible and tangible. It was another slap across the face of a reality check.

“We’re investigating the darker parts of this international company, since to the public eye all they’ve showed is cloning experiments within the approval of the International Committee of Scientific Ethics and Accountability,” Agent Choi added.

“We don’t know why EX’ACT has this subunit focused on human mutations,” the Chief admitted.

“I think I know,” Kai said. “I might be wrong, since as Kris said before, we’ve been lied to a lot. Lu Mei always said she only cared about the science, about evolution. But the Colonel said that the only reason the trails were approved were because of the military.”

“You think they really wanted us to be super soldiers?” Luhan asked him.

“It makes sense. They create super soldiers through the mutations unit, then clone a whole army with the cloning part of the company,” Kai shrugged.

“But there’s no war,” Kris argued back. “It was a lie the Colonel told us.”

“What is this colonel’s name?” Agent Lee asked.

“Colonel Kim Yungjae, if I remember correctly,” Tao answered.

Agent Lee looked surprised, as if he recognized the name. He gave a knowing look to Agent Choi who nodded.

“Colonel Kim Yungjae is the military advisor of a political candidate that we’ve been investigating,” Agent Lee said.

Chief Park rubbed his mouth as he thought in silence. “It makes sense,” he said. “It fits, she wasn’t lying.”

“What do you mean,” Luhan frowned.

“I think we should give these boys a background of what’s been going on politically,” he paused as he pushed his sunglasses up. “God it all makes sense.”

“Agent Kim, I think you’re the best choice to start,” Agent Choi said.

Agent Kim nodded and folded his hands over the table. “During the Cold War the social political ambient and international intervention created a whole scenario for the Korean War. As you know our country is now divided with completely different social political and cultural views. The North has remained Communist, with a ‘military first’ policy and established a regime that violates human rights,” he explained. “Basically, they are hard to deal with and promote offense with their military display,” he concluded. “There are many families that have been separated because of the war. And a goal of ours at the North Korea Affairs Office of the NIS is to seek a diplomatic reunification. It’s something that the population wants.” He took an instant to pause. “Last year, on December 11, the Supreme Leader Kim Jongil died. Our Intel informed us that his son, Kim Jongun was chosen as his successor. It wasn’t until January 9^th of this year that it was informed to the public of Jongun taking the succession, through a large rally by the Korean People's Army in display of loyalty towards their new leader.”

“Where are you heading with this?” Kris asked.

“North Korea is going through some changes and that can be viewed as an opportunity to advance with the Korean reunification in a not-so diplomatic manner,” Agent Kim explained.

“Here's where we got involved,” Agent Choi said. “This year is the presidential elections here in South Korea.”

“Correct,” Agent Lee said. “We have been keeping an eye on the candidates this year, the usual spying for the benefit of the country, nothing grave,” he brushed off. “A candidate that we do not approve of is Kim Chulsoo. We know he promotes a more aggressive view on the Korean reunification.”

“If there were a war, we believe he could be an instigator,” Chief Park clarified.

“Right,” Agent Lee nodded. “At first, we did some digging up on his background, with the intention of finding something scandalous or incriminating to terminate his presidential campaign. But when we found irregular financial movements, we hit the EX’ACT company. Which didn’t make sense at all,” he explained. “We later found that he funded the construction of the dome near Odeasan National Park.”

“It took us long to get the correct warrants to search the dome, so in the meantime we tried to find any radio or communicational transmissions to intercept. But we never found any,” Agent Choi told them.

“We finally had a warrant to go inside the dome, but it collapsed the day before our clearance,” Chief Park said.

“And our little politician friend fled the country that very same day, after the incident,” Agent Lee said.

“Wait, wait,” Kris said. “Let me get this straight. You guys believe that this politician is the one responsible for the trials?”

“Well, Colonel Kim Yungjae is his military advisor and we know he’s been with you kids,” Chief Park said. “Kim Chulsoo is linked as a stakeholder of EX’ACT and has financed most of the dome’s construction and possibly the hidden underground facility as well.”

“We believe he had all the intentions to provoke an aggressive ‘reunification’, by going against North Korea with military advancement that would definitely guarantee him victory,” Agent Lee commented.

“So we weren’t created because of a war, but for a war,” Kai thought out.

“Yes,” Chief Park nodded.

“So, this politician looked up EX’ACT and they got this unit where Lu Mei worked at,” D.O surmised. “Her experiments worked and are what he wanted, super soldiers. So he financed and created the trials.”

“That’s what we’re trying to confirm with tangible evidence,” Agent Lee said. “That man needs to be locked away.”

“So Mama really did it for a war,” Chanyeol said almost dishearten.

“No, I think she was just greedy for science,” Xiumin commented.

“What?” Agent Choi said confused. “No, no. Lu Mei has nothing to do with trying to provoke the war, that’s why she let you out in the end.”

“What?” Luhan nearly barked.

“The escape,” Agent Choi said. “It was all part of her plan.”

“Hold up,” Tao sassed. “We got out on our own. That b- she did nothing to help us.”

Agent Choi and Chief Park looked at each other confused.

“I’m guessing they’re not a fan of hers,” the Chief commented.

“Maybe it’s time to bring Agent Maxwell,” Agent Choi suggested.

“I’ll call for him,” Agent Bang offered as he stood to leave the room.

Agent Choi got up from his chair and went to the wall opposite of the door, at the end of the table. He grabbed a controller and pressed a few buttons. A flat screen TV lowered from the top and was positioned on a metal supporter, angled at the corner for everyone to see the screen.

“Umm,” the Chief cleared his throat. “When we went to investigate the dome, after it collapsed, there was a package addressed to me. All it contained was a USB stick drive. Our best analyst has gone through the archives and the videos in it. We’ve been trying to make sense of it, because we really can’t understand it. And, well it’s best to show you guys how we’ve been informed of some things.”

Agent Bang came back into the room with a young, well-dressed, slim guy with light brown hair and thick red framed glasses.

“Good afternoon, I am Agent Maxwell,” he said politely with a courtesy bow. When he stood back straight he looked at Lay with a knowing glint. “You can call me Agent Max.”

Lay watched him curiously as Agent Max took his laptop to the end of the table and set it down near Agent Kim.

No wonder he said see you later, Lay thought.

He plugged in his computer to the TV. “What I have to show you is… a little discombobulating,” he said. “It would be best, to keep calm and comprehensive,” Agent Max gave a knowing look at Lay.

It was a silent signal for him to prepare and make sure the rest of the group would feel tranquil and not act up towards whatever the man had to show them. So Lay complied and exuded his pheromones at a higher concentration to pacify the group.

“What makes this hard to believe,” Chief Park commented, “is that this evidence given to us, is dated for three years in the future. Which is impossible.”

“Technically we have a pen-drive from the year 2015,” Agent Max said as he pressed through some keys.

The whole group turned to look at Tao for some explanation. The other widened his eyes surprised at first and then frowned at them offended. “What?” he said. “I haven’t done it yet, how I’m I supposed to know what the heck is going on.”

“He’s got a point,” Chanyeol shrugged.

“Alright here it goes,” Agent Max said.

“Wait,” Chief Park interrupted. “Maybe we should first show the security tape. They might be able to explain it.”

“Alright,” Agent Max said and clicked a few times.

A video displayed on the screen. It was Mama’s office. She was sitting at her desk, waiting. Luhan, Kris and Xiumin appeared at her door, they all looked ragged and tired. Lay recognized that this had to be during their first escape, the fake one. Luhan and Mama were arguing in the video.

“Why are you showing this?” Luhan asked displeased.

In the video Kai appeared in the office as well. It looked like there was some yelling when suddenly everyone in the room got caught in a telekinetic hold.

Lay looked back at Luhan, surprised that he did that to his friends.

“I don’t want to see this,” Luhan gritted his teeth as he stood up.

“Luhan calm down,” Sehun warned,

Lay felt himself be pulled up. Kris picked him up and placed him behind Luhan. Lay immediately wrapped his arms around the telekinetic and triggered a response to anesthetize Luhan’s body to an extent that he would remain conscious, but feeling dopey and unwilling to move or use his abilities.

“We can skip through,” Agent Max decided wisely.

The video skipped through. Xiumin, Kris, Mama and Kai were all forcefully pushed against the walls of the room; Lay feared that if it continued they would all be smashed to death. Now Sehun was in the office as well. He had his air armor on as he battled to get close to Luhan, who had lost control and snapped. Lay could tell because of Luhan’s eyes. It’s something he couldn’t exactly explain why it happened, but he imagined it like Horned Lizards. Maybe Luhan’s blood flow increased towards the brain to supply oxygen and nutrients to fuel his cells an increment his brains activity. That way he increased his powers. But why did the eyes fill with blood and lymph fluid? Why did his pupils contract? Why did his eyes look like dark red marbles when he loses control over himself?  

“Oh no,” Sehun said as he stood up. “Skip it. Skip it!” he said alarmed.

Agent Max looked up at him confused and quickly moved to press the right buttons, but the image had shown.

In the video, Sehun had gotten close enough to try to shake sense back into Luhan. But in the end he did something completely unexpected. He kissed Luhan.

And Lay had an inkling that he might have been the reason why Sehun decided to do that.

Lay held on tightly onto Luhan as the other stared at Sehun shocked. Luhan was limp in his hold, so he had not much to worry about, unless he decided to use his telekinesis to throw a fit.

The video advanced, the office was nearly empty. All that was left in the screen was Mama lying on the floor unconscious. From the angle of the camera and because she had fallen behind her desk, it was impossible to tell if she was alive or dead. The video cut off a minute after.

There was a long silence as the room focused on Luhan’s shocked expression while Sehun looked down covering his face embarrassed.

“You kissed me?” Luhan asked with a stone dead tone.

Sehun looked up and shook his head –he was mute in embarrassment. And Lay understood why. The looks the agents gave him wasn’t a good one.

“I didn’t know we’d be dealing with ual deviancy as well,” Agent Kim said disgusted.

“Oh shut up,” Chief Park cut him off. “That’s not what matters here.

“Is there a problem with being gay?” Kai asked with defiance.

“It’s wrong,” Agent Kim said. “It goes against nature, moral and society.”

“Enough,” Chief Park rubbed his forehead.

Lay couldn’t see Luhan’s face well from behind, but he felt the disgust and fear in him. Luhan was scared that he wasn’t just considered a freak because of having his abilities, but also discriminated for being different in a human way.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Luhan said, looking away from Sehun.

“He didn’t kiss you,” Kai intervened. “He the air out of your lungs, okay? Stop making it such a big deal,” he defended.

Luhan gave Sehun a look.

“It’s true,” Sehun said shyly. “I asphyxiated you.”

Lay could feel Luhan calm down.

“What?” Agent Max asked curious –not judgmental like the others.

“Sehun controls wind,” Kai said. “He didn’t know what to do to stop Luhan, so he asphyxiated him to stop him from hurting us.”

“Look, it’s okay guys,” Chief Park said calmly and encouragingly. “It’s okay,” he reiterated. “What matters now it the end of that video. From what we see, Lu Mei died. Did she?”

“No,” Luhan said. “Well, not then.”

“When?” Agent Choi asked.

“Well, we burned the building and buried it. So…” Chanyeol said.

“We did see her walking around a hall though, as we were burning it,” Kai said.

“Wait, I thought the fire was an accident,” Agent Choi said.

“Umm,” Chanyeol shrugged his shoulders.

“So what happened to her and all the people inside?” Agent Lee asked.

The group’s attention moved towards D.O, whose eyes doubled as he realized what he had to admit.

“Umm,” D.O said. “The staff was hidden in a bunker at the lowest floor of the building. Above them were the boggers. Let’s say the floor broke from all the earthquakes and with the fire and the earth, well…” he scratched his ear. “Let’s say we’re the only ones who got out.”

“Alright,” the Chief nodded. “So, Lu Mei died down there, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then how is it that we found her dead body in the outside dome and we have a video of her from 20-freaking-15?” Chief Park asked.

“There’s an exact answer for that,” Baekhyun wittily said.

“I knew it,” Agent Max said.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Agent Lee said.

“Clones?” Agent Choi asked.

“Yes,” Baekhyun answered. “She’s cloned herself a couple of times.”

“Of course, it makes so much sense,” Agent Max said. “The reason why we never found communication between the underground and the dome is because the underground was meant to be kept secret forever. Like she said, if anything went wrong they would abort and destroy everything down there, leaving no trace of it ever happening.”

“That’s why everyone down there were clones?” Agent Choi asked.

“That’s exactly why,” Agent Max said. “I bet everyone down there were cold and boring people, right?”

“Yeah,” Xiumin said tilting his head to the side. “Well most.”

“That’s because they had no emotional attachment like you. If they didn’t care, then they didn’t matter. They wouldn’t care if they were alive or dead,” Agent Max reasoned.

“Could you show us the video?” Tao asked. “I want to know why you said that she planned it all,” he said impatient.

“Alright,” Agent Max said and pressed a few keys.

The screen displayed a big desk and a wall behind it. On the wall there were pieces of tape, as if there used to be things posted on it but were later removed. In the middle sat Mama, but she did not look like the previous two. Her eyes were beautiful and dark, but warm. They held her perpetual look of elegance and intelligence, but they were warm. Her hair and skin looked soft, though signs of older age were visible among her skin. Little wrinkles here and there gave away her age. She was dressed in a white dress with a lab jacket on top. She wore a necklace that had a spherical pendant.

The video hadn’t started yet, but Lay could feel it in his heart that the Mama he was seeing through the screen was the real one –the one who tugged his heart strings and evoked warm feelings of maternal love inside of him. Just looking into her eyes he knew that she was not the cold and calculated woman he met twice during the trials.

The video started and Kai’s voice could be heard –though he sounded older.

“Alright it’s running,” he said. "The date is March 30^th , 2015."

Mama looked directly at the camera and gave a small apologetic smile. “Know that if you’re watching this video Chief Park, then my plan of getting my boys free has worked. I leave it in your hands to make sure their freedom prevails.”

Those were her first lines, her voice smooth a silk-like but powerful and full of authority.

“I can not explain everything for you. You must keep investigating and work hard on your task. But I have a few archives I can provide to help lead your way,” she said. “But in exchange you must protect my boys with your life,” she deadpanned.

Her tone made Lay believe her. She cared, she always did.

“And you must use the security video and my body to fake my death.”

 

 

---

A/N: Okay, I apologize for ending it like this, but it’s got too freaking long. All the explanation will continue on the next chapter and there will be more things to reveal. Hopefully, everything is starting to make sense now.

I haven’t been able to update in a long time because I’ve been really, really busy. But I’ll try to get the next chapter soon, as in a week or two instead of two months, so you don’t have to wait too long in the continuation.

I wrote half of the chapter today, so I know there’s got to be a few mistakes here and there. I’ll edit later when I can (hopefully I will edit this whole thing one day).

Again, I feel like I can never thank you guys enough for the support and the inhuman patience you’ve got. I will always appreciate how willing you are to wait and not rush me with writing this story. If I could lock myself away from the world to write, I would. But I can’t, so I shan’t.

Thank you to for subscribing to haehyukismyotp, souchu, Artesti, percabeth12, XoloveLufany, YooHyori, grumpygranny, hey1346, Lunalovegood237, i_am_not_here and ThiefOfLife34 my story. Hopefully you’ve all had enough time to catch up to the latest chapter.

Thanks again for the support! Have a great week, annyeong!

-Blackie.